"Lord! Lord!"

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name & cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?'  Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evil doers.'"

(Matthew 7:21-23)

The art of Name Dropping.  "So I was over at So-n-So's house yesterday..." or "When (insert famous name) and I were fishing the other day..."  It's great fun!  It impresses others and makes us feel important.  Name dropping.

In Matthew 7, we're warned against name dropping on God.  "When God and I were healing the sick the other day..." or "When I was serving food to the poor on a church outing," etc.  Matthew tells us not to do it.  Don't presume.

But why?  Is God like some exclusive Country Club admissions committee that wants to control the clientele to keep the 'riffraff' out?  I don't think so.  Do some people think they can live a reckless life and then simply say the words, "Lord! Lord!" and all will be well?  Possibly.  But given verse 22, there seems to be a different target audience here.  Could it be that this is for those of us who are already busy "doing stuff for God"?  We're on various committees in our churches... we've volunteered to do a bunch of projects (in Jesus' Name!)... we're regulars in worship, etc.  We really are "busy for God."  But despite all of what we've done FOR God, God laments that we didn't spend much time WITH God.

"I never knew you," God says.  Not "I never loved you"... or "I never died for you"... or "I never desired to spend time with you."  Just "I never knew you."

Could it be that we can get so caught up in what we think Go wants us to be doing that we fail to recognize that what God wants most of all is for us to get to know Him.  Really know Him.  Spend time with Him.  Be in God's presence.  Be loved by Him and radiate that love in our lives to others.  The "other stuff" will follow.  If we have a life grounded in knowing & being known by God, then everything else will fall into place.  We'll want to reach out to others to share that love in the ways that Jesus taught. 

Oh, Lord, Lord...

Psalm one thirty one

[Normally I begin each entry with a scripture verse or two... but this particular psalm is a relatively new favorite of mine, and I want to post it in its entirety!]

"O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,

my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things

too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

Like a weaned child with its mother.

My soul is like the weaned child that's with me.

O Israel, hope in the LORD

from this time on and forevermore."

(Psalm 131)

I first "discovered" this psalm in seminary, during finals week, as my New Testament professor (Dr. Neil Hamilton) asked us to journal about it. I think it's especially appropriate during the Christmas Season... we tend to get caught up with a huge "TO DO" list and sometimes that becomes quite overwhelming... or life in general overwhelms us... or we let "the worries of this world" get the best of us. This psalm remind us to slow down... center our soul/spirit... and be content to rest in the Lord, putting our hope and trust in Him.

'Tis the season! AMEN.

Divine Silence

"When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for almost half an hour."

(Revelation 8:1)

The first six were quite colorful: seal #1 - white horse & rider with a bow; seal #2 - red horse & rider with a sword; seal #3 - black horse & rider with measuring scales; seal #4 - pale green horse & Death; seal #5 - martyrs; seal #6 - earthquake, darkness & blood-red moon! Now the seventh (and final) seal is about to be opened. When the Lamb (JESUS!) opened it, there was silence in heaven, says the author. Silence.

Why silence? Was it just for "dramatic effect"? Maybe. But perhaps it was more about "holy anticipation." What in God's Name was about to happen, people wondered?!?! And in that silence, there was a devotion... a reverence... a divine expectation.

I also thought, "Wow, even in heaven they have 'quiet time' in God's presence!" Yet this just isn't your run-of-the-mill regular 30-minutes-of-quiet-time quiet time that so many of us are used to. You know... sitting still... "being reflective"... not talking... etc. No. This is 30 minutes of active awe! 30 minutes of anticipation! 30 minutes of wondering, "What, in God's Name, is about to happen?" What if I practiced that same kind of quiet time? What if I spent time in silence (whether it was 30 minutes or some other amount) actively anticipating God's actions in my life? I bet it would be a lot different from how I'm quiet before Him now!

PRAYER: Give me an eager anticipation, Lord, as I sit in silence before You're awesome presence! AMEN.