New Year Blessings

May the One Eternal God smile on you in this new year. May He grant you grace and mercy. May He bless your going out and your coming in. And may you cultivate a desire to learn of Him, grown in Him, and live for Him. May you quench the thirsting of your soul by drinking from the living waters that flows from the eternal fountain.

God Bless and Happy New Year!

The Women Jesus Remembered

Lot's Wife Courtesy Pixabay.com

There are two women mentioned in the Bible that we're supposed to remember. In Luke 17:32 Jesus told us to "Remember Lot's Wife." You know the story of Lot's wife. You can find it in Gen 19. Lot, his wife, and two daughters were trying to escape the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Their instructions from the angle from the Lord was to run and not look back. Lot's wife disobeyed and turned into a pillar of salt.

The other woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus. All four gospels relate this story from each disciples' perspective. I use the bare bones of it. Jesus was at a friend's house for lunch when Mary, a former harlot, came in and kneeled at Jesus' feet and washed them with her tears and dry them with her hair. When the friend was thinking about the woman and her sins and Judas worried about how much the perfume cost, Jesus told a story intended to show them why she did what she did. When he finished, he said, "Leave her alone; why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful deed to Me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me. She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial. And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."

Anyone who ever sat in a Sunday School class for any length of time has heard about both these women. Two women Jesus wanted us remembered for two very different reasons. We remember Lot's wife for her failure and Mary for her love and devotion to God. There are no other women mentioned in this manner by Jesus. In fact, I don't recall anyone in the Bible saying we were to remember anyone else. 

Simple obedience would have saved Lot's wife. Her fate was needless and stupid. Why was it necessary to look back? Tell me, if angles showed up on your step and said your city was being destroyed and you had to get out now, what would you do? They recognized these men as angles and didn't express any doubt, but did as instructed and headed out of the city. 

The angles told them, "Whatever you do, don't look back!"

No one had a problem with it, except Lot's wife. Everything she loved was back there: the new dress she had begun, the cake in the oven, a lunch date with her friend, her home, her friends, her prestige all lay behind. Lot's wife saw nothing waiting ahead of her except a cave in the rocks. She needed just one final look. 

Mary, eyes clouded with tears, kneeled and washed the Lord's dirty feet. He walked all over the place from muddy streets to barn yards. But this woman, with her dirty reputation, entered uninvited and crouched down to clean all this from his feet with her tears and an expensive perfume and dried his feet with her hair. 

Mary didn't need to look back. She knew what lay behind her. Her home, her friends, and her prestige turned to ash when she entered "Sodom and Gomorrah". Instead, Mary turned her eyes on her Savior's feet and remembered him writing in the sand the day he destroyed her own Sodom and Gomorrah. When Jesus said "Go, and sin no more.", Mary ran and never looked back.

Remember Lot's wife. I think we're all like Lot's wife. We spend a lot of time looking back at what we've left behind for whatever reason. I know I do. Regret. Remorse. Whatever you want to call it. There is this tug to look back one more time. Fortunately for us, we do not turn into a pillar of salt.

Or do we? Jesus tells us we are 'the salt of the earth' in Matthew 5:13 and if we lose our savor, we're useless. Mark 9:49 says, "For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt."

Perhaps the reason for Lot's wife's condition was more than just her punishment. She stands as a monument to all of those who looked back, longing for the things left behind. She stands useless, salt that has lost its savor.

The Prodigal's Empty Chair

I read the story of the Prodigal Son this morning and a thought came to mind that I don't recall hearing before. We've all read this story or heard it in some fashion. At least, I think if you're reading this post you have heard it. Here is the short version.

Wealthy family going about their business. The youngest son decides he wants his inheritance early. Father obliges him and he takes off to live it up in the big city. Eventually, the money runs out and so do the friends and he ends up living in a pigpen, the antiquated equivalent of a cardboard box in an alley.

One day, he wakes up and realizes he's living like a pig. He remembers he comes from a kind and loving family who feeds their pigs better than he is eating. Reasoning he can't do any worse, he heads home and his father greets him with open arms and a blowout party. 

Older son hears the noise and has a fit. This is his inheritance they're spending now. 

Most sermons that use this story to express the forgiveness and loving kindness of God. They point out that no matter how far we go, how low we sink, how disgusting we live, God will always welcome us back into his fold and give us a place at his table. It's a beautiful story about the grace and mercy of God. This morning I got something different from it.

It's true God will forgive us and welcome us back home again. He will allow us to enjoy the bounty of his house. As long as we stay there and abide by his teachings and his (forgive me for this bad word) rules.

Yeah, I said it. There're rules at Dad's house. Remember when you lived with your parents and you had to follow all those rules? You couldn't wait to get out of there and do your own thing. Then.... you lost your job and had to go home to live with Mom and Dad again. But hey, you're an adult now. What can they do? Then you find out the truth. Mom and Dad haven't changed. The rules are still there.

We will always be welcome in our Father's arms. We will always have his love. But we still have to follow his rules. There are still requirements to reap the benefits of his bounty. He desires to share with us, but he can't be in the presence of sin. It is impossible for him to live with it. To do so would make him less than God. He will not hold second place to anything, for anyone.

We can go home and receive a grand welcome. But if we leave again, we will leave it behind and in this story there is no portion for the Prodigal Son to take with him this time. Everything belongs to the faithful son who stays in his Father's house and cares for the Father and his inheritance. He gets up, goes to work, plants, waters, and reaps the harvest. He shears the livestock, feeds and milks the cows. He deals with the laborers and sees that the house is in good repair. He enjoys the company and love of his Father. And he follows the rules.

The Prodical will ALWAYS be a Prodical as long as he is away from home. If he comes home and leaves again, he will be a Prodigal. He will die a Prodigal if he does not return. He is eternally denied his rightful place at the table.

You can't live in the pigpen of sin and live in the Father's house. You may visit, but that doesn't make you a son. You may show up on holidays and special occasions to share a meal, but that doesn't make you a son. Guest are welcome at the Father's house but if they leave unchanged, they are still only guests.

To be a son, you must return to stay. And you must follow His rules. You don't have to be perfect, you just have to strive to be like your Father every day. Remember those dinners when you were a kid and all your relatives got together? Someone was always dropping things, spilling things, talking too loud. But it was an amazing place to be! You could have stayed there forever. No one remembered the spilled food, broken glasses, and loud talking. All you remember is the love you felt sitting in that room with your family, people you loved and that loved you.

In the Father's house, the table is always ready for family gatherings when you get home and filled with love. You can eat every meal at that table. But only if you live there. I want to sit at His table forever.

I'll save you a seat.

Pray for the Peace

Pixabay.com

Most of those who know me well, know I don't watch the news. None on television if I can avoid it. I pick and choose what I read on my news feed on my phone. I tell Google I'm not interested in many things. They stop showing up.

One thing I'm seeing that is troubling is this anti Israel sentiment that is growing. Whether you believe it or not, this is a prophecy being fulfilled. The muslim world and it's friends are actually making the Bible come true! I wonder if they know this  or if they're just that stupid. The Bible is very clear that the world will turn against Israel. That there will be a war to attempt to wipe them out, not Armageddon but a war specifically to destroy Israel. And that those involved in that war will lose and lose horribly. The blood of the attackers will be as deep as a horse's bridle and it will take 6 months to bury the dead. They will lie in the desert and rot. The ancient version of countries involved in that attack are even named.

You think what you want but the drive that is happening against Israel is actually going to make it happen.

For a long time I felt very strongly that I had to pray for Israel, not Bible thumping, floor pounding prayer calling on eternal damnation to Israel's enemies. That isn't Biblical or Christian.

No, what I began to do years ago and have felt more so recently was how the Bible told me to address it. I've begun to do it more so as the hatred has increased. I posted this a couple of weeks ago and shared it. I would encourage every Christian who professes faith in the Word of God to take it to heart and begin to pray for Israel.

Peace in Your Palaces

We're to pray for peace and prosperity for Israel. Those of us who love Israel should be daily keeping this in their prayers. And while we're at it, we ought to be praying for the Savior to be revealed to her enemies more and more as the evil day approaches.

Peace In Your Palaces

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:“May they prosper who love you.Peace be within your walls,Prosperity within your palaces.”For the sake of my brethren and companions,I will now say, “Peace be within you.”Because of the house of the Lord our GodI will seek your good.

Psalms 122:6-9

Cooked

What a horrible summer. Hot as Satan's kitchen and so much chaos that I can't begin to even describe it.

What do you suppose he'd cook?

Excuse me?

You said "Satan's kitchen". I just wondered what he'd cook there.

UH, wow, really I'm not sure I want to think about that. 

Well, you probably shouldn't reference things you don't want to discuss. I thought you came here to talk.

....

Cat got your tongue?

No. No. I'm fine but this is a strange discussion. I've no idea how it started. 

Well...

Never mind. It doesn't matter. I do want to talk. Things ... everything has been so horrible. I don't know what to do or how to stop it. 

I'm not sure you can stop it.

What! What does that mean?

It rains on the just and the unjust. Troubles come to everyone. 

That isn't much help. Financially, I've reached a limit. I had to go back to work and honestly, it's rough. Physically, I'm spent.

I know but you're not sitting around fretting over Sarah.

And that's another thing. Everything out of the blue, totally uprooted, disrupted her life. Again. She was so traumatized. 

Be honest here, you had a suspicion it was coming for months. You could have acted sooner if you hadn't been so selfish and afraid.

Yes. But I am selfish and afraid. Most of the time. I didn't know how to fix it. I only realized what I had to do when it all blew up in our face. Watching her tormented and heartbroken over and over for weeks was too much to bear. No one should hurt another that way.

And when the chips were down, you stepped aside and gave me the key.

Yes. 

And you knew it was the right thing to do.

Yes. As soon I said the words, I knew. I also knew the cost of that decision. 

But you still did it. 

Yes, and I'm still paying. 

.....

Tell me, will you just get him off my back? Send him back to the kitchen or wherever it is he goes. This continued assault won't change anything now. I did what I had to do, and I'd do it again. I won't change my mind. I won't stop. I've dragged myself from many battlefields and patched myself up. As long as I breathe, I'll keep doing that. This is just one more battle he can't win. 

I'll speak to him. But you know he's a disobedient son. Never listens. He's blocked my number, I'm sure.

I'd laugh, but it isn't funny. Send one of your guys to rough him up or something. I need reinforcements ... no; I need replacements. I'm tired.

You know, you did a good thing. 

No. I did a necessary thing. I'll never feel good about it. But some things are more important than feeling good. Sometimes the thing that hurts the most, makes the biggest difference to someone else. Sometimes you have to give up so someone else can be at peace. She needs to be happy. She needs to feel safe and secure. It was not in my power to give that to her.  

Will you be all right?

You're asking me? You know better than I. Does it matter?

Certainly.

Well then, we must wait and see.

#ConversationsWithHim

I Am Not Strong

I've survived hard times,

pain, sickness, and stress.

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

At times abandoned, forgotten,

broken, and alone in my grief.

He found me and invited me to sit at his feet.

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

I survived because He sustained me

with His grace, mercy, and peace

Not because I am strong

But because God is.

I am His child

And I am not strong.

God is.

by  Cynthia Maddox, 01/24/2019

Walls

I've had a kind of rough week. There are things that have just been too burdensome to deal with and I wanted to just sit down in the middle of the road and give up. I wanted to stop and never take another step. I am so exhausted and the load isn't getting lighter. I went to church today with this mentality.

For months now, I've been pounding away at this stainless steel wall. I can't make a dent in it. I see myself hammering at it and trying to dig under it. At one point I thought, this isn't a wall! This is a room! And I can't get out. It frightened me. Not the criminal at the door kind of fear. Something baser and more nebulous. Feral comes to mind. Perhaps the steel walls served a purpose.

Regardless of my imagination, I've been feeling trapped and overwhelmed. Sometimes, being adept at handling lots of problems well can be a handicap. In the last year, I think I reached my saturation point. Since then, I've been leaking all over the place.

Yes, I've prayed about it. But locked in a steel room with no exits, nothing much gets out. And not much gets in, either. However, I'm nothing, if not persistent. I keep hammering away.

This is the state of mind I've been in all week. I have had enough. I'm tired. I'm sore. I'm frustrated. I'm defeated. This is the mood I went to church in.

Well, they always say Jesus wants us to come as we are, so I did. Yes, he met me there, and it was a comfort. It didn't solve my problems. If didn't really fix anything, at least not that I noticed. What you need to understand is that despite all my failures, I'm still the same manager I've always been. What changed is my support system and I've been adjusting to that ever since. The support or absence of.

The problem may be that I'm at the period that comes around every year. November through February. Holidays are horrible and my wedding anniversary is the 11th of January, right in the middle of the most family orientated celebrations. I have no family except my granddaughter, my son, and my sister left. Everyone is 12 hours away or dead. My sister works crazy hours, so I never see her. So, the isolation makes things much harder. Throw in that steel room and you have a lovely recipe for neuroticism. But I'm OK. I'm always OK.

When an older lady at church walked up and asked me how I was today I said, "I'm OK." She looked at me a minute and said, "No, you're not. Your eyes show it." Well, you can't fool the wise. I admitted it to her but said, "I'll be fine."

I don't know if I'll be fine but I have to hang on. I have to keep hammering at the walls. I said church helped. And it did. The Lord blessed me by his presence and I take great comfort from that. The lesson this morning was the story of Joshua when Israel was in a battle and he ordered the sun and moon to stand still. I think the point was that sometimes you have to say "Stop" and mean it. He didn't ask God to make them stand still. Joshua ordered them to stop moving. They did. He didn't question it and God did it.

One often forgets that Joshua was the kind of guy that just expected things to happen. He didn't order the walls of Jericho to come down. He told the people to march. The walls fell.

There is a message in there somewhere. I'm sure. 

This afternoon, when I got on to browse, I stumbled across an old post. This happens a lot, and it is usually a good thing. The post was a reminder that no matter how bad it gets, I'm still blessed. No, it won't make things better. It might make me better. I'm blessed far beyond anything God promised to do. Things look bad but God always comes through. I'm sure there is a door somewhere in that wall. I just have to keep looking. 

A Terrifying Adventure

Well, that was uneventful.

You were expecting fireworks?

One does on New Year’s. I heard a few explosions so wasn’t a total bust but that stomach bug wasn’t nice.

You’re tired. You haven’t slept in 24 hrs.  

I know. I’m going to bed soon, though. I had something I needed to do.

Really?

Mm, yes. I wanted to take a minute to tell you how very grateful I am to see the start of a new year. I’m so thankful for all you have carried me through and all the provisions you’ve made for me. 

You’re welcome. There were a few times I wondered. 

Yes, about that. I’m sorry. I get so overwhelmed these days. There was a time when I could handle a lot more but ... that’s long gone. I’m tired of trying to be perfect and to cope with ... everything. But I am glad you’ve kept me safe, provided for my needs, and blessed me with your presence. You are my anchor.

Well, it makes me happy to help you. But you know, you don’t have to be perfect or cope with everything. You could try letting me handle more of it. 

It frightens me when I can’t control things that need control. I once thrived on handling all the problems, now I can’t seem to deal with the simplest ones. And those big ones, I can’t begin ...

Then don’t. Just let them go. You’ve been trying to do that more. I’ve noticed. But you have a long way to go. Some things you can’t fix.  

I’ve taken care of things so long. What if something goes wrong? What if something bad happens? I can’t risk letting my guard down. There are people who depend on me.

Yes, I know. They all trust you. Now, why don’t you trust me. I’ve got big shoulders. 

I do. I’m trying. Sometimes we need a real human hug and real human shoulders. It is what I miss most of Jerry. When it got hard, there were those hugs and shoulders. 

Stop looking back. Face forward, one foot in front of the other. Today is the first day of a new year. Here, just take my hand. 

I don’t know what’s ahead.

For now, there’s nothing ahead. Today is all there is. The future is not formed yet. It is only a series of potential events shaped by those who move forward, into it. You can turn left or right and that decision is the catalyst. What lies ahead only takes shape as you move through it. Stop trying to see what doesn’t exist.  

I never thought about it like that. It’s a little terrifying.

All adventures are terrifying. The adventure keeps you moving. 


#ConversationsWithHim