“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream…It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:7-10.
These verses at first glance do not seem to transition smoothly. However, at second glance I find that it serves as a choice for all of us. We can live in truth when rooted in our faith or we can react based upon the emotions of our hearts and our own wisdom. Our heart tells us we will never find that partner, and our mind convinces us we will never get out of our circumstances. We begin calculating without God and applying our own wisdom to a situation where we lack the total picture. We become rooted in our fears and discouragement instead of being rooted in the One who has the ability and promise to give us His best. We pray for His best but lack the trust and confidence to wait upon it.
‘If you think with your feelings, you can fall into all manner of false conclusions. Feelings are supposed to serve and strengthen us. Left to themselves, however, they enslave and deplete us.’ Me, Myself & Lies, p. 57. False conclusions sound like this: ‘I will never be successful.’ ‘There is no way the outcome will be …..’ ‘I have looked at the details of my situation and my goal will never be achieved on the path I am traveling.’ God sees the motivation of our heart and the thoughts in our mind. He is well aware of our unbelief and lack of confidence in certain areas of our lives.
Jeremiah states that the LORD will reward a person based on their conduct and deeds. This means every time our mind thinks and our mouth speaks in conflict of believing God for His best, we delay or miss certain rewards that God has set aside for us. We must allow ourselves to be planted by the Living Waters anticipating the droughts in life but choosing to believe in the flow of promise and blessings. We must be grounded in our faith and confident in His wisdom, not our own.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Out Performing our Faults
“So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.” Joshua 2:1b.
The Bible doesn’t try to sugarcoat the lives of God’s children throughout His word. In Joshua, we meet a woman whose profession went before her name in her introduction… ‘a prostitute named Rahab.’ In our society any time a profession comes before a name it is usually associated with an earned academic achievement such as Dr. or Pastor Smith. No doubt Rahab wasn’t proud of her name but accepted the label that derived from the life that she lived out.
Sometimes we place a label before our own name when we define ourselves by our weaknesses or past sins. We call ourselves stupid or sinful when we have made a mistake or lonely when we have been rejected. Though our negative self –talk we not only convince ourselves we are the sum of our mistakes, but we subconsciously communicate that to others. The wonderful thing about negative labels is that we have the grace from God to turn that label into service towards Him. When we see God for who He really is, the God of heaven and earth, in control of all things we will be able to out perform our self-imposed shortcomings. ‘…she [Rahab] went up on the roof and said to them…for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.’ Joshua 2:8-10.
Once Rahab accepted God as her own God, she became one of the heroes of faith that made it into the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31. ‘By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.’ Notice that her sin was still before her when recording her faithfulness as if to remind us that God accomplishes great things through us even while we are sinners. God included her in the roll call of faith, not embarrassed by the facts of her life but recognizing her for her faith in Him. By hiding the spies, Rahab was instrumental in the success of God’s children taking the land. She didn’t wait until she was sinless but served God despite her sin, through her faith.
God will take whatever shortcomings we may have and transform them into acts of faith and deliverance. We must believe God at His word…and it is written… ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Romans 5:8. There is another book in which our names and deeds will be recorded called The Book of Life. God esteems those who work within their shortcomings to serve in the earthly kingdom. Then one fine day we will remove our sinful flesh and replace it with a heavenly spirit.
The Bible doesn’t try to sugarcoat the lives of God’s children throughout His word. In Joshua, we meet a woman whose profession went before her name in her introduction… ‘a prostitute named Rahab.’ In our society any time a profession comes before a name it is usually associated with an earned academic achievement such as Dr. or Pastor Smith. No doubt Rahab wasn’t proud of her name but accepted the label that derived from the life that she lived out.
Sometimes we place a label before our own name when we define ourselves by our weaknesses or past sins. We call ourselves stupid or sinful when we have made a mistake or lonely when we have been rejected. Though our negative self –talk we not only convince ourselves we are the sum of our mistakes, but we subconsciously communicate that to others. The wonderful thing about negative labels is that we have the grace from God to turn that label into service towards Him. When we see God for who He really is, the God of heaven and earth, in control of all things we will be able to out perform our self-imposed shortcomings. ‘…she [Rahab] went up on the roof and said to them…for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.’ Joshua 2:8-10.
Once Rahab accepted God as her own God, she became one of the heroes of faith that made it into the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31. ‘By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.’ Notice that her sin was still before her when recording her faithfulness as if to remind us that God accomplishes great things through us even while we are sinners. God included her in the roll call of faith, not embarrassed by the facts of her life but recognizing her for her faith in Him. By hiding the spies, Rahab was instrumental in the success of God’s children taking the land. She didn’t wait until she was sinless but served God despite her sin, through her faith.
God will take whatever shortcomings we may have and transform them into acts of faith and deliverance. We must believe God at His word…and it is written… ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ Romans 5:8. There is another book in which our names and deeds will be recorded called The Book of Life. God esteems those who work within their shortcomings to serve in the earthly kingdom. Then one fine day we will remove our sinful flesh and replace it with a heavenly spirit.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Little Sour Apples
“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit…Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:17-18.
When I was a little girl I was only a bicycle ride away from a church that had apple trees growing on its property. Instead of the luscious grocery store apples hanging on the branches, small sour green apples with little brown spots hung. I can still remember jumping off my bike as it was still moving and scurrying up the big trunk. Every time, my expectation was hopeful only to be disappointed by the bitter and sour taste. Why in the world did I think that climbing the same tree and eating the same fruit would produce a different experience? It wasn’t the tree’s fault…it had a specific root that grew specific fruit.
Every emotion and attitude that hang in our hearts, blossom and ripen from a root that we have nourished. If we have a root of insecurity, our fruit tastes of defensiveness and hypersensitive responses. If we have a root of unforgiveness, our fruit tastes of bitterness and judgmental attitudes. If we are rooted in Christ, our fruit will tastes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. (Gal 5:22) We have the opportunity for our trees to grow emotional fruit or spiritual fruit. If our fruit tastes like the grace of God, many will come to nourish their lives. However, if our fruit resembles sour apples, we will not be a part of sharing the grace of God. ‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.’ Heb. 12:15.
We are told in Romans 11:18 to consider that ‘we do not support the root, but the root supports us.’ When we give up the poisonous roots of our hearts and allow the root of Christ to dominate our lives we will share the beautiful and ripened fruit of God’s orchard. We are all bearers of fruit in God’s field but will emotional or spiritual fruit hang at the end of our branches?
When I was a little girl I was only a bicycle ride away from a church that had apple trees growing on its property. Instead of the luscious grocery store apples hanging on the branches, small sour green apples with little brown spots hung. I can still remember jumping off my bike as it was still moving and scurrying up the big trunk. Every time, my expectation was hopeful only to be disappointed by the bitter and sour taste. Why in the world did I think that climbing the same tree and eating the same fruit would produce a different experience? It wasn’t the tree’s fault…it had a specific root that grew specific fruit.
Every emotion and attitude that hang in our hearts, blossom and ripen from a root that we have nourished. If we have a root of insecurity, our fruit tastes of defensiveness and hypersensitive responses. If we have a root of unforgiveness, our fruit tastes of bitterness and judgmental attitudes. If we are rooted in Christ, our fruit will tastes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. (Gal 5:22) We have the opportunity for our trees to grow emotional fruit or spiritual fruit. If our fruit tastes like the grace of God, many will come to nourish their lives. However, if our fruit resembles sour apples, we will not be a part of sharing the grace of God. ‘See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.’ Heb. 12:15.
We are told in Romans 11:18 to consider that ‘we do not support the root, but the root supports us.’ When we give up the poisonous roots of our hearts and allow the root of Christ to dominate our lives we will share the beautiful and ripened fruit of God’s orchard. We are all bearers of fruit in God’s field but will emotional or spiritual fruit hang at the end of our branches?
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Reclining at the Table
“You prepare a table before me…” (Psalm 23:5) “When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table…” Matthew 26:20.
Many of our thoughts and ideas are built on our initial assumptions early in life. At a very early age I assumed that in order for someone to like me I had to ‘bring something to the table.’ It never dawned on me that someone would love me just for who I was, although my parents showed me this consistently every day. Sometimes we make erroneous assumptions based on our own ideas. When I was 5 years old I can remember seeing a moving truck roll into the neighborhood delivering the household goods of a new neighbor. I stacked five saltine crackers on a plate and walked down the dirt road to offer them a welcome gift. With my assumption lying at the base of my beliefs, every thought and action built upon that base. It seems ridiculous that in my mind, 5 saltine crackers was the price to pay for a friendship.
As I grew into a woman the crackers became conditions, and the table I prepared for others served dishes of unattainable expectations and plates of unfulfilled loyalties. I would invite others to my table but would lack the attitude of a gracious host. It wasn’t until God placed circumstances in my life through several dark seasons that I realized I served no one for free. He led me by the hand and took me to His table and showed me the life giving nourishment for which He served. He showed me that He is the only one who could sustain me. He shared with me the truth of His sacrifice and that He did not climb up on that cross because of anything I had done or any offering I had made. His table was based on truth…no assumptions, no misunderstandings. He died so that I could live and eat at His table on earth and heaven.
I remember when my grandfather died I asked my grandmother how she had so much peace with his absence. She looked at me with her amazing faith and said, ‘Well, Brenda, it is like he stood up from my side of the table and moved to the Lord’s side of the table.’ Now that is a woman who did not build her life on assumptions. She took God at His word and didn’t accept anything less than what He laid out for her on His table.
Let us all recline at the Lord's table, relaxing in His Spirit and dining on His fare.
Many of our thoughts and ideas are built on our initial assumptions early in life. At a very early age I assumed that in order for someone to like me I had to ‘bring something to the table.’ It never dawned on me that someone would love me just for who I was, although my parents showed me this consistently every day. Sometimes we make erroneous assumptions based on our own ideas. When I was 5 years old I can remember seeing a moving truck roll into the neighborhood delivering the household goods of a new neighbor. I stacked five saltine crackers on a plate and walked down the dirt road to offer them a welcome gift. With my assumption lying at the base of my beliefs, every thought and action built upon that base. It seems ridiculous that in my mind, 5 saltine crackers was the price to pay for a friendship.
As I grew into a woman the crackers became conditions, and the table I prepared for others served dishes of unattainable expectations and plates of unfulfilled loyalties. I would invite others to my table but would lack the attitude of a gracious host. It wasn’t until God placed circumstances in my life through several dark seasons that I realized I served no one for free. He led me by the hand and took me to His table and showed me the life giving nourishment for which He served. He showed me that He is the only one who could sustain me. He shared with me the truth of His sacrifice and that He did not climb up on that cross because of anything I had done or any offering I had made. His table was based on truth…no assumptions, no misunderstandings. He died so that I could live and eat at His table on earth and heaven.
I remember when my grandfather died I asked my grandmother how she had so much peace with his absence. She looked at me with her amazing faith and said, ‘Well, Brenda, it is like he stood up from my side of the table and moved to the Lord’s side of the table.’ Now that is a woman who did not build her life on assumptions. She took God at His word and didn’t accept anything less than what He laid out for her on His table.
Let us all recline at the Lord's table, relaxing in His Spirit and dining on His fare.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Where Smoke Lingers...
‘…and there was no smell of smoke…’ Daniel 3:27
When our children were young one of their favorite things in which to participate was the experience of a bonfire. Like many people across America, the evening would fall short without the building and roasting of smores in the cold of the night. The following morning I would be knocked over by the stench of smoke in my clothes which hung in my closet beside all of the other garments. I never noticed my clothes smelling like smoke during the evening before. I learned over time to leave my smoke saturated clothes outside of my closet to air them out. Once the smoke smell has dissipated they could rejoin my other clothes in the closet.
Isn’t it amazing how challenging seasons or relationships can lead to beliefs where smoke lingers throughout all of our other thoughts? We don’t even realize the power of our negative thoughts and how they permeate throughout our entire wardrobe of thinking. It seems that every thought we grab off the hanger all smell the same…thoughts like ‘I am a victim,’ ‘I am justified in my unforgiving actions,’ ‘I am better than they are,’ and the list goes on and on. Everything in our perception becomes tainted and slanted towards our emotions instead of truth. No matter what we pull out of our closets, they all smell like smoke.
It is not until we learn to allow our ‘clothes to air out’ before they permanently hang in our minds. We are human beings with complex emotions so the point is not that we will occasionally smell like smoke in our thinking. The greater point is that we must make sure we surrender our thoughts to God so they have a chance to air out. Smoke is the temporary by product of fire with no roots, no anchors and no substance. It depends on something other than itself for survival – oxygen.
We cannot give breath to the negative thoughts and our feelings of entitlement when dealing with others. By taking every thought captive and allowing God to renew our minds and transform our hearts we learn the importance of allowing our emotions to air out. ‘But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ…’ 2 Co. 2:14-15.
Once God has worked in our temporary emotions, they become a divine garment which hangs among our wardrobe with the aroma of Christ…not of smoke.
When our children were young one of their favorite things in which to participate was the experience of a bonfire. Like many people across America, the evening would fall short without the building and roasting of smores in the cold of the night. The following morning I would be knocked over by the stench of smoke in my clothes which hung in my closet beside all of the other garments. I never noticed my clothes smelling like smoke during the evening before. I learned over time to leave my smoke saturated clothes outside of my closet to air them out. Once the smoke smell has dissipated they could rejoin my other clothes in the closet.
Isn’t it amazing how challenging seasons or relationships can lead to beliefs where smoke lingers throughout all of our other thoughts? We don’t even realize the power of our negative thoughts and how they permeate throughout our entire wardrobe of thinking. It seems that every thought we grab off the hanger all smell the same…thoughts like ‘I am a victim,’ ‘I am justified in my unforgiving actions,’ ‘I am better than they are,’ and the list goes on and on. Everything in our perception becomes tainted and slanted towards our emotions instead of truth. No matter what we pull out of our closets, they all smell like smoke.
It is not until we learn to allow our ‘clothes to air out’ before they permanently hang in our minds. We are human beings with complex emotions so the point is not that we will occasionally smell like smoke in our thinking. The greater point is that we must make sure we surrender our thoughts to God so they have a chance to air out. Smoke is the temporary by product of fire with no roots, no anchors and no substance. It depends on something other than itself for survival – oxygen.
We cannot give breath to the negative thoughts and our feelings of entitlement when dealing with others. By taking every thought captive and allowing God to renew our minds and transform our hearts we learn the importance of allowing our emotions to air out. ‘But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ…’ 2 Co. 2:14-15.
Once God has worked in our temporary emotions, they become a divine garment which hangs among our wardrobe with the aroma of Christ…not of smoke.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Black Sweaters
“‘Don’t call me Naomi,’ she told them, ‘Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The LORD has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.’” Ruth 1:20-21.
In the Bible there is great value placed on a person’s name. It is written that many times names were given based on their circumstances, and in some instances God changed their name because of His call on their lives. But we are more closely paralleled with Naomi, who was given a name at birth only to rename herself based upon her negative circumstances. Naomi meant ‘pleasant one, joy and delight,’ but after suffering great loss she began spiraling down in her faith. She had previously experienced great faith in a loving God who brought her favor and privilege. After her losses, every thought draped a black sweater over every garment in her mind.
It is easy to rename ourselves based on our own circumstances. When things are going well we name ourselves blessed and loved by God. When things begin to crumble and we find ourselves losing control, our thoughts become somewhat of a slow drip of despair. We think things such as I am abandoned and rejected, I am all alone, and I am joyless and hopeless. Our black sweaters become our fate instead of our colorful faith. We drape our hopelessness over every blessing that hangs in our closets.
We cannot live out our faith based on our circumstances. We must wear every thought with an array of brilliant colors. Our faith closet should show reds of hope, blues of joy and greens of anticipated blessings. We must invite Christ into our thoughts to remind us of who He says we are instead of the deafening shouts of despair. Through spending time with Christ in our minds as well as our hearts we will begin to once again see ourselves as the beautiful children of God whose wardrobe looks like a rainbow.
In the Bible there is great value placed on a person’s name. It is written that many times names were given based on their circumstances, and in some instances God changed their name because of His call on their lives. But we are more closely paralleled with Naomi, who was given a name at birth only to rename herself based upon her negative circumstances. Naomi meant ‘pleasant one, joy and delight,’ but after suffering great loss she began spiraling down in her faith. She had previously experienced great faith in a loving God who brought her favor and privilege. After her losses, every thought draped a black sweater over every garment in her mind.
It is easy to rename ourselves based on our own circumstances. When things are going well we name ourselves blessed and loved by God. When things begin to crumble and we find ourselves losing control, our thoughts become somewhat of a slow drip of despair. We think things such as I am abandoned and rejected, I am all alone, and I am joyless and hopeless. Our black sweaters become our fate instead of our colorful faith. We drape our hopelessness over every blessing that hangs in our closets.
We cannot live out our faith based on our circumstances. We must wear every thought with an array of brilliant colors. Our faith closet should show reds of hope, blues of joy and greens of anticipated blessings. We must invite Christ into our thoughts to remind us of who He says we are instead of the deafening shouts of despair. Through spending time with Christ in our minds as well as our hearts we will begin to once again see ourselves as the beautiful children of God whose wardrobe looks like a rainbow.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Words Taught by the Spirit
“This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” 1 Co. 2:13.
I continue to be amazed at the impact of our own words and how they determine what we say to our souls. Just yesterday, when going about my day, I became aware of two names I called myself. They weren’t necessarily horrible names but they were words spoken by human wisdom. They possessed no truth when measured against the names God calls me. When growing up my mother used to tell us that if we didn’t have anything nice to say, to not say anything at all! I find myself at 50 returning to that lesson of my youth regarding my own thoughts. I realize that, along with sticks and stones that break our bones, our names will always hurt us. Our negative thoughts are too easy to retrieve and too difficult to relinquish.
The only way to change the way we see ourselves is to stop speaking to our souls in human wisdom. Instead of calling myself slack for not accomplishing what was on my list, I will call myself thankful for tomorrow to have another day to accomplish this task. Instead of calling myself a failure I will speak to the successes God has given me. On days when I feel ineffective in my ministry, I will speak of God’s impact through my ministry instead of my ineffectiveness. We must begin to reframe our thoughts to speak spiritual words and truths about our lives. To speak negative thoughts about ourselves is to negate everything God speaks about who we are in Him. ‘To call yourself an untruthful, harsh name is a sin. It’s an insult to God, demeans His workmanship, and devalues His creation.’ Me, Myself & Lies p. 30.
Our human descriptive words are usually negative in spirit and empty of any value. The first step to reframing is the awareness that the old rickety frame that exists supports nothing of spiritual wisdom. We must tear down the old frame and rebuild with the spiritual truths of God, replacing our words of death with His words of life.
I continue to be amazed at the impact of our own words and how they determine what we say to our souls. Just yesterday, when going about my day, I became aware of two names I called myself. They weren’t necessarily horrible names but they were words spoken by human wisdom. They possessed no truth when measured against the names God calls me. When growing up my mother used to tell us that if we didn’t have anything nice to say, to not say anything at all! I find myself at 50 returning to that lesson of my youth regarding my own thoughts. I realize that, along with sticks and stones that break our bones, our names will always hurt us. Our negative thoughts are too easy to retrieve and too difficult to relinquish.
The only way to change the way we see ourselves is to stop speaking to our souls in human wisdom. Instead of calling myself slack for not accomplishing what was on my list, I will call myself thankful for tomorrow to have another day to accomplish this task. Instead of calling myself a failure I will speak to the successes God has given me. On days when I feel ineffective in my ministry, I will speak of God’s impact through my ministry instead of my ineffectiveness. We must begin to reframe our thoughts to speak spiritual words and truths about our lives. To speak negative thoughts about ourselves is to negate everything God speaks about who we are in Him. ‘To call yourself an untruthful, harsh name is a sin. It’s an insult to God, demeans His workmanship, and devalues His creation.’ Me, Myself & Lies p. 30.
Our human descriptive words are usually negative in spirit and empty of any value. The first step to reframing is the awareness that the old rickety frame that exists supports nothing of spiritual wisdom. We must tear down the old frame and rebuild with the spiritual truths of God, replacing our words of death with His words of life.
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