Rest

Acts 10:36 

You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

If you participated in the novel-writing challenge called National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo, then:

Congratulations!

Writing 50,000 words takes a lot of work. You had to have some direction to move forward with an interesting plot. You had to have characters who could handle the conflict you threw at them. You had to have persistence to keep going when it was hard to balance your writing time with all of the other things normal humans do during the month of November.

Now you can take a break. (Don’t worry. It's only a short break. I know there’s all that editing to do.)

It’s important to let your body and your soul take a break from all the energy you used during your writing time. To others, it looks like you weren’t doing much. But we know better.

You can share your excitement with your friends and family who will be proud of you for typing out the beginning to your outstanding piece of literature. But when you rest, you need to pull yourself away from the work and the Christmas shopping and the decorating.

Just rest.

I don’t really mean sleep, but that is part of it.

Resting for a Christian novelist means to find some meaningful and comforting Bible verses to read and relax in while you tell God how thankful you are that he gave you gifts to use and praise him with. When you are writing, you are showing God that you appreciate his gifts. When you are resting, you are reaching for his comfort and refreshing.

Prayer in your Post-NaNo days is about wrapping yourself in the arms of God and letting him speak peace to your soul.

For example, if you read Acts chapter ten, you can see that “peace through Jesus Christ” is why Peter was in that place speaking to those people. It was unlawful for Peter, a Jew, to visit with or associate with a Gentile. He was in a Gentile’s house speaking with great freedom because of the peace God had given him.

You and I can listen to God’s words of peace when we need rest.

Here are five Bible verses to refresh your soul:

• Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
• Psalm 23:3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  
• Psalm 85:8 I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants—but let them not turn to folly.
• Colossians 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
• John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Humility, part two

1 Peter 5:5 

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Last week, we tried to help Bob learn what humility is all about. Now that he understands the concept, he wants to take action. 

How do you humble yourself? 

Myth #2: Humility means letting others smack you down.

No, you don’t have to get smacked down.

Humbling yourself takes place as a willing and voluntary act of leaving the place of honor in your own life. When you lift God to your heart’s high place of honor, you have to step down. 

There are those who have held tightly to their place of honor, making it their own throne, only to be smacked down by life’s humbling surprises. When they see the light of truth, they realize they had no business making themselves the king of their heart’s high place of honor.

Better to step down, than be smacked down. 

In Colossians 3:12, we read, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." We’re supposed to be surrounding ourselves with these positive character traits. We're supposed to be proactive and put them on. 

Humility is something you dress yourself in. You already pick out clothes to wear each day that make you look nice. You can also pick out which character traits you want others to see you wearing. You can choose humility over arrogance every time you speak, act, or are tempted to show a little attitude. 

Next week: Humility, part three

Songs of Gratitude

Colossians 3:16

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Do you sing around the house as you do mindless tasks? Some people sing or hum as they fold towels, sweep the floor, or set the table. There is a peace around those people.

However if someone is distracted from a contented peace by hatred or greed, they usually don’t sing. I hear others singing a light-hearted song more often than I hear them singing the theme from Jaws. A contented person sings peacefully.

If you like singing around the house, then it makes sense to “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things,” as it says in Colossians 3:2. It is so much easier to have that contented peace if your mind is set on heavenly things. When we get bogged down in the depressing details of earthly things, it’s harder to focus on helping others. That’s when we lean towards selfishness, rather than selflessness.

Setting our minds on heavenly things is a choice we make. If we make that choice often enough, it could become a good habit. Like making your bed first thing in the morning, it becomes easier and comes more naturally with time. At first, you may have to set up reminders for yourself to help you continue in those positive decisions.

If there is more time spent encouraging others, there is more peace to enjoy. The more peace, the more opportunity for the music of gratitude in our lives.

Thanks for seeking God with me.

New Information

Colossians 1:9

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.

I love reading the Bible. It fills me with an awe that isn’t associated with any other kind of reading. I know it was inspired by God himself and written by many authors. It’s easy to see the varying writing styles of the authors. The writing of Luke shows details that might be noticed by a physician. Other books of the New Testament are written in a different style, with longer sentences and longer paragraphs. When I read the book of Colossians, I find myself mentally cutting down sentences to their main subject and verb. When I cut out many of the adjectives and prepositional phrases, I’m able to see the point of the verses so much more clearly.

For instance, if you read Colossians 2:2-3 and simplify the two verses into one sentence (cutting back from 48 words to 16 words), it might boil down to this: I want you to know Christ because when he reveals himself, he reveals wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 1:9 (above) tells how to pray for someone. It continues with Col 1:10, “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” These two verses help us to understand that God isn’t trying to withhold his wisdom from us. When God fills us with the knowledge of his will, he is giving us a little of his wisdom at a time, so that we aren’t overwhelmed. He does this so that we can bear fruit and grow in the knowledge of God. When we grow in the knowledge of God, we are so filled with the glow of joy that we have to share it. When we share it, we are able to bear fruit through our obedient actions.

Several places in the Bible show us that God wants us to seek him out and ask him for new information. We should be asking God for wisdom and understanding. He allows us to communicate with him through the Spirit of God so that we have not just information, but someone to guide us through the information. We can read that in 1 Corinthians 2: 12, “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.”

As you seek God this week, be prepared to receive new information by his Spirit, the one who guides us into all understanding.

Rest from Vacation

Colossians 3: 15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

We’re back from our family vacation, and we’re enjoying a few photos and videos that we took. The images remind us of all the fun we had. Frankly, we need that reminder while we’re doing all the laundry and cleaning up and getting back into the routine again. It’s a lot of work to come home from a road trip.  

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has said, “I need a vacation after my vacation.”

Our trip was packed with places to go and things to do and see. We even stayed in a couple of places that had a laundry room so we’d have clean clothes to wear for the next few days. We’d been hiking so laundry facilities were quite a blessing. But the early/late hours, physical exertion, and almost constant activity were enough to wear out anyone. By the time we got home, the one thing I looked forward to was my bed.

Peace and rest are very closely connected. When the chaos of fun gets to us, we can rest in God’s presence and find His peace.

During our trip, my daughter and I went on a five-mile walk instead of a two-mile walk because we passed up the ice cream store. I want to be reminded of the peace of Christ when my feet hurt. I asked her to sing to me on the way back from getting her an ice cream cone because I thought it would help distract her from her own foot pain. We ended up thankful for the extra-long walk.

When you take an exciting vacation and come back exhausted, you probably welcome the peace of Christ just like I do.

Thanks for joining me. Please come back and seek God with me again.