19 November: Tuesday Refocus

‘When I want to pursue humility, whatever happens to me is okay…’ - Gary Thomas 

We love humility… in other people. Experiencing humility in others is disarming and magnetizing. But often, we run from or avoid the very circumstances and experiences in our own lives where humility can take root and grow.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:10

Being conformed to the image of Christ means that humility should also deeply mark our lives. Our thoughts of and toward ourselves are based on sober judgment, not thinking more highly than we ought to think (Romans 12:3).

As we move toward the Advent season, one of the realities we are invited to remember is that Christ “…emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8).” And through his humility, he was exalted: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).”

Father, would we trust that our lives are safe in your hands. That humility in us is a beautiful reflection of your heart and character. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

12 November: Tuesday Refocus

"God patiently waits until we are ready to trust and surrender, In other cases, we genuinely have the desire, but need more time to grow. Even though God's grace moves swiftly, all authentic human growth happens slowly. Little by little, his grace stretches us through holy desires, careful not to break us.” - Fr. Derek Sakowski

In sorrow and suffering we can be tempted to believe that God is distant. But perhaps, these realities for the children of God are not evidence of God’s distance, but of His nearness (Psalm 77). And the good news for the people of God is that God’s nearness is always our good (Psalm 73:28). He is holding our days and our longings in the same hands where are names are engraved (Psalm 31:15, Psalm 38:9, Isaiah 49:16).

Father, thank you that our lives and longings are safe in Your hands. Amen.

Amen,

AB

5 November: Tuesday Refocus

“Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.” - St Ignatius of Loyola

We live with illusions. We believe that by sheer force of will, hard work, and resolve, we can bend our lives, mold our desires, determine our course, and impose our will on the world. But a soul that is abandoned to the Lord says: I am not my own, I was bought with a price, and, my times are in His hand… (1 Corinthians 6:19, Psalm 31:15).  

What a relief to know that when my world is not how I would make it, there is still purpose being worked in my life by the One who upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3). That he is working all things for my good and His glory (Romans 8:28). What a comfort to know that in abandoning my life, I am freed, in losing my life it is found (Matthew 10:39).   

Father, grow trust in us as we abandon our souls to You fully, daily, again, and again. Amen.

Amen,

AB

29 October: Tuesday Refocus

“If anything good or beautiful is happening, God is in the room and on the loose.” - Curt Thompson

God is so sovereign he can take what was intended for evil and purpose it for good (Genesis 50:20). God is so good that he gives beauty for ashes, gladness for mourning, and praise in weakness (Isaiah 61:3). God is so kind that he makes ‘…everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).”

Father, make us attentive to your goodness and beauty around us today. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

22 October: Tuesday Refocus

"Beauty heals, partly because it proclaims that there is goodness in the world and that goodness prevails, or is preserved, or will somehow outlast all harm and darkness...⁠ Beauty reassures us of abundance, especially that God is absolutely abundant in goodness and in life...⁠ Beauty reassures us that the end of this Story is wonderful."⁠ - John Eldredge⁠

Our desires reveal something about who we are, and who we are becoming. That is why I have always been fascinated by the request of the Psalmist: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4).” The Psalmist knows there is a place where beauty is not mixed with pain and suffering - and that is the dwelling place of God. 

There is a day coming when the dwelling place of God will be with man (Revelation 21:3). We shall see him as he is, and be transformed by his beauty (1 John 3:2).

Lord, hasten the day of your return - let us see you as you are. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

15 October: Tuesday Refocus

"When my little world is falling apart and the dream castles of my ambitions and hopes crumble into ruins, can I honestly declare, 'Surely-yes, surely-goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life'?" - Phillip Keller

Life with God is having our desires transformed (Psalm 37:4). Life with God is recognizing that, ultimately, he is our greatest desire (Psalm 73:25). And if God is my greatest desire, regardless of what happens around me, my life is securing in choosing that which can not be taken away (Luke 10:42). Because my life is hidden with Christ in God, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Colossians 3:3, Psalm 23:6).

Father, may we choose the good portion. May we respond to you in faith and joy. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

8 October: Tuesday Refocus

“We love the old saints, missionaries, martyrs, and reformers. Our Luthers, Bunyans, Wesleys and Asburys, etc... We will write their biographies, reverence their memories, frame their epitaphs, and build their monuments. We will do anything except imitate them. We cherish the last drop of their blood, but watch carefully over the first drop of our own.” - A.W. Tozer

King David said he would not offer a sacrifice to the Lord that cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24). Jesus said in order to find our lives we must lose our lives (Matthew 10:39). The Apostle Paul said that he no longer lives, but it is Christ who lives in him (Galatians 2:20).

In resource-rich societies (such as ours) we will happily lend our expertise, our money, and maybe even our time to causes we deem worthwhile. But what about our very lives? What of taking up our crosses and following our Savior (Matthew 16:24)? What if following Jesus will take us to places we do not want to go - like, the mission field? Like a simple, quiet, and obscure existence whose faithfulness is seen only by the Father? Like a life of discomfort, free of the ways we distract, avoid, and numb the pain, suffering, and brokenness within and without?

For followers of Jesus, we know that we must die to ourselves. But perhaps the first death is realizing that we cannot choose the place and manner of our deaths. But it is in dying that we bear much fruit (John 12:24). It is in being united with Christ in a death like his, that we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6:5).

Father, we are grateful for the faithful witness of the saints throughout time and history who have given their lives - body and soul, in life and in death - to you. We pray that our lives would be conformed to the image of Christ in His life and in His death, for Your glory, and our good, amen.

Amen,

AB

1 October: Tuesday Refocus

"It is going to be a very long road. Every time I pray I feel the struggle. It is the struggle of letting God be the God of my whole being. It is the struggle to trust that true freedom lies hidden in total surrender to God's love." - Henri J.M. Nouwen

For followers of Jesus, we know that our lives are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19). We know that our very breath is a gift from God (Acts 17:25). But still we naturally cling to the natural - attempting to exert our will, our whims, and our desires on and over our lives. In prayer we come face-to-face with the God who says ‘“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding (Job 38:4).’ In prayer we recognize that His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). In prayer we realize that our words should be few - because what is there to say when we see the One who inhabits the heavens (Ecclesiastes 5:2)? Prayer is not a battle of wills (mine against God’s) but the enfolding of my will into the One who knows and loves me best.

Father, may we be quick to surrender deeply, fully, completely. In Christ’s name, and the Spirit’s power, amen.

Amen,

AB

24 September: Tuesday Refocus

“Prayers are the life signs of faith. They occur as naturally as the cries of newborn babies.” - Simon Chan

Need lives unashamedly close to the surface for children. This does not change as adults - our needs are buried under layers of pride, self-sufficiency, and fear. Even from God - the One from whom nothing is hidden - we attempt to cover, minimize, or hide our need (Genesis 3:8-12, Psalm 139, Luke 8:17).

It is God who ‘…gives to all mankind life, and breath and everything (Acts 17:25).’ In prayer, we acknowledge that we are people of need. In prayer, we acknowledge that we cannot provide for our deepest needs. In prayer, we acknowledge that it is God Himself that we desire.

Father, may our prayers be frequent, honest, and bold, because You hear us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Amen,

AB

17 September: Tuesday Refocus

‘Every art unfolds its secrets and its beauty only to the man who practices it. To the humble soul who prays in the obedience of faith, who practices prayer and intercession diligently, because God asks it, the secret of the Lord will be revealed, and the thought of the deep mystery of prayer, instead of being a weary problem, will be a source of rejoicing, adoration, and faith, in which the unceasing refrain is ever heard: "My God will hear me!”’ - Andrew Murray

It is easy to lose patience in prayer. It seems slow, and we wonder if anything is happening. It seems important and yet we wonder if we are doing it right. Like the Psalmist - and every person in Scripture, and throughout history - we wonder aloud: ‘I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where Is Your God? (Psalm 42:9-10)”’ 

But if we labor on, lean in, show up, bring our sighing and ourselves we find “…the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name (Isaiah 45:3).” This is not easy work - not because God is withholding, but because we are often half-hearted in our pursuit of the One who gives us Himself (Psalm 38:9, John 1:16). Why else would we call those rare saints who seem to have been able to lay hold of something deeper and more meaningful in prayer, warriors?

Father, would you make us persistent in prayer? Amen and amen.

Amen,

AB

10 September: Tuesday Refocus

One should hallow all that one does in one's natural life. One eats in holiness, tastes the taste of food in holiness, and the table becomes an altar. One works in holiness, and raises up the sparks which hide themselves in all tools. One walks in holiness across the fields, and the soft songs of all herbs, which they voice to God, enter into the song of our soul. - Martin Buber

For the follower of Jesus, there is no sacred/secular dividing line. Because all of life is an act of worship offered in view of the mercies of God (Romans 12:1). Eating, drinking, working, and resting give evidence to whom we belong (1 Corinthians 10:31, Psalm 127:2).  

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” Colossians 1:17

Father, may this day, and every day be lived before Your face. In view of your mercies, and consecrated to You. In Christ’s name and the Spirit’s power, amen.

Amen,

AB

3 September: Tuesday Refocus

“One of the great neglected duties of the Christian life is self-examination, and maybe self-examination is neglected because it is so humiliating an exercise.” - William Barclay

Nothing surprises God. There is no corner of creation or my heart that is not already seen and known all the way through. So when we pray with the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24),” we pray to the One who has already “…searched me and known me! (Psalm 139:1).”

We pray asking not that God would learn something new in searching us, but that we would learn something new because God already knows “When I sit down and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether (Psalm 139:2-4).”

Father, thank You that You know us and that in Your kindness the Spirit convicts us of sin, and comforts us in our distress. Thank You for raising up the humble. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB