How Long, O Lord?

Contemplating the state of things around the world, I could very quickly become depressed. The persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq has been weighing heavily upon me. I feel bombarded and inundated with not only this grievous situation, but I know too many people struggling with cancer, chemo, Alzheimer's, divisive families and the derision from ex-spouses.

God is giving me a new-to-me perspective toward the persecution of His holy ones...His saints. Thanks to books like A Passport Through Darkeness, Captive in Iran and The Insanity of God, which I am currently reading, my eyes have not only been opened to what my brothers and sisters in Christ are facing daily...but God's Spirit is opening up a whole new prayer-world to me interceding for them when I see the news reports or He brings a person or place to mind.

Over the last several days as the horrendous reports of beheadings, torture and starvation of children and adults alike have been coming out of Iraq, there is one phrase that has been churning over and over again in my mind...

"How long, O Lord? How long?"

I knew this was found in the book of Revelation, but it took me a couple of days to locate it exactly. I wanted to read the context of this verse before I wrote this post. Somehow I knew when I read the passage, God's Spirit would provide peace for my questions. Do I have an answer to the burning question, How long?

Not exactly. But here's what I found:

"When the Lamb (Jesus) broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also." (Revelation 6:9-11)

I am not a seminary-trained Bible scholar. I will not pretend to understand seals, trumpets, signs vs. poetry or any other debate this could devolve into. But, here's what I know based on this passage:

• There are a certain number of faithful Jesus followers who will lose their lives for maintaining their faith in Christ.
• Thus, as long as there are still people dying for the Name of Jesus, that number has not yet been fulfilled.
• One day, the number will be reached.
• Those who have already died for their faith, have been given a white robe and told that for now, they can rest from their toil.
• One day, the spilling of their blood will be judged and avenged.

Why does this bring me some measure of comfort? Because I know that one day all of this will end. I also know that when I see the lifeless body of a decapitated child or a group of dead children who fled into the mountains without food or water...their purified souls have been told to "rest for a little while longer". Their toil, sadness, suffering and despair are over.

Not only does the thought of their rest bring peace to my soul and praise for God to my lips, such sacrifice puts into very harsh perspective my "need" to run to the grocery store just because I don't have the type of salad dressing I want on hand.

Ouch.

I will say it again and again until every fiber of my being gets the Message...

It is time for hard and holy things!

A Marked Woman

Have you ever felt like a moving target? I know I have. There have been times in my life where I felt like I must have a big, fat bulls eye painted right between my eyes, because the enemy's arrows were flying fast and furiously.

You can imagine my consternation and then relief to find out this wasn't just my melodramatic imagination running away with me. I actually do have a target on my head! Better still...if you're a Jesus-follower...you do too!

I first started pondering this I think a year or so ago. I believe it was in the Living Beyond Yourself Beth Moore Bible study that I heard her mention this. She was actually conveying the idea that we are "sealed" by the Holy Spirit when we place our faith in Jesus and claim Him as our Lord. Her biblical reference escapes me now, but she was trying to convey peace in knowing that you can never be possessed by demonic forces if you are a Jesus-follower, because they just can't get in.

It had to be this study, because I know when I repeated it a few months later, something occurred to me: "If the evil forces around me know that I'm sealed against them...then there must be a way...a sign...a symbol...that is recognizable to them. If that's the case...I'm a marked woman!"

Suddenly...it was as if the clouds parted, the stars aligned and the world finally made sense. Now I understood why so much had happened to us...why it seemed we could never "just get a break"...and what I had unleashed when for the last almost two decades I've told God time and again (with ever increasing levels of commitment) "No matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, I will go wherever You lead and do whatever You want me to do!"

You see, that kind of talk is just crazy talk if you want to lead a nice, peaceful, "normal" life. But honestly, ever since I was a kid...I've wanted anything but "normal". I have a lot of passion, emotion, desire and life pent up in me and I guess somewhere inside of me I've always known I was meant for more than "normal".
Back to the idea at hand: a marked woman. When I first realized this, it also gave me great peace in knowing that either God has big plans for me (and our family) or we must already be at least in the proximity of the right path, because satan doesn't mess with his own. I'm not excusing any foibles we've committed along the way and I am the first to tell you that I'm so far away from perfect that it's not even in my sight lines. But I think there is something to this idea of not only experiencing great growth in your trials and God choosing to refine you when tragedy strikes, I think sometimes satan's also working overtime trying to bring down the ones that want to serve God first and foremost with their lives.

Then today in Beth Moore's study of Esther...joy of joys as she wrote again about this idea that we "are marked--even dressed--in ways obvious to both heaven and hell but invisible to man." She uses a references to Revelation 13:16-17 and Revelation 14:9-10 to propose the idea that what I grew up hearing called "The Mark of the Beast" is satan's counterfeit version of the true mark of God. This theory completely aligns with what I've just learned in Peterson's Reversed Thunder. Peterson points out that the antichrist and the false prophet are counterfeit versions of Jesus and even the dread number 666 is a knock-off of a complete 777....7 being often used in Scripture as a whole, complete or divine number.

When I read this today, I even jotted in the margin a note about phylacteries. According to dictionary.com a phylactery is 'either of two small, black, leather cubes containing a piece of parchment inscribed with verses 4–9 of Deut. 6, 13–21 of Deut. 11, and 1–16 of Ex. 13: one is attached with straps to the left arm and the other to the forehead during weekday morning prayers by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish men.' And I remembered the verse Deuteronomy 6:8, "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." The "them" is the commandments of God.

Were the phylacteries just a forerunner of a spiritual mark that we would one day inherit when the Holy Spirit arrived to reside in any man or woman that bound themselves to Jesus Messiah? Hmmm?? It's worth considering. And I definitely see how "The Mark of the Beast" is a paltry counterfeit to the divine stamp of God. Growing up fearing the dreaded "mark" and even having nightmares about it, it amazes me to look back now and wonder at what point I lost that fear. Hallelujah! "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1)

I know this was lengthy...but thanks for hanging with me to the end. It might not even mean that much to you right now. I just pray that the next time your world is crashing down all around you, you can can look up and be confident that you imagination is not running away with you...you are in fact, a moving target! And your enemy will hurl absolutely every arrow in his quiver at you. So quit wondering why it's happening! Instead, Ephesians 6:16 tells us when this happens, don't walk, don't dally...run to take up your "shield of faith".

After all every good dragonslayer knows "You always go for the shield!"

Spiritual Urgencies

Heard a great sermon today about "The End". This much-feared "end" has been in the news a lot lately...actually for the last several months. I've watched my fair share of conspiracy theory videos, a lot of them sounding very similar to doomsday movies like "2012" (cataclysmic earthquakes & weather patterns), "Deep Impact" (asteroid hurtling toward Earth), "Knowing" (solar flares that incinerate Earth) and "Outbreak" (flu virus gone haywire). There is no limit to these types of films and I actually enjoy the disaster film genre...always have.

But here's the thing that happened a few months ago...so many of the conspiracy theories started sounding eerily similar to some of these story lines...and actually even plausible. I did find myself beginning to get concerned. And when thoughts of stocking up on water or food or moving to a farm in the middle of nowhere so we could survive the coming, inevitable apocalypse began to consume my thoughts, my loving, all-knowing (as in He already knows what's going to happen!) merciful Saviour gently reminded me of a few things:

• He hasn't forgotten me, my family or where we live.
• Just exactly in whom or what am I placing my trust?
• There will come a day when to survive and still be around for what's coming won't be the optimal choice.
• And if my heart and thus my focus, is on meeting Him some day and living with Him for all of eternity...then something that speeds up the inevitability of that day can actually be a good thing, right?

I'm not sadistic, and I don't relish the thought of pain, starvation or watching any of my family go through either...but as soon as I was able to let go and say, "You know what God...you're right!" I could quickly add, "No matter what may happen, what I may have to endure...even so come Lord Jesus...come!"

I used to tell people that I wasn't afraid of death, but I was afraid of what I'd have to go through to get there. That's no longer the case. This has been a slow awakening for me that's probably taken about a year to process through and become at peace with...so if you're not there yet and you still fret about death, pain, etc., give yourself some grace, talk to God about it and allow Him to give you His peace.

See the thing I keep trying to bring out in so many conversations and even on these blog posts is that this world is not our home. We were never meant to die, be buried and that be the end. We were meant to live forever with the One that loves us most. As authors like Gregory Boyd and Eugene Peterson have reminded me in the last few months, the promise of Heaven is why early Christian martyrs (or even martyrs in this century) could go to their deaths singing, praising and worshipping their risen Lord...because they absolutely knew His resurrected life meant their own lives would endure forever as well. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, right? And Paul reminded the early church time and again that our focus was to be on God, not our circumstances. Peter even wrote that, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials." (I Peter 1:6)

So today when the pastor began to ask how we feel about the thought of "The End", I wanted to shout "Yes! Come Lord Jesus!" And as he attempted to ease the fears that undoubtedly were present for many of the congregation, I too was challenged by his reminder that the best thing we can do is to be ready.

We remain ready and watchful, yes. But we also remember that no matter whether the date is 12-21-12 or 1-1-3000, every day we are one day closer to the return of Jesus Messiah. When that day comes, everyone will be sorted and will spend eternity in one of two places. And you know what...we were meant to have a happy ending. You know it in your soul, right? Happy endings resonate with us for a reason, don't they?

The "spiritual urgency" is for those of us who know about the happy ending...we are commanded to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19) Whether we want to stare it in the face or not, the clock is ticking. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, just facing the facts.

But many times the road seems long and the struggle to climb the mountain of obstacles seems far too difficult to climb, that's when, as Eugene Peterson writes "We are apt to think (who has time for preaching)--until, in the middle of the battle we find our courage flagging and our commitment wavering, and realize that the world is not primarily a place where information is stored and retrieved, but a moral and spiritual contest in which we are embattled. Then we are grateful for a proclamation from some midheaven pulpit, telling us again what God says about what is happening, turning information into command or promise, translating moral memories into spiritual urgencies (Revelation 14:6-13)." Reversed Thunder

"Spiritual urgencies"...that's what I was reminded of this morning. How easily I am lulled into forgetting this. Today, I am "grateful for a proclamation...telling (me) again what God says about what is happening." And what He says is happening is urgent...spiritually urgent.

Yes! (Amen!)

A Skeptical Mind

I've always been skeptical, analytical, critical...whichever -cal you want to insert and while most of these words have negative connotations, I recently learned that to be skeptical is sometimes a good thing.

In Reversed Thunder, Eugene Peterson writes, "There is something seemingly incompatible, on the surface anyway, between a skeptical mind and religious faith. For people whose habit is faith, whose disposition in matters of God and the supernatural is towards acceptance, it is easy to be deceived by religious leaders. There is, in fact, no part of life in which deceit is more prevalent than in religion (just as there is is no part of life in which violence is more prevalent than in the state). Organized behavior is prone to violence; organized belief is prone to deceit."

As long as I can remember, I have questioned absolutely everything. I've almost always believed this to be a bad thing. But, about 15 years ago, I read a book by Philip Yancey entitled The Jesus I Never Knew and in it's pages, I learned that it was not only okay to ask questions of God...He even delights in our questions. Around eight years ago, I read a different book by Michael Card, A Sacred Sorrow, that explained God delights in our questions (even amidst tragedy) because then at least we're engaged in "the dance"...this dance we call life. If you don't "dance", your basically a wall-flower letting your life pass you by. God wants to dance with us through this life...and one way to engage in the dance is through our questions.

We learn in Job, that no question is too tough for our God. And my sister-in-law even said to me one time, 'I guess if David could write what He wrote in the Psalms, I think God can handle my outbursts too!' Wise words from someone ten years younger than me.

So why add some skepticism to your life? Peterson writes, "How do we protect ourselves from organized deceit? St. John is blunt: use your heads."

I even once had someone tell me that I was "pushing" them and that I've always been a deep thinker...like that was somehow a bad thing. Yes, I fully believe that you can get tripped up by your skepticism just as easily as you can be deceived by religion. Trust me, I've had it happen numerous times! But this is where it comes back to the dance analogy. Whether I'm accepting something by faith or questioning everything around me...each must be taken back to God, presented to Him to sort through as we ask Him for the discernment, insight and perspective of His Holy Spirit. This is the dance...with Him in the lead of course!

I hope I'm not making too big of a leap here...I highly recommend this Peterson book...but without going into all that he expounds upon regarding false religion and how we succumb to it, there is one more quote I'd like to leave you with.

It seems I'm hearing a lot of people talk about letting go and surrendering everything to God's Will...again, remember the idea of the dance. He's your partner. You're not in this alone. Peterson's final paragraph on the subject of false religion falls within this vein: "The visions show us that while we are doing our best to worship God and not the powers of the world, to understand our faith and not be misled by the devil's religious flimflam, and to cultivate a life of holiness in a weed-filled society, we are being helped to do each task."

Amen! We're not dancing alone...ever!

So it's okay to question why church leaders are leading congregations in a certain direction. It's okay to question why things have always been done a certain way. It's okay to question absolutely everything. But take those questions to the One that has the answers.

Mentioned in this post:

Politics

Yeah...I know...one of the two things you're never supposed to discuss with people. But since the other one is religion and that's the prevailing theme of this blog, I thought I'd dive in!

In Reversed Thunder, one of Eugene Peterson's chapters is entitled "The Last Word on Politics". It's an interesting perspective on politics according to the Kingdom of God.

"The political metaphor of kingdom invites misunderstanding because all the politics that we know require the exercise of power, either through the manipulation of force (militarism) or the manipulation of words (propaganda), and usually both. We quite naturally assumed that if there is a Kingdom of God there will also be coercion by God, and will not be hesitant in exercising some of it ourselves, either verbally or physically, on his behalf."

Ouch!

"Two temptations exert a powerful pull on the Christian community. One is to retain the political dimensions of the gospel and to take up the usual political means, namely, force. Instead of riding that silly donkey, Jesus should have charged into Jerusalem on a stallion and let a few heads roll. The other is to give up the political and have a nice little fellowship--cultivate a faith that more or less abandons the world of government, economics, culture, and society, and settle for saving a few souls."

I confess...I primarily fall into the latter of these two categories. But I know a whole lot of people that fall into the first...those who think if we just get the right man in the right office, the U.S. will turn toward God, He will bless our nation and all will be well.

Don't get me wrong, this is a nice hope and I'm the first to admit I'd love to be blessed (usually that means financial blessing when people are talking about our nation) and I would be thrilled for us to all live in peace. But I guess I'm just naive enough to believe that God doesn't need a specific person to complete His purposes.

Now I know in the eyes of many I'm being very rebellious suggesting such a thing. There may even be some who would suggest that I'm either unpatriotic or not a committed Christian. All I can say is that I know in my heart neither could be farther from the truth!


If you've been reading recently, you'll know that I've been working as a tax preparer this winter and spring. One of the questions I hate to ask is: "Would you like to designate $3 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund?" Nine out of ten times it evokes comments about our President, Congress, or how we'd all just be better off without any of them. Trust me...I've heard it all this year. And the funny thing is, these clients of mine sound an awful lot like many of the Christians I know...or Christian organizations that have political agendas at least. I'm pretty sure as evidenced by other parts of the conversations I'm having,  90% of the people that make these political comments would not call themselves Jesus followers.

And here's the question I keep coming back to and the one I want you to ask yourself: At what point along the way did we buy into this lie that this world is our home?

I'm talking to Christians here...Bible-believing, faith-seeking, God-loving, Holy Spirit-filled, Jesus followers. Yes...we are called to further the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. But we're also told over and over again that this world belongs to the Enemy of our souls. God's Kingdom on earth, as Gregory Boyd puts it in Is God to Blame?, is more like a pushing back...sometimes inch by inch...against the gates of hell. And Jesus even told us that the gates of Hades couldn't withstand the power of Jesus the Messiah. (see Matthew 16:16-18)

So I'm not advocating a total abandonment of politics. I do believe that Jesus taught us to pray "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." (KJV) (see Matthew 6:9-13) I believe it's entirely appropriate to be involved in our local communities. We should pray for our leaders--national, state and local. I also believe that if so led, Jesus followers should pursue public service, even politics, in any capacity that God requires.

But my prayer for all of us is that we simply don't ever lose sight of Whom we serve, the hope that we have in Him and His call to love all...even if their politics happen to be different from ours!

A Sodden Mush

In Eugene Peterson's chapter entitled "The Last Word on Witness" in the book Reversed Thunder, I read the following:
"If ordinary, daily Christian conversation is not to congeal into a sodden mush of platitude and cliche', it needs to be in touch with the rich, vibrant reality of the supernatural, the invisible vitalities of God who, Psalm 18 tells us, "rode on a cherub."

I don't want a "sodden mush"...do you? Aren't you tired of all the banalities? Doesn't your soul long to talk about more than the latest book, movie or celebrity gossip? Don't you thirst to talk about things that matter?

I do...and odds are, so do you.

If you really analyze most of our media...whether texting, Facebook, Twitter, print, internet or television...isn't most of it a "sodden mush". Believe me, I am just as guilty as anyone else! And so much of this carries over into the majority of our conversations...even among Christians. My conversation so easily degenerates into things that don't matter...who said what, who did what, what I did, what I said or where any one of us went. Don't believe me? Just take a few minutes to run through your Facebook homepage and ask God for His perspective about what really matters. See what I mean?

So why, if we call ourselves Jesus followers, do we not talk of the things that matter...which of course, are the things of God? My experience has been that a lot of us just don't want to hear it. I've even been told I used Holy Spirit or God too much in my conversation. Hmmmm? Interesting isn't it.

But thankfully, the Holy Spirit (sorry...gotta give credit where it is due!) has brought a few ladies into my life that do love to discuss the things of God. These ladies love Him first and foremost and it is not only evident in their speech...but also in their lives!

Sure, we talk about healthy eating, our kids, our home school curriculum, our churches, our needs, our fears and our doubts...but lurking (for lack of a better word) always in the background or mentioned right out in the open is the reference and deference to the God who gave us all, loves us most, knows us best and longs to draw us closer. What an amazing gift I have a few times a month to sit down and chat with these ladies! And there are a few that don't have the time to sit down with me regularly...that's okay too. I seek out the opportunity to chat with them at home school co-op or other places, even if it's only for a few minutes.

I realized yesterday just how quickly my own conversation degenerates away from the things of God yesterday. I was tired, it had been a rough morning in the nursery at co-op and someone was annoying me. I said something judgmental to someone sitting next to me and Holy Spirit brought me up short. I spoke up to the person I'd made the comment to and said something like, "It really is none of my business is it? It really has nothing to do with me?" Thankfully, she was honest and said, "You're right, it's not." Right there in that moment, God wasn't even mentioned and she affirmed to my heart the things of God that matter.

And overall, Peterson's point is that witness is simple "truth telling". But it's a Truth that unfortunately the world doesn't want to hear. "The witness may be a hero to Christians, but in the world the witness is solitary, suspect, ignored, and occasionally abused." Peterson's observations sometimes extend to inside the church as well.

I make no claims of being a bold witness and my mostly good-natured intentions have sometimes been misconstrued as being pretentious instead. There have been many miscommunications on my part and misunderstandings on the behalf of others. There have also been times when I thought no one but God could possibly understand my heart. I've survived the storms that have come and as only He can do He has helped me even thrive. So on this day...in this season of my life, I'm ever so thankful for the five ladies with whom He has intersected my path. Our conversations may sometimes be sporadic as we play hit or miss with our schedules, but when we do have opportunity to share, the conversations are 'rich, vibrant, real' and full of the "invisible vitalities of God".

Amen!

Listening

Again, I'm behind in blogging some things that I'd hoped to share. I've realized that this season of my life, no matter whether it's short (I hope!) or not, is one where I'm not only having difficulty hearing God because of too many distractions...but the lessons I am learning are deeply personal, yet seemly insignificant on the surface. Today's that I share is an example of such.

I once read that to 'learn forgiveness, one should learn to listen.' I liked that when I first came across it a few years ago and I've made a concerted effort to be a better listener ever since. When I'm with someone that listens better than I do, it appears that I still talk too much, but overall...God has made me more outward-focused. One area this is evident? I've become a better listener. Note...I said better...not perfect.

And when I finally began learning to shut-up, I became aware of a lot of things I'd never noticed before. For instance, there are many people that don't know how to listen. I've become more aware of just how often I'm interrupted by those that just want you to hear them and really don't care to listen to what you're saying. I've also always been able to read body language, intonation, pregnant pauses and a whole host of other things pretty well. But when I quit feeling the need to dominate conversation, this "subtext" began to scream even louder so I could truly hear what was being said. The Holy Spirit's discernment has also grown in me, so sometimes there are things that I just "know" even without necessarily being told by the person.

I've also realized that when I'm listening to others speak, I often add something that attaches me to their conversation...an experience, something I've learned, or a funny story about my kids. Truly, their conversation could have absolutely nothing to do with me...and I'll try to make it applicable to my life. Twisted, I know...but I've noticed that most people I know do the exact same thing.

So why is this?

Eugene Peterson helped pull all of the above together for me a few weeks ago when I read this: "We live in a noisy world. We are yelled at, promoted, called. We are surrounded with noise: telephone, radio, television, stereo. Messages are amplified deafeningly. The world is a mob in which everyone is talking at once and no one is willing or able to listen. But God listens. He not only speaks to us, He listens to us. His listening to us is an even greater marvel than His speaking to us. It is rare to find anyone who listens carefully and thoroughly. It is rare to find our stammering understood, our clumsy speech deciphered, our garbled syntax unravelled, sorted out and heard--every syllable attended to, every nuance comprehended. Our minds are taken seriously. Our feelings are taken seriously. When it happens we know that what we say and feel are immensely important. We acquire dignity. We never know how well we think or speak until we find someone who listens to us." (Reversed Thunder, emphasis mine)

Peterson's Biblical reference for knowing that God listens? When the prayers of the saints rise to heaven, Revelation 8:1 tells us there was silence in heaven "for about half an hour".

When we think no one else will listen, no one else will care...we are promised that all of heaven is silent when we offer our petition to God.

Another interesting thing I thought of while typing Peterson's paragraph above is that this book was written in 1988. When he wrote about the noise of telephone, radio, television, and stereo, he had no clue just how deafening the noise would be to a woman reading his book in the year 2012. I can't begin to count how many times I've walked by tables in a restaurant or coffee shop and seen people, often families, not even looking up at each other as they eat because they're all attached to their iPhones, or various other electronics. If it's this way in public, are their homes any different? I've seen in our own family how quickly my kids have become glued to their iPod touches that they received for "tax check Christmas".

Do we even stop and consider just how counter-cultural it is to turn off the devices and give someone our undivided attention? I don't mean put it on vibrate, check to see who's trying to reach you and just ignoring it. For all practical purposes, that's still an unnecessary interruption.

If all heaven is truly silent when someone has a concern, a petition, a praise...shouldn't we be as well? I heard a good sermon yesterday about how the church has a history of wounding those who are already hurting. Judgment is often the weapon of choice used against people who just want help, hope and healing. But even now, as I process through what I heard, I can't help thinking what if instead of drawing any conclusions about someone, we just chose to turn off all the noise in our lives...and listen?

Yes, maybe there would be some tough choices to be made, some action to take on the path to healing and wholeness...but what I kept hearing over and over again in the stories that where shared was again, the subtext. It was said repeatedly, 'I was judged and they wrote me off!' Different words by different people, but the story was the same. Sometimes, I don't even think it's the judgment that hurts. I think it's the fact that someone jumped to a conclusion about you without even taking a moment to listen.

The conclusion the speaker drew yesterday is the same one I leave you with today: Even when everyone in the church fails you...judges you...possibly even disowns you. Even if you feel you have no choice but to give up on the church...don't give up on Jesus.

No one else will ever listen as well as He does...but as His followers, that's the standard set before us. So if you call yourself a Jesus follower, next time someone has a need to share with you...turn off your phone, open up your heart and just listen. If heaven is silent for half an hour, surely we can be too!

Amen!

Royalty

You may have noticed that under my photo to the right the only description I've put to describe myself is "I'm a Daughter of the King!". I used to describe myself with a much longer and witty (or so I thought) paragraph of my interests, background and life-situation. But for some time now, I've been content to merely think of myself with these six simple words.

But are they simple?

If you really think through the implications, the profoundness of these six words, the depth...the breadth...and the power of these words is actually...limitless. One place to start is do I act like I'm a daughter of the King?

Most days...no...I don't. And as I've shared on here recently, I've been struggling a little with my relationship with the King. I don't blame Him. I know I'm not sitting alone with Him as much as I'd like. I know I've let stress, play and schedules get in the way of making Him my priority. When I do concentrate on spending alone and quiet time with Him...His peace prevails, He focuses my heart and I feel confidently empowered to face the day.

So why don't I live focused on being His daughter every day? Hmmm? That's a good question. I think there are too many answers to delve into here. But one of the primary ones is that the King has an Adversary who loves nothing more than to distract me with fear, doubt, worry, stress, daily mundaneness, satisfying my own pleasures, guilt and an overly saturated, steeped-armpit deep culture that provides endless opportunities to ignore the King.

Excuses aside, I'm thankful for the Beth Moore Esther study that a friend encouraged me to do. Esther was a queen and she was presented with a seemingly insurmountable task...save the entire Jewish race. This was no Schindler's List. There was no way to save anyone. They were all going to die. And did I mention that if she went to the king, her husband Xerxes, without first being invited...she could instantly be killed? If you've never read the book of Esther in the Bible, I encourage you to do so. It's brief and reading it is not only encouraging, but sounds like so many love stories or fairy tales that prevail in our culture.

And here's what spoke to my heart last week when I read it in the Bible study: I too am royalty, because I'm a daughter of the King. And I too have a purpose that God specifically has for me to do. The famous verse that includes "for such a time as this" applies to us all. We each have an amazing "for such a time as this" destiny to fulfill. The question is simply, will we obey and act on behalf of the King when He asks?

Truthfully, I might not...unless I remember that I'm a daughter of the King and it isn't I who live but Christ living in me and through me. (Galatians 2:20) But when I stand confidently as a daughter of the King, I can boldly and with the power of the Holy Spirit, accomplish any destiny He has placed before me. Honestly, it helps my attitude toward others as well. The comments, misinterpretations or stinging barbs of others somehow lose their "sting" when I know that I am fulfilling my purpose in God's royal family.

If you'd like to learn more, here are more Scriptures regarding God's kingdom and our place in it. Read them and let them wash over your soul...renewing and refreshing you for the journey ahead.

Matthew 11:11
Matthew 13:11
Luke 20-21
I Corinthians 4:20
I Peter 2:9
Revelation 1:6
Revelation 5:9-10

Come back to these Scriptures often. They'll strengthen you for the journey ahead and remind you that no task is mundane when you're a child of the King. Every act has the possibility of furthering the Kingdom and increasing the territory of the King...the question is will you hear His call and heed His will? That's what a child of the King would do. That's my prayer for myself and for you as well. So let's agree together in prayer to stop behaving like and allowing thoughts to rule us that are contradictory to a child of the King. Just think of the possibilities when we each rise up to fulfill our own destinies "for such a time as this!" Amen!

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Reversed Thunder and What It Means

I know I keep quoting this book...but it's just that good and today, I discovered from where the title comes and I just have to share it!

Each chapter starting with the second is called "The Last Word on ____________ (something)" because after all, Revelation is the "last word" as far as Spirit-inspired Scripture goes. The chapter I began this morning is entitled, "The Last Word on Prayer".

Prayer is an area where I have struggled my whole life. I've shared this on previous posts. But what I've realized over the last few years is that the times of crisis we've experienced more recently opened me up to a whole new world in regard to my prayer life with God. I've relished every moment! And I miss it when that closeness, that special openness to His Spirit isn't there. I'm currently experiencing a time like that...I've shared that as well.

And while I'm processing and praying and asking for discernment why I don't feel as close to Him right now as I'd like, He brought this amazing chapter to me today. I'm only on the second page of it, so there may be more...but this is what blessed me this morning:

     "The Apocalypse is a fusion of vision and prayer. When the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour. A climax has been reached. The silence prepares the imagination to receive an incredible truth. While conflicts raged between good and evil, prayers went up from devout bands of first century Christians all over the Roman empire. Massive engines of persecution and scorn were ranged against them. They had neither weapons nor votes. They had little money and no prestige. Why didn't they have mental breakdowns? Why didn't they cut and run? They prayed.
     It was in order to hear those prayers that there was silence in heaven. Out of silence, action developed:  an angel came before the altar of God with a censer. He mixed the prayer of the Christians with incense (which cleansed them from impurities) and combined them with fire (God's spirit) from the altar. Then he put it all in the censer and threw it over heaven's ramparts. The censer plummeting through the air, landed on earth. On impact there were "peals of thunder, voices, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake." (Rev. 8:5). The prayers which ascended, unremarked by the journalists of the day, returned with immense force--in George Herbert's phrase, as "reversed thunder." Prayer reenters history with incalculable effects. Our earth is shaken daily by it." (emphasis mine)


Like me, have you ever doubted that your prayers mattered? Make a difference? Or are even heard?

Ohhh! BELIEVE loved One! They are heard, they do make a difference and they definitely matter. In fact, they 'reenter history with incalculable effects' and the "earth is shaken daily by it"!

Amen!!!

The Problem of Temptation

Have you ever wished that temptations would just be removed? If you've ever had a constant struggle in your life, you know of what I speak. No matter the addiction: alcohol, drugs, sex or food...don't we at some point just wish that all the opportunities for temptation in that area could simply be removed?

Of course I have!

The battle against that "thing" becomes so wearying that we begin to dream of a world without it. When we succumb to the temptation and guilt and shame wash over you like a wave of wallowing pain, don't we begin to fantasize of a life where the issue is conquered and we stand completely satisfied and content without it?

My "issue" for as long as I can remember has been food. I've shared this several times on this blog. And if you share my struggle, you know the depth of shame and guilt over battling this area for year after year. Especially when our culture tells us time and again that it's just a matter of  "self-discipline". I'm not sure how anyone else has handled their food issues, but I have yet to be able to abstain from food completely. Our food-focused culture doesn't help either!

And then today, I read this quote by Samuel Rutherford in Reversed Thunder by Eugene Peterson:
"I find it most true, that the greatest temptation out of hell is to live without temptations. If my waters should stand, they would rot. Faith is the better of the free air, and of the sharp winter storm in its face. Grace withereth without adversity. The devil is but God's master fencer, to teach us to handle our weapons."

Have we ever considered that temptations are training grounds for our faith? I know I haven't.

What if instead of dreading the battle, I took the battle to the One that defends me best? What if my temptations to grumble, judge, have a critical spirit or use food for comfort instead of fuel were opportunities to extend grace to myself...and others who struggle with the same issues? What if, when I'm tempted I thanked God for the opportunity to sharpen my skills and hone my faith? What if instead of dreading the thought of temptation, I realized that although I don't want to throw myself openly into situations where I know I'm weak...I could instead remember that temptation will come...it's inevitable...so I should be ready with the full armor of the Lord! (see Ephesians 6:10-17)

I love the thought that 'standing waters will rot'. I don't want to "rot" in my faith, do you? So I pray I remember this quote the next time I'm standing in a full-blown temptation. I pray I can stop and thank Him for refining my faith and growing my grace. What an awesome God to even be able to take the "fiery arrows" of the enemy and turn it into growth opportunities and preparation for the future battles we face! Amen!


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I Love This Passage

I've been chewing on this passage by Eugene Peterson for about a week now. I've read it almost daily during that time and every time I read it, I come away encouraged and hopeful. Here it is:

     "Prior to the vision, St. John is on the prison island in isolated exile. He is cut off from his churches by a decree out of unholy Rome. Rome is the ascendant power. The gospel has been proved a weak and ineffective sally against unstoppable evil. Two generations after the euphoria of Pentecost it is thoroughly discredited. Everything St. John has believed and preached is, to all evidence, a disaster. And then, without a single thing having happened in Rome or in Asia--no earthquake to change the face of the earth, no revolution to change the government in Rome--St. John is on his feet. He has a message. He has a job. He has a means for bringing God home to the people and the gospel to the world. The difference between St. John the prisoner and St. John the pastor is Christ, in vision and in reality.
     St. John away from his churches, fretting from lack of intimate knowledge of his people, sees the penetrating, attentive eyes of his Savior. St. John, weak from confinement, sees the strong, burnished feet of his Lord. St. John, used to speaking with authority to his apt-to-stray sheep but now without voice, hears the authoritative voice of the Ruler of church and world. St. John, homesick for his congregations, sees them held in the right hand of the Shepherd of Israel. St. John at the mercy of the political sword of Rome, sees the word of God proceeding swordlike and not returning void. St. John, nearing the end of his days, the energy of his countenance in eclipse, sees the presence of a radiating Christ throwing blessing on all.
     By virtue of the vision, the crushed exile becomes a vigorous prophet. In time of crisis, like ruined Samson in the temple of Dagon, he receives a fresh visitation from God which delivers the people from oppression. Visions, if they are truly visions and not wish-fulfillment dreams, make things happen.
     St. John exiled is now St. John empowered. The vision did it." (emphasis mine)

What a breath of fresh, encouraging air to be reminded that even in the worst possible circumstances...if God blesses you with a vision of His direction, His leading, His will...you will no longer be known as "the exiled"...but rather..."the empowered". None of us will go on to write the vision and it become known as "The Revelation". But "visions...make things happen."

Amen!

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Ohh to Be Like John!

I just started this book this morning, and I was already in tears...blessed, thankful tears that is! Don't let the title throw you, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John & the Praying Imagination promises to really impact me if the rest of the book is anything like Eugene Peterson's first five pages. That's right...it only took 5 pages to have me weeping, raising my hands to God and drinking in the blessing of what Peterson is saying.

So what was he saying? In a nutshell, he's acquainting me with John, the disciple...the one known as the beloved friend of Jesus. Peterson describes John as theologian, poet and pastor. Because he embodied all three, he had a unique way of bring the words of God, as revealed while he was "in the Spirit" (Revelation 1), vividly alive.

Peterson break down each of these three characteristics of John and he begins with the theologian. Here's why I was blessed:

"St. John is a theologian whose entire mind is saturated with thoughts of God, his whole being staggered by a vision of God. The world-making, salvation-shaping word of God is heard and pondered and expressed. He is God-intoxicated, God-possessed, God-articulate. He insists that God is more than a blur of longing, and other than a monosyllabic curse (or blessing), capable of logos (word), that is, of intelligent discourse. John is full of exclamations in relation to God, quite overwhelmed with the experience of God, but through it all there is logos: God revealed is God known."

Ahhh! Sweet peace! Someone put into words in 1988 some of the same thoughts and feelings I have experienced over the last few years.

I want to be "God-intoxicated, God-possessed and God-articulate!" I want my entire mind to be saturated "with thoughts of God". If I'm asking Him every morning to take captive my every thought and to train my mind to be consumed with Him, then naturally what is going to pour forth from my mouth will be "God-articulate". Right? The opposite of this is, of course,  when my words are anything but godly (as was the case with my children this morning) then I'm not God-intoxicated or God-possessed.

And reading this today affirmed many thoughts I've had over the last several months. I've even participated in this conversation a few times with people that are close to me. Here's the gist of what I've been thinking:     
"If we're in a group of fellow believers for more than a few moments of time, why does the conversation never naturally turn back to what God is doing in us and through us?"

This question makes perfect sense to me...but I've actually been challenged a few times by others regarding these thoughts. I've also listened to discussions from those that are frustrated with relationships where the other party only talks about God. Sometimes I've also sat with fellow believers and run out of discussion topics.

Yet, when I'm in the presence of someone that has the desire to be "God-intoxicated, etc." there is no end to the discussion. You wind up standing outside the library in the freezing cold because you can't bring yourself to walk away from such a great conversation. You don't want to hang up the phone even after an hour and a half because you want to linger in the Presence of the One that is leading your conversation. You long for the e-mails from your friend that you know are going to encourage, uplift and challenge you all at the same time. Conversely, I've also sat with those that say they share my faith in God and the conversation never turns to Him. Sure, it can be nice to spend time together...but I don't long to be with them. There's just "something" missing.

When I've expressed these thoughts in the recent past, the response hasn't always been what I would expect. I've even come away from those conversations feeling like maybe somehow I'm wrong or there's something wrong with me because I want to constantly be discussing the things of God. And then today, I read this:
     "The theologian offers his mind in the service of saying "God" in such a way that God is not reduced or packaged or banalized, but known and contemplated and adored, with the consequence that our lives are not cramped into what we can explain but exalted by what we worship. The difficulties in such thinking and saying are formidable. The theologian is never able to deliver a finished product. "Systematic theology" is an oxymoron. There are always loose ends. But even the crumbs from discourse around such a table are more satisfying than full-course offerings on lesser subjects." (emphasis mine)

There it is...the explanation for why I've felt this way. Even the "crumbs" that fall from the table of discussing God are more satisfying than a smorgasbord of other topics.

Please don't think me harsh. I don't even want to be ego-centric and talk about what I am doing for God. I simply long to sit in the presence of those that freely share what God is doing in and through them and will listen to me share the same. I am blessed to have a few women in my life where this is the case. Regular conversations with Lori, Susan, Jennifer and soon to include Kari are blessings that God has given me and I wouldn't trade for anything. Dale and I can talk about a lot of things: parenting, movies, music, books or work...but the things that satisfyany topic can have an underlying spiritual theme...evil or good...and thankfully, she's longing more and more for the good.

I'm delighted to be in this place and even more thrilled that God's workings and thoughts are overflowing out of me...but there's always room for more. If you long to share your story and what God is teaching you, let me know. I'll gladly pull up to that table anytime!

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Come to Me

This is only part of what I read this morning in Jesus Calling this morning:

"Though self-flagellation has gone out of style, many of My children drive themselves like racehorses. they whip themselves into action, ignoring how exhausted they are. They forget that I am sovereign and that My ways are higher than theirs. Underneath their driven service, they may secretly resent Me as a harsh taskmaster. Their worship of Me is lukewarm, because I am no longer their First Love.

My invitation never changes: Come to Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest. Worship Me by resting peacefully in My Presence."

References: I Timothy 6:15-16, Isaiah 55:8-9, Revelation 2:4, Matthew 11:28

Nothing to add to this...it says it all!



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