Passionate, but Frail.....

Thoughts from a beautiful weekend at Emmanuel.

Make the path to God so very clear....

I woke up this morning and I immediately began reflecting on the thoughts from yesterday. The idea of leveraging everything for the glory of God seemed very distant. The question I wrestled with was "how"... How can I really allow this day to be a day lived for God's glory, name, and renown? I feel helpless, at times, to really be a difference-maker. I felt pretty fragile as I consider that I could share a similar role as John the Baptist. Yikes! It is a challenge to ask of God that I might actually herald His glory with the strength and substance of Elijah.

So, with all those feelings of frailty, I opened and read a prayer journey thought for the day. This devotional was beautiful! So much so, that I wanted to cut and paste for your enjoyment.

Sometimes I wonder how much confidence God really has in me...in us. Don't get me wrong, I know He loves us immensely and has called us to greatness. But He also knows how short our memories are. And how frail our frames. So, once again we come to Sabbath. To rest. To remember. Sure, just six fleeting days ago we were here remembering--determining to walk with the confidence that He is I AM. But, we didn't really fully get it, did we? Nor have we made the six-day journey with confidence. Confidence, not in what we can do, but in what He can do in us.Thus, we stressed, we worried, we carried heavy loads alone... we doubted if it was possible after all. We settled for less. We settled for us.So, again today He says "stop." He says you can't. But I can.Look up. Count the stars. The Maker of all is at your disposal, residing in you through Jesus Christ. Have no doubt...He can live this day well in you.I lift my eyes up to You, Jesus. You are my daily bread. Give me the grace to rest in knowing You are God. Be glorified in me as I surrender my little strength to Yours, and wait on You to flex Your might in me. "I love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." You are my I AM. Amen."For He Himself knows our frame, He is mindful that we are dust." Psalm 103:14

I love you guys. I love our God. May we live with such abandon to Him and experience His life through us. May others find delight in our birth! It might be a great week to sit down into Luke 1.15 - 16 and ask God to birth and grow within you the character qualities of John. Enjoy the week. Merry Christmas.

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For the Glory,
Mark

Jesus is.....

Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Chirst, deep, deep within yourselves. -- Philippians 4.23 (MSG)

What an incredible weekend at Emmanuel. We parked our lives, thoughts, passions, and deepest longings around a memorial confession. Peter said, Jesus, you are the Messiah... the King of Glory.... the Christ!

It was sweet to ask and answer, "who is Jesus to you?" Here's a few of the beautiful responses from the Emmanuel family. Jesus is....

strength, comfort, peace, salvation, redeemer, friend, the Son of God, life, truth, guide, provider, confidant, courage, more than enough, justifier, lover of my soul,healer, teacher, rescuer, desire, example, Lord, all, joy, reality, groom, mercy, grace, ultimate, deep magic (a C.S. Lewis reader!), my conversation at any time, real, heartbeat, breath, eternity, my drive to work, my rest at night, my day, my night, my hero, my hunger, my fill, today, tomorrow, eternally my Christ, freedom, forever present, faithful One in the midst of horror, patient, available, compass, stability, light, friend who is ready to listen, the Father I never had, a river in a time of dryness, a harbor in the tempest, peace breaking through confusion, mercy lifting me from a sea of sin, grace that is greater than my flesh, strength girding my frail frame, redemption washing away weakness, my defense, protector, direction, source, music, everything, whole, assurance, refuge, hero, more, freedom giver, a gift, my delight, mender of my broken heart, unconditional, shelter, beautiful, beyond compare, treasure, power, freedom, the missing piece of the puzzle, bridge to God, amazing, the map, restoration, my clothing, amazing, ridiculous, ALL!

And Jesus turned to Peter and said, 'upon that confession, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it!' May our lives... the life of Emmanuel be a continuous confession of the greatness, wonder, beauty, and majesty of our God! May we live our confession in this earth......

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Together, For the Glory,

Mark

The Plan

A thought or two from the weekend encounter at emmanuel/ Philippians 4.18-19.

When surrounded by need..... hunger, pain, death, thirst, AIDS pandemic..... the challenge that we, as Christ followers, face is to demonstrate that God is good. Life is harsh and God is good. How do these two realities co-exist?

God has this beautiful plan to demonstrate His goodness and His grace. It's a daunting plan, but a great plan! His plan to demonstrate His goodness is us. The body of Christ.... the individual Christ-follower. It's our responsibility... our role to live out the goodness of God in this time and in our generation. We are Plan A. Perhaps the most terrifying reality is that God doesn't have Plan B! He looked at a group of followers a couple thousand years ago and said to them, 'you guys are the plan. I will live life through you and you will demonstrate the beauty of our God in this earth. I have put on flesh, walked with you and will pour out everything in order to live for and through you. So, plan A - it's you!!' I would imagine that those guys had the same reaction as we do today.

I have this intense responsibility to listen to God... to know Him well... to know His heart.... and to be keenly attuned to His promptings. Then, to join Him at work and release on earth a taste of heaven. That's what God expects from us. Actually, I think that will be good news for this world! I am thankful.... I am grateful... I am stunned to be a part of God's plan. To be in the middle of the fray as I point toward the redeeming work of Jesus Christ is intensely exciting. It is also overwhelming.

So, realizing that you and I are Plan A... that God has invited us into His plan of reconciling men, women, and children to Himself. I think Jesus teaches us a bit about how to actualize His Plan A. He was standing on a hillside with thousands and thousands of people. He was surrounded by His disciples. The people were hungry. They didn't want to go home. Jesus asked the disciples what to do. They said, send 'em home. Let them fend for themselves. Jesus smiled.... looked at His Plan A and asked, again, what should we do. They looked around at the magnitude of need and no resources to meet that need. Jesus said, 'what do you have? Will you just give me what you have?' The disciples found a kid who had a sack lunch and they said, 'here's what we've got.'

What they had... given to Christ... was more than enough. A sack lunch fed thousands and they had leftovers. I love to be a part of God's Plan A. I love that I can actually join Him in His passion to reconcile all people to Himself. Perhaps we find the capacity to meet needs in this earth with the same principles. What do I have? Can Jesus have it? He might just take it and have a bit leftover when He has finished. After all, He is good...... His name, character, and passion released in this earth is good news. His plan is good....it involves me.... it involves you.... it is infused by Christ. It's a good plan. It's a plan that invokes our passion and a life of purpose. Bring your sack lunch and let's feed, nurture, and exclaim the name of Christ to the nations.

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For the Glory,

Mark