Category Archives: Uncategorized

March 4, 2013 · 6:00 am

Making Molehills Out of Mountains

mountain_lake_

He is jealous from me, loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions Eclipsed by glory

and I realize just how beautiful You are And how great Your affections are for me.

–How He Loves, David Crowder Band

The verse above is how the song How He Loves begins. If you’ve ever heard it, that very first phrase can really penetrate your spirit if you let it.

He is jealous for me.

He loves me. He desires my heart, my praise, my time, and my faith. He wants to bestow his presence and his peace on me.

God has let his jealousy for his people play out over and over throughout the Bible, giving us stories that test and develop faith, and most of all, show how God’s love and promises are revealed in his jealousy.

Mountains play quite a role in displaying God’s desire to have the full attention, focus, and hearts of his people.
Over and over, God used the mountains to send a message.

  • Mount Ararat– God sent the promise of no more destruction in a rainbow to Noah and his family.
  • Mount Horeb (Sinai)– God told Moses just how jealous he was, and instructed that he be the only God to whom the Hebrews bowed and worshiped.
  • Mount Carmel– God showed the 450 prophets of Baal who was the most powerful.
  • Mount Moriah (Mount Zion)– God commanded the full obedience and love of Abraham in the form of the sacrifice Isaac. But God provided Abraham with a ram, saving Isaac and showing just how deep God’s jealous love can run.
Many of us have had spiritual mountains in our lives.

They come in the form of trails and tribulations that have challenged our faith. We have to traverse these mountains, overcoming the hardship. When we reach the summit, we often see God revealed.

They come in the form of spiritual highs where we feel close to God, and valleys of trouble where we wonder if God is there at all.

They come in the form of moments when God reveals his jealous love for us, demanding our time and attention.

It’s these mountains– the small moments, that we often ignore or sweep to the side as insignificant, reducing them to molehills.

Let me give a couple of examples from my own life.

About two years ago I was able to take a tour of the Mormon Temple in Atlanta when it was open to the public for rededication. Obviously I am not Mormon, but I have been fascinated by the Mormon faith for as long as I can remember.

When I returned home that night, I dove into my Bible, hungry for the truths to dispel the lies that had been fed to me that day. That night I prayed that God would use my interest in the Mormon faith in a specific way– that he would show me how I could be involved in leading people away from Mormonism and Joseph Smith’s Jesus and to the true saving power of Jesus Christ.

I had a moment that night while I sat alone in my bed praying– a moment that has been seared into my mind and my heart. I felt the power of God. I heard him saying, “Yes, my child,” as I prayed for the opportunity to work with anti-Mormon missions. I have no idea how God is going to bring it about specifically in my life, but I know he will.

That was a mountain for me. When I’ve shared that story before, I’ve gotten mixed feedback, like many people don’t want to believe that God would speak to me about such a thing as Mormonism. But Mormons need the real Jesus, too, right?

So I will not reduce that moment to a molehill. It wasn’t. It was a mountaintop where God said, “I want all of my people to know my son.” I’m only a willing participant in that moment.

The second example I want to share has been happening a lot lately.

As I near the moment we expect to meet our third child, I haven’t been sleeping much. I’m having all the normal symptoms of a woman in her last month of pregnancy– trying to find a comfortable position to sleep is one of them.

I’ve been waking around 4 am every morning. I’m frustrated by that. I’m tired. I’m exhausted, really.

So I prayed about it and asked God to help me get some more sleep. You know what he said? He said NO.

Instead of tossing and turning and hoping for a couple more hours of sleep, I’ve felt compelled to get up and spend those wee morning hours with Him.

He is jealous for me. He wants my time and attention and he’s let me know. He’s fed me in those moments, given me rest through his word.

This is another mountain for me and I will not reduce it to a molehill.

God is jealous for us. He wants us– our whole hearts and our devotion. He won’t accept anything less.

So when he displays that jealousy at a mountaintop moment, don’t reduce it, cast it off, or ignore it. Take it for what it is– God’s unending love reaching for you.

Share with me: Do you have any mountains in your life where God has displayed his jealousy for you or for others?

Real Signature
Hey– are you expecting a new baby, too? Know someone who is? Check back on Thursday for an awesome giveaway!!

3 Comments

Filed under The Christian Walk, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

February 4, 2013 · 6:00 am

Luther’s Order– Make a Choice

broken_chain

Sin is a concept which has often held me captive.

I struggle with the fact that although I am saved through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, I can’t break free of the grip of sin.

Shouldn’t I be able to resist temptation? Shouldn’t I be able to choose right over wrong every.single.time? Shouldn’t I be able to take the following verses, hide them in my heart, and always, always follow the “way out”?

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. I Corinthians 10:13

How many times will God forgive me? Won’t he eventually get tired of my sin? Will he be so disappointed with His child that he will turn away from me? Will I ever be good enough for his grace? How can I look myself in the mirror and not see a dirty, sinful, waste of skin? Is that what God sees when He looks at me?

My favorite historical theologian, Martin Luther, also struggled with the concept of sin.

As a monk, he struggled with the same notion that I struggle with– that although we know better and strive to make the right choices for God, we fail.

As a failure to the flesh, Luther looked for every possible way to “work” himself free of the burden of sin. He followed every sacrament of the Church (he was a Catholic monk, after all) and attempted to submit to every requirement of grace that the Church presented. He even admitted to extreme fear of and anger at God, in whom he saw no possible way to achieve redemption. After all, to Luther, God judged all from a throne of righteousness that was so far out of the reach of humankind that nothing could save us except mercy, which the God he understood may or may not give.

It wasn’t until a fellow monk encouraged Luther to read the New Testament for himself that Luther discovered the path to freedom.

Within the New Testament, Luther found freedom in the blood of Christ. He realized that nothing, nothing, NOTHING else can free us from the bondage of sin except a belief that the Lamb of God was sacrificed on our behalf.

 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17

Luther discovered the truth that would underlie everything else that he would do, including taking on the Catholic Church for the incredible amount of hypocrisy and faithlessness he saw there– sparking the Protestant Reformation.

What Luther discovered is a simple truth– that nothing we DO can achieve grace. Nothing we DO can put us before a righteous God who will forgive. Nothing we DO will ever be good enough.

It’s all about justification by faith alone– that faith in the sacrifice of the Son is what provides our righteousness, our redemption, and grace from the God who sent his son to be tortured and die with the sin of the world on him.

When I sin, I fall short of the glory. When I sin, I separate myself from the holiness of God, yet Christ took my sin and freely justified me. All I have to do is believe it.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:22-24

When I feel unworthy, when I want to DO something to prove to God that I am truly sorry and want to turn from my sin, I have to remember that God already DID it for me.

I am free in Him through his son’s death on the cross. When he looks at me, he sees a child redeemed.

Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want. –Martin Luther

Share with me: What is the hardest part of being a Christian to you? What theological or Biblical ideas do you struggle with?

**If you’ve never seen the movie Luther starring Joseph Fiennes, I highly recommend it.

Real Signature

 

9 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 14, 2013 · 9:30 am

Going Beyond Forgiveness

grave hands

There’s a person in my life who makes me feel like I’m on a constant roller coaster.

I never know where I stand with her. Sometimes I think we’re friends and then she’ll let me know in no uncertain terms that we are not. Followed shortly by a bought of close “friendship.” Followed by me finding myself in the dog house. Followed by her friendship. Dog house. Friendship. Dog house. Vicious cycle.

I find the entire thing very difficult to bear, especially because I’m the innocent bystander. This person holds a grudge like I have never seen in my life, and has often complained to me about the wrongs done to her by others– wrongs she’s stated that she will never, ever forgive.

This person is a born-again, God fearing, Bible believing Christian. Who refuses to forgive.

I’m certain I’m on her list of “unforgivables” for at least one thing or two, and I don’t even know what I’ve done.

I’ve been reading through the book Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow and its brilliance has blinded me.

In the chapter on forgiveness, she points out that unforgiveness breeds the seeds of bitterness. She goes on to say that those who refuse to forgive will suffer, as per the parable Jesus told in Matthew 18:23-35 about the man who refused to forgive the debtor as the king forgave him, and he was sent to the torture chamber.

If we refuse to forgive, we will suffer the torture of our own bitterness, eating us up inside, destroying us from the inside out. Jesus told us so.

As I read through this chapter, I thought of my friend. But I also came to realize that I needed to forgive. I need to make sure I’ve forgiven her for all of the times she’s hurt me with the pendulum swings of her emotions and unforgiveness.

But I have to go beyond making the choice to forgive (and yes it is a choice, because we don’t often want to).

Linda poses this question in her book– what have you done to show that you’ve forgiven?

This question hit me square in the chest. It’s one thing to forgive someone within yourself. It’s an entirely other thing to make the choice to show, through action, that you’ve forgiven.

And this forgiveness should apply to everyone– your spouse, friends, family members, acquaintances, neighbors…

Some people think, “I’ll forgive, but I’m going to cut that person out of my life.”

But what of the example of Christ? How many times did the disciples disappoint him? When they fell asleep in the garden when he needed them. When he was betrayed. When they acted out of fear. Etc., etc., etc.

But Jesus always forgave. And beyond that, he showed them love. He didn’t cut the people who had wronged him from his life–just the opposite. Jesus reached out to those who had wronged him and chose to show love through his actions.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:9-10,14,18

This is what we are commanded to do.

Go beyond the forgiveness. Make a conscious choice to forgive, over and over and over with the same person if necessary, and make a choice to deliberately and intentionally show love through action.

This is how we grow in Christ, and this is how we truly mirror him and reflect the spirit within us.

Share with me: Can you think of a time when someone forgave you and went beyond the forgiveness to show you love?

Real Signature

3 Comments

Filed under The Christian Walk, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,