Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Get Out of the Box!

Yesterday on Facebook I mentioned a term that our pastor used Sunday morning, "entrenched religion". I liked the term because I thought it so eloquently explains how we can sometimes get so comfortable, so settled into the ways we worship that we only see the process and not the Father. 

Thinking about it again this morning I realized that is what I have called "tradition", and how I dislike that word so much. My son-in-law said one morning when teaching a class while I was visiting there that tradition is putting our worship in a box, not willing to get out, and we miss all the wonderful ways to please Him that are outside the box because we're not comfortable out there. We should be willing to lower ourselves to the point of putting ourselves face down on the floor, to become as insignificant as possible, in order to raise Him up and place Him where He belongs, above all creation. 

God is without end. His ways and His being is without end. We should be willing to grasp all the wonderful ways, without end, that we can that glorifies Him, gives Him honor, and lets Him know in so many new ways every day that we recognize how worthy He is to be praised!


Friday, April 17, 2015

Illumination


I'm very selective when I want to watch a movie. There are very few that I like, and those that I do like I will watch numerous times. I have watched my favorite movie, the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice, at least one hundred times. Obviously, I can quote all the lines which is one reason I seldom watch it with anyone. I'm told it's quite annoying.

The Indiana Jones series has always been a favorite, but Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade is the best of the set. There are lines that I find so interesting, considering the director, Stephen Spielberg, is an Orthodox Jew. The main theme of the movie is to find the "cup of Christ", and the last scenes are full of talk related to Christian faith. One of the last scenes has Indiana Jones stepping off a bottomless precipice as a "step of faith", and is caught by an invisible force, only to walk straight across to the other side. 

The scene from that movie that I thought about this morning is a scene that involves Indiana Jones' father who is a man of Christian faith and a professor of archeology. He is reading an historic book that he hopes will give him information that will lead him to his lifelong quest; finding the "cup of Christ". As he reads he prays, "Lord, illuminate me", a  simple three word prayer that says so much about his character. He prays for a light, a sign from God, to show the way to an artifact thought to be used by Jesus at the Last Supper.

How often do we think of "illumination" when we are praying? Asking God to "show me the way" or for "His will" doesn't quite compare to being "illuminated". To be shown His will for my life is one thing, but to have His light invade my soul seems to me to be so much more.

A man in our church prayed a prayer a few weeks ago that made a huge impression on me. He prayed that we would not be satisfied with our relationship as it is with Christ, but that we would desire to "go deeper, go deeper, go deeper" in our walk with Him. He prayed this with a passion that transferred to me and to my desires, and I've not been able to forget him saying this over and over. It is a desire that I had, but I had not recognized, or, perhaps, just not put feet to in a way that Jesus would have me do. I have always thought that I had a strong desire for His word and His presence in my life, but now I am aware that I must accept this challenge to go deeper.

Another source of inspiration for me lately has been in my reading materials. I have been reading "A Passion for God" and "The Attributes of God", both books written by A. W. Tozer.

It is almost impossible to read these without feeling that challenge to want more, and to want to give more back to Him.

So, I pray, "Lord. Illuminate me! Open my heart wide to be filled with the Light of all creation so that I might know You better, and that my relationship with You will "go deeper". In the powerful name of Jesus, my Lord and Savior! amen."