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Devotional Blog  Day 6 - Disciples For SureSunday, January 04, 2009
Scripture focus: Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you." John 8:32 The Message
Two days ago Dr. Jampolsky described what he calls the “addictive personality.” Not everyone subscribes to the fact that the concept of the “addictive personality” even exists. However, a lot of my friends and I can relate to his description of some common false beliefs and thoughts that plague all sorts of people, some of whom have also experienced the heartache of addiction. Again, here’s his list:
- One who looks outside of self for happiness, expecting it to bring us what we want and need but finds conflict and suffering.
- One who believes they are terminally unique with an unquenchable hunger and thirst.
- One who feels chronically empty and alone in a cruel, punishing world.
- One who searches insatiably for achievement, acquisition, approval and accomplishment.
- One who tends to latch on to “solutions” – becoming rigid, self-righteous, intolerant toward other viewpoints, adopting an overly simplistic attitude to problem solving.
- One who is overwhelmed and driven by inner feelings of shame and guilt which unconsciously drive outward behavior.
- Fear fuels the addictive personality.
In the gospel of John, Jesus doesn’t say to those who claimed to believe him, “Hey, your biology and genealogy is your destiny.” Instead, he said, “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”
At the end of the day, when we stop looking to understand the “whys” of who we are, isn’t our heart’s greatest desire to be free? Jesus tells us how. So, let’s return to the list and think about what we might need to change in order to live life God’s way. Tomorrow we’ll begin to take each description and trash talk it with the word of God.
Recommended reading: Genesis 20-23
Day 5 - Who Do We Trust?Saturday, January 03, 2009
Scripture focus: We don't want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn't think we were going to make it. We felt like we'd been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he's the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he'll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don't want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God's deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part. 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 The Message
Dr. Dale Ryan reports that all of us would get a 100% score on the God quiz that asks the question: is God love? He goes on to say that our problem is not so much our theology as it is who we actually serve. In other words, the God we serve may not be the same one we report to believe in. We believe God is love but act as if we serve a distant, disconnected God who wants us to make him happy. We believe God is love but quickly ask why God allowed suffering to happen in our lives. We believe God is love but feel as if God is withholding the good life from us. And if we act, ask and feel like this – do we really truly know that God is love?
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he reports to his readers that he, too, struggled when faced with trials and troubles. I wonder if he questioned God’s love when he believed he was on death row. Ultimately, Paul experiences God’s rescue. And it seems that these experiences increase Paul’s trust in God’s love.
During dinner around our table we were recalling the theology found in the movie Evan Almighty. In the movie, the characters speculate about prayer. They wonder if when we pray for something like courage, does God give us courage, or provide us opportunities to practice being courageous? Pete says it reminds him of the book of Joshua. God never promises Joshua courage. What he says is that he will be with Joshua. And then Joshua has many opportunities to practice believing God. As he believes, he practices his courage.
I don’t know how to parse out and fully comprehend all the reasons for our hurts, habits and hang-ups. But I do know this. Every day we have the opportunity to choose to believe God is love. We can increase our consciousness by reminding ourselves of his loving intentions – and then practice living as joyful participants in God’s rescue operation. Tomorrow we look at some practical suggestions for how to proceed.
Recommended reading: Genesis 16-19
Day 4 - Am I Damaged Goods? Saturday, January 03, 2009
Scripture focus: Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. Galatians 5:1 The Message
Experts in the field of recovery debate the legitimacy of what many have called “the addictive personality.” Great minds have explored the topic and arrived at different conclusions. Some believe that “addictive personalities” lead to addiction issues; others think the order is reversed. Others question the value of such a label. Most agree that there are some amazing similarities in the way people with addictions think, process and perceive. Dr. Lee Jampolsky believes that the “addictive personality” isn’t unique. In fact, he says all of us struggle at some level with these issues. Read his descriptors and see how many you can relate to:
- One who looks outside of self for happiness, expecting it to bring us what we want and need but finds conflict and suffering.
- One who believes they are terminally unique with an unquenchable hunger and thirst.
- One who feels chronically empty and alone in a cruel, punishing world.
- One who searches insatiably for achievement, acquisition, approval and accomplishment.
- One who tends to latch on to “solutions” – becoming rigid, self-righteous, intolerant toward other viewpoints, adopting an overly simplistic attitude to problem solving.
- One who is overwhelmed and driven by inner feelings of shame and guilt which unconsciously drive outward behavior.
- Fear fuels the addictive personality.
He goes on to assert...…for the Addictive Personality the pursuit becomes compulsive, endless, and all encompassing. No amount of success at getting what we think will make us happy is ever enough, so we remain miserable. Healing the Addictive Personality, by Dr. Lee Jampolsky, Celestial Arts 2008, p. 4.
In summary, I think Dr. Jampolsky is saying that addictive thinking, processing and perceiving results in a relentless and unproductive search outside ourselves for life satisfaction. According to him, this search results in suffering. So although both he and I are looking at the subject from different frames of reference, both of us come to a similar conclusion.
When we invite God in to renovate our heart, we’re acknowledging that the project is an inside job.
Our beliefs, feelings, insatiable desires, and attempts to solve our problems have obviously affected our outward behavior. It’s a problem common enough that people write books that describe us pretty accurately – and we haven’t even met the authors! I’m deeply grateful that when God sets us apart – he is lavishly indiscriminate in his choosing. In the choosing, he’s provided us access to freedom. So while the pundits are debating on the nature of addiction and the addictive personality, we can continue our journey into the light.
Recommended reading: Genesis 12-15
Day 3 – Set ApartThursday, January 01, 2009 Scripture focus: Before you were born I set you apart. Jeremiah 1:5 NIV
I don’t want to settle. I want the abundant life. I realize that this may require heart, mind, and soul renovation. Years ago I realized that the outside world constantly bombarded me with messages that attempted to define the good life. Everyone has a definition for abundant living. Did you hear about the lady who spends every day trying to follow each suggestion Oprah offers? Her husband thinks this search for the abundant life has ruined the nice life they had before his wife became an Oprah devotee. I empathize with this woman; I too have wondered what the essence of fulfillment would mean for me in practical terms. Instead of studying Oprah, I decided to research how God defined good, abundant, and valuable. Before we were born, God set us apart – was one of the first verses I stumbled over in my search. I thought about how I throw away paper plates after one use. I toss my everyday dishes in the dishwasher without a thought. I take my cheap ceramic coffee mugs with me and leave them all over the house, in the cars, on the porch, at the beach, in the flower bed I was weeding and even my friend’s house. I have some other dishes that aren’t so accessible. They are set apart. My china, crystal and silver are wrapped in special covering and stored in a special cabinet - tucked away in a room where dogs and boys and even certain adults can’t access them. These are the dishes others sacrificed to buy for us as a wedding gift – they’re special. They weren’t purchased in a bargain basement. They didn’t come with chips and nicks and slight discolorations. They weren’t a good deal, they are precious.
Like fine china, in the grand economy of God, we’re the good stuff and we’re set apart. Evidently, we’re precious to Him. But here’s where the analogy runs aground. We humans like labels. When we suspect we’re in the presence of fine china, we turn it over and read its label (discreetly, of course). Discerning folks want to know – who made it, is it imported? This isn’t how it is in the kingdom of God. He’s the chief restorer of damaged goods. This is good news. As we continue in our devotions this month, we’ll consider why God’s economy is much more hopeful, healing and encouraging than our own.
In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 The Message
Lord, I realize we love the good stuff – the sparkling goblets, fine china and weighty silver. But where would we be without the useful kitchen tools – the waste can, Tupperware, and a well-worn cookie sheet? Father, help us figure out what it means from your perspective to be set apart. Amen
Recommended reading: Genesis 8-11
Day 2 – My Life Is So Hard…Thursday, January 01, 2009 Scripture focus: The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity. 2 Corinthians 10:5 The Message
At the close of a busy, dog-eat-dog kind of day, I headed to the local grocery store for a few items necessary for dinner preparation. In my weary state, I unconsciously walked through the rain with my head tucked into my coat collar and my eyes glued to the puddles of slush that acted as annoying barriers to my destination – a warm store stocked with what I need. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was forgetting something. I soon realized the full extent of my forgetfulness.
Every evening I head upstairs before the rest of my family and take a few moments to review my day. It’s sort of a mini-inventory. It was during this time of reflection that my lost memory returned. I realized with regret that I spent the entire day without using a single God-tool.
My hands were not idle in the traditional way one thinks of laziness. All day I rushed around. But never once in the entire day did my hands dig and pull and pry and pull at the barriers stubbornly erected in my mind against the truth of God.
Instead, I allowed my thoughts, emotions and impulsivity to structure my day.
I concluded that it is one thing for the world to live in an unprincipled, dog-eat-dog manner – but that wasn’t cool with me. The world can take care of itself, but tomorrow I’m going to re-order my own interior world of one. This rearrangement requires two things: 1) I must acknowledge what occupies my interior world, and 2) I have a decision to make: renovate or live with the status quo. If I choose the status quo, then not much will change. Can I live with that? More on what is and what might be in tomorrow’s devotional.
Recommended reading: Genesis 4 - 7
Day 1 – Happy First DayThursday, January 01, 2009 Scripture focus: So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 The Message
Today, like every new day, is an opportunity to make a new beginning. I have a note in my brand new calendar to slow down enough each day to raise my awareness of its freshness and rejoice in the privilege of having the day to waste or redeem.
I am coming to believe that I don’t have to wait until next Monday to go on a diet, or another New Year to turn over a new leaf, or my life circumstances to improve for me to experience contentment.
Each morning, I can wake up and say….
This is an ordinary day of an ordinary life…and Lord, I place it before you.
It’s my offering to you, Father, to take my sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life and commit it to you.
Is an entire day too much commitment? No worries- I can give myself permission to start with the first hour of the day and see where it leads. During this hour, I embrace God. After two sleepless nights, I didn’t have the confidence this morning to believe I could last an hour in such an aware and alert state. So I chose to embrace a minute, and one minute led to two and finally thirty whole minutes. During that time I disciplined my heart and mind to only think of the true things I know about God and my true, God-created identity. I didn’t allow for time to analyze or dissect or attempt to understand my foibles and frailties. Worrying can happen anytime – but not during this sacred time.
I can’t explain why or how this time changes the other minutes of my day. It’s a mystery.
Lord, I pray that each of us will allow you to transform our ordinary days into extraordinary adventures as we live our lives guided by your light. Amen
Tomorrow we’ll explore a different kind of day.
Recommended reading: Genesis 1 - 3
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