Month: March 2010 (Page 2 of 4)

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

Temptation is painful because when we give it to it, it hurts from the inside. Temptation tries to get our appetites and will to override our deepest values.

Temptation promises us freedom, but it makes us a slave. There is always a hook. “Real freedom is not the external freedom to gratify every appetite; it is the internal freedom not to be enslaved by our appetites, to have a place to stand so that we are not mastered by them.”

We don’t face temptation alone and one way of dealing with it is to share our struggle with another person.  We can also ask ourselves, “If I walk down this road, where will it lead in the long run-toward or away from the Me I want to be.”

We need to notice the level of soul satisfaction in our lives.  We become vulnerable to temptation when we are dissatisfied with our lives. If we do not find soul satisfaction in the Lord, we will look for it somewhere else.  It becomes an idol or an addiction. The enemy is also the accuser and may tell us if we have given in to temptation we are beyond redemption. But the Spirit is just the opposite and is always seeking to deliver us from evil and moves us toward forgiveness and healing.

What we really long for is to be loved by and connected to God.  That connection is ours if we want it.

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

Richard Forster says, “Countless people…have such a stained-glass image of prayer that they fail to recognize what they are experiencing as prayer and so condemn themselves for not praying.”  Our state of our prayer life is not determined by how long we pray or how often.  If you believe God, you have already begun to pray and enter into dialogue with Him.  Believing in God means you believe He is always present, always listening to what you have to say.

Often when we are speaking to someone or in front of someone we can hide our real heart.  We may filter what we say. But the reality of God is that we are never speaking or acting in his absence.  However, God allows us to sometimes feel as if we are away from Him.  ( Do you ever drive differently when you think a squad car is behind you?  Is it because your heart is changed or because you don’t want a ticket?)  God doesn’t want forced compliance.  If He were too visible people would give forced compliance without expressing their heart. “Prayer becomes real when we grasp the reality and goodness of God’s constant presence with ‘the real me.” Jesus lived his every day life in conscious awareness of His Father.  He knew His father was listening not just when He prayed but all the time, whenever He spoke. 
God is the conscious listener to our every thought, and prayer begins when we bring what we most naturally think about before God. We can bring our worries to Him and pray what is in us. We don’t have to wait to clean up our motives first or try to sound more spiritual than we are.  Just pray what is in our hearts.

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book The Me I Want to Be

We are always in the hand of our Father. Jesus knew that no earthly situation has the power to put you outside God’s care.   The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The Spirit is a non-anxious presence! God does not want us to live in worry or fear. He wants us to live with bold confidence in His power. Peace doesn’t come from finding a lake with no storms but having Jesus in the boat. “The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.”  It is in God’s presence- not comfortable circumstances- that we will be free of worry and fear.  All things are in His hands.  Two ways to grow out of timidity is to let love cast our fear and to Face our fear with action.

Perfect love casts out fear. Often God uses other people to help love cast our fear. As we disclose worry to a friend, it seems to break the power of the worrisome thoughts.   We can ask for God’s help and instead of worry pray. As we do this we will find His peace to stand guard over our minds.
The Spirit can help us grow in peace by leading us in circumstances we would be tempted to avoid in fear. Even though we may have some anxious thoughts we can move forward, embracing the challenges.  This means stepping out in trust. Take the risk even if we don’t know the outcome.  “There is no way to get the peace of God from our head to the rest of our body besides trusting God enough to directly confront our greatest fear.”  .

Today each time we are worried about something give it to God in prayer.  We can go through life worried or we can go through it at peace.
“Life is too short,

   Joy is too precious,

           God is too good,

               Our soul is too valuable

                  We matter too much

       to throw away a single moment of our one and only life on

                     anxious striving.

           For the Spirit  God gave us does not make us timid.”

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

If we want our minds to be full of life, we will have to pay attention to what it is focused on.  What feeds our mind so we can flourish?  One of the greatest gifts is His word!  Not that we read it to fulfill a spiritual duty every day but to meditate on it as we delight in it. As we do that, neurons are firing and our brain is rewiring, helping us know we are loved by God.  As we know this in a deeper way it will affect all our other thoughts as well. Our grandkids learned the verse, “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.”  Our minds are being shaped all the time and we have the freedom to think these kinds of thoughts.   Let us think of what causes our minds to be drawn to what is noble, true, pure, lovely etc…it could be as simple as learning to see beauty in places you have never seen before.( What really struck me today was the stained glass windows of the cathedral and the gorgeous paintings etc. we saw. Such beauty and made for the glory of God!)  And as we read the Scriptures, enter into the story and let it come alive so God can speak in a new way. Or if we have doubts, let us not try harder to believe, but just tell God about our doubts as He already knows.  Finally, let us do what we already know the scriptures say to do, which may mean practicing loving a difficult person or forgiving someone  etc.

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The ME I Want to Be

We can’t stop thinking wrong thoughts by trying harder to not think them but we can “Set our mind”.   We can choose what we pay attention to. At any moment we can turn our thoughts in one direction or another. It is similar to setting a thermostat. It is creating a target for the climate. Just as the heating and air-conditioning will have to adjust in relation to the weather, the goal is  to create a life-giving climate.  The Spirit desires the climate of love, joy, peace through each moment of the day. We have the freedom to decide what our mind will dwell on. We can look for the presence and goodness of God in our lives and tune into the Spirit, asking Him to guide our thoughts. The mind shapes the brain. Neurons that wire together fire together. So when we practice hope, love, or joy, our minds is literally rewiring our brain!  We are not victims of whatever thoughts run through our brains like helpless spectators looking on.  We can choose to set our minds on His goodness and mercy and love etc. Let us have our  minds set on Him this night!!

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

Our emotions generally flow out of our thoughts, and discouraged people tend to think discouraging thoughts.  Worried people tend to think anxious thoughts. The way we live will inevitable be a reflection of the way we think. True change always begins in our mind. “Becoming the best version of yourself, then, rests on one simple directive:  THINK GREAT THOUGHTS!”   If we try to change our emotions by willpower without allowing our thoughts to be changed by the flow of the Spirit, it will not work.  God can change the way we think.  First of all we need to monitor our minds. We need to pay attention to our thoughts and God knows our thoughts better than we do and will help us learn what is going on in our mind from one moment to the next. When a thought comes to us we can ask, are they leading me toward life – towards God’s best version of me? Or in the other direction?  IF it is an anxious thought we know the thought does not come from the Spirit.  “The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Just for today, notice those activities and people that most help you live in the flow of the Spirit. What most blocks the flow? Think great thoughts that lead to life!

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I want to Be

God created desire, and it is God’s delight to fulfill desire. It’s true that our desires need to be cleansed and purified, and we must say no to any desires that would keep us from living in the flow of the Spirit.  We must be ready to sacrifice a lesser desire for the sake of living a greater life. But on the other hand, God’s plan every time we have an authentic desire – a God-implanted desire in us – we come to understand more deeply what a good God He is.  God has wired us and our desire can be part of this river of life that flows in us with power and energy. James says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of all lights who satisfies the desires of those who fear Him.”

 We all have material desires because God created all that stuff and it is good. But if this desire chokes our generosity then it is time to say no. But when we are surrounded by beauty, color and design, we can embrace that God-given joy and thank Him, and share with others. We may have a desire to achieve and this is not bad. Look at the apostle Paul. He was so motivated to achieve but it was harnessed so that he could serve others.  We can use our abilities to accomplish good for others too. We all have relational desires as well. Take time for deep friendships and exercise the gift of hospitality for fellowship of the Spirit.  We also have physical desires because our bodies were made by God. We have appetites for things to eat, drink, touch and see. Thank God that He gave us our body so we can see, hear, touch, laugh and dance. As we open ourselves to the flow of the Spirit in our physical desires, we begin to love God more and more…not because we should but because we are getting to know Him more and more. Psalm  103 shows how much He delights in us and satisfies our desires.

Devotions from John Ortberg’s book the Me I want to Be

Today’s devotional is on letting our desires lead us to God. Spiritual growth doesn’t mean doing what I SHOULD do instead of what I WANT to do.  It means coming to WANT to do what I SHOULD do. Jesus tells lots of stories about the Kingdom of God and his point is that when people come to understand how good God is, they desire Him.  When we tell people what they ought to do, they can take it like an obligation or as an opportunity.   The first kind of ought is a duty but the second kind gives life. Jesus message is mainly an ought of opportunity. We cannot make ourselves desire God more by telling ourselves that we should. God invites us to “taste and see that He is good.” He is saying try me and you will see that I am good. God gave us all desires that are His gift to us. They are part of the person that God wants us to be.  Uncorrupted by sin, desire is great and part of God’s design.  The Psalmist says He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him. God is a desire-creating, desire-satisfying God.

Devotions based on John Ortberg’s book, The Me I want to Be

We’ve all been told, Try a little harder!. But there are limits on what trying harder can accomplish.  The ones who got in trouble with Jesus were working hardest on their spiritual life but it got in the way of loving others. We can get so fixated on our own efforts that we can get judgmental. When we try too hard we probably think how nobly we are behaving and pride takes over at our goodness.  Instead we need to surrender our will, look for ways of being with God, and try to be softer.   Like Richard Rohr said, “Faith does not need to push the river because faith is able to trust that there is a river. The river is flowing. We are in it.”   Trying softer means focusing on God’s goodness more than our own efforts. It means being more relaxed, less self-conscious, less pressured. When we try softer we are less defensive, more open. It means asking God for help. Sometimes it takes painful situations in our lives for us to really know that we are not competent in ourselves. We need humility so we don’t become like the Pharisee who thanked God he was not like the tax collector. Let us not try harder but try softer.  There is a river of life all around us but we can’t push it.