(started 4/1/12 posted 4/14/12)
Today is April 1st so I know I’m a bit behind, but I had a full month. Full of good things. Lots of thoughts and perspective. I almost wrote my blog mid-month (maybe I should have). I’m gonna blame God for one reason I’m late on my blog:
This month I started having lunch with God again. My goal is to have lunch with God once a week. It’s a good break from my day and infuses “God mindedness” into my day. Here are two nuggets from my lunches with God in March (the 1st being why my blog is late):
Nugget #1: God does not have to do lists with all important world changing activities that He needs to do. He also doesn’t have a calendar (He is unbounded by time). I on the other hand have a todo list, limited time, a calendar, etc. When I have lunch with God, I often want to cram His Godness into my framework of time, to do list and schedule. This is one reason I journal: so I can capture and write down all this good stuff that I think about when I’m still and listening. WRITING IT DOWN IN A JOURNAL ISN’T THE END GAME! It might be a helpful reminder, but what really matters is what’s coursing through my mind/actions/reactions on a minute by minute basis. So, I sat down with God for lunch and decided NOT to cram Him in my framework and I didn’t write ANYTHING down, but just was. We conversed, dialoged and I didn’t have to “capture meeting notes” (which is very helpful at work, but not necessary with God).
Another analogy to describe the goal or end game: My circulatory system is very focused. My blood has but one purpose: to take care of my body (bring oxygen, nutrients, etc. and take away carbon dioxide and waste). That’s all it does. No todo lists, but it freely and completely does its job every minute of every day and thus I’m alive. This is what God/the Holy Spirit is to our minds and souls. It has but one purpose (John 10:10) that we might have life and life abundantly. The less we are God minded and have God’s perspective, the less we are alive (peace, joy, freedom, etc.). Don’t write it down, just do it. :)
Nugget #2: And this is related, but I put “lunch with God” on my calendar for every Wednesday from 11:30-1:00 and while this isn’t a bad idea, God said to me, “ I’m not so concerned about you religiously tapping out of your day to join me for lunch (although I welcome it). I find it more valuable if we are flexible in our 1:1 time so that you can be 100% with your life work, relationships, etc. AND you bring God mindedness 100% into your life, work, relationships, etc.” So I’m trying to do that :).
So now onto the March blog entry:
The Basics
Intro: So this morning I dove into some good stalwart reminder verses. In part 1, I’ll share those and then in part 2 we’ll look at application (hopefully in a free sort of way).
Part 1: In Luke 10:38-42 (Mary/Martha story) we are reminded not to be worried and bothered about so many things (to do lists, schedules, etc.) but that only “one thing” is necessary. I’d say that “one thing” is to be God minded as we are reminded in Col 3:1 to set our mind on things above and not only on the things of this earth. (There’s lots I could add here, including copy/paste of the entire new testament, but I’ll move on.) Galations 5:22-23 “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” and “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other”. Like blood is coursing through our veins and arteries, what is coursing through our minds, souls and lives? Hopefully it is the Sprit (see also, nugget #1 above).
And lastly, Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Do we have it? How?
Part 2 – practical application – the rubber hitting the road – making it real
Just do it: Pause (if you have to) get centered and do it.
Reminders: I need a lot of reminders. I blog 1/mo just to remind myself. Church, small group, hanging with quality friends. Post-it notes. Etc.
Fellowship community: This is worth calling out, because just like “bad company can ruin good character” when you hang/live with like minded people, not only are you reminded of what should be coursing through your veins, but you are ACTUALLY DOING IT! Examples: Service projects. With the people I do life we do service projects. Some for each other like painting, putting on a deck, etc. Some for strangers or the larger community such as Feed My Starving Children, serving at the Veterans Home, etc. Who is it that you do life with? How much are your sharing/giving of yourself with these people? As they say “You get what you give”.
Church: The Sunday morning traditional service. While I’m not crazy about the concept in and of itself, it can be a great centralizing place to get filled up, connect with people and then go out and serve.
Missions/service: Even if you don’t have a great network or community. So what! Go find a place to serve and you just might find a community there.
PARC: This is an acronym I got from Camp Cherith years ago as the formula for good Christian living (it’s pretty good): Prayer Action Read Christianfriends. In a few more words: Pray: Spend time talking (and listening) with God. Action: go out and serve. Read your Bible. Hang out with Christian friends.
Take Home Message: There are many ways, feel free to pick a method or formula that works for you, but keep in mind that it’s not just the formula, but the end game is when our minds/souls are operating like our blood. Focused and doing what it was created to do with excellence and joy!
Grab something, try it and see how it works. Feel free to switch it out and find what works for you until it becomes habit (and they say it takes at least 30 days to create a habit).
Until next time… Keep thinking (but don’t just think :)).
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