Beneath The Dirty Hood

Beneath the dirty hood

Dirty, noisy outside.  Clean, quiet inside.  Rest.  What is it?  From Hungry Heart #8–9:

"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Hard as it is for the believer to finally come to rest concerning his spiritual birth, it seems to be even more difficult for him to simply rest in the Lord Jesus for his life and service.

"There are two stages in the Christian life. The one in which, after conversion, a believer seeks to work what God would have him do. The second, in which, after many a painful failure, he ceases from his works, and enters the rest of God, there to find the power for work in allowing the Father to work in him.

"It is this rest from their own work which many Christians cannot understand. They think of it as a state of passive and selfish enjoyment, of still contemplation which leads to the neglect of the duties of life, and unfits for that watchfulness and warfare to which Scripture calls. What an entire misunderstanding of God's call to rest!

"Truly to rest in God is to yield oneself up to the highest activity. We work, because He worketh in us both to will and to do (Philippians 2:13). As Paul says of himself, 'I labor, striving according to his working who worketh in me with might' (Colossians 1:29). Entering the rest of God is the ceasing from self-effort, and the yielding of oneself in the full surrender of faith to God's working." -Andrew Murray

"Not only does the Lord Jesus live in us, but He becomes the motivating Object of our life as Christians. The law is no longer our motive or rule of life. It is entirely displaced by a Person, and that Person 'the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' Henceforth the soul has a new center and source--it is no longer self-centered, but Christ-centered." -Charles Andrew Coates

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29).

There’s redemption beneath the dirty hood.  But redemption has a Name.  From Hungry Heart #8–11:

In regard to the external Cross, the obvious fact is that "Christ died for our sins." As to the internal Cross, while not so obvious, it is still a fact that we are to be "always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11).

"Popular Fundamentalist theology has emphasized the utility of the Cross rather than the beauty of the One who died on it. The saved man's relation to the Lord Jesus has been made contractual instead of personal. The 'work' of Christ has been stressed until it has eclipsed the Person of Christ. Substitution has been allowed to supersede identification. What He did for us seems to be more important than what He did to us." -A.W.Tozer

Good distractions

The ball shot off the bat into left-center field between the outfielders.  The left fielder got there fast and whipped the ball to the shortstop who was a few feet on the outfield grass.  The runner on first crossed second and headed toward third then came back when he realized how quick the ball had been returned to the infield.  The shortstop made a great play by faking a throw and chasing the runner back to second, diving to try to tag him out.  The whole thing was very well-executed.  Problem was, there had also been a runner on second who went to third, and when the shortstop tried to make the play at second, the other runner ran home and scored.  Easily scored.  A well-done play; but the wrong play.

Roy Williams in this week’s Monday Morning Memo says:

Have you ever been in a K-Mart during a "flashing blue light special?" The sad circus begins when an employee rolls out a chrome cart with a rotating blue light on a pole about 8 feet high. A voice on the intercom says, "Attention K-Mart shoppers," and then tells you know how lucky you are to be in the store right now. They're about to offer an unadvertised special. Just follow the flashing blue light.

Watching those poor people follow that light is profoundly sad to me…

Our world is full of flashing blue lights that cause us to lose our focus and forget the reason we're here. Is there a blue light in your life right now?

Blue lights often arrive as an adversary that begs to be defeated…I'm talking about you and the distractions that cause you to forget your real purpose.  Have you allowed the merely urgent to replace the truly important?

…(take) a few minutes from your crazy schedule to just sit and think about what life is really all about.  Do it now. For yourself, and the people you love.  The world will wait.

I don’t want to do a good job of holding guys on second while letting runs score.  He didn't.

How to persuade by listening

From Steve Wagner at STR:

Whether I’m engaging a crowd of fifty on a college campus or in a one-to-one conversation at a friend’s house, here are two proverbs I try to remember:

A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind. (Proverbs 18:2, NASB)

He who gives an answer before he hears,
It is folly and shame to him. (Proverbs 18:13, NASB)

As a Christian ambassador who studies to be ready to give an answer (as any ambassador should), it is easy to slip into lecture mode, showcasing all of the wonderful stuff I know. But this method is a loser. Most people learn not by hearing me talk, but by hearing themselves talk.

Further, how can I possibly know what item of my knowledge is helpful to another person, or what tactic I should use to communicate it, if I haven’t first listened? Hugh Hewitt’s rule is a good one: Ask at least a half-dozen questions in every conversation. If you’re asking questions, it’s difficult to lecture. And it’s a lot easier to “delight in understanding” and give an answer after hearing, as these proverbs encourage us to do.

When you have property at the beach, hurricanes are a big deal

JERRY HAD TRIED TO TELL THEM.  As usual, they wouldn’t listen.  Over and over, they never listened.  Now it had finally caught up with them, and there were no more warnings, only consequences.  Bad consequences; war, famine, disease, fire, desolation.  Now.  Everything normal would be no more.  Maybe that’ll get their attention.  It seems it already had.  The people were dejected, desperate and overwhelmed with fear.  It was hopeless.  And in the middle of everything being destroyed, Jerry bought a field.  As if everything was normal.  It was like meeting with a real estate agent in Hiroshima as you watched the atom bomb come at you.  Why would you do that?  It wasn’t his idea, he was just doing what he was told.  Apparently, they were coming back.  It might be a long time, and seem impossible, but the people were not to forget, and their hearts were to stay here, even if they themselves were away. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS “WEARIED TO DEATH” and miserable and “never was in such an unhappy…state since I was born.”  He was completely consumed with the seemingly hopeless cause of keeping the Continental Army together.  And in the middle of the pressure and hopelessness, he wrote a letter home with instructions about fireplaces and wainscotting (1776; pp 227–8).  He had been gone over a year, but he remembered every detail of the house and what needed to be done.  Of course he did; his heart was there.

IF I HID $1,000,000 in a can and buried it in the back yard, what would I do every morning when I got up?  Maybe casually sip my coffee and gaze out back to see if any digging had been going on?  Would I do that if there was nothing buried there? 

It’s backwards from what I would think.  I would think first goes my heart, and then my treasure follows.  But that’s not what it says.

Quiet time

Sinking into the sofa and leaning into her half-prone body I felt the relaxation I had been longing for all day slowly seep satisfyingly over me.  It was quiet for a minute and we made some brief small talk.  I had things to do but I wasn’t going to do them.  I said, we’re going to stay here ‘till 9:15.  It was 7:45.  We talked a little more.  Sometimes I just listened to her.  Sometimes it was silent.  We laughed.  Hugged.  I could hear her heart beat as my head lay on her chest.  More of the same; I don’t remember everything.  Minutes went by—they must’ve, because it was an hour later.  OK, let’s go get ice cream! 

I didn’t write anything down.  I didn’t take notes.  I didn’t try to accomplish anything.  I didn’t follow an acrostic to remind me of how to carry on a conversation with her.  I didn’t take a class or read a book to learn how to enjoy being with her; it came naturally from our relationship. 

How much more…

If women ruled the world