Angry with God...

I've been angry with God this week. In fact, I've been giving Him the silent treatment - which in retrospect is about the dumbest thing ever. In my attempt to show God how mad I was that He allowed me to be hurt so deeply, I cut off my only true source of comfort, love and fulfillment. As I said - not my brightest move.

And the really silly part is that God already understood how hurt I was because He knows my heart. He knew I was blaming Him for something that was not His fault. He knew I was hurting myself even more by disconnecting from Him. He knew.

This morning I picked up a book of prayers I've been reading through and in my heart I basically dared God to try to speak to me. My attitude was "I'm here. I'm showing up. Now where are You?" And I turned the page where I'd left off and read...

Lord Jesus, I sin.

There was a page of text beneath that line, but all I could do was read the first one over and over...

Lord Jesus, I sin.
I turned away from you in my hurt and anger.
Lord Jesus, I sin.
I blamed You for the pain and betrayal,
but You are good and faithful.
You did not hurt me.
Lord Jesus, I sin.
I shut You out rather than wrapping myself in Your Truth.
Forgive me, Lord Jesus, I sin.

The water of grace...

...My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.

My memory has no retention,
so I forget easily the lessons learned,
and thy truths slip away.

Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.

The Valley of Vision, Puritan Prayers - A. Bennett

Show me...

Show me how to know when a thing is evil

which I think is right and good,

how to know when what is lawful

comes from an evil principle...

The Valley of Vision, Puritans Prayers by A. Bennett

God's social network...

I love The Message. As I've said before, it gives me a new perspective on the Bible. Today I read from 2 Peter:

"So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ."

Immediately I pictured God sending me a friend request on Facebook. Obviously in reality we're talking a much huger scale, but consider it for a second. Our response to God can be to accept the request, click to ignore it and make it go away... or just delay until we decide whether we want to open ourselves up to Him.

In my experience, accepting never disappoints.

Partnership...

Prayer is not magic;

It does not always work;

It is not something we do,

But a response to what God is already doing within us and around the world.


Our prayers are the necessary opening that allows God to act without violating our freedom.


Prayer is the ultimate act of partnership with God.

- Walter Wink

In follow-up...

Recently I posted about The Message. Along a similar theme, there's the God's Word translation in clear, natural English. Translated directly from the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, it is an exceptional literary work that consciously combines scholarly fidelity with natural English.

And it's available for free download this month! Click here to download the New Testament in MP3, MP4 or WMA format. The coupon code is SEP2009. Happy listening!

Simple faith and plain truth...

A few months ago I started reading the Bible in an everyday language paraphrase called The Message. The preface, written by creator Eugene Peterson, describes it as a Bible that is read-able and for people who have lost interest in reading the Bible. Peterson's goal when working on The Message was simply to get people reading the Bible.

I know for some people (ahem) The Message isn't their cup of tea. But for me - it has been awesome. I'm not only enjoying it, but understanding and learning from it. If you're stuck in a rut, feel spiritually dried out, unable to 'get into' other versions, I highly recommend you give it a try.

You can buy a copy on Amazon.com for about $10. (Not convinced? What if I told you Bono endorsed it?)

Here's an excerpt from what I read today in 1 Timothy 2:4-7:

He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we've learned: that there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free.

Eventually the news is going to get out. (I love this part!)

This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.