A piercing cry splits the dawn
On that first Christmas morn.
Salvation draws its first ragged breath
in infant flesh, forlorn.
A piercing cry splits the sky
As demons and darkness rejoice.
Christ crucified; God glorified.
He stayed on the cross, His choice.
A piercing cry splits the dawn
On that first Easter morn.
An empty tomb; promised heavenly rooms
humanity's hope, reborn.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Cross
The C.R.O.S.S. stands for:
Compassion not condemnation.
Resurrection not resignation.
Obedience not obstinance.
Salvation not survival.
Sanctification not sanctimony.
Compassion not condemnation.
Resurrection not resignation.
Obedience not obstinance.
Salvation not survival.
Sanctification not sanctimony.
A Heart from which Gratitude Springs
Thank you for the dreary days of winter
and the starkness of bare trees.
Thank you for the green of new grass
and of freshly budding leaves.
Thank you for the blackest night
and the light daybreak brings.
Thank you for the rain and storms
and the growth that from them springs.
Thank you for the daffodil
and the rose with its thorns.
Thank you for the trilling bird
that helps to greet the morn.
Crashing waves and bubbling brook
both from your hand come.
Shall we thank you only when all is well
and not in the midst of the storms?
Thank you Jesus, please grant me a heart
from which gratitude always springs.
Thank you Jesus for all that transpires,
may I thank you in everything.
and the starkness of bare trees.
Thank you for the green of new grass
and of freshly budding leaves.
Thank you for the blackest night
and the light daybreak brings.
Thank you for the rain and storms
and the growth that from them springs.
Thank you for the daffodil
and the rose with its thorns.
Thank you for the trilling bird
that helps to greet the morn.
Crashing waves and bubbling brook
both from your hand come.
Shall we thank you only when all is well
and not in the midst of the storms?
Thank you Jesus, please grant me a heart
from which gratitude always springs.
Thank you Jesus for all that transpires,
may I thank you in everything.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Bits and Pieces
If God the Father did not swoop down and spare His innocent son from the suffering of the cross, He will not always swoop down and deliver us from our suffering either. But He will be with us through it all and work it all for good. This is where the rubber hits the road--will you believe as you and your loved ones suffer and no relief seems to be on the horizon?
Unbelief is seeing one set of footprints in the sand and thinking they are yours.
Self-focus leads to self-pity which leads to self-reliance which leads to self-destruction.
Faith is the bridge between our ever-changing emotions and the unchanging truth of God's word. Which side of the bridge will I stand on today?
Sin promises what it cannot deliver and delivers what it cannot promise. Sin promises a short cut to happiness at little to no cost and delivers long-term misery at great expense to yourself and others.
Unbelief is seeing one set of footprints in the sand and thinking they are yours.
Self-focus leads to self-pity which leads to self-reliance which leads to self-destruction.
Faith is the bridge between our ever-changing emotions and the unchanging truth of God's word. Which side of the bridge will I stand on today?
Sin promises what it cannot deliver and delivers what it cannot promise. Sin promises a short cut to happiness at little to no cost and delivers long-term misery at great expense to yourself and others.
The Cup and The Cross
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself,
Lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls,
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin.
Hebrew 12:3-4
O Dear Lord,
help me drink from my cup
'tis not so bitter as Thine.
Though there be dregs,
let me savor the taste of the wine.
Grant me obedience from yielded heart.
Thy will prevail and not mine.
Sustain me with thy mercy and grace.
Unfold thy glorious design.
O Dear Lord
help me take up my cross,
'tis not so rugged as Thine.
Though there be pain,
let suffering my spirit refine.
Beauty will thy form from the ashes,
of the trials we endure on this earth.
Mourning will turn into dancing
as creation awaits its new birth.
The cup and the cross instruct me today
the same way they did for my Lord.
Help me sweet Jesus, I watch and I pray,
A faithful servant be yours.
Lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls,
You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin.
Hebrew 12:3-4
O Dear Lord,
help me drink from my cup
'tis not so bitter as Thine.
Though there be dregs,
let me savor the taste of the wine.
Grant me obedience from yielded heart.
Thy will prevail and not mine.
Sustain me with thy mercy and grace.
Unfold thy glorious design.
O Dear Lord
help me take up my cross,
'tis not so rugged as Thine.
Though there be pain,
let suffering my spirit refine.
Beauty will thy form from the ashes,
of the trials we endure on this earth.
Mourning will turn into dancing
as creation awaits its new birth.
The cup and the cross instruct me today
the same way they did for my Lord.
Help me sweet Jesus, I watch and I pray,
A faithful servant be yours.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
When the Mountains Fall
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; Psalm 46:1-2
The names roll off the tongue: Grandfather Mountain, Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain, Blowing Rock, Chimney Rock, Table Rock and many more. These names are familiar to those of us raised in North Carolina. For my family, they evoke memories of summer camping trips and winter Christmas tree expeditions. As long as we have been traveling to the mountains of North Carolina, there has been change. Towns grow. Big box stores spring up. New restaurants appear. Old favorites close. Ah! But the mountains with their recognizable silhouettes, bumps and ridges, they remain the same.
There is a comfort in their familiarity, in their seemingly unchanging nature. As we drive the twisting mountain roads, we orient ourselves by the identifiable contours of each mountain. They dominate the horizon. They define the landscape. They help us know where we are when the roads are turning back on themselves. We all need dependable reference points, and not just while driving in the mountains. We need them in our physical, spiritual and emotional lives. When so much is changing and uncertain, we come to depend upon those “unchanging mountains” in our lives.
Our “mountains” have different names, but they define the landscape of our lives just the same. We call them things like good health, a secure job, healthy parents, a loving spouse, a happy family, financial security, a stable government, or a united church home. What happens to us when one of our mountains crashes into the sea? Suddenly, we are thrust into unfamiliar territory. Often we become disoriented. Our horizon is altered, sometimes drastically. We have to find another way to navigate the sharp curves of life.
Now there is good news. Even if one or more of your mountains has crashed into the sea, there is a way to have a point of reference that never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Everything else is temporary. Nations fall. Nations rise. People are born and people die. Marriages begin and marriages end. Parents become dependents and dependents become parents, all way too early. The only true security available to us is Christ. He is our Rock, our true Mountain. Everyone and everything else are road signs, pointing us to our Creator and Sustainer.
God designed us to be in fellowship, first with Him and then with others. He works through other people in our lives to reveal His love for us. It is not wrong to grieve when we lose someone or something of importance. We were made to love; therefore we will grieve when that love is lost. However, we do stumble into trouble when we turn things around and begin to worship the gifts instead of the Giver, regardless of how precious the gifts.
The temporary blessings of this earth are just that, temporary. What temporary blessing has God removed? Did you make the mistake of thinking it was permanent? We all do. Did it ever occur to you that you had so much to lose because God had given you so much in the first place? Psalm 121:1-2 says the following:
I will lift my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Whatever difficulties you are facing now, whatever your horizon looks like, whatever mountains have slipped into the sea, look up. Look to the Lord. He is there waiting to hold you, to comfort you, to guide you. You are not alone. He will not leave you an orphan. He is always with you. He will supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). He never changes. Let Him love you today.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The True Color of Paint
My bedroom walls are painted the most incredible shade of green. After a long day, the soothing hues help me to relax and unwind. Depending upon the vantage point, the paint takes on very different tones. The shades range from a soothing sage to a deep muted green. In one corner you would swear the walls are two completely different shades, but they are not. The paint is the same. It came out of the same can and was applied with the same brush. So how can something that is the same appear so different? It is the lighting.
Jesus is the Light of the World. There is no darkness in Him. When His light is shed on our hearts and lives, it reveals our true colors and our true circumstances. More often than not, we would like to pick and choose our truth like we pick our groceries in Walmart. I'll take this Biblical truth because it lines up with what I already believe, but I'll ignore that uncomfortable or challenging one over there because it would cost too much. Just like the paint on my bedroom walls, we can't always trust our eyes to tell us the truth. That is why we so desperately need the true Light of His Word.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is no shadow of turning with Him. Will you allow His perfect light to change your perspective? Your actions will follow your beliefs, just as surely as thunder follows lightning.
Today as with everyday, you have a choice. Don't hide your head under the covers. Seek the light of His word and walk in it. Let His true colors shine in your heart.
Jesus is the Light of the World. There is no darkness in Him. When His light is shed on our hearts and lives, it reveals our true colors and our true circumstances. More often than not, we would like to pick and choose our truth like we pick our groceries in Walmart. I'll take this Biblical truth because it lines up with what I already believe, but I'll ignore that uncomfortable or challenging one over there because it would cost too much. Just like the paint on my bedroom walls, we can't always trust our eyes to tell us the truth. That is why we so desperately need the true Light of His Word.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is no shadow of turning with Him. Will you allow His perfect light to change your perspective? Your actions will follow your beliefs, just as surely as thunder follows lightning.
Today as with everyday, you have a choice. Don't hide your head under the covers. Seek the light of His word and walk in it. Let His true colors shine in your heart.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Pride, Forgiveness and the Comfort of Jesus
Often as Christians we struggle with forgiving ourselves for past sins. This may sound harsh, but I feel the root is pride. We tend to think we are much further along the sanctification highway than we really are. Until our deaths, we will all continue to struggle with our sinful desires that are in opposition to God's plan for us. Why are we shocked by this? God isn't! God is not done with us until heaven.
For those of us who have walked with God a long while, it is easy to become secure in the blessings and the hedges of protection God has given us. What happens when those are stripped away? For seven years God had me in an incubator of security, spiritual connection and church family. I thought those blessings were permanent. They weren't.
For the past several years I have seen that incubator stripped away and that hedge broken in multiple places. My initial response was to pray and seek God. However, as the losses mounted, I sought Him less and less. I fell into the pit of self-focus, self-pity, whining, grumbling, complaining, and depression. I had begun, however subtly, to believe that God "owed" me those things. God will not allow us to have idols, even Christian ones such as service, fellowship etc. He is the only true source of permanancy and sufficiency in our lives. Turned out He knew I hadn't grown in Him quite as much as I had thought. How easily pride can creep in!
I spent much of my life growing up viewing God as my enemy. He wasn't there to help me. He was there to set impossible standards and then to condemn me when I failed to live up to them. When difficulties come, I can still fall back into old thought patterns and coping mechanisms without even realizing it. What old patterns are you falling into? What has happened in your life that you never saw coming? What are you just shaking your head at because you never thought it was possible, either in yourself or in someone else? What did you think was permanent that is now gone?
The bare bones reality is that God is either who He says He is or He is not. He is either perfect, pure, all knowing, all sufficient or He is a fraud. Pick one, but for goodness sakes, don't try to straddle the picket fence. He says His plans for us are for good, not for harm. If so, how do you explain all the hurt in the world? Is God telling the truth?
Not only is God telling the truth, He is the TRUTH. I believe we get discouraged because we view things from our limited vantage point. If this world was all there is, then you are right, life isn't fair. But this world is the forward of the book. Eternity is the novel. Eternity is the adventure. Eternity is perfection and it is real and it is coming sooner than we know.
For those of you who are struggling with your own shortcomings, go to God, confess and ask forgiveness. It is the privilege He died to give us. Do you think He is going to deny you? He is waiting with open arms to accept you just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. He is calling you. Block out the voices of pride and condemnation in your head and replace it with the still small voice of Jesus. Come, dear one, let Him comfort you today.
For those of us who have walked with God a long while, it is easy to become secure in the blessings and the hedges of protection God has given us. What happens when those are stripped away? For seven years God had me in an incubator of security, spiritual connection and church family. I thought those blessings were permanent. They weren't.
For the past several years I have seen that incubator stripped away and that hedge broken in multiple places. My initial response was to pray and seek God. However, as the losses mounted, I sought Him less and less. I fell into the pit of self-focus, self-pity, whining, grumbling, complaining, and depression. I had begun, however subtly, to believe that God "owed" me those things. God will not allow us to have idols, even Christian ones such as service, fellowship etc. He is the only true source of permanancy and sufficiency in our lives. Turned out He knew I hadn't grown in Him quite as much as I had thought. How easily pride can creep in!
I spent much of my life growing up viewing God as my enemy. He wasn't there to help me. He was there to set impossible standards and then to condemn me when I failed to live up to them. When difficulties come, I can still fall back into old thought patterns and coping mechanisms without even realizing it. What old patterns are you falling into? What has happened in your life that you never saw coming? What are you just shaking your head at because you never thought it was possible, either in yourself or in someone else? What did you think was permanent that is now gone?
The bare bones reality is that God is either who He says He is or He is not. He is either perfect, pure, all knowing, all sufficient or He is a fraud. Pick one, but for goodness sakes, don't try to straddle the picket fence. He says His plans for us are for good, not for harm. If so, how do you explain all the hurt in the world? Is God telling the truth?
Not only is God telling the truth, He is the TRUTH. I believe we get discouraged because we view things from our limited vantage point. If this world was all there is, then you are right, life isn't fair. But this world is the forward of the book. Eternity is the novel. Eternity is the adventure. Eternity is perfection and it is real and it is coming sooner than we know.
For those of you who are struggling with your own shortcomings, go to God, confess and ask forgiveness. It is the privilege He died to give us. Do you think He is going to deny you? He is waiting with open arms to accept you just as you are, but He loves you too much to let you stay that way. He is calling you. Block out the voices of pride and condemnation in your head and replace it with the still small voice of Jesus. Come, dear one, let Him comfort you today.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Power Up
I ultilize a laptop for most of my computer work, which means it needs to be charged frequently. Now I have the original power cord, but occasionally when I plug it in to the computer I get the following warning: "The AC adaptor type cannot be determined. Your system will operate slower and the battery will not charge. Please connect a Dell adaptor for best system operation" So, I go check the connection and wiggle the little cord. Using my Ninja-like computer skills, I glare at the screen and eventually my computer is happy and the battery charges and we are good to go.
As a homeschool mom of two and an office manager in my husband's business, I often feel like I am operating slow and my battery isn't charging. These are the times that God nudges me to check my connection. It is so easy to let that time with Him become a lower priority. There are so many seemingly urgent, time-dependent things that need to be done. Yet, without that daily connection to Him, I am running down my batteries and eventually, the power is drained to zero and I am good for nothing.
At times I have tried alternative power sources: that cup of coffee in the morning, escaping into tv or books, or looking to friends. None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but when we go to these things first, we are choosing an imitation power supply. Today I am asking Jesus to help me connect back with Him so I can power up. I want Him to show me things I can change that will help me operate better, whether it be scheduling, eating, exercise, quiet time etc. The truth is sometimes I don't always want to hear what He has to say. Sometimes I just want Him to wave a magic wand and fix things the way that I would like. Seems so much easier, but then I don't grow and He isn't glorified.
Dear Lord,
Please give me the desire and strength to seek you with all my might and to put into action the things you show me. Help me slow down enough to be still and hear you speak to me. Help me discern between the urgent and the important, the temporal and the eternal. I pray that today I would listen for your voice, rely on your wisdom and not lean on my own understanding. Lord I am praying for an authentic connection with You today. Power me up.
Amen
As a homeschool mom of two and an office manager in my husband's business, I often feel like I am operating slow and my battery isn't charging. These are the times that God nudges me to check my connection. It is so easy to let that time with Him become a lower priority. There are so many seemingly urgent, time-dependent things that need to be done. Yet, without that daily connection to Him, I am running down my batteries and eventually, the power is drained to zero and I am good for nothing.
At times I have tried alternative power sources: that cup of coffee in the morning, escaping into tv or books, or looking to friends. None of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but when we go to these things first, we are choosing an imitation power supply. Today I am asking Jesus to help me connect back with Him so I can power up. I want Him to show me things I can change that will help me operate better, whether it be scheduling, eating, exercise, quiet time etc. The truth is sometimes I don't always want to hear what He has to say. Sometimes I just want Him to wave a magic wand and fix things the way that I would like. Seems so much easier, but then I don't grow and He isn't glorified.
Dear Lord,
Please give me the desire and strength to seek you with all my might and to put into action the things you show me. Help me slow down enough to be still and hear you speak to me. Help me discern between the urgent and the important, the temporal and the eternal. I pray that today I would listen for your voice, rely on your wisdom and not lean on my own understanding. Lord I am praying for an authentic connection with You today. Power me up.
Amen
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