Great Teachers Display Jesus Even When They Don't Know Him

Over my teaching years, any given classroom had triumph and heartbreak:

Triumph: students for whom the next learning challenge seemed doable

Heartbreak: students for whom the next learning challenge was more of their private hell of hopelessness.

The same holds true for today's classrooms, and I have always been fascinated by great teachers who delve into this heartbreak.

Great teachers embrace lost learners for whom each learning challenge is this private hell. They walk into their hell and come alongside, taking their hand and offering hope of a way out.

These teachers never give up looking for the path out of each lost learner's dilemma.

Though great teachers often operate in the prism of the testing world and other artificial realities, they orchestrate breakthrough for all of their students, assisting in particular the least hopeful, that they would risk the hard work of discovery that learning is fresh, exciting and attainable.

If we consider life as the classroom--each of us a student--it seems at least a large part, perhaps the hardest part, of our curriculum is suffering. Skilled learning is required to navigate this reality that we are all sufferers.

It seems no accident that Jesus is considered the Great Teacher. We are His students with triumph and heartbreak:

Triumph: those for whom the next life challenge seems doable

Heartbreak: those for whom the next life challenge is more of their private hell of hopelessness.

Jesus embraces lost sufferers for whom each life challenge is a private hell. He walks into our hell and comes alongside, offering His hand and the hope of His way out.

He never gives up showing the path out of each lost person's dilemma.

He operates in the prism of Jesus-rejection and all of our man-made artificial misunderstandings, orchestrating breakthrough for everyone, assisting in particular the least hopeful, that they would risk the hard work of discovery that life with Jesus is fresh, exciting and attainable.

Students apply their learning skills to the mountain of knowledge before them; all of us as students of life apply hope to the mountain of suffering before us.

Thank you, great teachers, for venturing into the private hell of student hopelessness with your heart of rescue.

Thank you, Jesus, for venturing into our private hell of hopelessness with Your Heart of Rescue.

Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.

Carve Out Steady

Last night I was with a group of young moms, their kids ranging from infant to elementary school age.

I was sharing my adventures as a consultant for Norwex, a company committed to cleaning without chemicals.

The work went well, the food just right, but what my mind's eye found fascinating was their laughter and conversation with each other about the huge list of concerns that meet their every day.

This morning I remember that they carve out steady. That is, every day they are:

The warmth of the world their children view (along with some great dads).

The nuts and bolts of food, clothing, and scheduling, appearing to never waver in availability.

The filter through which their children see the hope and love of life.

We carve out steady for others; somewhere in there we must remember to carve out steady for ourselves.

Do we, as leaders of our small and large tribes, give God ample time to:

Be the warmth of our world that we view daily?

Be the nuts and bolts Provider of food, clothing and scheduling, with the assurance that He never wavers in availability?

Be our filter through which we see the hope and love of life?

Mothers are somehow wired to energetically carve out steady for those we love.

Precious young moms--do remember: God wants to carve out steady for you.

Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.

A Soft Landing Spot

Yesterday I was listening to someone describe her exceedingly complex life circumstances.

I heard myself say, "You need a soft landing spot, someone close by who will understand how this is affecting you."

Sometimes when a phrase pops out, I recognize later that it must have come from what I would credit as the Holy Spirit--it simply has a fit and meaning that exceeds my normal conversation.

Are you someone's soft landing spot?

Am I someone's soft landing spot?

I think these would be the people in our lives who fully listen (without having to tell their story), imagine what life must be like for us at a given moment, and pray for genuine compassion that would be God's heart and words toward us.

Sometimes, especially in our do-good Christian thinking, we assume we know what God would do or say.

But I suspect the ability to be someone's soft landing spot is birthed out of pondering God at a depth we rarely go to grow.

God might offer genuine compassion while our best uber Christian self would assume judgment the best order of the day.

When we get to heaven, will God ask why we tried to talk about Him rather than extend His very heart through listening and compassion and understanding?

Lord, please help us understand how important it is to You to be someone's soft landing spot.

Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.

Absorb Indivisibility

In my dream I was watching a young couple (unknown to me) holding hands.

As I awoke, I somehow heard,

Absorb indivisibility.

Couples work hard to grow together, absorbing each other's hurts and fears, encouraging and cheering on the other, plowing through decision-making and steps forward with shared hands. Is this the way we absorb indivisibility?

I had read a devotion that used Psalm 138:3 as its inspiration:

As soon as I pray, you answer me; you encourage me by giving me strength.

I was struck by the idea that a means of God's encouragement is to give us strength.

When we encourage each other, we are giving each other strength.

Friends, spouses, colleagues--we all somehow reside in circles of others who need our encouragement.

God and I are a twosome as well. We have a relationship, and as I pray and He answers me, He encourages me by giving me strength.

Together, step-by-step, day-by-day, our relationship absorbs indivisibility.

Stunning.

To comment, please contact me at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.

When Strength Requires Action

This fall will mark 20 years that I have been part of a church whose mission has grown into that of welcoming one and all to investigate the truth of the Bible and the invitation of God to enter into His Kingdom on earth.

We have reminded each other--many times--that we are called upon to outlast the opposition.

When we give our lives and the life of our church(es) to God, asking Him to implement only His agenda, the opposition will seek to take us very much off course.

Mostly, outlasting the opposition has meant staying calm and quiet in the face of untruths, rumors and fabrications of who we are as individuals and as a church. Truth has a way of bearing out over time.

When I am logged into my blog to post, I see the comments as a hyperlink; only yesterday did I realize that you, the reader, are most likely (though some browsers may differ) shown all comments in their entirety, on the same pageview as the post itself. Even a rudimentary glance of the last days and weeks would show an ugly trend among a few, seeking to paint me into a corner that says I am heretical to the Christian faith.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Those who know, or genuinely care to know, would see me pointing to Jesus at every turn, with the Bible as my authority, and a deep, significant, ongoing and life-changing relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

I have prayed for wisdom for 25 years (since I discovered the Bible tells us to do that) and I pray for it as I write this.

I believe the beauty of the blogosphere is to meet people the world over, listening to each other and looking for truth--that is, the Truth of who God is--together.

I obviously want the whole world to know Jesus. But I think it best serves that endeavor to create a relationship of listening and mutual respect, whereupon we might build a climate where beliefs are discussed and compared. In the fertile soil of caring for one another, the Holy Spirit can draw each further toward the revelation of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. In the midst of preparing this post, I received this message from a young man, now a leader, in our church:

Debi, I've been reading your blog. As an ex-New Ager and reformed Pharisee, I find your posts right on...Here is what's on my nightstand: 

                         6 Warning Signs We're Becoming Accidental Pharisees 

He continues:

I am forever thankful for the loving kindness of an ex-Amish Baptist who entered into a respectful dialogue with me (over a period of months) that ultimately resulted in my acceptance of Jesus. I was trying to win him over to paganism, but the Truth pierced my heart...

It is for moments like these--and these incredible men in our church--that we fight.

The purpose of this blog is to consider the myriad of ways we can feed our strength in this life, finding extraordinary results in our everyday lives. A strengthened life sets the stage for our transition into eternity.

I hope you'll journey with me. Though I feel pressed to change the comment format to email, I welcome any and all opinions. I am calling a halt to the harassment of civil readers by what has grown into the innuendos and slander of a less civil few.

To comment, please contact me at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.

Love Costs More Than Language

The Pharisees made the language of God's law...a god.

When Jesus ate at Matthew's house with his close followers, later joined by disreputable people, the Pharisees accused Jesus of acting cozy with crooks and riffraff (Matthew 9).

Jesus showed us how to extend love to people whose lives break the language of the law.

When Jesus healed a crippled man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees determined to join forces with Herod's followers and ruin Him (Mark 3).

Jesus showed us how to embrace the true meaning of Sabbath healing--to do good--breaking the Pharisees' strict interpretation of the language of the law.

Over and over, the Pharisees insisted that their law was God's law. How is it they ran counter to...God Himself, then on earth as Jesus?

We often overlook love in pursuit of language--say it right rather than get it right.

Jesus came to fulfill the law by expressing it through love.

That very endeavor cost Him His human flesh.

May we endeavor to express that very love, regardless of the cost.

Strength Lies in Our Remembrance

On a predawn Sunday, dark and quiet, I make the short drive from my house to church to start the coffee served during our worship service.

I am listening intently to every word in Lee Brice's I Drive Your Truck.

I've cussed, I've prayed, I've said goodbye

Shook my fist and asked God why  

These days when I'm missing you so much 

I drive your truck. 

At a stop sign, I am suddenly overwhelmed by the loss required to gain and maintain our freedom.

I wonder how all those families bear it, as in that moment I cannot.

I hit the pedal to keep moving and then I know: Jesus led the way. God's loss of His Son was required to gain and maintain our freedom to be reconciled with Him.

Does Jesus have a truck in heaven? Country music lovers would smile yes.

In a turn toward joy, in a place with no pain, I hope every soldier who gave his or her life for my freedom gets to drive His truck.