LET'S DO IT! 1 JOHN 2:7-11

I’m not sure why this piece is difficult for me to write.  The commandment of love, the commandment to love, the contrast of loving and hating for a believer: all these seem somewhat out of reach now.  Maybe as I write God’s heart will become clearer to me.

The command to love is ancient.  Deuteronomy 6:4,5 states: “Listen, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone! You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul mind and strength.”  Leviticus 19:18 states: “…love your neighbor as yourself.” These are the commandments of old of which John speaks.  All the children of Israel knew them. John, in 1 John, now encourages the believers, Jew and Gentile alike, to consider the new commandment: “Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

Mark 12: 29-31

Jesus cited the exact same commandments that came from the Old Testament to those inquiring of Him in Mark’s gospel.  John, in verses 7-8 of chapter 2, talks about a NEW commandment.  They are the same commandments! John’s point is that now believers know how to walk in this commandment because Jesus lived it out, right in front of their eyes. He loved the unlovely, difficult sinners, right where they were. He sacrificed His heavenly reign to come and love in a tangible way, in the bodily form, so we would have an example, a perfect example.  It was total sacrifice: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Today, all can read the gospels and see how Jesus loved the world in which He lived, step by step, in a variety of settings, with His Hands on and in the teachings that came from His mouth.  All can know it is possible.

Ah, yes, but the flesh is that with which believers must contend. It is what throws us into the darkness that John speaks of in verses 9-11. John speaks of it, not to discourage his readers, but to give them a guideline for themselves, to examine their own hearts and recognize inconsistency.  He already, in 1 John 1:9, gave tremendous hope for us. “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When God lays a burden of love of the unlovely on our hearts, we need not run and hide.  We need not say aghast, “Surely you don’t mean me, Lord!” Jesus demonstrated some outrageous love for us to consider. The woman with the issue of blood comes to mind.  The ten lepers are another example.  (Can you tell that smelly, dirty stuff is an issue for me?!) Others might cite the tax collectors, (no one liked these guys) or the Pharisees (the arrogant upper crust religious leaders). All may be considered unlovely and unlovable for different reasons. But, Jesus loved them. He healed them, forgave them, confronted them, spoke to their inconsistencies…but oh, He loved them.

Are there some in our lives we need to love like Jesus loved?  Is there an irritating soul, an irregular person with whom we have to deal? If God brings that to light, be brave, and do it! What marvels shall we see when we step out in faith believing that Jesus did the same so we could know how to do it and be able to do it?

Every time I write like this, it undoes my comfort zone, because I am talking about stuff that is on my heart, yet unexplored at times in the physical realm.  I do know that when I do step out in faith, and do what God desires of me, peace indescribable is mine. 

God is for us. He wants us to be his Hands and Feet and show His love in tangible ways. He gives us one another so we can hook arms and walk together encouraging one another to take the risk and love the unlovely. Let’s do!  Come on, you guys, let’s do it for the glory it will bring the Lord, our Maker, Master, Redeemer, Friend.

FOR ENCOURAGEMENT

Here is a webcast by Paul Trip from 10th Presbyterian Church in Philly that Patti Inns recommended about HOPE. It deeply touched me.  If you have time, take a listen to it.
The message's title is:  Advent: The Promise.
 http://www.tenth.org/index.php?id=58
I'll be back on blog after the new year turns.
Blessings to you,
Lisa

MY CHRISTMAS HEART

I haven’t been on the blog lately. Holiday comings and goings at a brisk pace with kids visiting and finalizing all the Christmas prep have consumed so much of my day time.  However, I have thought and prayed for you guys much in these last several days.  Christmastime is so special for me.  Memories flood my recollection.  Vintage Christmases, 1960’s type, of toys, wagons, dolls and goodies under the tree, bleary-eyes transformed into eyes agape with wonder, my own kids thrilled to this day to give and receive gifts…these are what make it so special. 

I’ve been contemplating gift giving…small wonder in this Christmas season of giving.  I love giving gifts. The joy of anticipation, seeing delight on the face of the recipient charges me up! I wiggle and giggle and can barely contain myself when I know the gift will be appreciated. Don’t you just love your kids’ faces and peals of laughter, your spouses’ kiss and your friends’ hugs when they love the gift you have given?

I stayed on budget this year.  Yes, that is a fact.  It is a “smallish” Christmas.  We have cut way back on gift giving for Christmas morning but promise the family a week at the beach come summer time, God willing.  Our family enjoys such bounty. It struck me, on the way home from my last quest for gifts and finally finishing, that the relative size of what appears under the Christmas tree has changed.  It is smaller than in years past. Yet in comparison to many, we have copious resource for gift giving.  Then, I thought about what God the Father gave to Mankind: His only Son, innocent of every fault, to take the punishment for sin. I pondered what Jesus, the Son gave to do the will of the Father. 

“He made Himself nothing taking on the very nature of a servant….he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross!” Phil 2: 7-8

 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

What have I given? What have I done? How have I responded to the gift God Almighty gave to me? Never to repay, but to show gratitude, I show a puny obedience that wavers at best.

But, here is a quote that I just found in a Christmas card…” He became what we are that He might make us what He is.” From The Incarnation of the Word. Athanasius, c. 296-373 AD.

Even my giving is made possible by Him.  Providence alone gives so that I can give. The immeasurable gifts of love, goodness, kindness, mercy are all by His Spirit. His continual gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling me, makes it possible for me to give. 

So, if you haven’t received a wrapped up gift from me, know that God’s gift is at work in me. I hope to bless you with it. It is all I have to give back to Him and to you.

Blessed and joyous Christmas!

LIVING ROOM BALM

Last night I had the immense pleasure of witnessing the God-ordained order of discipleship.  My heart has become impassioned to see mothers, young and old, walk in the fullness of their ministries within their homes.  It just so happens that the group in my home last night are all wives, too.  Some have great marriages, some mediocre marriages and, I have to admit, some have marriages that are on their way to the pits.  Some are even in the pits! The marriages vary in length from 4 weeks to nearly 40 years! What a fertile ground for discipleship these women offer. The Holy Spirit has brought so much change in their lives. 

We were studying the subject of meekness which emerged from a serious look at the attitude and actions of a godly wife in 1 Peter 2 and 3.  Meekness and a quiet spirit, which are of surpassing value to God, are the marks of beauty of that godly wife. The behavior springing forth from her attitude wins over the misunderstanding or unbelieving husband.  It is a tall order for a woman to live in this way.  In fact, the meekness God desires to see in a wife is not of human will but none other than part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:23. 

Knowing this, there was discussion about the difficulty and suffering some must endure while walking in the Holy Spirit’s power.  Parts of the discussion were focused on these topics:

• ·        Being offended by unfaithfulness is a HUGE issue to deal with.  Add this to an already poor relationship/walk with the Lord, it could be a long haul till there is healing and forgiveness.
• ·        We CAN gently and lovingly point out to our husband how their over-control or even lack of leadership hurts us, but WE cannot make him change.  We can only change ourselves.
• ·        Dealing with sin in a Matthew 18 order, still doesn’t change a person.  WE fulfill our obligation, but allow the Holy Spirit full reign as HE is the convictor and restorer.
• ·        I wonder if we would see more miraculous or supernatural results in our pleading with God if we left the end of a thing, the beginning and the middle too, to God’s Holy Spirit to work.  Meanwhile, we keep on obeying and loving God and wait to see God’s Hand--- like Moses said to the Children of Israel as they faced the Red Sea in one direction and the Egyptian army in the other,  before the Lord parted it…”Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.  The Egyptians (adversary) you see today you will never see again.  The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Ex 14:13-15.

God is clearly possessing the hearts of these dear ladies. They are doing the hard work of believing God’s Word for their marriages and their own attitude and behavior.  Then, what to my amazement should I witness here in my living room, but a turning of one of the younger in the Lord to another even younger in a discipleship posture to come alongside and encourage and teach from the platform of lessons learned in this walk of faith! I tell you what… I was jumping out of my chair, literally! Life on life mentoring, discipleship and fellowship that is taught in books is happening right here!  I still feel the wonder of it.

 The work of the hand and heart of the Almighty reached down from one woman to the other in love and offered the direction for healing.  “And they shall be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” Isaiah 61:3  I am a witness of that display. It was glorious. More powerful a balm than ever I have seen. 

GRACE AND MERCY: PSALM 103 (in two parts) Part 2

“But you don’t know me! I have such a sinful heart, selfish, deceitful, horrid!” Do we think our sin is greater than His salvation?

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.” Just for kicks I wanted to find out how high the sky was and found that the experts are saying that the more they look, the more immeasurable it gets. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/kw/size-galaxy

Oh thank You, dear One who loves my soul like a Father who pities His children. That pity is translated to mean, “love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection.” (Strong’s) He knows my frame, that I am but dust, like grass and flowers that fade quickly. BUT, in verse 17, we find the MERCY of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, infinite, for those who 1) fear Him, 2) keep His covenant, 3) remember His commandments to do them.

That’s a tall order! I cannot do that in and of myself! The New Testament brings relief to us in Ephesians 2: ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a]and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast.

There’s the answer. God reaches down into our pit in great love, in great mercy, in great grace, and makes us alive in Christ, even when we were dead in sin.  Even as believers when we cannot find our way out of the pit. Of His own initiative by His pervenient grace, He comes for us, as that tender Father, and scoops us out, cleans us off in His Son’s redemption, pours the oil of gladness on and sooths our prickly, self-worn out souls, and crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercy!

Then the exclaiming begins: “the Lord has established His throne in Heaven and His kingdom rules over all!”  We have a tender Sovereign who reigns over all! Whoa! No wonder David starts in with speaking to the angels calling them to bless the Lord! His heart and soul are now full of the good things spoken of in verse 5.

The believing SLS is without excuse. We possess rich blessings at the Hand of our Holy Father. He offers a crown of lovingkindness and tender mercy. He brings Truth to bear on us and Grace to answer our objections. He rules in sovereignty. We are deep in His Heart and Hands.

BLESS THE LORD OH MY SOUL!

GRACE AND MERCY: PSALM 103 (in two parts) Part 1

Oh, today I might be able to do some Christmas shopping! I am getting into the spirit of gift hunting. Would a million dollars be enough to supply my list? Sometimes I go way overboard, but I have to tell you, I am feeling so full of good things that I want to give very big, very many gifts! My husband should be looking over my shoulder right now... I promise to stay on budget!

All that aside, I do want to get down to the post. From one SLS (you'll see what that means in a minute) to another....perhaps....give a read to Psalm 103.

David’s soul must have been rather downcast if in the first two verses of this psalm he had to tell his soul to bless the Lord three times!  I wonder what happened or what he did!  Maybe it wasn’t anything bad but he was so full of gratitude he just couldn’t help himself…maybe he was “doing a dance" before the Lord! I don’t know, just wondering.

This psalm seems to be a great remedy to the self-loather’s soul (SLS). The SLS is full of self-condemnation, the sense of “screwing it up again”, feeling like they’ll never get it right. SLSs sometimes work on the basis of insecurities born in their dysfunctional or traumatic upbringing.  http://www.outofthefog.net/CommonBehaviors/SelfLoathing.html But more often than not, for a believer, it seems that one can become a SLS because their less-than-pure motivations for action are known to themselves. Sometimes our own expectations of ourselves are unreasonable and much too stringent. Legalism bears on many a SLS. We are not gracious with ourselves. We consider ourselves with a hypercritical eye…judging by an extreme standard without forgiveness or grace. And it brings our ministries to a screeching halt when we fall into that pit to wallow. Note the focus on self… it’s critical.

In our house we use a quote from James Dobson from a story he told about his son a long time ago.  The son got stuck on a tailgate of a truck and hollered, “Somebody help the boy! Somebody help the boy!” So, in a getting stuck in the pit mode myself, I was hollering to the Lord, “Somebody help the girl! Somebody help the girl!” Enter Psalm 103. 

Those first 5 verses are written like a cheer! Motivate your heart, soul and mind! Remember God’s benefits to you: forgiveness of ALL your iniquities, healing from ALL your diseases, redemption, compassion and mercy from the Creator of the Universe, satisfaction of the soul with pleasant, rich things so we are renewed and repaired.

Do you see all the attributes of God displayed? It is good medicine for the soul to say them to the Lord, calling Him by those names. It is pleasing to Him and it raises our eyes from self to His throne and character. 

Holy, Benefactor, Forgiver, Healer, Redeemer, Bestower of gifts, Satisfier, Rejeuvenator…

Verse 6 was the crux of matter for me.  “The Lord executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” I looked up the word oppressed to find this definition in Webster’s 1826 dictionary: burdened with unreasonable impositions, overpowered, overburdened, depressed. The SLS burdens themselves with unreasonable impositions. They are overburdened, depressed with and within themselves.  But look here, it says that the Lord executes righteousness and justice for them.  The Lord brings the Truth to bear on the SLS and judges them, with remedy.  Verse 7 seems to be saying, “Duh! He made known his ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.” REMEMBER?!?!? And then, here comes the remedy for the SLS’s soul: The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy.  Ah, it is as if my soul would sink into the soothing spa of His gift to me.  Grace and Mercy.  

STEP BACK FROM THE GLASS

Such a wonder is happening in the life of our assembly at this time in history.  I am not quite sure I have in times past heard of so many small groups discipling one another.  From the youth on up to the leadership of the assembly, believer on believer investment seems to be yielding a fruit unlike anything I’ve seen in a long time.

Yesterday, as Jamie Miller was chronicling his family’s last five years of ministry in Latin America, I do believe the message was brought from God Himself, encouraging us to “step back from the glass and stop fogging it up” so we can see the bigger picture of God’s epic purpose for us—to bring Him glory.  Circumstance begs us to react, retract and even rebel, but when we see what God is doing in the broad picture of His will, we are satisfied in our souls with His greater Good and Love.

Our assembly reaped much benefit in the hearing of Millers’ testimony.  It ignited in me and those with whom I had the chance to interact with last evening, including my own kids, a fire to live boldly and intentionally for the Lord. Pursue others for God’s glory.  Walk along side others who are needy and bring them hope in the Lord Jesus. Put aside risk and do the thing.

I’ve been studying Psalm 103 and was struck with verse 5 which states this: “(the Lord) satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Being satisfied in our souls (this is actually what the word mouth seems to mean as I understand some of the references), our crowning ornament which bears the likeness of God, renews us! Praising God, glorifying God, magnifying God, restores the newness and joy of our salvation.  Millers' testimony, for God’s glory, has done that for me and apparently, so many others. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to run with it! Come on, come along with me and let’s run together!

Part 3

Knowing God, the focus of 1 John 2:3-6, is the answer to the dilemma: my relationship to the Lord and desire for fellowship is a choice I continually must make. God doesn’t force me into knowing Him, loving Him.  That is the beauty and horror of it.  He wants me to CHOOSE to know Him, love Him, obey Him, respond to Him, fellowship with Him. 

Placing my heart’s focus on Him deliberately helps me fix my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. As I grow in knowledge of Him, my response, by the Holy Spirit’s presence in me, is to obey. This surely isn’t natural.  It is supernatural. God has solved the problem by making provision through Christ and law of the Holy Spirit of Life. Romans 8:2.

The keeping of the commands and Word that John speaks of in verses 3-6 is in the continual present tense. It is ongoing. It is a moment by moment pursuit.  It is what characterizes my level of maturity.  Because of my flesh, it creates dependence on Him. Ah, that’s just right. My need is only met in Him. Even my desire must be cultivated by the witness of the Holy Spirit in me.

Finally, I desire to know Him, I desire to depend on Him, I desire to choose Him. The love relationship is cultivated because He loved me first. I desire to love Him back.

Part 2

There are abundant imperatives in God’s Word on Christian living… put to death the sinful nature..reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ. (Rom 6)  Col.2:23 talks about regulations doing nothing to quench sensual indulgence. But it does go right to the next verses in chapter 3 saying to set minds and hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Then a few verses later, “put to death….we must get rid of all such things as these…..” Even further,  ”clothe yourself with compassion, kindness….”

What do I allow God to do, what do I strive to do?  In Romans 7 Paul rants about the struggle to do what he ought but cannot amidst the war in his soul. Flesh against the spirit; spirit against the flesh. My dilemma is that as soon as I have a regulation, I want to break it!  That’s my ugly truth!

Romans 8:13 “…but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body you will live, because those who are lead by the spirit of God are sons of God.”

I cannot do it!  It must be by the spirit…how can I do any of the imperatives?  BY THE SPIRIT. 

What is pursuit of walking in the spirit?  “I cannot do it. I’ve tried a zillion times! I can’t do it. You do it, Lord.”

There needs to be a rest from this struggle. It can burn a believer out trying to do and do and do in their own strength. God’s answer to my struggle is free of condemnation, free from the law of sin and death in the sending of His Son, Jesus to be a sin offering for me. My salvation is secure and my day to day walk is witnessed and can be governed by the Holy Spirit. It’s by the Spirit I can put to death the misdeeds of my body. His fruit “is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

What then, will motivate my desire to walk in the Spirit?