Glimmers of God’s Glory

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to God. But what is revealed belongs to us and our children.”

I made a special snack for my grandchildren for when they came home from school. I shared Deuteronomy 29:29 with them and told them that I wanted to share some secret things that God had revealed. 

I paused and looked up to find my 10 year old autistic grandson standing on my kitchen counter!!! I got him settled and began again. I told them that God had shared a secret with us about heaven. 

I told them that it is beautiful because God is there. There is a wonderful river in heaven called the River of the Water of Life, with water clear as crystal. Suddenly, my 4 year old granddaughter interrupted. She said, “And when I get to heaven I’m going to be a mermaid and swim in that river.” I smiled and replied, “That’s not a secret God has revealed. But I promise you it will be wonderful.” And closed the book.

“Is that all Mimi? That was only 5 minutes.” I told Harde that I could only give them glimmers of God’s glory because he was the only one who would sit still. Harde is my grandson who is wheelchair bound.

Last week I told them why God had created them. I told them about the conversation that I had with their great grandfather the day before he died. His mother had taught him that he had been created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. During that last conversation we had talked about how glorifying God had brought him joy.

I told them that glorifying God was like shining a light on Him and discovering how wonderful He is. I will continue to share with my grandchildren the secret things that God has revealed even if it’s only 5 minutes at a time So that together we can enjoy Him forever. Hopefully one day they will meet their great grandfather in heaven, maybe even by the River of the Water of life.

Tzitzit

 I don’t know how many times I read this verse without really paying attention to it but recently it caught my eye. “The LORD said to Moses,”Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their  garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So that you shall remember to do all my commandments, and to be holy to your God.”(Numbers 15:37-40)

This tassel is known as a tzitzit. It was a physical reminder to Israelites, of who they were, who God was, and what He required of them. They were to wear these tassels on the corners of their garments so that wherever they went they would be reminded to be set apart, to be holy to their God. It reminds me of something Steve and I would tell our children when they left home, “Remember who you are, to whom you belong, and who you represent.”

I’m on chapter 31 of 2 Chronicles and I’m finding a lot of evidence that although they may have been wearing the tassel they struggled to not follow their own heart and their own eyes. I remember when I was a teenager and I saw a chart of the ups and downs of Israel obeying God that I was discussed. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with them. I’m older now and I understand.

When I was young I believed that I could follow all God’s commandments. I really didn’t believe that I needed a savior. I believed that if I were given enough time that I could be perfect. Life has taught me a different lesson. I think that’s why I was fascinated when I read Malachi 4:2 “But you who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.” The tassel was to be placed on each corner of the garment. In Hebrew the word corner is also referred to as fringes or wings.

In the Luke 8, there’s a beautiful picture of the Son of Righteousness who had healing in his wings. A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years and was considered ceremonially unclean according to Jewish law was cured by touching the fringe of Jesus garment. She had done everything she could to be healed. She had suffered much at the hands of the physicians. This is such a picture of what it means to have a savior. After he healed her he called her daughter.

Jesus, thank you for giving me this picture of a tangible reminder of an intangible truth, that I too can find healing in your wings.

Safe

 It was bedtime but when I saw the anguish in his eyes I knew that sleep would not be coming anytime soon. All he could choke out was, “Mimi, I have phobias!” After that the storm broke and the tears flowed. For thirty minutes I held him. Rocking him back and forth I whispered, “it’s okay to cry, you’re safe.” Then there was quiet and he looked up at me with peaceful eyes.

Later that night it was my turn to acknowledge that I too had phobias. My sleep was broken when my mind became flooded by all the things I had no control over. It took awhile but finally I realized that staying in bed was pointless. I poured myself a glass of milk and picked up the book “The Attributes of God” by Arthur W. Pink and I ban to read:

“ Here then is a sure resting-place for the heart. Our lives are neither the product of blind fate, nor the result of capricious chance, but every detail of them was ordained from all eternity, and is now ordered by the living and reigning, God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without his permission. “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9) What assurance, what strength, what comfort this should give the real Christian! “My times are in Thy hand” (Psalm 31:15) “Then let me rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him”(Psalm 37:7).

I sighed deeply closed the book and went to bed. In a world filled with things over which I had no control I knew that I was safe.

The Power of Living Faith

 What was it that Jesus had just taught that caused the apostles to respond, "Increase our faith!"?

Jesus had just told them that if their brother, "sins against you that you are to rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him."(Luke 17:3,4) This kind of forgiveness is not natural. 

Jesus' response to their request showed that it's not the amount of faith that counts but the quality of the faith you have. He told them that faith the size of a mustard seed could uproot a mulberry tree and cause it to be planted in the sea. In another place He told them that faith the size of a mustard seed could remove mountains. Why? Because a seed has life inside it.

*In Italy there is a remarkable tomb. An enormous block of granite was brought and placed there by order of the man who is buried underneath. Before he died, he arranged that this great mass of granite should be laid over his tomb; and he did so, saying that he did it in order that if there ever was a resurrection, it might be certain he should never rise! We smile at the folly of it. It is an interesting fact that this block of granite weighing tons is there but split in two. Between the hour of his sepulture and the placing of that block over his grave, a bird flying across carrying an acorn, happened to drop the acorn right there. They put the granite slab in place, and if you see it now, that enormous slab of granite weighing tons, is split clean through the middle and the oak tree from the acorn is there, growing straight up through it! The living power in the acorn has split the granite. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, if your faith has but a living quality, if your faith is more than dead orthodoxy, the acceptance of certain statements as true intellectually, if it is a living thing, which in your life is producing results that are in consonance with the things you profess to believe, then there is nothing impossible, said Jesus. You will be able to forgive your brother seven times. *

We don't need more faith; we need living faith.

*G Camble Morgan

The Power of Kindness

 I was on my home from the hospital trying to understand what was happening. I drove up to the window of a fast-food restaurant and was asked, "How can I help you?" That's when I lost it. I began to cry uncontrollably. Finally, I pulled my car into a parking space laid my head on the steering wheel and gave way to my grief. 

Suddenly there was a gentle tapping at my window. There at my window were two young women one had a hot cup of coffee the other was holding a warm cinnamon roll. Their kindness was like a warm blanket on a cold day. This happened three years ago and yet every time I pass by that restaurant I am refreshed by the memory of their kindness.

As I've reflected on this memory, I've thought about what the Bible teaches about kindness. Two things stand out to me first that love is kind and secondly that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. I think kindness is like a taste of heaven.

Often, I'm overwhelmed by the suffering around me. I feel completely inadequate to do anything and then I remember how Jesus taught His disciples to pray. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."(Matthew 6:9,10) God is love. Love is kind. Even the smallest act of kindness to a stranger can be an opportunity for us to fulfill God's will.  

So today my prayer is that I might be kind and tenderhearted to those I encounter whether I know them or not.

The Lord Is...

 I was the keynote speaker for a Christian camp, but I don't remember what I spoke about that week. What I remember was what someone in attendance shared with me. 

She had come to camp with her adult disabled daughter who needed constant care. She was from a well-respected family in the Christian community, but her world had begun to unravel. Her husband had recently left her for someone he had met online. The woman who had been her daughter's caregiver was dying. The landscape of her life had completely changed.

I can still see her standing in front of me as I prepared to speak that morning. She asked if she could share her thoughts with me. In a quiet and peaceful voice, she told me that during this turbulent time in her life that she continually meditated on Psalm 23. She told me that she had found rest for her soul meditating on the first three words of the Psalm, "The Lord is..."  

During my own times of desperation, I have experienced the peace that this reality brings. It reminds me of what God told Moses to tell the people who were enslaved in Egypt. He said to tell Israel that, "I AM has sent you."(Exodus 3:14) The children of Israel were set free from Egypt so that they could learn to worship in the wilderness. It's in the wilderness that we discover the Lord who is the great I AM.

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah" (Psalm 46:1-3) Many Bible students believe that selah was a musical term that that meant to "pause" or "contemplate". When the flow of life is interrupted with harsh realities, we are invited to encounter the Lord who is...

Discovering Grace

 Love doesn't envy.

I was reminded of this Bible verse while sitting with my grandson at his cousin's birthday party. Almost every time a gift was opened, he would honestly express his jealousy. I respect how his parents have taught him to own his emotions. Sitting with him I was remined of how I was tormented by envy as a child.

I was eleven years old and spending the winter with my grandmother. I shared my grandmother with my four brothers and four sisters so getting to have individual time with her was very special. However, during this time she only had one thing on her mind, and it wasn't me. Grandmother was looking forward to meeting her two grandchildren, Margaret and Brian, who had been born on the mission field in Brazil.

I was miserable. I didn't want to be jealous, but I was.  I tried to be excited but all I felt was the torturous envy, so I prayed. It was a simple prayer, "Jesus, I want to love my cousins, but I don't know how. Please help me." God answered my prayer and did for me what I was unable to do for myself.

I learned so many things from that experience. God is love. Love doesn't envy. Confession means to say the same thing about something that God says. When God does for you what you can't do for yourself it's called grace. When God graciously answered my prayer and gave me love for my cousins, He also gave me peace. 

I want to share this memory of grace and peace and love with my grandson. I believe that our honest struggles can become the very places where we encounter God.