Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.
Episode 6. My Witness and Your Way Forward in 2023 (seek a resolution that has you all-in)
Hello human.
(click here to listen)
I am making a cerebral soup of resolve, a little mental simmering over the holidays, during this season of gratitude, giving, and surrounding ourselves with things that inspire.
I am seeking resolve on my prayer approach. An approach with humility and the mighty hand of God.
I am seeking resolve on honoring God’s Word as the singular voice bringing divine revelation to my life.
And I am seeking resolve with the seasoning that brings it all together: my witness. The path I take, and who I meet, the connections that are only mine to do.
Nautical twilight, also referred to as dawn, is the moment when the geometric center of the Sun is 12 degrees below the horizon in the morning. It is preceded by astronomical twilight.
I am beginning to see the first light of my authentic witness. I am all-in.
Bearing Witness Is a Lifestyle
What I am learning is that bearing witness is a lifestyle. When asked to share my testimony, that is commonly thought to be, when I gave my life to Jesus, when I accepted that I was a sinner, that He died for me, and I have been saved. It is that defining moment that marks my passage from an unsaved life to redeemed by Jesus. Lost to found.
But that really just takes a few sentences, a few minutes in any conversation. I was 19, in college, and knew that if I wanted to have a personal relationship with Jesus that I needed to give Him my life. I had humans, including a pastor, who helped nurture my longing for it, and a childhood that circled back with memories of a trusting God that would give me deep roots. I was baptized. That was the origin choice, that took me from there to here. You just had to be there.
But bearing witness to who Jesus is, is a journey. Strong’s concordance shares phrases that are very helpful in defining the Greek definition of witness.
To be a witness, to bear witness, testify, i. e. “to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something, or knows it as taught by divine revelation or inspiration.”
I need specifics.
Here’s what Luke said about the 40 days Jesus spent on earth after his resurrection:
Acts 13:31:
And for many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.
Luke is referring to them as eye-witnesses, ear-witnesses of the extraordinary sayings, deeds and sufferings of Jesus.
And, what Jesus said to the disciples as told by John, the apostle in the gospel of John:
John 15:27
27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
And here’s what Jesus said to Paul (formerly Saul) on the road to Damascus:
Acts 26:16
16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.
For John, all the apostles, Paul, and others living in the time of Jesus, seeing Jesus, they can each be referred to “as one to whom the risen Christ had visibly appeared.” That is monumental.
Not a Calling to a Moment. A Calling to a Life.
That is not a calling to a moment. That is a calling to a life.
Let me get personal. Jesus told me to do it. And Paul told me as well. And the Hebrews 11 roll call of believers turned saint, some martrys, showed me how they all did it.
So, what have I witnessed Jesus doing in my life? In my launch episode I worked through that my faith is defined as God’s divine persuasion of my heart. How I respond is my witness. I get that 100%.
The Great Cloud is not the iCloud
If you have a chance to read Hebrews Chapter 11, it brings to life those who demonstrated faith through Israel’s history; it is not for the faint-hearted. Each example begins with “By faith” referencing those whose lives and actions testified to the worth and effect of faith.
In reference to this list of people demonstrating God’s divine persuasion, Paul continues in Hebrews 12:1-2:
Hebrews 12:1-2
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
I have heard the reference to “a great cloud of witnesses” used at least 4 times in the past month. A little over a year ago, I considered it with my daughter-in-law on the West Coast. We were book clubbing a book titled Letters and Life, by Bret Lott, a Christian fiction and nonfiction writer. The premise of this book is that as writers we must approach our work fully embracing our personal commitment to following Christ, and why that is so important to authenticity. Because it is who we are. Seems obvious, yet we don’t do it. Whether or not the work is directly about Christ, or faith or spiritual truths.
Lott says, The witnesses—that great cloud—aren’t, as is often thought, some sort of swirling mass of spirit entities watching what we are doing as we do it…. Rather, what is meant by the word “witness” here is the quality of the lives lived before ours; the measure of faith and life in that faith that each brought to his or her relationship to our creator God; it is the example, if I may, of the artistry by which each lived his or her life in service to that God.“
Lott goes on to talk about our own “cloud of witnesses” in our past and current lives, those whose “lives in art” – in this case amongst those of us who claim being writers, those who most affect us. (pg 76-77) One of his is Flannery O’ Connor, for instance. He quotes her often. He recognized her “measure of faith, and her life in that faith that she brought to her creator God” – in her work.
Who is in your “cloud of witnesses”, past and present, those you witnessed a quality of life that demonstrated life in that measured faith—who had or have a relationship with God that exemplifies divine persuasion, revelation and inspiration? Those that live in your “cloud”, that have shaped the potential for your life today?
Simmer on those people for a while.
The Artistry by Which to Live My Witness
God made me an expressive human. Of course I had a child that ran in the door, excited that he had done his book report with expression. Of course I danced, choreographed, read lots of books, adore words, sentences, paragraphs, deep conversations, moving others to inspiration. I am super excited because how my brain landed on what being a witness means began over a year ago, as the podcast idea began to form. And the beautiful thing is that this podcast, among other artistic adventures in my life, is the vehicle by which my witness resolution will come to life for so many others, and take on the power of a witness only I can do.
I am growing toward the “artistry by which I live in relation to my creator God” Thank you Bret Lott, for living your witness. And so beautifully framing the power of what is ours to do.
Seek Resolve that Has You All-In
So it’s your turn: How do the gifts you have been given, the talents, skills, purpose come together for you? Where does your witness land in a life that only you can do?
I am simmering on this: How my witness becomes my all-in 2023 resolution. I can already see that my prayer life and how I honor God’s word–His daily voice in my life–are embedded in my 99journey. What will God tell me, how will He advise me as I seek resolve on living my best witness?
In Episode 13, we will return to this, a few days before the first light of 2023.
I am asking you to join me: think about what matters so much it will touch everything you do, so much so, you need all of next year on that journey with you. What are you so all-in about that it will take the entire year to define your resolve, express it, and ride the swell of gratitude for what God will teach you along the way? Ground it in scripture. One or two.
If you want to be a stronger witness, share this witness resolution with me in 2023. I would love the company.
And while I know so many have resolutions that have to do with the physical realm–losing weight, taking up a lifetime sport, eating clean, changing jobs, eliminating clutter, reducing debt—I encourage (read: beg) you to simmer on an inner resolve that strengthens your spiritual growth—and let needed health changes, life’s daily routines, this earth’s compelling priorities—come as a result of your inner transformation.
I hear the holiday music playing on a loop already. If you are thinking, oh, I have plenty of time for this later, oddly, this is a good time to note that there are a few rules about the ocean. Here’s one: never turn your back on the water. If you aren’t paying attention it can sweep you out to a sea of resolutions that should not define you in 2023. The ocean has its own agenda. And your year will too, if you do not own it now. Turn toward, face outward, and swim toward 2023 now. God’s distant swell is out there.
BUOY will use holiday inspiration to get you past the breakers, to clarity about what resolution has the heft you need to get behind it, and count yourself all-in.
Source: Letters & Life, Bret Lott
His grace. My gratitude.
See ya on the Buoy.
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You can find me at kathrynbise.com and @buoykathrynb on Instagram.
Buoy is a Life in Deeper Water podcast.