A Call to Be Attuned to the Rhythms of Emptying and Filling~

 

As for the very first time, I hear the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as she says:   "Here I am, the Lord’s humble servant. As you have said, let it be done to me." (Luke 1:38, The Voice)[1], and I understand at a much deeper level her prophetic declaration in her Magnificat, when she says:

⁴⁶ My soul lifts up the Lord!

⁴⁷     My spirit celebrates God, my Liberator!

⁴⁸     For though I’m God’s humble servant,

 God has noticed me.

    Now and forever,

        I will be considered blessed by all generations.

⁴⁹     For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

        holy is God’s name!

⁵⁰     From generation to generation,

        God’s lovingkindness endures

        for those who revere Him.

⁵¹     God’s arm has accomplished mighty deeds.

        The proud in mind and heart,

        God has sent away in disarray.

⁵²     The rulers from their high positions of power,

        God has brought down low.

    And those who were humble and lowly,

        God has elevated with dignity.

⁵³     The hungry—God has filled with fine food.

        The rich—God has dismissed with nothing in their hands.

(Luke 1:46-53, The Voice; emboldening mine)[2]

Because of a fear of being sent away empty-handed, I have heretofore, read myself into the station of the hungry one(s) mentioned in verse 53a.  Metaphorically, I have oft reasoned, I am hungry for so many things of The Spirit.  But I have not been honest, for fear of being turned away from the God who gives me my very sustenance.  As I have learned to re-read these words through the lens of the concept of kenosis,[3] I have moved from a place of defensiveness to a place of security. Reading Mary's words with kenotic eyes gives me the courage to be honest with myself and with my God.  What have I to fear from Him, for He is my Abba and has my best interest at heart?  To be dismissed with nothing in my hands no longer seems daunting.  Instead, it seems freeing.  After all, empty hands are more capable of receiving and reaching out. Empty hands are also more available for extending, and ...for embracing. 

 

“Theological hope can only come from a radical experience of our poverty.

As long as we are rich, we rely on our riches.

To learn hope, we have to pass through impoverishment.

These experiences are the prelude to experiencing

the goodness, faithfulness,
and power of God in a quite extraordinary way.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit”

—those stripped of everything by the Spirit—

“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

~Jacques Phillippe, Interior Freedom

 

---

[1] Luke 1:38, ibid.

[2] Luke 1: 46-53, ibid.

[3]Kenosis is a term, although not mentioned specifically in scripture, is alluded to in the abovementioned Philippians passage.  More than humility, kenosis is "The spiritual act of pouring out oneself, of 'emptying' the self of its prerogatives..." and is "derived from the Greek word, kenoo, found in this passage of scripture which refers to Christ, and which means 'emptied himself'...'made himself nothing'..., and...'poured himself out'. from Pilgrim Heart:  The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life by Darryl Tippens.

A Holy Saturday Compline (Prayer Before Bed)

May you find a sense of peace in the quiet and darkness as you fall to sleep. May the commemoration of this day remind you that, like Jesus' tomb, even in the stillness and silence and in the areas of your life that seem dead and irredeemable, God is present and actively working out His plan of redemption and reconciliation. Rest well, knowing that, With tomorrow's dawn, His mercies will break forth anew and JOY will triumph! Amen.

Tracy B. Dickerson, 2014 ©

LENT DAY 40 (Post #2): DARK

We can only imagine the abject terror that filled the hearts of

Jesus' followers on this day some 2000 years ago...

It was surely an unimaginable dark nightmare for them.

At times, God puts us through the

discipline of darkness

to teach us to heed Him.

Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and

we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…
Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances,

or in your life with God?
…When you are in the dark,

listen, and God will give you

a very precious message for someone

when you get in the light.

LENT DAY 40 (Post #1): WAIT

Black Saturday- The Silence of the Tomb

Today is the day we call “Holy Saturday,” or more appropriately “Black Saturday.” Today, after the pain and suffering of Good Friday, everything, more than ever, is silent as we WAIT for God. On Black Saturday, the Lord Jesus lies dead in His tomb, a shroud over Him. Take a moment to think about that and what it means. His tomb is wrapped in stony silence- the silence of death. As he had predicted, his frightened disciples are scattered and in hiding.

If we take time to recall, we are reminded that silence is a method God uses to speak to us. Silence such as this is not at all lack of communication; it refers not so much to the absence of sound and activity, but to a deeper awareness of things. The essence of the silence of Holy Saturday provides us with an understanding of the deep, essentialness of God in our lives. For, when we taste even the slightest withdrawal of Him from our presence, it is then that we understand fully that it is only in Him that we live and move and breathe.

In Hebrew the word ‘Shema’ means ‘listen to this’ or ‘hear this.’ In fact, a more accurate translation of the word ‘Shema’implies that you listen or hear and then act upon it. The title comes from Deut 6:3 which says, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God! The LORD is One!”

In the quiet of Holy Saturday, God bids you to take action and listen for His voice...

.

Today, on Black Saturday, take some time in thinking about your life for a while. Perhaps recently, there is an area or aspect in your life where you are having difficulty finding God: it may be in prayer, a relationship, at work, at home, or some personal issues you may be facing. In other words, there may be an “empty tomb” in your life...

Maybe God is inviting you this Holy Week to "roll away the stone" and to look for Him in the very emptiness and silence of that place.

If this is what you are feeling, God may be inviting you to Embrace his silence, which is the Silence of the Empty tomb…the Silence of His Hidden Presence in your life.

In order to sense God’s presence in the ordinary and to recognize his action, even in our suffering and wounds, we need the silence of the empty tomb.

This Holy Saturday, may you find a sense of peace in the quiet anticipation of this day. May the commemoration of this day remind you that, like Jesus' tomb, even in the stillness and silence and in the areas of your life that seem dead and irredeemable, God is present and actively working out His plan of redemption and reconciliation.

Lent Day 39~ Good Friday: MOCK

On Good Friday, as Jesus was hanging upon the cross, the mockers milling around at the base of the cross yelled up at him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe you.”

Where have we heard these words before? Who was speaking through those who mocked Jesus on Good Friday? The words of those who were mocking Jesus on Good Friday sound eerily similar to the words that Satan used in the desert ("If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...").

No doubt, Satan and his banished band laughed at the the foot of the cross. Their glee can be heard, even now 2000+ years later through the voices of the people who they animated with their vitriole.

The mocking must have been unbearable to hear, both for Our Lord and for the small band of onlookers that were His friends and family. They did not have the advantage that we have- the advantage of hindsight.

Neither those who were spouting vitriole, nor Jesus' faithful handful, knew how the story was going to unfold...But Jesus knew...

Darkness enveloped the world that day. I do not believe we can fully grasp the despair that must have been felt...

Perhaps a Still Small Voice spoke to the hearts of those faithful onlookers in order to steel their faith and said:

It’s Friday- But Sunday’s Coming!

Perhaps they began to understand at a core level Jesus' teaching about the "Sign of Jonah"...We do not know for sure.

On this Good Friday, let us remember the mocking that Jesus bore...
Let it be a reminder to us when we are assaulted and mocked by our Enemy and his minions... although we may not know the outcome, Jesus knows...

Let us know, as truly as we can know any truth...
Even on Our Darkest Day- We Know The Light!

Here is a Campolo Classic for you today…

Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice!

May Your Day Be Filled With The AWE of It All!

For God DID NOT send His Son into
the world to condemn the world,
but that the world, through Him, might be saved.
~John 3:17

Lent Day 38: LOVE

Maundy Thursday

Blessed Maundy Thursday! The word "maundy" comes from Middle English and French and means "command". And so today, on the day where Jesus had his Last Supper and commanded his followers to always remember him, may we reflect on the idea that he bore the darkness of the cross so that we could step out into the light and be the adopted Children of Light.

Let us use this day to reflect on the words of the Apostle John:

John 13:34-35 (Contemporary English Version)

But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.

In these verses he expounded upon Jesus’ command, and described what it means to be His disciples.

May you love as you are loved...

may others know you are a disciple by your love...

LENT DAY 37~ Holy Wednesday: PRAY

Holy Wednesday



On this Wednesday of Holy Week, May you take some quiet time to contemplate THE PRICE that was paid for YOU, and the PRAYERS that were made for you...because you are PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT!

As we remember the time Christ spent in Gethsemane, we remember to carve out time to “have prayer” with God. When we stop talking at God…when we sit in the silence and are willing to listen and wait…we WILL hear His voice.

Lent Day 19: LOAN

 

 

Today's post will be brief, as I am a little under the weather.  I hope that your day was a good one, and that you continue to make the attempt to recite the Shema in the morning and evening. 

Today, on this Nineteenth Day of Lent, I have only a brief observation, followed by minimal commentary. 

As I read my Facebook newsfeed, I notice an interesting string of threads with juxtaposing themes:  

My younger friends post stories of the trials of having small children and my older friends (sorry guys/gals) post stories about how they miss their grown kids, etc.

Most poignant was one I saw recently, posted by a friend from nursing school.  It read something like this:    "I love my kids.  I so miss the days when I was a young mother with small babies."

Today's message is brief:  our loved ones are on LOAN to us from God...in fact, our very lives are.

Today, may you enjoy the people and time that is on LOAN to you to the fullest.

Blessings to you...

Lent Day 18: SAFE

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
 The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
 ~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Eighteenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo. We will be meditating on it over the period leading up to Resurrection (Easter) Sunday; and we will be trying to remember to recite it daily, once in the morning and once again in the evening. For over nearly three weeks now, we have stressed the importance of intentionality; thinking, feeling, and meaning the words as we repeat them- not just hollowly reciting them. Our goal is to let the words work in us, and hopefully through us, and back out of us.

Today’s Scripture Reading:

"...but whoever listens to me

will live in safety
and be at ease,

without fear of harm."

 

Proverbs 1:33

New International Version (NIV)

In the Message Bible it reads like this:

First pay attention to me,

and then relax. 

Now you can take it easy...

you’re in good hands.

 

 

It should come as no surprise that the concepts of "hearing"  and "listening" keep coming up in our conversations. We've also talked about obeying and abiding and keeping.  If you didn't know me, you might think I were legalistic, but that is actually far from the truth. 

 

Those who know me well, know that I tend to ask a lot of question, give a lot of push-back, ask for reasons and explanations...and just generally annoy the cr*p out of anyone trying to order me around and get me to blindly do what they tell me.  Oh yeah, and then there's that...I curse like a sailor.  So "a legalist" is so what I am not.

 

So then- why all this talk about obedience...

listening to God...

doing what Jesus says...

loving God and Jesus by keeping their commands?

 

Because I've found through trial and error (read here: A LOT of trial...) that when I follow through on the instructions I find in the Word of God, my life is simplified in that I tend to feel more at ease, less anxious, more relaxed, with less fear. SAFE, even. 

 

In a nutshell:  God and Jesus know what they are talking about and give great advice; they know how to keep me out of the self-imposed messes I tend to get myself into.  When I listen to them, I'm in good hands.

 

Today, may you find comfort in the safety of God's good hands.

 



Lent, Day 17: WARN

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Seventeenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo. We have been meditating on it over the Lenten period leading up to Resurrection (Easter) Sunday; and we have been trying to remember to recite it daily, once in the morning and once again in the evening. For the last two and a half weeks, we have stressed the importance of intentionality; thinking, feeling, and meaning the words as we repeat them- not just hollowly reciting them. Our goal is to let the words work in us, and hopefully through us, and back out of us.

Today’s Scripture Reading:

All this I have told you so that you will not go astray.

They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed,

a time is coming when everyone who kills you

will think he is offering service to God.

They will do such things because

they have not known the Father or me.

I have told you these things so that when their hour comes

you will remember that I warned you.

John 16:1-4

 

He may not have waved a red flag, but he might as well have...

 

Jesus warned his disciples of a time that was not going to be so pretty. He did this immediately after telling them a bunch of other important information. Remember from previous posts,  that we learned that Jesus stressed (in John 15) to his disciples the importance of abiding in him and KEEPing his commandments. He used an analogy, describing himself as the VINE and admonishing his disciple to abide in his love, keep his commandments, walk in his ways, to love one another. He did this for a very important reason- he wanted them to understand that it is only by doing these things that they would be able to withstand the difficulties that were inevitable in their futures.

The same goes for us. Unless we stick with Jesus and stick with each other- we’re in for a bumpier ride than if we follow his battle strategy.

Jesus’ battle strategy involves solidarity.

A friend of mine likes to use the game Red Rover as an analogy of what Christian unity and solidarity looks like.

She aptly describes a scenario in which, if elbows are not linked and locked tightly, a fatal “break” occurs and we are vulnerable.

That is why Christian love is a command, not an option.

We do it to survive and to thrive as individuals, but more importantly, it is through our unity and solidarity that the Gospel moves forward (even in the face of personal injury or death- as was the case for the disciples).

Today, as you go throughout your day, may you meditate on Jesus’ Red Flag warning that love should be the tie that binds us, and may you reflect on ways in which you play “Red Rover” with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Third Sunday of Lent: REST

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. ~Mark 12:29-31

Today is the Third Sunday of Lent, and it is not a day included in the “40 Count”. Every Sunday, we will pause to REST and REFLECT on what we have learned over the past week (in this case, four days). Today, we will continue to reflect upon the Primo Credo, (a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.) We have been meditating on it now for ten days and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday. We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years. We will take a “break” every Sunday through the Lenten period in order to REST. We will recite the SHEMA today and we will also spend time memorizing the passage below, which is a passage that we will be using in our continued discussion of the Shema.

Today’s Scripture Passage: Psalm 16:8-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) 8 I keep the LORD in mind always. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.

Today, as we reflect on the above scripture, we think about we have learned over the past week with regard to keeping, abiding, walking/talking, and loving.' Today, may you gain a deep understanding of how keeping The LORD in mind always, loving Him deeply and abiding in Him will lead you to a place of love for others that you could not achieve on your own. May you meditate on His abiding in you and how it is only through His persistent love toward you that you are able to abide in Him at all and therefore love others. May you rest in the knowledge that He is the one holding it all together.

Lent, Day 16: VINE

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. ~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Sixteenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo. We will be meditating on it over the period leading up to Resurrection (Easter) Sunday; and we will be trying to remember to recite it daily, once in the morning and once again in the evening. For over two weeks now, we have stressed the importance of intentionality; thinking, feeling, and meaning the words as we repeat them- not just hollowly reciting them. Our goal is to let the words work in us, and hopefully through us, and back out of us.

Today’s Scripture Reading: John 15:1-17, esp v. 5

I am the vine and you are the branches; If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; Apart from me, you can do nothing John 15:5

There is something poetic about the word “abide”. It brings to mind thoughts of safely and stability. These are concepts that are meaningful and necessary to an effective Christian walk. The actual word in the Greek text is “meno.” In chapter 15, John stresses the importance of believers abiding in Jesus by attributing the word “meno” to Jesus eleven times in this chapter. Interestingly, John utilizes the word twenty-seven times in his epistles (I, II, and III John). There must be significance to the concept and we can perhaps understand it if we take time to understand the point Jesus was making with the VINE analogy.

First, we need to read this passage and hear it with First Century Middle-Eastern ears (not 21st century American/Western ones). When Jesus used this analogy, the disciples were sure to have understood it in the context of “the vine” being Israel.  There are lots of passages in the Old Testament where the term vine is used for Israel, such as: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine to Israel was as symbolic as the bald eagle is to America. In fact, the vine was even put on some of the coins made by the Maccabees in the century BC. Additionally, this symbol was pominently displayed above the gate of the Temple- according to ancient historical accounts, including those of Josephus, there were golden vines and grape clusters as large as a man over the Temple gates.

To the people of Jesus’ day, the symbolism of this was similar to the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty- we can be quite sure that the symbolic significance would not have been missed on them. So, Jesus was not making a new analogy, per se, but he was attributing the symbolism differently- and that was what was so novel about what he says in John 15. When He says: “I AM the TRUE VINE”…that is one heck of a claim to be making! So here Jesus re-cast himself in the role of the true vine, making a clear statement that Israel as the vine was insufficient. He also re-casts the disciples (for they were Israelites/Jews) as branches.

Then, Jesus makes it clear that the branches have a responsibility. Johns uses the imperative verb “abide”- which indicates that direct and deliberate effort must be expended in order to maintain a close personal relationship to the true vine. Now, to be clear, we do not expend effort to abide in Christ, to gain salvation, or even to keep our salvation; we abide in Him because our fruitfulness as believers directly correlates to our intimacy with Jesus. Our Spiritual health and  our Christ-walk are inseparably connected (entwined and engrafted) to Him, and apart from our continued intimate connectedness to Him, we can do nothing…we cannot bear fruit.

It is important, also here to understand that Jesus spoke of “abiding” in two senses. He used it as a synonym for saving faith (6:56). However, He also used it to describe the intimate relationship that those who have exercised saving faith need to cultivate with God (8:31). All believers abide in Jesus in the first sense, but all do not abide in Him in the second sense (John 5:10; 1 John 3:24). It is in this second sense that Jesus spoke of abiding here (cf. vv. 9-10). He stressed the importance of believers abiding in Him by using the word meno (“abide”) three times in this verse.

In John 15:5, Jesus continues to stress the importance of believers abiding in Him (i.e., cultivating intimacy through loving obedience, 14:23; 15:10) to bear much fruit. So abide then has two distinct qualities or senses: the first is security (which includes, but is not limited to salvation); the second is a healthy, vibrant and flourishing intimate relationship.

I can think of nowhere else in scripture where the sense of security and healthy intimacy are captured than in the following scripture passage:

Psalm 16:8-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

8 I keep the LORD in mind always.

Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices; my body also rests securely.

It is clear from this passage that a life lived in “abide-ience” (under the Lordship of Christ) is hallmarked by…

-stability,

-contentment,

-joy, and

-security.

 

Today, as you reflect on your relationship With YHWH, may you experience and ever-growing sense of that unshakable confidence we have in and through the person of Jesus Christ.

Lent, Day 15: KEEP

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. ~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Fifteenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo. We will be meditating on it over the period leading up to Resurrection (Easter) Sunday; and we will be trying to remember to recite it daily, once in the morning and once again in the evening. For the last two plus weeks, we have stressed the importance of intentionality; thinking, feeling, and meaning the words as we repeat them- not just hollowly reciting them. Our goal is to let the words work in us, and hopefully through us, and back out of us.

Today’s Scripture Reading:

John 13:34

This is the Way I’ll Know You Love Me: Keep My Commandments (John 14:15)

(In other words: This is How I’ll know you love me-->If You Love One Another.)

This is the Way Others will know you are my disciples-->

If You Love One Another. (John 13:45)

 

Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear

the word of God and put it into practice." Luke 11:28 (New Living Translation, ©2007)


 It really is that simple.

Jesus doesn’t just call us to BELIEVE. He calls us to BE LIKE…

Jesus says:

Follow me…

Keep My Commands…

Love me…

Love one another…

Love your neighbor.

Being a Follower of Jesus involves your body,

not just your belief systems.

Today,

may you find ways to go beyond just believing in The Way of Jesus;

May you find ways to

KEEP

living The Way of Jesus...

Lent, Day 14: TALK

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Fourteenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo. We will be meditating on it over the period leading up to Resurrection (Easter) Sunday; and we will be trying to remember to recite it daily, once in the morning and once again in the evening. For the last two weeks, we have stressed the importance of intentionality; thinking, feeling, and meaning the words as we repeat them- not just hollowly reciting them. Our goal is to let the words work in us, and hopefully through us, and back out of us.

Remember, the “Jesus Creed” (Scot McKnight’s coined phrase) / The Primo Credo (my name for it) was taken from the scriptures of Jesus’ day- Deuteronomy 6: 4-9:

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

"TALK about them when you are along the road,

when you lie down, and when you get up…"

Aside from being profoundly beautiful and expressive poetry, this sentence bears significant meaning for the Christ-centered Life. These words give us powerful imagery of what an effective Faith Walk looks like.

“Our children,” of course, means our offspring, but I do not believe that it is limited to them. Jesus called Peter to a life that validated his Jesus-love through the nurture of his spiritual offspring (John 21:15-17). Interestingly, this passage interchanges several different Greek words for love- possibly emphasizing to the reader that love of God is prismatic in its expression. Additionally, we are told by Paul that “what really matters” is our faith (what we believe) expressing itself to others in love (Galatians 5:6). Finally, St. Francis of Assisi (Founder of the Franciscan order, 1181-1226) has been quoted as saying:

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

As a parent, I know that the job of raising my sons to believe and walk in the way of Jesus is extremely important. Further, I know that simply dragging them to church or putting them in Sunday school or in a Christian school setting will not be sufficient. Ask any young adult who has left the church and you will find that there is an amazingly common thread- they have observed hypocrisy. I believe there is only one way to mitigate hypocrisy- it is by being more intent on letting my life talk about my walk with Christ, than my talk.

So, “Impressing God’s laws on our children” can, in its most plain sense, be understood as a directive to teach our children about God and His laws, to give them instruction on the scriptures, etc. But in a broader reading of this verse, we can see that we are called to a discipleship program that includes instruction, but which also must include leading by example.

Today, may you meditate on God’s word to us, and may you TALK AND WALK a life that glorifies God.

MAY MY LIFE SPEAK

Speak I this day
…of the strong power of the Trinity.
…of the Three in One, the One in Three,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Son.
…of His Great Power to Transform Both You and Me.

Speak I of the Father,
Speak I of the Son,
Speak I of the Spirit,
Speak I of the Three in One.

God, and Spirit, and Jesus,
In My Life-Walk By Light of Day...
On My Life’s Path By Dark of Night...
Ever on My Heart,
Deeply in My Soul,
Always On My Mind,
Speak I of You with My Words and Life
That I Might Win the Fight.

©Tracy B. Dickerson, 2011

Lent Day 13: ICON

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Thirteenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo, a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.

We have been meditating on it now for twelve + days (becasue Sundays are not included in the 40-day Lent count) and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years, and today, we’re moving back toward talking about the key focus of this season for us: the Primo Credo and the Shema Yisrael.

The focus of our meditation will be on ICON. We will be discussing the concept of being an ICON- and will be exploring what being an “Image-Bearer of Christ” means in the context of a Shema-shaped Spirituality (one that commands love of God with heart, soul mind and strength).

We will be asking ourselves what it means to follow Jesus’ example of Shema-shaped Spirituality.

Following Jesus… We throw the phrase around an awful lot, but do we really stop to think about what this really means? Do we take time to count the cost, or to fully digest the implications of such a thing?

When I was young (and for a time, even when I was older, but not necessarily wiser) I thought that the idea of following Jesus began with a prayer, an intellectual assent…and pretty much ended there. But, tragically, my life didn’t really change. I continued to go to church and do all the things that I saw other people who had made this same affirmation a part of their lives do. (Note here an important word: same.) Same, same, same. I was the same as the others, I swam in the same culture, I hung out with the same kind of people. Truth is, I was the same old self. Self, self, self. This lack of transformation was due to the fact that while I was a believer in Jesus, I was not yet a follower of Jesus.As a mere believer of Jesus, I was missing a very important concept: Jesus was really different, and Jesus calls his followers to that same kind of life-changing difference. In fact, one might even say that the words “SAME” and “SELF” are truly four-letter words to him. Although we might have claimed this difference, I’m now not entirely convinced that we were. Truth be told- we really weren’t much different than those around us. We still worshipped the same cultural idols and still possessed the same values (in fact, it may be that those values actually possessed us). We were still self-absorbed and self-centered. Even our reductionistic conceptualization of salvation was rooted in this self-sustaining, self-preserving mindset.

A lot later in life, I became a Follower of Jesus… I learned that to truly follow Jesus, one has to actually love God the way Jesus does, wholeheartedly; one has to actually do the things Jesus does, like laying down His life for God’s mission; that one has to think in ways that Jesus thinks, which are often counterintuitive, paradoxical, counter-cultural, and frequently make very little sense to others; and finally, one has to love the people that Jesus loves with every fiber of one’s being- and that means a willingness to put our selves aside to be with, harbor, and redeem people whom others might think unsavory. Oh what a difference coming to understand this has made!

Jesus calls to us: “Follow me!” What he is demanding of us involves a complete giving over of everything to him. He calls us to even give over our right to our identities. We are called to take on the nature of Christ, to be in his image, to have his mind. Simply put- we are to die to ourselves and become ICONs of Jesus. Strangely enough, we don’t do this as any cosmic self-improvement scheme, either. Although improvement is a nice perk, the self gets put to the side, and any concept of ‘self-improvement’ appears lackluster in comparison to our true goal. In this endeavor of following Jesus, our chief aspiration is to become Christ’s image-bearers to the world for the improvement of the world and the ultimate glory of God. Ironically, then- that which is improved ultimately is an entire world, not merely one small part of it (me).

As I’ve moved from my understanding of the Gospel being one of microcosmic self-improvement and a plan for my own personal ‘salvation’ and eternal self-preservation, I’ve come to understand a more vibrant, abundant and more full Gospel whose aim is transformation, salvation, and redemption on a much larger scale. I’ve come to a transformational understanding that calls my previous conception of following Jesus into question.

Whereas my prior goal was to achieve eternal life by being conformed to an image of godliness, now I understand that my goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to shape me into the Image of Christ.

As I move from SELF to ICON, I can much more clearly see the difference that Jesus wants to make through transforming our lives to transforming the world…for His glory.

FOLLOW I THIS DAY

Follow I this day the Father,
Follow I this day the Son,
Guided by The Spirit, Follow I the Three in One.

God, and Spirit, and Jesus,
In Obedience Every Morning…

In Submission Every Night…
Replicate I with my heart,
Emulate I with my soul,
Imitate I with my mind;
Follow I with my might.

©Tracy B. Dickerson, 2011

Lent Day 12: LOVE

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:

the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Twelfth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo, a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.

We have been meditating on it now for eleven + days (today is day twelve. and we've had two Sundays that don't 'count' in there, as well) and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years, and today, we’re moving back toward talking about the key focus of this season for us: the Primo Credo and the Shema Yisrael.

The focus of our meditation will be on LOVE. What does love mean in the context of the Primo Credo? This is a multi-faceted answer, but we will start with the first kind of love that we experience when we begin a relationship with The Lord.

Emotional…Passionate…Life-changing…All-encompassing…

The beginnings of relationships are often hallmarked by this kind of crazy, overpowering passion. The lover cannot keep from talking about and thinking about the object of their affection. No matter what they are doing, their thoughts are on one thing…This is the state of heart God wants us to model with regard to loving Him-that of an Ardent Lover. This is reflected in today’s scripture passage.

Today’s Scripture Passage:

Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home

 and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down

and when you get up.

Deuteronomy 6:7

(New International Version)

The medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides, wrote that the language of the first paragraph of the Shema is best understood through the near-universal experience of falling in love, the author sees the remaining two paragraphs as the love that follows "falling in love."

"What is the love of God that is appropriate?

It is to love God with an exceedingly strong love until one's soul is tied to the love of God.

One should be in a continuous rapture, like a person who is 'lovesick,'

whose thoughts cannot turn from his love for a particular woman.

He is preoccupied with her at all times, whether he is sitting or standing,

 whether he is eating or drinking.

Even more intense should the love of God be in the hearts of those who love him,

possessing them always as we are commanded

'with all your heart and with all your soul' (Deuteronomy 6:5).

This is what Solomon expressed allegorically 'for I am sick with love' (Song of Songs 2:5),

 and indeed, the entire Song of Songs is a parable for this concept."

-Maimonides, Laws of Repentance, 10:3

Today, may your thoughts be on cultivating a relationship with God that is characterized by this kind of passionate, ardent love.

Lent Day 11: CELT

Today, we're breaking away from our regular format because it's a holiday...in fact- it's in honor of one of my favorite people ever...St. Patrick. Yeah, I gotta admit- he's one of my "faves". That said, I'm giving him a full day of "press" today.

A bit about the life of Maewynn Succit (St. Patrick): He utilized and perfected "relational evangelism" in which the seekers among the Celts (the indiginenous people of The Emerald Isle)were first invited to enter into community, and then they eventually converted; as opposed to "conversion evangelism" which requires a conversion experience prior to a person fully being accepted into the community.

Which is better, do you think? Patrick's way of Belong, then Believe or the standard way of evangelism that demands a person to Believe, before You Can Belong?

Which did Jesus use?

Second Sunday of Lent:

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:

the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

~Mark 12:29-31

Today is the Second Sunday of Lent, and it is not a day included in the “40 Count”. Every Sunday, we will pause to REST and REFLECT on what we have learned over the past week. Today, we will continue to reflect upon the Primo Credo, (a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.)

We have been meditating on it now for ten days and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years.

We will take a “break” every Sunday through the Lenten period in order to REST. We will recite the SHEMA today and we will also spend time memorizing the passage below, which is a passage that we will be using in our continued discussion of the Shema.

Today’s Scripture Passages:

Psalm 16:8-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

8 I keep the LORD in mind always.

Because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

9 Therefore my heart is glad,

and my spirit rejoices;

my body also rests securely.

Lent day 10: FAIL

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God, the Lord is one;
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.
The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.
~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Tenth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo, a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.

We have been meditating on it now for nine days (today is day ten) and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years.

Yesterday, we talked about the TESTS we often go through in life; how Jesus went through TESTS, also and passed them, largely as a testimony to His incredible knowledge of and appropriate use of scripture against The Enemy. We discussed the SHEMA and how Jesus used it and the scripture passage that it is plucked from during his time of TESTing during those Forty Days in the desert. We also talked about how, during Lent, we simulate TESTS (such as practicing disciplines of prayer, recitation and self-denial) for Forty Days in order to put us in a somber and penitent frame of mind as we remind ourselves of the tests Jesus went through to atone for us.

Today’s Scripture Passages:

Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

“Failure is not an option” is a phrase that sometimes makes me do a double-take. I get that it is meant to convey a driven perseverance that won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. As Christians, it is good for us to have this attitude, for we are reminded by scripture that “If God is for us who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31); and also that Jesus is “able to keep [us] from falling” (Jude 1:24). In Christ, we can claim victory over Satan and his lies.

But, I’d also like to propose that it is an indisputable truth that, at times, we fail. On one hand,failure is not an option…on the other hand, it is a fact of life. As Christians, we live within this odd tension of two seemingly opposite ideas. So, does that mean that scripture is lying, or what? Well of course not. But when scripture talks about failure, it is terms of either temporary or ultimate. We may have temporary setbacks, but if we persevere, we will experience ultimate success.

No other passage puts it better, in my opinion, than Proverbs 24:16:

“Even if good people fall seven times, they will get back up.
But when trouble strikes the wicked, that's the end of them.”

So, with the help of Christ, we make every effort to stand strong against Satan; but if we fail, by Christ’s strength we rise again. Today, as you approach the ¼ mark into Lent, you may have done poorly with the commitments that you made. You may have failed, you may have fallen…It’s okay. Get back up and try again!

Prayer:

Jude 1:24-25
To him who is able to keep you from falling
and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages now and forevermore! Amen.

Lent Day Nine: TEST

Recite the Primo Credo Today in the Morning and in the Evening:

Hear, O Israel:

the Lord our God, the Lord is one;

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

~Mark 12:29-31

Today, on the Ninth Day of Lent, we continue to discuss the Primo Credo, a variation of the Hebrew Shema Yisrael that Jesus himself told us was the bedrock of our entire belief system.

We have been meditating on it now for eight days (today is day nine) and will continue to do so until Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.

We have been reciting it every morning and every evening, as faithful Followers of YHWH have been doing for thousands of years.

Today’s Scripture Passages:

Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 4:1-13 and Luke 4:1-13 (pay close attention to the footnotes of Matthew and Luke)

Lent is a time of introspection and penitence during the forty days before Resurrection Sunday. During this Holy Season, we take the time to not only look inward, but to look outward and focus on God’s ongoing reconciliatory work in the world.

The forty days of Lent are symbolic of the forty days that Christ spent in the desert, fasting and praying and being tempted by Satan. The forty day period that Christ spent in the desert is also significant, in that it represents the forty years that the Israelites wandered and were tested in the desert. In both of these ‘desert scenarios’ there were trials involving physical need/provision, concern for physical harm, and major moral dilemmas (especially with regard to who to worship).

During Lent, we take the time to contemplate that the trials commonly associated with “flesh-life" have been modeled and mastered by God Himself through Christ Jesus. It’s not only a beautiful thought, but a tremendous comfort to know that God’s Son did not come into the world as an official ambassador, with privileges, perks, and diplomatic immunity; but He came as a full-fledged citizen who was subject to the same physical limitations, needs, and vulnerabilities that we are. He leads us like a shepherd, and by example. We can truly say that we have a God who “gets” us!

Jesus is “Our Daily Bread,” but we, as humans, have the propensity to gnaw on the stale crust of “Our Daily Dread,” instead. Let me explain what I mean.

We are aware that the Powers and Principalities of Man (our societies) are set up to promise the provision of physical needs (such as food), protection from harm, and preservation of moral values. We recognize that there are significant limitations to the protection that the Powers and Principalities of Man can offer us, yet we prefer the imperfect promise we know to the perfect Promise we don’t know…hence the dread. We are not sure where to put our trust, and so we straddle the fence between the World and God’s provision. The Israelites experienced this very dilemma after leaving Egypt, they had not been well cared for under Pharaoh’s care, yet when in the desert, they longed for the “discomforts of home.” Sound familiar?

In the Exodus wanderings, as the people transitioned their allegiances from Human principalities and powers to Yahweh, they underwent several tests: 1) the test to trust God for provision; 2) the test to turn to God in obedience, in the face of personal injury; and 3) the test to totally surrender to God, and worship Him alone. Sadly, they failed miserably each time. We don’t fare much better than they when we face the same dilemma.

As part of the atonement work created for Jesus to do, three scenarios occurred that re-created the Israelites’ desert trials: Jesus was tempted to trust God for provision; Jesus was tempted to turn to God in obedience, despite fear of personal injury; and Jesus was tested with regard to total surrender- would He worship god, or choose to be worshipped? Yet Jesus succeeded triumphantly!

What was the difference? What was Jesus’ secret? Well, we could (and often do…I know this is how my though pattern invariably goes…) just blow off the significance of Jesus’ desert experience by thinking, “Well, he was god, so it was easy for him to do those things.” But we forget, thereby diminishing his efforts, that Jesus was 100% man and that His suffering in the desert was just as difficult for Him as it would be for you or me. If it wasn’t- then the event wouldn’t really matter. But it does matter.

So, as a 100% human (capable of failure) - how did Jesus bar Joseph resist the devil’s wiles? We need to find out, because the answer will be immeasurable valuable to us. Part of the answer is in The Shema and the scriptures surrounding it.

Yesterday, we discussed meditation on scripture has the capacity to create a fused connection to The Word of God. When we meditate on scripture, we become wiser and gain insight, and even have the ability to have victory over those things which oppose us (enemies, and the like). (See Psalm 119: 97-99) Jesus knew this and did it. We’ve already discussed that, as a faithful and devout Jew, Jesus recited the Shema at a minimum of twice a day. But we know that Jesus didn’t hollowly recite or merely pay lip-service to the Shema. We know that he actually did what the Shema commands- he meditated on it, and thereby “bound” the scriptures to himself. This is how we know…

The sixth chapter of Deuteronomy is without dispute one of the most important passages of scripture for the Jewish people. From it comes The Great Shema. In the fourth chapters of both Matthew and Luke, we see Jesus quoting from this particular passage of scripture as He stood against Satan’s temptations in the desert. As Satan attempted to undermine Jesus’ response to God’s call on his life, Jesus rebutted Satan’s taunts by twice quoting from this passage. At one point, Jesus then quotes the context of two verses from Deuteronomy, 6:13 and 10:20, “…for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Jesus’ response reflects the command Deuteronomy 6:4-5, called by the Jews, the Shema: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Later, as we have already discussed, when Jesus was tested by a Pharisee and asked which the greatest commandment was He quoted the Shema. (Mark 12:29) The text of Deuteronomy 6 is clearly on that Jesus held close to his heart- Jesus did not merely quote the Shema; He used it in context and applied it, even to the point of using to rebuke a direct temptation. We should emulate Our Lord and do likewise.

Often, in our lives, we find ourselves in our own unique “desert” of trial, temptation, and/or tribulation. We should expect that life will bring to us times like this. We are only able to respond appropriately to difficult times in our lives in a God-honoring way if we first “prep” ourselves by rehearsing our responses and memorizing scripture. (In theological terms, this is called: “girding your loins.”)

This is one of the purposes for doing what we do at Lent. During Lent we re-create/synthesize a “desert” experience by causing ourselves to address the pertinent issues of trust, obedience, and surrender though prayer, fasting, scripture memorization, and other forms of spiritual discipline. These disciplines train us how to react during adversity and remind us what it feels like to experience adversity. (It’s “Adversity Training” if you will!)

We re-create the “test” only to remind ourselves what it must have felt like to take it. For most of use are ‘kinetic’ and ‘experiential’ learners and we better understand when we “do’ versus when we ‘hear” a lesson. Just as Christ entered into our suffering world to understand and save us, so too, we enter into His suffering in order to more deeply understand His salvation of the world.

This Ninth Day of Lent, may you persevere under trial and pass the test. May you remember that Satan may test us, but God “gets” us.