Monday, March 29, 2010

Open My Eyes

Scripture defines a man who does not know God as being spiritually blind. Those who accept Christ's sacrifice and walk according to His commands are said to walk in the light. For those who walk in the light, how often do we pause to consider what we look at? We have been given spiritual eyes to see, but do we make choices in how we spend our time based on investing in the Kingdom, or just to fritter away our days? We have been given spiritual sight, and yet we often make choices in our temporal life as if we were still in the dark. 1 John 2:16-17 says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”

God has placed us here on Earth for His purposes. He calls us to live in the world, but not be of the world. He calls us to be separate…to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. This line of thought has been very heavy on my heart lately. It is hard to be continually Kingdom-minded in all things. Sometimes life can feel like a rat race, and I battle with complacency and selfishness. Even though I have spiritual sight, I think my understanding of Heaven and spending eternity with my Savior is still quite dim. I wonder to myself, “If I really understood the magnitude of living with Christ in His kingdom forever, shouldn’t it be easier to consistently make the right choices now?” I am so thankful for God’s grace, patience and mercy with me. I continue to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

There is an old hymn that has been my current prayer lately:

Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp, and set me free.
Silently now I wait for Thee,
Ready, my God, Thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Smooth Sailing (from the Archives, Oct. 2006)

Our local rollerskating rink has a Christian Music night every Tuesday night. We took our kids there this past Tuesday to have some fun family time together. Our schedule gets insanely busy during this time of year, so we covet those evenings when we can spend time together as a family and have fun!

This was Noelle's first experience on skates. She is a fiercely independent three year old, and after several laps in the practice area, she wanted to come out on the main floor with Papa and Mama. Thus began a long evening for David and me, as we went through the process of teaching her how to skate. As we repeatedly picked her up, encouraged her to stand on her skates (rather than hang from our arms), and coached her to keep her feet together, I began to get a picture in my head of my walk with the Lord. Sometimes my walk looks like my little three year old girl's attempts to skate. Every now and then I trip, or my feet may flail wildly about (metaphorically speaking) as I try and figure out how to get through certain circumstances. I quickly learn, as my daughter did that night, that if I simply stand strong and hold my Father's hand tight, He will guide me through! It was so much easier when she would just stand on her skates between us and let us do all the work!

God wants to work through us! He doesn't just drop us into a new situation and say, "Good luck, I'll be back in a couple of hours." We need to remember to hold His hand in everything and let Him guide us. All He requires of us is a willing and obedient heart that listens to, and heeds His commands.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Billboards (from the Archives)

I live in Springfield, Oregon about seven miles east of I-5, which is the main interstate that runs north and south through Oregon. On the way home from worship team rehearsal this evening, I made a note of every single billboard along that seven mile stretch between the freeway and my house. Here are the results:

1. Bank (advertising business loans)
2. Bank (advertising savings accounts)
3. Local coffee shop/restaurant
4. Chiropractic clinic (advertising chronic back pain relief)
5. “Lost” (advertising something about college loans, it wasn’t clear)
6. Blank yellow background with bold capital letters that said, “Advertise Here.”
7. Homes & Land (Real Estate)
8. Chiropractic clinic
9. Cell phone service provider
10. Homes & Land (Real Estate)
11. Casino
12. Local Home Improvement store
13. Another (different) Home Improvement store
14. Little Caesar’s Pizza (slogan: “Hot-n-Ready”, $5)
15. Clearwire (slogan: “Speed, but don’t pay the price!”)
16. Homes & Land (TV Channel)
17. DUII warning/info (slogan: “You don’t have to blow .08 to get a DUI”)
18. Budweiser (slogan: “This is beer.”)

Billboards. They are something that we see every day. We see them so often, we don’t notice how prevalent they really are. If someone had asked me to guess how many billboards were on that stretch of highway, I probably would have said about seven or eight. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed eighteen!

The main purpose of a billboard is to advertise something, but what is the message behind the message? While all billboards provide information, I think the message behind the message for most billboards (and advertising in general) is dissatisfaction. We want bigger homes, faster service, and more exciting lives. Are we happy with what God has provided for us, or do we want to borrow more and/or gamble with what we have?

What does the testimony of your life advertise to others?
Is your message clear or nebulous, like #5?
Are you a blank slate, willing to accept and reflect whatever is around you, like #6?
Does your message have mixed meaning and set a dual standard, like #15?
Do people see pervasive dissatisfaction in your life?
Do you offer them a consistent, positive message of Truth?

What does your billboard say?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Irreplaceable

"If you want to be irreplaceable, you have to be different." Coco Chanel

As I was absentmindedly thumbing through a recent issue of Woman's Day magazine in the dentist's office today, this quote caught my eye. While I understand the message the quote is intending to convey, it made me sad. This quote by Coco Chanel implies that we need to DO something to be irreplaceable. We need to BE different. The truth is, we ARE, by our very existence, different and irreplaceable in the eyes of the Lord. We are precious in His sight. There are no two humans that are exactly alike. Scientifically speaking, this can be proven in the comparison of fingerprints or DNA, but it goes way beyond that. Scripture says:

"For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:13-14)

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;" (Genesis 1:26)

It was God, the Creator of the Universe, who created us. Each one of us are His unique creation, and we are irreplaceable in His sight. He created us for His good pleasure, and it was by His design and purposes that we even exist.
  • Let us never forget the awesome and imaginative power of our Creator.
  • Let us understand that we do not need to strive to gain His love and affection.
  • Let us remember the incredible sacrifice made by His Son for our eternal redemption.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Grace (from the archives, Summer 2008)

Great is your faithfulness, oh God;
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart,
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me (excerpt of a song by Chris Tomlin)

Some of you know, and many of you do not, that I have been in a battle for the last three weeks for my vision. I have had a double eye infection that traveled into my sinuses and lymph nodes. The infection resisted the first medication, and I am still waiting to see if it will respond to the second medication. I struggle most at night with dryness, burning, and a wandering eye that is difficult to focus. Throughout this process, I have been praying specifically, “Lord, you have allowed my eyes to become sick. What is it that you want me to see?” He blessed me with an answer, but it has been a difficult and thought-provoking one to process. It has left me humbled, vulnerable, and thankful for His love in a new way that I don’t think I would have experienced, had my vision not been affected.

Many of you have probably heard and may have been posed the philosophical question, “Which would you rather be…deaf or blind?” I had this conversation last weekend with a good friend. He said that he couldn’t imagine a life without hearing music, and said he would prefer to be blind. He seemed surprised to hear that, given my life which has been steeped in music, that I would prefer my sight to my hearing. To some degree, this is a pointless conversation to have because if you are neither, you really don’t understand the ramifications of what it means to be blind or deaf. Your answer might be different if you had either sense and then lost it, or if you began life without one. I didn’t sleep well that night, not because of the conversation, but because my eyes were giving me fits.

The next morning was Sunday, and I went to church with my family. My husband and I were on the worship team, and we sang the song by Chris Tomlin from which I have included an excerpt of the lyrics above. As I was singing the song and got to the chorus, I heard His voice clearly ask me, “Is My grace really enough for you?” I suddenly realized that the past three weeks of sleepless nights spent in earnest prayer was God wrestling with my heart. All I could hear during those nights was my voice pleading, “Lord, please, if it is your will, preserve my vision!” I never heard Him saying, “I hear you, but first I want to know….is my grace enough for you?” It hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized anew that my life is not my own, and that includes my vision. It is by grace that I have been saved, through faith, and this not of myself, it is a gift of God. By His grace and mercy, He chose to save me and granted me eternal life. Salvation is the only thing I really need. Eternal life with Christ should be enough.

After church, we went to lunch and then stopped at a park by the river. David took the kids down by the water to play, and I stayed in the car with the windows open, enjoying the cool breeze. I looked up at the canopy of trees over me, enjoying the different shades of green leaves with red fringes on them. I enjoyed watching the wind sway the branches back and forth. I closed my eyes and listened intently to the leaves rustle against each other.

The Lord started a conversation with me.
Is my grace sufficient…

During life’s minor inconvenience? Yes, Lord.
When you have been betrayed by a close friend? Yes, Lord.
When you have been under persecution at school or work? Yes, Lord.
During a life-threatening pregnancy? Yes, Lord.
When your children are seriously ill or injured? Yes, Lord.
Through financial difficulties? Yes, Lord.
When dealing with chronic pain? Yes, Lord.

OK, what if I were to remove your sight….would my grace still be sufficient?

(Gulp.)

I’ll admit I’m still working on that answer. I don’t take my answers to the Lord’s questions lightly. I know that they need to be genuine, because the only person I would fool with a disingenuous answer is myself, and that gets me nowhere. I so desperately want to have the strength to say, “Yes, Lord…if you removed my vision tomorrow for the rest of my life, it would be enough for me to know that I am saved and will spend eternity with you.” I continue to pray at night, but my prayers are different now. I’m praying for the kind of strength and the kind of faith that can honestly say, “Yes, Lord.”

Late last night my mom sent me an encouraging email. I hope that she doesn’t mind my including an excerpt from it here. It seemed so fitting and so inline with this lesson that God is trying to have me learn. I know that her words were directly from the Lord because I have not had a chance to share any of the above story with her.

“Remember when the Apostle Paul "besought the Lord three times to take away the thorn in his flesh"--whatever that was--perhaps his eyes. But the Lord's answer to him was "my grace is sufficient for you". So Paul's response was "therefore most gladly will I glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." And in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, that great "Faith" chapter which lists Old Testament warrior after warrior who did this or that by faith...i.e."By faith Abraham left...not knowing..., "By faith Sarah when she was past age..., "By faith Gideon..., By faith Sampson..., and on and on---these are all examples of people whose prayers God DID answer in a powerful, positive way.

BUT then the rest of that chapter chronicles many people of strong faith whose experiences were not so great---those who were "sawn asunder", whose dead were NOT raised, and so on. Nevertheless THEIR faith is just as valid and as strong as those in the first group, and they were just as precious as people.”

The dictionary defines “sufficient” as “enough to meet the needs of a situation or proposed end.” What is my “situation?” I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior. What is my “proposed end?” Eternal life in Jesus Christ, accomplished by His blood sacrifice on the cross.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I am learning that God’s grace IS sufficient in ALL things.

Is His grace sufficient for you?

Just a short note...

Several months ago, I closed my MySpace account for security reasons. I know that some of my readers here met me through MySpace and read my blog in that forum. There are many readers though, who did not know me then, or did not read my blog there. Prior to closing the account, I transferred all of those blogs to a separate file on my computer because I didn't want to lose them. It is my intent to slowly transfer them into this blog. Whenever I do add an old blog, I will mark it in the title as being from the archives. Whether you have been a long time reader or are just stopping by for the first time, I hope that you will be blessed and find encouragement during your visit to my "nest!"