Pride and Joy

I never really appreciated Stevie Ray Vaughn until after his tragic death in a helicopter crash in August, 1990.  He played a mean blues guitar; I'm talking wicked mean.  Not many folks could make a Fender sing like Stevie Ray, not even his brother Jimmy. 

One of my fave SRV tunes is Pride and Joy.  The last verse of this song is

Yeah I love my baby....heart and soul
Love like ours wont never grow old
Shes my sweet little thang....shes my pride and joy
Shes my sweet little baby....Im her little lover boy

Man, Stevie is proud of his girl!  The lyrics lead you to believe that she is, in return proud of him.  As much as Stevie and his girl love each other, though, they got nothin' on God and His love for us.  

You might think that I'm stretching here but did you know that God wants to be our pride and joy?  Isaiah 28:5 (NLT) tells us that after God's children have been exiled and returned to Him that

 

Then at last the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
      will himself be Israel’s glorious crown.
   He will be the pride and joy
      of the remnant of his people

 

God desires to be my pride and joy, your pride and joy?  He wants me to want Him more than I want any other person or thing in my world.  He wants to be my One desire, the One place where I place my hopes and dreams, more so in Him  than in my husband, my children, my friends, my job, or any other thing.  He wants me to take pride in Him, in being His child, in having the Creator of the Universe as my Father, and in knowing that all things come through Him and by Him.  

 

Don't be shy!  Let the whole world know that God is your pride and joy.  Let Him reign supreme in your life and watch others notice the change that is evident in your life.  Maybe you'll get to break out your blues guitar and put a little rhythm to your praise.  Something tells me that God (the ultimate creator of the Fender Stratocaster) loves a good blues guitar, too! 

Living with Abandon

Sunday Pastor Jeff talked about living with Abandon.  Abandon.  Merriam Webster describes the verb of abandon as to give up to the control or influence of another person or agent; to give oneself (over) unrestrainedly.  This definition brings to mind the following things:  

• To let go
• To forget that people are watching
• To live life fully according to my faith in God
  

Before you go and pass judgment on me or think that I'm too crazy with these ideas, try these scenarios on for size.  

• At the local knitting bee you let your cardigan drop carelessly to the floor, wave your yarn wildly over head, and chant "CA-BLE-NEED-LE! CA-BLE NEED-LE!"  
• At your child's school performance you run to the front of the auditorium with the video camera, knocking other parents out of the way to film your child while screaming "No one have ever been that good of a rock before!  You're gonna be a star!  Mama loves you, baby!!!"  
• On the front lines of the 0400 crowd at the after Thanksgiving sale you take your buggy (yes, buggy!) and plow over shoppers in front of you to get the very last $99.99 item.  

Those are all instances of living with abandon.  Absurd, maybe, but Abandon.  Jesus wants nothing less than having us live with Abandon for Him.  He did likewise for us.  He died a horrible death for our sins; He was perfection in the form of broken humanity, hanging on a cross, in humility, to save us.  He deserves at the minimum is for me to live each day for Him with Abandon and let the world see.  

Living A Life of Cliches

This month I have been posting daily at Twitter and Facebook one thing I am grateful for.  The list is varied; you will find anything from "being able to wear jeans to work" to "Thankful to be a child of the King of the Universe".  I have had a lot of fun posting these things. 

In my typical fashion, though, I decided that simply being grateful is not enough and that I should name this initiative of positive existence.  I decided upon "A November to Remember" and then the phrase "Attitude of Gratitude" came to mind and I didn't know which would fit.  After all, an idle mind is the devil's playground and I got so tied up in naming this activity rather than being grateful that I got mad as a wet hen and realized I was barking up the wrong tree altogether!

Feeling dumb as a stump, I was reminded by the Holy Spirit that the point of this exercise is to be grateful not to get tied up in the details of what to call the act of doing so.  So, hope against hope, I scrapped the naming process and to back to the action of being grateful.  Praise God!  He reminded me that it ain't over til the fat  lady sings and in the way only He can do, He gave me yet another second chance. 

I'm going to get down to business and share the point directly with you:  listing things I'm grateful for is not the same as living a life that demonstrates gratitude.  And living a life of gratitude has one simple name:  Christianity.  It doesn't need for me to relabel it or rework it in my head. 

My gratitude for today is this:  grateful that I can live a life that is pleasing to my King.  Stop the presses!  I think I may be onto something here! 

Are You Radical?

Radical hope, faith, love, joy.  When I first heard about the campaign and we talked about getting back to the roots of Christianity, I though that the items in the list of "radical elements" were things that I had licked.  This campaign was going to be for someone else and I was going to coast through this six weeks. 

Famous last words (well, famous last thoughts). 

This six weeks has proved to be grueling for me.  The struggles that I have faced as I let my spiritual guard down have been overwhelming at times.  The battle has raged during fall campaign for us as individuals and as a congregation.  Satan has been playing hardball and he's hit us low and dirty.  Personally, I have been angry, confused, frustrated, lost, doubting, and a list of other emotions that are all negative.  I have hardly felt joy or hope or love.  I have felt much more like I was manifesting acts of the flesh (anger, rage, hate, discord, selfish ambition) rather than the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26). 

As we draw to a close of this campaign I am grateful for God's goodness and His never failing love.  I am so thankful that even as I have not proven myself a mighty warrior during this time that He has and is lovingly showing me where my weaknesses are, where I must rely more on Him, and how to be better prepared for the next battle I face. 

You see, His mercies are new every morning.  His faithfulness is great.  As Jeremiah said, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore,  I will hope in Him!" (Lamentations 3:22-24)  Because of God's goodness, I can say with confidence,  "I am radical".  I hope you are, too. 

I'm Already Radical, Right?

We have officially begun our Fall Campaign, Radicalis, and it's going to be great.  Actually, it already is great; the kick off last week about our radical vision and future followed by this week's sermon plus God's amazing grace have set the scene for serious momentum.

I have to tell you, however, that I kind of thought I was already radical.  I go to church, right, even when other people don't?  I do things that people don't know about (inside or outside of church, location is irrelevant).  I hold my tongue sometimes when I really want to scream because I feel like injustice is getting the upper hand.  I'll spare you more of my "agony" but know that my list of sacrifices (perceived or otherwise) is lengthy. (By the way at times, do you feel that way or am I alone on this?)

This morning, Pastor Jeff preached on gratitude and it got my attention.  I walked in the door in a foul mood (I was so grumpy that I scared myself) and a large part of the reason was my attitude.   A couple of things didn't go as I expected them to so I got frustrated.  The trifecta of attitude, God's message to me (through the sermon), and His grace were lethal for my bad disposition.  I had but two choices:  run screaming out of the sanctuary or face the fact that I might not be as radical as I had decided that I am.

Ouch.

I write this blog to you with a new found (and well-earned, may I add) humbleness.  I realize that gratitude in all things (not to be confused with gratitude for all things) is what God desires from me.  As Pastor Jeff reminded me on Sunday, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

I began practicing radical gratitude as quickly as I could after the sermon.  I plan to practice it tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and well, you get the picture.  Join me in being radical through gratitude that the world finds a little crazy.  I bet you'll find, like me, that it will set you free!