The topic of justice has been on my mind a lot lately. There's all kinds of stuff about it in the news, especially as it relates to one of my favorite places to eat: Chick-fil-a. Now, I believe in capitalism which means I think people have every right to protest a business because they don't agree with their practices. As long as the government stays out of it, it's great for everyone. Capitalism only works if people can affect it with their money. Because I happen to agree whole-heartedly with pretty much everything Chick-fil-a does, I will choose to give them my money in exchange for their goods and services. I make this choice often because I support them a lot. I think what they have to offer is extremely unique in the market.
What bothers me about this whole issue of Chick-fil-a being unethical is that there are so many companies that are actually unethical, and yet nobody seems to care. There are companies that exploit their workers and do practice unethical business practice, yet we don't stage boycotts. Is it because this is another battle ground for the war of Christians vs. Homosexuals? When will the world learn that this is not a war?! Never once have I ever been taught by God to go out and attack gay people or make their lives more difficult. But we live in a fallen world where even so-called Christians get it wrong.
So we pick on companies that are actually doing a lot of good in the world and ignoring companies that are trying to maximize profits at the expense of employees. I'm sure you've heard them mentioned. Nestle is one that comes to mind for me. Coffee and chocolate companies are especially known. Textile industries. But, those people are Americans, so they matter less right?
WRONG!!! This is why I care so much. There is so much oppression and violence in the world that we as the most powerful people in the world can't just sit around and ignore it. We so have the power to change it because we are the 1%. All of us. We have the financial power to say, "No, I won't buy anything buy fair trade coffee because I believe everyone deserves a living wage." "No, I won't buy from Nestle because I don't believe in child labor." (Mind you I don't have a ton of research to support what I'm saying. It is based on hear-say and I acknowledge that readily).
I really thing we should turn our attentions to companies that are doing more harm than good instead of focusing on companies we simply don't like. I don't like McDonalds so I don't eat there. I think Puma is disgusting because of how they advertise, so I refuse to look at their products. I feel the same way about Kia and many other products. I choose to buy other products, even if they are inferior, because I don't agree with the companies values. That's what capitalism is all about.
But I've gotten quite off topic from the title. I love that passage in Isaiah because it is filled with such hope about a year where God's favor is just all around. I wonder what would happen if we as Christians declared a year of the Lord's favor and for 365 days did nothing but fight for justice in every aspect of our lives. Think of how much the world would change. If tomorrow, instead of spending money on things I don't need, I sent that money to someone dying of starvation. Or instead of buying a water filter, I bought water for those who don't have drinkable water. Instead of buying new cloths, I gave some away. Think of the change! But no...I'll admit I'm not very good at living out justice. I am trying to change. Someday I may be the one who declares a year of the Lord's favor. There's a lot of logistics there, but I love logistics.
Lord, give us clarity into issues that matter and hills worth dying on. Please let us not get caught up in the emotions of bickering. It's not personal. We are Christians and we cannot be offended. Please let that be true for all who follow You.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
30 July 2012
29 July 2012
Fasting
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
So then, I don't have to go without food for 3 days? Sweet!
No, I really don't think that's why the Lord is saying. I believe that the Lord is saying that He doesn't want to see us pretending or acting out our religion. We too easily go to Church, sing songs, say "I'll be praying for you", but at the end of the day, we are still acting the same and nothing has changed. In this passage, people are holding fasts, but still going about their lives of unrighteousness - oppressing the poor, etc.
Not that I go around oppressing people, but I know I'm guilty of selfishness, which I believe is the heart of this problem. Why do people have fasts? To "get" God to do what they want. Why do people treat others badly? To get what they want. At the end of the day, most people are only motivated by selfishness. This is why I have not fasted. I believe a true fast is when you are desperate for God's deliverance. When you are able to truly come before Him broken and humbled, but not expecting anything. If you assume (for lack of better words) that God will deliver you (because you are selfish, not because you have that much faith) then you are doing it wrong. It's like you're going down a checklist of things to try in order to fix the problem. Chances are these Israelites would have begun praying to their idols next if the fast didn't work out. But a true fast is done out of desperation. Plenty of good examples to look up on your own time. (Esther) But God would rather see us do justice instead of fasting. Instead of pretending to be holy, righteous or religious, He would rather see us go and do the things He's been telling us to do. There is a time and a place for a true fast, but I think 9 times out of 10, we're better off living our lives doing these things. If we live like this everyday, I don't think we'd have to have a real fast. I think God would be looking out for us. Maybe we'd fast for justice in the world where we can't go. That's a topic for another day (social justice). God is really big into justice. It's sort of His thing. Anyone who thinks otherwise obviously hasn't read the Bible or if they did, they need to have their reading skills checked. I reckon God cares more about the orphans, widows, and poor than He does anybody else. He's all about the little guy. So we should be too. We should be living selflessly for others. Doing whatever we can to make the world better for them not for us. And when I say we here, I mean me too. I have a hard time doing these things. Like I said, I get selfish too. I'm not perfect. But, I press on.
Lord, help us to see chances to show true fasting today. Show me places where I can loose the bonds of wickedness and undo straps of the yoke. Show me places where I can free the oppressed and break every yoke. Help me do justice by sharing with the poor and loving all the broken. Show us these opportunities and give us wisdom to recognize the need. Give us courage to fill the need. Guide us towards the needs. Humble us in this way, Lord. Let You work be our delight.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
So then, I don't have to go without food for 3 days? Sweet!
No, I really don't think that's why the Lord is saying. I believe that the Lord is saying that He doesn't want to see us pretending or acting out our religion. We too easily go to Church, sing songs, say "I'll be praying for you", but at the end of the day, we are still acting the same and nothing has changed. In this passage, people are holding fasts, but still going about their lives of unrighteousness - oppressing the poor, etc.
Not that I go around oppressing people, but I know I'm guilty of selfishness, which I believe is the heart of this problem. Why do people have fasts? To "get" God to do what they want. Why do people treat others badly? To get what they want. At the end of the day, most people are only motivated by selfishness. This is why I have not fasted. I believe a true fast is when you are desperate for God's deliverance. When you are able to truly come before Him broken and humbled, but not expecting anything. If you assume (for lack of better words) that God will deliver you (because you are selfish, not because you have that much faith) then you are doing it wrong. It's like you're going down a checklist of things to try in order to fix the problem. Chances are these Israelites would have begun praying to their idols next if the fast didn't work out. But a true fast is done out of desperation. Plenty of good examples to look up on your own time. (Esther) But God would rather see us do justice instead of fasting. Instead of pretending to be holy, righteous or religious, He would rather see us go and do the things He's been telling us to do. There is a time and a place for a true fast, but I think 9 times out of 10, we're better off living our lives doing these things. If we live like this everyday, I don't think we'd have to have a real fast. I think God would be looking out for us. Maybe we'd fast for justice in the world where we can't go. That's a topic for another day (social justice). God is really big into justice. It's sort of His thing. Anyone who thinks otherwise obviously hasn't read the Bible or if they did, they need to have their reading skills checked. I reckon God cares more about the orphans, widows, and poor than He does anybody else. He's all about the little guy. So we should be too. We should be living selflessly for others. Doing whatever we can to make the world better for them not for us. And when I say we here, I mean me too. I have a hard time doing these things. Like I said, I get selfish too. I'm not perfect. But, I press on.
Lord, help us to see chances to show true fasting today. Show me places where I can loose the bonds of wickedness and undo straps of the yoke. Show me places where I can free the oppressed and break every yoke. Help me do justice by sharing with the poor and loving all the broken. Show us these opportunities and give us wisdom to recognize the need. Give us courage to fill the need. Guide us towards the needs. Humble us in this way, Lord. Let You work be our delight.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
28 July 2012
Light Work
And no the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him - for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength - he says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."
This is Jesus. But there's also the wonderful idea of God forming us in our mothers' wombs to be exactly who we are becoming. I love that. I love that God has a plan. I feel so out-of-control sometimes that it is really reassuring to know that at least someone has an idea of what's going on and not only that, that person has also planned for all this to happen. That is really awesome to me.
Jesus wasn't just sent to Israel. That's the other great promise here (and all over the Bible). Sometimes it's hard to feel like I have a share in the inheritance because I have no connection to Israel, but I am an adopted daughter of Abraham through my faith in Jesus. I have a share in the inheritance because Jesus is my light. Such good news!!
Lord, I praise You for the Good News You give in each line of Your Word. I pray I would find peace and strength in these Truths today. You have a plan for me. You love me and have saved me. Praise You for what You do because You know I don't deserve. I am no worthy of Your love. You are good Lord, so good! You have done great things! Praise You for Your good works!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
This is Jesus. But there's also the wonderful idea of God forming us in our mothers' wombs to be exactly who we are becoming. I love that. I love that God has a plan. I feel so out-of-control sometimes that it is really reassuring to know that at least someone has an idea of what's going on and not only that, that person has also planned for all this to happen. That is really awesome to me.
Jesus wasn't just sent to Israel. That's the other great promise here (and all over the Bible). Sometimes it's hard to feel like I have a share in the inheritance because I have no connection to Israel, but I am an adopted daughter of Abraham through my faith in Jesus. I have a share in the inheritance because Jesus is my light. Such good news!!
Lord, I praise You for the Good News You give in each line of Your Word. I pray I would find peace and strength in these Truths today. You have a plan for me. You love me and have saved me. Praise You for what You do because You know I don't deserve. I am no worthy of Your love. You are good Lord, so good! You have done great things! Praise You for Your good works!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
27 July 2012
Nashville
Again in the Muslim prayer guide. Today is talking about Muslims right here at home. For me, Nashville is actually very close to home - 5 or 6 hours maybe. Of course, the guide mentions other cities with large Muslim populations in the South. Atlanta's on the list. So with Muslims all around us, how can we continue to ignore the growing need for our pray and our love. It is important that we not only pray for those Christians in direct contact with Muslims, but also that we act like Christ when we are in direct contact with Muslims. That we don't just sit back saying, "Oh I'll pray for the situation", but that we actually go if God tells us to. As much as prayer can change the world, responding to God's calling in Faith can start a revolution.
Lord, I pray for those on the front lines for You in this country. I pray that You give the Christians the courage to put themselves out there to bridge a cultural divide. I pray You would give them understanding of the unique difficulties of immigrants and refugees entering our country, and that You would give them more than enough love to overcome any misunderstandings. I pray for love for these people that just won't stop. I pray You would call people to love on these people and give us Christians the strength and courage to respond to Your call. To go where You send us. I pray that Nashville would be overrun by Christianity because of all the Muslims coming to know You. I pray You would increase their curiosity and desire to know more about Jesus and more about You, Father. I pray that as Your fire catches in Nashville, it would also catch in Atlanta, Memphis and Louisville. I pray You would raise up Christians to love the Muslims coming into our communities. To fight against the hatred that seems so prevalent towards people of this faith. I pray for courage to go against the so-called evangelic mainstream to really seek after Your will and Your heart. By Your power and Your grace I pray You would change lives!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Lord, grant me grace today. I am not strong enough to face all that comes my way, but in those moments there is nothing but Your grace. Fill me with Your Spirit. Give me just enough strength to live for today and take away all worries about tomorrow.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Lord, I pray for those on the front lines for You in this country. I pray that You give the Christians the courage to put themselves out there to bridge a cultural divide. I pray You would give them understanding of the unique difficulties of immigrants and refugees entering our country, and that You would give them more than enough love to overcome any misunderstandings. I pray for love for these people that just won't stop. I pray You would call people to love on these people and give us Christians the strength and courage to respond to Your call. To go where You send us. I pray that Nashville would be overrun by Christianity because of all the Muslims coming to know You. I pray You would increase their curiosity and desire to know more about Jesus and more about You, Father. I pray that as Your fire catches in Nashville, it would also catch in Atlanta, Memphis and Louisville. I pray You would raise up Christians to love the Muslims coming into our communities. To fight against the hatred that seems so prevalent towards people of this faith. I pray for courage to go against the so-called evangelic mainstream to really seek after Your will and Your heart. By Your power and Your grace I pray You would change lives!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Lord, grant me grace today. I am not strong enough to face all that comes my way, but in those moments there is nothing but Your grace. Fill me with Your Spirit. Give me just enough strength to live for today and take away all worries about tomorrow.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
26 July 2012
Idols
There is no doubt that idolatry is probably the most prevalent sin out there. I would argue that most everything we do is motivated either by God or my some type of idol. I would also argue that this idol is usual the good ole ME. It's ourselves. We worship for lack of better words ourselves. We are consumed with how to please ourselves, how to take care of ourselves, how to make ourselves better, and how to bring ourselves attention. This manifests itself in the pursuit of money, sex, you name it. In ancient times, idolatry worked a little different. People would (so it seems) just go out an make household gods for themselves. The story in Isaiah 44-45 is taking a cedar and using half of it to cook, etc. and the other half became an idol. The man spends hours carving it, wearing himself out, and then falls down an worships something that he just made. It sounds completely insane. I mean, we worship man-made stuff all the time (cellphoooonnnnneeee 0.o) but rarely is it something we just made. Of course, people don't really make stuff anymore. We certainly don't carve things out of wood.
The point is, we take something unholy make it into something else with our unholy hands and then act like it will save us from our life of misery. Maybe money is a good modern day example. We take cloth-paper and pass it around exchanging it for goods and services as if it has some sort of inherent value. We collect numbers in our online banking accounts to gain "wealth" which really is just numbers representing wealth we hope is there when we need it. Nobody keeps stuff that might actually be valuable because we don't need to. So instead of worshiping our fancy stuff that shows we have money (which many do) some sit around dedicating their time to getting more numbers.
The point of this probably hard-to-follow paragraphs is that God wants us. He knows we will wander away to idols - that's why it is the 1st commandment. He gave us hearts that want to follow something. Hearts that want to love something. He wants us to give those hearts to Him. He wants us to love and follow Him. But He made us with choice, so we could chose to go astray. And boy did we chose it! There are so many things to worship in our culture. I went to a school where football wasn't just very important, it was a religion. People were obsessed. We'd gather in the huge stadium to pay tribute to the team. We'd sing together. We'd watch the ritual of the game. It was a big deal. To some, football is a god. But God just shakes His head. He can prove who He is so easily. He could make Himself known. God is a jealous God, but He doesn't have to prove Himself yet. He's got time. Someday, He will reveal Himself, and some people will feel real silly. Praise God, He's fighting for our hearts even as I type (you read). He wants us. Look for His revelation. It is all over.
Lord, tear down our idols. Tear down the high places where we worship. Reveal Yourself to Your people. Open our eyes, ears, and hearts. Show Yourself to the world. I pray still for the Great Revival. I pray You would stir it up in the hearts of many. I pray You would call someone to lead us back to You. I pray for vision in Your Church to see actions. I pray still for the Muslim world as they turn to fasting and pray. I praise You for the discipline and hope and pray that You will turn it into fire for You. They almost know You, I pray that You Jesus would be revealed to them.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
The point is, we take something unholy make it into something else with our unholy hands and then act like it will save us from our life of misery. Maybe money is a good modern day example. We take cloth-paper and pass it around exchanging it for goods and services as if it has some sort of inherent value. We collect numbers in our online banking accounts to gain "wealth" which really is just numbers representing wealth we hope is there when we need it. Nobody keeps stuff that might actually be valuable because we don't need to. So instead of worshiping our fancy stuff that shows we have money (which many do) some sit around dedicating their time to getting more numbers.
The point of this probably hard-to-follow paragraphs is that God wants us. He knows we will wander away to idols - that's why it is the 1st commandment. He gave us hearts that want to follow something. Hearts that want to love something. He wants us to give those hearts to Him. He wants us to love and follow Him. But He made us with choice, so we could chose to go astray. And boy did we chose it! There are so many things to worship in our culture. I went to a school where football wasn't just very important, it was a religion. People were obsessed. We'd gather in the huge stadium to pay tribute to the team. We'd sing together. We'd watch the ritual of the game. It was a big deal. To some, football is a god. But God just shakes His head. He can prove who He is so easily. He could make Himself known. God is a jealous God, but He doesn't have to prove Himself yet. He's got time. Someday, He will reveal Himself, and some people will feel real silly. Praise God, He's fighting for our hearts even as I type (you read). He wants us. Look for His revelation. It is all over.
Lord, tear down our idols. Tear down the high places where we worship. Reveal Yourself to Your people. Open our eyes, ears, and hearts. Show Yourself to the world. I pray still for the Great Revival. I pray You would stir it up in the hearts of many. I pray You would call someone to lead us back to You. I pray for vision in Your Church to see actions. I pray still for the Muslim world as they turn to fasting and pray. I praise You for the discipline and hope and pray that You will turn it into fire for You. They almost know You, I pray that You Jesus would be revealed to them.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
25 July 2012
For His sake
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
What good news!! I feel like I must be obsessed with the idea of not having to earn salvation because I sort of focus on it. It's such an awesome promise!! We don't have to work at being loved by God. Yes, we have to completely change our lives, but if we mess up, it's not the end of the world and it is certainly not the end of God's love and mercy for us. I think that's the promise that means the most to me. If i was stuck having to do enough good works to feel like I have earned favor from the Almighty, I feel like I would always feel like a failure. I have a hard enough time not feeling like a failure as it is. I beat myself up all the time. I have found my self to be a fantastic punching bag. But no, for God's own sake He has forgiven me. Because He wanted to. Never once did He look at me and say, "She earned it. We'll give it to her.", or "She's really trying so why not?" No! He looked at me (and at you) and said, "I love this one. I want this one. I will forgive no matter how much she's done."
Oh thank You, Lord!! I feel covered in love when I think about the grace that He has given me. I didn't deserve His love or His favor or His gift of eternal life, but I have all these things. I have everything because of God. Because of Jesus.
Praise You Lord, for the grace and mercy You give us. Praise You that there is no end. Praise You that it is a free gift that we cannot earn. Praise You for all that You've done. I am overwhelmed by Your goodness. There are no words. Guide me in how You want me to live. Praise You for freedom!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
What good news!! I feel like I must be obsessed with the idea of not having to earn salvation because I sort of focus on it. It's such an awesome promise!! We don't have to work at being loved by God. Yes, we have to completely change our lives, but if we mess up, it's not the end of the world and it is certainly not the end of God's love and mercy for us. I think that's the promise that means the most to me. If i was stuck having to do enough good works to feel like I have earned favor from the Almighty, I feel like I would always feel like a failure. I have a hard enough time not feeling like a failure as it is. I beat myself up all the time. I have found my self to be a fantastic punching bag. But no, for God's own sake He has forgiven me. Because He wanted to. Never once did He look at me and say, "She earned it. We'll give it to her.", or "She's really trying so why not?" No! He looked at me (and at you) and said, "I love this one. I want this one. I will forgive no matter how much she's done."
Oh thank You, Lord!! I feel covered in love when I think about the grace that He has given me. I didn't deserve His love or His favor or His gift of eternal life, but I have all these things. I have everything because of God. Because of Jesus.
Praise You Lord, for the grace and mercy You give us. Praise You that there is no end. Praise You that it is a free gift that we cannot earn. Praise You for all that You've done. I am overwhelmed by Your goodness. There are no words. Guide me in how You want me to live. Praise You for freedom!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
24 July 2012
Egypt
I got this prayer guide for praying for the Muslim community during their celebration of Ramadan. I picked it up mostly because I was interested in learning more about Muslims and Islamic countries. Each day shares different stories or facts about Muslims and Christians in Muslim nations. Today is about Egypt. When you think of Muslim nations, Egypt might not be first on your list. I actually have never know any Egyptians that were Muslim (though the list of Egyptians I know is short). The country is home to the largest Christian minority of all the mainly Muslim nations. Of course, now, with all the political stuff going on there, the presence of Islam is more and more evident. People fear that Egypt will fall to the "Muslim Brotherhood" . This is why we are called to prayer. I can't go change that situation, but my God can. There are plenty of God-fearing evangelicals living in Egypt who are more than willing to respond to God's call to change their country for the Lord. That's why this prayer guide is so great. Situations I never even thought about are brought to my attention. The worst part about society today is how easy it is to sit around and to nothing and later blame it on ignorance.
Not me.
Lord, I lift up this nation Egypt, from where You once called Your people. I pray You give strength to You people there. I pray You protect them from be put into slavery or oppression like the children of Israel so long ago. I pray that Your followers would have the courage to preach Your message and to live a life that reflects Your calling. I pray You would give them guidance to see what they can do. I pray they would continue to be counter-cultural in love. I pray they would act as Joseph and Daniel. I pray that they would not be discouraged when society treats them as lesser citizens, but they would take courage knowing they are citizens of the Kingdom of the One True God. A citizenship that cannot be revoked. I praise You for the great things that are happening for Your name. I praise You for the annual prayer meetings that are held that are sending out missionaries. I pray You would continue to raise up missionaries to the Muslim community. I praise You for the Christian teaching that is able to reach the Egyptians through TV and the internet. I pray there would be sound Biblical teaching that can encourage them and help the grow closer to You. Help them to be encouraged and to bear fruit. Again I praise You for the Christians in this country. I pray their needs would be made known and be filled. Let the Church unite with communities like this one to strengthen and encourage them. I pray this nation would be won over by Your love, in Jesus's name!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Not me.
Lord, I lift up this nation Egypt, from where You once called Your people. I pray You give strength to You people there. I pray You protect them from be put into slavery or oppression like the children of Israel so long ago. I pray that Your followers would have the courage to preach Your message and to live a life that reflects Your calling. I pray You would give them guidance to see what they can do. I pray they would continue to be counter-cultural in love. I pray they would act as Joseph and Daniel. I pray that they would not be discouraged when society treats them as lesser citizens, but they would take courage knowing they are citizens of the Kingdom of the One True God. A citizenship that cannot be revoked. I praise You for the great things that are happening for Your name. I praise You for the annual prayer meetings that are held that are sending out missionaries. I pray You would continue to raise up missionaries to the Muslim community. I praise You for the Christian teaching that is able to reach the Egyptians through TV and the internet. I pray there would be sound Biblical teaching that can encourage them and help the grow closer to You. Help them to be encouraged and to bear fruit. Again I praise You for the Christians in this country. I pray their needs would be made known and be filled. Let the Church unite with communities like this one to strengthen and encourage them. I pray this nation would be won over by Your love, in Jesus's name!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
23 July 2012
35
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
What more promise do you need? This is such a beautiful image to me. I'm a very visual person so it is easy for me to visualize this scene: I see a huge, beautiful, awe-inspiring mountain. The light hits everything perfectly, illuminating the nature awesomeness that is all around. I see a narrow, uneven road (the Way of Holiness), a highway to the Zion. On this road, I see people who look they have been through the wringer, clothes torn, hair out of place, no shoes, etc. But in spite of looking terrible and the road being difficult, they are jumping up and down, dancing, shouting, singing, falling to their knees in unstoppable worship. The One Who Paid the Price is leading them back. They are shouting His praises. The Father is on the mountain, watching the scene, ready to receive His ransomed people. I picture joy and mercy literally falling like rain on these people. Maybe like one of those afternoon showers we get round here where it's still sunny while it pours rain. I see the people rejoicing in this rain. There is nothing bad to be found. Smiles are on every face and tears of gratitude are in every eye (though they are probably pouring down their faces). People who were once lame are running to the mountain. People who were once blind are walking with full sight. People who were sick or broken or what have you are ransomed and redeemed because of their faith and because of what He has done. Following the Good Shepherd. What a sight!
It is a scene I hope to witness someday. It might not be like this. I'm sure it will be much more incredible.
Lord, let the thought of You fill my heart with praise and longing. Let me soul be thirsty for more of You. I praise You for the good promises You've made, and I look forward to the day when they are a reality. Praise You for Your Righteousness, Holiness and above all Mercy. Praise You for the Joy You freely give us!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
What more promise do you need? This is such a beautiful image to me. I'm a very visual person so it is easy for me to visualize this scene: I see a huge, beautiful, awe-inspiring mountain. The light hits everything perfectly, illuminating the nature awesomeness that is all around. I see a narrow, uneven road (the Way of Holiness), a highway to the Zion. On this road, I see people who look they have been through the wringer, clothes torn, hair out of place, no shoes, etc. But in spite of looking terrible and the road being difficult, they are jumping up and down, dancing, shouting, singing, falling to their knees in unstoppable worship. The One Who Paid the Price is leading them back. They are shouting His praises. The Father is on the mountain, watching the scene, ready to receive His ransomed people. I picture joy and mercy literally falling like rain on these people. Maybe like one of those afternoon showers we get round here where it's still sunny while it pours rain. I see the people rejoicing in this rain. There is nothing bad to be found. Smiles are on every face and tears of gratitude are in every eye (though they are probably pouring down their faces). People who were once lame are running to the mountain. People who were once blind are walking with full sight. People who were sick or broken or what have you are ransomed and redeemed because of their faith and because of what He has done. Following the Good Shepherd. What a sight!
It is a scene I hope to witness someday. It might not be like this. I'm sure it will be much more incredible.
Lord, let the thought of You fill my heart with praise and longing. Let me soul be thirsty for more of You. I praise You for the good promises You've made, and I look forward to the day when they are a reality. Praise You for Your Righteousness, Holiness and above all Mercy. Praise You for the Joy You freely give us!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
22 July 2012
Current Events
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in time of trouble.
I can't pretend to know any details or even really more than just the general information about what happened in Colorado. I read a fellow believers blog about being in the actual theatre with her 2 daughters. It was powerful. I can't even imagine a moment like that. I can't even imagine putting a moment like that into words. I can't imagine going through that as a 14-year-old.
This is such a fallen world. When I hear these stories of evil, my heart breaks. Another soul seized by the enemy. The title of that blog entry (and why it caught my attention) was Do You STILL Think God is Merciful? A concept which troubles me because of how against real faith it is. If you are a Christian, you should not expect your life to suddenly become problem and disaster free. If anything you will most likely encounter more trials as all the sudden you have a hoard of anti-Christians (atheists) who are out to prove you are an idiot who perhaps dabbles in hypocrisy and incest. Why all these go along with Jesus I really don't know, but that's fine. If you ever read the Bible, you will never once find any passage that promises an easy, death-free life except those pertaining to the 2nd coming. God promises trials. God promises bad stuff. In fact, God promises it will get worse the closer we get to His return. So do I believe that God allowing people to die is in line with His nature? Well, I believe that is a loaded question. God is perfectly just and righteous. He cannot do evil. Evil is the king of this age. We as humans are completely capable of doing a whole lot of evil. God can stop us, but that's not why He gave us the choice. God wants followers, not slaves. To me, this is kind of a mute point because it has nothing to do with our relationship with God. This is an evil and broken world so stuff will happen. That's life. It's all about how we respond.
Lord, I pray wholeheartedly for those families and friends of victims in Colorado. Lord, You've seen their hurt and You know their needs. Grant them what they need. Grant them eyes to see Your hand working in the midst of these trials. Bring justice to the situation - not man's sense of justice, but Your perfect justice. I pray for the family of the shooter - if they are around. I pray they would have peace in spite of the huge blow. I pray for peace in the hearts of all those affected. I pray for rest in the hearts and minds of all those affected. I pray for unity in the Church to be a solution and a blessing. Grant wisdom to Your followers and discernment to see Your Hand at work.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I can't pretend to know any details or even really more than just the general information about what happened in Colorado. I read a fellow believers blog about being in the actual theatre with her 2 daughters. It was powerful. I can't even imagine a moment like that. I can't even imagine putting a moment like that into words. I can't imagine going through that as a 14-year-old.
This is such a fallen world. When I hear these stories of evil, my heart breaks. Another soul seized by the enemy. The title of that blog entry (and why it caught my attention) was Do You STILL Think God is Merciful? A concept which troubles me because of how against real faith it is. If you are a Christian, you should not expect your life to suddenly become problem and disaster free. If anything you will most likely encounter more trials as all the sudden you have a hoard of anti-Christians (atheists) who are out to prove you are an idiot who perhaps dabbles in hypocrisy and incest. Why all these go along with Jesus I really don't know, but that's fine. If you ever read the Bible, you will never once find any passage that promises an easy, death-free life except those pertaining to the 2nd coming. God promises trials. God promises bad stuff. In fact, God promises it will get worse the closer we get to His return. So do I believe that God allowing people to die is in line with His nature? Well, I believe that is a loaded question. God is perfectly just and righteous. He cannot do evil. Evil is the king of this age. We as humans are completely capable of doing a whole lot of evil. God can stop us, but that's not why He gave us the choice. God wants followers, not slaves. To me, this is kind of a mute point because it has nothing to do with our relationship with God. This is an evil and broken world so stuff will happen. That's life. It's all about how we respond.
Lord, I pray wholeheartedly for those families and friends of victims in Colorado. Lord, You've seen their hurt and You know their needs. Grant them what they need. Grant them eyes to see Your hand working in the midst of these trials. Bring justice to the situation - not man's sense of justice, but Your perfect justice. I pray for the family of the shooter - if they are around. I pray they would have peace in spite of the huge blow. I pray for peace in the hearts of all those affected. I pray for rest in the hearts and minds of all those affected. I pray for unity in the Church to be a solution and a blessing. Grant wisdom to Your followers and discernment to see Your Hand at work.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
21 July 2012
Teacher
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him...And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
I find this to be a wonderfully reassuring promise. That God, though He may send affliction or adversity, still waits to be gracious to us. As we walk in His path, He is always directing us. If we will listen, He will guide us.
I think God is really trying to affirm that wall concept for me, because once again I have found a way to relate it to scripture. God sends these times of adversity, and once His task is finished, He hides himself no longer and begins to show us mercy. This is how I've seen Him work, so I believe it to be true. Blessed is the one who waits for Him for He shall surely come.
Lord, do not leave us long in our affliction and provide rest in spite of the adversity. But above all, let Your purposes be accomplished in our lives. Let Your will be done. Open our ears to hear You and our hearts to receive You. Have mercy on us sinners! Lord, we don't not deserve all the wonderful blessings You have so freely given. Praise You for Your greatness!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I find this to be a wonderfully reassuring promise. That God, though He may send affliction or adversity, still waits to be gracious to us. As we walk in His path, He is always directing us. If we will listen, He will guide us.
I think God is really trying to affirm that wall concept for me, because once again I have found a way to relate it to scripture. God sends these times of adversity, and once His task is finished, He hides himself no longer and begins to show us mercy. This is how I've seen Him work, so I believe it to be true. Blessed is the one who waits for Him for He shall surely come.
Lord, do not leave us long in our affliction and provide rest in spite of the adversity. But above all, let Your purposes be accomplished in our lives. Let Your will be done. Open our ears to hear You and our hearts to receive You. Have mercy on us sinners! Lord, we don't not deserve all the wonderful blessings You have so freely given. Praise You for Your greatness!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
20 July 2012
Righteous Rain
Sew for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Farming metaphors in the Bible are numerous. I personally love them because they are so humble. A haughty farmer is a fool indeed.
Here, instead of chasing after evil, we are called to sew righteousness. To take the fruit of our faith in God and replant it. Now we could take this metaphor to its limits or we can take it a face value, but either way you take it, God wants us to be about the task of sewing and reaping good fruit. As we do this, He will bring the rains we need. He will make our crop grow. And just like a real farmer, we have to remain humble. Plants do not grow solely because the farmer is a hard worker or because of his knowledge. No. Crops grow because of the right mixture of soil, rain, and sun. 2nd graders know this. A farmer is constantly dependent on forces out of his control. This creates a certain amount of humility (or bitterness, depending). So as we wait for God to bring the things our plants need, we are to wait with humility, knowing that our fruit will never appear unless God is merciful to us. We cannot work hard enough or long enough to be righteous. We can till the ground. We can add fertilizer. We can hire hands. We can get a fancy sprinkler system. We can do a rain dance - you know whatever you want to do, but nothing will ever make us righteous. Only with that perfect balance will true righteousness be gained. Or in this case a full crop of righteousness. [Now available at your local farmers' market haha:P]
Lord, help us to stop trying to achieve something we cannot gain in our own power. Help us to stop working to be righteous be our own strength. Help us to be humble, knowing what we deserve and rejoicing always in what we have been given instead: a life with You. Let this be our first thought. Be our First Love. And as we follow after You, let righteousness flow down like rain and fill our lives. Let us bear good fruit. Let us never forget the reason we are here or the reason we do what we do. Let Your glory be our goal, not our own righteousness. For You alone are righteous.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Farming metaphors in the Bible are numerous. I personally love them because they are so humble. A haughty farmer is a fool indeed.
Here, instead of chasing after evil, we are called to sew righteousness. To take the fruit of our faith in God and replant it. Now we could take this metaphor to its limits or we can take it a face value, but either way you take it, God wants us to be about the task of sewing and reaping good fruit. As we do this, He will bring the rains we need. He will make our crop grow. And just like a real farmer, we have to remain humble. Plants do not grow solely because the farmer is a hard worker or because of his knowledge. No. Crops grow because of the right mixture of soil, rain, and sun. 2nd graders know this. A farmer is constantly dependent on forces out of his control. This creates a certain amount of humility (or bitterness, depending). So as we wait for God to bring the things our plants need, we are to wait with humility, knowing that our fruit will never appear unless God is merciful to us. We cannot work hard enough or long enough to be righteous. We can till the ground. We can add fertilizer. We can hire hands. We can get a fancy sprinkler system. We can do a rain dance - you know whatever you want to do, but nothing will ever make us righteous. Only with that perfect balance will true righteousness be gained. Or in this case a full crop of righteousness. [Now available at your local farmers' market haha:P]
Lord, help us to stop trying to achieve something we cannot gain in our own power. Help us to stop working to be righteous be our own strength. Help us to be humble, knowing what we deserve and rejoicing always in what we have been given instead: a life with You. Let this be our first thought. Be our First Love. And as we follow after You, let righteousness flow down like rain and fill our lives. Let us bear good fruit. Let us never forget the reason we are here or the reason we do what we do. Let Your glory be our goal, not our own righteousness. For You alone are righteous.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
19 July 2012
My Husband
And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me "My Husband," and no longer will you call me "My Baal."
So I could pretend I'm really smart and spiritually tuned-in, so I figured out this all by myself...or I could be honest and say I need a little - inspiration. Really, I just wanted to look up the difference in the Hebrew between Baal and Husband. Technically, the 2 words both mean husband. It's just what kind of husband do you want to have. It is fitting to call God our Lord (I do it all the time). That is the meaning of Baal-husband. But how much more wonderful it is to call Him our loving Husband. This is the other word, Ish-husband. And fortunately I know enough Hebrew to know Ishi is "My Husband". A phrase used only 6 other times in the Bible, and this is the only time it references God. I wonder what they use in the New Testament.
Sorry this just became a fun linguistic adventure!!
Interestingly it's a similar word. The point is God doesn't want us to be just as a servant or slave. We are to have a loving relationship founded in choice. He has established a marriage covenant with us. Contrary to popular belief, the bride is supposed to choose whether or not to participate in the covenant. By accepting the covenant, she binds herself to her husband, and he binds himself to her. God has chosen to be faithful to us for ever. He has come to our house and offered the cup. Will you reach out your hand to accept His proposal? God wants to marry us. Marry me. He wants to have love and affection, not just our obedience. And soon, Christ will be coming back to make good on His proposal. He's coming back for His bride. I think technically we aren't fully married yet if what I know about Jewish tradition is right.
See, a man would come to the girl's home to propose. In what bares and non-coincidental resemblance to the Last Supper, the man extends the cup to the girl hoping she'll accept his proposal. If she does, the man goes away to prepare their marriage-house. When the man's father (see where this is going) says that the house is ready and that it is time, the man goes back to get his bride.
Jesus said even He didn't know when He would return. That's the Father's business. Someday Jesus will come back for us His bride. We will be fully married to Him - though we are essentially married now. Jewish engagements in that time were much more serious than engagements in popular culture today. Maybe this is why it doesn't matter who we marry on earth, because we have another waiting in heaven. We don't need to worry about spending eternity with our spouses because we have a bridegroom waiting. I guess for guys this might be harder to grasp, so I guess I'm glad to be a girl right now :P Either way you slice it, God wants us to accept the covenant and to think of Him as our First Love - not as the back-up plan.
אישי, You are my First Love. I know many have tried to lead me astray, but please let me never forget who I am committed to. I have given You my whole heart; please help me to stay focused on You. You know my anxieties and fears; please remove them and give me courage and strength. Look upon me with mercy and steadfast love. I love You!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
So I could pretend I'm really smart and spiritually tuned-in, so I figured out this all by myself...or I could be honest and say I need a little - inspiration. Really, I just wanted to look up the difference in the Hebrew between Baal and Husband. Technically, the 2 words both mean husband. It's just what kind of husband do you want to have. It is fitting to call God our Lord (I do it all the time). That is the meaning of Baal-husband. But how much more wonderful it is to call Him our loving Husband. This is the other word, Ish-husband. And fortunately I know enough Hebrew to know Ishi is "My Husband". A phrase used only 6 other times in the Bible, and this is the only time it references God. I wonder what they use in the New Testament.
Sorry this just became a fun linguistic adventure!!
Interestingly it's a similar word. The point is God doesn't want us to be just as a servant or slave. We are to have a loving relationship founded in choice. He has established a marriage covenant with us. Contrary to popular belief, the bride is supposed to choose whether or not to participate in the covenant. By accepting the covenant, she binds herself to her husband, and he binds himself to her. God has chosen to be faithful to us for ever. He has come to our house and offered the cup. Will you reach out your hand to accept His proposal? God wants to marry us. Marry me. He wants to have love and affection, not just our obedience. And soon, Christ will be coming back to make good on His proposal. He's coming back for His bride. I think technically we aren't fully married yet if what I know about Jewish tradition is right.
See, a man would come to the girl's home to propose. In what bares and non-coincidental resemblance to the Last Supper, the man extends the cup to the girl hoping she'll accept his proposal. If she does, the man goes away to prepare their marriage-house. When the man's father (see where this is going) says that the house is ready and that it is time, the man goes back to get his bride.
Jesus said even He didn't know when He would return. That's the Father's business. Someday Jesus will come back for us His bride. We will be fully married to Him - though we are essentially married now. Jewish engagements in that time were much more serious than engagements in popular culture today. Maybe this is why it doesn't matter who we marry on earth, because we have another waiting in heaven. We don't need to worry about spending eternity with our spouses because we have a bridegroom waiting. I guess for guys this might be harder to grasp, so I guess I'm glad to be a girl right now :P Either way you slice it, God wants us to accept the covenant and to think of Him as our First Love - not as the back-up plan.
אישי, You are my First Love. I know many have tried to lead me astray, but please let me never forget who I am committed to. I have given You my whole heart; please help me to stay focused on You. You know my anxieties and fears; please remove them and give me courage and strength. Look upon me with mercy and steadfast love. I love You!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
18 July 2012
And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because God had prepared for the people, for the thing came about suddenly.
When the Spirit moves, people are usually amazed. Sometimes you get together with other believers with a plan for it to be a cool worship experience, and then God shows up. When God has prepared something great, it is a fearsome thing to behold. Not because it's scary - well I guess it is scary if you are an outsider. I think it's fearsome because it is God's power on display. When people are filled with the Spirit, there's just no stopping it. When God does more than just come to His worshipers, when He does something in them, it is an amazing experience.
I remember my freshman year of college, I was at the regular Wednesday nigh Wesley meeting. I don't remember what was spoken or what we sang or how it happened, but the next thing you know, it's 2 in the morning. Wesley started at like 8. It was crazy how the Spirit just fell upon that place, and we couldn't stop worshiping our Father. It was an experience they tried to repeat in coming weeks without much success. Even I, cold-hearted as I had become, was moved. If only I had listened.
But that's neither here nor there. The point is God can far exceed our expectations when we least expect it. When He does, all we can do is continue to praise Him. He does what He wants, and that's why it's so amazing! What God wants is usually so perfect or ironic in someway that it's just awesome! Maybe it's because we are so small and so unable to comprehend His ways, but when I see the Hand of God in a situation, my heart fills with joy, the silly grin on my face grows, and I can't help but praise Him. He prepares us all the time for the things He is planning. Who knows what He has in store for you today? If you keep your heart open, who knows what you may see? I don't think God is as quiet or still as we sometimes think. Look for Him today; I know you will find Him.
Lord, open my eyes to see You at work today. Let me spend my day in worship-filled reflection of Your goodness. Let my heart be set on You. Let the works of Your hand be my meditation. Let me only see You. Let Your will be done. As You move to touch lives and hearts, allow me to follow. Let me live with humility and in worship (that my heart should always be prostrate before You). Oh my Father, how lovely and powerful You are. How beyond comprehension are Your ways! How wonderful the works of Your hand! I cannot get enough of all that You do!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
When the Spirit moves, people are usually amazed. Sometimes you get together with other believers with a plan for it to be a cool worship experience, and then God shows up. When God has prepared something great, it is a fearsome thing to behold. Not because it's scary - well I guess it is scary if you are an outsider. I think it's fearsome because it is God's power on display. When people are filled with the Spirit, there's just no stopping it. When God does more than just come to His worshipers, when He does something in them, it is an amazing experience.
I remember my freshman year of college, I was at the regular Wednesday nigh Wesley meeting. I don't remember what was spoken or what we sang or how it happened, but the next thing you know, it's 2 in the morning. Wesley started at like 8. It was crazy how the Spirit just fell upon that place, and we couldn't stop worshiping our Father. It was an experience they tried to repeat in coming weeks without much success. Even I, cold-hearted as I had become, was moved. If only I had listened.
But that's neither here nor there. The point is God can far exceed our expectations when we least expect it. When He does, all we can do is continue to praise Him. He does what He wants, and that's why it's so amazing! What God wants is usually so perfect or ironic in someway that it's just awesome! Maybe it's because we are so small and so unable to comprehend His ways, but when I see the Hand of God in a situation, my heart fills with joy, the silly grin on my face grows, and I can't help but praise Him. He prepares us all the time for the things He is planning. Who knows what He has in store for you today? If you keep your heart open, who knows what you may see? I don't think God is as quiet or still as we sometimes think. Look for Him today; I know you will find Him.
Lord, open my eyes to see You at work today. Let me spend my day in worship-filled reflection of Your goodness. Let my heart be set on You. Let the works of Your hand be my meditation. Let me only see You. Let Your will be done. As You move to touch lives and hearts, allow me to follow. Let me live with humility and in worship (that my heart should always be prostrate before You). Oh my Father, how lovely and powerful You are. How beyond comprehension are Your ways! How wonderful the works of Your hand! I cannot get enough of all that You do!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
17 July 2012
Commentary
At the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she will return to her wages and will prostitute herself with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. Her merchandise and her wages will be holy to the Lord. It will not be stored or hoarded, but her merchandise will supply abundant food and fine clothing for those who dwell before the Lord.
At first these 2 verses were really confusing to me. Then, I looked them up in a trusty Bible commentary, and I found what I thought was going on was sort of right. It's not saying that Tyre will return to sin and that will be glorifying to the Lord. No. That would be crazy. What it is saying is that Tyre will return to the same job as before, but this time in order to glorify the Lord instead of prostituting themselves or valuing something else before God.
I think it relates to the wall concept I discussed yesterday. God removed everything in Tyre and sent them away for seventy years. Once that time of pruning was up, they returned. Was there a dramatic life change in what they were supposed to be doing? No. But there was a dramatic change in how they were supposed to be doing it. Instead of trading with other nations in order to glorify themselves or to get something they wanted, they were trading in order to bring glory to God. Their motives changed as a result of God's punishment. This is the appropriate response. I think I read it yesterday, but there is a passage in Isaiah were God is removing things from a people (Israel probably) expecting them to turn to sackcloth, ashes, weeping, and humility. But noooo. They start drinking and partying for "tomorrow we die!"
That's so the attitude of this age. God is trying to make us better, but instead of responding in humility we respond with carpe diem. Are we so shallow that the only thing that matters is our own enjoyment of life? Are we so dense that we only think it can come on those terms? Are we so foolish to not see that a life without all of those things is actually a life? Without God, we are always dying. With God, we live forever. I'm not sure people think about that.
Lord, let humiliation be our first response. Let us come to You knowing how undeserving we are. Let us not forget what You have done for us and how we don't deserve it. Lord have mercy on us sinners!!! Praise You for that mercy!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
At first these 2 verses were really confusing to me. Then, I looked them up in a trusty Bible commentary, and I found what I thought was going on was sort of right. It's not saying that Tyre will return to sin and that will be glorifying to the Lord. No. That would be crazy. What it is saying is that Tyre will return to the same job as before, but this time in order to glorify the Lord instead of prostituting themselves or valuing something else before God.
I think it relates to the wall concept I discussed yesterday. God removed everything in Tyre and sent them away for seventy years. Once that time of pruning was up, they returned. Was there a dramatic life change in what they were supposed to be doing? No. But there was a dramatic change in how they were supposed to be doing it. Instead of trading with other nations in order to glorify themselves or to get something they wanted, they were trading in order to bring glory to God. Their motives changed as a result of God's punishment. This is the appropriate response. I think I read it yesterday, but there is a passage in Isaiah were God is removing things from a people (Israel probably) expecting them to turn to sackcloth, ashes, weeping, and humility. But noooo. They start drinking and partying for "tomorrow we die!"
That's so the attitude of this age. God is trying to make us better, but instead of responding in humility we respond with carpe diem. Are we so shallow that the only thing that matters is our own enjoyment of life? Are we so dense that we only think it can come on those terms? Are we so foolish to not see that a life without all of those things is actually a life? Without God, we are always dying. With God, we live forever. I'm not sure people think about that.
Lord, let humiliation be our first response. Let us come to You knowing how undeserving we are. Let us not forget what You have done for us and how we don't deserve it. Lord have mercy on us sinners!!! Praise You for that mercy!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
16 July 2012
The Wall
No, I'm not talking about the wall I sometimes hit while reading scriptures. I was never a strong reader so sometimes I just stare at passages and wonder if it really was in English or if I just imagined it...
What I want to talk about is something I read about yesterday from a book by some guy who I don't know the name of. Anyway, the chapter was about The Wall the Christians must inevitably hit in their journey to Christ. At first I had a difficult time swallowing this concept...I still don't think it's digesting well. I get it. It seems sound, but to make it seem so hard and fast - like some sort of turning point in our Christian journeys...I don't know. All the same I wanted to share it and maybe make sense of it along the way.
So the idea is that somewhere between our initial response to doing our Faith instead of just having faith and the point where we begin to follow God with true humility there's this wall. It's like a season of intense trials where God is refining us with fire. Pruning us. It's all over scripture. John 15 is one I've looked at recently. God doesn't want us to stay immature so He presents us with these trials. We can either grow or stay the same. Either way, it passes. It's all about our response. The shallow Christian will just pretend everything is hunky-dory while inwardly they are questioning everything they ever believed. The immature Christian might walk away all together. The Christ-pursuer (I feel like this is a good phrase for it) will continue to remain faithful to Christ while being honest about where they are. I'm angry. I don't know where God is. Think of Job. However, the trick is to not go too far and start a little pity-party about how awful your life is. I'm really good at through pity-parties, so I'm speaking from experience. So after staying faithful and seeking God even if you don't hear from Him, you eventually learn to let go of all the things that were in the way.
For me it was many things, but most of all it was boys. I was soooooo immature back when I hit my first wall, that I easily forgot about God in order to think about getting into a relationship. Several bad decisions and months later, I was left with torn apart friend groups and a brokenness that just wouldn't quit. It sucked. And it kept on sucking for a loooonnngg time. I still can't put my finger on everything that changed about me as a result of that season. Most of all, God showed me that at the end of the day the only thing that will always be faithful and will always be there is Him. He poured soooo much love on me that I couldn't take it. He showed me my real friends and enabled me to form relationships that have lasted. The anger lasted a long time. God finally helped me forgive. I feel so much wiser and so much more secure in who I am.
Of course, that wasn't the end of it. Then I had to go and be an adult. I had so much pride in my abilities coming into Grad school and then coming into my first year of teaching. Oh my goodness, it was ridiculous. Well, it didn't take long for me to hit a wall in both experiences. This past year, I have been 100% dependent on God everyday for everything. I mean everything. Part of me never wants to leave that place because I know I tend to rely on myself too much.
Even thinking of the fact that I have had these types of wall-ish experiences causes me to be prideful. I dream of being a Spiritual leader for many. I want to be wise and a teacher of the Word. But I want it to be for God's glory. I want to be like Paul. I want to be a force to be reckoned with. The biggest problem is that the subject of all those sentences was I. I really don't matter so it shouldn't be about I at all. It's all about God. That's what I've learned from all of these experiences and that's exactly what a wall is supposed to teach you: at the end of the day only one thing remains. You can try and hold onto control or things or whatever it is, but God can and most likely will take it all away. If He's going to use you, He needs your whole heart.
So if He's taking things away, think of it as a sign that He's about to do something great. Of course, getting on God's path and being used for Him is probably more difficult than losing whatever we're holding onto. That's just my opinion.
Lord, help me to fade away. Let there be more of You. As my next year of teaching approaches, fill me with Your Spirit and Your Power in Jesus' name to be what I need to be. Let me go with humility and poverty of spirit. Let me go with wisdom. Let me never forget the valuable lessons You have taught me, but let me forget the hurt that others may have caused me. Fill my life with You and only You. More of You and less of me. Forever and always!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
What I want to talk about is something I read about yesterday from a book by some guy who I don't know the name of. Anyway, the chapter was about The Wall the Christians must inevitably hit in their journey to Christ. At first I had a difficult time swallowing this concept...I still don't think it's digesting well. I get it. It seems sound, but to make it seem so hard and fast - like some sort of turning point in our Christian journeys...I don't know. All the same I wanted to share it and maybe make sense of it along the way.
So the idea is that somewhere between our initial response to doing our Faith instead of just having faith and the point where we begin to follow God with true humility there's this wall. It's like a season of intense trials where God is refining us with fire. Pruning us. It's all over scripture. John 15 is one I've looked at recently. God doesn't want us to stay immature so He presents us with these trials. We can either grow or stay the same. Either way, it passes. It's all about our response. The shallow Christian will just pretend everything is hunky-dory while inwardly they are questioning everything they ever believed. The immature Christian might walk away all together. The Christ-pursuer (I feel like this is a good phrase for it) will continue to remain faithful to Christ while being honest about where they are. I'm angry. I don't know where God is. Think of Job. However, the trick is to not go too far and start a little pity-party about how awful your life is. I'm really good at through pity-parties, so I'm speaking from experience. So after staying faithful and seeking God even if you don't hear from Him, you eventually learn to let go of all the things that were in the way.
For me it was many things, but most of all it was boys. I was soooooo immature back when I hit my first wall, that I easily forgot about God in order to think about getting into a relationship. Several bad decisions and months later, I was left with torn apart friend groups and a brokenness that just wouldn't quit. It sucked. And it kept on sucking for a loooonnngg time. I still can't put my finger on everything that changed about me as a result of that season. Most of all, God showed me that at the end of the day the only thing that will always be faithful and will always be there is Him. He poured soooo much love on me that I couldn't take it. He showed me my real friends and enabled me to form relationships that have lasted. The anger lasted a long time. God finally helped me forgive. I feel so much wiser and so much more secure in who I am.
Of course, that wasn't the end of it. Then I had to go and be an adult. I had so much pride in my abilities coming into Grad school and then coming into my first year of teaching. Oh my goodness, it was ridiculous. Well, it didn't take long for me to hit a wall in both experiences. This past year, I have been 100% dependent on God everyday for everything. I mean everything. Part of me never wants to leave that place because I know I tend to rely on myself too much.
Even thinking of the fact that I have had these types of wall-ish experiences causes me to be prideful. I dream of being a Spiritual leader for many. I want to be wise and a teacher of the Word. But I want it to be for God's glory. I want to be like Paul. I want to be a force to be reckoned with. The biggest problem is that the subject of all those sentences was I. I really don't matter so it shouldn't be about I at all. It's all about God. That's what I've learned from all of these experiences and that's exactly what a wall is supposed to teach you: at the end of the day only one thing remains. You can try and hold onto control or things or whatever it is, but God can and most likely will take it all away. If He's going to use you, He needs your whole heart.
So if He's taking things away, think of it as a sign that He's about to do something great. Of course, getting on God's path and being used for Him is probably more difficult than losing whatever we're holding onto. That's just my opinion.
Lord, help me to fade away. Let there be more of You. As my next year of teaching approaches, fill me with Your Spirit and Your Power in Jesus' name to be what I need to be. Let me go with humility and poverty of spirit. Let me go with wisdom. Let me never forget the valuable lessons You have taught me, but let me forget the hurt that others may have caused me. Fill my life with You and only You. More of You and less of me. Forever and always!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
15 July 2012
In the tent
When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, then a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.
Jesus. After the tribulations of the end times, then will be established the throne of Jesus. He judges and seeks justice. He is not corrupted by worldly concerns but is swift to do righteousness. Love that phrase.
Now it's a little weird because this verse is in the middle of passages about the destruction of different people groups, and we could probably have a really nice philosophical discussion about what it all means; though that is one of my favorite things to do in the morning (really, that isn't sarcasm - I'm a HUGE morning person), I figure I don't really know enough about Biblical history or prophesy to go there. What I do know is that throughout the Bible, sometimes certain nations are actually metaphors for others. Because it was written before the world as we know it existed, we have a lot of countries they would never have thought to exist. So just because it says Moab or Babylon doesn't always mean those places. I think this might be one of those times. I'm sure God poured out justice on whoever these Moabites are, but I also think they represent someone who is around today or will be soon. I firmly believe we are living in the end times, but it's not like the world is going to end tomorrow (or in December). I mean, things are bad, but from what I know of people, it can get a whole lot worse. I reckon it will.
Anyway, all that matters is when it's all said and done, Jesus will be King. Some of us will get to enjoy that peace and joy for all eternity. I hope and pray that it is a most everyone. It will be a vast multitude beyond measure.
Partay!!
Lord, turn this world toward You! Bring revival to the young. Bring renewal to the old. Send Your Spirit into this earth and into Your followers. Send us out with Your Spirit and Your Truth. Give us Your words and Your wisdom. Allow us to be like You. Thank You, Praise You for looking on us with favor and for the gift of eternal life!! You alone deserve all our love!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Jesus. After the tribulations of the end times, then will be established the throne of Jesus. He judges and seeks justice. He is not corrupted by worldly concerns but is swift to do righteousness. Love that phrase.
Now it's a little weird because this verse is in the middle of passages about the destruction of different people groups, and we could probably have a really nice philosophical discussion about what it all means; though that is one of my favorite things to do in the morning (really, that isn't sarcasm - I'm a HUGE morning person), I figure I don't really know enough about Biblical history or prophesy to go there. What I do know is that throughout the Bible, sometimes certain nations are actually metaphors for others. Because it was written before the world as we know it existed, we have a lot of countries they would never have thought to exist. So just because it says Moab or Babylon doesn't always mean those places. I think this might be one of those times. I'm sure God poured out justice on whoever these Moabites are, but I also think they represent someone who is around today or will be soon. I firmly believe we are living in the end times, but it's not like the world is going to end tomorrow (or in December). I mean, things are bad, but from what I know of people, it can get a whole lot worse. I reckon it will.
Anyway, all that matters is when it's all said and done, Jesus will be King. Some of us will get to enjoy that peace and joy for all eternity. I hope and pray that it is a most everyone. It will be a vast multitude beyond measure.
Partay!!
Lord, turn this world toward You! Bring revival to the young. Bring renewal to the old. Send Your Spirit into this earth and into Your followers. Send us out with Your Spirit and Your Truth. Give us Your words and Your wisdom. Allow us to be like You. Thank You, Praise You for looking on us with favor and for the gift of eternal life!! You alone deserve all our love!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
14 July 2012
Signs and Wonders
And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced.
It doesn't take long for a miraculous event to become more of a story than a history. Just look at Israel. It didn't take them very long at all to start doing what we do: think the Bible is a nice moral lesson, but not 100% truth. I mean, you look at the story in Genesis it took them all of 2 weeks to forget that the God they were following had led them across the sea on dry land. Because that happens all the time. No big deal. Golden calves are way better than gods who part waters. I mean, really?!
So 2,000 years after Jesus, it's no wonder people are skeptical. It's hard to trust anything people say, even if they were first-hand witnesses. It's hard to believe something just because someone said it happened. It's hard to follow a God that is so against logic.
God sends warnings. He sends prophets. His Spirit is all over the place moving and working, and yet people can easily just keep moving about their lives. I don't know how, but they can. It's all a metaphor. It's just a moral lesson. None of it could have really happened.
But it did. All of it. Word for word.
Lord, open the eyes of my generation to see You! We have a burning passion for justice and for Truth, and I know that is from You. You want us out there changing the world, and You have given us the skills and the drive. We may be a sin-filled generation, but we are also world-changers. I pray You turn us away from our idols, and draw us back to our Beloved Maker. Reveal Yourself to this generation. Stir up something incredible. Open their ears to hear Your Truth. Open their eyes to see You working. Open their hearts to receive Your Spirit. Let them not be like Pharaoh with his hardened heart. Let them not be ever-seeing but never perceiving. Give them discernment and wisdom to know where this Good News is coming from. Let them proclaim freedom from all the corners of the earth. Let us break the shackles of slavery and bondage. Of injustice and poverty. Let Your Kingdom come!!! Oh Father, let Your will be done!! Use my generation to change the game. I pray for each and every person between 20-30. Let us be ON FIRE for You! Let it be a flame that never dies!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
It doesn't take long for a miraculous event to become more of a story than a history. Just look at Israel. It didn't take them very long at all to start doing what we do: think the Bible is a nice moral lesson, but not 100% truth. I mean, you look at the story in Genesis it took them all of 2 weeks to forget that the God they were following had led them across the sea on dry land. Because that happens all the time. No big deal. Golden calves are way better than gods who part waters. I mean, really?!
So 2,000 years after Jesus, it's no wonder people are skeptical. It's hard to trust anything people say, even if they were first-hand witnesses. It's hard to believe something just because someone said it happened. It's hard to follow a God that is so against logic.
God sends warnings. He sends prophets. His Spirit is all over the place moving and working, and yet people can easily just keep moving about their lives. I don't know how, but they can. It's all a metaphor. It's just a moral lesson. None of it could have really happened.
But it did. All of it. Word for word.
Lord, open the eyes of my generation to see You! We have a burning passion for justice and for Truth, and I know that is from You. You want us out there changing the world, and You have given us the skills and the drive. We may be a sin-filled generation, but we are also world-changers. I pray You turn us away from our idols, and draw us back to our Beloved Maker. Reveal Yourself to this generation. Stir up something incredible. Open their ears to hear Your Truth. Open their eyes to see You working. Open their hearts to receive Your Spirit. Let them not be like Pharaoh with his hardened heart. Let them not be ever-seeing but never perceiving. Give them discernment and wisdom to know where this Good News is coming from. Let them proclaim freedom from all the corners of the earth. Let us break the shackles of slavery and bondage. Of injustice and poverty. Let Your Kingdom come!!! Oh Father, let Your will be done!! Use my generation to change the game. I pray for each and every person between 20-30. Let us be ON FIRE for You! Let it be a flame that never dies!
AMEN. AMEN. AMEN.
13 July 2012
What the people want
If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," he would be the preacher for this people!
Ouch. That would sting. Micah is saying that these people would only listen to someone who lied to them and preached the good news of drinking. Sounds like some voices in today's culture...
I was watching a sitcom last night, which I rarely do, and I was once again amazed by the emphasis on that kind of lifestyle. It's okay to go out and get drunk. Or stay in and get drunk. Go ahead - have meaningless sex. Or wait until you and your boyfriend/girlfriend are committed enough (whatever that means). Eat, drink and be merry for who knows when we shall die? That's kind of the mindset of most people. Most people don't really see problems with this type of living, and I would reckon that even though they may be hurting as a result of these life choices, they probably don't see the choices as the problem but rather the people involved.
But we like to listen to those lies. It feels good. If everyone is doing it, and they are mostly good people, how can it be wrong?
All I know is that it really slims down the pool of potential mates if you're not into that kind of stuff...which isn't a bad thing. Being a Christian, I'm allowed to have standards and I'm allowed to make them really high. No one will judge me any more because of that (mostly because they'll already think I'm an uptight goody-goody because I'm a Christian). I'll be honest - sometimes I am an uptight goody-goody.
Anyway, the whole point of this is that people want to hear what they want to hear. They don't really care about Truth, especially when it is unpleasant. They don't really care about God because He's always asking us to do "the right thing" and "care about others" and "not thinking only about myself". I mean, who does that? We are people too! Don't we have a right to make our own choices? Don't we have a right to enjoy ourselves while we're here? I mean what kind of so-called loving god would ask us to live like monks!?
Too bad it is a choice. Too bad it's way more fulfilling than they other path. Too bad God has given me more joy than I know what to do with sometimes. In the midst of crappy days. In the midst of confusion and chaos. My God is still there and life is still fun. I have chosen to give up things the world says are fun to pursue the things that are actually fun. I've decided to ignore the lies and follow the Truth. Because, again, contrary to popular belief, Truth is real and there is just one. A world of black or white may seem harsh, but if you look around enough, it's all you see.
So before you listen to the wind and lies of a false teacher, perhaps you should think about what is really going to make you happy. Constantly trying to fulfill your own selfish desires, or living the life God has planned for you.
Many will come, but only some will hear.
Lord, I pray that the lies of the enemy would be quieted by Your Truth. I pray You would continue to bring revival to this world. I pray that the king of this age would be losing His footing. I pray for new believers and I pray that they would be strengthened each day to draw closer to You and farther from this world. I pray that You would continue to send out Your Church to speak against the lies. I pray for the Spirit to fall upon our nation that we might lead the change and lead the movement back to You. I'm ready for the Great Revival of 2012. Let Your will be done!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Ouch. That would sting. Micah is saying that these people would only listen to someone who lied to them and preached the good news of drinking. Sounds like some voices in today's culture...
I was watching a sitcom last night, which I rarely do, and I was once again amazed by the emphasis on that kind of lifestyle. It's okay to go out and get drunk. Or stay in and get drunk. Go ahead - have meaningless sex. Or wait until you and your boyfriend/girlfriend are committed enough (whatever that means). Eat, drink and be merry for who knows when we shall die? That's kind of the mindset of most people. Most people don't really see problems with this type of living, and I would reckon that even though they may be hurting as a result of these life choices, they probably don't see the choices as the problem but rather the people involved.
But we like to listen to those lies. It feels good. If everyone is doing it, and they are mostly good people, how can it be wrong?
All I know is that it really slims down the pool of potential mates if you're not into that kind of stuff...which isn't a bad thing. Being a Christian, I'm allowed to have standards and I'm allowed to make them really high. No one will judge me any more because of that (mostly because they'll already think I'm an uptight goody-goody because I'm a Christian). I'll be honest - sometimes I am an uptight goody-goody.
Anyway, the whole point of this is that people want to hear what they want to hear. They don't really care about Truth, especially when it is unpleasant. They don't really care about God because He's always asking us to do "the right thing" and "care about others" and "not thinking only about myself". I mean, who does that? We are people too! Don't we have a right to make our own choices? Don't we have a right to enjoy ourselves while we're here? I mean what kind of so-called loving god would ask us to live like monks!?
Too bad it is a choice. Too bad it's way more fulfilling than they other path. Too bad God has given me more joy than I know what to do with sometimes. In the midst of crappy days. In the midst of confusion and chaos. My God is still there and life is still fun. I have chosen to give up things the world says are fun to pursue the things that are actually fun. I've decided to ignore the lies and follow the Truth. Because, again, contrary to popular belief, Truth is real and there is just one. A world of black or white may seem harsh, but if you look around enough, it's all you see.
So before you listen to the wind and lies of a false teacher, perhaps you should think about what is really going to make you happy. Constantly trying to fulfill your own selfish desires, or living the life God has planned for you.
Many will come, but only some will hear.
Lord, I pray that the lies of the enemy would be quieted by Your Truth. I pray You would continue to bring revival to this world. I pray that the king of this age would be losing His footing. I pray for new believers and I pray that they would be strengthened each day to draw closer to You and farther from this world. I pray that You would continue to send out Your Church to speak against the lies. I pray for the Spirit to fall upon our nation that we might lead the change and lead the movement back to You. I'm ready for the Great Revival of 2012. Let Your will be done!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
12 July 2012
The Righteous Reign of the Branch
Isaiah 11: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
This is my King. Israel has been led astray by so many kings. Judah had some ok kings but many that still did not follow wholeheartedly after God. The house of Jacob is longing for a King that will rule over them in justice and righteousness. They are waiting for Jesus. And when He comes for a second time (it makes it clear that He's coming back to reign) He will make a wide path home for all His people of the house of Jacob. Just like He called them out of Egypt, so will He call them out of this captivity. But this time, instead of slavery to a man, I think it's slavery to the law. Jesus is in the business of freeing captives; He's sort of the ultimate Abolishonist. He wants to free His people from slavery to the Law that He gave them. It says in Galatians that the Law was given to bind up and enslave so that Jesus may set free through faith. (I'm probably misquoting, but the idea is the same - Galatians 4). So the Jews have been living for thousands of years now enslaved to this code for righteousness that can never be followed. It is impossible to be righteous according to the Law. However, the King is coming to reign in righteousness and to show His people a way through faith. He's coming back. He hasn't reigned yet. He's only come to tell of how things will be. Like His father David, He has to wait a few years while someone else is still on the thrown. God has already anointed Him. We know He will be King. The king of this age (Satan) knows it too.
Sidebar, how crazy is Satan? Does he really think that things will end differently? I mean, how does he think things will turn out? Questions to ask when I get to heaven.
Anyway, He will call His people back to His mountain. He waits for me there.
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples - of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious.
In the KJV this verse mentions the gentiles specifically. Jesus, the root of Jesse, will stand as a signal for His people to find their way home, and we, the gentiles, will be able to be saved and brought home as heirs to the promise. The promise is not the Law but Faith in Jesus. I have been made right through faith. Not because of anything that I have done, but because I believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that He is more than able to do everything that He says He did. He can save me. He can bring back to life. He can do miracles. Most of all, He can make me white as snow. Do I deserve it? No. I'm not of the house of Jacob. I shouldn't have any claim in the promise. But I do. I am a gentile, and I am seeking my King.
He waits for me there.
Lord, praise You for Your coming Reign. You are glorious!! You and You alone! To You belong all glory, honor and praise! To You I give my whole heart! You have saved me, and You are calling me home! Let me come running! Let me even start running now! Let me run the race You have set out before me WITH ENDURANCE!! Let my feet never tire of chasing after You!
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
This is my King. Israel has been led astray by so many kings. Judah had some ok kings but many that still did not follow wholeheartedly after God. The house of Jacob is longing for a King that will rule over them in justice and righteousness. They are waiting for Jesus. And when He comes for a second time (it makes it clear that He's coming back to reign) He will make a wide path home for all His people of the house of Jacob. Just like He called them out of Egypt, so will He call them out of this captivity. But this time, instead of slavery to a man, I think it's slavery to the law. Jesus is in the business of freeing captives; He's sort of the ultimate Abolishonist. He wants to free His people from slavery to the Law that He gave them. It says in Galatians that the Law was given to bind up and enslave so that Jesus may set free through faith. (I'm probably misquoting, but the idea is the same - Galatians 4). So the Jews have been living for thousands of years now enslaved to this code for righteousness that can never be followed. It is impossible to be righteous according to the Law. However, the King is coming to reign in righteousness and to show His people a way through faith. He's coming back. He hasn't reigned yet. He's only come to tell of how things will be. Like His father David, He has to wait a few years while someone else is still on the thrown. God has already anointed Him. We know He will be King. The king of this age (Satan) knows it too.
Sidebar, how crazy is Satan? Does he really think that things will end differently? I mean, how does he think things will turn out? Questions to ask when I get to heaven.
Anyway, He will call His people back to His mountain. He waits for me there.
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples - of Him shall the nations inquire, and His resting place shall be glorious.
In the KJV this verse mentions the gentiles specifically. Jesus, the root of Jesse, will stand as a signal for His people to find their way home, and we, the gentiles, will be able to be saved and brought home as heirs to the promise. The promise is not the Law but Faith in Jesus. I have been made right through faith. Not because of anything that I have done, but because I believe that Jesus is who He says He is and that He is more than able to do everything that He says He did. He can save me. He can bring back to life. He can do miracles. Most of all, He can make me white as snow. Do I deserve it? No. I'm not of the house of Jacob. I shouldn't have any claim in the promise. But I do. I am a gentile, and I am seeking my King.
He waits for me there.
Lord, praise You for Your coming Reign. You are glorious!! You and You alone! To You belong all glory, honor and praise! To You I give my whole heart! You have saved me, and You are calling me home! Let me come running! Let me even start running now! Let me run the race You have set out before me WITH ENDURANCE!! Let my feet never tire of chasing after You!
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
11 July 2012
Simile
For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
I like the figurative language God uses throughout the Bible. This is just one example. If you don't know what a sieve is, you should really start baking more because it's quite fun :) Think of a colander on with much much much much much smaller holes. If you don't know what a colander is, I guess that's why they invented Google...right? A sieve is so fine that only the finest and purest grains can go through. God is using His high standard to judge Israel. None of the pebbles will make it. They will have justice. But God will keep what does fall through. And He promises restoration of the House of David (who by I wonder?) and sending Israel back to the land He's given them.
On an unrelated note to the book but not to that thought, there are verses in the Bible that were used in defense of reestablishing Israel as a country. Not that I'm anti-Israel or something, but I'm not sure if that's what God meant by sending them back and never taking them away again. It could be, but I still put my money on God was talking about His 2nd coming. Just a thought.
Lord, sieve my heart. Let only the good and pure remain. Cast out the wicked ways and pebble-like habits. Give me clarity to see who You want me to become. Shape me. You are a great God, far above all others! You alone are worthy of my praise, my whole heart. Take all I am!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
I like the figurative language God uses throughout the Bible. This is just one example. If you don't know what a sieve is, you should really start baking more because it's quite fun :) Think of a colander on with much much much much much smaller holes. If you don't know what a colander is, I guess that's why they invented Google...right? A sieve is so fine that only the finest and purest grains can go through. God is using His high standard to judge Israel. None of the pebbles will make it. They will have justice. But God will keep what does fall through. And He promises restoration of the House of David (who by I wonder?) and sending Israel back to the land He's given them.
On an unrelated note to the book but not to that thought, there are verses in the Bible that were used in defense of reestablishing Israel as a country. Not that I'm anti-Israel or something, but I'm not sure if that's what God meant by sending them back and never taking them away again. It could be, but I still put my money on God was talking about His 2nd coming. Just a thought.
Lord, sieve my heart. Let only the good and pure remain. Cast out the wicked ways and pebble-like habits. Give me clarity to see who You want me to become. Shape me. You are a great God, far above all others! You alone are worthy of my praise, my whole heart. Take all I am!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
10 July 2012
The Day of the Lord
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
Sounds pretty scary, right? Well since we none of us are righteous, I should say it's definitely pretty scary. God coming down to judge with His justice: who can stand? Yes, His Kingdom come! We do long for the day when the Lord's Kingdom is established on this world as in heaven, and if I've read the Bible right (which sometimes is less true than most times) this comes after the day of the Lord also know as Judgement Day (queue big scary voice reverbs).
Oh Israel. How did you get so lost and foolish? It is hard to imagine literally seeing God perform miracles and ignoring them. Being pruned (or punished) by God and not turning back. So what God sent a drought? We're still alive right? How can your so-called god touch me? Little do they realize that the God of their Fathers is the One True God in Heaven. And He ain't messing around.
People think it's harsh of God to destroy large groups of people just because they are evil in His sight. They discredit the Judeo-Christian worldview because of it. What I don't think they think about is just what it means to be evil in God's sight. See, they have this idea that people are basically good and so long as they haven't killed anybody on purpose or cheated people constantly, they are worthy of whatever eternal benefits anybody else gets. Maybe they even went to a soup kitchen once. Extra points for that.
Too bad that doesn't really work. Think about yourself. Have you ever lied? Did someone get hurt as a result? If you said no, you're probably in denial. Have you ever acted dishonestly? Not that you stole or cheated, but you sort of stole something or cheated on something. Did anybody get hurt? Again, if you said no, you need to rethink your answer. What about hatred? Have you ever been so angry at someone that you hated them? Everything you said about them was like a sword of vengeance. All you did was spit flames of hatred.
No imagine living in a world (and this shouldn't take much effort all things considered) where one people group not only does all these evil things, but they do them to a degree where people are getting killed or cheated so bad they end up starving to death. What should happen to these people? That's the real question here. If God is a perfect judge of man (which He is), then He will always be fair. He will send prophets to get them to change (think of Ninevah in the book of Jonah - p.s. sorry I didn't write about that book, maybe I will later today). If they don't listen, then He might try to send them signs to get their attention (like He did with Israel). If the still won't turn away from what they know is wrong, He can't let them continue to oppress, kill, and destroy. Society falls apart when such behavior is allowed. The judges of Israel didn't have a problem with it. All of society was corrupt.
I hear the cries of "What about the innocent victims in those places?" Look at the story of Lot. For the sake of 10 righteous people, God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah. How many righteous people did He find? I reckon He really only found Lot. Lot's family wasn't too special. So even though you'd think there ought to be more, not always. People can be pretty messed up. Look at the world around us. It's not hard to think of nations that are just filled with evil and darkness. It breaks my heart.
Lord, I pray for those places of darkness in our world. I pray You would send light as in the morning. I pray that the victims would find refuge in You and that You would bring justice to these areas. I pray for Syria. Uganda. The Middle East. Human traffiking. The poorest areas of our own country. I pray for the weak that they would have strength from You. I pray that the evil people who seem to have all the power would find their legs cut out from under them. I pray for justice. Bring Your judgement upon the evil of the world. Have mercy on those who know You!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Sounds pretty scary, right? Well since we none of us are righteous, I should say it's definitely pretty scary. God coming down to judge with His justice: who can stand? Yes, His Kingdom come! We do long for the day when the Lord's Kingdom is established on this world as in heaven, and if I've read the Bible right (which sometimes is less true than most times) this comes after the day of the Lord also know as Judgement Day (queue big scary voice reverbs).
Oh Israel. How did you get so lost and foolish? It is hard to imagine literally seeing God perform miracles and ignoring them. Being pruned (or punished) by God and not turning back. So what God sent a drought? We're still alive right? How can your so-called god touch me? Little do they realize that the God of their Fathers is the One True God in Heaven. And He ain't messing around.
People think it's harsh of God to destroy large groups of people just because they are evil in His sight. They discredit the Judeo-Christian worldview because of it. What I don't think they think about is just what it means to be evil in God's sight. See, they have this idea that people are basically good and so long as they haven't killed anybody on purpose or cheated people constantly, they are worthy of whatever eternal benefits anybody else gets. Maybe they even went to a soup kitchen once. Extra points for that.
Too bad that doesn't really work. Think about yourself. Have you ever lied? Did someone get hurt as a result? If you said no, you're probably in denial. Have you ever acted dishonestly? Not that you stole or cheated, but you sort of stole something or cheated on something. Did anybody get hurt? Again, if you said no, you need to rethink your answer. What about hatred? Have you ever been so angry at someone that you hated them? Everything you said about them was like a sword of vengeance. All you did was spit flames of hatred.
No imagine living in a world (and this shouldn't take much effort all things considered) where one people group not only does all these evil things, but they do them to a degree where people are getting killed or cheated so bad they end up starving to death. What should happen to these people? That's the real question here. If God is a perfect judge of man (which He is), then He will always be fair. He will send prophets to get them to change (think of Ninevah in the book of Jonah - p.s. sorry I didn't write about that book, maybe I will later today). If they don't listen, then He might try to send them signs to get their attention (like He did with Israel). If the still won't turn away from what they know is wrong, He can't let them continue to oppress, kill, and destroy. Society falls apart when such behavior is allowed. The judges of Israel didn't have a problem with it. All of society was corrupt.
I hear the cries of "What about the innocent victims in those places?" Look at the story of Lot. For the sake of 10 righteous people, God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah. How many righteous people did He find? I reckon He really only found Lot. Lot's family wasn't too special. So even though you'd think there ought to be more, not always. People can be pretty messed up. Look at the world around us. It's not hard to think of nations that are just filled with evil and darkness. It breaks my heart.
Lord, I pray for those places of darkness in our world. I pray You would send light as in the morning. I pray that the victims would find refuge in You and that You would bring justice to these areas. I pray for Syria. Uganda. The Middle East. Human traffiking. The poorest areas of our own country. I pray for the weak that they would have strength from You. I pray that the evil people who seem to have all the power would find their legs cut out from under them. I pray for justice. Bring Your judgement upon the evil of the world. Have mercy on those who know You!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
09 July 2012
A remnant shall return
He calls to us but only some will hear
a chosen few are drawing near
a remnant shall return to claim the promise
We are the chosen ones
We know what we'll become
We stand together in Christ's victory
We're defeating His enemies
We once were weak
but He made us strong
We will not tire
though the journey is long
We press on
We won't give up
God's chosen ones
We won't give up
Even after God's judgment, His faithful few shall return. He blots out evil from the earth, but there is a promise of redemption and grace. We press on to lay hold of this freedom. We keep running, as God's chosen people. He's calling His bride.
Firm foundation
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.
There are so many places to put our trust, and God usually isn't the first choice. But, when we don't stand in faith or go out in faith, we are so likely to fail. Granted we aren't kings who are waging war against enemies. But when we try and face our enemies alone, we will always loose. Despite what non-believers say, there really is only one enemy in this world and that is Satan. He is trying to make us fail at being "good enough". We are sinful people who like to do bad things. Sure we can justify these things by saying, "Well, I'm mostly a good person." But at the end of the day, none of us are - myself included. I am not a very good person at all. However, thanks to Jesus and what He has done for me, I can be in a relationship with my Father again. Not because I work really hard. Not because I've checked all the boxes of what a Christian is supposed to do, but because I know Him and love Him.
It's easy to get turned away from this. It's easy to want to work hard or make something happen. However, I have found in most of these passages a common thread: faith. Usually God doesn't want much from us besides faith. If we trust that He is going to do what He says He is going to do, usually things work out the way He said. It's when we start wasting our time with doubt or hesitations that we run into trouble.
Lord, give us faith to trust You at Your word. Let there be no doubt in our hearts that what You have spoken can and will come to pass if we just let it. Give us courage to respond to Your voice and give us ears to hear it. Grab our attention and give us discernment. Speak, for we long to hear. Strengthen our faith to follow You. We long for You!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
There are so many places to put our trust, and God usually isn't the first choice. But, when we don't stand in faith or go out in faith, we are so likely to fail. Granted we aren't kings who are waging war against enemies. But when we try and face our enemies alone, we will always loose. Despite what non-believers say, there really is only one enemy in this world and that is Satan. He is trying to make us fail at being "good enough". We are sinful people who like to do bad things. Sure we can justify these things by saying, "Well, I'm mostly a good person." But at the end of the day, none of us are - myself included. I am not a very good person at all. However, thanks to Jesus and what He has done for me, I can be in a relationship with my Father again. Not because I work really hard. Not because I've checked all the boxes of what a Christian is supposed to do, but because I know Him and love Him.
It's easy to get turned away from this. It's easy to want to work hard or make something happen. However, I have found in most of these passages a common thread: faith. Usually God doesn't want much from us besides faith. If we trust that He is going to do what He says He is going to do, usually things work out the way He said. It's when we start wasting our time with doubt or hesitations that we run into trouble.
Lord, give us faith to trust You at Your word. Let there be no doubt in our hearts that what You have spoken can and will come to pass if we just let it. Give us courage to respond to Your voice and give us ears to hear it. Grab our attention and give us discernment. Speak, for we long to hear. Strengthen our faith to follow You. We long for You!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
08 July 2012
He waits for me there
Many will come
all will see
Your Reign established
eternally
As You judge
You bring peace
You bring peace
to the nations
O house of Jacob
come, let us walk
in the light
of the Lord
He waits for me there
He waits for me there
My Father is waiting on the mountain
In the midst of judgment on His people, God is still calling to us. His judgement is never wrong or unfair. We are evil, messed up people who only need one thing: the saving love of Christ. It's hard to fathom that God would take us so easily especially in light of what He did to His so-called chosen people. However, He judged Israel in love. Never once did He let them go forever. He always was calling them back.
Come to me my children, and I will take you back.
He waits for us. On His mountain, in His house. My Father is waiting on the mountain. Will you run to Him?
Lord, speed my step as I run toward You. Let my heart be open to receive what You have. Let me always be humble in Your presence. Let Your Kingdom come! Let Your will be done! On earth as it is in heaven.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
Pride and punishment
And his fame spread far, for he was helped, till he was strong. But when he grew strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God.
How often does this happen to people? Things start going our way, and we get prideful, as if we had something to do with it. I know I have this problem. I've had it recently. There are things that I dream of being good at. 2 main ones: running and singing/guitar playing. I'm mediocre at both. I hope and pray that my pride doesn't prevent me from developing these talents because I truly believe I can use them to honor the Lord. I want to be able to lead worship, but I don't want to do it just to bring attention to me. I want to bring people to the Lord. I want my voice to give the courage to lift their voices. I want my guitar playing to allow them to unify in one song. I have no desire to be famous as myself, but rather famous for the Lord. However, I do sometimes want to attract people to myself through these abilities. I want people to think I'm awesome.
Then there's running. A source of pride and vanity. The more I run the more I become that kind of person. Also, it's a weight control thing. More and more I see myself developing anorexic tendencies. Worrisome. However, right now I can't run. I firmly believe God is giving me knee pain to humble me. I agree that I don't need to be running. Maybe someday.
I don't need to be strong. I want to stay weak. I want God to be seen, not me. I still want God to bless me with these skills but on His terms. If people know my name, I want it to be because they know what God has done in me. If people know what I can do, I want it to be because of what God has done in me. Less of me. Less of me always.
Lord, more of You and less of me. Grant me these desires. Grant me skills to glorify You. Let me not continue with pride, but with humility. Let me not seek attention for myself, but let me share my talents to share the Gospel. I give it all to You God trusting that You'll make something beautiful out of me. It's not about impressing men. It's not about gaining favor. Please let me let go of wanting to be someone different in order to impress a man. Let my desire be for my First Love. Give me confidence to seek hard after You, forsaking all others.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
How often does this happen to people? Things start going our way, and we get prideful, as if we had something to do with it. I know I have this problem. I've had it recently. There are things that I dream of being good at. 2 main ones: running and singing/guitar playing. I'm mediocre at both. I hope and pray that my pride doesn't prevent me from developing these talents because I truly believe I can use them to honor the Lord. I want to be able to lead worship, but I don't want to do it just to bring attention to me. I want to bring people to the Lord. I want my voice to give the courage to lift their voices. I want my guitar playing to allow them to unify in one song. I have no desire to be famous as myself, but rather famous for the Lord. However, I do sometimes want to attract people to myself through these abilities. I want people to think I'm awesome.
Then there's running. A source of pride and vanity. The more I run the more I become that kind of person. Also, it's a weight control thing. More and more I see myself developing anorexic tendencies. Worrisome. However, right now I can't run. I firmly believe God is giving me knee pain to humble me. I agree that I don't need to be running. Maybe someday.
I don't need to be strong. I want to stay weak. I want God to be seen, not me. I still want God to bless me with these skills but on His terms. If people know my name, I want it to be because they know what God has done in me. If people know what I can do, I want it to be because of what God has done in me. Less of me. Less of me always.
Lord, more of You and less of me. Grant me these desires. Grant me skills to glorify You. Let me not continue with pride, but with humility. Let me not seek attention for myself, but let me share my talents to share the Gospel. I give it all to You God trusting that You'll make something beautiful out of me. It's not about impressing men. It's not about gaining favor. Please let me let go of wanting to be someone different in order to impress a man. Let my desire be for my First Love. Give me confidence to seek hard after You, forsaking all others.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
05 July 2012
But go
But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has the power to help or cast down.
It speaks for itself. Context: Judah is going out to battle with Edom. However, their king paid some soldiers from Israel to come help him out. A man of God came to him and was like "what are you doing? God can totally win; why did you buy help?"
When faced with an enemy or even the enemy, it's easy to track down things of this world to help us win. It's difficult to trust in God's power. Not because His power isn't enough but because our faith is wanting. For example, men. I want to get married as much as the next girl. I struuggggle with this sometimes. It is tempting to try and win this battle by being less selective and more aggressive (for lack of better words) but it is hard for me to believe I will do any better. God can defeat the enemy - which in ths case is loneliness - and help me go on.
Maybe it was a strange example, but there are better ones. The point is God is waaaaayyyy more powerful than we often give Him credit for. We tend to forget just how much He can do.
Lord, let me never forget Your power or what You can do. I want to trust that You will solve my problems.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
It speaks for itself. Context: Judah is going out to battle with Edom. However, their king paid some soldiers from Israel to come help him out. A man of God came to him and was like "what are you doing? God can totally win; why did you buy help?"
When faced with an enemy or even the enemy, it's easy to track down things of this world to help us win. It's difficult to trust in God's power. Not because His power isn't enough but because our faith is wanting. For example, men. I want to get married as much as the next girl. I struuggggle with this sometimes. It is tempting to try and win this battle by being less selective and more aggressive (for lack of better words) but it is hard for me to believe I will do any better. God can defeat the enemy - which in ths case is loneliness - and help me go on.
Maybe it was a strange example, but there are better ones. The point is God is waaaaayyyy more powerful than we often give Him credit for. We tend to forget just how much He can do.
Lord, let me never forget Your power or what You can do. I want to trust that You will solve my problems.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
04 July 2012
Pro fet
Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. They testified against them, but they would not pay attention.
I think being a prophet has to be a tough life. Nobody really pays you any attention because you mostly sound crazy...I love the use of the word "he". No real question in my mind who they are talking about. God has to make Himself known. Joash was so faithful but when his mentor died, he fell away. God sent warning after warning, but nothing changed.
Have you ever been like that? I know I have. I lose a good influence and despite repeated attempts to get me back on track, I just ignore everything He says. And then one day'll come along where I screw things up sooooooooooooo bad that I can't deny God anymore and have to turn back. Praise God for grace and understanding in spite of my self.
Lord, You see my need for You and I praise You that You always come. Thank You for the grace You give me. Please continue to call out to me and never let me forget Your sweet voice.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
03 July 2012
Leprosy
Faith can do amazing things to heal us. It really is just a mustard seed of faith to be healed. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't just faith but rather responding in obedience. If we don't do what we are supposed to do, what God has told us to do, are we really having faith. Of course not! Faith is an action verb. So much we treat it passively, like you can just sit back and believe. Pray from a distance. Think happy God thoughts. See how well that works. It won't last long.
Naaman had this problem. He was a leper and he didn't think God would heal him in the way Elisha prophosized. He want to see a big show full of miraculous wonders but God said go wash in the Jordan. Then he was like "really the Jordan? I can think of much cleaner waters." But at the end of the day, he saw he had nothing to loose but his leporsy so in he went and surprise! He was healed.
It's easy to question God. Since He is above this world He sometimes (quite frequently) doesn't make sense. But we are called to respond with action not words. Not "Oh, I'll pray about it." "But yes I'm going."
Lord, I wanna trust in where You are going and follow You every step. I never want to be unsure of Your message so speak LOUD so I can hear. If even a small amount of faith can move mountains then let the mountains move. I wait for You, knowing You're up to something. Do what You will!!
Amen. Amen. Amen.
01 July 2012
Elisha
Some of the stories in the Bible do seem absurd. For example Elijah and Elisha. They went around doing these crazy miracles. Elijah didn't die. Elisha cursed some boys and 2 bears jumped out to attack them. The Spirit was on these guys in a real way.
But isn't it all just a nice story? How do we know this all really happened? Well, honestly, aside from faith we don't. But it's no greater faith to believe this stuff than to believe the history books. The Bible is just as reliable if not more reliable that much of the history we learn in school.
That's one thing that always blew my mind. The Bible is a highly accurate text. You can research it. There's statistics related to how reliable the Bible is versus the authenticity of things like the Iliad. We know that it's consistent across many copies and thousands of rewrites. History is the story of the winners, but the Bible is the story of God. It paints a slightly different picture. When someone sins, it's recorded. Most of the OT books are records of Israel's history.
This isn't a series of myths that were recorded to teach moral lessons. It's also not written to explain the world to a culture with a primitive world view. No, the Bible is about real people and the things that really happened to them. We know this because this kind of stuff still happens. It's not like God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's not like crazy God-stuff doesn't happen. Oh it does.
God is in everything, and He's still performing miracles. Then just like now, it's up to us to say "Yeah, that's God." or "Quelle coincidence!"
Personally, I don't believe in coincidence.
Lord, let the Bible be real to anyone who reads it. Let Your Spirit jump of every page and move our hearts. Let the stories speak to us no matter how strange, ridiculous, or awkward. Let are hearts be strengthened with You Word. Let it be our shield and our sword. When we see a miracle, let us know who it's from. The One True God, Jehovah. He is.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
But isn't it all just a nice story? How do we know this all really happened? Well, honestly, aside from faith we don't. But it's no greater faith to believe this stuff than to believe the history books. The Bible is just as reliable if not more reliable that much of the history we learn in school.
That's one thing that always blew my mind. The Bible is a highly accurate text. You can research it. There's statistics related to how reliable the Bible is versus the authenticity of things like the Iliad. We know that it's consistent across many copies and thousands of rewrites. History is the story of the winners, but the Bible is the story of God. It paints a slightly different picture. When someone sins, it's recorded. Most of the OT books are records of Israel's history.
This isn't a series of myths that were recorded to teach moral lessons. It's also not written to explain the world to a culture with a primitive world view. No, the Bible is about real people and the things that really happened to them. We know this because this kind of stuff still happens. It's not like God doesn't perform miracles anymore. It's not like crazy God-stuff doesn't happen. Oh it does.
God is in everything, and He's still performing miracles. Then just like now, it's up to us to say "Yeah, that's God." or "Quelle coincidence!"
Personally, I don't believe in coincidence.
Lord, let the Bible be real to anyone who reads it. Let Your Spirit jump of every page and move our hearts. Let the stories speak to us no matter how strange, ridiculous, or awkward. Let are hearts be strengthened with You Word. Let it be our shield and our sword. When we see a miracle, let us know who it's from. The One True God, Jehovah. He is.
Amen. Amen. Amen.
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