As a daughter, the hardest words to hear from a parent are, "I am really disappointed in you." When you are performance oriented and achievement oriented, those words scream out - "Failure!" Seeking the approval of the one you are trying so hard to impress is a powerful need that often cultivates poor decisions and poor self esteem. Yet for many of us, it is a driving need that frames our lives. That is truly one of the challenges that I have had to overcome in maturing in my walk with the Lord. However, I did not realize that in spite of all of the healing that He has accomplished in my life, there was still this nagging inner voice that echoed in the background. That little voice kept telling me that there were many times when I had disappointed Abba Father, my Almighty God. My heart broke each time I thought about that. However, I am learning that my God is not about heart break, but heart wholeness.
This past weekend, the Lord gave me a wonderful healing revelation that I am sharing with you today. As I expressed to friends that God's disappointment in me kept me on the straight path, God was listening and waited until the most opportune moment to correct my thinking. Imagine my delight and relief when He said to me, "Janice, I am not disappointed in you. How can I be disappointed in you when I dance over you and I sing over you?" He went on to explain to me that the disappointing spirit had come from my earthly father, not Him, and that He delights in me. Wow, Abba delights in me, even though I have messed up in the past and will still mess up. He delights in me.
I have to be honest with you though. I wrestled with the concept of God not being upset when I make the wrong choices. I kept thinking how could He not be disappointed in me? Then as usual Holy Spirit began instructing me. Disappoint in some form only occurs three times in the Word. In two instances, it references the disappointment of evil in not getting what it wants. In the third, it references purposes being disappointed without the counsel of wisdom. Not once does God say He is disappointed. However, displeasure in some form appears 35 times. What is the difference?
One definition of disappointment is "failure of an expectation". A definition of displeasure is "dissatisfaction". When we consider disappointment there is a sense of condemnation. I can almost feel eyes looking down on me as I shrink in the mere presence of the one I disappointed. If you have never experienced this sensation, I am glad for you; it is not pleasant. By the same token, causing someone displeasure isn't fun either, but at least in the perspective that I have, there is not condemnation in displeasure. Sadness yes, because pleasing the Lord should be our focus - not because we fear condemnation, but because we love Him and delight in pleasing Him.
Please in some form occurs a total of 184 times in the Word. What a significant difference from the negative we have been discussing thus far. If we are seeking the pleasure of the Lord, than the opposite of that is displeasure, not disappointment. Interestingly enough, when we try to process how the Lord views our lives, we must remember that He created us, He knows us, He knows the choices we can make under our free will. He will not control us and attempt to make us do what is pleasing to Him. Rather He delights when we make the right choices on our own because we love Him and seek to delight Him. When we make a mistake and make that bad choice, He does not give up on us. He may lovingly discipline us to encourage us to make a better choice the next time around, but He does not condemn us and belittle us. Remember, we are made in His image, and He gave His son so that we could be reconciled with Him. Does that sound like someone who wants to make us feel horrible about ourselves? No, we know from where that spirit hails and it isn't from God. Psalm 5:4 You are not a God that takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. God is good and surrounds Himself with goodness, including His precious children whom He loves even though we mess up sometimes.
Psalm 147:11 The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love. Revelation 4:11 Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. The goodness of God is an overwhelming characteristic and we should never take that for granted. We must remember that the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. Destroying our self esteem and discouraging us from growing is not an act of God. God wants us to get back up when we fall down and to try again. Remember Jesus told Peter that he should forgive seventy times seven. Sounds like God gives us multiple chances. I know that this revelation from Him this weekend has enabled me to leave my past in the past and look forward to my future discerning how best I can delight my Lord. My prayer is that if you or someone you know struggles with "disappointment" from God or others in your life, this will help you shift your perspective and not let those sentiments destroy you any longer.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Waters of Your Well
Have you ever depended upon well water for your personal use? I did growing up and then again in my adult years. An interesting phenomena occurs when events destabilize the underground water table from which the well is drawing. The water stops flowing out of the well and into the pipes servicing the home. This happened to us when the builders expanded our subdivision. Suddenly the water had been drained out of our portion of the table and was pulled into another area. We were dry! The solution involved drilling a new well and praying that it would be productive. The drilling company kept going deeper and deeper. Finally we were informed that there was only one section of pipe left to put on the drill. If we did not succeed then the drilling process would have to start all over again ~ and incidentally it would cost the same as the first attempt. Within a few feet of the drill's ultimate depth of 500 feet, water came exploding out of the well, so strongly that it blew the drilling mechanism away. We celebrated that the pressure was sufficient enough to supply the whole neighborhood if we had the need.
Multiple times in scripture Jesus tells us that He is the living water. Holy Spirit within us keeps our "wells" primed for dispensing living water into other lives. Recall with me the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-30). She is drawing the water that is essential for her daily life from the well. Jesus tells her, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." John 4:10 As believers we have asked Jesus for that living water in our lives. However just as with a physical well that draws water from the ground, we too must function as a productive well if we are going to dispense living water to others. What does that look like?
First consider the operating condition of your well. Is it being used regularly in drawing out water and then dispensing it? Or has it grown rusty from lack of use and subsequently the water that is available may not be of the best quality. Water grows stagnant if it does not flow freely. Whether sitting in the bottom of the well or in a swamp, stagnate water neither refreshes or satisfies. So it is with the living water that is inside of us. When was the last time that you refreshed your well and poured out of it? Consider as well how efficiently the pumping mechanism works. How much effort does it take to pump out that water? How much effort does it take to share the Word of God? Is it at the forefront ready to quench thirst when God calls upon you?
How about the quality of the water? It does not take much to contaminate a water source. A dead animal falling into the well will easily cause significant issues with the cleanliness of the water. We must consider what we are taking into our minds and our bodies that could contaminate the living water for which we are responsible. Maintaining the purity of the well is critical if we are going to be dispensing the life giving water. We must ask ourselves if we are protecting this precious resource that is needed by so many people in this world. Have we put the appropriate safeguards in place? Without them the water is not good for anyone.
How about the capacity of the well? It is our responsibility to continue to dig deeper to insure that fresh water is always available. Just as with the well in my home, it is possible for our "source" to become drained if we are not regularly working to keep it fresh and overflowing. The more we are dispensing, the more we need and the deeper we must go in God's Word to replenish the basin that is being utilized. When it becomes a challenge for us to speak the truth in any situation, to provide life giving water to anyone in our midst, we are drawing from a well that is drying out. Attaching another drill section and digging deeper is as simple as spending intimate time with the Lord. The question is whether we are doing that in a timely manner before we run dry.
The purpose of our wells is two-fold. First is that through them we stay refreshed and our own thirst is quenched. Second is to provide a refreshing drink to those who have come to our oasis seeking a drink. We must remember that although we are the mechanism by which the drink is provided, we are not the water itself. We are called to be the conduit of the Holy Spirit providing a wonderful outlet through which He can flow. Our obedience in maintaining our wells is visible to those who travel through our lives. Let us all earnestly seek to maintain thriving wells of living water, ever ready to provide a deep drink to all who are thirsty.
Multiple times in scripture Jesus tells us that He is the living water. Holy Spirit within us keeps our "wells" primed for dispensing living water into other lives. Recall with me the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:4-30). She is drawing the water that is essential for her daily life from the well. Jesus tells her, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water." John 4:10 As believers we have asked Jesus for that living water in our lives. However just as with a physical well that draws water from the ground, we too must function as a productive well if we are going to dispense living water to others. What does that look like?
First consider the operating condition of your well. Is it being used regularly in drawing out water and then dispensing it? Or has it grown rusty from lack of use and subsequently the water that is available may not be of the best quality. Water grows stagnant if it does not flow freely. Whether sitting in the bottom of the well or in a swamp, stagnate water neither refreshes or satisfies. So it is with the living water that is inside of us. When was the last time that you refreshed your well and poured out of it? Consider as well how efficiently the pumping mechanism works. How much effort does it take to pump out that water? How much effort does it take to share the Word of God? Is it at the forefront ready to quench thirst when God calls upon you?
How about the quality of the water? It does not take much to contaminate a water source. A dead animal falling into the well will easily cause significant issues with the cleanliness of the water. We must consider what we are taking into our minds and our bodies that could contaminate the living water for which we are responsible. Maintaining the purity of the well is critical if we are going to be dispensing the life giving water. We must ask ourselves if we are protecting this precious resource that is needed by so many people in this world. Have we put the appropriate safeguards in place? Without them the water is not good for anyone.
How about the capacity of the well? It is our responsibility to continue to dig deeper to insure that fresh water is always available. Just as with the well in my home, it is possible for our "source" to become drained if we are not regularly working to keep it fresh and overflowing. The more we are dispensing, the more we need and the deeper we must go in God's Word to replenish the basin that is being utilized. When it becomes a challenge for us to speak the truth in any situation, to provide life giving water to anyone in our midst, we are drawing from a well that is drying out. Attaching another drill section and digging deeper is as simple as spending intimate time with the Lord. The question is whether we are doing that in a timely manner before we run dry.
The purpose of our wells is two-fold. First is that through them we stay refreshed and our own thirst is quenched. Second is to provide a refreshing drink to those who have come to our oasis seeking a drink. We must remember that although we are the mechanism by which the drink is provided, we are not the water itself. We are called to be the conduit of the Holy Spirit providing a wonderful outlet through which He can flow. Our obedience in maintaining our wells is visible to those who travel through our lives. Let us all earnestly seek to maintain thriving wells of living water, ever ready to provide a deep drink to all who are thirsty.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Train Ride
When I was a child my dad would set up the most elaborate electric train platform. It was huge with multiple track layouts and little buildings, trees, streetlights, etc. I remember that one of the excitements was watching as the train would quickly switch tracks by the push of a small lever under my dad's direction. You were sure you knew where that train was headed when suddenly it veers off to another part of the platform. My oldest son has the same love of trains that his grandfather had and we would visit phenomenal train shows with very complex configurations. Collisions seemed eminent when almost magically, the trains angled away from one another. Recently I have begun to feel as if I were a passenger on one of those trains with God as my engineer, suddenly redirecting me just when I thought I knew where I was headed. Can you relate?
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not upon your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Did you happen to notice that telling you ahead of time is not part of that scripture? He will direct my paths - He will put the train on the tracks that it needs to go in order to accomplish His plans for my life which are ultimately for the benefit of the kingdom. A critical element in this scenario is that I need to stay on the train if I am going to go where He wants. I can't get frustrated and jump off the train mid-journey. Just picture the ramifications of that decision. Pain (jumping off a moving train is never a good idea), confusion (not having a clue where you are as the train disappears in the distance), isolation (leaving the comfort of His company on the train) just to name a few.
I have written several times in this blog space about waiting, about wilderness walking, about the seasons of our lives. As I penned those articles, I had a sense that these were temporary times through which to persevere. What if that is not true? What if we are indeed on the spiritual train that I have just described with God eagerly awaiting our willingness to be a passenger on His train through life headed towards eternity with Him? Consider with me the times in your life when out of the blue, life changed. This includes everything ~ relationship changes, job changes, geographic relocation, church affiliations, births and deaths ~ and this is just a sampling. Many times these changes come totally unexpected. I know that I never anticipated I would be divorced. Yet when it happened, everything about my life changed in the blink of an eye. Nothing would ever be the same again with anyone in my life including my sons. However, I hung onto the safety rails in my train car as I barreled toward the future and towards eternity with Him.
Psalm 56:10-11 I praise God for what He has promised; yes I praise the Lord for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? If I truly trust Him then I must believe in the deepest part of me that He has got me; that He is the one directing this train and its course. No matter what I may feel emotionally, He is not going to let me train wreck. However we must understand that ending up in a totally different place than we anticipated does not define a train wreck. Sometimes (many times) our plans are not His plans and when our plans go awry we begin to attach negative interpretations to the situation. In these cases we often need to look back and determine whether we sought His counsel before moving forward. Was there a chance that we had moved ourselves into the engine of the train and tried to force the train into our personal direction?
I don't want this message to reflect a belief that goals and life objectives are negative. Quite the contrary, I believe that most of us are more at peace when we are focusing on forward movement in our lives. Imagine yourself sleeping in a berth on the train the entire time it is moving versus engaging in the trip with the other passengers, being keenly aware of all that is happening inside and outside the train, being ready at the various stops along the way to explore the local environment. That is the difference between passively coming along for the ride and actively submitting yourself to the direction of the engineer.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago. God does indeed have good things for us to do. From the beginning of time itself, He knew what He wanted us to accomplish. However, it is not enough for God to want us to step into these plans; we have to want to step into them with Him. He gave us the choice to follow Him and participate in the plans He has for our lives or to walk away from Him and risk the ramifications of that decision (much like jumping off the moving train). The choice to follow His lead is multi-dimensional and can lead to the most amazing journey full of surprises both challenging and delightful. If we make a decision that this train ride is not for us even though we believe that God is the ultimate engineer, then we risk living a very one dimensional life and facing an eternity without the indescribable joy that awaits us.
Whether I am in the midst of the train ride or at one of the many stops along the way, I am beginning to recognize that the experience of living life with God is much more fluid than I had previously understood. I like this concept that the "seasons of wilderness or waiting" are simply times when the train is racing through the desert and there is not a lot happening either inside the passenger car or outside its windows. It is a time to sit back, breathe deeply and explore the possibilities of what is awaiting me around the next hillside. I trust my engineer. I trust my Lord. I believe Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Sabbath - An Old Tradition?
If you are old enough, you remember the days when all stores were closed on Sunday except perhaps the occasional gas station with a few items inside. Offices were closed, factories were closed and the day was spent with family and friends. I remember stopping on the way home from church with my parents at the little gas station and getting to pick out a quarter's worth of candy. (Now I am really showing my age!) There was no grocery shopping, no errands, no runs to Lowe's for yard work and house work. I also remember Sundays at my grandparents' farm where everybody got together and visited (and ate and ate!) I also remember learning the ten commandments of which one was clearly "keep the Sabbath". In my youth I didn't really understand Sabbath except that it meant the Lord's Day which was "go to Mass on Sunday" to me as a young Catholic. What has happened to us as a nation?
To the vast majority of Americans Sunday is another work day - either on the job or at home. "There are only so many hours in the week to get done what needs to be done." Working mothers juggling the stress of home and job. Laboring dads having to hold down two or more jobs to make ends meet. Kids being scheduled to the max with sports commitments, music lessons and recitals, packed social calendars. For some families "church" happens only if it does not interfere with the other commitments. Honoring the Lord's Day is an afterthought if that. How many of us truly embrace what the Lord was commanding when He gave us that commandment? Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Many people feel caught in a quandary. If I don't work on Sunday, I will be fired. Look at our pastors - their very jobs focus on working on Sunday. The Lord did not specify which day of the week had to be your Sabbath, although Jewish tradition put it at the end of the week on Saturday. I wonder what would happen if we all took this seriously. Chick-Fil-A is a company that has determined from the beginning that the Sabbath would be honored and they would not put their employees in the position of having to choose jobs over honoring the Lord. It certainly does not seem to have hurt their business. They are a highly successful franchise operation with excellent employees. Personally I always choose this fast food establishment if I must eat fast food. I honor what they honor, rather I honor WHO they honor.
Isaiah 58:13-14 "Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD's holy day. Honor the LORD in everything you do, and don't follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the LORD, have spoken!" Consider when you do take a Sabbath. Do you do as the Lord told Isaiah? Do you honor him in everything you do? I know that I cannot answer yes to that. I want to be clear that I am talking to myself here as much as I am to anyone else that may be reading this. I am guilty of cramming as much as I can into my waking hours and I am sure that I am not always listening to the Lord as to what I am to be doing. A weekly Sabbath is a much needed change in my life. One thing that I am becoming more certain about is this: just doing what makes me feel good is not an adequate definition of the Sabbath. The scripture above states: don't follow your own desires or talk idly. What does that mean?
Mark 2:27-28 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!" Wait a minute - Sabbath was made to benefit me? How am I to interpret that against the scripture cited above? We must look at the totality of scripture when it comes to every matter contained within. If we only look at one aspect, then we risk becoming legalistic and missing God's intent. When we look at the initial command and then implementation of that command, the law was the keeper of the boundaries for God's covenant people. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, though, the legalists had made a mockery of the intent of God's law. Thus when Jesus challenged the thinking of the Pharisees through His healing and good works done on the Sabbath, He was ostracized by the elite as a rebel. The truth however was that He was trying to guide His people back on track with the intent of the original command. Remember His promise? "The full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob" So not only do we draw closer to Him but we open the door for the abundance of His blessings on us. I am not speaking of material blessings although often that is a component of His abundance. I am speaking of the total Shalom that reigns over our lives when we are living in the perfect peace that comes only from Him.
I believe that there are correlations between tithing and honoring the Sabbath. Until you begin to tithe, you just don't know how you are going to manage financially when you give up that 10%. Yet once you consistently tithe with a joyful heart, without explanation there is enough to go around. Your needed bills are paid and you meet the needs of your family. Notice I said "needs". God does not promise to meet our wants. There are abounding testimonies of how people's lives changed once they began tithing. I believe the same principle applies to honoring the Sabbath. When we give the Lord His day, he responds by helping us manage the other six better.
I know the few times that we took a Sabbath (sadly usually out of exhaustion) the rest of the week did go better. Getting into the habit though will take a deliberate decision to make it a priority. What an incentive we have to do it! The Lord says, we will be His delight and He will honor us. Imagine that - the Lord honoring us because we honored Him. Sounds like a win-win to me. I want to embrace this command of my Lord's and I eagerly await the shift in my life as I draw even closer to Him. I hope that you are encouraged to rethink the way you spend your weekend or your day off if you must work on Sundays. I pray that you will see a wonderful shift in your relationship with our Lord and what He wants to accomplish in your life.
To the vast majority of Americans Sunday is another work day - either on the job or at home. "There are only so many hours in the week to get done what needs to be done." Working mothers juggling the stress of home and job. Laboring dads having to hold down two or more jobs to make ends meet. Kids being scheduled to the max with sports commitments, music lessons and recitals, packed social calendars. For some families "church" happens only if it does not interfere with the other commitments. Honoring the Lord's Day is an afterthought if that. How many of us truly embrace what the Lord was commanding when He gave us that commandment? Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any kind of work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; then he rested on the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
Many people feel caught in a quandary. If I don't work on Sunday, I will be fired. Look at our pastors - their very jobs focus on working on Sunday. The Lord did not specify which day of the week had to be your Sabbath, although Jewish tradition put it at the end of the week on Saturday. I wonder what would happen if we all took this seriously. Chick-Fil-A is a company that has determined from the beginning that the Sabbath would be honored and they would not put their employees in the position of having to choose jobs over honoring the Lord. It certainly does not seem to have hurt their business. They are a highly successful franchise operation with excellent employees. Personally I always choose this fast food establishment if I must eat fast food. I honor what they honor, rather I honor WHO they honor.
Isaiah 58:13-14 "Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD's holy day. Honor the LORD in everything you do, and don't follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the LORD, have spoken!" Consider when you do take a Sabbath. Do you do as the Lord told Isaiah? Do you honor him in everything you do? I know that I cannot answer yes to that. I want to be clear that I am talking to myself here as much as I am to anyone else that may be reading this. I am guilty of cramming as much as I can into my waking hours and I am sure that I am not always listening to the Lord as to what I am to be doing. A weekly Sabbath is a much needed change in my life. One thing that I am becoming more certain about is this: just doing what makes me feel good is not an adequate definition of the Sabbath. The scripture above states: don't follow your own desires or talk idly. What does that mean?
Mark 2:27-28 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made to benefit people, and not people to benefit the Sabbath. And I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath!" Wait a minute - Sabbath was made to benefit me? How am I to interpret that against the scripture cited above? We must look at the totality of scripture when it comes to every matter contained within. If we only look at one aspect, then we risk becoming legalistic and missing God's intent. When we look at the initial command and then implementation of that command, the law was the keeper of the boundaries for God's covenant people. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, though, the legalists had made a mockery of the intent of God's law. Thus when Jesus challenged the thinking of the Pharisees through His healing and good works done on the Sabbath, He was ostracized by the elite as a rebel. The truth however was that He was trying to guide His people back on track with the intent of the original command. Remember His promise? "The full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob" So not only do we draw closer to Him but we open the door for the abundance of His blessings on us. I am not speaking of material blessings although often that is a component of His abundance. I am speaking of the total Shalom that reigns over our lives when we are living in the perfect peace that comes only from Him.
I believe that there are correlations between tithing and honoring the Sabbath. Until you begin to tithe, you just don't know how you are going to manage financially when you give up that 10%. Yet once you consistently tithe with a joyful heart, without explanation there is enough to go around. Your needed bills are paid and you meet the needs of your family. Notice I said "needs". God does not promise to meet our wants. There are abounding testimonies of how people's lives changed once they began tithing. I believe the same principle applies to honoring the Sabbath. When we give the Lord His day, he responds by helping us manage the other six better.
I know the few times that we took a Sabbath (sadly usually out of exhaustion) the rest of the week did go better. Getting into the habit though will take a deliberate decision to make it a priority. What an incentive we have to do it! The Lord says, we will be His delight and He will honor us. Imagine that - the Lord honoring us because we honored Him. Sounds like a win-win to me. I want to embrace this command of my Lord's and I eagerly await the shift in my life as I draw even closer to Him. I hope that you are encouraged to rethink the way you spend your weekend or your day off if you must work on Sundays. I pray that you will see a wonderful shift in your relationship with our Lord and what He wants to accomplish in your life.
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