Family

Family is a thing of contradiction. They are those you love the most but can be some of the most aggravating people on the face of the earth. When you live with them you can't wait to leave, but when you've gone away you can't wait to be with them once again. Brothers and sisters who are supposed to be friends turn into friends who so happen to be brothers and sisters. Parents are at one time belittled but then are exalted to a place of high honor in the eyes of their children. To live in a family is an adventure full of peril and the possibility of great reward. An adventure to be pursued indeed.

No family is perfect for EVERY single person that makes it up is imperfect. The home is a unique setting wherein we may learn how to love, respect, and serve others. God has revealed the ideal for such relationships:

"Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged."

-Colossians 3.18-21

Though there are different roles and responsibilities of those who make up the family, ALL are to do what is best for others.

Whoever said that actions speak louder than words had it mostly right. God has told us to SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE. We are not to cower from sharing the truth with others, but this must be done in the right manner and at the right time. What this also means is that our life must demonstrate that what we speak is actually being lived out by us. This requires a multitude of moment-to-moment decisions to say very little or even nothing at all and CHOOSE to put another before one's own self. It is those who are known for their love for others and their humble service who will have a greater impact on the lives they long to be changed for the better. For it surely brings a quick cut to the heart when one sees a loved one making selfish, foolish, and/or hurtful decisions. It is a difficult thing to live in a world full of difficult people, but did not Christ, the Anointed One of God, do such for those who were his enemies. God be praised to the utmost for His work of salvation to reconcile such difficult people to Himself wherein we now enjoy a secure relationship with our Father who we may even call Daddy.

I end this with a lighter heart and renewed resolve to put my family before myself and seek their betterment at all times - though I may be hurt, though change may come slowly, though I may fail. Thank you my Father for sending your Son whose very Life is inside this fragile clay pot of mine and the work of the Spirit whom you sent to empower me as I choose to walk in light of my position and identity in Christ.

Prayer

Prayer.

A six-letter word that contains an immensity of significance and meaning. Prayer at its simplest is communication with God. At its greatest it is connection with God. We are exhorted to pray, but it is more than a religious duty. We read of great prayers in the Scriptures, but find it difficult to understand their source. I have come face-to-face with the bankruptcy seen in my own prayer life, but was helpless in seeing any kind of true change. But then...

I came to the realization that I was trying to pray good prayers. I was striving to put together the words that would look the best in a prayer. Such was my fundamental mistake. In my thinking I had made a disconnect between talking with God and talking with people. I assumed that prayer was somehow different. Yet Christ Himself instructed us in the manner of prayer as praying unto our Father. Abba, daddy! And so I began to talk with God as I would talk with my closest friend or with my own earthly dad. In fact, our talks were so much sweeter than any kind of communication with another human, for I was talking with GOD! I could talk to Him about my greatest fears, my indescribable joys, my seemingly hopeless defeats, my victory that I experienced because of His Son. I could talk with Him about the mundane things of life and about the deep truths that I was learning from His very own Word. These times where I talk with God are the most precious moments of my life. He is my friend, but more than a friend. He is my Savior, my Life, my Father, my Lord, my God, my ALL.

As I type these words I have almost begun to cry, simply thinking about my talks with God. Today was the NTM (New Tribes Mission) Day of Prayer and so I spent some time alone today just talking (out loud) with my God. Sadly enough, I have not given time to God very much at all this semester, always blaming it on my busyness or the fact that I know I am in constant communication with Him at all times. But there is something about our 'talks' that are oh so sweet. I would even compare this to a human relationship. Sure I may talk all the time with my friend, but it our 'talks' that are the most valuable and most treasured parts of our relationship.

If you have not seen my write of the secret of an awesome prayer life, this is because I have not done so. I would almost say that there is actually no secret at all, yet I hesitate in regard to saying such a thing. For if most do not know the way of a matter, then is it not a secret if you yourself know? And so I would whisper to you this secret, trusting that you likewise would pass this whisper along. It is so delicate that it must only be mentioned in a whisper. The secret is thus: the depth of my prayer life is ALWAYS dependent on the depth of my relationship with God. I have seen it proven true in my own life; it was no matter of learning "how to pray" that transformed my prayer life, but it was deepening in my love and understanding of God that flowed naturally into a transformed prayer life.

I end with this. I have yet to find in the Scriptures any "how to do it" manuals on prayer, but I have seen men of God pray for people: that they would grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ, that they would grow in grace. We cannot talk with someone whom we do not know, so let us continue to learn more and more and more about our God. For such is our fate for all eternity: to grow in the knowledge of our God who is limitless and infinite. Ready to be joyously surprised by God forever? Let's pray

Intentional

One thing that I have been heavily challenged with lately is the intentionality of my life. Specifically in the context of relationships: with God through prayer and His Word, with fellow believers, and with the unbelievers all around me. It is the fool who lacks discernment in his choices and simply lets the wind blow him every which way. No deep relationship with another has ever come about through mere chance. It is to the degree of intentionality that there is even the possibility of deepening a relationship.

"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." - I Corinthians 16.13

It is time to leave the childish ways of weak integrity, human dependence, and self-focus. The man of God is simply he who has come before his Lord with humility, godly sorrow, and dependence. I recognize such a man as one who walks intimately with God, yet I must declare that I am no such man. So much of the time I deceive myself and others into thinking that I am a great young man who is dedicated to serving and obeying God. For though a young sapling may grow in leaps and bounds (especially in proportion to how big it was before), it is far away from the strength of the mighty oak that has stood for multitudes of seasons.

Christ was one who was intentional about life. His work was to do His Father's will and there was nothing more important to Him than such. EVERYTHING that he said or did flowed out of His purpose. And so we see that we too are called to such a mindset in our work. Our work is the ministry of reconciliation: to see men made right with God. It is a mighty task which requires more than all we have to offer of ourselves. For it is only the very life of Christ within us that is adequate for such a task.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." -John 15.5