ONE THOUSAND GIFTS (Voskamp) - Part 1

ONE THOUSAND GIFTS: A Devotional

Finding Everyday Graces

Ann Voskamp (Zondervan, 2012)

Wednesday, September 17      Surprising Grace

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 MSG

I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. …. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Surprising Grace:  Authentic thanks is thanks for ALL things….The life that counts blessings discovers its yielding more than it seems.

Choosing Grace: Choose to say YES to all God’s gifts.  His grace is given to fill us with glory.

            The book begins with the acknowledgement that everything comes from God, and God is capable of wondrous things.  When we become overwhelmed by the evil and sin of the world, the bad stuff, may we open our hearts to God’s bounty; open our minds to see and accept what God is providing.          

Thursday, September 18     First Grace

Romans 1:19-20 MSG

But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see:….the mystery of His divine being.

Mark Buchanan (Canandian author and pastor): “All the wickedness in the world begins with an act of forgetting.”

First Grace: Turn in thanks and everything turns – and God doesn’t turn away.

     In everything, give thanks and glory to God!  How many times is this concept repeated in the Bible?  Over and over!  And attitude of thanksgiving will change us!  God knows we are going to do wrong.  He will forgive us.  What God can’t forgive is when we ignore Him.  Start the day with thanksgiving and praise for every little grace/God-gift I can see, and it will be a brighter, fuller day. 

Friday, September 19  Thinking Grace

Hebrews 13:15 GNT

Let us, then, always offer praise to God as our sacrifice through Jesus, which is the offering presented by lips that confess him as Lord.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled with wonder.”  (Chesterman)

            Happiness doubled with wonder.  I love the thought!  When we seek God-gifts in everything, we will see the world with eyes of wonder.  It can’t help but put a smile on our face. 

“This is what great artists and thinkers do – they stay awake to the wonder of God’s world. Great thinkers are great thankers – the really great live gratefully.”(AV)

Saturday, September 20   Here-Now Grace

Luke 22:19

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them….

In the original language, ‘he gave thanks’ reads ‘eucharisteo’ or thanksgiving. Fully broken down, eucharisteo means charis or grace and chara or joy.

THANKSGIVING. GRACE. JOY. A triplet of stars, a constellation in the black.  This search for the constellation in the dark – grace, thanksgiving, joy – it might be like that – a reaching for stars. 

            When we approach the world with thanksgiving, we discover the grace and joy that comes with God-gifts in the world right at our feet.  We find the grass isn’t greener over there….we don’t have to go somewhere new.  We simply need to look closer and acknowledge what is growing right next to us, to the here and now of our lives. 

            I rode a ski lift today to the top of Big Mountain outside of Whitefish, MT.  The view was spectacular as the jagged peaks of Glacier National Park rose to the east, the mountains of Idaho to the west, Flathead Lake and valley to the south.  The here and now of God was in the patchwork of color on the hillsides, the red-orange, gold, green of huckleberry bushes, tamarack trees, and dark green spruce.  The here and now was in the deep blue skies and a blaze orange sunset.  May we never be so preoccupied with looking for the extraordinary somewhere else that we miss the God-ordinary in our own backyard. 

SUNDAY, September 21      Anti-Anxiety Grace

Psalm 13:12 NASB

Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child rests against his mother,

My soul is like a weaned child within me.

What is the answer to anxiety? Calvin wrote, “The stability of the world depends on this rejoicing of God in His works……If on earth, such praise of God does not come to pass….then the whole order of nature will be thrown into confusion.”

Our worlds reel unless we rejoice.  A song of thanks steadies everything. (AV)

            I would never have come up with the term anti-anxiety grace, but I have used the concept before!    We discuss Voskamp’s ideas In my Stress Management class when we ‘focus on the positive’ and students are encouraged to count their blessings.  Praising God doesn’t remove the anxiety, but it does allow us to cope with our fears, our schedules, our stress.  It helps us approach each day with a smile on our face, a song in our heart, and a dance in our step.  

PS.  I have begun my list of God-gifts and added to it daily...  Deep belly laughter, technology that allows communication, a good coach building teamwork, campfires and marshmallows, pixie dust, flowers growing in old trucks, compliments, hummus, mountain reflections in windows, free firewood, patchwork of hillside colors, gracious hospitality.....just a sampling.  

MONDAY, September 22   TRUSTING GRACE

Philippians 4:6 VOICE

Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come.

An untroubled heart relaxes, trusts, leans assured into His ever-dependable arms.  Trust, it’s the antithesis of stress. (AV)

If trust must be earned, hasn’t God unequivocally earned our trust with the sacrifice of his Son? (AV)

         Now, I look again at the verse above and am reminded again of the second half.  Ask God, pray to God, and BE THANKFUL for what has come.  Everything that comes as a God-gift we should give thanks….one by one. 

         Yesterday Rick and I hiked on an absolutely glorious fall day in Glacier National Park.  Our gifts from God?  Abundant sunshine, solitude, butterflies, panoramic views of fall foliage and jagged peaks, rock colors, flowers, mountain goats….I could go on and on.  Did I have to trust?  Yes….Rick left the bear spray in the parking lot.   So I breathed a short prayer…”Lord, keep us safe” and then quickly went about savoring every step of the way

TUESDAY, September 23   Urgent Grace

Psalm 103:13-14

As a father has compassion on his children,

            So the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

For he knows how we are formed,

He remembers that we are dust.

-         God gives us time.  But who has time for God?

-        Hurry empties the soul.

-        Who knows how to take time and live with soul and body and God all in sync?   (AV)

So what if we really paid attention

And nickel-and-dimed life away

On afternoon tag by the cedars?

A string of bare toes with a stack of old books,

This one lone bowl filling with morning light

Day after day, shelling out slow mindfulness

On whatnots of amazing grace,

Collecting pieces of God=glory.

This buying a bit of medicine

That cures A.D.D. of the soul.  (AV)

            I loved the last phrase: ADD of the soul.  We are a hurry-up society, time is short, rush, RUSH!  But God grants us an eternity of time AND enough hours in a day IF we get our priorities straight.  A little slow-down will lead to a richer and fuller life.  I am guilty of Soul ADD.  May I remember that urgent=slow.  Take the time to stop and smell the roses! 

WEDNESDAY, September 24   Silk Grace

Psalm 102:25-28 GNT

Long ago you created the earth….
    they will all wear out like clothes….
    and they will vanish.
 But you are always the same,
    and your life never ends.
 Our children will live in safety,
    and under your protection
    their descendants will be secure.

“What if, instead of discounting the current moment, the uncontrollable, the simply given – what if I counted it – and on the God who controls it all?

What if all our running around is only our trying to run away from God – the great I AM – the power in the present moment?

What if I woke to now and refused to hurry because I didn’t want to refuse God?

What if I didn’t discount this moment but counted it for what it is – God here?” (AV)

In God there is no time, only eternity – or more simply, only now. (AV)

            What is one of the widely used phrases now, ‘Live in the Moment’.  It can be abused as a careless, wreckless way of living, life without regard to any future.  But there is something to be said for LIVING in the moment, for truly savoring the seconds we have and rejoicing in them.   Praise the now moments.  Try to revel in each minute of God-grace within grasp.  If we do, I think we’ll find our day is filled with life, not hurry.

THURSDAY, September 25   Recognizing Grace

1 Corinthians 7:29,31  MSG

…time is of the essence. There is no time to waste, so don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily. ….Deal as sparingly as possible with the things the world thrusts on you. This world as you see it is on its way out.

Life is not an emergency.  Emergencies are sudden, unexpected events…but is anything under the sun unexpected to God?

Life is dessert – too brief to hurry.  It takes a full twenty minutes after your stomach is full for your body to register satiation.  How long does it take your soul to realize that your life is full? (AV)

            Our time is like a fragile bubble held with care…if we hurry, it will pop.  But if we stop and savor, we might see the rainbow refractions of God-grace pouring out.  The more we recognize God in these moments, the more we slow down and honor God with thanks FOR these moments, the fuller our soul will become.  Where will I see bubbles today on the job?  I saw the magic yesterday in Malachi's grace during Habitat opening - his words, his actions, his delight in life.   Look for bubbles; hold them with awe.  Grace is inside.  

SIMPLY REJOICING 6: Befriend and Extend His Love

Embrace the World
"Epiphany encounters may open doors to enlarge your borders." (PL)


MONDAY, June 23  Prayers
     Not getting my thoughts in line this morning very fast as we sit and visit (Rick, my brother Mac, Mom and I) so I will post the prayer drawing I finished up instead!   Big prayers of thanks for Luke's eventual arrival home from GA yesterday, and for two Baker City families who suffered losses over the weekend:  Bulthius family (Kathy's death) and Bloomers (wildfire destroyed part of the ranch).  

SUNDAY, June 22  God Texts
Romans 1:19-20 MSG
The basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being.

In the format of the famous LOVE postage stamp!

     Lewis continues the epiphany encounters concept with the challenge to walk through the doors God opens, and embrace the world one person at a time.  Good thoughts which I planned to expand upon today, but.....my encounters called differently! And I read the end of the Romans 1 chapter and found the part about God speaking through creation!
     On my beach walks the past couple days I have been looking for messages from God in letters formed by the seaweed, rocks, feathers, sticks, etc.  I have deliberately not altered things to form letters, but rather searched for them as God has created.  I looked for some time yesterday for an H, convinced that God wanted me to see one.  It took awhile, but finally H's began to emerge.  Did God answer my desire or did my vision improve?  
      Anyway.....I title these   "God-Texts" -  God is sending messages to our world.  Do we take notice?  

A little 'Hello' from God. 

SATURDAY, June 21  On Assignment
Romans 1:1 (MSG)
I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts. 
     'On assignment'.  It sounds like Paul is a newscaster sent to deliver the message from a distant shore.  And in reality?  Paul was sent to deliver THE Message, not back to Jerusalem, but to the people ON that distant shore.  
     Do we look at our faith as an assignment?  Or do we consider it more something personal that helps us live OUR life?  Little responsibility to be an active apostle.  Yet, the very act of sharing is what makes our faith journey have significance.  It is an area I don't always seek.  But we are challenged today to look for those moments in which God is opening the door to witness, to proclaim our relationship with God.  Lewis calls them 'epiphany encounters'.  Sometimes they are so brief that we miss the opportunity.  So watch for divine encounters with the world around you.  Watch for those moments when God seeks to unite us with another who is searching.  They may happen more often than we realize.  

  
Walk with Enlightened Vision
"A prayer walk can change your heart and direction." (PL)

FRIDAY, June 20     Constant Prayer

Ephesians 6:18 GNT

Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.

     Pray always.  Pray on every occasion.  The thought just occurred to me that perhaps we should approach life as moments lived within a constant stream of prayer, rather than prayer as scattered moments during life.  It is a Celtic spirituality practice of constant conversation with God.  People say I talk to myself all the time.  What if all those conversations were truly directed toward God during the day?  (No, I can’t say they are at this point!)  Then when people ask me who I am talking to, I could simply say, God!  I like this.  (And it reminds me a bit of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, one of my favorite musicals!)

THURSDAY, June 19    
Prayer Walk

Ephesians 1:18  MSG

"I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do...."

      Author Lewis hits a sympathetic chord today with her musings about those of us who flit from one job to another as our mind races along.  Start this task, leave it to do something else, then another, and finally you had 10 half finished tasks and more of a mess than you started with!  (This frequently can happen when attempting what is known as 'cleaning'!)  We do this in our prayers as well....a lack of focus!  

      But while Paul in seeking focus in the Ephesians, we are also reminded to never become SO focused on one thing, that we miss God's call along with it!  Lewis suggests daily prayer walks as one way to center our lives and our prayers.  Walks that can not only help us reflect inward, but also walks that ask us to really SEE what is happening in our community and world.  Pray for the neighbor who is struggling, pray for that lonely walker across the path, pray for those who live in less than ideal circumstances. 

      Perhaps in the next few weeks I will take some prayerful walks on the beach!  Its not exactly my ‘neighborhood’, but definitely God’s!