Mercy

Our daughter foolishly did something last month that resulted in a severed tendon in her forefinger.  Not good.  She's a mom; a piano player; a busy person who needs all of her fingers.


The doc who did the surgery warned her to be very, very careful to keep the brace on and the finger extended at all times.  It was a one-time deal.  If it didn't work, there was no second chance.


Imagine her horror when she woke up the night she got the new brace and found it had come off while she was sleeping!  She figured her finger would be useless for the rest of her life.  She was resigned to her fate.  She even did research to find instruments that are designed to hold the knuckles in place so the finger can be used a bit.


Today, we went to see the surgeon, expecting the worst.


He got her to take of the splint, and move her finger down, then slowly up.


It worked.


IT WORKED!  The finger has movement, and the doc is very positive.  If she is careful and does the stretching she is supposed to do, she should have full range of motion in a couple of months!

Psalm 145:9 The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

My daughter didn't deserve this mercy.  She acted foolishly, and deserved the consequence of a useless finger.


But God didn't think so.


God healed that finger, I have no doubt.   

Isaiah 63:7 

The Lord's Mercy Remembered
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Vocabulary Lesson

John MacArthur is brilliant, it goes without saying.  He has studied and communicated God's Word as a pastor and writer for many decades.  I am truly enjoying my Christmas Present from Linda - The Jesus You Can't Ignore, by John MacArthur.


He uses big, beautiful, intelligent words.  Words that send me to the dictionary.


Like:

As a matter of fact, the whole theme of the Sermon on the Mount was a critique of the Pharisees' religion.  He condemned their doctrine; their phony approach to practical holiness; their pedantic style of Scripture twisting; and their smug overconfidence.  p. 129

I wasn't sure what pedantic meant.  I knew that "ped" is the Latin word for foot; I also knew that "pedagogy" is to do with the teaching of children.


The word pedant, according to Webster's, is one who emphasizes trivial points of learning... A narrow-minded teacher who insists on exact adherence to rules.


The Pharisees certainly did that.   Jesus accused them of straining at gnats and swallowing camels.  


The question is, do you do the same?  Do you insist on exact adherence to rules in a narrow-minded manner?  (Moms can fall into this behaviour fairly easily, simply by being a parent who is teaching children.  Rules are an inevitable method of dealing with a bunch of rowdy little ones. But rules are not all there is.  There must be room for grace.)

Stepping on Toes

I am reading "The Jesus You Can't Ignore" by John MacArthur.  It's subtitled "What you must learn from the bold confrontations of Christ."  It's well worth reading, as it gives a clear picture of the many interactions Jesus engaged in with the spiritual leaders of His day.

I'll never look at the midnight interview with Nicodemus in quite the same way again.  After reading how Jesus confronted Nicodemus and implicated him as an unbeliever (this was clear to Nicodemus) I realize that Jesus didn't pull any punches. Instead, He deliberately stepped on Nicodemus' toes.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you eartly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

John MacArthur writes,

"To post-modernized ears, that sounds extraordinarily harsh.  Contemporary evangelicals typically bristle at the thought of challenging anyone's profession of faith.  Religious television networks are overrun with teachers who profess to be Chrsitians but whose doctrine and lifestyle show no real fruit of salvation.  People like that have flourished and even begun to dominate the non-Christian public's perception of what Christianity is, mainly because more sound and solid evangelical leaders are reluctant to call them by name and say plainly that they are charlatans and false teachers.  To oppose another minister publicly just doesn't seem "nice."  The thought of being perceived as harsh or negative is more odious to some Christians than actually being undiscerning.  So false teachers are given free reign to promote their false teachings and flaunt their extravagant lifestyles."

But Jesus effectively said to Nicodemus, "You don't know what you are talking about! You ought not to be sitting on your high horse in the place of Moses - Instead you should be placing yourself with the sinning Israelites who needed to look at the serpent to live! "

Nicodemus needed to recognize his spiritual poverty and see his need for a Saviour.  He may have been a Pharisee with the honour and respect of his fellow Jews, but his situation was desperate.  Jesus ended His discourse with Nicodemus by bringing the emphasis right back to the problem of human depravity.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Jesus gave Nicodemus a smack-down because He cared more for the truth than He cared how Nicodemus felt about it. 

We, too, should be telling the truth.  We ought to care more for the truth than caring more about how the people we love feel about the truth. 

We know that Nicodemus was eventually drawn to the True Light and became a genuine believer.  He and Joseph of Arimathea prepared the Saviour's body for burial - an act that could have cost him everything. 

Jesus wasn 't NICE to Nicodemus.  He told him the truth. 

John MacArthur writes,

Jesus knew something evangelicals today often forget:  Truth doesn't defeat error by waging a public relations campaign.  The struggle between truth and error is spiritual warfare, and truth has no way to defeat falsehood except by exposing and refuting lies and false teaching.  That calls for candour and clarity, boldness and precision -- and sometimes more severity than congeniality.

Poetry by my Daughter

Linda is a thinker and a writer.  She blesses me.  I am posting her poems here for my own sake, so I can easily read them again when I want to.  I hope you'll be blessed, too, as you read these poems.  You can click on the titles to go to her blog and comment if you so desire.

Their Source

I screamed for peace to fill my wants;

Got only silence in response.

I wept for love to lift me up;

Disappointment filled my cup.

I wanted joy and nothing less;

Receiving only bitterness,

I wept, and wept, and wept; and then

Met up with the Son of Man

Finding Him, I've found it all,

Peace and Love and Joy in full.

Found by Him, and called His own,

I rest in the grace He's shown.

I Stand Ashamed

I lie ashamed before the King

In misery and endless grief

Every accusation stings

My soul; I can find no relief.

I kneel accused before the throne

But my Defender, speaking up,

Proclaims His goodness as my own

And takes my sin; He drinks my cup.

I stand as that grace takes its toll

But the accuser wants to fight

He demands to see my record whole

He claims it is his solemn right.

My Defender gives it him;

"Read at will," is what He said.

The records are in no way slim:

My heart is filled with sudden dread.

What is hidden from that book?

What unrecorded message hides?

None! Every action, every look

And thought and word besides:

All my wrongs are written there

All my sins for all to see!

It almost is too much to bear;

He opens it; he seeks to read.

The accuser stands in silence though,

His mouth is shut, his face gone white.

He slams the book with violence now,

And shouts with every form of spite.

"I would accuse," said he, "with pride

If the words could but be read;

But every single dot inside

Is covered over with blood red!"

My Defender gives a smile.

"If only you had understood.

You accuse, yet all the while

Her sins are covered with My blood.

"My sacrifice has paid her price;

You have no case, it is all done.

She is not yours, though you entice.

She is mine, and I have won."

If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now...

I Wrote This...

...at the beginning of the year, and I don't think I ever shared it here.

Yea, that was a bit of a rhyme. I'm awesome like that - all the time.

~

Morning Star

"Suspended in the morning sky

A star shines light, with radiant face;

I see it and I'm filled with joy,

Contemplating grace.

The Hand which made that star shine bright

Holds me close with tender care.

'Tis haunting: I am His delight

And I find comfort there."

Another Attempt at Poetry..or a Song?

While the idea of God's eternal, unending, unchanging love is easy enough to accept intellectually, sometimes it's more difficult to actually believe it. To accept it. That's why it's so important to preach the gospel to yourself; we (at least I) fall back on the idea that we can do things on our own, perform to the tune of legalism, and earn our own merit; the hard truth is, we can't.

The great truth is, He already did. God loves you. Jesus died for you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Don't believe the lies, especially the ones from within, that whisper "you're not good enough. You have so many problems. You failed again." All of these things are true.

But none of them matter.

God matters. And God has declared you righteous. He looks on you with His face full of love and says "You, my child, are perfect to me."

Breaking On My Own

I’m falling even further

Than I ever fell before

Looking through this blackness

For a glimmer of hope

I can’t believe I broke so fast

I’ll never be the same

And in the midst of suffering

I call out Your name

I’m breaking on my own

I can’t do this alone

And even though I’ve tried

I know that I

Can’t do it myself

Why does it take a stab of pain

To make me realize

I've always been this mess of junk

I still believe the lies

I am not as in control

As I would like to be

I need Your voice to bring me back

Lord, You must set me free

I’m breaking on my own

I can’t do this alone

And even though I've tried

I know that I

Can’t do it myself

Draw me to Your arms again

Remove the chains that bind me

Take the guilt I feel right now

In my weakness You find me

I’m breaking on my own

I try to do this alone

Lord, You can set me free

You wash me clean and white

You give Your righteousness to me

You say I’m Your delight

You put me back together

Your patience has no lack

And even though I am still marred

Your love shines through the cracks

I’m broken on my own

I know I can’t do this alone

You never left me

You set me free

I live by Your grace

You have made me whole

I love You more and more

I’m breaking on my own...

But no; I’m not alone

Before and After?

I wrote this because I was thinking about the time before Christ, and afterward, and the stark difference between the two. (As a side theological note: by the final line I don't mean that Christians no longer sin - but "I am not what I once was"....) Thoughts?

~

Flailing sorrows, empty words

Swarming over me in hordes

Will this torture never cease?

I am lost; I can't find peace.

Taking painful remedies

That only strengthen the disease

I kill myself; and yet I claim

That I am not the one to blame.

~

Pointing fingers; ruined lives

All the while my sickness thrives

To break me down, delude, enslave

Until I meet an early grave.

This lie that cuts straight to the heart

This burden has become an art.

I am an expert at this life

Of death and war, of pain and strife.

~

Where is hope among my being?

...is this mercy that I'm seeing,

Wondrous love outpouring here

Consuming me; it draws me near

And I find rest: At last! At last!

So now my former Self is past.

I'm going against every particle of my being by posting this. I don't do well with showing people my poetry.

How sweet the broken, blistered feet

Of those who spread the gospel pure!

Where blood, and dust, and sorrow meet

Where love is clear, and faith is sure;

Where tears despairing, happy tears,

Or tears of trials far and near

Come together through the years

To stop and be collected here.

Our God is just; He knows our frame

That we are dust, that we are frail-

Our God is here, so we proclaim

The Good News: Onward, without fail!

Fear not the wicked Enemy;

Proclaim the truth with a brave will!

To be sure he is a flea

He can harass, but never kill.

What harm that God decrees to bring

Will come to pass, from Him above

But know that even suffering

Is ordered by His steadfast love.

God is with you as you speak

About His grace, the Gospel true

Encouragement is what you seek:

Be encouraged! He's with you.

What is deservedly suffered must be borne with calmness, but when
the pain is unmerited, the grief is resistless.
 [Lat., Leniter ex merito quidquid patiare ferendum est,
   Quae venit indigne poena dolenda venit.]
~Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), Heriodes (V, 7)~

Freedom

John 8:31
The Truth Will Set You Free
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

John 8:32
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” . . . 

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Romans 6:7 
For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Romans 6:18 
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:20
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

Romans 6:22 
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Romans 6:23 
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luke 4:18 
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Christ Has Set Us Free

Galatians 5 For freedom Christ has set us free;  stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Where the rubber meets the road.

Yesterday I wrote about the story of Ahab and Jehoshaphat and Micaiah.  There were so many lessons in that story, but the one that jumps out at me is God's Sovereignty over the length of our days.  Whether we're thrown in prison like Micaiah was, or whether we're disguised out of fear of death, or wearing royal robes so we're the target of the enemy, we simply will not die unless it is our time, ordained by God.


NOTHING happens to us that is outside of the will of God.


I know this.


Yet this morning I forgot all about it.


My daughter Linda works at Carey Outreach Ministries three days per week.  (She loves her work - writing theological books as a ghostwriter for the Pastor.)  Anyway, the drive is long and somewhat dangerous.  She starts out with country roads that are icy and snowy this time of year, and heads into rush hour traffic for a bit of time on the 401.  I always look for the little green dot in Google chat that lets me know she arrived safely at her destination.  


This morning, the dot didn't appear.


I wasn't worried.  I prayed, committing her to the Lord, reminding myself (And HIM) that He who protected Jehoshaphat even when 32 captains were attacking can certainly protect my daughter.  I had peace for a time.


But the minutes ticked by.  Every time I walked by the computer, I check for that little green dot.  Sigh.  Not there.


I had to run out to mail something for Rick.  My stomach was in knots.  What if I missed  a call?  What if she ended up in a ditch?  What if someone called while I was out, and I missed the call?


I couldn't stand the suspense.  Picked up the phone and called Pastor Bob.


"Oh, yes, dear... Linda's here."  Relief.


She'd been working away, and didn't bother opening her email.


Silly me.  What was that I read yesterday?  God is Sovereign over the hour of our death, over every step we take, over every breath we breathe.  


How about you?  Do you read the Word to strengthen yourself, then walk away and start to worry?  Silly you.  Don't you know that God works ALL things together for good to those who love Him?


I know it.


And I was reminded today that I ought to live like I know it.  

Hebrews 11: 1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and  that he rewards those who seek him.

Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!

King Ahab was never a good king.  He was married to Jezebel, a wicked woman who brought Baal worship to the forefront of Israel.  But even though King Ahab was selfish and idolatrous, God spared his life when he humbled himself after hearing the sentence of death.  His time was coming... but not yet.


The thing is, you can't hide from God, as Ahab found out.


Ahab, king of Israel, got together with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.  Jehoshaphat should have known better than to throw in his lot with wicked Ahab.  Jehoshaphat sincerely followed the Lord as he ruled over the divided kingdom of Judah, but here he was making plans with Ahab to go up against the king of Syria.


Jehoshaphat said to Ahab, "Inquire first for the word of the Lord."  He wanted to make sure they were following the Lord in going into battle.  So Ahab asked his 400 prophets, and they all said, "Go on up!"


Jehoshaphat KNEW in his heart that the 400 prophets were false ones.  He asked Ahab, "Isn't there another prophet here, a prophet of the Lord, that we can ask?"


Ahab hated to say it.  There WAS one more prophet, but Ahab couldn't stand him.

"There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.

I hate him, Ahab hissed.  He never has anything nice to say about me.  All he ever says is bad stuff.  


Ahab begrudgingly called for Micaiah.  The messenger who went to get him let him know that he ought to agree with the 400 prophets, if he knew what was good for him.  Micaiah answered, "As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak."  I'm gonna tell the truth, he was declaring.


So, when asked if they should go up to battle, Micaiah said, "Go up and triumph."  But there was something in his demeanour, something in his speech... and everyone knew he was mocking them.  Even Ahab.

"How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?" Ahab demanded.

Micaiah countered with the truth.  Your people will be scattered like sheep without a shepherd.  


Ahab said, "Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"  Didn't I tell you?  He's got nothing nice to say about me!


So Micaiah described the scene in the heavenly throne room, when the Lord asked who would entice Ahab, that he might go up and fall in battle.  It was the Lord's plan to bring disaster on Ahab; he'd had his extra time, given to him by a Gracious God who saw his repentance.  But now it was time for Ahab's demise.

"How will you entice him?" asked the Lord.  

"I'll go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets."  

Micaiah described the scene in the throne room.  A lying spirit was in the mouth of the prophets.  Disaster was coming on Ahab.  


For his trouble Micaiah was thrown into prison.  It's okay if things don't go your way; as long as you follow God.  Prison is peaceful if God is there with you; He was there with Micaiah.


The Battle


Ahab and Jehoshaphat went up to battle, and Ahab decided to disguise himself.  "You wear your robes," he told Jehoshphat.


The king of Syria told his 32 captains, "Don't bother with the little guys.  Just go after the king!"  So the battle became fierce around Jehoshaphat, and he cried out, fearing for his life.

But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armour and the breastplate.

Ahab tried to hide.  But there is no hiding from God.


Ahab tried to change the message.  But there is no changing with God.


Jehoshaphat was jumping in the chariot, terrified, afraid he would die, but no arrow hit him.  We will not die one second before God ordains it, no matter the circumstances.  


Micaiah stood firm and told the truth, even when warned not to.  Our message may not be popular, but it's the truth and it needs to be told.

Galatians - called by His grace.

The book of Galatians is one of my favourite books of the Bible.  Of course, I love them all!  


Paul is writing to counter the false teachings of the Judaizers, who were teaching that Gentiles must first become Jewish proselytes and submit to Mosaic law BEFORE they could become Christians.  Read through Galatians and see the passion of Paul as he thunders the truth!


He begins with this reminder:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. . . But when he who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by His grace was pleased to reveal His son to me...

Delightful thought!  Jesus gave Himself for ME, to deliver ME from this present evil age.  God set ME apart, called ME, and revealed His son to ME, so that I might do the work He planned for ME.  I was called by God's grace, just like Paul was.  I live a life of grace and peace, just like Paul did.  


Pray with me:

Father God, 

You set me apart and called me by Your grace.

You revealed Your SON to me - the Only Holy One

                                                                - the Only One who could deliver me

                                              from my own sin

                                         and from this present evil age.

In You we delight.

   In You we hope.

      In You we trust.

We acknowledge that You have all authority

                                               and all power

                  over our lives

                  over our circumstances

                  over our relationships.

We are Your slaves - But You are the Perfect Master.

We are the Redeemed - Bought with the Precious Blood of Christ.

We are the Forgiven - Adopted into Your Family.

We are Joint Heirs with Christ - Oh, Blessed thought!

                 Let us live in the light of that truth

                     and walk in the light of that grace,

with confidence in our Father

and trust in our Brother,

and faith in the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

                                 In the blessed name of Jesus we pray.  Amen. 

Our Ways are not His ways...

I look back on 2010 and see that many of the things I planned to do just didn't get done.  Sigh.  


Yet other things were accomplished, to my joy and satisfaction.   The most significant change in our home (to me!) was the addition of a closet for dh, which has had the happy result of making it much easier to keep a clean and organized bedroom.  That fell by the wayside in the days leading up to Christmas, but a whirlwind day of cleaning has rectified the situation.


Our living room was mostly re-done.  We stripped off the wallpaper and painted.  There are a few pieces of trim that need to be put up, and the floor definitely needs to be dealt with, but overall, it's a nice, welcoming room.  My favourite spot is my little desk, where I sit each morning with a coffee and my Bible and notebooks and pens and a ruler.  It's where I find peace and joy and strength for the day ahead.  


I didn't keep up with the garden; my neck and shoulder hurt too much.  But we did raise 130 meat birds and did the processing* ourselves.  (*euphemism for decapitation and gutting.)


We sorted out the library and got rid of many books that we don't need any more.  With the youngest going on 12, we don't need picture books or books for younger grades.  Of course, because we're bookaholics it's hard to get rid of books, and others seem to find their way into our home.  Don't know how that happens...


The biggest thing we accomplished as a family was learning to work through difficult situations and relationships by leaning on the wisdom of God.  The trials will never end, not this side of heaven, but the joy of walking with God and doing the work He has prepared beforehand for us to do outweighs by far the troubles we experience on the journey.


The work of a homemaker never really ends.  There are always meals to prepare, mountains of laundry to tackle, toilets to scrub, children to teach and train, walls to paint [again!], gardens to plan, soil to till, lawns to mow, flower beds to weed... and the list goes on.  


There's a Time for Everything:

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and l a time for every matter under heaven:

 2 a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

 8 a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has a made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

It really doesn't matter that we didn't get everything on the list done.  What matters is that we learned to take pleasure in the journey, in the process - not in the results.

In the words of Thomas Merton, "Do not depend on the hope of results... you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself."

Enjoy 2011!  Do what you do with joy and confidence that God has given you the ability and means to do it.  

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.

9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,  for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

May you have a blessed 2011.