Author: Beverly Van Kampen

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Running to Jesus

“I will run past everything to be united with You.” (anonymous prayer)

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“When you are running toward Christ, you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry or fear. As long as you are running, you’re safe.” ― Francis Chan

What do we need to run past today? The troubling email? A distressing medical appointment? A wayward child? A financial stress? A needy friend? A demanding boss? It’s not that we won’t deal with any of those things, but we need to connect with Jesus first.

Picture a long passageway. As you move along it, there are problems or people calling for your attention – just a moment of time, just a short side road. But you know that Jesus is at the end of this path, waiting patiently for you to come to Him. See Him? Now run! Run to Him, past everything that calls to you, past the problems, anxieties, demands of life. Run to Him to be loved, forgiven, nurtured, and directed. Then turn around and attend to all these things one-by-one as He walks beside you.

Sometimes it’s not that what we do is wrong, it’s just that we too often do it without Jesus, without direction, without connecting first to the only One who can make a real difference in each situation we face. Let’s run to Jesus. Sitting quietly in His presence is the most important thing we have to do today. Really, it is.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, Amplified Bible)

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God’s Surprises

I retired once after a long and interesting business career. A few years after that retirement, I was invited to go back to work to help shape an online education program for training students in Bible, ministry, and Christian leadership.

“God give me hills to climb and strength for climbing.” – Arthur Guiterman

After a few energetic years in that role, I sensed that God was ready for me to hand over the leadership to someone else. I stepped away, but with mixed emotions. I had given three years of focused commitment to a particular ministry and it was no longer mine to lead. Now what?

Then I read about Jesus and His disciples. Many had left their livelihoods, homes, and families to follow Him. They put all their trust in Him and His plan for the world in which they lived. They gave him three years of focused commitment. Then He was killed and everything changed. Now what?

I can imagine reading their minds that Friday night: “After all this, I guess my life will just go back to ‘normal’. That’s going to be hard after the events of the past few years.” They would have had that right. How do you go back to “normal” after three amazing years with Jesus? What a surprise awaited them on Sunday morning – they had not counted on resurrection. They had no idea what their new “normal” would now mean!

My own post-career ‘I guess my life will just go back to normal’ thoughts were there, too, but God’s loud and clear message to me was this: “Don’t ever presume you know what your life will be like. There is always a new normal on the horizon. I have plans that include surprises – like resurrection!”

Isn’t that exciting? As we go through today, let’s live in anticipation of God’s surprises. He is not finished with us yet!

“. . . I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.” – Habakkuk 1:5

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When I am Afraid

I am afraid sometimes, actually more times than I like to admit. When I am willing to look for help for my fear, I often find the psalms provide comfort and direction. Psalm 16 is one of my favorites.

Psalm 16:1a: Keep me safe, O God . . .

The first part of this verse helps me to slow down and identify my specific fear. What do I want to be kept safe from?

“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. – Psalm 23:4 NLT

Accident?
Physical pain?
Emotional stress?
Failure?
Mistakes?
Sin?
Evil powers?

Once I identify the fear I am dealing with, I can pray specifically for the protection I need. The fears that most often surface for me relate to things I can’t control. When I know I don’t have influence over what may be about to happen, fear can strike to my core.

Psalm 16:1b: . . . for in You I take refuge.

Refuge in God means I trust Him to take care of me. It means I give up control to Him. He is my safe place. He protects me even from myself, my weaknesses, flaws, and lack of judgment, as well as from other people’s mistakes or intentions. As I surrender my will and my specifically identified fear to Him, room is created in my soul for peace to seep in. Little by little, by the power of the Holy Spirit, peace conquers fear and I am at rest.

Until next time, that is. Then we do it again. But God is never impatient with my call to Him for help and my desire to take refuge in Him. He just seems pleased that I am learning to trust Him when I am afraid. He is ready to welcome you to His safe place, too. Just ask Him.

“Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid.” – Frederick Buechner

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Hanging Around the Holy

I didn’t know holiness was catching, did you? But maybe, in some way, it is.

“Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man.” – Oswald Chambers

In Exodus, God gives Moses detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle and all its furnishings and utensils. In 29:37 God says that whatever touches the consecrated altar will be holy. Then in 30:29, He says the same thing about the anointed furnishings and utensils, “ . . . whatever touches them will be holy.”

What things today seem to be holy in God’s eyes?

  • His church
  • Christian friendships
  • His Word
  • Prayer
  • Confession
  • Spiritual reading
  • Worship
  • Songs, hymns, and spiritual songs
  • Nature/creation

These are the kinds of things that are probably comparable to the altar in the Old Testament in terms of conveying holiness. The sacrifice on the altar granted forgiveness, but the proximity to holy things and holy people gave the growth in relationship to almighty God.

Do we want to be holy? Close to God? Knowing His mind and heart? Receiving His gifts? First, we claim forgiveness through Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice on the altar of the cross. Then, I think we need to hang around the holy. As we do, we find that we breathe it, we catch it, we grow in it, and we want more of it.

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

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Night School

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“On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” – Psalm 63:5-8

When I was in college, I had a Christian professor who told us that when she went to bed at night, she prayed God would use the nighttime hours to speak to her. I thought that was a little “far out” at the time, but was intrigued because it seemed efficient –seriously! Over time, though, I realized that nighttime may be the only time when I have relinquished control of my brain. Maybe, it is the best time for God to be able to talk to me without my interference. Then I began to find Bible verses showing that God wants to relate to us even while we are in bed, sleeping or awake.

So, I have learned to fall asleep with a Bible verse, a prayer, or a hymn in my mind. That way, I feel I am leaving my subconscious self open to the Spirit of God as I rest. Then I say something like this to God: “I pray that my heart will be so fully yielded to You and my mind so saturated in Your Word that the nighttime processing will be instructive. I never want to be outside of Your teaching, correction, guidance, wisdom – even while my body sleeps”.

And, He answers that prayer. How?
• Sometimes I wake up with a solution to a problem that seemed unsolvable the night before.
• Or I will remember a dream that seems to give me direction or comfort.
• Or I will have a Bible verse come to mind that was just what I needed to hear.
• Or I simply feel His loving presence with me as I sleep.

You may want to ask Him to speak to you in the nighttime hours, too. He might just be waiting for your invitation.

“I will praise the Lord who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.” (Psalm 16:7)

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Stressed or Blessed?

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“A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear.” – George MacDonald

The question haunted me: How could I say I was living a life of faith when I was anxious so much of the time?  I began to ask God to deliver me from worry and grow my faith in His character and His Word. As He answers my request, here is what I am learning:

• Listen first.
Before I pray, I listen to God in order to try to understand His will in the matter I am concerned about. Then I pray a prayer that, to the best of my ability, is in keeping with His will. Partnering with God this way engenders faith.

• Pray boldly.
I try to ask honestly and boldly for what I need from God and what I have discerned He wants to give me. No more wimpy prayers.

• Testify confidently.
When God answers my prayers, I share the good news with others. My faith nurtures theirs and their faith nurtures mine.

• Respond thankfully.
Whether my faith is big or small, I commit to giving God the all the credit and praise for what He does.

• Persevere patiently. 
My faith is growing, but I have far to go.  So, I remain committed to following God’s faith-building plan and am thrilled with every evidence of progress.

And, here’s the good news: I am finding that worry and faith cannot exist in my mind at the same time. If I worry, faith disappears. If I exercise faith, worry flees. I get to choose which of the two I want to live with. By God’s grace, I am learning to choose faith and my life is changing gradually from anxious to peaceful. Yours can, too. Ask Him to help you grow your faith in Him. That is a prayer He is eager to answer!

“So not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7)

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Sh-h-h, My Child

One day, I was discouraged with my behavior and my attitude. I felt I was letting God down and needed to know that He wasn’t giving up on me. As I sat in His presence, I could almost hear Him say,

“I am not angry at you, not impatient with you, not disappointed in you. I love you. I am proud of you. I am pleased with the person you are becoming. Accept that.”

The deepest motive for believing is the awareness of being loved by God - Lewis Smedes

The deepest motive for believing is the awareness of being loved by God – Lewis Smedes

“Sit with Me, talk to Me.

I will show you things you have not seen, teach you things you want to know, give you My wisdom, and help you to understand Who I am.

Now, let Me love you. I am drawing you to Myself, closer and closer. The difficulties along the way are designed to show you how far you’ve come and how far you have to go.

• I am teaching you to trust Me.
• I am teaching you to focus on Me, not on yourself.
• I am teaching you that anything you accomplish of value is really done by Me, not you.

I am inviting you to an easy yoke, to walking with Me, to rest.

Everything in your life is under control. My control. Rest in Me.”

That message was for me – but it’s for you, too. He wants you to know, really know, how much He loves you. Sit with Him. Talk to Him. Let Him tell you Himself.

The Lord your God is with you; He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

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Tougher Tests

“Consider it a sheer gift, friend, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way”. James 1:2-3 (The Message)

My dear friend and mentor had pancreatic cancer. She was living a very full life and one that had been unusually healthy. She had always taken such good care of her mind, body, and soul! Now this. It didn’t seem possible.

Never alone

You are never alone.

But when I talked to her, she was calm, joyful, and looking forward to whatever was to come next. She said things like, “I am never alone” and she led me into worship as never before. When I talked to her a few months ago about one of my own struggles, we compared notes. That’s when she said, “As we grow spiritually, the tests get tougher.”

Really? The tough test I was facing related to the fact that God was challenging me to spiritual growth? I was actually pleased to think that He loved me enough to invite me to go deeper with Him. Then I looked back at Marge and saw the real peace and sustained joy that she had in her trial and realized that she was up for the challenge. I would be, too. God will not give me a test that I cannot handle, but He will give me a test that will make me stronger and will increase my intimacy with Him.

If that’s what it takes to draw me closer to You, bring it on, Lord. I am grateful that You care enough to give me new opportunities to grow.

“Do not let me waste the trial You send me. It is a gold mine I must exploit.” – St. Therese 

 

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Obsession

. . . I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:8a)

I remember recognizing that there were obsessions in my life that should not be there. It became clear that I should not obsess about anyone or anything except Jesus – not family, not weight, not work, not world events, not health, not “to do” lists, not money, not clothes – just Jesus. I committed to making Him my magnificent obsession from that day forward. When I asked Him how to actually put that lofty ideal into practice, here are the things that came to mind:

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. - Irenaeus

The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God. – Irenaeus

• Pray without ceasing: Acknowledging God’s presence with me always. Not necessarily engaging in verbal communication all the time, but having heart talk that never ends.

• Always be thankful: Discovering the amazing power of gratefulness – the way it can turn me around from sad to glad in about 30 seconds, the way it takes my focus off the problems and onto Him.

• Confess sin: Learning that confession is a privilege. It is a way of making sure there is nothing between me and God and that surety allows me to live constantly in a state of forgiving and being forgiven. I love it when He reminds me that I have something to confess; it is His way of showing me how much He values the relationship that we have developed together.

• Don’t run ahead of God: Taking my time, slowing down. This is a command designed especially for me and people like me who want to take charge. God reminds me that my “taking charge” sometimes interferes with His bigger plan. So I have to stop to listen and to make sure I move forward when, and only when, He says to do so.

These healthy habits are helping me remain connected to my true Obsession, the only safe one I can have. Maybe they will help you, too.

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Delightful Saints

As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. (Psalm 16:3)

God delights in saints – those who are committed to relating to Him and living out that relationship in their day-to-day lives. I do, too.

I have many saints who bring cheer, support, and joy into my life: My husband, my spiritual mentor (who is now with Jesus), my ministry mentor, my lifelong friend, my book-reading friend, my compassionate friend, my hospitality friend, my “I’ll do anything to help” friend, my psychologist friend, my praying friend, my friend who is a light in a dark place, my daughters.

Who are the “saints who are in the land” for you? I hope you have a long list. They are the ones who make our lives rich, full, interesting, challenging, and fun. Thank you, Lord, for putting some special saints on life’s path with me!