The Aroma of Life to Life

Once she hid, alone
Guarding a dead husk,
Hoping it still lived.
Precious, it was,
And the only one
She would ever have.

Shriveled,
Wilted,
It did not respond
To her touch
Or anyone else's.
Deep inside she knew
It had no breath.
But if she admitted
That it had none,
Then she would have to admit
That neither did she.

You see
It was
Her soul.

It rattled, dryly scraping
In the slightest breeze
And she hoped those were sounds
Of life.
But the truth was a terror
Which haunted her dreams.

One more wound,
One more grief,
One more betrayal,
One more lie,
And the tiny spark of life
If there was one
Would surely ebb away.
She would become a zombie
The walking dead.

The image awakened her in a cold sweat
Night after night.

How can
A dead
Soul live?

She had no close friends.
Even her family
Was kept at bay
By her smiles which lied.
She was okay
Or at least she would be
If everyone would just
Leave her alone
To stare at her husk
And convince herself
That it lived.

People make demands.
They drain you.
I'd love to have something to give
But I only have this husk
And I will die without it.
Better to live here, alone
Than to let anyone take it from me.

A dead
Soul's better
Than none.

But there was an aroma
A scent
Which sometimes drifted into
Her loneliness
And when she smelled it
She wept
For joy.

But it didn't happen often.
What can dry husks savor?

Most of the time
Rage simmered
Against any and all
Who even dared to want
Much less need
Anything from her.

You're trying to kill me.
You will use me up
Until there's nothing left.

Then He came.

She knew He was behind
Everything that happened
In the universe He'd made.
So she hated Him
Most of all.

And yet
He brought
That scent

And on one dark night
He did the unthinkable.
He picked up the husk
And showed it to her
Forced her to see it
For what it was
For the very first time.

Ugly rot
Decaying stench
Lifeless corpse.

It lay in His hand.
A scarred hand.
And she knew she was helpless
Against Him.
He could close His fist
And it would be crushed
Forever.

And yet
Her fear
Met love.

Her gaze, for once
Forsook its idol
And moved upwards
To see His face.
Pounding heart
In mortal peril
Yet felt calmed.

Though He slay me
Yet will I trust Him.

How could
She feel
This way?

She knew before she looked.
The husk lived.
She lived.
The perfume infused a soul
Which once could not draw breath.

Every whiff I sensed before
Was a miracle from His hand
I should not have been able to smell it
But He knew I needed to.

All those years
When she had thought she was
The guardian of her soul
It had been Him
Him
All along.

Tender One
Living Water
Reviving Breath

She is safe.

Life still hurts.
But she has no more dreams
Of zombies.

Life still hurts.
But she no longer
Craves her solitude.
At least not all the time.

Life still hurts.
But life is sweet
Because she knows
How it feels to be
Without it.

Life still hurts.
But no one can take it from her
Because it rests in the hands
Of the One who will someday
Take all the hurt away.

Life still hurts.
But love grows
Where fear no longer reigns.
And it especially grows
When it senses that aroma
From the souls of others.

Precious, beloved others
Even those she's never met
Still move her heart because
They share His life.

Life still hurts.
But those who bear
His aroma
Touch her with it
And she knows
A foretaste
Of healing.

Even some of those who were
Her family by flesh and blood alone
Are now her family in the Spirit, too.
And there is joy
Even when there's heartache.

The perfume wafts
From petals crushed.
The Rose of Sharon
The Lilly of the Valley
For love's sake
Bruised for her.

For you.

Can you
Smell it
As well?

-------------------------------------

Copyright Betsy Markman, 2009

Current Events: The Pre-Inaugural Prayer

This week I've decided to participate in the Current Events Wrap-Up Meme, which unites Christian bloggers in discussing, as you probably guessed, current events. Now, I'm not typically a "Current events" type of blogger, but something I read on the Christian Worldview Times really stuck in my throat. I quote from that article:Image by ajagendorf25 via Flickr

President-elect Obama has asked V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, to deliver the invocation at a pre-inaugural event this Sunday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was "horrified" at how "specifically and aggressively Christian they were." He states, "I am very clear that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won't be quoting Scripture. The texts I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer."

Robinson said he might address the prayer to "the god of our many understandings," language that he said he learned from the 12-Step program he attended for his alcohol addiction.

And, once again, I find myself grieving for our once-great nation.

Remember that wonderful audio sermon I linked to yesterday? In it, Paul Washer points out that most people are not victims of false preachers/teachers. The word "victim" implies passivity and innocence. No, the Bible doesn't say that in the last days, people would love to have sound doctrine, but they simply can't find anyone to teach them truth. Instead it says that people will not endure sound doctrine, and will "heap up for themselves teachers" who will tell them the lies they want to hear (2 Tim 4:3).

The reason we have so many false gospels, so many false prophets, so many false teachers is because people will not endure the truth. There may be some "victims" of false teachers, but most who flock after the wrong shepherds are getting exactly what they want. And when people hate and reject the One True God long enough, He pronounces on them a frightening judgment; namely, He abandons them to their idolatry (Eze. 20:39), and lets them destroy themselves with it (Rom. 1:28, best read in its entire context).

And so, in this once-Christian nation, we have the Pre-inaugural prayer given by someone who is "horrified" by the Christianity in his predecessors' prayers.

Horrified by the Christianity!

On the 20th, I hope Christians everywhere will join in fasting (if possible) and praying for our lost nation. As I've said before, our new President isn't the problem. This Bishop isn't the problem. The problem is the corrupt, godless nation who wants to be led by such men.

God have mercy on us!

------------------------

This week's Current Events Wrap-Up Meme is being hosted by Julie at The Surrendered Scribe. Drop by there for links to other entries based on today's news.

Why Should Everything Revolve Around God?

We naturally hate self-centeredness...in others.

We find it easy to despise those who arrange their lives around demanding attention, admiration, and praise (especially since they're pulling away some of the attention that we're sure is rightfully ours)!

We pity those whose souls are so full of leaks that they require constant re-inflation by everyone around them (especially since we flatter ourselves that we can stand on our own merits without anyone propping us up).

And yet we read in our Bibles about a God who demands worship.

Is God's soul full of leaks? The omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-glorious, eternal Holy One...does He need His ego propped up by measly little creatures like us?

Of course not! God forbid that we should think of Him that way!

Many would argue that God's self-sufficiency makes it impossible for Him to be God-centered, or for Him to want us to revolve around Him. And to the extent that we hold this view, we will bristle at what seems to be brazen egotism in some of God's statements (see, for example, Ex. 20:3, Ps. 2:12, Isa. 66:23, Rom. 9:17).

Those who make no pretense of loving Him will openly despise such statements. Those who pretend to love Him will either avoid such statements, or apologetically explain them away. Much of the modern Western "church" does precisely that. "Let's protect God from His embarrassing egotism, and protect people from being offended by it. Don't preach those passages. Make services man-centered, because nothing else is truly 'relevant.'"

How tragic! In the eyes of such people, the Emperor truly has no clothes. He parades around the universe, embarrassing Himself with His delusions and demanding admiration from others. The church's job is to cover up His shameful nakedness with a cloak of decent man-centeredness. How else could He possibly be acceptable?

Ironically, those who claim that they defend God's honor by protecting Him from His own God-centeredness find themselves in the unenviable position of dishonoring Him. They say that they reject God-centeredness because it is insulting to Him to "prop Him up with human ego strokes." But they end up insulting Him by holding up human-stitched figleaf garments in front of Him so He won't shame Himself with his embarrassing Napoleon complex, His pompous nakedness (as they see it).

They avoid those Bible verses at all costs!

God, have mercy!

Why is our self-centeredness a weakness? Because we aren't anything special, and we delude ourselves if we think we are.

Why is God's God-centeredness a weakness in our eyes? Go on...fill in the blanks. If we believe that it's wrong for God to be God-centered, then we really believe that He isn't worth the honor. He's just deluding Himself. There's really something greater He ought to bow to. (And what, may I ask, do we think that might be?)

"But wait," you may protest. "Even greatness should be humble. Just because someone is great at what they do, it doesn't mean they should lord it over others."

I couldn't agree more! Behind every great man are the parts he doesn't want seen. The great athlete may have a drug problem. The great preacher may hire prostitutes in the dark of the night. The great king may commit adultery and murder. Great accomplishments are not the same as greatness. No matter what we do, it doesn't change what we are. We are mere mortals. We are walking dirt, given life by the breath of God, and we will collapse back into dust the moment His breath is called back to Him. This is the basis of our humility. To the extent that we lack humility, to that same extent we have forgotten what we're made of.

"Jesus was humble," you remind me. Oh indeed He was (and is)! But I must ask you, what is the basis of His humility?

Go back and ponder that question. What is the basis of Jesus' humility?

Is He humble for the same reasons that we are? Behind all of His great accomplishments, is there some hidden shame? Is there some lack of greatness anywhere in Him?

Listen to the testimony of Job, who spoke to God face-to-face, hearing an impressive litany of God's accomplishments. Did Job see any lack in who God is compared to what God has done?

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees You.
Therefore I abhor myself,
and repent in dust and ashes."
(Job 42:5-6)

What he heard impressed him, but it was what he saw that humbled him. God's essence overwhelmed him.

And yet, in Christ, God proved Himself humble. His humility has a perfection that we will never fathom, precisely because His humility springs from flawlessness.

In the same way, His God-centeredness has perfections that we cannot fathom. Do not pollute His God-centeredness by comparing it with human ego! There is no comparison.

God is perfect in all His being, and that includes perfection in the truth. He cannot lie. He hates lies. And therefore, He cannot deny Himself. If He is the greatest, He will not lie about it. If He is worthy of an eternity of worship, He will not pretend otherwise.

Oh you who object to His God-centeredness, examine your heart! Is there not something in you which cries, "Why should everything revolve around Him...instead of me!"

Who is proud...the Perfect One who recognizes the truth about His own perfection, or the sinful wretch who wants to usurp glory for himself?

Why should everything revolve around Him instead of us? It would take an eternity to list the reasons. And there is no greater blessing He could offer us than an eternity spent enjoying those perfections as we praise Him. Yes, he demands worship, because it is utterly right that we should worship Him, and God demands what is right. But He has designed us to enjoy that worship...to find pleasure in it beyond anything we can fathom, so that His glory is our endless delight. He will not spend eternity yanking unwilling praise from unappreciative lips! He will find great pleasure in giving us the greatest gift he ever could give us, just as any loving parent enjoys seeing his children appreciating what he has given. And if the greatest gift He can give us is Himself, is it anything but kindness on His part that He gives it? Is it wrong of Him to enjoy our enjoyment of Him?

And yet He is humble. Look at Him, taking on human flesh, submitting to human spittle on his beard, to human insults and beatings, to the cross. If it is humility you long for, can you see that His is a humility greater than any human can ever show...and it is greater because it springs from One who has no imperfections? Can you see that His humility will satisfy your soul, as will all of His other perfections, in a way that no human humility ever will?

Is not His humility made far more glorious than ours, simply by virtue of the fact that He alone has the right to be proud?

What do you think He should do, if not giving us Himself as our greatest treasure? Would you have him substitute some other pleasure and give that lesser thing to us forever? What would you prefer to worship in the ages to come? If you reject Him as worthy of it, you must plan to put something...or someone...in His place. What would that be? Who would that be? Be honest.

Let us always be ashamed of our own pride, because it is undeserved. But if we are ever ashamed of His honest assessment of His own perfection, then it is because we believe it to be undeserved as well, and because we have forgotten His humility.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Heb 11:6

He who comes to God must believe that He is...that He is what? My friend, is it not required of us that we believe Him to be what He says He is?

Only those who diligently seek Him will be rewarded. And why would we diligently seek Him, if we did not believe Him to be the greatest thing we could ever find?

In short, isn't God-centered faith required?

If your soul protests, why does it do so? What sort of faith do you think is better? Why is it better?

He does not need our measly praise. Nor does He need our measly protection. He needs nothing from us at all. And yet, because of a love that surpasses our comprehension, He has created us to enjoy Him ecstatically forever. Those who want to do so are welcome to do so. Those whose pride recoils in horror from such a prospect will not be required to do so. They will instead be granted an eternity of His absence, and they will find His absence to be Hell. Literally.

Do not fear being God-centered. Do not despise God's God-centeredness.

He is clothed, not with removable rags, but with His own unimpeachable glory. Throw away those fig leaves you've sewn together for Him.

The Emperor has more clothes than we can possibly imagine.

Do you look forward to gazing upon Him forever?

(Photo from Stock.xchng by Brunatka)

Demon Faith vs. Saving Faith

In my last entry I offered the following challenge:

Think deeply about the following challenge question:Image via Wikipedia

How does my faith differ from the faith of demons?
(James 2:19)

Seriously, make a list. Write it down. What do the demons believe? Keep in mind that the demons have known God all of their lives, they have always seen Him with their eyes, they have witnessed every work He's ever done. Everything you know, they know, and much more. They have knowledge and belief, but not saving faith.

What do you have that they don't have? What is your faith that theirs isn't? Write it down. Seriously. Do it.

I covered this topic a little bit in November, 2008 (See "Reasonable Sacrifice?"). But I thought for the sake of continuity, it wouldn't hurt to revisit the ideas and perhaps add to them a bit, especially for those who may not have read that earlier entry. So here goes.

How does my faith differ from demonic faith?

• Demonic faith knows that God is holy, and hates His holiness. It would love to see Him corrupted if possible. A human with such faith refuses to believe that God hates sin...at least not his sin. Or, he knows that God's holy standard condemns him, and he shakes his fist in response. He either refuses to obey, or he obeys with gritted teeth.
• Saving faith knows that God is holy, and treasures that holiness. It rejoices in the fact that He cannot be corrupted. A human with this faith obeys because he loves God's goodness and rightness. When he disobeys (and he sometimes will, because he's not yet perfect) he grieves and repents, grateful for the forgiveness he receives. And just as anyone naturally gravitates toward what he loves, this person will naturally become more obedient.
  

• Demonic faith knows that God is completely in charge, and it hates that fact. It does everything in its power to usurp His authority, ignore it, or rebel against it. A human with such faith will insist that humanity and human desires should be the center of the universe. His religion, if he has any, will be completely man-centered. He will reject the authority of Scripture, demand pleasure, freedom and rights at all times, and will only respect a god who agrees with man's preeminence. He may be totally self-centered, or may be a philanthropist serving humans other than himself, or anything in between. But God will not have preeminence. Humans (self or others) always come in first.
  
• Saving faith knows that God is completely in charge, and wouldn't have it any other way. It trusts His power and has no confidence in the flesh. While it still isn't perfect, it grows increasingly obedient because of its trust in God's perfect knowledge, love and will. A human with such faith develops increasing peace, joy, and confidence because the burden of responsibility rests squarely where it ought to rest...on God. He takes Christ's yoke (he's not indolent), but he is free to serve unselfishly because he serves God first, and takes God's love to others.

• Demonic faith must obey because it has no choice, but it gnashes its teeth and hates obedience. A human with such faith may be very religious; a strict legalist, in fact. But he wishes there were no such thing as this demanding God, and he casts a longing eye at every debauched sinner. "There, but for the severity of God, go I," he thinks, envying those who have it better because they are not enslaved by Christianity. He isn't even sure he'll like Heaven. (Without enjoying anyone else's sin vicariously like he gets to do on Earth, won't Heaven be boring?) But he figures he'll have to put up with God and His ways in order to avoid Hell.
  
• Saving faith obeys willingly, trustingly, and even joyfully (not perfectly, but increasingly as time goes by). A human with such faith looks at the lost and shudders...not with pride, but with the certain knowledge that they are missing out on the best in this life, not just for eternity. He shudders, too, because he knows who he was when he was lost, and that he could so easily fall back into that life, but for the grace of God. He sees the chains of bondage to sin, and yearns to see the lost liberated as he has been. And his obedience does feel like liberty, because he's free to be the new creation that God made him to be.
  

• Demonic faith may acknowledge that God's way is the only way, but it wishes for a different one. A human with such faith will trust in Jesus as a way, but not as the way. His thoughts of salvation center around the mercy he feels that humanity deserves, and not about the glory due to the Holy One.
  
• Saving faith not only agrees that Jesus is the only way, but also sees how beautiful and right that is. It becomes jealous for God's glory with a holy jealousy. A human with such faith will read the Bible as a God-centered book, and will increasingly live a God-centered life, intent upon glorifying God so that others will see His unique worth. They will have a growing desire to see others worship God as God deserves, knowing full well that this will also be the only way that humans will ever find true joy.

• Demonic faith depends on itself. It cannot depend on God for anything...not for joy, for pleasure, for salvation, for life, for death, or anything else. A human with such faith wants no savior, or at least will accept only a partial one. He adds his own works to Christ's, or else depends on his own works entirely. While he may decide to do something he calls "trusting Christ" for what happens after death, he cannot trust for what happens in this life. He trusts his own schemes for pleasure, his own plans for profit, his own ideas of what is best for himself on this earth.
  
• Saving faith refuses to trust self for anything. It thanks, praises, and glorifies God because it has found Him to be the true source of all that it needs. A human with such faith recognizes his own incredible unworthiness, wouldn't dream of the possibility of saving himself, and will grow ever more certain that Christ is the fountain of everything he needs, of every delight he seeks.
  

To sum it up, demonic faith knows everything about God, and hates everything it knows. Saving faith knows less about God, but loves everything it knows and wants to know more.

Do you see here that I'm not talking about perfection? The one with demonic faith and the one with saving faith will still sin. But there will be an ever-growing difference between the two, because they revolve around different centers. They may wobble a bit in their individual orbits, sometimes moving a bit further out or in, but their focal point never changes. An immature Christian may only see God more distantly than a mature one, but what he sees will draw him like gravity. Love will pull him closer, and will cleanse him and sanctify him as he goes. He doesn't become sinless, but he sins less and less.

He will increasingly hate the sin
that offends the God
he increasingly loves.

A non-Christian, his heart deadened by sin, will see nothing of the true God at all, because what he does see of God repels him, and he covers his eyes. He's committed to his center of gravity, and nothing but a miracle from God will change that. The closer his love pulls him towards his godless center (self), the more he will hate the God who offends the sins he loves.

What's your center of gravity?

Yes, you may wobble. Yes, you see through a glass, dimly. Yes, you stumble sometimes. But if you could have everything you want at this very moment, would your heart leap after the things of the flesh, or would it leap for God? If you could be freed from God, freed from Christ, and still avoid Hell, would that sound like a bargain to you? Do you think Heaven would be a great place to spend eternity even if Christ were not there...if it were only a place of endless fleshly pleasure? Or have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good...all the good you want, all the good you need? Are you just longing to be freed from this body of sin so you can enjoy Him forever? Would Heaven be boring without Him?

Do you, however imperfectly, revolve around the Son?

Sober Reflections

One of Scripture's strangest biographies contains a warning for us as we start this new year.

Imagine with me for a moment. Imagine you're a pagan who suddenly encounters the Living God. Imagine that, over the course of a few remarkable days, you are repeatedly and powerfully filled with the Holy Spirit. Imagine having a face-to-face meeting with an angel and witnessing an undeniable miracle. Imagine your Spirit-controlled tongue speaking words of high praise and loyalty to God. Imagine being used by God to prophesy...to speak words so important and powerful and beautiful that they are actually included in the canon of Scripture. Imagine being so moved by the might and majesty of God that you were willing to face the wrath of a king in order to obey Him.

Would it be possible to do all of that and still be a lost, hell-bound soul?

Does a brief encounter with God mean that you're saved? Is it possible to look back in the past and point to a single, isolated experience upon which you can rest your eternal security?

The Bible answers a resounding "No" to that question. While the Bible certainly does teach eternal security, it can't be found in an isolated experience.

Faith in an isolated experience
is faith displaced from
its proper object,
which is God Himself.

Faith displaced from God Himself
is idolatry.

Consider the remarkable story of Balaam. You can find it beginning in Numbers chapter 22. Many of you are no doubt familiar with it.

Balaam experienced all of the miraculous, God-touched events that we imagined above. Filled with the Spirit, he refused the king's order to curse the nation of Israel, and instead powerfully blessed them several times over (Num. 23:8, Num. 23:20, Num. 23:23, Num. 24:10). He spoke magnificent words about the sovereignty and greatness of God (Num 23:19, Num. 24:4). His prophecies ranged so far that they even promised the coming Messiah (Num. 24:17-19).

Oh, how wonderful that experience must have been!

And yet...

Balaam was not changed. When the Spirit of God was finished with him, Balaam returned to his sorceries and conspired in a plot to bring the children of Israel to gross sin (Num. 31:16). He was eventually killed by the Israelites (Jos. 13:22), and ended up being mentioned three times in the New Testament as a warning example (2 Pet. 2:15, Jude 1:11, Rev. 2:14).

Now, the Scripture clearly teaches that when a person is truly saved, the Spirit comes and abides in him forever as a "seal" and a "guarantee." (see, for example, 2 Co. 1:22, Eph. 1:13-14). This indwelling of the Spirit is not a passive thing. He makes changes when He moves in. He produces holy living and fruit (Gal. 5:16-25) and He guides us (John 16:13). As the Seal of the New Covenant, He gives us a new heart and keeps us from departing from God (Jer. 32:38-40). He shows us God's love and gives us love for Him (Rom. 5:5, 1 Co. 12:3). He makes us entirely, utterly new (2 Co. 5:17).

But not every work of the Spirit is a saving, indwelling work. And Scripture tells us we must examine ourselves as to whether we're in the faith (2 Co. 13:5). Since New Year's Day is traditionally a day of reflection, I can't think of a more important thing to reflect on than this.

What has He done in you lately?

Legalism would ask, "What have YOU done for HIM lately," but that's not my question. We are not saved by our works, but by His work in us. So I ask again, "What has HE done in you lately?"

Do you feel the newness taking over? Is He changing your heart, your desires? Are your "good works" coming more easily and naturally through Him, or are they still forced by the flesh, by guilt, by religious expectation? Is love for God growing more fervent?

I'm not asking about perfection. (If I asked about perfection, and you answered "Yes," then we'd have real reason to worry!)

When you ask yourself about your assurance of salvation, do you consult a one-time experience? Or do you consult Him, whose work you are experiencing?

When you hear questions
about His work in you,
do you feel confused,
or do you know
what His work feels like?

Can you understand what I mean when I say, "When He's the one doing the work, you know it's Him, and you can't help giving Him the glory for it"? Or is His work something you've yet to experience?

The last thing I want to do is hurt the tender sheep, the true children of God with sensitive consciences who doubt their salvation whenever they see that they're still sinners. Salvation is a progressive work. We are saved once and for all from the penalty of sin, we are progressively being saved from the power of sin, and after death we will be saved from the presence of sin. How glorious is our God, and how wonderful are His ways!

To you, tender sheep, I give the words of our Savior:

Do not fear, little flock,
for it is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
(Luke 12:32)

But as bad as it would be to hurt the tender sheep, in some ways it would be even worse to lull the self-deceived goats back to sleep. So I leave you today with this challenge, based on James 2:19. It is my prayer that, after this challenge, the sheep will rejoice in their assurance, and the goats will come to Christ in truth so they can rejoice as well.

Think deeply about the following challenge question:

How does my faith differ from the faith of demons?
(James 2:19)

Seriously, make a list. Write it down. What do the demons believe? Keep in mind that the demons know God, they have known God all of their lives, they have always seen Him with their eyes, they have witnessed every work He's ever done. Everything you know, they know, and much more. They have knowledge and belief, but not saving faith.

What do you have that they don't have? What is your faith that theirs isn't? Write it down. Seriously. Do it.

If your answers give you assurance, ask yourself one more thing. Is that assurance based on what you've done, or on what He's done? If it's based on what He's done, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice in Him!

If your answer does not give you assurance, if your faith doesn't differ from the demons' faith, or if your assurance is based on something you've done, then drop all other priorities. Drop all other hopes, all other sources of confidence, all spiritual crutches. Come to God with the salvation you've made for yourself, and ask Him to replace it with the salvation He's made for you. Refuse to let go of Him until He blesses you (Gen. 32:26). Ask to be made new, to have not just a forgiven heart, but a new heart that grows in love for Him and hatred for sin. Ask not only to be His in Heaven someday, but ask to be His now. Refuse to put confidence in anything you can manufacture, any emotions you can generate, any words you can say. Put confidence in Him and only Him, even if you don't feel His answer right away.

Saving faith has no "Plan B." Come to Him, to Him, to Him alone.

And here's a word from the Savior to encourage your confidence in Him.

The one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (John 6:37)

Please leave a comment to let me (and other readers) know how we can pray for you or rejoice with you. You can leave your comment anonymously if that's easier, but please let us know.

Candle photo from stock.xchng by Alexkalina

Strength Perfected in Meekness

Friday Fiction

His world pressed in hard, squeezing him in a strange tightness that ebbed and flowed, sometimes threatening to crush him. Discomfort contorted his face.

His mind, too young to understand, could do nothing but accept whatever happened to him.

Helplessness.

Strange sounds filtered through, sounds that troubled him at an instinctive level. Something in his being agreed with it, longed to join in it, but couldn't.

He could only endure as he was squeezed, pushed, rushed headlong into something new. Eyes opened, seeing dimly. Loud noises, once muffled, now roared in his ears. One such cry, filled with anguish, coincided with the final crushing pressure that pushed his whole body into this strange, cold, bright, confusing place.

Something entered his mouth, swept mucous away. Air rushed into his body, filled his chest. He'd never felt anything like it, but a moment later his own voice added to the cries that filled his ears.

The voices around him took on a different tone. His own wails, strident, seemed suddenly out of place. Warmth wrapped around him, comforting him. He quieted.
Image by juliecampbell via Flickr

And then, a new comfort. A delicious scent, a taste warm and perfect on his tongue. He had never needed to do anything before, but need drove him now. He drank eagerly until sleep overtook him.

----------------

Sweat dampened his robes. Sunlight poured in through the window, providing much-needed light for his workbench, but adding to the discomfort of the heat.

He drove the last nail into the box, a box like countless others he had built over the years, and yet so different. So very, very different...simply because he would never be able to show it to Dad.

Tears blurred his eyes.

His mother came into the workshop, her eyes red with grief. He opened his arms to her, unable to do more than just offer his embrace. Soon he held in his arms the one who once held him.

"I can't believe he's dead." She said it softly, and there was no accusation in her tone. But he knew her heart, knew the unspoken thought.

Yes, Mother, I am Who you think I am. You mustn't doubt, even though My presence did not keep Dad from dying.

"Zacharias' order is ready, mother."

Mother reached out a hand to touch the smoothly planed wood, and she managed a smile through her tears. "You always do such fine work. Your father would be pleased." Her voice broke.

"I always do the will of My Father," he murmured. Even when His will means withholding my power, withholding life, denying joy to those I love.

A neighbor's voice called. "Mary, I've brought you some food, dear."

Mother gave him a sad smile. "Rhoda is so kind." She turned and walked out of the workshop and back toward the house. Yeshua couldn't see her now, but he knew that she wept again.

He sat down. The bench felt hard, offering scant comfort for his tired bones. He hadn't slept well in the few hours since he'd watched his father take his final breaths. And the previous nights had seen him working late, keeping up with his Dad's work orders as well as his own.

Death.

It doesn't get any easier, even when you know it's coming.

He looked at his hands, black with dirt. A splinter pained his left thumb. It had gone in so deep that he would have had to cut himself worse to get it out.

When I was a little boy, Dad told me to ignore the hurts that I couldn't do anything about. He said it was easier to ignore that kind of pain...the kind that you're helpless against. He said it was harder to ignore the pains that you could eliminate, if you knew God wanted you to endure them. He said it was hard to endure the temptation to escape.

How little he understood! I have endured that temptation every moment of my life in this body. I could have changed everything!

I could have refused to feel the pain of labor...pain which all other babies mercifully forget. I could have made the manger softer for my tender new body. I could have commanded angels to hold me up when my wobbly legs were learning to walk, but I didn't. I fell and crashed into things when balance failed me, like any other child. I could have spoken a word and made all of these simple wooden things in a moment of time, the way I spoke the worlds into place. But instead I sawed, and I planed, and I sweated, and I wore myself out in flesh and blood in this carpentry shop. I got splinters, and hit my thumbs with hammers.

I could have spoken all human frailty away. Instead I let everything come to me as the Father willed it. Just like everyone else.

He looked again at his Dad's workbench. I could have eased your suffering, Dad. You don't know how I pleaded for permission. I could have made you well. I could have turned mother's fear into elation.

"It's not yet your time," my True Father always said. "You may not show yourself yet."

He sighed. "Father, Your will is perfect. How wise are your ways! It has been hard, holding myself back all these years. But I trust You completely. I yield, as always.

He gathered up his meager tools to put them away. The saw handle touched his tender thumb.

Nineteen years. In all my nineteen years, I have never worked a single miracle. It would be so inconsequential, just speaking this annoying splinter away. What harm could such a tiny miracle do? No one would see. All it would take was a word...

But then I would not know what it is to be fully human. I would not be the High Priest who can sympathize with my people's weaknesses.

The word will not be spoken, because The Word will not remove Himself from the Father's mouth. When He speaks, I will speak. I will not yield to the flesh.

The splinter stays. I obey for the glory of God.

And Dad's body will go into the grave.

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"Mordecai!" Yeshua hugged his friend. "How is your wife? Is she better?"

"Yes, thank God, she is well now, thank you. And how is your mother, and your brothers?"

"They're all fine. They're here, too." Yeshua looked around at the many happy guests. "This will be an especially joyous wedding, I think."

"Yes, they are very much in love. It will be a good day." Mordecai leaned closer. "I hear you've been doing well for yourself...teaching and even having your own disciples? That's admirable."

"Yes, my Father told me it was time." Yeshua knew that no one really felt comfortable with him saying such things. Sure enough, Mordecai lowered his eyes, then excused himself to go greet someone from out of town.

Yeshua accepted a glass of wine from a servant and greeted more friends. But something in his spirit burned hotter than usual today.

I'm thirty years old...surely I must show myself soon! Is that why there's this fire inside of me?

The guests all sat down, and Yeshua sat beside his mother.

The glory in his soul made it a little hard for his flesh to concentrate.

Oh, this weak flesh! It still wants to doubt. Still doesn't fully believe that I'm the Son of God, the Promised One. It tells me I'm crazy, and that I'd better not ever try to do any miracles, because the only result will be making a fool of myself. Thank You, Father, for Your Spirit! If it were not for Him, my flesh might convince me to succumb. But I cannot possibly give in to doubt, not with You igniting everything within me.

It's important for me to feel these doubts, isn't it, Father? My people feel them, too. And I can sympathize.

Loud, excited whispers pulled him out of his thoughts. Ah, the scandal has begun. They've realized there wasn't enough wine.

The familiar thought, "I can fix that," came and went almost unnoticed. Thirty years' worth of resisting that temptation had made such resistance almost automatic.

Almost.

His mother leaned over and whispered to him, and it kind-of surprised him in his flesh. She doesn't usually ask me to intervene. Even when Dad was dying she didn't ask me for a miracle.

Does she also sense the Spirit straining to burst forth in me?

"Dear woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."

Mother, with her usual piercing perception, seemed to see what happened in Yeshua's soul as soon as he felt it himself.

"Do whatever he tells you to do," she said to the servants.

Yeshua felt as if the very glory of Heaven broke loose inside of him. Really, Father? Really? Is this how you want me to start?

The affirmative came back with a warmth that filled every inch of his being. "Fill the water pots with water," he told the servants. They complied, and Yeshua's Spirit shouted with joy at the sight of the water turning wine-red. "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast," he commanded.

Joy overflowed as they hurried away. Glory to You, Father! Glory to You! And yet even with the joy came a new heaviness.

I know where this road leads.

The wisdom of his Father's plan, of his austere preparatory years, shone more clearly than ever now. Every denied desire of my flesh, every refusal to misuse my power for selfish purposes, has given me the strength that will keep me on that road, and will keep me on that cross.

You have trained me well, Father. Bless You!

Grapes photo from Stock.xchng by Hapekla
Wood photo from Stock.xchng by Durdge39

Friday Fiction is being hosted today by Patty over at Patterings. (The actual assignment for the day was just to pick your favorite fictional posting for the year and "re-run" it. But since the Lord gave me something new, I decided to share that instead.) Please drop by Patterings for links to more fiction.

A Memorable Thanksgiving

I'm interrupting our series again, this time so I can participate in "At the Well." This week's writing prompt was one I simply couldn't resist.

Share with your readers a testimony of how God brought you thru a difficult time.

What is the most memorable Thanksgiving you have experienced?

That question could only bring one very remarkable Thanksgiving day to my mind.

(Photo from Stock.xchng by jvdberg)

I'd never done any Thanksgiving entertaining since the troubles began with my kids (two of them have special needs). But back on the Thanksgiving of 2004, we decided to have friends over to celebrate with us. We would have the big meal around noon, so I skipped breakfast in order to have a good appetite for the feast.

I also drank lots of my favorite caffeine source (Diet Dew, thank you very much). And, at that time I was taking a prescribed medication which, among other things, had a stimulant effect.

And I was under stress. Lots of stress.

The house was a mess. It always is, and at that point in their lives, my kids weren't able to be any real help. In fact, it was often quite the opposite.

I had just tackled the unenviable job of mopping the bathroom floor, the kids were acting up, and I was mad. Definitely not in the spirit of the day.

Worse yet, I was definitely not in The (Holy) Spirit. To be honest, back then I don't think The Spirit was in me. He was working on me, drawing me, but not in me yet. And a lot of His work could best be described as demolition. I had built lots of very thick walls, a veritable fortress of self protection around my heart, and every brick was held in place by the mortar of anger. Fear plastered every surface. Within my stronghold I stood fiercely, stubbornly alone, trusting no one, depending on no one, sharing my heart with no one. I put up a smiling front in public, but that's all it was. A charade that hid a multitude of self-destructive heart sins.

And on Thanksgiving Day, 2004, my heart said, "Enough is enough."

The pain struck as I simultaneously mopped the floor and yelled at one of my kids. And it was unlike any pain I had ever felt before.

Don't get me wrong; I'm very used to pain. I have some pretty serious back problems that have plagued me since I was a young child. And at first I thought this was my back...but it wasn't the same as any other back pain. And something in my inmost being knew that this was serious.

I tried adjusting my spine with a little technique that I use, but the pain only got worse. It sat heavy in between my shoulder blades, and it brought tears to my eyes...not because the pain was that severe (though it was pretty bad), but because my soul knew I was in a crisis, even if my mind hadn't come to grips with it yet.

"I have to go lie down. My back hurts." I made my way upstairs, but the pain made it a little hard to breathe.

My husband could sense that this was out of the ordinary, and he came up with me. Bless his heart, he just stayed there, never leaving me, while I worked through what was happening.

The pain isn't really in my spine. It's not that far back. It's in the center of my chest.

Don't be ridiculous, Betsy. You can't be having a heart attack. You don't have heart problems, and you aren't overweight, and you've never smoked, and you just turned 40 less than a month ago. There's no way this is a heart attack.

Lying down didn't lessen the pain. It should have, if it was merely back pain.

I finally took the risk of sounding like a fool. "John, it's not likely, really...but this could be my heart."

He hovered close while I told him all the reasons that it couldn't be my heart...and yet I think he knew I wasn't convinced.

The pain started traveling up toward my jaw.

"I hate to bother our doctor over his Thanksgiving dinner..." Our doctor was also a member of our church, and had been our Sunday School teacher for a while, but we weren't close friends or anything. I sure didn't want to make a fool out of myself and ruin his Thanksgiving in the process. But I did have his home phone number.

"Maybe we'd better call him just to see what he thinks."

John told the doctor what he knew, and I could tell the doctor wasn't thinking it was serious enough, so I took the phone and talked to him myself. He decided that, while it was likely to be nothing at all, I should get it checked out. He would call ahead to the hospital and tell them to expect me.

We called our would-be dinner guests and explained the situation, then bundled up three rowdy boys and drove toward the hospital.

My hands were white. Very, very white.

John checked me in at the emergency room. I just sat and worked on breathing. Actually, I was feeling a bit better now, and the color was returning to my hands.

My children ricocheted around the waiting area. Autism doesn't mix well with such settings. When the staff came to take me to triage, John decided he'd better take the kids home. I agreed.

So there I lay, in the little curtained-off triage section, alone. Sure, the staff came by sometimes, read the readouts from my monitors and talked to me. But much of the time I was all alone, except for the voices of the other sufferers beyond my curtain. One little child screamed and screamed and screamed. He had a gash on his jaw that would require stitches. I felt for him, and for his mom. I'd dealt with my share of screaming children in my life, and that sound wracked my nerves like nothing else.

Finally the cardiologist himself came in. "Your cardiac enzymes are elevated. That can only mean one thing. You've had a heart attack. And you keep having arrhythmias. We'll have to admit you to find out what's going on."

I called my husband and filled him in. Then I lay on my back and watched the lights on the ceiling go past as my gurney was wheeled along the hallway. It's a strange, vulnerable position to be in.

Alone.

Aloneness suited me just fine. It was simply the external match for my internal reality. If anyone else had been there, I would still have been alone. I wouldn't have known how to let anyone into my fortress if I'd wanted to. And why would I want to?

Later that day...or maybe the next, I can't remember...anyway, I was soon wheeled into the cardiac cath lab. A huge-bore needle went into a blood vessel in my thigh, and a camera-fitted catheter weaved its way into my heart. It found a blockage...not caused by plaque, but by a spasm of a coronary artery.

Stress-related, they told me. Go figure. The caffeine and the prescription medication and the empty stomach hadn't helped, either. They put in a stent, and I had to lie completely still, not moving at all, for 4 hours afterwards so the big hole they'd made in my blood vessel could be fully sealed.

That should have taken care of everything, but it didn't. My heart raced uncontrollably. Just to get up and walk to the bathroom sent it shooting up to 130 beats per minute. Nobody knew why.

I stayed in the hospital for 4 days while a new regimen of medication stabilized my heart. I'll have to take those for the rest of my life, most likely.

Four days is a long time to lie in a hospital, mostly alone, and think about your own mortality. And perhaps one of the most important realizations to come out of that time was this rather startling one:

I don't really want to die.

As if that weren't startling enough for someone who used to call God a "cosmic sadist" for refusing to strike me dead with lightning, the following realization followed close on its heels:

I want to live not for my own sake,
but for my family's.

I'm ashamed to say it, but that was probably the first truly unselfish thought I'd had in years and years.

It's hard to be unselfish when life is one endless stream of vicious attacks, and you think you're in it alone.

Fast-forward four years. Every Thanksgiving has been a reminder that I'm blessed to be alive. But writing this down has started some new thoughts for me.

How much of the change in my soul began with that incredible day when He first gave me back my desire to live?

I have more to be thankful for than just surviving. I'm thankful that God is teaching me to love Him, and to trust Him, and to love others, and to let others into my fortress. Better yet, he's teaching me to take a chisel and work with Him on pulling walls down altogether.

That's an awful lot to be thankful for!

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This week's "At the Well" is being hosted by Laurie over at Women Taking a Stand. Be sure to drop by there to read her thoughts on this topic, and to find links to other participants' postings as well. Remember to leave comments if you were blessed!

Reasonable Sacrifice - Monday Manna

Today I am interrupting our current series so I can participate in

Monday Manna

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Rom 12:1 (NKJV)

Does being a "living sacrifice" sound reasonable to you?

The fact is, everyone is a living sacrifice. Athletes sacrifice years of hard work and pain to earn ribbons and medals. Businessmen sacrifice a lifetime to gain financial security. Children sacrifice years to learn in school, countless hours to get higher scores on electronic games, and nearly anything to establish their place in the world. Even the most selfish, lazy people on earth make endless sacrifices, because they are draining the lifeblood out of irretrievable years and opportunities on the altar of self-indulgence.

Parents sacrifice. Friends sacrifice. Soldiers sacrifice.

Why is being a living sacrifice to God, "reasonable service?" What makes Him worth it?

I have a sister who absolutely loves dogs. All dogs, but French Bulldogs most of all. It amazes me the sacrifices that she makes for those animals, whether they're her own, or whether they're foster dogs she's taken in for a rescue organization. She deals with a lot of paralyzed dogs, and thinks nothing of changing their diapers day in and day out for years on end, expressing their bladders if need be, going to great lengths to provide a custom homemade diet and the best medical care. She spends hours in online French Bulldog forums, drives long distances to rescue dogs from bad situations, and works in fundraising events. Honestly, there's no way I'd do it. It seems like "unreasonable sacrifice," because it wouldn't be worth it to me.

It's worth it to her, because the dogs themselves are worth it to her.

It's a love thing.

We sacrifice for what we love. And the more we love something or someone, the more reasonable that sacrifice seems.

So who decides what is reasonable service? We do, when we decide how much something is worth, and how much we love it. The problem is, we're not always very good judges of worth, nor are we always aware of just how much we sacrifice. Time slips away in front of televisions and computer screens, or is traded for any number of unimportant things, and we barely even notice. The hours turn into days, and weeks, and years, and before we know it, a lifetime.

Sacrificed.

In my 44 years on this earth, how many hours have I truly lived? How many hours have I spent in ways that matter? In the end, what will I have to show for the life that I've spent? How much of what I've accomplished will survive the fires of judgment? (2 Pe. 3:10-11 , 1 Co. 3:11-15)

Who decides what is "reasonable" sacrifice? Ultimately, God does. He tells us He's worth it. In fact, He's more than worth it (Rom. 8:18).

We're wise if we listen to Him. In fact, our souls may depend on it. Because saving faith has to be far more than simply assenting to facts about God, or about Christ. The demons know all about God. Far more than we will ever know on this earth. They believe all of these facts. They saw Jesus on the cross. They saw Him buried, and they saw His resurrection. If believing these things about Jesus is your definition of "saving faith," then you have to believe the demons are saved.

God forbid!

The problem is, the demons hate everything that they know about God. They hate His goodness, His power, His sovereignty, His holiness, His authority, His works, His ways, His expectations, His plans...everything. They have the facts right, but they do not have saving faith, because they do not trust in this God that they know. They do not believe He should have the right to rule, nor do they love Him or count Him as their treasure. Their goal is to depose Him, or at least to live as if He were not on the throne, and to lead humans to do the same.

By contrast, saving faith not only believes the facts about God and about Christ, but also rejoices in those facts! It not only assents to the fact that God is on the throne, but it wouldn't want it any other way!

Saving faith makes sacrifices, and counts them "reasonable," because it believes that Christ is worth it all.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. (Mat 13:44-46)

Worth it all.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Php 3:8)

Reasonable sacrifice.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. (Mat 19:29)

Do I love the Lord enough, trust Him enough, have faith enough to sacrifice everything, and call it "reasonable?"

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Today's "Monday Manna" is being hosted by Joanne over at "An Open Book." Please drop by there for links to other thoughts on this verse, and be sure to leave comments if you were blessed.

Grief and Disillusionment Bring New Hope

Image via WikipediaOk, I'll admit it. I'm grieving.

I know that no human being is our savior. A different election outcome would not have brought Heaven on Earth. My hope is not in politicians. My hope is in the Lord.

But I'm grieving.

Grief is appropriate for a devastating loss, for the death of a loved one. And for me, that's what this election represents.

But let me be very clear about this. I don't think America is in mortal danger because of the candidate who won. I believe the opposite.

I believe that the candidate won because America is in mortal danger. That's why I said that I grieve over what this election represents, not over what it did.

And frankly, if the other candidate had won, I would not feel much better.

If America had truly been a vital nation "Under God," not only would the outcome have been different, but we wouldn't even have been presented with the same candidates or the same issues. This election didn't so much change the country as it revealed it.

And so I grieve the death of a dream.

I know that the America I love is really an ideal, a dream, a hope. For many years, the America I love has not been the America that I live in. And more and more I'm having to admit that the ideal, the dream, the hope could never really be achieved by human beings. Democracy is the best human form of government, but it is still human, and so will still be brought down by the weight of its own sin. It can only work as the Founding Fathers dreamed IF it is a godly nation seeking to be led by godly leaders.

America hasn't been that for a long, long time. So November 4th, 2008 was inevitable. If it hadn't happened this year, it would have happened in 2012, or 2016. In fact, I suspect that in God's eyes, Election Day was a minor blip. He's been watching our moral and spiritual decay and our blatant rebellion growing worse and worse throughout our history.

If a gardener knows that the root system of a vine runs under his whole property, he won't be surprised to see any particular shoot pop out of the ground. Besides, our Gardener can't be surprised by anything. He removes kings and raises up kings (Dan. 2:21).

We are the ones who feel the shock, because we had hoped the roots wouldn't send up this particular sprout. We feel the threat of the power that this shoot wields. And we see the danger that it poses to America.

But if we look at any one individual as the greatest threat facing our nation, then we misunderstand the danger.

The danger is never in the sprouts. It's in the root.

Our nation made this choice, and made all of the previous choices which led up to this choice, because our nation desperately needs God and has rejected Him. And that, my friends, is what we need to grieve. Not the outcome of the election, or the man it will put in office, though there is a great deal of heartache that will no doubt follow those two things.

Let me say it again.

We are headed for a great deal of grief now that we've chosen this president. But the heartache will not be primarily the result of the election or of the new president. It will be the result of national apostasy, of which November 4th was only a symptom.

We should not be grieving as if yesterday marked a horrible defeat for a great nation. We should be grieving as those who recognize that our nation ceased to be great decades ago, and has been self-destructing for a long time. Let our prayers focus around our lost nation, pleading with God to grant us repentance from sin, and grant us true Spirit-led revival.

And by all means, let's be disillusioned.

"Disillusionment - noun - a freeing or a being freed from illusion." (Dictionary.com)

We, as God's people, are called to walk in truth, not in illusion. And faith in human government is faith in an illusion (Ps. 118:9, Ps. 146:3, Jer. 17:5-8.)

When God strips away illusions, He is doing us a great kindness. The process may be painful, because we tend to love the little dreams we've clung to. But the end result is something far better than any illusion could ever give.

The result is real hope. Not a false hope based on the supposed virtues of any politician or nation, but a true hope in our Heavenly King and our eternal home.

Php. 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

How often have we Americans read that, and said that? How often have we actually meant it? I fear that, for many of us, those have just been words, nothing more.

God is going to change that. When "Hate Crimes" laws are passed which get your pastor (and mine) thrown in prison for preaching the truth of God; when Obama fulfills his promise to sign our nation on with the Alliance of Civilizations, which among other things defines all who believe in absolute truth as "terrorists" and says parents who teach their children exclusive dogmas are guilty of child abuse, then we're all going to begin to long for our Heavenly home much more fervently.

But that's where our main allegiance should have been all along.

So I, for one, will grieve in my own way, but I will also have hope, for the truth of Php. 3:20 is becoming more real to me already. No one, NO ONE can corrupt that Heavenly city, and its King will never be deposed!

Praise God!

2 Cor. 3:17 - True Freedom "In Other Words"

"In Other Words"

"I'm free!" said he, and off he ran
Away from that oppressive man
Who weighed him down with rules and such
Restrictions which were far too much
To bear, and so like wind he flew
"Bye Mom and Dad, I don't need you!"

Yes, free he was to break all rules
And limits set for mindless fools --
"A fool I'm not, why can't you see,
Your warnings don't apply to me!
Who cares if others lost their way?
I'm my own god, how can I stray?"

Who was this lad, and what his fate?
He's millions who have passed the gate
Which leads into a way so wide
That everyone can fit inside
And play whatever foolish games
Will blind them to approaching flames.

Freed to fiddle while life burns,
Oblivious to downward turns.
Singing to drown out the screams
Of all who've reached the end of dreams.
At liberty to take a chance
And on Titanic's decks to dance.

"What, jump this ship?" the blind fools scoff.
"We've no desire to get off.
How can you say that we could sink?
You lack a zest for life, we think."
How free are they, who blinders wear
And doom themselves, without a care?

Titanic Image via Wikipedia
~~

"I'm free!" said she, "I will not work.
Some slaves may serve; I'm free to shirk.
Submit? You cannot force me to!
My soul would die if I served you."
Her home, her kids, her husband, all
Ignored in favor of self's call.

And yet, within her heart she wept
For love unshown, and vows unkept.
Her kids grew tall, and years were lost
She had her way, but at what cost?
If truth be told, she longed to give
But feared "to serve is not to live."

But then the Spirit touched and warmed
Her heart, and tenderly He formed
A love that cast out all her fear,
Freed her to serve the ones most dear.
"No one can force, but you can choose:
Life lost to save, or saved to lose?" *

Safe in His love, she's free at last
Not doomed to imitate the past.
Loosed from the cycle of regret
To sin's demands no more in debt
What joy it is to see how she
is redefining liberty!


Each soul, when given choice, pursues
exactly what Love says to choose.
A bitter trap, the love of sin
A gilded net to drown souls in.
But precious gift the Spirit gives...
A heart that loves the Lord, and lives!


*Matt. 16:25

This week's "In Other Words" is being hosted by Karen at her blog, "In Love W.I.T.H Jesus." Be sure to drop by her blog for links to other insights on this verse, and please leave comments if you are blessed.

And please remember...no matter what happens with the elections, a heart centered on God, through Christ, by the Spirit will find peace, joy, and yes, LIBERTY in Him!

Psalm 91:10-11 "In Other Words"

"In Other Words" Tuesday

What does this mean?

Surely no one reading this, at least no one who has been a Christian for any length of time, can say that they have lived a charmed life since coming to Christ. We know that no verse is a magic wand that we can wave over our lives and guarantee ourselves a walk down Easy Street. We've hobbled along life's hot asphalt long enough, and gotten enough blisters, to know better.

And yet, this is the Word of God! And not one jot or tittle of it will pass away until all is fulfilled (Matt. 5:18). His word is like silver tried in a furnace, purified seven times (Psa. 12:6).

Maybe we just have to live a holy enough life to make this verse work for us. Maybe our problems are all because of our sins. That's what the modern-day "Prosperity Gospel" would have us believe. You're supposed to lie on a bed of roses, and if that isn't happening to you, it must be because you don't have enough faith. (Prove your faith by sending that preacher money, and you'll be blessed for sure!) Surely, according to this kind of teaching, the more you see of holiness in a person's life, the more they'll be rolling in money, health, and comfort.

Right?

Well, let's put that theory to the test in the crucible of Scripture. Today's passage is quoted twice in the New Testament, once in Matthew and once in Luke. Both were re-tellings of the same incident. Do you remember what it was?

It was Satan's temptation of Christ (See Matt. 4:5-6). Satan wanted Christ to claim this promise selfishly, to use it for His own purposes instead of remaining in submission to the Father.

Jesus refused.

He was the holy Son of God, in whom was no sin (1 Peter 2:22). Was His life a bed of roses?

He bore the lifelong stigma of illegitimacy. His family was obscure and poor. He had to work by the sweat of his brow for the bread that he ate. For the three years of His active ministry he did not have a home of his own. He had no riches. He went about doing good, healing and forgiving and saving and even raising the dead. He received accolades from some, but endless persecution, ridicule, slander, and blasphemy from others. Eventually He was arrested on trumped-up charges, condemned by an unjust court, beaten and scourged within an inch of his life, and crucified.

Did evil befall Him?

Can we say it was because He lacked faith?

Some would say that He suffered so that we would never have to suffer. But is that what Jesus said?

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake." (Mat 24:9) Please also read Matt. 10:22-25.

And what was the experience of His disciples? Every one was persecuted, beaten, imprisoned. All but one were martyred, and the other one died in exile.

The apostle Paul said that through Christ he had the power to (among other things) be abased, to be hungry, and to suffer need (Php. 4:12-13). Please also see Col. 1:24 and 2Tim. 3:12.


One has only to read "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," or tune in to "Voice of the Martyrs" to see that persecution and suffering have been the norm for Christians throughout the ages. Our few centuries of religious freedom in America and other Westernized countries is an anomaly, one that's not likely to last much longer.

Where is Psalm 91 in all of this? What happened to "No evil shall befall you?"

Perhaps it would help if we understood God's perspective of evil a bit better. Morrison (1866-1928) gives us some help here. He doesn't actually address evil here, but rather death itself. Yet his insights are very helpful. He says in his comments on Mark 5:39:

For Christ spiritual death was more real than physical death. Hence the latter he called sleep. [Mere physical death] was life, though it was life asleep, in the mighty arms of the eternal God, and death was something more terrible than that. The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth; but— this my son was dead and is alive again (Luke 15:24). The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth; but— let the dead bury their dead (Matt 8:22). The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth; but— he who believeth upon Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25). Christ did not find the dead in Jairus' house, nor in any sepulchre among the Galilean hills. He saw the dead where men and women were...who have a name to live and yet are dead."

Could it be that, just as God's perspective on death is different from ours, so is His perspective on evil?

How could that not be the case? After all, He has promised us that all things work together for the good of His people (Rom. 8:28), and that we are conquerors...not in the sense that we avoid suffering, but rather that we are conquerors over all that we suffer (Rom. 8:35-37).

Self-centeredness hates that idea.

Love embraces it.

"Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings" (1 Pet. 4:13).

"Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all." (Php. 2:17)

When we stand before Him in Glory, basking in the joy of all his perfections, finally understanding all of the "whys" of our lives, we will rejoice in the fact that, no matter what we suffered on earth, truly no evil has befallen us.

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Today's "In Other Words" is being hosted over at Writing Canvas. Be sure to drop by there for links to more insights on this passage.

Do I Really? - "In Other Words" Tuesday

"In Other Words" Tuesday

I wrote this poem a while back, and in my heart I can imagine it becoming a song. It's about being honest with ourselves before God.

Do I Really?

I sing of bowing down, and I call Him my King,
I pray to the Lord, “Thy Kingdom come,”
But do I really hear the humble words that I sing?
Or has my heart grown distant and numb?

Do I really yearn to see His Will being done
On Earth as it is in His Heaven?
To take His yoke, to bear my cross, to die like the Son
To search out and purge sinful leaven?

Before His just commands do my knees truly bend?
Do I mold my will to match His word?
For Jesus will I leave my treasures, family, and friends
Stake all on the promises I’ve heard?

How can I pretend to want His kingdom to reign
If I won’t let Him rule within me?
Can I refuse His righteous call, His lordship disdain
Then say that I want Him to win me?

I sing of bowing down, and I call Him my King,
I pray to the Lord, “Thy Kingdom come,”
But do I really hear the humble words that I sing?
Or has my heart grown distant and numb?

We can't know our own hearts, according to Jer. 17:9. And Ps. 36:2 tells us, "For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin" (NIV). And yet we are commanded to examine ourselves (2 Co. 13:5), and King David sets an example by asking God to examine him and point out where he needs to repent (Ps. 139:23-24).

What if we don't like what we see?

The humble heart will repent and seek a closer walk with God. But the proud heart will make excuses for itself and will put on an act for others. Sadly, when it does so, it pushes God even further away.

For God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

The key to humbly loving others, instead of using them to stroke our own egos, is to altogether abandon the search for self-esteem, and to focus on growing our God-esteem.

Unless, of course, we really believe that true joy, happiness, and life are to be found in ourselves more than in God...

May God keep us from believing such lies, and help us find our lives in Him!

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Today's "In Other Words" Tuesday is being hosted by Lynette Kraft. Be sure to drop by her blog for links to more insights based on today's quote.

Mirror People - IOW Tuesday

In Other Words

We love to look at the things we love. For many of us, that means we go through life with a mirror strapped in front of our faces, focusing on ourselves as if we were the source of our own lives, the fount of our own happiness. We are born loving ourselves, absolutely devoted to pleasing ourselves, committed to serving ourselves, and determined to make others serve us as much as possible (or else get out of our way!)

Image via Wikipedia

There we are, little clay pots, admiring ourselves as if we had created ourselves. And all the while we wonder why we feel so empty.

We try to fill that emptiness with other people's admiration, doing our best to make our own little lights shine in a way that will bedazzle them. Some fail miserably at that. Others succeed miserably. Either way, we find no joy there.

A few years ago I wrote a poem about how we can use our mirrors in a way that brings true joy to ourselves and others, and most importantly, brings glory to God. It's called:

Mirror People

I was born with a looking-glass
Set right in front of my face
No matter where I turn my head
It always stays right in place.

I know my world from what I see
There in my own reflection
Consulting my own image for
Life's meaning and direction.

Whatever works to make me smile
Will suit me quite precisely
And anyone who puts me first
Will serve me very nicely.

There's not much room to look at you
Around my precious mirror
But that's okay, I do not wish
To see you any clearer.

Unless you can somehow improve
My image, re-create it
If you can help me like myself
I'd sure appreciate it.

My world feels very small and close
My face no longer thrills me
I want to feed my self-esteem
Before starvation kills me.

But now a bold intruder comes
He really aggravates me
He wants all my attention, and
Sometimes I think He hates me.

He messes with my looking-glass
But won't make me look better
He says I ought to worship Him
Like I'm some kind of debtor.

He shows me all my flaws, and yet
He says that there's good in store
The problem is, I'm not allowed
To dwell on "me" anymore.

I let Him push my mirror down
No more than an inch or two
And when I take my eyes off me
I'm amazed by something new.

Such wideness and such majesty!
My overwhelmed senses reel
Such joy, such awe, such love are more
Than I thought I'd ever feel.

My hands fall to my sides and let
My mirror fall and shatter
I barely notice that it's gone
It doesn't seem to matter.

He smiles, and in His eyes I see
The source of all this glory
Now praise seems only natural
And not obligatory.

He gives me a new looking-glass
And instinctively I know
Which way I want to turn it and
Whose face I want it to show.

I never want to look away
This beauty feeds my spirit
I shout the news to everyone
And pray that some will hear it.

There, standing out among the throngs
I see some shining Others
Their mirrors turned toward The Light
My sisters and my brothers.

Our little glasses cannot hope
His glory all to capture
But each one can reflect some more
And blaze with holy rapture.

I fear this is too good to last
And then I hear Him praying
I scarcely can believe the words
The Son of God is saying.

"I pray that they will be with Me
In Heaven, where forever
My splendor they will always see
And from Me none can sever."

How can I thank or praise enough
For such a wondrous present?
The finest riches Heaven owns
Lavished on me, a peasant!

Friends, if you see me sorrowing,
My mirror turned to face me
Please help me point it back to God
And let His joy embrace me.

And if you're sad, I'll give to you
The best I could ever give
I'll help you turn your eyes to God
To look to Him so you'll live.


(Click here to find all posts related to the subject of God-Centeredness.)

Today's "In Other Words" is being hosted by Bonnie at her "Ink It" Blog. Be sure to drop by and read her entry, then scroll down to find links to all of the other participating blogs.