hope where?

1 Peter 1:3b-4 say "Now we live with great expectation*, and we have a priceless inheritance - an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay."
*hope
I was truly saddened earlier this week when I spoke to a close friend.  'Friend' is going through a pretty rough time right now, with the economy, job-loss, mounting bills;  'friend' sounded completely hopeless when we spoke.  Completely.  I don't think I have ever heard anyone sound so without any hope.  Ever.

After talking to 'friend' , I wondered about my own hope. Where's my hope?  Where do I put my great expectations? Where do I find it?  What is it set in?  I learned that if I discovered what I feared losing, I would also find what I put my hope in?   Since the resurrection of Christ, the mercy & grace it provides, the salvation received & the inheritance that awaits cannot be lost, if my hope is there, my hope also cannot be lost.  Oh, I may be saddened, grieve, weep over things or people or dreams that may be lost along the way of life.  But ultimately my hope will not be lost if my hope lies in Jesus Christ alone and not in those things.
*
 I think this might be a good time to memorize a verse (to remind myself of later, when I'm forgetting where my hope lies)...
Psalm 33:20-22 "We put our hope in the LORD.  He is our help & our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.  Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone."

a nail tale

My fingernails.  I love when they are grown out, neat, perfectly polished.  However, I live in the world of dishes, laundry, cleaning agents, children's baths...you get the idea.  About the time my nails are looking long and beautiful - breakage.  Usually too far back and very painfully.  But, when they are long, I am constantly saying how much I should go and get a manicure.  it's one of those "little things" that I like oh, so much.
Couple weeks ago, my nails were looking long and I kept thinking about how nice it would be to go and have them neatly filed and painted professionally (rather than by my 4 year old daughter).  But, never made an appointment, just thought about it...and mentioned aloud at least once in the presence of my fabulous husband.
Friday, fabulous husband comes home from work with an appointment card for me.  A manicure!  I smiled and said that I was so thankful.  So thoughtful that he went out of his way to make an appointment for me in person (because it's nearly impossible to make appointments over the phone, in French-speaking world).  I was so thankful, but...
Since the day I mentioned a manicure and the time the appointment was procured, my nails had taken a turn for the worse.  In fact, I only had one that could be considered even remotely long.  All short, all mismatchied, all snarly and ick.  I really, really, really wanted to cancel the appointment.  R.e.a.l.l.y!  However, number 1 - my husband was so thoughtful and I didn't want to crush his spirit (i mean, i wouldn't want him not to do such a thoughtful thing again) and number 2 - like I said before, it's so hard to make/cancel/reschedule anything over the phone and my appointment was for Monday morning, so there was no time to go in in person beforehand.
So yesterday I went to the salon, all ragged nailed.  I sat down and placed my ridiculously looking nails on the pillow on the table in front of the lovely gal (who had beauuuutiful nails btw).  She looked at them and smiled.  I am certain that if she could have communicated in English or if I could have communicated in French, she would have asked many questions about how my nails could be in such horrific condition.  But she couldn't and I couldn't, so off she went with her work (& a big job it would be)
I was there about an hour, not long.  And I left with amazing looking, very neat, crazy cute nails.  They're beautiful.  I love them.  She did such a great job in making my hands feel soft and my nails look great!
And because you're reading a post at 58°, you can nearly be certain this nail story is so much more than just a tale of my nails.
Question:
How often do I let the condition of my life as it currently is, determine whether I serve, give, do, be who God wants me to be?  Are there times when I say, "As soon as I get our families finances together, then we'll give generously"?  Or do I say, "let me just straighten out my bad habit or get rid of this nasty sin, then I'll gladly help that friend of mine who's struggling"?  And sometimes I have even been known to say, "I can't serve others because my life is in disaster mode too & what good would I be to them?"  Have I not opened the Word, spoken to the Lord, praised Him because I want to be "perfect" and "in order" first?  Do I try to fix myself up first, make it all pretty, work out all the "stuff" and then give to God?
But God wants us to come as we are.  All our flaws, all our weaknesses, all our struggles, all of us.  just the way we are.  It is impossible to "fix it all up" with out Him.   Come to Him and give it to Him.  He can work it out for His will, for His purpose.  It doesn't have to be perfect, it can't be perfect, for Him to use it. It is only through Him that we have the power to fix it all up.

 Just like my nails, bring yourself to Him in disarray, and He will make beauty from it.

not in my power

"For God is working in you, giving you the desire & the power to do what pleases him."  Philippians 2:13

I just absolutely love this!  Do you see what it's saying?  It's not of our own power or strength that we do what pleases God.  He is working in us and He is providing us the desire and the power.  It's not about what I can do, how powerful or strong I am...it's all Him.  He provides exactly what we need to do what He requires.  

Philippians 2:14 continues by saying "do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you.  Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people."  

Tough instructions.  But the best part is the promise that precedes this instruction - He will provide us with everything we need to live without complaining & arguing.  He will give us the desire to live innocent, clean lives.  It's not about us sucking it up and trying our hardest to "be good".  It's about knowing Him, relying solely on Him and believing that He will provide the desire and power to live a right life in His sight.

Thursday thought - what am I wearing?

The choices are virtually endless.  Jeans, khakis, dress pants, shorts, capris, skirts...in bottoms alone, the possibilities are plentiful.  I, myself, prefer a comfortable pair of nicely worn-in jeans and a comfortable shirt, sweater or sweatshirt.  Comfort nearly always trumps fashion, for me.  However, there are exceptions to my comfort "rule".  On occasion I have a reason to get all dressed up in a fancy dress that squeezes me in with sleeves that require my arms to stay in the down and straight position and a skirt that requires me to "sit like a lady".  If I have to...
Of course, I clothe myself every day in more than just clothes.  I also put on attitudes, opinions, thoughts, characteristics, activities.  And just like choosing between putting on my old, comfy pair of jeans & a broken-in sweatshirt or a fancy formal, I also choose whether to put on anger, jealousy, hatred, immoral living or put on love, peace, joy, moral behavior.  And it's not always as easy as picking out my favorite sweatshirt.

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh."  Romans 13:14 (NIV)

The "rather" in this verse refers to the following verse where we're instructed not to participate in the darkness of wild parties & drunkenness, sexual promiscuity & immoral living, or in quarreling & jealousy.  So instead of putting on those things, we are to put on Jesus.
The hebrew word used in this verse for "clothe" can be translated "to sink into clothing"  I have an old-college sweatshirt that I love to wear. When I put it on, I literally sink into it.  It surrounds me, it "hugs" me.  I can wrap my arms around myself and just exhale with comfort.  I imagine being clothed in Jesus to be this way.
So why do I sometime cloth myself in the "rathers" than in Jesus?  Sometimes, like my old, tattered, comfortable college sweatshirt, do I think wearing Jesus is just not "fashionable"?  I mean, I wear my sweatshirt around the house, but I would never wear it out on a date with my husband.  Do I sometimes do this with Jesus?  I wear him to church on Sunday or Bible study or to a Christian bookstore, but I choose to put on something else when I am elsewhere?  Do I find that I can't "wear" him to certain places, with certain people?  Do I put him in the closet and only take him out occasionally, to look more "Christian"?

Clothing myself with Christ is a matter of the mind.  This verse also says we are not to think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.  Flesh here is referring to our human nature, which is prone to sin.  Focusing on our flesh and thinking about those things which might become tripping spots is not where our minds should be sitting in order to clothe ourselves in Christ.  As Philippians 4:8 tells us, we are to "fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise".  We cannot "dress ourselves" in Jesus and have our minds in the things of the world.  To be clothed in Christ is to have my mind on the things of Christ.

So clothe yourself today in the Lord Jesus Christ, put on his attitudes, his ways, his thoughts and think upon those things.

stuck on faith

I've been stuck for the past few days.  I was following a dialog on a fellow bloggers' comments between a follower of Jesus and an atheist.  The discussion went round and round between the two completely opposite points of views.  One saying that God is very much real and one saying that God is very much a delusion.  Neither person involved could be persuaded to the other's belief on the matter and no argument was powerful enough to change the other's opinion.
And I'm stuck.  Stuck because I wonder how it is possible to explain faith.  Faith is not seeing, touching, hearing.  Faith is not absolute evidence.  Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see [Hebrews 11:1].  Faith requires that I not see everything.  For if I could see everything, faith would no longer be required.
If God all of the sudden appeared for everyone to see and spoke in an audible voice for all to hear providing the absolute evidence that he exists, faith would no longer be required to believe that he was.  His existence would be as obvious as the sun's.  But God has required faith.  He found it necessary to place clues of his being throughout his creation for us to discover, thus causing us to believe.  This belief in the unseen and the hope of what this unseen provides, is faith.
To anyone looking for only the hard evidence, it won't be found.  If one is certain not to 'see' the unseen, they won't.  Faith requires something to remain unseen, to remain hidden.  And really, it makes absolutely no sense to anyone only looking for the clear, exact, screaming-in-you-face evidence.
I don't understand everything about God.  I am not sure why he chose to require faith.  But I believe that he is, I believe his ways are higher than my mind can comprehend and I believe that in the end, every eye will look upon him and faith will no longer be required to see him.
*
It may sound as though I am frustrated, helplessly looking for an answer that will provide me the words to say to explain faith.  I am not.  I suppose that's where faith comes in.  I know that I cannot possibly debate anyone into believing in God, the Gospel, the Bible.  I cannot have the 'right' words.  But I have faith that God can tap, tap, tap on the heart of anyone.  anyone.  And if that person hears the tapping...faith of their own may be born.  Of course, this isn't a license to sit back & figure I'm of no good to the Kingdom with a "God can do it all on his own" attitude.  Although God doesn't have to use us, he chooses to.  So, sit back, I will not.  But get all worked up, frustrated, angry?  I won't either.

just a thought

 Following the lead of my friend, Lori, over at Lori's Wacky World, I have come up with a fun, catchy little title to make this day more, ummmm, exciting.  Because, well, Thursday's are just Thursdays.  But now, here at 58° they are filled with thoughts.  It's not Thursday anymore!  It's Thursday with Thought.  Ridiculous, I know.

Anyway, I have been stuck on a verse lately.  It's one of those that keeps working it's way into my "everywhere".  My podcasts, my reading, my emails from friends, blogs I read.  It's been everywhere.  And since this usually means that I should look into it a bit further 'cause there's likely something there I need to learn, that's what I've done.

Psalms 46:10a - "Be still, and know that I am God!"

In Psalm 46:10a, the author says "be still".  This being still is the hebrew word raphah and it can be translated into "be still, to relax, to sink down, to let drop, to abandon, to refrain, to forsake, to let go, to let alone, to be quiet."
One of my favorite places in my house, is a big, oversized, cushiony, squishy, fluffy, comfy couch.  It is covered with overstuffed, enormous, yet incredibly soft pillows.  When I sit into the couch the pillows reach out and grab hold of me, sucking me further down into the cushions. I imagine this "be still" like my couch.  "Be still".  Sink down.  Let everything else drop.  Let the busyness of thinking and doing alone.  Be quiet, relax.  Be still.

But the verse doesn't end with a comfy, relaxing, carefree break.  There is more.

"and know that I am God!".  The "and know" part of this verse comes from the Hebrew yad'a.  Translated, this word can mean, "to learn to know, to perceive & see, to find out & discern, to know by experience, to recognize, to admit, to acknowledge, to confess, to consider, to be acquainted with, to make oneself known, to be instructed."

While we're being still, we need to also be "knowing" God.  We need to be learning about, finding out, recalling the times that we've experienced Him.  We need to be acknowledging who He is, confessing who He is.  We need to be getting acquainted with Him and allowing ourselves to hear His instructions.  We need to be allowing Him to make Himself known to us.

I think God knows (because He know everything) that we are easily distracted.  Life is busy.  We are busy.  He instructed us to be still, not because we need to slow down and relax and put our feet up because we're overworked.  I think He told us to be still, because He knew we wouldn't put our full attention on Him and Him alone to get more and more acquainted with Him unless we were still.

Oh, but it sounds so wonderful, doesn't it?  Letting the busyness of the day-to-day just be for a moment & spending a moment in complete focus on God.  Spending a moment praising & worshiping, praying, reading His word, learning a bit more about Him, listening.

Today, let's sink in to the Word and allow God to make Himself known to us.

"And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin.  For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins."
Romans 5:16

"So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus."  Romans 8:1

Condemnation - 'the state of being condemned'
Condemned- '''to be judged or pronounced to be unfit for use or service'

Therefore - because I am in Christ Jesus, because I asked Him to live in me, He will never deem that I am unfit for Kingdom service or use.

Hallelujah!

a nasty 5-letter word

Sometimes a certain topic appears again & again & again.  Everywhere I turn.  I hear it on podcasts, during sermons, in my Bible Study, in my quiet time...e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.  I believe that these are not coincidences.  These, instead, are topics that God is trying to get into my thick skull head & eventually down into my heart.  Hearing the same message again & again & again repeatedly and consistently is when I know "God is talking to me" about something.  And currently it's all about a need for approval and pride.
It's a funny thing really, because if you'd asked me even two weeks ago the areas in my life that needed some work, neither would have appeared on the list.  But what's that saying?  "Be careful if you think you're standing, you might just be sinking"  Sinking....
*
Ah, the half-marathon I was just talking about in the other post.  Yes, my first race.  After all these years of running.  Finally signed up for a race.  And a big one - a half marathon.  What's nearly comical (and it will be laughable at some point) is how I was all thinking how perfect this race will be with my women's ministry theme this year being running the race.  Imagine the parallels I could draw from training for a big race and the race of life.  Perfect timing, perfect material, perfect.  Except for the real motive behind my desire to run the race.  Pathetic.
Need for approval and pride.  Truth be told, deep, deep down inside that place where only One other sees and only One other hears, my little ego was bruised.  I have been running for quite a while now, yet no long runs, no finish lines, not even a starting line. Just a regular 30 minute run, 5 times a week.  But I wanted to be able to "keep up" with everyone else.  I told you it was pathetic.
Pride said, "Kim, you are SO equal with all those other runners you know.  You can totally run a race.  Maybe even run a faster time. If they can do it, you can too"
Approval said, "Kim,  what will everyone think if you're the only person who's not running races?  That looks lame.  Are you even a real runner if you have never run?  Just something to chew on, Kim."
So for the past three weeks I've been running and running and running.  In the rain, in the heat, up hills, miles and miles and miles.  And I didn't even enjoy all the running.  In fact, I hated it.  I used to love my 30 minutes run, but I hated running in the rain, in the cold, for miles and miles and miles.  I dreaded it.  Hated it.  And for what?  For the accolades of some friends and the pride of knowing I could too.  Miserable.
*
I have been left to ponder what else in my life is there because of the little annoying voices of Pride and Approval.  I can imagine there's plenty.  How my house is kept, what I wear, what kind of phone I carry, how I speak to people on the road (who can't even hear me), what I eat, what I dress my children in, how I expect my children to behave & the list could continue, I'm sure.  All with that little "what would others think if these were not in order?"  Do I do the things I do for the approval of God, to show his ability & glory or for the approval of others to show my own ability & glory (what little there is)

I think it's a bit of a balance.  On the one hand, I cannot live in chaos.  I cannot look like a clown when I leave the house (well, i could but...).  But on the other hand obsessively making sure that everything is put away in it's place and the floor could be eaten off of so in case someone stops by they won't think I'm out-of-control (iow- they will approve of me and my home) is over the top.  IT all comes down to whose approval am I looking for?  It's fine to look nice, have a nice home, run a marathon...but for what motive?  For someone's approval?  To prove I'm good to someone else?  That's where the balance get tilted off kilter.  It's a daily act.  A daily picking up the cross and decided whom i will serve.
*
A few verses to take us home...
"pride leads to disgrace..."Proverbs 11:2
"pride leads to arguments..." Proverbs 13:10
"the proud will be punished."  Proverbs 16:5
"pride goes before destruction..."Proverbs 16:18
"pride ends in humiliation..."   Proverbs 29:23
Romans 6:16 "Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master?  You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God & receive HIS approval."
*

uh oh, wrong race?

"...and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." Hebrews 12:1b-2a
"For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."  Matthew 7:13-14

I've been training lately for my first half-marathon.  It's actually my very first race ever.  I've been running for several years now, but never any great distances or in an organized fashion.  But now with that slightly-longer than 13 mile race in the near future, I am running with purpose and determination.  A lot of time and energy will have been put into use by the time the race-day finally arrives.
I worry wonder a bit about race-day.  Being that I have never been to a race, I am concerned that I won't be able to find the number distribution table or the starting line.  Or, worse yet, what if I run the wrong race? There are several other races taking place that day.  Some shorter, some longer, some walking, some wheelchair.  What if line up in the wrong spot and run the wrong race?
*
Our lives are kind of like that, aren't they?  We are told in Hebrews that it is like we are running a race.  Others have run the race before us and have finished well & now it's our turn to run.  We are told to get rid of the stuff that might hold us back or weigh us down and we're to run with endurance.  But, I think, a major part of this verse comes with these words, "the race God has set before us".  We, before all else, must make certain we're running the right race.  In other words, what good does it do us to strip off every weight that slow us down and run with endurance, if we're not even running the right race?  It would be like me training for this race for months only to run the wrong one.  What good is that?
But what is the right race?  There are many to choose from.  Many.  The world has all kinds of different paths laid out.  Some easy, some difficult.  I think looking a bit further into the scripture, Hebrews 12:2 says "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus".  If Jesus is at the finish line of the race you're running - you're running the right race.
Oh, but this is difficult as well.  Many believe they're running a race with Jesus standing at the end.  Many believe they are looking at him and keeping their eyes on the path he is directing.  Many are doing and serving and teaching and leading and talking and writing.  But who they see at the end of their race, is not Jesus.  He may be similar, he may look and talk and act very close to the Jesus of the Bible, but he is subtly different.  Hebrews 2:1 says "We must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it."  We must know truth.  Absolute truth.  And what we lack in memorized knowledge, we must investigate through Biblical study. Otherwise, things that are close to truth or sound like truth or seem-like-my-God would-say-it's-truth, become truth.
*
I heard some quotes this week from a fairly popular book that I was blown away by.  A book that some refer to as "finally providing understanding about the trinity and how God, Jesus and Holy Spirit work together".  Do these quotes sound like truth?  They did to me when I first read the book.  Honestly, I didn't even notice them.  They didn't stand out as falsehood.  And I wonder how many similar close-to-truths many of us believe that set us running on the wrong race-path.
 
"I am the best way any human can relate to [God] or [the Holy Spirit]"
~truth - John 14:6
"[God]: 'I don't need to punish people for sin.  Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside.  It's not my purpose to punish it; it's my joy to cure it"
~truth - Romans 6:23, Romans 2:16
*
Certainly I don't intend to begin any arguments about books.  My intention is rather to offer a warning that there is so much out there specifically designed to entangle us in non-truths.  And it's so similar to the Truth, that it's easy to get it mingled together.  Believe me - I know firsthand.  I am forever, unmingling things I've heard and read.  And we're warned in 2 Timothy 4 verse 3 and 4 of what is coming (& might already be all around us).  "For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound & wholesome teaching.  They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths".
*
We must take what every teacher, preacher, leader, author is telling us and verify it against the Bible.  We cannot simply assume that they are feeding us truth.  We must make sure we're running the right race, the race that God laid before us and where Jesus is standing to receive us when it's completed.

alpha quotes I love

We have just begun another Alpha course at our church. My husband, James, and I are huge fans of this course. Partly because we think it's an excellent way of introducing the gospel to non-believers and partly because it is the course that was instrumental in turning my husband's heart to Jesus. If you're unfamiliar with the course, you can check it out here. I would recommend it for anyone - mature Christian, new Christian, falling away Christian, non-Christian - anyone.

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During session 1 - Who is Jesus, one of my all time favorite quotes is talked about.

"A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. Either Jesus was, and is, the Son of God or else he was insane or evil..."

One of my favorite Sunday School teachers growing up was T. He was, and still is very wise with amazing biblical knowledge and his life reflected what he taught us young ones. I would say he was a great moral teacher. But imagine if T. had also claimed to be the Son of God, saying things like, "if you've seen me, you've seen the Father." Could he be a liar and a great moral teacher at the same time? No, those characteristics are mutually exclusive.

But what if Jesus were insane? Could he have just been a crazy Jew spewing crazy chatter? I suppose that option might be viable, with one exception. Death. Jesus died a horrible, horrible death. If you've seen the Passion, you have witnessed what a horrific death it must have been. Would a crazy man take his spewings to the cross? Would he endure the torture, the humiliation, the pain? Or would he call uncle when he realized where his mutterings had landed him?

I think Sherlock Holmes says it best, "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

And if I have concluded that Jesus was, and is, the Son of God, not some good teacher or crazy man, then I must also conclude that every word he spoke was truth. I cannot pick and choose my way through his teaching, deciding to follow those that make sense to me and put aside those which are more difficult to understand their reasoning. All he said would have to be truth. All.