November is heart-check month. Not nationally, just personally. It's the month where my attitude reaches the ultimate level of suckiness and God calls me back to Himself in grace.
Passion
This morning, I was watching a friend's kitten. And I HATE cats. I just do.
So, leaving the apartment, my attitude was pretty dismal. Walking into church, God kept pressing this idea of "renew your passion" onto my heart. I sat down in the gym where our church meets to scribble down some prayer requests:
"Pray for God to renew my passions, to line up my goals with His vision."
Then, our lead pastor shared a message from John 5. About miracles. About passion. About lining up our goals with God's vision.
Miracles happen when we let Jesus have control.
Glissading
Later this afternoon, I was driving through the snow flurries to hang out with Megan at the climbing gym. Out of NOWHERE this idea pops into my mind. (Thanks, Holy Spirit, for taking the time to talk).
This idea: "It's like glissading".
So I say out loud in my car, "What's like glissading?"
"Trusting Jesus."
This past summer, I joined Shannon and some of her friends for a "summit bid" to the Brothers. It's a nice entry-level mountaineering trip. Like, a long day hike that helps to have an ice axe.
After the hard work of climbing to the summit, you get to take in the view. Celebrate. I took a nap.
Then, coming down you get to glissade. I think it's French for "slide on your butt really fast down a frozen hill that wasn't as steep when you were coming up but now seems like a sheer cliff." Usually, glissading speeds up the descent process. You sit on your butt and steer with your sharp, pointy ice axe.
I had never glissaded with an ice axe before the trip up the Brothers. On the descent, I was terrified. I would try glissading for about 10 feet, then FREAK OUT and self-arrest. That's when you dig your ice axe into the hillside above you and throw your entire body weight onto the hillside to stop from sliding. Sometimes, I refused to glissade at all and would take baby steps while the group waited.
That's how I trust Jesus sometimes.
He asks me to glissade down a frozen hillside and I take baby steps in my boots and crampons. I want to control my progress with the sharp, pointy teeth attached to my feet.
But you know what? Glissading is really fun. And incredibly efficient.
Kind of like trusting Jesus...
a final thought
All of this passion, glissading, and trusting should make me pretty strong. Good thing:
"She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong." Proverbs 31:17
Sunday, November 21, 2010
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Ephesians 5
Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But among you there must not be either sexual immorality, impurity of any kind, or greed, as these are not fitting for the saints. Neither should there be vulgar speech, foolish talk, or coarse jesting – all of which are out of character – but rather thanksgiving. For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light – for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth – and find out what pleases the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says:
“Awake, O sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you!”
Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. And do not get drunk with wine, which is debauchery, but be filled by the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for each other in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church – he himself being the savior of the body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own body but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is great – but I am actually speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
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