Too Smart For Our Own Good

^He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ ^10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Isaiah 6:9-10

My morning devotions have me swimming in the book of Mark right now and from Mark comes the echo of the above passage. It is one thing to have knowledge, yet quite another to have understanding. Jesus taught parable after parable to the amazement of His listeners, yet they did not grasp the meaning of His words. Jesus usually ended His parable with the comment “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Obviously He was not talking about physical ears, but rather the deeper meaning of His words. Even His own disciples had to ask…”what does this mean?” In my journey to know God in a deeper and more personal way, I find myself asking The Creator the same question…”What does this mean?”. Just when I think I know something, I come to the sobering reality that I’m really just as deaf and blind as some who followed after Jesus; Yet my heart pushes forward. I refuse to give up or be corralled into some sort of mindless knowledge that never challenges my walk. I’d like to digress for a moment to differentiate my thoughts this morning between those who claim to be seeking God and those who truly are (which is a whole other topic for discussion). You know in your heart if your on the same page as I am or if you just talk the talk. A non-believer at least knows they they are not seeking God and can be honest about it. We who claim to be Christians can be so blatantly obvious in our hypocrisy that it turns people away from Christianity at times. I have no desire to be some intellectual who arrives at the throne of God only to be called a vessel of dishonor. King David said it best, “My sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

May I never be “ever seeing, but never perceiving”, but rather moldable and breakable to be used of Him.

The words of Aaron Shust reached deep inside me this morning as I drove to work:

King of all the universe
Would you help us comprehend what it means to worship You
‘cause we’re blinded by our circumstance Heal our eyes today.
We need Your love and grace to remain, to rearrange our hearts
And change the way we praise…

Give me words to speak…

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks

“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45)

As I read this passage this morning I started reflecting on some recent conversations and attitudes that I have copped over relatively minor issues. This caused me to ponder the current issue of my heart and how badly it stinks.

It’s not that I just wake up one morning and my heart stinks, but rather it’s a gradual process that I fail to either recognize or just purposefully don’t address. And then, I read verse 43…especially “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit”. I cannot expect to draw people to Christ when my fruit is rotten and that saddens me. The overflow of my heart is not always what it should be and this morning was a good reminder. My prayer this morning is from Psalm 19:14.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Give me words to speak…

Some things just don’t compute

Don’t always trust your perceptions and logic. Obedience has wrought many a miracle. Luke 5:1-11

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,^ with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, ^2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ^3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ^4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down^ the nets for a catch.”^5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” ^6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ^7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. ^8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” ^9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ^10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” ^11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matt 19:26

Give me words to speak…

Weak Faith

"When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

 Even among those that worship there are some that doubt. The faith of those that are sincere, may yet be very weak and wavering. (Matthew Henry)

 

This is more of a rambling as I try to formulate thoughts on paper to help my devotion this morning make sense, so take what you will from it.

Oh how we display our weak faith even today. In this passage, Jesus being true to character, did not distance himself from his doubting disciples, but rather came near and allowed them to see firsthand the evidence of his resurrection. I cannot count the number of times I have displayed my weak faith in my prayers to God. I know and I believe, yet I doubt…search your heart and see if the same is not true. We ask with a half –hearted belief that God will do what we ask. In Luke 17:5 the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” In the prior verses Jesus links a facet of our faith with our ability to forgive. When someone wrongs us, ask yourself how difficult it is to forgive, AND how long does it take? (assuming that you actually do). Let me take this question one step further; What exactly is it that you hold inside that makes you reluctant to forgive? Could it be that little piece of vengeance that tells us justice will not be served on our behalf if we forgive? All of a sudden the argument comes full circle again targeting our faith, or lack thereof. In reality what we are saying, is that we do not have enough faith to believe God will satisfy our level of justice…and no, He probably won’t thank goodness. Our faith has never been measured in our own abilities or we would still be lost (as Easter eggs ), but rather by our willingness to trust in the unseen. When we relinquish our grudge for an offense, we actually exercise a level of faith that He will take care of all the details according to His level of mercy and judgment, not ours. Even as I write this it starts to ring of a distant sermon I heard once, but certainly worth reiterating. I am incredibly thankful for the little morsels of faith that God has given me and how dependent I am on Him to receive more. I find that my plea is the same as the disciples…Increase my faith.

The Sun Still Shines

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.  Psalm 113:3

“Day four found us waking up at 2:00 AM to make the 2 ½ hour trip up the winding road to the top of Mount Haleakala to an elevation of 10, 077 feet  above sea level to watch the sun rise above the cloud deck.  It was about 33° and a wind chill of about 10°.  It was a very cool sight to see but a lot of work (and frozen shutter fingers) to get the shot but worth it.”

It seems like it has been raining for weeks…As I drove into work this morning it seems like the rain will never end. I love the rain, but when it drags on for weeks it becomes depressing. As I opened up my email this morning, the above picture came in from our friends who are vacationing in Hawaii right now. The above caption were his words about what it took to get this shot. Being a lover of Creation, I was immediately awed and just as quickly reminded that while it may look dreary on my drive in, The sun is still shining. I was also reminded that the best things in life do not come without sacrifice and sometimes a lot of work. Regardless of where I am I need to enjoy the view, because my God created it.

 

Give me words to speak…

If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…

During my devotion today, I was completing this week’s lesson for Sunday School. It speaks of how to defeat discouragement in our jobs, marriages, friendships, churches, etc. I found a specific part of the lesson very interesting, as it caused me to look at a familiar piece of Scripture in a different light (and lit up some conviction in my heart as well.)
Joshua was leading the Israelites in the takeover of the city of Jericho. God told them to walk around the city once a day for six days, and then on the seventh day they were to march around the city seven times. Joshua gave these instructions:
Joshua 6:10
Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”

The writer of this lesson points out that Joshua did not want the Israelites talking to one another, because one critic can discourage a whole group. All it takes is one person to say “Why are we walking around the city like this. This is crazy!” and the negative spirit would spread like wildfire. Galatians 6:7 teaches us that whatever a man sows, he will also reap. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be reaping discouragement, and I certainly don’t want to spread it among family, friends, or within the church body. Sometimes I fail to follow the lesson learned and I open my mouth to speak things to others that I should be keeping to myself. God pointed out to me that I did this very thing just yesterday. I am one of those people who shares what’s on her mind without a whole lot of restraint. That can be very damaging if it’s not done in a constructive manner. (Just ask my husband!) To complain simply to be complaining might make me “feel better,” but it could also be spreading a negative spirit. It’s like the old saying “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I can choose to use my words for good or for evil, and I pray that I hold on to what God has revealed to me and choose to use my words for good…always.

How Great is Our God

Dan and I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend some time enjoying parts of God’s creation that we have never seen before.  We flew out yesterday, and I had not been in the air since 2001.  Flying is a bit of a hassle, but I still enjoy it.  I spent a lot of time looking out the window at the beauty of this Earth God has created.  It’s interesting during takeoff to watch everything diminish down to the point that you can’t even see it.  Major highways look like pencil marks and steep mountains look like little hills.  I reflected back to our recent worship service, Passionette, as Louie Giglio pointed out how tiny and insignificant our planet truly is and how massive and great our God is.  I can not even wrap my mind around all that he has created.  Today we are going to the Grand Canyon, and we will absolutely stand in awe at its beauty.  Even still, that is just a tiny part of the universe that we live in, and the God who created it is the same God who cares about me.  Psalm 139 says “¹⁷ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How great is the sum of them!  ¹⁸ If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.”  That is absolutely amazing.   As big as He is, and as huge as His creation is, He loves tiny little insignificant me. And yet the worship that I offer to Him for who He is and what He has done in my life is all too often a pathetic attempt instead of a true praise.

How Great is our God.

Sin Revealed

Recently, I took my boys to the dentist for their six month check-up.  One boy was given a good report, while the other had some plaque issues and a cavity.  The dentist came out to chat with me when he was finished, and reiterated some things he had already explained to Kyle.  He seems to have an issue with rushing through the process of brushing his teeth, so he’s missing some important areas.  They make these little chewable tablets to help identify those areas.  They work really well, too!  After brushing, my boys were instructed to chew up the tablet and then rinse.  Any spots on their teeth that turned red were areas that did not get brushed and needed more attention.

This concept reminded me of how important it is to constantly inspect our hearts for sin that we are missing.  This is a practice that I fail at all too often.   It’s so easy to rush through morning devotions, prayer, and quiet time without stopping to examine the sin in our lives.  Before we know it, that sin starts to take over and cause decay.  When David cried out to God and asked for forgiveness in Psalm 51, he said “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me…”  It took Nathan’s confrontation for David to acknowledge his sin.  God places people in our lives to hold us accountable, but He also expects us to be aware of the motives and sinful desires deep down in our hearts.  It is my prayer that I would be still long enough to hear God’s gentle reminders of the sin in my life, and that I would not fall into complacency in this area. 

Here is Love

One week ago today, Eden launched its first-ever Vacation Bible School.  I am so blessed to have been able to take part in this wonderful week!  How awesome to see the excitement on the faces of each and every child and VBS volunteer.   The participation from the body of believers at our church was phenomenal! 

Originally, I was assigned to work in the Recreation Barn.  However, the need for a “trail guide” came up on the first night, so I joined the 2^nd and 3^rd graders in their trail ride through Cactus Canyon.   Trail guides have a fun job-we stayed with the kids as they went to crafts, snacks, and “campfire” sessions (Bible study).  It was a joy to watch the kids interact with each other and with their leaders throughout the week.  On the last night, the big focus was John 3:16, and salvation of course.  I couldn’t contain the excitement inside when a sweet girl named Grace raised her hand and asked the Bible study leaders “How do I have a relationship with God?”  WOW!  It was one of the coolest moments out of the whole week.   Her leaders and I talked with her some more and tried to best answer her questions.  She even chose to stay behind to talk while the rest of her group went to recreation.  At the end of the night, an invitation was given and Grace went forward.  She also went forward, along with three others, this morning at church to make public her decision to follow Christ.  WOW!  There’s no thrill like seeing a little child come to know Christ.

I shared with a couple of people that this week at VBS has renewed my interest in working within the children’s ministry.  I can remember the blessing of the first time that I taught Vacation Bible School, which was several years ago at a church in Bourbon, MO.   I also led a Kid’s Club during a mission trip to South Carolina, which was a blast.  It is such a blessing to be involved in the Worship Team with the sound and worship software, but VBS this week absolutely refreshed the thirst in me for working with kids.  I began praying about that very thing and I asked God to use me in any way He sees fit.  I asked Him to guide me and show me if this is something I should be involved in.  I certainly never expected that prayer to be answered so quickly-I was asked tonight to teach a Wednesday night discipleship class for 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders.   I accepted that with open arms, and on the way home I thanked God for presenting this opportunity!  I am so excited I can hardly wait for September to come!

It’s so cool to look back and see God’s hand in things.  We lost one of our pastors on the first night of VBS…Jim Francis passed away suddenly in the parking lot at church.  He will be greatly missed by many, and has certainly left behind a legacy in his children and wife and all of the lives he touched.  When someone passes away, I tend to think back to the last time I interacted with that person.  The last time that Jim and I conversed, he stopped by the computer and asked me if I was teaching any discipleship classes.  When I told him no, he asked if I had ever taught before.  I shared that I had, and he encouraged me to begin praying about teaching, because when we move into the new building and the size of our congregation grows, more teachers will be needed.  I have thought about that conversation several times since then, and I certainly thought about it after he passed away.  Bro. Jim was an incredibly Godly man and we are all fortunate to have known him.  His words were playing through my mind tonight as we discussed the new class I will be teaching.

I am so excited I can’t even describe what I’m feeling.  To watch God work in the lives of so many children and adults through VBS and through ministering to the Francis family, and then to start this week with God opening a door so fast I didn’t even see it coming!  This morning’s worship service was amazing, as was tonight’s.  I cannot wait to watch more of God’s amazing work!  We serve an awesome, mighty, powerful God. 

We sang “Here is Love” this morning at church (which totally rocked with the new drum setup!)  When I look around, I see His love everywhere.  I see His lovingkindness  and it will never cease to amaze me!

Here is love, vast as the ocean
Lovingkindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heav’n's eternal days

 

 

Packets of Time

Packets of Time

 

For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away James 4:14

 

Like a sudden wind, the sting of death awakens us to reality. Why is not the question, but rather when. As believers, we see the bigger picture in life and still somehow manage to let precious moments slip by us as if they will present themselves again. We are here but for a moment and then we are gone. We have one small window to make our mark on this world for all eternity. Most believers anticipate with excitement the thought of finally meeting the Savior, yet we are not ready for our own family members to do the same. The gift of life becomes one of selfish obsession and I readily admit I am about as guilty as can be when it comes to my family.

Having seen my share of family deaths it always becomes a reminder to me that the fleeting breath of life is precious. We have been shocked to reality in the sudden death of one of our associate pastors and we are reminded once again that tomorrow is promised to no one. As Jen and I ponder the gift of time on this earth we are thankful for each moment; moments like these are a constant reminder that every breath is a gift. Day to day living has the tendency to lull us into complacency and when the unexpected happens, it tends to shock us. The truth of the matter is that we should always be living in the reality of today…and speaking for myself I get lazy and just allow the day to happen instead of actively participating in it. We each have our own little packet of time; some more than others, but each is to use what they have to the best of their ability. There is much work left undone for the kingdom and to quote a famous movie line:  we’d better “get busy living, or get busy dying” for our time too is coming to meet The King.

Rejoice, and again I say Rejoice Brother Jim, for your life has only just begun.

 

I know in all of this there will still be grieving and mourning as it is only natural. But as this was sent to me only the day before Jim’s death, I share it with you.

“If we can understand that death is not the end but is really a transition into the next life, the great part of life; that frees us up into receiving God’s courage and his help.”

-Max Lucado

 

Give me words to speak…