I spot a sign at the Atlanta Bread Company depicting breakfast egg sandwiches, and the cashier confirms that these are available at any time. I carry my dinner, “egg on wheat bread sandwich no cheese please”, and wind may way around the tables and…Score! In this quiet area out of sight from the concourse are real tables and real seats and empty real booths. You know you are in a good place when every 3^rd customer is wearing a Delta, Airtrans, or TSA uniform.

After polishing off the sandwich and posting a cute facebook status, I wonder what restricting my food to 7 items has taught that can help me get through the next few hours.

• Don’t wail and scream when faced with a restriction.
• It’s fun to be creative with what you have.
• What you have is enough…probably even too much.

So often I complain about not having enough time to read (although there is always enough time to watch the latest episode of The Next Food Network Star or Biggest Loser. I’m still trying to understand why my favorite shows always involve someone being kicked off each week.)

Here I sit in a comfortable chair, a kindle full of books, and sipping a good cup of coffee (coffee and diet coke do not have calories so I do not consider them “food”). Awesome.

I think about my question, what have food restrictions taught me, and go to the chapter on fasting in Jana Riess’ Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor. Jana shares Scot McKnight’s argument that fasting is not a means of “squeezing something spectacular out of God” (love her description:“fasting with the idea of God as Santa Claus who will reward us if we’re really, really good and don’t eat all the cookies”). Fasting should instead be a time of focusing attention on God.

I wish she had shared one of my favorite examples from Scot’s book, which is back in my office and not on my kindle or I would give the page or chapter. I remember him writing of a fast as a time of when we could share in the feelings of a God who grieves with those who are mourning, who suffers with the hungry and poor, who longs for peace and justice. You know. The God who speaks the beatitudes.

I have felt this sympathy somewhat. Lila and I have talked about how in trying to be creative with little, and enjoy even this little, we have felt like we were kindred with those who cupboards are always limited, and desiring to be creative and enjoy what little variety is present.

I am glad to experience this sense of sympathy. Then of course there is the realization that my “fast”—just a restriction in variety and not in quantity—is not enough. It’s not enough to join in emotionally with God’s desires. We have to put feet and hands in on these emotions. So I end with this tale, from Jana’s chapter on fasting:

A brother said to an old man:

There are two brothers. One of them stays in his cell quietly, fasting for six days at a time, and imposing on himself a good deal of discipline, and the other serves the sick. Which one of them is more acceptable to God?”

The old man replied:

“Even if the brother who fasts six days were to hang himself up by the nose, he could not equal the one who serves the sick.”

– Sayings of the Desert Fathers

The church and her saints grew quickly when Barnabas encouraged people. We know from 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 that when it comes to growth, some plant, others water, but only God causes the growth. Encouragement serves as one form of watering.

Romans 12:8 teaches us that encouragement is one of the spiritual gifts. Not all have it in equal measure. Barnabas had an extra measure of encouragement in his spiritual DNA. Though some have the gift in a special way, Paul exhorted all believers to be about the work of encouraging others when he wrote: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). All saints can grow in this area by observing those particularly gifted in encouragement.

What can we learn from Barnabas to encourage us to become more able encouragers? What characterizes the life of an encourager? Here are five characteristics of an encourager that we see in the life of Barnabas (hint: a character study of the man will reveal many more):

1. Encouragers Give Sacrificially. Acts 4:37 records that Barnabas sold a field and brought the proceeds to the apostles’ feet. We know little of his background, but this much is clear, he knew that Jesus had given his own life sacrificially to save him. Out of a grateful heart he wanted to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and give of himself for the glory of God and because he loved people. To be an encourager is costly to self. It may not involve giving monetarily, strictly speaking. It may mean giving of your gasoline, giving of your time, or giving of your energy. But you will always have to give of yourself to encourage others.
2. Encouragers Draw Others Into Ministry. Barnabas saw that Paul was distrusted by the believers in Jerusalem after his conversion (Acts 9:26-28). He embraced Paul because he knew Jesus had embraced him first. Later, after Paul’s time in the wilderness, Barnabas was once again the man to draw Paul back into ministry (Acts 11:25-26). He also drew his cousin, John Mark, into ministry (Acts 12:25). We can surmise that there were many others he influenced in the same way. Do you pull others in alongside you in your areas of ministry? Encouragers do.
3. Encouragers See the Grace of God. Barnabas went to the new church in Antioch. No doubt, there were many people who weren’t fully sanctified there yet. Perhaps they were having trouble finding places to meet or struggled to find childcare solutions during Bible studies, faced financial challenges, sin in the lives of believers, imperfect theology, and squabbles between people. Yet, when Barnabas walked in, Acts 11:23 says he: “saw the grace of God” and he was glad. Is the grace of God the first thing you see each day in the life of your spouse, your children, or others in your church? Do you rejoice in it? Do others know you rejoice in it? Or do you manage to see and comment on whatever is wrong in a given situation or person? It takes people, like Barnabas, who are full of the Holy Spirit and of faith (Acts 11:24) to see first and foremost what God is doing. Then they are able to encourage others to continue in the faith (Acts 14:22).
4. Encouragers Tell Stories. They tell stories of grace just as Barnabas is recorded as doing in Acts 14:27, 15:3, and 15:12. Have you ever noticed how a child’s eyes light up when you tell others a story about that child’s accomplishments? They are encouraged to know you thought so much of the way they hit the ball or played the piano. When we rehearse accounts of the grace of God, the recipients of that particular expression of grace are encouraged, as well as all of God’s people who hear it. Walt Disney introduced his television series of Francis Marion in the late 1950s by saying that the story of Marion had been told around a thousand campfires. Americans still love stories, but I daresay that we have left too much story-telling to Hollywood and have lost the art personally. Have you told a story of the grace of God to someone else today? People love stories. We ought to be a people with a thousand stories to tell – stories of grace exhibited in our lives and in the lives of others. Most of all, we must be ready to tell the story of salvation found in God’s word.
5. Encouragers Expect God to Change People. Paul, who had been so encouraged by Barnabas before, was unwilling to call John Mark back alongside them for a second missionary journey because Mark had bailed out part way through the first (Acts 15:36-40). Mark had been a failure. Barnabas knew that acutely. But he trusted God and believed that God would change Mark. Paul and Barnabas parted ways and Barnabas took Mark while Paul took Silas. The end of the story emerges in Colossians 4:10 and 1 Timothy 4:11 when Paul, near the end of his life, wrote: “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” But that is only the end of the story in the immediate sense. The story continues in that we continue to glorify God for his work of changing Mark through Barnabas. Encouragers do not write others off after one failure; they help them back to their feet and trust the God of grace. The result? Lives are changed forever, the church is changed forever, and Jesus Christ is glorified forever.

One night I was reading just before bed about the 4.5 billion people who are lost and on their way to eternity in hell.  4.5 billion.  I was reading about numbers like 26,000 children that die each day due to starvation and preventable disease.  26,000 kids.  The numbers were staggering, they were heart breaking, but yet they were still distant.  I couldn’t wrap my mind around the thought.  I have been overseas.  I have seen the lost, but I haven’t seen 4.5 billion.  I haven’t seen 26,000 kids in total desperation.  My heart was broken, not only about them, but about my own heart.  Platt called it a “blind spot”.  If we are honest, isn’t it a “blind spot” in most of our lives?  For the most part we are totally comfortable living each day not regarding the rest of the world.  We are consumed with the “Christian version of the American Dream”.  Humbled, I prayed and asked God to make these numbers real to me.  I asked Him to show me what 4.5 billion people looked like.  I asked Him to help me wrap my mind around 26,000 kids.  Have you ever heard the phrase, “Be careful what you pray for”?  I spent the rest of the night (and several more since) tossing and turning while microscopic pictures filled my dreams.  Rows and rows of people.  I  think I must have had every face that I have ever passed in Wal-Mart recalled and flashing through my mind.  I’m also pretty sure that I saw every childs face that I have ever seen on a Compassion card or commercial.  I have never in all my Christian life had an experience like this!  What is astonishing is, I know that I didn’t even come close to seeing 4.5 billion faces.  God has a global purpose for our lives. 

 The Great Commission is not a calling to a select few.  It is a command to me, to you, to all who are covered by God’s incredible grace.  I have realized just how deep I am into living out this American Dream.  Even as a pastor’s wife I am humiliated to say much of this journey of ministry that we are on I have spent being a “good” wife, a “good” mama, a “good” Sunday School teacher, a “good” neighbor, a “good” Faith team leader, etc.  God has called/commanded me to do so much more.  I have a house full of stuff!  I have closets that are slammed full of clothes, shoes, and purses.  I have bins that are stuffed with baby clothes.  I have a kitchen jammed full of gadgets.  Looking at my livingroom you would think that we lived in a toy store.  The totally absurd part is I could write out a list of more things that I think I need.  Unbelivable.  I have been buying into a lie that says what I want is more important than what others need.  I wouldn’t have ever said it out loud, but my actions and life show it.  I am reminded of what Blackaby says in Experiencing God, “What you do in response to God’s invitation reveals what you believe about God.”  Often don’t our actions show that we don’t really believe what we say we do?  Am I alone here?  Regardless, I’m horrified! 

God wants for us to take care of the physical needs of others and even more importantly He wants us to bring them the one thing they need more than anything else… Jesus!  Platt says in the book, “We have the gospel of Christ in us, and we do not have time to waste.  Some wonder if it is unfair for God to allow so many to have no knowledge of the gospel.  But there is no injustice in God.  The injustice lies in Christians who possess the gospel and refuse to give their lives to making it known among those who haven’t heard.  That is unfair.”  Ouch!  Suddenly, the effort I put out feels mediocre at best. 

I said in my last post I wasn’t sure how to go about living a life that was “desperate and dependent on the Spirit of God”. I have found my starting place. At the end of the Radical book there is an invitation/challenge to do the Radical Experiment.  I have decided to take the challenge.  I was excited and encouraged as I looked at some of the steps.  God has been moving my heart, Jas’s heart, and in our family for a while and some of the steps we have already taken.  There are others that are going to stretch me in new ways.  I am excited to see what God does in my heart over the next year as I am more intentional in these areas.  The challenge is simple.  For the next year:

1) Pray for the entire world. (Jason and the girls got me the Window on the World book for Mother’s day.  We have begun praying for the world as a part of our family worship each night. It is so cool to hear my 3-year-old praying that the boys and girls in Afghanistan will love Jesus and that God will send them missionaries.  I highly recommend  this book to families!)  

2) Read through the entire Word. (For Christmas I bought Jason and I chronological Bibles and we have been reading God’s Word together each night since Jan. 1st.  Let me just say this has been great for us both personally and in our marriage!) 

3) Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.  (I got a lot of cool ideas on this from the book.  Jason and I have made a commitment to a certain amount of money that we are going to give and we are praying now about how to give it.  Along with this we are also going to try to be more diligent about our spending and try to better distinguish between desires and necessities.  We are also about to give away lots of stuff!  I’m not talking about just ”extras” or things that we don’t need anymore.  I mean we are going to give away our stuff!  God has really laid on my heart a few areas here in Georgetown to give to.)   

4) Spend time in another context.  (This one I am praying about.  I’m not sure where God is going to lead on this and it is probably the hardest of the 5 for me.  Not because of a lack of desire to go, but because I am a mama of two young girls and I am a bit over protective.  There I said it.  I admitted it.  Pray for me that I will follow the Lord’s guiding and not allow my worries to hold me back.  I know that He will lead me on just what this will look like in our family life.)

5) Commit your life to a multiplying community.  (We are so blessed to be a part of a great church family.  Jason and I have been praying for months about what deeper discipleship needs to look like in the life of our student ministry and I am excited to see how the Lord uses this vision.)

I pray that as we journey through this Radical Experiment over the course of the next year that God makes radical changes in our family.  So often I fail, but He is unfailing.  I am so not worthy, but He is worthy of it all!  He deserves all the glory!  He owns all of me.  I want Him to spend me, Jason, and our family for His name!  Will you set aside the American Dream?  Will you get on board with God’s dream for your life (which is so much bigger and better)?

Bearing Fruit Through Prayer

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:4-10)

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In order to be Jesus’ disciples we must bear fruit and we cannot bear fruit in and through our lives unless we abide in Jesus, the Son of the Living God. For it is only through Him that we can come to know the Father so that through His Spirit we may bear fruit for His Glory! (cf., Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22). Indeed, without Him we can do nothing, and this includes praying effectively for the Father’s Kingdom to come.

Jesus made it very clear that it is only through an abiding relationship with Him that those who believe in Him can be true instruments of God’s Love in this world. We must understand, however, that such an abiding relationship cannot be attained without prayer. For it is only through a deep intimate prayer relationship with Jesus, our Master and Lord, that we can tap into the Vine and it is only through our abiding in the Vine that we can bear fruit for the Father’s Glory through our prayer.

In order not to be a branch that dries up and has to be cut off we need to grow in prayer continuously. Jesus Himself maintained His abiding in the Father through prayer and without such prayer He also did nothing. In fact, we read in the Gospels that Jesus prepared himself to serve the Father by spending most every evening and part of every morning in deep prayer.

Although most of us practice some level of prayer, we can never reach the point where we cannot grow in prayer, in fact, we must, if we wish to continue to bear fruit. However, because of our fallen Human nature our ability to pray soon reaches our human limits and those limits oftentimes limit our ability to bear fruit. That is why the Lord sent us His Spirit to dwell in us so that through His Help our prayers may reach the effectiveness He desires of us in praying for this lost world and thus bear frit for His Glory!

In order to incite you to grow in such prayer I pass on to you, with the author’s permission, the following article regarding the role of Divine Love in true prayer. May the Lord Bless you in reading this article so that you may turn to the Holy Spirit to activate His Love in you and in your prayer life!

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Praying for Others: Prayer as Love in Action                  †

(excerpted from “Thy Kingdom Come” by  Jorge Madrid Sr.)

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-3)

The prior discussion focused on the necessary link between spirituality and prayer. That is the link between the divine and ourselves through prayer. Now we turn to the link between prayer and the world we live in. For as I have stated before, true prayer always bring forth fruit, either in ourselves or in others through our prayers.  In this way the Lord has destined us to participate in His plan to manifest His Kingdom through our prayers. Thus, because God is Love, the basis for our prayers must also be Love, not our human kind of love but His, agape, kind of Love. True Prayer is, in fact, the way that God has chosen to bring His Love into action (through us).

Now most of us men do not consider prayer as action (ladies exempted). We men think of action as going out and doing things and prayer to us looks like an excuse for inactivity.  Without denying the need for other types of action, it must be said that prayer, which is an expression of love, is the most important work we all can engage in. Without it all our actions are worthless spiritually (see citation above). Now there is a way that we can, and should, express our prayers through our daily activities. That type of prayer will be discussed in a later section. The main intent in this section is to summarize my reflections on the way in which the Lord uses our prayers as a means to minister His Love to the world. And how, by knowing His ways we may recognize the opportunities we have in our lives to cooperate with God in the manifestation of His Kingdom.

The Love that the Lord asks us to practice is an altruistic, selfless type of Love. The type of Love that is God-like because it is given unconditionally. This type of love goes against our human nature because it places the well being of others above our own. This means that the activation of this kind of love requires a decision – a decision of our will to go contrary to the self-preservation or self-gratification instincts of our human nature.

This type of love is not an emotionally driven activity, nor can it be. It is a spiritual activity whose spiritual power is opened up by the action of our will and the purity of our motives.

The only way that we can practice this type of Love is through the Grace of God who has placed a measure of this love in us through the Holy Spirit. For this reason the “gain” from this love is not our salvation nor any merit before God. The “gain” that results from the practice of this Love is spiritual growth. This is so because as we practice it we grow spiritually more and more into the image of Christ.

The fact that you can manifest this type of Love at all  is an indication that you are already “in God” and He in you. Therefore any “gain” is not an indicator of how “saved” you are. The gain is an indicator of how much closer you are to being like Jesus. Consider that this type of love is placed in us as a seed is planted in fertile ground so that it may grow and bear fruit. It can only bear fruit if you decide to activate this type of Love using your own free will.

You may also think of the Love God has placed in our hearts as the “talents” God has given us to use in this world. If we use these “talents” wisely, this love will multiply in the world and bring Glory to God. If we hide this talent and don’t use it God will not receive any glory and the talent will be squandered.

We need to recognize that our spiritual growth usually occurs in spurts. These spurts are usually correlated to our ability to act in Love. That is, we may demonstrate Divine Love at a particular level where we have become comfortable in giving of ourselves. But there are parts of ourselves we still place restrictions on our giving and loving. When we become too comfortable at one level the Lord challenges us with opportunities in our lives to go beyond our current comfort level and go to the next level of Love. It is at these junctures where we experience the pain that accompanies spiritual growth. The way the Lord does this is he permits an event or relationship to  bring up a circumstance we have been avoiding because it would intrude on one of those areas we have reserved for ourselves and have not yet yielded to God’s Love. It is at these time that we are given the opportunity to go to the next level of Love and consequently of spiritual growth.

There is no condemnation regarding any decision we make in this regard. The Lord will not condemn us. He is only drawing us forward like children in a kindergarten class. We can  continue as we were or we can decide to go to the next level. This part is what is up to us. The Lord provides the grace and opportunities for spiritual growth but it is up to us to go through the doors he opens for us. Just  like it is said that “you can take a horse to water but you can’t make him  drink”.

We grow spiritually as we grow in this type of Love. That is why it is important that we discern the opportunities the Lord places in our everyday lives. There is not a day that the Lord will not challenge us with an opportunity to grow spiritually. Unfortunately, our very human nature blinds us to these opportunities because we do not want to see them – they are too painful. Let us pray that we be more discerning of the opportunities placed before us and that we be given the grace to respond with the Divine Love the Lord has placed in our Hearts. Prayer is one of those opportunities, because the deeper you go into true prayer the more you find that it involves  the giving of yourself for the well-being of others.

In fact, unless your prayer life is empowered by this selfless Love (true prayer) you will not derive any personal spiritual growth from your prayers. As we progress forward in prayer let it be with this divine type of Love so that through our prayers we may not only hasten the coming of His Kingdom into this world, but that we ourselves may grow in that internal holiness which conforms us more and more to the image of Christ!  May it be so in Jesus Mighty name! Amen and Amen!

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(the preceding article was excerpted with permission from “Thy Kingdom Come” by Jorge Madrid Sr.; © 2003 Madrid Family Trust, all rights reserved)

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It is true that all of us are limited in prayer by our fallen human nature; true and deep prayer requires that we go beyond our human capabilities in order to truly reach into the Father’s Heart to pray His will into being in this fallen world. It is my sincere belief that this is why  “…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom 5:5).

This Pentecost let us all reactivate in our prayer lives this Spirit of Divine Love that has been given us. Praised be The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit!

Bartimaeus

© B.R.Timeo and Bartimaeus’ Quiet Place, [2008-2010].

Affirming our Divinity on a daily basis and in our everyday choices can make a huge difference on our world and the world of those around us. By Prayer and Meditation we can explore our Inner Peace and the influence our beliefs and can change our Faith. Our Faith is an accumulation of our beliefs and something that we know to be true. Regardless of the outside circumstance we can have our Faith is being directed to our highest good and that whatever difficulties we may have they are learning experiences to be examined and move past to a new level of understanding.
Our beliefs about life and death should change throughout the years as we grow and gain the experiences of life’s lessons. Knowledge is not enough in the process of opening the Heart and the higher Mind to enhanced growth and enlightenment. A process of examination of our beliefs and observing our behavior from a higher consciousness is very important in any type of Spiritual development. Our moments in meditation and observation should challenge our belief and expand our Faith which all knowing part of us that grows and expands as time passes. Through this higher consciousness we learn choices and direct our life to be able to be at One with the Universe and be of assistance to mankind.

It is an important time in the world development. As we grow through the information age to a stage of enlightenment our choices are even more important. A true understanding of our own Divinity and our place in the changing and developing world is more important now as it was in the past. Let us all make Inner Guided choices and change the world together.