"Read your Bible, pray everyday. Read your Bible, pray everyday. Read your Bible, pray
everyday, & you'll grow, grow, GROW!"
My Grammie taught me that little ditty when I was just a little girl. Over the years it has come to mind countless times, most often when I hear (eavesdrop) on spiritual & theological discussions that seem to run in circles, so deep is their content. Many have been the times when I have listened in on such discussions only to have my mind reeling, my jaw slack, & a less than intelligent blank stare upon my face. The intellectuals will take a verse like, "Jesus wept" & decipher from those two words that there was one tear shed for every sinful person...while what I got out of it was that Jesus cried. Silly example, but pretty accurate. In these moments I feel dumb. I begin to wonder why I am not capable of such intelligence, of such keen insight into the heart & will of Abba...and then that little song comes back to mind. Regardless of IQ & SAT score there are only 2 ways to know who God is & what makes Him tick...to read His Word & to be in union with Him through prayer.
"Every scripture is God-breathed & profitable for instruction, for reproof & conviction of sin, for correction of error & discipline in obedience, & for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete & proficient, well-fitted & thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
"Your word is a lamp to my feet & a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105)
"God's word is alive & working. It is sharper than the sharpest sword & cuts all the way into us. It cuts deep the the place where the soul & the spirit are joined. God's word cuts to the center of our joints & our bones. It judges the thoughts & feelings in our hearts." (Hebrews 4:12)
If one regards the Bible as utterly true, then it's indisputable that the words within & knowing them is vital to our spiritual health...I've always known this, never doubted it, but that doesn't negate the fact that sometimes trying to decipher the scriptures is like trying to spell Mary Poppins' famous tongue twister, 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (thanks, Wikipedia)...it's befuddling! Over the years I've heard countless messages on developing the discipline of reading the Bible daily, but reading the Word is one thing, understanding it another. This has been a struggle of mine until just a few months ago. I've been teaching Sunday School at our church, & in January we began using the Answers in Genesis curriculum (HIGHLY recommend it!). It is set up so that within 3 years the students will have covered the ENTIRE Bible...so cool! Even cooler than a kindergartner having been through the entirety of the Word is that the first 6 weeks are spent answering common questions of the faith. One Sunday the lesson I was to present was on Hermeneutics...a big word I'd never heard of, but one than transformed my ability to read the Bible. Hermeneutics is the process of studying a text, in this case the Bible. It's 3 simple steps that allow one to read anything, to understand it, & to use it...simple, effective, & faith changing.
Step 1: Observe
Remember back in elementary school when in Language Arts we learned to use the question words; who, what, where, when, why, & how? Well dust off the cobwebs because evidently that was a good lesson to learn! When reading the Bible, we need to ask ourselves those questions. Regardless of whether you're reading a single verse, a chapter, or a whole book it's important to know the answers in order to understand what you're reading. In most Bibles at the beginning of each book a little information box tells about the author, the audience, time period, & summary of the book. This is definitely a good place to start answering the questions above.
Example: Romans
Who: The apostle Paul is writing to the Roman people who were Gentiles (nonJews)
What: This book is about righteousness, God's righteousness & about striving towards righteousness ourselves
Where: Paul was in Corinth while he wrote this letter to the Roman people
When: 57 A.D.
Why: The Roman Gentiles were not familiar with the Law, with God's history & word...they did not know what He expected from His people. Paul wrote to them explaining these things.
Knowing the date of the writing makes it easy to research (I simply google the date & place) what life looked like for the typical person during the time, the historical context. By doing that I learned that when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans in 57 A.D., Nero was emperor of Rome. Nero was a real sweetheart, lemme tell ya. He executed his own mother, murdered his brother, & began the persecution of Christians...knowing all of this, before reading the book of Romans, gives me some foundation to build on & greater understanding. Before I read a single verse, I know why the message is important...these people were suffering & dying for their faith.
Step 2: Interpret
Having background information & an understanding of the historical context lays the groundwork. Now it's time to read a piece of scripture & to decipher it...to interpret it's meaning. There's no shame in using a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words! I've downloaded the Merriam-Webster app on my iPad for this reason alone!
Example: "Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love-not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us-nothing created in the whole world-will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39)
We already know that Paul is writing this to the Roman Gentile people. We know that in 57 A.D., these people were enduring the rule of a relentless, immoral emperor, & we know that Paul is writing to tell them about righteousness. Now we can look at this particular verse. Paul is saying that he is utterly positive that nothing- absolutely nothing- can separate us (Roman Gentile Believers) from relationship with God. Can you imagine how encouraging that would have been to those who were facing suffering & possibly death because of their faith?
Step 3: Apply
At the beginning of this post I shared a verse that told how God's word is living & active...it's relevant to you & I today...it makes a difference to us, even 2,000 years later. Now that we know what the verse meant then, we have to ask what it means now...to us. Every piece of scripture is applicable to your life & to mine. We can look at the verse used in the example, knowing that nothing could separate Roman belivers from God's love, & we can know that the same is true for us. For those who believe in Jesus, we are united with the Father...despite circumstance. That's a truth in our lives, & it's powerful!
I have found this Hermeneutics process to be faith changing for me...to be able to read any given scripture, comprehend it, & see why it matters to me...well that's priceless. I hope that walking through it has helped you to see that it is possible to read scripture & comprehend. Hermeneutics: Observe, Interpret, Apply...piece of cake! I want to close by saying I echo the message of having a set aside time to take in God's word, daily. I'm busy, you're busy...we're all running around like chickens with our heads cut off half the time, but this is vital to maturing in faith. Begin with committing to a verse a day. Walk through the Hermeneutics process with each one. Meditate on it, pray about it, & watch God use it in your life! I encourage you to work up to at least 1 Chapter a day...it takes less than 5 minutes...He deserves that. I caution believers to be wary of taking scripture in tiny segments...most often to completely understand, we need to read a good chunk. Abba will honor faithfulness...I've seen firsthand the blessings that come from being diligent about reading His Word. Read your Bible, Pray everyday...and you'll grow, grow, GROW!
Be Blessed!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Filling the Void & Bridging the Gap: Are You Truly Happy?
I generally write about the process of striving towards godly living. I generally write under the assumption that those who read this blog have already made the first leap towards that end; receiving the precious gift of God's grace, but for the last few days I have been pressed upon to make no assumptions...so today we go back to square one...back to the Gospel. It's a 3 part explanation that begins with some stepping on toes.
1. I'm wretched,You're a Sinner, & We ALL fall short.
We live in a world that breeds contradicting natures: self-loathing & narcissism. Self-loathing being the extreme disgust with oneself...this usually focuses on the physical. We hate our frizzy hair, our flabby stomachs, our Bingo arms, the fact that we're a size 8 instead of 4. The list of flaws in our physical appearance is endless. We spend our lives striving towards some standard of perfection which is unattainable, at least by any healthy measure. Women despise mirrors due to their reflection, yet spend hours staring in them. We spend lavish amounts of money on clothes, makeup, personal trainers, & plastic surgery....all in the hopes that we just might be beautiful...only to find that regardless of our attempts, we do not see beauty reflecting back. The physical repulsion becomes mental, & suddenly we are unlovable. What began as an infatuation with appearance has become a parasite within the mind. We hate ourselves...or at least most do to some degree. The flip side to this is narcissism. Narcissism is the extreme love of self, the preoccupied worry over oneself rather than the community as a whole...it's the inability to truly care for others because all all we care about is ourselves. Our society is cultivating this disease. We take the rights deemed to us by our Creator, pursuit of life, liberty, & happiness to the most infinite extreme. We seek these things utterly unaware & unconcerned for the impacts that pursuit might have on others...& the consequences, whatever they might be, are worth it if in the end we are happy. We look at ourselves, shrug, & think "I'm a pretty good person." The vast majority of us have done nothing terribly wrong in our lives. We've told a few lies, perhaps stolen something trivial. Indeed when compared to the likes of Charles Manson, well we're saints! We look at those around us, at the dirt in their lives, at the awful things they do, & we start to feel pretty darn good about ourselves. We puff up with pride. We are good people. We go to church, tithe, give to various charities, help others in our communities, but the crux of it is that when it all boils down the motivator is ourselves. We do all of those things...for us...because of that warm, fuzzy feeling we get, because of the notoriety that comes when others see us performing 'selfless' acts. The tricky thing about narcissism is that we often cannot even see it. We are deceived into believing that we are selfless...that we are good, when truly it's all about us. What can we get, what does this do for me, what will others think? Me, me, me. The tragedy is that between this self-loathing & narcissism, we are caught. We are dazed, confused, & empty. There is a bottomless chasm within us that seeks to be fulfilled, & so we begin this tirade of attempting to fill the void. More...more will do the trick. More money, more adventure,more sex, more clothes, more muscles, more cars, more charity work, more tithes in the offering plate, more freedom...more, more, more. We pour our lives out in the search for what will fill the void, yet despite these grandiose efforts we are still empty. (James 3:14-16, "But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.") Here's why. We are wretched, we are despicable, we are worthless, we are self-serving, we are sinners. Each of us from the serial killers & child molesters down to the mere gossips & envious...we all fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23 "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.") Every single, stinking one of us, is wretched. We want to believe that there are varying degrees of sin, that some are worse than others, & that as long as we don't do the 'bad ones' that we are somehow good. We want to believe that we will be judged two by two, & that as long as the guy standing next to me is worse then I get in (to Heaven). We want to believe that as long as we hide our stinking thinking deep within our minds, never giving it a voice, that the thoughts don't matter. The core of who we are is like filthy rags, dirty & smelly (Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin.When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."), & regardless of how valiantly we try to remove the odor of our filth, it remains. The chasm cannot be breached...not with money, not with possessions, not with pleasure, not with travel & adventure, not even with acts of charity. It's a bottomless pit that consumes us. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 "Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people." ) That's the bad news. Each one of us is unworthy of the love of someone as Good as God. God is so good that He cannot even exist in the presence of bad,& we are bad...because of that we are separated from Him. (Isaiah 59:1-2"Look! Listen! God’s arm is not amputated—he can still save. God’s ears are not stopped up—he can still hear. There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in you. Your wrongheaded lives caused the split between you and God.")
Hearing what was just shared, & acknowledging to ourselves that we fall into the category of bad, of wretched, of sinner...is the hard part, but it's the first step. If we don't/can't see ourselves as sinners, we don't/won't see ourselves as needy of Grace. For me, as a person who has spent her life trying to be as good as possible, I truly struggled with seeing myself in this light. I wanted God's love, I wanted to feel accepted, but I had a very hard time acknowledging myself as a sinner...I can now say with shame & humility that I am utterly unworthy...that I am wretched to the core. Be not ashamed, be not self-conscious in this admission...scripture is clear that no one is exempt from this status.
2. God provided a bridge to breach the chasm.
Since Adam & Eve took the first bite of forbidden fruit, the gap has separated humankind from their Father. Can you imagine the pain of having a rift, tension, & discord between you & your parents...you & your children? I don't even want to think about it, yet that is the relationship between sinners & God. I despise conflict, yet it is constant...because God is good, & we are not. From that very time when Adam & Eve were cast out of the Garden, & when the chasm was created there's been a need for intercession & a mediator (the act of going between) between man & God. God spoke through prophets to convey His love...& blood sacrifices were given to momentarily atone for sin. I am certain that Abba despised that the gap was bridged only temporarily...I am certain that only that great pain could have convinced Him...could have been worth the ultimate sacrifice. (John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.") God made a permanent bridge...He made a way to fill the void...with the blood of His son. Nearly all of us are familiar with this story. We are nearing the Easter season in which we honor it, but we must remember that it is a TRUE story. God became man, in the form of a baby...who grew into manhood in this sin-filled world. That man walked among sinners. That man was perfect, sinless. That man was good, truly good. That man was beaten within an inch of his life. He was ridiculed. He was spit upon, & humiliated. That man was murdered...for me...for you. 2,000 & some years ago I believe that Jesus, in his suffering envisioned my face & yours. I believe that the name of every person was before him, & that he deemed us worth the cost. That man died. That man rose again. That man ascended to the Father. That man made it possible for us to cross from wretchedness into goodness, & that my friends is Grace...Amazing Grace. That life & death made the bridge between us & God permanent. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.")
(Ephesians 1: 13-14 "And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.")
After acknowledging our wretchedness, there is but one thing to do...cry out to the Lord & ask for Grace. I am certain that over the years many of you have sat in a pew & heard the alter call. I am certain that many have heard this message before. I am equally certain that there is at least 1 person to whom this message, foreign or familiar, has struck a nerve...someone who is perhaps humbled or angry at being convicted, someone who is tired of shoving things into the void, someone who is weary of feeling dissatisfied, someone who is at the end of their rope. God is calling you, my friend. He is calling YOU by name. He is longing for you to cross that bridge, & to come to Him. It's that simple. Confess your sin, acknowledge that Jesus provided the bridge by his blood, & take the Father's hand. His love wipes away all the dirt & grime & makes us, you & me, white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”says the Lord “Though your sins are like scarlet,I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.) The search is over...the void is, or can be, filled, if only you embrace the Amazing Grace of our Father. Here by your computer, your Ipad, your phone, or whatever device you are using to read this, you can very simply ask God to come into your life. To those who have made this step before, we are always called to repentance & to renewing this walk. My heart is yearning for all to know Him.
3. Make fishers of men.
There's just one thing left to do. Strive to live your life as God asks...all of that is found within His Word. He very clearly lays out expectations for our conduct. The last task before us to is to share this news with others. We are to lay out the bad news (we are wretched), the good news (Jesus bridges the gap), & to help others come to know God. That's the great call, the commission for those who believe in Him. (Matthew 4:19 "Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”)
(Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”) This is God's will for my life, for your life...the accepting of His grace, the fulfilling of the mission....that will fill the void...that is what we were created for.
I wholeheartedly pray & hope that this has been a blessing...that those who read this will yield to God's calling. He desires to fill the void, & to close the gap...allow Him to do so...you will never regret it. Be Blessed this day!
1. I'm wretched,You're a Sinner, & We ALL fall short.
We live in a world that breeds contradicting natures: self-loathing & narcissism. Self-loathing being the extreme disgust with oneself...this usually focuses on the physical. We hate our frizzy hair, our flabby stomachs, our Bingo arms, the fact that we're a size 8 instead of 4. The list of flaws in our physical appearance is endless. We spend our lives striving towards some standard of perfection which is unattainable, at least by any healthy measure. Women despise mirrors due to their reflection, yet spend hours staring in them. We spend lavish amounts of money on clothes, makeup, personal trainers, & plastic surgery....all in the hopes that we just might be beautiful...only to find that regardless of our attempts, we do not see beauty reflecting back. The physical repulsion becomes mental, & suddenly we are unlovable. What began as an infatuation with appearance has become a parasite within the mind. We hate ourselves...or at least most do to some degree. The flip side to this is narcissism. Narcissism is the extreme love of self, the preoccupied worry over oneself rather than the community as a whole...it's the inability to truly care for others because all all we care about is ourselves. Our society is cultivating this disease. We take the rights deemed to us by our Creator, pursuit of life, liberty, & happiness to the most infinite extreme. We seek these things utterly unaware & unconcerned for the impacts that pursuit might have on others...& the consequences, whatever they might be, are worth it if in the end we are happy. We look at ourselves, shrug, & think "I'm a pretty good person." The vast majority of us have done nothing terribly wrong in our lives. We've told a few lies, perhaps stolen something trivial. Indeed when compared to the likes of Charles Manson, well we're saints! We look at those around us, at the dirt in their lives, at the awful things they do, & we start to feel pretty darn good about ourselves. We puff up with pride. We are good people. We go to church, tithe, give to various charities, help others in our communities, but the crux of it is that when it all boils down the motivator is ourselves. We do all of those things...for us...because of that warm, fuzzy feeling we get, because of the notoriety that comes when others see us performing 'selfless' acts. The tricky thing about narcissism is that we often cannot even see it. We are deceived into believing that we are selfless...that we are good, when truly it's all about us. What can we get, what does this do for me, what will others think? Me, me, me. The tragedy is that between this self-loathing & narcissism, we are caught. We are dazed, confused, & empty. There is a bottomless chasm within us that seeks to be fulfilled, & so we begin this tirade of attempting to fill the void. More...more will do the trick. More money, more adventure,more sex, more clothes, more muscles, more cars, more charity work, more tithes in the offering plate, more freedom...more, more, more. We pour our lives out in the search for what will fill the void, yet despite these grandiose efforts we are still empty. (James 3:14-16, "But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.") Here's why. We are wretched, we are despicable, we are worthless, we are self-serving, we are sinners. Each of us from the serial killers & child molesters down to the mere gossips & envious...we all fall short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23 "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.") Every single, stinking one of us, is wretched. We want to believe that there are varying degrees of sin, that some are worse than others, & that as long as we don't do the 'bad ones' that we are somehow good. We want to believe that we will be judged two by two, & that as long as the guy standing next to me is worse then I get in (to Heaven). We want to believe that as long as we hide our stinking thinking deep within our minds, never giving it a voice, that the thoughts don't matter. The core of who we are is like filthy rags, dirty & smelly (Isaiah 64:6 "We are all infected and impure with sin.When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind."), & regardless of how valiantly we try to remove the odor of our filth, it remains. The chasm cannot be breached...not with money, not with possessions, not with pleasure, not with travel & adventure, not even with acts of charity. It's a bottomless pit that consumes us. (2 Timothy 3:1-5 "Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people." ) That's the bad news. Each one of us is unworthy of the love of someone as Good as God. God is so good that He cannot even exist in the presence of bad,& we are bad...because of that we are separated from Him. (Isaiah 59:1-2"Look! Listen! God’s arm is not amputated—he can still save. God’s ears are not stopped up—he can still hear. There’s nothing wrong with God; the wrong is in you. Your wrongheaded lives caused the split between you and God.")
Hearing what was just shared, & acknowledging to ourselves that we fall into the category of bad, of wretched, of sinner...is the hard part, but it's the first step. If we don't/can't see ourselves as sinners, we don't/won't see ourselves as needy of Grace. For me, as a person who has spent her life trying to be as good as possible, I truly struggled with seeing myself in this light. I wanted God's love, I wanted to feel accepted, but I had a very hard time acknowledging myself as a sinner...I can now say with shame & humility that I am utterly unworthy...that I am wretched to the core. Be not ashamed, be not self-conscious in this admission...scripture is clear that no one is exempt from this status.
2. God provided a bridge to breach the chasm.
Since Adam & Eve took the first bite of forbidden fruit, the gap has separated humankind from their Father. Can you imagine the pain of having a rift, tension, & discord between you & your parents...you & your children? I don't even want to think about it, yet that is the relationship between sinners & God. I despise conflict, yet it is constant...because God is good, & we are not. From that very time when Adam & Eve were cast out of the Garden, & when the chasm was created there's been a need for intercession & a mediator (the act of going between) between man & God. God spoke through prophets to convey His love...& blood sacrifices were given to momentarily atone for sin. I am certain that Abba despised that the gap was bridged only temporarily...I am certain that only that great pain could have convinced Him...could have been worth the ultimate sacrifice. (John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.") God made a permanent bridge...He made a way to fill the void...with the blood of His son. Nearly all of us are familiar with this story. We are nearing the Easter season in which we honor it, but we must remember that it is a TRUE story. God became man, in the form of a baby...who grew into manhood in this sin-filled world. That man walked among sinners. That man was perfect, sinless. That man was good, truly good. That man was beaten within an inch of his life. He was ridiculed. He was spit upon, & humiliated. That man was murdered...for me...for you. 2,000 & some years ago I believe that Jesus, in his suffering envisioned my face & yours. I believe that the name of every person was before him, & that he deemed us worth the cost. That man died. That man rose again. That man ascended to the Father. That man made it possible for us to cross from wretchedness into goodness, & that my friends is Grace...Amazing Grace. That life & death made the bridge between us & God permanent. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.")
(Ephesians 1: 13-14 "And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.")
After acknowledging our wretchedness, there is but one thing to do...cry out to the Lord & ask for Grace. I am certain that over the years many of you have sat in a pew & heard the alter call. I am certain that many have heard this message before. I am equally certain that there is at least 1 person to whom this message, foreign or familiar, has struck a nerve...someone who is perhaps humbled or angry at being convicted, someone who is tired of shoving things into the void, someone who is weary of feeling dissatisfied, someone who is at the end of their rope. God is calling you, my friend. He is calling YOU by name. He is longing for you to cross that bridge, & to come to Him. It's that simple. Confess your sin, acknowledge that Jesus provided the bridge by his blood, & take the Father's hand. His love wipes away all the dirt & grime & makes us, you & me, white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let’s settle this,”says the Lord “Though your sins are like scarlet,I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.) The search is over...the void is, or can be, filled, if only you embrace the Amazing Grace of our Father. Here by your computer, your Ipad, your phone, or whatever device you are using to read this, you can very simply ask God to come into your life. To those who have made this step before, we are always called to repentance & to renewing this walk. My heart is yearning for all to know Him.
3. Make fishers of men.
There's just one thing left to do. Strive to live your life as God asks...all of that is found within His Word. He very clearly lays out expectations for our conduct. The last task before us to is to share this news with others. We are to lay out the bad news (we are wretched), the good news (Jesus bridges the gap), & to help others come to know God. That's the great call, the commission for those who believe in Him. (Matthew 4:19 "Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”)
(Matthew 28:19-20 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”) This is God's will for my life, for your life...the accepting of His grace, the fulfilling of the mission....that will fill the void...that is what we were created for.
I wholeheartedly pray & hope that this has been a blessing...that those who read this will yield to God's calling. He desires to fill the void, & to close the gap...allow Him to do so...you will never regret it. Be Blessed this day!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Daddy's Coming!
There it is! Can you hear it? It's that beloved sound of a diesel engine & tires hitting the gravel on our country road. The Darlings & I eagerly await this precious sound each day! Regardless of what mayhem is happening at the given moment, our ears perk up & we race to the mudroom to greet Daddy when he walks through the door. This is my (& the Darlings') favorite time of day...the time when our family is complete & the man that we adore is back where he belongs...with us! This magical moment never gets old, but if you were a fly on the wall & could see the moments preceding this, you might laugh at the ensuing chaos. I like for the Lone Ranger to come home to peace, tranquility...an orderly home, & so long ago we set up an arrangement in which he calls to warn me (& now the girls) that he is coming home. Right after this phone call we swing into action! The Darling's rush to the playroom & begin a crazed cleanup while I do a quick tidy throughout the rest of the house. Most often the girls are shoving away the last toy, & I'm picking up the last stray item right as we hear the beloved noise described above. The desired result (most of the time) is achieved when our Prince Charming walks through the doors to hug & kiss each of his ladies. I delight in this tradition because my beloved doesn't take it for granted. He breathes in deep & a smile of contentment slides over his face...he's happy to be home. Now to be entirely fair & balanced, I must admit there are most certainly days (many of them) in which that utopian scene is not the one that plays out. Many are the times when the Lone Ranger forgets the warning call or for whatever reason the Darlings & I didn't get our home in order. We simply weren't prepared, & in walks our man with nothing to greet him but chaos. Now before you wonder how my husband responds to that particular scenario, let me assure you that he is not a machoistic male that demands a perfectly run household...vast would be the disappointment if such was the case...but he is deserving of that nonetheless. Generally when he finds us frazzled & unkempt, he laughs & asks me "Rough day?" True, beloved, very true. To remedy the havoc typical to having 3 children ages 3 & under, I've been working with the older darlings on picking up as they go. It's a concept that's not really taking hold just yet. They far prefer to have every toy in this household strewn about rather than to put one item back before getting another out. I keep telling them that if they would just adopt my method that we wouldn't have to endure the frazzled melee of cleanup each evening, but alas they know better than I & so chaos it is. (I promise I am going somewhere with this)
Sisters & Brothers, we are much the same as the darlings, who procrastinate their responsibilities until the last possible minute. Our Abba has promised His return. He has even provided warning signs giving us notice that this return is imminent, yet we twiddle our thumbs & pursue our own will & desires...neglecting the chores He has assigned to us. As children of the Most High God, the King of Kings & Lord of Lords, we are to be about His business. There is work to be done before the time when He returns....and He wants to return. He wants to be at home (not here on earth) with us. "Home is where the heart is" so the old saying goes...we, His children, have His heart...so being united means being Home.
"And if I go & prepare a place for you, I will come again & will take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3)
There are days when I tell my girls, "Daddy is coming!", & they simply continue about their play, mindless of that precious moment approaching. Sisters & Brothers, Abba is coming...no, we do not know precisely when (Matthew 24:36), but we know that He will send His Son to fetch us...and we must be ready.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Just as my husband does not berate the Darlings & I when he comes home to find chaos reigning, neither will our Father yell, scream, kick, & holler at us...He will look sadly, disappointedly upon His children...for it was no secret that we should be expecting Him. Despite my husbands understanding acceptance of the situation he walks into, there are repercussions for our lack of preparation. Our evening is not as relaxed...time is wasted cleaning up rather than enjoying one another. The tone of the day is more strained. Abba knows that many will not be ready for His coming, & there are consequences for that.
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)
So what do we need to do? My Darlings & I clean up the house. We ready it for The Lone Ranger's return.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone & the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We must first receive the grace the Abba offers, the forgiveness for our wretchedness found in the blood of Jesus Christ. We become a new creation by that grace & we must begin to strive towards righteousness...allowing Abba to come in & clean up that which was dirty.
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, & thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings & all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful & quiet life, godly & dignified in every way. This is good & it is pleasing in the sigh of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved & to come to knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Once we have ourselves received grace & Abba has begun Spring Cleaning within us, we must help clean up others. The final words of Jesus, before he returned to the Father, spoke to this task.
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world & preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15)
This is the work which we need to be doing...not simply right before the warning that Abba is coming, but long before. Our preparation must be such that it is not a mad rush of chaotic righteous behavior...attempting to be in a short amount of time what we should have been working towards all along...it must be a lifestyle. We must be so consumed with the task of showing Christ's love to others that it pervades our every word & action...being the essence of who we are.
"God's readiness to give & forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, & how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, & is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God & Savior , Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself for us as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness." (Titus 2:11-14)
Even as I write this, my darlings are cleaning up their playroom, & I am inspired once again to not be idle, but to be about Abba's work. Let's be vigilant for His coming, ready to hear the sounds of His return...just as my darlings & I hear that diesel engine & the squeal of tires on gravel...ready to meet Him at the door!
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead shall be raised imperishable, & we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)
Be Blessed this Day!
Sisters & Brothers, we are much the same as the darlings, who procrastinate their responsibilities until the last possible minute. Our Abba has promised His return. He has even provided warning signs giving us notice that this return is imminent, yet we twiddle our thumbs & pursue our own will & desires...neglecting the chores He has assigned to us. As children of the Most High God, the King of Kings & Lord of Lords, we are to be about His business. There is work to be done before the time when He returns....and He wants to return. He wants to be at home (not here on earth) with us. "Home is where the heart is" so the old saying goes...we, His children, have His heart...so being united means being Home.
"And if I go & prepare a place for you, I will come again & will take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also." (John 14:3)
There are days when I tell my girls, "Daddy is coming!", & they simply continue about their play, mindless of that precious moment approaching. Sisters & Brothers, Abba is coming...no, we do not know precisely when (Matthew 24:36), but we know that He will send His Son to fetch us...and we must be ready.
"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Just as my husband does not berate the Darlings & I when he comes home to find chaos reigning, neither will our Father yell, scream, kick, & holler at us...He will look sadly, disappointedly upon His children...for it was no secret that we should be expecting Him. Despite my husbands understanding acceptance of the situation he walks into, there are repercussions for our lack of preparation. Our evening is not as relaxed...time is wasted cleaning up rather than enjoying one another. The tone of the day is more strained. Abba knows that many will not be ready for His coming, & there are consequences for that.
"The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (1 Peter 4:17)
So what do we need to do? My Darlings & I clean up the house. We ready it for The Lone Ranger's return.
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone & the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
We must first receive the grace the Abba offers, the forgiveness for our wretchedness found in the blood of Jesus Christ. We become a new creation by that grace & we must begin to strive towards righteousness...allowing Abba to come in & clean up that which was dirty.
"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, & thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings & all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful & quiet life, godly & dignified in every way. This is good & it is pleasing in the sigh of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved & to come to knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
Once we have ourselves received grace & Abba has begun Spring Cleaning within us, we must help clean up others. The final words of Jesus, before he returned to the Father, spoke to this task.
"He said to them, 'Go into all the world & preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15)
This is the work which we need to be doing...not simply right before the warning that Abba is coming, but long before. Our preparation must be such that it is not a mad rush of chaotic righteous behavior...attempting to be in a short amount of time what we should have been working towards all along...it must be a lifestyle. We must be so consumed with the task of showing Christ's love to others that it pervades our every word & action...being the essence of who we are.
"God's readiness to give & forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, & how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, & is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God & Savior , Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself for us as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness." (Titus 2:11-14)
Even as I write this, my darlings are cleaning up their playroom, & I am inspired once again to not be idle, but to be about Abba's work. Let's be vigilant for His coming, ready to hear the sounds of His return...just as my darlings & I hear that diesel engine & the squeal of tires on gravel...ready to meet Him at the door!
"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead shall be raised imperishable, & we shall be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:52)
Be Blessed this Day!
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