resting in Him... to make me light...

"You are the light of the world. ..."

Matthew 5:14 ESV

Jesus told His disciples... 

in His sermon on a hill...

You are the light of the world...

And it struck me a while back...

the truth of this statement...

what He meant...

what He was saying...

you... are... the light...

I... am... the light...

in a very... dark... world...

There is no other light... in all the world...

only His disciples carry His Spirit in our hearts...

only we can let His light shine...

we alone have light to shine...

You... I... we... are... the... light... of... the... dark... world...

An overwhelming... awesome... task...

when you think of all the darkness...

come face to face with it daily...

through family... friends... community... church...

There is a great darkness...

and we... His people... are the only light...

A song sung in praise and prayer recently...

set me to wondering about being light again...

There is a candle in every soul

Some brightly burning, some dark and cold

There is a Spirit who brings a fire

Ignites a candle and makes His home

So carry your candle, run to the darkness

Seek out the helpless, confused and torn

Hold out your candle for all to see it

Take your candle, and go light your world

Take your candle, and go light your world

Frustrated brother, see how he's tried to

Light his own candle some other way

See now your sister, she's been robbed and lied to

Still holds a candle without a flame

So carry your candle, run to the darkness

Seek out the helpless, deceived and poor

Hold out your candle for all to see it

Take your candle, and go light your world

Singing... tears welled... ran down... 

You see... I feel as if darkness has been running to me lately...

frustrated brothers... sisters robbed and lied to ...

I know these people... love these people...

but feel helpless... to light their way...

So I ask Him...

Show me how... to be light... in the dark...

And I rest in this prayer...

and I listen for His way...

and I try to obey...

His quiet promptings...

give...

be quiet...

respect...

I don't do it perfectly... but I try...

it doesn't feel like being light...

because each call causes me suffering...

not a lot... but some... in small ways...

denying self... to be light for Him...

And I wonder...

Do they see it as light...?

will it make a difference...?

His Word calls His followers...

lay down your life in love...

so I find myself...

resting in Him... to make me light...

His way... not mine...

and experiencing...

some of His suffering...

I come to know Him better...

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings,

that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:13 ESV

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Looking forward... to His glory... being revealed...

resting in change...

"... The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound,

but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

John 3:8 ESV

Change...

it's generally something we don't look forward to...

it comes with too many unknowns...

too many things to work out...

too much work...

Routine can be comfortable...

empowering even...

When we know what's coming...

and exactly how we're going to handle it...

we deceive ourselves into thinking we are in control...

This is the comfort zone of the flesh...

control...

But life with the Spirit is different...

we must accept right up front...

we are NOT in control...

To follow the Spirit is continual change...

not in core truths...

but in methods... modes...

The Spirit changes direction...

the Word says... it's like the weather...

winds shifting... and we are to follow...

unknown to us why... or where...

It came to mind over the last couple of weeks...

this new "series"... rest in Him...

I thought it would be like the two before...

lean on Him...

wait on Him...

But it's been completely different...

I tried at first to make it like the others...

searching the concordance...

noting verses...

going through the list... one by one...

seeking truth... and what He had to teach...

The list of rest verses...

has been abandoned...

as these days of writing rest in Him...

comes with a phrase or word picture...

He brings to mind...

of what it looks like to rest in Him...

He leads me to Scripture depicting rest in Him...

without using the word... rest...

So I've followed...

reluctantly letting go of the list...

the comfort of knowing what comes next...

but finding myself wondering...

how long will this series go...?

where is it going...?

will I know when it's done...?

Following the Spirit...

is learning the art...

of resting in change...

Reminders we are not in control...

and we don't need to be...

because He is...

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:

"I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

...

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground. These things I do,

and I do not forsake them. ..."

Isaiah 42:5-7, 16

Amen...!

rest in Him... Exodus 13:21-22...

And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way,

and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day

and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night

did not depart from before the people.

Exodus 13:21-22 ESV

I've been feeling stress-full of late...

all He's calling me to do...

with deadlines looming... seems impossible...

makes me feel I might fail...

which in turn makes me whiny...

(according to my husband...)

So today... I find myself... far from rest-full...

and needing to take a look at... Why...?

He reveals I've been focusing on the end...

believing rest... satisfaction... fulfillment...

will be found when it's all done...

But I know full well...

there will always be more...

And I think about Moses... finding rest in God's presence...

God's presence visible to Moses and the people he leads...

resting in God's continual guidance...

the pillar of cloud by day...

the pillar of fire by night...

They followed... forty years in the wilderness...

(at my age... I doubt I still have forty to go...)

and for many in the Exodus... a whole generation... including Moses...

the journey was all they had...

they didn't finish...

they didn't enter... the promised land...

I see rest is not found at the completion of the current call...

because the true end does not come till He returns...

rest is to be found in the journey...

Following His lead...

from one thing to the next...

being blessed now...

finding joy... peace... rest... now...

in the journey with Him...

Because really...

the journey is where transformation happens...

the journey is where sanctification does its work...

the day to day journey... of following Him...

resting in His faith-full presence...

Amen...

who are you following...?

The Jesus Way has me thinking about those who say they follow Him... but their lives... their way... are at odds with His Word... His Way...

I cannot follow Jesus any which way I like. My following must be consonant with his leading. ...

More often than not I find my Christian brothers and sisters uncritically embracing the ways and means practiced by the high-profile men and women who lead large corporations, congregations, nations and causes, people who show us how to make money, win wars, manage people, sell products, manipulate emotions, and who then write books or give lectures telling us how we can do what they are doing. But these ways and means more often than not violate the ways of Jesus. ... Doesn't anybody notice that the ways and means taken up, often enthusiastically, are blasphemously at odds with the way Jesus leads his followers? Why doesn't anyone notice?

---Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

And I answer Peterson's question...

Because they don't know His Way... they don't know Him...

Jesus's response to those who "follow" Him their way... comes to mind...

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day

many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,

and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'

And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me,

you workers of lawlessness.' ..."

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

These are the scariest words in the Bible to me...

and drive me to pray... listen...

read His Word... seek revelation...

long to do life His Way... not mine...

Jesus goes on to say... not missing a beat...

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them

will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell,

and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house,

but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them

will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell,

and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house,

and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

In Sunday School once... a member of the class shared a story of a friend who left the Christian faith because of a storm in his life... 

As I listened to the account... this story of wise and foolish builders came to mind... those who built lives on the Rock... and those on the sand... and I had an epiphany...

Those who fall away from Him... who do not stand firm in the storm... have built their life... on a god of their own making... and not on the Rock... the Living God...

Followers of Jesus... who know Him... know His Way...

are not shaken in the storm... they do not do life their own way...

they do life His Way...

So I wonder today... Who are you following...?

I asked a similar question here recently...

but  it's one to give serious thought to...

Does your life match up with His Way... His Word...

or the world's way...?

The test is the storm...

we will all face one at one time or another...

you probably already have...

How did your faith fare...?

Was it devastated...? or stand firm...?

This will help you identify who you've been following...

Check your heart now... before you see Him face to face...

we have such a capacity for self-deception...

Ask Him to reveal the truth of who you are following...

and be prepared to receive what He has to say...

craziness...

Following Jesus... looks like craziness to the world...

Unbelievers see His disciples as... turning the world upside down... 

They say what we believe is... madness...

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV

Paul sharing his faith before King Agrippa... was interrupted by the governor...

And as he thus proceeded with his defense,

Festus called out loudly, Paul, you are mad!

Your great learning is driving you insane!

Acts 26:24 Amp

Paul's words to the Corinthians... We are fools for Christ's sake... reflect this understanding...

And I'm reminded... and hear the words of Proverbs... again...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 ESV

If it seems like a reasonable choice... you might want to double-check...

Take time to pray...

Is it His Way...? or the world's way...?

His Word warns...

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy 

and empty deceit, according to human tradition,

 according to the elemental spirits of the world,

and not according to Christ.

Colossians 2:8 ESV

Following Christ looks crazy... to those who do not know Him...

And in this flesh... sometimes it feels crazy... when we do trust and obey...

Have you felt crazy lately...? following Him...? instead of the world...?

Father God... bless me with the faith... to boldly obey...

even when it feels... like... craziness..

strangers... there really aren't any...

A recent treadmill read... Praying for Strangers... has left me changed...

A change that comes reluctantly... especially for an introvert... one who fails at small talk and polite conversation with strangers... much less prayer...

This book... and its seemingly benign anecdotes... have opened my eyes and heart... to strangers in a new way...

My heart... feels the pressing of the Holy Spirit... to speak to... pray for... with... people who cross my path... begin a conversation... where He provides the introductory line...

To the woman manning the counter in a parts store... a pink-ribbon breast cancer awareness cap atop her bald head... I see you're undergoing treatment for cancer...

To the woman in the day-surgery waiting room... waiting longer than I... Who are you waiting for today...?

These people all around... people I see as strangers... are not strangers to Him...

From one man he made every nation of men,

that they should inhabit the whole earth;

and he determined the times set for them

and the exact places where they should live.

God did this so that men would seek him

and perhaps reach out for him and find him,

though he is not far from each one of us.

Acts 17:26-27

Everyone... is someone... He died for... someone He sees... knows... loves...

Following Him... means... they are not to be strangers to me...

Following Him... means... obediently trusting... when He presses... and provides... an introduction...

Yes... an unexpected impact... from a book... that now pushes the envelope of my comfort zone... and spiritual growth...