REWIND: A Quick Thought On Boldness!

~What is boldness? It's daring to throw yourself out onto the promises of God. To believe that He has only good things in store for you, and refusing to accept anything less. It's forgeting about yourself, and your image, and your reputation, and YOU. It's facing rejection, not once, not twice, but daily. It's living on the edge; refusing to settle, back down, become complacent, or stop taking ground. Man, what a lifestyle.~

The above is something I posted several months ago. It's kind of funny, when I'm feeling down, or discouraged, I'll often go back and look at things that I've posted before! It's such a surprising encouragement - I love it.

At the end of last year, I was invited to go to Guatemala in February and visit my best friend. (This will be my first mission trip!) When I prayed about it, I felt like the Lord very clearly said, "Yes, go." So since early November, I've been preparing to leave.

Every step of the way, no matter how simple the step there have been OBSTACLES. And through out a pervasive sense of "rush, rush, rush, hurry, hurry, hurry...Sam! You're holding everyone up!!" Clearly, it's the enemy.

I'm finding it so hard not to indulge in severe discouragement. I keep reminding myself that God is watching over me, that He's directing my steps, but I think my "Word levels" are low. So I guess my suggestion to anyone who is facing difficulties right now: DO be faithful in spending some time in the Word every day! Reading encouraging scriptures recharges your batteries and keeps your heart in the place of rest that God has prepared for every believer! (Speaking of rest, I think I'm going to go do that right now....!)

I post this scripture a lot, but it's so TRUE!! Chew the cud with me:

Jeremiah 29 :11-13
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Miriam: The Smart Older Sister

Do you ever think about the story of Moses from Miriam's viewpoint? I was thinking about that tonight and I realized something (aka God pointed something out to me); Miriam let her Mother put Moses in a basket in a river.

That's right. Think about that!! She actually let her Mother place her baby brother in a basket in the NILE. That just blows my mind.

I never thought about it like that before. Man, if that had been me, I would have fished my little brother out of the river and tried to make a run for it with him all by myself. I also would have been angry with my mother for committing what I would have viewed as infanticide! But if Miriam had taken Moses out of the river, it was very likely that he would have been killed. Someone would have caught her with him before she could get out of Egypt (duh, since they were slaves!) and Moses would have been toast.

But Miriam was bright enough to leave her brother where he was. She didn't abandon him, but she didn't take control of the situation.

I'm protective. I'm also loyal. I'm also a control freak. I hear a sweet motherly woman saying "Awww..." but the truth is that particular combination when it's not Spirit-led is pretty lethal.

Miriam stayed close by and available, but she didn't butt in until God nudged her to. Man! I could sure take some lessons for her. It's so hard to leave someone in what seems to be a dangerous situation when you're as nosy as I am. But that's why you have to be close to God. Because sometimes people have to reach a low point before they cry out to God on their own. Sometimes they have to drown a little before they reach out to God from their hearts. If you keep propping them up and propping them up, that baby will never grow beyond baby food. And I doubt that child will walk on it's own, much less swim!

God is always involved. I guess what I'm saying (and I seriously need to learn this RIGHT NOW) is wait until He tells you to do something before you intervene. Release your loved one to God. 'Cause what looks to be a dangerous situation may just be the boat ride to salvation!

1Cor. 1:19
For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

1Cor. 2:9&10
However, it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"-- but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Psalm 119:1-8 NIV (A Personal Closer Look)

Aleph
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!
6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.
8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

I've been talking with a guy who is a close friend of mine and he's been kind of struggling with his own perception of right and wrong. Everyone has standards for his or her own life. It's like a person's own line in the sand. Example: I'll get super mad at my Mom and be disrespectful, but I won't hit someone in anger. Or: I'll drive five miles over the speed limit, but I won't make illegal left turns. Personal perception of right and wrong and all the varying degrees therein.

I'm hearing someone think, "So what?" Well, we've just identified a form of "law". Only this law is human law, carnal law, Sam's law of relatively bad behavior. And this kind of law gives us trouble!

My friend was considering doing something, and was running into some difficulty going ahead with it with a clear and easy heart. One reason for worry was that he was concerned with what others would think, what others would say. Another reason for worry, an even bigger one in my opinion, was that he wasn't sure whether God considered what he was about to do a sin. Frustrated, he said, "I wish there was a list of do's and don'ts! Then I wouldn't have to worry about anything!"

I've felt like that before. We get into this formulaic mindset, where all we want is a list of rules. Just a list of rules, so that it's easy. Don't have to think about it, don't have to go ask God about anything, just consult the list and go on living our own lives.

Ps. 119:
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.
3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.

The problem with wanting a list like that is that it isn't easy. The Israelites could tell us how NOT easy it was. Things happen, and there are so many variables to deal with in actual, real life situations that a concrete rule can't allow for. When we're rules focused we're also sin conscious, so we're missing it there too!

Man! Harsh!

There is hope though! In Galatians 5:1 it says: "It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yolk of slavery." What were we set free from? Sin and death!! And what was the yolk that harnessed us to our sins? LAW!! The law condemned us. So what did God do? He didn't just make a bunch of add-ons and adjustments to the law, He sent Jesus to take the punishment in our place, and gave us a new law, a simpler law, a law that established grace, mercy, and relationship as the rule!!

How many of you hate when you call customer service and get those automated things? "For problems with the billing department, press one. For the claims department, press 2." I get SO frustrated when my problem doesn't fit their list!! I'm always so RELIEVED to talk to a live person, I end up being so sweet and nice, I almost don't get my issue resolved!! Think of your life like that. God wanted to take out the inflexibility of "The LAW" and instead deal with you one-on-one!

Paul said it like this:
Galatians 5:4-6 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:16
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

My advice to my friend? Talk to God!! Get to know God!! Ask Him what is good and upright. Seek Him, get to know Him, learn to love Him, and then you won't be asking for a list! You'll be naturally serving God and doing what is right.

Lastly:
Ephesians 5:8-9
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Chewing The Cud (Translating Meditation From Christianese Into Plain English)

Hee hee, I LOVE that title!! Love it. (On a side note, I need to write a book and include the sentence, "The grill was a screaming sea of grease.")

Today, at work, while I prepared a vast quantity of pork chops I listened to the sermon from Sunday's service (Making Disciples). And, it was funny and frustrating, bits and pieces of the sermon kept popping out at me. It was like they were highlighted on the inside of my heart. There was one part in particular that I kept rewinding and listening to again and again. I tried very hard to figure out what I was trying to understand or what I was on the verge of discovering, but, whatever it was, it remained shapeless and flighty, just out of my reach.

But the experience got me thinking. Meditation is SO important! It seems kind of boring and mundane, but the process of focusing on one scripture, or one thought from the bible, or one part of a sermon is like exercising. As you look at the scripture from different angles and really lean into thinking about it, the Holy Spirit is right there. It's like, you're doing chin ups, and as you pull up, when you get your chin over the bar, He pops something sweet in your mouth to reward your work.

I was tempted to email my pastor and question him until he gave me the discovery that my spirit was working on. But as I considered it, the image of a chick chipping it's way out of its shell popped into my mind. If someone comes along and helps the chick out, does all the work for it, then the chick will grow up weak. It won't have developed the muscles that it needs. I think meditation is like that. Sometimes, we need to figure out things for ourselves. Not just take whatever has been fed to us, but root around for our own food.

Anyway, check out the sermon. It was GOOD.

Visiting My Friends' Church

I went to a service at my friends' new church "Shift" and afterwards we were all sitting around just talking. After a bit, I realized how PASSIONATE I am about God. And the more I find out about Him, the more I love Him. Gah, that sounds so sappy, but it's true.

Mrs. Collins posted on her blog about knowing God and it hit my heart just the right way. (Click here to read it!) I'd love to restate everything she said, but honestly, she said it best. So read it!!

Hebrew 8:10-12: This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will ALL know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Wow.

I didn't even see this until a few seconds ago, but check it out. It's amazing.

April Showers

Ooo, and this too: 10/21/07, Schlyce Jimenez - Living By Grace.

http://www.familylife.cc/sermons.html

Click 'em. I dare you. ^_^

When You Have Nothing Good To Say...

I've been reading the book that I got from Kenneth Copeland Ministries, the one that has all the daily bible studies/deep thought of the day's. It's an interesting read, and it definitely sticks in your head. It's not unusual for me to find myself mulling over something I read several days after I read it!

Like this: "Patience is the power twin of faith." At first, it stuck with me just because I though it was hilarious! Like, "Pastor Copeland, let me guess. You watch the power rangers with your grandkids, right? It's starting to creep into your semi-sermons..." (Heheh....)

But I keep hearing that phrase in my head. Not because it's hilarious, but because it's true.

I'm experiencing something I've never experienced before. I don't have a short term vision that I'm steering towards. And it's frustrating, annoying, and tiring. I'm a visual person, I have a vivid, active imagination, and I love daydreaming. Since turning my life over to God, I've seen just about all of my imaginations come true. I've gotten used to expecting the things that I'm dreaming about come to fruition pretty quickly. To suddenly have nothing looming on the horizon is very disconcerting. =\

I don't want to waste my time dreaming about things that aren't "on the approved list" with God. And it would be a waste! Why daydream about something that doesn't fall into line with what I was created to be/do?

So for now, I'm just waiting. I've decided to keep on doing the things that I know have life in them, that are good, and trust that God will show me what to do at some point. This is where patience comes in. I know that God has good plans for me, and I know that this spot, this time is temporary.