My two pillars

October 30, 2011

Maria 1 John, 2 Corinthians, Colossians , , , Leave a comment

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1

Our principal’s husband spoke at chapel on Friday.  He engaged the students (12-18 year olds) by first painting a picture of his uncomfortable high-school years.  I’m sure some of them can identify with feeling shy and wanting to belong to some group, any group!  John, today a high-energy extraverted salesman, found a home in high school among the drama kids.

Toward the end of his talk, which dealt with the life-long struggle with sin, he mentioned that taking the Gospel into painful situations is the key to the temptations of sin.  He offered a scenario sure to resonate with teens: enduring conflict and difficult conversation with one’s parents.  As I sat in the audience, I waited for him to explain exactly how one ‘takes’ the Gospel into problems.

All of a sudden I got it!  Being a child of God MEANS we have a lot to look forward to that is 100 % certain. Our status and our inheritance are guaranteed by Jesus’ covenantal shed blood.  Knowing that our future is going to be full of pleasure & joy, we can endure more easily life’s frequent bouts of ‘affliction, disappointment, hardship, inconvenience and pressure’ (Romans 5: 3).

This faith in future grace reminds me of a Tim Keller story (Pastor, Redeemer Church in NYC). Two men were hired to muck out a stable for a time-certain period.  The contract with one was for a paltry sum of money.  The contract with the other was for a million dollars.  Same dirty, smelly work but different future rewards.  The one griped, the other whistled.  What made the difference?  The knowledge of what was waiting for each.

That thought prompted my mind to slip over to 2 verses that I’ve memorized, my new twin pillars to keep me steady in the midst of ever-changing circumstances:

–Christ in you, the hope of glory, Col 1:27…..(Christ in ME, the assurance of future joy, pleasure, satisfaction, love, celebration, peace….)

–But our light and momentary afflictions are achieving an eternal weight, an abundance of glory that far outweighs them all,  2 Cor 4:17…..(Yes, each day brings pain and uncertainty.  That’s the nature of living in a fallen world.  But God’s word assures me that there is a purpose and a payoff for the trials…).

These verses are just 2 of many promises meant to sustain us, to support us, to keep us from falling down under tribulation.

I think that is what John Lane meant by ‘taking the Gospel’ with you when you face trials.

Again, it’s what you know that makes all the difference.

Our Father, remind us what it means to love you with all our mind and give us the will and strength to do so.  Amen

Re-interpreting the Word

October 27, 2011

Maria Romans , Leave a comment

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” Romans 5:5

Once upon a time there was a Christian woman who thought that she was unlike those liberals who dismiss parts of the Bible that don’t fit with their viewpoint or worldview.

She once dined with a lapsed Catholic who had stumbled over the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality.  This woman loyally defended a dear nephew who had come out about his sexuality.  Since the aunt knew what a kind and loving young man he was, she chose to reject the Bible’s clear precepts against any sex outside of covenant marriage between a man and a woman.

Contrary to this ‘confused former Catholic’, our Christian woman clearly thought that she did not suffer from that kind of buffet/ pick and choose mentality view of the Bible.

So it came as a shock when one day the Holy Spirit gently pointed out HER blind spot.  It turns out that she was guilty of the very same sin!

**

Here’s what happened.  See the above verse about God’s love having been poured out/ shed abroad/made to flow (ekcheo– in the Greek)?   For quite a while, I have dismissed this verse as not true, because it does not match my experience.  I don’t FEEL a lot of love in my heart.  So I have sought to re-interpret that verb to mean IS BEING POURED OUT.  That makes more sense to me.  Maybe I’ll feel more love later on as I grow in my faith.

But that is not what the verse says.  It presents this bestowal/ filling of love in my heart as a done deal, a completed action.  We learn from the passage that this divine love is given to us by the Holy Spirit. It does not take a leap of logic to figure out the timing of this ‘love gift’.  It must have been when we were regenerated, when we were given saving faith and then in turn responded to the light.

This past Sunday, it hit me that I had dismissed the verse entirely.  I had approached the verse with my pre-supposition (if it doesn’t fit my beliefs, experiences, it must not be true).  What a shock!!!  I didn’t think I was capable of that.

Thank you Holy Spirit for giving me MORE light, so I can see the devious plot of the Evil One.

**

Back to our ‘once upon a time’ gal:   Since that HS revelation, she is proceeding cautiously ahead, eyes open to other errors she has probably made in understanding scripture.  Here’s her new axiom:

“If my first reaction to God’s truth in the Bible is – THAT CAN’T BE!, then I should stop and humbly ask the HS to guide me in my understanding, confident that He will answer the genuine request for wisdom.”

Worth pondering:  How does this new fact that God has ALREADY filled my heart with His love, change how I look at others?

 

Do versus Know

October 24, 2011

Maria 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Peter, Gospel , Leave a comment

Did you know that Christianity is different from every other faith ‘expression’ in the universe?  When I was in Toronto, I dialogued a bit with the assistant wedding photographer who was a Muslim.  He echoed the same assertion as my young Muslim pharmacist at Kroger:  “Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all basically the same.”

(That’s an easy assertion to counter – just ask them who Jesus is.  Jews admit Jesus was a teacher of the law.  Muslims claim that he was a prophet.  But divine Son of God?  No way!)

But for the purposes of this blog post, I want to share what gets at the heart of the main difference.

Here’s a general statement that I believe holds true.  Most religions teach you what you have to DO in order to obtain X, Y, or Z.  Christianity is NOT focused on what we do, but what we must KNOW.  Out of correct knowledge of reality, we can then do the right things.  But these ‘right actions’ are not directed at getting anything, earning anything, manipulating anyone.

Here’s what I mean.  Both the Greek and Hebrew words for the verb ‘to know’ are pivotal.  Look at some of these texts.

Paul:  Philippians 3:8 “ ….I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of KNOWING Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Paul:  1 Cor 2:14  “For I determined to KNOW nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Paul: 2 Cor 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the KNOWLEDGE of Him in every place

Paul: 2 Cor 4: 6b-7 “ For God….has shone in our hearts to give the light of the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  For we have THIS TREASURE (what else, but the preceding KNOWLEDGE) in earthen vessels (remember? our original dad, Adam, was made of clay dustJ)

Peter: 2 Peter 3: 3-4  “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our KNOWLEDGE of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises (we have to KNOW them to derive power), so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (what we know changes our desires!)

Habbakuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the KNOWLEDGE of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea”

We are all wired to want to DO and to EARN the goodies of life.  Jesus teaches that having the correct information and then resting on, banking on, savoring and  loving that information, that good news (‘gospel’) above all else is the key.  When his Jewish followers tried to pin him down (what do we have to do to get the ‘A’?) he answered in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you BELIEVE in Him whom He has sent”

He didn’t say, “This is the work of God, that you DO”.

Listening to Brad Evangelista (Crosspointe Church, Columbus, GA) and reading a John Piper essay (Desiring God ministries) today left me with the same message.  What we DO, the works we perform, our behavior all come out of WHO we are.  Brad was talking about coaching youth football and challenging the youngsters to play like who they are, Broncos!  John Piper was doing the same.  Since we are recipients (undeserving) of God’s glorious mercy, live like an amazed child of God who has untold treasures awaiting her.

To close, I want to share with you an anecdote expressing the same point that first we have to KNOW who we are, before we can ACT correctly or DO the right thing as fragrant ambassadors of Christ.  I was listening to the story of a woman who had escaped the lies of Mormonism.  When asked what was attractive about the Mormon life, she said it was the knowledge that she would one day be a goddess on her own planet.  She wore a necklace or bracelet with a pendant that was a promise of that, given to her when she was baptized as a Mormon convert. That knowledge made her feel special every day.  (Then came the day when she learned how false the teachings of Mormonism were and she left.)

Shouldn’t knowing the truth make the difference in our day-to-day life?  The best antidote to blah-ness is to feast on Christ. Then we can sincerely exclaim with Paul (Romans 11:33) – “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and KNOWLEDGE of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”

My anti-stress mantra

October 18, 2011

Maria Ephesians, Peace , , 2 Comments

Psalm 19:14 – May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer

God is allowing me to struggle again this school year. It’s my 20th year teaching French.  I’m realizing that my presupposition has been that teaching French should be easier as time goes on.  Maybe I was set up to adopt this premise by observing my student-teaching supervising teacher.  She had taught French for 35 years in the SAME classroom, in the SAME school.  I remember her description of lesson planning.  Driving the 12 minutes to school in the morning, she would settle on her lesson plans for the day.  And she taught FIVE levels of French! I thought that must be what ‘good’ teachers do.

Yet here I am, clipboard in hand, plans typed out, driving into school praying that I can pull it off another day, with 4 different levels and keep everything straight.  And that is after 6-7 hours of thinking and planning for the week.  I’ve gotten quite good at creating my own anxiety.

Last week, on Friday, a new thought came to me as I was angsting.  “I actually have some students who do VERY well in French, DESPITE my daily inadequacy dance.”   I kept that thought in the forefront of my mind.  And you know what?  YES!  I had a very good day.

Before I became a Christian, when I was at the University of Virginia, I used to purposefully power down the anxiety by reminding myself repeatedly before a major test, “Ten years from now, the results of this mid-term or final won’t even matter!” and that thought was enough to calm me down.  Now if God offered me that kind of stress-relieving thought as a pre-Christian, don’t you think that all the truth I now have access to in His Word might be as if not MORE useful?

If consistency is important, then my inward practice should line up with my outward.  I’m thinking of how we are to treat others following Ephesians 4:29 as a rule of life, “Say only what helps, each word a gift” (amplified version).  Our self-talk falls under that umbrella, wouldn’t you agree?

I’m with 12th grade girls twice a day at my school.  This is a very high-stress time of year.  They are applying to colleges, retaking the SATs, getting their résumés together, coming face to face with, for some, a less-than-ample harvest of time scattered or wasted over the past 4 years of high school.  Today, some were sick from pushing, pushing last week to get everything turned in at the close of the 1st marking period.  They are just as needy as I am.  We cannot do all things in our own strength.  So maybe this is why God is allowing me to continue to flail, when all along, He offers iron-clad lifelines of truth.

Thank you, Father, for directing my thoughts.  Do not leave me to my own mental gymnastics.  Make me lie down in your green pastures, lead me beside your still waters, take my hand and pull this little errant sheep back onto the path of righteousness for your Name’s sake.  Amen

Rendez-vous in Canada

October 12, 2011

Maria Romans, Thankfulness, Trust, Uncategorized , 2 Comments

God graciously answered many prayers last week.  He is far more faithful to perform His word than I am in trusting His word.

On Thursday and Friday our family made our way to Toronto for Uncle Steve’s wedding.  Steve is my husband’s younger brother.  Turning 52 this month (October 2011) he finally graduated from bachelorhood and became one with Eve, my new Canadian sister-in-law.  As a married couple, they are no longer Eve & Stephen, but a new creation in Christ.  The adventure begins!

If you follow this blog you know how God has been teaching me about trials.  Paul challenges us to look at troubles and afflictions with gratitude instead of the way we humans normally respond.  He writes in Romans 5: 3-5(amplified translation),

“Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.    And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of] character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.  Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us.

The Greek word for troubles or trials is ‘thlipsis’. The purpose of this pressure or distress is multifold.  Through problems and adverse circumstances, we come face to face with our helplessness and dependence on God.  He helps us SEE that He is enough as our resource and that HE alone is trustworthy and that in Christ we can do all things.   Learning experientially that God suffices is worth more than gold.  Unfortunately, the only way we ‘get this’ is by living out our inadequacy and being forced to depend on God. Probably like you,  I don’t relish problems.  I want to know that all things are working out according to my desires.

Last weekend, Air Canada chose to strike during the busy holiday weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving.  I ended up fretting more than trusting God.  Both of the travel days that our kids and grandkids were making their way to Toronto, I did NOT rest in the Lord.  I just wanted them to get there.  I personified ‘angst’.   I did not cling to bible truths and promises.  I complained to my heavenly Father.   But thanks be to God who blesses us with the gift of repentance and the reminder that in Christ there is no condemnation.  So multiple times those two days I asked for forgiveness and for help in trusting Him to work out the circumstances gone awry.

And our two young families eventually arrived.

The rest of the weekend was lovely.  The weather cooperated.  The little ones did well despite NO routine and missed naps.  We had time to hang out with family and catch up on lives.  And Eve & Stephen were happily united.  Here are some pictures.

It’s God who sends the trials

October 5, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Deuteronomy, Psalms Leave a comment

“Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you” Psalm 55:22a

If God is sovereign over all of life, then all things come from or through Him.  Our trials are included in these ‘all things’.  This knowledge comforts me. Horrifying would be the thought that life is random, that I am exposed and subject to cosmic, cold, uncaring CHANCE!

But no, trials (‘peirasmos’ in Greek) are ‘any adversity, affliction or sorrow which God brings His people through in order to encourage and prove their faith and confidence in Him’ (my NASB study Bible notes).

Since all my trials are from God, I can draw several conclusions. (Let me offer two of my more ordinary, but painful recent experiences):

  • Last week God allowed/authorized my ailing cat and my broken computer.
  • God has two goals for my life:  His glory and my transformation into the image of my older brother Jesus (if I am a Christian).
  • Since He plans trials, He knows the end and has prepared resources that I will need.  I call these pre-positioned stockpiles of grace.
  • There is nothing to fear if everything good & bad comes from God.
  • (I had to remind myself of the above point when I read about 3 local traffic deaths/serious accidents in the local paper).
  • Since chance and luck and randomness don’t exist, there is nothing to fear or to hastily maneuver away from.

These trials are the ever-changing variables of daily life.  They never end.  The circumstances just vary.  Why isn’t life free of trouble? Two reasons are given to us and God conceals the others.  One, we live in a world marred by the Fall. Two, troubles are used by God to grow our faith which is ‘more precious than gold or silver’.

But take heart. Trials are just the ‘light and momentary’ afflicting variables.  They pale in comparison with the unmovable big things.  Let me summarize these sturdy pillars.  I’ve organized them into blessed words that begin with the letter P.

These P-words jumped out at me as I was meditating on the seamlessness of the Bible.  The Old Testament presents us with many promises of God’s PRESENCE and PROTECTION and His ‘all-mighty’ POWER.  The psalms are rich with these kinds of verses.  Psalm 46 talks about God being a very PRESENT help in time of trouble.  Psalm 146 focuses in on the POWER of almighty God who is head of the angel armies.  And the man or woman who has the present PROTECTION of the God of Jacob and the hope of El-Shaddai (God Almighty) is blessed, that is happy and blissful (‘asher’ in Hebrew).

Now couple those promises with rest of the story in the New Testament and we get the PRIZE and the PURPOSE.  If you are a Christian, the greatest inheritance you have is summarized in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (and remember, this is not the “I–wish-it-were-so-hope”, but the “sure-rock-solid-it’s- going-to-come-to-pass” expectation. You can take it to the bank!)

So I look at these 5 P-words (Presence, Protection, Power, Prize and Purpose) as forming the frame work of our life here on Earth.  They do not change, for they are based on God who does not change.  All that changes are the new and passing trials that come and go based on God’s good plans for our eternal nature.

Do I like trials?  NO!!! Do I fear them?  Yes, and that is why I have to continually re-orient my thinking to line up with God’s word.  I get out of kilter and my feelings follow my thoughts.  But thanks be to God who has given us His precious Word.  So eat up, feed on His promises, and not just once a day. If you are like me, you eat some kind of food 3-4 times a day.  It’s just as reasonable to think that we need spiritual food as often.  Both the Old and New Testaments remind us that ‘man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’.   Bon appétit!