Daughters of promise

What is it that rises up in me each morning to make me want to write?  The deep love of Jesus, the kind of love that makes no earthly sense at all.  It’s mid-morning, and I haven’t written anything yet because I haven’t stopped worshipping the One who loved an outcast.  I wasn’t a cute little orphan girl, all dressed up and on good behavior.  I was filthy and undesirable.  

It’s been hard to see myself that way since I was raised in a respectable, church-going family.  Childhood pictures reveal Easter Sundays with new dresses, patent leather shoes, and white gloves. My presumed goodness begs to get in the way of seeing myself as depraved, needing a Savior.  

But 2023 has been a year of deep change.  I’m understanding the Lover, and the context of being lost – and then being rescued.  I took a long look at Ezekiel 16 this morning.

On the day that you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren’t bathed and cleaned up, you weren’t rubbed with salt, you weren’t wrapped in a baby blanket.  No one cared for you.  No one did one thing to care for you tenderly in these ways.  You were thrown out into a vacant lot and left there, dirty and unwashed – a newborn nobody wanted.  And then I came by.  I saw you all miserable and bloody.  I said to you, lying there and helpless and filthy, “Live!”  I took care of you, dressed you, and protected you.  I promised you my love and entered the covenant of marriage with you.  I, God, the Master, gave my word.  You became mine.  Ezekiel 16  THE MESSAGE

The ‘field’ is Satan’s ‘field of the unwanted’.  Newborns aren’t treasured in his wasteland of a kingdom.  He just doesn’t want God to have them.  They are dirty trophies, uncared for, bloody, un-swaddled, and languishing.  He will raise them on filth, a degrading kind of diet for those who will never know one moment of nurturing until they are rescued by LOVE.

Look at the intervention.  God saw the births.  Saw the discarded newborns, unable to do one thing for themselves.  Their umbilical cords were still uncut, and rotting.  His reaction was not revulsion, it was compassion.  He spread His cloak over them, wrapped them up, and called them His.  “Live!”He said.  

This is the Gospel.  These were my beginnings.  God did it all.  Unless I embrace the truth of who I once was, I will never know the depth of His love.  And I will never respond with the depth of love that is possible for me to feel, and then to express in worship.  This is what it is to be a Daughter of Promise.   

For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:12

It is instinctive to overcorrect.  If I was raised in an overly strict home and was hurt by an iron hand, I will create a home with few boundaries.  If I was raised in an atmosphere of permissiveness and saw the fallout of rebellion, I will parent with a heavy hand.  Unprocessed pain causes me to swing the pendulum to the opposite extreme.  

This same principle holds true if God was misrepresented to me in my formative years.  If I was told that He was harsh, angry, and unreasonable, I will grow up to dismiss Him as Judge and Ruler, in favor of a God who is loving and accepting of all people and all behaviors.  Overcompensating always gives me a vision of God that is skewed.  As a child in His kingdom, I can’t afford even one distortion. 

Defining my past as God defines it is so important.  Allowing Him to diagnose it drops a plumbline of truth into my perspective.  I am the child of a God who is perfectly balanced.  I don’t need to be skittish as He re-fathers me.  I’ll experience Him as loving.  Just.  Disciplinary.  Gentle.  Fair.  Safely intimate with Him, distortions in my own parenting style will come into view, and I will make corrections. 

An imperfect upbringing isn’t the only catalyst that weaves distortions.  Satan devises schemes that build deception upon deception.  If he can get me to believe a lie about God, he knows that trust will erode.  I’ll accuse God of being too ‘one-way.’  This will wreak havoc on my parenting and in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Every day, the Truth-teller wants to expose lies.  Why?  Lies hurt the children that He loves.  And distortions that cause us to overcompensate in our parenting hurt the children that we love.    

Show me where I don’t yet know You.  Amen

And He said to them [Peter and Andrew], ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.’  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  Matthew 4:20

Many leave the faith because they had a bad experience with Christians.  We’re often not able to tell whether their disillusionment goes beyond people to Jesus Himself.  Perhaps they don’t even know.  If it’s your adult children who have walked away, you probably agonize as to where they will spend eternity.  Concern turns over time to anguish, affecting every part of your day. 

I sensed the Lord speaking to me about this a few years ago.  I saw that there was a need to differentiate between the rejection of American Christianity and the rejection of Jesus.   I remember wondering ~ ‘If Jesus walked into the room of many who have supposedly left the faith, would some be drawn to Him?  Would they see His glory and realize that their love for him was alive?  Would they understand that their issue was not with Him but with an often-toxic Christian culture?’  I believe the answer to these questions is yes.

Jesus hung out, much of the time, with disreputable people – those outside the faith.  Some were drawn to Him.  After just one encounter, they left their old life.  All of this played out against the backdrop of poor treatment by the religious crowd. 

So, in closing, think of a few people who weigh heavy on your heart today.  Picture Jesus walking into a room where they are.  Would they be repelled, or would their heart respond, soften, and reach out in love?  Perhaps they decided early on to follow Jesus, and their hearts are still bent toward the Light, even though unchurched.  Some of you, right now, are embracing new hope.  All is not lost, and the Holy Spirit is still wooing them through the fog of their confusion.  They need a private God-encounter.

Purify Your church so the disillusioned can come home.  But today, right now, have mercy on the prodigals and show them the Light of Your countenance.  Amen

THE YOKE OF THE INFANTS

 “Arise, cry out in the night; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord.  Lift up your hands toward Him for the lives of your young children”.  Lamentations 2:19

When God tells His child to do something, it is always layered with future implications.  God has been speaking to me about signing up to work in the infant nursery at our church. I was surprised, but when He confirmed it through a stray conversation I had with a woman who had just resigned from nursery duty, I knew I had heard correctly.

The call to work in the nursery might seem simple.  Years ago, I would have thought so.  Go to the nursery.  Volunteers are needed.  

I am also on a small intercessory team that meets during the service.  While in prayer, the Lord spoke to us about praying for the infants in the church, for the unholy yokes of the fathers to be broken.  “Ah, so that’s what this is about!” I said to the Lord.  “I will rock children and pray for their spiritual freedom.”

The spiritual needs of infants are invisible.  All look innocent.  Yet God’s call is clear to cry out for them.  If God is out to save children, we can be sure that Satan is out to harm and destroy them.  What is it we can pray:  

Lord, Break the unrighteous generational yokes.  Apply the influence of righteous family members.  I bless the children to hear Your voice and to respond to the call for adoption. Give them a heart to know You and to hate sin.  Cancel the enemy’s plan to harm them, even to snuff out their life prematurely.  I plead Your blood over them.  Anoint them with Your Holy Spirit and power!  Set your mighty angels in charge, all around, to guard their footsteps.  

The Spirit of the Lord aches for the unborn and for the newly born, the ones whose hearts can be freed to know and worship their Creator. 

“Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He walked with us?”  Luke 24:32 

On the day that Jesus’s tomb was found empty, two men were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.  They were both disciples of Jesus and were in deep discussion about the report they’d heard that Jesus was alive.  Incredulous, while simultaneously grieving, they wondered how it could possibly be true.  To hope seemed reckless.

At that moment, Jesus appeared and started to walk with them.  He challenged their unbelief about the resurrection and began to remind them of some Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah’s life, death, and rise to glory.  His words were dynamic but they didn’t yet recognize their walking companion. It was only as Jesus was about to leave that their spirits woke up somehow and they begged Him to stay longer.  As He broke bread with them, their eyes were opened and then He disappeared from their sight.  They looked at each other and said.  “We should have known.  Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He walked with us?”

It’s an awful feeling when you realize you missed something beautiful.  Someone life-altering.  I have failed to recognize more than a few God encounters throughout my life.  There were subtle fingerprints but, like the travelers to Emmaus, I only saw them after the fact.  I’m learning to wake up when my spirit starts to stir in the presence of Holy.   I’m alert when my heart begins to ache and burn.  I know now that this is one of the effects of Him stirring in my presence.

David speaks of these encounters best, I think.  “My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned.”  Psalm 39:3.   Oh yes!  And then Jesus said of his cousin, John the Baptist, “John was a lamp that burned and gave light.”  John 5:35.   John had never been blind to his cousin’s identity.  He recognized that Jesus was in his vicinity even while in his mother’s womb.

Thirty years later, as He saw Jesus approach from afar, He quickly identified Him as the  Lamb of God.  Whenever Jesus was anywhere near him, I imagine every encounter a supernatural one.   His heart was not dulled to the one he was born to serve.

I want to fully wake up from all vestiges of a life-long religious stupor.

 Make me more like John.  Make the intangibles of Your presence more real than my tangible world today.  I’m awake and watching for You!  Amen

Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.” Isaiah 28:16

Our family has known seasons of trauma. Because of that, all of us have wrestled with some personal theology. There were things I had to work through personally, truths about God’s character that I had to nail down. The pain had rattled these assurances from their foundations. It made me realize how many people, like me, have backed up from God during times of great distress. They have been unable to draw close to Him again. There has been a breach of trust ~ caused by the lies of the evil one who thrives on driving wedges between God and His children.

Several years ago, pour pastor began a series on the book of Nehemiah. He began by asking this question. “Where are there broken walls you feel burdened to rebuild? I remember spending time that week praying into that. It didn’t take long for me to discover the answer.

I want to re-build the broken walls by ~ defending the character of God to those in great distress, and I want to restore the breach caused by the bad theology, nurtured by the enemy when they were vulnerable.

Jude, Jesus’ half-brother, pleaded with God’s children. ‘Show mercy toward those who have doubts.’ Jude 1:22

How are you doing in the deepest places of hurt? How tenuous is your trust? I’m praying for you right now, where questions have chipped away at your assurances of God’s love and mercy.

Lord, bind our spirits together across the miles. Let faith live. And let our faith roar. Amen

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.  John 1:46 NLT

No one has ever fallen in love with Jesus because of another person’s story of faith.  At best, it only intrigued them enough to seek Jesus for themselves. Philip must have understood that because he urged Nathaniel to ‘come and see’Jesus himself. 

When someone pursues Jesus today, will He still reveal Himself personally?  Yes.  Some moments will be so dramatic that they will be described as mountaintops; others will be personal and profound and become a Bethel experience. These encounters will not be limited to unbelievers seeking to be saved.  They will also be for followers of Jesus who suffer monotony, who try to live on yesterday’s manna but come up empty. 

He implores each of us to seek Him relentlessly. Right now. The rest of today. Upon waking tomorrow morning.  He promises that He will be found!  He does not play hide and seek.  His glory will surprise us again and again at unsuspecting times and in unsuspecting ways. An ordinary day will be turned upside down as the eternal penetrates the temporal.  As He fills our field of vision, earth’s trinkets will no longer impress us.  They will cease to satisfy what we’re really craving. Those around us may not see all that is really going on, that we are in the middle of a holy moment.  We will know, however, as we draw in our breath and take off our shoes.  Even in the afterglow, our spirit will be hushed and dazed by the memory of it.  We will continue to tremble as the divine love story replays in our spirit.  

We will also know the frustration of trying to capture it in words for those closest to us. Ultimately, we will end up joining the many others through the ages who urged others to come and see for themselves.  Not all drop everything to seek Jesus.  They are content to be entertained by our stories.  They settle for a kind of second-hand faith, sometimes authentic but often inauthentic.  Faith for them is usually a casual thing.  But for each whose heart is stirred to personally taste and see that Jesus is glorious, life is never the same.

Jesus, You have met me in places too deep for words.  The wonder of it never leaves me.  Amen

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). John 1:40-41

Life can be turned upside down by unexpected news, or by an encounter with a person, or because of an experience you had with God.  When you attempt to share it with others, the impact is often far less on them than it is for you.  If it’s your good news, it’s not the same good news to them.   If it’s your bad news, the ramifications aren’t felt as deeply by them.  There can be few things more frustrating than to share something which sets your heart on fire to only get back polite responses.

But there are exceptions!  Never in a million years did Andrew expect to meet the Messiah.  But he did.  The encounter was brief, but there was a deep impact.  It was like lightening.  Breathless, he ran to find Peter to share the news.  Peter got up immediately and traveled with Andrew to see Jesus for himself.  His life was also forever changed, and this became the brothers’ shared experience.

Perhaps this kind of fellowship should be the litmus test for where we worship and with whom we study the Word together. We should dwell with a lively congregation of worshippers. Spirit partners can be family members and that’s ideal!  For brothers, Simon and Andrew, life took them on a journey where they walked in Jesus’ footsteps.  First, they traveled together as disciples of the Savior.  Then, on different continents as ambassadors and, eventually, martyrs.   

Take me to those whose ears are open to the difference You have made in my life.  Let me dwell with those who share Your impact.  Amen

“Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.  John 1:46 NLT

No one has ever fallen in love with Jesus through the intimate stories of someone else’s faith encounter.  At best, the story inspired them and then opened the door for them to seek Jesus for themselves. Philip knew that Nathaniel would only be convinced about the Messiah if he saw Him personally.  That’s why he urged him, “Come and see.”

Are such defining moments possible today for the one who asks Jesus to reveal Himself to them?  Yes. There are moments that become mountaintops; encounters that become a Bethel. These are not limited to unbelievers seeking to be saved.  They are also for believers who have settled for monotony, who are trying to live on yesterday’s manna. We are to seek, listen, and pursue God relentlessly.  The glory of Jesus will surprise us again and again at unsuspecting times. An ordinary day will be turned upside down as the eternal penetrates the temporal.  God’s glory will fill our field of vision and earth’s trinkets will no longer impress us nor satisfy what it is we’re really craving.

Those around us may not see what we see but we know it is a holy moment.  We’ll take our shoes off even as we remember it.  In the afterglow, we’ll live dazed by the memory and tremble in the distraction of it. We know it’s hard to capture it in words. That’s why we join the many other evangelists through the ages to say, “Come and see for yourself.” 

Lord, commune with us today in a place that doesn’t need words. Amen