Rest with Jesus
This evening I was walking towards my house, dodging rain drops and watching the gray clouds skim by. A thin, wispy ribbon of a rainbow was off to the north. In just a few moments the other end of the rainbow appeared in the south and pretty soon the whole rainbow glowed in front of my eyes.
I felt like I was standing before the gates of heaven. The gloomy clouds continued to move along but the rainbow stood brilliant through them all. It was like an arch of a great doorway beckoning me to look through it.
Eventually it started to fade, but the clouds soon turned from gray to pink and the sky chorused with blue. This beautiful display of God’s nature spoke to my heart in a most profound way.
Sisters and brothers, the Lord will never leave us. He is always with us no matter how dark and stirred up the sky is. It doesn’t matter if we don’t see his rainbow and only see the clouds, it is still there encircling us with God’s love.
Unlike the apostle Peter, always fix your eyes on Him and pay no attention to the storms that threaten your peace. But if your eyes do look at the trouble around you, all you need do is cry to him and he will lift you out of the stormy sea and into the boat.
When hard times press in, my husband often will imagine himself in the boat with Jesus. There he rests and there Jesus brings the boat to shore.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Don’t waste time
What do you do when you are hurting? How do you spend your hours while going through your darkest days? Do you physically and mentally curl up into a fetal position and block everything out until it’s over, or do you lash out at all around you until you find some outside relief?
If we have chosen to follow Jesus, we know that our commitment is to pick up our crosses and follow him. This is not an option but what we must do, because a cross is assigned for all to carry whether we like it or not. But if we lie like slugs and whimper underneath the weight of it, we will never be able to please our Lord. He carried his cross and so should we.
Jesus knows how hard it is to accomplish this task. He knows the pain of being abandoned by friends and family, and he knows that it is the enemy of our souls who is behind every attack.
When we experience tribulation, we too need to be aware who the real enemy is. It is not so much the people who betray us or do their best to harm us, it is the devil who is working through them.
They may be unaware that their hateful energy is supplied by him. They may think they are God’s defenders, as Saul thought as he terrorized and killed his contemporaries who chose to follow Jesus. Or they may think they are divinely designated whistle blowers of other Christians in order to “clean house” in one church or another. If the fruit of whatever action someone takes against another is bitter and causes division, then you can bet the action was not of God.
Have you ever thought that maybe you are experiencing a difficult time because you may be a conduit of the enemy to hurt someone else? That thought has crossed my mind more than once. None of us are exempt from being tempted to work for the other side, and we had better be aware of that possibility.
In the mean time, instead of wasting our lives doing nothing with our suffering, we need to get up off the pity pot, as my husband’s mother used to say, and work. Write a song, visit a homebound person, volunteer time at a crisis center, or listen to someone else who needs an ear.
Because, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 1 Cor. 1: 4
What do you do when you are hurting? How do you spend your hours while going through your darkest days? Do you physically and mentally curl up into a fetal position and block everything out until it’s over, or do you lash out at all around you until you find some outside relief?
If we have chosen to follow Jesus, we know that our commitment is to pick up our crosses and follow him. This is not an option but what we must do, because a cross is assigned for all to carry whether we like it or not. But if we lie like slugs and whimper underneath the weight of it, we will never be able to please our Lord. He carried his cross and so should we.
Jesus knows how hard it is to accomplish this task. He knows the pain of being abandoned by friends and family, and he knows that it is the enemy of our souls who is behind every attack.
When we experience tribulation, we too need to be aware who the real enemy is. It is not so much the people who betray us or do their best to harm us, it is the devil who is working through them.
They may be unaware that their hateful energy is supplied by him. They may think they are God’s defenders, as Saul thought as he terrorized and killed his contemporaries who chose to follow Jesus. Or they may think they are divinely designated whistle blowers of other Christians in order to “clean house” in one church or another. If the fruit of whatever action someone takes against another is bitter and causes division, then you can bet the action was not of God.
Have you ever thought that maybe you are experiencing a difficult time because you may be a conduit of the enemy to hurt someone else? That thought has crossed my mind more than once. None of us are exempt from being tempted to work for the other side, and we had better be aware of that possibility.
In the mean time, instead of wasting our lives doing nothing with our suffering, we need to get up off the pity pot, as my husband’s mother used to say, and work. Write a song, visit a homebound person, volunteer time at a crisis center, or listen to someone else who needs an ear.
Because, “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 1 Cor. 1: 4
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Go in peace and serve the Lord
Jesus was invited to the home of a very prominent citizen, a Pharisee named Simon. This man’s prominence, though, was outdone by his large ego, and his self-righteous opinion of himself. These attributes became apparent by his actions, or his inactions in this case.
When Jesus entered his home, the usual customs of hospitality that one would receive were not afforded to Jesus. Simon did not give him wash water for his feet, he did not give him the welcome kiss to his home, and he did not anoint his head with oil. But why would he, he was a very important man and Jesus, to him, was just a cur sitting under his table.
During dinner, an uninvited woman came into the room where Jesus sat. Carrying a very expensive box of fragrant ointment, she began to wash and anoint his feet and then wipe them with her hair!
Did Jesus take offense when this red-light-district woman came into his “personal space”? No, he was moved with compassion for her and the degrading circumstances she experienced with her “job”.
Meanwhile, pious Simon disgustedly muttered to himself that Jesus should have known better than to entertain this sin soaked woman. Did the woman, a mere cur who sits under the tables of the powerful men in her city, care what he thought? Did she concern herself that she was not clean, outside nor inside, before approaching Jesus with her offering?
No, she recognized that Jesus was the man who could change her from a cur and into the beautiful woman God intended her to be. She knew she did not have to be beautiful before He made her Beautiful. If she had thought she needed to be presentable before kneeling at Jesus feet, she may never have done what she did for him.
Her example is the answer to the question asked by people who feel they need to be cleaned up before they can ask God for forgiveness. Like her, all of us are invited to bring ourselves with the bulk and baggage collected over the years, untie the bundles, and let them fall at his feet. Then we can kneel before him and wet his feet with our tears of regret and sorrow.
Then we can all hear Jesus say to us, “Your sins are many and they are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”
Go in peace and serve the Lord.
Jesus was invited to the home of a very prominent citizen, a Pharisee named Simon. This man’s prominence, though, was outdone by his large ego, and his self-righteous opinion of himself. These attributes became apparent by his actions, or his inactions in this case.
When Jesus entered his home, the usual customs of hospitality that one would receive were not afforded to Jesus. Simon did not give him wash water for his feet, he did not give him the welcome kiss to his home, and he did not anoint his head with oil. But why would he, he was a very important man and Jesus, to him, was just a cur sitting under his table.
During dinner, an uninvited woman came into the room where Jesus sat. Carrying a very expensive box of fragrant ointment, she began to wash and anoint his feet and then wipe them with her hair!
Did Jesus take offense when this red-light-district woman came into his “personal space”? No, he was moved with compassion for her and the degrading circumstances she experienced with her “job”.
Meanwhile, pious Simon disgustedly muttered to himself that Jesus should have known better than to entertain this sin soaked woman. Did the woman, a mere cur who sits under the tables of the powerful men in her city, care what he thought? Did she concern herself that she was not clean, outside nor inside, before approaching Jesus with her offering?
No, she recognized that Jesus was the man who could change her from a cur and into the beautiful woman God intended her to be. She knew she did not have to be beautiful before He made her Beautiful. If she had thought she needed to be presentable before kneeling at Jesus feet, she may never have done what she did for him.
Her example is the answer to the question asked by people who feel they need to be cleaned up before they can ask God for forgiveness. Like her, all of us are invited to bring ourselves with the bulk and baggage collected over the years, untie the bundles, and let them fall at his feet. Then we can kneel before him and wet his feet with our tears of regret and sorrow.
Then we can all hear Jesus say to us, “Your sins are many and they are forgiven. Your faith has saved you, go in peace.”
Go in peace and serve the Lord.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Preach the gospel, and if necessary use words. Francis of Assisi.
Last March we went on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean accompanying our elderly friend, Fr. John, who cannot travel alone due to his health issues. The one thing he wanted to do on this trip was to get his feet wet in the ocean like he had done in years past. So, whatever it would take, we were going to make that happen for him.
When our ship docked at the island of Granada, a bus tour of the island finishing with a visit to the beach was offered. We left the ship and boarded the small, steamy bus to see the sights of the coast. When we arrived at the beach, we got him settled in his wheelchair under a shade tree near the edge of the sandy beach.
Later, I asked our tour guide to help us bring him down to the water. We must have been quite a spectacle; Earl and I holding Fr. John arm in arm slowly plodding over the sand to the water, and our guide following with a wheelchair.
As soon as we got him settled in his chair, another tourist from our ship walked over to Fr. John, shook his hand vigorously and said, “I hope you have the best time ever. It is so great that you could come on this cruise.”
Shortly after that, an islander selling scarves on the beach broke out in loud praises in front of all the beach goers. “Praise the Lord! This is the way we show our love to God and our neighbor!” He went on for a good five minutes with his lively sermon.
I will tell you, that of all the experiences of that trip including all the niceties and extravagances of ship travel, the joy of helping Fr. John get his feet wet was the most gratifying part of the trip.
I had not really realized until this beach excursion that our care for this elderly man with so many medical problems is what speaks so loudly of our faith in Jesus Christ. We could never have said in mere words the love God has for us all. It was best told through our actions to those watching.
Every time I think of this day, I repeat what the islander said, “Praise the Lord! This is the way we show our love to God and our neighbor!”
Last March we went on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean accompanying our elderly friend, Fr. John, who cannot travel alone due to his health issues. The one thing he wanted to do on this trip was to get his feet wet in the ocean like he had done in years past. So, whatever it would take, we were going to make that happen for him.
When our ship docked at the island of Granada, a bus tour of the island finishing with a visit to the beach was offered. We left the ship and boarded the small, steamy bus to see the sights of the coast. When we arrived at the beach, we got him settled in his wheelchair under a shade tree near the edge of the sandy beach.
Later, I asked our tour guide to help us bring him down to the water. We must have been quite a spectacle; Earl and I holding Fr. John arm in arm slowly plodding over the sand to the water, and our guide following with a wheelchair.
As soon as we got him settled in his chair, another tourist from our ship walked over to Fr. John, shook his hand vigorously and said, “I hope you have the best time ever. It is so great that you could come on this cruise.”
Shortly after that, an islander selling scarves on the beach broke out in loud praises in front of all the beach goers. “Praise the Lord! This is the way we show our love to God and our neighbor!” He went on for a good five minutes with his lively sermon.
I will tell you, that of all the experiences of that trip including all the niceties and extravagances of ship travel, the joy of helping Fr. John get his feet wet was the most gratifying part of the trip.
I had not really realized until this beach excursion that our care for this elderly man with so many medical problems is what speaks so loudly of our faith in Jesus Christ. We could never have said in mere words the love God has for us all. It was best told through our actions to those watching.
Every time I think of this day, I repeat what the islander said, “Praise the Lord! This is the way we show our love to God and our neighbor!”
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Rejoice in your suffering!
Recently, a pastor said to us, “If you are not being attacked, you are doing something wrong.” I agreed with him wholeheartedly.
I believe that when we are doing what God wants us to do, we will suffer for it, but when we suffer, we should rejoice!
Rejoice because “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8: 28
Rejoice because we are blessed when we suffer for justice’ sake. And, rejoice because we are told to be not be afraid or troubled by their fear. 1 Pet. 3:14
Rejoice when you, with modesty and fear and having a good conscience, are on the receiving end of evil gossip, or false accusations, because your accusers will eventually become ashamed of their talk. They will see your good behavior as a Christian and will have to eat their words. vs. 17, 18
Rejoice because the trial you experience now will bear in you the sweet fruits of righteousness: long suffering, patience, joy, peace.
And, rejoice because our trials can help to save souls by furthering the gospel. Phil. 1: 12
When we have a right perspective on suffering and what it is meant to do for us, it makes the ordeal a little bit easier to endure!
Recently, a pastor said to us, “If you are not being attacked, you are doing something wrong.” I agreed with him wholeheartedly.
I believe that when we are doing what God wants us to do, we will suffer for it, but when we suffer, we should rejoice!
Rejoice because “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8: 28
Rejoice because we are blessed when we suffer for justice’ sake. And, rejoice because we are told to be not be afraid or troubled by their fear. 1 Pet. 3:14
Rejoice when you, with modesty and fear and having a good conscience, are on the receiving end of evil gossip, or false accusations, because your accusers will eventually become ashamed of their talk. They will see your good behavior as a Christian and will have to eat their words. vs. 17, 18
Rejoice because the trial you experience now will bear in you the sweet fruits of righteousness: long suffering, patience, joy, peace.
And, rejoice because our trials can help to save souls by furthering the gospel. Phil. 1: 12
When we have a right perspective on suffering and what it is meant to do for us, it makes the ordeal a little bit easier to endure!
Sunday, September 8, 2013
A Simple Prayer
“I lock my door to myself, and I throw myself down in the presence of my God. I divest myself of all worldly thoughts, and I bend all my powers and faculties upon God, as I think, and suddenly I find myself scattered, melted, fallen into vain thoughts, into no thoughts; I am upon my knees, and I talk, and think nothing.” Dr. John Donne 17th cent. Anglican priest
Reading this quote was, for me, like looking in a mirror. I am so much like this. Are you? Are your thoughts an undisciplined ramble careening from one idea to another? Then maybe you ask the same question I ask. How am I supposed to pray unceasingly when I cannot even get myself to stay on course for a few minutes?
One man, an anonymous homeless wanderer from Russia, found his answer while on a ten year walking pilgrimage in search of God.
After hearing the words in a sermon, “Pray without ceasing” this man sold all he had and started a quest to answer the question of how it could be possible to do this when one had to “concern himself with other things also in order to make a living.”
After many disappointing encounters with religious men of many different faiths, he met a monk who shared with him the Jesus Prayer. He said, “The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling on the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart while forming a mental picture of his constant presence, and imploring His grace...at all times.” The words he was to pray were: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
First the monk told him to pray this three thousand times a day(!) This he found difficult, but eventually it became “easy and likable”. The he was told to pray it six thousand times a day and then twelve thousand times a day. The idea was to make this prayer a part of his very breath. The result was the pilgrim began to breath Jesus and life became new for him.
I want to breath Jesus too. And though I don’t think I will repeat this simple prayer thousands of times a day, I can repeat it when I am doing mundane chores, driving the car, or while I awake at night.
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
“I lock my door to myself, and I throw myself down in the presence of my God. I divest myself of all worldly thoughts, and I bend all my powers and faculties upon God, as I think, and suddenly I find myself scattered, melted, fallen into vain thoughts, into no thoughts; I am upon my knees, and I talk, and think nothing.” Dr. John Donne 17th cent. Anglican priest
Reading this quote was, for me, like looking in a mirror. I am so much like this. Are you? Are your thoughts an undisciplined ramble careening from one idea to another? Then maybe you ask the same question I ask. How am I supposed to pray unceasingly when I cannot even get myself to stay on course for a few minutes?
One man, an anonymous homeless wanderer from Russia, found his answer while on a ten year walking pilgrimage in search of God.
After hearing the words in a sermon, “Pray without ceasing” this man sold all he had and started a quest to answer the question of how it could be possible to do this when one had to “concern himself with other things also in order to make a living.”
After many disappointing encounters with religious men of many different faiths, he met a monk who shared with him the Jesus Prayer. He said, “The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant uninterrupted calling on the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart while forming a mental picture of his constant presence, and imploring His grace...at all times.” The words he was to pray were: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
First the monk told him to pray this three thousand times a day(!) This he found difficult, but eventually it became “easy and likable”. The he was told to pray it six thousand times a day and then twelve thousand times a day. The idea was to make this prayer a part of his very breath. The result was the pilgrim began to breath Jesus and life became new for him.
I want to breath Jesus too. And though I don’t think I will repeat this simple prayer thousands of times a day, I can repeat it when I am doing mundane chores, driving the car, or while I awake at night.
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.”
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
God is most near when we suffer
Do you remember the Lynn Anderson song, Rose Garden? Though the lyrics describe a rocky, temporary relationship, the lines, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine there’s got to be a little rain sometime”, are words all of us can take to heart.
Our Lord never intends any of his children to live out their lives without rain. He desires us to grow and the only way to grow is with rain. A slow drizzle of adversity is good for strengthening our resolve to serve the Lord, and we may feel we are growing in our faith.
But what happens when the drizzle becomes a monsoon? Is God in it? Does He expect us to grow in it, or will we give up and die? In the book of Isaiah, God comforts his people by telling them: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
The floods will come and the monsoon will try to uproot us, but God is near, and if we hold on to his hand we will come through our calamity.
We waste our time when we forever try to avoid the rain or shorten its duration. Instead we have to see the good in it and know that if our eyes are fixed on God there is good in all our suffering.
Author Simone Weil wrote, “The supernatural greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that is does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering but a supernatural use for it.”
Pastor Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs, testified in his book Tortured for Christ that when he and his fellow Christians were being tortured in Romanian prisons, their souls were lifted up away from their bodies and from their torturers and the prison cell walls became as glistening diamonds with the presence of God.
God was with them; God was in their suffering, and God gave them the resolve to endure, not shorten, the pain. If God can help those who are in the most dire of circumstances, He can also help us.
Do you remember the Lynn Anderson song, Rose Garden? Though the lyrics describe a rocky, temporary relationship, the lines, “I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine there’s got to be a little rain sometime”, are words all of us can take to heart.
Our Lord never intends any of his children to live out their lives without rain. He desires us to grow and the only way to grow is with rain. A slow drizzle of adversity is good for strengthening our resolve to serve the Lord, and we may feel we are growing in our faith.
But what happens when the drizzle becomes a monsoon? Is God in it? Does He expect us to grow in it, or will we give up and die? In the book of Isaiah, God comforts his people by telling them: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
The floods will come and the monsoon will try to uproot us, but God is near, and if we hold on to his hand we will come through our calamity.
We waste our time when we forever try to avoid the rain or shorten its duration. Instead we have to see the good in it and know that if our eyes are fixed on God there is good in all our suffering.
Author Simone Weil wrote, “The supernatural greatness of Christianity lies in the fact that is does not seek a supernatural remedy for suffering but a supernatural use for it.”
Pastor Wurmbrand, founder of Voice of the Martyrs, testified in his book Tortured for Christ that when he and his fellow Christians were being tortured in Romanian prisons, their souls were lifted up away from their bodies and from their torturers and the prison cell walls became as glistening diamonds with the presence of God.
God was with them; God was in their suffering, and God gave them the resolve to endure, not shorten, the pain. If God can help those who are in the most dire of circumstances, He can also help us.
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