Psalm 119: 60 (TNIV)
"I will hasten and not delay
to obey your commands."
Spring Break of ’02 could possibly have been the most hilarious 10 days of my life. I spent my time off in Florida with my cousin, who doubled as my best friend. We hit the beaches, the Disney parks, Universal Studios, a few secret hotspots. We even got to see a cool band rehearse in their garage; so retro, so cool. My outfits were perfect for the weather and my cousin was in rare humorous form. What else could we possibly have asked for?
I’ll tell you what: FOOD! Spring Break of ’02 was a lot of things…physically filling was not one of them. You see, because we were still in high school at the time, Danee and I could not stay on our own at a resort with delicious buffets and restaurants to choose from. We had to stay with someone our parents trusted. It just so happened the lovely family they trusted were absolute health nuts.
I’ve never fed a dog more food in my life. I actually prayed for a tsunami where the Red Cross would have to deliver provisions and I have never forgotten the hushed tones of trying to open a smuggled in box of sugar coated cereal while trying to control the ravenous beast of hunger within me.
I kid you not the woman we were staying with fed me this granola like bar that could possibly have had live bugs in it. As I unwrapped this supposed beneficial bar of wheat germ, goat cheese and only heaven knows what else, my body nearly gave out. “Clearly,” I thought, “this is where Danee and I die. Starving to death on the outskirts of Disneyworld. It will be such a sad story. I hope my Mom knows I've always loved her.”
And with that granola bar stuck to the roof of my mouth, Danee thought it may be a good idea for us to have a meeting. We were invited, no doubt by the grace of God, to a party that night. Danee was now convinced we should take the invite before one of us was found famished and faint.
Had Danee and I been able to get ourselves a map and find the nearest McDonalds I guarantee we would have ordered whatever the place had and had the order Super Sized. Twice.
I wonder if life were a fast food restaurant and God the order taker at the window, what you would ask to have Super Sized. I’d probably ask for a Super Sized Advertising Career with a Prada bag, indeed with some ice (gotta add the bling), and a Manhattan loft on the side.
Perhaps you would ask for something much more basic. An order of understanding. An order of get me out of this mess. An order of where is my mate? An order of a life free of doctor appointments and disappointment. I wonder, what is your order?
Psalm 119:57 fills me completely today. “You are my portion, LORD; I have promised to obey your words.” You are my portion, Lord. How powerful. Think about that for a moment: You are my portion, Lord.
You, Lord, fill me like nothing else. You are more consuming than the non-stop work of Advertising Execs. You are more defining than Prada bags. You are more beautiful than diamonds. You outlast any Manhattan building. You offer understanding. You clean up our messes. You have every area under control. You know where I am going. You know who I am going with. You determine my days. You order my battery of tests in this life and you are the one who examines me from head to foot. You are Healer. You are not a God of disappointment but one of divine intervention. You are my portion, Lord.
I love this next part: “I have promised to obey your words.” Do you feel the weight of this response? Because You are my portion, Lord, I have promised to obey your words. I have pledged to listen to You when I am over-worked and tired. I have vowed to pay attention when I am under-worked and looking for more. I have said I will do what you tell me to whether I am decked out in the fanciest of clothes or whether I am in rags on the street. I will obey your words when I feel like everything is falling apart. I am on the lookout for you in the waiting room of the hospital. I am expecting to hear from you when I bring the broken pieces of my heart to your throne room. And more than listening, even then, I am vowing to carry out Your will for my life. Because You are my portion, Lord. This is where it gets good – let me introduce you to Psalm 119:60, “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.” In other words: I cannot wait to do what you want me to do! Because you are my portion, Lord, I promise to do what You have planned for me…and Lord, I cannot wait to do it!
A lesson Christ has been drilling home with me over these past few months has been Portion Control. Spiritual portion control that is. I am convinced the Holy Spirit is breathing into me Psalm 73:25-27 as the anthem of my life. “Whom have I in heaven but you, Lord? And earth has nothing I desire besides you [Lord]. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” I’m not going to sugar coat it: This has been the toughest, most prodding and intrusive lesson I have been caught in the middle of thus far. But it is by far the one most rewarding.
I challenge you today to ask for an unrivaled hunger for Christ. You get on your knees with me and you tell the Lord that you want to desire nothing on this earth the way you desire Him. I promise you, if you are looking elsewhere, no health-bar or newest delicious fad is going to work. We can hunger for all the things of this world and never be full. I tell you when we get to a place where we confidently speak, “Earth has nothing I desire besides you, Lord…everything around me may fail but you are my strength and my portion forever,” only then will we be satisfied.
He is our portion forever. You will be stunned to the core at the depth of satisfaction there is to be found within Him. If this world were a fast food restaurant and we were as hungry as Danee and I on our Spring Break ’02 trip…I boldly hope on our behalf that we would drive up and ask, “More of You, Lord. More of you.”
Be fed this week. <3,>
2.27.2007
2.19.2007
The Year of a Million Dreams
Psalm 5:3 (NASB)
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
There were princesses and pirates. Mice dressed up in suits and skirts. Glass slippers. Delicious sugar free fudge. Fire works on a nightly basis. Scrumptious dinners. Fairy tale dreams. A stunning castle. Parades decked out in glowing glory. Music that is stuck in your head for days. Awesome sound effects. Musicals. Wild animals. Shuttles. Monorails. Bathing suits! Luaus. Leis. Buffets. Lines. Laughter. People from every country you can imagine. A mountain from space. A tower of sheer terror. Indiana Jones!
I’m just coming off of a Disneyworld vacation. And I do intend for that ‘coming off of’ phrase to sound drug-like. Disney is like a drug. It gets you pumped, psyched, ready, tired, nauseas, let down, hungry, stuffed, hungry again at the strangest of hours, it wakes you up early and tucks you into bed late. Disney welcomes crazy dreams and sends you off with the notion that perhaps they may just come true for you. Of course Disney is not in the business of giving everyone their own personal dreams but for this year they are running a promotion they like to call, ‘The Year of a Million Dreams’.
Here is how it works: At any given time, on any given day, in any given Disney park a Disney associate may just walk up to you, tap your shoulder and announce you the winner of one of their many dream giveaways. Believe me, it’s the talk of Mickey’s town. And I actually witnessed a few giveaways.
Early on in our trip my sister and I were set on being ‘tapped’. And so we dressed our cutest with high hopes the ‘tappers’ would indeed notice us. The only thing I was noticed by was the sun which left its mark on the one area I did not have lathered up in sunscreen.
The crazy thing about ‘The Year of a Million Dreams’ is that people all around actually EXPECT to be tapped, Kate and I included. Somehow many Disney visitors truly believe that if dreams are going to be given away than whom else better suited for the dream? Again Kate and I included.
I witnessed twin, around the age of 8, girls given a dream. They were cute. They matched. Their hair was braided. I’m sure they were lovely children who mind their manners and never forget to say, “Thank you.” I instantly didn’t like them. “Little devious matching 8 year olds,” I thought to myself. How dare they steal my dream giveaway!
In all seriousness I’ve been thinking about expectation for a few weeks now. I wonder why it is so easy to expect things from places like Disney or marriages or children yet so difficult for so many to expect things from the Lord?
I love David, the psalmist and King. He so truthfully pens his heart all throughout the Psalms and leaves us with countless treasures to delve into. Check out his thoughts, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
‘…And wait in expectation’. How profound. To come to the living God early in the morning, lay before him requests and actually expect to see action! I wonder do we live like this. Or do we reserve expectation for only certain areas of our lives? Or have we, as I, fallen into the realm of no expectation at all?
I believe reserved expectation and the lack of expectation are two very dangerous places to live. Without expectation we are without hope. Without hope I fear we are destined simply to coast by without truly feeling the purpose of this life.
I cannot express how deeply touched I am by the New American Standard version of David’s words in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Are you eagerly watching? Waiting for the God of all creation to come and tap your shoulder? Are you eagerly awaiting His action on your behalf? Or are you, as I, rolling your eyes and thinking you have a better chance of winning a Dream Disney Giveaway – even though you live no where near Disney and have no plans of partying it up with Minnie anytime soon?
I want so sincerely for you to shake off your skepticism and join me today as Christ calls out for us to venture into waters of anticipation. Places that leave us waiting to see just what He will do next with our simple morning prayers.
If I know anything at all it is that Christ continually shatters any small box we place Him in. You come to Him eagerly watching, even your hopeful expectation will be shattered! It is my heart’s cry today that there in the midst of your ‘waiting in expectation’ moment Christ will open your eyes to His grandness and your desperate need to accept and expect nothing less than simply more of Him.
I’ll be thinking of you in the morning as I lay my requests before Him…waiting and watching.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
There were princesses and pirates. Mice dressed up in suits and skirts. Glass slippers. Delicious sugar free fudge. Fire works on a nightly basis. Scrumptious dinners. Fairy tale dreams. A stunning castle. Parades decked out in glowing glory. Music that is stuck in your head for days. Awesome sound effects. Musicals. Wild animals. Shuttles. Monorails. Bathing suits! Luaus. Leis. Buffets. Lines. Laughter. People from every country you can imagine. A mountain from space. A tower of sheer terror. Indiana Jones!
I’m just coming off of a Disneyworld vacation. And I do intend for that ‘coming off of’ phrase to sound drug-like. Disney is like a drug. It gets you pumped, psyched, ready, tired, nauseas, let down, hungry, stuffed, hungry again at the strangest of hours, it wakes you up early and tucks you into bed late. Disney welcomes crazy dreams and sends you off with the notion that perhaps they may just come true for you. Of course Disney is not in the business of giving everyone their own personal dreams but for this year they are running a promotion they like to call, ‘The Year of a Million Dreams’.
Here is how it works: At any given time, on any given day, in any given Disney park a Disney associate may just walk up to you, tap your shoulder and announce you the winner of one of their many dream giveaways. Believe me, it’s the talk of Mickey’s town. And I actually witnessed a few giveaways.
Early on in our trip my sister and I were set on being ‘tapped’. And so we dressed our cutest with high hopes the ‘tappers’ would indeed notice us. The only thing I was noticed by was the sun which left its mark on the one area I did not have lathered up in sunscreen.
The crazy thing about ‘The Year of a Million Dreams’ is that people all around actually EXPECT to be tapped, Kate and I included. Somehow many Disney visitors truly believe that if dreams are going to be given away than whom else better suited for the dream? Again Kate and I included.
I witnessed twin, around the age of 8, girls given a dream. They were cute. They matched. Their hair was braided. I’m sure they were lovely children who mind their manners and never forget to say, “Thank you.” I instantly didn’t like them. “Little devious matching 8 year olds,” I thought to myself. How dare they steal my dream giveaway!
In all seriousness I’ve been thinking about expectation for a few weeks now. I wonder why it is so easy to expect things from places like Disney or marriages or children yet so difficult for so many to expect things from the Lord?
I love David, the psalmist and King. He so truthfully pens his heart all throughout the Psalms and leaves us with countless treasures to delve into. Check out his thoughts, “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
‘…And wait in expectation’. How profound. To come to the living God early in the morning, lay before him requests and actually expect to see action! I wonder do we live like this. Or do we reserve expectation for only certain areas of our lives? Or have we, as I, fallen into the realm of no expectation at all?
I believe reserved expectation and the lack of expectation are two very dangerous places to live. Without expectation we are without hope. Without hope I fear we are destined simply to coast by without truly feeling the purpose of this life.
I cannot express how deeply touched I am by the New American Standard version of David’s words in Psalm 5:3, “In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Are you eagerly watching? Waiting for the God of all creation to come and tap your shoulder? Are you eagerly awaiting His action on your behalf? Or are you, as I, rolling your eyes and thinking you have a better chance of winning a Dream Disney Giveaway – even though you live no where near Disney and have no plans of partying it up with Minnie anytime soon?
I want so sincerely for you to shake off your skepticism and join me today as Christ calls out for us to venture into waters of anticipation. Places that leave us waiting to see just what He will do next with our simple morning prayers.
If I know anything at all it is that Christ continually shatters any small box we place Him in. You come to Him eagerly watching, even your hopeful expectation will be shattered! It is my heart’s cry today that there in the midst of your ‘waiting in expectation’ moment Christ will open your eyes to His grandness and your desperate need to accept and expect nothing less than simply more of Him.
I’ll be thinking of you in the morning as I lay my requests before Him…waiting and watching.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.5 License.
2.08.2007
Filling Our Pools
Psalm 65:9-13
“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.”
My grandparents had a tremendous underground swimming pool put into their backyard when I was about 11 or 12. My brothers, cousins and I were thrilled beyond words. We would trek our so very (thought we were so cool) little selves to their house to watch the building of this new phenomenon. We would daydream about what it was going to be like to grow up with a pool this size at our favorite place: The Grandparents. It truly was our hot spot. We were always there and this pool just added an even better excuse for all of us to hang out.
The construction of the pool seemed to take forever but finally it was finished! Ta-da! Actually it was technically construction complete yet still lacking one major ingredient: some H20! My grandmother got the hose and began to fill the pool. The whole group of grandchildren were there that day and we wanted to go in like, 5 minutes ago! My Grandma took one look at us and said, “Ok.” And so, we slid into an empty pool. The water was trickling down into the deep end and we sat there trying to figure out what we should do. I mean, what could we do, the pool was empty! Somehow we got into our heads that it would be cool to use this one chance to slide down the divider of the shallow and deeper ends of the pool. We didn’t quite think that plan through because more than two of us were stuck down in the deep end for what seemed to be an eternity. By the end of the day we had all voted: pools without water are not too fun.
Oh, but when that pool was overflowing with water...man, did we have a blast! We had swimming contests, Marco-Polo show downs, float festivals in the water, summer sleepovers with late night swimming. That pool was our meeting spot, our hangout and our club quarters. The memories will not be forgotten – for it was in the overflow of that water that we were given our most treasured possession: one another.
And as I sit here today I remember well the finished product. The laughter, the BBQ’s, the whole lot of each summer…but I also remember well that empty pool and how easy it was to slide down and face the struggle of getting back up.
Today I believe the Lord wants our hearts focused on this simple truth: Without Him we are still stuck at the bottom of the pool. He is the overflow into our lives. I love the way Psalm 65:9-13 (posted above) paints the picture of our Hydrating God. He enriches us abundantly! Another verse where overflow always captures my heart is Romans 5:15.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
This verse reminds me of my pool experience. For a while I was stuck at the bottom of that pool wondering how I was ever going to get back up to the place where I belonged. And with some teamwork I made it. It is the same for those of us in Christ Jesus. We were once sinners stuck in a dead-end, dried out rut. But now, Jesus Christ overflow to the many, has touched our lives and we are back where we belong, thirsts quenched and needs met.
But we do not forget where we have been.
This is why we are so thankful for the ransoming sacrifice.
This is why we pledge to obey and go where He goes.
Be the path He leads us on marked with pain and suffering or joy and laughter.
We follow hard.
Obediently.
Blessed in the overflow of Jesus Christ.
“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.”
My grandparents had a tremendous underground swimming pool put into their backyard when I was about 11 or 12. My brothers, cousins and I were thrilled beyond words. We would trek our so very (thought we were so cool) little selves to their house to watch the building of this new phenomenon. We would daydream about what it was going to be like to grow up with a pool this size at our favorite place: The Grandparents. It truly was our hot spot. We were always there and this pool just added an even better excuse for all of us to hang out.
The construction of the pool seemed to take forever but finally it was finished! Ta-da! Actually it was technically construction complete yet still lacking one major ingredient: some H20! My grandmother got the hose and began to fill the pool. The whole group of grandchildren were there that day and we wanted to go in like, 5 minutes ago! My Grandma took one look at us and said, “Ok.” And so, we slid into an empty pool. The water was trickling down into the deep end and we sat there trying to figure out what we should do. I mean, what could we do, the pool was empty! Somehow we got into our heads that it would be cool to use this one chance to slide down the divider of the shallow and deeper ends of the pool. We didn’t quite think that plan through because more than two of us were stuck down in the deep end for what seemed to be an eternity. By the end of the day we had all voted: pools without water are not too fun.
Oh, but when that pool was overflowing with water...man, did we have a blast! We had swimming contests, Marco-Polo show downs, float festivals in the water, summer sleepovers with late night swimming. That pool was our meeting spot, our hangout and our club quarters. The memories will not be forgotten – for it was in the overflow of that water that we were given our most treasured possession: one another.
And as I sit here today I remember well the finished product. The laughter, the BBQ’s, the whole lot of each summer…but I also remember well that empty pool and how easy it was to slide down and face the struggle of getting back up.
Today I believe the Lord wants our hearts focused on this simple truth: Without Him we are still stuck at the bottom of the pool. He is the overflow into our lives. I love the way Psalm 65:9-13 (posted above) paints the picture of our Hydrating God. He enriches us abundantly! Another verse where overflow always captures my heart is Romans 5:15.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!”
This verse reminds me of my pool experience. For a while I was stuck at the bottom of that pool wondering how I was ever going to get back up to the place where I belonged. And with some teamwork I made it. It is the same for those of us in Christ Jesus. We were once sinners stuck in a dead-end, dried out rut. But now, Jesus Christ overflow to the many, has touched our lives and we are back where we belong, thirsts quenched and needs met.
But we do not forget where we have been.
This is why we are so thankful for the ransoming sacrifice.
This is why we pledge to obey and go where He goes.
Be the path He leads us on marked with pain and suffering or joy and laughter.
We follow hard.
Obediently.
Blessed in the overflow of Jesus Christ.
2.02.2007
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