Just a short little thing I’ve just come across while doing homework that I wanted to share with you . . .

Kenneth Boa says in his book, Conformed to His Image, “Faith is pleasing to God because it is the measure of the risk we place in his character and promises.”

Romans 4:20-22 (ESV) says, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’”

Faith is hard, seriously hard when we cannot see the end result and we have no control over the outcome. God knows this is a challenge for us. As we choose to engage in relationship with Him though, spending time in His Word, we come to know His character. This coming to know Him helps to build our trust, which increases our faith.

As time goes on and we accumulate experiences, choosing to trust Him, we learn that He is trustworthy and so our faith grows. This enables us to continue in faith and trust when times are hard and we don’t understand the things He allows. We can know that He is for us and that even when He allows difficult things, that He can turn them around for our good in ways we never could have imagined.

A friend of mine posted something I have been afraid I was going to see but have been hopeful that maybe I would be surprised. A church has been refusing to honor the stay home / shelter-in-place policy of its local government, because they are not going to allow the government to tell them they cannot meet. Amazingly enough, the governor made religious activities essential and therefore not subject to the order. I have read similar statements of various individuals over the past few weeks about government control and the ignorance and short-sightedness is mind-blowing to me.

Now, you who know me, know that I absolutely think that church attendance is essential. I attend church every Sunday under normal circumstances. (I will not get into all the “whys” here but suffice it to say that I consider church attendance essential.) My heart grieves over not being able to gather with my church family next Sunday for Easter.

Now, I also know that there are many possibilities of things that we do not want the government to tell us to do as “religious” organizations; however, taking each situation individually, this is a scenario in which we should be making the decision ourselves and the right choice is a no-brainer!

This concept that the government is trying to exert control over the people by these orders is ridiculous. I am curious if these same people consider a stoplight to also be the government trying to exert inappropriate or over-reaching control? Really? Imagine the chaos at a busy intersection if stoplights did not exist.

As for the churches or other “religious” gatherings, for non-“churchy” people (as my neighbor would say 😉 ), please know that there are many, many, many “churchy” people who do not carry this same viewpoint. I know hundreds, if not thousands, of church groups who are choosing to meet virtually in order to honor government orders and also individual safety needs. Many have taken on additional work and expense in order to do so.

For the “churchy” among my readers, what sort of a message do we send when we need to serve what we perceive as “our rights” versus having sensitivity to the needs of the people. Which would Jesus choose to do? We see in God’s Word that we are to honor those in authority over us (Rom 13:1-2). We also consistently see Jesus only reaching out with love and compassion for the people. His responses of judgement and disdain were only for the religious leaders who were leading the people according to their own agendas and not the principles of God’s kingdom.

Stay home people! Churchy or not. The longer you choose to violate these measures to manage this virus, the longer we all have to deal with this: the more people will lose their jobs / income and the greater number of people will die.

When Jesus saw him lying there . . ., He said to the man, “Do you want to be made well?”

John 5:6

Survived my church history class (woohoo!), now on to “Spiritual Formation” for eight weeks. We are reading through the book of John and writing on three chapters each week. I submitted this for this week and thought it might be meaningful for some . . .

Reflection on John 4-6

The Message of the Passages

There are a few stories and messages in John 4-6. The three passages are framed with Jesus being the source in that 1) He tells the Samaritan woman “those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty” (4:14) and 2) He tells the crowd, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (6:35). Whatever the Christian’s physical sustenance, Jesus is the source of true life.

Throughout these chapters, the response of Jesus’ heart to the Father’s will is seen. The believer can take this as an example of our response to the Father as well: 1) My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to complete His work (4:34); 2) The Son can do nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise (5:19); 3) I seek to do not my own will but the will of Him who sent me (5:30, 6:38); and 4) Seek glory that comes from the one who alone is God (5:44).

Characters

Between chapters four and six is the story of the man who had been ill by the Beth-zatha pool for thirty-eight years. It was to this man that Jesus said, “Do you want to be made well?” (5:6) People have made much of both Jesus’ question and the man’s answer, but to me, his answer is an illustration of my own thought patterns. If Jesus asked me if I wanted to be made well, I may want to shout “YES!” but my fear of disappointment that He might not, that it did not fit into His big scheme of things or He had some lesson for me to learn through my present physical condition would preclude my honest answer. I am presently working through these sorts of things, to instead simply answer with childlike faith, “yes, I want to be made well!” and to trust Him with the response, for what child would not say to a Father they trust, “yes, Father, please make me well.”

The LORD was with Joseph

Genesis 39

There had to be some depth in that 17-year-old heart of yours, as you could just as eaily have gone the other way and been a bitter, angry young man, questioning God’s presence when you went from favor to pit to chains over night. Off to Egypt went the boy with the big dreams.

When you arrived, you were picked up by none other than the captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Did you see that as the beginning of the fulfillment of the dream or was that still far from your sight? What we know is this: The LORD was with you. YHWH – God in relationship with His covenant people.

In Genesis 39, Moses makes a point of framing this horrible turn of events in Joseph’s life with the statement, “The LORD was with Joseph,” twice at the beginning of the chapter and twice at the end.

2 – The LORD was with Joseph and he became a successful man
3 – His master saw that the LORD was with him
21 – But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love
23 – Because the LORD was with him

I particularly like verse 21: “But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love.” (See my prior post on God’s immovable love!) This verse occurs right after Joseph was put in prison because Potiphar’s wife lied about him assaulting her. God showed Joseph His steadfast love by giving him favor with the prison manager. What this also says to me is that God saw Joseph and was aware of all that was happening with him; that even though there was a reason that God was allowing this, He was still in control of the situation and making the way for Joseph.

As I currently walk through some of the most difficult days of my life, it is easy to feel like God has abandoned me to this, that He has His agenda and I just need to get through it. The story of Joseph is meaningful to me in so many ways, but in this, it reminds me that even in the midst of overwhelming circumstances, God is present and He sees me and is still navigating the path of my life – even if it does not feel like it.

A friend often reminds me, feelings are not facts. They are so very real and they inform us of so many things, but they cannot always be trusted to give us the truth. As we choose to engage with God as His children, we can be assured that the LORD is with us – Immanuel – God with us!

Dear friend, I hope this can encourage or be a reminder to you, that regardless of what you are walking through, God who loves you tremendously is there, with you, walking by your side – His Spirit residing in you – and navigating the path for you!

Much love!

D

I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,

Psalm 31:7 (ESV)

I was reading in the Psalms recently and a particular phrase captured my eye because it occurred multiple times – depending on your translation, “faithful love” or “steadfast love.” This phrase occurs three times in Psalm 31.

I decided to do a quick check in my software to see how often this phrase occurs in the Bible. Overall, the two words occur in the same verse 202 times! However, the thing that really caught my attention was this – 196 of those time are in the Old Testament. Yes, that part of the Bible that so many people associate with an angry God . . . 196 times! Interestingly enough, the occurrences in the New Testament are just the two words, but not the phrase “steadfast love.” Hmmm . . .

That word steadfast . . . Webster’s online dictionary defines it as “firm in belief, determination or adherence: loyal; firmly fixed in place; not subject to change: IMMOVABLE.” Immovable! God’s love is immovable, it is firmly fixed and not subject to change! My heart is doing flip flops just typing this!

I am in one of the toughest times of my life right now. Basically, taking work one day, one hour at a time. This concept of God’s immovable love is a rock that I am clinging to for survival, for sanity. Whatever space you are in today, take a moment and let this concept flood your heart. Maybe you don’t always understand what God is up to. But, you can trust this – you can trust God’s character and you can trust His steadfast, immovable love.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 89:1 ESV

It was been an atrocious few days. The kind that you never want to repeat and the outcome of which, unfortunately, have changed your life.
Work. In my life, a necessary evil. I have been employed by the same company for three decades and the last ten years or so have been rough for me. Don’t get me wrong – God has blessed us over the years with our jobs remaining steady when others’ were not, favor with our employers, etc., . . . maybe that’s why this was even more shocking to me.
Following a process that started turning our world upside down the end of September, someone else’s choice has officially landed me in a new job, with a new title and responsibilities – none of which was my choice. The rest of my prior team, which was also split for the last four months has been put back together again, minus me. This is not a change that I was looking for, nor did I want it and tried to communicate such as strongly as possible while remaining professional. Regardless, “they” did exactly what I was hoping they would not do. The result is this unwanted new job and new boss in an area I do not like and the loss of community – which is not easy for me, by the way – of my prior team. As I became aware of the situation on Tuesday, I will admit, I “lost it.” My heart is broken. I feel betrayed and disregarded; I am angry and I am grieving.
Also for me still, this has spiritual repercussions, “Why, God?” This is one of those things that I so totally do not understand why He allowed it to happen. Add this to some other things for which I have been seeking God’s heart diligently the last few weeks and I was in quite a state of feeling like He was silent and I did not understand.
Then, last night it began, from three different sources, a strong consistent message, a message so powerful and undeniable that I must “sing of His love” . . . which for me, is actually to write . . . 🙂

• [God] is intensely engaged with His people. He’s not disconnected from what’s happening in the affairs of . . . your life . . . At the very core of God’s personality is a consuming love for His people . . . remember how intensely the Father loves you. (1)
• A God who is a father, tender and loving and full of compassion, who will be on [your] side against the whole universe . . . (2)
• Finally, my Proverbs 31 Ministries devotional this morning that could not have been more specifically applicable to my present situation than if I would have written it myself. (Link below)
  – A challenge “to stop assessing His goodness based on how my life felt at any given moment.
  – You (God) keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you . . . (Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV) (3)

One thing ministering to my wounded heart could be a coincidence (because some will say this), but three things, one after the other and so targeted to exactly what I needed in my spirit! I was awed, overwhelmed and humbled that the Creator of the universe met me in this way. I felt heard and seen by Him, thus I felt His amazing, never-failing love. That is who He is and that is the message I must tell.
Our circumstances may not change one tiny bit, but just as Isaiah states and as you can find all throughout His Word – God will faithfully strengthen and walk with those who choose to engage with Him in relationship. HE IS FAITHFUL!

(1) Mike Bickle. Growing in Prayer Devotional: A 100-Day Journey
(2) Hannah Whitall Smith. God is Enough
(3) Lysa TerKeurst. “When Peace Feels Impossible,” https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2020/01/16/when-peace-feels-impossible

“I suppose the one he forgave more.”

Luke 7:43 (CSB)

I had an opportunity yesterday to share a bit of my testimony with a new friend. As I was reading this morning and then writing some thoughts, I was reminded of this conversation. I was also reminded of what is a familiar topic for me – thankfulness to God for how He has changed my life the last few years.

Gratitude and being mindful of things for which we are grateful is almost like a catch-phrase these days. Don’t get me wrong, I highly value the concept and feel that it helps overcome self-focus and depressed feelings and make a greater opportunity for joy in our lives. However, when something becomes trendy, it tends to lose a little bit of its punch.

My life frequently makes me think of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet in Luke 7. While the scenario is not exactly the same, the concept is for me. I was in such a desert wasteland spiritually and Abba-God gently guided me back to spiritual life, above and beyond what I ever could have expected, and gave me all that I dreamed. For me, it was a miraculous transformation and I did nothing but follow the gentle nudging that He provided. That has made me incredibly grateful. He saw me and responded to my cries for Him. Because of that, I have a very thankful heart.

• Sometimes the nature of gratitude is light and simple – I wave to the person behind me for letting me into the lane without a hassle. I am grateful, but it does not cost me anything – “Thanks!”
• Other times, thankfulness is a little more involved and can be an opportunity. Being a person who often feels invisible, it is very important to me that others know they are seen. When I pay for my prescription at the pharmacy, my food at the drive-through or my veggies at the grocery, I look the check-person in the eye and address them by name and thank them – “Thank you” 🙂
• When a friend makes the time and takes the initiative to reach out to me to share some of their time, I feel seen and am grateful – “Thank you” ((hug))
• When my beloved hubby sees the anguish of my brain in the black hole and invites me to be held in his arms and feel the touch of his skin, my heart and mind are changed – “Thank you” (tears)
• When I lay in my bed at 5 a.m. on a Saturday and think of the story I was able to share with my friend of how God took a middle-aged woman lost in a sea of pain and doubt who thought she no longer had purpose and could not read His Word and turned her into a graduate student in love with the Bible on a path with a plan, my heart is physically flooded with gratitude and I am overwhelmed with the mighty loving God that I choose to give my life to every day. “YOU saved my life and I will spend the remainder of it telling those You bring into my path the message that You have given me. THANK YOU” . . . words meant with all of my heart and yet still so terribly inadequate.

Whatever level of thankfulness it may be, let what God has done for your life impact the lives of others today. (smile) ((hug))

But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

Luke 12:5 (NIV)

Fear. God. This is not a topic that we are so keen on these days. It is one of those concepts that is often misunderstood. Having recently written a paper on Luke 12, I ran into this verse that is always a little startling to me: “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”
What’s more, from this rather disturbing statement, Jesus went on to tell a crowd of thousands of people about the five sparrows sold for two pennies and that “not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (6-7 NIV)

So, what is the point here? Why the dramatic statement and then move right into the five little sparrows?!?!

It is often shared that the Bible does not really mean fear when the word is used. Like many things, that is true but also not true. Consider this . . .
We love to camp and when the temperature is right (I hate to be cold), I love a good wood fire. However, there are things that I know about fire that cause me to respect it and sometimes when I see what fire can do, I am in awe (e.g., blown glass!).
When I am camping in Western Washington in the Spring and Fall, I have a raging fire and my poker stick that I like to watch glow in the darkness, respecting that I need to follow certain guidelines, but not experiencing fear. When we camp in Eastern Washington in the summertime, wood fires are usually not allowed because one stray spark left unattended can lead to destruction.
If I do not follow the guidelines and choose to have a fire in Eastern Washington and the straw-like grass catches on fire and is rapidly advancing toward my motor home and the campsites of others and innocent children, then I am going to be afraid, in the full sense of the word. I am crazy-scared and there are going to be consequences for my actions!

The same scenario is true of God. Whether we as “post-modern” Americans like it or not, this is God’s world. He created it and the scenarios for living in it. If we play with fire and are not following the guidelines He has established, we will be faced with fearful consequences, as our response to His path determines our eternity.
BUT, if we choose to honor and respect Him, following the “guidelines” that He has established – engaging in relationship with Him – then we will know the amazing love of the One who created everything and yet is mindful of the five tiny little sparrows, the cheapest, most common of birds.
Is the point of Luke 12:7 the fact that He knows the number of hairs on our head? No, it is “in the fact that God cares enough about His people to know the minutest detail about them. He knows things they do not know about themselves.” << and He loves us anyway!

(Morris, Leon. Luke: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 3. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988.)

In her Proverbs 31 daily devotional today, Lysa TerKeurst presented King Jehoshaphat and how he was afraid and yet “resolved to inquire of the LORD” when faced with the army of three countries who have formed an alliance to come after the smaller army of Judah. You can find the story in 2 Chronicles 20.

I love the point that Lysa develops regarding the fact that Jehoshaphat was afraid and yet resolved to inquire of the LORD. What an impact that can have on our lives when we choose to do the same! In looking at the chapter in 2 Chronicles though, I was amazed to see an entire process that this king followed that can be so applicable to our lives.
Obviously, our context is far from his, as most of us our not likely facing a physical enemy with the odds not in our favor; however, there are spiritual principles that apply to our lives today.
What do I see? This could be an entire teaching session, but here’s the short version: The king was afraid but set his face to seek the LORD, then he prayed and God answered, the people responded in obedience, when God took out the enemy for them, they responded with praise.
God may not always clear out the enemy before us, but He absolutely will respond to us, whether it is with His peace, with comfort, encouragement, with a sense of His presence and power . . . and sometimes, He’ll just go before and destroy our enemy!

The details . . .

• When faced with an overwhelming situation, Jehoshaphat “set his face to seek the LORD” (v3 ESV)
• All those around him also “came to seek the LORD” (v4)
• The king stood before his people and prayed to God: acknowledging who He is and what He has done for them and then making their request of Him, acknowledging their powerlessness in this situation (vv5-12)
• In response, God had a message for them: “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s! (v15) “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” (v17)
• God gave them instructions of when and where to go. In those instructions, He said, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf.” (v17)
• Jehoshaphat’s response is one that I want to have: he bowed his head with his face to the ground; all Judah also “fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD.” The Levites praised God “with a very loud voice”! (v19)
• As they went out the next morning, the king told his people, “Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established” (v20) and then he assigned various of them to sing and praise God as they went. As the people did this, God set an ambush against the army coming against His people and they ended up destroying each other. By the time Judah arrived on the scene, the battle was already won!
• The king and his army gathered again and blessed the LORD for what He had done (v26)

Some things this week have caused me to be thinking about my blog . . . which I have not touched for two months, since I started class. That, obviously, is not how I want to do things. I am choosing to have mercy on myself, as I got a little freaked out with “imposter syndrome” during those first couple of weeks and I am working full time, taking a graduate-level class and facilitating a table for Bible study (which of course I love, Lisa G 😉 ).
Part of what I have been thinking about, is something that several people have been challenging me with, and that is my need to do things perfectly. Sigh . . . Yes, it is “a thing” for me. My therapist of the past would have said, “How’s that working for you, Denise?” (She could be a brat! 😉 ) It does not serve me well and often keeps me from things because I am afraid I am not going to be able to complete something literally perfectly. May sound bizarre to some, but I have an expectation to be something different than “only human,” which is what people say when I get something less than perfect. However, I also know that I have seen a few times in my class that when I thought I did the worst on something because I was distracted with my trip or exhausted after a weekend conference, God intervened on my behalf and I was surprised by my grade. I knew it was nothing I had done on my own. Hmmm . . .
So, part of my challenge to myself with this blog is to work at being more casual and just putting more things out there that might be encouraging to people, without necessarily being a formal write-up of something. God will do what He is going to do . . .

As I’ve said before, this is only open to people who are friends at this time, so I am interested in knowing your thoughts on all of this as I go along.