Pause With Me

Have you ever heard someone make a statement that you could swear you've heard before but until now it just hasn't penetrated your consciousness? Something that makes you wonder where your head (and your heart) has been. Well, today a friend of mine made such a statement. See if you don't agree that this one is worthy of a pause in your day . . .

"I cannot be different than my Lord."

Maybe my heart is just in a state that allows for absorption right now but when I stopped to consider this statement I realized that what he was saying was that his drive, his desires, his focus, his every thought and action, all feelings, motives and attitude . . . not to mention his very will . . . must be aligned in a way that would enable him to mirror the reflection of Christ.

The implication, of course, is that daily - no, moment by moment - you must set your sights on the Only One who is worthy to be emulated!

Do you do that? Do I? Sadly, I confess, no. I don't even come close to entertaining that depth of character. What would I be like if I did? What would my life be like?

It is written in John 18:37 "For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth." Jesus came to tell us about the Father. He came to show us the Father. It is written in John 14:9 that He told His Disciples "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing." Jesus was the reflection of the Father and we, in turn, are to be a reflection of Jesus .... which would seem to close up the circle of life very nicely.

He lived among thieves and prostitutes and people with their hands stretched out looking to take advantage of Him. He lived among those who rejected him and hurt Him and yet, not once, did he turn His back on those in need. He fed the hungry. He gave to the poor. He healed the sick. They were barbarically cruel to Him and yet as He hung on a cross dying He said, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34

What a challenge. My friend, who admittedly is not Divine but I assure you - divine - humbly seeks to walk this truth filled walk. Oh, that each of us could stand in front of our mirrors and watch our day as it passes by in memory; watching closely to see if there was a moment of our day that we were able to catch a glimpse of Christ in our reflection.

Jesus, we look to you today to kindle a desire within us, Lord, to live no differently than you. Thank You, Lord, for causing us to pause for a moment to consider the fruits that this challenge would harvest.
Amen and Amen
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Q&A on Prayer

I was listening to a Q&A session tonight that was done by Preacher/Expositor, Tim Keller. In it he was being asked about the effectiveness of prayer and one point that he made is more than worth sharing . . .
He spoke about the prayer that Jesus' mother, Mary, must have cried out to God the night of her son's crucification. Realizing that she must have said something like . . . "You can't let my son die - He has so many wonderful things left to do." Keller pointed out that "God gave Mary what she would have prayed for if she knew what He (God) knew."

And that, my friends, is what you call praying the will of the Father. Whoa! But who of us - even the very mother of Christ - could pray that prayer? Is it within our ability as humans to do? WOW - Everything that is within me knows that the prayer SHOULD be prayed - but WOW - I willingly confess that I just can't see myself doing it. Oh, the support that I would need from You, Father!

Father God, knowing that You don't give people more than they can bear it's obvious that You saw something very special within the heart of Mary. Most of us, when faced with everyday difficulties are challenged to consider doing your will rather than our own but in the extraordinary circumstances of life we become overwhelmed. Help us, Father. We CAN'T face these circumstances - great or small - without knowing of Your presence. Help us, Father, through the blessed heart of Your Son, Jesus, just as You helped Mary on that night long ago.
Amen and Amen.
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A Gift From God

From time to time when my sisters and I were little girls we would come down with typical ailments that required some special care from our mother - the nurse. In addition to giving us the medicine that helped to relieve our symptoms, she always gave us a little '5 & dime (now dollar) store' gift that would lift our spirits and help to pass the recovery time. (Paper dolls were always my particular favorite!)

Well, a couple of days ago I came down with a nasty cold. It has run it's normal course of engulfing me with fever, chills, sinus pain and yes, even nausea. I'm quite a site at this moment. Although my family has offered to get me whatever it is that I may need to help me through this, I've pretty much stayed off on my own . . . well, except for the ever present Spirit of the Lord, of course.

Well, true to His nature, a few minutes ago when I realized that it was time to take more medicine I walked over to my kitchen sink and - Praise God - there in the bush outside the window over my sink was the biggest , the fattest, the most red, male cardinal that I've ever seen. He took my breath away as I beheld him! What a wonderful gift from the Lord! You can't buy that at any store!

Isn't it just wonderful of the Lord to step in and carry on the tradition of gift giving that He put on my mother's heart so many, many years ago. She isn't with us any longer but He is . . . for it is written in Hebrews 13:5 "Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you."

Thank You, Lord, for your never ending love!
Amen and Amen.
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The Garden Experience

It is written in Psalm 27:4 "The one thing I ask of the Lord - the thing I seek most - is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in His Temple."

This particular verse of God's love song to us stirs my very core. Think about it . . . to live in the house of the Lord ALL the days of your life. I have heard it said that the sacrifice that Christ made for us, in essence, allows us to return to the place of pure beauty and joy that Adam was banished from - the Garden of Eden. I don't know about you but in my mind the Garden of Eden is a place of perfection. A place where every need is satisfied, every desire is met. There are no dangers and there is no death. Everything you gaze upon is full of life - vibrant, colorful and pleasing to all your senses. Your thoughts would be loving. Your actions would be gentle. You would be surrounded with peace and security and you would radiate joy - pure joy.

In this Garden the Lord would dwell - co-exist - with us. We would see His perfection, hear the gentleness of His voice, feel the warmth and softness of His touch. As though it were a dose of medicine that I needed at the time, the Lord, not long ago, used a person who was praying for me to let me experience what His touch is like. As this person prayed I was convinced that if I opened my eyes I would see Christ standing there in front of me - I was convinced that it WAS Christ who was touching my hand - the warmth, the softness. The only thing I heard was my name being spoken and it was as though Christ Himself spoke it. Oh, Sweet Jesus! How glorious it is to be in your presence!!

Was it my imagination - something I conjured up at the time? No, I don't believe so. For it is not in my nature to be imaginative - a person of vision. My heart tells me that if it was something that I created from within me it would have left me as quickly as it came - but rather, the remembrance of this experience is so real to me even now, weeks later, that I am shaken by it. I am convinced of it's divine origin.

How about you? Have you walked in the Garden lately? Let me encourage you to visit the place of perfection - knock at the gate - He's there waiting to open it up for you. He wants to take your hand and give you a guided tour.

Thank You, Lord. Thank You for allowing us to gaze upon your splendor and perfection. Thank You for allowing us to spend time with You in Your Temple.
Amen and Amen.
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You Must Walk The Walk

Let me tell you about something that hit me right where I profess to walk . . . yesterday my sister came to my 'office' (but in all honesty it's nothing more than a cubbie) and in the course of our everyday chatter we began to talk about a topic that I (surprise, surprise) had an opinion about. The comment I shared wasn't necessarily wrong but the way in which I expressed it left no doubt that I threw a judgmental dagger that was meant to cut right through her.

True to her nature she backed off and in an instant, as she was quickly escaping, told me to have a nice afternoon. oops. Given her reaction I immediately considered that what I had said was inappropriate - but no - I said nothing untrue and that was that.

I recounted the episode to someone later on in the day and much to my delight (and smugness) I won an ally (which I must now admit isn't to surprising given the slant that I put on the story). A couple of times during the evening my mind drifted to the encounter. Once I even asked the Lord to forgive me if somehow He found any fault in the part that I played in the event. (at which time His eyes must have rolled back in His head!)

Fast forward to this morning when I sat quietly with the Lord. Before I knew it I was writing things down like:
Jesus isn't just loving . . . He is love.
Jesus isn't just truthful . . . He is truth.
Jesus isn't just faithful . . . He is faith.
Jesus doesn't just give hope . . . He is hope.
Jesus doesn't just give gifts . . . He is the gift.
Jesus is mercy.
Jesus is compassion.
Jesus is forgiveness.
I must have gotten His special attention because before long I was deep into an attitude of worship - loving every insightful thing that He was bringing to my mind. Before I knew it thoughts from a lesson that I'm working on came to my mind . . . God told Moses that it is wrong to lie and covet and steal and become adulterers and . . . all those things. If God wanted to, the study asked, could He now retract what He said and tell us that it's ok to do those things? NO!, we learned, for His rules weren't established just to keep us from doing those things that we want to do . . . He told us not to do those things because they go against His very nature. A sin, therefore, is anything that we do that is against His very nature . . . and something that you need to ask His forgiveness of.

Immediately I felt the Holy Spirit convicting me saying "if you speak harshly to someone you are sinning because that person wouldn't see the character of Christ in you - because the harshness is going against his very nature." WOW!!! It all seemed so clear to me at that moment. I HAD sinned! And our LIVING - LOVING God was leading me to understand that I had sinned. As I continued to write I found myself saying that in order to return to right standing with Him I must first ask my sister for forgiveness then I could ask - AND ASSUREDLY RECEIVE - forgiveness from Him. And it was at that point that the Lord lead me to remember that it is written in Matthew 5:23 "therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
How awesome is our God. He is so gentle when leading us to see things His way. He is alive and loving and, boy oh boy, does He have a good memory when it comes to what He has written down for us in His book!
Lord God, how truly blessed I am that you love me so much that you bring me back into right standing with you. Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes to your goodness and for putting a desire on my heart to obey you. Thank you for a wonderful sister who is willing to overlook the shortcomings of her baby sister.
And now Lord, I once again offer you the worship that only you, my Savior, are worthy to receive. It is in Your Holy and perfect name, Jesus, that I give You all praise and honor and glory.
Amen and Amen
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What is Truth?

I have the privilege of being a participant in a program called "The Truth Project". It's presented through 'Focus on the Family', a trusted ministry that the Lord has blessed over the years as it expounds on His Word.

When a friend invited me to join his weekly gathering for 'The Truth Project' I gave it some thought but decided that it really wasn't something that I was interested in. It just seemed to be to 'deep' for me. I convinced myself that it just wasn't my cup of tea (but in hindsight I realize that more honestly put . . . I said no to the invitation because the program was outside of my comfort zone!). So anyway, Mike accepted my decision to say no and moved on.

The weeks that followed my decision brought a realization that every time I turned around the word 'truth' was popping up at me. Just as one example, a sermon at church during this time was on John 8:31 in which it is written "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.". And he ended with John 8:36 in which it is written "So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Even Mike, who would never pressure you into changing your mind, felt lead to come back and encourage me to check the program out online (at www.thetruthproject.org). Timidly I relented and for whatever reason I eventually decided to sit in on a gathering. Stubbornly I joined the group for 'Tour" #4 but honestly I have to confess that it was only after fighting with myself every inch of the way.

Well, it was then that I could see that the Lord was directing my steps because after only one "Tour" I was hooked .

I'm finding that this "Truth Project" is lifting up the Word of God and exposing the world views as lies that all of us buy into. I am so excited as I think about the possibilities of how the Lord may use this teaching in my life. Will He use it to set me free from something? Or will He use me to bring the lessons of truth to someone else and in so doing - set someone else free from a some baggage they're carrying around?

Father God, humbly I give you thanks for the work you are doing in and through my life. What an honor it is for me to consider that you may use me to bring glory to Your Name. You, and You alone, are worthy of my devotion and praises and worship. How glorious it is to know that I am one of Your chosen ones. I give You thanks through the Name that is above all names . . . the Sweet and Holy Name of Jesus.
Amen and Amen.
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A Mighty Weapon

I've heard it said that fear is the mightiest of weapons in Satan's arsenal.

The other day as I was praying for a couple of my friends who have fearful situations going on in their lives, the Lord allowed me to envisioned this thing called 'fear' as a real tool. As it was being handed over to me I was lead to realize that this tool was hot . . . so hot that I couldn't handle it without being burned.

With that image foremost on my mind I was then able to set that tool down and walk away from it. I then prayed that my friends would see their fears in the same way . . . definitely not something that they would want to pick up, hold on to and carry on their backs!

What is there to fear? It is written in Matthew 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

Fear (reverence) for the Lord is healthy and appropriate. Fear of anything else is a hot iron that ultimately burns those who try to seize control of it.

Lord Jesus, open our ears as you direct us to lay our fears down before you. Reassure us that You are there protecting us and guiding us. It is in Your strong Name, Jesus, that we pray.
Amen and Amen.
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