gratitude

Day 55: The heart of it

February 9, 2019 — Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 7-9; Psalm 55

How can you read this passage and not be confident that we can’t take the Bible literally? It’s so insane what God asks the Israelites to do — Kill all the people in their path? God hates the evil? What’s the heart of this? What’s the heart of this? What can be some take aways…

That we are not to overtake others to take their things and use them to get rich ourselves. That we should not get proud if we win because it’s not from anything we do but because God destroys evil. That we should not covet. That we should be humbled if we receive any blessings. Again, not our doing. It is all by grace. We are not that far from the people we oppose. Discipline from God is good… you discipline those you care about.

Reading the Bible this way is pretty taxing. It’s like a pummeling to a one day hopeful redemption on the cross. I’m exhausted. I’m tired. I’m starting to hate people and rules and commandments. Huh? A mirror for who we are? A stubborn people.

Day 54: Why I still claim to be a Christian?

February 8, 2019 — 1 Comment

Deuteronomy 4-6; Psalm 54

How shall you answer when someone asks you why you follow certain statutes and live the way you do? How does Moses instruct the people to respond?

1. Remember where you once were: imprisoned, enslaved

2. Remember how God freed you so you no longer have to hide and toil without purpose

3. Remember the goodness of God and how he wants your good and therefore the ways he’s instructed you to act are good: to love God and love others.

We love because we know how much we are loved. We love because we have been given much. We love because we get to love. We love because it’s as if we’ve been given a second chance and nothing can be taken from us. We love because God first loved us.

This is why you share your testimony. Is your testimony of one with gratitude and awe? Does your testimony make sense why, to some, you follow ridiculous laws? They’re not laws — they’re an overflow of gratitude and trust. I hope my testimony justifies why I do what I do.

Day 50: Gratitude upwards

February 4, 2019 — Leave a comment

Numbers 31-32; Psalm 50

To offer our thanksgiving as sacrifice is to give gratitude away freely. Are there times we withhold thanks? What is sacrifice? Sacrifice is to give something up that could benefit another while subtracting from you. When can giving gratitude and thanksgiving benefit another while taking from yourself? How does it benefit God while lessening ourselves?

In offering thanks, we acknowledge the reason for the good or blessing isn’t us, it’s God. He is the reason for our provision. He is the reason we are alive. He is the reason we have hope and joy in this world. It is not our own doing. We cannot take credit. That humbles us. That puts us in our place. That helps us to stay low and not get a big head. God doesn’t need our material sacrifices or meaningless thanks; he wants us to acknowledge that he is the originator of our lives and our wellbeing.

Day 30: Conflict Resolution

January 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

Leviticus 1-4; Psalm 30

Burnt. Grain. Peace. Sin. That’s the order of offerings given to God to approach him. It starts with hospitality and thanksgiving. It starts with gratitude and welcome. It starts with laying our defenses down. Then it gets into the nitty gritty of offenses and wrongdoing. The ways of this book may seem laborious and over technical, but it’s also a way of repetition that can make this mindset of gratitude and humility second-nature. In these offerings, God isn’t demanding sacrifices because he thinks he’s so damn good and humans are so damn lucky to even gain access. What if God is showing us, his character requires a mirroring in us of gratitude and humility? He only wants to be on the same playing field as us. No defenses. No pretenses. Meeting at the food table. And then, let’s get into it.

Can we take this same approach to our relationships? How can we begin with gratitude and peace? A second to explain peace: This is not a ways of ignoring offenses and acting Kumbaya as if all things are good. No. It’s a dropping of defenses to actually hear each other! Back to peace. Can we welcome everyone into our time and space with vulnerable and open hospitality before we get into the nitty gritty messy? Wouldn’t the messy and ugly feel more rooted if we know off the bat, we are here for the good of each other, of the other? Couldn’t this actually bring about better conflict resolution?

Acknowledge with gratitude. Drop our defenses. And let’s get into it.