Today is Tuesday. It is the end of my work week. It is the day I prepare for my personal sabbath. So I will prepare by writing down some things (quotes) I am going to think about during my sabbath rest. I will also write and schedule my blog for tomorrow so that I can pull back fully from the world.
HERE IS A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT I RECENTLY SHARED WITH OUR CONGREGATION.
AS A CONGREGATION, we have been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
Today I would like to talk a bit about coming out of the decay of our personal strongholds.
DAY 2: PREPARE YOUR SPIRIT(COME OUT OF THE DECAY OF YOUR STRONGHOLDS).
WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT STRONGHOLDS?
Strongholds cause spiritual decay.
Strongholds are controlled by and flow out of our flesh nature. Of this nature Paul the Apostle said, “5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the fleshcannot please God.” Romans 8: 5-8
When we choose not to deal with our strongholds we are for all intents and purposes voting against God and His plan for our lives. When we refuse to deal with our strongholds we are in effect sabotaging our spiritual walk.
IS THERE ANYWHERE IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE YOU ARE EXPERIENCING HABITUAL FAILURE? WHAT MINDSET (STRONGHOLD) IS CREATING THE SELF SABOTAGE?
Pray with me: Dear Lord, You see this area of failure in my life. Forgive me for my sin and help me to see how my thinking is keeping me stuck in this failure. Deliver me from my wrong thinking and help me to start thinking Your thoughts. In Jesus name Amen.
Back in the days of that other lifetime before being lead pastor I was posting up to four blogs a day, and I was reading a lot of blogs as part of my involvement in the blog community.
I really enjoyed it, but when I took on my current position, I went from four blogs a day to one blog a day done as a video devotional thought for my congregation. I also gave up almost all reading of anything other than essential business material. I missed the community, but couldn’t find the time.
This year though something has shifted…not so much in my schedule, but in my ability to organize myself. Maybe it’s just that I have finally hit my stride.
So as part of my New Year reevaluation and commitment renewal, I decided to try venturing forth into the blogosphere once again. I made a decision to start doing one NOTE FROM THE VICARAGE in addition to my daily devotional each day. It’s taken about a month but I am now blogging a NOTE everyday.
This week I am adding some light reading of blogs back in to my regimen.
I have decided I will start by reading all the other blogs connected to my weekly community challenge on Saturdays.
IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF A BLOGGING COMMUNITY, HOW MANY BLOGS DO YOU READ EVERY WEEK AS PART OF YOUR COMMUNITY WORK?
OH MY GOSH! IT IS SHARE YOUR WORLD!!!
Back when I was writing four blogs a day (another life), Share Your World was one of the favorite challenges I participated in. This year I have made a goal to start blogging daily and my plan is that once a week at least I will participate in a community challenge. I am so glad that PENSITIVITY101 has taken up this challenge!
When you have finished reading my answers please check out the rest of the community responding to the challenge.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS:
1. Who is your oldest living relative (aunt, grandparent etc)? My mother is now my oldest living relative. She is heading towards her 88th birthday.
2. How often do you visit them or is distance a factor? I live with Mom. At least that is the way it started. Several years ago I found myself in need of a place. She graciously provided me with that place. As she has aged she has needed more and more help. My sister and I took over the mortgage of the house several years ago and Mom’s care.Now I guess it is appropriate to say Mom lives with me. Mom just signed for hospice care and we are doing that from our home now.
3. Have any of your family lived to be 100? No. most of my family dies before 90.
4. Would you like to celebrate your 100th birthday? I think I will celebrate it, but it will probably be in Heaven.
I have been thinking about my grandmother a lot lately. One of her statements, in particular, keeps coming to mind. “There are lots of reasons to go to church, J. It’s not always about God.”
Now…God is the reason the church exists. He is the center of it all, but my grandmother was not wrong in her assessment. In and through the church God provides many things that are essential for life. One of those things is community. For most of my life and ministry, I have downplayed the need for community to my shame.
This week we met with a hospice agency for Mom’s care going forward. Truth be told, I have been pretty stressed out, grieved and weighed down by this. In spite of all that I am doing OK…because of my family and my church community.
During the course of ministry, I have had the opportunity to meet many people who do not have the benefit of healthy family or community of any kind. They often come to the church in an hour of desperate need because they have no place else to turn. It is not that they have relationship with us at all. They come to us because they have no one else to turn to. Often by the time they reach out to us there is little left we can actually do. I often think though “If only we had known them when the issues were smaller, we maybe could have helped.”
I will be the first to attest to the fact that church life is not perfect. Our communities, all of them, are imperfect. BUT…I can say with certainty that my life and my family’s life is stronger because we have been part of this church that we minister in and have been ministered to by. My family is strong enough to see Mom through this season of her life because we are part of the church and have our faith and our community to draw on. This is hard, but we will walk through it and come out stronger on the other side. I can credit the church community for the health of my family. I can credit the church community for the health of my spirit and mind.
This morning one of the men in the church reached out to me, as a friend, offering to help in anyway he could. He did that because I am a part of this community.
I cannot imagine facing this gauntlet, called hospice, without the wonderful tribe God has placed me in. There are lots of reasons to go to church. Knowing God is perhaps the most important reason, but a close second is the power of community.
I try to pastorally visit all the families in my church regularly. With the growing scope of ministry it takes me about a year and a half to work my way through all the regular attenders once. At this week’s staff meeting I gave my personal assistant, Carrie, the next twenty or so names on my list. Between these pastoral check-ins, connecting with new people and then regular ministry board meetings, I get to do quite a bit of relationship building.I really love it!
The idea of prioritizing intentional visitation is new to our church. Before COVID we were busy building programs that people could come to, but we did not do much going out for deep personal connection. It’s not a criticism, just a different way of looking at ministry. I am enjoying this work of intentional relationship building. I believe it is what God has called our church to during this season.
Today one of our DLT (Doing Life Together) groups invited Pastor Amanda and me out to a luncheon to celebrate Pastor Appreciation Month. They wanted to have it back in November, but our schedules could not coordinate until this week.
I think there were about 20 of us there. The ladies made lasagna, meatballs, salad and appetizers and then for dessert we had strawberries with ice cream.
One of the ladies let me hold her puppy, Teddy.
In my follow up prayer time this afternoon (some of you would call it vespers) I started sensing that I need to be visiting all of our groups for intentional connection. I don’t always need to be fed, but just being present with the people and hearing what the Spirit is saying to each of these groups will be very powerful, I think.
Look like I have another “Next List” for Carrie.
On Wednesdays I will be posting thoughts and shots that make me feel restful.
Yesterday we had my mother’s yearly physical appointment with her doctor.
Mom hasn’t been able to leave the house for the last two years. We have moved everything to a Telehealth program specializing in chronic health concerns, called Ibis Health. I track Mom’s meds and her vitals entering them in on a tablet and the Ibis nurse regularly contacts us with check ins and suggestions.
During the appointment yesterday it was decided that Mom is ready for the next step of care.Her weakness and pain levels along with her lowering blood pressure and poor circulation in her feet indicate that things are changing yet again. Brenda and I will be meeting with the palliative care nurse Thursday or Friday to discuss what comes next. We are preparing to help Mom finish her course well.
HAVE YOU WALKED THROUGH THE DYING PROCESS WITH A LOVED ONE? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU DID TO HELP THEM?
OUR CONGREGATIONAL SENTENCE THIS YEAR IS…
“Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“
PREPARE YOUR SPIRIT(COME OUT OF THE DECAY OF YOUR STRONGHOLDS).
WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL STRONGHOLD?– Paul the Apostle defines stronghold like this in 2 Corinthians 10:4, ” 4 [a]We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
I. Some strongholds take the form of HUMAN REASONING. Any thought that causes us to reason our way out of obeying the Scripture. Satan used a stronghold of human reasoning to ensnare Eve when he convinced her to the eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil…
“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.” Gen. 3:1-6
II. Some strongholds take the form of FALSE ARGUMENTS. These are lies we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better about the wrong choices we make: “My behavior is justified because of the bad behavior of other people towards me”; “This is just part of who I am. I can’t help it.”
III. Some strongholds take the form of PROUD OBSTACLES THAT KEEP US FROM KNOWING GOD. Saul became prideful and decided he was worthy of offering the sacrifices of God in place of God’s priest Samuel. He lost the kingdom because of it.
David became prideful and took his friend’s wife and then covered it up by using his authority to have his friend killed. He ended up losing his infant son and bringing a judgment of permanent war on his reign.
IV. Finally, some strongholds take the form of REBELLIOUS THOUGHTS. “in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. 2 TIMOTHY 3
DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR STRONGHOLDS ARE? ASK GOD TO SHOW YOU WHAT FORM YOUR STRONGHOLDS HAVE TAKEN.
A few years ago I actually toyed with the idea of moving wholesale into professional writing. It didn’t turn out quite the way I thought it would. I ended up walking away from writing completely because of the demands of ministry.
I thought I probably would never write again. I actually tried to pick it up again several times.I just couldn’t make the writing commitment and keep up with the call of the church. I contented myself with writing a few family blogs every month or so, and the daily devotional video, but the life of stories became a thing of the past.
Lately, the desire for story has returned. I don’t really know where this will lead, but I am taking my word for the year, “PREPARE”, in hand.
During the 21 days of fasting and prayer I PREPARED a blogging plan for the next year along with the next year’s preaching schedule.
It is not God’s way to give us the destination before we start on the journey. He only ever gives us the first step with clarity the rest is just “looking through a glass darkly” to quote the apostle.
SO, as I come out of the 21 days of fasting and prayer, I am committing to get on the page God has given me. I am beginning with the blogging plan and let’s see what develops from there.
WHAT IS DEVELOPING IN YOUR LIFE AS YOU LAUNCH INTO THE NEW YEAR?
Notes From the Vicarage 