I am an optimist; in case you did not know. I believe the best in people, until I am proven wrong. Even when people have bad intentions, I have seen God change their heart or bring good out of the situation.
I have experienced firsthand God’s mighty power and transforming my lemons into lemonade, time and time again. So, I can have faith that He will do it again, in any circumstance. It brings me peace to be positive. Does that make me naïve? For a very large portion of my life, I would agree. I was very naïve. But, God…you know the rest. Today is a very different story. I came through the fire and I am still positive. I know there are people I cannot trust as far as I can throw them- which is not very far; but I do not dwell on that.
When I see others who lean on the side of negative thinking and pessimistic views, I wonder- is that a choice? Is it in their DNA? Have they genuinely tried (with God’s help) to choose another path? The path of peace. Can they envision the concept of making lemonade? What if they were able to intentionally push out negative thoughts every day and choose to think positive? Would that be a life changer? I am truly curious and ask out of sincerity.
For any pessimists out there- please do not take this personal and respond too quickly without taking time for thoughtful reflection. I do know that I have times of doubt and fear- I do not linger there. I ask God to help me push it out so I can return to a place of peace. I guess I choose to think positive in that way. So as a natural optimist- is it easier for me? Probably. But does that mean it is not possible for a pessimist to do the same thing? It may be more difficult – but I think it is possible. What do you think?
I thought I would expand on the Scripture I used in last week’s blog to dive a little deeper into Joshua’s challenge in 24:15 to ‘choose this day whom you will serve’. By this time in Joshua’s journey, he was in the last stages of his life, and he had seen many people be disobedient and the consequences that came from it.
As an assistant to Moses, he saw firsthand the idols and gods the previous generation worshiped in disobedience to God’s commands. He also had the opportunity, as a faithful servant, to succeed Moses to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land.
We can relate the gods and idols of that generation to ours today. Anything we place ahead of GOD is an idol and a god (little ‘g’). I would venture to say we have many gods, although not in the form of a golden calf, but still just as detrimental to our lives if we place them before God and allow them to become the ultimate thing in our life instead of putting Jesus at the forefront.
Joshua was challenging the generation whose fathers had been disobedient. He was setting an example and asking them to choose if they were going to fall back into the patterns of the generation before them or serve the one true God. They continued to choose to serve God as they had seen what He did for them as they overcame many obstacles, saw miracles when God parted the water for them to pass, when the walls of Jericho fell after circling it for seven days, as God instructed, and the land given to them that God had promised, not to mention the many battles that were conquered with God’s help due to their obedience and putting God in His rightful place in their lives.
We may not have the same circumstances, obstacles, and challenges that generation had, but there is still a lesson to be learned. Just as we see the promises fulfilled in the OT in Moses and Joshua’s day, we can trust God to fulfill His promises through eternity by way of Jesus. Joshua and Jesus are the same name in Hebrew- symbolically, by faith and obedience to God, Joshua led Israel into physical salvation in Canaan, and Jesus leads all who believe him into eternal salvation.
The importance of Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel is still relevant to us yet today- “choose this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15 ESV)
Today, many of us are reflecting on the past year as we all want a fresh start, a do-over, and an end to the virus, hate, and injustices seen the last few months. In my reflection this morning, I was reminded of all the great things God has done this year. Even during a pandemic, God showed up in a big way to bring good to many. We can rest assured He is with us and still in control.
At this time last year, I had no idea I would be in school, working from home, and getting ready to welcome a new daughter (in law) to our little family. I sit in gratefulness and awe of an amazing God and Father who loves us and wants good for us. I am reminded of Ephesians 2:4-10 when Paul makes what the ESV study Bible calls, “the greatest short phrase in history of human speech”. “But God!” (emphasis added) Just before this, Paul paints a bleak picture of our sinful nature. We are hopeless and helpless on our own, following the devil and his sinful nature that we, as descendants of Adam, inherited at birth. Just when things are the darkest and all hope is lost…God steps in with mercy, kindness, and love; for those who are joined to Jesus Christ are saved from the terrible consequences of their sin and enjoy the benefits of Christ’s resurrection.
Have you ever loved something or someone so much that you set it free? You did not want to keep it, control, or manipulate it into staying with you just because you wanted it to so much. That is the picture of true love. You want to offer a choice to be with you because of love for you. God does that for us. He gave us the free will to choose Him. He sent His Son to die on our behalf so we could have eternal life, but He also asks us to choose whom we will serve. (Joshua 24:15) Do you want to choose this broken world and our sinful nature or the Father who loves us and wants the best for us for eternity?
I look forward to a new year, to see what God will do, what surprises He has in store, as I rest in the knowledge of His love, truth, mercy, and goodness. I invite you to join me in celebration of that truth, not fearing what is next because God is with us. Let us stand on a firm foundation, rooted deep in faith, serving and loving others as He loves us. I choose God. I choose joy. I encourage you to read and reflect on Ephesians 2:4-10 and just what that means for us.
I pray for restoration of relationships, and that God will close the gaps on the many divisions occurring among Christians and family members, the enemy is trying to destroy. But most of all, I pray that you will welcome the intimate relationship God is offering you today.
Happy New Year to all! May the God of peace be with you in the coming year and beyond.
For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. ~Proverbs 2:10
We should not add Jesus to whatever we are doing like an ingredient in a recipe to justify our actions. We need to be willing to search the scriptures for His truth and change our ways to be like Him.
We can ask God for wisdom and understanding. Jesus should come first and direct the rest of our actions. If this means our actions change, at first it is uncomfortable, and we resist. But if we trust Him fully and let Him lead us, the result is even better than we can imagine.
Our plan of action leads to sin and dissatisfaction. Jesus’ plan & God’s will in our hearts leads us by the Holy Spirit and ultimately His plan for us. Let Him lead the way to the kingdom= JOY!
On the flip side of that coin, just as we should not add Jesus to justify, we also should not leave Him out. Everything in the Old and New Testament points to Christ. This is God’s story of redemption to bring His people to Himself. Scriptures are written for our instruction and the lessons are timeless. (Romans 15:4; I Corinthians 10:11-12) Cultures come and go but God remains the same throughout the ages and His word still stands today. Christ died to give us eternal life. It is not a secret society; it is an open invitation with eternal significance and our choice has eternal consequences. Thank you, Jesus! Merry Christmas!
For the time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Siting in a meeting, several months ago, I noticed one of my co-workers squirm a bit. Then he reached into his back pockets and pulled out two hand warmers he had placed there in anticipation of a cold meeting room. We had a little laugh and that was the last I thought of it, until one chilly morning run, a few weeks later, when I inserted hot hands into my gloves. As my body heated up my hands felt quite toasty, and that is when it hit me; the vision of him literally being in the hot seat.
When we are in the hot seat for something we’ve done- we begin to squirm. We try to explain ourselves or blame others. It wasn’t our fault or maybe we try to justify our behavior, like a child who gets caught with their hand in the cookie jar or with icing all over their face and still protest it wasn’t them. We’ve all been there at some point to some degree.
But what would it look like if we came clean now? If we faced those things from our past that haunt us and keep us awake at night; and instead of squirming and justifying- we owned it. What if we took it to God and talked to Him about it, asked for His forgiveness, for the part we played and laid it all out, instead of hiding from it? It is at that point God’s grace kicks in and we can have full realization of His redemption. Isn’t it better to receive that now so we can have peace than to wait until we are truly in the hot seat later? If we have taken it all to God already and allowed Him to redeem it and restore us through the blood of Christ- then we won’t have to dread facing Him later.
But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. I John 1:9
So, let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16
Here is an interesting fact I learned recently in my Western Culture class; do you know where the name ‘marathon’ originated? During the Persian invasion of Greece, a man named Phidippides (fi-DIP-i-deez), was the messenger who ran the 22 plus miles from a town called Marathon to Athens, to tell of the Greek victory over the Persians. (Rawls, 2018)
Since becoming a runner about nine years ago, it has never been my goal to run a marathon. The longest race I have completed was a 10K (6.2 mi.) and the longest run on my own has been 7 miles. These days I do about 2-3 miles each day.
My main goal is to run for my health not to harm it. For me, that is what I would be doing if I trained for a marathon. Finding out I have the first stages of osteoporosis and that running is good for my bones only added to the many beneficial reasons for continuing this sport. I enjoy running and spending that time with God. I do not want to turn it into something I dread. I have learned to listen to my body and give it a day of rest when it needs it; that helps my muscles recover and I feel the difference the next time I run. Besides, this is where a lot of these messages come from…my time with God in nature. I have the time to process, pray and receive. God teaches me a lot, but I realize it is not just for me, so I share it with others in hopes it blesses them as well.
However, when I think about the things God is preparing us for it reminds me that the opposite is true. It is in God’s timing. Most of the time He must remind us it is a marathon, not a sprint. We can celebrate the milestones along the way, remember to take breaks, rest, and enjoy the beauty of the journey. We may not know the end goal of our trainings, but God does. We can slow our pace and take one day at a time.
Our experiences and lessons along the way can be used to help others. Sometimes, we think we know where we are headed only to be shifted in a completely new direction and focus. If we are staying our course, with God as the leader, we can rest assured we will get wherever we are going at just the right time. We should not settle on anything less. It may take a little longer but that is the nature of the marathon.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)
According to the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, shalom appears in the OT 180 times. It is not used in a negative manner, rather involving completeness or wholeness as with the repairing of a relationship. One could say it means to have harmony with friends and family or even with allies, but it also can refer to health and security or being safe. We see in the OT testament it being used to describe a sense of confident awareness that all is well, as we see in Psalm 4:8, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (ESV) Another verse that comes to mind, and one of my favorites, which a song called, “The Blessing” is based on, is Numbers 6:24-26; if you haven’t heard it yet, it is worth it to look this one up on YouTube. (V24) “The Lord bless you and keep (guard & protect) you, (V 25) the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; (V26) the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” (ESV) (Countenance involves taking notice and treating people with favor.) Here the word peace or shalom is “total well-being”, so, it is indeed a grand and positive gesture to pray this blessing upon someone.
In the NT, we see peace used in a different sense. Here the translation is eirene, and in addition to the “total well-being” we see in the OT, it can also relate to not only our physical well-being but our spiritual well-being. Another great verse that we can associate with this is John 14:27, we see Jesus use it as a blessing, when He says to the disciples, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let them be afraid.”(ESV) I believe, to capture the fullness of this message and blessing we need to back up to the previous verse where Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit is coming, He will teach them and remind them of the things Jesus said to them. He is giving them foreknowledge that after He is gone, the Holy Spirit or Helper will come to live inside them to comfort them. This message is not only for the disciples of Jesus’ time but also for us as believers in Christ, so that we also may be comforted and receive the blessings of Jesus; the peace that passes understanding. A confident awareness in God.
The ESV study Bible notes that it is all that Christ would do or had done through the cross and the resurrection to end the dominion of sin and to make peace between God and man. Peace between all who are in Christ and state of being spiritually whole again. Not because of us, but because of Christ. The world cannot achieve or provide peace because it cannot deal with the problem of sin. But God’s peace guards the Christian’s hearts and minds and “surpasses every thought” (Phil. 4:7, ESV).
Now that we have established the usage and meaning of the shalom or peace in the Old and New Testament, let us look further at our Spiritual gifts. I believe we, as believers in Christ, can achieve both the OT and NT meanings through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 12 was in my recent reading, when I picked up a book, I had purchased several weeks prior and began to read it. In “Forgotten God” Chan specifically brings the readers attention to I Corinthians 12 as a reminder to take seriously and, “to believe that you have been given manifestation of the Spirit and that your church, the worldwide body of Christ, and the world are crippled without your involvement,” (Chan, 2009, p. 91). If you are not familiar with or have not read I Corinthians 12 recently, please take a moment to read it. It gives us a picture of the church (as the body of Christ) and all its members. We are all one in Christ and are to use our gifts, given to us by the Holy Spirit, to help each other and build up the church. If you are like me, maybe when you think of the church, you immediately think of it as the place we go on Sunday morning or that your service is limited to your local church involvement. When we look at the big picture here and allow our minds and thinking to go beyond that of human limited views, we can see the church of Christ, and as Chan put it, “the worldwide body of Christ”, we can expand our horizons and realize that our gifts are to be used, not only in our local church, although that is important, but also wherever we are. Whether that be at work, school, the grocery store, our community or neighborhood, we are to use the gifts given to us to their fullest for the Glory of God, through the love of Jesus, with the help of the Spirit who gave them to us.
I believe when we are doing this, then we will have shalom or peace – knowing all is well, confident in God, not ourselves, and can sincerely pray for others to find this peace as well; to be successful in their endeavors, and use their gifts and talents to the Glory of God as we walk together through this temporary life and world, in an attempt to show others the love of Christ, in hopes to bring others to Him, through the saving grace of Christ Jesus. The steps to victory are steep, but the Spirit will help us. It is easy to be the same- the challenge is being different. When we have these critical components in place, and genuinely walk by the Spirit through faith, we will not want to follow the world anymore; and that, my friend, brings true peace and freedom.
Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We all know these seasons and probably have a favorite. Most of us would probably say Spring or Fall is their favorite because it is the right temperature, you like when flowers are blooming or maybe the Fall colors take your breath away. Whatever the reason, good or bad, we have a love/hate relationship with them.
Recently, I had a different thought about the four seasons. I believe we also have seasons of life. A spiritual and physical. For the spiritual we could look at it this way:
Fall: We fell into sin (a fallen world)
Winter: Death to self (we realize we should be living for God instead of self)
Spring: New birth (renewed by Christ for a new life)
Summer: Maturity & peace
Now, let us look at our physical seasons:
Spring: We are born
Summer- We mature
Fall- We are aging
Winter- Death
Winter can be like a dry season in our life. But no matter how long we have been in a dry, dark season, God can bring new life and refresh us with living water of the Spirit.
Just like the valley of dry bones, if we listen to the word of the Lord and have faith, He will breathe new life into us. (Ezekiel 37)
Jesus replied, “I assure you no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So, do not be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 NLT)
For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. (Eccl. 3:1-2 NLT)
I hardly ever get into a conversation about politics. It is just not something I want to debate. Frankly, there are bad things about both sides that make us think about morals and principles, or the lack of them. On the contrary, if we look hard enough, and admit it, there are good things about each as well. I do not want to get in any heated discussions about or with either party, it is just not worth it. I am sick of all the advertisements going back and forth accusing each other of the same things. It makes me not want to vote for either party, (but I will vote!). Ultimately, I will try to choose who I think is the best person for the job (this involves a LOT of prayer), and even though I feel there are slim pickings, my decision and final vote is between me and God, and it’s the same for others as well.
We need to be alert. Satan is driving a wedge between us using politics as his weapon. I have seen some of the closest friends be divided and lose a lifetime of friendship. People are taking sides and allowing the enemy to have a foot hold, to pit brother against brother, Christian against Christian. We need to let Jesus and love be the overarching factor that unites us, not let politics divide us. That is exactly what the enemy wants. We are to love all no matter who they vote for, even if we do not agree. We should show others who Jesus is instead of showing ourselves by plastering our worst on social media.
Change begins with us. Who can you love today despite who they are going to vote for? Be kind. Be gentle. Be humble. Be still. Be who God created you to be.
Our prayers and goals are interchangeable. We pray for the goals we want for ourselves. We may not get the answer we think we wanted, but God always gives us something better. We cannot see the bigger picture or the view from His perspective. We are like a mouse in a maze. Our view is only of the wall in front of us. When we come to a roadblock, we can feel discouraged. But looking down over our lives is our Heavenly Father who sees all, knows all, and can guide us to the right path. He can remove the obstacles and place people in our lives to help us along the way.
I heard a minister on the radio who said our prayers need to be specific and measurable. His belief was that if we just ask for a blessing that could come in the form of a problem. Blessings are little problems that keep you from a bigger problem.
That reminded me of a lady I was in a life group with a few years ago. She always told us we need to be specific about what we want in our prayers. She told of a friend who prayed for a husband. In her words, “that is all she got!” I had to laugh about that one.
I believe if we are continually pouring ourselves into the Father, He will pour more into us. The closer our relationship with Him, the more we align our desires to what He wants for us instead of what we think we want. God always knows best and wants the best for us.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we do not know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
(Romans 8:26, NLT)
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted? (John 15:7, NLT)
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