We all choose things every day. We can choose what matters to us. We can act on those things that we choose. What we choose depends on what we have decided is important.
In the moment, it's not always easy to choose what is really important. We can get caught up in what seems most urgent at the time, and that may not always be the most important to us. But, we all know that it's easy to do that.
To choose what is the most important no matter what is vying for our attention requires that we be intentional. We have to intentionally choose what is most important, rather than go with what is most urgent.
It's not easy, but it is the best way to live. When we choose the most important, we live a life with no regrets.
In that moment at work when someone else comes to my office door, how will I respond? If I've decided that people are the most important, then that person at the door should get my attention. But, sometimes they come when I have other deadlines or things I want to get done. I can get caught up in the task I need to get done that seems more urgent. Or I can choose to give the person at my office door some time and listen, because I've chosen to make people the most important. The second choice is an intentional one.
How are you doing at choosing what is most important? Have you decided what is most important in your life?
Joining in with Five Minute Friday again. This week the word is "choose."
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Message of Freedom
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour
and the day of vengeance for our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and to provide for those who grieve in Zion -
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of His splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will rebuild the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
(Isaiah 66:1-4)
These words were originally written to a nation in captivity. They were declaring the hope to come when God brought them out of their captivity. It was pointing towards a better future for them.
The first part of this passage is well-known because Jesus quoted the words as the beginning of His public ministry (see Luke 4:18-19). These words form the basis for what Jesus did while He was on earth ministering.
When Jesus quoted these words at the beginning of His public ministry, He also declared that what is spoken in these verses is available to us in our lives today. We can learn the reality of it for how we live today.
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me" (vs. 1)
God desires for us to know the reality spoken of in these verses in our lives. That's why He sent Jesus to us and why Jesus used these words as a declaration of what His ministry on earth was all about.
"to proclaim good news to the poor" (vs. 1)
Jesus' entire message was one of good news to those in need. We are all in need of God's freedom in our lives. The message that God brings of the availability of that freedom is good news. Because we are in need of it, we are the poor that the message is for.
This passage goes on to talk about the specifics of what this good news is and what it means for our lives. It will take a few more posts to really delve into it all.
As we go, you will see that we have to get involved in it to experience what is being talked about. If these words are going to make a difference in our lives, it will require us to do something.
It's not passive - it's active. It's not anything we achieve by human effort, but to live in it does require that we get moving.
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour
and the day of vengeance for our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and to provide for those who grieve in Zion -
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of His splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will rebuild the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
(Isaiah 66:1-4)
These words were originally written to a nation in captivity. They were declaring the hope to come when God brought them out of their captivity. It was pointing towards a better future for them.
The first part of this passage is well-known because Jesus quoted the words as the beginning of His public ministry (see Luke 4:18-19). These words form the basis for what Jesus did while He was on earth ministering.
When Jesus quoted these words at the beginning of His public ministry, He also declared that what is spoken in these verses is available to us in our lives today. We can learn the reality of it for how we live today.
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me" (vs. 1)
God desires for us to know the reality spoken of in these verses in our lives. That's why He sent Jesus to us and why Jesus used these words as a declaration of what His ministry on earth was all about.
"to proclaim good news to the poor" (vs. 1)
Jesus' entire message was one of good news to those in need. We are all in need of God's freedom in our lives. The message that God brings of the availability of that freedom is good news. Because we are in need of it, we are the poor that the message is for.
This passage goes on to talk about the specifics of what this good news is and what it means for our lives. It will take a few more posts to really delve into it all.
As we go, you will see that we have to get involved in it to experience what is being talked about. If these words are going to make a difference in our lives, it will require us to do something.
It's not passive - it's active. It's not anything we achieve by human effort, but to live in it does require that we get moving.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Be Present With
If we pay attention, we notice that most of Jesus' ministry was about being with people. Yes, He was a great teacher and He performed some incredible miracles, but much of what Jesus did was about simply being with people.
Jesus allowed Himself to be moved by the lives of the people He interacted with. The lives of His disciples. The lives of His friends. The lives of those in the crowds around Him. Compassion flows from Him as He is with these people.
Jesus was Present with His Friends
One of my favourite examples from Jesus' life on this is how He responded when He saw Mary and Martha after Lazarus had died. John 11:17-37 records this. Even though Jesus already knew He was going to raise Lazarus back to life, He will chose to enter into Mary and Martha's pain with them first.
John 11:35 simply records these words, "Jesus wept." Just a few verses before that, we read that Jesus "was deeply moved in spirit," (verse 33) when He saw Mary and Martha. Before He performed His miracle, He felt their pain. He came alongside them and was with them in their pain. Jesus was simply present with them.
Frederick Buechner describes this compassion this way:
"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."
This is what Jesus with in John 11 with Mary and Martha. He entered into their pain and was with them in. And, after He had done that, He raised Lazarus from the dead.
This account in Scripture is just one example of Jesus being present with people in the midst of their pain and then their joy. It was Jesus' lifestyle.
Be Present
And as His followers, we are called to live this way as well. To be present with people in the midst of their pain and their joy. Being present doesn't mean we come in as someone with all the answers, it means we are simply with people in the midst of what is going on. We sit with them, listen to them, cry with them, laugh with them, and celebrate with them.
We often find it easier to laugh and celebrate with people. It's more comfortable. It's the part of life we prefer.
We tend to shy away from the pain of others, even though we notice it all around us. It's uncomfortable. If we're trying to avoid it in our lives, why would we enter into it in someone else's life?
But, if we're going to follow Jesus' example of really being present with people, we can't ignore the pain. In fact, I've learned that we celebrate the joy in people's lives more when we've also noticed and been present in the pain of people's lives. "Noticing pain is a path to noticing love." (Tad Dunne).
Being present with people. Having compassion for them. It's what we're called to as followers of Christ. It isn't easy, but it is the example Jesus set for us.
Jesus allowed Himself to be moved by the lives of the people He interacted with. The lives of His disciples. The lives of His friends. The lives of those in the crowds around Him. Compassion flows from Him as He is with these people.
Jesus was Present with His Friends
One of my favourite examples from Jesus' life on this is how He responded when He saw Mary and Martha after Lazarus had died. John 11:17-37 records this. Even though Jesus already knew He was going to raise Lazarus back to life, He will chose to enter into Mary and Martha's pain with them first.
John 11:35 simply records these words, "Jesus wept." Just a few verses before that, we read that Jesus "was deeply moved in spirit," (verse 33) when He saw Mary and Martha. Before He performed His miracle, He felt their pain. He came alongside them and was with them in their pain. Jesus was simply present with them.
Frederick Buechner describes this compassion this way:
"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."
This is what Jesus with in John 11 with Mary and Martha. He entered into their pain and was with them in. And, after He had done that, He raised Lazarus from the dead.
This account in Scripture is just one example of Jesus being present with people in the midst of their pain and then their joy. It was Jesus' lifestyle.
Be Present
And as His followers, we are called to live this way as well. To be present with people in the midst of their pain and their joy. Being present doesn't mean we come in as someone with all the answers, it means we are simply with people in the midst of what is going on. We sit with them, listen to them, cry with them, laugh with them, and celebrate with them.
We often find it easier to laugh and celebrate with people. It's more comfortable. It's the part of life we prefer.
We tend to shy away from the pain of others, even though we notice it all around us. It's uncomfortable. If we're trying to avoid it in our lives, why would we enter into it in someone else's life?
But, if we're going to follow Jesus' example of really being present with people, we can't ignore the pain. In fact, I've learned that we celebrate the joy in people's lives more when we've also noticed and been present in the pain of people's lives. "Noticing pain is a path to noticing love." (Tad Dunne).
Being present with people. Having compassion for them. It's what we're called to as followers of Christ. It isn't easy, but it is the example Jesus set for us.
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