Revival

To my mind, revival has always implied lots of energy, motivation, getting something to start moving. I have often pictured those difibrillators sending a surge of energy to restart the heart, bringing someone from flatline to a full beat.
Revival is a burst of energy, a "jump start" for a dead battery. It implies bringing back to life.

But these pictures I had in my mind are not fair assessments of true revival. My examples of defibrillators or jump start of a battery only require short, limited release of energy and do not require on-going connection to the source of the energy. I have to completely rethink and relearn my understanding of what true revival is.

Scripturally, God views revival as a groundbreaking beginning to growing a garden. He is intent on creating a soul that will bear fruit - and that requires much more than a quick burst of energy.

In Gods plan, revival is the breaking of the fallow land - land that had once been productive, but for one reason or another had gone to waste and become crusty, hard and full of rocks and stones. Fallow land requires lots of energy to revive. Combinations of pick-axes and shovels are needed to loosen the soil and remove any large rocks that have taken residence. This is a time-consuming process, not a quick fix.

Why is it so easy to slip into a "fallow" lifestyle - and why must it require such energy to create and maintain good productive soil?

A dent and a difference

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I have not been writing for several days because I am still "camping out" in Psalm 107. As with all scripture, this particular Psalm has several layers to peel away - and I am just beginning! But as usual, when God places you in a certain part of His word it begins to infiltrate the air around you and affects your vision of the surroundings. Such was my experience this past few days, especially when I watched the above story on 60 Minutes.

Psalm 107 paints a picture of people in all manners of distress. What is similar in all their circumstances is that at some point they cry out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivers them from their distress. Every time, in every situation, as soon as they reach their point of desperation, they CRY OUT and that is when HE ANSWERS! I have been dwelling on this for several days now and have seen this same pattern from God in my own life...

So, imagine my amazement Sunday evening, after my team THE STEELERS won their football game - which has nothing to do with this post, but they are my team and I am so excited :) -
and this story comes on 60 Minutes about a young man with Haitian roots who has been blessed by God in his earthly occupation and is using all his resources to make a difference in his home country.

The Haitian people are in darkness, they are held hostage by the conditions of their country, and Hope is not evident. They are the people of Psalm 107:10-16

10 Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

11 for they had rebelled against the words of God

and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;

they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom

and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron.

So here are the Haitians, a people of no hope, held in bondage by the conditions of their country, stumbling around seeing no one to help. And the Lord sends Wyclef Jean to bring them from darkness to light. And here is where I get goose bumps...the name of his organization is "Yele Haiti" which is Haitian for CRY OUT LOUD. They are crying out to the LORD in their trouble and he is delivering them from their distress !!!

If I can tap into just a small teaspoon of the vision and hope of Wyclef Jean, I know I could make a difference here in my own community. I absolutely love his statement that in the midst of what may appear to be a hopeless, dangerous, "too big to solve" condition - Wyclef Jean keeps moving forward. He knows that "past the danger is opportunity". He is not afraid. He knows that God is on his side. He doesn't plan to solve all the problems of Haiti, but as the bearer of HOPE, he can unite the people to move forward with him. His final statement in this clip inspires me and gives me guidance in my own life
-

"What I plan to do is I'm gonna make a serious dent, and I'm hoping that after I make this dent, those kids behind me could help break those walls."

All I need to do to make a difference is make a dent...I don't have to solve the world's problems or be intimidated or overwhelmed by their vastness. I just need to make a dent - a dent I can handle!

Water Water Everywhere...

This will be a rambling post today - so be prepared for lots of detours ;-)

It all began for me last Sunday, when for some strange reason I was directed to Psalm 107 during my quiet time. I love this Psalm, and had not really dwelled on it before. The repeating phrase "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them from their distress" is still sitting in my heart, waiting for me to examine more deeply (note to self- future blog entry...). But what I have actually been working on this week comes from a different part of the psalm (v33-37):

He turned rivers into a desert,

flowing springs into thirsty ground,
and fruitful land into a salt waste,

because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
He turned the desert into pools of water

and the parched ground into flowing springs;
there he brought the hungry to live,

and they founded a city where they could settle.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards

that yielded a fruitful harvest;

Sunday morning - the same morning I had just contemplated this psalm - our worship time reflected on two questions... What have been the valleys of this year? and What were the mountaintop experiences? We were reminded that the valleys of earth are where the streams of water flow and this thought began percolating in my brain all day. Needless to say, I have been trying to quench my thirst all week around the importance of water. I will share some of what I have learned -

Water facts:

• 60% of the human body is water
• 70% of the human brain is water
• 90% of human lungs are water
• Each day humans must replace 2.4 litres of water
• Water is called the "universal solvent" because it dissolves more substance than any other liquid
• Wherever water goes, whether through our bodies or the ground, it takes along valuable chemicals, minerals and nutrients
• Water is the ONLY natural substance found in all three states - liquid, gas and solid
• 70% of earths surface is water
• Dehydration occurs when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount being taken in
• The thirst mechanism signals the body to drink water when it is dry

So - water is pretty important to us humans, and also pretty darn important to all other aspects of life on earth!

Then I started to reflect on how we see water in the Word. I had some very interesting revelations as I searched the scriptures. For example, see if any of these resonate with you...

I have always known the very beginning of our story from Genesis 1:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth

and the earth was without form and void;

But now that I am looking at this scripture with new eyes, I realize that in the beginning God began with water...

and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

So God begins His word with water...and guess what...He ends His word with water too!

Revelation 22:1, 17

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life,

clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb...

The Spirit and the bride say,

"Come!" And let those who hear say

"Come!" Let those who are thirsty come;

and let all who wish to take the free gift

of the water of life

Now I feel again like I am sitting on the crest of some greater understanding. I have been carefully working through the scriptures to see that many great words and revelations are delivered near the water. Here are just a few examples I discovered this week:

Isaiah 43:18-21 - God tells us that He is providing water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland to give drink to His people

Nehemiah 8:2-3 - Ezra the priest re-introduced the law to the people of Jerusalem when standing at the WATER GATE.

Psalm 23: The shepherd leads his sheep beside still water...

Jesus began and ended his earthly ministry with water:

John 2:7 - Jesus changed the water into wine (and it was rated the BEST tasting by the master)

John 19:28 - Jesus last words were "I am thirsty" (and he was given vinegar which is considered the wine unfit to serve as drink)

John 3:5 - Jesus answered "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit"

John 3:14 - but those who drink the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

On this pilgrimage of mine, I search for the Living Water - the essential nutrient for survival. It will satisfy my thirst, and will allow me eternal life. To prevent dehydration I must take in more Living Water each day. I am a vessel of the water, and my goal is to continue to become filled to the brim, not running on empty :0)

Irony is not lost on me that the Living Water is found in the valleys of our life. God brings us down to the valley from our mountaintops so that we may remember who He is - and that we may look up to Him!

As I enter this New Year and continue to map my path and check my GPS, it will be good for me to remember that my canteen must be full of this essential water to satisfy my thirst on my journey...

Heartkeeping

This has been a different sort of Christmas. It is not really the economic crisis, or the never ending war, or environmental concerns, or any of the other very real and very large issues that we are facing individually and nationally. These types of worldly events are always present (albeit not always concurrently and at these levels) . But for some reason this year, no matter who I talk to or where I am, it seems that the Christmas Spirit is just not as joyful this year. The colors are not as bright, the lights are not as brilliant, the faces are not as full as anticipation as previous years.

What is this? What has happened to Christmas?

Speaking for myself I think it is a heart matter, and for my own sake I will be doing some "heartkeeping" this Christmas. Just as I took the time in preparation for Christmas at my home to pull out the furniture and sweep in all the corners, get down all my boxes of Christmas "stuff" and carefully examine which cherished treasures will be carefully set out on display and which would wait for another year...so I must also examine my heart. I need to carefully look in all the hidden places of my heart and sweep away any of those deeply hidden joy stealers like envy, bitterness or fear. Then I will need to sort through those treasures of love, joy, contentment and mercy and find just the right places to put them on display.



Housekeeping is not one of my strengths - and unfortunately heartkeeping is proving difficult for me as well. I could very easily gloss over some of those "dust bunnies" that I have found in the recesses of my heart (no one else would really see them anyway). But what happens to a house that is only topically maintained? Without regular maintenance and a good deep cleaning every once and awhile, the house begins to deteriorate. I believe our heart requires the same attention. Good heartkeeping requires some deep cleansing on a regular basis. What better time to start then Advent.

From Antevasin to Poustinik

I love words ~ especially really cool sounding ones. There is nothing quite like finding just the perfect word to express a feeling or emotion. When I find special words like these I want to embrace them and make them a part of my being.

This is exactly how I felt a few years ago when I came across the word "Antevasin" in the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Antevasin is an ancient sanskrit word meaning: ‘one who lives at the border.’ In ancient times this was a literal description. It indicated a person who had left the bustling center of worldly life to go live at the edge of the forest where the spiritual masters dwelled. The antevasin was not of the villagers anymore-not a householder with a conventional life. But neither was he yet a transcendent-not one of those sages who live deep in the unexplored woods, fully realized. The antevasin was an in-betweener. he was a border-dweller. He lived in sight of both worlds, but he looked toward the unknown. And he was a scholar.”

At the time I came across this word, it was a perfect description of how I was feeling in my pilgrimmage. I had moved to a new level of spirituality, but was still not "there" yet. I have long been an "in-betweener" or "border dweller". And most of my life has been trying to figure out where exactly I belong. Once you have moved to in-between, you can't really go back to where you were and be satisfied, nor do you feel ready to move to the next level. So for several years now I have travelled on the edge - sometimes making forays into the next level of faith, taking brief tastes of what it is like, but not feeling comfortable enough to stay for any extended period. So life has been pretty much a travel along the edges, peering back and forth between these two worlds. Perhaps that is why I started this blog...an effort to move forward.

The scripture I have found to best describe this feeling comes from Habakkuk 2:1

1 I will stand at my watch

and station myself on the ramparts;

I will look to see what he will say to me,

and what answer I am to give to this complaint

Now I have come across a new word that seems to best capture my new state of being...Poustinik The poustinik is one who craves in their hearts to be alone with God and His immense silence. Poustinia is the Russian term for desert. In the Western sense of the word, it would mean a place to which a hermit goes. To the Russian, the word means more than a geographical place. It means a quiet, lonely place that people wish to enter, to find God who dwells within them. One who enters this place is a poustinik.

So this deep calling I have been feeling to find that special place for my time alone is truly the call of the poustinik. I know God is preparing this place for me, I have been receiving hints in my daily readings - and I am certain that the time and place will be revealed when I am ready to go.

It will be exciting to come down from the fence - and yet the fence railings are very familiar territory now. Venturing into the unknown takes great faith and courage. I trust that I will be prepared.