Grace Habit, Part 13 - Can God Spoil Us?

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This is actually part of something I've been thinking about for a little while - almost as long as I've been pondering the whole Grace Habit.

Two completely perfect people - totally impervious to spoiling

Two completely perfect people - totally impervious to spoiling

What do you think?  Can God spoil you?  Has He spoiled you?  Do you know someone who God has spoiled?  I'm willing to bet a delicious sammich - right here and now - that 95% of us answered "no, nope, and yes" to those three questions. 

And I don't know about you - but it goes WITHOUT saying that my parents did NOT spoil me. And my confidence on that has almost nothing to do with none of my relatives reading this. And you seem pretty cool - so obviously you're not spoiled either.  Awesome.

spoiledkids.png

If you look up (and by look up I mean google) "how to spoil a child" - you'll get the above gem - with a link to the rest of the list - which you can see for yourself if you're interested by clicking here.  But our question is not can kids be spoiled - because that seems rather obvious. Instead our question is can God spoil US? 

Based on what we can read about God in Scripture - that He's perfect, holy, just, righteous and loving - God seems ill-equipped to spoil us - or better put - the perfect entity to un-spoil us. Actually I'm of the opinion that God's ability to un-spoil us is directly proportional to our willingness to authentically pursue a growing and real relationship with Him.  Who could ever stay spoiled even just a little in the face of learning about and incorporating into one's life the teachings that Jesus spells out - for instance - in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)? At least for me - it seems like nearly everything out of Jesus' mouth is well-suited to illuminate any cozy entitlements, prejudices, cravings and expectations my ego is clinging to.  

What about those people in Scripture who seem to have been recipients of some profound favor - people like Abraham, Moses, David and Elijah for instance.  What about them?  Were they spoiled?  Were they God's "perfect little pets?"  Did everyone around them just roll their eye-balls so hard you could practically hear it when any of those individuals names were called out when God wanted to give "someone" special recognition?  If you read these stories ... you come across little bits of information about these individuals that hints that they invested their lives in God in some remarkable ways.  I'm inclined to believe that we're all God's favorites and some of us really take that to the bank - such as Abraham did - in having the requisite faith to pick up and move his whole family away from the rest of the clan - and then giving God his long-awaited and promised son to boot.  You read about Moses' putting all the entitlement of royalty at risk to relate to his countrymens' plights in Egypt.  David had a life-long habit of putting his life on the line for others - and spent the majority of his life putting his life at stake for God.  We know he wasn't perfect - but neither am I - and I don't put my life at stake.  And on and on it goes.

Honestly - this whole idea of "can God spoil us?" is the basis of the book of Job.  Satan was accusing God of spoiling Job.  

It seems that the only way God can really spoil us - is with His love.  Encountering God's love though tends to have the exact opposite effect of spoiling us though.  In fact - it seems that those struggles that inflict the most damage on the body are precisely the ones that frequent and meaningful encounters with God's love counteract.  Hypocrisy, judgement, self-righteousness, bitterness, dissension and strife - cannot survive long in the face of God's great love.  It seems like the more we walk dependent on His Love and Grace - the more we become - strengthened against these spiritual diseases. 

May we then all be so dependent on God's "spoiling" Love and Grace that we would be every earthly good to those around us - and a testament to Heaven's good will towards us all.

Grace Habit Part 12 - A little more Radical Sustainability

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(If you haven't looked at last week's post - where this part of the Grace Habit conversation started - it might be helpful for you to check it out here. )

There are few things better than being able to relax in the knowledge that someone you love also loves you.  Love is surely the glue that holds the most significant relationships of our lives together.  And who wouldn't love to be able to relax in such knowledge every day?  Lately it seems that despite this common awareness - the academics in the psychology departments and sociology departments of the world's institutions of higher learning keep churning out study after study demonstrating the power of love to keep us healthy physically and mentally - and that the impact of love - the more we're aware of it - seems to spread out over ever widening circles into more and more areas of our lives ... love makes us more resilient, more tenacious, more amicable, more successful ... and less susceptible to pain, illness, tragedy and loss.  This isn't just regarding romantic love (though that's of course powerful) - love in general has this potent effect.  I've linked to some top-notch studies below - but there are literally hundreds of studies that look at the benefits of love.

Love motivates - like nothing else.  For the sake of love - King Edward VIII abdicated his throne.  Mother's love of children is the stuff of countless movies, stories, fairy-tales - which of us can forget Bambi and his mother?  It's the stuff of pop music chart toppers

Love embeds in our memories like few things - and in an age of multi-media when we can capture almost any moment in dozens of different ways - love still commands center stage.  It's because of love that couples spend an average of $30k on their weddings - it's because of love that parents spend an average of $250k raising their child.  And who hasn't watched at least one of their sibling, cousin or friend - completely morph from unfocused goof to unstoppable responsible adult - because they fell in love and started a family.

And let's not forget the powerful contribution loving friendships bring to our lives.  From Mayo clinic to numerous academic institutions - again - we see study after study coming out with finding after finding about the power of love in this form as well to enrich our lives.  This is so powerful - that the quality of your friendships can predict how long you'll live.  Who doesn't remember these?

There are hundreds more.

If love is so meaningful to us.  And if love is what motivated God to create humanity in the first place - and and moved Him save us over and over again until finally He gave His Son up to redeem us - and if love is what leads us to become more like Him and teaches us to abide in Him - how is it that we aren't off-the-charts dedicated to tapping into this incredible force in our walks with Him?  Could anything else contribute more powerfully to our lives?  I've been mulling this over for three years now and I have yet to come up with a single downside that could result from authentically encountering God's love - however often we might choose to do so.  I'm inclined at this point to believe that whatever limit my fallibility and human frailty can impose on the saving power of God's love - for those very flaws God's love is the ideal healing agent.  While wise leaders rightfully resist laying heavy burdens of expected perfection regarding lengthy and rigorous daily Bible Study and Prayer times - I can't imagine a down-side to basking as often as we can in the warm light of God's eternal Love for us. And how differently do we read, pray, serve, confess, meditate, sing and grow when we arrive at these from a place of receiving God's love than we do when we approach them from a place of should, must, debt etc.  To be sure - we have no personal right to demand such incredible love - and yet God offers it to us - and then calls us children - His children - and tells us stories such as that of the prodigal -  and restores sons to widowed grieving mothers - and in all these stories reveals a bit more of His heart towards us.  We might start from a place of "pshaawww.  love is so squishy." (well - I know I did anyway) - but the more we encounter this force - on good days and bad days - the more incredible and powerful we experience it.  So much so that one of the most frequent Bible quotes is "God is love."  (1 John 4:7, 8,  and 16)

 

Harvard Study

Yale Press book on Love

3 Psychiatrists' book on Love 

Mayo study on friendships

Monday Funday

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Happy Emancipation Day - and here are some laughs to kick off your week!

spellingfunny.jpg

That's all for now - as always - if you're looking for more humor - head on over to the JC's Village Pinterest humor boards - "Blessed Are The Funny"
Praying you all have a great week!

Good Friday Facts

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1.  Jesus was offered anesthetic twice on the day of His death: once with Pilate at the beginning of the ordeal of His crucifixion, and again near the end - right before Jesus died.  You can read both of these accounts in Mark 15:23, 36.  The first wine was mixed with myrrh and had narcotic properties.  The later drink was probably not as strong - but regardless - Jesus rejected both.

2.  Golgotha, the place of Jesus' crucifixion, which we translate as "The Place of the Skull" people often assume that the place itself resembled a skull in some way.  But the name doesn't come from the appearance of the site - rather from the Jewish tradition that Noah's son, Shem, brought with them the skull of Adam to Melchizidek and that together they burried it on this site in Jerusalem.  This is why many older crucifixion scenes show a skull at the base of the cross.  The symbolism is profound - the blood of the innocent and crucified Second Adam running down over the bones of the first and fallen Adam.

3.  The darkness that fell wasn't localized - but was actually recorded by some historians (Phlegon, Thaddus, & Julius Africanus) as global.  Also - the language of the New Testament itself using the prefix "ges" to indicate that the darkness was over the earth.

4.  As Jesus' trial was taking place - Caiphas the High Priest was choosing the sacrificial lamb to atone for the sins of the nation that Passover. Jesus' crucifixion began as the lamb Caiphas chose was also being slain.  Lastly - as Caiphas was entering the Holy of Holies to present that sacrificial lamb's blood - Jesus breathed His last and the veil separating the Holy Holies from the rest of the temple tore from top to bottom.

5.  The veil - unlike the thin fabric we imagine a bride might wear - to the Jews a veil was a screen - more like a fabric wall.  It was 60' tall, 30' wide, and at least 4" thick.  It would've been terrifying to be anywhere near it as it tore from top to bottom.  

6.  The earthquakes that took place on the day that Jesus died were also described in the New Testament with the prefix "ges" (see Matthew 27:51) - indicating that they, like the darkness, were global.  

7.  Not only were all these things taking place - but even more startlingly - Matthew 27:52-53 says:

52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the [aa]saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:52-53 NASB

You think reading Paul's sermons on the meaning of Salvation are difficult to comprehend? The chaos of all that unfolded before, during and upon Christ's death with Swiss-watch precision are difficult to fathom.  Small wonder we resort to commemorating Easter with little egg-shaped jellied-sugar balls and clucking rabbits laying chocolate-peanut-butter eggs.  Bizarre as these symbols are they are infinitely less troubling and show-stopping than global darkness, global earthquakes, and the bodily resurrection of many dead.  

What I want to leave us all with on this point however, is not these dusty factoids, but rather a lengthy meditation and prayer-time worthy thought that if this was the power of Jesus' DEATH - imagine the enormity of the power He has at the ready for us in His resurrected sovereignty!  Hang on - I think I gotta stop a second, jump up on my desk and yawp out an "AMEN!!"

BUT WAIT!!!  THERE'S MORE!!!

8.  The first person to declare that the just-died Christ - still on the cross is surely God's son was a man - who moments before was complicit in His crucifixion! 

"54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was [ab]the Son of God!”  Matthew 27:54 NASB

I don't know about you - but my observation of human nature is that there's few worse things you can call someone than "wrong" - and yet here's a man - in all likelihood a trusted member of the Roman army there to protect the Roman Governor, Pilate; probably a career military professional - calling himself wrong - not just wrong - but simultaneously declaring someone other than Caesar as God!

All seems to die down after Friday - until Sunday morning - and look at what's happening now!

9.  Two of the women who followed Jesus came to the brand-new, as of yet unused, tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:57-60) - and found the Roman soldiers assigned to guard Jesus' tomb totally gone and missing (possibly up to 50 guards in all).  This was a serious dereliction of duty that under every other circumstance would have led to a capitol sentence on each of the guards - each of the guards should have died for this - but no such punishments are recorded.

10.  Not only were the guards gone - but the approximately 4,000 pound stone that had been rolled over the tomb's entrance was rolled away.  It seems highly unlikely that the soldiers would've broken their superior's seal and re-opened the tomb.  

11.  Not only were the guards gone, the enormous stone rolled away from the tomb, but the women who came with spices to as respectfully as they could prepare Jesus body for burial - entered the tomb and came upon this scene:

"and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying."  John 20: 12 (NASB)

Which for all the world sounds like a funerial version of this description: 

"He made a [d]mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits [e]long and one and a half cubits [f]wide. 7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work [g]at the two ends of the mercy seat;8 one cherub [h]at the one end and one cherub [i]at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat [j]at the two ends.9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the [k]mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat." Exodus 37: 6-9 (NASB) 

If you continue to read this passage - this Mercy Seat was God's throne on earth - the place where He would sit on the Day of Atonement.  Incredible.  The enormously huge and weighty temple veil - which per some accounts required hundreds of priests to hang up whenever it was replaced - was torn from top to bottom - and now a divine, live-action Mercy Seat is being enacted - in plain site of women.  It is a new day indeed!

12.  Jesus' burial garments remained in the tomb - laid as they had been wrapped around His body - but His body was no longer within them.  

"he two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; 5 and stooping and looking in, he *saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. 6 And so Simon Peter also *came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he *saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself."  John 20: 4-7 (NASB) 

There is a multiplicity of layers of divine workings laid one over the next when it comes to the entire Crucifixion and Resurrection that provides a life-time of consideration.

13.  Jesus' resurrection is the for the early church - the core message.  And why not - it was also the core proof Jesus offered His disciples by which to examine the truth of His claims.  The gospel for Jesus' closest followers was "Jesus said "if I rise again - I'm the Messiah" and He did!"  This incredible series of events - which they were so unable to grasp before it all unfolded that they scolded Him at one point for talking about it - was so trans-formative to them that this was the gospel - this was the message that fueled them all around the Roman Empire. 

14.   This message didn't just set their travel/vacation plans though - it radically altered their lives.  Peter who caved to fear - despite the big, boisterous personality we see him living out over and over again - first to speak up - and first to put his foot in his mouth it seemed - Peter's reaction to Jesus arrest and crucifixion was that he was crushed.  Smitten.  Peter - threw in the towel and gave up on not just Jesus - but everything.  It's as if when Jesus stopped Peter from attacking in the garden (John 18:10) - Peter's whole defense against this awful impossible he couldn't believe he was seeing crumbled.  Peter fell to pieces.  We can pity him for this - but then look what happens shortly after Jesus' resurrection:  Peter - whose given name was actually Simon, stands up and preaches the sermon that proves he really is "The Rock" for Jesus - and we all read this incredible sermon - the sermon against which all others invariably get measured every single Sunday everywhere in the world - and we all go "ooooooh. yeah. that makes sense now."

Upon the resurrection - something inexplicable happened - inexplicable even in light of all the inexplicables that had just unfolded before everyone's eyes - the fearful, unsure, unclear disciples - GOT IT!  Oh BOY did they get it!  And they were never able to un-get what they now understood.  They had no way to unsee what they'd finally seen.  They were radically changed - so radically changed - that the natural fall-out from their transformation - was the transformation of the entire planet.

15.  And what's the symbol of this new faith?  Nothing other than the very thing on which their founder was killed - at the foot of which they wept - and in the face of which their greatest preachers and teachers were destroyed to the core of their souls.  Mind-blowing.

Honestly - if you read the resurrection account - it reads like the most twisted plot twist in the history of plot twists ... a homeless man with a radical teaching about God and barely twelve dedicated followers to that idea. Surely - any church planting or missions board would've killed Jesus' ministry and written it off as a failure!  And yet - this homeless man - who runs afoul of the greatest government the world had ever seen at that time - gets himself killed in the most brutal way imaginable - all of which is so terrifying to his most ardent, allbeit uneducated and rough followers to see that even they ditch Him and run for the lives - only to be lured back when women testify that Jesus isn't actually dead - and then transform - right before everyone in Jerusalem into the heads of the most world-changing movement the world has ever known - who speak with such power and conviction about their experiences that the academic elites of their day are dumbstruck and confounded.

Wherever you might be in your walk today - let us remember, It may be Friday - but Sunday's coming!

Happy Good Friday everyone!

And a very blessed Resurrection Sunday celebration to you all.

 

 

Cool Person Alert: Hannah Whitehall Smith

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Some of you have heard of Hannah Whitehall Smith.  Some of you are about to.

For reference - here's who we're talking about today:  

obviously ... she's hipster

obviously ... she's hipster

Smith - born nearly two hundred years ago - in Philedelphia was a Quaker.  Quakers were generally terrific pragmatists and Smith was no exception.  Because her entire personal theology grew out of the soil of her classic saying (above) "God is enough." she saw her primary role to living out that "enough" was through - not just submission - but surrender.  She used that personal surrender as a means - not to life long torture, denial, misery or any other such - but as a means to illuminating the path of truth to God's purpose for all.  If she didn't completely understand a promise in scripture - she would ask herself - for instance - if she was understanding that passage through the "I must" of obligatory duty or if she was understanding it through the "I get to" of love (though her way of writing that was "may I") 

This simple distinction shouldn't be rushed over or glossed over.  Too quickly we are satisfied - in this age of one minute Bibles, and one-minute sermons and one-minute prayer ... we can be tricked by our appreciation for speed into underappreciating the tenacity of this woman who meditated, pondered, ruminated, and in all other ways teased apart and reconstructed scripture over and over until she understood it in a way that was like receiving a shot of God's love straight from His own heart.  All other interpretations - however convenient - were inferior to the one that reminded her of God's incredible love for her.  This unrelenting pursuit of a deeper comprehension of God's love through filtering all of God's word through that lens led to a curious result in Smith's life.

Smith was happy.  

No I mean really happy.  Ridiculously, enviably, and notably happy - in the midst of hard labor, a daunting schedule, farming by hand, travel by horses, no internet, petticoats and shoes - SHOES I tell ya! - with more buttons than the space station! (well ... practically) - her happiness began to attract attention.  A lot.

So much so - she was encouraged on all sides to explain herself.  So she did.  Her explanation led to more demands that she explain herself - and so it went until finally she sat down and wrote it all out in a book - which has failed to go out of print.  Her book - called The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life" 

Before sharing her message of understanding obedience totally through God's love and our loving God - she describes life this way:

"You do love your work in the abstract, but in the doing of it you find so  many cares and responsibilities connected with it, and feel so many misgivings and doubts at to your own capacity or fitness, that it becomes a very heavy burden, and you go to it bowed down and weary before the labor has even begun.  Then also you are continually distressing yourself about the results of your work, and greatly troubled if they are not just what you would like; and this of itself is a constant burden."

Now I know that while words like "Brexit" and "Sharenting" were all the rage in 2016 and "Uberization" looks like it's poised to leave a mark on 2017 - "Happiness" has been a big-whoopity-doo for a LOOOOONNNGG time.  And why not?  "Misery" has no pull to compare.  And I am all for being happy - especially when the alternative is a demeanor that compares to "sucking on lemons and guzzling vinegar"  I mean - I confess - I watched "The Pursuit of Happiness", read "Happiness Project" - and even the sequel.  I'm ALL FOR improvement, growth and that British baking show if that makes you smile. 

But - happiness as an end in and of it self - I believe - will fall short.  Every. Single. Time.  And - while a lot can be said for a pursuit of happiness in the midst of struggle as a way of making the best of things - I still feel compelled to point out that this word doesn't mean exactly now what it did then.  To many Quakers then - to be happy - was to feel blessed.  

The gift of this book is Smith's down-to-earth descriptions of conversations with numerous people she encountered - struggling through the difficulties of life in the mid-1800's.  Her book actually came out in 1875 - this was just a decade after the civil war ended and just two years after the financial panic of 1873 ... people were despairing.  

Also - contrary to many modern versions of the teaching that to obey God is to be blessed - some of which are just disastrous - Smith's definition of having received the "happiness of God" was that you wanted to be faithful.  In other words - to Smith - the ultimate reward for understanding God's word through the lens of love was more of God Himself.  Smith says it best herself:

"God's way of working therefore, is to get possession of the inside of us, to take the control and management of our will, and to work in it for us.  Then obedience is easy and a delight, and service becomes perfect freedom, until the Christian is forced to explain, "This happy service!  Who could dream earth had such liberty?" 

This quite a different message than some present today.  Her entire book is an argument for the trustworthiness of God.  She makes these arguments by presenting a passage - highlighting the promise therein - and then giving multiple examples of people who struggled with that very passage - but surrendered themselves to God's love and sovereignty and discovered not just love through obedience - but freedom.  

While updated versions exist with modern language - I do encourage you to try first the original - the language is different - but her voice comes through beautifully and her message will be less diluted.  

Lastly - this posts - as well as all my previous posts ... if this is as helpful to you as it was to me; thanks for stopping by.  If not; thanks for stopping by.  I am committed to pushing on regardless.

Grace Habit, Part 12: Radical Sustainability

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Small tangent: Okay - you may not realize this - but I really love it when I remember to get a pic that's just right for the post right at the top ... If I forget to add the pic right away at the beginning of the post - it's a tiny bit trickier to get it just right ... so today's post is about sustainability - which predictably led to a google search with lots and lots of green pictures ... green maps of the world, green globes, green city skylines and such ... no problem ... I like sustainability and green skylines - but that's not really what this post is about.

so then I searched "pure endurance" - and that turns out to be some powder you add to your ... everything to make some store at the mall rich ... sooooo anyhoooo ... long story short ... here is the best picture I can come up with for what I mean by sustainability ... 

Like that?  Great art.  The artist wishes to remain anonymous.  ahem.

How do you suppose Jesus taught the disciples to be with Him while He was with Him? "What a silly question!" you say.  And you're right.  That's pretty much obvious - right?  How did He teach them to be with Him after He was gone?  That's less silly, isn't it?  But I bet when you read that - you didn't think of Jesus' trappings - but rather Him, Himself.  It's interesting to me that Jesus - who could've made it so - that when we read His words we would essentially only read of Him telling us how to be with Him - instead of recording all that other stuff - like Him saying "catch a fish and pay my taxes".  And I'm on board if you say "well, really, all of it IS Him teaching us how to be with Him" ... but I'll still circle back to the thing He did say "this is Me teaching you how to be with Me - is a little prayer called the Lord's prayer and we teach it to children and even people who aren't in church every time the doors are open know at least a lot of "Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name ... " 

Jesus' teaching His disciples how to pray - while He was with Him - was a whopping sub-70 word message on prayer.

Yet how many of us have this ideal way to spend time with Jesus that's just ... well, it's just ... not sub-70 words ... it's kinda ... if truth be told ... grueling.

To be Christian - sometimes - feels like "to want to love Jesus, just a little bit more than I do now."

What if the best way to love Jesus more - is to just love Him now.  That's it.  Just love Him in this moment.  Simply.  Directly.

Call me crazy - but I think that Jesus didn't slip "give us now our daily bread" to leave us groaning - exhausted with tortured looks on our faces "daily?"

Here's another radical idea ... maybe the goal isn't to have this ueber-time with Jesus every day - including the perfect prayer, the perfect scripture study, the perfect intercession, the perfect worship ... 

Maybe perfect isn't all these little bits we add 

Maybe perfect is just us being with Him - and a few dozen words.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really into spending time with Him - praying, studying scripture ... big time.  I confess.  Think I'm kidding ... my current journal is #79 ... I have over 7,000 filled journal pages ... and that's after I edited a bunch and set a whole banana box full of old journals on fire. 

I don't say that maybe less truly is more because I don't want more - but because I do want more.  And I want more for the students I talk to and work with.  But I've also seen them looking at my journals and saying things like "I should journal".  Gag.  

So for the record ... You cannot get into heaven by journaling - daily or otherwise.  Nor can you secure your salvation by engaging in the most technical Bible study. Memorization?: Ditto! Name a spiritual discipline - and the answer will be the same.

But over and over again I hear and see people talking about spending time with God that sounds just so grueling.  In fact - one of the first sermons I remember hearing was called "No Bible, No Breakfast!" I was about 12 - and I'm afraid I remember it for all the wrong reasons ... the preacher lost his mind up there preaching that sermon.  He went ape.  He lost his temper - his cool - his composure - and he lost a 12 year old girl sitting in the back row in the middle of the youth group.

But what if the key to anything "daily" with Jesus were as simple as "you be with Him - and He'll be with you - and maybe you say a few words"?

Hmmm.

Okay - let's think about this another way:  what kinds of "equipment" did most of the people who Jesus ever preached to have?  Um ... their clothes.  Apparently some showed up for revival meetings without even a picnic basket full of goodies for the "well-duh! there's going to be a pot-luck afterwards!" ... and had to settle for fish-sandwiches.  It's hard to imagine any context in which they were all functionally literate - never mind toting around a rig like this ... 

um ... that's my rig

um ... that's my rig

As a person of faith - I think Jesus came when the world was ready ... and that includes their daily rig.  Nobody had anything like this going on back then.  Even the Essenes sitting at Qumran didn't carry around a rig like this.

Also - I believe Jesus modeled for us a way to be with him that was accessible to all.   You know what else - I think sometimes I have covered my imagined insecurities with purchases ... with stuff.  That's just me though. 

So - based on what was sustainable at the actual time Jesus was teaching people how to be with Him - I keep coming back to "If it was really that important for our spiritual growth and development - He would've said it, taught it, modeled it.  Jesus said "pray" and He modeled praying. Jesus said "pray to the Father - and He prayed - both with the disciples and sometimes He went off by Himself for "extended periods" of time ... but when He taught His disciples to pray He didn't say "thou shalt go off and pray all night every night."  ... I have sure added to the Lord's prayer myself plenty of times ... "Give us this day our daily ... verses to live by, deep thoughts to impress others with, meaningful interpretations to get the attention of the leadership, leatherbound Bible looking respectfully tattered PLUS a journal bursting with notes ... " 

Another way to look at this whole conversation is the "daily bread" part ... Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life - and that surely was an homage to how God sustained His people in the desert on manna.  Also back then - bread - a hand milled, stone-ground stuff naturally leavened in the air (think: sour-dough) and baked in an earthen oven or over an open hearth fire - was actually and rightfully on the daily menu.  This was a whole-grain food - because there was just not such a wild abundance of food that anyone was nuts enough to farm by hand to grow a crop and then throw over half of the edible portion out just to make "softer bread" ... people had flat middles and hard bread - and they were eating to avoid starvation. Bread was essential.

Bread was essential.  Jesus is essential. He's comparing Himself to what's essential.

If the way you're spending time with Jesus isn't essential - enjoyable ... you crave it ... change it.  Please.  

I don't want to tell anyone how to do this - but for the sake of example - I use what I do.  Sure would love to hear what you've found is sustainable day over day.

I love being out-of-doors.  I love camping, hiking and backpacking, kayaking and all that ... but don't worry - if that's not your thing - then please substitute what is your thing ...  But this is literally my essential, daily Jesus - and I find that the more I do engage in this practice - the more I want to engage in this practice.

The practice is this ... in my mind - I go to my favorite camp-ground ever ... and I go down and sit on the beach.  (As luck would have it - I have a picture of the view across from this place - see above)  I recall that scene after Jesus resurrection when He sat on the beach grilling fish with His disciples ... and I just sit there with Him.  I imagine the cracking fire.  The sounds.  The feel.  The smells.  Often it is in fact wordless.  Often it isn't.  It is always pleasant. Utterly sustainable.  I finish this one day and immediately want to go back and do it again.  I have never once had to cajole, berate, guilt, or bribe or engage in any other such technique to force myself to comply.  I have found - that being with Jesus is alluring, calming, encouraging, uplifting, engaging, fulfilling, restful, peaceful, inspiring ... it feels exactly like being loved in a place I love.  Feel free to try it for a minute or two. Stay longer if you want.  Don't if you can't. 

And it turns out that the thing that in the way of this much longed for sort of experience all my life was all trappings I brought to it.  Now - participated in at it's essential level - it really is this: