MondayMoments...Rejection and Truth

"..be content with what you have for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5

So much truth hit me tonight...hard.  My small group and I are studying Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself, and tonight's video was all about REJECTION.  Not a fun topic, but a necessary one.  (If you've never done Living Beyond Yourself [this is actually my 3rd time!!] or if you've never ever done a Beth Moore Bible study, please don't hesitate and go! Do! You won't regret it!!!)

One truth that hit me straight to the center of my heart was that God never rejects us.  Let me say that again, GOD NEVER REJECTS US!  I didn't realize until tonight that I've been believing the falsehood that He does.  I have felt rejected by God.  Why?  Oh, because He hasn't answered my prayers or answered them in the way I wanted Him to, because hardships continue to following me like stray dogs, because I don't always get what I want, because the love I give out to others isn't reciprocated or appreciated, because I feel my efforts are in vain and not rewarded, because physical suffering has come upon me and I did nothing to deserve it, because I've felt alone and unwanted, etc., etc., etc.

Can anyone relate?  I have had such a long list of disappointments that I've not just been blaming God for them, but I've also been feeling rejected by Him.  Why else would I have such a list, right? Wrong.

God never leaves us or forsakes us (Heb.13:5).  Never.  He sacrificed His own Son--rejected Him!--so that you and I would never be rejected.  Why?  Because He chose us to be His own.  He loves us that much.  So, though I may feel rejected because of all my disappointments, God isn't rejecting me, He's loving me.  He's loving me enough to allow things in my life to bring me to see my need for Him.  He's loving me enough to allow disappointments to bring me to His appointed purpose.  He's loving me, not rejecting me.  And He's doing the same for you.

Truth is so freeing...I'm free to value the unfailing love of God by being thankful for the failing love of man.  I'm free to love deeply at the risk of rejection because even if my love is rejected by man, it is received by God.  I'm free to be content with what I have even if what I have is a long list of disappointments.  I'm free to fully accept God's love.
I am free.

SaturdayMorningMeDiTaTioNs...A Solid Wall of Faith

"So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart."

~Nehemiah 4:6

Nehemiah 4 offers us an amazing illustration of faith.  There was great ridicule of and opposition to the rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem.  But under the leadership and encouragement of Nehemiah, the people continued to build.  The people remained faithful even when the Ammonites, the Arabs, the men of Ashdod, Sanballat, and Tobiah plotted and threatened to fight against Jerusalem (v.7-9) and even when the strength of the laborers were giving out and there was so much rubble that they felt they could not rebuild the wall (vs. 10).  They remained.  They remembered the Lord, who is great and awesome (v.14).  They went back to work.  They were prepared to fight, if necessary, and they relied on God to fight for them (v.20-23).

Walking in faith, in the Spirit, is like that wall.  There will be great opposition to your faithful, spirit-led lifestyle.  There will be many who will ridicule, scoff, and laugh at it.  There will be those who will look for the exposed places to attack (vs.13).  There will be times when you feel your strength is giving out because living by the Spirit takes unnatural intention.  There will be times when you feel like you're not getting anywhere.  And there will be times when you'll have to stand guard and be prepared to defend your faith.

So why would one choose to live by faith and by the Spirit?  Because the Lord is great and
awesome(v.14), because God will fight for us(v.20), and because He will give us success (Nehemiah 2:20).

Isn't it reassuring we don't have to live this life on our own?  We have the power of the Spirit, the presence of God, and the eternal hope and life of Jesus Christ.  We are never alone.  We can have the confidence that when we choose to live by faith and by the Spirit, we belong to God (see Romans 8:14-17) and will receive all that has been promised.

"But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope."

~Galatians 5:5

Go forward, then, with the power of the Holy Spirit filling you and strengthening you to keep building and defending your wall of faith built on the Rock, our Cornerstone.  It will be worth it.

WorshipFULLWednesday...O For Grace by Brady Toops

" God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.  

So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins."

~Ephesians 1:5-7

As you lay your head down tonight on your pillow, rest knowing you have a heavenly Father who cares about your every breath, your every tear, your every heart beat.  He is your strength.  He is your help.  He is so rich in kindness and grace.  He is your answer.  

THaNksGiviNG Thursday...A Challenge of Ungrateful Gratefulness

"I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."

~Psalm 9:1 ESV

I'm challenging myself for the remainder of this month to be more thoughtful in giving thanks to God.  My challenge isn't just to give thanks for His obvious wonderful deeds, which is indeed something I need to work on; rather, my challenge is to give thanks for the less obvious wonderful deeds.

In other words, for the next 19 days I'm going to thank God for the very things I would be UNgrateful for.  That's right!  I'm going to thank God for the frizzy hair, the prominent pimple, the slow driver in front of me, the argumentative middle schooler, the pressing parent, the cold coffee, the burnt toast, and the ripped pants.  I'm going to thank Him for the stresses, the sicknesses, the heartaches, the waiting, the loneliness, the longing; and I'm going to thank God for the missed opportunities, the forgetfulness, and the fiascos. Any ungratefulness will become my gratefulness for the remaining days of this month.

I realize I'm opening a massive door of opportunity for God to test me.  A lot of circumstances of ungrateful proportions could be coming my way after stating such a challenge.  Here's the thing, though...if I'm not willing to turn an ungrateful thing into a grateful one, then I'm not willing to fully trust God.

I want (and need) to fully trust God because every step I take, I want to take in the right direction.  I'm totally willing to be tested and be refined by the fire so that my faith is genuine and so that God receives the glory (see 1 Peter 1:6-7).  I pray that you, too, are willing to take this challenge...er...step of faith with me.  If anything, wouldn't it be amazing to no longer have anything to be ungrateful for?

Testimony Tuesday...Struggle+Praise=JOY

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

~James 1:2-4

When you're going through a difficulty, trouble, or struggle, what is your first response?  To praise God??!  Um...hmm...that's most likely my last response.  My first response typically is to complain about it and chew on the taste of that complaint until the flavor runs out.  

A couple of months ago, God was teaching me to praise Him as my first response to a struggle, and God, of course, was testing me to see if I was learning what He was teaching.  He tested me, though, in a way that wasn't directly about my own personal struggle.  He wanted me to pass on my knowledge of praising Him to one of my sweet seventh graders, who was the very definition of struggle ever since I met her last year.

This young lady has many challenges academically. She has to work ten times harder than other students her age.  Her brain doesn't make the normal synapse connections, and so learning, remembering, and applying concepts is especially difficult.  This year, however, she has put forth tremendous effort and with the help of a very supportive family, she has made great progress as a student.  Unsatisfactorily, she still doesn't always make the grade she would like to.

One afternoon, I was tutoring this young lady, and she just wasn't getting the concept.  She gave me a look of defeat that I had seen so many times before.  I gazed into her sad eyes and asked her if she wanted to pray.  She said, "Yes."  I told her that we have prayed together before to ask God for His help but we never prayed to praise Him for the struggle she was having. 

"Would you like to praise Him for your struggle?" I asked as I thought about the lessons God had been teaching me.

"Yes," she said, "I would like to praise Him."

"Oh!" I replied with surprise. "Okay, then.  Let's pray and praise God for struggles!" I smiled big at her, and she mirrored back a big smile.  Then we bowed our heads and praised God.

The rest of our tutoring session that afternoon went smoothly.  Joy took over both of our hearts.  We actually chuckled after the prayer because if you think about it, it is pretty funny to thank and praise God for struggle.  What a silly thing to do!

I loved having that moment with my student.  I loved that God entrusted me to share new knowledge with her that I had gained from Him.  I loved that I saw her learning something about faith at age 13 that I didn't learn until age (eek!) 36.  I loved seeing the joy in her face and the peace in her demeanor as we continued our session.  I loved even more what God did for her the very next day and then again two days later...

The very next day, I received an email from my student's history teacher saying she got the highest grade on the test out of the whole class.  The history teacher was beside himself and just couldn't resist sharing the astounding news!  Her grade? A 97.  Not that grades can and should really put value on us, but for this student, this was everything!  Prior to this grade, she had been receiving grades well under 97.  

Two days later, she received her science test back from her science teacher.  The grade?  A 100!!!!!!!!!!  So amazing was this, that the science teacher had her phone ready and recorded the event!  My seventh grade student burst into tears of utter joy, and even now, tears fill my eyes as I think about the feeling she must have had in receiving that grade.  What better way for God to validate her prayer of praise and all of her hard work!

Since that time, my student has been continuing to struggle and continuing to praise God and work hard.  She was one point (ONE POINT!!) away from Honor Roll last quarter.  So amazing!  The next quarter ends this Friday, and I am waiting with bated breath to see if she makes Honor Roll.  Whether she does or not, I know she will continue to praise God because she's the kind of girl who may struggle academically, but when it comes to faith, she struggles not.  Wow...I still have so much to learn from my students!

WorshipFULLWednesday...Watch the Lamb

I can't go through this Lenten season without thinking of this song and thinking of my mom.  If she was driving my sister and me to piano practice or if she was making dinner and this song came on the radio, she would always grow intensely still and deeply silent.  Then, without fail, a tear or two would roll down her cheek.

My sister and I would be intensely still and deeply silent, too, but for a different reason.  We would be afraid to move or breathe while the song was playing because we didn't want to interrupt what seemed like an intimate moment between two people.  We also didn't fully understand the meaning of the story Ray Boltz sang in this song, even though we knew it was about Jesus' crucifixion.  Of course, as I've grown older, this understanding has all changed.

I've learned more about the Jewish traditions of sacrificing a lamb, about the Passover, about what Jesus truly sacrificed for us, and about what it means to watch Love suffer.  I've learned how personally involved our Savior is in our lives.  Most importantly, I've learned how necessary it is to be intensely still and deeply silent and to watch the Lamb...

"Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us."

~1 Corinthians 5:7c

MondayMoments...Perfectly Planned

God's timing is always spot on.  He not only speaks directly to your heart when you need it, but He also speaks precisely to your heart with what you need.

For the past two days He has been telling me the answers to the questions that I can't even form into words. (He will answer even those kind of questions...the ones we feel.) I have been struggling with the answers because they are ones that are challenging me to fully give myself to Him and to His plan.

He's been telling me to "pick up my cross" and follow Him, and He's been showing me that my cross is all the dreams I have had for my life.  Can you think of anything harder than to hand over all your dreams and say, "Ok. Whatever you got for me, God?"  I admire people who can do that.

I've been selfishly resistant.  I've been dragging my cross with me wherever He has called me.  Yesterday at church (of all places!) God spoke these words to me from Isaiah 55: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (v.8-9)  I know that by dragging my cross, I'm not fully relying on God and His plan for my life.  I'm trying to hang onto my plan.  His command is for me to pick it up and follow Him.

Picking up my cross doesn't mean letting it go.  I thought that was what He was asking of me, which is why I've been resistant.  I've just now realized that He isn't, of course, insensitive or inattentive to my plan, which is why He said to pick it up...not leave it behind or lay it down or burn it.  No, God wants me to keep my plan, but not let it be a hindrance from following Him.  He wants this for you, too.  It's definitely much easier to walk when you're carrying something than when you're dragging it.

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." ~Proverbs 16:9

So, I pray this finds you in God's perfect timing, and I pray you're encouraged that God cares about your dreams and your plan for your life.  He does want us to keep them, and He also wants us to follow Him.  His ways are most certainly higher.  Don't be discouraged when you don't understand what God is doing in your life.  The circumstance(s) you're going through now is all part of our Master's plan, and He is working it for good (Romans 8:28).  Keep the faith.  He knows precisely what you need and when you need it.

Words of Wisdom~Martin Luther

"This life is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished, but it is going on; this is not the end, but it is the road; all does not yet gleam with glory, but all is being purified." 

~Martin Luther 

May you be blessed by the Lord today as you continue in this journey called life.  Keep your eyes upon Him who was lifted up on the cross for us so that we would believe and be saved. 

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." ~John 3:14-15 (NIV)