September 2009

To continue my thoughts of yesterday, Jesus knew who he was – God’s son, and by knowing that one thing, he also knew his mission. Several times in the New Testament Jesus uses the word “must” or as some translations put it “have to”. What was it he told his parents? “I must be about my Father’s business.”

In other places in Scripture, Jesus said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

And later, he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”

He knew his mission and he had a single-minded devotion to fulfilling that mission.

But what about us? What are we supposed to do with our lives?

Ephesians 2:10 says: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

If we know who we are – dearly loved children of God – then we are created new in Christ, we are God’s workmanship. He crafted us to be unique, with gifts and talents and good works He has already prepared for us to do.

In a broad sense, we could take that to mean we are to do good to everyone around us, and that would be a true statement. There are many verses that teach us how to live holy, godly lives, to be kind, compassionate, to bear each others burdens, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

And the great commission Jesus left with his disciples also tells us to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to do the things Jesus wants us to do.

But in a narrower sense, what if the gifts, talents, and good works God has prepared for us to do points to each of us uniquely, individually? Could it be that God has made us to do specific tasks, to pursue specific dreams, to creatively love and teach those around us in specific ways unique to us?

Paul was an apostle, a speaker, a writer, but he was also a tent maker. Dorcas was a seamstress who crafted beautiful robes and gave them to the poor. (Acts 9:36-41) Nympha played hostess to the church in her home. (Colossians 4:15) Luke was a physician and a writer.

Focusing for a moment on the two women in this group, I wonder…did Dorcas love to sew? Did Nympha love to entertain guests? Now I know the culture was different. But there were markets back then where you could likely purchase some ready-made clothes if you could afford them. Not everyone had the ability to create fine garments. And while we are all told to be hospitable, I would stress out every week if I had to entertain a whole church in my house! I can be hospitable, but my sister has the gift of hospitality, not me.

So often we think that following Jesus means pursuing a narrow set of rules with only a few options open to us of what we should be doing with our lives. I don’t think Jesus lived that way. His mission was to fulfill the Law’s requirements, to do all that his Father asked of him – to obey even to death. Our mission is to obey as well, even to death if it comes to that.

But along the way, before our life is over, God has created good works for us to do and made us uniquely qualified to do them. It is up to us to discover what they are as we walk in obedience to all He tells us.

What do you love to do? Can you use that passion to bless those around you, to show someone the way to Christ?

If we don’t know what we love, we have only to ask God to guide us. And then work with all our hearts to complete the tasks He gives.

Selah~

Our pastor talked about Jesus today and the one glimpse of his childhood we have recorded in Scripture. You can read the story here.

The passage talks about the time when Jesus was 12 years old and went to Jerusalem with his parents for Passover. After the Passover, his parents were with family and friends returning home. A full day had passed before they noticed Jesus was not among the group. This was possible because Jesus was at that age (12) where he could choose to stay with the women up ahead or fall back with the men bringing up the rear. He was a student of the Law now and had just entered official manhood. So it makes sense why Mary thought he was with Joseph and Joseph thought he was with Mary. When they couldn’t find him, they turned around and headed back to Jerusalem.

After a day’s journey away from the city and a day’s journey back, they spent one more day in Jerusalem searching. They found Jesus in the Temple courts listening to and speaking with the rabbis.

His parents were surprised to find him there and told him so. Jesus reminded them that they should not be surprised to find him in the Temple because this was his Father’s house and he had to be about his Father’s business.

Pastor pointed out that at 12 years old, Jesus knew who he was. Sometimes authors of fiction will assume that Jesus did not realize he was God during his childhood years. But by his response to his parents, Jesus made it very clear that his Father (in whose temple he stood) was God, and that as God’s son, he must do what his Father wanted him to do.

Now I realize Jesus as God would have a clearer view of himself and his future than we do in our limited humanness. But how many of us really, truly know who we are?

It’s an age-old question. Who am I?

And so often we give our occupations in answer.

“I’m an engineer, a teacher, a policeman, a senator, a hockey player, an actor, an executive, a janitor, a writer.”

Or we might say…

“I’m clever, handsome, wealthy, strong.”

But what happens if we end up jobless, poor, dull, weak? Does that change who we are? How do we see ourselves? Who or what defines us?

Jesus defined himself by his relationship to one person. His Father, God. And in that, he knew who he was and what he was sent here to do.

The Bible says of believers in Jesus: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12

And Ephesians 5:1 says: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.”

John 1:12-13 adds: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

Those who receive him, who believe in Jesus’ name are accepted into God’s family as His own “dearly loved children.”

So who are you? If you know Christ, you belong to God. And you are dearly loved. That’s what defines us.

And if we know who we are, then what we are to do becomes much easier to answer. We must be about our Father’s business.

More on that tomorrow…

Selah~

In a normal year – if you could count the past few years as normal – I would have gotten home last night from the annual ACFW Conference. But this was not my year to attend because of a wedding and a visit from our kids. The weekend was busy enough without the conference!

Randy picked up the boys very early Friday morning – about 5:30 a.m. I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go with him, but I woke up at 5:15 and couldn’t go back to sleep so I waited until they arrived about 6:30 and then gave hugs all around. After chasing down Tiger to stop hiding under the bed and come out to hug his “boys” the guys headed to bed. They hadn’t slept on the red-eye flight and with the 3-hour time difference, it still felt like the middle of the night to them. So around noon the house started to come to life.

Friday was a fun day with a mix of things to do. The guys picked up their tuxes (they were both standing up as groomsmen in the wedding) and at night we went out to Red Lobster together. They invited us to join them and their friends for a late movie to see the opening night viewing of The Informant. Good movie – made me laugh out loud several time – but we didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. and I’d been awake since 5:15 a.m. I don’t nap, so I was totally off kilter.

Saturday while Chris and Randy went off to golf for the groom’s bachelor party, Jeff ran errands with me and Ryan did homework. Saturday night they were all gone to more bachelor party stuff so I watched The Philadelphia Story by myself. I can see why people who live alone keep the TV on or play music. It helps. :)

The wedding was Sunday afternoon, and we all went and had a good time. I still felt like I was coming down with something late Saturday and early Sunday morning, and had a horrible headache on the way to the reception, so we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee with espresso. I think I have a caffeine addiction. :)

Today I cooked a nice meal at lunch time before we had to take Jeff and Chris back to the airport. And now they are in the air zinging their way back to the west coast. It was so good to have them home again, and yet I am happy for the new life that awaits them in California. Since we just saw them a month ago, perhaps that is why the visit was bittersweet – hellos are wonderful – goodbyes, not so much. Then again, this is all new to me, so maybe every visit will have this same feel.

But at the same time, I’m praying for grace to have a new attitude with all of these life changes – to be grateful for each moment together and learn to be content in all circumstances. I am finding it increasingly necessary to cling to the Lord every moment of the day. Maybe that’s what growing older is all about – learning just how much we need to depend on Him.

So the weekend was wonderful and a tad bittersweet. But we’re already looking forward to Christmas – and I’m already planning how to creatively love my family now that the miles separate us – how to enjoy the birthdays and holidays a bit differently – learning to live each moment with joy.

Selah~

I’m fighting a cold today. Not my favorite thing to do, especially since my guys are flying home tonight for a long weekend visit, and we have a wedding to attend on Sunday. (They’re groomsmen.) So I was popping herbs while I cleaned bathrooms and washed clothes and continued to read through my first draft of Bathsheba. Somehow I need to cut about 6k-7k words and I’m not sure where to find them. Could be one of those sentence by sentence edits, I’m afraid! But I must say, I am loving this story so much! Not because I wrote it – I truly hope that doesn’t sound self-satisfied! But because the story is one straight from Scripture. All I’m doing is imagining how it might have been. And I LOVE doing that! :)

I also started a new Bible study yesterday with a woman at my church whom I met on our trip to Israel – has it been nearly two years ago now? We both have a love a Scripture and she writes and teaches Bible studies – kind of like Beth Moore only she’s Sheryl, not Beth. The study is “Wilderness Wanderings” and I figured it would be appropriate because with all of the changes in my life this past year, well…sometimes I feel like I’m walking an unknown wilderness path. So I decided to give it a try.

I pulled out the lesson book today and read the Scripture Sheryl had recommended. The study took us to the Old Testament when the children of Israel had wandered in the desert and why they spent 40 years doing just that. The reason was unsettling. I had read it before, knew the reason in my memory, but to read it afresh made me pause.

Moses had sent 12 spies to check out Canaan, and when they returned, he asked for a report. They spoke of fertile land and showed off the size of the produce (grapes), but ten of them also spoke in fear of the inhabitants of the land. “The people are gigantic and the cities are fortified,” they said. And they worried the people until the whole crowd quaked in fear. Now if they had stopped there and given God their fears, things might have turned out differently. But they were a stubborn sort and resorted to what they’d been doing since Moses had led them out of Egypt.

They grumbled. And complained. And they bemoaned their plight and wished they’d never left the land of slavery. Can you imagine?

While they were grumbling, the last two spies tried to reason with them. “Sure there are giants, but if God is giving us this land, what are a few giants to Him? Let’s go and take what He’s promised to us!” (My paraphrase.) But the people would not listen.

So God responded.

Now most of the time when we pray, we want an answer, don’t we? Even when our prayers are really complaints about our circumstances, we want God to do something, to change whatever needs changing, to fix what’s broken. I don’t think the Israelites liked God’s answer because He had had enough of their grumbling. He’d put up with their whining since the day He had miraculously led them out of Egypt. And He told them in no uncertain terms enough was enough. They didn’t want the promised land? Then they would not see it. They would wander 40 years in the desert until their corpses littered the sand. Their children would inherit what they in their rebellion and unbelief had despised.

Unsettling. And the children of Israel thought so too. Like a child who suddenly realizes they have pushed a parent too far, they backpedaled and tried to change their mind. “Grumble? Us? We didn’t mean it, Lord. Honest! We’ll go and do as you said now.”

Been there? Boy, can I relate! How many times have I wanted to change my mind after I know I’ve pushed too far? How often have I wanted to give into my kids when they were small instead of following through on the consequences? Do we really expect God to do what He says – even if that means consequences we don’t want?

God is not a man that He should lie. And He doesn’t change and flip with the wind. And if you push Him too far, do not be surprised that He carries out just punishment. He who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” also said, “the soul that sins, it shall die.” He who said, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” God lays choices before us. If we choose not to follow, He’s not going to make us. If we choose to disobey what He tells us, He’s going to enact the penalty He promised.

Israel followed Moses out of Egypt, out of slavery, and had the chance and the choice to enter the promised land, but they blew it. And when they tried to look back, thinking their grumbling meant nothing, their rebellion and disbelief were of no consequence, they learned the hard way they were wrong.

And that got me to thinking…how many times do I complain to God about things He’s allowed in my life that I don’t like or understand? How many times do I grumble rather than praise, bemoan life’s ills rather than appreciate life’s good?

The reminder in Scripture caught me up short, and I quickly linked it back to where I’m at with Bathsheba. Even David, a man after God’s own heart, could not escape the consequences of his sinful actions. And neither can we.

God will forgive if we will come to Him and confess what we’ve done. But sometimes, despite all of our pleading and all of our best efforts, the consequences remain.

Selah~