Exodus

     I have been joining the Good Morning Girls at Women Living Well in reading the Book of Exodus.  Last week I shared about the burning bush.  The assignment for this week was to read chapters 6-10.   During my reading, I was struck with how big God's plan was and all that He did to reach the Israelites.
     In Exodus 6:6-8, God promised the Israelites that He would be their God and that they would be His people.  He would save them from the yoke of Egyptian oppression.  He would redeem them and then they would be given the land that He had promised to their forefather Abraham.  The Israelites would enjoy times of blessing as they walked with and obeyed Him. The message God sent through Moses was, “I will never leave you or forsake you.  I Am here.”

     The Israelites felt alone and forsaken.  They were slaves in Egypt.  They endured harsh labor.  They had to make bricks without enough straw.  They witnessed the devastation of the plagues.  Egypt had a powerful hold on them.
     Even though the people of God felt alone and abandoned, God never left them.  They were special to Him.  They had value in His eyes.  God went through great lengths to restore the Hebrew people and to provide for them and their future descendants.  The events in these chapters mark the end of bondage for Israel.  The power of Pharaoh to enslave God’s chosen people was forever broken.  The Israelites were delivered to live for God.  They were free to worship Him and to daily make their choice to follow where He led them.
     We, too, are special to God.  1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we were bought with a price.  God loves us.  We are precious to Him.  But, like the Hebrew people, there are times when we are shaken and afraid.  When God seems far away and distant.  When we feel frayed and stretched beyond bearing.  When the diagnosis is devastating and the days are both too long and too short at the same time.
     Over the years, God has proven Himself faithful.  He has been there in the good times and the bad.  There were times when He was all I had, and it was enough.
    God went through great lengths to restore the Hebrew people, and He went through great lengths to restore you.  He will never forsake you.  You are graven on His hands.

What Bothers You?

     Loud noises bother me.  Anyone looking to send me over the edge just has to shout, squeal or use a jackhammer in my presence.  I am bothered by city traffic and inconsiderate people who use the last tiny little square of toilet paper and don’t replace the roll.  I am bothered by loud telephone conversations in public places about private things.  And I am very bothered by a four minute YouTube video I watched a few weeks ago at Chatting at the Sky, by Emily Freeman.  I'll post it at the bottom.
     The video was John Ortberg interviewing Dallas Willard.  They were talking about living in Christ's presence.
     John asks Dallas how we can help someone to know how their spiritual life or their soul is doing?
     Dallas responds, “Well, very slowly we listen to them. . . I think the next thing is a question and not a statement: What’s bothering you? Start there.”
     “What’s bothering you?”  That question caused my heart to thump.  The two men talk a little more, and then John makes a joke.
     John: “What’s bothering you? ... could be an interesting liturgical question – to start the church service asking, What’s bothering you? and the people could respond back, And also you.”
     I laughed out loud and so did the audience.  Yet as the clip ends Dallas says, “That would be absolutely revolutionary.”
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if the things that bothered me were not the self absorbed things that inconvenience me?
    What are those things that bother my heart?  Does my heart long for the things of Christ?
    Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if I consciously made the priorities of my day what God would have me to do?   Now I do believe that God has placed me in my home and in my job and washing the dishes, cleaning a toilet, writing a lesson plan, and tying a child’s shoelace is exactly what God would have me do on most days, but He also calls me to be bothered by the needs of strangers.
     Jesus spent His life being bothered for others.  Being bothered about something causes a response. Jesus healed them. He taught them. He recruited them as His disciples.  He spoke gently with the woman at the well.  He called Zacchaeus from a tree.  He healed the woman with an issue of blood, and the ten lepers.  He raised Jairus' daughter and Lazaraus from the dead.  He had mercy on the woman caught in adultery and on a thief on a cross.  He laughed and cried.  Jesus was bothered enough about you and me that He allowed Himself to be put to death on a cross.
     Jeremiah wrote, "I am broken by the brokenness of my dear people. I mourn," (Jer. 8:21).
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if my heart were so filled with God that the things that break the heart of God were the very things that bothered me?
     Wouldn’t it be revolutionary if I touched the splinter in my heart and listened to the pain in the heart of my friend?.
     God’s heart overflows with an intense and passionate love for us.

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.   ~Jesus,  Luke 13:34

     I know from experience that God touches us in our broken places.  He uses people with bothered hearts.

   Search me, God, and know my heart; 
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
   See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.  ~David, Psalm 139:23-24

    What bothers you?  Start there.

The Stone Was Rolled Away

The Burial of Jesus
      As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.  Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.  Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.  Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.
The Guard at the Tomb
      The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’  So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
      “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.  ~Matthew 27:57-66

     Can you imagine that?  Can you see all the heavenly hosts looking down, watching the priests and the Pharisees issuing orders to keep Jesus in the borrowed tomb.  The soldiers grunting and straining to make sure the stone was in place, putting the seal of the Roman Empire on it, and then standing guard to make sure that nothing happened.  Think on it, the chief priests and the Pharisees tried to seal up the Son of God with a couple of guards and a rock.
     Can you imagine the God who created the sun and the stars with a word being thwarted by a puny stone in front of a tomb?  Can you imagine that the Great I Am who saved the Israelites by splitting the Red Sea would be stopped by a few Roman soldiers armed with swords and spears?
     Matthew 28:2-4 goes on to say,

      There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.  The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.     

     What a scene! God gave the order, and instantly an angel descended from heaven,  the earth shook, the stone was rolled away, revealing the empty tomb, and the guards were paralyzed with fear.
     When I was a child, I thought the angel rolled the stone away to let Jesus out, but that wasn’t how it went.  Jesus didn’t need help getting out.  He had won the victory over death.  The stone was rolled away to let us in.
      The empty tomb means forgiveness.  The empty tomb means that our sins can be washed white as snow. The lamb of God has come.

     He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed. ~ Is 53:5

      And by His great love, we are redeemed.

     For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  ~John 3:16

     Have a blessed Easter.

Palm Trees and Palm Sunday

     A few years ago Pat and I had the pleasure of going on a brief trip to Florida.  We left cold, damp NY and landed at the Miami airport shortly after a thunder storm had left the area.  It was clear from the moment we landed that we were not in Ny anymore.  The temperature was much warmer.  The air smelled fresh and clean from the recent storm, with a hint of salt.  There were pam trees growing everywhere.  Some were only a few feet tall and others towered over us.  
     As Jesus made His triumphal entry into the city of Jeruselem, the people broke off palm branches and waved them in front of Him.  Less than a week later these same people would gather to see Him crucified.

     The righteous shall flourish like the pam tree:  he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  ~ Psalm 92:12

     In Miami, I saw about ten palm trees on one city block that had tripod supports nailed into bands about seven feet up thier trunks.  I guess this was intended to help support them in hurricane force winds.  I wondered why more of the trees were not protected in this way.  Then I found out that the bands were unnecessary because palm trees are different from other trees.
     We have all seen nails and old clothesline wires sunk deep into the trunk of a maple tree.  As a palm tree grows it doesn't grow around the band - it breaks the bands.
          What is it about palm trees that make them so special?  A palm tree bends in a strong wind, but does not break.  A palm tree has a deep taproot that goes way down through the sands to find moisture far below the surface.  This helps a palm tree to flourish in the desert.  A group of palm trees forms an oasis which shelters other plants from the hot sun and helps to make each one stronger.  Unlike other trees, whose bark is vulnerable, the bark of the palm is meant to take abuse because it's life is on the inside.  The heart of the palm tree is alive.  As a palm tree ages, its fruit becomes sweeter.  Palm trees are evergreens and do not make good fire wood.
     Psalm 92 compares the righteous believer to a palm tree.  In the storms of life, like the palm tree, the believer bends, but does not break.  The Bible and prayer offer the believer a deep taproot that anchors him to God.  The bands of sin and death have been broken for us.  We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  Believers can provide an oasis of shade for those who are weak and hurting.
      Like the palm tree, the life of the child of God is within.

     Though the outward man perish, et the inward man is renewed day by day.  ~ II Corinthians 4:16

     Christ has removed our heart of stone and given us a heart of flesh.  As we mature in Christ, we produce sweeter fruit.  As a child of God, we will not suffer the fires of hell.  Like an evergreen, the child of God has everlasting life.

     After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:  Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."  All the angels fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying:  Praise, glory, Wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength be to our God for ever and ever.  Then on of the elders asked me,  "These in white robes--who are they, and where did  they come from?"  I answered, "Sir, you know."  And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation, they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple;  and He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.  Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;  he will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  ~Revelation 7:9-17

 It is good to praise the Lord
 To proclaim His love in the morning
 And His faithfulness at night, because
 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. ~ Psalm 92: 1-2,12

The Innkeeper's Son: An Original Christmas Story

       “Welcome. Come in, come in.” boomed the wizened little innkeeper as he opened the door. “We don’t get many visitors in Bethlehem this time of year.” In an aside, he sent his grandson out to care for the visitors animals, “Just put them in the old stable. Don’t forget the feed and water.” The old man walked with a limp as he pointed the couple to the guest room. The room was dark and the ceiling stained with soot, but the blankets were clean and soft. The light from the oil lamp flickered on the wall giving the room a soft glow. The husband nodded with approval. “We’ve traveled far. Some nights we were able to sleep in an inn, others out on the cold ground and once we slept in a stable with the animals.”

      “Well,” responded the innkeeper, “there was a time we had a couple stay in our stable, too. It is quite a story. Pull up a chair and I’ll tell you about it.” He waited for the pair to settle and poured them a drink to ease their thirst. 

     The old man began, “At that time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the Roman world and everyone had to register in the town of their ancestors in order to pay their taxes. Our quiet little town of Bethlehem was not quiet then. It exploded with people almost overnight. I remember that I was about twelve. Old enough to do chores and young enough to think I did them all.” He paused to rumple the hair on his grandson’s head affectionately. “I had thought that it would be fun seeing all the strangers and families come to town, but instead it was a whole lot more work then I had bargained for. I had been hauling water and hay for the animals and carrying things from here to there. My parents had been turning people away from the Inn for hours. Our house was full. The whole town was full. There were people sleeping on mats and blankets on every floor in Bethlehem.

 It was early evening when there was yet another knock on the door. Father had answered declaring, “There is no room,” even as he opened our door. But then he had come back in and had a quiet word with Mother.

      I remember Mother saying in shock, “You want to put them in our stable?” Our stable is a hollowed out cave in the hillside with rock walls to keep the animals penned. On that winter night the stable was cold, damp, and chock full of smelly beasts. I was sent out to move the animals around to make a place for the couple who would be staying there. The man, a descendent of David, looked weary and even a bit desperate. He had clearly traveled some distance. Then I glimpsed his wife, not much older than me really, but so heavy with child that even I knew her time was near.  I wondered when they had last rested. I understood why my father had not turned them completely away.   There among the camels, donkeys, cattle and horses I hurriedly made room. They told me their names were Joseph and Mary from the town of Nazareth in Galilee. Mother sent me back with a bucket of fresh water and some thin rags. I heard the man breathe a prayer and question, “Here? Lord, in this place?” His wife sighed as she eased her bulky frame down onto the scratchy straw. I left them to their rest.

      Around the fire that night there was a lot of discussion about the meaning of the strange star that had appeared in the east and now seemed almost directly overhead. Everyone spent time looking up in awe and wonder.

      I had scarcely laid my head down for the night when I heard the thin wails of a newborn drift from the stable. Mary had had her baby. Now there were three travelers in our stable. I fell back asleep only to be woken again by the bleating of sheep. The local shepherds usually kept watch over their sheep on a nearby hill top. Curious, I staggered out of bed to see what was going on. 

      There were sheep in the courtyard. Ewes and lambs clustered together. Their breath steaming in the crisp night air. The strange star was now directly over our little stable casting a warm golden glow over each wooly sheep. My parents were speaking with a tall shepherd carrying a tiny lamb over his shoulders. I hurried to the stable to see what was happening. There more shepherds stood or knelt. Some were talking excitedly about the birth of a King. They told me of a great vision of angels that had appeared to them. Angels who told them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The shepherds had immediately set off to find the child that the angels had spoken of. And there He was, a tiny baby with outstretched arms lying in a manger. The very manger I used daily to feed our animals. Mary’s dark eyes gazed adoringly at her newborn son. She brushed his soft cheeks with kisses. Mary appeared to be tucking the memory of this wondrous night deep into her heart. Joseph knelt beside her. The lines of tension on his face had eased. He looked shocked and scared, grateful and happy, like most new fathers. Together they marveled at their tiny son. They named him Emmanuel, which means “God With Us.” And all around the shepherds glorified and praised God for what he had shown us that night. Our humble stable was where God reached down from His holy heaven and touched the earth.

      “Don’t you wonder what became of him. That baby born so long ago,” interrupted the visitor.

      “No, I don’t wonder. I know, and I suspect that you do, too. The child grew in stature, full of wisdom and grace, and in favor with God and man. He became a carpenter and started a ministry when He was about thirty years old. The whole countryside near Jerusalem would come out to hear him. He proclaimed good news to all men. He healed the sick, raised the dead, touched lepers, and restored sight to the blind. He satisfied the hunger of souls and comforted those who wept. He calmed a storm, walked on water, and stirred up the religious leaders. He ate with sinners and drank with tax collectors. This man who knew no sin was crucified on a hill between two thieves. Mary was there at the foot of His cross. How her heart must have broke to see her son so. He died and was buried in a borrowed tomb, but on the third day He rose a victor from the grave. He was our Messiah, the man known as Jesus."

      The innkeeper's son continued, the Psalms tell us “Be still and know that I am God.” You’ll remember God showed Elijah that He is often not in the wind, the fire or the rain—but rather He is in the still small voice. The King of Kings was not born in a mighty palace. Jesus Christ came here as a small voice, a tiny babe in a manger.  

      “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). He takes what little we have to offer him, the hollowed caves, the very stables of our lives, filled with waste and despair and gives us beauty for ashes."

     This is an incredible mystery, and an incredible story of redeeming love.

      Have a blessed and Merry Christmas.

Have You Any Room for Jesus?

  

     It was a cold rainy day in early December. I was rushing home after some quick Christmas shopping at the local mall thinking of the things I needed to do. My mind was on the coming holiday, the presents yet to be bought, the house to be cleaned, the planning for a quick trip to Virginia, and projects at school that needed to be completed before vacation. It was cold, wet, and I was in a hurry when I passed Jesus on the road.
Really!  Jesus was right there on the side of the road. He was laying with the rest of his family, a few shepherds, some animals and possibly a wise man or two.  They lay in a pile at the end of a long driveway that leads to a church high on a hill. They were plastic light up figures that eventually would become part of the church's Christmas display. But on this gray and rainy day the holy family, and friends, were abandoned in a heap by the side of the road. The person who had been on the job probably thought that it was too cold, too wet, and somehow too inconvenient, to set plastic Jesus up in his meager stable.
      I considered the very first Christmas and how the innkeeper didn't have room. I thought if I had been the innkeeper, I wouldn't have been so inconsiderate as to show expectant Mary and Joseph to a stable, no matter how busy. No, I would have given them the best room. I would have given them my room to use for the birthplace of my king. But, I see myself reflected in the face of that innkeeper. I am rushed, harried, distracted by gadgets and obligations, and thinking of my own needs. To be honest, I am not sure there would have been room at my inn either. And even worse, I know who He is.
      The world has changed considerably since that first Christmas, but Jesus still needs us to make room for Him. After all, He had room in His heart for us. He laid aside all of Heaven to come and love us beyond anything that we could imagine. Jesus came to shed light on our jumbled days and into our darkest places. He makes room in our hearts, by cleansing us of sin, guilt, and shame. He gives us peace in life's storms and joy each morning.
      Here is a poem which says this so beautifully.

Have You Any Room For Jesus?

Have you any room for Jesus,

He who bore your load of sin?

As He knocks and asks admission,

Sinner, will you let Him in?

Room for Jesus,King of glory!

Hasten now His word obey;

Swing the heart's door widely open,

Bid Him enter while you may.

Room for pleasure, room for business,

But for Christ the crucified,

Not a place that He can enter,

In the heart for which He died?

Have you any room for Jesus?

C. C. Williams

 

      Let's not leave Jesus sitting at the curb.

 

This post was originally published on 12/4/2011.

Because I Love You

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.  ~Genesis 2:24 

Exchanging vows

      A few weeks ago, Pat and I attended the marriage of our nephew, Michael, and his bride, Tina.   It was wonderful to celebrate their day with them.  It was a day filled with touching moments, special memories, and joyful hearts.
      A marriage is a beginning of a new life.  More than a few of us present reflected on our own wedding days and the days and years that have followed.

Hands clasped in love

      Michael and Tina exchanged vows they had written.  Whispers of love and declarations of togetherness.  Do not fear.  In sickness and in health.  I will be with you.  For richer and for poorer.  I am yours.  I love you.

    As we listened to the vows being exchanged I thought about how the church is called to be the bride of Christ; about Christ being the perfect Bridegroom.  We are His church.  Love has built a bridge between us and God so that we might share a special relationship with Him.

     When Paul wrote this in Ephesians, he was quoting Genesis 2:24

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”  ~ Ephesians 5:31

Exchanging rings.

     From the very creation of this earth, it was intended that the church should become the Bride.  When you've been married a while, you understand a bit about the marriage covenant and being one flesh.  You are always aware of your spouse.  You consider them as you make decisions.  You want to please them.  You cherish them.  You complete each other.  Still,  Paul was saying in the same way that a man and a wife become one, Christ is one with the church.  We are bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.  As Adam complimented Eve, so are we the counterpart, the Bride of Jesus.

First kiss as husband and wife.

But now, this is what the Lord says-

He who created you, Jacob,

He who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When You pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God, 

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;...

You are precious and honored in my sight,

and because I love you.

Isaiah 43:1-4

Grace

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  ~Ephesians 8-9 

    The photo is of the Grace building in New York City.  It is one of my favorite buildings in the city.  Grace was new when I first saw it in the late 70’s.  I still love it’s graceful white curve up to the sky.  On one of our trips into the city this summer I snapped these pictures of Grace.  The building itself has nothing to do with the following story, but grace does.

      Fiorello LaGuardia was the mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of World War II.  LaGuardia was called “the Little Flower” by many New Yorkers because he was only five foot two and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, would go on the radio, TV hadn’t been invented yet, and read the Sunday comics to the kids.

     A story is told about Mayor LaGuardia.  One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward in the city. Mayor LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself.
   A tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She explained to LaGuardia that her daughter’s husband had deserted them, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving.
     But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. “It’s a real bad neighborhood, your Honor.  She’s got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson,” he insisted.
     LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions – ten dollars or ten days in jail.” But even as he pronounced her sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his hat saying, “Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”
     The following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered, but grateful, lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren.  Fifty cents of that amount was contributed by the red-faced shopkeeper, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
    While the woman was in a desperate situation she had broken the law for which she was to be punished.  She admitted her theft.  She did not pretend she didn’t do it.  Instead of the judgement she could have gotten, she received grace. Not only did Mayor LaGuardia pay the fine for her, he also provided for her future.  The gift was freely given, merciful, and more than she deserved.  It was the action of grace.

    Consider the shopkeeper:  He had something stolen from him.  It is not always easy to extend forgiveness to someone who has wronged us.  The shopkeeper wanted her to pay the price for her crime.  The shopkeeper was afraid that if he forgave her, he would have to keep on forgiving because others would do the same thing.  Forgiveness can be costly. He was unwilling to risk it.  Proverbs 18:19 says, “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”  But failure to forgive comes with a price, too, as the shopkeeper quickly discovered.
    Jesus set aside His crown, took off His royal robes, and choose to be born in a barn.  To grow and walk this earth for a time.  To teach, to forgive, to heal, to love, then to be betrayed by the kiss of a friend to a cruel death.  Not for His sin, but for mine.  That is the action of grace.

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, 
 for his compassions never fail.  

They are new every morning;
  great is your faithfulness.  

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; 
 therefore I will wait for him.” 

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
  to the one who seeks him;  

it is good to wait quietly 
for the salvation of the Lord. 

  ~Lamentations 3:22- 26

        How has grace set you free?

Enchanted: Milk Glass Snack Plates

     A few weeks ago I found a set of 22 karat gold trimmed milk glass dishes at our local thrift store.  The teacup sits in a circular rim on the rectangular snack plate.  The dishes were made by Anchor Hocking in the 1960‘s (1963-1972)  I have been told that ladies used them for tea and cookies or soup and sandwiches at their afternoon bridge games.

      I was immediately enchanted.  I envisioned myself sipping an herbal tea, cookies scattered across the plate while reading a book on a cold winter night or perhaps having a tea party with the girls.  The plates were $4 each and the cups were $3.  There were four sets.
     I wondered about the woman who had owned them.  She must have treasured them.  Although considered dishwasher safe, I guessed that she had gently hand washed them. They still had their delicate gold trim.  I wondered what memories had been served on their milky surface.
     Regretfully I left them on the shelf.  I did not want to tell Pat that I had spent $28.00 on used and impractical dishes.

     However, when I arrived at the register, the cashier mentioned that blue ticketed items were half price.  Instead of spending $28, I could report to my husband that I had saved $14 dollars.  I gleefully handed over fifteen dollars - for the four sets and an extra cup.
     There have been times in my life when I have felt like a thrift store item sitting on a dusty shelf.  Haven’t you?  Impractical.  Certainly not stylish.  Worn.  Cast aside.  With out obvious value.  Not useful.
     But God doesn’t love us because of what we can do for Him or even the ways we can be used.
     On a Friday 2,000 years ago, a thief woke at sunrise, left his prison cell, carried timbers up a hill and was hung on a cross beside the cross of Jesus.  This thief looked over at Jesus and saw not a man, but a King.  Not a king, but the King of Kings.  He begged, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
     And Jesus looked over at this dusty, insignificant, no longer useful man, and said, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
     The thief on the cross really did have nothing left to give.  He did not have time to go to a church service, make an offering, feed the poor, or do good works.  He could offer nothing in return, but himself.  The thief had value to Jesus just because he was.
      Our worth is not because of what we do or even will do for God.   Like the thief on the cross our value rests firmly and securely in God’s reckless, unconditional, unfailing love.  The God of the universe is madly in love with us.

Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. You are precious in my eyes, because you are honored and I love you… the mountains may depart, hills may be shaken, but my love for you will never leave you and my covenant of peace with you will never be shaken. – Is 43:1,4; 54:10

     God loves us because He does.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  ~ Ephesians 3:16-19

     Jesus loves us.  Used, impractical, and in need of cleansing.  He, too, is enchanted.

Update:  This post was featured by Angie Ouellette-Tower at God's Growing Garden.   Thank you, Angie!

Hide-and-Seek: Grace For the Good Girl Week 4

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  ~ Genesis 3:6-9

     Adam and Eve mistakenly thought that they could hide their nakedness and shame behind a couple of fig leaves.  Even as a child I guessed that God would notice something wasn’t quite right.  There wouldn’t be any fooling Him no matter how pretty those fig leaves may have looked.
     People still hide behind things as insubstantial as fig leaves today.  We try to make those fig leaves distractingly large and attractive.  Some of us cover ourselves with being “nice.”   We think if we appear good, good to God and those around us, no one will ever know our shame.  In truth, I am far more like the self righteous older brother than the prodigal son.
     We are trained to “be good” all of our lives.  There are rewards. We are given gold stars at school and more money for good performance at work.  Santa brings presents to the good little boys and girls.  We forget that Christmas isn’t for those of us who can meet some standard of goodness.  Christmas is for those of us who can’t.
     Jesus welcomed the sinners, the tax collectors, the adulterers, the broken.  The people who knew they needed a savior.  Jesus restored their wrecked lives with love and compassion.  The ones Jesus had difficulty with were the religious people, the good people, the people like me.
     But behind my fig leaves and before God I am broken, sinful and naked.  I am not okay.  I certainly am not good.  I am simply a sinner saved by grace.  It is the work Jesus completed on the cross that saves me.  It is a gift.  And I know it.
     We sing this song in church:

     How deep the Father’s love for us.
     How vast beyond all measure.
     That He would give His only Son
     To make a wretch His treasure
     I will not boast in anything.
     No gifts, no powers, no wisdom
     But I will boast in Jesus Christ
     His death and resurrection
     Why should I gain from His reward?
     I cannot give an answer
     But this I know with all my heart
     His wounds have paid my ransom ~ Stuart Townsend

     There is grace upon grace for every sinner.

 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ~ Colossians 3:2-3

     Where are you hiding?


Linking:  Blessed and Be Blessed

Memorial Day

 

Announce and proclaim among the nations,

Lift up a banner and proclaim it;

Keep nothing back.  ~Jeremiah 50:2

     A banner is a reference to a flag or a standard declaring allegiance to something or someone.
     The War of 1812 was fought between Britain and the United States.  The British troops landed in the Chesapeake Bay area and marched towards Washington.  Efforts to stop the British failed.  The city was evacuated.  The Capitol and the White House were burned.  The British pressed onward towards Fort McHenry which protected the port of Baltimore.
    In the middle of this upheaval, two Americans were sent out to one of the British ships under a flag of truce.  They were on a mission approved by President Madison to negotiate the release of Dr. William Beanes.  Beanes was a popular elderly physician who had been captured from his home.  The release was negotiated over a long dinner with the British Vice-Admiral.  Unfortunately, the dinner conversation had also included discussion of plans for the attack on Baltimore.  The two men could not be allowed to leave.  They knew too much.  Arrangements were made for them to be detained on board the British Ship Surprise until the battle was over.
     The attack on Fort McHenry started on a rainy morning.  After an initial exchange of fire, the British moved outside of the range of Fort McHenry’s cannons.
     The two negotiators and the newly released Beanes watched the attack from the deck of the Surprise.  Throughout the day they were comforted to see the huge American flag proudly waving above Fort McHenry.
     The cannon fire stopped suddenly in the middle of the night.  Through the darkness the men couldn’t tell if the British forces had been defeated or if Fort McHenry had fallen.
     The rain cleared as the sun began to rise.  One of the Americans stood on the deck of the Surprise peering through the lifting darkness, anxious to see if his flag still flew.  On the back of an envelope he scribbled the first lines of a poem he called the Defense of Fort McHenry.

"Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?"

     Memorial Day is a day set aside to remember those who have died so that we could be free.  Like the flag that flew over Fort McHenry, God’s banner over us should be visible, even in our fiercest battles.

Announce and proclaim among the nations,

Lift up a banner and proclaim it; 

Keep nothing back.  ~Jeremiah 50.

Project 52: Sacrifice

     Last week we went to visit my parents in Virginia.  We marveled at the sun setting on the beautiful waters of the Chesapeake Bay.  The God who loved you enough to streak the sky in color each evening loved you enough to send His very own Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

     Blessings to you this Easter Season.

     For more pictures of sacrifice please visit Darcy at my3boybarians.