It is only appropriate that I begin this post by saying, “Thank you!” I am speechless (which doesn’t happen often) over the expressions of love poured out on our family during the passing of my father-in-law. I wonder if there is any more accurate picture of the body of Christ than in a time of loss. Just as in our own bodies, when something is hurt, the entire body feels the pain and works to aid the ailing part. We have experienced others bearing our pain and rushing in to minister to our hurt! Paul speaks to this in his second letter to the church at Corinth:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.” 2 Cor. 1:3-7
The death of a loved one is never an experience that we look forward to but death is certain for all of us. Scripture says, “It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment.” However, for the believer, death is the final miracle, the ultimate grace and the complete restoration of our souls. In fact, the greatest thing that can happen to a believer is death because it is the means by which our struggle with sin is finished and our faith is made sight!
I love the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “O Death where is your victory? O Death, where is your sting?” The writer is taunting death as a bee that has lost its venom, its power...its dread.
This was the first time in my life I had simultaneously felt the deep sense of grief and the fluttering quell of joy over death. I had such a sense of rejoicing within my spirit. But I wasn't rejoicing over a life well lived, I wasn't rejoicing over suffering that had ceased...I was rejoicing in Jesus! In His gospel and His saving grace!
Earlier that week before we took the kids to see their PawPaw for the last time on this earth I quickly turned to them and said, "You know, we talk a lot about Jesus in this house. We talk a lot about the gospel and sin and the need for a Savior. This is why! THIS is why Jesus died! This is why the gospel is good news! You are seeing the gospel lived out right before you and it is never more clearly spoken then in death!"
You see, sin brings death! But praise God, Jesus tasted death in order that we might have life! Jesus said so clearly, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). Wednesday morning, I went into my children, confidently and boldly proclaiming that their PawPaw was with Jesus and that yes, he lives! This is why we do not sorrow as those who have no hope! PawPaw had placed his faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel was a reality for him at 4:05a.m. on February 22, 2012. All that he had hoped for, lived for and placed his faith in were all a glorious reality in the blink of an eye.
Beloved, what you think of Jesus in this life is all that truly matters. We make life so complicated. We worry and fret and as Jesus told Martha, we "are troubled over many things." But when death comes to call all that matters in that instant is Jesus. It comes down to Him. Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day of faith!
"What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be. For one day He will be saying, 'what will I do with thee?'"
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Wilderness of Singleness
Okay, I have a confession: I don’t think singleness is a curse…anymore. Yikes! I feel like I should apologize to the Nancy Lee DeMoss’ of the world and to every single woman (or man) that I have ever said, “So, who are you seeing right now?” I confess that I have often felt sorry for people who were without a spouse and would “keep my eyes and ears open” for them in hopes that I might be able to successfully find a match.
Just the terminology is so much like laundry…like we are searching for a lost sock in the midst of a sea of towels, pants and unmentionables! Admittedly, I was happy with my marital status and thought that in order for others to be happy that they must enter into this communal fellowship of wedded bliss, have a few kids and get a mortgage. I would find myself saying things to God like, “Please bring so and so a mate” or “If she only had a husband than this situation wouldn’t be so hard on her.”
The interesting thing is that a lot of singles feel this way themselves; like they are an anathema, a subculture, an anomaly of some sort that never achieve the level of contentment and completeness that married people do. The Lord has strategically placed singles in my life and I often try to avoid subjects pertaining to married life – things like my husband, my kids…my life, really, assuming that this will rub salt in a wound that may or may not even be there!
Then, one day I came across the title of a study called, “Waiting for God’s Best” and I was struck with the pervasive attitude that singleness is a curse. No boy? No man? No ring? No significant other? Poor girl! In the very next thought the Holy Spirit smacked me – yes, smacked me with this question, “What if singleness is God’s best?” Doesn’t scripture say that God gives only good things (James 1:17)? Then why are we to assume that where we are now is not His best, that we must WAIT for Him to be good to us? I don’t buy it!
I write a lot about Israel, especially from the Pentateuch (fancy word for the first 5 books in the Bible – also known as “the books of the Law”…little Bible trivia to start your day!). I am drawn into the lives of people who resemble…people! I may not have been enslaved in a foreign land, wandered in an actual desert or been taken captive by pagan nations but I have experienced all of those things spiritually. And, my reactions were no different from the Israelites. It is a running joke in our house that I would have been a great Israelite! Meaning I would have fit right in!
There are many seasons of my life where I feel like I am in the wilderness and sometimes I am. However, there are seasons where I THINK I am in the wilderness but my perspective is all wrong. The Lord gave clear reasons for the wilderness wanderings. He says in Deuteronomy 8:2, “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
So, sometimes the Lord places us in “wilderness” situations in order to humble us and test us, to see the genuineness of our hearts. I submit to you that singleness is not one of those situations! In other words, singleness is not a curse or punishment or trial or even a wilderness. The Israelites were being punished for their disobedience in not trusting the Lord so they spent 40 years wandering aimlessly, waiting anxiously for the whole experience to be over so they could move on to the Promised Land.
Admittedly, there are times when we wander aimlessly in singleness waiting for the whole experience to be over so that we can move on to the Promised Land of marriage. In this, we treat singleness as a wilderness. To make matters worse, the church seems to not know what to do with singleness any more than the world does. We express our attitudes and discomfort by creating “programs” for singles to mingle, meet and hopefully marry.
I confess my guilt in this and my own lack of trust in the providence of God to chose some for marriage and some for singleness. The truth is, if we are meant to be married then there will not be a single plan of the enemy to thwart God’s purpose or His timing. The same is true if we are meant to be single.
So, I want to end by speaking first to the church as a whole, filled with married people. Singles are part of the body of Christ! They are our sisters and brothers and they should be treated as part of the whole. They are not a sub-culture meant to be lumped together for the purpose of finding a mate. They are to be grafted in regardless of what the left ring finger indicates. We have got to stop trying to play God in matchmaking, constantly mentioning the presence of another single within the church congregation and overall keeping a watchful eye on their love life! We wouldn’t do this to any other part of their lives! Let’s not be guilty of perpetuating a complex that shouldn’t even be there to begin with!
Now to singles: I want you to know if you are single that I am not minimizing your feelings. I know that many of you have a deep desire to be married and want nothing more than to be a mother and a wife. I also know that the feeling towards me as a married woman could be less than kind. I don’t write this to pour salt in a wound, point out the obvious or make you feel “less than”.
I was single once too. I wasn’t any happier about being single than some of you are right now however, I wish I had realized that it wasn’t a curse. God was working through those years and I wasted it! Wasted time I could have been serving and growing and basically being obedient but instead I look back at them as years of discontent, disappointment and STUPID decisions. Stupid decisions birthed out of desperation to make any man who came along “the one”; to see myself as valued and worthy only through my relationship status; never living life to its fullest!
Girls please know that we serve a GOOD God! He is good to you right now! He loves you as much as He loves any attached woman out there. Your singleness is not a curse, not a gift, not a cross to bear, not a time to make you into the right person or even a time to wait for God’s best. Your singleness is not who you are. Your relationship with the Lord is not based on your marital status; as if being married is a higher state of sanctification and blessing from the Lord.
Remember, the marriage covenant is temporal and does not bring the kind of contentment that the media, the movies or your girlfriends would have you believe it does. Be content is all things for “godliness with contentment is great gain!” God is using you and loving now as He will for eternity…whether there’s a man or not! But, any man who will come after you…let him!
Just the terminology is so much like laundry…like we are searching for a lost sock in the midst of a sea of towels, pants and unmentionables! Admittedly, I was happy with my marital status and thought that in order for others to be happy that they must enter into this communal fellowship of wedded bliss, have a few kids and get a mortgage. I would find myself saying things to God like, “Please bring so and so a mate” or “If she only had a husband than this situation wouldn’t be so hard on her.”
The interesting thing is that a lot of singles feel this way themselves; like they are an anathema, a subculture, an anomaly of some sort that never achieve the level of contentment and completeness that married people do. The Lord has strategically placed singles in my life and I often try to avoid subjects pertaining to married life – things like my husband, my kids…my life, really, assuming that this will rub salt in a wound that may or may not even be there!
Then, one day I came across the title of a study called, “Waiting for God’s Best” and I was struck with the pervasive attitude that singleness is a curse. No boy? No man? No ring? No significant other? Poor girl! In the very next thought the Holy Spirit smacked me – yes, smacked me with this question, “What if singleness is God’s best?” Doesn’t scripture say that God gives only good things (James 1:17)? Then why are we to assume that where we are now is not His best, that we must WAIT for Him to be good to us? I don’t buy it!
I write a lot about Israel, especially from the Pentateuch (fancy word for the first 5 books in the Bible – also known as “the books of the Law”…little Bible trivia to start your day!). I am drawn into the lives of people who resemble…people! I may not have been enslaved in a foreign land, wandered in an actual desert or been taken captive by pagan nations but I have experienced all of those things spiritually. And, my reactions were no different from the Israelites. It is a running joke in our house that I would have been a great Israelite! Meaning I would have fit right in!
There are many seasons of my life where I feel like I am in the wilderness and sometimes I am. However, there are seasons where I THINK I am in the wilderness but my perspective is all wrong. The Lord gave clear reasons for the wilderness wanderings. He says in Deuteronomy 8:2, “You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
So, sometimes the Lord places us in “wilderness” situations in order to humble us and test us, to see the genuineness of our hearts. I submit to you that singleness is not one of those situations! In other words, singleness is not a curse or punishment or trial or even a wilderness. The Israelites were being punished for their disobedience in not trusting the Lord so they spent 40 years wandering aimlessly, waiting anxiously for the whole experience to be over so they could move on to the Promised Land.
Admittedly, there are times when we wander aimlessly in singleness waiting for the whole experience to be over so that we can move on to the Promised Land of marriage. In this, we treat singleness as a wilderness. To make matters worse, the church seems to not know what to do with singleness any more than the world does. We express our attitudes and discomfort by creating “programs” for singles to mingle, meet and hopefully marry.
I confess my guilt in this and my own lack of trust in the providence of God to chose some for marriage and some for singleness. The truth is, if we are meant to be married then there will not be a single plan of the enemy to thwart God’s purpose or His timing. The same is true if we are meant to be single.
So, I want to end by speaking first to the church as a whole, filled with married people. Singles are part of the body of Christ! They are our sisters and brothers and they should be treated as part of the whole. They are not a sub-culture meant to be lumped together for the purpose of finding a mate. They are to be grafted in regardless of what the left ring finger indicates. We have got to stop trying to play God in matchmaking, constantly mentioning the presence of another single within the church congregation and overall keeping a watchful eye on their love life! We wouldn’t do this to any other part of their lives! Let’s not be guilty of perpetuating a complex that shouldn’t even be there to begin with!
Now to singles: I want you to know if you are single that I am not minimizing your feelings. I know that many of you have a deep desire to be married and want nothing more than to be a mother and a wife. I also know that the feeling towards me as a married woman could be less than kind. I don’t write this to pour salt in a wound, point out the obvious or make you feel “less than”.
I was single once too. I wasn’t any happier about being single than some of you are right now however, I wish I had realized that it wasn’t a curse. God was working through those years and I wasted it! Wasted time I could have been serving and growing and basically being obedient but instead I look back at them as years of discontent, disappointment and STUPID decisions. Stupid decisions birthed out of desperation to make any man who came along “the one”; to see myself as valued and worthy only through my relationship status; never living life to its fullest!
Girls please know that we serve a GOOD God! He is good to you right now! He loves you as much as He loves any attached woman out there. Your singleness is not a curse, not a gift, not a cross to bear, not a time to make you into the right person or even a time to wait for God’s best. Your singleness is not who you are. Your relationship with the Lord is not based on your marital status; as if being married is a higher state of sanctification and blessing from the Lord.
Remember, the marriage covenant is temporal and does not bring the kind of contentment that the media, the movies or your girlfriends would have you believe it does. Be content is all things for “godliness with contentment is great gain!” God is using you and loving now as He will for eternity…whether there’s a man or not! But, any man who will come after you…let him!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Hacking Sin to Pieces
Isn’t that a fabulous word? Hacking. It is a power word that evokes strong images of totally destroying something one blow at a time…with effort! Have you ever wanted to hack something to pieces? If you are a woman then I would say, yes, you probably have! If you are a wife then the odds go up that yes, you probably have. I did say some THING not some ONE. Don’t judge me! You know it is true so don’t go lying against the Holy Spirit! Ha! I digress…
So the entire first month of 2012 is gone and we are already anticipating the first hints of spring. It is at this point I would be interested to see how we are all fairing with our New Years resolutions. What was it that you were hoping to accomplish or diminish or lose? Did you are take a spiritual inventory as well? Committing to read the Bible every day or reading through the Bible in 2012? For some it might have been committing scripture to memory or finally dealing with sins that are hanging out and hanging on. You know what I mean. Those sins that just need to be dealt with once and for all!
There are many reasons why we hang on to our sin. For some of us it is pride, for others, if we are honest, it brings us a measure of pleasure, even happiness for a season. Sometimes it is greed, selfishness or just a plain lack of self-discipline.
Sin is pernicious that way. You can’t make friends with it, you can’t keep it pushed down and you can’t straddle the fence with an on again, off again attitude. You just have to kill it by hacking it to pieces!
I was reading yesterday out of 1 Samuel 15 about the story of King Saul vs. King Agag of the Amalekites. The Amalekites had opposed Israel as they were fleeing Egypt. You might be familiar with the story as the one where Aaron and Hur held up Moses arms. Even though Israel secured the victory, the Lord promised that He would eventually take vengeance and “completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). Well, as far as God’s promises, He’s batting a thousand!
I’m sure by the time the events between Saul and Agag came around that the Amalekites had either forgotten God’s promise or they thought that Israel’s God was impotent. They would quickly think again! In 1 Samuel 15:3 God gave complete instruction to Saul in how to deal with the Amalekites: “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
No gray areas there. But verse nine shows Saul’s complete disregard for God’s command. “Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, cattle and fatlings, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.”
Did you catch the beginning of the second sentence? “They WERE NOT WILLING”…This wasn’t about a misunderstanding, this was plain disobedience. Now girls, there are things that we do unintentionally out of a sinful default mode but when we are blatant about our disobedience then we are walking a dangerous road! Scripture is clear that we are held accountable based on what we know! If you know something is wrong but choose to do it anyway there is stricter judgement to answer to! Saul learned this the hard way.
You can almost hear the thought process that Saul is going through as he justifies his disobedience to Samuel. “God would want us to keep what is best and give some to Him. He’s okay with most of the people and livestock being destroyed. Surely a few animals and one man can’t hurt.” Wow! Isn’t that a total picture of humanity? We are very careful to justify those “little” sins here and there that remain in our lives. The occasional gossip session, the little white lie, the night of fun here and there, the sick day because we are sick of work, the wandering gaze or the lingering lustful thought that we privately entertain. Just as cancer begins with one cell so are the sins that we deem as trivial and easily brush under the rug.
However, God is not ambivalent about ANY of our sin. From a human perspective He could have left things as they were with Saul and Agag. Saul had almost fulfilled the task that God had given to Him. Isn’t “almost” good enough?
Ladies, we do not serve an “almost” God. God has never and will never do anything in part. When He sent His Son to die, Jesus completed the mission in total obedience. The Lord expects nothing less from us! In our commitment and obedience to Him He expects us to go all the way and He has equipped us by His Holy Spirit to complete the task! Straddling the fence causes nothing but splinters!
Consequently, God took the kingship from Saul and commanded Samuel to “hack Agag to pieces.” I have to imagine that Samuel, as a prophet, took no delight in the task set before him. In the end, Saul was sorry for his own demise but he wasn’t sorry for His disobedience. That’s the difference between regret and repentance. My Mom used to say to me when I was younger, “You’re not sorry, you’re sorry you got caught!” Oh, that we would be filled with sorrow over our sin and grieve the smallest offense; for even these things sent the precious Lamb of God to the slaughter!
So the entire first month of 2012 is gone and we are already anticipating the first hints of spring. It is at this point I would be interested to see how we are all fairing with our New Years resolutions. What was it that you were hoping to accomplish or diminish or lose? Did you are take a spiritual inventory as well? Committing to read the Bible every day or reading through the Bible in 2012? For some it might have been committing scripture to memory or finally dealing with sins that are hanging out and hanging on. You know what I mean. Those sins that just need to be dealt with once and for all!
There are many reasons why we hang on to our sin. For some of us it is pride, for others, if we are honest, it brings us a measure of pleasure, even happiness for a season. Sometimes it is greed, selfishness or just a plain lack of self-discipline.
Sin is pernicious that way. You can’t make friends with it, you can’t keep it pushed down and you can’t straddle the fence with an on again, off again attitude. You just have to kill it by hacking it to pieces!
I was reading yesterday out of 1 Samuel 15 about the story of King Saul vs. King Agag of the Amalekites. The Amalekites had opposed Israel as they were fleeing Egypt. You might be familiar with the story as the one where Aaron and Hur held up Moses arms. Even though Israel secured the victory, the Lord promised that He would eventually take vengeance and “completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). Well, as far as God’s promises, He’s batting a thousand!
I’m sure by the time the events between Saul and Agag came around that the Amalekites had either forgotten God’s promise or they thought that Israel’s God was impotent. They would quickly think again! In 1 Samuel 15:3 God gave complete instruction to Saul in how to deal with the Amalekites: “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
No gray areas there. But verse nine shows Saul’s complete disregard for God’s command. “Saul and the troops spared Agag and the best of the sheep, cattle and fatlings, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.”
Did you catch the beginning of the second sentence? “They WERE NOT WILLING”…This wasn’t about a misunderstanding, this was plain disobedience. Now girls, there are things that we do unintentionally out of a sinful default mode but when we are blatant about our disobedience then we are walking a dangerous road! Scripture is clear that we are held accountable based on what we know! If you know something is wrong but choose to do it anyway there is stricter judgement to answer to! Saul learned this the hard way.
You can almost hear the thought process that Saul is going through as he justifies his disobedience to Samuel. “God would want us to keep what is best and give some to Him. He’s okay with most of the people and livestock being destroyed. Surely a few animals and one man can’t hurt.” Wow! Isn’t that a total picture of humanity? We are very careful to justify those “little” sins here and there that remain in our lives. The occasional gossip session, the little white lie, the night of fun here and there, the sick day because we are sick of work, the wandering gaze or the lingering lustful thought that we privately entertain. Just as cancer begins with one cell so are the sins that we deem as trivial and easily brush under the rug.
However, God is not ambivalent about ANY of our sin. From a human perspective He could have left things as they were with Saul and Agag. Saul had almost fulfilled the task that God had given to Him. Isn’t “almost” good enough?
Ladies, we do not serve an “almost” God. God has never and will never do anything in part. When He sent His Son to die, Jesus completed the mission in total obedience. The Lord expects nothing less from us! In our commitment and obedience to Him He expects us to go all the way and He has equipped us by His Holy Spirit to complete the task! Straddling the fence causes nothing but splinters!
Consequently, God took the kingship from Saul and commanded Samuel to “hack Agag to pieces.” I have to imagine that Samuel, as a prophet, took no delight in the task set before him. In the end, Saul was sorry for his own demise but he wasn’t sorry for His disobedience. That’s the difference between regret and repentance. My Mom used to say to me when I was younger, “You’re not sorry, you’re sorry you got caught!” Oh, that we would be filled with sorrow over our sin and grieve the smallest offense; for even these things sent the precious Lamb of God to the slaughter!
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