He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that cry. Psalm 147:9

Here we have a very interesting peek into the Heart of God. He is so interested in His creation that He feeds the beast (literally the dumb beast) and the raven. There is much to be gleaned from this passage concerning the loving care and concern God has for His creation. Of all creatures to speak of caring for, the Lord chooses a big dumb beast like a cow or an ox and the raven with its associations to evil and death!

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The thought of church has become stuck in my mind as of late. My thoughts haven’t necessarily lingered towards certain ministries, projects and improvements, what color paint this wall should be, or if a chair should be moved from one spot to another. There has been a desire in me to understand church outside of what I’ve come to know it as. So I started peeling back all that I thought church was, and what it’s typically considered to be. And all that I was left with were you and me…a community of believers. Read the rest of this entry »

My computer’s been running slow lately and it sure is getting frustrating! After all, practically everything I do is on the computer. So I decided to go on the hunt for some kind of “optimizing” software that I’d heard so much about. Supposedly an Optimizer is able to deep-scan your system for anything that might be bloating my computer’s memory, CPU, hard drive, blah, blah, blah…

My first question, “why doesn’t the computer somehow protect itself from the bloat, since I paid over a thousand bucks for it?!” My second question is, “How did the bloat get there?” And then my third question is, “So once the bloat gets destroyed how do I know it won’t come back?”

And then the epiphany: What a perfect parallel to the life of a Christian! We start out slick, efficient, excited, just raring to go (because when I first got my computer it was fast). Over some time we start to get into the swing of our “regular” lives, but of course we’re still pretty strong in our faith (on my computer, I remember needing certain applications and programs in order to do my work, so I bought some and installed them. I did notice just a slight slowdown in the system’s speed.)

Well after going to church and learning from God’s Word, but still chugging away at life’s issues and struggles, and trying to stay in control of them all, our faith starts to get choked. In fact this is usually the stage where those first elements of doubt creep in. (Now on my computer, I’ve been using these new programs for quite some time and I’ve noticed the need for more because what I had wasn’t quite enough to do what I really needed to do. So after much shopping and comparing, I did buy more and install it on the computer. Funny, I noticed that the system seemed to be getting slower! But at least I was doing what I needed to do??)

Now after a Christian has learned, and grown, and struggled, and fought for control, there tends to be a sense of indifference toward truly—actively—pursuing after the walk of Jesus. Now don’t get me wrong, we’re still in love with Him and praise Him and worship Him…but it’s the “walking in His footsteps” part that we step away from. We’ll just pick up a more worldly mode of attack, so to speak. Since we face the world’s problems we pick up the world’s sword (rather than God’s sword) and start swinging away! (On the computer, well, if you’ve used any of those average programs out there you’ll start to notice just how many icons and menus and tools and options they’ve got. And naturally you figure that if the button is there to click then you might as well click it! And somehow that click leads you to the next click, and to the next, and then the next. Suddenly you’ve implemented functions and options and styles that you never really needed to have in the first place. If anything, the software that was supposed to make you more productive has become more complicated, more overwhelming, and less productive!

Inevitably, the bloat comes in life. In worrying about whether or not you’ll keep your job because your employer has just let you know that some serious budget cutting was on the way, you decide that it’s time to start learning another trade. To do that, you’ll have to use your one day off to train and to study. But the unfortunate consequence is that the wonderful and critical time that you had with your children and spouse has now fizzled away. Phrases like “strangers in the night” and “roommates” suddenly apply in your marriage. Well that sure isn’t what God designed the covenant of marriage for! Of course back at the job, your co-workers are suddenly competitors rather than friends. After all it’s either them or you. So your demeanor changes: more guarded, less generous and kind, more self-focused. Oh boy, I don’t quite remember anytime that Jesus acted like that (and we’re supposed to imitate Him, right?)

Ah I could go on and on about my computer and about Christianity, but I think the point is made: what seems like “progress” in a world without God is really just an inevitable path towards self-indulgence and self-destruction. What is progress in a Christian’s world with God should be a path towards sacrifice and the pursuit of God’s will. The former leads to bloat, the other leads to freedom. The Bible teaches us that we’re to be in this world but not of it. Perhaps it’s time to apply God’s optimizer in our own lives? Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…streams of living water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37-38) Maybe you’re noticing that your souls is pretty parched. Well it is time to drink…Time to get rid of the worldly bloat and put on the precious Spirit. I think that “lean Christians” are more critical than ever, don’t you?

In my devotional time with Christ I have been trying something new as I read His Word. I’m taking a smaller book or a smaller letter and reading it in its entirety. Then I stand back and freely allow the Spirit to minister to me through it as a whole, its purpose, its reason for existence. Now why am I telling you this? Well, because of this “new” style of reading scripture, I’ve been particularly ministered-to out of the Book of Habakkuk.

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Have you ever thought about just how fast paced our world has become? From “fast food” and “high speed internet” to even having “express checkout” at the grocery store, things seem to only accelerate. With the modern-day rush that we all face comes more to accomplish and more tasks to complete. Added with the responsibility is the stress to perform, and meet deadlines, and it’s all wrapped up in the dizzying whirlwind of what we call life. When did things start moving so fast? Was it when the speed limit was bumped from 55mph to 75mph? Or did things start to pick up with the increase in technology and the productivity that it produces? Regardless, life tends to “fly by” whether you are having fun or not.

That is why I encourage you to go slow in the fast lane. Maybe you get a little road rage when someone does that on the highway… especially when you need to get somewhere right now?! Nevertheless: go slow in the fast lane of life!

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