Christian living

Behold Your God……

A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:6-8
Isaiah 40 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture……the imagery in it captures my imagination. As I read it I see Isaiah stepping up to a giant canvas, brush in hand…..waiting to see what God will do. The canvas seems to take on a life of its own as the Spirit speaking through him begins to fill it with all the colors of Heaven and earth, lush valleys, flowering meadows, lush streams and God, the Master Creator above it all…..He paints a stark picture of the brevity of our lives, the futility of trying to live a life without God……the breath of His mouth blowing us into the dust we started out as. He is over all, in all and through all.
But then here in verse 11 is another picture he paints of God…..

“He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.”

……that of God as Gentle Shepherd wanting to heal a wounded Israel, a wounded world…….

Saint Jerome says of Isaiah: “He was more of an Evangelist than a Prophet, because he described all of the Mysteries of the Church of Christ so vividly that you would assume he was not prophesying about the future, but rather was composing a history of past events. ”

In the midst of all this beauty we see another picture start to form…….all the vivid colors of the painting melt away with the fervent heat of a relentless desert scene and a lone figure walks down a dusty road. We hear the shouts of John the Baptist carried across the desert wind and we watch the crowds coming out to see this crazy fool of a man who was telling them to repent. They couldn’t stop themselves from listening because somewhere deep inside they recognized truth.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

The lonely figure is now walking towards us and as He gets closer, we see that He is wearing a crown of thorns and bleeding, stumbling under the weight of a massive cross…….”Behold the man,” Pilate says, and then he turns and washes his hands as if he could dismiss Jesus that easily….His wife watches from a distance, eyes sunken in from lack of sleep from the nightmares she had the night before….about Jesus. Matt. 27:19

Suddenly it all comes together………Isaiah states: Behold Your God! The statement itself demands a response from us. Isaiah rings with promise…..we no longer have to wait. The highway in the desert has been built, it is straight and plain and visible for all to see. There are many other roads to take but only this one leads to Heaven…..

“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. Isaiah 40:3

photo credit: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ by Anna Cervova

Fellowship of the Unashamed

An African martyr’s last words…….
I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.
The die has been cast, I have stepped over the line.
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is
redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
I’m finished and done with low living, sight-walking, small
planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions,
mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals
My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way
is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up,
paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ.
I must go until He returns, give until I drop, preach
until all know, and work until He comes.
And when He comes to get His own, He will have no
problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes………” Romans 1:16
Since time is short today, I thought I would share this writing that I found. When I read it I can hear the echoes of the Apostle Paul as he travels from city to city with the Gospel message. Once his life’s work was persecuting the church, and by the end of his life he is ready to die and does die for the cause of Christ. What happened in between? He met Jesus. What happened to this African martyr? He met Jesus.
Will He be able to recognize me?……it is a sobering question, but one I think I can never stop asking.
 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Get thee up into a high mountain…..

Or even one that is not so high, but high enough……

You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Isaiah 40:9
There is something very good and healing about climbing a mountain, even a hill. You get a clearer perspective on things, you see things down below, sounds rise up as you climb higher, and you forget your problems for a bit, they tend to shrink while you are up there. Your eyes are on the trail. Where I live you have to watch for rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the rocks.  Believe me, my eyes were peeled yesterday. It was a gorgeous day in Arizona, the sun was shining brightly and there were many out enjoying the day and I was sure the snakes felt the same way……but there were none that I could see.
It was so what I needed. With my first step I felt lighter, with every step I felt my heart lighten, my spirits lift.
The Bible talks about going up to God’s holy mountain…..that captures my imagination because I love hiking. I grew up in California, hiking the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite.
The desert is a bit different, but the feeling I get is the same. Climbing for the joy of it, the view all along the way.
Channels of communication tend to open up……..You don’t have all the interruptions, the telephone, computer, chores, television….it’s just you and your companion and the sound of footfalls. You hear a birdcall you may not have heard before and you ask, “What was that?” In a few short moments you are reconnected with someone and something you have missed…..maybe without even realizing it. Conversation flows freely.
The time is precious and I feel I something has been redeemed……I have been redeemed.
Thank you God for reminding me again why I need to do this….
Here is Elaine on the trail……she insisted that i was trying to kill her for taking the Huff and Puff trail, yes, it is actually called that…..She thanked me later!
It was a very good day.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
 
 
all photos taken from my iphone

And it was Very Good…….

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

I  like to think of that first day after creation, when God paused and called it very good. The Bible says He rested, but we all know that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4) so it wasn’t that He needed a rest. He did it for us. To show us the pattern we needed to live successfully on this earth. So today, I pause as the Trinity did on that day. I like to imagine that day and when I do, I imagine all three members of the Holy family in a circle with Adam and Eve, the animals looking on curiously from the fringe……

I imagine them dancing in the sunlight, and yes a bit of resting too, as they sat back to enjoy the fruits of their labor. That was the first Church service for Adam and Eve as they reveled in everything they saw around them. As they praised and thanked their Creators for giving them life, lavishing on them, loving them…….It was a perfect day.

So today, I pause and thank Him for all of the same. Bringing me to the end of yet another week in good health…..able to enjoy some time off and remember where all this comes from. To praise Him, to thank Him yet again. To remember that He could have created all this in a nanosecond, but instead He did it in seven days just for me and all of us. For us to remember that this day is different from all the rest……
 

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:1-3

photo credits: google images

The "S" Word

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Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21

sub·mit (səb mit′)

1.to present or refer to others for decision, consideration, etc.
2.to yield to the action, control, power, etc. of another or others; also, to subject or allow to be subjected to treatment, analysis, etc. of some sort: often used reflexively
3.to offer as an opinion; suggest; propose

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church”—Ephesians 5:21-29

This is a tough concept for us, even in the Church, although it shouldn’t be. I think that these verses are some of the most misused and misunderstood in the Bible. They have been used by men, including clergy, to make women feel quilty about leaving abusers. They have also been used by women against other women…..but when we think of submit, we have to think of Christ first. He submitted Himself unto death. He submitted Himself to His Father for our good.
 
Likewise, in a Christian marriage, somebody has to be the deal breaker when it comes to major decisions, and that would be the husband. This is not to say that wife must ask her husband if she can spend the money for a broom, or ask him what brand of peanut butter to buy! (I actually knew of a woman whose husband made her ask for money for household items, and he had to approve the amount!)
 
This is not what this means…… 
 
To break it down very simply, in my own opinion and understanding of Scripture it looks like this: In a Christian marriage, both man and woman submit to Christ as He is head of the church. The husband and wife each have a responsibility. The husband has the responsibility to love his wife and be willing to die for her as Christ died for His church. That puts a huge responsibility on the husband, since he also must be accountable to God for how he treats his wife. The wife has a responsibility to let that rest on the husband’s shoulders and not try to wrestle it away.
 
This is as far as I want to go with this, it is Saturday and I am really in the mood for something more like this today!
 

Or this:

cartoons from Far Side….

Something Worth Singing About

The best way to honor someone’s legacy is to pass it on……. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 15:12

One of the most valuable things I learned, and am still learning from my parents is that no matter what life throws at you, you just keep going, press on, never sink into defeat. You tighten the straps of your backpack and hit the trail again.You can despair for a time, but ultimately you get up and start doing what has to be done, keep the rhythm of life going. For as long as I can remember, my Mom has started the day singing. She does it a bit less now…..her days are long and she has many aches and pains, but she still gets up before everyone else. She presses on. She has always found something worth singing about. She knows the song of redemption.

Love is showing through demonstration that there is always a reason to sing because life is a gift. 

I was raised with music, singing. I was raised with people who believed that there was always something worth singing about. My Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, all of us gathered around while somebody played the piano or organ…..I can still hear their voices even now all these years later, my Grandmother’s warbly soprano, my Aunt’s alto harmonies, the plink-plink of my Uncle Bill’s banjo. What wonderful memories those are, they weaved themselves into the fabric of my very being, they are part of who I am today.

There is something about singing that lifts the spirit when nothing else can. There is power in song. This is part of our very DNA set there by our Creator. He first put the song in our hearts and He sang the stars into existence! Ever notice that kids find it very easy to sing? It just comes naturally. But life can really stifle that song right out of you at times…..you don’t have to let it. Heaven is filled with music we can scarely imagine, and when we sing in spite of how bad things may get down here, we bring part of Heaven down on earth. Turn that old music master Satan’s instrument against him!

I think of the Slaves, singing out through the depths and horrors of bondage, of death all around them. I think of soldiers singing as they march into battle……I think of Paul and Silas’ song in prison and Jesus and His disciples singing a hymn before they went out into the black night of sorrow. They were all thinking of the joy set before them as Jesus was……Freedom, peace, deliverance, Heaven…….

This morning I remembered all those songs. They made me sad for times past, but also encouraged me to pick up the song and sing with them. As I was pouring my coffee, The Holy Spirit breathed a little song into my heart that I had completely forgotten about and I found myself singing it on the way to work, though I had a hard time remembering the melody for the first few bars…….The lyrics say……”You are the reason I sing, You who taught all bells of Heaven to ring, I had no song just drifted along, but now You’re the reason I sing……”

Yes, that redemption song. That’s the best way to honor all who have gone before, and those still with me, I choose to keep singing the song of hope and never stop.

Book recommendations…….

I thought I would post the two books that most impacted my Christian walk in 2010, so here is the first, Radical by David Platt. This book knocked my socks off. Several moments while I journeyed through this book it brought me to complete silence……sit in a corner and stare at the wall kind of silence. David points the way back to the heart of what Jesus said, what He meant, and it answers the important question: What does God expect from me? Many times we puzzle over God’s will and the answer is right there in front of us in Scripture…..we just don’t want to do what it says. This book will impact your life, your walk with God, and challenge you to think differently about your responsibility to people in need.

The second one I just finished. It is One Heartbeat Away by Mark Cahill. This book was a perfect one to read after “Radical.” The former took me outside the bounderies of my own comfortable little safe world, and this one took me back around to the person I meet right outside my door. The service person who works on your washer, the person on the plane next to you, your neighbor…..Mark brings us right to the heart of the big question: What lies on the other side of eternity and what happens when we die, and more importantly, if we know the answer to these questions, why aren’t we telling others? Both books rest on the solid foundation of Scripture.

Two books, two questions…..

What does it mean to follow Jesus?

What happens after we take our last breath?

Read them both with an open heart, and I believe they will have a great impact on your life and challenge you to grow, they did that for me! Happy reading……Lori

A Year filled with Promise


So far this New Year feels much like the old one for me, since I am working. As I stared out through the windshield on my morning commute, grateful that there was almost nobody on the road (hey there’s a blessing!) I thought about the New Year and what it means. I wonder how the year went so fast…..In my honest reflection, I had to admit that there are some circumstances that I do not feel positive about going into the New Year. But then I thought about the Big Picture. All the good surrounding me. Good friends, good family, and surrounding on every side are God’s promises. When I think of everything He has brought me through how can I be anything but eternally grateful and also hopeful for what’s ahead?
While we all wish each other a New Year full of  prosperity and blessings, we know that there will be things that happen that will stop us in our tracks, take the wind out of our sails, make us want to crawl through the wardrobe and find a secret world like the Narnia kids. Just today I heard of a dear blogger who lost her husband on Christmas Eve, and another who lost her home and everything in it and yet…..and yet…. she is grateful that they all escaped unharmed.

Sometimes you have to stare really hard through the fog of our circumstances to see the good that surrounds us. But it is getting easier for me to do this, I am happy to say. It is nothing that I have done, it’s everything He’s done and continues to do. This is not just looking on the bright side. What it is, is knowing, remembering, all those times before when I thought I couldn’t…… and He said….Yes you can, I will help you. I have promised to never leave you and I never will….It is knowing who He is.

As I was thinking these things, He gave me one of those confirmations. As I was praying the song I needed to hear, Mighty to Save came on the radio, and right after that, Jesus Saves. He was telling me twice, not to worry.

God is in the outfield, and you are the fly ball, He says, “I got it!”
He is also across the chasm with His hands outstretched, saying “Jump, I’ve got you!”

Just like He grabbed Peter when he started to sink……..Why did I ever doubt?

Isaiah 40:31 – but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Psalm 71:5 – For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.
Romans 5:2 – through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Psalms 27:5 – For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
Ephesians 3:20 – Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…..

Walking in His light…….

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

I awoke in a cycle of worry this morning. Some days start like that. It is the same worry loop my mind runs through, has been running through for several years now. It is familiar to me like an old song. In the days of phonographs and records sometimes there used to be a skip in a record and you would have to go over and reset it back into the right groove or else start it all over again from the beginning. I realise that I have to explain that, and it is funny to me having grown up before the era of CD’s.

Sometimes worry is like that old song, that groove in the record. But I am tired of that song. I made a decision this morning to reset the record. I got up and got dressed in the dark and went out and walked. I put my IPOD on “Praise” and as I listened to songs like….”All of Creation” by Mercy Me, and watched the sky fill up with glorious color, the color of the Master Artist. By the second time around the park, I noticed something start to happen. My spirits were lifting. I was not so worried anymore.

They were being choked out by the praise!

When you fill up your mind with praise to Him, it tends to crowd everything else out. My circumstances didn’t change, the worries are still there, but God is covering them now with promises from His word. Instead of listening the recording in my head, I listen to what God says. He says: “Don’t worry!” He said it often because He knew we would be a recurring problem for us.

I thought another thing this morning too. During Christmas, I tend to put worry and stress on hold and just focus on Christmas and the wonder and joy of it all. Christmas is for me a timeout from all that, a chance to focus on something else. When it is over I tend to go back to my worrisome ways. But why can’t I adapt a Christmas attitude all year long? Well, God says I can!

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:27

Jesus had to walk a lonely road to Calvary for us. Sometimes its the small calvaries in life that get to us. But when we look to Him and keep walking, He will reward us with His hope, His joy, His victory.

If the world is threatening to choke out the Word in your life today, don’t despair. He will come, He will see you through, one step at a time!

photo from my iphone

Christmas behind, Christ Ahead…….



As I begin to pack away the decorations, I am aware of the deeper reality that lies all around me. It was in the service yesterday, as we lifted our hands in worship. The power that cuts through time and eternity. The reality that the Christ whose birth we just celebrated is very much alive. That is the true nature of Christmas. The other is just “stuff.” I was aware of it as I heard the reality of an answered prayer just yesterday as I talked with my Mom on the phone. That is what we can celebrate……and keep celebrating, all year long. Immanuel, God is with us.

This living Christ, who was born, lived a perfect life, died a perfect death, and rose from the grave so that we might find redemption, this living Christ is working in my life. He is the reason we can look to the coming year with joy and hope. No matter what the economy does, no matter what the government does, no matter what happens in the life of each and every one who confesses Him as Lord.

Halleluiah. I can put everything away, knowing it is anything but over.

What do you put your trust in today? I pray that it is Him.

“Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit on Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us, He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Mark 8:29 

I am continuing the count today with a vast community of others who know the reality of Him who lives within us today and always……this list of thankfulness for the blessings of this Christmas: Unexpected answer to prayer when we needed it most, the kindness and hospitality of good neighbors and friends, a little excited voice on the phone telling me all about her Christmas, fellowship of other believers, joy despite having to work part of Christmas, freedom to worship in His house, good food, my family who though we are apart, we know we are knit together in His love which keeps us close, His Holy Spirit who helps us and guides us in His truth, being able to bless others with what He has given me……….#574-584

holy experience