julie coleman

In God We Trust

2011-08-07T19:54:00.005-04:00

In the days and months following the Black Tuesday stock market crash in 1929, despair over financial ruin prompted many suicides. One man left this note behind before ending his life: "My body should go to science, my soul to Andrew W. Mellon, and sympathy to my creditors." Eventually the despair over lost fortunes trickled down to the general population, when savings carefully accrued through lifetimes of frugal living evaporated as banks failed. For one very long decade, hope was difficult to come by.

When you base your security and hope on the wrong thing, the rug may very well get pulled out from under you.

God made His desire that His people trust only in Him very clear as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. Knowing a human tendency to trust in one's own devices, He cautioned the nation's future leadership: "He shall not multiply horses for himself... He shall not multiply wives for himself... nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself" (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). In a quest for any of these, a king would ultimately be seeking security in the wrong places. A build up of horses would increase military might. God wanted the nation to trust in Him, not in their own ability to fight off an enemy. A king often married to solidify treaty agreements with other nations. But God did not want the nation's sense of security to come from promises made from the peoples surrounding them. And he did not want them to base their security on wealth, either. God wanted Israel's security to be based on Him alone.

How important is it to God that we as individuals base our confidence and security in Him? Pretty important. Near the end of his life, King David gave the order that all of Israel and Judah be counted in a census. Seems harmless enough, until we hear the census results that were given to David. 800,000 sword bearers resided in Israel, and 500,000 troops in Judah. David wasn't interested in counting people. He was counting troops. This was a sin of pride and self-sufficiency, of basing confidence in military might. Bad move.

God was quick to respond. He sent a plague upon the nation and 70,000 men died that day. It was hard to miss the message.

On an earlier occasion, when the Israelites stood poised at the gateway to the Promised Land, they shrank back in fear as spies sent in earlier to check out the land gave their report. The inhabitants of the land were huge. The cities were well-fortified. Anyone with half a brain would know their quest to take the land was hopeless. Two lone men, Joshua and Caleb, argued against the masses. "If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us... Do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us." But the people refused to trust God. Their punishment would fit the crime. God never allowed them to enter the Promised Land. They perished in the desert because of their sin.

Oh, yes, my friends, God is serious about our trusting Him. Jesus was, too. When asked to cast a demon out of a young boy, he took exception to the father's lack of confidence expressed in his request: "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"

Everything came to a halt. "If?" Jesus said. "If you can? All things are possible to him who believes." It wasn't until the man expressed a desire to trust Him that Jesus healed his son.

On the front of each US coin, the familiar words are imprinted: In God We Trust. They are an ironic reminder that our security cannot be in money, power, or other people. Our hope must lie in the Lord alone.

In Christ, the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

The Discipline of Forgiving

2011-07-21T08:09:00.005-04:00

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” Ephesians 5:31-32

When we were dating, my husband had the habit of sending me, along with his letters, four or five pink demerit slips he had earned while attending Bible college. At one point I asked him just how many he possessed, since he appeared to be drawing from a never-ending supply. He showed me the stack in the top drawer of his desk. It was impressive.

Now don’t get the wrong idea—they were all for relatively small misdemeanors, like leaving the lights on or the bed unmade. Over time, however, they accumulated into enough of a statement that he was called into the dean’s office and asked to give an account for his actions. Apparently small infractions, over a long period of time, can add up.

This principle is true in relationships as well. It is why Paul, in describing a godly kind of love, reminded the Corinthians: “Love is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” In this simple description, Paul gives us powerful preventive medicine for all of our relationships: we must maintain an ongoing discipline of forgiveness.

The Old Man of the Mountain, a massive granite formation which once overlooked Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, stood for thousands of years, most likely created by glaciers that once moved over northern New Hampshire. It was the state symbol, and beloved enough to earn a place on the New Hampshire state quarter. Thousands of tourists stopped each year on their way up I-93 to take photographs of this famous landmark. Then one night in May 2003, during a heavy wind and rain storm, the Old Man formation collapsed into the valley below. What could fell such a huge monument, after it had stood for thousands of years? Tiny individual molecules of water.

When water freezes, it expands. The collapse of the Old Man was a result of small amounts of water seeping into the cracks year after year, freezing and expanding, making the fissures just a bit wider each time. Finally, the cracks became wide enough to weaken the entire structure, and the monument crumbled.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote of this principle within the context of marriage: “Marriages break up when ‘small’ things accumulate and resentments build. Love is the intention of unity. Resentment is the destroyer of unity.” Making frequent decisions to forgive is crucial to the health of a relationship.

Easier said than done, you are probably thinking. What if the offending party is not sorry and shows no sign of repentance from the behavior that hurt you in the first place?

You are not alone—Peter struggled with this idea as well. “How many times must I forgive?” he asked the Lord. He then generously offered, “Up to seven times?” Rabbinic standards required forgiving up to three offenses. Peter was willing to more than double the standard. Surely seven times, the number denoting completeness, would be enough.

Jesus took care of Peter’s faulty expectation with his answer. “Seventy times seven,” he replied.

How can we choose to forgive on a daily basis? By keeping our eyes trained on Christ. By choosing to forgive, we are expressing what he has freely done for us. We were forgiven when we did not deserve mercy. That’s the meaning of grace: undeserved favor.

To indulge in harboring grievances is most often an exercise in self-absorption. We struggle to forgive a wrong because we feel we deserved better than what was done to us. Christ deserved better. He deserved honor and glory because he was God. Yet he chose to lay aside his equality with God and humbled himself to obedience, to the point of death on a cross. Amy Carmichael observed: “If I am soft to myself and slide comfortably into the vice of self-pity and self-sympathy; if I do not by the grace of God practice fortitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love.”

Choosing to forgive is really a reflection of our understanding of how much we have been forgiven ourselves. It is a discipline which often must be performed outside of our emotional state. We are choosing to love because we know we are loved. And as we imitate our Savior in forgiveness, we understand a bit more of what it took for him to bear our sin.

Fly the Flag

2011-06-29T22:02:00.005-04:00

I love the 4^th of July. I love the smell of meat on the grill, outdoor picnics, and fireworks. But what I love best of all is the plethora of American flags decorating lawns, houses, and storefronts. Seeing the red, white, and blue proudly displayed always makes me smile.

On the afternoon of 9/11, like most Americans, Steve and I sat at our kitchen table trying to take in the trauma the country had just experienced. Such senseless acts of terror, so many innocent lives lost. Steve could see the plume of smoke rising from the Pentagon as he left his place of work that morning when his agency shut down. We stood in solidarity with those who had been directly affected in the loss of a loved one. How could we express our sympathy, our support? I suddenly had an idea. "Let's hang our American flag," I said.

My husband nodded. "I already put it out."

Flying the flag makes a statement. It expresses loyalty to the country and to our fellow countrymen. It is a declaration of our commitment to freedom and democracy.

We as Christians have a banner to fly as well. Peter urged his readers to do just that for the unbelieving community around them. "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that ... as they observe your good deeds, [they will] glorify God in the day of visitation." (1 Peter 1:12) Our actions, as observed by the world around us, are our flag. With them we display what we believe.

So what was the excellent behavior Peter urged his readers to display? Not preaching at the unbelieving with eloquent and persuasive speech. Instead, Peter's goal for his readers was a bit more subtle. The banner he wished his readers to display was submission.

"Submit yourself for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors sent by him... servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable...wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives."

These were probably hard words to swallow. The original recipients of Peter's letter were not living in a democracy. They were living under a Roman emperor, a tyrant. It wouldn't be long before their king would make their lives miserable with his relentles persecution of Christians. Slaves were at the mercy of their masters, who could be abusive and unfair. Wives had few rights in first century society. They were the property of their husbands and at their mercy for much of their well-being.

Those in authority had tremendous power and often abused it. Submission was no guarantee of fair treatment or reciprocated kindness. Besides, Peter had just written they were heirs to the kingdom of God. Why should they submit?

Peter anticipated their doubts by reminding them of the example Christ had set before them. "While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously." Christ suffered on our behalf. He chose to set aside his power and privilege and submit to those who sought to kill him. But his submission was done from a position of power. In the garden, as the Roman guard and Temple officers arrested Jesus, Peter swung a sword, ready to fight to the death to protect Jesus. Jesus turned to him and said, "Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?" Make no mistake about it, Jesus was no victim. He willingly set aside his power and authority and purposefully laid down his life. In fact, he lived his entire life in perfect obedience to the Father. Submission marked the life of Christ.

What better flag to fly, then? If we are living to follow Jesus, we must follow him in the ways he lived. We must display his kingdom principles in our actions. Our banner, therefore, should be our servanthood, selflessness, and submission to "every human institution." It should be flown in response to our love for God and our commitment to what we believe. And as those who have yet to believe observe the flag we fly, they will see God in us.

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Before and After: The Coleman Estate

2011-06-20T16:51:00.017-04:00

When we moved to Mystic Lane twelve years ago, it had Home Improvement written all over it. I thought it would be fun to let you see the changes that have taken place since we made this house our home.

We pulled out all of the old bushes, which were probably planted in 1970. They were most definitely past their prime. We replaced three yards of topsoil and put in all new shrubs. Then we had our friend Bud put a roof on the existing porch slab and put in a new front door.

Here is a view from the street. It's almost not the same house!!

We also added a screened in porch on the back of the house. (The beautiful evergreen on the right in the "before" picture got taken out when we lost the giant tree a few years back. You can see pictures of that fiasco here. It just clipped the roof of the porch, but killed three evergreens in the process. I still grieve their loss!)

Here are a couple of photos to show you what our porch is like on the inside. We love, love, love having that outdoor space.

Hope you liked seeing our makeover, 12 years and still going strong!! Thanks for clicking in!

The Rock

2011-03-08T11:46:00.001-05:00

Standing as a guardian over the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, the Rock of Gibraltar is a world-famous landmark. Its white limestone cliffs stand in stark contrast to the blue sea and sky around it. The Greeks called it a "Pillar of Hercules." The Phoenicians believed it marked the end of the known world. Its very name invokes an image of strength and endurance. A person who exhibits these characteristics will often be called "The Rock of Gibraltar."

Isaiah used a rock as a metaphor to describe the enduring faithfulness of God. He had just finished warning the people of impending crisis. Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah would experience God's judgment for turning away from him. Assyria would sweep across the land and bring fierce destruction. Isaiah knew if the people chose to focus on the circumstances all hope would be lost. So he directed their attention back onto the Lord. "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you. Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock." (Isaiah 26:3, NLT)

While judgment was necessary, God had not forgotten his promises to the nation of Israel. Isaiah described the man who has put his confidence in the promises of God as at perfect peace. If you translate that Hebrew phrase literally, it reads "Peace, peace." In Hebrew, word repetition is used to emphasize something. Even the word itself, shalom, embodies the idea of completeness. Every part of who we are is in total harmony with the will of God when we have shalom. Now think of this completeness times two: shalom, shalom. And that is what the man has who trusts in the Lord.

Until recent years, my airline travel was fairly limited. So I interpreted any turbulence, strange noises, even water vapor coming off the wings as possible indicators of impending doom. That all changed for me on a flight home from North Carolina. I was seated across from a uniformed pilot, apparently on the way to his next assignment. It was a particularly bumpy ride, and a few times the coffee actually leaped out of my cup. Normally this would have put me into a panic. But this time I watched the pilot. As long as he calmly continued to sip his coffee and read his paper, I knew all was well. So I kept my eyes on him and ignored the circumstances around me.

There will always be things in our lives that drive us to our knees. God deliberately places them there so that we will not become independent and abandon our relationship with Him. When we need Him, we seek Him. And as the winds of challenge pummel us, we hide ourselves in the cleft of the rock. Its solid surface reassures us and shelters us from the fury of the storm. He is the Rock who will not be moved. And the man who trusts in Him has perfect peace.

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

Into the Light

2011-03-01T07:40:00.002-05:00

She had never seen him before in her life. She saw by his clothing he was a Jew. As she moved toward the well, he startled her by striking up a conversation, requesting she give him a drink with the jug she carried. "You are asking me, a Samaritan woman, to give you a drink?" she blurted out, astonished by his willingness to converse with her.

"If you knew who I was," he told her, "You would be asking me for living water. Everyone who drinks the water I'm offering will never be thirsty again."

"Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, and not have to travel all the way here to draw water anymore," she said.

"Go," he said. "Call your husband and come here." She quickly informed him his assumption about her marital status was mistaken. "It's true you have no husband at present," he agreed. "For you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband."

Her mouth dropped open at his startling revelation. How could he know so much about her? And why so abruptly bring up her sordid history when thus far he had seemed only intent on kindness?

We, too, might puzzle at Jesus' blunt and seemingly confrontational words. How could these be spoken by a loving savior? His conversation with the Samaritan Woman is only understandable when read in light of Jesus' intent. He was leading her to a place where forgiveness and healing were possible. He knew she could never accept an offer of salvation if she thought her shameful past was not known in the offering. Bringing it out into the open would allow an honest relationship with God that would truly quench her thirsty soul.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me," David prayed. Our sin can keep us from intimacy with God, even after we are saved. Taking a good, honest look at ourselves can be a revealing exercise. But the Bible does not instruct us to do so alone. We are to take the Lord with us on our internal journey.

Why is this so important? Richard Foster cites two reasons. First, if we do the examination on our own, there might be a temptation to justify our actions, to rationalize away the blame and guilt. Involving the Lord will bring an integrity to our perception, forcing our evaluation to be made in light of His perfect holiness. Second, with the Lord's presence we avoid the converse trap of falling into despair as we realize how short we have fallen. Instead, knowledge of his great love and mercy brings hope, and our appreciation of the depths of the grace of God only grows.

It is not a comfortable process. Reality can be painful to view and even more painful to confess. Yet like a physical infection, only when sin is brought into the open can healing begin. As Foster assures us, "Under the searchlight of the Great Physician we can expect good always."

After months of freezing temperatures here in Maryland, we were recently blessed with a few days of balmy breezes. Snow, around since mid-January, quickly disappeared as the temperatures soared into the sixties. But I noticed, as Sasha and I walked one early morning, that patches of snow and ice still remained where evergreen trees shaded the ground, preventing the sun from doing its magic. Winter's icy grip remained where the sun failed to reach.

When we allow sin to remain hidden in our hearts, we deny ourselves the healing touch of God in those cold, hard places. Confession is good for the soul. It is time to rid ourselves of our shameful secrets and bring them out into the light and warmth of the saving grace of God.

"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." Proverbs 28: 13

Avoiding Hypocrisy

2011-02-16T10:46:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine (who is not a believer) recently shared a conversation overheard between someone she knew to be a Christian and a senior citizen in their care. The Christian was shockingly abusive in her treatment of the elderly woman, interjecting her venomous accusations with vulgar language and hate. Outraged, my friend told me, “She’s such a hypocrite. She goes around thinking she’s holier than anyone else and at the same time treats someone so cruelly.” The body of Christ holds no interest for my friend in light of the hypocrisy she observes in its members.

It’s a sobering thought. But even my unbelieving friend would admit she herself does not live up to her own standards. We all fail to live out our standards. What is the difference between that and being a hypocrite? We need look no further than the pages of the New Testament to find the answer.

The most prominent and influential religious leaders of Jesus’ day were the Pharisees. It was a society which came into being during the Exile, when the majority of Jews lived on foreign soil, relocated by conquering armies. Knowing the exile was a judgment from God for disobedience, once back on their own turf, the Pharisees vigorously promoted adherence to both Mosaic and Oral Law. They were determined to keep Israel from making a repeat mistake.

Unfortunately, their strict observation of the Law quickly became a source of pride. Josephus, a Jewish historian of Jesus’ day, described the Pharisees as “a body of Jews who profess to be more religious than the rest.” Jesus identified the dichotomy of their standards. “Woe to you Pharisees! You clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.” He also told a story about a Pharisee who prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people; swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” The Pharisees failed to see the imperfection in themselves and so felt free to condemn others.

Jesus warned his disciples about the temptation to judge: “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” We are hopelessly inadequate to judge when we are as guilty as those we condemn.

There are two steps to becoming a hypocrite. First, refuse to take an honest look at how you have failed to keep a standard. Second, judge someone else on that standard more harshly than you do yourself.

How do we avoid hypocrisy? We need to keep a realistic view on our relationship with God. “By grace you have been saved, not of works… lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9) We all began our standing with God on the same playing field: dead in our trespasses and sins. Our relationship with God is based on Christ alone. After saving us in a selfless act of mercy, God continues to shower us with grace as we live out our salvation. Any good we do is done through His power. We exist through the merciful grace of God.

Knowing our own debt to grace should impact how we view others. They are in need of God’s mercy, just as we are. Rather than standing in condemnation, we should respond in empathy to their imperfection. We are all in the same boat.

Jesus told a parable about a servant who owed a huge debt to the king. The king demanded payment, and told the servant to sell himself and his family to repay the debt. The servant begged for mercy. The king, moved to compassion, acquiesced. The servant then turned around and revealed his ungrateful heart by throwing a peer into jail for a far smaller debt owed him. The other servants were outraged. How quickly he had forgotten the mercy he had so recently received!

How can we gratefully accept grace from God for our failures and weaknesses, yet turn around and condemn others for theirs? As recipients of mercy, our lives should be marked by compassion and a willingness to extend grace to those around us.

“Brothers, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:1-3

Power to Succeed

2011-02-01T07:16:00.002-05:00

He thought he had gotten away with it.

The battle had been nothing short of amazing. The walls of Jericho had simply crumbled as the army of Israel gave its shout. The soldiers swarmed into the city, destroying all but Rahab and her family as previously arranged. The orders were clear: take no prisoners, take no plunder. The city belonged to the Lord.

But Achan had disobeyed. The riches he came across as they swept through Jericho were too much of a temptation. He took a beautiful robe, gold, and silver and hid them within the folds of his clothing. No one will ever know, he thought as he stood with the others watching the rubble of Jericho go up in flames. His bounty would give his family a good start in the Promised Land. He brought his forbidden prize back to the camp and buried it beneath the family tent. No one saw. He went to bed that night alone in the knowledge he was now a rich man.

But in their next battle, Israel was soundly defeated. As God had promised to win their battles for them, Joshua knew something was terribly wrong. In answer to his pleas, God informed him there was sin in the camp. Joshua was led first to the tribe, then the family, and finally to Achan's household. Knowing he had been caught red-handed, Achan confessed. He, his family, and his livestock were sent into the wilderness. There Israel stoned the lot of them and burned their remains.

Why destroy the whole family? The sheep, the donkeys, the oxen? The truth of the matter is our sin affects far more than just ourselves. It reaches its slimy tentacles beyond us and wrecks havoc in the lives of those around us. We do no one any favors when we choose the destructive path of sin.

We usually don't start out intending to sin. So why do we succumb? Our old nature craves self-satisfaction. While we have been given a new potential, the old potential remains within us. The conflict between the two can be intense. "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh," Paul wrote the Galatians. "These are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please."

Jesus put it this way: "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Bottom line: we can't win against the temptation to sin alone.

That's the bad news. But there is good news. God has made great power available to us: the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at God's right hand in the heavenly places. It will give us everything we need to live a godly life, and will accomplish far more than we could ever ask or think. With His power, we can live lives victorious over sin.

So how do we tap into this amazing resource?

We can start by getting ourselves out of the way. We must stop making our walk with God all about our performance. We were inadequate to earn our salvation, and that inadequacy continues in our ability to live the Christian life. Tapping into the power of God is about recognizing we are not only saved by grace, but we live by grace as well. Jesus warned his disciples that abiding in him was their number one priority: not doing things for him, but resting in him and in his sufficiency.

"Who is adequate for these things?" asked Paul. The answer is none of us are. We need to get our eyes off of ourselves and on to the God who empowers us. "Apart from me, you can do nothing," Jesus warned. We cannot win over sin on our own. But we can do anything when we are infused with the power of God.

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

No Wrath, Ever

2011-01-25T06:35:00.002-05:00

Journalist and art historian Lewis Hind once wrote of a personal epiphany about his father. Mr. Hind was a stern parent who administered discipline with an iron hand. Lewis respected his father, but even more, he feared him. One Sunday morning that all changed. He was sitting in a church pew next to his father when the urge to sleep overtook him. Try as he might, young Lewis could not keep his eyes open. As he began to nod off, movement next to him startled him awake. His father raised him arm. Lewis flinched, sure his father meant to shake or strike him. Instead, Mr. Hind stretched his arm over the back of the pew and drew his young son close to his side, encouraging him to snuggle up and relax. For the first time Lewis understood that his father loved him.

Sometimes what we think we know as truth turns out to be dead wrong.

From early on, Jewish theology carried the idea that sickness was always a result of sin. Many centuries ago, a friend of Job demonstrated this with these words: "Remember now, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble harvest it. By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of his anger, they come to an end."

In Jesus' day, that idea persisted. Religious leaders questioned Jesus about one man's the state of blindness in John 9. "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Obviously, if you were blind, you were experiencing the wrath of God for some grievous sin. Or so they thought.

Jesus knew otherwise. He corrected their false belief by telling them it was neither. "It was so the works of God might be displayed in him," he said.

Mark tells the story in his gospel of a paralytic whose friends lowered him through a hole in the roof to see Jesus. Their faith in his ability to heal, as evidenced by their determined initiative, pleased Jesus. But when he addressed the paralyzed man, his first words are puzzling. He didn't say, as we think he might, "I will heal you." He said, "Your sins are forgiven."

Why did he say that? Certainly claiming authority to forgive sins was a statement to the religious leaders present in that house. Only God could forgive sins. With his proclamation, Jesus was claiming to be God. But what would "your sins are forgiven" have meant to Jesus' primary recipient, the paralytic?

For however long the man had been paralyzed, he had lived with the stares of others, silently accusing him of committing some terrible sin, evidenced by his physical condition. Worse, he knew the rejection and wrath of God himself. Or so he thought.

Jesus told him otherwise. He cleared away the man's guilt with one statement. Your sins are forgiven. God is not angry with you. He wants a relationship with you. Upon hearing those words and their implication, the burden of despair fell off the man's shoulders. He was spiritually healed.

Then, for good measure, Jesus did what no other could do. He commanded the paralytic to walk. And so he did. He picked up the mat on which he had so recently been carried and carried it home. With that physical healing, Jesus made his point. He was the Son of God. He had the authority to forgive sin. And he had just proved it.

Have you ever wondered if your difficult circumstances are God's punishment for your sin? That if you could be a better person, God wouldn't be angry with you? Don't buy into the lie. It's bad theology.

Jesus bore the wrath of God for our sin on the cross. He endured God's rejection, anger, and sin's consequences. If we believe in Christ, trusting him for our salvation, we will never be condemned for a single sin.

Jesus already paid the debt. God is not angry with you. True, sin makes him angry. But he placed his wrath for our sin on Jesus. As believers, we will never experience the wrath of God.

"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thessalonians 5:9

Time to Lay Those Burdens Down

2011-01-11T17:16:00.000-05:00

The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows 4,130 miles from its headwaters in Africa's mountainous lakes region to the Mediterranean. Sediments from as far away as Rwanda are carried northward by the force of the water as it plummets over falls and sweeps through channels in relentless movement toward the sea. Near the mouth, the river's banks suddenly widen, and the water spreads out, losing energy in the process. As the velocity slows, much of the sediment, after being carried thousands of miles through the desert, drops to the river bottom. Thousands of years of these deposits have resulted in the famous Nile Delta, an enormous landform easily seen from space.

Sometimes it takes slowing down before a burden can be deposited. David knew this fact well. He wrote: "He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul."

I didn't used to be much on slowing down. As I raced through each day, tyranny of the urgent ran my agenda. We were raising four children, and I was working full time, throwing my energy into making my fifth grade classroom a place of wonder and discovery. Even my service given to the church held the same frantic pace. The busyness eventually took its toll on me, and I began to experience physical problems related to stress. Yet slowing down didn't seem like a viable option.

Then I went to seminary. One of the classes I was required to take was on the spiritual disciplines. I was skeptical from the first time I walked in the door. We Biblical Studies majors didn't think much of those counseling classes. Too much about feelings, not enough about exegesis. I took it because I had to. But I wasn't going to like it.

True to expectations, the professor had us doing some outside-the-box things. I would inwardly roll my eyes as he sent us out to meditate or participate in some touchy-feely exercise. Oh, please. Stop wasting my time!! As the class dragged on, I began to count the sessions until it would be over. Then one morning, as the class neared its end, we were told to go find a quiet place in nature and sit there for one hour, just listening to what God had to say to us. An hour? Of listening? Seemed a bit ridiculous to me. I reluctantly collected a notebook to record all of these messages I would supposedly receive and headed out to find a tree.

"OK, here I am," I begrudgingly informed God. "Fire away." My mind was full of the papers I had to write, the books I had to read, the Greek I had to translate. I could use this hour so much more effectively. I could hardly sit still. My frame of mind was anything but conducive to listening.

But as the hour dragged on I tried to relax and appreciate the peace and quiet. I began to perceive the Lord's presence. Not that he hadn't been there all along, mind you. I was just too preoccupied to notice.

I started to bask in the love and grace he has lavished on me. My thoughts went to his greatness and power and faithfulness, his mercies that were new every morning. I began to thank him for loving me and for the blessings he has put into my undeserving life. Suddenly, my former agenda seemed very shallow. I prayed again, this time with an open heart and mind. "Lord, show me what you desire," I pleaded.

God began to invade my thoughts. He wanted my heart more than my efforts. I was carrying too many burdens. It was time to put them down. So I did. I gave him my worries about finishing my studies successfully. I gratefully handed over concerns about my fledgling adult children awkwardly spreading their wings. My fears and anxieties fell off my shoulders as he impressed on me his power and ability to handle it all. And when the hour was up, I walked away feeling freer than I had been for a very long time.

We Americans are busy people. In our drive for productivity, we pick up burdens we don't have time to lay back down. It's time to slow down. Find a quiet corner in your house. Sit down unencumbered by the routine distractions and open your heart to him. As we embark on a new decade, make it a priority to give God the time he deserves. Don't go to him with an agenda. Let him set the pace. And as he leads you beside quiet waters, you will be restored. It's well worth the time.

My Son the PhD

2010-12-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

My Son the PhD

Treasures from Darkness: Losing Much and Gaining it All

2010-11-11T08:56:00.001-05:00

This is a blog post by a blogger friend of mine who has struggled with mental illness for much of her life. She is a deep thinker and has experienced darkness like many of us never will. Click on over and read her thoughts on giving to the Lord. I love what she has to say.

Treasures from Darkness: Losing Much and Gaining it All

A Sad Farewell

2010-11-08T08:51:00.005-05:00

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chuck was the fourth child of Charles George Coleman, Sr., and Alberta Claney. He graduated from Carnegie Tech and worked as a licensed professional engineer for a number of years.

With the onset of World War II, he served as a naval officer and eventually retired as Captain, USNR. The bulk of his government career was spent as a scientist, sitting on international military committees and serving as head of the verification branch of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.

While Chuck’s government career was impressive, he is perhaps best known for the thirty years he devoted to full-time Christian work. He was a well-loved speaker at camps, youth retreats, and conferences. (In fact, I met my husband at Camp Berea when his dad was the Bible teacher.) Chuck had a gift for explaining the scriptures on any level. His creativity knew no limits; to enhance his teaching, Chuck wrote skits, invented games and activities, and even composed songs to make God’s Word come alive for his audiences. He used the printed word to spread the message as well; in addition to the three published books (The Shining Sword, Song of the Trumpet, and Divine Guidance: That Voice Behind You) Chuck wrote hundreds of magazine articles, devotionals, and poems. He also earned a PhD in Theology from Trinity Theological Seminary.

In addition to his teaching ministry, Chuck was the endorsing agent for military chaplains from the Plymouth Brethren Assemblies. He also counseled many individuals and families back to health with compassion and wisdom. At age 80, Chuck accepted the position of pastor to Countryside Fellowship Church in Laurel, MD. He served the church for several years, then assumed the role of pastor emeritus, continuing his support and teaching until disabled by a stroke in 2005.

Chuck was happily married to Katherine Elizabeth Pfaff for 61 years. They have three children, Linda, Steven, and Rebecca, as well as six grandchildren: Adam, Daniel, Melanie, and Joseph Coleman, and William and Linda Neil. Chuck also recently welcomed two great-grandsons into the world: Stephen and Jonathan Coleman.

He will be remembered best by his family as a loving and wise father with a wonderful sense of humor. His love for and dedication to the Lord were an example to all who knew him. There is no doubt in my mind that he was greeted at heaven’s gates with the words “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” The life he lived was inspired by two of his favorite verses: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Today we bid farewell, but not forever. We know that one day we will all be reunited at the throne of God. Knowing he has gone on before us makes that hope all the more sweet.

The funeral home has a website which gives the service schedule, obituary, guest book, and a photo gallery. You can go there by clicking here.

On Trusting God

2010-06-24T23:10:00.002-04:00

This is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter, The Dogwood Digest. It is in answer to a question I was asked on a recent retreat. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, use the link on the right of this page. Thanks!

How can I trust God when he took my husband and left me to raise my 3 ½ month old daughter alone?

My heart absolutely goes out to this young mom, struggling to trust God in her daily life while struggling with the loss of her beloved husband.

Trusting God through grief is perhaps one of the most challenging things we will face in this lifetime. It is true that God sometimes does things that defy human logic. We are hurting, and knowing God could have stopped the death from happening makes it even harder to accept.

I wish I could quote a verse that would answer why God allows bad things to happen. But finding answers is not always that easy. God is about our relationship with Him, and He works in each circumstance to bring us into a deeper, intimate knowledge of Him. This knowledge most often comes at a price; only after painful searching and struggle do we begin to see and understand Him on a deeper level. This is why pat answers ring false in our ears. There is nothing easy about the process. Trying to make things better with a few pithy words only trivializes the struggle.

Our God's ways are far beyond our level of comprehension. He makes no apologies for not making sense to us at times. Deuteronomy 29:29 states, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God." Paul remarked on our limitations of understanding as well: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?" (Romans 11:33-34)

While we may not have specific answers on why God allows tragedy in our lives, Scripture does give us guiding parameters as to where the answer must lie. One of my favorite seminary professors, Jonathan Master, illustrated this by drawing a playing field on the board. He used the following Scripture as the "fence posts" which defined the boundaries of the field.

1. God is not the author of sin (James 1:13)
2. Sin is the direct result of conscious moral volition (Genesis 3:1-6, James 1:14ff)
3. God sovereignly chooses to allow sin and its consequences (Romans 9:18-23)
4. God limits and controls evil (Job 1-2)
5. God will one day fully separate sin from us and from His new creation (Revelation 19:11-20:5)

Whatever we conclude about God's involvement in our tragedy must fall within the parameters of these truths.

One additional truth that has helped me in recent years is in knowing God is totally good. He cannot be anything but good-it is a part of His nature. Therefore, I can consciously count on His goodness even when circumstances might tempt me to think otherwise.

So what do we do while in the process of the struggle? When my mom died, my grief threatened to overwhelm me. As a leader on our church worship team, I could hardly sing praises on Sunday morning, because God remained silent in my pain. My agony became a spiritual battle as I prayed without answers. Yet in my head, I knew that God could be trusted, and so I kept on serving Him, even though my heart was broken and I had lost any sense that the Lord was with me. My husband kept telling me, "Just keep on being faithful. This storm will pass." It did. And instead of losing ground, I gained a deeper understanding of the Lord, and learned to trust him on a deeper level.

Our trust cannot be based in our circumstances or how well we interpret them or guess at God's intentions. Our confidence must be based in the character of God alone. And the better we know Him, the deeper will be our level of trust.

A Living Hope

2010-06-23T08:33:00.000-04:00

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

When I was a little girl, our family of four bravely ventured on a trip from our home in Connecticut to visit relatives on the Gulf Coast of Florida. We Zines weren't big travelers, so this trip was a very big deal. It was summer. We would drive for three days, stopping at hotels each night. Exciting times.

The first day didn't go too badly. We drove as far as Washington, D.C., and took a quick tour of the sights. The second day was not as pleasant. Margie and I had already blown through the new toys my mom bought for the trip. We were tired of being in the car. Poor little Margie got carsick-- and we had to make several stops for her to be sick on the side of the road. And it was HOT. The south was in the middle of a record heat wave. Our car did not have air conditioning (few did in those days) and the constant humid, hot air blowing in on us didn't do much to cool us down. By the time we hit South Carolina, every one of us was wilted and desperate to get out of that car. Dad pulled into the first decent motel and got out to rent a room. They were full up. That began a nightmarish hour of going to hotel after hotel, to no avail. Every one we tried had no room at the inn. Finally, an angel disguised as a hotel clerk got on the phone for my dad and found us a place to stay. When we wearily pulled up to our hotel, we just about kissed the ground of its parking lot.

The next morning, Dad took a new tactic. Using his road map as a guide, he called ahead to the next planned stop location and made a reservation. We traveled that day in the security of the knowledge that no matter what happened on the road, a swim in a hotel pool and a cool, soft bed awaited us at the end of that day's travel. It made all the difference in how we faced another day's journey.

Peter wrote about a "living hope" that we have in Jesus Christ. It is part of the package that we received at the time of our salvation. First Corinthians 6:11 tells us we were justified. This term is a legal term, meaning we were declared innocent of all unrighteousness. We were also sanctified. The Greek root for this word means set apart for a new relationship with God. Finally, Romans 8:30 tells us we were glorified. Usually we think of our glorification as something that will be done for us in the future. Yet when Paul wrote about it in Romans, he used a verb tense which denotes an action already completed.

In other words, the living hope believers have for glory is a done deal. Already accomplished. Checked off the list. Our name is written in the book of life, in indelible ink (Rev 20:12). We have a guaranteed reservation for Heaven, with all of the benefits that living there will entail.

In fact, God has done more than just give us a promise of that eternity. He has marked us as His, by sending the Holy Spirit to live in each believer. His living presence is like a down payment on a property someone intends to purchase-- earnest money-- given to demonstrate the seriousness of the buyer. Ephesians 1:14 tells us the Holy Spirit is given as a down payment of our inheritance, with a view toward our coming redemption. Someday we will be changed, from perishable to imperishable bodies. We will reflect the glory of Jesus Christ perfectly. The old nature will be gone forever. No longer will we struggle with sin or its destruction. And we can bank on this hope because the Holy Spirit has been given to us to guarantee its fulfillment.

Knowing this should impact how we conduct ourselves in the journey.

I wonder if that is why Peter called it a living hope. It is not only a hope which affects our eternal future. It is a hope that has a tremendous influence on us right now. Being secure in our destination makes the trip through this life bearable. Hope makes all the difference.

Biblical Submission

2010-06-15T00:12:00.005-04:00

In my most recent Dogwood Digest, a reader asks a question about submission in a marriage. I get a lot of hits on this blog when people Google the words "doormat mentality." Obviously submission is a controversial topic! The following is the result of my study on the Biblical concept of submission within the marriage relationship.

There are three places in Scripture that tell wives to submit to their husbands: Ephesians 5:22-24, Colossians 3:18, and Titus 2:5. Looking at the context of these passages gives us some clues as to what Paul meant by asking wives to submit.

Many people equate the word submit with obey. I do not believe Scripture supports this interpretation. In Ephesians 5, the instruction to the wife is preceded by a command for all believers: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” The Greek word, hupotasso, is the verb used in both this and the command to the wives that follows. Therefore submit cannot be synonymous to obey here, since obviously everyone can’t obey everyone else. In Colossians 3, Paul tells the wives to submit to their husbands. Two verses later, he instructs children to obey their parents. The Greek word translated as obey, hypakouō, is a different word than submit. If Paul meant obey in both cases, why would he use different words?

So if submission does not necessarily mean obey, what does it mean?

The word hupotasso originally came from a military term, which meant to put the troops into order under a commanding officer. Eventually it took on a non-military usage as a “voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, or carrying a burden.”

From the contexts in both Ephesians and Colossians, that second nuance of meaning makes a bit more sense. I like the idea of cooperation or bearing a burden. If we as wives did everything in our power to enable our husband to fulfill what the New Testament defines as his role, what would that look like? There is no doormat mentality there. Rather, it is an idea of partnering together to help each other be obedient to the Word of God.

I don’t think submission in a marriage is about obedience at all. Instead, it is the decision on the part of the wife to support her husband in a sacrificial way, with no thought to herself. It is placing her husband’s needs above her own, with the purpose of enabling him to fulfill his role as her husband. It is just another opportunity to die to self. “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Corinthians 4:11)

In order to better understand the wife’s role, we must look at the husband’s part in the relationship. Paul states in Ephesians 5:23 that the husband is the “head of the wife as Christ is head of the church.” There are two Greek words for “head”: one is arche, which denotes “first” in terms of power and importance. Paul did not use this word. He used kephale, which means foremost in terms of position (like a cornerstone in a foundation). It was also a military term, indicating the one who went first into battle. Kephale was never used to mean leader, boss, or ruler. It describes the person who is out in front, serving those who follow him.

Submission is a voluntary act on the part of the wife. Husbands are never told to make the wife submit. In fact, the biblical definition of a leader is far removed from a dictatorial figure: “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care...not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2-3)

I think that we as wives sometimes can hinder our husbands from obeying God’s commands. When we second guess everything he says, or contradict him in front of the children, or even show a lack of faith in his ability to be head of the family as Christ is head of the church, we make it difficult for him to fulfill the Scriptures defining his role. Yet when we love and support him in his efforts and respect him as the head of the home, he is enabled to love us as “Christ loved the church, and gave Himself up for her.”(Ephesians 5:25)

A wife, by her submission, sets the tone in her home. A wise older woman once told me that it was my responsibility to teach my children to respect their father. I took that advice very seriously. I determined to never speak disparagingly about my husband to my children. The larger part of that instruction, however, occurred as I lived out my commitment to love my husband in front of the kids.

I did a message on the idea of submission based on 1 Peter 3. You can hear it by clicking HERE. The message title is: Relationships that Reflect Hope: In the Home.

In Jesus' Name

2010-06-04T23:34:00.001-04:00

Before I had a dog, I used to see pet owners out walking; dog and man strolling along at a companionable pace. I thought every dog was like that. Then we welcomed Sasha into our home.

On our walks, there is no easy, mutual enjoyment of the great outdoors. Sasha goes out the front door like a bullet, dragging me down the steps and driveway. No leisurely pace for this dog. She plows on ahead, leash strung tight, determined to get to where we are going. (Which is back home. I don't get it.) But every morning, I can be seen scurrying down the street behind the dog in an effort to keep from getting dragged off my feet.

I don't walk the dog. She walks me.

I hope you now have a visual picture of my less-than-genteel morning constitutionals. Because we all can tend to do the same thing-when we pray.

Jesus knew our tendency would be to pray just like Sasha likes to walk: charging forward with a laundry list of our own wants, showing little concern for the Master. So He qualified how the disciples should pray: "Ask anything in my name and I will give it to you." (John 16:23) What did He mean by this? Was He giving us a phrase to tack on to the end of a prayer like a stamp of approval? (In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.) Or did Jesus mean something more?

Some might invoke the name of Jesus in an effort to tap into the power that comes with the name. In Acts 19, there were men casting out demons using the name of Christ. "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches," they intoned, "I command you to come out."

One day, an evil spirit answered them. "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" he demanded, then proceeded to beat them to a pulp. Obviously, the name of Jesus is not an incantation used to summon some kind of magical power. So what is it?

To pray in the name of Christ is to acknowledge that our prayers are heard because of the sacrifice and redemptive work of Jesus. Approaching God was a problem because of our sin. Now that sin is covered, and we are told to boldly approach the throne of grace. Hebrews tells us Jesus "lives to intercede" on our behalf. When we pray in His name, we recognize without Him, our prayers would be ineffective.

But it is even more than that. To pray in the name of Christ is to pray in accord with His desires. To do or say something "in the name of" someone else is to assume their approval of that action. Peter used this very phrase in Acts 3 when he commanded a lame man: "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-walk!" Peter not only identified the power source for the miracle here. He also identified on whose behalf the miracle was being performed. Peter was acting as an ambassador for Christ.

Paul identifies himself as an ambassador in 2 Corinthians 5:20. "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." Paul's goal was to present the message of God to others. An ambassador is a representative of his commander. He is not there to expound on his own viewpoint or opinions. He is there to make the desires of His chief known.

When we pray in Jesus' name, we are praying as ambassadors for Christ. This means our requests need to fall in line with what Christ would have prayed. That's a tall order. How can we know what He would ask?

Richard Foster tells us how: "When we have immersed ourselves long enough in the way of Christ, we can smell gospel. So we ask and do as we know He would ask and do. How do we know what Jesus would ask and do, you may ask? Well, how does a couple who has been married many loving years know what each other thinks and wants and feels? We know, even as we are known. This is how we pray in Jesus' name."

The ability to effectively pray in the name of Jesus results from a relationship with Him. When He instructed His disciples in John 16, they had just spent three years traveling by His side as He healed the sick and fed the hungry. They heard His teachings and listened to Him go head to head with the Pharisees. They were in an excellent position to pray in Jesus' name, because they knew Him so very well.

What about us? Our ability to pray in Jesus' name is also dependent on the relationship. We need to make it our business to know Him better and better. And as we learn His ways and develop the mind of Christ, our prayers naturally will fall into line with what He would have us pray.

Don't be discouraged if you feel you don't have that kind of relationship with Him. He'll welcome you right now (and every time you come) just as you are. A deeper relationship happens one baby step at a time.

This article is the latest Dogwood Digest, a devotional newsletter. If you would like to receive this weekly email, use the link on the right of this page to subscribe. Thanks!

A Hardening of the Arteries

2010-05-30T15:31:00.000-04:00

When I was in fourth grade, much of our seatwork was done from the board. After noticing a gradual decline in my seatwork grades, my teacher became aware that I was squinting toward the blackboard. Concerned about my eyesight, she contacted my mom. We went to the eye doctor, who was astounded at how poor my eyesight had become. "I don't know how she can even walk around like this," he said. I was fitted for my first pair of glasses.

I'll never forget that day. When the optometrist placed the glasses on my face, I couldn't believe my eyes. Everything was so clear! All the way home I exclaimed what I could now see. Every brick on that building! Every leaf on that tree! My life had dramatically changed. I had no idea just how blind I had become.

When a change is gradual, like a slow descent into blindness, we are often not conscious that it is even happening. Hebrews 3:13 warns about this: "Encourage one another daily... so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Sin has a hardening effect. When a sin remains unconfessed and unconfronted, it dulls our spiritual senses. Hearing the voice of God grows increasingly difficult. Blindness has come, in part. The irony is we most often are not even aware of its increasingly detrimental effects.

After a year of thinking he had gotten away with grievous sin, David's well-kept secret was finally exposed. God sent the prophet Nathan to bring David's adultery, lies, and murder out into the open. At that confrontation, David suddenly became aware of his loss of spiritual sensitivity. In Psalm 51, he wrote, "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice... restore to me the joy of your salvation." The sin had come at a price: David grieved the lost joy of intimate communion with God.

When our hearts are hardened by the presence of sin, we lose far more than we realize. Our sense of God's presence in our lives is dulled. We completely miss the many ways He reveals Himself in our daily routine. Peace evaporates as we endeavor to live out life on our own. He is no longer our highest priority. We are living for ourselves, which is a sad and unfulfilling goal, since self is never satisfied. Bitterness eventually ensues. What started out to appease the flesh ends in torture.

The effectiveness of our prayer life is equally disrupted. Richard Foster writes on this in his book, Prayer: "Sin, by its very nature, separates us from God, rupturing the intimate fellowship and dulling our spiritual sensitivities. We become nearsighted and develop thickened eardrums, if you will. The result is an inability to discern the heart of God and an asking that is askew...Therefore, our prayers are hindered."

Like plaque that slowly and silently collects in the arteries, eventually creating a blockage that endangers the life of its host, sin is a foothold for Satan to use in the pursuit of his goal to destroy us. We nurse anger until it becomes bitterness. We justify selfish decisions to ourselves. We continue in our lack of integrity and rationalize it doesn't appear to hurt anyone. Sin and the father of lies himself have deceived us. And soon our hearts are hardened.

God will not allow us to drift off indefinitely. "God disciplines us for our good... it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:10-11) He loves us too much to allow our own self-destruction. So He gets our attention, most often by introducing hardship into our lives. As we begin to feel need, we seek Him out once again. And in the light of His presence, our sin is exposed for what it is.

Yet we do not need to wait for the discipline and its painful effects. We can confront the problem right now. Ask God to reveal the sin that has hardened your heart towards Him. It has already been paid for and forgiven through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. But it is hurting you, robbing you of well-being. As you come face to face with the sin, be honest with yourself and with God. Acknowledge it for what it is. Let Him know you understand you cannot overcome the problem without Him.

Jesus told His disciples, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10) Don't allow sin to replace the abundant life He has given you with spiritual insensitivity. Live your life in the light, as it is meant to be lived.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24

An Impressive Ending to a Shaky Beginning

2010-05-18T14:43:00.000-04:00

David and Svea Flood, Swedish missionaries, left their homeland in 1921 for the primitive jungles of interior Africa. While staying at the main mission station in the Belgian Congo, they joined forces with another young Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons. Both couples felt led by the Lord to take the gospel to the remote village of N'dolera.

The devoted missionaries were not welcome to live among the people in the village, because of the chief's fear of displeasing the gods. So the determined missionaries built their mud huts a half-mile up the mountainside from the town. As the months went by, the only contact they were allowed with the villagers was with a young boy who sold the missionaries eggs and chickens twice a week. Svea Flood shared the gospel with the boy. Eventually, he came to Christ. He would be the only convert in the entire time the missionaries lived in the jungle.

Life was difficult in such primitive conditions. Malaria took its toll on each of the missionaries. Discouraged and sick, the Ericksons decided to abandon the post and returned to the mission station. David and his wife Svea remained in the jungle alone. Soon Svea found herself to be pregnant. After a difficult labor, severely weakened from several bouts of malaria, Svea gave birth to a little girl. But the ordeal was too much for the sickly mother. She died seventeen days later.

Desolate and overcome with grief, David dug a crude grave for his young wife, took up his children, and abandoned his post. He arrived at the mission station, giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons before leaving the continent for Sweden. His days in missionary service were over. Just eight months later, both the Ericksons took sick and died. The Flood baby, named Aggie, was given to American missionaries there at the mission station.

When Aggie was three, her adoptive parents brought her home to America. They took on a pastoral position in South Dakota. Aggie grew up there, married, and had children of her own. Her husband became the president of a Christian college in Seattle, Washington.

One day a Swedish Christian magazine arrived in Aggie's mailbox. She did not understand the language, but flipped through the pages of pictures. Suddenly one photo jumped out from the page. It was a picture of a primitive grave site, with a white cross engraved with the name Svea Flood. Aggie raced to her car clutching the magazine and drove across town to a professor she knew could translate the article for her.

The article told the story of two young missionary couples who ventured into the jungle to set up camp outside the village of N'dolera. A baby girl was born, and the young missionary mother died, but not before a young boy had been led to Christ. After the missionaries departed, eventually the grown boy persuaded the chief to allow him to set up a school in the village. One by one, he led each of his students to Christ. They, in turn, shared the gospel with their parents. Even the chief eventually came to know the Lord. As a result of that single convert's witness, over six hundred villagers were now believers. God had been faithful to use what the missionaries had mistakenly thought was a futile effort and wasted sacrifice.

Years later, Aggie attended a conference in England. She heard a man from Zaire tell about the spread of the gospel in his nation. Over 110,000 converts now lived in what was formerly the Belgian Congo. As his message ended, Aggie made her way to the front of the auditorium. With the help of a translator, she asked the man if he had ever heard of her parents, David and Svea Flood. "Yes madam," he replied. "It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother's grave and her memory are honored by all of us."

While all missionary stories do not have this kind of spectacular ending, we can appreciate what this one serves to remind us. Very often, our well-intended efforts end in less than impressive results. We fail to say the right words at the right time. In our fear of blowing it, we hesitate to even try.

Rather than aiming at perfection, we just need to get in there and try. We can do so without fear, because God is not limited by our failure to do things just right. In our weakness, God does His best work. His power alone can work the greatest of stories. And he chooses to do so through our fledgling, awkward attempts at representing Him. Our God is mighty to save.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...so that no one may boast before Him...Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:27-31

Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving; not by many or by few. 1 Samuel 14:6

A Coleman Wedding: Joe and Liz

2010-04-26T22:10:00.013-04:00

The Pit of Perfectionism

2010-04-20T20:28:00.002-04:00

I am a closet perfectionist. Those who have been to my home or my former classroom might raise their eyebrows at this statement. They have observed my constant battle with clutter. Dust tends to gather when I am not paying attention. Details elude me. But while I might never pass a white glove test, I am a perfectionist in many other ways.

When I sew on a quilt or scrapbook a page, I want it done exactly right. I agonize over my writing, trying to make each word meaningful and well-said. As I prepare for a speaking opportunity, I struggle for weeks over the content. Nothing outside of perfection will do.

Excellence is the battle cry for many Christians. While this desire is well-intended, we must be cautious. Because trying to live out "perfection" can lead to a performance mentality: making our accomplishments the focus in our relationship with God.

Saul was all about performance. When Samuel confronted him on his disobedience to a specific command from the Lord, at first he denied any wrong doing. Then he tried blaming it on the men in his command and justified his actions with a spiritual motive. Finally, Saul admitted he had sinned. But the next words out of his mouth belied the true attitude of his heart: "I have sinned... because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord." (1 Samuel 15)

Samuel responded to Saul's disingenuous confession with a stinging retort: "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel." God saw through the performance right to his hard heart.

We are tempted to think God's opinion of us rests on what we do or do not do. This is probably because many of our earthly relationships are performance-based. Others judge who we are by things like how well we perform our job, the behavior of our children, or how involved we are in ministry. And our perception of what they think of us determines how we feel about ourselves and how we relate to them. Unfortunately, we try the same tactics with God.

It's not what God wants from us.

"You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it," David wrote after confessing his sin. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17)

God never has nor ever will base our relationship with Him on our performance. The relationship began when we first trusted in the grace of God for our salvation-a gift we could never deserve or earn. Yet, ironically, as we continue in that relationship, we tend to sink back into relying on our accomplishments. What we are doing for Him quickly becomes the focus. This can be a dangerous place to be. It can become all about us and puts the burden for winning God's approval back on our shoulders. No longer is the relationship about God's grace and mercy.

What He wants from us is not our performance. A performance merely hints that we are self-sufficient and deserving of His love. Instead, He wants us to acknowledge our weaknesses and confess our sin. He wants us to approach Him in brokenness. He never loved us because of what we have accomplished. He loved us and continues to love us because of who He is.

When we quit trying to impress God and embrace our helplessness, we are drawn back to the original relationship with Him. We are needy. He is sufficient. That's when the miraculous starts to happen: his power is displayed through our very deficiencies. We are ultimately more usable to Him. We have climbed out of the pit of performance mode. And the air at the top is clean and sweet.

God created out of nothing. Therefore, until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him.
- Martin Luther

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The Skirmishes Go On

2010-04-09T08:39:00.001-04:00

"O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55, 57

Once only inhabited by a small Japanese civilian community of sulfur miners and sugar farmers, the island of Iwo Jima became a stronghold of pivotal importance in World War II. As the war progressed, Japan evacuated its citizens from the island and prepared for the inevitable Allied forces invasion. A huge number of bunkers, hidden artillery, and an amazing eleven miles of tunnels were in place by 1944. Twenty-one thousand soldiers were at the ready when Allied forces began firing on Iwo Jima.

On the fourth day of the battle, the first objective was captured: Mount Suribachi. Five marines and a Navy corpsman were photographed raising the American flag at its summit. That moment is now immortalized in the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington, VA.

Once the high ground was secure, the invasion slowly moved northward. Very heavy fighting continued as Allied forces eventually took the airfields and remainder of the island. The Japanese fighters considered surrender dishonorable and most tenaciously fought to the death. A month into the invasion, 300 Japanese soldiers launched a last-ditch effort counterattack. The casualties were heavy on both sides, but the next day, the island was officially declared secured by the Allies.

Even so, over 3,000 Japanese troops remained in the island's maze of caves and tunnels. More American lives were lost as they worked their way through the tunnel system routing those Japanese that refused to surrender. The battle may have been won, but the enemy continued to fight, determined to take as many with them in their demise as possible.

On Easter Sunday we celebrated the greatest victory the world has ever witnessed. The Son of God, after three days in the grave, rose from the dead. No longer are we under condemnation for our sin. It was dealt with, paid for, and cast from us as far as the east is from the west. The victory is already ours because Christ has already won. "When you were dead in your transgressions," Paul wrote, "He made you alive together with Him . . . having canceled out the certificate of debt . . . having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-15) Sin no longer holds us slave in its power.

The enemy has also been soundly defeated. Satan's future final demise is already recorded in the Bible, when he is cast into the lake of fire to suffer torment for eternity (Revelation 20:10). The war is over.

Yet while victory has been recorded with indelible ink, the skirmishes still go on. While we were given new life at our salvation, we still struggle against our old sinful nature which relentlessly demands satisfaction, and we fight the enemy ever-tempting us to sin. As Paul wrote the Galatians, "For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (Galatians 5:17) The war may be over, but the fighting continues on.

These skirmishes are a part of the life God expects us to live. In fact, He carefully equips His soldiers to fight the good fight. Satan may have lost the war, but he is deadly serious about taking as many down with him as possible before the last nail is driven into his coffin. So we have been issued a belt of truth (a great thing when you are up against the Father of Lies!), a breastplate of righteousness, and shoes bearing the gospel message in which to stand firm. Our shield is one of faith, which can deflect every fiery dart of doubt and accusation the enemy can launch at us. Our head is protected by the helmet of our salvation. And last but not least, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, contains all the knowledge we need to win each skirmish, which mostly, after all, takes place in the mind.

We may even lose some of these skirmishes, especially when we attempt to fight in our own strength. But it is important to remember in those moments of depressing defeat: the war's victor has already been determined. The Good Guy won. Our hope is not in the circumstances of this world. It is in the future God has prepared for us, "an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you." (1 Peter 1:4) Nothing that happens to us on earth will impact the surety of our salvation. The battle belongs to the Lord.

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I Shall Not Want

2010-03-25T23:21:00.002-04:00

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...The words of David's 23rd Psalm eloquently describe the true contentment that can be had while basking in the Shepherd's care. Some believe this psalm to be a promise that the child of God will never experience a lack or unfulfilled need. Is this what David meant to express?

A quick perusal of most biblical characters reveals this to be a questionable interpretation. Many of those close to God's heart experienced times of want, suffering, or even lost their lives in their efforts to live for Him. Surely, if people like David, a man after God's own heart, or the prophets, chosen by God to communicate His message to the people, and even the Lord Himself, all lived lives involving suffering, we cannot expect to be shielded from the same.

Nineteenth century missionary Allen Gardiner is an example of one who dedicated his life to Christ and yet suffered. Gardiner, a former naval officer and devout Christian, felt God calling him to go to the Yagan Indians, a previously unreached people group in southern Argentina. He and six others made an arduous journey by boat to Yagan territory.

Their first contact was less than encouraging. The Yagans attacked the missionaries for their supplies. As the men could not resort to combat to protect their provisions (they were, after all, on an evangelistic mission), the group re-loaded their small boats and retreated to desolate Tierra Del Fuego, where they were forced to shelter for the winter.

Winters in Tierra Del Fuego's sub-polar climate are harsh, and the men's provisions proved gravely inadequate. One by one, every man in Gardiner's group died of sickness, starvation, and cold. They never got the chance to share the gospel with even a single Yagan Indian.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want... Obviously dying of starvation would not qualify as having every physical need met. What then did David mean? An answer can be seen in the journal entry of one of Gardiner's party.

Dr. Richard Williams, the physician of the team, wrote of his last days as he awaited death: "Let all my beloved ones at home rest assured that I was happy beyond all expression . . . and would not have changed situations with any man living . . . that heaven, and love, and Christ...were in my heart."

What could induce such a sense of peace and contentment amid such suffering? Williams understood he was in the arms of the Good Shepherd, a master who loves his flock: "He tends his flocks like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart" (Is 40:11). Williams' focus was trained on the provider, not the provisions.

Certainly provision for our physical needs comes from God alone. "Every good and perfect gift is from above," James wrote. Our Shepherd knows our needs. But He wants us to let Him worry about them. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well," Jesus instructed His disciples. Our gaze needs to be trained not on the things we need, but on the Shepherd.

Paul considered "every thing a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things." (Philippians 3:8) Later in his letter to the Philippians, Paul told them "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

When we focus our gaze on the Lord and not the need, He supplies what we need to be content in any circumstance. Isaiah wrote, "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31) Did you catch the caveat? Our hope must be in the Lord. Only then will we find strength to endure whatever challenging circumstances are before us.

While our physical and material circumstances may fluctuate, we can rest our confidence in the goodness and perfect character of our Shepherd. Even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can do so without fear, because we know our Shepherd carries us close to His heart. Our hope is in the Lord. When we bask in His care as David did, we understand that while our physical needs may not always be met to our satisfaction, we can be satisfied. The secret is in where we choose to focus.

I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:10-11

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The Dead Line

2010-02-18T09:43:00.002-05:00

One of the worst places to spend the Civil War was a little known prison camp on the south side of Chicago: Camp Douglas. As many as 18,000 Confederate men endured the brutal conditions there over the course of the war. One in five did not survive. The cruel treatment by the guards, combined with grossly inadequate food rations and a lack of the most basic of sanitary needs, were inhumane at best. The harsh Chicago winters were the hardest on the soldiers, who lived in overcrowded tents with no blankets.

Camp Douglas was located close to civilian residences, so the possibility of escaping prisoners was a concern for those in charge of the camp. Strict enforcement of boundaries was established. The border around the camp became known as the Dead Line. Any prisoner caught stepping even one foot over the line was shot dead immediately. One thin line stood between living and dying.

Since its first usage back in the Civil War, the term deadline has been adopted to other situations to describe a firm boundary. The newspaper business coined the phrase to mean a strict time limit on writers, necessitated by the urgency of each edition's distribution requirements. Editors set deadlines to let the writers know: finish the story on time, or it is dead. Now in our time-conscious 21st century, there are many kinds of deadlines.

There is a Dead Line described in Scripture as well in Numbers 16. The descendants of Israel were grumbling and complaining about the terrible judgment they had witnessed the day before. They blamed Moses and Aaron for the deaths of their peers. In response to their sin, God sent judgment upon the camp. A plague began to spread quickly among the people.

Moses urged Aaron, the high priest, "Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them." Aaron rushed to do his brother's bidding. He grabbed the incense and, ignoring the possibility that he, too, might succumb to the powerful plague, ran right into the midst of the people. The plague came to a stop where Aaron stood. Those on the other side of Aaron were not affected.

Scripture tells us, "He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked."

This Old Testament incident is a beautiful picture foreshadowing what Jesus would someday do for us. Despite the horrendous cost, He willingly went to the cross and endured God's judgment for the sins of the world. He now stands between the living and the dead, for "whoever believes in Him will have eternal life." (John 3:15)

Colossians 1:17 tells us that "He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." Darkness to light. Condemned to forgiven. Slave to free man. Death to life. His sacrifice is all that stands between certain judgment and eternal life.

Once having crossed the Dead Line over to freedom, it is unimaginable one might willingly choose to regress back again. Can you imagine a prisoner released from Camp Douglas wishing to return? Yet this is what we do when we sin. We exchange our freedom from sin's bondage and willingly put ourselves under its influence once again. We step out of the light back into the darkness.

Choosing sin is a destructive, self-defeating act. Worse, it makes a mockery of all Christ accomplished on our behalf. We work to resist sin not because we are afraid of God's wrath. That was taken care of at the cross. We resist sin because we have been carried over the Dead Line. Our lives need to reflect where we now live: in the light.

"For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord." Ephesians 5:8-10

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Monday Morning Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-02-15T10:15:00.002-05:00

Outside my window...piles and piles of snow. I could be living in CT-- except they don't have as much snow as we do!!

I am thinking...it is time to get back out into the world after two months of hibernation. Between my knee injury and the snow, it's been easier to stay indoors and hide. But Joe's wedding is on the horizon (April 24) and I was going to be MUCH skinnier by the time it arrived. It's now or never. Tomorrow I will brave the leftover ice (yes, our street is STILL snow covered) and start taking Sasha out for her morning walks once again.

I am thankful for... my family. My sister and two nieces are here on a four day visit. They came for Ruth's baby shower. Margie's little granddaughter Ryli is here as well. She and Stephen are having fun getting acquainted and sharing toys. The house is upside down with gates and Cheerios everywhere you look. Wonderful bedlam.

I am remembering...I have a speaking engagement coming up as well as seven short devotionals due to The Secret Place magazine. And two weeks to get it together. Sigh.

I am going... to make a cherry pie today in honor of Presidents' Day. Adam and Ruth are coming to dinner, so we will have 10 at our table tonight!!

I am currently reading...Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sin We Tollerate by Jerry Bridges. An outstanding read.

Pondering these words... "But we all... are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

I keep thinking of a post written by Tim Webster a few days before his precious wife went to be with the Lord: "We want things now. Father, micowave us into being like Jesus. But discipleship doesn't happen overnight and often God forges His children into His image through the long and dark nights of the soul. We must trust His plan and also His timing! When the time is right, He will bring us out of our trial and we will look more like Him when He does.”

Helicopter Parenting

2010-01-02T00:47:00.001-05:00

He had been a behavior problem since the beginning of the school year. Finally, after a particularly egregious act, his teacher gave a punishment meant to get his attention: one full week without recess. She wrote a note to the parents explaining their son's infraction and consequences, hoping for cooperation and support from the home front. She was to be disappointed. At lunch time the next day, the mother appeared at the classroom door. She took her son out for lunch and did not return him to school until recess was long over.

The little boy got the message loud and clear: no matter what he did, he could count on his parents to shield him from the consequences.

Believe it or not, this is a true story. This type of occurrence didn't happen frequently, but in my 20 year teaching career, I saw my share of overprotective parents. They were the ones who turned a deaf ear to anyone who dared to voice concerns about their child. At the first sign of trouble, they would rush to the child's aid, even going so far as to interfere with consequences the child faced. A term has been coined to identify this "hovering" behavior-Helicopter Parents.

They start out with the best of intentions. They want to protect their children from the pain they perhaps remember experiencing in their own youth. Their hope is to provide every opportunity for their child to experience only happiness and success.

Great intentions, but not especially wise. Pain and disappointment are tools God uses to mature us. Without them, we will be immature and incomplete (James 1:4).

Another portion of Scripture discourages the idea of helicopter parenting as well: Galatians 6. "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ... for each one will bear his own load." The two Greek words, frequently translated as burden and load, sound similar in English. However, the original Greek words actually hold two separate connotations. A burden is almost always used in a negative sense, for something particularly oppressive and overwhelming. It is too much for one person to bear, which is why Paul encourages a sharing of the load. In this particular context, a brother has sinned and is looking to be restored. Falling back into that sin can be avoided through the active support of the Christian community. They are not helping him avoid consequences. They are helping him to avoid a repeat performance.

On the other hand, a load is most often used to describe a burden due to a duty or obligation. Christ assured his followers: "My yoke is easy and my load is light." Most responsibilities are meant to be borne by the individual. There was a real sense of individual responsibility in the New Testament church. Paul wrote the Ephesians that each one "must labor, performing with their hands what is good" (Ephesians 4:28).

There are oppressive burdens we need the support of others to overcome. But this does not release us from individual ongoing responsibility in responding correctly to our circumstances. If we release people from accountability, we create an opportunity for them to illegitimately view themselves as victims when negative consequences for their actions occur. This is unhealthy and can lead one down an ultimately destructive path.

The same is true in raising children. Yes, you are your child's advocate and protector. But be careful how quickly you come to their rescue. Stop and pray for wisdom before leaping to their defense. Allowing them to circumvent consequences may well be robbing them of an important life lesson. As C.S. Lewis once stated, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." Pain is an effective tool in God's capable hands. He uses it to teach us responsibility, perseverance, and to give us a healthy, realistic self-image. Most importantly, when we are in pain, we look to God, bringing our relationship with Him to ever-deepening, more intimate levels.

Pain isn't always bad. Sometimes it is just hard. And the truth is, hard is often quite good for us.

"God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:10-11

Quick Update

2009-12-29T17:13:00.000-05:00

Very good news, everyone… apparently my injuries are not as severe as the doctor first thought. I will NOT have to have surgery after all!!! While the knee is not in great shape with severe arthritis and several ligament tears, the damage can be managed with therapy. The doctor switched me to a flexible knee brace and I begin therapy next week. What a wonderful relief. The Lord did some major healing during the past week. I can barely believe the difference.

Thanks to the many of you who prayed for me. Hopefully in 6 weeks' time, I will be back to normal.

Snow Fall (literally: A Fall in the Snow)

2009-12-27T00:22:00.004-05:00

It was a snow for the record books. Measurable snow is rare enough in Maryland, but especially so in December. My daughter measured 23" as the last flakes fell. We were all thrilled and eagerly looked forward to a rare white Christmas.

The morning after the storm, I rose early to walk the dog. She had missed her walk the day before, because the roads were impassible. Now in the early morning light, Sasha and I managed to get down to the end of the driveway due to a heroic shoveling effort on Steve's part. Several cars had already navigated the road and there was a trail of packed snow to walk on. Sasha and I picked our way carefully down the street.

It was not an easy walk, but the dog seemed very relieved to be out and about. My gaze barely left the ground at the beginning. I soon became more confident as we got further and further from home. The air crackled with cold and smelled of snow. Everything in sight wore a covering of white. It was a beautiful morning.

As we neared the end of the park, suddenly my front foot began to slide. I struggled to remain upright to no avail. Down I went, in a less than ladylike manner, one leg straight out front, the other bent beneath me. As I slid toward the ground, I heard a *pop*pop*pop*pop* coming from my bent knee. I knew I had done some serious damage if the roaring pain was any indication. There I lay in the middle of the snowy road, immobilized. The dog, being the sensitive soul that she is (ha!) ran in circles around me, urging me to get up so that we could continue our walk.

This was not the first time I had injured my knee. After a series of injuries in my high school and college days, I had corrective surgery in 1983 to tighten ligaments and repair the damage to my kneecap. The therapy was excruciatingly difficult, especially working to get the bend back after being straight-legged in a cast for six weeks. Then we learned I was expecting Daniel. As the weeks wore on and Daniel's impending arrival became more and more evident, I ended up giving up on therapy a bit earlier than advisable. I never did get full bend back in the knee, although I was walking normally once more.

So the same knee bent under me in the fall had not actually been fully bent since 1983. Now as I lay in the snow, I was unsure that I could walk. Yet the prospect of continuing to lay in the freezing cold on the deserted road held little allure. It took some effort, but I managed to get myself into a standing position. Gingerly, I shifted my weight onto the bad leg. It held. I began the long hobble home.

After a laborious trip including two other-doggie sightings (at which Sasha demonstrated her usual frenzied reaction), we rounded the corner and sighted our house. Home never looked so good. Steve was still shoveling, so I called to him for assistance. He rushed to help me up the hill and into the house.

I made it to the couch and did not move for the rest of the day.

By Monday night, my lack of progress and continuing pain convinced me to see a doctor. He had me try to lift my leg. I could not make it move at all. It appears the tendon which attaches the quadriceps muscle to the kneecap is ruptured. He sent me for an MRI, and we have a second appointment on Tuesday to discuss surgery options. It is looking to be a long January.

So we had an unusual Christmas this year. I sat in the recliner, barking out orders in queenly fashion. My boys manned the kitchen and provided an excellent breakfast brunch for all of us. The whole family gathered around the tree and exchanged laughter, fun, and wonderful gifts.

I am learning how to accept being served. Harder than it sounds for this mom! My best friend Beth came over on Christmas Eve to vacuum and dust while the rest of the household was at church. Steve has faithfully made meal after meal and has served me without complaint. Each of my kids has run little errands for me, becoming my feet, traveling up and down the stairs and even out to the grocery store. I am eternally grateful for the sacrificial love they have all shown me over the past week. Even though I get frustrated with my lack of ability to do ANYTHING, my cup runneth over.

If you have made it this far on this lengthy and overly detailed account, thank you for your patience!! I'll update this blog when I meet with the doctor on Tuesday.

Faithful in the Least Things

2009-11-27T23:50:00.005-05:00

D.L. Moody once said, "There are many of us willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things." We tend to evaluate responsibilities in terms of importance and prioritize accordingly. But the reality is we will spend most of our lives doing what we probably would deem "unimportant."

These tasks may seem unimportant to us, yet I wonder if that is how God views them. Certainly Scripture does not put importance on one kind of service over another. For example, when Paul wrote about the spiritual gifts, he is careful to point out that no gift is more important than another. Every member of the body of Christ is essential. Jesus taught that in the kingdom, the last will be first, and the first, last. These two concepts apply to acts of service as well.

Colossians 3:17 urges us to consider every action as something to be done in service for God. "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus..." From scrubbing a toilet to teaching a Bible study, God invites us to serve Him with our efforts.

It is not easy to keep a servant's heart in the day to day routine. Yet our faithfulness in the mundane is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate obedience. Our determination to live each moment as an opportunity to serve God will be a light to those living in the darkness.

Arthur Stace, from Sydney, Australia, was that kind of faithful. After living a corrupt life in the streets as a drunk and a criminal, in 1930 he gave his life to Jesus Christ at a church mission. Two years later, he heard a sermon that captured his imagination and passion with a single word: Eternity.

The Lord put it on Arthur's heart to write "Eternity" all over the city of Sydney. Each morning, he would be up before dawn, wandering though the streets. Every 100 yards or so, he would stoop down and write "eternity" in copperplate script with a crayon. Year after year, Arthur was faithful to spread his simple message. He wrote it an estimated half-million times! Thirty-three years after his death, that word remained an inspiration to Australians.

On December 31, 1999, the eyes of the world were on Sydney via satellite television as the first major city entered the new millennium. As the countdown ended, fireworks erupted over the harbor. There on the bridge, the word "Eternity" was lit up in copperplate script for the world to see! One little man had a huge impact by remaining faithful at the simple task God had given him to do.

Our dedication to God will be revealed in how we deal with the small things we are called to do. J. Gregory Mantle, a preacher in the 1800's, once wrote: "It is far harder to live for Christ moment by moment than it is to die once for Him; and if we wait for great occasions in which to display our fidelity, we shall find that our life has slipped away, and with it the opportunities that each hour has brought of proving our love to the Lord, by being faithful in that which is least."

We live around people who are living in darkness. God has called us to be light. Doing the "unimportant" things with a happy heart and a servant's attitude will speak volumes to those who are watching. "You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world . . . Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5: 13-16

Go Ahead and Pray for Patience

2009-11-03T20:12:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard or even said yourself: "Don't pray for patience. God might give it to you." In all honesty, I sometimes qualify my prayers. I don't want God to disrupt my life with pain or trouble. So I carefully pray not only for a blessing, but how specifically I want it accomplished. Essentially, I struggle to trust God to do the best thing for me. I am underestimating the goodness of God.

Jesus knew this was a human tendency. So after telling his disciples to ask, seek, and knock in their prayers, he reminded them of God's goodness and desire to give good to His children. "What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish; he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him?" (Matthew 7:9-11) God delights in doing good things for His children, because He is good.

A friend of mine committed herself into a mental health facility very recently. She was struggling with suicidal thoughts and feared herself capable of doing bodily harm. Her doctor urged her to put herself into a safe environment. It has been over a year since she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. This is a woman with a true heart for God. Even now, while presently in excruciating emotional distress, she has determinedly placed herself into God's capable hands, waiting for Him to use her illness for His glory. No medications as yet have stemmed the wild up and down emotional roller coaster she is on. She continues to wait.

It is so hard to watch someone you love suffer. In my prayers for her, I instruct God on how He should act. It is time for the suffering to end, I inform Him. She's been through enough. Once again, I am doubting the goodness of God.

A God who is good will only do good for us. But it is challenging to believe in that goodness in light of the suffering and terrible things that happen to those that love the Lord. How can these things be good?

Maybe we need to rethink our definition of good.

A psalm writer named Asaph found it necessary to do just that. At the beginning of Psalm 73, Asaph perceives good as health, wealth, and security. Therefore his faith in the goodness of God falters as he sees the wicked flourish while godly people struggle. Then, in the middle of the psalm, Asaph has a eureka moment. His conflict abruptly comes to an end when he enters God's presence. "Then I perceived their end," he confesses.

Until the middle of the psalm, Asaph thought of goodness in very external terms, as many of us do. But as he comes face to face with God, he understands he has missed the truth. God's goodness must be viewed within the reality of eternity.

God is all about His relationship with us. His desire is to draw us into a close, intimate bond. One way He does this is through trials and various struggles, because prosperity breeds independence. The success of the wicked had actually hardened their hearts toward God. They had become proud and arrogant. This independence would cost them a great deal, especially in light of eternity.

In the end, Asaph finally concludes the struggle has brought him good. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever... the nearness of God is my good." Asaph has redefined good at the end of his psalm. It no longer means health and wealth. He now understands that intimacy with God is the greatest good, and it is this God has in mind for His people.

To understand the goodness of God, we must look beyond ourselves and view reality as our eternal God does. Elisabeth Elliot put it this way: "He makes us wait. He keeps us on purpose in the dark. He makes us walk when we want to run, sit still when we want to walk, for He has things to do in our souls that we are not interested in." Whether we know it or not, the best thing (the greatest good) is to be in a close relationship with Him. God sometimes chooses to accomplish this through the struggle.

A Perplexing Book

2009-10-13T11:48:00.001-04:00

My latest project involves a study of the conversations between Jesus and women. Many of these conversations at first glance seem odd at best. Why would Jesus compare a desperate mother begging his help to a dog under the table? Why did he force the woman with the issue of bleeding to admit her illness before a large crowd—an illness that made her unclean to the rest of society? Why did he act in such seemingly insensitive ways toward these and others?

In my research I have been blown away by what I have found. To examine the culture and historical background of the first century as well as scriptural context brings a whole new light on what at first perplexes the reader. I am excited about what I have discovered. But it took a lot of work and a whole lot of thinking!

My seminary professor, Ken Quick, likens the gems we can find when we dig deep into scripture to the best cookies, located in the kitchen pantry. “Reading through scripture at a cursory level gives a certain level of knowledge and understanding,” he said. “This reward is like Lorna Doone shortbread cookies, available on the shelf at eye level and easiest to find. But if you want the chocolate macadamia nut cookies, the really good stuff, it’s not an easy reach. You must grapple with scripture to glean the deepest truths. The best cookies are located on the highest shelf. But the richness of your reward is worth the struggle.”

The Bible is not an easy book. I’ve often wondered why God sent it to us as he did. Why are those verses about restricting women in church there? Do they still apply to today? What about divorce? Is adultery the only clause that frees a person to leave a marriage? Theological controversies have rocked the church over the centuries as scholars have attempted to interpret the Bible correctly. For example, there are verses that imply free will and a choice in salvation while others describe predestination and election. How can both be true?

Why is the Bible so hard to understand?

We wonder why God did not make the Bible a simple list of do’s and don’ts, as well as list a systematic theology that would leave no room for questions or controversy. However, a look at Hebrews 5:14 sheds light on why the Bible is not so easy to interpret. “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” The mature man, by this author’s description, is a thinking man, who has gone beyond simplistic black and white answers to thoughtful and wise discernment.

Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell. A baby learns that if he reaches for the hot stove, he will get his hand slapped. So he keeps his hands to himself. While these behaviors are appropriate responses to the environment, they are not signs of a mature mind. Until a person can learn to discern or think, he will not be able to make choices in life that will allow for his survival. We need the ability to think, discern, and apply the truth we know to any situation.

The same is true in our spiritual walk. It is God’s desire for us to move beyond simple black and white pat answers to wise discernment. So he gave us the Bible, sometimes complicated and challenging-- by design. Elisabeth Elliot observes, “He did not spare us. He wants us to reach maturity. He has so arranged things that if we are to go on beyond the “milk diet” we shall be forced to think.”

His goal is to ultimately shape us into the likeness of his Son, who is the flesh and blood expression of God. He desires his children to bear a family resemblance. Our struggle with the Word of God is a means toward that end. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” Paul wrote the Romans. “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The Simple Woman's Daybook, October 5, 2009

2009-10-05T00:36:00.008-04:00

Outside my window...the cool of autumn has arrived. I love autumn. So much, in fact, that we decided to go with autumn colors for our new living and dining room!

I am thankful for...home. I have been away all this week with the exception of one day. First I traveled up to Camp Berea in NH to spend a few days with my very dear friend, Nancy. One of those people who can finish my sentences. It was a sweet time of fellowship, staying at my new friend Barb's lakeside cabin. Once I got home, I had about 24 hours to prepare for a retreat with my home church, for which I was speaking. After another wonderful weekend, we finally arrived home Sunday afternoon. I'm so happy to be sleeping in my own bed again.

I am thinking...God is so faithful. I loved my time of sharing with my church sisters on the seasons of our relationship with God. We had such great discussion and open and honest sharing. God met us where we were, as He always does.

From the kitchen...today I will grocery shop for the first time in weeks. Mel and I are starting Weight Watchers again, so we need to load up on vegetables and fruit. 20 lbs. by Christmas??

I am creating...or recreating a whole new chapter in my book this week. I was stumped on how to progress and my former professor Jon Master gave me the direction I needed. The chapter is actually written, but I am redoing it this week according to his advice. I can hardly wait to get going. Between the redecorating and travel, I've barely written at all this month.

I am going...to stay home this week and WRITE.

I am reading...The Liberty in Obedience by Elisabeth Elliot.

I am hoping...to begin to hear from some publishers that are reviewing my two manuscripts soon.

Around the house...we have a leak in our plumbing under the kitchen sink. Steve can't find it. The contents of that cabinet are now spread out all over the kitchen floor. Augghhh!!

One of my favorite things...seeing the leaves change. I miss New England colors, but enjoy the fall here in Maryland to be sure.

A few plans for the rest of the week: write, write, write!! I am also getting ready to teach a new Bible study for women from my church on Monday nights. I'm excited about that, especially in light of the fellowship we enjoyed together over this past weekend!! I also plan to go back to Curves after a month-long absence. Time to start working on those pounds I gained while sitting and studying in seminary!

Hope your Monday is awesome!

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An Ineffective Conduit

2009-08-26T09:55:00.001-04:00

For the ten years we have lived in our house, the smallest upstairs bedroom has been without heat or air conditioning. We could hear the rush of air in the vent when the blower turned on but could feel no air moving. Several years ago, after many complaints from my daughter who occupies the room, my husband lowered a flashlight and mirror down into the vent to search for whatever blocked the air flow. The light revealed a clear passageway. We were stumped.

This week, because our living room is already torn apart due to renovations, we decided now was the time to tackle the vent issue for once and for all. Steve made a small hole in the living room ceiling directly under the vent to Melanie's room. He was searching for the point where the vent connected to the main trunk line. He cleverly inserted a weighted string down into the vent and lowered it until it hit bottom. Judging from the amount of string which had disappeared, we now knew the vent's connection to the trunk line was below the living room wall, down in the basement. Steve went down to eventually discover cold air pouring out of a hole in the trunk line. Evidently, Melanie's vent had some time ago gotten disconnected and now hung uselessly above the opening. The vent no longer served as a conduit because the connection to the trunk line no longer existed.

Being a conduit means carrying something from one point to another. Electrical wire delivers electricity from an outlet to a lamp. However, if the connection is broken, the wire can no longer carry electrons to their destination. Only when there is a complete circuit can the wire serve as an effective channel.

God intended the nation of Israel to be a conduit of His blessing and a light to the nations. In Deuteronomy 4, Moses urges the people to hold fast to the Lord, carefully keeping His statutes and judgments. "For that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?"

As Deuteronomy unfolds, God indicates Israel will fail at their calling. A successful military campaign and resulting prosperity would soon make them feel self-sufficient. "Then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt." (Deut. 8:14) But there are preventative actions that could alleviate the problem: "Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul... So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer." (Deut. 10:12, 16)

In order to be an effective channel, Israel needed to hold fast to the Lord. They needed to love Him with all of their heart. Their service and obedience must be a natural outflow from a carefully nurtured and loving relationship between them and God. Unfortunately, they did not heed the warning.

Many years later, Paul wrote the Romans about the failure of Israel to be a vehicle to make God known to the nations. "They did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works." They operated under their own strength, trying to obey the law while neglecting the relationship with the Law-giver. It was an effort doomed to failure.

The present kingdom that Christ built is comprised of individuals who have determined to follow Him. "You are the light of the world," Jesus charged His followers. Much like the ancient Israelites, we too have been called to carry a message. Our lives, words, and actions should convey the good news of the gospel to the 21st century.

Along with the common responsibility of being God's conduit to the lost, we also face the same danger ancient Israel faced. "Apart from me you can do nothing," Jesus warned his disciples. When we move away from our source of grace and love, our actions become self-serving, intolerant, and self-righteous. Like a vent that carries the sound of air conditioning yet fails to actually bring the cooling air to its destination, we expose the letter of the Law without revealing God's grace and love. We are ineffective conduits when our own connection is non-existent.

My handy husband was able to fix our little vent issue in about an hour. My daughter Melanie happily reports that her room is now wonderfully cool and comfortable. A conduit works infinitely better when it is connected to the source! Only when our lives reflect a living, vibrant relationship with God can we be effective in conveying His love to others.

One Powerful God

2009-08-02T00:14:00.001-04:00

Some of you may be old enough to remember the very first Indiana Jones movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark. One of my favorite scenes is when, in a street market place, Indiana is confronted by a murderous Arab wielding a saber. At first it looks bad for our hero, who stands seemingly bewildered at the threatening way the enemy slices the air with his sword. Then suddenly, in a surprise move, Indiana simply pulls a gun from the waistband of his pants and shoots the Arab dead. Confrontation over.

The whole scene reminds me a little of the power of God as displayed in Revelation 19. At the end of time, rulers from all over the earth join forces under the unifying power of the antichrist and assemble on the battlefield of Armageddon. Numbering in the millions, they have come prepared to conquer the remaining opposition, men and equipment at the ready. Things look grim for the good guys until the heavens open and the rider on the white horse appears: Jesus Christ. He decisively deals with the evil empire, capturing the antichrist and slaughtering the assembled armies with one swift blow. In the end, it looks more like an execution than a battle scene.

“He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth,” the psalmist writes in Psalm 46, “He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariots with fire.” No earthly ruler or even the greatest of armies will ever be a match for the power of God.

Yet this omnipotent God, who can blow away the mightiest forces with a breath, also makes it His business to know the number of hairs on my head. David’s Psalm 139 delights in God’s careful knowledge of us: “You are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.”

It is hard to align such opposing traits in one person. God’s great power and sovereignty exist alongside His tender care and intimacy. There is such paradox within the character of God.

The picture featured above was taken during John F. Kennedy’s presidential term. He was one of the most powerful men in the world at the time, and decisions he made kept the world from nuclear war. Yet the same man who stared down Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis was known only as “Daddy” to little John, Jr. Power and intimacy coexisted in one man.

In the same way, the God who created the universe and sets the world’s rulers on their thrones is known as “Abba” to us. Daddy. Like little John, we can play at our Father’s feet even as He holds the universe together. While the breadth of His power is unimaginable, we are still important to Him.

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold…Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” Psalm 17:8, 18:1-2

Lessons from Weeding

2009-07-27T00:06:00.001-04:00

We had neglected the garden. In one short month, weeds were growing waist-high. They were overtaking the annuals I had so carefully planted and fertilized during the cooler spring months. During the “dog days” of summer, gardening is a hot, sticky proposition. In the previous weeks, the July sun beat down mercilessly, and staying in the cool house was too great a temptation to resist. Now the weeds were winning the battle.

As my husband and I went outside to work in the early morning temperatures, I surveyed with dismay the damage that had been done during my absence from the garden. Every spare space once neatly groomed blossomed with overgrown weeds. My beautiful flowers were struggling to survive sharing space with their greedy neighbors. Without sweat and effort, it would only get worse. As I began to grip the weeds one at a time and pull, God began to reveal truths about the weeds in my own life, and suddenly the work became a spiritual inspiration.

Jesus used a gardening theme in several of his parables to teach those gathered around him about the Kingdom of God. This was in part because it was an agrarian society, and planting and harvesting were familiar to everyone. But as I pulled weeds and meditated on God’s Word, it struck me that Jesus must also must have used plants as an object lesson because they are so appropriate to what is true about the rest of his creation.

Weeds are the undesirable part of the garden. In parables, weeds or thorns were used to represent sin or the work of the evil one. We can learn a lot about sin by taking a closer look at weeds.

Dig deep.
In order to permanently remove the weed, we must remove the root. Dandelion plants have a long taproot, which is thick and difficult to pull. If you just pull off the foliage at the surface, that dandelion will have new leaves in a matter of days. We have solid and strong roots in sin, because we were born with a sin nature. Our only source of victory over sin is through the blood of Jesus Christ. When we trusted in him for salvation, Jesus went right to the root of our sin problem and changed us from the inside out: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”
(I Corinthians 5: 17)

Be proactive.
Keeping weeds out of your garden is a matter of being deliberate. Do nothing to stop them, and they will grow. When it comes to our spiritual lives, because of our sinful nature, it is a constant battle to avoid sin. Like a swimmer in a current, we only make progress or even keep a steady position by working tirelessly. Relax for a few minutes, and we will quickly lose ground. Paul commented on this: “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Galatians 5:17) In this constant conflict, we can never ease up, or sin will get the upper hand.

Weed early and often.
When weeds are small, they are relatively easy to pluck from the ground. However, when allowed to remain, long, strong roots grow deep. Pulling out a mature plant becomes a major challenge. So it is with sin. Carelessness becomes pattern, and pattern a habit. Soon the sin has a hold on us, and the effort to repent and replace that bad habit with a righteous one becomes extremely difficult. This is demonstrated in James 1:15:
“ . . . after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Better to stop the sin early on, when it is easier to remove from our lives.

Plant purposefully.
The best way to keep weeds from flourishing is to plant something desirable in the space. Bare soil and even a layer of mulch will not stop most weeds from taking root. However, where my annuals and perennials are flourishing, weeds have little opportunity to thrive. Making the effort to fill our minds with good things will keep sin at bay. Meditating on God’s Word is the best place to start. I often play praise music in my car as I travel, singing words that focus on Christ. Psalm 119: 11 says, “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Weeding is hard work, especially in the hot summer sun. It involves sweat, aching muscles, back strain and even blisters. Yet the end result of that labor is beauty. My plants are once again healthy and thriving, freed from competition for sunlight and water.

Dealing with the ugly sin in our lives is also hard and grueling work. We must be willing to take an honest look at ourselves frequently to see the sin lurking in our attitudes and actions. It is never a pleasant process! Yet bringing sin out into the light, confessing it to God and turning away from its control on us will bring a new beauty to our lives.

Living a sin-resistant life is only possible because of our heavenly power source. We humans are weak and prone to give in. Yet “incomparably great power” from God is at our disposal. “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” (Ephesians 1:19-20)

I Corinthians 3 tells us that we are “God’s cultivated field.” With purposeful effort we can keep back the weeds of sin in our lives. Then we will be a beautiful garden, a “planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” (Isaiah 61:3)

Not a Competition

2009-07-15T14:04:00.003-04:00

"I always assumed God called me to be the best," a young music major confessed to me the other day over lunch. "So I struggled with the pressure of comparing myself to other musicians around me, always finding ways they were better than me. It was so discouraging. Then one day a more seasoned musician helped release me from that pressure. He told me God has not called me to be the best. He calls me to be the best I can be."

Do you struggle with comparing yourself with others around you? Is your ministry diminished in your mind when you view the comparative success of others? I have to confess, this is a real weakness of mine. So I found the insight of this young guy a refreshing reminder to guard my own heart.

Paul gave the Colossians a bit of instruction that should ring true in all of our efforts. "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men... it is the Lord Christ whom you serve." We are called to excellence. We are called to give it everything we've got. But we are not called to the top of the heap. Serving God is not a competition.

That last statement may seem almost silly, it is so obvious. Yet it's not always so obvious to me. For instance, as a writer, it is hard not to become discouraged and even jealous upon seeing an announcement of someone's new book release. The comparison immediately begins. What do they have that I have not? Why is God blessing them and not me?

The Corinthians faced a similar struggle. Some of the spiritual gifts in the church were viewed as more important than others. A hierarchy of prestige had developed. Those who spoke in tongues were viewed as more "spiritual" than the rest. Paul was quick to address this attitude. Spiritual gifts are not given for self-edification. "Seek to abound for the edification of the church," Paul cautioned "so that all may learn and all may be exhorted." (1 Corinthians 14:12, 31) The spiritual gifts are not about us.

We must take steps to guard our hearts against allowing our efforts to serve the Lord to become about us. First, we need to constantly remember that the effectiveness of our ministry is not dependent on how good we are at what we do. As Paul reminded the Corinthians, "Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow" (1 Corinthians 3:7). Our power source is God alone. Second, we must acknowledge that our gift is given with a specific purpose. That purpose: to build up the church. "Now to each the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good" (1 Corinthians 12:7). Third, never forget our spiritual gifts are GIFTS. Our specific talents were carefully doled out in the wisdom and grace of God. We cannot take credit for our talent! "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). Last, recognize that each member of the church is only meant to be one part of an interdependently functioning body. This means that no one part is more important than the other. As Paul wrote, "But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other" (1 Corinthians 12:24, 25).

Seeking self-gratification while operating within God's kingdom has no place. Do we feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment when we serve God as we were meant to do? Absolutely. But attempt to use these same gifts to build ourselves up, and the reward becomes hollow at best.

Instead, as my young musician friend has found, we need to find our joy in the privilege of being used by God to accomplish His purposes. It's not about how good we are at expressing our gift. It is about expressing how much we love Him as we work with all of our heart to do what He has given us to do.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2:10

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Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-07-13T11:37:00.004-04:00

Outside my window... another beautiful day. We have been blessed in Maryland this summer with many days of bearable temperatures and low humidity. I don't take even one of them for granted. I told Steve yesterday we are having a New England summer!

I am thankful for... two unexpected checks that arrived in the mail which help cover the cost of two dental crowns I began to pay on last week. The Lord is so faithful to meet our needs.

From the kitchen... I'm cooking spicy chicken and mushrooms tonight, a recipe that I found in a Family Circle magazine. It is tasty and low fat. I'm working hard to stick to Weight Watchers in what I serve the family. And the pounds are sloooooowly coming off.

I am reading... What Paul Really Said About Women-- a book that covers the scripture directed at women. This is something I eventually have to get squared away in my head. My Plymouth Brethren upbringing is at odds with what seem to be New Testament principles on women's roles. Yesterday I spoke at my church. Yes, I gave the sermon. The elders requested that I do it, since my gift is obviously teaching, and my pastor is off on sabbatical. No lightening struck, and I am still alive after doing it. But I need to figure out exactly what scripture is directing women to do. This book is very helpful as far as I have gotten.

I am hoping... I can get tons done over the next three weeks. The writers' conference I am attending this year is on August 6-8.

I am creating... two new book proposals. One is almost done, the other may not be ready in time. I will still pitch the idea if not a whole proposal if necessary.

I am praying... that maybe I can find an agent at this conference. I definitely need the Lord's guidance on this one.

Around the house... I'm sewing curtains for my sister in law's new study my friend Beth and I are redecorating. I'm also working on a quilt for my future new living room-- for which I hope to start searching for furniture soon!

One of my favorite things... an ice cream cone from McDonald's. They are three WW points-- and so delicious!! Melanie and I save our points and often go out at night to get one. The guys at our closest McDonalds have begun to recognize us. Time to move on to a new McDonalds.

A few plans for the rest of the week... doctor appointment to schedule surgery to remove "a-typical cells" from my breast. A little scary, but I know my life is in God's very capable hands. I'm also bringing my mother-in-law to a caregiver's support group and then out to lunch tomorrow. Saturday we are attending a seminary friend's wedding at our old church-- looking forward to seeing old friends there.

So much for my exciting life-- Love, Julie

Persistence vs. Perseverance

2009-07-04T09:06:00.002-04:00

My daughter and I went to our Weight Watchers meeting Monday morning in total dread. On the way to the meeting, we lamented over all of the slip-ups (O.K., deliberate cheats) we had committed over the past month. The scale would surely reveal just how badly we had done. Instead, to our surprise we found we had not gained weight during a whole month of missed weigh-ins. I had even lost a pound and a half! Persistence in exercise and many successful days of watching the calorie intake paid off, even in light of the bad choices we had made at times.

One thing our Weight Watcher lecturer, Heather, always stresses, is that persistence is more important than perfection. I need to hear this over and over again, for I am a legalistic dieter. Once I cheat, I usually count the rest of that day and even sometimes the entire week as a total loss. And spend those lost days eating whatever I want. As you can imagine, this plan in not conducive to weight loss! Instead, I need to put the "slip-up" behind me immediately and get back on the plan. Persistence wins the battle. Even in the light of a profound lack of perfection.

I wonder if the writer of Hebrews had this principle in mind when he penned Hebrews 12:1: "Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..."

I am no expert in running. But I do walk. And I can tell you with great authority that if you don't keep putting one foot in front of the other, you will never get to where you are trying to go. This morning on my walk I ran into an old friend and spent a few minutes chatting and catching up. Obviously neither of us made any physical progress as we stood enjoying pleasant conversation. You have to be moving in a positive direction in order to cover any distance.

God called David a man whose "heart was fully devoted to God" (1 Kings 11: 4). Can you imagine Scripture describing you as someone whose heart was completely sold out to the Lord? Yet we know that David wasn't perfect. He planned a murder and had an adulterous affair. So why does God call David a "man after my own heart"? I believe it is because the general direction of David's progress was an effort to grow closer to the God He loved.

The Connecticut River flows from north to south through the heart of New England in its journey to empty out into the Long Island Sound. If you were to get into a canoe somewhere between Vermont and New Hampshire, and begin the journey southward, eventually you would find yourself in the Long Island Sound. However, if you had a compass, it might not always seem to be the case. At times, you might be moving in an eastward or westward direction. Sometimes you might even be moving northward! But the general, persistent flow of the river would eventually carry you to its mouth.

That is a great picture of persistence or perseverance: moving in a generally positive direction, despite the twists and turns your life might take at times.

Jesus compared following him to traveling the Narrow Road. Perseverance is crucial to the traveler walking in faith. As we walk the Narrow Road, there are potholes and uneven spots along the journey. We may even stumble and fall from time to time as our feet catch on those sins that entangle us. Yet our progress continues as long as we get back up, brush ourselves off, and begin moving again. Don't get discouraged about your lack of perfection. Just be persistent.

"Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lied behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14

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The Simple Woman's Daybook

2009-07-02T14:16:00.004-04:00

FOR TODAY July 2...

Outside my window... bright pink and white impatiens bordering my back yard and fern garden

I am thinking... I have so much to be grateful for.

I am thankful for... my husband, who generously just encouraged me to book a flight in September to the Berea Woman's Retreat and to spend time with my friend, Nancy, in NH

From the kitchen... tonight's dinner: Weight Watcher recipe Orange Beef with Snap Peas, and white rice

I am wearing... my workout clothes from this morning. I have been encouraged by the steady improvement I am seeing in my health after faithfully working out at Curves for the past month.

I am creating... a book proposal, actually two, to be presented at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writer's Conference in August.

I am going... with my friend Beth to redecorate my sister-in-law's home office as a birthday gift. We are going down to her home tomorrow to draw up plans so I can do the grunt work while Beth is away on vacation.

I am reading... "The Sacred Ordinary" by Leigh McLeroy

I am hoping... I can lose 20 pounds by the writer's conference.

I am hearing... my baby grandson squack and shriek in the room down the hall. Nothing cuter than hearing those happy baby noises!

One of my favorite things... the way my dog's ears go back in pleasure when I walk into a room

Some random thoughts, from an ordinary day in the life of Julie Coleman!

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Compelling Love

2009-06-27T23:37:00.001-04:00

Whenever we visit Connecticut, my sister Margie and I always manage to squeeze in time for our favorite activity: shopping. One of our favorite haunts is a group of stores located on what was an old Connecticut farmstead. The buildings have each been converted into a variety of country shops, offering curtains, furniture, and a wide assortment of accessories for sale. They retain some of their original walls and are divided into rooms. It is a quaint and fun place to spend the afternoon browsing.

As Margie, my mom and I were shopping there one day, I noticed a little boy alone. He was looking at some figurines with great interest. His parents had moved on to another room without him being aware of their departure. Suddenly he looked up and realized he was alone. With panic in his eyes, and he began to whimper softly, "Mommy? Where are you?"

My heart went out to him. I stooped down and gently said, "Honey, did you lose your mom and dad?"

But before I could offer to help, he looked at me in horror and screamed at the top of his lungs: "NO! GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU... ARE... A... STRANGER!!"

Embarrassed, I backed away, trying to assure what seemed to be dozens of people staring me down with accusing looks that I was only trying to help. Of course, my sister and mom were of no assistance: they were hidden behind the candles bent over double laughing. Fortunately, the mother came quickly at the sound of her son's scream, and the little guy was rescued.

That little boy was convinced that all strangers were evil. He was so persuaded, when I approached him, what he believed took precedence over getting help to find his mother. His actions surely demonstrated how strong that conviction was!

What we know to be true compels our response. "For Christ's love compels us," Paul wrote the Corinthians, "Because we are convinced that one died for all...those who live should no longer live for themselves..."

The original word, translated here in the NIV as compels, is translated as controls in the NASB. The Greek lexicon defines this word in several ways: to urge on, impel, or provide impulse for some activity. Other uses of the word include being occupied or absorbed, or involved in intensive engagement. You get the picture. What we have experienced of the love of Christ is life-altering knowledge.

The book of Acts gives us a startling before and after picture of men who, upon understanding the truth, responded in life-altering fashion. The night Jesus was arrested and brought to trial, the disciples who had faithfully followed Him for three years vanished into the night. There were no testimonials on Jesus' behalf at His trial; His closest friends had gone into hiding, afraid for their lives. Yet forty days later, we see these same men on the streets of Jerusalem in Acts 2, boldly preaching a resurrected Christ. When brought before the Sanhedrin in Acts 4, Peter and John were commanded to refrain from preaching about Jesus any more. This was the same ruling counsel from which the disciples had hidden on the night of Jesus' arrest. But this time their response to this intimidating group was very different. They answered, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."

What changed these men from frightened and cowering to bold and convicted preachers? They had witnessed the resurrected Christ. They now understood why He had come and what He had accomplished. There was no doubt in their minds as to what was true. And that truth compelled them to spread the word, even at the risk of losing their very lives.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear," Ambrose Redmoon once observed. The disciples stood ready to risk everything because they knew something more important than their lives was at stake.

Our knowledge compels a response. Like that little boy at the country store whose conviction impelled him to reject the advances of a stranger, our conviction moves us to respond just as strongly to what we know to be true. We owe Him everything. The great love that He has lavished upon us demands a response. It only makes sense that we would choose to live for Him.

"For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore, all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."
2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Coleman Engagement!!

2009-06-11T09:17:00.002-04:00

Last week, while on a romantic beach, my youngest son Joe proposed to the woman he loves. She said yes. We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth Leidig to the Coleman family! Liz is a physical therapist and a long-time resident of Annapolis. Her dad is a Navy man, so she has lived all over the world. She is a sweet, fun-loving, generous-hearted girl. We love her very much.

The wedding will probably be sometime in November. I'll post more details as they develop!

Eye on the Finish Line

2009-06-11T09:15:00.001-04:00

Harold Abrahams, the "other runner" whose story was portrayed alongside Eric Liddell's in Chariots of Fire, was no slouch athlete either. His unofficial time broke a world record in the hundred meter dash, and he won both gold and silver medals in the 1924 Olympics.

Abrahams was able to shave off time in his runs by disciplining himself to keep his eyes focused on the goal. Earlier on, he had made the mistake of glancing back at the other runners, costing him precious tenths of a second. On the day of his gold medal run, he kept a short reminder in his pocket written to him by his coach. "Only think of two things," it said, "the report of the pistol and the tape. When you hear the one, just run like hell until you break the other."

There are plenty of things to look at when you are headed down the track. A runner's focus makes all the difference. Abrahams looked back at the other runners. Other racers might be tempted to focus on the track itself, noting its imperfections and difficulties. Still others might look back at the distance already covered. But in order to run most efficiently, the runner must focus on one thing: the tape at the finish line.

We, too, are in a race of sorts. As we run, we too will benefit from where we train our gaze. My tendency is to look at my fellow runners. From the outside looking in, they always seem to have it together, at least more than I do. They are wiser and so much more spiritual than I can ever hope to be. They They even control their tongues so much better than me. Comparing myself to them is downright discouraging.

Others might be looking at the track ahead. The surface is not even and contains hazards and even pitfalls. The runner worries about injury or even becomes discouraged about persisting on such a rough road until the finish line. His focus becomes all about the logistics of the race instead of about the reason he is running.

A third place to focus is on where we have already been. The runner who continually looks back on the distance he has covered is looking in the wrong direction. He congratulates himself on his accomplishment thus far. And in doing so, he may lose his sense of purpose for the rest of the race still ahead, preferring to rest on his laurels rather than continue on.

Peter experienced the damage a lack of focus can have. When Jesus called him out of the safety of the boat to walk across the water to him, he quickly obeyed. Things went swimmingly well at first (forgive the pun) as Peter set out toward the Lord. However, when he began to notice the wind blowing and the waves mounting around him, his steps began to falter. Peter began to sink until the Lord reached out and saved him. Had he kept his focus on the One who had already calmed a storm in Peter's presence, who created the water and waves to begin with, his journey would have ended much differently.

Hebrews 12 tells us: "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith..." Jesus stands at our metaphorical finish line, having already run and completed a perfect race before us. He faced the same rough track, never losing sight of his end goal: the joy of the finish line. He alone provides adequate inspiration as we run.

Learning to keep our gaze where it belongs is a discipline to be learned and practiced. Harold Abrahams sliced off tenths of a second in mastering that skill, and it won him a gold in the 100 meter race. Our reward for doing the same is this: "Consider Him... so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12:1-3

Growing Roots in a Drought

2009-06-06T23:49:00.002-04:00

On Friday afternoon, our Annapolis neighborhood experienced a microburst during a heavy thunderstorm. The intense wind toppled a very large tree which previously stood about fifteen feet from the back of the house. When it went down, it took a large evergreen with it and missed our back porch roof by inches. This was no small tree. I couldn't even get my arms around half of its girth. My husband paced off its length and guesses it was about one hundred feet tall. When the tree toppled, the roots were torn right out of the ground.

It surprised us to see the relatively sparse root system that held this very large tree in place all those years. We were amazed the tree hadn't blown over long ago in view of its tenuous support system. Most trees have roots that go deep into the soil. They do this as a result of a tropism, which is a plant's ability to grow in response to its environment. You have probably observed plants leaning over toward the sunlight, which is phototropism. Hydrotropism is a tree's ability to grow its roots toward a source of water. When water is plentiful at the surface, as in during a rainy growing season, the roots will grow near the surface of the ground. However, during a drought, a tree's roots are forced to go deep in search of an alternate source of water. They will grow down toward the ground water flowing deep beneath the surface. So in an ironic way, a drought actually extends the life of a tree. The deep growth of roots will allow the tree to withstand the winds of many a storm.

The Bible is filled with stories of God allowing His people to go through extended periods of spiritual drought. Joseph spent thirteen years waiting for God to rescue him after being sold into slavery by his brothers. Job was allowed to suffer in grief and agonizing pain while his "friends" harassed him in his misery. Jacob had to live away from his family and inheritance for many years until the Lord finally called him back to Canaan. David spent years in the desert hiding from Saul and his army while waiting to be crowned king. There must have been days for each of these men when God seemed silent and aloof.

Why did God allow an extended period of drought in each of these men's lives? The drought was a tool, designed and used for their good. In order to fulfill God's purpose for their lives, these men needed a relationship with Him that could withstand the challenges they would someday encounter. God, in His wisdom, provided an opportunity to grow that kind of faith. Waiting on God, learning to trust Him on the basis of what we know to be true rather than how we might feel, drives our faith roots deep. We learn to listen harder for His voice, to trust more deeply in His goodness, and to have greater faith in His wisdom. Our forced dependence on Him reminds us once again of our inadequacy without Him. And in our weakened state, we are now in prime condition to be used by a God who prefers the weak to the strong.

A drought serves a purpose. We do not ache without result. Once the rains return, ending the dryness and barrenness, we emerge more ready to face what lies ahead. We have learned to focus our attention on Christ who is now more than ever the source of our strength. When the storms of life have at us, we will be able to stand firm. All thanks to the periods of drought.

"Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 40:31

There are pictures of the tree that was on the previous post on this site. This post is the latest entry on my email newsletter, The Dogwood Digest. If you enjoyed this article, please use the link at the right of this page to sign up for my weekly devotional!

The Death of an Old Friend

2009-06-01T23:10:00.006-04:00

This is the tree that fell in our backyard on May 29 during a microburst. It missed our house by inches, grazing only the edge of the porch roof. I was amazed to see even our potted plants survived the tumble!

We were amazed to see how shallow the roots were. It made us wonder how the tree withstood previous windstorms over the years.

The tree was very tall-- Steve estimates about 100-120 feet. It went well into our neighbor's yard. It took down a huge evergreen at the opposite end of our backyard on its way down.

Cultivating a Quiet Spirit

2009-05-28T00:22:00.000-04:00

Have you ever known someone who has lived their whole life trusting God without question? I have someone in my life like that. I will call her Francis. She has seen more personal tragedy in her lifetime than most people ever will. As a teen, she had to quit school and go to work to help support the family when her father died unexpectedly. When her own children were young, a gas leak in her basement caused an explosion that demolished their home and everything in it. Several of her children became involved with alcohol and drugs for a period of time in their teen and early adult years. Her husband died prematurely after a long struggle with diabetes and heart problems. She herself has had major health issues over the years. But most of these hardships paled in comparison when she lost two small grandchildren in a terrible tragedy involving their mentally ill mother.

Just two weeks ago, Francis faced yet another heart-wrenching loss-- her son, only 52 years old, died of a heart attack.

I worried how she could ever recover from such a blow at her age, especially after all she has been through over the years. As I dialed her number the day after receiving the news, I prayed that the Lord would give me the right words to say that would bring a small amount of comfort to her grieving heart. The woman who answered the phone was grieving, no doubt. Yet one thing struck me above all else as we talked. She had total trust in the Lord through the circumstance. She was at peace and rested in God’s goodness and control.

Peter wrote the women of the church that they should have this same attitude. “Your adornment must not be merely external…but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of the Lord.” (1 Peter 3:3, 4) Those words, quiet spirit, used to worry me about my own spirituality. No one would ever use the word quiet to describe this story-telling, gregarious, loud-laughing extrovert. But the Greek word Peter uses is not the opposite of loud. It would be better translated peaceful. It is an attitude of complete trust and submission to the will of God.

Jesus had a quiet spirit. He determined to put His obedience to the Father’s will above all else. Not once did He deviate from the course set out for Him. He remained silent before His accusers. When He was mocked, he did not retaliate. He calmly washed the feet of two of his untrustworthy disciples on the night of his arrest: one would deny Him hours later, and the second would soon betray Him with a kiss. His obedience ultimately led to an excruciating death on a cross. How could the Sinless One remain so calmly focused in the chaos that surrounded Him? He rested in the fact that the Father was in control. His was a quiet spirit.

“You have assigned me my portion and my cup, and have made my lot secure,” David wrote in Psalm 16. Each assignment is made with our eternal good in mind. God could not do anything BUT good. While we might question His assignments from our limited perspective, in His wisdom, God is at work in the details of our lives with a focused agenda. He is determined to bring glory to Himself and to complete the work in us started at our salvation.

Key to remaining at peace with God is determining ahead of time what we want. David had the right idea: “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to mediate in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4) Paul echoes this sentiment: “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) Both Paul and David had one priority, one thing in mind: to live their lives focused on the God they loved. This desire can be lived out regardless of circumstance.

We can spend our days fussing and fuming at a God whom we believe might be in control, yet has questionable wisdom or goodness. Or we can doubt His power over circumstances or even His intimate involvement in our lives. However, scripture gives us a different picture. It depicts a powerful God who created the universe with a word. That same powerful God makes it His business to know every thought we think and the number of hairs on our head. He loves us with a passion, and every act of His toward us reflects that great love.

Instead of balking at what happens in our lives, we must determine to love God with our mind, soul, heart, and strength. Circumstances are really inconsequential to this agenda. This is something that my friend Francis has already learned. And when we determine to live with a quiet spirit, deciding to trust God regardless of what lies ahead, Peter tells us this is precious in the sight of the Lord.

Dreading the Journey

2009-05-12T21:45:00.003-04:00

I never look forward to walking the dog. Each morning, as my alarm goes off, Sasha paws eagerly at my bedroom door, anxious for our daily constitutional to begin. She whimpers impatiently as I sleepily pull on my sneakers and socks, beside herself that we haven’t left yet. I sigh as we go through the front door into the great outdoors. Our round trip is a little over a mile, which takes us approximately thirty minutes. Weather conditions can be uncomfortable-- early in the mornings, the winter air is still bitingly cold and conversely the summer air too warm and humid. Sometimes my hip hurts as we walk. Leg muscles protest as I struggle up the hills. We often encounter other dogs, and Sasha barks vigorously, almost pulling me off my feet in her excitement as we pass them by. I am always happy to round the last bend and see my house and driveway, knowing the effort is at an end.

Yet despite my dread, I know the walk is so good for me. My doctor called to report my cholesterol is down along with my blood pressure (she specifically requested I pat the dog on the head for her). My muscles are stronger and I have better physical endurance than I have had in a long while. It is good for me psychologically as well. Spending a half-hour in the sunshine boosts my morale. I have met many neighbors in the community I would never otherwise have met while walking. The splendor of nature and the gradual change of seasons always lifts my spirits. Every day I appreciate more and more the beautiful surroundings in which we live. The benefits of the effort are many.

Even knowing this, getting up and out the door never gets easier. Given the choice on any morning, I would rather roll over, snuggle under the covers, and go back to sleep. Or maybe get a nice hot cup of coffee and slowly wake up as I sip, wrapped in a bathrobe. Looking ahead, my early morning walk is never positively anticipated.

Yet once it is accomplished, I am never sorry I did it.

I am looking ahead to possibly another kind of dreaded journey. After two mammograms, I went today for a biopsy on a suspicious area they have found. The uncertainty of the situation is a bit scary. If it is cancer (I hate to even type that word), trying times lie ahead. No one would choose such a path. Yet there are benefits to even that kind of journey.

Hard circumstances are frequently not all bad, but mostly just hard. The metaphors that we use to describe God at work in us are largely painful in character: the hot flames of a refiner’s fire, chipping off the rough edges to reveal the beauty of a diamond within, or the dying of the old man being replaced by a new creation. All these processes bring pain to the one being transformed. But always the outcome is worth the struggle.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Light and momentary troubles? Several times Paul was beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead! He had been imprisoned, thrown out of synagogues, and rejected by his own kinsmen. My guess is that he classified his suffering as light and momentary only in comparison to the resulting glory they would accomplish in him. The glory that was being produced was eternal in nature. Worth the fleeting and momentary price, to be sure.

I’ll let you know the outcome of my little circumstance. One thing is for certain--the destination is worth the journey, even when traveling a rocky, pothole filled road. We might not choose pain, but even as we begin to place one foot in front of the other, we can know we will not be sorry when the trip has reached its conclusion. Our God is faithful and will not waste one minute of our pain. He will reap the benefits for us and will remain by our side in the struggle.

“For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal flesh… Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:11, 16

Update: Wonderful news on the biopsy-- no cancer was found!! I am thankful-- but not just for a good report, however relieving that it was. More, I am thankful that the Lord gave me peace throughout the few days we had to wonder about what the future held. Our confidence is not in the circumstance or in how we hope God will act. Our confidence is in the character of God, knowing He could not BE anything but good. No matter what the circumstance.

The Discipline of Forgiving

2009-04-14T22:01:00.004-04:00

When we were dating, my husband had the habit of sending me four or five pink demerit slips he had earned while attending Bible college with each of his letters. At one point I asked him just how many he possessed, since he appeared to be drawing from a never ending supply. He showed me the stack in the top drawer of his desk. It was impressive. Now don't get the wrong idea-- they were all for relatively small misdemeanors, like leaving the lights on or the bed unmade. Yet over time they accumulated into enough of a statement that he was called into the dean's office to give an account for his actions. Apparently, small "sins," over a long period of time, can add up.

This principle is true in relationships as well. It is why Paul, in describing a godly kind of love, reminded the Corinthians: "Love is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." In this simple description, Paul gives us powerful preventative medicine for all of our relationships: we must maintain an on-going discipline of forgiveness.

The Old Man of the Mountain, a massive granite formation which once overlooked Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, stood for thousands of years, most likely created by glaciers that once moved over northern New Hampshire. It was the New Hampshire state symbol, and beloved enough to earn a place on the New Hampshire state quarter. Thousands of tourists stopped each year on their way up I-93 to take photographs of this famous landmark. Then one night in May 2003, during a heavy wind and rain storm, the Old Man formation collapsed into the valley below. What could fell such a huge monument, after standing for thousands of years? Tiny individual molecules of water.

When water freezes, it expands. The collapse of the Old Man was a result of small amounts of water seeping into the cracks year after year, freezing and expanding, making the fissures a small bit wider each time. Finally the cracks became wide enough to weaken the entire structure, and the monument crumbled.

Elisabeth Elliot wrote of this principle within the context of marriage: "Marriages break up when 'small' things accumulate and resentments build. Love is the intention of unity. Resentment is the destroyer of unity." Making frequent decisions to forgive is crucial to the health of a relationship.

Easier said than done, you are probably thinking. What if the offending party is not sorry and shows no sign of repentance from the behavior that hurt you in the first place? You are not alone-- Peter struggled with this idea as well. "How many times must I forgive?" he asked the Lord. He then generously offered, "Up to seven times?" Rabbinic standards required forgiving up to three offenses. Peter was willing to more than double the standard. Surely seven times would be enough.

Jesus took care of Peter's faulty expectation with his answer. "Seventy times seven," he replied.

How can we choose to forgive on a daily basis? By keeping our eyes trained on Christ. By choosing to forgive, we are expressing what he has freely done for us. We were forgiven when we did not deserve mercy. That's the meaning of grace: undeserved merit or favor.

To indulge in harboring grievances is most often an exercise in self-absorption. We struggle to forgive a wrong because we feel we deserved better than what was done to us. Christ deserved better. He deserved honor and glory because he was God. Yet he chose to lay aside his equality with God and humbled himself to obedience, to the point of death on a cross.

Amy Carmichael observed: "If I am soft to myself and slide comfortably into the vice of self-pity and self-sympathy; if I do not by the grace of God practice fortitude, then I know nothing of Calvary love."

Choosing to forgive is really a reflection of our understanding of how much we have been forgiven ourselves. It is a discipline which often must be performed outside of our emotional state. We are choosing to love because we know we are loved. And as we imitate our Savior in forgiveness, we understand a bit more of what it took for him to bear our sin.

"If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly." 1 Peter 2:20-24

This post is the latest article from the Dogwood Digest, a weekly devotional email sent out to 600 friends. If you would like to receive this free devotional, please subscribe using the link on the right of this page. Thanks!

Called to Fail

2009-04-10T23:33:00.002-04:00

Every elementary teacher is painfully aware of the challenging students moving toward her grade level. The future troublemakers make themselves known in the hallways, during assemblies, and on the playground. Before they ever walked through the door of my fifth grade classroom, I was fully aware of what was coming.

I began to dread one particular child early in his fourth grade year. His name was always expressed in an exasperated tone by his teachers. It seemed like every time I walked down the hall, there he sat on the floor outside the door of his classroom, banished for his bad behavior. He was an angry, frustrated little boy. And I had a sinking feeling that in the next year he would be all mine.

And so he was. I am only one very limited woman. Yet I knew that God had given him to me; not only for his benefit, but for mine as well. We would spend the year learning from each other. I threw myself into the boy. Every time I could find a reason to praise or encourage him, I did. I set reasonable and attainable boundaries for him. I carefully picked my battles and made sure the negative he got from me did not outweigh the positive. He was sneaky and manipulative. He also had some leadership qualities, and several of the other boys began to follow his bad example. I determinedly continued to work at positively influencing him. It wasn't easy. And unfortunately, it wasn't especially successful, either.

I breathed a sigh of relief as he walked out my door on the last day of school. I continued to occasionally see him throughout his middle school years as he passed my classroom door. He remained a troublemaker. I don't know if my year with him made any difference whatsoever. I sometimes think of him, and wonder how he is now as an adult. I wish I could have done more to help him turn around.

We all like a story with a happy ending. Even as Christians, we tend to measure our effectiveness by the "success" of our ministry. Yet there are times that God knowingly calls us to something that will ultimately result in failure.

Isaiah had that kind of calling. "Go, and tell this people: Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9, 10) Judah had long been unfaithful to their God. Judgment was imminent. Isaiah was to bring a message to a people who would reject it hardheartedly.

God was sending Isaiah on a mission doomed to failure.

If he did it in the way God intended, the nation would remain unreceptive. This was in God's plan, for Judah had many spiritual lessons to learn that would only be accomplished by extreme hardship and desolation. Eventually the nation would repent. But it would not be in response to Isaiah's message.

Author Leigh McLeroy, in her excellent book, "The Beautiful Ache," comments on the idea of serving without immediate reward: "My generation is big on return-on-investment. We want to see results. We don't invest in much of anything at all unless we're relatively certain we'll be rewarded. But following the King into the mysteries of the kingdom may demand that we deny our rush to "cash in" and introduce ourselves to the discipline of long, unmeasured spending. Some might call this lack of foresight. But not Jesus. He would call it faithful obedience-- and he doesn't relent in asking for it."

God wants us in for the long haul. He is more interested in who we are in the process than in the final result of our efforts. Day by day obedience, even when things are true drudgery at best, or excruciatingly difficult at worst, is what honors Him. Because what we do should be about serving God, and not done for a self-serving sense of fulfillment.

Yes, we are called to live victoriously. But that victory may not always be over circumstances. It may be in the fact that we were found faithful in spite of the failure to accomplish what we set out to do.

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." Colossians 3:17

Waiting on Your Dream

2009-03-24T08:36:00.002-04:00

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:3-5

God gives us desires. He places dreams in our hearts to pray over and work toward. When our desires are from the Lord, he will carry them out to fruition.Back in 1991, I was given my first opportunity to speak before a large group of women. It was at a Mothers’ Day breakfast hosted by my church, Cedar Ridge Community Church. I was flattered they thought I had something to share, but at the same time I was terrified. For weeks I agonized over my message. Finally the day arrived. Trembling, I walked to the podium and began to share what God had given me. To my surprise, the women listened intently to what I had to say. They laughed at my stories. Many nodded their heads with looks of appreciation as I hit each of my main application points. Some even shed tears. After I finished, I received an enthusiastic round of applause. It was the most fabulous 20 minutes of my life.

I could hardly wait to get home and share my success with my husband. “They loved it!” I enthused. “It was a total rush, standing up there, sharing the Word of God. I could do that every day for the rest of my life!” That very morning I began to pray that the Lord would choose to use me in this way again. The dream had been planted.

Over the next decade, I was asked to speak once or twice a year at various churches or camps holding special events. Not an overwhelming number, but those engagements kept the dream alive. I began to feel strongly that the Lord had given me a gift. I also wondered why he wasn’t allowing me more opportunities to use it.

Waiting, while your desires fester in your heart, can be excruciating. We are tempted to try to “make it happen,” as Sarah did when she offered Hagaar to Abraham. However, with this particular dream of mine, I was very afraid of going ahead of the Lord. I wanted to be ready if I was to take on a ministry of this nature.

God did use that waiting period to get me ready. He did this through the experiences I had in raising my four children and learning how to be a godly wife. When God took my mother home to Heaven after a long fight with cancer, I struggled through a long period of grief that tested my faith. Two years of my life were spent in learning how to manage Panic Disorder. Much learning took place during my teaching career as I worked with a total of over 500 students and their parents. When I look back on who I was in 1991, I shudder to think of the kind of speaker I would have been. God knew this, and took the time to insure the ministry he wanted to do through me would be effective. He lovingly and carefully orchestrated the circumstances and people around me to grow me into a woman ready to teach his word and encourage others.

Finally, in 2004, the Lord gave me my first opportunity to be a speaker for a weekend-long women’s retreat. From there, the opportunities began to flow. I also began to write a book. Several of the articles I had written were published in magazines. It seemed like the Lord was indicating the time had finally come. So I retired from teaching and enrolled in seminary to pursue my master’s degree in Biblical studies. My husband was in full support of these decisions. He, too, sensed God’s movement and timing in our lives.

The point to this long story is this: God plants the dream, but then is faithful to sustain it. He waters it with encouragements, using opportunities and people in our lives. He nourishes it by working within us, getting us ready for the fulfillment of that dream. When the time is right, he brings that dream to fruition. When he does, we marvel at his timing and wisdom. We look back on his faithfulness and wonder at his patience with us as we stewed and fretted in the wait.

What dream do you hold in your heart? It could be finding that perfect someone to become your spouse. Maybe God is taking his time in giving you children. Is there a ministry that your heart is drawn to? You may be searching for a job or wishing for a home of your own. We become disillusioned with God when those dreams remain unfulfilled. Yet how much agony we would save ourselves if we would determine to trust God to bring that dream to pass, in his timing, not ours.

We can trust our faithful God who originally planted the dream within us to be faithful to carry it to completion. And when He does, we will give the glory to Him, because He will make sure that we understand it was His accomplishment, not ours. It will be worth the wait.

Loving Limas

2009-03-20T00:02:00.002-04:00

My Uncle Bob grew up hating lima beans. No threats, rewards, or anything else offered to that little boy could induce him to swallow the dreaded green mush. This did not remain a life-long condition, however, thanks to the army. During boot camp training, he returned from an all-day post to find the dining room ready to close. There was only one thing left for the weary, starving soldier to eat: lima beans. Uncle Bob dutifully loaded up his plate; he figured he was hungry enough to force down anything. As he began to chow down, an amazing thing happened. Those lima beans were delicious! He had never tasted anything so good! Hunger had turned distain for lima beans into enjoyment. To this day, my Uncle Bob still has a passion for lima beans.

When faced with true hunger, what used to be passed over with distain suddenly became palatable.

We are a country full of people who have been gorging on luxury. In the past few decades, houses have been built to enormous proportions. Expensive items like fancy cars and oversized digital TVs are commonplace. We dine out at restaurants several times a week, seeking new exciting tastes and culinary presentations. Storage facilities have become commonplace as we rent space to hold the overflowing possessions which no longer fit into our homes. There is nothing inherently wrong with material possessions or privilege. Yet they do present a spiritual challenge: when we live with plenty, we tend to feel satiated. We can lose our hunger for the things that really matter.

"When the flesh feeds itself, the hunger of the spirit is forgotten," wrote Calvin Miller in The Song. We turn to God when we need. But in our wealthy society, those times for us have become few and far between.

We share our wealthy status with a church which was located in the prosperous first century town of Laodicea. Christ spoke to this church in Revelation 3. "You say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." The Laodicians were rich, alright. They were rich in self-sufficiency and pride. Yet in their arrogance they had missed seeing the reality: they were living in spiritual poverty.

The city of Laodicea was a great commercial and financial center. It was famous for manufacturing a soft, glossy black wool, popular in local and export trade. Banking was a strong industry in the city. Laodicea was also boasted a well-known medical school which developed several medicines. One in particular was a salve used to cure eye diseases. Christ offered his church in Laodicea spiritual counterparts to these things. "Buy from me gold refined by the fire so that you may become [truly] rich, and white garments that you may [truly] clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may [truly] see."

They were poor, naked, and blind. Only what Christ offered could truly solve their need.

A few weeks ago I taught at a retreat that was held in the lap of luxury. The accommodations were beautiful, the food delicious. Everything was first class. The people of that particular church were largely accustomed to living a comfortable lifestyle. In light of this, I was fascinated to hear what part of my teaching resonated with the women in my audience that weekend. They expressed a need for truth and strength to help them through their struggles. They wanted to hear about waiting on God, and dealing with the storms of life that threatened their faith. It struck me as I heard them express their needs that God had been faithful to them. He did not let them grow complacent in their financial security. Instead, He was careful to continually introduce things into their lives that kept them on their knees.

We might be tempted to look at such things as problems. God looks at them as tools. We think they happen somehow in spite of the goodness of God. In reality, they happen because of the goodness of God. He wants us to rely on his necessary grace day by day and not grow complacent because we begin to believe we are self-sufficient.

We might pass over limas altogether should we never know what it is to hunger. What lays heavy on our hearts is often what keeps our feet planted in the reality of our insatiable need for God.

"The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:7, 8

Party Girl

2009-03-13T09:07:00.001-04:00

My first college roommate was the antithesis of everything I held dear. I was a girl interested in a pursuit of God. She was interested in partying. Within the few days of freshman orientation, my roommate found others on campus just like her. They began to go out drinking most nights. She would come back to the dorm room drunk in the early morning hours, almost always inadvertently waking me out of a sound sleep. I would lay in bed, my face to the wall, angrily stewing about her state of rebellion. Her parents were in full-time ministry and loved her dearly. They made a huge sacrifice to send her to a Christian college in hopes she would turn her life around and begin to follow Christ. But all of their concern was lost on her. She was living for herself.

Soon my anger at her irresponsible behavior spilled over into every part of our relationship. I hated what she stood for and judged her harshly. I could barely be civil, so great was my distaste for the lifestyle she was choosing. One day, alone in the room, I began to rail at God. Why had he placed us in the same dorm room? How could I be expected to peacefully coexist with someone who stood for everything I hated? I knew Jesus said to love our enemies and pray for them. How could I change my feelings?

In desperation, I turned to 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. What exactly was God calling me to do? What did he mean by love? I wanted specifics. As I read over the list detailing biblical love, I was struck with one thought: each of the expressions of love listed did not involve an emotional response at all! Instead, they were specific actions that actually might be carried out in spite of what we might be feeling. Biblical love is an act of the will. Emotions have little to do with it at all. I decided I could do that. If I didn't have to feel love, but just perform the correct actions, I could obey.

I began to work to change my part in our relationship. On the nights she was out drinking, I made up my roommate's bed, moving the piles of clothes off it so she could easily slip between the covers. One night I stayed up late typing a paper for her. If I got out to the store, I would always bring back a candy bar or some other small token gift.

As I worked to obey God with my actions, a funny thing happened.

God began to change my heart.

I began to look forward to when she would come back into the room. Her well-being became important to me. Rather than gritting my teeth in determined obedience, I found that loving my roommate had become an enjoyable task. No longer was I seething with resentment. I began to actually like the girl! By the time we parted ways at the end of the year, it was with great affection and tears. God had blessed my obedience by changing my emotions to match my actions.

Loving is not about feelings. That may be how society views it, but the Bible has a different take on love. In Scripture, love is all about our actions toward another. This is how we can love our enemies, as Jesus asked His disciples to do. It is how we can live in unity despite many differences. I found that loving my difficult roommate was not such a challenge at all when my focus was solely on obedience to God.

Biblical love is given only in the interest of the recipient. It will not be for our benefit at all. Jesus even said, "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get... do not even the pagans do that?" Biblical love has nothing to do with how deserving the recipient of our love may or may not be. It is a response to the love that God has lavished upon us.

Where we keep our focus as we move forward in obedience makes all the difference. Our eyes must be trained on Him, the initiator of our own love relationship with Him. Our actions must be a response to the love we have ourselves received.

"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." John 4:10-11

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He's at the Helm

2009-02-18T08:54:00.003-05:00

The world can be a frightening place for a child. My husband and I both remember the days of nuclear bomb drills at school, cowering under desks with hands over our heads. (I'm still not sure how effective that tactic would have been in the event of an actual nuclear attack!) We lecture our children thoroughly on the dangers of strangers. We brief them on escape plans for our homes should fire strike. Since 9/11, most families have emergency plans to find each other should something catastrophic happen. Even the environment is a threat. As young as in elementary school, children are taught about global warming with its resulting climate catastrophes just around the corner. Even though this is all preparation for what may never come, it can give a child the impression that things are spinning out of control.

Sometimes reading biblical prophecy can be just as scary. There is much in the future still to be played out, according to scripture. And much of that future reads more like an R-rated movie than a happily ever after fairy tale. The judgment of God will come someday on a world which has turned its back in rebellion against Him.Why does God spend so much time warning about His coming judgment? Why the chapters and chapters of prophecy about something we may never experience in our lifetime? Foremost, of course, God is concerned for our salvation. He does not want any to perish (1 Peter 3:9). Knowing what eventually lies ahead for this world is excellent motivation to reach out to God.

There is another purpose served by the writings of prophecy. When we read the plans of God, we are left with a lasting conviction: God controls the destiny of the world. Everything is going according to plan. He demonstrates this by letting us know there is a plan (and it all works out in the end!) We see all the prophecy about the first coming carefully fulfilled in Jesus Christ. What is still in our future will be painstakingly orchestrated as well. We can live our lives in optimism and hope because we live for a powerful God who holds the future in His hands. So on days when I am discouraged, feel hopeless, or wonder if the news could get worse, I count on God's promise: "In this world you have tribulation, but take courage: I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a story of a ship and its occupants moving perilously close to the rocks in a violent sea. The ship's passengers huddled together on the deck below, in terror that their lives were at an end. One brave man volunteered to go above deck to seek out the captain to ascertain the situation. With great difficulty, he made his way to the pilot house. There he found the captain, chained to his post, hands confidently on the wheel. Seeing the passenger's terror, the captain gave him a reassuring smile. The man gave his fellow passengers his hopeful news when he returned to those huddled below. "All is well. All is well. I saw the pilot's face and he smiled."

I had a similar experience once on a bumpy flight to Hartford. I sat in the same row as a uniformed pilot who had caught our flight to get to his next assignment. While turbulence usually makes me nervous, this time I watched him. If he suddenly hunched over into a crash position, I would know it was time to panic. However, while he calmly slipped his coffee and read his magazine, I knew all was well.

I believe this is the reason we are allowed a glimpse into the future. In the midst of seeming uncertainty and conflict, we as people of God can rest secure in the knowledge that He has it all in hand. Nothing happens that surprises God. Beyond the conflict and agony of this life, we have the hope of certain victory in Christ. The story is already written.

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A Steadily Burning Light

2009-02-14T09:06:00.003-05:00

When my husband and I were dating, we often took advantage of the many free things to do in nearby Washington, D.C. One night he brought me to the Lincoln Memorial, which is impressive during the daylight hours but truly awesome by night. After seeing the statue and writings of Lincoln, we stood on the steps and admired the view of the Washington Monument and Capitol Building reflected in the long rectangular pool below. Steve then took me around the back of the monument and pointed out the dark hillside which was Arlington National Cemetery, located just past the Memorial Bridge. We could see a light flickering on the hill in the distance very clearly. I asked Steve what it was, and he told me it was the eternal flame at President Kennedy's graveside.

The next day we walked through that cemetery and came to the site of the eternal flame. To my surprise, the light we had seen from a mile or so away was just a small gas flame about eight inches high. That small light could be seen from a great distance when it was surrounded by darkness.

We live around people who are living in darkness. God has called us to be light. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven," Jesus told His disciples. I'm sometimes tempted to believe that the opportunity to shine comes only in the infrequent great moments, like when I have a chance to share the gospel with someone or speak before a large crowd of women. Yet a light that flares only briefly in the darkness then flickers out quickly is much less useful than the kind of light that burns with a steady glow.

We are to be light in every moment of our lives. Paul wrote the Colossians: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Our testimony's effectiveness to the world around us is determined by each small decision we make, each word we speak, and each attitude we hold.

We can have a huge impact on neighbors and friends by simply being faithful in what God has given us to do, and by being content in where God has us. People will quickly spot peace in our attitudes and joy in our hearts. For those living with an unquenchable thirst, our lives will look like a cool refreshing glass of water. They will begin to think: I want to be content in my life. Why are they different? I want what they have. Our very lifestyle will make them thirsty for the Living Water we can offer them.

J. Gregory Mantle, a preacher who lived in the late 1800's in England and America, once wrote: "It is far harder to live for Christ moment by moment than it is to die once for Him; and if we wait for great occasions in which to display our fidelity, we shall find that our life has slipped away, and with it the opportunities that each hour has brought of proving our love to the Lord, by being faithful in that which is least."

We don't have to be Billy Graham to be used to inspire others to seek God. Just by being faithful to what God has called us to do, whether it is driving a truck, teaching school, or mothering small children, God can use our determination to serve to glorify him. And you can be sure our faithful obedience to him will be seen and noticed by others still living in darkness.

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From Caterpillar to Butterfly

2009-02-06T08:52:00.002-05:00

In the fall that I was a student teacher in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a kindergartner carefully brought a monarch chrysalis to school. He had found it attached to a milkweed plant in a field by one of the seaside marshes that dotted the coastline. His teacher put it into an aquarium, and over the next few days, the class excitedly observed the changes that were visible within the semi-opaque cocoon. All eyes were on the chrysalis as time moved on, waiting for the special moment when a beautiful butterfly emerged from its cocoon.

One Monday morning, as we all converged on the coffee machine, the kindergarten teacher shook her head in disgust. "It hatched over the weekend," she sighed. "The kids are going to be so disappointed."

While in this case a bit uncooperative, the life cycle of the monarch butterfly is a science lesson most elementary school teachers have taught sometime in their career. The insect begins as an egg, laid on a milkweed plant, which hatches into the larva stage (what we call a caterpillar). This little guy goes on an eating rampage, chewing through every milkweed leaf he can find. After a few weeks of this, he forms a cocoon around himself, a bright green hard shell dotted with markings that look like pure gold. This chrysalis hangs from a milkweed for several days while astounding changes occur within its walls. Finally, the metamorphosis is complete, and a beautiful Monarch butterfly emerges.

Paul uses that same word, metamorphosis, to portray what is happening to us as believers. He describes this ongoing process in Romans 12:2. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. . ."

Paul puts the idea of transformation in contrast to the idea of conformity. The world claims to offer individuality, touting its value for the independence and rights of the individual. But in reality, following the world is a walk away from freedom. Trying to remain conformed to the world after becoming a child of God is like putting clean, fresh water into a dirty, contaminated container. Instead, Paul urges, leave the world behind. Something miraculous and astounding has happened to you. You are a new creation. Don't go back to your old habits and ways of thinking. It doesn't make sense in light of your new identity.

Paul then offers an alternative. Be transformed. The verb is in the present, passive tense. It would be more accurately translated keep on being transformed. It is God who is doing the transformation within us. This is an ongoing, continual, and lifelong process. The Greek metamorphosis conveys the idea of a radical reversal in our thinking, our values, and in our methods in expressing these things.

Transformation can require a complete destruction of what was in order to build what will now be. A home on our street, owned by a reclusive old lady, was showing serious signs of neglect and ruin when we first moved into our home a few doors down. Raccoons had invaded the attic and for many years had made themselves at home. The construction company that eventually bought the home told us the wild animals had nested there, chewing electrical wiring and staining the interior walls of the upstairs floor with their urine and feces. In order to make the home habitable again, the builders completely gutted the home. The whole house's interior was stripped down to studs. Only then could it be rebuilt into a beautiful new home, with new wiring, drywall, and flooring.

Sometimes our transformation involves demolition in our lives as well. This can be a painful process. But it is a necessity to make room for the ultimately superior new. Where sin once dwelt will eventually be inhabited by godliness. Foolishness will be blasted away to make room for wisdom. A life made helpless by out of control desires will be transformed to allow the peaceful control of the Spirit. The process may not always be pleasant, but the outcome outshines any temporary discomfort that may be necessary.

In contrast to the conformity demanded by the world, this transformation takes place within the parameters of the individual person God created us to be. He carefully crafted us with specific gifts, strengths, and weaknesses. Following Christ does not require becoming a "Stepford" Christian. The opposite is actually true. The verses immediately after Romans 12:2 are focused on the individuality of the church body's members in terms of exercising the spiritual gifts we were given. Metamorphosis is not the process of being squeezed into a mold. Rather, transformation only makes us a new and improved version of what we were when He saved us.

Each of the stages in a monarch butterfly's life is a movement toward the final mature phase. God has the same purpose in our transformation. He is interested in making us "perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:4). Out with the old. In with the new. It is a process which may at times be distressing. Yet the final results are worth it all.

Keeping House

2009-01-27T10:18:00.004-05:00

While staying with my cousin in New York City this past weekend, I spotted a book on her shelves about the science of housekeeping. Not being a disciplined housekeeper myself, I decided it could only help me to glean some tips from this expert who had turned sparkling bathrooms and swept floors into a scientific formula. Within a few pages, her simple message was made clear: Keep After It.

The author recommended spending a few minutes in the morning and again at night straightening the home as a matter of routine. She laid out her Law of Housekeeping: a clean place is more likely to remain clean. Once clutter has begun, it too easily gains momentum. She cited a hallway chair in her home that had remained clutter-free for the previous six months. Then one morning she left a book and a sweater on it. By evening, toys, magazines, tools, etc. had accumulated in a pile atop of her original items. Clutter begets clutter, she cautioned.

Once-a-week cleaning is a must. All washable floors should be mopped once a week. Every surface should be vacuumed, including lampshades and corner cobwebs (although I must admit it is a stretch of the imagination that any cobweb would dare to form in this lady's home.) All appliances should be shined and countertops cleared and scrubbed. Mattresses and pillows should be aired weekly as well.

Oh, boy. I shut the book with a guilty slap. Most of my housecleaning gets done in the hour before guests arrive. I prefer to entertain in the evenings, because dark hides dirt. Someday when I replace the carpet in my living room, it will be the exact color of the dirt in our front yard. (The previous owners of our home carpeted our entire home in off-white. She must have had a maid.)

Just like housework, our spiritual lives can also benefit from the housekeeping law Mrs. Clean set out for her readers. Keep after it. A great biblical example of letting things go and consequently letting them grow is the story of David's sin. His first mistake was to allow his gaze to linger over the beautiful woman bathing on the rooftop below. Then he sent for her and engaged in extra-marital sex while her husband was off at war. Later finding Bathsheba pregnant, he set the wheels in motion to have her husband called home to hopefully sleep with his wife. When this plot failed, David eventually arranged to have the husband killed in battle. One sin necessitated another to avoid consequences. Like the author's hallway chair, soon a pile of trash existed on top of the original offense. The consequences were grave indeed. Bathsheba's baby died as a punishment for David's sin.

What if David had seen the woman and quickly turned away? What if he had prayed for strength to remain sin-free in that moment? Much heartache and trouble would have been avoided. Clutter begets clutter. And sin begets sin.

Jim Elliot, martyred missionary, spent the early hours each day in his young life in Bible study and prayer. That would have satisfied most of us in our spiritual life requirements. Yet at lunchtime, Jim would again spend time in the Word and prayer. Why? He felt his heart had grown cold during the hours he had labored in his job.

It is so much easier to recover from a little slip than from a free-fall. The Holy Spirit prompts us immediately when we sin. That conviction should lead us to instant repentance. Yet too often I ignore the nudge. I rationalize, I excuse. And soon I find myself with a pile of clutter, making an easier fix impossible.

Paul had written the Corinthians about sin in their midst. Though the initial confrontation was painful, the Corinthians responded with godly zeal. Paul told them later on, "Though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it... now I rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance." (2 Cor 7:8).

We have been given everything we need in order to live godly lives (2 Peter 1:3). The Holy Spirit, prompting and teaching us as we live, is a huge part of this provision. Staying tuned in to His guidance will go a long way towards preventative maintenance. Jim Elliot had the right idea. Turning our hearts toward God in prayer and immersing ourselves in Scripture renews our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit's prodding. Only when our hearts are tuned in to Him can we hope to keep sin at bay.

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Just an Ordinary Sparrow

2009-01-13T11:02:00.002-05:00

As I sat eating my breakfast before the sliding glass doors of my kitchen this quiet morning, I watched two sparrows hopping along the deck, hoping for a stray seed. They are tiny birds, unremarkable in their coloring or markings. Sparrows are a common bird as well. Everywhere I go, I see them flitting around, ever-hungry and searching for a morsel. Even their call is little more than a plain old 'cheep'. When it comes to birds, especially when compared to the beautiful but nasty blue jay or the brilliant red cardinal, there is nothing extraordinary about a sparrow. Just your plain, run-of-the-mill kind of bird.

However, the sparrow had its moment in glory when Jesus used it to demonstrate the involvement of God in our lives. As Jesus prepared His disciples for their lives as messengers of the gospel, He knew the obstacles and persecution which lay in their future. He also knew that the future was not to be feared in light of the security of an ever-watchful Heavenly Father.

He told them, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul . . . Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs on your head are numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Matt 10:28-31)

Jesus was communicating the intimate involvement God has with His creation. Even a sparrow, so common as to be sold two for a penny in the marketplace, was ever-kept within the careful sights of the Heavenly Father. Not one would drop to the ground without Him knowing or even orchestrating its circumstances. Jesus then went a step further to bring home His point: God knows us better than we even know ourselves. Do you know how many hairs are on your head? God does.

I can’t help but be thankful that Jesus used a sparrow, of all birds, to bring home His point. A plain, unremarkable bird, numbering in the millions all around the world. Just like me.

There is nothing that makes me stand out from the crowd. I am not important nor am I famous. I do not have much money or any kind of enviable possessions. I have no remarkable talent or reason people would be drawn to me. If I were to stand in a crowd of Annapolitans, no one would ever pick me out as someone worthy of recognition or even concern.

But I am important to God. This middle-aged woman, with body parts headed south, extra weight firmly attached to her middle, hair that needs a touch up every five weeks to hide the gray, is important to God. He knows how many hairs (in ever-decreasing number) are on my head. He knows my thoughts before I think them. He cares when I am hurting and holds my tears in His hand. I matter to Him.

This is a concept I still struggle to get my mind around. Yet it is truth-- and I count myself very blessed to be regarded as more valuable than many sparrows. That the God of the universe, creator of all things, would bother to know me so intimately boggles my mind. I cannot make sense of it, but I can bask in the fact, knowing I am loved so completely.

New Year's Resolutions: Lots of Good Intentions

2009-01-01T09:48:00.003-05:00

"Guilt drives us to the cross, but grace must lead us from there or we cannot serve God . . . There is no more powerful motivation for holiness than loving God in response to the revelation of his redeeming character and eternal promises." Bryan Chapell, Christ Centered Preaching

How are you at keeping resolutions? I am the world's worst. Mind you, I am full of good intentions. I will keep a cleaner and more organized house. I will lose weight. I will study harder at Greek. At the starting point of a new resolution, keeping it is a breeze. Why did I live like I did before turning over this new leaf? Life is so much better this way. I will never go back. Sometimes I even try to convert others to my cause. How could they not follow in my steps? This way is infinitely better.

But soon, as time wears on, I begin to consider falling off the wagon. This is too hard. I miss the convenience of doing things the old way. It wasn't so bad before. And soon I discover I have lapsed back into my old habit once again.It is often the same as we try to live for Christ. We read or hear something that convicts us to change our ways. So we resolve to act on that conviction. We will be more diligent about reading our Bible. Pray more. Get control of our tongue. But soon the enthusiasm wanes. The high priorities of yesterday diminish in light of the new urgencies of today. And the resolution dies a quiet death.

Where can we find a motivation that will last us longer than our own good intentions? Guilt is usually my chief motivation, a powerful force in my life. Yet in reality, actions motivated by guilt are actually only self-serving. I attempt to change something because I foolishly think that God will love me more if I can get a handle on this thing in my life. This, of course, is a very faulty assumption. He knew me before the foundations of the world, knowing every selfish act I would commit before I was even born. Knowing all that, He chose to love me anyway.

So trying to earn favor from God is a useless motivation. In the end anyway, guilt fails to produce a lasting change, because it is at its roots a serving of self. As soon as I have worked long enough at change to ease my guilty conscience, the motivation is at an end. And I fall off the wagon.

But what if instead I acted in response to the unconditional love and grace God has lavished on me? Donald Miller wrote a great paragraph on this in Blue Like Jazz. The gist of his wisdom was that if an ordinarily lazy man were to fall in love, he could swim the English Channel for the sake of his beloved. Love is a huge motivator.

Our greatest incentive for change comes as a response to the grace and love the Father has already poured out on us. "For the love of Christ compels us, having concluded this, that one died for all . . . so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) The greater our understanding of who God is and what He has done for us, the greater our motivation to love and serve Him in return.

So rather than focus on my behavior and what I need to accomplish, I will choose to focus on the God that I serve. I will focus on His great love for me and on His perfect character. And my behaviors and attitudes, the ones which so desperately need to change, will suddenly be revealed for the dark, dirty habits they are, existing in a life which has already been paid for by the precious blood of Christ. The stronger my love for Him, the stronger my motivation. Less of me, more of Him.

"We love because He first loved us . . . by this we know we are children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments." (1 John 4:19, 5:2)

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Good-bye, Dad

2008-12-25T23:11:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, on this bright and mild Christmas day, my father left this world behind and went to be with the Lord. While he was struggling with ever-increasing weakness in his limbs, his heart continued to beat strongly, giving us no indication that the end was so near. Then on Tuesday evening, sudden and severe pain had my sister dialing 911. He was rushed to the hospital and in 48 hours was dead from a blood clot in his lung. Losing him so quickly and in the midst of holiday celebrations has been numbing. I miss him already.

My dad was a wonderful man, a good husband, and one terrific dad. He had a great laugh. One of my favorite childhood memories is of each night when he would come home from work and open the Hartford Times to the funnies and roar right out loud at the jokes. He loved to laugh. You could tell him the same story over and over, and he would still laugh heartily over the punch line.

Our little family went on a vacation every year. We didn’t have too many where things didn’t go wrong at some time or another. At night, we would lay in bed, roaring at our misery. The more miserable we were, the harder we laughed. In retrospect, my best vacation memories are of the worst vacations. Like when we went camping at Virginia Beach and it did nothing but rain the entire time. Two years in a row.

One thing my family taught me was that laughter can get you through a whole lot. I will miss laughing with my dad.

I have many fond memories of spending time with my dad from my younger days. We sailed together, mostly on Bolton Lake, but down at the Connecticut shoreline as well. Every year he took me along to help him shop for my mom’s Christmas present. I loved singing next to him in church, him belting out the bass line while I sang alto. (Dad taught me how to sing parts from a hymn book when I was in fifth grade.) He taught me to ride a bike, plant a garden, and how to wash dishes. We shared a love for music; when I heard a good piece of music I could hardly wait to get home to share it with him. We had great talks about the Lord. His firm conviction in his salvation and the presence of God in our lives was a great influence on me.

Dad was a giver. When my mom died, there were quite a few people that came to me with stories of how my dad sent money to them when it was needed. He was always ready to lend a helping hand or some good advice. He felt responsible for those people he knew. And even for those he didn’t.

One rainy afternoon, as he crept along in traffic on route 84 west, he spotted the reason for the backup. A lady was on the median with a blown out tire. He stopped and changed it for her. Her spare was also flat. So he told her to drive slowly off the highway, and he would follow her to the nearest gas station. The grateful husband called dad the next day and offered to send he and mom out to dinner (he looked Dad up because of the ZINE license plate). My dad was only embarrassed to be recognized for his good deed.

Dad was a happy man. I’ve never known someone to be more content than him. He enjoyed a good meal and always remembered to compliment the cook. We used to sit on the front porch together on summer evenings, enjoying the sunset or watching an approaching storm. He noticed things in nature and enjoyed them. Dad taught me how to smell the roses. Even in his last months, when he was basically bedridden, he told me, “You know, as discouraging as my condition gets, I have never been in pain. I’m so grateful for that.” He was not a complainer.

I am a lucky girl to have had such a great dad. The world is a sadder place without him. But while I grieve my loss, I know he is in a better place. He saw my mom today after a nine year separation. I have been imagining their reunion all day-- how joyful it all must have been. To picture him finally face to face with Jesus, the Lord he loved, brings tears to my eyes. This is not good-bye forever. I will see him again.

“Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” 1 Peter 1:3-4

The Rearview Mirror

2008-12-03T08:47:00.002-05:00

It was dark, and I was late. I was on my way last night to speak at a Christmas Tea just north of Lancaster, PA. Sitting in stop and go traffic in Baltimore had used up all of my smoodge time. There was no time for mistakes. I took a wrong turn.

I didn’t panic until I ran out of civilization and realized something was very wrong. So I stopped at a convenience store to get help. Eight kind people gathered around my set of Google directions, trying to figure out where I was supposed to be headed. No one had heard of the cross street I was seeking. Finally one man in the crowd recognized my destination. He pointed me in the correct direction. I left the store amid warm wishes of good luck.

I found where I made my mistake, and gratefully resumed my course. The tea started at 7:00. It was now 7:10. Turning on to an even smaller rural road, I heard a clunk. My rear view mirror had just fallen off the windshield. Oh, come on.

Once I arrived at the church, my time with the ladies at Cocalico Community Chapel was well worth the trip. They were warm, friendly, and ready for a good time. While in the ladies room I met up with Suzy, who graduated from WBC with my husband and remembered him well. At my table, I sat with Esther, whom we also discovered had an interesting connection with me. Her best friend, Barb, lived with us for six months back in Lanham. I eventually shared with the women about the Light of the World, Jesus, who had come to bring light into a world walking in darkness. I even won a door prize! It was a very nice evening.

But now I faced the long trip home. In the dark. Without a rear view mirror.

Suburban girls like me get a little shook riding on dark country roads. I’m sure I would have enjoyed the scenery immensely if it had been daytime. But at night, the isolation and darkness seemed a little scary. And how would I ever make it home without a rear view mirror??

Yet as I drove my way south, to my surprise I discovered I hardly missed my rear view mirror at all. I really didn’t need it to drive safely. I remembered how much I depended on that mirror in normal circumstances. I began to wonder if I have spent a little too much time looking into my rear view mirror.

The Apostle Paul wasn’t guilty of looking backwards, at least not too often. He wrote the Philippians: “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus… forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul indicates the two directions he has trained his eye toward: forward and upward. Forward to what God has called him to do. Upward toward his power source and promise of reward.

Note the two directions Paul does not allow himself to gaze. Downward, at his own two feet and obvious fallibility. Backward, at his past mistakes and regrets.

If we are to fulfill the purpose God has for our lives, we need to be careful at where we aim our gaze. I have the tendency to gaze into the rear view mirror. I should have done things differently, better than I did. I worry over past conversations and how I might have been offensive, or worse, sounded foolish in what I said. I also like to gaze at my own two feet. How could God use such a faulty individual? Who am I to stand in front of women like I have it all together?

The problem with both directions is that they are all about me. What I did. What I said. What I can do.

Yet what I need to do is continue forward, with arms outstretched, step by purposeful step moving toward the prize which has been promised me. My gaze must remain on Jesus, who has already walked on my path and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. Resting in Him will provide the power to keep moving. The mistakes and regrets of my past are water under the bridge. Jesus died to release me from the burden of sin. He’s got it covered-- washing me clean in His precious blood.

I really don’t need that rearview mirror as much as I thought.

Expressing Gratitude

2008-11-26T08:42:00.003-05:00

From the outside, my friend Peter seemed to have it all together. He was a bright, gifted young man, who became a Christian during his college years. Immediately he began to study and grow, soon discovering he had an incredible gift for teaching. After graduation, Peter spent his first two post-college years in full time work for the Lord, teaching scripture and mentoring students at several local colleges and universities.

Yet as he progressed in his ministry, Peter began to be plagued with doubts. He may have been a dynamic teacher on the outside, but on the inside, he was a mass of conflict. So much of what he preached was coming back empty for him on an emotional level. He began to doubt about even the existence of God. Finally one evening, after much inner turmoil, he decided he could not live with the doubt any longer. He would abandon his faith for good.

A half-hour later, there was a knock on his door. A young college co-ed stood outside with tears in her eyes. As she entered, she explained that she had serious doubts about the existence of God. "I want to believe," she told Peter. "Please help me."

Peter stood in his doorway, uncertain of his response. He knew exactly what this girl was experiencing, since his own struggle had come to a head just that evening. He had already decided he himself could no longer live with the conflict. Yet at the same time, he knew what Jesus said about teachers who lead followers astray. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:6) Peter knew while he might no longer believe, he did not want to be responsible for another's spiritual demise.

So he sat down and shared with her from God's Word. They looked at the five hundred witnesses who saw the resurrected Christ. In Matthew they saw how over one hundred prophecies written eight hundred years before Christ's birth were fulfilled during His lifetime. Too much evidence was contained in Scripture itself to be denied. It just didn't make sense NOT to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

As Peter saw his young friend out the door, he knew he had just talked himself back into believing. By teaching the truths he already knew, those truths became even more compelling for him. There is a power that comes in verbally expressing our faith.

Paul tells the Ephesians that they should live lives yielded to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17-21). What he suggests to foster this is to make verbal expressions of their faith: speaking to one another in psalms, singing hymns and spiritual songs, along with giving thanks for all things. There is something powerful about truth, that when shared aloud with others, it benefits the one speaking as well as the recipient.

Perhaps that is why Paul makes sure to mention giving thanks in many of his letters. We should be faithful to express thanksgiving aloud. And as the words come off our tongues, what they express becomes real to us in a new way. When we remind others about the faithfulness of God, we are encouraged ourselves and enabled to trust Him more fully.

This blog post is an excerpt from my weekly email devotional, The Dogwood Digest. To subscribe to this free newsletter, please use the link provided on the right hand margin of this page.

Broken to Reveal

2008-11-22T08:41:00.002-05:00

The small regiment of three hundred men crept silently up the hillside under cover of night, excruciatingly aware of the enormous army camped in the valley below. As per earlier instructions, the men quickly fanned out in three groups, surrounding the camp. In their hands were unlikely weapons for war: each held a trumpet and a clay pot containing a hidden burning torch. They hunkered down and waited for the signal blast of Gideon's trumpet. All was quiet.

Abruptly, the trumpet blast sounded, piercing the quiet of the night. A crashing sound filled the air as each man simultaneously broke the clay vessel surrounding his torch. Suddenly the night was lit with three hundred torches dotting the perimeter of the camp. "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!" the soldiers cried. The small army then blew their trumpets in loud, short blasts.

The sleeping camp below jolted awake. In terror, the disoriented enemy soldiers wildly looked around the perimeter of the camp and saw they were completely surrounded. Panic ensued. With no hope of surviving the onslaught, they fled the camp. The lights from three hundred torches had fooled a massive army into thinking they were outnumbered.

The clay pots had to be broken to allow the bright light of the torches to accomplish its purpose.

Many years ago, my husband and I were searching for a new church. One Sunday we attended a place which had a beautiful building, yet very few members sat in its pews. We learned they had recently gone through a terrible split when the previous pastor had to be dismissed. What once had been hundreds was now a congregation of no more than fifty.

However, one thing really impressed us during our brief visit. A big banner stretched across the front of the sanctuary. On it one word was boldly emblazoned: Brokenness. It was evidently the church theme for that entire year. We felt assured that only good things could come for them with that particular desire. If they wanted to be used to spread the gospel and reflect the glory of God to their community, they could not have picked a better emphasis.

Brokenness is key to our walk with God. Paul wrote the Corinthians: "God . . . is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves." Like the torches hidden inside clay pots by Gideon's men, we contain the flame and bright light of the Holy Spirit residing within us. The most effective means to exposing the world to that hidden glory is to metaphorically break the container.

What is brokenness? It is a dying to self. It is a determination to put aside our self-interest for servanthood and our love for God. We are broken when we determine to live obedient lives in imitation of Christ. After all, it was through His brokenness, the willing surrender of His life for ours, that Jesus ultimately redeemed us.

Jesus put it this way: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)

While largely dependent on our attitudes and resulting actions, these are not the only means to brokenness. God brings circumstances into our lives to accomplish our brokenness as well. Pain frequently accompanies this process. Paul warns that we may be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, or struck down. These are the circumstances that God uses to produce a broken vessel. Yet we are also reassured by Paul that this process, while it may destroy our pride, self-sufficiency, or selfish desires, will not destroy us.

Like a piñata, which must be bruised, battered, and finally broken to allow its desirable contents to spill out onto the ground, our struggle will allow the treasure we hold within to pour out into the lives of those who surround us. Brokenness is the means to this important end. God will receive the honor and glory due Him. He chooses to do this though broken, earthly vessels.

This article is an excerpt from my weekly newsletter, The Dogwood Digest. You can subscribe to receive this free Tuesday morning devotional by using the link in the right hand margin of this page.

Forgetting the One Who Can Calm the Storm

2008-11-20T08:55:00.003-05:00

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:40

The disciples had not seen a storm like this one. As the Sea of Galilee was positioned in a mountainous funnel of sorts, wind could surge without warning down the narrow gorge from the north and whip the sea’s waters into a frenzy without warning. When they left the shore, the sea was calm. Now they feared the boat would be swamped.

Being experienced fishermen, the disciples knew how to handle a boat. But even the most experienced ones had begun to panic. The wind would not let up. The boat was filling with water, despite their attempts at bailing it out. They had tried everything they knew to keep themselves safe. All attempts had failed. They knew if their hope rested on their own resources, they were doomed.

So what did they do? They woke up Jesus, who was sleeping peacefully through the calamity in the bow of the boat. “Jesus! Don’t you care that we are about to go down with the ship?”

In stark contrast to their panic, Jesus calmly sat up. He spoke to the wind and the water with the authority He knew was His. “Be still,” He commanded. Immediately the wind stopped. The waves became calm water. Nature itself had obeyed the voice of the Lord.

The disciples were wide eyed as they sat in awed silence. Who was this guy? Even the wind and waves obeyed Him! If they were scared during the storm, now they were terrified.

We shake our heads at the disciples, who seemed so clueless. They had watched Jesus heal the sick, the lame, and cast out demons. Did they not realize that power like that could only come from God Himself? And why did they wait so long to wake Jesus? After seeing His compassion for others, how could they accuse Him of not caring?

We might shake our heads at the 12, yet we are too often guilty of the same mistakes. We have the benefit of looking back at the life of Christ. We are aware of His resurrection and ascension. We understand His mission in full, purposed to save the world from its sin. We are kind of like Monday morning quarterbacks. It is so easy to judge those who made foolish decisions while in the heat of the game after the game has been played out! So we, in our post-game wisdom, wonder at the dim-witted disciples. Yet even knowing what we know that they did not, we still make the same mistake.

When a crisis comes, all too often our first response is to rely on our own resources. Like the experienced fishermen bailing out the boat and barking commands to the other passengers, we depend on what we know to do in the heat of the moment. It is only when we come to the end of our own strength that we finally turn to the Lord, who has been present in our boat all along. We are helpless, out of ideas, out of hope. Now we are ready to listen to what He has for us. And when we see His hand at work in our lives, we wonder anew at who He is. When we turn to Him in trouble, we understand His power and compassion for us a little more. And we wonder that we did not turn to Him in our first moments of despair.

Deposit before Withdrawl

2008-11-11T16:21:00.002-05:00

It was a miscommunication. I wrote a check for the house mortgage payment. So did my husband, Steve. We both dutifully mailed them off, assuming the other had forgotten. A few days later, checks started to bounce. Realizing our mistake, we immediately called the mortgage company to get back our desperately needed funds. They assured us that the mortgage had been paid for the coming month as well. No, they could not refund our payment. Bottom line: we were overdrawn with no funds coming in until the end of the month.

So we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on our trip north rather than stop for fast food. My meal plans became centered on what we already had in the pantry. Wherever we could save a dime, we did. Our meager savings got us through the crisis, and by the end of the month, we were on stable ground once more.

You can't withdraw money you haven't put into an account. This is a lesson most of us learned in our first year of college or work, usually the hard way, when receiving notification that several checks had bounced. Worse yet, a hefty fee is applied for each check written on insufficient funds. Hard knocks lesson #1: You have to deposit before you can withdraw.

Jesus illustrated this point at a banquet held in his honor by Simon the Pharisee. A woman had come, uninvited, to express her love for Jesus. She knelt by him, her tears falling onto his dusty feet. Wiping the tears with her hair, she poured perfumed oil onto his feet. Each one of her actions was an expression of her devotion and gratitude to Jesus. Simon was not impressed. "If this man were truly a prophet, he would know just what kind of woman is touching him," he thought.

In the next moment, Jesus proved he was no ordinary man by responding out loud to Simon's silent thoughts. He told a story of two debtors who owed large sums of money. The first owed 50 denarii, which is equivalent to approximately a year's wages. The second owed 500 denarii, a debt unimaginable to a first century Jewish peasant. In an act of mercy, the money lender, seeing that they were unable to repay his loan, decided to forgive both men for their debts. They were free and clear. Jesus posed a question to Simon: "Now which one of them will love him more?"

What was Jesus getting at? The woman was a sinner, fallen from acceptable society, rejected and scorned by her own townspeople. Yet she had been given the gift of forgiveness. Now her cup overflowed. She had much love to give because she had been given much love. The bigger the bank account, the greater the possibility for withdrawal.

Zaccheus, chief tax collector, famous for his climb up a sycamore tree in order to see the Lord, was another notorious sinner. He too received acceptance and love from Christ. His immediate response to what he had received: start giving. He presented half of all he owned to the poor. By way of recompense, he promised to give back four times the amount he had defrauded each individual. What prompted him to be suddenly so generous with his resources? His account was filled to overflowing. Because he was unconditionally loved and forgiven, he could give without restraint.

Being generous with our love should be a prominent characteristic that marks us as children of God. Yet loving others is not always easy. In fact, some people are nearly impossible to love! How can God expect us to love the un-lovely? The answer is that He has already provided the resource we need to accomplish this. He loved us first. "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us," John wrote in his first epistle. "We love, because He first loved us."

We have already received a limitless quantity of love and mercy from God. He could not love us more. He gave everything most precious to Him to redeem and save us from eternal suffering and condemnation. All this he did while we were his enemies. Now, filled with the knowledge of how completely we are loved, we are capable of allowing some of that limitless supply to overflow from our lives into the lives of others. It is like filling buckets from an ocean. There is so much more than enough to go around.

Our bank account is filled to capacity. There is more than enough to give away. We can write those "checks" without fear of overdrawing.

This was the November 11 article of my devotional newsletter, The Dogwood Digest. To subscribe to this free weekly email, click on the appropriate link located on the right hand column of this blog. Thanks!

Why Do They Leave the Faith?

2008-11-02T22:51:00.005-05:00

I have recently been reconnecting with many of my former students through the magic of Facebook. I love reading about their lives, especially those who have continued to live for Christ beyond their years as students in the Christian school. But it is also heartbreaking to see so many who left Jesus behind when they left home for college and beyond. It brings up the age-old question of where we are going wrong in Christian education, as we are losing so many once they leave the fold.

A favorite show of mine comes on A & E and is about companies that buy an old, decrepit house, gut it, and turn it into a modern, beautiful home (then sell it for a huge profit). Of course, the process does not get accomplished without some heartburn on the part of those doing the transformation. But their frustration and the challenging circumstances are what make the show fun to watch.

On one particular episode, a South Carolina company purchased a home that had a renter currently living in it. The man was barely surviving. He was unemployed, drinking too much, and living like an animal. The house was trashed. But rather than evict the renter, the company took it upon themselves to improve his life for the better. They moved him out to a hotel while the work on the house went on. He was taken for a haircut and a shave, given new clothes, and in keeping with his new image, even given a new job. Finally, at the end of the show, the man was given the keys to his newly renovated home. A happy ending, to be sure.

Then a few months later, the same company was again featured on the show. An employee of the company stopped off to check on the man they had worked with months before to collect the rent. She was disgusted to find the man had already trashed the house. He had quit his job and resumed living like an animal. None of their efforts had done a thing to change this man’s life for the better.

In reality, the transformation months before had only been a surface one. We don’t change a person by changing their circumstances. Who we are remains, no matter where we are planted.

I once had a disagreement on this very subject with a fellow faculty member in a Christian school. He was convinced that if we made students tow the line on the uniform rules, it would impact their spiritual lives. “Make them conform on the outside,” he told me, “and they will conform on the inside.” I shook my head at such foolishness. No permanent change happens because of what we impose on another. Change only comes as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in a life.

And that is what God has provided for those who believe in Christ. Ephesians 4:22-23 tells us, “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your new mind, and put on the new self, which has been created in the likeness of God, in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” The change God has accomplished in us is more than a surface change. It involved the creation of a whole new self, created in the likeness of God. We are a new creation.

Our circumstances did change. Yes, there is hope where their previously was none. Yes, every minute of our lives now has meaning and purpose. But God did not just change our circumstances. The biggest change is in who we have become. We have been changed from the inside out. And the change is permanent.

As I ponder over the children who leave their faith along with the Christian school upon graduation, I have to believe that this truth is crucial to understanding the problem. So many who are educated in Christian school have only learned the language and outward actions that made them an acceptable part of the Christian community. They have adapted to their environment. Yet the circumstances imposed upon them will not bring a permanent lifetime change. True transformation is a work of God.

So what can we do as Christian educators and parents desiring to see our children walk with the Lord throughout their lives? We should pray for the Holy Spirit to do His work within their hearts. We also must be careful not to be a stumbling block to this all-important process by talking one way about God and living another. If we are forgiven, recipients of grace, loved unconditionally, then these same qualities must mark our lives. Kids can smell a phony a mile away. We represent Christ to them. We had better make sure their understanding of Him is not warped by our actions. We need to make sure our outward selves reflect the change that has happened on our inside.

But ultimately, God is the One at work in our children’s lives. My son Adam once told me, “Pretty much the kids you knew ‘got it’ while we were in school are the ones who continued on for the Lord.” There were not too many surprises, according to my kids, as to who stood firm and who walked away. It was the ones who had obviously been transformed from the inside out all along.

Confessions of a Spiritual Wannabe

2008-10-24T09:10:00.003-04:00

I am subscribed to several online devotionals which seek to minister especially to women. One particular group puts major emphasis on having a daily quiet time. I have a confession to make: I am a devotional failure. Oh, I have tried. I have invested hundreds of dollars in trying to find just the right devotional book. In my desk drawer are numerous prayer notebooks started with the dates carefully noted of when I first made a request. The spirit is willing. I just can’t seem to remain consistent. This week, I think I have discovered why.

I used to think it was because I was NOT a morning person. Anyone who sat with me for two years in early morning Greek class will testify to that one, along with my husband, who IS a morning person and will tell you most definitely I am NOT. And anyone who knows anything about devotions will tell you that the morning is the most appropriate time to spend with the Lord. It will set the tone of your day, and allow you to put priorities in order. For me, devotions in the early morning meant nodding off -- again.

So I tried it in the evening. Snuggling under the covers with my Bible at bedtime sounded like a good plan. The problem with a bedtime devotional was I was physically tired at the end of the day. My mind was tired, too. So as I struggled to stay awake, I found concentration to be at a shameful level. I was definitely not giving the Lord my best.

Spiritual people know if you are going to walk with the Lord, you had better be good at devotions. I was doomed.

This week my twenty-somethings Bible study group discussed Mark 2:23-3:12. Jesus had been walking through the fields with His disciples, and the disciples were picking grain to eat on their way. The Pharisees were indignant, because it was the Sabbath. It was an outright violation of the oral law. And so they confronted Jesus.

First of all, let me assure you, neither Jesus nor His disciples had broken any law in the Torah. They were not working to harvest crops. They were gleaning to eat. The Pharisees in recent centuries had taken the Law in the Pentateuch and written their interpretation of its parameters, known as the Oral Law. There were over 1,000 regulations in place about keeping the Sabbath alone. Picking grain to eat on the Sabbath did violate some of those-- but they were the invention of man, not God-breathed.

Jesus gave the Pharisees a firm response. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath,” he told them. God had put rules about the Sabbath into place to benefit man. Man would be tempted to work hard, trying to get ahead, for all seven days of the week. You can only operate at that level for a limited time. Life would become all about work and production. God put Sabbath rules into place to insure man would take a day to remove himself from his livelihood. That day was to be set aside to worship the Lord. Reconnect with God. Give man a chance to enter rest, both physically and mentally. It was a foreshadowing picture of the “rest” that God would offer man through belief in His Son-- an eternal rest (Hebrews 4:3-9).

The Sabbath was to benefit man. Yet the Pharisees had taken a gift of refreshment from God and made it into a burden for the people. The Sabbath had become a day where one walked on eggshells for fear of breaking a rule. The Pharisees had turned a simple concept and convoluted it into a system.

My husband says whenever we attempt to add specific rules to a command in Scripture, we end up on a legalistic track. It becomes all about keeping the system, rather than the people whom the system is supposed to be serving.

Back to devotions. We can’t view devotional time with God as a good luck charm, insurance that your day will go well. We also can’t make the effort one more thing to check off on our list to affirm us in our spirituality. The whole idea behind devotions is to spend time in God’s Word and prayer because we love Him, not because it is on a to-do list.

However those two things get accomplished is not important. I do my best praying while walking the dog or driving in my car. I have been a student of God’s word my whole life-- and while the way that I study does not match up to a typical devotional pattern, I am not ashamed of what the Lord has taught me over the years.

We shouldn’t do devotions because it is one more hoop to jump through. We should pray and study because we love Him and we need Him. So while my devotional efforts may not follow the standard expectation or pattern of most Christians, I am content in what the Lord and I have worked out together.

Gifted for the Good of Others

2008-10-10T09:28:00.001-04:00

As I scurry around today getting ready for a weekend retreat, I am thankful for what the Lord gave me this morning from Ephesians as I started my day with Him. I am in chapter 4, where Paul is listing the gifts Christ bestowed on those He redeemed. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. . . all given for the equipping of the saints. Not the saint who has been gifted, mind you. The saints who will be the recipients of the gifted individuals’ efforts.

Until this point, Paul had been writing about the need for unity within the body of Christ. Jews and Gentiles have everything that matters in common, Paul has told them. We all came to be part of the church from an equal playing field-- sinners saved by the grace and mercy of God. At the beginning of chapter 4, Paul tells the Ephesians to walk in a manner worthy of their calling. He then lists attitudes necessary to do this: gentleness, patience, tolerance, and diligence to preserve unity. It struck me as I read through these a few days ago that each attitude puts others’ needs before my own.

Now as I read the reason for the gifts given to members of the church, that same attitude rings clearly. We are here for each other. God has gifted us to build each other up.

In my line of work, that truth often gets swallowed up as a speaker gains popularity. It becomes all about their ministry rather than about the people that are recipients of their ministry. It is an easy slide into self-importance when you are up in front of a crowd, their faces earnest, writing down every word you say. Yet if we allow ourselves to become the center of what we are trying to do, we will miss the mark. Our ministry will become about self-promotion, rather than about assisting others to maturity.

God, protect me from this!! Make me so aware every time I stand in front of a group of women that you are choosing to use me in order to build your church. It is not about me, nor about building my ministry. It is about bringing others closer to the mark of being mature in Christ.

Every time I speak, the Lord seems to bring a truth like this along to remind me of my dependence on Him. I need it-- my heart so quickly strays from Him and on to my own agenda. My prayer today, as I travel up to the mountains to meet with the women at Grace Presbyterian, is that God will use me, the gifts He has given me, to encourage His people along the right paths.

Wanting to Belong

2008-09-24T08:43:00.001-04:00

I have always wondered about the ratings which determine the viability of television shows. Who are these people that named what show they were watching at any given moment? No one has ever called me to find out what I was watching. Then last week we received a postcard from Nielsen TV’s Media Research group inviting us to become a part of the Nielsen Family. They followed up a few days later with a phone call, instructing us how to fill in their booklet for one week’s worth of TV viewing. As the call came to an end, the lady on the other end of the phone told me enthusiastically: “You are going to have fun! Welcome to the Nielsen Family!”

Being included in a group can be a strong motivation, and Nielsen knows it. We used to call it the “bandwagon” technique of advertising in the fifth grade. Don’t be left out! Join everyone else who is doing it! As I finished my call with the Nielsen lady, knowing I was now part of this group which in part determines the success or fall of any given TV series, I have to admit, it did leave a bit of a warm feeling in my heart.

We all have a basic need for significance. We all want to belong. I thought about how people who become believers in Christ benefit in this way-- they suddenly find themselves a part of the church. They are warmly welcomed into the fold and are enthusiastically told of the privileges that come to one whose heart belongs to Him. Sunday mornings become something to look forward to as we meet with those who believe as we do. There is something very powerful about the fellowship aspect of being a Christian.

Yet, while the Nielsen Family may offer a bit of significance, we have been given so much more in Christ. Mr. Nielsen himself did not call me to invite me to join the family. In fact, he knows nothing about me. Not even my name. I was a randomly selected participant. However, the head of the Family of Christ searched me out specifically. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws Him” (John 6:44). The Father drew us, and before doing so knew more about us than we did ourselves. “The very hairs on your head are numbered,” Jesus told His disciples. The psalmist David remarked, “You perceive my thoughts from afar… Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O Lord” (Psalm 139:2, 4).

Mr. Nielsen wanted me to join the family because of what I brought to the table. I would benefit his organization by my small contribution. God draws us into His family not for what we bring, but because He is love. His grace and mercy are an expression of that attribute. We are delusional if we think we deserve anything but condemnation.

Nielsen made no sacrifice in order that I might be declared worthy to be a part of the group. They did not offer compensation for our efforts. They figure our being part of the Nielsen Family is compensation enough, I guess. God, on the other hand, gave everything that mattered most to Him in order to provide the means with which to join His family. He sacrificed what was most dear to His heart-- His only Son-- for us.

So while being a part of the Nielsen Family is an interesting idea, it is no match for the bigger family I have been made a part of thanks to the grace and mercy of God.

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will to the praise and glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:4-6

Honest in the Struggle

2008-09-22T23:39:00.000-04:00

Being engaged is a stressful period for anyone. At least that was the case for me and my man, Steve. As our wedding day approached, I began to struggle with doubt. Was I really ready to promise forever?

We were traveling to CT about a month before the wedding and stopped off for an overnight with friends. The wife of this happily married couple asked how things were between me and Steve. Confessing to my frequent periods of doubt, I confided, “You know, how you see things about the other person and say, ‘Do I want to live the rest of my life with that?’”

She shook her head, puzzled. “Oh no,” she sincerely replied. “I never had one doubt.” Her response shook me more than I cared to admit. Was this a sign that we were making a big mistake? Not knowing what was normal in a healthy engagement, I was afraid that maybe my struggle indicated our incompatibility. So over the next few weeks, I talked with other young couples who were already successfully navigating the waters of marriage. I found to my relief that doubts were a very normal part of the engagement experience.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is when Paul shares his struggle in living for Christ. “There was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-- to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)

The older and wiser I get, the more I understand my own inadequacy for ministry. My weaknesses and shortcomings often threaten to overwhelm me as I stand to address an audience. I am such a sinner. I certainly don’t have it all together. Why should anyone listen to me? The above passage is what I cling to in moments like this. Then I remember: Yes, in my own strength, I am weak and inadequate. That is precisely how God is going to use me. His glory will be revealed through the cracks in my armor.

It would have been a sad thing had Paul not made his struggle public as he did. Millions of Christians would have tried to follow in his apparently perfect footsteps, and they would have failed miserably. The simple reason is there is no perfect Christian. Not even the great apostle Paul! To present a good face is to set up a phantom standard. The worst thing is, as others observe us, they might believe the façade. Then they will look at themselves and lose heart. They will never be as spiritual as that guy.

Jesus shared His struggle with others. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He told Peter, James, and John: “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” He moved a short distance away from them, fell on His face, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Why did Jesus include His friends in that private moment, allowing them to see Him in His agony? Why didn’t He just show them a stiff upper lip and paste on a brave face?

I think the disciples needed to know that this event was going to cost Jesus dearly. They also needed to see it was OK to struggle. Most of all, they needed to understand that in the struggle, our most necessary response is to pray. So Jesus struggled in front of them. It would give them a memorable lesson, more than any teaching He could have verbally imparted to them.

We are grateful when we see we are not alone in the struggle. The perseverance of others against difficult circumstances serves to keep us moving in a positive direction. Only when we determine to be genuine with each other about our struggles, failures, and victories are we able to be an encouragement to the Body of Christ. Conversely, to act as though we never have doubts or problems only feeds our own selfish pride. Putting up a false façade may temporarily boost our own self-image, but we are setting others up for a fall when we do.

“Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:1-3

Heeding the Warning

2008-09-14T13:46:00.003-04:00

It has been fascinating to watch the aftermath of Hurricane Ike’s direct hit on the Galveston/Houston area. I am especially curious about the people who ignored the evacuation orders for the island of Galveston. As they are rescued off rooftops or come inland after wading through chest-high waters, they all have a harrowing story to tell. Mostly what they seem to say is “I didn’t think it would be that bad.”

Those of us who do not live near to a hurricane evacuation zone do not understand the mentality of staying put when a destructive storm such as Ike sets its sights on a city. We understand that weather forecasting has its problems-- just look at all of the hoopla that went on over Gustav, a storm that fizzled and disappointed all expectations. Several years ago, Houston was told to evacuate as Hurricane Rita bore down on the city. More people died in the resulting traffic gridlock than in the actual storm. In addition, it is expensive to evacuate. Where will you stay? How will your needs for food be met? With an enormous exodus of a major city, it might seem prudent to stay put.

The National Weather Service issued a warning that “certain death may be possible.” While this phrase was somewhat amusing to me-- certain death MAY be possible-- an oxymoron at its finest-- the message is clear. Get out of there. You may not live to tell the tale.

I wonder what Steve and I would have done, but not for too long. I am pretty sure we would pack up the car and head west. Why? Because if the possibility exists that the storm will be enough to take our very lives, any inconvenience seems a small price to pay to avoid “certain death.” If the possibility exists, we should take action.

Peter tells us that a judgment is coming upon the earth. “Mockers will come … saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” … But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men… But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up… Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.” (2 Peter 3:3, 4, 7, 10, 14)

The warning has been given. Yet many, like the ones who refused to leave Galveston, hedge their bets. Maybe the Day of the Lord will not happen during their lifetime. Maybe they have 80 some years on this earth-- so there is time to get serious about God later.

Yet the possibility exists that it could be today. Or tomorrow. And if the possibility exists, maybe we should take action.

I once dated a boy who loved to have a good time. When his grandmother died, for a brief time he looked death in the face. Seeing a window of opportunity, I spent hours with him explaining the salvation God offers to all through the death and resurrection of His Son. In the end, he just wasn’t interested. “I’ve got too much life to live. There’s time later to get serious about God,” he told me. I am heartbroken to report he died at 28 of AIDS-related problems. So much for thinking time was on his side.

If there’s even a possibility that we will face judgment, shouldn’t we act?

Colossians 4:14-18

2008-09-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 24

Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas. Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming form Laodicea. Say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment. Grace be with you.

Observations:
If you have made it this far, you should be very proud of yourself!! These are the last verses in the Paul’s letter to the Colossians. There will be one concluding post tomorrow which will wrap up what we have studied these weeks in Colossians. I hope this study has been helpful to you-- I have loved doing it and appreciate what God has been teaching me as well.

Luke is with Paul in Rome during his imprisonment there. He is identified as a beloved physician. We know a lot about Luke through other scriptural references. Luke was a gentile who first appears on the scene in Acts 16:10 on Paul’s second missionary journey. He travels with Paul from Troas to Philippi, where he stays after Paul moves on. There was a medical school in Philippi where many believe Luke received his training, and it is likely that he was picked to stay behind since Philippi and its people were familiar ground to Luke. When Paul swings by back through Philippi, Luke joins him once again and stays with Paul all the way back to Jerusalem and ultimately to Rome. There he remains with Paul at least until the writing of Philippians.

Luke wrote two accounts included in the canon of scripture: the Gospel of Luke, and Acts. He got most of his information by carefully interviewing eyewitnesses. When you are reading through Acts, you can tell when he changes to a personal account, because Luke stops saying “they” and begins to say “we”. Luke was especially careful to mention women in his accounts; names and important details that some of the other gospel writers did not mention. For instance, Luke tells about a group of women who followed Jesus and financially supported Him through His three years of ministry (Luke 8:2). This is not recorded in any other gospel. His books are the only books in the Bible not authored by a Jew.

Demas is also with Paul at the time of the writing of this letter. Unfortunately, Demas’s ministry would only last a while longer. In 2 Timothy 2:10, Paul writes of him: “Demas, having loved this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.” How sad that one dedicated enough to follow Paul, who was in chains, to Rome, eventually lost his desire to remain faithful.

Paul also gives a specific message to Archipus (mentioned again in Philippians as a fellow soldier, son of Philemon, hometown Colossae) about his ministry: Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” Did you notice that the ministry was not decided on by Archipus himself, but “received”? Ministry isn’t necessarily something one aspires to. Rather it is a responsibility that is handed to us from the Lord Himself. He equips us with gifts for the task and supplies the power for the work involved. Our obedience and effort are all that is required. This is a reassuring thought for me as I stand in front of an audience. God has called me, equipped me, and empowers me. The fruit of any ministry is a result of Him at work. We just need to be obedient.

Laodicea was to receive this letter originally addressed to the Colossians as well. We hear about Laodicea in the book of Revelation (chapter 3), when Christ urges their repentance from self-reliance. They were a wealthy church, and apparently eventually their wealth was a stumbling block to them in the end.

Application:
Not everyone who starts off well finishes well. We see the church at Laodicea as well as Demas somehow going sour before the last word is written in the New Testament. What made the difference between that and success? I believe it is where our focus lies. Demas became discouraged, probably with his circumstances. So he abandoned ship. Laodicea became focused on their own possessions and comfort. Suddenly the Lord was not so important in their lives.

Where is your focus drawn that might compromise your determination to finish the race strong? Prayerfully identify the things most important to you-- for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Colossians 4:10-13

2008-09-05T08:34:00.001-04:00

Day 23

Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); and also Jesus who is called Justus; there are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Observations:
Paul continues in his personal greetings, which is typical at the end of each of his letters. Some additional things we know about men mentioned here:

Aristarchus is mentioned several times in Acts (19:29, 20:4, 27:2). In Ephesus, Aristarchus was dragged into the theater during a riot which took place in reaction to a silversmith named Demetrius’ tirade. He was worried that so many people were becoming followers of Christ that the silver gods he and others made would no longer be purchased. The group he riled up stormed the city and dragged Aristarchus and Gaius into the theater. The cooler head of a town clerk prevailed and the men’s lives were spared. Aristarchus also traveled with Paul from Macedonia. He was originally from Thessalonica and went with Paul to Rome after his arrest. Paul identifies him as a Jew in this passage.

It is interesting to see that Mark had once again been by Paul’s side. In Acts 15:29, there is a dispute about Mark between Barnabas and Paul. Apparently on the first missionary trip, Mark deserted Paul and Barnabas in Pamphylia. Now planning their second trip, Barnabas wanted to take Mark along (who was Barnabas’s cousin). The feelings about this were so intense, Paul and Barnabas split up and went their separate ways. Paul went with Silas, and Barnabas and Mark sailed off to Cyprus. Yet we know the problem between them was eventually resolved, because in 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul writes of his desire for Mark to come to him. This is not surprising, in view of the intensity with which each of the men viewed their purpose in service-- to see Christ preached.

Epaphras was mentioned at the beginning of this letter as the one who brought news of the church at Colossae to Paul (1:7-8). He is mentioned again in another prison epistle, Philippians 1:23. Epaphras was originally from Colossae, and spend time in Philippi as well. His goal for the Colossians: that they may stand perfect (complete) and fully assured in all the will of God. He was apparently a gentile.

Application:
As Christians, we often dispute about doctrine or even less important things. Paul’s bond with each of these men is rooted in their relationship with Jesus Christ and their common goal to see Him preached. How often we let pride or a sense of self-worth interfere with the unity of the body! Paul was a man with strong opinions and a natural leader. Yet even he was able to put his own feelings aside and have unity with those he at times disagreed. Are there people in your church that make you mad? Think back over your relationship and plan for ways to show them love as Paul was able to do with his fellow workers.

Colossians 4:7-9

2008-09-04T10:39:00.001-04:00

Day 22

As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts; and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

Observations:
This last part of Paul’s letter is a section in which he expresses personal greetings and information. We know more about some of the people he mentions, as they are mentioned in other portions of scripture.

Tychicus was the bearer of this letter by Paul to the Colossians. He traveled to Colossae with Onesimus. We read about Tychicus in Acts 20:4. He was originally from Asia, and he traveled with Paul on his third missionary journey as Paul returned to Macedonia from Greece. In Ephesians 6:21, Tychicus is again mentioned as a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord. He was sent to Ephesus by Paul and was there during the writing of 2 Timothy. Paul promises in Titus 3:12 that Tychicus would be sent to Titus with the aim of accompanying Titus to visit Paul.

Onesimus, the one with whom Tychicus traveled to Colossae, has a very interesting story. He was a slave, owned by a Colossian man named Philemon. Philemon was a devout Christian who actually had a church meet in his home. Onesimus escaped, and while in exile, met Paul and became a believer. Paul was sending Onesimus back to Colossae in hopes that he will reconcile with his owner. Paul wrote a separate letter to Philemon, which is included in the Bible just after the letter to Titus. Paul told Philemon, “I am sending you my very heart,” and expressed that he wished he could keep Onesimus with him, since Onesimus was now “more than a slave, but a beloved brother.” Paul offers to make things right for Philemon by having him “charge what he might owe you to my account.”

Both of these men obviously meant a great deal to Paul and had stayed with him for a while as Paul endured house arrest. While Paul had a huge impact on the church during his ministry, he spent much time with individual men and women, carefully teaching them. Paul cared deeply for those with which he ministered.

So did Jesus. He dealt with people on an individual level, winning one heart at a time. And so should we. One person at a time, one heart at a time. Each one is precious in God’s sight. Not one is insignificant.

Application:
Who is God placing in your path today? What does He want you to do for them?

Colossians 4:2-6

2008-09-01T15:10:00.001-04:00

Day 21

Devote yourself to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I might make it clear in the way that I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

Observations:

There are three specific commands in this passage that Paul passes on to the Colossians.

1. Devote yourselves to prayer.
If the Colossians are going to be able to put into action all Paul has told them in this letter, prayer is crucial to their success. Christ expressed this to the disciples in John 15: “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” The Colossians must go to God frequently and remember that they are not doing anything on their own strength. They have resurrection power available to them-- and to not tap into that source would be foolish.

Paul gives specifics about their prayer:
a. keep alert
b. have an attitude of thanksgiving
c. pray for Paul: for open doors and clarity of expression

2. Conduct yourselves with wisdom.
The wisdom Paul refers to here is wisdom from above (3:2). If we conduct ourselves as the new creatures that we are, we will be acting in line with the image of Christ. Not only should the Colossians do this with fellow believers, as Paul taught in chapter 3, but with outsiders as well. Every interaction with a nonbeliever is an opportunity to show them Jesus Christ.

3. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt.
I was perusing several blogs today and was just floored at the nasty rhetoric that went on in some of the political blog talk. We have a country that is seriously divided along political lines. The venom and hatred expressed so freely is shocking-- on both sides of the debate. The world needs Jesus! They will see Him every time we give grace and forgiveness as we speak. There is no room for hatred or bitterness in a Christian’s self-expression.

All of these general commands are a wrap-up to the teaching Paul has given in his letter. We are to walk worthy of the Lord and please him in all respects. Our lives should bear fruit. Christ is God, and the head of the church. He has already won the victory on our behalf. So stop living in the past! We can live in victory, because He has already won! This should be played out in all of your relationships. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, heartily, as for the Lord.

Application:
Is my speech seasoned with grace? Do I give people the benefit of the doubt, or do I stand ready to judge?

Colossians 3:22-25

2008-08-29T20:51:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven’t posted for a few days! I was subbing in fourth grade for a dear friend the first three days of school. It was fun to be back in the classroom for a few days, but I am quite happy to be sitting back in front of my computer once again this morning! I promised to get us through Colossians by the end of the summer. It looks like we will spill a bit into September due to the days I was forced to miss posting. But Monday begins the last chapter-- so hang in there!

Day 20

Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

Observations:

Paul continues to apply his instruction to the specific living situations his readers may have found themselves in. Yesterday we looked at family relationships. This morning we examine the relationship between slaves and their masters. While none of us are technically slaves, if you receive a paycheck, you are answerable to someone as you labor. So all of us can benefit from Paul’s instruction here.

Paul gives several instructions in how slaves are to obey their masters.

1. Not with external service, but with sincerity of heart.

This verse reminds me of whenever my small children had a fight. After hearing both sides of the story, I would bring the children together and require an apology from all sides, since the innocent party was rare. Sometimes the apologies would be almost comical if they weren’t so full of anger. “SORR---YYY,” a child would intone, their voice and facial expression both very clearly conveying that the required apology was less than genuine.

Slaves would be tempted to give a minimum effort, with a bad attitude just below the compliant surface, since the benefit for any effort would go to the master alone. We also might be tempted to give just such a half-hearted effort ourselves, especially if our supervisor appears less than competent or demonstrates other “unforgivable” flaws. Yet Paul warns against this kind of justification.

Key to Paul’s argument is what he stated back at the beginning of the chapter: Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. We no longer walk as though our life is centered on earthly things. We serve a higher power and live for a bigger purpose than pleasing men.

2. Work as for the Lord, rather than for men, knowing you will receive the reward of the inheritance from the Lord.

Paul observes that the people who rule over slaves are their masters, but clarifies they are masters on earth. Slaves are to obey them, but do so for the Lord. For in the end, their reward will be from the Lord and not from men.

Paul’s main point is this: It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Our salvation touches every part of us. We are wrong if in our thoughts we try to compartmentalize our Christianity into neat little boxes. In reality, who we are in Christ spreads itself through every part of our being. Once saved, every part of our lives belongs to Him. How we act in our jobs and in relationships will all be affected. It is like spaghetti, not waffles!

Should we refuse to please God in this way, it should not surprise us when we suffer ill effects from our less than stellar service. I have seen Christians assume they are being persecuted at work for their beliefs when in reality they suffer because they are incompetent or behave in an obnoxious manner. The consequences Paul is speaking of here are earthly consequences, handed out by an earthly master. Being a Christian does not protect us from the consequences of our own sins against men.

Application:
How am I serving in my earthly responsibilities? Am I giving lip service or trying to slide by, excusing my lack of integrity by pointing the finger at my circumstances? Or am I serving the Lord wholeheartedly in whatever situation He has allowed me to be in? Make a set of goals for yourself that will live out the action Paul is commanding in this passage.

Colossians 3:18-21

2008-08-26T00:01:00.001-04:00

Day 19

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

Observations:
Paul continues in his exhortation to “put on the new self . . . according to the image of the One who created him.” Our new identity in Christ should be manifest in our relationships. Earlier Paul made general statements about how all Christians should treat each other-- with forgiveness, humility, and compassion. Unity should mark the church.

Now Paul gets relationally specific. Walking worthy of the Lord means reflecting the character of Christ in all of our relationships. Perhaps the most challenging of these relationships are within our own families. A true test of the extent of someone’s godliness is in how they act at home. There we relax and let our guard down, not worrying about appearances. Yet our new self should affect every aspect and relationship in our lives-- even those at home.

1. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
It is interesting that Paul begins with the wives. The husband is the head of the home, Paul writes elsewhere (1 Cor 11:3). Why wouldn’t he begin with him? I wonder if it is because the wife largely sets the tone in her home. (Remember this one: “When mama ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy”?)

A wife, by her submission, sets the tone in her home. A wise older woman once told me that it was my responsibility to teach my children to respect their father. I took that advice very seriously. I never spoke disparagingly about my husband to my children. The larger part of that instruction, however, occurred as I lived out my commitment to my husband in front of the kids.

Biblical submission is not a synonym for obedience. Otherwise, why would Paul have used a different word when he addresses the children two verses later? Submission is voluntarily putting the needs of the other above our own, with the purpose of enabling them to fulfill their responsibilities. (I did a word study on submission several months ago, which is located in this blog’s archives on February 25, 2008.) Implicit in submission is a respect for God’s purpose for that individual.

2. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.
Biblical leadership is not a position of power. Peter makes this clear in his first letter, when he exhorts the elders to exercise oversight, “not lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3). Nowhere in scripture are husbands ever commanded to make anyone submit. Submission is a voluntary act. Biblical leaders lead by example.

Paul urges husbands to love their wives, a command repeated in Ephesians 5:25. That love needs to be sacrificial in nature, as Christ’s love was for the church. This kind of love does not come naturally to anyone. Yet it is possible for us because we have been made new creatures in Christ.

3. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things.
Again, obedience is not a natural instinct!! No one had to teach my children to roll their eyes or shirk responsibility. I had a friend that decided she would never say “no” to her children, so that her children would not shout the word at her like many other toddlers she had observed. She soon discovered no instruction was needed for her son in this little skill-- he shouted no with the best of them.

Yet as believers, our relationship with Christ needs to be displayed in every area of our lives, even as children. No compartmentalizing of this life-changing encounter.

4. Fathers, do not exasperate your children so that they will not lose heart.
This is a great command of which all parents should sit up and take notice. We need to notice every time our children try to do the right thing. They may not do something thoroughly enough by our standards, but we need to see the heart behind the effort. I knew a mother of a little first grader that worked an hour on a take-home paper for school. She carefully chose each color and worked hard to stay in the lines. When she proudly turned the paper in the next morning, the teacher glanced at it and wrote: Messy. Try to be neater. The child was discouraged that her effort had meant nothing to the teacher. The next time she hardly tried at all.

Children want to please. Before we begin to throw around accusations, we need to listen and find out where their heart is in each situation. We need to give them the benefit of the doubt. We don’t want to discourage them from future effort.

*****

All of these relationships are affected by the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Just before today’s passage, Paul commanded the Colossians: Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Our contribution to a relationship is not based on what the other person does. It is based solely on the fact that we are living for Christ alone. The kind of wife, husband, child, or father you are should be a reflection of this fact.

Application:
Think of three ways you can fulfill Paul’s command to you in your own situation. Pray and ask God to help you do these things in obedience to Him.

Colossians 3:17

2008-08-21T07:56:00.001-04:00

Day 18

Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Observations:

This one verse is so power-packed, it needed its own special slot in our daily Bible study!

Whatever you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. . . Paul is implying a life-style level of commitment with this single statement. To do or say something “in the name of” someone else is to assume their approval of that action. Peter used this very phrase in Acts 3 when he commanded a lame man: “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene-- walk!” By invoking the name of Jesus, Peter made two things perfectly clear. First, he demonstrated on whose behalf he was performing the miracle. Second, he leaves no doubt as to the power source behind the miracle. Peter was acting as an ambassador for Christ. Paul also calls himself an ambassador two times in other New Testament letters: 2 Corinthians 5:20, and Ephesians 6:20. To operate in the name of Christ is to operate as an ambassador of Christ.

What does an ambassador do? He first is a representative of his government to the foreign country in which he resides. He delivers or fulfills the messages and wishes of his own head of state and acts purely on his command. An ambassador is not there to expound on his own viewpoint or opinions. He is there to make the desires of his chief known.

When we operate in the name of Jesus, our own feelings and prejudices are to be put aside as we strive to represent the King of Kings. Paul already hinted at this idea when stressing the need for unity within the body.

Whatever we do, whatever we say, we are to be doing all in the name of Jesus Christ. How we treat strangers at the grocery store, the manner with which we speak to our spouses, how diligently we carry out our responsibilities at work, should all be a reflection of our commitment to Christ Jesus. We live for Him, we act because of Him, and any good we accomplish is through His power.

Application:
Today as you go about your routine, remember you are an ambassador for the King! May all of your actions and words reflect that fact-- do all in the name of Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:12-16

2008-08-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 17

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just a the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Observations:

Paul has now spent quite a few verses refuting the false teaching present in the church at Colossae. Part of that false teaching involved an idea of elitism, where only a select few would receive the special knowledge necessary for salvation. This invoked disunity among the people. Paul, in reaction, stressed the unity that we have in Christ. The fighting and verbal abuse must end. Harmony should be what marks the people of God.

The Colossians needed to replace their prideful interactions with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. They should bear with one another and forgive what had gone on before. Why? Because Christ had forgiven them of much worse. If we are following Him, we will imitate Him. And forgiveness is a part of that package.

The Colossians were to function as one body. There were two things Paul names that make that kind of unity possible. The first is love. The second is peace.

1. Love
To find a good biblical definition of love, go to 1 Corinthians 13. Love, according to biblical standards, is not an emotion. Rather, it is an action. The actions of love place the other person’s needs above our own agenda. Words Paul uses, like patient, kind, does not seek its own, does not hold an account of wrongs, etc. all paint a picture of selfless devotion to another. Here in Colossians, Paul echoes this idea. Loving actions are described with the additional: compassion, humility, gentleness, and forgiveness.

Imagine what an awesome body of believers we would be if we followed Jesus’ example of love. Philippians 2 gives a thumbnail account of this. Christ emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the most shameful kind of death: crucified on the cross like the worst kind of criminal. He didn’t hold back-- He gave until our needs were satisfied.

2. Peace
How can we love like that? It is not possible unless we are satisfied ourselves. That’s where the peace of God is essential. When we know our every need is met in Christ, we can give with others in mind. We can rest in His promises. We can rest in the fulfillment only He can bring. We can rest in His sovereignty and intimate involvement in our lives.

Knowing that we are filled to abundance, the need to promote ourselves and our agenda becomes a rather meaningless effort. The peace of Christ allows us to love like we should.

Application:
What other selfless actions do you associate with love? Make your own list. Check out Ephesians 4 for some ideas.

Colossians 3:9-11

2008-08-18T10:32:00.002-04:00

Day 16

Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-- a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Observations:
Paul has just finished reminding the Colossians that they have died to earthly things. The false teachers were teaching that the Law must still be followed. Paul told the Colossians that this was an earthly solution, which was inadequate at best. Christ gave us a heavenly one. Our salvation came to us through Christ.

Another part of the false teaching was an idea which drove a wedge between God’s people. The false teachers taught that the special knowledge required for salvation was granted to a select few. It would be an elite group that found acceptance with God. Paul blows this idea right out of the water in today’s verses. There is NO distinction between Jew and Greek, slave and free, circumcised and uncircumcised. All we need to know is Christ. All we need to be is in Christ. We all had the same exact problem-- we were sinners in need of a Savior. Christ wiped the slate clean for each believer. This puts us all on an equal playing field: saved by grace. There is no place for disunity within the body of Christ.

Unity of the believers is a strong theme throughout the New Testament. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he was addressing a plethora of major problems within that body of believers. Things like incest, adultery, abuse of the Lord’s supper, etc. horrified Paul and got a strong reaction from him. Yet what is the most important problem Paul addresses at the onset of his correspondence? Disunity in the body. Jesus prayed for His disciples the night He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knew they faced a tumultuous few decades ahead as God established His church. So what did Jesus pray for? “That they might all be one. . . that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21)

Any group of people can have unity when they are united around a common cause. But it takes supernatural power to have unity in the midst of conflict. Undoubtedly, the church through the ages has been a body with diverse opinions on doctrine and theology. Yet in the face of these, we are still commanded to have unity with each other. The basis for this is simple: we are all saved by grace. We are all in Christ Jesus. When we fuss, argue, and judge each other, we have taken our eyes off of the reason for our faith.

Paul is addressing the symptoms of this very problem. Apparently, the Colossians lied to each other, struggled with anger, and abused each other with words. We as Christians can easily succumb to this behavior, and astonishingly enough, often claim we are doing these very things in the name of the Lord! I was once a part of a church split that was ugly and hurtful. Each person held a strong opinion as to the doctrine in dispute. Unfortunately, they allowed their opinions to become more important than their fellow believers. Several people who had been attending the church as seekers turned away in disgust when they saw the behavior of those who had been claiming to live for Christ. I’m pretty sure the Lord was turning away in disgust as well. Pride was the main motivator-- and everyone involved lost. The church eventually dissolved as a result of the cancer which ate away the body from within. Satan had found a foothold in the anger and abuse of believers toward one another.

Application:
When have you experienced disunity in the body of Christ? What could you have done to obey Scripture’s command to be unified in Christ?

Colossians 3:5-8

2008-08-14T15:01:00.001-04:00

Day 15

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.

Observations:
Here is the “therefore” word again—telling us Paul is drawing a conclusion based on what he has just said. In the passage preceding this one, Paul encouraged the Colossians to keep their focus on the things above, because they have died to earthly things. Now Paul gets specific on what the “earthly things” are to which they have died -- immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed. These are all marks of a person who lives for himself. As believers, we no longer live for ourselves, but to God.

These sins were the reason we needed a Savior in the first place—we were living in rebellion against our Creator, as what Paul calls “sons of disobedience”. Now that we have been rescued, to go back and try to live in that former way of life is to make a mockery of what was accomplished on the cross.

In the nineteenth century, girls wore shorter dresses until they came of an age when they were considered a woman. Once that age was reached, the shorter dresses were put aside and floor-length skirts and dresses were then worn, marking them as mature women. For a 21 year old to resort back to wearing the shorter dress of a younger girl would have been silly and inappropriate. Yet that is what we do when we put on the very sins from which we were rescued! We take on the characteristics of the ones who are still living in rebellion. We are to consider ourselves dead to these sins—because we are alive as new creatures in Christ.

Paul tells us to “put them aside”—which is an expectation that we be proactive in avoiding sin. The key strategy to doing this is in the previous passage. We are to keep our eyes trained on Christ, and our mind focused on things above. The battleground for spiritual things is in the mind. Peter tells us to “prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:13)

This is why keeping ourselves immersed in Scripture is so important. We are filling our minds with truth, which is preparation for spiritual warfare with the father of lies. Jesus Himself used Scripture as His weapon when confronted with Satan. He had plenty of power at His disposal, but Scripture was the weapon of choice.

Application:
What steps am I taking to prepare my mind? Do I have a strategy to avoid the sins of my old nature?

Colossians 3:1-4

2008-08-13T13:39:00.002-04:00

Dear Friends:
I apologize for not posting until Wednesday this week. I am up in CT painting and rearranging rooms in my sister's home, getting ready for my grand-niece that is on her way in October. My computer time is limited! I write with paint-stained hands, but am delighted at this chance to get online and share this vibrant passage with you. Thanks for coming by!

Day 14

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Observations:
Paul continues to address the false teaching that is present in the church at Colossae. Those promoting the heresy taught that keeping the Law, with its dietary restrictions and observances, along with self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, was necessary for salvation. In the previous chapter, Paul addressed the Colossians sternly against this idea. Salvation is through Christ alone. We cannot add to the victory of the cross—it was complete.

But Paul does not leave the Colossians just with what NOT to do—in chapter 3 he now addresses the positive side. Rather than putting our hope in earthly things like what the false teachers were promoting, Paul directs our attention to above the earth, on to the things above. Why? Because we have already died to the earthly means of attempting to win approval from God. We have already found the answer. It is in Jesus alone.

When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he shared the same heavenly vision: “Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:13, 14) Do you notice the two directions Paul is directing his gaze? Onward and upward. No looking back at the past and the sins we have committed. It was all covered by the blood of the Lamb. No looking downward at our own two feet and what we can do on our own. Our gaze is to be trained on the Savior who has done it all for us. It is to be forward, ready to go where Jesus sends us.

When Peter walked on the water, he remained on the surface as long as his gaze was trained on the Savior. It was when he began to look at the wind, waves, and his own two feet that he began to falter.

And so it is with us. Our gaze must remain on what has been done for us. We are complete in Christ. No amount of religiosity will make us more acceptable to God. The atoning sacrifice was made for once and for all.

Application:
How am I continuing to try to win God’s approval? How does pride have a part in my efforts? Give over your efforts to God and rest once again in the Savior. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.

Colossians 2:20-23

2008-08-08T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 13

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Observations:
How did we die with Christ? Paul answers this question in Romans 6: “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. . . We have been buried with Him through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. . . our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

Our “old self”, the self that was born under the bondage and condemnation of sin, died when we received Jesus as Savior. With that declaration of faith, we were “born from above” (John 3:6), which was a second birth, this time a spiritual one. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

With that information in mind, Paul is wondering why the Colossians would think of abiding by the rules and regulations of the former life they had. They had put that life in the grave! They had been reborn. Yet they were being tempted to go back to the same “old things” that they had previously left behind.

The false teachers were advocating a return to earthly pursuits. They were urging the Colossians to keep their focus on themselves and on what they could do to achieve “holiness.” This might produce a product that might look religious on the outside, but in reality was pulling the focus back down to earthly matters rather than being heaven-bound, tearing it away from Christ.

Anything that pulls a focus away from Christ is a journey down the wrong path. It becomes all about us and our accomplishments. Soon we get so wrapped up in doing and saying the right things that our love for Christ takes a back seat to the life we are trying to live for Christ.

What God wants from us is complete dependence on Him. He doesn’t want us to strut around in our self-sufficiency. He wants us at His feet, aware of our need for Him, aware of our shortcomings. Because the truth of the matter is, any sense of sufficiency beyond what Christ has given us is not reality at all, but purely delusional.

Application:
What part of your old self do you continue to try to resurrect? Ask God for the wisdom to see those things, as well as the strength to move beyond them.

Colossians 2: 16-19

2008-08-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 12

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Observations:
Paul is once again teaching against the heresy which was making its mark in the church at Colossae. As was said earlier in our study, this heresy eventually evolved into what is known as Gnosticism. False teachers promoted the requirement that the church continue to be under the Law and observe all of its rites, ceremonies, and holidays. Paul is very clear in many of his letters that the Law and its requirements no longer have us under condemnation. Yesterday’s verses said that Jesus took that Law and nailed it to the cross. He fulfilled every requirement on our behalf. The Law was paid in full.

Notice the things Paul points out as no longer a requirement.
1. food and drink restrictions
2. festival, new moon, or Sabbath day observances
3. self-abasement (or self-mutilation)
4. worship of angels
All of these were a part of the pre-Gnostic teaching that was spreading throughout the fledgling churches of the New Testament.

One night when Sasha the Dog was new to our family, I took her out for a brief walk before bedtime. She was still extremely skittish around anyone unfamiliar to her, but other dogs really set her off. As we walked by the neighborhood pool building, headlights from an approaching car shone on us. Our shadows were displayed against the brick of the pool house. Sasha went wild. I tried waving my arms and showing her it was just us, but she didn’t get it. The shadows were just as real to her as the flesh and bones that we were. It was really rather silly.

Paul is demonstrating to the Colossians that all of the requirements of the Law, with its dietary restrictions and observances, were only ever a mere shadow of the real thing. The Law was meant to make a point, sent in our preparation to demonstrate to us our need for a Savior. But the Savior had already come! Why would you dedicate your focus onto the precursor when you have already seen the main attraction?

Paul also speaks to the motivation of the group doing the false teaching. They were defrauding the people by distorting the truth. Why? They were judging people by their own standard. They had become “inflated without cause.” In other words, their finger pointed outward, judging everyone around them and finding them lacking (except, apparently, themselves). They were missing the point of Christianity.

We cannot judge each other because we are all equally guilty. We all stood condemned, we all needed a Savior. We were all saved by grace. Christianity should be the great equalizer. The playing field is level. No one can claim one act as more worthy than another. We all exist because of the grace of God. Legalism cheapens the grace of God and places the responsibility of our salvation back on our shoulders.

What is the remedy for this destructive attitude of legalism? Paul points it out at the end of this passage. Hold fast to the head, Jesus Christ. When Christ is in His proper place, as the head, controlling the whole rest of the body, our perspective is right once again. Legalism takes the focus off of Christ and zooms it in on us.

Application:
Becoming legalistic is too easy for us. We delight in judging others because it makes us feel better about our own inadequacies. What false standards do you hold others accountable to in your mind? How does that attitude take the focus off of Christ?

Colossians 2:13-15

2008-08-06T08:54:00.001-04:00

Day 11

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

Observations:
This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. In a quick thumbnail sketch, Paul gives us a wonderful picture of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. It was a victory unparalleled in the history of the world. Let’s take a look at what He did.

1. He made us alive.
We were dead. Maybe not physically, but spiritually, we were without hope or light. Because of the sin of Adam, the entire human race was condemned. Nothing we could have done could have wiped the slate clean. But Jesus could and did. His perfect atoning sacrifice paid for the sin of Adam and the subsequent sin of his offspring. “So then, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men” (Romans 5:18).

2. He forgave us all our transgressions.
I wish I could blame it all on Adam. But unfortunately, my sin put Jesus on the cross as well. My voice was among the mockers as He carried his cross down the road to Calvary. When He died for the sin of the world, He was dying for all of the times I rebelled and put myself above the mighty, perfect God.

3. He cancelled the Law, nailing it to the cross.
The Law was given to demonstrate to the Israelites how to live when following a perfect God. Its careful instruction reflected the holiness that was His alone. Our need to be saved from our own evil nature became perfectly clear when we matched our standards against that of a holy God. Paul told the Galatians: “The Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

As instructive as the Law was, it was “hostile” to us as well. We couldn’t meet its standards. No matter how hard we tried, failure waited around the corner. It stood in silent condemnation of not only what we had done but of who we were.

When Jesus paid for our sin, He took that Law and metaphorically nailed it to the cross along with our sin. The Law’s terrible, impossible requirements had finally been fulfilled. Our debt was paid in full. The heavenly Judge banged his gavel and set us free.

4. He disarmed and made a public display of the rulers and authorities.
Paul uses this same phrase, “rulers and authorities” to describe Satan and his army of fallen angels in Ephesians 6. Satan’s goal is to bring as much destruction to God’s creation as possible. He pulls out the heavy armory when it comes to people who seek after God. In Ephesians 6:16, Paul tells us to take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all of the flaming arrows of the evil one. What arrows does he aim in our direction? He reminds us that we are unworthy to be in the presence of God Almighty. He tempts us to move away from God in our own selfish pursuits. His intent is to make us feel we are without hope. Revelation tells us that Satan stands at the throne of God and accuses those who have committed their way to God. I can hear him now: What? You are letting her into heaven? Have you seen the way her heart turns so easily away from you? Watched how she makes a mess of her life? Looked into the dark, ugly parts of her heart?

If I run into Satan at the Throne of God, I will agree with him. Yes, Satan, you are correct. I don’t deserve to be here. I failed God even when I started with the best of intentions. But then I will point to Christ, and with all of the gratitude that is in my heart, look Satan right in the eye. I am here, not because of me. It is because of Him.

Satan lost the war that day that Jesus died for the sin of mankind. Not that there was ever any doubt of the outcome, of course. He still tries to engage us in skirmishes even though the war is already won. He has even had success, on a limited scale. But the outcome has already been determined.

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The cross was an ironic victory on so many levels. It was a victory over the impossible standards of the Law. It was a victory over sin. It was a victory over Satan and his army; his weapons are now powerless against us. We who believe are truly alive, and that life is eternal.

Application:
The victory over so much has been handed to us as a free gift. By the grace and mercy of God, we can claim Christ’s victory as our own. Are you living as one who has already claimed victory? Think about the areas in your life that do not reflect the victory that is already yours. Commit them to the Lord and ask for help to live out those things in a way that demonstrates you have already won.

Colossians 2:8-12

2008-08-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

Day 10

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Observations:
Paul makes a stark contrast in how we must walk by comparing captivity to freedom in Christ. The mind is the battleground where the world and its tainted influence face off against the new creation we are in Christ. What does the world have to offer? According to Paul, it offers philosophy and empty deception, according to its elementary principles and the tradition of men.

Unfortunately, the elementary principles of the world, the assumptions the world has and works from, are faulty at best. A living God is explained away and denied. Or even if God is somehow recognized, He is portrayed as either an inept fool or indifferent to people. Any idea that starts with one of these premises will not end well.

So Paul urges his readers to live according to the freedom Christ has given us instead. Look at the first three words of today’s passage. See to it. This is a command and acknowledges that it will take effort on our part to keep from becoming captive. We are not helpless-- Paul is asking that we be proactive!

What freedoms can we walk by-- in contrast to the captivity the world offers?

1. We have freedom from inadequacy. You have been made complete in Him. The world tells you that you are not smart enough, good looking enough, or talented enough. God says we are complete in Him. He has put resurrection power at our disposal. We have everything we need to walk worthy of the Lord: “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).

2. We have freedom from the flesh. Romans 6 delves into this idea. We were once slaves to sin. We walked around in the darkness and had no power over the sin which ruled us. “Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6). Circumcision was an outward sign in the Old Testament to identify oneself with the God of Israel. Yet God wanted more from His people. He wanted them to circumcise their hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16). It wasn’t about outward standards. It was about a heart change.

Jesus provided this with His crucifixion. Paul told the Galatians: “I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” (Galatians 2:20) Jesus “circumcised” or marked us as His.

3. We have freedom from condemnation. You were also raised up with Him. Once damned to the consequences of our human condition and our own deadly choices, we now live in the light, the land of the living. Rather than face punishment, we have been made heirs with Christ and look forward to a share of His inheritance.

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So how do we avoid the captivity the world is pushing on us with its empty philosophies and faulty assumptions? We identify with Christ, who has already saved us. We may have to live in the world, as lights reflecting the presence of God within us, but we should never identify with what it has to offer. Our identity is in Christ alone.

Application:
The world is insidious in its philosophies and assumptions. Where has it influenced you most? What steps can you take to change its influence?

Colossians 2: 6-7

2008-08-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 9

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Observations:
When you see the word therefore, always look to the Scripture preceding it to find out the why of what the writer tells you next. Paul has just finished telling the Colossians how he struggles on their behalf, in order that their hearts might be encouraged. He may be absent in body, but he is with them in spirit. Therefore. . .

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. How did the Colossians, or any believer, for that matter, receive the Lord? Through the grace of God. “For by grace you have been saved. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any many should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9) So we need to walk in grace. When we received the Lord, we were transferred from the darkness to the Kingdom of Light (Colossians 1:13). So we need to walk in the light. We were given total and unconditional forgiveness for our sin (v. 14). The blood of Christ paid for it all. So we need to walk in forgiveness. We were reconciled to God-- we started as enemies of God, but when we received Christ, God now calls us sons and daughters in His kingdom (v. 21). So we need to walk as reconcilers. Since receiving Christ, we have been presented as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach(v. 21-2). So our walk should reflect our holiness. Our actions should be beyond reproach. As we received Him, so should we walk.

Having been rooted and now being established in your faith . . . Have you ever watched the development of a plant from a seed? The first thing to spring from the seed is a root. Why is it so important to have a root first? The seed does have a supply of food for its fledgling plant as a part of its composition, but that supply won’t last for long. As the plant develops, the root must grow first. It will then become the source of life for the plant. Its tiny root hairs will soak in the water and nutrients from the soil. As the new plant peeks its tender head above ground, the root will serve to anchor the plant when winds buffet or rains pound down from overhead. The root is vital to the life of the plant. So it must grow first.

Paul writes that our root is in Jesus Christ. Our salvation is through Him alone. Our life exists because of Him. This is our foundation. Back in 1:23, Paul warned the Colossians not to move away from the hope of the gospel. Without that root, that provider of life, the plant will wither and die. We cannot hope to function as a Christian without full understanding and assurance that we could do nothing to save ourselves. Christ did it all.

Once the root has grown, the plant can be established. The verb tense here is present: being established. It is happening right now. Our “establishment” is an ongoing process. It comes from good teaching, as Paul writes: Just as you were instructed. A plant is never stagnant. Its life mission is to grow and produce fruit. While it is alive, a plant will continue to grow. New leaves will sprout. Fruit will grow, mature, and fall to the ground.

Our quest must be the same. Never stagnant. Always growing.

One of my favorite Connecticut memories is of an afternoon when I joined a group of young adults to go inner tubing down the Farmington River. We had a wonderful time, riding the occasional rapids with hands linked, screaming our delight as we splashed over the rocks. In other places the river was quieter, and only gently moved us along. The beauty of the sport was even if one did absolutely nothing, their tube continued to move downstream. The current was enough to carry us. We live in a world which is moving downstream, away from God toward self-destruction. If we do nothing, expend no energy toward keeping ourselves from drifting away from the Lord, we will naturally and unconsciously move in the wrong direction. Instead, we must fight the current, pursuing actively the things which He desires for us. Only then can we avoid the slow drift that will eventually lead us away from Him.

Application:
What does your walk reflect about your salvation and the God who saved you? How purposeful are you about your growth?

Colossians 2:1-5

2008-07-31T00:01:00.001-04:00

Day 8

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

Observations:
Paul had never met the Colossians, nor had he visited Laodicea. Yet he tells them he is struggling on their behalf, in order to encourage them. Have you ever put yourself out for a stranger, someone you have never laid eyes on? It is hard to conjure up sympathy for someone you have no investment in, whether in time or emotion. Yet Paul seems fairly passionate about the Colossians. How was this possible?

I think the answer lies in the verses that we viewed yesterday. Paul had a purpose and a singular passion: to present every man complete in Christ. Paul’s purpose and calling was much broader than any individual or even a specific church. Paul’s purpose was to build The Church. The encouragement of the Colossians was an important part of the overall picture.

How did he intend to encourage their hearts? He is targeting three things for the Colossians.

1. Having been knit together in love:
Unity is a big theme for Paul. He stresses it in most of his letters in the New Testament. For instance, when Paul first wrote the Corinthians, they were up to their ears in serious problems. There was incest in the church. People were abusing the Lord’s Supper. Spiritual gifts were being exercised inappropriately. People within the body were suing each other. But after his introduction in his letter to them, what problem does Paul tackle first? The division within the body takes center stage.

Unity is an outward expression of a healthy body. Unity means its members have decided that to love each other is more important than to struggle over differences in doctrine or opinion. They have decided to esteem the other as more important than themselves. And they have placed Jesus Christ where He belongs: at the head of the body. They are acting in submission to Him.

2. Attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding:
The Colossians needed understanding. They were being influenced by false teachers who were mixing truth with false teaching. Paul was praying that they would have a great understanding of the truth, so they could meet the false teachers head-on with full assurance.

3. Resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge:
Again, Paul is working against the false teachers in this phrase. The heresy going around the church in Colossae taught that only a select few could ever gain the mysterious knowledge needed for salvation. Paul is stressing that ALL of them can know Christ.

One last observation: Paul expresses two marks of a mature Christian. He rejoiced to hear of the Colossians’ 1. good discipline, and 2. the stability of their faith. The discipline was an indicator that the Colossians had their actions under control. The stability was a comment on their character. They knew who they were and Whom they served.

Application:
How do you fare in the marks of a mature Christian? Does discipline mark your life? Would those around you consider you a stable person, especially in the area of your spiritual life? Make a list of those areas in which you wish to see improvement. Commit them to prayer.

Colossians 1: 28-29

2008-07-30T00:01:00.004-04:00

Day 7

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

Observations:
In the section preceding this one, Paul wrote about the mystery that was now known: Christ in you, the hope of glory. He now writes about his ministry, in which his sole purpose is to proclaim the formerly mysterious messiah, Jesus Christ, to every man.

It is interesting to note just how Paul proclaims Christ. He was a great preacher; you would think that proclaiming Christ would involve a soap box, a street corner, and a crowd. While at times Paul did preach to a huge audience, this is not how he defines proclaiming Christ in this particular letter. How does he proclaim Christ? “Admonishing every man and teaching every man. . . so that we may present every man complete in Christ.” A better word for admonish would be counseling, while teaching involved instruction. Paul proclaimed Christ by encouraging each person he worked with through personal interaction and instruction to exhibit Christ in their lives. In other words, Christ is made manifest to the world through His Church. He is proclaimed every time a life is changed.

I have a friend named Mike who came to know the Lord through the ministry at Trinity Community Church. The change in him was instantaneous. He was so enthusiastic about God, his relatives started showing up on Sunday morning as well. His sister told me, “Mike was so completely transformed, we had to come here and find out what made such a drastic difference in him.” Christ was effectively proclaimed through the changed life of one He saved.

Paul’s goal was to make every man complete in Christ. The idea of being “complete in Christ” is akin to maturity. How do we as Christians get to that place, finally mature in Jesus Christ?

A look at the Greek word translated “perfect” helps us understand what Paul is saying. The word is teleios, and has a lexicon meaning of “having attained the ending or purpose; complete, full grown, mature, or adult." Philippians 1:6 tells us that “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” James (1:4) wrote that the times of trials in our lives will have their “perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Becoming complete (or mature) is a process. Maturity comes through learning the Word of God and through the experience of living out its truths in our lives.

Notice also two things we learn about Paul. First, his keen sense of purpose. Paul lived each day with the goal of presenting every man complete in Christ. It is an all-encompassing goal. Included in Paul’s purpose is his dedication to bring men along from new birth to spiritual maturity.

Later in his letter, Paul urges the Colossians to make the most of every opportunity given them. This was a man who lived by that rule. Paul wrote the Colossians from Rome, where he was imprisoned. He was under house arrest, chained 24 hours a day to a member of the Praetorian Guard (kind of like the Navy Seals of the Roman army). Can you imagine being a member of that guard, chained to a man with such focused intent to bring every man to completeness in Christ? Paul wrote the Philippians that his cause had become known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard. No doubt. This was one focused guy.

The second thing we see about Paul is how he is going about accomplishing that purpose. Paul writes he is “striving according to His power, which mightily works in me.” Paul found some time ago that the key to success was total reliance on the power of the Lord. After struggling with a “thorn in the flesh,” Paul had learned the hard way how to rely on God. He wrote to the Corinthians: “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

A sense of purpose and the power to pull it off. We all need both of these things if we are to be effective in our walk with the Lord.

Application:
Could you verbalize, as Paul did, your purpose in life? Spend some time thinking about this and try to write it out in one sentence. Then pray for the power to fulfill this purpose.

Colossians 1:24-27

2008-07-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Day 6

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Observations:

What is the “mystery” Paul is referring to here?

The Greek word translated “mystery” is musterion, and has a lexicon definition of something that was previously unknown but now revealed. There are over 20 times where this word is used in the New Testament. It can refer to as varied a subject as the mystery of God’s will to the mystery of the power of lawlessness. So we have to look at the context to figure out what mystery Paul is talking about.

The mystery was concealed from previous generations in ages past. It remained unknown until Paul’s generation, when it was revealed both to God’s saints and among the Gentiles. Paul identifies the mystery as “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Until Christ’s resurrection, God’s plan of salvation was kept shrouded from view yet in plain sight. Certainly the pieces of the mystery were all given within the Old Testament writings. The messiah was promised after the very first sin was committed (Genesis 3:15). Again in Genesis 12, Abraham was promised that “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”(Genesis 12:3) The messiah would come through the line of Abraham. Many years later, Abraham’s grandson Jacob prophesied over his son Judah, “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [messiah] comes”(Genesis 49:10). Four hundred and thirty years later, God’s instruction to the Hebrews as they prepared to escape the slavery of Egypt included a Passover meal, where a lamb was slain and its blood smeared on the doorpost to save the lives of those inside the house (Exodus 12). Later on, once the Hebrews were safely in the desert, the Law was given which required sacrifices to be made, blood to be shed as atonement for sins committed. All of this was a picture of and preparation for the Savior who would come and shed His own blood to atone for us on the cross.

Yet there were confusing aspects to the prophecies about the messiah. Mixed in with the many predictions of the messiah made by the prophets were also predictions of a glorious kingdom, in which the messiah would reign, as every knee would bow to him. Israel would be restored to the land after a long period of exile. We know now that there would be two comings of Christ, one to save us from the consequences of our sin, and a second to establish an everlasting reign on earth. As they say, hindsight is 20/20.

While the religious leaders of Jesus’ day paid great attention to prophecies of a political reign and restoration to the land, they largely ignored the many predictions of a suffering messiah (Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, for example). And so they were unwilling to accept Jesus as their messiah.

Jesus finally revealed the mystery to his disciples shortly after the resurrection. In Luke 24:27, we read, “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Once the many prophesied events had taken place, He was able to show them from the Old Testament alone God’s plan of salvation which had been in place all along. The mystery was revealed.

Now Paul speaks of the mystery here in Colossians. What was once “hidden” has now been “manifested.” The messiah had come and made atonement for once and for all. All who believed in Him would receive eternal life. His Spirit would come to dwell within every believer as a seal, a promise, that one day all believers would share in His glory and inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). Christ in you. The hope of glory. All that had once been a mysterious shadow within the pages of the Old Testament was now perfectly clear.

Application:
Spend some time thanking God for His amazing plan of salvation which was conceived before the very first sin. Though thousands of years, He patiently wove the events of history to get the world ready for the day His Son would come to earth. It is truly remarkable what He accomplished, and all on our behalf.

Colossians 1:21-23

2008-07-28T00:01:00.002-04:00

Day 5

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Observations:

Paul has provided a beautiful before and after picture for believers of all time. Notice how he compares our lives before and after Christ:

Before:
Alienated
Hostile
Engaged in evil deeds

After:
Holy
Blameless
Beyond Reproach

Also noticeable is the mention of the “fleshly body” of Christ. Once again, this was in response to the false teaching threatening the church. The philosophers of the day (Platonists) believed that the body and everything physical or material was evil. Therefore, Christ could not have had a physical body, since a physical body could not be anything but evil.

Paul and the other apostles wrote against this false doctrine. For example, in John’s first letter, he strives to disprove this. He reminds his readers: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life. . .” (1 John 1:1) Four out of five senses are mentioned! Those who knew Jesus personally in the flesh, which by definition included the apostles, testified that Jesus was God in the flesh.

The conditional clause “if you continue in the faith steady and steadfast” gave me pause, because at a first read it seems like our presentation as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach is conditional on our remaining steady in our faith. Could any part of our salvation rest on our own shoulders? The answer is an unequivocal NO, according to the rest of the New Testament! A closer look at the grammar of the clause in the Greek reveals this is a first-class conditional clause. This means the writer assumes the answer is positive. Paul assumed the Colossians were true believers, judging by their faith, love, and hope he mentions at the beginning of the letter. He does not wonder at the outcome. Their position in Christ is secure. The words which are translated "if indeed" could almost be translated "since then."

Paul gives us two lists in these verses. One list tells who we are in Christ: reconciled, holy, blameless, and beyond reproach. The second list tells us what those who are in Christ do: continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

The only way we can remain unmoved in our hope is by making sure our foundation is sure. Many of us remember singing about the parable of the foolish man building his house on the sand as children. The first storm came along and swept the silly man’s house from its foundation. Yet the wise man’s house, built instead on solid rock, remained unaffected in the storm. The foundation we must build on is the hope of the gospel. Our salvation is in Christ alone. It does not have anything to do with who we are or what we have done. It was supplied purely by the grace of God. When Satan comes along and attacks us, whispering doubts in our ears about our salvation, a man who has built his house on a less solid foundation will surely falter. Our house of faith must rest on the rock-solid foundation of Christ alone.

Application:
What are things that cause you to doubt your standing with God? Have you moved away from the rock-solid foundation in any subtle ways?