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The snow is gently swirling down outside my window this morning and I’m a little mesmerized by the magic of it.

The weather outside tells me that Thanksgiving and Christmas are fast approaching and I couldn’t be more excited. I really do love the holiday season, but I admit that sometimes it can get a little busy and even chaotic.

If you tend to stress out a little more in the holiday season, whether it’s because of all the activities on the calendar or because of family drama (or both), keep reading for a few ideas on how to actually enjoy the holidays instead of merely enduring them.

My first idea is to create a “Thankful Trivet.” I made mine a few years ago out of a simple round cork trivet from IKEA (3 to a pack), some river stones from the dollar store, a few metallic pens and some glue.

It was a fun craft to do with family members as we wrote down one thing we were thankful for on each stone. Then we laid out the stones on each of our trivets and glued them in place. Each year I bring it out, set it on the table and re-read what I wrote on the stones. Watch my video above if you’d like to see what it looks like.

The Thankful Trivet was an inexpensive project but brings value year after year.

My second idea for a way that we can be radiant in the midst of the holiday chaos is to acknowledge not just what we are thankful for, but to Whom we are thankful.

If you read Psalms 107 and 118, you’ll see the phrase “give thanks to the Lord,” which helps us remember that God is the source of everything for which we are thankful.

One way to cultivate this attitude of gratitude is to make a Thankful Tree on your wall. I used some brown packing paper I’d received in a package last month. After scrunching it up, I attached it to the wall to create a trunk and branches. Then, using some fall-colored construction paper, I cut out some leaves.

Each day, I ask my family things for which they can thank the Lord. We’ve had some especially interesting answers from our 4-year-old, which include, chocolate (he is my son 🙂 ), pizza, and even slime. Lol.

However, he said he was also thankful that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. I think that means we are doing something right as parents! When it was just the slime and the pizza I was beginning to wonder. Lol.

I write the things for which we are thankful on the leaves and put them on the tree. It’s a wonderful, daily, visual reminder of all that the Lord has done for us and to Whom we are grateful.

My third idea comes from Brennan Manning’s book, The Signature of Jesus. He writes, “The Spirit of Jesus provides a way for us to live on the surface and out of the depths at the same time. On the surface we can think, dialogue, plan, and be fully present to the demands of the daily routine. Simultaneously and deeply within, we can be in prayer, adoration, thanksgiving, and attentiveness to the Spirit.”

He goes on to say, “The secret places of the heart become a sanctuary of praise in the noisy playpen of the marketplace.” I changed that in my mind to say, “…in the playpen of my house.” 🙂

“What masters of the interior life recommend is the discipline of ‘centering down’ throughout the day–a quiet, persistent turning to God while driving, cooking, conversing, writing, and so on.”

I love this idea! Brother Lawrence called it the “practice of the presence of God.”

It is so helpful in the midst of the crazy, the chaotic, the loud, the dysfunctional, to re-focus yourself and your mind on Jesus. It helps us re-frame and re-center–to center down.

If you are dreading the family drama this holiday season, or you just want to constantly keep your thoughts on Jesus, then center-down my friend, center-down.

I believe that practice, that disciple, will also help us stay radiant.

I would love to hear your comments on this idea or on how you cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Please share below.

In the meantime, I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Let us go be radiant this week!

It had been sitting on my night stand for months, just gathering dust, until I felt a little nudge to go pick it up, open it and begin reading. And I am so glad I did!

The book I’m referring to is called, The Signature of Jesus, and I knew almost nothing about it. However, I was familiar with the author, Brennan Manning and remember having read another book he’d written a number of years ago entitled, The Ragamuffin Gospel.

This book is a follow-up to that one, though both stand-alone. Even if some of the examples are a bit dated, the realities and principles are timeless.

Can I just say that I’ve been devouring The Signature of Jesus? When I started reading it, I had no idea how much it would tie into what I’ve been posting lately about the topic of discipleship.

In the introductory portion of the book, Manning asks the million dollar question:  “Are you called to a life of radical discipleship?”

When I think of the concept of “radical discipleship,” I envision something extreme. I picture it as an all-in kind of attitude; no holds barred. Do anything, go anywhere, give it all up for Jesus. 

But is that what all Christ-followers are all called to? Manning notes, “What Jesus longs to see in radical disciples is what he saw in little children:  a spirit of sheer receptivity, utter dependence, and radical reliance on the power and mercy and grace of God mediated through the Spirit of Christ.”

One might think that we are all called to “radical discipleship,” but what I found rather surprising, is that Manning does not presume that all are called. In fact, he actually gives Scriptural examples of people who were NOT called.

“Not everyone is called like the rich young man to the radical renunciation of literally everything (see Mark 10:17-30).” While I agree with Manning that not all are called to give up everything like the rich young man, I also know that Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 16:24, that “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”

As Christ-followers, we are called to a life of self-denial and sacrifice. However, when it comes to what Jesus wants from each of us, perhaps therein lies what we might consider an individual call.

If you think of different encounters Jesus had with people, His interaction with them was unique. Think about the time when Jesus healed the demon-possessed man in Mark 5 and afterward the man begged to go with him. You would think Jesus would have said, “yes! Come with me!” But he didn’t. Instead, Jesus had another calling for the man. Jesus said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:18-19).

Manning writes, “Apparently, this man was not called to radical discipleship. Yet he was called, as we are called, to listen attentively to God’s first word to us.”

Even though the man was called to stay, he still had a vital role to play and a way to advance God’s kingdom. He was told to tell his family two things:  1) how much the Lord had done for him and, 2) how He had mercy on him. Isn’t that fascinating? I wonder how big that man’s family was and what kind of influence they might have had on those around them. I have a feeling it was quite significant.

If you feel like you were willing to “go” with Jesus but He wanted you to “stay,” have you determined what He wants you to do where you are? If not, maybe one way would be, like the man who was healed, to share with others how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.

Whether or not we’ve been called to be disciples right where we are, or half-way around the world, I believe God desires to use us to further the advancement of His kingdom. One way we can do that is to testify to what He has done in our lives.

Some of us my not feel well-equipped or even verbally courageous to do that, but perhaps the power of the Holy Spirit could give us the voice and courage we need, just as He did for the disciples. (See Acts 1:8).

If you are wondering whether or not God has called you to radical discipleship, Manning says that you will need both honesty and discernment. Why not spend some time in prayer, asking God what radical discipleship might look like in your life if you’re not already engaged in it.

If we find that we are indeed called to it, there are a couple of key things that we will need to put it into practice…come back soon to find out what they are.

Do you think you are called to radical discipleship? Why or why not? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please comment below.

Until next time, let us go be radiant as we share with others what God has done for us and how He has had mercy on us.

 

 

 

 

Hello again friends. I feel like it’s been a while. Though I try to post weekly, I just wasn’t up for writing last week because I was on the tail-end of the stomach flu. Ugh. It hit three out of four in our household (including the 18-month-old) and suffice it to say, with fevers up to 103 degrees, it was a rough week. I’m sure you can imagine. Thankfully, we are all just about back to normal.

In my last post, The Buts and What-ifs of Discipleship, I shared a theory I have about the topic of discipleship. My hunch is, while many believers would say they agree that they should make disciples, they may also have questions about the how part of it and could even feel ill-equipped. Others just might not know where to start, and as a result, they haven’t yet made discipleship a priority.

If that describes you, or someone you know, I’d love to share some ideas from Jesus’ life and ministry as well as my own personal experience.

My hope is that we would intentionally and actively pursue a lifestyle of discipleship for the purpose of spiritual growth and ultimately, to advance the truth and heart of the Gospel.

I know discipleship can sound daunting. At least, it did to me. My first experience with discipling someone was shortly after I accepted Christ as a teenager. I would meet weekly with a friend of mine from school and we went through little booklets that were designed to help us know and understand the fundamentals of our faith.

To be totally honest, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never been discipled, so I didn’t know if I was doing it “right” or not.

Years later, when I lived and served in Costa Rica, I began to understand discipleship at a whole new level. My team leader regularly spent time with my roommate and I, studying the life of Christ. As we did so, we started to see how He called His disciples, spent time with them and ultimately trained them to go out into the world after His death and resurrection.

Whatever we learned, we would then share with the girls we were discipling. Those girls would then share it with girls they were discipling. Multiplication.

If you want to see discipleship modeled, you can’t go wrong reading through the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Note how Jesus invited specific men to “come and follow me,” (Mt. 4:19). Note also that later, we read in Luke 6:12, Jesus spent the night praying to God before choosing the twelve apostles.

As you consider making discipleship a part of your life (if you’re not already discipling people), the best thing you can do is pray. Ask God to bring to mind a person or a couple of people with whom you can begin a formal discipleship relationship.

I say “formal,” because the kind of discipleship I’m referring to is going to require some commitment, not just on your part, but on the part of the person you are discipling.

Some people would define discipleship a little more broadly and see it happening in a more organic, circumstantial kind of way. For example, maybe you have someone in your life who prays regularly for you, contacts you often to see how you are doing, and speaks words of wisdom into your life. That person is investing in you, and their impact in your life is truly valuable.

However, for “formal” discipleship, I would include a few other things:  1) time studying the Word together, 2) regular and consistent time together, 3) meeting for the purpose of growth and multiplication.

When we look at how Jesus spent time with the disciples, we see that he spent time teaching them (Luke 11:1). Sometimes that teaching was actually a better way of understanding something they had already been taught (Mt. 5:21-23).

Jesus spent a ton of time with the disciples. They traveled together (Lk. 8:22), ate together (Mt. 26), and experienced the miraculous together (Mt. 17). They did life together and in so doing, the disciples were able to learn, grow and later to share what they learned with others.

If you want a simple step-by-step guide to getting started with discipleship, here’s what I would suggest:

1. Pray that God would bring to mind the name of one person you could approach about starting a formal discipleship relationship.
2. Approach that person and ask if she would want to get together regularly for the purpose of mutual spiritual growth. This will include time to share one another’s joys and burdens, time to pray and time to be in the Word.
3. When the person says yes, set a time to meet (ideally weekly).
4.  For your first meeting (maybe at a coffee shop or a good place where you can chat freely), talk through the idea of a mutual commitment to meeting regularly, praying for one another and keeping confidential that which is shared between you. Have the person self-assess where they are spiritually and determine if it would be best to start with the fundamentals of the faith or if there is a particular book of the Bible they’d like to study with you.
5. Bring a notebook where you can write down prayer requests and praises and where you can write notes of things you might want to share.
6. Trust that God is going to use these divine appointments to help both of you grow spiritually.

Don’t let excuses stop you. Give it a try and see what God does. You don’t have to be formally trained in Theology. You don’t have to have the gift of teaching. You don’t have to be an extrovert. Be who God made you to be and know that’s enough 🙂 He will be with you!

I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below.

Until next time, let us go be radiant this week!

 

 

 

 

Pastors preach on a passage out of Matthew 28, often referred to as, The Great Commission. They charge their parishioners, as Jesus did the disciples, to go and make disciples!

When some people hear the admonishment to go and make disciples, they might mentally assent to it. Theoretically, it sounds good. Theologically it sounds even better. After all, discipleship has played a catalytic role in the development and growth of the Church around the world.  So, we should continue on in that same vein and make disciples today. Right?

Well…here is where the “buts and what-ifs” begin.

Someone hearing the charge to make disciples might think, “but I’ve never been discipled before. How can I make disciples? Where would I even start?”

Someone else might think, “what if I’ve never received any formal theological training? What if I try to make disciples and fall flat on my face because I don’t have answers for their questions?”

Others might think, “what if I don’t have the gift of evangelism or teaching?”

Before we begin to address these very valid and more-common-than-you-might-think questions, I would like us to work through two other fundamental and foundational questions.

1. When does someone become a disciple?
2. What does it mean to “make disciples”?

What do you think? When does someone become a disciple? My husband and I had a really thought-provoking discussion about this very question. In fact, he is the one who posed it to me.

I chewed on the question for a bit and then said, “someone becomes a disciple when they begin to follow Jesus.” I really do think it’s that simple. I think someone becomes a disciple when they choose to accept the gift of salvation found only in Christ, by grace through faith.

Now, I will say, I have been discipling someone for a few years now and I was tempted to say she became a disciple when she and I first started meeting together. But really, that’s when she became my disciple, not a disciple of Jesus.

If my assertion is true, that someone becomes a disciple when they begin to follow Jesus, that brings us to question #2:  what does it mean to make disciples?

Think about that for a minute. What do you think Jesus wanted the disciples to do when He said in Matthew 28, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”?

What if “make disciples” means essentially to, “make converts”? I don’t mean that in a project kind of way. I mean it in the life-changing, best-thing-that-ever-happened kind of way.

Wouldn’t it make sense that Jesus would want the ones He invested in for over three years to actively and intentionally make the Truth known, that others might know Him and choose to follow Him?

Once those people chose to follow Christ, they could be baptized, thus following the order of the Great Commission. Baptism is an outward sign of what has already happened internally, i.e. the washing away of one’s sin. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.” (2 Cor. 5:17).

If we, like the disciples of long ago, have accepted Christ, we too are disciples. Knowing the powerful work God has done in us and beginning to grasp the abundant and unconditional love He has for us, we can’t help but want to share it with others.

Here is where the buts and what-ifs of discipleship come back into the picture. There is a conflict between our desire to share with others and our perceived ability (or inability as the case may be) to do that.

We might wonder how the whole discipleship making process works if we, ourselves, were never discipled. Where do we start? What if we’ve never had formal theological training? What if we don’t have the gift of evangelism or teaching?

My husband and I have a theory that there might be an awful lot of Jesus-followers out there who hear the strong, compelling words of the Great Commission and yet feel woefully inadequate to carry it out.

We asked our small group how many of them actually felt equipped to disciple others and very few said they did. Why? Possibly because too many church leaders make the mistake of telling people to “go” before they help their parishioners to “know.”

Why do you think Jesus told his guys to “go and make disciples…” at the end of three and a half years with them? Because they weren’t fully trained or equipped until then.

Now, I’m not saying someone has to be discipled for three years before they can disciple someone else, I’m just making an observation that Jesus was very strategic in His timing.

Making disciples has a lot to do with friendship, love and intentional investment. It’s about exposing others to the Gospel and praying they will accept the gift of salvation.

Discipleship is about helping others grow in their faith. The one who is discipling is not better than the disciple, but he/she might have more or different life experience and/or Biblical knowledge and practice.

If you are someone who wants to go and make disciples but you feel ill-equipped to do so, can I give you a little encouragement?

Like many in my small group, I think you know more than you think you do. Your knowledge of the Bible, the power and work of the Holy Spirit, along with your personal testimony and lifestyle, can go a long way in helping others see, know and understand Truth.

We’ll spend some more time talking through the “what’s” “how’s” of discipleship in upcoming posts.

In the meantime, I would love you hear your thoughts about your approach to discipleship or if you have felt the tension between wanting to make disciples but not knowing how. Please share your comments below.

Thanks for joining me today. Let us go be radiant this week!

 

 

 

 

Do you ever feel like some aspects of your life (work, home-life, emotions, etc.) are in chaos? Maybe you start dropping the ball here and there, forgetting things, saying or doing things you regret.

I have had moments like that. For example, there are times when both my kids are melting down simultaneously (with no end in sight), the phone rings, and I’m trying to get a meal on the table. It’s as if my brain is stretched in four different directions and I have absolutely no idea which issue I should address first.

The combination of chaos and cluelessness make me want to cry but I try to muster up enough strength to handle the situation by saying to myself, “get it together, Suzie!”

However, what I need in that moment isn’t more of me, it’s more of Jesus.

Oh how humbling are those moments.

Maybe for you it isn’t so much the chaos of children at home, maybe it’s making a mistake at work or messing things up in a relationship. Maybe you said something you wish you hadn’t and you think to yourself, “get it together!”

I wondered if perhaps there were any people in the Bible who might have said something similar to themselves. An idea came to mind as my husband and I were talking about the topic of love, specifically as it pertains to the passage in John 21, where Jesus reinstates Peter.

In this passage, Jesus asks three times if Peter loves him. The first two times, Jesus uses the “agape” word for love, which is more like the unconditional kind of love. Though Peter replies that yes, he does love Jesus, he uses a different term (phileo). That kind of love is more along the lines of brotherly love or feeling affection toward someone.

My husband and I wondered why Peter didn’t respond with the “agape” word for love. I have a hunch. I’m going to take a little liberty here because it’s not specifically in the text.

My hunch is that Peter wanted to “agape” Jesus but that he was ashamed for having denied Jesus three times prior to His death. Maybe Peter didn’t feel like he exemplified “agape” love and therefore couldn’t bring himself to declare that kind of love for Jesus.

Can you imagine what kind of shame and regret you would feel if you had done something like what Peter did in denying his association with Jesus? Scripture tells us that Peter “wept bitterly” when he realized what he had done and that Jesus’ prediction about his denial had come true.

He regretted it immediately and tremendously. I wonder if he thought to himself, “Peter! How could you do this? Come on man, get it together!” After messing things up so badly with Jesus, how could Peter then tell Him that he “agape” loved him?

And yet, each time Jesus asked Peter if he loved him and Peter responded, Jesus had a job for Peter. “Feed my lambs, take care of my sheep, feed my sheep.”

It was almost as if Jesus was saying to Peter, “don’t let your feelings of shame (the deeds that led to which, I have forgiven), keep you from doing the work I have for you.”

Is that something you, or someone you know, needs to hear today? Are you letting your feelings of regret, guilt or shame keep you from joyfully doing the work God has prepared in advance for you to do?

When we mess up, when we make mistakes, when we melt down, it’s easy to want to just try to well it up within ourselves to “get it together.” But friends, that’s not the answer.

It’s not about getting it together, it’s about doing it together with Jesus.

When we tell ourselves to “get it together,” we become the focus. We look to ourselves for strength. Instead, Jesus should be our focus and He should be our strength.

It is only with Jesus that we can do anything. Apart from God we can do nothing. We are to abide in him (John 15:5). That’s what produces fruit. That’s what gives us the strength to handle the sometimes chaotic circumstances around us.

Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice, His death and resurrection are what allow us to let go of the shame and the guilt. We are forgiven and set free and the one who did that for us wants to be in relationship with us. So we do this life together with Him.

As we seek to go be radiant, one of the best ways we can do that is by abiding in God. That’s how we will reflect His glory, even amidst the chaos, the mess ups, and the mistakes.

I had a connect-the-dots, epiphany kind of moment this week as I was working through a discipleship field guide called, Saturate. It’s a study that all of the small groups in my church are doing right now and it is genuinely nourishing my soul.

My “ah ha!” moment came when I read this question by authors, Jeff Vanderstelt and Ben Connelly, “How does the tribal culture of Israel (God’s Old Covenant people) further inform God’s design for his people, that it’s always been a corporate lifestyle of pursuing obedience and faith together? How does this inform our understanding of “Church”?

Did the authors basically just say that the Israelites in the Old Testament were a church? I think they did! It has never occurred to me to think of them as a body of believers like I would those in the New Testament book of Acts. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

The Israelites were together in Egypt (in slavery), fled together across the dry ground of the Red Sea and spent 40 years in the dessert together. They saw God move (literally) together, they saw miracles and signs together, they grumbled together, they learned together, they ate together.

Together, the Israelites experienced God, His love, grace and redemption.

Moses, and other leaders along the way, tried to help the Israelites allow God to be the center of their culture and community.

It never occurred to me that, in essence, that was a precursor to the church as we know it today. I never thought about the foreshadowing of God’s design for the church in the book of Acts, many, many years before.

God knew we would need one another to effectively and relentlessly pursue obedience and faith. He knew we needed to do it in community.

As I was silently chewing on some of these thoughts and enjoying lunch with my 4-year-old, he asked me an unbelievably pertinent and unknowingly deep question:  “what if we had church every day?”

In his mind, church is a place we go. And he’s right, it’s where we go on Sundays to worship, to fellowship, to learn, to grow, and to give. But what if we broadened our range of meaning for “church” just a bit?

What if God’s design for “church” includes living in community, being on mission for God, because of the work of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit?

If that is God’s design, and our lifestyle reflects it, we just might have church every day. Think about how you “do life” with those around you, those in your community. Think about how often you get together, share a meal, talk about spiritual things.

My husband and I are so blessed to be part of a really wonderful community and one of those families lives just three doors down.

One day I was playing 20 Questions with my then 3-year-old, and I was trying to guess the person he was thinking of. I asked if that person was part of our “bigger family,” meaning our relatives who live nearby, but not in our home. He replied, “yes,” the person was part of our “bigger family.” I continued to ask more questions to narrow it down until I was completely stumped. Our family isn’t that big.

Finally, I gave up and said, “who is it?” He gave me the name of his closest friend, who lives three doors down. Why did he do that? Because that friend and his family are like family to us, and that’s how he thought of them and categorized them in his heart and mind. (I’m trying not to tear up as I type this). From the mouths of babes…

That family is also part of our church body and part of our small group. We really do life together.

Friends, if we really wanted to simplify the concept of “church” even more, I’d say it’s family. It’s your “bigger family,” those believers around you, with whom you do life, pursuing obedience and faith together. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about going to church on Sundays, but I’m also kind of liking this “church every day” idea too. 🙂

As we consider this life in community, we can’t help but also consider the important role love plays in it.

The Bible tells us that “we love because He first loved us.” What better response to that love, than to love God and love others (also the greatest command)?

Do you remember when Jesus said, “they will know you are my disciples by your love”?

Think about Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3, “…so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend…the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…”

Who is in your “bigger family?” How are you showing love to them? Have you had them over for a meal lately? In what ways are you learning or growing with them? How have they encouraged you recently?

I want to thank you for being part of my “bigger family.” I couldn’t do this blog without you and am so encouraged when you share your comments and insights.

Stay tuned for another post next week. In the meantime, let us go be radiant in our “bigger families” this week.

Have you ever watched a world champion figure skater do an amazingly graceful series of twists in the air and think, “she makes it look so effortless”? Or maybe you’ve witnessed a mother who makes child-rearing and home-making look like a piece of cake and you think, “how does she do that so effortlessly?”

People who are really gifted make it look easy, don’t they? It might be tempting for us to think that whatever it is they do well comes so naturally to them, that it is indeed, easy. While it may be easier for them, we would be mistaken to think it’s easy.

When we (and I really mean “I” here, but I’m hoping I’m not alone, so I’m going to say, “we”) see the person do what they do best, whether it’s flying through the air with the greatest of ease, or whipping up a scrumptious apple pie, we begin to believe that our perception is reality.

What we neglect to see is all of the effort that goes in behind the scenes. Do you think Olympic athletes win gold medals by sheer giftedness alone? I don’t think so. I think it’s a result of countless days, weeks, months and years of hard work, dedication, drive and most of all, effort.

Anything worthwhile in this life requires effort.

When we see those moms out there who seem to have it all together, we have to remind ourselves that they have likely put in a considerable amount of time and effort into their habits, routines and disciplines.

When we see those Christ-followers who always appear peaceful, serene and joyful, even in the midst of challenging circumstances, we have to remember that they have likely spent hours upon hours in the Word and on their knees in prayer.

In Mark chapter 9, we read about a boy who was possessed by an impure spirit. When some of Jesus’ disciples tried to drive it out of the boy, it didn’t work. Jesus entered the scene and was able to rebuke the impure spirit and drive it out. The disciples asked Him privately why they were unable to do what He did. “This kind can only come out by prayer.” (Mark 9:29)

I once heard a pastor say that what Jesus meant here is that the disciples needed to have been “prayed up.” They needed to have been more prepared prayerfully for this kind of encounter.

Scripture tells us we can do nothing without God and that we are to abide in Him. He is the one who gives us the nutrients and power we need, regardless of our giftedness, to do what He’s called us to do. The word, abide, is a verb. It requires action (effort) on our part.

When we put effort into our walk with God, we will reflect His glory that much more.

If anyone ever tells you that being a Jesus-follower is easy, that it’s effortless, don’t believe the lie. The fact that we are “followers” indicates we follow, which is also a verb. No athlete, Olympic or world-champion ever achieved greatness effortlessly. To think or say otherwise would be a lie.

I was recently preparing to host an event and was feeling a bit anxious about it. As I took the matter to God in prayer, I found myself praying, “God, help me with this event. I don’t want to handle it effortlessly, but gracefully.”

That was my way of saying that I was willing to put in the work but I didn’t want to get frazzled in the midst of potential chaos (think a dozen tired and hungry children running around a small space). Instead, I wanted to respond in graceful ways. Thankfully, things went pretty well that night and I felt more graceful than frazzled.

I’m sure my prayer helped, but I think the effort I put into thinking through the evening and mitigating potential areas of stress helped too.

Are you believing the lie of “effortless” and if so, where? Maybe on Facebook? Maybe at work or even at church?

Where might you need to put in a little more effort to be a little more radiant this week?

Thank you for reading through this post. I plan to be back next week with a new post and video. I always appreciate your comments, so if you have a moment, please leave one below.

 

 

 

 

Do you ever feel like your son or daughter, or grandchild, or other little one in your life just doesn’t listen to you when you want them to? For the most part, my kids are pretty good about listening, but there’s one thing I do that makes my almost 4-year-old all ears.

Every night, we have story time before bed. Typically I’ve let my kids choose the books they would like read to them and then we’ve added Bible stories too. Well, most recently, my oldest has wanted to do “made up stories.”

Each night he wants me to tell him a story that I make up on the spot. So I have to come up with a main character and then decide if it will be a person or an animal or something else. I have to think through a quick plot and main point of the story. I have to use language he will understand. Talk about pressure! LOL.

However, there’s something that really sweetens the deal for me and makes it extra worthwhile. I can literally see the anticipation in my little guy’s eyes. He patiently, but eagerly waits for me to begin the story. He will hang on every word. I will have his full and complete attention. This, in and of itself, is a total victory!

One night, I made up a story about a clean pig. We usually think of pigs as dirty (think of the term “pigsty”) but this one was clean. All of his pig friends were dirty and made fun of him because he was clean.

The clean pig started to get sad and discouraged because the others were making fun of him. But he began to realize that they just didn’t understand why it was so important to be clean. So, one by one, he began talking to his friends and helping them see why it was so good to be clean. Eventually, all of the dirty pigs decided they wanted to be clean too.

It’s a silly little story but it has valuable life lessons. As a believer, cleansed by the blood of Christ, my little boy might some day be made fun of for being “clean” or a goody two shoes. Though that might discourage him at first, I hope he sees that the issue for those doing the teasing is actually a heart-issue, a need-Jesus-issue.

He can choose to share with others why he is “clean” and how they can be too. I hope and pray, should the occasion arise, that he wouldn’t hesitate to do so.

As I laid down to go to sleep after telling my son the pig story, I realized that my made-up stories are a lot like Jesus’ parables.

Think about the parables Jesus told and why He chose to communicate that way. He certainly had the attention of his hearers. He used language and cultural things that they understood. Think about the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. People could easily relate to those things.

Now, Jesus used parables with adults, and I think we can too. This might be a great way for us to share our faith with others in a little more of an indirect, but still very powerful manner.

So that’s my challenge for us this week – to consider using parables or story-telling as a way to communicate the Gospel to others. Others might include our own children, our neighbors or people we work with. Give it a try – even if it puts you on the spot a little, just like it does me every night at bedtime.

Your words don’t have to be perfect, just genuine.

Let us use our words wisely this week and see who might listen to them. And let us go be radiant!

 

Do you remember my post entitled Dry Ground? If you haven’t watched it or read it, you can do so here. It is one of my favorite posts because God used those different passages with the common theme of dry ground, to encourage me and give me hope when I was feeling really overwhelmed.

Well, I (maybe even we) must have needed to return to “dry ground,” because I came across another passage where that phrase is used that I had completely forgotten about! Even though I have read it before on different occasions, it didn’t come to mind when I was preparing my original post.

Imagine my surprise (and excitement) when the words jumped out at me as I was reading my Bible, getting ready for my post on Joshua and his leadership!

I immediately wondered how this passage compares to the others I shared previously about Noah and his family getting out of the ark, the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and Jonah being spat out of a big fish–all onto dry ground.

Would there be similarities or would this be more of a unique use of “dry ground?” What was the purpose of the “dry ground” for those who walked across it? Why does God seem to be so fond of “dry ground?” What does this mean for me (and for us) today?

To begin to answer these questions, let’s look at the text in Joshua 3:9-17.

Verse 9 starts, “Joshua said to the Israelites, ‘Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ¹⁰ This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. ¹¹ See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. ¹² Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. ¹³ And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the Lord—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.'”

Before we move on, I want to highlight verse 10. This verse helps us see not one, but two reasons the Lord is going to have the Israelites cross over the Jordan on dry ground.

1. It will show that the living God is among them.
2. It will show that He will certainly drive out the people mentioned so that they can take possession of the promised land.

I’m sure there were times in that season of the Israelites journey when they wondered, just like we sometimes do, if God was really with them and would accomplish what He said He would. He’s about to do something miraculous to make sure they know He is and He will.

In verse 13, we see how the waters flowing downstream will “pile up in a heap.” This reminds me of how the waters of the Red Sea were blown by a strong wind to stand up like two walls, creating a passage way.

Let’s continue reading.

^{14 “}So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. ¹⁵ Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, ¹⁶ the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

As if crossing the Jordan under normal water flow weren’t enough, God chooses to do it during harvest when the Jordan is at flood stage. He makes a miracle more miraculous!

Unlike a couple of the other passages on “dry ground,” this one isn’t preceded by traumatic events like when Pharaoh and the Egyptians were pursing the Israelites and had them hemmed in or when Jonah was thrown overboard and then spent three days in the belly of a big fish before being spat out onto dry ground.

However, one thing a bit more unique about the passage here in Joshua, is that it required faith on the part of the priests who were carrying the ark. Their feet had to touch the water’s edge for the waters to stop flowing and pile up. Talk about walking in faith!

I wonder what it would look like if I more regularly walked like the priests carrying the ark–if I kept moving forward in faith, trusting that God would make a way for His will to be done.

We see in verse 17 that the priests were standing on dry ground (in the middle of the Jordan) and continued to do so until “all Israel had passed by and the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.” I love the repetition of “dry ground” in this verse. I feel like it reinforces and reminds us of the veracity of God’s word.

Would it have been any less miraculous if only a few people had crossed over the Jordan as opposed to the whole nation? No, I don’t think so. But imagine the impact on every living soul who walked across a river (in flood stage) on dry ground. Imagine the feeling under their feet with every step. Imagine the awe they must have felt in their hearts and shown on their faces.

In Joshua chapter 4:19-24, we continue to gain some insight as to why God wanted to have the Israelite nation cross over on dry ground.

^{19 “}On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. ²⁰ And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. ²¹ He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ²² tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ ²³ For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea^[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴ He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.’”

In verse 24, we have two additional reasons why God stopped the waters and had the Israelites cross over on dry ground:

1. so that all peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful
2. so that you might always fear the Lord your God

The miraculous acts of parting the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan weren’t just about the impact on the Israelites, but rather on “all the peoples of the earth.” God wants people to know He is powerful! Only He could have stopped the waters like He did. There is none like Him!

In light of that, may we always respect, revere and fear Him. When we think about how this passage on “dry ground,” and the others I shared previously, impact us today, this is it. It’s that admonishment to remember the Lord is powerful–that He can do anything— and that we are to fear Him.

Along those same lines, I’m also re-inspired to trust Him. He does what He says He’s going to do.

That’s my challenge for us this week and on-going as we seek to be radiant: remember that God is with us, He is powerful, fear Him.

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the leader who is famous for fighting the battle of Jericho? Yes, that’s right, Joshua. Can you hear the children’s song playing in your head? “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came tumbling down.”

We are wrapping up our series on leadership by taking a brief look at, what I believe is, Joshua’s most notable and imitation-worthy leadership characteristic.

Let’s start with just a little historical context. The time came for Moses’ life on earth to end and after it did, the Lord told Joshua he was the guy to now fill the leadership role for the Israelites.

If you read the book of Joshua, you might notice a repeated phrase that goes something like this, “do not be afraid, be strong and courageous and I will be with you.”

When you think about the number of battles into which Joshua was going to lead his men, you can understand why the Lord told him to be strong and courageous. God was going to give His people the promised land, but much of it had to be conquered first.

As I was reading through the book of Joshua, I noticed another repeated phrase. It usually came immediately after the Lord told Joshua to do something. The sentence would start out, “so Joshua…”.

What I observed is that the “so Joshua,” was the beginning of a sentence whereby the author is telling the reader that Joshua did what the Lord wanted him to do. In other words, “so Joshua” meant he obeyed.

Obedience is what I believe is the most notable and imitation-worthy leadership characteristic that Joshua possessed and faithfully exercised.

Every time God told him to do something, he did it. I believe that’s one reason he was so successful in his leadership journey and with all of the battles he had to endure. The other reason he was so successful, the Bible tells us, is because God was with him.

Whether you’re in a positional leadership role, an influential leadership role, or any other kind of role, being obedient to God and doing what He tells you to do, will inevitably be life-changing for you.

Can you imagine what our life would be like if we did everything God told us to do? What would our churches be like? Our communities?

What if we said, “no matter how crazy or costly the ask, I will obey the Lord”?

Think about the strategic plan for taking down Jericho. Now, I’m no expert by any means when it comes to battles or war, but I would think that marching around a city and blowing trumpets would not be my first choice. In fact, I don’t think it would ever even occur to me that a plan like that would work.

Alas, God told Joshua what the plan was (a crazy ask, humanly speaking), and Joshua obeyed. And it worked!

I’m sure that every time Joshua had success after obeying God, it motivated him to always be obedient.

In our lives, sometimes it seems difficult to discern what God wants for us, even if we have a heart to obey. Maybe we’ve even said, “just tell me what you want me to do God, and I’ll do it.”

However, other times, it’s very clear what God wants us to do and yet we struggle to obey. Have you ever felt an inner nudge to share your faith with someone and not done it? Or maybe you had a strong sense that you should pray for someone, but you ignored it? I have.

The Holy Spirit is at work and if we pay attention and obey, I really believe our relationship with God would be so much stronger and we would see so much more fruit.

So that’s the challenge for me and for you this week and on-going – that we would be more obedient. I honestly believe it will help us to be more radiant in our every day lives.

Let us go be radiant this week!