Portrait of Faith

Last month, I spent a weekend locked away in a hotel suite equipped with a living area, kitchen and huge table where I set up my computer. I worked from Friday evening to Saturday night, when I reached my goal of 10,000 and a finished novella. Each night I had gotten to bed after 2am, so I decided to sleep in on Sunday morning.

I went back and forth about missing my church’s new series on Jesus, but figured I could catch it on the web. When I woke up Sunday morning, I flipped though the channels, stopping on a choir singing. Not my typical church service. I like my music more contemporary, but thought I’d give it a try. Then a suited man stepped to the podium. Again, not my tpical service. My pastor is usually dressed casual and in the summer often wears sandals.

Still I watched and listened to the man’s words, and not his presentation. And I’m so glad I didn’t switch channels.

Adrian Rogers of Bellvue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee and Love Worth Finding Ministries started off By saying, “I’m going to give you a formula for how to arrive at your destination without a map. ”

The first thing I thought was Oh, great another seven steps on how to succeed in this Christian walk or three easy steps to heaven. I didn’t want to hear another formula on how to be a good Christian. Nothing I’ve heard in seven easy steps ever worked. At my old church I can’t tell you how many times I went down to the altar, crying my heart out, hoping for God to zap me, only to realize I hadn’t changed by the next week.

But I kept listening and was glued to the television for the next 30 minutes. Rogers didn’t offer seven steps to get to where we want to go this new year, he offered one in three parts using the scripture found in Joshua 3:1-6

Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 2 After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 3 giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it.” 5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” 6 Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

Then the preacher said, “The important thing is not to know what the future holds, but to keep your eyes on Jesus.” And I was hooked.

Let Jesus Guide you with His Presence

You don’t have to know when, you just have to move when the arc move. Are you waitng on things to happen in your life? Well, get your eyes off “things” and onto Jesus.

Timing is more important to God than time.

When Moses killed an Egyptian, he was taking it upon himself to stop the injustice instead of the Israelites instead of waiting on God.

When Abraham took Hagar as his wife and had Isaac, he was trying make God’s promise happen on his time.

And look what a mess these two men of faith made when they got their eyes off of God.

Jesus was never in a hurry and was never late. Even when his mother wanted to push him into the ministry, he was patient and replied,“My hour has not yet come.”

You don’t have to know where you’re going

God knows you haven’t passed this way before. He knows you’re worried and afraid, and he wants to take that fear from you . Give it to him. Give up control of having to know everything. I know for me, if God had shown me just where I was going, to get to this point in my life I might not have followed. Just keep your eyes on Jesus, and you won’t get lost on the way to your destination.

You don’t have to know why

I don’t know about you, but I often wonder why God works the way he does. But I’ve learned it’s useless to wonder why because God’s ways are not our own. We cannot possible understand the workings of the Lord, so why try? God tells us, we don’t have to know where we are going. “Tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will know when to go.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and you’ll never get lost.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and you won’t have to worry or ask why!

Are your eyes on Jesus?

My church has started tht new year off by taking a closer look at Jesus. I’ll be starting a series to share my thoughts on what I’ve gleaned at church. I hope you’ll join me in taking a closer look at Jesus. Look for these posts on Sunday or Monday for the month of January!

Whether we acknowledge Him as God or not, Jesus is working in EVERYONE’s life. Both the sinner and the saint. The only difference is the believer sees and hears Him and the non-believer (for a lack of a better word) doesn’t.

Yet, I bet if you look hard, you can catch a glimpse of Jesus in everyone’s life. The agnostic who feels an unexplainable serenity in nature could be Jesus trying to get his attention. The artist who feels inspiration before a blank canvas may be tapping into the heart of God. The homeless person on the street receiving a meal of blankets from the Salvation Army is experiencing Jesus in action.

Many times when I type I feel Jesus speaking through me. I know it’s Him because if you came to my house you really wouldn’t recognize the person on the other side of this computer. My life is the same as yours. Full of daily sin and failure, and graced with just as many opportunities for forgiveness and restoration.

So as you ring in the new year I hope you’ll join me in asking, “What’s Jesus doing in my life?” Sometimes it’s easy to see, other times we must dig down deep. But He’s there, working, tapping on our hearts admist our busy lives.

This past year he helped me put my life back in order. Though writing is still a passion, it’s something I have to keep in check. Am I spending too much time on the computer? (My family still says yes!) Can I pull my self away when my kids need me? (Most times the answer is yes!)

Are there still areas I desperately need Jesus’ intervention. Definitely yes! And I hope to hit them hard with Jesus’ help in the new year, but I know a change has occurred in my heart over the last year. When I look at my children’s faces and feel their tugs on my arms, I no longer see an interruption in my life. I see beautiful children with a need whom God has given me to love and raise.

I’m still learning what exactly it means to “raise up a child,” and I often fail and fall back into my old ways. But more and more, instead of pushing my youngest away when I’m writing, I let her climb up on my lap. When the kids wants to help in the kitchen, I take a deep breath and have them pull up a chair.

For the most part, my heart has been at peace over the last six months. The anxiousness to publish has vanished as well as the endless hours of working on my WIP. I’ve been enjoying my family more and content with where God is taking my writing. Sure I want more in every area of my life. But I’m learning to wait on Jesus and lean more on Him every day.

So what’s Jesus doing in your life?

Last time I left off with an analogy of being licked by a gentle lamb or roaring lion. Which lick would mean more?

The Lion, of course seeing that it could kill you in one bite. “Our Lord will never be appreciated as a Lamb unless He’s first encountered as a lion? And it’s because of the Lion’s perfect wrath that there’s such a place as hell where sinners spend eternity in torment…”

God’s wrath (Hell) is awful, unalterable and eternal. Not a fun topic, but one that needs to be explored!

I really don’t like to think about Hell, but the Bible says in Mark 9:43-48 it’s place of everlasting fire that “is not quenched.” No one really knows if the fire is literal or figurative, but one thing is certain your soul is separated from God forever and will live in torment.

Hell is also a place from where you can’t return. I grew up believing in a place where you could make amends for your sins after you die in a place called Purgatory. But after I read the scriptures myself, I found no mention of such a place and no need for one because Christ took on ALL of my sins at the cross.(Luke 16:19-31)

Hell is eternal. It says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 it is an everlasting destruction.

Jonathan Edwards , a revivalist preacher in the 1700’s, is best known for his sermon titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” This is what he had to say.

It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all.

You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite.

Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?”

So was Jonathan Edwards’ sole purpose to scare the Hell out of you!?! R.C. Sproul believes “He [Jonathan Edwards] did this not out of a sadistic delight in frightening people but out of compassion. He loved his congregation enough to warn them of the dreadful consequences of facing the wrath of God. He was not concerned with laying a guilt trip on his people but awakening them to the peril they faced if they remained unconverted.”

Dwight Edwards says “All this is why we commit an unspeakably grave offense toward unbelievers when we highlight for them only the love of God and fail to warn them with tears of the horrors lying ahead if they remain unconverted.”

Then he asks a question. “How do you respond to the points made in this section about Hell? Do you fully accept and believe them? Do they raise any doubts or questions in your mind?

My answer: My mind believes and accepts, but my heart cannot comprehend it.

Maybe that’s why I’m guilty of not sharing my faith more. Maybe I don’t really believe my God could send people to Hell. But He does.

Yet, the good news is we don’t have to spend all eternity facing the wrath of God. Through accepting/believing in God’s son who died on the cross taking away all our sin, we receive the New Covenant and God remembers our sin no more.

Edwards says “This forgiveness means that we can look forward with absolute assurance to an endless future spent in the place where ‘there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

Christianity is the only religion that guarantees heaven and its unending enjoyment upfront. Ever believer is guaranteed eternity in heaven- no matter what happens after we trust Jesus for salvation.”

But that’s a subject for next time.

Lord, help me not sugarcoat the Gospel, but tell the whole story of your holiness and wrath and your love and forgiveness. I know it is your wish that no one perish, and spending eternity with you is so easy. Amen.

If you’re reading this and are not sure if you died today you’d go to heaven, pray this prayer…

Holy and loving, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Here are some resources to help you get started on your new life.
http://www.christianwomenonline.net/ready.html

http://www.allaboutgod.com/Sinners-Prayer.htm

To read previous posts in this series go here.

“The love that provides us with a new purity will never astonish us unless it’s seen against the bsackdrop of God’s raging fury toward sin. When he’s viewed almost exclusively as a God of love, we see forgiveness as just part of His job. That leaves His love with no punch for us, no fizz, no sparkle. Assumed Grace can never be transforming Grace.”

Wow! Dwight Edwards puts God’s love and holiness in a new light. I’ve been guilty of seeing God as a loving, though distant Father, probably becasue that’s what I knew my earthly father to be. I’ve never really wanted to look at God’s holiness and wrath as a part of His true character, but Edwards says, “We must be primed by the blazing holiness of God before His love and forgiveness will be genuinelly life changing.”

Then he asks the hardest question of all,

“Are you willing to risk coming to God as He is and not as we would like Him to be?

My answer to this question was this…For me that would mean pleading the blood of Jesus almost every hour because I sin so much in my attitude with my kids and my husband.

What’s your answer? What if you came to God as He really is wrath and holiness, love and forgiveness? Seeing God as He is instead of picking the attributes we like like side dishes on a value meal.

Here’s a paraphrased analogy for you from Edwards book.

What if you were at the petting zoo and a tame little lamb came up and gave you a lick on the hand. You’d think nothing of it. But what if a ferocious lion, who’d just escaped his cage came tearing off toward you with his mouth looking for his next lunch. Your paralized with fear, and when he’s breathe is upon you, he licks your cheek and stands by your side.Which lick would mean more to you?

The sacrifice of Jesus the peaceful lamb will never be appreciated to its full extent unless at first He’s seen as the roaring lion.

Week five of Experiencing Christ Within explores the gifts of God given to us freely through Christ by faith. The first one is purity. And I can’t say it any better than Dwight Edwards…

“The Christian life isn’t hard; it’s flat impossible. It becomes possible only when God injects His fullness into His people’s hearts-which is exactly what he’s done in the New Covenant…The divine cleansing that God provides in the New Covenant-a new purity for which only God can receive credit-is the starting point for living out our Christianity…So what does this new purity mean for us? Why is it so important?

Edwards goes on to explain that if we want to appreciate our desperate need for this new purity, we must see God as He really is, not how we think He is!

Pop Quiz…If you were going to describe God to someone who’s never heard of Him before what would you say? Maybe words like “loving Father” or “Best Friend” might be used to describe God. Though this is absolutely true about God, it is usually not a person’s first encounter with the Creator of the Universe.

In Romans, Paul describes God as being a Holy and Righteous Judge. Check it out…Romans 1:18; 2:2-5; 3:5-6,19. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Edwards say, “One of the most common of these images is that of God who’s only love and kindness, a kind of deified Mister Rogers. God is love, but that isn’t all God is or all He’s capable of. It’s a shock for many believers to discover that His most fundamental attribute is not love but holiness-a perfect holiness that is the source of His righteous wrath.

The Bible shows us in many instances that those who encounter God for the first time, never run to him for a great big hug. Instead, because of God’s holiness, they fall at His feet or quake in His presence. Don’t believe me? Just ask Isaiah (6:1-5), Ezekiel (1:26-28), and Daniel (10:4-9) to name a few.

Take a moment to think about how you view God and ponder these thoughts until part II.

John White says, “We Christians are idolaters…We may not carve Him [God] out of wood, but we do try to forget the uncomfortable parts of Him and shape Him in to our own personal comfort

Ouch, anyone else feel the sting of this truth in their own lives?

Lord, help us see all of you! Not just the parts that are easy to embrace, but the truth of who You are, holiness, wrath and all. For when we truly see you as You are, then the weight of Your love and son’s sacrifice will have a powerful impact in our lives. Because the thought of a God who is so holy, reaching out to a sinful race and sacrificing His only son, sends a powerful message of a loving God. Thank you!

God’s glory. His holy presence. It’s something so many people desire. But are they really ready for it?

In the Old Testament many prophets experienced God’s glory, and it wasn’t how many Christians today imagine it to be. Most often when God entered a place, the ground shook, the Temple filled with smoke and people fell down in fear.

Isaiah was no exception. When struck with the presence and glory of God, Isaiah cried, “Woe to me! I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips.” He recognized the awesomeness of and the sinfulness of his soul.

What would happen if we were met with the presence of the Holy God? Thankfully, God will look upon us and see the blood of his son, but still the presence of God changes people.

Thoughts on Experiencing God’s Glory

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “We, with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord’s glory and are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory…”

I want to be like Jesus, but I’m so far from looking anything like Him. On some days I really wonder if there is any resemblance and if He’d recognize me as his child.

Presence brings purification.

Maybe that’s my problem. I’m not changed because I don’t sit long enough in the presence of the One who can change me

Dwight Edwards says this “Nothing so invigorates our souls, so ravishes our hearts, so diminishes our anxieties, and so ennobles our existence as being supremely preoccupied with God’s greatness and presence. This is what you and I were made for.”

So how do I find the time to sit in God’s presence and absorb His glory when I’m surrounded by “stuff” to do and people to take care of? We all can’t be monks or nuns, called to hours of isolation and communion with God. So how can a normal person, a busy, stressed-out, exhausted mom experience the glory of God in her daily life? I’m still trying to figure out this answer.

Father, I want so much for your glory to be present in my life, especially in my home and parenting. Help me find the time and desire to spend it with you so I can be filled with your glory so others will be drawn to you.

Week four of Experiencing Christ Within is all about sin.

The bad news it that we’re all sinners. No one is good! Not one. When God looks down from heaven, He sees us all the same. Prostitute, deacon, drug dealer, preacher. We’re all sinners.

Sure, there are people who do not serve God and who do good. I’m not denying that. But the difference is the standard or the measurement we use to determine good.

Dwight Edwards explains it like this:

“We can easily slip into a ’street level’ view of goodness. It’s like walking down a city street sidewalk and comparing the heights of those you pass by. A few people happen to be well over six feet tall and really stand out from the crowd. But if you were to look down on the scene from atop a hundred-story skyscraper, everybody on the sidewalk would appear equally tiny.”

That’s how God sees us. We’re all sinners because of our sin nature (thanks Adam and Eve) because it goes against the very nature of God.

According to Psalm 53:2-3, “God looks down from heaven on the children of men to see if they understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.”

[SIGH], So are we a hopeless lot, destined to live a sinful life? Yes, and no! I think the title of this chapter says it all, “The Journey to Radical Dependence.”

I haven’t finished the chapter yet, but I think the author is setting the scene for how much we need God. How much we need the saving Grace of his son. No, there is not one that is good. Not me, not you!

So why is it okay to be bad, as the title of this post suggest? Because as I see it, if we weren’t bad or full of sin, there’d be no need for Jesus. Through Christ we are forgiven and made a new. I can’t wait to see how the end of the chapter (and me) turns out!

If you spend any amount of time browsing or reading my blogs you know this question is not referring to my fundamental belief that Jesus is the Son of God.

So who is Jesus, to you?

Is He still a tiny baby in a manger who you think about once or twice a year? Someone you pray to only when you want something, and when your life isn’t going as planned?

Is He a friend in time of need, someone who sticks closer than a brother? Someone who’s there for you when everyone else seems not to care?

Is He your Savior? Someone who knows the ugliness of your sin, and loves you enough to take on your sin so you could be reconciled with God?

Is He your Lord? Someone you’ve surrendered your life to? Someone you not only love, but strive to be like and serve?

Jesus has been all these to me at different stages in my life, but right now I need Him to be Lord over my life.

I’m hoping to re-establish Jesus’ lordship over my life this next year. I’ve fallen into some laziness and bad habits in certain areas of my life which have kept me from experiencing the fullness that God has for me. I believe if Jesus regains control of these areas in my life than I will be back on the path He has for me.

So who is Jesus?

If you don’t know, now might be a good time to figure it out.

As I’ve been Experiencing Christ Within, I’ve also been challenged in my parenting. A while ago God led me from my restrictive, by-the-book parenting to a more Grace based parenting. It wasn’t an easy switch, and I still struggle with doling out consequences as my first reaction to parenting.

But I’ve learned over the last year that most times my kids will react positively to a positive mom. I’ve learned that I don’t have to crack the whip to get them to obey my every command. I’ve learned that my job as a parent is not to punish and give consequences all the time, but it’s to train them in the way they should go and sometimes that means listening to their grievances and offering Grace instead of discipline.

In week three of Experiencing Christ Within, Dwight Edwards touched on the subject of becoming spiritually provocative. He asked some great questions, and I want to share the thoughts I wrote in the margins about parenting.

If one of my jobs as a parent is to give my children a better glimpse of God, how can I do that? Do they need more discipline? More Grace? Initially more Grace comes to mind, but sometimes my children are so selfish and difficult. They lack respect. How can I offer MORE Grace without having them walk all over me?

But if I don’t teach my children the consequences of disobedience does that glorify God.

So what did I come up with?

I think there needs to be a balance. For my parenting personality I need to offer more grace in my discipline because I’m naturally bent toward the authoritative style of parenting. But my children need to know the consequences of their sin.

We’ve been studying Genesis and the consistent message is so clear. It’s obedience to God. Adam and Eve disobeyed and they were kicked out of the garden. God didn’t tell them they’d be kicked out before hand. (That’s one of my kids arguments. But you didn’t tell me I’d get such and such taken away…)

But focusing on God’s glory in my parenting would help me give my kids the Godly discipline they need to be trained up in the way they should go. Focusing on God’s glory would take the focus off my self, off my anger, off my kids’ disobedience and back onto God where it should be. It would help me be more patient and kind toward my kids.

And what if I started thinking this way in my marriage? In my social relationships? If we all started asking the question, how could God be glorified in this situation, think of the amazing transformation the world would go through!

If I take one thing away from this study, this would be enough!

Show me Lord, how I can glorify you today in every situation!

Week three in my study of Experiencing Christ Within is all about how our obedience brings about God’s glory.

When I think of obeying God, I think of striving to do what He wants so I can please Him and be blessed. But that’s not what this chapter is about. It’s about obeying so that the glory of God will be shown to others. It takes the focus off of ourselves and the reward (what blessing can I get by obedience?) and puts it on others and God’s glory (how will my obedience affect someone else’s veiw of God.)

Edwards uses this example:

“When John the Baptist was in the wilderness preaching about repentance to huge crowds, they asked him, ‘What shall we do?’

John could have answered with a generalized ‘Love God and do what is right.’ But he was much more specific. (Read Kuke 3:10-14) This challenging answer was designed to promote both a radical trust in an unseen God and a genuine concern for other’s needs. As people gave away thier extra to those in need, they demonstrated that their trust was not in any surplus but in a faithful God.

Later the tax collector came to John and then a band of soldiers. They too asked, “What shall we do?” John could have given the same answer he did before, but he choose applications specific to each group.

To the tax collectors he said “take only what is due you” and to the soldiers he told them to “do no violence and not to falsely accuse anyone.” This was exactly what each group was NOT doing.

He asked each group to do what was UNHEARD of in their day so that they would have an opportunity to unleash the power of God’s glory.

The bottom line for me in this chapter: Focus on God’s glory first.
The practical application: How can I give my children a better glimpse of God?

If I focus on bringing God’s glory in my home and discipline, what would that look like?

Not reacting out of impatience or in anger is the first thing that comes to mind.

Using kind words when my critical spirit rears its ugly head.

Working through issues instead of arguing.

Maybe offering a little more grace instead of discipline and asking “how can God be glorified in this situation?” instead of “How can I get my childern to do what I say?” (Ouch! I needed that one.)?

So does that mean I neglect discipling them all together? No. My children need to know that the consequences of disobeience are serious.(Just ask Adam and Eve)But I would rather have them obey me out of love and respect instead of out of fear and consequences.

Focusing on God’s glory takes the focus off of myself and what I can get out of my children’s obedience. When I focus on God’s glory, it puts me in a place where I can minister the love of God and God’s power can be displayed in my relationships with my kids.

And that to me is more powerful than any form of discipline.