Dreamin’ with my eyes wide open

Sometimes I find myself daydreaming! Yes, with my eyes wide open and complete awareness of what is going on around me, I begin to think “What could change? How can I make it better? What would create happiness in this situation?" I am told by those who study such things that our brain does better at solving problems when we give ourselves permission to dream about possibilities, not simply what we are told is the ‘reality’ with which we must cope.

Too many people surrender to their critics, giving in to the struggles and just choosing to exist!  IF we give up on life disappointment and disillusionment will replace hope. We will begin to let the days slip by- on Monday aiming for Friday, in the morning already thinking about losing ourselves in meaningless TV for the entire evening. IF we lose sight of ‘why’ we are alive, if we refuse to dream because we are told we should not, we will live a defeated existence and drift through day after day.

I am NOT suggesting that we avoid reality and choose to live in fantasies. That, too, is a waste of our days and does not fulfill the high and holy calling that God desires for each one of us.

God does not desire that we become successful people by the common measures of fame, wealth, or celebrity, BUT He does want you and me to be  people of significance.

The best life is not a destiny, but a path shaped by a God-sized dream. We can pray – “Lord God, form in me a dream worthy of You. Show me how to best use the opportunities in my life, to overcome the broken places in myself, and to understand who I am in Your purposes.”   As strange as it sounds, the best life emerges from surrender to His will; not giving up, not becoming numb to the world, but pursuing His purpose over self- promotion. Believe me, there is real joy in that choice.

John Ortberg (pastor and author) writes that "surrender is not passivity nor abdication. It is saying yes to God and life each day. It is accepting the gifts He has given to me - my body, my mind, my biorhythms, my energy. It is letting go of my envy or desire for what He has given to someone else. It is letting go of outcomes... Surrender is accepting reality ... the ultimate reality: I am a ceaseless being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe."  {When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back Into the Box, 2007, Zondervan} The deepest surrender, Ortberg says, grows out of the profound realization that I am not master of the game, the God of life IS!

Real vision forms when we surrender to the Spirit. Jesus says "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it." (Mark 8:34-35, NLT) To paraphrase His words- “If you live selfishly, you will lose everything in the end. If you live as God desires, you will gain an unshakeable hope and the gift of an eternal reward.”

I am convinced that when we are surrendered to Him in our attitudes, God is able to shape our dreams and create opportunities for us to become His partners in changing the world.

Sound too lofty? Is that grandiose? Not at all. It is our privileged place as children of the Heavenly Father. Can you imagine a life more significant than that?  

·       What would life look like if instead of working to impress others or building a network of power to defend our rights, we chose humble service without needing thanks or applause?

·       What if we measured “success” as being content to be useful to God with no expectation other than to find the joy of obedience?  

I want, by the grace of God and the help of the Spirit, to dream big - so that I will not remain where I was yesterday, nor will I lose myself in fantasies about tomorrow. Instead, I will follow Christ’s plan that I become like Him today, with but one desire – that He shines through me in a way that is unique to my gifts and circumstances.

Make this declaration-
“For the glory of God, I want to be the best __________________________
(fill the blank) that is possible!

Here’s a word from the Word. I love the truth declared here.  
"Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21, NLT)

Let’s dare to dream a godly dream and live the life prepared in His wisdom for us.

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Oh, God …

Each morning, even before I throw back the covers of my bed, I pray … not long prayers, not well-thought prayers, but still I pray. In those words, murmured in the first moments of consciousness, I thank God for a new day. I present myself to Him and ask that I will live in a way that He can use me for His purposes.

Then, there are those times of prayer when I bow my head and all that I can say is “Oh, God …” Either I do not know what to say, or perhaps I do not even know what I desire of Him, or I am too angry or sad to speak. What then?

IF I just walk away from prayer in those moments
it is likely that a distance will creep into my relationship with Him.

In years of Pastoral ministry, I have talked with hundreds (no exaggeration) of Christians who struggle with meaningful prayer.
Sometimes it is a misunderstanding of prayer as a one-sided conversation. It IS important to learn to ‘wait on the Lord’ focused and silent before Him.
Often it is a struggle of faith; an inner hidden conflict with one’s self that recognizes a gap between what is being prayed for and real faith to believe God will respond.
And sometimes there is just a sense that we want to express ourselves to Him more fully but lack the words.

That is when I learned to pray the Psalms.’  
Borrowing that ancient, inspired text, I speak aloud to the Lord and find my heart lifted, my mind changed. Who could improve on this prayer in times of disappointment? "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” (Psalm 42:1-3, NIV) I have prayed those words dozens of times.

The worship of these lines can move me into my own time of praise. "I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." (Psalm 9:1-2, NIV)

In times of failure, these words of confession have been my prayer. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. … Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:1-3, 10-12, NIV) What joy I have found in confessing both my sin and His grace to forgive!

In the 150 Psalms we find all kinds of prayers – worship and adoration, cries for help and rescue, and angry expressions of doubt and fear. So, use them as your prayer book! Let them teach you how to commune with God in a deeper, richer way. Let them lead you beyond fumbling and muttering into amazing worship.

It is my experience that praying the Psalms launches me into my own prayers, inspiring me to know God better. Christian, for us prayer is not an option. When we pray, we open up our lives to the power of God and, in ways that defy our understanding. In prayer we word WITH to build His Kingdom here on earth. How amazing is that?  

Pray first, not last.
Pray often, not seldom.
Pray boldly, not tentatively.
Pray faithfully, knowing that He is faithful, even when you cannot discern His ways or hear His voice.

Here’s the word from the Word, some prayers from the Psalms.
"But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were." (Psalm 39:12, NIV) "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8, NLT)

"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light." (Psalm 56:12-13, NLT)
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The Prayers Of The Saints

Let these prayers of the saints
Be sweet smelling incense
Let these prayers of the saints
Be sweet smelling incense to Your heart

Matt Redman © 1998 Thankyou Music (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

Stop picking at that scab!

Some of you will find my opening lines unpleasant but I hope you will hang in there for the point today. Our skin is an amazing thing, capable of repair, protective of our health, and filled with sensitive nerve ending. When damaged with a cut or abrasion, our skin forms a scab. Scabs might seem like a gross thing, but they are critically important to healing, protecting wounds against infections. Underneath that ugly, scaly thing the body is busy with a process of repair of skin cells and blood vessel restoration. There are white blood cells actively fighting off germs. So, stop picking at that scab! If you pull it off you risk infection and you most certainly delay healing, while risking development of a bigger scar.

In an age when we have become much more aware of our mental health, tending to be more thoughtful, and generally much more sensitive to being ‘hurt’ by others in so many ways, I am of the opinion that some of us delay healing with repetitive picking at our emotional wound. We are ready to recount, in detail, that wrong that was done to us a decade ago. We refuse to forgive the person who treated us cruelly, rehearsing the wrong, reminding ourselves of the ‘toxic’ treatment we received.

Let me pause to acknowledge that pain is real. Wounds can go deep. In another time we might have been encouraged to minimize those things. We may have been taught to ‘step over’ it or to just ‘get over it. That is not what I am encouraging today. Spending time with a good therapist who can help us gain perspective can be valuable. Praying through our pain with a trusted and wise friend offers the hope of real healing.

However, we must be willing to let the wound heal, to come to a place where we acknowledge the hurt but are ready to move on in life without a need to excuse our present by pointing at our past! We can learn to say things like this -
“It happened!
I learned from it!
I accept my part in it!
I am willing to forgive others who participated in it!
I am more than that trauma!”

Forty years ago, I went through an intense time of emotional trauma. I spare you the details, but it was truly awful. I did what I thought was the Christian thing to do at the time – excusing the wrong in myself and others, professing a forgiveness I did not truly feel, and carrying on with life in a busy way. A few years later, I became clinically depressed and it nearly cost me my life.

I finally acknowledged the incompleteness of my experience and with the loving care of some and the patient encouragement of my wife I found true healing. The scar remains but the wound is gone. The hurt turned into a source of genuine life change and a much more profound appreciation of the grace and love of Jesus!

Yes, we can heal. Those real hurts from a divorce, a church split, a broken friendship, even abuse of many kinds can heal. They will leave a scar. But they need not stay open wounds for the rest of our lives because we keep picking the scab, ripping them open again and again.

How can we heal?

At the risk of over-simplification, I offer these thoughts today.

First, find a friend!
I love the work of Alcoholics Anonymous. Why? It provides a safe place for an alcoholic to find friends who share the addiction and encouragement to work for sobriety. Whatever your wound, a primary step in starting to heal is finding a place to talk about it with people who understand. How I pray that the Church will be more like AA and less like a country club!

Second, be honest!
Don’t offer excuses for yourself or those who hurt you. Dealing with the facts is important. Self-deception can trap us as we reframe the experience to fit our own needs. Commit to the truth.

Third, be prayerful!
The old hymn says, “take it to the Lord in prayer.”  In my experience decades ago, I took that terrible situation to the Lord so many times. I knelt in our church sanctuary alone and wept as I talked to Jesus. He began the healing by showing me His love and leading me to great people who loved me, prayed for me, and gave professional care that saved my life.

Fourth, be appropriately forgiving!
True forgiveness is not just ‘letting the other guy off the hook.’ It is not making an excuse for them such as, “well, they’re only human.’  We forgive when we release whatever debt we feel to God for His judgment. Some justice we desire is just out of reach in this world and we are wise to take Jesus’ word when He says, “forgive and you will be forgiven.”

Lastly, learn acceptance and grace!
People are imperfect, including me and you. Good people make awful decisions. Yes, some are truly evil and require removal from our circle, but most are just garden variety sinners who hurt without thinking, who say stupid or foolish things, who make an awful choice in a moment of weakness. Does it make the wound they inflict less real? Not at all, but IF we want to heal we need to say this often - "There but for the grace of God, go I."

Let’s grow into spiritual maturity, scarred from the battles of life, but courageous for the future and committed to the goodness of God.

The word from the Word says
"Christ’s love … has the first and last word in everything we do. Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore.

Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other."  (2 Corinthians 5:14-18, The Message)

Amen.

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Video at https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55