Crusts of Hearsay 

 Crumbs of Rumor

I like food and I am already dreaming about Thanksgiving dinner. I love the smell of turkey roasting in the oven lofting through the entire house almost as much as the real turkey - almost. I am looking forward to real mashed potatoes with homemade gravy and sweet potatoes covered with lightly toasted marshmallows.  Then, of course, there will be the traditional green bean casserole and salads and bread and pumpkin and pecan pie with lots of whipped cream.  I need to move on before I quit writing and go raid the kitchen.  You get the point that I really do love rich, good tasting, fattening food.  Everything was good until I hit 40.  Up until then I could eat anything I wanted and if I gained a few pounds, I would just take a week or two and exercise a little more and off would come the weight.  Then when I hit 40, it was like I had passed through the wardrobe door with Lucy in the Chronicles of Narnia into a strange and unknown land.  Suddenly the pounds came, unpacked their bags, and took up residence. They settled on my hips and refused to leave. I exercised but the extra weight would not budge. It was then I had to say goodbye to anything fried, farewell to all types of gravy, and adios to luscious desserts.  I entered the sparse land of crusts and crumbs and so I was taken completely by surprise when I found a friend in Job. 

I was reading through the book of Job, not so much for pleasure, but because it was what I was suppose to read in my Through the Bible in One Year.  In the past, reading Job has been like taking really nasty medicine.  Nowadays, kids get cherry flavored or maybe even bubble gum flavored medicine, but back in my day it was just straight old yucky tasting.  You know where you hold your nose and gulp it down quick.  Job was not my favorite book and I was not really expecting anything really good to show up, when I was accosted by this phrase in the Message Bible, “I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.”  Wait just a minute.  How could Job compare his life to crumbs and crust?   Remember how the book of Job begins?  I did because I read through the whole book in one sitting.  I had applied my hold your nose and gulp method.

Job 1:1-3 (MSG) Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also very wealthy—seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants—the most influential man in all the East!

That wasn’t just Job’s opinion.  Listen to what God said about Job.

God said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil."

Then when you keep on reading really fast you come to chapter 42 where you read…

Job 42 1-6 Job answered God: "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything.   Nothing and no one can upset your plans.  You asked, 'Who is this muddying the water,  ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?'  I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.  You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking.  Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.' I admit I once lived by rumors of you;    now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!  I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."

There it is.  Job compared his honest, totally devoted to God, hated evil with a passion, and lived under God’s favor and blessings life, to crumbs and crust.  I would think that his honest, totally devoted to God, hated evil with a passion, and lived under God’s favor and blessings life, would be compared to dining on the full Thanksgiving feast.  It certainly does not sound like crumbs and crust.  Job’s amazing testimony is that God used his trials to take him from a relationship that was based on rumors and hearsay, to one that was up close and personal.

We have all faced trials or are going through some right now.  God means to use them for our good.  God invites you and me personally to His banqueting table every day of our lives not just on Thanksgiving. We have a personal invitation to come and dine face to face with the Master in good times and bad.  No more crusts of hearsay and crumbs of rumor for me.  Like Job, I want to know God firsthand.  I will not be satisfied with anything less than my own personal, one-on-one relationship with God.

I stand with (my now good friend and one of my favorite books in the Bible) Job today and declare –

I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor.

I pray you are feasting today on more than turkey. 

A Thanksgiving Thought

The training to say “thank you” began early in my life.  After receiving a gift as a child, the parental prompt “what do you say to Aunt Sally” would always follow.  Birthdays and Christmas were true tests of my training.  As I opened a homemade crocheted pink sweater that was at least 3 sizes too big and in my mind ugly, every adult eye was watching to see if I would smile and say “thank you” and every child was watching to see if I would break ranks and say what I really thought.  Saying thank you was mandatory even if the gift was not what I wanted or not something I liked.  When someone gives you a gift, you say “thank you.”  It is just an automatic. When I was growing up, handwritten thank you cards were expected.  Now there are not many handwritten thank you cards going out.  A quick thanks on facebook or in an e-mail will suffice.  So when the words “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart” by Henry Smith came to my mind it got me to thinking.  I began to wonder if my “thank you” came from a truly grateful heart or was it just the result of years of training.

I began to think about a whole day being titled “Thanksgiving Day.”  A whole day set aside for the purpose of giving thanks.  In today’s society, that really seems excessive and lost on most people, including me sometimes.  Thanksgiving, like most of our holidays, has lost its underlying value.  A whole day to say thanks seems like way too much time so we fill it up with huge amounts of food, gearing up for Christmas, watching TV, and taking naps.  If we take a few minutes before we eat to go around the table and ask each person to share one thing they are thankful for, we feel like we have satisfied the Thanksgiving requirement.  I can’t speak for you, but if I am truthful, I would have to tell you that as I sit at the Thanksgiving table and give my answer I think my parents would be proud that their training stuck, but I’m not so sure it would satisfy the “give thanks from a grateful heart” criteria. 

I wish I had this whole thought perfectly worked out so I could share it with beauty, but right now it is pretty much still in the mixing together messy stage.  But here is where I am right now.  For me, being thankful seems to reflect back to me.  I am thanking you for helping me, sharing with me, encouraging me, doing something for me.  It is pretty much about me.  But saying thank you from a grateful heart somehow turns the thanks to God.   I take the time to realize that every blessing comes into my life from God.  He is the giver of every good and perfect gift.  It is not about me at all but all about God’s amazing love for me.  I am blessed because of the selfless sacrifice of Jesus.

Saying thanks from my head is actually pretty simple and quick but saying thanks from a grateful heart takes time and reflection. A thank you that comes from a place of gratitude is humbling and moving.  It comes as I recognize that all that I have is a gift given to me by God.  Gratitude floods my heart as I recognize it is not about me at all, but about my amazing Lord.  This Thanksgiving I am shooting for giving thanks from a grateful heart.

I have a feeling this is how God would have me live the entirety of my life but I have to start somewhere.

Wishing you all a heartfelt Thanksgiving Day.

Gratitude fills the heart when the gift has been understood and wonder fills the soul when gratitude is expressed to the fullest.  Ravi Zacharias.

Pilgrim Versus Tourist

PILGRIM      Versus     TOURIST

In 135 days, I am headed to Glory.  I am so excited. I am counting down the days.  I have my confirmation number and my room reserved. I can hardly wait.  It is going to be so much fun.  Slow down.  Don’t panic.  I am not predicting the end of the world or my demise.  I am just headed to Carnival’s cruise ship Glory.  We booked the cruise over a year ago and when I finally step on board Glory it will be completely paid for.  We have booked airline tickets for the day before the cruise, just in case the weather out of Chicago is bad, we are not missing this cruise.  We have booked a hotel in Florida and a shuttle for Sunday morning.  We have gone over every port, every excursion, and every nook and cranny of Glory on line.  All the arrangements are made and now I just wait.  On those dreary, wet, and cold days I think, but in 135 days I will be enjoying Glory.  When a rough day comes my way, I think this won’t last forever, because I am booked for Glory. 

I began to think about how much time, energy, and money I have put into planning my trip to the Carnival cruise ship Glory. I began to think about the impact having a cruise on Glory, bought and paid for, changed my outlook on a daily basis.  Funny isn’t it that I can so easily lose sight of the fact that one day I will actually go to my eternal home that will truly be Glory.   It too is bought and paid for, but someone else paid the price.  Jesus gave His life.  God began planning the day long before I was even born.  He has arranged history in anticipation of that day.  I believe He is counting down the days.  So why does the hope of eternal Glory not have a greater effect on my day-to-day life?  Maybe I am more of a tourist than a pilgrim.

There is a big difference between the life of a pilgrim and the life of a tourist.  A pilgrim is someone who is journeying to a sacred place for religious reasons, while a tourist is someone who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure. The Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower in September 1620 on a pilgrimage seeking a land where they could enjoy religious freedom.  It would prove to be a dangerous 66-day journey filled with sacrifice.  They brought with them only the necessities of life that would be needed when they arrived.  They very quickly ran out of fresh food; there was no provision for personal hygiene.  They would encounter fierce storms and hurricanes.  They were traveling with crewmembers that mocked their beliefs. The thought of a land where they could worship freely was what got them through.  I wonder if they counted down the days?  They were definitely not on the cruise ship Glory with the midnight buffet.  They were pilgrims not tourists.

 I wonder if someone watched my life for the next month if they would say I was a pilgrim on a journey to a heaven where I will be free to worship Almighty God unhindered, or a person traveling or visiting this earth seeking to find as much pleasure as I can and collecting and consuming as much stuff as possible?  

I pray that this Thanksgiving you enjoy your time with friends and family.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying and being thankful for the blessings and pleasures that God gives us here as we journey.  But just remember – this world is not our home.  We are pilgrims bound for Glory, and not tourists headed to the Carnival cruise ship.  

It's a "WONDER" Full Life

 

Loving Father,

Make my heart like that of a child,

Give me again the excitement and joy of wonder

How wonderful it is that I am even able to wonder!

Remove the scales from my eyes,

The stubbornness from my will,

The callousness from my heart,

And enable me to enjoy the wonder of it all.             

Deliver me from routine worship

From business as usual

From form without force and liturgy without life

May Your Holy Spirit energize that new creation

That is now within me,

And may life be ever new, ever wonderful

To the glory of Your Name.

Amen

Real Worship

Warren Wiersbe

Do you ever wonder where your wonder went?  Do you ever wonder where the carefree days of your childhood went?  Do you ever wonder where the days when you just hopped out of bed with no aches or pains went?  One day you just wake up and you realize the days have turned into years and life seems dull and drab and you no longer say that your future is so bright you gotta wear shades but instead you say “what future?”  Well, if that is how you feel today, there is good news for you.

God is a wonder filled God and is in the business of restoring rapturous wonder to those who ask.  So let’s look at where our wonder went.  Let’s start with our eyes, our will, and our heart.

My physical eyes need help.  I have worn glasses since grade school and every year I go get my eyes checked and my eye doctor adjusts my prescription to get me back to as close to 20/20 as possible.  So why doesn’t it occur to us to have our spiritual eyes regularly checked?  You know how the eye doctor sits you down in the chair and has you put your chin on the little ledge and your eyes focused straight ahead and then proceeds to show you two different versions of the same thing and asks which is better number one or number two.  Hop right on up into God’s examining chair and let Him begin to ask some questions.  Has your vision of who God is and what He can do grown larger or smaller over the past year?  Has the God of the universe become really small and limited in your sight or to you see Him high and lifted up in majesty and power?  Do the absolutes of who God is remain strong and bold in your vision or have they developed some carnival mirror curves?  Then allow God to make some adjustments.

“What I need today is a restoration of the vision of the Most High God.” A.W.Tozer

The next step to wonder is our will.  I confess I can be stubborn, and while standing fast in your faith is to be commended, demanding your own way is not. Remember how Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life begins –“It’s not about you.”  When your life has taken on the appearance of one great big “I” wonder fades fast.  Wanting my own way, wanting prayer answered according to my terms, wanting God to act within my time frames are all wonder killers.  The metaphor of being stiff necked is used frequently to describe Israel’s resistance to God’s lordship over the nation.  

 Remember how Jesus taught us to pray?  Matthew 6:10 …your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In order for wonder to fill my life, I have to surrender my will to the will of God.  When my life takes on the attitude of surrender, then worship follows, and wonder is released into my life.

It is amazing the extremes I go to take care of my physical body. I diet, exercise, search out the best doctors and medical treatments, but rarely do I take the time to have a complete check-up spiritually.  If I did, I might be terrified to find out my heart has grown hard and that is deadly both physically and spiritually.  What has happened in life that has calloused my heart?  Has the pain of betrayal rubbed against my heart for so many years that I am now unfeeling?  Have I felt the ache of abandonment and it has left my heart thick and hard?  Has the sting of disappointment been so intense that I am now numb to feeling?  Closing my heart off to pain, sorrow, or disappointment can cause my heart to harden and not allow God’s wonder-filled love to pulsate through my life. 

So if you are sitting today and wondering where your wonder went, boy do I have good news for you.  God’s check-ups are free, no appointment necessary, and guaranteed to heal and restore wonder. 

Go get your shades because God is ready to pour out some wonder.

Do It NOW!

Am I the only one who procrastinates?  We had lived in our home almost seven years without a handrail to help guide us safely to the basement.  Every time I went down the stairs I would think, “I wish there was a rail.”  When our grandkids came to visit, I would think we really need a rail.   But still day-by-day, week-by-week that turned into month-by-month and then year-by-year, we had no rail.  Then one day I said, “Let’s go look at rails.”  We found out that it would not be that expensive but we did not buy a rail.  Then one day we said “Let’s buy a rail” so we drove to Menards but I was worried about the rail hanging too far out the back of the truck and it would be dark by the time we got home, so we did not buy a rail.  Then one day we drove the 4 miles into our local lumberyard to buy a rail.  Still I hesitated.  We could buy the rail at Menards for $10 and I would have to pay $20 locally.  I don’t know why, but that day I threw caution to the wind and bought the $20 rail.  I now have a rail that guides me safely to my basement.  I smile every time I go down and I wonder why I waited 7 years for a $20 handrail.

Putting off buying a $20 handrail is one thing but sadly I have the same tendency in lots of areas of my life.  I know the most important thing I can do is spend time with the One who will guide me safely through life.  I keep thinking I will do it later and I have as many excuses as I did for not buying the $20 rail.   I am sure most of you have seen the picture of Jesus standing outside a door knocking. One of the amazing things about that picture is that there is no doorknob on the outside.  If the door is to be opened, the one on the inside will have to respond to the knock and open the door to allow Jesus to come in.  So many times I know the Lord is knocking but I keep saying later.

A Letter from GOD

As you got up this morning I watched you and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday.  But I noticed you were too busy trying to find the right outfit to wear.  When you ran around the house getting ready, 
 I knew there would be a few minutes
 for you to stop and say hello, 
 but you were too busy.  At one point you had to wait
 fifteen minutes with nothing to do
 except sit in a chair.  Then I saw you spring to your feet.  I thought you wanted to talk to me 
but you ran to the phone and called a friend
 to get the latest gossip instead.  I watched patiently all day long.  With all your activities
 I guess you were too busy to say anything to me.  I noticed that before lunch you looked around, 
 maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me and that is why you didn't bow your head.  You glanced three or four tables over 
and you noticed some of your friends 
talking to me briefly before they ate, but
 you didn't.  That's okay.  There is still more time left
 and I hope that you will talk to me yet.  You went home and it seems as if 
you had lots of things to do.  After a few of them were done, 
 you turned on the TV.  I don't know if you like TV or not, 
just about anything goes there 
and you spend a lot of time 
each day in front of it 
not thinking about anything, 
 just enjoying the show.  I waited patiently again
 as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn't talk to me.  Bedtime I guess you felt too tired.  After you said goodnight to your family 
you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time.  That's okay because you may not realize
 that I am always there for you.

I've got patience, 
more than you will ever know.  I even want to teach you how 
to be patient with others as well.  I love you so much that I wait
 everyday for a nod, prayer, thought, 
or a thankful part of your heart.  It is hard to have a one-sided conversation.  Well, you are getting up once again.  And once again I will wait
 with nothing but love for you.

Hoping that today you will give me some time.

Have a nice day!

Your friend, 
 GOD

Author Unknown

Revelation 3:20  “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

In The Morning I Will Give Him Glory

I am almost positive that there is a flower addiction intervention, that will be led by my husband, in my future.  Every fall after our first really hard frost, I head out to my berms, flowerbeds, and deck to get everything ready for the winter ahead.  Every fall, I swear that next year I am not going to plant any new flowers and I am not going to have as many flowers on my deck.  Then about mid-winter I start getting those spring catalogs from nurseries flaunting the new and improved varieties for spring and every spring I plant new flowers and add a few more baskets on my deck.  This spring would be no different. Early one morning I headed out to our light pole with a pack of tiny little morning glory seeds.  I carefully planted them at the base of our light pole with visions of the vine climbing its way to the very top of the pole and being covered with beautiful blue blooms.  After a few weeks, little plants shot up and I did my happy dance and watched over them like a momma hen over her baby chicks, making sure they were protected from the early spring cold air.  They began their climb upward and I smiled.  I placed string around the pole for them to climb on and here and there I strategically placed a nail for the vine to wind around.  The little vines continued their march upward.  They grew higher than I could reach so out came the ladder as I continued to make a way for them to go even further up the light pole.  I waited expecting any day for a bloom to appear.  Nothing.  I fertilized, I watered, I waited.  Nothing.  By midsummer there were still no blooms.  I googled morning glories to see why my little vines were not blooming and came away shaking my head.  I resigned myself to no blooms and debated whether to let them come back up from seed next year or buy a plant from the nursery.  Finally, it was late summer and still no blooms.  In October, we headed out to North Carolina to do a fall leaf tour in our vette up the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It was breathtaking and I took one picture after another.  After eight states in seven days we came back home.  As we were unloading the car, I glanced over and to my amazement the vine on our light pole was covered with beautiful blue and white blooms.  On that gorgeous October  morning they blossomed in all their glory.  I think God saved them as a special bouquet for my welcome home. 

I began to think of my journey with the Lord.  When I was just a little girl, God came and planted a tiny seed of His love in my heart with visions of His love growing in my life until one day I would show forth His glory. I know that He rejoiced as He watched His love take root in my life and begin to grow.  Looking back I can see that He has always had His watchful eye on my life making sure that I was cared for and protected. I wonder if He ever shook His head and wondered why His glory was not blooming in my life?  I know that He has strategically placed me in churches, in friendships, in situations where His love could continue to grow in my life and He has waited.  

Today as I reflect on His loving and tender care I can’t help but proclaim His glory.  Today is the day to show forth His love in my life.  So today I give my life as a special bouquet to the One I love.

1 Chronicles 16:29  (NLT) Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!

Bring your offering and come into his presence.

Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor.

His Praise Fills the Whole Earth

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;  where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.                                           

There are times in my life when I feel like Elijah when he was running from Jezebel.  It seems like the whole world has forsaken God.  It seems like evil runs rampant and unopposed.  It seems like Satan has the upper hand.  It is then, just like Elijah, I am reminded of the greatness of my God and I am reminded that God still has a people who praise His name.  I am reminded that the praise of the redeemed is still heard throughout the whole earth.  I am not alone and my life and my praise are only a small part of God’s amazing orchestra.

Have you ever had the pleasure of hearing an orchestra?  There is just something about the ebb and flow of beautiful music that touches the deepest recesses of my soul.  My musical knowledge would not even fill a thimble but there are just a few very simple observations I want to make.

A symphony or philharmonic orchestra has approximately 100 instruments and those 100 instruments are typically broken down into sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion.  The largest section would be the strings and they, oftentimes, provide the melody.  The woodwinds join in and weave warmth and color through the melody while the gleaming brass instruments scatter bright and majestic touches. The percussion section carries the music along on strong rhythmic underpinnings.  Each section brings a special element that is integral to the sound of the whole orchestra.  Without just one violin, one trumpet, one clarinet, one drum, or even one triangle, the sound and beauty produced would be diminished. 

If the world’s population were broken down into a 100-piece orchestra, there would be approximately 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, and 5 Canadians and US.  When I see these numbers, I am humbled and I am reminded that God has children scattered throughout the entire world from every race and nationality and that Americans are among the least and then there is me.

God’s orchestra has multitudes of children whose melody of praise rises without putting limitations and restrictions on His response.  Their praise is unhindered and does not have to be either or but leaves room for God to be God.  It is as if their praise is the overriding melody of God’s eternal and unstoppable love. Then I picture those whose praise comes from a place of having known the depth and darkness of bondage.  Those who have known the cruelty of the chains of oppression begin to weave their praise in and out of the melody of God’s boundless love adding warmth and color to the melody of His eternal and unstoppable love.  Another section then joins in with deep resonating tones of reverence.  Cathedrals throughout Europe were meant to speak to those who entered of the majesty and greatness of God and the smallness of man.  From the lips of Europeans, comes praise ladened with majesty and glory and awe.  Now I can feel the eternal unstoppable anthem of love swell, warmed with the praise of those who know the reality of chains broken  and bright tones of majesty and glory scattered throughout.  But that is not where it ends.  The praise that comes from God’s Latin American children is one of great joy and exuberance.  Their praise is a celebration of the life they have in God that is not dampened by their present circumstances. And last but not least, Americans provide a loud and steady rhythm that moves the music along.  God has blessed us materially so that this anthem of praise can be carried to all nations. According to statistics, out of the 100 people, 5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth, and all of them would be US citizens. So as God’s children join together they sound forth praise that will stir the hearts of all who hear. God’s eternal, unstoppable, majestic, and joyous love is triumphantly carried around the world by His vast orchestra.

What I am trying to say is, I am not a one-man band but I am a part of an orchestra that is made up of different tribes, different tongues, and different nations and God stands as the conductor before us all.  God unifies us, sets the tempo, adjusts the volume, and guides us so that the blended sound of praise is greater than any one individual.  There is nothing that can stop the anthem of God’s love.

“Have you seen a symphony orchestra?...There is a chap at the back carrying a triangle.  Now and again the conductor will point to him and he will play “ting.”  That might seem so insignificant, but in the conception of the composer something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony if that “ting” did not happen.”  Desmond Tutu

The whole world has not forsaken God.  Evil may be rampant but it is definitely not unopposed.  Satan does not have the upper hand and I am not alone.  In my mind’s eye, I see God’s orchestra coming to one final amazing crescendo that will usher in the return of our victorious Lord and King.  I am watching for Him to point my way so I can add the  …

TING!