E for Enough
Continuing with the most popular letter in the English language, here is an encapsulated rendition of Philippians chapters 3 & 4:
Look out-
Evil hides in religion:
Eighth day, a tribe, and some zeal.
Everything’s really through faith,
Eyes fixed ahead on our call.
All our
Enemies walk past the cross,
Ending in shame, filled with self.
Earth shapes their minds, but not ours,
Enabled by Christ to change.
Therefore,
Entreating sister workers,
Euodia, Syntyche,
Enter again side by side;
Everyone’s watching your lives.
And now
Each anxious thought in your hearts
Entrust as requests to God.
Everything worthy of praise,
Earnestly dwell on these things.
Know that
Extremes in life will abound-
Empty or full, I’m content.
Except for you, I’ve had Christ.
Enough in his strength, I’m supplied.
Why condense a book into phrases that start with E? Does it do any good or is it just amusing? Here’s what you might find in an exercise like this:
You concentrate and meditate on a passage, which puts it deeper into your heart.
You look for meaning in paragraphs, not just single verses.
You’ll never forget that Epaphroditus and Euodia are in the book with lots of E’s.
E for Effort
As I read Philippians 1 & 2, it was surprising to me how many words or concepts in these chapters begin with one repeated letter. If you Google the most frequently used letter in our alphabet, the English language has a favorite one, and it’s apparently the vowel E.
Paul didn’t write in English, so I don’t believe E has any divine meaning behind it, but if I were looking for a way to remember the topics from these first two chapters in Philippians, I’d start with E.
I pray,
Eager to see what only
Eternity will complete.
Embracing love more, may your
Excellent lives bear their fruit.
I know
Each of my trials bring joy,
Envy or good will aside.
Even by life or death, our
Eternal Christ is proclaimed.
I am
Encouraged by Him who was
Equal with God, and yet He
Emptied Himself to His death,
Even to death on a cross.
He was
Exalted by God above
Every name known in the
Earth and the heavens, so that
Every knee bows to Him.
It’s not
Easy to shine, just like these:
Epaphroditus and Tim.
Endure, yet be sure that the
Effort’s all Christ’s, and He won.
A Childlike Week
Especially on Mondays, I wake up with the weight of the week on my shoulders. It’s not that there’s always a crisis I’m bracing for up ahead, but that there are so many contexts I’m embracing up ahead. Home, work, church, friends, neighborhood…each one calls for attention, and I want to give it fully. But how to give myself to each one at the right time, in the right way, meeting the right need, is often what concerns me on a Monday morning.
Today as God met me, Ephesians 5:1 & 2 spoke the direction I need for this week:
“Therefore be imitators of God…”
In my home, imitate God
In my work, imitate God
In my church, imitate God
In my friendships, imitate God
In my neighborhood, imitate God
So this is supposed to be helpful?! You might say it sounds like an unreachable standard. Yet, it’s the next phrase that brings it down to scale:
“...as beloved children,”
Little children stick close, wide-eyed to their parents’ actions, words, and body language. They don’t overanalyze or second guess whether it was specifically in one context or another that their parents’ behavior applied, and so they indiscriminately imitate them. Blunders abound. Laughter abounds. Parents blush in embarrassment.
But God invites our eager, childlike imitation of Him, because His character and actions are applicable in every context, no filter necessary. It’s how Jesus lived on earth: “...whatever the Father does, the Son does also.” John 5:19.
When I stick close, wide-eyed to God Himself, what I’ll see in Him is love, as Paul continues in verse 2:
“and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us…”
Giving up self in imitation of God applies in every context of my week. Surely, blunders will abound when I’m more childish than childlike, but my Father is with me every step to pick me back up and show me the way again. “For I the Lord your God hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, ‘fear not; I am the one who helps you.’” Isaiah 41:13
Every Day
Memorial Day
May 27, 2024
There’s no way a holiday can serve as sufficient consolation to the moms and dads, wives and husbands, children and relatives who have lost family members to the cause of freedom. But it is our day of recognition - a marker on the calendar to reflect on the personal losses that have been endured for the sake of nation-wide gains.
To really sit in that proves just how much a “thank you” is inadequate and payback, impossible. Whether we’re continuing our regular work rhythms today or stopping to celebrate with picnics and fireworks, both of these everyday American activities are reasons to be grateful for all of the families missing someone in their day, every day.
We may not know you, but we honor you.
The Lord’s Prayer
I usually rush into prayer, driven by all I need, and I miss the worshipful focus that Jesus teaches us to begin with in His famous Lord’s Prayer. I want to worship, but I feel so needy. It’s a lofty goal to hallow God’s name when what I really need is daily bread. It sounds too distant to ask for His kingdom when immediate relationships need healing. His will is a foreign path in a world that tempts to define my course.
But if we allow God’s name to inform us about bread, His kingdom to teach us about forgiveness, and His will to guide us into deliverance, we can unite our divided desires and come to God in worshipful neediness.
“Our Father, what kind of love is this to be called Your children!?
You’re a Father who doesn’t play favorites with Your family,
yet You lavish me with individual attention as if I’m an only child.
I am here on earth, but You hold me in your gaze from heaven.
May Your Name be seen as holy when I live in unusual obedience,
because I believe You for my urgent needs like daily bread.
May all who watch my reactions to life’s lows and to your provision in them,
wonder at the Name I carry.
May Your kingdom come, first ruling in my heart
to reveal who I am: Your debtor turned daughter.
May I draw from the treasury of Your forgiveness of me
to spend it on behalf of any sin against me.
May Your will be done, here in my life on this broken earth
where temptation is rampant and evil rules the night.
Deliver me to overcome like Your Son from heaven,
because I belong to You, and it all belongs to You.
Amen.”
Matthew 6:9-13; Numbers 20:2-13; Matthew 18:23-35; Matthew 4:1-17