The Porcupine Mountains are unbelievably remote. Our campsite is at the Northeast tip of this huge state park;
Early Morning Wisdom ~ Post 4 – From “The Getaway – Seeking Sounds of Silence, the Secret Place of Rest, and Wisdom”
I think my plans are the best!? Post 3 in the series, “The Getaway: Seeking . . .”
Ron and I have a passion for waterfalls, so today we made plans to see five waterfalls in surrounding areas outside this huge park. We marked them on our map, set our gps for directions, and headed toward Ironwood on the Wisconsin border. Our goal: five waterfalls.
We saw one.
I Own This Property on the Great Lake (Post 2 in the series, “The Getaway – Seeking Sounds of Silence, the Secret Place of Rest, and Wisdom”
The dull but busy road we encountered yesterday in the Lower Peninsula (click here to read Post 1) changed to an unusually quiet stretch of lonesome highway as we crossed the large bridge and headed west, chasing the sun in its setting hours. It was like we had traveled some decades back in time.
Who is Traveling? (Post 1 in the series, “The Getaway – Seeking Sounds of Silence, the Secret Place of Rest, and Wisdom”
Today’s highway is paved, flat, barren, and ugly, but adequate and necessary, nonetheless, for our purpose of journey – to pull our little “home away from home,” headed north to our destination, yet 600 miles away. The eyes of my driver, the man I’ve journeyed with nearly 50 years must scan the road, follow the lanes, obeying the signage and lineage. I choose to observe the landscape – instead of the road.
Hem me in; hold me fast.
“. . . even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
Psalm 139: 10
Privacy – It’s a “big deal” today and it always has been in this country – America.
Give me my privacy.
I have a constitutional right to privacy.
It’s a private matter.
None of your business.
privacyisawesome.com puts it this way: “Privacy means you can be yourself. You can express ideas without fear of being discriminated against or unjustly punished. It’s your life without pausing to think who’s watching: party hard, open up to a friend, organize a revolution, hang out with whoever you want–privacy keeps you safe. It’s a core principle in any free society.”
I think we all like our privacy.
But nothing is hidden from my God. He knows it all. I read about it in Psalm 139. How He knit me in my mother’s womb–how He has searched me and knows me–how He knows when I sit and when I rise. He knows my thoughts. He even knows what I’m going to say before I say it! And I must say, I agree with the Psalmist that “Such knowledge is too wonderful me, too lofty for me to attain.” It’s difficult to understand how and why a God would care so much.
No matter where I go, He is there. Up to the heavens–down into the depths–to the far side of the sea. The darkness doesn’t hide me from Him.Do I feel threatened? Do I feel invaded?
Not by my God.
Because in His ever presence, He does something amazing. He hems me in. He is behind me and He is before me. And while He’s ever present, He lays His hand upon me. His hand guides me and holds me. I feel so safe in His ever presence.
~ ~ Hem me in, O Lord; hold me fast. ~~
Psalm 139: 5 “You hem me in –behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.”
You Don’t Need to Wait Until Sunday
I observed in awe as my mother delicately washed each tiny glass cup and placed it to dry on the clean towel beside the kitchen sink. In my little eyes, the washing of the communion glasses seemed as sacred as the partaking. I could hardly wait until I was old enough to partake – “old enough to understand,” my mother and daddy said. So in reverence, I watched the washing of the tiny glass cups and the silver servers in which they were later placed. I observed her carefully pour the grape juice into each cup, break the unsalted crackers to a smaller silver plate, and place spotless white starched linen cloths over each. It was the first Sunday of the month: Communion Sunday at our small country church.
“This do in remembrance of me” the Pastor said, quoting from the King James Version.
In my early years, I learned more about this sacrament, in which I partook, and later, I became more discerning of His body, realizing more about honoring and recognizing His body, as well as His blood.
“For whenever you eat this break and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes,” He said.
Proclaiming means “openly declaring.”
I partake not to be forgiven but to “declare” that I am forgiven!
I partake, not to be healed but to “declare” that I am healed!
There is power in declaration! I am proclaiming to the powers of darkness that the Lord’s death has shaken loose everything they are trying to put on me. Jesus died for me (the past); I am proclaiming His death (the present) “until he comes” (the future). We learn in 1 Samuel 7:9 that the burnt offering of the lamb was like a sweet aroma to God. I suspect that communion, too, is a sweet aroma to God, as we remember the burnt offering of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus.
My husband Ron and I often take communion at home, sometimes sitting in the midst of God’s peaceful natural creation of trees and birds and breeze on our back porch or sometimes facing the powerful surroundings of God’s creation at the beach. I select special small vintage glasses for our tiny portions of wine, and I place matza unleavened flatbread on a small plate or platter, one that is memorable or has special significance to us. The matza bread, like the crackers used in the church of my childhood, are pierced and striped as Jesus’ body was. The burn marks on the bread (or crackers) represent the full fire of God’s wrath which fell upon Jesus and are a reminder of the burnt offering – the Lamb, the Lord Jesus. Of course, the wine, which He tells us to drink in remembrance of Him, is the new covenant in His blood. This reminds us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Ron and I always read from Isaiah 53, from the Psalms, from Luke 22, or from 1 Corinthians 11. We praise the Father and we thank Him. We partake.
The Holy Communion (the Lord’s Supper)
is not about you or me;
it is about Jesus.
Although it is blessed to partake in Communion with the body of believers, you can partake outside the church, as well – with your spouse, with your friend, or by yourself. It is your time of remembrance – of Him.
May God bless you as you partake in Holy Communion. You don’t need to wait until Sunday!
Further Reading: 1 Cor. 11:23-29; Samuel 7:9; Isaiah 53:4-6; Hebrews 9:22
But God . . .
Sometimes you just can’t do anything other than to pray and wait.
Things just haven’t felt right. Praying doesn’t come as easy. Peace isn’t immediate, especially in the dark of night.
It may be due to isolation. To deaths – more than usual – of friends and acquaintances. To serious illness of close ones. It’s always concern for my Luke. It may be hearing, “I miss you, Nana,” from a thousand miles away.
Whatever the reason, things just haven’t felt right.
But God . . . 
One author writes that to understand those two words is to understand the gospel. “But God” appears hundreds of times in the Bible. The phrase always represents God’s intervention, His salvation, His mercy, His grace.
But God . . .
My relationship with Him does not depend upon how I feel, how many prayers I say or how often. I needn’t carry guilt when “things just don’t seem right.” What matters to my Father is where I dwell. With Him. In His shelter – His secret place. It matters that I lean in to Him, in His shadow. That I praise in prayer and that I listen.
And sometimes, like today, the peace comes, the words come, the comfort is given, in the quiet breeze of His secret place.
Further reading: Psalm 91:1,2; 1 Corinthians 2: 9-11
I would love to speak to your group. Click here to contact me.
While I was Sleeping
It’s been over 25 years since the movie While You Were Sleeping came out. You might remember. An attractive, well-to-do young man falls in front of a subway train, and although rescued by a young woman, is nonetheless in a coma for quite some time. Meanwhile, his family mistakenly believes that the young woman, played by Sandra Bullock, is his fiancé, thus, for some time, they bestow upon her all the courtesies and endowments expected for their future daughter-in-law. It’s a cute story of this mistaken identity, which occurs “while” the young man “is sleeping.”
Sometimes, for whatever reason, we’re “sleeping,” unaware of the turmoil occurring in our lives or in our families’ lives. Time goes by. Circumstances worsen, and by the time we are fully aware, it appears we’ve lost control of the situation. This happened in my life. But it wasn’t “cute” like the movie. I recognized it, in fact, reading the gospels, in which Jesus told us exactly what happens if/when we are “sleeping.” I wrote about it in When Life Roars, Jesus Whispers. Here’s an excerpt:
Even more life-changing, a spiritual battle was taking place. Ron and I were at war with the enemy, the thief. He was stealing and killing and destroying our family,[i] right in front of our eyes. The Word of God is truth, and it told me about the enemy:
“But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.”
“Where then did the weeds come from?”
“An enemy did this,” he replied. “The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil.”[ii]
Our battle was against the enemy, the devil. I had the power to fight back. I was in the Lord’s army. So I put on the armor.
Suddenly we were facing the enemy in our daughter’s defense. It had been Paul’s final instructions to the Ephesians:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”[iii]
The instructions were given to the church members in Ephesus, and to me. The passage continued, “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”[iv]
I know the truth. Jesus is the truth. His Word is truth.
Earlier in his letter, Paul had told the Ephesians to “speak the truth in love.”[v] These instructions confirmed the very path I had been taking to reach my daughter, the path to break through the evil force that was surrounding her. It was a path of love.
I had carried her within me, and I had loved her from that time. Her backsliding didn’t change my love for her. Her anger or harsh words didn’t change my love for her. I flooded her with unending love.
The instructions Paul gave to the Ephesians and to me are the inspired Word of God. The passage continued speaking of righteousness and readiness and faith: “With the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”[vi]
I want this faith. I need this faith. And with this faith, I can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The final piece of armor? The sword! The sword of the Spirit! God’s Word! “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”[vii] I delved into it; I searched it; it became more alive to me than it had ever been. “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”[viii]
My faith will increase through hearing the Word!
I pictured myself with the armor – the belt, the breastplate, the footwear, the helmet – with a shield in one hand and my Bible in the other. Yes, I put on the armor, and I pictured the Lord God Almighty, the Most High leading me, surrounding me, filling me, protecting me, and delivering me and my beautiful daughter, Amber.
Trusting Him didn’t come easy for me during that time. Fears came. Often. I had to keep reading the Word and speaking the Word. The Word, itself, became my prayer to Him: Lord, you have said that because you love me, you will rescue me; because you love Amber; you will rescue her. I will call upon you, and you will answer me. You will be with me in trouble; you will deliver me and will honor me! My, what a gracious and awesome God you are![ix]
|
[i] John 10:10 NIV
[ii] From Matthew 13
[iii] Ephesians 6:10-13 NIV
[iv] Ephesians 6:14 NIV
[v] Ephesians 4:15 NIV
[vi] Ephesians 6:14b-16 NIV
[vii] Ephesians 6:17 NIV
[viii] Romans 10:17 NIV
[ix] Psalm 91:14-15 NIV paraphrased
Who do you say I am?
Jesus asked His disciples, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
Then, He called the crowd together with His disciples and said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.“
What do you say? Are you following Jesus? He’s calling you.
Further reading – Mark 15:39; Mark 8:29-34-38
You don’t need to “tiptoe” around the word “righteous.”
Righteous.
The world doesn’t know the meaning of it. The believer should.
Before we became believers, many of us thought, as the world does, that the gift of salvation was too good to be true – we had to work for it – we had to become righteous by ourselves. So we tried. Of course, we found it to be impossible. The world confuses the two words and their definitions: “righteousness” and “self-righteousness.” The devil pellets the believer with lies, time after time. We hear smug comments like, “You think you’re so righteous, don’t you?” intended to beat us down. And sometimes, they do. If we let them. The devil doesn’t want that word, righteous, in our hearts for even one minute. He hates God’s word. Thief that he is , he immediately comes to steal it from us (John 10:10).
We sometimes respond in what we believe to be a “Christian-like” defense, saying things like, “I’m only a sinner saved by grace.” It’s true, in a way. We were sinners. We were and are saved by grace. But perhaps because it seems too good to be true, because we did nothing to deserve it, we shy away from the truth that God sees us as “righteous” in Christ Jesus! (2 Cor. 5:21) God doesn’t see us as sinners any longer. He sees us as His. He sees us as the redeemed. He sees us as righteous.
I am righteous in God’s eyes. I need to remind the devil of it by speaking it aloud:
My sin was put upon Jesus! I am righteous in Christ Jesus!
Oh, how the devil hates to hear the spoken Word of God! How he hates to hear the name of Jesus. He is forced to hide from it, and that’s just where I want him – hidden away from my heart – hidden where I cannot hear his lies.
And because I am righteous in God’s eyes, I want to thank God:
Thank you, Father, that You made Jesus who had no sin, to be sin for me, so that in Jesus, I was made righteous in Your eyes.
You, too, can be made righteous in God’s eyes. Click here to learn more