See To It

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God…” Hebrews 12:15.

To understand this verse, we need to understand the biblical definition of grace.  ‘Grace is the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.’  This morning I wish to look at the latter part of the definition, the bestowal of blessings.  Why?  Because so many of my trials came up empty on blessings due to my own responses.  This verse is a cautionary tale for me.  It is an exhortation to myself to pay attention in this trial.  It is a commonly sung song with many verses if we don’t examine our responses within our circumstances.

If we are responding in anything short of surrender and examination, we fail to receive what He wishes to bestow on us.  Many times, we will just slide by the seat of our pants, looking like we are trusting God but really relying on our strength.  Simply surviving is not receiving His grace.  If you approach your trials like I have in the past with a poor me attitude, we are not receiving the blessings found through self-examination and humility.  ‘Trails don’t accomplish their beneficial work when you respond with a victim mentality.  Trying to gut it out might sound spiritual, but neither of these approaches is a partnership with God.  Both of those extremes miss the grace of God for your trial.’  When Life Is Hard, p. 95.

Obtaining the grace of God is surrendering our own will in every situation.  Obtaining the grace of God is receiving His wisdom on any given decision and then obeying His message.  Obtaining the grace is humbling ourselves and seeing others through His eyes.  We must see to it that what He desires to give us is what we pursue even when it’s tough.  Some of my greatest gifts of grace have been the liberation of life long attitudes in my heart.  It was gut wrenching during the process but boy did the benefits pay off!  His transforming grace extends a holiness in our lives that no other gift can touch.  Remember, holiness is the absence of everything that causes fear, turmoil, pain and restlessness.  Who doesn’t want holiness to power our lives?  The world would be a lot kinder and loving if everyone of us would humble ourselves and examine our trials. 

Drooping Hands & Weak Knees

“Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet” Hebrews 12:12-13.

I am one who loves to drive and enjoys the journey of getting there as much as the arrival. It is a chance to listen to great music, reflect on things going on in my life and lift prayers. I love taking the interstates because not much concentration is required. It’s pretty much a straight shot and I enjoy the continuum of the travel. There have been many times in my adult life where my circumstances didn’t take me straight to the resolution. Many situations took me through twists and turns…delays and incorrect off ramps. If only I had just 'sat still in the stopped traffic and waiting.' Taking the wrong exits and merging onto the wrong places to avoid the incident can certainly lead to discouragement. 

Paul penned a powerful image regarding discouragement. No doubt we have all approached people with drooping hands and weak knees, and have been approached by these people. But Paul’s words are actually a word of hope…a remedy for this ailment. The opposite of what he offers is to allow discouragement to take root in our disappointment. Many times, discouragement is a sign of denial, as it points its blaming finger at someone else. Discouragement seeks to blame another for their current situation instead of embracing what God has allowed to come into their life. The author of When Life Gets Hard writes that ‘Denial [that God has allowed this situation for your good] heightens discouragement because you can’t be in partnership with God in something you’re not acknowledging or accepting.’ p. 88. We should attempt to avoid the crooked paths of finger pointing, blaming and running away. We should look straight to God in our circumstances with raised hands and bended knees. In this posture our questions should be ‘What do you want me to learn in this Lord?’ instead of ‘Why, Lord?’ 

We will all need His help in moving us from disappointment to acceptance, and discouragement to faith. Taking the straight path is being immovable from His word, strengthened by His power and confident in His outcome. It is looking straight ahead and keeping our eyes fixed on Him. It is staying straight when our emotions are luring us to take a detour. A straight path means looking within ourselves and discovering the good that God is trying to do in us and through us. It is truly believing that we can do all things through Christ and nothing is impossible.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.

Give Me My Stew!

“Esau came in…famished. ‘Quick, let me have some…stew! I’m famished! Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright.’ ‘Look, I am about to die,’ Esau said…So he swore on oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob…He ate…So Esau despised his birthright’ Genesis 25:29-34.

There have been several seasons in my life when I was completely famished…hungry for the season to be over… starving for a resolve in a situation…looking for anything that would fill my bowl of satisfaction...sure that I would die before the circumstances would change. It was a time when my will be done instead of God’s will being done. I exchanged my birthright for stew…embracing my will in the situation over that thing that God wanted me to learn in that season. God appoints certain birthrights at different times in our lives. Our birthrights are those things that God wants to make right in our heart. Our birthrights will never appear in bitterness and earthly things. They begin to take shape when we pursue the holiness of God.

James McDonald defines holiness as the absence of everything that causes turmoil, pain, restlessness and fear. He goes on to explain that ‘we pursue holiness not perfectly but increasingly.’ When we are hungry, we must add the ingredients of humility, grace and prayer into our stew. When our spiritual stomachs are growling, we must continue to stir in Scripture. When the world offers us comfort and convinces us of entitlement we cannot eat even a spoon of that offering. How do we know when we have exchanged the things of God for temporary satisfaction? We can be sure when there is division within a family or a lack of concern for someone else’s opinion. We can know that we have despised our birthright when we continue to do the same behavior over and over that has caused disrespect to someone we love or to God. We can embrace the truth that God has appointed us to go through certain adversities to give us certain birthrights…those unlovely attitudes in the heart that He wishes to set free. Or we can choose to submit to our self-made plans…our ways…our timing…the stew of the flesh.

I have been guilty of despising my birthright during certain seasons of my life. It led to destruction and a lack of holiness…the presence of turmoil, pain, restlessness and fear. Over the past few years, I have finally submitted myself to God and laid down the things that have gotten me nowhere. He has dug up rooted habits and attitudes that were producing unlovely fruit. While my holiness is far from perfect I am reminded this morning that my pursuit of holiness doesn’t have to be perfect…just increasing.

‘Holiness is just to be free from myself for a moment.’ C S Lewis

Blessing Christ

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” Matthew 25:40.

A few years back a group of ladies at our church in charge of finding a speaker for an event invited me to speak on comfort. I am certainly not a speaker but try to be obedient and open to the opportunities God presents to me. I worked on my speech in theory, wrote it and it was time to practice. I remember one of the best things Bruce ever said to me was in response to a statement I made regarding one of my frustrations. I told him that I wished I could speak without using notes like our pastor, Talbot. He looked at me and said, ‘God didn’t call you to be Talbot, He called you to be Brenda.’ I have never forgotten that and am blessed by that when I begin comparing myself to others.

The morning of the Ladies’ Winter Warmer came and the organizers informed me that there were 125 women in attendance. I felt a sense of dread come over me so I immediately went to prayer. After some prayers of admission regarding my fears, I asked the Lord what on earth I had to share with all these women? He tenderly spoke into my heart, ‘Brenda, if you bless one woman you have blessed me.’ That simple but powerful thought completely transformed my mind and heart. I went on to speak, and afterwards a woman shared with me that she had just admitted to her husband her secret spending. As most of you are aware secret spending was the toxic comfort to which I turned when going through a tough and painful time. That was the basis for my speech that day, Comfort – Secret or Sacred? I completely lived out the promise of Christ that day, since I knew God used my circumstances of past sin to bless this woman who had the courage to lay her behavior down and repent.

God sends opportunities into our lives daily where we can bless another…a smile…a kind word…a Scripture verse...our testimony. Our ways to bless others don’t have to be grandiose…a blessing is a blessing. We must see our behavior and words toward others as the way we treat Christ. He wants to bless us right back when we bless Him.

Our Saltiness

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men” Matthew 5:13.

I’ll admit that I love salt a little too much, but thankfully I also love water which combats the salt. It was interesting to learn this morning after reading the commentary on this verse that most of the salt used in Israel at the time of this writing came from the Dead Sea and was full of impurities. 

I couldn’t help but to draw a parallel to our walk on earth and the significance for which God calls us to live. Our saltiness...our spiritual effectiveness...while on earth will be the result of our pursuit of righteousness. The more we strive to live as Jesus did the more flavorful our offerings will be to others. If we sprinkle the salt of mercy on those who ridicule us we have pursued righteousness. If we sprinkle God’s wisdom on confusing circumstances, we have pursued holiness. If we sprinkle grace on those who have wounded us we have pursued forgiveness. We can never go wrong by flavoring mankind with the salt of God’s character. God can be accessed in His abundance through spending time in His living waters of the Word. Our spiritual saltiness will be effected by our daily liquid intake of Scripture…prayer… worship.

When we choose to follow the culture, we will lose our spiritual effectiveness through the gradual acceptance and compromise of what man says is truth. We will become dead in our testimonies when we allow impurities to enter our hearts. Our behavior will come from the dead seas of our habits. We become bland at best in our examples and tasteless in our behavior. We no longer stand out but stand back.

Salt sets a recipe apart like no other ingredient, and so will our effectiveness if we continue to pursue God’s holiness, His righteousness and His character.

Weeping by the Rivers

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered…There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked for our songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy… How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land” Psalm 137:1-4.

Well I must say that this past Saturday is one I hope to forget. I allowed the outrage and divisiveness of social media to steal any hope that I was feeling regarding the future movement of God. To move from the inaugural prayers from those certain individuals who truly love Jesus to the onslaught of Saturday, I was left sitting by the rivers of Babylon weeping. I was so saddened by my captors, those who demanded me to sing a different song…a song ripping apart others…a song where it’s alright to slander the name of people I don’t even know. There was no singing on Saturday for me…nothing but sadness… reflection…remembering…longing for a day where Jesus was King and man took his humble posture as servant.

As always though God was faithful through the night to remind me of the prayers of this Christian nation over the past couple of years begging for delivery. He reminded me that I must not hang out by the rivers long, allowing the toxic poison to enter my mind. I must take every thought captive that does not build, encourage, comfort, and replace it with life-giving words. He reminded me that the process of delivery is ugly…messy…painful. These days are the labor pains of future delivery and we must stay focused on the work of the Lord who is delivering this nation. We must continue to play our harps…singing and praising God as He works on our behalf. We must hang our joy on the hope of Jesus instead of the discouraging circumstances and playing to the tune of hate.

Reading the hateful things on social media is like returning to a terrible train wreck to get another look. We have passed by that and must not turn around but move forward in God’s process in turning our hearts back to Him. But it begins with us...if our words don't speak honorable and pure things we shouldn't say them. If our posts tear down others we must remove our fingers from the keys. If our comments on posts have a motive to jab others we must walk away. Sometimes the best posture we can take is silence.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” Philippians 4:8. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, where Christ is…Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2.

Above All

“Above all, love each other deeply…Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts.  Use them well to serve one another…” 1 Peter 4:8-10.

I remember after both my sister and dad passed on to Heaven my church approached me to facilitate Grief Share, a support group of those walking through the death of loved ones.  At the time my father-in-law who suffered with Alzheimer’s lived with us.  My first response was that I had just recently lost family members and wasn’t very far along in my own grief.  The other concern was the overwhelming emotional and physical state of caring for Bruce’s father at that time.  After prayer and meditation, I hesitantly accepted.  I can tell you that it was the best thing for me at the time.  Little did I know that through facilitating the pain of the others, I would be comforted.  Nowhere on my heart’s radar did I understand that through my teaching I would be the student.  As I dispersed God’s compassion to others I received His.  As I shared the life-giving words of the Lord, I was washed over with His sustaining grace.  I gave and was given…I searched and I found…I ached and I was comforted.  This is how I understand our passage for this morning.  I love the sentiments of James MacDonald in my study, When Life Gets Hard, p. 70.

‘When you are consumed by a trial, it’s easy to forget others and their needs.  But Peter says one of the best ways to yield to God’s will during a trial is to intentionally focus on the needs of others.’

Only you will know what your spiritual gifts are and the manner in which you may serve.  It is very important to submit your ideas about this to God.  Always cover your area of gifting with prayer so that you may be used the way God desires.  When we focus on our problems instead of the people with whom God surrounds us we miss out on the comfort that can be ours, and hurting people miss out on being comforted. 

Jesus continued to serve during His toughest trial – hanging on the cross.  While suffering, He comforted the criminal next to Him.  While feeling all alone, He made sure His mother and disciple had each other.  While in pain, He prayed for God to forgive His enemies.  Most importantly, Jesus prayed up until His final breath. 

Christ certainly dispensed this passage beautifully…love…offer…serve.

Stones to Bread

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil…he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are...tell those stones to become bread’” Matthew 4:1-3.

There is so much packed into this passage in recognizing certain things when we are walking through a tough season. When we, as believers, lack understanding we need to look no further than Jesus’ example while on earth. Jesus didn’t wake up and find Himself in the wilderness as if something strange happened to Him. He was well aware that He was being led by God to experience the wilderness. He followed the Spirit into the desolate area…the area where no one would be around for companionship…fellowship…relationship. Jesus made His companion the Holy Spirit. We are told that after 40 days and nights, Satan showed up on the scene. Satan will always lay in waiting until we are at our weakest. He plays dirty and he knows it is easier to catch us off guard when we are ‘hungry…lonely…angry…sick.’ He looks for opportunities to attack when we lack the best version of ourselves.

He will tempt us to ‘tell our stones to become bread’…that is, self-talk that is nothing but lies. It is the caregiver who is riddled with guilt because of the feelings she is experiencing in her care for others…she is tired. It is the person who speaks bitterness instead of forgiveness because she bought the lie that she is entitled…she is angry. It is the man who doubts he will ever get well and experiences hopelessness…he is sick. It is the person who isolates themselves believing they are not loved…they are lonely.

When we walk through tough seasons, we better believe that we will be harassed by the tempter. But we do not walk alone for God is with us and never leaves us. We can have confidence that when we are in the wilderness, God has allowed it but will help us be victorious through it. We must train up our minds in the Word and what God says about our circumstances…not what our emotions tell us. Like Jesus, the more knowledge and wisdom about God’s character and truths that we have, the better response we will give to the temptations laid before us. Our biggest worry should be that we wouldn’t recognize our tempter. Satan condemns, God convicts. 

Condemnation convinces us we are less than…conviction points us to who we can be in God.

Oh That We Might Live!

“They think it strange [they are surprised] when you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge…” 1 Peter 4:4-5.

We only have to look at our political landscape to see that this passage is completely relative in 2017. Over the past decade or so, we have witnessed a dissipation like no other. A dissipation is defined as the process of slowly disappearing or becoming less. The decade of dissipation has been the slow and painful disappearing of God in our country and the things on which it was founded. It should come as no surprise that our country is divided and torn in half. There is unity where the Spirit is and chaos where evil reigns. But our country IS surprised and in complete shock at the state of America.

But, I’m not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater. While there may be a national flood that feels as if everyone has plunged into this acceptance, there are those who still splash in the living waters of Christ, standing for Him and with Him. There are still those who understand where they should bathe… where the water is clean and the goal is righteousness. I do believe that the time has come for this country to be judged, but we must remember that He who judges is motivated by love, not hate…desire not spite. God has been sending judgment into mankind’s choices since Creation with the goal of reconciliation and restoration. We can’t fight the process, and must understand that these times require us to swim against the current of the flood of hate, anger and disharmony. We can’t count God out and deny His power to restore…redeem…reunite. It is to no value to 'have a form of godliness but deny its power' 2 Tim 3:5. But it will NOT be acquired through heaping abuse on the other side. Our anger towards each other highlights our underlying lack of confidence that God is still in control. If we are living in the tension of my party or your party, my issue or your issue we have missed the big picture. This is about the journey back to God as a nation. This is about standing in love and patience through the workings of an omniscient and omnipetent God. We cannot fix what we did not create. Only the Creator has the wisdom, power and knowledge to accomplish this.

Bringing order to chaos is in God’s capabilities and will be accomplished with or without us (‘For God is not a God of disorder but of peace’ 1 Co 14:33). It’s all about choices and how we reconcile our experience in 2017. I am reminded of a quote by Charles Dickens (which I had to Google to remember its origin) that will describe our experience in 2017. On which side of the experience will we be?

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

‘Today I have given you the choice between life and death, blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life so that you and your descendants might live!’ Deuteronomy 30:19.

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Circling the Walls

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy…See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands…March around the city once…Do this for six days…On the seventh day, march around the city seven times…Advance! March around the city…Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!” Joshua 5:15-6:16.

Joshua was the protege of Moses. It is certain they shared many private conversations over the years in the desert. Like many of us, we share our testimonies and life’s experiences with those whom we spend most of our time. We exchange stories of how God has been faithful and the manner in which He called us. There is no doubt that Joshua would have heard the story of Moses entering into God’s presence at the burning bush. Moses would have shared that he was instructed to remove his sandals for the ground was holy. God was making it clear the importance of the next phase of Joshua's life. I would give anything to see Joshua’s face when the messenger of God echoed those words to Joshua. Did he feel the weight of glory? Did his life with Moses flash before his eyes and suddenly he realized how the plan fit together? Could he feel in his spirit the emerging miracle that was on the horizon? With those words, he had to understand that they were on the brink of a miracle…whatever God said…however He said…whenever He said. March around a city…sure! Come back the next day and do it again… okay! Continue for 5 more days and on the 7th day shout when you hear the trumpet… absolutely!

What have you been waiting on from God? What circumstances are you marching around again and again waiting on the walls to fall? We get so close…we circle our circumstances…we feel it’s time…and then God says not today. Joshua both understood God’s message and believed God’s promise. He knew in His heart that the Lord had given them the victory. He also understood this victory would be in God’s timing. Joshua had confidence in three truths that we also need to believe. He believed that God was in total control of every detail. He believed that God was motivated by goodness, love and promise. Most importantly, he surrendered his own thinking of when things should happen and how they should happen. He removed his sandals, that man-made protection against the terrain on which we are called to journey. Sometimes God expects us to walk barefooted through many of our trials…to march the suffering with only the protection of His love.

‘God brings tests into your life because your faith in Him – your belief that He is in control and that His is good – can be proved only in times when life is hard. Only when your faith is strong are you willing to wait for God to work out His good purposes through your trial’ When Life Gets Hard, Meg Johnson p. 44.

Sometimes to march and advance is to kneel and surrender.

Our True Colors

“You know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” James 1:3-4.

To fully appreciate this verse, we must understand the definition of steadfastness in its purest form. Steadfastness in different translations of the Bible include patience, endurance, and forced into open showing its true colors. The Greek term lends itself to the action of ‘staying in place when the pressure is on.’

2016 was a platform for steadfastness in my own life like no other time. God had been writing this screenplay for many years and the debut had come to fullness. As the curtain slowly opened last January, I realized that the performance of my life was required. This situation forced me into the open with my beliefs and my attitudes front and center. My response…my true colors…would be on display for my audience. Would I fall flat in my imperfection and lack the grace and forgiveness that would be required? Would the curtain fall on my performance, and the audience exit when they saw the condition of my heart? I would love to say that I was complete and perfect while on stage but that would be a lie. I have reconciled all of this my heart, however, because God isn’t looking for perfection, He just desires our participation and progression. I don’t believe one day passed in my daily prayers last year that I didn’t plead with Him to do the work…let the lesson be complete…remove the thorn once and for all! God was completely faithful and blessed me with liberation from a life-long condition in my heart that needed to break free. How did He accomplish this in me? Through the interweaving of humility, surrender and sacrifice. I discovered through humility to God, I could more easily surrender and sacrifice my emotions and entitlements.

‘Humility demands that you remain concerned about others…Humility is a sorely lacking quality among those who complain, lash out, bail or fold under pressure. Humility is the core virtue of mature Christians who have stayed under the funnel of adversity long enough to benefit from it. I am convinced that perseverance is the narrow channel through which all other Christian virtues flow…Being perfect and complete, lacking in nothing…is about robust maturity, a combination of deep qualities that mark someone who has seen and experienced what life can dish out and is still standing under God’s mighty hand.’ When Life Gets Hard, p. 49.

I know that God took 2016 and helped dismantle erroneous thinking and attitudes. Hopefully in Him and through Him, there is a better foundation on which to build for my future. I arrive at 2017 with peace, joy and contentment that the world has never provided.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” Phil 3:12.

Our Heart Home

I try several times a week to walk in my area, and always go into this housing community where homes are still being established. Yesterday, while walking through the community I was focusing on the different homes and their offerings. Some homes were for sale, while others were occupied, marked with inviting welcome mats and rocking chairs on the porch. A few of the lawns had signs offering a ‘Quick Sale’ opportunity. And, of course there were two or three model homes. Half way through my walk, I watched a police officer cruise the neighborhood streets. Anyone, who knows me knows how I love to draw analogies of everyday things to our spiritual walk.

I began considering these homes as hearts and how we offer certain opportunities for the Holy Spirit to move in and through our lives.

The model homes are likened to those hearts that protect their image above all else. They never allow anyone to have knowledge that things are not ‘out of place’ in their lives. Everything they do and everything they are lends itself to this goal. The Holy Spirit drives right on by for now, fully understanding that truth does not live in that heart. He knows at some point the façade will fall and that heart will be searching. The next heart is the one who has motioned for the Holy Spirit to pull over…come in…share some time together. It is the heart that will receive advice and teaching…it is the heart that heeds the warnings offered. It is the heart that enjoys those visits and feels protecting by His presence. The ‘Quick Sale’ heart is the one that needs resolution as soon as possible. Time is of the essence, and a crisis is on the horizon. The Holy Spirit lingers around this one because He knows things will soon be chaotic with the urgency of the situation.

I have moved many times within my heart community and fully understand their differences. I must say that the heart that now resides in me is a heart that cannot operate without the constant visits of the Holy Spirit. I am a ‘quick-sale’ wreck without His guiding presence.

Singing A Capella

“There he went into a cave and spent the night…The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain…for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks…but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his clock over his face, and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave” 1 Kings 19:9, 11-13.

This passage has always been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I am confident that no one reading this writing has escaped feeling all alone at some point. This life is full of earthquakes that crumble our faith…powerful winds that threaten our bearings…and fiery trials that burn up our confidence. We surround ourselves with walls of isolation…self-made caves of seclusion until these things pass by.

When we walk through circumstances where the symphonic rhythm of life can’t be heard, we are forced into a life of singing a capella. Such times of loneliness are highlighted by the absent orderly music that normally marks our life. The silence of our hearts is highlighted by the raging circumstances of our situation. The important element to remember while cave dwelling is that as life storms by, the Lord never leaves us. He allows these experiences into our lives but makes it clear we don’t have to go it alone. He whispers beautiful songs into our hearts so we can hold on for one more day…one more week…one more song. His whisper speaks more loudly than any accompanying sound the world could provide.

Singing a capella means continuing to praise Him when things seem bleak. Singing a capella shows those around us that we can still have hope when hope is deferred. Singing a capella is an act of worship to God when we are feeling all alone. ‘Trials separate us from others. We feel alone, singled out, cut off, and abandoned. But, as the Scripture reminds us, those can be times of special intimacy with Jesus, for He knows firsthand what we are going through’ When Life Gets Hard, p. 57. When we have lifted our voice without the music in our hearts the Lord will provide the music who is never off tune.

‘The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing’ Zephaniah 3:17.

Olive Pits

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” John 15:2.

Yesterday while working in the kitchen I opened a jar of green olives only to discover I had bought the ones with the pits still inside them.  I did this another time but was too lazy to cut out the pits.  Over time, Bruce ate them as I just ignored them.  I had a little more time yesterday, and so I began cutting around the pit with a sharp knife.  It was boring and monotonous which is a sure recipe for my mind to go other places.  I began thinking how we are like those mounds of green olives, and how God precisely and methodically cuts around the unproductive hard parts of our hearts.  I only have to look at the heart work which was accomplished in my own life through tough circumstances.  He sliced away any prideful image of myself.  He cut around the tendency to judge through experiences where others judged me.  He used my weaknesses to showcase His glory and strength.

Jesus said, ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly’ John 10:10.  I am grateful that our trials produce fruit that lasts.  During easy and comfortable times the heart work is limited and the fruit scarce compared to the enduring attitudes born out of trials.  We become more connected with Jesus and His suffering.  We become more grateful when we share in His joy apart from our circumstances.  We produce our best fruit when the pit has been cut away and all that remains is that which is profitable for our faith.  ‘Hard things happen to faithful people.  The superiority of a life lived in God isn’t superior because it’s pain-free or easy; it’s superior because it approaches the hard parts of life with joy!  Joyless Christians do a lousy job of pointing others to Christ…Our capacity to live to the fullest even in the middle of hardship is always connected to the vitality of our relationship with God.’ When Life is Hard, James MacDonald, p. 41.

“You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act” Matthew 7:16.

For the Moment

“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness, to those who have been trained by it” Hebrews 12:11.

‘For the moment’…three haunting words at first glance but shrouded in hope if we really believe in God’s faithfulness. ‘For the moment’ can seem like forever when circumstances are challenging, and we take our eyes off God. My husband Bruce just had a knee replacement and his ...‘For the moment’ is trying to walk again. His ‘moment’ is extremely painful and slow enduring. His moment is without the knowledge of how long his healing with take. ‘For the moment’ it is anything but pleasant, however Bruce understands that phrase well. He anchors his heart in the truth of what follows…but later. Those precious words that scream ‘Your current situation will have an end. Your circumstances will transform into something good. This pain will yield a better version of yourself than when you originally entered this situation.’

James MacDonald, author of When Life Gets Hard, lays out three essential truths in going through any trial or circumstances. He writes that ‘The pain of trials is momentary, the profit of trials is immense and the promise of trials is conditional.’ Bruce and I are well aware that this experience had a beginning and will have an end. We understand that the profit from this experience will be that he lives in freedom from walking with pain. We also understand that profit will only come through the condition that he rehabs his knee, pushes himself where appropriate and endures the trial. But in all of these truths there is one essential anchor…God.

‘We can be assured that God knows exactly what we are going through. He knows us intimately, and He knows in exact detail what’s going on. He grasps even the parts of your difficulties that are eluding you. He knows the results He desires for you…What is happening in your life right now is not the result of God’s inattentiveness or lack of concern for you…God knows the way your life is going. And no matter how dark and overwhelming the pathway may seem now, He has good things ahead’, p. 33.

Be encouraged that no matter what your circumstances are at this moment you have your own ‘but later’ up ahead. So walk in the truth that in this moment every detail of your circumstances will bring profit to your life if you submit these details to God. He is our condition and our hope.

All In The Family

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are … not true sons” Hebrews 12:7-8.

Boom! Welcome to this new Bible Study with me! Where is the passage that entices me to turn one more page…fill in one more blank...stop and bask in the sweetness of His word. It is certainly not this one, but doesn’t mean that it is not intended for me. Right off the start as a wo...man who has worked diligently allowing God to rid my mind of performance based love, this feels scary. I have no desire to retake conquered grounds! God has lovingly and relentlessly shown me that everything that flows into my life is from His motivation of love. Titus 2:11-12 renames discipline to teaching. There certainly are times when my actions have produced consequences and suffering. But what about the trials that assert themselves into our lives, allowed by God, that teach us things about others…things about ourselves…things about God.

When my sister Beth was diagnosed with Bile Duct Liver cancer we as a family were thrust into a trial like no other. Within the 3 generations who experienced this everyone was walking through this fire. We each were being taught and trained through the journey. While others were affected by our journey they were not in the family so couldn’t experience it in the same way. 

It is the same way with God. If we are truly in His family, we are His children who will have troubles and suffering. Paul goes on to say, ‘No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.’ Hebrews 12:11. I don’t know about you but I am here waiting for my ‘later on.’ We all have been taught through painful circumstances and many are walking through them right now. Sometimes while going through a trial the best comfort is the knowledge that no trial lasts forever. There is a beginning and an end, and living in the tension of the middle is a difficult one at best. But looking back, I know that not knowing the length of time for any of my trials was the gracious providence of God. He loves us with an apologetic love that takes us through joy, despair, training and trusting. Our trials affect our perspective and reframe our character. We must do the work and keep the faith so that it will produce in us things we need for future trails and service to others.

Until our ‘later on’ arrives we must keep our eyes on Him, maintain believing hearts and have complete confidence in His faithfulness.

A Group Like No Other

"Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” Revelation 3:20.

I absolutely love my morning routine so much that I can’t wait to get up in the morning (most days). My mind and body usually nudge me awake around 5:00ish. I lay there until 5:30ish at which point my obsession over my cup of coffee becomes too much to keep in my mind. I come down, put on my worship music, lean against a warm heating pad, drink my coffee and…you guessed it…pull up Facebook. (Bet you didn’t see that one coming!) Eventually I have my prayer time and move on to my Bible study. The couch where I perch is directly in front of a beautiful picture of Christ knocking on a door. He’s just standing there all alone looking sort of doubtful than anyone is on the other side.
About a week ago, I read an article on this very subject. The author corrected this image of Christ coming to us alone as he reeled off stories from the Bible. Jesus always had a ‘band of ragged and sometimes whacky mob of sinners and saints’ with Him. Jesus was rarely alone except when He was praying. He always surrounded Himself with weird people, derelicts and downright horrible sinners (as opposed to good sinners!). I remember thinking about how certain people in my life drive me crazy. I have always heard that God places people in our lives to build our character into more Christ-like attitudes.

When Christ knocked on my door I opened it alright. With Him, in walked the person who has required more patience from me than I care to remember. In walked a person who was so incredibly difficult to love. In walked another who has continuously broken commitments and promises to me. But in that line who entered with Him were parents who loved me like no other. Sisters and friends who would put their lives on the line for me. Spiritual mentors who showed me true grace, sacrificial love and wisdom straight from God. Surrounding Jesus was a husband who grew into a resemblance of Him and children who grew in great love and devotion to me despite my failings. I wouldn't trade these people for anything, even if it meant making room for the others. I realize that I have been put in the lives of others with my shortcomings to develop them into better Christ followers.

I look at the picture now knowing that Christ doesn’t come to the door of our heart alone. He comes front and center, and when we truly invite Him in we also invite the group He specifically chose for us.

‘At times, they’ll drive you nuts and can even break your heart. But they always come with Jesus, and you get to love and learn from them. Standing right behind Jesus are the poor and the lost, the people in your life who need a Savior – the powerful and the marginalized, the arrogant and the brokenhearted, the religiously self-righteous and the smug secularists, the healthy and the sick. Everyone in the world doesn’t show up with Jesus at your door, just the people you can touch with your little life. So, there they are – Jesus and His loves – standing at your door. So, if you wonder how you are going to love and enjoy this motley band, He’s there to help you do what’s utterly counterintuitive.” Matt Woodley.

Finishing Well

“Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” Luke 23:34. “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’” John 19:26b-27. “Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’” Luke 23:43.

When my father-in-law lived with us his final year on earth it was probably one of the toughest and most challenging times of my life. That experience held up a mirror showing me w...ho I really was and who I was not. More times than not, I didn’t like the person staring back from the mirror. She seemed resentful…looked exhausted…reflected something different than what I had always seen her to be. But I learned so much about myself and my motivation that year. Nothing intentional was revealed but more of a mask of myself that was slowly lowered in the face of my circumstances. It gave me an amazing opportunity to see areas in my heart that needed transforming through the help of the Holy Spirit. I remember continuing to say to myself and my husband, ‘I just want to finish well.’ The only thing harder than saying those words was walking out those words. 

Finishing well…an impossible feat in our own abilities. Thankfully, we have been given a Forerunner of finishing well in Jesus. The three verses above are things Jesus said from the cross. He finished well by looking up to God and asking for mercy for those taking His life. He finished well by looking down from the cross…beaten and exhausted…concerned for the future of His mother and closest friend and student, John. He finished well by looking to His side with comfort and promise to the criminal who deserved to be crucified. Love was at the base of these examples. Love promotes life and faith finishes well. 

‘Long middles and slow endings are far harder than hopeful beginnings. Beginning well is easy. Finishing well is hard’ Loving to the End, Leigh McLeroy. Only God will determine if I finished well but I know I loved Bud and had faith in the process. There have been other times when finishing well is/was my heart’s desire, some have now passed and some are reserved for the future. I’m sure you also know all about long middles and slow endings as you walk out your journey. So, I will end this on the final words of this article:

‘Those of us who long to imitate our Savior…will dig in, dive deep, swallow hard, and keep on loving. We will choose to finish all things well and know the hard joy of doing so. It is a joy that far outweighs the fleeting relief of stopping short, shutting down, and checking out. We have everything we need to finish well. After all, He showed us how it’s done’ Leigh McLeroy.

Replacing Pins

Yesterday was the day that a freshly painted door was opened and a squeaky rotten door was closed. I’m so grateful that 2016 is over – it behaved so badly. I cannot throw out that old door because it served a purpose for ’16 – the gradual transformation of my heart. You see, the old door is battered, peeling and rotten because of the war waged upon it. The war between the earthly and the spiritual…the devastation and the remarkable …the despair and t...he exhilaration. It was the door that shut in old thinking patterns…old motivations… old behaviors…old fears. As the door began to creak and become warped I realized that its work had been done, and it was safe to replace it with the new door – 2017. I have confidence in this exchange because of nothing I have done but everything that God is doing.

‘We live in the tension of victories already won and victories to come. We must believe in miracles but not demand them. We yield to the patient work of the Spirit in regenerating our hearts but need to trust His unforeseeable timing…we too often close our eyes to the small but miraculous change happening around us…we miss the glimpses of heaven in our own lives. We are not who we should be, but we are also not who we once were…God will perform His acts of gradual restoration in us, in the deepest and most sinful recesses of the heart we know best – our own. This grace won’t make the storms go away, but it will remind us of the One who leads us through them’ The Glory We Don’t See, Daniel Darling.

I saw glimpses of Heaven in 2016. I wouldn’t trade the heart work done for anything this world could offer. I know that restoration is progressive and cumulative, one deep work built upon the other. I know that whatever I face in ’17 I can boldly say, ‘God can do this. God is doing this. God has done this!’ Isn’t hope always better than despair? Isn’t confidence in God more enduring than confidence in this world? As I reverently and purposefully remove the pins out of 2016 that held it in place, and slide the pins into place for 2017 I will trust that all is the way it is meant to be according to His plan.

“Blessed is she [he] who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” Luke 1:45.

The Gold Exchange

“He [God] knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” Job 23:10.

‘Job acknowledged that God allowed his trial; yet Job submitted to the process and expressed confidence that God would bring positive change from his suffering.  Trials come to all of us; but if we respond with faith, God will bring us out of the experience as gold.’ When Life Gets Hard, James MacDonald, p. 11.

Well that’s a nice intro and a call to all Christians but it is certainly easier to type those words than to live them.  Over the course of my adult life like many of you, I have experienced many trials.  I have been through a divorce when I stood before God and others vowing to forever be married.  I have been dragged through drug addiction with a child over an 8 year period of time.  I secretly mounted huge amounts of debt in our family shouldering the shame of it all.  I watched my sister die of cancer at the age of 42 when life was just getting sweet for her.  I held onto my dad’s arm as he took hold of the arm of Christ and went to Heaven.  I am in the midst of another long running trial that seems to have more of a pulse some days than my pulse.  There are long trials and short trials, irritating trials and devastating trials.  Some trials I invited into my life but other trials invaded like a thief in the night.  When trials come, and they will, the only control we have over them is our response to them.

Hebrews 12:5 reminds us to neither regard lightly nor become weary when we are tested and under fire.  We are encouraged to submit ourselves and our burdens to God.  When we get to a place where we accept that we are completely dependent on God, we become the recipients of gold.  What is that gold in our trails?  It is experiencing God’s enduring presence when we are feeling all alone.  It is when our despair is suddenly transformed to hope when nothing on the horizon has changed.  Gold is given when life is harsh and God is gentle.

For me, my trials have produced gold that I would never exchange for a life of ease.  My gold consists of an ever-increasing awareness and knowledge of the abundance of God…loving… gracious…patient…faithful…kind…gentle…guiding…wise.  So, if my times of testing yield the fullness of Him I will open my hands, raise my arms and hold on for dear life.

“So the LORD must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.  For the LORD is a faithful God.  Blessed are those who wait for his help.” Isaiah 30:18 (NLT)