Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-9)

 Oh Lord, Thy word is a light unto my path

After it has been a knife unto my heart.

Actually that was not a Bible verse, but most saints will understand it. I am recalling one of those knife-in-heart seasons when the idea of rejoicing in the Lord sounded like doing the hokey pokey and turning thyself about. My gentle spirit was being devoured by my inner wolverine, and the Lord felt light years away. I was rating my peace in anti-shalom increments.

In this season my local church was entertaining the idea of being a presence based church (like the book by that name by Ponder and Teykl). I can still hear the mantra: “A moment in God’s presence is worth years of counseling or preaching [or whatever].” I had had a few powerful encounters with God’s presence. This sounded good! Our loosely formed strategy was to send people out to Holy Spirit hot spots. They would acquire the fire (like the youth rally by that name), come back and get others ignited. There was one problem. It didn’t work. In fact, it was devastating for those of us who believed our greatest need was a fresh blast of Holy Spirit. This was bad news for someone like myself with no wind left in his sail.

But a seed had been sown: it was The Blue Book by Jim Branch, which was given to me by a spiritual friend. It sat unopened for months because I knew what it was. Like another devotional book with its structured formulaic approach to God would revive me? No, no, no. What I needed was a blast from the Holy Spirit. However, being the book-browsing addict I am, I cracked open the Blue Book and it began working its magic on me. I was quickly seduced by the mysterious voices of grace—strange, yet familiar voices were speaking a language my heart understood. In The Blue Book I heard the Father’s invitation, “Come. Rest. Drink. Eat.” I’ve jotted down a few notes…

Coming. Resting. Drinking. Eating.

  1. “Coming” simply means, showing up. If we show up, we may discover the banquet which is perpetually set before us (even in the presence of our enemies, including those from within).
  1. The Blue Book has helped my table manners. It has taught me meals are meant to take time. The meal is mostly about the growing communication with those seated around the table—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
  1. Resting requires chewing a bit slower, drawing the most nourishment from each bite. Meditating (mulling over) words and phrases, asking questions, inviting the Others at the table to ask their questions and make their comments. These habits all make the family dining experience more enjoyable.
  1. Writing down our impressions, insights, and answers will serve to build depth and continuity to the dialogue and, ultimately, to the relationship, which is the point.
  1. Learning to pause, meditate, and write has been like letting a bucket deep down into a well. Drawing that bucket up and finding living, personalized water has been a game changer.
  1. The process is incomplete until it becomes pausing, meditating, writing, and prayer. Graham Cooke talks about crafted-prayers—ones birthed from our gut, informed by the Word, the Spirit.

God is with us. Our greatest enemy to this reality is our five senses and our minds. Only our hearts can grasp this essential reality. Our hearts must be encouraged. We must watch over our hearts (and the hearts of others) with all diligence, for from them flow all the issues of life.

Father, I pray that your scalpel might do its work cutting away all that is not true in me. Forgive me for the struggle I put up in this process. Teach us to come, rest, drink, and eat. So be it.

 

 

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap