Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe that I have five minutes to sit here and write to you! I almost feel as if I have forgotten how to write, what to say and certainly how to be witty! Our summer has been full of heat, humidity, weddings, swim meets, VBS, humidity and more humidity! There’s nothing that quite defines a summer in the state of Virginia like tree frogs and humidity.
So, I sit here in a peculiar frame of mind because it seems that this is a time of waiting…for everyone, including myself! In the last several days I have talked to no less than ten people who are frustrated with the heaviness of waiting on something! Waiting on the weekend, waiting on the job, waiting on a specific date, waiting for something to be over, waiting on God to hurry up and MOVE, waiting for the world to change etc; Generally, we wait patiently for a day or two, maybe a week if we are really persevering but for the most part I’ve never met anyone who “waits well”. In our microwave society we have conditioned ourselves to not wait for anything. I get insolent having to wait for a cup of coffee to brew if it takes 1 ½ minutes much less an entire pot! So, it begs the question, “Is there a way that we can teach ourselves to ‘wait well’”?
In relying on my trusty biblegateway.com search there is one passage in particular that gives us instructions on waiting. In Luke 12, Jesus is teaching to His disciples. Although there were multitudes around Him that would resemble something of a modern day mosh pit, Jesus specifically addresses His disciples. So listen up girls and take notes!
Waiting well involves waiting without, yes, WITHOUT anxiety. In verses 22-31 of Luke chapter 12, is the very familiar passage about birds of the air and lilies of the field. But in verse 29 Jesus plainly says, “and don’t worry!” There you have it, plain as day, DO NOT WORRY! Then He follows up in v. 30-31 by saying (as I paraphrase), “all the rest of humanity seeks after food and clothing and as your Daddy I know that you need these things but instead, you as my children, seek my kingdom first and all these things will be added to you.”
There is a second part to waiting well here in these verses. We are to wait being busy about His kingdom. Jesus says, seek me first! When I set down to prioritize, which happens to be multiple times daily as an avid list maker, I put the most important thing at the top of the list. The thing that must get done before anything else goes in the numero uno spot. Everything else is a distraction until I can check that one thing off my list. The same applies here. The idea is that we will be so consumed with seeking Him that the secondary, material things take a back seat. The problem is that we have made the secondary things primary! And let me say right now, I am guilty. I will have no problem gnawing your arm right off if you get in the way of dinner and we won’t even discuss the carnage that might ensue if you determine to prohibit me from finding the nearest Ross, TJ Maxx or Marshall’s! So, let’s confess our mixed up priorities and get them straight, first things first!
Thirdly, we are to wait expectantly. In the latter part of the chapter (12:35-38), Jesus begins a parable about a household of servants that are waiting on their master to return from being out for the evening. The exact words of instruction He gives to them are “be dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.” The imagery here is of servants who are standing at the door waiting for their master to knock so they can greet Him. They aren’t asleep with the lights off! Sometimes we are just asleep with the lights off! But the Lord encourages us to wait in expectation for what He is going to do. Okay, so far we are waiting expectantly, without anxiety, being busy about His kingdom.
Fourthly we are to wait in perseverance. So, how many times have you prayed and asked the Lord to move and then given up on that prayer after a while determining that it will never happen? We don’t have to go deep into the bible to find several women who were prayer warriors! These women persevered in prayer and clung to the faithfulness of God.
Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel were all barren! These women were the three matriarchs that were to give birth to the chosen lineage of Christ! Isaac, Jacob and Joseph were born of women who petitioned the Lord year after year in prayer for God to open their wombs. What a testimony to persevering during a time of waiting on the Lord! Our focal text even says, “if (the master) comes in the second or third watch of the night, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants!” The second watch and third watches were between the hours of 9pm and 3am so we get a glimpse of the perseverance that these servants embodied by waiting up late into the night for their master.
Lastly, in order to wait well we must wait obediently. In verse 42, Jesus is giving a job description for a faithful and wise manager and in v. 43 He pronounces a blessing on the servant “whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” The manager was doing his job! What a novel idea for us! We spend so much time being consumed with the next thing or trying to figure out God’s will for tomorrow that we miss what He is wanting to do today. God’s will for you is what you are doing right now! As long as it isn’t illegal or immoral then you are in the center of His will. Thankfully, our God doesn’t play divine “Let’s Make a Deal” from His throne while we squirm to decide which door we should choose. Maybe His will is behind door number one or maybe it’s behind door number three? How unsettling to think that I might pick the wrong door and be in a state of doom for the rest of my life! So, back to the point, the servant was being obedient and doing the thing that the master had given him to do. Are you?
Which brings me to my final thought: We must be joyful in our “waiting well”. Not a joy that is based on all the right circumstances but a joy that is firmly grounded in a right standing before a Holy God accomplished through the atonement of Jesus Christ the Righteous. Regardless of what life may bring, one thing is sure for us as children of God, we are reconciled and redeemed eternally. I will leave you with this encouragement from James 1:2-4, “Count it all joy my sisters when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience and let patience have its perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing!” Wait well girls, wait well!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Learning to Love Thunderstorms
I would definitely say we have had our share of thunderstorms this summer. It seems that every day for the last week or so about 4 or 5 o’clock in the afternoon that there is a dull rumble of thunder in the distance followed ever so quickly by a torrential downpour – or what people in the south like to call a “gulley washer”. This is southern slang for one of those storms that comes out of nowhere, pours buckets for about 15 or 20 minutes to the extent that the ground can’t absorb the overflow and so the gullies flood. If you have ever been caught in one driving down the road or woken up to its fury in the middle of the night, it can seem like the longest 15 or 20 minutes of your life!
I often like to read the lyrics of old hymns because there is such awesome theology in them; theology that speaks of people who knew the Lord in a way that seems almost foreign to us now. One such hymn is William Cowper’s “God Moves in Mysterious Ways”. I was particularly drawn in by these verses:
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
These words not only made me think of the unpredictable nature of thunderstorms but also the unpredictable nature of God. The paranoid side of me, when I see dark clouds forming and a storm ahead, automatically thinks the worst, plans for the worst and inevitably waits for the worst . I’ll be honest. The unpredictable nature of God is not always comforting to me either. Well, if I am being honest, most of the time it isn’t comforting to me. I am a planner, a control-freak, type A etc; I want to know the end from the beginning. I want to know all of the why’s, when’s and how’s to every situation. I don’t like the angst and anxiety of not knowing what tomorrow will hold or how to prepare for it. I want to know when the storm will be over!! It is unsettling to say the least! But recently, the Lord has really started to test me in this area and to convict me as well because…well, because it is sin. Sin that I do not trust Him for what I cannot see. Sin that as the bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Not somewhat possible, not maybe possible but IMPOSSIBLE to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
I ask myself “why is it that you are convinced that God is only able to work in good and happy times?” What brings Him greater glory: An impossible, stormy, cloud-covered situation or a bright, clear, happy circumstance? I know which brings ME greater glory and joy. But isn’t that the point when God says “I will not give my glory to another” – even you, even me (Is. 42:8)? In the sunshine it is so easy for us to give credit to ourselves or to not even think about giving anyone credit, we just move along from day to day while things are good. However, when the storm hits, the thunder shakes the foundation and the lightning threatens to strike, where is our focus?
Sometimes we ask a lot of “why’s” from God and we fail to realize that explanation rarely changes things. Revelation changes things. We get so hung up on an explanation that we cannot see that what we need is revelation. We need more of Him to get us through the storm, not a ten point dissertation on why we are in the middle of the storm. In the middle of the night when the storm rages I don’t want a stranger to hold onto, I want my husband! I know him, I feel safe with him, I trust him. So it is with God. When we know Him, we find security in His presence and we focus on His presence not on the storm.
Consider and meditate on these things: Would Peter’s faith have ever been strengthened by walking on water if there hadn’t been a storm? Would the disciples have seen Jesus for who He truly was if there had been no crisis for Him to perform a miracle over? If men were not lame, demon-possessed, blind or dead would Jesus have been worshipped for the power He embodied as God in the flesh?
I am guilty of thinking that every unfavorable circumstance in my life is a result of God’s displeasure with me. I rationalize that in some way I am being disciplined because life is hard. Sometimes this is the case. Sometimes we face consequences to our sin but there are times when we are simply vessels for which His glory might be revealed. In John 9:2-3, right before Jesus was to heal a blind man his disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he would be born blind? But Jesus answered and said, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” This man, blind from birth, was a vessel to reveal God’s glory. Do you think being blind had been a burden to him? Do you think that the thought that he was blind due to some unpardonable sin had been a heavy weight to bear? Absolutely! But all of this “that the works of God might be displayed in him!”
The Lord has promised us in His word that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We can bank on the fact that we WILL get the good in Christ Jesus but HE chooses how He gets the glory. We don’t get to choose how He gets His glory. We don’t get to choose what cross we will bear. This is what scripture talks about in denying self, taking up your cross and following Him. Putting aside our ideas of how things should be, what we want to be or how we would like things to go and allowing God to simply USE us for His good pleasure. We can choose to allow ourselves to willingly lay down our lives as vessels to His glory every day. You see, ultimately, everyone will be a vessel for God’s glory whether through wrath or through grace but ALL mankind WILL give Him glory. “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:22-23)? What a gracious gift to be marked out for honor rather than for wrath! This very fact should make our hearts sing with delight and our “yokes easy and our burdens light.” What grace to be used for the glory of God even when all we can see is the storm!
I often like to read the lyrics of old hymns because there is such awesome theology in them; theology that speaks of people who knew the Lord in a way that seems almost foreign to us now. One such hymn is William Cowper’s “God Moves in Mysterious Ways”. I was particularly drawn in by these verses:
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
These words not only made me think of the unpredictable nature of thunderstorms but also the unpredictable nature of God. The paranoid side of me, when I see dark clouds forming and a storm ahead, automatically thinks the worst, plans for the worst and inevitably waits for the worst . I’ll be honest. The unpredictable nature of God is not always comforting to me either. Well, if I am being honest, most of the time it isn’t comforting to me. I am a planner, a control-freak, type A etc; I want to know the end from the beginning. I want to know all of the why’s, when’s and how’s to every situation. I don’t like the angst and anxiety of not knowing what tomorrow will hold or how to prepare for it. I want to know when the storm will be over!! It is unsettling to say the least! But recently, the Lord has really started to test me in this area and to convict me as well because…well, because it is sin. Sin that I do not trust Him for what I cannot see. Sin that as the bible says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Not somewhat possible, not maybe possible but IMPOSSIBLE to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
I ask myself “why is it that you are convinced that God is only able to work in good and happy times?” What brings Him greater glory: An impossible, stormy, cloud-covered situation or a bright, clear, happy circumstance? I know which brings ME greater glory and joy. But isn’t that the point when God says “I will not give my glory to another” – even you, even me (Is. 42:8)? In the sunshine it is so easy for us to give credit to ourselves or to not even think about giving anyone credit, we just move along from day to day while things are good. However, when the storm hits, the thunder shakes the foundation and the lightning threatens to strike, where is our focus?
Sometimes we ask a lot of “why’s” from God and we fail to realize that explanation rarely changes things. Revelation changes things. We get so hung up on an explanation that we cannot see that what we need is revelation. We need more of Him to get us through the storm, not a ten point dissertation on why we are in the middle of the storm. In the middle of the night when the storm rages I don’t want a stranger to hold onto, I want my husband! I know him, I feel safe with him, I trust him. So it is with God. When we know Him, we find security in His presence and we focus on His presence not on the storm.
Consider and meditate on these things: Would Peter’s faith have ever been strengthened by walking on water if there hadn’t been a storm? Would the disciples have seen Jesus for who He truly was if there had been no crisis for Him to perform a miracle over? If men were not lame, demon-possessed, blind or dead would Jesus have been worshipped for the power He embodied as God in the flesh?
I am guilty of thinking that every unfavorable circumstance in my life is a result of God’s displeasure with me. I rationalize that in some way I am being disciplined because life is hard. Sometimes this is the case. Sometimes we face consequences to our sin but there are times when we are simply vessels for which His glory might be revealed. In John 9:2-3, right before Jesus was to heal a blind man his disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he would be born blind? But Jesus answered and said, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” This man, blind from birth, was a vessel to reveal God’s glory. Do you think being blind had been a burden to him? Do you think that the thought that he was blind due to some unpardonable sin had been a heavy weight to bear? Absolutely! But all of this “that the works of God might be displayed in him!”
The Lord has promised us in His word that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We can bank on the fact that we WILL get the good in Christ Jesus but HE chooses how He gets the glory. We don’t get to choose how He gets His glory. We don’t get to choose what cross we will bear. This is what scripture talks about in denying self, taking up your cross and following Him. Putting aside our ideas of how things should be, what we want to be or how we would like things to go and allowing God to simply USE us for His good pleasure. We can choose to allow ourselves to willingly lay down our lives as vessels to His glory every day. You see, ultimately, everyone will be a vessel for God’s glory whether through wrath or through grace but ALL mankind WILL give Him glory. “What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:22-23)? What a gracious gift to be marked out for honor rather than for wrath! This very fact should make our hearts sing with delight and our “yokes easy and our burdens light.” What grace to be used for the glory of God even when all we can see is the storm!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage...
It truly has been too long! Summer is here and she is hot and busy as usual! Sometimes writing is like anything else - when you don’t use it, you lose it. I almost feel as if I have forgotten how to do this thing and I get overwhelmed. Summertime is notorious for a lack of creativity in my brain. I think it must be the heat that drains the life and mind out of a person. It would seem to be a reasonable explanation for why we flock to swimming pools or the nearest body of water to sit for hours and do nothing but bake in the sun!
I think I mentioned at one point, several posts ago, that we have a lot of couples getting married from our church this summer. Love is in the air! Likewise, we have just finished a marriage study at our church by John Piper entitled “This Momentary Marriage”. (As a side note, this is my very enthusiastic endorsement for this series which is a 9 part podcast downloaded for free at desiringgod.org or you can purchase the book by the same title. If you want to understand the true meaning of marriage along with the highly esteemed roles of husband and wife, run to get this book!!! Excellent, must read, etc;.) Having been a wedding and event planner for nearly six years now I have seen A LOT of weddings. And with A LOT of weddings come a lot of ideas about marriage. Unfortunately, most are getting more wrong than they are right - which is very disheartening from a believer’s point of view. It seems that there are three mistakes that are repeated over and over. I hope that this might serve to elevate your view of marriage if nothing else!
First, most couples are basing their marriage on love. Before you cast me out as a heretic of all things romantic, let me explain! Love is hardly even definable these days. Love is a “junk draw” term. You know, the kitchen junk draw that is the catch-all for inkless pens, random screws, the 80’s broken cassette tape, a dated phone book and any other useless thing that is only needed the day AFTER you throw it away! You get my drift! I love Mexican and I love my husband, but, I don’t love Kraig in the same way I love Mexican (some days it is close - notice I didn’t use shoes as the analogy, HA!). The reality is, we love everything that makes us feel good for the moment but if that person or thing ceases to make us feel good we are out! Why? Because marriage is based on the feeling of love not a covenant promise or a deliberate choice. Why? Because we don’t understand the covenant of marriage.
“Marriage is not something to be entered into lightly.” If you have attended many wedding ceremonies you may have heard the officiant make this statement. The world would say, “marriage is not to be entered into lightly because you might make the wrong choice and beg to be released.” The truth: I can promise no matter how wonderful things are there will be days when you want to be released - and he will too! But the real reason marriage is not to be entered into lightly is that it is a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the church. You have a noble challenge to uphold the glorious relationship of Jesus and His bride, the church. So, marriage is not really about love as a feeling; it is more about love as a commitment to the Lord first. Mainly because your spouse is not going to be able to be a sustaining source for your joy.
Which is precisely point number two. Your spouse will not be a sustaining source of pleasure, joy, passion, happiness and all things fulfilling in your life. I fall short on a regular basis of being to Kraig and for Kraig all that he needs. I am simply not made to sustain him or even be a foundation for his joy. (I am mostly a source of sanctification more than anything but we’ll make that another conversation entirely - when he starts writing!) My point is that when we make our spouses into a type of Messiah then we set them and ourselves up for failure. There is no person created for you to complete you. Until we know the lover of our souls in the person of Jesus Christ we will continue to put unreasonable expectations on those that we date and marry. Although this may not end in divorce, it can make for a very unhappy home and many doubts of having “chosen the wrong one.”
Lastly, we don’t wait in expectation for the consummation, literally and figuratively. This seems like a literal statement about abstinence and it is, but I want to address the figurative side for now. Consummation is the culmination or completion of something. In the Jewish culture once a man was betrothed to a woman he went away to prepare a place for them to live. Traditionally, he was building onto his parent’s home and once his task was complete he would come to receive his bride and consummate their relationship through marriage but the couple typically remained separated until that time. Keep in mind that this was way before the times of cell service, home phones, pony express or even the telegraph so there wasn’t any notice for the bride. Her role was to watch, wait and prepare from the day he left until he returned, not knowing when he would return. Hopefully sooner rather than later she would look up and see a caravan coming from far off. As they approached, she would hear shouts of “the bridegroom is coming, the bridegroom is coming” at which point she would quickly veil and ready herself for a glorious wedding celebration that would last for days! Now, you want to talk about romantic? I am smitten!
The bride never takes her eyes off of the horizon. She never looks for another bridegroom and she waits...patiently with joy and expectation. We are the eternal bride of Christ but we rarely live life in faithful, patient expectation, awaiting the arrival of our bridegroom. He has indeed gone to “prepare a place for us” and will return at a time that no one, not even the Son is knows. How would our lives and our marriages be different if we were busy about readying ourselves for the return of our Savior? Suddenly, all of the misconstrued feelings, emotional letdowns and unmet expectations pale in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that will be our future!
Marriage is wonderful, marriage is hard and marriage is glorious not because of the two people that make the union but because of the God who joins the two together. The mystery of what occurs in a wedding ceremony is not based on man but based on God, the author and designer of the marriage covenant. “What God has joined together, let no man separate” (Mark 10:9) Congratulations to all of our couples and may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you as you seek to reflect His glory as husband and wife!
I think I mentioned at one point, several posts ago, that we have a lot of couples getting married from our church this summer. Love is in the air! Likewise, we have just finished a marriage study at our church by John Piper entitled “This Momentary Marriage”. (As a side note, this is my very enthusiastic endorsement for this series which is a 9 part podcast downloaded for free at desiringgod.org or you can purchase the book by the same title. If you want to understand the true meaning of marriage along with the highly esteemed roles of husband and wife, run to get this book!!! Excellent, must read, etc;.) Having been a wedding and event planner for nearly six years now I have seen A LOT of weddings. And with A LOT of weddings come a lot of ideas about marriage. Unfortunately, most are getting more wrong than they are right - which is very disheartening from a believer’s point of view. It seems that there are three mistakes that are repeated over and over. I hope that this might serve to elevate your view of marriage if nothing else!
First, most couples are basing their marriage on love. Before you cast me out as a heretic of all things romantic, let me explain! Love is hardly even definable these days. Love is a “junk draw” term. You know, the kitchen junk draw that is the catch-all for inkless pens, random screws, the 80’s broken cassette tape, a dated phone book and any other useless thing that is only needed the day AFTER you throw it away! You get my drift! I love Mexican and I love my husband, but, I don’t love Kraig in the same way I love Mexican (some days it is close - notice I didn’t use shoes as the analogy, HA!). The reality is, we love everything that makes us feel good for the moment but if that person or thing ceases to make us feel good we are out! Why? Because marriage is based on the feeling of love not a covenant promise or a deliberate choice. Why? Because we don’t understand the covenant of marriage.
“Marriage is not something to be entered into lightly.” If you have attended many wedding ceremonies you may have heard the officiant make this statement. The world would say, “marriage is not to be entered into lightly because you might make the wrong choice and beg to be released.” The truth: I can promise no matter how wonderful things are there will be days when you want to be released - and he will too! But the real reason marriage is not to be entered into lightly is that it is a reflection of the relationship between Christ and the church. You have a noble challenge to uphold the glorious relationship of Jesus and His bride, the church. So, marriage is not really about love as a feeling; it is more about love as a commitment to the Lord first. Mainly because your spouse is not going to be able to be a sustaining source for your joy.
Which is precisely point number two. Your spouse will not be a sustaining source of pleasure, joy, passion, happiness and all things fulfilling in your life. I fall short on a regular basis of being to Kraig and for Kraig all that he needs. I am simply not made to sustain him or even be a foundation for his joy. (I am mostly a source of sanctification more than anything but we’ll make that another conversation entirely - when he starts writing!) My point is that when we make our spouses into a type of Messiah then we set them and ourselves up for failure. There is no person created for you to complete you. Until we know the lover of our souls in the person of Jesus Christ we will continue to put unreasonable expectations on those that we date and marry. Although this may not end in divorce, it can make for a very unhappy home and many doubts of having “chosen the wrong one.”
Lastly, we don’t wait in expectation for the consummation, literally and figuratively. This seems like a literal statement about abstinence and it is, but I want to address the figurative side for now. Consummation is the culmination or completion of something. In the Jewish culture once a man was betrothed to a woman he went away to prepare a place for them to live. Traditionally, he was building onto his parent’s home and once his task was complete he would come to receive his bride and consummate their relationship through marriage but the couple typically remained separated until that time. Keep in mind that this was way before the times of cell service, home phones, pony express or even the telegraph so there wasn’t any notice for the bride. Her role was to watch, wait and prepare from the day he left until he returned, not knowing when he would return. Hopefully sooner rather than later she would look up and see a caravan coming from far off. As they approached, she would hear shouts of “the bridegroom is coming, the bridegroom is coming” at which point she would quickly veil and ready herself for a glorious wedding celebration that would last for days! Now, you want to talk about romantic? I am smitten!
The bride never takes her eyes off of the horizon. She never looks for another bridegroom and she waits...patiently with joy and expectation. We are the eternal bride of Christ but we rarely live life in faithful, patient expectation, awaiting the arrival of our bridegroom. He has indeed gone to “prepare a place for us” and will return at a time that no one, not even the Son is knows. How would our lives and our marriages be different if we were busy about readying ourselves for the return of our Savior? Suddenly, all of the misconstrued feelings, emotional letdowns and unmet expectations pale in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that will be our future!
Marriage is wonderful, marriage is hard and marriage is glorious not because of the two people that make the union but because of the God who joins the two together. The mystery of what occurs in a wedding ceremony is not based on man but based on God, the author and designer of the marriage covenant. “What God has joined together, let no man separate” (Mark 10:9) Congratulations to all of our couples and may the God of our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you as you seek to reflect His glory as husband and wife!
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
The stronghold of yesterday, the dissatisfaction of today and the idolatry of tomorrow. Three mindsets that the enemy uses to keep us bound. The Israelites have always been a fascinating sociology study for me because they truly are a picture of exactly how mankind thinks and acts. The Israelites were bound by memories of yesterday, a total dissatisfaction in today and an idolatrous hope for tomorrow. I’m quick to look at them and judge harshly. “What’s wrong with these people? God has just delivered them from slavery, made them extremely wealthy in the process and is guiding them through the wilderness to a land He has promised them and yet they are still questioning His goodness! Hello??” Then, that plank in my eye starts to make it very hard to look at them any longer and I have to focus on myself. I am startled - this is me!
The stronghold of yesterday.
At one point in the wilderness when the Lord had already told the Israelites where they were going, provided manna for them and been their pillar of guidance they decided that they didn’t have it so bad in Egypt. At first glance it would seem as we read that the concept of slavery being better than freedom is absurd! However, it doesn’t take much for us to forget the negative details of a situation. Take for instance, childbirth. The pain is pretty intense and most women would say that it rivals any other pain they have ever experienced. Ask that same women two or three years later and it might not have been so bad. Twenty years later, no big deal. Why? Because they survived and because the beauty of time is that it makes our memories less and less clear. I’m truly convinced this is why women have more than one child to begin with although there are women who just love childbirth...you have my respect!
Isn’t this just a picture of us? We look at yesterday and long for things to be the way they used to be? It doesn’t take much for us to reminisce of days gone by, happier times of “remember when”. Then, before we know it, we are trying to recreate yesterday, today. We are held captive by yesterday, even when yesterday we were in slavery. But God has said in Isaiah 43:18-19,"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a NEW thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” God is all about doing something new in our lives. Not just new but different for the purpose of His glory. God is never satisfied with standing still. Sanctification is a progression of being set apart. Our spiritual growth is just that: growth, a walk, a race, endurance. We have to let go of the yesterday and move on to what God calls us to today.
Dissatisfaction in today.
This is the hinge that causes us to swing back into yesterday or forward into tomorrow. Today. Sometimes, like if we are on vacation, we are content in today. Sometimes, like when we are sick, we are not content in today. When things FEEL right for us, we are in. But when things don’t FEEL right for us, then we are ready to move on. We are addicted to good feelings. I’m guilty. I don’t run yippy-skippy into a hard day. There are days when I look forward to the sun going down just so I can get in the bed and start over tomorrow. The problem is I waste a lot of todays searching for perfection and being overwhelmed with tasks. Then, I get distracted.
Can anyone relate? Distracted with all I have to do, distracted with what I don’t have time to do, what I didn’t get done yesterday and what has to be done tomorrow. Distracted with problems that might happen or have already happened, distracted with technology, distracted with other people, just distracted! Distraction causes us to lose focus and when we lose focus we lose effectiveness. Do you see it? Do you see how Satan uses feelings and distractions to keep us tied up for today? Instead, God means for us to be busy about what He has given us to do, today. Think of all of the people in scripture whose lives were impacted because they were busy about the task at hand. Abraham. Moses. David. The shepherds. These men saw the glory of God not because they were looking back into yesterday or daydreaming about tomorrow. They were focused on today. So many times in scripture there is a call for us to do what we are going to do, now! Jesus said, “Repent [today]! For the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). It says in Hebrews 3:7-8, “Today, if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts.” Today, today, today. Whatever the Lord has urged you to do in His word, don’t wait, do it today!
The idolatry of tomorrow.
This is such a big one for me. I’m a typical girl, I like to dream about things. I like to make plans and have goals. I don’t work well unless I am working toward something. The problem is I am usually working toward something that is of earthly value instead of eternal value. The weekend, vacations, the holidays, special events, shopping etc; I find this to be true for many women that I know. We have set our focus on one thing and we are fixated on this coming to fruition in our lives. For some it might be a relationship, for others it might be marriage or children, healing or a job. It has been all of these for me at one point or another in my life. I develop the mindset of “the sun will come out tomorrow!” When I get this job, when I finally get married, when I am over this illness THEN I can get on with what the Lord has for me. Do you know what that is? Idolatry. Satan loves to take these “good” things and replace God with them in our lives. We are placing our hope in the thing and not the Lord. We are waiting on the thing and not the Lord. We are looking for something to fill us that was never meant to and now we are beginning to worship that one thing as the answer to all of our problems. I love how Isaiah 44:20 says it, “She feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has led her astray; she cannot save herself or say ‘is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’”
Do you see that? We are eating ashes and holding onto a lie when we idolize tomorrow. God means for us to feast on the banquet of Jesus today and hold fast to His word today! There is always going to be something lacking in our lives. If there was not a lack then we would not need the Lord. You see, if God gives us health, wealth, many well-behaved children, and a wonderful marriage but doesn’t give us Himself then He isn’t good! The question is would we be satisfied with all of those things without Him? So, my encouragement for you is this: give yesterday to the Lord, He is there. Give tomorrow to the Lord, He is there too. Then, focus on the word of the Lord and consecrate yourselves for today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord!
The stronghold of yesterday.
At one point in the wilderness when the Lord had already told the Israelites where they were going, provided manna for them and been their pillar of guidance they decided that they didn’t have it so bad in Egypt. At first glance it would seem as we read that the concept of slavery being better than freedom is absurd! However, it doesn’t take much for us to forget the negative details of a situation. Take for instance, childbirth. The pain is pretty intense and most women would say that it rivals any other pain they have ever experienced. Ask that same women two or three years later and it might not have been so bad. Twenty years later, no big deal. Why? Because they survived and because the beauty of time is that it makes our memories less and less clear. I’m truly convinced this is why women have more than one child to begin with although there are women who just love childbirth...you have my respect!
Isn’t this just a picture of us? We look at yesterday and long for things to be the way they used to be? It doesn’t take much for us to reminisce of days gone by, happier times of “remember when”. Then, before we know it, we are trying to recreate yesterday, today. We are held captive by yesterday, even when yesterday we were in slavery. But God has said in Isaiah 43:18-19,"Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a NEW thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” God is all about doing something new in our lives. Not just new but different for the purpose of His glory. God is never satisfied with standing still. Sanctification is a progression of being set apart. Our spiritual growth is just that: growth, a walk, a race, endurance. We have to let go of the yesterday and move on to what God calls us to today.
Dissatisfaction in today.
This is the hinge that causes us to swing back into yesterday or forward into tomorrow. Today. Sometimes, like if we are on vacation, we are content in today. Sometimes, like when we are sick, we are not content in today. When things FEEL right for us, we are in. But when things don’t FEEL right for us, then we are ready to move on. We are addicted to good feelings. I’m guilty. I don’t run yippy-skippy into a hard day. There are days when I look forward to the sun going down just so I can get in the bed and start over tomorrow. The problem is I waste a lot of todays searching for perfection and being overwhelmed with tasks. Then, I get distracted.
Can anyone relate? Distracted with all I have to do, distracted with what I don’t have time to do, what I didn’t get done yesterday and what has to be done tomorrow. Distracted with problems that might happen or have already happened, distracted with technology, distracted with other people, just distracted! Distraction causes us to lose focus and when we lose focus we lose effectiveness. Do you see it? Do you see how Satan uses feelings and distractions to keep us tied up for today? Instead, God means for us to be busy about what He has given us to do, today. Think of all of the people in scripture whose lives were impacted because they were busy about the task at hand. Abraham. Moses. David. The shepherds. These men saw the glory of God not because they were looking back into yesterday or daydreaming about tomorrow. They were focused on today. So many times in scripture there is a call for us to do what we are going to do, now! Jesus said, “Repent [today]! For the kingdom of God is at hand” (Matt. 3:2). It says in Hebrews 3:7-8, “Today, if you hear my voice do not harden your hearts.” Today, today, today. Whatever the Lord has urged you to do in His word, don’t wait, do it today!
The idolatry of tomorrow.
This is such a big one for me. I’m a typical girl, I like to dream about things. I like to make plans and have goals. I don’t work well unless I am working toward something. The problem is I am usually working toward something that is of earthly value instead of eternal value. The weekend, vacations, the holidays, special events, shopping etc; I find this to be true for many women that I know. We have set our focus on one thing and we are fixated on this coming to fruition in our lives. For some it might be a relationship, for others it might be marriage or children, healing or a job. It has been all of these for me at one point or another in my life. I develop the mindset of “the sun will come out tomorrow!” When I get this job, when I finally get married, when I am over this illness THEN I can get on with what the Lord has for me. Do you know what that is? Idolatry. Satan loves to take these “good” things and replace God with them in our lives. We are placing our hope in the thing and not the Lord. We are waiting on the thing and not the Lord. We are looking for something to fill us that was never meant to and now we are beginning to worship that one thing as the answer to all of our problems. I love how Isaiah 44:20 says it, “She feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has led her astray; she cannot save herself or say ‘is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’”
Do you see that? We are eating ashes and holding onto a lie when we idolize tomorrow. God means for us to feast on the banquet of Jesus today and hold fast to His word today! There is always going to be something lacking in our lives. If there was not a lack then we would not need the Lord. You see, if God gives us health, wealth, many well-behaved children, and a wonderful marriage but doesn’t give us Himself then He isn’t good! The question is would we be satisfied with all of those things without Him? So, my encouragement for you is this: give yesterday to the Lord, He is there. Give tomorrow to the Lord, He is there too. Then, focus on the word of the Lord and consecrate yourselves for today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The Breath of the Lion
“Count it all joy my [sisters] when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4). Kraig and I have been in a season of trial for the last few months. The trials have been varied and Satan has pulled out all the stops to try and discourage us. After a while you just get weary from all of the attacks. In these times it is easy to allow defeat to lead to despair. Our only hope in tribulation is to go to the truth of God’s word and allow our minds to be bathed in a biblical perspective of trials.
First, our God is so good that He is diligent to tell us time and again that we will have trials and tribulations as His children in this world (John 15:18-19; John 16:33; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; 4:12-14). God has not left us to wonder when we endured hardships and He even goes a step further to encourage us through His word to persevere in faithfulness during these times. He is quick to let us know we are in a fight but He doesn’t leave us there...
Secondly, God gives us armor to protect ourselves and a weapon for defense. Ephesians 6:10-18 instructs us on how to gird our bodies from head to toe! There isn’t a part of us left uncovered; scripture even describes this as the FULL or WHOLE armor of God. The great and mighty Warrior that we serve doesn’t give us partial armor. He doesn’t send us into battle haphazardly. He makes sure that we are protected from the deliberately styled hairs on our head (thank goodness for that) to the pink polish on our toenails! Then, He places a weapon in our hand so that we can do some damage! The sword of God’s word is a dagger by which we can inflict wounds against the schemes of the devil!
Thirdly, God has given us knowledge of our enemy. In times of battle there are soldiers whose specific task is to find out all they can about the enemy. Why? Because the more they know the better chance they have at protecting themselves against surprise attacks and the better chance they have at defeating that enemy. On the heels of the death of Osama Bin Laden we are bombarded with detailed information about how our military worked tirelessly to know him, know the people he surrounded himself with and eventually to know his whereabouts.
Girls, know your enemy but know him through the truth of God’s word! Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be WATCHFUL! Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” Then, the Lord instructs us how to handle these attacks in the very next verse, “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your [sisterhood] throughout the world.” Do you see that? You are not alone! One of Satan’s greatest deceptions is making us believe that we are isolated in our trials. When he tempted Jesus in the desert, Jesus was isolated. Satan loves nothing more than to draw us out from a fellowship of other believers where we can receive encouragement and support, to a place of lonely isolation.
Fourthly, God has provided a rich support system for us in trials through the body of Christ. There are few times when it is more important for us to look for strength from the family of God (aka church!) then in times of trial. Jesus is the head of the church and more than half of the New Testament was written to churches or about them for a reason! God’s will for us is to join with a local body of believers that we may find comfort, encouragement, refuge and a place to sharpen our swords. Soldiers always have times of rest in between shifts where they can be renewed before the next patrol. We are no different. We need time to refuel, refocus and refresh. One hour a week on Sunday is not going to be enough for you or me to make it through an entire week of combat! We need to be in the word daily and involved in church (ie; Sunday School, small group, bible study, Sunday night, Wednesday night etc;) as often as we possibly can!
Lastly, He provides us with a Commander, a war hero, if you will. This One who leads us has already gone before us in battle. He has already been “tempted in all things as we are” but He has come out victorious, “yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). I don’t know about you but if I’m headed into war then I want the most trained, successful guy out there leading me! I want him decorated from head to toe to the point where he has the license plate to show for it! Jesus, our Warrior King, has not only fought the battle but He has already won it! All we have to do is stand and watch the enemy fall! At the end of the ages, when He comes in all His resplendent glory we will only be spectators as He defeats the real “public enemy #1” once and for all! Watch as the final battle scene unfolds:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.” Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-3
Wow! We win! What security to know the outcome before we even begin! As the last few days have unfolded for Kraig and I, there have been some low points when we have struggled to remain steadfast and joyful. There were even times when we felt like the ridiculous would border on sublime as the next wave came our way. In a still quiet moment the Holy Spirit brought the prophet Daniel to mind. Daniel was busy about serving the Lord and doing his thing. He wasn’t looking for trouble but he was most certainly doing all to the glory of the Lord which means he got Satan’s attention! Because of His faithfulness and unswerving commitment to the one true God, he faced real lions. Imagine it. Hemmed in, constrained in a dark, isolated den of hungry lions, seeking whom they may devour. The low deep rumbles, the hot breath from their nostrils...It says in Daniel 6:23 that “Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him.” What a display of the glory of our God! And Daniel’s life was full of these experiences! Great faith faces great trial which results in great glory. I’ll say that again, great faith faces great trial which results in great glory! Girls, when we are on the front lines and busy about the Lord’s work we may feel the hot breath of the lion on our faces but praise God, we will emerge from the den unharmed as we see the glory of God revealed up close and personal! Now that’s a front row seat you won’t ever forget!
First, our God is so good that He is diligent to tell us time and again that we will have trials and tribulations as His children in this world (John 15:18-19; John 16:33; 1 Pet. 1:6-7; 4:12-14). God has not left us to wonder when we endured hardships and He even goes a step further to encourage us through His word to persevere in faithfulness during these times. He is quick to let us know we are in a fight but He doesn’t leave us there...
Secondly, God gives us armor to protect ourselves and a weapon for defense. Ephesians 6:10-18 instructs us on how to gird our bodies from head to toe! There isn’t a part of us left uncovered; scripture even describes this as the FULL or WHOLE armor of God. The great and mighty Warrior that we serve doesn’t give us partial armor. He doesn’t send us into battle haphazardly. He makes sure that we are protected from the deliberately styled hairs on our head (thank goodness for that) to the pink polish on our toenails! Then, He places a weapon in our hand so that we can do some damage! The sword of God’s word is a dagger by which we can inflict wounds against the schemes of the devil!
Thirdly, God has given us knowledge of our enemy. In times of battle there are soldiers whose specific task is to find out all they can about the enemy. Why? Because the more they know the better chance they have at protecting themselves against surprise attacks and the better chance they have at defeating that enemy. On the heels of the death of Osama Bin Laden we are bombarded with detailed information about how our military worked tirelessly to know him, know the people he surrounded himself with and eventually to know his whereabouts.
Girls, know your enemy but know him through the truth of God’s word! Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be WATCHFUL! Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” Then, the Lord instructs us how to handle these attacks in the very next verse, “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your [sisterhood] throughout the world.” Do you see that? You are not alone! One of Satan’s greatest deceptions is making us believe that we are isolated in our trials. When he tempted Jesus in the desert, Jesus was isolated. Satan loves nothing more than to draw us out from a fellowship of other believers where we can receive encouragement and support, to a place of lonely isolation.
Fourthly, God has provided a rich support system for us in trials through the body of Christ. There are few times when it is more important for us to look for strength from the family of God (aka church!) then in times of trial. Jesus is the head of the church and more than half of the New Testament was written to churches or about them for a reason! God’s will for us is to join with a local body of believers that we may find comfort, encouragement, refuge and a place to sharpen our swords. Soldiers always have times of rest in between shifts where they can be renewed before the next patrol. We are no different. We need time to refuel, refocus and refresh. One hour a week on Sunday is not going to be enough for you or me to make it through an entire week of combat! We need to be in the word daily and involved in church (ie; Sunday School, small group, bible study, Sunday night, Wednesday night etc;) as often as we possibly can!
Lastly, He provides us with a Commander, a war hero, if you will. This One who leads us has already gone before us in battle. He has already been “tempted in all things as we are” but He has come out victorious, “yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15). I don’t know about you but if I’m headed into war then I want the most trained, successful guy out there leading me! I want him decorated from head to toe to the point where he has the license plate to show for it! Jesus, our Warrior King, has not only fought the battle but He has already won it! All we have to do is stand and watch the enemy fall! At the end of the ages, when He comes in all His resplendent glory we will only be spectators as He defeats the real “public enemy #1” once and for all! Watch as the final battle scene unfolds:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written that no one knows but Himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which He is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.” Revelation 19:11-16; 20:1-3
Wow! We win! What security to know the outcome before we even begin! As the last few days have unfolded for Kraig and I, there have been some low points when we have struggled to remain steadfast and joyful. There were even times when we felt like the ridiculous would border on sublime as the next wave came our way. In a still quiet moment the Holy Spirit brought the prophet Daniel to mind. Daniel was busy about serving the Lord and doing his thing. He wasn’t looking for trouble but he was most certainly doing all to the glory of the Lord which means he got Satan’s attention! Because of His faithfulness and unswerving commitment to the one true God, he faced real lions. Imagine it. Hemmed in, constrained in a dark, isolated den of hungry lions, seeking whom they may devour. The low deep rumbles, the hot breath from their nostrils...It says in Daniel 6:23 that “Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him.” What a display of the glory of our God! And Daniel’s life was full of these experiences! Great faith faces great trial which results in great glory. I’ll say that again, great faith faces great trial which results in great glory! Girls, when we are on the front lines and busy about the Lord’s work we may feel the hot breath of the lion on our faces but praise God, we will emerge from the den unharmed as we see the glory of God revealed up close and personal! Now that’s a front row seat you won’t ever forget!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Help Me!!
I’ve been thinking recently about writing a bible study but I have several ideas and can’t seem to settle on one. I realize this doesn’t surprise most of you. I think as women because we are able to multi-task then we are naturally inclined to multiple things instead of one thing. In other words, it is hard for us to make a decision. I’d rather you not give me a choice. Take for instance the Hallmark store. This would be my kryptonite. If you want to totally paralyze me for several hours, this is the place to send me. Then, if you want to keep me captive for the rest of the week just tell me that I have to narrow it down to one card! I literally break out into a nervous sweat trying to choose a card that says exactly what I want it to say, in the way that I would say it, with the right amount of humor balanced with a subtle seriousness, in five lines or less for $2.99. (I could be way off on the price since I haven’t physically visited a Hallmark store in years.) Even after it is all said and done I will second guess my choice 105 times before the card ever makes it to the recipient. (I realize I may be alone in my insidiousness and if so, keep calm and carry on to the third paragraph.)
I just thank God for the provision of the “return”. If it weren’t for that I would be surrounded by a wealth of “buyers remorse” purchases. This is the exact reason why I can’t do these bargain basement, all or nothing, fight off the fanatics sales. Not only is there no time to ponder the choice but I end up grabbing something I already have two of in order to make sure that I get the deal! I am a marketers dream! BUT! I am wise to my own weaknesses and therefore, I am not a BOGO queen or a black Friday diva and if you have ever gotten a present from me it probably didn’t contain a card...now you know why!
Now, after all-that-you-never-wanted-to-know-and-weren’t-wanting-to-ask, I come to this question: Help me blog readers! I need to know what you struggle with most in your walk with the Lord and in your lives as Christian women. You don’t have to go into any detail just make the explanation plain enough for me to decipher! You can comment here, send me a message on FB or feel free to email me at scmcbride@msn.com. I will keep my ideas secret for now and see if the Lord solidifies anything with your answers. Thanks girlies! I look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. Maybe I should write about how to make a decision...what do you think?
I just thank God for the provision of the “return”. If it weren’t for that I would be surrounded by a wealth of “buyers remorse” purchases. This is the exact reason why I can’t do these bargain basement, all or nothing, fight off the fanatics sales. Not only is there no time to ponder the choice but I end up grabbing something I already have two of in order to make sure that I get the deal! I am a marketers dream! BUT! I am wise to my own weaknesses and therefore, I am not a BOGO queen or a black Friday diva and if you have ever gotten a present from me it probably didn’t contain a card...now you know why!
Now, after all-that-you-never-wanted-to-know-and-weren’t-wanting-to-ask, I come to this question: Help me blog readers! I need to know what you struggle with most in your walk with the Lord and in your lives as Christian women. You don’t have to go into any detail just make the explanation plain enough for me to decipher! You can comment here, send me a message on FB or feel free to email me at scmcbride@msn.com. I will keep my ideas secret for now and see if the Lord solidifies anything with your answers. Thanks girlies! I look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. Maybe I should write about how to make a decision...what do you think?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
It's Resurrection Day!!
As we celebrate Easter I am continually reminded the importance of knowing Jewish culture in order to understand the Bible. Just this week I was listening to a brief excerpt about the Garden of Gethsemane. I was unaware that the word “gethsemane” means olive press. I have always pictured in my mind the Garden of Gethsemane being a lush garden with flowers and trees, much like what we have here on the east coast. The truth is that the Garden of Gethsemane was located on the side of the Mount of Olives - good clue there for us - it wasn’t called the Mount of Olives because it was full of fig trees!
Olives, but most especially their oil, were a prized commodity in Jesus’ day. The oil of the olive was used for many purposes including cooking, medicine for wounds and anointing. It’s uses were diverse and varied so anyone who owned olives, but more importantly an olive press or “gethsemane” was typically wealthy.
Extraction was an arduous process. The olives were first cleaned and then mashed into a paste. From there, they were placed on the press. The press consisted of a circular stone basin with a flat top where the paste was spread out. Then a large stone, fashioned to look like a wheel, was rolled over the paste to press out the oil. The stone created intense pressure in order to extract the precious oil.
Jesus prayed in the garden of the “olive press” the night before He died. Do you think there was any coincidence that the most intense prayer He had ever prayed was in this place? Jesus was so pressed by the weight of the cup of God’s wrath that He poured drops of blood from His brow. When I think of how God put all of this together I realize He leaves nothing to spare. There is no randomness with our God. Even the place where Jesus prayed was named appropriately.
How much more can we draw from Jesus being poured out for us! I can’t help but think that just as olive oil is used for food, how much more is He the Bread of Life? Just as the oil is used for medicinal purposes, how much more is He our Healer? Just as olive oil is used for anointing, how much more is the anointing from the Holy Spirit of our God and King?
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was CRUSHED for our iniquities and the WEIGHT of our sin fell upon Him and by His stripes we are HEALED” (Isaiah 53:5)! When Jesus breathed His last He had emptied Himself completely, there was nothing left He could have given. He cried, “It is finished!” and indeed it was. For thirty-three years He had given all of Himself to fulfill His Father’s perfect will and He fulfilled it perfectly! He spared no expense in pouring His entire life out for the purpose of bringing redemption to all mankind. With every miracle, every word, every step He gave His full effort and when He finally made His way to the cross there was no exception. He laid down His life to the fullest, He bore my sin with everything that was in Him and when He died He was empty. No stone left unturned, no word left unspoken, no miracle left unperformed and no energy left unspent. He gave ALL!
Thank you Jesus that you lived and died to the fullest! Thank you that you did everything in obedience to your Father’s will and that you humbled yourself even unto death so that I might live! Thank you for the “gethsemane” of Golgotha that was the sweetest oil of grace poured out for undeserving sinners such as I!
“There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me! For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ!”
Olives, but most especially their oil, were a prized commodity in Jesus’ day. The oil of the olive was used for many purposes including cooking, medicine for wounds and anointing. It’s uses were diverse and varied so anyone who owned olives, but more importantly an olive press or “gethsemane” was typically wealthy.
Extraction was an arduous process. The olives were first cleaned and then mashed into a paste. From there, they were placed on the press. The press consisted of a circular stone basin with a flat top where the paste was spread out. Then a large stone, fashioned to look like a wheel, was rolled over the paste to press out the oil. The stone created intense pressure in order to extract the precious oil.
Jesus prayed in the garden of the “olive press” the night before He died. Do you think there was any coincidence that the most intense prayer He had ever prayed was in this place? Jesus was so pressed by the weight of the cup of God’s wrath that He poured drops of blood from His brow. When I think of how God put all of this together I realize He leaves nothing to spare. There is no randomness with our God. Even the place where Jesus prayed was named appropriately.
How much more can we draw from Jesus being poured out for us! I can’t help but think that just as olive oil is used for food, how much more is He the Bread of Life? Just as the oil is used for medicinal purposes, how much more is He our Healer? Just as olive oil is used for anointing, how much more is the anointing from the Holy Spirit of our God and King?
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was CRUSHED for our iniquities and the WEIGHT of our sin fell upon Him and by His stripes we are HEALED” (Isaiah 53:5)! When Jesus breathed His last He had emptied Himself completely, there was nothing left He could have given. He cried, “It is finished!” and indeed it was. For thirty-three years He had given all of Himself to fulfill His Father’s perfect will and He fulfilled it perfectly! He spared no expense in pouring His entire life out for the purpose of bringing redemption to all mankind. With every miracle, every word, every step He gave His full effort and when He finally made His way to the cross there was no exception. He laid down His life to the fullest, He bore my sin with everything that was in Him and when He died He was empty. No stone left unturned, no word left unspoken, no miracle left unperformed and no energy left unspent. He gave ALL!
Thank you Jesus that you lived and died to the fullest! Thank you that you did everything in obedience to your Father’s will and that you humbled yourself even unto death so that I might live! Thank you for the “gethsemane” of Golgotha that was the sweetest oil of grace poured out for undeserving sinners such as I!
“There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me! For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ!”
Saturday, April 23, 2011
The Day Between Friday and Sunday...
As we look today at the day of transition from Good Friday to Easter Morning I can only imagine the despair that plagued the spirit of Jesus’ disciples, the victory that reigned in the hearts of the Jews that had pleaded for His death and the satisfaction of the Father knowing that His eternal plan of redemption was just hours away from total fulfillment! What a dichotomy of feelings. I can’t help but think that many of the Sanhedrin went home that night to their families feeling as if they had just solved the world’s problems all in a day’s work! I’m sure there were some that thought the hour of darkness, the earthquake and the veil being torn in two were odd but the sense of accomplishment at having silenced Jesus probably quickly overrode any meditation on these things. As they touched their doorposts, sat down to their kosher meals and followed the law to the letter, Jesus’ body lay inside a borrowed tomb.
The Jews believed that the spirit of man hovered over the body for three days but on the third day that the deceased was truly dead and could be buried. In the tombs there were two chambers, an inner and an outer chamber. The body was laid in the outer chamber and then eventually moved to the inner chamber as decomposition took place. Because of Sabbath regulations, Jesus’ disciples did not have time on Good Friday to properly prepare His body for burial so He was placed in the tomb quickly until after the Sabbath. But Jesus’ spirit did not hover there. His earthly tent, the body that He created, had proved a good home for Him as He accomplished the plan set forth from eternity past. He left that broken, bruised and crushed shell to rejoin His Father until early on Easter morning.
Can you imagine the joy of reuniting with God the Father? Joy unspeakable as the necessary separation was finally over and the wrath of God was satiated! It is almost as if Jesus took that Sabbath Himself to rest with His Father before He resurrected to fulfill the last details of the plan of redemption. Oh death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is your victory? That is what I rest in today! Knowing that on this side of the cross I have the full story so I do not sorrow as unbelievers! I know that my Savior lives and there is no despair for today!
Indeed the Jews believed they had solved the world’s problem and theirs by crucifying Jesus...they were more right than they could have ever known!
The Jews believed that the spirit of man hovered over the body for three days but on the third day that the deceased was truly dead and could be buried. In the tombs there were two chambers, an inner and an outer chamber. The body was laid in the outer chamber and then eventually moved to the inner chamber as decomposition took place. Because of Sabbath regulations, Jesus’ disciples did not have time on Good Friday to properly prepare His body for burial so He was placed in the tomb quickly until after the Sabbath. But Jesus’ spirit did not hover there. His earthly tent, the body that He created, had proved a good home for Him as He accomplished the plan set forth from eternity past. He left that broken, bruised and crushed shell to rejoin His Father until early on Easter morning.
Can you imagine the joy of reuniting with God the Father? Joy unspeakable as the necessary separation was finally over and the wrath of God was satiated! It is almost as if Jesus took that Sabbath Himself to rest with His Father before He resurrected to fulfill the last details of the plan of redemption. Oh death, where is thy sting? O hell, where is your victory? That is what I rest in today! Knowing that on this side of the cross I have the full story so I do not sorrow as unbelievers! I know that my Savior lives and there is no despair for today!
Indeed the Jews believed they had solved the world’s problem and theirs by crucifying Jesus...they were more right than they could have ever known!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Fieldtrips are for kids..not parents!
Lausyn had a fieldtrip today to Natural Bridge. She was so excited this morning that she was ready 30 minutes before it was time to leave. She even tried to hurry Landon along which is the total opposite of most school days. Her main reason for being so excited rested on the fact that her Daddy was going with her! I was quickly kicked to the curb on this one. The day she found out about the trip she came home begging Kraig to go. At first, he didn’t think he would be able to work it out so she was willing to “settle” for me. However, a few days later Daddy came through and I was out on my ear!
So, I have to state this fact: “Fieldtrips are for kids, not for parents!” Fieldtrips are one of those things that we have idealistic dreams about until reality sets in! You always believe as a parent that you and your child will bond and you both will have fond memories of “remember when” for many years to come. Let me dispell that myth right now...WRONG! I had a good, hard laugh this morning as I was reminiscing with my sister about fieldtrips from yesteryear that we had chaperoned in our blissful ignorance. She fondly retold about her own trip to Natural Bridge with her son back in the fall. I will grace you with some of the details so that you may laugh as well:
First, if you haven’t been to Natural Bridge from here the road is almost one of comical proportions. It might as well be something right out of Looney Toons because it is so winding that you can see it almost double up on itself! Now, combine that along with the back of a school bus. Not just the back, but the very last seat, you know, the short one next to the death trap exit where there is no shock absorption and you don’t have one complete window to yourself - except for the back one of course. This is the seat that most kids love because they feel hidden, bounced around and able to stare piercingly at the cars behind them. Fast forward twenty years and that seat doesn’t hold the same level of fascination! To top it off, you are only one of two adults on this bus full of six year olds. You can imagine that the volume would be deafening! It was probably at this point that my sister was thanking Jesus he had blessed her with a hole in one of her ears, seriously!
She retells it this way, “I must have been white as a sheet because I was going to lose every bit of what I had in my stomach onto the little girl in front of me who would not sit still or be quiet for even one nano-second. I was trying to focus on one thing instead of everything that was moving around me, which was nearly impossible. The little bit of fresh air I could get was continuously blocked by another kid who was obsessed with putting his hands, head and almost half his body out of the window. To top it off, all I heard the whole trip was, ‘Mama, when are we....Mama, what are we...Mama, who are we...Mama, Mama, Mama!’” When the bus pulled in and she stumbled off the last step onto solid ground she immediately reached for her cell phone and in absolute joy found that she had a signal to which she feverishly began to text her husband: “I am never doing this again and by the way, can you come get me?”
I laughed until I cried because who can’t relate? There hasn’t been one fieldtrip that I have chaperoned that hasn’t left me totally whipped, ready for a straight jacket and some Nyquil by the time it was over! The funny thing is, I keep volunteering in hopes that this time will be different. Besides, I love having these experiences with my kids even if they don’t live up to my expectations because let’s face it, most of life doesn’t but, at least it makes for a good laugh! That’s a memory in and of itself!
So, in case you’re wondering how things faired for my sister - her husband didn’t come to get her but she did secure two seats in the front on the short bus coming home. She has another fieldtrip coming up next week and of course I encouraged her to attend. I don’t want to keep all the misery to myself!
So, I have to state this fact: “Fieldtrips are for kids, not for parents!” Fieldtrips are one of those things that we have idealistic dreams about until reality sets in! You always believe as a parent that you and your child will bond and you both will have fond memories of “remember when” for many years to come. Let me dispell that myth right now...WRONG! I had a good, hard laugh this morning as I was reminiscing with my sister about fieldtrips from yesteryear that we had chaperoned in our blissful ignorance. She fondly retold about her own trip to Natural Bridge with her son back in the fall. I will grace you with some of the details so that you may laugh as well:
First, if you haven’t been to Natural Bridge from here the road is almost one of comical proportions. It might as well be something right out of Looney Toons because it is so winding that you can see it almost double up on itself! Now, combine that along with the back of a school bus. Not just the back, but the very last seat, you know, the short one next to the death trap exit where there is no shock absorption and you don’t have one complete window to yourself - except for the back one of course. This is the seat that most kids love because they feel hidden, bounced around and able to stare piercingly at the cars behind them. Fast forward twenty years and that seat doesn’t hold the same level of fascination! To top it off, you are only one of two adults on this bus full of six year olds. You can imagine that the volume would be deafening! It was probably at this point that my sister was thanking Jesus he had blessed her with a hole in one of her ears, seriously!
She retells it this way, “I must have been white as a sheet because I was going to lose every bit of what I had in my stomach onto the little girl in front of me who would not sit still or be quiet for even one nano-second. I was trying to focus on one thing instead of everything that was moving around me, which was nearly impossible. The little bit of fresh air I could get was continuously blocked by another kid who was obsessed with putting his hands, head and almost half his body out of the window. To top it off, all I heard the whole trip was, ‘Mama, when are we....Mama, what are we...Mama, who are we...Mama, Mama, Mama!’” When the bus pulled in and she stumbled off the last step onto solid ground she immediately reached for her cell phone and in absolute joy found that she had a signal to which she feverishly began to text her husband: “I am never doing this again and by the way, can you come get me?”
I laughed until I cried because who can’t relate? There hasn’t been one fieldtrip that I have chaperoned that hasn’t left me totally whipped, ready for a straight jacket and some Nyquil by the time it was over! The funny thing is, I keep volunteering in hopes that this time will be different. Besides, I love having these experiences with my kids even if they don’t live up to my expectations because let’s face it, most of life doesn’t but, at least it makes for a good laugh! That’s a memory in and of itself!
So, in case you’re wondering how things faired for my sister - her husband didn’t come to get her but she did secure two seats in the front on the short bus coming home. She has another fieldtrip coming up next week and of course I encouraged her to attend. I don’t want to keep all the misery to myself!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
There's a Snake In My Boot!
It looked like Green Acres around our house yesterday. Zsa Zsa in her movie star sunglasses and her gardening gloves took to the weeds like a...movie star in sunglasses. It seems that every Saturday I have planned to get things cleaned out and ready for planting it has rained or been ridiculously cold! These 80 degree Mondays don’t help me much! So, Thursday I came home and cleaned the house feverishly so that I could have Friday to do some things outside. Admittedly, I spent most of the day SITTING in the sun but who’s watching?
As I was raking out the herb garden I came to a corner that was full of leaves and other debris from the winter piled a mile high next to our deck. Our deck sits pretty low to the ground so there is only about a foot distance between the bottom and the ground - just enough for critters and small vermin, varmints and other distasteful forms of rodents and/or reptiles. As I began to rake away the leaves I was pensive, standing a good four or five feet from the pile as I held the rake by the end of the handle. I gingerly pulled one layer back at a time, sure that I would meet my demise or lose an arm in the process.
At one point, I called out to Kraig and asked for his assurance that there wasn’t anything that would slither out of the leaves unexpectedly. True to form, he laughed and took every opportunity imaginable to make fun of my phobia! Thanks honey! But, he was also quick to say that anything that would have lived under that pile was probably long gone after all of the ruckus I had made in the process! Sure enough, by the time I finished, I hadn’t come across anything more frightening than an earth worm, a few snails and several bees that weren’t too happy with me!
While I was taking all of this care with making sure I didn’t encounter a real ssssnake...there I said it, snake - which by the way, I think are the most unnatural looking things in the world. The way they move, how they eat, the way they can fit themselves into the most peculiar positions. Needless to say, they creep me out! I will do all I can to avoid the path of a snake at all costs! Okay, don’t even act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!
Anyway, as I’m raking I got tickled with myself because I can only imagine how I looked! But then, it’s like the Holy Spirit said, “When was the last time you took this much caution to avoid the Serpent, your adversary, the Devil?” You know, Satan can cause us much worse than most snakes ever could but rarely do you see anyone running from him! Most of us don’t believe there is a devil and if we do we think he’s just a cunning man in a dark suit with a pitch fork and a cigar. (Think Hugh Heffner with a devious grin.) And, if we do believe he exists, we don’t know much about him. We have even given ourselves over to blaming God for sin and evil rather than the father of lies!
Scripture says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light! He is also described as the great deceiver, the tempter and the accuser. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Let me translate - he doesn’t look like the boogey man! He isn’t walking around with a name tag on his shirt that says, “Hello, my name is the devil!” No, instead he masquerades as fun, fleshly indulgences that satisfy our desires and leave us empty. It says in James 1:13-15 that “God cannot be tempted, nor does He tempt anyone but each one is tempted when he is led away by his own desires and enticed and when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth death!” Satan points the way for our desires and when our desires have been satisfied by sin he accuses us, shames us and condemns us over and over again!
Girls, know your adversary the devil! He “walks about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, resist him and he will flee from you” (1 Peter 5:8; James 4:7) Be circumspect! Walk around and around those things that seem tempting for the moment before you dive in! Ask yourself, “does this glorify the Lord or does this seem right in my own eyes? How could this choice affect me tomorrow, next week, ten years from now? He is there, just beneath the surface, waiting...but he won’t jump out and say “Sin is right this way, follow me” but rather “Has God really said ‘you shall not have...?’”
As I was raking out the herb garden I came to a corner that was full of leaves and other debris from the winter piled a mile high next to our deck. Our deck sits pretty low to the ground so there is only about a foot distance between the bottom and the ground - just enough for critters and small vermin, varmints and other distasteful forms of rodents and/or reptiles. As I began to rake away the leaves I was pensive, standing a good four or five feet from the pile as I held the rake by the end of the handle. I gingerly pulled one layer back at a time, sure that I would meet my demise or lose an arm in the process.
At one point, I called out to Kraig and asked for his assurance that there wasn’t anything that would slither out of the leaves unexpectedly. True to form, he laughed and took every opportunity imaginable to make fun of my phobia! Thanks honey! But, he was also quick to say that anything that would have lived under that pile was probably long gone after all of the ruckus I had made in the process! Sure enough, by the time I finished, I hadn’t come across anything more frightening than an earth worm, a few snails and several bees that weren’t too happy with me!
While I was taking all of this care with making sure I didn’t encounter a real ssssnake...there I said it, snake - which by the way, I think are the most unnatural looking things in the world. The way they move, how they eat, the way they can fit themselves into the most peculiar positions. Needless to say, they creep me out! I will do all I can to avoid the path of a snake at all costs! Okay, don’t even act like you don’t know what I’m talking about!
Anyway, as I’m raking I got tickled with myself because I can only imagine how I looked! But then, it’s like the Holy Spirit said, “When was the last time you took this much caution to avoid the Serpent, your adversary, the Devil?” You know, Satan can cause us much worse than most snakes ever could but rarely do you see anyone running from him! Most of us don’t believe there is a devil and if we do we think he’s just a cunning man in a dark suit with a pitch fork and a cigar. (Think Hugh Heffner with a devious grin.) And, if we do believe he exists, we don’t know much about him. We have even given ourselves over to blaming God for sin and evil rather than the father of lies!
Scripture says that Satan masquerades as an angel of light! He is also described as the great deceiver, the tempter and the accuser. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Let me translate - he doesn’t look like the boogey man! He isn’t walking around with a name tag on his shirt that says, “Hello, my name is the devil!” No, instead he masquerades as fun, fleshly indulgences that satisfy our desires and leave us empty. It says in James 1:13-15 that “God cannot be tempted, nor does He tempt anyone but each one is tempted when he is led away by his own desires and enticed and when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth death!” Satan points the way for our desires and when our desires have been satisfied by sin he accuses us, shames us and condemns us over and over again!
Girls, know your adversary the devil! He “walks about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, resist him and he will flee from you” (1 Peter 5:8; James 4:7) Be circumspect! Walk around and around those things that seem tempting for the moment before you dive in! Ask yourself, “does this glorify the Lord or does this seem right in my own eyes? How could this choice affect me tomorrow, next week, ten years from now? He is there, just beneath the surface, waiting...but he won’t jump out and say “Sin is right this way, follow me” but rather “Has God really said ‘you shall not have...?’”
Saturday, April 9, 2011
What's For Dinner?? Part Two
So, what was God’s reaction in all of this? It says in v. 10 that His anger was kindled GREATLY! He wasn’t just like, “Oh, I understand you’re tired of manna after all this time! I never thought about that, let me get you something else to eat.” You see, God is never pleased when we impose upon His unmerited goodness toward us. In His controlled, deliberate anger, God determined to answer their prayer but in a way they would never forget. It says in verses 18-20 that the Lord commanded the people to consecrate themselves because He was going to give them meat, “not for a day, not for two days, not even for a week but for one month until it came out of their nostrils and become loathsome to them.” That’s no joke! And indeed, in verses 31-33 it says that God brought a wind that swept in quail that surrounded the camp all around within a days journey in any direction! Not only that but it was stacked three feet high! The circumstances were so extreme that even the laziest people gathered 60-70 bushels.
The Israelites were so excited to see something other than manna that they crossed over from need to greed! They collected manna for 36 hours! I don’t know about you, but I have never spent more than a few hours in one grocery trip and I wasn’t that excited about it to begin with! But, their fanaticism and greed displeased the Lord and while they were in the midst of taking their first, long awaited bite of meat, the bite they had salivated over while plucking and preparing, the Lord brought a severe plague to them. Don’t you imagine that this had to be some kind of stomach flu since God said it would become loathsome to them?
Let’s hit the pause button for a second while they are still chewing...do you remember the last time you had the stomach flu? Do you remember what you ate just before that made its way back up? How long did it take you to be able to eat that food again? When I was 15 I got sick after eating KFC. It has taken me 20 years to be able to eat a piece of fried chicken...and only in desperate situations like when there is nothing else to eat and I am thinking my arm might be okay with a little bit of salt! Needless to say, it is hard to find things palatable again once you have gotten sick from eating them.
However, God didn’t just take away the quail after the plague hit, they had to continue to eat this for another 29 days! The alternative: starve! There’s no biblical basis for this but it would seem highly likely that God took away the manna during this period so that even if they had wanted manna it wasn’t there for the taking. Can you imagine, approximately 5000 years prior to the Frigidare, the stench that lay over the camp? Can you imagine day 29 when you were preparing your last quail? Possibly it would take 5 - 10 decent sized birds to even fill up a grown man. At that rate, with an average of 2 meals a day, you would have cleaned and prepared a minimum of 300 birds for just one person! Get the picture?
Just because we don’t get all this detail in scripture doesn’t mean we don’t have enough information to fill in the blanks! The point to be grasped here is this: God is not okay with ungrateful people! These were His chosen people and they received stiff consequences for their disobedience! We as believers are His children and although He loves us, He will not allow us to continue in a spirit of greed, envy, jealousy and overall thanklessness. If you have read this post and you are convicted, act on that in repentance and make today the day you turn it around. Learn it off the pages of Numbers through the example of the Israelites instead of taking the field trip! God’s spankings are just and fair but they are not experiences we will soon forget! In closing, a bit of advice (for me and for you): Go fix dinner and be grateful for all of the wonderful variety that you have to work with and if your family complains, serve a little Numbers 11 for dessert!!
The Israelites were so excited to see something other than manna that they crossed over from need to greed! They collected manna for 36 hours! I don’t know about you, but I have never spent more than a few hours in one grocery trip and I wasn’t that excited about it to begin with! But, their fanaticism and greed displeased the Lord and while they were in the midst of taking their first, long awaited bite of meat, the bite they had salivated over while plucking and preparing, the Lord brought a severe plague to them. Don’t you imagine that this had to be some kind of stomach flu since God said it would become loathsome to them?
Let’s hit the pause button for a second while they are still chewing...do you remember the last time you had the stomach flu? Do you remember what you ate just before that made its way back up? How long did it take you to be able to eat that food again? When I was 15 I got sick after eating KFC. It has taken me 20 years to be able to eat a piece of fried chicken...and only in desperate situations like when there is nothing else to eat and I am thinking my arm might be okay with a little bit of salt! Needless to say, it is hard to find things palatable again once you have gotten sick from eating them.
However, God didn’t just take away the quail after the plague hit, they had to continue to eat this for another 29 days! The alternative: starve! There’s no biblical basis for this but it would seem highly likely that God took away the manna during this period so that even if they had wanted manna it wasn’t there for the taking. Can you imagine, approximately 5000 years prior to the Frigidare, the stench that lay over the camp? Can you imagine day 29 when you were preparing your last quail? Possibly it would take 5 - 10 decent sized birds to even fill up a grown man. At that rate, with an average of 2 meals a day, you would have cleaned and prepared a minimum of 300 birds for just one person! Get the picture?
Just because we don’t get all this detail in scripture doesn’t mean we don’t have enough information to fill in the blanks! The point to be grasped here is this: God is not okay with ungrateful people! These were His chosen people and they received stiff consequences for their disobedience! We as believers are His children and although He loves us, He will not allow us to continue in a spirit of greed, envy, jealousy and overall thanklessness. If you have read this post and you are convicted, act on that in repentance and make today the day you turn it around. Learn it off the pages of Numbers through the example of the Israelites instead of taking the field trip! God’s spankings are just and fair but they are not experiences we will soon forget! In closing, a bit of advice (for me and for you): Go fix dinner and be grateful for all of the wonderful variety that you have to work with and if your family complains, serve a little Numbers 11 for dessert!!
Friday, April 8, 2011
What's For Dinner?? Part One
I think it is safe to say that I could live out the rest of my life never having to think about what is for dinner again. Or, hearing the question, “What’s for dinner?” Followed by a myriad of responses that range from utter joy to total disdain and despair. Inevitably, I try to keep things varied, quick and nutritious but alas, nothing ever seems to rival the frozen pizza. I believe it holds top place among the members of this house. Cheese, pepperoni and a side of grease is always devoured with delight! My mother-in-law is quick to put things in perspective for me. After 53 years of marriage, which computes to roughly 55,000 meals, in case you were wondering, twelve piddly years of marriage at only one meal a day seems extremely pawtry. Here’s a woman who made a full breakfast every morning, packed everyone’s lunch and had dinner on the table promptly at 5:30p.m. complete with steam and a smile. I imagine over 53 years the smile has faded and slowly been downgraded by gravity. I’m working hard to keep mine at a consistent smirk!
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy cooking, when I have the time - which isn’t very often. I just don’t like trying to be creative, while satisfying a group of extremely diverse palates. I have the 8 year old who is the pasta queen. She could survive off of boxed mac and cheese, spaghettios and ramen noodles. Then there is the 11 year old who literally has three food groups: peanut butter, jelly and balsamic vinegar...oh and bread for the pb&j so that ups the count to four. He can eat anything as long as one of these ingredients is included. It is a good night if he gets two or more together at once. The third is a forty-something year old who likes meat, potatoes and cookies, Oreos to be precise. Although he is branching out into onions, peppers and sauteed spinach, he can still give a good huff when we have something less than his favorite. I have to say they all do love candy, candy corn, candy canes and syrup (all you “Elf” fans will know what I’m talking about). So, the perfect meal would be meat, potatoes, ramen noodles, balsamic vinegar and plenty of sugar for dessert...every night. As for me, I don’t really care as long as it is quick, contains parts of most of the five basic food groups and doesn’t wreck my diet for the entire year!
I wonder if the Lord had this issue when He was determining what to feed the people in the wilderness? Was manna the ultimate super food? It would most certainly have been to sustain them for three years! It would most likely have contained the right balance of protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals in order to keep the Israelites healthy and strong. Remember, they weren’t heading to the gym in order to keep their weight down! They weren’t training for marathons or tri-athalons, they had to exert physical energy just to stay alive! They had to collect the manna, grind it, make it into cakes and cook it. They were constantly consumed with daily tasks to keep the camp running. Sweeping out the tents, gathering wood, fetching water, maintaining the tabernacle...just to name a few. Other than observing the Sabbath day, there wasn’t much time for rest. Not to mention the fact that every few months they were pulling up camp to journey on to the next location, only to go through the whole ritual again. Glamourous lifestyle huh? I have to say that I wouldn’t have been too thrilled with it myself. Actually, I think I probably would have been a token Israelite, complete with complaints, dissatisfaction, ungratefulness and a not so favorable opinion of manna!
All of this is good for a LOL and even a “thank you Jesus that I’m living in 2011!” But truthfully, not much has changed about the human condition. We look at those people and think, “How ungrateful, how dissatisfied, how influenced and fearful and unbelieving and idolatrous they were!” Newsflash: Even Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun!” People haven’t changed just because the age of technology has made life easier. On the contrary, we are more ungrateful, dissatisfied, influenced, fearful, unbelieving and idolatrous!
I’ve been studying Numbers 11 about the Israelites complaints against God and His provision of manna. I have seen myself in these scriptures and been brought to conviction over my ungrateful attitude and lack of humility over what God has so graciously provided for me. I like to think I don’t walk around a complaining bundle of angst but in my own way, in my own heart, I have been ungrateful. I have been envious of what others seem to have over me. I have judged how my neighbor spends her time, talent and treasure. I have coveted and desired the blessings of another over my own. I have WANTED someone else’s blessing! This, girls, is dangerous territory! We are trampling on the goodness and wisdom and grace of our Lord, just as the Israelites did so many years ago.
To be continued...
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy cooking, when I have the time - which isn’t very often. I just don’t like trying to be creative, while satisfying a group of extremely diverse palates. I have the 8 year old who is the pasta queen. She could survive off of boxed mac and cheese, spaghettios and ramen noodles. Then there is the 11 year old who literally has three food groups: peanut butter, jelly and balsamic vinegar...oh and bread for the pb&j so that ups the count to four. He can eat anything as long as one of these ingredients is included. It is a good night if he gets two or more together at once. The third is a forty-something year old who likes meat, potatoes and cookies, Oreos to be precise. Although he is branching out into onions, peppers and sauteed spinach, he can still give a good huff when we have something less than his favorite. I have to say they all do love candy, candy corn, candy canes and syrup (all you “Elf” fans will know what I’m talking about). So, the perfect meal would be meat, potatoes, ramen noodles, balsamic vinegar and plenty of sugar for dessert...every night. As for me, I don’t really care as long as it is quick, contains parts of most of the five basic food groups and doesn’t wreck my diet for the entire year!
I wonder if the Lord had this issue when He was determining what to feed the people in the wilderness? Was manna the ultimate super food? It would most certainly have been to sustain them for three years! It would most likely have contained the right balance of protein, carbs, vitamins and minerals in order to keep the Israelites healthy and strong. Remember, they weren’t heading to the gym in order to keep their weight down! They weren’t training for marathons or tri-athalons, they had to exert physical energy just to stay alive! They had to collect the manna, grind it, make it into cakes and cook it. They were constantly consumed with daily tasks to keep the camp running. Sweeping out the tents, gathering wood, fetching water, maintaining the tabernacle...just to name a few. Other than observing the Sabbath day, there wasn’t much time for rest. Not to mention the fact that every few months they were pulling up camp to journey on to the next location, only to go through the whole ritual again. Glamourous lifestyle huh? I have to say that I wouldn’t have been too thrilled with it myself. Actually, I think I probably would have been a token Israelite, complete with complaints, dissatisfaction, ungratefulness and a not so favorable opinion of manna!
All of this is good for a LOL and even a “thank you Jesus that I’m living in 2011!” But truthfully, not much has changed about the human condition. We look at those people and think, “How ungrateful, how dissatisfied, how influenced and fearful and unbelieving and idolatrous they were!” Newsflash: Even Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun!” People haven’t changed just because the age of technology has made life easier. On the contrary, we are more ungrateful, dissatisfied, influenced, fearful, unbelieving and idolatrous!
I’ve been studying Numbers 11 about the Israelites complaints against God and His provision of manna. I have seen myself in these scriptures and been brought to conviction over my ungrateful attitude and lack of humility over what God has so graciously provided for me. I like to think I don’t walk around a complaining bundle of angst but in my own way, in my own heart, I have been ungrateful. I have been envious of what others seem to have over me. I have judged how my neighbor spends her time, talent and treasure. I have coveted and desired the blessings of another over my own. I have WANTED someone else’s blessing! This, girls, is dangerous territory! We are trampling on the goodness and wisdom and grace of our Lord, just as the Israelites did so many years ago.
To be continued...
Monday, April 4, 2011
Teaching our Girls How to Shop, Amen!
Shopping. Don’t you just love how the word rolls right off your tongue? I have rarely met a woman who doesn’t love to shop or at least dabble in it every once in a while. Even from toddlerhood most little girls begin to gravitate toward accessories and feminine touches. This fetish rarely subsides as we age. There is something that just feeds us as women when it comes to shopping. It appeals to all of the senses and can easily be as good as any medical cure for what ails you!
My daughter is eight. She has discovered Justice. Need I say more? What a retail paradise for little girls! I have to admit that at times it is more fun for me to go there and shop with her than it is to shop for myself! I am immediately transported back to a time when everything had to be pink, frilly and sparkly. (I still favor all of these adjectives when shopping as an adult...I just try to keep the squealing confined...to my head!) However, since our first purchase at Justice, which I think was a $6 bottle of mood changing nail polish, (yes, I have used it myself, unashamedly EEEK!) they have been automatically sending us direct mail circulars not quarterly, not even monthly but weekly! Within the last month we have gotten no less than three mini-catalogues containing coupons galore. No one can say these marketing people don’t know what they’re doing. My daughter is even sold and this is evidenced by the way she so subtly places the coupon, catalog and her “wish list” right next to the coffee pot. She knows this is the one place I will inevitably visit multiple times in one day and so she cunningly implements her plan!
Now, I have to laugh as I type this because this genetic disposition is clearly my fault! If anyone has ever seen my shoe collection there will be no doubt as to the origin of her fascination. Although I have had to learn to temper my shopping sprees as her list of expenses grows, I find that this is something we enjoy as mother and daughter. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, just time spent together, sharing our opinions, laughter and love for all things pink! I have also taken it as an opportunity to teach her about modesty, being a good steward of her money and being a wise shopper. These are all things that the word of God encourages us to do. So, even if she is just shopping for earrings the lessons will hopefully transfer over to larger purchases as she grows and shops on her own.
I feel a fabulous analogy coming on Moms! I will have to say that I have heard, more than once, over the last few months a lot of talk about allowing our children to choose for themselves. Some of us are still holding on to resentment from a strict childhood all these years later and we are making decisions based on being friends with our children instead of parents! I have to qualify, that my children are still young. We have not hit the teen years and as of now the unpopular decisions we make as parents are not causing a severe amount of backlash, at this point. However, I have no doubt that with these two being MY children that this will not last long. (This is where I have to say, thank the Lord for Daddys!) Anyway, with that being stated, I still see so much harm in this whole philosophy first and foremost because it isn’t biblical! Need I say more? But aside from that, I am face to face with many teenagers on a weekly basis through the pregnancy center that are products of parents who are still rebelling themselves! (Side note: I am not saying that this means your child will become pregnant out of wedlock!) The pregnancy is just a symptom of a greater problem. You want to know the irony? Most of them WANT their parents to be their parents! I sat across from a young lady not long ago that said, “My Mom let’s me do whatever I want. I used to have rules but not anymore. I feel like she has just given up, that she doesn’t even want to be my Mom anymore!” How’s that for “my kids don’t listen to me, don’t care what I say and don’t want me to be their parent??”
It is inherent within our sinful flesh to buck the system and rebel against authority. BUT, there is also something within our hearts that makes us feel safe when we have rules and guidelines. Without rules, without laws to protect and govern we would all be lawless. What is there to restrain people without rules? If there was no law to give us the standard of right and wrong and the judicial system to back it up then people would all do what they wanted! Can you imagine the state of our world if that occurred? Murders, theft and all kinds of debauchery would abound! Thank God for rules! Thank God for the law that keeps us safe!
Moms, if we could be eyeball to eyeball I would say this, “You are the parent for a reason!” God has given you this child for you to PARENT!” If children could decide on their own they wouldn’t need parents! Scripture uses words like “train”, “discipline”, “instruct” and “guide” when it comes to parenting. If He had not meant for you to parent He would not have given you this child nor would He have made it so that YOU would be held accountable for their upbringing. Listen, we have so many spheres of influence but none greater than with our children, use it for good! Don’t give up, don’t grow lax, don’t cower! Be courageous and stand firm in the power that the Lord has given you!
So, before you think I’m totally off on a rabbit trail, how does this apply to shopping? You’ve already been to the mall! And probably more than once! Wouldn’t it seem wise to instruct your daughter (children) where to shop? Wouldn’t you tell her what stores charged too high a price or which ones sold cheap merchandise? Wouldn’t you tell her which stores had the best deals and which ones are your favorite? Of course you would! We do this with even the most mundane things in life... “brush your teeth, eat your veggies, get a good nights rest.” So, why, pray tell, would we leave the greater things undone???? Things like relationships, marriage, motherhood, purity and above all ETERNITY? I don’t trust my children, at 8 and 11, to decide anything decent apart from my instruction. They wouldn’t know to brush their teeth by osmosis! They wouldn’t know to eat their veggies if they hadn’t been taught. If they had to choose they would stay up until 2 a.m. every night playing video games and watching t.v.! Most of us have twenty plus years of wisdom, and just plain living, up under us that can benefit our children. Why would you withhold that wisdom from them? Why wouldn’t you tell them? Why?
So, I implore you, indeed I plead with you for our children! Be honest with them. Be open with them about failures and forgiveness and God’s grace in your own life. You don’t even realize the power, the God-given power that you have as a mother to influence the life of your child - for good or for evil. Pray that the Lord would equip you with wisdom, courage, boldness and an unwavering consistency to all that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and praiseworthy (Phillipians 4:8)!
Scripture says in Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to themselves brings shame to their mother.” Moms, God has given you a special relationship to your children. The world is trying to sell our daughters (and our sons) a bag of goods that are cheap and come at a price that they cannot afford to pay. We have to speak up! After all of these years, what would you have said to yourself twenty years ago, fifteen years ago, ten years ago? Say it! Speak the truth about the lies of television, movies, internet and culture as a whole. Call them on the carpet and proclaim, “This is not good for you, this is not true and this is sin!” Let’s be diligent in teaching our daughters how to shop. Let’s help them get the best deals with no buyers remorse! You have the knowledge, use it and use it wisely!
My daughter is eight. She has discovered Justice. Need I say more? What a retail paradise for little girls! I have to admit that at times it is more fun for me to go there and shop with her than it is to shop for myself! I am immediately transported back to a time when everything had to be pink, frilly and sparkly. (I still favor all of these adjectives when shopping as an adult...I just try to keep the squealing confined...to my head!) However, since our first purchase at Justice, which I think was a $6 bottle of mood changing nail polish, (yes, I have used it myself, unashamedly EEEK!) they have been automatically sending us direct mail circulars not quarterly, not even monthly but weekly! Within the last month we have gotten no less than three mini-catalogues containing coupons galore. No one can say these marketing people don’t know what they’re doing. My daughter is even sold and this is evidenced by the way she so subtly places the coupon, catalog and her “wish list” right next to the coffee pot. She knows this is the one place I will inevitably visit multiple times in one day and so she cunningly implements her plan!
Now, I have to laugh as I type this because this genetic disposition is clearly my fault! If anyone has ever seen my shoe collection there will be no doubt as to the origin of her fascination. Although I have had to learn to temper my shopping sprees as her list of expenses grows, I find that this is something we enjoy as mother and daughter. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, just time spent together, sharing our opinions, laughter and love for all things pink! I have also taken it as an opportunity to teach her about modesty, being a good steward of her money and being a wise shopper. These are all things that the word of God encourages us to do. So, even if she is just shopping for earrings the lessons will hopefully transfer over to larger purchases as she grows and shops on her own.
I feel a fabulous analogy coming on Moms! I will have to say that I have heard, more than once, over the last few months a lot of talk about allowing our children to choose for themselves. Some of us are still holding on to resentment from a strict childhood all these years later and we are making decisions based on being friends with our children instead of parents! I have to qualify, that my children are still young. We have not hit the teen years and as of now the unpopular decisions we make as parents are not causing a severe amount of backlash, at this point. However, I have no doubt that with these two being MY children that this will not last long. (This is where I have to say, thank the Lord for Daddys!) Anyway, with that being stated, I still see so much harm in this whole philosophy first and foremost because it isn’t biblical! Need I say more? But aside from that, I am face to face with many teenagers on a weekly basis through the pregnancy center that are products of parents who are still rebelling themselves! (Side note: I am not saying that this means your child will become pregnant out of wedlock!) The pregnancy is just a symptom of a greater problem. You want to know the irony? Most of them WANT their parents to be their parents! I sat across from a young lady not long ago that said, “My Mom let’s me do whatever I want. I used to have rules but not anymore. I feel like she has just given up, that she doesn’t even want to be my Mom anymore!” How’s that for “my kids don’t listen to me, don’t care what I say and don’t want me to be their parent??”
It is inherent within our sinful flesh to buck the system and rebel against authority. BUT, there is also something within our hearts that makes us feel safe when we have rules and guidelines. Without rules, without laws to protect and govern we would all be lawless. What is there to restrain people without rules? If there was no law to give us the standard of right and wrong and the judicial system to back it up then people would all do what they wanted! Can you imagine the state of our world if that occurred? Murders, theft and all kinds of debauchery would abound! Thank God for rules! Thank God for the law that keeps us safe!
Moms, if we could be eyeball to eyeball I would say this, “You are the parent for a reason!” God has given you this child for you to PARENT!” If children could decide on their own they wouldn’t need parents! Scripture uses words like “train”, “discipline”, “instruct” and “guide” when it comes to parenting. If He had not meant for you to parent He would not have given you this child nor would He have made it so that YOU would be held accountable for their upbringing. Listen, we have so many spheres of influence but none greater than with our children, use it for good! Don’t give up, don’t grow lax, don’t cower! Be courageous and stand firm in the power that the Lord has given you!
So, before you think I’m totally off on a rabbit trail, how does this apply to shopping? You’ve already been to the mall! And probably more than once! Wouldn’t it seem wise to instruct your daughter (children) where to shop? Wouldn’t you tell her what stores charged too high a price or which ones sold cheap merchandise? Wouldn’t you tell her which stores had the best deals and which ones are your favorite? Of course you would! We do this with even the most mundane things in life... “brush your teeth, eat your veggies, get a good nights rest.” So, why, pray tell, would we leave the greater things undone???? Things like relationships, marriage, motherhood, purity and above all ETERNITY? I don’t trust my children, at 8 and 11, to decide anything decent apart from my instruction. They wouldn’t know to brush their teeth by osmosis! They wouldn’t know to eat their veggies if they hadn’t been taught. If they had to choose they would stay up until 2 a.m. every night playing video games and watching t.v.! Most of us have twenty plus years of wisdom, and just plain living, up under us that can benefit our children. Why would you withhold that wisdom from them? Why wouldn’t you tell them? Why?
So, I implore you, indeed I plead with you for our children! Be honest with them. Be open with them about failures and forgiveness and God’s grace in your own life. You don’t even realize the power, the God-given power that you have as a mother to influence the life of your child - for good or for evil. Pray that the Lord would equip you with wisdom, courage, boldness and an unwavering consistency to all that is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and praiseworthy (Phillipians 4:8)!
Scripture says in Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to themselves brings shame to their mother.” Moms, God has given you a special relationship to your children. The world is trying to sell our daughters (and our sons) a bag of goods that are cheap and come at a price that they cannot afford to pay. We have to speak up! After all of these years, what would you have said to yourself twenty years ago, fifteen years ago, ten years ago? Say it! Speak the truth about the lies of television, movies, internet and culture as a whole. Call them on the carpet and proclaim, “This is not good for you, this is not true and this is sin!” Let’s be diligent in teaching our daughters how to shop. Let’s help them get the best deals with no buyers remorse! You have the knowledge, use it and use it wisely!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
When God Breaks Your Heart, Part Two
If you are just tuning in, please read the previous blog post for clarity...thanks!
Continued from Part One:
I would like to say that after three years I am a prayer warrior and that I have all of the answers and that I have learned to pray like a champ but I can’t give you that. I can tell you that I am more consistent in prayer but the tone of my prayers are vastly different from what they were before. The Lord used those times to pull some things out of me that needed to go! He refined me in the fire of tribulation and I won’t lie, it wasn’t fun! Even the writer of Hebrews said, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). God wasn’t so much teaching me about prayer in that time as He was about Himself! Truthfully, I’d be lying if I said I have reached the pinnacle of James 1:2 where I can say that I “count it all joy when I fall into various trials.” I don’t enjoy trials. But, the Lord really used this to separate the wheat from the waste in my life.
I felt compelled to share a handful of things that I hope will be an anchor to you in the storm of a divinely broken heart:
1 - God is sovereign. This is either a comfort or a concern to you but mainly it depends on how you look at His sovereignty. Someone has to have ultimate authority. It will either be Him or Him. That isn’t a typo! Most of the control we think we have is an illusion. The reality is, HE IS IN CONTROL! But, along with that, He knows the beginning from the end. He isn’t running our lives blindly not knowing what tomorrow holds. All things that are mysteries to us are known to Him. In reality, if we are going to serve Him with any amount of trust at all we are going to have to be okay with not knowing all the answers, we just are! You know, He even knows us better than we know ourselves so we may be praying for something we think that we want so desperately and He knows it isn’t at all what we want! And, He is HOLY. Totally without sin or any evil thing. He is light and in Him is no darkness!
2 - Prayer is the means by which God accomplishes His will. Let’s face it, there are times when we pray for something and God grants us what we have requested and it builds our faith. If we had not prayed and asked then this cause/effect would not have occurred. Often times prayer is a great faith-builder. Prayer also teaches us perseverance. Think about a long delay in an answered prayer. Our perseverance is increased. Perseverance is absolutely necessary for the Christian life.
3 - Breaking our hearts makes us more like Christ. The scripture says that Jesus “was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3) Are there any two words that paint a picture of a broken heart like sorrow and grief? God’s will for our lives is our sanctification which simply means becoming more like Christ. Because we know how the story ends, that Jesus has risen from the dead and will come again, we picture partaking in His victory without the suffering. Jesus is King but He came as a suffering servant first. In order to taste the victory we must endure the suffering that paves the road to it. Take comfort in the fact that the victory is already sure and HE IS COMING!
4 - His glory is always His motive. God does not work based on our wants, desires or needs if they are for anything other than His glory. He is totally sold out for His glory in all things. So much so, that He takes sin and ultimately uses it for His glory. And rightfully so! He is God and there is none besides Him. He alone is worthy, holy and righteous, unlike us. So you can take this to the spiritual bank - if it is not going to bring Him glory, He is not going to endorse it, girls!
5 - His ways are not our ways. God doesn’t even think like we do. Yes, we are made in His image but scripture is clear that His thoughts are higher than ours. It says in Isaiah 40:13-14 “Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” We see things from a human, temporal perspective. God sees things from an omnipotent, eternal, kingdom perspective. His moving in our lives is for the proclamation of His gospel and the exaltation of His Son. His word has always been about redemption through Jesus Christ and His eternal kingdom. Anything aside from that is a second class request. Not to say that He doesn’t answer those requests but that is not His main concern. However, we have a tendency to make these second class requests first class for us in prayer. Rarely do we spend time in prayer consumed with His Kingdom, His Gospel and His Coming.
Lastly and simply, God commands us to pray. Plain and simple, no explanation needed. Sometimes you just have to do the thing whether you understand or not. In this world where we cannot get away from suffering we need an anchor for our souls. People are hurting and struggling in many ways that we cannot know or understand. However, often times we hope in the answer instead of the God who provides the answer. Instead of waiting on the thing, we need to wait on the Lord. I know that’s tough but true nonetheless.
So, where does this leave us when our hearts are in our hands? It leaves us asking ourselves this: Is God good? To which we should then ask, “What does His word say?” Then, “Do I believe His word?” From here, I must choose to trust even when I don’t understand, even when it hurts, even when I can’t see the end from the beginning because He does! Ultimately, God is good. Whether we choose to believe that or not doesn’t change it, although He wants us to believe Him. Because, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Maybe right now you aren’t very interested in pleasing God. Your heart has been broken and you have more questions than answers. Ask Him to equip you with faith unto belief, to help your unbelief and then begin right now to think your way into feeling. “For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Continued from Part One:
I would like to say that after three years I am a prayer warrior and that I have all of the answers and that I have learned to pray like a champ but I can’t give you that. I can tell you that I am more consistent in prayer but the tone of my prayers are vastly different from what they were before. The Lord used those times to pull some things out of me that needed to go! He refined me in the fire of tribulation and I won’t lie, it wasn’t fun! Even the writer of Hebrews said, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). God wasn’t so much teaching me about prayer in that time as He was about Himself! Truthfully, I’d be lying if I said I have reached the pinnacle of James 1:2 where I can say that I “count it all joy when I fall into various trials.” I don’t enjoy trials. But, the Lord really used this to separate the wheat from the waste in my life.
I felt compelled to share a handful of things that I hope will be an anchor to you in the storm of a divinely broken heart:
1 - God is sovereign. This is either a comfort or a concern to you but mainly it depends on how you look at His sovereignty. Someone has to have ultimate authority. It will either be Him or Him. That isn’t a typo! Most of the control we think we have is an illusion. The reality is, HE IS IN CONTROL! But, along with that, He knows the beginning from the end. He isn’t running our lives blindly not knowing what tomorrow holds. All things that are mysteries to us are known to Him. In reality, if we are going to serve Him with any amount of trust at all we are going to have to be okay with not knowing all the answers, we just are! You know, He even knows us better than we know ourselves so we may be praying for something we think that we want so desperately and He knows it isn’t at all what we want! And, He is HOLY. Totally without sin or any evil thing. He is light and in Him is no darkness!
2 - Prayer is the means by which God accomplishes His will. Let’s face it, there are times when we pray for something and God grants us what we have requested and it builds our faith. If we had not prayed and asked then this cause/effect would not have occurred. Often times prayer is a great faith-builder. Prayer also teaches us perseverance. Think about a long delay in an answered prayer. Our perseverance is increased. Perseverance is absolutely necessary for the Christian life.
3 - Breaking our hearts makes us more like Christ. The scripture says that Jesus “was a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3) Are there any two words that paint a picture of a broken heart like sorrow and grief? God’s will for our lives is our sanctification which simply means becoming more like Christ. Because we know how the story ends, that Jesus has risen from the dead and will come again, we picture partaking in His victory without the suffering. Jesus is King but He came as a suffering servant first. In order to taste the victory we must endure the suffering that paves the road to it. Take comfort in the fact that the victory is already sure and HE IS COMING!
4 - His glory is always His motive. God does not work based on our wants, desires or needs if they are for anything other than His glory. He is totally sold out for His glory in all things. So much so, that He takes sin and ultimately uses it for His glory. And rightfully so! He is God and there is none besides Him. He alone is worthy, holy and righteous, unlike us. So you can take this to the spiritual bank - if it is not going to bring Him glory, He is not going to endorse it, girls!
5 - His ways are not our ways. God doesn’t even think like we do. Yes, we are made in His image but scripture is clear that His thoughts are higher than ours. It says in Isaiah 40:13-14 “Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?” We see things from a human, temporal perspective. God sees things from an omnipotent, eternal, kingdom perspective. His moving in our lives is for the proclamation of His gospel and the exaltation of His Son. His word has always been about redemption through Jesus Christ and His eternal kingdom. Anything aside from that is a second class request. Not to say that He doesn’t answer those requests but that is not His main concern. However, we have a tendency to make these second class requests first class for us in prayer. Rarely do we spend time in prayer consumed with His Kingdom, His Gospel and His Coming.
Lastly and simply, God commands us to pray. Plain and simple, no explanation needed. Sometimes you just have to do the thing whether you understand or not. In this world where we cannot get away from suffering we need an anchor for our souls. People are hurting and struggling in many ways that we cannot know or understand. However, often times we hope in the answer instead of the God who provides the answer. Instead of waiting on the thing, we need to wait on the Lord. I know that’s tough but true nonetheless.
So, where does this leave us when our hearts are in our hands? It leaves us asking ourselves this: Is God good? To which we should then ask, “What does His word say?” Then, “Do I believe His word?” From here, I must choose to trust even when I don’t understand, even when it hurts, even when I can’t see the end from the beginning because He does! Ultimately, God is good. Whether we choose to believe that or not doesn’t change it, although He wants us to believe Him. Because, “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). Maybe right now you aren’t very interested in pleasing God. Your heart has been broken and you have more questions than answers. Ask Him to equip you with faith unto belief, to help your unbelief and then begin right now to think your way into feeling. “For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Friday, April 1, 2011
When God Breaks Your Heart, Part One
What do you do when God breaks your heart? What a weighty question for today! I look around and I see so many people who are hurting. So many who have journeyed in prayer through many trials and tribulations, disappointments and failures, loss and betrayals, all kinds of hurts. Is there a firm foundation when we are left waiting for the answer or worse, the answer comes and it is “No?” I was thinking the other day how very important it is for us to address this issue as believers because if you serve the Lord for any length of time this will happen. You see, we often talk about the wonder of answered prayer. We are quick to broadcast when God has “come through” for us but rarely do we openly proclaim, “I’m still waiting!” Or worse yet, He said, “No”. We are ashamed of the rush of emotions that come with this kind of disappointment so we bottle it up, never daring to say, “I’m angry, I’m bitter, I don’t understand...why?”
I have admitted on more than one occasion that prayer is something that is allusive to me. What I mean by that is truly, I don’t understand much about prayer. The type-A side of me has tried on many occasions to put prayer into a box or turn it into a tried and true method but alas, it will not concede to my efforts! My own prayer life can easily be divided into a before and after sequence. I have not always had this issue with prayer. Before, I used to be very heavy on prayer and less on study. I would have to set time limits on my prayers in order to have a few minutes daily in the word. However, after, the very opposite is true.
The shift occurred a few years ago when things in life began to take on a dramatic turn of events. I would say up to this point that tribulation in my life was scant with the exception of consequences that had fallen on me because of sin I had committed. But suffering for the sake of making me more like Jesus (aka sanctification), even when I hadn’t done anything to warrant it, was not a familiar concept to me.
I felt early on that prayer was my token way of communicating with the Lord on many levels. Time spent in Thanksgiving, time spent in praises, time spent in repentance and a lot of time spent in supplication, in other words, I had a long list of requests! However, let me clarify that not all of these requests were for selfish gain, although some were. Some of my requests dealt with healing illness, saving the lost, growing ministries, providing jobs, saving marriages etc; Prayers that were for the benefit of others and the furtherance of God’s kingdom.
During this time I began praying over two very specific things: one was healing for a friend and the other was a career that I was sure the Lord had been preparing me for - He had even lined up an interview that I had not persued or prompted in any way. The desire of my heart for both of these requests was so strong that I was sure they would be answered in the affirmative. The answers came nearly within a month of one another and both were a clear, resounding, “No.” Not maybe, not wait, but No! I was devastated. I was bitter. I was angry...at God and my heart hurt! Then, to place a nice big cherry on top, Kraig lost his job. At the time, we had no way of knowing that this would take us into a long, hard 18 months of despair. We were hopeful that things would turn around quickly. Little did we know.
In that time I felt that I could not trust Him with any prayer that stretched my faith ever again. If it was out of the realm of possibility then I did not want to let Him have it. I truly felt like the little girl who has had her heart broken and cannot afford to let anyone else touch it for fear that the next time it might not be repaired. I just kept thinking, “But you COULD have! You could have done this anyway you wanted to and you didn’t! You deliberately chose to break my heart! Who can serve a God like that?” Although I knew in my Spirit that I could not turn away from the Lord completely I cut my prayer life to nil. I thanked Him for blessings and continued to ask for forgiveness but I was so bitter that I refused to ask for anything that required any faith whatsoever. I can even look back in my prayer journal and see the anger and hurt that resided just below the surface in every journal entry. Deep within me I wanted to cry out in desperation but for fear or pride or both, I refused.
What made things worse was to look around and see others praying and claiming great feats of faith through their prayer lives. It was as if they were picking up their direct line straight to the throne and dialing in whatever it was that they desired from the Lord. What was it that I was missing? Had I lacked faith? Indeed, God doesn’t need my faith to fulfill His purpose. It pleases Him but He doesn’t NEED it. I really had turned it every which way in order to find my fault for the failure, for the answers that never came but in the end I really had no other explanation than these trials were simply God’s will for our lives at that time.
To be continued...
I have admitted on more than one occasion that prayer is something that is allusive to me. What I mean by that is truly, I don’t understand much about prayer. The type-A side of me has tried on many occasions to put prayer into a box or turn it into a tried and true method but alas, it will not concede to my efforts! My own prayer life can easily be divided into a before and after sequence. I have not always had this issue with prayer. Before, I used to be very heavy on prayer and less on study. I would have to set time limits on my prayers in order to have a few minutes daily in the word. However, after, the very opposite is true.
The shift occurred a few years ago when things in life began to take on a dramatic turn of events. I would say up to this point that tribulation in my life was scant with the exception of consequences that had fallen on me because of sin I had committed. But suffering for the sake of making me more like Jesus (aka sanctification), even when I hadn’t done anything to warrant it, was not a familiar concept to me.
I felt early on that prayer was my token way of communicating with the Lord on many levels. Time spent in Thanksgiving, time spent in praises, time spent in repentance and a lot of time spent in supplication, in other words, I had a long list of requests! However, let me clarify that not all of these requests were for selfish gain, although some were. Some of my requests dealt with healing illness, saving the lost, growing ministries, providing jobs, saving marriages etc; Prayers that were for the benefit of others and the furtherance of God’s kingdom.
During this time I began praying over two very specific things: one was healing for a friend and the other was a career that I was sure the Lord had been preparing me for - He had even lined up an interview that I had not persued or prompted in any way. The desire of my heart for both of these requests was so strong that I was sure they would be answered in the affirmative. The answers came nearly within a month of one another and both were a clear, resounding, “No.” Not maybe, not wait, but No! I was devastated. I was bitter. I was angry...at God and my heart hurt! Then, to place a nice big cherry on top, Kraig lost his job. At the time, we had no way of knowing that this would take us into a long, hard 18 months of despair. We were hopeful that things would turn around quickly. Little did we know.
In that time I felt that I could not trust Him with any prayer that stretched my faith ever again. If it was out of the realm of possibility then I did not want to let Him have it. I truly felt like the little girl who has had her heart broken and cannot afford to let anyone else touch it for fear that the next time it might not be repaired. I just kept thinking, “But you COULD have! You could have done this anyway you wanted to and you didn’t! You deliberately chose to break my heart! Who can serve a God like that?” Although I knew in my Spirit that I could not turn away from the Lord completely I cut my prayer life to nil. I thanked Him for blessings and continued to ask for forgiveness but I was so bitter that I refused to ask for anything that required any faith whatsoever. I can even look back in my prayer journal and see the anger and hurt that resided just below the surface in every journal entry. Deep within me I wanted to cry out in desperation but for fear or pride or both, I refused.
What made things worse was to look around and see others praying and claiming great feats of faith through their prayer lives. It was as if they were picking up their direct line straight to the throne and dialing in whatever it was that they desired from the Lord. What was it that I was missing? Had I lacked faith? Indeed, God doesn’t need my faith to fulfill His purpose. It pleases Him but He doesn’t NEED it. I really had turned it every which way in order to find my fault for the failure, for the answers that never came but in the end I really had no other explanation than these trials were simply God’s will for our lives at that time.
To be continued...
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Diet of a Godly Woman
Well, summer time is a’comin’ and along with it comes wedding season, vacations, VBS, swim team and over all mayhem in the McBride household. In general this is a very nostalgic time of year for me because I love summer and all that it brings with it: tree frogs, long days, fresh cut grass and lots of ice cream. But, it also means that my time blogging is cut nearly in half! It is very hard to have so much to say and no time to say it! It’s like telling the birds to hush up for a few months! Needless to say, I am already missing you!
This year our church has four couples that have recently become engaged and are planning weddings all within two months of one another! If telepathy had been one of my spiritual gifts I would have taken out a “wedding” club account to save up for all of the presents I have to buy! As it is, however, I am so excited for each of them and I lurv being able to actually attend a wedding as a guest especially when I can be there with Kraig. There’s something so romantic about sitting close together, listening to wedding vows, reciting them in your own heart and committing to them all over again. The only difference is that this time you actually KNOW what you are promising! (It’s a good day when you can say that you would still do it again!) Even though marriage is hard at times there is such a sweet satisfaction in looking back over many years together and being able to say, “We made it, thank you Jesus and can I get a PRAISE THE LORD!” I love that about weddings! I also love the reception for two very important reasons: food and food! Oh, and I forgot cake and food! I will tell you that nothing excites me more than a good feast! If you know anything about me at all you will know that I am a self-professed foodie - and I am no respecter of food. Anything will do. I love everything from twinkies to the finest delicacies and everything in between.
Recently, I was thinking about food in the Bible. There are a myriad of references to food, feasts, banquets, suppers and the like. Even the Bible itself is set forth as the food for our spiritual nourishment. Jesus called Himself “The Bread of Life” and we are promised to spend eternity dwelling in a land of milk and honey! All of this got me thinking (and hungry) about how we feast on the banquet of God’s word and the different kinds of eating habits we tend to develop in regards to scripture. The rest of the post highlights these trends in hopes that we can all get the most out of our time spent at the banquet and feast wisely. Notice only one woman is eating well - is it you?
The first kind of eater is the “picky eater”. This is the woman who picks and chooses which passages appeal to her based on what her feelings are for that day. Mostly, she chooses passages that make her feel good about herself, affirm her choices and appeal to her tastes. She is quick to avoid those scriptures that might convict her of sinful patterns or encourage her to change her lifestyle. (All scripture is breathed out by God. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. 2 Timothy 3:16a; 4:3-4).
The “over-eater” is next. This woman is fat on the word. She is the bible study queen with an arsenal of workbooks and a week full of studies, small groups, counseling sessions and mentoring meetings. She is always in need of more knowledge never taking the time to pass on what she has learned to others or serving out of her plenteous reserves. (For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women..always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:6-7).
The “leftover eater” is our next culprit. She is constantly going back to the last good meal that she had in God’s word. She is reheating and microwaving from the one mountain top experience she had at the ladies’ retreat or conference she attended a few months back. The food was so good that one time that she has refused to try anything new. (Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Hebrews 6:1)
The “skimpy eater”, otherwise known as the “dieter” is only eating enough to get by. Unfortunately, she hasn’t looked in the mirror lately or she would realize that she is slowly wasting away! She is a thin shell of what she used to be and now she is gaunt and just plain unhealthy. Her lack of nourishment has left her hungry and weak. (My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6).
Last is the “nutritious eater”. This woman feasts on a well balanced diet of the whole counsel of God! She is daily balancing her time in the word making sure that she is full enough to serve but not gorging herself so that she has some to share with others. She is sure to look for new things in scripture, examining and spending time on passages or books she is unfamiliar with knowing that ALL of the word is God breathed and profitable for her. This woman is disciplined in her pursuit of wisdom and is eager to sharpen her knife. She will always be satisfied. She will always be healthy. She will always be strong! (How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103).
I encourage you to really take the time to identify your eating habits when it comes to the word of God. This is the banquet that the Lord has left us to feast upon and gain nourishment until He comes again and we feast with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Eat well ladies, eat well!
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14
This year our church has four couples that have recently become engaged and are planning weddings all within two months of one another! If telepathy had been one of my spiritual gifts I would have taken out a “wedding” club account to save up for all of the presents I have to buy! As it is, however, I am so excited for each of them and I lurv being able to actually attend a wedding as a guest especially when I can be there with Kraig. There’s something so romantic about sitting close together, listening to wedding vows, reciting them in your own heart and committing to them all over again. The only difference is that this time you actually KNOW what you are promising! (It’s a good day when you can say that you would still do it again!) Even though marriage is hard at times there is such a sweet satisfaction in looking back over many years together and being able to say, “We made it, thank you Jesus and can I get a PRAISE THE LORD!” I love that about weddings! I also love the reception for two very important reasons: food and food! Oh, and I forgot cake and food! I will tell you that nothing excites me more than a good feast! If you know anything about me at all you will know that I am a self-professed foodie - and I am no respecter of food. Anything will do. I love everything from twinkies to the finest delicacies and everything in between.
Recently, I was thinking about food in the Bible. There are a myriad of references to food, feasts, banquets, suppers and the like. Even the Bible itself is set forth as the food for our spiritual nourishment. Jesus called Himself “The Bread of Life” and we are promised to spend eternity dwelling in a land of milk and honey! All of this got me thinking (and hungry) about how we feast on the banquet of God’s word and the different kinds of eating habits we tend to develop in regards to scripture. The rest of the post highlights these trends in hopes that we can all get the most out of our time spent at the banquet and feast wisely. Notice only one woman is eating well - is it you?
The first kind of eater is the “picky eater”. This is the woman who picks and chooses which passages appeal to her based on what her feelings are for that day. Mostly, she chooses passages that make her feel good about herself, affirm her choices and appeal to her tastes. She is quick to avoid those scriptures that might convict her of sinful patterns or encourage her to change her lifestyle. (All scripture is breathed out by God. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. 2 Timothy 3:16a; 4:3-4).
The “over-eater” is next. This woman is fat on the word. She is the bible study queen with an arsenal of workbooks and a week full of studies, small groups, counseling sessions and mentoring meetings. She is always in need of more knowledge never taking the time to pass on what she has learned to others or serving out of her plenteous reserves. (For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women..always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:6-7).
The “leftover eater” is our next culprit. She is constantly going back to the last good meal that she had in God’s word. She is reheating and microwaving from the one mountain top experience she had at the ladies’ retreat or conference she attended a few months back. The food was so good that one time that she has refused to try anything new. (Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Hebrews 6:1)
The “skimpy eater”, otherwise known as the “dieter” is only eating enough to get by. Unfortunately, she hasn’t looked in the mirror lately or she would realize that she is slowly wasting away! She is a thin shell of what she used to be and now she is gaunt and just plain unhealthy. Her lack of nourishment has left her hungry and weak. (My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6).
Last is the “nutritious eater”. This woman feasts on a well balanced diet of the whole counsel of God! She is daily balancing her time in the word making sure that she is full enough to serve but not gorging herself so that she has some to share with others. She is sure to look for new things in scripture, examining and spending time on passages or books she is unfamiliar with knowing that ALL of the word is God breathed and profitable for her. This woman is disciplined in her pursuit of wisdom and is eager to sharpen her knife. She will always be satisfied. She will always be healthy. She will always be strong! (How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103).
I encourage you to really take the time to identify your eating habits when it comes to the word of God. This is the banquet that the Lord has left us to feast upon and gain nourishment until He comes again and we feast with Him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Eat well ladies, eat well!
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Going Camping!
Let me begin by saying a huge “Thank You!” to Ms. Melissa Young for inspiring this blog post and in her words, “Puttin’ feet on it!” I believe we have decided that we will be a Moses and Aaron pair - so you will probably have many posts in the future that are a combination of our two heads put together. It takes the two of us to make up ONE decent teacher!
So, if any of you know anything about me at all you know that I am not a camper and certainly not a happy one at that! Call me crazy but I enjoy those insane luxuries like indoor plumbing, electricity and a mattress! Not to mention the fact that there isn’t much peace of mind knowing that the only thing that separates me from the “lions and tigers and bears oh my” is a thin piece of nylon, uh, no thanks! Do you see the sweet picture of our family over to your right? Do you see the caption that graces that picture? It was a looong night! Our daughter was just learning to use the potty so the time lapse between “Mommy, I have to potty” and her bladder exploding was less than a nano-second. Translation: You don’t have time to get to the indoor bathroom on the other side of the camp ground! Foreknowledge as a parent is rare but in this case we planned for the unexpected and brought the port-a-potty. We made our own little outhouse right beside the tent for emergencies - which proved frequent at best!
Next, we failed to account for ALL of the downtime that camping brings so needless to say we were in the tent ready for bed and wide awake in the dark at 8:30p.m. We finally managed to fall asleep only to be awaken by the distinct sound of a Volkswagon bug, circa 1970, pulling in a few sites down. We assume this was probably 11p.m. or so but the people who drove in didn’t seem to mind a bit as they set up camp VERY enthusiastically, calling out to one another and banging around. Things finally died down about an hour later and we drifted off for another ten minutes or so when our daughter determined that she was cold and that my sleeping bag would be much warmer. After laying awake, drenched in sweat, wondering what was rustling around right outside our tent on the prowl for fresh humans I was more than anxious for the first trace of dawn. As soon as I could see the slightest glimpse of my hand in front of my face I roused the troops and began to cook breakfast. I don’t even think it was 5:30a.m. at this point but I was tired and feeling a little vindictive. I made sure that the “Bug” people were well aware that we could also do things enthusiastically. (Is there anything that zaps the Jesus right out of you like no sleep?) By 6:30a.m. breakfast was done, tent was packed and I had the peddle to the metal head back to civilization. Needless to say, it was the first AND it was the last camping trip for the McBride family.
All of that to bring you to question your own camping trip. When was the last time you went camping? Where did you pitch your tent? Did you make sure it was a safe place? For those of you who have never camped, although I highly recommend it at least once, what conditions would you look for in choosing a place to set up camp? Did you know that the Bible talks about camping? Yep, there are some camping stories in the word of God - and you thought the Bible was just about some really old people thousand of years ago wandering around in the desert.
As we begin let’s see how the word “tent” is used in scripture. First, the word tent is used to describe our bodies. In 2 Peter 1:13 our bodies are referred to as tents or temporary dwelling places. Our bodies house our souls but only as long as we are alive on this earth. Once we pass on our bodies die and are no longer of any use to us. So, it is a good analogy for us to be able to see how our bodies are tents. From here on out in this lesson when we talk about tents we will be talking about ourselves, our bodies.
Another word for tent in the Bible is the word “tabernacle” which also means “dwelling place”. Let’s take a moment for a brief history lesson here. When God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt he instructed them to build a “tabernacle” or special tent where His (God’s) presence could dwell among them. Are you starting to see the connection between tent, tabernacle and dwelling place? Okay, stay with me here. Once Jesus came He continued to talk about sending the Holy Spirit to believers once He ascended back to heaven so that they would always have the presence of God. However, for the believer, the Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell among us, He dwells within us! So, our bodies become His modern day tabernacle. That is why it says in 1 Corinithians 3:16-17; 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of God. Did you realize this? Did you know that when people say “God lives inside of us” it is true? What an amazing reality!
So, now that we have established our bodies as tents as well as God’s dwelling place we can get to the main point. Please read Psalm 91, for the sake of space I will not include it here. In verse one it states, “He who DWELLS in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Then drop down to verses nine and ten, “Because you have made the Lord your DWELLING place—the Most High, who is my refuge - no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your TENT.”
There is so much we could learn in these few verses but let’s stick to our camping theme. God is inviting us here to dwell in His shelter. In other words, He invites us to pitch our tent in His shelter, in His shadow and then He tells us what happens when we do: “Because you have pitched your tent in His shelter, no evil or plague will come near your tent. Now, does that mean that you will never be tempted, that you will never have a trial or that you will never be sick again? No! However, it does promise us two things:
First, that we are safe from the evil one. We can know that no temptation or trial will come upon us except for those that are filtered through the hand of God and if that is the case then we can rest assured those trials and temptations are for our good! As it says is James 1:2 “Count it all joy my sisters when you fall into various trials KNOWING that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have it’s perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing!”
The second promise is not a guaranteed immunization from all sickness, but a promise to general safety and protection. It says in Proverbs 12:21, “No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.” As we set up camp near the Lord we are placing our trust in Him for our safety and protection.
So, are you ready to go camping? Are you ready to move your tent from wherever you have been to higher ground? You see, God never moves so, if we have left His presence it is because we have moved! The pull of the world can be very strong in our lives and we have to be vigilant to make sure we stay in His presence by being in His word, becoming a part of a church where you can fellowship with other believers and always communing with Him in prayer. Today is a beautiful day! It’s a great day to go camping! Don’t hesitate, pack up your bags and let’s get a move on!
So, if any of you know anything about me at all you know that I am not a camper and certainly not a happy one at that! Call me crazy but I enjoy those insane luxuries like indoor plumbing, electricity and a mattress! Not to mention the fact that there isn’t much peace of mind knowing that the only thing that separates me from the “lions and tigers and bears oh my” is a thin piece of nylon, uh, no thanks! Do you see the sweet picture of our family over to your right? Do you see the caption that graces that picture? It was a looong night! Our daughter was just learning to use the potty so the time lapse between “Mommy, I have to potty” and her bladder exploding was less than a nano-second. Translation: You don’t have time to get to the indoor bathroom on the other side of the camp ground! Foreknowledge as a parent is rare but in this case we planned for the unexpected and brought the port-a-potty. We made our own little outhouse right beside the tent for emergencies - which proved frequent at best!
Next, we failed to account for ALL of the downtime that camping brings so needless to say we were in the tent ready for bed and wide awake in the dark at 8:30p.m. We finally managed to fall asleep only to be awaken by the distinct sound of a Volkswagon bug, circa 1970, pulling in a few sites down. We assume this was probably 11p.m. or so but the people who drove in didn’t seem to mind a bit as they set up camp VERY enthusiastically, calling out to one another and banging around. Things finally died down about an hour later and we drifted off for another ten minutes or so when our daughter determined that she was cold and that my sleeping bag would be much warmer. After laying awake, drenched in sweat, wondering what was rustling around right outside our tent on the prowl for fresh humans I was more than anxious for the first trace of dawn. As soon as I could see the slightest glimpse of my hand in front of my face I roused the troops and began to cook breakfast. I don’t even think it was 5:30a.m. at this point but I was tired and feeling a little vindictive. I made sure that the “Bug” people were well aware that we could also do things enthusiastically. (Is there anything that zaps the Jesus right out of you like no sleep?) By 6:30a.m. breakfast was done, tent was packed and I had the peddle to the metal head back to civilization. Needless to say, it was the first AND it was the last camping trip for the McBride family.
All of that to bring you to question your own camping trip. When was the last time you went camping? Where did you pitch your tent? Did you make sure it was a safe place? For those of you who have never camped, although I highly recommend it at least once, what conditions would you look for in choosing a place to set up camp? Did you know that the Bible talks about camping? Yep, there are some camping stories in the word of God - and you thought the Bible was just about some really old people thousand of years ago wandering around in the desert.
As we begin let’s see how the word “tent” is used in scripture. First, the word tent is used to describe our bodies. In 2 Peter 1:13 our bodies are referred to as tents or temporary dwelling places. Our bodies house our souls but only as long as we are alive on this earth. Once we pass on our bodies die and are no longer of any use to us. So, it is a good analogy for us to be able to see how our bodies are tents. From here on out in this lesson when we talk about tents we will be talking about ourselves, our bodies.
Another word for tent in the Bible is the word “tabernacle” which also means “dwelling place”. Let’s take a moment for a brief history lesson here. When God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt he instructed them to build a “tabernacle” or special tent where His (God’s) presence could dwell among them. Are you starting to see the connection between tent, tabernacle and dwelling place? Okay, stay with me here. Once Jesus came He continued to talk about sending the Holy Spirit to believers once He ascended back to heaven so that they would always have the presence of God. However, for the believer, the Holy Spirit doesn’t dwell among us, He dwells within us! So, our bodies become His modern day tabernacle. That is why it says in 1 Corinithians 3:16-17; 6:19 that our bodies are the temple of God. Did you realize this? Did you know that when people say “God lives inside of us” it is true? What an amazing reality!
So, now that we have established our bodies as tents as well as God’s dwelling place we can get to the main point. Please read Psalm 91, for the sake of space I will not include it here. In verse one it states, “He who DWELLS in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Then drop down to verses nine and ten, “Because you have made the Lord your DWELLING place—the Most High, who is my refuge - no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your TENT.”
There is so much we could learn in these few verses but let’s stick to our camping theme. God is inviting us here to dwell in His shelter. In other words, He invites us to pitch our tent in His shelter, in His shadow and then He tells us what happens when we do: “Because you have pitched your tent in His shelter, no evil or plague will come near your tent. Now, does that mean that you will never be tempted, that you will never have a trial or that you will never be sick again? No! However, it does promise us two things:
First, that we are safe from the evil one. We can know that no temptation or trial will come upon us except for those that are filtered through the hand of God and if that is the case then we can rest assured those trials and temptations are for our good! As it says is James 1:2 “Count it all joy my sisters when you fall into various trials KNOWING that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have it’s perfect work that you may be complete lacking nothing!”
The second promise is not a guaranteed immunization from all sickness, but a promise to general safety and protection. It says in Proverbs 12:21, “No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked are filled with trouble.” As we set up camp near the Lord we are placing our trust in Him for our safety and protection.
So, are you ready to go camping? Are you ready to move your tent from wherever you have been to higher ground? You see, God never moves so, if we have left His presence it is because we have moved! The pull of the world can be very strong in our lives and we have to be vigilant to make sure we stay in His presence by being in His word, becoming a part of a church where you can fellowship with other believers and always communing with Him in prayer. Today is a beautiful day! It’s a great day to go camping! Don’t hesitate, pack up your bags and let’s get a move on!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Lessons from a Trumpet
I have been up for three hours already this morning stuck on one passage of scripture out of Numbers 10. I take it as a personal challenge to find relevance in books like Leviticus and Numbers. Mostly, because people are scared away by the mention of these books and I for one want to change that. Plus, I know that “ALL scripture is profitable for reproof, correction, instruction and training in righteousness” so I will hang on until I grasp it! (Sometimes it is a lot harder than others - case in point: genealogies). Anyway, I am constantly asking “Why?” all the time. Good thing that the Lord never tires of our questions because I am like the woman in the parable of the righteous judge - I can definitely “black the eye” over the number of questions I continually ask! I guess I am just not satisfied with the surface of anything, which definitely acts as a source of frustration on my part and no doubt on the part of the people around me! My parents are still not over it! You can only imagine how difficult it is to not always have answers from the Lord. He sanctifies me year after year in learning to trust even when I can’t connect all the dots. It is at these times I have to lean on His sovereignty and believe in faith that He is faithful!
So, this morning in Numbers 10:1-10 I was reading about the institution of trumpets in the nation of Israel. Seems pretty straightforward at first glance but I was drawn into the four particular events that called for the “blowing of the trumpet.” I was interested to see how and when we hear the trumpet in our own lives. First, why a trumpet of all things? Why not a harp or something more pleasant to the ear? This reminded me that in fourth grade my son had to pick an instrument for band. He was, as any fourth grade boy, drawn to the instrument that would make the most noise and quickly drive his mother to think unwholesome words! In this case that would have been the trumpet! We quickly had a meeting of the minds and he was persuaded in the more useful benefits of the violin. (I will say as a side note, that there simply isn’t a single instrument out there that doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard that first year!) So, needless to say, the trumpet tends to have a distinct, bright sound that can bring one to attention, or tears, very quickly! The harp kind of gives the impression that maybe you can take your own sweet time getting to the matter but the trumpet can definitely tweak the ears!! On that observation, I assume this is why the trumpet and not the harp or some other more soothing instrument.
The trumpet was used in four situations. First, to summon the people, get their attention or call them to gather together. The second, to set them out to march, in other words, “MOVE!” The third instance, as an alarm in battle to “remind God to secure the victory for them.” Last, during days of gladness, feasts, the first of the month and over certain offerings. Okay, stick with me, don’t lose it before the blessing...How does this relate to us? We don’t readily hear or blow literal trumpets these days. But! God uses scripture, people and circumstances to sound trumpets in our lives. What’s the application? Let’s briefly look at each situation one by one.
The first instance was to summon the people. In Israel the only people who could blow the trumpets were the priests. Today, that can apply to us as believers since the Bible tells us we are a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5,9). We can “blow our trumpets” to summon people but to what? Well, let me pose this question: “As a believer what is the one thing you would want to summon people to?” The answer is two-fold. We want to summon people to their sin (Is. 58:1) and then summon them to Christ (Is. 27:13). This is our purpose in all that we do as believers so it is appropriate that this is first. God also uses His word to summon us, to warn us, to get our attention. We are to heed the sound of His word.
Second, the trumpet blows to set us on the move! There are times when we need to get on with what the Lord has called us to do (Jer. 6:16-17). We can make many excuses, procrastinate til the cows come home or until the Lord comes back but that doesn’t bring the Lord glory! The Lord can use the trumpet of scripture or the trumpet of circumstance to jolt us into action and call us to attention. When He does, let’s get going!
Third, the trumpet sounds to “remind God to secure our victory.” In truth God doesn’t need a reminder to secure the victory for us but we do! This is more about reminding us that we serve a God who has gone before us and who continues before us! This reminds us to fight mightily against sin and the things that so easily entangle. Can you think of the most recognized story concerning trumpets in the Bible (Joshua 6)? Does seven times ring a bell? Do you think the Israelites felt totally ridiculous marching around the walls of Jericho and blowing horns the first six days? No doubt but I guarantee they didn’t feel stupid standing among the rubble on day seven! God had secured the victory before the first trumpet even blew on day one - it just took until day seven to see the fullness of the plan. Even though our eternal victory is already secured in Christ, often times we lose the daily victory because we don’t wait for it by persevering through the difficult thing. Perseverance is always about enduring patience. Wait for it, thought it tarry, it will come. Maybe not now and maybe not here on earth but it will come, rest assured!
Fourthly, the trumpet blows to signify joy and delight in our service. I like to think of this as our heart attitude before the Lord as we carry out all that He has given us to do in life (Ps. 19:14). Admittedly, there are times when my trumpet is totally out of tune and doesn’t sound like joy or delight! It is then that the Lord reminds me that I need to “tune my heart to sing His grace!”
We are divine trumpet blowers. We sound the call through our lives as we choose joy and call others to the Lord. We are affected by the sound of the trumpet from others as well. The Lord strategically places people in our lives to move us, to remind us of His victory and to summon us to do the right thing. Mostly, He does this through His word. We are commanded to test all things by scripture so that we are not easily led astray by a trumpet that isn’t following the Composer.
I think it is appropriate to end with thoughts toward the final trumpet sound. The one that will summon us, call us to move, make our victory final and give us greatest delight. It says this in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST trumpet; for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed!” Hallelujah!
Today, let’s examine our lives and the trumpets we are sounding. Let’s be diligent to summon people to Christ, let’s get on with the thing that God has called us to do, namely glorifying Him in everything being reminded that He secures our victory through Jesus Christ which brings us unspeakable joy in the song of our hearts!
So, this morning in Numbers 10:1-10 I was reading about the institution of trumpets in the nation of Israel. Seems pretty straightforward at first glance but I was drawn into the four particular events that called for the “blowing of the trumpet.” I was interested to see how and when we hear the trumpet in our own lives. First, why a trumpet of all things? Why not a harp or something more pleasant to the ear? This reminded me that in fourth grade my son had to pick an instrument for band. He was, as any fourth grade boy, drawn to the instrument that would make the most noise and quickly drive his mother to think unwholesome words! In this case that would have been the trumpet! We quickly had a meeting of the minds and he was persuaded in the more useful benefits of the violin. (I will say as a side note, that there simply isn’t a single instrument out there that doesn't sound like nails on a chalkboard that first year!) So, needless to say, the trumpet tends to have a distinct, bright sound that can bring one to attention, or tears, very quickly! The harp kind of gives the impression that maybe you can take your own sweet time getting to the matter but the trumpet can definitely tweak the ears!! On that observation, I assume this is why the trumpet and not the harp or some other more soothing instrument.
The trumpet was used in four situations. First, to summon the people, get their attention or call them to gather together. The second, to set them out to march, in other words, “MOVE!” The third instance, as an alarm in battle to “remind God to secure the victory for them.” Last, during days of gladness, feasts, the first of the month and over certain offerings. Okay, stick with me, don’t lose it before the blessing...How does this relate to us? We don’t readily hear or blow literal trumpets these days. But! God uses scripture, people and circumstances to sound trumpets in our lives. What’s the application? Let’s briefly look at each situation one by one.
The first instance was to summon the people. In Israel the only people who could blow the trumpets were the priests. Today, that can apply to us as believers since the Bible tells us we are a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5,9). We can “blow our trumpets” to summon people but to what? Well, let me pose this question: “As a believer what is the one thing you would want to summon people to?” The answer is two-fold. We want to summon people to their sin (Is. 58:1) and then summon them to Christ (Is. 27:13). This is our purpose in all that we do as believers so it is appropriate that this is first. God also uses His word to summon us, to warn us, to get our attention. We are to heed the sound of His word.
Second, the trumpet blows to set us on the move! There are times when we need to get on with what the Lord has called us to do (Jer. 6:16-17). We can make many excuses, procrastinate til the cows come home or until the Lord comes back but that doesn’t bring the Lord glory! The Lord can use the trumpet of scripture or the trumpet of circumstance to jolt us into action and call us to attention. When He does, let’s get going!
Third, the trumpet sounds to “remind God to secure our victory.” In truth God doesn’t need a reminder to secure the victory for us but we do! This is more about reminding us that we serve a God who has gone before us and who continues before us! This reminds us to fight mightily against sin and the things that so easily entangle. Can you think of the most recognized story concerning trumpets in the Bible (Joshua 6)? Does seven times ring a bell? Do you think the Israelites felt totally ridiculous marching around the walls of Jericho and blowing horns the first six days? No doubt but I guarantee they didn’t feel stupid standing among the rubble on day seven! God had secured the victory before the first trumpet even blew on day one - it just took until day seven to see the fullness of the plan. Even though our eternal victory is already secured in Christ, often times we lose the daily victory because we don’t wait for it by persevering through the difficult thing. Perseverance is always about enduring patience. Wait for it, thought it tarry, it will come. Maybe not now and maybe not here on earth but it will come, rest assured!
Fourthly, the trumpet blows to signify joy and delight in our service. I like to think of this as our heart attitude before the Lord as we carry out all that He has given us to do in life (Ps. 19:14). Admittedly, there are times when my trumpet is totally out of tune and doesn’t sound like joy or delight! It is then that the Lord reminds me that I need to “tune my heart to sing His grace!”
We are divine trumpet blowers. We sound the call through our lives as we choose joy and call others to the Lord. We are affected by the sound of the trumpet from others as well. The Lord strategically places people in our lives to move us, to remind us of His victory and to summon us to do the right thing. Mostly, He does this through His word. We are commanded to test all things by scripture so that we are not easily led astray by a trumpet that isn’t following the Composer.
I think it is appropriate to end with thoughts toward the final trumpet sound. The one that will summon us, call us to move, make our victory final and give us greatest delight. It says this in 1 Corinthians 15:52, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST trumpet; for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed!” Hallelujah!
Today, let’s examine our lives and the trumpets we are sounding. Let’s be diligent to summon people to Christ, let’s get on with the thing that God has called us to do, namely glorifying Him in everything being reminded that He secures our victory through Jesus Christ which brings us unspeakable joy in the song of our hearts!
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