Ready or not?

Welcome back to Unseen. It has been a while because of illness and general yuck. With the holidays I was remebering family stories as I was working on a tribute for my mom. Read on for a lesson I learned from my grandparents.

Ready Or Not?

The day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. 1 Thes 5:2

My grandparents were quite a pair.  They were married for 68 years when Grandpa died, so many times they had no need for verbal communication. The most vivid example was the dance they did when it was time for a visit to be over. Grandpa wore a hat whenever he went out and when he got ready to go he would walk through the room Grandma was in, carrying his hat. Grandma never responded at this point. He would wait a few minutes and then walk back through wearing his hat. She started thinking about getting ready then. A few more minutes would pass before he walked through jingling the car keys. She would start to wrap up conversation but she could talk till the cows came home and then talk to the cows. Finally he would start the car and then come in and give her a look. She would usually act surprised that he wanted to go, but would put on her scarf and get ready to go.

Getting ready to go is a process but it is necessary. Someday it will be time for us to leave here. Whether you die and go to be with the Lord or he returns to restore all things, we need to be ready. Peter’s description of that time is vivid.

  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with        a    great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 2 Pet 3:10

 Paul encourages us to “walk not as unwise men but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. (Eph. 5:15-16)” The story of the wise and unwise virgins in Matthew 25 show us the necessity for being watchful.

For some people the Lord’s return brings fear, but it is a good thing for believers. We are not at home here. This week was particularly hard and I am glad to know that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for me (John 10). This world is not all there is. Take heart and keep watch.

Gifts

Well, it's the weekend before Christmas so you have very likely been running around trying to find gifts. Let's be honest. Living unseen, Christmas in general and gift in particular can be hard for us. This post is probably something we need to know this week. I had planned a completely different one but left my thumb drive. Read on to see if you are one of the people who God wanted to share this with.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.  James 1:17

Gina took a lot of time preparing for Christmas. She got an angora sweater for her mother who loved soft things. Her dad was a woodworker and she got him new tools. Her brother got an official NFL jersey. For her sister, she got a birthstone necklace.   She watched eagerly as they opened their gifts Christmas morning. Her mother opened the sweater and exclaimed at its softness and color. Then she put it back in the box and told Gina that she couldn’t accept it because it was too precious. Gina’s father opened the woodworking tools and said that they were the finest he had ever owned. Then he said he was going to put them in the closet so they didn’t get dirty. Gina was amazed and puzzled. Her brother was next. He opened the jersey, held it up and then shook his head sadly. “I don’t deserve it. I skipped class 3 times this semester and I got a speeding ticket and I didn’t mow the yard. I can’t accept it.” Gina’s sister opened her package. She held up the necklace and watched the light sparkling off the sapphire. She laughed excitedly, and then she put on the necklace and gave Gina a hug.

What would you say to this family if you were there? You would be able to tell them that Gina had given her mother the precious gift because she loved her, that the tools were only helpful if they were used and that a gift does not have to be earned. It only needs to be accepted.  Now switch from the living room to the church. You see the same behavior if you can recognize it. God has offered us not only Jesus come to earth, but salvation, peace and the tools to equip us for the ministry he has called us to. So many people either don’t accept his gifts at all, or they don’t make use of them to live an abundant life. For example they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit but seldom allow him to use his power in their lives. Instead we try to do God’s work on our power which is like trying to run a car on a 9 volt battery.  We don’t have to earn the right to receive a gift. Like Gina’s sister we only need to accept it joyfully and put it to use.

The Bible has so much to say about the gifts we have received. Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” John 10:10 explains why Jesus chose to come and give us the gift of his life. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 1 Corinthians 12 describes the idea of spiritual gifts that God uses to equip each of us and the body as a whole, but ends by encouraging us to earnestly desire the higher gifts, leading to the famous love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. Finally James 1:17 says that Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights, in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. We can trust His gifts and we can trust him. Please do not allow the enemy of your soul to trick you into either not accepting or not using the gifts you have been given. He knows that if you do, He will be in big trouble!

As the holidays are upon us so is a lot of business and chaos. Read on to find out what can make this season and the rest of the year easier for us, especially as we live Unseen.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

My sheep hear my voice and the voice of another they will not quickly follow. John 10:4-5

One spring we were at a women’s retreat near Hamilton, Texas and our meeting place was off the beaten path.  After unpacking, I looked outside and saw a strange sight. 3 or 4 women were walking around seemingly aimlessly, holding their cellphones to their ears. One of my friends was walking in a circle around a stick standing up in the dirt. I asked her what she was doing and she said that was the only place she had found at camp where she could get cell phone signal.

Even without technological issues, it can be hard to hear what you need to in the physical world. There are distractions and noises that drown out what we need to hear and compete for our attention. My husband has a condition where every noise he hears comes in at the same volume and intensity. The TV, radio, air conditioner, refrigerator hum, dog snuffling and cars outside are the same level as me trying to talk to him. This makes him stressed out and irritable and crowds are almost more than he can take. If he goes to the store he likes to go in the middle of the night. My child has a similar issue and swears that he can hear crawfish tapping on the glass in the classroom aquariums.

It can be just as hard or harder to hear what we need to in our spiritual life. We know the truth but may need to be reminded of it. Fortunately this is what Jesus said the Holy Spirit will do for us. (John 16:13 ) We may feel like we need a stick in the spiritual mud to communicate with God , trying to say the right words or use the right ritual. Jesus addressed this when he talked about the Pharisee and the publican.  In Luke 18. The publican, with his humility was heard by God even without the religious trappings. It may be hard to hear God with the distractions of the world and inside our own minds, but it can be done.

Hearing God happens in different ways. It may be a still small voice like it was for Elijah. (1 Kings 19:12    ) It may be hearing something in the sermon or Bible class that speaks to you. It may be something you hear from another believer. This morning I found a quiet place and wrote down all the scriptures that came to mind. Today most of them were about standing firm, being still and trusting.  One of the most important things that helps us to hear God is to spend time with him so we know his voice. John 10:4-5 says, My sheep hear my voice and the voice of another they will not quickly follow. Jeremiah 29:13 says you will seek me and will find me when you search with all your heart.

Ask God to open your ears to hear his voice. Then help someone else tune in also.

One God Fits All

Welcome to Unseen today. God is unique in the way he relates to each of us. Read on for a lesson in how I learned this.

One God fits All

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone  1 Corinthians 12:4-6

My mom was very creative and could come up with some good ideas to keep us all busy and entertained. One summer she was taking painting lessons and decided to share the joy. She opened up the garage door and set up card tables and portable easels. She gathered me and my sister, a few assorted friends and my two grandmothers. She talked us through the process of creating the painting. It was a fun day together and at the end we each had a painting. What struck me at the time was that even though we were all working together and doing the same steps, all the pictures came out very different. I almost wondered if we had been in the same class at all.

It is tempting to see God as a one size fits all God. We do what he says and he meets our needs. We can see it as cut and dried. The reality is quite different. He deals with different people differently and with one person differently from one time to the next. Start with Moses. One time He has him strike the rock and another speak to it to get water. When he called the apostles he approached each one differently. Although there were several blind men healed, they were healed in different ways, such as speaking the cure(Mark 10:52), touching the person’s eyes (Matt. 20:34), and spitting and making clay to put on the person’s eyes (John 9:6). Also, while some were completely healed immediately others took time, such as the man who said first he saw trees walking around and then saw properly.  (Mark 8:23-25) Also, his approach to someone like the woman caught in adultery was completely different from his approach to the Pharisees.

  He does the same thing today. I hear small things from God all the time such as songs, scriptures, insights, and a still small voice. My friend who is hard of hearing has a hard time understanding what she reads, but she has dreams where she has insights from God. My child is much more likely to hear from God in spurts rather than a constant stream. Why would God do this? He tells us that we are part of a body and that we all have different gifts. He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:9 that he had set him apart before he was born to be a prophet. He loves us individually and has plans for each of us. (Jeremiah 29:11. Like the paintings were all similar but different, so is each believer’s walk with God unique and special to him.  God knows us from the inside out because he created us and knows how we think and work.  

We need to understand this and not judge how God relates to another person. I am not saying all roads lead to heaven. I am saying that because someone’s interaction with God does not mirror mine that does not make them wrong. Enjoy your walk with a creative God who loves you as his precious child.

Sticks and Stones

Welcome to Unseen today. II think this may be a post several of you need to see because I have had all kinds of trouble getting it posted. Read on to see  how God shows his care for us.

He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Psalms 23:5

 

Probably no other passage is as familiar as the 23^rd Psalm. The verse about preparing a table before me was always a neat picture, but it turns out the picture that I had was not the one the Psalmist intended to paint.  I had always thought that it meant, he prepares a table of food in front of me. In the little book A Shepherd looks at Psalms 23,  the writer explains that when it was time to move the sheep to higher pastures, or table land, the shepherd would go before he brought the sheep. He would prepare the table for them by removing boulders and sharp sticks, killing snakes  and predators and making sure there was fresh water and grass. He would also remove the small stones that could stick in their hooves and injure or cripple them. This fact stuck with me( no pun intended). The shepherd did not just remove the big things from the pasture, but all the things that could harm the sheep.

                In my life right now there are no lurking predators or great boulders.  The things that are bothering me today are stones by comparison. There are disappointments, hurt feelings, frustrations, irritability, and frustration with people who are being irritable. I am tempted to not bother God with my stones when other people have boulders . Does God have time to help me with my discouragement over a door that didn’t open when a two year old just got a colostomy or a mother doesn’t know where she will sleep tonight? Isn’t it petty to take up God’s time with my hurt feelings over a slight when an older person had a house fire this week and is suffering? Would a shepherd tell a limping sheep, “Shake it off. You’re just fine.”, or would he look for the problem and then correct it? The truth is these small troubles, while not affecting our salvation, can keep us exhausted and off guard so that we are not as effective and victorious as we could be. More importantly, the God of heaven and earth cares about the details of your life.

In Matthew 10:29 we read, "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.…” In Matthew 6 Jesus advises us to avoid worry about the small things. HE says, Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?.

So many places in scripture tell us similar things. We are valued by Almighty God. When God brings about the restoration of all things we are told that he will wipe away every tear from our eyes.(Revelation 21). Bring your boulders, your lurking fears, and your stones to the shepherd  who has prepared a table before you.

This world is not my home.

Welcome to Unseen today. You might have noticed that life is hard. Did you ever wonder why? Read on.

This World Is Not My Home

We look for a city whose builder and maker is God. Hebrews 11:10

I am not a good outdoor person. I was not good outdoors as a teenager and I am not a good outdoor mother. I particularly dislike camping.  I don’t like being hot, being bitten by bugs, or being uncomfortable. This is pretty much the description of camping. When my kids were little after a Boy Scout camping trip they convinced me to sleep in the tent in the back yard. I made several discoveries. I discovered that while global warming may or may not be true, I believe the ground has become much harder than it used to be when we were camping out in Girl Scouts.  I discovered that while air mattresses start out comfortable they often leak and you wake up in a dip. I also discovered that two little boys take up a lot of room in a tent. . We were crammed in like the proverbial sardines. The cars whooshed by outside and I could not get in a position where the street light was not in my eyes. I tried to get my husband to participate in the next back yard campout, but I think he was smart enough to refuse.

Motor homes were not that much better.  One year we went on a mission trip to an Indian reservation in Arizona. There were lots of really neat things that week but the motor home was not one of them. Many people had their own motor homes or campers, or borrowed them. We ended up in the main one where the cooking was done and people gathered. We were crowded and had to keep things really clean, but what I remember most was that for some reason we were not allowed to use the bathroom in the motor home. We had to hike down to the chapter house ¼ mile away to use the bathroom or “Shower” with the water hose and a drain in the floor. 

What was the main problem with these settings? Besides the cramped quarters and rustic conditions, they were not home. It was not that bad I suppose, but they were only temporary. (Thank goodness) I was SOOO glad to be in my own bed and my own bathroom.

Well, we are in a temporary home here. There is a reason that we are not comfortable and feel out of place in this world. In Hebrews 13:5 we read For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come. Jesus said in John 14 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, shows us this. All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

This world is really tough to live in, but like we park our motor homes and roll up our tents, someday we will be in our true home. Fight the good fight.

All by myself ... or not.

Everywhere I have gone this last two weeks I have been seeing and hearing things that remind me I can't do it by myself.  I couldn't seem to distill them into a story until my husband gave me an idea. If you need proof that God can use anything to teach us, read on!

All by myself…Or not.

Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Cars come streaming into Pit Row. The colors and sounds are almost overwhelming and your eyes flit around. Then a strange thing catches your attention. A driver is climbing out of the window of his car. He runs to the back and puts fuel in. He runs to each tire and checks the pressure, adding some air in the front.  Then he races back and takes out the nozzle for the fuel. He quickly replaces the tear-off window screen and then puts on his helmet and climbs back in the window. What do you think the result of this escapade was? Not only is the driver behind, he is probably exhausted and now he can’t do his best. If only he had relied on his pit crew.

 No one would be that silly, right? At least no on the race track. How about in other parts of our lives? Do we isolate and refuse to use the team God has given us in life because of pride, shame or not wanting to bother someone? We may have different reasons. My favorite was always, “I won’t tell anyone what is going on (especially my mother) because I don’t want her to worry. That never worked with my mother and it probably doesn’t work with yours either. If my children are reading this it does not work with me.  Maybe we just don’t want to admit that we were wrong or that we don’t know. We would rather take care of it ourselves. If we rely on just one other person, such as a spouse or a friend, we can suck the life out of them. God has given us resources and people to help us. When we don’t we end up behind and exhausted. We can’t do our best for our families, our jobs or our ministry.

First Corinthians 12 describes very clearly the fact that we are a part of the body of Christ. He is the head and we are different parts of his body here. Try opening a door with just your pinky. ( I just tried.)  try walking 10 feet on your tiptoes. You can probably do it, but it is harder than it has to be. If you tried walking on your tiptoes I bet your calves are sore now.  It is the same way with our spiritual bodies.  We can do the work God has called us and equipped us for alone but we are not going to do it as well.  HE has given us other believers and he has given us his spirit.

One of my favorite verses  is in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

This lesson has been hard for me to learn. If you want to see something interesting look up the one another verses in the bible. According to blue letter bible. There are 234. We are meant to live in community and to be part of a team or a body.  Don’t let pride or fear keep you running around the car any longer.