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After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Genesis 22:1

I’ve spoken with three women, just this week, who believe God is testing them. He’s led each of them into the wilderness and the pain and pressure seem unbearable. Whether I am a new Christian or a seasoned believer, a time of testing challenges my view of God and how He loves His children. How can He say that I am the apple of His eye yet test me with pain? Can it really be that the resulting faith is so valuable that the testing is really a loving act, not a cruel one?

Abraham was told to sacrifice his own son on an altar. It’s inconceivable that God would ask such a thing, isn’t it?  So, I’m letting my unrest stand this morning. Questions are good. And though I already know the end of the story, Abraham didn’t. Like him, when testing comes, the pain that comes with it unearths the hidden things of my heart. What can stay conveniently veiled in good times erupts under stress. Lies and accusations abound when I may be unaware such things exist in my own soul. Perhaps this is one of the ‘gifts’ testing offers.

I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool. There are no shallow answers. Abraham was torn by his love for God and his love for his son. They appeared to be mutually exclusive. We can feel the tension without it eroding our faith. We can dare enter the story.

If you are in the middle of testing, it’s okay to allow your own questions to surface. God will lead us through the minefields and the experience will be profitable, not only to us, but to the people we encourage on the other side..

Lord, I want You to speak to me through this story. Only Your voice, Lord. Reveal Yourself and give me the treasures of the darkness. Amen

Never let the fire in your heart go out.  Keep it alive.  Serve the Lord.  Romans 12:11

When I read the biographies of great saints, whether biblical or historical, I’m always wide-eyed over their passion. I want what they had. God’s hand was on their shoulders and the fire of His Spirit went wherever they went.  He propelled their movements. 

Have you found yourself longing, even aching, to burn with a purpose that transcends what is earthly?   While that would be wonderful, there is a cost to embrace.  

• You may be in a marriage where faith has divided you.  Your home has hung together but perhaps that’s because you’ve toned down your Christianity.  You’ve made the puzzle pieces fit together by compromising your passion.  The cost for a life on fire will be that the puzzle pieces will no longer fit.  You will be out of sync (until your spouse embraces Christ and engages in the same journey).  You will obey Jesus instead of obeying your fear.  
• You may have a group of lifelong friends.  Down deep, you’re aware that you don’t really fit like you used to but they don’t know it yet. You’ve played it safe by not letting your love for Jesus and His kingdom ooze out in conversation.  You might fear that if you pursue the disciple’s life of passion, you will be alone, peculiar to your friends.  Following Jesus might mean starting over with new relationships. We must keep company with others on fire.
• You may be afraid of personal change.  You don’t know what you will be like if you give yourself completely to God.  It feels safe to stay the same.  It’s scary to become what you’ve never been before. 

One thing is for sure ~ our new lives will cause some heightened reactions, much like the resistance the disciples experienced.  We will be like Moses, faces on fire, causing those who are repelled to look away and those who are attracted to draw near.  We will be like Stephen who delivered his testimony with a sword, igniting the crowd to stone him.  I will be as the eleven disciples who challenged the god and philosophy of this world, marking themselves as ones who aligned with Jesus. 

One thing is sure.  Living this life is impossible without proper fuel.  Serving God will fizzle because the cost feels too expensive.  Make a decision today with your eyes wide open.

I love you, Jesus, and I have a passion to see You glorified.Make my life a burning bush.Amen

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.  John 1:5

Our enemy knows that God is Light.  He was once an archangel in heaven and saw the brilliance of the glory of the Father.  For much of eternity, he trembled and led the angels in worship.  He bowed in worship and led others to do the same before his appetite for power and autonomy corrupted him.  

Since Satan knows that Light overcomes darkness, why does he wage all-out war to wear out the saints?   And he shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High.  Daniel 7:25

• Doesn’t he know that God’s children will tap into the ‘surpassing power of God’s greatness to all who believe?”  (Ephesians 1:19) 
• Doesn’t he know that we are well aware that victory over him was declared at Calvary?  
• Doesn’t he know that we have read the scriptures, and we celebrate that Satan was paraded, in defeat and humiliation?  (Colossians 2:15) 
• Doesn’t he know that we put on the armor of God?  (Ephesians 6) 
• Isn’t he aware that Paul calls it the ‘armor of Light’?  (Romans 13:12) 
• Hasn’t he learned that we are aware of both our powerlessness in the flesh but our invincibility in the power of the name of Jesus?

Yes, he knows!  But he counts on the fact that, in times of distress, we will not stop to take stock of what is true about God, about His provisions and His promises.  He’s counting on us caving into overwhelming feelings.  He knows how hard it is to exercise faith in the throes of pain and distress.  He knows that our instinctive reactions in an emergency are emotions first, then thoughts.  He knows that by wearying us with battle after battle, we just might succumb to disillusionment and distrust in our Father.  What is the alternative?  

To believe that hardship is an opportunity to flex new faith muscles.  It is possible to sing through our tears.  When drowning under the sea of trouble, we will rely on the surpassing power of God’s greatness.  We will don our armor and put on Christ.  We will take the Light of the world into our fears, into the darkness of unbelief, into the chasm of sleeplessness, and into the worst of our ‘what ifs’ to discover that our foundation in Christ is solid as a Rock.  

The world shakes, but You, Lord, are unshakeable.  Amen

The deep love of Jesus, the kind that makes no earthly sense at all, is what compels me to write each morning.  My spiritual journey didn’t have a pretty beginning. I was never a little orphan girl, all dressed up and on good behavior.  I was undesirable.   I was lost before I was rescued.  Here’s how Ezekiel captured it. 

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 wants them because he 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 spoke over them.  

This is the Gospel.  These were my beginnings.  God did it all.  Even though I was raised in a respectable, church-going family, presumed goodness begged to get in the way of seeing myself as a daughter of the darkness, in need of a Savior.  Unless I embrace the truth of who I once was, 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.   

Jesus looked around and saw them following.  ‘What do you want?’ he asked them.  John 1:38 NLT

Two men were so drawn to Jesus after witnessing His baptism that they abandoned their plans and started following Him.  Jesus, sensing them behind Him, asked them, “What do you want?” 

I’m not sure they knew what it was they were seeking.  You know how it is when the Spirit of God stirs your heart and the impact is wordless, right?  You’re aware of something stirring but you can’t put words to it yet.  I believe this was what happened with these two disciples.  Jesus intrigued them both, but they didn’t fully know why.  Not yet. 

They answered Jesus.  “Where are you staying?”  In other words, we want to know where your home is because we want more time with you.  Jesus wasn’t put off.  He told them that He would take them to where he was currently living.  He was accessible then ~ and still is. 

Christianity is the only faith that is intimate.  Leaders of religious movements develop a leadership style that keeps their followers at a distance.  The bigger the movement, the more out of reach they become.  But Jesus remained accessible to the people.  His invitation was true and heartfelt.  “Come unto me, all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”   It was relevant in 30 A.D., and it’s relevant now as His Spirit comes close to draw me in. 

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords has numbered the hairs of my head, has kept every tear, and engraved my face and my name on the palms of His hands.  Every promise, He has written on my heart for safekeeping.

Jesus, as you were with these two disciples, You are with me.  In many ways, I’m unaware of my vast emptiness and Your great sufficiency unless I take you up on your invitation.  Amen

No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.  I Corinthians 2:9

Heaven and earth are meant to connect.

• In the Garden, there was a constant connection.  God walked on the earth with Adam. 
• In the Tabernacle, the God of the universe made His home in the holy of holies. It was an Old Testament incarnation.
• When Jesus came, it was a New Testament incarnation.

This connection did not end with Jesus’ ascension. We don’t need to mourn to see our God. He is not absent. He is at home in the hearts of everyone who has been adopted into His family. We are His tabernacles, and we connect ‘spirit to Spirit.’ 

God is speaking, but deaf ears don’t hear. God is shifting circumstances and fulfilling His purposes, but those insensitive to spiritual things can’t see it. Most of the world is deprived of the wonder.

Wonder and worship are what our Creator envisioned when He dreamed of us. That’s why Jesus wept for Jerusalem. He even expressed His sorrow. “If you, even you, had only known what would bring you peace on this day—but it is hidden from your eyes. You did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

As Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand to pray for you and me today, perhaps He laments that we don’t always recognize Him when He comes and know His voice when He speaks.  We need not miss any holy moment. 

Jesus, make the things of heaven more real to me than tangible things. Grow my spirit so it moves and breathes with Yours. Help my connection with You resemble Your close relationship with Your Father when You lived here. Heal any spiritual dullness, deafness, and blindness. Amen.

The directions of Yahweh are pure, enlightening the eyes.  Psalm 19:8

At creation, when there was darkness and chaos, God said, ‘Let there be light.’  He shed some light on the world and brought order. 

Do you have a situation in your life that lacks clarity?  Have you been asking God for understanding?  Once He chooses to bestow the gift of light, His influence over darkened, confused, and oppressed minds is pervasive.  He illuminates what is cloudy.  He puts a magnifying glass over the twisted strands of thread, and suddenly, we can see the steps we need to take to untangle what is knotted. 

For years, I may have struggled with a situation that seems wrong.  I’m not at peace.  I am in conflict when I think about it.  But I don’t have clarity on what it is that’s wrong.  Yesterday was one of those days that will go down in personal history.  God shed light on things that lived in the shadows.  Illumined, I could see everything clearly; today, there is a roadmap.  Yesterday, I was lost in the fog.  Today, I have discovered God’s plan.  Yesterday, I was grasping at spiritual straws.  Today, I have what I need in my hands.  Yesterday, I had faith but no enlightenment.  Today, I have hope because my prayers are precise.

The Word of God gives light to the eyes.  Today, God is going to be the Light-giver across this dark landscape.  For someone, He will cure spiritual blindness and allow them to see the light and glory of Jesus.  For someone else, He will turn the light on a concept that correctly diagnoses what has been spiritually disfigured.  For a teacher, He will enlighten a passage and give spiritual understanding for Sunday’s lesson.  For a mother, He will enlighten the spiritual condition of her child so that she can apply spiritual cures.  For a business owner, God will enlighten the discord within his company and lead him to replace worldly business strategies with scripture-based principles.

Light is a life-saving thing.  When I need it, and God gives it, I fall on my knees in gratitude.  And when He gives it, I am responsible for taking the light to the darkness and exerting spiritual rule in favor of the kingdom.

Show me what to do with what You’ve shown me.  I am Your city on a hill.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

I used to think I was a peacemaker. It was a shock when I realized that I wasn’t. I was too afraid to take a stand for righteousness. I despised conflict and feared rejection, so I tried to mend stress around me in any way I could. This is not what Jesus meant when he said peacemakers will be blessed.

If I’m a peacemaker, I will find myself in the center of the stress. I will stand in the tension to bring shalom to the situation. If others are enjoying making disparaging comments about someone, I will defend the one being talked about. I will try to bring gentle words to disarm the anger being expressed.  The Holy Spirit may also nudge me to express displeasure that such a lynching is taking place.

This is not easy.  People love to be angry.  Following Jesus and attempting to restore unity between offending parties can bring attacks from both sides.  It will be said that I’m not hearing them, that I don’t understand.  They might even say that I’ve betrayed them. But God’s Spirit whispers to me during the scuffle and says, “I will bless you for this.”

Jesus stood up for the outcast. He defended a woman at a dinner table who was the brunt of everyone else’s comments. And lately, I witnessed believers throw verbal stones at others. I knew all the parties involved and could discern unseen bruises. I felt Jesus’ aching heart for the ones being hurt.  As a witness, I knew I had to do something. To bring peace, I had first to bring a sword and cut unrighteousness asunder.  Although there was no great outcome, Jesus not only assured me of divine favor but also comforted me in the aftermath.

I don’t like to stand alone.  It’s not the way You created me.  But You had to do it too.  You will help me. Amen