Peace-Making

Last year my women's Sunday school class did a wonderful study together to help us to resolve conflict in better, Biblical ways.  These are reflections from that study, and there is a link so that you can use this great resource.  I've been on a journey, and conflict is the way that God has been teaching and chiseling me.  I'd love to learn from you and hear the insights you've gained about resolving conflict.

Peace-making is not optional for a Christian.

Hmmm...that's a strong statement, but is it true?

After weeks of laying the foundation of peace with God and peace with ourselves, our class is finally to the nuts and bolts of peace making from Peace Making Women. (I've had several of you ask about this study so here's a link to the materials. You can get the book and read it on its own. There's quite a bit of overlap with the DVDs.) I believe that the statement above is true, because loving relationships were foremost on Jesus' mind as He headed toward the cross.

John 17:20,23 says, "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you....May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

If unity is important to Jesus, then it must be important to me. I love Him and want to follow Him closely, so all my issues, idols, selfishness and sin has to be dealt with and set aside to pursue unity.

The curriculum then describes three responses to conflict: escape, peacemaking and attack. I know which one I tend toward in general, do you? I may not ever confront you (my family members may be laughing right now--sorry!), but you might not ever see me again either. :)

It's hard to stay, hang in there, find humility and work things out. It's hard to choose peacemaking over avoidance or a knock-down-drag-out, but it's the mandate of God.

The authors describe several situations where people outside the church commented on the bad behavior of those in the church and how it had future solidified their distaste for "religion". It made my heart grieve to wonder how many times I've contributed to the hardening of someone's heart against Jesus.

I'm resolved, though, to seek God's character and power in developing reconciliation skills. I may be an old(ish) dog, but I'm determined to master this new trick!

Making the Most of Messy

Do you ever have days when you feel like this?

Me. Too.  That's why I love Micca's devotion today.  God is an expert at redeeming messy. 

Today I'm traveling to Charlotte to speak at Stonebridge Church Community about friendships and how to commit even in the messy.  On Monday, I'll share some things that I've learned about messy from the school of hard knocks.

If you find yourself feeling like this over the weekend, hang in there.  Close your eyes, raise your face to the sun and breath deeply.  Bubble baths work great too.  Mostly remember to be thankful for all the things that aren't driving you crazy and for the redemption of the things that are.  :)

A Front Row Seat

Because I've been doing the work, I haven't gotten a chance to blog about the work.  :)  Along the way, though, I picked up a great example that I want to share.

Work is work, right?  I mean that work requires lots of things that aren't easy to give--commitment, time, effort, energy and perseverance.  When we enter into work with God, a different dynamic is established than when we work for a company or an enterprise.

Working at the things God plants in our hearts yields tremendous blessing like no other work, because we can never out-work or out-give God.  When we do our part, suddenly God makes our small efforts into something much bigger than ourselves.

This weekend I participated in a wonderful women's event in Cumming, GA at Creekside UMC.  I was teaching on the parable Jesus taught about the Pharisee and tax collector in the temple.  You can refresh yourself on the story here.  I shared the last verse from The Message, and it says this:

Luke 18:14--Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."  

Here's the wonderful thing about that verse.  When we humble ourselves before God, recognize our need for Him, and submit to His ways, we enter into a story much bigger than ourselves.  We shed ourselves of the limitations of our own story and enter into His measureless, eternal one.

For example, I shared my testimony this weekend in my message The Untying of a Straight-Laced Girl.  It's basically the story of a perfection addict who became a Jesus addict.  Not an unusual story.  Not a flashy story.  Just my story.

This weekend God used my story to reach into the heart of a struggling teen-aged girl.  A girl who was getting beaten up by her own expectations.  A girl who was on the brink of exhaustion from battling her own perfection.

I'm amazed by that.  I'm not very creative, and I'm not very eloquent.  But God chose to work through my words and make them bigger than they were.  He made my story bigger than myself.  I did the simple work of obedience--going to share--and His working brought redemption.

You may have had a visceral reaction to last week's post "Do. The. Work".  You might have thought, "But I'm tired!"  I want to quickly say that there is a time and place in God's plan for rest too, but don't give up on the work.  It's where some of God's greatest blessings lie.

I always think of a quote from a tiny, dynamo of a woman in ministry who said, "I have a front row seat to the greatest show on earth."  That's how I felt this weekend as God brought glory to Himself while I got to partner in the work.

Do. The. Work.

I could almost hear the Heavenly Laugh. Tonight I've traveled home late from a women's event in Winston Salem, NC only to realize that my devotion "Getting to Where You're Going" is being sent out tomorrow morning bright and early.

Having written the devotion over a year ago, I needed a refresher on my own words. How these things come back to haunt you!!! If you didn't read my blog post from Monday, you can go here to see the irony.

Yes, Lord, I hear you!

Do. The. Work.

First James. Then Beth. Followed by The Hole in Our Gospel. Added to by The Reluctant Prophet. Finally, my own finger wagging in my completely amazed face.

I'm being called to action--to work. Specifically, I'm being called to reach out and give aid to hurting, devalued and abused women. I started to give you my actions steps, but I think they're things to be done in secret--at least for right now. When I have some stories that glorify God instead of myself, I promise that I'll share. In the meantime, I promise that these not-so-subtle shoves from God have gotten me out of my talking phase into a doing phase.

You have a call too. Maybe it's to be more intentional about Bible stories and prayer with your children at bedtime. Maybe it's to sacrificially care for a sick family member. Maybe it's to build a church in a third world country. Maybe it's to go deeper with God by starting your day with Him. There's no calling that's more significant than another. There's no work that's more important than another if it's done in obedience to Jesus.

God is speaking. I am listening. No more talking about it. Today I'm doing it.

I'd love to hear your "Do. The. Work." God stories. Let's glorify Him by sharing what He's done! I'll share one of mine on Friday.

When the Rubber Meets the Road

"Are you still changing when you spend time in the Word of God?"

That was the question that God has been asking me for months, and yesterday it came right out of Beth Moore's very lovely (and convicting) mouth.

To be quite honest, it's not a question that I've asked myself in that way for a long time, but as Beth went on to talk about the difference of being moved by the Word from being changed by the Word, I considered deeply.

Here are the words that have all been pointing me in this same direction for the past few weeks and what I've been learning:

• The book of James in the Bible--Doing is a part of the faith walk. God loves and honors the poor.
• Beth Moore's reflections on the book of James--"Faith and favoritism don't mix." James calls us closer to Jesus through changing our actions.
• The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns--God loves and honors the poor. He calls us to sacrificial living as part of our walk with Him.
• The Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue--God often calls us to things that we don't understand and others reject in order to serve the poor and the hurting.
• Yesterday's sermon was about the parable of the Sower (Mark 4). Our preacher talked about God's calling requiring immediate obedience to maintain a sensitive heart.

Do you see a little theme here? I truly did not pick these books and studies because I knew they were all about the same topic, but I think Somebody did.

Now the rubber is meeting the road. I'll share on Wednesday about the actions God is calling me to take.

What immediate action to you sense that God is speaking to you? It may even seem small, but our walk with God necessitates constant movement toward Him.

Still Unfolding

I thought I had arrived.

When I first wrote today's devotion, Unfolding, I really thought, "This is it!" about my current calling... I was both right and wrong.

From the time I sat across from my friend Christie, a women's leader in a campus ministry, years ago and listened to her passion about pouring her life into college age women, I've wanted to do what I'm doing. My original thought was, "I'd do anything if talking about Jesus all day was my job." At that point, my dream manifested as a deep longing, but I didn't have a picture of what the end would look like.

Writing and speaking for Proverbs 31 Ministries as well as teaching, encouraging and coaching for Next Step Speaker Services is the culmination of my deep longing. But it turns out that unfolding unquestionably lasts a life time.

In November I took a trip to minister to women in India (you can read more about it here) and the unfolding began again. The longing to talk about Jesus as my job continues but now it has expanded to a deep desire to find ways to minister to women in poverty and harsh circumstances.

Once again I'm in a place that I'm fighting frustration as I seek God and take baby step of obedience to find the path that God has under construction.

Once again I'm struggling to find the next place to put my feet.

Once again I'm repeating a well-worn verse over and over to keep my heart in the right place. "But godliness with contentment is great gain." I Timothy 6:6

Once again I'm experiencing the delight of watching a vision-planted slowly unfold like the peonies in my garden.

Here's the truth that I hope will encourage you today. We're all unfolding. All the women around you who look like they've arrived...they haven't. They've found a temporary resting place just like I had for a little while. But we're all in this molding and reshaping together as every day we transform more into the image of the Man we love the most.

I mentioned my peonies...I'm a little obsessed with them. Right now there are round globes all over the plant just waiting to unfold. Each morning I look out the window and cheer as a new one bursts open into glorious bloom. I'd love to hear a little of your unfolding story so that I can cheer for you too!

Resurrection Light

After giving me the gift of an unplugged spring break week with some pure laziness, a celebration of our anniversary (22 years...wooohooo!) and a combination of a few house-related projects, God is right back to speaking in His loudest inaudible voice.

Saturday night, Discovery Channel had a fascinating documentary about the shroud of Turin. It was the perfect Christian-geek-science content for my family, and we watched enthralled as experts discussed the scientific evidence (mixed with a little Gnostic nonsense) wrapped around the possible shroud of Jesus.

There was one explanation that captured not only my mind but my heart. One scientist began discussing the actual source of the imprint on the cloth. I had always mistakenly assumed that the print was created by body fluids, but this scientist said that because of the surface thin nature of the print, there was only one possible source that he embraced.

Light.

This scientist is a believer in the resurrection of Jesus, and tears filled his eyes as he explained his belief that at the moment Jesus' dead body was re-enlivened it was filled with a bright light that left the imprint on the shroud.

Our family excitedly talked about the scriptural implications of this possibility--the bright Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, the shining angel at the tomb and John's description of a blinding Jesus in revelation.

At the end of the documentary a priest said, "My faith is not dependant on the authenticity of the shroud of Turin, but the possibility strengthens my faith." I felt exactly the same way.

As I turned over this new thought about light emanating from a newly resurrected Jesus, I started thinking about myself. Shouldn't that be true of me too? Jesus said,

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Matt. 5: 14-16 (NIV)

If scripture is true in saying (and I believe it is from my own experience) that I was dead but now I'm alive in my belief in Jesus (Rom. 6)...that I am a new creation in my turning away from the sin that separated me from him (II Cor. 5:17)...that I have the same power in me that resurrected Jesus from the dead (Ephes. 1)...then doesn't it follow that in my moment of new life that I should be LIGHT?

For lots of you, this is not a new idea, and you're probably rolling your eyes right now and thinking, "What's up with Amy? Didn't she learn this in preschool at Church? 'This Little Light of Mine' and all of that?"

Here's the part that I've been grappling with. What is it really supposed to look like right now in this phase of my life that I'm light and the ambassador for Jesus in this world?

I'm getting some glimpses and some simple acts of obedience are beginning to take shape. I'll share more on Wed, because God just keeps silently shouting at me from every book I pick up, every study that I'm working on and every devotion I read. I'm slow, but I'm starting to see a pattern. :)

What about you? How are you being called to be light in your current circumstances? I'd love the encouragement of hearing your stories, and I know others would too. How has God called you to be light in the last month?