Friday, June 28, 2013

PSALM 94 - God Sings Really Loudly

If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, "My foot slips," Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, Your consolations cheer my soul.  (Verses 17-19)

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by His love. He will exult over you with loud singing.  Zephaniah 3

How do you see God? Is He wrathful and distant? Is He the great Rule Giver in the skies waiting with a rod of punishment for you to make a mistake so he can spank you? Maybe He's apathetic. Just sits up there on His throne and watches it all come down however we choose. Does He rant and rave, stomping all over heaven like a madman, throwing down lightning bolts and stirring up earthquakes to get our attention? Who is this God to Whom you pray?

These verses should break many of the paradigms we've built about how God wants to relate to us. A friend told me the other day as we prayed together she saw a picture in her mind of God smiling at me. Pleased with me. Immediate tears welled up in my eyes. I don't always think about my Father actually smiling at me. Do you? The thought was so tender it broke through to a place that needed watering in me. I sat with the idea for a bit after we hung up. I wanted to feel that for a while. Marinate in it. My Father is glad over me. Shushing my hurts as He loves on me. Sings loud songs over me exulting in our relationship! Oh, how He loves me. I forget.

I've heard people say there are certain things they don't take to God because He's too busy for all but the most important decisions or catastrophes of life. But that isn't what the Father thinks about His kids. I remember when Heather, our firstborn, was put into my arms. I thought I could never love another human being as I loved her. Then I held Vanessa. There was so much room to love her just the same. Seven years later, Will proved my love could stretch unconditionally and exponentially to all my children. No favorites. Joy in each of their diverse personalities. Blessing in each life. Oh, how I love them! How I cheer them on with loud "Ole's." They are mine. I have shushed them on a thousand tearful days. Picked them up when they've fallen. Cried with them when they've failed. Beamed with pride at their successes. How could our Father do less? Room upon room, never empty, never full, for us in His heart. Never too busy, never preoccupied with more important stuff. Our God is attentive to us as a mother to her child.

Perhaps we think God's too busy because we are. Flitting to and fro to work. Then taxiing our kids to lessons and practice fields. Throw on dinner then homework. Stick the kids in the shower then scoot them into bed to do it all again tomorrow. Those who decide to have children. We've thrown so many of them away since 1973, maybe we think God throws us away, too. Some of us He simply doesn't want, maybe. Fathers leave. Or mothers. We think our heavenly Parent looks like our earthly ones. Some of us think we're too far gone. Our disobedience has taken us to a comfortable country. Coming home would be too long a trip. A long way back. These verses break every preconceived idea you have about the Father's love. He's absolutely, unashamedly, unconditionally, inexhaustibly crazy about us. No matter what! If we are His children by our faith in Jesus Christ, we are exulted over, beamed at, rescued, comforted and consoled. Our Father is never too busy...sometimes we are...for us. In fact, He's always in the middle of what I'm about. Today and every day--in the midst. Ready to act on my behalf in whatever way I need it. He's a very hands-on Abba.

Sit for a minute today and think about His love. Give our Father the chance to pour it over you like anointing oil. Knowing in whatever circumstance you find yourself today, He is mighty to save. Without Him we'd live in a silent land--a hell on earth. Vacuous and arid. But we are His through Christ to enjoy the raucous laughter of family, the heady joy of parental praise, the soothing kiss of a loving Father and the lullaby of His love.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

PSALM 94 - Sometimes We Need a Bop on the Backside

Blessed is the man whom You discipline, O Lord, and whom You teach out of Your law, to give him rest from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not forsake His people. He will not abandon His heritage. For justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and chastises ever son whom He receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons (and daughters).  Hebrews 12

Discipline is a hard word. Usually it has a negative connotation. But the word disciple is a derivative of discipline. To follow a mentor or teacher is to be a disciple. So in that respect it is our choice to be led. Blessed is the one who allows herself to be taught by God. Happy is she. Why?

When I asked Jesus into my heart as Lord and Savior, I was born into the family of God. He became my Father. I didn't know much of anything about my Abba at the time. As any infant, I needed milk. To be held and nourished, coddled and cooed. I couldn't stay there, though. There was walking to be done. I had to learn new paths. The old ones led pretty much nowhere. But I was accustomed to using my own GPS, so I had to discover how to listen to my Father tell me which way to turn. I fell down a lot. He'd reach down His hand and pick me up. Remind me that my own way leads to destruction. Then set me on the right path again. Sometimes I've needed a bop on the backside. A reminder that I was disobeying. Once I went so far down my own path, my Father went to hell and brought me out. I spent some time on my face after that. Not in condemnation, but in grief over all the pain that path caused Him first, then others. But the point is, my Father loves me enough to set parameters for me that are for my good and His glory. And I want His glory. I want to reflect the character of the Father I love with all my heart. That is the reason I obey Him, imperfectly at times, but with great desire to see Him smile and say, "Well done!"

Other disciplines Abba teaches me, though, are about being able to walk as an adult with Him. Not still needing the bottle. Wanting to chew on steak at His table. So I must learn to control myself. One of my children used to throw fits as a little girl. Bette Davis drama fits. In the middle of the floor. Writhing and screaming. A good mother doesn't let that go on. Girls who are allowed to rant as toddlers will rant as adults, too. Children who lie, lie as adults. Children who sass parents, sass teachers. I know. I taught high school. And adults with these bad habits sabotage themselves. That's why God disciplines us. So we will have content, self-controlled lives. How loving would our Father be if He said, "Oh, look, she's into drugs. Oh, well. I guess her life is going to hell in a hand-basket. What can I do about that?"?  No! Alarms go off for our God. Rescue looks like failure. The posse He sends to corral His wayward child hurts her before she's carried back to freedom. But that kind of tough love saves our souls. Don't be weary if He reproves. Don't blow it off. You've got no rescue in your future if He isn't crazy enough about you to make you stop what's killing you. Every one of His children will be disciplined. Taught to obey their benevolent Abba. Because we aren't happy very far away from home.

Our kids are our heritage. They are the ones who live on after we are gone to be with Jesus. Good or bad, our families become a reflection of our clan. They have our genes. They know our rules. We belong to God that way. Jesus says in Revelation 3 that He will one day present us to the Father saying, "They belong to Me." As representatives of our Father here on earth, we read His Word and pray. Disciplines, not duties. We practice being like Jesus. Intentionally taking on the character that is inherent in our Father's family. We tell our bodies and minds what is the right thing to do and then just do it! We decide not to participate in the carnival that is our current culture. As we walk through the fair we hold Abba's hand and let Him lead us lest we wind up in a house of mirrors, lost, with no way out. Distorted and confused, crying out for Him to come and rescue us. It happens. But as we grow up in the family, we shouldn't fall prey to the hoaxes any more. Wise enough to steer baby brothers and sisters from the snare of the circus performers, we should become a hand our Father can trust to guide another down the road. Especially our own children. Our particular heritage. I have no control over someone else's babies, but I am responsible for mine. So our Abba is interested in our joy. Our peace.
 Because those who are disciplined by Him will have safe harbor when those who are not His children meet their final destinies. We will recognize Him when He comes again. And our Father will know His own. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world, holding fast to the word of life.  Philippians 2
 

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

PSALM 94 - Foolish Wisdom and Smoking Cigars

Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? He Who planted the ear, does He not hear? He Who formed the eye, does He not see? He Who disciplines the nations, does He not rebuke? He Who teaches man knowledge--the Lord--know the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.   (Verses 8-11)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe...For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1

I sat in the car with Vanessa one day a year or so before she was old enough to learn to drive. "I already know how to drive," she offered.

"Oh, really." I smiled.

"Yes. Really." Ever confident of herself.

My middle daughter told me this time after time until the day we went to the high school parking lot and she got behind the wheel. I was recalling the near daily assertion that she knew how to drive. So, I didn't say a word. Expected her to start the engine and take off in the expert manner in which she'd convinced herself she would propel us without incident around the perimeter of Canyon Springs High School. The silence in the car was full of subtext. I, wanting her to perform. She, not quite ready yet. "Why?" you ask.

"I already know how to drive, Mom," Vanessa began. Then paused. "It's just...I don't know which one of these is the brake and which one is the accelerator."

Hmmm. Kinda what I thought. Turns out she didn't know how to steer that well either. Good thing the lot was empty.

Vanessa learned quickly how to navigate a car, even a standard shift. But the point is obvious. She only thought she knew how to drive. That I had nothing really to teach her. Was confident it couldn't be that hard! She was a teenager. I gave her slack. And it made a great story. But when we do that with God, well, it's just stupid. He's way more prescient than I am. And I often don't just tell God how to run my life, I tell Him what to do with yours, too! Oh, my goodness. I think sometimes He might smile, like I did with Vanessa. But when we get loose from the Almighty God's perspective, we will ultimately find out just how dumb we are.

The thing I love about our God, though, is that He does take the foolish things of the world and confound us with them. Was the cross of Christ the most efficient way to buy us our salvation? That He came to Earth as a sacrificial Lamb? Had Jesus come in exceeding wit and outlandish displays of super-hero beauty and strength, that we might have bought. Had He conquered the evil emperors of Rome and set up a vast kingdom on Earth, that would make a more believable story for our small minds to accept. But Jesus probably wasn't even handsome. His wit was used to destroy the haughtiness of a specific religious group, and He hung out with and healed lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors and beggars. Why would God stoop so low if He wanted us to believe in Him?

It isn't by our own great wisdom or superior depth of understanding that we first come to Christ. It wouldn't be the gospel for everyone if only the smartest of us could grasp it. It isn't by our own hearts we get the message of Jesus. It is a spiritual discernment born of God Himself. He must tell us we are His. If we don't hear Him reveal the power of the cross to us, we can't understand it. No one comes to the Father unless the Father draws her/him to Himself (John 6:41). We are little children that way. Our first grasp of the gospel is a whisper that it's the truth. Therefore not discernible with our mere minds. God wants no more boasting. Not like the religious fanatics of Jesus's day who claimed their great self righteousness based on how well they kept the law. No! Christ saves with a message so simple a child can understand it and so complex we will never fully comprehend the majesty of it. It shames the wise because it is not a complex set of tenets and philosophies which they can sit around drinking wine and smoking cigars and finally believe. The sitting around and discussing is for later--once we know the gospel is spiritually discerned by those born again. But, man, after that, there is a gold mine of higher thought inexhaustible and mind-bending because God is too immense for us to grasp on this earth, yet simple enough for us to engage with as daughter to Father.

For me to pit my small earthly understanding against the Mind Who is from forever to forever is absurd. In the vast scope of eternity, I'm not even a blip! But a breath and then gone. The Alpha and Omega need not contend with me. He knows my thoughts--created my mind. Sees my life--created eyes. Rules the nations--knows my path. It's like the flea trying to wag the dog. And just as ridiculous. But I believe in our Father's great love and mercy, sometimes He waits while we find the brake and the accelerator. Acknowledge that we aren't quite as smart as we think we are as we smile the awkward expression of inadequacy and ask for help. It's the request He's looking for. The admission God knows more than we do. That He's not as archaic as we thought. Or as simple. Our Father's given us the gift of not being able to figure Him out. Because even when we think what He's asking us to do is stupid, it's still wiser than we will ever hope to be. And even when we think there's absolutely no way our God can come through, He proves stronger than a comic book hero. O, dullest of people, which is all of us sometimes, when will we be wise? The God of All reached down to us acknowledging our brevity and propensity toward pride and did a thing gods don't do--love their creation enough to die for it. I don't have to be a mighty genius wallowing in my Mensa scores to grasp that kind of love. I just need to be still and hear my Father call me to Himself, crawl into His arms and listen as He leads me through the maze this life becomes for all of us. It makes no sense, but You have given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand has supported me. You have stooped to make me great. Psalm 18:35  I, whose life is but a vapor, will live eternally because of the foolishness of the cross.


 

Monday, June 24, 2013

PSALM 94 - Monday Morning Vengeance

O Lord, God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, shine forth! Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve. O Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? They pour out their evil words. All the evildoers boast. They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage. They kill the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless. And they say, "The Lord does not see. The God of Jacob does not perceive."
(Verses 1-7)

Repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for be so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12

These were hard verses to wake up to this morning. It's rather gloomy outside today. The air close. The kind of day that makes me want to go back to bed, not strive with what to do about evildoers. The very question of evil is strained in our world today. Everyone seems to be able to justify almost any behavior. But this isn't new. I don't think Hitler or Pol Pot thought of themselves as evil. There are still some today who don't even think Hitler was misunderstood, and certainly not wrong. People like Margaret Sanger espoused some of his same views when it came to cleansing the races and creating a "race of thoroughbreds (Birth Control Review, May 1919)". It was behind her ideas for Planned Parenthood, which we support with our tax payer dollars today. Eugenics, which many laud today as the right of at least the elderly, the weak and the marred to take their own lives or have them taken from them when they are too weak and infirm to have the "quality of life" they should expect, is becoming an ever-increasingly popular practice. So is evil relative? Can what we used to consider dark and eternally wrong be now perfectly okay? Is there no standard by which we can judge wrong and right in our current cultural environment?

It seems our society is capable of evolving into playing God without His even noticing it. I've actually heard people say, "If He's so upset by it, why hasn't He done something about it. I'll tell you why, there is no God." With that as the foundation of our society, it makes sense that we can make wrong right. In fact, there are songs extolling doing what feels good because, by golly, if it feels that good it can't be wrong. And down the black hole we go. In a world turned upside down, where evil seems to win as children are wholesale murdered in the womb of their safety and getting old is a drain on the economy, where we kill each other while the Middle East leaders hurl weapons on their brothers and little despots build nuclear weapons as they strut pompously about, tiny gods with the authority to turn the planet into ashes, what do we do? If there is no definition of evil, how do we then define it for our neighbors, our kids, our government? What should we look like in such chaos?

I understand why those who believe there is no God give themselves the right to do whatever they think makes sense. Create laws and rules that uphold those actions. But it affects those of us who know Christ. We will never be able to talk them out of the social deterioration they call progress. In the age of the internet and the moon walk, belief in the ancient tenets of an old book seems ridiculous. Besides, they say, if there is a God why is there so much suffering in the world. Were they wise, they could answer the question, in part, for themselves. We create a lion's share of it for ourselves. More and more we who still trust in our Lord will have to look more like Him if we are to survive.

We know the Lord sees when the fatherless are crushed and the evildoers boasts. When government legislates against its weakest and subverts truth. He knows--perceives. The time is here for us to be intentional Christians. Blessing those who curse us, feeding them when they are hungry and visiting them when they are sick. As the individual becomes lost in the masses, it is we who know Christ who will be more and more called to be Him to this world. Not argue Him. Not try with our own haughty words to stop the tide of evil that teems and drowns our faith. But trust, without fear, that a time will come when all eyes will be opened to what we are jeered at for believing. And maybe, just maybe, those who think there is no God will see Him in us.

One day our God will stand up and say, "Enough!" But for His mercies He would have already. Our task isn't to get even with or join the crowd marching toward their own destruction. And if in the face of love, we, like Jesus, are slaughtered for the coals of fire that unconditional love piles upon the heads of those who would do us in, then we become like Him in that as well. Vengeance here for us is folly because we don't know everything like God does. Here is our imperative from the Father:
They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, "Be strong! Fear not! Behold, your God will come in vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." Isaiah 35
 

Friday, June 21, 2013

PSALM 93 - Brushing Your Teeth And The Law

Your decrees are very trustworthy. Holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore. (Verse 5)

Here are some of the rules for the Farish children when they were little:
*No hitting
*Don't say "Shut up."
*Chew with your mouth closed
*Don't touch things on anyone's coffee table
*Obey me the first time I tell you to do something. I will not count even to one.
*Brush your teeth.
*Don't lie to me
*Don't talk back disrespectfully. You have a right to express your opinion but not to smart off.
*Respect the space of your siblings
*Don't throw a fit

I didn't sit down with Bill and write these out before we had children. I taught school first. What a place to see the kind of kids you don't want to rear. Many, of course, were happy and well-behaved, but, sheesh, others were always avoiding and recreating any boundaries. And boundaries are good. Especially for kids. They want to know who keeps evil out and who establishes good. The most unhappy children I taught were the ones who'd never been disciplined. Who always had their hands into mischief and were burned because of it. Our rules were established in light of the character we were looking for in our children. You might not think brushing their teeth and chewing with their mouths closed is about character, but I do. We are responsible for body, mind and spirit. And...it shows how truthful our kids are. More lying about the whole teeth brushing thing than any other rule we put in place. What's that about anyway?

God has decreed some things. Number one is He is the only God we worship. Because, He IS the only God. That really should make sense because if we worship anything else, we're just making up an idol. That's why edict number two is don't make idols for yourselves. Out of wood, gold, alcohol, sex, power, relationship. Idols bring death. God wants life. Don't curse using God's name, keep a day of rest from your work, honor your parents, don't murder, commit adultery, steal, lie or covet. All about character and boundaries. All set up for our benefit so that we can approach a holy God. All of these decrees make sense. They aren't restraining us from happiness, but from evil. Man running amok is quite the depraved creation. We need to understand what the Creator has put up as boundaries. The problem with rules, though, is age old. They are made to be broken. Test the parameters. See what it's like out there where God said don't go. See if the stove is hot...since we don't yet know what hot means. Ouch! See, I told you. And on it goes.

Knowing we can't keep what seem like pretty simple commandments on our own, the Godhead designed a plan. Sacrifice for sin. At first a lamb. Smoking on a sacrificial altar. Bled out over its coals. Good for a year of atonement. But man wasn't changed on the inside though millions of lambs over hundreds of years were offered up. No, God needed to live inside of man. Write those ten things on his heart. Prodigiously climb Himself onto the altar of our shame and once for all time cleanse our sins, dropping God-blood into the dust below the cross of His sacrificial offering. Jesus got up three days later, presented His hands and side to the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit to those who would believe. Our Father is a much better parent than I. I couldn't get inside my kids and energize their obedience with my wisdom. I had to depend upon their respect and love. That they would catch the spirit of authority and do the right things when I wasn't there to see. They made mistakes. Me, too. But we don't have to be ruled by our mistakes any more. You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you. And remember that if anyone doesn't have the Spirit of Christ living in her/him, they aren't Christians at all. Yet, even though Christ lives within you, your body will die because of sin, but your spirit will live, for Christ has pardoned it. And if the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you, He will make your dying bodies live again after you die, by means of this same Holy Spirit within you. So, dear brothers, you have no obligations whatever to your old sinful nature to do what it begs you to do. Romans 8 (Italics, mine)

So, when God says, "Trust Me, you don't want to do _____ fill in the blank" you can. If anyone knows what is right and good, it's the Holy God of All. Since He has loved us so much that He took our punishment upon Himself so we could have the power to do what is pleasing to Him, we can lift our eyes to our Faithful Parent Whose steadfast love for us never ends and obey Him from the heart. Besides, He sees when we brush our teeth (so to speak) and when we are lying about it. Sometimes rules help us understand our own hearts. And that isn't a bad thing.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

PSALM 93 - Tsunami Anyone?

The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their roaring. Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!  (Verses 3-4)

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name and you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God."  Isaiah 43

We live a short six blocks from the ocean. At night we can hear the waves crash onto shore in their rhythmic back and forth across the sand. Most of the time the water is playful, beckoning us to come join the dolphins as they ride on the crests of waves. Once in a while, though, the ocean moves angrily toward land rushing in fitful asymmetry as it swirls and splashes, whitecapping and foaming. Daring us to approach it lest it eat us alive. Once a month sirens blare reminding us that the Pacific can turn ugly, rising with such force that it wipes out entire towns in tsunami waves.

We've all seen the pictures of Indonesia when up out of the ocean the mighty tsunami came menacing and deadly as it raised up a massive hungry wave that devoured over 240,000 people, sweeping away homes and businesses in a moment of fomenting power. Then like a horror movie monster, it retreated into the ocean, settling back into its place, as if nothing ever happened. Beneath the waves were scuba divers. Down eighty or ninety feet glibly breathing and wondering at the beauty of sea life on the ocean floor. Safe. A counter intuitive notion that the safest place to be in a tsunami is in the ocean. The pressure of the passing wave pushed the divers down a bit closer to the ocean floor, but they were unaware of the devastation onshore until their ascent.

Uncontrollable chaos. That's what happens in a flood. Water rushing. We aren't powerful enough to hold a hand up and order the oncoming deluge to stop. Most of the time we can't outrun it, either. Its unexpected nature catches us by surprise and we are caught up in circumstances well beyond our control. No one is exempt from occasional flood waters. Some face tsunamis. The promise isn't that we won't, in this life, have chaos we can't control. That is a given. The promise to those of us who know Christ is that He is there with us. He's mightier than what should crush us. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is with me. To keep us from being overwhelmed. To reach out His hand, riding the wave with us. Assuring us that the ocean He created isn't more potent than the Omnipotent. Jesus said to His disciples when the boat was about to sink, "Why are you afraid?" He wasn't. Mighty rolling surf is nothing to Him. He understands it. Commands it. So what's the big deal? The inference being that if the disciples understood He is God they should have no reason to be so scared of water. If God is in the midst of the storm with us, because He loves us, the rising tide shouldn't destroy us. Jesus can put us in the very midst of the ocean, down in its heart, sequestered from the giant tsunami building and bursting overhead. Safe in the very chaos that destroys others.

In whatever storm we face today, God has promised to be with us. Told us the flood will not overwhelm us. The devastation will not consume us. He didn't say there wouldn't be a storm. God said when you face the raging waters, He will be there. We've already been saved...before the storm ever hits. The redeemed. Bought with the high, high price of a dear Son's blood. Too precious to leave afloat. Too beloved to see us consumed. We are His. He knows our name today. Mightier than any chaos endeavoring to ruin us. Able with His hand to stop the approaching tsunami, save us out of it, bury us beneath it or take us home. All good outcomes. For we are precious to the Life Guard who spared not His only Son so we could be thrown a life rope in the storm.
 

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

PSALM 93 - I AM On My Mind

Your throne is established from old. You are from everlasting.  (Verse 2)

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.  Psalm 90:2

Everlasting. In our McDonald hamburger, quickie divorce, give-it-to-me-now world, everlasting is such a foreign concept. The politically correct religious assumption is that when we die, we die. Dust to dust. Kaput. Nothing else. Certainly not everlasting existence. Unless, of course, one chooses to believe the New Age idea of reincarnation. Then our everlasting is a crap shoot of choices that karma throws at us. Cow or cockroach. Queen or pauper. The consequences of your time here on earth dire or dynamic depending on how well you did the thing while on the planet. Everlasting life on earth to go round one more time. So it bends our minds to think of God Who has always been and always will be. No one birthed Him, for God has no beginning and no end. He doesn't look back and see where it all started. He doesn't look forward to see where it all ends. For God has always been.

God lives in the "are." From everlasting to everlasting, He is. Rewind to the conversation Moses had with God in Exodus, Chapter three: "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.  Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Our God is always current, involved. There is no tomorrow to forget or future to devise. All is now. Observed and participated in without breathless anticipation. Omniscient. Omnipresent. Omnipotent. Too large to fathom yet indwelling His children. Swirling in my next breath. Close when I'm unaware, walking before and behind me even when He engages in this very moment. Our God outlasts our lives on earth. But in making us like Him, in His own image, we are eternal. We drop our skin and move in with our Father to become everlasting with Him. For we bear His genes. Created for a kingdom vast in scope, breathtaking in beauty, surging with energy, driven by love and permeated with both grace and justice. I AM is my Father. Picked me from before the foundations of the world to be His...in love (Ephesians 1). In that respect, I am eternal, too. In God's mind before the stars were flung, the mountains raised, the moon conceived, the rivers filled. When all was a void. A blank canvas for the Creator God to paint into the masterpiece that is our universe. Before all of that I was on His mind. Therefore, I've always been on His mind. There is no time with Him. You've been on His mind, too. Always. And we always will be. When we see Him, we'll know our God like He's always known us. That must be why He misses us. And maybe why our hearts long for God. Somewhere in our deepest parts we know we are eternal, made for more. Miss our Father from before the before.

When Heather was three years old, she said to me one morning, "Mommy, I miss Jesus. It's been about three years since I saw Him." It stopped me cold. Heather was always coming up with thoughts about Jesus. Even had an angel touch her in her room one night--but that's another story. I've always wondered about that statement. Pondered it all these years. Something in all of us misses eternity. Knows that this life can't be all there is. Many would rather have the dust to dust, but I think they've perhaps been deeply hurt along the way. Wounded spirits have such a hard time wanting more of the same in everlasting measure. Man will fail us. He is mortal. God's breath, however, warms us by its very nearness. Whispers everlasting to everlasting in our ears. Woos us to His heart, leads us to safety under His wings and assures us He is I AM.

Monday, June 17, 2013

PSALM 93 - And We All Fall Down

The Lord reigns. He is robed in majesty. The Lord is robed. He has put on strength as His belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.  (Verse 1)

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before Him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Tremble before Him all the earth. Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns!" Let the sea roar and all that fills it. Let the field exult and everything in it! Then the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!  1 Chronicles 16

Vanessa was always singing when she was a toddler. Often she'd use a hairbrush or a pencil, pretending the items were a microphone. Our fireplace had a brick bench in front of it. Vanessa would climb onto it, using the bench as a stage, and belt out songs from church. One particular morning when she was entertaining the masses she perceived to be her audience, Vanessa sang these words with all her heart: "I've got brains! I've got brains! I've got brains! I've got brains!"  To the tune of a chorus we sang nearly every week in church. The words are "Our God reigns." She heard, "I've got brains." After I laughed myself silly hearing her updated version of the song, it occurred to me that if we know God reigns, we indeed have brains.

King of Kings. That is one of His names. A benevolent monarch, but a monarch all the same. One to Whom we give the glory due to His name. This King not only rules in glory and ultimate justice and power, He also created the very realm He rules. Our God knows how it all works. Who better to watch over the earth than the One Who conceived it in the first place. The roaring seas and crashing waves are shouting He reigns. The majestic mountains as they peek out of the golden streaked sunset sing their solos to the God Who made them. Gentle breezes or rushing winds make trees clap their hands together as they rejoice at the wonders of the forests. Mighty in power, we are at the mercy of our King. It is He Who decides--everything. In humble awe we are to bow down to His will. Receive our Monarch's instructions. Understand His laws. Because our King has established an everlasting kingdom. This earth only a shadow of it. There our God reigns in the splendor of holiness--splendid for its purity, peace and luminosity. Unapproachable light. Fearsome power. Thundering energy. Indescribable. The jolting goodness of it brings us to our faces as though struck by lightning.

When the King stands up, the train of His robe fills the temple as mighty angels call to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is filled with His glory!" His robe is majesty and we cringe with the knowledge of our own dullness and dinginess in the face of it. With His mighty hands, God adjusts the belt of strength as sparks fly at the very moving of His powerful arms. He is the glory of heaven. It spills over into earth. Sparkling on the ocean's surface, roaring in the earthquake, swirling with the cyclone, heard in a baby's first cry, felt in true love's first kiss, wondered at when love is unconditional and experienced when we are reborn. The purity of holiness. The inexpressible joy of being made clean. Robed in God's goodness as we trade our rags for His riches.

One day, of course, the nations and everyone in them will bow the knee to Him Who sits on the Throne. They will have to. What nature and we who know Him already understand is that He reigns whether acknowledged or not. The nations are a drop in the bucket. Their ultimate destiny remains solidly in His hands. Nothing moves without God's say-so. Man can't re-establish boundaries or create stars. And if man were able to, it would only be because our King allowed it. Silly man who shakes his fist in the face of God and claims himself lord of his own life. Silly woman who struts away from the throne of splendor in order to create her own small life. And this while the rest of creation rejoices in the fullness of its specific glory. Reflects the majesty in which it is robed. Sings the praises of the Monarch of all Monarchs who clothes His creation in steadfast love and aching beauty.

Awaiting those of us who will live with the King forever is a kingdom we have only tasted here. There we will see our benevolent Monarch face to face. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe, and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining full strength.        John, Revelation 1

And we all fall down.

Friday, June 14, 2013

PSALM 92 - I'm Not Very Happy Without My Pot

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  (Verses 12-15)

"I am the vine and you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me, you can do nothing." John 15

I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.  Philippians 4:13

I became angry with the guys who painted our wrought iron fences last year. We live in a townhouse in a gated community, so the common areas are maintained by the homeowner's association. I awoke one morning to find my patio strewn with various paint products, my water hose untangled and my plumeria raked up by its roots because the men had pulled the hose over it, dumping the contents of the clay pot randomly onto the patio tiles. Leaving it there overnight while the roots dried out. And this was no ordinary plant. A friend made a cutting nearly ten years ago, just for me. I'd babied the plant, moved it three times to three different homes, and it finally bloomed the year before. Plumeria aren't fast growing plants and the larger ones are expensive. Forgive me, but I stomped down the street in an effort to find the culprits. It was too early. I was too angry. So I went home. To the patio. Lovingly, I cradled the plant, trying to keep the loose soil from falling away from the tender roots and placed it into new soil in the old pot, watered and fed it, then went inside to complain to my husband about the impending death of my favorite plant. He purchased me another very small plumeria later that day. Mainly because he didn't want to scold the workers for me.

The interesting thing is, the plant went about its business of living. Stood straight up, forced out some leaves then bloomed like crazy last year. It's all happy even today as I look out at it from my dining room table where I'm typing this blog. It was a healthy plant when it hit the pavement with roots exposed to a long night out of its pot. It hadn't jumped out of the rich soil. Life jerked it out. But its sap had vigor. Adversity didn't kill it. In fact, the new soil may have actually invigorated my beautiful plumeria.

I'm supposed to be like that. Full of sap and green because I've been planted in the house of the Lord. Even at the ripe old age of sixty-four, I'm still supposed to be declaring the wonders of being a child of God. Like the plumeria though, I'm only vital when I'm in the soil of God's love. I can't live outside of the pot I've been planted in. I'm not made for my roots to be exposed to the harsh conditions of the world unattached to my source. I dry up out there. I don't have any fruit. Ultimately, if I don't get back into the clay pot, I die. But, oh man, connected to the Vine, I'm a little fruit-bearing, flower spurting plant because His sap flows through my tiny veins. I don't flex my spiritual muscles, shut my eyes and push so that in my own strength, with my own will, I strain out some random fruit. I bear fruit because that's what a branch connected to the vine does. My job is to stay in the pot. And, yes, the Vinedresser sometimes comes along carrying those shears in His hands, lops of a few dead limbs, prunes back everything that isn't producing. And, I've got to say, it hurts a little. But the next thing I know, I'm getting bigger and more fruitful. The hewing gave me a growth spurt. I have little shoots of green where there were only dead or dying branches. The Vinedresser loves this little plant. Takes really good care of it. Knows when its been knocked over. Attacks when the snails try to eat its leaves. Puts it in just the right place in the garden--not too much sun or shade. My Vinedresser wants optimal beauty from me.

So I'm not supposed to strive to make myself into some plant I fancy. I am supposed to be the fancy plant He potted and cares for. My hardiness, loveliness and fruitfulness are reflections of the sap of the Vine. I'm nothing but a dead branch without Him. But connected to the Source, I lift my petals with pride because I'm just where He wants me to bloom. When I think of all this, I bow my knees and pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and earth. I pray that from His glorious unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong.  Ephesians 3:14-16.   Italics, mine.
 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

PSALM 92 - You Can Be A Unicorn!

But You have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox. You have poured fresh oil over me. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies. My ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.  (Verses 10-11)

And in that day his burden will depart from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat(shemen: oil, as for anointing).  Isaiah 10:27

Nothing is more distressing than to be yoked to an enemy. I love this psalm because of the super-hero quality of the promise: to be as powerful over our enemies as the aurochs. Though extinct in our day, it was a powerful one-horned ancestor of domestic cattle. Older translations have even described it as a unicorn. Hmm. Swift and powerful, the ox chased down and gored its enemies. Almost magical in its use here. The psalmist was tangled up with an enemy he couldn't escape. Drudging through the days beside an evil foe with little hope of getting away. Feeling more and more caught up in enemy territory while knowing if he could only get free he'd finally go a better direction. Then one day God said, "Enough." From His hands came anointing oil, rich with fresh power to accomplish what the unicorn-wannabe could only dream of. Expiation. Day after day the new power given by God made the captive fat with new vision. Like the hefty wild ox, whose neck grew so big it burst from the yoke choking its neck, the psalmist breaks the chains of bondage and defeats the enemy. Gores his way to safety as the captors fall, vanquished. All because of the anointing--the fresh oil.

What are you yoked to? I know, that's personal. But it's more subtle than it seems on the surface. I think because the drudge of slavery becomes so normal, we forget what how lovely a fresh start is. And, we need to know what we are anointed for. Jesus did: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound (Isaiah 61). It is your specific anointing that will break the yoke of bondage that might be hanging around your neck today. Why? Because purpose trumps prison. We can't be yoked to two masters or we will be split in two trying to go in different directions. And nothing makes us want to get out of jail more powerfully than the effectual doing of what we were born to accomplish. Depression, doubt, fear and pain keep us bound to the enemy. Walking together aimlessly. But when God puts His hands on our heads and speaks purpose, then gives us the power of a unicorn to destroy strongholds, we strain with fattened urgency to be released from our chains!

But don't go out there all chubby and do the thing all by yourself. We need to be yoked again. It's part of the fresh anointing. Counter-intuitive because it makes our burden lighter. Tied together with the One Who knows where we are going. Now there's a great plan! Just so we don't veer too far afield again, Jesus decided to take us on--harness Himself to us, not just harnessing us to Him. Jesus forever bound to our lives, for good and bad. To help us fulfill our own anointing as He fulfilled His. "Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11)."

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

PSALM 92 - Smarty Pants And God

How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep! The stupid man cannot know, the fool cannot understand this: that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed for destruction forever; but You, O Lord, are on high forever.  (Verses 5-8)

The Lord knows the thoughts of man--that they are but a breath. Psalm 94:11

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55

When Vanessa was in junior high school, all she could talk about was getting a pair of Guess jeans. As Christmas rolled around, I think she told me every day during the months of November and December that all she wanted was those jeans. "If I have a pair of Guess jeans, my life will be complete." She actually said that. More than once. In my daughter's experience, there were few store purchases of clothing. Since Bill and I determined before having a family that I would be a stay-at-home mom, there were certain things we had to forgo. Macy's and Nordstrom were on that list. I spent more time at the local fabric stores buying yards of material and creating outfits as close to the latest fashions for my girls as I knew how. Not that Vanessa and Heather weren't stylish. Vanessa was the only girl in her class with a Pink Lady jacket. None of the other mothers who worked at an office all day had the time to create such an iconic piece of clothing. But, oh, my middle child wanted to traipse in Guess! And I understood, so I haunted the department stores for sales. And found a pair some time in late November. Already hidden away while Vanessa still pleaded for them. Her life was already complete when she still thought I might forget her request.

We don't think eternally. Our now's are so filled with stuff that we think will make us complete. Just like V.J. But our Father already has our fullness purchased and paid for while we're still whining about what we don't have yet. Because our God sees past, present and future all at a glance, He's not worried. God Almighty thinks big! When we consider the works of His hands just in creation--universe, mountains, oceans, elephants, ants and crocodiles--we get the idea that His mind far exceeds ours. But He shares His thoughts with us. And I can't get over that. The Bible is filled with expressions about how God feels about things. And appropriate to today's psalm is how He thinks about us when we're foolish. Cases in point:

Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in broad pasture? Hosea 4

Israel has become like a pigeon--easy to fool and stupid. Hosea 7

Many times He held back His anger and did not stir up all His anger. He remembered that they were only human, like the wind that blows and does not come back.  Psalm 78

Be not like the horse or mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.  Psalm 32

To compare our wits with God's is like a donkey telling us it knows more than we do. We are temporary here. God is eternal. And He thinks eternally. With the understanding of one who knows everything there is to know about everything. So, like Vanessa, when we become myopic about our lives and our requests, we must know He is bigger. Has a plan. And He is good. Always. Remembering we are earthen jars housing an eternal soul.

For those who despise God, however, the repercussions are damning. They, too, are only a vapor in the whole scheme of things, yet think themselves wise enough to declare "There is no God." Like mules braying at the moon, their words are empty. They cannot possibly know what they declare. Even the most brilliant of them can't think like God. Even the most scientific don't know all He knows. So they can't possibly know He doesn't exist. One has to know everything in order to know that. The Lord sees everything you do and watches where you go. An evil man will be caught in his wicked ways. The ropes of sin will tie him up. He will die because he doesn't control himself, and he will be led captive by his foolishness (Proverbs 5). The foolish person can't see God, so he thinks God can't see him. Like a dog we once owned who hid his head under the bed while the rest of his body stuck out from under it. He thought we couldn't see him because...well, it's obvious. And that's the point.

Evil people will not learn to do good even if you show them kindness. They will continue doing evil, even if they live in a good world. They never see the Lord's greatness (Isaiah 26). Lest we think that when God talks of the evil people He's speaking of us when we mess up, the evil He speaks of is a stubborn defiance aimed at the heart of God. They cannot see the Lord's greatness for glancing in the mirror at their own small selves. No one is as smart as they. We are the idiots for believing in our God. And they miss the marvel of His majesty...forever. Unless they repent of their thinking. It matters to God how we think about things. He wants to give a new mind (Romans 12) as well as a new heart. Forsaking thinking and doing evil and turning to God is smart. That's why He says: "Turn, because I know things you can't possibly know. I think thoughts you haven't dreamed of. And My heart is big enough to forgive that you used to think you were so smart." (see above verse)

Lest we believe we are here on planet Earth alone to drive our own destinies, it's good to remember how great are the works of our God. How evanescent our lives are compared to His eternal Being. How silly it is to tell Him Who He is and what He can and cannot do. And it's good to remember that even when evil appears to win in the short term, it has been vanquished forever more from God's vantage point. Our thoughts are a breath. Good for a season then they change. As do our hopes and dreams. Whether we think He won't get us our Guess jeans unless we beg or we don't think He hears us at all, the never changing, steadfast love and faithfulness of our Father saw us in the beginning and will be faithful to us until the end. Before I was born, the Lord called me to serve Him. The Lord named me while I was still in my mother's body (Isaiah 48). O, how great Thy works and how deep Your thoughts, my God.


 

Monday, June 10, 2013

PSALM 92 - You Might Be Working Too Hard

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your steadfast love in the morning, and Your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and harp, to the melody of the lyre. For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your work. At the works of Your hands, I sing for joy.  (Verses 1-4)

This is a song for the Sabbath. For resting from labors. It's good to set aside time to look up instead of looking around at all there is still to be accomplished. On a deeper level, the Sabbath rest for Christians is resting from all our "works" by trusting in Christ. The New Testament book of Hebrews describes it this way: There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest (Hebrews 4).

Striving today to be a good Christian? To do all the right things so your God will love you? Are you reading the Bible as a rule book? As a road map to righteousness instead of a love letter? Feeling the pressure of your sins? Powerless to control your addictions? Hear is what the Father would say to you: "Cease striving, be still. Know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)." In our own strength, we will never be good enough. Unless we're perfect. Which isn't possible. So we're not. Isaiah declares our good works are simply filthy rags. That's why we need a Savior. To clean us up. From the inside out, not from the outside in. If the Bible is just a rule book when we read it, we've missed the whole point. The rule book was thrown out with the Old Covenant. The New Covenant, signed with the blood of Christ, says we are made right, given rest from our filthy rags, by the death of the only perfect One Who has ever lived. When Jesus declared "It is finished!" that's what He meant. The work of our salvation was done for now and for eternity. We don't have to keep trying like a hamster on a wheel to get somewhere on our own steam. We can now rest in the fact that we are accepted in the Beloved because Christ ever lives to mediate for us with the Father. We can breathe a sigh of eternal relief.

Of course, finally our rest is forever in heaven. But God wants us to live in the Sabbath here in terms of our need to work for His love and approval. Jesus brought us into family when He died and rose again. We are now direct recipients, if we love Christ, of the everlasting joy of being in the presence of God. And it starts now! Relationship replaces rules. Of course, this involves discipline and doing the right thing. But not so much out of fear, but out of reverence and love for the Father Who adopted us out of darkness into His marvelous light. That is the joy in our obedience. Our rest is in God's goodness and love. As He rested from His works on the seventh day, we rest from ours in Christ today and forever.

It's no wonder we can arise in the morning and declare with great relief that God's love is steady and faithful! It makes me want to dance even now to bask in the glow of favor, undeserved but dearly paid for. His work on the cross bathes me in grace and mercy! In travail Jesus bought my ease, paid my debt, set me free and bound me in love to Him forever! Sing for joy, O heart of mine, for all my filthy rags are white as snow. Dance, O feet, to the chorus of angelic choirs as they never cease to praise the Lamb Who sits on the throne, resting from a finished work that bought my life an eternal Sabbath!
 

Friday, June 7, 2013

PSALM 91 - A Father's Promise

"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."  (Verses 14-16)

I read these verses this morning with a mother's heart. Having held each of my three children in my arms at their births, smoothing my hand over their velvety heads, smelling their scent while I nursed them, I have a sense of the love God has for His children. I held onto my kids' fingers when they took their first steps, left them with trepidation at their first day of school, glowed as they graduated from high school and then college and still burst with joy each time I look into their amazing faces. I love my kids! So much! I would risk anything to help them when they need me. And what makes it even better is their rich love for me! It fills me. Blesses me. In ways I can't even express. When they call me Mom, I melt.

Could this be my Father's heart for me? Having birthed me before the foundations of the world. Having understood me and my way as I grew in my mother's womb. He knows my name. He's held my hand as I learn to walk. My Father loves me and has from the beginning. What blesses Him is that I love Him back. That I steadfastly cling to Him when life doesn't make sense and when it does. My Father protects me because I know His name. The word for know is yada. It is to know God relationally and experientially. So much more than to simply know God's name as in "Yeah, I know about God." It's that I know the character of the Most High God. I'm acquainted with his ways. They are associated inextricably with the name. We are intimate. He, my loving Father; me, His precious daughter. His promise is to protect me because of our relationship. How could my Father miss it, then, when I call to Him for help? My God is with me when things get rough. Maybe I don't get out of the trouble in the way I want, but however He pulls me through, around, over or up to Him, I am promised rescue and kabad. Glory. The weightiness that comes with honor. I am assured by my Father in these verses that all that happens in my life will ultimately be for glory. His and mine. Because of our love relationship, my Father never takes His eyes off me. Knows what my cry sounds like out of all the other whimperings in the universe. Never alone, never destitute. Even in the worst of circumstances, my God is feeling what I'm feeling, hurting when I do, laughing when the river overflows, and taking me down the road to Him.

Whether God allows us to live into our hundreds or takes us home to Him before that, we are assured of the most amazing promise of all. Home. The daunting premonition of death loses its sting because for our Father, our homegoing is what He's waiting for. To actually hold us in His arms and be with us forever. Our vaporous lives are lived for an eternal weight of glory, changed into the likeness of Jesus because of His blood, which bought our adoption into the family of God. I want to press in today, close to my Father's heart. To love Him reciprocally, selflessly and fearlessly. To make Him smile. To give His heart the same warm joy in my love that I have in His. So when my Father looks at my life, His eyes dance and His feet tap. I don't always get it right, for sure. But this I do, I love my Father!

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as 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.  2 Corinthians 4

Thursday, June 6, 2013

PSALM 91 - Angels and Shiny Objects

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place--the Most High, Who is my refuge--no evil shall befall you, no plague come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder. The young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.  (Verses 11-13)

My son, do not lose sight of these--keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and an adornment around your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of the sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked when it comes. For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.
Proverbs 3

Our son, Will, bought a big house a couple of years ago. Though it was a bank-owned sale, which usually means it would be pretty trashed inside, it was in great shape and only recently built. Will made a few improvements, like flooring and appliances, and the home was beautiful. The surprising thing to many is that it still is beautiful. Will is a stellar homeowner. Though he has rented out three of his four bedrooms to his friends, my boy still keeps the house clean and the lawn manicured. I was humbled the other night when one of his friends was bragging in my presence that our son, also the young man's landlord, was such a clean homeowner. "Yeah," said Will, "I turned into my mom when I bought this house."  We all laughed, but the truth of the matter made my eyes burn with quick tears. Living in our home all those years made our son like us. He mirrors what he learned, at least about housekeeping, at home.

Maybe that's why dwelling in the Lord is so important. Living with Him, we become like Him. Talking with the Lord, listening to Him, we get into His mind. Understand what's important to Him. If we are ever going to gain wisdom and discretion, it will be under his tutelage. How is it possible to lose our way when we are looking to our God for direction? If we never veer far from the shadow of His wing? The reason we don't need to fear the enemy--the wicked of this generation--is because we live in the house of the One Who wins. It's that simple. Who has already won. Before time.

Our problem, being the dusty beings we are, is that we can be lured away from the heart of God by the old adder himself--Satan. In his efforts to destroy us, he likes to take us to places he rules. Usually these little jaunts seem fun, even innocuous, at first. We follow the shiny object. There is a story of natives in the jungle who captured monkeys using this technique. The men built cages with bars just far enough apart the monkey could reach its hand into it. At the bottom of the cage the natives placed a shiny rock. The unsuspecting monkey, curious about the lovely thing glistening in the sunlight, would reach in and grab the rock. Of course, the monkey couldn't retrieve its fist back through the bars. But it wouldn't let go of the shiny object. It wasn't trapped on the inside, but on the outside of the cage, simply because it wouldn't let go of the perceived treasure so tightly clenched in its fist. A little wisdom. A little discretion. These the monkey could use to understand the whole thing was a trap in the first place. The silly little animal wouldn't have walked right into the trap. But, for goodness sake, let the shiny object go when you know you've been fooled!

In order to keep our feet from stumbling, we must dwell in the Lord. We have the promise above because we have made the Lord our dwelling place. We aren't wondering about the blackboard jungle of life looking for kicks. The promise for safety doesn't cover our promiscuity--our going after idols or shiny objects. The promise is secured to the place: in God. In Him is wisdom and discretion. And when the enemy comes or when God decides to deal with evil, we are in a safe house. When we venture out on our path, it is with His direction and protection. When the enemy throws up roadblocks, tries to trip us up, we have angels at the ready to catch us. To keep us from falling--for the lies of the enemy, for the traps of the devil, for addictions, attachments, and idols. Because? We have God's ways in our heads. When the hard times come, and they will, we can say to the enemy: No weapon formed against me shall prosper! Tramp on his lies. Push back on the old lion who goes about roaring and looking for someone to devour. His teeth were all removed at Calvary. His head stomped on three days later.

So when suddenly the world falls apart--ours or the bigger one--we are safely harbored. Now and forever. For as long as our Father has planned for us to be here on planet Earth, He has promised to take care of those of us who allow Him to dwell in us. Angels stand ready to save us. To fight the enemy on our behalf. That is how intimately acquainted the Father is with our way. How fierce He is with any who would hurt us, His children, nestled against the warmth of His feathers and listening to His heartbeat.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

PSALM 91 - The Father And Feathers

For He will deliver you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.   (Verses 3-8)

The times, they are a-changing. There are wars and rumors of wars. There is famine and pestilence world-wide. Earthquakes and tsunamis ravage continents killing thousands at a time. Poverty and prosperity dangle from the same rope as nations all over the globe protest the inequality of life on the planet. Age-old battles are being played out on a larger scale in the Middle East. Bloody wars are creeping from one country to the next like a deadly plague. And if our Bible is true, and it is, we are heading toward the end times for our earth. What is our hope as Christians? It is the same hope the children of Israel had during the plagues in Egypt. The blood on the doorpost.

I know there are some Christians reading this who will say, "He didn't keep me from disease. How can I trust this promise?" Because we live in a fallen world, and because our bodies die, we know this isn't an eternal promise. Verse 8 is the crux of what the psalmist is saying. God will keep His kids safe in the times of recompense for evil. Covered in the blood of Jesus--on the doorposts of our hearts--we will look with our eyes upon His judgment. So we are not supposed to fear when we see the world falling apart. Instead, we are to see His hand catch the arrows flying our way, stopping them in midair. Terrifying nights may be coming, but we won't fear them because we understand what's happening. Jesus said, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says" (Revelation). In other words, understand your times so you won't be caught off-guard.

Our Father tucks us into bed at night saying, "Don't be afraid. I'm right here." So when we hear the noise of conflict or sense the creeping doom in the dark, our first response is to know we are protected. Covered by the His flight feathers as they grab us from the danger and draw us to His chest. Harbored safely against His heart as our Father's entire wing presses us in close. And when we see destruction all around, bombs going off, detonating and destroying life as we know it, we will not fear. It is prescient. In those times, we will be free from fear because we understand that God is destroying evil. But even more importantly, we know we are loved by our Father. We will count on His faithfulness to be our shield and buckler. Didn't know what a buckler was until I looked it up today. It's a small shield usually held in the left hand when a small sword is used. It's for hand-to-hand combat. The sword for heavier battle. The picture then, is that our Father is going to be fighting big and small battles for us in these days. Worldwide we will see the scythe of justice swipe the chaff. Personally, we can count on the Lord to narrow the victory down to our everyday fight with evil.

Things fall apart. Only He lasts forever--the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. And Jesus has come to give us eternal life with Him. Children of the Most High God, beloved of the Father, joint heirs with Christ, covered in the Passover blood that is precious to the eye of the Lord even when the heavens and the earth pass away. It is our mark, declaring us to be chicks for the gathering. Though a thousand fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand, we are warriors declared by our God to be victors even before the great battle. Dressed in the full armor of God--helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness (His), the belt of Truth, the shoes of the gospel of peace, holding the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and the shield of faith--we are equipped for the days ahead. Our clothing for the day already purchased. Our lives already saved. Perfectly loved by a flawless Father, we can face today and tomorrow unafraid of the snare of the enemy who would trap us, for we know he's been defeated, his head destroyed beneath the heel of the One Who will get us safely through.
 

Monday, June 3, 2013

PSALM 91 - Where I Live

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust." (Verses 1-2)

Behold, a king will reign in righteousness and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.  Isaiah 32

As we drove up to the Wendy's in Wichita Falls on Terrible Tuesday, April 10, 1979, we heard the tornado sirens blare and watched the dark greenish clouds form wispy circles that began to reach down like the tentacles of an airborne monster trying to snare us in their grasp. "Take shelter!" screamed the teenager at the drive-thru window. "Come inside now!"

Last week the tornadoes that hit Oklahoma City came with a twenty minute warning. Plenty of time to get to safety. However, the fear created by the devastation left in the wake of the Moore tornado only days before gave some people the idea that they could outrun the twister and get to safety. Twenty minutes and they'd be down the 35 or up the 40. Out of the path of the massive storm cell that dropped grapefruit-sized hail on the highly populated Midwest city. Only problem was, it was rush hour and many other people had the same idea. The tornadoes were wrapped in rain. It looked to many on their way home from work on a Friday evening like a normal spring storm packing gobs of precipitation. Not a tornado spawning weather system they should fear. Until the sirens wailed. The highways were clogged. Escape routes jammed. And now those who tried to flee were more vulnerable than ever to the monster's swirling breath. Three storm chasers were outsmarted and killed. Most of the dead were on the roads when, like Matchbox cars in the hands of a three-year-old, their vehicles were picked up and thrown back down.Those safely in their shelters survived.

 After the tornado wiped out the whole south side of Wichita Falls, many people rebuilt their homes with shelters. Never wanting to go through another season with fear sitting on the top of their stomachs every time they felt a raindrop on their noses. Not wanting their hearts to seize up when spring produced a cloud bank heavy with rain coming their way across the blue Texas sky.

Shelter. The word is calming. Like an oak tree in the heat of summer or a gazebo in a rain storm. Like a trench in the heat of battle or a mother's arms in times of distress. It's where we go to be safe. For we who know the Father, it is His shelter we seek. Only we aren't supposed to run for it only when times are bad. We are supposed to live in that shelter. Because times are dangerous. And not just to our physical well-being, but also for our hearts. What does it look like, this living in the shelter God provides? I live in my house in Huntington Beach. That means I abide here on a daily basis. It's where I eat, sleep, work out, write, pray, clean. It's where I stay. Especially when times are turbulent, when the vortex of life tries to suck me up into its mess.

An open Bible was found in the aftermath of the destruction in Moore, Oklahoma. It was opened to the verse above from Isaiah 32. That's a Messianic verse. The king referred to is Jesus. He is a place to hide from the wind, a shelter from the storm, a stream in a dry place and a Rock Who gives us shade in a dry and weary land. A reminder that He is our refuge. In Him is where we should live--stay. No running for the hills to get away from the monster chasing us. Instead, looking out the window as it passes by. Like a kid watching a storm on a rainy summer day through the plate glass window in the den. She sees the hail and hears the wind as it knocks against the house. But she is safe where she lives.

How big must the shadow of the Almighty be? If I'm living in Him, I'm pretty sure He's so huge I won't even be able to see the edges of the shadow He casts across the perimeters of my life. The eaves of the shelter throwing protective dimness for eternal miles on every side. Like playing in the yard, I'm still at home. Or like a kid, scared of the neighborhood dog, runs to his nearby dad and grasps the man's strong legs for protection. Never far from the Father's reach. Never out of His sight. If we are in the shadow, we're still safe.

I remember one night at dinner when Will was choking on a piece of hot dog stuck in his throat. The family was in the middle of its usual lively conversation when it happened, so it took a minute for me to notice Will's horrified face. Immediately, I pushed the food on down his throat. He cried then. Scared and thankful. At least ten times before I put him to bed that night he thanked me for saving his life. Thanked me that I noticed his distress in time to rescue him. Multiplied a thousand times is my heart when I look at the Father Who has saved me over and over again from within the shadow of His presence. Like the psalmist, I declare: "You are my refuge, my fortress, my God. I will trust in You!"

Those of us who have been out on the highway trying to outrun the storm with the dire consequences of being instead vacuumed up into the maelstrom understand the wisdom of living with God. Not wandering far off, especially in the storm. Not letting fear drive us away from the only possible protection into the traffic jam that is this world. Sitting ducks for the enemy to ravage and destroy. Better to be watching the cyclone from the other side of the window in our Father's house.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous person runs into it and is safe.
Proverbs 18:10