To Suffer the Kindness of Friends

Jumping jacks.   Suffering kindness of friends feels like jumping jacks.  From fetal position to standing upright, repeat and repeat.  Rejection feels insurmountable and unbearable.  It brings back horrible memories of Junior High School, when one of your friends tells you, "I don't want to hang around you anymore because you are boring."  At least she had the balls to tell me why she was rejecting me; others just disappear into thin air. Why am I treated thusly?  What have I done?  No words of explanation come.  Then I retreat back to the emotional fetal position.

Today  my True Friend told me the truth:

And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.  He had also seven sons and three daughters.  And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.  And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

Job's daughters are named, and are included in an inheritance.  My True Friend calls me by my name, has given me a wonderful inheritance, and He calls me beautiful.

I wept and worshipped.  Praise Him!

Mulberry Bushes and Weasels

Recently, I have been listening to brothers and sisters in Christ struggling with what exactly is the gospel, the good news, that we have the joy of telling others. I hear "Repent and believe" is the gospel.  But is it really?

"Repent and believe."
"Believe what?"
"Believe the gospel."
"What is the gospel?"
"Repent and believe."
"Believe what?"
"Believe the gospel."
"What gospel?"
"Repent and believe."

over and over and over....

The trench going around the mulberry bush gets deeper and deeper as it goes round and round and never arriving at a destination.  Let me be the weasel and pop you out of that trench.  The gospel is the good news that your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ Jesus!  Get out of the ditch, and proclaim good news to those who are broken and burdened.  The gospel is not "Repent and believe,"  it is "Your sins are forgiven because of Jesus!"  Go, and create faith in your neighbor and free them from bondage by proclaiming what Jesus has done.

Pop!

Happy Binkying Bunnies, Batman!

We have two house rabbits, Mimzy and Mikante. They are such interesting little critters.  I had this stereotype of rabbits being gentle, quiet wee beasties.  They think they are big and strong!  With their tiny mouths they can get a good piece of skin if you dare to enter their territory uninvited!  Our two bunnies like each other, they lick each other and snuggle one another ..... through their cage walls.  When they are out together, the fur flies, and fights ensue along with my rising blood pressure as we try to separate them.  They are very territorial!

Last night we were changing their cages, which is a rather time consuming ordeal.  They had made such a mess of things.  Hay was strewn all about, bottom of their cages were just messy!  When they get in their clean pens, they binky.  A binky is a sign of great happiness.  The running bunny jumps with a mid-air twist! It is quite an acrobatic feat. A bunny that binkies is a happy bunny!  Upon Mimzy and Mikante returning to their pens, the binkies ensued!  We had two happy, binkying bunnies at home.

While we were changing and making everything new and fresh, it reminded me of Jesus.  Yes, even chores like that make me think of Jesus.  Our Savior makes us clean.  We are given His righteousness in exchange for our messy sin.  He washes us clean in baptism, not just a removal of dirt, but a deeper washing; a washing away of sin.  Now, that is good news!  For the sake of Christ Jesus, your sins are forgiven!

Binky away!

Mimzysaurus Rex in clean cage

Mikante greeting me

You Son or Daughter of So-and-So

I'm a few days behind in my bible reading plan, so this morning I was able to catch up.  1 Chronicles was my beginning book.  I groaned, thinking of reading all those names.  Son of so-and-so, son of so-and-so, over  and over for chapter upon chapter.   There are little nuggets that stand out among the lists of names, such as the musicians who served in the temple, or the warriors who fought many battles.

It dawned on me that each of us is a son or daughter of so-and-so.  Geneologies were important to show who you belonged to and who will belong to you.  Past and future connections.  For Israel, it was a tie to the promised coming Messiah.  For you and I, while we may not know our geneology, we are connected to people from the past and in the future through our faith in Christ Jesus.

While reading I saw how important family connections are to our Heavenly Father.  So important, they are named in Scripture.  He also names us in our baptism, places the name of the triune God upon us; adopts us into His family; clothes us with His robe of righteousness;  runs out to greet us when we stray, eager to forgive us; desires us to be reconciled to Him.  All of this from the "boring geneologies in 1 Chronicles".

As our own small family experiences growing pains today, I know we are still family no matter the distance between us.  We are close, even though separated by miles.  On the other side of the bittersweetness of today, will be new growth for all three of us.  God is so good to give us families.  In our families we can find an example of the love our Heavenly Father has for us, although these earthly families have faults.   Today, our family can feel the pain of separation that our Heavenly Father felt with His son, Jesus Christ.  We can also see the healing and joy on the other side of that separation!

Thanks be to God for making me a daughter of so-and-so!  Thank you Heavenly Father, for my husband and daughter!  Thank you Heavenly Father for my parents, and my brother and his family!  You have blessed me indeed.

Fireworks Firecrackers Freedom and the Fourth

It's loud, explosive and exciting!  That's the 4th of July celebrations in the USA.  It's full of excitement, bright colors and loud sounds. Most of the celebrants begin prior to July 4th.  So the loudness starts days ahead of the actual celebrations.  What does your pet do with the sounds of July 4th?  Ours finds places to hide, she shakes, and she pants.  Her stress is very visible and we're unable to quell that stress.

There are a lot of people like our dog.  Fearful of the goodness of God, they attempt to keep him under control.  God's mercy is feared and people hide from it.  They are afraid of what they think is on the other side of that mercy and grace:  lawlessness.  How do I know this?  Because that was me.  I was afraid that with Christian freedom for which Christ died, I would have sin running my life without restraint!  "If God forgives all in Jesus, where is the restraint?"  So, for a time I cowered under the law and felt safe.

I could no longer fight God's mercy and forgiveness.  Scripture had become clear and the Holy Spirit showed me the truth.  I was afraid of what I was reading.  It went beyond my safe, little, soteriological system.  Limited atonement had fallen to the wayside.  The love of God came crashing in without restraint.  Sacraments were no longer symbols, but full blown reality.  The gospel was free and clear, no longer chained to a flower.  God is not controllable no matter how hard we try.  And that is a blessing!

Are you hiding from God behind a systematic shield?  Let the Holy Spirit show you our Father's mercy and love poured out for your sake, on a cross, there with Jesus.  Then real freedom can ring!

Run Away!

There's a famous scene from Monty Python's Holy Grail where the knights encounter a killer rabbit.  The end of the scene is the famous line, "Run away!  Run away!"  I think about this line often when I am talking to fellow Christians.

Like Moses, we want to run away from the task God gives us to do.... preach good news and make disciples.  We come up with all kinds of excuses to not partake of the joy found in setting others free.  I am saying "we" because I include myself.  "That's the evangelism committee's job."  "I'm not an evangelist, I don't have that gift."  "I tried it once and I was very uncomfortable."   "I have other things to tend to."  Freedom, and the reaction others have to it,  is intimidating.  Freedom as a believer is still scary.

Many people react poorly to the news that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake.  "Who me?  I'm not a sinner you dirty so-and-so Christian," said through gritted teeth.  But joy comes when one who receives the the good news of Jesus' forgiveness and has then found freedom and pardon!  Truly, who would not want to participate in that gift?  To see another sinner set free is joy.

Jesus told the demon possessed man to return to the people who chained him and ostracized him.  His assignment:  to set them free too (Luke 8:26-39).  Who are you to go to to set free with the good news of Jesus Christ's forgiveness?  Experience that joy!

Diapers and Decrees

Calvinists like to bring up the sovereignty of God and view everything through that lens.  Some even to the point of God decreeing what color car they will drive to decreeing their own sin. God decreeing sin sounds to me an awful lot like Adam upon being caught after eating from the tree of knowledge  of good and evil, "It's that woman YOU GAVE ME LORD."  Adam tried to pin his own sin on to God.  If God is responsible for our sin, then why would we need a strong savior?  We are responsible for our sin.  No amount of excusing and accusing will take that away, no amount of syllogisms can remove that fact.  Stop denying your sin by hiding behind God sovereignly decreeing your sin.

Was Jesus sovereign when he was dependent upon Mary and Joseph to meet his daily needs, including changing soiled diapers? When Jesus was on the cross being poked with spears, having vinegar presented to him to drink, being mocked by Roman soldiers, was He still sovereign?  As He died in pain and anguish, suffering, was He sovereign?  Or are you like those around him at that time that thought He should have saved Himself?

Often I will hear that it was only Jesus' body on the cross.  People say such things because they are offended that a sovereign God would allow Himself to be treated in such a manner.  Suddenly, the Nestorian error pops up in order to protect God's sovereignty.  "God can't die",  "It was only Jesus' humanity on the cross".  Have you heard those notions?  They are mortal men's notions, you know.  The Psalms are full of praising the God of our Salvation.  Of course, God died for you.

The whole of Jesus died upon the cross for the whole of you, He was sovereignly victorying for you.  What looks foolish and weak to the world, was our dear Savior's mighty act of power.  Behold your God.  Praise Him.