Take back your Time

Aren't we always looking for more time, telling people how we have no time, using lack of time as an excuse for not doing all kinds of things including things we know we should?

A while ago I decided to stop talking about how busy I am. After all, I make the choices for how I spend the 24 hours that God has given to me...no one is making me busy except myself and no one, besides me, will give an account for how I spend my time. I've come to the conclusion that my days are full just like everyone's days are full and it's my choice. If I don't want to be so busy, I can do something about it--maybe not this week, but certainly in the next two or three months. I own my time.

No time is more profitably spent than the time I use to heighten the quality of my walk with God. If I think otherwise, I have been badly misled. The real question is, will I take time to do what is necessary for a vital, passionate life in Christ or will I try to get by without it? The testimony of hundred of folks down through the centuries testify to the truth that there is no substitute for time spent with the Lord.

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The Remedy

"Allowing service for Christ to steal our devotion to him is a radical failure in personal soul care. But it is one from which the practice of communing with Christ in times of solitude and silence can deliver us." (Willard, The Great Omission, 130)

How many times have we come to The Springs absolutely empty, poured out, exhausted...and how many times have we found that the rest and refreshment of time to take a nap, walk the trails, read our Bible, and simply be silent and alone with the Lord has completely restored us.

Silence, Solitude, and Time are a leaders best friends...they are essential to our soul care.

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Silence and Solitude

"In drawing aside for lengthy periods of time, we seek to rid ourselves of the corrosion of soul that accrues from constant interaction with others and the world around us. In this place of quiet communion, we discover again that we do have souls, that we indeed have inner beings to be nurtured. Then we begin to experience again the presence of God in the inner sanctuary, speaking to and interacting with us. We understand anew that God will not compete for our attention. We must arrange time for our communion with Him as we draw aside in solitude and silence." (Willard, The Great Omission, 130)

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The Sweet Spot

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." That's the goal of our lives and that's once of the fundamental purposes of The Springs. How do we live with passion for the Lord every day?

Passion seems to be about having a strong desire to see something happen. Passion is a feeling-- such a strong feeling that I act on it. Passion leads me to say, "yes," and fuels my days with energy, drive, vitality, growth.

I've never seen so clearly how essential it is to get my passion, my feelings and emotions, all lined up with what I know I want to do. When what my mind wants to do, or thinks I should do, is at odds with what I feel like doing, the chances my mind will win over time is slim. That's when life becomes hard. That's when I'm struggling and feeling the life drained out of me. I'm in a constant battle, feeling tempted, distracted. When I want to read my Bible, but feel like cleaning the house, will I read my Bible? Maybe. But not passionately. If I live for very long not feeling like engaging in spiritual things -- that's when I start having my "obligations" not my "devotions." I can live there -- but it's a tough spot. (I think this experience is more an experience of resistance, than an experience of "the desert" - when we feel like God's Presence has been withdrawn. The dynamics of the "dark night of the soul" are all different from what I'm thinking about in this reflection.)

Getting interested in some aspect of the Christian life (recently for me it has been learning how to share my faith using conversational approaches to evangelism) and exploring with increasing curiosity all aspects of something brings zest to my life.

I love exploring a question (what is the gospel?) or learning a new skill (graphic design). I never have all the time I wish I had to pursue it, which is a good thing, I think. It keeps me hungry for more.

When I believe God has called me to the task, then I am even more passionate to pursue it.

There is a sweet spot of vitality for me when my feelings, my call, and what I know I ought to do all converge. When I have a strong desire to pursue something, I believe that I have been called by God to accomplish it, and I know it's what I ought to do -- wow! I'm energized, passionate, sleeves-rolled-up and running.

How can I live with passion everyday? Getting to the sweet spot is key.

Someone wrote: "You only lose energy when life becomes dull in your mind. You don't have to be tired and bored. Get interested in something. Get absolutely enthralled in something. Throw yourself into it with abandon."

I think for me one of the keys to spiritual vitality is finding the sweet spot where curiosity, call, commitment all converge. It is possible to get our feelings aligned with our call and commitment so that we want to do what we need to do. By paying attention to my passion, and what makes me want to do something, I've discovered ways to approach my spiritual life so that rather than fighting myself and battling a sense of resistance, I'm wanting to do what I know I should.

Living in the sweet spot is just the opposite of ho-hum, business as usual, dull, routine, bored, going through the motions, tired, lukewarm. I love living in the sweet spot. It's worth spending time to figure out what help you to get there.

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Feelings and Desire

What role do our feelings play in our devotional life?

As I've been paying attention to my passion for the Lord every day, I am aware how much my "feelings" play a role in my spiritual life. We are so prone to do what we feel like. Our desires do lead us to the choices we make. There are mornings when I come to my desk for my quiet time and I feel like responding email, working on some work, cleaning my desk. Other days, I easily turn everything off and begin my devotional time.

I had no desire to do work this morning. I wanted to read and pray. That's what I felt like so that's what I did. A couple of weeks ago I was up against a deadline and I had a strong desire to finish my talk, and that made it nearly impossible for me to focus on my devotion. I tend to follow my desire, do what I feel like, and if I choose to go against my feelings, then it takes a whole lot of discipline and self-control.

So the easiest way to live would be to get my feelings, my desires, to be in line with what my good intentions are. If I intend to read my Bible and pray, and I have the desire to do that, for sure it will happen if it is at all possible. However, if I'm dieing to finish a project, I'm really enjoying working with a new software program, I'm up against a deadline, then I may be more driven to do my work than my devotion. So how do I get my feelings to line up with my good intentions?

Desire really is key to having passion and to determining how easily I'll give myself to do what I actually sit down and do. How do I direct my desires to help me grow in my love for Christ? Can I develop practices or exercises that will help me get my feelings and desires to pull me toward Jesus rather than compel me toward distractions and avoiding Him.

"There is only one big thing--desire. And before it, when it is big, all else is
little." Willa Cather

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Entering a Life of Worship

What is the chief end of man? What is the purpose of life? According to the Westminster Confession the answer is clear: To glorify God and enjoy him forever. As a young adult, I puzzled over what it meant to "glorify God," but as I've gotten older and continued to ponder it, I think that glorifying God has a lot to do with how I think about God, His Person, His character, His glory (Exodus 34) and how those thoughts draw me in to worship Him, and worship isn't to just be something that I do at church on Sunday morning, but to become a lifestyle, a 24/7 practice of my life.

What is the purpose of our lives? I think I would say, to live a life of worship. (Rom. 12:1-3)

Let the words of Christ dwell richly in you. Let the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs create an undertone of worship throughout our lives. Join in with the angels who are worshipping in heaven right now. "To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever." (Rev. 5:13) And let our love of God, our worship of Him, overflow into a life of compassion and mercy--loving others.

Willard writes: "Worship is the single most powerful force in completing and sustaining restoration of our whole beings to God. Nothing can inform, guide, and sustain pervasive and radiant goodness in a person other than the true vision of God and the worship that spontaneously arises from it. Then the power of the indwelling Christ flows from us to others."

Matt Redman in his book on worship encourages us to set apart something in our lives that will serve as a call to worship. That seemed like a wonderful idea. I've set apart the sunrise and for months now, every time a see the sunrise, it calls me to stop, turn my focus to the Lord, and worship him.

Worship isn't something that I have on my to-do list -- another chore. That's not the spirit of worship.

Worship overflows from my heart. Fill my heart, soul, mind with the words and thoughts and visions of God...pay attention to His fingerprints in my life, the wonderful points of grace, that I might be deeply grateful to Him for all He is doing and has done. Caring for my soul in these ways is my responsibility -- it's my responsibility to walk with God -- and when I do, love and worship overflow and transform me from the inside and overflow in love and mercy as I live out my worship in service and ministry.

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A Puritan test for our Love of God

Thoughts from Thomas Watson, a Puritan (I needed to read this 3-4 times before I got what he was saying):

The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind upon God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God.

"When I awake, I am still with thee" (Psalm 139:18).

The thoughts are as travelers in the mind. David's thoughts kept heaven-road. "I am still with Thee."

God is the treasure, and where the treasure is, there is the heart.

By this we may test our love to God: What are our thoughts most upon? Can we say we are ravished with delight when we think on God. Have our thoughts got wings? Are they fled aloft? Do we contemplate Christ and glory?

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Keeping the Lord before Us

One of the most essential practices of the spiritual life is to keep the Lord before us all of the time. David knew this: "I keep the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure" (Psalm 16:8-9).

So how do we do this? It takes practice. But the goal is to have our mind come to rest in the Lord, not in all of the other noise that occupies our thinking. Once we start paying attention to all of the things going on in our thoughts, we'll become aware of how little time we spend "keeping the Lord always before us." So the goal is to have our thoughts return to the Lord.

At the Springs, we have the time to quiet the inner noise. Sometimes it takes 24 hours of solitude before we can be fully present to the Lord. I've found some ways that help me to quiet the inner noise - things as simple as keeping a list so that my mind doesn't have to be continually reminding of things I don't want to forget.

Along with quieting the inner noise, we need to fill our minds with Jesus. We open ourselves to Him and direct our thinking toward Him. This is our goal. We can develop the habit of keeping the words of the Gospels in our minds by reading them carefully day by day, and re-reading them. We can memorize them. I find that when I am actively working on memorizing a passage, then I can recall it to mind throughout the day.

Keeping the Lord before us is a choice, a habit, a skill that we can practice and become better at. If we stick with it, keeping our mind focused on the Lord and at peace in Him, will become the default. Our minds will return to Him naturally, as a matter of habit.

Don't get discouraged. Take baby steps and you will find that keeping the Lord before you becomes such a gift.

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Only 6 spots left for the Springs!

If you are planning to join us in November, please email Darlene right away as there are only a few spots left.

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Is This Really Possible?

"It's God's intention that our lives should be a seamless manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Gal. 5:22-23). God has made abundant provision for His indwelling our lives in the here and now. Appropriate attention to the care of our souls through His empowerment will yield this rich spiritual fruit ..." (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission, p. 125)

Is Willard serious? Can we really get to a place in our lives were we experience God's love and "walk in the way of love" (Eph 5:1, NASB) as Paul exhorts us? Is it really possible to experience joy from deep within that isn't shaken by our circumstances? Not a pretense of joy, but a true sense of well-being and hope in the Lord always. Yes, I guess it is possible: Jesus taught us to abide in God's love, like a branch remains with the vine, "so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be complete." It must be possible to live in complete joy.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love." (Eph. 5:1 NIV)

"Living a life of love," "experiencing complete joy" -- not exactly the first characteristics that spring to mind as people outside of the church seek to describe us. Not exactly the first characteristics that spring to my mind either. Why is that? Why aren't we known by our love, joy, peace, patience...?

Maybe we're not paying enough attention to our interior life. For the fruit of the Spirit to naturally overflow in our lives, we must attend to matters of the heart: experiencing His Love and receiving His Grace. Spiritual exercises like Practicing the Presence of God and letting the Word of Christ richly dwell in us and spending time in solitude being with the Lord and experiencing His Divine Love are a few of the specific, practical exercises we can build into our lives that will help us abide in His love.

At The Springs, we take long periods of time to experience His Love and Grace in these kinds of specific ways. The retreat is not a vacation. It's not time for us to get away from it all. The retreat is for the specific purpose of being with the Lord. As we take the time to be with Him, and make these practices part of our daily life, we are able to stay connected with the Lord like branch is connected with the vine. Through living as Christ taught us we open ourselves to receiving His Grace so that we will exude in increasing measure the character of the Spirit of God and experience His life changing us from the inside out. At least that's the goal that the Lord Jesus has set before us. I think it would be good for us to take His charge to "walk by the Spirit" seriously.

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