Life’s a bowl of cherries, and I get all the pits?!?

Acts 14:20-22 (New International Version, ©2011) from www.biblegateway.com

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

By Lynn Anderson, “Never promised you a rose garden:”

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,

Or let go.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Jesus knew this firsthand – He was sent here to be the perfect sacrificial lamb for our sins.  And there was one time that fear almost overwhelmed him:

Luke 22:42-44 (New International Version, ©2011) from www.biblegateway.com

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Literally sweating blood, that is a very powerful fear. 

From the Crabb Family, “Through the Fire:”

so many times I've questioned certain circumstances

Or things I could not understand

Many times in trials weakness blurs my vision

And my frustration gets so out of hand

Its then I am reminded I've never been forsaken

I've never had to stand the test alone

As I look at all the victories

The spirit rises up in me

And its through the fire my weakness is made strong

Chorus:

He never promised that the cross would not get heavy

And the hill would not be hard to climb

He never offered our victories without fighting

But he said help would always come in time

Just remember when your standing in the valley of decision

And the adversary says give in

Just hold on our lord will show up

And he will take you through the fire again

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (New International Version, ©2011) www.biblegateway.com

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Imagine that – in our weakness, we can show His strength and grace.  And how do we do this?  Simply by giving it all to Him and continuing on our way in the manner that we should!  These verses are subtitled in some bibles as:  Paul had his own strength taken away so that he would draw on the strength of the living God.

And from Mercy Me, “Bring the Rain:”

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of

The dark clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what's a little rain

So I pray

I get afraid, I don’t like it when things seem to be going exactly opposite of what I want, but someone understood this so much better than me.  Jesus knew.  And so, I know in believing in Him, I will live with Him and all those that I love that also believed.  And so, I can take a little rain, and go play in the mud puddles!

And from Stephen Curtis Chapman, “Bring it On:”

I didn’t come lookin’ for trouble

And I don’t want to fight needlessly

But I’m not gonna hide in a bubble

If trouble comes for me

I can feel my heart beating faster

I can tell something’s coming down

But if it’s gonna make me grow stronger then…

Bring it on

Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow

Bring it on

Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong

Bring it on

Now, maybe you’re thinkin’ I’m crazy

And maybe I need to explain some things

‘Cause I know I’ve got an enemy waiting

Who wants to bring me pain

But what he never seems to remember

What he means for evil God works for good

So I will not retreat or surrender

Now, I don’t want to sound like some hero

‘Cause it’s God alone that my hope is in

But I’m not gonna run from the very things

That would drive me closer to Him

So bring it on

I don’t ask for trouble, I try so hard to avoid conflict, especially as I get older as my nerves just can’t handle the friction and stress.  But, if Satan comes looking for me, to test me, to try and break my faith, trust, belief and love in my Lord, then “Bring It On!”

The music really spoke this time!

Rich Mullins, "I'll Carry On Lyrics:"

But I'll carry the songs I learned when we were kids

I'll carry the scars of generations gone by

I'll pray for you always, and I promise you this

I'll carry on ~ I'll carry on

Listen to:

Rich Mullins, "Ready For The Storm Lyrics :"

That the lighthouse will keep shining out

Rich Mullins, "Elijah:"

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah

With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire

And when I look back on the stars

Well, It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park

And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

“Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, “Oh no, she’s awake.” “–unknown

Oh yeah!

Is it really true love if we love out of fear?

Michael Johnson’s song “Give Me Wings:”

If you love me, give me wings. Don't be afraid if I fly.

A bird in a cage will forget how to sing,

If you love me, give me wings."

In the old testament, God showed His might, His justice, in so many ways:

• Creation
• The Flood
• The plagues
• Leading the Jewish people out of Egypt
• Sending the snakes when they strayed and then using Moses to heal the bitten

His people knew of His strength, and his anger.  His people knew that, but forgot or got sidetracked and lost track.

Since His people knew His anger, He sent Jesus to show love, mercy and grace.  Becoming Jesus was a great show of love.

Third Day, “Your love, Oh Lord:”

Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide

Jesus accepted anger and ridicule so as to completely understand all aspects of being human. 

Rich Mullins, “Hold me, Jesus:”

You have been King of my glory

Won't You be my Prince of Peace

All who hear about the torture and death of Jesus can see that He knew what we go through.

“He could have called 10,000 angels:”

They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he pray

They led him through the street in shame

They spat upon the Saviour so pure and free from sin

They said crucify him he's to blame

He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free

He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone for you and me

Upon his precious head they placed a crown of thorns

They laughed and said behold the king

They struck him and they cursed him and mocked his holy name

And all alone he suffered everything

He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free

He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone for you and me

John 3:16-17 (New International Version, ©2010)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

HE gave us free will (give me wings), but we CHOOSE to love and follow Him!

“Rock of Ages:”

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

We choose to love and follow, we respect the Creator.  I don’t call it fear.  He died for me, what would you call it?!?

Faith and Grace – they go hand in hand

What can you think of that goes hand in hand:  potatoes and gravy, peanut butter and jelly, (from Forest Gump) peas and carrots.  But faith and grace?

I keep reading about how faith is not something that we have nor can find, like we cannot earn the grace that we have been given.  Faith is also something that is God granted and you just have to accept.

From gotquestions.org about faith and grace:

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Kinda like the movie, Faith Like Potatoes, “the moving journey of a man who, like his potatoes, grows his faith, unseen until the harvest.” (from Wikipedia)  Gotta see this one yet!

Ephesians 2:8-9 (For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.) makes it clear that faith is a gift from God, not because we deserve it, have earned it, or are worthy to have it. It is not from ourselves; it is from God. It is not obtained by our power or our free will. It is simply given to us by God, along with His grace and mercy, according to His holy plan and purpose, and because of that, He gets all the glory.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (New International Version, ©2010) from Biblegateway.com

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Just enough faith, like the mustard seed faith, or as Gary Bob Scott put it, bb’s of faith.

Todd Agnew has a couple of songs that speak to this:

 “Higher ground”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on Heaven’s table land
A higher plane than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
Oh, plant my feet on higher ground

And “Grace Like Rain:”

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

Rich Mullins also addresses it in “Screen door on a Submarine:”Faith comes from God
And every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart
So you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice
Otherwise....

It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine


And Jeremy Camp’s “Walk by Faith”, on his album Carried Me: the Worship Project:
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

This song was written on the October honeymoon with his first wife, who the following February died of ovarian cancer.  That took faith, and he showed it.  And he was given grace in return.

Max wrote in one of his books, can’t remember which and cannot find the quote, but along the lines of . . . when you see a house, you know there was a house builder.  So, to continue that thought, when you look up at the stars, shouldn’t it follow that there was a star maker?  Just because you cannot see the person that built the house, you have know that someone did.  Faith means following that thought and believing that the stars were made in the same way, you just can’t see it yet.

 So, take a leap of faith, accept the grace, and look to the stars.  Someone beautiful is waiting.

It's All in How You Look at It

A working definition of Circumstances might be the individual's perception of his or her overall environment for a period of time. Whenever you get into this subjective terrain it may seem like anything goes. The bible is not afraid to address our circumstances. How we define our reality may be the most important venue for our faith.

Here would be the usual spot for a bible verse. In pushing past that point, the hope is an extension to make my point. What if I could offer a metaphor that explains a lot of our experiences?

You might look at circumstances like a giant pot of stew. Two cooks stand over the pot. The enemy is tossing in yucky stuff, trying to change the flavor of the stew so no one will want to eat it. He is tossing in hypocrites, false religions, bad experiences and lies. God, with ladle in hand, has a second pot off to the side that the enemy has no access to. When everything is properly cooked, he will fish out all the ingredients he wanted to keep and put them into the second pot. Everything else He will dump, including the 'other cook'.

We are swimming right now with ingredients that have not an ounce of permanency. Ugly memories? They will be flushed away with joy. Horrible people? They will either be well seasoned with grace or they will be forever dismissed. Lies? Everything will be revealed. I don't know how the elect are meant to experience the stew. Somehow while we may seem saturated with the flavors of the world around us, God imparts a unique 'taste' to us so that we begin to flavor the ingredients around us.

Jesus said [Matt 13: 47-50] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come down and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I had a creative writing teacher who like to pose the “So What” Test. Applying that test to these ideas produces some interesting 'So What's”.

The response to events becomes more artistic rather then an emotional choice. Why? If you are reduced (and that's also a cooking term) to an “If/Then” statement then all of your power has been stripped from you. Other people can simply manufacture the required IF and then the subsequent THEN will proceed without any conscious choice from you. That is not the freedom we have in Christ. The Apostles were killed rather than change their story. To the very end of their earthly existence, they expressed there was a choice.

Another interesting “So What” is what meaning do you attach to a temporary 'bad taste'. We even say that certain events 'gave us a bad taste'. There is no point to denying the severity of suffering or the real demands it places on us. There is a point to where we choose to focus. The beauty of our faith is that it both acknowledges the sacrifice caused by suffering and points to very real relief. It's temprorary. From a geological standpoint, we're a blip of time and after we've lived and loved our 'blip' we have ageless, unlimited time to enjoy perfection without suffering.

Our circumstances matter to God probably more than even to us. This 'stew' of perception and relationship with cause and effect is part of God's realm where He rules. Our prayers flavor circumstances. When we understand that we have REAL power to affect REAL change, then suddenly we care. Apathy is the outward symptom of the belief that nothing can be done to change things. Why try? There's no point. If you do understand that you can change your environment, your relationships and ultimately your world then let passions flow because it matters. The stew is mutable. The stew can be changed. If I can convince you that your prayers, your responses have global, historical impact then nothing will be ordinary again. The gift of Jesus to us, His brothers and sisters is powerful in the changing of circumstances. Life will never taste the same with Jesus with us.

A new year, a new view of the gift given in grace

From Julian Drive’s song “From Your Hands:”

In the very front of Your mind

While the blood was flowing

You saw my face as You cried

Certain in knowing

Tears, blood and pain in the sand

True love was pouring, True love was pouring from Your hands

I heard this on the radio this morning, and this song had been out for some time, but these lyrics really struck me this morning.  And so then, my mind that thinks in music though I cannot play and you really don’t want to hear me sing, started putting together other songs, and verses.

From Relient K’s “I celebrate the day:” 

And the first time

That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior

And the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever

Lines from Mark Lowry’s “Mary, did you know?:”

. . . This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

. . .  Did you know

that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?

. . . When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

. . . that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?

. . . The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

And from Casting Crowns “Glorious Day:”

Living He loved me, dying He saved me

And buried He carried my sins far away

Rising He justified freely forever

One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Imagine – being loved so much before you were even born, so wanted that someone went thru so much torment, so much pain, so much grief, to give you such mercy and grace. 

Have you found Jesus yet?

I read this in a book that I started last night, Why the Jesus Seminar Can't Find Jesus and Grandma Marshall Could by David Marshall:

Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?
Forrest: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.  (quote from Forrest Gump)

And then, thought of the lines to one of my favorite songs:

looking for love in all the wrong places.
Looking for love in too many faces.
Searching their eyes, looking for traces
of what I'm dreaming of. (Lyrics from Looking for Love)

And then heard, so clearly:
Psalm 46:10  He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;

I also got to thinking about part of a book that I had read that spoke about Mary carrying God, pregnant with the Creator, and then compared her with God inside her, to us, having Him inside us.

Romans 8:9-11 (New International Version, ©2010) 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[a] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[b] his Spirit who lives in you.

Why go looking, when He is right there, inside us, just waiting for us to open our hearts and ears and hear Him?!? 

Revelation 3:20 (New International Version, ©2010)20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

And the carol, “Do you hear what I hear?”
“Do you hear what I hear
A song, a song
High above the tree
With a voice as big as the sea”

John 10:27-30 (New International Version, ©2010)27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

I had a daily devotional today that spoke to being busy, feeling guilty for resting, and yet, how can you hear that still small voice when racing around, being busy?

“Listen to what I say
Pray for peace people everywhere”

Psalm 23:1-3 (New International Version, ©2010) 
Psalm 23
 1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, (italics mine)
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
   for his name’s sake.

I am pretty sure that Jesus is the one who does the finding, we just need to listen more, and isn’t that the case anyway?!?  I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, but that would be a good one to make, to listen more, and to actually hear what is said.

Happy New Year!

The most wonderful time of the year

And, for some, the loneliest.

“Are you lonesome tonight”  Elvis

Are you lonesome tonight,

Do you miss me tonight,

Are you sorry we drifted apart?

"It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18).

I have been hearing from various friends and family about how the holiday season is so hard, the scrabble for gifts, the worry about bills, the wanting to be with family and not being able to. 

And it is so easy to get caught up in the rush, hustle and bustle of the time, that we get overwhelmed and lose track, burned out and discouraged.

It’s hard – to remember the reason for the season, to realize that we are not really alone.  I got an email, once upon a time right after my dad died that knocked me off my feet:

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job)! is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love.  It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear.  Open our hearts not just to those who are close to us, but to all humanity.  Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Everyone is dealing with something, and while surrounded by so much rushing, and happiness and busyness, there are empty nesters, and those mourning, and those seeking.  Blaine Larson sings a song where there is one line that struck me hard:  How do you get that lonely and nobody knows?

No cheerleading this time, but a simple and heartfelt request – reach out to someone who looks lost.  Offer hugs to those you might not think of offering to any other time of the year.  Say hello to someone.  Give.  It need not be money or food, but a smile, a thought, time.  You never know, it could change or save someone’s life.