Plumbing and Praying

Matt has come to my rescue once again, if only just partially.  Last night the sink stopped up.  Ken put Drain-o in it, several times, and it ended up sitting there doing nothing.  We have two dishwashers and one was running just fine, the one with the sink that was not stopped up.  I decided to run the other one, and ended up with a kitchen floor full of sudsy water.  Ken was up in a deer stand, and I thought I knew what to do, but decided to get some advice first.  I called Matt and he confirmed what I thought, and then I went to work.  I told myself, how hard can this type of plumbing be?  I unscrewed all of the pipes under the sink, found the clog, and dumped it out.  A wonderful sight to behold.  I made sure it all worked, drained, and didn't leak, then cleaned up what mess I had not already, and by the time Ken came home all he had to do was make sure the pipes were as tight as they could be.  I love being able to do things without having to call "a professional," or wait until my husband comes home.  I really enjoyed the accomplishment.  

It dawned on me that sometimes I treat God in this way.  We either make a mess on our own, one just "pops" up, or we get involved in a mess with regard to a relationship or through a relationship, and then we "call" God, ask Him to confirm what we already think we know, tell Him what will take to fix it, or don't even "call" at all, just go ahead and "fix" it.  When I think of how I am such an arrogant, pompous, windbag in His omnipotent sight, I do not understand how in the world He puts up with me.  In the case of my plumbing the analogy breaks down some where along the way, but God used it to show me how cavalier I am in regard messes disasters of my own making.  

Psalm 57

1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, 

for in you my soul takes refuge. 

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings 

until the disaster has passed.

2 I cry out to God Most High, 

to God, who fulfills {his purpose} for me.

My prayer should be more like the one above.  "Lord, have mercy on me.  Humble me.  Make me mailable clay in your hands, for your glory."  

Continuing to learn from the mundane while waiting.............................Lynn

To the Rescue

Margaret, Mema, and I had been having a very uneventful trip home today, when we were about six or seven miles from Southern Pines, which is where Mema lives, and we blew a tire.  I pulled off of the road, called Matt talked to Belinda and Matt was there within five or ten minutes.  There were many reasons to be thankful.  I wasn't in the middle of an Interstate in the middle of Atlanta, we were only ten minutes from lots of friends, we didn't have a wreck while veering off the road, and it didn't happen in the middle of South Carolina or Georgia where we would not have known anybody.  God was gracious.  Matt changed the tire in no time, we took Mema home and made it back safe and sound to the Lake.  Thank you Matt!  Thank God for great friends.  

Communication

Communication skills, except for writing or teaching, has always been a weakness of mine.  I have had a hard time keeping up with people from my past, and my family.  If you have been married for any length of time, you know how important communication is to a marriage.  Sometimes, what you say is what you mean, but your spouse thinks it's what he thinks not what you said, and visa-versa.  James has practical advice for those that have trouble with communication.   James 1:19 says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath," and 6:12 says, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation."  The better part of communication is listening which James tells us plainly in chapter 1.  How often am I slow to speak?  Do I want my thoughts to be "out" there, to have first place in the conversation?  It takes discipline and dying to self to listen, not to speak.  

James also tells us in chapter 6:12 that we need to be plain in our communication.  Say what you mean, and don't hide behind either a false sense of being nice, or being manipulative by anything that we say trying to get people to do, think, or say what we want them to say.  We are to be real, yet tactful, sweet but truthful.  We are to approach our conversations with love, meaning we are to so trust Christ with our lives, reputations, and what others think, that we are able to listen, and when we do interject it is laced with love for the other.  That means that it isn't always compliments and sweetness, sometimes it points to sin in the other and tells the truth always, knows when to speak and when not to.  I say this with wisdom, because of all the times I have failed at communication, had to apologize, eat my words, left feeling oh so sad that I had said what I said, the way that I said it, or not said what I thought I should have.  

This is just one of those categories that draws us to Christ, making us dependent on Him, and therefore we are reminded once again that He is God, we are not, and we are only creatures called to bring Him glory.  For Him to even condescend for us is a mystery.  

Repenting once again................................Lynn

Off to Covenant

We made it here yesterday evening without a hitch.  We didn't even get lost, which is a major miracle.  As Mo says, I can get lost at a gas station!  Kay fed us a great meal, had wonderful conversation, and today we go to pick up Mo at Covenant.  When we come back down to Atlanta we are planning on dropping by my nieces (Heidi) work place.  She is a DJ for 104.7 The Fish.  I am really looking forward to that adventure.  She is a very talented woman who has a beautiful voice.  Not too long ago she sang at a benefit concert with one of the American Idol finalists, (I would tell you who, but my sister didn't even know).    

Can't wait to see my girl, Mo!  Then this evening my other niece, Meg, is going to come over to see Margaret and eat dinner with us.  Exciting stuff.  

(The picture above is of my niece Heidi).

Having fun in the wait time...................Lynn

On the Road Again!

I am so excited today!  I am taking my mother to visit my sister in Atlanta and we are all three going to go up to Chattanooga to pick up Margaret.  Then we will go back down to Atlanta to visit Kay for another night!  We will laugh the whole time!  So, I'm on the road again.  

The picture is of my sweet 87 year old mother peeking in at Katie who was getting ready for her wedding.  She really is incredible.  She even has a job!  She works for her audiologist a couple of days a month.  She never slows down.  Has adopted families with little children that she is "Mema" to.  She eats out a couple of days a week with her buddies, goes to Bible Studies, hosted small group (as of about a year ago), visits "old" folks in her church that are really  younger than she is, and allows others to minister to her.  God has gifted her greatly.  I love you Mom, (she doesn't know anything though about a computer, cell phone, and sometimes needs help with her answering machine!).  I hope I am as alive at 87 as she is.  

"The Man Who Wasn't"

Have you ever thought about what it was like to be John the Baptistizer?  Neither had I until this morning at church.  Lee Shellnut, the pastor of the ARP church we have been attending while we are here in Albemarle, was greatly used of the Lord this morning, not only to convict me, but to answer my ongoing question since February.  Why aren't I teaching, "why Lord have you chosen to shut me off, why am I feeling so isolated, why I thought YOU had gifted me?"   Well, maybe he didn't completely answer my questions about the particulars, or the specifics, but he did answer the question regarding my attitude, character, and true job.  

John the Baptizer has never been a character in the Bible I have studied.  You remember him for the locust and honey, his "tele-evangelistic" style preaching, and the fact that he was a very, anointed child in the womb.  I had never really thought about him as a man.  Lee told us that John was greatly known throughout the Mediterranean as a "rock star" type personality.  He drew great crowds, and many began meeting with the sole purpose of being his disciples.  The Hebrews were known for this.  They would choose a Rabbi in which to follow and name themselves for being that particular Rabbi's follower.  We gain some of the perspective on John the Baptist from the Apostle John.  

John 1:

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

"2 The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned."  Isaiah 9:2 (Just thought I would add a bit of a Christmas verse)

6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

19 Now this was John's testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, "I am not the Christ."
21They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?"
He said, "I am not."
"Are you the Prophet?"
He answered, "No."

22 Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"

23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, "I am the voice of one calling in the desert, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.' "

24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"

26"I baptize with water," John replied, "but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie."

John says, "Hey guys, I am not the one.  I am not the one who was promised.  Yea, I have made a big splash.  I could appear on Oprah, CNN, and sleep in the Oval Office, but I am not HE.  I too am looking for a change, but I cannot give it to you.  I can only point you to Him.  He is the way.  Yes, I am a gifted teacher, you have learned so much from me.  Personally, I have liked being in the lime light, feeling significant from your words, your love, your meals (it's a lot better than locust and honey.)  That is all over now.  I have "to decrease, He has to increase," John 3:30.  

OK, maybe I am going over board with the tongue in cheek, but I put myself in his place this morning and saw some of the feelings I have felt over these past few months.   "Lord, I once taught women  the Bible, teens the Bible and an array of subjects, I was involved in a mentoring ministry, discipleship, writing, and host of other "valuable" ministries for You.  Why did You take them away?  Why do I find myself asking the question, why am I here on this shelf?  (See blog post named, "This Little Shelf of Mine," (poem).  Do you think John the Baptizer thought those types of questions?  I am sure he was much more sanctified than I am, after all he was willing to eat locust and wild honey, have a camel as his tailor, and make Herod really, really mad at him.  He also was a man.  In prison, after Herod arrested him for telling him he was a "terrible" sinner, he questioned, "was this really the Messiah?"  Do you think he ever had the questions, "All I ever wanted to do was your will, why put me here?"  Maybe, he didn't, but I have.  Lee touched on some of the reasons this morning.  I am not quite satisfied with being on this shelf, because I liked the affirmation I was receiving, I liked being known, loved, and cared for by many people that really did care and were right there.  Is God sovereign?  Yes.  Was He sovereign over John the Baptizer's life also?  Yes.  Am I to be the one that points the way?  Yes.  I am to do that whether I am in a position of where I was, or in the position where I am now.  Remember John ended up with his head on a platter, literally.    The ONLY way to have peace and contentment where I am is to humble myself before God.  Whether here or there, humility is the key.  And yet, even in saying that, I feel as John did when he said, "I am not even worthy to untie His sandal."  Neither am I.  

Thanks Pastor Shellnut for your faithful preaching of God's Word.  

PS:  There are ways of observing your behavior to see if you have really gotten something the Lord is teaching you.  How then do you treat those around you?  Are you willing to do things for them that are what you perceive "below" you?  How about your speech?  Do you build those around you up or do you "jokingly" put them down in order to make yourself look better?  Do you listen to those little promptings that the Holy Spirit gives you to even if you are too busy to do them?  What about your family especially, do you have a servant's attitude, or do you expect them to do for you?  Ouch!

Awaiting the Marriage Supper.......................Lynn

Respect and Love

There are many mysteries of life.  Proverbs 30:18-19 speaks of four of them. 

"There are three things that are too amazing for me, 

four that I do not understand:

19 the way of an eagle in the sky, 

the way of a snake on a rock, 

the way of a ship on the high seas, 

and the way of a man with a maiden.

I can think of others that the Bible speaks of; the mystery of the Spirit, the mystery of how God became man, the mystery of the Trinity.  These things we will never fully understand and we may even take eternity to learn about the mystery of God.  

As moderns when we think of mystery we think of a "who done it," like Columbo or the mystery of Lost.  As ancients the concept of a mystery was very different.  It was something that as observable was not going to be understood.  Something that was not even supposed to be understood, to fathom it's depths was only to prove the thing more mysterious.  The sense of awe surrounded a mystery.   Modernity's worldview has taken all mysteries out of life and reduced them to only the tangible.  How sad.  

 Saying all of this brings me to the point at hand.  Marriage is one of the biggest mysteries that we can experience.  Meditating on this lately, I have been mulling over and over in my mind about the commands that Christ gives in Ephesians chapter 5. 

"22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband."

Now, do not skip over the reading of the Scripture and just get to what I say.  The Scripture teaches us something here, but it is still a mystery.  It is amazing to me how this ever works out!  This is one more thing that we as moderns do not understand.  These statements by Paul were RADICAL.  The ancient mindset was not honoring to women, least among them wives.  Christianity forever changed the world in all respects, this being a huge one.  

I have been meditating on the respect for him and the love for her aspect recently.  I dreamed about it, woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it, woke up to have a "gestalt" moment.  I have often wondered how wives love their husbands when they can't respect them?  How do husbands love their wives when they don't feel like it or when we are nags, unkind, and just plain mean?  The Scriptures amaze me.  I will not speak of the husbands here, because I am a wife and know much more about the nagging, unkind, and just plain mean aspect of marriage.  Marriage is a faith proposition.  How do wives love when they don't respect?  By faith.  Faith to allow God to work in her husband's life where she doesn't have to.  Faith to pray and ask God to draw her man closer and closer to Christ, to be a lover of Christ.  Faith to see what Christ sees not what we want, desire, or have.  Why does this amaze me so?  Because, faith is always what it comes down to.  Not some pie in the sky kind of faith, faith not in your husband, faith in the stability, the consistency, the omniscience, the omnipresence, the character of God.  

On those days and times when it seems that all of the above seems completely impossible, that is the time and the circumstances where God is calling us deeper into Himself.  

"The just shall live by faith, Romans 1:17."  "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God and in due season He will lift you up, I Peter 5:6."  But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: 

"God opposes the proud 

but gives grace to the humble,  James 4:6."

Awaiting the marriage supper of the Lamb..........................Lynn

A Meme From the Narrow Road from my friend Laurie via her friend Andy

Go through the list and bold the items you have done in your life.  I put the things I haven't done in red in order to be distinguished from the other.  Post it on your blog so we can all learn more about you.  

1. Started your own blog (Really?)  With a little help from Upsidedownbee

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band (sang)

4. Visited Hawaii, my Bekah has!

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland and Disneyworld

8. Climbed a mountain, does Stone Mountain GA. count?

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo 

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked, tried when I was 14, but got picked up by my friend's mother instead, UGH!  were we in trouble

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb 

26. Gone skinny dipping (more than twenty years ago)

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language 

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke.

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing, does fishing in Alaska count?

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check, too many times

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy, my toy chest!

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt, helped my mother

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life.

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one (by abandonment, not by death)

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a mobile phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Read an entire book in one day

Emmanuel

Advent is the season where we meditate on the child born of a virgin, lying in a manger, and is Emmanuel, God with us.  We look back and remember that He came and He will come again.  We think about the reality of God becoming flesh and dwelling among men to appease the Father's wrath, obey Him, and to take that wrath upon Him for those He has cast His favor on.  In becoming flesh He daily smelled, touched, and walked among the deepest sin and unholiness of humankind.  He who had never been touched by sin, He who knew no sin dwelt among sin for 33 years, that alone would be a sacrifice for the holy Son of God.  When He was born in Bethlehem, He also was here to fulfill a mission, that would ultimately prove that He was the Emmanuel.  He actually had has His mission to die an excruciating death of a criminal, to be forsaken by God and us, and to be crushed by the weight of taking our sins upon Himself.  His life was culminated in death.  Of course, we know the end of the story, the story of the resurrection, but to think that because He died, we do not have to, is an amazing love story.  

The older I get the more suffering I not only myself experience, but I also experience it along with those that I love.  Life doesn't always seem to have a happy ending.  We, meaning I, can tend to want to wallow in the injustice of it all.  Then I am reminded of the culmination, the climax, the ultimate injustice of all time, Christ, the perfect Son of God hanging on a tree.   Karen, my seventeen year old, and I were having a conversation the other day about teens and parents allowing their children to pretty much do whatever they want to, sometimes under their very nose.  I was appalled at this, and she said, "Mom, why should you be surprised, they aren't Christians, they don't know any better, and they are mostly consumed by their own selfishness."  She reminded me that only by the grace of God "go I."  Only because God took on my sin am I even aware of the nature of sin.  I shouldn't be surprised when in this world we will have tribulation, and I feel forsaken.

 

Psalm 22:1-2

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

Why are you so far from saving me, 

so far from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, 

by night, and am not silent.

Christ is our pattern.  He was forsaken so that we might not be.  Although, in this world of tribulation we will experience times when we feel forsaken and we will cry out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?"  At those times ask God to give you the grace to look upon Immanuel, our God is with us, in our brokenness, our aloneness.  He came as a baby to dwell among us, and to be forsaken by His Father, so we will never be alone or ultimately forsaken in Hell.  He cried the "roar"  and groaned to desperate cry of the abandoned, experienced Hell, so we wouldn't have to.  That's Emmanuel!  "Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel, has come to us O Israel."

Rejoicing this day....................Lynn

Spiritual Battles

My sweet sister in law Karen, in an email today, sent me the following story.  I don't think she will mind me sharing it with you, it was so helpful.  I'll leave out the mushy stuff about missing one another, etc..but you get the picture!  

"My friend  had a dream one night that she shared with me. She was very very small in the dream and crouched behind a huge shield. There was a fierce battle going on. She wanted to see what was happening, so she heaved and was able to lift the shield ever so slightly from the bottom. She tried to peak under. A very big soldier came around behind the shield and scolded her. He told her that she must not let the enemy have access to her. She reasoned that maybe she could punch a tiny pinhole in the shield so that she could see. He said that the enemy only needed the tiniest chink in the armor to get to her. My friend said with exasperation, 'All I can do is look up!'  The man smiled and said, 'That is exactly where your eyes should be looking.'"

We must remember that we are in a battle.  

Thank you Karen for sharing.  I love you too.  

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Looking up (along with upsidedownbee).........................Lynn

God's Lost and Found

I have been reading for the last few months Paradise Lost by J. Milton.  Milton keeps coming up all over the place, every where I look.  Finally, I came across an article in World Magazine saying that it is Milton's 400th Birthday year.  As I saw the title again this morning, Paradise Lost and Regained on the cover of my Tabletalk (RC Sproul's devotional), it jumped out at me what a pattern that is in all of our lives.  I know you are probably saying to yourself, "yea, duh."  Well, sometimes the mundane, everyday, simple stuff is harder for me to grasp than the esoteric, ethereal, philosophical is, which sometimes is no good to anyone.  It dawned on me that about everything in life is lost and then found.  Lost and Found, I was many years ago now.  Lost and found are the many character (or should I say lack of character) qualities I have lost and found over the years.  I lose a tiny bit of self-centeredness and find joy in giving.  I lose my way, and find out God's way is much better.  I lose my "jobs" and find that I am loved for who I am not for what I do.  I lose things that I just cannot live without and find things of eternal value instead.  I lose peace in the world, and find contentment in Christ alone.  I lose myself, and find eternal life.  Death vs. life, who would choose anything different?  

To Him who gives me the grace to choose life......................Lynn

Reading Classics

Just want to give everyone a heads up; Tim Challies has started another classic study together on his blog site today.  We are studying Mere Christianity by CS Lewis if anyone is interested.  Just go to his blog site listed under my blogs that I visit.  

The picture is of me and my sweet s-i-l Karen in Vancouver this summer.  I figured we are a couple of classics!

Stickers of life

I was walking my two dogs; Bama and Dallas, the other day, when Bama ran off into the woods after smelling a deer.  She came back with about a four foot sticker branch attached to her tail.  She came up to me to "fix" it.  I tried grabbing it, but all she did was pull back, and all I did was get scratched.  So we took a different tactic, which was more difficult than it should have been, because Bama did not want me to touch her or the branch.  While she was twirling in circles I stepped on the branch and let her do the rest.  The Branch came off and Bama went on her way.  All of this reminded me of the consequences of sin.  Of course, it wasn't sin for her to be a dog and chase a deer through the woods, but in our lives we do like to chase after things to relieve us of guilt, of loneliness, of "self" fulfillment.  So often we tend to run away from the very source of fulfillment.  Then we often come back to those that have more wisdom than we do and fight the very advice that will get us out of the mess we have made.  In the meantime, while we fight, we are getting stuck all the more.  Of course, there are always going to be natural consequences of sin, but if we would submit when we know we are in trouble, life would be a whole lot better.  Thanks be to God who took our sin on Himself, entered into our world, and  our mess, in order to clean some of us up.  

Thank you Father for using the mundane things of life to show your glory and wisdom......Lynn 

Psalm 73

Psalm 73

1Surely God is good to Israel, 

to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; 

I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant 

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles; 

their bodies are healthy and strong. [a]

5 They are free from the burdens common to man; 

they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace; 

they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity ; 

the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice; 

in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, 

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them 

and drink up waters in abundance. 

11 They say, "How can God know? 

Does the Most High have knowledge?"

12 This is what the wicked are like— 

always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; 

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued; 

I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," 

I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this, 

it was oppressive to me

17 till I entered the sanctuary of God; 

then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; 

you cast them down to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed, 

completely swept away by terrors!

20 As a dream when one awakes, 

so when you arise, O Lord, 

you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved 

and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant; 

I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you; 

you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide me with your counsel, 

and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you? 

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, 

but God is the strength of my heart 

and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish; 

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. 

I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; 

I will tell of all your deeds.

How often do I learn a lesson, or learn a deeper quality of who God is, and then in my arrogance and pride, check that off my list of temptations, sins, lessons, or knowledge never to be learned again?  When my heart is burdened and overwhelmed with sorrow for those that I love, I find myself embroiled once again in this Psalm asking "surely in vain have I kept my heart pure."  In other words, I have been good and You God have not lived up to your bargain."  I have been good so why are bad things, suffering coming into my life or those that I love?  Then I think, I already learned this didn't I?  I have been here before, and why am I questioning the same things again?  I become a senseless brute.  Then I come to the sanctuary of God.  I perceive their end (the wicked), and mine.  Oh yea, my side wins, my side is the one that will spend eternity feasting on the true manna from heaven.  This life is hard, and sometimes it is harder than at other times, but the end will never change, and in the mean time, the presence of God is with me.  What more do I want?  

Until we feast together forever.....................Lynn

I Hate Sin!

I hate sin!  Do we often enough think about the devastating effects of sin?  We watch sin on the TV, we read about it in the newspapers and shake our heads about it saying, "oh, that's too bad."  We overlook the little things, "well," we say, "after all it doesn't hurt anyone."  We go to the big screen and see sin glamorized, Hollywood showing absolutely no consequences for most sins.  They tend to blame it on poverty, education, politics, even Christianity, for it was Christianity that made us guilty, or feel guilty.  As a pastor's family we deal with the consequences of sin on a daily basis.  We see the demoralization of husbands as they have cheated on their wives, the rebellion of teenagers and the tears of their parents, the loneliness of wives and husbands as they live in the same house but have no intimacy.  The list is long and sordid.  Then there is the sin of my own self and family.  The sin of self righteousness as it creeps into my heart as I say, "boy, I am glad I'm not that bad."  I hate it!  Then there are the times that sin hits me straight in the face, either in my life or the lives of my family members.  I cry out with Paul,   Romans 7:21-25

 

"21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! 

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

We are all in the same sin boat.  We are floating along dipping our toes in the sin water, splashing around thinking it's not that bad.  When we see someone else put their toes in the water, and say to our self-righteous selves "oh I am glad I do not do that," all the while we have dipped our whole arm in the opposite side of the boat.  We are all sinners, and we are saved by grace and grace alone.  When we come face to face with the reality of our sin, we cannot make ourselves better.  We might try to wake up in the morning and have our quiet time saying we will really be good this time, or we will do this or that, read the Bible more, go to church more, etc....etc....... We cannot make ourselves better.  The more we try the more we will fail.  Grow close to Jesus, see Him High and lifted up, identify your self as a sinner only saved and made whole by grace.  Weep, mourn and wail, repent, and thank God for His unbelievable grace.  You are saved by grace and also you are sanctified by grace as well.  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

I cannot wait till the mortal is clothed in immortality and we no longer fight sin..........Lynn

A Real Life Fairy Tale

"Look over yonder squire", said the King.  The squire raised his eyes off of the writing that he was meticulously attending to, looked out of the balcony facing the meadows that surrounded the castle and saw a sight that he had seen in times past.  Away off on the horizon was a tower surrounded by a moat.  It was a tower of  ominous dark stone brought in he knew from the far reaches of the kingdom.  The stone was blotched with mildew, vines, and tar which held the mortar in place.  The vines gave it a strangled sort of look which almost made it seem as if the tower was gasping for breath.  The water in the moat that surrounded it was of a black inky substance with splotches of green on the top.  There was life in the inky blackness, but it was the sort of life that one did not want to encounter for it was slimy and devious.  The eyes of that life, if you want to call it life, were beady, alert, waiting to devour anything that would have the courage to happen upon that place.  The squire shuddered at the sight that his sovereign bade him look at.  "Oh Sire, not in the least to be presumptuous, but I do not even care to gaze upon such a sight," replied the Squire.  "For I have set my gaze upon that tower many times before and the sight makes my heart shudder for the occupant.  It also reminds me that you are the wisest of all nobles, and I bow before you in fear and in love."

The King kind and loving placed his strong hand underneath the squires chin and lifted his eyes to his own.  "You are my most beloved servant.  You have been with me these long years and have observed my comings and my goings, my work among my people, and you have learned much," said the King.  "Sire, you alone took me from that tower over yonder, you alone held the key to the dungeon, for it was you who found me, and used the key to lock and to unlock.  I only shudder because I remember the agony my heart was in, in those dark days.  I bow before you, because of the liberation that you have granted me through that suffering.  Now, to serve you is the highest honor, and to serve you freely with no chains is out of a heart that longs for all to see the benevolence of my great King," said the squire with tears filling his eyes.  "Do not weep, rejoice.  For there are many in my kingdom that will see me as you see me today," said the King as he picked his servant up under his elbows and set him upright before him.  The squire asked about who it was in the tower that His majesty had asked him to look upon.  The King replied that it was she who had already served him faithfully for a great many years.  "Oh Sire," said the faithful squire and scribe as he gasped in disbelief, "I would never criticize your sovereign choices, for you alone know all things, but the one you speak of is gentle and kind to even a fault.  Surely you cannot mean her?"  "She has served me it is true, and I have chosen her for greater things.  She will pass the tests that I have for her, even though our enemy has asked permission to haunt her day and night," said the King.  "Sire and have you given, oh I cannot even speak his name, permission to be in on this test," asked the Squire.  "Yes, I have permitted him, but have given him strict parameters.  For she is suffering for the sake of others as well as herself.  Her family of old has not broken down the barriers between my Kingdom and the enemies camps.  I have chosen her alone to carry on the work.  That is why my gaze has never left the tower.  I have also chosen some very humble means to assist her in her fortress.  She has daily bread from my table, and when she has little strength to lift it to her mouth, I have chosen other servants of mine to guide her hand so that she might take in the sustenance and feel revived."  The squire asked the king who were the servants and he replied, that they were women from the House of Windsor, and the Lady of the Lake.  "Daily they make entreaties before my throne on her behalf, and take the bread that I give from my table here at the castle," said the King.  

Just then three women dressed in white satin, lace, and  brocade came down the path that leads from the tower.  They were talking softly as they made their way to the great gate that led into the inner courtyard of the Kings Castle.  They were there to gather up more bread and wine for the next meal.  Picking up the satin and lace of their gowns the squire noticed that they wore no shoes.  Their feet were beautiful, lily white it was almost like they shone luminously in the pale light of evening.  

The squire reflected on the times that these women each in their turn had spent time in the towers of their pasts, and how they could minister in ways that no one else could.  He recalled his own memories of living on the bread and wine of the King, and how day by day it had opened his eyes to the truth of his master.  His ministers would place daily salve in his eyes so that the scales that were, at first hard as dragon scales, slowly dissolved giving him the light that he needed.  He then looked forward to a time when there would be no more need of towers, vines, nor even salve, for the King had promised that there would be a time hence that the Kingdom would be complete.  He would then gather us all under his wings and we would live in a new Kingdom, where there would be no need for towers, keys, nor darkness.  It also made him recall the time when his master had seized the keys of the towers, had defeated his enemies and made his enemy writhe in the reality of his own defeat.  This enemy had once deceived our ancestors into rebelling against the King, we had chosen to rebel.   The King in turn had sacrificed his only Son, the Prince, in order to gain back the Keys that the enemy had taken.  The Prince only wishing to bring glory to his Father had willingly obeyed. 

The squire once again bowed before this magnificent King who with only love in his heart, and goodness for his beloved had and would make good come out of the  dark days of the tower.

I am so sorry I have not posted since my trip to Covenant.  Surrounded by family and friends has made me a very busy woman.  I must confess though, in my leisure hours I have listened to the unabridged versions of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas.  Now that I have confessed my sins, I will endeavor to write more serious considerations tomorrow.  

"All for one, and one for all."