Humans take time

We spend a lot of time talking when we pray. We ask for this and that, we spend some time asking God to help others, and then we start asking things either for ourselves or for our own curiosity. Sometimes we ask God questions about what we should do in our lives or what decisions we should make. Sometimes we wait to ask until the decision really needs to be made and we expect God to answer right then! We say that we believe that everything happens in God's time and it certainly does, but when we wait until the decision absolutely needs to be made to ask God what to do, we are not giving Him or ourselves time. Now God does not need time to process things like we do. He always knows what's going to happen and what decision needs to be made, but the "His timing" part comes in with His timing on when to tell us and sometimes it takes longer because we don't listen! One would imagine that when we ask God a question, we would listen for His answer, but that's not always true. We ask questions and wait for the answer we want, not necessarily the answer we need and when we don't get the answer we want, we stop listening. So God has to bring people and circumstances and whatnot to bring us back around to His way of thinking.

Time, humans take time. We are slow and oftentimes stupid creatures and when we deny God time in our lives, we deny Him the power to change our lives. Ecclesiastes 3 says there is a time for everything. A time to be born, to die, to plant, to uproot, to kill, to live, to cry, to laugh, to mourn, to dance, to search, to give up searching.... to sit down and shut up. We hear in our churches to go out and do, to not be afraid, to learn, to grow, to teach, to blah blah blah and there is nothing wrong with any of those things. But when in all of our going and doing are we spending any time with God? When in our ministry are we intentionally communing with the One who sent us out? Jesus hand chose his disciples intentionally, He taught the lessons that He intentionally at each time and each place. He didn't just throw stuff out there hoping that someone in the crowd would get it. He knew each ear that would hear, each mind that would process, and each hand that would rise in action based on His words. We of course cannot know all these things, we're human. But God can and if we spend time with Him, He wants to tell us. To be prepared is to know the Spirit of God in any given situation. Sometimes we honestly do not have that kind of time and that's why God is God and we are not. But God wants to tell you what He's planning, if we will only sit still long enough to listen.

now is the winter of our discontent...

I'm finding myself discontent lately. I didn't know it was happening until recently. I knew something was a little... disconnected, but I didn't know what or why. Now I know. Even though I'm surrounded by friends, family, and people that love me very much, I find myself discontent with the state of my life. Quite frankly, it's a little lonely.

But why? Because I'm not married? Because I'm not in the stage of life I think I should be in? Because I might secretly blame God for keeping me in one place too long and that's apparently a bad thing? Or because I blame myself, as if I had the choice to move on to the next stage of life and I passed it up?

E: All of the above.

I want to be married and I'm not. That's that. I see people who are the next stage of life and I want to be there. I'm tired of the problems that come with my current stage and I'm ready for new challenges. Yes, I do blame God. He's in control, isn't He? This is His show after all. And yes, I blame myself. I've had two distinct opportunities to move on to the next stage of life and I didn't.

But here's the thing about all that: if I'm not faithful with what I have been given in this stage, I won't be given anything new. If I'm not content with God in my current stage of life, I'm not going to be content in the next stage. Yes, God is in control, and He's a lot wiser than I am and He knows that moving me too quickly through life isn't going to turn out well for me. The decisions I've made in the past, I made after consulting a wise counsel and had a peace about them. Blaming myself now for making the right decisions then just seems silly, but you just saw me do it a paragraph ago.

The point is this: we, as humans, are pretty much stupid when it comes to what is best for us. Yeah, we make a right decision every now and then, but statistically, we're not good at running our own lives.

While I have been searching for contentment, the thought of asking God for it hadn't really entered my mind until today. I mean, praying for God to help me be content in Him... it just seems kinda wrong. Shouldn't my own contentment be something I can handle on my own? No, that's the point! We can't handle it! Something as huge as our own contentment, we cannot, nor should we try, to handle!

Here's what David said about it:

Psalm 62:5-8

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. ⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. ⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. ⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

David pretty much ordered his own soul to find its rest in God and then told it why God was worthy. David then moves from his own soul to all his peoples souls. Basically, David says "do this, because God will never let you fall." Is that a good enough reason to find my contentment in God? Simply because He's trustworthy? I can honestly say that I have tried to find my contentment in things other than God and have ended up very disappointed and discontent with myself and the world. But shouldn't I find my contentment in God because that's where it really is? Shouldn't I rest in God because I love Him and He loves me? My human heart doesn't always understand that.

Later, David says this:

Psalm 86:11-12

¹¹ Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. ¹² I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.

David has to ask to be taught God's ways. He had to ask for an undivided heart so that he could love God as God should be loved and that he could fear God the way God should be feared.

My prayer today is this: that God would see fit to give me this undivided heart so that I can long for the things God longs for in my life. So that I would be able to see how He sees and help people and glorify God the way God should be glorified. I stink of humanity and sin and that hinders me from praising the Eternal God the way He should be praised. But that doesn't hinder me from asking that God make my heart whole so that He can use it for His glory.

I think I'll work on a drawing/painting to illustrate this "whole heart" idea...

a few things I learned this weekend

1. I'm wrong a lot.
2. Relying on the wisdom of those wiser than you is a wise thing.
3. Never underestimate the importance of family and spending time with them.
4. There is nothing new under the sun, but that should not make a worthy thing any less valuable.
5. Never put two male toddlers in the same room and expect peace.
6. Rest can happen in the midst of chaos.
7. Within a the next year and a half, I will probably emerge as being the only single one left in my family.
8. When friends are incredibly happy with their lives, they sometimes forget to be sensitive to others, but that should not change the friendship.
9. Having someone to talk to is important. Talking to God is more important. Listening to God is top priority.
10. My fears are tiddlywinks to God's plan and God's power.
    

Zephaniah 3:17- wrap your mind around it

“The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

My first reaction to these verses was a typical Shanna "excuse me?" *one eyebrow raised in slight disbelief*

God is with me. Got that, herad it in Sunday School, proved it in Grad School.

He is mighty to save me. Yup, my mind can handle that with very little trouble.

He takes great delight in me? Now let's hold on just a minute. The God and Holy Creator of the whole wide universe takes delight in me?! um.... *scratches head* really? I had a hard time wrapping my brain around that. But as hard as it is for me to comprehend that He delights in me, His Word says it is true. When I allow myself to agree with His Word, I cannot help but smile. To me, “taking delight in” means that Jesus likes to be around me. He wants me to be near Him. He laughs when I’m funny. He listens when I tell Him my innermost thoughts and feelings. He supports and comforts me when I’m sick or hurt, and He instructs me when I screw up so I can be free from destructive thoughts and impure motives.

He delights in me as a parent delights in His child. As His child who sometimes goes astray, He disciplines me to bring me back to Him. He protects and guards my spirit, soul and mind. If I turn to Him when I am upset or fearful, He will “quiet” me with “His love”. This love is strong and unconditional. It won’t diminish over time, and I cannot earn it, but I must open my heart and allow myself to receive it. During difficult times, if I will allow myself to concentrate on what His Word says and not on my doubts or fearful thoughts, His love comes through the Scriptures and into my heart.

He will quiet me with His love. Honestly, my first thought was, "I hope so because delighting in me is throwing me for a loop." But the last one really kicked my butt.

He rejoices over me with singing. Why would He do that? I'm SO not worthy of that kind of love. And with singing?? I don't even like my own family to sing Happy Birthday to me because I don't like that kind of attention on me. Why on earth would God choose to lavish me with that kind of attention. There are certainly more worthy people on earth, why me? Who am I?............

....................... after much pondering I asked myself, "What's the catch? God is too wonderful." I don’t deserve any of this. There must be a catch. A few years later, I’ve yet to find it. There is no risk in giving all of your heart to Jesus. He already knows you intimately. He knows your fears, your insecurities, your self-centeredness, your selfishness, your anger, your frustrations, your doubts, your regrets. Nothing about you shocks Him or causes Him to despise you. He loves you, and His love is perfect and complete. He is ever ready to help you overcome the Enemy. He is “with you”. He is your Champion and Defender. He is “mighty to save”. I need a champion who is “mighty”! How ‘bout you?

To be sure, those in Christ Jesus will live happily ever after—and that’s no fairy tale. When I spend time with Jesus in His Word, in prayer, and in quiet solitude with my heart set on Him in praise and adoration, I know that I know that I know my God is real, strong, and loving . God is wonderful. I don’t deserve all He offers me in Christ Jesus. I never will. Praise be to God that I don’t have to earn it because of the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross. As soon as I confessed my sins and accepted Jesus into my heart, I became His very own and an heir to His kingdom. My Prince has come to me. And His name is Christ Jesus. It’s all about grace fueled by unconditional love. The unconditional, incomprehensible love of God.

Lamentations 3:19-33

Lamentations 3:19-33 (New Living Translation)

¹⁹ The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words
²⁰ I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
²¹ Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:

²² The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
²³ Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
²⁶ So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
²⁷ And it is good for people to submit at an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:

²⁸ Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the Lord’s demands.
²⁹ Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.
³⁰ Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.

³¹ For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.
³² Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
³³ For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.

Lamentations 3:19-33 (Shanna’s Personal Version)

¹⁹ Thinking back over my past, remembering my complete and utter loneliness makes me throw up my in my mouth a little bit. ²⁰ I will never be able to wipe the memory of those feelings and how I tried to hurt myself, of all the time I spent completely useless to God. ²¹ And yet, I can still have hope, because I know this:

²² God’s love is always faithful and never ending! His favor will always rest on me! ²³ His faithfulness to us is renewed every morning, it’s that great! ²⁴ I say to myself, “God is my prize; my heart and my hopes are safe with Him.”

²⁵ My God is a good shepherd, gracious to those who depend on Him, to those who are searching for Him. ²⁶ So I will wait expectantly for Him and for my salvation. I will not try to impress Him with my knowledge or good works. It’s not like that’s going to do any good anyway. ²⁷ I’m glad I began this journey when I was young, even though I went my own way somewhere in between now and then.

²⁸ I’m learning to sit quietly and not talk God’s ear off; I’m learning to listen. ²⁹ I’m realizing just how little I am; I’m learning how to humble myself before God. ³⁰ I’m learning to be meek without being a doormat. I’m learning how to love my enemies.

³¹ God has never left me and never shall leave me. ³² Even through the lessons He knows I need to learn, He shows such love and compassion on me! ³³ God doesn’t ever want to hurt me; it’s not in His character. He loves me, wants the best for me, and much like a parent, must teach the child for the child’s own good. I would much rather learn a lesson from a God who loves me than a cruel world who wants to kill me.

Worthless into Precious, Part 1

by Gwen Smith

Today's Truth
"You are precious and honored in my sight..." (Isaiah 43:4a, NIV).

Friend to Friend
Last winter, I bought my daughter a really cute jacket at the mall. It's a hoodie that's made of a cuddly fabric with cream, lavender, and mint green horizontal stripes. The jacket zips up in the front and is well crafted, stylish, and simply adorable.

When I bought it, I felt like the price on the tag was a fair one, so I gladly pulled out my wallet and paid the retail amount. I was like a kid in a candy store on the way home. I fully anticipated a shriek of happiness from my little bag of beans when I gave it to her. Delightfully, I wasn't disappointed. Kennedy loved her new coat, and I was pleased with my purchase. Happy dances all around...until a week later, when I saw the same jacket in the same store at a greatly reduced price. Are you tensing up with me? Suddenly, I felt schnookered! Ripped off. Taken advantage of. As soon as I saw the red line on the price tag of the unsold coats, everything changed -- Kennedy's jacket wasn't worth what I paid for it.

When we speak of the worth of something, we often consider it a relative term - one that has shifting factors. For example: last week the cute jacket was thirty-nine dollars, and now it's nineteen ninety-nine. The jacket didn't change, but its perceived worth did.

Now, consider the worth of a woman. Are the factors that determine her value based upon variable, shifting factors or are they based upon fixed factors? Seems to be a silly question, doesn't it? Fixed, of course! But, if the answer is so glaringly obvious, why do we struggle so much as women with feeling worthless? Why do we walk around feeling like that red lined jacket? I think it's because we often allow variable earthly factors to define our worth.

What kind of variable factors?

There are so many reasons why women feel worthless:

Ø Because they've been abused (raped, molested, physically abused, verbally abused...)

Ø Because they've been told that they're worthless (by a parent, spouse, sibling, teenage child, or another...)

Ø Because of choices they've made (divorce, infidelity, abortion, promiscuity, eating disorders, addictions, uncontrolled anger...)

Ø Because they've been cheated on (infidelity, internet affair, pornography...)

Ø Because they're co-dependent (conclude their value based upon other people -- "If my husband isn't okay, I'm not okay.")

Ø Because they don't collect a paycheck (stay at home moms that have left the work force, laid off employees, displaced employees, those on disability...)

Ø Because they've battled an illness (unable to care for family, perform basic home duties, participate in ministry or Bible study like they once did, can't drive, cook...)

Unfortunately, the variable factors that we use to define our worth are endless. Many of us feel worthless. Why? We've felt ignored, invisible, insignificant, useless, undesired, ugly, unloved, or forgotten. We girls are emotional, broken in many ways. Great portions of our identity and of our personal value are wrapped into combustible packages of emotion...how we feel about this or that. The truth is, our worth has nothing to do with our feelings.

Trust me! I am not going to try to convince you that I know everything there is to know about feeling like a woman of worth. Or about being a woman of worth. I am in the trenches with you. I struggle with normal woman things. I don't live a fancy schmancy, rose-colored wonder-life. I hit the snooze button several times each morning. I pack lunches for my kids. I spend countless hours of my life each year sitting in the car pool line. It's a never-ending struggle for me to keep the laundry cleaned, and my kids often have to fish for a matching pair of socks in the clean-clothes basket. My husband is my soul mate, but is far from perfect. For that matter, Brad should win a lifetime achievement award for enduring the drama of me! And my kids bring me both great joy and great frustration on a daily basis.

Is this sounding at all familiar to you?

See -- I'm just like you, and I'm walking this faith journey right beside you. In fact, the more I know God, the less inclined I am to pretend to have life or faith figured out. Amen? I'm constantly tempted to define my worth with activities, emotions, and accomplishments. I've come to realize, however, that way of thinking is a spiritual dead end road. Scripture tells us that anything we do in our own strength or of our own goodness is of no value to God. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6a, emphasis mine).

What I do know is this: because of Jesus Christ, I'm a woman of highest worth. Not because of anything else. I'm a grace girl. Not perfect by a long stretch. I've been changed by the unconditional love of God and restored to perfect beauty through the shed blood of Jesus. Because of love, we are His daughters, precious in His sight. In light of this, we need to set aside feelings that diminish our value, and embrace our proper identity: child of the King of Kings.

Hear this, friend: feelings of worthlessness are from Satan himself. It burns me up that the enemy has such a strong grip on God's daughters in this area. We need to associate the word worthless with the word lie. That's exactly what it is, a big, fat lie! I talk to women all the time who bend a knee to negative feelings and live defeated lives because they don't quite know how to overcome their sense of worthlessness. God wants every one of us to experience healing and have an appropriate sense of self-worth.

So let's go back to Kennedy's new coat for just a moment. Imagine walking into God's department store. There on the rack, you spy a coat that is just plain fabulous -- I mean, stop-you-in-your-tracks fabulous! One-size fits all, the tag reads. Yeah, right, you whisper under your breath. Then you flip over the price tag and it's crazy expensive. Way beyond what you could ever dream of paying...like, if you added up every dollar that ever passed through your hands -- then multiplied that by ten thousand -- that kind of expensive. Then imagine the storeowner walking over to you, slipping the coat off the rack and onto your shoulders.

"It's a perfect fit," He smiles.

"Sir," you manage with a whisper, "I could never afford such a coat. This is meant for royalty and I'm, well, just an ordinary girl."

"Oh precious woman, this coat is made especially for you, and the price has already been paid in full."

As the owner straightens the sleeves on your arms and adjusts the collar around your neck, you notice his hands...nail pierced hands. And suddenly you realize that this is the covering you were meant to wear all along.

You see, the Bible tells us that because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can be clothed with the "robe of righteousness." The apostle Paul tells us that when we are reconciled to God, we become His righteousness. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). There's no way we could ever afford or earn such a robe. But Jesus gave His life for us - He earned it for us. He paid the price and we receive the gift. Why? Because you're worth it. You are precious and highly valuable in the eyes of the One who sees. And you never, never, never have to worry about being on anyone's bargain rack again.

Let's Pray
Holy Father, I'm humbled at the very thought that I could be viewed as precious in Your eyes. Thank You for taking on my sin so that I could take on your righteousness. Please help me to see myself as You see me. Help me to thrive in Your beauty!

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
What came to your mind as you read today's devotion? Grab your journal and write about it.

Are you held captive by feelings of worthlessness? Spend a few moments in prayer and ask God to reveal truth to your heart about how He sees you.

Print or write out this verse: "I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:15-16, NASB). Set it to memory and allow it to serve as a reminder that you are precious to God.

Last night I was tired. Weary in body, mind, and spirit. I was done. It was one of those times that I knew that if anyone, it didn't matter who, was nice to me and asked how I was doing, I was going to lose it. And I did.

It had been a long week. I can't even remember last Sunday, but Monday I went to work, had my meeting with Anne, and knew that I had to go home and try to talk to RM about money. Money is never a fun topic for me, mostly because I never really have any. I live paycheck to paycheck now adays and not very well. But God always Always ALWAYS provides for me, not a moment too soon or too late. Anyway, the RM and I "talked" about it, which means we left each other notes and facebook messages. It didn't turn out well and added A LOT of stress to my week. I'm very non-confrontational and I hate fighting over things and would rather take the loss of whatever the amount was than fight with a person I live with.

Tuesday was lovely, a break from all that tension. I went to a different Bible Study and it was very uplifting... mostly because we went around in a circle and said good things about each other. But I feel like the things said were from the heart and all I could say was "thank you". (By the way, apparently I was "perky" that night?)

Wednesday I was tired. I took a nap between work and youth instead of going to the gym. My girls picked me up a bit, I LOVE my girls!

Thursday was Rhythm. Awesome, but I was still tired. There seems to be a bit of tension now on Thursdays because of the people who have chosen to leave Rhythm. It's one of those situations where I might know too much to not notice the little things such as facial expressions, sideways glances, and body language. It makes life... interesting. Thursday night was also the night when the FB messages flew back and forth and I gave in. What's $120 when compared to household peace? God will provide, even if I do have to sell my violin that I never got the chance to learn how to play.

Friday is a little blury. I remember work, Lifeway and dinner with Keri, and going to bed, but that's about all.

Saturday was the dinner with my parents and racist grandparents. With two black babies in the house, it was tense to say the least. Then there was Keri, Scott & Ellie's... Josh's house... and falling down on his porch steps in the rain (I have bruises).

Sunday was the open house so people could see Sammy in all his post-surgery glory. It wasn't bad, just uncomfortable for some reason. By Sunday night, I was done. I went to class at church because I knew what kind of people I needed to be around, and as soon as Lori came in and sat down next to me, I was gone. I cried on her shoulder for a while, class started and I randomly teared up all throughout it, class ended and Lori and Brian prayed with me and I cried through all of that. I went home and, per Lori's very exact instructions, made soup, put laundry in the washer, read my homework and ate my soup, put the clothes in the dryer, brushed my teeth and went to bed. Everything was done on autopilot and I was done. With the week-long tension broken, my body and spirit were ready to sleep for days.

Now you might be asking, where was God in your week? Well, I'll tell you. I didn't invite Him in. I wasn't actively in the Word last week. It was one of those weeks I thought I could handle on my own. Well, if I end each week having a breakdown, I'm not handling it very well, am I? Of course not! This week, KSJ and I started a Bible study together on the names of God. The first name we studied this morning was YAHWEH.

This is only the most important name you could ever know if your entire life! This name, these few letters, indicates God's everything! God was, and is, and will be. He exists, was never created and can never be destroyed. God's power is everlasting and His lifespan is never ending (it's also never beginning but trying to understand that makes my eyes cross). Our God is not some random diety that we created because we needed something to believe in. Our God is not a crutch we have invented for ourselves because we don't want to deal with reality. God is reality! If anything, calling God a crutch is in itself a crutch. Church can be a crutch if the God of the church is left out. But God is not a crutch, He is an everlasting, allpowerful, Creator who wants to be invited into our daily lives, into every nuance of our lives so that He can make it better, so that He can be glorified in it!

What's your crutch? Who or what do you lean on when things get tough? The crutch of friends? The crutch of family? Or an everloving God?

THE SELFISH GIANT by Oscar Wilde

Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used
to go and play in the Giant's garden.

It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass.  Here and
there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there
were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into
delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich
fruit.  The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the
children used to stop their games in order to listen to them.  "How
happy we are here!" they cried to each other.

One day the Giant came back.  He had been to visit his friend the
Cornish ogre, and had stayed with him for seven years.  After the
seven years were over he had said all that he had to say, for his
conversation was limited, and he determined to return to his own
castle.  When he arrived he saw the children playing in the garden.

"What are you doing here?" he cried in a very gruff voice, and the
children ran away.

"My own garden is my own garden," said the Giant; "any one can
understand that, and I will allow nobody to play in it but myself."
So he built a high wall all round it, and put up a notice-board.

TRESPASSERS
WILL BE
PROSECUTED

He was a very selfish Giant.

The poor children had now nowhere to play.  They tried to play on
the road, but the road was very dusty and full of hard stones, and
they did not like it.  They used to wander round the high wall when
their lessons were over, and talk about the beautiful garden
inside.  "How happy we were there," they said to each other.

Then the Spring came, and all over the country there were little
blossoms and little birds.  Only in the garden of the Selfish Giant
it was still winter.  The birds did not care to sing in it as there
were no children, and the trees forgot to blossom.  Once a
beautiful flower put its head out from the grass, but when it saw
the notice-board it was so sorry for the children that it slipped
back into the ground again, and went off to sleep.  The only people
who were pleased were the Snow and the Frost.  "Spring has
forgotten this garden," they cried, "so we will live here all the
year round."  The Snow covered up the grass with her great white
cloak, and the Frost painted all the trees silver.  Then they
invited the North Wind to stay with them, and he came.  He was
wrapped in furs, and he roared all day about the garden, and blew
the chimney-pots down.  "This is a delightful spot," he said, "we
must ask the Hail on a visit."  So the Hail came.  Every day for
three hours he rattled on the roof of the castle till he broke most
of the slates, and then he ran round and round the garden as fast
as he could go.  He was dressed in grey, and his breath was like
ice.

"I cannot understand why the Spring is so late in coming," said the
Selfish Giant, as he sat at the window and looked out at his cold
white garden; "I hope there will be a change in the weather."

But the Spring never came, nor the Summer.  The Autumn gave golden
fruit to every garden, but to the Giant's garden she gave none.
"He is too selfish," she said.  So it was always Winter there, and
the North Wind, and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced
about through the trees.

One morning the Giant was lying awake in bed when he heard some
lovely music.  It sounded so sweet to his ears that he thought it
must be the King's musicians passing by.  It was really only a
little linnet singing outside his window, but it was so long since
he had heard a bird sing in his garden that it seemed to him to be
the most beautiful music in the world.  Then the Hail stopped
dancing over his head, and the North Wind ceased roaring, and a
delicious perfume came to him through the open casement.  "I
believe the Spring has come at last," said the Giant; and he jumped
out of bed and looked out.

What did he see?

He saw a most wonderful sight.  Through a little hole in the wall
the children had crept in, and they were sitting in the branches of
the trees.  In every tree that he could see there was a little
child.  And the trees were so glad to have the children back again
that they had covered themselves with blossoms, and were waving
their arms gently above the children's heads.  The birds were
flying about and twittering with delight, and the flowers were
looking up through the green grass and laughing.  It was a lovely
scene, only in one corner it was still winter.  It was the farthest
corner of the garden, and in it was standing a little boy.  He was
so small that he could not reach up to the branches of the tree,
and he was wandering all round it, crying bitterly.  The poor tree
was still quite covered with frost and snow, and the North Wind was
blowing and roaring above it.  "Climb up! little boy," said the
Tree, and it bent its branches down as low as it could; but the boy
was too tiny.

And the Giant's heart melted as he looked out.  "How selfish I have
been!" he said; "now I know why the Spring would not come here.  I
will put that poor little boy on the top of the tree, and then I
will knock down the wall, and my garden shall be the children's
playground for ever and ever."  He was really very sorry for what
he had done.

So he crept downstairs and opened the front door quite softly, and
went out into the garden.  But when the children saw him they were
so frightened that they all ran away, and the garden became winter
again.  Only the little boy did not run, for his eyes were so full
of tears that he did not see the Giant coming.  And the Giant stole
up behind him and took him gently in his hand, and put him up into
the tree.  And the tree broke at once into blossom, and the birds
came and sang on it, and the little boy stretched out his two arms
and flung them round the Giant's neck, and kissed him.  And the
other children, when they saw that the Giant was not wicked any
longer, came running back, and with them came the Spring.  "It is
your garden now, little children," said the Giant, and he took a
great axe and knocked down the wall.  And when the people were
going to market at twelve o'clock they found the Giant playing with
the children in the most beautiful garden they had ever seen.

All day long they played, and in the evening they came to the Giant
to bid him good-bye.

"But where is your little companion?" he said:  "the boy I put into
the tree."  The Giant loved him the best because he had kissed him.

"We don't know," answered the children; "he has gone away."

"You must tell him to be sure and come here to-morrow," said the
Giant.  But the children said that they did not know where he
lived, and had never seen him before; and the Giant felt very sad.

Every afternoon, when school was over, the children came and played
with the Giant.  But the little boy whom the Giant loved was never
seen again.  The Giant was very kind to all the children, yet he
longed for his first little friend, and often spoke of him.  "How I
would like to see him!" he used to say.

Years went over, and the Giant grew very old and feeble.  He could
not play about any more, so he sat in a huge armchair, and watched
the children at their games, and admired his garden.  "I have many
beautiful flowers," he said; "but the children are the most
beautiful flowers of all."

One winter morning he looked out of his window as he was dressing.
He did not hate the Winter now, for he knew that it was merely the
Spring asleep, and that the flowers were resting.

Suddenly he rubbed his eyes in wonder, and looked and looked.  It
certainly was a marvellous sight.  In the farthest corner of the
garden was a tree quite covered with lovely white blossoms.  Its
branches were all golden, and silver fruit hung down from them, and
underneath it stood the little boy he had loved.

Downstairs ran the Giant in great joy, and out into the garden.  He
hastened across the grass, and came near to the child.  And when he
came quite close his face grew red with anger, and he said, "Who
hath dared to wound thee?"  For on the palms of the child's hands
were the prints of two nails, and the prints of two nails were on
the little feet.

"Who hath dared to wound thee?" cried the Giant; "tell me, that I
may take my big sword and slay him."

"Nay!" answered the child; "but these are the wounds of Love."

"Who art thou?" said the Giant, and a strange awe fell on him, and
he knelt before the little child.

And the child smiled on the Giant, and said to him, "You let me
play once in your garden, to-day you shall come with me to my
garden, which is Paradise."

And when the children ran in that afternoon, they found the Giant
lying dead under the tree, all covered with white blossoms.

The Sufferings of His Broken Heart

by Max Lucado

Go with me for a moment to witness what was perhaps the foggiest night in history. The scene is very simple; you'll recognize it quickly. A grove of twisted olive trees. Ground cluttered with large rocks. A low stone fence. A dark, dark night.

Now, look into the picture. Look closely through the shadowy foliage. See that person? See that solitary figure? What's he doing? Flat on the ground. Face stained with dirt and tears. Fists pounding the hard earth. Eyes wide with a stupor of fear. Hair matted with salty sweat. Is that blood on his forehead?

That's Jesus. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Maybe you've seen the classic portrait of Christ in the garden. Kneeling beside a big rock. Snow-white robe. Hands peacefully folded in prayer. A look of serenity on his face. Halo over his head. A spotlight from heaven illuminating his golden-brown hair.

Now, I'm no artist, but I can tell you one thing. The man who painted that picture didn't use the gospel of Mark as a pattern. When Mark wrote about that painful night, he used phrases like these: "Horror and dismay came over him." "My heart is ready to break with grief." "He went a little forward and threw himself on the ground."

Does this look like the picture of a saintly Jesus resting in the palm of God? Hardly. Mark used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see a "man of sorrows." (Isaiah 53:3 NASB) We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief.

We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.

The writer of Hebrews would later pen, "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death." (Hebrews 5:7 NIV)

My, what a portrait! Jesus is in pain. Jesus is on the stage of fear. Jesus is cloaked, not in sainthood, but in humanity.

The next time the fog finds you, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this dusty planet, listen to him pleading among the twisted trees.

The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you'll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.


From
The Great House of God
© (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009) Max Lucado

God Can Redeem Anything

This has a special meaning for me today. Along with the song "You Raise Me Up".


Today's Truth
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Genesis 50:20, NIV).

Friend to Friend
God is faithful. He can use all circumstances for His glory. Let's take a brief look at the life of Joseph (Genesis 37--50). Joseph was a man of integrity who did right in the eyes of the Lord, yet he faced hardship, betrayal, and temptation. As a young man, he was less than humble a few times with his ten older brothers. Okay. Straight up, he actually came across as a puffed up little braggart. His bragging fed the jealously of Joseph's brothers because he was clearly their father's favorite child. Now granted, Joseph threw gasoline on the fire of this jealousy when he bragged about the dreams God had given him, and may have deserved a good smack upside his head for being so insensitive, but imagine how he must have felt to be thrown into a cistern and sold into slavery by his very own brothers! It chills me to the bone. Through it all, however, "the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered" (Genesis 39:2).

He found favor in the eyes of Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh in Egypt, and gained great position, privilege, and prestige. Not so bad for a guy who had been sold into slavery, huh? God was surely with him through it all. Joseph was trusted and placed over all that Potiphar owned.

His circumstances had taken quite a turn for the better ... until our man Joseph was wronged again ... this time by Potiphar's lying, lustful wife. Although he nobly resisted her sexual advances, Joseph was imprisoned when she falsely accused him of attempted rape. In the darkness of a dungeon, Joseph again experienced the lavish light of God's faithfulness as he was granted, "favor in the eyes of the prison warden" (Genesis 39:21). He quickly rose to a position of power and responsibility amongst his prisoner peers and was trusted by the warden.

While imprisoned, Joseph met a cupbearer and a baker who had been in Pharaoh's service, and when each of these two men had a disturbing dream the same night, God allowed Joseph to interpret their dreams. Joseph told the cupbearer that in three days he would be freed from prison and restored to his position in Pharoah's court (the interpretation wasn't quite so favorable for the baker). Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him to Pharaoh, but on the third day, at Pharaoh's birthday feast, the cupbearer was reinstated and Joseph was forgotten. How frustrating would that be?

Two years later, while Joseph was still in the dungeon for doing the right thing, Pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him greatly. "So he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him" (Genesis 41:8b). Finally, the cupbearer remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh of his ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who--with God's enabling--interpreted the dreams, and Pharaoh rewarded Joseph by placing him in charge of his palace and his people.

After Joseph was placed in charge of Egypt, he worked with integrity and fervor. He collected and stored all the excess food from the land in preparation for the famine that God had revealed, through Pharaoh's dream, would come. There were seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. The years of famine were severe, and during the famine, Joseph sold grain to both the Egyptians and to people of other lands.

Ultimately, the famine brought Joseph's brothers and father from the land of Canaan to Egypt for a God-reunion and restoration that only our amazing El-Shaddai could have arranged. In spite of all the pain he endured at the hands of others, Joseph was able to exclaim to his brothers in kindness, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good."

Joseph really got it.

He saw the big picture.

Though we've had to rush through this story, the take-away is clear. Joseph paid a high price for sins that had been committed against him, but through the trials, he was blessed richly as God eventually used each circumstance for His good. My dear sister, our God is able to redeem anything and everything that we face or endure. Anything! No matter what you've been through, not matter the secrets you've been hiding or accusations you've been listening to, God is able to redeem you.

Do you believe that? He is waiting to show you the big picture. If you've been holding something back from God or resisting His healing, then it's time for you to take your faith and trust to another level. No more safe living.

Let's Pray
Dear God, Help me see the big picture today. I surrender my pain of __________ to Your greater purpose. You know what I've been through...and I know that You are faithful, compassionate, and able to redeem anything. Please turn my hurt into something that can be used for Your good!

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
Journal about what's been redeemed in your life ... or about what you would like God to redeem.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Write this on the tablet of your heart today. Commit it to memory!

A Steady Diet of God's Word

by Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
Colossians 3:16-17 (NIV) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Friend to Friend
The lakes in Florida are beautiful, but relatively shallow as well. Over the years, they fill up with the silt and mire that wash off the shore. In time, they accumulate two to three feet of mire and decaying vegetation at the bottom. Soon that mire begins to deprive the lake, plants and fish of valuable oxygen and eventually the lakes literally die. In order to halt this process, a program has been put in place to drain the lakes periodically and expose the mire. After it is exposed, workers come in and dredge the mire -- restoring the lake bottom to its original condition. The lake water can then be raised and soon the lake, its vegetation and fish are thriving again.

Our lives are much the same. We need to regularly expose and eliminate the "mire" or sin in our lives, since peace is always realized in a right relationship with God. The more we seek God and the more we nurture our relationship with Him, the stronger our peace will grow. When we have a personal relationship with God, we also have access to all of God's power and all of God's peace. How much power we receive from Him and how much peace we experience in Him depends upon how right our relationship is with Him. A right relationship with God depends on how much time we spend in His Word.

Colossians 3:16 (NIV) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly..."

In this verse, "dwell" means "to feel at home." The Apostle Paul is conveying the idea that God's Word should be such a natural part of our lives that it comfortably dwells with us and feels at home in us. When a Soviet official was asked why a study of the Bible was frowned upon in his country and why those who dared to print and distribute the Bible were severely punished, he replied, "We find that the reading of the Bible changes people in a way that is dangerous to our state!" When God's Word is "comfortable" in us, it not only changes our life, but the lives of others through us.

Our greatest source of power comes from knowing, embracing and applying the Word of God. "For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are." (Hebrews 4:12 NLT) God's Word cuts away sin and heals the deepest wounds as it guides, directs and dispels darkness. How many times we have been through the Bible is not nearly as important as how many times the Bible has been through us.

If you visit Yellowstone National Park, you will be given a piece of paper by one of the rangers at the park entrance. On it, in big letters, is written the warning "Do Not Feed the Bears" but when you drive into the heart of the park, you will still see people ignoring the warning. When a ranger was asked what was so bad about feeding the bears, he answered, "You have only a small part of the picture." The ranger went on to describe how, during the fall and winter months, when few people visit the park, the park service personnel have to carry away the bodies of dead bears -- bears who can no longer feed themselves. Frantic Christians obviously do not know how to feed themselves the Word of God because a steady diet of truth produces peace.

Let's Pray
Father, I confess to You that I do not treasure Your Word like I should. Please forgive me when I do not spend enough time reading, studying and meditating on the truth of the Bible. Help me to learn how to feed myself and grow in Your truth. I choose to cultivate the discipline of Bible study in my life. Please give me a new hunger and fresh thirst for scripture and teach me how to live it as well as learn it.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
Is bible study a habit in your life? Do you know and apply the Bible each day? What hinders you from reading God's Word each day? What step(s) do you need to take to make Bible study a daily priority? Make a plan for implementing those steps.

Flesh versus Spirit

1 Corinthians 7:32-35

“³²I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. ³³But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— ³⁴and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. ³⁵I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.”

Those of you that know me know that I am single, almost terminally so. I have not yet found a man that can lead me. I don’t say that to boast or sound stronger than I am, it’s just a simple fact. God has made me a certain way and I’ve not yet met the man that God said, “Hey, submit to him and lose nothing of yourself.” If you know me, you know that I’m not a feminist, burn-your-bra, all-men-are-pigs type of woman. You know that my deepest desire is to follow God and His leading in my life and He has not yet lead me down the path of marriage. My spirit is just fine with that. My spirit loves that fact that I can focus my attention on God and not worry about someone else. I don’t want to have to think before I make a decision if that would be okay with “him”, or if “he” would want to be involved as well. I want to take all my energy and focus on God and on what He’s doing in my life and how that translates into me being able to help others for God’s glory alone. That’s my spirit.

My flesh is a whole ‘nother story! It wants someone to worry about, someone to care for, and someone to think about when I’m at work. It wants someone to worry about me, someone to care for me, and someone to think about me while they’re at work. My flesh wants some physical person to be there when I need a hug, someone to physically be there when I want them to be there. My flesh wants someone strong, personable, a Godly man to lead, my flesh wants to submit to someone.

In addition to saying the above, 1 Cor. 7 also says that it’s better to marry than to burn, but is that really good enough reason to marry? Is that fair to the other person? I mean, if I got married to someone just because he… had a need to be married, is that really fair? I know what the Bible says, but I wouldn’t want someone to marry me just because they… needed to. And I would hope that the reverse would be true. If I were to marry someone, I would hope they would want more from me than that. Now, I realize that that’s only one part of the whole deal, but that’s the part that the Bible addresses right there, so I’m going with the thought that it’s a rather important part.

I guess what this really comes down to is what part of you is going to win: spirit or flesh. 1 Cor. 2:12 says “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” God has given us His Spirit because without it, our spirits wouldn’t know the real meaning behind anything that God has freely given us. We wouldn’t understand the power of our salvation, we wouldn’t understand the power of God that our spirits have access to, and we wouldn’t understand how to use that power in our spirits to control our flesh. Given that, given that we have the power of God through our spirit to control our flesh, I’m going to say that our spirits have power over our flesh. God made them both and has power and dominion over both, but He has also given us a way to fight the sinful desires of the flesh.

Marriage is not, in itself, sinful. But marriage at the wrong time, marriage with the wrong person, marriage in any other way than what God has appointed can be counted as disobedience and is therefore a sin. Marriage is an institution made by God, but if Satan has taught us anything, it’s that even good things made by God can be perverted. That’s what Satan does, he is the great perverter. Satan can take something as good and perfectly God-made as the institution of marriage, and twist it until it becomes something sinful, something wrong. I’m not talking about things as obvious of homosexuality; Satan is much slyer than that. For the Christian, Satan knows that the temptation of homosexuality is probably not going to work in most cases. So he has to be slick and try to get us to marry outside of God’s will by telling us that God wants us to be happy and make us think that marriage is the only way to be happy. Yes, of course God wants His children to be happy, but the greatest happiness will come on His terms, not ours and certainly not as Satan’s.

So friend, who will win, your spirit or your flesh? Do you have the power of God flowing through your spirit? Are you aware of Satan’s ability to twist things just enough to make them sinful but not so bad that it’s obviously wrong? Do you have control over your flesh? Matthew 18:8-9 “⁸If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” That’s sounds harsh, but the flesh is stupid and cannot learn without severe punishment.