My father used to be adamant about watching the words we say. When I was a teenager I didn't really think too much about the words I said before they came forth. I used words like "always," "never," "every," all of the time. Just as most teenagers tend to do. I was on the receiving end of many a lecture on the power of my words. Let's look at the power of our words for a moment, shall we? Where did words originate? 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. John 1:1-5Looks like the Word has always been around. Creating things. Like light. As in "let there be..." God spoke things into existence as evidence by the book of Genesis. Words have an amazing In addition to that, you have spoken words that have great importance. When you spoke out loud and asked Jesus to be an integral part of your life, your words took you from death into eternal life. Likewise, the words you have been speaking ever since that day have had a great impact on the people who hear them. They are able to see Light emanating from you and your life, desiring to have what you have; or those words are speaking words of death. "I can't do..," "I will always have trouble," "what goes around comes around..." and far worse. What do people understand about you when they hear your words? Do they see you as someone who is an overcomer? Someone who knows God is on your side? Or do they hear words of defeat? Pessimism? Hurt and worry? Furthermore, do your words build up? Edify? Or tear down? Do you "share" what you know to be true in detail before you pray for someone in need? Do your prayer requests do more to spread gossip than to help and heal? Our words have power. They have the power to heal through prayer. They have the power to destroy. And they have the power to unite. What do you have to say about that?
It sure is easy to see the flaws of others. I know my husband's flaws. He doesn't see them. He thinks they are things that make him unique, but I know better. There they are. Sitting there. Just waiting for me to comment on them. But I refrain. After all, the door would then be open for him to comment on mine as well... and I'm just not ready to hear them today. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were all able to refrain from commenting on what we see as flaws in others? We point out this and that about churches who believe a little different than us. After all, we have cornered the God-market and our core values, praxis and worship are impeccable. Not like... you know... them. Church people need to take a step back and wonder why people are the way they are. Why do they worship as they worship? Why do they do things the way they do them? Perhaps it's because God has them in a place to deal with people who can relate to them. Maybe God takes former drug dealers and cleans them up so they can be pastors because they will need to relate to people still caught up in that hell. Could it be God uses certain kinds of music to reach people who wouldn't be touched by hymns or the music our parents had in church? We need to remember it doesn't matter how polished our worship is. It's all about how heart-felt it is. Perhaps some church people need to wear jeans to church because we need to display it isn't about what's on the outside that counts. We want to make sure people coming in off the streets don't feel under dressed and thereby miss the message. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has to be the emphasis of the church, not the way we look sitting in the pew. Some churches have ash trays next to the front door because the people who are finding their way to God still have habits they need to break. They're trying. And we want to help. We can't judge the people who have addictions so deep. If people want to dance in church... let them. David danced before the Lord.
Matthew 7:5 states "Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." You know to whom Jesus was speaking, right? Church people. The hypocrites who were so busy pointing out others faults. All the while thinking their own were what made them unique.
Oh that the church would some day "get it." And by the church I mean the body of believers who are quick to point out the faults of others who don't look, dress, act, worship and believe the same way as us. If we would just "get it" and stop looking for faults and start looking at ways to work together to achieve the common goal of sharing Jesus with a lost and dying world.
Think of the power that would be behind a group of people whose common goal was to bring people the Good News of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Would God be behind that work? Absolutely. He would open doors no one on earth could ever shut ("I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." Revelation 3:8)
Imagine the momentum that church would have. The power that would be behind every move it made if the Gospel was its purpose. Its motivation.
Our purpose is not to have the my-dog-is-bigger-than-your-dog church of the year. Our purpose is Jesus and His message for the lost.
Let's get on with it.
My husband and I are nothing alike. If you have ever read the page of "Ray and Jamie's Story" under our "New Here?" link, you know we started life similarly, but became very different. Does that make sense?
We were both raised Lutheran. He went to my uncle's church ten miles from where I grew up. I attended the church my dad pastored.
Ray's life was full of music. The kind my dad hated. He had habits I never would have dreamed of because I knew my dad would kill me if he found out.
Let's go through a time warp of about 33 years. We still are nothing alike, although we have been married all that time.
My office has flowers in it and carries the fragrance of vanilla candles. My books in my five bookcases are sorted by genre. Within the genres I have them alphabetized by author and commentaries are in order the way they are found in the Bible...Genesis to Revelation. The shelves are all dusted. I have pretty brick-a-brack on the credenza. And more candles. I have a coaster under my coffee mug.
Ray's books are sorted by big and little. There is Packer paraphernalia everywhere within the boundaries of his office. His office is full of .... everything under the sun. Except coasters. I am fairly certain there are no coasters.
Neither of us feels comfortable in the other's office. When we have a meeting, we go to neutral ground. The church cafe'.
Ray can fix anything electronic.
I can fix dinner.
I like things organized.
Ray.... I like things organized.
Ray can talk to a rock and have a new friend for life.
I'm really not good at small talk.
We're as different as night and day.
For this reason, Ray's office is right by the front door. My office is down two alleys, a dungeon and a very dark hallway. You have to know where I am to find me. It helps if you leave bread crumbs on the floor so you can find your way out.
Give me a task to do and you can be certain I will accomplish it. You won't have to check up on me. I'm more goal oriented than Ray. But he's able to dream bigger dreams.
So what DO we have in common.
First of all, the most amazing, wonderfully talented and brilliant 3.25 grandchildren who have ever graced the earth with their presence. Four amazing, wonderfully talented, brilliant and beautiful daughters ever to come from one family. Three wonderful sons-in-law who treat our daughters like queens and are every bit as much a part of our family as their wives.
Time spent with any members of our family is our greatest joy. We look forward to any time we are able to spend with them... especially the very small people. They are our greatest joy. We can talk about them for hours. And we have.
And Jesus.
We share a common love for our Lord which has, at times, been all we had to hold us together. A commitment to His Word. A commitment to the covenant promise we made to each other 33 years ago. No matter what.
We have the same job. Working together means we're together 24/7/365. It becomes... interesting.
People told us 33 years ago it wouldn't last. We got engaged on the day of our first conversation together. We were married 108 days later. It might last, who knows?
So we continue.
Ray dreams the big dreams and I see it through to completion.
Ray makes the plans and I tend to the details.
Ray sees the fun and I check the cost on the liability insurance.
Maybe we're nothing alike, but we're perfectly suited for each other.
“God created marriage. No government subcommittee envisioned it. No social organization developed it. Marriage was conceived and born in the mind of God.” ~ Max Lucado
If you read yesterday's blog, you know that I logged out of Facebook for the first time in five years. Today it tells me I am an unrecognized user. I cannot get back into my account or the church's account or fan page. Great.
Unrecognized user? I think I have been one of their most frequent users. I have thousands of pictures, I comment on absolutely everything, I post on my page, the church page and our fan page. Still, today, they don't know me. Ray can get in. But then he didn't log out.
I think Facebook is mad at me.
Normally I would write something about attending church on our home page. I would invite people. Remind them there is a S.H.A.P.E. meeting this morning at 9:15. But I cannot.
I hardly know what to do with myself.
I am thankful there is one place I am known and will never be forgotten. I am able to enter in to the throne room of God. Boldly, which is good because just about everything I do, I do boldly. I totally grasp the concept of "fear not."
Today I was looking for a Bible verse that speaks of entering into the throne room of God. To come before His presence in a spirit of humility and awe. Reverence. Worship.
I found a lot of verses having to do with God sitting on that throne. I am going to go with Isaiah 6:1-8.
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”Entering His throne room. Boldly. A place filled with smoke so we may be protected from His glory. Crying out holy, holy, holy. I can imagine there is little else you can say when you stand before God Almighty other than "holy." Do you notice what happens when you stand before God? He looks for someone to do His will. Here am I. Send me. When we utter those words before His presence, He knows exactly who we are. We are a friend of His only Son, Jesus. Washed by His blood. Made worthy to stand before the Almighty Creator, Lord and God. Because to God... we will never be unknown.
My grandson did the impossible today. He stood for eight seconds. Alone. This is quite a feat. He is, after all, only 9-1/2 months old.
Alright. I lied. It's not impossible. There have been other babies that have been able to do amazing stunts. Just like Noah.
You might agree with me, though, that Noah certainly is pushing the envelope of Baby-dom. He's trying hard to learn new things. To stretch himself. To achieve.
Noah doesn't know he is doing these things early. He doesn't sit and think about what he's doing. There's no plan. He just knows it feels right. He's answering the call of Growing Baby and he pushes himself to do more. He wants to please his mom who is continually encouraging him to do more.
Kind of reminds me of Peter. The one from the Bible. The guy who jumped out of the boat to walk on water. He didn't think about it. He just knew it seemed right. He was answering the call of Jesus. "Come." To be where He was. Jesus was calling to Peter to do more. Walk by faith. Not by sight. You only think it's impossible to walk on water.
Watch me, Peter. Just watch.
What about those other eleven guys in the boat? Why didn't they hop over the edge? Weren't they paying attention?
Or is it because Peter was the only one who told Jesus he was willing to do whatever Jesus wanted him to do. "Tell me to come to you." Matthew 24:28-29 Jesus said "Come." And the rest is history. Never been done before. Or since. It didn't last long. Peter didn't walk far. But he walked on water. He walked.
Jesus is looking for people who are open and willing to walk on water. Those who are expectantly waiting for Jesus to give the word. "Come."
It's not about planning and scheming. It's not about agendas and taking a class. It's about telling Jesus you're willing to do whatever it takes to please him. Whatever He wants you to do to answer his call.
Jesus is saying "Come." What are you going to do? Get out of the boat. Put one leg over the side, then the other and stand up.
And wait to see what happens. Who knows, you may be standing on your own. It may not last long. Maybe just eight seconds. But it will happen.
It will happen.
I found this on the page of a friend of mine on Facebook.
"I am proud of my heart. It has been played, stabbed, burned and broken, but somehow still works."
Tell me anyone who can't relate to this. Or at least part of it. Even my little granddaughter has told me her heart has been broken, but I'm not sure how. Or when.
I digress.
Perhaps I am speaking to the female reader more than the male. The woman whose heart has been used and abused once too often.
The Bible tells us this is where Jesus wants to enter in. Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." That means those whose heart has been injured in the non-physical kind of way. But broken nonetheless.
His desire is to bind the wounds of the over-worked heart. He longs to be the One to not only comfort, but bring healing. To make it whole.
So how is this done? There is only one way.
If I have a broken bone, I will go to the Physician. I make an appointment and I have someone drive me to the clinic. I trust the doctor to do what he does best.
The same is true for the tried but true heart. I need to go to the Great Physician and spend some time with Him. I need to allow Him to do what needs to be done. Just as I wouldn't think of telling a doctor how to set a bone, I need to trust Jesus with His plan for bringing healing. Restoring hope.
Has your heart been at a place of being used and abused? Broken beyond repair?
Allow Jesus to do what He does best. He can bring your heart to a place where it wants to work again.
There are two words that accurately describe last week: crazy and nuts.
The week before Resurrection Sunday is always busy in a pastor's home and that is putting it mildly. This is not an anomaly. I have either been a pastor's daughter, a pastor's wife or a pastor every single day of my entire 55+ years. I have never seen an exception to that rule.
We had many events at church this past week, an extra service, a Passover Celebration, a Resurrection Sunday breakfast, a lot of extra rehearsals and a few odds and ends that took place. We did a lot of extra cleaning in that 110 year old building. Then we had our regular weekly schedule of bible studies, kids church prep, and just plain ole' regular church duties.
And we had a family gathering. Today we have a funeral.
This week we did a lot of work in our back yard to make room for a new shed. Not just work. We moved a retaining wall. Brick by heavy brick.
I am worn out. Physically and emotionally.
Every year as this season approaches I am wondering how we can make it through another 40 days of preparation. I wonder if I will have anything left to share with others by the time Resurrection Sunday ends.
In my mind, I know I am called to do what I do. It's what I enjoy doing. I have a peace about my job in general.
But then my logical "Type A" personality takes over and starts wondering how I can fit so much into such a short amount of time. I make endless lists to get it all done. My lists contain items such as "make a list for...." I use a spiral notebook like kids use in school that fits in my purse to carry my lists. This week I used nine pages, both sides, every line.
I am running on fumes.
Then I run across this verse: John 15:5 "Apart from me you can do nothing."
Well, there's something that will make you stop in your tracks. At least it did for me.
I tend to run on my own energy, a kind of "autopilot" when things get busy. And I get worn out.
If I don't remain in God's presence, and in His Word, there's no point in going on. I will have nothing to share. I will run dry. Like I am today. The busyness of the holiday got in the way of doing what I should have been doing all along. The things I do when life is "normal."
I know I need to spend time in His Word, listening to His voice. Maybe even reading a book by some of my favorite authors like Liz Curtis Higgs, Francine Rivers or Max Lucado. Just time to refresh. Rejuvenate. Revive.
If I don't take time to refresh myself in Jesus, then I will be useless for His purposes. Apart from Him I can do nothing... but in Him and His strength I can do everything. God is good like that. He gives me what I need when I need it, as long as I know I need to go to Him. As long as I act on what I know to be true.
He prepares me for the things I have to do as long as I wait for His leading. As long as I don't jump right in with both feet and get myself too busy... again.
Sometimes He tells me to just wait. Rest. Almost as though I can hear "you have done enough."
Today, after the funeral and luncheon, I am going to make a physical list of the things He has given me for which I am thankful. Because I am who I am, it will be a detailed list. And it will begin with the fact that He gives me rest.
What is draining you today? Where are you feeling you are running on empty? God is calling to you, too. Rest in Him. It's one of His best
gifts.
I'm excited about Sunday. There are lots of reasons. And yes, I'm going to tell you what they are:
1) I get to see the grandkids; if you have read these blurbs before, you probably knew that was a given. I won't bore you with more incessant ramblings about my amazing, beautiful and talented grandkids.
2) Sunday is going to be a very unusual and wonderful day in church. We are doing some things we have never done before.
a) a choir;
b) a drama presentation
c) and worship dance which we actually have done before, but we have new people involved this year, so it counts as something new.
3) I am the child care worker this week because a lot of our other child care workers are in the above-mentioned activities and cannot work this Sunday.
I have to admit that I wasn't really happy about being child care and missing everything else, but I believe God has been working on my heart about this. I'm not really a kid-person (except, of course, for aforementioned perfect grandchildren.) Little children who don't sit still and listen drive me just the slightest bit nuts.
Ok, all that aside... tomorrow is my day with the kids.
What an opportunity.
I get to share Jesus with little children who might not always get to hear the name of Jesus in an uplifting way. I get to tell them the account of Jesus' death and, more important, his resurrection. I get to talk about the empty tomb with children who might not have heard this before.
Why so excited? Isn't this the opportunity every week? Yes. And No. Tomorrow we will have kids in church who might not come on any other day of the year.
And that is something to be excited about.
I just remembered.... I need an empty tomb for tomorrow.... I hope Ray didn't recycle that empty tissue box.
Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Have you ever heard the Bible verse "God will never give you more than you can handle?" (Be careful, it's a trick question.)
Well, you may have heard it, but it's not from the Bible. It may well be from that famous author "Anonymous." I've read a lot of his stuff.
Anyway...
The verse that is being misquoted is I Corinthians 10:13 "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." Yes, this is the same verse I wrote about a few days ago, but it bears repeating.
What a blessing it is to know that God gives us more than we can handle. And I'm not trying to be funny here. God gives us more than we can handle on our own all of the time.
The reason?
So we will depend on Him. Should we receive just the right amount of frustration, temptation and overload which we would be able to handle on our own, we would have absolutely no need for God.
Does that make sense to you?
People say God will not give us more than we can handle, but actually the opposite is true. He allows us to have enough trouble in life so that we cannot carry it alone. We need His help.
Oh, we can try to do it on our own, but we won't get far. Perhaps you have even been trying to do it all alone. How's that been working for you?
We won't be able to resist temptation. Or frustration. Or worry.
We won't be able to make a good decision. Or find joy. Or be able to sleep.
Unless you allow God to do His job and take the load off your shoulders. Do you need proof of this?
Jesus tells us that He wants to carry your burden for you. Whatever that may be. He wants, no... desires to have you allow Him to be the One to carry whatever is weighing you down. (Matthew 11:10 -- my yoke is easy, my burden is light...)
Let Him. It's so much easier than trying to do it all alone. Speaking from recent experience, it's a relief to know Jesus wants to carry our burdens. To relieve us of the pressure of having to do it all on our own. I have told God through prayer this week that I am not strong enough to this on my own. I reminded Him of His promise to help me find strength.
I guess I'm going to stop here because I could ramble on and on about God's goodness for pages. But this is enough for now. It's a lot to chew on.
Have a wonderful day. And may God give you just a little more than you can handle.
I read a post from one of my friends today that the week before Resurrection (Easter) Sunday is the Superbowl for pastors.
No kidding.
Ray and I were just talking about the upcoming week and although we're excited about celebrating the resurrection, we're really looking forward to this week being over.
Can I just add here that we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus daily, but the world tends to celebrate just on April 8. So....
During what is commonly known in mainline denominations as "Holy Week" we will be at church more during the next eight days than we will be there the rest of the month of April all added together.
Preparations for meals, for gatherings, rehearsals, an extra service for Good Friday and the extra sermon and extra worship set for that, and the prep and take down for each event. There's extra decorating... one for Good Friday, another for Sunday, then back to our regular look. A Sunday breakfast, an afternoon Seder, getting the palm branches, setting out the deocrations Marcy prepared for us, we each lead a Bible study, choir and drama rehearsal, not to mention our 40 hour work-week to get all of the "regular" stuff done. It cannot be let go even for one week.
I'm actually glad there is no April Ladies Tea. Is that wrong?
And, of course, we still have a lawn to mow and home to care for... groceries to purchase for when we need a bite to keep us going.
We have been talking for about two weeks now about how tiring this week will be. The older we get, the longer it takes us to bounce back from the busy-ness of it all. Normally our weekend is Monday and Tuesday. The week after this is over, we're also taking Wednesday morning. We think we're going to need it.
Now we're pretty excited about our message. We have something happening next Sunday that is really different for us. We're using drama in addition to the Word of God to help people visualize the message of the Resurrection. We're using a choir which is kind of unusual for Vineyard churches. We have been praying fervently about this going well.
Why all the fuss?
We have a message worth repeating. Something worthwhile for the community of Muscatine to hear. The account of Jesus who died, but far more important than the fact that He died is that He rose again. He didn't let a little thing like death keep him down.
The message of Jesus Christ and His great and undying love is worth the effort, especially since this is the one Sunday a year most church-goers attend the church of their choice. It's our one chance to share His love with the people for whom He died.
We're ready. We're stoked. Feeling a little like we're getting ready for the Super Bowl. Because we know this is our one chance to tell people about Jesus.
But with God's help, His Spirit being present., and with His leading, it will be enough. Anything done .... with God.... is always enough.
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