Awakening Strengths

S

(Revelation 3:2) Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

O
Sleep is that necessary state where the body lies comatose and its imagination is left unguarded to unravel its emotional tensions. Figuratively, to jump awake is to remember reality and repent--i.e., to reverse all that is wrong (3:3). That is the surprise: instead of focusing on lost life, Jesus said repentance is best accomplished by strengthening and nurturing the good that is still alive. "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

A (Personal)
Have I completed the opportunities that God gave me so far today or this week? He's not a tyrant who forbids enjoyment or demands forced labor; He's gracious. He understands that love, mercy, and peace produce good fruit if we'd but cultivate and enjoy them. Therefore, think: What strengths, what virtues, what goodnesses and potential greatnesses have I been neglecting or minimizing?

A (Psychological)

Here, Strength-Based and Positive Psychology models find their spiritual roots. Dr. Susan Bettis said (my paraphrase) that the last thing depressed people need is empathic Rogerian rehashing of their misery--strengthening what should be asleep instead of awakening what should be awake. That's why Positive Psychology works so well with depressed people. Jesus's letter to the people at Sardis affirms the need for dealing explicitly with strengths and toxins.

P
Lord, good morning. Thank You for haven given me great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:3,4) and every spiritual blessing in the Heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). Have I been miserly or fearful and treated Your gifts as scarcities? Have I used any of them to manipulate or trouble others instead of liberate them? If so, help me to feel and fear that pain and to honorably repent.

Healthy Disclosures: Straight Talk

S

(John 16:14) "I have said these things to you to keep you from falling away ... that when the hour comes you may remember that I told these to you ..."

O

In this chapter, Jesus revealed that He calculates what, when, and how He discloses information. Sometimes He spoke plainly; sometimes He disclosed Himself figuratively. Always, He calculated His revelations so whoever received His words would have fullness of joy in themselves (15:11; 17:13) and peace during terrible circumstances (16:33).

A (Personal)

From Jesus' words (16:25,29), I see the heart behind His informed consents. He gives me enough information to allow me real choices about whether to trust Him. Armed with this information, I now have a new set of options during tough times, which are inevitable ... and I can legitimately set my hopes on God.

A (Psychological)

People should be respected enough to be enabled to make their own decisions about their lives, even though I might be convinced I can to that better than they can. God doesn't usurp the rights and responsibilities He's given people ... dare I? My challenge, then is to calculate as best I can what is the healthiest amount of information clients need at any given moment, remembering that knowledge (disclosure) is progressive and cumulative. The next challenge of integrity is to inform people in a way that, over time and increased information, all disclosures square perfectly with truth.

P

Lord, thank You for speaking plainly and letting me know that even though I love and trust You, I'll still encounter tough days before I get to heaven. Thank You for being vague or specific, according to what You see is best for me. I trust You and I love You.

Follow the Leader

S
(3 John 11) Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

O
The Holy Spirit developed within John a mastery of simple, strong communication, as this summary verse demonstrates. We all mimic. We all imitate others. Otherwise (quite literally, as neurologists tell us), our brains would not form or function. The issue John presented wasn't whether to mimic, but whom. No human idea is really new (Eccl. 1:9): creativity is merely a redressing and personalizing what we've seen and followed. We long to transform, to possess improvements, but to stay within the structure of what is safely familiar. Longing for resurrection is hardwired in us.

A (Personal)
John revealed that anyone who has seen, touched, and discovered God aches to mimic Him--to become truly good. For that reason, God reminds us (2 Thessalonians 3:7,9; Hebrews 13:7) to thoughtfully observe the people we're following. I need to objectively evaluate the people who are on the same path I've chosen but who are simply farther along.

A (Psychological)
In addition to the obvious parallels in developmental and contextual models of human development, this verse suggests interventions from several other models. Nila Epstein, while supervising me, has recommended that I ask some clients (teenage boys) who their heroes have been. By identifying their favorite characters in movies or books or history, people are able to understand the reasons behind their choices. We a naturally imitators, but we don't easily admit or recognize that. Play therapists recognize that play resolves the incongruencies of our circumstances. Similarly, while sleeping our brains "translate ... expectations into dream scenarios...and metaphorically act them out" (J. Griffin, I Tyrrell, Family Therapy Magazine, Nov-Dec. 2008, pp 26-30). Narrative Therapy, while exploring dominant and alternative stories of our lives.

P
Lord, give me boldness. I need that if I'm going to be honest about my life and my direction, if I'm going to believe Your Word. I understand that no person is perfect, so I need You to heal my eyes so that I can see Your hand and Your heart at work in the people I'm imitating, even though it's in my own style. Please unclog my ears so I discern Your leadership above distracters.

Appropriate Trouble; Apt Peace

S
(John 13:21) After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in His spirit and testified, "Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me."

O
Luke described this troubling Jesus felt as being like calm water that had been roiled up. Others who had had similar emotions were described as being terrified, agitated, unsettled, confused, and intimidated. Such reactions were appropriate, normal responses to disturbed, abnormal circumstances.

A (Personal)
I'm encouraged that Jesus knows how I feel at such times. I'm thankful, too, that those disturbances--and my emotional reactions and mind-freezing responses--are simply reality checks for me. They remind me that I still need a Savior and that Jesus is always mighty to save.

A (Psychological)
Mental health is not maintaining emotional indifference or distance from difficult circumstances. It's being able to experience emotions appropriately. Some circumstances are so severe (or our perception of the might be so severe) that returning to a stable, peaceful state is not always possible apart from direct aid from the Holy Spirit.

P
Lord, thank You for letting me "see You" through Scriptures. You can be agitated and troubled, too, but You also have remedies so that I can "not let my heart be troubled or afraid." You alone can always restore peace when no one else can and even when circumstances remain unchanged (John 14:1, 27).

Humble Enough to See

S

(John 9:41) Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt, but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

O (Biblical)

To everyone's surprise, Jesus wasn't as concerned about actual sin as He was about people's attitude towards sin. He already knew the world's works were evil (7:7) and that people were enslaved to sin (8:34,35). The problem, though, was that people's sin became solidified whenever they claimed to be free of sin apart from Jesus. Such people are forever locked up with their guilt.

O (Psychological)

Lack of humility is a great psychological problem. When ever people deny sin or guilt, whenever people minimize the relational damage they have been responsible for, their openness to change is unlikely. Unresolved relational damage, therefore remains. Guilt is present even though it's denied.

A (Personal)

I don't want to be like the disciples who saw sin as the cause of suffering (9:2) or the Pharisees who saw sin as a description of other people (9:34). Like the adulterer in John 8 or the blind man in John 9, I want Jesus to help me see my sin so I can repent and be delivered.

A (Psychological)

A person's attitude towards offense seems to correlate significantly with readiness for change: the greater the denial of being guilty of moral wrong-doing, the less ready a person is for change. It would be interesting to study Prochaska's stages of change with humble, honest attitudes towards personal sin (as distinguished from co-dependency).

P

Savior, You see the full range and ramifications of each sin, which is why You came to make deliverance available to us. In Your light, I am able to light--the Light of Life (Psalm 36:9; John 8:12). I pray that You help me to always have a tender and humble heart towards sin and righteousness.

Locus of Control

S (Scripture)
(John 7:17, 18) If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether [Jesus' teachings are] from God ... the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him is no falsehood.

O (Observation--Biblical)
Here, Jesus gives humanity tools for discerning the validity of His amazing claims. These tools also help us recognize both truth and honest people--authenticity (see Acts 17:24-28). He teaches that people who promote themselves instead of God are filled with falsehood. In contrast, those who induce people to love and obey God are filled with truth. How does one recognize Truth? The more one reveals Jesus, the more one reveals Truth (see John 14:6,7).

O (Observation--Psychological)
J.B. Rotter (1966) developed the concept of Locus of Control: a person's generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. C. Hoffine, who works with batterer interventions, warns of people who manipulate power and control to compel others to satisfy their expectations--internal loci of contro. Conversely, N. Groom, who works with addictive interventions, warns of co-dependency--external loci of control. This Scripture shows a third locus of cotrol: submission to God's will guards against either extreme.

A (Observation--Biblical)
This information teaches me how to structure my life and my thoughts. First, I resolve to be a person who resolves to do God's will, wherever that leads me. Second, I resolve to be a person who seeks God's glory and revelation in any circumstance, regardless of how Fear or Doubt or Greed might argue. Third, I resolve to delight in Your introductions and revelations: You not only love revealing Your love, You also let us share the joy of helping people discover You.

A (Observation--Psychological)
The following intervention might help people who struggle with boundaries and shame. It involves processing a matrix-style worksheet. (I've not created it yet).

• The 3 columns identify one's resolutions (what one wills to do): Self-Serving (internal locus of control), Other-Serving (external locus of control), Christ-Serving (God locus of submission).


• The 6 rows identify expected results from these resolutions: Internal Approval, Internal Disapproval, External Approval, External Disapproval, God Approval, God Disapproval.

The intervention is to write expected feelings that result in each cell (a list of emotions might be helpful for clients). This might profoundly encourage people to trust or learn more about God, or it might explain a person's resistance to trusting God.

P (Prayer)
Lord, its hard to not be a self-promoter or self-server. Just as it's also hard to not be a slave to others' disapproval or approval. The only thing that gives me perspective enough to abandon those sins is to love and trust You. I know you--You are truly trustworthy.