Tranforming worry into prayer

I subscribe to a Verse of the Day thread via eBible.com, and saw this today in my feed reader.

Philippians 4:6 | study verse
6Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

I was stunned. As we worry, let’s vocalize those worries, and form them into prayers to God, letting him know where we are, what’s going on, and what’s on our minds. It’s about creating a new mindset that, when we begin to worry, we need to change the way we vocalize those worries so they can be petitions to the Father.

A worry would go something like, “Man, what am I going to do about my doctor’s appointment next week. I just know they’re going to find something wrong, then what? What am I going to do if something is wrong? What will my family do, what will I do about my kids…”

Instead, we need to transform that worry into prayer. “Man, what I going to do about my doctor’s appointment next week. I just know they’re going to find something wrong, then what? [pause... re-focus on God here] Lord, be with me as I work through this. I don’t know the results, or what they’re going to be, but I know you’re with me. I know that, no matter what happens, I’ll be able to lean on you, and glorify you through my handling of this. Give me strength and comfort in this time. Oh Lord, I need you now.”

prayer, worry, doubt, petition, praise, God, Jesus, doctor, shawnw

Shake the dust off

Today’s reading is from Acts 13.

49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Verse 51. “So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.” To shake the dust from your feet, from what I understand, was to leave that city behind you. You weren’t going to leave that town with even dust from their roads on you.

But there’s more to this. Notice it says that Paul and Barnabas were expelled before they left. They didn’t leave willingly, they were sent out. Only after they were told, “don’t come back” did they say “we won’t, and we won’t even take the dust from your roads with us.”

It’s important that we give an honest effort in sharing the love of Jesus with others. Sometimes we can do that through practical means, like Crash, and sometimes it’s through other means, like talking. We will come up against trouble, Jesus told us this. But we can’t quit just because we meet some resistance.

If a group of people, or a town says, “your beliefs anger us; get out,” my advice, taken from the Bible, would be this. Walk to the edge of town, take off your Skechers, beat ‘em together a few times to make sure any sand, soil, grit, grime or grub from that town is off you, put your shoes back on, give that town a smile and a wave, and seek clearer skies.

As baffling as it might be, it just means that, sometimes, we gotta look a little harder for someone to hear the Good News we have to share.

acts 13, paul, barnabas, jesus, preaching, smile, joy, persecution, dust

To remove his ragged body

Today’s reading is from Luke 23. Jesus has already been crucified and his body is still hanging on the cross.

50-54There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Taking him down, he wrapped him in a linen shroud and placed him in a tomb chiseled into the rock, a tomb never yet used. It was the day before Sabbath, the Sabbath just about to begin.

I consider myself a follower of Jesus, but to be a follower of Him while he was still on earth must have been a completely different experience. People were able to see him perform miracles and preach, yet the Bible still talks of people doubting.

I find it interesting that the Bible mentions that Joseph of Arimathea “lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God”, which to me, says he had Kingdom work on his mind.

But, to see the Savior of the world nailed to a cross, get mocked and stabbed, only to die and then just hang there, would have shaken me greatly.

That’s not the worst part though. “Give me the body of Jesus,” Joseph says. Pilate agrees. It’s now your duty to take the swollen, beaten, battered body of the son of God and lay it to rest. That whole experience would have proven to be too great for me. Sure, I’d have started the process, but I think at some point during, I’d have simply collapsed, mentally, at the weight of my actions. To hold the lifeless body of Jesus in my arms, and to know that just days before he said, “I have to be killed, but I will be back.”

God, I have faith that your son, Jesus, will return again one day. May others see your endless love through the selfless actions of Jesus, through his willing surrender. And, through that surrender, may they come to know what true peace is.

What a price was paid that day at Golgotha.

luke-23, jesus, crucified, crucify, joseph, arimathea, pilate, herod

Turning around

Today’s reading is from Luke 15.

11-12Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’

12-16″So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.

17-20″That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. (emphasis mine)

The story of the prodigal son. It’s quite famous, but today’s reading struck me in a different way. Most people that know the story are amazed at the father accepting the son back into the fold.

I’d like to focus on the portion I bolded above. How many times have we screwed up, or screwed someone else up with our own actions. How much wrestling did we do with ourselves before we finally said, “ok, I’m going to admit that I’m wrong here.” That’s what the bolded portion above says to me.

The son is saying, “Ok, fine, I realize now I’m a total loser. I can’t stand this lifestyle I’ve chosen for myself, so I need to go back to Dad and tell him I blew my inheritance. I’ll probably need to take some punishment from him, but it’s worth it to at least be fed like a farmhand instead of like a pig.”

How freakin’ hard is that part? The part where you have to humble yourself? That’s the hardest part. The hardest part is looking that person in the eye, and saying, “yep, I screwed up.” We have these preconceived notions that the person is going to lay into us, tell us how much we suck (which we already know very well) and kick us back out.

But, how will we ever know that the person we’re going back to will show us mercy, if we don’t ask for it?

LORD God, give me the same strength and courage as the prodigal son when it comes time to ask for forgiveness. I want to be able to turn around and go back the way I came without shame. I’m going to screw up again, just like I did yesterday, last week, last month, last year. I could go on and on. May they forgive me as you do. May I have the guts to be truthful, even if it feels like a knife to the stomach.

luke 15, courage, prodigal son, jesus, christ, god, faith, forgiveness, forgive

A rusted out bucket

Today’s reading is from Haggai 1.

2A Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “The people procrastinate. They say this isn’t the right time to rebuild my Temple, the Temple of God.”

3-4Shortly after that, God said more and Haggai spoke it: “How is it that it’s the ‘right time’ for you to live in your fine new homes while the Home, God’s Temple, is in ruins?”

5-6And then a little later, God-of-the-Angel-Armies spoke out again:

   ”Take a good, hard look at your life.
   Think it over.
You have spent a lot of money,
   but you haven’t much to show for it.
You keep filling your plates,
   but you never get filled up.
You keep drinking and drinking and drinking,
   but you’re always thirsty.
You put on layer after layer of clothes,
   but you can’t get warm.
And the people who work for you,
   what are they getting out of it?
Not much—
   a leaky, rusted-out bucket, that’s what.

We’re currently discussing tithing and the working of finances for the church in eXchange, and this scripture really hits home with me today. I’ve wasted a lot of time and money and other resources on things that aren’t redeemable. What do I have to show for it?

More credit card debt. More bills. More things tying me down. I want to be light! I want to live with a light load, and it’s all up to how I handle things on whether that happens or not.

My wife and I have, off and on, been attacking the stupid debt we’ve accumulated over the years. Recently, however, we’ve noticed a newfound fervor in this attack. Why? We’ve finally said, “that’s it God. It’s all yours. Do what you want.”

The best part? It seems to be working.

LORD GOD, I want to keep my eyes on you. I want what you want, and I want to help me your hands and feet and eyes and heart while on this earth. I would ask you to bless my efforts, but that would insinuate that they might not be of you. I want what you want God. I want what you want.

haggai, old testament, finances, debt, credit cards, jesus, god, christ, church