Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Prisoner of Hope

Why not just give up?

There was nothing they could see that would make them want to keep going. It seemed to them that anything that was worth living for, or worth effort, was in the past. Now their experience was that they planted much, but harvested little. They ate, but never had enough to be satisfied. They would drink to forget, but they never could drink enough to fully block out the pain. They had clothes to wear, but the clothes didn't bring warmth. And though there was money, it was never enough. In fact, it seemed the bag they put it in had a hole in it. So they found themselves with their eyes cast down and their spirits broken. All they wanted to do was to quit.

They needed hope. They needed a vision so they they could see beyond what their physical eyes could see. So God sent His prophets with a message. The message sent from the Lord of Hosts was, "I am with you" (Haggai 1:13).

First of all, I want to pause and look at who this message was from. Who is the Lord of Hosts? "For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind and declares to man what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, the Lord God of hosts is His name" (Amos 4:13). Where can I find Him? "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3).

Ah, but it's so hard to see His glory if your heart is downcast and your eyes are on yourself. If you fill your mind with the depressing message that there is nothing left to live for, it can be hard to hear the voice of God when He says, "Be strong, all you people of the land,"--the Lord's declaration; "Work! For I am with you"--the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. "This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit is present among you; don't be afraid" (Haggai 2:4).

As I sit here at the turning of the year, I feel within me the ancient struggle. To whom shall I listen? Which way shall I go? Do I let the heavy feelings of my heart dictate the day? Or do I choose to lift my eyes to the Lord of Hosts and let Him lift my heart? Depending on the choice I make, I will either be a prisoner of hope or a prisoner of despair.

As for me, I have my decision--I will heed the voice of the one who forms the mountains and created the wind and yet who has chosen to declare His thoughts to me through His prophets. I will return to my stronghold. I will go to the Rock of my salvation. I choose to trust His promises, and I choose to be a prisoner of hope.




Sunday, December 27, 2015

When the Christmas Tree Falls

I confess I'm like a little kid where Christmas trees are concerned. I love to turn on the tree lights first thing in the morning while it's still dark outside. I love to sit and look at the tree all lit up and decorated with ornaments that represent over forty years of Christmas memories. We have handmade ornaments from the first Christmas Steve and I shared as newlyweds; also, those made by my children, grandchildren and friends. Yesterday, my magnificent tree suddenly fell, flinging ornaments everywhere.

This morning when I woke before dawn I noticed that the tree had been propped back up. Its branches were half decorated, the strings of light were no longer carefully placed but instead were sagging down. I decided to go outside and watch the sunrise. Suddenly, being in the house with a fallen, half-decorated tree made me feel depressed. I have always been one to think symbolically, and the fallen Christmas tree felt a little too familiar.  I inhaled the fresh morning air and prayed, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).

I remember right before my brain surgery, the nurse was reading my charts. She smiled and said, "You might like to hear this. The doctor wrote in your chart, 'Patient appears much younger than her 62 years.'" It made me smile. I had never given much thought to the aging process. Even so, the fact that the doctor had officially made the statement was nice to hear. Then came the surgery and the facial paralysis. After that, every doctor I have seen has mention my age as a factor in the difficulties I am having. I have felt like a Christmas tree that has suddenly fallen across the living room floor, whose lights are unplugged and ornaments scattered everywhere. This experience has caused me to personalize Psalm 90 and to pray, "Teach me to number my days, that I might gain a heart of wisdom."

In the cool of the morning I was encouraging myself in the truth, reminding myself not to give up because, "Though our physical body is becoming older and weaker, our spirit inside us is made new every day" (1 Corinthians 4:16). I have not enjoyed the experience of the last few months as my body has seemed suddenly to become older and weaker. And if that was all that I had experienced, I would be very, very depressed indeed! But I have also known the joy of being like a tree planted by streams of living water. Daily I have sought to delight myself in the Lord. I have been meditating on God's word day and night as I number my days and ask God for wisdom.

It's interesting to me to look at the trees in scripture. In the beginning, "out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:9). At the end of time there will be a "river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb." On either side of the river there will be "the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each season" (Revelation 22:2). So the Christmas tree has fallen, reminding me to number my days. But my heart is full of the wisdom of God that speaks to me of the tree of life.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

The Promise and the Blessing

I love what Elizabeth said to Mary when the baby leaped in her womb at the sound of Mary's voice and she was filled the Holy Spirit: "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord will fulfill his promises to her!" (Luke 1:45)

What a wonderful thing to meditate on today--the truth that God keeps His promises! At the core of God's promises is God Himself, and God is love. However, for now we live in a broken world, so it is necessary to receive the promises by faith. But with faith comes the blessing of joy.

Mary was told not to be afraid when the angel came to her with the message that she had been chosen to conceive and give birth to a son. In answer to her question of, "How can this be, since I'm a virgin?" The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). It was important that Mary believe since the angel didn't make a public announcement. She needed to believe the promise to receive the blessing of joy.

It was important that Mary believe that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her and not to be afraid as the events that led up to this child's birth unfolded. I wonder if she heard the great mourning and the weeping of the mothers in Bethlehem as Herod attempted to destroy the promised messiah. Blessings come only when we anchor our hearts in what we believe and not the things we see or experience.

"Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord will fulfill his promises to her!" This has been a very difficult year for me. However, as I sit here on Christmas Eve reviewing the promises I have received from God, I count myself as one who is blessed. Jesus promised that whoever believed in Him would have eternal life. He promised abundant life--not easy, but abundant. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to abide in those who believe. Jesus said that it was the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. I look around and I see great sorrow and grief that the enemies of God have brought to this world, but I still believe the promises.

When the angel came to Mary to announce the first coming of Jesus, he said, "Do not be afraid!" When Jesus was taken up into the heavens, the angels said," Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven" (Acts 1:11) I know that in this world there is tribulation, but I believe the promise that has been given. We have been given a Savior whose name is Jesus, and His kingdom will have no end. There is great joy for  those who believe in a God who keeps His promises.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Why I worship at Christmas

The reality is that sometimes in life we go through very difficult times. The truth is that, "The High and Exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy says this: 'I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the oppressed'" (Isaiah 57:15). I see this truth taking place as I celebrate Christmas and this is why I worship.

Christmas represents the fulfillment of the prophecy that "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in a land of darkness, a light has dawned" (Isaiah 9:2). The only One who has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, the sunrise from on high, because of God's tender mercies, has come to us from heaven. I worship at Christmas because Light has overcome the darkness.

When paradise was lost because of sin, the promise of child was given who would come and break the curse. On Christmas I celebrate the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy when he said, "a child was born for us;" not only that but, "a son will be born to us." When the angel announced Jesus' birth, he told Mary that this child to be born, this son to be given, was the Son of the Most High. The angel said that he was to be called the Son of God. The promised Messiah was also the Son of Man, born from the seed of a woman, Mary. I believe that this was the same Son of Man that the prophet Daniel saw who was to be given an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and a kingdom that will not be destroyed. Because I see these prophecies fulfilled at Christmas, I worship the God who keeps His promises.

The lie that was believed in the Garden that brought with it the curse of pain, sorrow and death was that we could be our own god. That is a burden that man was never meant to bear. At Christmas I celebrate the Messiah who alone can carry the government upon His shoulders, even as He carried the cross that bought my freedom. He is the Wonderful Counselor. The government of my life and that of my family is not on my weak shoulders but on His, and I can go to Him for counsel. Because of this blessed truth, I worship at Christmas.

At Christmas I am aware of  a Mighty God, "who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He came as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death -- even death on the cross" (Philippians 2: 6-8). When I consider the love of the Eternal Father who sacrificed His only begotten son so that a sinful world could have a Savior, my only response can be to worship.

At Christmas my mind is filled with wonder. My soul finds it's resting place because the Prince of Peace has come. And my spirit rejoices in Jesus Christ my Savior. The reality is that sometimes life is hard, very hard. But I also know that God is seeking someone who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. I want that to be me, and so I worship my Lord at Christmas.

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

My Rock

Because He loved them, He had called them out of Egypt as His children. It was God who led them with cords of human kindness, and with bonds of love. It was the Lord God who cared for the children of Israel all along the way as they traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. But they were like ignorant rebellious children who did not understand the love of their father. When their pathway led through a dry and barren land, they raised their fists to the heavens in anger and cried, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

God did not destroy them when they complained against Him and challenged His love. From the beginning His plans were not for their calamity but to give them a future and a hope. Moses feared for his life because of the great anger the thirst had caused in God's people. The Lord told Moses, "I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink" ( Exodus 17:6). But if the Lord was standing in front of the rock the rock was not the only thing that was struck.

These are not just stories of antiquity. "Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope" (Romans 15:4). And what is hope for a Christian? It is a confident expectation of good based on the promises and person of Jesus Christ. Hope that is seen is not hope at all. Because hope is based on faith, a confidence in things unseen.

The name of the rock in the wilderness was Horeb. It means, "to dry up, be in ruins, lay waste." But there was a spiritual rock that stood before that dried up, ruined, wasted place, His name is Jesus.The children of Israel all drank from the same spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Jesus came to a woman who had been laid waste and ruined by life, and offered her living water. He said to her that whoever would drink of the water He gave would never be thirsty again. "The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). Jesus also told this woman that the Father was seeking those who would worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Lord Jesus, I have tasted the living water that you give, and I know that even if the path I'm on today seems desolate, it is the one You've chosen and will lead me home. The greatest desire of my heart is to worship You in Spirit and in truth and not to rebel in ignorance against You.



Sunday, December 13, 2015

My Resting Place

They were led by a cloud during the day and by a pillar of fire at night so it was not by chance they found themselves at Rephidim. But what they did not find was water, so they rebelled against God and tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?"

I have been thinking about this story all week. Recovering from brain surgery has been very difficult. My heart sank when I found out I was going to need more surgery on my eye since it will no longer close properly. I had determined in my heart before I went into surgery that I would not complain, and yet I have found that to be a difficult resolve to keep. So I continually pray, "Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).

In the book of Hebrews I see the story of Rephidim in a different light. I also find instruction for what I am going through in my life. "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their hearts: they have not known my ways.' As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest'"(Hebrews 3:7-11).

I have been studying this not to gain knowledge but because I want to learn from what happened in the wilderness. The word Rephidim means "resting place" and yet because of the disbelief of the children of Israel the name was changed to Massah and Meribah. Massah mean "to test" and Meribah means "strife." Because of lack of faith the place that God had intended to be a place of rest became a place of strife. Rephidim was a place where the hardness of their hearts was exposed.

Oh Lord, I do not want to strive against You! I come to you, my rock and my redeemer. In You my thirst and the deepest longing of my heart is quenched. In you I find rest for my soul.




Saturday, December 5, 2015

Imperishable Beauty

I went to the funeral of an elderly lady I had known all my adult life. In one room the family had a DVD playing that showed pictures of Mrs Robertson throughout her lifetime. I was amazed at how exquisitely beautiful she was. I had always considered Mrs. Robertson attractive, but standing there watching the flickering images before me, I realized there was a beauty I had seen in her that had never faded throughout her over ninety years. Even now as I sit here writing I remember the imperishable beauty of her gentle and quiet spirit.

J. Knox Chamblin defined gentleness as, "Sensitivity of disposition and kindness of behavior, founded on strength and prompted by love." The strength gentleness is based on doesn't come from a life of ease. When we are weary and burdened we have an invitation to come to Jesus and find rest. True gentleness is learned from Jesus who was gentle and lowly in heart. In the midst of a stressful life, union with Him produces a quiet spirit and allows us to find rest for our souls.

A woman's beauty has been appreciated since ancient times. In the book of Esther, King Ahasuerus sent out a decree that a search be made for the most beautiful young virgins in his kingdom. Even after these young women were found, they had to have twelve months of preparation. They were to have six months with the oil of myrrh and six months with the spices and ointments for women. Only after all this would the woman be allowed to go to the king. If the king delighted in her, she would be summoned by name to come to him; otherwise he would never see her again. Even if she was chosen, in time her beauty would fade.

How very different it is with Jesus; He humbled Himself and came to us. Then He invited us to come to Him just as we are, We come broken and weary and He invites us to find rest in Him. He doesn't require that we come with a gentle and quiet spirit; He invites us to come just as we are so that we can learn what we need to know from Him. This unfading beauty is a gift we receive from Him, not a gift we give to Him.

We are told to let our gentleness be seen by all because the Lord is near. Mrs. Robertson did that, and she was and is precious in the sight of God. Now when I think about her, I remember, and my mind is filled with her imperishable beauty.