Hearers and Doers

Don’t get side tracked. That is my word for today.

Luke 11:27 and 28, NRSV, “While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

I really love this woman. You can tell that she is one that makes good comfort food for all of the church potlucks. Her mind is thinking about how proud Mary must be of this boy. Mary is blessed for having done such a fine job in raising the Savior of the world (She has a southern accent in my head). As women, we can appreciate this train of thought. You go Mary!

Apply brakes here…Jesus, less amused probably, brings it back down to earth really quick. He actually corrects her publically and says, in a nut shell, ‘don’t get side tracked’. I am such a side tracker. I struggle to keep myself on point. I can walk across the house and do fifteen things, but forget why I went there in the first place. I return to my place of origin and start all over again. This can go on for hours, especially during a quiet time.

We can make our spirituality about so many things. How about, we can make it about how we feel about the commandments of God? These are easy distractions as women. We place our feelings in a role over scripture, kind of like some authority to check it against…very dangerous. These can be nuanced, so we really have to pray about these deceitful little boogers. I have seen some amazing justifications come from how, “I just don’t feel that God wants me to…”, even if it is required from everyone else. I have heard this applied to everything from prayer to living together, and marriage, especially marriage.

I have done my share of it, too. I am embarrassed to tell you the qualities that I have superimposed on God, because I feel like, “He would feel like I do, if He were here”. Psalm 50:21, NRSV, “These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.” Ouch…and He has rebuked me, more than once. Our feelings can be such a liability.

Here is a great one. We can make our spirituality about our quiet times with God. If women spent as much time with God as they did scheduling it in and/or feeling guilty about it, we would have a powerful presence in this world. I am in that group. Only with the onset of this blog are my quiet times do or die, same time every day and a similar process. I moved them around before, according to my schedule, and I have found that now I don’t worry about them at all. They have to happen before I write a word.

Jesus makes it really simple. He says to Proud Mama in those verses, ‘You are missing the point. Stay with me here. Don’t get side tracked.’ We are surrounded by ways to make our relationship with Christ about spirituality and not about Him. We can read books about Him and have small groups, but nothing is a substitute for hearing the word of God (since He is not physically present, we have to pick up those bibles, ladies) and doing what it says.

I gave these verses to the high school girls group as they went out on their own for the summer. James 1:22-25, NRSV, “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.”

We are the greatest deceivers. We will look at the truth in the mirror for a while before we realize that we are in trouble. The inactivity of last year’s back surgery and the recovery through this year was fine for a while, but let me tell you that things have reached crisis mode in the mirror. My body does not look the same as it did before. I looked at it for a while, saying, “Hmmm. That is looking a little loose”. Then I had THAT DAY, when I realized that I have to do something about this. I could deny the truth no longer. My deceitful problem took place when I looked away from the mirror. I would simply resume eating my chocolate trifle. I did not want to do the strict workout thing/eating responsibly…and oh, how painful it is now. But we have to do it. There comes a point when you realize that you know the truth. I am the only one that can do anything about my dimply thighs!

I also am the only one that can decide that although obedience WILL mean that I will do things that I am not comfortable with, it is the word of God and I trust Him. I KNOW that it is true. My faith stands on the word of God. It is a non-negotiable. I do not have the right to pick and choose or to create my own agenda. It stands as is, without my help, without my brain, and without my feelings. I know that. So today when I look away from the mirror, what will I choose? Chocolate trifle or firmer thighs? Oh God, let me put down the trifle today! Will I choose to be a hearer only, or a doer, also? Don’t be deceived these are both questions of will. It might even be easier to set down the trifle. Let’s not get side tracked from obeying Him, today.

Father thank you for your grace filled faithfulness. Forgive us where we have ever stood in judgment of your word. Let us make firm decisions on obeying You and Your word today.

Get a Little Closer

Proximity. We are horrible at it. All a stranger has to do to make me think “stranger danger” is to get too close to me in public. If they smile at me, too, I am calling the police.

Mark is a study on crowd control. Everywhere Jesus goes it is like a fast furious rush of people getting as close as they can. He can’t leave His house or eat peacefully. People are being dropped through the ceiling. He was trying to run around in secret and crowds were always gathering around Him.

Matthew tells us that crowds were so thick that he had to go out to sea in order to talk to them without getting crushed. That is how he came across Peter in Luke. The gospels tell us that it was only in prayer, at night, that Jesus had solitude. Have you ever tried to pray when you were tired? Wow.

Luke 5:1 has a wonderful bit of imagery, “Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God”. The crowd was pressing in on Him. Now, that is not unusual because there were always people pressing in on Him; but the why is pretty impressive.

Because I do not have people “pressing into me” to hear the word of God, I cannot imagine what this is like. Generally, I am chasing people to tell them about Jesus. It is so available to us that we can take it or leave it.

Most of us struggle to find the desire to press into the word of God. I used to have it press into me when I was doing my quiet times at night. I would fall asleep and wake up when the bible hit my face. What a different scene that is! And there was not just one, but a whole crowd of people pressing Him. That is a lot of pressing.

This is such a beautiful image and I have no doubt that there was just something to Jesus. There was something that you could not look away from. You had to hear His next word. It was like breathing in. I want that for my quiet times. I want to press into Him to hear the next word that He has for me. I want to wait expectantly that He will show up and satisfy my desire for His word.

Sometimes, I wish that I could have been one of these people who were in His physical presence. My model of expectancy is “the woman healed”. Luke 8:42b-48, “As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. ⁴³ Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. ⁴⁵ Then Jesus asked, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.” ⁴⁷ When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

Again, the crowds press, but that is normal. The difference is this faith-filled woman, expectantly, touching the fringe of his clothes. I don’t know what Jesus felt when He said that power had left Him. But out of all of those touching Him, He recognized the faith of this woman. That is what I desire in the picture of my time with Him. I want to run up to Him, pressing in and before He can even turn around He will know that someone who loves Him, TJ, just grabbed hold.

That is so beautiful and I have such a long way to go, some days more than others. Let’s solicit a response from Jesus today by pressing into His word.

Father, thank you for your gentleness as you recognize our imperfections, but know our heart, that we try to steal time with You because we love You. Draw us close as we press in. Turn us into faith-filled women.

The Measuring Cup Explodeth

I have a verse in my head that I cannot shake.

Luke 6:37 & 38, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

It is a great verse and contextually it sits right after having love for your enemies. In Luke, that is all business. I can’t even begin to talk about that. I guess that I need to get some enemies. Before that, we have the Beatitudes, which honestly, of all of the Beatitudes Luke is the narrowest. He does not mix words and leaves no escape routes open. Still, these are not what I have on my heart.

In fact, I just put Luke 6:37 in for context. We are talking about judging here. It is pretty serious. How you act in the checkout line, goes on your resume. That’s right, brain rolls, eye rolls, heavy sighs…all of it does not look good for us. Eventually, everyone feels compassion for the girl who needs the price check because we are acting like a person who has no impulse control while we wait. Someone is always watching when we judge that mommy with the screaming kid, or when we act like the moral police and condemn, or, last but not least, in the walls of our homes when we act like jerks and refuse to forgive the people that we love. In all of these, we are in the wrong. We are taking liberties that only belong to our God. See how hard this heart stuff is?

So, we come to verse 38. Give and it will be given to you. This is not what caught my eye, either. I can appreciate it. The opposite of judging is grace. The opposite of condemning is mercy. The opposite of unforgiveness is forgiveness. It is a tough road, but we have to give these things first, in order to avoid our unflattering tendencies. That alone is convicting, but not what caught my eye and tickled my ears.

Side B of verse 38 actually says the words good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over…all of this will be thrown in your lap. It sounds kind of messy, but delightful; so, of course, I have to think about this. I am still basking in the shadow of last week and the recent blessings that we have experienced. I have come to see God’s blessings as so much more abundant than I could dream. I prayed for last week for six months. When it happened, it was surreal. My husband and I found out a lot about the nature of the blessings of God. I prayed big, but God made reality bigger. Such is our measure in Luke.

I can only associate this with cooking. I used to cook and then I took a sabbatical, and now I am coming back to the sport, out of necessity (marriage). I enjoy cooking for my husband, although, if it is just me alone there is no cooking. I think of a measure as a measuring cup. Now, as we know, in order to get a correct amount of something you have to press it into the cup. You don’t want to go skimpy on recipes, especially those which are a good measure. They probably include a cup of chocolate or peanut butter, and these are things that you don’t mess around with. So, we make sure we get a whole packed cup, not a skimpy cup in a good measure.

Secondly, I see that this cup is unified. It has been shaken together to make a perfect mix. God did not just give my husband and me fulfillment in one area. Like I have said before, the nature of God’s blessing is to perpetuate Him; therefore it fills many areas of our lives. It is shaken together to make this good measure contain enough components to multiply itself. That takes the perfection of a sovereign God. We could not have done that, or prayed for that.

Next we see that it is running over. I think of a cup of “soda”, when I hear this. So, apparently part of this good measure and shaking process has included a carbonated beverage. It is interesting to think of this in terms of multiplication. If you poor a “soda” in a glass, depending on the speed, it will either stay in the glass or overflow. God overflows, so we can assume that He is no respecter of our containers or timing as we consider a good measure. I can only assume from last week that He revels in giving us so much, at once, that it is just flowing in our laps. That is what it feels like, uncontrollable and overflowing…delightful.

So, going back to side A of verse 37, what am I giving? Am I selfish with my time, my heart, and my resources? Am I facing the world with open hands and an open heart? Am I afraid of what will happen if I live according to his commands? Will my feet stay under me? Will I care? Wow, these are such hard questions. This blessing came after six months of breaking and tears. Before that, it came after a year of sickness and helplessness. It was worth the wait, but I had to stop thinking about myself. I had to give mercy that He gave to me. I had to find grace that I depended on, only from Him. I had to forgive, and that was nights spent in my closet, in the dark, on the floor. It takes heart work to equal a good measure. He has been so faithful. It is unlike anything else to have Jesus sit so many hours with you. He wants to do that. He wants to fill our cups until they are just messy and running our laps. Delightful.

Father, thank you for your abundant blessing. Thank you for showing us the heart work that we have to do and the places that you desire to meet us. Let them merge together today for Your glory.

Parenting Heart First

I could be extremely unpopular after this, but here goes…this morning I was reading through the first couple of chapters in Luke. Women connecting with the gospel can begin here. Luke brings the stories of women out. It is refreshing to read. In that small space you have young women betrothed, mature women barren, and young mother. All have such an interesting portrayal of the heart of a woman.

In the story of Elizabeth, Luke 1:16 & 17 tell us what John the Baptist will do before he is even born, “He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” So, John’s job is to turn many of the people of Israel to God and throughout the gospels, this becomes pretty evident. He will also turn the disobedient to the WISDOM of righteousness. Wisdom and righteousness are linked, inseparably, but that is a blog in itself. There is one more, however.

With all of this turning hearts in preparation for the Lord, John is going to turn the hearts of parents to their children. All of John’s “life tasks” reflect the brokenness that exists in relationship. Here the relationships inside the home are exposed. I see the disobedient and have been the disobedient, and I have turned away from the preparation for the Lord, which was the last thing on my mind. So, today I feel led to talk about something with which I have no experience. Let’s speak specifically of parent’s hearts turned away from their children. As someone who does not have kids, I will be the first to admit that I have no authority in these matters…but, from the outside it sure looks like this to me.

Side note from a married without children: One of my favorite actors was being interviewed and when asked how his children were, he said, “They are average; not to fast, not to slow, not annoyingly smart, not dumb”. I applaud this mentality because there are too many “yes people” in our world. Normal children are great and most kids are normal. I can’t tell you all of the people that try to tell me that their children are really smart, or well behaved. It is as, though, they assume that without children, I have no power of discernment. If you have to tell someone that your kids’ are smart, they might not be…and if you have to tell someone that they are well behaved, they are not. I have dogs that are neither overly smart, nor well-behaved. I am too lazy to take them to doggie school and I want someone to be uncontrollably happy to see me when I get home, so I have pursued neither and now they are too old. I digress.

So, I can’t imagine the overwhelming nature of parenting. I can’t imagine having someone who talks to himself/herself around me all the time. I can’t imagine never getting ready in one shot again. I can’t imagine anyone ever attempting to wake me up in the middle of the night…that might be the worst one. So, there are lots of things that I can't understand, but I can observe…oh, and I can read, in fact it is the same parenting manual that you are using.

In order to survive parenting, I have observed that sometimes it is easier to turn your heart away than carry it into battle, even the friendly ones. These battles can be about cereal or toys, new shirts or curfews. Parenting, as in every other aspect of the kingdom relationship, requires that hearts are present and active. A heart that is turned away cannot be prepared for Jesus, and it certainly can’t be prepared for children. This type of heart turning seems harmless, just a little bit of protection or solace for a parent, but kids know when the emotional shoulder has turned. They know before you do. There are so many areas of life that would be easier if we could just spare our hearts a little. The problem comes when you look at scripture. I see no where that tells the believer to pull their heart out of the fight.

Later, in Luke, we can see that it wasn’t easy for Mary, either. That’s right, the mother of our Lord. Most of you have never had the promise of greatness for your child from an angel. That had to play in her mind every day. So, she might have had some expectations of the best kid ever. Remember when Jesus was lost in Jerusalem during the festival of Passover? They traveled one day and realized he was gone, so they came back to Jerusalem and looked for Jesus. He was gone four days. Jerusalem was a big and bustling place. The time of Passover would significantly increase the population of Jerusalem. Mary must have been freaking out. It took at least two days of being in the city to even find Jesus. Seriously, that is an amber alert.

So, loving mother finally finds her kid at the temple. Pleased or not, she has been looking for four days. Luke says, “When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Translation, “What do you think you are doing? Your dad and I have been worried sick.” I would expect some gratitude, some hugginess…something. Jesus just looks at Mary and says, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? (Luke 2:49)” I just love it. Mom, why are you freaking out? Where did you think I was gonna’ be? Beautiful, and very like Jesus.

No one has it easy…and then Mary watched her son go to Calvary. There is no time to save our hearts in this life. They are of no value turned away from anyone, and the damage that occurs when children cannot get a straight line of sight into your heart is devastating.

How did Mary deal with this? She treasured all these things in her heart. I am amazed at that. I can’t think of many parents that would not have lost their minds in this situation. The first time that she treasured these things in her heart was when the shepherds came to Jesus’ birth. They were going crazy, praising God with what they had seen and heard, and Mary just treasured. Now, after her son just “back-talked” her on the steps of the temple, she did it again. Her heart was fully invested and soft, willing to be in relationship. She did not turn away.

We have to position ourselves in this life. We have to set a course for our hearts understanding that they are already in the right hands, and safe to point our heart toward our children, our mate, and our friends. Every relationship is to refine us, to sanctify us, to get us to rely on Jesus just a little more, especially that of a mother. Let’s rely on Jesus to take care of our hearts so that we can care for the hearts of others.

Father, thank you for the gift of children. Thank you for the stories of these amazing women that taught us how to treasure moments of relationship in this life. Teach us to put our hearts back in these key relationships so that we are prepared for you.

The Bridegroom

My husband and I attended a marriage conference this weekend. It was our first and it left us grateful and encouraged. The one thing that we have been taught in our marriage, the hard way I would like to add, is that the relationship with the Father must be right for all other things to be right. We have to be centered in Him for the abundance that is required for a healthy, deep relationship. Prior to getting this lesson I lived as a skimmer. I would skim the top of my life. I had just enough resource to touch on each item of my day, including my husband. So, each day, everyone and everything got touched, but nothing got handled. I just didn’t want to live like that…and God IS abundance, so we are guaranteed enough to handle everything. This weekend, this life lesson has been affirmed in a big way.

Yesterday when we were driving to the conference, it was like 80 degrees. We had the top down driving almost an hour; and I had plenty of sunscreen and a hat, of course. My husband made a mixed CD of songs that made him think of me. It was SO romantic. So, there I was, top down, sun and wind, love songs and my husband holding my hand. I started thinking that this is such an amazing prayer to the Father. He made every one of these emotions. He wants for me to feel that depth of satisfaction and longing for Him. I just reveled in it. I thought that I knew everything when I got married (as with many other points in my life), and this moment put me in wonder because the day of my wedding was just a shadow compared to the love that I have for my husband today. The creek is now a river and I look forward to the ocean. Such is the love of my Father.

The word that would explain the feeling that I have for God today is anticipation. That is what we as women long for, right? I desire anticipation for when my husband gets home. Wouldn’t that be an exciting way to live everyday? Guess what? That is completely up to us because that comes from the abundance of God. I anticipate the next special moment of love songs and sunscreen, whatever it looks like. I anticipate seeing what amazing thing God will do in our lives. This morning, I was reading The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, which is the picture of anticipation.

Matthew 25:1-13, NRSV, Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids  took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those bridesmaids  got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

I am convinced that of all of the parables, this one can speak to the heart of a woman. Isn’t it exciting? These are ten bridesmaids, or virgins, whatever translation that you are using. They are going to meet their bridegroom. I remember my wedding day. I was just about tuckered out by the time the whole thing started. I remember thinking, “I will never make it down that aisle without passing out.” I am not a fainter, either. I would have considered that a sad little end for the footage that was being shot, but I was seriously considering it. It was so stressful and we had taken pictures all day in my very beautiful and very heavy dress. By the time I was arm and arm with my dad, I was desperate. I turned to him and said, “Is there anything that you can think of to say?” He said, “Nope”…not helpful.

So, I was weary and defeated…no help in sight. Then my dad and I started to walk on cue, we rounded the bend and over the bridge, and there he was. My handsome fiancé was waiting for me on the front of the aisle. Talk about anticipation. I remember thinking, “If I just keep my eyes on him, I will make it”. I stayed on my feet only to get to his arms. I am still glad for those wedding pictures. The only thing that I remember is hanging on to the presence of my bridegroom. I don’t remember a single other thing.

So when I read about these ten ladies, I am there with those girls who remembered their oil. They trimmed their lamps and remembered their lipstick so that they could refresh before Mr. Bridegroom showed up. When you get that far…when you are about to walk down the aisle for the moment that you have been waiting for your entire life, and some girls says, “Hold up, I am not ready, I forgot my lipstick, can I borrow yours?” You don’t even bat an eye…you leave her. There would be no second thoughts, am I right? Goodbye, and have a nice time in the gift shop finding the right shade. Then you run off to the wedding feast, and your bridegroom is going to shut the door and celebrate your anticipation. He will fulfill it. Amen, sisters.

My husband made this a living picture for me this weekend. When I celebrated him, he just kept pointing me to our Father. What a gift! I can think of nothing more sacred than the ground of my marriage. This parable is no mistake. We are to look forward to the coming of Jesus like we would our wedding day. That is how this life will end, before the throne of our bridegroom. We need to be making the right investments before we go into the wedding feast.

Some of you are lucky to anticipate finally waking up today. We can start small, though. Anticipate those few moments of prayer with Him. Anticipate reading His word, even if you just reread the parable. Think of Him as the ultimate bridegroom when you enter into your solitude with Him. He desires to fill us completely, never failing. That is pretty stinkin’ romantic.

Father, thank you for the heart that you created so specifically for a woman. Thank you for letting us appreciate the moment of your arrival to us today. Come to us and speak to our hearts, in gentleness and tenderness.