Praise to the LORD for he is good!
In the moments when life is gray and cloudy and unclear and hard and confusing....I need to remember these times when the sky is clear, the sun is shining, and my mouth overflows with praises to God. He is GOOOOOOOOOD!! I think he gifts us with these mountain-top views for when we are in the valley and all we see is a mountain behind us and a mountain ahead of us, and are in darkness. Read the end of Habbakuk (3:17-19). In fact, I'll post it for you =)
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A Good Shepherd
I'm sensing a need to write about this for someone.
What is your idea of a good shepherd? One who watches over his flock with the rod and the staff? One who leads his sheep in green pastures and by still waters? One who guards his sheep, that they may lie down in peace? I do too. So would any moral person, regardless of their spiritual views (moral being defined as one who tries to live a good life and do the right thing, follow their conscience, etc.). When Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, is that all he entails?
Here is a picture I want to share from a shepherd and his flock. Sheep, as most of us know, are stupid. There's no delicate way to put it. They are dumb, senseless creatures in need of a shepherd or they are going to die. They wander, they get lost, they get stuck, they cannot protect themselves. Sounds like me in a car without directions =)
In Jesus' day, sheep were no different than they are now. Stupid, senseless, needy creatures. However, they were smart enough to know their master's voice. When sheep wander, they typically become lost very quickly. Stubborn sheep will sometimes wander off because something caught their attention, or they smelled something "good". A good shepherd will leave the flock and go after the wayward sheep until he found it. When a sheep continually wanders off and become lost repeatedly, the shepherd does a very loving thing for the sheep. He finds the sheep, lost and sitting in one place, bleating for help. He gently takes the sheep and break its legs, one by one, so it can no longer walk. Then he gently lifts the sheep and carries it back to the flock. This shepherd then carries the sheep until its legs are healed. During that time, the good shepherd holds the sheep close, speaks gentle words over this sheep, and tenderly cares for it. When its legs are healed and the sheep can walk, it intimately knows its master's voice. It no longer wants to wander. This sheep knows and loves its master's voice.
When you find yourself in a place where you feel like your legs have been broken, the Master, the Good Shepherd is longing to re-introduce himself to you. He is longing to speak tender words straight to your heart. He is desperate for your attention. Part of you is not enough. He wants all of you. He knows that you have strayed from his voice, and the most loving thing he can do for you is to save you from the wilderness of living on your own knowledge and strength, and to teach you full and ultimate dependence on Him. When we walk on our own, or turn a direction because it "smells good", we have no idea of the dangers surrounding us. We don't even know where we are. Sometimes the most loving things God does for us are the most painful. If we just looked at God as one who breaks legs, we have an incomplete picture of him. We will see him as a God who enjoys inflicting pain. When we can get past the discomfort of living in pain and suffering, His righteous plan starts to be revealed to us, and we lose our perspective and, by God's grace, begin to ask for His. Do not waste the precious time you have with the Good Shepherd while your legs are healing! I love this: Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 says, "As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! ....he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few."
Something God showed me today was a picture of a desert, and me standing on the edge of it. Something I desired SO greatly was waiting on the other side, but to cross that desert would mean death. It was hot. It was dusty. There was no water, and there was a great distance to cover. I could not do it, and I longed so strongly to cross it. I stood and waited for the LORD. Soon a storm rose from the east, and washed over the desert in front of me. Dark clouds rolled in, and lightning flashed from the clouds to the ground. Rain poured from the sky in a torrent, soaking the sand of the desert. After the storm was over, the desert was transformed into a lush garden. There was green foliage, trees, bushes, flowers, rivers of water flowing through the garden. The desert was now pass-able. I could take a step forward into an area that was previously desolate. It was amazing. It was beautiful.
"I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry."
What is your idea of a good shepherd? One who watches over his flock with the rod and the staff? One who leads his sheep in green pastures and by still waters? One who guards his sheep, that they may lie down in peace? I do too. So would any moral person, regardless of their spiritual views (moral being defined as one who tries to live a good life and do the right thing, follow their conscience, etc.). When Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, is that all he entails?
Here is a picture I want to share from a shepherd and his flock. Sheep, as most of us know, are stupid. There's no delicate way to put it. They are dumb, senseless creatures in need of a shepherd or they are going to die. They wander, they get lost, they get stuck, they cannot protect themselves. Sounds like me in a car without directions =)
In Jesus' day, sheep were no different than they are now. Stupid, senseless, needy creatures. However, they were smart enough to know their master's voice. When sheep wander, they typically become lost very quickly. Stubborn sheep will sometimes wander off because something caught their attention, or they smelled something "good". A good shepherd will leave the flock and go after the wayward sheep until he found it. When a sheep continually wanders off and become lost repeatedly, the shepherd does a very loving thing for the sheep. He finds the sheep, lost and sitting in one place, bleating for help. He gently takes the sheep and break its legs, one by one, so it can no longer walk. Then he gently lifts the sheep and carries it back to the flock. This shepherd then carries the sheep until its legs are healed. During that time, the good shepherd holds the sheep close, speaks gentle words over this sheep, and tenderly cares for it. When its legs are healed and the sheep can walk, it intimately knows its master's voice. It no longer wants to wander. This sheep knows and loves its master's voice.
When you find yourself in a place where you feel like your legs have been broken, the Master, the Good Shepherd is longing to re-introduce himself to you. He is longing to speak tender words straight to your heart. He is desperate for your attention. Part of you is not enough. He wants all of you. He knows that you have strayed from his voice, and the most loving thing he can do for you is to save you from the wilderness of living on your own knowledge and strength, and to teach you full and ultimate dependence on Him. When we walk on our own, or turn a direction because it "smells good", we have no idea of the dangers surrounding us. We don't even know where we are. Sometimes the most loving things God does for us are the most painful. If we just looked at God as one who breaks legs, we have an incomplete picture of him. We will see him as a God who enjoys inflicting pain. When we can get past the discomfort of living in pain and suffering, His righteous plan starts to be revealed to us, and we lose our perspective and, by God's grace, begin to ask for His. Do not waste the precious time you have with the Good Shepherd while your legs are healing! I love this: Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 says, "As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! ....he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few."
Something God showed me today was a picture of a desert, and me standing on the edge of it. Something I desired SO greatly was waiting on the other side, but to cross that desert would mean death. It was hot. It was dusty. There was no water, and there was a great distance to cover. I could not do it, and I longed so strongly to cross it. I stood and waited for the LORD. Soon a storm rose from the east, and washed over the desert in front of me. Dark clouds rolled in, and lightning flashed from the clouds to the ground. Rain poured from the sky in a torrent, soaking the sand of the desert. After the storm was over, the desert was transformed into a lush garden. There was green foliage, trees, bushes, flowers, rivers of water flowing through the garden. The desert was now pass-able. I could take a step forward into an area that was previously desolate. It was amazing. It was beautiful.
"I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sufficiency
Part of the fine print of walking with the LORD is the constant process of refinement and purification, being made more and more into the image of Jesus. Lately I've been called on the carpet on the area of self-sufficiency.
I know I can't do "it" on my own, however you define "it". My job. My relationships. My life's direction. The next conversation I have. The confrontation. The next assignment. Saying yes. Saying no. Stepping out in faith, not knowing if I will stand or fall. Whatever "it" is, I've been taught and experienced that on my own strength, I can do nothing. In God's strength, I can do everything. Sadly, sin pulls me into the "I try to do it on my own strength first" category often. I experience guilt, failure, mediocracy, dependence on others, laziness, a lukewarm heart, apathy, negative thoughts. I hear "You'll never be able to do this. You may as well give up. You're up against something or someone too strong."
In John 11, Lazarus has died while Jesus was away. Up to this point, Jesus had cured many diseases and cast out demons, but he had not faced death. Mary and Martha, close friends of Jesus, were mourning the death of their brother Lazarus when Jesus returned with his disciples. Martha ran to meet him outside the town, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Wow. Her belief in the Lord was made clear right then and there. She believed he could cure the sick. She didn't believe he could raise the dead. In her eyes, Jesus' power was limited. She knew Lazarus would be raised on the last day. She knew God's power would be applied then. In her eyes, Jesus' victory over death would happen later. Jesus posed this question to her in response: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" He calls out her unbelief.
Mary comes out to meet him later, and she also says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Hm. Same level of belief in Mary as was in Martha. Remember, when Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, he could have come and healed him from this sickness. When Jesus heard, John says Jesus stayed 2 more days where he was. John also says that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Jesus chose to stay 2 more days where he was for a much bigger purpose than healing Lazarus from a sickness. In John 11:14 Jesus says, "Lazarus has died, and for your (disciple's) sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." Are you noticing a common theme of belief?
[Just an interjection that I find so humorous: When Jesus decides to head back to Judea for Lazarus, where he was previously pursued by the Jews to arrest him, Thomas, one of Jesus' followers, basically says, "Well guys, let's pack up and go with Jesus so we can die with him.", assuming that Jesus will be stoned to death. I love it!]
Jesus returns, he goes to the grave of Lazarus, and tells the men to roll away the stone. Martha, who has previously confessed Jesus as the Christ, feels the need to remind Jesus, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." She has confessed Jesus as the Son of God, yet she objects when Jesus prepares for Lazarus' resurrection. She still believes Jesus' power is limited. And then, for the first time on the earth, Jesus displays tha awesome authority of God, the power and victory over death, and calls Lazarus to come out. Lazarus comes, wrapped in graveclothes, and with all my heart I believe that Mary and Martha no longer doubted or questioned who this man Jesus is. They knew. They saw. They believed. And they finally believed in his full power.
I wonder what the faces of those surrounding the cave looked like at that moment...
What level of belief in Jesus do I live in?
I know I can't do "it" on my own, however you define "it". My job. My relationships. My life's direction. The next conversation I have. The confrontation. The next assignment. Saying yes. Saying no. Stepping out in faith, not knowing if I will stand or fall. Whatever "it" is, I've been taught and experienced that on my own strength, I can do nothing. In God's strength, I can do everything. Sadly, sin pulls me into the "I try to do it on my own strength first" category often. I experience guilt, failure, mediocracy, dependence on others, laziness, a lukewarm heart, apathy, negative thoughts. I hear "You'll never be able to do this. You may as well give up. You're up against something or someone too strong."
In John 11, Lazarus has died while Jesus was away. Up to this point, Jesus had cured many diseases and cast out demons, but he had not faced death. Mary and Martha, close friends of Jesus, were mourning the death of their brother Lazarus when Jesus returned with his disciples. Martha ran to meet him outside the town, and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Wow. Her belief in the Lord was made clear right then and there. She believed he could cure the sick. She didn't believe he could raise the dead. In her eyes, Jesus' power was limited. She knew Lazarus would be raised on the last day. She knew God's power would be applied then. In her eyes, Jesus' victory over death would happen later. Jesus posed this question to her in response: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" He calls out her unbelief.
Mary comes out to meet him later, and she also says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Hm. Same level of belief in Mary as was in Martha. Remember, when Jesus heard Lazarus was sick, he could have come and healed him from this sickness. When Jesus heard, John says Jesus stayed 2 more days where he was. John also says that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. Jesus chose to stay 2 more days where he was for a much bigger purpose than healing Lazarus from a sickness. In John 11:14 Jesus says, "Lazarus has died, and for your (disciple's) sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." Are you noticing a common theme of belief?
[Just an interjection that I find so humorous: When Jesus decides to head back to Judea for Lazarus, where he was previously pursued by the Jews to arrest him, Thomas, one of Jesus' followers, basically says, "Well guys, let's pack up and go with Jesus so we can die with him.", assuming that Jesus will be stoned to death. I love it!]
Jesus returns, he goes to the grave of Lazarus, and tells the men to roll away the stone. Martha, who has previously confessed Jesus as the Christ, feels the need to remind Jesus, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." She has confessed Jesus as the Son of God, yet she objects when Jesus prepares for Lazarus' resurrection. She still believes Jesus' power is limited. And then, for the first time on the earth, Jesus displays tha awesome authority of God, the power and victory over death, and calls Lazarus to come out. Lazarus comes, wrapped in graveclothes, and with all my heart I believe that Mary and Martha no longer doubted or questioned who this man Jesus is. They knew. They saw. They believed. And they finally believed in his full power.
I wonder what the faces of those surrounding the cave looked like at that moment...
What level of belief in Jesus do I live in?
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