Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your Law. (NIV)
The words ‘law’ or ‘commandment’ generally bring to mind the lists of rights and wrongs we carry around in our head. The old way to say it was, “I don’t smoke or chew or run with girls that do’. Actually our lists are a lot longer than this old phrase.
The challenge that arises is because we look at the law as taking away our rights and holding us back, if you will. “I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it.” It is totally about our wants and self-gratification. The 'wonderful' that we miss many times is God’s point of view and His purposes in our lives.
As a parent we tell our children not to play in the street or not to touch a hot stove. Our goal is not to keep them in the yard or keep them from the food we are cooking but to protect them from danger they don’t yet understand. The law was given to define God’s boundaries that protect us from broken hearts and broken spirits. The other function is to show us we need a Savior. On Sunday morning we can listen and agree with the Minister but on Friday night our present desires far outweigh the sense of duty to obey. It is not just strong will power; it is laying down our agenda and submitting our will to a loving, Holy Father.
We certainly feel great frustration when our children look at us and ‘touch the hot
stove’ anyway. How much more is our Father grieved by our defiance--no matter how well we can rationalize our behavior.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pansies the Gift of Joy
I have always loved to garden, but I guess like cooking we tend to stay with the familiar and not try new things. One fall several years ago my youngest son had a field trip and not wanting to ride in the bus, imagine that, I drove myself. It was quite a ways from home and in a rural area. On the way I noticed a cute little nursery beside the road, it was colorful and looked friendly, you know what I mean, so on the way home I stopped for a visit. This was a small independent nursery run by a woman who loved gardening and shared her plants and ideas to make a living.
It was fall and the time I usually think of mums and bulbs, but here were all these cute pansies calling out to me. I don’t know why but I had never had pansies in my yard. My first thought was, ‘they are too delicate’ and though our winters are mild-it is still too cold for many things. I read the tag and was surprised to see they are a fall, winter plant so I decided to give them a try. I loved those precious pansies. Even when it was cold enough to shrivel me up-they just sat in my flower bed blooming and in my mind they were as happy as could be.
It is sad to think my first impression could have kept me from the joy they brought to me. I stepped out my door, and there they were blooming and being beautiful. So while I was thanking the Lord for this treasure it occurred to me, there is a lesson here for me. God’s lessons are usually about people so that is where I let my mind wander.
I think there are people who on first glance seem ‘too fragile’ or ‘too high-maintenance’, whatever that means in your book. I think I may have missed out on some beautiful blooms in my life because I was too quick to judge that ‘they’ would not fit in ‘my’ flower garden.
There is a familiar slogan we often hear, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” When it comes to us it means be prepared, don’t run an errand and hope you don’t see anyone you know. We don’t want them to think this is ‘me’-- this is me working in the garden. So let’s put the glove on the other hand. I am thinking that we need to remember that our first impression of someone else could be the one bad day, hour or moment of their whole week. If we decide based on a thin slice of evidence what someone else is ‘like’ and let that frame them-we have both lost out.
Oops!! Do I think I can’t have a bad day and appear too fragile or need too much attention? Forgive me Lord and help me to see the treasures all around me that You see. Add some spice and variation to my garden, new smells and surprises that You have prepared for me.
It was fall and the time I usually think of mums and bulbs, but here were all these cute pansies calling out to me. I don’t know why but I had never had pansies in my yard. My first thought was, ‘they are too delicate’ and though our winters are mild-it is still too cold for many things. I read the tag and was surprised to see they are a fall, winter plant so I decided to give them a try. I loved those precious pansies. Even when it was cold enough to shrivel me up-they just sat in my flower bed blooming and in my mind they were as happy as could be.
It is sad to think my first impression could have kept me from the joy they brought to me. I stepped out my door, and there they were blooming and being beautiful. So while I was thanking the Lord for this treasure it occurred to me, there is a lesson here for me. God’s lessons are usually about people so that is where I let my mind wander.
I think there are people who on first glance seem ‘too fragile’ or ‘too high-maintenance’, whatever that means in your book. I think I may have missed out on some beautiful blooms in my life because I was too quick to judge that ‘they’ would not fit in ‘my’ flower garden.
There is a familiar slogan we often hear, “You only get one chance to make a first impression.” When it comes to us it means be prepared, don’t run an errand and hope you don’t see anyone you know. We don’t want them to think this is ‘me’-- this is me working in the garden. So let’s put the glove on the other hand. I am thinking that we need to remember that our first impression of someone else could be the one bad day, hour or moment of their whole week. If we decide based on a thin slice of evidence what someone else is ‘like’ and let that frame them-we have both lost out.
Oops!! Do I think I can’t have a bad day and appear too fragile or need too much attention? Forgive me Lord and help me to see the treasures all around me that You see. Add some spice and variation to my garden, new smells and surprises that You have prepared for me.
Monday, May 24, 2010
May 24th, 2010
Psa 54:6-7 Willingly I will sacrifice to You; I will give thanks to Your name, O Lord, for it is good. For He has delivered me from all trouble, and my eye has looked with satisfaction upon my enemies. (NAS)
Sacrifice: Webster’s Dictionary (2) The act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to or foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim.
‘Foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim’ really grabbed me this morning. What is my sacrifice-time, worship, a song, money? I know deep in my heart that He wants more, in fact, all of me! I am to be a living sacrifice, not lost and empty but fully alive in the Spirit. Taking time to notice the things He notices thru me, and reaching out as He directs. I added the ‘as He directs’ because othewise I become self-directed. If done because I see it, and I can meet the need, I have a tendency toward running off on my own and then getting overwhelmed and needing to call for help.
The phrase ‘more pressing claim’ reminds me I have been purchased at great cost, not to me but to the One sinned against. The Father took his valuable Son and put Him in the position to die a despicable death for my sin. I am a servant who chooses my Master, because He chose me. I am not a slave with no choice and therefore resentful. Which brings us to the word ‘willing’, I don’t want to live as if I have something more important to do than to obey the One who loves me the most. I want to lay down my lists, my desires and my dreams, even the ones I am sure are from Him.
Sacrifice: Webster’s Dictionary (2) The act of giving up, destroying, permitting injury to or foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim.
‘Foregoing something valued for the sake of something having a more pressing claim’ really grabbed me this morning. What is my sacrifice-time, worship, a song, money? I know deep in my heart that He wants more, in fact, all of me! I am to be a living sacrifice, not lost and empty but fully alive in the Spirit. Taking time to notice the things He notices thru me, and reaching out as He directs. I added the ‘as He directs’ because othewise I become self-directed. If done because I see it, and I can meet the need, I have a tendency toward running off on my own and then getting overwhelmed and needing to call for help.
The phrase ‘more pressing claim’ reminds me I have been purchased at great cost, not to me but to the One sinned against. The Father took his valuable Son and put Him in the position to die a despicable death for my sin. I am a servant who chooses my Master, because He chose me. I am not a slave with no choice and therefore resentful. Which brings us to the word ‘willing’, I don’t want to live as if I have something more important to do than to obey the One who loves me the most. I want to lay down my lists, my desires and my dreams, even the ones I am sure are from Him.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Plan
Psalm 43:3-4 Give me your lantern and compass, give me a map, So I can find my way to the sacred mountain, to the place of Your presence, To enter the place of worship, meet my exuberant God, Sing my thanks with a harp, magnificent God, my God. (Msg Bible)
There are some days we would give anything to have clear, concise, drawn out instructions from the Lord to get from where we are to a sense of being in the very place at the very time God wants us there. That is the long way to say ‘in Gods perfect will’. Sometimes our pain is great and like Esau we would trade our birthright for this object. Unfortunately he traded his position and future for a bowl of soup. His mind was only on the moment, he was hungry and what good would the future do for him if he died now. We make a lot of trades in life; hopefully our trades are more equally balanced that Esau’s.
So as I ponder this idea I wonder what am I trading or willing to trade for this goal. The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Trust’. I have lived long enough to know God is looking for a daily walk with me and He knows if I have ‘the plan’ I will more than likely run off and do what I can and then call out when I am overwhelmed or face an obstacle I can’t see around. So getting to the point that we recognize the walk is as important as the destination is vital. A good example is Abraham, when asked to sacrifice his son, the very thing he was promised by God. There has been a lot of conjecture about what his thought process was and God did not have the writers of the story share with us Abrahams why, just that he was willing to do as asked and it was God’s responsibility for the outcome. Abraham could trust God’s promise even though he could not explain it or map it out, he just believed.
So perhaps the important part of these verses above are the gifts we can give to God. We come to a place that we set our hearts aside for worship-it isn’t the place, we meet with God and sing praise because no matter how our life appears to us or to someone else –our magnificent God is in control. His promise to us: to finish the work He has begun in us.
There are some days we would give anything to have clear, concise, drawn out instructions from the Lord to get from where we are to a sense of being in the very place at the very time God wants us there. That is the long way to say ‘in Gods perfect will’. Sometimes our pain is great and like Esau we would trade our birthright for this object. Unfortunately he traded his position and future for a bowl of soup. His mind was only on the moment, he was hungry and what good would the future do for him if he died now. We make a lot of trades in life; hopefully our trades are more equally balanced that Esau’s.
So as I ponder this idea I wonder what am I trading or willing to trade for this goal. The first thing that comes to mind is ‘Trust’. I have lived long enough to know God is looking for a daily walk with me and He knows if I have ‘the plan’ I will more than likely run off and do what I can and then call out when I am overwhelmed or face an obstacle I can’t see around. So getting to the point that we recognize the walk is as important as the destination is vital. A good example is Abraham, when asked to sacrifice his son, the very thing he was promised by God. There has been a lot of conjecture about what his thought process was and God did not have the writers of the story share with us Abrahams why, just that he was willing to do as asked and it was God’s responsibility for the outcome. Abraham could trust God’s promise even though he could not explain it or map it out, he just believed.
So perhaps the important part of these verses above are the gifts we can give to God. We come to a place that we set our hearts aside for worship-it isn’t the place, we meet with God and sing praise because no matter how our life appears to us or to someone else –our magnificent God is in control. His promise to us: to finish the work He has begun in us.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Power of positive thinking
Psalms 12:4 ….”We can talk anyone into anything! Our lips manage the world” (Msg Bible)
Psalms 12:6 God’s words are pure words….. (Msg Bible)
This reminds me of the ‘positive thinking’ message, or the spiritual version, ‘name it and claim it’. There is a truth that our thought life is important. Scripture says. ‘as a man thinketh in his heart he is’. Simple example: go in to work and find you have made a hugh mistake that has serious fall out. If you are me you beat yourself up the rest of the day and worry about keeping your job and how you can make amends and prevent it from happening again. So by the end of the day worn out from the fight within. Then the other side is those people whose every word thought and deed is a focus on the success and grand life they desire and is visualized into reality.
I am a realist-also known as a pessimist-I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the shoes are falling off a millipede or I would be done with shoe drops by now. So I have learned that God is my source and the decider of what I need or if it is a want, and the best part is He doesn’t only care about necessities because has unlimited supplies.
So the challenge is not to think my way to joy, success and things-but to put the kingdom of God first and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:30-33 If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (Msg Bible)
Psalms 12:6 God’s words are pure words….. (Msg Bible)
This reminds me of the ‘positive thinking’ message, or the spiritual version, ‘name it and claim it’. There is a truth that our thought life is important. Scripture says. ‘as a man thinketh in his heart he is’. Simple example: go in to work and find you have made a hugh mistake that has serious fall out. If you are me you beat yourself up the rest of the day and worry about keeping your job and how you can make amends and prevent it from happening again. So by the end of the day worn out from the fight within. Then the other side is those people whose every word thought and deed is a focus on the success and grand life they desire and is visualized into reality.
I am a realist-also known as a pessimist-I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and the shoes are falling off a millipede or I would be done with shoe drops by now. So I have learned that God is my source and the decider of what I need or if it is a want, and the best part is He doesn’t only care about necessities because has unlimited supplies.
So the challenge is not to think my way to joy, success and things-but to put the kingdom of God first and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:30-33 If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (Msg Bible)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Princess
I thought I would explain the title Princess. A few weeks ago a couple of the women on the Board of Directors where I work started calling me Princess. For some this would be just another nickname and they would have fun with it. But as I thought about it I became afraid that maybe I was acting like a "Princess", arrogant, bossy, superior etc, so I had to ask. They said no, we think you are special and just thought the word Princess fit. So now I can have fun with it and was delighted to receive the crown as a gift on my special day and I wore it all day!
I felt bad that I had to question the motives behind the nick name but it goes back to my Mother who never wanted us to feel like we were something special and act out because of it. I knew my parents loved me, if I was good, but I was never called Princess or any other nick name. My name was my 'label' and I didn't need any other label. Actually many nick names are more hurtful than up building. Four-eyes, Olive Oyl (I was real skinny), scarty kat, even when people are smart or girls are pretty the compliments can be delivered in such a way that they hurt instead of uplift.
How nice it would be not to question motives or meanings behind what others say but to assume it was delivered in the spirit of love and ultimately a gift from our heavenly Father.
I felt bad that I had to question the motives behind the nick name but it goes back to my Mother who never wanted us to feel like we were something special and act out because of it. I knew my parents loved me, if I was good, but I was never called Princess or any other nick name. My name was my 'label' and I didn't need any other label. Actually many nick names are more hurtful than up building. Four-eyes, Olive Oyl (I was real skinny), scarty kat, even when people are smart or girls are pretty the compliments can be delivered in such a way that they hurt instead of uplift.
How nice it would be not to question motives or meanings behind what others say but to assume it was delivered in the spirit of love and ultimately a gift from our heavenly Father.
Pretty Princess
A few days ago I posted a picture from my Birthday Party at work and I was wearing a 'crown' because two of the board members call me Princess. One of my friends has a little girl and when she saw the picture she said "what a pretty princess"! Of course that made me feel good and then I stopped to think about how wonderful children can be and how loving they can be and how simple the world looks through their eyes. I look at my picture and see the things I would change. Jesus said we needed to become like children to see the kingdom and perhaps this is a good example of what He meant. Adults look at each other and sometimes we only see things to criticize or to categorize others as good or bad, friend or foe, acceptable or cast away. Oh to be loving as a child and to see others as valuable, lovely and to expect a friend or play mate. Maybe I should just hang out on play grounds and learn to play and trust but someone would probably have a problem with that.
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