Daily C-Rations and Getting the CAR in gear – a metaphor

May 31, 2011

Maria 1 John, 1 Peter, Deuteronomy, Ephesians, Guilt, John , , , , Leave a comment

I like to simplify doctrine down to mnemonic devices I can easily recall.

The other day I was thinking about what I need to remember, to feed on each morning to reorient myself for the day.  There is something perverse about a night’s sleep.  I tend to lose a correct theology somewhere in the wee hours of the night. I can go to bed being thankful to God and conscious of Him and then wake up in the morning a ‘worldling’ again, living as a functional atheist.  So each morning, I have to RECALL deliberately what is true about God and about me.

The other day, as I was walking and reflecting about how to be more automatic in God-thoughts, the picture of C-rations sprang to mind.  These days, the prepared meals for an Army in the field are called something else, but you know what I mean. I thought about how a soldier might draw his daily C-rats, enough calories and nutrition to provide him with energy for his 24 hour duty period.  Jacob prayed for spiritual C-Rats for his son Asher:

As your days — so shall your strength be.” Deuteronomy 33:26

Being consistent with Moses, I imagined what spiritual C-rations we should draw.  For fun, I came up with lots of C-words to illustrate God’s gifts.  As I ran through some of these God-given daily provisions, I was reminded of what Paul says.

The apostle emphasizes in his letter to the Ephesians that we have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ.  What are some of these daily spiritual ‘C-rats’ issued to us and available for our sustenance?   As His covenantal children, we are entitled to help ourselves to gifts such as Charity, Compassion, Courage, Character, Control over self, Companionship of Christ….you get the idea…think of your own C words.  What is key is that God provides what we will need for the trials and tasks of the day, not more, not less, but just what is necessary.  (Remember how the Hebrews tried to stash some away, “just in case”, but it rotted?)

But life is more than drawing food or getting equipped for the day.  As I was ruminating about my C-rats plan, it dawned on me that there were some daily actions I could embark on first thing in the morning and then with God’s help sustain.  I came up with three and they too begin with the letter C J.  Here’s an acronym – CAR.  C stands for CASTING all my CARES on Jesus, not only as an act of humility (so Peter exhorts us) but also so I don’t have to carry them around.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due     time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Pet 5: 6-7

If I heave them onto Jesus, He can handle them, fix them, and imbue them with grace.

The A stands for ABIDE.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15: 4-5

Now I must admit, the How-To of abiding is a challenge.  But I heard Andrée Seu (columnist from World magazine) give a simple tip on how to abide.  She recommends thanking God as a method for keeping one’s mind on Christ.  Now that makes sense.  If all of a sudden I ‘wake up’ and realize I haven’t been abiding in Christ, I can look around and thank Him for something right at hand.

Today, I caught myself not even aware of God while on a walk with my husband.  It was Mike’s birthday AND Memorial Day, so we were out enjoying a 5-mile wooded trail.  When I startled and it dawned on me that I wasn’t abiding in (i.e. thinking about) Christ, I looked at the textured bark on the trees and thanked God for His design and creativity (another C word!)   That one observation led to other delights and all of a sudden I was abiding.  My momentary appreciation and love for God grew.

What about guilt for the hours that had passed without thinking of God?  The 3rd letter of CAR reminds us that we get to REPENT each time we catch ourselves distracted about worldly concerns with no thought toward God.  I’m so grateful for the gift of frequent repentance:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Now applying the CAR metaphor a bit further, I imagine an engine with pistons that operates on a continuous 3 stroke cycle (we have to S-T-R-E-T-C-H the analogy a bit, I know! My husband has explained that cars have either 2 or 4 cycles).  I cast my cares on Christ, I abide in Him and when I FORGET about Him I come to my senses. Then I get to repent and thank Him for gently bringing me back to my senses. And so it goes.  The car engine won’t function unless the pistons are moving up and down.  Neither will I function well as a Christian unless I am continually Casting, Abiding, and Repenting.

So what’s the plan when you wake up tomorrow morning? We’ll draw our C-Rats for the day and put the CAR in gear.  Let me know what other C blessings make a difference in your day.

Exploring the gifts of Grace

May 25, 2011

Maria Anxiety, Grace, Joy, Peace, Romans , , , , Leave a comment

You & I live our life in the “you must DO this and DO that” world in order to “be X, Y or Z.”  I get tired of ‘DO’ing, don’t you?  Whether it is at work or church or in relationships, it’s all exhausting and unceasing.

Christianity is different.  Christianity is the only religion that proclaims DONE, not DO!  What other religion has its God seek out his creation?  What other God died for his people?

Consider Romans 14:17, one of my new favorite verses:  For the Kingdom of God is not (religious rules governing) eating and drinking, but RIGHTEOUSNESS and PEACE and JOY in (by means of) the Holy Spirit.

This verse explains the essence of Christianity.  Living as a son or daughter in the Kingdom of God is not about following rules.  Instead it’s about treasuring what accrues to us as children of God.  By grace, (read: ‘a gift’) we are given:

  • Righteousness.  This is the Greek word ‘dika-ios-oo-nay’ (phonetic – # G1343).  It means that since we have been justified by God, we have right standing with our judge, God the Father.  When we become a Christian, we are made a new creation; we are united with Christ. The most eternally significant benefit is that our sins have been transferred over to Christ and paid for, so justice is done.  And we also have had transmitted to us Christ’s perfect life, as a credit.

Righteousness that belongs to someone else (but given to us) is not just a New Testament concept.  Consider Jeremiah 23:6. God is called Jehovah Tsedeq – the Lord our Righteousness.  We are not told to seek our own righteousness; we already have his if we belong to Him.

What follows from being ‘right’ with God?  Peace!  Remember Paul’s opening in Romans 5?  “Since we have been justified….let us grasp the fact that we have PEACE with God..”

  • Peace.  This is the Greek word, ‘ei-re-ne’ (#G1515).  Irene is the lovely name derived from this concept.  Here’s how the Blue Letter Bible website describes this peace, “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”  If we have peace with God, we can reason from the greater to the lesser.  That is, if God has taken care of our biggest and eternal problem, we can rest assured that He will work temporary peace in our earthly relations to the extent that we trust Him and yield to His will.

Finally, the 2nd benefit of being made ‘right’ with God through what Jesus has done for us, is JOY by means of the Holy Spirit.

  • Joy.  ‘Chara’ is the Greek word (# G5479) The world attempts to sell us temporary happiness based on obtaining  ‘stuff’, ‘achievements’ or ‘experiences’.  But happiness is fleeting.  What we are starved for is permanent Joy.  We are wired for Joy; that is why happiness seems so desirable.  But happiness is the cheap version of joy.  Think about what a great God we have.  He desires our joy.  He could have said, “the Kingdom of God is about RULES or PLEASING ME or BEING BEST in the Kingdom or SACRIFICE or any other depressing version of DO THIS IN ORDER TO”.  But God wants our true joy.  When our answers to prayer result in NO and our happiness seems threatened, let us remember that our Heavenly Father desires something far better than what we can ask or imagine.

The last few words of our verse, “…in the Holy Spirit”, are important.  We need to remember that we cannot go after righteousness, peace & joy in our own strength.  But the good news assures us that if we are born-again believers, we have had our nature changed.  Our essence is different, we are united to Christ.  This change is passive in the sense that we do NOT do anything actively to bring it about.  We receive NEWS of what God himself has done.  If we respond to this news by executing an about-face and trust (‘receive’) what He says, then this new nature is ours. What follows is the family right to have fullness of peace and joy.

A caveat as I end: the joy and peace that are available to us, given both our right standing with God and our new nature IN Christ, won’t come to our awareness automatically.  We have to RE-CALL them frequently. We have to remind ourselves of our RIGHTS, our current inheritance.  But what a small effort for such a marvelous gift!  Each time we succumb to anxiety or internal churn, we can repent (think of the military command to make an About Face) and return our thoughts to the truth of who we are, whose we are and what belongs to us as beloved children of God.

The blessing of guilt

May 19, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Sin, Witnessing Leave a comment

I just heard, via my French news podcast, the sad tale of a mid-wife trainee who administered the medication for a D&C to the wrong patient.  A baby died because of this error.  The reporter talked about the mother’s shock and grief.  But my heart wrenched not only for her but also for the poor young mid-wife trainee whose mistake cost the baby’s life.  What does she do with her guilt?  How can she live with herself?

A day later, the political world was rocked with the public accusation of sexual assault.  The French head of the International Monetary Fund apparently forced himself on his hotel maid.  Barely 48 hours after this news we learned of a child, fathered (outside of his marriage) by movie icon and former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What do these three people have in common?  They are burdened with guilt.  They, like us, have to face the question:  What do you do with your guilt? That is a question that has both eternal significance as well as a day-to-day impact on the quality of our life here on Earth.  In their circumstances as well as in ours Jesus is the only answer that can bring healing, justice and freedom for both victim and victimizer.

Guilt is part of the human condition ever since we turned our backs on God in the Garden.  There are two aspects to guilt and I think we fixate on one more than the other.  There is objective guilt – we fail to meet a standard, we are judged lacking.  (That is actually easier to address).  But there is the affective side of guilt, the feelings that plague us even after our objective guilt has been handled.

If I were the midwife, my instincts would kick in and I would be saying to myself, “What can I EVER due to make up for the life I took?”  Without the knowledge that Jesus paid for her culpability in that baby’s death, no matter what or how much she does , she will be haunted until she dies.  The French justice system will evaluate how much she should ‘pay’ given the circumstances and motives.   But unless she has a way to handle her feelings of guilt, she will be miserable.  The fact that Jesus took on all our punishment & guilt, the fact that he died means that we don’t have to be punished more than the State deems.  A forgiven, redeemed Christian lives in the land of “No Condemnation!” Sweet words!

And Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Frenchman?  And Arnold?  I pray that God uses the publicity of these egregious & wicked actions to bring them face to face with their need for a Savior.  Pride goes before a fall.  It is a temptation to be rich, famous and powerful.  Those people need our prayers.  But God is sovereign.  As they say, if we don’t humble ourselves, God will.  The two women who are victims (and everyone else caught in the webs of pain these men have generated) need Jesus.   They need to know that perfect justice will be had: both Arnold and Dominique will pay for their crimes when they face God as their judge, OR, the punishment has already been borne by Jesus on the cross (if they accept the gift of Jesus as a stand-in for them by repenting and putting their trust in Christ).  In this latter case Jesus has been declared ‘guilty’ and has suffered for the crime.  Either way, perfect justice is guaranteed.  The crimes do not go unpunished in the cosmic court.  God knows and sees everything.

Two ‘take-aways’:

(1)  – instead of gloating when the haughty proud fall, instead of hopelessly lamenting the loss of a baby, we need to pray that this severe mercy bear fruit and all involved come to a saving faith in Jesus.

(2)  – remember that we have an opening with which we can share the Gospel.  A question that pertains to everyone we meet, “What do YOU do with your guilt?” might just be the words to cause your neighbor to think about God and to ‘fear’ Him properly.

Implication?  Let us always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have!  (1 Peter 3:15b)

Are you a member of the ‘ Pure Joy Club’?

May 10, 2011

Maria James, Joy, Romans , Leave a comment

What do disappointments, setbacks, problems, disasters and overall trouble have in common?  God sovereignly uses them ALL to conform us to the image of our brother and savior Jesus Christ.  Knowing that the apostle James exhorts us to count all these trials as ‘pure joy’, I invite you to embrace your status and learn with me as members of the Pure Joy Club.

  • Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:2-4
  • …. We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Romans 5: 3-4

Recently my dear husband had a disappointing setback, and this added to an on-going unpleasant situation.  On top of that, he came down with a case of impacted sinuses that he can’t shake.  It’s enough to make one not want to get out of bed some mornings!

But even though it is totally normal and legitimate to mourn frustrating and painful turn of events, Christians have to look to God’s Word to draw correct conclusions and know how to live.  Therefore, Mike and I are in the midst of encouraging one another with several truths that pertain to his situation.  He would be the first to admit that this is hard.  That’s why Christian community and prayer support from friends and family who know their Bible really helps.

Our pastor’s sermon Sunday was helpful.  He stressed that NOTHING is out of God’s control and that whatever happens IS the will of God.  The disciples were sad and bewildered to hear Jesus talk about his imminent departure.  But he encouraged their confidence by reassuring them that since He knew what was going to happen, they could trust him and ‘rest’.  Strengthening their faith, Jesus explained, “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe” John 14:29

Relying on the fact that our Father not only knows but sovereignly controls what happens in our life is hugely reassuring. Other advice can also help us develop a right perspective.  For example, John Piper exhorts, “Don’t waste your cancer”!  By this he means that we can learn from our suffering and grow from the shocking jolt of tragedies.  As one of my colleagues quipped this morning,  “Our ‘crap’ makes good ‘compost’ for growing some very lush & hardy plants later on down the road.”

Tullian Tchividjian (pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) suggests another use for our trials:

“In the crucible of pain, you discover what you really worship.  How is your present trial, suffering, disappointment a window on what has captured your heart?  What do you use to invest your life with meaning?  What you build your life on is your idol.”

Finally, remember we are not alone.  The spirit world watches how we react to life’s trials.  Remember Job?  When God boasted of him, Satan suggested that it was only for the ‘goodies’ from God that Job worshipped Him.  The demons certainly watched closely how Job reacted.  Would he curse God and die as ‘Mrs. Job’ bitingly suggested?  And don’t you think all the members of Job’s community watched him as well?  Our suffering is always more than just about us.  Much is a stake.  We can make it holy, if we offer up our suffering to God as a sacrifice.  Most assuredly this is impossible in our own strength. But we can count on Christ to bear this burden with us.  To God be all the glory!

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop

May 5, 2011

Maria Fear, John , , , Leave a comment

The other day a dear friend was sharing how happy he feels since becoming engaged to a wonderful woman.  But he admitted to a bit of anxiety, waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.  It seems that he lives with a fair amount of cognitive dissonance that comes from maintaining a public persona.  As a PK (pastor’s kid) he perfected his public performance as a charming, considerate and gracious son, in contrast (per his mom’s repeated messages) to his ‘normal’ behavior at home.  What does his not uncommon childhood have to do with his current happiness?

In his mind, I think, he has made his current blessing from God conditional on his maintaining his ‘good’ self. After all, we are trained to work for rewards.   Deep down inside he feels unworthy and he knows he is not the good person he projects.  What if he can’t keep up his performance?  Will the rewards be taken away?   Besides this fundamental unworthiness, there is also fear; fear that if people REALLY knew him, they would reject him.  So fear of losing what makes him happy and fear of possible shame create a small lurking cloud of potential suffering.

Jesus says that if we know the truth, the truth will set us free. (Romans 8:32) To my friend and all of us who feel guilty, hear the good news:  We ARE guilty…we ARE bad….far worse than we admit.  This suspicion that we are truly bad is based on truth. And God doesn’t worry about our self-image.  He tells us straight up. He glances at all the good stuff we do and says through Isaiah (64:6) that our best deeds are like filthy rags to him.  How’s THAT for not mincing words!!!

But God (2 great words) loves us anyway.  He is willing to cover us (remember Adam & Eve when they felt ashamed because of their sin?).  And in order to protect our dignity as image-bearers, He is willing to shed another’s blood (an animal in the Garden; his son on a hill).

How is that truth freeing to us?  Because we no longer have to pretend to ourselves that we are good.  And since EVERY other human on this planet is just as guilty and evil as we are, why pretend with OTHERS?   Think of the energy freed up by not having to maintain two Selves?

Now what about the blessings?  Fear of losing someone we love is natural.  One becomes vulnerable when one loves.  Just get a pet or have a baby; you know what I mean!  So suffering is inevitable.  We can’t prevent it.  But we CAN know that it is not random.  All suffering is filtered through God’s hands.  And He promises to be with us in the midst of suffering.

I’ll leave you with a thought about how to view suffering.  Tim Keller quoted a Jonathan Edwards sermon on contentment.  Summarizing Edwards, Keller wrote that contentment or peace depend on knowing deep down inside three things:

  1. All the bad stuff in our life God uses and brings good out of it for us
  2. All the truly good stuff in our life, we can never lose, such as…

a)   The fact our names are written in God’s book of life

b)   The fact that we’re justified and have been adopted by Him and have a huge inheritance that we  can draw on even now

c)    The fact of Christ’s intercession for us at God’s right hand

3. The best is yet to come!

So dear friend and to all of us…fear not!

When God says ‘No!’

May 2, 2011

Maria Hope, Luke, Prayer , , Leave a comment

God just closed a door.  The job at Scott AFB (near St Louis) to which Mike had applied posted a change in status on Friday – the job itself has been withdrawn.  (Perhaps funding to fill it was pulled??)  Mike’s West Point classmate was in charge and had actually asked Mike to apply.  Mike had made the first cut and was told that he was in the top 5-6 being considered for interviews.  The activity at Scott was his old agency that had moved from Newport News to Illinois four years ago. Not only was he very familiar with the work and the people, but he was qualified for the job.  We had not moved with his former agency when it was ‘BRAC’ed because at the time, my dying father was still living in Williamsburg.  It was at that point that Mike was hired to work at JFCOM, all so we could stay in the area for my Dad.

Since applying for this other position 9 weeks ago, we had been patiently living in limbo.  At least now, we know that we aren’t moving.  This job was his last iron in the fire. Other jobs he had applied for (Ft Monroe, Charlottesville, and Huntsville) have all come back as NOs.

Mike and I are trusting that God will give him energy to continue on in the dysfunctional remnant of JFCOM for the next two years until he can retire from the government and seek something else.  The expectation for the same amount of work and projects continues but the command has been stripped of contractors.  So whereas Mike was division chief with people who supported him, now he is on his own, but expected to do the same work.

We will continue to look to Him who richly provides.  Circumstances have no power over us, only God.  I had asked God to help me encourage and support Mike if and when the door shut.  And God is faithfully meeting that need.

At least it looks like I will still be at Summit Christian Academy, teaching French 1-4 and Logic to 8th graders next year.  There are other good reasons to stay. Our church is a blessing.  I have signed up to be trained this summer to teach ESL, a new ministry at Calvary.  Mike continues to teach Sunday School.  And we have many friends here – it would have been hard to leave.

I am praying that God would provide hope to Mike.  He does have hope for life eternal with Jesus, but would like something tangible and earthly to enjoy, to look forward to.  Work does not provide this kind of satisfaction.  Yes, I know, men are meant to toil. And because of the Fall, work is more frustrating since Adam.  But I would really love for him to know that he makes a difference each day and receive that kind of satisfaction.  Nothing is too small to ask God about.  Jesus explicitly taught us to pray expectantly, boldly, with intensity and fervor as a little child bugging her daddy.  Think about the widow who kept at the unjust judge or the man who woke up his neighbor to outrageously ask for food in the middle of the night.

So please join with me in praying for a man who wants to make a difference in his work.  I admire him.  He has integrity.  He is a man who daily seeks to provide value to his bosses and peers and subordinates.

Let’s see what God will do, with us living expectantly, our eyes on Him.  Just a few minutes ago as we were processing this news, he shared one of the ‘take-aways’ he has gotten from BSF and the study of Isaiah – that God is a god who acts.

May the God who does creatively more than we can ask or envision receive much glory in this situation.  And may we learn and display the truth that Jesus is SO gratifying, that despite a trying job, Jesus is enough.  Oh Lord, help us to be the kind of sons and daughters who make you proud.