2 Corinthians 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
I have never really understood this verse. When I think about bragging about (or even just admitting) my weaknesses, it makes me feel very vulnerable. About three years ago, I finally opened up to a few people about a thorn in my flesh that I have had since I was 20. This confession unearthed a flood of criticism, piercing questions, and anger in those to whom I confided. I agreed to get help for this condition. But a few weeks later when circumstances intervened and I did not seek the help I had agreed to, the criticism increased two-fold and the support disappeared. In summary, I got "burned" by my loved ones.
So why on earth should I admit my weaknesses? I vowed at that time never to discuss my problems again with anybody. I would deal with them on my own. I would be a lone ranger. And I have to say that has continued to today. I have failed to trust God in 2 Corinthians 12:9 because I am not believing His promise - that the power of Christ will dwell in me if I boast about my weaknesses.
The earthly criticism that was unleashed on me contained this theme: "How could you be so weak. What is your problem? Just fix the problem. Just quit doing it. Just tough it out. Just quit being such a weakling. Quit crying. Move on.
And on and on.
The theme of physical weakness/thorn-in-the-flesh/addiction is one that resonates powerfully for me. In the next few postings, I would like to explore this theme and pursue this in a personal way. Could it be that the Lord is waiting to release me from the power of the thorns in my flesh? I have such a hard time with this thought because the ridicule from others when I admitted my thorn -- was too great. I could not stand it. I ended up saying, "Never mind" a la that misunderstood Gilda Radner character from Saturday Night Live, Emily Litella. I actually felt like sticking a few thorns in the sides of those who ridiculed me.
Dear Lord, open the eyes of my heart. Help me to understand this passage. Am I the only one who does not understand it? It makes no earthly sense. How do I brag in my addictions/compulsions/weaknesses? My heart cries out for understanding.
Song for Today: "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord; open the eyes of my heart; I want to see you. See you high and lifted up -- shining in the light of your glory. Hold out your power and love and we sing holy, holy, holy. "
Raising my arms to the heavens further weakens me as I make myself vulnerable. No arms clenched by my sides. No, they are up in the air giving glory to God. What a fool! Says the world. Save yourself, you fool, they say. Just tough it out. Don't admit your weakness.
But the verse says, "For My strength is made perfect in weakness." Do I trust in my accusers? Or in God?
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Worry
Matthew 6: 25-30 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
We all worry too much. I certainly include myself in that. I can't tell you how many hours of sleep I lost this summer because of the tree house. How silly is that? Why would anyone lose sleep over a tree house? Each of us has our own particular areas that we worry about for no good reason but we do. It is just like a phobia. Why would someone be afraid of a spider or a mouse who can basically do us no harm?
The bottom line as it states here is Faith. It is a question at least in part of Faith. It is lacking in some areas of our lives and where one person worries about one thing and someone else about another. They are both about Faith. When Peter as he walked out upon the water took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, he lost his Faith because his focus was on the water and himself and no longer on Jesus.
We need to refocus ourselves back onto Jesus in times when we begin to worry. Most of the things we worry about are very unimportant and things we will not remember a year from now. Let us try to give our worries to him who promises to take them and to take care of our basic needs.
Hymn of the Day: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus".
We all worry too much. I certainly include myself in that. I can't tell you how many hours of sleep I lost this summer because of the tree house. How silly is that? Why would anyone lose sleep over a tree house? Each of us has our own particular areas that we worry about for no good reason but we do. It is just like a phobia. Why would someone be afraid of a spider or a mouse who can basically do us no harm?
The bottom line as it states here is Faith. It is a question at least in part of Faith. It is lacking in some areas of our lives and where one person worries about one thing and someone else about another. They are both about Faith. When Peter as he walked out upon the water took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, he lost his Faith because his focus was on the water and himself and no longer on Jesus.
We need to refocus ourselves back onto Jesus in times when we begin to worry. Most of the things we worry about are very unimportant and things we will not remember a year from now. Let us try to give our worries to him who promises to take them and to take care of our basic needs.
Hymn of the Day: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus".
What is Love? A Heart....and other thoughts
1Cor. 13: 3-8a "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
Dear Lisa, in our busy lives we may not look terribly like a couple in love. In truth we do need to spend much more time together, but looking or reviewing these lines of love by Paul, I -- for one -- can say that my love is growing steadily for you. It may not be evident. It does say love is patient, but it also says that love is protection, trusting, hoping, and always perseveres. Love does not fail. The truth is that our love in all circumstances is God ordained and thus will never fail. I love you more today than when we were first married.
Dear Tom, Jenna has been known to say, "Love is a heart." Or, "Love is a hug." Perhaps the metaphor is generalized a bit in her nearly-three-year-old mind, but the essence of the image is good. We can show our love with a hug or by drawing a heart. Or, we can show our love by doing something undesirable for one another - such as taking out the trash or putting the dishes away or another chore that's "not my job". Love is sacrifice and doing things that might even HURT. It hurts to be kind to you when you are gone all day and you come home too tired to help out much around the house. It hurts to take the trash down that long, long driveway in the blinding wind and rain.
Writing these suggestions down even hurts. I don't want to do them. Dear Lord, I pray that you would soften my heart (Ezekiel 36:26) so that I will be willing to sacrifice my lazy desires. Help me to say "no" to "no" and say "yes" to "yes". Even when it hurts.
Love is a heart....all mangled and broken and smudged up...love is a hug.
Dear Lisa, in our busy lives we may not look terribly like a couple in love. In truth we do need to spend much more time together, but looking or reviewing these lines of love by Paul, I -- for one -- can say that my love is growing steadily for you. It may not be evident. It does say love is patient, but it also says that love is protection, trusting, hoping, and always perseveres. Love does not fail. The truth is that our love in all circumstances is God ordained and thus will never fail. I love you more today than when we were first married.
Dear Tom, Jenna has been known to say, "Love is a heart." Or, "Love is a hug." Perhaps the metaphor is generalized a bit in her nearly-three-year-old mind, but the essence of the image is good. We can show our love with a hug or by drawing a heart. Or, we can show our love by doing something undesirable for one another - such as taking out the trash or putting the dishes away or another chore that's "not my job". Love is sacrifice and doing things that might even HURT. It hurts to be kind to you when you are gone all day and you come home too tired to help out much around the house. It hurts to take the trash down that long, long driveway in the blinding wind and rain.
Writing these suggestions down even hurts. I don't want to do them. Dear Lord, I pray that you would soften my heart (Ezekiel 36:26) so that I will be willing to sacrifice my lazy desires. Help me to say "no" to "no" and say "yes" to "yes". Even when it hurts.
Love is a heart....all mangled and broken and smudged up...love is a hug.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
When Should We Praise God?
Psalm 113: 1-6
Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
First and foremost in our lives should be praise to God. Who should praise him? Any who are servants of the Lord which would include all believers and any who believe because of the glory of God seen in nature. When should we praise him? For all time and all day from the time we get up to the time we fall asleep. The Lord is to be praised above all nations, he is Lord over all nations and therefore is more important than the individual nations. He is enthroned which means that he is the King of all Kings. He is over all including the heavens and earth.
How could we dismiss or ignore the creator of all? Let us get down on our knees and praise our Lord everyday with awe and humbleness knowing that all we have and all that we can see is a gift from God.
Dear Lord, thank you for being the King of Kings. Everything is a gift...from You! Help us to remember that daily. Amen.
Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
First and foremost in our lives should be praise to God. Who should praise him? Any who are servants of the Lord which would include all believers and any who believe because of the glory of God seen in nature. When should we praise him? For all time and all day from the time we get up to the time we fall asleep. The Lord is to be praised above all nations, he is Lord over all nations and therefore is more important than the individual nations. He is enthroned which means that he is the King of all Kings. He is over all including the heavens and earth.
How could we dismiss or ignore the creator of all? Let us get down on our knees and praise our Lord everyday with awe and humbleness knowing that all we have and all that we can see is a gift from God.
Dear Lord, thank you for being the King of Kings. Everything is a gift...from You! Help us to remember that daily. Amen.
4-Year-Old Teaches Me What It Means to Worship
Those Pre-K kids have done it again. Taught me something I really and truly did not know. We were sitting there in class and this one particular child, who is prone to asking such questions that make me want to yell, "Help!", stopped me cold by asking, "Well, just what does it MEAN to worship?"
So of course I said, well, it means to honor God through our singing and our praising Him and our coming to church and our bowing before His throne. We show God who He is by our act of worship.
This little girl got a glazed look in her eyes and just sort of shook her head at me and then we went on to eating our animal crackers and so forth and so on. All I could think was, "I've LOST her! Woe is me!"
I went home and looked up the meaning of worship. One definition, from goodnewsarticles.com (David DePra, author) says this about worship:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, because of the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is holy and acceptable unto God. Such a surrender is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:1-2)
This passage from Romans not only tells us the nature of true worship, but gives us the results. This is a passage which all Christians ought to meditate upon. It is one of those key Bible passages which should stand front and center in our Christian walk.
Generally speaking, the word "worship" in the Bible is translated from the Greek word, "proskuneo," which means, "to do reverence to." You can see that this Greek word is behind our English word, "prostrate" – in the sense of laying face down (prostrating oneself) and worshipping. There are other words in Greek which are translated, "worship," in the Bible, but "proskuneo" is the most common one.
"To worship," really means, "to be devoted to." It speaks of who I serve with my life – of who governs my life. Worship is more than just praising with words – as sincere as those words might be. It means more than just acknowledging God’s greatness. To worship God means to become devoted to God because of His greatness, and to become governed by His greatness to the point where I LIVE FOR HIM.
There's no way I could have said all THAT to a 4 year old, but this explanation reminded me of something I keep seeing in Cubbies: one little boy, when asked to get ready for prayer, simply throws himself FLAT on his belly on the ground and folds his hands and shuts his eyes.
Mind you, this is probably our most physically active and hard-to-control Cubbie. He comes to AWANAs ready to roll. In fact, one day during free time, he suddenly started hurtling himself, hard, at the walls of the room, over and over -- I stopped him and said, "What are you DOING?" and he replied, "I just feel like I need to bang into the wall."
But I think when he lies down prostrate and folds his chubby little hands and drops his sweaty head onto that dirty carpet, he is readying himself to worship God.
Oh.
So of course I said, well, it means to honor God through our singing and our praising Him and our coming to church and our bowing before His throne. We show God who He is by our act of worship.
This little girl got a glazed look in her eyes and just sort of shook her head at me and then we went on to eating our animal crackers and so forth and so on. All I could think was, "I've LOST her! Woe is me!"
I went home and looked up the meaning of worship. One definition, from goodnewsarticles.com (David DePra, author) says this about worship:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, because of the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, which is holy and acceptable unto God. Such a surrender is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:1-2)
This passage from Romans not only tells us the nature of true worship, but gives us the results. This is a passage which all Christians ought to meditate upon. It is one of those key Bible passages which should stand front and center in our Christian walk.
Generally speaking, the word "worship" in the Bible is translated from the Greek word, "proskuneo," which means, "to do reverence to." You can see that this Greek word is behind our English word, "prostrate" – in the sense of laying face down (prostrating oneself) and worshipping. There are other words in Greek which are translated, "worship," in the Bible, but "proskuneo" is the most common one.
"To worship," really means, "to be devoted to." It speaks of who I serve with my life – of who governs my life. Worship is more than just praising with words – as sincere as those words might be. It means more than just acknowledging God’s greatness. To worship God means to become devoted to God because of His greatness, and to become governed by His greatness to the point where I LIVE FOR HIM.
There's no way I could have said all THAT to a 4 year old, but this explanation reminded me of something I keep seeing in Cubbies: one little boy, when asked to get ready for prayer, simply throws himself FLAT on his belly on the ground and folds his hands and shuts his eyes.
Mind you, this is probably our most physically active and hard-to-control Cubbie. He comes to AWANAs ready to roll. In fact, one day during free time, he suddenly started hurtling himself, hard, at the walls of the room, over and over -- I stopped him and said, "What are you DOING?" and he replied, "I just feel like I need to bang into the wall."
But I think when he lies down prostrate and folds his chubby little hands and drops his sweaty head onto that dirty carpet, he is readying himself to worship God.
Oh.
Psalm 108:6-9
Psalm 108: 6-9
Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered. God has spoken from his sanctuary: In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph."
Wow, this one is deep today. Here to start is a normal plea that hopefully we all make to pray for those we know do not have a personal relationship with Jesus. We know that we can bring forth our requests often and continually and if it is his will he will answer positively those prayers.
In verse 7 it says, "God has spoken." God promised the son of Jesse great blessings. Any divine revelation should be a great joy. God had spoken to him through the mouth of Nathan. "I will divide Shechem" means that at home, foes must be dislodged from Israel's territory, and lands will be properly settled and managed. "In the valley of Succoth" means that the lands across the Jordan must also be made safe especially against marauders.
The next portion is a prayer of thanks to God. Gilead and Manasseh are lands promised to them by God and they now have them. Ephraim was a tribe who furnished David with more than twenty thousand mighty men of valour. Judah is where David seated the government and chief courts of justice. No other tribe could govern but Judah. Moab opposed Israel; therefore, David claims victory over them by faith before it is done. Even though Edom is strong and proud and powerful David says he will just throw his shoe at them like they are really no threat. He is saying that most people make too much of God's foes. Over Philistia he once conquered it as a youth and will do so again.
Daily Thought: I guess the bottom line here is if God is for us who can be against us. Praise God and his promises.
TomWednesday, December 12, 2007
Broken Spirit/Contrite Heart Psalm 51:17
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart....
Wesley says, "This (broken spirit) is of more value than many sacrifices."
Matthew Henry offers this commentary: (from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary)
Those who are thoroughly convinced of their misery and danger by sin, would spare no cost to obtain the remission of it. But as they cannot make satisfaction for sin, so God cannot take any satisfaction in them, otherwise than as expressing love and duty to him. The good work wrought in every true penitent, is a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, and sorrow for sin. It is a heart that is tender, and pliable to God's word. Oh that there were such a heart in every one of us! God is graciously pleased to accept this; it is instead of all burnt-offering and sacrifice. The broken heart is acceptable to God only through Jesus Christ; there is no true repentance without faith in him. Men despise that which is broken, but God will not. He will not overlook it, he will not refuse or reject it; though it makes God no satisfaction for the wrong done to him by sin. Those who have been in spiritual troubles, know how to pity and pray for others afflicted in like manner. David was afraid lest his sin should bring judgements upon the city and kingdom. No personal fears or troubles of conscience can make the soul, which has received grace, careless about the interests of the church of God. And let this be the continued joy of all the redeemed, that they have redemption through the blood of Christ, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.
Anyway, in the midst of this, I felt descending upon me those twin evils .... of bitterness and resentment. They are a bad, bad combination. I felt it toward Tom for some reason. I just could not be kind toward him. I blamed all my daily troubles on him.
And I knew it was wrong. Those twins are worse than any daily hassles or struggles that befall any of us.
And I had to confess it. To Tom and to God.
And then the verse, above, came to me. (see why AWANA is so important? The exact verse you need comes to you when you need it, just when you need it ..... so bury those verses in your heart....just like the children do.)
My heart is broken and my spirit is broken and God will not despise that. We no longer need to bring sacrifices of turtledoves and pigeons or lambs or jewelry into the temple. We simply need to drop our broken tattered hearts and souls at the altar of prayer.
So I did that yesterday morning. But when Tom got home last night I felt it again! There was more doggie doo-doo! More rain! Kids were being disrespectful! ARgghhhhhh!
So I am confessing it again. I know His word is true, the sacrifices of a broken spirit and a contrite heart are pleasing to God. He will not despise that. Please forgive me for these twin evils of bitterness and resentment because they are worse than anything bad the kids will do. Any song I sing, any act of service, will be pleasing to the Lord but right now this confession is all He wants of me. So, I'm sorry. Please, Lord, forgive me....please, tom, forgive me.
Humbly submitted, Lisa
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