If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase ‘tis the season’ ... and not always in the intended positive way! Kids throwing up, ‘tis the season’ ... Crazy weekends, ‘tis the season’ ... Early mornings, late nights, ‘tis the season’ ... So many bills to pay, ‘tis the season’ ... Cranky kids, ‘tis the season’ ... Crankier mom, ‘tis the season’ ...
This year, this season has brought about a whole new batch of challenges, many of which I’ve been dreading for several months now. Even Christmas cards, which I normally can’t wait to tear open, are set aside for days as I dread the sentiments that are written in complete love for us, but are still hard to open as they remind me of the ultimate challenge of the season this year ... a loss of what used to make it all fun ... worth the chaos.
Today, when I got the mail, almost out of habit I just started to open the cards, rather than set them aside ... the first one was from one of David's friends, which I would definitely have set aside for another day if it wasn’t for the sheer appreciation for how hard it had to be for them to send it, too. Opening it, I found the kindest hand-written note ... May God bless you with a peace that passes all understanding and a joy that can not be taken from you.
A peace that passes understanding ... A joy that can not be taken from you ...
While it is rare for my peace to be stolen, I really am guilty of not allowing it to go beyond my understanding very often. I’m pretty good about thinking things through or having a plan and as I’ve shared many times, my sin of ‘need to know’ often keeps me searching for the understanding behind things, until I find it ... Why, when, how, who ... All good questions, in my book ... I’m working on it, though. In spite of myself, I am thankful that I have often experienced the peace that just doesn’t make sense, especially with the kids. I recently asked them how they were doing without their Dad, and they joyfully answered ‘Good!’ ... Sometimes it makes me mad :) It certainly passes ANY understanding, but I’m growing more and more comfortable with not having to know the how or the why behind it.
Joy is another issue ... I’ll be honest, it’s just hard to be joyful. I want to be ... or at least I THINK I want to be ... It’s one of those things that I think God is revealing to me ‘the way’, but I’m not sure I’m ready to be well, yet. I know that sounds crazy, but Jesus does sometimes ask first, ‘do you want to be well.’ Sometimes it is our choice and God has been revealing to me how selfishness plays a role on this path ... It is an ‘ouchy’ road, and not one that I am yet ready to share, but I believe there is a great deal of truth in understanding that ‘woes is me’ is as selfish as ‘look at me’ and satan is doing all he can to keep me without joy.
And yet I know that ‘a joy that can not be taken’ is the real promise of this season ... It is the hidden truth swaddled in that manger ... It is the power of a King who came as a defenseless baby into a dark, cold world. I stood on those hills that overlook Bethlehem ... On those hills where shepherds watched their sheep ... It was not night, but as I overlooked the little town, I did look to the sky and imagined how bright the star must have been to be seen so far, shining down on the promise of ‘a Joy that could not be taken’ from us. The same hills are still there and I know that the promise is, too.
While babies make it easy to be joyful, we can not forget that Christ’s birth is really the beginning of His road to the Cross, where He ultimately invites all of us to go ... And so I am reminded that ‘a joy that can not be taken’ must first go by way of the cross where Joy had to first be killed and buried. If I stop there, joylessness would be the result, but a grave can certainly not contain a ‘Joy that can not be taken’ ... Only a risen Joy fulfills the definition and a Savior who is coming again is our ultimate ‘joy that can not be taken’ ... A Savior who came first to rescue us from our sin, but will come again to rescue us from our hopelessness ... Our joylessness ... It is in the role of His awaiting Bride where we find our ‘joy that can not be taken’ ... It is the promise of no more tears ... No more mourning ... A promise of everything being made right and a celebration that never ends!!
I received that powerful blessing sent by way of a thoughtful Christmas greeting and in the Spirit of the season, I’m willing to share :) May God bless you with a peace that passes understanding and a Joy that can not be taken away ... it is a gift that I pray you will receive.
Tis the season ...
HOSANNA! HOSANNA! HOSANNA!
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
He was, He is, He is to come ...
I’ve been praying about how to summarize our trip to Israel, without just using the word ‘amazing’ over and over ... I think I’ve had a revelation that the reason I’m having such a hard time ‘summarizing’ is because to summarize implies a finished event and I believe that what I experienced in Israel is far from being completed within me.
He was ...
How do you describe the experience of walking where Jesus walked ... overlooking the same seas and the same mountains that Jesus looked over ... sitting on the very Temple steps where Jesus taught ... praying in the Garden where Jesus prayed ... standing in the tomb where Jesus stood on that third and glorious day ... Where do you start? So many things were so different than what I expected ... I really thought His presence would feel ‘victorious’, ‘majestic’ or ‘holy’ ... I’ve been at some pretty incredible sights in my life and I’m thankful that I’m not a stranger to the presence of the Lord that feels ‘victorious’ ... in the Galilee region, where 90% of Jesus’ ministry took place, the Spirit wasn’t victorious at all, but sweet! So, so sweet ... As we took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, it was peaceful and calm and so sweet ... It even smelled ‘sweet’ (except for that whole fish we were served for lunch that day! ... Literally head, eyeballs, fins, scales and all!). When we took communion near the Garden Tomb, it wasn’t sad or heavy at all, but actually very light and peaceful ... almost ‘joyful’, if you can imagine ... But then again, He is risen!! Standing on the Mt. of Beatitudes (where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount), we had a incredible view of the whole area and it was easy to see the Bible come to life! When it was written ‘He said to His disciples, ‘Let us go to the other side (of the Sea)’, we could see the ‘other side’ ... when Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray and watched the disciples boat be tossed by the waves before walking out to them, we stood on a mountainside overlooking the sea and it was so easy to imagine how easy it would have been for Him to see from that vantage point ... Or to imagine how the crowds would be able to see Jesus get on a boat at one side and make their way to meet Him at the other side ... that mountainside was also filled with mustard seed plants, making it very easy to imagine how Jesus might have simply reached out to gather a handful of mustard seeds in His hand as He encouraged our little faith. Each site was filled with confirmations of scenes from the Bible that I had only read (and many that I had not quite gotten to yet :) Every site had an incredible story of God’s love and provision for His people ... how do you put into words what it was like to see and experience first hand that He indeed was ...
He is ...
Every day, we heard the most amazing stories of miracles in the Land ... whether it was passing the creek where David picked up those five smooth stones that defeated Goliath ... or overlooking a valley where God brought victory to modern day Israel whose tanks were outnumbered 4 to 1 in the Yom Kippur War ... or meeting a gal near Gaza who had experienced the horror of Hamas rockets, and yet God was teaching English to her in her dreams ... There is no question that miracles are abundant in the Land! I will even go as far as claiming one for myself, as my computer turned up missing when we transferred from our Tel Aviv hotel to the one in Galilee ... it took three days, but God did return it to me safe and sound, PRAISE THE LORD ... there must be something special about 'three days' in the Land :)
Much of every day referenced the Bible in some way ... just amazing to be immersed in the Word like that! You would think so much reference to the Word would cause us to grow tired of it, but in fact the exact opposite happened as it was like pouring water on parched ground ... We sucked it up as quickly as it could be given to us and thirsted for more ... We didn’t realize how thirsty we really were as we found ourselves in awe and amazement of how much of the Bible refers to His love for His Land and for His people!
One of our very first days included a worship service with a congregation of fellow ‘followers of Jesus’ at the top of Mt. Carmel, where God answered Elijah’s prayer for fire from heaven to defeat the prophets of Baal ... It was a Hebrew service and where we first learned the Hebrew name for Jesus, which is Yeshua (Yu-shoe-wa) ... As we sang His name over and over, someone commented about how for a while in the land, Jesus' name was actually CHANGED and it wasn't until recently that His name was restored to the region ... how pleased Jesus must be to hear His name, in His native tongue, after waiting so long to hear it called out in His land ... All we have to do is call on His name, friends ... Yeshua ... Yeshua ... Yeshua! How do I explain what it was like to praise His name a top such a place, asking for His return to the Land while IN the Land! His presence was overwhelming and emotional and too much to take in, let alone put into words. Somewhere between the Biblical sites and stories and the miraculous testimonies from people in our group and from the Land, I was reminded again that He indeed is ...
He is to come ...
One of my initial draws to going to Israel with this particular tour was that it was being lead by Joel Rosenberg, who is a Bible teacher of End Times prophecy. If you don’t know who he is, I could go on and on about him, especially after meeting him and his family and getting to know his heart behind his love for Israel and her neighbors. I encourage you to check into his books at your local library, or drop me an email and I’d be happy to expound further on who he is, what he believes and why I believe in what he’s doing.
The question we must first ask ourselves is do we believe that any of this is true? Elijah calling down fire from the top of Mt. Carmel ... Moses being saved in a basket sent downstream .. David killing a giant with a slingshot and a stone ... God parting the Red Sea ... a Virgin giving birth to a baby boy ... Jesus walking on water, feeding 5000 people with a couple loaves of bread and fishes, or casting out demons into a herd of pigs and casting them into the sea (I saw that mountain slope) ... Do we believe any of it? The question is do we believe the Bible for what it is, the very breath of God, sent to instruct and encourage us with truth? Do we believe Jesus to be God’s one and only son, sent to fulfill the original law, for which the wage of sin was death ... Do we believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, even before we were sinners ... Do we believe He was innocent of all charges, yet brutally crucified on a cross and buried ... Do we believe He arose from the dead and joined our Father in heaven ... Do we actually believe that? Do we believe Jesus went away to prepare a place for us in Heaven and intends to return one day so that we can join Him in His reign forever ... Do we believe it? Some of it? Any of it?
I just finished another great book by David Jeremiah, called ‘What in the World is Going On’ ... In it, he states an amazing fact ... did you know that Scripture references the Second Coming of Jesus Christ EIGHT TIMES MORE than it refers to His First Coming? EIGHT TIMES MORE! If we believe any of what I’ve been sharing about these amazing sites throughout Israel, and truly believe them to be accurately represented in the Bible and true to world history ... true to our heritage ... How much more should we believe and expect that Jesus is coming again, especially if His Second Coming is taught EIGHT TIMES MORE in the Bible than any other reference!?! Think about that.
Friends, He is coming ... and I’m not the only one who believes that He’s coming very soon ... in the Land, it was encouraging and overwhelming to talk to so many who believe He’s coming soon ... How do I put into words the experience of hearing a teaching on End Times prophecy as we looked out upon the Mt. of Olives (where Jesus is believed to return) and imagine His triumphant entrance into the city ... Or while looking out upon the hills of Syria and Lebanon, which Joel taught is the direction that enemies are prophesied to come during the prophetic war detailed in Ezekiel 38-39 ... Or sitting a top Mt Megiddo (Armageddon) looking over the Jezreel Valley where Scripture prophesizes the final battle between good and evil will take place, when satan will finally receive his destiny in the lake of fire. It all seems so ‘out there’ ... until you see actual signs of other prophecy already fulfilled, and then it’s not so crazy.
Many may not know that when Israel became it’s own state in 1948, that was a fulfillment of prophecy in Ezekiel 37 ... I had no idea how much of a miracle becoming its own state was until we visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and saw the degree to which the Jews had been scattered and persecuted throughout the world, or when hearing the history of the Land of how many different people have possessed the Land from the time of Jesus, until now. Some archeological sites show 27-some different types of settlements of the Land over the last 2000 years! Why so much argument over the Land? I was joking that the real reason for so much tension in the Middle East was obvious to me as soon as I stepped foot in the Land ... No Mt. Dew!! Seriously. No wonder they’re cranky!!!! But most likely it has to do with 2 Chronicles 6:6 when God declares 'I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there'. And what God declares for Himself, satan wants.
More evidence of prophecy fulfilled ... when we went to the Gaza area to do our outreach project, we passed through deserts that were literally blooming with crops of all kinds (fulfillment of Isaiah 35). Desserts blooming! This is in stark contrast to Mark Twain’s infamous synopsis of the Land when he called it ‘desolate country’ in the 1800s. Ezekiel 47 also refers to the Dead Sea being ‘healed and made fresh’ from a river that flows into it, which many think is either ‘symbolic prophecy’, or just plain ‘crazy’ ... while we were at the Dead Sea we heard plans about bringing water up from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea because so much evaporation has taken place and they are concerned about it drying up ‘unless something is done’. Maybe the remnant of people who have joked about opening up bass shops on the shores of the Dead Sea should take that prompting from the Holy Spirit a little more seriously :) With regard to that prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39, which refers to a war against Israel in the End times, no one comes to her aid, except God ... the enemy named is a coalition of forces which include Iran, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and more ... If you follow any geopolitical news, you have heard that such a coalition is already forming. Right before we left on the trip, a resolution was passed within the UN to file war crime charges against Israel for their recent fighting in Gaza ... Just a reminder, the only reason Israel went into Gaza was to defend themselves against some 4000 Hamas rockets that were being fired upon them and before entering, Israel warned Hamas numerous times to stop or face military action ... That resolution to press charges against Israel passed with a vote of 118 to 14 ... Only 14 countries supported Israel’s right to defend itself (thank God, the US was one of them!) ... Only 14 ... most of which were very tiny countries ... France and Britain abstained from the vote altogether ... the US was the only one with any kind of ‘weight’, and it’s no secret how the US’s support of Israel isn’t as definite as it used to be ... Less than 4% of Israelis even consider the current administration favorable to Israel! Less than 4%! ... Does that sound like ‘no allies to defend Israel, except God Himself’? When we discussed ANY of these injustices with Israelis, their overwhelming consistent response was ‘it does not surprise us ... it is written.’
Something else is also written ... Genesis 12:2-3, God says this of Israel ... "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." While Israel’s political allies may be dwindling and we may feel as if we have little to no control over that, we CAN step up as their spiritual and financial allies ... we can continue to pray for peace and blessing upon Israel and their neighbors and ask God what He wants us to do to bless His people and His Land.
Whew ... apparently I DID have a lot to share and I haven't even broke out my pictures and videos yet!!! Can you see now why it is taking me some time to process all that we saw, and heard, and learned, and experienced ... There are so many layers to it ... Historical (both Biblical and modern day history), social, geopolitical, spiritual, emotional ... I think I got a little sense of what God is talking about in Habakkuk when He says ‘for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.’ I certainly KNOW now that I don’t have the capacity to get it all ... so I praise Him for calling me to go ... for meeting us while we were there ... for showing us His love for His people and His Land ... for bringing us home safely ... and for allowing me to just marinate in all of it, trusting that He will continue to show me what He wants me to see, when it is time to see it.
So, how was the trip?
Amazing ...
[comment on this entry] [sign guestbook]
He was ...
How do you describe the experience of walking where Jesus walked ... overlooking the same seas and the same mountains that Jesus looked over ... sitting on the very Temple steps where Jesus taught ... praying in the Garden where Jesus prayed ... standing in the tomb where Jesus stood on that third and glorious day ... Where do you start? So many things were so different than what I expected ... I really thought His presence would feel ‘victorious’, ‘majestic’ or ‘holy’ ... I’ve been at some pretty incredible sights in my life and I’m thankful that I’m not a stranger to the presence of the Lord that feels ‘victorious’ ... in the Galilee region, where 90% of Jesus’ ministry took place, the Spirit wasn’t victorious at all, but sweet! So, so sweet ... As we took a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, it was peaceful and calm and so sweet ... It even smelled ‘sweet’ (except for that whole fish we were served for lunch that day! ... Literally head, eyeballs, fins, scales and all!). When we took communion near the Garden Tomb, it wasn’t sad or heavy at all, but actually very light and peaceful ... almost ‘joyful’, if you can imagine ... But then again, He is risen!! Standing on the Mt. of Beatitudes (where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount), we had a incredible view of the whole area and it was easy to see the Bible come to life! When it was written ‘He said to His disciples, ‘Let us go to the other side (of the Sea)’, we could see the ‘other side’ ... when Jesus went up on a mountainside to pray and watched the disciples boat be tossed by the waves before walking out to them, we stood on a mountainside overlooking the sea and it was so easy to imagine how easy it would have been for Him to see from that vantage point ... Or to imagine how the crowds would be able to see Jesus get on a boat at one side and make their way to meet Him at the other side ... that mountainside was also filled with mustard seed plants, making it very easy to imagine how Jesus might have simply reached out to gather a handful of mustard seeds in His hand as He encouraged our little faith. Each site was filled with confirmations of scenes from the Bible that I had only read (and many that I had not quite gotten to yet :) Every site had an incredible story of God’s love and provision for His people ... how do you put into words what it was like to see and experience first hand that He indeed was ...
He is ...
Every day, we heard the most amazing stories of miracles in the Land ... whether it was passing the creek where David picked up those five smooth stones that defeated Goliath ... or overlooking a valley where God brought victory to modern day Israel whose tanks were outnumbered 4 to 1 in the Yom Kippur War ... or meeting a gal near Gaza who had experienced the horror of Hamas rockets, and yet God was teaching English to her in her dreams ... There is no question that miracles are abundant in the Land! I will even go as far as claiming one for myself, as my computer turned up missing when we transferred from our Tel Aviv hotel to the one in Galilee ... it took three days, but God did return it to me safe and sound, PRAISE THE LORD ... there must be something special about 'three days' in the Land :)
Much of every day referenced the Bible in some way ... just amazing to be immersed in the Word like that! You would think so much reference to the Word would cause us to grow tired of it, but in fact the exact opposite happened as it was like pouring water on parched ground ... We sucked it up as quickly as it could be given to us and thirsted for more ... We didn’t realize how thirsty we really were as we found ourselves in awe and amazement of how much of the Bible refers to His love for His Land and for His people!
One of our very first days included a worship service with a congregation of fellow ‘followers of Jesus’ at the top of Mt. Carmel, where God answered Elijah’s prayer for fire from heaven to defeat the prophets of Baal ... It was a Hebrew service and where we first learned the Hebrew name for Jesus, which is Yeshua (Yu-shoe-wa) ... As we sang His name over and over, someone commented about how for a while in the land, Jesus' name was actually CHANGED and it wasn't until recently that His name was restored to the region ... how pleased Jesus must be to hear His name, in His native tongue, after waiting so long to hear it called out in His land ... All we have to do is call on His name, friends ... Yeshua ... Yeshua ... Yeshua! How do I explain what it was like to praise His name a top such a place, asking for His return to the Land while IN the Land! His presence was overwhelming and emotional and too much to take in, let alone put into words. Somewhere between the Biblical sites and stories and the miraculous testimonies from people in our group and from the Land, I was reminded again that He indeed is ...
He is to come ...
One of my initial draws to going to Israel with this particular tour was that it was being lead by Joel Rosenberg, who is a Bible teacher of End Times prophecy. If you don’t know who he is, I could go on and on about him, especially after meeting him and his family and getting to know his heart behind his love for Israel and her neighbors. I encourage you to check into his books at your local library, or drop me an email and I’d be happy to expound further on who he is, what he believes and why I believe in what he’s doing.
The question we must first ask ourselves is do we believe that any of this is true? Elijah calling down fire from the top of Mt. Carmel ... Moses being saved in a basket sent downstream .. David killing a giant with a slingshot and a stone ... God parting the Red Sea ... a Virgin giving birth to a baby boy ... Jesus walking on water, feeding 5000 people with a couple loaves of bread and fishes, or casting out demons into a herd of pigs and casting them into the sea (I saw that mountain slope) ... Do we believe any of it? The question is do we believe the Bible for what it is, the very breath of God, sent to instruct and encourage us with truth? Do we believe Jesus to be God’s one and only son, sent to fulfill the original law, for which the wage of sin was death ... Do we believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin, even before we were sinners ... Do we believe He was innocent of all charges, yet brutally crucified on a cross and buried ... Do we believe He arose from the dead and joined our Father in heaven ... Do we actually believe that? Do we believe Jesus went away to prepare a place for us in Heaven and intends to return one day so that we can join Him in His reign forever ... Do we believe it? Some of it? Any of it?
I just finished another great book by David Jeremiah, called ‘What in the World is Going On’ ... In it, he states an amazing fact ... did you know that Scripture references the Second Coming of Jesus Christ EIGHT TIMES MORE than it refers to His First Coming? EIGHT TIMES MORE! If we believe any of what I’ve been sharing about these amazing sites throughout Israel, and truly believe them to be accurately represented in the Bible and true to world history ... true to our heritage ... How much more should we believe and expect that Jesus is coming again, especially if His Second Coming is taught EIGHT TIMES MORE in the Bible than any other reference!?! Think about that.
Friends, He is coming ... and I’m not the only one who believes that He’s coming very soon ... in the Land, it was encouraging and overwhelming to talk to so many who believe He’s coming soon ... How do I put into words the experience of hearing a teaching on End Times prophecy as we looked out upon the Mt. of Olives (where Jesus is believed to return) and imagine His triumphant entrance into the city ... Or while looking out upon the hills of Syria and Lebanon, which Joel taught is the direction that enemies are prophesied to come during the prophetic war detailed in Ezekiel 38-39 ... Or sitting a top Mt Megiddo (Armageddon) looking over the Jezreel Valley where Scripture prophesizes the final battle between good and evil will take place, when satan will finally receive his destiny in the lake of fire. It all seems so ‘out there’ ... until you see actual signs of other prophecy already fulfilled, and then it’s not so crazy.
Many may not know that when Israel became it’s own state in 1948, that was a fulfillment of prophecy in Ezekiel 37 ... I had no idea how much of a miracle becoming its own state was until we visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and saw the degree to which the Jews had been scattered and persecuted throughout the world, or when hearing the history of the Land of how many different people have possessed the Land from the time of Jesus, until now. Some archeological sites show 27-some different types of settlements of the Land over the last 2000 years! Why so much argument over the Land? I was joking that the real reason for so much tension in the Middle East was obvious to me as soon as I stepped foot in the Land ... No Mt. Dew!! Seriously. No wonder they’re cranky!!!! But most likely it has to do with 2 Chronicles 6:6 when God declares 'I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there'. And what God declares for Himself, satan wants.
More evidence of prophecy fulfilled ... when we went to the Gaza area to do our outreach project, we passed through deserts that were literally blooming with crops of all kinds (fulfillment of Isaiah 35). Desserts blooming! This is in stark contrast to Mark Twain’s infamous synopsis of the Land when he called it ‘desolate country’ in the 1800s. Ezekiel 47 also refers to the Dead Sea being ‘healed and made fresh’ from a river that flows into it, which many think is either ‘symbolic prophecy’, or just plain ‘crazy’ ... while we were at the Dead Sea we heard plans about bringing water up from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea because so much evaporation has taken place and they are concerned about it drying up ‘unless something is done’. Maybe the remnant of people who have joked about opening up bass shops on the shores of the Dead Sea should take that prompting from the Holy Spirit a little more seriously :) With regard to that prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39, which refers to a war against Israel in the End times, no one comes to her aid, except God ... the enemy named is a coalition of forces which include Iran, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and more ... If you follow any geopolitical news, you have heard that such a coalition is already forming. Right before we left on the trip, a resolution was passed within the UN to file war crime charges against Israel for their recent fighting in Gaza ... Just a reminder, the only reason Israel went into Gaza was to defend themselves against some 4000 Hamas rockets that were being fired upon them and before entering, Israel warned Hamas numerous times to stop or face military action ... That resolution to press charges against Israel passed with a vote of 118 to 14 ... Only 14 countries supported Israel’s right to defend itself (thank God, the US was one of them!) ... Only 14 ... most of which were very tiny countries ... France and Britain abstained from the vote altogether ... the US was the only one with any kind of ‘weight’, and it’s no secret how the US’s support of Israel isn’t as definite as it used to be ... Less than 4% of Israelis even consider the current administration favorable to Israel! Less than 4%! ... Does that sound like ‘no allies to defend Israel, except God Himself’? When we discussed ANY of these injustices with Israelis, their overwhelming consistent response was ‘it does not surprise us ... it is written.’
Something else is also written ... Genesis 12:2-3, God says this of Israel ... "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." While Israel’s political allies may be dwindling and we may feel as if we have little to no control over that, we CAN step up as their spiritual and financial allies ... we can continue to pray for peace and blessing upon Israel and their neighbors and ask God what He wants us to do to bless His people and His Land.
Whew ... apparently I DID have a lot to share and I haven't even broke out my pictures and videos yet!!! Can you see now why it is taking me some time to process all that we saw, and heard, and learned, and experienced ... There are so many layers to it ... Historical (both Biblical and modern day history), social, geopolitical, spiritual, emotional ... I think I got a little sense of what God is talking about in Habakkuk when He says ‘for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.’ I certainly KNOW now that I don’t have the capacity to get it all ... so I praise Him for calling me to go ... for meeting us while we were there ... for showing us His love for His people and His Land ... for bringing us home safely ... and for allowing me to just marinate in all of it, trusting that He will continue to show me what He wants me to see, when it is time to see it.
So, how was the trip?
Amazing ...
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Monday, November 9, 2009
Shalom!
A quick update to let you know that we are safe and having a great time in Israel ... We’ve had quite the adventure thus far, but God has been gracious in so many ways ... We can not wait until we get a chance to share with you all that we have experienced ... Just today, we had an End Times teaching while at the top of one of highest mountains in the Golan Heights ... From that military vantage point, we could see the Lebanon border, the Syrian border and while looking over those valleys, we read and discussed the War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39) and how that very prophecy will be fulfilled right there ... RIGHT THERE!!! ... I just can’t describe to you how incredible it is to be in the Land ... One of the most incredible experiences thus far! (I can’t believe we’ve only been here 3 days!) Another overwhelming experience was a chance to worship with a Messianic Jewish congregation (Jews who believe in Jesus) at the very top of Mt. Carmel ... Mt. Carmel is where Elijah called fire down from heaven to prove the prophets of Baal to be false ... We were there ... Praising the Lord ... singing in Hebrew ... Calling out for our Saviour, Yeshua to come! In the Land that He WILL COME! ... I don’t know what to say or how to put that experience into words ... humbling ... emotional ... overwhelming ... incredible.
Tomorrow, we make our ‘ascent’ to Jerusalem ... We will enter the city by walking down the Mount of Olives, just as Jesus is expected to return. KEEP PRAYING! Specifically, thank you to those who are praying for all of the ‘little distractions’ that have popped up on the trip (broken camera, missing computer) ... I am thankful for a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God! Keep praying for us and for all that God has!
Just one more quick note to settle your concerns ... Until today, we had not seen ONE soldier or even security guard!! We were shocked to walk into the airport with no security AT ALL! Even the customs was so relaxed, it was unreal. Today, as drove through the countryside, we did see several who were doing military maneuvers in the fields, but other than that there has been no security issues at all, or even concern for safety. It is a beautiful, peaceful land, despite the news and despite the threats just over the mountain ridges ... I can not explain the sweet, sweet presence of the Lord. I’ve been to many places that make me want to just shout His name at the top of my lungs at the sight of His majesty ... But here ... The emotion is more of just sweet peace ... Complete love ... I just feel held.
It’s a wonderful Land.
More stories and details later ... Keep praying ... GOD IS ON THE MOVE, Friends! He IS coming! PRAY FOR ISRAEL!
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Tomorrow, we make our ‘ascent’ to Jerusalem ... We will enter the city by walking down the Mount of Olives, just as Jesus is expected to return. KEEP PRAYING! Specifically, thank you to those who are praying for all of the ‘little distractions’ that have popped up on the trip (broken camera, missing computer) ... I am thankful for a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God! Keep praying for us and for all that God has!
Just one more quick note to settle your concerns ... Until today, we had not seen ONE soldier or even security guard!! We were shocked to walk into the airport with no security AT ALL! Even the customs was so relaxed, it was unreal. Today, as drove through the countryside, we did see several who were doing military maneuvers in the fields, but other than that there has been no security issues at all, or even concern for safety. It is a beautiful, peaceful land, despite the news and despite the threats just over the mountain ridges ... I can not explain the sweet, sweet presence of the Lord. I’ve been to many places that make me want to just shout His name at the top of my lungs at the sight of His majesty ... But here ... The emotion is more of just sweet peace ... Complete love ... I just feel held.
It’s a wonderful Land.
More stories and details later ... Keep praying ... GOD IS ON THE MOVE, Friends! He IS coming! PRAY FOR ISRAEL!
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Thursday, November 5, 2009
More . . .
Hi Friends ... I’m going to try to keep this post short, as it’s late AGAIN and I really need to get to bed ... I want to ask if you would remember to pray for our trip to Israel ... We leave today (Thurs)! Our flight leaves at 1pm EST and lands around 2:30am EST (9:30am next day, their time). We return very late on 11/17. I’m hoping to get the chance to update this blog while over there, but I have no idea what to expect in the way of free time. Thank you for praying as God prompts you!!! The kids are doing really well and even tonight as I was tucking Emma into bed she said, 'Mama, I am REALLY excited for you ... I really am! It will be wonderful for you to walk where Jesus walked ... can you bring us back a camel?' ... Do you think God's heart swells like ours? If it does, there's no doubt that it did tonight!
This week has been at the top of the crazy meter with arranging last minute details for the kids, their school, my work, packing ... In it all, I’ve been really trying to take time each night to listen to what God wants me to hear about the trip. It’s amazing the noise that satan can create when you’re trying to make room for God to speak! I’ve been reading lots of literature, looking at many maps, researching many Bible stories, trying to soak in as much as I can, as quickly as I can ... Nothing like trying to absorb 3500 years of history into just a few short weeks! I’ve often resorted to laying my head down on the books, praying for some kind of spiritual osmosis, asking God for help in retaining it all. As I’ve prayed over the trip, I keep getting an overwhelming feeling that He has something special He wants me to see ... The word ‘Home’ brings me to tears and the thought of eating the food of His Land and seeing things that Jesus saw is just overwhelming ... my prayer is that I don’t miss what God wants me to see because I’m too busy trying to see what I want to see. My prayer is that INSPITE OF MYSELF, His presence refreshes me ... that His Land inspires me and His voice restores me ... I know He is able ... and more.
SHALOM!
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This week has been at the top of the crazy meter with arranging last minute details for the kids, their school, my work, packing ... In it all, I’ve been really trying to take time each night to listen to what God wants me to hear about the trip. It’s amazing the noise that satan can create when you’re trying to make room for God to speak! I’ve been reading lots of literature, looking at many maps, researching many Bible stories, trying to soak in as much as I can, as quickly as I can ... Nothing like trying to absorb 3500 years of history into just a few short weeks! I’ve often resorted to laying my head down on the books, praying for some kind of spiritual osmosis, asking God for help in retaining it all. As I’ve prayed over the trip, I keep getting an overwhelming feeling that He has something special He wants me to see ... The word ‘Home’ brings me to tears and the thought of eating the food of His Land and seeing things that Jesus saw is just overwhelming ... my prayer is that I don’t miss what God wants me to see because I’m too busy trying to see what I want to see. My prayer is that INSPITE OF MYSELF, His presence refreshes me ... that His Land inspires me and His voice restores me ... I know He is able ... and more.
SHALOM!
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Saturday, October 17, 2009
Listening ...
How many know there’s a big difference between hearing and listening? This difference is one that I’m constantly experiencing with the kids ... The other night, I was ‘passionately parenting’, trying to get the kids to help get the table set for dinner. As I repeated the request at least a half dozen times, I finally elevated my voice to that level that wakes the dog and shakes the windows ... apparently the only level my kids can hear ... and said ‘DOES ANYONE HEAR ME?!?!’. Although they did stop the wrestling, I was met with blank stares and muffled responses. Pressing, I said 'Emma, what did I say?!' ... With a question in her voice she responded, 'Quit wrestling?'... frustrated, I directed my glare to number two and asked 'Sam, what did I say?!' ... 'Get ready for bed?' was his guess ... Looking to Isaac, I asked again 'Isaac, what did I say?' ... 'Clean the table off.', he flatly answered. Exasperated, I asked 'If you can hear me, why don’t you listen?', to which he gave a classic answer, 'I didn’t know you were talking to me.'
I’ve come to the conclusion that while hearing is a gift from God, listening is a choice.
I would like to think I’m a good listener, but I’m just not. I want to be, but I’m such a task-oriented person that my mind is usually running a mile a minute thinking beyond the conversation in which I’m currently engaged. Can anyone relate to that? I’ve started to wonder if this applies to my walk with God ... I want nothing more then to hear from God, but I no longer think it’s a matter of Him not speaking, or me not hearing ... I’m becoming more aware that it is me not listening ... to actively pay attention with the intention to obey.
The Bible has much to say about hearing AND listening ... In Luke 8:8, Jesus ends a parable teaching with the words 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' ... The Message reads, ‘Are you listening to this? Really listening?’ ... essentially, he who has the ability to hear, let him LISTEN ... (I wonder if Jesus' voice ever reached the level that shook windows!?!) What’s interesting about this verse is that just this past week in services, the teaching was on Luke 8:4-7, but God lead me to verse 8 just today, at which time I realized it was the end to the verses from Sunday's teaching ... While the title of the sermon was ‘Greater Hearing’, the focus was on the concept of understanding what comes naturally is not necessarily what God wants for us ... sometimes it takes work to follow the supernatural promptings from God. The parable in versus 4-7 is the one about the different grounds that a farmer can sow seeds ... Pastor pointed out that weeds are natural to the ground and grow without any effort ... but seeds are not natural. To grow as they are intended, they must be carefully planted and nurtured ... As is the same with Kingdom seeds ... While God tries to plant His seeds in our life ... the kinds that will prosper us and bear fruit ... there are so many things of this world that can actually act as weeds that choke out the real fruit that God intends ... some of which are quite natural to our lives (jobs, family, church, kids, goals, desires, wants). Sometimes we have to pull these things away from the seeds that God plants, so that what He plants can grow strong, without competition for everything it needs to be fruitful.
The question is, how do you pull those weeds of the world ... the ones that entangle and confuse responsibilities with God’s calling on our heart ... or our wants with our needs ... our dreams with God-given longings ... Our busy schedules with our time meant for the Lord.
Another teaching I recently heard was on the voice of a shepherd and how in Biblical times, the shepherds did not ‘herd’ their sheep, but LEAD them from place to place. No horses or dogs, the sheep were so in tune to their shepherds voice that he just called after them and they followed ... How fitting that God would use this example for His church ... Not that we would be herded or forced to follow, but that we would learn to hear His voice and yearn to be with Him, knowing He was the source of our safety and provision. Yet ANOTHER, recent teaching reminded me that when a sheep does wander in the other direction, the further it gets away from his shepherd’s voice, the harder it is to hear and to know which way to go ... eventually they become lost but not because the shepherd quit calling, but because they stopped listening and eventually could no longer hear ... Sometimes it’s good to just head in the direction of the voice, just to make sure we can still hear ... listening is a choice.
My heart is no longer to just to hear God, but to LISTEN to Him ... to move out in that Word to where I know He wants me to be ... To cultivate what God is planting, not allowing it to be choked out with fear or pride, confusion or frustration ... but sometimes those weeds are pretty complicated buggers ... It’s not so easy to trade what is natural for something that is not, and sometimes it’s a lot of work to obey each time you receive a command ... like calling a friend or taking dinner to a neighbor ... sending money to someone or forgiving a debt ... forgiving a friend, or asking to be forgiven ... It can be a little ouchy or maybe even seem a little ‘cuckoo’, but the more that we move towards His voice, the more that we will hear ... the more the ground is worked, the easier it is to farm.
At the end of September, my dear friend Sheri and I booked a trip to Israel ... we leave in three weeks (Nov 5) and will be gone for 12 days (thru Nov 17). PLEASE BE PRAYING! I don’t know when God first whispered the thought to me, but soon after thinking about it, I opened an email that said ‘Have you ever wanted to go to Israel’? ... I picked up the phone and called Sheri and said “I think God wants me to go to Israel and I want you to go with me.” She said, ‘I’m in!’, but then we both agreed we should probably pray about it :) We dedicated it to prayer throughout the summer in which I have never met more people who had ‘just got back from Israel’! I even had a customer call back that turned into a testimony of her recent trip to Israel and ended with her praying for my decision and provision to go! Even with all of the coincidences that God kept bringing to our path, we still questioned if we were really hearing Him ... After all, it’s crazy, right?!? When it came time to decide, we agreed that all along we HAD been hearing from Him, but now it was up to us if we were going to listen, or not. We feel that whether we chose to go or to stay we will be okay; but if we don't go, we both felt like we are going to miss out on something. I can’t explain it ... I’ve had several people ask ‘why now’ and all I can answer is ‘I don’t know’ ... but the closer we get, the more confident I am that it’s what He is saying and I just have to move out in that.
Once again, my exchange with my kids caused me to pause and ask God ‘what are you wanting me to see here’ ... I don’t want to be so distracted with my wrestling with life that I’m not able to hear Him at all ... when I do hear His voice, I don’t want to miss what He has for me to do ... It takes discipline to step out whenever I hear Him speaking, but I believe that there is something big here with nurturing the Kingdom seeds that He is scattering into my field ... trusting that it’s a move towards my Shepherds voice and that the harvest is sure to come ... I just know that some day I’m going to stand in front of Him and I don’t want my response to be ‘but I didn’t know you were talking to me’. I continue to listen for my Shepherds voice because I am desperately dependent on Him and I want to be so in tune to His voice, that I don’t miss one step on this path ... following wherever He leads ...
... even if it’s on a cuckoo bus to Israel ...
MORE LORD, MORE!
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I’ve come to the conclusion that while hearing is a gift from God, listening is a choice.
I would like to think I’m a good listener, but I’m just not. I want to be, but I’m such a task-oriented person that my mind is usually running a mile a minute thinking beyond the conversation in which I’m currently engaged. Can anyone relate to that? I’ve started to wonder if this applies to my walk with God ... I want nothing more then to hear from God, but I no longer think it’s a matter of Him not speaking, or me not hearing ... I’m becoming more aware that it is me not listening ... to actively pay attention with the intention to obey.
The Bible has much to say about hearing AND listening ... In Luke 8:8, Jesus ends a parable teaching with the words 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' ... The Message reads, ‘Are you listening to this? Really listening?’ ... essentially, he who has the ability to hear, let him LISTEN ... (I wonder if Jesus' voice ever reached the level that shook windows!?!) What’s interesting about this verse is that just this past week in services, the teaching was on Luke 8:4-7, but God lead me to verse 8 just today, at which time I realized it was the end to the verses from Sunday's teaching ... While the title of the sermon was ‘Greater Hearing’, the focus was on the concept of understanding what comes naturally is not necessarily what God wants for us ... sometimes it takes work to follow the supernatural promptings from God. The parable in versus 4-7 is the one about the different grounds that a farmer can sow seeds ... Pastor pointed out that weeds are natural to the ground and grow without any effort ... but seeds are not natural. To grow as they are intended, they must be carefully planted and nurtured ... As is the same with Kingdom seeds ... While God tries to plant His seeds in our life ... the kinds that will prosper us and bear fruit ... there are so many things of this world that can actually act as weeds that choke out the real fruit that God intends ... some of which are quite natural to our lives (jobs, family, church, kids, goals, desires, wants). Sometimes we have to pull these things away from the seeds that God plants, so that what He plants can grow strong, without competition for everything it needs to be fruitful.
The question is, how do you pull those weeds of the world ... the ones that entangle and confuse responsibilities with God’s calling on our heart ... or our wants with our needs ... our dreams with God-given longings ... Our busy schedules with our time meant for the Lord.
Another teaching I recently heard was on the voice of a shepherd and how in Biblical times, the shepherds did not ‘herd’ their sheep, but LEAD them from place to place. No horses or dogs, the sheep were so in tune to their shepherds voice that he just called after them and they followed ... How fitting that God would use this example for His church ... Not that we would be herded or forced to follow, but that we would learn to hear His voice and yearn to be with Him, knowing He was the source of our safety and provision. Yet ANOTHER, recent teaching reminded me that when a sheep does wander in the other direction, the further it gets away from his shepherd’s voice, the harder it is to hear and to know which way to go ... eventually they become lost but not because the shepherd quit calling, but because they stopped listening and eventually could no longer hear ... Sometimes it’s good to just head in the direction of the voice, just to make sure we can still hear ... listening is a choice.
My heart is no longer to just to hear God, but to LISTEN to Him ... to move out in that Word to where I know He wants me to be ... To cultivate what God is planting, not allowing it to be choked out with fear or pride, confusion or frustration ... but sometimes those weeds are pretty complicated buggers ... It’s not so easy to trade what is natural for something that is not, and sometimes it’s a lot of work to obey each time you receive a command ... like calling a friend or taking dinner to a neighbor ... sending money to someone or forgiving a debt ... forgiving a friend, or asking to be forgiven ... It can be a little ouchy or maybe even seem a little ‘cuckoo’, but the more that we move towards His voice, the more that we will hear ... the more the ground is worked, the easier it is to farm.
At the end of September, my dear friend Sheri and I booked a trip to Israel ... we leave in three weeks (Nov 5) and will be gone for 12 days (thru Nov 17). PLEASE BE PRAYING! I don’t know when God first whispered the thought to me, but soon after thinking about it, I opened an email that said ‘Have you ever wanted to go to Israel’? ... I picked up the phone and called Sheri and said “I think God wants me to go to Israel and I want you to go with me.” She said, ‘I’m in!’, but then we both agreed we should probably pray about it :) We dedicated it to prayer throughout the summer in which I have never met more people who had ‘just got back from Israel’! I even had a customer call back that turned into a testimony of her recent trip to Israel and ended with her praying for my decision and provision to go! Even with all of the coincidences that God kept bringing to our path, we still questioned if we were really hearing Him ... After all, it’s crazy, right?!? When it came time to decide, we agreed that all along we HAD been hearing from Him, but now it was up to us if we were going to listen, or not. We feel that whether we chose to go or to stay we will be okay; but if we don't go, we both felt like we are going to miss out on something. I can’t explain it ... I’ve had several people ask ‘why now’ and all I can answer is ‘I don’t know’ ... but the closer we get, the more confident I am that it’s what He is saying and I just have to move out in that.
Once again, my exchange with my kids caused me to pause and ask God ‘what are you wanting me to see here’ ... I don’t want to be so distracted with my wrestling with life that I’m not able to hear Him at all ... when I do hear His voice, I don’t want to miss what He has for me to do ... It takes discipline to step out whenever I hear Him speaking, but I believe that there is something big here with nurturing the Kingdom seeds that He is scattering into my field ... trusting that it’s a move towards my Shepherds voice and that the harvest is sure to come ... I just know that some day I’m going to stand in front of Him and I don’t want my response to be ‘but I didn’t know you were talking to me’. I continue to listen for my Shepherds voice because I am desperately dependent on Him and I want to be so in tune to His voice, that I don’t miss one step on this path ... following wherever He leads ...
... even if it’s on a cuckoo bus to Israel ...
MORE LORD, MORE!
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Friday, October 2, 2009
Reading on ...
A couple weeks ago, I got the opportunity to sit down with my pastor. He was very kind to check in on me, and our conversation covered many topics. One particular topic was related to hearing from God ... specifically, what do you do when you think you’ve heard from God, you receive what you think are many confirmations of that Word from God, and you walk in faith of that Word from God ... but that Word just doesn’t come true ... No reason, just asking for a friend ... what should she do with that?
His answer was from 1 Corinthians 13:9, ‘we know in part and we prophesy in part’ ... the Bible says that even when we receive what we truly believe to be a prophetic Word, it is only in part ... we just can’t possibly comprehend what God fully intends, even if God wants us to get it.
[heavy sigh] I just want to ‘get it’.
Verse 10 does give some hope, though, as it continues with ‘but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away ... for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.’
I totally know, in my Spirit, that this is God’s answer to me when I ask about all that has happened with David. If I just stop with what I see has happened and try to match it up with what I hear and/or how I feel we were being directed, it just doesn’t make sense to me ... the mirror is indeed dim ... but when I allow myself to extend the reference of time and believe that what has been promised is still yet to come, it ALL makes sense ... Oh, how I long for ‘The Perfect’ to come ...
Pastor Rich then took me to Psalm 73 ... I can’t say that this Psalm was one that I was really familiar with (which is a bummer because when your Pastor takes you to scripture in your Bible, your hope is that the page he turns to is filled with notes and highlighter ... not so much) ... I was not really familiar with this chapter, but I wish I could say the same for its theme ... it starts with a complaint ... ‘Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart’ ... Surely God is good, right? Especially to those who love Him, who seek Him, who have spent their life trying to do His will ... Surely?!? Anyone else ever have these thoughts, or is it just me? The next several verses basically continue with similar sentiments ... God, where are you? What is going on? My feet have slipped and yet the arrogant prosper ... The wicked succeed and are free of burden ... God?! The case against God continues all the way through verse 16, which says ‘all day long I have been plagued, I have been punished every morning ...’
Whew ... WAY too familiar with those sentiments.
But my pastor’s point in taking me to that Psalm was not to point out that I and the Psalmist have similar ‘issues’, as well as the same questions and complaints for God, but his real direction for me was to keep reading verses 17-28. Verse 17 continues ‘... TILL I entered the sanctuary of God, THEN I understood their final destiny’. The next verses continue ... ‘Surely I WILL place them on slippery ground, Jill ... Surely they will be destroyed and swept away ...’ and then we see a change of heart for the Psalmist ... ‘My spirit was embittered, I was senseless and confused YET YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH ME, you hold me by my right hand ... you will guide me and counsel me' ... I will guide you and counsel you, Jill.
And in his revelation of how great his God is, the Psalmist is overwhelmed with praise ... ‘whom do I have but you, oh God ... The earth has nothing I desire, my flesh and heart may fail [I may feel weak and helpless and even broken hearted], but God is the strength and my portion forever. Those who are far, WILL perish ... He WILL destroy those who are unfaithful, but as for me, it is good to be near my God.
Pastor Rich’s point was what a shame if we were to just stop at verse 16 ... If we stop there, nothing DOES make sense ... Nothing is fair, nothing is right, nothing is just ... we ARE left confused and disoriented ... Frustrated and brokenhearted. But there is more to the story ... there IS more. My heart started beating faster as I received that Word to what I know God has been telling me, that there is more. For a while now, whenever I’m in His presence ... through worship or Bible study or even just a conversation with Him or about Him ... everything makes sense. But when I step out of that, I’m so confused, it’s truly almost instantaneous. When someone asks me how we’re doing and I have the opportunity to tell them how good God has been to us, it all makes sense ... but when I focus on what all we’ve lost and the chaos that surrounds me, my feet start slipping and the darkness closes in fast ...
‘All day long, I have been plagued and have been punished every morning, TILL I entered the sanctuary of God, THEN I understood ...’
This week has been crazy ... I met another young Mom who lost her husband a few years ago, I checked in on another friend who lost her husband last year, I learned that another friend just lost her husband in August (also to brain tumor), am praying for close friends who are seriously fighting the H1N1 virus, praying for another friend whose brother is in critical care with a 'mysterious infection', and went to calling hours to support friends who lost their daughter tragically this week. It would be so easy to give up ... to just stop at verse 16 and close the book ... and you know that satan tries all that he can to get us to do just that and say ‘I don’t get it, God’, or maybe if he can just get us twirling in disorientation with ‘surely you take care of your people, don’t you ... surely you can’t let this happen any more’ ... Or frustrated with anger, ‘when will the wicked no longer succeed?! When God?!? Do you even care?!’
OF COURSE satan doesn’t want us to read verses 17-24 ... he doesn’t want tragedy to lead us into the sanctuary of God, that's just crazy ... he can’t risk us understanding his ‘final destiny’ ... he knows it, but he certainly doesn’t want to be reminded of it ... for if we would keep reading, we would surely know that the earth has nothing that we desire, that God is all that we need, that this world offers us nothing but what makes our heart and flesh fail ... If we were to keep reading, we would learn that God is the strength of our heart, or as The Message says it ‘You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful. Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again. But I'm in the very presence of God— oh, how refreshing it is! I've made Lord God my home. God, I'm telling the world what you do!’
‘But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.’
I guess that’s where I’m at right now ... longing for ‘The Perfect’ to come ... for the partial to be done away ... to be face-to-face and to know fully, as well as I know He knows me ... Can you imagine? For His presence to be enough, our portion forever ...
Isn’t it good to know, though, that as we continue to wait ... in this crazy world ... isn’t it good to know it doesn’t stop at verse 16. Friends, don’t stop at verse 16 ... read on ... the best is yet to come ...
It is good to be near my God.
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His answer was from 1 Corinthians 13:9, ‘we know in part and we prophesy in part’ ... the Bible says that even when we receive what we truly believe to be a prophetic Word, it is only in part ... we just can’t possibly comprehend what God fully intends, even if God wants us to get it.
[heavy sigh] I just want to ‘get it’.
Verse 10 does give some hope, though, as it continues with ‘but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away ... for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.’
I totally know, in my Spirit, that this is God’s answer to me when I ask about all that has happened with David. If I just stop with what I see has happened and try to match it up with what I hear and/or how I feel we were being directed, it just doesn’t make sense to me ... the mirror is indeed dim ... but when I allow myself to extend the reference of time and believe that what has been promised is still yet to come, it ALL makes sense ... Oh, how I long for ‘The Perfect’ to come ...
Pastor Rich then took me to Psalm 73 ... I can’t say that this Psalm was one that I was really familiar with (which is a bummer because when your Pastor takes you to scripture in your Bible, your hope is that the page he turns to is filled with notes and highlighter ... not so much) ... I was not really familiar with this chapter, but I wish I could say the same for its theme ... it starts with a complaint ... ‘Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart’ ... Surely God is good, right? Especially to those who love Him, who seek Him, who have spent their life trying to do His will ... Surely?!? Anyone else ever have these thoughts, or is it just me? The next several verses basically continue with similar sentiments ... God, where are you? What is going on? My feet have slipped and yet the arrogant prosper ... The wicked succeed and are free of burden ... God?! The case against God continues all the way through verse 16, which says ‘all day long I have been plagued, I have been punished every morning ...’
Whew ... WAY too familiar with those sentiments.
But my pastor’s point in taking me to that Psalm was not to point out that I and the Psalmist have similar ‘issues’, as well as the same questions and complaints for God, but his real direction for me was to keep reading verses 17-28. Verse 17 continues ‘... TILL I entered the sanctuary of God, THEN I understood their final destiny’. The next verses continue ... ‘Surely I WILL place them on slippery ground, Jill ... Surely they will be destroyed and swept away ...’ and then we see a change of heart for the Psalmist ... ‘My spirit was embittered, I was senseless and confused YET YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH ME, you hold me by my right hand ... you will guide me and counsel me' ... I will guide you and counsel you, Jill.
And in his revelation of how great his God is, the Psalmist is overwhelmed with praise ... ‘whom do I have but you, oh God ... The earth has nothing I desire, my flesh and heart may fail [I may feel weak and helpless and even broken hearted], but God is the strength and my portion forever. Those who are far, WILL perish ... He WILL destroy those who are unfaithful, but as for me, it is good to be near my God.
Pastor Rich’s point was what a shame if we were to just stop at verse 16 ... If we stop there, nothing DOES make sense ... Nothing is fair, nothing is right, nothing is just ... we ARE left confused and disoriented ... Frustrated and brokenhearted. But there is more to the story ... there IS more. My heart started beating faster as I received that Word to what I know God has been telling me, that there is more. For a while now, whenever I’m in His presence ... through worship or Bible study or even just a conversation with Him or about Him ... everything makes sense. But when I step out of that, I’m so confused, it’s truly almost instantaneous. When someone asks me how we’re doing and I have the opportunity to tell them how good God has been to us, it all makes sense ... but when I focus on what all we’ve lost and the chaos that surrounds me, my feet start slipping and the darkness closes in fast ...
‘All day long, I have been plagued and have been punished every morning, TILL I entered the sanctuary of God, THEN I understood ...’
This week has been crazy ... I met another young Mom who lost her husband a few years ago, I checked in on another friend who lost her husband last year, I learned that another friend just lost her husband in August (also to brain tumor), am praying for close friends who are seriously fighting the H1N1 virus, praying for another friend whose brother is in critical care with a 'mysterious infection', and went to calling hours to support friends who lost their daughter tragically this week. It would be so easy to give up ... to just stop at verse 16 and close the book ... and you know that satan tries all that he can to get us to do just that and say ‘I don’t get it, God’, or maybe if he can just get us twirling in disorientation with ‘surely you take care of your people, don’t you ... surely you can’t let this happen any more’ ... Or frustrated with anger, ‘when will the wicked no longer succeed?! When God?!? Do you even care?!’
OF COURSE satan doesn’t want us to read verses 17-24 ... he doesn’t want tragedy to lead us into the sanctuary of God, that's just crazy ... he can’t risk us understanding his ‘final destiny’ ... he knows it, but he certainly doesn’t want to be reminded of it ... for if we would keep reading, we would surely know that the earth has nothing that we desire, that God is all that we need, that this world offers us nothing but what makes our heart and flesh fail ... If we were to keep reading, we would learn that God is the strength of our heart, or as The Message says it ‘You're all I want in heaven! You're all I want on earth! When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, God is rock-firm and faithful. Look! Those who left you are falling apart! Deserters, they'll never be heard from again. But I'm in the very presence of God— oh, how refreshing it is! I've made Lord God my home. God, I'm telling the world what you do!’
‘But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.’
I guess that’s where I’m at right now ... longing for ‘The Perfect’ to come ... for the partial to be done away ... to be face-to-face and to know fully, as well as I know He knows me ... Can you imagine? For His presence to be enough, our portion forever ...
Isn’t it good to know, though, that as we continue to wait ... in this crazy world ... isn’t it good to know it doesn’t stop at verse 16. Friends, don’t stop at verse 16 ... read on ... the best is yet to come ...
It is good to be near my God.
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Friday, September 11, 2009
Lest we forget ...
I really hope that your day today was spent like mine ... remembering 9/11 and praying for all the families affected as well as for our Troops and our leaders as they continue to fight the war on terror, on our behalf ... praying for God’s Kingdom to come to right the wrongs, but also praying for abundant forgiveness in all of our hearts, as we need to know how satan uses unforgiveness to continue stealing from lives for many years if it’s not laid down and covered with the blood of Christ. I woke up this morning burdened and heavy ... I think I was anticipating to be fully bombarded with media coverage of the somber anniversary, after all there were days and weeks dedicated to recent high-profile funerals ... but the only networks where I found any coverage, AT ALL, was on Fox News and the History Channel ... the History Channel?! Oh, lest we forget ...
As I watched the History channel specials, I was amazed at how many details of that day I had never heard before ... how many different perspectives there were to be told ... I’m sure that we’ve all heard that nearly 3000 people were killed when the towers tumbled, but have you ever heard that more than 20,000 were saved!?! ALL of the salvation stories were filled with miraculous ‘coincidences’ ... ALL OF THEM ... listening to them, I had goosebumps all over my body, while the tears flowed freely. There is no way that you could mistake God’s presence on that day ... or the fact of how many lives He saved, physically and spiritually ... Oh how satan wants to steal from His glory and to confuse us by trying to blame his stealing and the many losses on God so that we will cry out ‘where is our God’ ... rather than to see the multiple victories in God’s grace that we may cry out ‘how merciful is our God’ ... Lest we forget ...
I couldn’t help but reflect on how easily we humans ... not just Americans, but the human race as a whole ... how easily we forget what we have seen and heard ... Never mind how we forget what we’re told, but you would think the things we actually see and hear would not fade as quickly ... my faith walk has had some testimony of this as I have struggled to remember who God is, even though I fully know what He has said and has done ... 9/11 is another example I think to which we can all see this weakness in ourselves. There are so many teachings in the Bible where we are told to ‘remember’ and/or to ‘teach others’, ‘teach your children’ ... remember, remember, remember ... He knows us well, but I also think He knows our enemy well ... How many know that the lessons from our Creator are not so that we will be bound by rules, but so that we would be FREE from bondage ... so that we may walk in VICTORY in all that satan schemes against us ... He knows that satan uses our weaknesses, like short memory, to distract ... to discourage ... to bring discontentment ... Ultimately to pull us away from God and the truth that HE IS GOOD and HE IS ABLE! We must get wise to satan’s game plan and realize that his toolbox is full of all the same tricks ... actually, he really is pretty limited and uncreative if you think about it ... Lest we forget ...
This past week, God has really been challenging me with this thought ... if we guarded the gifts that He gives us in the same way that we guard our earthly possessions, how much more would we be ... how much more could we do? We go to great lengths to secure our homes, our possessions, our kids, our finances ... but how do we protect our hope ... our joy ... His love for us, or our peace ... How easily do we allow our circumstances to steal these from us? We just allow satan to take them at will, not giving up much of a fight at all ... he walks in, walks out and we mope around like there’s nothing we can do about it. What if we took what we have SEEN our Lord and Savior do ... or what we have HEARD Him say to us in the Word or in us and around us ... what if we used all that we know to be true and posted it up as a strong guard around our hope, our joy, our love and our peace and said ‘no way satan ... you’re not getting these from me because I KNOW the truth!’ What if ...
Psalm 61:3
For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
He is good ... He is great ... He is big ... He is mighty ... He is strong ... He is just ... He is loving ... He is kind ... He is merciful ... He is purposeful ... He is all knowing ... He is in control ... He is on the move ... and He’s coming soon ... Lest we forget.
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As I watched the History channel specials, I was amazed at how many details of that day I had never heard before ... how many different perspectives there were to be told ... I’m sure that we’ve all heard that nearly 3000 people were killed when the towers tumbled, but have you ever heard that more than 20,000 were saved!?! ALL of the salvation stories were filled with miraculous ‘coincidences’ ... ALL OF THEM ... listening to them, I had goosebumps all over my body, while the tears flowed freely. There is no way that you could mistake God’s presence on that day ... or the fact of how many lives He saved, physically and spiritually ... Oh how satan wants to steal from His glory and to confuse us by trying to blame his stealing and the many losses on God so that we will cry out ‘where is our God’ ... rather than to see the multiple victories in God’s grace that we may cry out ‘how merciful is our God’ ... Lest we forget ...
I couldn’t help but reflect on how easily we humans ... not just Americans, but the human race as a whole ... how easily we forget what we have seen and heard ... Never mind how we forget what we’re told, but you would think the things we actually see and hear would not fade as quickly ... my faith walk has had some testimony of this as I have struggled to remember who God is, even though I fully know what He has said and has done ... 9/11 is another example I think to which we can all see this weakness in ourselves. There are so many teachings in the Bible where we are told to ‘remember’ and/or to ‘teach others’, ‘teach your children’ ... remember, remember, remember ... He knows us well, but I also think He knows our enemy well ... How many know that the lessons from our Creator are not so that we will be bound by rules, but so that we would be FREE from bondage ... so that we may walk in VICTORY in all that satan schemes against us ... He knows that satan uses our weaknesses, like short memory, to distract ... to discourage ... to bring discontentment ... Ultimately to pull us away from God and the truth that HE IS GOOD and HE IS ABLE! We must get wise to satan’s game plan and realize that his toolbox is full of all the same tricks ... actually, he really is pretty limited and uncreative if you think about it ... Lest we forget ...
This past week, God has really been challenging me with this thought ... if we guarded the gifts that He gives us in the same way that we guard our earthly possessions, how much more would we be ... how much more could we do? We go to great lengths to secure our homes, our possessions, our kids, our finances ... but how do we protect our hope ... our joy ... His love for us, or our peace ... How easily do we allow our circumstances to steal these from us? We just allow satan to take them at will, not giving up much of a fight at all ... he walks in, walks out and we mope around like there’s nothing we can do about it. What if we took what we have SEEN our Lord and Savior do ... or what we have HEARD Him say to us in the Word or in us and around us ... what if we used all that we know to be true and posted it up as a strong guard around our hope, our joy, our love and our peace and said ‘no way satan ... you’re not getting these from me because I KNOW the truth!’ What if ...
Psalm 61:3
For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.
He is good ... He is great ... He is big ... He is mighty ... He is strong ... He is just ... He is loving ... He is kind ... He is merciful ... He is purposeful ... He is all knowing ... He is in control ... He is on the move ... and He’s coming soon ... Lest we forget.
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