He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you. But to do justly,to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 (NIV)
Hey Girlfriends,
These just came randomly to my head in no particular order.
The World's Definition For Success
1) Look out for number one because no one else will.
2) Claw, steal, and lie your way to the top.
3) Starve your body and your soul.
4) Feed your natural lusts, even if it pains someone else.
5) If it feels good, do it.
6) Truth is relative to what I think it is.
7) Fight to keep your place and position, no matter what the cost.
8) Money is god; make the acquisition of wealth what drives you.
9) Use people, love material possessions.
10) Love yourself above everyone else.
Jesus Christ's Definition for Success (in bold):
1)Look out for number one because no one else will.
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.
And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." I John 2:1 (NKJV)
2) Claw, steal, and lie your way to the top.
"Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you. Psalm 37:4-5 (NLT)
3) Starve your body and your soul.
“Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.
Colossians 2:21-23 (NLT)
4) Feed your natural lusts, even if it pains someone else
"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit..." Titus 3:3-5 (ESV)
5) If it feels good, do it
"There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12 (Amplified Bible)
6) Truth is relative to what I think it is.
[Jesus prayed to the Father] "Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth." John 17:17 (Amplified Bible)
7) Fight to keep your place and position, no matter what the cost.
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
8) Money is god; make the acquisition of wealth what drives you.
"Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint." Proverbs 23:4 (NIV)
9) Use people, love material possessions.
"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Luke 16:9 (NIV)
10) Love yourself above everyone else.
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts." Deuteronomy 6:5-6 (NIV)
The question is, which definition do our lives reflect that we are following?
Jesus, help us to live lives that are successful according to Your definition of success.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Fully Alive?
"We give thanks to you, O God,
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds." Psalm 75:1 (NIV)
Hey girlfriends--have you ever gone through a season or years (like I have) in which you wished things were the way they used to be? This could be as trivial as wishing your favorite restaurant or mall still existed or as major as wishing you were married to someone other than your spouse.
Our minds have this incredible ability to block out anything unpleasant and retain a distorted picture of what we want to remember. I have just recently read through Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament and Solomon has this to say about the matter:
"Do not say, Why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise (or because of wisdom) that you ask this." Ecclesiastes 7:10 (Amplified Bible)
How much of our time is spent wishing things were the way they used to be? How much time do we spend lamenting our long past childhoods, our youthful faces, and the days before any major responsibilities? I can easily forget that during those longed-for days of childhood, I spent many of those years wishing I was the adult I am today. I forget the horrors of adolescent insecurity when I didn't know from day to day who I was. And I can too quickly block out the feeling of anxiety and uselessness I felt during those years of college when I didn't know what I was going to do when I grew up. Really, honestly, would I ever want to go back to the person that I was then? No way!
But perhaps the most dangerous thing about living in the past is that we cannot then be fully alive in our present. There was a man in Scripture who dared to ask God what His name was. He wasn't the first man to ask God that question, but Moses was the first man to whom God gave this answer:
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Exodus 3:13-15 (NIV)
Girlfriends, He is the I AM God, not the I WAS God. He is as capable of working in our present as He has been in the past. We run from the present and its troubles when we fail to remember that this is His name throughout all generations. The God that assured Moses and the Israelites that He was I AM in their difficulties is the same God who assures us of His same, unchanging power today.
There is nothing wrong with remembering wonderful times that God has allowed us to have in our memory banks. But we cross a line when we dare to think that the reason why they were so good was that God was more powerful then than He is in our current situation. Instead, we must train ourselves to hold those memories with the fondness that they deserve and nothing more. How do we measure if we are doing that? By examining whether our affection for the past is allowing to live fully in our present. And always, always, we must praise our I AM for showing Himself as mighty as He ever has in the past.
We live with hope! Our best days are not over--they are ahead of us. We are to wait expectantly, knowing that we are safe in the keeping of our great Shepherd who knows exactly what He is doing. So, next time we are tempted to dissolve into a pity party over God saying no and not changing our present situation, let's praise Him that I AM is His name--the name by which He is to be exalted over generation to generation--including our own.
Jesus, Your Name is near! It is as present in my trouble as it was in the joys of my past. The best way for me to know that is by telling my foolish heart of what You have done before. Your faithfulness will never end. Help me live fully in today, knowing that You are going to show up in it if I look for You.
we give thanks, for your Name is near;
men tell of your wonderful deeds." Psalm 75:1 (NIV)
Hey girlfriends--have you ever gone through a season or years (like I have) in which you wished things were the way they used to be? This could be as trivial as wishing your favorite restaurant or mall still existed or as major as wishing you were married to someone other than your spouse.
Our minds have this incredible ability to block out anything unpleasant and retain a distorted picture of what we want to remember. I have just recently read through Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament and Solomon has this to say about the matter:
"Do not say, Why were the old days better than these? For it is not wise (or because of wisdom) that you ask this." Ecclesiastes 7:10 (Amplified Bible)
How much of our time is spent wishing things were the way they used to be? How much time do we spend lamenting our long past childhoods, our youthful faces, and the days before any major responsibilities? I can easily forget that during those longed-for days of childhood, I spent many of those years wishing I was the adult I am today. I forget the horrors of adolescent insecurity when I didn't know from day to day who I was. And I can too quickly block out the feeling of anxiety and uselessness I felt during those years of college when I didn't know what I was going to do when I grew up. Really, honestly, would I ever want to go back to the person that I was then? No way!
But perhaps the most dangerous thing about living in the past is that we cannot then be fully alive in our present. There was a man in Scripture who dared to ask God what His name was. He wasn't the first man to ask God that question, but Moses was the first man to whom God gave this answer:
Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "
God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Exodus 3:13-15 (NIV)
Girlfriends, He is the I AM God, not the I WAS God. He is as capable of working in our present as He has been in the past. We run from the present and its troubles when we fail to remember that this is His name throughout all generations. The God that assured Moses and the Israelites that He was I AM in their difficulties is the same God who assures us of His same, unchanging power today.
There is nothing wrong with remembering wonderful times that God has allowed us to have in our memory banks. But we cross a line when we dare to think that the reason why they were so good was that God was more powerful then than He is in our current situation. Instead, we must train ourselves to hold those memories with the fondness that they deserve and nothing more. How do we measure if we are doing that? By examining whether our affection for the past is allowing to live fully in our present. And always, always, we must praise our I AM for showing Himself as mighty as He ever has in the past.
We live with hope! Our best days are not over--they are ahead of us. We are to wait expectantly, knowing that we are safe in the keeping of our great Shepherd who knows exactly what He is doing. So, next time we are tempted to dissolve into a pity party over God saying no and not changing our present situation, let's praise Him that I AM is His name--the name by which He is to be exalted over generation to generation--including our own.
Jesus, Your Name is near! It is as present in my trouble as it was in the joys of my past. The best way for me to know that is by telling my foolish heart of what You have done before. Your faithfulness will never end. Help me live fully in today, knowing that You are going to show up in it if I look for You.
Monday, June 22, 2009
A New Kind of Diet
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)
I turned on my computer this morning and my home news page had a headline that caught my eye. The article warned that a certain group of women athletes might be losing their sex appeal. This was considered dangerous because, after all, everything is about that kind of appeal anymore, isn't it?
Girlfriends, who besides me is sick to death of the media telling me I am not beautiful or worthy enough because I don't wear a certain size, have a fashion model's face, or am twenty years old anymore? We women are bombarded constantly with lies--vicious lies. Those of us who believe in Christ for our salvation are just as guilty of believing them as anyone else. Just look at our churches. Sometimes I wonder if we are dressing our best for the King of kings or for the envy of others in the congregation. Our clothes can speak in a subtle way just how well we are doing financially. We wouldn't dare boast about that in words in our community groups or Sunday school classes, but we sure will wear our wealth on our bodies and hope we are noticed.
And all the while we are so obsessed about our outsides, our insides are full of hypocrisy. We run to the gym, follow the latest diet, and spend excessively to present a beautiful facade. On Sundays, we pretend we don't have any problems. Many of us women live with constant depression over our bodies. We tell ourselves to buck up and put on that happy face when we are dying inside. Church is just another thing we do instead of being who we are. We smile and laugh and play the game.
What has happened to us? This body is getting older every single day. No amount of sun screen or makeup on this face is going to change the fact that I am destined to die and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). I do not want anyone to get the impression that I don't care about my looks! Nor am I pointing a judgmental finger at anyone other than me. But I am getting angry about the time I waste chasing the trivial at the expense of the eternal.
Do you know what Satan and this world do not want you and I to know? How deeply and passionately loved we are by our Jesus. I never had much confidence about my outward appearance growing up. My struggle with weight is what defined me--not how near or far away my heart was from God at any given time. I bemoaned the fact that the dress size I wanted to fit into seemed like the impossible dream rather than grieving over the fact that I had fallen away from my love affair with Christ. Girlfriend, we have got to stop believing that our acceptance is based on how we look! We will never find lasting satisfaction in wearing a certain designer label on a body that weighs a certain amount. No, our worth is found in this truth:
The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him for He is your Lord. Psalm 45:11
Have we ever stopped to ask ourselves what God thinks is beautiful? Is His Word what we meditate on or is what we think about all day the messages that are designed to make us feel like losers? Our Jesus is far more concerned about the condition of our hearts than the number on the scale or the amount of wrinkles on our faces. Yes, we need to be good stewards and not abuse our health, but are we nearly as concerned about our spiritual state as we are about our physical?
In the end, when we stand before our God, we are not going to be judged on our physical body. We will be judged for our hearts and motives and deeds we did in this body we have been given. You know the kind of diet that He would want us to participate in? The diet of no slander, no bitterness, no unforgiveness, and no pride. Instead of starving our bodies, He wants us to starve our sinful natures that are full of rebellion, envy, hatred, and selfishness.
We will find true satisfaction following a diet like that.
Jesus, I get so wrapped up in what just does not matter very much in the end. Give me wisdom to have restraint in the area of my physical appearance. Block my heart and mind from the lies that come from the pit of hell and contradict what You say in Your Word. Nothing that I can do will make me more worthy. You are my worthiness--just You and Your finished work on the cross. Help me to be obsessed with You.
I turned on my computer this morning and my home news page had a headline that caught my eye. The article warned that a certain group of women athletes might be losing their sex appeal. This was considered dangerous because, after all, everything is about that kind of appeal anymore, isn't it?
Girlfriends, who besides me is sick to death of the media telling me I am not beautiful or worthy enough because I don't wear a certain size, have a fashion model's face, or am twenty years old anymore? We women are bombarded constantly with lies--vicious lies. Those of us who believe in Christ for our salvation are just as guilty of believing them as anyone else. Just look at our churches. Sometimes I wonder if we are dressing our best for the King of kings or for the envy of others in the congregation. Our clothes can speak in a subtle way just how well we are doing financially. We wouldn't dare boast about that in words in our community groups or Sunday school classes, but we sure will wear our wealth on our bodies and hope we are noticed.
And all the while we are so obsessed about our outsides, our insides are full of hypocrisy. We run to the gym, follow the latest diet, and spend excessively to present a beautiful facade. On Sundays, we pretend we don't have any problems. Many of us women live with constant depression over our bodies. We tell ourselves to buck up and put on that happy face when we are dying inside. Church is just another thing we do instead of being who we are. We smile and laugh and play the game.
What has happened to us? This body is getting older every single day. No amount of sun screen or makeup on this face is going to change the fact that I am destined to die and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27). I do not want anyone to get the impression that I don't care about my looks! Nor am I pointing a judgmental finger at anyone other than me. But I am getting angry about the time I waste chasing the trivial at the expense of the eternal.
Do you know what Satan and this world do not want you and I to know? How deeply and passionately loved we are by our Jesus. I never had much confidence about my outward appearance growing up. My struggle with weight is what defined me--not how near or far away my heart was from God at any given time. I bemoaned the fact that the dress size I wanted to fit into seemed like the impossible dream rather than grieving over the fact that I had fallen away from my love affair with Christ. Girlfriend, we have got to stop believing that our acceptance is based on how we look! We will never find lasting satisfaction in wearing a certain designer label on a body that weighs a certain amount. No, our worth is found in this truth:
The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him for He is your Lord. Psalm 45:11
Have we ever stopped to ask ourselves what God thinks is beautiful? Is His Word what we meditate on or is what we think about all day the messages that are designed to make us feel like losers? Our Jesus is far more concerned about the condition of our hearts than the number on the scale or the amount of wrinkles on our faces. Yes, we need to be good stewards and not abuse our health, but are we nearly as concerned about our spiritual state as we are about our physical?
In the end, when we stand before our God, we are not going to be judged on our physical body. We will be judged for our hearts and motives and deeds we did in this body we have been given. You know the kind of diet that He would want us to participate in? The diet of no slander, no bitterness, no unforgiveness, and no pride. Instead of starving our bodies, He wants us to starve our sinful natures that are full of rebellion, envy, hatred, and selfishness.
We will find true satisfaction following a diet like that.
Jesus, I get so wrapped up in what just does not matter very much in the end. Give me wisdom to have restraint in the area of my physical appearance. Block my heart and mind from the lies that come from the pit of hell and contradict what You say in Your Word. Nothing that I can do will make me more worthy. You are my worthiness--just You and Your finished work on the cross. Help me to be obsessed with You.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Unfathomable
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him..."
Job 13:15 (KJV)
Have you ever tried to figure out what God is doing in your life? Funny how I seldom--okay, never--question Him when great things are going on. But when life gets difficult, I can start playing the maddening game of trying to understand what He might be doing. At first, I try to be calm and patient. I try to comfort myself by reciting Scripture which promises that He is in control. He is. But my expectation is that He will quickly rescue me. When He doesn't show up in the way I think He should, I can begin the descent into worry and dread.
What kind of pain is the worst? Today, as I was getting out of my van, I slammed the driver's side door directly on my right ankle. The fire that went through my leg almost made me crumple right there. How did I do that?! I opened the door and got in so I could sit down in the seat and SCREAM in the cabin. It was the kind of pain that brought tears to my eyes. I gingerly tested my leg's ability to hold my weight about five minutes later after the searing pain was replaced by the dull ache that is there now. I know that I will have a huge bruise, but, thankfully, the bone is not broken.
But what if my bruise never healed? What if a year, two years, five years from now I was still living with the results of that door slamming into me? Isn't prolonged pain that doesn't heal worse than quick and searing pain that flashes in and out of our lives? What, my sweet girlfriend, is the bruise that won't heal today? What has it done to you to hinder the way you live? More importantly, what has it done to your perspective on God's goodness?
There are some hurts that do not end, no matter how long it has been since the initial receiving of them--a devastated marriage that ended in divorce, a barren womb, a ravaged relationship with someone whom we once did life together, the death of a spouse, child, or parent, or continual worry about finances. We want answers when those things happen to us. The horrible dilemma we have as human beings is that we may never figure out why it happened. And the hurt over those unanswered questions can lead to bitterness and despair toward a God that we do not see as kind to us anymore.
I have spent a lot of time in the Psalms during this month off of blogging. Someone very dear to me gave me a journal with the Psalms of Asaph in its pages. I cannot tell you what a balm those have been to my soul. Asaph was one of King David's worship leaders. He had the privilege of ministering daily before the ark of God--the symbol of God's presence to the Israelites. Daily, he praised. And yet, these are the questions that he had, even though he entered God's presence daily:
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold. Psalm 73:1-2
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted. Psalm 77:2
O LORD God Almighty,
how long will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
Psalm 80:4-5
But when I considered how to understand this, it was too great an effort for me and too painful...
Psalm 73:16 (Amplified Bible)
I am not the first one to question why God is doing what He is doing. I won't be the last. But this is what I must do, what Asaph did, in each one of his psalms of pain:
"We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders." Psalm 75:1 (Amplified Bible)
AND
Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High."
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:10-12 (NIV)
When I cannot understand, when my heart is racing with fear, when I am crushed under the unfairness of something, I can always appeal to Him! He knows all those bewildering emotions that threaten to suck the very life right out of me. They will deaden me, but He can handle all of them!
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I will cling to that as my truth, even though this life and its gut-punching, knock-the-wind-right-out-of-me blows threaten to unravel me. His ways are higher than mine. I will appeal to His kindness, His gentleness, His justice, and His mercy. And because He has proven Himself faithful time and time again, I know that this too shall pass! Solomon summed it up the best way I know:
As you know not what is the way of the wind, or how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you know not the work of God, Who does all.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 (Amplified Bible)
Amen and amen.
Jesus, I cannot understand. Perhaps I never will. But I deliberately choose to praise You, even when the hurt has not subsided. You are making all things new. Let me be still and know that You are God.
Job 13:15 (KJV)
Have you ever tried to figure out what God is doing in your life? Funny how I seldom--okay, never--question Him when great things are going on. But when life gets difficult, I can start playing the maddening game of trying to understand what He might be doing. At first, I try to be calm and patient. I try to comfort myself by reciting Scripture which promises that He is in control. He is. But my expectation is that He will quickly rescue me. When He doesn't show up in the way I think He should, I can begin the descent into worry and dread.
What kind of pain is the worst? Today, as I was getting out of my van, I slammed the driver's side door directly on my right ankle. The fire that went through my leg almost made me crumple right there. How did I do that?! I opened the door and got in so I could sit down in the seat and SCREAM in the cabin. It was the kind of pain that brought tears to my eyes. I gingerly tested my leg's ability to hold my weight about five minutes later after the searing pain was replaced by the dull ache that is there now. I know that I will have a huge bruise, but, thankfully, the bone is not broken.
But what if my bruise never healed? What if a year, two years, five years from now I was still living with the results of that door slamming into me? Isn't prolonged pain that doesn't heal worse than quick and searing pain that flashes in and out of our lives? What, my sweet girlfriend, is the bruise that won't heal today? What has it done to you to hinder the way you live? More importantly, what has it done to your perspective on God's goodness?
There are some hurts that do not end, no matter how long it has been since the initial receiving of them--a devastated marriage that ended in divorce, a barren womb, a ravaged relationship with someone whom we once did life together, the death of a spouse, child, or parent, or continual worry about finances. We want answers when those things happen to us. The horrible dilemma we have as human beings is that we may never figure out why it happened. And the hurt over those unanswered questions can lead to bitterness and despair toward a God that we do not see as kind to us anymore.
I have spent a lot of time in the Psalms during this month off of blogging. Someone very dear to me gave me a journal with the Psalms of Asaph in its pages. I cannot tell you what a balm those have been to my soul. Asaph was one of King David's worship leaders. He had the privilege of ministering daily before the ark of God--the symbol of God's presence to the Israelites. Daily, he praised. And yet, these are the questions that he had, even though he entered God's presence daily:
Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold. Psalm 73:1-2
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted. Psalm 77:2
O LORD God Almighty,
how long will your anger smolder
against the prayers of your people?
You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
Psalm 80:4-5
But when I considered how to understand this, it was too great an effort for me and too painful...
Psalm 73:16 (Amplified Bible)
I am not the first one to question why God is doing what He is doing. I won't be the last. But this is what I must do, what Asaph did, in each one of his psalms of pain:
"We give praise and thanks to You, O God, we praise and give thanks; Your wondrous works declare that Your Name is near and they who invoke Your Name rehearse Your wonders." Psalm 75:1 (Amplified Bible)
AND
Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High."
I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds. Psalm 77:10-12 (NIV)
When I cannot understand, when my heart is racing with fear, when I am crushed under the unfairness of something, I can always appeal to Him! He knows all those bewildering emotions that threaten to suck the very life right out of me. They will deaden me, but He can handle all of them!
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. I will cling to that as my truth, even though this life and its gut-punching, knock-the-wind-right-out-of-me blows threaten to unravel me. His ways are higher than mine. I will appeal to His kindness, His gentleness, His justice, and His mercy. And because He has proven Himself faithful time and time again, I know that this too shall pass! Solomon summed it up the best way I know:
As you know not what is the way of the wind, or how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you know not the work of God, Who does all.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 (Amplified Bible)
Amen and amen.
Jesus, I cannot understand. Perhaps I never will. But I deliberately choose to praise You, even when the hurt has not subsided. You are making all things new. Let me be still and know that You are God.
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