Learning to Grow in Place

^"57As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' ⁵⁹To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' ⁶⁰And Jesus[g] said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' ⁶¹Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.'  ⁶²Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:57-62 ESV

My Prayer -

All glory and honor belong to you most gracious and merciful Father God - and I seek to do your will in all things.  Jesus knew that the road would be arduous and even lonely.  He was very up front about it when he told his apostles that, "...the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

• Father, You have enriched my life with a husband, children, and grandchildren to love and with whom I can share my life.  Must I leave them to follow Him?
• You have blessed me with a nice house and a comfortable bed so I always have a place to sleep at night.  Does this tend to make me settled? content? less likely to put myself "out there" in Jesus' name?
• You have blessed me with a good job, but does the fact that I'm an educator (and we aren't encouraged to have an opinion about anything outside of acceptable methods of nurturing young minds) tie my tongue about my relationship with Christ? 

Father God - I want to be an effective disciple, but sometimes I allow my circumstances to dictate how I share my faith. Please teach me to live my life out loud for Christ and show me how I can bloom where you have planted me.   I ask these things in the name of my Savior Jesus Christ - Amen.

My Reflection -

Jesus' words tell me that living as His disciple will not always be easy and that I will have to go outside of my comfort zone to truly follow Him, but I'm not sure that means I must walk away from all of these blessings.  Rather, I think that I have a responsibility to maintain and minister through them.  In my relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and students, I can honor God and show the love of Christ by my actions and by modeling life in Him.  My attitudes and actions can reflect a godly way of living as established by Christ.  I can put people before things.  I can live looking forward toward what is to come instead of looking backward at all that had passed when the things of this world were much more important to me.

Maybe it's more about where I place my focus...

Making Changes that Stick

⁵ “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-8 ESV

My Prayer -

Great and Mighty Father God - How often do I hear your word and it strikes a chord in me?  It makes me want to do better; makes me intend to do better; makes me plan on better living my life according to your word.

However, soon after I leave the protected time of church services and morning devotionals, I go back to old behaviors, too-human behaviors, behaviors that are of this world and not of You.

Too often I live my life like that seed "that fell among thorns" - allowing the cares of the day to choke out my intentions to put You first and to turn to You in all things.  I forget to walk as a disciple of Christ and to love all of my neighbors - not just those I like.  How quickly I let the frustrations of life determine how I will react to situations - forgetting to ask myself, "what would Jesus do" and instead charging ahead with a less than loving heart.  

Father - I am sorry for these lapses.   I want to be one of the seeds that "fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold" and I need your help to do this.  You are good and merciful, and your love is everlasting!  With faith that it has already been done, I ask your forgiveness and for your help to follow more closely the path to which You have called me.  Send your Holy Spirit to guide and give me direction.  Teach me to discipline myself in the ways of Christ that I will be a better example of life in Him and a light for those around me pointing the way to You.

I love you and I lift my prayers in the name of Christ Jesus - my Savior and Redeemer.  Amen.

My Reflection -

This is just one example of why having evening devotional time is so important.  If morning devotions prepare me for the day by seating God's word in my heart, evening devotions give me the opportunity to return to His word and reflect on the activities of the day.  They give me a chance to think about what went well and how I could have done better.  Most importantly, they allow me to set aside more time to stand in God's presence asking Him to search my heart and showing me how and where I need to improve.

Building my walk as a disciple of Christ is not a "one and done" action, and it is not something that I can float through.  It takes constant effort, planning, and forethought.  It is no coincidence that the words "disciple" and "discipline" both spring from the latin root "discere", which means "to learn".  I am having to learn to become more self-disciplined and more intentional about being a disciple. 

Self-discipline does not come naturally to me so this is not going to be easy.  But it is going to be so worth it!