I AM- Creator
Posted: February 8, 2012 Filed under: faith, I AM Leave a comment »So I found that I do well if I have a designated day for a specific post- probably why my blog is filled with nothing by Friday Fotos. In light of this, each Tuesday I want to post about WHO God is in an effort to know Him more and to make Him known more to the few who read this blog. These will in NO way be exhaustive, and I invite additional thoughts and comments about each characteristic. Remembering is a key theme in the life of a Christian and one way to remember WHO God is and what He has done is to recall it; this is God’s command to Israel and we are urged in the NT to seek the same end- that is, to recall and exalt the faithfulness of our God.
Deuteronomy 32:39 is especially encouraging to me and describes the goal of these posts- that we might see that He is the I AM and believe and love that there is NONE like Him.
“See that I even I am He, and there is no God beside me.” Deut. 32:39
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Creator
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.’” Ecc. 12:1
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
Col. 1:16-17
God created all things in Heaven and on earth. All principalities, powers, authorities, animals, humans and spirits alike. Not only did He create all things, but because of Him all things are given life, new life, sustained and preserved, and all things work to the praise of His glory. Only He can sustain because only He created and only He is powerful. Consequently, in Him alone is the existence of all things eternally and only He can create and give eternal life.
Because He created me and sustains me I can trust in Him. I know I have a purpose, namely to become like Christ, because I was created in the image of God, made to worship and glorify Him because all things were created TO Him. The guidance of my life is based on His creative knowledge of me and the plan He has set before me before the foundations of the world. What a comfort to know that there is nothing in the world-no evil, no ruler, authority or power in death or life that has authority over the Creator. As His child I can rest in the knowledge that under Christ’s feet are all things and as a co-heir to his inheritance, I too have the pleasure of knowing that nothing can stand against me.
Celebrating Discipline
Posted: September 21, 2011 Filed under: faith Leave a comment »” Our ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is to launch a frontal attack. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever the issue for us may be-anger, bitterness, gluttony, pride, sexual lust, alcohol, fear- we determine never to do it again; we pray against it, fight against it, set our will against it. But it is all in vain, and we find ourselves once again morally bankrupt or, worse yet, so proud of our external righteousness that “whitened sepulchers” is a mild description of our condition…
“When we despair of gaining inner transformation through human powers of will and determination, we are open to a wonderful new realization: inner righteousness is a gift from God to be graciously received. The needed change within us is God’s work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God. It is a grace that is given…
“The moment we grasp this breathtaking insight we are in danger of an error in the opposite direction. We are tempted to believe there is nothing we can do. If all human strivings end in moral bankruptcy (and having tried it we know it is so), and if righteousness is a gracious gift from God (as the Bible clearly states), then is it not logical to conclude that we must wait for God to come and transform us? Strangely enough the answer is no. The analysis is correct: human striving is insufficient and righteousness is a gift from God. It is the conclusion that is faulty, for happily there is something that we can do. We do not need to be hung on the horns of the dilemma of either human works or idleness. God has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace. The disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us.
“The apostle Paul said, “he who sows in his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal 6:8). A farmer is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is to provide the right conditions for the growing of grain…that is the way with the spiritual disciplines- they are a way of sowing to the Spirit. The disciplines are God’s way of getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us. By themselves the spiritual disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to the place where something can be done. They are God’s means of grace. The inner righteousness we seek is not something that is poured on our heads. God has ordained the disciplines of the spiritual life as the means by which we are placed where He can bless.”
Excerpt from Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster
Finding the balance between doing and being is a task I have struggled with since I have been a Christian. Knowing that my righteousness is in Christ alone and living as it is such while trusting in His work of sanctification has never been easy for me. I am learning to peruse the disciplines of the spiritual life not to gain righteousness or to feel the counterfeit peace of accomplishing my spiritual task list, but to know Christ more thoroughly and to delight abundantly more in His finished work on the Cross. What freedom there is when my heart is humbled and I begin to drink the nourishing milk in areas where I have been trying to eat, yet choking on meat. Learning to be content in my imperfection and handing over the reins to God has made the Christian life a joy rather than a job.
Fruit
Posted: September 19, 2011 Filed under: faith, Family Leave a comment »I had a friend who recently congratulated me on becoming an “adult,” referring to my getting married and having our first child. My response was mildly defensive, thanking her for the congrats while assuring her that being a so-called, “adult” was not nearly as boring as the idea conveyed. Parts of me have learned to be content in their child-like skin- a process most reject until it’s too late. We’ve learned to forfeit guileless youth to apprehend the very thing we all too soon realize we welcomed too fast. I think that’s one of the many reasons why we have parents. They remind us that we are children. Perpetually children. I used to hate it- wanting to be an individual, independent and on my own without them. God is teaching me the humility required to be childlike and to embrace naivety (at least in some sense) and this week while visiting my parents I enjoyed being a kid again.
In celebration of Jairus 4 month birthday and as a final shebang before we left to go back down to Hudson we fulfilled a childhood dream of mine. I have always loved the idea of u-pick fruit. Sounds silly I know, but when I was little it was so mysterious to me. I always wanted to go and pick something, anything. In North Carolina U-Pick farms are the family weekend activity. So away we went with our baskets and bags to Justus Farm ready to pick as many apples as our little wagon could hold. I’ll admit it- I acted a little like a child. I ran up and down the apple rows picking to my hearts content without thinking about the cost of a bushel or a peck or about what the heck a bushel or a peck even is. I took a bit of every type of apple those people grew and spit out the ones I didn’t like. I paid no attention to the “map” and put my head in the apple photo op. sign and made funny faces at the camera. I was like a kid in an apple orchard- er…a candy store.
Acting like a child often opens up the door for the Father to speak. When I let go of managing my life and begin to enjoy what God places in front of me my ears are opened. I embrace imperfections and place more trust in the Father’s ability to fix the broken things, rather than my own. There in that orchard the Father started to speak to his child’s heart. I saw a tree weighed down with red apples, so much so that the branches were breaking. I’m not typically a fan of red apples but after one bite of these suckers I filled my basket; they were the best apples in the orchard. As I made my way around the tree the fruit was so abundant and each apple was so perfect that I couldn’t decide which one to pick! When our basket was full the tree looked just as full as it did when we started. I looked at that tree and the Lord reminded me, “This is what your are supposed to look like- your fruit is to be this abundant and this desirable- so that when you are picked out you still are full- so full that your branches are breaking.”
The fruits of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faith and self –control- are to fill our branches in abundance. Jesus knew that those who would be hearing this message would understand what a fruitful tree looked like- He knew that His hearers were those who lived off of the fruit of their trees, whose wellbeing depended on the amount of fruit each tree yielded. The meaning was not lost in the metaphor. Our own well being depends on our bearing these fruits- our relationship with others, our response to temptations and trials, to enemies, to the Word of God; even greater than these, our relationship with God depends on if we are abiding in the Vine, Jesus Christ, and bearing the Fruit of the Spirit. Without it, we die. “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away…if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers.” John 15
If we are His children we will bear fruit. We might be skimpy at times, bearing only enough fruit to get us through the day, but the goal is to bear fruit that we might be picked to the glory of God and used bless those around us. The to be pruned to bear more.This word “pruned” not only means to cut off or purge- but to cleanse and purify. When we abide, we bear fruit, and we are cleansed. Like the tree which cannot will itself to make apples, so we, without the true Vine, cannot bear true fruit. It is through the rigorous and rewarding process of bearing and pruning that we mirror His image in the way He intended. We must know Christ before we can be like Him.
Like Father like Child.
Be Still
Posted: June 24, 2011 Filed under: faith 1 Comment »The house is empty except for the sweet little guy peacefully sleeping across my legs. We just got back from a little run-the air was hot and wet from a storm that passed through here, showering Pensacola sporadically all day long- it was like running through water. But I needed to be outdoors-it quiets me.
It is difficult to be still. I find that I struggle daily with taking time to reflect on the many graces of God in my life- whether Him, His Word, my family, my walk along side of Him. Nor do I spend the greater majority of time on those things which satisfy, those things which He has said will bring me great joy and satisfaction. I busy my mind with reading, with mindless activity, with far less superior things than reflection, and consequently futility often reigns over my mind and likewise my actions. We like to say that busyness is the plight of the American-as if we deserve an excuse- that this mentality infiltrates the church until God lies on the altar where we belong. We sacrifice Him and our lives become more important, our ministry becomes more important.
But is it wrong to assert that this plague is not absolutely American, but indicative of a fallen humanity busying their lives and mind so as to ignore the One true God?
I think of Israel- the whore- running to their man-made calf idol, to their own way, rather than waiting on God. I think of their worry and futility in the desert that replaced a devotion to remembering and reflecting and believing and calling on the faithfulness of God, keeping them from the Promised Land. I think of the ungodly, the unrighteous of Romans 1 who become “futile in their speculations,” busying themselves in glorying images constructed “in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
The word futile means “to render vain-profitless.” The connotation is that something becomes wicked, perverse, foolish.
Does this ever happen to your day- it becomes foolish, wicked, perverse? Maybe the latter two seem harsh, but striving out of our own strength is exactly that- wicked and perverse- anything without God is. You wake up, spend 5 or 30 minutes in the Word and the rest of your day is full of futility? You are getting things done but at the end of the day you reflect and see that much of your attention has been given to worthlessness or foolishness- your mind too busy to find time to reflect on God’s goodness, your life too busy to spend intimate time with Him throughout the day- to hear His voice- to accomplish His tasks.
This happens to me a lot and tonight during our run God quieted me and made me to reflect on my life. Not only did He want to teach me the importance of being still but also brought to my mind a wellspring of memories from the last couple of weeks, igniting in me so much thankfulness for the abundant blessings in my life.
Somethings I must purge, and I ask for prayer as to what those things are and the discipline to accomplish the task.
I have found nothing in this life so satisfying as Him. Joy abounds in a life that reflects on and enjoys Him.
“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” Isaiah 55:2-3
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10
Kingdom Motherhood
Posted: June 17, 2011 Filed under: faith 2 Comments »One of my favorite websites, girltalk, featured a selection of an article written by Rachel Jankovic-a wife and mother of five little ones. The entire article can be found on the Desiring God blog.
“If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.
There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.”
I needed this Word from the Lord today and the wisdom of this woman spoke to my weary heart. I love being a mother but I don’t yet value it or desire it like I desire to go to the tribes. I am discontented with just this, and I plead that the Lord would give us more-more zeal, more ministry, more desire to go.
But this is SO important and this is where God has me today. I have been appointed a wife and mother, given great duties that reach far beyond the kitchen table and diaper changing station.
This is my mission-to train a young boy in the ways of the Lord and it is a great mission indeed.
