John 15, part 2

Same chapter, different angle. Now that we all know who we are and who we aren't, we can think more about Jesus' analogy of the vineyard. It's lovely today, but it looks nothing at all like the vineyards in photos and movies. That's because it's winter. Spring has not yet come.

All of the rows and rows of vines are lined up underneath long, strong wires that cross the length of the vineyard. Each vine has a tangle of branches growing from it, but at this time of year, most of them have been clipped off. Pruned. And the ones that remain have been bent almost to the breaking point and twisted around the wire. Trained. And all of them are bare and leafless. Resting.

That's what this season is for. Pruning, training, and resting. It's preparation time. It may not seem important, but there would be no harvest without the pruning, training, and resting that comes during the winter.

Think about what season you're in. Is it winter? Is is the springtime, full of effortless growth from the warm rains and often weeded soil? Is it the stressful season of drought, bugs, and heat?Those necessary struggles that turn the sour to sweet? Or is it harvest, the rewarding days that come after the months of diligence? The fruit of a whole cycle of allowing the gardener to have His way in you?

Whatever season you're in, it's just that. A season. And every one of them has a purpose for the gardener to lovingly work through us. I want to not only tolerate these cycles in my walk with Him but embrace and look forward to them. I hope that today's walk through this physical vineyard will remind me of all of the ways I still need to invite God to be the master gardener of His own vineyard.

John 15, part 1

Today my team is meeting in a vineyard. It belongs to a sweet couple who goes to church with some friends of ours. The owners say people find God there. I pray that that's exactly what happens.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk to my team about this chapter. I'm going to meander through it wildly I'm sure and don't know exactly where we'll end up but I'm going to start with reminding myself who we are. We are the branches. We have only one job. Holding on to Jesus, the vine. By doing so we will fulfill our solitary purpose. Bearing fruit.

Literally ALL of the other work that takes place in the vineyard will be done by the gardener. That's God. Not me. Not you. Our job is to allow Him to work through us by clinging to the vine. I'm going to write more about this chapter again tomorrow but for today, I just want to really meditate on who I am and what I'm called to. Clinging. Remaining. Connecting. Holding on. Abiding. That's all, nothing else.

Psalm 34

Come, magnify the Lord with me. And let us exalt His Name together.

This is such a precious thought. I am going to get to spend a couple of days with my entire team. There are many verses in this psalm that speak to me today, but the thought of getting to spend time with these people who I see so seldom makes verse 3 really stick out.

I get the honor and privilege of ministering alongside people who live and work in other buildings and even other states. I can't wait to hear them tell stories of His greatness. His mighty works that they see each week as they minister to kids and families.

I also get the chance to share with them during a devotional time. I can't exactly narrow down everything I'd love to share with them because I'm so overflowing with joy at what God is doing in my life. My dear prayer warrior friend told me to just share myself. To share what God has done in me. That those personal journeys will say more than any prepared verses or mapped-out messages. I've done my homework in preparation but still, I'm not exactly sure what will come out. I just know that I want more than anything for them to come and tell of the greatness of the Lord with me. I want us to exalt His Name as a team.

Ezra 4

It hasn't started yet, but I'm prepared for it. Opposition will come. And the story in this chapter points out a really sneaky kind. "Let us help you. We want in on that too!" But Ezra and the other leaders wisely cut them out. Their coordinated campaign of fear, frustration, and discouragement reveal their real motives.

I believe I'm in a place where the foundation has been laid for a move of God in our church of Temple-rebuilding proportions. But there is definitely going to be some opposition. I want to be able to face it with my eyes wide open. Just like in this story, I believe the work will ultimately forge ahead despite setbacks and sidetracks.

There are going to be some people who want to be a part of it that God has not called to that purpose. They will seem like they would be useful advocates. But no matter what letter-writing goes on, I know what I've been called to and will not give up. I wonder how this story relates to others of you in different situations. I'm always pleasantly surprised (which is just silly at this point, I should expect it now) to see Bible stories perfectly lay out the same situation I'm in. If it happens in my life, I imagine you've had similar experiences. Any you'd like to share?

Ecclesiastes 2

We're all going to die! And we can't take anything with us! And no one will remember anything we've done! Do you ever think about stuff like this?

People tell me a lot that I think too much. I've always thought that was an interesting thing to say. It implies that there is some correct amount to think and somehow I have surpassed the limit. Solomon clearly thought "too much" too. And God saw fit to include his ravings in His Holy Word.

Why do you think this chapter is in here? I suspect because it's real. I guess it's all true and people really do wrestle with this stuff. But it also betrays a deeper truth. God is pulling all the strings. God led Solomon to this point and He has led us here to the same point today.

Why did God bring you to read this today? Is it meaningless? I suspect not.

Ephesians 1

Grace. Is it free or does it cost? I think both. God has offered it as a free gift, but it cost Jesus His life.

Think about this. When a boyfriend buys a girl a $200 sweater, she may feel weird accepting the gift. Why? Because although it's a free gift, the price he paid for it makes her feel obligated to some extent if she accepts it. Take that a step further. When a man saves several months' wages and buys an engagement ring, he offers it as a gift to a girl. In this case, if she accepts his gift, one that cost her nothing, they both understand that she is actually responding by making a commitment to love him for the rest of her life. When he slips that free wedding ring on her finger, it will cost her her life.

The church gets so easily bogged down with the whole grace/works controversy. If you think you can just accept God's grace in some one-time prayer with no life-long commitment, you cheapen the gift. You disrespect its value and the precious price that was paid for it. On the other hand, if you act like you have to work to somehow earn something that was already paid for in full and given as an act of love, you disrespect grace again and the unmerited love that purchased it.

I don't think either of those are the kind of grace this lovely chapter is talking about. I think that any kind of response to God's freely-given grace that falls shy of complete abandon is less than this undeserved grace deserves.

Then consider this. If I were to go out clubbing and get drunk and dance on the tables in a bar, that would disrespect the ring I wear on my finger. It would dishonor the one who I've chosen to bind myself to. It would cheapen the love I've been shown. It would betray the man whose name I carry. I wouldn't even have to actually commit adultery to completely disgrace my husband.

But no wonder God so often compares sin to adultery. As His bride, all sin is exactly like what I just described. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are putting His ring on our finger. So when we choose to violate His love by living in sin, we disgrace grace. I'm not saying we should be motivated by avoiding shame. That's the opposite of what grace deserves. I'm saying that if we have taken His name, if we wear His ring, we should devote ourselves to loving Him with our whole hearts. And out of an outflow of that love, we would never even consider betraying the grace we've been given.

Ezra 3

Today is a red-letter day. Back on January 1st, when I started a 21-day "Daniel fast" with a random group of friends, I started asking God for some significant, serious, strategic things. Last week, my prayer warrior friend sent me a verse from the "Daniel fast" passage to remind me of its promise. "Do not be afraid, Kendra. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." And as surely as the Lord lives, He has indeed come.

So what does this have to do with Ezra 3? Well, the celebration for me is about a foundation that has been laid. The glorious and beautiful vision I can see so clearly, as clear as a precious childhood memory, is of a church that is living out its mission of "leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ." A church that is every bit as thriving and active on the weekdays as it is on the weekend. And the ground work has now been laid. The mixture of uncontainable joy and tearful sentiment that Ezra describes at this festival is what I feel today.

With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.

There is still much building and labor yet to do. And I know what happens in the next chapter. But the Lord is so good. His faithful love for His people endures forever. I can't decide whether to shout or weep.

1 Kings 17

Here's the prequel to the other Elijah story I already wrote about. This one sort of establishes what kind of a player Elijah is. I have drawn the same conclusion the widow did. "I know that you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth."

One phrase that must have been some kind of colloquialism at that time is "As surely as the Lord lives..." It's repeated a few times. That's really something to think about. If it is in fact true that the Lord lives, then how big a deal really are the miracles that happen in this chapter? If God is who He says He is, then multiplying food or bringing a boy back to like is really a small thing for Him. I want to start thinking like that. "As certain as I am that God is who He says He is..." then fill in the blank with whatever I'm in need of. Whether it's provision or life, He's got it in spades.

Another neat thing to note is that this story actually starts in verse 29 of the previous chapter. It tells us about Elijah's enemies, Ahab and Jezebel. One thing I think is awesome about it is that it mentions that Jezebel was a Sidonian. And after Elijah's smack down, where does God send him to lay low? Zarephath in Sidon. We can tell from details in chapter 18 that Ahab spent the entire drought on an international man hunt. But Elijah was on her home turf the whole time. The one nation he had the best chance of finding him. Just a FFTK&T for today. God's so cool like that.

Psalm 1

Walk. Stand. Sit. That's the typical progression of sin, isn't it? You're just walking along and... Hey, what's that? Oooh! Shiny! I think I'll stop and take a longer look. Oh yeah. This looks nice. I'm going to sit right on down and get in on this.

So if I'm one of the righteous, I'm keeping way out of the way of sin right? What I'm doing instead is being delighted with scripture and thinking about it 24/7. I'm as stable as a deep-rooted tree.

Whichever one sounds more familiar is probably where we really are. Loitering with sin. Or lingering in God's Word.

Let's get in the habit of drinking deeply from the stream we've been planted by. Let's allow God's Word to ground us. Because I don't know if you've checked the weather but it's getting windier by the day.

Amos 5

What? Amos? Where did that come from? Last night I left work after it was already dark and looked up at the stars. The first thing I saw was Orion. It's my favorite constellation, which is kind of a nerdy thing to say I know. But for some reason, I look up a lot and see that mighty warrior up there with the blood-stained sword in his belt and think of God's constant presence. But it also reminds me of a God that means business.

Well, anyway, that made me think about the verses that mention this starry host in the Bible. I also ran across the verse I quote below from Amos. So ta-da, I landed here in chapter five. Evidently the readers of Amos are basically standing in line for a severe tongue-lashing. Amos is calling God's people to repentance with the threat of death looming in his words. Seek God and live. Which of course implies that failure to seek Him leads to death.

Towards the end there's a beautiful verse that reminds us of what we are called to do. Here it in the Message:

"Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want."

Seek God and live is only part of the take-away meditation of this chapter. But turning your focus outward in doing it is the other part. It's so easy to get distracted with the "me" part of seeking God. Seeking God often looks like pious religious acts of studying, meeting, checklist-driven quiet time, and the other kinds of churchy stuff God mentions He's actually sick and tired of. The kind of seeking God Amos is talking about looks like rushing streams of justice, mercy, and righteousness flowing out to a wounded world.

Seek God and live. Really live.