Grief for our Nation

Today's news made me grieve, and it made me angry.  The city of Albuquerque voted yesterday to keep allowing late term (after 20 weeks) abortions.  According to one individual who voted for the proposal, "Women have the right to choose what to do to their body." (http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131120/DAA66KB01.html)

I find it ludicrously ironic that  most of the other news I read tells me that I DO NOT have the right to choose what to do to my body.  I must feed it whole grains, exercise every day, visit the doctor and keep my cholesterol and weight down.  I must stay away from nicotine, trans fats, sugar, and secondhand smoke.  At every juncture someone, somewhere, is persistently telling me what to do and what not to do to my body.

And I grieve deep within my soul for people who are so aggressively determined to turn away from the God who created them and loves them and died for them.  I grieve for those who have believed Satan's lie that you are master of your own fate, that your desires and needs should be all you give attention to, and that life has no ultimate meaning.  May God have mercy on us.

Let us examine our ways and test them,
    and let us return to the Lord.

Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
    to God in heaven, and say:

“We have sinned and rebelled
    and you have not forgiven.

 “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
    you have slain without pity.

You have covered yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can get through.

You have made us scum and refuse
    among the nations.

“All our enemies have opened their mouths
    wide against us.

We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
    ruin and destruction.”

Streams of tears flow from my eyes
    because my people are destroyed.

My eyes will flow unceasingly,
    without relief,

until the Lord looks down
    from heaven and sees.

What I see brings grief to my soul
    because of all the women of my city.

(Lamentations 3:40-51)

Be Light

I found myself getting angry the other day, which really
doesn't happen very often.  In the midst of the anger, I bit my tongue and didn't say (thankfully!) the things that were racing through my mind to the person who had been the source of my anger.  When I was alone, I started talking to God.  "God, I know I shouldn't hold on to any anger, but right now, I'd like to be angry, just for a minute.  This person gets on my nerves and seems to enjoy pushing my buttons.  I don't want to be all sweetness and light around him!"

My anger vanished when God drew me up short with the immediate quiet voice.  "I never asked you to be all sweetness and light.  I only asked you to be light."

Dear Jesus, shine your light on me and erase the darkness still in my heart.  Then shine through me, to those who need You most.

Another Birthday Doesn't Scare Me!

This is an excerpt from Elisabeth Elliot, my favorite author/inspiration. It says exactly how I feel about having another birthday (yesterday I turned 57)!



I'm not the least bit bashful about telling my age. I'm glad for every birthday that comes, because it is the Lord, my faithful Guide, who "summoned the generations from the beginning." I look in the mirror and see the increasingly (and creasingly) visible proofs of the number of years, but I'm reconciled. Christ reconciles me to God and to God's wonderful plan. My life is his life. My years are his years. To me life is Christ, and death is nothing but gain. When I remember that, I really can't think of a thing I ought to be afraid of. I can't be sorry I'm a year older and nearer to absolute bliss.

I pray for you on your birthday, that your path, as is promised to the just man, will shine not less and less but more and more; that you will still bring forth fruit in old age; that the Lord will give you a thankful heart like the psalmist's who sang,

O God, thou hast taught me from boyhood,
all my life I have proclaimed thy marvellous works:
and now that I am old and my hairs are gray,
forsake me not, O God....
Songs of joy shall be on my lips;
I will sing thee psalms, because thou has redeemed me.
All day long my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness.


(Psalms 71:17, 18, 23, 24 NEB)

I Keep Forgetting....It's Not About Me

I borrowed this post from the blog of Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project.  These words cut me to the quick, so I just had to repost, for the sake of my memory if nothing else!  May you also be inspired and encouraged.  (By the way, if you are not familiar with Dr. Tackett's work, I highly recommend that you research and read more.  Here is the blog.)

With all that is going on around us, beware of getting caught up in your own little story. If you find yourself angry, frustrated, discouraged, disillusioned, disappointed, depressed, bitter, complaining, griping, whining (what have I left out?), it is most likely because you have written your own script and the people around you don’t seem to be following the parts you wrote for them. Read Isaiah 46:9-11 and Philippians 2:13-15—several times.  

Be quick to toss your script.

 It isn’t about us.

It’s all about Him and what He wants to do through you.

Let Nothing You Dismay!!

As part of our choir Christmas program this year, the men sang the first verse of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.”  During the dress rehearsal (which turned into a wonderful worship venue for me) the words “let nothing you dismay” reverberated within my heart in a particularly powerful way.  It’s really just a different way of saying “take courage,” or “fear not,” but I think God wanted to impress the message upon me with greater clarity.

I’m reminded of Joshua, who was commanded by God not to fear or be dismayed.  He certainly had plenty of opportunity to question God and God’s ways, but in faith he forged ahead through all kinds of challenging scenarios.  And God did not leave him hanging – victories were won, precarious situations were always resolved so that God was shown as both powerful and loving.  The Bible contains seventeen verses that specifically tell me to not be dismayed.  All of them follow that command with the reminder that God is with me.

Once again, another old hymn comes to mind.  “Be not dismayed whate’er betide, God will take care of you.  Within His arms of love abide.  God will take care of you.”

God is speaking to me and addressing my heart issues.  Satan wants me to find new reasons for discouragement all the time, and I am often an easy target.  Because Jesus has come into the world, there is no reason for dismay, or fear, or discouragement, or even disappointment.  It truly IS all good.
Lord, help me to remember your commandment: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9)

Mighty God Everlasting Father

Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

In the original Hebrew script of the Old Testament, there were no commas or any other punctuation.  So the translators have made their own best judgment in putting those details in.  Therefore, there could be commas between all of these items:  wonderful, counselor, mighty, God, everlasting, Father, Prince of Peace.  Or there could be no pauses at all – just one delightfully long run-on litany of praise and adoration.

I am especially in awe of  the contraposition of the phrases "Mighty God" and "Everlasting Father" in this text.   The late Bob Martin, Bible professor at Johnson University, captured this thought succinctly:   "He who is known cosmically and reverently as God is also to be known personally and lovingly as our Father in Heaven."

The very idea! -- Jesus is Mighty God, Creator of the universe, holder of all things in His hand and for His will and design;

maker of atoms and apples and ants, planets and puppies and platelets,
galaxies and guppies and gorillas,
stars and stalactites and the stratosphere,
volcanoes and violets and ultraviolet light,
waterfalls and walruses and whiskers,
rivers and rosebuds and rain, mountains and maple trees and magpies,
lilacs and lightning and lightning bugs –

this great and fearsome God of everything is also my very own Everlasting Father -- my comfort, shelter, refuge, rock, best friend, DADDY.  He hurts with me, laughs with me, loves a good joke, understands my frustrations, puts up with my tantrums, wipes away my tears in utmost sympathy and empathy, puts up with my endless complaining, guides and corrects my thoughts and actions, continually looking for the best things to give me and to pull out of me, takes pride in my very being... my Abba, my Jesus.  Oh!  What a wonderful thing to be His!