kavanah (part 4): love

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:48:02 -0600

Our relationship with God is inseparable from our relationship with others. When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was, he responded with two: love God and love people (Matt. 22:37-39). John even went as far as to say, “Whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen” (1 Jn. 4:20).

When we look at living our lives with kavanah—intentional action coupled with divine expectancy—it shouldn’t surprise us that one of the four main areas has to do with how we treat other people. A life of prayer and of living in God’s Word will overflow into loving others differently.... extravagantly, in fact.

Extravagant, according to my handy dictionary widget, means lacking restraint, costing too much, exceeding what is reasonable or appropriate, absurd, excessively elaborate.

And that, my friends, is exactly how Christ loved us. It cost too much. It exceeded what was reasonable. It was excessive, even absurd. And to that I owe my life.

Is it too much, then, for him to ask us to do the same for each other? What do you think it would look like if each of us, intentionally and combined with the Holy Spirit’s powerful work in us, started loving each other extravagantly? Beyond what is normal or reasonable or expected?

Do you think we’d make Christians look a little more like Christ?

If you’re up for the challenge, download the PDF below and join me in a week of learning to love extravagantly out of love for our extravagant Savior.

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learning to love extravagantly

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!

kavanah (part 3): study

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:17:46 -0600

Have you ever taken note of what the Bible says about itself? I did a little word study on that once, and here’s a brief snapshot of what I found that the authors of Scripture said about the Word:

Your Word is flawless, more precious than gold, sweeter than honey;
it’s my delight, my counselor, my comfort;
it’s eternal, boundless, trustworthy, true, and right
it’s a lamp for my feet and a light for my path;
it’s like a fire in my heart;
it’s alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword,
it penetrates to the soul and judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart;
it is God-breathed and useful for teaching training in righteousness;
it is truth;
it sanctifies us;
it’s the joy of my heart;
it’s the way to life.

Wow. This is quite the book we hold in our hands. It is a reflection of the amazing God who wrote it for us, through the human authors. And His Spirit goes with His Word and empowers it.

The second aspect of kavanah (see the previous two posts) is studying Scripture to know God. The Bible is an essential, incredible part of the life of a Christ-follower. It is in Scripture that we get to know God’s heart and see how He has acted on behalf of His people and His name throughout history. In it we glean wisdom and learn God’s will. Of course, ultimately, we get to know God Himself, and that profoundly shapes every other area of our lives. And the more we know Him, the more we love Him, which is the most important of all (Mark 12:28-30).

This week, we pray that you will open your Bible with a new attitude. Approach God’s word with kavanah: with intentionality and commitment, but also with an awed expectancy that the power of the Most High is at work in its pages and wants to be at work in your life because of it. We pray that you not only read it, but you study it, love it, learn it, and live it. It’s in keeping it that there is great reward.

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studying Scripture to know God

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!

kavanah (part 2): pray

Tue, 8 Nov 2011 19:49:20 -0600

The ancient rabbis taught that kavanah was necessary in four facets of life: prayerfulness, studying Scripture to know God, loving others, and doing your life’s work as an act of worship. Put simply: pray, study, love, live.

For each of these areas, they held that to really honor God, we had to approach them with intentionality coupled with an expectancy that God was there and that He would work.

Over the next four months, we’re going to be looking at each of these more in-depth... starting with prayer.

We talk about prayer a lot in the church. It’s a classic “Sunday School answer” for how we draw closer to God. We all know we need to do it, and probably a lot more than we currently do. But the result is frequently that we feel guilty. Maybe we determine to try harder... we put it on our to-do list or write it into our schedule. And that’s a good start—that’s intentionality.

But most of us know that intentionality alone doesn’t cut it. After all, we have good intentions, but they usually fade. We don’t pray as much as we intend to.

That’s why kavanah couples intentionality with expectancy. Can you imagine what would be different about your prayer life this week if you approached prayer with the expectancy that God was really there? I mean, really there. Of course we believe in our heads that he is. But if you expected that he would meet with you today, in all of his glory and intimacy, and that he would be at work powerfully through your prayers... wouldn’t that change the way you prayed?

Of course, God does promise that. Psalm 145:19 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” And James 5:16 assures us, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”—and we know that power and effectiveness come from God, not from us!

This week, would you join me in putting some kavanah into your prayer life? Download the PDF below for some daily challenges to help you aim your heart at Christ while you pray.

want more? click here for your second shot of spiritual caffeine:
infusing your prayer life with kavanah

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!

kavanah (part 1): intentional + expectant

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:24:21 -0500

Following God has always involved love and obedience, faith and doing, intention and action.

The Jewish people had a word that encompassed this: kavanah. Kavanah means intentional action with the expectation of divine presence. Aiming the heart at God and moving your hands and feet in the same direction.

To the Jewish people, kavanah was necessary in four areas: prayer, studying Scripture to know God, loving other people, and doing your life’s work. Thus: pray, study, love, live. In essense, kavanah is an integral part of all of life, and all of life is then an act of worship (see Rom. 12:1 and Col. 3:17).

Though He may not have used the word, Jesus exemplified a kavanah life. Paul taught it. And all of us are called to live it.

The literal root of the Hebrew word kavanah is “to aim.” It is the picture of an archer sending an arrow straight for a target. In the spiritual sense, then, kavanah is all about the aim of your heart. On a daily basis, where is your heart aimed? Is it centered on Christ, causing all you do to flow in that same direction?

It’s easy for our aim to get off. We start running in a million directions, distracted by everything going on around us. That’s why it’s important for us to remain intentional and expectant: Intentional, because keeping our heart centered on Christ is the most important work we do and it deserves our full attention. And expectant, because it’s not something we can do on our own, nor are we called to. The Holy Spirit’s presence dwelling inside us has the power needed to keep the aim of our lives constant.

How would you describe the aim of your heart today? What can you do to keep it centered on Christ, living every area of your life with kavanah?

want more? click here for your second shot of spiritual caffeine:
devotions to help aim your heart at Christ

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!

don’t miss the harvest

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:19:03 -0500

The end of summer is an exciting time for those of us who are gardeners. Things are finally ripening! Enjoying those fresh tomatoes, green beans, and carrots makes it worth all the hours of weeding, watering, and tending the garden.

Earlier this month I was in Haiti with a team, and we had the privilege of training 150 Haitian students at an Equip conference. I was reminded once again of how spreading the gospel is a lot like gardening. Introducing your friends to Jesus involves cultivating, planting, and reaping.

If you want a healthy garden, you have to spend some time cultivating the ground before you even get around to planting. You have to break up the hardened soil so new plants can take root. Spiritually, we cultivate the soil by building friendships. We build relationships with people who don’t know Christ, allowing ourselves to be part of the process God uses of preparing their hearts to receive his truth.

Next, you plant seeds. Lots of seeds, because you never know which ones will grow! Sometimes you have to replant a row of seeds if they don’t sprout up at first. This is true spiritually as well. You can plant seeds of truth in your friends’ lives by talking with them about God and what he has done for you. Sharing your story is one of the most effective ways of introducing your friends to Jesus.

And finally, you get to reap the harvest. Depending on what you’re growing, it may take months or even years, but this is the exciting part; it’s what you’ve been working toward and waiting for. Spiritually, reaping is clearly communicating the gospel and inviting your friends to respond.

One of my friends who was in Haiti with me is also a gardener. She came back from our trip to find a couple huge zucchinis in her garden—way too big to dice up and grill. She tried to peel one to see if she could grate it for zucchini bread, but it was too tough. She’d missed the harvest.

If we don’t take the time to reap, all of our cultivating and planting is in vain. In gardening, that just means some wasted time (and maybe some extra-huge, useless zucchini). But spiritually, eternity is at stake for our friends. We can’t miss out on the harvest!

Have you cultivated friendships with people who don’t yet know Christ? If not, what’s keeping you from doing that? If you have, are you planting seeds? Are you looking for an opportunity to reap?

“I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

want more? click here for your second shot of spiritual caffeine:
a tool to help you share your story

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!

causing courage, giving life

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:10:57 -0500

Last week at youth group we were studying Philippians 1:1-11. As we discussed application, one of our youth leaders made a comment that stuck with me. She said she wanted to be more intentional to encourage others. “This passage is like one huge encouragement from Paul,” she said. “I want to do that in little ways for others.”

It’s true. Paul tells the Philippians he thanks God for them (v. 3), he prays with joy over them (v. 4), he has them in his heart (v. 7), and he longs for them (v. 8). Then he prays that their love and their knowledge of God will grow deeper and deeper, bearing fruit and bringing God glory (v. 9-11).

I think it’s been a while since I wrote a letter/email/Facebook message that started like that!

Could it be that the writers of Scripture understood something about encouragement that we don’t? The word encourage literally means to cause courage. The Bible has a lot to say about it:
• “You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry” (Ps. 10:17).
• “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Rom. 1:11-12)
• “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4).
• “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ” (Col. 2:2).
• “We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith” (1 Thess. 3:2).
• “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Heb. 3:13).
• “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24).

Are the friends you spend time with the kind who will encourage your faith and spur you on toward love and good deeds? Are you that kind of friend?

When I think about ways I have been encouraged by my friends, a lot of things come to mind… but prayer is at the top of my list. Just today I was on Skype with a friend in Spain, and we spent some time praying for each other. It encouraged my heart. When I get notes (yeah, the old-fashioned letter kind) from friends expressing how I’ve touched their lives, I’m encouraged. When people share what God has been doing in their lives and how he’s been teaching them, it strengthens my faith. There are some people who walk so closely with Christ that just being around them is an encouragement!

I don’t know about you, but I want to be that kind of person for others. Let’s determine together to look for ways to encourage others. Proverbs tells us that the tongue has the power of life and death (Prov. 18:21). Encouragement is one way we can offer life to those around us.

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an idea list for encouraging one another

P.S. Check out our toolbox page for more resources!