How deep the Father's love for us!

I typically do not share the same information on both my blogs, but I feel compelled to do so today.

O, for a thousand tongues to sing . . . .                                 How deep the Father’s love for us . . .

              The love of God, how rich, how pure, how measureless and strong . . .

                                                                       Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saves . . .   

Psalm 56:9 says, This I know, God is for me.

 The “knowing” described here comes from a deep place within, not rooted in feelings or emotion, but in the proven promises of God, in His track record of keeping His promises. It comes by faith and that faith, a gift from God as well.

Have you ever been in a place of such grief and emotional sadness because life has been turned upside down for someone you love? My heart is broken for my friends, yet my words fall empty, my tongue cannot adequately express my love or my heartache. What grieves me most, however, is my inability, my inadequacy to express God’s love for them. To communicate in the midst of their pain that God weeps for them. He holds their tears in a bottle; His gentle eternal compassion covers them like a warm blanket in this cold, hard place. 

What a flawed plan, this plan of God, to give such a powerful message of love and compassion, of hope and eternity to earthen vessels such as myself. I keep coming back to verses about his strength is made perfect, complete, full in my weakness. Songs that extol his majesty and glory, his love and compassion, yet in my feeble attempt to comfort or encourage, it seems to fall on  ears made deaf by aching hearts.

What is my job, my calling in moments where those I love are hurting so deeply? What can I do? How can I love more deeply?  All I can do is pray and that seems, to this recovering performance junkie, not enough. Yet it is enough, because it is not up to me to give ears to ones heart, it is my place to speak and love and serve from the depths of God’s love and mercy for me, and pray the Holy Spirit does the rest.

Still, my heart breaks but this I know, God is love; Jesus came as the physical demonstration of His sacrificial love; it is a free and personal gift wrapped in this perfect package with my name, your name on it; ours for the taking, believing, accepting. 

Lord, give ears to hear.

How do we learn?

I Samuel 28:3-20

 Vs. 5 - When Saul saw the army of the Philistine, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him. 

Saul was caught by his own offenses- abandoned by God; seemingly out of options.

How do we learn? Some slower than others but most life change, reverse- boosting lessons are wrought in the struggle with consequences and circumstance. Saul saw his enemies circling the wagons. These are the same guys he needed David’s help with before; the same army that rendered him powerless but for divine intervention, a shepherd. He was afraid and had burned all his bridges and needed one he could rebuild quickly. His options:

®    David – not likely, he’s been trying to kill him

®    Samuel – dead

®    Mediums and wizards – banished

®    The Lord, God almighty- not answering him

 So he did what any reasonable person in power would do; he ordered help. He managed his circumstances. “Go find me a woman who is a medium.” (Vs 7)

I think this little section of scripture is ironic. Look at the extremes Saul goes to in order to protect his identify, manage perception. (Vs 8) He dresses in disguise; goes at night and takes only people he can control (these guys were on the payroll). Saul is blinded to the obvious; if she is a medium, she will reveal the truth. Wasn't that what he was after, truth and guidance? He asks for Samuel and as before Saul’s heart and identity are revealed.  Samuel speaks the truth he had told him before, you have lost the kingdom because you disobeyed God, but he added, “Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me.” Dead.  Where was Samuel? Wherever that place was, Saul and his sons would be there in about 24 hours.

Look at God’s grace! Saul was a royal screw-up. He was stuck in a powerless cycle and chose not to get out of it. He had the tools. He picked every resource available but the one that could truly help. The step that required him to admit, confess and humble out before a righteous, just God. Saul wanted his power and position back and now added to his wish list, life not death.

Repentance and surrender may not have changed his circumstance- the consequences of his action but it would have given him what he truly longed for, peace. The peace that only comes through humility and surrender, the peace that only comes when we admit we are powerless. Saul had tried to manipulate and bully his way through his circumstance and like quicksand, only got more stuck. The rescuer must be a power from outside, bigger than us.

Read I Samuel 28: 3-20

Write down the word or phrase that sticks out or identify the character you connect with the most.

Read the passage again. What emotions rise up in you? Do not minimize them or run from them. Write them down.

Read the passage a third time. What’s your take away? What is God inviting you to hear from him? God’s voice is never condemning or belittling. He’s words will come in love and grace. If you hear condemnation, pray for ears to hear. God is loving, even in his correction. Listen closely for his heart for you.

Amazing Love, How can it be?

This book- God’s word, is his story that demonstrates his character and love, his heart to protect, provide, encourage, lead, direct, engage.  It is hard, often to understand the cultural dynamics of the Old Testament. This is a several thousand years old history of a culture foreign to our own. Sometimes we get caught up in what seems unfair to us, culturally and overlook God’s purpose and his heart.

Israel was God chosen nation. Israel is his chose nation. Their father, Abraham was NOT a man of faith in God UNTIL God engage him. He believed God and was accepted by God as righteous. He was accepted because he believed God’s words to him, from that belief, Abraham moves forward in obedience. In essence he did as God instructed and lead him. Israel was not a nation- God made them a nation and gave them a land with conditions, keeping his promise to Abraham. The Old Testament reveals the character of God and His ability and heart to keep His promises to His people. The Old Testament is a historical love story. God loves, God promises, God protects, Gods is righteous and just – the very character of God is laid open in this inspired historical record.

Watch for it as you read it. It is beautiful and often brutal. The good guys do not always come away untouched. There are consequences for choices. The justice of God goes both ways.  This is not a fairytale where the magic genie makes everything perfect. It is a real account of real people who made real choices. It is the account of a real God and how he interacts with real people.

Look for his provision and protection. Take notice of His character.  It is fundamental to the relationship He longs to have with you, so fundamental He wrote it down and it has remained for thousands of years unchanged.

Fundamental to one’s understanding of God is his unalterable character. God is the same, yesterday today, and forever. In a world where everything changes rapidly and frequently, this concept of eternal consistency is difficult to comprehend, but how comforting to know something the same stays; someone can be counted on. As God wooed and approached Abraham, He comes to each of us; longing to bring us into relationship; exampled in many lives like Moses, David, Noah, Abigail, Joshua and countless others. The connecting thread has not changed; God loves, God made a way to bridge the gap from us to him; God opens our eyes to accept His loving provision and in faith He moves us forward. It all flows from Him. Our provision, His ultimate demonstration of love and provision is the sacrificial gift of his only son, Jesus Christ; the perfect sacrifice, acceptable to a righteous unchanging God. He made the way. He loves so much – He has done the work- believe. The eyes to see, He has given you if you will accept the gift; this amazing gift of faith through God’s provision, His son. What Jesus did on the Cross, dying, out of love for his Father and sinful man, rising from the dead, because God brings the ultimate, eternal victory over death, and now seated by His Father, working on behalf of those who believe in His provision, His work, His way.

Amazing Love, How can it be?

If you would like to talk with me about this God of love, please email me at ebenezersofgrace@gmail.com

Play your position . . .

Since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and taking vengeance with your own hand . . . I Samuel 25:26

God was protecting David from guilt, grief and shame, “pangs of conscience”, should he have chosen to take matters into his own hands.

My paraphrase. ..  Abigail is speaking (Vs 29), If anyone come against you, in this protection of God, God will deal with them and you (David) will be protected and found alive. I think it is interesting that it does not say he will not have to do battle, or that he will not be hurt, it says he will be found alive.

God has your back, David in this midst of this attack and slander, this situation you find yourself in. He will take care of your enemies. Let God be God. Do not take God’s job on yourself. Taking care of your enemies is God’s job. Stay in the bubble of protection.

I recently watched a Warehouse 13 episode where the warehouse was under attack and the regents had put a dome in place to protect it, a force field, invisible, of course. It kept the world safe from the artifacts within the warehouse but it also held whoever was in the warehouse captive, not allowing them to escape. Four of the main characters were trapped inside the warehouse with a nuclear bomb that had been activated. One character, the brilliant H.G.Wells, made a way by creating an interior force field but it had to be activated from outside it. Three could be saved; she had to be sacrificed, by her choice.

As I read this passage this morning, it reminded me of that episode. God’s protection in I Samuel 25:23-44 was both from without and within. He protected David from his enemy Nabal and he protected David from his own actions. David wanted to take Nabal out and make him pay for his offense and was fully prepared to do so, but God intervened in an unusual way. Abigail was Nabal’s wife and understood four things well. 

               1. Her husband was an idiot 

               2. God was with David. 

               3. Vengeance was God’s job. 

               4. There would be consequence for David should he take matters in his own hands.

Abigail spoke in humility and strength to the anointed “future” king but she spoke truth and David listened and stood down. Later we see that God took care of Nabal in two ways.  

               1. He took the joy of his evil away and 

               2. He took his life.  

Certainly David could have accomplished the latter on his own, but the heart work, the emotional victory could only be accomplished by God.

How does this passage speak to you? Are there places you are taking on jobs that belong to the Lord? That battle within you, is it God’s protection, his intervention from personal emotional harm?

Read 1 Samuel 25:23-44:

Listen for the word or phrase that sticks out to you? Write it down.

Read the passage again. This time pay attention to the emotion this brings up in you.  Sometimes, in passages like this one, I will see which character I relate with and put myself in the account. What do I feel, where am I standing, what is around me. Again, write it down.

Read the passage a third time and be still; listen for God to speak. What is God saying to you? To what is he inviting you? What is the invitation for you? Write it down as if God is addressing you. Vick,. .. .

A+B=C or does it?

Over a year ago, I returned to college for my degree in phychology. Currently I am enrolled in my second algebra class and since I never had high school algebra, I am learning and building on the fundamentals.  I am an infant in algebra. My foundational skills are just being set.

Sunday night at The Gathering, our bible study group, Jon used a fundamental algebraic expression as an example for maturity in Psalms 44.

A+B=C.  As we grow and mature in Christ, we build on the fundamental of our faith. Like Israel, we learn the character of God in some ways by applying this expression.  IF “A” is added to “B” then “C” will be the result. We learn about relationship with God in these terms because it is foundational to growing our faith in God. If we A and B then God will C. OR if God C’s and we B then A will be the result.  Israel counted on this cause and effect relationship.  Look at their time in the wilderness. God drilled this into them so they could come to trust his character and more importantly develop relationship.  Psalm 44 is an emotion producing passage.  Read it and see for yourself. What emotion does it bring up in you? I was numb. I was overwhelmed by the depths of despair expressed by the Psalmist;  followed by confusion and frustration. They had the fundamentals, A+B=C, they were operating from that place and now A+B doe not equal C.  Why would this not be true? What had they done? Why was God not playing fair? I think many of us remain stuck here and blame God for our circumstance or at least for not removing them. Many of us stay frozen in this place of basic algebra, never growing to expressions that are more complex and never fully experiencing God, as he desires.

God is God and as my oldest Grandson Noah say, “God is good all the time!” God’s goodness is often expressed in NOT removing difficult circumstances because he is growing us beyond basic algebra. God’s plan is and has always been relationship and fellowship, and for that to occur, we must grow in spiritual maturity, beyond the fundamentals. Jon further taught, our perspective needs to change on our circumstances. Instead of asking God to remove them and being stuck there, as we grow, we need to ask him to sustain us and grow us IN the circumstances. We need to begin to Notice God in the process and trust in his steadfast love for us. Look at how Psalm 44 ends.

Cory Ten Boon’s sister Betsy said this while dying in a German concentration camp, “No pit is so deep that God is not deeper still.”  As Noah says, “God is good all the time!” There are lessons to be learned in the circumstance. Look for God. His steadfast love never leaves or forsakes us.

Read Psalm 44.

              What word or phrase sticks out?  Write it down.

Read Psalm 44 again.

              What emotion rises up in you? Write it down in detail. Spend some time here.

Read it a third time.

              Listen for the Holy Spirit to speak/teach you here. What is your invitation from God? Write it         down. I               often write it as if God were speaking to me. For example, Vicki, I ……

Ephesians 6:1-9 may be my LEAST favorite passage of scripture. Because both of my parents are home with the Lord, the part about honoring your parents haunts me. Did I do all I could to honor my father, particularly after mom died? Probably not and for that, I am saddened, but forgiven. My dad was a difficult man to please and most of his words were critical.  As an adult, I could finish his critical comments often before he even uttered them. Though I do not believe it was my father’s intention to hurt me, he did.  There was always tension in that very vital relationship and it colored all other authoritarian relationships. Nevertheless, I did not take very good care of him after he moved back to Arkansas. I did not honor him as unto the Lord, with a sincere heart as unto the Lord.

The second half of these scriptures is about work relationships or perhaps community relationships. Any place there is authority in my life and I am not it. (Which are most places) Jon pointed out that according to this passage there are three way to responds in relationships exampled here, parent/child, slave/master and the reciprocal relationship of master/slave.

1.       Obey – Act on what you have been told to do, what you know to do and then to it

2.       Honor –To defer to another out of respect for position or age

3.       Serve- With a sincere heart not as unto man, as people pleasers, but unto Christ

He posed a question that poked me in a sore spot in my relationship with authority.  How, he asked, is your struggle with current authority connected to unfinished business from previous authority, specifically parental authority (for me).

The words that followed were, where might God be working there, exposing a place that needs to be surrendered?  Ouch!

This morning as I reflected on this passage, I asked the question, if I honor, obey, and serve from a place of sincerity, what would change in my work environment, community, and school? How would it look different? What needs to change?

 

Be grateful – develop an attitude of gratitude (God inhabits my praise so when I praise him I see him more clearly.)

Keep a balanced perspective – do not make work, school, or community more important than my relationship with God.

Do my best – as until the Lord not in perfectionism, which is self focused.

Be a good steward- of the resources of time, materials, and gifts.

Honor the authority- instead of gossiping about it and/or developing resentments.

Love people- because Christ died for them

Give grace – model Christ, speaking the truth in love not pride.

 

In relationship with Christ, I must do the same, obey, honor and serve; do what I know I have been told, defer to his authority and serve from a sincere heart for him, not man.

There was so much more in last night's teaching but this is where I landed. I'd love to hear what God spoke into your life. If you would rather not post here, you have my email.
Blessings,
Vicki

 

Ebb and Flow: Rhythms of Waiting

Waiting for God to reveal his direction is like watching the waves reach the shore. BIG MOVEMENTS, smaller movement, some sideways and crossing, but in the end, you find yourself standing in the tide, surprised somehow by the waves kissing your feet. You run to preserve what had been ill prepared, though you watched carefully the movement towards you. Surprised . . . why? Yet it was for this movement, this direction you had longed and pleaded for, as you hearts desire. There is an example in the movie Facing the Giants that demonstrates this well. Two farmers in the midst of a drought, plead with God for mercy in the form of rain. One farmer continues to till and work the soil, planting as if. The other waiting idle for God. The question is "Which farmer believed God?" The admonition, "Prepare for rain."

Ephesians 5; in the behavioral side of the book says, Be imitators of Christ and verse 16 continues the "how" part with "making the best of your time" and then verse 21"  . .submitting to one another our of reverence for Christ."  Jon Byron taught Ephesians 5:21-33 on Sunday night at The Gathering, about submission, the position, the paradigm, the practice.  The paradigm shift is provided in the example given by Christ. The willingness to come under authority of another by choice, to lay down my own agenda for the agenda of another. Coming under, by choice, the headship of Christ in all relationships, not only for the sake of the horizontal relationship, but primarily because of the vertical one with Christ.

That often means waiting, as Jesus did for his Father's will, demonstrated repeatedly in the Gospels. He deferred to his Father's will, his Father's timing, his Father's purpose.

Are there dreams, requests, desires, expressed or repressed you have abandoned because God appears to be motionless? Go spend a day observing the movements of the Ocean and prepare for the tide to reach the shore. Be imitators of Christ in the waiting.


This blog was also posted here:
http://recovery-today.blogspot.com/

Eager?

There are people who seem to be fingernails on the chalkboard of my life. I hear the Holy Spirit saying, when  they enter my "space", to love them and give grace. There is no "eagerness" there  for me and more  often than not I avoid them or removed them from my life. I think this might be a perfect example of the opposite of this passage and frankly the three previous chapters in Ephesians.


Here's what I gleaned this morning after reading Ephesians 4:1-16, actually I did not get past verse 8.

I am rarely "eager" to maintain unity. Most of the time the opposite is true, I want justice and vindication at all cost. I want to be right and I want to be heard. I  believe that flies in the face of "eager for unity". This is my flesh rising up, certainly not the life Paul is describing.

The words that preface this "eagerness" are. . .                                                                                            
              Walk in a manner worthy of the calling                                                                                          
               Humility, gentleness and bearing one another in love.

As believers we are all called. Paul has laid that foundation in the previous chapters. The evidence of the calling is walking is an attitude of humility, gentleness, love.  It looks like "eagerness for unity" is a by-product of the transformed life, surrendered to Christ, living in the full measure of God's gift of grace.  There is choice in that life and the choice seems to be either,  live self-focused or Christ focused.

My food for thought today:      

                   What am I eager for?  
                   What does my calling, my walk reflect in relationships that are challenging? 


Since I was not at The Gathering on Sunday, I would love anyone who was there to fill in the blanks for me. I would love to know what you heard from God.

Peace of Christ be with you.

Fablous Facade

There is a wonderful water feature by our bedroom patio. It's sound is sweet and gentle as the water moves in measured quantity over the edges of a sizable, hand-picked boulder.  The pond itself appears shallow and small. The plants and accent rocks, place with care, bring attention to the star of the show . . . the water.

What is unseen is the mechanism that makes this feature work; the structure that supports it's workings. The pond is not shallow and under the layer of small rock, beneath the boulder is a cavity of concreted framework that supports it. The hole is precisely dug; drain tiles and hoses keep the water circulating and clean. A pump is hidden in the corner, providing the power for the movement of the water. If the water does not move, the biological filter does not work and the pond is silent. The water does the work, powered by a hidden source.

The Container, its Capacity and Content make it's Conveyance a work of art.

Ephesians 3:14-21  As Jon shared, is a crescendo to the previous framework Paul has been building. This passage is purposeful, laced with inspired phrases like "for this reason", "so that", "so that you may". Paul uses tangible and tactile words for those of us who struggle with "feeling". Words like strength, dwell, rooted and grounded, breath, length, height and depth, in reference to comprehending God's available, limitless love.

Unlike the "Mike-made" water feature, our Container; what we are becoming is crafted by God, with love and care, specific to us and his loving purpose for each of us.

It's Capacity needs to be filled with the reflection of it's filler; strong and elastic for growth and movement. This is God's work in a surrendered spirit, yielded to his filling, not the fruitless work of an impostor, a counterfeit god.

It's Content is the dwelling place, the created place intended for Christ alone. A place rooted and ground in his love, filled and refilling, circulating but not with used water, but fresh, renewed, clean and life-giving.

Finally, it's Conveyance is abundant, overflowing, beyond what we can ask, think or dream. Jon used a word picture of a bridge. Everywhere in this country you see a bridge, the road would have stopped had someone not dared to dream it could go further. As believers, God is that bridge always allowing us to move forward; every desirous to fill us to capacity with ALL the fullness of himself and all that means.

"What are you becoming?" 

For this reason...

I tried to post this yesterday but the Lord prevented me. I think partly because I needed to continue beyond words and look deeper at my own heart.

Paul lived  a surrendered life.  He remained in that place of surrender and it was from there he wrote and ministered. He could be who he was called to be, "do" ministry from wherever he was because he lived surrendered fully to the person of Christ.

On Sunday at The Gathering, Jon Byron continued in Ephesians 3-1-13. He highlighted three manifestation of Grace.

            1. Grace was manifested in a ministry received
            2. Grace was manifested in a mystery revealed
            3. Grace was manifested in the mission accomplished

Paul was surrendered fully to the plan of Christ because he was completely surrendered to the person of Christ. It was from this place, this humbled out place he was able to "count it all joy"; to see his sufferings as the Gentile's glory - for a greater good.  He focused constantly on the person of Christ and that changed his perspective on his location and his hardship. He kept the eyes of his heart lazor beamed on the change Christ had accomplished in him; from murderous zealot to gentle gracious servant/slave. (Jon spent some time in the words servant and slave and how Christ used those words in his ministry. The main difference is ownership, servant from a place of choice, slave by nature of ownership).  This focus afforded Paul a different view; he did not see through the world's fun house mirror, instead he saw life through the magnifying glass of Christ.

Paul was in prison while writing this letter to Ephesus, but he took the circumstances of his life in stride; the hardship that came along with a Roman dungeon; the lack of freedom and the basic comforts of life because these were not his focus. Christ in him was his hope and he fully placed his unwavering trust in the person who had so completely transformed him. It was because Paul recognized his weaknesses, his sin, his shortcoming and failures that he understood the grace he so personally speaks of in this passage.

The key to understanding and living in the grace of God, given to each believer is the ability to accept it. In order to accept it, one must understand the depth of their own sin and what it cost to reconcile their damaged relationship with God. My son is working with a personal trainer and recently I asked him why this experience has really changed how he views his health.  His response was that it was expensive and because he had invested in the process, he could not afford not to pay attention. This was not the answer I expected to receive from him. But the same is true for living in this grace place Paul speaks from, this place of surrender. He knew who he was and from what he was redeemed and understood what it cost of the one who paid the price for him.

This changed his focus, it was the driving force of the ministry to which he was called, it affected all his relationships and colored all his conversations. Grace received cannot be held. Grace received must be given.  In order to receive grace, full surrender must change ones focus and circumstances become the vehicle from which grace can be given.

Lord,shut out the world as I live in it

hearing only it's muffled tones, 

Listening only for your mercy

Focused in on you alone.

Drown the call of all it's pleasure,

cover it with just your voice,

Calling me in boundless measure;

Calling me to make the choice.

Choices that were made at Calvary

When you chose to rescue me.

Let me see in unmarred measure

All that you have done for me.

Move me past this earthen vessel

Move me past this earth's strong pull.

Help me Lord, your grace sufficient.

Help me live for you alone.

Perception versus reality

Ephesians 2:11-22

As I read this passage during last week, the thought was, "amazing God" and I was touched by the depth of his love for me.  Sunday night as Jon Byron opened this passage my exiting thoughts were " I do not know how to live this truth out in "hostile" relationships.  I have a few.  How do I live out
Inclusion and intimacy
Peace and reconciliation
Unity and supportive relationship

These are the three ideas Jon spoke about. The place of my deepest hurts and places where there is restlessness within me.

This morning as I reflected on this passage again with new revelation and clarity, I asked God to show me how this plays out practically in my life.

Gods reality is this truth. Positionally the work is finished, inclusion, intimacy, peace instead of hostility, and unity they all exist, they ARE. What must change is my perception, my reality needs to match truth. If hostility exists in relationships within me is the ability to let the wall down and live in peace. I can extend peace and grace because of what Christ has already done. I have grace and I can give grace. Tensions may still be present but it does not have to stop me from giving grace and peace.
Satan wants me in silos of anger, boxed in by my emotion and hurt. My flesh wants resolution and justice, but God wants me to extent grace and peace. It's a choice, I can either live in my own reality which is hostile or accept and live in God reality, truth, and live in peace, extending grace and demonstrating the unity  for which he died.....in order that the world might see Him lived out in me.