What if.....

Reading I John...."My little children, these things I am writing to you that you may not sin..." I John 2:1
What?!  John just finished saying (I John 1:8-9) that if we say we don't sin we are liars and make God a liar!  Contradiction?!

The truth is many Christians do not even make any effort to live a sinless life.  This is very convicting.  Actually, I happen to be one of those who lives a "secret life" of Romans 6:1, ("shall we sin more so that grace abounds"), while adamantly standing against "cheap grace" and the concept of "I'm saved and forgiven, so get over it".  This is called practical hypocrisy!

How would my life (my days, my weeks, attitudes, decisions, etc...) change if I began each day with "By God's grace I will NOT sin today?"...Would I live a life of defeat, constantly looking at my "failures"(sins) and wallowing in self-pity and despondency?  Or, would I walk in a heightened state of God's overwhelming grace expressed to me in the words of Romans 8:1, "There is therefore now NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."?  Would it make me more aware of what sin actually is and more ready to avail myself of "the way of escape"(I Cor. 10:13)?

My Father's love for me is a reality that is NOT to be questioned.   But...will it bring Him more happiness (glory) if I am carefully walking my days so as to keep His happiness (glory) my main goal?
You betcha! Now...as NIKE says...JUST DO IT!!

Jesus' way of dealing with betrayers....

Reading thru John...again...what a book!!  

Scene 1:  So Ch. 13 begins with the last supper....the disciples enter the room arguing about who will be the greatest among them.  No rebukes from Jesus.  They all sit down and Jesus girds Himself with a towel, grabs a basin with water and begins to wash their feet!  I know that I would feel like a dog if I would've been there.  Did Jesus not know that most of these men would leave Him all alone at the cross?  How could He wash their feet knowing THAT?!  

Scene 2:  Jesus announces at the meal that one of the disciples would betray Him.  Peter and John ( and all the rest) wonder who He is talking about....Wait a minute!...John 6:64 says that Jesus knew from the beginning the one who would betray Him.  And the disciples couldn't tell?  How could Jesus treat Judas just like all the others and NOT reveal that he would betray Him?!! Then, to top it off...Jesus dips the morsel of bread and hands it to Judas.  This is an act of love and honor in Oriental cultures!!

So there you have it.  Jesus' way of treating those who betray him....wash their feet and show them honor and love....

He then proceeds to give them a New Command...that they should love one another as He has loved them.  "The command to love wasn’t new; but the extent of love just displayed by Jesus was new, as would be the display of the cross. Love was newly defined from His example."

How wretchedly short I fall of this kind of love.  The best I can do with my "enemies" is to ignore and not speak evil of them.  But to honor them and humble myself to whatever degree for THEIR good? ...LORD, help me.... 2 Cor. 5:19...

The Sting of "Oppression"

Reading a wonderful book on Jesus thru Middle Eastern Eyes.  A Few Thoughts on why Jesus came...

It seems almost heartless to preach forgiveness of sins to an oppressed people.  "Don't tell me about my sins when I have an elephant on my foot!!" type of thing... Yet that is exactly what Jesus did and why He came!  He was preaching that the sins of the oppressed were of first priority and that their Roman oppression was secondary...heartless, isn't it?

His point was that both the oppressor and the oppressed are sinners in need of a Savior.  This message alone would cut across class & physical distinctions, now we are ALL oppressed!

As the oppressed, they needed to understand that "suffering does not produce people without sin."

Yet we are more willing to remove the suffering than to deal with the sin.  We would rather itch the spot than get the stinger out!!  However,  there actually is a certain amount of hesitation...what happens if I take the stinger out?  Will I continue to itch? If yes, then why bother! just itch it!!  But, if the stinger is gone, along with its poison, isn't there hope that the itch will eventually subside? 

     "O death where is your sting?  The sting of death is sin..."  I Cor. 15:55-56

The "itching" of looking for peace in the inner soul was dealt with by Christ when He removed the "stinger" of sin at the cross.  Once we receive Him as our Savior, He removes the stinger and we find that regardless of outward physical oppression, our worst inward oppressor is gone!  The stinger is gone...NOW there is hope that this incessant physical itching will eventually be gone all together...

   "Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our LORD Jesus Christ."Rom. 5:1

 

The best is yet to come!!!!!

“I remember when a boy being taken to see the residence of one of our nobility, and the good friend who took me noticed my astonishment at the largeness of the house. I was amazed at it, having never seen anything like it, and so I said, ‘What a house for a man to live in!’ ‘Bless you, boy,’ said he, ‘this is only the kitchen!’ I was only looking at the servants’ apartments, and was astonished at the grandeur thereof; but the mansion itself was a far nobler affair. Oftentimes when you see what the Lord has done, you are ready to cry out, ‘How can all this be? His goodness, his mercy, is it as great as this?’ Rest assured that you have only seen a little of his goodness, as it were the kitchen of his great house: you have not seen the palace of the Most High, where he reveals his full power and splendor.” (Spurgeon)

Oh LORD... come quickly!

Yeah, but....I'm special!!!

In Ecclesiastes1:9-11, Solomon continues with his discourse on the "vanity" of life.  He now focuses on how "there is nothing new under the sun."  "Certainly there is happiness and satisfaction in new discoveries and inventions!" you say.  Solomon differs.  He plainly says, "Nope...there's nothing new."  Others have had our experiences.  Maybe not surrounded by the same circumstances, but the lessons, emotions, etc that accompany those circumstances are not new.

We pride ourselves on the newness and singularity of our experience.  We derive our self-esteem from the fact that we are "different", our experience is CERTAINLY more involved, more painful, more exciting, more "you-name-it".  But, if examined carefully, the lesson and emotions have all been experienced by others before us and will be experienced by others after us.  So...why base our happiness and satisfaction on being "new" and "different"? when it will be shown that our strength, not only as a human race but particularly as the Body of Christ lies in our commonality of experience and our sharing together from it?  We are NOT an "army of one"!  In fact, I believe that our fleshly desire to "rise above the rest" puts us in a precarious position as it relates to temptation (I Pet. 5:9).  

Since "there is nothing new under the sun," and since we "crave" newness amidst the routine, what shall we do?  We are to look "above the sun" where God promises to "make all things new"  (Rev. 21:5)  It seems that God, who made us, understands us well.  He has purposefully equipped us with a deep desire for "newness" that cannot be met here.

"What a cruel God!" you say.  Oh no! "What a merciful God," I say.  He who knows not only what is best for me, has also wired me in such a way that my continuously doomed search for satisfaction in the "new" here "under the sun," will eventually lead me to Him!  Satisfied at last...

Been there, done that, now I pass it on...

Some thoughts on Ecclesiastes 1:1-3...

*Solomon calls himself "the Preacher", as he writes Ecclesiastes.  He had, until now, been"the Gatherer" of life and experiences, but now it's time to "show and tell."  All of us, from the moment we are born, will begin our own "gathering of experiences" but for what purpose?  A student gathers facts and information regarding a subject.  He then looks for an outlet to "tell" others what he has found...so he writes a paper or gives a talk.  So it is with us...life experiences have a way of pressing us to "tell" and so Solomon does here.

*Solomon also calls himself:

         "son of David" - a godly heritage does not guarantee a godly walk and might even prove more "damning" to our own shameful souls.

         "king of Jerusalem" - position, wealth and power do not guarantee a fulfilled life either, but might add the shame of failure to be a good example.

We must beware of what we put our trust and reliance on, for  heritage, power, fame, etc...will become snares around our feet when devoid of a relationship with God Almighty.

*If, as Solomon states, "All is vanity," meaning the whole of it, the totality of it is a vapor...like a breath, then satisfaction and fulfillment must come from beyond this world.  He had tried everything, he knew more than anyone else and yet this world proved to be unsubstantial...empty fodder devoid of true nutrition...vapor...

*In earlier times Solomon had said, "In all labor there is profit..." Prov. 14:23.  As "profit" that will aid us in survival in this world, it is true.  Now, years later, as he writes Ecclesiastes, Solomon says, "What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?" Ecc. 1:3.  Soul hunger cannot be satisfied with fleshly trifles.  This world is full of fleshly trifles...true soul food and substance must be beyond it.  

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."  C.S.Lewis

But...nobody is going to see it!!!!

"At the king's command they quarried out great, costly stones in order to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones."  I Kings 5:17

Studying I Kings...  It is talking about Solomon's task of building the temple and how God not only granted him wisdom and wealth but also made a way for him to set about his task,  by giving Solomon and Israel, "rest on every side and no adversaries or misfortunes."

The verse above caught my attention, among others...

Solomon, himself, ordered that "big, costly and cut stones" be used for the foundation of the temple.

I thought about two lessons to learn from this:

     1.  These stones would be under the magnificence of the temple...nobody would see them.  Why not just use regular, uncut, cheaper stone?   To me, this is an indication that Solomon not only knew but also acknowledged in his life where his wealth had come from.  How then, could he give less than the best to the Giver, regardless of whether the stones would be seen or not?...God would see them!

     2.  "Cut" stones.  Not random, natural stone which might be uneven and affect the overall carefully planned building.  Solomon was purposeful and fastidious about his measurements and his materials.  He would not allow himself to be rail-roaded into "settling" for uncut stones that would influence and possibly detract from his product.  He was the master of the stone, NOT the other way around!

Oh LORD, how haphazardly I build!  Forgive me for my lack of discipline and careful discernment every day.  Each day I set about laying stones for the foundation of my temple (I Cor. 6:19), and by failing to be purposeful, I am allowing myself to be "sabotaged" by the enemy of my soul.  Show me where I am settling for less than the best for You, my Master.  Teach me to be, myself, the master of my circumstances and NOT the victim. Help me to find the best stones and cut them to size for your glory!!

"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."  Hebrews 4:13

Who and What to teach with my "degree"...

In Psalm 51, David pours out his heart before God in confession and repentance for his adulterous, murderous acts.  Then in v. 13, he says...     

                "then I will teach transgressors your ways,

                and sinners will return to you."

After his disobedience, confession, repentance, etc...what can David possibly teach?! What he knows best...he will teach others about God's merciful ways with sinners.  David has experienced God's mercy in the midst of his disobedience, this he could teach others.  God's mercy to repentant, confessing sinners would be his "curriculum".  But...who were to be his pupils?  Transgressors, of course! 

Those who deem themselves as non-transgressors don't feel a need or a longing for God's mercy.  But those who are weighed down with the enormity of their "transgressing ways" will embrace the merciful message taught by the experienced teacher, David S.S. (Saved Sinner).

David didn't teach a 3-step formula of how he came to God.  He didn't expound on his disobedient acts with gory detail.  He taught God's ways because he wanted sinners to turn to God, not to himself!

I am an experienced sinner...what could I possibly do with those awful credentials?  Teach others about God's merciful ways with repentant sinners!  I have experience with that... David and I have this in common...we both have our S.S. degrees!  (Saved Sinner).   

 

Escaped???!!!

Reading thru Revelation, WOW!  In Ch. 12 today a phrase caught my eye. "but her child was caught up to God and to his throne."  The context of this verse is the sign that John saw in the heavens of the pregnant woman clothed with the sun and with the moon at her feet, wearing a crown with 12 stars.  

The woman (Israel - Gen. 37:9-11) eventually gives birth to a male Child, who will rule with a rod of Iron ( Christ-Ps. 2:9).  This woman is closely guarded by the red dragon (Satan-Dan. 7:7-8) so that he can devour the Child as soon as he's born.  That's the context.

What caught my attention was the fact that the Bible says that "her Child was caught up to God and to his throne" meaning the Child escapes the vigilant dragon.  Wait a minute!!! but...what about the Cross, the suffering, etc...?  From a human perspective, The Child was "devoured" in death and suffering at least partially, wasn't He?  From the divine perspective, He escaped the dragon and was caught up to God!

Escaped the dragon??!! what about all the suffering, the humiliation, the ignominious death on a Roman cross?   Sure sounds to me like this suffering and dying stuff was all included in the plan, and that the plan was executed perfectly without seemingly any interruption by Satan, who unwittingly,  played his part in it!

 

How about me, then?  In God's view, will I "escape" Satan because my soul is secure with Go in Christ?  How about my suffering, trials, etc..?  Are they pre-planned for the purpose of teaching me obedience and conforming me to the image of Christ?  In the end, in the book of heaven, will it say, "Alba has escaped the minions of the dragon and was caught up to be with her LORD forever"?  

Yes, it will!!!  My sufferings and trials are not inconsequential.  They are essential to my obedience and conformity to Christ on this earth.  However, in the grand scheme of things, they are obscured by the fact that I "escaped" the second death and will live forever in the presence of my LORD and Savior!

"Death is swallowed up in victory."

O death where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

...But thanks be to God who gives us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ."  I Cor. 15:54-55, 57

The "down-side" is a blessing?!

Our family has just received a wonderful answer to a 2-month (or more) prayer request.  How absolutely wonderful the LORD is!!! Never ceases to amaze me!!  As I pondered on this graceful gesture from my heavenly Daddy to my family, I realized that soon, sooner than you might think, we will probably move on to other prayer requests, etc...

Don't get me wrong, God is absolutely marvelous in everything that He does... yet there is a down-side to joys on this side of heaven.  We have a child, wonderful!...soon we are embroiled in the ins and outs of child raising ...then they leave...ouch!  We bought a house, great!...soon we are doing our best with upkeep and decorating and fixing, etc...We bought our first new car! exciting!...soon we will be rotating tires, changing transmissions, etc...I felt great last week!...marvelous!... haven't felt so good this week

All these blessings bring with them a "down-side" of decay and aging.  Oh, if it would just be all good and no down-side!! we lament.  But wait...perhaps this is what draws my heart towards heaven...the down-side.  There is no downside there and that is exactly what I long for.

To us who are children of God, we look upward, where He is.  To those who are not, they look around for more...how sad.

Thank you LORD for the downside.  It draws my heart to You and your promise of an eternity with You with absolutely NO DOWNSIDE!!!

Hallelujah!

An Old "new" Message

There truly is "nothing new under the sun"!  As I have been looking into Revelation and studying it carefully, it shocks me how germane (to use one of our new vocabulary words!) the messages to the seven churches are today!

To the church of Ephesus:  As always Jesus Christ starts with a commendation: You have persevered against false doctrine, you are doing all the good works.  The rebuke:  You have left your first love!  As I studied on, I remembered wrestling with a question in my own soul about church-planting, etc..  I remember asking myself, "What ever happened to the churches that Paul planted?  Did they remain faithful? Would it be a reflection on Paul's ministry if they weren't?"  As usual the LORD is faithful in answering the questions...actually sometimes I wonder if He gives me the questions, so that later on He can answer them, and get all the glory, and I get to know Him better as my faithful God! He's always doing that kind of stuff, ya know, increasing our faith and stuff!

But I digress...Paul had planted Ephesus and commended for their love for one another, about 40 years earlier!  However, here is God rebuking them because they had left their first love!!  What happened?  I guess, we can do all the right things, and fool ourselves into thinking that we are doing them for God when in reality there is no relationship with Him!

This is apparently the church at Ephesus' plight. Oh, they were doing all the right things alright... enduring a wicked culture, confronting heresy, even hating what God hated, but they had no relationship of love with the God they were doing all this for!  So what was the Exhortation?:  Remember how it was before you lost your first love for God, Repent of your straying, and Renew your devotion to God by doing the things that kept your first love burning!

So...how about me?  am I busy doing and not being?  What was God's promise to the church at Ephesus?  The promise is only for those who have ears to hear!  For us believers!  " To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God."  In other words, eternity in the presence of the God whom they love!!!!  But wait, if we don't have a relationship with Him here, why in the world would we want to spend such a loooong time with Him there?  

Oh LORD, hit me upside the head when I start doing things FOR You rather than spending time WITH You!  Teach me to look to You for satisfaction instead of looking to works, action, busyness, etc... for importance.  That would be going back to the "elementary principles of this world", wouldn't it?  Wow! the church at Ephesus wasn't that different than the church today!!

The Tarnished Image

Simple thoughts this morning...but deep application!  Satan's grand desire, within the knowledge of his limited capabilities, is to effectually tarnish and degrade the image of God everywhere.  In spite of his inability to totally destroy this world, he finds pleasure in "tarnishing" God's image by "submitting creation" to sin and death, etc...  In spite of his inability to "pluck out of God's hands" those who are His, he finds pleasure in "tarnishing" God's image in them.     

To the extent that I allow Satan to use me for his ends, is to the extent that I will be used by him to "tarnish" God's image in me.  Well, how does he go about "tarnishing" God's image in me?  This would be an important question to those who are "zealous for good deeds."  One of the many answers possible...he uses our interactions with others and our reactions/responses to them!  As long as I am preoccupied with how I'm being treated by others, I am unable to focus on bearing God's image in that particular situation.  The true image-bearer is more intent on bringing forth a true image of Christ in every situation, than in making sure self is understood, complemented, patted on the back, etc...

This morning has been such a great example of this in my own life!  I have allowed my body, my "instrument", to be used to distort the image of how Jesus Christ would deal with a particular person in a particular situation!!  

In other words, I "tarnished" God's image of Christ in me.  The words coming out of my mouth were right, but my attitude, plastered all over my face, was wrong.  What a terrible picture of my Savior's compassion and kindness. 

I am so awed at the grace of my LORD as He deals with me...and yet I fail to show that same grace to others..."oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?...Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!."  Rom. 7:25

"There is , therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Rom. 8:1

Unbelievable grace....

Luther and I...

  I was thinking this morning about Martin Luther and how he was set free from all his self-imposed penance by Scripture.  How could anyone keep himself under such physical and spiritual bondage voluntarily?  How in the world did he think he could accomplish anything thru all his self-punishment and self-torture? How did that ingratiate him to God in any way?  What a waste!!...right?...

  So, I put my shoes on and go for a walk.  The minute I step out the door and begin walking, I totally overlook the obvious...a beautiful morning complete with birds singing and breeze blowing.  Never mind that! I'm too busy "bringing my petitions" to God, making sure all my prayer requests are prayed for, confessing, etc...  Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

  Once again, my faithful Heavenly Father brings me out of my foolishness to His all-encompassing wisdom.  Am I really that different from Luther before Scripture set him free?  Am I enjoying  or enduring the journey?  I have decided this day to give myself permission to enjoy this journey called life.  To look at it with renewed eyes of joy and wonder.  I don't have to stay home with the kids...I GET TO spend time with them and get to know them better.  I don't have to go for a walk for my heart rate and excess pounds...I GET TO enjoy nature and talk to my Savior!  I don't have to approach my circumstances today as helpless happenings, I GET TO see what situations my Heavenly Father has arranged for me today so that I can know Him better.

   What a wonderful thing a change of perspective is!  It's like getting new contacts, or cleaning your smudgy glasses, or getting into your comfy clothes when you get home.  Luther was not the only one in bondage and self-inflicted joylessness.  Oh LORD, help me to experience joy in the journey.  Keep me from the subtle trap of purposeful discontent and lead me into the full joy of experiencing your presence every moment of the day.

"There is a joy in the journey,

there's a Light we can love on the way;

There is a wonder, and while there is life,

a freedom for those who obey."

 Michael Card  (Joy in the Journey)

We...the scaredy-cats!!

Reading thru Jeremiah...what a book!!  God commands Jeremiah to stay unmarried and (obviously) without children in order to confirm, in his own private life, God's prediction of impending destruction for Jerusalem (16:2).  Later on (32:6-15) God commands Jeremiah to buy a piece of land in the besieged, soon-to-fall Jerusalem as a confirmation, in Jeremiah's own life, that God's prediction of restoration of Israel to its land would indeed happen.

What a lesson to us fickle, scaredy-cats who refuse to "put the money where our mouths are"!  We talk so convincingly about our beliefs in a Sovereign God who rules all and has everything in His hand...do we back it up with our lives?  Do we live like we really and truly believe God?  even when it might mean loss of finances or dreams, as it did in Jeremiah's case?

Lord, please deliver me from the hypocrisy of saying and not living!  Give me the boldness to look like a "fool for Christ" whenever Your Word demands obedience.

Confession Time!!

Two things you should know before you read this:  I've been praying that the LORD will allow us to meet neighbors and share the good news of the Gospel with them.  Also,  I love my morning walks!  I get to talk to the LORD without interruptions and enjoy nature...my two favs. 

However, last week...they both happened AT THE SAME TIME!!! Okay, here's confession time.  I was actually perturbed that one of my neighbors decided to walk her dog WITH me!!! Nothing shows my selfishness as when my "comfort" zone is invaded!  After all, this is MY time with the LORD!  Ouch!!! How the LORD chastised me for this.  

How fickle I am!!  I pray that the LORD will keep whittling down all my little "comfort zones" until He alone is left.  After all, He alone is the God of all comfort!

 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  2 Cor. 1:3-4

Why a "side-show"

According to the dictionary, a side-show is:  A subordinate incident of little importance relative to the main event: or A minor show that is part of a larger one (as at the circus).  That sounds soooo much like my life.

The longer we live with Christ the more we begin to shed the selfishness of our ways and begin to see the Big Picture!  It is that AHA!!! moment when you realize that His Glory is my good!! Oh what a wonderful journey it then turns out to be!!

Notice I didn't say "easy", but it truly is wonderful.  My prayer is that I will continue to look at my life as a "subordinate incident of little importance relative to the" glory of God. 

Are y'all not just amazed that He uses us to bring Him glory??????!!!!

My first attempt at Blogging!!

Well...after months of contemplation I finally crossed my Rubicon and started a blog!  So, the purpose of it?  To share my thoughts, ideas and discoveries with those whom the LORD brings along, and to learn from others through comments and responses.

I am cautiously excited about this venture and pray that the LORD will use it for His glory...after all...what else is there?!