I'm a Fan!

Have you ever been to a college football game?  It isn't very difficult to distinguish fans of one team from the other.  Often, they wear team colors (and sometimes even body or face paint) to signify who they support, have noise makers and/or other accoutrements that help identify them as fans, and typically, they don't care who knows which team they love!  Without apology they shout, jeer, cheer and celebrate.

The dictionary defines "worship" this way: to idolize; to love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; to feel profound love and admiration for something or someone.

Could we accurately say then that some fans exhibit characteristics of worship for and of their team?  I think so.  It certainly seems that there is profound love and admiration when someone is willing to get crazy and possibly even spend all sorts of money in order to follow and support a group of people who are fighting over an odd shaped ball on a big field.  But don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking loyal fans, just making an observation. 

Here's something else I've observed: a lot of us who would dance, yell, shout, paint, wave flags, and spend money in support of our favorite team, wouldn't be caught dead appearing to be that excited about the God of the universe who loves us so much that He has numbered the hairs on our head.

Apparently, neither would those obstinate children of Israel and Judah back in the day of 2 Kings. Today's passages, 2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Kings 16 - 17, cover the period of time when no matter the warning, God's children refused to worship Him, and instead worshipped idols and sinned grievously even to the point of sacrificing their own children in the fire.  As I read these disturbing verses, I couldn't ignore a few similarities we seem to share.

No, we don't burn our children in fires, but we do sacrifice them on the altar of convenience through abortion each and every day in this country.  And no, we don't worship sex gods--oh wait. Internet pornography (and other forms of lewd business) is booming according to the latest reports.  Sadly, we have just as many (or more) idols today as then, and the very real possibility is that God's loving kindness and patience may soon run out with us as it did with His stubborn, idolatrous people.  He is, after all, a jealous God. (Exodus 20:4-5)

Maybe even scarier in some ways than the fact that we may face His discipline for choosing to worship everything but Him is the real possibility that we, like the children of Israel, may become worthless as a result of our misplaced worship. 

Here's what verse 15 of 2 Kings 17 says: They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

The word hebel was translated in the verse as "worthless" and may also be translated "empty."  Hebel means 'air,' 'delusion,' or 'vanity.'  Because these people worshipped empty, worthless gods, they were essentially bowing their knees to nothing--and scripture says as a result, that's what they became.

I believe with all my heart that God wants so much more for you and me than this.  I am convinced that if we can just get this worship thing right our lives will be abundant and we will not roam around as others who seek but don't find, yearn but aren't filled, crave but are hungry. 

My hope is that I am a fan of God first, and that I have no idols in my life above Him. My prayer is that you'll share my hope.

Father, help me wear your colors proudly, cheer for you loudly and praise you with all my heart. Sincerely and with genuine fanaticism and adoration.  Amen.

Pet Peeves and Blinders...

What is your pet peeve?

Recently, my hubby confessed one of his to me.  He then proceeded to say that it was probably something he was guilty of from time to time since he finds it so offensive.  So, what was it?  It was blatant double standards that are either expressed or implied.

Like my husband, I'm convinced that the things that bother us most in others are potentially areas in which we struggle--sometimes unaware.  For this reason I am almost reluctant to write what I found most compelling about today's scripture passage.

Micah chapters 1 though 9 are the focus of today's reading and it is in these difficult passages that we again find the fickle, disobedient, hard-hearted people of Israel getting reprimanded and warned about what is to come if they don't shape up. 

God's messenger, Micah, communicates clearly the frustration and grievances that The Lord has against His people and then in chapter 6 he begins to share with them how their "day in court" might go. 

In this dramatic portrayal, we see Israel theoretically shaking angry fists at God and griping that He just asks too much. When they demand a response, God's reply is almost startling. Listen to what He told them in verse 8:

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Wow.

And this brings me back to the pet peeve thing.  I really don't like to be around boastful/arrogant/pride-filled people.  I figure if you have to toot your own horn something must be wrong.

But are high volumed speaking voices, bragging words or snotty attitudes the only evidences of pride?  Is it possible to be quietly prideful, silently boastful, and secretly snotty? I'm afraid of the answer to that question.

What I do know for certain is that I'm asking God to reveal the hidden sins in my life this year--to remove all blinders that keep me from seeing the log in my own eyes and prevent me from walking humbly with Him. 

So how does one walk humbly with God (which I believe will usher in the other two requirements [doing right and loving mercy] by default)?
 
Charles Spurgeon said this:

“True humility is thinking rightly of thyself, not meanly. When you have found out what you really are, you will be humble, for you are nothing to boast of. To be humble will make you safe. To be humble will make you happy. To be humble will make music in your heart when you go to bed. To be humble here will make you wake up in the likeness of your Master by-and-by.”

My goal for this year is to wake up each day in the likeness of my Master.  What's yours?

Father, thank you for the reminder that I am nothing apart from you and that with your help I can do right, love mercy and walk humbly in your likeness.  Make my goal a reality by the grace and mercy and guidance available to me and to all who believe in Christ The Lord. Amen.

Merry Christmas Every Day!

When the lights and decorations of Christmas have all been put away, I always feel a tinge of sadness that another year's celebration of Jesus' birth has ended. The anticipation that builds until that one special morning in December comes and goes, and all too soon it seems it's time to pack away everything shiny and bright.

Almost providentially--on the day I returned the last box of ornaments to the attic--my chronological journey through the Bible took me to Isaiah chapters 9 through 12, and I'm reminded that the miracle of Christmas never ends unless I let it.

Imagine a time when having been ravaged by war and plundered as a people, a spokesman for God heralded the promise of One who was to come and make all things right again. Picture with me the hope that would stir in a desperate woman's heart upon hearing God's prophet promise that a deliverer was coming!

Scholars have written that the promised Messiah could have been an angel or even God without humanity, but we are clearly told here by the prophet Isaiah that our deliverer would be born a helpless, dependent child. The promised One would be more than just man though, He would be the eternal Son of God who was able (as a result of his humanity) to identify with us in our weaknesses.

Jesus Christ, the child who was born of both God and man in fulfillment of every Messianic prophecy, was fully human and yet perfect--sinless.  If you're like me you have probably blamed your big blunders on the fact that you're only human.  Somehow though, knowing that it is possible to be perfect and human is a reminder that our problem is not our humanity but the fact that we are fallen, sinful humans. 

We, just like the people of Isaiah's day, are a desperate lot--lost and without hope apart from the deliverer that came to rescue us from the penalty of death that is the wage of our sin. Because He was fully man yet sinless, Christ could stand in our place as a substitute for the punishment that was to be ours--and that is the message of Christmas.  This message is bigger than one day each year and this story cannot be contained in a few short paragraphs on a page--this is epic!  To think that a baby born over 2000 years ago loved me (and you) enough to humble himself, take on human form and carry my sins to a cruel cross is not something easily summarized or lightly acknowledged.  He bore my shame and my sin and saved me from having to pay the debt I owe--and it cost me nothing except my willingness to believe, to trust, that He indeed is my only hope and the only way.

C.S. Lewis said it well in Mere Christianity:

..."The Second Person in God, the Son, became human Himself: was born into the world as an actual man—a real man of a particular height, with hair of a particular colour, speaking a particular language, weighing so many stone. The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but (before that) a baby, and before that a foetus inside a Woman’s body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.” 

I haven't learned to love that much--to care enough to stoop so low or sacrifice so fully, but I will always and forever be grateful that He did and He does.  And I think as a result I should say, "Merry Christmas!" to everyone I meet--every day--for the rest of this year.

Father, thank You that You saw fit to send Jesus Christ: Deliverer, Redeemer, Savior, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father into the world as a baby to identify with me, inviting me through His sacrificial death and resurrection to share in the riches of His perfect relationship with You.  I will forever thank You and praise Your Holy Name.  Amen.

Resolutely Speaking...

As 2011 begins, like most of the population, I have resolutions. Three, to be exact.

This declaration of  these "vows to myself," is a little scary, and I realize that recording something this important  in a public forum means that I am open to scrutiny, query and accountability--but I've decided to be okay with that--so, here's my list of daily do's...

1.  My Spirit--20 minutes (at least) with Jesus--first and best.
2.  My Body--20 minutes (at least) active--exercise of some sort.
3.  My Mind--20 minutes (at least) learning/studying--something new.

One hour each day of intentional living that is treated as sacred--a no excuse, no loophole kind of legalistic ritualism that usually makes me bristle. Wow.

I imagine that some people reading my little list are laughing because it sounds so simple, so doable. But for me--well--call me Mrs. Undisciplined.  It's sad to admit, it's painful to confess, but I have spent a good deal of time praying for God to reveal the blind spots in my life and He has graciously--clearly--answered my plea, causing me to acknowledge some ugly truths that I'm continuing to pray through and work out (with fear and trembling).

I know that I'm bound to have blind spots yet to be realized, and I also recognize I have miles to go in this journey.  For that reason, my prayer is that 2011 is not merely a "happy new year," but a transformational new year for my spirit, body, and mind. And if I successfully keep these resolutions, it will be.


^{Romans 12: 1-2} So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (TM)

An Email from Heaven

My Mom asked me a while back to try to edit the eulogy I gave at Dad's memorial service down to one page so that she could frame it.  That sounded good in theory, but turned out to be impossible in practice--there was simply too much that I didn't want to delete--so no matter how I tried, I couldn't carve it down to one page of copy.

Instead, yesterday I gave her a framed poem I wrote during the middle of one of my long, contemplative nights a while back.  I'm sharing it here in the hope that anyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one may be encouraged.

One of the things I've missed most about Dad being gone is that every day I received email from him.  Usually he just forwarded things that he thought were funny or profound, but occasionally he wrote a personal note and I've saved most of them in a file called "Stuff from Daddy".  I imagined recently an email exchange between us and thought it might go something like this:

Sometimes we miss the best of life’s gifts, sometimes we fail to see

The blessings in front of the nose on our face, and that’s what happened to me.

Sometimes we argued and disagreed, but he loved me regardless for certain

And if my selfish flesh could have just one more wish, I’d ask God to draw back the curtain.

If the veil was removed that separates us, or he could send one more email or two

I have to believe if he sent one today, it’d say:

“Sandy, all of it’s true!

Your life there on earth’s a rehearsal, the best day down there can’t compare

There’s no more pain, no sorrow, no sickness, not even a hint of despair

Colors before unknown to me more brilliant than you can conceive

And love overwhelming envelopes us here in a way that you wouldn’t believe.

I love you, and look forward to seeing you all, but now I’m finally free

From all earthly chains that bind and restrain, so don’t feel sad for me.

This is what we’re created for, communion with God unbroken

So until our sweet reunion some day, my love for you all is unspoken.

Carry it still with you in your hearts, until that precious day

That we meet again on these golden streets, when you will hear me say…

‘Welcome home. I love you.’”

And I love you, too, Daddy.

Always,

Sandy

Blues Blessings

I have to confess that I haven't felt much like writing lately. The purpose of this blog after all is to inspire, not depress, yet daily moments of melancholy have become my new normal this holiday season.

Anytime things change (whether for good or for bad) emotional wrestling matches ensue.  Long ago, I learned that the messages I choose to believe must be measured by their congruence and agreement with scripture. For this reason, each time a thought of Tiffany or memories of my Dad invade my mind, I choose to refuse to be overcome by grief, instead reminding myself that they would not return if they could and are both enjoying all the blessings of heaven promised to those who faithfully trust Christ as Lord.

I am thankful for Christmas and all of the delights and joys that have accompanied its celebration throughout my lifetime, but this year, my thankfulness exceeds all years past in spite of my sorrow.  Knowing that Christ's coming into the world brought with it the chance for us to experience eternal life and a future that never includes the painful good-byes associated with this particular year of my life is reason to rejoice, to celebrate and to commemorate.

My prayer is that each person who reads this, especially those who grieve the loss of loved ones during the holidays, are able to overcome the blues with the blessing of this comforting promise from 1 Thessalonians 4: ¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, I could say HAPPY Thanksgiving and mean it, because it was.  And although in a perfect world (the way things were originally planned by our loving, benevolent God) there would be no sad good-byes and world peace would be a reality, I chose happiness because of the promise that one day things will be as He intended. On that day, there will be no more sorrows, no more tears, no more sickness and no more good-byes.

So, at the intersection of Gratitude and Grief, my precious memories, amazing friends, and wonderful family--along with the promise of reunions in heaven--sustain, soothe, and comfort me, and I am thankful, so very thankful to Christ, my Lord.

Revelation 21:4-7