Category Archives: Daily Meditations

Articles, Daily Meditations

Bears Mauling Boys

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From there he [Elisha] went up to Bethel. As he was going up along the road, some young boys came out of the city. They mocked him saying to him, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” So he turned around and looked at them and cursed them in the name of ADONAI. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the boys. ~2 Kings 2:23-24 [Tree of Life version]

Alrighty then.

This has got to be one of the most obscure stories, if not the most bizarre account, in all of the Bible.

What in the world is going on here? Well, first of all, we need to approach the Bible on its own terms, as biblical scholar Michael Heiser used to say. And we do that by adhering to the context, language, and worldview of the inspired biblical writers.

The first thing which the original language helps us to clear up is the age of these mocking boys. Most people who read this tend to picture little 5 or 6 year old children having some innocent fun, thanks to some not-so-great early English translations. But the Hebrew words used here indicate that these young guys were somewhere between the ages of 12 and 30. Most scholars believe they were teenagers. I’m so glad I was never that disrespectful in my teens… By the way, Elisha was about 25 years old at this time, not a grumpy old man as many seem to think.

Next, we see Elisha is going to Bethel. There is a LOT going on there. Bethel means “House of God” and it was there that Abraham built an altar, and Jacob had his dream. But by this time Bethel had become a center of idol worship. One of Jeroboam’s golden calves was there. So this had now become a place hostile to Yahweh and the prophets.

Why were these dudes saying, “Go on up, baldy!“? Here’s where context and language help us immensely yet again. Just a little before this incident, Elijah–Elisha’s mentor–had been whisked away to heaven (without having to die for it) in a whirlwind with fiery chariots. This was quite the buzz around town. People were talking. In the Hebrew the exact same verb for Elijah’s “going up” is used by these mocking boys indicating the author’s intended connection. Therefore, these Bethel inhabitants, who despised Yahweh and the prophets, were telling Elisha to get on outta here and disappear just like Elijah because we don’t want any of you people in our town, ever. To call someone a baldhead back then was a tremendous insult, a term of scorn and contempt; it was often related to having a skin disease. These guys were cruelly insulting Elisha, and spitefully blaspheming Yahweh.

Elisha looks over at them and curses them in the name of God. He may very well have had Yahweh’s words from Leviticus 26:21-22 in mind: “if you keep walking contrary to Me and will not listen to Me, then I will multiply the plagues on you seven times like your sins. I will send the wild animals among you, which will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you so few in number that your roads will become deserted.” Then the two she-bears come out and tear 42 young men to pieces. Notice that Elisha did not specifically call the bears, he just cursed these guys for dishonoring God. Apparently Yahweh sent the bears..? One final context to look at is that it was common in the Old Testament for there to be some display of power at the beginning of a prophet’s ministry. This was quite the memorable display!

So….what’s our practical application?

Uhhhhhh….

Don’t mock God or God’s true spokespeople?

I did like what the old Interpreter’s Bible commentary said, bringing an aspect of this odd story up to our times: “Lawless youth may not be torn asunder by bears, but they are rent by passions, devoured by appetite, until their characters and careers and all their hopes for happy, useful living are destroyed.”

What do you think?

Articles, Daily Meditations

Haggai

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Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little, and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because my house lies in ruins, while all of you hurry off to your own houses. ~Haggai 1:7-9

There seems to be a plethora of small obscure prophetic books near the end of the Old Testament. Lately I’ve been thinking about them, wondering if I know off the top of my head what any of them are about.

I don’t.

For some reason, Haggai rose to the top of my pool of curiosity, so I dove into it. I like it.

First, a couple of quick fun facts: Haggai is the second shortest book of the OT; only Obadiah is shorter. Also, as you can see from the photo, we can accurately date the events of this book to September 1, October 21, and December 24 of 520 B.C., which is kinda cool.

Here’s the gist of this small book so you can be prepared for your next church trivia nite: In 538 B.C. Cyrus of Persia issued a decree allowing the Jews who were in Babylonian captivity to return to their land and rebuild their temple. They got started in 536 B.C., but after a couple years, they lost interest and abandoned the project. Fourteen years later comes Haggai with a message from the Lord that they are to get back to the work Yahweh gave them to do and finish the temple. In one of the few examples we have in the Bible of quick and tangible results, the people got to work just 23 days after Haggai cracked the prophetic whip, and the temple was completed in 516 B.C.

Ecstatic to be out of captivity, the Israelites returned to their native soil to unfortunately find that it was in rough shape as far as farming potential goes. In addition, there were enemies all around them there. So it did not take very long for them to lose heart and slip into pessimism after their initial excitement. This led to a spiritual lethargy making conditions quite conducive to becoming preoccupied with their own building projects and forsake what the Lord gave them to do.

This did not go well.

The more the people devoted themselves to their own self-serving projects, the more nature worked against them in this situation. And by “nature” we mean Yahweh.

This short book is about priority. It is not about God needing a temple for Himself. Rather, the LORD’s house was to be at the center of this community in order for them to thrive. No other center will do. No other priority will yield Life. Their lives were designed to be centered on Yahweh and not themselves.

What God gives us to do is always best for us to do. How easy it is though to get distracted by shiny things, our own untamed desires, or like these Israelites, by unfavorable circumstances.

One of the most self-harmful moves we can make is to focus even more on ourself when we face some sort of challenge in life. Part of the deal of this life is suffering. It’s definitely going to happen. It could come in the form of a physical ailment or limitation, the loss of someone, oppression by cruel people… There will always be the temptation during these times to abandon what God has given us to do and retreat into “Me-Land”, but God always gives us what we need to do to live fully.

Is there anything you’ve abandoned which you need to pick back up and continue?

What is God asking you to do that you’ve not done because you’re too preoccupied with your own projects?

What spiritual exercise do you need to return to?

What self-serving activity has taken the place of serving others?

Who have you stopped praying for?

Daily Meditations

Queen of Sheba

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The queen of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen.  ~Matthew 12:42 [New Living Translation]

Let’s talk about the Queen of Sheba. My first reaction to this passage was, “So the Queen of Sheba is gonna rise from the dead in the final judgment to pass sentence upon these people Jesus is talking to, along with all their buddies who refused to listen to Him??”

In a nutshell: YES!

Context: Jesus is having a conversation with some Pharisees and Scribes, and in their hostile skepticism they ask for some sort of sign to prove Himself. Now “Jesus was a man with an incisive perception of what was transpiring in the human heart”, as Michael Casey puts it (see John 2:24). He knew that one sign is rarely enough for people; they always want more, bigger, flashier. It’s not like Jesus hadn’t done miraculous wonders right in front of them already! So Jesus is like, “Look, the only sign you’re gonna get is the sign of Jonah.” By this He was referring to His upcoming time in the grave followed by His resurrection, just as Jonah was in the fish for a few days then spit out. He then tells His accusers that the Ninevites of Jonah’s day are going to rise up at the last judgment and condemn this generation since the Ninevites repented at Jonah’s preaching. Not only that, but the Queen of Sheba will also rise up at the last judgment to condemn them because she came from the ends of the earth just to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And now someone waaaay greater than Jonah or Solomon is here, performing amazing, life-changing acts in their midst, and they’re not even close to believing in Him. In fact they’re trying to get rid of Him!

Who is this Queen of Sheba Jesus is referring to? Well, her story is found in 1 Kings 10:1-13. Basically, as Jesus said, she heard about the wisdom of Solomon and his Lord from afar, and actually made the very long and no doubt arduous trek from the south to come witness it for herself. She brought Solomon tons of exquisite gifts, he returned the favor, then she went back home. 

Jesus smacks these religious people in the face with the fact that this queen (a Gentile no less) simply heard about Solomon and his God from a distance, and then responsively took physical action, action which could have cost her dearly, for travel was no cakewalk in those days. But these religious people have someone far greater before them, the One who can give them abundant life, yet they miss Him. They miss the opportunity of a lifetime. Of eternity. Therefore, the ones who did seize the opportunity when it was presented to them will be their judges.

I found a comment on this passage by someone named D.A. Hagner that states well the message here: “There is in principle nothing wrong with a desire for a sign from God. The request for a sign only becomes unjustified and intrinsically wrong when one is already surrounded by good and sufficient evidence one chooses not to accept. In that case, unreceptivity and unbelief are the root problem, and it is unlikely that any sign would be sufficient to change such a person’s mind.” 

And then as far as application, my guy William Barclay pointed out that the Pharisees and scribes “were guilty of one fundamental mistake. They desired to see God in the abnormal; they forgot that we are never nearer God, and God never shows himself to us so much and so continually as in the ordinary things of every day.” BOOM. That’s it. I think that is the application point to drive home here. Or at least a significant one.

Consider how Brother Lawrence [1611-1691] was converted by simply observing trees and contemplating the miracle of how they die and come back to life year after year. He was blown away by this when he sat with it for a few minutes, realizing that there is Someone behind it all, Someone beautiful and powerful as all get out.

Do not make the grave mistake of demanding a ridiculous sign of the proof of God to the point of overlooking the miraculous everyday pointers to our benevolent and awesome Creator.

Daily Meditations

I love You too

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As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. 1 Timothy 1:3-7 [NIV]

Some people dedicate themselves to “myths and endless genealogies” which promote controversial speculations rather than God’s training. They miss the point of it all which is love coming from genuine faith in God. Instead of this, they have gone down the path of meaningless talk.

In some ways, I think the evil one has a bit of an easier time with this particular temptation today. I’m thinking of scatteredness. Of our thoughts being shot multiple directions to the point of such diffused focus that nothing is clear. This goes hand in hand with the evil one’s popular strategy of layering hardships upon you so as to overwhelm. It’s usually not just one thing.

This has happened to me a little as I’ve been missing that singular focus upon one lesson or verse or truth or word for a whole day, perhaps even an entire week of simply pondering one thought, drilling down, deeper and deeper. Sometimes my hunger for truth is twisted into “overeating” many different foods, failing to actually taste any one of them. This renders us ineffective, keeps us chasing and never doing, never settling in on one good thing done well.

The Spirit does not confuse or overwhelm. Confusion and being overwhelmed is most likely coming from an evil source, or from our own flesh, or from others like the false teachers mentioned in this passage.

Are you debating? Or doing good?

Are you encouraging others? Or chasing endless, meaningless speculations which go nowhere?

More is not always better.

More is usually not better.

More information.

More tasks.

More choices.

If “variety is the spice of life”, as they say, perhaps we could say that infinite variety is the confusion of life. “Infinite variety” here referring to the ubiquitous information at our fingertips, more than we are designed to ever take in over several lifetimes.

How good and healthy it is to drill down on just one thing. To have some time each day in which God is the only thing on your mind, even if for only five minutes. How restorative! As my friend Miguel says, “Words, words, so many words–only one Word matters.” Ah yes, we have but one crucial task: listen to the Voice, to the Word of God speaking to you and to me.

There is a temptation to be fixed upon external stimuli, neglecting the deeper meaning of experiences, neglecting the ultimate First Cause, neglecting the truth of the universe which is that it was created by Love and is sustained by that Love, and will be brought to completion by Perfect Love.

Another dear brother of mine, Aundre, would consistently ask me, “What’s the Spirit been speaking to you?” What a good reminder to always be listening to the Wind for the Word that matters. And by “Wind” we of course mean Ruach-Pneuma-Spirit-Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ! In case it was unclear.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, and quite befitting of this Ripple, is by Henri Nouwen. It’s just one sentence which I come back to again and again, but here it is within it’s fuller context which is even more meaningful, I believe:

God loved you before you were born, and God will love you after you die. In Scripture God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This is a very fundamental truth of your identity. This is who you are whether you feel it or not. You belong to God from eternity to eternity. Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you too.”

Life is just a little opportunity for you during a few years to say, “I love you too.”

Daily Meditations

The Basis of Life

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I have been reading the latest book by one of my 5 favorite authors of all time, Michael Casey. His new book The Longest Psalm is absolutely fire (like Holy Spirit fire). At 82 years old he is still bringing the thunder, and I am continually inspired and refreshed by his deeper-than-the-Mariana-Trench insights into humanity. The Longest Psalm is, of course, on Psalm 119 which has 176 verses. He offers a meditation on each verse, and so far, they are all gold. I’m on verse 64, in case you were wondering.

There’s a phrase I came across that really struck me and has stayed with me like none other. It is this: “The basis of life is gratitude not accomplishment.”

The simplicity and profundity of this sentence. It goes against much of the world’s ways of thought I suppose. With this pithy thought I have found much freedom. It is a wholly fresh way to engage each day and each experience.

This truth was reinforced a week ago during my time of lectio divina over John 16:31-33 which ends with Jesus saying, “You’ll have trouble in the world. But cheer up! I have defeated the world!” I sat meditating on this for some time, and have often wondered over the years what exactly Jesus meant by this. Then the Michael Casey phrase entered my mind as I was seeking the Lord Spirit’s wisdom, and I realized that this is at least one aspect of the meaning behind Jesus’s defeat of the world.

As He said, we will indeed have troubles in the world; it seems there is just no guarantee against that. But we as believers and partakers of the Divine Life offered by Christ realize that there is a new basis of life which does not follow the stressed out masses of the world. Our motivation and satisfaction come from another place if we have genuinely accepted the truth Jesus brought to us from the Father. As we live in God’s light we live on this basis of gratitude and do not feel we must compete and win and accomplish in order to feel and know that we are someone, that we are valued. We already know that we are of infinite value and are cared for more intensely than we can possibly imagine, and are subsequently free to bask in the smile of our wonderful Creator at the end of the day.

It is this “basking” which is that gratitudinal basis of life that allows us to engage creatively with reality and then, in turn, accomplish exactly what we are meant to do without any unhealthy pressure.

Articles, Daily Meditations

Resetting Your Algorithm

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O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. ~Psalm 63:1

So I was out with some friends for lunch last Friday, and one of the guys shares how he is trying to “reset his algorithms” on the internet because he is getting so much political news invading his feeds that he doesn’t want.

A little bit of context, which is kind of humorous. My buddy admits that he likes following politics when it is especially ridiculous because he really enjoys train wrecks. The presidential debate he deemed to fall into this category and was therefore blissfully going down the rabbit holes. As we know, the more we click, the more we are fed accordingly. He was having a ball, but then the political climate changed, and the news went back to more seriousness in his opinion and was not fun anymore. That’s when he said that he’s been clicking on as many sports and nonpolitical humorous stories as he can in order to reset his algorithms, but he’s still getting more political news coming at him than he wants. Apparently he’s got a lot of resetting to do to change that algorithm!

Almost immediately the apropos metaphor hit me.

Whatever we search for most earnestly, that is just what our mind will more and more easily feed to us without even trying.

Put differently, what we think about the most shapes our neural pathways in such ways that those thoughts start to come at us more naturally and with less and less effort.

If we have bad thought habits, it is going to take quite a bit of “clicking” on other material to reset those algorithms to make whatever is good, true, and beautiful become the default.

By the way, I also like this metaphor of “clicking” on material. We all have many thoughts entering our minds throughout the day which we do not necessarily want. We are human, and invasive thoughts do happen. We get “pop-ups” as they were called in the earlier internet days. But we do not need to “click” on them. We can choose which thoughts we follow down the rabbit hole. This takes me back to one of my all-time favorite quotes which I never tire of sharing; it is from Dallas Willard:

The ultimate freedom we have as human beings is the power to select what we will allow or require our minds to dwell upon.

Let’s get super practical. One simple way I have found to help in the resetting of my algorithms is that ancient practice of memorizing Scripture. I recently re-memorized Psalm 63, and it is slowly but surely becoming a welcomed invader of my thoughts. Something “radical” I did about a dozen years ago was to read the entire Sermon on the Mount three times a day for thirty days. My goodness, I can’t tell you how good this was to do. It crowded out so much unhealthy thinking simply by taking up more and more neurological real estate. I found myself having significant portions of the sermon memorized without even trying. There’s also the efficacious practice of praying in specifically meaningful ways for those closest to you everyday…

These are just a few ideas out of thousands that we can use to reset our algorithms and rewire our minds in healthier ways. I hope this metaphor is helpful for you as it is for me!

Daily Meditations

Jesus Learned Obedience Through Suffering [part 2]

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Let’s go just a little deeper down the rabbit hole, shall we?

I’ve been intensely fascinated by the idea of Jesus arriving at new stages of experience as one commentator put it. One road of Hebrews 5:8 we could journey down is that Jesus learned obedience through a particular kind of suffering which we do not normally think of. Suffering is, as we know, not limited to physical pain. Pain is a part of growth as a human being. As Luke Timothy Johnson astutely points out in his commentary on this passage,

“intellectually, the learning of new ideas is a form of growth: our minds expand to include new realities of which we had not previously been aware. The growth is good. But it is also painful, since it implies the disruption and rearrangement–and often the abandonment–of our previous mental furnishings. To enter into new mental territory means at least a partial death to old mental territory. Stretching the mind to encompass new truth means suffering the pain of mental disequilibrium.”

Can you wrap your head around the fact that Jesus, taking on our humanity to the fullest degree, likely leaned new ideas which stretched him?

Perhaps he grew up hearing some corrupt religious teachings which he later found out, through seeing more of the light of God, were unhealthy and not truly from the heart of Yahweh. To shed something we’ve been taught, or simply heard and absorbed most of our life, is indeed a death, a suffering. We’ve all had to drop certain ways of thought which we discovered were unlovingly judgmental, and it does kind of hurt to admit to ourselves that we ever harbored such views.

Of course I am not saying Jesus ever sinned, nor will I ever. I’m merely pointing out this fascinating aspect which shows how deeply he can relate to us because of his great sacrifice and service to humanity that is no doubt greater than we’ve probably previously imagined.

The word “learned” in this verse is not conveying that Jesus went from disobedience to obedience, but rather has the connotation of coming to know something firsthand through personal experience. This is why I love the First Nations Version (a wonderfully fresh Indigenous translation of the New Testament) of this verse: Even though he was Creator’s Son, he still had to learn, through suffering, what it means to stay true to the ways of the Great Spirit.

Maybe Jesus had to experientially learn as a kid that life is not about pleasing people or trying to look good, but about pleasing God and serving people. At some point he probably recognized that we cannot transform others; we can possibly inspire them. Even God’s Son did not have a 100% conversion rate. Therefore, we can say with a little more certainty that Jesus experienced the suffering that comes with people not accepting what you are offering them, of people not really listening to you, and perhaps the most confusingly painful of all–people misunderstanding you and your intentions. How horrible is that?

But he had to keep obeying his Father anyway, through all of this suffering.

Despite the inevitable unmet expectations and desires that come with being human, he still had to trust in God. Gee, that’s always easy.

And remember, obeying is deeper than simply keeping the rules, as efficacious as that might be. Did you know that the Latin root of the word “obey” means to listen, to hearken to, to pay attention to? Despite suffering, we must keep listening to the One who designed us. We must keep our attention focused upon our Creator who is perfect love and knows us better than we know ourselves and wants the absolute best for us at all times. And not only listening and paying attention, but saying yes–every time.

Daily Meditations

Jesus Learned Obedience Through Suffering

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Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. ~HEBREWS 5:8

This verse has intrigued me for many years.

Jesus learned obedience through suffering.

I have sat with this single sentence for almost three weeks now, and feel that my thoughts still have yet to coalesce into any sort of non-ambiguous distilled formation worthy of sharing.

But there’s so much here, so much I’ve poured over, thought about, prayed through that I desire to share….so I will simply start putting down thoughts in hopes that Spirit will move if this is of God, and stop me if it is not.

I’m blown away by the fact that Jesus had to learn what it meant to be obedient. Think about that thought alone for a second! He became acquainted with what it was to obey in the face of suffering, to obey even when that very obedience was the cause of harm to Himself.

He had to overcome and override His (God-given?) human desires whenever they were at odds with the Father’s will and plan for His life. He took on human desires to fully identify with us. Along with humanity came temptation and weakness. So it seems there must have been times when he humanly wanted something other than what the Father had in store for Him. The most obvious scenario we could point to is having to override that innate sense of survival when He was called upon to give up His life, and in a most cruel manner.

In my study of this verse, one theme that kept coming up across the different commentaries was this idea of reverential submission. William Barclay had a really thoughtful insight on this topic: “Jesus learned from all His experiences because he met them all with reverence.” I don’t believe I have ever thought of that exact idea before. Jesus was always, without fail, looking to His Father, deferring, trusting, obeying. So therefore, in every situation of His earthly life He was learning since he greeted each and every circumstance with reverence and submission. His human mind and body must have possessed urges, because of how complete was His identification with us flesh and blood beings. Urges to play it safe, to do whatever His flesh messaged Him was good to do and pleasing for Himself. Temptation and weakness are not sins. But they are challenging to deal with as humans. And He dealt. So focused was He on Father in every situation, and on learning His will more completely, that He never succumbed to allowing Himself to be overwhelmed with what this life threw at Him.

In thinking of this, I was reminded of what C.S. Lewis said about temptation with regard to Christ in his book Mere Christianity. If you think Jesus does not understand our plight because He never sinned, think again:

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is….A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means–the only complete realist.

It’s like if there was a CrossFit contest with a 40 day course, Jesus would have been the only one to ever finish it. How foolish it would be for someone who tapped out after day 6 to say, “You don’t know what this course is like; you don’t understand how hard this is!”

Daily Meditations

A Year of Review

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The wind blows where it wants to, and you hear the sound it makes; but you don’t know where it’s coming from or where it’s going to. That’s what it’s like with someone who is born from the spirit. ~JOHN 3:8

“People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” -Samuel Johnson

I have received a word from the Lord.

No, I am not an aspiring cult leader.

It’s just that the Wind spoke a personal word, for me, as happens from time to time. And I think it’s important and encouraging to share these words with others, when appropriate.

This message concerns the upcoming year for me: It is to be “A Year of Review”.

A year of taking inventory.

It is to be a time of purgation, fasting, and decluttering of mind, body, and home. And it shall begin with a January fast from reading any books. I very much enjoy reading, but there comes an appropriate season to cease from accumulating and consuming so that you can simply metabolize and digest. This of course applies to much more than the reading of books.

I’m very excited for this 2024 journey of reviewing with God the countless blessings He has bestowed, and teachings He has given. As we touched on this in the last Ripple, there is a joy and efficacy in taking the time to read over what you have journaled, soaking in the growth Jesus has fostered in you, thanking Him for what He has brought you through. To simply go back over highlights and notes in books I’ve read, instead of jumping immediately to the next book, is such a wonderful practice of reminding à la Samuel Johnson’s quote above. To actually look through the 13,000 photos on my phone, reliving joyous memories, deleting those surplus shots to clear space… All of this cultivates a wide smile and deep gratitude.

I look forward to the removal of encumbrances and the making of room for more space to simply be with God in contemplation. And by contemplation I mean it as the mystics refer to it: sitting in silence waiting for a word from God which you cannot come up with on your own. In my experience there is no greater practice or use of your time than this.

I know this has been more of a personal sharing, but I’d like to encourage you, if you don’t already, to choose a word for the year, or a theme, some anchoring thought or centering truth you’d like to keep returning to. I have found this helpful and grounding.

Tho we may desire to improve ourselves in several areas, it is realistic to implement just one shift per year. In reality, if you do indeed initiate just one or maybe even two reforms over the course of a year, you are advancing at an impressive and sustaining rate!

There is a nagging pressure to do everything, or at bare minimum a lot of things in order to keep up or please everybody. This must be resisted so that you can make tangible and lasting renovations which will liberate you in some efficacious manner, as well as bless those close to you to a greater degree.

As I said, my specific calling for 2024 is to review with God the plethora of goodnesses in my life, and take moments to enjoy them anew, to appreciate what I already have by physically attending to it. This will naturally decrease time and energy for accumulating and consuming more more more. I anticipate sharing from this invigoration with those around me what I am enjoying. You can expect some rich Ripples of review this coming year, Lord willing 🙂

Oh the easy yoke and light burden of focusing on doing just a few things mindfully well!

What might be your word, theme, focus for the upcoming year?

What is one shift that would greatly free you? And likely bless the world around you?

Daily Meditations

You Gotta Rest to Grow

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He took his leave of them and went off up the mountain to pray. ~MARK 6:46

For about a dozen years I was a certified personal trainer beginning back in 1998. One of the fascinating principles I learned was that when you workout, you cause micro tears in the muscle fibers, so you’re not really building muscle during the activity, you’re actually tearing it down. It is in that 24 hour period of resting the muscles after a workout where growth, in reality, takes place–provided you have proper nutrients and hydration of course.

If you work the same muscle groups vigorously everyday, they will never grow; they will just keep getting broken down with no chance to build back up.

One of my favorite bodybuilders was Mike Mentzer. He had such an incredible mind and approach to his craft. He said that optimally you would lie around resting and growing 24 hours a day, BUT reality dictates that you need to stimulate the growth, as well as sleep for about one-third of your life. So his philosophy was to spend the bare minimum amount of time in the gym to produce maximum gains in the body. His approach, which he termed “H.I.T”, or “High Intensity Training”, was to go to all out total muscle failure, but for a much shorter duration than the other bodybuilders. In other words, spend more time growing and less time tearing down. It seemed to work pretty well for him, as you can see from the picture.

I was thinking of parallels in the spiritual life, since Papa Yahweh created all that we call science, biology, anatomy, etc. to reflect Himself in some way, as well as reflect the spiritual journey itself, I believe.

And I realized that it is when we are resting in Christ that we are experiencing the most profound growth. As stated earlier, there must be stimulants for growth, such as Scripture meditation, acts of service, sharpening conversations, communal worship, and perhaps most stimulating, some sort of suffering.

But the maximal growth is not happening during these actions. You can’t read and study Scripture nonstop without reflecting on it if you’re going for optimal spiritual health. You can’t constantly serve others without taking a break. Think of the down time Jesus needed after feeding the 5,000 people; He didn’t immediately go feed another 4,000, He got away to take a break and pray (Mark 6:46). You’re not ready for the storm to hit while you’re building your house on the rock. It is afterward, as you are able to chill, to rest in said house, when the winds and the waves can beat upon it and you’re able to stand firm.

I believe it is when we are resting in Christ that those spiritual muscles are most literally rebuilding and becoming stronger. When you are simply sitting in God’s presence and enjoying Him with no agenda. It is when you are calmly reflecting upon Scripture, after reading or studying it, reflecting on a sermon after hearing it, reviewing your previous day after living it.

And then there is gratitude. Gratitude is of vital importance, for we are resting in a state of thankfulness, allowing our souls to expand.

Another way we can be resting in Christ is by trusting wholeheartedly in His goodness, love, and care in the midst of a difficult situation.

Twelve years ago this month I remember heeding Jesus’s call to take 30 days without talking to anybody (outside my family and work). By simply obeying that directive towards a sort of “nothing”, I experienced more growth than any other 30 day period of my life. Thanks be to God.

As a preacher once claimed, we grow close to one another by hanging out and doing….nothing. Not everyday needs to be an epic event–though some epic events are necessary in our life, for they provide us with so much to reflect upon the rest of our days!

I’ve journaled a lot in my life, I mean A LOT. That specific action is extremely helpful, but you know what is possibly even more valuable? You guessed it. Actually reading what you’ve journaled. Sure, some of it is embarrassing, but it is highly efficacious for fostering growth, probably because there is something powerfully effective in assimilating experiences and information. (For a Ripple on this see Developing the Film of Your Life)

I’ve read a couple of really cool brain books which talked about how during your deep sleep cycle, your brain is collating information you took in and experiences you underwent from the day, as if there’s someone in there filing everything away into their proper folders and drawers. How amazing! Therefore, if we are taking in or doing too much without appropriate rest and reflection, we will suffer from a sort of spiritual constipation. Not to be crude, but that will definitely inhibit growth and function!