Hole-y Weapons?

Years of attempting to learn for myself and share Truth with children and other women has made me a huge fan of the “object lesson” that forms a physical link to an intangible idea.

What do the slotted spoons and strainers help us learn? I’m so glad you asked!

2 Corinthians 2:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

No, they are not to depict the spiritual weapons we employ to destroy fortresses of error, sin. They represent the Word of God, which enables us, as we learn more and more of it, to discern false teaching that finds its way into our thinking. Once lifted from the stew of our minds, seen for the disgusting falsity that it is, we toss it!

At least that was my goal a few years ago when first considering this aide. Now I see scripture calls us to “destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God.” Tossing something rarely destroys it. Taking it apart, identifying every wrong idea, every perversion of Truth, pulling away every poisonous bit infiltrating our minds…. that is what will destroy it.

In the same way we are to be “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Is this clump of an idea in alignment with Christ’s teaching?

Does it comport well with what the Bible says of God? Is it in full agreement with His sovereignty, holiness, full and perfect knowledge, power, His presence everywhere at all times, His wrath against sin? These attributes of God are some of what is first to be ignored or perverted in erroneous ideas.

What does this idea say of me and my fellow humans? Does it remind me of my sinful nature, my deserving the horrible wrath of the just and holy God, but for the provision of Christ’s work on the cross and His ressurection there is forgiveness and redemption?

Does it encourage me to “love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul and to love my neighbor as myself”?

Look closer with me. Let’s stir through our stew of ideas… the speculations and lofty things, every thought… bring them to the surface, into the light, and compare them to what we know of Truth. Once “captive to the obedience of Christ” their wicked error is revealed and destroyed.

Can something as mundane as a slotted spoon help us to be alert to evil working its way into our lives? I think it can, and I thank God for any reminder to do the work of trusting Him fully and yielding to His activity in and through us. What blessing awaits when the fortresses of evil lies and deceit are destroyed!

From Anna with Love, Hope, Holiness and Honor

It is such an honor for me to be bringing this message tonight. Again I am humbled by the marvelous sovereignty of God in allowing me to investigate and share my findings about Anna and to do so now, in March, 2021. Anna exhibits traits I have been attempting to develop in my heart and expression for decades now and March is a thirty-one day long test for me to truly practice, fail, practice again the execution of those traits.

Let’s dive in!

For context, in the preceding verses of Luke 2, we see Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus have traveled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in obedience to the law regrading the birth of a child to make sacrifice in the temple. Simeon, an elderly, godly man, previously promised by God that he would see the Lord’s Christ before his death, and prompted at this time to go to the temple, sees the young family and immediately knows this is the event he has been waiting for. He takes the baby in his arms and praises God for this meeting, pronouncing the fearsome truth that because of His ministry unique heartache awaits the family.

Anna is aware of the excitement and joins in.

Luke 2: 36-38 nasb And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Let’s unpack a bit of Anna’s details before moving into the larger character issues.

“Prophetess” jumps out at us right at the first. Prophet means “to proclaim a divine message,” the suffix -ess indicates a woman. We know there is no, “Thus saith the Lord through His prophetess, Anna,” in scripture, as there is of Daniel, Ezekiel, Jonah, and company. Anna’s proclaiming, I believe we can safely suggest, was in consistently praising God, not only in words, but also in her life of devotion to Him. I can picture her as the woman bringing praise to the Lord into every conversation, seeing His divine hand of blessing in every situation, reminding all of the promise of future release from the life of bondage they now experience and full redemption for Israel.

Anna is an old woman at this time… an extremely old woman! The average life span of the first century was 35 years, and here she is noted to be 84 years old! Likely married as a teen, widowed after only 7 years of marriage in her mid-20’s, Anna has spent the ensuing 60 years of her life serving God in the temple with fastings and prayers, and as evidenced by the blessing of her very long life, undoubtedly known and loved by many of the temple community.

Notice the last phrase of verse 38: and (she) continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. Anna was fully aware of Jesus’ mission on earth. As she spoke of Him, this most unique and longed-for infant, day in and day out, with all who also were looking for the promised Messiah, she forged the new trail of Christian missionary work. It’s highly doubtful she lived to see Jesus’ ministry and then atoning work of the cross and resurrection, but likely many with whom she spoke did. Imagine that seed she planted in their hearts taking root and bearing the fruit of repentance and belief as the ministry of Christ unfolded!

Anna exemplifies so many wonderful traits, three in particular I want to point out and have noted in the title, From Anna with Love, Hope, Holiness, and Honor. Now let’s see how she demonstrates Peter’s exhortation to us in 1 Peter 1:13-17 to live out these true marks of Christian devotion.

1 Peter 1:13-17. Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

First, what is hope? John MacArthur gives us a solid, biblical definition. “Hope in its essence is the same substance as faith. It is believing God… faith is believing God in the present and hope is believing God for the future.”

What does it mean to fix your hope completely on grace?

This “fixing” is not akin to a sticky note or thumb-tacked card on a wall. Picture instead hammering deep into the ground large metal pegs and the subsequent secure tent, fully resistant to all that may attempt to upend it. And there’s “grace,” the totally unmerited, undeserved, overwhelming favor of God, into which we drive our hope. Peter tells us grace should be our focus because it is the solid ground into which we can secure our hope. Anna had faith in God, aware of His boundless grace, resulting in a strong hope He would care and provide for her, that the promised Messiah would come. She knew it was His grace that made all possible.

What does it mean to be holy?

Hope produces holiness. God clearly commands it of us, and therefore we know it is within our ability to obey. In 1 John 3:3 we read, Everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. To be aligned with Christ, indeed in Christ, with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we have holiness in us and the continual instruction to pursue more holiness in our hearts and minds, as well as in our words and actions. Peter has identified believers as “obedient children,” or as could be better put, “children of obedience.” Pre-salvation we were the children of darkness, of disobedience. He further instructs do not be conformed to the former lusts, and Paul adds in his letter to the Ephesians, Be imitators of God (Eph 5:1). To make a true, clean break with the wickedness of our former ignorance is a step toward holiness and being the imitator of God we are called to be.

What does it mean to honor God? Does conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth mean to live a life of trembling terror, cowering in corners all our days? Of course not! Instead we should be known to have a deep, immovable awe of God, a respect and reverence that affects every moment of our stay on earth. John MacArthur beautifully states, “The more the Christian knows God intimately the more he fears God. The more he fears God, the more he fears to offend God and long to honor God.”

Why should we do this? As evidenced by Anna, and also notably by Abraham (see Romans 4:13-25), it brings glory to God when we affirm our hope in Him. It shows to all who are watching we attest the true and unwavering worthiness of God and His Word.

How do we accomplish this? Peter has told us to prepare our minds for action, keep sober in spirit. Preparing our minds for action will require binding together our thoughts, tossing the inconsequential, filling our minds with His Word and being ready to employ that life-giving teaching to every situation. One who is sober in spirit is focused on a goal. Silly distractions, foolish or prideful ambitions are given no quarter. Paul urges believers in Romans 12:2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and in Colossians 3:2, set your minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

In my introduction I noted that March is a thirty-one day long test. By that I mean this particular month is full of anniversaries of events and reminders of people near to my heart that provide opportunities to practice, and I mean really practice, as in hammering and hammering my hope into the ground of grace till my back is breaking and my hands are bloody, then given glorious rest as all striving is left at His feet.

Saturday is March 20, our wedding anniversary. This one marks 44 years together for Richard and myself. Because of his work we are not celebrating together, but are separated by some 2000 plus miles. Thoughts of deprivation or doubt or any of a thousand other possibilities are driven out as we maintain our focus on honoring God through this. To be honest, I don’t need the wedding anniversary to be reminded how profoundly I miss my husband, but it is an excellent point on the calendar to declare anew our trust in God and hammer our hope a bit further into His wonderful grace.

I could go from here and write volumes regarding the breadth and depth of heartache and anxiety detailing the crushing effects of sin on our family. Starting with ourselves, adding in two sons and six daughters, all adults now, five of them married, three with children, each with hearts, minds, bodies broken by sin as with every human walking the earth, I believe it is accurate to say we have been touched by every possible sort of weakness and challenge.

But I’m not going to do that. Regardless of my set of details and whether they correspond to yours is totally irrelevant. What is relevant is the unchanging, infallible, omnipotent, and all-knowing God Who is at the helm, using all the details of our circumstances to bring about His will on the earth and in hearts, conforming us who have entrusted our souls to Him into the image of His Son, Jesus. Those volumes would have at their conclusion the truth of what Anna has taught us and what I in my pride and often refusal to accept have been struggling to learn and now humbly embrace.

No doubt Anna struggled throughout her life with many questions, yet she settled in and fixed her hope in the grace of God. What we learn of her from God’s Word, among other things, is the blessedness of obedience and hope. There is much in our hearts, even as we have surrendered them to Christ, that entices us to evil, and it’s in our sanctification that God reveals our sin, purges it, and little by little is conforming us to the image of His Son. Anna understood she is not the master of her life, but that God in His marvelous grace purposed to use and grow her in the here and now of her situation, as He is doing with me and you in our here and now, and our best option is to trust Him fully and to hope with the same fervency in His plan for the future, wherever and whatever it may bring.

My sincerest hope in this is that you will be encouraged to deepen your own hope in God regarding your challenges. He is worthy.

Welcome to the Training Ground

There won’t be any cute photos in this post. This is the one where the topic of discipline, to which I’ve pointed in the previous two posts, comes to a conclusion. Remember, this is discipline as in training, not punishment. Happy conclusion? Let’s call it satisfied conclusion. Not much happy in difficulties as that which prompted these past few months of study and tearful prayer.

The idea that God allows opportunities like my recent situation to test my resolve to trust Him, obey what I read in His Word, and truly grow in right living frees me from a degree of anxiety. It answers a bit of the “Why is this happening?” that can plague a heart and mind. I’ve been pleased to consider God is giving me an open door to growing more in love, or patience, or contentment with the opposing frustration that has come my way. I understand that we learn to be more loving when those in our circle are hard to love. We learn to be patient when forced to wait. We learn to be content when we face loss. We learn that the supply of the Holy Spirit’s fruit is truly efficacious and unlimited.

But what about when the pain coming our way is darker, sharper, more debilitating than we’ve seen before? Tears blur the vision both outwardly and inwardly. Our feet feel cemented to the ground and forward motion seems impossible.

This is discipline in the raw. The Heavenly Father is training us, using pain to expose misplaced affections and totally wrong responses. I’ve seen an important goal come more and more into focus as I walk this.

Live as Jesus lived.

That’s it. Getting that simple-sounding goal rooted in my heart and programmed in practice will prompt every necessary change, not only in perspective, but also action.

Let’s look at just three components of how we live out our life, how we relate to those around us and how scripture directs us. My misplaced affections and wrong responses were exposed quickly here.

Christ Himself spoke the words, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you (emphasis added), that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). The disciples knew they were to love others, but do you catch the new thing in those words? Hint: bold print. The “love your neighbor as yourself” has been given a dramatic upgrade. Now love is to be sacrificial, unconditional, because that is how Jesus has loved us. Think on that for a moment. Loving each other sacrificially, unconditionally is how we will be identified as followers of Christ… not by the gold cross around our neck, the bumper sticker on our car, or even the way we dress or how we spend our Sundays. Loving each other well is the sign.

Then there’s forgiveness… Christ has “forgiven us all our transgressions” (Colossians 2:13) and we are instructed to “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32 (emphasis mine). No exceptions noted to the directive to forgive, and that means No Exceptions.

Our third unmistably Christlike trait is humility. Paul describes it in Philippians 2:3-8, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Here, my friend, is the epitome of humility, and we are clearly called to emulate this. Did those words jump out at you as they did to me? Humility is the polar opposite of pride and self-promotion, which are the basic requirements for advancement in our world today. But according to scripture we are instructed to be humble and obedient to the Father’s instruction, regardless of the apparent, potential harm to ourselves. Have we ever experienced that level of humility and obedience?

With Christ as my example, it is crystal clear my version of love, forgiveness, and humility is extremely lacking. Lacking so much in fact, it is apparent my response to that offense was not born of His provision (ie the Holy Spirit’s supply of holy fruit), but born of my own flesh instead.

In writing to the believers in Galatia, Paul gives clear instruction on an important choice to live yielded to the Holy Spirit and not our own flesh.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh… Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:16, 19-21.

Perhaps our day to day life exhibits more sanctified choices than not, but our bent towards responding to offense in any of these ways clearly proclaims to all the world here is a person ruled by her flesh. Deliver snubs or rejections sufficiently beyond our own ability to overlook, throw tumble-causing jabs at the idol we’ve made of our self-esteem, our happiness, our status, and the result could be strife and outbursts of anger to a degree not seen before. Give us a moment and a cell phone with which to share “our side” of the story and soon we have serious dissensions in place with all the ugly, angry, prideful, but “justified” accountings of the terrible wounds.

When we yield to our flesh, oh! the lies we embrace…

God doesn’t see me.

God doesn’t care.

God is unable to help.

God isn’t here,

and the really big one,

God is not enough.

I’ve purposefully left out the details of the hurt behind the discipline event here with me, because the details don’t really matter. Your specifics, mine, his over there will all be different today. Tomorrow I may get a dose of what you experienced last week, next week you may be walking where I am today. The bottom line of it all is that

God is growing us,

and He intends to use everything in our lives to show us His eye is always on us, He loves us with a love deeper and truer than we can ever imagine, He is mighty to save, He will never leave us or abandon us, and He is our ultimate sufficiency, worthy of our trust.

God is growing us. Regardless of which rug you feel has been yanked out from under you leaving you broken and bruised… finances, relationships, health, or anything else… if we have agreed with God on our sinfulness and embraced that beautiful, blood-bought new life Jesus offers, we are safe, loved, provided for, accepted fully by God because of the work of Christ and we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We need nothing else.

Our life as believers is NOT Jesus + good health,

Jesus + abundance,

Jesus + community.

Sometimes it requires losing finances, relationships, health, or anything else, for us to realize He is truly all we need.

Let’s embrace the training, the discipline, God is giving us. Let’s live as Jesus lived, demonstrating to our world true love, forgiveness, humility, and resist those wicked, self-focused, destructive tendencies.

This may seem totally impossible. The longer our enemy can keep us convinced of that, the longer we will struggle, and the weaker we will become. The longer our eyes stay focused on our wounds, our pain, OURSELVES, the less we are reflecting Christ… and, the more control our enemy has gained over us.

Listen to me, it doesn’t have to be hard. Make the choice. Thank the Father for His promised help. Step out, believing God is there, even if all is dark and quiet. That’s what faith is and that’s where it grows stronger. Here and now is the training ground and you can believe me when I say, “You are not alone.”

Training and the Holy Fruit

So what do you know about the word “discipline”? When I was a child it was undeniably code for punishment. If a parent mentioned needing to discipline a child, that child was quickly off for a favorite hiding spot!

Training is a more accurate interpretation of the word. Training may include unpleasant outcomes or consequences, but pain is not inherently part of training. Consider becoming adept in the discipline of a particular style of cooking… study and observe, practice, then repeat until proficiency is attained. With most areas of study or skill development there is always something more to be learned or perfected, and so it is with the disciple, the believer attempting to learn and apply more of Christ’s teaching and example.

With my previous mention of being one of the children in an altercation and then the parent tasked with sorting out the children’s altercations, I also noted something of a new territory exposed in my heart due to these exercises. As I had said countless times to children small and large, I found I was telling myself, “Yes, that was definitely a wrong thing done to you, but perhaps your response was not what it should be either.”

Building on that foundational passage of Titus 2:11-12, where we saw the instruction to see the sinful and root it out, deny it a place, and instead focus on the godly options, we have added study of Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. This passage tells us we have free and ready access to an unlimited supply of all that is necessary to successfully, in a God-honoring way, navigate the challenges of life. The holy fruit, supplied by the Holy Spirit and as near as our next breath, is truly sufficient for our every relational need.

Learning of that fruit and the depth and breadth of its potency was astonishing to me. I thought I knew what love is. But this Holy Spirit-supplied love is not what I’ve been calling love at all. My idea of love was decent; it was good… love shares, it overlooks faults and is kind, but it has limits. Its limits are vague and may vary from day to day, or even hour by hour, but it very definitely has limits, and to push to exceed those limits will result in cessation of supply. Total shut down. Not so with the Holy Spirit’s supply of love. His love is strong, unconditional, and noble. And remarkably, incredibly, it has no limits. According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 this love has no limits to its patience, kindness, ability to endure and bear up under stress. No limits to its humility, or ability to see the good in others, among many other wonderful qualities.

And that’s just the tiniest slice of it. There’s more to that love than can be said here. As I learn more of it, meditate on it, yield my self-centered heart and mind to it, I am continually astonished at its vitality and perfection.

Then there’s joy… abiding, true contentment totally unaffected by my circumstances, and peace… peace with God, thanks to the sacrifice of Christ, and the peace of God, that guards my heart as a well-armed, ever alert soldier.

Patience that pushes away the angry outburst when another provokes. Kindness that is quick to do that truly useful thing for someone else. Goodness, pure and sincere, as seen in Christ himself.

Faithfulness that has the tenacity to never give up.                               Gentleness that would rather endure affliction than cause it.                        Self-control, which really means to yield control of self to the Holy Spirit’s command. Holy Spirit control of a disciple’s heart, mind, actions results in only good attitudes, thoughts, deeds.

In just a few minutes’ consideration of this holy fruit its potential effect on our relationships is mind-numbing. Imagine the change in your perspective of others in your world if you remembered this remarkable fruit was yours to share with no fear of running out! That irritating roommate, the incompetent coworker, overbearing employer, grouchy neighbor, or even the incessantly demanding child can be addressed with any or all aspects of the holy fruit to blessed success! Irritations, incompetence and the rest will not necessarily vanish, but just imagine what can happen to you and me as we yield to and share true, divinely produced and supplied love, joy, peace, patience and all the glorious others.

With study, observation, and practice, the work of disciplining my heart and mind to quickly access this holy fruit instead of my own paltry resources is my primary aim these days. Though there is an element of book work in this, the real transformative work happens when I walk away from The Book, and enter the arena where the opportunities to truly practice await. My arena today may be the four walls of my own home, but even there I can find unexpected challenge and must Be Alert! and quick to choose well.  May we do just that and share the holy fruit with all we meet!

Full Circle… or Once More, From the Top!

Remember when you were a kid and a sibling teased you one time too many and you came out swinging? And at that moment a parent walked into the room and caught you in the act of inflicting the bodily harm you felt was totally deserved? But they didn’t see it that way and instead sent you to your room to await your sure and painful punishment? And you knew then that if you ever had kids of your own you would never let this travesty of justice happen? Of course, you remember it! Every adult I know is familiar with that scenario!

 

So then fifteen or twenty years down the road, there you are looking into the sweet baby faces that are going to grow up a little, tease each other, and put you, now the parent, in that same spot when you walk into a room and see arms flying and shrill little voices shouting. What a change in perspective!

A few years into our parenting role, husband and I made clear headed assessments of our parenting challenges, committing to making better, wiser choices than those lousy, stupid choices we’d already made too many of. One of those was to attempt to redeem as many as possible of those explosive situations, helping the young ones involved to learn… really learn… something about themselves, others, and how to live well together, and what our Guidebook, the Bible, has to say about this process.

What the Bible says about how we live, how we treat others, how we view ourselves and others was paramount to our own growth as believers and paramount to how we wanted to grow and guide our children.

Yes, she was wrong to slap you, and, yes, there will be consequences for that inappropriate behavior. There will be instruction on what to do instead of slapping. There will be a confession of the assault and a request for forgiveness. There will also be an examination of what was done that provoked the slapping, with its own consequences. There will be confession of that wrong and a request for forgiveness. Following that would be a brief time of prayer wherein offender and offendee would ask God’s forgiveness of their sin against each other and Him, because according to the Word, all sin is ultimately against God Himself. The parent on hand would thank God for the promised forgiveness noted in 1 John 1:9, the lesson learned, and the wherewithal to not repeat this sad situation again. And then, as icing on the cake, there would be genuine, heartfelt granting of forgiveness to each other and a big hug.

Go Team! Break!

We did that a lot. There were eight young ones we hoped to see grow to adulthood in our care. They made for, by anyone’s standards, a lot of explosive situations. There were also a lot of long term, simmering situations that were often harder to spot, but were causing similar personal and relational damage. There were situations involving others outside the family, where we had little to no authority, but could still guide our young ones in a way to walk it out well, honoring God in the process.

Honoring God was The Goal. Learning to show love, kindness, forgiveness, put others’ needs ahead of our own, i.e., act like Jesus, was always The Goal especially in those times where it was all just plain crummy. I totally own messing it up many, many times. I couldn’t even accurately guess how many days (weeks? years??) I was just plain blind to stuff going on and thereby added to the problem; but now, with seven of eight full-fledged adults and making their way in their own adult life I am confident that even those failures are part of what God will use to grow them. Painful confession here… that part about using my failures as a parent to grow them stings, but there we are.

So these days I do basically zero referreeing of ugly confrontations, pointing out faults to both sides, leading the way to restoration. Instead, there are women… grown women… who have allowed me the privilege to lead them in discovering biblical truth and help for the work of Christian woman life. They are my focus in the realm of training now. If you are thinking this is the Do It With One Arm Tied Behind My Back round, you are dead wrong. Their desire to know more of scripture and flesh out its value and purpose to this life work has me on my knees in prayer and in the Word more than ever before, resulting in growth in my own heart like never before.

One of the warnings I regularly issue is this: With serious Study of Truth there Will Be opportunities to put it into practice.  Keep Alert!  Situations to think and act in accordance with what has been discovered will pop up and require a decision. They will be tough decisions. The first reaction will be to go with the old habit, but we’ve noted the preferred choice is the one that aligns with scripture, not the old habit. It thrills me to hear of a challenging situation when the Bible-based choice was successfully engaged, making for a totally new and improved outcome and then discover bonus relationship growth. God has been gracious to me and allows more of those same challenging situations, granting opportunities to grow deeper in love with His Word and the truth of it as I see its life-giving property bloom and strengthen roots in my heart where the wrong choice would have led to cold, dark regret instead.

One of the first scriptural truths we embrace is that we can actually identify and say “No!” to the things that are working against us in our goal to live a Christlike life, and “Yes!” to the attitudes, thoughts, words that help us to grow in that pursuit in the here and now. Titus 2:11-12 (NASB) gives us the directive to follow the example of Christ, who has given us salvation, and “…deny ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” As this passage gives them a new lens for viewing their lives, it is polished clear again for mine. Oh! The sting of seeing how I’ve slid here or there, but what joy in knowing the liberty and growth when the “ungodliness and worldly passion” has been confessed and rejected.

As my own life has advanced from being alternately the childish perpetrator and victim of self-centered hurt, to the parent guiding and instructing in life-giving, biblical perspective and action, I’m finding now that I’m in the position of learning new aspects and depths to the Truth I’ve loved for so long. What looks like me coming full circle or starting all over again in dealing with hurt exposes new territory in my own heart. This is the reason for my being here now. I’d love for you to walk a little further with me and see if, perhaps, God has intended a new insight for yourself as He has offered to me through His lovely Word.

Happy Solar Lap Day!

Another lap successfully completed! Spinning like a top, hurtling through space around what we view as a massive fireball, but is in comparison to others just a wee star, I have lived another year. What a thought! As with long road trips, when my destination was only a few hours away and could be seen named on the highway signs, excitement started to bubble in my heart as soon as we put up the January calendar.

As a little girl I wasn’t aware of the impending birthdays until just days ahead. Now in this phase of life I’m acutely aware at any point on the calendar how far past or how far until that next one. Perhaps it’s accurate to say life is more precious to me today, but possibly I’m also more aware of the lightning fast speed with which it is passing.

You and I may not have much else in common, but we have this. Both of us are careening through space on this lovely blue ball, mostly oblivious to the incredible feat that truly is, filling our days with assorted pursuits, marking our years with the arrival of another anniversary of our starting point.

How are we doing? As on that road trip are we checking the gauges, evaluating our progress, pulling off the road to tend to deficits or just to take in the view?

This past year’s expedition has impacted me significantly.  No, that’s much too bland a word.  This past year has impacted me tremendously, uniquely marvelously, phenomenally.  Though there was no change in the usual metrics by which wealth is measured, I am aware of having abundance as never before.  Those invisible, yet real connections with other travelers on this Solar Lap have translated into my craft’s gauges being marked persistently and undeniably “Full”.

It is indeed the relationships of this past year that have been such a remarkable boon to my life and have enriched me beyond measure.

The man God gave me all those decades ago is still here, loving me, leading me, supporting me, surprising me. He is steady, showing me the quiet strength that only comes from a heart firmly rooted in the Love of the Master. He would be easy to take for granted, but I thank God for him with every ounce and breath of my being. The reach of my wealth because of him is incalculable.

The sons and daughters have dashed off in their own routes, though with great delight to me those routes intersect and parallel mine from time to time. The pure joy and love I feel for them, along with the heart-wrenching pain and sorrow as I watch them navigate pot holes and what I perceive as the occasional wrong turns, have made a deep, deep mark on my soul. They have uniquely contributed to the landscape of my trek, altering forever how I view my life and purpose on this earth. Their impact on me, now with its mix of adult delights and sorrows, fills my heart to overflowing.

Then there’s you. You, whose faces have been coming to my mind all month long, one at a time, in pairs, in brilliant throngs, utterly overwhelming me with emotion as I acknowledge the precious, precious gift straight from the Hand of God you are to me.

You, who have added a sweetness to my travel, encouraging me to keep moving or to pull off and rest.

You, who have quietly come alongside and shouldered the heavy, the stinky, the messy without my having to even ask.

You’ve spoken Truth into my life when I was becoming confused by the dark and noisy distractions.

You’ve allowed me to speak into your life, sharing from the golden treasures wrought by Trial’s great furnace.

You’ve learned and are still learning along with me, studying the ancient, yet ever-fresh, Words of Life and Truth.

You’ve loved me when I was most unlovable.

You’ve blessed me with a smile or wave; hearing you call my name often brought sheer delight.

You’ve trusted me with your special stuff, allowing me to do something I love to do and participate in your wonderful event in a meaningful way… by that I mean prayer, entreating the Father on your behalf, hoping you will hear His call on your life and know His provision for your need.

You’ve also allowed me to sew for you, making something somehow a little better for you or someone you love.

The bit of “map” I’m using for this next Solar Lap tells me to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… and to love your neighbor as yourself…” (Mark 12:30-31). The other bit of direction I’m trying to follow closely reiterates the imperative nature of these words with Jesus stating, “Even as I have loved you, love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34b-35).

You, my family, my friends, are showing me this love in action. You are living it out in small, delightful ways and great, big, marvelous ways. You are giving me opportunities to live this out, too.  I am all the richer for the treasure love has given me in you.

May we all follow this bit of map closer every day, every hour of our earthbound travels. May those looking on see that we do it with increasing skill and identify us rightly as His disciples and not just “nice folks”. May there be no end to our expression of it, as there is no end to His expression of love for us.

Know you are being named today among the precious blessings of my life and I am forever grateful to God for the place you have here on the roadway with me.

Sucker Punch

Which one of you sweet things ordered a lesson on dealing with the sucker punch? And why exactly did you request me as the punchee?

You didn’t do that, but it sure enough happened. Though I’m not getting in line for another dose at the moment, I am decidedly, positively better for it. Hopefully, you and I can both learn a little something about being prepared and responding well when these unexpected “opportunities” come our way.

This is a word intended for those of us who have come to the point in life where the need for divine help in navigating the day to day well has been made clear. We’ve found we are basically unable, as we depend on our own expertise, ability, knowledge, even power, to successfully execute our varied roles. Coming to that conclusion, we’ve made some serious, intentional effort to live “right”…

We’ve heard the call of Christ, seen our life of sin as deserving of punishment and embraced the gift of salvation His life, death, and resurrection offers us.

We’ve joined up with other believers for the weekly teaching and encouragement.

We’ve read books and been enlightened about the importance of our attitude and perspective on life.

We’ve even made a practice of talking to God, praying, voicing our struggles, our hopes, our needs.

We’ve made sure our children are in the company of other children whose parents have a similar goal as ours, and enrolled them in as many church programs as we can.

We’ve also incorporated a bit of actual reading of the Word, though it still seems more “pie in the sky” than “rubber meets the road”.

Why then is it still so difficult?

Why are my efforts not giving me the results I hope for?

Why am I not experiencing my best life?

Why am I not even happy?

Why on earth are crummy things still happening and with such regularity???

And why the heart-stopping sucker punch out of nowhere?

There are a lot of things behind a “why?” question that we may never know, but I have learned a few things… make that am learning a few things… I’d like you to consider.

First of all, it’s not about the puncher.

That one seems weird. Of course, it’s about the puncher! That nimcompoop who trashed my new coat with her carelessness or the jerk who said those hurtful things… of course they are the source of my anxiety and ill.

No, it’s not about the puncher. The puncher is the invitation to a specially designed lesson, straight from the hand of God to me, to you. As with all invitations, we have the option to happily accept or regrettably decline. I suggest we accept, whether we can muster up the happy or not.

 

What was the first response to this punch? Hurt, anger, impatience, an urge to retaliate are among the myriad of possibilities. Take a look at that response. A close look. Consider for a few moments whether the Father was pleased with it. Sure, I know it was totally natural to respond that way, but was the Father pleased with it?

Now, with the response identified and found to be lacking, what is needed in its place?

Could it be patience would fill the gap? What if you and I responded with gentleness instead? Or joy? What if we had joy at our disposal and could use that to respond to a crippling punch to the gut? I almost hate to even suggest it, but what if we could reach into a pocket and find a tube of love we could smear all over ourselves and make us resist the pain and urge to kill, or at least maim a little bit.

I’m here to tell you, friend, that “what if?” can be tossed right in the trash and set on fire. Now and forever! With the new life Christ has given us we have access to an inexhaustible supply of everything we need to successfully face any punch, every punch that comes our way.

You are doubtful. You are likely thinking, “Sure, I can see now how I could’ve reacted differently and I’ll give it a try next time, and I’m sorry I probably made it worse, but I’ve always been this way and I’m very doubtful I can change how I operate so radically and there are so many out there just waiting to pounce on and punch me again, especially this one particular cruel, hateful creep that just won’t go away.”

That’s what I always thought.

Until I read and decided to believe what was in the Bible was true and it was intended to have an effect on me today. That was revolutionary.

Life-changing Words. Life-giving Words.

The part in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where, in the middle of a passage describing the effect of Christ’s love and the no more having to be named by our sin because of His death and resurrection and even being able to become righteous because of Him, we are told we are new creatures. Not repaired or remodeled, repainted or even recalibrated. Gloriously, redemptively, forever NEW! We are also told in that passage He has called us to bring news of reconciliation to the world and to be His ambassadors.

Add to that what is seen in Galatians 5. Go ahead… take a minute and look at that. There is the news that we are free in Christ. Free to not be slaves to sin, to our own wicked selves, but to live in the liberty Christ purchased for us with His own blood. And then towards the end of the chapter we see we’ve been given fruit to sustain us.

About that fruit… In verse 22 the fruit is described as “of the Spirit”. We have it because we have the Spirit living in us. The same Spirit who is spoken of a couple pages later in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

So He, the Holy Spirit, is with us forever. He is the mark, the seal on us identifying us as belonging to God. Can you imagine this seal leaking? Coming loose and falling off? No, a thousand times, “No!” The seal securing “God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” is one that will never lose it’s sticking power!

So back to the fruit… being supplied by the Holy Spirit, what do you think of its freshness and availability? Unlike the oranges in August that are dry and not worth eating (where do those things come from anyway??), the fruit of the Spirit is always fresh, full of potency, and there will never be a time that there’s only one left! Can you imagine?? Love that hasn’t bruised, become dull and mushy, or down to its last drop. Full of juice, packed to overflowing, in-ex-haustible, and as near as our next breath!! And that’s not all! The variety and wide range of use and efficacy is mindboggling.

In addition to Love,

there’s Joy and Peace,

Patience,

Kindness,

Goodness,

Faithfulness,

Gentleness,

and Self-Control!

Read those again. Slowly. Consider the health and life in them.

Take a moment and consider your last sucker punch or maybe it was the last straw of a million other straws breaking your camel’s back. Ask God which of that fruit He wanted you to access. Was it Gentleness that was needed? Or maybe this was an opportunity to experience and demonstrate godly Self-Control. Perhaps God assigned this challenge to show you Love and Patience, Peace and Goodness, Joy and Faithfulness, and the like residing in you is indeed sufficient to not only endure, but thrive in your situation.

As result of my recent sucker punch I’m aware again of my tendency to want to strike back. Striking back is not among the list of God-approved responses, but it is found among that other list just preceding the identifying of the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-22 makes very clear all that being led by my flesh, my natural self, makes possible. Everyone of these things, every single one of them, can be acted out by me, by you, and rationalized and accepted today without so much as a twinge of guilt. Take a look.

immorality

impurity

sensuality

idolatry

sorcery

enmities

strife

jealousy

outbursts of anger

disputes

dissensions

factions

envying

drunkenness

carousing

We may not be able to identify all of these things in personal day-to-day (probably because we don’t know exactly what they are… dust off your dictionary and check them out), but if not in our own lifestyle we can certainly spot them in our entertainment, and in the news whether local, national, global.

But being rationalized, accepted by us and all around us does not make anything right. God is not affected by mob rule, peer pressure, or societal norms. And He has called us to a different standard, but that’s a topic for another time.

Whether it has already happened and we’re still seeing stars, or it is scheduled for later today or tomorrow, let’s be alert and intentional in our response to that sucker punch. Let’s look beyond the puncher and accept God’s invitation to learn something important, demonstrate something important in our world for His glory. We won’t ask “Why?” this time. Instead we’ll give God thanks and unwrap the Spirit’s special fruit and find what He has intended for us to grow in today.

              

This is Only a Test, Part 2

Might God have a delight in seeing us fail? Does He find pleasure in watching us stumble headfirst into one mess after another? Does He laugh over events that leave us emotionally stunned, muddied?

The only answer to that is an emphatic and crystal clear, “No!”

Then why do sudden and terrifying/heartbreaking/breathtaking events come our way, particularly when we are making concerted efforts to follow closely, live correctly?

One constant component to that answer, though absolutely not the full answer, can be found in the instruction and encouragement given us by Jesus’ half-brother, James.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)

This flies in the face of all we are taught and observe in our world… consider it all joy when we encounter trials?? What about counting it as anger, annoyance, frustration, helplessness, hopelessness, impatience, sadness, defeat, worthlessness? And those all came to me in just moments… give me just a few more minutes and I’m confident you and I could add dozens of other natural, immediate responses, and according to James, evidently wrong responses to challenges we’ve known.

When we understand, or at least acknowledge, that trials serve a purpose,

other than the immediate destruction they seem intended to inflict on us,

we can indeed take a breath and move our focus from what’s happening externally to what is happening internally.

Internally is where our faith resides, where decisions are made, where growth happens, and according to the scripture, where tested faith produces endurance.

Externally we can be maligned, bruised and bloodied, saddened to the point of sickness, provoked and stressed, discouraged, confused, yet we are instructed to respond with joy at the prospect of an opportunity to test our faith, submit to God’s guidance, receive His provision, and show the world how a trial is correctly met.

I hear you… But even when we are working our hardest at living well, obeying His Word, loving Him and our neighbor as fully as we know how?

Yes, even then… possibly especially then.

What good is an untested faith? What if we woke every morning, confident of our relationship with the God of the universe, confident He was there with us and already busy working out His wonderful plan for our day, confident all that comes our way would be for our good (and not include any wicked influence), confident we would end the day just as we began it… on top and untouchable.

 

An untested faith, just like an untested muscle or even idea, is weak.

 

 

Consider this. Challenges to our life… from the insignificant irritations of misplaced car keys and spilled coffee to mild misunderstandings with others and delays or detours, even to great personal disasters like relational trauma, financial loss, health emergencies … are intended to show us not only our true weakness, but also the true strength and the supremacy of God’s supply and His ever-willing desire to be our Help.

Could it be we are meant to seriously acknowledge our bumps in the road, regardless of their size or intensity, as from the Hand of God with the intention of growing us in a significant way? Could we train ourselves to stop and take a breath before reacting out of fear or pain? Could we learn to respond by giving thanks for this new challenge and lay it at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging a weak, but growing faith in His goodness, His provision, His wisdom?

The best, but not only, answer to these questions is an emphatic and crystal clear, “Yes!” You and I have chosen all those other options, and we have the scars to prove it. Let’s endeavor today to respond to that next challenge with joy… pure, confident joy … and allow that challenge to grow our faith stronger and our endurance deeper as we trust our heavenly Father with its purpose and outcome.

This Is Only A Test

Memory of that awful, blaring, unmistakable alarm is bouncing around in your head, right?  Seeing that test pattern and the words “THIS IS ONLY A TEST”  take us immediately to that accompanying sound.  Maybe it was during the Saturday morning cartoons or noontime news show.  Perhaps it interrupted our favorite afternoon game show, or perish the thought, that daytime drama/soap opera we loved so much.

Regardless of the time of day or night it appeared, we learned that because this test, this disruption of normalcy, was being conducted, and indeed had succeeded in getting our attention, we could be assured the spread of important information would follow if it was needed… and the panic that sound first inspired in us was unwarranted.

If only real life tests were that easy to spot.  If only in the moments preceding a shut down of the current status quo there was a flash of something… color test pattern on the wall, lightning bolt across the sky, even blaring alarm… to set us on guard and prepared for the coming onslaught.  If only.

One of those tests came my way recently.  It was an out-of-the-blue, kick-in-the-gut, go-away-and-let-me-curl-up-in-the-corner-on-the-floor kind of test. Have you had one recently?

And the funny thing (make that challenging, bewildering, numbing thing) is that it interrupted a wonderful series of “good” things… good intentions being turned into good actions, good thoughts leading to good words, good today with expectations of good tomorrows.

That’s the thing about tests. Sure, it’s great to have a date assigned to one and prepare for it and meet it fully armed, but it’s those pop quizzes that reveal initiative and diligence… and can pull the rug right out from under us, landing us flat on our faces.

Are you wondering where God fits into this? Is it a perverse sense of delight in His power that prompts His release of that stunning pop quiz? Or perhaps He hasn’t fully forgiven us and intends to issue the occasional, surprise reminder of our sinfulness, error, employing shockingly accurate hits to knock us down and keep us “in our place”.  What do you think?

What Have I Learned?

It’s the end of May. School is wrapping up. Tests, exams, evaluations … critical, important, expected assessments of progress made, or not made, have been undertaken. That’s fine for the school children and college students, but what about me and you? Perhaps we should evaluate progress we have made over the past 9 months in important areas… maybe not math skills or geography facts and grammar rules… but certainly there is benefit in objectively observing where we are now compared to where we were then.

It has been a true joy to work with a group of women on a project with a simple, presumably easily attainable, goal. We met openly, with absolutely zero concern for intrusion by any authority, as our purpose was in no way illegal or immoral. We purchased inexpensive workbooks and already owned a copy of the primary text. We met in a clean, safe place, convenient to all of us. Our families were not adversely affected by these few hours of our absence each week. Though I did sincerely and correctly use the word “joy” and all the physical components were nonissues, this was the hardest work and brought about the deepest emotional upheaval and “recalculation of route” many of us have ever experienced.

Our goal was simply to learn what is written in the Bible about the life of women. If the Bible is the guide book for Christians certainly there is something in there to help us, right? It’s a big book. Somewhere in there, along with the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, King David, and the prophets, Jesus and the apostles, there must be something about how should we live, right? What does God say about us? Does He care how we spend our days and nights? Is it important to Him, or are we on our own?

It is indeed true that in the teaching of something the teacher learns along with the student. Teaching causes the roots and branches of that knowledge to grow more and more, understanding deepens, and I am the beneficiary of that reality.

Let me show you three of the big things I have discovered I thought I knew, but am actually only now beginning to understand on a meaningful level. They transcend woman-life and speak to the broader goal of Christ follower. Living with these truths front and center in our hearts and minds will make us women after God’s heart, giving us the ability to impact our world well.

1.  Love is our duty
2.  We have what we need to love well
3.  Growth requires testing

Love is our duty

Jesus spoke the words “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35.

The command to love was later emphasized in Jesus’ answer to the question “What is the great commandment in the Law?” Matthew 22:37-39 shows us Jesus replied quoting from the Torah something familiar to those in attendance, “…’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

And then in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 love is described in detail. “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”

That Jesus chose the word command is significant. He didn’t suggest or request we love each other. He commanded it. And He commanded that we do it a certain way… as He has loved us. Unconditionally. Fully. Sacrificially. To the death.

That He chose love for others as the identifier of His disciples is significant. He didn’t pick a certain zip code or occupation or hairstyle or dollar amount given to be our identifier.

That we are given such a detailed description of what love is and isn’t is significant. In order to demonstrate patient, kind, non-jealous love when given the opportunity, we must choose those over impatience, unkindness, and jealousy. In my experience showing and giving love as defined here has been difficult and messy, and requiring so much practice as I get it wrong more often than not. At times the patient love is easy enough, but that not taking into account a wrong suffered, or bearing and believing and hoping and enduring ALL things is basically impossible and utterly exhausting.

Yet, I’m reminded, as these bits of scripture have been planted in my memory and are transforming how I think and act, I am commanded to love and this is what it should look like.

We have what we need to love well

Galatians 5:22-23 tells us “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Jesus told of the coming of the Holy Spirit; He would indwell the believers, abide with them forever, noted in John 14:16-17. Ephesians 1:13 tells us believers are sealed by the Spirit. Can you imagine a Holy Spirit seal being anything but perfect?

How marvelous there is visible fruit of His presence in us and it is described as just that… fruit! The people of that time knew how fruit came to be, and we understand as well. Being supplied by the Holy Spirit there is no end to this fruit. We only need choose it over the indifference, angst, turmoil, impatience, meanness, evil, faithlessness, ruthlessness, indulgence that is so natural and easy to implement.

Here’s a challenge for you. In your mind consider a difficult situation in which showing love is just impossible. Now start at the beginning of the description of the fruit of the Spirit and apply it to the situation.

Can you see that Love straight from the Holy Spirit will allow you to show love in your situation? What about adding in Joy from the Holy Spirit?

Then His Peace and Patience. Do you see the impossible becoming possible? Keep going!

Kindness, true kindness, that wants the other’s benefit over my own, then Goodness that overlooks faults.

Faithfulness that believes God is sovereign and His way is best and His supply is limitless.

Gentleness to keep quiet and Self-control to allow us to behave well.

The impossible is possible when we tap into His Provision for us and refuse our paltry and selfish resources.

We do, indeed, have what we need to love well!

Growth requires testing

It is in testing that weakness and error are exposed, along with occasional bits of success, as again and again we are challenged.

Our Father instructs us to consider it all joy… maximum joy, not piddly joy

when … not if

we encounter … oh! you again! unwanted, uninvited, unexpected

various … what’s this?? or, oh no, not that again!

trials … challenges, obstacles, heartaches, disappointments

knowing … awareness of and confidence in

that the testing of your faith … the challenge shows this Faith is real and it is Mine

produces endurance … testing and overcoming resistance is how endurance grows! ask any athlete!

And let … it’s in my power to allow this

endurance have its perfect result … there is a desirable goal ahead!

so that you may be … that goal is attainable!

perfect and complete … what?! I can be whole and fully prepared?

lacking in nothing … with no deficiencies.

So in order to grow and become a woman with stronger faith, enduring faith, I am to react to struggles with joy, knowing that the trial/challenge/heartache/disappointment can have the result of making my faith stronger… or not. I can choose for that not to happen, opt out and do it my way, wallow in my own pain and sorrow, be the poster girl for pitiful and wrecked. I think I’ll aim for perfect and complete. Pitiful and wrecked has been a drag.

So there are the Big 3 I have learned this year. There are bruises and scars along with stronger muscles in my heart where my faith lives.

I understand Love is my duty… love of God and my neighbor.

I understand I have all I need to do that well because the Holy Spirit resides in me and is my unending source for everything that is useful for showing true Love to my world. It is NOT up to me to supply or fabricate love. I am the conduit.

I understand all those train wrecks of a day, the emotional gut kicks, the mountains of disappointments and failures are opportunities for me to choose to allow my faith to be tested, which means choosing faith in God’s plan for me over my own, and resting in His Sovereignty.

What have been your Big 3? I’d love to hear!