Motive

mo·tive:  ˈmōdiv/

noun: motive; plural noun: motives

    1.  a reason for doing something, especially one that is hidden or not obvious.

    "a motive for his murder"

    synonyms:     reason, motivation, motivating force, rationale, grounds, cause, basis, object, purpose, intention;

Motive, quite a word. Almost as if it has a motive of its own. To encourage us to look deeper, to discover it, uncover it. Just as interesting as the discovery, can be what it was hidden under in the first place!

I love words, puzzles, mysteries….all of that ‘looking beyond the obvious’ stuff. Which brings the question of, why don’t we humans like to dig for our own motives? The very definition says that it is “hidden or not obvious.”

That doesn’t mean everyone else’s is hidden and our very own is obvious to us! The Psalmist wrote, 

Look deep into my heart, God, and find out everything I am thinking. Psalm 139:23

If I had cherished sin in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened

Psalm 66:18

The irony is, we have motives behind not wanting to know our own motives. Thankfully, we have the One we can trust to be our very own Motive Revealer.

One of the ways He reveals things to us is thru His Word. There is a particular reading/study method that I like and it is really easy. Select a passage that you would like to read, like  a chapter or parable, then you do these 4 steps.

1 ~ Read the passage just to familiarize yourself with the people, places, setting or event.

2 ~ Read it again, this time paying attention to whatever may seem to stick out to you. Sometimes this is a verse, or just one word.

3 ~ Read again, this time praying as you go. Ask God just what it is He wants to show/teach you from that word, or phrase. I like to read the same passage in different versions, or grab a dictionary to help with meanings. Always take notes and journal through this.

4 ~ Read again, and this time ask God to show you what He wants you to take from it…meaning, what “new” thing can you take into your life to help you grow closer to Him.  Pray for an epiphany!

I hope you’ll try it and explore some familiar passages and see what God has for you there! This reading process is what I am doing in 1 Thessalonians …

God was pleased to trust us with His message. We didn’t speak to please people, but to please God who knows our motives.

I Thessalonians 2:4 ~ CEV

I think this is one of those wonderful connect-the-dots kinda verses, especially when prayed like this, working back thru it:

What are my motives, Lord? You know them, reveal and set me on a path that pleases You. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart please You. That this vessel pour out Your message to those You place in my path and my days be pleasing to You.

That places us at the heart of verse 12 ~

 We begged, encouraged, and urged each of you to live in a way that would honor God. He is the one who chose you to share in his own kingdom and glory.

Remember step 2 from above? Well, I didn’t get stopped by a word or phrase, I was stuck on the dot! Staring at that period between “God” and “He”…just staring. Then it hit me!…to live in a way that would honor God, because He is the One who has chosen us to share in His kingdom. There is our motive! It lies in the “dot”; That pause of the period allows a breath and then our motive comes clear. Take Him in, fill up, “because” it is not our works, not our choices, not our thoughts ~ but right there between “…honor God. He is the one…”  That it is…all the motive of our soul, every beat of our heart ~ for HE is the ONE.

Live to honor the One who chose us, what a gift! The forever gift of grace. It is more that we can take in. To live with, to walk in every moment with God because we are chosen.

You alone are our glory and joy!

I Thessalonians 2:20 ~ CEV

Broken Pipes

The plumbers left a mess. Really, tho’ in their defense, they cleaned up what they saw…sorry, let’s back up here! And yes, that is exactly what we had, a back up. Super nice plumber dude came and fixed the previous guy’s mistake and everything is working great now.

Today's work crew! ;)

The pipe problem was on the side of the house where the labyrinth is located. They took a look and determined the problem was buried pretty deep, so they dug and they dug and they dug till they got to it. To these very nice gentlemen, the rocks that make up the labyrinth’s paths were just a bunch of rocks on the ground, with no purpose at all….It really is all in what you’re looking for! SO, today’s project was to clean up and set everything back as it was, or as near as I could!

It was slow going at first, half of the rocks were under the dirt and others tossed into a pile, but eventually things worked out. The path is a little different, as one of the plants had to be taken out, so things did get moved around. So like God to remind us that we see a purpose for things, but His purpose and plans for things are far better. What we define and see as a “change”, He had planned as the original purpose all along. We’re the ones who have to be brought along by Him, to seek after Him, to see and trust that “change” is what it is all about.

The whole time I was working I thought about what Jon had said a couple a days ago, right after the plumbers left. He called to tell me everything had been fixed and about the mess left behind and then said, “Life is full of broken pipes, ya know!”. We had a fun chat about the “lesson” in the labyrinth from this experience! And he’s right, life is full of broken things and sometimes we have to dig deep to get to the source of the problem!  We got to the source of the pipe problem, with the help of some pros and in our everyday life, we can’t do it alone either….or shouldn’t anyway. Scripture encourages us and tells us that this life is not one we should walk alone.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33 ~ NLT

No stepping room here!

In addition to the path repair work from the plumbing, there are some other paths with a few things in the way now, too! Bamboo is popping up everywhere. If you have read a few of these posts, then you know how much I love this bamboo, but even good things are not always the great things that are meant to be.  So, believe it or not, some of this will have to go!

These two are a perfect example. The new trunks push up and move the rocks right out of their way. Sometimes that’s ok, but not always. If the rock is put over the bamboo, like this one here, then it cannot grow in the dark and it dies away. We have THE ROCK who covers every moment in our lives! He allows some things and covers others. Our place is to trust that He is doing just that. Think a minute, just because something is growing in our lives, doesn’t mean it is supposed to thrive…maybe it is just making room for something better!

To all who mourn in Israel,
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Isaiah 61:3

Where mourning and despair once had hold, God fills with joy and praise. Those are the “roots” of our righteousness for His glory. Festive praise anchors us in the Joy of the Lord. The Lord plants us. He grows us, fills us for His purpose. Mourning, loss and despair are allowed to hollow us, to clear away and empty our soul to then hold His Joy, and by His Grace, grow to bless those around us…under the Shade of the Oak. (or in our case, bamboo!)

So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

Romans 8:12-14 ~ The Message

This beauty was hiding on the underside of the sego palm leaf :)

 

   Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

Romans 8:21 ~ The Message