Reflections on Lent: IF

My church has been focusing on I Chronicles 7:14 this Easter season with a sermon series called "IF"

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

It's a time to reflect on NCC's ministry mission and how God is working it out:

Ordinary people, empowered by God’s Spirit, doing what Jesus did, together, wherever they are.
 

NCC and Community

Reflections on Lent: Listen to Him

Yes, this week we can think about what we listen to and what informs us, 

but also, find that rest in the voice of the Lord and truth that comes in there. 

I don't know about you, but sometimes when I spend a lot of time in reflection and a season of conviction, I get weary - weary of being wrecked, humbled, stomped down, and sent down roads I don't understand. 

So take a moment with me to rest and trust in the words of our Fathers and replace them with the hurry scurry of life...
 

The viability of our prayers is not contingent on scrabbling the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet into the right combinations like abracadabra. God already knows the last punctuation make before we pronounce the first syllable. The viability of our prayers has more to do with intensity than vocabulary. This is modeled by the Holy Spirit Himself, who has been intensely and unceasingly interceding for you your entire life.

 

  Psalm 32:7 is a must-circle promise. I like the King James Version: "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." [For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory - NLT]

  Long before you woke up this morning and long after you go to sleep tonight, the Spirit of God was circling you with songs of deliverance. He has been circling you since the day you were conceived, and He'll circle you until the day you die. He is praying hard for you with ultrasonic groans that cannot be formulated into words, and those unutterable intercessions should fill you with a unspeakable confidence. God isn't just for you in some passive sense: God is for you in the most active sense imaginable. The Holy Spirit is praying hard for you. And the supernatural sychronicities begin to happen with we tag-team with God and do the same.

 The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Dream Big. Pray Hard. Think Long.

"Even now we believe even then" - we are more than conquers.

Reflections on Lent: Listening

This week World Vision act:s has challenged Christians to rethink what they consume in what they watch, what they spend their time on, what vioces they listen to, and what they buy. It's been really challenging to for personally to think about this and way to "sacrifice my consuming" beyond the tradition of fasting food.

It think there's a new day in the faith when we realize that we are so much more than "what we eat" but that the words of Christ ring true today than ever:

"Man does not live by bread alone"

I'll leave you with this poem written by a fellow blogger on her blog Inscription: God-wrestling in the light of day

Reflections on Lent: All Consuming Fire

ReLENTless act:s of Sacrifice: Sacrifice What CONSUMES You

act:s Video - Week 5

In the Bible our God is describe as a "all consuming fire"-- what are you consuming that is getting in the way of your relationship with God, your relationship with others, and your relationship with the world around you? 

What is getting in the way of your calling to be in the world but not of it? 

What is stopping you from your unique calling that you have been given through your specific talents, passions, and opportunities to effect the world for Christ.

Reflections on Lent: God-Sized Dreams

“The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

 

How Tightly Should We Hold On to Our Dreams?

“God-sized dreams” might be small, and tucked in, and quiet. Sometimes it’s easier to think that “God-sized dreams” mean big dreams, our dreams, the things that are exciting and appealing and out “there.”

 

I’ve often wrestled with the phrase, “God-sized dreams” because I don’t understand what it means. God-sized? Dreams? What does that even mean?

And what of our dreams? What if they are just that, our dreams? Haven’t many people followed their dreams as an excuse to go their own way? To leave their families? To neglect the small, mundane, precious things that teach us patience, humility, and compassion?

I think about these things because I am on the verge, the edge of possibilities that could drastically change my life, my small, somewhat quiet life. I’m desperate not to lose the small. I want to hold on to my home and my little ones and my husband and stay within reach.

To read the rest of this blog, go to (in)courage....

Reflections on Lent: Ananymous Extraordinaries

Remember - You've been "called" to every moment of your day... 

"All I was doing was trying to get home from work" -Rosa Parks

 

Natalie Warne: TEDTalk

Reflections on Lent: If Leaders

So when people talk about calling, most times I think of getting the task of leading a movement. But it doesn't have to be that way. Calling maybe a simply call to be obedient as a mother, a wife, a boyfriend, a best friend, a secretary, or a co-worker. It may be to sell all you have and set off for a far away place or it may be as scary as going to your fence and having a conversation with your neighbor.