meditation

Did God Not Say That?

Chris Tomlinson — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:00:00 -0800

It’s better to meditate on what God’s word actually says, but it can also be useful at times to meditate on what God’s word does not say.

Here’s what I mean. Recently, I borrowed my wife's Bible and happened upon a note (from a Beth Moore Bible study I believe) she had handwritten beside Philippians 4:6-7.

This is how the verse appears in Scripture:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

This is how my wife's note, casting the verse in the negative, appears:

“Do not be calm about anything, but in everything without prayer and without humility, without any thankfulness, do not tell God what you need. Then, you will not have any peace, nor understanding or clarity, so your heart will be open to all and your mind will be like the sea tossed to and fro by the wind.”

God’s word, as inspired by His Spirit, is like a jewel. It is a wonder to behold, but turning it can give another perspective that’s beautiful as well. I think that’s what’s going on here. The Spirit meant every word He inspired, so we do well to pour over each word and think deeply on what He meant. But there are times when we can benefit by thinking over what He did not say as well.

Question: What does your favorite verse look like in the negative?

To Seek the Quiet

Cara Davis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:55:18 -0700

It’s 11:09 p.m. Thursday night. Finally all is quiet, except for some gurgling from my refrigerator and the quiet whirr of the ceiling fan. After a day filled with trilling phones, competing music from three different offices, and chattering voices over the roar of air conditioning, my ears are still ringing. But now, I can slow down. I can sit in silence. I can think.

We live in a world filled with noise—and distraction. It’s a rare moment we’re allowed to steal away to somewhere quiet where our minds can rest and be refreshed. In fact, our bodies even fight it. Since constant stimulation is as close as a flip of a radio knob or buttons on a remote or cell phone, many of us give in to the temptation to keep our minds buzzing and our thoughts tightly-wound.

It’s not uncommon to look to your left and right at an intersection and see your neighbors with cell phones glued to their ears. As soon as they step into their cars, the silence compels them to grab the phone and “make use” of the time—although the calls are actually used to “pass the time.” I’m so guilty of this too.

We’re a people who avoid silence. Consequently, many of us do not think anymore. We react, worry or fantasize, but rarely do we think and process the way our minds were designed to.

Maybe that’s why we have a hard time getting quiet before the Lord and learning to seek after His presence. And maybe the reason we can’t remember Scripture well is because we breeze through one chapter on our way to the bed (like I do) instead of sitting and analyzing and thinking about what we just read. It takes discipline and denying the flesh, but learning to seek the quiet is key to growing in God.

Five times it’s recorded in the book of Mark that Jesus took His disciples away from the crowds to some place quiet. It was a time of rejuvenation, of personal reflection, and growth. The Bible also details other benefits of quiet times: to overcome temptation (Mark 14:32 -38); for strength (Ephesians 6:10 -20); and for a sense of peace (Philippians 4:6-9).

The stillness of the quiet is exactly where we will feel the gentle tug of God’s presence calling us to commune with Him, to grow in Him, to be refreshed by Him. That time of communion is more satisfying than any counterfeit we distract our brains with.

In The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence we learn how make a habit of thinking on God and talking to him in your mind – instead of letting it wander aimlessly. Brother Lawrence disciplined his mind to do this whenever he could – whether he was washing the dishes or in a concentrated prayer time.

I once edited an article written by a man whose dad was dying of cancer in a hospital. He talked about how it was too difficult to pray formally during those times – but that prayer became breath to him. Prayer was constant and always overturning in his mind – it became as second nature as breathing to him. I think this is what Brother Lawrence had in mind. May we seek to discipline our minds this way in the absence of tragedy with intentional times of quiet so when less than ideal times come, we have a rich well from which to draw.

Perspectives to Chew-on

Abbie Smith — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:53:17 -0700

I’m speaking this weekend on following God when expectations going array. Like what happens when plans you foresaw tank, or prayers go unanswered? Did God do something wrong, or maybe you did something wrong?

Much of my preparation has been spent with records of Jesus’ biological family, imagining what it might’ve been like to stand in their shoes. And as I’ve pondered the implications of following God for them, let alone believing He is somehow good, I’ve been floored. Take for instance, premarital pregnancy, but then being told by an angel not to sweat it because you’re carrying the Savior (marked paraphrase)…or imagine watching the boy you potty trained bleed to death on a cross…these are outrageous and absolutely unprecedented. And either Christianity is a crapshoot and we’re wasting our time on a fable, or it’s the most unexplainable miracle to hit earth, and we’re invited to partake.

If you’ve got ten minutes and the interest, I’ll paste some excerpts below. At first, they’ll likely be a familiar, topical read, but beyond that I hope you’ll find meatier areas of engagement. What might it have been like to be present at these scenes? What were the costs of following, and where was the hope of gain? Grace be with you.

***

Now the son’s birth of was as follows: when His mother had been betrothed, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit And her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, " do not be afraid to take this woman as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. "She will bear a Son; He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US.

Not long after, an angel appeared to the dad in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for the current ruler is going to search for the Child to destroy Him." So the dad got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet: "OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON."

And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout…had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. … when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel." His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed…and a sword will pierce even your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."

Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day's journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You." And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?"

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; this was to fulfill the Scripture: "THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS…standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

"Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name."

Focus: Priceless

Richard Dahlstrom — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:21:42 -0700

There's a new book out about the stupefying of America and the basic thesis is that we're growing dumber because we're unwilling, or unable to pay attention and focus on one thing at a time. What do you think of this thesis? (excuse me a moment, my cell's ringing and it's important; not that you're not important, but you know, it's just polite to answer). Now, where was I? O yes, I was saying that there might be a connection between the cracks in our productivity infrastructure and our attention bearing capacity (a moment please, someone's tweeting and LOL, it's hysterically funny. I mean who eats oysters and pickels for breakfast anyway?).

Did you know that 2 out of 3 voting Americans can't name the three branches of the US government? (and speaking of branches, we're finally trimming that giant fir tree in the front yard. OMG, it's been growing out of control and after talking to some people in the know we decided that we could take it on ourselves, but I'm going to need to sharpen my chain saw...but I digress). Anyway, our failure to understand basic things is rooted (don't even get me started on the danger of roots making their way into our sewer pipes. It happened to our neighbor), says the author, in our failure to be able to focus on one thing at a time.

It's ironic that this new book is, at the time of this entry, ranked #22 on the best-seller list for books about pop-culture (it's presently linked on Amazon to the book people buy along with my book. Oh, you didn't know I wrote a book. Yes, well it came about, um, I'll need to tell you later, my phone's ringing), because this is the week that the Time Magazine cover story is about Twitter. (Just a minute, someone came into my office to talk about church planting and satellite campuses. It's entirely new terrain for our staff and we're investigating how it works) Oh, and so as I was saying, Time points out how we valuable twitter will be in our culture and I'm like, "really? I don't think so. I don't know that I want people tweeting during my sermons because how will I know if they're listening? Plus, who really cares?". So (just a second, my chat box is open from gmail), the question is this: Is there value in swimming upstream against the multi-tasking, intrusive tech (oops, a reminder came up that I've a lunch appointment in 15 minutes), culture that we've come to accept as normative?

How should we then live?

A. continue to multi-task but shut it all down at a certain time, and read, meditate pray?
B. be more agressive in fighting back by unplugging in large swaths, allowing intrusions only at scheduled times?
C. leave things as they are?

I'd like your thoughts because...
Declining Math scores... 40 billion in lost competitive productivity
ADD... (wait a sec - the phone's ringing again)
Increasing mean age of project managers in America to nearly 60 years old: alarming
Loss of thoughtful discourse regarding literature and ideas: disconcerting (oops... IM on the phone about a rehearsel)

Focus: Priceless