Time...

What time is it? No....don't look at the clock...look within. Is eternity in your heart?(Ecc.3:11) Or do you measure your life by only this realm? Time and chance happenes to everybody.(Ecc.9:11) It isn't having time that matters...it is what we do with 'now', and if there is any eternal value gained as we pass thru it.

Life...

Life...what is it really? A functioning body of flesh? I think not. But you can't know what you don't know...so many only think they have life. There is so much more...and people need to know! This body of flesh quits working..then what? I think my friend's husband had more life in 2 weeks on the island of Guam than a ...lot of people have in 80+years. And his life continues.. on the other side. With Jesus.

Plans...

Plans...there are plenty today.God has always had a plan."..to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,"(Jer.29:11) We can follow His plan, or "continue with our own plan, each of us following the stubborness of his evil heart."(Jer.18:12) Our plans end in eternal death without Him. The fea...r of the Lord leads to life.(Pro.19:23)...eternal life....even after the last heartbeat...Hallelujah

grief...I've tasted it, but have never had to drink the cup that has been to the lips of so many dear friends. Again today, a dear friend drinks. I have no help...nothing to offer...no way to take it away....I read again Job's story.."If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales...it would surely outweigh the sand of the seas.."(Job 6:2) I can not imagine the heaviness of her sorrow. I can only offer myself to God and ask Him to use me in some small way to bring His comfort. He is the only answer.

"In my distress I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help From His temple He heard my voice. My cry came before Him, into His ears. (Ps.18:6)

now....Time is not new...but it is important. Now is all we have. Live fully in it. Not in the past. Not waiting for that perfect time yet to come. Now. "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Ps. 90:12) Oh Lord, help us to be wise in our 'now'.


new...we're about to enter a new year. But is anything really new? Solomon says no.(Ecc.1:9) Time is not new. Measuring it is not new. Filling it is not new...no matter what you fill it with. Measured time...hours, days, months, and yes...years...is not new. But eternity will never be old.....Things that have eternal worth are the only things that matter. The only way this coming year will be different from the last will be determined by our relationship with The Creator. Not stuff. Not image or appearance. Not information and knowledge.

"Fear God and keep His commandments..."(Ecc.12:13 )Solomon should know, He tried it all...and found success in his efforts but found no fulfillment from the success...no value.

Make it your business to know His will for your days and years. Seek Him with an undivided heart, and He will be found. (1 Chron. 28:9)...

Translations...

Translations… There are dozens of different ones….yet some people think that the King James is the only reliable one…that it might even be the one Jesus used…

(That was a joke.) The only scripture Jesus used was what we call the Old Testament, and it was written in Hebrew….and on scrolls.

I love the King James. I don’t use it anymore.

I’m not good at memorizing and quoting, but what little I can quote verbatim is from the King James…it was what we used when I was a child. However, a lot of what I read and heard might as well have been Hebrew. I have never spoken “The King’s English”…and I didn’t understand a lot of what King James’s translated Bible said.

Sometimes, what might otherwise be very familiar words, is very profound said differently. Same message, same content, same application…different words…and POW!! You get this big A-HA!!

Here was mine this morning..

“…I tried keeping rules and working my head off the please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a ‘law man’ so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with Him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you….or have your good opinion…amd I am not longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living…is not ‘mine’…but it is lived by faith in the son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.”

Wow….

(That is in Galatians 2 for you KJV folks that might want to check.)

Dread...

Dread…. Apprehension of evil or danger. Uneasiness or alarm excited because of expected pain, loss, or other evil…

I dread today. I am overbooked. There will be no time for fun conversation, no time for breaks. Maybe no lunch or even potty breaks. Yep…I dread it. But I’m sure thankful for my job and for my clientele. Very thankful.

‘What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting Arm’

It took me several minutes to recall that line, it is a very old hymn. I am reminded that on difficult days, it is most important to be leaning on that Arm and not leaning on myself. Today will be full, but ‘If the Lord delights in my way, He makes my steps firm’
(Ps. 37:23 personalized by me)

There are lots of things on my mind that I dread with all the changes looming in our lives. I am not afraid. I do trust Him. Dread is different from fear, it is not sudden but it is more continued. So this morning, I am admonished to put that dread also into His Arms and trust.

And I am told that if I’m not careful with this matter, I may become ‘a dread to my friends- those who see me on the streets may flee from me.’ (Ps. 31:11 personalized by me) Even the best of friends can become tired of the voicing of my dread!!

Boxes...

Boxes… They come in many varieties. I have some plain cardboard. I have others of plastic. I have some pretty wooden ones, others that have pictures on them…

They’re all boxes though. The purpose it to be a container.

I have one in my vehicle that I bought just because it was so pretty. Haven’t decided what to do with it yet…so it’s still in the backseat. It came in very handy yesterday….

I took our oldest grand-daughter to purchase a Bible to commemorate her baptism a couple weeks ago. She’s distraught about the upcoming move and was asking a lot of questions. The questions took a turn in the direction of God, heaven, and life after death…you know, all those questions you can’t really find a pat answer for…

Where is heaven? I’d rather live here…
Will we be able to walk around and talk? I want to be with you…
Will we know each other? I don‘t want to be by myself…
Is God nice? He sounds mean on that video at your house…

The questions kept coming and got even harder. I was forced to say that I just didn’t know, but I knew that it would be perfect. Then I remembered that pretty box in the backseat…

Think of it like this…every single thing that is a reality to me, or even to the most brilliant and knowledgeable person to ever live…all that is reality, is in that box. Every person. Every thing. Every star in the universe. Everything that exists that we can possibly have knowledge about now or in the future, is in that box.

In that box is all we can know….and we are confined to it.

God is not confined to that box. He MADE the box and everything in it. Unlike us, He can be in the box WITH us, and also be outside the box. He is omnipresent. We are not. We are finite. He is infinite.

The only things we can understand have to be the things inside the box. To help us understand any concept that is NOT in the box, God uses something IN the box to help us….word pictures. “Streets of gold” “Whiter than snow” “The Lord roars”

How can He communicate to us any other way than thru what we ‘know’…thru what is in fact a reality to us? And when He is telling us something that is absolutely NOT yet reality to us, we must choose to believe and trust Him. Faith.

It is a hard concept…the box containing every thing that is real to us.

Then she asked me if the devil was real.

sigh......... :)

Withdrawal...

Withdrawal… the act of taking something away, taking away something which a person is addicted to thereby causing discomfort or pain…

My friend Kathy said she missed me and was having withdrawals….I haven’t written in several days. Certainly she gave me some very exaggerated flattery, but it was nice to hear. It is good to be missed.

Missed… the word can mean fail to be present for something, omit or leave out.

Looks like we will soon miss my oldest son and his family. We will certainly have withdrawals, as they live just next door.

My son has a career move that calls them to New Jersey. We are very proud of his accomplishments, and excited about this opportunity. Yet we will all suffer withdrawals as we adjust.

I’ve never been to New Jersey, but I’m sure it exists. I’m even more sure that God is sovereign in New Jersey just as He is sovereign in Texas. He is big enough and powerful enough to care for my family even there.

I wonder if Abraham’s mother was alive when God instructed him to leave his homeland and go to a far away place? Wonder how his family reacted when he said he was moving?

“Leave your country, your people…and go…I will bless you…So Abraham left..” (Genesis 12: 1,2,4)

I’ve prayed often for my children. This was not what I had in mind.

But God has proven Himself faithful to me. As doors swing wide open in New Jersey, and doors here remain closed, I trust my God.

“God’s love is ever and always eternally present to all who fear Him, making everything right for them and their children as they follow His covenant ways and remember to do whatever He said.” (Ps. 103:17,18 The Message)

Now I continue to pray…that God is now preparing the way before them, preparing the Body of Christ to enfold them as they find the church that will meet their spiritual needs, that He will guide them to the home He has for them there, bless them with friendships, and that this job will indeed be a blessing in every way. I ask that He is so close they will feel His Breath, every step, every moment….and give us all His peace.

School...

School… Almost time to start….then again, is it ever really over?

We have building especially built for schooling. We have a calendar where the first and last official day are set, with special days in between set aside.

But schooling should never really end. We should always be in the process of learning…especially from our mistakes. God will never waste the tiniest bit of pain, IF we go to Him with it honestly, admit our failures and mistakes, and allow Him to use it. He can and WILL bring blessing out of every difficulty, if we only allow and accept.

“Show me how you work, God. School me in Your ways. Take me by the hand, lead me down the path of truth…” (Ps. 25:4,5a The Message)

The lesson to learn though, is that there is indeed truth…A path of truth….NOT an eight-lane highway with a mixmaster going in all directions. No…it’s a single path. And guess what? God marked the path.

“We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school. We learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we are passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.” (1 Cor. 2:13 The Message)

Those are the words of the apostle Paul. If he didn’t rely on guesses and opinions, how can I ? No…the Truth came in the Person of Jesus Christ, and it will never change. No matter what they teach in any school. He “didn’t receive it through the traditions, and he wasn’t taught it in some school…He got it straight from God…” (Gal. 1:12 The Message)

So can I. Simply by opening scripture, and relying on the promises and power of the Holy Spirit “Whom the Father will send in Jesus Name” (John 14:26)… He will open them up to me. Don’t know how? “ God..delights in genuine prayers.” (Pro. 15:8) Ask HIM!!

Sunday school won’t automatically do it. Neither will ‘church services’. Both will be empty and lifeless without the Spirit breathing His Life into us.

“It’s a school of hard knocks for those who leave God’s path, a dead-end street for those who hate God’s rules.” (Pro. 15:10 The Message)

If you don’t like the rules, you just don’t understand the ‘why’ behind the rule. I promise, even when we don’t understand, there is always a reason behind what God says, and it’s always to our advantage. He is ALWAYS right. And He ALWAYS wants the best for us.

So…is school out? Think you’re smart enough? Have you decided to stop learning? Have you refused to learn from where you have been and what you have experienced?

Or have you decided you’re just not smart enough to learn anything else? Is it too hard or too much trouble? (…maybe a bit lazy?)

Please get this….really, really get this….

“Listen to good advice if you want to live well….An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny; an obedient, God-willed life is spacious. Fear of God is a school in skilled living…first you learn humility, then you experience glory.” (Pro. 15:31-33 The Message)

It may seem like an awful choice, the enemy will do his best to make you believe that….but following God is the only way to truly live. If you haven’t experienced it, you have no idea what you are missing.

Changes...

Changes… Looks like some big ones are headed our way. We thought it was a great name for a hair salon. I have said dozens of times, ‘Change is good !’.

Now, changes in my life….that’s another matter! We tend to cling to the familiar around here, do the same things over and over, go to the same places, eat the same thing… There is security in the familiar.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..”(Ecc.3:1)

Perhaps it’s the birthday coming up, “There is a time to be born, and a time to die.” (v.2a) I’m counting them off pretty fast these days.

Perhaps it’s that life hasn’t unfolded as I expected. My children have full successful lives…just not what I expected. “There is a time to plant, and a time to uproot…there is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain…”(v. 2b, 5b)

Whatever it is, the changes that may come are challenging. But “I know that everything God does will endure forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it..”(v. 14)

I have influenced decisions in the past, and regretted it. (…..there’s that time of refraining I was not obedient in.….) My only influence should be before the throne of God in prayer for His perfect will to be done.

My roles have changed several times…and will change again. Who will I be next? Where will this path wind up? What lies in my future, and the future of my family? I do not know. I ‘ cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end…’ (v.11b)

But I know The One Who does know. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”(v.11a) And ‘ I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Rom. 8:38,39)

That includes all the way between Texas and New Jersey….

Pits...

Pits..... Sometimes I just slide off into one….

Sometimes I fall into a pit by accident…trip or stumble over something and find myself at the bottom of the pit….often it is ignorant blindness… “If a blind man leads a blind man, they will both fall into a pit.” (Luke 6:39 my interpretation)

Sometimes I get shoved in….somebody wants me there. “…without cause they dug a pit for me..” (Psa. 35:7)

I guess sometimes I jump in. Sometimes, like all of us humans, I just make the wrong choice and dive right in. “She who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit she has made.” (Psa. 7:15 personalized by me)

I’ve dug lots of pits out of fear…thinking I was digging a place that would hide me, save me somehow. Digging with a shovel named fear. Big lie… No pit is a safe place.

The pits I dig are dug by different shovels…often shovels of exhaustion. When I get overtired, seems I look up and find I’ve slid off into that pit again….shovel in hand, digging furiously as if there is relief down deeper. Another big lie…

Exhaustion for me is usually mental rather than strictly physical. Why does it take so much energy to think, feel, and listen? (….watch out with those blonde jokes.. :) ..)

Some of the pits I’ve been in are other people’s diggings, and I’ve mistakenly thought I could get them out of their pit, so I climbed down there with them, only to find myself stranded in THEIR pit. And pits are pits….whether I dig them or you do…not a good place to be, and nobody’s company adds much to the atmosphere.

Nobody can rescue us from the pits…not really. Somebody else may pull you up a little, you may see a little light, you may be relieved of that slime at the bottom…but there’s really no way out of a pit except from the Divine Rescuer. He may call us to encourage and help, but nobody stays out of pits unless He delivers.

“I will free……from the waterless pit…”(Zec. 9:11)

“I called on Your Name….. from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea….You came near when I called You, and You said, “Do not fear.” (Lam. 3:55,56)

“To the roots of the mountains I sank down….but You brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.” (Jonah 2:6)

Life itself is the pits…it simply ends in death unless He breaths His Spirit into us, and with It, eternal Life with Him. There’ll be no shovels in heaven…

Live..

Live… We want to live…not the alternative. We have expectations about it’s duration….We have a place to live….

What is it to really ‘live’? Is it to just exist?…breathe and have a heart beat?

Is it to push the limits, be adventurous, even rebelling against what is expected or right? Have a ‘good time’?

I’m reminded of that thing about what’s between the dash. You remember…that dash that connects your date of birth and date of death on your tombstone….

I need to think about that dash today, because I’m in it.

But the question is, what am I living for? Am I living simply because I haven’t died yet?

Am I living to work and spend? Or living to work so I can save and count it? Am I living for the next thrill? The next fix of my own brand of addiction?

Sigh…

Thank You Lord that I have died already.

“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

And thank You even more that I live. Jesus died so ‘that I might die to sins….and LIVE for righteousness…’ (same passage, personalized by me)

I have ceased to exist as far as sin is concerned. My existence is for the righteousness. “Since Jesus went through everything I’m going through and more, I must learn to think like Him. Think of my sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get my own way. Then I’ll be able to live out my days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what I want.” (1 Peter 4:1,2 The Message, personalized by me)

Thank You Jesus !!

Pastor..

Pastor… A job ? A gift? ….

Sometimes both? Sometimes not?

The word pastor was not in the vocabulary of my particular religious heritage. We had ‘preachers’. Sometimes the preacher was also an ‘elder’. The elders made the decisions for the congregation at that place. Other religious groups allow each person who has their name written on the document of the church roll to have a ‘vote’. Everybody has an official say-so.

I was surprised this morning to find that word only used nine times in the KJV. Eight of those times is in the book of Jeremiah. One time, it is used in Ephesians 4:11 “ And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets: and some, evangelists: and some, pastors and teachers.”

“He gave…” Sounds like a gift to me. And surely there must be a difference in a pastor, a teacher, and an evangelist…else they wouldn’t all be listed. ??

The following verse states a purpose.. “ for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)

I looked into the word ‘shepherd’… (Read this with a little humor please….) “The hired hand is not the shepherd….” John 10:12

I’ve been pastored, I’ve been taught, and I’ve been preached to. In my opinion, there is a huge difference. Sometimes it was by the hired hand…often not.

I realize I have some radical views sometimes…especially when it comes to organized religion. I heard it said once that it was possible to organize the organism right out of the church.

The Body of Christ is alive. But it is often not well. I fear we have ‘paid’ someone to do so many things for so long that we’ve organized a monster that is often hard to feed.

Because of my religious past, I rely very little on preachers or pastors. They are just as absolutely human as I am, perhaps more educated or more experienced, but they have no more access to God than I do. Jesus intercedes for them just like He does for me.

When they are exercising a God-given gift appropriately, I have been blessed, nurtured, admonished, and encouraged. When they were exercising the description of the job, I’ve been hurt, shamed, angered, and humiliated.
That’s my baggage. I am sure you have your own…and we probably both need to unpack it, take it all out, look it over good, and ask the Lord to give it a good scrubbing.


“Whiter than snow…” (Ps. 51:7)

Fear...

Fear… It appears 400 times in the King James Translation, 258 times in the New International Version…

We are told to fear God, yet time and time again scripture says ‘fear not..’.

So which is it?

I struggled with the issue of fear for a very long time. Still I can’t wrap my mind completely around the concept at times. But we have a Helper Who aids our understanding.

“..if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure…THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God..” (emphasis mine, Proverbs 2:1-5)

Understanding fear is possible. Scripture has lots to say about it. What it is, what it is not.

It is ‘ to hate evil, pride arrogance, and the evil ways..’ (Prov. 8:13)
It is ‘a fountain of life’. (Prov. 14:27)
It is ‘…required of thee…to fear the Lord and walk in all His ways..’ (Deut. 10:12)
Many many other times scripture tells us about ‘fear’.

The Hebrew word ‘yare’ is a verb and is translated some 330 times as ‘fear’. But it’s meaning can be both being afaid, or being reverent and respectful. There is a huge difference in the two.

As I look for answers and understanding, I take great comfort in these words…

“..Fear not…for I know that you seek Jesus…” (Mat.28:5)
“..God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid...” (Isa.12:2)
“In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid..” (Ps. 56:11)

Hallelujah

Nots...

Nots…. Or knots. Either, or both?

I remember a particular sermon from years ago. The preacher was one of those hell fire and brimstone kinda guys. He’d often turn absolutely red in the face standing in the pulpit, delivering his message to us.

This sermon was entitled “The Nots In The Devil‘s Tale”. It was all about how putting the little three letter word ‘not’ into a sentence was a way the devil worked his treachery.

There must have been some truth to the sermon, the sermon title stuck with me all these years. Certainly it made an impact…truth always does. Unfortunately, lies can as well.

I don’t remember what any of the ‘nots’ were. But I can think of some now..
The first was in the Garden. God had said not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would die. Satan added a not. “..ye shall not surely die’. (Gen.3:4)

One Knot in his tail…lots of knots in all human life thereafter.

I also think of Jesus’ words in John 14:6. “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” The enemy would have us believe that Jesus is not the only way. That ‘not’ could bring eternal separation from God. Jesus IS the only way. The devil’s ‘not’ doesn’t change truth.

Jesus also said “I am the Light of the world.” (John 8:12) The devil says ‘not’…he lies and says that there are other sources of light.

“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power..” (2Thes. 1:8) A ‘not’ in that scripture is deadly. God will punish. Simply being cut off from His Presence is beyond horrible.

I serve the ‘God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth’(Gen. 14:19). He is the God of love (1 John 4:8), mercy (Eph. 2:4), and grace (1Peter 5:10). I love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19)

I can’t put a ‘not’ in one truth of scripture and leave the ‘nots’ out in others.

If He is the God of love…He is also the God of judgment. (Ps. 50:6, Ecc. 3:17)


The preacher who shouted this sermon seemed miserable to me. I felt that misery myself for years. But I’ve got the ‘nots’ out of places they don’t belong…and put them where they do belong.

My God is not mean and nasty.

He does not wait, anticipating when He might punish me for messing up.

But at the same time, He means what He says…and it’s always in my best interest to believe Him and do as He has said...


...Because HE WILL do as He says. No 'not' there....

Know-ye-nots...

Know-ye-nots… negative of knowing…

There are lots of things I don’t know. It is quite impossible to know every thing…lots of the things I DO know, I wish I did NOT. And…there are a lot of things I SHOULD know and NEED to know that I do not know.

Jesus knew about know-ye-nots. He taught that there were many things we should be concerned about knowing. We begin with the elementary.

“Don’t you understand (know-ye-not) this parable?…” …but He says we must not stop there… “How then will you understand any parable?”(Mark 4:13) The parable in this passage stresses to us the importance of understanding basic truth and building on it.

There is absolute truth. It is imperative to accept that fact, submit, and seek it.

Scripture has many know-ye-nots that we should be sure we benefit from.

“Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God?”(James 4:4)

“Examine yourselves…do you not realize (know-ye-not) that Christ Jesus is in you- unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2Cor. 13:5)

“Know-ye-not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Cor. 9:24)

“ Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?…flee fornicication…Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are ought with a price…”(1Cor. 6:16, 18,19,20) (Archaic you think? …It is written.)

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? (1Cor. 6:9)

“Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1Cor. 5:6)

“Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are…” (Rom.6:16)

“Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?”(Rom. 6:3)

Ignorance causes a lot of damage.

“God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better…but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and He’s calling for a radical life change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right.” (Acts 17:30,31 The Message)

Ignorance is no excuse. Not anymore. Especially when Truth is so readily available and easily accessed.

It is simply a choice.

Know what God has said.

Or know-ye-not.

Word...

Word…. What is a word but a vehicle of communication….

God has given His, and it’s the absolute. The list of ten were once referred to as ‘The Ten Words’. It’s a pretty remarkable set of ten words. Shalts and shalt nots. Ten words that would solve every problem of mankind if we would just follow them. (can’t be done, unfortunately…sin has entered the equation…)

My writing today is being done on a ‘word’ processor. It enables me to write and rewrite at will, corrects my spelling, all sorts of helping devices, most of which I’m unaware of or don’t know how to utilize. They are still available…even if I’m ignorant of them, even if I choose not to use them.

Communication has changed immensely in my lifetime. Once, I would have worn out two erasers on a writing like this, wasting much more paper than the one page it ends up on. All in an attempt to capture my thoughts, articulate them, and get them into ‘words’. My thoughts are just mine until they are processed into ‘words’. Then, you can share them, agree or disagree….like or dislike….be benefited, unimpressed, or even offended.

In the same way, God’s Word is not much use to me unless it is available to me and relative to my life.

God’s ‘Word’ is recorded… in the documents contained in our Bible. There are lots of translations that use languages from The King’s English, to the street language of today. What He has said is readily available in dozens of formats. It is available in words that I am able to fully understand and apply.

His ‘Word’ was communicated in an even greater way…in the Person of Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word…..and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1-2)

Today, I speak words into cell phones, over Skype to the other side of the planet…I write words into machines that put them out into cyberspace for anyone to read. I can write them, publish them, broadcast them…I’m still fairly free to stand up and speak them.

God has spoken in lots of ways. He certainly didn’t have to. He is God. He gets the final say.

But His desire is that we hear and understand Him. He has gone to great lengths to make Himself available and approachable. He has shown us His character, His love…the good intentions He has for us. Time and time again in scripture, we see how He relates to mankind, whom He has created to be in relationship with. None of it because we deserved another chance…all of it because He will do whatever it takes to reach out to us….anything required to restore and redeem….everything. Even to the death.

The only thing God will not do is take away our choice, or change the rules of what is right and wrong….good and evil.

He has not nor will He ever change the absolutes of Himself. What He says…IS…and will never change. Right, as He has dictated will never change. Likewise, wrong will always be wrong.

While He is unchanging, we are not. Our culture changes, our methods change…and our enemy sees to it that he uses every change to our disadvantage and disaster. Make no mistake, he has no pride or shame. There is no honor in his methods.

From walking in the cool of the day, leading by pillars of fire, writing with His Finger on tablets of stone….to leaving heaven and moving into a barn…. God has done so very much to communicate and relate to us.

He hasn’t required me to carry around a stone tablet, hasn’t required me to learn to read and understand Greek or Hebrew… My methods of hearing what He has said don’t matter to Him. It just matters that I listen.

Recover...

Recover… There’s not a single one of us that doesn’t need to….

We all suffer from the same fatal disease. The horrible truth is that if we lose the battle with this disease, the death is eternal.

There is One Cure. One. It’s not a pill. Not a diet. Not a set of exercises. It’s not a lifestyle. It’s a Person.

His Name is Jesus.

We are wise to cling to Him.

There is a lot to a name. Especially His Name. In our culture, we’ve lost the concept of the meaning of names. Pity.

There were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 25. One of the twin boys came forth from the birth canal hanging onto his brother’s foot. They named that baby Jacob. It means ‘heel holder’.

That baby was born hanging on…and his name would always bring that to mind.

And hang on he did. His life’s story examples both good and bad aspects of that part of his personality.

Jacob was an ambitious deceiver. He grabbed hold of life and got all he could get. Sometimes underhanded.

Eventually, he’d made a pretty bad situation for himself, and was trying to find the way out. That’s when he had an encounter with a messenger from heaven.

“..and Jacob was left alone. And there, he wrestled….’ (Genesis 32:24)

God had allowed Jacob his choices and methods. Then when Jacob used up all his resources, all his ideas and schemes…when he needed help in preserving his life and the lives of his family, he had a meeting with God.

“…and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:30)

Peniel. Facing God.

Hallelujah. May we keep our faces turned to Him.

Reason...

Reason… Ever hear ‘everything happens for a reason’?….

Well, yes it does. Everything that happens is because of something. Mostly, it’s because of either my choice or someone else’s.

We are all in this big ole’ pool of life together. The wind stirs the surface of the water as storms of varying degrees and varieties come and go. I don’t splash much in the pool…but those around me may splash quite a bit, and when they do…it often gets on me.

Everything does happen for a reason…but it’s not because God ordained every single thing to be so. Remember that thing called ‘free will’? He has given us that, and it is the one limitation He has placed on Himself. He will not intervene and over rule my choice. Or yours.

So….when I decide to make some big splashes in the pool, go out into water over my head…sometimes right into a coming storm…He lets me. Oh, He reminds me of the danger, and if I am sensitive to His Spirit, I hear…and if I’m trusting Him to know best, I listen and heed the warnings.

Often though, I think I’m strong and smart enough to outwit the storm and keep myself afloat in that deep water, so off I go, plunging right in, oblivious to the rough waters that lay in wait….some of it the results of somebody else’s ideas about how to play in the pool.

If I’d just listened…I’d have avoided the splashes of somebody else’s idea of how to manipulate in the water of the pool. Instead, I find myself soaked, sputtering and gasping for breath….far away from shore and way too deep.

And remembering that He told me not to go there.

Yes, everything happens for a reason. And thank God that “all things work together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Even when I’ve chosen poorly. Even when I went out too deep. Even when I splashed too much. Even when I got too close to someone else’s splashing.

( Thanks to “The Shack” for the imagery of life’s pool )

Coventant...

Covenant… Webster says it’s to enter into an agreement, to bind ones self…

In Hebrew, the original language of old testament scripture, the word is ‘berith’ and it has reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two, and passing between the parts to ratify a covenant.

In Greek, the original language of new testament scripture, the corresponding word is ‘diatheke’.

There are many examples of covenant in scripture. I fear we have lost the depth of meaning…perhaps the entire concept in some instances.

The covenant of marriage in particular. The covenant of marriage is intended to be sealed…yet how many give away the possibility of that seal to someone to whom they are never married? There is much damage done in doing so…for all concerned.

God can heal and restore even that. But there’s a big old’ IF attached to it….we must repent and come to Him with all of it, in obedience trust, turning away from those wrong choices and actions.

God never ever tells us NOT to do something just to be mean and nasty. When he says ‘don’t’….you can be sure it is because it brings US harm. Our sin doesn’t take anything away from God, it doesn’t diminish His character nor deplete His power. But our hurting hurts Him. THAT is what He wants to prevent. Simply because of His perfect love for us.

“Just as He Who called you is holy, so be holy is all you do…” (1 Peter 1:15)

Like it or not….agree or disagree….obey or rebel….God sets the standards for morality.

We are wise to believe that fact. And we are blessed when we know Him well enough, knowing His character and His love and intentions, that we can follow His directions without rebellion.

We are wise to have learned from the garden scene NOT to try to find out for ourselves if what He says is really true.

What He says IS. It has always been that way…and will always be.

Bottom...

Bottom…. Ever hit rock bottom? Ever see someone else heading there?

I suppose all of us have. And certainly all of us who are parents want to prevent our children from ever going there.

But sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Sometimes, it may even be the best thing to do….let them hit rock bottom. I think they call it ‘tough love’ these days.

The prodigal of Luke 15 hit rock bottom.

“And when he came to himself….” (Luke 15:17)

After he found himself on rock bottom, there was a big A-HA !

“….so maybe dear old Dad was right about some things…”



It is difficult to see someone suffering the consequences of their own poor choices.

But what joy to see them ‘come to their senses’ (Luke 15:17 NIV), turn around, and begin a new and better path.

Pity it takes some so much longer than others to ‘begin to think clearly again’.
(Luke 15:17 NIrV)

Jail...

Jail… Webster says it’s a place. A place of confinement. We think of it now as a place of punishment. But it is really a ‘place’?…

I believe there are thousands of people walking around ‘free’ who are in jail cells of bondage. I myself have experienced bondage….locked away in a cell of fear and a works centered salvation.

David wrote as if he were in prison.. “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise Your Name….” (Ps. 142:7) He wasn’t in a jail facility. He was just hiding from Saul. Running and hiding, trying to escape, all of it serving as walls of a prison to David.

I want to be like David, when situations are dangerous and stressful, I want to look to God with praise in my heart and on my lips. It is easy to see the danger, easy to feel the fear, easy to be discouraged….it is easy to hear the accuser’s words filling us with doubt and fear. Our enemy wants to keep us in jailhouses, tied up with fear, ineffective to those around us, and away from the Throne of God in prayer and praise.

I’m thankful for the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. This fellow made a series of poor choices. He lived in and for the moment….chasing a good time. He thought he had found it…for a while at least. Then it all started turned sour. It wasn’t fun anymore, only misery, and there was nobody that wanted his company anymore…he didn’t have anything to offer them now, so they were gone. He’d left all his family behind, choosing a different life instead of a life with them.

I think the accuser was certainly on the job with this young man. ‘Yes…your dad’s a great guy, but you’ve been so bad, he can’t restore you!!…..and what if he said no?…he probably would if you go back and ask him to take you back…’ I feel sure the devil was on duty, filling this young man with guilt and fear.

But the young man knew the character of his father.

God does not mean for us to live in bondage. But I believe there are times when a jail cell is His blessing. That pig sty was a blessing to that prodigal boy. He had chosen the knowledge of good and evil…another apple off the tree so to speak. He chose wrong, acted in rebellion…..yet the knowledge of the character of his father was the means of bringing about restoration.

God’s last word is always a call for repentance and restoration. Even if it takes being locked up.


….or slopping hogs.

Rescue...

Rescue… ‘natsal’ It means to snatch away….

Proverbs tells us to ‘Rescue those being led away to death….hold back those staggering toward slaughter….” (Pro. 24:11)

There are times I really struggle with this. At times, I have had such strong feelings about the decisions I see someone else making, times when I strongly disagree with the conclusions someone else has come to. It’s their choice, their business…right?

There have been situations when I did NOT comment, and have later regretted not being obedient to that nudge to speak to them. Times when I SO wish I had said or done what I had been prompted in my spirit to do but did not. The accuser (Rev.12:10) often convinces me that I am being nosey, bossy, and that it is none of my business what someone else does.

As usual, he takes truth and puts his spin on it, twisting and perverting it.

We all do make our own choices. I can not make yours for you, nor can you make mine. But so do we all have influence.

“If you say, ‘Hey, that’s none of my business,’ …will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know….Someone not impressed with weak excuses.” (Proverbs 24:12 The Message)

“My mouth shall speak truth..”(Pro.8:7) “There are things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts..”(Zec.8:16)

We sang a song in choir class back in high school…. “No Man Is An Island” We have an impact on each other’s lives. And when opportunity comes to make a positive impact by speaking truth, I believe scripture teaches that we are held accountable for it if we do not do so.

There IS absolute truth. Gray is only achieved by mixing in a little black with pure white.

The hardest part is carrying out what I believe, and doing it in a pure spirit of love….communicating that love without it being tainted by the enemy and used for his purposes to cause strife and discord.

Fireworks...

Fireworks… We enjoyed a great fireworks display last night. Amazing thing when you really think about it…cardboard boxes and tubes filled with something that somehow explodes in so many different patterns, heights, and colors.

We arrived before dark, the fireworks were on floating barges out on water. I sat there looking at it…a large number of boxes, just sitting there. Big deal.

But when it got good and dark, our host pushed the remote that began the series of explosions. We had chosen chairs on the edge of the water, and as the fireworks lit up the sky above us, the smoke began to fill the air, and shreds of paper and ash sprinkled down on us. It was beautiful and awful at the same time.

For the past few weeks, I’ve struggled to come to better understanding of why tragedy happens. Why out of nowhere, it explodes and rains down shattered fragments of our lives, leaving us to choke on the smoke left behind…embers of what used to be beautiful, now singeing and burning us as the memory of the beauty that was, gives way to the reality and stench of the present.

Fireworks are simply raw materials assembled in ways that cause explosions. I’ve had it explained to me, though I can’t restate it. They must be fused, separately or together. There must be a spark. Simply…it’s cause and effect.

Isn’t everything?

God created a world of cause and effect. Everything He created, He created good. (Gen.1) He then issued the memo that informed man of effect. …do not eat of that tree, because the effect is death….do not choose to know evil, because it brings death. That was the message of Genesis 2. Anything other than God and His goodness… anytime we leave Him out of the mix…the effect is death. We are created to be in relationship with Him, He is the life-giving, life-sustaining force. Anything outside of that…the effect is death. Immediate or eventual….even eternal.

All bad things aren’t a result of bad choices. Some definitely are.

Neither does God make all bad things to happen, but He definitely allows all things that do happen.

He is God. He has the final say.

God’s absolute sovereignty and my own personal free will seem to be contradictions. Only God can remain sovereign in the face of my poor choices and rebellion. His will for my life and my rejection of Him are indeed at odds. How can He be all powerful God, and I still have the power to reject His will? Am I greater than He? (ridiculous..)

Sigh…It’s a complicated issue, this sovereignty/free-will thing. And it, like our Creator God, is outside the realm of human logic. (…faith to the rescue again…)

This is what I know. When I choose poorly, it is not because He set me up, and not because He didn’t give me the information necessary to choose best.

He is not incomplete without me, but I will never be complete without Him.

Everything He says is spoken out of pure love…(something I am not capable of..)

He is not in a box. I am. The box of my reality, that He created to share with me.

And sometimes, my box explodes. And when it does, it can be awful and beautiful…sometimes at the same time.

You see…I know that my God makes beauty and good come from even the awful and ugly….if nothing but to empower me thru it, changing, redeeming, and restoring me in spite of it.

The only question I need ponder is if I have chosen poorly, and if I have, to face it together with Him, learning and growing….thereby avoiding any future adverse circumstances or consequences because of my poor choices.



Now…I must move on.

Allegiance...

Allegiance… I’ve pledged it many times…. ‘to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands…one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Haven’t you done the same?

How will we fulfill our pledge? We have promised, and we must take our promises seriously. There are, however, stipulations of our pledge of allegiance…to one nation under God.

In 1 Kings 12 the story is told of Jeroboam. It tells how Jeroboam went about to weaken and break the relationship of the people with God, and to preserve his own position and power.

Isn’t that familiar?

“….Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘…….if these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to the king of Judah..’…so he said to the people ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem…HERE are your gods, …” (selected verses 1 Kings 12)

Familiar again. Good ole’ Jeroboam, only trying to provide for the people and make their lives easier….by keeping them from worshipping God where and how God had said. Government stepping in….re-drawing the lines….re-describing right and wrong..

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…..the America that was a republic nation under GOD…not to be divided, not to have liberty or justice removed from anyone’s life. That includes mine.

I stand with Joshua…. “…Choose you this day whom you will serve….as for me and my house…we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Free...

Free… What does it mean to you?

To me it means out of bondage. It is to no longer be compelled or forced….to be given choice and empowered to use that choice. It is not a release from responsibility, and it is not without boundaries…. but it is an opportunity to fulfill responsibility and the purpose for existing.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but….”(Gen.2:16)


“Woman, you are set free…”(Luke 13:12) “..the truth will set you free…..So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:32,36)


“…I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.”(Acts 7:34)
“..through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”(Rom.8:2)

Let’s not forget where freedom really comes from. As we begin celebrating the Fourth of July and all that it means, let us give Him thanks and all glory for what freedoms we have known in our life time.

And let the Body of Christ unite in praying that all Americans who are ‘called by His Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek His Face, and turn from their wicked way’…..for ‘then He will hear from heaven, and will forgive our sin, and will heal our land.’ (2Chron. 7:14)

Jealousy...

Jealous… Suspicious that we do not enjoy the affection or respect of others, or that another is more loved and respected than ourselves….

Ouch.

Seems to me that jealousy and security are mutually exclusive. That security must be in both the relationship with other individuals, and within.

I’m secure in my marriage relationship. I have no cause for jealousy, no threat of someone else being more loved than I am. I am loved.

I’ve become secure in my relationship with God. I have come to believe that he really and truly does love me, and that He will do what He says He will do….grant me the right-standing of Christ and an eternal life. I don’t need to be jealous in that relationship, because His love for you does not diminish His love for me in the slightest degree.

But I realize this morning that I am not innocent. There are areas of my life that are tainted with insecurity and jealousy. Even worse, I fear I may incite a little jealousy in others given the opportunity.

Joseph may have been guilty of such. Gen 37 tells the story. It’s worth your time to read it. Joseph was a love child, born to a man of many years. Israel/Jacob might have been wiser in his doting on the boy. Giving him a brightly colored coat to wear only displayed his favoritism to his other sons.

Everyone wore a garment like that, it was used for warmth, to sit on, to bundle things up in, or even as a security for a loan. But robes were plain. Except for the rich and famous…. Royalty.

Young Joseph’s father gave him the robe of royalty, and young Joseph wore it. Perhaps pridefully….maybe even for the purpose of inciting jealousy.

Or…maybe Joseph thought everybody loved him like his father did. He was young and unwise to flaunt what he had been given. And even more unwise in sharing his dream about being bowed down to by his big brothers. They took the opportunity to rid themselves of him when a caravan of slave traders came by.

This story is full of lessons for us. When I look into the character of each of the individuals involved, I see myself.

Are you there?

Father, I confess the jealousy in my heart. Thank You for revealing areas of sin, and Your cleansing from them. Thank You for the help and power You provide, that I may live a victorious life, free from the strong holding power of the sin of jealousy. (Gal.5:20)

Manipulating....

Manipulating… To manage or utilize skillfully. To control by artful means to one’s own advantage. To change by artful means to serve one’s purpose…

Manage. Control. Change.

When trusting God is a situational condition and not a complete way of life, I wonder that we are not guilty of trying to manipulate the Creator of the universe.

Faith in Him should not be a way out of a difficulty, but rather an in-place covenant relationship that provides comfort, strength, and resolve even as the moment of crisis unfolds.

We want God to meet whatever need we have at the moment. Especially when we haven’t been able to fill or meet that need for ourselves.

When we try to manipulate our environment and circumstances in order to meet our own needs, with no regard to He Who is Master and Creator, I fear we are guilty of idolatry. We so often put trust in people/things/self, placing them on the throne, with God waiting on the back burner…just in case we can’t pull it off.

When all else fails, how often do we then begin to bargain with Him?

How often do we exhaust every other avenue before throwing ourselves at His Feet?

Why is it that we seek after Him when we are faced with situations beyond our ability to manipulate, and don’t tip our hat to Him the rest of the time?

Or, maybe I’m the only one guilty. Maybe I’m the only one who forgets that the air I suck into my lungs is there only because of Him. Not to mention the health of the lungs that breathe in that life-sustaining oxygen.

Every time I successfully manipulate circumstances in my life to my advantage, I experience only a by-product of His blessed provisions.

HE pours HIS life into mine. I create nothing.

I dare not take the glory for what goes right and blame God when things go wrong.

Even the closer relationship I enjoy with Him is because He has revealed Himself to me. Yes, I must choose. Yes, I must obey. Yes, I must commit.

But try as I might, I would never know God were He not to reveal Himself TO me.

I have not learned how to successfully manipulate God. I am learning how to stop.

Now..

Now… If you are reading these words, you’re safe and blessed. You have a computer before you, eyes that see, a mind that has learned to read, and the opportunity of choice to use these next few minutes as you like…

Now is all you have. You may not finish this reading. (…if I even get to finish writing down these thoughts !)

What do we do with our ‘now’? And do we realize Who/who is responsible for this ‘now’? Everything I experience and enjoy in my life is attached to another ‘who’ and is absolutely because of ‘Who’. God has a say-so in everything that touches me, and every choice, every action I take or do not take, has an impact.

I must not live my life and make my decisions as if it’s only and all about me and this ‘now’.

Isaiah 39 tells the story of King Hezekiah. God had caused the sun to retreat backwards several degrees. The Assyrians, prominent world power of the day, worshipped the sun god. The Babylonians were enemies of the Assyrians, and they really liked that Hezekiah’s God had power over the sun. They thought it in their interest to befriend Hezekiah and his God.

So they came with gifts. And flattery.

Hezekiah accepted not only the gifts, but the flattery. Not only that, he did a little showing off.

“Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses…the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them” (Isa. 39:2)

Do you think there was a little pride going on there? Ever notice how often that of which we become proud is that which is often taken away?

Oh, Hezekiah didn’t suffer much for it. But the very ones to whom he strutted were the predecessors of the ones who would come and destroy everything he had been so prideful of.

“The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up, will be carried off to Babylon. ..and some of your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

It’s not just about ‘now’. Yes, our choices are important for the immediate, but they have such a profound effect on what days lay ahead.

After Isaiah had informed Hezekiah about the real nature of his Babylonian friends, and what they would be capable of in the future, he replied…

‘….“The word of the Lord..is good.”….For he thought, ‘there will be peace and security in my lifetime.’…”(Isa. 39:8) He was concerned about his 'now'.

I am convicted today that I have enjoyed the peace and security of my lifetime, and horrified that the way we have lived in godless fashion may bring devastation in the days ahead.

God help us to repent of our wicked ways, turn back to You, seek Your Face, and humble ourselves completely. Forgive us for living in our ‘now’ and being blind to the consequences for our sons and daughters. Only You can heal what is so diseased and broken. Help each of us…ME…to be obedient in what You call us to do, help us to live our lives first and foremost for Your purposes…trusting that those purposes are always best for us.

Security

Security… protected from danger. How secure are you?

Do you pay for one of those security systems for your home so that when you are in danger, help will come to the rescue?

Do you have an arsenal ready to meet intruders?

Do you have securities? Stocks and bonds. Equities and options. Certificates. Mutual funds. Money in the bank?

Do you have a dead bolt on your door that would keep out the uninvited?


Just what is it that you put on the list of things that make you secure?


Perhaps it is government….the law of the land…laws that forbid anyone or anything to steal your secure status.

Perhaps it is medicine… physicians and surgeons….if/when sickness or injury comes, there should be a pill or treatment or a surgery to prevent your secure health from being compromised or lost.

Whatever it is you put on your list. It’s a lie.


There IS no security other than the eternal security in Jesus Christ.

Laws won’t do it, the Ten Commandments are a witness to that fact. Government won’t do it. It is impossible to legislate right behavior. There is a presence of evil in our world.

“for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son…”(Rom. 8:3)

Money won’t do it. The value changes, it is unstable and unreliable. And what is it really except paper or chunks of metal? Who decides what it’s value is?

“Since you trust in your deeds and your riches, you too will be taken….”(Jer. 48:7)
“though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”(Ps. 62:10)

Guns and armies won’t do it. Battles and wars have been taking lives the entire history of our race, and still we struggle to be secure.

“Woe to those…who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.” (Isa. 31:1)

“My hope is certain. My hope is something for my soul to hold on to. My hope is strong and secure. My hope goes all the way into the Most Holy Room behind the curtain. That is where Jesus has gone. He went there to open the way ahead of me…”
(Heb.6:19 NIrV personalized by me)


I am forever secure. Hallelujah.

Parenting

Parenting… Somebody should have warned me it would be so difficult !

And somebody should have explained that it’s never a done deal. Once a child is born to you, it’s a forever thing. A relationship that is multi-faceted and ever changing.

It is easy when they are little children. Though that time is so difficult, and so very very important. That time to a great degree determines the course of the rest of the relationship, thru the teens and into the adult years.

My parents are both still living as I write this. I wonder at their thoughts about the four of their children. I wonder at the concerns, the frustrations, the joy, the satisfactions…

I pray I have not caused them much frustration and heartache. I pray they spent few sleepless nights in concern for me.

Children have such an unrealistic idea about parents. I did. Only when I began to face some of the things I was so critical about did I appreciate my parents’ parenting.

Children have all the answers. Ever notice that? Young adults…they are just as wise as hoot owls! They often think so anyway. I did.

Now, the older I get, the more I realize how little I know, and how helpless I am.

I have a lot of regret about my parenting. The enemy would like to continue to use that, but he’s a defeated liar, and it’s a waste of time to continue to grieve over what is done.

2 Samuel 12 tells a good story about such as that. As long as there is life, there is hope in prayer against even death itself. If we bear guilt, it is right for us to grieve and repent.

And it is right that we ACCEPT forgiveness, get up, worship and love God for Who He is, and follow Him past the ‘now’.

The ‘now’ may be sad, even heart wrenching…but there comes a time to lay aside the sorrow and hurt…and we must never allow our enemy to influence us to allow the thing to stop us from worshipping God and following after Him.

Our failures are against God. Even those failures of parenting. And when we try to ‘fix’ them ourselves, we butt our heads against a wall if we do not go to Him first, for ‘…against You, You only, have I sinned…’ (Ps. 51:4)

“I will restore to you the years that the locust have eaten….” (Joel 2:25)

He is God. He can heal and restore ANYthing. Hallelujah !!

Sleeping

Sleeping… I haven’t done much of it the last couple weeks.

I remember when sleep was my escape. When I was stressed out about anything at all, I’d get sleepy…I could sleep right thru most anything.

When I was sad or mad, sorrowful or worried, I could just close my eyes and turn it off. I’ve slept thru bad storms, barking dogs…those days are gone.

I have joked that God wakes me up at night just to have some time alone with Him. I really believe He does that sometimes.

This morning, I read that Jesus slept thru a storm. “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” (Matt.8:24)

Do you ever feel like Jesus is sleeping when there’s a storm raging in your life?

I know the answer to that.

The accuser and enemy of our souls would have us believe that Jesus is sleeping and even that He doesn’t care about the storm. He is a liar. (Rev. 12:10, John 8:44)

“Lord save us!!!” (Matt.8:25)

Jesus may have been asleep, the storm may have been frightful, but all was secure. The storm raged, the waves crashed….but all on the boat with Jesus were safe.

Hard for us to feel safe when there’s obvious danger. Even harder when circumstances bring harm, destruction, even death.

Hard for us to look past the storm. Not hard at all for Jesus.

Stay in the boat with Him. When the water is calm, don’t get out for a swim. When the storms come, don’t bail out to try to escape them.

And if you’re not in the boat….get in!! Then when the storms come, the waves crash and beat….call Him.

He is ‘Sar Shalom’. The Prince and Keeper of Peace.

Abba

Abba… In the language of scripture, it is the equivalent of ‘daddy’. Jesus called God ‘daddy’……

“Daddy, everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I want, but what You want…” (Mark 14:36 my translation)

I have so often thought about the relationship of father and child, and how our perception of the relationships with our earthly fathers colors our perception of our heavenly Father.

I have a good father. I call him ‘daddy’. I obeyed him without question. I never feared for my safety, but at the same time, never questioned the consequences of disobedience.

As an adult with children of my own, I’ve learned more and more about my daddy. My perceptions of him as a kid growing up were often so wrong. I thought he was too strict, when he was in fact enforcing boundaries that provided safety not just for the moment, but even now, continue to bring me security. I continue to be thankful for those boundaries.

All daddies aren’t good. That is a horrible truth. Some just walk away. Some are abusive in devastating ways. I pray especially for those people.

There was a period of my life when I thought my daddy was unapproachable. (He never was really..)

There was also a period of my life when I was not confident in approaching God. I assigned to God the image of my daddy. While I was hesitant and afraid to go to daddy with certain things, I was terrified to go to God ! (‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Heb.4:16 ‘In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.’ Eph. 3:12 Hallelujah.!!)

Let’s not make God into the image of our daddy. Whatever fault there is in the relationship, ( and there are faults in all human relationships…) let’s not forget the tragedy of the garden. Humans all suffer from the disease of sin, we all share the incapacity of achieving perfection, especially in our relationships.

Our Daddy in heaven does not mirror our daddy on earth.

But we are so very blessed when our daddy here mirrors the Perfect Daddy of heaven.

I thank you Daddy for my daddy here, and for his commitment to You and to the family You entrusted to him. Give him long life and health.

Lost

Lost… Destroyed. Wasted. Employed to no good purpose. Mislaid. Cannot be found… Forgotten.

This past week has brought many losses. Much was destroyed. Many things were wasted and made unusable, no longer suitable for any good purpose. Belongings can’t be found.

But the loss will not be forgotten. Ever.

Those who mourn their lost begin to count…marking the passing of time.

Jesus’ purpose in coming was ‘to seek and save what was lost.’ (Luke 19:10)

He is the One to turn to with our loss. ‘Salvation has come..’(vs.9)

He is Savior.

He is Redeemer.

Lord help the brokenness. Bring spiritual wholeness, a capacity to accept and continue…and an assurance that this is not the end of the story.

Today

Today… Now. At present. Not future. Not past….

“..encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb. 3:13)

This verse has always haunted me. ‘Today’. That’s all we have. No promise for tomorrow, yesterday is certainly gone…and even today may be short-lived.

I don’t profess to know all things, my mind struggles to wrap itself around concepts like this. My life is so defined by time. I can’t understand how it will be, to be free of those limitations. I can’t grasp that God is not in this time box with me, He is not limited by anything, even time.

The only limits God has, are the ones I choose to set. He allows me that freedom, and will never take that choice from me. Even when I make bad ones…

And the part about sin being deceitful and the danger of it hardening my heart….what’s that all about?

New meaning on this ‘today’.

Sin has no pride, is not put off by circumstances….in fact, cashes in on each opportunity.

When we are at our lowest, ‘like a roaring lion’ it creeps in to devour.(1Peter 5:8)

We need God’s strength and protection even more during those times…we need encouragement from our spiritual siblings to help us keep our eyes on Jesus and not our situation. We need to live ‘today’ while fully expecting the promises of His tomorrow, trusting Him without reservation with our future. (we certainly can’t secure it..)

If we do not have Him, we push our way thru the difficulties of this life, depending on self, and callous ourselves against the pain of living.

And living in this place can be so painful. It is a dire mistake to try to stop that pain.

If we choose to slowly protect ourselves from that pain, we wake up one day having slowly calloused ourselves over, so that we no longer hurt…but we are just as insensitive to God as we are to the hurt that comes from living in this world.

“If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. These words keep ringing in our ears: Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear…” (Heb. 3:14,15 The Message)

Difficult

Difficult… Easier to define in the negative…what difficult it NOT.

It’s NOT easy. NOT compliant. NOT accommodating. NOT yielding.

Life seems to get more and more difficult. The longer our stay here, the further reaching our relationships become, the more entangled we are with each other. It is difficult at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way would you?

I’m glad I hurt when others hurt. I do not want to have a heart that is not touched by others pain.

And I am so grateful to the Divine Helper. If there was no Hope past this realm and all it holds, how and why do we go on in the midst of difficulty? If there was no Help, would anyone be able to rise above the difficult times?

“Is anything too hard for the Lord” (Gen. 18:14) No!! Hallelujah. I’m so thankful, because I don’t go thru a day when I’m not faced with circumstances that are too hard to ‘me’.

I have witnessed and experienced the fulfillment of the promise…. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ( 2 Cor. 12:9)

At our weakest point and greatest need, His power in our lives is stronger than ever. We are limited, He is not. Our Father does not intend for us to be weak and ineffective. But when we are, when circumstances of life knock the wind out of our sails and disable us, He can be depended on, never to fail.


Grace is there in proportion to need. I don’t have the grace at this moment to face a tragedy… But I am absolutely certain that were tragedy to strike, there would be abundant grace to see me thru.

I have no doubt that abundant grace is available to those who do face tragedy right now.

I pray each one finds The Source and clings to Him as they ‘walk thru the valley of the shadow of death’. (Ps. 23:4)

Beauty

6-15-10
Beauty.. What makes something beautiful? Is it a permanent condition?

I’ve been to Albert’s Pike many times. I considered it beautiful. I haven’t seen it since the flood except in pictures, but it’s not so beautiful now. The rocks and trees are still there. There is still water in the river. All the things that defined it as beautiful to me…they’re still there.

What changed? Nothing really…everything just got re-arranged. Including people and all their belongings.

God thought up beauty in the first place. It reflects His character. But to be beautiful there must be harmony, balance, symmetry, perfect rhythm… Like Him.

I can’t achieve that on my own. How grateful I am that He has made provision for my failure.

“He is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. I will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

There IS a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day….

Be still, and know that I am God. ..The Lord Almighty is with us…” (selected verses from Ps. 46)

Father, as families bury their dead, remembering the horror of this flood, and grieving over the precious ones who are snatched away, I beg You to make Yourself known thru these circumstances. Lord, I ask that You bring not only comfort and healing, but new and deeper dependence on You. Protect them from lies of the enemy, make them to see truth, never doubting or questioning Your love.

‘Hear O Lord, and be merciful, O Lord, be their help, turn their wailing into dancing, remove their sackcloth and clothe them with joy…’ (Ps. 30:10,11)

Suddenly

Suddenly… I don’t like suddenly. I like slow and easy. Expected, not surprised.

I like ordinary. I find comfort in routine.

I’m finding new meaning to one of my favorite verses. “ I will extend peace to her like a river..” (Isa. 66:12) I’ve used that verse on my Facebook page since I opened it. I use it on my blog. I think of it every time I am near water.

Water has always brought me such a feeling of peacefulness.

This past week, I saw some stagnant water. Dead fish were everywhere. I found no peace there.

This past week, I heard about the devastation from a flash flood. People I love are gone…suddenly. There is no peace there for sure.

I’ve sat and looked at water for hours on end over the years. He has spoken to my heart so many times during those moments. Sustaining my life. Cleansing me. Healing me. Refreshing me. Exciting me. Calming me. Soothing me. Providing for me. Nourishing me. On and on the list could go…

But then the circumstances of nature and life bring a cold hard reality. Water can kill….suddenly.

Our Father provides many blessings here. My mind can not stretch to understand when and why it seems as though those blessings are withheld and circumstances often feel like curses. I don’t understand why one is taken and another left.

There is a negative side to every physical aspect of this realm. There is no absolute security except in the eternal realm. I am thankful to Him for that truth. I find my peace and security in Him, and commit myself afresh this morning to His care, whatever my future may hold.

“Alongside Babylon’s rivers we sat on the banks we cried and cried, remembering…
Alongside the quaking aspen trees we stacked our unplayed harps…
Oh, how could we ever sing God’s song in this wasteland” (Ps. 137:1,2,4 The Message)


I will never again sit by water and not remember.

Father, as the waves of grief pound, “Restore the joy of Your salvation and grant a willing spirit, to sustain.” (Ps. 51:12)

Tragedy

Tragedy… It comes. No invitation. No respecter of person. And we ask why…

The age old question. Why?

Faith in God nor obedience to Him shuts out afflictions and death.

My heart hurts. Tragedy strikes, friends die, children die, those who survive suffer.

As much as I grieve, I realize that it pales in comparison to the ones who have been left behind. I can only pray that I never get any closer to tragedy than this day.

I do not want to be like Job’s friends, who had all the answers and all the reasons why the bad things that happened to Job had befallen him.

I do not know why God has allowed this tragedy. I do not believe the God I serve caused these awful things to happen. Yet, I know He is all powerful, and could have stopped it. Why He chose not to do so, I can’t imagine.

At the same time, I wonder in what ways He did act during the tragedy.

Who did He comfort and calm as the flood waters swept? Who did He speak to?

In what ways will He minister to families in the days, weeks, and even years to come?

What good will He work out of all this misery and grief?

Of one thing I have absolutely no doubt. He was there.

I know is He is God. And I am not.

I hope, were tragedy to strike much closer to me, that I would say with Job ‘Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.’ (Job 13:15)

Spittin' image

Spittin’ image… That’s what they say about my sons and their daddy. Looks as if I had nothing to do with it. I did.

I woke up this morning with ‘image bearer’ on my mind. Humanity was created by God to bear His image. “God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him, male and female created He them.” (Gen. 1:27)

I am intended to bear the image of God. That was His intention. Of course, that got wrenched up and the rest of history has been HIS-story. The story of redeeming and restoring. God still intends for me to bear His image.

Oh how I want to be the spittin’ image of my Father! Don’t you? Our entire race seems to have lost the knowledge of just who we really are. And we have lost the knowledge of Who our Father is.

Jesus was the spittin’ image. Literally. “…the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” (John 1:14) John continues to tell us that ‘No one has ever seen God….but God…..Who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.’ (vs. 18)

I am so often the spittin’ image of my father Adam. I make poor choices, pick my way, listen to the voices of others while questioning what God has said. That same enemy influences me that influenced Adam.

But I am ‘being transformed into His likeness’ (2 Cor. 3:18) And “my life is gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters my life and I become like Him.” (2Cor. 3:18 The Message)

I can’t grasp how He will accomplish it, but I believe His promises. “Just as I have born the likeness of the earthly man, so shall I bear the likeness of the Man from heaven….I will be changed….” (1 Cor. 15: 49,51)

He has started His work in me. It is an undertaking that will take my entire lifetime.

But the finished work will endure eternity.

Hallelujah !

Stumbling

Stumbling… Have you ever found yourself stumbling around, unable to walk without bumping into something, loosing balance, or even falling down…?

God is often a ‘stone for stumbling’. (Isa. 8:14)

That is hard to swallow at first. But at further study, it makes perfect sense.

When God is not my sanctuary, not placed in the highest place, not calling the shots…then He becomes a stone for my stumbling.

He is to be the center of my existence, I am created (by Him) for that to be so.

When I look to possessions or pleasure, or work, or distractions in activities, or power…or whatever else…then I will find myself contining to stumble over Him!

What is created can never fill the place of God in our lives. No person can do that. No relationship other than the relationship with Him can fill that God-shaped hole.

And when we continue in endeavors to find that satisfaction, we continue to find out that satisfaction is short lived. And we stumble. Over God.

Of all the people in the world, those of us in these United States should wake up to the truth about physical and material wealth. It is never enough. There is always one more thing. More. Bigger. Better. More expensive.

That continuing search is really a stumbling. We are falling right over the God of the universe, the God Who created us and wants to fulfill us in the way He meant for it to be.

I am thankful that He is so long-suffering, that He continues to make attempts to communicate to us how empty our pursuits are. How gracious He is to continue to love us and extend His love and mercy to us. How long will He wait? How far will we fall before we get it? That question is very unsettling to me. Our nation is so much like the situations that Isaiah wrote about.

We are familiar with 2 Ch. 7:14... ‘ If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves….’ but what about the verse before it? ‘WHEN I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land, or send a plague among my people…’ What is He shuts up the heavens to us, or causes our land to be devoured, or allows a plague? Or has that happened…or is that happening?

The displeasure of our God is something to think about. He continues to make us stumble over Him, but for how long? It seems to me He has let us have what we have insisted upon, and it is eroding and consuming us.

Numbers

Numbers… Account numbers, confirmation numbers, drivers license and social security numbers, patient number…. What happened to names?

I don’t like having to keep up with and remember all the numbers !! I remember when all I had was my name, and everything operated on that. Sigh…..not now.

I sometimes feel like I’ve lost a bit of my identity, the people I deal with about things don’t know my name anymore, they want the stinkin’ number. And if you don’t have the right numbers….forget it. I can’t get an order submitted, can’t get a prescription filled, can’t pay a bill..

God is into numbers too. “ ..even the very hairs of your head are all numbered…” ( words of Jesus in Matt. 10:30)

“The Lord knows those who are His” (2Tim. 2:19) Jesus said, “I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…they listen to My voice: I know them, and they follow Me..” (John 10: 14,27)

“I have called you friends..” (John 15:15) Jesus is my friend. He knows my name.


He may have a number for the hairs on my head, but I am not a number to Him, He knows my name.

And I am SO thankful !!!

Answers

Answers… Usually we use words to answer. But answers can be communicated with frowns or smiles….even silence.

The old saying ‘ sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ is an out right lie of the devil.

Words do hurt. Tremendously. There is power in words. And that power can be wielded in positive ways…but to do so is NOT to use stronger words or louder voice.

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) The Message puts it like this, ‘A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire’

I’ve tested it. It is true. But it is difficult to respond with gentle words. The way the majority of the world thinks, strength is displayed in force. But Jesus showed us thru His life, the characteristics and power of gentleness and humility.

Humility is NOT self-degradation. It is knowing the truth about myself, that I am nothing of myself, only valuable because I am created in the image of God, ‘So God created man in His own image’ (Gen. 1:27) and re-created in the image of His Son. ‘I have taken off my old self with its practices and have put on the new self, ‘which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator’ (Col. 3:9,10)

Humility is knowing who I am, and who I am NOT. And BEING who I am, and not TRYing to be who I am not.

Confused yet?

It is fascinating to study the way Jesus answered people. He had ‘the whole world gone after Him!’ (John 12:19) ….which caused much concern in the world of the Pharisees. Great crowds of people gathered around Him wherever He went…. He was ‘gentle and humble in heart’ (Matt. 11:29)

And He was the most powerful man to ever impact this world.

I want to answer like He answered.

Father, ‘create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me’…..help me to always answer with gentleness and never with harsh words…make me more like Jesus today.

Healing...

Healing… I cut my finger quite often. It heals every time. Sometimes I cut the cape laying around a client. It never heals….

Go figure. Think God has anything to do with that ? I do.

I can’t make those cells heal…I can help them NOT heal, by not properly taking care of the injury. Or, I can protect them…by cleanliness, even medicine…but I can’t make a single cell rejuvenate.

I struggle with issues of healing. Even though I believe that God is El Rapha, the God Who heals, He obviously does not heal every time. People die. Young people die.

‘O Lord my God, I called to You for help and You healed me.’ (Ps. 30:2)
‘Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the One I praise.’ (Jer. 17:14)

I wrestle with the fact that many believe, many call on Him, and many still die. Has He said ‘no’? If He has, then what is the deciding factor in His answering?

There was a time when I was afraid to speak with Him about things like this. I thought of Him as an angry old man who scowled down from His throne and shouted ‘because I said so’. ( that was a god made in my image…an image that I conjured up from misunderstandings and believing lies of our enemy..)

I respect that He is God. He does not answer to me. Yet, I am secure in His love, secure enough to take every concern to Him and ask Him to help me understand.

And when I don’t understand, I ask Him to help me accept. Sometimes, there are things beyond my ability to wrap my mind around. ( HE is Elohim, Mighty Creator, certainly not me !)

I know that ‘by His wounds we are healed’ (Isa. 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24)

Sometimes, that healing comes thru a miracle. Instantly. Sometimes, the healing comes thru a pill or injection…even a surgery. Sometimes, thru a series of treatments that are difficult.

Sometimes, I believe the healing comes from death. Healed eternally.

I am thankful today for the physical health I enjoy.

And I am even more thankful to be spiritually healed. For just as I can’t accomplish the healing of my cut finger, neither can I heal myself of the sin disease we all suffer from.

‘By His wounds, I am healed’ (Isa. 53:5) Hallelujah.

Idolatry

Idolatry.. What god do we have? Think there aren’t any gods… think there is only One God Whom we serve ? I wonder….

Molech was a god of the Ammonites in Biblical history. Ammon was the son of Lot, closely related to the Israelites, because Lot was Abraham’s nephew. I don’t know how it happened, and haven’t the time now to research it…but it is true that they worshipped this god called Molech. And the worship practices involved sacrifices. Sacrifices of chidren.

“Oh how horrible!!” we say. How could they do that !?

I can’t explain where the concept came from that placing a child onto the outstretched arms of a brass figure, to roll back into it’s belly and a blazing inferno would have a positive outcome…who comes up with that? What a lie to think that would change anything for the better!

But look at our culture…look at the lies that people believe concerning the care and nurturing of children….or even of allowing the life of a child to be birthed and lived.

We discard children to fend for themselves, raise themselves, barely knowing they exist much less ‘training the child in the way he should go’ (Prov. 22:6)

We sit them in front of some electronic device and let it train the child.. (usually in the way he should NOT go)

We fail so often in saying “Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” (Ps. 34:11)

I think the practice of abortion is the modern Molech. The outstretched arms where we place the unborn to die so that some god can be appeased.

The god of self that doesn’t want the responsibility.

The god of self that is more concerned with personal guilt and shame than life.

The god of self that rejects the idea of sharing personal time, energy, and resources with another person.

The god that worships personal image and beauty, and doesn’t want it marred, even at the cost of another life.

Oh how horrible indeed.

Freedom

Freedom… It cost…… Somebody.

Today is what is called ‘Memorial Day’ in America. A day to remember the sacrifices that made possible the freedoms we enjoy. Freedom is costly.

I haven’t paid any of that price. But many did, and do at this very moment.

I am so grateful.

I do not minimize these blessings. Yet there is another freedom I cherish even more.

“…if the Son sets you free…you will be free indeed.” (Jesus, speaking in John 8:36)

I am proud and thankful to be an American, I cherish the freedoms I have enjoyed my entire life, and want them guarded. Yet they can’t compare with the freedom given me by my Lord Jesus the Christ.

I wonder that we can’t really appreciate the freedom of America, we’ve never known anything else.

But I have known the bondage of sin and law-keeping. I know the difference of being set free.

How I pray that I never experience a difference in my freedom as an American.

God help us as ‘ your people, called by Your Name, to humble ourselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways….then You will hear from heaven and will forgive our sin and will heal our land.’ ( 2 Ch. 7:14 personalized by me)

Memorial...

Memorial… a reminder. To exercise memory, recollect, be mindful of.... remember

This is a holiday week-end we call ‘Memorial Day’. I wonder what will be remembered?

Last year’s bar-b-que?

The rain that spoiled the plans one year?

The beautiful weather for the big party at the lake?

The family reunion?

Or what it cost to have those opportunities....??



Let us not fail to remember those who paid that price. And when you remember….jog somebody else’s memory so they won’t forget either.

I can’t fathom having lost a child to war. Many a mother will spend the next 3 days remembering, God help them all……

Delivery

Delivery.. Hospitals have rooms that are specified for deliveries. Stores have big doorways for theirs. Kevin the UPS guy and Jerry the Fed-Ex guy do a lot of our deliveries…

I’m expecting some deliveries today at the salon. In years past, I was delivered of two healthy baby boys. Big ones, I might add…9 pounders. I was quite ready to be delivered of them too !


Webster defines ‘deliver’ .. to free, to release, rescue, save…to give or to transfer, put into another’s hand or power, pass from one to another.

It can also mean to utter or pronounce, to send forth in words. ( I guess I’m making a delivery as I type this :) … )


Jesus has ‘rescued me from the coming wrath.’ (1Th. 1:10)

“Giving thanks to the Father…for He has rescued me from the dominion of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom I have redemption..’ (Col. 1:12-14 personalized by me)

He has delivered me in many difficult seasons of life. “..I was under great pressure, far beyond my ability to endure, so that I despaired even of life….He has delivered me from such deadly peril….on Him I have set my hope that He will continue to deliver me’ (2 Cor. 1:9,10 personalized by me)

Why? Simply because He is God, He created me, and He loves me. And He loves you too.

He wants to restore us to what we were meant to be before we chose differently…choosing to know evil. ( that tree of the knowledge of good and evil…remember? Be careful, they‘re growing everywhere !! We are wise to stay away from choosing the knowledge of evil…)


That evil is defined for us. It is summarized in Ten Commandments. They were delivered to God’s people thru Moses.

Now, God’s people are delivered from the impossibility of keeping them…. and delivered from the penalty of not doing so. That delivery is called ‘grace’.

‘Set free from sin…and become slaves to God.’ (Rom. 6:22) ‘slaves to righteousness.” (Rom. 6:18) ‘ ..not free from God’s law, but am under Christ’s law’ (1Cor. 9:21)


‘ I am no longer shackled to that domineering mate of sin, and out from under all those oppressive regulations and fine print, I am free to live a new life in the freedom of God.’ (Romans 7:6 The Message, personalized by me)


I am delivered. Are you?

Defining...

Defining… Webster says it is determining the limits, describing the properties… to define is to determine or decide…

What is it that defines you? What determines the way you live your life, the way you spend your time? What factors determine the significance of your very existence? Or who/Who…..?

Can you give a definite answer to that ? It gets complicated to think about for me…and has changed somewhat over the years. My desire is that Jesus Christ is the Who that defines my choices. I don’t always get it right, but I keep trying, and He keeps helping and forgiving.


When I was a child, my parents were the defining element. There were boundaries, very tight ones. I somewhat resented them at the time, but realize as an adult that there was much security in them. Most of my limits were plainly set and decided for me.

As a teenager and young adult, I struggled with defining who I was…it began to be up to me to determine, and it was hard…

I am a wife. When I was a young married woman in a new community, my home-town husband defined me. I got a little frustrated sometimes at being ‘Pinkham’s wife’….the badge he wore defined him, and rightly so…but it sure didn’t define me ! I loved being ‘Kerry’s wife’….but seemed to seldom hear myself to be defined that way.


I am defined by my work. I am a hairdresser. When I meet someone in the grocery store, excuses are offered for the bad hair day. (I promise ….I’m really not inspecting every head of hair I see… :) ….I am NOT the hair police either!!! …)


When we had children, I became largely defined by them. I am a mother. Their mother. My life was lived out meeting their needs and participating in their activities…making choices for them and trying to help them learn to make good decisions.


Now they are grown, one has children of his own. My definition changed… I’m being re-defined… I am MiMi…. (it’s great, by the way… )

It is a process that will be ever-changing as long as I exist. The roles change, the circumstances of life change, and we grow and change with life as it passes.

Moses asked for a definition…he wanted a name....

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”(Ex. 3:13-14)

God says ‘I AM’…. and He IS… Eternal and unchanging in power and character. Stable and secure. He has His very Being of Himself…only Himself. Hard to comprehend….

He says “I AM”…..and I say ‘Yes….You ARE !!’

But I am ever changing, '...being transformed into His likeness..' (2 Cor. 3:18 NIV)'..our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him.' (2 Cor. 3:18 The Message)

Hallelujah.

Adventure

Adventure… to risk, dare, chance…. a bold undertaking, staked upon unforeseen events, of which one has no direction…

When our boys were small and we loaded up in the car to go on a trip, they began asking questions. You know the kind… ‘ where are we going?’… ‘why?’… ‘where are we now?’… ‘when are we going to be there?’ My reply became ‘think of it as an adventure.’

Those who know me best know how ridiculous that really is. I am not very adventurous. I like ordinary. Familiar.

But God is adventurous. And He has said ‘Follow Me.’ (some twenty times in the New Testament)

Following Jesus is simple. Yet very demanding. Certainly adventurous. Never was there a more bold undertaking than stepping out of the glory of heaven into the flesh of humanity, knowing the death that loomed there. He has walked this road, lived this life, and ‘has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin.’ (Heb. 4:15)

And He says ‘Follow Me.’

And I ask ‘where are we going’…. and ‘why?’….

‘Come, follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.’ (Mat. 8:22) He asks me to follow Him above family approval, financial security, or any other condition I might set. He demands complete loyalty. He is first. Period. Nothing is to be placed over a total commitment to Him.

That is tough.

But experience has taught me that when He calls me, He equips me. He secures me. He provides for my needs.

Come on the adventure…. Follow Him !!