Tuesday Refocus: July 18

“The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.” - Thomas Merton

It was for the joy set before Jesus, that He endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). The Author, Finisher, and Perfecter of our faith suffered, why would we believe that our lives would - or should - look any different?

Suffering feels unnatural because it was never intended to be a part of our world and our lives - and one-day suffering will cease to exist. But if we suffer with Christ as children and heirs, we will also be glorified with Christ (Romans 8:17)! Suffering feels unnatural in a world and culture of instant gratification. Suffering is counterintuitive because it says that there can be future joy, and eternal pleasures only in part today, but forever more on that day.

Father, may we experience Your comfort in our suffering? May we glimpse You joy now? Fill us with endurance, oh, Lord. In Your eternal and enduring name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: July 11

“The grace of God means something like: ‘Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.’” - Frederick Buechner

I heard a pastor once articulate grace as undeserved favor, in the face of deserved wrath. Every person on the planet is a recipient of God’s common grace - breath, relationships, beauty, all of these speak to God’s common grace. Those who have a relationship with God through Jesus are recipients of God’s saving grace - because grace is not just a thing, but a person. Christ embodies undeserved favor toward humanity, the face of the wrath our sins deserved (Romans 6:23). And every follower of Jesus is sustained, and perseveres not in our own effort - but through the sustaining grace of God.

In this world, beautiful and terrible things can, will, and do happen. But for followers of Jesus, we never need to be afraid because Christ became forsaken on the cross so that we might never be left or forsaken by Him (Isaiah 53, Hebrews 13:5).

Father, we thank you for the common, saving, and sustaining grace you give in the face of deserved wrath. May we be aware of this beauty in a new fresh way today, in the name of Jesus, amen.

Grace,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: July 4

“Oh Lord our God… steer the ship of our life to yourself, the quiet harbor of all storm-stressed souls. Show us the course which we are to take. Renew in us the spirit of docility. Let your Spirit curb our fickleness; guide and strengthen us to perform what is for our own good, to keep your commandments and ever to rejoice in your glorious and vivifying presence. Yours is the glory and the praise for all eternity.” - Basil the Great

We think we know the way, and we plot the course, but it is the Lord who directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9). We attempt to blaze a trail, but ‘All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies (Psalm 25:10).’ It is only through the glorious and vivifying presence of God that we can say ‘my steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped (Psalm 17:5).”

He goes before us, follows after us, and is walking beside us. He makes known to us the path of life, in His presence there is fullness of joy; and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

Father, may we walk in your paths today. Would you illuminate the way we should go? Would we be aware of your presence, in us and around us, in Christ’s name, amen.

Walking,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: June 27

“Christianity discerns that beyond the night the dawn already glows. The hope that does not fail is carried in the heart. Christ goes with us!” - Oscar Romero

To the end of the age…

To old age and grey hair…

Through the valley of the shadow of death…

We are never left, and never forsaken (Matthew 28:20, Isaiah 46:4, Psalm 23, Deuteronomy 31:6).

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” - Hebrews 11:1

Lord, may our hope be in You all our days. In Your name, amen.

Hoping,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: June 20

“If we do not make formation in Christ the priority, then we’re just going to keep on producing Christians that are indistinguishable in their character from many non-Christians.” - Dallas Willard

Humans are meaning-makers and culture shapers. But we have also been shaped by our culture more significantly than we realize or recognize. Our thoughts, priorities, affections, preferences, expectations, tastes, and desires all bear the marks of the time, place, and people into which God has sovereignly placed our lives. Some of these realities need to be celebrated, some need to be redeemed, and some need to be outright rejected. Because what we know as followers of Jesus is that we have been adopted into the family of God (Galatians 4:4-7). We have been given a new heart, and a new identity (Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 5:17). We are not of this world, but citizens of another country (John 17:16, Philippians 3:20).

To be formed into the image of Christ is not to be a cleaned-up version of the culture we represent, but to represent Christ in our cultures. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one (John 17:15).” 

Father, may it be so. Amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: June 13

“The human heart is exquisitely fragile. Our judgments need to be gentle, our understanding deep, and our forgiveness wide.” - Ronald Rolheiser

When I know that I am bound to God by His unending love, I am freed. When I know that there is nothing that can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, I can love in response. When I recognize the steadfast love of God toward me, I do not have to trade the love of God for the affection and admiration of people. When God’s love is real to me, I do not have to hoard the love I give to others.

When I realize how deeply I have been forgiven, I become quick to forgive. When I have some shadow sense of the cost of forgiveness offered to me by a sinless God, how sad when I seek vengeance for the smallest offense. When I thank God for the completeness of His continual forgiveness toward me, why would I ever allow corners of unforgiveness in my own heart?

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” - Lamentations 3:22-23

Father, the cost of my love and forgiveness toward others is but a drop in the ocean of your love and forgiveness toward me. May my life bear witness to the reality of Your heart and character in the way I am being conformed to Your image. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: June 6

“One of the great temptations of the spiritual life is to believe that if I were in another season of life, I could be more spiritual. The truth is that spiritual transformation takes place as we embrace the challenges and opportunities associated with each season of our life.” - Ruth Haley Barton

If God is sovereign, then He is sovereign over my circumstances. If God is sovereign over my circumstances I can trust that there is nothing out of place, nothing surprising, and nothing that cannot be turned toward my ultimate good, and His ultimate glory (Rom 8:28).

And if I cannot comprehend how my circumstances are creating the environment for me to be conformed to the image of Christ, I can know that they are in fact preparing me for an eternal weight of glory. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” 2 Corinthians 4:17

Nothing can be meaningless that forces us to cling closely to the cross.

Father, may our lives be open to You as You move toward us in all circumstances. In Christ’s name, amen.

Praying,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: May 30

“You will never have time for prayer; you must make time.” - Richard Foster

How easily our prayers become repeated phrased before a meal. Things we say under our breath as we feel anxiety rise up within us. But what is prayer is more than words we mindlessly utter, and more about presence with and to the One who is present everywhere, all the time?

Can we still and quiet our mind, so that like Jacob we may say, ‘Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it (Gen 28:16).’ Or what if like Samuel, our prayers were less about speaking and more about listening to the One who speaks - ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears (1 Sam 3:9).’

In speaking, silence, and presence - our prayers are to be unceasing (1 These 5:17). May we make time for speaking, make space for silence, and become aware of the presence of the Lord in this day.

Lord, draw near and speak, for we desire to listen. Lord, incline your ear, for we desire to confess. Lord, let the morning bring us word of your unfailing love. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: May 23

“Spiritual disciples nurture steadfastness. What we repeat in times of ease we will recall in times of hardship.” - Jen Wilkin

What is being repeated in my life right now?

Am I meditating day and night, and delighting in the law of the Lord (Ps 1:2)? 

Am I rehearsing His truths when I sit, and walk, and lie down, when I rise, binding them on my hand, putting them before my eyes, writing them upon the foundation of my life and home (Deut 6:7-9)?

May my life and yours resemble the house built on a rock (Matt 7:24-27).

Spirit, lead us to the rock that is higher - the Rock of Christ. In His name, amen.

Repeating,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: May 16

“Thankfulness is the fuel for living worship.” - Matt Boswell

Whether attending a corporate worship gathering or living a life of worship - right worship is always a response to God’s revelation of Himself.

I am made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)

I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)

I am a child of God (1 John 3:1)

I have Christ as my brother (Hebrews 2:12)

I am adopted by God (Ephesians 1:5)

I am coheir’s with Christ (Romans 8:17)

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me in (Psalm 27:10)

I belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 3:23)

I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)

The Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20)

I am given eternal life in the Son (Romans 6:23)

I am able to share in the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12)

I am given all things in Christ (Romans 8:32)

I am the workmanship of God (Ephesians 2:10)

I have been created in Christ for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that I should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)

I am a son of God through faith in Christ (Galatians 3:26)

I am buried with Christ in baptism into death, and raised to newness of life (Romans 6:4)

I am a partaker in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)

I am being conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29)

Nothing can snatch me out of the hand of Christ (John 10:28)

Lord, may the reality of your heart, and unchanging character be fuel for me to live in worshipful response in song and in the most mundane moments of my life. In Your name, amen.

In response,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: May 9

“Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.” - Psalm 74:16-17

Sometimes like the disciples in a storm-tossed boat I wonder aloud, ’Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?’ (Mark 4:39). He is the One who spoke creation into existence, and upholds it by the word of His power (Gen 1:3, Heb 1:3). He is the One who will never leave me or forsake me, the One who never slumbers or sleeps, and yet sometimes my circumstances lead me to question His presence, and His power (Heb 13:5, Ps 121:1).

But the Spirit still hovers over the chaos - including the chaos of my own heart, soul, and spirit (Gen 1:2). He is still the one who has ‘measured the waters the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighted the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance…’ (Is 40:12).

It is not just the day that He controls, but the night also. When I ‘…walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’ (Ps 23:4). In all seasons, at all times, there is nothing outside of His control. Nothing can thwart his purpose and His plan. With confidence we can lie down and sleep in peace, and awake to new mercies, because the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places (Ps 4:8, Lam 3:22-23, Ps 16:6).

Lord, where can we go from your presence? May we know your nearness as our good today and every day, amen.

Resting,

AB 

Tuesday Refocus: May 2

“All shall be Amen and Alleluia. We shall rest and we shall see, we shall see and we shall know, we shall know and we shall love, we shall love and we shall praise. Behold our end which is no end.” - Augustine

No more conflict, only agreement.

No more self-worship, only surrender.

No more striving, only rest.

No more peering through dim glass, only sight.

Lord, may your kingdom come in power now, as it will come in fullness on that day. Amen and amen.

Amen,

AB