Vacant Lots

“‘How much less this temple I have built...’  The LORD said… ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever.  My eyes and heart will always be there.’” 1 Kings 9:3.

If you want to read one of the most beautiful prayers you must read Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication in 1 Kings 9.  This is the prayer he raised to God before all of the people at the dedication of the temple.  He acknowledged the vastness and omnipresence of God whom he considered deserved much more than the workmanship of the temple.  The emotions that must have filled his heart that day as he stood before the fulfillment of a promise made to David, his father.   Did the tears stream down his cheeks as the humility in his heart became too much to contain?  Did he struggle to choke out the words as he stood upon God’s foundation, previously being only a vacant and empty lot? 

A vacant and empty lot…a temple that he had built…these are haunting words for a heart that used to be more concerned with flesh than spirit.  Seven years ago I turned my face to Jesus and asked Him to take up residence in my heart.  My heart became hungry for spiritual growth and purpose.  God heard my plea and He began displacing things of the flesh and rearranging things of the Spirit.  We still have a lot of work to accomplish in this total renovation.  He replaced the shingle I had hung that said ‘Brenda’ with a shingle that says ‘Redeemer.’  He promised me that His presence would remain there forever as He promised Solomon and as He promises you.  He promises His eyes will be with us eternally to reveal His spiritual wisdom.  His heart will never leave us, allowing us to tap into His compassion, His mercy and His love.

Every one of us has built temples in our heart and has determined what will be allowed to reside.  Christ wants to come in and cleanse us of the messes which we have made…to build on the emptiness and vacancies in our heart.  I love the message of this passage as it echoes the voice of eternity.  It is full of promises that have no end…blessings that overflow.  The more consecrated our temples become the more we long to be with Him.  I believe that this transformational journey ends with an Eccl 3:11 destination:

‘He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men.’

Riding The Clouds

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down…they gathered around and said, ‘Come, make us gods who will go before us’” Ex 32:1.

Moses had ascended to the top of the mountain to fellowship with God, leaving the Israelites down below for 40 days and nights.  During that time, they couldn’t have imagined the behind the scenes activity going on between God and His chosen leader.  God and Moses partnering to accomplish God’s will.  He was giving Moses the commands that would build up God’s people into a holy nation with righteous character.  He was moving in ways that would steer them towards their God-destined legacy – receiving their promised land of freedom and favor.  But there they sat at the base of the mountain…impatient…faithless…looking for a substitute god.  The best they could come up with melted gold lumped together and placed on a platform with wheels.  The god they manufacturer couldn’t even move without someone pulling and tugging.  Their god couldn’t form words and wouldn’t be able to protect them.  Their impatience created not only a violation against God but a sub-par and ineffective answer.

How many times do we do the same thing?  We send our prayers up for God’s consideration and we wait…and we wait…and we keep looking to the horizon for resolution.  Where is our answer?  When will we get God’s response?  What is taking Him so long?  We become irritated and question if God is going to respond.  We look around and determine other ways to get resolutions and take action on our impatience.  Much like the lump of gold on wheels we drag around our self-made god getting even more exhausted.  It cannot protect us, nor can it lead us.  The only movement it makes is when we do all of the work.  It cannot comfort…it cannot heal …it cannot carry us. 

When we wait on God and trust that He is behind the scenes orchestrating our future, we will witness a God on wheels moving heaven and earth on our behalf.  He does not need us to pull him around on a platform for He is the platform and His spirit moves within us.  ‘Wherever the spirit would go, they would go…because the spirit… was in the wheels’ Ez. 1:20.  ‘O LORD, my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.  He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on wings of the wind’ Ps 104:1-3.

When we cannot see God’s plan in our lives we can certainly trust God’s faithfulness for our lives.  He is riding the clouds commanding our circumstances to work together for the best life He has for us.

 

Spiritual Homelessness

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” Jeremiah 17:9.

When our daughter was thirteen she began displaying behavior that was disturbing and unsettling for me and my husband.  She ended up in a residential treatment center at fourteen which involved lots of family counseling.  A few years prior she had desired for Bruce to adopt her to which her real father agreed.  That was the last time she saw her real father for 3 years.  Over the next few years her heart began to speak lies to her mind.  Her heart convinced our little girl’s spirit that she was unloved…unworthy…insignificant…all alone.  She couldn’t even see the blessings that surrounded her.  She was led by her emotions and became spiritually and emotionally homeless.  I remember during one counseling session the therapist had us place five chairs in a circle.  She asked Kristen to place her chair where she felt it belonged.  She removed the chair from the circle and placed it up against the wall all alone.  She convinced herself that she was different due to her circumstances…that she no longer belonged to a certain group of people…spiritually and emotionally homeless.  The circumstances that God allowed in her life would end up producing amazing fruit but her heart had to catch up with God’s plans which didn’t happen for 8 long years. 

But one day the clouds rolled back and she saw herself as God saw her – the daughter of a perfect Parent.  She quit listening to her heart and allowed God complete access to her life.  She surrendered all hurt and saw her life through the blessings of God…people who loved her…people who chose her… a life full of purpose and pleasure.  She removed those spiritually homeless clothes that were tattered with the same old emotions, stained with rights of entitlement and re-clothed herself with truth.  ‘Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy’ Eph 4:24.  Once Kristen saw herself through God’s eyes instead of the lies of her heart she began to produce the most beautiful fruit.  God has used her in amazing ways to bring others out of their spiritual homelessness.  He promises this for all of His children but not until we remove our barriers.  We must stand up, remove all rights and put on His will, His way and His purposes.

‘So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work’ 2 Ti 2:21.

All of these promises hinge on if.  Aren’t you ready for a wardrobe change?

Ebbing Away...

“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.  He said:  ‘In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me.  From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry…yet I will look again toward your holy temple.  The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.  To the roots of the mountains I sank down…But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God.  When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you…Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.  But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you…And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land” Jonah 2:1-10.

I couldn’t help but to think of my mother this morning when I chose this passage.  Every time I began to stop with one verse the subsequent verses also pulled at my heart.  This passage is so tender to me because it exemplifies the manner in which my mother walked out the darkest night of her soul – saying goodbye to her 42 year old little girl and my dad, her love for over 50 years all within twelve months.   A few months after Daddy died she turned to me and said how grateful she was to God that He took Beth first.  She went on to explain that her blessing was that she didn’t have to face the loss of a child alone.  She and Daddy leaned on each other and walked their difficult journey hand in hand.  This is my Jonah and the Whale story.  While in the belly of darkness she was able to praise God much like Jonah.  She knew that her circumstances could have allowed her to cling to worthless idols…anger…bitterness…isolation…but to do that she would have forfeited His healing grace.  So like Jonah she clung to God instead of her emotions. 

While researching, I found this excerpt from a sermon which so closely resembled my mother I couldn’t determine if he was speaking about Jonah or her.  ‘Inside the whale, Jonah the Prophet blessed the Lord. He called upon the Lord in his affliction. Jonah did not demonstrate fear nor are we told he appeared troubled. Jonah in his wisdom knew the Lord created this great fish that consumed him. He knew the great fish's life and direction were both guided by the Lord. Jonah inside this fish's belly was most probably in darkness…He was most probably tossed about constantly...As Jonah underwent all of these perils within the fish we are not told of anything negative he said against the Lord.’  Bishop Youssef - Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. 

I will forever be inspired and humbled by the faithfulness and extraordinary example my mother showed me during her season of deepest despair. It is sometimes staggering to know that my children are still watching my spiritual responses to adversity. We must pattern those who pattern God in love, faith and forgiveness if we expect those in our sphere of influence to do the same. I know for myself I have some big high heels to fill!

 

Spiritual Sunrises

“Where can I flee from your presence…if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” Psalm 139:7, 10.

My imagination continues to run wild while considering Jonah’s experience.  I believe that any story is in the details, and we are given few regarding the timeframe on the ship.  This morning as I was watching the wings of the sunrise take flight I couldn’t help but wonder how many sunrises Jonah saw before God sent the great wind and violent storm.  I searched several resources but couldn’t find anything.  We are simply told that God called…Jonah fled…God sent calamity.  But God is anything but simple.

That alone could make us fearful if we were not totally sold out on believing that God is love.  I cannot help but to believe that even in his disobedience God allowed Jonah to experience some beautiful sunrises and amazing sunsets before the storm arose.  My research states that since Jonah was held in such high esteem by royalty he undoubtedly had the financial resources to charter this entire ship.  I can just imagine the first morning after he fled…’he  awakes…goes up top… breathes in that fresh ocean air…the water is smooth as glass…he watches the sun burst through the early morning cracks in the sky with oranges and reds.  His heart holds relief that he has escaped God’s command, while at the same time holds guilt that he is withholding something from others.’  I wonder if his emotions overtook the beauty of the first morning.  Was he even able to sit at the end of the first day and absorb the magnificent sunset before him?  Knowing our magnificent God, there were still amazing blessings within his disobedience.

There are times in life when we find ourselves surrounded in a sea of emotions.  These times may be brought on by our sin or a result of circumstances that God has allowed in our life.  It is a journey that we must take as determined by God, since nothing enters our life without the permissive filter of God.  If you are reading this devotional, you are blessed with the gift of vision…the financial resources to have a computer…the mental capacity to understand its message...both time and freedom to worship…all spiritual sunrises and sunsets that God has blessed you with.  Are we missing all of the blessings for which God is surrounding us by focusing on our circumstances instead of the journey?  Do we take for granted our children that God has entrusted to us?  Have we lost the gratitude for that spouse who loves us dearly?  What grumblings and complaints do we express about our lives instead of praising God for His blessings? 

May we all awake this morning to the realization of our spiritual sunrises and sunsets that God has given us.  ‘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 1:17.

From Favor to Flight

“King Jeroboam restored the border…according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet who was of Gath-hepher” 2 Kings 14:25. ‘But Jonah rose up to flee…from the presence of the LORD’ Jonah 1:3.

One of the things I love most about the Bible is the transparency of the cast of characters whom God used in mighty ways. The good, the bad and the ugly have been divinely splashed over the pages of the Word for both application and encouragement. Can you imagine if the Bible was full of perfect people doing extraordinary things? In considering Jonah, it is obvious that he enjoyed favor and prestige among both royalty and the Israelites. He was very effective in being the mouthpiece of God, a true servant of the Master. One might say that Jonah had it all…had the world by the tail and the favored ear of God.

This is one of those times when I wish I could sit at the feet of Christ and settle in for the rest of the story. I am more interested in knowing what on earth happened between 2 Kings and the Book of Jonah that would make this favored and surrendered prophet of God become a spiritual runaway. How did the servant’s voice and will become louder than his Master’s voice and will? Was it gradual or did some life event happen that made Jonah bitter towards God? What circumstance did Jonah experience that made his flesh rise up within him…death of a spouse, a wayward child, death of his sweet mom and dad? My commentary tells me that one of the predominant characteristics of Jonah was his insatiable desire to strictly judge. It makes me wonder if his spiritual slide dealt with his inability to release his own perspective and feelings about something God had allowed in his life. When we secrety judge God it seems it plays out through our judgment of others.

This brings me to a few staggering questions. How long will we be allowed to play God in our judgment of others? How patient will God be with a wayward servant whose heart and attitude is diseased with bitterness for whatever circumstance God has assigned? To what extent will God allow our unresolved emotions to rise up? How many blessings will be missed for ourselves and our family because of our unwillingness to love and forgive instead of judge?

All very good questions and questions Jonah had to face while sitting in the belly of darkness. Thankfully, God is a patient God who is not going anywhere and is willing to allow His children to sit and stew in discomfort for a season, but only for a season. How sad is the servant who goes from favor to flight when the tough times hit and can’t seem to rise above the circumstances. Only through the power of Christ can we release our sense of entitlement and unresolved anger in life. Christ can command our ‘great fish’ to cough us up so that He can revive, restore and renew our lives again…the answer is in the surrender of our rights and the acceptance of His will.

Talking Back

“For who resists his will?  But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?  Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why…?’ Does not the potter have the right…?”  Romans 9:19-21.

Let’s just face it…life is tough!  Whichever way we turn no one is really exempt from adversity and suffering.  It may appear that way for some but no one escapes pain.  One person may experience the death of a child while the other the death of a parent.  Another may suffer in a terminal illness while someone else has to lose their spouse to a terminal illness.  I am a parent of a recovered heroin addict while other parents have disabled children who are totally dependent on them.  The difference is how we respond to our circumstances.   Some hang on to the pain more than others, not even realizing they are secretly harboring bitterness against God’s will.  Some find freedom from pain by surrendering their own desires and accepting God’s will.  I truly believe that God expects our questions and confusing emotions.  He understands our disappointments and devastations, but there comes a time when questions must turn to acceptance, and emotions must be sorted out and settled once and for all. This is the only way to rid ourselves of the emotional toxins that master over us.

Paul doesn’t pull any punches in our passage this morning.  My commentary states that ‘Paul is not silencing all human questioning of God, but he is speaking to those...who want to make God answerable to them for what he does and who, by their questions, defame the character of God’ NIV Study Bible, 1753.   

When we allow our emotions to rule over us we are resisting His will.  We run around throwing spiritual temper tantrums regarding something God willed, permitted and brought to pass.  We vent our resistance to God’s will towards others and convince ourselves it is justified.  No one holds the market on suffering unless they buy the lie that Satan is selling.  I read this morning that 'God has an eternal filter in which nothing can touch us unless He permits it.'  We may not understand God’s decisions but we can decide on how long we want to keep our eyes on our circumstances instead of on God. 

'And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you’ Eph. 4:30-32.