For Grandpa and Grandma

Lord Make Us Ready

Lord make us ready. Tonight at our evening prayer service we prayed for God to show us his vision for our church. My heart cried out to God for unity within our church. O, God, tear down the walls that divide us. Make us one - heal us and transform us from the inside out. Lord, I pray that there would be no place to hide behind pride. I ask for a spirit of humility evidencing itself through our love for one another. Make us ready to do that which you are calling us to.
11/24/08 As I've thought more about this today I've asked God to reveal what is involved in being made ready. What is it that God wants to accomplish in us so that we are ready to hear and obey. I am reminded of the series of sermons our pastor has been preaching from Matthew 5. We have progressed through the beatitudes to "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." This timely series of sermons seems like a key to our being made ready. So how then is this passage of Scripture applied in our hearts? Will this application cause us to arrive at unity? Are we truly ready to go forward? Or has the call gone out and those who respond will be the ones who go forward? Are we willing to take up the cross and follow Christ even if it means moving out of our comfort zone? And what of those who choose to refuse the way of righteousness?
Ephesians 4:1-3 . . . I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle: be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. My heart longs to experience greater unity of the Spirit and I cry out to you, Lord, to help me to be humble and gentle, patient and willing to bear with one another in love.
I fear we are foolish if we believe that the Spirit of God can work fully in us and through us and among us if we are not fully surrendered to Him. But, oh, what He could do with a surrendered body. My heart swells with expectation of what God can do when our pride is smashed and replaced with humility and love for one another. My prayer is that God will make us ready. Cleansed and revived, humbled and unified, ready for more of Him. O, Lord, make us ready.

The Call to Obedience

This past weekend we were blessed to have a special guest in our home. John Lehn, a missionary to Croatia is currently in the States for one month to visit with churches and individuals who support him and his family. John's stay in our home was a delightful experience for our entire family. He was a very gracious guest and he gave each of the children individual attention.
On Sunday evening John shared during our prayer service at church. One comment he made in response to a question has particularly stayed with me. The question had to do with the time spent between first receiving the call and finally being on the mission field. He shared that the most important thing to remember is the call to obedience.
The call to obedience might not sound as inviting as the call to missions, or evangelism, or the call to be a teacher or pastor. Yet, as I've thought about this I've had to admit that the call to obedience is fundamental to any call to service we might receive from God. I see how important it is to be diligent and faithful in my obedience with every part of my life, even if I don't see how or what it is God is calling me to do.
The wait for God's perfect timing - the time we spend waiting for God to make all things ready for us to serve IS the perfect time for obedience. The idea of "blooming where you are planted" seems to go hand in hand with the call to obedience. We shouldn't wait until 'we think we are where God is taking us so we can do what he has called us to' before we answer the call to obedience. Rather, we should accept the call to obedience in the seemingly insignificant stages of our life when we are tempted to become frustrated with waiting for God to use us.

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

From the archives ~ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. "No other standard is sufficient and no other pursuit is more worthy." Words from our pastor on Sunday as he preached from Matt. 5:6. This sermon series from Matthew 5 has been inspiring and convicting. Our pastor has pointed out that the beatitudes are in a progressive order. In order to hunger and thirst for righteousness we must first be meek - surrendered to God's control. To be meek we must mourn - the deep gut wrenching sorrow over our sin. And to mourn we must first be poor in spirit - able to recognize God as our source and pursuing him and his will rather than attempting to be successful in our own strength.
It is encouraging to know that as I place God first, acknowledge his holiness and my sinfulness and yield to his control that my daily appetite will be for MORE of him. And his word to me is that "I will be filled." I will be satisfied. I am reminded of David in Psalm 23 when he says "I shall not want." When he is all I desire - I will never be without. A few years ago I wrote a song based on Ex. 3:13-15 where God speaks to Moses and says, "I AM WHO I AM."
"You are the great I AM, the One who will be there.
You will be all I need, no matter when or where.
You will be there, and there is nowhere that I could ever go
And find that your gone, I'm never alone, for you will be there."
O Lord, I hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not my righteousness (which is like filthy rags) but your righteousness. I desire your righteouseness for no other standard is sufficient and no other pursuit is more worthy. Nothing, Lord, compares with you.

Blessed are the Meek

On Sunday our pastor continued his sermon series on the Beatitudes. He spoke from Matthew 5:5; Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. The title of his sermon, "Strength Under Control", seemed especially profound to me. I see myself more as the antithesis of this: "Strength through Controlling" or "I Control; Therefore I am Strong." Yet his message spoke the truth that in meekness there is the evidence of humility, gentleness, patience and contentedness that can only come when I begin by submitting my spirit to God. I find in my life that my flesh gravitates toward pride, harshness, impatience and discontent. I think this most often occurs when I am desperate to gain a sense of being able to correct my feeling of things being out of my control. Big mistake! Life is best lived allowing God to be in control. In this week's sermon I was reminded that meekness is not weakness, but rather it is the result of a life submitted to the Holy Spirit. It is the evidence of the awesome power of the Holy Spirit at work in my life. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

A Mother's Heart

Nine years ago today I became a mother for the first time. My daughter's arrival was and continues to be a beautiful gift as well as an overwhelming joy. My heart delights in knowing that God is the source of both the gift and the joy. Since my daughter's birth He has blessed us by adding 4 more children to our family. My heart has been stretched by God's love beyond anything I could have imagined possible. With one biological and four adopted I know that each one of my children is mine by God's design. More correctly stated, they are His and He has entrusted me to be their mother. Nine years as a mom and I am so amazed and grateful by how God continues to bless this mother's heart.

Our Sometimes Silent Always Sovereign God

Yesterday I came across this article that I had saved last year. It is written by Jill Carattini, senior associate writer at Ravi Zacharias Int'l Ministries in Atlanta, GA. The article is dated 1/08/07 but it seems relevant even today. I am printing excerpts here . . . I will be happy to forward the complete version to anyone who would like to read it.
. . . The story told in Daniel 6 presents a king who loses sight of the purpose of kingship and the purpose of law, creating a system void of justice and a law that only hinders and traps its makers. Against these images of lawlessness and corruption, the story portrays a silent but active Daniel clinging to a higher law, bowing before the King of Kings in the midst of persecution, in the hands of his oppressors, in the shadows of the lions' den. Living within the hopelessness of exile, sweltering under the heat of injustice, Daniel unflinchingly declares the sovereignty of God, and with faithfulness and perseverance refuses to believe otherwise. In a kingdom in which he is a mere foreigner, Daniel is appointed to a position of great authority because the king finds him to be distinguished among men. . . . (But) The leaders serving under Daniel seek to get rid of him. The story does not provide a thorough explanation for their hatred of Daniel and yet, perhaps in this silence much is said. . . . they conclude, "We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God" (6:5). . . . Approaching the king with flattery that he does not refuse, they convince him to establish an ordinance that holds everyone in the kingdom accountable to praying only to him. The king, who is pleased with his high and lofty position and his authority to rule, thus agrees to test the loyalty of his citizens and to make the law irrevocable. It is significant to note that Daniel does not speak until the end of the story, yet throughout it, he is anything but complacent. Knowing the document had been signed, Daniel still goes to his house, opens his windows, faces Jerusalem, and prays as he has done before. Just as planned, he is immediately caught by the men who are quick to point out his guilt before the king. Though the king stands guilt-ridden, Daniel stands accused, and nothing can be done to save him. Bound by his own law, the king must release his faithful servant into the hands of injustice. Daniel is thrown into the lions' den, which is then sealed at the remorseful hand of the king. As we await the outcome, wanting to cry out at the injustice of the situation, the voices we most want to hear from remain discouragingly silent. We hear nothing from the lips of Daniel. And we hear nothing from the mouth of God. In the face of injustice, silence can be oppressive, filled at once with despairing questions. Where is God? What of the silent victims? Who will speak over the deafening sounds of injustice, over the word games and manipulative arguments, when hands are tied, options are exhausted, and fates seem irreversible? In the aftermath of disparaging news, . . . the silence of God and of Daniel is especially moving. Daniel eventually speaks, but only after his irreversible sentence was overruled by the hand of God. In the book of Daniel, we are powerfully reminded that in silence God is still acting. In the weariness of injustice, in the shadows of those who seek to devour, God is still sovereign. Says the Lord: "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise"(Psalm 12:5).

Free to Worship You

In 2004 I recorded some songs that I had written. It is very humbling when I realize that four years later I hear reports of people still listening to these songs and have frequent requests for copies of the CD. I believe God has been putting together all of the pieces necessary to make a second recording. It is such a privilege to be able to share the songs that He has placed in my heart.

He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD. Psalm 40:3

-Surrender
-If I Take My Eyes Off of You
-I Will Trust in You
-Look in My Heart
-Free to Worship You
-All I Can Say
-You Are Calling Me
-A Love Unfailing
-Hiding Place
-Gentle Healer, Make Us Whole

To Him be all the glory.

http://www.freetoworshipyou.com/

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

-Matthew 5:4

To mourn -- loud lament, a deep gut-wrenching sorrow in relationship to sin.

Our pastor is preaching a series of sermons from Matthew 5. This past Sunday he preached from verse 4. I have thought about this message many times since Sunday. As we prayed Sunday evening and Monday evening prior to the elections I was thinking of my sin and how necessary it is for me to allow the Holy Spirit to convict me of my sins and for me to respond through confession and repentance. I was also reminded of the level of immorality that has been absorbed into the fabric of our nation. There is a need for mourning over the sin that is in my life and there is a need to mourn over the level of sin in our society. As the nation voted I was aware of how deeply sorrowful I was becoming. Sorrowful that so many people could condone the killing of innocent lives through abortion. Sorrowful that just the day before I had watched a clip of the person who would be our next president giving an electrifying speech embracing homosexuals. His level of comfort and casual manner of including homosexuals in his speech caused such grief to burst into my being. But Matthew 5:4 seems to say that it is okay to mourn. In fact, there is a comfort for those who mourn that is not available to those who do not. I remember after 9/11 feeling that as individuals and as a nation we were not allowed to mourn. We could not show weakness to the world. It was necessary to let those who attacked us, and those who watched from afar, know that America was strong and would not be broken by terrorists' attacks. I remember how patriotic I felt and how proud I was to be an American, but I also remember feeling robbed of the opportunity to truly mourn. I wonder if anything would have been different if we would have been allowed, as individuals and as a nation, to mourn. As we are set to begin four years under this new administration I am wondering, as a Christian, am I willing to mourn? To truly mourn and be sorrowful over the sin that plagues our nation? O Lord, holy and righteous One, our sin is ever before us. It is against You that we have sinned. Help me, Lord, to not quickly set aside the sorrow over sin. Let me mourn knowing that your word says that I will be comforted.

My Heart Still Sings

This is my Father's world, O let me ne'er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the Ruler yet.
This is my Father's world,
The battle is not done;
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and heav'n be one.
-Maltbie D. Babcock

My Singing Heart

"O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!"
-Charles Wesley