The Mystery of Him

Sometimes, God's more mystery than anything else. Yes, he reveals himself beautifully in the Bible, through David's words and Paul's and Isaiah's and many others. His Holy Spirit speaks to me as I read, and as I pray.

But there are those times I'm just dumbfounded by the mystery of Him.

My brother hasn't contacted me nor answered my e-mails in a year, so I inquired of my mom about it. A few days later another of the hurtful e-mails came, accusing me of being in a cult. I've been receiving them once or twice a year for 15 years.

They all think I'm weird and my brother has just washed his hands of me. My mother wrote that she only contacts me because she brought me into this world and because of that, she loves me unconditionally.

But, still, she says none of them can stomach my harsh views. To say I love them and at the same time to think they're going to hell, seems ghastly and devilish to them.

For the record, I don't do the hell-fire and brimstone thing, but since some Born-Again Christians do, it's guilt by association.

Faith is a gift and a mystery. Some believe that because He has foreknowledge of our hearts, he reveals himself only to those who he knows will receive him. And to all others, he never reveals himself.

If you have unsaved family members who hate the Jesus in you, you know the tragedy of which I speak. You feel isolated, even while Jesus is your ever-present comfort. The isolation never gets better.

And then, another mystery in the same weekend.

On Saturday, the Children's Bible Study lesson? Ready and waiting. The games organized, the snacks planned, the house clean. Even the furnace acts like a champ, making us both wonder if the heater guy was trying to scare us. It lights without difficulty--no delayed-ignition popping sound anymore.

About the time my children were over-the-moon excited about the Bible Study's beginning, Mary throws up.

At the last minute I have to cancel.

I trust Him. I love Him. I fear Him. I'm thankful for Him. I feel Him. I need Him.

Yet, still. He's a mystery to me.

My Faith endures. My Hope endures. My Love must endure.

No matter what comes, no matter what's passed, there is always our Everlasting Father, Our Wonderful Counselor. Always enduring in our hearts, always renewing and embodying our Faith, Hope, Love.

And the greatest of these is Love.

Pray for me as I Love, in the face of bitter rejection?

Live by Faith or Buy Insurance?

We had dinner with a relative the other day and he explained that his parents are consolidating all their money interests and curbing expenses. When Obama got re-elected, he told me, they panicked. They imagine doomsday with the economy and the debt. They're hunkering down for disaster.

Earlier today my Peter warned me, "Mommy, you better get started on the Bible Study lesson. What if you can't get it done in time?"

His brother isn't sure anyone will come to our study.

My husband wonders if the furnace will cause a fire and burn down the house and what if our homeowners' insurance company finds out that we knew it was dangerous, and they decide not to cover the burned-down house?

Not everyone in this house has the gift of everyday faith. It's a spiritual gift...just one of many gifts that hold up the Church. I have it and my housemates have other gifts I don't have.

I've not questioned my ability to be prepared for Bible study. Prayer is the first order of business and I've done that several times a day for weeks now. The study preparation I can handle, but God must prepare the hearts.

I never questioned whether God would protect us while we use a faulty furnace, albeit as little as possible. I wear my winter jacket while I type this at midnight and the thermostat is set at 57 degrees, reducing the number of times it will come on while we sleep.

Do you have the gift of faith? Or at least a modicum of everyday faith? Or do you secure maximum insurance and pad your retirement accounts and do everything in your power to secure your today and tomorrow?

Are the uninsured and the under-insured irresponsible, while the insured are smarter and more grown-up?

I remember reading a story several months back that really changed my perspective on faith.

A woman described and compared two different ministry couples she knew. One couple only took ministry positions that payed well and allowed them to secure their future through savings and retirement accounts. The churches they chose to work for had to be well-established and offer excellent benefit packages.

The other couple worked for free or for next to nothing when necessary, going wherever ministry needs were greatest. They didn't have health benefits or the means to save for retirement. They didn't own a home.

As I read the woman's account, I predicted right away that the more faith-filled couple would make out the best.

But I was in for a shock.

Turns out the conservative couple enjoyed a comfortable retirement, taking trips when they desired and having good healthcare as they aged. They owned a nice home, besides.

The faith-filled couple reached retirement age and had to live in a run-down trailer with very little income and sometimes sparse food in the cupboards. The husband got sick and didn't get the best care because of their poverty. He died, leaving his wife in dire straights. Her local church did help her survive, but her lifestyle never reached a secure or comfortable point. Daily life was always a struggle and she always needed assistance from others, while the other couple, in contrast, lived independently.

However, the widow's faith remained strong. She was a blessing to spend time with despite her circumstances.

I often think about this contrast, these many months after reading it. At first I was horrified that God hadn't repayed the humble couple's faith and sacrificial service. In my opinion they deserved more than the couple who put themselves first and only worked in convenient ministry.

And for a few days after reading it, I worried about my own precarious present and future. I'm putting my heart into my family now, but will God repay my service and take care of me as an old woman? When my older-than-me husband has to retire, how will I supplement our retirement incomes and secure health benefits for us? How will I continue to support some of our children, particularly our youngest who might suffer long-term disability from her arthritis, either because of her eye involvement, or her joints, or both? And what if Peter who suffers from several disorders can't support himself very well?

I don't know any answers and I haven't had a female exam in three years. I'm late in getting that first mammogram. It's on my list but money often has to go for repairs rather than doctor or clinic appointments.

Will I end up in a run-down trailer, too? Will I die young because of poor healthcare?

What does faithful service really get us in the end? What's the reward...if any?

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Oh, yes. 

That's it...isn't it? His Presence. His Peace. Not as the world gives. Our faith is credited to us as righteousness. Our reward isn't here. 

On earth, peace, joy, love. In heaven, we will reign with Him in glory. 

When people went to visit the poor widow they went away refreshed and amazed by her faith. She delighted her visitors with her joyful, quiet spirit. She pointed them to Him, through her joy and peace.

He received the glory for the way she handled her circumstances. The circumstances were an avenue to bring him glory, just as her entire life was.

Who gets the glory when retirement turns out perky and comfortable, because of years of carefully planned and calculated decisions? The planner does. People congratulate him or her on effective portfolio and estate management.

When we purpose to live for Him...trusting tomorrow to Him...who gets the glory in the end? 

Not State Farm, but the Almighty Living God. Our God is mighty to save and he never leaves us nor forsakes us.

I didn't get it right away, but now I know who got the better deal in the end. 

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Thankful Thursday

Psalm 50:23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

~ Thank you, Father, for allowing me to homeschool my Mary. She loves science and books and I love capturing wonder with her as her eyes are opened to knowledge. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

~ Thank you, Father, that our 1988 furnace needs replacing and when I heard it from the heater man yesterday, along with the warning to use our current furnace at our own risk, I did not panic because I know that even for big-ticket items, you graciously provide. Thank you for growing my faith over the years. Thank you for never letting me stay in one place spiritually. Sometimes I am like a stubborn mule, not wanting to move forward, but you are faithful to complete your work in all of us. 

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

~ Thank you, Father, that we are back in touch with an old friend from California, who moved near us here in Ohio. Thank you that we can provide Christian fellowship and good cheer for his soul, as he endures life with severe bipolar disorder. Thank you that his faith carries him even in the face of mental illness. Thank you for the rich Christian fellowship.

Psalm 100:1-5 A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

~ Thank you, Father, for letters from Compassion children. Thank you for how they always light us up spiritually.

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

~ Thank you, Father, that although Peter's tics and OCD are not improving, he is persevering in life, not letting them drag him down. He shares his burden and as he does, the weight lifts. May he always have someone who will listen and may he lean on you most of all.

Psalm 66:1-20 To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm. Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. ...

~ Thank you, Father, for the peace that family devotions brings to our collective souls. Thank you for your steadfast love and for your Truth that heals.

Psalm 40:9-10 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

~ Thank you, Father, for an opportunity to minister to neighborhood families. Bring in the children this Saturday, Father. And may their parents share their burdens freely, trusting us to bring the peace of Christ to their children and to them. May that peace emanate from us, no matter what our day or week has been like.

Psalm 103:1-2 Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

~ Thank you, Father, that Paul learned to play The Twelve Days of Christmas on the piano this year. That silly song brought hours of joy and giggles to my children and I am so glad!

~ Thank you for one-on-one time with my children and for Daddy home a little more to do the same with them. Thank you for that Pippi Longstocking movie from the library that gave us collective giggles as we munched on popcorn and held our little ones in our laps.

~ Thank you, Father, for the hours of fun all this snow brought to my children and to neighborhood children. Thank you for their snowmen, their snow forts, their snow angels, and their homemade sled hills. All children forsake their toys and possessions when you bring your natural wonder into their lives. Thank you for the glory of your creation and for the joy. Always the joy!

Act Justly, Walk Humbly, Part 2

I imagine a number of you were dismayed by my previous post. You must ask yourselves why I've become anti-materialism to the point of thinking Christmas presents for one's own middle-class children (items not needed) are an unnecessary splurge.

Materialism is so pervasive in our society that we've become blind to it. A missionary who spends months in the field with a people who own next to nothing, understands well what I'm trying to convey. You don't know if you're materialistic until you step away from money and feel the difference. Americans who've lost jobs and spent months or years without pocket money know what I'm trying to convey. Stepping out of the middle-class bubble for a time is a blessing. The truth of God's Word penetrates our hearts in new ways as our perspective begins to shift.

Jesus calls us to live humbly. As distasteful as that sounds, it is a Truth that we can't sugarcoat. To love your neighbor as yourself means you don't put yourself above others. You can't say to your heart, "Well, I've worked hard for what I have and I deserve these splurges." That is forgetting who gave you the money in the first place. We don't really earn money on our own. God gifts it to us through skill and talent and through a reasonably healthy, supportive family who took care of us well, while we worked to better ourselves.

Further, since He bought and paid for us Christians, we owe him our lives. A life lived for Him is gratitude for his many mercies and graces. A life lived for Him is evidence of our saving faith.

We don't have to sell everything we own and give it to the poor--we don't have to be perfect. But we do need to stand guard over our hearts, making sure we are serving God and not money.

The reason Jesus says it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven, is because materialism creeps into our hearts like a thief in the night. We quickly become blind to it. Just as the tween or middle-school children want what everyone else has, we as adults grow to want what everyone else has, because we've developed a sense of entitlement without even knowing it.

But Jesus calls us to be set apart. He calls us to fill up on Him and not on the world's pleasures.

I urge you, if you think you're living in middle-class America and are immune to materialism, try this experiment. For two or three months, don't buy anything except true necessities. Don't go to any movies or spend anything for entertainment at all. Don't participate in anything costing money, including drives to get away that eat up substantial gas. Don't replace broken or worn items unless it's absolutely necessary. Don't spend money for luxury foods for a time. And cast aside the luxury toys you already have as much as possible, so you don't have their entertainment to fall back on. Live entirely without extras and see how your vision changes.

What can it hurt? Think of what it will teach your children as well. Your entire family might find itself in love with the Lord like never before. And you might find yourself wanting to change the American church so that it truly serves the Lord. We are losing souls and churchgoers and materialism is the main culprit. Materialism's power to distract hearts is exactly what Satan uses to win.

Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly in 2013

Today, the Lord has put it upon my heart to explore what it means, and what it costs, to be "set apart". An incident occurred at church yesterday that prompted my thoughts in this direction.

In Peter's children's church class the teacher begin the lesson by saying, "As I point to you, tell me what your favorite Christmas present was." 

I don't have to tell you that no one said Immanuel --"God with us". 

90% of them said that an i-Pod was their favorite gift. These are tween children in grades 4th-6th. I know there's enormous pressure to conform to modern technology, but parents are forgetting something. There are plenty of computer-savvy children in school who know how to disengage the parental controls on these things, and they would gladly do it for anyone who asks, just to make a name for themselves. 

Giving children and teens hand-held access to the Internet is asking for trouble. 70% of middle school children admit to viewing pornography, and hand-held access--portable access that can be taken to school or out in the neighborhood--is going to make this tragedy far worse. Even children who have a computer--or a cable TV for that matter--in their bedroom are similarly at risk of heart poisoning. 

But aside from that, my son felt embarrassed as the teacher asked this. He got a card game and some candy and a whoopie cushion in his stocking. What was he supposed to answer? When it was finally his turn he remembered that my cousin came on Christmas Eve and gave all my children a webkinz stuffed animal and a $15 Target card. 

He and Paul enjoyed caring for their stuffed animal using the Webkinz site, so he told the class that a webkinz was his favorite present.

The hurt from the church doesn't stop there. On his last AWANA day of the year, the AWANA commander  reminded the kids at a Christmas party that the presents "they would all open on Christmas morning" were not the true meaning of Christmas. At this same Christmas party Santa made an appearance and gave each child a mug with a cocoa pack and some trinkets. Oh, boy. How we hate it as parents when Santa shows up at church. I got the feeling that the new pastor of this AWANA church wasn't too happy with Santa's appearance either, but I guess he must have approved it. Or maybe he wasn't asked? I don't know. 

Wanting kids to believe that a mere man is powerful enough to make it all around the world in one night, giving presents to every child--even kids whose father lost a job?--seems like asking them to equate Santa with God. Only God could do such a thing, and he doesn't care to. He wants us to use the resources he's graciously given us to behave benevolently at Christmas and all through the year, not necessarily toward our own American children who have plenty, but to the people of the world who don't know the Good News, and who don't have basic necessities. 

What is the purpose of encouraging a Christian child to believe in Santa? A Christian child trying to learn how loving and powerful and sovereign our Heavenly Father is? 

Loving acts originate with our Father and He should get the glory for them, not Santa.

9-year-old Aidan, my neighbor, was with us that night at AWANA. It was his third visit. His father doesn't have a job and his mother works part-time. If any presents ended up in his hands at all on Christmas morning, they would come from a grandmother already strapped with helping this family with necessities. When the teacher uttered, "all the presents you kids will open on Christmas morning" she was being woefully short-sighted. 

I was saddened and did my best to diffuse the situation on the ride home. I asked my own boys on the ride home if it bothered them when she said that, since they wouldn't be opening any gifts. They said that, yes, it did make them feel sad. 

Aidan didn't say anything, but I hope he at least felt less alone.

After I heard the teacher say this, I glanced at Aidan and saw that his chest heaved and fell suddenly, as though he felt the weight of his situation keenly.

My children know the blogs of Ann Voskamp and Shaun Groves fairly well. I often discuss the contents with them and they've come to respect these families as true Christian soldiers. Neither of these families buy Christmas presents for their children, though Ann may do stockings. I've seen real stockings hanging on her mantel. Not the huge stockings available now, but real socks (that would hold little).

Knowing that these families don't do gifts either helped my children accept our resolve to give our resources and our time to others, rather than concentrating on ourselves at Christmas. Ann's family goes through the Compassion and World Vision gift catalogues to give farm animals and other necessities to the poor. Shaun's family gives 50% of their resources away as a rule, all year long.

I'm dismayed that along with the Bible, I only have blogs to help my children grasp and embrace the truth and live boldly for Christ. The church? It fails. The church has one foot in the world and the danger of both feet setting there is imminent. Those who study Truth need to share Truth. Boldly.  

When my children play with neighborhood children, I often have to disciple them through the experience, teaching them how Jesus feels differently than their friends, about this or that topic. 

Lately I find myself doing this after a church experience too, and that profoundly saddens me and makes me more bold in my teaching on this blog. While I don't like to offend anyone, I do want Jesus to win hearts, not Satan. I want Him to reign supreme in our hearts. I want all Christians to fight for the principles Jesus taught.

As I train my children in the wisdom and truth of the Bible, I'm finding that Micah 6:8 is a good take-away verse for all that was important to our Lord, along with the all-encompassing "love your neighbor as yourself". 

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

To live justly means we shouldn't act like Nelly Olsen from the Little House books, nor should we act like the neighborhood bully--taking what isn't ours and oppressing others. Does the world act justly? I've given extreme examples, true, but I submit to you that the world does indeed act like Nelly Olsen and the neighborhood bully. 

When we take more than we need, indulging many or most of our wants, even to the point of debt, we're a spoiled Nelly Olsen. When we stock the bottom of our Christmas tree with multiple gifts that are mostly unneeded, while others live with their needs perpetually unmet, we are like the bully, oppressing others. We take the resources God has graciously given, and we waste them and live in the flesh. 

We store up treasures and turn away from the poor on the next block and in the next land. The fact that Christmas has become more cultural than spiritual is a good example of this. We can say until we're blue in the face that Christmas is not about the presents, but to a child who opens several or more presents on this day, our bit of truth rings empty, hollow. Their mind works thus: if it's not about the presents, then why do I open so many on this day, and how can I not look forward to that with unbridled excitement?

We're setting our kids up for failure, spiritually speaking. They will grow up to do the same things at Christmas and other parts of the year, and the pressure to conform to the culture might even tempt them toward debt. Those in debt can give very little to anyone. They're slaves and their master (Satan) is merciless.

Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

I sincerely ask every parent out there to pray about and contemplate Micah 6:8. Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly.

Teach your own heart, your church, and your children, what it means to act justly throughout the year. Teach what it means to love mercy and not hold grudges or allow our hearts to harden against others. To mercy someone means to love them even when they don't deserve it, and even when it's inconvenient. It means to extend God's mercy to the hurting and the suffering and the hungry. 

Teach that we must walk humbly, knowing that Christ died for us ugly sinners, thereby buying us and setting us apart for His purposes. We do not own our days or our destiny, and any good in us is from His spirit alone. To walk humbly also means to cast off all sense of entitlement.

I have gathered verses that discuss being set apart for God. They're at the bottom of this post. It's in our best interest to pray these into our hearts in this, a new year. 

The world can hurt us and pressure us as we live set apart. My son can attest to that. To aid our own hearts, and our children's hearts, in this set-apart living, we must read God's word, allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen our resolve. Hold your children close; stay in touch with their hearts; disciple them. Give them the sense of belonging they desperately need in this broken, hostile world. 

If they don't get it from their own home they'll go to the world for that sense of belonging. And the result? Deep sorrow will visit our parental hearts.

Again, before I close, I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm sure there are some of you who carefully gave away in kindness as much as you put under your own tree. I know you are out there. God bless your resolve to act justly.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1 Peter 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

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