What kind of decisions are we making?

We tend to become the decisions we make. The more we choose something, the more we become that something. We are all in the process of solidifying our identities by the decisions we make. With each decision we make, we pick up momentum in the direction of that decision. I recently read this and thought, at least for myself, it was food for thought.

River Sermons

Romans 2/26/2011

Romans 3/05/2011

Romans 3/12/2011

Happy Valentines Day

I just have to share one of the most humbling and amazing things that happened to me this
morning. I was sitting in my talk to God chair and just kinda talking to God and all of a sudden
I heard "Happy Valentine's Day Jo Ann". I almost fell out of my chair. Can you imagine what
went through my head when I heard this tender voice wishing me a Happy Valentine's day? You know me--I had to ask "would you mind repeating that? I want to make sure I heard that
right". Yes, I heard it again and then I realized I was standing in front of this beautiful, glorious
cross. I wish I had words to describe how beautiful it was. My Jesus was standing there beside
me and He told me this was His Valentine's gift to me. This was where He poured out all of His
love for me. I saw the cross in a new beautiful way. I don't know how to explain how I've seen
the cross in the past but today it became more beautiful than words can describe. I will never
receive a valentine that is more beautiful than the one He showed me today. I started thinking
about how I once was among those who felt so alone and had no one to give them a valentine and how I had missed seeing and knowing there was One who gave us the greatest valentine
gift of all. This is my prayer that all who feel unloved and alone on this day will be able to see
they have been given a beautiful Valentine's Day Gift.

Thoughts on Phil. 4:6-7

Here are some thoughts that Alison wrote that she wanted to share with you all...

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 (TNIV)
This is a clear exhortation to me not to fret or be anxious about anything. But why is it so difficult to live out? Perhaps because I still rely inexcusably upon my own power and abilities, rather than the power of the Holy Spirit within me. Perhaps because the enemy likes to foster a niggling doubt that God truly does want the best for me and will work all things together for my good. This anxiety renders me ineffectual, not just in my daily life, but more importantly, for His Kingdom purposes. And that’s right where the enemy wants me. He doesn’t want me to recall the lesson that, over many years, I have come to learn—that tomorrow, things will look differently than today. Even in my most fearsome circumstances, things change in the light of a new day. God always has me covered because He is the Lord over all things.
These two verses in Philippians are packed with so many counter-cultural truths and revelations about anxiety. First, I am told to present specific requests to God, through not just prayer (communing with my Friend) and petition (imploring Him to act), but also with thanksgiving. I am to present my request out of a grateful heart—not out of fear, anxiety, or worry. Rather, out of a heart that pays homage to God’s present love and faithfulness to me in the past. A heart that humbly and thankfully acknowledges that God always comes through for me in every circumstance. A countenance that affirmatively believes that tomorrow, things will appear differently than today. I cannot let my anxiety blind me to His presence or His earnestness to hear my request. This posture of the heart requires me to lay down control of my life to the One who receives my supplications. I must be willing to entrust the petition to Him before I bring it.
Second, I am instructed to take every situation to God. These absolute terms leave no room for qualitative or quantitative weighing of whether a situation is appropriate to take to Him. His Word says every situation, which means that every circumstance I go through is worthy of the Lord’s attention, particularly if anxiety is accompanying it.
Third, if I will comply with these exhortations, the peace of God will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. The Amplified Bible says “garrison” the heart and mind, which calls to mind a fortress to ward off and keep out the spirit of anxiety and unrest. Peace is the antithesis of anxiety. And God’s peace is even better than what man can envision or experience with the senses. The Word promises that it transcends (goes far beyond) all understanding. That peace only comes if I am willing to leave my own limited understanding behind or, better yet, to surrender it to my Lord.
It is a cyclical process. If, rather than succumbing to anxiety, I approach the Father with a thankful heart, which requires a remembrance of His faithfulness and trust that He will come through again in this situation, I will find what I am seeking. A peace that transcends my understanding. A peace that will “garrison” my heart and mind from the battle being waged against them to accept anxiety over trust. What a beautiful promise from a loving Father, if I will only obey.

How do you see Hebrews 7:25?

I was so blown away this morning as God opened my eyes to another distorted view I had of Him. I have read this scripture so many times and heard it preached so many times but I
have to say that today God showed me a beautiful new picture of Him through a devotion He led me to specifically. Here is the picture I had as I sat back and thought about this scripture:
I pictured Jesus pleading & begging God the Father on my behalf because I was such a mess. I
continually screw up so He has to continually plead for mercy, forgiveness, grace & blessings
on my behalf. I was shocked when I realized how distorted this view was. This image makes my precious wonderful heavenly Father look so tight-fisted that Jesus has to pry grace our of His fingers for me. This picture does not fit into anything that I am coming to discover about
God and His heart for us. I don't begin to say that I understand this scripture completely but
I will say that it hold so much more beauty for me now. I looked up the word intercession and
found one of the descriptions of the word entygchano means to go or meet a person especially
with the purpose of conversation. What a beautiful picture I now have. My Jesus, my high
priest is having a conversation with the Father on my behalf not because I am this lowlife
creature but a child that the Father dearly loves. I am so sad for those who have been given
this same distorted picture of the character of God that I had. I do not claim to say that I
fully understand what the scripture means when it says Jesus lives to make intercession for us.
I just know I am walking in yet another place of freedom on who God says I am!

Creating Space

A great question was raised last night among the guys. It went something like this: "When someone walks into our gathering on Saturday night, what makes it look or feel any different than a regular church...we have a structure, there's usually singing, prayer, teaching/discussion...why is that any different than the church experience we all grew up in?"

That's a great question...and one I've pondered a lot in the last three years. As I've thought about it more and more today, I think my response would have more to do with the intent and motivation of our corporate heart than the logistics of structure.

My vision for The River is that our gatherings on Saturday would be an ongoing conversation of what God is doing in our everyday lives the other 6 days of the week. That there would be a "spontaneous combustion" of God-speak happen as we just hang out and talk.

At least that's what it would look like in the ideal spiritual world.

But what happens to the conversation if you haven't heard God this week. Or you believe that your sin and failure have disqualified you from hearing from him...at least for a while. Sometimes life is just hard and the overwhelming nature of living in this world has sucked any desire to talk about God completely out of us.

I know myself. Put me in a room full of people that I love and the first thing comes to my mind to talk about isn't always God. Its the "big game", its how work is going, its how bad the weather has been. Conversation too easily turns to...well, ME and sharing my struggles with anyone who will listen. Granted, we all need safe people to share with but, even in that, I am still the center of the story.

Which is why we need to create space.

We do what we do in our gatherings not because we're "supposed to" sing songs about God when we get together, not because if "we don't have teaching, we haven't had 'church'", not because we're in love with structure, but because, in the midst of our lives, we MUST create the space for God to move that life oftens denies us.

I also don't want to lose sight of the biblical narrative. Structure in the church didn't start when man started to build buildings or write liturgies to follow. We see examples of what we now refere to as structure as early as the Last Supper.

In both Matthew and Mark, we read that, after Jesus and his disciples had taken what we refer to as the "last supper", they 'sung a hymn' and went to the Mount of Olives.

Now, did they take the elements and sing a song because it was written in the bulletin or because that was what they did the week before? Because they were "supposed to"? Because these things were part of their tradition? NO!! These things happened as a spontaneous response because they had created a sacred space for God to move.

Acts 20:7-12 is another instance where there was a type of structure present - it was the first day of the week and people came together to break bread. Its also obvious that Paul was the 'guest speaker' and wanted to give them all God had for them before leaving. There is an element of spontaneity and fellowship in that 'breaking bread' is mentioned twice but it is also obvious that Paul was the "teacher" in this instance. Again, not because it is a prescribed formula but because it was an intentional effort to create space.

There is also the issue of spiritual maturity to consider. We are all at different points on this journey. Without creating a space specifically designed to focus on prayer or the Word or corporate worship, would the conversation naturally turn there? Probably not. Simply because our sin-nature always seeks to turn the spotlight back on us...not God.

So, if one wonders why we have a teaching time, or corporate singing, or prayer time, its not because we're seeking to create structure or seeking to somehow bring an element of control to our gatherings. We're seeking to create space in our own minds and hearts to allow God to do what He wants to do for us every minute of every day...connect with us, help us to open up to Him, help us to open up to each other.

I know myself. And without the intentional effort to create that space, I'm not sure I would go there.

Heart Transplant

As I was reading the update on Tonya @ Caringbridge and praying for her, I was overwhelmed
with the voice I heard speaking. It was the voice of my Jesus talking to me about the heart
transplant that I had undergone. I remember someone once saying that someone has to die in
order for someone to live. They were talking about transplant recipients. I can't imagine what
it is like to be on a list, waiting for a donor. Jesus told me this morning how my name had been
on a list. He saw my diseased heart and knew how much I needed a new one even though I had
no idea at the time. I didn't even know I was sick so to speak. Then He told me that He loved
me so much He became a donor for me. He died and rose again so that I could have a new heart
and live. I don't know how to express what I felt as He showed me how much He loves us, that
He was willing to become the first donor on our behalf. I am so humbled and grateful for the
new heart He has given me. I am in awe at how my heart beats with love for Him and others where once it was cold and unfeeling, like stone. He said He would give me a new heart and He
did. I never want to take the beating of my heart for granted any longer. May I love Him and others with every beat of my heart!