The Joy of “Basking in the SON”

Ahhhh. Summertime is here at last.

Fresh air, birds singing, blue skies, and of course… SUNSHINE!

With the season of cookouts, pool parties and beach vacations come plenty of motivation to work on your tan! 

Of course, nothing ruins fun-in-the-sun like the over-indulgence that leads to burned buns or cancer cells, so lubing up generously with sunscreen is a must. However, summer would not be the same without leaning back in a big lounge chair and taking in some warm and wonderful RAYS.

Have you ever thought about what is really happening as you are “working” for that perfect golden bronze?

The only “work” that is actually involved is your exposure to the energy and light of the sun.  You don’t have to help the sun change your skin color or worry that it won’t get the job done. You simply RELAX and BASK in its delightful warmth; the transformative result is guaranteed.

In much the same way, your life in Christ is not about what YOU DO, but what HE DOES.

If you don’t understand this, you will consistently block your own progress by TRYING too hard. The key to success is learning to get out of His way and let Him do His job by LETTING GO and LOOKING UP.

When you do this, you will realize not only that He WANTS to shine on you, (Ephesians 5:14), but that when you rightly position yourself to receive His power and light, you become illuminated yourself (Ephesians 5:13)! This means He is able to SHINE THROUGH YOU in a way that glorifies God while at the same time renewing, refreshing, and restoring your own soul. (Matthew 5:48)

Remember, Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12); It is only in His light that we see light (Psalm 36:9); apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Since He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:1), we honor Him best not by striving or straining to make things happen, but by simply “abiding in Him.”

In other words, your primary work is to “be the branch.”

A branch abides in the vine—it doesn’t have any life or strength of its own. If it is separated from the vine, it will wither and die, and FAST. It is the VINE that provides EVERYTHING the branch needs to live and flourish. 

For this reason, “being the branch” is equivalent to “basking in the Son” or practicing the presence of God in Christ Jesus. When this crucial vine and branch relationship is functioning as it should, it’s a beautiful picture of REST, PEACE, and glorious JOY.  

As King David said of intimate closeness with God, “In your presence is the fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11)

Just thinking of God and His many attributes gives you the assurance you can rest securely in His arms. He is a loving Father who has already provided you, His child, with everything you need for life and godliness; you just have to position yourself to RECEIVE (2 Peter 1:3)!

You BASK. He Brings. 

Your life is energized, reinvigorated, and flooded with light. 

That’s a pretty sweet deal.

So, RELAX! Soak up the Son! Let His light envelop your soul.

The moment you feel stress, strain, or worry creeping into your heart, RING THE ALARM!  You are no longer abiding, resting, or trusting. Perfect peace in Him is always attainable, but it is dependent entirely on your FOCUS. (Isaiah 26:3)

So, choose your thoughts wisely and CUT OFF EVERY NEGATIVE THOUGHT as quickly as it comes. Lean back into your mental and spiritual “easy chair”. Look up and see the light, love, and beauty of the Son—Jesus.

His invitation is clear: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-30)

In other words, bask in the SON!

Victory over Destructive Thoughts

In the battle of the mind, every nano-second counts. Rejecting wrong thoughts effectively is a discipline that requires practice and persistence to master.

Sometimes a simple analogy from the world we live in that brings up a strong mental image can be very helpful. Who better to model the art of swift, unforgiving and absolute rejection than the entertainment industry? This is one place where popular culture can teach us a thing or two about how to deal with the enemy.

I don’t know about you, but my family loves to watch music and talent competitions such as American Idol and America’s Got Talent. It’s both exhilarating and crushing to watch the contestants struggle to fulfill their dreams of the spotlight. While watching can be very entertaining, it can also be like witnessing a terrible accident; you can hardly stand to watch for the horror, but you have a hard time pulling your eyes away. There are the times you aren’t sure which way things are going to go, when the judges listen for a while without interrupting. But the biggest dramas come when, only a few seconds into the performance, before the contestant has had a chance to utter even a few syllables or dance a few steps, a HUGE RED X with screeching BUZZER sound lights up the SCREEN.

NOPE! The greatest humiliation and rejection of all comes whenever someone gets 3 BIG RED Xs back to back… BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ! When this happens, the message given from the powers that be is crystal clear: You are OUT. No arguments. No quarrels. No second chances. You’re DONE. C’ya!

Devastated, rejected and completely dismissed before having a chance to even engage—it’s not a great scenario for any wanna-be performer, but is a potentially game-changing one when applied to the battle for the mind. Picture the same scene, but in relation to you and your thought life. You are like the judge, and the thoughts that come into your mind are like the contestants hoping to gain entry to the next level of acceptance. Just like the judges have the power and authority to eject someone from the stage, you can do the same with any thought that comes your way.

Each thought can either be allowed to enter, thus further engaging your mind, heart, will, and emotions OR it can be flatly refused—blocked from access.

With the power of the Holy Spirit, you can discern whether each thought is from God or from somewhere else (such as your human mind or an enemy “plant”). There are times when it’s difficult to know for sure where the thought is from, and life guided by the Spirit includes becoming more and more adept at knowing the difference. But there are also times when there is no question the thought or emotion that is bubbling up through your being is NOT from God and therefore is BAD NEWS—suitable ONLY for the mental incinerator. The sooner you train yourself to have no mercy to such thoughts, the sooner you will start experiencing increasing victory in mind renewal, which will ultimately empower your triumph in other arenas too. However, If you allow any out-of-place thought to keep coming (even for a few seconds) instead of BUZZING it and EVICTING it immediately, it will engage. Whenever a thought actually engages your mind, it is getting a grip—a hold. That’s when it starts capturing your imagination, and a captured imagination means the enemy has made it past the guards of your heart; (Proverbs 4:23) Once destructive thoughts penetrate this barrier, they are much harder to expel. It’s like the enemy capturing a beachhead on a battlefield. From that position an attack can be mounted with great force. However, just as easily, the intruding thought can be drowned before reaching the sandy shore. It’s key to realize, the outcome is ENTIRELY UP TO YOU.

Indeed your mind operates very much like the TV talent show, with you in control of the buzzers. So when you sense ANYTHING coming that doesn’t line up with God’s word, it’s time for an IMMEDIATE, RUTHLESS, and SINGLE-MINDED VETO!

When you do, you will be on your way to mastering one of the most powerful spiritual weapons given to any follower of Christ: “taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

THIS ONE THING DO I SEEK A PRAYER and LIFE MOTTO for 2022 and BEYOND

What is your ONE THING?

It’s hard to believe a new year is already upon us! It’s the perfect time for reflection—a time for looking back as well as looking forward. Tis the season of hopes, dreams, resolutions and as a christian—prayers.

If someone were to ask you today, “What is your biggest request at God’s throne as we begin 2022?”, what would you say? What pops into your mind as being THE THING—what you desire most?

Your answer to this question says a great deal about you—it reveals much about what you believe is most important. We all have a litany of desires as well as basic needs. However, deep down, there is something that you believe will fulfill the deepest hunger in your heart—something you think will satisfy you and bring you contentment, fulfillment, and peace.

Of course, many of the things we often seek just can’t get the job done. We can reach the goals we have set only to suffer the crushing disappointment that comes when we discover they weren’t able to deliver. We run after many things that just don’t satisfy in the way we had hoped. Even worse, we can spend our whole lives chasing after something that will actually destroy us. “There is way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

Because we will never find rest, peace and abundant life apart from seeking the right “ONE THING, “ we’d better be CRYSTAL CLEAR what it is. If we aren’t, when we approach God’s throne, we will “ask amiss”.

Thankfully, because we are in Christ, we can be SURE of the right ONE THING.

When Jesus was asked what the most important thing was, He was very clear:
“
You shall love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37).

Many other scriptures reinforce this pursuit of God as the highest priority:
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

“…what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

Great Christians throughout church history have also echoed the same principle.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.’” (St. Augustine)

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

Yes, the most important thing is INTIMACY WITH GOD.

This is the ONE THING we should seek above all else. David, a man after God’s own heart, modeled this for us:

“One thingI ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4)

It is key to realize that when David wrote this psalm, he was surrounded by enemies.

He was in great distress in the circumstances of his life, and yet his primary (CHIEF) request was not for God to destroy his enemies, but more importantly, for God to allow Him MORE ACCESS—MORE CLOSENESS.

He wanted MOST to seek God, dwell with Him, and gaze on His beauty for the rest of his days.

David was literally OBSESSED with drawing near to God, because he knew it was HERE alone that he would find refreshment and rest.

“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)

“In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength…” (Isaiah 45:24)

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1)

He knew that if his first priority was intimacy with God, EVERYTHING ELSE he needed would come. He realized that peace, strength, deliverance and all necessary provision would flow freely as long as He kept His focus on God.

“Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” (Psalm 34:5)

“I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 16:8)

“How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” (Psalm 36:7-9)

As we start this new semester, we will dig more deeply into this key principle. We will come to see the importance of developing a close relationship with God through our prayer life as a PRIORITY. As we do, let us pray for God to
open our eyes, ears, hearts and minds to this crucial truth—Intimacy with God should be our “ONE THING.”

Indeed, it is from this very place of intimacy, where we are abiding with Him (living securely as branches on His glorious vine), that our prayers will be able to MOVE MOUNTAINS. (John 15:5-7)

Think about it. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.“ (John 15:5) We often think of this verse as it relates to working through His power in us and not through the flesh, and this is true and very important, but we need to see how it all fits together. When we do, we see that it is this closeness that empowers our fruitfulness in every way, especially in our prayer life! After all, just 3 verses later, Jesus says something absolutely incredible: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7)

As for me, this is one of those verses that blows my mind and makes me realize I am in pre-school about certain things. I have not yet tapped in completely to what is available, not by a long shot, but one thing is sure: I WANT TO, and I’m closer today than I used to be.

Even a taste of true intimacy with God has been enough to make me want more and more. What about you?

Overall, we need to see that God surely delights in answering the prayers of His children, but He knows that what
we actually need the MOST is Him. The highest and best God can give us is Himself.

When we have Him, we have everything. And He, in turn, wants ALL OF US.

If we seek HIM above all else, allowing Him to draw us close and dwell with us, we will absolutely live as we were intended to live—with yielded, whole, joyful hearts, basking in God’s perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3) (Psalm 16:11)

May the Lord help each of us to approach His throne with a heart that longs for THIS ONE THING—closeness to Him.

God’s richest blessings to you all!

I’ll have the fruit, please.

“Words kill.  Words give life. They are either poison, or fruit, you choose.” (Proverbs 18:21, The Message)

Pretty heavy stuff when you think about it.

Like me, you may be more familiar with the translation I grew up with (NIV):

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Power of LIFE and DEATH?

Like I said – pretty heavy.

I mean, are words by THEMSELVES really all that powerful? Somewhere deep down I think we all know the answer is YES.

Read more about Rebecca’s story

I often think of the girl from Florida that threw herself from a water tower a few years back after being horribly bullied (cyber and otherwise) by a group of the ULTIMATE, ‘mean girls’.  For months, they they shelled out words like, “you should just kill yourself,” and “you should drink bleach and die.”

If you are like me, some tragedies just really hit you hard in the gut. Her story, 12-year old Rebecca Sedwick from Sebring, Florida – did that to me.

I remember when it happened, I couldn’t stop thinking about that poor girl – agonizing about her mother’s grief, about her pain that wasn’t able to find a voice.  I wondered if she tried for a while to get back up, to get past all those evil intentions. At some point she must’ve started to BELIEVE those horrible words, and just given in.  Then POOF, her short life was just GONE.

I wondered what could’ve happened if someone had reached her in time?  What if someone had pulled her aside and spoken words of LIFE into her heart?

“You are a BEAUTIFUL child of GOD. You are created for a wonderful purpose and you are defined by what GOD says about you, NEVER by those other voices.  NO, those are LIES!  There is HOPE, LIGHT, PEACE, and PROMISE to be had for your life; and NO ONE, especially not a pack of mean girls with hatred in their hearts, can ever snatch it from you!

If only someone had been able to see. If they had only acted while there was still time.

But they didn’t.  Tragic indeed.

So I pondered and agonized for a while until I realized the most obvious truth of all.

Her story and others like it are the wakeup call that never stops ringing, because there are Rebeccas all around right now – waiting, needing, hoping to be rescued from words of death.

They live next to us, work with us, serve us our coffee…  They’re right here, perhaps just moments or days away from a possibly disastrous outcome if they aren’t yanked back from the abyss. Given healing words of LIFE and TRUTH, and eventually enough to lead them to experience that life-giving fountain from the source Himself – with a supply that can NEVER be taken from them, not through any storm or conflict.

Thinking about Rebecca, it was only one of many times that I have known deeply I never again wish to use my words to hurt.  (Oh, don’t get me wrong friends, there have been plenty of times – lashing out in anger, pride, bitterness).  I have unleashed the dark, killing power of the tongue with the best of them.

I’m not proud, nope; but although I still stumble, things are very different now — in ways I could never have guessed.

I’m thankful for a God who has taught me to see I can’t change on my own, but that I can BE changed by allowing His light to shine THROUGH me.

I’m thankful for a God who has placed in me (for many moons now) a deep desire to spread ENCOURAGEMENT, JOY, and PEACE into this dying world – A mission that starts in my own home and hopefully expands outward until as many people that can be touched by this single soul are reached, and even changed.

A bold and lofty mission for sure, but then again — ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.

And as long as we have breath, theres STILL time to make a difference.

With that truth in mind, I launch into this new year with a new and improved mission to:

– ALWAYS use my words for LIFE – never for death;
– SPREAD those words of life into the world by any means possible; and
– BECOME in word and deed, the actualization of a concept  that was born in my heart a few years ago, an “Encourager for Christ.”

Welcome to my Encouragers for Christ blog.

I hope you will read along as I shed more light about this personal mission in future posts, but until then, may God fill your heart with light, peace, and joy.

Blessings to you and yours.