By Faith, _____

  

 I imagine entering the gates of the Heaven – as our name is found in the Book of Life, we take our seat among the patriarchs – David, Moses, Elijah. Then a scroll is passed to us. On it reads Hebrews 11:

By faith, Noah…

By faith, Abraham…

By faith, Joseph…

Dog Bites of Life

    I’ve enjoyed running for almost 3 months now. Every time my feet touch the pavement I’ve prayed that I would not strive for physical training, but that the Lord would train me in godliness. Only as an extra perk, I hope my body to be physically fit, healthy and ready for any service which He may call me to. Through these months I’ve seen the Lord manifested in the heat of the sun and the glory of its rays, the road marks along the way, water treatment facilities, creeks…the list goes on. Not to mention tiny irritations like mucus, shin splints, exhaustion from starting too fast, and things I haven’t even written publically of.  All of these things have nourished my spirit and answered my prayers.

In His Steps

    

   

When Adam and I steal an opportunity to dash off by ourselves – leaving the kids with my parents– we usually find our way to some sort of hiking trail. As we’re either climbing up the rocks or cascading down the slope, I like to place my foot in the exact footprint that Adam just left behind. Then I don’t have to think. He’s still standing so I should be fine. We can now freely carry on a conversation because I’m not worrying about my next step.

 That’s what I think of when I read 1 John 2:4-6…

  

    “The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”

    

    When I read this passage , fear almost reverberates within me. Couple that with the realization that I cannot hide my true feelings and heart from Him. My wrestling with this truth lies completely bare before the Lord. I can do nothing to even dress it up. Now, it’s not a fear that I’ve done something wrong and have severe consequences awaiting, but rather a, knee-bending, will surrendering, face-down, I-CANNOT-DO-THIS reverent fear. To think of walking in the steps of Jesus is scary.

    “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.” Jesus left footprints behind for us to follow in. Sometimes they are scarcely seen. Sometimes they lead up precarious rock mountains requiring training and “gear”, or maybe they lead through a slippery wet valley… dark, damp and dangerous.  Other times those footsteps lead up to a doorstep of someone we’d rather ignore,  lead to a letter that’s painful to write, a conversation preferably left unsaid, or to a person we’ve left unforgiven. Jesus went to the SINNERS of this world to give them HOPE and a FUTURE of VICTORY.

    To walk in THOSE steps challenges every morsel of my being; it divides my flesh and cuts right to my soul.  We see Jesus wrestling with those feelings as He walked this earth in flesh. He prayed in the garden for this cup to pass over Him. That maybe there would be another way. His Father must want Him to be Happy right? Just take this from me! He pleaded, he grieved, He cried drops of blood. Then He surrendered. He knew the cross was  the only way. He’d gone over the plans many times. The Plan was drawn up and signed before the foundation of the world. He chose to yield and accepted His lot to walk in the steps of the Father's Plan. It’s because of those steps that  I, WE can also follow in His steps.  Jesus’ perfect atoning sacrifice means I boldly come into God’s throne room and ask for help to walk this Hill of Difficulty or Valley of Humiliation. I cannot walk it alone – and I don’t have to!

    So, I challenge you readers – those of you who profess to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior – to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers also. “This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

    Are you ready or willing to be ready to walk in His steps?

Slow Down, Children at Play

   

    I realized mid-way through my jog yesterday that I’ve not been surrendering my course to the Lord. I’ve just been setting out running my usual route without even thinking about it. Yesterday’s cool and cloudy weather reminded me to ask the Lord where I should run to. Passing up my usual 3 mile mark, I wondered how far this run would go and what was in store.

    I finally came to a sign that stood out to me to be my turn around mark. It said, “Slow Down, Children at Play.” Those words tingled as they processed. We ask cars to slow down and watch for playing children. Do I slow down and marvel at my children playing? I used to during the preschool years. Looking back, those days seem slow-paced and peaceful, compared to school schedules, play dates, martial arts, guitar lessons and don’t forget gymnastics that fill my days now. On second thought, maybe these times are just DIFFERENT rather than harder or easier. However it goes, the question still stings a little. Do I slow down and allow my children to play…play with each other…play in nature, exploring…play with legos, engineering…play without hearing me hollering “ Come on, put that away! Why do you have to make such a mess?”…

    Before I saw that sign I’d prayed that the Lord would show me what to focus on with my kids. Sometimes I can be so near-sighted, I see TODAY going well according to my schedule, but what’s going on underneath it all? Well, thank you Lord, I see it now. I FEEL it – Slow Down Julie, Children at Play. But how do I do that? What does that look like? There’s so many choices today of things to be involved it. Homeschooling  seems to add more options to the table rather than decrease them. How do I know what to say “Yes” or “No” to?

    Pondering that question led me to think about our family’s priorities and goals. Have you noticed that some people are more goal driven than others? I happen to be one of those people who NEED, MUST know where we are going and why we are going there! J Great to travel with! I don’t want to be side-tracked and I don’t want to waste time! So why do we homeschool? An even better question is what is our purpose as a family? We choose to homeschool to make disciples of our children through providing a solid, life- equipping education, opportunities to grow using real life scenarios to strengthen our faith, and practice all these things TOGETHER. We do not fulfill this perfectly every day, or every other day, but this is our GOAL. You may have another one! You do not have to agree with mine or feel the need to take on mine as your own.

    So, if an activity enhances and fulfills this statement, I should say YES to that. However, if the activity is good, but does not help us grow, I may need to say NO, for it might pull us away from the goal. Whew! I wish I could report my excellence in choosing the right answer. But I am still learning. Writing this is proof I’m working through it.  Why is it my tendency to over-stuff-cram-quickly-hurry,-one more thing into life? Then I wonder why the kids are arguing, jockey-ing for position, acting like ungrateful spoiled brats…while I’m feeling worn out, frustrated, drained, confused and probably hungry!! There is definitely something wrong with this equation.  We have a wrong variable somewhere.

    Don’t misunderstand me…there is no formula for life. No magic pill to take. Life naturally takes on a fast pace when more than 1 person live under a roof. So let’s not rush it more by adding needless extras that detract from the beauty of the family.

   Slow down mom…the kids are playing!  And they say, they won’t be kids forever…            

Prideful Flying Snot (no picture needed!)

    Have you ever tried to swallow some spit that just wouldn’t stay down? Then you swallow REAL hard but it still keeps coming back up! So what  do you do then?  Yep, spit it out!! I think the same example can apply to our PRIDE.  Swallow your pride and it might keep creeping back up. Maybe we actually need to spit it out instead!

    You know those “secret places” of our heart and mind that no one knows about? Yes, those things we’d like to keep it that way! I’ve found that sometimes those places pose a perfect breeding ground for  enemy strongholds. He likes to creep in through a skewed thought and then widen that crack through repetition until finally we’re actually listening to him. But what would happen, if when that first ugly head of ________ (pride, deceit, envy, malice, rage, theft, self pity…) showed itself we grabbed a friend or  spouse and confessed that instead of stifling it? Saying to them, for instance, “I’m really struggling with this right now. Would you help hold me accountable/ encourage me in this area?”  Just some act to spit that nasty lugie out before it spreads anywhere else. In doing that, pride has to leave, because confession takes humility.  First Peter 5:5 says “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” That humility is a choice. Being proud comes more naturally!

    However, a walk of humility can sometimes be humiliating! I’d rather keep on the mask that says I’ve got it all figured out and am implementing it daily, can’t you tell!! Humility means admitting, smiling, giving grace because I need grace, extending mercy because God extended it first, asking for forgiveness . . OUCH and OUCH.  Then there’s the flip side. If I share these things, they can come back to bite me! My friend  may think differently about me… may not like me any more…honestly, I may lose my image!  Yes. But is it really “MY” image?

    At the turn around mark one day on my run I saw a “For sale by owner” sign. This reminded me of the fact that I am not my own. I was bought with a price- the precious blood of Jesus.  In exchange for that, I’m asked to surrender the right to myself.  The “RIGHT” to be my own boss…to make decisions for ME…to have the RIGHT to  ___because I deserve it! Have I got to the point of placing a “For sale by owner” sign on myself? Can I resign to the fact that I am no longer my own master? Now, the life I live, I live for my new Master Jesus Christ who actually knows what’s best for me, even though it may seem difficult at the time to walk through.

    

    Well enough deep talk about for sale signs and snot…. But food for thought until next time…..

  

Watching Pt 2

  My daughter was the flower girl in my cousin’s wedding this year. In my eyes, this wedding receives the “wedding of the year” award. It was carefully planned for a whole year. From the engagement pictures to the bridal shower, to the flowers,     the cake,  the day of  groom-bride gifts, to the reception and rehearsal, it was PLANNED and then EXECUTED with precision. I think the bride and groom can look back with wonderful memories of their exquisitely special day.

    Have you ever thought what the wedding banquet will look like when Christ returns for US, His BRIDE? Can you even picture yourself as the Bride of Christ? Well, believe it you shall, and think on it you must, for it is TRUE!

    Revelation 19:6-8: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar or rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)’”

    Have you ever thought that events in this life are preparing us for Heaven? I don’t mean physical things like houses and cars and clothes. But spiritual things like, hardships, struggles, disappointments, death, divorce, broken hearts, etc  do a work in our hearts with the goal of purification. One day, when our work here is completed, we will meet Jesus at the other end of that isle. We will leave behind all flesh and bones and finally be united in perfect purity to our Creator. I believe that’s what the meaning of “his bride has made herself ready.” We talked about being prepared for his coming, and what  that looks like. One way, is to allow the trials in life to purify ourself.

    1 Peter 1:3-7: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kind of trials. These have come so that you faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

    My favorite part of that verse is that my faith is of greater worth to God than gold. He will go to any lengths  to refine me until I’m proved genuine. I see that as the getting ready process for the wedding banquet to come! In today’s world, 1 year is along time to wait and plan the wedding ceremony. Preparations beckon, and great expectations await. However, The Lamb of God invites US to a wedding ceremony that will surpass it all!

    Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

    Are you ready?

Watchful

   

     I saw the most amazing sun rise this morning, I actually stopped and worshiped mid-run. It was just one of those, I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-seeing-this kind of sights.

    When you see color spilled across the sky like that, you know the sun rise is near, right? Just as dark, heavy clouds forecast rain. In the same way, Jesus tells us to watch for signs of His return. Not as alarmists, or that we have the day and hour pegged, because that cannot happen. But just to be watchful.

    Luke 12:35-48 speaks on such watchfulness. I want to share some of this passage and encourage you to read the rest on your own. Starting in verse 35, Jesus says, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the 2^nd or 3^rd watch of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

    Wow! I don’t exactly know what to do with those words. I know what it means to be prepared. I know how to pack a camping trailer for a week’s vacation. Is that what He’s talking about? Or is it more like the first year Adam left for 10 days to go to Africa? I couldn’t sleep the night before, excitedly awaiting his arrival the next day. I cleaned the house, had food to cook, I was ready! To me, verse 35 conveys a message of anticipation and expectation of the Master’s return, that goes beyond what my everyday expresses.

    How am I to be ready for Christ’s return? Are you ready for Him to return? The word says it will be good for that person who watching, when He returns. Are you watching?