Bleeding for a Generation

Ted: Where do you see yourself in 5years time?
Robyn: I don't know. I don't want to know. I want my life to be one big adventure.
Maybe I'll travel to Argentina. Maybe I'll go to China. I dunno. 
Ted: Oh.
(In TV show 'How I met your mother')

I am bleeding for myself and my generation,
I am bleeding for a generation that has conviction -
Conviction of heart, of dreams, of visions.
Mostly conviction about Christ,
His vision and dreams for the Kingdom
And what that means played out in my life -
In each of our lives.

Sometimes I think I'm just like the Pharisees and disciples -
Reading all these theology books but not letting it sink in.
They knew the law but it was all head and no heart.
Jesus wants radical, risk-taking, faith-busting believers.
He chooses those who are more hungry for His presence
Than anything the world has to offer.
He wants people with focus, direction, passion.
People who are tenacious about Him.

It hit me today as I read through Mark's Gospel
That the disciples and the teachers of the law
Are often the last to recognise what Jesus is doing.
But the poor, sick and even the demons acknowledge
His authority and presence.

I'm challenged that Jesus tells us that we have
 To be like a child to really see Him.
Children trust, they don't run in their own strength.
Neither do the sick, the weak, the tired and the poor
They are not afraid of what people think.
They are like blind Bartemaus (Mark 10:46-52).
So desperate for Jesus that they shout in the streets for Him!

They don't want to win clever arguments.
The poor, the desperate, the weak know they need Jesus
But so often I don't.
And I can end up filling my life with busyness and wonderful adventures
Not address the real issues.
Often that is about being, and enjoying His presence.

When Jesus says in Mark 'O unbelieving generation' (9:19)
I wonder if He is saying this to me and my generation.
We often have so many choices it's difficult to know where to look,
It's so easy to bumble from one great activity to the next.
So many choices, so little need to commit or have
Responsibility for anything.
(perhaps the recession will change that!)
Why plan the future? The world is my oyster?!
According to Jesus it's not quite like that:


"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
"if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross 
and follow me. For whoever wants to safe his life will lose it, but whoever 
lose his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a
man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:34-38)

OK so was He talking about some of the disciples going to be martyred?
Or is something going on here?
Well the Jesus in the gospels said and did pretty astounding things.
He cast out demons, healed the sick.
He confounded the teaches of the law with his arguments.
Then confounded everyone by dying on a cross
And being resurrected
(though most ppl didn't recognise the meaning of that at the time).
He even taught that not only his disciples
but other believers would do crazy things in his name.

Do I believe it?
Will I take hold of the things He is calling me to do?
Do I even want to know what  God is calling me to do?
Will I get excited by the dreams and visions
He may have put in my heart years ago?
Or will my dissolutioned state and my doubts
stop me from pushing forward.
Maybe I think 'he hasn't pulled through before,'
So I decide I will bumble along like Robyn instead.
Maybe I'll take the less risky option,
Of not chasing the dreams buried deep in my heart,
just in case it doesn't turn out.

Several times in the gospels Jesus talks about
'seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding' (Matt 13:14)
(see also Mark 8:17-18, Luke 10:23-24, Matt 13:13-15)
My prayer today is that me and my generation would
Really perceive and understand the heart of God for
Such a time as this.

I'm not sure what that really means,
But I want to figure that out in my life.
What is He doing in our workplaces?
In our homes?
In our neighbourhoods?
Where is the Spirit directing me?

Lord help me to really see and really hear,
Help me to be humble and dependant like a child,
Help me to love you no matter what.
Amen.

Being an adrenaline junkie can be unhelpful for our relationship with God

No-one can make you (not even God) spend time in His Presence. You have to make that time. 

 

Be Still And Know that I am God (Ps 46:10)

Even now I have to remind myself on a weekly basis, 'don't do too much!' Sometimes I find this hugely frustrating. I have friends who manage to fill so much into their days and sleep hardly at all. 'Not fair!' I think sometimes. 

Over the last two days I have been thinking how actually a slower way of life can be a lot healthier for our relationship with God. Hearing God in the 'fast lane' is not easy unless you can hear Him in the 'slow lane.' I'm learning year by year that slowing down and spending time alone is important if I'm going to hear God clearly. Yes we can hear God in the fast lane, but unless we can practice hearing him in the slow lane when we are on our own, we will not be able to hear him in the former.

I think in this day and age when we don't have many commitments and responsibilities (at least not at the young age my parents did) its easy to live an adrenaline junkie filled life. The world is our oyster, we can do anything, go anywhere. But this restless jumping from one activity to another doesn't enable us to stop and take life seriously, asking God 'What do you really want of me in this time, in this season?'

So can I encourage you and me to STOP!

"Lord help us to slow down and make time to hear Your voice in this new year of 2012. Help us to enjoy Your  amazing presence and take time to be still and to tune in, to get away from others and the distracting activities that stop us from taking time out with You. We acknowledge that You are Present all the time and we are sorry for when we don't make time to hear Your voice. We love you Lord Jesus. Please speak to us this 2012 as we choose to carve out time to talk with You. Amen."