Miracle Mondays

I believe that going to heaven for eternity is an incredible benefit of Christianity. That's not the only one, though. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that He came to give us life, and life in abundance  I believe that if we are in Christ, our life does not look the same anymore. The here-and-now is transformed.

The reason I believe this is not because a smiling preacher told me so. It's not even because the Bible says so. The reason I believe this is because I have experienced it. It happened in my own life and in the lives of others I've known.

In my experience, it seems like a lot of us Christians miss this. We focus so much on the hereafter, we forget about what's in front of us right now.

Joy. Peace. Life. Miracles.

I have had seasons of my life when I have seen miracle upon miracle, practically living in a state of overflowing awe at the presence and action of God. Mere months later I find myself wondering if any of it was real.

Enter Miracle Mondays. I'm dedicating Monday posts here to telling about a miracle that I have experienced or witnessed. These are times that I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that I have seen God in action in this world. Many of these stories have happy endings, but some are heartbreaking. Some are silly. Some are tragic. All are real.

How about you, do you believe in miracles?

Just Move

Today was the 7th consecutive day I have gone for a long walk.

Seven days. That's not long.

I haven't done anything dramatic, just carved out thirty minutes to an hour a day to bundle up and get outside.

Things are already changing, though. 

My legs feel stronger. I've dropped a few pounds. There is a tangible difference.

As that inspirational revelation struck, I realized parallels to my spiritual walk.

Sometimes, for months on end...

I do nothing. 

There is no spiritual growth.

I yearn for intimacy with God, but...

I don't seek it. 

Eventually I turn back in a number of small ways and notice immediate differences in my life.

It starts with baby steps...more consistent, focused prayer, and focused time in the Word. Sometimes it starts with a musical worship experience.

My walk is shaky, my steps tentative. But as I persistently (if not consistently) continue this journey, I continue to be amazed, humbled, and honored at what God does.

He is there. 

Often He'll show off. I feel my spiritual legs strengthen and the journey becomes easier. He will remind me that He has been there all along, waiting for me to start moving again.

Wanting something doesn't make it so. Sometimes you have to just move.

When you are stuck, what do you do to get moving again?

Motivation 2013

Welcome to 2013. Everywhere I turn I see signs of resolutions. New year, new life, new you. I hate to jump on the resolution bandwagon, but up I go again.

My life has changed so much in the past 10 years that it's hard for me to ask for more. The distance from where I was to where I am could only be traversed miraculously. But I'm human, never satisfied. Always wanting more. Like just about everyone I know, my goals revolve around health and fitness. As I approach the year, I have been challenged regarding my true motivation for this change.

The church answer for this would have to be something like "I want to be in better shape so I can better serve the Lord." Or maybe "my body is a Holy temple, I need to treat it as such." How about "I want my outside appearance to reflect the state of my soul." Yeah, I'm familiar with the church answer. If you know me very well, you know how suspicious I am of church answers.

Each of those have some truth to it, but I need to be honest and dig deeper. I have had a life long battle with clinical depression. This is a battle that has been won. But somehow, my eating choices feel like I'm killing myself slowly. Because of that, deep down I feel like this life and death war isn't quite as over as I thought. The monster is still lurking under the surface. It can't kill me quickly, but it's patient and is willing to go for the long slow method.

This fight is my motivation. With help, I've managed to defeat this beast at every battle. I'm going to win this one too.

Bored?

People close to me have asserted lately that if you're a Christian and your life is boring, you're missing out on something. In fact, I've heard lately that if you don't remember the last incredible thing that God did in your life, you are probably "doing it wrong." This isn't a health/wealth prosperity gospel variant at all, this comment was intended to be deeper, more personal. There are times God has used us in incredible and humbling ways that didn't lead to outrageous prosperity or fortune...our reward was simply being present when some incredible life change happened for someone else. Our reward was to be a witness to a miracle.

Now, I'm not one that believes that there are different levels of salvation. Saved is saved. If you're saved, it's impossible to be more saved. However, I am a firm believer in spiritual growth, commonly called discipleship.  Salvation happens once and is life-changing. Through spiritual growth, a relationship with God is developed.  If you stop at salvation, you miss out on the intimacy of a relationship with Jesus. You miss out on the guidance and assurance available through that relationship. You also miss out on the life of significance and adventure that is the result of a passionate pursuit of God (and His passionate pursuit of you.)

Am I great at this? Absolutely not. I was recently asked which of these five areas I was best at: prayer, solitude (in the context of Jesus isolating himself to focus on his relationship with the father), small group, time in the word, and trust in the unconditional love and guidance of the Father.  My honest answer was that I completely suck at all of them. Sure, I happen to be in the habit of consistently attempting them all, and maybe God's giving me credit for that. But, honestly, when judged on my results, I'm failing miserably.

Fortunately for me, I am not judged on my results. It isn't my effort that matters, and God seems like he's not done with me yet. This is still an incredible journey he's got me on. He continues to teach me about grace and unconditional love. His favorite teaching method seems to be continually giving both to me.