Tag: god

Three Minutes of Grace

THE GREAT FAST

Everything nonessential in us must fall away like ashes in a furnace so that the pure gold of our being, thus refined, may shine in the light of grace. The Lord holds you in his hand: know then, dear friend, that you belong to the Lord, whether you live or die.

For the peace of the Christian begins only in death…with the inexpressible bliss of supreme life, which is supreme wakefulness, supreme activity, and supreme intensity, and at the same time deepest calm, peace, and security….  ~Hanns George von Heintschell-Heinegg  (poet and theology student put to death by Nazis 1944 for being a part of the Resistance)

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CONSIDER

We have entered the Great Fast, a journey through the furnace of self-denial. We don’t enter the fast as a self-help endeavor; we enter it to die to the self so that we may live as Christ who “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself…[and] humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). He laid down the pattern for us, and as we follow it, we come to know the deep calm, peace, and security of belonging to him. 

Hanns George von Heintschell-Heinegg faced “emptying himself” in the extreme. As he awaited his execution, he was forced to come to terms with all the nonessentials of life. Let’s use his counsel to inventory our motives in this year’s Lenten fast.

*Do I stake my life on belonging to the Lord, or does my autonomy consume me? If the latter, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Am I at peace in my relationships, pursuits, past, present, and future? If not, we need to journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Do I know the bliss of supreme life in Christ? Do I delight in sacrificing my time and resources for God’s good work? Do I desire the happiness of detachment from all my fascinations more than stockpiling distraction upon distraction? If not, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Am I supremely aware of my vices and sinfulness? Am I supremely aware of the Lord’s forgiveness? If not, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Do I strive for moral excellence in my attitudes and actions? If not, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Am I supremely intent on receiving the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit—wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and reverence for the Lord? If not, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

*Do I desire the deepest calm, peace, and security that comes from the Lord alone? If not, we need the journey through the furnace of self-denial.

PRAY

Jesus, Lord, and Savior of my life, this year, I desire to endure the furnace of fasting from myself—all my attractions and fascinations, my self-will and self-promotion, my pursuits and persuasions.  I need your Holy Spirit’s strength to climb higher and fight harder for the restoration of your image in me. Grant me the honesty with myself to die to the behavior I excuse in myself. Illuminate my mind with your truth, and strengthen me in my weakness. Burn, Lord, burn! ~Amen

~I am a freelance writer. This post first appeared in a periodical.

Seedtime and Harvest

All the days of the earth,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease…

Six days you may labor, but on the seventh day, you shall rest; even during the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.

~Genesis 8:22; Exodus 34:21

Consider

To everything, there is a season, the ancient sage writes, a time to plant and a time to uproot the plant. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2) God has set in his divine order the perennial seasons, but there’s a caveat to that rhythm that our ancestors who lived close to the land understood–the sabbath rest, a fifth season of sorts. A season on which the other seasons rely. The Torah required a sabbath rest for the land–six years they worked the land, on the 7th year, the ground rested, laying fallow … “you must rest.” Just as the fallowing law’s purpose was to restore soil fertility, God ordained the seventh day every week as a day of rest.

This is worth our consideration as we work the land of our existence; there needs to be a quieting time that ushers us into the stillness of God’s grace, a time of anticipation, of awaiting the new mercies He showers us every morning. It’s God’s prescriptive wisdom for a life well-lived; it is only when we cease our striving that His sacred instruction bears the fruit of sabbath rest. It’s what is necessary for what the psalmist was getting at when he said, “The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.” (Psalm 85:12)

This may surprise you, but most people in the United States do not rest on the Sabbath, let alone join others to worship the Lord! We have forgotten what our ancestors innately knew across the ages; unless their ground lay fallow on a day in the week, fertility couldn’t be restored in the soil of their souls. It is one of the most challenging practices for postmoderns.

Pray

Lord, restore my soul, guide me along the right paths to receive your rest, and take measures to protect the Sabbath from interruptions.
Restore unto me the gladness of your salvation; uphold me with a willing spirit to allow you control of my time.
I choose to cease to be enslaved to the tyranny of the urgent!
Help me to desire to dwell with You and take refreshment from Your Word to me.
Guard me against wasting the Sabbath on this world’s “stupid and unintelligent” distractions lest I become wearied by the senselessness in temporal things.
Spirit of the Lord, rest upon me and give me a spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and reverence for You.

~Amen

(Adapted Psalm 23:3; Psalm 51:4, 80:20, 132:14; Ben Sira 22:13; Isaiah 11:12)