Hello, again!

It has been a while!

God and I have been on a ride these past few months. But that is another post. For today, let's start with something light.

My husband just came back from a business trip in Japan. Usually when he comes back from a trip, he brings some sort of cold virus with him. But not this time! There's nothing like experiencing two 6.0 magnitude aftershocks to make one's immune system go on high alert and behave.

Anyway he brought some goodies with him.

Pretty, right? I don't know what's in them but I love the colors.

For the boys, he bought this for our older son:

You use the hammer on top of his head to knock off the colored cylinders so his head connects to his base. Loud!

And then this mysterious box for our young one. We can't figure out how to open it. It's a 12-piece puzzle. Both of them tried it and they have only gone as far as to move two slots:

Finally, for me. He said he chose this dessert that is very special because it is only good for two days! We must consume it! Immediately! So, while he headed for the Baggage Claim section, I carefully unwrapped the package and saw these:

Uh-oh, I think we're too late.

He laughed. No, that's how it looks! Go ahead and try it. Since I love him, I ate one. But only after he did.

And we are still alive. (But in case it is a slow acting mutant virus, go ahead and change the caption to the picture as "Exhibit A")

It's good to be back.

A New Heart?

I'm taking The Way of Agape class by Nancy Missler. On our lesson this week Nancy said once we accepted Jesus as our Savior, God gave us a new heart. This surprised me the most when I heard it for the first time. I have been thinking about it for a over a week and I'm still not sure I can wrap my head around this! She said that our new hearts "are totally pure, totally incorruptible, and completely holy because it is now God's life and not our own." Christ in us the hope of glory.

A new heart? Really? How come I can't tell the difference?

And how do we explain these scriptures?

Eccl 9:3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. How it says in Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (NIV)

And in Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Nancy said that the evil heart pertains to unbelievers. Looking at the context in the above verses seem to confirm that. Especially this one: Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees when He said this.

Unbelievers cannot do anything with the conditions of their hearts. No matter how hard they try. Before my husband became a believer, I remember him swearing to me that "I'm going to be a changed man!" But that would only last a day or so. After that, it would revert to the old ways or -- even get worse! (Lord, I assumed that when he said "changed man" that he meant for the better!) To be fair, I have a string of broken New Year's resolutions myself.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." David asked God in Psalm 51:10. I looked up the word "create" in Hebrew:

Strong's H1254 - bara'

1) to create, shape, form

a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject)

1) of heaven and earth

2) of individual man

3) of new conditions and circumstances

4) of transformations

Did you see that? Always with God as a subject. That means only God can do this.

This would then explain the verses found in:

Proverbs 27:19
As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. (I know people who have that "glow" in their faces. They are Spirit-filled believers. I also know plenty of people whose face show the ravages not only of age but of the hardness of their spirits.)

Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks

I learned another lesson today. It just dawned on me that those scriptures I read about the evilness of our hearts became a convenient excuse. If my heart is beyond cure and no one can understand it, then when the things spoken of in Matthew 15:19 come out (aka the "uglies"), I can't do anything about them, right? The message I was sending was, Hey, I know I'm a professing Christian but I really can't help the way I act at all. It's my heart! See, it's evil. Why bother trying if my heart is going to revert to its original evil nature. It absolves me of responsibility of exercising the new willpower that God gave me. How misguided I have been...

I started to feel condemned, but I realize where that condemnation is coming from. It's not from God, it's from same source of the lie about the condition of my heart. Now I come before our Lord with repentance and hope.

Ephesians 1:18

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. The phrase "flooded with light" reminds me the picture of a submitted life from whence God's love can flow. I pray that from this day on, I will remember that I carry a brand new, clean heart created just for me by God. Yet another gift from my Savior.

Lost and Found

Luke 15 is about recovering what is lost and in varying degrees.

In the parable of the lost sheep, 1 out of 100 was lost (Luke 15:4)
In the parable of the coins, 1 our of 10. (Luke 15:8)
Then in the prodigal son, 1 out of 2.

What does this tell me? Well, it shows me that God wants to recover the lost whether he is part of a group of 2 or 100. No one is too small or insignificant in our Father's eyes. And when He finds the lost, He rejoices. He is neither angry nor bitter. No accusations, no "how could yous." Just unconditional love and restoration be it for the foolish sheep who wanders off, or a rebellious son.

When I read the story of the Prodigal Son, I always picture myself as the older son. In fact my own son told me this the other day. When his Dad comes home and he hears the garage, my son always jumps out of his chair and runs to meet him at the door with a very enthusiastic "HI, DAD!!!" I asked why he never does it with me. He said, "Mom, because you're always with me! Why are you being like the older brother in the Prodigal Son." Touché.
I now find myself switching places with my own father. I am now the parent, my Dad is the prodigal son who took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. (Luke 15:13b). I am praying that when my Dad finally comes to his senses home, that I would remember how the Father treated his son - with love and compassion. I imagine that father praying all the time during his son's absence that he would come to realize the error of his ways and return home. I imagine him looking over the horizon day after day awaiting his son's return - for how else could he have seen him from a distance if he was not looking for him? Luke 15:20 But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. I like that image of anticipation on the part of the father. I imagine God doing the same thing to those people who are lost or are not walking with Him, He looks out for a hint of repentance, a turning around. And when it happens, He doesn't even have to run.

He's already there.

Such is Life

I am amused at the dichotomy in our marriage right now.

He is on a business trip staying at a hotel where the president of the country is having a meeting.

Me? I am trying to unclog the toilet courtesy of my conveniently-back-to-college son.

Still, I can't complain. We are doing family devotions every Sunday now (well, when he's here) and he is listening and paying attention.

Life is good. Even if the toilet is winning for now.

On Patience and Second Chances

I don't know about you but back to school time always gets me reminiscing. And I am reminded again how fast time flies. It seems just like yesterday I was taking my older son to preschool and he was crying. Today he's a college sophomore and I'm crying.

When I look back in my life and think of the things I can do-over especially as a Mom, the ones that I regret the most are the times I have been impatient with my sons. Whether it was when they did not take the trash fast enough, or not picked up the toy that I stepped on (again), or.... well, I can't even remember. (My reasoning was there are a lot of things on my mind and if I can check one off the list, it would certainly keep me, you know, sane.) Of course in the midst of those emotions, whatever trivial matter it was seemed THE most important thing at that time. What did Chuck Missler say?

"The pressing things are not necessarily the most important and the important things are hardly pressing. "

Or something to that effect.
I can honestly say, joy was definitely not present during those episodes - not with me and certainly not with them.

How much of a better example I would have been had I learned Colossians 1:11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; I want my children to remember me as a loving mother, not as an impatient shrew who was always mad about something unimportant. I want them to see that in life, we may not always get what we want but we can wait patiently and such patience coupled with hope produces peace which produces joy.

Call it aging with grace or it could be reading the Word but the last few years I have found myself mellowing a little. The Lord still has a long way to go with me in the patience arena. But I am thankful that HE is patient. He waited patiently for me to come to my senses and accept Him as my Savior and Lord. He is waiting patiently for me as the sanctification process goes on. I do not want to be like the wicked servant in Matthew 18:26: The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all who then turned around and did not forgive someone who owed him much less. I need to remember to extend the same grace to those around me. As it says in Hebrews 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. I do not want to miss out on anything God has in store for me. I can't wait! (Just kidding, I'm really patiently waiting.)

Will He Ever Know?

As I sit here, I wonder if my husband will ever know:

• That I pray for him everyday?
• That I fast on his behalf once a week?
• That I have shed more tears in my life for him?
• That the answers to his questions are all in the Book?
• That he is supposed to "leave and cleave"?
• That he is the spiritual head of our home?
• That he is loved more than he can even imagine?

If only he will let Him?

On Walking In Faith

We are all familiar with the story of Joshua and the Walls of Jericho. This happened after their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Finally, the Promised Land is within reach, Israel is ready to begin conquering the land of Canaan. But there's a barrier. A huge one. Fortified, double walls. In my prior readings of this account, my mind's eye only pictured the lower wall - and thought that was hard enough. But seeing the illustration below, well, that just blows me away.

(Photo courtesy of Answers in Genesis)

How do we penetrate these walls?

This is the battle plan God gave to Joshua. Joshua 6:2-5 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

Think how that must have sounded to Joshua - the only other survivor of the Wilderness Wanderings, seasoned and courageous military leader. But he obeyed. They marched once around the city for six days, led by the seven priests who blew the ram's horn or "shofar" (used as a signal in battle). But no one was allowed to talk. On the seventh day, they marched around seven times and the result takes us to Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.

The walls fell down after Joshua's obedience.

In our lives we encounter the Walls of Jericho as well. They may surround our loved ones. In some instances, they may even surround us. Walls of anger, fortified by resentment and bitterness. Walls of loneliness, coupled with despair and hopelessness. God shows us the answer here. We who are on the outside looking in are told to walk in faith. But then we question: "This is the plan? March in circles and say nothing?" In our impatience, we cannot just wait in silence, we run off and try to chip a brick here and a brick there. We offer sage advice but it falls on deaf ears. The walls remain. Nothing happens.

We would do well to follow the example of Joshua. Walk in faith and realize that we need to blow the ram's horn as well. It is a battle but it is not ours to fight on our own. It is said in ^{Ephesians 6:12}For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We are no match for the "principalities" and "powers" that prop up the Walls around us. But God is and He has given us the battle plan. We walk by faith. And we blow the ram's horn of prayer. We let God's word, the Sword of the Spirit, fight our battles. And just like in Jericho, the walls will fall down - from the inside.