SPIRITUAL RESTING

So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.  Genesis 2:3

What God meant and what I perceive can be two completely different things.  I plugged in the meanings from the Hebrew words for resting. God ‘praised and gave strength’ to the seventh day and ‘removed it from common use’.

Something very powerful is going on.  This is the first instance of God making something holy, like Himself.  When God blesses, he infuses strength.  When God makes something holy, it is no longer common and ordinary.  And when God rests, he stops everything and ceases his work.

Do I believe that my Sabbath is a day like the other six except I don’t do much?  That can be the impression from the past generation as teaching on the power of original Sabbath rest was absent.  There were rules about everything we couldn’t do on Sunday but the privilege of being quiet to meet with God was never mentioned. We watched through our windows as everyone else had fun on Sunday afternoon while we were trapped inside.  Continue reading “Spiritual Resting” →

ENDURING THE SHAME

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.  Romans 1:16

            It’s not easy to stand alone.  Shame is a powerful weapon.  Perhaps you are the only Christian in your entire family.  The ridicule you have to endure because you believe God’s Word is cruel, even crushing, at times.

            I am writing this today to some Christian leaders who are fighting for truth in the midst of their own lukewarm congregations.  Committee meetings get overheated quickly in Laodicean churches as truth becomes relative and the sword gets dull.  The one who threatens the status quo is publicly lynched. Continue reading “Shame” →

THE DAY GOD BROUGHT ME A RABBI

For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Psalm 86:10

         Exactly three weeks ago, I broke my foot. A bad fall and a hard skid on pavement left me with some bad injuries. This happened one week before going on a family vacation. Disappointed that I would not be able to go to the beach or ride the extensive network of bike trails that our vacation spot offers, I adjusted my expectations with God. “Father, can this week be about you and me? Would you speak powerfully to me for the next seven days? I will press in, stay quiet, and listen.”

         The very first morning, I asked my husband, Ron, to take me to the lobby of a hotel that sits on the beach. The views are breathtaking and it’s the perfect place to be still. I made myself at home at a table by the window with my books, bible, and computer. For the next several hours, I studied and journaled. The book I was reading was about the Jewish context behind the well-known sayings of Jesus. It explored the role of Rabbis over the centuries and how Jesus was the ultimate Rabbi in how he lived and spoke. It described the powerful influence a Rabbi had over those he mentored – how he would call a young boy to leave everything to go with him in his travels. That boy would become his companion. I closed the book, sighed, and prayed, “Lord, how I would love a relationship with a Rabbi. He could answer questions and teach me things I would never learn otherwise.” I then packed everything up and prepared to leave.

         I thought I was the only one in this large lobby but as I was leaving, I passed an elderly man sitting in the corner. He saw my boot/cast, and called to me, “How did you break it?” I told him briefly.

         He said, “Sometimes, God has reasons for these things.”

         I answered by saying, “I agree. God is showing me things because of this break and He has my full attention.”

         He asked, “Then you believe in God?”

         I said, “Oh, yes – and as a director of a ministry, I get to draw others onto the path with me.”

         He asked, “What’s your ministry?”

         I said, “Daughters of Promise.”

         He asked, “So, what has God promised daughters?”

         I laughed and said, “Take a seat! It’s abundant.”

         Then, it began. He pointed to the chair near him and said, “Please do take a seat.” It was then that I looked at another chair next to him. It had a small pile of prayer shawls, tallits and tzitzits. I fell into my chair and said, “You’re a rabbi!” Continue reading “The Day God Brought Me A Rabbi” →

WHERE HAVE YOUR FRIENDS GONE?

But they [the men of the city] said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.”  Genesis 19:9

         Lot put all his hopes for a future in Sodom.  He conformed and got himself elected mayor.  He was popular as long as he fit in.  But when he took a stand against their sexual escapades, all of a sudden his friends turned on him.  Can you hear their sarcasm?  “Lot came here to live, a foreigner, and now he has become our judge?”  How quickly the winds of favor can change when God is absent from relationships.

         God made each of us with a need to belong, to be connected and know true fellowship.  Satan, ever the mimic, creates his version of camaraderie.  Confessions of love and devotion sound good.  Words like ‘loyalty’ are even spoken but the true nature of the love that is offered erodes quickly when one person in the relationship draws close to God.  At that point, righteousness becomes a sword that creates enmity.

         How many have married their soul mate, strength-to-strength and weakness-to-weakness?  The relationship works as long as the two souls look to each other to complete them.  Their dysfunctional puzzle pieces fit together perfectly.  But let one come to Christ and make Him their first love and the puzzle is thrown in the air to the wind of the Spirit.  Misshapen by the work of sanctification, the pieces no longer fit. Continue reading “Where Have Your Friends Gone?” →

MAKING WORDS COUNT FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

“I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  I Corinthians 2:2

A bad eloquence has entered the church and characterized the pulpit.  My husband and I, early in our marriage, sat under the teaching of someone who made it his aim to be clever with biblical concepts.  He wanted to be memorable.  He thrived on others feedback that praised his unique twists and turns with scripture.  His sermons became all about him having an audience, not about being a mouthpiece for God’s glory.  Not surprisingly, there seemed to be little growth under his influence.

The poet, James Denney, said, “No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save.”  

God-glorifying eloquence is not about putting words together to enjoy others praise. To be eloquent doesn’t require a masters or doctor of divinity degree.  In Acts 4, Peter had given his defense at the Sanhedrin’s counsel.  They saw the courage of the two men and realized that they were unschooled ordinary men who had been with Jesus.  Their manner of speaking, coupled with the obvious spiritual power at work inside of them, made a profound impact.

King David was schooled to be a king on a hillside as a shepherd.  Later in life, while praising God for being the One to equip him to rule, he proclaimed, “You, O Lord, have made me wiser than all my instructors.”  Princes, kings, and paupers have been inspired to praise God and learn how to lament with well-ordered grief through the eloquent writings of this shepherd king, counseled and instructed by the Spirit of God.

Eloquence can be ours for the sake of God’s glory.  We can share the scriptures with awe and humility, telling the story of our own need and God’s grace to save, and as we do, we give all glory to God for transforming the places where the locusts have eaten. The story comes tumbling out of our mouths with passion and tears.  It leaves many stunned, wondering whether to cry with us, rejoice with us, or just sit in their seats in absolute silence.  Their view of God just grew from an anemic deity to a mighty Savior.

John Piper, who has shaped my spiritual journey as much as anyone in the past decade, says…. “Let us not exploit language to exalt ourselves and belittle or ignore the crucified Lord.”    Paul said something similar, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Ministry becomes most powerful, most cutting edge – like the sharpened axe blade, most fruitful, most God-glorifying, most contagious…when our language is birthed out of the healing of our deepest wounds.  What was untouchable, unspeakable, becomes the catalyst for spiritual power when God transforms it into glory.

Oh Father, let the Spirit fall today where Your Word is shared. Let the sound of a pin dropping shake the room.  By Your Spirit, let the result be a harvest of souls who see the kingdom open up before them.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

WHAT KILLS MY FAITH

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.  Romans 4:19

When I consider God’s promises to me, they are always outside the veil of feasibility.  If I set myself up to depend on other people to reinforce my faith, that is unwise.  They can be weak vessels.  Because they didn’t experience the ‘call’, their ability to sustain my faith is weak.  Noah, as he built the ark, was cognizant of the fact that no one in his world had ever seen rain.  An ark that would float on water was absurd.  The ridicule he suffered could have been debilitating.  Yet, for nearly 120 years, he believed God. Continue reading “What Kills My Faith” →