As a young believer I became keenly aware of the war-like nature of belief in Christ–the devil who stalks about at the wood line of our thoughts stalking its prey [1 Peter 5:8]. I am often aware, by the Grace of God, of the lurking lies that creep up from within and sabotage my best attempts at Holy thoughts. Things like lust, anger, animosity, despair, or worry. But today brought a new level of awareness–a new alarm has wrung. I am now aware that this attack on my thoughts is far more subtle than I first thought. It’s something very subversive to my internal worship and moment-to-moment communion with God. Its a shift. A subtle movement of my thoughts away from the divine and meant to divide. It is almost as natural as shifting your weight in your chair. It is however, far more threatening.
25
Jun 10
Food
“Jesus is bone weary from the journey. He is hot and thirsty. He decides: ‘yes, even now, just now, I will seek someone to worship the Father—a Samaritan adulteress. I will show My disciples how My Father seeks worship in the midst of real life from the least likely. She is a Samaritan. She is a woman. She is a harlot. Yes, I will even show them a thing or two about how to make true worshipers out of the white harvest of harlots in Samaria’”
-John Piper, Desiring God
23
Jun 10
In The Boat
Several times a day, a thought descends on me like a trap sprung from an overhead branch. In a moment’s notice, I’m taken, crashing, to the ground. This thought, in this time, owns me. I mean it’s all over me. [Think of the overweight nerdy guy in Jurassic Park when he crashes his Jeep and that spitting dinosaur sprays him in the face with acid spit and then eats him]. I worship it. I give it my total attention, my total awareness, and I see nothing beyond it. My heart races. Soon an overwhelming sense of guilt overshadows me.
22
Jun 10
Eden Undone
I recently was asked to recount my story and how faith in Jesus became such a central part of my life:
I’ve been searching my whole life. It began as a very young child: An intense longing to matter complicated by the fact that I am the only adopted son of three children. As seems to be the testimony of most with a similar lot in life, an identity crisis existed that was nearly inconsolable by either of my parents. A taste of this here, a touch of that there. That is how it began. I can say with confidence now that God protected me in my search to a large degree.