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Coming Apart

10/27/2012

A friend of mine and I used to have ‘come apart’ weekends. Usually taken once a month, these weekends were designed to, as she and I would say, “come apart before you come apart.”

Too often, the busyness in our respective corner of the world prevented this from happening as frequently as was needed. Many times when she and I would talk about all the craziness that was going on in life, it wasn’t long before one of us would verbalize the need for the other one to have a ‘come apart’ weekend.  Once the ‘ah-ah’ moment came and the necessity acknowledged, one was scheduled as soon as possible.

What does ‘come apart’ mean? In this case, the individual would purposefully remove his/herself from all of the craziness of everyday society, including interaction with people whether via the computer, in person, or on the telephone so he/she could spend concentrated periods in prayer and quiet contemplation. It was not uncommon
for a ‘come apart’ session to also include complete silence when no word was
spoken for the duration of this season.  Setting oneself apart from the bustling activity of the world within the confines of this haven that is filled with stillness, quietness and communion with the Father allows the mind, the spirit, as well as the body, to rest. At the end of this period of seclusion, the world could once again be entered with renewed energy and greater clarity.

Jesus acts as our example for this ‘come apart’ time.

Mark 1:35 “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.”

Luke 4:42 “At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.”

Luke 6:12 “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.”

While a weekend is not necessarily the prescribed amount of time in these passages, it is understood here that Jesus – who was consistently pressed in by the crowds that followed Him wherever He went - removed Himself from the demands of His daily world while He prayed alone to the Father for as long as was needed in order for Him to rest and be renewed by the Father’s presence.  Once this was accomplished,
He could re-enter the world and interact successfully with those whose lives He
came to impact. Can we expect our need to be any less than Christ’s?   Indeed, as humans, we can expect our need to spend ‘come apart’ time with the Father to be even greater.

While it’s not feasible in the hectic pace of our word for one day, let alone two, to be set aside for this ‘come apart’ time, it is nevertheless vital for some span of time to be
dedicated each day to spend with the Father away from the world so that we, too,
can be successful in the life He longs to give us.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light.”

Do you feel yourself coming apart? Come apart before you come apart. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You
Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Constant Vigil

10/25/2012

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The longest awaited dawn is one that is preceded by a night of watchfulness over a sick family
member.

I sat alone – a solitary sentinel – in the darkened hospital room that was lit solely by the glow of the LED lights of the many buttons on several pieces of medical equipment. The whoosh whoosh sound from the various machines acted both as a comfort and as a constant reminder as to why I was here.

It’s challenging to see a loved one’s fever-wracked body in a tug-of-war hour after hour as it works hard to fight off infection. Throughout this particular battle, mine were the loving hands that, time and again, placed a cool compress onto the heated brow; mine were the many prayers - filled with both petitions and thanksgiving - that were whispered into the dim surroundings; and it was my hand that held the hand of the one in discomfort as an assurance of a steady presence so they knew that they knew they were not in this fight alone.

Many, including our Lord, have endured these ‘bitter watches of the night.’ Yet none were so bitter, or so vital, as was this particular night for Him.

Matthew 26:36-38 “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a placed called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of
death. Stay here and keep watch with me.””

Jesus, ‘sorrowful to the point of death,’ desired the comforting presence of His friends while He entreated His Father in prayer for another possible way for mankind to be reconciled to God other than for Him to have to walk the painful path to crucifixion.

Yet His friends could not stay awake to keep watch with Him while He agonized in prayer.  Twice He returned from praying only to find them asleep.  You can almost hear the deep disappointment He felt when He asked them in verse 40 of Matthew 26, “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?”

Jesus, full of compassion, knew how heavy the eyes of His friends were and He also knew the emotional challenges the next three days held in store for them.  While the humanness in Him longed for someone to watch with Him, the Godliness in Him knew that no one could walk this path with Him.  So He went quietly a little way away from them – for the third time – to once again converse alone with His Father.

In full submission to the Father’s will, Jesus prepared Himself to face the only way the sin-debt of mankind could be paid so that we could truly be in right relationship with Him.  He then willfully, with purpose, accepted the path that led to His death.

And as dawn broke three days later, He arose from the grave the Victor over sin and death.  We could now be free from the bondage of sin and would never again be alone or without hope.

Unlike Jesus’ human friends, we are assured that God never sleeps ….

Psalm 121:4 ”Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”

... and that He is a constant presence.

Deuteronomy 31:8 “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

What is it that you are facing alone today? Jesus longs for you to know the assurance of His constant presence and wants to accompany you along life’s journey, through all that it may hold. The choice is yours.  He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How
You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Can't Buy It

10/16/2012

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The most valuable things in life cannot be purchased.

Before my husband and I married, we lived 1,000 miles away from one another.  Since we could not have the typical in-person dates as other couples do, we had to utilize other media during our courtship.  Very early in our relationship, he asked me what it was that I wanted. I told him, “I want all of those things that money can’t buy.”

To many in our society who equate the acquisition (or giving) of things as a telltale sign of their desirability and/or success, this statement is incomprehensible.  My husband, on the other hand, fully understood what I meant by those words without me ever having to give further explanation.

What does the phrase “all of those things that money can’t buy” mean?   Simply, it means love, respect, faithfulness, honor and understanding. These all lend itself to true living instead of simple mindless existence without fulfillment. It’s all of those
‘heart’ things that people down through the ages have longed for and sought
out. Sadly, in their impatience over not finding it in another human being quickly enough, many end up settling for less and their heart remains unsatisfied. It is in this discontented state that longings for true heart things grow until one day the search is resumed and, if not careful, unfaithfulness is born into the relationship.

God knows all about those heart things we crave because He’s the one who designed that desire-specific area in our spirits. As we go through life, we attempt to fill that God-shaped hole with all manner of things hoping to find the contentment, true love, honest acceptance and the meaningful life we long for, yet all the while, He’s the only one who can perfectly fit (and truly fulfill) that empty place in our heart.

The longings we experience in our physical existence mimic the same deep-seated desires of our spiritual selves.  While it is true that the best things for our earthly life cannot be purchased, so it is also true in our spiritual life.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God gave His very best to us – His son Jesus Christ - in the form of a gift.  It cannot be bought; it cannot be acquired through works.  This gift has to be received through
faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

I love the definition of the word ‘gift’ according to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
1. Something freely given by one person to another for his benefit or pleasure.

God freely gave us His Son solely for our benefit. This is how deep His longing is for us to not die in our lost spiritual state which would separate us from Him forever. Instead, He wants us to freely accept His gift to us in this life so that we can then live with Him in the next for all of eternity. That is how much He loves us!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Would you like to have all of those things that money can’t buy?   He’s given the gift to us. You need only accept it. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Fringe People

10/15/2012

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Societal norms.  Ever hear the term?  According to Dictionary.com, it means “an established standard of behavior shared by members of a social group to which each member is expected to conform.”
These established standards are based generally upon the majority of the population of a defined area.   This defined area can be as small as one household – isn’t a family unit a social group where one is expected to conform to rules of behavior? – or can include a much larger area such as a city, state or country.

Our behavior in society is governed by laws – both God-given and man-made – and to break one of these will usually involve dealings with law enforcement and the judicial system.  Yet there are other behaviors that we have learned through the examples shown us while we were growing up that are viewed as acceptable (or
non-acceptable) within that particular society. The breaking of these rules of behavior may not mean a stint inside the penal system, yet to do so could result in
rejection by those we interact with within that particular group.

Rules of behavior aside, there are those who operate on the fringes of societal norm for other reasons.   I call these ‘fringe people.’   These are the ones who do not fit into the ‘proper’ statistic categories as do the average number of most of the people within our society at any given time. Some live on the fringe by choice, but many more are there due to circumstances beyond their control.   Everything from illness, the death of a loved one, pregnancy / miscarriage, separation / divorce, to physical
challenges and job loss can cause a person to live on the fringe of their usual
circle of daily society.

Why?   Because they are different now than others in their group, and dealing with those who have had unexpected circumstances come into their life causes us to take extra time and expend greater effort in interacting with those affected.  Too, it’s because we honestly cannot relate to someone in a specific situation if we haven’t been there ourselves. We shy away from thinking about it because it could be too painful to imagine ourselves in their shoes; because we simply don’t know what to say or do to truly help the one hurting; or because we have been there and refuse to feel that pain and frustration of our past again.

There have always been ‘fringe people’ on this earth – the undesirables, the sick, the lepers, prostitutes, and tax collectors – yet these are the very same ones that Jesus purposefully interacted with time and again as He walked this earth.   When chastised for it by the religious leaders – those elite in society –  He answered them,

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Luke 5:31

The sick Jesus spoke of here were not only sick in body, but also sick at heart, sick in their circumstances, and sick to death (literally) in their spiritual state.  They had been ostracized by the societal norm, ridiculed and ignored, yet He sought them out and met them where they existed along the edges of society. As a result, they were
never the same again.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Jesus came so that we could all have life. He doesn’t want us living on the fringes while in our sick and hurting state, nor does He want us to die in a lost spiritual condition. He wants us to have life to the full!

Dear Soul, He has not forgotten you. You are so precious to Him and He understands more fully than anyone else can where the circumstances of life have brought you. He doesn’t want you to feel alone and longs for you to invite Him into your life so that He can shoulder the burdens you carry. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Prayers with Feet

10/10/2012

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Successful living.   Isn’t that what we all strive for?
Yet there are times in each Christian’s life when we get comfortable and refuse to budge even when we are miserable in our circumstances.  We talk to everyone about our problems (except God) in the hopes that each listener will give sympathy to us, or else make exceptions for our behavior, or perhaps even take care of whatever we are whining about.  And if we complain long enough, perhaps they will do it for us so that we won’t have to go through the heartache nor exert any of our own energy to grow into a better situation.

We have all been in a time of growth at one point or another. Any time we are asked to stretch ourselves so that we grow beyond our current level it can be quite painful. We find ourselves wishing that we could deal with anything else except what we’re undergoing.   It’s during those dark and trying times in life that we need the encouragement of others so that we can begin to move towards the next level of maturity that God has in store for us.  These murky times are not meant to be lived in permanently and the longer a person remains in this dismal state without any indication of forward movement to get out of it, the more scarce the support from family and friends gets as they weary of the prolonged, constant complaining about this negative situation. This may sound cruel, yet without any evidence that the sufferer wants to move on and is working to do so, the impression is that the person is comfortable in this miserable state and wants to remain there. Regardless of how much they (or others) pray and beg God for relief of this burdensome time in the ‘desert,’ He won’t until they are willing to put feet on their prayers and step out onto the path He provides as a way to escape from this bondage.

Exodus 20:1-2 “And God spoke all these words: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

God provided a way for the Israelites to get out of Egypt and escape their slavery, but they had to be willing to walk out of that country on their own feet once He had cleared the path.  God was not going to supernaturally remove them from their situation (though He has that ability) and there were those who chose not to leave Egypt and instead preferred to stay in their life of slavery. For those Israelites who did leave Egypt, it wasn’t long before they grumbled and complained about being in the desert as they stared at the bleakness of their surroundings and their perceived lack. Instead, they should have continued to trust God to provide for them and lead them to someplace better. The desert was not the destination; merely the path they needed to travel to get to their place of promise.

While they were on their way to this Promise Land, since they were unable to imagine how good the land was that God was leading them into, they continually looked back towards the direction of Egypt and longed for the familiar things they had known while they lived there. They had forgotten the hardships of slavery they had endured and what it was like to live under subjection to the Egyptians. There is some truth in the adage that ‘it’s easier to live with the evil you know than to live with what you don’t know.’ The fact is, the more the Israelites dug their heels into the sand and looked backward with deep yearning to where God had brought them out of, the longer the Promise Land remained out of reach and the more miserable the Israelites became.

The same is true for us.  We each have experienced our own land of ‘Egypt’ – our own desert times of growth - at some point in our lives, and perhaps that’s where you are even today. We are held there in bondage by addictions, or personal crises (some of our own making, while others are unexpected), or bad habits of thought and/or action, or other trying situations becaues we cannot see the better place God wants to move us into.  These uncomfortable times are viewed by many as punishment, yet God uses these as opportunities for growth to mold you into a more mature state where you learn on a much deeper level how greatly God loves you and will always take care of every part of your life.

These ‘desert’ times of growth can be painful, lonely and if prolonged, may seem as if they will never end.  Yet we are assured that we are not alone…

Psalm 48:14 ”God is our God forever and ever; he will be our God even to the end.”

… that He will guide us ….

Isaiah 30:21 ”Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.””

… and that it will be worth it if we continue walking out of our particular desert.

Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Prayer is good, but unless combined with action, you will stay in either your ‘Egypt’ or your desert state only to remain miserable in your stagnation.  Bring to Him all of the dreams you have in your heart, every problem you are facing and each of the circumstances that fill your day.   Then dare to take God at His word, take His hand in complete trust, and walk out of your ‘Egypt’ into the desert on the path He has made for you. The promise land is just up ahead.

Phillipians 1:6  “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Every Hour

10/9/2012

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For quite a length of time, I wrestled to try to find an answer that I needed. What I sought seemed so insignificant in comparison to the ‘biggies’ out there. No one’s life hung in the balance; the earth would not stop its rotation; nor would any part of nature cease to be without it, yet the answer was needed and, in spite of how much I looked or how many different ways I racked my brain, the solution would not come. I had convinced myself that I could fit the pieces together and come up with the
answer on my own if I only tried hard enough for a long enough period of time. After all, why should I
bother God with something that I deemed so trivial?

Humans have been doing this for as long as we’ve existed on this earth.  It’s called pride. What exactly does it mean?  In a nutshell, it means that a person thinks that they can handle things all on their own.

Once my pride was realized, I bowed my head in shame over not coming to Him first, cried out in frustration over the amount of energy I had needlessly wasted and then slowly knelt before the Father. Before my knees could get fully onto the floor, the hot tears rolled down my face as the words of praise to Him poured from my mouth. The pride in me had broken.

Psalm 95:6 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our
Maker.”

This simple act of kneeling causes something to ‘break’ inside of each of us. As we bend our knee – our weakest joint – we let go of ourselves and whatever had been preventing us from seeking God in the first place. When we kneel, we relinquish the hold of that ‘I-can-do-it-all-by-myself’ attitude.  In this position of submission, we acknowledge that there is One who is far superior to us. And it is in this vulnerable, exposed state of complete trust as we kneel that we bow in awe, with a holy fear, to our Maker who deserves all of our respect, honor and praise.

What if you are unable to physically kneel? This humbleness of kneeling is more a posture (i.e. attitude) of the heart.

James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Once I gave my problem to Him, the answer I had so desperately sought arrived in time.

We need Him in all things every hour of the day. What is that you have been wrestling to find an answer for? He’s waiting to hear from you.

Psalm 55:22 “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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The Beans Can Wait

10/3/2012

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Like many in my generation, I grew up watching The Waltons.  Those heart-warming episodes captured both the love and the challenges this large family faced during the post-depression years.  Many of life’s lessons as portrayed in those episodes are memorable, yet one in particular still stands out in my mind.

Olivia Walton (Mama to her seven children), who was supposed to be working alongside Grandma to do the daily chores for their large household, instead of helping to snap the beans for supper that evening, had stepped out onto the porch.  Grandma found her there after awhile just sitting and inquired if she was feeling alright. Olivia let her know she was fine and just needed to sit for a while.  The beans would have to wait for a bit.

We have all had days like that when we have felt inundated by too many consecutive days filled to overflowing with things that need to get done. The days blur together and before we know it, weeks (or months) have passed by and we cannot remember when we last took any time to simply sit for a while. This takes its toll on us on the physical, the emotional, as well as the spiritual level.  The more we ‘press on’ in our work without taking time to restore our depleted fuel levels, the thinner our tolerance gets for others, for our environment, and for ourselves. Exhaustion sets in and, if we aren’t mindful, despair soon follows.

So what are we to do?   How can we get the rest we need when our calendars are already double- and triple-filled with appointments, chores and obligations?

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

One of the meanings for ‘rest’ in this verse means be refreshed. And who of us could not use some refreshing?

Jesus paints us a beautiful picture of the best way for us to get refreshed.  In the second half of Mark 6:31 he says, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

This invitation spoken to His disciples is the same invitation He extends to His children today.
Go into your quiet place – your prayer closet, a corner of the yard, onto the pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room or anywhere else you can get alone - and spend some time with Him.  There’s no prescribed amount of time you should spend there with Him, yet once you make the effort to experience it, you will find that it is just the kind of refreshing, energizing rest that you need.

Go ahead.  He’s waiting for you. The beans can wait.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Good News

10/2/2012

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Did you read or listen to the headlines today? If not, you are in the minority of the population and probably better off.  It seems that the ‘news of the day’ rarely changes and is full of natural disasters, wars (or the threat of war), and the report of various levels of crimes committed by mankind against his fellow human beings.

While it is good to be aware of what is happening in our neighborhood, region, country and world, a steady diet of so much negativity can be depressing.  It can also make you fearful and cause you to doubt God’s presence in, and His awareness of, what’s going on in this world.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake
you.”

Did you catch that?   God is with you and will never leave you.  And just in case that didn’t sink in, God repeated it in another verse.

Matthew 28:20 “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He will be with you always, to the very end of the age. How awesome is that?

Our all-or-nothing God, our God of absolutes, wants us to get this message so much that He broke it down even more so that we could better comprehend what He means by the words ‘always’ and ‘never.’

Romans 8:38-39 “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”

In other words, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Talk about great news!

Dear soul, the next time the news on the television or in the newspaper makes you feel as if you have no hope and makes you fearful over what the future holds, turn to the Good News spoken of in the Bible and learn of the hope that we have through Jesus Christ.  God loves you and He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Coming Apart

Constant Vigil

Can't Buy It

Fringe People

Prayers with Feet

Every Hour

The Beans Can Wait

Good News

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