And they named him Noah. Lessons about our ancestor.

March 28, 2011

Maria Uncategorized , 2 Comments

“Now he (Noah’s dad Lamech) called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”  Gen 5:29

Our grandson Noah is due in a few weeks.  Providentially my daily bible reading has brought me back to the beginning, so that I am in Genesis these days.  It goes without saying: I have been keenly interested in the account of Noah.

We are introduced to him in the preparations Dad Lamech makes for his birth. The prophetic words recorded in verse 29 above are so full of hope.  We hear joy over the impending birth of this son.   There is no fear that he will turn out ‘wrong’.  There is a confidence that can come only from a father who knows God.  Lamech the Godly as I will call him (the other, Lamech the Vain and Violent, described in Chapter 4 is a descendant of Cain) knows his family origins.  He understands his original grandparents’ sin.  He acknowledges their punishment that has been passed down to all generations of mankind.  He does not sulk or complain or criticize God.  He realistically acknowledges how difficult working the land has become.  And he dreams of better days brought on by this son of his.

The power of a godly father is unparalleled.  A few verses later, in Chapter 6, we learn how wicked men and women have become.  But Noah, son of a father who has taught him properly to fear the Lord, finds favor in God’s sight.  In fact ONLY Noah is considered righteous enough to be saved as a blood line.  His brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews will perish in the flood.

What makes Noah a standout?  He obeys God’s commands when given, he uses common sense when appropriate and he waits for further instruction when the situation is beyond him.

In Genesis 6:14, God starts to give specific guidance about what to do.  Noah does not question God, but sets to carrying out the construction of the ark.  And he completes the task. In Genesis 6:22, we read, Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

I put myself in Mrs. Noah’s shoes.  My questions would have been the following:

  • How will we get the animals to come on board?
  • What about all the bodily wastes (ours and the animals)?  Do we have to haul them up to our floor and get rid of them out the window?
  • How will we feed the animals?
  • If there is only one window, we’re going to want it for our family.  And if there are 3 stories, then that means the animals will be in the dark.  Will they panic and fight each other?  Will they hibernate?   Will the ark be big enough if they start multiplying?
  • How long will we have to be in the ark?
  • What clothes, tools and supplies should we bring?
  • What about my prized heirlooms from Great-Grandma Eve?
  • Where will we land?
  • What are we going to do all day long and all night?
  • What will happen to us afterwards?

I can imagine Noah saying to his wife, sons and daughters-in-law, “Don’t worry, the Lord will guide us in all these areas.  Hasn’t he instructed us up until now? ”

When the rains do stop, we read how Noah’s common sense kicks in.  He thinks to send out first a raven and then a dove.  But he doesn’t open the door until God tells him.  Noah seems to exercise that perfect balance of waiting, acting, obeying.

The ‘take-aways’ for me in this chronicle of our ancestor Noah are in the area of decision making and parenting. God obviously trusts us to learn how to rely on him for what is beyond us and to do for ourselves what is within reach.  This lesson is important to me, for I know that I tend to fret over / angst about/ project scenarios that never come about.  I have to continuously remind myself that God is creative and capable.  After all, he did create the whole universe.  I can trust Him to provide.  I’m sure that most of what Mrs. Noah worried about never happened.

Finally, parenting has eternal consequences.  The power of godly parents can change the course of history.  Lamech and his wife taught Noah well.  Yet, I have to assume, if they taught Noah, they also taught all their children.  However, only oldest child Noah survived the deluge.  We parents are limited.  Children are accountable to God themselves and do make wrong choices for which they suffer consequences.  We do the best we can, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  The final outcome is in God’s hands.

Noah will soon join his cousin Chloe, God willing.  I pray every day for these two children that God will, “Satisfy (them) in the morning with (his) unfailing love, that (they) may sing for joy and be glad all their days.” Psalm 90:14.   I want them to thirst and hunger for God early on to such a degree, that only God satisfies.  Furthermore, I pray that their being filled up with the joy of the Lord will spill over onto all whom they meet.

Proud to be a Mary, yet….?

March 23, 2011

Maria Luke 7 Comments

I love my name.  My mother was christened Mary, but nicknamed Molli.  Her mother was also a Mary.  I almost inherited the exact same name.  But influenced by memories of past trips to Italy, my mother chose Maria for me.

Why do I like Maria/ Mary?  Mary is the wiser of the two sisters.  You remember Martha, the worker-be gal, the matriarch of the family who complained to Jesus?   Mary never seems to notice how rudely older sister Martha chastises her to Jesus.   Instead, focused on Jesus’ words of life, she does the “….one thing (that) is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:42)

I like to think of myself as a Mary, especially with my name.  I pride myself in not falling into the trap of legalism, the do..do..do of American Christian women.  Instead I read, listen to podcasts, meditate, and feast on spiritual food.

But recently, I have been caught up short by how all that might just be selfish.  I’ve been reading a book entitled, Unsilenced, by James Boccardo.  James offers compelling reasons and methods for sharing the good news with everybody.  He puts to rest the notion that one has to befriend someone first before engaging with them about death and eternal life.  By reading this book, I have come to see how much like a modern Paul this young man is. (Under 30/came to Christ after college/works an 8-5 job in the field of finance, earning a degree in theology)  His whole reason for getting out of bed each day is to be able to talk about Jesus to everyone he meets.  He doesn’t go out of his way to do this.  He doesn’t plan missionary days.  He just talks to people whether he is paying for gas, encountering the mail man, getting his car repaired, buying a cup of coffee.  He is ALWAYS thinking Jesus.  And he doesn’t beat around the bush.  With every stranger he meets, he asks a version of, “So, do you ever think about what happens to you after you die?”

The book is worth reading.  He makes it sound easy.  After all if our job is to sow seeds and God’s job is to provide the growth, what is frightening in that?  Yet, when I think of changing my life to make Jesus my ‘all-in-all’, my ‘raison d’être’, I am confronted by my selfishness.  When I am out and about, whether walking, at the gym, or commuting, I am listening to podcasts about God, French or logic.   Or I’m reading while waiting, giving off flashing vibes that communicate “Do Not Disturb”   It’s all good ‘Mary-esque’ content but it’s still feeding my desires.

Yes, I do like my name.  But I know that God is calling me to do more than soak in and absorb.  He wants me to risk trusting Him that there is more joy in telling others the glorious story of freedom and life everlasting than in swimming in my comfortable but Dead (spiritual) Sea.

Seeing is not believing…… or the need to renovate your mind.

March 15, 2011

Maria Renewing, Romans, Zechariah , , 2 Comments

Ps 63:2   I have contemplated you with pleasure in the sanctuary IN ORDER to see your power and glory.

If ‘seeing were believing’, then all those who witnessed Jesus’ miracles would have become followers.  And no one would have crucified Jesus, because they would have all believed Jesus.

Actually the above conclusion is false. Observing actions or hearing words does not necessarily cause new knowledge. Faith must be mixed in with raw data.  Some bystanders in 33 AD were powerless to arrive at truth even with eyes wide open. Then there is the category, one far worse, in which people are blinded by a motive hostile to truth.  Into this group fell some Romans, some Jews and most of the Jewish leadership.  These people could actually see and believe that Jesus was who he says he was.  Yet they were not believers.   This should not surprise us.  After all, even the demons believe that Jesus is the son of God.  When a person unequivocally acknowledges the truth of Christianity, he has gotten as far as Satan!  A crucial successive step requires a grateful reliance on this truth.

Yet, no one is off the hook for their lack of saving faith. Everyone SEES evidence for God, even if they don’t draw the right conclusions.   Paul, as well as the psalmists, tells us that.  Natural theology connects the many signs, the major clues all around us in nature, to the existence of God.  But what Christ has done for us, however, cannot be deduced from the natural world.  For that we need the spirit-empowered Gospel preached to us.  We need the ‘grammar’ or facts of this news but packaged in a way by the Holy Spirit that pierces our cold hearts to awaken us.  Once we are awakened and with new baby spiritual eyes we actually see Jesus’ rescue plan for us, the news becomes glorious.  The saving step of sinking into this truth, of grabbing hold of the rescue line thrown to us is a ‘no-brainer’ at this point.

But, this kind of seeing doesn’t end with the new birth.  Every day, we must follow Paul’s exhortation to renovate or renew our minds and thus strengthen our transformation from dead worldling to living child of God.   The verb ‘renew’ sounds like extending one’s subscription to a news magazine or paying for another year of a Barnes & Noble membership.  That’s why I like the translation ‘renovate’ for the Greek word – anakainōsis  ….be transformed by the renovating of your mind. # 342 (Romans 12:2)

It’s the same word in Titus 3:5 – “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal (making new, renovation of our whole self )of the Holy Spirit.

God has transplanted us OUT of the Kingdom of Darkness (Col 1:13) and into the Kingdom (or Garden) of Light and set us growing in new dirt. He is the master gardener and we need to feed on Holy Spirit Sap (no disrespect intended).  Here is how we can do this, daily. ‘ “Not by might, nor by (our own) power, but by my spirit” says  the Lord’ Zechariah 4:6

Think of a sunflower.  It lifts its yellow blooming head toward the power source and grows strong, exulting in the glorious rays.  So too we must look to Jesus, to gain (in)sight and thus power.   Then we can be like the psalmist who returns to God often to align his priorities with Truth and be infused with inner strength not his own.  This is the first and constant work of being a believer.

 

 

 

 

 

The Scarlet Letter

March 9, 2011

Maria Hebrews, Rest , , 4 Comments

‘You are/ it is’ precede ‘you should/ it is necessary that…’  A basic understanding of grammar comes in handy.  In the Christian world, God tells us facts before he commands us to obey him.  He tells us what IS (his character, his accomplishments, his power, his plans and goals) before he tells us what to DO.

When we fall into the sin of legalism, it’s because we’ve harnessed the proverbial cart before the horse, i.e., the imperative (do this) before the indicative (what is).

Here’s how using the indicative can help in our own lives. My thesis is that unless we keep telling ourselves Truth, then we fall victim to feelings which can lead us around by the nose.  Imagine you’re in the car, impatient to get home when someone cuts you off.  If you’re like me, you’re likely to criticize that other driver and think the worst about him.  But if you knew an indicative, a fact, your feelings would likely change.  What if you knew that in that car was a young husband desperately speeding to get his very pregnant wife to the hospital.  Imagine her in labor, in pain and him feeling helpless and mindful of only one thing, his precious wife. Would that change how you feel about him cutting you off?  Of course!  You would offer him some slack.  More information changes your assessment, hence the conclusion you draw and feed yourself, hence your feelings.

This example came to mind the other day when I was meditating on Hebrews.  In chapter 10, the author says that if the people knew that one sacrifice would wipe out their sins once and for all, they would no longer feel guilty for those sins. (Hebr 10: 2b ….for the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.) That verse caused me to realize that I am not supposed to feel guilty for sins already forgiven.  The information that a sacrifice not only cleanses me, but takes away the guilt was new information.  And Jesus performed the one and only necessary sacrifice for sins AND for guilt.  When I still feel guilty after having been forgiven, I am forgetting a fact, an indicative.  Reminding myself of the fact that my guilt is taken away MAKES me feel differently.

The current message I’m receiving from the Bible and from sermons by RC Sproul and Tullian Tchividjian is how important the gospel message is to believers.  We need a steady daily diet of Gospel indicatives.  Our minds and hearts need to be saturated by the radical and scarcely-proclaimed message (one that is NOT intuitive, nor picked up by osmosis) of God’s grace and love. Culture daily bombards us with all the stuff we should do.  Guilt comes naturally in our culture.

I was brought to tears the other day listening to Tullian talk about the wonderful news of God’s grace.  He was illustrating it with an example of a student so stressed out by a high school honors class that she can’t perform.  In response the wise teacher guarantees her an A for the semester.   This A is contingent on NOTHING the student does, just on the kindness of the teacher.  From our perspective, this is an outrageous risk.  What if the student takes advantage of the ‘pre-destined A’?  Apparently that is a risk the teacher is willing to take.  In this real-life illustration, the high-school junior ended up relaxing and working hard and probably earning the A.  But she worked with peace of mind.

So too, we, have been given this ‘Scarlet Letter’, this predetermined grade of A, purchased in blood by Jesus.  It is a total gift.  We don’t have to do anything to earn it.  Furthermore, God won’t take it away from those he has given it to.  We can relax and learn from him.  We can trust this yoke, that it is easy.  Yet we chafe.  We would rather FEEL WORTHY.  Why is that?  Pernicious pride!  It offends us to have our opportunity  to earn WORTH taken away from us.  Somehow intrinsic value (totally up to God) doesn’t satisfy us.  This twisted thinking needs to be redeemed.  Only the daily drip method of life-giving Gospel truth can transform our minds.

The next time I start manufacturing pressure for myself, I need to pause and reflect.  Why am I feeling anxious?  What truth, fact, promise, and info about God do I need to remember?  What false conclusion am I drawing?  What am I trying to DO out of guilt or out of the idea that THIS is how ‘good’ Christians should act?  It is great news that I don’t have to DO anything.  I just have to ‘abide’ in Christ.  That means:  stay connected, keep my eyes on him, feed on him, hang out with him, be the Mary at his feet, rather than the Martha trying to get Jesus on her side against the ‘lazy ones’.

I want to wear this Scarlet Letter with pride!

A theology of Nos

March 1, 2011

Maria Hebrews, James, Prayer Leave a comment

The fervent prayers of a righteous woman make a lot of power available (James 5:16 – my version of the amplified)

Do all your prayers to God get answered?  How many Yeses have you had?  How many NOs?  How do you measure and track the results?  Recently a significant NO made me stop and think about my tally.

-God has given me many Yeses, many I have taken for granted

-The NOs actually teach me more because they cause me to pause, think and pray all the more.  The NOs teach me about God and about myself.  I want to talk about 3 NOs and 2 Yeses.

Ten days ago God closed a door.  I had been praying boldly in faith that not only would Mike secure an interview, but he would be chosen for a certain local civil service job.  The first cut was not a problem, but 3 weeks later he saw that he was a ‘non-select’.  Not being called for the interview hurt!  By our reckoning, he was imminently qualified.

This NO got me thinking about other NOs.  In the past 23 years, I can only recall 2 significant ones.  I’m sure there have been others, but they have faded from my memory.   More significant are the multitude of Yeses – hundreds of them: yeses to big prayers, to little prayers, to quick prayers and to long-term prayers. In fact just yesterday, a major YES came through, that is: safety and success for Wes in his Ranger course.

So what have I learned from the NOs? :  That I’m not in charge, that God truly does know best, that He has my best interests at heart, and that God has his reasons whether we know them or not.  Not bad lessons.

Our first NO was a response to another prayer about a job.  We wanted to stay in Germany where we were living in1983.  Doors shut and the fish weren’t biting, so we moved back to the States near where my parents were living.  My mom dropped dead, without a warning, 1 ½ years later.  In hindsight I saw the blessing to me and to our boys of that time with my mom.  Had we stayed in Europe (my heart’s desire) we would have been the poorer.

The other NO came as an answer to a fervent daily prayer that Wes and I offered on behalf of his friend who had applied to West Point as well.  Asthma blocked this boy’s admission and no waiver was forthcoming.   Frankly, I was shocked that God didn’t grant the waiver.  I truly thought that if we prayed in faith we could……what? …manipulate God?  I guess so!  That was a reality check.  God doesn’t always do what I think is best.

On the other hand, here are two Yeses that have been cooking for a long time.  I don’t think I really believed that God would answer them, (prayers wrapped in agnosticism).

Since I was 16 (I am now 53) I have struggled with eating issues. First there was bulimia…that God miraculously removed from my repertoire of destructive actions.  But since that deliverance at age 25, I have still struggled, prayed and cried about my body, obsessing over all things food and body.  Now, however, in the past 3 months, God has given me a way to eat and to maintain my weight without obsessing.  I am amazed.  He really DOES answer long-term prayers.

The other long-term prayer has to do with professional skill.  I switched to a completely different method of teaching French 8 ½ years ago.  It has been VERY difficult, because it is a skill that requires thinking on one’s feet and depending on the energy of the students, similar to an ‘Improv’ artist and his audience.  My husband has prayed along side of me, encouraging me with lots of love as he did when I was bulimic.  And again, in the past 3 months, I have popped out above the clouds and the skills have jelled. My confidence and delight in teaching this way have rapidly grown.  An unexpected answer to prayer, it alighted on my shoulder almost unnoticed at first.

In conclusion, here is what I have learned from the NOs and the Yeses.  I am ‘owning’ the command to “pray always”, being watchful and thankful.  As I pray, I totally FEEL that I can trust God to answer the prayers as He sees fit.  He knows all the circumstances and is immensely creative and patient. And I do not grow in prayer only through my own experiences, as if in a vacuum.  Answers to my own prayers are not alone in spurring me on.  Each time another brother and sister in Christ bids me pray for a need and then shares their rocky journey toward the answer (whether a No or a Yes) I am encouraged. For I am reminded that God IS listening and He DOES care.   That is the blessing gained from belonging to the body of Christ and being transparent and unashamed.

“Let us continue to spur one another to love and good deeds (PRAYER), not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching” Heb 10: 24-25

 

The blessing of Academic Freedom

February 21, 2011

Maria Thankfulness , , 2 Comments

May I never take for granted the gift of academic freedom to teach French the way that is best for my students and for me!

I am blessed to teach in a private school that supports me 100 % in how I choose to teach both French & Logic.

What this means for me is that as I learn through what I read and listen to, I can tailor content to fit my students.  I adjust throughout the week.  As a result, I feel free and affirmed as a professional. I derive immense joy at this unconstrained ability to grow with my students.  In addition, my content in French is driven by my students’ imaginations and interests as well as my own.

For example, after 8 ½ years of using TPRS™ (teaching proficiency through reading & storytelling), I now feel both skilled and competent to go into class and do the following two activities.

a)   As an opener or warm up, I can have a conversation in French with any of my 3 levels of class (French 1, 2, 3) that is both comprehensible to them and personal.  We talk about their weekend, their interests, and their problems.  They learn new vocabulary as the conversation meanders.  I write essential words on the board as the conversation progresses.  Curriculum does not constrain or drive my classes.

b)   As my planned activity, I can go into class with one sentence and let this slim basis for a story grow where it will, emerging from my students’ input.  They then embed and adorn that sentence with themselves and a story emerges that is tailored to that particular class

For example, my sentence last week with my French 1 students was:  “Laura’s grandparents were still living”.  Laura was a character they had made up in the previous week’s story.  Going into this class, I had a phrase in mind that I wanted to teach them the following day (they have the tendency to _____).  But first we had to develop this fictional grandpa and grandma.

This couple became Bob & Cherrie who were both 2 feet, 2 inches tall.  Bob, a former soldier, turns out to be addicted to video games in his old age.  Cherrie, a former buyer for a clothing store, is depressed by Bob’s habit and turns to vodka.  I flow with the kids, making sure to make everything comprehensible. I work the details, so that the new words and details are repetitive enough to stick in their long-term memory.  They provide the personal interest, because the details are theirs.  I learn new words (had to look up how to say “addicted to”) so it’s good for me.

Another example of the blessing of unconstrained curriculum is what has happened when a French teacher in Mulhouse France contacted me.  We have set up a loose exchange between her students learning English and mine.  The other day she sent papers they had written about some pressing issues in America and asked for my students to respond.  I have the time to formulate a plan and work that into my lessons for the following week.  We can spend class talking about issues of immigration and ‘the American dream’ and what French teens might think.  If I had to follow a weekly plan imposed on me from the administration, I would have to let that go.

The methodology and thinking behind TPRS™ guides my daily activity, but in a non-constrained way that allows for expansive growth and unlimited possibilities.  I can do whatever I want as long as the French is comprehensible, repetitive and interesting to my students.  I can incorporate music, history, the Gospel, vignettes from my life, random stories from the paper, ANYTHING as long as I make them comprehensible and repetitive.

I am a very satisfied teacher.  Thank you, Jesus for giving me a passion for language and leading me away from the shackles of textbook teaching.  Thank you, Summit Christian Academy for believing in me and supporting me.  Thank you, Michael for working a job that is not your cup of tea but provides income so that I can work in a private Christian school.  Thank you, Blaine Ray for birthing this method and fellow TPRSers for fleshing it out and sharing unselfishly.

My prayer – Lord, keep me grateful.  Keep me growing.  Keep me depending on You!

 

When faith is feeble

February 21, 2011

Maria 1 Peter, Ephesians, Faith, Hebrews , , Leave a comment

It’s not your faith! And that is good news.  If it were, then you might have cause to worry.  For if faith were all up to you, it might not be enough for the job.  We live as though we are the ones who have to generate our faith.  We fret and deconstruct his words, when Jesus claims that all we need is a tiny bit of faith, no more than a miniscule mustard seed.

Here is why we don’t have to worry.  Who or what is the source of your faith?  Certainly not you.  You don’t have to muster up faith and hope that it is enough.  You didn’t have any to begin with.  If you or I have saving faith in any amount, it is because we have been given it.  Consider the following texts:

  • Ephesians 2: 8-9  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
  • Hebrews 12: 2 …let us “…fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…”
  • And a long passage from 1 Peter 1:  …we are
    “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last times. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while,  if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at )the revelation of Jesus Christ;”

I read this passage the other day and was astonished by what God revealed after a 2nd glance.  At first I panicked, “I don’t think I can be truly protected by God, because my faith is weak”.  But then the Holy Spirit reminded me that I am not the source or creator or originator of my faith.  If I have any faith in God it is because it has been given to me.  And God says that whatever size his gift of faith is, it is enough.  The trials Peter refers to are not to make me look bad, but to prove TO ME, that this blessing of faith is not only adequate and reliable but sufficient as well for whatever life throws at me.

Now when we go back and look at all the texts which talk about faith, we see it in a different light:  ‘the righteous shall live by faith”.  Who is that verse talking about?   It is those who have been awakened from the dead (i.e. born again), thanks to God. Once they have been enabled to see, they then realize, and with eyes wide open, the choices of life and death before them. They gratefully accept the gift of both a clean slate and imputed righteousness as well as a storehouse of faith.  They can NOW live by this faith that God has put into them.  So it is the born again (aka the ‘righteous’), who live by faith: faith in God’s character, in his past actions and in his future promises.  They don’t look to their abilities, gifting and experience.

Now we we can surrender the lament that sounds ‘oh, so modest’, but is truly a sign of pride and unbelief, “Woe is me, for my lack of faith!”  If you are a believer, you have been given sufficient faith.  Step out, rely on God.  You won’t fall – and if you do, his strong arms are there to catch you.  Promise!  (God’s word cannot lie).   Encourage yourself with the truth that this gift of faith will not leak out.  You might feel weak, but you just have to realign your thoughts with God’s word and trust this faith. If it is from God, it is adequate.  It’s like manna for the day. Remind yourself that as a new creation, you have new resources to go with your new nature.  The faith is now a fact, if you are believer.  And it can never leave you!

Now what was it that you are afraid to do?  What have you let yourself off the hook about?  Repent and ‘drive on all the way’, as my Infantry father used to say.  With God’s faith residing in you, it’s all good.

 

My Four Favorite Hebrew Words

February 15, 2011

Maria Uncategorized 2 Comments

The best Bible I bought was an NASB translation that has both the Hebrew and the Greek words at the back.  So select words are bolded and then the Strong’s index number is listed as a side script and one can flip to the back and see the meaning in multiple nuances.  It’s VERY cool.  My study is exponentially enriched because I can glean extra pickings and plumb the very context and significance of a term.  I knew I wanted this kind of reference tool as soon as I learned that the Holy Spirit was given to us as a deposit or pledge, as an ‘arrebon’ (Strongs-328).  The reference describing this ‘arrebon’ mentioned that that word is used today in Modern Greek to mean ‘engagement rin’.  That just made me love God all the more!  What a great image of God’s commitment to us!

Today I want to tell you about my four favorite Hebrew words and how they have become friends:  The first one is: # 6960- qavah.  It means to wait patiently.  Psalm 40 commences, “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of slimy pit, out of the mud and mire.”  Qavah has the sense of binding cords or strands.  I picture David in a pit, confidently waiting on God because he is praying continually.  But all the while he is praying, he is preparing for his assured rescue by weaving a rope from materials found in the pit.  Qavah is assuredly NOT passive.  We pray, thus casting  all our cares on Him.  We know He is going to help and rescue when the time is right.  So we start our preparations as best we can from our end.  We don’t wring our hands and worry.  Qavah appears 53 times in the OT.

Related to waiting patiently is the Hebrew word for trust – # 982 – Batach. Earthy me thinks ‘buttocks’ – hay, I need a mnemonic device!   The meaning of trust is expansive enough to include a good sense of being ‘care-less’, made secure, emboldened, made confident, an utter reliance on something.  It occurs 129 times in the OT.  Psalm 37:3 is a favorite of mine– Trust in the Lord and (you will) do good.  And then again from Psalm 40:4, Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust. This word trust is a version of Batach – it is mitbach  – # 4009.

The next two Hebrew words are often paired together.  They are loving-kindness and truth/faithfulness.  Khesed, # 698 is the Hebrew word for loving-kindness.  I don’t understand how some people blithely dismiss ‘the God of the Old Testament’ as being different from the Jesus of the NT.  God the Father and Jesus are one.  Both are Loving-Kindness in person.  Not fewer than 253 times does this attribute of God appear in the NT.  David relies on God’s ‘khesed’ to protect him.  Numbers 14:18 – The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in  ‘khesed’ and forgiving sin and rebellion.  Hosea 6:6 – For I desire ‘khesed’, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

As a twin to ‘Khesed’ is the Hebrew word ‘Emeth’.  It means both truth and faithfulness.  It is used 128 times in the OT.  Because God is a God of truth, He is faithful to His word, to His character.  What He says is true.  What He says will come to pass.  I can depend on Him to tell it like it is and not change His mind.  Psalm 19:9 says that the law or ordinances or the Word of God is ‘emeth’, meaning that it is sure.  In Psalm 31:15, He is called the God of Truth.  The psalmist, so in love with ‘God’s truth’ swears in Psalm 40 that he does not withhold God’s ‘emeth’ from other believers.  What could be more beautiful than Psalm 85:10, “Khesed and emeth meet together” – ‘Loving-kindness’ and ‘faithfulness/truth’ come together in God.

These Hebrew words are becoming familiar friends that comfort me.  As I read my Bible each day, I am excited to spot them, these signposts of God’s character, and indicators of God’s promises.  I praise God for our love of His Word…..which means our love for Him, the Logos.  And don’t forget that the concept ‘logic’ is tied to the Greek word Logos.   But delving into those riches will have to wait –  for another post,  about my favorite Greek words.

I just want you to realize that since you & I are made in God’s image, equipped to use and savor and understand words, that there is a treasure trove in the Hebrew and Greek languages.  Since God’s communication to us is written in those languages, treasures lie just below the surface, waiting to be retrieved.  Happy digging!

Openers – how to fish

February 10, 2011

Maria Colossians, Witnessing , , Leave a comment

« ……Always be prepared….. »   a fragment of 1 Pet 3 :15

My fear is that I miss opportunities to witness.

“How are you?” comes the greeting from a colleague at school, or the butcher at Kroger, or the owner of two dogs I pass every morning at 5:45.  And nothing God-exalting leaves my mouth.

“Let all who love His salvation ALWAYS say, ‘the Lord be exalted!  Great is the Lord’”   Psalm 40 is convicting.  I do love his salvation…but my mouth freezes when I ponder what to say.  There’s never enough time. (Hint – that’s why Peter counsels us to be like a boy scout)

Don’t think that I don’t TRY to have something at hand.  Often I make an attempt to concoct catchy openings.  Sunday morning I was out walking, rehearsing my memory verses (Psalm 40). Steve and beagle approached.  Banally I intoned, “Cold this morning, isn’t it” – not really a question, just a passing comment.  Blew it again!  How lame can one get!  My continued promenade out I struggled to come up with something that would test the waters – in 3 seconds.  I wanted something that I could say to Steve when our paths crossed on our respective return trips. “So, where do you & your wife worship Jesus on Sundays?”  (too long and pointed).  Nothing seemed natural.  Another complication was that it was Super Bowl Sunday.  (“Say, Steve, who do you think God is rooting for in today’s big game?” )    Fortunately Steve had already turned into his neighborhood and wasn’t subjected to my bungling attempts.  But there is next time.

This morning I was drawn back to one of my favorite OT words “esher/asher”.  Yes, it’s the name of one of Jacob’s sons.  It means blessed, happy, literally –  blissful.  As you can imagine, it is used OFTEN in the OT and also in the NT.

What a great adjective!  I could substitute THAT for ‘fine’ when someone inquires about my well-being.  “Hi Maria, how are you?  – my short response – “Blissful, and you?” With one word, I could ‘fish’.  If this particular fish were enticed by that kind of bait, then a God-exalting conversation might ensue.  If the fish was not into godly bliss, than nothing lost.  He/she would just think I’m a bit weird in my choice of words.

I should not FEEL anxious about fishing.  After all, catching fish for Christ is not our task.  We are called to be ‘fishers of men’.  Offer the Gospel (in parts or whole) and then trust God for the results, the ‘catch’.  But we do have to do our part.  Fish don’t just jump into the boat.

This theme of winsome, strategic conversation is a Biblical theme.    In another passage Paul counsels the Colossians and us to “be wise in the way (we) act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity….(our) conversation (should) be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that (we) may know how to answer everyone.”  Col 4:5-7

Please pray that I may REMEMBER and OBEY God in this first step of fulfilling the Great Commission day by day.

This bears repeating-or how to remember what is important.

February 2, 2011

Maria Uncategorized Leave a comment

It all started with a dream last weekend about my grandmother, Mimi.  Mimi lived with me my whole life until I went away to college.  Yet I cannot remember a single thing she said, except for an embarrassing pet name she bestowed on me, “Maria Baby Ball”.  Ball was a family name 3 generations removed and also my middle name.

When I awoke from my dream I stayed disturbed for almost a week. First I asked my husband what he made of my foggy remembrances.  In the process of sharing my angst, my husband and I started talking about school teachers and those we recalled.  As our memories were stirred, we could only access feelings, no words.  For Mike, the teachers he could name were all ones who had liked him.

When I met for coffee with Kris, my dear friend, she shared about how significant a role her grandmother had played in her childhood and spiritual formation.  She has vivid memories of her grandmother reading her Bible and sharing Jesus with her. Kris’ opposite experience with a live-in grandmother strengthened the remoteness I felt when thinking of my grandmother. The more I sifted through my childhood years, the more I realized that my grandmother was just background.  I next phoned my cousin Darby who is a few years older, to see if she could fill in some color to my two-dimensional recollections.  Our conversation was animated, but produced minimal fruit for either of us.

Remembering is an important theme in the Bible.  Hebrew history is littered with sad tales of generations who failed to remember and subsequently suffered serious trouble.  Many were the warnings, so calamity should have come as no surprise.  But human nature being what it is, we, too are startled when we forget significant past events of God’s lessons.  Being more modern and civilized has not helped us.  (Who seriously believes men are evolving into less evil beings?)

So what are we to do?  What should Mimi have done if she had wanted to bless me with any profound lessons or insights gained from her 95 years?   Verbal repetition is the key.  Repetition sears content into our brains.  I know this from negative experiences.  When I rehearse the hurts done to me by two or three people in my past at various times, I speak the details out loud to a friend or to my husband.  I formulate the thoughts, I say the words, I feel the pain, I hear the words and the intensity of my voice and that memory groove is deepened.

God knows us. (After all he made us).  He knows how our brains work, how we flit to the next event in our lives.  He repeatedly commands us to work at remembering. His word is filled with exhortations to remember and not forget:

Ps 106:13- But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.

Ps 78:42 – They did not remember his power- the day he redeemed them from the oppressor.

Deut 4:23a – Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you.

Josh 1:8- Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

And a more positive resolution –

Ps 119:16 -I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

Ps 119:93 – I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.

So why does this matter?  Well, for one thing.  I, too am Mimi – to little Chloe Isla Cochrane, aged 19 months.  And there is another Cochrane grandson on the way.  My friend Kris is a grandma to 3 grandchildren.  My cousin Darby is Mimi to 5 grandchildren.  A lot is at stake.  What and why do you need to remember?  What are you going to do about it?

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