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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Inside Out - a personal parable

About once a week, I run some errands after I take Skyler to school. So, I end up driving a different route to work those days. One of the first times I went this way, a little over a year ago, I spotted an awesome display of nature. There was an old tree, obviously struck by lightning at some time, towering about 40 feet tall. It had no leaves and no small branches. Only three large, broken, branch stubs: a smaller, stubbier one kind of centered at the top of the trunk, and two long, more slender ones stretched high toward the sky, giving the tree its height. The base of the tree was surrounded by a thick stand of 10-15’ tall bamboo. Each morning I passed it, I envisioned it a piece of nature saluting, celebrating, praising the Creator; arms stretched high and wide, face to the sun, adorned with a thick green skirt. The early morning light, the richness of the color, the sparkling dew, all gave me over to a feeling of awe and inspiration. I often felt a surge of love for God as I slowed down a little and drove past this natural, praising spectacle.
Last week, my mind was distracted as I drove this alternative route to work, but I could have sworn I didn’t see the praise tree. I decided not to waste the gas to turn around and go back, but determined I would pay attention next time. Several days later, I drove by again. Sure enough, my praise tree was gone. Apparently it fell over sometime, perhaps with the rain and wind we have been blessed with lately. The barren tree trunk remains lay sprawled over the wet earth, crumbly and rotten all the way through. Turned inside out, my praise tree was revealed for what it truly was. It gave the appearance of praise and delight, but once its insides were exposed, it was nothing more than a rotting corpse of a tree, dying from the inside out.
You can probably see by now where this is going. In Matthew 23: 27-28, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees with these statements:
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Again, in Luke 11:39-41, the Lord admonishes them, saying:
“But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also? “
If turned inside out, would I have the same appearance to the world? Would it be a witness for the Lord, or another hypocrite for the world to see, an insult and disgrace to my Savior? We have all heard it stated in a myriad of ways. Do I walk my talk? I want who I am, and whose I am, to be true inside and out. I want to be sold out and abiding in Jesus all the time, morning, noon and night, good days and bad days, when someone is looking and when no one is.
My Daddy used to say, Make sure your own doorstep is swept before you start complaining about someone else’s. Time to break out the broom.
Cross-posted at http://smhgrace.wordpress.com/.

Monday, February 04, 2008

02.04.08
Error Messages
I was working at my computer at work a week or so ago. Simply going about my work when suddenly I received an error message. Not too uncommon, really, but this one cracked me up. I tried to find an image of it to insert here, but to no avail. The error message, in a typical blue Internet Explorer error box, stated:
“Something went wrong . . .”
Exactly those words, even including the three periods. I laughed out loud at my desk, and chuckled about it all afternoon. However, I found myself considering the weight of those three words. “Something went wrong…”
It was just one kiss, but then something went wrong.
It was just one drink, but something went wrong.
It was just one movie like that, but something went wrong.
I just looked away for a second, but something went wrong.
I was so committed, so involved, but something went wrong.
I just charged a couple of things, but something went wrong.
I let it slide with my child only once or twice, but something went wrong.
“Something went wrong…”
Things go wrong. Plainly spoken, things go wrong. Sometimes because of something we choose, or something we don’t choose, or something completely out of the blue hits us square in the eye. And suddenly, something goes wrong. A big something or a small something. A big wrong or a small wrong.
Life is full of somethings that go wrong because of our choices. Ask David–one look from a rooftop and something went wrong that led to murder. Ask Stephen–he chose to be bold and speak truth and something went wrong that cost him his life. Ask Judas–somewhere along the way, he took his eyes (and heart) off Jesus and put them on money and something went wrong that ended up driving him to suicide. Ask Ananias and Sapphira–they just wanted to keep a bit of the money for themselves, but they misrepresented the truth and something went wrong that cost them both their lives.
Life is also full of somethings that go wrong over which we have no control. The company downsizes. Miscarriage. Cancer. Infertility.
It would be–it is– easy to get caught up and dragged down by all of the “something went wrong…’s “. But there is a choice there, too. God say he knows us intimately (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 139:13). Nothing is a surprise to Him. From Him, we never get a “Something went wrong…” message. No, from Him, we get an invitation to rest in Him, to trust and rely on Him, to love and be loved back unconditionally. He expresses His desire to bless us–not because we deserve it but because it pleases Him to do so–to bless us far beyond anything we can ask or imagine, exceedingly abundantly. We can have complete joy-complete joy-in Him who makes it complete. We can choose to know and believe, and live like we know and believe, He knows everything happening in our lives, everything we are encountering in our daily walk, our constant companion and friend. His concern and care are genuine! It is so far beyond what mankind is able to achieve.
Have you ever given yourself over to the compassion of the Lord? Can I just tell you, from experience, you cannot begin to imagine how wonderful it feels to allow yourself to be wrapped up by the promises of the Savior, the love of the Father and the peace of the Holy Spirit. Worship of the Lord is so easy when you feel wrapped in His love, overwhelmed by His grace, abundantly blessed, overflowing with joy and gratitude, and blown away by His willingness to love us just the way we are.
There are numerous links in this post. All of them testify to God’s glory and love. I invite you to grab a blanket and a warm cup of hot chocolate and cozy up with the Word. I promise you will be changed.
\o/
Cross-posted at http://smhgrace.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/error-messages/.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

01.18.08

tick…tock…tick…tock…

Posted at 6:00 pm by smhgrace

I wanted a clock for the wall. I have a brand new office in a new building for the newly created position I am blessed to fill for my second part-time job. The Student Pastor was making a Wal-Mart run and asked if I needed anything. I said a clock. Just a cheap one that I can hang on the wall and glance at during the day. I was remembering the cheap one I bought a couple of years ago for our homeschool room, and how pleased I have been with that $4 investment.

Turns out, cheap clocks at Wal-Mart have undergone some change. Still around $4, it keeps great time with one little battery. It also lets you know it is keeping time. Each second is audibly marked. Most of the time, I don’t even hear it…I’m working on something and my mind is occupied. Sometimes it is the elephant in the room…stomping it’s heavy foot in a one second cadence. all. day. long.

So, sometimes I think about time. I usually don’t consider time my enemy. That comment is often in reference to wrinkles and gray hair, both of which I am accumulating with some vigor. These don’t bother me much. It is an inevitable happening, a sign to the world I have made it this far. However, in some ways time has been my enemy. My baby boys are becoming men. The number that is my age surprises me, especially since it is likely I now have more behind me than in front of me.

Which brings me to the heart of this post. Behind me is a lot of wasted time. Half of it, I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus, The Savior who died for me and was waiting for me to come to Him. Half of the remainder, I was a spiritual babe, un-discipled and unaware of my need to be. Half of that has been some of the most exciting times of growth in my spiritual life as I have learned more, experienced more, understood more and become passionate about so much more of God. In many ways, I don’t have a lot to bring to the Kingdom as a result of my life so far. Roughly 3/4 has been unfruitful. I aim to change that in the time I have left on this planet. (2008: Living a Life of Worship .) It reminds me of what Paul says in the oft-referenced verses 13b-14 in this passage, Philippians 3:12-16:

12. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
15. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.
16. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Much of the time, we only hear verse 13b-14. But as you can see, that is only a part of a bigger picture of what Paul wanted to get across. There is so much here to apply!!
–We’re not perfect…yet.
–Our reason for keeping on keeping on is to get in line with what Jesus had in mind for each of us when He captured our hearts; His purpose for us.
–We’re not there…yet.
–The least we can do is forget what is behind (and likely holding us in bondage), and keep working toward the future–our future in Christ and His plans for us.
–Heaven is our destination–He’s called us to join Him there and He’s anxiously awaiting our arrival!
–We should strive toward maturity in our faith and remember these things.
–God will adjust our thinking when we need it.
–We need to live up to where we are on our spiritual walk.

Time is important. Present time and future time. We have a purpose. We know the things (and/or can find out more by studying the Word that reveals it) we should be doing with our time, which is short.

Rejoining the working world after more than 13 years has reiterated to me an important truth–Time is precious. Every moment is a gift. It is our calling and responsibility to use each moment as an opportunity to worship the One and Only God, in whatever way the moment affords–song, prayer, praise, service, study, work, eating, drinking, driving–living.

And another thing–Time is short. NOW is the time to offer that act of worship. We don’t know if we get the next moment for a do-over or not.

\o/
01.02.08

Bittersweet

Posted at 5:00 pm by smhgrace

January 2nd is bittersweet to me. It is the exciting beginning of a new year, but there is the sadness of the end of the holiday season. All through the hot summer months of the South, I look forward to Autumn, with its brisk breezes and palette of falling leaves, and the promise of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is what I consider the beginning of the holiday season, the time to look forward to special dinners, decorations reserved for only this time of year, events and activities and family gatherings. There is an excitement and anticipation in the air as Thanksgiving, then Hanukkah, then Christmas, then the New Year approach is quick succession, each one lending a festive quality to the next.

Then comes January 2nd. It’s all over. The Christmas tree, which looked beautiful and dazzling on the 1st, now shows its tiredness. The decorations need to be put away again for another year. Back to work and routine and cold (we hope!) January and February.

Alas, Spring will begin to peak out from the edges of the winter cold, hints of green and new and color waiting to burst forth with the warmer weather, bringing a different excitement and anticipation.

It all comes down to perspective. Every day is a chance to begin again, to celebrate life, and love, and the gift of Jesus. There doesn’t have to be a pre-printed day on the calendar to feel excited and anxious about what lies ahead. God has plenty of good and pleasing things waiting for us, if we just look to Him, not the world, and follow.

\o/