A Benediction Full of Promise

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Donna Harris

A Benediction Full of Promise | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 31

Today’s Reading: 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you [and] may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all. 1 Thessalonians 5:28 and 2 Thessalonians 3:16

I woke up this morning repeating a benediction full of promise. I Thessalonians 5:28 and 2 Thessalonians 3:16 are the last words of each letter Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. The last words are a benediction to remind them of what they have in Christ.

Sometimes when reading a novel, my impatience to know the ending gets the best of me, so I read the ending first to know where the story will take me. Upon reading the end of these two letters first, I discovered a benediction full of promise. Knowing the ending, made we want to discover the beginning and all of the other details written between.

I have to admit that I’ve taken this benediction for granted the first thing in the morning. Every morning it’s the same routine. I shuffle down the hall towards the kitchen for a cup of eye-opening brew and then maybe I’ll be deliberate to recall that I have a brand new day of experiencing God’s grace and peace. Unlike discovering the end of a story first, I seldom consider the end of a day first. I think more about the beginning of the day and all of the details in the middle without much thought of the way it should end.

The beginning, as well as the end of this day is to know that the grace of the Lord will be with me and His peace that I long for will fill and satisfy in every way. May I become wiser to plan ahead for the end of my day, remembering it is a benediction full of promise.

About 40 Gifts of Lent

I am anticipating the arrival of Easter and celebrating the most amazingly good gift I’ve ever received. I want to focus my heart on the fulfilled expectation of Christ’s first coming and the glorious expectation of His second coming. To continue reading, please go here: 40 Gifts of Lent

The Discipline of Peace and the Secret of Contentment

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Donna Harris

The Discipline of Peace and the Secret of Contentment | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 30

Today’s Reading: Philippians and Colossians

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4: 4-12

He writes about rejoicing and praying with thanksgiving. He writes about a transcending peace and learning the secret of being content when he’s imprisoned in chains.

Often, we want to intercept all of the rough stuff happening…to just stop thinking about it and to do something else to replace the anxious thoughts. But when we chase after a false peace, its like chasing after butterflies. The butterfly never stays in one place. It flits here and there and there and here and stays only for a moment in search for sweet nectar.

I believe we all are searching for some measure of peace, a sweet calming nectar to quench the sorrow, the fears, the anxiety in the fray. I hazard to say that peace will not be found without the discipline to pursue Jesus. Because the rough stuff will not miraculously disappear and all our efforts to circumvent it will be short-lived.

Where is contentment and peace found? It’s found in the doctrine of the gospel. It’s found in worshipping Jesus. It’s found in Christ alone. It has nothing to do with what I do but it’s all about what Jesus will do and has done. The discipline of peace is learning who God is. The rough stuff may not go away for a long, long time…but the never-ending peace of rejoicing and thinking and loving the King of Kings will strengthened this humble soul to learn contentment.

So, I reach for real peace: To rejoice in the Lord always, praying with thanksgiving, thinking about words that will transform my thoughts, and to love the pure, lovely and admirable truth of the Lord. Through this discipline of peace, I will, by God’s grace, begin to learn the secret of contentment.

About 40 Gifts of Lent

Remembering him in my prayers

Posted on April 7, 2014 by Donna Harris

Remembering him in my prayers | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 29

Today’s Reading: Ephesians 1 – end

Remembering you in my prayers…I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened… Ephesians 1:15 – 23 (NIV)

Fast and furious, he maneuvers the skate board down the steep hill. The thrill of speed and wind and conquering the downhill ride is all that matters. He can do it! And he does this well…for days and weeks and months the adrenaline pulses with each victory. There is no fear of danger, just the triumph of victory over that hill.

And then one day, he crashes.

It’s the simple things that become the biggest thing that bends the knee. A deep cut, a nasty scrape to the head, a broken bone. The physical trauma becomes our spiritual cause to pray. And our prayers are fervent and relentless for his physical healing.

Years pass and he becomes a man bearing those scars deep on his skin from the adventures that sent his parents to their knees. He is now a man, maturing through the resilience of pressing on, for he has been faced with much more than physical brokenness.

And then one day he crashes.

It’s the complex things that become the biggest thing that bend the knees to pray. His spiritual trauma becomes our cause to pray. Our prayers are fervent and relentless for a true vibrant grace-giving healing in his life.

The gift is answered through our prayers: “Father, grant him a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of yourself. Please, don’t leave him to himself. Help him to feel awe and trembling and sense your beauty and sweetness and glory. Have mercy and by your Spirit awaken in him a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that when he reads or hears your wisdom and your words he will have ears to hear and eyes to see the wonder of it.”

This is a prayer that keeps on praying and keeps on seeing God answer. Through the storms and through the fray he is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ better and better.

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better... Ephesians 1:15 – 23 (NIV)

[1] An adapted prayer for my family from, Desiring God | Be Constant in Prayer for the Joy of Hope

About 40 Gifts of Lent

This is Love | Sunday Respite | 40 Gifts of Lent 2014

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Donna Harris

This is Love| Sunday Respite | 40 Gifts of Lent

In humility, we rejoice that His lovingkindness never fails – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

“…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

This is Love

About 40 Gifts of Lent

I am anticipating the arrival of Easter and celebrating the most amazingly good gift I’ve ever received. I want to focus my heart on the fulfilled expectation of Christ’s first coming and the glorious expectation of His second coming. To continue reading, please go here: 40 Gifts of Lent

Given Freely to be Deeply Owned

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Donna Harris

Given Freely to be Deeply Owned | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 28

Today’s Reading: Galatians 1 – end

May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes! Galatians 6:18 (The Message)

I am discouraged today. I feel empty.

And so I run away. Purposefully running to the gospel of grace, owning its truth. I’m talking to myself. I’m telling myself that what Jesus Christ has given freely is reaching deep and deeper still in my soul. His gift of joy overwhelms discouragement.

Why are people usually unhappy? David Martyn Lloyd-Jones said it’s because people are listening to themselves instead of talking to themselves. I can choose to listen to whatever my thoughts are telling me–I can listen to the negative banter and feel horrible.

Or I can talk back. I can remind myself of what is true, and who I am, and who God is and what he has done.

This gift is unwrapped, there is amazing joy and is deeply owned.

I read a sweet devotional book today: Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing by Sally Lloyd-Jones

About 40 Gifts of Lent

Preoccupied With This Treasure

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Donna Harris

Preoccupied With This Treasure | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 27

Today’s Reading: 2 Corinthians 1 – end

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

“We have this treasure in jars of clay,” we being the jars of clay; God being the treasure inside of us, the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. God calls, rescues, redeems the weak and broken so he is most glorified. We are simple, unadorned, and ordinary clay pots that God uses to bring glory to himself, yet the most persistent challenge we face is ourselves. We fear our own inadequacy more than we trust God’s sufficiency. We stumble into self-reliance, self-promotion, or self-loathing.

We need to be more preoccupied with this treasure. We need to look at the cross again and again. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves. Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to say to us:

I am here because of you.
It is your sin I am bearing,
your curse I am suffering,
your debt I am paying,
your death I am dying.

The treasure within these jars of clay is the gospel of Christ. And this is what is encouraging: We’re fragile; he is not. We are transient; he is not. We are weak; he is not. We need sleep; he does not. We grow weary; he does not. We lose patience; he does not. It is God’s all-surpassing power that is dramatically displayed through our weakness.

The gift is to be far more preoccupied with the treasure within than with the pressures without.

About 40 Gifts of Lent

I’ve been writing a post everyday during this “40 Day Lent Challenge” and not only have I unwrapped a new wonderful gift everyday through daily readings, to write everyday has been the most challenging thing I have done in a while. Writing has been the best gift I’ve given myself in a long time. To be still, to think, to dream, to connect words on a page that have meaning and worth. Writing gives joy when we least expect it. Writing is a gift…It is a gift handed to us from the Creator, the Writer of all good things true.

…

Faith, Hope, and Love

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Donna Harris

Faith, Hope, and Love | 40 Gifts of Lent | Gift 26

Reflections on I Corinthians 9 – 16

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13

I write the words of this “communion” song in remembrance of a few hours of sweet fellowship and worship with good friends, as our voices filled a small sanctuary space with the melody and words of, “All I Have is Christ.”

And the love of Christ wrapped around us while we stood close together singing. Some voices cracking and some with perfect pitch and all of it was beautiful harmony.

I woke up early this morning with the words in my head and I quickly wrote them down.

The gift for me through out today is the greatest gift of all, God’s love, the greatest of all… “I beheld God’s love displayed…now all I know is grace.”

All I Have is Christ

I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way
The sin that promised joy and life, had led me to the grave
I had no hope that You would own a rebel to Your will
And if You had not loved me first I would refuse You still

But as I ran my hell-bound race, indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state and led me to the cross
And I beheld God’s love displayed, you suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me, now all I know is grace

Now Lord I would be Yours alone and live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me
O Father use my ransomed life in any way you choose
And let my song forever be my only boast is You

Hallelujah all I have is Christ
Hallelujah Jesus is my life

About 40 Gifts of Lent

Planting and Watering Little Sprouts of Faith

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Donna Harris

Planting and Watering Little Sprouts of Faith | Gift 25 | 40 Gifts of Lent

Reflections on I Corinthians 1 – 8

It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow I Corinthians 3: 6 – 7 (MSG)

I finally have a garden. It has taken several years of nurturing the soil and ridding the ground of overbearing thistles with prickly thorns and tap roots very difficult to pull up out of the ground. I had to work hard and steady week after week, staying focused on the vision I had for the garden, to prepare the soil for new growth. Seeing the fruit of my hard work is quite rewarding, seeing God’s handiwork in every glorious bloom.

I Corinthians 3: 6-7 is another gift of hope that I treasure because I am reminded how faithful God has been to our family. There were months and years when our children looked like they were growing thorny thistles with a tap-root trying to choke their faith. My husband and I fought against the fatigue of constantly pulling out the weeds in their lives, turning over the soil once more and planting seeds once again…not to lose sight of the vision we had for our children to produce a righteous fruit, to grow and thrive in their faith in God, by grace alone.

Parenting is the hardest thing you’ll ever do and the more you love your kids, the harder it is. You already realize how much time is involved with planting truth into your kids and to continually fuel their faith but have you considered how much prayer is vital to their spiritual growth?

In the book, Praying Circles Around Your Children, author Mark Batterson exhorts us with a metaphor of praying circles around our children. It simply means “to pray without ceasing.” It’s praying until God answers. It’s praying with more intensity, more tenacity. It’s not just praying for, it’s praying through. [1] That’s when you’ll see the thistles and tap roots of sin in your children’s life replaced with new life mirroring Christ. It’s a beautiful garden!

Praying for our kids strengthened our resolve to stay focused on the vision for them. With your physical eyes, you see who a person is. With your spiritual eyes you see what a person can be. [1]

What vision do you have for your children? What does the garden look like in your home? Planting and watering is knowing your children and knowing scripture so that you can train them in the way they should go. Pray that they won’t just survive but pray that they will thrive. [1] Your family garden will thrive when you saturate your life with God’s word. Read God’s book so you will know what to teach your children and what to pray for your children.

Don’t just pray for them, pray with them. Praying for your kids is like taking them for a ride; praying with your kids is like teaching them to drive. [1] Repeat words from God’s book to your children. Pray those words together. Repeat them over and over again. Your prayer is for your children to use God’s word as their GPS to guide their way.

I remember the exciting days watching our children grow strong in their love for God and the exciting day when they became the drivers of their own children’s faith. Planting and watering little sprouts of faith in the tender hearts of their daughters and young sons.

The effect of planting is faith. The effect of watering is faith. But the decisive cause of faith — the life and growth of little sprouts of faith — is not planting and watering, but God.

Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to him in prayer, pleading for your children. (Lamentations 2:19)

[1] Praying Circles Around Your Children by Mark Batterson

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A Benediction Full of Promise