More than new curtains

I resist change. Even good change. It shakes my being like an earthquake. My wants and desires fall from the shelves and break like china against the invisible force. I'm more of a variety girl - keep the structure steady and unchanging and allow me the freedom to paint the walls, sew new curtains or re-arrange the furniture as I'd like. Unfortunately, if I call myself a disciple of Jesus Christ, that requires CHANGE. Here's what I mean...

In Philippians 3:13b-14, Paul exhorts us to FORGET what lies behind and STRAIN toward what is ahead as we press on toward the goal. In the previous verses, Paul states that he considers ALL his earthly riches a LOSS compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ as LORD. He considers them "rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own....but one through faith." (Phil 3:8,9)

Do you hear the change that MUST take place? Consider another passage:

Matthew 9:16-17 Jesus says, "No one sews a patch of un-shrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

And one more...

Matthew 18:3 "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Before new wine can be useful and preserved, the old skin must be thrown away. Before we can STRAIN toward what is ahead, we must FORGET and THROW OUT what lay behind. Before we can KNOW the surpassing greatness of Christ, we mush consider all things a LOSS. Before we can ask Christ to be our LORD and Master, we must first CONFESS and REPENT. We get to trade in our old way of life for Jesus' new beginning. Variety won't cut it here. Moving around the same old habits and patterns while keeping the same framework isn't change. That's a mask. Masks must be ripped off. This is CHANGE.

Here the internal struggle begins. It's called Spirit-filled vs Flesh. Our flesh wants nothing more than to hold on tightly to our old ways, old thinking patterns, old stand-bys. It won't RELEASE without a FIGHT. With reminders of past sights, smells, tastes and feelings, our flesh grasps to keep the flame of the old self alive. It's in that moment we must die to ourself, turn around (aka change), and accept the good news Jesus offers. Do you know what that good news is? The power of sin and our flesh is BROKEN by the POWER of the CROSS for all who believe.

Change may rock us to the core and leave us bare-shelved and broken. Thankfully, the CHOICE to change comes from us, but the POWER of transformation belongs to CHRIST alone. Will you join me in this journey of change? The price is high...in fact it may cost everything! But the end result is so much better than new curtains or re-arranged furniture.

Philippians 3:20-21 "But our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the LORD Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under  his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

The Long Cut to Paradise

Have you ever taken a short cut only to find yourself....lost? That 5 minutes you were saving has long expired and been replaced with 30 minutes extra! Sometimes I wonder when I'll realize that taking the familiar road isn't so long after all.

There's a similar story in the book of Exodus where God took His people, the Israelites, the long way around. However, His plans are always perfect and hidden in this "long-cut" lay a lesson about Himself....

Exodus 13:17-18 says, "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.' So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea."

 Did you notice how God didn't lead the Israelites the short way? He intentionally took them by the long road, lest they see difficulties and turn back. But do you remember what BIG THING lay on this "long road"? Yes, the Red Sea. God knew full good and well it was approaching. He didn't panic when Moses reached the edge of land and the people were wailing, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?". God didn't look to Jesus and say, "Shoot! I forgot about the Red Sea! Holy Spirit, pull up the GPS map and see where they need to go from here!!" No, God had a plan.

So if God's in control and He's intentionally, on purpose, divinely guided his people to the edge of disaster, what are they supposed to do? What is He doing and WHY? These are the kind of questions I ask when faced with my version of the Red Sea. Verse 15 of Chapter 14 answers it best. "The Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground." Then in verse 18, God explains part of the why.... "The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horseman."

If you haven't noticed, to just keep walking when the road ends takes faith. Abundant faith.
God's ways are higher than our ways, so we can't always know WHY, but we can rest in the fact that He knows. Maybe He has us here to refine us, or meet the needs of someone around us, like the Egyptians in the example above. It could be just to bring Him glory. It's not because God needs an ego boost, but because the sooner we focus our eyes on Him and take the spotlight off ourselves, the more satisfied and abundant people we will be. That's just how He created us, how He knit us. We have an insatiable NEED for God. Only when we come to that realization and yield to it can we walk through the water that threatens to flood our path. Circumstance don't catch God off guard. He's not reeling and searching GOOGLE to find the answer to my problem. He's in control of it. He's at the helm. He's the CREATOR.

"Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Ex 13:14) Will our hearts obey Him when we hear Him saying that to US?

Faith Floaties

Do we need proof of God's Word being alive and sharper than a double-edged sword? How about reading a familiar bible story in a fresh, new light and it producing in you a realization that you never saw before? That's what happened to me with Matthew 14:13-33. This is my rendition of that moment...

The feeding of the 5 thousand happened right after Jesus heard about John the Baptist's beheading. He withdrew by boat to be alone. What He was feeling, we aren't told. But, interrupting that quiet, alone time, was the crowds that began gathering around him. Filled with compassion, He began teaching them and healing the sick. As evening came, the disciples remind Jesus everyone will be getting hungry soon and they sure don't have enough food to feed such a crowd. The familiar story then unfolds when food multiplies from Heaven and Jesus produces enough to feed them all. After the baskets were returned, the leftovers bagged up, Jesus sent His disciples on up ahead of Him while He dismissed the crowds. Jesus, however, decided to resume his "quiet time" and retreated again to a mountainside to pray A-L-O-N-E. Meanwhile, His disciples have now drifted a considerable distance away from the shore because it's almost morning. Jesus approaches them, walking on the water. The disciples' mouths gape open in fear, but Jesus says,"It is I. Do not be afraid." Peter speaks up and says, "Lord, tell me to come to you." "Come on," Jesus says. Peter inches out, then realizes what he's doing and a million doubts fill his head. Instantly his feet begin to fail and he's sinking. "Help, Lord!" he yells. As Jesus swoops in to gently lift him up, Jesus asks, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" I imagine Peter saying, "But Lord, the waves...I .....can't...." Jesus rests him on the boat and the wind stills. The LORD has walked into the boat and all creation must obey Him. 

Jesus didn't still the waves to boost Peter's self-confidence. He let him sink, carried him to the boat, then stilled the waves so that the disciples would worship HIM. I agree with the disciples, "Truly you are the Son of God"!

Z

Our history cycle this year marches through the Middle Ages, starting with the fall of Rome and ending with the Reformation. The rise of Islam, Vikings, Monks copying the Bible, stained glass windows, castles, knights and peasant life have invaded our living room and art gallery. To accompany what we do at home, the home school co-op we're apart of memorizes a history sentence each week that takes place during this time period. One week the sentence told the story of William the Conqueror defeating King Harold and the beginning of feudalism. The kids loved memorizing this with the help of a catchy tune, although they didn't know the background to the story yet. One rainy morning we read our history together nestled in a "tent" in the boy's room. I read about how this man named William and this other man named Harold were fighting for the English crown. Both felt they should rightly inherit the throne and no one was backing down without a fight. Not til the very end did the story say "William the Conqueror" and "King Harold". At the moment of realization, the kids popped up from under the covers with a light bulb going off in their head and all started singing the history sentence in unison! It was a hilarious sight!

I shared a similar enthusiasm of connecting the dots as I was preparing what to say in Africa. How was I to share anything beneficial to a group of ladies I neither knew nor understood? I realized that it would only come from the Holy Spirit. This would not come from ME. These ladies would teach me far more than any nugget of wisdom I may bring. As I prayed and sat quietly before the Lord, asking Him to reveal what message He had for me to bring, His words began flooding my heart and pouring onto the paper in front of me. I cannot share the entire message, however one passage of scripture and biblical truth still rings in my ears and stirs my heart today. A message that never grows old, although it dates back to a tiny Old Testament book.

Adam went to Africa to build. Build. We're all building something. Either we're building or we're allowing to tear down by natural erosion. Have you ever paralleled building a physical structure to building a spiritual structure? Proverbs 14:1 says, "The wise woman builds her house but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down." Building... Matthew 7:24-27 gives us another look into some wise and foolish builders. But my new favorite, a jewel that God showed me is in the Old Testament Minor Prophet book of Haggai. Haggai 1:1-11 spoke so loudly and clearly to me that I couldn't wait to share this treasure with the ladies on the other side of the world. Have you ever felt like you worked and worked and tried your absolute hardest to do something only to feel as if you were putting that prized possession into a bag with holes in it? Or to work and have it all blow away like a dandelion seed? The Lord says, do you want to know why? Verse 9 says, "Because of my house which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." OH. We don't have to be living in luxury for this to apply to us. Where is the temple now? In each of us who call on the name of the Lord as our Savior. God wants us focused on building His house, not our own. He wants to me my Provider.

The Books of Genesis-Revelation hold the most important information for our everyday living. We can read them as eagerly as an old love note, for that is what they are. Come to God as a child, even as one who's memorized John 3:16 or any other verse. Open the pages, read the background story and watch how your spirit comes alive, just as my kids did when what they memorized came full circle and made since.  If a history book can do that, God's Word can do it bigger!

Yarn and the Yearning

When I turned 5 years old a sweet friend of my mom gave me a tadpole for my birthday. It was a special mail order kind, so I received a tadpole in the mailbox. I aptly named him Timmy and enjoyed watching him tun into a frog. He lived in a small aquarium perched atop my bathroom counter. Since I am an only child I talked regularly with Timmy and we shared many life events together. He died when I was 24!

So when Caleb turned 5, (Timmy had only been gone a few years) I wanted to pass along the experience. At Christmas, Santa left a tadpole for my kids to love and watch transform. This they did and after a few years  I was told Gilly needed a friend. So again, Santa left behind another another tadpole gift. When this one arrived, the kids chose the name Caspian after their favorite series at the time "The Chronicles of Narnia". Caspian was so cute and tiny compared to our larger frog.  Zach found it most interesting to watch him grow and announced regularly his growth progress. One evening as we were heading to bed, Zach (3) runs in our room full of excitement and expressively says, "Mom, Caspian is a frog! I'm serious. He made hisself into a FROG!"

One week ago, Adam and I stepped off a plane that took us all the way to Africa - and home again. The way that journey began and how God confirmed that we were both to go this year reminds me a lot of that story. Adam has been to Africa for 3 years now. Last year when he got home I said "You're not going by yourself again! If you go, I'm going too." So all year we planned to go together. However, when the trip was put together it was too long and more expensive than we thought-or could afford. So with a heavy heart we had to make the call that this year wasn't for us to go. Not long after that, we got news that the trip had been shortened to only being out one full work week, and the prices lowered after going with a different airline and fight plan. So we prayed about it again. The deadline came to purchase the tickets and we still did not have the money for it. We fully believed that if we were to go this year, God would provide the funds needed for the ticket in time.

We were not going to presume, so wholeheartedly prayed that God would show us. The next morning, the money was provided for us! As the tickets were purchased, Adam and I looked at each other and said, "We're going to Africa together! I'm serious, we really are. God provided a way!" God poured in enough financial support to meet every need on this trip - to the amazement of the whole team, we watched as He truly fashioned this group who went. Some who have never taught stepped up to teach pastors at the Pastor's conference; truly committing to do what''s uncomfortable.

For myself the task now focused on what do I speak about? I will have 3 one hour sessions covering marriage and family to a group of ladies I've never met, and in a country I've never been to. A peace followed that moment of anxiety when I realized the Lord I worship here, is the same in Africa. He doesn't change just because I cross state lines or American soil. He doesn't need a passport. He is God HERE and He is God THERE. The I AM that I AM.

So on that foundation I began to pray for the women I would meet and for God to give me His words to speak to them that would connect and apply to them, where they are. Let me say, the Lord is faithful! He supplied me with words, enabled me to speak those words and I believe they fell on hungry ears and hearts. I felt so inadequate and humbled to stand before them and speak anything because they were teaching me so much. Watching them pick up crocheting so easily and taking the basic single stitch we showed them and turning it into bags, hats, table runners, booties - was proof again how God takes what we give to Him and He produces far more than we fathom possible. The ladies were all so tremendously blessed to have a skein of yarn to call their own, a blessing made possible by the abundant provisions of God through friends here.

It's in those "Caspian's a frog!" moments in life we see a tiny glimpse of God's magnitude. It leaves us speechless and breathless.