Where Is This Fellow?

“When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they...said ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us...As for this fellow...we don’t know has happened to him”’ Exodus 32:1.

Miracle upon miracle was displayed when the Lord delivered the Israelites from Egypt, and established His chosen people. Their leader was legitimate and the people followed Moses right out of captivity into the freedom of God. They had a visible guide in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. We should be so blessed to have that constant and visible guidance. But what did they do with that blessing? Their impatience and faulty wisdom allowed them to both consider and invite other gods into their camp after a month or so. They couldn’t even wait 40 days to get God’s message for them. It was not that they overtly denied God, but they chose to include other gods to cover all the bases. They decided that the safest thing to do was to embrace many idols while keeping God in their back pocket.

Don’t we do the same thing? We have asked God for something but we have not heard from Him. We are begging to be moved out of a situation but God keeps us where we are. We pray for contentment and yet we are discontent...unsatisfied...angry...just plain bored. Nothing changes and we get tired of waiting on God and experiencing His silence. ‘As for this Fellow...we don’t know where He is...’ And so, we become impatient and reach out in our wisdom and create other gods... the god of spending...the god of drinking...the god of money...the god of entitlement.

We are not prone to wait well without the settling of the Holy Spirit. When we do not meet God daily as a priority and die to our own will, we slowly begin embracing other gods into our lives. To protect ourselves from erecting false idols we must die daily to what we want, when we want it and how we go about getting it.

Our confidence is in the One whose death and resurrection saved and redeemed us...Jesus Christ. For everything He sacrificed, and for every way He suffered, can’t we give Him our patience and trust? Christ didn’t climb up on the cross to be our crisis manager, but gave up His life on earth to be our daily Bread. I believe that one of the sweetest gifts that we can give back to God is our confidence in all circumstances. When we wait well we say to God I trust you...I love you...Thy will not mine...you are my One and only God.

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is heaven. Give us today our daily bread...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’ Matthew 6:9

Shamers and Stone Throwers

“The teachers of the law & Pharisees brought in a woman...They made her stand before the group...” John 8:3.

Last night I was texting with a friend when she began telling me about a Christian woman who called her, and began tearing her down about things that are closest to a woman’s heart. I was incensed that she would be attacked like that, and had to experience the rantings of a modern day Pharisee. If you don’t believe the Bible is relative you only need to read John 8:3-11 and look around at all of the pointing fingers today. Some days unfortunately we are at the end of someone else’s pointing finger like my friend. Either way we have no right to drag others into the middle of our accusations like the Pharisee’s used to do.

Using His own finger, Jesus responded to these finger pointers who sought to shame her...to discredit her...to expose her. ‘But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger’ John 8:6b. What did the message say? For whom was it intended? Did it encourage the woman with love and grace... ‘I do not condemn you...Go now and leave your life of sin’ John 8:11. Was His message directly to the accuser...‘Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself’ Roman 2:1. Or was it a message for us all that cuts straight to our heart...‘because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment’ James 2:13.

No one knows what the message was for it was intended for those particular people in that particular time. What we do know for sure is that the only way to know what His message is for us is to do like my friend did and take it to Jesus. He sees us for who we are and not for who others say we are. When we commit our hurts to Him we will exchange accusations for grace, and a Pharisee for a Savior. It is in those private times when we are loved the most.

‘...only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there’ John 8:9.

Delightful Inheritance

“‘I will go after my lovers, who gave me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink’ Hosea 2:5. ‘She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal’” Hosea 2:8.

We don’t have to read far in our passage this morning to understand what was standing in the way of Gomer’s contentment, satisfaction and joy...her own self-focus. The very things she sought after were the very things she was already receiving from her husband. In that one short sentence she referred in some way to herself 9 times. How could she possibly see the truth of her blessings when she was focusing on what she lacked? We know she had these things but maybe she wanted more... instead of chicken she wanted steak...instead of her present wardrobe she wanted new clothes...instead of silver and gold that would last a year she wanted enough to last a lifetime. She had an ungrateful heart and a lack of discipline for setting boundaries.

Now before we go and judge her we must look at our own ‘me and my’ pursuits and weigh them against what God’s word states. When I say:

‘I am lonely’ - He says ‘I am continually with you’ (Psalm 73:23)

‘I am hungry’ – He says ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.’ (Matthew 5:6)

‘I am worried’ – He says ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...’ (Matthew 6:25)

‘I am through’ – He says ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Co 12:9)

We cannot focus on our ways, our wants and our wisdom or we will take detours off the path the Lord has laid before us. We must recognize the boundaries He has set around us and trust Him for the rest. We must guard our hearts and minds so that when we are in our ‘me and my thinking’ we replace it with ‘Thee and Thy thinking.’ I love the phrase that Jennifer Rothschild said in my Bible Study this morning. She said that where our heart gravitates our feet will navigate. There is only one Lover who we should pursue, and it is the Lover of our soul who has given us everything we need to be victorious over this life. It is up to us to fix our eyes on Him and set our boundaries upon His wisdom.

‘The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance’ Psalm 16.6.

Family Snapshots

“But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception” Hosea 12:13.

It is no secret that one of my children went through a really dark time when she was a teenager.  She wrestled internally with issues of the heart, leaving her vulnerable and preyed upon by Satan.  Satan didn’t miss this opportunity to taunt me with lies such as my failure as a parent.  He certainly strutted around in victory as I laid upon my bed in despair and heartbroken.  I remember that he was so triumphant in painting a picture of death for my sweet one.  He stoked the embers of my emotions and encouraged me to respond in abandonment ...resentment...anger.  One day when I couldn’t stand the feelings any longer I decided to put a picture of her on my refrigerator of when she was 5 years old.  Any time my heart felt hardened and I wanted to turn away I would see her tiny face smiling back at me, and I remembered a sweeter time...a time before she forgot who she really was...a time when she clearly knew she was our beloved daughter.  My compassion would once again be stirred....

We have a Father who has all of our pictures on His heavenly refrigerator.  Our sins arouse His anger... our waywardness and unfaithfulness break His heart.  He vows to pour out His wrath upon us when we walk in the earthly flesh instead of our spiritual destinies.  Then He sees us for who we are... the little ones He chose with whom to share His family.  ‘How can I give up on you...How can I hand you over...My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused, I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate...For I am God, and not man – the Holy One among you...When he roars, his children will come trembling’ Hosea 11:8-11.

Because of His great love we are welcome home.  In our most wicked state He remembers first and foremost that we are His.  He doesn’t forget that we are not defined by our sins, but sealed by His love.  We are called to extend the same love to those who have forsaken us...those who have wounded us.  We are never justified in our unforgiveness, and are called to receive everyone back in love.  It is not our job to determine who belongs and who doesn't - that's God's job. “The LORD said to me, ‘Go, show your love...again, though she is loved by another...Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to others’ Hosea 3:1a.

When we have been hurt and forsaken by others maybe, just maybe we should try to picture them as one of God’s children who has gone astray like a little lamb.  We should see them as one who God is pursuing to bring back into the fold.  And then perhaps our compassion will be stirred and we can respond as the Lord did in Hosea to the Israelites.

‘I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love, I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them’ Hosea 11:4.

Delightful Inheritance

“‘I will go after my lovers, who gave me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink’ Hosea 2:5. ‘She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal’” Hosea 2:8.

We don’t have to read far in our passage this morning to understand what was standing in the way of Gomer’s contentment, satisfaction and joy...her own self-focus. The very things she sought after were the very things she was already receiving from her husband. In that one short sentence she referred in some way to herself 9 times. How could she possibly see the truth of her blessings when she was focusing on what she lacked? We know she had these things but maybe she wanted more... instead of chicken she wanted steak...instead of her present wardrobe she wanted new clothes...instead of silver and gold that would last a year she wanted enough to last a lifetime. She had an ungrateful heart and a lack of discipline for setting boundaries.

Now before we go and judge her we must look at our own ‘me and my’ pursuits and weigh them against what God’s word states. When I say:

‘I am lonely’ - He says ‘I am continually with you’ (Psalm 73:23)

‘I am hungry’ – He says ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.’ (Matthew 5:6)

‘I am worried’ – He says ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...’ (Matthew 6:25)

‘I am through’ – He says ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Co 12:9)

We cannot focus on our ways, our wants and our wisdom or we will take detours off the path the Lord has laid before us. We must recognize the boundaries He has set around us and trust Him for the rest. We must guard our hearts and minds so that when we are in our ‘me and my thinking’ we replace it with ‘Thee and Thy thinking.’ I love the phrase that Jennifer Rothschild said in my Bible Study this morning. She said that where our heart gravitates our feet will navigate. There is only one Lover who we should pursue, and it is the Lover of our soul who has given us everything we need to be victorious over this life. It is up to us to fix our eyes on Him and set our boundaries upon His wisdom.

‘The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a beautiful inheritance’ Psalm 16.6.

Shifting Shadows

“Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning” Ruth 3:13.

I love how the word of God brings a new message no matter how many times we have read the Scripture. Such was the case for me this morning as I read our highlighted verse which wasn’t the first time to be sure. The beautiful blessing that jumped off of the thin skin pages of Ruth is one that I have learned the hard way over my adult life. There have been times when I pushed my own agenda onto my circumstances and forced something to happen. There have been other times since I’ve developed a more mature faith that I sat back and watched what God would do with my set of circumstances. Sometimes He gave in to me and other times I gave in to Him. What was the result? When I gave in to His plan what He eventually gave me was so much better than what I was trying to attain or accomplish with my own plan.

Both Ruth and Boaz could have easily forced the issue by following their impulses and desires that night in the dark. But instead they left space for God’s plan to play out...they took the way of legitimacy, proper channels and protocols. They didn’t take matters into their own hands and force an outcome, but rather trusted that God would work out everything according to their good and His plan.

When there is a decision to be made for all of us it would be in our best interest to ‘lie there until morning’...until God shines His light of wisdom onto our set of circumstances. Part of the beautiful principle of our verse this morning is the principle of waiting on God. When we move ahead of Him and force something to happen on our own terms we can possibly miss His best. We must be like Ruth and Boaz...leaving space for God’s grace, waiting on His plan and trusting Him for His best. When we panic and fear that we are getting ready to lose our perfect ....(fill in the blank) we are basically not trusting God. He determines what is good and perfect for each of us.

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” James 1:16-17.

Risky Business

“Ruth approached quietly...and laid down... ‘I am your servant...Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer” Ruth 3:7b-9.

If I have ever seen a risky move it was this one.  Ruth was laying it all on the line and banking on Boaz living up to his promise of being the closest kin, responsible for the care of those who had lost their spousal providers.  She in essence was proposing to him asking that he cover her in protection, love and provision for the rest of her life.  She came based on the authority of the promise and surrendered her own comfort, pride and agenda.  Quietly she slipped to her knees, surrendered her own plans, waited for his response, and asked him for the very thing he could give her...new life...new hope...redemption after losing everything...well worth the risk. 

We also have a kinsman who can redeem our lives because He lost His life for each of us.  Through the surrender of His life we have the authority and invitation to claim God as our Redeemer.  Our part is to approach Him in gentleness, humility and trust.  We must recognize like Ruth that we are servants to a great King who has reserved a place for us.  We are to expose our vulnerabilities and frailties before Him asking for God to cover us, heal our hearts, expose our flaws and transform our spirits.  We can claim all of these things through the power of Christ who went before us.  When we finally lay down our own agenda and lie at the feet of Christ we take on His yoke, one that is gentle and humble, one that will give us rest.  ‘The place of surrender is the most freeing of places to be and the hardest to get to’ Kelly Minter, Ruth – Loss, Love and Legacy, p. 103.

‘Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ Matthew 11:28-30.