Pursued and Caught

"Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit."
                                                                                                                              Ezekiel 18:31

The following is from a lady named, Kirsten Powers, who writes the following concerning her life:

“From my early 20s on, I would waver between atheism and agnosticism, never coming close to considering that God could be real.
After college I worked as an appointee in the Clinton administration from 1992 to 1998. The White House surrounded me with intellectual people who, if they had any deep faith in God, never expressed it. Later, when I moved to New York, where I worked in Democratic politics, my world became aggressively secular. Everyone I knew was politically left-leaning, and my group of friends was overwhelmingly atheist.”
In 2005, she was challenged by a Christian she met to “keep an open mind” and to visit a church. Though she was initially guarded, she liked the pastor’s sermon. During the next few months, she began visiting the church regularly.
She eventually got involved in a Bible study and asked Christ into her life.
Kristen remembers, “I'll never forget standing outside that apartment on the Upper East Side and saying to myself, ‘It's true. It's completely true." The world looked entirely different, like a veil had been lifted off it. I had not an iota of doubt. I was filled with indescribable joy.
The horror of the prospect of being a devout Christian crept back in almost immediately. I spent the next few months doing my best to wrestle away from God. It was pointless. Everywhere I turned, there he was. Slowly there was less fear and more joy. The Hound of Heaven had pursued me and caught me—whether I liked it or not.”

Kirsten Powers now works as a contributor to USA Today and is a columnist for Newsweek/The Daily Beast. She is a Democratic commentator at Fox News.

As I read Kirsten's story, I wondered how many claim Christianity today, but have never told their own story.  Today, I am hoping you will consider your steps as you heard and learned the gospel story, and made Jesus the Lord of your life. Remember, God promises to give you a new heart and a new spirit.

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Trust in the Lord.....

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."  Proverbs 3:5

That Solomon was one smart man. The Proverbs are laced with gems of wisdom like the one above, and we would do well to make their applications to every aspect of our lives. They are exceptional for the new Christian  in determining right paths for the future. They are wonderful for individuals and families and businesses and governments and churches. 

If you have lived life for very long, you know there will be difficulties and obstacles which confront everyone.  Situations and problems will stare us in the face and we will think there are no solutions. Even with this kind of thinking, we still insist on trying to be smart enough and big enough to get ourselves out of every dilemma. The advice of Solomon, in one of the most often quoted verses from Proverbs, is to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. 

Recently we looked in the New Testament book, known as the Gospel of Luke, and saw the primary commands which lead to inheriting eternal life, are to love God and to love our neighbor. In the command to love God, we are told to love him with all of our heart.

I can think of no greater coupling of scripture than the one to love God (Luke 10), and the one to trust God (Proverbs 3).  If we could come to experience the love of God for us, and love Him as we are commanded, then place our complete trust in Him, we would be well on the way to face anything and everything that confronts us in life. 

The instruction from Solomon doesn't stop here. He continues by encouraging us to not lean on our own understanding. Can you see how this ties directly to the first part of the verse? The real reason we are to place our trust in the Lord, is because we cannot rely on our own understanding. Even the most intelligent among us, the most powerful, the most informed, the most experienced, still need to avoid a dependence on their own understanding. 

A lot of the teaching from Proverbs center around the subject of wisdom and making wise choices and decisions. Here in the verse we are considering today, the wise solution to life is to place our trust in the Lord and not in our own understanding. Solomon would have you to know it is God whom we can trust, and the wise servant will be so closely in relationship with God that you can count on Him to be with you.

I don't know if you are new in your spiritual journey, or have been a Christian for years, the advice from Solomon is helpful in every step you take, and in every aspect of every day in your life. Memorize the verse and depend on it for the strength you need. 

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We Worship

In or Out?

Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, whose backgrounds were still deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, to let them know that the gospel of grace and forgiveness is also available to the Gentiles. He called himself the apostle to the Gentiles and that was predominately his target audience throughout his ministry. 

Needless to say, many Jews were still having some difficulty accepting Gentiles as Christians.  The section of the book of Romans we will look at today, addresses the subject of who is in and who is out; who can be a part of God's family and who cannot.   Look closely at this excerpt from Romans:

"Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.  And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again."  Romans 11:22-23

It is a terrible thing to be segregated from something of which you have been a part.  This section of Romans lets us know that there were branches of Israelites which were cut off and the reason they were cut off was their own unbelief.  In like manner, Paul tells the Romans that there are branches of Gentiles that have been grafted in because of their faith.  The analogy Paul uses is that of a grafted tree  in which a husbandman has carefully removed unproductive branches and attached the more productive branches. 

We could liken this to other instances of us being "cut off" from things which are necessary to our lifestyle. Try not paying your water bill this month.  You will be cut off.  Perhaps you make bad decisions at work and your mistakes cost the company irreparable damage, more than likely your income will be cut off. Kids get cut off from friendships when their friends pick other friends they like better. So we know what it is like to suffer a separation from things that are common to us.

Paul's picture in Romans is a plea to faithfulness and unity in the body of Christ. In making the plea he talks with firmness to his hearers. He establishes some truths about the standards by which we enter and remain in God's family; truth that is easy to understand. Those who remain faithful will continue to live in the kindness of God. Those who are unfaithful will be cut off. Then he says those who do not persist in unbelief will be grafted in.  

Now the really good news. For those who have been cut off, the goodness and grace of God allows us to be grafted back in. The love of God that made us a part of his family, continues to be extended to us to bring us back to him when we stray.  Through prayer and repentance we can be brought back into a right relationship with God. 

Just remember, it is also in the book of Romans, "Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord."  Romans 8:39

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Descending like a dove....

I had never seen a nesting dove, but the tall shrub outside the kitchen window held the nest, an in that nest were two newborn doves. Ugly things, but still stimulating the fascination of seeing something for the first time. That fascination led me to Google so I could learn more about the nesting habits of the species. 

I learned the mother and father doves alternate responsibilities of sitting on the nest, usually the male in the daylight hours, and the female in the nighttime hours. I also learned the female will usually lay two eggs. When those are hatched and leave the nest, there can be other eggs laid, up to five times in the season. Somewhere I had heard the dove nests further north where it's cooler, and by the time they migrate to the southernmost part of state, they will have already hatched and raised their young for the year. If Google is right, then my former information was wrong. 

I just know I could now view the process of hatched birds, and especially watch the "parent-in-charge" feed and train their young to maturity.  When I looked at them today, the young birds were stretching their wings and giving me a glimpse of their feather growth which has increased a lot over the past few days. Soon they will be flying and on their own. 

The dove is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, even  to the point of being associated with spiritual matters, namely the Holy Spirit. Look at Matthew 3:16. " And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him."

In our day when images and symbols are everywhere, the dove seems to be synonymous with the Holy Spirit.  Maybe that is what made me think of the nesting dove I saw, as a symbol of blessing, a sign of God's presence, the proof of God's power. But there was more.

I mentioned seeing the parent dove over a period of several days, and noticing the growth and maturity of the young. There was obvious physical development which was the expected thing to see. Another thing I saw was the parent dove, teaching and training its young until they were able to take care of themselves. I thought for a moment, that's just the way the Holy Spirit works with us. Coming with the gentleness of a dove, the Spirit of God gains entry and makes its residence in our lives. That is not an experience that happens once, and the deed is completed. 

Just like the young doves in the nest, that need the presence and help of the dove which gave them life, to grow and mature, we, too, need the continuing presence of the Spirit which lives in us, to guide us, lead us, train us, assure us, and even grow in us, as we mature. This is God using his power to bring us to be the people we should be. 

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A Garment of Praise

Beauty for ashes God hath decreed!
Help He provideth for every need;
What is unlovely He will restore;
Grace all-sufficient: what need we more?

God gives for sadness "garments of praise";
Stars for our twilight, strength for our days;
Hope for tomorrow, care for today,
Light for our footsteps all of life's way.

Beauty for ashes, gladness for tears,"
Sunshine for darkness, faith for our fears;
Peace for our turmoil, concord for strife,
Heaven at evening--then endless life!

These are the words from a song written by Grant Tullar.  He wrote from the perspective of some prophetic words about Jesus, which are recorded in Isaiah 61.  In that scripture, there is the phrase, "to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."  It was this scripture Jesus quoted in Luke 4, telling his listeners, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

In biblical days, people who were in sadness or distress, would sit in a pile of ashes, as a symbol that their lives were in turmoil. The ashes, as the remaining residue of a fire, would indicate the people were facing total calamity.  It is also noted that the ashes can be a symbol of going "through the fire" and the purification which fire brings. 

Both in the Bible passages mentioned, and in the words of the song, there is a praise to God for his work in restoring sinful man to Himself.  It is God that provides help to meet every need, and restoration of those whose lives have become unlovely.  Tullar is writing an echo of the truth of the Scripture, that it is by God's grace these things are accomplished, therefore we are in need of nothing more. 

I especially like the terminology of the second verse of the song, "God gives for sadness, "garments of praise."   Even when we have arrived at the low point of life which sadness brings, God replaces that with garments of praise, designed specifically for us.  It shows us our need when facing difficult times by leaning on God to supply strength , hope, care, and even His light to point us in the right direction.

Verse three shows the contrast of the things God uses to take the place of our defeat and our sadness. They are replaced with beauty, gladness, sunshine, faith, peace, concord, and ultimately heaven. I point you once again to the question at the end of verse one, "Grace all-sufficient: what need we more?"

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The God of all comfort....

You do not have to look long and hard to make the discovery of things in our world which are evil.  There are reminders for us daily in the news, or even in the lives of some of our acquaintances.  By being a human citizen on this planet earth, we are exposed to suffering and evil on a daily basis.  In a book I discovered this week by one of my favorite authors, Randy Alcorn, I found myself learning or re-learning many of the basics from Genesis concerning the Christian's response and perhaps some of the reasons we find ourselves surrounded by bad things. I hope you get a chance to read Randy's book, The Goodness of God.  The blessing will come to you as you read and associate many of the scripture texts to your own personal experience.

Near the end of the book there is a chapter which gives 4 steps we Christians could be using to understand and teach others about how God's people should respond  when bad things happen.

1.  Look at God's promises for comfort.  Spending some time in the Word will not only give you some answers for your own life, but will equip you in helping others who are facing the obstacles which bring suffering and hurt.  Stop here and read Psalm 27:1-14, paying special attention to God's promises.  David was talking to himself and being reminded about God's faithfulness and goodness. I recommend more time in God's word for any problem! 

2.  Anticipate God's rewards.  One thing we need to learn is that these negative things which happen to us are temporary.  Compare that thought with you thinking as God's child, about your happiness and joy, which are eternal. A good place to examine this is in reading Hebrews 11, about those people from earlier Bible days, who suffered hardship and pain, yet their faith never waivered.  I make the connection with them when I learn to place my full trust in God.

3.  Lighten the load through prayer.  Remember the writings of Paul to the Philippians. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

4.  Share your life with others who suffer.  Here is an important observation from this book.  Get in touch with the suffering of others. Help those who are suffering. Tell them your experiences and listen to theirs.  "The God of all comfort...comforts us in all our troubles, so we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I'm still hoping you will discover Randy's book and come to appreciate more and more, the Father who loves us and sustains us with his faithfulness and goodness.

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