Who Do You Think Inspired Newton?

Source: www.asc-csa.gc.ca

Romans 11:32

”In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be on the outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.”  (MSG)

Evil must exist so that I may know Good.  Darkness must exist so that I may know Light.  I must know myself as I Am Not in order to know myself as I Am.  Without one, I cannot know the other.

Newton’s Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  The New Testament is full of warnings that the closer we get to God, the more we shall be persecuted.  In those days, this often referred to the suffering and hatred early Christians endured just because they followed Jesus.  The key thing to remember, though, is that this also applies to the forces of evil which wish to work against us.  The more I move toward God, the more the enemy is going to try to push me back.

It is clearly illustrated in the story of Job that God allows Satan to bring great suffering upon Job.  Over and over, especially after natural disasters or sudden deaths, the question is asked, “Why does God allow bad things to happen?”  At the end of Job’s suffering, God blessed him in ways he couldn’t even imagine.  And in the wake of great disasters we often see an uprising of human good – be it humanitarian aid, people coming from all over to help out at the scene of the catastrophe, or just general human kindness and giving.  Following the death of a loved one, a family often comes together.  All perhaps only for a short time, but still an equal and opposite reaction.

Without one, we cannot know the other. 

There is a reason why I must endure desert times.  If I never wandered away from the fold, I could never know myself as the Wonderfully Made Child of God that I Am.  If I never experience “being on the outside,” I become complacent and gratitude fades.  By allowing me to wander out now and then, God ensures that I never forget how much I have for which to be thankful, how much he has done for me, and how he continues to provide.  He knows that, eventually, I will come to my senses, turn, and come running back to him where he stands by the open pasture gate with his arms open just waiting to embrace me.

The Good News is, the closer I get to God, the stronger I grow in my faith and the more deeply I am ingrained in his word, the shorter my desert times will be.

This morning I stood at the gate, shuffling my hooves and looking at the open expanse before me.  God patted my head and stood by with a smile on his face, making no move to stop me from leaving or shoo me back in.  The gate is always open, I am not forced to stay here.  As I looked up at my Faithful Shepherd, I was filled with gratitude for the things from which he has delivered me.  I “baa’d” a prayer of thanks and ambled back into the pasture, glad to have the desert be just a memory today and not where I am wandering instead. 

Amen!  :D 

Prone to Wander

 

"There goes another one..."

Know how God burns calories?

Chasing his sheep.

Philippians 4:4-9

“Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near.  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 Jesus Christ.  Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received from me, or seen in me – put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”  (NIV, italics mine)

That I am still amazed at the drastic change I feel in my life when I make a point of spending time with God only points to how new I still am at truly making God the focal point of my life.  Complete and total surrender is not an easy thing, especially not for one as stubborn as I am.  Lack of self-discipline has been a theme in my life and is something I still struggle with, meaning I am prone to distraction and, of course, prone to wander.

I got caught up in the busyness of life and, one by one, parts of my day I had devoted to God started to fall away.  I was still praying now and then, still hitting church Sunday morning, still praising him, but life’s distractions had edged him out of my central focal point.  And I knew it happened, but I couldn’t seem to make myself shift it back.

As God moved out of my focus and I prayed less and less, feelings of chaos, anxiety, fear, and sadness began to move back in.  Before I knew it, I found myself in a state of discontentment, confused, a bit bewildered, and wondering how on earth I managed to let myself get to that point.

It wasn’t until I laid myself out and in earnest prayer admitted my error, asked for forgiveness, thanked him for all the blessings he still gave me and begged for help to completely surrender myself that I felt a change.  And oh! what a change. 

God is willing if I am willing.  If I open myself up in earnest prayer and show him that I really mean it, he will almost instantly lift the negative feelings from my heart and wrap me up in his wondrous love. 

God is faithful to the degree to which I am faithful.  Sure, he still provides and cares for me while I’m off wandering along the edge of the precipice, and, yeah, he’ll catch me when I slip and fall, but it is only when I turn and run to him that I will truly feel all the effects of his love, and get to know his peace which passes all understanding.

I pray that I may make a more conscious and consistent habit of earnest prayer. May I walk in his love always, and, though I still will wander from time to time – I am human, after all – I pray that my wanderings are less and less frequent and for shorter periods of time.   

Amen!  :D



Heaven Here

Revelation 15b-17

“The One on the Throne will pitch his tent there for them: no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat.  The Lamb on the Throne will shepherd them, will lead them to spring waters of Life.  And God will wipe every last tear from their eyes.”  (MSG)

Admittedly, I haven’t spent a lot of time with the book of Revelation.  John’s visions sound not unlike strange dreams, the kind from which I wake and feel odd for the rest of the day, whose images stick with me for many years because they are so bizarre.  For me, reading the book of Revelation is like sorting through these dreams, trying to find the pieces that make any sense or mean anything.

Currently, one of my devotionals is going through part of Revelation.  As I wade through the winged animals covered in eyes, the scroll and all it unleashes and the thunder and lightning and fire and doom, I try to pick up on what I can take away from it.  Today I found promises tucked into the chaos. 

Revelation 15b-17 succinctly outlines what it means to have everlasting life in Christ Jesus with God the Father in Heaven.  When I move into life with him, I shall never be in want.  All my needs will be met, and my sorrow will end.

What I believe is often overlooked is that one does not need to wait until life here on this earth is over in order to move into everlasting life.  With complete and total surrender to the Way, the Truth and the Life I will find that, indeed, all of my needs are met and my sorrow has ended.  The hard part is complete and total surrender.

In this world, perception is highly skewed.  And with all the distractions and the lessons I learned growing up in this society, it can be difficult to see with the eyes other than those of my own human nature.  Heaven on earth is possible, but it takes work and retraining of my brain in order to see that it can be here now.

The promise – shelter from the storm, endless provision, unconditional love, and joy.  The more time I spend with God, the more possible it becomes.    

God, I ask that you help me to keep my eyes open and to see the work you are doing in my life.  When my eyes fall and begin to scan the things which bring up my human worries, please reach down and close them so I spend a moment in prayer before lifting them back up to you.  Help me to keep my eyes on you, Lord.

Amen!  :D

I Need to Unplug

Psalm 55:1

Before I opened the bible this morning, my prayer was for God to help keep me from distraction and to bring forth today any job prospects he would like me to investigate.  The first verse in Psalm 55 was certainly the Holy Spirit praying for me: "Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don't pretend you don't hear me knocking.  Come close and whisper your answer.  I really need you."  (MSG)

"...whisper your answer."  Sometimes I wish God would shout, loudly instructing me or reminding me what I should be doing.  If he shouted, I'd be more likely to hear him.  But over and over again, I hear the reference to, "The still, small voice of God."  Which is why I must, "Be still and know that [he is] God." Ps 46:10a (NIV)

If I don't take at least a few moments each day to slow down, to be still, to interrupt the clutter of all the things I am thinking and doing, I can't very well expect to hear God's whisper.

It's easy to get distracted.  I'm so connected, spending all this time online right now job hunting, researching, emailing, blogging, twittering, facebooking, etc, and I'm forgetting to disconnect from the world and connect to God.  To take those moments throughout the day to pray, be quiet, be still and listen.

When I prayed for help not to be distracted, God reminded me that, if I'm knocking, but am not quiet enough to listen for his whisper, I won't know if I am knocking on the right door.  I won't know if I'm still on his path for me, if I'm moving in the right direction.

So today I will be sure to take those moments, to spend time in quiet communion with God.  I will be still, and I will listen for his whisper.

Amen!  :D


**Funny how he works: Whispering Shepherd

Oh, God, My Faithful German Shepherd

Psalm 23:1

Psalm 23 in its entirety is a good one.  It is perhaps one of the most well-known psalms.  But I really would like to hone in on the first verse today.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want."  NIV
"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need."  NLT
"The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack."  NAB
"The Lord is my shepherd; I lack for nothing."  Oxford Study Bible (Revised English Bible)
"God, my shepherd!  I don't need a thing."  MSG

So, God is my shepherd and I don't need anything.  Cool.

I know in general what a shepherd is.  A shepherd leads & feeds the sheep.  This is a reference used all over the bible, including instructing Christ's followers to be shepherds to his flock and feed his sheep (i.e. 1 Pet. 5:2). Merriam-Webster defines shepherd as: 1: A person who tends sheep; 2: Pastor; 3: German Shepherd.  (God spelled backward is Dog and a German Shepherd is a Dog, therefore a German Shepherd is God in Dog form.)  Dictionary.com gives a similar, but more descriptive definition (which still includes a dog): 1: A person who herds, tends and guards sheep; 2: A person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people; 3: a member of the clergy; 4: the Shepherd, Jesus Christ; 5: Sheepdog.

Hmm...  God is my shepherd.  He tends to me, guards, protects and watches over me, herds me to guide me in the right direction, ministers to me and leads me through Christ's teachings, and loves me unconditionally like a fuzzy, furry pooch that will nip me in the heels should I start to stray from the flock, then lick my face to show me it was out of love.

Sheep don't worry.  At least, not to my knowledge.  Much like my kitties are well provided for as pampered housecats, all of the sheep have their needs met by the shepherd.  He (or the dog) steps in to rescue them should a wolf come hunting.  He leads them to green pastures for the lushest of grass upon which to snack.  (Psalm 23:2)  If one goes missing, he searches to find it.  (Luke 15:4-7)

God is my shepherd and I am his sheep and shepherds provide all the sheep need, therefore God provides all I need.

But I have tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and am carrying a balance on my credit card.  But I just got laid off and am unemployed, not earning any income to pay on said debts.  But food for my belly and gas for my car cost more of that money I don't have. But, but, but.  I need to sit on my but and trust that God will provide.  If I haven't learned that by now, I need to start paying better attention.

"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion.  There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body.  Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God.  And you count far more to him than birds.  What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving.  Don't worry about missing out.  You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."  Matt. 6:25-26, 31, 33b.  (MSG)

Amen!  :D