February 2007

I’m sitting here typing at my new computer – well some of the parts are new. Only a writer gets excited about computer parts for her birthday. :) My old computer had issues – if I had to shut down or we had a power failure, it didn’t want to start again. So my home computer guru (aka my oldest son) rebuilt it for me.

I’m also sitting here on a new desk chair. I say “on” because I’m using an exercise ball as a chair and trying to decide whether I like it or not. I’m not sure I’ve got it at the right height. It’s supposed to help with back issues. So far, I’m not sure I agree. But it may be the height adjustment. Shadow isn’t sure what to do with it either. He likes climbing on the back of my chair and there is no back!

In the midst of these computer changes, I’ve been doing research for a new project and it’s got me thinking a lot about false teachers and our need for discernment. The apostle Paul worried about his young son in the faith, Timothy, when he told him to guard what had been entrusted to him. He didn’t want Timothy to fall prey to false teachers.

There is so much teaching out there that is suspect these days. Everything from the ridiculous notion purported by the leader of Scientology that Tom Cruise is the messiah on par with Jesus Christ – to the more subtle teachings of a desire for experiential, extra-Biblical higher knowledge of God within the Christian church.

One thing I’ve noticed that these false teachings do have in common – they lead to bondage, not to freedom. Cults use tactics to enslave cult members and keep them loyal out of fear. Experiential feel good teachings hold people hostage with the need for more of the same or deeper feeling experience – as though the feeling itself is proof of closeness to God.

False teachers play up to a person’s pride, offering salvation by any means that will please that person – promising some form of godhood or power over their circumstances. Exactly opposite of what God Almighty teaches in His Word. True Biblical salvation comes through repentance of sin and surrender of our wills, our pride, our very lives to God through His Son Jesus Christ.

Cults and false teachers want surrender of life too, but there is one distinct difference between Jesus and false teachers. Jesus is the only one who gives eternal life and freedom from sin. Cults make their members feel guilty and shamed and keep them in bondage sometimes to the point of mass suicide. Jesus is the only one whose truth will make you free – on earth and eternally.

But even Christians can be seduced to believe things that aren’t in Scripture, especially if they don’t know the Scriptures well. So often we long for a feeling to draw us closer to the Lord we love. But the Bible says “we walk by faith not by sight.” And faith means we keep believing, keep trusting, keep persevering whether we feel God’s nearness or not.

If Jesus, in His darkest hour on the cross, could feel as though God had abandoned Him when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” then I might have times in my life when I feel as though God is not there as well.

But Jesus promised His children this – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Whether it feels like it or not.

So please be careful, be discerning, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. Error is everywhere and it’s sometimes hard to define. But one thing you can count on is that God’s Word is true. His truth will not lead you into bondage to fear, but He might ask you to trust Him even when the feelings aren’t there, even when you don’t understand. Don’t seek a deeper, feel good experience with Him. Seek to know Him by knowing His Word.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17

And I might add – thoroughly equipped to discern truth from error.

Recently, a friend shared a concern with me about a type of prayer that I had never heard of before – contemplative or centering prayer. When I come upon a new thing like this, I like to search it out. I’ve spent hours today researching the subject and its companion, the emergent church.

Contemplative prayer on the surface might sound like a way to bring us into closer communion with God. It uses a focus word and mantra-like chanting, emptying the mind of all thought and using the Scripture in quasi-meditative manner. But in reality, a way that the Bible warns us against.

Matthew 6:6-8 says, “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Contemplative prayer promoters quote this verse along with “Be still and know that I’m God,” as a motive for such prayer.

I understand the need for us to be quiet before the Lord, but I see our quiet as more of a need to stop talking, stop running around, and spend time with Him. It doesn’t say to stop thinking – it says to be still. And when we meditate, Psalm 1:1-2 tells us:

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.”

To meditate on the law day and night doesn’t leave any room for meditating on a word or a phrase or a breath or suggest that we should empty our mind of all thoughts. Such a thing moves us dangerously close to false teaching and mysticism. And if we read the verses that follow the one about praying in secret, we can see that Jesus admonishes His children not to use vain or meaningless repetitions as the heathen do.

“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.”

The heathen (contemplative prayer is linked to Buddhism and other Eastern religions), think they will be heard or find God in their mantras and chanting and peaceful feelings. Jesus said, “don’t be like them.”

We can have a close relationship with God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ without dabbling in any form of mysticism. Jesus’ shed blood on the cross opened the door to fellowship with Him. But that fellowship comes in the form of studying the Word to show ourselves approved unto God – and praying as He taught. Anything else is to stray from His truth. It’s simply not worth it.

Today is Valentine’s Day – as well as my birthday. The picture outside my window is a snowy wonder with white drifts across the backyard and the sun making the snow sparkle with glitter. If you look too long, the brightness makes you look away. But that hasn’t stopped Tiger from gazing at the scenery. Maybe cats can endure brighter lights than humankind. Then again, Tiger has never been all that smart. :)

I’ve received some nice birthday wishes so far today – good wishes for heart’s desires and dreams to come true this year. I like those kind of wishes. :)

But today, my heart’s desire is to spend time with the Lord – He is the one who fashioned this day to be my birthday, after all. I began last night reading Psalm 73 where I came upon this verse: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”

That last part stopped me short. Nothing on earth to desire besides the Lord? I can think of all kinds of things that I desire while I’m still on this earth. I want my sons to marry women who love the Lord. I desire that they live within easy driving distance so that I will get to see them and my grandchildren more than a few times a year. I desire to see everyone I love live to see the rapture. I long to see people I love come to faith in Christ. I’d like to see my publishing dreams come true. And so much more…

So I began a study on the word “desire” in Scripture. It’s interesting to note that there are good desires and bad desires. Not every desire of our hearts should be gratified. Some are greedy, lustful, and otherwise just plain sinful. And others are rather neutral – as in when the Lord told the Israelites in Deuteronomy that they may eat meat, whatever their hearts’ desire, or spend money in the same manner, once they had done as God commanded. Lastly, there are desires that truly honor the Lord, as the Psalmist did when he said, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

The bottom line is we need to check our hearts’ desires – make sure they aren’t just our own selfish ambitions. The heart is deceitful and can trip us up wanting things we shouldn’t have or maybe wanting things that are not best for the people we might desire them for. Like my desire to have my children live nearby – what if God calls them to missions overseas? If my heart’s desire is for the Lord, I will be willing to let them go because I will want His will above my own.

The same is true for those ever elusive publishing dreams. If I’m obedient to the Lord in the ways I know He wants me to be, and those desires are still there, well, then I should continue to pursue them – as with any dream. But the focus always needs to be Him – because maybe the dream is there to draw me closer to my Savior more than it is to see it come to fruition.

What about you? What dreams do you cling to – what desires do you hold dear?

“May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your purpose.” Psalm 20:4 (NKJV)

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” (Same verse NIV version.)

I might add – may all of our desires be His.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

A week and a half ago on Groundhog Day, I heard on the radio that the little guy didn’t see his shadow (or maybe he did see his shadow), but whatever it is he saw, it was supposed to mean spring was on the way rather than another however many weeks of winter. Hmm…methinks groundhogs don’t know much.

The scene outside my window today is rather blustery, and we’re supposed to get 3-6 inches or 5-8 inches or however many inches of snow tonight. Yesterday we got about two inches of white, powdery fluff that I managed to shovel without too much trouble. This new stuff also looks feathery light, but it’s cold and windy. Makes me glad to be inside and wishing all of my guys were not out in this stuff either. They even cancelled our Bible study tonight.

It figures that we couldn’t get by without winter making a big blast at some point or another. Our January here in Michigan was mild – warm in fact – at times in the high 40s! January is usually bitter cold and bleak. So I guessed (and rightly so) that we would get hit with it in February. Maybe I should apply for a job as a weather person…

Nah…

Despite the cold and snowy conditions, which might mess up my birthday plans tomorrow and will probably make for slow travel tonight, I must admit, snow does provide a rather pleasant scene. Sure we have to bundle up, but there is something peaceful about a wintry night when all is well in the house. Snow, like everything else in creation turns my thoughts to Eloihim – God, Mighty Creator.

Many people don’t like to think of God as Creator. They prefer evolution and all its ridiculous leaps in logic, because it allows them to be their own god and not have to worry about answering to anyone Greater than they are.

But anyone with eyes to see can tell just by looking at a wintry sky or a snow-capped mountain or a frozen lake or even a silly groundhog that these things didn’t happen by chance. They are the work of a Master Designer.

A Designer who knows everything, as opposed to groundhogs who know nothing!

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching (my birthday), love is in the air. (And snow in Michigan.) One young friend and her husband are celebrating their first anniversary today, and our pastor is teaching on the foundation for the home, which begins with marriage.

As he spoke, he talked at first to young people contemplating marriage or just starting out in marriage. And since my three adult sons were sitting beside me, I couldn’t help but think about their future spouses and how life will change once they walk down that aisle and say “I do.”

For me, that thought brings an interesting conundrum because when marriage happens for my sons, I will be thrust into the new role of mother-in-law. Despite an acute understanding of what Raymond’s mother (of Everybody Loves Raymond fame) might feel, I do not want to be that woman. I want to do the job right.

But what will that mean? I’ve been very involved in the lives of my boys – homeschooling kind of sets a mom up for that. But the Bible says to “a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife…” Leaving…watching them leave…that’s what’s hard.

I knew a woman with two daughters who couldn’t wait for them to turn 18 so they could move out. I could never understand her thinking. Why would anyone want to wish those precious years away? And 18 isn’t all that old from where I sit. I can’t even imagine thinking that way.

But there will come a day when another woman will take my place in the lives of each of my boys – and that day is fast approaching. And as long as she puts the Lord first in her life and loves my son, that’s a good thing.

I think sometimes the reason that moms have a hard time being good mothers-in-law is because of that word “leave”. They don’t want to be left without a purpose, and if their kids were their life or a huge part of it, well, when the kid leaves, he takes their purpose with them.

So what a mom needs to do, I think, is to find new purpose, new enjoyment in life that does not revolve around her children. She needs goals and dreams of her own. But more importantly, she needs to devote herself to praying for her children while at the same time letting them go on to live the lives they dream of living apart from her. That is not an easy task!

I always imagined the Lord returning before my kids were grown so I wouldn’t have to face such things. I know, I’m a coward. :) And it could still happen. :) But I have to plan as though it may not happen the way I’d hoped.

I also hope to still be needed by my kids once they’re married, but in a different way. I want to be remembered and thought of with appreciation. I want to be useful and a joy to my future daughters-in-law. I want to be included in shopping trips and surprises and baby-sitting my future grandchildren. And I want my sons to call me sometimes. (And when I start out to write a new book, I want my sons to let me bug them for a few days and help me brainstorm. I don’t know anyone who has helped me more with my stories than my boys.) :)

But I also have the privilege of still having my own marriage that will go on even after the boys leave home. I have dreams of traveling to various places with my dear husband and nurturing our love that began thirty years ago this May.

Marriage truly is God’s design, and I look forward to getting to know the girls God has planned for my boys. I want to love them like the daughters I never had. And turn my sons over into their care. All the while turning them both over to the only One who can keep them in love and in marriage for a lifetime.

You are offered a pill that will magically remove every extra pound you carry. Would you take it?

You are offered a new body cream that is guaranteed to make you shapely, toned, and tanned – the perfect youthful look without the effort. Would you use it?

Someone hands you a check for several million dollars – enough to live on without working for the rest of your life if you use it wisely. Would you accept it?

If we are honest, we will admit that we all desire the quick fix. It takes effort to go to work each day and to keep our body healthy and in shape. After a while the whole thing can become overwhelming. Hand over those pills and deposit that check. I’m game. :)

Yet this desire for the easy solution is nothing new. In fact, the desire itself is as old as dirt – literally.

Way back in the Garden of Eden, sometime after God made Adam and Eve, God placed certain restrictions on them. He told them they were free to eat from every tree in the garden except one. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I won’t go into the whole story here (you can read about it in Genesis 3), but what struck me as interesting today was that the devil (disguised as a snake) enticed Eve to eat from that tree with this phrase – “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

All she had to do was pick the fruit and eat it. Then “poof” – instant knowledge. But more importantly – instant God-likeness. She wouldn’t have to work for it at all. One bite and her eyes would be opened, she would have an altered state of consciousness, she would see as God sees.

The interesting thing is that no one has ever been able to resist that temptation. Everyone of us wants to be like God. This was Satan’s ultimate downfall – he wanted to take God’s place and be God. He figured mankind would want the same thing. None of us has ever been able to resist him.

But we want to be like God in all the wrong ways. We want His omniscience – His infinite knowledge. We want His omnipotence – His all powerfulness. We want His omnipresence – His ability to be everywhere at once. That’s what Satan wanted too.

That job is not available, nor will it ever be.

Yet God does want us to be like Him – in fact He promises believers that we will be like Him. Every day God works in the lives of believers to make them like His Son, Jesus Christ. How are we made like Him?

In character, in attitude, in love, in practice, and in thought.

If we truly want to be like God, here is a snapshot of what we will be like:

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!”

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Humility, love, and forgiveness – to name a few.

We will never be God, but we are privileged to be like Him if we will allow Him to shape us into His image. The process doesn’t come in pill form and it isn’t instant – on the contrary, it takes a lifetime.

“But when He appears, we will be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”