Gesundheit! August 28, 2007

They say that when you sneeze, you should listen to see how many people bless you to know how many friends you have.  Well when our oldest daughter Amanda was a toddler, she took the blessing after a sneeze quite seriously.  Whenever she would sneeze, if no one responded, she would pipe up, “I SNEEZED!!”.  It was an announcement that EVERYONE had to hear and it was always followed by a chorus of “bless yous” and a satisfied baby girl.

We aren’t all that different from Amanda.  Only our “sneezing” comes in the form of works.  We often look for approval, acceptance, and even a pat on the back for the good that we do or have done.  We can say the right things when we are recognized but inside we feel a satisfaction that we have been noticed for all that we do.  When we join with a group of people to accomplish a large task and everyone is mentioned in the thank you, everyone that is except you, we feel like we have gotten the shaft.  We begin to feel unimportant and worthless.

What we need to do in times like those is to remember that we each have a purpose and that God sees us when no one else does.  It’s not very fulfilling now, but our reward lies in Heaven where Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us.

In Matthew 6 Jesus instructs us on the issues of giving, praying, fasting, what we treasure, and worrying.

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (v.1)

 ”… when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” (v. 5)

 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.” (v. 16)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (v. 19-20)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (v. 25)

The scriptures speak for themselves.  If we seek a reward here on earth, our reward here is all we get.   We should do things, not to be seen by others, but so that others will see our awesome God.  That through us His name would be glorified!  In return, God promises to reward us in heaven.  Is it something that we can see now?  No.  It’s not like the fund raiser pamphlet that you get every year from the school with the prizes pictured on it.  God knows that if we had the knowledge of what our specific rewards would be, our sinful selves would begin to boast about what WE have accomplished.  Our lives would no longer be about faith, and it would be all about works.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

God knows that if we think that we can earn ANYTHING that we become boastful even to the point of looking right past Him!

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Every day when we wake up, we have a choice… to live for God or… to live for ourselves.  God has our best interest in mind.  When we live for Him, He gives us a joy and peace that passes all understanding.  Look around you!  EVERYWHERE there are people looking for those very things!  They spend endless hours searching, longing, seeking… and they are sadly disappointed at every turn.  We have the answer!  We have the one thing that can fill them and satisfy their souls!  But… we have to be willing to be His vessel.  To be used BY Him, to GLORIFY His name and see others come to know the King of kings, and Lord of lords!  It all starts with seeking to please God and let the temporary praises of man pass us by.

So the next time you “sneeze”, stop and think… will you be looking for the blessings of man or the blessings of God?  Will you introduce the world to Him today?

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both…” (Matt. 6:24)

[Suggested Reading: Matthew 6]

Feeling Faint? August 25, 2007

A word of encouragement… Jesus can do ANYTHING! I have seen Jesus do wondrous things is the lives of so many. We often find ourselves in situations and times where we are screaming, “Even so come Lord Jesus!”. I have been feeling that way lately. Just sitting here tonight, I made a play list in my music program called “Encouragement”. It’s for the moments I feel faint. Have you ever heard that song? It is excellent!

Am I at the point of no improvement?
What of the death I still dwell in?
I try to excel, but I feel no movement.
Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?

Never underestimate my Jesus.
You’re telling me that there’s no hope.
I’m telling you your wrong.

Never underestimate my Jesus
When the world around you crumbles
He will be strong, He will be strong

I throw up my hands
“Oh, the impossibilities”
Frustrated and tired
Where do I go from here?
Now I’m searching for the confidence I’ve lost so willingly
Overcoming these obstacles is overcoming my fear

I think I can’t, I think I can’t
But I think you can, I think you can
I think I can’t, I think I can’t
But I think you can, I think you can
Gather my insufficiencies and
place them in your hands, place them in your hands, place them in your hands

(The Moments I Feel Faint -Relient K)

I am such a music person. When I am feeling happy, there is nothing I’d rather do than sing my heart out to my God! When I am low, I find peace in a song. Different songs appease different moods. It is the companion that never judges, never leaves, and never expects anything in return. I think we all need that sometimes. God is very much like that as well. He is all about us. He pours out His love on us, He protects us, He is always there, never changing, ever-present, all-sufficient. Even when we are faced with trial, we have to cling to the promise that He is there, loving us through our trial and yet He is not finished with us in that He is helping us grow through our experiences 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year! The moments we feel faint we need to realize that God still holds us in those moments, we only need to allow Him to raise us up to be all that we can be. These times more than any other, we need to be on our knees in prayer. I saw a plaque the other day that said, “It’s hard to stumble when you’re on your knees”. Good quote! I am not sure who it is by, but it hits home for me right now.

Are you feeling faint? Think of it as climbing. Have you ever seen someone climb a cliff? It’s amazing! The ones who are really good. They are these muscular instruments that are on a mission to conquer! Do they do it alone? No. They have equipment, sure, but the most important thing is the life line. The line that holds them up if they slip. Do you see where I’m going with this? We are the climbers. We are these muscular instruments, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, climbing toward the goal set before us by our Father in Heaven. He is our life line. We may feel alone and that there are no other climbers out there, and even if they aren’t, it’s ok. If we slip, He is there to hold us up… we need to just rely on Him. Ever felt like rejecting His comfort and relying on ourselves? It’s like taking a knife and cutting the life line. It’s there to hold us up! When you feel faint… fall into the hands of a Father who loves you! Don’t cut your life line by turning your back on the One who loves you more than anyone you’ll ever meet.

“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.” -Isaiah 40:28-31

Looks Can Be Deceiving… August 21, 2007

Isn’t this a lovely cup. My husband LOVES coffee and has tons of to-go mugs. This is one of his most recent that he purchased when he visited Cabela’s which is a three hour drive from our home. If you are ever in a pinch to get him a gift, a coffee cup is always a winner.

Well, it’s two weeks before school starts and there is cleaning up to do. Shawn’s office is in a terrible state. So I went in to help clean. He had begun to organize and there were some things set aside for me to take back home with me… a box of coffee mugs being one of them. You see, he is always getting coffee to go from home and every once in a while I receive a box full to clean out. Nothing out of the ordinary, I brought them home and began to wash them. I opened his prized Cabela’s mug and plunged my hand into the black interior only to be met with this…

…yes, it is disgusting!!! That reminded me of a time in the Bible where Jesus was publicly scolding the Pharisees for their legalism and there outward “show” of faith when really they had no faith at all. All the external “to dos” and “traditions” but they completely missed the mark when it came to being right with God and accepting the One who came to save mankind.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” – Matthew 23:25-26

You would think that it would happen the opposite of what it did. One would imagine that the Pharisees, who have studied the Law and been the most knowledgable of the prophesy of the Savior, would be the first in line to meet, greet, and welcome the Christ. Who would have thought that some lowly fishermen would do this instead. They were lowly fishermen, smelly and dirty. Their exterior apperance matched the inward apperance of the Pharisees. But everyone saw how “righteous” and knowledgeable the Pharisees were. Everyone that is, except Jesus. Who being in His very nature, God, saw them for who they truly were…hypocrites. Hypocrites who were keeping men from seeing Jesus for who He was, God in the flesh, come to seek and save those who were lost.

The fishermen on the other hand, had no “superior knowledge”. They knew that a Savior was coming, and when Jesus summoned them, they followed. They weren’t perfect, they often didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about, they sometimes would doubt, and they even fled from Jesus the night He was betrayed. But they had moldable hearts. They knew they needed cleansing and that they were full of sin.

The Pharisees enjoyed their power and position in the eyes of man. The fisherman were not so popular to those around them. But Christ could see. He could see them on the inside…

“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7

When He looks inside you… what does He see? Does He see someone who looks to man for acceptance, edification, and merit? Or does He see someone who lowers themselves before Him, and declares Him their only source of strength, knowledge, fulfillment, and being? You may be able to fool your fellow man, but you CANNOT fool God. He created you and He knows who you are when no one else sees you. He saw through the Pharisees “fanfare” and He sees through ours.

The cup may look pretty on the outside, but what awaits on the inside? Is it clean? Or is there a clump of slimy ooze sitting there beginning to grow mold? We can look great and go through the motions and still be stinky like a fisherman on the inside.

So once again we are faced with a choice…

God Seeker or Man Appeaser?
Cleanliness or Oozines?
Fisherman or Pharisee?

“choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve”
- Joshua 24:15

[Suggested Reading: Matthew 23]

Been Skunked? August 20, 2007

This is Tigger. Tigger is our dog. He has a small problem. You see, Tigger doesn’t have many friends. Being the lonely dog that he is, Tigger has tried to make a friend. The only problem with that is… he was making friends with a SKUNK! Yep, that’s right! A SKUNK! The reason he looks so unhappy in this picture is because he is getting a major bath to de-stinkify himself… for the second time this summer! He keeps trying to befriend this little creature and every single time, he gets it!

Ever been skunked? Not literally (though I’m sure there are some very interesting stories out there). I think that we’ve all been skunked at some point. By a co-worker, a friend, a relative, or a spouse, we’ve all been there. Betrayal. It’s hard to get over and sometimes we never seem to be able to let it go. It’s in every movie, every book, and songs are saturated with the bitterness that comes from the treachery.

If you have had a chance to see Disney’s High School Musical, you will see a great example of how betrayal affects relationships. It’s a much cleaner remake of the 1978 film Grease where the two main characters Troy and Gabriella meet during Christmas vacation. Much to Troy’s surprise, Gabriella switches schools mid-year and they are re-united. They begin to form a relationship that brings out a side of them that their “friends” aren’t too happy about. So the two very different groups of friends get together to “break them up”. They betray them by using what they know about each individual against them to achieve their own purposes. The outcome? Unhappiness, sadness, the low point that you get in nearly every movie. Long story short, they succeed. To see how that ends up, watch the movie!

In the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys are stranded on an island and though they enjoy their new found freedom at first, things get out of hand and a power struggle takes place. Jack and Ralph part ways and the group divides. Though it seems that each group is secure, Ralph’s “clan” begins shrinking as boys defect from his group to Jack’s. The story progresses from this act of betrayal to end in many deaths and human hunting.

Ok all you country fans. Bring out your old Garth Brooks cds for this one! Papa Loved Mama is a classic story of betrayal. Just look at the lyrics…

“Well, it was bound to happen and one night it did
Papa came home and it was just us kids
He had a dozen roses and a bottle of wine
If he was lookin to surprise us, he was doin fine
I heard him cry for mama up and own the hall
Then I heard a bottle break against the bedroom wall
That old diesel engine made an eerie sound
When papa fired it up and headed into town.

Well, the picture in the paper showed the scene real well
Papas rig was buried in the local motel
The desk clerk said he saw it all real clear
He never hit the brakes and he was shifting gears.

Mama was a looker
Lord, how she shined
Papa was a good’n
But the jealous kind
Papa loved mama
Mama loved men
Mamas in the graveyard
Papas in the pen. “

Papa is a truck driver whose gone almost all the time and Mama is left home with the kids and apparently has an eye for other men. So Papa comes home to surprise her and, you got it, she’s “out”. He tracks her to a motel and drives his truck right through. He goes to jail, she dies… happy ending huh?

Betrayal. An awful word. When we feel betrayed there is one place that we can look for understanding, strength, and guidance. Jesus. If there was an award for the most gut-wrenching betrayals, Jesus would win. Of course our minds automatically go to the betrayal by Judas. One of the 12 disciples that spent day and night with Jesus. He had seen miracle upon miracle. He had witnessed the love of Christ, the wisdom, the compassion and mercy, yet he chose to betray the Son of Man.

“And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.” -Matthew 26:21

“‘Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!’

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: ‘The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.’ Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed him. Jesus replied, ‘Friend, do what you came for.’

Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him.” -Matthew 26:45b-50

The only conclusion that we have to this relationship is Jesus being crucified for our sins and Judas committing suicide.

“So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.” -Matthew 27:5

The second betrayal that comes to mind is the betrayal of Peter. One of the closest disciples of Christ, the one of which Jesus says will be the Cornerstone, and yet here we see betrayal… not once… not twice… but THREE times. Jesus knows this and even tells His disciples that they will flee from Him when His hour comes, but Peter disagrees…

“Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:
‘ ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’

Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.’

‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’

But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same.” -Matthew 26:31-35

Then…

“Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee,’ she said.

But he denied it before them all. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he said.

Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, ‘This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.’

He denied it again, with an oath: ‘I don’t know the man!’

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, ‘Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.’

Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, ‘I don’t know the man!’

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” -Matthew 26:69-75

Unlike the story of Jesus and Judas, we have a little happier ending to this betrayal. After Jesus’ death and then His resurrection, we see a picture of peace coming between the two. Jesus letting Peter know that He is forgiven and Peter affirming his devotion to Jesus the Christ.

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’
‘No,’ they answered.

He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.” -John 21:1-14

This was, as it says above, the third time that Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. The reason that I chose this particular one is because, in Bible times, when you sat down to a meal with a group of people, it signified that you were at peace with them. Not only does Jesus provide for them while they still are unaware of who He is, He also shows them the love and compassion of forgiveness by sharing a meal with them despite their fleeing in such a horrible time. And now it is time for a challenge to Peter…

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?’
‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’

Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’
He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’

The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’” -John 21:15-17

So you have two different scenarios, one of a betrayal followed by a devastation that eats away at Judas until he takes his own life. The other is of a betrayal that is followed by bitter realization of the truth, remorse, and return.

Now lets shift the focus to us. Yes, we have been betrayed so often. More times than we care to count I’m sure. But how many times do we betray Christ on any given day? Do we dare count those? We look down on Peter and Judas, yet we hold on to sin that pries us from our Savior. We cherish this evil/darkness inside so much that we allow it to place a barrier between us and the One who suffered, died, and rose again to save us.

When Tigger gets skunked, he is shut outside until he gets a bath. When we skunk God, we are shut outside until we come to a bitter realization of the truth, remorse, and return. He gladly baths us in His mercy and we are restored to a right relationship with Him.

We are left with a choice, Judas or Peter? Which one will you be? The one who skunked Jesus and ended up going mad at the separation from His Lord. Or the one who skunked Jesus only to realize, remorse, and return? Every day we have a choice, who will you choose to be today?

 

[Jesus says]
“Do you love me?”
-John 21:17

Are We There Yet? August 17, 2007

Long trips are no fun.  Especially with a six year old who seldom sits still.  Despite the modern technology of the DVD player in the car, we continued to hear the resounding sentence coming from the back seat, “Are we there yet?”  An eight-hour trip ended up feeling like 16 with the impatience that filled the seven-passenger mini-van.

We are often times like that in our spiritual walk, are we not?  We want results and we want them now!  If the church building is falling apart, we want a new one NOW.  If we are going through a spiritually hard time, we want God to fix the inner turmoil NOW.  “Deliver me now Lord!  Don’t you understand?”  If we have been trying to build a relationship with a brother or sister in Christ and haven’t seen results…”I give up, God can send someone else.”  Maybe you have been trying to witness to a local and they aren’t responding and your patience grows thin.  We want to gain Biblical wisdom and knowledge to have instant spiritual maturity, and we get frustrated when it doesn’t happen.

We live in such an instant age.  Everything from rice to photo development, we do not like to wait.  We can go through the quick lube for the oil change, get the tires changed while we shop, and it’s all about instant gratification.  Instant oatmeal, instant pudding (now you can buy them already in little plastic containers so you don’t even have to mix, you can eat them in the car if you want!)  With DVDs we don’t have to wait for the movie to rewind before we watch it again, CDs make it so that we don’t have to rewind and fast forward over and over to get to the song in the middle of the cassette tape. E-mail makes it possible for your message to be delivered instantly, and cell phones have made it possible for us to multi-task in a way that we never could before.

Our walk with God is no different.  We carry our busy schedules over to our Christian walk.  What we often forget is that God is not bound by our calendars, time constraints, or even the “honey-do” list that was left on the counter (or e-mailed to your palm pilot).  It’s His plan, in His time, the way He wants to accomplish the tasks that He has prepared. We ask, and wait as we tap our fingers, for the answer that we expect when we asked in the first place.  We forget that this is God we are talking to, not Domino’s where if you don’t get results in 20 minutes or less your next order is free.  We get so impatient when we want something that we stop focusing on where we are and only focus on where we’re going.

I desire nothing more than to study God’s word day in and day out.  I used to get so angry when I didn’t get at least a couple hours of study time in on any given day.  Then one day I realized that I was so focused on obtaining knowledge that I was missing out on so many life lessons that were right in front of me!  I got so caught up in my destination that the voyage was lost.

It’s like reading a book.  Shawn and I have very different methods of reading.  It’s not just our preference when it comes to reading material, but HOW we read.  I read to accomplish completion and Shawn reads for the experience.  One day as I was bragging about almost finishing my current book, he looked at me and said, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.”

The Israelites had a lesson in patience.  After being delivered from the slavery of the Egyptians,

    “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land.  The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” – Exodus 14:21-22

God lead them (in a physical form though not human form, as that would come later in the person of Jesus Christ) through the desert.  Now they had been in SLAVERY, which believe you me, is no picnic!  They worked from sunrise ‘til sun set.  Blood, sweat, and tears every day with beatings for those who didn’t work fast enough.  Delivery from this life could only be met by gratitude, right?  WRONG!  As they traveled, they continually grumbled to Moses about bringing them into the dessert to die.  Commenting that they were better off back in Egypt.

    “Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur.  For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water.  When came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter… So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” – Exodus 15:22-24

    “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to he Red Sea, to go around Edom.  But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?  There is no bread!  There is no water!  And we detest this miserable food!” – Numbers 21:4-5

Talk about impatience!  God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, and they were grumbling about the journey, they just wanted the destination.  Then when they finally reached their destination, they refused to go in because they were afraid of those who inhabited the land at the time.  My thought at this point is, “WHERE YOU NOT THERE WHEN GOD DELIVERED YOU?”  They had seen God do so much yet they were still unwilling to yield to the journey!

So they were forced to go on another journey!  Don’t want to obey?  Fine, then wander for forty more years!  They would now have to rely on God every day for everything!  They grumbled for food, God provided manna.  Unhappy with the Manna, they grumbled for meat.

    “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost – also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” – Numbers 11:4-6

They grumbled for water, God gave them water from a rock, keep in mind how many of them there are!  This was no trickle!  It seems that no matter what God provided they wanted more and they wanted it NOW!

We have these trials, frustrations, and requests that we bring before God.  Submit them to His will; leave them at His feet to deal with in His time, in His way.  Your struggles may ¸ÅQ    seem like a dessert, but STOP and take notice of the journey that God is taking you on and know that your destination is a land flowing with milk and honey.  You thirst, God will quench it with the Living Water, you hunger, and God will fill you with His word.  Are we there yet?  No… but release your agenda and submit to the journey and you will reap a harvest for your Lord much more plentiful than anything you get in one hour photo!

    “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” – Colossians 1:10-12

The Scarlet Letter August 13, 2007

In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is subject to wearing a scarlet A on her chest to show that, while her husband was supposedly lost at sea, she had an affair and bore a daughter. She would not tell who the father was disspite preasure from the “town fathers”. Even when the father to her child is revealed, he dies before they can move away and she wears the scarlet A until the day she dies.

We all have sins that even after being saved haunt us. Maybe it’s not an A posted across our chest, but it’s there. It lingers and we have to constantly give it to Christ. The hard part comes when others are aware of our horrible sin. It can be an excellent witnessing tool BUT it can hinder us from time to time. Is it the guilt that eats at us and makes us paranoid about our past so that it torments our future? Maybe you have no idea what I am talking about, you are blessed if you have no baggage that still finds you when you’re not looking.

For me, it’s hard to let it go when, once people find out, they act differently toward me. Again, it could be paranoia. I pray this is so. Think of what it must have been like for Hester. She wears her sin on her chest for all to see. There is no secret to who she is. The looks from the other townspeople, the mother who tells her child to stay away from her because of what she had done. Before I knew Christ, I knew the scarlet letter. Then I felt no consequence because hardly anyone knew. Once I accepted Christ, I felt as though it was somehow branded on me even though I still had told no one. It was my dirty little secret between me and God. I have told a couple of people recently and now there is no hiding it. I can identify with Mary Magdalene. A corrupt life restored by Christ. Brought back to the loving arms of my Father in Heaven. So should I care what others think? Should I care that those who know keep their distance, or keep an eye on me even if it’s in the back of their mind. My Father has saved me! It’s been YEARS and yet I can still relate to Hester. Because even now as I write, I am thinking through the people who visit this blog and even though I don’t know some of you personally, I am scared to death at the response.

But there it is, my deepest, darkest sin… and you know what? MY FATHER STILL LOVES ME! My marriage is great! I have never been more in love with Shawn than I am today. We’ve been together almost 12 years and we are closer than ever. The only part of my sin that haunts me is the part that I am dealing with right now… you.

Today I heard a sermon on adultery and idolatry being the same in God’s eyes. When we choose sin over Him, we are cheating on Him. So in reality we all deserve a scarlet letter on our chest. To hear that cut me to the heart. That sin came rushing forward and the hurt that comes with it. To think that I hurt my Father in Heaven that way tears me apart. Father, forgive me for being unfaithful to You today. Help me to walk closer to You!

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’…

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

‘No one, sir,’ she said.
‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” John 8:1-11

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

So it is done. You now know that I am not the perfect little girl next door. Christ has transformed my life!!!! I am NEW!!! PRAISE GOD I have been “letter free” for over eight years! If He can save a sinner like me, there is nothing He can’t do! You can look down on me, my El Shaddai (The All-Sufficient God) loves me and my El Henne’eman (The Faithful God) will be there for me no matter what anyone thinks. So, in the words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

“If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

The Devil’s Grin August 11, 2007

Have you ever seen a picture of a grin that makes your skin crawl?  Like the Grinch on the old cartoon, or Tim Curry in Legend where he plays the devil?  Maybe it’s the bad guy in a movie where the actor or actress does a really good job of being over-the-top creepy.  Whenever I think of the devil’s grin, I picture one of those that I’ve seen in a movie… and it turns my stomach.

What turns my stomach the most is when it’s me that’s making the devil grin in the first place.  You see, I belong to Christ, and I desire to do His work and see His kingdom furthered.  We are in a spiritual battle, and if you think that’s creepy or insane, I pray for you because someday you will see that what you have heard from so many others is true.  This battle is not with flesh and blood but it is against the devil himself.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” -Ephesians 6:12

In this battle, those who belong to Christ are attacked at every side.  I think that we are attacked more than those who are not Christian because they already belong to Satan.  He owns their soul because they have never accepted the free Gift of God (Jesus Christ).

So tonight when I had a spat with my husband, how I react to the conversation has much to say about my true character.  It shows who I truly am, and I have to admit that who that is sometimes brings bitter tears to my eyes and tonight was no different.  You see, the true test of who we are is not dependant on the good times, but on the bad.  It is when we are tested that our true selves make an appearance and what an ugly appearance that can be.  That rancid, ugly side of me breaks my heart… because I desire so much to please my Father in Heaven.  When I choose myself over Him and retort in anger, or spew out insults… I’m not pleasing Him, I’m distracting from Him.  At those moments is when the devil grins because it’s at that moment that I have ceased to be effective for my God.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” – 1 Peter 2:11-12

Whether you are a Christian or not, the devil grins at our mistakes.  He knows that he can’t have the Christian because it is impossible to take us from the Father’s hand, but he tries to make us stagnant and ineffective for God.  If you aren’t a Christian, he’s working on you to keep you from seeing the truth and turning to the only One who can save you.  Either way, we can make him smile, and how?  God’s word tells us.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” – 1 John 2:15-16

“It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.” – Mark 7:21-23 (The Message)
“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” – Ephesians 4:30-32 (NLT)

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” – Galatians 5:19-21

The world as an object isn’t bad, it’s the actions of the world (rather the people in it) that are what we need to be aware of.  I like the way the Message translation puts it in Mark 7 when it calls it “vomit from the heart”.  So when our hearts “vomit” the devil is there grinning from ear to ear.  It makes me angry just thinking about it.  It is helpful to know that there is victory in Jesus and through Him we can have a success that we cannot obtain on our own.

Let’s pray for each other and let the devil grin NO MORE!  Claim victory through Christ, let’s cloth ourselves in His righteousness being saturated in His character through reading His word and through prayer!  Encouraging each other to stand firm and to show forth the fruits of the Spirit.  Go in peace.

“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” – 1 Corinthians 15:58

 ”But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” – Galatians 5:22-25

Impressions August 10, 2007

You’ve seen the kits in the store. The mold kits where you can make lasting impressions of your child’s hands or feet. It is a memory maker where you get to remember how tiny they were at certain stages in their lives. Our kids made these hand impressions last Christmas (with the help of their Nana and Papa). It was one of the sweetest gifts that I have ever received. We put them up in our living room and it is a constant reminder of the presence of my children. It warms my heart to see them there. I think of the time it took and the love they put into it. To hold their hands still long enough to let the plaster set. Then to be patient and let it dry. Then to choose the colors to paint it! It’s priceless. Every time I look at it, I will always remember how much they loved Shawn and I to make those for us.

When you read the Old Testament it is full of God’s works in the lives of the Israelites. They rebel, they are punished and God delivers them. As I did a word search on remember, I found so many scriptures of God trying to remind His people what He did for them. Mostly He tried to remind them of Egypt. The slavery that they were in bondage to and the awesome deliverance that God gave them. He delivered them out of the clasp of Pharaoh’s hand and yet they continued to reject Him.

God gives us all lasting impressions. It is our testimony. It is where He has delivered us from. For me personally, God delivered me from a failing marriage, a bitter past, a life of unfaithfulness, and gut wrenching anxiety. That was my life before. After yielding my life to Christ, my marriage was mended, I was happier (though until recently my bitterness didn’t completely fade), my faithfulness is rooted in my Savior, and my anxiety now rests in Him. Though that may have been the case, my life was still in the bottom of the barrel. Our family was very poor, living on a mere $222 a month that was provided by the state. My husband had lost his job due to a severe car accident and for a year was unable to get a job. We slept on a full mattress on a cement floor in a room at my mom’s house. Even when we were able to get an apartment, we had very little food and with two kids we often wondered what we would eat. I was delivered from my past but still needed to rely on God on a regular basis for my families survival. This was no rags to riches story, no Cinderella here, it was a faith walk.

Now, Shawn has a great and secure job, we have purchased a home, we have a good car, plenty of food and even a couple of pets that have become a part of our family. Sometimes once the bad times are over and our kingdom is having a pretty good day, we forget (like the Israelites) what it was like to have those bad days and Who delivered us. Instead of praying, “Your Kingdom come”, we pray, “Maybe tomorrow”.

In all of the 233 results for the word remember, some were of God remembering His covenant with Abraham, mostly they were of God telling His people to REMEMBER! He had impressed on the hearts of His prophets that the people needed to REMEMBER! Remember where they’d come from. Remember where they’d been. REMEMBER Who brought them through!

God has impressed on our lives a story and our story is part of His. We must tell that story. It doesn’t have to be all scripture and fancy church talk, it just has to be us, telling others what God has done in our lives! REMEMBER! Because once you remember where you’ve been, only then can you grasp where you’re going. God has given you a pressed hand print on your heart, you just have to look at it to be reminded of the love that He put into the gift that He gave.

” These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ” -Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Growing Together… August 10, 2007

Looking at the picture on the left, who do you think is the oldest? What if I told you that the “oldest” isn’t who you think it is. Something that has always stricken me as odd since I have been a Christian is the matter of “age”. When I was in my 20s, I never really felt like anyone took me seriously, except for four and five year olds. I was at such an in between stage. I was too old to be young, and too young to be old. Then when I became saved, I became aware of a completely different “age”. My “spiritual age”. Apparently your “spiritual age” starts when you are saved. This frustrated me for two reasons, 1) I was already battling being taken seriously because of my physical age, now I had a double battle on my hands; and 2) I wanted so badly to grow spiritually but I felt that it didn’t matter how fast I grew because I would always have the number of years hanging over my head.

The picture above is one that was taken at my daughter Lizzie’s 5th birthday party. She is sitting next to her great grandpa Bob who got her the cute little purse that’s in her hands. You’ve probably figured out that I am not talking about physical age when I asked the introduction question. My daughter was saved when she was four, my grandfather to this day has not. His anger toward God runs deep and “religion” is not something he’s willing to listen to (pray for him). Therefore by “spiritual age” Lizzie is older. Weird concept huh?

May I challenge this frame of mind for a moment. One day when I was particularly frustrated with my “spiritual age” stereotype. I had offered advice to someone and in some manner was shut down because “how could she know, she hasn’t been saved very long”. Granted it may not have been very godly advice because I really HAD not been a Christian for very long. But nonetheless I was on a mission to GROW! I went home and began reading my Bible. It’s funny how things can pop out at you at certain points that you completely looked over the day or week before.

I came across 1 Timothy 4 specifically verse 12 which says:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young”

Now that’s my kind of language! “You can’t look down on me cause I’m a new Christian, GOD says so!” (My REAL spiritual age was showing itself, all that was missing was me sticking my tongue out then crossing my arms with a pouty face) Then I kept digging because this whole topic intrigued me greatly. At first I became confused and just assumed that because they had been saved longer, that they MUST be older spiritually. I don’t believe that that is accurate. I believe that we all grow at different rates with growth spurts at different times and of different sizes. Only God Himself knows how old we are. I think that you can somewhat tell depending on the fruit that is produced in a person’s life but nothing definite for sure.

My continued study took me to books like Titus 2 where Paul writes about the older teaching the younger.

“Then they can train the younger” (v. 4a)

Now here’s a thought as well, if Paul is writing to Titus to teach the older, that must mean that even the older learn from the younger!

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. ” (vv. 1-2)

And another thing that crossed my mind is that we are never in just one spot of that equation. We are ALL both older AND younger! We all need to be taught as well as teach!

In 1 Peter 5 Paul writes in more detail about the job of the elders of the church and how they are supposed to be examples to the flock, and then to the younger to be submissive to the older.

“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers…” (v. 2a)

“Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.” (v. 5a)

We all have this awesome task of working together, building each other up, and growing up in Christ together!

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
‘God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.’”(1 Peter 5:5b)

This all sounds great but somewhere along the line, it has turned into a competition of who knows more and therefore who should have the last say in how things go. What tradition has been, how things used to be, “if it’s not how I think it should be then it’s wrong because I‘m “older” and therefore I know more than you.” “Everyone should care what I say and let ME have the last say because of MY ’spiritual seniority’”. We so often get off track and focus on the wrong things that we miss such great opportunity to learn, teach, and grow like we should, the way God Himself intended. So you know what I think? I think that GOD should have the last say.

 

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ” (1 Peter 5:6)

A Mighty Fortress August 8, 2007

Big and magnificent! Impeccably structured for ultimate protection during conflict. It’s a fortress in San Marino. It lies more than 2,000 feet above the Italian countryside. Historically fortresses are built on high ground with thick walls that can reach up to 21 feet thick. In a time of battle, the fortress was a safe haven, a place of refuge, and the optimal place to fight the battle.

Our battles today are not with armor, swords, flaming arrows, or cannons. Instead they are with those we love, drugs, alcohol, money, competition at work, food, and the list goes on. In midevil times when the enemy was coming, they would move to the center of the fortress. Though our enemy seems to be the visual things listed above, it really goes much deeper than that. We battle with sin, we battle with Satan. In America we don’t often see the demon possesions and spiritual warfare that takes place, but it’s here. Every time we are tempted to do something that we know is wrong and we know we shouldn’t do it but we give it a second thought, we are listening to the deception of Satan himself. We are giving him the time of day. Eve did the same thing and look how that ended up. She listened to his lies, and gave audience to his trechary.

When you are faced with battle, where do you take refuge? Picture this. There is an attack coming on the fortress, instead of waiting to attack the approaching enemy from the walls, you rush out alone to meet them. How do you think the story ends? Of course any fool would know better! Retreat into the fortress and fight from the high walls where you have the advantage over your attackers.

Eve had a fortress, but she chose not to use it. She ran out to battle all on her own. And because of that, we have all lost. We are offered the same fortress that Eve had some 6,000 years ago… God. He is the Mighty Fortress! He is our protector, our stronghold, our sheild, our strong tower. He is the Everlasting King who shelters us and delivers us from our enemy. That’s right. We only have one enemy who shows himself in many different forms, and God has given us victory over him. If only we retreat into the Fortress.

“David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
‘The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior—
from violent men you save me.’” 2 Samuel 22:1-3

There is a catch. (You’re thinking “Oh great, I knew it was too good to be true!”). Don’t fret my friend for the way to the entrance of the Fortress is through Jesus. God loves us all and wants to give us the victory over our battles, but it can only be done through His Son. When Eve faced the battle alone she introduced sin into the world and we have all been doomed to be born into sin ever since. When Jesus came, He lived a perfect sinless life as a man who was also God. He was brutally punished for the sins of each of us and He died on a cross on a hill. But the best part of all is that He didn’t stay dead! He descended into Hell and on the third day was raised from the dead. Not as a ghost but in flesh! He appeared to hundreds of people as well as spending a short time with His disciples before ascending into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father where He sits today waiting until the time of His return.

We have to believe that Jesus is who He says He is and believe in what He did on the cross for us. When we accept Him we no longer live for ourselves but we live for Him. He is the Master and we are the vessels that He uses to do His work until the day of His return. From the moment we make that decision, we are welcomed into the Fortress of victory! Where we are held high by the Father and delivered from our enemy.

So what’s it gonna be? Will you stand alone or will you enter the Fortress?

“In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.

Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

Free me from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit;
redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

I hate those who cling to worthless idols;
I trust in the LORD.

I will be glad and rejoice in your love,
for you saw my affliction
and knew the anguish of my soul.

You have not handed me over to the enemy
but have set my feet in a spacious place.” -Psalm 31:1-8