The Everlasting Truth

Thank God, every one of us can love Christ, and we can all do something for Him. It may be a small thing; but whatever it is shall be lasting; it will outlive all the monuments on earth. The iron and the granite will rust and crumble away, but anything done for Christ will never fade. It will be more lasting than time itself. Christ says; "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass away." D L Moody

Where He Leads, I Will Go...

Last night, in the wee hours of the morning, I was listening to the catastrophic storm outside my window. It was a little unnerving to realize nothing but some nails and wood were between me and that lightening!

Thinking is a wonderful thing to do when you don't normally do it. Like during a thunderstorm at 4 am. So I started to think. About deep things, you know, such as life. I pondered what would be next, the path I was taking, and what I needed to do. Quickly I was becoming rather mixed up and as uncertain as the thunder outside.

When all of a sudden, I remembered Silver Delight.

Go with me back in time about six years ago, on a warm summer day at a church camping trip. Lauren and I were together for the weekend. For a whole weekend we rode our bikes, toasted marshmallows, played with little kids, caught fireflies, sangs songs, and had fun.

But even all that could get a little old. Because, well, the two of us have always had a zeal for adventure. And that afternoon in particular we were itching for it. If I remember correctly, we had been playing with some of the kids in a little grove of trees. We dubbed one tree a Wishing Tree, where wishes really did come true. (Well, we made it happen, anyway.)

Slowly, we wandered away from the children and began to venture into a woods nearby.

It was stunning. An old country lane wound through shimmering trees, and tall lush grass brushed against our feet. Because every place needs a name, we named it. We walked and walked, and slowly the path became narrower, but became only more poetic and lovely. When we thought for sure we'd be lost forever and have to sleep in the forest for the night (or at least I was hoping!) we emerged from the woods into a field of Queen Anne's Lace, the campground out in the distance. We got back to the camper safely, only hot and sweaty and no one had even missed us. We, however, had a memory tucked away which delighted us very much.

I must admit, there are times when it feels that the path I'm taking in life is so strange and different from what it the world around me says it ought to be. I think that is why God reminded me of Silver Delight. Through the world's eyes our path is strange, awkward, odd, different, and unrealistic. But to Christ? It is beautiful. His path is sacred, hidden, and precious. It is stunning, much like Silver Delight.

A few days ago Lauren and I were walking down the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. And so were hundreds and hundreds of other people. The road was paved and flat and and well-worn. Dozens upon dozens of shops and restaurants glared and beckoned, "Come over here!" In all its glory, Michigan Avenue had little of the appeal that Silver Delight had.

Friends, do you see the difference? One leads to life, and the other leads to death. Which one are you on?

Ponder the path of thy feet, and all thy ways will be established. Proverbs 4:26

What is the Will of God?

Who hasn't asked this question? I find that it's the most common question asked when a situation arises that is difficult to understand. Many people assume that God's will always just "happens," and we need to rest in that.

I stopped at our house this afternoon for a half hour, and while I was walking through the garage, an inch-long, flesh-colored mass the width of my index finger caught my eye. Thinking it was an earthworm, I moved closer and caught my breath when I realized that it was an abandoned newborn mouse. Its eyes were still closed, but its microscopic whiskers and equally tiny fingers, toes and tail were all perfectly formed. It was writhing back and forth, rolling on our garage floor.

I had never seen a mammal so small in my life, and I immediately called a friend who knows a lot about taking care of animals, who said that it would die without its mother.

Deciding that I had to move it so that it at least wouldn't get run over, I used two pieces of cardboard to pick it up and move it underneath a bush. It screamed with all of the strength it could muster, but the sound was barely audible. I watched its heart pump violently as it continued to roll back and forth, wondering why it had been so cruelly abandoned by the one who was made to care for it.

On my way home later this afternoon, the concept of abortion was laying heavily upon my heart. The baby mouse was the size of an unborn child at two months of conception, who would also have a heart pulsing blood through its perfectly designed circulatory system. Except the unborn child would have ninety years of beautiful life ahead- a life that he or she would never have a chance to live.

As I pulled into the black gates of Planned Parenthood to think and pray, I realized that the will of God doesn't always happen. He doesn't want 3,500 perfectly fashioned, precious lives to be abruptly ended every single day anymore than He desires for an innocent little mouse to die for no reason. These things are the consequences of abiding in a sin-filled, dark world, and we certainly shouldn't blame Him for them.

Maybe instead of asking God what His will is, we ought to be asking Him how we can help make it actually come to pass.  

Faith vs. Hope

((This is our 250th post! Cue the Hallelujah Chorus and confetti flying everywhere!))

I just got off of the phone with a very dear friend of mine, and I wanted to share something that she said with you.

In my mind, faith and hope are very similar. If I have hope, I have always thought that I have faith, too. "Well, this situation is bound to get better eventually!" I say as optimistically as possible. That's hope.

Or...

"In the name of Jesus, I call this situation in line with the perfect, heavenly will of God!"

That's faith. She backed it up with a scripture that I haven't thought about in quite awhile:

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Mark 11:24

Those are the words of your Jesus.

Here's how she put it: "Hope is for the future. Faith is for right now." Notice how Jesus puts "believe that you have received it" in past tense. We must believe that the things we need are already ours, because that's faith.

Otherwise, all that we have is hope- and hope might take longer than we should be willing to hold out for.

The Fullness of His Love

People have told me my whole life long that Jesus loves me, but for years I just couldn't believe it. I hated myself to the point that I didn't believe anyone could like me, let alone love me the way He supposedly did.

Even though things have changed and I have no doubt that His love for all of us is vast, sometimes I let it slip from my mind or even convince myself that He doesn't love me as much when I do something I know I shouldn't.

Yesterday I was watching a little girl with Reactive Attachment Disorder. She was once a foster child, moved from house to house until she was finally adopted. Now, at the age of five, she finds it extremely difficult to trust anyone.

I had been informed that children with her condition don't react well to anger, but rather to outgoing affection. So yesterday, when I was at my literal wit's end, holding her arms as firmly as I could to keep her from kicking me, God told me what to say.

"I love you," I said intensely, looking straight into her sparkling dark eyes.

"No, you don't," she responded reflexively.

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't."

"I love you!"

"No, you don't!" she cried.

This went on for awhile. Finally, standing on top of her bed, she said the only thing she could think to say.

"How many times to I have to tell you?! No, you don't!" she yelled.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I love you before you actually believe it?!" I yelled back.

It was as if Jesus said those words through me and to me at the same time.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19  

Stay Standing

As I type, there is a daddy long legs with four inch limbs sitting on the wall and watching me.

I just thought you should know.

That has nothing to do with anything.

The other day I was flipping through my Bible and came across Numbers 23:19-

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?" 

So many of us seem to be living on the outskirts of God's promises. He promises provision, but we lack. He promises healing, but we aren't full of health. He promises to give us the desires of our heart, yet we ache with lonliness. How can there be such a statement as the one we read in Numbers 23 when we aren't actually experiencing the fruit of God's fulfilled promises?

My mind can't comprehend all of the promises in the Bible- about 3,000, they say- so, in order to break this concept down, I picked three that basically sum up our basic needs and wants as human beings:

• He promises to heal us: "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases..." Psalm 103:1-3
• He promises to provide for us: "And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 
• He promises to satisfy our desires: "Take delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4 

So, what does this mean? If we, as children of God, are not experiencing any or even all of these three things, does that mean that Numbers 23:19 was incorrect? Did God forget to mention something? "I am not a human that I should lie....mostly....except sometimes....." 

 

Then it dawned on me- this is exactly what the devil wants. He wants us to wonder "why?" and give in to doubt. He wants to shake our faith by delaying the answers to our fervent prayers in any way that he can. If he ensnares us by dwindling our faith, even in subtle ways, we begin to lose the battle.

 

So where is the hope? We're only human, after all. 

 

The disciples begged Jesus to increase their faith. And we can, too! After all, we're not fighting this battle alone. We must stand on His promises. Compromising our faith and giving in to doubt is the easiest route, but I have a feeling that it won't reap the desired results.  

 

Remember, "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind." The important thing is to keep standing.   

Thursday's Thought

There will be time, depend on it, for everything God wants us to do. -Elisabeth Elliot

There's Power in His Name.

Who, in the days of His flesh...offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death.

Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. [Continue] steadfastly in prayer. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with perseverance and supplication. By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. This is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Delight yourself...in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring to pass.

-Scriptures compiled by Daily Light for Every Day

Jerry

I meet a lot of people.

I see a lot of things.

I decided today that I'm probably going to write a memoir someday. I don't even care if anyone buys it. Somehow writing things down just helps them make sense, and by the time that I'm old and gray I'll probably have a lot to sort through, judging by the way things are going.

I realized this when I had my first free time in a couple weeks yesterday. Whenever this happens, I tend to panic, so I sat down with my diary and read what had happened to me over the past six months. Then I felt better.

But none of that has anything to do with the point, so please forget it and continue.

While I was reading, I came across a lot of stories of old people- old people touching me, old people yelling at me, old people touching me, old people crying on my shoulder, old people smiling at me, old people asking me if Lindsey was my daughter, old people touching me....you get the idea. One of them was a man named Jerry.

I had forgotten all about Jerry, probably because I only saw him once and our conversation was actually very short, as conversations with old people go. Still, I know that I met Jerry for a reason, and I should've shared him with you long ago.

Like so many of them do, Jerry sat in a wheelchair, and he couldn't talk very well. From what I remember, he didn't seem very lucid, so I told him "hello" and wrote him off as one of those unfortunate elderly folks who can't communicate well anymore.

I walked away.

He followed me.

"I've beat cancer four times!" he suddenly spoke heroically. "And once I was in a rollover accident. The doctors thought I'd never come out of a coma. They tell me, 'Jerry, you're a walking miracle!'"

And he is.

There is so much hope out there. Sometimes, when we're in the midst of the thick, tangible darkness that often makes up this world, we forget to look for it.

That day, nearly four months ago, it sought me, wheeling across a linoleum floor during "Happy Hour." It just took me four months to realize that it was Jesus who sought to remind me that His hope is brighter than any darkness I'll ever face.

Provision Before Necessity

Everyone has a different opinion about what "provision" is. When we call God our Provider, are we saying that we'll have the bare minimum and just barely be able to feed ourselves, or that we'll have a steady, secure income and plenty of everything?

One of the downsides of being really young is that I don't know. I could make a guess, but I won't really know the answer until all of this is over, and by then I'm not sure that I'll be able to blog about it. So I'll tell you what I think.

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8

That word "abound" is "perisseuō" in the Greek, and the literal translation is "to furnish one richly so that he has abundance."

I've heard a lot about the "prosperity" gospel and how it's become rampant in the churches- many say that Christians are selfishly desiring wealth from God, and we should never strive for riches because Jesus said that we should be "poor in spirit." That word "spirit" is "pneuma" in the Greek, and guess what it means?

"Spirit."

Jesus never said that we should be just plain poor. But He also said that we shouldn't strive for riches. Why? Because He doesn't want us to strive for something that He desires to set in place for us.

This is obviously a very small example, but please bear with me. The other day I stopped at the gas station to fill up my new car (it's actually used, so it's technically a new used car. Hmm....) Of course no one enjoys filling up their cars, and I'm no exception, so I wasn't particularly joyful about this pit stop.

When I checked my email that afternoon, I saw that one of the nursing homes where I play had just direct-deposited my payment from a month earlier into my account that morning, and it was almost exactly the amount that the tank of gas that I had just purchased cost. So, really, it was like I had barely spent a dime.

Am I always going to have more than enough just when I need it? The Bible says that I am. Do I know for sure? I'm just going to have to say "yes," because I'm not going to be absoutely sure until I'm just about dead.

Jesus loves being our Provider. He loves making us smile and taking care of the things that we can't take care of. Before we even know what we need, He has it set in motion to be in our hands at just the right time.

That's what I think, anyway.