Inspiring or Distracting by Steph Beth Nickel

As the celebration of our Lord’s substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection approaches, one of two things can happen.

We can spend extra time meditating on what Jesus accomplished on our behalf …

OR …

We can face a tsunami of extra plans and preparations coupled with trying to accomplish five days' worth of work in only four.

True Confession

Because I have extra work to accomplish this week (thankfully, some of it is even paid work), both in my office and beyond, I haven’t been spending near the amount of time I would like to focused on the Saviour.

I am thankful, however, for Christ-centred podcasts that I can listen to while I’m cleaning the church (and my house, although this won’t get near as much of my attention).

While I’m taking my daughter to work and picking her up or toodling around, running errands, I can listen to faith-based podcasts and audiobooks.

Even in the midst of my busyness, there are things I can do to keep my thoughts centred on Jesus and the price He paid on my behalf.

There are also other things happening this week that have the potential to help me focus even more intently on the most profound weekend on the Christian calendar—as long as I don’t let my mind wander to the tasks yet undone:

1. Worship team practice on Thursday night.

2. The Good Friday Service (to be followed by a fellowship lunch).

3. The Resurrection Sunday service (preceded by yet another worship team practice).

 And then there’s the amazing reminder in Colossian 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (NIV). (emphasis mine)

So, whether I’m spending quiet time with the Lord, participating in the church services, cleaning my house, preparing meals, or working in my office, I can turn my thoughts heavenward. I can work at my tasks as if doing them for God—because, ultimately, I am.

This week—or any week—I can and should commit my To-Do List to Him. In fact, I repeatedly make plans to begin each task by committing it to Him. This is not a habit I’ve gotten into, but it is one I intend to work on today and in the days ahead.

So, is the upcoming weekend an inspiration or a distraction? 

While it has the potential to be both, as we take our thoughts captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), even the distractions can inspire us.

Do you find this week inspiring, distracting, or a bit of both? How do you stay focused on our Saviour when you’re especially busy? How do you point those around you to the One we are to honour each and every day He gives us breath?

A Little Pencil, Guest Post by Brenda Leyland

"I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God

who is sending a love letter to the world."

attributed to Mother Teresa

Long before social media and email, long before I wrote my first article, essay, newsletter, or blog post, I wrote letters. The old-fashioned kind of handwritten notes with stamped envelopes addressed to family, friends, nieces and nephews, colleagues, and pen pals. I derived great pleasure in the particulars of letter writing, from choosing the stationery to gathering clippings to composing interesting sentences to fill the pages. The even greater delight for me came in imagining envelopes dropping into people's mailboxes, giving recipients a cheery surprise amongst a pile of bills and junk mail.

An interesting turn of events, then, when I found myself writing letters professionally in the correspondence unit of my esteemed boss, the Premier of Alberta. My letter writing had suddenly become more than a pastime. I sought the Holy Spirit's grace and wisdom and sharpened my writing skills. During this season, as a young woman longing to hear the Spirit's instruction and comfort for my own life, I began to yearn to use my love of writing letters to touch the hearts of others. For I certainly knew how buoyed I felt when unexpected mail arrived, reminding me on difficult days that somebody had me on their mind. 

In my eagerness to write more, I asked the Holy Spirit for help. I'd go through my address book and pay attention to whose name stood out. I soon realized how willing He was to come alongside and help me. What joy in being a collaborator with the great Comforter to lift up others. No wonder I loved Mother Teresa’s evocative picture of being a pencil in God's hands.

Sometimes I knew what I wanted to say. Sometimes I had to wait for what He wanted to say. I came to see there was a partnership, and a timing, to it all. There were times I knew who I was supposed to write to but had no idea what the individual was going through or needed. I'd wait. I'd listen. Then one morning I'd know it was the day. Words would be swirling in my mind. And when the last sentence was written, there'd come a sense of release, accomplishment, peace. Of course, I’d eagerly wait to hear back—had I truly heard aright? You can imagine my elation when return mail brought me the news, ‘Your letter arrived on a day when I especially needed that encouraging word’. Oh thank you, Lord.

It was such a beautiful, sacred season of my life. A lifetime ago. Although I never lost my love for writing letters, the world changed, my own life changed, and handwritten letters became less frequent. Until . . . Spring of 2020 when the world saw so many folks isolated from their loved ones. During lockdown, I increased my blog presence, and along with writing texts, emails, and Facebook messages, I wrote more handwritten notes to stay connected. What joy to once again create those tactile 'hold in your hand' reminders that someone had been thought about, had been wished love, comfort, warmth—something we all needed during a brittle, trying time.

My intention in 2022 is to carry on in that vein . . . a little pencil in the hand of a writing God sending love letters to the world.

Top photo by Brenda Leyland

Inspired by the beauty of God's world around her, Brenda Leyland writes from her home in northerly Alberta, Canada. You will find Brenda on her blog It's A Beautiful Life and on Facebook.

A Holy Work by Joy Bailey

"Your work and my work is to be holy. 

That means we are to set it apart so that 

we may honour God in what we do."

Jerram Barrs

https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/webfm_send/461

~~~~~

Several years ago when I considered starting a blog, I struggled with the purpose of it. What would I write? Who would ever read it? There were so many blogs out there already, and I had nothing new or weighty to say. I'm not a Biblical teacher or preacher of the Gospel. I'm not a 'How-To' kind of explainer. I don't write devotionals. (I don't even like reading them - gasp!)

I just wanted to write and hone my craft. To use the gift God had given me and be useful to Him.

It was a stop-in-my-tracks spotlight from heaven when I sensed the Lord tell me that He didn't want me to be a Biblical teacher or preacher of the Gospel. He didn't want me to write devotionals. He didn't even want me to write with a specific purpose. He wanted me to be me.

"People need YOU. They need Joy. Use your words to give them the YOU I created you to be."

How freeing! How absolutely thrilling. And how profound and humbling to realize that He could use me just as I am.

When I write, whatever I write, I'm being faithful to who God made me. And the Holy Spirit within me is a constant Presence, helping me choose the right words, what to leave in and what to take out. Ideas that seem to come out of nowhere are, of course, whispers from Holy Spirit. The path of my day and seeming coincidental encounters and occurrences that find their way into my writing are not fate or a stroke of luck. He is in it all because He is my Guide. He is even there to nudge me on when I'm ready to give up.

It is a holy work. And I don't have to be someone I'm not to do it.

~~~~~

Photo by Megan Ruth on Unsplash

It's a busy month for Joy and The Cowboy as they make final preparations to move to their newly built home in the country, where a 'really big room' with lots of natural light has been set aside for Joy's beloved library and writing space. Find more of her Joy-infused writing at Scraps of Joy.

The Holy Spirit: Breath of God by Bob Jones

 

Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21,22)

 

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

 

“Good writing is like breathing deeply.” Moreno Zugaro

 

Breathe!

 

My brain kept urging my lungs, but they seemed to have forgotten how. 4am. Out of bed, walking in panic circles, heart racing, arms flapping, with nothing more than a wheeze of air able to be sucked through my mouth. What is happening to me? Is this what it feels like to die? After what seemed like a lifetime, at last a gasp and then one more. Breathing began to return to normal. But life didn’t. Every night, over the next three months, the pattern repeated itself. A specialist explained these episodes were panic attacks, most likely brought on by stress. My lungs stopped breathing to awaken me to the distress in my soul and save my life. That was 39 years ago.

 

Breathing is synonymous with life. That's one reason why the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is likened to breath. At Easter, images of God the Son and God the Father are prominent but not the Holy Spirit. But no mistake, the Holy Spirit was breathing life into the narrative of Easter.

 

The Book of Genesis makes clear that God’s breath animates us. It sustains us. It inspires us and guides us. This is because the breath of God is indistinguishable from God’s own presence. In the act of breathing life into creation, God breathes in God’s very self. God’s breath, therefore, is equivalent to God the Holy Spirit.

 

Both the Hebrew word ruach, and the Greek word pneuma contain this association. These words can equally be translated as “breath” or “spirit”. Physical life begins with breath. Eternal life begins with the Holy Spirit.

 

“All Scripture is God-breathed…” (1 Timothy 3:16) We’re told that “prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21) The reference is to the breath of God as wind in their sails. Their writing and their living were carried by the Spirit.

 

You can’t choose to be inspired, but you can choose to take a breath in. And then a breath out. And then another breath in. Our lungs are the only major organ in the body that we can directly control with our minds. I’ve not yet seen any evidence that your thoughts impact your liver or kidneys, but you can decide, at any moment, to take over your breathing.

 

Pam Allyn, author and Senior Vice-president for Innovation at Scholastic Education, says “Reading is like breathing in and writing is like breathing out.” Think of reading the Bible as breathing in the presence of God. Think of writing as expressing the Word of God through your creativity.

 

You can’t go more than a few minutes without breathing. Going a day without the Word of God is inspiration deprivation. Reading devotionals, biographies, books on leadership, marriage, parenting, and relationships is a way for the Holy Spirit to breathe life into your writing soul.

 

Now, if you always breathe the same air, it gets stale — just like information does. Look for new sources of inspiration from time to time, like an unknown podcast, a controversial writer, or a thought-provoking newsletter.

 

Writing is breathing. Sometimes it’s a background activity that we ‘just’ do, regularly, keeping things moving along. Sometimes it’s something we practice and do intentionally, whether or not we are in the mood. Peter de Vries' perspective on inspiration is spot on, “I only write when I’m inspired, so I see to it that I’m inspired every morning at nine o’clock.”

 

You should strive to write the best you can. But sometimes you just need to breathe, to look up from your keyboard, or notepad, stretch the kinks out of your back, and say,

Wow, I’m writing.

I’m breathing.

I’m alive.

 

The Holy Spirit makes all the difference between a blank sheet and a finished masterpiece.

 

 I write to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.

Please follow my writing at REVwords.com

I would love to hear from you.