Month: April 2015

Just Be……

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There have been 2 phrases that have haunted me for the last while and seem to be uttered by those nearest and dearest to me.

 
The first phrase that I have come to loathe “it is what it is” – frequently released from the mouth of my husband, usually in moments when I have zero control over a situation that I am desperately trying to change. Reminding me that I can’t change it and to embrace it because after all “it is what it is”, makes me want to swing for him, not only because I hate the phrase but because deep down I know he is right.  There is nothing we can do at times other than to embrace the moment, to sieze the day because guess what – it is what it is.
 
The second phrase “just be” is tediously linked, and is the most recent repetitive saying that has creeped into recurrent conversations with my closest sidekick Erin Griffith. 
 
She has helped me think this phrase out and contributed to the following ramblings.  
(One day she’ll write an entire post for me – I know it)
 
This is a simple idea.  
 
I love that as people – we overcomplicate everything.  
 
As the people of God we are on a mission. We carry the presence of God.  We build a community.  We make disciples. We tell the world about Jesus and His good Father.  I am passionate about the mission – I love talking about it. I love inspiring other people about the mission. I am so committed to seeing the church be everything that she can be. The church is truly the hope of the world.
 
But hope, change and this mission of ours is incomplete if we all just sit around and talk about it. I realise that it can be so easy to sit around and talk about the things that we find frustrating about our personal worlds.  The change we want so desperately to happen, and we talk about it what it COULD look like. As friends we have understood that the conversation must move beyond words – there is an action in those moments. And it doesn’t come from anyone else but us. 
 
Ghandi put it most eloquently when he said “be the change you want to see in the world”
 
And that is the challenge – to Just Be.
 
We are guilty at times about talking about the changes we want to see. The organisers among us create teams, we have strategy meetings about the real meetings we are going to have, and we plan out how best to bring about the change. The meetings can seem endless and the doer in me hates all the talk. There’s some stuff that we simply just can’t plan because it simply is about us just “BEING the people of God”
 

I can’t help but read the gospels and be challenged by the fact that Jesus simply came into the world and “showed” us His world so to speak.  Yes He talked – but He had this “just be” thing sorted. He came and He did. He changed a culture by just simply living out the kingdom He was king of. His kingdom is different. It’s not one of talk but of power.

It’s not breaking news, but the more time we spend getting to know Jesus the more we become like Him. This makes “just being” that bit easier.
 
So when the thoughts come, “I wish things wouId change, I want the church and the world to be different, I wish I was part of a better community, one which is authentic & one where the people are active in each others lives” JUST BE.  Be the community you want to see. Be the culture you dream of. Invite people into your world, be vulnerable, be real. If it’s real and authentic then it’s easy – no one is trying to force anything, it should be as natural as breathing. To just be Jesus – because we carry Him.
 
I know there’s a place for planning – I’m not discounting that at all. But somewhere along the way have we lost the fine art of just being? Being part of a kingdom – being natural, being supernatural. Not talking about it. Just being it. Because that is who we are. Do your part. It’s time to set a new normal, change your culture. Let people see your substance is something worth having – when we live it, they see it, and when they see it, they will want to live it too.
 
JUST BE!

 

Quality reading..

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We all have them don’t we?  That little pile of books that we keep in the loo room for those times of boredom.  In our house we have a bible, a devotion book and a random book about wasps or something like that for those that fancy some random interesting facts about something random.

My friend and I have had interesting moments (separately might I add) with the devotion book that sits in our downstairs loo. It’s almost like that book has a set of ears, and gives freakishly timely thoughts and words as though it’s heard our previous conversation prior to that moment of “relief”.  It makes us laugh.  We have even been known to go consult the “book in the loo” to see what it thinks about the current state of events.

So today’s page inspires my thought for today and gives words to something that has already been stirring my heart.

“Having devotions and being devoted are two different things”

Devotions stir our hearts and seal a quality time in the presence of God our father.  It’s good to set aside time in any relationship for it to grow. Time and love are entangled in a dance together – we spend time with those we love, doing what we love.

The more time we spend with people, the more we become like them.  The same is true in our spiritual relationship with God. The more time we spend in His presence the more we become like Him.  It’s impossible to not be changed when we spend time with Him.  For this reason – devotions are great.

But it’s not about having devotions. It’s about being devoted.

And being devoted looks like something. And it’s not complicated. This for me is summed up in Matthew 22

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

A devotion to God, and being devoted to His mission – people.

It really is simple – LOVE GOD and LOVE PEOPLE

It’s impossible to separate our devotion to God without being devoted to His cause.

It’s impossible to spend time with God and not come away with a love for His people – ALL people. Because God is all about people.  And I often wonder how short I fall in this when I worry only about me and mine.

As the church we are called to be loved (by Him) and be love (to people) – but love is more than an emotional feeling towards someone or something. It’s an action word – it requires action. We can say we love all day long, saying it is easy. But it should look like something more, it’s our faith in action.

I’m challenged by this. I want this to the most natural thing in my life – to love as an action – not forced, box ticking love because I have to, but a genuine, real expression of God’s heart for people. But the reality is, for me to love like that – it has to flow from my relationship with God, who is the first giver of a love like that. No strings attached – loving because He is love.

Love from the centre of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12: 9-10 (MSG)

So keep having devotions – but may that time keep you devoted to the great heart of God. Love God and love People – action – it looks like something more than mere words.