A Mom Gone Wrong, A Redemptive Prayer

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24

I wear so many hats it makes me dizzy sometimes.

counselor
Bible teacher
mom
wife
cook
barber
beautician
lover
academic teacher
time manager
referee
daughter
nurse
laundry maid
housekeeper
accountant
financial analyst
grocery shopper
bargain hunter

Cutting boys' hair at 9:00 PM tonight, after a long day, I couldn't believe the emotional and mental exhaustion. After snipping the last section of hair, I felt empty.

Nothing left to give.

And then they were brushing their teeth--silence was almost mine.

One impulsive son played with a battery-operated toothbrush just for fun, earlier in the day, leaving it on the floor.

Once we found it, I had to disinfect it, delaying my much needed "break".

And I went ballistic. "That's one of the stupidest things you've ever done! You know how expensive batteries are...and how could you leave someone's toothbrush on the floor?"

I felt rushed because it was late, and desperate for alone time. My fault for starting on hair too late; I'm not good at it and it always takes longer than anticipated.

I didn't say I was good at all the hats listed above, just that I had to wear them.

Stupid is a word you should never use while parenting...especially to an ADHD child, because they already feel inadequate half the time. Lack of impulse control and poor judgement are part of their lives until they take their last breath, unless the miraculous happens.

Healing.

Outside of healing, living with ADHD is a constant begging for grace...on everyone's part.

Hidden learning disabilities are tough. People who look perfectly normal are expected to act perfectly normal. Even I forget sometimes and expect too much.

Expecting too little is as dangerous as expecting too much and finding that balance makes me dizzy.

The more children God gives you, the more exhausted you are at the end of the day. That's not rocket science.

And when God gives you special-needs children, the exhaustion compounds, just as the blessings do.

What to do?

What to do when the circumstances God gifts you with render you a failure?

We have too little support. As in, almost none. My husband's hours are too long. He worked all day today, Saturday, because when Beth goes for surgery in 11 days I'll be in the hospital with her for 23 hours, meaning husband will lose pay as he cares for our other 3 children. He had to make up for that.

Twenty-three hours is not a typical stay for having tonsils and adenoids out, but she's at risk for bleeding due to her arthritis meds, even though she'll take a ten-day break from them before surgery and after.

What to do when you can't possibly wear all the hats well? What to do when you say the word stupid in the context of parenting? What to do when you know your own imperfections sometimes hurt your children, and will continue to?

I may think I'll never say stupid again. My heart may be to never utter it again.

But something else, in the future, will occur at the peak of my emotional exhaustion. Something senseless and wasteful and...well...stupid.

My face will radiate ugly and my words will sting.

It's an ugly truth.

I can apologize.

I already did.

But what more? What more can I do to erase my sins and release well-balanced, loving, giving, thoughtful human beings into a hostile world that desperately needs Jesus? How can I release children who will be Jesus to a hurting, blind world?

I'm not perfect and I can't do this well and some of their memories will be sorrowful ones.

But I want to get this right! For the glory of God I want to get this right.

All is not lost because while I'm not perfect, I can offer something that is. And you can too.

Prayers.

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." Isaiah 66:13

Prayers are perfect. They are perfect communion with the Healer and Redeemer and Lover of our soul. And a mother's prayers erase all the bad days.

A prayer is asking for help.
A prayer is acknowledging our failure and His sovereignty and perfection.
A prayer is an act of humility before God.
A prayer is a confession.
A prayer is a heart gone right.
A prayer is a hope, realized.
A prayer is a washing of our soul.
A prayer is a renewed mercy, a renewed grace.

A prayer is the perfect answer to life's every problem. Life's every imperfection and unfortunate circumstance.

Down on our knees, telling our innermost failures and asking that they be redeemed, that the blood of the Lamb would cover them. That God would favor us once again with His radical grace.

Favor me, please Lord, a mother in distress. A mother in over her head. Favor me, favor my children and my husband. Cover us and make something good of our messy lives.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Like the caterpillar wriggles beauty out of the chrysalis, wriggle beauty out of our hearts, Lord.

A metamorphosis of the heart. A total eclipse of brokenness. For your glory.

Always for your glory.

In Jesus name, Amen.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

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Easter Skit for the Whole Family (really simple)

What does loving your neighbor as yourself really mean, as a parent? Well, as I carry tissues around and sneeze and feel the ache in my head, I can tell you what it does not mean.

If your preschooler is snotting up a storm (clear or green...it doesn't matter) and coughing as well, you should not send her to AWANA Cubbies or to the Family Night at church, no matter how much she begs. For if you do, she is surely to pass it to several families, spoiling their Easter at least in part.

Ours was one of the families who caught little Lilly's nasty cold virus, as well as the pastor's family. I had to cancel Easter dinner with our friend Dean, who was our scheduled guest, so he wouldn't get sick. In addition, I have no energy for cooking; I am not pleased with her parents at all!

But that's not why I'm posting today.

I have an idea to share for a simple Easter play your whole family can participate in, as well as your Easter dinner guests. My children and I performed this for the AWANA Cubbies lesson last week and it was a big hit.

Turn to page 302 in your Jesus Storybook Bible. Using pages 302 - 316 as your script, perform an Easter play which includes Jesus going to the Cross, through his resurrection and Mary Magdelene seeing him near the tomb.



I wrote out the script on paper, but you can be the narrator and just read from the Jesus Storybook Bible. When it comes to the dialogue, you can just say it and have the characters repeat it, or you can have them study their lines (there aren't many lines).

This is powerful, my friends! It takes little preparation and your children and all the adults will glean much from the experience.  I promise!

You will need some simple props:

Tomb and Large Rock -  For the tomb and the large stone, we used a storage box, and a trash bag over-stuffed with stuffed animals. We turned the storage box over on its side, to serve as the tomb. It fit my six-year-old daughter perfectly. We used the over-stuffed trash bag as the large stone, pretending it was very heavy.

Cross - We used a straw broom, with the person playing Jesus keeping their hands out to the sides

Scarlet Robe & Crown of Thorns ( used to mock Jesus) - We used a purple towel and a bread basket hat

Toy Hammer & pretend nails - We just pretended we had nails, and used a toy hammer

And that's it. Really simple and yet very powerful. As you read the narrative, you'll use the people in your "audience" to perform other parts as they come up (angels, guards, etc.). Some will get multiple parts.

Just telling the story of Easter is not enough, since only a portion of people are auditory learners. A slight majority are visual, with a smaller percentage being tactile-kinesthetic. The beauty of this idea is, a play engages all learning styles and bonds your family.

Keep this in mind too, for later: many of the stories in the Jesus Storybook Bible lend themselves to simple yet powerful skits.

I know you probably have a lot of other Easter preparations, but this is well worth your time. Your children can gather all the props...you only have to read the passages.

Enjoy! Wishing a joyous Resurrection Day to all my friends!
 

Something About Jonah, Part 4

When we last studied Jonah, Nineveh repented and earned the Lord's favor (Jonah 3:10) "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened."

Read:

 part 1

 part 2

 part 3

On to Part 4 today, Jonah 4: 1-3

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah's passions ran hot about the Lord's mercy toward a vile enemy. So hot was he, he felt it better to die than live. Oh, but that is the ugliest of pride! He was refusing to let God be God-- he wouldn't accept God's sovereignty.

The created angry at the Creator. The saved angry at the Redeemer. Oh, but the folly of it all! 

Our passions often corrupt our hearts, to be sure. 

His own nation, Israel, repeatedly refused to repent and Nineveh's quick repentance, in contrast, made the Israelites look all the more proud and evil. Jonah feared what God's favor for the Gentiles would mean for his own people, as though God didn't have enough grace in Him to cover both Jew and Gentile.

Jonah also feared the loss of his good reputation back home. His long-time prediction, that Nineveh would be destroyed, was proven wrong. Would he henceforth be thought of as a false prophet?

Bigotry is at work here, too. Jonah believed that God's favor should be for Israel only, not for Gentiles. We see the same issue in the New Testament with Peter, who at first could not reconcile himself to salvation for Gentiles.

What stands out here as well is how God works through us so often, so perfectly, even in our brokenness. Jonah's heart was hard toward the people to whom he preached. We can safely doubt he preached with any compassion or civility at all. Nineveh responded to God, not to Jonah. Just as when we witness to someone, they respond to God, not to us. 

We mustn't say: "But I'm not an evangelist. I can't witness!" Excusing ourselves from it is a prideful position, not a faithful one.

Jonah 4:4

Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?

Oh, but the Lord is tender toward us! He knows a soft answer turns away wrath. And the hard part? He desires the same softness from us, toward our family and neighbors. He could have struck Jonah dead on the spot, so ashamedly did Jonah behave. Instead, the Lord desires to restore Jonah.

Let restoration always be our goal, and not the feeding of our pride and passions.

Here we have a picture of discipleship in action. Discipleship is hard. It's laborious, slow, frustrating. How many parents are secretly thankful when school starts in September? This isn't because it's hard to keep kids entertained, but because discipling them hour after hour, day after day, is so hard. 

Discipleship means not accepting that haphazard cleaning job, that prideful tone of voice, that ungrateful tirade. Not accepting, but also not condemning in anger. Instead, we're to put a lid on our passions and restore in love. "Doest thou well to be angry?" We should always ask ourselves this same question.

Teach and reteach. Love and love some more. That's the work God has for the mature Christian, and he will put children, friends, and acquaintances in our path to help us practice.

I am reminded of my neighbor Joanna. She is young and a mother of four, the children having three different fathers. Every week she borrows something from me, whether it be foil to cover a cookie sheet, a quarter cup of milk for mac n' cheese, gas for the lawnmower...whatever. I don't mind helping because each item is so small, and I know how hard it can be for a mother of four to get to the store, and right now especially, since their family is down to one working vehicle.

I heard from her children that they were low on vehicle gas one week. She didn't ask or tell me about this herself, but three days after the kids first mentioned it, hearing that she only had a gallon left, I gave her son a $20 to give to his mother for gas, writing to her that we often have trouble making ends meet, and I know God would want me to help. This was my conviction after praying. To help in their time of need. She works at a nursing home and had missed work due to an illness the previous week.

I didn't ask for any money back, but she wrote back that I was surely an angel and no one had ever been that kind to her. She also wrote that she would pay me back when they got paid, and that she would see us in church that Sunday. I hadn't even mentioned church.

No, they didn't go to church, but she did pay me back.

After their payday we noticed they bought each child a new toy, (the children happened to come over and share their new remote-control toys and Ipod). As well, they spent several hours at the township carnival down the street, which features rides more expensive than the county fair.

The following Wednesday right before I took her son to AWANA, she wrote me a note saying they needed gas money again and could we spare another $20? She signed it "God Bless". She would pay me back in two days when her husband got paid. Her hours had been cut because she has to drive the children do and from their schools. (Though she now works all day Saturdays, as does the husband, leaving the children with the 12-year-old, unfortunately).

The truth is my husband had to count change to get his own gasoline (we had a repair that cleaned us dry). I relayed that we were low on money too, and I was sorry I couldn't help. 

But later that night, my husband and I talked it over and we wouldn't have helped in the same week they had bought their children new toys and spent too much at a carnival, because that is more mismanagement than shortage. 

When I got the note asking for money, I have to confess: I was thoroughly disgusted. But the Holy Spirit quickly spoke to me, telling me that discipleship is hard and that I needed to have patience, rather than writing someone off because I was irritated at childishness (or lack of money-management training).

The Holy Spirit reminded me that the Lord works with us right where we're at. I need to do the same with my children, and with my neighbors. Where was I fifteen years ago, as a new Christian? And how did I get here, and how will I continue to grow? Because of the Lord's slow, patient discipling. Because of his unrelenting mercy and grace. Because he will never give up on me.

Philippians 1:6

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

My neighbor may or may not be churched. She might know nothing about God. 

This is where she's at: She buys processed macaroni and cheese and corn dogs and makes them for dinner. She overspends and then keeps her children home from school because she doesn't have enough gas money to drive them to school some days. (I'm sure the truant officer will be out soon.) She lets her 12-year-old, whose bosom is already full and mature (a C at least), dress provocatively, prompting the high-schooler boys and 20-something men around here to gawk at her cleavage, unbeknownst to her tender 12-year-old heart, I trust. 

And lastly, this mother lets her 12-year-old watch three younger children.

Prayer and the Holy Spirit will draw my neighbor's heart. God will convict her of each thing, individually, in time, with no help from me. He will also provide the income to make wiser choices, such as different childcare arrangements and different clothing choices for her daughter. 

When she's ready and the Holy Spirit prompts me, how can I come alongside her and teach? That's the question the Lord has for me to pray about. How can I show her how cooking real food will save her money, and improve their health? Show her how a 12-year-old can't be responsible for three younger children? Teach her that the financial stress is at some level, self-inflicted?(Although I'm sure a low wage doesn't help.) The divorce rate for third marriages is 90%, so she may need relationship counseling down the line, as well. Being low-income, or being in debt, is a severe stress on a marriage, to say the least.

I can't wait until I feel together enough myself, to come alongside her and teach. I simply need a willing, obedient heart and a decent control over my anger, my judgments, my passions. I can't look down on her and want to write her off, because she's too much trouble or too far astray.

Beauty from ashes. That's the work of the Lord. Thank goodness He didn't consider me "too far astray" to be redeemed!

The book of Jonah is, among other things, a how-to book on godly discipleship.  

It's hard to swallow, perhaps, but discipleship is the work God has for the mature Christian. We mustn't run away to Tarshish or get too busy for it. If the Lord's worked steadily on us for years, he expects us to extend the same blessing to others, starting with our own children. Using an exemplary measure of patience and love and mercy.

We're not done with Jonah yet, but this is sufficient food for today. 

Prayer Time: Dear Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for gently teaching and reteaching. Thank you for the lessons in Jonah. Thank you for the loving example and for the challenge to help others in their search for you, and in their Christian walks. Keep us from being too haughty, too busy, too exasperated, to help our children and neighbors. May we live in gratitude and obedience to you and be about your Kingdom work, acting justly, loving mercy, walking humbly.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

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Saturday Devotions: Your Legacy

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How does your house look this very second? Be honest, now. Does everyone have clean underwear and socks in their drawers and a clean towel for bathing tonight? Is dinner planned and you have meat thawing?

Now I have an important question for you. Your answer to this one reveals more about you than whether your children dig their socks out of a huge pile of clean clothes, or retrieve them from a drawer.

Have you opened your Bible since last Sunday's church service?

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Paul’s Charge to Timothy

2 Timothy 3:14-17 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. source

Friend, I know the draw of a clean, orderly house...the draw of free time and a good book. The constant pressures of motherhood overwhelm the best of us.

But think of your last day on this earth. You, at your deathbed, surrounded by your loved ones. It could be next year or after your eightieth birthday. We never know. At that point it's too late to alter your legacy--to reshape it to leave a more pleasing taste in their mouths. Sure, you can apologize for this or that transgression, but the habits and values your lifestyle highlighted, they will shape your children and their children--they will define your legacy--forever.

Make a list of your habits and values. Do your habits line up with your values? If not, what kind of legacy are you forging? One that will give you peace on your deathbed?

The Lord can redeem so much. He makes beauty from ashes. But once you've reached your deathbed, he can't alter your legacy.

Start today with daily habits that will forge a priceless legacy: daily prayer and Bible reading. They will transform you first and then each family member. For your changed heart, your gentleness and self-control, will shine so brightly everyone around you will want what you have. This isn't an ideal, but truth. The Word remakes us. If you read it daily, and pray, you will not be the same person even 30 days from now.

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The Holy Spirit will be your constant companion and you will want to listen to Him. You will have the courage to live contrary to culture.

Nothing will impact you and your family's lives more than a daily chasing after God. Nothing will make you what you want to be--not a diet, an outfit, a title, a bank account balance--nothing. Your heart and soul were created to worship the One, True, Living God. Live out your true destiny.

Forsake that Bible, that prayer, and you'll worship everything but Him. Satan promises.

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Saturday Devotions: Empty to Fill

Four of them, hair combed, clothes neat, shoes dry and clean, to the pediatrician for two physicals, and then to the pharmacy for eczema cream.

A pouring out.

Home for lunch.

A pouring out.

Four of them to Aldi's for meat, bread, eggs and other staples. Then to the rummage sale around the corner, searching for a new-used girl's bike.

A pouring out.

Four kids who usually get along, but cranky now from errands, fighting, with one carelessly tossed hand causing a bloody nose in the van.

A pouring out.

Dishes, laundry, paperwork, while fielding nearly constant interruptions.

A pouring out.

Evening meal, more laundry, dessert, baths, stories, teeth brushing, riding herd on kids who don't really want to go to bed.

A pouring out.

Listening, worried, to details about Husband's possible nerve pain post-surgery. Reading afterwards that the nerve pain takes time, often much time, to improve.

A pouring out.

A three-year-old unable to discern dream from reality, waking three times in the night, once telling me she never wants to eat cake again. Another time telling me she didn't get any gummies. A third time she gets out of bed, stumbles, crying, on her way to the playroom for her piglet--the one her dream convinced her she'd lost forever.

I keep soothing her but each time, it takes time for her to settle. She doesn't believe me that her thoughts? They're but dreams.

A pouring out.

Finally, I have nothing left.

Just emptiness, a watering can long dried out.

And there's still the dinner dishes, soaking, waiting for me to go out at some time during the wee hours to finish the job.

Before it all starts again for another day.

As hollow as a long-fallen log. That's me.

And I rebel in my emptiness. I complain. Thankfulness? It's out of my reach, like the supple skin from my twenties. I need quiet time so badly, I tell my husband. Uninterrupted quiet time. Time with the Word, so my thoughts and God's heart can intermingle.



For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19

So I can be filled. Filled with all the wisdom and loving-kindness I'll be called to pour out in the next 24 hours.

Life, it feels unbearable, doesn't it, when we falsely assume we're bottomless pits of giving?

We run out of love. We really do.

But God, he never does. He's always there, ready to fill us to overflowing. If we'll just make that full stop.

Isaiah 66:1-2, it tells us who He wants to fill.

“Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.  Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?  “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD.  “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. (Isaiah 66:1 – 2) 

The Lord wants to dwell in whom? In a humble person with a contrite spirit. Is that me? Is that you? 

Do we get it that we run out of love? Do we really get it that without God, we're nothing? Do we get it that we're too sinful to pour out for others, outside of his grace and filling?

Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1 - 2)

Contrite = feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming

Humble = not proud or arrogant; modest: having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, low in rank, importance, status, quality

Our decision to make a full stop and sit at the Lord's feet? It comes out of a humble and contrite spirit. Exactly the person He wants to fill.




For what were we created?

For Love. To receive it from our Creator, then to give it out to the created, in awe and humility, out of a reverent heart and a contrite spirit. God desires this intimacy with us--this mutual giving and receiving. He gives love and we give him our hearts, then we glorify him by loving others in His name.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:7 - 8 7)

Your quiet time with the Lord? It isn't just another thing you should do.

It's what you were created to do.

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Saturday Devotions: Feeling Put Upon

I should be doing the dishes.

I could start most of my posts with that sentence. What does that say about me? That I love writing and reflecting, more than a clean kitchen? Or does it say something less benign, like that I'm not a servant at heart?

I don't know.

Husband's Saturday morning work at the church moved to the afternoon due to a wedding. He doesn't relax or sit still. Always moving.

Except when he reads to the kids.

When we were first married and had cable and no children, he never even sat steadily to watch the UCLA football games he loved. Somehow he followed them while going about his business, knowing just when to sit down for the best plays.

This morning, on the advice of a tomato-loving friend from work, he blanched his huge garden tomatoes, peeled the skins, blended the tomatoes in the blender, and started a large pot of sauce. He added his banana peppers too. A wonderful idea to save money on store-bought tomato sauce, which uses more salt than we'd like.

Except that we have yet to buy canning supplies to preserve such homemade fare.

When he left for work he also left the kitchen. In. a. disaster.

I reluctantly cleaned it up, postponing my annual frenzy of searching for used homeschool curriculum for next to nothing. The next to nothing part being only in my dreams. I usually end up selling something I like, and could use later with the girls, to earn money to buy something we need--in this case, about 31 novels.

Novels are something we always keep, since they're the hardest to replace. I'm working on procuring part 2 of American history-themed novels.

But anyway...back to a slice of life at my house today.

Peter, using his beloved 1001 Hints & Tips For Your Garden, made garlic bug spray for our roses, which he diagnosed with a pest problem. Then he cut up plastic water bottles and made multiple wasp traps with sugar water, setting them all over the front and back yards. Whenever he gets his hands on a new garden book, his spirit soars.

And when he's done, the kitchen's a mess.

Paul loves baking. After lunch he made chocolate chip muffins, incorporating his three-year-old sister into the experience like the dear boy that he is. His muffins are always delicious.

And the kitchen? Left in a mess.

Are you noticing a theme here? Sometimes it feels like everyone else is living their life, and I'm cleaning it up. I feel put upon and I don't like that feeling. It comes from an ungrateful place in my heart.

Time for a verse of the day, to help me with my aversion to re-cleaning the kitchen.

Isaiah 40:28-31  Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary,and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for salvation, for your precious Son, for the gift of a family. May I have a servant's heart and approach my tasks with love and devotion. Help me gather what we need for the school year while still guiding the house and keeping the family in clean underwear. Thank you for the boys' help with vacuuming, sweeping, mopping and folding. Help me continue to train, to encourage, to disciple. Help me to model a servant's heart. Forgive me for my grumbling spirit and help me draw strength from you, from your Word. Guide my steps and my priorities.

In Your Son's name I pray, Amen.
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The Body of Christ, Part 2

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Today I present Part 2 of my Body of Christ series. Before I get into a practical discussion of our function within the Body, I want to lay some Biblical goundwork for the Body of Christ concept. This will be the heavier reading but please plow through for me, until we get to Part 3?

The Church, referred to in the Bible as the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ, is made up of all people who've been born again through faith in Jesus' blood. You may live near and work with people from different denominations, but if you're all born again, you are part of the Body of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Last year I did a study on the Lord's Prayer and we learned that the beginning words "our father" were used for a purpose; we're not individuals, but members of One Body, and we're to pray and act as such. 

From a previous post: The Lord's Prayer, Vol. 1 Both the words Father and Our point to a familial relationship. When we become a Christian we are grafted into the Body of Christ (the Body of Believers).  We are brethren to one another and God is our Father.  It's important to regard our membership in the Body seriously, for it carries a responsibility. We must always be looking and working toward the good of the Body, our Brethren.

Philippians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Mark 12:31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

For example, when we sin, it not only harms us, but the whole body.  We are not to be individual operators, but rather, operate as a cooperative body--spending time in fellowship with one another, praying for and with one another, helping one another in need, building each other up, admonishing in love when necessary.

What does Christ want his Bride (The Church) to be like? Ephesians 5:25-27 describes us as "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Revelation 19:7-9 tells us we will be "clothed in fine linen, bright and pure--for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints."

How is the Body of Christ to operate and care for itself? Scripture points to a number of ways, but mainly we must 1) meet together 2) serve, love, and pray for each other 3) hold one another accountable 4) dedicate ourselves, as One Body, to Christ.

1) We must meet together:  We know from Hebrews 10:24-25 that we are to "spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together."

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

2) We must serve, love, and pray for one another. Each member has gifts to contribute to build up the Body:

Mark 12:31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

Ephesians 4:11-12  “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” 

Ephesians 4:16 
From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Here you can take a spiritual gifts inventory to find out what your spiritual gifts are, taken from this widely accepted list:

Administration:  The ability to organize resources and persons for effective ministry.

Community Builder (Apostleship): The ability to help create koinonia, that unique type of inclusive fellowship which characterized the early Christian church.

Discernment: The ability to recognize and to affirm the skills, talents, and spiritual gifts of other people, especially other Christians.

Evangelism: The capacity to discern when and how the Gospel message should be communicated to persons outside the Christian community.

Exhortation: The capacity to inspire, to motivate, and to encourage others in their spiritual formation and personal ministry.

Faith: It is the special gift whereby the Spirit provides Christians with extraordinary confidence in God's promises, power, and presence so that they can take heroic stands for their future of God's work in the church.

Giving: The capacity to manage one's own resources (income, time, energy, skills, and gifts) in such a way that there is more than enough to share with other people.

Hospitality: The ability to meet the basic social needs of and to extend care to persons (strangers) beyond one's immediate circle of friends.

Knowledge: The capacity to cognitively comprehend the complexities of God's Truth and to explain these complexities to others.

Leadership: The ability to understand one's own principles and vision, to communicate those principles and vision to others, and to challenge others to move into the future, all in a non-reactive way.

Mercy: The ability to identify with and to feel the pains and hurts of another person and the capacity to help that person move beyond those pains and hurts.

Prophecy: The capacity to receive, to reveal, or to interpret God's Truth, publicly, no matter what the consequences or risks.

Shepherding/ Mentoring:  The ability to affirm, to equip, and to support other Christians in spiritual formation and Christian ministry.

Helps/Service: The ability and overwhelming desire to aid persons in need. The ability to perform the most basic acts of kindness as a means to glorify God and to embody the Gospel.

Teaching: The capacity to create an environment in which obedience to God's Truth can be practiced.

Wisdom: The capacity to convincingly illustrate the mystery of God's Truth in very concrete, practical, and specific ways.

3) We must be accountable to one another.

We mustn't associate accountability with confrontation, for accountability is essential to us in our infirmities. The verses I've listed below admonish us to:  help our friends when they fall; defend each other; teach and admonish each other; submit to one another; be truthful with one another; confess our sins to each other; and pray for each other.

Ecclesiastes 4:10 
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:12
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 

Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Colossians 3:9-10

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

4) We must dedicate ourselves, as one Body, to Christ: 

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices (to give up your pursuits as an individual, and live as One), holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

Saturday Devotions 5/5

Morning Prayers
Peter Jackson

Saturday Devotions

Today's Text: James 3:13-18

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

What I love about this? The knitting together of humility and wisdom. We cannot live rightly without knowing our position before God. Christ's blood is the only reason we can talk to God, and be heard, at all. Our faith in Christ's blood inputs righteousness to us, but we still fall. We still sin and live for ourselves. We are still nothing without Him. So when we think of our position, we must think low. Once we have that mindset, we're open to the Holy Spirit's leading, which brings true wisdom. 

Want a visual picture of this concept? The Christian on her knees before God. Worshiping, thanking, asking. If you're in prayer and in the Word, you've already arrived at something crucial. I am nothing without Him. Feel that in your bones. Breathe it with every rise and fall of your chest. Understanding that one sentence changes everything: I am nothing without Him.

Carve out that time and you'll fall in love with your Heavenly Father. Your devotional time won't be a chore. It'll be a meeting with your beloved. You'll become humble in His presence. You'll want more and more of  Him. Less and less of you.

A touchy subject comes to mind as I read these verses. Please don't be offended. I don't judge with these words. They speak of a general cultural trend that I find very concerning. All of us who use social media need to be aware of this phenomena. No one is immune.

In line at the grocery store this week, I stood behind an early twenties man who checked his high-tech phone twice in ten minutes. Was it a Facebook or Twitter contact, or a text, he was hoping for? 

He's not the only one. Everywhere I go...libraries, stores, post offices...people check their phones. I recently read about a woman who was playing on Facebook and accidentally let her baby drown. What have we become? As addicted as the worst drug addict, wanting to be acknowledged, validated. "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."

We want more followers, more exposure, more likes than the next guy. Envy and selfish ambition? Yeah, that's us. The social media generation.

No, it's not evil to check stats. But are you addicted? Here's how to know: When your phone or Internet is down and you can't check your numbers, you become anxious, angry, depressed. You can't concentrate on anything else. You never go far from your phone.

Addiction of any kind is ugly, destructive. It's bondage. 

Do you want to be free? Understand what's happening to you. Checking your numbers may give you a temporary high. That's why your brain continually does it. Know this: There isn't a single person who can give you worth. Your worth comes from God, and your relationship with Him. 

Go offline for as long as it takes. Learn what freedom from bondage feels like. If you run a business and need the Internet and social networking, set time limits. Get some accountability from a trusted person. Increase your Bible and prayer time. Pray for deliverance each time you're tempted to do a frivolous check. Involve yourself in useful tasks. Get out into nature and experience the beauty of God's splendor.

This addiction talk may sound ridiculous. So many people do the same thing. If everyone is doing it, can it be wrong? Yes! Addiction is always wrong. The thing you're addicted to becomes your god...your focus.  "Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic"

God has a focus for you...serving Him in all you do. Bringing Him glory. 

A person continually humbled by being in the presence of God doesn't need followers to validate her. She's validated by her relationship with God. God created us with a spiritual thirst. And only He can quench it. When we try to quench our thirst any other way, "there you find disorder and every evil practice."

Prayer Time:  Dear Father, thank you for having a grip on my heart and life. Thank you for your faithfulness. Give me a powerful desire to be in your presence. Humble me each day and give me true wisdom. Holy Spirit, redirect me when I fall prey to envy or selfish ambition. Give me a pure heart. Deliver me from any bondages I may have.

In your name, Amen.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving,considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Prayer Time:  Dear Father, how beautiful are these words. Make me pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. I want to reap a harvest of righteousness. Change me, Father. Help me to hunger and thirst for only you. These aren't empty words, Father. I know your transforming power. Make me responsive to the Holy Spirit, always.

In your name I pray, Amen.

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Saturday Devotions 4/21

Sunday in the Backwoods
Thomas Faed

Ephesians 4:1-16

Unity and Maturity in the Body of Christ

¹ As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

Lord, search my heart and make it known to me. In all my dealings, cleanse me of unrighteousness. May I learn from you through prayer and Bible reading, and knowing your heart, receiving power from the Holy Spirit, may I be completely humble and gentle, patient, peaceful, bearing with all in love. I am sorry for impatience, for lack of humility, for harshness. Renew my spirit, take away the weary, help me derive sustenance from you, so I may please you.

 ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Lord, search my heart here. Help me see the beauty of your design for the Church body, for diversity in the Church is necessary to accomplish your purposes. Help me to embrace your vision, and cling to the unity we have in You. Help me to keep my eyes on you, trusting you for everything. Replace vision I may have, with your purpose, your will.

 ⁷ But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸ This is why it^[a]says:

   “When he ascended on high,
   he took many captives
   and gave gifts to his people.”^[b]

 ⁹ (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? ¹⁰ He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Lord, I know you saved me for a purpose. I am not called to serve myself. Instead, you gave me certain spiritual gifts to use to strengthen the church (for me, those gifts are teaching, exhortation, faith). Help me to have a servant's heart, for in serving the Church, I serve you. I please you. And when I'm pleasing you, I'm worshiping you. Help me to exercise my gifts, so that you receive your due glory. Help me to live for you, as your faithful servant.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 

Lord, let nothing I encounter--be it friend, book, trend, blog, newspaper, science, psychology--replace you and your truth. May I spend my time with you, in prayer and Bible reading, so that nothing crowds or deceives my heart. Help me to cling to truth, to live for truth.

¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Lord, help me to speak up when necessary. Guide my heart, give me courage. Let me hear wisdom and heed it when spoken in truth from another Christian. Help every member of your body do the work you have called us to do.


In your name I pray, Amen.


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