We're Surrounded!

                                                        We're Surrounded!

As the mountains surround Jerusalem so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore. Psalms 125:3

My family and I are all science nerds. We have discussions about surface area and the possibility of alternate universes around the dinner table or in the car. Once we had been to Amarillo for a funeral and the kids had really been troopers. As a way to break the tone of sadness and as a reward for them we stopped at a place called the Discovery Center in Amarillo. It is an interactive science museum for kids  (and their parents) There were so many fun things to look at and try. There was a car with square wheels that rolled.. I still can't figure that one out. There were experiments with magnets and a planetarium. As we walked into one room we saw a larger than life sized head of Archimedes with its eyes closed. As we walked past it triggered a motion sensor. The eyes popped open and it said, rather loudly, "Hello! My name is Archimedes." Once my heart started beating again we listened to him describe the way he discovered water displacement as a way to determine the weight of things. The next room was my favorite. It was all about bubbles. There was a straight bar in a shallow dish of bubble solution attached to a rope and pulley. When we pulled on the rope a sheet of bubbles came up. Another exhibit had huge bubble wands in wading pools. My favorite was a tire cut in half and filled with bubble solution. a hula-hoop was attached to a rope and pulley.  Standing inside the tire, you could pull on the rope and a column of bubbles came up around you. It was  a fantastic sensation, with the lights shimmering through the huge bubble all around you, almost like standing inside of a rainbow.

So many times in our lives we feel like there are too many things for us to deal with. We are in a battle for our souls and the souls of those we love and it is a tough battle. Some times we feel like the enemies and battles are too much for us. When we feel this way we need to understand that this is only part of the story. In 2 Kings 6 there is a story that I discovered. Elisha's enemies are looking for him and when they find him they surround his camp. His servant looks out and says what we would probably say. "Oh, no. What are we going to do. Elisha does no panic.He says "Those that are for us are more than those that are against us. Then he simply prays that God would open the servant's eyes. When He does the servant sees the reality. All around them are horses and chariots of fire. At Elisha's request God strikes the army with blindness. Then Elisha performs the first Jedi mind trick. He tells the blinded army. "This is not the road and this is not the town. Follow me and I will take you there. He leads them into the city and God opens their eyes. They are given food and water and sent back home. The raids on Israel stopped.

 The Lord has promised to surround us and protect us. We read this in Psalms 5:12 "Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." One of my favorite parts of the blessings in Deuteronomy 26 is the part where it says "the enemy will come at you from one direction and flee in seven. Besides the presence of God and his power, we have believers past and present cheering us on. This is what we read in Hebrews. 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)

We have nothing to be afraid of. We are surrounded by God's goodness and power as surely as my family and I were surrounded by that column of bubbles. As the Lord instructed Joshua in Joshua Chapter 1 Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Picture your favorite story place. Maybe it was tucked in under soft blankets with your mom sitting beside you or curled up in your Grandpa's lap in a rocking chair. Let the magic of the words "Once upon a time" drift over you. All right, boys and girls: today's story is The Three Little Pigs. Once upon a time there were three little pigs who had to go find their way in the world. The first little pig built a house made of straw, the second of sticks and the third out of bricks. Then along came the Big Bad Wolf. He went to the first pig and said, "Little pig, Little pig, let me in!"  to which the pig responded "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!" The wolf then informs the pig that he will "huff and puff and blow your house down."  The little pig escapes from the blown down house and runs full tilt boogie to the second pig's house. The wolf is angry at losing his dinner and quickly goes to the second pig's house. The two pigs also refuse to let the wolf in even by the hair on their chinny chin chins. He huffs and puffs and blows the second house down. The two pigs run to their brother's house. He lets them in and they apologize for teasing him about working too hard. The wolf comes along soon and tries to blow the house down, but  no amount of huffing and puffing will topple it. At this point, depending on the version you read, he either goes away to eat fried chicken or climbs the roof and slides down the chimney Where he is boiled in the pot over the roaring fire he did not notice.


So aside from the obvious lessons of don't tease your brother and look before you slide down a chimney, what can we learn from this story? Actually quite a bit. What was better about the third brothers house? It was stronger and had a stronger foundation. The first two pigs houses went up quickly, which they thought was great. Unfortunately, they also came down quickly. There are many things in our lives that are that way. The first thing that comes to mind is marriage. It breaks my heart when I see marriages crumbling that I thought were sure things. Psalms 127:1-2 says this "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. A Song of Ascents, of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain." If God and his will are not centered in a family it is a losing battle.  Watch the news for a few minutes to see the battle the family is engaged in.


More basic than this is the foundations of our faith. Jesus told the parable of the wise and foolish builders. We all know the song but read the story.


 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” 


 If you have walked with God for any length of time you have had an experience that shook your faith down to its bare bones. If not you will. It may be a loss or a disappointment or an illness. If your foundation is strong, your faith will come out stronger for the test. all through the Bible and in our own lives we have examples of this.


The writer of Hebrews cautions us to build on that foundation in Hebrews 6:1."Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,"


What can we do to strengthen our foundations? It may be different for different people. Maybe it would be to talk to people who are farther along in their faith walk. It might be to look back over your life and see what God has brought you through. You might try reading scriptures that you haven't read for a while, like the Gospels. Challenge yourself to read familiar scriptures, like the Lord's prayer or the twenty-third Psalm, with fresh eyes.  Whatever it takes for you,  find a way to shore up your foundation. There is an enemy much more dangerous than the Big Bad Wolf who would love to huff and puff and blow our spiritual house down.

In Quietness and Trust

Trust in the Lord with all of your  heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5

 One of the men I work with has advancing Alzheimer's disease. Within certain parameters he does pretty well. On of the hardest times of the day for him is bedtime. He gets back to the bedroom pretty well, although sometimes it feels like a marathon race. It takes a lot of coaching to get him sitting on the bed. It seems to make sense to me but when I think about it is actually a complicated process. Then comes the most difficult part of the process. Laying down. Even with the head of the bed raised as far as it will go, it is a terrifying process to let go and trust that the bed is going to be there. One night I was encouraging him to lean over and lay down, but he wasn't having any of it. He had a death grip on his walker with one hand and the mattress with the other. I reached for the walker to put it away and he grabbed it back. I told him he needed to let me put the walker up since he was through with it for the day. His reply - "Oh, I don't think so!" Amid hollering and cussing, but stopping short of weeping and gnashing of teeth, he got laid down.

It is a frightening prospect to trust. Jesus asks us to let go and rest in Him and we tend to say, "Oh I don't think so. We have a death grip on our own security devices. There are as many security devices as there are people, because the enemy will tailor our temptations to our personalities and weaknesses. One of these is relying on our self and our own wisdom and good works.  This can take different forms, including having a religious spirit and becoming  workaholics. It looks like a good idea because then we have control over our salvation. (Or not!) The consequences of   this choice is that we become fearful and  anxious, never sure if we are good enough and never knowing if we are prepared for what is ahead.

There is a beautiful story in  The Hiding Place, the book by Corrie Ten Boom with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. As a young girl Corrie came face to face with death and became very fearful. When her father came home she clung to him and begged him not to die because she needed him. He gently asked her "When we take the train to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?" "Just before we board", she answers. He explains that if he gave it to her too early she wouldn't need it yet and might lose it. He tells her that God often gives us the strength we need to face a situation just in time, but not before we need it.

The children of Israel were relying on their own strength and understanding. It was not going well.In Isaiah 30:15, god tells them
            For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
            “In repentance and rest you will be saved,
            In quietness and trust is your strength.”
            But you were not willing,
In verse 18 he shows them what waits for them if they will trust him.
            Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
            And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
            For the LORD is a God of justice;
            How blessed are all those who long for Him.

In Proverbs, he tells us this.
Trust in the Lord with all of your  heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge him in all your ways and He will make your path straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

We often quote Psalms 46:10, which is a good verse, but today I want us to look at the whole psalm.
It gives us an even better picture of what God can do for us when we trust.

1God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.^c

4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

8Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields^d with fire.

10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”

11The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress

Day by day this week, let's try to live in quietness and trust. Your salvation and your security depends on God and not on you.

Power Failure

If you are living Unseen, you may have felt powerless and ineffective. If you have, read onto see what God showed me.

Power Failure

Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel,whose power is in the heavens.
You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people Psalms 68:34-35


Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. Volcanos. Besides the fact that they are all natural disasters and that we have seen them all in the last few weeks, hat do they have in common? They all cause power failures. Power failures make everything much worse. There are the obvious problems, such as no power to prepare or store food or to get relief from the heat. There is the problem of not being able to work and the problem of not being able to communicate.  No jumping on facebook to reassure family and friends or using your cell phone to console a hurting friend. There are also difficulties that I had not considered. For example, I learned that without power there is no way to pump water for drinking. Transportation systems rely on electricity and are in chaos. People are having to use physical labor to do work that they could do easily with power tools.These things are all bearable for a while, but then people start to get irritable and resentful, than anxious and depressed and finally despair can set in if the problems are not dealt with.



The disasters have taken over the news, but there is an unreported problem that is just as serious. This is the problems Christians face when they try to live without the power God has made available. We can do the work he asks us to on our own power but it is much more difficult. Have you tried to love your spouse, your toddler, your teenager or your aging parent on love that you produce yourself? It works for a while but quickly leads to exhaustion and resentment. How about communication with God and our faith family? Are you feeling disconnected?

What are the power tools we have at outr disposal?
These are the ones that come to mind.



Miracles
Miracles are God's way of showing us both his power and his nature. Not done just to "show off", they are either done to show dominion over a false God (such as the gods of the Egyptian in Exodus) , to show power over a need such as the feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14) or over nature, such as walking on the water (Matthew 14) or raising the dead (Mark 5:22)  They were not an end in themselves, but called people to God.

Salvation
Sin separated us from God and we were hopeless. We could not reconcile to him, but He sacrificed Jesus and paid the price for our sins. Every other religion leaves the burden on the believer, but God came "demonstrated His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:8) This is so amazing that it leaves us in awe, saying as Paul did, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God  for salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16)

Holy Spirit


Many believers have not been taught about the Holy Spirit. We are not able to use the many things he offers us because we don't know that they are available.  This includes sealing us at our baptism (Ephesians 4:30), comforting us (Romans 15:13) teaching us (Luke 12:12), interceding for us (or being our go-between with God), gifting us ( 1 Corinthians 12)  and many more. Take time to learn more about this third member of the Godhead and the power he provides.




Scripture
 We are told in Hebrews 4:12. that "the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword and able to separate bone and marrow and soul and spirit." Never underestimate the power we have in the "Sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6)


Prayer
We are told to pray without ceasing(Romans 1:10), "to come boldly before the throne of God" (Hebrews 4:16), and that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:12)




God is willing to give you his power. Are you willing to receive it and use it?

Can't we all just get along?

When we live unseen, we need other people. We can't make it on our own, but it is hard to reach out and hard to trust people who reach out to us. Read on to see how God showed me a great example of friendship.

You would not expect them to be friends. They look very different. One has long brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and resembles a movie star. The other has short salt and pepper hair and piercing green eyes. They have an age difference, a cultural difference and a language difference. They are not even the same species. One is my 9 year old terrier mix, Benji, who looks like  the dog in the seventies movies by Joe Camp. The other is his new cat friend, Shadow. He is a half grown gray tabby named because of his coloring and because he follows the dog around like a little gray shadow. They have had to work out some issues. The dog would try to sniff the cat like he would another dog and the cat did not appreciate it. He would respond with a swat to the dog's nose. They have made their peace, though. Any time of the day or night, Benji and I leave the house for a walk. We never get far before Shadow is either running after us or yowling. He rubs up against Benji, walks under him and switches his tail. Then he follows us on our walk. If he falls behind, Benji stops and waits for him. When we get back to the house, they sit on the patio side by side. At first Shadow didn't want me to pet him or hold him, but once he got a taste of it he decided that as long as he and Benji are friends, I can be his person.


The past few weeks have shown us at our worst and at our best. We have seen rioting over confederate statues and terrorist acts, and we have also seen people helping each other through the hurricanes and flooding. Many of the pictures show people of different races, different ages and probably different religions working side by side. It has been very encouraging to see. We have a lot of room for improvement, but every step is progress.
Unfortunately we often have the same issues in the church as in the world. These issues are not new, either. We see them raise their heads early in Genesis with Cain and Abel and the tower of Babel, and continue all the way through the Bible. In Acts  Peter balks when the spirit tells him to preach to the Gentiles and is instructed to call nothing unclean that God has made clean. In Colossians 3:11, Paul addresses the issue this way.
Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.                                                                                                                                                                        Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, is read at weddings, and rightly so since the kind of love described there is essential for marriage. However, it is just as important for living in peace with our brothers. Look at in this light.

13 If I speak in the tongues^[of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


The people I find it hard to get along with you might find easy, and vice versa. We need to rely on the love that comes from God to do so, not the flimsy love that we can work up on our own.

Restless Heart Syndrome

Restless Heart Syndrome


Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10


Bedtime is always welcome, but not always easy. The first issue is that my little fur ball of a dog is not always interested in letting me go to sleep. This is especially true if I  have worked a long day. He will either crawl up beside me and "oof" for attention, curl up on the opposite corner and "oof" so I have to sit up and pet him, or get just out of reach on the floor and bark. Resistance is futile, so finally I get out of bed and follow him into the living room. A lot of the time he goes to the door, wagging his tail, and then cuts between my legs and jumps up in my spot in the bed. Once he has settled in, the next issue comes along. My leg muscles tense as I am trying to relax. My feet twitch and I feel an irresistible urge to move my legs. Sometimes just as I am falling over the edge into sleep, they will jerk and startle me awake. The diagnosis is restless leg syndrome, and  medication has helped a lot, for which my husband is grateful. What has not responded to medication is my restless heart syndrome.




Symptoms of this disorder include dissatisfaction with life as it is, disappointment with God, and a sense of disquiet in the spirit. This syndrome was first seen in the garden of Eden when Eve was tricked by the serpent into believing that God was not being fair to them and they could have more wisdom and be like God. (Genesis 3) Another recorded case was seen in the people building the Tower of Babel, believing they could "ascend to the heavens," (Genesis 11) In exodus we see the tell tale symptoms in the Israelites who grew frustrated with Moses, asking in Exodus 14:11 ¹¹They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? One of their most dramatic episodes came when they had Aaron make the golden calf for them to worship, assuring  Moses that they had just thrown the gold into the fire and that was what came out! (Exodus 32).
 Cases of restless heart syndrome occur throughout the Bible and into our own lives. Risk factors include spiritual malnutrition (1 Peter 2:2) and lack of contact with the Great Physician. Recommended treatment is the following.


Be still and know that I am God. Psalms 46:10


For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15


Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5


Life is hard and most times there are no easy answers for things we face. Saying that we should depend on God my sound like a pat answer, but that is not my intention. What I do know is that in my life when I have been upset with God and feeling adrift, I have come back to the point that Peter did, saying "Where else can we go? You have the words of life. (John 6:68) If you are hurt and your heart is restless, I am sorry.  It is a real problem and not something to be made light of. God, the one Hagar called THE GOD WHO SEES, has not forgotten you.

Freedom!

Welcome to Unseen today. It has been a week of ups and downs, or Highlights and Lowlights as we say at Faithworks. I was caught up in insecurity and I found the answer in a strange place. Read on.

FREEDOM!

Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

I saw them again this week - “free” tickets to the circus. We fell for it once. I took my children to the circus with their free tickets. My ticket was fifteen dollars.  We went in and sat in an empty section near the center ring. We were excited to find a seat so close to the action. After a few minutes a woman with a money belt come and told us that it would be four dollars apiece more to sit there. Rolling our eyes, we moved to another seat.  The circus started and there were other money making opportunities, such as elephant rides that cost twelve dollars and lasted about two minutes, and pictures with a sci-fi looking version of a cartoon character that gave me the willies.  I enjoyed the trapeze and high wire acts but the animal acts were my favorites. I was especially impressed with the elephants that were so easily controlled by a whistle and baton.

How do these great beasts learn so much control? I found out that when an elephant is very young it is tied to a post with a heavy rope that it is not able to break. As it grows it quickly becomes strong enough to break the rope or rip the post from the ground, but it is so used to being bound that it does not try to break free. By the time the elephant is full grown, it can be tied with only a thin cord.

This is a sad commentary on mankind and the way we treat animals but there is a deeper lesson to be learned. We are often held back in life by things that we can actually overcome. We may be held back by fear or by guilt or by self-defeating attitudes. We are vulnerable to these anyway and the Enemy of our souls is more than willing to supply them. One of his names in First Peter is the “Accuser of the Brethren.” For example I am filling out applications for jobs and every time I write down a job, he is in my ear saying, “Remember the things you did wrong at that job.” I am trying to counter with the things that I did well or things that I learned.

This is not something that we can overcome on our own, but it is something we can overcome. Guilt is a common trap that the enemy sets for us, but in Romans 8:1 Paul tells us that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death.” Isaiah 54:17 tells us this good news. "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.  We also need to remember that “greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.” He has promised to complete the work that he started in us. (Philippians 1:6)

Don’t fall for the lies you are told. “Gird you loins with truth” (Ephesians 6) and let God help you to break free from the things that bind you.

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

On our honeymoon, we visited Capulin Volcano on a whim. We decided we might not ever get to see a volcano again. Capulin is just across the New Mexico border coming back from Colorado.As we were driving up we saw scrub brush and cactus and lots of gray dirt. When we got to the rim, I couldn't believe my eyes. The inside of the crater was bursting with life. It was green and lush with dozens of different kinds of plants. One bush was completely covered in ladybugs. Every step brought new amazing sights. When we mentioned this at the visitor's center, the workers told us that the volcanic ash makes the most fertile soil. It was astonishing that so much beauty and growth could come from something as destructive and catastrophic as a volcano.


Isn't that just like God? Not only is he the Creator that formed the volcano in the first place but he recreated something beautiful out of the ruin  He can do the same for us What areas in your life has he redeemed? Sometimes it looks like a situation is so painful and bitter that nothing good can ever come from it. For me  some of those have been a miscarriage, an angry, destructive teenager and struggles with depression and anxiety. These were things that were so hard that I was sure that God could not use them for good. I know the verses but for some reason I decided that either these things were not included in the list of "all things that God works together for good." (Romans 8:28) Either that or I had not done enough good deeds to balance the scale. I was wrong, though, and God has used them. Some of them have been used to  shape me and teach me dependence on God. Some have been used to make me more compassionate and helpful to others in the same situation. I have been able to listen to them or give them a hug and prove that it can be overcome. I have also received hope from others who have been in similar situations, who probably felt the same way I did.


One of the verses that got me through these times was Isaiah 61:1-3.It reads like this.


The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor  and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty  instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord  for the display of his splendor.


One of my life verses is Isaiah 43:1-3.


But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior


Another of my favorites is one you may not have seen. It is in Micah 7:8.
⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
    Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
    the Lord will be my light.
⁹ Because I have sinned against him,
    I will bear the Lord’s wrath,
until he pleads my case
    and upholds my cause.
He will bring me out into the light;
    I will see his righteousness.
¹⁰ Then my enemy will see it
    and will be covered with shame.


So many other verses echo these thoughts. If we release our hurts to God he can make them fertile soil for growth and service. I urge you not to fall in to the trap of holding onto anger and resentment, as tempting as it is for all of us. These are the scrub brush and cactus of our spiritual lives. may your ashes be turned into beauty.

Flyaway

Welcome to Unseen today. The good thing is that I have been very busy. The bad thing is that I have been very busy. Today I am returning to a post that I shared some time ago. My cousins have a child getting married this weekend and I have been thinking about letting go of my grown children.
Apparently it is a process. If you are anywhere in the process of letting go of something, read on for some encouragement.

Flyaway 

 Exd 15:2 The LORD [is] my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He [is] my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him.

The Olympics were a thrill to watch. People enjoyed the Fab Five and the way they bounced and twisted their way to gold medals.  I also love to watch my teenager compete in gymnastics. He has come a long way in a short time.  It takes three things to excel in gymnastics – strength, balance and courage. It requires tremendous upper body strength to support your weight, and even more to support your weight while twisting and turning. Balance is a key part in all the events. As exciting as the flips and handsprings are to watch, the slow, deliberate moves are just as impressive. Balance beam comes to mind, of course, with girls executing intricate moves on a surface less than 4 inches wide.  When it comes down to it, all the strength and balance in the world are useless without the courage to put them to work.  My son says that he is completely capable of doing a handstand on the parallel bars but that it is terrifying to look down and see the floor six feet away.  There is one particular move on the high bar called a flyaway. This move involves working up momentum by swinging and then letting go of a perfectly good bar to go hurtling through the air backwards. I confess that I watch through parted fingers while holding my breath. Fortunately for the athletes, and the parents, there are coaches, spotters and mats to increase safety.

In life we also need strength, balance and courage to be successful. In West Texas we are notorious for “pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps”. We are self-reliant which makes it hard to rely on God.  God understood this and addressed it. The word strength is mentioned 230 times in the Bible. God does not endorse bootstrap pulling. Many of the verses follow this theme;

 Psa 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Exd 15:2 The LORD [is] my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; He [is] my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him.

2Cr 12:10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

It is actually a little scary to get our strength from God either because we feel unworthy or because we have to let go of control. It is much more effective than relying on ourselves, though.
             
                Jesus is our example when it comes to balance. In Luke 2:52 we are told he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and Man.  When things got chaotic in his ministry, He was able to go and be alone with God. I am not sure if it is a function of our society or just our human nature, but balance is so difficult to find. We have to make the effort, though.
                Courage is where I often fall short.  Peter gets a bad rap, but he is the only disciple who got out of the boat and walked on the water. Many times when God asks me to do something, I am afraid to start. I may be afraid that I will fail and I may be afraid that I will succeed.  A good example is when I started writing in earnest.  I have mentioned before that I had seven really good reasons that I should not  or could not write a book and almost as many why I couldn’t write a blog.  Yet here we are, 3 years and two books later. Honestly much harder than letting God take care of my stuff is letting God take care of my loved ones’ stuff. Just like I watch the flyaway stunt with parted fingers and held breath, I watch my sons take flight in their lives the same way. What if they fall? What if they can’t get up? What if they don’t need me anymore? Well, they have fallen some. I watched my older son fall hard into addiction and rage, but God was faithful and caught him in the safety mat of grace and the Holy Spirit. My younger son has had different and less visible struggles, but God has been faithful to him too.
                Let God and His joy be your strength. Keep your life balanced as much as you can and have the courage to let go of your perfectly good bar. You can trust God to keep you and your loved ones safe in His grace and love. Evidently it is a process.

Why did the Chicken Cross the Yard

I had what should be a once in a lifetime experience this week. I was driving close to downtown Abilene and saw a chicken ambling across the road. It was strutting across my lane. I honked to encourage it to hurry. It declined to hurry, looking at me and the car behind me as if he were wondering what we were doing on his street. I guess he figured he had the right of way.

As I drove off I thought of one of my favorite chicken stories. A woman (I believe it was my great grandmother) took advantage of a warm spring afternoon to do some deep cleaning. She brought chairs bedding and outside so she could air them out. Deciding to give the mirror a good cleaning as well, she brought it outside and propped it against the wall of the house. She went back inside for a minute. but was startled by a horrible racket. She went back out and saw her rooster standing at the mirror, screeching at his reflection. She tried to shoo him away but he was lost in the moment. With his talons and beak flashing, he flew at his adversary. The good news is he was victorious and the interloper lay in pieces at his feet. The bad news is that the woman was not understanding about his smashing the mirror to get to the "other rooster" and he ended up in the soup pot.

How many times have you spent time and energy fighting the wrong thing?
We do have things that we need to fight, but we often have our focus in the wrong place. For example, the other night I was having a stupid argument with my husband. We were arguing because instead of the super ultra extra large pack of paper towels, I had only bought the ultra extra large pack. He was determined to show me the error of my ways and I was determined to defend my decision. All of a sudden I stopped and thought, "I bet we are not arguing about paper towels." Then we were able to figure out the real issue and settle it, especially once I promised to buy super ultra extra large packs from now on.

This is true in our spiritual lives as well. We argue with our brothers and sisters about stupid things. There have been church splits that have happened because of the color of the carpet chosen or which song book was the right one. This suits the enemy's purposes just fine. As long as we are sniping with each other we won't be fighting the more important battle of helping to win people to the Lord. Another trap we often fall for is "taking up an offense". Because of my personality, I don't like to see people mistreated. If I hear about it, I will get upset with the "mistreat-er" on behalf of the victim. The truth is that this is a bad idea. I had recently forgiven someone  after a very long period of resentment. Then I heard about him mistreating someone else. Immediately I started to get angry with him on her behalf. That resentment started flooding back. God showed me that I had to let their issues be theirs. As long as I had "cleaned my side of the street" with him, that was all I was responsible for.

So what does the Bible say about all of this?   Ephesians 6:12 is  the verse I immediately think of.
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." 2 Corinthians 4:8 reminds us, "we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." So much of what we are fighting about is trivial and takes our energy and focus away from the things that are much more valuable and lasting. Finally we need to remember that no matter what we temptations we face from the enemy, his ultimate goal is only to "Steal, kill and destroy." (John 10:10). Keep you eyes on the goal and don't be tricked into fighting an illusion.

Jamboree

Welcome to Unseen today. I got to spend time with family this week and as we were visiting I came across a long buried memory with a timely lesson attached to it. Read on for a good laugh and a good lesson.

The first summer I came home from college, my mom told me that my Grandpa had been waiting anxiously for me to get home and that he had a surprise for me. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be tickets to the Senior Citizens Jamboree! This was a “talent show” put on by some of Amarillo’s golden agers. There was square dancing and there were guitars. There was singing, with some of the selections including “Listen to the Mockingbird” and "The Moon Shines Tonight on Pretty Redwing”. (Grandpa, as was his habit, sang along to these). Then there was the junk band. The instruments, and I use the term loosely, included a saw, a harmonica that played something close to the melody, a 5 gallon plastic bucket for a drum, and what I can only describe as a contraption with a cowbell, a triangle and a pie plate welded onto a metal stand. As I write this I can hear Grandpa laughing and clapping along with the music which he apparently thought was terrific.

Does your life seem out of tune and like something that is not up to par? Whether we compare ourselves to others or just look at how far out of reach our dreams are,  it is easy to get discouraged. We may try to pray and not feel effective and try to minister and not see results. Two factors behind this are our own humanity and the enemy of our souls. The solutions are the blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the love of God.


One of the names of the enemy is the Accuser of the Brethren  in Revelation 12:20. In 1st Peter 5:8 he is described as a roaring lion seeking who he may devour.  He is quick to point out both the ways that we do not measure up to others. He will highlight our failures and downplay our successes. We have to be wary of him, because in John 1o we are told that he comes to steal kill and destroy. We can do harm to ourselves without his help though. We see where we want to be and when we are still struggling we get frustrated and discouraged. Sometimes life is just hard because this is a fallen world


There is a solution to all these and it is found in God. First we must realize that God know our weakness and our strength. The beautiful verses in Psalms 139 remind us that he knit us together in our mother's womb. He loves us with an everlasting love and as he told Samuel when he went to anoint David to replace Saul as king, "Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.1 Samuel. He loves us and our efforts like a parent cherishes a clumsy handmade gift from a child.  When it comes to the accusation from the enemy, we have great ammunition. Romans 8:1-2 says  "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death.  Because of Easter when God looks at us he sees jesus and when he hears our out of tune lives and praises He hears something beautiful. Finally like the filters that engineers in a recording studio use to mix sound levels and eliminate imperfections, the holy spirit is our interpreter with God.  When "we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. Romans 8:26


Knowing this, sing your heart out and give your love freely. Just because it sounds like a junk band to you, it is a symphony to the God who created and loves you.

Family

I love my family and I am so glad that I have been able to get in touch with them more often. They are a source of strength to me and one place where I know I am accepted and loved. We share the same history and heritage, as quirky as it was.  Our grandparents were two of a kind. Grandpa loved to argue to pass the time. He loved to preach and tell stories and sing in a tremulous voice that my brother can imitate to a tee. One of his favorite stories to tell was about when he was a preschooler in the Oklahoma Territory. Some Indians came up on horseback and his mother grabbed the gun, put the preschool children behind her and demanded to know what they wanted. After a conversation hindered by language barriers, it turned out that he was trying to sell her peaches.
 Grandma always looked at life just a bit off kilter to the way other people did and she LOVED to tell stories. These traits led to a conversation that I had with them. I was probably in 2nd grade and had been learning about George Washington Carver in school. The next time I was at their house I asked Grandma Carver if he was one of our ancestors. Rather than giving  me a simple answer, she said no and then proceeded to give me 200 years of Carver history. Eventually she said, "Now, your great-great uncle John Carver was a stowaway on a wagon train!" Grandpa, who had been listening in, said, "Oh, Stella, he was not! It's my family and I ought to know." Without batting an eye, Grandma said, "Well, I have to make it sound good."


Our families are flawed because they are full or people. As much as we love them they will let us down and we will let them down. The wonderful thing is that God has invited us to be his family.  We are told encouraged us to live as brothers and sisters. He tells us in John 1 that to everyone who believes in Jesus is given the right to become children of God. That means that just like our earthly families share the same heritage and history, so does our spiritual family. We are connected to the saints who have gone before and will leave our legacy of faith for those who come after us. Hebrews, after, listing people in the Hall of Faith, calls this our great cloud of witnesses.(Hebrews 12:1) Even better than this is the father we are connected to. He promises to never forget us,(Isaiah 49:15) to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5)to be our shield and our very great reward.(Gen 15:1) This morning I was telling God that I did not know how he was going to do something I needed and he sent me to Isaiah 40. Even though it is longer than the passages I usually include, I am going to put it in here because we need to remember what kind of God we serve.

  Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
²² It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
²³ He brings the princes to nothing;
He makes the judges of the earth useless.

²⁴ Scarcely shall they be planted,
Scarcely shall they be sown,
Scarcely shall their stock take root in the earth,
When He will also blow on them,
And they will wither,
And the whirlwind will take them away like stubble.

²⁵ “To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶ Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.

You know how children on the playground always say, "My daddy's bigger than your daddy"?

Rejoice today in your family. If you haven't told them you love them do it. Then rejoice in your spiritual family and if you haven't told you Heavenly Father you love him, do it. I'll start. I love you .

Tangled

Tangled

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1

On the Animal Planet the other day, I watched a show where sea animals had gotten caught and tangled up in trash from the beach. The plastic bags, six pack rings and fishing line had wrapped around their fins and flippers. Some of the animals had been cut and others were unable to move. In either case they were more vulnerable to predators. Wildlife rescue workers had to bring the animals in and either untangle or cut the plastic or line and tend the wounds it left. People are urged to pick up their trash to avoid hurting the wildlife and the planet. Dramatic music accompanies the plea, of course.

I am all for saving the planet and taking care of wildlife, but we have a bigger problem than six pack rings. In our spiritual lives we get tangled up too and it can have eternal consequences. For me the things that I get tangled up in are resentments and shame.  There are two versions of this voice in my head. The first one says “you should be ashamed.” The second, more dangerous one says “Your mother would be ashamed of you”.  I don't believe that my parents, preachers or Sunday school teachers intended to subject me to shame but the enemy is crafty and, knowing my personality, twisted what I heard.

 For some people it is a particular sin or an addiction that tangles them. Maybe it is regrets about things we did or didn’t do in the past. Another big entanglement is fear or worry.  The enemy will happily bring any or all of these things up because it keeps us distracted or overwhelmed.  He can use them as strongholds, or places to hold ground and launch an attack. Fortunately my stronghold of shame and regret has been hit by a battering ram of truth this week.

How can we deal with these things that get and keep us tangled? Hebrew 12:1 says throw it off and run the race with perseverance. The first step is to realize that we have a problem. Can you imagine a turtle or fish getting tangled in a line and not realizing it? They could easily twist and turn, getting more and more trapped. The second thing we have to do is to accept help. The harder and longer we fight things on our own, the more exhausted and discouraged we get. No matter how hard the animal thrashes it usually needs someone to help it get free. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

God knows us and knows the struggles that we face. Shame and regret are powerful weapons that the enemy will use against us. Paul tells us in Romans 8:1 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. What a good God! He provided the solution before we even knew there was a problem. As much as Satan wants you entangled, Jesus wants you free. It is why he died to save us from sin and shame. Trust him.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Welcome to Unseen today. I have been having more quiet time than usual with God since I have been sick. I learned a lot about following the examples that I have to live a good life. Read on to see what I have discovered.

Monkey See Monkey Do 

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

We had a parakeet named Iggy when we were growing up and my brother tried to teach it to talk. Unfortunately Iggy was not interested. His cage was in the kitchen to start with and when someone pushed the buttons on the microwave he would start chirping along in perfect pitch and rhythm. Mother got tired of his comments and moved his cage to the front door. When the doorbell rang the dogs would run to the door and bark. One night we were settling in for the night and heard soft barking. Dad decided that the dogs had gotten out and declared DEFCON 1. We set out on a search party for the dogs, only to find all of them accounted for. Going past the front door we realized it was Iggy who had learned to bark. From that day on he was referred to as either the watch bird or the bird dog. 

Who do you imitate and why? Children imitate their parents, usually by doing things they shouldn’t and often without realizing it. I started wondering at some point why I chew on my pens and pencils until I saw my dad doing it. Much more destructively I also imitated his habit of refusing to use 3 little words. “I NEED HELP.” My younger son had it right, I think. The only person I know who learns from other’s mistakes, he said, “I want to be just like brother, except I ‘m not going to do this and I’m definitely not going to do that cuz that was stupid.”

Ephesians 5:1 says that we should “Be imitators of God as beloved children. That is a great idea, but I can’t get my head around it. Even things like be holy even as your father in heaven is holy are not that helpful. (Matthew 5:48) Fortunately God understands. It is one reason that he sent Jesus. This is how Paul explains it to Timothy.

1 Timothy 1:16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

Imitating Jesus is easier because he was flesh and blood, but it is easy to say yes but I am not like Jesus. Paul has an answer to that, too. He told the Corinthians, Be imitators of me as I am an imitator of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1.He goes on to list specific ways we can do that.

We need to try to be imitators of God, but if we can find a human example to follow, it is even better. Look for someone a little ahead of you in their faith walk and learn from them.  At the same time keep an eye out for people following you.

Enough

Can you believe it is a new year? And 2017? Really? It has been a week filled with hurdles, but sickness gave me time to be still (or else) and listen to Jesus. What he reminded me of most was his love.



Someone once asked john D Rockefeller, the millionaire how much money would be enough. He replied, "Just a little bit more." We can all relate to these feelings when it comes to money, but what about other things? We are bombarded by ads that promise we can be thinner in 30 days. TV shows has happy families who solve any problems they have in 50 minutes. With the right poduct we can be model gorgeous for $9.99 a month. These sound like great things, but my body didn't get the message and refuses to cooperate. How thin is thin enough? In spite of trying everything the actors on TV did, my family's problems are not solved in 50 minutes. Am I good enough, patient enough, firm enough, gentle enough, enough, enough, enough?No matter how many products I buy, I do not look like any of the models on TV?. Am I pretty enough? The list goes on.
 I am sure that you have your own list. Two questions need to be answered. What is the problem and what is the answer. The problem is that we are looking for our significance in the wrong places. We are not alone, either. Ecclesiastes talks about Solomon's search for "enoughness"He looked for it in money possessions, wives, pleasure and so many other things. He repeatedly came to the conclusion that it was all vanity.and chasing after the wind. He had just as many roadblocks to significance as we do, but they looked different. Here is the wisdom that he leaves us with in Ecclesiastes 9:7.Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. ⁸ Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. ⁹ Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. ¹⁰ Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.


 For many of us the question is are we spiritual enough or working hard enough for God.  Micah 6:8 says that God has shown us what is good and what the Lord requires of us. To do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. It does not come down to a long checklist.


Forr those of us who struggle to be pretty or thin enough, God says in 1 Peter 3:3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
In the face of all the conflicting messages let us remember that God has paid a great price for us and that we are enough for  him.