brianesh73

The heart that finds the Father trustworthy is not, therefore, a passive one. It still hunts and probes. It still seeks, but not after its latest desire.

In fact, the heart that trusts You has come to mistrust its own drives as never really satisfied. That resigned heart knows it must be ruled over, so it seeks the Kingdom of God under which to place itself. Knowing, as You say, Lord Jesus, that even the eye's initial perception is skewed, we place no trust in our wants but sift through stimuli for a larger, lasting purpose.

Joining the work of our King where He is already at work will mean self-denial, but not for its own sake. We willingly trade the tyranny of passions, especially evident in my discontent this morning, for a heart thar trusts the Father Who crafted our desires to do a better job prioritizing and meeting them than could we. With what heart we have to give, we surrender in the choices of which we are aware and ask that You use those small, begrudging concessions over time to advance Your Kingdom in and through us.

To this point in instructing on materialism, Lord Jesus, Your tone has been mostly positive. Great news! The Father's character is such that You don't have to worry. But, knowing that we will see an excuse to worry as soon as things don't go according to plan, You outright forbid it. Then, You show what a thought pattern of worry sounds like before we ever act on it.

The noisy collision of the "what" and the first person scatters contemplation that starts with Who You are and sees today's need as just another lens through which to see Your glory. We will soon find, also, that the crisis mode into which we are pushed feeds on itself rather than waiting meekly. Should we seek to dwell on our appetite, even that thought is soon interrupted by a panic for clothing. No wonder, Lord, You use the word dominate to describe what material worries do to bully any other thought options.

So, how do birds and lilies stand a chance against such adverting-amplified competition from the shouts of needs inflamed into lusts? One offers a decision to obey before leaving ourselves open to the random bombardment of the stimuli of the world. Lilly right next to Big Mac doesn't stand a chance, but considering the low-key flower as a moment set aside in fasting from the stream of the immediate will ground, center, and reward.

No matter how disciplined we get at giving ourselves time to think beyond the immediately available "what's", we will never be satisfied without the Who. Flowers and birds are beautiful and can ween us from the pre-digested thoughts our culture offers. But unless we see Your hand and purpose in the petal and the feather, we trade a loud, low-brow idol for a quiet respectable one but have an idol just the same. Whatever initially prompts our thoughts Holy Spirit, a Great Book or a TV laugh, bring them to cycle quickly back to You.

Your word here specifically refers to times of doubt when those with every reason to trust You don't do so. It is used four times in Scripture, and Matthew uses three of them. Is he trying to challenge the inherited history of the Jews he is writing to to trust themselves and complain against You? Here, Lord Jesus, You have illustrated the Father's character to provide and even reward, and yet You marvel that we respond by worrying.

Why DO we have so little faith? Playing to people as our audience, You have already said, Lord Jesus, is a major river of doubt gradually eroding our confidence in the Father. Those who would look to people and the circumstances we can supposedly engineer for our affirmation are going to be perpetually disappointed. But LITTLE faith, or even that a gift from You, is not NO faith. Little faith has the opportunity to grow, fed by experience of seeing You, Father, provide again and again. This reinforcement of trust in You contrasts sharply with experience over time they will doubtless show us that people are not a satisfactory protection against need and deprivation.

In fact, in the face of growing evidence that You are a just and generous provider, it actually takes increasing mental muscle to resist trusting You. Just as Your Word, Lord Jesus, was laid out here in detail as to the Father's commitment to provision, evidence was very plain of this provision as Peter actually walk on water. Contrary to his actual, and shall we say memorable, experience, he lost his nerve. This, according to You, Lord Jesus, is little faith. The disciples had just been provided for to the point of fullness along with 5000 men and accompanying families. This is when they were determined to castigate themselves for not bringing bread. This is little faith, resisting the plain evidence of Your character You continue to show us. May we, then, as You show Yourself, continue to trust in what we see of You.

You build to a point in Your teaching, Lord Jesus, where the Father's character is on full display. You turn the diamond of that character in such a way that it shines into the depths of my soul and illuminates one of the dark corners of my assumptions. I should not be surprised that You see time, investment, and efficiency in a vastly different way than what comes naturally to Your earthbound creations.

In considering the lilies, we see that You invest time and detailed attention in these flowers. As humans, when we consider where to invest finite time and detailed attention, calculation is inevitable. Is this person or this project going to be "worth it"? Is our spending ourselves in this direction going to pay tangible dividends? If not, we will spend ourselves in another direction. Intricate attention paid to something that is here today and gone tomorrow seems foolhardy to us. But we are finite, and You are infinite. You give of Yourself to reflect a tiny glimpse of Your glory in a flower that won't last until tomorrow, and Your resources are not diminished in the process.

Properly understood, this concept should forever silence the enemy's hiss that it is "too late" for us to be used of You. Knowing well our failures and wasted potential, were we in Your place, we would not invest expectation or attention in ourselves. In Your place, we would invest in someone more promising with more time to give to Your Kingdom and who brings fewer scars and less baggage to Your service. But You, Who can enjoy the lily's momentary brilliance without a moment's regret, view us with much more grace – understanding in its fullness the scope of Your sovereignty. You see what is still possible. The fact is, and this is just as staggering as it is Scriptural, the momentary glimpse of Your glory is not consolation prize for You; it is precisely what You have been building for.

As explicit as You are here, Lord Jesus, the idea that we must be worth the Father's investment is so ingrained in us that we need further Scriptural support in order not to despair and then compensate ourselves with crumbs of worth from this world. Samson was born with explicit promise and power. He wasted decades of leadership opportunities. Yet, when his heart was softened at the last, You heard him and used him for one blazing moment of Kingdom triumph. Nicodemus said himself in John 3 that he was an old man, and even at that point he still feared the opinion of men too much to come see You by daylight. Yet, rather than turn him away as too much spent in this world's habits, You forever associated him with the one verse by which people most readily know the Gospel. One of the thieves beside You on the cross cursed You moments before, and yet it was this guy, this despicable rebel even the world could not stand, to whom You chose to give Your first absolutely explicit individual promise of eternal life with You. After Your ascension, Lord Jesus, in whom did You most fully display what Christ-like ministry looks like but the man Saul already with a reputation for killing Your followers. Surely You could have invested more prudently in someone who had not spent his years and his energy thus. But, once and for all, You don't invest like we do.

So, seeing this stubborn open-eyed optimism in Your character, how do we react? If would react with less than perpetual amazement and gratitude, we have ceased to pay attention. As we begin to see YOUR fruit in our lives, we have forgotten just how dead and utterly bereft of promise we were. As we are reminded of Your determination to invest in the unpromising just for a momentary glimpse of Your glory through them, we can be made grateful again. This gratitude can bubble up enough so readily that we will be the ministers of reconciliation that 2 Corinthians 4:1 calls for. We will, probably little by little, begin to challenge the assumptions that show themselves in us when we meet people and begin to calculate how useful they can be to You and for how long. Holy Spirit, in ourselves and in others, help us to see the lily's momentary flowering and treasure it as You do.

You, Lord Jesus, are building to a crescendo of the Father's care. The lilies are worthy of our consideration. How they grow, out-of-the-way and purely by the grace bestowed on them, is a subject You say we must ponder. The results of this largess of the Father's heart, though, are visible and glorious. Although these lilies are on display for such a brief span, their appearance is more splendid, You say, than that of King Solomon.

I wanted to find something else, probably to show off my own powers of biblical analysis. I wanted to find out what Solomon wore and draw out the symbolism that would show why the appearance of the lilies is more glorious, and, thereby, why Your provision for us is more glorious still. We have a lot of details about this king, and I could not go through them all in the short time I allotted myself. It's what I did search, though, I found no detail on what he wore.

So, how can we tell that Solomon whom we have not seen was splendid in his person? It is sufficient that You, Lord Jesus, Who fashioned him say that he is. By this report, we learn to live on faith and to sustain ourselves by Your Word. But, generous and reassuring as You are, You give us visual imagery to help us keep worthwhile things before our eyes. No, You don't tell us exactly how Solomon was decked out like the fashion reporters who patrol the red carpet. But, You do have Your inspired writers make room for reporting that Solomon's servants were dressed splendidly.

So what? If the servants are dressed splendidly, what can we surmise about the master whom we do not see? He certainly has more than an adequate supply of material goods. Perhaps more impressively, he has plenty of time and attention so that he can bestow it on how those beneath him in status are arrayed. In fact, not only do Solomon's servants LOOK good, but the Queen of Sheba comments that they are happy.

What can those who catch only glimpses of Your Kingdom tell about You as a King from what they see of Your servants? Does our physical clothing show the modest self-assurance of those who have the Father's attention and need not compete for human reassurance? Does our raiment substantiate the glory that reflects from inside us? Or, does the attention we give our physical clothing compete with the spiritual robes of righteousness in which we have been clothed? If the question on Hollywood's red carpet as beautiful people wear the finest clothes humans can design is, "Who are you wearing?", how much more do we have the opportunity to point to You in the details of the outward appearance we reflect. We can point to You, Father, as generous. We can point to You, Father, as concerned with the details of our lives. We can point to You, timeless One, as deigning to give attention to that which will not last as well as that which will last. If Solomon's servants displayed happiness and observer could see, how much more should this be our aspect?

The first lesson of the lilies to which You specifically direct our attention is not what I thought it was. Indeed, this three-word lesson is easy to skip over on our way to considering the splendor of the flowers as it relates to the largess of Your provision, Father, for our sartorial needs. But first, Lord Jesus, You call us to look at the lilies and to consider HOW THEY GROW. How they look after growing is almost a side effect.

You actually help us first with how the lilies do not grow. You specifically point out, Lord Jesus, that the growth is not a result of their work. They don't toil, and they don't spin. Why point that out? Obviously, we know that wildflowers are not capable of cognitively considered effort, deciding to use resources toward a specific end. Lord Jesus, You target these words, I believe, because Your human listeners in every age will so readily associate toil with lasting results. But it is not so in the Kingdom. Whether physical or spiritual, growth is purely a response to the outpouring of Your grace. In vain as we look at the 22 New Testament instances of this Greek word for "grow" in an effort to find any correlation between an increase and human toil. In fact, like You, every writer inspired by Your Spirit seems to take great pains to point out that You are the one providing growth. Counterintuitively, in fact, John the Baptist uses that word to explain in John 3:30 that YOU must increase, Lord Jesus, and he must decrease.

Paul picks up the same notion and carries it through consistently. The first time he uses the word, in fact, it is to establish in 1 Corinthians 3:6 that he planted, Apollos watered, but that YOU grew or gave the Gospel's increase. Continuing, the next verse says that the people involved don't count when compared to You Who give the increase. We sow, indeed, says 2 Corinthians 9:10, but it is You Who supply the seat in the first place and multiply the harvest. Growth by human power and authority, Paul says repeatedly in 2 Corinthians, is dangerous, deceptive, and decisively NOT the hallmark of his ministry.

Such as we are conscious of growth, and never the cause of it, the focus Scripture calls for is equally counterintuitive and revolutionary. Ephesians 2:21 says we grow not according to a human-centered ministry plan but into the head which is Christ. Colossians 1:10 challenges us to please You rather than to focus on horizontal measures of growth. You nourish us according to Colossians 2:19. You feed us, says 1 Peter 2:2, and the grace and knowledge we grow in is not a step-by-step plan for discipleship or church growth but growth in the "grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". Paul continues to challenge me to look at 2 Corinthians 4:1 to define ministry, as he refers to this ministry of reconciliation without a human object or measure insight before or after that verse. Time with You, Lord Jesus, growing in Your likeness is not preparation for ministry like a battery being charged to be spent. Time spent with You growing in Your likeness IS ministry. In this spirit, Your Old Testament priests ministered before YOU, and we continue in this vein under the new priesthood of Melchizedek. Grow us, Holy Spirit, in the light of the Son. Where He chooses to let others take our fruit or see our floral splendor, praise be to Him. Where we grow alone off the beaten path for none but Him to enjoy, praise be to Him.

Lilies don't often get our attention. They don't set off alarms on our calendars. They don't e-mail us when we forget about them. Whether we think about them or not does not factor into our work performance review unless, perhaps, we work in horticulture. Yet, Lord Jesus, You specifically tell us to consider them. So foreign is this to us that You quickly offer a tutorial on exactly what it is we are supposed to notice about them – lest we nod our assent that, yes, they do indeed exist and go on about our usual patterns of thinking and worrying.

But before we get to the Cliff Notes You helpfully and graciously offer on the essentials of what we MUST understand from considering the lilies, is there a victory of the Spirit in even considering them in the first place? I think so. Considering the lilies, again, takes a refocus from what usually get our attention. Considering the birds already did that, but this is how radical and complete Your broadening of our spectrum of awareness is. To consider the birds, we have to look up from the earthbound concerns we will usually notice. To consider the lilies, we have to look down. As much as the enemy would detest having us obey You, Lord Jesus, in looking Heavenward to consider the birds, his next play is to keep us constantly looking up. This is dangerous for him, no doubt, but in so doing he can develop in us a certain disdain for the mundane, the dirty, the unpredictable, for life off the beaten path. Your antidote for this is to have us consider the lilies.

Considering the lilies offers an affirmation that earthly life is worth Your attention – and certainly worth ours. They preach to us that You have so much attention to spare that You act and create with flair even on things not directly related to a focused, linear sense of mission. They show us that even when we are off the roads that present the most efficient way to get from Point A to Point B, You have been there before us and have left hospitable hallmarks of Your creative flair and unquestionable sovereignty. As we evaluate, in accordance with the theme of this weekend's retreat, whether what we put our time into serves as logistics, distraction, or Kingdom battle itself, Your command to consider the lilies forces us to broaden our definition of what is logistical preparation and what actually is an implement of the battle for human hearts. On our way to construct battering rams that will force Your Word into our own hearts or of those around us, we are more likely to trample the lilies than consider them, but, then, this is yet one more reminder that the battle for spirit and emotion is far different than the battle for intellectual assent or coerced, codified surrendered.

Give us, Holy Spirit, the broadest possible conception of what is Your unfolding handiwork today. Show us specifically when the things we consider practical preparation are in fact distraction and when the things we consider unworthy of our "mature" attention are, in fact, the very things we are under orders to consider. Restore, Holy Spirit, our sense of wonder as we and recite verses about the One Who is wonderful. Give us Your comfort that You have been where we are, wherever we are, well before we arrive and have showered Your holy hospitality upon the place. Thus showered with Your attention, we are then free to loosen our preoccupation of our ourselves and seek to make others comfortable.

This is sound definition I have heard of worry. You endorse this, Lord Jesus, by challenging what results we get from our preoccupation with what we don't have yet. Nothing. All our what-if's build nothing. They grow nothing. They enhance nothing. This, You will say in vere 33, is LITTLE faith.

So how do we add to THAT stature instead? Matthew 6 has already challenged us to this. If we are to add to our little faith, we trust the Father's attention and rewards rather than measuring ourselves against men. We will ask for what we need without pretensions and willfully trust You to supply and resupply what others may take with intent to our hurt. We will, in fact, mistrust our own eye and impulses before we doubt You. Growth is painful, Father, but we know by now You are good.

God's glory is at stake. Christians are identified with Him for better or worse. Single greatest cause of atheism. 1 Corinthians 6:20, 1 Peter 2:11-12

2 Corinthians 9:20 made rich to bless. $2200 in assets top 50%, $1500 mo top 20%, food, transport, housing top 15%

What can we spare, or what will it take? Romans 12:2-3. Are we willing to be uncomfortable? Probably won't sacrifice until not doing so is more uncomfortable.

Do I know I'm in the battle? Whine as though surprised when body doesn't work and I have to. Unseen battle is real in 2 Corinthians 4, Ephesians 6

Signs of battle? Fruit, opposition, lining up with Bible. Surface signs can be deceiving and discouraging.

Logistics -- required work for battle
diversion -- distracted from main fight
THE battle -- prepare, but never fight

Who are my enemies? Exaggerated need gives us more logistics to plan and pay for. WE are enemies of God, friends of world. Our own desires may be enemies. Jesus said our hearts are deceitful and wicked.

Who don't I like? Cultures? Subtypes of sin? Judge groups by worse and ours by best intentions.

What takes my eyes off the purpose I was saved for? Sex, books, job status? Prejudice against people? Giving in to fatigue?

Expect battle even in logistics one battle here is wishing for more preparation. This is actually self-exhaltation. What we spend on is actually worship.

What have I been fighting for? Reach the vulnerable through blessings of my home AND more time alone to contemplate or be lazy.

TOP 8 TIME INVESTMENTS

DIVERSION, LOGISTICS, BATTLE?

STOP SEEING AS ENEMY?

WHAT CONSIGNED TO ENEMY?

ROLE IN BATTLE?