Psalm 90
I was listening to Christmas music on the radio, baking way too many Christmas goodies, and the song "I'll be Home for Christmas" came on. My heart instantly dipped as a tear slipped down my cheek. Two years ago, on Christmas Eve night, I received the call no one wants to get. My hero Daddy had passed away. "Home" is different than it used to be and I can't help but feel the pain. My blessings overflow, little feet and lots of laughter fill my home, yet part of me is empty. Maybe "home" is different for you too. You may be across the world serving our Lord while family is in the States, maybe divorce has ripped your happy memories apart, or maybe dreams are unfulfilled and unrealized for one more year. However, in the midst of our pain, our Lord has a sweet word to mend our broken hearts.
Psalm 90 was written by Moses. A man who spent a total of 80 years in the dessert, a nomad for our Lord. His life was probably not like he pictured, yet he was obeying God's call on his life. Even though he was in essence homeless, he writes, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born or you gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
The Lord was Moses's home. You know what? He is my home too. He in all His fullness invites you to come home! The word "home" may look and feel different. We can either dwell on feelings or in the fact that our Lord is our dwelling place. Although it was Christmas time when I lost my loved one, it is because of Christmas, Jesus coming to earth in the form of a baby and dying as a sacrifice for my sins, that I can see my loved one again. Christmas is not a time for sorrow, even in death, it is a time of great rejoicing. Christmas is not a time of loneliness, because of Christmas, we received a companion that will never leave... Emmanuel!
This Christmas, come home to your Savior. Rest in His dwelling place. Feel the fullness of His presence. Breathe in His unquenching joy and peace. He is waiting with arms open wide to welcome you home.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Are You Living in "Plan B"?
Luke 2:1-7
Have you ever felt like you had to be living in "Plan B"? That somewhere along the way, something must have happened that took you out of God's perfect will and placed you on an alternate path? I don't think you are the first person who has ever wondered that.
Luke 2:3-7 finds Mary and Joseph on a three day journey to Bethlehem. Not by choice, but because Caesar declared it. When they arrived there was no place for them to stay, Mary was going into labor, so they found the best place possible: a stable full of animals. Here she is carrying the Messiah and Redeemer of Israel, surrounded my animals and in a strange place.
However, God in His great sovereignty was not scrambling around the Heavens trying to make something good out of Caesar's decree. He was not trying to figure out how to find them a room in a real inn or what to do to increase their comfort. He was working out the eternal salvation for everyone in the world. Mary and Joseph's circumstances were larger than a night in a stable or a decree by Caesar. God was working out His Plan A!
You may be wondering, "yeah God was doing that for Mary, He didn't forget about her, after all she was carrying Jesus. Of course he had a plan for her! What about little me?" The Bible Says:
Have you ever felt like you had to be living in "Plan B"? That somewhere along the way, something must have happened that took you out of God's perfect will and placed you on an alternate path? I don't think you are the first person who has ever wondered that.
Luke 2:3-7 finds Mary and Joseph on a three day journey to Bethlehem. Not by choice, but because Caesar declared it. When they arrived there was no place for them to stay, Mary was going into labor, so they found the best place possible: a stable full of animals. Here she is carrying the Messiah and Redeemer of Israel, surrounded my animals and in a strange place.
However, God in His great sovereignty was not scrambling around the Heavens trying to make something good out of Caesar's decree. He was not trying to figure out how to find them a room in a real inn or what to do to increase their comfort. He was working out the eternal salvation for everyone in the world. Mary and Joseph's circumstances were larger than a night in a stable or a decree by Caesar. God was working out His Plan A!
You may be wondering, "yeah God was doing that for Mary, He didn't forget about her, after all she was carrying Jesus. Of course he had a plan for her! What about little me?" The Bible Says:
- The Lord has searched you and knows you. He know when you sit down and when you rise up; He understands your thought from afar. He is intimately acquainted with all your ways. Even before there is a word on your tongue, He knows it all. He has enclosed you behind and before. He has formed your inwards parts and woven you together from your mother's womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made! All of your days were written in His book. All of your days were ordained before one of them came to be (Psalm 139)
- Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)
- For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10)
- If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:11)
- So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)
- Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness (1 Chron 16:29)
- Or follow the actions of Jesus, "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Mathew 26:39)
Are you viewing God in light of your circumstances or are you looking at your circumstances in light of who God is. Mary in a stable, Daniel in a Lion's Den, Joseph in jail cell, Moses in a dessert, and so many other heroes of the faith could have felt forgotten, ignored, or cast off. They may have begun wondering if God was scrambling to make a "Plan B" in order to guarantee that He works "all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Ro 8:28). Yet don't forget verse 29, that God's purpose is to conform you to the likeness of His son! (Ro 8:29).
Your life may seem crazy right now. It may seem like nothing is working out. You may be full of fear, doubt and grief wondering where God is in all of this. However, I assure you God is still in control. If you are His child, He still has a purpose for you. You still count to Him. He hasn't forgotten you, just like He didn't forget a teenage girl and her fiance sleeping with animals in a cave amongst the crowds in Bethlehem. They were living in the center of His will, it may have been hard, but they were never alone. Keep plugging away for your Savior. Do what He has called you to today. Who knows when the angels may burst into your life proclaiming, "Glory to God in the Highest! And on earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased!"
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Throw Off Everything that Hinders...
Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. "
The text is too important to skip over. Sorry for my absence. I have found myself entangled for the past month, and it wasn't until this morning that I have broken Gloriously free. This time of year is hard for me. Very hard. Two years ago this Christmas Eve my Daddy passed away suddenly, doing what He loved the most... he had just finished writing his first sermon for Zion Baptist Church. My heart has been weighted down with grief since his birthday in October. I have faked being okay well, except probably for the people who walk daily with me through life. Yet I have handled my emotional drain completely the wrong way.
I have spent the past two months being busy with anything and everything I can imagine. My feet ran from the second they hit the floor to the time I collapsed exhausted into bed at night. Most have been good things, things for the church and my family. A few not great things (let's just say for a girl who hates shopping, I shopped a little too much last month). I had created an impossible to do list, and I was actually accomplishing it. I looked pretty good on the outside. But I was wrong.
I was running a race that was not marked out for me. My eyes were not fixed on Jesus, but on my to do list and whatever I could do to make my church and family happy. Hebrews said that Jesus endured the cross for me and I was giving him my time, but NOT what He wants most of all... my heart. You see, I didn't have time to "Cease Striving and Know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10)
Galatians 3:1-3 contains a harsh rebuke for the church. Paul is blasting them for believing that they must win over Christ's love and salvation through works. He asked them, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" We don't please God through our many works, we please Him through our faith in Jesus Christ. He is most happy when we obey the greatest of all commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthews 22:35-37).
Paul clarifies the relationship between faith that is pleasing to God and works we are to do for Him in Ephesians: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (2:10). We are to "do" things for Him, but ONLY what He has prepared for us before the foundation of the world. When you are seeking Him, you don't have to take on everything, but just what HE tells you to do.
Do you feel burdened by life? Are you exhausted? Have you "grown weary and lost heart"? Maybe you are doing things that the Lord had not set out for you to do. He doesn't want tired bodies, but sold out hearts. Join with me in praying every morning, "Lord, I just want to do what you have prepared for me in advance today. I don't want to add anything more or do anything less. Please give me discernment to walk in You path for me, grant me courage to obey the leading of your voice, may you be glorified in everything I say do and speak. My time is yours. My family is yours. My heart is yours. In Jesus's Name I pray, Amen."
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. "
The text is too important to skip over. Sorry for my absence. I have found myself entangled for the past month, and it wasn't until this morning that I have broken Gloriously free. This time of year is hard for me. Very hard. Two years ago this Christmas Eve my Daddy passed away suddenly, doing what He loved the most... he had just finished writing his first sermon for Zion Baptist Church. My heart has been weighted down with grief since his birthday in October. I have faked being okay well, except probably for the people who walk daily with me through life. Yet I have handled my emotional drain completely the wrong way.
I have spent the past two months being busy with anything and everything I can imagine. My feet ran from the second they hit the floor to the time I collapsed exhausted into bed at night. Most have been good things, things for the church and my family. A few not great things (let's just say for a girl who hates shopping, I shopped a little too much last month). I had created an impossible to do list, and I was actually accomplishing it. I looked pretty good on the outside. But I was wrong.
I was running a race that was not marked out for me. My eyes were not fixed on Jesus, but on my to do list and whatever I could do to make my church and family happy. Hebrews said that Jesus endured the cross for me and I was giving him my time, but NOT what He wants most of all... my heart. You see, I didn't have time to "Cease Striving and Know that He is God" (Psalm 46:10)
Galatians 3:1-3 contains a harsh rebuke for the church. Paul is blasting them for believing that they must win over Christ's love and salvation through works. He asked them, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" We don't please God through our many works, we please Him through our faith in Jesus Christ. He is most happy when we obey the greatest of all commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthews 22:35-37).
Paul clarifies the relationship between faith that is pleasing to God and works we are to do for Him in Ephesians: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (2:10). We are to "do" things for Him, but ONLY what He has prepared for us before the foundation of the world. When you are seeking Him, you don't have to take on everything, but just what HE tells you to do.
Do you feel burdened by life? Are you exhausted? Have you "grown weary and lost heart"? Maybe you are doing things that the Lord had not set out for you to do. He doesn't want tired bodies, but sold out hearts. Join with me in praying every morning, "Lord, I just want to do what you have prepared for me in advance today. I don't want to add anything more or do anything less. Please give me discernment to walk in You path for me, grant me courage to obey the leading of your voice, may you be glorified in everything I say do and speak. My time is yours. My family is yours. My heart is yours. In Jesus's Name I pray, Amen."
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