Wingspread

"Wingspread" by A.W. Tozer "To the earth-walking Christian, ankle-deep in dust, who has never seen heaven opened or beheld a vision of God, this will seem all out of order,too emotional, too extreme. But it is the way of the strong eagles of the kingdom, the prophets, the apostles, the reformers and revivalists. These fly high and see far, and that they are not understood is no great wonder. The sky-loving eagle, screaming in the sun, may be a puzzle to the contented biddy scratching in the yard, but that is no good argument against the eagle."

Thank You for the Trials!

My stomach is all full of knots even as I write. I'm trying to think biblically and it's tough with these emotions. But, you know? These emotions are God-given! He's allowed me to FEEL for a reason. GOD IS GOOD - all the time! It's a lot easier saying the words of this song then living them: I thank you, Lord, for the trials that come my way. In that way I can grow each day as I let you lead, And thank you, Lord, for the patience those trials bring. In that process of growing, I can learn to care. But it goes against the way I am to put my human nature down and let the Spirit take control of all I do. 'Cause when those trials come, my human nature shouts the thing to do; and God's soft prompting can be easily ignored. I thank you, Lord, with each trial I feel inside, that you're there to help, lead and guide me away from wrong. 'Cause you promised, Lord, that with every testing, that your way of escaping is easier to bear. But it goes against the way I am to put my human nature down and let the Spirit take control of all I do. 'Cause when those trials come, my human nature shouts the thing to do; and God's soft prompting can be easily ignored. I thank you, Lord, for the victory that growing brings. In surrender of everything life is so worth while. And I thank you, Lord, that when everything's put in place, out in front I can see your face, and it's there you belong.

Be Still, My Soul!

I cannot tell you how these words can soothe the heart! The melody itself fits the words so perfectly ... it's a still, somewhat somber melody. I know nothing of the author, but I can imagine she endured some things in her life. Picture how it builds to the last stanza. "Be Still, My Soul" by Catharina von Schlegel, 1697-? Translated by Jane Borthwick, 1813-1897 1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. 2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below. 3. Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart And all is darkened in the vale of tears; Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears. Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away. 4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on When we shall be forever with the Lord, When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past, All safe and blessed we shall meet at last. 5. Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high; Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways, So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye. Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Positive Negativity

There have been times in my life when I have been so “down” that I wonder where God is; I cry. I hurt. I hide. I’m sad. I seclude myself. I feel pain. But, I feel like it’s something bad – like, it’s wrong for me to feel this way. But look at this … “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.” “be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.” “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels” “My strength is dried up like potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” “Deliver my soul from the sword” The man after God’s own heart struggled with feelings of despair. Feelings of loneliness. All throughout the Psalms David talks about his sins, feeling forsaken, needing strength, wanting refuge, mentions his enemies, sorrows, etc. His “sorrow is continually before him.” Is it wrong to have feelings of sadness? Are there times when we are in the Word and on our knees daily, but still feel despondent? Maybe the important part is not staying down, but getting back up. Sometimes we have to hit the bottom so we can push back up. Psalm 22 was an obvious “down” time in David’s life. But Psalm 22 is followed by Psalm 23 where God “restores his soul.” In Psalm 40, he’s brought up from the miry clay and his feet are placed on a solid rock … he has a new song in his heart. It’s okay to feel pain, to hurt, to feel sadness. Even Jesus Christ pleaded with his Father to take the cup from Him. Asked Him why He had forsaken Him. Jesus wept. He felt sadness. Aren’t we to be Christ-like? Should we NOT feel pain? Pain is a gift from God. It helps us remember and helps us grow. IT’S OKAY!!! It’s okay to have down times. I’m going to embrace pain, sadness, hurt, tears … Embracing them, through my tears, because it’s the pressure that makes an invaluable piece of coal into a precious diamond.

TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE

This is the kind of love I want to experience ...

TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE (Garth Brooks)

When the rain is blowing in your face And the whole world is on your case I could offer you a warm embrace To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows and the star appear And there is no one to dry your tears I could hold you for a million years To make you feel my love

I know you haven't made your mind up yet But I would never do you wrong I've known it from the moment that we met There's no doubt in my mind where you belong

I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue I'd go crawling down the avenue There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do To make you feel my love

The storms are raging on rolling sea And on the highway of regret The winds of change are blowing wild and free You ain't seen nothing like me yet

There ain't nothin' that I wouldn't do Go to the ends of the earth for you Make you happy make your dreams come true To make you feel my love

3 Seconds of Sin or Death?

If you had the choice to sin for 3 seconds or die, what would you choose? In Daniel 3, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego chose death. They would rather DIE than dishonor the Lord. They were given the choice: bow before this image, or get thrown into the fiery furnace. Consider this: Earlier in the book of Daniel in chapter 1, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made another potential life-changing decision - they would not eat the king's meat. Think about it! These men were Chaldean captives. The king had it in his power to get rid of these people with just a word. I can't imagine sitting down to dinner with the president of the United States and then refusing to eat what I was served. But it says that "Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself ..." and the others followed suit. By chapter 3, these men had already built a reputation with the king. WHAT IF these 3 men had rationalized the situation among themselves and decided that they would bow down before the image? Quite frankly, I think that's what I would have done; I would have rationalized it in my head - well, how can I win souls to Christ if I'm dead? I might as well bow down to this image because the Lord knows my heart and knows that it doesn't mean anything anyway. It's just a stupid statue. The Lord will understand. But what's the second commandment? If Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had bowed down, they would have violated God's law - they would have sinned - even if it is was only for 3 seconds. What's the best way to reach the lost? Some think it's by blending in. Some have "Christian rock" (an oxi-moron) concerts at the church to attract the unsaved. Their thinking is, if we look like them, we won't look so different and intimidating and will be able to reach them. Oh ok ... yeh, well explain that to these 3 men that just got thrown in the fire for obeying God, because I think they forgot. And explain that to Paul & Silas while they're sitting in jail singing praises to God. Evidently, they didn't know they should just blend in. Whoops. And Esther? She definitely messed up big time for her people. She should have just been quiet and blended in so that she didn't have to risk her life when she approached the king. Silly people of the Lord that were DIFFERENT. The World doesn't understand why we want to look like them and act like them if we're claiming to be different. If we're going to make a difference, we have to be a little different. We're to be IN the world but not OF it. We aren't supposed to conform to the world. What if Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had conformed ... if they decided the best way to reach the king would be to bow? Would it have worked? I highly doubt it! They had established early on that they were different. They didn't eat the king's meat, although it was probably the best around! And the obeyed God. So if they had bowed down, I think all chances of making a difference would have been thrown out. "Ohhhhhh, so if it's just a matter of what food you'll eat, you'll obey your God, but if your life is threatened you give in? Some followers of your God YOU are!" But when they chose to obey God rather than sin for 3 seconds, they honored God: "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." And look at what the king said after God spared their lives after being thrown in the fire: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." And then he promoted them. WOW! I didn't see that coming. Maybe God is in control. Maybe He knows better than my human reasoning. I pray that when I'm faced with a decision like that, even if it's seemingly less severe, that I choose to obey God.

Constructive Use of a Laundry Basket

Sunday night I put Kevin to bed and when I went to check on him before I went to bed, I found him sleeping in a laundry basket on his bed! He looked so cute that I just had to take a picture of him. He even woke up in the middle of the night and came in my room looking for his bunny and then climbed back in his basket. Don't ask me - I'm just his mom!

Pain

Nobody wants it but where would we be without it? Can you imagine a pain-free world? Sometimes we think we know best ... we think we should be able to live without pain. But I believe God gave us pain as a gift. Imagine putting your hand in a fire and not feeling pain. Pretty cool? Maybe not so much. Because we have those pain receptors that tell us we're hurting, we know to pull our hand back when the fire starts burning. Without pain, most of us wouldn't be alive. We want the good feelings, but not the "bad." We want the sensation of the warmth of the sun on our faces, but not the burning of a flame. We want to experience pain-free living, but forget about the benefits pain offers. Pain causes us to remember. Yes, sometimes we wish we could forget, but then how could we use those experiences to help us grow? If things didn't hurt, we'd probably be foolish enough to keep doing the things we shouldn't. Is it really something we should want to be rid of in our lives? Pain causes us to learn. Hopefully, when we remember pain, we think about what we've learned from it. It's hard sometimes to look at our pasts and remember the pain, but if we learned something from it, we can help others. Pain is a good thing. And while I don't always welcome it, I'm thankful for it! James 1:2, 3 - "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."

The Case of the Green Tub Water

Kevin & I were at Wal-mart the other night looking around at the clearance items. Kevin saw this little "dinosaur egg" and pointed at it. So I looked at it and thought it might be fun for him. It was an egg shaped fizz ball thing. When you put it in bath water it bubbles up and turns the water green. After all the fizzy stuff goes away, there's a "baby dinosaur" inside. Cool. It was less than a dollar, and I thought it might provide some entertainment. It provided entertainment all right, but not for Kevin. First of all, I had Kevin carry this little blue plastic container into the apartment for me. I'm trying to teach him to help mommy and my arms were pretty full with groceries and our new green dinosaur fizz ball. He stopped along the way to the apartment and filled up his little blue plastic container with snow. After much prodding, we arrive at the apartment and I, being more excited than Kevin about the green fizz ball, get Kevin's bath tub water going. Meanwhile, Kevin is playing with his snow and getting it everywhere! I "throw" Kevin in the tub and put his container of snow on the side of the tub. He wants it IN the tub. As much as I try to explain my deep knowledge of what will happen to the snow when he puts it in the warm bath water, he doesn't care and puts the container under the warm running water. The snow instantly disappears and my son is very confused. "Where's the snow?" I ask him. "It's gone!!!" He exclaims. Again I try to explain that snow is cold and warm water makes it disappear. Kevin doesn't like that answer. I decide to entertain him with the green fizzy ball. I unwrap the plastic on the outside and hold it in the tub. It begins to get bubbly and Kevin begins to panic. "No, mama!" and pushes it away. I think maybe he doesn't understand that it's supposed to be cool to see the water turn green and the "egg" to fizz so I try again. Same thing, only this time he is more adamant. "No, mama! Scary!" So I fill the little blue container with water and put the egg in it. Kevin is content to watch from a distance. "Don't you want to touch the fizzy water, Kev?" Nope. Not interested. His little blue container is now filled with green water and there's a tiny little green dinosaur floating in it. "Kevin, look! A baby dinosaur hatched out of your egg!!!" I pull it out and put it in my hand. "Scary, mama!" and he scoots to the other side of the tub. Then my arm slips and the little blue container filled with green water is now infiltrating the tub. I have never seen Kevin move so fast!!! He was out of the tub in 1.7 seconds! He was terrified of the green water!!! (Too bad I didn't have a video camera running - I could have sent it in to America's Funniest Home Videos or something.) Poor Kev. I'm not sure why green water is so scary when he'll eat dog food and climb to the highest heights on the play ground. Maybe it just not easy bein' green.