Category: Moments, Thoughts, Life

Psalm 19

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul:

the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart:

the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever:

the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

¹⁰ More desirable are they than gold,  than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

¹¹ By them I am  warned: and in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can understand my errors? cleanse me from secret faults.

¹³ Keep me back from presumptuous (arrogant) sins; let them not control me:

then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great sins.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight,

O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

They just don’t understand.

It started Thursday night and ran full force into Sunday. It began with a frustrating day. Add to that a headache. Add a feeling that no one cares and the weekend was set up to be quite depressing. This was my last weekend. I thought there was a lesson to be learned, that God was trying to get my attention and I was right.

On Sunday afternoon, after 3 days of being frustrated, sick and miserable, I picked up a book that had been sitting on my table for three weeks. By Chapter 7 it all made sense. I was taken back to the concept of before Him in love. It was as if all the names of the people who I was frustrated with, all those who I wanted so desperately to blame were listed on this page. They were all grouped together and the author was describing them as those who don’t know God’s love.

He was right. As I thought of each person, I realized that their lives were examples of those who call themselves Christians, but don’t understand God’s love for them. I know this because I was in the group most of my life. It was as if the clouds parted, the sun began to shine, the birds started singing… I needed to begin praying that they come to know God’s love. When you look at people though those eyes, it’s really difficult to be angry, frustrated and resentful.

On day 13 of this fast, I was standing in the kitchen thinking about how much I had learned. I thought – think of all the great things that are going to happen to me in the next two weeks if I keep going. Then I stopped and said, “Oh, no! I’ve done it again!”

What do I mean? On day 13 this fast stopped being about learning to trust God more; it turned into if I keep going think of all the great things God is going to do for me. It became about me trying to make God do what I want. I knew immediately what I needed to do…I must stop the fast! This thought was even more frightening to me! Oh no! I won’t have anything to fall back on… The concept of gaining God’s approval and love was so ingrained in my mind that even during a time of fasting, I was able to make it about me!

I forced myself to break the fast. It was intentional. I have to learn to trust God, not because I am worthy, not because I’ve earned it, not because I’ve worked hard for it, and certainly not because I did something special. I trust God because He loves me and His grace is all I need.  – It may be a life time battle for me, but I’m going to get this!

 

before Him in love…

I have spoken these words, I have taught them to my children…truth always win! I do believe that. I know it won’t always win tomorrow, but eventually it will win.

HOWEVER…in the past, when I said “Truth will win!” it was because I believed God was in control and He would show His power. Truth would win as a means of punishing the one or ones who were not truthful. It was the fire and brimstone kind of faith. There are four little words at the end of Ephesians 1:5 that has changed my perspective: before Him in love.

Truth will win, not to show God’s judgment but to show His love. Everything He does is to draw us to Him, not punish us. I was amazed at the amount of fire and brimstone I was hoping to see. Yes, hoping to see. How had I miss the love part? How had I not seen that before?

Shortly after I came to this realization, I read Ezekiel 36:22-36; It is not for your sake that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name….

I have to remind myself daily that I am called to love, not pass judgement. I want truth to win so those involved will see God’s love. God will act, but not because I think He should. God will act for the sake of His holy name…so that we can all stand before Him in love.

Three Weeks in…

This journey started with a 31 day fast. A fast that was focusing on my understanding of who God is not what I want him to do for me. So what have I learned…

1. I did not understand  the beauty, complexity and power of His Grace.
2. I did not know how to ‘rest in God’.
3. I didn’t realize how little I trust Him for my daily needs.

What do I know now…

1. I believe God is in control of all things.
2. I believe He is working all things for my good.
3. I believe He will make me holy.
4. All that is required of me is to Fear not – only believe.

 

God will make you holy!

We all search for the meaning of life. I’ve searched my entire life.  I can simply say that I now believe that God created us for His pleasure and purpose and He will spend our entire lives getting our attention. Once He has that, He spends the rest of our lives making us holy.

Holy is not an action. It’s not a life style. Holy defines our relationship with God. As any great parent, He is patient. Again I turn to my new favorite speaker and author to explain…God will make you holy!

God Will Make You Holy.  Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones

I have begun to thank God daily that He loves me enough to make me holy!