One of my favorite times at school was Field Day. It was serious business for me as an athletic kid, but at the end of the day, when all the competing was done, we all sat down together and enjoyed a juice box. As we get older, it can be all too easy to skip this important part of life.

In general, we tend to frame life in terms of hard, relentless races or long, arduous marathons- while there is much to appreciate about both racing and marathoning phases of life, we're intended for something much more productive to the human experience: COMMUNITY.

Without community and fellowship with friends and neighbors there is nothing left for us but an ever out-of-reach finish line. So take a break from your racing this week and instead take some time to experience the best of what life has to offer.

Who are your go-to friends? What is your go-to ‘juice box’?

If you’re struggling to find consistent vibrant Christian community, we want to hear from you. A big part of the Project Arctos mission is to awaken us all to a more vibrant Christian experience, which is difficult to achieve without fellowship. Please take a moment to prayerfully engage this quick survey (2-min). It is anonymous and will help guide us as we develop new Christian resources:

Finding spaces for rest and community are important for vibrant Christian living. Throughout Scripture God repeatedly points us back to Him for revitalization and rest:

This is what the Lord says:

“Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,

Where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find a resting place for your souls.”

Jeremiah 6:16

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…”

Isaiah 30:15

Take a few minutes today to reflect on your present life-rhythm. Are you racing too much? Stuck on a seemingly relentless marathon? What might God be showing you to be a healthier, more vibrant part of your rhythm?

Photo by Memento Media on Unsplash

So often in Scripture it is too easy to remove ourselves from the condemnation of the teaching. If you read through the Gospels and only ever see the Pharisees as the 'villains' you could never possibly identify with, you may not be carrying the most open and honest posture into your reading.

Often Scripture hits hard like this because we need it. It's easy to fall into the natural grooves of this world- well-worn paths that seem socially right and familiar, but God always seems to be bumping us out of these ruts in order to set us on more righteous and fruitful paths.

Hebrews 5:11-14 is one of those passages for me, specifically in regards to our Sunday worship gatherings. There is so much good in our Sunday gatherings, but it does feel at times that we've harbored some unhealthy ruts and rhythms in our worship programming. For example, how many in your congregation would you consider to be 'teachers' or capable of teaching the Word in a serious manner?

Hopefully, it's many, but training up teachers and doers of the Word doesn't seem to be the priority. In fact, our Sunday worship rhythms seem too closely aligned with the ethos of the pre-Reformation Church, where under-educated parishioners relied heavily on the practice and interpretation set forth by the trained few priests and ministers. The main difference, and to our credit today, is we encourage and train our people to read the Scriptures for themselves. Where we're falling short, though, is in encouraging and providing opportunities for Christians to put the Scripture's teachings into regular practice. Instead of forging out into the world together and modeling the Sunday messages, we come right back to the pews to hear the next message without fully digesting or putting to practice the first.

If we're not careful, a routine Sunday sermon every week can become a very well established earthly rut for our parishioners. One that keeps them sipping down milk each week, but not giving them enough spiritual energy and practice to put it to miraculous use in the slice of the world God's given them. Our typical answer to this, unfortunately, is usually more education- bigger, better, more theologically dense milk (usually in the form of a class, retreat speaker, or book study). But if we read the author of Hebrews here carefully, information intake isn't the problem, it's practice. It's taking the cosmic principals handed down through Scripture and putting them to practice together in our lives.

So take a moment with God today to consider whether you're getting the well-rounded Spiritual nourishment you should be. Are you active in forging Godly paths in your life, or are there some worldly ruts you (and/or your church) have fallen into?

And for your own gathering, what was it that helped bring you to active spiritual maturity? What can you do to help others around you avoid falling into seemingly harmless ruts, such as 'sermon milking' or 'study hopping' without fully growing up into the cosmically empowered Christians God is calling them to be?

photo by Ben Vaughn on Unsplash

Sometimes it can be easy to get stuck inside our own heads. For some of us, fears, doubts, insecurities, and bitterness can continually spiral and fold in on themselves, leading us further into negativity and fruitless patterns. 

For others it’s constant internal evaluation, thinking over and over-thinking, judging, categorizing, and strategizing to fit our world into nice boxes and plot the best course ahead for ourselves.

Or maybe you’re that type to carry-on imagined conversations with your partner, friends, or co-workers- working out what you would say and guessing how they might react (whether such a conversation is ever intended to come to fruition or not).

Fortunately, the God of the universe has so much more to communicate to us than what we can come up with in our own heads. He knows all the ins and outs, the hidden details, and hearts of those around us. He has promised to guide us in His infinite wisdom:

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (Isaiah 30:21, NIV). 

Yes, God is always listening and always speaking to us. The Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence, famously led his simple life endeavoring to include God in every moment, even those as mundane as sweeping the floors and washing dishes. Since God continually speaks, we must endeavor to be continually listening for His voice.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” - John 10:27

Just ahead of this verse Jesus chastises the Jews who were questioning Him as the messiah. He told them by way of scriptures they would recognize and showed them by way of miracles and wonders, but they did not listen and they did not believe. These, Jesus notes, are indicators that they are not His sheep:

“Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep.” - John 10:25-26

We must make sure we are behaving like Jesus’ sheep. Make sure we’re listening and acting as though we believe we’re invited into the heavenly conversation. Take some time today to intentionally listen, and invite God into your inner thought-life. Strive to be in a constant, vibrant conversation with the living God (instead of merely talking to yourself). 

*For more devotional content, highlights from our articles, and invitations to our workshops, please join us on social media (Facebook / Instagram) , or sign-up for the Project Arctos email list.

**For more on Brother Lawrence, see the book, Practicing His Presence, which is online free.

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It can be hard to fathom having someone who forever and unfailingly has your best interests in view.

Hopefully you have a partner, family, or friends who at least give you a healthy taste of how this feels, but ultimately many of us still operate in this life as though we've always got to be the captains of our own destiny. As such, it can be hard to trust even God in a holistic sense.

If you're like me, you'll occasionally argue your perspective or bargain with God on some aspect of your life or another. But we have to remember that His ways are so far advanced above our ways.

While any conversation with God is good, instead of our short-sighted bargaining, it may be much better to get to a place of abidance and agreement with what God is doing and how He is leading in your life (as opposed to persistently arguing your limited perspective).

God knows you best, He knows the universe around you best, and He is always and unfailingly going to act in your best interest.

So next time you find yourself bargaining, stop for a moment and do some more listening. He's trying to bless you, grow you, and perfectly love you.

May your week be filled with divine conversation marked with an abiding posture from which you may receive blessings well beyond what you could ever have bargained for.

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