Backlog...

Just a quick message to say that last week those of you who were signed up to receive my postings by email may have received an email with a long list of postings on it. That was a backlog of all the postings I've done since the system quit sending out emails (for an unknown reason to me). Because I'm not techology-savvy, I couldn't figure out how to correct that (though I tried!).

I don't understand how this works and I guess I chalk it up to a quirk in the blogger system. It's possible that now the email piece of it will start working...we'll see!

Blessings and peace to you today!

You Don't HAVE to Pray!

When God came to earth in Christ Jesus, He gave us new wine: Himself unveiled! And in order to rightly mediate this new wine, there had to be a new wineskin. Jesus addresses this in Mark 2:18-22 when speaking about fasting; I believe, however, that this truth can probably apply to all that has to do with the gospel, including prayer.

The purpose of the wineskin is to contain the wine in order to experience it; in other words, it “mediates” the wine. If Jesus is the new wine, then there must be a new wineskin in order to experience Him. The old wineskin cannot mediate His life adequately.

The apostle John makes a startling statement in John 1:17 “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Until Jesus came, what humans knew of God was mostly through the wineskin of the law. With the appearance of God in the flesh, the way we encounter Him now is through an entirely different medium or wineskin. Under the law, we experience God as Judge; under grace and truth, we experience God as Father.

When it comes to prayer (and other issues in God), the paradigm shift that has taken place through Jesus’ coming is that there is no law to pray. Part of the good news (gospel) is that you don’t have to pray! The old wineskin was about law/obligation/ requirement; the new wineskin is about voluntary acceptance of God’s loving invitation to participate with Him.

Apart from this new wineskin, we can’t experience Jesus rightly; He is too untamed to be contained (mediated) by the old wineskin of law.

So when it comes to prayer, if need be, ask the Lord for grace to see it through a new wineskin: grace and truth (God's gracious invitation to participate with Him).

Target Practice

Since my "retirement" the Lord has had me on an unexpected growth spurt in knowledge and understanding of God, resulting in major mindset shifts which have in turn resulted in much freedom and joy and love - unlike what I have ever experienced before in Him.

I've observed that there is something seductive about gaining knowledge when done independently of Jesus. In other words, it has the power to delude the learner into thinking he/she is superior to others. This, of course, was what the tree of knowledge in Eden was about - being god (superior) by knowing independently of God. Paul says in 1Corinthians 8:1 that knowledge "puffs up" while love "builds up."

Would to God we followers of Jesus would all be being renewed in our minds continually (which means shifts in mindsets), but my caution is that we make love our goal in all pursuit of knowledge, even in the pursuit of knowing God. I believe that aiming at love while growing in knowledge is what it means to live from the tree of life - Jesus.

In my walk now as I continue to grow in knowledge, I'm making the effort to consciously see myself in Christ Jesus, He being the One dispensing the knowledge, feeding me. There are times when I sense His quiet voice within me saying to stop my reading or studying; and I've learned that even though it may be wonderful and true material (and I really want to keep digging into it), if He is slowing me down, it's because He knows how much and how far I should go in that moment in order not to be led down the road of spiritual arrogance that would see others as inferior to me.

In I Corinthians 14:1 the apostle Paul says to aim at love, which could imply that we don't hit the mark perfectly every time; God doesn't ask us to be perfect marksmen but to make love our target; and the more we practice, the closer we will get at hitting it. Eating of the tree of life is about growing in love as we grow in knowledge - that is only possible in Jesus and under His leadership. The goal of all learning is to love - to receive the love of God and then to give that love away to others. If I'm not growing in love and tenderness towards others along with growing in knowledge, I may need more target practice!

Restructuring the Brain - Exercise #4

This will be the final post in this series on restructuring the brain. (See the introductory post:  http://nitasbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/10/restructuring-brain.html)

This time I'm sharing two very simple spiritual disciplines that can help us as we seek to cooperate with the Lord's transforming work in the renewing of our mind.

Imagining Solid Footing
This simple exercise is taken from a blog post by Kathy Escobar (see this link for complete post: http://kathyescobar.com/2012/09/21/formation-friday-security/). She writes:

"Psalm 40:1-3.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.

he lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

he put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”

Often, as a spiritual practice, I try to put both feet on the ground, sit up straight, and take a few really deep breaths, noticing my feet on solid ground underneath me.  It helps turn my attention away from what feels like sinking sand underneath me and remember that I’m okay...that God’s with me...that my heart may be overwhelmed, but there’s a rock that’s higher than I underneath me (Psalm 61)."

Repeating Short Phrases

This is a practice that I recommend to my students to help focus the mind:

Pick a one-liner from Psalm 119, not more than 5-6 words long. The line that I have used for years now is from verse 94: "I am Yours; save me..." There are many, many such phrases in Psalm 119 or throughout the psalms. It should be short enough that you can say it in a breath.

Ask the Spirit to remind you (or ask a friend to remind you) to repeat your chosen phrase throughout the day from time to time. If you are taking some time for concentrated prayer and find your mind wandering around, then simply repeat your phrase over and over. Don't worry about whether you are concentrating on it. In time this will help you focus, but it does take a long time to create a new pathway in your brain so you need to be patient.

The saints of God have practiced these sorts of exercises throughout human history without the scientific understanding of their value to the brain. Seems that God may have known this all along! May His grace rest upon you as we work with Him in bringing the mind into alignment with Him and His life and truth.

 

Politics, Siblings, and the Kingdom of Love

I'm interrupting my series of posts for helping restructure the brain as part of the renewing of the mind, because I want to share some thoughts as we head into the 2012 election. I'm writing this without time to edit and polish or qualify, so I trust the reader to be generous-hearted and discern the spirit of what I'm writing even though it's poorly articulated. The topic of politics has many layers and dimensions to it; I'm addressing only one issue concerning it.

In American politics we have a two-party (mainly) system which over time has deteriorated into extreme polarization. What used to be relatively "conservative" and "liberal" thinking (each with its strengths and weaknesses) has become "right" and "wrong" in the minds of those strongly attached to one or the other party. If you lean Republican, the Republicans are "right" and the Democrats are "wrong"; if you lean Democrat, the Democrats are "right" and the Republicans are "wrong."

My point in this post is not to figure out how to extricate ourselves from this political quagmire, but to express the prayer and desire in my heart for myself and my American "siblings" (Jesus followers).

Fallen humans are hopelessly bent towards seeing everything through the lens of "right" and "wrong". We who are in Christ have been given an entirely different set of eyeglasses through which to look at and understand life. The former way of seeing is to operate out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as our source; the latter way of seeing is to operate out of the tree of life as our source. To live and operate from the tree of life is to live in the transcendent place of love where life isn't measured according to right and wrong but according to the life of Christ Jesus where all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden (Col. 2:3).

I have three wonderful biological siblings for whom I am increasingly grateful with each passing year. Each one has proven him/herself to be a faithful and loyal follower of Jesus. And yet we don't all see American politics through the same lens for a variety of reasons. However, because we recognize that we are citizens of another country (God's kingdom) where self-giving love is the law of life, we relate primarily as such citizens, rather than as citizens of the US. In this way, love wins, and relationships stay strong.

In the same way, all of us who follow Jesus must learn to relate as "spiritual siblings", brothers and sisters of another nation, the kingdom of God. If a brother leans in a different way politically in this "foreign nation" where we live now, it's imperative that I remember where my true citizenship lies and love and respect my spiritual sibling as one who is just as desirous of the best as I am when it comes to worldly political positions. Or if he chooses not to engage in the political process at all, to accept that he is doing so with best intentions for society's well-being. As we approach this election, if we make the effort to actively embrace our spiritual siblings, no matter what their political convictions, and if we remember that our spiritual brothers and sisters all over the world (who don't think the same as we do politically) are more a part of us than those who may agree with our political persuasions in the US, then we will transcend the pettiness that draws us in when a particular political stance becomes too important to us; therein the world will know we are Jesus' disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35).

Self-giving love is the law of God's kingdom, and Jesus' call to His followers is to live now according to that law. So when political differences arise, even if I could win an argument, it doesn't mean that I should. Operating out of the life of Jesus means that self-giving love rules, not being "right". Or, if it's appropriate to make my point, it must be done in the way of love, which means that I don't respond in a way that crushes or belittles my brother or sister nor with a desire to prove that I'm "right." In the kingdom where God (who is Love) rules, preferring others is of more value than being "right." This is costly for us fallen ones who have eaten of the forbidden fruit of knowing right and wrong apart from Jesus and who consequently want desperately to be "right", but it is the life-giving way of the tree of life, the cross of Jesus. After all, this short journey in a foreign country is where we learn the way of the kingdom of love and become like the King.

Following are some practical things that may help us keep perspective as we enter this final week before the election:

1. Motivated by love, make the effort to not couch your position in spiritual-sounding language that implies that God is on one particular side so if your brother or sister is voting differently than you, they are "wrong" and against God. (There really are legitimate reasons why good and faithful followers of the Lamb are on both sides of the political divide and why some don't engage in it at all.)
2. Motivated by love, ask the Lord to help you remember to invest time and heart in praying for the candidates that you are not for, speaking and praying blessing over them (amazing how that begins to soften the heart towards the perceived "enemy").
3. Motivated by love, if you believe you should vote, pray as you vote, consciously acknowledging that your citizenship is in the kingdom of God and that your hope is in His rulership even in this upcoming election. In this way, your heart is guarded and protected from anger (if your candidates lose) or false hope (if your candidates win).

As for me, for relatively well-thought-out reasons and motivated by love (as best I can know my heart), I won't be voting; but many of my siblings in Christ will vote and will vote for opposing parties; I honor and love and thank God for you! Grace and peace to you in Christ Jesus!

Restructuring the Brain - Integration Exercise #3

Continuing the series on simple exercises to help restructure the brain, this is another suggested integration exercise (see explanation in the first of the series: http://nitasbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/10/restructuring-brain.html). As is the case with the other two exercises, this one comes from Dr. Curt Thompson's book, The Anatomy of the Soul.

Unlike the other two, this exercise requires the participation of others:

Autobiographical Narratives
"Consider gathering with a group of two or three trusted friends. Encourage each other to write your individual autobiographies, and then share them with each other. For this to be successful, you may need to meet together for sixty to ninety minutes weekly or biweekly over several weeks or months. There is no perfect formula. What is important is that you are in a group of committed folks who are willing to share their stories as they are. As you proceed, invite God to reveal to each of you not only more about your story, but more about his story - his feelings, thoughts, and images of his mind - as well.

"Pay attention to the nonverbal as well as verbal aspects of the stories that are being read. Participants also need to pay attention to what they feel - the emotions that are evoked within them as they hear each other's stories - and to honor those feelings, being careful never to ignore them but rather permitting these feelings to generate questions they might ask the storyteller.

"Use the five forms of interrogatories...: who, what, where, when, and how. Each question seeks information the listener does not know; more important, expressing them adds to a storyteller's experience of being known.

"When listening to another's story, asking these questions opens the door for the storyteller to reflect on particular facts without becoming emotionally activated by the more charged query of why. Both the storyteller and his or her listeners are able to create deeper bonds of intimacy in a predictable, trustworthy, and safe fashion."

Restructuring the Brain - Integration Exercise #2

We're continuing to look at some simple integration exercises to help restructure the brain. (See the first post in this short series: http://nitasbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/10/restructuring-brain.html) In this post I'm sharing a second suggested exercise taken from Dr. Curt Thompson's book:

Centering exercise

"One simple exercise that doubles as a helpful meditation practice is to choose one of the nouns listed as the outgrowth of a Spirit-filled life in Galatians 5:22 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). Focus your attention on that word daily, throughout the day. Feel free to create images in your mind that represent that word.

"Dedicate seven consecutive days to focus on each word, continuing to cycle through all nine on an ongoing basis. Whenever you encounter another person or sense an emotional shift that tempts to take you down the low road, allow yourself to be immersed in your awareness of your word for the day. Be mindful how that word is calling you to reflect and manifest it in that moment - especially when your mind is screaming for you to do just the opposite. Ask yourself how you can be a conduit of joy, peace, patience, or gentleness in this moment. This exercise will not only facilitate the integration of your own prefrontal cortex, you will be doing the same for those around you..."