and KNOW that I AM GOD.

Many of us would acknowledge we are more than a little confused about heaven.  This morning, some writing from Dan Allender, that calls us to rethink heaven:

“Our images aren’t much better We speak so seldom of heaven and when we do, the images are sickly: fat babies flut­tering around with tiny wings, bored saints lazing on shapeless clouds, strumming harps and wondering what’s happening back on earth where the real action is.

The crisis of hope that afflicts the church today is a crisis of imagination. Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft writes:

Medieval imagery (which is almost totally biblical imagery) of light, jewels,  stars, candles, trumpets, and angels no longer fits our ranch.style, supermarket world. Pathetic modern substitutes of fluffy clouds, sexless cherubs, harps and metal halos (not halos of light) presided over by a stuffy divine Chairman of the Bored are a joke, not a glory Even more modern, more up‑to‑date substitutes‑Heaven as a comfortable feeling of peaceand kindness, sweetness and light, and God as a vague grandfatherly benevolence, a senile philanthropist‑are even more insipid. Our pictures of Heaven simply do not move us; they are not moving pictures.  It is this aesthetic failure rather than intellectual or moral failures in our pictures of Heaven and of God that threatens faith most potently today. Our Pictures Of Heaven are dull, platitudinous and syrupy; therefore, so is our faith, our hope, and our love of heaven….It doesn’t matter whether it’s a dull lie or a dull truth. Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith, just as indifference, not hate is the strongest enemy of love.  (Everything You Wanted to Know about Heaven).

If our pictures of heaven are to move us, they must be moving pictures.  So go ahead. Dream a little.   Use your imagination. Picture the best possible ending to your story you can. If that isn’t heaven, something better is.”

Dan Allender, To Be Told

“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life.  It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike, ‘What’s next, Papa?’  God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.  We know who he is, and we know who we are:  Father and children.”

“Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us?  There is no way!”  Eugene Peterson, The Message, Romans 8:15-17, 35

Discussing the part of Romans 8 that deals with our adoption as “sons” (yes, sons, women is actually a very dignifying attributive in Biblical context, and we women are called “sons”! In that culture, being a son meant you got the inheritance!), Tim Keller writes:

“Secondly, the image of “adoption” tells us that our relationship with God is based completely on a legal act by the Father. You don’t “win” a father, and you don’t “negotiate” for a parent. Adoption is a legal act on the part of the father — it is very expensive and costly only for him. There is nothing the son does to win or earn the status. It is simply received (v.15).”

I read this and thought, “Well, no.  At least in the experience of so many people I know,  you do ‘win’ a father, and you do ‘negotiate’ for a parent.’  I thought, “Maybe we should wish we were adopted!”  And then it hit me — the glorious good news! Oh yeah, we are!  God the Father went to a lot of trouble and expense to adopt ME.  Wow.  And I didn’t do anything to earn or win the status.  I must simply RECEIVE it.

That’s it.  All the words I’m going to write on this because I think it’s time for us to step back and ponder this amazing story, more amazing than any one you’ll see on CNN today.

Ponder:

1.  Say it aloud, write it five times.  God went to a lot of cost and expense to adopt ME!  How do you feel about that?

2.  Again, say it aloud, write it five times.  ”And I didn’t do anything to earn or deserve it.”  How do you feel about that?

3.  One more time, “I must simply RECEIVE it.”  How do you feel about that?

When my kids were young, aged 6 to 1 month, there would be moments of extreme chaos everywhere and I’d sort of stop, like pressing pause on the DVD player, and the motion around me would continue but I’d be in my own interior world, and i’d ask, “Who am I and how did I get here…”  I just never expected to be a full-time mother of four young children.  I had my life planned — I was going to have exactly two children, one boy and one girl (like both my husband and I had) and I would continue working as an English teacher at the private school in Atlanta I had attended. That period of my life is only one in which God came in and hijacked my plans and took me to a different, but very redemptive place altogether.

This is just one small example of why we need to stop from time to time and look at our stories, find out what’s really going on, watch what has happened, feel the pain of loss and experience the great joy and hope of redemption.  And this is why I LOVE helping people read their own stories, to seek the hidden treasure of redemption in their lives.  For it is in seeing the passion and pleasure of God written into our stories that frees us to really live!  Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

I love to teach the TRUE story of Scripture, because there we see how God writes his story of grace — in very unexpected ways.  I love to help people look at the intersection of their stories and the stories of Scripture.  Wow, look at this, i’m just like Sarah — when she laughed — I’m afraid I laugh all the time at God — “Oh, you can’t do that!  Oh you wouldn’t do something that wonderful for ME!”  And He is so kind and even a little teasing, calling me out to play in the freedom for which Christ set me free, “Oh, BUT YOU DID LAUGH!”    Boy, do I feel caught. And yet, He doesn’t catch us to humiliate us.  He catches us to see HIM.  And when we see God, we see that He has stunning answers to the question, “Who am I and what am I doing here?”

“You are my beloved, and you are here to enjoy me and worship me forever!”

For reflection:

1.  What about you?  Do you stop from time to time and look at your story, asking the questions, “Who am I and what am I doing here?”

2.  Think about setting aside a morning or a day to ponder some core questions about your story:  when was there rest and peace, how was it disturbed or disrupted, what did you do to try to re-establish equilibrium, can you see God’s redemption and restoration working in this story?

Today, the second part of author Jennie Schut’s guest blog on how knowing God is our refuge frees us to create boldly. If you missed part 1, please visit yesterday’s blog.

Jennie's bold creation

My recent experience of this was an art project I was assigned to do for school.  We each were asked to build identical black foam core boxes (they were all to look the same on the outside) and build a metaphorical environment on the inside, which could be accessed only by a keyhole that the viewer could peer into and see the miniature environment.  This scene was to be based on a traumatic event that had happened to us.  So, from the outside, these projects just appeared to be black boxes with a tiny peep hole and maybe a couple trap doors to operate interior lights.  Peering into the box revealed a scene that represented our experience symbolically.

I chose to do my project about a family that I knew very well and had grown up with.  I deeply respected this family, as they were highly involved and active in the church.  My life intertwined with theirs on several different levels.  When I became a young adult, my idealistic family began to dismantle before me.  The father had made sexual advances toward me and it became apparent years later that he had been sexually abusing his daughter, my close friend.  When my friend confronted her mother, she was accused of lying and trying to ruin the family.

This project was a catalyst for me to grieve that part of my story in the presence of God.  I spent some time in silence and solitude and as the presence of God began to saturate my thinking and creating, I began to express my thoughts and feelings to Him who was giving me refuge as the symbolism began to take shape.  The above photograph is my project and it is very difficult to see, since the image has been taken through the peephole.  There are 3 birds.  The male bird is in a steel wool nest in the tree (he is green, but has also been inked black – he is operating out of his own storyline of pain).  There is a small female (symbolized by pink) who has been inked or “injured”  laying in the grass and there is an adult female bird in the passageway, “guarding” the darkness that has been concealed.  A key around her neck signifies her as keeper of the secret.  She is the largest bird because she is the one wielding power.

Though creativity and expression can be a very painful process many times, it is good and possible to do.  Why?  Why would we walk through fear of story and the sometimes grueling process of telling story creatively?  Because of Psalm 91.  Because of the Presence of God.  God offers us a place of true warmth and beauty to be bold and audacious in our storytelling.  We have a refuge.  We have a trustworthy Protector.  And our creative storytelling can be informed by our intimacy with Jesus.  I encourage you to sit in silence for a while and just be a receiver of God’s presence.  Allow Him to speak and fill you up.  Cease from your doing and working and toiling.  Just “be” in the High God’s presence.  You will find it a refuge!

“You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,
Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.
I trust in you and I’m safe!”
That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,
shields you from deadly hazards.
His huge outstretched arms protect you—
under them you’re perfectly safe;
his arms fend off all harm.
Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,
not flying arrows in the day,
Not disease that prowls through the darkness,
not disaster that erupts at high noon.
Even though others succumb all around,
drop like flies right and left,
no harm will even graze you.
You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,
watch the wicked turn into corpses.
Yes, because God’s your refuge,
the High God your very own home,
Evil can’t get close to you,
harm can’t get through the door.
He ordered his angels
to guard you wherever you go.
If you stumble, they’ll catch you;
their job is to keep you from falling.
You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,
and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
“I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!   Psalm 91, The Message

Today and tomorrow we have a treat.  Jenny Schut, author of the book Waking Up Grey, meditates on how dwelling in the safety of God’s presence frees us to risk living creatively.

You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, say this: “God, you’re my refuge.  I trust in You and I am safe!” – The Message

I decided to treat myself by meditating on the 91^st Psalm this morning.  As I read the entire Psalm, I felt the Lord saying that I needed to sit in this scripture for a while, slowly sipping and savoring for the next several days.  After reading the entire passage a few times, I kept going back to the first two verses.  This is where we always come back to because it is always where God brings us – back into His presence.

Most of Psalm 91 gives one an idea of what the world is like and it is dangerous!  According to this passage, there are all kinds of traps, snares and hardships.  These are very real, raging dangers and we are not human if we are not afraid.  But the first truth we encounter in this passage is the “High God’s presence”, which brings a healing safehaven for those who linger there.  This first truth supercedes and transcends the second truth of a world laced with danger.

I am coming to understand that the Presence of God informs my perspective of life events and my life’s work. If we are with God in intimate ways, this relations speaks into all others.  “Being” with God enables us to trust deeply in Him and have a sense of well-being and safety; this is regardless of the danger swirling around in our world.

Tune in tomorrow to view and read about the beautiful work that emerged from Jennie’s sense of safety in Shaddai’s shadow.

Today is the last day to receive the early registration discount for the upcoming women’s  Recovering Your StoryIntensive Retreat.  This retreat is like the gospel, good news that must be talked about.  Why?  Because it will be a holy time of learning from Scripture, listening to God, letting the Holy Spirit soften our hearts to hear the story of grace God has written and is writing in our lives.

But some people have concerns about studying our stories.  As a gentleman who approached me at a church retreat I did several years ago said to me, “I don’t know about this Knowing Your Story talk you’re giving.”  I asked him his concerns and he offered the following:

1. People will become “navel-gazers;” that is, they will always be so hung up on their own stories they will have no interest in loving others.
2. People will be suffer the “paralysis of analysis,” that is, they will be so busy thinking about their stories, they won’t serve others.
3. People will become entrenched in victimization, throwing grand eternal pity parties for themselves and inviting others to join.

I told the gentleman that I absolutely agreed that these things could happen and they would be a disastrous result of knowing your story.  I gave him three reasons I believe knowing our stories is important.

1. Our primary story is the one Scripture tells about us.  Too many people treat the fiery, living Word of God like a textbook that has little meaning or significance to us.  We must know this Story because it tells the truth about God and the truth about us.
2. God authored our stories.  Studying our stories, the contours of tragedy and redemption is a way to understand the God who made us and loves us and redeems us.
3. When we know our unique stories, we have a better grasp of the areas where God may be calling us to love and serve in his kingdom.  Knowing our stories should lead us to greater outward movement in both love and service.

There are lots more reasons we ought to know our stories, both the story Scripture tells about God and us, and the unique story of grace God has written in us.

For reflection:

1.  What about you?  What do you know about your story?  What do you wish you understood better?  Where can you see God in your story?  Where do you have doubts about what he’s doing?

2.  If you are a woman wanting to know your story better, please consider attending the Recovering Your Story Intensive Retreat.  It will be a holy time of learning from Scripture, listening to God, letting the Holy Spirit soften our hearts to hear the story of grace God has written and is writing in our lives.

…to keep it holy.”

Regular readers of this blog probably know by now that I’ve decided to take Sundays off from posting.  I can’t resist making one remark on this verse today — my hunch is that “remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy” may mean something very different than some of us were taught.  Perhaps tomorrow we’ll talk a little bit about what holiness means…for now, have a lovely rest.

I was awakened this morning at 4:22 by a text from my 14-year-old son.  He said something like this, “I know I’m a night owl, but please pray for …” a pregnant teacher at school who had apparently been in an accident.  I was planning to get up in 10 minutes anyway, but I was rather alarmed to think my son was still up at 4:22, so I hopped out of bed and rushed to his room…where I found him deep in sleep.  Turned out he sent the text at 12:07 but I had just received it.

It is a sorrowful, painful time in the history of the world, and in many stories of our lives.  Yesterday I thought, “There are so many people I personally know who need God’s comfort…” and then I thought, “I must go pray.”

Thankfully, God is teaching me in the school of suffering.  In the past, still sometimes in the present, I have had the tendency to let the sorrow seep in to my soul like a poison, or to try to load the burden on my shoulders.  I end up an embittered, hunched woman who has lost the joy of living in Christ.  Lately I’ve been listening to J.J. Heller’s song, “Back Home” a lot.  We were made to feel our own and others’ suffering.  But we were also made to rejoice in suffering.  Let us never forget, we were not made for darkness, and these dark days will not last forever.  His light shines into the crevices of shattered stories.  It is time to lay our sorrows on the ground, to snuggle into our Father’s embrace and let Him hold us while we cry.

Back Home by J.J. and David Heller

Don’t let your eyes get used to darkness
The light is coming soon
Don’t let your heart get used to sadness
Put your hope in what is true

No matter how the wind may blow
It cannot shake the sun
Lay your sorrows on the ground
It’s time to come back home

When the future seems uncertain
Like the coming of a storm
Your loving Father carries his children
When they can’t walk anymore

No matter how the wind may blow
It cannot shake the sun
Lay your sorrows on the ground
It’s time to come back home

In her book Waking Up Grey, Jennie Schut calls us to live audaciously.  Fear is what keeps us from living audaciously.

Susan, one of the four children in the Narnia tales, is especially imprisoned by fear.  Writing about her character in Prince Caspian, Peter Schakel says,

“Susan believed all along in Aslan’s existence, but her emotions kept her from seeing and putting her trust in him at that moment:  ‘I really believed it was him,’ she admits later, but she could think only of getting out of the woods and wouldn’t let herself admit that he was there.  Aslan recognizes and ministers to her problem:  ‘You have listened to your fears, child,’ said Aslan.  ‘Come, let me breathe on you.’ “ Peter Schakel, The Way into Narnia

I need to hear Aslan (Christ) saying to me, “You have listened to your fears child.  Come, let me breathe on you.”  What fears are you listening to right now?  How do you feel about the idea of letting Aslan “breathe on you”?

A Story Topic:

Tell of a time when you, like Susan, believed Christ was calling you to go somewhere, do something, but you were afraid to follow him.  What fears did you have?

Did you have an experience of “Aslan breathing on you”?  How did it come?

Another way of asking the question is, “What freed you from your fears and what did you do as a result?”

If you haven’t yet been freed from the fears, write them down.  Then write an imaginary next chapter to the story that describes what audacious thing you might do if you could truly believe you are safe in the love of God.