A Story to Embody: October 14, 2012

We continue to walk in ordinary time.  I think it is quite significant that "ordinary time" lasts so long, because isn't that exactly what comprises the majority of our lives?  The thread between all these verses is the existence of evil.  God has not removed us from this world but He has shown us how to live in the midst of evil.  There are many practical steps included in these verses of how to walk with the Holy Spirit in the ordinary places of our lives.

Amos 5:10-15

"There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph."

Psalm 90:12-17

"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble. May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands."

John 16:7-14

"But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you."

Ephesians 5:15-21 

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

In Christ,

For more on why I include these verses read: A Story to Embody

A Story to Embody: September 16, 2012

Today's Scripture readings are anchored in Psalm 19.  As I read through all of the verses I was continually drawn back to the imagery and thoughts that Psalm 19 stirred in me.  Psalm 19 starts out reflecting on the glory and beauty of creation and how it points us to the glory of who God is.  It then takes us from there to the words of the Lord and the life it brings to us.  As you read, through the passages, some of which have difficult things to say, center it on the truth of God's Word and His character.

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,
       and the skies announce what his hands have made.
 2 Day after day they tell the story;
       night after night they tell it again.
 3 They have no speech or words;
       they have no voice to be heard.
 4 But their message goes out through all the world;
       their words go everywhere on earth.
    The sky is like a home for the sun.

 5 The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.
       It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.
 6 The sun rises at one end of the sky
       and follows its path to the other end.
       Nothing hides from its heat.

 7 The teachings of the Lord are perfect;
       they give new strength.
    The rules of the Lord can be trusted;
       they make plain people wise.
 8 The orders of the Lord are right;
       they make people happy.
    The commands of the Lord are pure;
       they light up the way.
 9 Respect for the Lord is good;
       it will last forever.
    The judgments of the Lord are true;
       they are completely right.
 10 They are worth more than gold,
       even the purest gold.
    They are sweeter than honey,
       even the finest honey.
 11 By them your servant is warned.
       Keeping them brings great reward.

 12 People cannot see their own mistakes.
       Forgive me for my secret sins.
 13 Keep me from the sins of pride;
       don't let them rule me.
    Then I can be pure
       and innocent of the greatest of sins.

 14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
       Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.

Zechariah 8:14-23

14 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "When your ancestors made me angry, I planned to punish you. I did not change my mind," says the Lord All-Powerful.15 "But now I will do something different. I am planning to do good to Jerusalem and Judah. So don't be afraid.16 These are the things you should do: Tell each other the truth. In the courts judge with truth and complete fairness.17 Do not make plans to hurt your neighbors, and don't love false promises. I hate all these things," says the Lord.

 18 The Lord All-Powerful spoke his word to me again.19 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "The special days when you fast in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become good, joyful, happy feasts in Judah. But you must love truth and peace."

 20 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "Many people from many cities will still come to Jerusalem.21 People from one city will go and say to those from another city, 'We are going to pray to the Lord and to ask the Lord All-Powerful for help. Come and go with us.'22 Many people and powerful nations will come to worship the Lord All-Powerful in Jerusalem and to pray to the Lord for help."

 23 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: "At that time, ten men from different countries will come and take hold of a Judean by his coat. They will say to him, 'Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.' "

Ephesians 4:25-32

25 So you must stop telling lies. Tell each other the truth, because we all belong to each other in the same body.[a]26 When you are angry, do not sin, and be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day.27 Do not give the devil a way to defeat you.28 Those who are stealing must stop stealing and start working. They should earn an honest living for themselves. Then they will have something to share with those who are poor.

 29 When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you.30 And do not make the Holy Spirit sad. The Spirit is God's proof that you belong to him. God gave you the Spirit to show that God will make you free when the final day comes.31 Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil.32 Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.

Matthew 5:38-48

38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' 39 But I tell you, don't stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.40 If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.41 If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42 If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don't refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you.

    43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemies.' 44 But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45 If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong.46 If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that.47 And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends. 48 So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

It is easy to walk away from these verses with a to do list, because I have done that in the past.  In addition verse 48 says, be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.  We begin to lose focus, panic and say that this is impossible to do.  But go back to Psalm 19 - we look at creation and stand in awe of the glory of God.  Then we are told that His statues give us life, wisdom, strength, joy and direction in how we live our lives.  Then we also see that Jesus walked out the very things that He stated - He turned the other cheek, He gave above and beyond what was asked, He was beaten, spit upon, rejected and killed.  But then we see that God did step in and He gave life, abundant life, eternal life for us all!  It begins to unravel this to do list, it reminds us of the story we are walking in and then as we look back at Ephesians we see that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us helping us to walk things out.  Finally, as my husband pointed out this morning, what is this perfection that God is inviting us to walk out - it is love.  God allows the sun and the rain (His creation) to bless and favor ALL people.  When we love our enemies, when we turn the other cheek we are offering them a picture of God's heart towards ALL people.  Pretty awesome.

In Christ,

A Story to Embody: Second Sunday after Pentecost

Psalm 138

Thank you! Everything in me says "Thank you!"
Angels listen as I sing my thanks.

I kneel in worship facing your holy temple

and say it again: "Thank you!"

Thank you for your love,

thank you for your faithfulness;

Most holy is your name,

most holy is your Word.

The moment I called out, you stepped in;

you made my life large with strength.

4-6 When they hear what you have to say, God,

all earth's kings will say "Thank you."

They'll sing of what you've done:

"How great the glory of God!"

And here's why: God, high above, sees far below;

no matter the distance, he knows everything about us.

7-8 When I walk into the thick of trouble,

keep me alive in the angry turmoil.

With one hand

strike my foes,

With your other hand

save me.

Finish what you started in me, God.

Your love is eternal—don't quit on me now.

Genesis 3:8-15

8 When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.

9 God called to the Man: "Where are you?"

10 He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."

11 God said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"

12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."

God said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"

13 "The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."

14-15 God told the serpent:

"Because you've done this, you're cursed,

cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals,

Cursed to slink on your belly

and eat dirt all your life.

I'm declaring war between you and the Woman,

between your offspring and hers.

He'll wound your head,

you'll wound his heel."

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!

16-18So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

1-5For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our “tents” again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies! The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.

Mark 3:20-35

Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn't even time to eat. His friends heard what was going on and went to rescue him, by force if necessary. They suspected he was getting carried away with himself.

22-27The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power. Jesus confronted their slander with a story: "Does it make sense to send a devil to catch a devil, to use Satan to get rid of Satan? A constantly squabbling family disintegrates. If Satan were fighting Satan, there soon wouldn't be any Satan left. Do you think it's possible in broad daylight to enter the house of an awake, able-bodied man, and walk off with his possessions unless you tie him up first? Tie him up, though, and you can clean him out.

28-30"Listen to this carefully. I'm warning you. There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you persist in your slanders against God's Holy Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives, sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives." He gave this warning because they were accusing him of being in league with Evil.

31-32Just then his mother and brothers showed up. Standing outside, they relayed a message that they wanted a word with him. He was surrounded by the crowd when he was given the message, "Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside looking for you."

33-35Jesus responded, "Who do you think are my mother and brothers?" Looking around, taking in everyone seated around him, he said, "Right here, right in front of you—my mother and my brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

 

Photo courtesy Melanie Guest Photography

For more information on why I include these readings weekly read: A Story to Embody

A Story to Embody: Trinity Sunday

This is six days late, sorry!  My wonderful parents came into town and swept my children and I away to a cabin on the lake, while my husband was out of town.  So I've been thoroughly spoiled and as a result I didn't send out last Sunday's readings. 

But one of my sweet friends mentioned that she actually missed the reading and that she looks forward to them.  So because of her comment, I had to publish it, so here it is (tomorrow's reading will still come out tomorrow).  Enjoy! 

Isaiah 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy , holy is the Lord Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. ”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Psalm 29

1 Praise the Lord, you angels;

praise the Lord's glory and power.

2 Praise the Lord for the glory of his name;

worship the Lord because he is holy.

3 The Lord's voice is heard over the sea.

The glorious God thunders;

the Lord thunders over the ocean.

4 The Lord's voice is powerful;

the Lord's voice is majestic.

5 The Lord's voice breaks the trees;

the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf

and Mount Hermon jump like a baby bull.

7 The Lord's voice makes the lightning flash.

8 The Lord's voice shakes the desert;

the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

9 The Lord's voice shakes the oaks

and strips the leaves off the trees.

In his Temple everyone says, "Glory to God!"

10 The Lord controls the flood.

The Lord will be King forever.

11 The Lord gives strength to his people;

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Romans 8:12-17

So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves or live the way our sinful selves want.13 If you use your lives to do the wrong things your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit's help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.

14 The true children of God are those who let God's Spirit lead them.15 The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, "Father."16 And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God's children.17 If we are God's children, we will receive blessings from God together with Christ. But we must suffer as Christ suffered so that we will have glory as Christ has glory.

John 3:1-17

There was a man named Nicodemus who was one of the Pharisees and an important Jewish leader.2 One night Nicodemus came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we know you are a teacher sent from God, because no one can do the miracles you do unless God is with him."

3 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot be in God's kingdom."

4 Nicodemus said, "But if a person is already old, how can he be born again? He cannot enter his mother's womb again. So how can a person be born a second time?"

5 But Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born from water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God's kingdom. 6 Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.7 Don't be surprised when I tell you, 'You must all be born again.' 8 The wind blows where it wants to and you hear the sound of it, but you don't know where the wind comes from or where it is going. It is the same with every person who is born from the Spirit."

9 Nicodemus asked, "How can this happen?"

10 Jesus said, "You are an important teacher in Israel, and you don't understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we talk about what we know, and we tell about what we have seen, but you don't accept what we tell you.12 I have told you about things here on earth, and you do not believe me. So you will not believe me if I tell you about things of heaven. 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the One who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.

14 "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the Son of Man must also be lifted up. 15 So that everyone who believes can have eternal life in him.

16 "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.

In Christ,

A New Day is Here

 

Isaiah 9:1-8 has been a Scripture that I have been returning to frequently this year.  In the OT, it is titled "A New Day is Coming" but as you read through it, you realize that this prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled and that a "New Day is Here" today.  Reading these verses has challenged and encouraged me to recognize what God has offered us now and to begin to live in it on a daily basis.  Here are the verses in the NCV:

But suddenly there will be no more gloom for the land that suffered. In the past God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali hang their heads in shame, but in the future those lands will be made great. They will stretch from the road along the Mediterranean Sea to the land beyond the Jordan River and north to Galilee, the land of people who are not Israelites.

2 Before those people lived in darkness,

but now they have seen a great light.

They lived in a dark land,

but a light has shined on them.

3 God, you have caused the nation to grow

and made the people happy.

And they have shown their happiness to you,

like the joy during harvest time,

like the joy of people

taking what they have won in war.

4 Like the time you defeated Midian,

you have taken away their heavy load

and the heavy pole from their backs

and the rod the enemy used to punish them.

5 Every boot that marched in battle

and every uniform stained with blood

has been thrown into the fire.

As I read through verses 1-5 the concept of contrast stands out.  There is a definite difference between the way things were and the way things are now:

• Before there was gloom, suffering and shame now there is GREATNESS
• Darkness but now there is GREAT LIGHT
• War and heaviness now there is HAPPINESS, VICTORY and JOY

Scripture repeats over and over again that there is and should be a distinct contrast between the darkness that was and His great light!  It began in Genesis 1:1, where God spoke to the chaos that hung over the world and said, "Let there be light."  You can imagine what a huge contrast there was between those two moments.  The same God who said, "Let there be light" in the very beginning now declares it over us, who have new life in Jesus:

Declare the praises of Him who

has called you out of darkness into His wonderful light . 

 Once you were not a people,

but now you are the people of God;

once you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

(I Peter 2:9-10).

We are His people and we are benefactors of His great mercy!

Isaiah 9:6-7

6 A child has been born to us;

God has given a son to us.

He will be responsible for leading the people.

His name will be

Wonderful Counselor,

 Powerful God,

Father Who Lives Forever,

Prince of Peace.

7 Power and peace will be in his kingdom

and will continue to grow forever.

He will rule as king on David's throne

and over David's kingdom.

He will make it strong

by ruling with justice and goodness

from now on and forever.

The Lord All-Powerful will do this

because of his strong love for his people.

I just love these verses.  It starts out saying that, "He will be responsible for leading His people."  This revelation has been very freeing for me.  I've spent much of my Christianity, trying to get God to do things "for me and for others."  There was a sense that I had to beg Him in order to get Him to move on my behalf.  But looking at verse 6 along with what was said in 1 Peter 2:10 it has become clear to me that God is leading me - not the other way around.  We have already received His mercy, His grace and His love and we have the opportunity to follow His leadership in what He is doing.

What makes this so much easier to do is to look at who He promises to be for us: Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace!  I will admit that there are situations and times when fear begins to seep in again.  At those moments, I've been taking the time to stop, breathe and remember these truths.  "You God, have promised to be my Wonderful Counselor, I am listening for your counsel right now!  You are the Prince of Peace I receive that peace right now!"  These truths have released me from the "need to always be in control" of how situations turn out and instead turn to trusting in Him to lead me and guide me.

"Power and peace will be His kingdom and His kingdom is ever expanding. He rules it with justice and goodness."  These words have helped calm me and give me insight into how to recognize His hand.  His kingdom is always growing, am I making room for it to expand in my own life? 

What will the results and effects of His kingdom look like? 

• power 
• peace 
• justice 
• goodness. 

James 3:17 gives us more things that we can look for:

• purity
• peace
• gentleness 
• easy to please

Knowing the fruit of God's operation will help us to recognize His leading and become more confident in following His voice.

The foundation to help us move in all this is - love (vs 7).  Not just any love either, His strong love!  These are the places in which we can and should rest.  We are living in the times declared by Isaiah.  Let us walk confidently and joyful in the light of His love, mercy and grace following Him in His wonderful counsel to expand His kingdom.

In Christ,

Photo courtesty of Melanie Guest Photography

The ladder of grace

The last couple of days I have been captured by Romans 5:1-5.  Here it is in the AMP version:

THEREFORE, SINCE we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to [b]enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

2Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.

3Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

4And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of [c]character (approved faith and [d]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] [e]joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

5Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

As I have been sitting in reflection of these verses, I've been picturing a ladder of grace. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that are overwhelming. The LORD understands this and I believe these verses in Romans 5 give us a clear picture of the ladder we can climb as we work through these troubles.

The foundation of this ladder is justification.  Any difficult journey you embark on needs to be rooted in justification.  The AMP did a good job explaining justification for us: being declared right with God.  Because of that truth you can confidently grab a hold of the first rung on the ladder: peace with God.  This peace with God, means that we have been reconciled unto Him.  The second rung is access to God.  Because of our justification and our peace with God, we have complete access to God on our journey.

I'm going to skip for a moment to the very top of the ladder: sharing in God's glory.  Often as we climb ladders, we continue to look up to see where we are going and how far away we are from the top.  Romans 5:2 reminds us that God allows us to share in His glory.  There is a weight and a permanence to the glory of God so remember as you are walking through that the end result will be God's glory.  When His glory comes it will have a permanent change and He allows us a share in that!

The sides of the ladder, I have marked as grace and love.  I believe these are the stabilizers for the rungs.  Grace is God's enabling power given to us for the journey that we are on.  Love is how He continuously feels about us.

So now we can look back down to our ladder and see that we are on the third rung, joy.  If you see the last steps (justification, peace and access), and what you are surrounded by (grace and love) the immensity of situations begins to fade away and you can have joy, because you know that God is taking you somewhere and He is doing something.  This joy allows you to take the next step to patience.

As I'm sure you've learned by now, God's time table and our time tables do not always line up.  But when you see that God is up to something, He loves you and He is helping you, you can have patience in your circumstances.  The next step is character!  Yes, your character can grow and deepen as you walk through times of trouble.  And last of all there is HOPE.  Romans 5:5 says that the hope we get up this ladder will not disappoint us!  God has poured out His Holy Spirit upon us as we journeyed to the top.

If you've ever watched the Biggest Loser, you've seen the step ladder that continuously rotates.  Depending on your situation, it might not be a 1,2,3 and you are at the top.  Rather, it might be like the rotating ladder where we have to go back and immerse ourselves in these truths.  But I believe this visual helps us to see why we can have joy and hope as we walk in and through hard times.

In Christ,

PS Feel free to print out the visual and look back at the verses with the ladder in mind.

Our Words

I had the pleasure of going to the grocery store with both of my children today.  They are quite well-behaved but this particular grocery store is ALWAYS busy and the aisles seem extra tight.  My kids like to ride, one on each side, which keeps them conveniently near and gives me one less thing to worry about.  Well today, of course, seemed extra busy and we were doing our best to stay out of the way of others.  We had passed an older gentleman once and he seemed slightly perturbed by the girth of my cart.  Low and behold, we ended up in the next aisle with him.  This time we did have a problem, because there was a supporting beam going down one side of the aisle, and then in my lane a box of halloween candy blocking the path.  These obstacles changed it from a two-lane path to more of a one and a half-lane.  Of course, my kids were preoccupied with each other, chatting across the cart, so it took me an extra second to inform them that they needed to get off to make room for this man to pass.  In the meantime, the man got very upset, shaking his cart and saying "g-dammit" kind of under his breath.  We passed by going in our opposite directions.

Normally, this event would be very upsetting to me.  I was racking my brain of "what I could say" if we happened to pass ways again... However, the Holy Spirit nicely reminded me of some of the things I've been contemplating lately.  The first was a post from Alisa Hope Wagner's blog, called Stop Cursing.  It's a tremendous article (that I highly recommend you stop by to read) but the gist of it was that our words have power to them.  We have the power to bring life and death to people.  The thoughts in her article, were later re-affirmed to me when I read Ascent from Darkness.  Because of both of those readings, I've become acutely aware of the power of our thoughts and words, and I've had no desire to be an unconscious participant in satan's business.

So as I pushed my cart down the aisles I spent time in prayer, "Lord, how would you have me to react to this man?" I was reminded of the Scriptures, which say to bless those who curse you, to pray for your enemies.  So I began to pray for that man.  I don't know what happened in his day, or his life for that manner to make him so angry at that moment. But as I prayed I was filled with compassion for him, and prayed that the untapped value in him would be revealed and that he would know the power and the love of the Lord in his life.  We didn't run into each other for awhile, which I was glad about, since I was still coming into agreement with the Lord about the best way to handle this.  But several aisles later, I saw him.  The Lord just told me to smile at him.  And I did, thinking in my head, the Lord loves you.  Lo and behold, he smiled back...  At that moment, he didn't seem like such a mean, old, cranky man to me anymore.

So I share this with you, not to give myself a pat on the back, but hopefully to make all of us more acutely aware of the power of our thoughts, words and actions.  Even in something so small as an incidence at the grocery store, we have the power to choose.  If we choose life, we can carry the truth of God's love in us and allow it to overflow from our hearts to others.  Like I said above, I personally have no desire to join with the enemy in spreading ugliness and hatred towards others.  Today, let us surrender to the beauty of the Lord's way and spread His love.

In Christ,

The Holy Spirit - Our Teacher

Philippians 2:1a

Does your life in Christ give you strength?

Does his love comfort you?

I ran across this Scripture a couple years ago when I was going through a very difficult season.  As I read the questions above, I had to answer no to both questions.  I realized at that moment, that there was a problem and that the way I was operating in that time period wasn't lining up with what God was offering to me.  Even though my answers were no, God's offer was, "it can be, yes!"  Our life in Christ can give us strength and His love can comfort us.

This scenario is a small example of how the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to speak to my heart.  I have had time after time when God will cause His Word to register deep in my heart. 

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is alive and active.

 Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even

 to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The Word of God is living and active and does apply to our lives today!  The only way to be effected by it, however, is to take time to be in it.

When I have a scenario, like I described above, I like to write down the Scripture(s) in my journal and/or on a notecard.  I often look back over the Scripture throughout the upcoming days, weeks, and sometimes months.  Those verses become a prayer point for me and I pray the Scripture through.  "Lord, please show me where I am relying on myself and not on you.  Teach me how to receive comfort from your love."  As I do this, the Lord begins to speak to my heart in a variety of ways, He begins to strip away the lies that I am hiding beneath and begins to replace them with His Truth.  I ran across these verses again several months after I had written them down and  I was so thankful that when I read them again that I was able to answer the questions with a resounding, "YES."  The Holy Spirit had done a work in me and brought about the changes that were necessary for my answers to change from a definite no to a definite YES!

I share my journey with these verses not because it is the "only" way to go but rather because my prayer is that it will quicken something in your heart to go after God.  He so desires to bring freedom to His children and one way He does it is through His Word (remember Hebrews 4:12).  If you desire God to minister to your heart right where you are at then begin to approach His Word with eager expectation.  When something catches your heart, no matter how small, begin to run with it.  It is good to take His Word and spend time in prayer over it.  Always take your contrary truth and lay it next to His Truth and He will begin to bring transformation to your life.  Sometimes it happens in a matter of minutes, other times a matter of weeks, or months...  He is not intimidated by time, so neither should you be.  Allow the Holy Spirit to be your teacher.

In Christ,

Smorgasbord Tuesday: Access to the Thoughts of God

Last week we finished going through our 9 week journey through the Fruit of the Spirit. As you know, I really grew in understanding the role of the Holy Spirit in my life. The Holy Spirit has always been a bit of a mystery to me. You hear a lot about God and who He is as our Father, and you hear a lot about Jesus of course and His role in setting us free but the Holy Spirit I think remains a bit of a mystery and He doesn't get talked about a lot.

As I began finishing up the fruit of the Spirit series, I began running across a lot more verses that discussed the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 2:9-16

But as it is written in the Scriptures:
"No one has ever seen this,
and no one has ever heard about it.
No one has ever imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him." — Isaiah 64:4

¹⁰ But God has shown us these things through the Spirit.

The Spirit searches out all things, even the deep secrets of God.¹¹ Who knows the thoughts that another person has? Only a person's spirit that lives within him knows his thoughts. It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.¹² Now we did not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all that God has given us.¹³ And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit. And so we explain spiritual truths to spiritual people.¹⁴ A person who does not have the Spirit does not accept the truths that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be judged to be true by the Spirit.¹⁵ The spiritual person is able to judge all things, but no one can judge him. The Scripture says:
¹⁶ "Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to teach him?" — Isaiah 40:13
But we have the mind of Christ.

Now I really want you to take time to stop and reflect on what these verses say. Everyone knows the verse, "His thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways" but they don't know what follows in 2 Corinthians. We have been given the Spirit of God, and what does the Spirit of God do, it searches the mind of God. Think about that really, it will blow you away! Your spirit is the thing inside of you that nobody else on earth sees or has access too. If you don't want somebody to know what you are thinking, they won't know. Yet God in His infinite wisdom and power has decided to give us access to His secret thoughts. We have the mind of Christ!

Daniel 2:21-23

He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
²² He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,

Amos 3:7

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.

God desires to reveal His secret thoughts to us! Are you listening?

2 Corinthians 3:15-18

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.
¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

We have something that most people in the Old Testament did not have, access to the full understanding of the word of God! We are being transformed to become more like Christ through His Spirit working and operating in our lives! Take full advantage of what you have been given! You have been given God's Spirit and where His Spirit is there is freedom!

As you know I was very excited to have Brian White in town last week for the Freedom in Christ conference. While those messages are not available online at this time, he did speak at my church on Sunday. He talked about the thoughts of God and our thoughts and it goes right along with today's blog, so if you are interested in hearing more about the the thoughts of God the message is called: What Do You Think?

So why do I like Brian so much? I like him because he is not a pastor (not that I have anything against pastors:) rather he is a professor at a public college in Michigan. What I like is that he really gets what I've been talking about in this post. We all as believers have access to the heart and mind of God and it can and should effect our everyday life in a very powerful way! He is someone who believes this and walks it out as a "lay person" and I personally find it very inspiring for my personal life.

I have also run across someone on the blog sphere named Micey. She has an incredible testimony, called Once I was Lost, if you have an extended period of time sometime you will want to read her story. Anyway, she is someone who has her ears open to the Spirit and it is amazing how many opportunities she gets to minister the gospel to people. Check out her post on 7/22/09 for an example of what she does on at least a weekly if not daily basis.

My encouragement to you this week is to know who you are and what you have been given as a child of God! You have access to the secret thoughts of God on a daily basis. Start listening and you will be amazed at what He has to say to you.

In Christ,