Great Expectations…

After a conversation with a good friend this afternoon and some time in the Word this evening, I’ve come to a conclusion.  Expectations can put us in dangerous territory.  I know this from personal experience.  When my husband of 16 years and I said “I do,” I had certain expectations for married life in general, and husbands, in particular.  I expected that the man who had recently pledged to love me forever would also promise to clean the toilet now and then.  Those hopes were dashed, I’d say, after about two weeks of wedded bliss.  Maybe one.  To be fair, I suppose he had his own list of expectations … possibly including his new bride’s serving dinner that was not char-broiled.  Again, disappointment.   Anyone from a parent to a teacher to a co-worker can put pressure, whether real or imagined, on us to perform to a certain standard.  Their standard. If we perform adequately, we’re “in”; if we don’t, we’re cast aside as unacceptable. Speaking for myself, I rarely feel like I measure up.  And I think I’m in pretty good company.

In Luke 11, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son.  The story basically relates that a younger, rebellious son demands his part of his father’s property, which the father hands over.  The son, who wastes no time spending every last cent, soon finds himself broke and humiliated.  Coming to his senses at last, he heads for home … and his father. The father is overjoyed, and the two are reconciled. The older son, however, who has continued to be responsible and diligent, is angry.  He feels slighted, unappreciated.  Therefore, he wants no part of his little brother’s homecoming or with a father who would welcome him back so readily.   Expectations.  The younger son expected something from his father.  Money.  The older son expected something else: respect… from his brother and his father.  But where is the father’s set of expectations?  Doesn’t he require some minimum standard in order for these sons of his to be accepted?  I don’t see that from Scripture.  The younger son doesn’t have to pay back the money he squandered, nor does the older son have to work, in order to gain the father’s love and acceptance.  Meeting – or not meeting- expectations is not what the father is all about!  He has something better in mind.  He is about reconciliation …relationship… and the joy that comes from unconditional love and acceptance.

 

Relentless Pursuit…

How I enjoy a good movie!  If Dennis Quaid has the lead role, all the better.  One of my favorites is “The Day After Tomorrow”, in which Mr. Quaid plays a climatologist who warns the powers that be of a series of cataclysmic occurrences soon to wreak global havoc.   The story line is compelling, if not altogether believable, according man’s fate with his willful disregard for the stewardship of the planet’s natural resources.  However, in my mind, the real story lies more with the father-son relationship between Quaid’s Jack Hall and college-aged Sam than it does with the frigid waters of melting polar ice caps.   When Sam finds himself in harm’s way, Jack sets out to rescue him … on foot … in the snow.  This father will stop at nothing to save his son from almost certain death.  Thankfully, Sam also takes Jack’s somewhat unconventional advice to stay put, trusting that father knows best.  In the end, Jack does find Sam, who has indeed survived the storm.   Two things strike me about this story – the relentless pursuit by the father, and the trust/obedience of the son.

“Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say.  My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”  In this scenario from John 14.23, God is the pursuing Father who will come to us at any cost … even that of His precious Son’s life.  I see myself as the one who loves Jesus & is trying to do what His Word commands.   No doubt, my Heavenly Father has found me … and if I obey His instructions, I, too, will weather the storms of life.

More lessons from John…

“…Those who don’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life, but the wrath of God remains upon them.” John 3.36

This morning I sit sipping a steamy cup of hot coffee, reading the Word.  I am methodically working my way through the gospel of John, letting the familiar words wash over me once again.  It seems each time I read through this particular book, the Lord reveals something new … proving the truth of Hebrews 4.12, which says is “Scripture is living and active…”.  Note:  Hebrews 4.12 does NOT say, “Scripture is candy-coated and easy…”

Obedience- a common thread throughout Scripture.  Because of Abraham’s ultimate obedience, a nation was born.*  Because of Moses’ (albeit reluctant) obedience, the Israelites were freed after hundreds of years of slavery.** Jonah’s obedience led a people to repentance. *** Fast-forward to the New Testament, and we see Joseph’s obedience protecting his virgin wife, Mary.  And Mary’s obedience led to blessing for all mankind.****  If I were to list all the examples, the entire page would be filled with asterisks!  Obedience is often the vehicle the Lord uses to bring about the results He desires.  And I believe, among His greatest desires is a growing, thriving, vibrant, personal relationship with man… and woman.

When John the Baptist speaks of “eternal life” in Chapter 3 above, he is not referring to some pie-in-the-sky, after-I-die, life.  He is referring to HERE AND NOW!  TODAY!  THIS VERY MINUTE!  This becomes very clear a few chapters later when he says, “This is eternal life:  that they may know You, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17.3)  Eternal life is knowing God/Jesus!  John merely points out that it is by obedience that we experientially know the Creator of the Universe and His Only Son.  If we do not obey, God’s wrath is on us.  (I believe that wrath to be separation from God.)  Think about this:  In the very beginning, Adam & Eve walked with God, talked with God.  He was with them.  Then disobedience entered the scene, and the intimacy they had shared was replaced with separation.  It would take the complete obedience of the sinless One (Jesus) to restore man’s ability to know God intimately again.  Furthermore, it takes our obedience to maintain that close, personal relationship.  It is through obedience that we come to experience the fullness of God himself at work in our lives.

OK, great … how do I do that … obey?  For me, it is as simple (and often as difficult) as doing what I know to do.  Be kind.  Pray. Be truthful.  Give.  Feed someone.  Work.  Study the Word.  Share Truth.  These are some of the things I know to do already … although I don’t do any of them perfectly.  How about you?

 

* Genesis 26.4

**Exodus 3

***Jonah 3.3

****Matthew 1, Luke 1

Beautiful Music…

Today my 8-year-old and I went on a date.  Just the two of us – what a special treat.  As we drove on a crowded I-95 toward the capital beltway, Annabelle played “DJ” with my ipod… picking all her favorites first, of course.   We listened and sang and laughed all the way to our destination which, appropriately enough, was a piano recital.  Music. Beautiful music.  One by one the children walked down front to the grand piano and offered up their melodies to an anxiously awaiting audience of parents, siblings, and friends.   As they played, many pianists were just outside my line of sight, so I focused on simply listening.  As each tune was played, images flooded into my mind, some happy and carefree … some somber or contemplative.  (Whichever the case, the scene in my head invariably lined up with the name of the tune.) I was struck by the strong emotions I felt and how they changed from piece to piece.  And I was grateful for this most wonderful gift of expression… perhaps because it says so much about the Giver.

The Old Testament prophetess, Deborah, says she “will sing to the Lord and make music to the God of Israel” (Judges 5.3).  At the time, the Israelites’  enemy had just been defeated.  The remainder of Judges 5 is Deborah’s song, recounting recent events.  The heart poured out to the Almighty through song.   Job’s harp was “tuned to mourning” and his flute to “wailing” (Job 30.31).  The Magnificat is Mary’s song of awe toward a God who has chosen the ordinary to display the extraordinary (Luke 1.46-55).

As each distinct melody fluttered about the sanctuary today, a thought struck me.  If the Creator of all things has given us such a gift as music – with such diversity, such complexity, such richness, such ability to communicate without a word being spoken – could this be the way He longs for us to commune with Him?  Does He listen intently for the “songs” of our lives, whether happy or sad, joyful or concerned, lofty or mundane … to be uttered to Him?  I believe the One who knows our hearts yearns for us to fully and unreservedly express ourselves to Him … to cry out to Him when we’re at the end of our rope, to ask questions when we don’t understand, to shout joyfully when we’re, well…  joyful!   Something tells me … we might walk away from our time with the Lord singing a new tune.

The Point …

As Russ and I see it, pointing people to Jesus is our life’s calling.  It’s what we were made to do.   The Lord Himself has reached down from Heaven to open our eyes to the Truth of the gospel, and we gratefully respond by sharing it with others.   The gospel … Jesus is God … born of a virgin by God’s Spirit… grew to be a man… lived a sinless life… loved me enough to died on a cross as payment for my sin … was resurrected on the 3rd day… and is living, loving and transforming lives today!   That’s news worth sharing!  Of course, we don’t always do it well … but we must point others to the Saviour. Imagine us holding signs with big arrows that say, “Jesus is thata way!” … something like that.

I was very refreshed… encouraged, in fact, to see a Biblical example of this concept just today.  As I began to read the gospel of John, I realized that we have some things in common.   (Thankfully, a sense of style not among them.)

#1 … God revealed Himself to John just like He reveals Himself to us.  I guess I had just assumed that John always knew who Jesus was.  I mean, for crying out loud, they were cousins.  I had not considered that God would have to specifically point out the Messiah  to John the Baptist!   And John would have to respond in faith, just like we have.

^{John 1.32} Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. ³³ I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptize with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.”

#2 … We share a ministry.  Picture the scene … use your sanctified imagination!  Preacher John had been telling his disciples (student followers) that the Messiah was coming, and that the time for repentance was now, when he saw Jesus pass by.  I can almost see him excitedly waiving his arms and pointing, “Look! There He is!  He’s the One! Go with Him!”  And they did.

³⁵ The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.

Just so happens that John’s disciples include a guy named Andrew.  Having followed the Messiah for only a day, Andrew seeks out his brother and points him to Christ.  Perhaps you’ve heard of him.  His name is Peter, and he was used by God to point many others to Jesus.

We don’t have to have all the answers … thank goodness!  We simply have to love God by loving people … and pointing them to Jesus.

Faith & Mylar…

I must admit I was caught up in it, too.  Having turned on the TV just to catch a quick bit of news, I soon found myself staring at the screen as a homemade weather balloon floated aimlessly through the Colorado sky.  Perhaps not a very interesting story … until you factor in a six-year-old boy who was thought to have been aboard this particular craft.  At least, those reporting the story and those of us following it for a couple of hours thought a young boy’s life was in danger.  We watched … and hoped for the best.  I even found myself praying for this mischievous little kid who had, by most accounts, only done what boys do … get into trouble.   In a matter of hours, the balloon wound its way down several thousand feet to land in an open area.  First responders literally ran on foot toward the wreckage, grabbing onto the tethers so that a sudden gust wouldn’t pick up the balloon once again.  We all held our breath.  Was the boy actually in the balloon?  Would he survive the ride of his life?  We waited.  No response.  Nothing.  No boy at all.  It had all been a hoax.

James 2.20 says, “…don’t you know that faith without good deeds is useless?”  A profession of faith without actions is a hoax.  A hoax that might fool some of the people watching our lives unfold, perhaps even ourselves.  Oh, we may say we believe in God … perhaps we’ll even go so far as to say we believe in Jesus, too.  We may go to a church service on Sunday and put some money in the plate.  But deep down, we know we’re just putting on a show.  That’s our reality.

Faith comes first, then actions follow as evidence of that faith.  Real faith, an honest-to-goodness belief in the very real God of the Bible.  Actions: doing things that need to be done for others; generally, just loving people.  Genuine faith simply cannot be divorced from those actions.  They fit together, hand in glove, one empowering and one facilitating.   If we call ourselves by the name of Christian, we simply cannot get by on appearances.  Eventually, we’ll end up on the ground only to find out our so-called faith was no more than hot air … a hoax.

It’s not rocket science.

True Reflection…

If marriage is to be a reflection of the Christian’s relationship with Christ, then I think I’m beginning to get it.   My husband has been serving the U.S. of A. overseas for the past 6 1/2 weeks, and I feel like the best part of me is M.I.A.   Yes, I knew 16 years ago that deployment was part and parcel of marrying a military man, but it sounded more romantic back then.  A steely-eyed soldier wisked off at a moment’s notice to defeat a sworn enemy.  Now it is just plain hard.  I don’t mean hard in the day-to-day handling of affairs sort of way.  Sam is taking out the garbage, and our next door neighbor has consistently mowed our grass every single week since Russ left.  Home schooling is going well.  Church family & friends abound.  I mean hard in the sense of missing … well, a very part of myself.  The one who knows me better than I know myself is not here to encourage me, to inspire me, to comfort me, to challenge me.  I am feeling the void. Over the past decade and a half I have counted on him, trusted him, and enjoyed him, but until this very moment I don’t think I fully appreciated our connection.  We are truly one.  We see things from the same perspective, have the same common goals, are in love with the same Saviour… and each other. We can finish each other’s sentences and tell each other’s stories.  How could I have fully understood all this relationship would come to be when I recited my wedding vows all those years ago?

When Russ asked me to be his wife on March 1, 1992, his words were straight from one of the greatest poet/warrior kings of all time, David.  ”Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together.”  He was in good company … Jesus’ invitation had come to me much in the same way.  ”Glorify the Lord with me… let us exalt His name together.”  I am happy to have accepted both proposals.  The longer I am married, the deeper my appreciation is for the Almighty’s comparison of marriage to Christ and the church (the believer, individually and corporately).   I am as inextricably intertwined with Christ as I ever hope to be with a certain surfer turned soldier.  Intimacy. Trust. Growth. Devotion.  Encouragement. Strength. Accountability. Love.  I find them all in Christ … and in Russ.  And I can hardly wait for their return!

Maturity … a 13 year old’s perspective

Ok, so my blossoming 13-year-old daughter confesses to me tonight that she’s not sure she wants to be mature.  Not in a “can I puh-lease wear make-up” sort of way (which she can’t), but in a spiritual sense.  ”I don’t want to know what I need to do,” she says to me, “because then I have to do it!”

A book series has caught Sophia’s eye as of late.   At first, it seems fairly innocent.  It is just a story, after all.  An intriguing tale.  However, for a girl who prefers black and white, this series is a little too gray.  In Sophia’s mind, a decision has to be made, so she begins seeking the counsel of the only person can guide her through such murky waters… the Lord.  She begins to pray about whether or not she should continue to read these books.  She diligently searches the Scriptures she’s learning to trust as to what she should do.   She gets an answer.  Unfortunately, it is one she doesn’t particularly like.  But … she steels herself toward obedience to the revelation.  She will not continue reading.  At a time when life and death seemingly hang on the unsteady scales of peer approval, this decision is not an easy one.  A mature decision, yes.  A comfortable one, most decidedly not.

In the New Testament book of James, we are told not to be hearers of the Word only, but doers.  The New Living Translation reads,  ”But don’t just listen to God’s Word.  You must do what it says.  Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” (James 1.22)  I have little doubt that this admonishment has been strategically placed following James’ discourse on trials, troubles, endurance and growth.   Trials and troubles are meant to produce endurance which is meant, in turn, to produce growth.  Growth then leads to action … a doing of the Word.  I see the profound truth played out in front of my very own eyes.  For Sophie, opening one Book has led to closing another.  Growth has given birth to action.  Inspirational.

Wildfire…

“What a great forest is set on fire by a small spark!”   Perhaps you have read, as I have,  James’ words (Ch. 3, vs.5) in the New Testament book that bears his name.  My in-laws who live in California certainly could attest to the damage caused by one careless spark as they inhale the smoke from the latest fire which burns almost 50 miles away.   All I have to do is turn on the news for an instant bird’s eye view of the catastrophic effect of a single spark on thousands of acres of land.  It is more than I can fathom.  And yet, my in-laws not only see it, but feel it, smell it, touch the ash that falls like feathery grey snow from the sky.  Because the actual fire is practically in their back yard, they experience it in a way I cannot from the comfy sofa in my living room.

When James wrote the verse above, he wasn’t speaking of a literal forest … or a literal spark.  He was speaking metaphorically of the tongue as setting off a dangerous chain of events.  Words setting the dry tinder of human thought and emotion ablaze.  This I have experienced … just recently… in my own back yard.   I spoke out of turn regarding a somewhat sensitive matter.  Although quite unintentionally, I had touched off the spark.  A few words later … a very few … the flame was already being stoked.  That is when those closer to the  situation clued me in. They were simply more sensitive to the matter.  They could smell the smoke, they could feel the heat, when I did not.  I took steps to correct the situation – to put out the burgeoning fire, if you will, before any more harm was done.  James’ words are true … and  in the future, I will be much more careful not to make even one little spark fly!

Boys, bikes, and Bibles…

For my son, Sam, today is just about as good as it gets.  In celebration of Labor Day, we took the day off from homeschooling.  While that definitely got his day off to the right start, it would only get better from there.  By mid-morning he found himself standing in line at the Lawn & Garden register of Wal-Mart, gripping the handbars of a cool new bike.   He was happy because it was red, and I was happy because it was on sale.  He was so excited that he rode it out of the store, through the crosswalk, all the way to the car.  We had barely pulled into our driveway before he had taken it out of the back & ridden halfway down our street.   Pulling into the garage, he halted just long enough to tell me that his dad was right.  You see, Sam was not always this excited about biking.  Since he had outgrown his first one, Russ had bought him a great big boy bike a couple of years ago.  It was used but in really good condition.  Sam rode it a few times… to please Mom & Dad, for the most part.  He just wasn’t interested, he had trouble keeping his balance; it was so much work that he just wasn’t having fun.  Russ told Sam, “One day, you WILL ENJOY riding your bike!  It’ll be great!  You’ll wonder how in the world you ever survived without it!  You’ll see…”  And today, he did see.  He was sweaty and stinky … and smiling the whole time.  He owned it – the idea of biking and the actual bike he’d need to see it through.

Memories came flooding into my mind of a time when I felt the same as Sam does today.  I had recommitted my life to Christ, finally taking ownership of my faith much like Sam took ownership of biking today.  And one of the first things I did was drive to the Christian bookstore and buy myself a new Bible. Like Sam with his old bike, I had Bibles already.  One someone had given me or a secondhand KJV I found lying around at my parents’ house.  But they just wouldn’t do.  I was ready to get serious, and for that …  I needed a new Bible – a pink one at that – with cross-references, footnotes and maps.   I couldn’t have been happier as I filled in my own name on the presentation page in the front.  August 11, 1990.  It wouldn’t be long before those pages, with highlights and notes scribbled in the margins, began to show their wear.  At some point the binding began to crack and pieces began to fall off, (which I’m happy to say was more from use than lack of quality workmanship).  It would be the first of many.  For me, the adventure had truly begun.

As I sit poised to begin yet another season of life in the Fall of 2009, I give in to the irresistible urge to buy my latest “new” Bible.  (The green one was out of stock, so I’m back to pink again.)  I’ve been using my current one (The Notemaker’s Bible) for about 2 years.  God has been so faithful, and I have definitely enjoyed using all that space in the margins.  I firmly believe that “When God speaks,” as Henry Blackaby says, “WRITE IT DOWN!” He does & I do!

I just see, from Sam’s experience today & from my own so many times, the impetus for growth – whether physical or spiritual – often comes from a renewed desire within coupled with the newness of something you can get a good grip on.