Treasure

This morning as I sat down to read my Bible, a little scrap of paper fell out with a few notes I had scribbled related to the topic of the blessings that can be "mined" from the darkness of tribulations in life.  I have recently been in contact with several friends who are going through pressing times in their life and feeling the strain physically, emotionally and spiritually; hence, this blog is particularly for those in the winepress where life is bearing down hard and emotional stamina is waning.

The first "treasure"  listed on my scrappy piece of paper was refined faith.  How I wish there were an inoculation that could be given to those who are being tried by fire to boost their faith, but God's design is that we walk through it allowing the fire to remove the dross by stripping away self sufficiency, greed and unbelief.  God's discipline is never pleasant at the time, but after a while the treasure comes shining forth as pure gold.  What pleases God more than anything else is faith and there is nothing more disdaining to Him than unbelief.  When we display faith in times of trouble, our lives demonstrate the greatest expression of His power working through us to accomplish His will--to make us people of faith.  We shine greater and our witness is never more powerful than when we are in the fire.

Second on my list of "treasures" was humility which leads to submission.  When the building blocks of my self esteem are ripped out from under me and I find myself faltering in my identity, this is the perfect time for me to surrender my self completely to God and wrap my identity around who I am in Christ rather than the things the world says I need to be in order to prop myself up in some way so that I can feel secure.  Humility is built on grace not performance and in times when I stop performing, whether by choice or circumstance, I can learn to walk in grace.

Appreciation for God's Word is another treasure that evolves as I walk through dark times.  The Word of God is living and active and able to supernaturally heal my soul.  Psalm 119 speaks of a gamut of emotions and circumstances where the Word of God brings blessing and hope to the psalmist.  We have become a society that seeks counsel and refuge from human source and that can be beneficial, but the Word of God is supernatural and able to do so much more than the wisdom of man.  Psalm 25 says that the Lord will reveal His secrets to those who respect Him and seek Him through His Word.  When we turn to God's Word and seek answers from Him, He will give us fresh revelations of Himself through His Word that will strengthen us through difficulty and help us say like Habukkuk that the Lord is my strength--he makes my feet like the feet of a deer that walks in high places and does not stumble. (Habakkuk 3:18 & 19).

Refined faith, humility and a deeper appreciation and love for God's Word are three of the twelve treasures written on my little sheet of paper.  I will share more in days to come, but I hope that these three nuggets will remind you that these trials and temporary afflictions are working something so beautiful and great that it will be worth it...hold on to faith and don't lose sight of the prize.

Condemnation

Today as I was on a morning walk, I was rejoicing and offering up gratitude to God and I expressed to Him that I would be "glad" and rejoice in the day that He had made.  It occurred to me that on my walk just two days prior, I had been in a completely different state of mind--my expressions were a far cry from being glad.

My thoughts on my walk two days ago, were centered on a negative encounter I had that morning which caused every other negative encounter that I had experienced in the past two years to surface and being glad wasn't a possibility. My thoughts were full of self-condemning thoughts and every fault I had became enormously exaggerated.  I was wearing sunglasses though it was cloudy to hide the tears that were running down my face and I offered up expressions of shame and remorse to God, reverently questioning how He was involving Himself in my situation. 

This morning, I as I reflected on the idea of being glad, I was struck with how volatile my conversations were with God.  I want to stand in awe of Him and let my words be few, but sometimes I jabber on with nonsense, wallow in self-pity and condemnation and squelch His love and grace.  I thought of David and how blessed I am when I read the Psalms and yet juxtapose to those amazing chapters of reflections of praise, are the ones of condemnation and self pity.

God is a big God.  He adores my expressions of love and gratitude and when I offer up to Him my sacrifices of praise, but He is also big enough to handle my questions that I reverently pose to Him as I muddle through the mire of life.  I can rest in His unfailing mercies and love--they are new every morning and His "steadfast" love never ceases.

God, I thank you that You love it when I am glad and yet you love me when I am struggling with condemnation.  I am grateful that through the power of Your Holy Spirit, You bring me through the  times when my accuser attempts to condemn and oppress me, through the times when I am filled with doubt regarding my worth to a new place of victory with a fresh revelation of You and Your great love for me!  I am amazed by You.. 

Grace Culture

One of the nicest compliments that anyone ever paid me was to say that I was like Lucinda, a character in the book “You Are Special” by Max Lucado.  Jesus and I both know that I am not truly completely like Lucinda…I try, but I am more of a multiple personality that toggles back and forth from being grace-driven, Lucinda and works-driven, Annette.   In my fading moments, when I am defaulting to my old self, my husband will say, “Come on, Lucinda”.

Lucinda is the character that introduces Punchinello, a Wemmick who lives in a village that thrives on giving out gray dots and stars to its people, to Eli, the Woodcarver, who created the Wimmicks.  Lucinda is free from the Wemmick’s system, because she doesn’t allow the gray dots or stars to stick to her and as the story progresses and Punchinello gets to know Eli, the gray dots begin to fall off of him as well.

How I long to live free from a Wemmickity culture…to be part of a culture that is free from honor competition and resilient to shame.  I believe this is the abundant life that Jesus has promised to us.  This is the glorious freedom to which Christ has called us.  This is the path of true grace….the path that the world longs for.

We cannot bring the world to experience this glorious freedom, when we as Christians are still caught up in a worldly identity crisis where we are using stars and gray dots to define ourselves and others instead of allowing God to tell us who we are and allow Him alone to reveal to us the mystery of Himself and His divine plan.  We are His workmanship…created for good works which He, Himself, prepares in advance for us to do.  It is His plan, His gifting, His power and to pride ourselves in the stars is to deprive Him of the glory. 

It is not our calling to help people escape the culture of the world only to bring them into a culture that is still placing the attention on human performance rather than the unsurpassable greatness of God.  It is by grace that we are saved…not by works so that none of us can boast. 

On the other hand, when we focus on the gray dots…our failures and the areas where we fall short, we are still placing our focus on ourselves instead of who we are in Christ and this is just as much a form of pride as boasting in our accomplishments.  We shouldn’t deny the power of the risen Christ that is in us to deliver us from the power of shame and equip us to walk in victory.  This too is depriving God of the glory of His precious gift of redemption.

God, thank you that You have called us to walk in freedom, deliver us from the bondage of pride that manifests itself in both the desiring of accomplishments and in the fearing of the lack of accomplishments.  Lead us in Your victory parade so we can show the world the joyous culture of grace.

 

Ephesians 4:4-10--But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

 

 

 

 

Healthy Choice

There has been a lot of attention focused on the importance of healthy eating and physical exercise which is being promoted through the media and various promotions in our schools and workplaces.  Efforts are being made to teach us to read labels and be aware of what is in our food to protect our bodies from food tainted with questionable manufactured chemicals that hold the potential to be destructive.  We are being encouraged to be more active…to wear mechanical devices to record our steps to ensure that we are getting enough exercise and to drink pure water and stay away from drinks that are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and phosphoric acid.  People are awakening to the joy of experiencing more vitality and stamina as they embrace the suggestions being offered by health advisors.

As a Christian, I believe that I not only have a physical body, but also a spiritual body.  The spirit man needs as much attention as the physical.  I need to be thinking deeper about the things of the world that hold the potential to taint my conscious to believe that wrong is okay.  The Spirit of God is more than willing to prick my conscious, if I will spend quiet time and reflection in seeking the truth about what the world is attempting to package to me as being okay.

There are a lot of substitute reading materials that are more appealing than picking up the pure, organic Word of God, but none will provide the sustenance and strength as the Bread of Life.  The Word of God is powerful and effective to judge the attitudes of our heart and it is living and active to nourish and bring fresh revelation of our living God.  Our spirit man needs the unprocessed sustenance from a healthy and reliable source on a regular basis.  Digging deep into the Word of God will cultivate healthy fruit in our lives full of nutrients to nourish and foster others as well.

Just as our bodies need the pure, cleansing and revitalizing effect of water, we also need the living water of the Holy Spirit to flow into our system and purge us of the impurities that cling to our spiritual cells and weaken our immune system.   Scripture uses the analogy of thirst to help us understand the longing that should be present in us when we are spiritually healthy.  Hunger and thirst is a sign that we are spiritually alive.  When we stop experiencing these longings, something is unhealthy. 

I have read from several sources that when you physically drink a lot of water, your thirst increases and when you don’t drink, the craving subsides.  Just as our physical man’s cravings are determined by what they are fed, when we come to God and receive nourishment from His Word and are refreshed by the Holy Spirit, our souls will crave the pure, sincere and unadulterated nutrition that time in His presence provides.

God, as we learn to make healthy changes to strengthen our physical body,  help us also desire a strong, healthy soul that delights and finds joy in the healthy practices of feasting upon your living word and drinking from the springs of life that satisfy our longings.  May You increase our cravings…give us an addiction to living in your Word and presence and strengthen our faith.

 

1 Timothy 4:8--For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Intentional Growth

It is the time of year when Walmart is putting out their gardening supplies and people will begin spring planting.  My mom and dad are 91 years old and dad is making plans to put out some lettuce and radish seeds for his early planting.  I gave up gardening because it requires tender nurturing and consistent attention and my life is already full of living things that require my diligent care.  The idea of neglecting living things whether plants, pets or people is more than I can bear, so I just don’t plant.  When I feel the urge to be in the dirt, I just help mom and dad with their garden.

The Bible uses living things such as wheat, vines, trees, a mustard seed and other seeds, to give us mental pictures of spiritual development.  Psalm 1 suggests that the man who delights in the Word of God will be like a tree that flourishes.  Jesus made reference to a kernel of wheat that has to die in order to produce more fruit and He also described the picture of a vine and the necessity of abiding in the vine to produce fruit.   

To grow spiritually, the Bible shows us that there has to be intentional effort.  When we seek…we find, when we knock… the door is opened, when we ask according to the will of God…we receive.  When we die to ourselves to further God’s kingdom, we create the potential for new growth.  Just as there is no botanical growth without environmental aid, there is no spiritual growth without the aid of the Holy Spirit bringing fresh revelation from God’s Word, surrounding us with the presence of God and drawing us close to Him, and helping us break out of our shells and spread the message of Christ.  He is a powerful germinator who helps us bring forth good fruit.

I fear that we have become more intentional about organic garden produce and our knock-out roses than we have about an organic, knock-out relationship with Christ.  I am wondering how much time we spend fertilizing, watering, pruning and weeding our botanicals compared to time we spend in quiet contemplation of God…of His awesome character and deeds and in His living and active Word.  For a living relationship with God to grow, develop and produce fruit, it will require diligence on our behalf.  Just as with gardening, a fruitful field doesn’t just happen; it is the result of a faithful, steadfast laborer in the field.

Lord, help us to be faithful laborers in the harvest fields that you have placed us, seeking you above worldly hobbies and desires.  You are our breath and life.  Spur us on to produce a harvest of righteousness and grow our souls.

The Garden

Tonight at my church’s Wednesday evening service, we began a series to prepare our hearts during this time before Easter by looking at the Stations of the Cross.  The first station was “The Garden” and we looked at the passage in Matthew Chapter 26 where Jesus prayed in anguish for strength to follow God’s will which Jesus knew involved the great distress of the cross.

When we read the passage a couple of things stood out to me.  The first revelation that I had was that Jesus was a great servant leader and He had shown Himself to be powerful and trustworthy to His followers, yet in His crucial hour where He specifically asked them to do something to support Him, vulnerably expressing to them His feelings of being overwhelmed and filled with sorrow, they could not follow Him and pray as He specifically requested.  The request came from the vocal chords of the Son of God and rested upon their human ears.  There was no confusion regarding His will, yet He was ignored.

As a frustrated leader, I was encouraged to know that Jesus, the greatest spiritual model and leader of all time, was ignored by His followers.  They failed to provide support to Him in His hour of need and yet Jesus rose and followed the will of God, relying upon the strength He received from God.  Jesus fully submitted Himself with abandon to do the will of God despite His circumstances and disappointments.  Not only did Jesus not receive the prayer support from His followers, but after praying, He had to face His betrayer and endure Judas’ kiss. 

My second thought was in regarding to the failure of the disciples to discern the grievousness of the time.  They missed the importance of the hour and in their human weakness fell asleep…not once, but twice.  They missed the opportunity to pray for strength for the Savior of their souls and to receive strength in the time of their greatest temptation.  They missed the opportunity to encourage Jesus in the time of His great sorrow….that is a great loss.

I am amazed at the love and graciousness of Jesus that He would return to this ragtag group of followers after His resurrection.  I would be looking for a new group.  The more I follow Christ, the more aware I am that I fall short of His glory in the way I love others.  I pray that I would be more discerning when it comes to being aware of the times and sacred opportunities and that I would be more gracious to the shortcomings of other followers.

 

Genetic Modification

 

Today is the first day of Lent, a sacred time of drawing close to God, reflecting on Christ’s suffering, sacrifice and death on the cross and culminating with a celebration of Christ’s resurrection.  Many people will be giving up indulgences as an act of self-denial attempting to tame the rebel will as part of their sacred journey.   It’s a time where we practice dying and this is good.

In John 12:23-27, Jesus begins to prepare His disciples for what is going to lie ahead.  He tells them that it is time for Him to be glorified.  He describes the glorification process as one that is like a kernel of wheat that has to die in order to produce a great yield.  Despite the severity of the situation, Jesus knows that death is essential for glorification.

We don’t like to think about death, it is not a rapturous topic of conversation, but as Christians, unless we think about death, not just in the physical sense, but in the spiritual sense, as well; we cannot produce fruit.  Jesus teaches that unless a kernel of wheat falls in the ground “and dies”; it remains only a single seed.  We would rather be more like a genetically modified kernel of wheat that is taken into a laboratory and pampered to produce a higher yield than to fall into the darkness of the ground and have to die.  The laboratory does indeed produce great quantity, but death produces something organic—something real, not artificial.

When I live my life with little regard to myself…hating my life, so to speak, valuing eternal/heavenly interests above those of my own little world and place little importance on the things the world values, then I have begun the art of dying.  I have begun the act of following Christ who chose death despite his troubled heart.

There will be times when doing the right thing, the thing that requires my own personal sacrifice, may be troubling; but in these times, I am identifying with Christ.  I am taking up my cross and following  after Him and in all this dying, there is the hope of glorification.  We bring glory to God—you can’t manufacture that in the safety of a laboratory.

Lord, when our hearts are troubled, when we struggle to "hate" our lives and cling to the things the world loves....comfort and safety, remind us that You also were troubled and bringing glory to God by dying to ourselves is of great eternal value.