ABIDE

 

Abide

When I was about 13 we went to a Navajo reservation to hold a Vacation Bible School. It was a world like nothing I had ever seen. The hogans looked pieced together but they were sturdy and comfortable on the inside. The chapter house had beautiful handmade crafts, offices, meeting rooms and a shower facility. The men built a brush arbor while we watched amazed at the transformation.

We had Vacation Bible School in the morning and Gospel Meeting at night. Afterwards we ate fabulous food that we had never had, including fresh fry bread. The afternoons were reserved for fun. There were impromptu games and hikes. That was the summer I discovered Agatha Christie. I would hike a little way from where the campsite was and sit in on of the shallow caves to read. One day as I was hiking, I saw a fox den with 2 kits inside. We watched each other in silence. They were completely unconcerned. They were sheltered from the sun and mama was undoubtedly nearby and would come running at the slightest yip.

In our Christian lives, although we trust God we feel the need to rush around and figure out a backup plan in case he doesn’t come through. ( Maybe that is just me.) Scripture tells us to Abide in him. Abide means to remain stable or fixed in a state. Like the fox kits we need to be stable and fixed in our trust that God is a good father and will come at our call. Life does not always look like that but we have the assurance that it is true.

Look at this beautiful verse that I found about abiding in God. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. (Psalms 91:1) I cannot think of a better place to abide than in the shadow of the Almighty. I long for safety and shelter and I can be sure to find it there. More than that, it is my rightful place. What if a bobcat tried to move into the fox den. Mama fox would make short work of it because the den is not its rightful place. I don’t have to creep into the presence of God as if I am afraid someone will spot me.

 
Not only is God’s presence a place of safety and shelter, but it is a place of power and provision. Jesus tells his disciples, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7” If we are remaining in a fixed and stable state in Jesus and hiding his word in our heart ( Psalms  119:11) we have a flow of blessings in him.

Abiding is not common in our culture. We are taught to strive, to work harder, to be self-made women and men. May we have the courage it takes this week to learn to be still and abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

Just Sit

 

Just Sit

Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heavens and exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10

The other day, I came home from a long day at work. The dog was glad to see me. He had a list for me since I had been gone. We went out for a walk and he took care of all the necessary duties. We came in and he got his treats. I left out the one that stays in the refrigerator and he informed me that I had forgotten it. We played fetch and he ate some. I figured we were done since all the boxes had been checked, so I sat down with my book. He would be still for a few minutes and then let out one loud sharp bark. This went on for several minutes and finally I told him I was out of ideas. As a last option, I sat down beside him on the floor. He wagged his tail and put his head down.  That was all he wanted – for me to be with him.

In our Christian walk, we look to God for what we need. This is a good thing and He loves to bless us. He tells us to trust him and says that we do not have because we do not ask. (James 4). We depend on him for salvation, for our daily bread and our healing. There is a piece that is often missing, though. We do not take enough time to just sit and be with Him. Like Martha in the Bible we get so busy serving Him that we do not take time to sit at his feet. Jesus died to bridge the gap between us and a holy God so we could have fellowship. We need to take advantage of that gift of fellowship.

A verse that I love/hate is Psalms 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heavens and exalted in the earth.

Psalms 84 has a beautiful description of  spending time in God’s presence.

How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
    Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
    they are ever praising you.

I have not always done well at sitting in God’s presence, but I want to do it more. I need the restoration and healing that comes from it. May we have the courage to step away from our busy stressful life and spend time with the God who gave Himself up for us.

Because I Said So

Because I Said So

My ways are not your ways nor are my thoughts your thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts and my ways than your ways.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

It is the cry of the four year old. Why? Why? Why? Why is the sky blue? Why do I have to brush my teeth? Why do I have to go to school? My uncle called on one of those days and asked what I was doing. I said, “I’ve answered a thousand questions today.” He said, “You wanted an intelligent child and now you have one.”  Parents try to keep up for a while, but usually it deteriorates to the point where the frustrated parent says, “BECAUSE I SAID SO!”

God is sovereign. He tells us in Isaiah 55, “my ways are not your ways nor are my thoughts your thoughts. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts and my ways than your ways.”  It is tempting to ask God why things happened. Why did my family member die? Why did someone attack innocent people? Many times we don’t get an answer.

Job questioned God when he was hurting and broken. Here is what God said to him.

38 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said,

² “Who is this who darkens the divine plan By words without knowledge?
³ Now ^[a]tighten the belt on your waist like a man, And I shall ask you, and you inform Me!
⁴ Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you ^[b]have understanding,
⁵ Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the measuring line over it?
⁶ On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
⁷ When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

⁸ “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When it went out from the womb, bursting forth;
⁹ When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling bands,
¹⁰ And I ^[c]placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors,
¹¹ And I said, ‘As far as this point you shall come, but no farther;
And here your proud waves shall stop’?

 

For several chapters God continues. All the marvels of creation exist “because He said so.”

Sovereignty is not a concept we understand in our culture. We are used to getting our way and getting it when we want it. God gets to have the final say because he created everything, He sustains everything and he redeemed everything.

 

When you don’t get an answer or don’t get the answer you want, you can trust God. Anything that happens to you is in his hand and you will be taken care of, because He said so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemed

 Welcome back to guest blogger Samantha LaPierre. Read on to see what she has learned about God Redeeming the wreckage of the past. 

I keep starting and stopping searching for words that are not there to express things that vanish the moment you try to pin them down. They seem so sacred that to capture them would be nearly irreverent and blasphemous. Some moments, it seems, belong only to the moment in which they were birthed and are buried before the next. Bursts and flashes of creation are complete in themselves. How could I express that?

Sometimes I could sit and breathe and bask in the nothingness, the dreaming that occurs as it dwells in all of the possibility that the void contains. I can hold this space just briefly to quiet the chattering in my mid. The silence takes the roots of these and turns over earth inside my soul, so that I can grow something beautiful. I can create something I never could have on my own. I can feel my chest begin to calm. A feeling like a raging hurricane suddenly stopped.

At first I felt like I had died, like the lack of conflict was death, not peace. I was used to just surviving, getting by using anxiety as the source I used to me forward. To let myself take the weighted responsibility of owning my life would mean I would have to step into the authority of my own power. Actually it was not my own power, but the power entrusted to me by God by the Holy Spirit. I didn’t know how to claim it. I had nothing but failed attempts, a dysfunctional emotional body and a lack of guidance. I had no one to teach me who to be whole, but I quickly taught myself to be broken and bitter. I can’t pinpoint or understand how or when the depth of my soul surrendered to the surface all the treasures that I had assumed were lost forever. Lost when my vessel was tossed and wrecked time and time again, breaking and sinking like the pearl of the grace that came with a great cost. God has called these treasures out of their grave. He came walking on the water to help me see their beauty and unseen worth. He said to me, “these are the treasures you take with you from this life to the next.

As I wrote this these pictures played on the screen in my mind.

A pretty new ship setting off as dark clouds rolled in. As it set sail, it passed the safe zone and violent waves and winds capsized it, breaking it into splinters.

Another boat, not so new sits hesitant to leave. It didn’t sail long and was abandoned with its cargo. The captain and crew decided they would rather take their chances and float. Over and over this story replayed and no one dived to reclaim what was  lost.

Then the ocean floor began to shift. The tides and currents changed and the surface was hit by a tsunami. The ocean became an empty grave. I could see Him jump in the water and lift me out - resuscitating me and reviving my heart. I coughed cried and sputtered to take the next breath on my own. He wiped my eyes and my face. Then he lifted me to my feet and we were standing on the water together. He picks up stones, treasures and a bluepring. No. It is a complete pardon. 4 beautiful words. All has been forgiven.

I see a trunk full of books that don’t have words yet. “Write” he said without saying. “These are the tablets of your heart. He shows me a gold heart shaped locket with a mustard seed in one side and “to thine own self be true, on the other. I can’t help but smile. He had faith in me the whole time. At the end of this I come back to myself and I want to dance and cry and tell everyone about the way, in just a moment, God could reveal Himself to me. I don’t need to be spectacular. I only need to make myself be still long enough to release what it is in my mind

 

Tapestry

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

When I was a teenager, we spent time on the Navajo Reservation in Kinlichee, Arizona. We were sponsoring a vacation Bible School and gospel meeting. The Indian women made us fry bread, beans and stew and we ate under a brush arbor that we watched the men build. A quarter mile from where we camped was the chapter house. It was a combination office, shower facility and gift shop. The shop had beautiful crafts, including dolls and jewelry. My favorite thing was the handmade rugs. They were woven on traditional looms. Yarn was strung vertically on the loom and then passed over one thread and under the next. At the end of each row the yarn was pressed down to tighten the weave. The bright colored yarn made intricate patterns and the rugs were strong and durable.

 In the strange and uncertain times we live in, Christians need each other. When we are in fellowship our lives are woven together. Our different gifts and experiences, when they are combined, make a beautiful tapestry of God’s grace and increase the strength of each individual. We are much less vulnerable to outside attacks.

Ecclesiastes 4 9-12 says this.

Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

In Galatians 6:2, Paul encourages us to bear one another’s burdens, and in First Corinthians 12 he describes the way we are many members but form one body with Christ being the head.

Many other verses discuss the idea of the importance of fellowship and love. Not only does it benefit us, but also glorifies God and sets an example for those outside the fellowship.

You are a treasured part of the tapestry of my life. Your love and strength make me a better me. I am so glad, my beautiful sister, that my life is woven with yours.

 

Where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17) It was in the mailbox – the dreaded red card. A traffic ticket from 5 years earlier had slipped my mind. The city needed money and was having a warrant roundup. My husband suggested that I just sit it out, but I was working full time. His friend said that I could go in and talk to them and set it up to come in and sit it out on the weekend. Well, he was wrong. I got to the office to talk to them and they said I couldn’t do that. They handcuffed me in front of everyone in the office. I called my husband and told him what was going on. I went through the whole ordeal of fingerprints and picture and then was put in the holding tank which was packed. I was freezing and curled up in a corner. I asked for a blanket and they said no. I was holding it together but just barely. It was a fascinating slice of humanity. People came and went to see the judge. Supper, such as it was came and went. I cried a lot. The others started talking, asking each other why they were there. One said, “I robbed the 7-11” Another was there for prostitution and a third was there for assault. They looked at me and asked why I was there. Bursting into tears, I said, “A traffic ticket!” They all agreed that it was not fair. Night time was worse. The shower was right next to the holding cell and was very loud. There were people being brought down to shower at 2 am. People were being brought in all night long. Many of them were screaming at the police and each other. Finally about mid morning I was called in to see the judge. Again, I started crying. “I’m so glad you’re here!” I said. “I’m not coping well.” He looked at my file and said, “How long have you been here?” I told him and he said, “I think you’ve suffered enough. Can you hang on 45 more minutes. I nodded and dried my eyes. I was never so glad to see the sunshine and I haven’t gotten a traffic ticket since. I hated being behind bars that night. I hated not being able to go where I needed and do what I needed. The truth is, in our spiritual life we are often just as trapped. It might be from guilt or addiction. It might be from sadness that won’t let go. For me it is fear. I have been learning to recognize fear when I see it and walk out of it step by step but it has been a battle. There are legitimate things to be afraid of right now with the things happening in the world, but when it controls us we can be just as locked up as if we were in a physical cell. Whatever has us trapped spiritually will keep us from doing what we need to do and fulfilling god’s purpose for us. So how do we get free? First of all we recognize that we cannot free ourselves. That is why God sent Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Paul said in the letter to the Romans, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” Romans (7:19) He describes his frustration at his condition and then in verse 24 he says,” Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ( Romans 7:24). So Jesus can deliver us from sin but what about the other things that plague us? What about fear? Because I needed to I looked up the scriptures about fear. There are 365 of them. Some of the ones I love most are these Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:8. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand Isaiah 41:10. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 Even as I typed these verses they spoke to me again. Jesus can and will deliver us from our fear. Finally, what about disease, including addiction. In Isaiah 53:5 we read “ut He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. “ Later in 1 Peter2:24, we read, “"He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” I encourage you this week to look for the areas where you are still bound. Accept Jesus’ healing and freedom. Learn more and more of Him and then spread the word to help someone who is still trapped.

Please Welcome Chuck Weber, a new guest blogger who is helping out this week and next. Chuck was Chaplain at both State School and part time Chaplain at Hendrick Medical Center. He has also participated in the Kairos Prison Ministry. Surprised by Light In the lightning flash across the sky His mighty power I see, And I know if He can reign on high His light can shine on me. Ch: I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder, and felt it in the rain... My Lord is near me all the time... My Lord is near me all the time. When the thunder shakes the mighty hills and trembles every tree, Then I know a God so great and strong can surely harbor me. (to Ch:) When refreshing showers cool the earth and sweep across the sea, Then His rainbow shines within my heart. His nearness comforts me. (to Ch.) – Barbara Gaultney, Broadman Press, c.1960. On sixth floor in a shared room lurked an angry patient. The four of us, interns for hospital chaplaincy, had by turn tried to cheer up this 22-year-old woman. Every effort to talk to her had failed spectacularly. Maybe it was the pain! After all, she had broken her femur and her shoulder tumbling from a motorcycle. Maybe the shame! After all, the wreck was caused by her clothing getting tangled in the chain and spokes of the beast, in itself understandable were it not for the fact that the bed sheet in the spokes was all she was wearing at the time. Three of us has been summarily dismissed amid curses and imprecations. Today I was determined to venture into the room, hoping for success. The others laughed and asked me whatever was I thinking. She was the middle daughter of a Methodist preacher. She knew what we were going to say before we said it. Her rage was her only solace. Why pronounce another? I felt like I was walking on air. Only the day before, I had performed my first baptism as pastor of a tiny country church. Only eight days before, I had received ordination as a preacher of the Gospel surrounded by faithful men and women of my church. God lived in my heart that day like a fire of liberation. What could possibly go wrong? The sixth floor door to her room was in the oldest part of the hospital. The huge gray thing stood 50 inches wide and heavy as granite. Now sixteen inches from the closed door, the possibility of strife gave me pause. With a gentle tap, I listened for an answer. Hearing none, I slowly opened the door and called her name, announcing my own. She was asleep. A feeling very much like gratitude swept over me. As I turned to leave, I heard a voice behind the door. “Son, you got the shine on you.” Mostly hidden by the open door, the other patient in the room smiled at me. She must have been well over 80 years old. I had not come to see her, but...there she was. “What do you mean by that?” I asked. She laughed gently, “You know what I mean.” Fishing for an explanation, I said, “I came to see this lady, but I had no idea anyone else was in here.” “The Lord done put you here.” She paused. “He done put me here, too.” “How did you know...?” “Like I said, you got the shine on you. The Lord has been ‘specially good to you, hasn’t he?” She smiled from her bed, looking up at me. “The Lord God, he works that way.” “Yesterday I did the first baptism service in my life, as pastor of a little church in the country. One nine year old girl, a retired husband and wife and a 66 year old man all baptized. God has certainly been with me.” “His blessing shines in you. Sho’ ‘nuff, it does.” She and I talked for a few minutes, quietly, in deference to her sleeping room mate. I ventured to pray for her before I left, but she would not have it. She prayed for me. She prayed for her room mate, and she closed with hope and blessing. I gently shut the door to that room on sixth floor and made my way back to the chaplain’s office. Clock-out time was 35 minutes away. Affirmation had happened. God’s light surprised me. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. – 1 John 1:5-10. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. – 2 Corinthians 4:6,7 I have heard it said “a Christian is a psycho-ceramic,” meaning that we are all clay pots and we are all cracked. Nevertheless, it is in this cracked pot that God invests his presence. For all we know of other religious faiths, the one assertion that is uniquely Christian is that God not only forgives us and draws us back to himself, but he also invests us with his own spirit, taking up residence in our very souls. His body is the church and parts of his body are each of us. We are his, yes, but we are also cracked vessels out of whom leaks the presence of God. How do others apprehend the love of God? Rarely by electronics or by dreams or by meditation. Most often God reveals himself through a regular person. An old lady once blessed me for nothing I had ever said or done that she knew about. The spirit of God led her to bless me. I did not deserve it nor did I expect it. Her broken pot helped fill up my own broken pot. Toward what end? Blessings surround my memory like incense. They keep me humble and they keep me expectant. This is how our social God operates. It was not accidentally he took upon himself the limitations of flesh. Doing so he enjoyed his own creation and showed us a stark and undeniable way to live a meaningful life. Perfect maturity is possible only with God alive in us, and that is his purpose. Father of Light, My life is a cracked pot. What I hold within me leaks out. Lots of things are in there and not all are seemly. My best self is yet cracked. Your spirit fills me still. I am amazed & brought low. Somehow you reach others through me, anyway. Sometimes I don’t even notice. That’s the way you are, I guess. Riches hidden in a common vessel, broken but still useful. Jesus was not beautiful to look upon, but was still completely you in this broken world. Grant my prayer that I notice you in action in me. AMEN