Stop Listening--Start Talking!

     Holy smokes, it's hot!  The temperature in Raleigh today is 106 degrees (but the heat index is only 114--mercy).  When you leave the blessed comfort of air conditioning and go outside, a wall of heat slams you nearly to the ground.  It truly is oppressive.
     And the heat tends to transform otherwise normal, active--even us slightly hyperactive--folks into sluggards.  Seriously.  This morning, I drove our 15 year old son down to Pinehurst for a practice round for a golf tournament.  Now mind you, once we got down there, all I did was sit in the golf cart and drive him around for the round.  I didn't hit a single ball or run up any hills or haul any ginormous golf bag on my back.  Nope, I just drove a cart around on a golf course.
     But I drove around in 100 degree heat with the sun blazing down on us like... well, the Sahara desert comes to mind, only we were on a lovely verdant golf course with ample supplies of water and gatorade and ice and snacks available.  I guess that is not a good analogy.  My point is, even though it was a beautiful setting, it was still hot hot hot and by the time I drove home this afternoon, I was tired tired tired.  I dragged myself inside the house and felt like I had just run a marathon or two.  Only all I had done was drive a car and sit in a golf cart (and exclaim enthusiastically, "nice shot!" a trifle too frequently according to said 15 year old son who believes in the "Silence is golden" theory of communication... at least on the golf course... at least with his mom... who can, apparently, unbelievably, be a tiny bit irritating with her loquaciousness.  I know, I'm shocked too, since I'm really such a quiet person.  I bet you can tell that from my verbosity in this blog.  Okay, I'm gonna shut up now.  I really am.)
     Gee, where on earth was I?  See what the heat does to us?  But all this brought to mind one of the verses I made the children memorize when they were little: Proverbs 6:6-11 (in the interest of full disclosure, we actually only memorized verse 6) "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.  Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.  How long will you lie there, O sluggard?  When will you arise from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man."
     Some days, we just "feel" like sluggards.  My mom's needlepoint pillow expressed it so eloquently: "My get up and go, got up and went."   Today definitely could be a sluggard kind of day.  But then I think of the industrious little ant and am humbled.  How amazing to watch that relentless column of ants on the sidewalk as they march in undulating ranks to gather food and take it back to their colony.  No "chief" or "ruler" orders or organizes them--just their Creator placing in them the will and drive to work and gather and not be deterred.  He does all things well.
     And so I'm reminded afresh that we must be careful not to act based solely upon our feelings.  Sure, it's okay to be slug-like every now and then... or at least, I sure hope it is!  But I tend to get into trouble when I start thinking and acting based upon how I feel rather than based upon what I believe.  I recently read these words from Living the The Cross Centered Life by C.J.Mahaney.  "Knowing and wholeheartedly believing the truth will always bring you, in time, to a trustworthy experience of the truth.  But if you trust your feelings first and foremost, if you exalt your feelings, if you invest your feelings with final authority--they'll deposit you on the emotional roller coaster which so often characterizes our lives.  To exalt and rely on our feelings is what Martin Lloyd-Jones called listening to ourselves instead of talking to ourselves.  'Have you realized,' he observed, 'that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?'"
      So true, isn't it?  Every single day, Mahaney, reminds us, "we're faced with two simple choices.  We can either listen to ourselves, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished for us at the cross through His Son Jesus."  You know, it really does all boil down to that--and as I shared with my son on the golf course today (when he hit a less-than-stellar shot and declared how badly he was playing)--it applies to every moment of our day, whatever we are doing.  Are we listening to ourselves--and complaining or comparing or worrying or resenting--or are we talking to ourselves and reminding ourselves of the unchanging supernatural truth of God's Word?  Of His love for us.  Of His amazing grace.  Of His power and presence and provision. Of His faithfulness.  Of His cross.
     Stop looking around and start looking up.  Stop listening from within and start talking from His Word.  Stop acting based upon your feelings and start acting based upon your faith--and declare it, out loud.  And on these hot, hazy days, maybe I need look to the ant rather than giving into my feelings of sluggardness!
     Lord, when it comes to the truth and what we believe, help us to stop listening to ourselves and start talking to ourselves.  To God--the Giver of the supernatural Truth that teaches and transforms us--be all the glory.
   

The Flying-Ant Inn

     We had been planning a one night get away for several weeks.  Because of our children and their schedules, my husband and I haven't gotten away for almost a year--so this was it!  We were off to Chapel Hill to stay for a night at the Carolina Inn--one of our favorite places.  For those of you unfamiliar with Chapel Hill, the Carolina Inn is a beautiful, historic hotel located right next to the campus of UNC.  Great location for walking or running and near one of our favorite restaurants for a dinner of... well, who cares as long as I get their Mount Airy Chocolate Soufflé Cake for dessert.  We would leave for Chapel Hill late in the afternoon,  go to a movie, eat, read, relax... and no laundry, no phone calls, no cleaning up.  Joy.  

     There was just one catch: we had to use this Groupon I had purchased for a night at the Carolina Inn.  Boy, I thought I was one smart cookie--I had seen it several months ago online and snapped it up, knowing my husband would be thrilled we had gotten an incredibly great deal with the Groupon.  Nothing like saving money and getting to go to a place you love in the bargain.

     So, this was the perfect week.  Several of our children were out of town and our 17 year old could babysit our youngest.  Not to mention the Groupon expired at the end of the week--it was now or never.  We had it all planned out--even discussing what movie and what time we could leave.  I handed my husband the Groupon receipt, and he called the number to make our reservation.  

     But as I played a marathon Monopoly game with our youngest son, here's what I heard:  after my husband politely stated that he was calling to make a reservation, I hear a few moments of silence.  The silence is followed by "Uh, excuse me, mam, could you please tell where you are located?"  Then a few moments later, "Okay, great.  Thank you so much."  

     Turns out, brain-surgeon-Yours-truly had not purchased a Groupon for the Carolina Inn, but for some impostor wannabe inn located only a "few miles" from the campus.  hmm.  It sure looked like a picture of the Carolina Inn on the tiny Groupon picture... but then, I didn't look at it that closely.  Nor did I look at the name closely either.  Had I done so, I would have immediately realized this was a slightly similar but still clearly different name. (This has long been a weakness of mine--sort of the "close enough" mentality--which can get you into a lot of trouble, especially with directions.)  My husband said his first giveaway was when the woman answering the phone said something like "Yeah?  Hello?  Hep you?"  

      It went downhill from there.  We looked up some reviews of the place and suffice it to say, they had me at the numerous complaints about the "strange flying-ant-like insects" that swarmed out of the bathrooms.  One hilarious review described a man's attempts to kills the hordes of flying-ants only to have them regroup and return in even greater numbers... until he finally surrendered and checked out of the hotel.  People complained of air conditioning that didn't work (a lot of those, actually), TV's that didn't work, and bathroom plumbing that didn't work. Yuck.

     Suffice it to say, we punted on the fabulous Groupon trip to Chapel Hill.  We figured life is too short to spend a night battling flying-ants in a sweltering room with bad plumbing.  As my son and I played Monopoly, we all howled at my mistake. No wonder I got such a fabulous deal.  Geez.  I mean, you either get mad or sad... or you laugh at life's little serendipities (or the fact that I am a total space cadet). We did still go to dinner, sat outside on a spectacular evening, had a wonderful time--complete with Mount Airy Chocolate Soufflé Cake--and got home in time to put my youngest child to bed.  And we had a mighty good laugh.  No movie or night away, but all in all, a pretty great evening, I must say.  

     Sometimes life doesn't turn out quite the way you planned it, does it?  You think you're getting the Carolina Inn.. and instead it's the Flying-Ant Inn.  You think your loved ones will be healthy and happy... and instead it's some disease or sorrow or setback.  You think the new job or new relationship will really bring satisfaction and success... and instead it's another dead-end or disappointment.  You think you're going to the college of your dreams or the vacation of your dreams or the... you fill in the blank... and it's your second choice or last choice or worst possible choice.  

     Those are the moments of decision: when we must decide whether we will trust our feelings or our Father.  Whether we will listen to our self-talk or our Savior and His Word.  Whether we will trust in Him--in His love, His plans, His sovereignty--or trust only in what we want, we see, we dream. 

     How many times have I arrogantly assumed that my plans were the best and that God's plans threatened to thwart my happiness, or that of my loved ones, only to later discover that His plans were far beyond anything I could have dreamed or imagined.  Good old Ephesians 3:20-21 says it best: "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think-according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory... forever and ever."  Or Joseph, telling his brothers, that though they sold him into slavery, and he was imprisoned for years for a crime he didn't commit: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (Gen. 50:20) Think of all the countless lives saved by God's placement of Joseph in a pit then a prison and eventually a palace. 

     Sometimes only heaven may reveal how and why God's mysterious ways proved better than our hopes and dreams.  But until then, I choose to trust Him.  When life sends us disappointments or unmet expectations or downright sorrows, might we choose to trust the Father even when we cannot see or understand or feel our way clear.  If He's allowed it, it must be for our ultimate good and His glory, and He's promised to use it to shape us and mold us into the people He's called us to be. 

      I don't always understand... but I trust.  Because He has always always always proven trustworthy and faithful and good.

     And occasionally He knows we might need a good long laugh more than a night at an Inn.  

     And He would be right. 

     To our sovereign, loving God, be all the glory.

A New List

     As I'm sure you have heard, Norah Ephron, author, screenwriter (and wife and mom), died yesterday at the age of 71.  She had apparently been battling leukemia for a long time.  Like many of you, I loved her movies such as "When Harry Met Sally" (a classic if there ever was one--yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and men and women are very different) and "Sleepless in Seattle."  A while back I also read one of her books,  I Hate my Neck, which was pretty hysterical and dealt with the manifold "joys" of growing older.
      I don't know much about her, but as I listened to the news about her death,  I was struck by a list she apparently wrote in her final book, published a little over a year ago.  Here is what she wrote:

What I Will Miss

My kids · Nick · Spring · Fall · Waffles · The concept of waffles · Bacon · A walk in the park · The idea of a walk in the park · The park · Shakespeare in the Park · The bed · Reading in bed · Fireworks · Laughs · The view out the window · Twinkle lights · Butter · Dinner at home just the two of us · Dinner with friends · Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives · Paris · Next year in Istanbul · Pride and Prejudice · The Christmas tree · Thanksgiving dinner · One for the table · The dogwood · Taking a bath · Coming over the bridge to Manhattan · Pie

     That got me thinking.  First, what would I miss?  Ah, where would you even start?  Here are just a few:

Well, of course, my husband and my children.  Our dog.  Dogs in general.  Cats (even though we don't have one--because, well, this would NOT be on my husband's list).  My sisters and brothers.  My friends.  

     Okay, I'm thinking I'll be at this all day... maybe I need to get to the smaller, less obvious examples of things I'll miss:  Bright blue skies.  Warm sunshine, especially while reading  a book outside.  Chocolate cake.  Chocolate cookies.  Chocolate ice cream.  Anything with the word "chocolate" in it.  Walking on the greenway.  Early morning.  Beautiful music.  Charles Dickens--anything by Charles Dickens.  Daddy Cardinals.   Hot tea.  Diet cokes (even though I try not to drink them anymore).  Steaming hot baths.  Long runs in the cold (well, I don't really do these anymore so I guess I already miss them).  Huge salads.  Laughter.  Dinner with friends or family.  Going to the movies.  Having all my children home--bliss.  The mountains.  Sitting on the porch in the mountains--day or night.  Mountain streams.  Christmas.  Thanksgiving.  Birthday cake.  Gardenias.  Bible study.  Blue Herons.  Hydrangea.  Singing along.  Easter. 

     O, for Pete's sake, I'll be at this all day, so I better just end it now.  But when you really stop and think--what would I miss in this crazy,  challenging, wonderful life?--you realize just how glorious this world, this thing called living and loving, truly is.  

     But here's the second thing I thought of when I heard about her list: as Christians, we are not home yet.   Even at this moment, Christ is preparing a place for each of us (John 14), and He has promised that our future home will be infinitely superior to this temporary one we all inhabit.  So, really, these things we will "miss" will ultimately be items regained and glorified to be even more perfect in heaven.  This beautiful world is just a mere shadow of the greater and more glorious realities to come.  Majestic mountains here will be beyond anything we can begin to comprehend there.  Laughter here will be even more joyous and liberating there.  Music  and singing here, well, can you imagine the glorious, beautiful strains there?   Holidays and celebrations here.. well, just consider the kinds of celebrations the God of all joy and creativity and love has in store for us there!  

     I guess the point is, nothing is lost in God's economy... not with heaven in our future.  But in the meantime, rather than regret or indifference, choose conscious gratitude.  Write down your list--not of what you'll miss but of what  brings you bliss.  And then thank Him for every item--all those gifts from an extravagant God.   

     And while you're at it, perhaps remind yourself to appreciate and enjoy those items while you have them now.  Today. Pet the dog.  Eat the cake with relish.  Wear the new dress (instead of "saving" it for an occasion that might never come).  Look up at the sky and breath deep and be awed.  Smell the gardenia.  Tell someone how much you love their laugh or their jokes or their gift for organization or compassion or cooking or whatever.  Stop and really listen to your child.. and then hug them tightly.   Pause to really revel in the hydrangeas or rabbits in your yard.  Belt out a song on the radio in your car... and ignore any strange looks from neighboring vehicles.  

      You only live once, after all.  

     But heaven is coming... so until then, keep living, keep thanking, keep loving, all the way home.  To God be all the glory.  

    

Mundane into Marvelous Monday

     Just another monday?  Not on your life.  It sure looked that way at the outset for my youngest child--the closed golf course  on mondays (a trial and tribulation for my boys); the out-of-town older brothers (another enormous sorrow for our 11 year old son);  the too quiet house as only the ancient parents and the 17 year old sister are home right now; the chores to be done; the neighborhood buddies out of town; most of the remaining buddies also out of town; the broken fishing pole (yet another trial and tribulation).  My perspective for the day resembled my 11 year old's: chores, chores, and more chores; most everyone I know is either on vacation or going on vacation--uhh, except us; a hot, steamy day that makes you feel like a sluggard, but with too much to do to actually enjoy being a sluggard.
     As I labored over an incredible homemade breakfast for the children of cereal and banana money (sliced bananas--it's all in the name), our 11 year old son announced he would cut the grass in the front yard.  Now bear in mind he has just recently taken over the front yard duties from our 15 year old son (who still cuts the rather large and unruly backyard).  So, we have a rule that when he cuts the front yard, my husband or I go out and walk beside him for safety's sake.
     Peter (the son), Moses (the dog), and yours truly(the mom) trooped out to the front yard.  Moses is old and decrepit, but he couldn't bear to be left inside when all that action was occurring outside, so out we all went.  As I walked alongside our professional yard service boy, a huge mug of hot tea warming my hands,  I watched Moses watching Peter... and suddenly, in a moment,  everything changed.  It was if God instantly gave me new, redeemed eyes to truly witness and enjoy the wonder of the moment.  I ran inside for a camera and took this spectacular (okay, really mediocre) picture.
     "Don't miss it," the Lord seemed to whisper to me.  You won't always have an 11 year old pushing intently on a lawn mower while periodically turning and smiling at Moses (and me).  A beautiful morning, a precious child, a sweet old dog, a gift of time--unhurried on a bright summer morning in June.  Does it get any better than this?  I recalled with shame my discontentment only minutes earlier when I had complained that we weren't going anywhere for a vacation.  And here, right in front of my face, literally right in my own front yard, was joy and meaning and contentment.
     I had, once again, been "surprised by joy,"by the God of the universe,  to borrow a phrase from C.S. Lewis.  You know: those sudden moments of sublime joy that seem to come out of nowhere--a smell, a song, a book, a fiercely blue sky, a dear friendship--all those little moments that, unexpectedly and instantly,  burst onto your heart with joy and gratitude?   Those times when you abruptly and momentarily recognize the beauty and transience and wonder of that little pinprick of time--and oftentimes it's right in the midst of  such a small, seemingly routine circumstance of life.
     After mowing the grass, we went on to pick some of our tomatoes.  Another small--well, actually, for us, not so small!--miracle was that the tomatoes we had planted as tiny, delicate, unpromising little plants had blossomed into actual, official looking tomato plants!  With actual tomatoes!  Unbelievable!  Of course, I had to record for posterity our incredible haul on this marvelous monday:

 (I should add that these are supposed to be mini tomatoes lest you mistakenly assume we grew pathetically small tomatoes by accident.  O noooo. Martha Stewart would be impressed.)  
     My life is full of many such small moments.  I'm betting yours might be as well.  But how much we miss when we are waiting for the "big" moments, the "big" vacations, the "big" house, the "big" accomplishment, the "big" child, the "big" experience.  When we focus upon and wait for the big and impressive and important, we miss the small.  And so often God surprises us with the greatest measure of joy and contentment in the small and the insignificant.  A baby who would save his people from slavery--floating in a basket down the Nile River.  An insignificant shepherd boy--defying and killing a blood thirsty giant.  A prisoner listening to some dreams by his fellow prisoners--rising to 2nd in command in the land and ultimately saving his people from starvation. A helpless infant born in a squalid stable--God in flesh growing to one day save the world.
     Moms, carpenters, shepherds, slaves, children,  fishermen, farmers, tax gatherers--just to name of few of the "small," everyday kinds of people the Lord blessed and used in mighty ways for His purposes and to His glory.  I've said it before, but how I love Zechariah 4:10--"Who despises the day of small things?  Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel."  God never despises the small--in fact, He especially loves and glories in the small.
      Thank You Lord for marvelous mondays and for those sudden moments when You surprise us with joy in the simple, the everyday, the regular, and the small.  Might we give praise to You, the  Author and Creator of all our moments--both challenging and joyful, large and small.  Thank You for summer days and for the perspective to appreciate these never to be repeated moments.  Help us daily to recognize even in the small and most mundane of moments, how truly good and great You are.  To God be the glory.

 

Fighting Battles

     "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle."
     I first heard this statement years ago, and I have never forgotten it.  I believe it was originally attributed to an old Scottish preacher over a century ago.  But the older I've grown, the more I recognize that this is the truth.  We are all fighting battles.  Every single one of us.  And if you are not in the midst of some tough and challenging battle right now, then rest assured, you are invariably about to enter a battle or just coming out of one.
     Battles differ... but they are still battles that require strength and resolve and fighting.  Some battles are very public.  Others very private.  Some humiliating and humbling.  Others piercing and painful.  Some short and fierce.  Others a long unrelenting and exhausting siege.
     We battle against dread diseases... and against entrenched addictions.  We battle against discouragement and despair... and against fear and worry.  We battle against physical forces... and against spiritual ones.  We battle against some enemy trying to hurt or destroy our loved ones... and against our own inner struggles and weaknesses.
     We are a people perpetually at war, it seems, and we need to be battle ready and fully protected by the armor of God--"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." (Eph.6:11).  We need to rise everyday and consciously put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  And above all these, we must be "praying at all times." (Ephesians 6:14-18)
     None of us need ever go unarmed or undermanned in any battle--God has provided the weaponry and the armor.  He has commanded us to pray.  And He is with us in the trenches.  O how thankful I am to have a God who fights for me and with me in all my battles--and in the battles of those I love.
     Last night, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night.  As I lay in bed, my restless mind immediately went to several friends who are fighting fierce battles right now.  The tears spilled onto my pillow as I thought about the protracted, hard struggle they are facing against a deadly foe.  How I hate cancer.  How I hate the power of addictions.  How I hate all those things that diminish and debilitate and destroy the lives of people about whom I care deeply.
     But the Lord gently reminded me that if I, a sinful, selfish, shallow one, hate those things that destroy and maim lives, how much more does our Heavenly Father abhor those enemies.  And how much more does He desire and will our victory over them.  Look at the price paid by Jesus to secure our ultimate victory over sin and death and despair.  If we doubt His compassion or His love or His power, look to the cross... and the empty tomb.  Death no longer has the final word.  Sin has been defeated.  The ultimate power of our greatest foe has been destroyed.  So while we may be fighting our battles, final victory is assured.  Because He wins, we will always eventually win.
     And in the meantime, He fights with us and for us... in the cancer wards,  in the hospitals, in the hard, dark places, in the hidden corners of fear and frustration and failure.  He bids us put on His armor and join the battle, all the while knowing and trusting that Almighty God is fighting for us and with us.  We are never alone... and we never fight alone.  Never.
     What a reminder of this great reality in 2 Chronicles 20 when King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites face an overwhelmingly vast and superior foe.  One of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's favorite verses comes from King Jehoshaphat's prayer in the face of this looming disastrous battle: "O our God, will you not execute judgment against the great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You."  (2Chron.20:12)  That's the prayer that never fails--the prayer to an Almighty God who fights with and for His children when they come to Him in dependence and trust.
     So Lord, "We do not know what to do..." about this cancer... about this mental illness... about this addiction... about this sinful habit... about this financial struggle... about this broken relationship... about this prodigal... about this impossible place in which our loved one is trapped... "but our eyes are on You."  On You--the omnipotent, omniscient, eternal, all wise, all loving, all good, Beginning and End--Lord of the Universe for whom "Nothing is impossible" (Luke 1:37)
      Thank You for the reminder that, just as You told King Jehoshaphat, so You tell us: "Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's." (2Chron.20:15)  And You must, and will, win the battle.  Help us this day to put on Your armor, to keep fighting, and to keep trusting. Save us, Father, from discouragement and despair, from fear and fretting, when the combat is fierce or prolonged. You know our frames are weak and but dust, so we look to You as our hope, our consolation, our strength, our sustenance.  O Lord, keep us fighting, keep us praying, keep us faithful as we fight this battle which is not really ours, but Yours.  To our glorious, powerful, battle-winning Lord, be all the glory forever.
   
   

Acting Today

 "He is already half false who speculates on truth and does not do it," said R.W. Robertson.  "Truth is given, not to be contemplated, but to be done.  Life is an action--not a thought."  I must add, however, that action must begin with thought--it just must not end there.  

     How often have I done just that: thought of something to do for someone and then failed to do it.  Contemplated some fun activity with my children or some great devotion to share with them... and then, sigh, never followed through.  Meditated on some verse in Scripture, been convicted of some change that needed to be made, and then foundered when it came to accomplishing the hard work of repentance or obedience or transformation.  Finishing, following through, doing, not just thinking, feeling, hoping.  O Lord, put starch in our souls, backbone in our beliefs, and trust enough in Your Truths that we fully and faithfully, follow through with obedient action to whatever You tell us to do.  

     And then leave all the results up to our faithful, omniscient Lord.  Isn't that where the rubber meets the road?  Knowing what to do, actually DOING it, and then peacefully and completely trusting in the perfect will of our God of all wisdom and power and goodness.  As our pastor Leon Tucker shared today, whether it's the result of a golf tournament (Yeah Webb Simpson!!) or an illness or a job interview or a school exam, our job is simply to "trust and obey."  Doing whatever He tells you and then resting in the fact that He's got it.  He's got your back... and your front and side and middle and past and present and future.!  He knows every detail;  He understands every possible contingency; He has the power to do the improbable or the impossible; and He is fully, completely, throughly good--so we truly can say "Your will be done" with joy and peace and hope.  

     "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.  Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..."(Ps.95:7-8).  Today.  Today.  Today if you hear His voice, obey!  Boy, I don't know about you, but I need to stop worrying about tomorrow and what will happen if... or what if He doesn't come through... or how about if I hedge my bets and... or what if I just wait and see and decide tomorrow whether to follow through...  Nope, it's TODAY.  Do it today.  Follow through today.  Trust today.  Rest in His plans and His ways today.  

     We may not have tomorrow anyway, so why not trust and obey and do it today--trusting that He has all our tomorrows in His omnipotent, omniscient, nail-scarred hands. Help us, Lord, to not just know the Truth but to act upon it.  To the great I Am--fully present, fully powerful, fully faithful, every single moment of every single TODAY--be all the glory forever. 

Camp... and Home

     Now I truly understand the meaning of the term, "Happy Camper."  Because this is the picture of one incredibly" happy camper"--on the last day of camp at pick up time.  If I had taken a picture of him six days earlier, the expression on his face would not have been quite so joyous.  In fact, he might have looked a bit like an eleven year old facing summer school in a Russian gulag.  Here he was heading to a wonderful camp, located right on a sparkling blue lake, full of counselors determined to help each child have great time, and numerous fun activities from wake-boarding (NOT water-boarding as my child feared) to swimming to archery to basketball.  Not only that, but some kind person (thankfully not his mama!) would cook and serve and clean up three child friendly meals a day, and our son wouldn't even have to help wash dishes or take out the garbage.  What's not to love?  Sign me up right this minute!
     Our son, however, loves home.  He patiently explained to me on the way to camp, "I'm just not really a camp person."  And when I picked him up today, he practically ran to me--I think we might have qualified for one of those slow motion tear-jerker Hallmark commercials.  Truth be told: I was just as overjoyed to see him!
     Don't get me wrong: he had a great time.  He LOVED the food--in fact, he went into rhapsodies over the food... especially the desserts (a child after my own heart).  He thought his counselor was the best. He enjoyed all the activities and loved all his friends.  But, he told me on the way home, "I really loved it... but I don't need to go back."  Been there, done that, time to go home.
     And that's just it.  Our son doesn't dislike camp, he just loves home sweet home.  His own bed, his own dog, his own bathtub, his own brothers and sisters, his own schedule (which mainly consists of golf and more golf with a little swimming and ping pong thrown in for good measure).
     There's just nothing like home, is there?  Even with all the mess and the noise and the peeling paint and the broken things and the unfinished projects... it is still a place of unconditional love and security and warmth and recollections that grow ever sweeter with time.  Even  the word itself, "home," conjures up so many memories and thoughts of silly inside jokes or  favorite family recipes or  grandparents or cousins sharing stories or strange but special family traditions.
     As we drove home from camp, and my son seemed to bask in the glow of a good week of camp--but an even better and greater future of HOME--I couldn't help but think of heaven, our true home.  You know, we truly are all just campers right about now.  This is not our home.  It's pretty wonderful: this good life, this beautiful planet, these precious loved ones who surround us.  But it sure isn't perfect, is it?  Still so much sorrow, so much disappointment, so much tragedy, so much brokenness.
      This life is a mighty fine camp... but it's not our home.  We're only passing through.  But one day, home is just up ahead, and, well, the best truly is yet to come.
      Sometimes we forget, don't we?  We forget that we are just at summer camp.  And things may not be just the way we like them.  We may be a bit uncomfortable.  We may feel out of place or homesick or tired or lonely or frustrated.  But they won't be like that forever.  Sometimes we just need to be reminded that our true, our perfect, our glorious eternal home is just around the corner.  There will be no more crying or mourning or worrying or doubting.  No more tears or failures or illnesses or death.  Just home.  Our true home.  Our joyously perfect home prepared just for us by our perfect, loving Savior.
     Camp is great... but home is better--infinitely, gloriously better.  Thank You Lord for this life.  But even more: thank You thank You thank You for the hope and the promise and the reality of our true eternal perfect home with You forever and ever.  To God, who is even now preparing our glorious home, be all the glory forever.
   

Casting and Catching

     "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved."  Ps.55:22
     Now there's a promise you can sink your teeth into!  Stop hauling all those burdens around, all those worries weighing down your heart.  Burdens weigh the heart down--no wonder we speak of being "heavy-hearted."  Our hearts were not meant to bear the continual weight of burdens.  God designed us to constantly, moment by moment, cast those burdens onto Him.  We cannot carry them, but praise God He can carry all our burdens with ease and in exchange gives us rest and peace for our weary hearts.
    Jesus commanded "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt. 11:28-29)
     Don't we all desperately desire to release those burdens?  Those worries and fears and uncertainties and sorrows that snatch our joy, rob our peace, steal our slumber?  And how often have we tried to hand those niggling doubts and frustrations and anxieties to the Lord--only to pick them right back up again in days or hours or even minutes?
     But you know, I think that is the point--He wants us to keep casting them to Him, over and over.  It's never a one and done deal or we'd be off our knees, puffed up with pride and self-sufficiency, and headed for trouble.  He knows we are but dust, weak, faltering, and He longs for us to keep casting, keep casting, keep depending and experiencing His sufficiency.
     As I was thinking about casting, however, my mind immediately went to trout fishing.  Our family (especially our boys) LOVE to go trout fishing.  Every summer for one glorious weekend, we go with all my brothers and sisters and their children (or as many that can go) to a beautiful spot at the base of Mt. Mitchell called Cane River.  Cane River is just a little foretaste of heaven.  We all stay in a big old log cabin--with, praise the Lord, no TV or cell phone service!--and trout fish all day, eat huge lunches and dinners together, laugh and talk a blue streak, and crash in exhaustion at night.   All we see all day long are crystal clear streams tumbling down ancient boulders and rocks and pine trees and rhododendron.  Well, and the occasional black bear as well.  That'll get your blood pumping!  How I love to sit out on the old  covered porch and read and breath deep that clean mountain air.
     Sorry, I digress into Cane River bliss.
     My point: when you trout fish, you have to cast a tiny little trout fly into the mountain stream.  Now, 99% of the time, you cast and cast and cast... and you catch... well, certainly not any trout.  It turns out trout are some of the most brilliant creatures designed by God.  yeah yeah, just a fish, you say. But believe me, you can almost hear the trout laughing as we try to hide behind boulders and cast our lines into deep serene pools.  The fish swim by our feet in a flash, yelling to their buddies, "Look at this big oaf in blue jeans!  He's not even wearing camouflage!  I could hear him coming a mile away!  Is this all they've got?" I'm sure it doesn't help that our youngest son always loves to hurl copious rocks into the water, scattering fish for miles ahead.
     So, unless you really know what you are doing, you do a lot of casting and not much catching.  Unless, of course, you count the bushes and trees and sticks in the stream.  The fish may not be all that interested in the tiny trout flies attached to your line, but believe me, everything else within a one mile radius loves to snag your fly.  We've caught innumerable leaves, twigs, flowers, tree branches... you name it, if it's not a trout, we've hooked it.
     But here's the thing, when you cast, you expect to catch.  You want to pick up something with your line.. well, except the trees, bushes, leaves, and sticks.  But the goal, the whole point is to cast and catch... a trout, that is.  Cast and pick up.
     And isn't that exactly what Jesus tells us to do?  Yes, cast our burdens and cares upon Him, but then catch something from Him.  "Take My yoke upon you"--pick up His yoke, for it will bring rest and peace to our souls.
     How do we do that?  Well, one very practical way: pick up a promise in His Word.  Cast your burdens on Him and then pick up a promise in return.  His Word is full of promises of hope, of guidance, of strength, of enablement, of power, of forgiveness, of grace.  We need never come up empty handed when we cast and then catch His promises!
     How about this one: "Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Is.41:10)
     Or one of my all time favorite verses (that I just used and prayed and depended upon this morning!): "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory... forever and ever. Amen" (Eph.3:20-21)  That'll put some starch in your soul!
     His beautiful, supernatural, powerful Word is full of promise after promise just waiting to be picked up in exchange for your casting away your burden.  Cast your burden, catch His promise.  Daily.  Hourly.  A hundred times a day if necessary. Write His promise to you on an index card and put it on your mirror or in your car.  Text it to your child.  Share it with a friend. Meditate on it.  Pray it out loud to the Lord.  He has promised if we cast our burdens, He will carry them, and when we pick up His yoke--His promises--they will sustain us and fill our souls with His joy and peace.  But we have to read His Word to catch us a promise and then keep it before us!
     Cast a care.  Catch a promise.          
     What an exchange!  But isn't that just like our Lord--give Him our worst sins and take His perfect righteousness, give Him our burdens and take His supernatural promises?  Let's start casting... and catching.   To God be the glory forever and ever.
  

Happy Birthday, Spurgeon!

     Happy birthday, Charles Haddon Spurgeon!   Spurgeon was born June 19, 1834.  (This morning when I mentioned this fact to my oldest son, he responded, "Spurgeon's birthday?  He would have to be about 180 years old by now!"  And actually, that is about right!)
     Spurgeon, known as the "Prince of Preachers," was a British Particular Baptist (no clue what that is specifically--but sounds Baptist to me!) who powerfully influenced not just his generation but every succeeding generation since then.  Including ours. He struggled with depression, and his transparency and trust even in the midst of that very difficult thorn in the flesh should inspire and encourage us all.  I love to read excerpts from some of his wonderful sermons, and we all have heard many a great Spurgeon quote.  Just a couple of my favorites:
     1. "A man's life is always more forcible that his speech... If his life and his doctrines disagree, the mass of lookers-on will accept his practice and reject his preaching."  Whew, might our daily work match our words.  The world so desperately needs to see believers who are not just lapping up the Word (though we need that too) but who are living out the Word--doing what it says.  "But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:20)
     2. "Lord, send us such a flood-tide of Thy love that we shall be washed beyond the beyond the mine of doubt and fear."   Wow--yes Lord, help us to know "the breadth and length and height and depth" of the love of Christ. (Eph.3:18)  It is His love, His perfect love, that casts out fear. (I John 4:18)  When we are fearful, we can practically ask the Lord in that very moment for an overwhelming sense of His extravagant, infinite love for us.
     3. "Between here and heaven, every minute that the Christian lives will be a minute of grace."  Amen again--it's all by, and only by, the grace of God!
     4. "By perseverance the snail reached the ark."   Don't we all need that reminder?!   As Winston Churchill once famously declared in a graduation speech in the midst of World War II: "Never give in!  Never give in!  Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." (and then Churchill sat down.  That was the sum total of his speech for that was all they needed to hear!)
     5. One more reason I love Spurgeon--like my daddy, he was a cigar smoker!  Now, I know many of you may not approve of, nor like, cigar smoking.  God made us all different--I mean, there are inexplicably some people who don't like chocolate... though that might constitute a major character flaw.  Cigar smoking, however, does not fall into that category. I don't smoke them, and I certainly don't like any other kind of smoking.  But my wonderful daddy smoked cigars, and to this day, the scent of a cigar makes me smile and experience a burst of happy nostalgia and even joy.  Can't help it--that's just the way it is!
      But one day Spurgeon was confronted by a Methodist man who was apparently quite concerned and exercised about Spurgeon's cigar habit.
     Spurgeon explained to the man, "I assure you, my good man, that if I ever begin to smoke excessively, I will quit immediately."
     The Methodist man quickly questioned, "Just what would you consider excessive?"
     "Why, smoking two cigars at once!" replied Spurgeon.
     Somehow, I think my daddy and Charles Spurgeon are hitting it off quite well in heaven!
     So Happy Birthday, Mr. Spurgeon!  May your tribe increase!  And might we live out our faith in our day--with our actions, with our attitudes, and with our words--as you did in yours.  To God be the glory!

Evening Graces

     I think I am tasting just the tiniest crumb or the teensiest sip of heaven right now.  Night is just beginning to fall.  Daylight is fading, crickets are singing an evening chorus, birds are still rejoicing aloud in praise of this fine day.  Moses and I just took a short jaunt on the greenway, and now he lies sprawled at my feet on the deck outside while we listen in wonderment to the glorious cacophony of God's good sounds.  Have you taken the time lately to go outside at dusk and just quietly listen?  Wow.  No wonder Jesus told the kill-joy Pharisees (in their fury over the people shouting "Hosanna!" to Jesus), "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!" (Luke 19:40)  The early nighttime seems to be crying out a gentle but insistent praise to it's Creator.  And someday the stones themselves will join the chorus.
     We hear.  But we also see.  Another reason for praise.  Darkening shadows, then a tiny splash of neon brightness: the intermittent flash of lightening bugs--what wondrous little creatures!  What a God who would create such golden flashes in the midst of the gathering darkness. Or the swooping swallows--soaring, falling, in graceful dances in the sky.  Look outside this evening and catch just the smallest glimpse of Your Almighty God's greatness.  "... no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him." (I Cor.2:9)  Such beauty on this earth... can you even begin to imagine heaven?
     So thank You Lord.  Thank You for all that we hear, for all that we see, for all that we smell.  For gardenias and fresh cut grass and crushed mint and the scents carried on the sea breezes or mountain wind. Thank You for these moments of peace to refresh and renew us... and for times of tumult that get us moving and acting and living in dependence upon You.
     Thank You for families to love and sports to cheer for and homes in which to rest and eat and love and grow.  Thank You for the song of salvation that seems to grow ever dearer and sweeter every year.  John Newton said in his last sermon just before he died, that he was a very old man, and his memory was failing.  But there were two things he could never ever forget: that he was a great sinner and Christ was a great Savior.  Yes, Lord--this great sinner praises You, my great and glorious Savior.  May the memory of Your mercy drive Your people to their knees.  In repentance.  In worship.  In gratitude that spills over into lives overflowing with mercy and grace and love.  
     Tonight, go outside and praise the Creator whose goodness never ever fails.  Look up at the stars and be reminded that "The heavens declare the glory of God.  The skies proclaim the work of His hands." (Ps.19:1)  And He who formed the most distant galaxy, made and knows even the very hairs on your head.  There is no God like our God.   To the God whose mercies are new every morning, but whose evening graces are just as sweet and satisfying, be all the glory.

Success-seeking or Holiness-hungering?

     Can I just add an addendum to my last entry?  I am that Samaritan women.  
     Yeah, sure, I have not been married and divorced 5 times (though the fact that my husband has stuck with selfish me all these years is nothing short of a miracle... or a testament to the grace of God!)  But I am that thirsty woman... always seeking after that which just eludes my grasp.  Too often looking for satisfaction and fulfillment in the things of this world that always over promise and under deliver.  Caring too much about the temporary rather than the eternal.
     Searching for success more often than hungering after holiness.
     Success-seeking always leaves gaping holes in our hearts.  Holiness-hungering always delivers Christ's righteousness and peace and hope.  Success-seeking leaves us thirsting for more; Holiness-hungering quenches with the joyful, life-giving and sustaining Living Water.
     "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in al your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy." (I Peter 1:14-16)
     It's so easy to identify the myriad destructive and devastating ways folks attempt to assuage their thirst--all those harmful addictions, all those obvious sins that destroy lives.  But what about our thirsty desire to achieve and accomplish--when it becomes our god, our ultimate goal in life?  Our thinly veiled love of appreciation or applause or accolades?  For many of us, it's especially the battle waged with our pride and our desire to see our children succeed, get ahead, be elevated.  Mercy, what an inner war we wage when it comes to our love for our children and wanting life to be perfect for them!
     Success and accomplishments are good things.  I know God wants, indeed commands, us to do our very best at whatever our hand finds to do (Ecc.9:10).  He wants our work to be excellent, because He is excellent, and we are His testimony to a watching world.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible urges us, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for me, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ." (Col.3:23-24)
     But that's just it--we (okay, I--me, myself, and I!) all too quickly miss the distinction between serving Christ and serving self.  When we cross the line into the pridefulness category, we get in trouble.  When we thirst after success and fame rather than seeking to do our best to HIS glory, we've gotten our goals... and our gods... confused.  HE is the One we are to seek.  HIS glory is our ultimate goal.  Making HIS Name great--by doing our best and doing it in His way--is our highest desire.
     Help us Lord to seek to do our very best at whatever you call us to do.  Help us to teach and pray for our children to give their most excellent effort, and keep doing it day after day, faithfully and wholeheartedly.  But save us from ourselves and our all-too-easy tendency to warp into that sinful pride and self-seeking mode.  Might we do our best, try our hardest,  pray our strongest... and with complete, childlike trust, leave all the results up to YOU. And Father, help us every day, every hour, every moment seek YOUR glory, YOUR greatness, YOUR magnification.
     "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col.3:17)
     Thank You Lord Jesus.  For any gifts You have given, any blessings You have showered upon us, any wisdom You have bestowed, any hardships You have allowed, any successes or failures You have sovereignly ordained, we trust You and say, "Thank You."  To You, Lord, and to You alone, be all the glory forever and ever.

Thirsting for Him

     Jesus was weary.  Just consider that for a moment: the Creator and Sustainer of everything in this universe, the One who created time and space, the Almighty, Omnipotent, Eternal I Am... was bone tired.  While traveling through loathsome Samaria with His disciples, "Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey," sat down heavily beside a well. (John 4:6)  "It was about the sixth hour"--meaning noon--so it was in the middle of a hot, dusty, sun-drenched day.  No one much would be at the well at that hour, for only the most desperate (or despised) would go to get water in the heat of the day.  
     But Jesus, the Omniscient, knew one person would be there. And for Him, that one was enough. One woman.  One Samaritan woman.  One five times divorced woman.  One living-with-a-6th-man but now unmarried woman.  And for the sake of that detestable one (in the eyes of any good Jew), the perfect, sinless, loving Lord of the Universe came and sat down and asked for a drink of water.
     Just the fact that He, a man, would even speak to her, a woman--and a Samaritan woman at that--was shocking.  Even wildly improper and inappropriate.  Isn't the Gospel always just a bit scandalous? How on earth could the Sinless Son of God associate with a seeped-in-sin woman such as this?
     O, but for such a one as this, He came to conquer sin and death and despair and futility and emptiness.  And for such a one as me.  There is no pit too deep, no darkness too oppressive, no sin too wicked, no circumstance too desperate that His love, His power, His grace, His sacrifice cannot bridge and cover and forgive and redeem.  With Christ there is always always always hope.
     So when Jesus asks her for a drink, the stunned woman asks why on earth a Jew would ask her for a drink.  He responds that "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (John 4:10)
     And now it gets really interesting, for this lonely, rejected, despised woman is now intrigued.  "Living water?"  "Gift of God?"  "Who is this man and what is He offering and how do I get it," she must have been thinking.
     Any woman married five times and now living with another man is clearly desperately looking for something... and not finding it.  Marriage after marriage.  Failed relationship after failed relationship.  Can you imagine all the sorrow and suffering and backwash of bitterness and hopelessness behind such a litany of failure?  The old cliche, "Looking for love in all the wrong places" might have been her theme song.  Always looking.  Always searching.  Always hoping "maybe this time!"--and then once again, disappointment and failure and despair.
      In Screwtape Letters,  the senior devil Screwtape aptly described it as "an ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure."  Isn't that so true?  The new dress, the new relationship, the new piece of chocolate cake all inexorably deliver less and less satisfaction for an ever increasing desire.
     Surely this Samaritan woman suffered from a different kind of weariness than that of the exhausted traveler; she was weary of soul.  Weary of living.  Weary of searching and never ultimately finding.  Desperately discouraged, disillusioned, and defeated.
     She was thirsting for something that always seemed to just elude her grasp.
     Sound like anybody you know?  Addictions to drugs or alcohol or food or fame or fortune.  Needing just one more.... of whatever: one more outfit, one more drink, one more TV show, one more new car, one more accolade, one more vacation, one more relationship, one more dollar... and then life would be fulfilling and successful and satisfying.
     C.S. Lewis wrote (one of my favorite quotes): "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world." 
     And we are. God put eternity in our hearts, declares, Ecc.3:11.  St. Augustine confirmed that the God-shaped hole He placed in our hearts will never be filled or satisfied by anything less than Himself.
     Jesus tells the woman at the well, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13-14)
     "You are thirsty," Jesus tells her, "with a thirst that will never be satisfied save by the Living Water of the Son of God."  Your relentless thirst for love and significance will never be met by another man.. or another anything... or another anyone... or another new this or that.  Only one thing, only One, only the Way the Truth, the Life, only a life-giving relationship with the Lord Jesus will ultimately and eternally fulfill and satisfy and fill to over-flowing that empty hole.  That God-shaped hole.
     For what are you thirsting?  Upon what are you building your life?  As C.J. Mahaney asks, "What's really the main thing in your life?  Only one thing can truly be first in your priority; so what's at the top of your list, second to none?"
     Jesus makes it abundantly clear: only one thing, only ONE, will truly and completely and eternally satisfy your thirst and give abundant, joyful, LIFE."
     And it is Him.  "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Mt.11:28)
     Come.  Come and drink of Him.  Drink of His Living Water and never be thirsty again. Come and drink and discover true rest and security.  Fill that seemingly bottomless hole... with Him and His overflowing, infinite abundance.
     "If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."  The Samaritan woman found that world--that heavenly Kingdom.  Jesus still offers His Living Water that always satisfies, that always saves, that always sustains.  Come and drink of Him and find rest and joy and hope and fulfillment.
     To the Savior who fully satisfies, fully saves, and fully sustains, be all the glory.
   
   

Justification by Grace

     Perhaps you've read the account of Brian Banks, a young man who was falsely accused and convicted of rape over a decade ago.  Banks was a talented rising high school football star when a fellow student accused him of rape.   Advised to plead no contest even though he was innocent, Banks served over 5 years in prison and then was paroled as a registered sex offender.  But just 2 weeks ago, Banks and a private investigator recorded the accuser admitting that she fabricated the whole story, and Banks has now been fully exonerated.  And incredibly, a number of pro football teams offered Banks a tryout for the sport seemingly denied him by his false imprisonment.  His tryout with the Seattle Seahawks went so well that they have invited him back for the team's mini-camp training session.  Go Brian!
     When I read this tragic account, I was reminded of the numerous stories we've all heard about in which men or women lose years and even decades of their lives incarcerated for crimes they did not commit.  One of my favorite books, Choosing Cotton, covered this very story--a true account of a man falsely accused and convicted of  a rape in Burlington, NC.  It is a  painful and remarkable and beautiful story of terrible injustice but then forgiveness and redemption.
     What must it be like to serve year in after year in prison, knowing you are innocent and feeling powerless to find redemption?   And then, what must that unexpected pardon and redemption feel like when it suddenly arrives?  New life?  New hope?  New dreams that only a day earlier seemed utterly impossible?
     Imagine the radical transformation in Brian Banks' life.  From felon and registered sex offender wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet, condemned by the world, mistrusted, hated even... to complete pardon, to a new life, to attempting to play the game he loved best in the world and never dared hope he would ever play again.  From felon to hero.
     But Christ did so infinitely much more for us.  For you see, we were guilty.  We are guilty.  We committed the sins; we deserved the time; we earned the punishment.  We are the ones full of pride.  We are the ones who hate, who lie, who envy, who hoard, who gossip.  We are the ones who refuse to demonstrate compassion or kindness or love.   We are the felons in God's sight who rightly deserve every day from now into eternity for our unrelenting selfishness or self-pity or faithlessness.
     "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together in Christ--by grace you have been saved--and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Gal.2:4-9)
     He died for our sins.  We were sinners... He took the full punishment.  We were guilty... He served the full time.   Unlike Banks, we were rightfully accused... but He freely pardoned us out of His grace because He became the accused and the convicted in our place.  Just incredible.  May we never ever get over the wonder of that.
     But even more incredibly, He didn't just take our sins and pardon us.  He gave us His righteousness and elevated us to His position as sons of God.  It's a bit like Brian Banks--he wasn't just pardoned; he was also given the opportunity to be elevated to playing pro football.  We are not just pardoned... we are elevated and given infinite, eternal accolades and applause, because we are given Christ's perfect righteousness.
    Richard Hooker (who wrote in the 1700's) expressed it perfectly: "Such are we in the sight of God the Father as is the very Son of God Himself.  Let is be counted as folly or frenzy or fury whatsoever, it is our comfort and our wisdom and I care for no knowledge in the world but this: that man has sinned but God has suffered, and that God has made Himself the sin of man and that men now are made the righteousness of God."
     How can we even begin to wrap our minds and hearts around that astounding, glorious truth?!  "God made Himself the sin of man" and "men now are made the righteousness of God."  How is that a fair exchange?!  Of course, it is NOT!  It is the worst, most horrifically unfair, terrible... but gloriously wonderful and eternal life altering exchange ever made.
      What can be our response?  I know of nothing save overwhelming gratitude.  I did absolutely nothing to earn it.  Nothing to deserve it.  Nothing to contribute to it.  It is all by God and all by grace alone.  And so, Lord, help us to live lives of overflowing joy and gratitude and trust in the One who did it all for us, who gave it all for us, so that we might be with You forever and ever.
     To our Savior, our Redeemer, our One and Only Lord, be all the glory forever.

Cardinals, Squirrels and the Savior

     Yes, another bird!  And in case you can't see what this is due to my extremely limited photographic skills, this is a cardinal (well, and also the back of a battered, well-traveled Suburban--the cardinal is the tiny red blob perched on the bird feeder in the foreground.  Ansel Adams, I'm not. But trust me, he was beautiful.)  Yes, I am obsessed with cardinals.  In case you have not read this before, I LOVE cardinals,  for cardinals are kind of my "little thing" with God: whenever I see a bright red daddy cardinal, that is always God's little whispered reminder to me that He loves me.  And I always whisper back, "I love You, too, Lord!"  O how I love to glimpse these candy-apple red gifts flitting across my path.  I never tire of spotting one, and I never tire of hearing my Savior's "I love you!"
     What a joy it is to watch various feathered friends come and dine at our bird feeder.  I am no bird expert, so I could hardly name a one save the cardinals, blue jays (who are mean but spectacular looking--reminds me of some middle schoolers I knew long ago), mocking birds (fabulous singers and fiercely protective of their nests--I've seen them take on a hawk!  Love that courage... or foolhardiness), and dove (sorry, but they are sort of bland--but you gotta love their gentle cooing).  Much to my husband's chagrin, I buy the ultra high test bird food.  Whatever says it attracts song birds and costs a lot, that's the brand I pick.  I realize this is not an ideal or thrifty way to shop. I'm hoping my husband is not reading this. But the birds really appreciate it.
    Unfortunately, the birds are not the only ones who appreciate it, however:

 (Again, another even larger picture of aforementioned Suburban--I'd be fired as a photographer--and smaller picture of a pesky, tenacious squirrel chowing down on our expensive bird food.  Also please note this is a guaranteed "squirrel-proof" feeder that the squirrel somehow manages daily to jump on and eat to his heart's content.  Squirrel-proof--HA!)
     If you could actually see this little squirrel, he is admittedly kind of cute.  Okay, he's very cute. God doesn't make mistakes, and He did a fine job creating squirrels.  All that being said, I really really really don't appreciate the squirrels eating our fancy-smancy  bird food and scaring away the birds. At least once or twice a day, I run screaming outside, yelling at the squirrel to scare him away.  This seems to be losing it's effectiveness.  I now have to run right up to the bird feeder and wave my arms threateningly, gesticulating increasingly wildly, to get him to finally jump down.  But now he's beginning to fix his beady little eyes on me and dare me--"Yeah, yeah, whatta you got?  I can take you down, old lady;  just try me."  This is making my blood pressure rise just thinking about it.  But it is also embarrassing my children.  Too bad--I've got birds to protect.
     Whenever I see that pesky little guy, I can't help but think of that verse from Song of Solomon: "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom." (Song of Sol. 2:15)  Squirrel and fox, bird-feeder and vineyard... and the petty little annoyances and irritations that we allow to slip into our lives, stealing our joy, spoiling our witness, circumventing the harmony and hope in our families.
     In Old Testament times, whenever foxes would slip into the vineyards, they would eat the grapes and destroy the crop. Such small, insignificant creatures, yet they could slowly, inexorably do a world of damage.  Solomon is warning that it it is the "little foxes" in our lives that can damage and even destroy our love for others.  Petty little irritations, small secretly harbored bitterness against someone,  tiny pockets of resentment, unconscious score-keeping (I think to myself, "I always do the dishes, or he never thinks to take out the trash or I never get a break or she always forgets that" on and on).  Such little, small, sometimes secret, sometimes expressed little annoyances that can rob our love of kindness and joy and gratitude.   O forgive us, Father!  Forgive me.
     Mother Teresa always said that "All our trouble comes from looking around rather than looking up."
     That's how the foxes slip into our lives--we are looking around, looking at what others have or don't have.  Looking at what I (or my loved ones) lack or what we think we deserve.  Looking everywhere except up.  Looking up at the Savior.  Looking up at the Cross.  Looking up and seeing the Lord Jesus trudging to Calvary and willingly, lovingly, faithfully, bearing the betrayal and beatings and shame and mocking and humiliation and sorrow and pain that I, that you, deserved.  Crawling onto the cross that bore my sin, feeling the nails pounded into His burning flesh that should have been my pain.  And dying so that I, so that you, might live.  LIVE.  FOREVER.
     And in light of all that, I fret over.. what?  My petty little grievances? My selfish small annoyances? My ridiculous list of what I think I deserve?  When He has done all that... for me, for you?
     Forget the foxes!  Focus on the Father!  See your grievances in light of His grace.  And be amazed at His goodness and greatness and glory.  Stop worrying about the squirrels--enjoy the cardinals and blue jays and mocking birds and dove!  There is so much in this good life to be overflowing with gratitude to our gloriously generous God.  Maybe if we spent more time thanking Him we'd have less time for complaining.  Maybe if we'd focus more on the Father, we'd force the foxes out of the vineyards.  And maybe we would discover not only more love for our Lord and for the people He's placed in our lives (even the ones that sometimes can grate against us), but also more joy, more hope, more peace even in the midst of our busy vineyards.
    Look up to the cross--be thankful, be changed.  I love how C.J.Mahaney put it: "Move on to rejoicing in the Savior who came to save the worst of sinners.  Lay down the luggage of condemnation and kneel in worship at the feet of Him who bore your sins.  Cry tears of amazement."
     Forget the foxes; focus on the Father.  Don't worry about the squirrels; worship the Savior.  And don't forget to thank Him for all His gifts along the way--including the cardinals!  To God be the glory.

Living and Finishing Well!

     Jim Elliott once wrote, "Wherever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."  Elliott, a missionary to Ecuador was martyred at the age of 29 by the Huaorani Indians, but, boy, he surely lived his life to the hilt to the glory of God.  His life has impacted countless numbers of Christians--including me--and how I thank the Lord for such a godly example of living full out for the Savior.
     Yesterday one of our pastors, Russ Andrews, gave a wonderful sermon entitled, "Finish the Race Well!"  Isn't that what we all desire and hope?  I don't want to limp or stagger across the finish line... or worse, stumble and fall before I even get there.  Yet how many Christians do we see and read about who started so well, with such great energy and promise, and then fell prey to some besetting sin or moral collapse or catastrophic failure... or perhaps just some sad, slow decline that left them embittered, indifferent, or ineffective.  O Lord, preserve us from such a fate!  Help us to cross the finish line with our heads still held high, looking ahead, and our legs still churning with strength and resolve.  We don't want to just finish "somehow" but triumphantly!
     And I'm not just talking about some splashy, successful finish.  Or finishing with a pot of gold and a shiny accomplishment medal around our neck.  I mean finishing strong in Him. Finishing faithful to the end.  Finishing full of hope in our glorious future.  Finishing fully content that we have given our all, given our best for His glory every single day.  Falling and failing, sure, but always getting up one more time than we fall, and asking Him to cleanse us and redeem us and use us again.  And He always will--it's called grace and it is glorious.
     You can't finish well if you wallow in your past failures.  My flesh sometimes tends to indulge in those pity parties of "I can't do anything right.  See I messed up again."  If we want to finish well, however, we can't look back.  We must simply ask God to enable us to learn from the past but then look to the future and trust that He will guide and enable and strengthen us for whatever is ahead.  In Elliott's words, "Wherever you are, be all there"--we can't "be all there" if we are wallowing in self-pity or self-condemntation over the past.
     Nor can we "be all there" and "live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God" if we are preoccupied with worries about the future. Anxiety steals the hope and joy God longs for us to experience as we fully live each day.  Fretting robs us of the once in a lifetime opportunity to live the abundant life each present moment.   We simply cannot do both at the same time--it's regret and fret or fully live today.
     Nope, it's either be all there and live it to the hilt right now or it's wring your hands over the past and worry over the future.  Gee, which one sounds better?  Any sane person would choose living fully in this precious, never to repeated present moment and experience the exhilaration and joy that God gives to His children as they walk with Him and fix their eyes upon Him.  Yet, sadly, how many of us choose the latter?  We forfeit peace and joy and adventure for discouragement, anxiety, and boredom.  (After all, what could more boring and life-sucking than living in a regret-filled past or an uncertain, anxious future?)
    How I love how Paul puts it!: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own.  Brothers, I don not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3 12-14)
     Lord, help us to forget the past, cease fretting over the future and persevere in pressing on as we fix our eyes upon You every single day.  Help us to "live to the hilt every situation" we believe to be Your will, all to Your glory, all by Your grace.  We trust and thank You that You are running the race with us and will enable us to cross the finish triumphantly and faithfully.  To God be the glory forever.

Gorillas and Indescribable God

     Yesterday afternoon I went walking with a very dear friend who has just returned from Africa. She went there with a group of folks to learn about a remarkable program called Zoey (I'm sure I'm misspelling that--which would par for the course for me!) that is helping orphans with micro-lending so that they can continue to live with their siblings but provide an income and a future for their families.  It truly was amazing and uplifting to hear about it.  The pictures of those beautiful children who had lost so much--their parents, their homes, their security--due to HIV or brutal ethnic cleansing was both heartbreaking and yet inspiring--to see those smiling, determined, joyful faces both humbled and heartened me.
     But near the end of our visit yesterday, my friend showed me pictures of silver backed gorillas they had seen at the end of their trip.  Her group hiked over 2 hours up into the hills, led by guides with machetes (for the thick underbrush, I presume), and eventually came out into a small clearing... and there were the gorillas!  How I wish I could post a picture of these remarkable creatures!  My sweet friend said that as soon as she saw the first gorilla she burst into tears.  They were just so beautiful, so amazing.  Such examples of the wondrous creativity of our Almighty God.
     To see such something so stunning in God's creation, well, it does humble you and move you deeply and powerfully.  I feel a taste of that when our old dog, Moses, and I amble along in the early morning and spot the blue heron gracefully fishing in the creek or glimpse a deer bound into the underbrush or gasp at the splashy pinks or oranges of the sunrise.  Just walk out the door and be awed by our God.
     As I thought about it, I was reminded of the wonderful song that Laura Story sings, "Indescribable."  Let the words wash over you:

 From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings, all exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
And we humbly proclaim
That You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night, none can fathom
[ Lyrics from: ]
Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

All powerful, untameable
Awestruck we fall to our knees
And we humbly proclaim
That You are amazing God

You are indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart
And You love me the same
You are amazing God, You are amazing God
You are amazing God

     If you get a chance, go listen to her song and be bathed in the majesty of our Awesome Creator who crafted every star, who fashioned every creature that walks or flies or crawls, who formed every flower, who scooped out every ocean, who shaped every tree, who traced every stream, who breathed His own life into every man, woman, and child. 

     And He knows not only every star and planet, but He knows every single one of us.  By name.  He knows what brings each of us delight and what makes our skin crawl!  He knows our quirks and our questions. He knows our dreams and our fears.  He knows our habits and our hearts.  

     And even as He fully knows "the depths" of our hearts--our selfishness, our secrets sins, our failures and faults, our hidden thoughts--He loves us fully, completely, extravagantly.  If you doubt it, look to the cross. At Calvary we see the full extent of of His love... and it is uncontainable and incredible and indescribable. Such is our God and there is none other.  

     "You are amazing God.  You are amazing God."  

     And He is.  Forever and ever and ever.  To our Almighty, Awesome God and Creator and Redeemer, be all the glory.  

     

The Light of Friends

     "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4)
     "For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God." (John 3:20-21)
   
     How thankful I am for Jesus our Light!  And as I've shared before, consider the power of even the smallest light: it dispels darkness!  Light a candle even in the blackest, most oppressive darkness, and the darkness flees.  Light is always stronger than darkness.  Try as it might, darkness can never completely smother the light, for as long as that light stays lit, it's brightness displaces the darkness around it.
     Today when reading these words from John 3, I was reminded of another source of His light-- fellowship.  Isn't it true that any and all of His good gifts are ultimately sources or results of His light?  Love, laughter, beauty, creation, music, Scripture, kindness, chocolate (of course!)--all tiny little beams of light emanating from, and reflecting, "the Father of Lights."  James 1:17--"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."  Thank You Lord for Your manifold gifts of light in our lives: from Jesus The Light to our families, our faith, our friends, our glorious future in heaven, our finances, our food, our sources of fun, and on and on and on!  All little lights--like the happy twinkling of fireflies--all gifts from Jesus, the Light of the World.
     Today, though, I just want to thank the Lord for the gift of friendship.  There is a balm in Gilead: our friends!  How quickly and easily we tend to forget what a treasure they are in our lives.  Or because of busyness, how frequently we forfeit the simple pleasure of laughing and sharing and crying with dear sisters in Christ (well, I'm a girl so they are sisters!  But I'm taking it on faith that the brothers in Christ are just as great for the guys!  Okay, maybe not as great, but still pretty great! Sorry guys, but you go girls!)
     Friends not only brightly reflect another source of Jesus' light, but they also encourage us to come out into the light.  When we get so busy with life that we fail to make time for true fellowship, we can get trapped in our selfishness or our bad attitudes or our fretting.  We can lose sight of the big picture and wander in a fog of petty worries and concerns... stuck in the dark until our friends coax us into the light.  Whew, thank goodness!
         It's just too easy to forego the joys of fellowship in our mad rush to get it all done and get everything crossed off our to do list.  And you know what?  When we do that, we miss the opportunity to walk in the light with friends who will encourage us and strengthen us and challenge us.  Iron sharpens iron, but you gotta get the iron together to accomplish any sharpening!  Iron doesn't get sharpened over Facebook.  Twitter won't do a whit either--the iron sharpening iron requires time and attention and getting together! And our to-do lists will always be there... and always contain far more items than any human could accomplish in a week, much less a day.
     So put aside the lists, the agendas, the laundry, the clutter, the endless chores... and find time for fellowship.  Maybe I should say, make time for fellowship.  Of course, first and foremost fellowship with the Father, but then fellowship with your friends and family.  Take a walk in the light--the light of the Savior and the light of His myriad gifts, especially friendship. Rediscover the joy of sharing and laughing and remembering and thanking... with friends.  To God, the Father of Lights and the Giver of all good gifts, be the glory.

God of the Small

     Right now I'm contemplating a Savior who came to redeem a vast, lost world, a Savior who was not only fully man but was fully, completely Almighty God.  A Savior who created all,  knew all, and could do all... and yet a Savior whose very first miracle was changing some water into wine at a small family wedding. (John 2:1-11)  Seriously??  Really, what was the big deal?--they had run out of wine.  So the bridegroom's family might be humiliated. So the guests might be disappointed.  So the wedding reception might be sadly curtailed--well, life isn't always fair or fun, right?  Just one of those things.  Their fault, anyway, since they obviously miscalculated and failed to buy enough wine.  Who cares?
     Not me.  Not you.  Probably not anybody at that time... except the bridal party.
     And God.
     Think about it: the Almighty Lord of the heavens and the earth cared enough about a paltry little wedding in a dusty little nothing of a town in an insignificant little occupied country to perform His very first miracle.  The Lord Jesus expended His supernatural energy and effort and time changing some stale water into sublime, perfect wine.  His very first miracle on this planet: changing water into wine... at an everyday commonplace wedding for regular old folks.  Like you and me.
      I've often wondered about this.  And sure, there was certainly a deep spiritual significance: the water represented the old guard, the old way.  The old order of religious life that meant trying and trying and trying to obey the Ten Commandments, perform the sacrifices, and do all that the Jews believed God required.  The new wine symbolized Jesus' new way: the new way made possible by Christ which begins with a new birth, spiritually being born again.  And the result would be the abundant life, abundant joy.  Wine in the Old Testament symbolized joy.  This new wine, this new birth meant joy and new life.
      All that is absolutely true and wonderful.  But you know what?  Just about as wonderful is the fact that the Sovereign of the Universe, the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens and the earth, cared about something so commonplace and ordinary and, in the big scheme of things, unimportant.  Well, unimportant to you and to me and to about every other person who has ever walked on this planet... except those few ordinary individuals at that little wedding.
     We don't know their names.  We don't know their story. We don't even know how they responded to Jesus' miracle.  In fact, it's probable they never even knew that God was in their midst.  And it's possible, even likely, that they never knew that God-man had performed a miracle at their wedding.  They probably never knew and never thanked Him for His kindness and compassion... that was just for them.  Just because He loved them.  Just because that is who He was.. and is... and always will be.
     The God who cares about the big... and the small.  The God who is concerned with the significant events that shape the course of history... and the tiny, insignificant, routine moments of our ordinary days. The God who loves to surprise and bless His own in the great and the tiny.  The God who sees us and knows us and loves us extravagantly, no matter our place or position or potential (or lack thereof!).   "Who despises the day of small things?  Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel." (Zech.4:10)
     O how I thank Him that He does not despise the day of small things!  For my life is comprised of such small things, small tasks,  small abilities, small faith, small hope.  He takes those small things and transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, the chaos into His calm, the hopeless into hope-filled, the sorrowful into singing.  Who could not love and worship such a Savior?  Our Savior who cares about and redeems even the smallest.
     Have you thanked Him today for the small things, the "little" blessings in your life?  The hot water, the warm sun, the cool breeze?  How about the sweet old dog sitting at your feet or the eyes that can read these words or the loads of laundry that represents an abundance of love and purpose in your life?  Have you thanked Him for His Word that guides and encourages and convicts?  Or that friend you ran into or that gift of laughter or that deep breath you just took?  How has He intervened in your life today in a million unseen, unnoticed, and unremembered ways... but each supernatural intervention blessing you in the midst of your ordinary day?  Do we notice?  Have we thanked Him?  Will we choose gratitude over grumbling because of an extraordinary God moving in the midst of our ordinary day?
     Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way:
 "Thankfulness works in the Christian community as it usually does in the Christian life. Only those who give thanks for the little things receive the great things as well. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts prepared for us because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think that we should not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be seeking the great gifts. Then we complain that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experiences that God has given to other Christians, and we consider these complaints to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the small (and yet really not so small!) gifts we receive daily. How can God entrust great things to those who will not gratefully receive the little things from God's hand?"
     Thank You Lord for the big and the small, the splashy and the subtle, blessings in our lives.  Give us eyes to see and hearts to be grateful for your goodness and greatness even in our most ordinary days. To the God of the great and the glorious, as well as the infinitesimal and the insignificant, be all the glory.