Doing flows out of Being

I enjoyed being with all of you Saturday morning.  My soul felt energized being in a room full of people desiring more of God and committed to being with others on their journeys of seeking Him.  Those hours together lit a spark to dive in more deeply in my own study.  As I was reading Chapter 1of Service and Secrecy, one quote especially stood out, “We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him”  Oswald Chambers. The quote fits within the context of the chapter title “Doing Flows Out of Being”. The overall message is that when we stay connected to God our service remains life-giving and full of God-given passion.  When our “doing” is not connected to God, we burn out.

The quote reminded me of a few things.  Have you heard of the analogy of “doing” versus “being” represented by a deep well and a stream?  A deep well symbolizes time “being” with God, in study or reflection, becoming intimate with Him.  The stream symbolizes our”doing”; service, of actions towards situations that break the heart of God and our own hearts.  The well and the stream need each other.  If a well didn’t have an outlet, then it becomes stagnant.  And if a stream doesn’t have a source, it dries up.  If our “being” with God never has an outlet we lose purpose.  And if our “service” has no connection to the Head, we slowly lose resources and flow.

I’ve always loved this analogy.  Ths time as I reflected on it, I realized the truth is that if we are connected to God we can’t help but serve.  His love will spill over and others will experience that love.  There is no holding back that well.

It also reminded me of Wayne Santom’s charge to our group to pray; to have space in our days to not only talk to God, but to listen for His voice, whisper, and movement in our lives. We have to recognize that we can not do this on our own.  But imagine what could be done when we partner with God!

All of this was in the background of my mind when I went to church Sunday.  Of the many things that Pastor David said that struck me, there was one that brought these thoughts to the forefront.  In introducing the series, he said “It isn’t that God wants you to be a superhero, it’s that he wants to do supernatural things through you.”  May each of us, as we prepare for this trimester, create space to experience more of God in our lives.  May we nourish our souls so that the love of Christ spills over as deep love for those in our groups.  And may we “be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love” (Ephesians 5:1) so that as a community we are marked by our love for and service to others.

Why we deny ourselves, carry our cross daily and follow Jesus

“If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our real destiny, then any other good on which our desire fixes must be in some degree fallacious, must bear only a symbolical relation to what will truly satisfy.” C.S. Lewis

Batter my Heart, Three-person’d God

“Batter my heart, three person’d God; for, you

As yet but knocke, breathe, shine, and seeke to mend;

That I may rise, and stand, o’erthrow mee,’and bend

Your force, to breake, blow, burn and make me new.

I, like an usurpt towne, to’another due,

Labour to’admit you, but Oh, to no end,

Reason your viceroy in mee, mee should defend,

But is captiv’d, and proves weake or untrue.

Yet dearley’I love you,’and would be loved faine,

But am betroth’d unto your enemie:

Divorce mee,’untie, or breake that knot againe,

Take mee to you, imprison mee, for I

Except you’enthrall mee, never shall be free,

Nor ever chast, except you ravish mee.”

John Donne (1572-1631) 

Passionate Love from God

“The Trinity is our everlasting lover.” Julian of Norwich

God leads His dear children along

“In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

Who stands fast?

“Who stands fast?  Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegience to God–the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The gift of prayer

“I know, whenever I have prayed earnestly, that I have been heard and have obtained more than I prayed for.  God sometimes delays, but He always comes.”  Martin Luther

The Spring of Action

“The nature of human beings is to be inactive unless influenced by some affection: love or hatred, desire, hope, fear, etc.  These affections are the “spring of action,” the things that set us moving in our lives, that move us to engage in activities.”  Jonathan Edwards

Jean Pierre de Caussade on Faith

“There is nothing safer and less likely to lead us astray than the darkness of faith.

Our responsibility to change our habits with God’s help

“The question of forming habits on the basis of the grace of God is a very vital one.  To ignore it is to fall into the snare of the Pharisee–the grace of God is praised, Jesus Christ is praised, the Redemption is praised, but the practical everyday life evades working it out.