The following devotions are
based on the book THE LIFE YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED (Spiritual Disciplines for
Ordinary People) by John Ortberg
(Zondervan, 2002) All text in red
italics is a direct quotation from the book.
CHAPTER
10: A LIFE OF FREEDOM –
The
Practice of Secrecy
- In general, the soul makes greater
progress when it least thinks so….most frequently when it imagines that it is
losing. (St.
John of the Cross)
- To whom do I belong? To God or to the world! Henri Nouwen
- Some people live in bondage to what
others think of them….might be called ‘approval addiction’. (158)
- When we have the grace to be free in
the presence of those who judge our lives and evaluate our actions, we have
Christian freedom. (Lewis Smedes)
- One of the fine arts of gracious living
is the art of living freely with our critics. (Smedes)
- When Jesus spoke, he was free from the
need to create an impression. He was
free to speak the truth in love. (160)
- Our ‘generalized other’ is a composite
of all those in our lives whose thumbs up or thumbs down signal carries
emotional weight with us. (161)….parents, teachers, peer group, boss,
co-workers, family, neighbors.
- Part of the irony of the generalized
other is that it is not really other at all – it’s what we THINK others are
thinking.
- I am only a small part of a much larger
movement and that at the end of the day there is only one King whose approval
will matter….God.
- We are not the passive victim of
others’ opinions. Their opinions are
powerless until we validate them.
- Being addicted to approval is not the
same as having a healthy appreciation for praise. 164
- Receiving praise gracefully; without
becoming an addict, requires a well-ordered heart. 166
- Indicators of approval addiction: comparison, deception, resentment.
Treatment for Approval Addiction:
Secrecy
- True spiritual maturity means that we
don’t feel the need to congratulate ourselves because we’ve gotten something
right. 168
- Join the club for recovering approval
addicts that might be called ‘Righteous Anonymous’.
- The practice of secrecy exists to
liberate those who are trapped by the desire ‘to be seen’, to impress others.
168
- Resign from Impression Management – we
put out disclaimers to make sure the other person is thinking about us the way
we want to be thought about.
- Secret Practice of Good Deeds – Look
for opportunities for practicing secret acts of kindness and senseless beauty.
170
- Acts of servanthood done to impress
others lose their intrinsic power to help us enter the life of the kingdom.
May we strive to be what Winston
Churchill once called his opponent, ‘a modest little man, with much to be
modest about’.
CHAPTER
9: THE GUIDED LIFE –
Receiving
Guidance from the Holy Spirit
There is a way of ordering our mental life on more
than one level at once. On one level we
may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of
external affairs. But deep within,
behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and
adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine
breathing. Thomas Kelly
1 Kings 19:11 GNT A
Gentle Whisper
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and
shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t
to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after
the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t
in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.
- It
is one thing to speak to God. It is
another thing to listen. (140)
- If
I am to have a relationship with God that is in any sense personal, I must be
open to the possibility that sometimes God does speak directly to me. (142)
- Why
should God’s end of the line be equipped with a receiver but no mouthpiece?
(143)
- One
reason why we fail to hear God speak is that we are not attentive. We suffer from what might be called
‘spiritual mindlessness’. (144)
- God
can directly guide my thoughts without the aid of intervening sounds or images.
(146)
- Like
Jacob’s stone altar, we need our own pillars to remind us to listen. (146)
Genesis 28:16,18 GNT
Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is
here! He is in this place, and I didn't know it!”…. Jacob got up early
next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a
memorial.
COMMENT:
Jacob's stone pillar reminded me of Joshua's stone memorial on the banks of the river - testimony to God's presence and action. What reminders do we set up around us to remember God? We wear crosses, we carry a 'cross in the pocket', we put up sayings on our walls, or leave our Bibles displayed prominently (hopefully not just collecting dust). God is here IN THIS PLACE! If we are truly in touch, we don't need the reminder because we feel that presence all the time. Stop and listen! God is speaking to us in so many different ways!
Numbers 22:28 GNT
GOD SPEAKS THROUGH A DONKEY
Then the Lord gave the donkey the power of
speech, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you? Why have you beaten me
these three times?”
- “Insider
Information”…Ask yourself how often do I seek God’s guidance when I’m not
facing trouble or a difficult decision.
- A
Badge of Spirituality or Importance….God communicates with whomever he chooses.
- The
Same Thing as Passivity….you can’t assume what happens as a result of passivity
is the will of God.
- A
Way to Avoid Taking Risks….God’s purpose in guidance is not to get us to
perform the right actions. His purpose
is to help us become the right kind of people. (150) That means making decisions!
COMMENTS: Each of this 'qualifiers' on guidance has merit, but I especially want to comment on the last one. If God wanted us to be 'fail proof', God would tell us what to do EVERY STEP OF THE WAY! But like good parents, children are taught through making mistakes and learning from them. God doesn't worry when we don't do something right, as long as we are becoming 'right' in the process. Children learn through decision making and consequences. So do we. God doesn't want little robots doing his command, but loving humans who respond with love without being told to do so all the time!
Luke 12:12 MSG
Don’t worry about ….what you’ll say or how you’ll
say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right
words when the time comes.”
PURSUING THE
GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT
- Listen for the
Spirit Continually. This is a
learned skill – the ability to have that gentle receptiveness to God at all
times. As you listen to people, listen also for what the Spirit is saying.
(152)
- Be relentlessly
responsive. Don’t just
listen. Respond to God’s leadings to the
best of your ability. When we fail to
respond, we lose touch with our hearing.
- Listen for the
Spirit’s Voice in the Words of Others. God speaks not
only to us, but through us. (153)
- Practice
listening in small matters. God’s guidance
is not limited to momentous decisions, but it may involve God’s gracious
attention to small details. (155)
John 1:14 MSG
The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We cannot be
transformed if we close ourselves off to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. (156)
Psalm 121: 3-4 GNT
He will not let you fall; your protector is always awake.
The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps.
CHAPTER
8: LIFE BEYOND REGRET –
The
Practice of Confession
Many Christians are unthinkably
horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in
lies and hypocrisy…He who is alone with his sins is utterly alone. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
Psalm 19:12 VOICE
Who could possibly know
all that he has done wrong?
Forgive my hidden and unknown faults.
- Confession is
not primarily something God has us do because he needs it. God is not clutching tightly to his mercy, as
if we have to pry it from his fingers like a child’s last cookie. We need to confess in order to heal and be
changed. (129)
- Many of us
struggle, not so much with understanding the message of forgiveness, but with
living in the reality of it. (129)
- Confession that
helps us experience the power of forgiveness is a process, not a single act.
(130)
Psalm 51:1-4, 10 GNT
Be merciful to me, O God, because
of your constant love.
Because
of your great mercy wipe
away my sins!
Wash away
all my evil and
make me clean from my sin!
I recognize
my faults; I
am always conscious of my sins.
I have
sinned against you—only against you— and
done what you consider evil.
Create a pure heart in me, O God,
and put a new
and loyal spirit in me.
SIX STEPS TO CONFESSION
1. Preparation.
We begin by
placing ourselves into the care of the Spirit and asking for help. (130)
2. Self-Examination.
Confession should be specific, concrete, and
particular. (131) --Think through the
categories of sins, the 10 Commandments, etc.
Confession means saying that somewhere in the mix
was a choice and the choice was made by us, and it does not need to be excused,
explained, or even understood. The
choice needs to be forgiven. (132)
Matthew 7:3-5 MSG
It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be
oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me
wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this
whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou
part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face,
and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
3. Perception. Two Questions: Why? What Happened?
Sin carries with it a certain moral myopia…it
distorts our ability to detect its presence. (132)
We need to see our sin through new eyes. We need to see them through the eyes of those
against whom we have sinned. (134)
True confession involves entering into the pain of
the person we have hurt and entering into God’s pain over sin. (134)
Why did I do what I did? Sin is usually tied to some need or another.
(134)
What happened as a result of my sin?
Mark 2:15-17 MSG
Later Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a
collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of
them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping
this kind of company and lit into his disciples: “What kind of example is this,
acting cozy with the riffraff?” Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a
doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting the sin-sick, not the
spiritually-fit.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 GNT
For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart
that leads to salvation—and there is no regret in that! But sadness that is
merely human causes death.
4. A New
Feeling.
Godly sorrow is a fitting response to our
wrongdoing. Wordly sorrow produces
death.
Confession can safely be made only in the context of
grace. Feelings of remorse are no
guarantee of authentic repentance, and they can be highly destructive. (135)
Luke 19:1-10 GNT
Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Listen, sir! I will
give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay
back four times as much.”
5. A New Promise.
Confession is not just naming what we have done in
the past. It requires a kind of promise
for the future. (137)
We resolve that, with God’s help, we will change.
(138)
6. Healing
Grace.
The final step in confession – the top of the
mountain – is grace. Not just the idea
of grace, but grace as a reality, being immersed in it, given life by it. (138)
COMMENTS: Sin isn't something we like to talk about. We use euphemisms for the word and pretend that because of grace, we don't need to worry about it. We claim that we don't sin BIG (murder or theft or adultery) so the LITTLE hurts and slights against one another don't really count. I found the six steps to confession to be a new process I hadn't considered before. Specific confession helps us focus on the common errors of our ways much more than general "Forgive me for whatever I've done wrong". The latter confession doesn't lead to change or the new promise. It doesn't help us identify the choices we make on a daily basis that bring others down or fail to nurture one another. It can be a sin to not get sharing cards in the mail! It can be a sin to put off making that phone call that would mean the world to another. Most of us don't sin BIG, but the baby sins of OMISSION can add up quickly.
Time to get busy and go mountain climbing....on Confession Mount.
November 2-5, 2015