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I live, no longer I

I have now read this several times and I don’t have any words, except I am not worthy:

We, who are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, [yet] who know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.  But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves are found to be sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin?  Of course not!  But if I am building up again those things that I tore down, then I show myself to be a transgressor.  For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Galatians 2:15-21

I think I get the part that we cannot make it to heaven by our own works (which always makes me feel better and takes some of the pressure off  — because I know I would fail alone).  If we could do it on our own, then Christ died for nothing.

But I am drawn to these words: “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”   I feel the power in these words, although I do not fully comprehend them.

Thank you God for your grace, for your love, for giving yourself up for me.  Help me to give myself up for you, so that I live no longer as me, so I live no longer just in the flesh.  My life is only because of you.  I love you!

 

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Forgiveness first

Tonight the Bible opened to Matthew:

He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”  At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”  Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”  He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.

Matthew 9:1-8

Jesus offered forgiveness first.  When I first read this passage I wondered why Jesus didn’t heal first.  I had to read it a couple of times before I realized He did heal first.  He healed the paralytic’s soul first.  As always God knows best.

Lord,

You know all things and know what I need. Heal me, Lord. Forgive me.  Help me to forgive others.

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Perseverance

Perseverence.  I love this word.  The last few days I have spent in multiple different hotel rooms.  None of them quite comfortable.  I have lost power, had plans changed repeatedly and quickly by the weather and have otherwise just been discombobulated. I am sitting in an airport now ready to travel to another city.  No hope of seeing my own bed or home until the end of the week.  I have struggled to get my computer connected to the various hotel wi fi’s, but I think I have finally figured out how to blog on my phone!(clearly I am technologically challenged!)

And this is where God led me today:

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.  But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:2-8

Just what I needed.

Lord,

I come to you in complete faith knowing that you will grant me what I need. I recognize that you know what I need better than I do. Provide me with the wisdom and Perseverence to lead the life you have planned for me.

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Let it rain!

It is raining, again.  There is nothing better than sitting inside and quietly listening to the falling rain outside.  It can be a very peaceful sound.  Sure, sometimes it is accompanied by rushing winds and thunder claps, but tonight it is just rain.

Tonight the Bible opened to Hosea:

“Come, let us return to the LORD, For it is he who has torn, but he will heal us; he has struck down, but he will bind our wounds.

He will revive us after two days; on the third day he will raise us up, to live in his presence. Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD; as certain as the dawn is his coming.

He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth.”

Hosea 6:1-3

The rain sounds even better now!  I read a little further:

What can I do with you, Ephraim?  What can I do with you, Judah?  Your loyalty is like morning mist, like the dew that disappears early.  For this reason I struck them down through the prophets, I killed them by the words of my mouth; my judgment shines forth like the light.  For it is loyalty that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:4-6

Loyalty.  Knowledge of God.  That is what He asks.  And isn’t that what we ask of our friends?  Loyalty and to know us?

God,

I want to know you.  Rain down on me.  I want to be faithful to you.  Help me when I fall astray.  I never want you to stop calling me back.  I want to come to you with all my heart.

 

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Even If

One of my favorite songs right now is “Even If” from Mercy Me.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mercy+me&view=detail&mid=A96B04EC03620A378E8EA96B04EC03620A378E8E&FORM=VIRE

Today’s Bible verse reminds me of the point in the song — even if God doesn’t take away the hurt and the pain, even if He doesn’t swoop in and fix whatever it is we think needs fixing, our faith, our hope is in God:

For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God.

GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Even if things don’t go my way, I will rejoice in the Lord!  He is my savior.  He will save me when I need saving and how I need saving.  He is not a genie to grant me my every wish — He is so much more. God saves us from the wishes that don’t help us (and may hurt us).  His plan is much greater than ours — I can only imagine how screwed up things would be if my wishes or plans were always carried out!   A genie may satisfy our want for instant gratification, but God satisfies our need for eternal gratification.  The Lord is my strength, I just need to allow Him to be.

God,

Your mercy and love is great! Your wisdom is beyond my comprehension. I rejoice in you!  I am grateful for the gifts that you provide.  Allow me to be part of your plan.

 

 

 

 

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God’s plan, not my plan

I ask God for a lot of things.  Tonight I asked him to allow my son to get a hit in his baseball game.  He crushed the ball for a nice double.  The problem is that often what I want (or think I want) is not necessarily what God wants.  God reminded me of this when I opened the Bible today:

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Matthew 16:21-23

Jesus knew the plan for Him was going to be painful, and that most would run from it as fast as they could.  As humans, we often run from God’s plan because we think in the human world and what will benefit us now.  Jesus, knowing that His future will be hard and painful, rebukes Peter for suggesting that He not go through with the plan.  He calls Peter satan.  Satan tries to turn us from God’s plan, particularly when it may be hard.  Satan tempts us to take the easy route, which may not be the route God has planned.

Dear God,

Thy will be done!

 

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Sown dishonorable, Raised glorious!

Tonight the Bible takes me to Corinthians (actually,, I must confess it first opened to Revelations — but I cannot yet make heads or tails of it, so I let it open again).  In Corinthians, Paul talks about the resurrected body:

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.  It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Paul goes on to state:

This I declare, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.  And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

We cannot inherit the kingdom of God as flesh and blood.  We are corruptible, weak, dishonorable and mortal.  We will die corruptible, dishonorable, weak and mortal.  (who wants to live forever in this state?)  But God will raise us up so that we are incorruptible, glorious, powerful, spiritual and immortal.  Only He has power to change us.  What a glorious day that will be!  I can only imagine — actually I cannot even begin to imagine — a place with no corruption, no dishonor, no weakness, no death — no sin! I think about heaven as this beautiful meadow on a bright sunny day with a peaceful breeze blowing and everyone sipping lemonade on picnic blankets or walking in fields of flowers holding hands.  But it is not just a picnic afternoon — it is eternity without sin or weakness, pain or suffering, dishonor or corruption.  How glorious will it be!  How can we ever be worthy?

Obviously we cannot be, because in our current state we are all of those things, weak and corruptible.  But Paul tells us to be steadfast.   “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  God will change us — we do not have to be incorruptible now — He knows we will fail.  We just have to keep trying — be steadfast — be firm in our faith in God.

God,

I am corruptible, dishonorable, weak and mortal.  I know this.  You know this.  Help me to be steadfast!  I want to be changed by you!

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A good night kiss from God (Sweet Dreams)

I am ready for bed.  The alarm clock went off way too early this morning.  It has been a long Monday.  Time to open the Bible and then quickly go to bed.  But first God gave me this goodnight kiss and hug:

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.  When you pass through waters, I will be with you; through rivers, you shall not be swept away.  When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, nor will flames consume you.  For I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as ransom for you, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.  Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you and nations in exchange for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you; from the east I will bring back your offspring, from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north: Give them up! and to the south: Do not hold them! Bring back my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth: All who are called by my name I created for my glory; I formed them, made them.

Isaiah 43:1-7

Thank you God!  I love you too!  Good night!

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I want it all!

Can I have it all on earth and in heaven?  This is the question that haunts me.  Today’s verse once again drove this home:

Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”  He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.  If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”  Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 19:16-24

I almost wish the young man had not asked the question.  I feel like I do “ok” with the commandments…  most of the time.   Of course a lot harder is the one Jesus throws on – love your neighbor as yourself.  But I feel like I can at least feel like I do that…  some of the time.  But give away my possessions?  All of them?  I like my possessions.  They provide me with a sense of security.  I grew up without many, scrounged for one meal a day in college, worked 3 jobs at a time on occasion.  Give up everything?  Do I trust God enough?  Is that what Jesus is asking me to do — trust God not the material world?  Honestly, every time I hear this verse, my blood pressure rises, I begin to panic and I feel depressed.  I am not sure I ever read the very next lines, though — which give me hope:

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:25-26

I cannot do it without God — if I think I can, I will only end up panicked and depressed — because I know I will fail.  I am not strong enough.  I am not good enough to be perfect.  I am not able on my own to achieve eternal life.  But with God it is possible.

So I will continue to strive to do all these things, including giving more.  And I will continue to ask God for forgiveness when I fail, for mercy when my time on earth ends, and that it be His will that I might have eternal life with Him.

God,

I love you.  I want to spend eternity with you.  Please forgive me for the times that I have failed to keep your commandments, failed to love my neighbor, and acted selfishly with my time and possessions, focusing on worldly wealth rather than heavenly wealth.  Help me to do better.  I beg you to grant me your grace and your mercy, so that I may one day be with you.  I know I am not worthy of this, but I trust in your love.

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O Lord, Give Me Rest

Today the Bible opened in two places.

First:

The pronouncement of mortal man: “I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and I am exhausted.

I am more brute than human being, without even human intelligence; Neither have I learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One.

Proverbs 30:1-3

And then:

Therefore, let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed.  For in fact we have received the good news just as they did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened.  For we who believed enter into [that] rest, just as he has said:

“As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest,’”

and yet his works were accomplished at the foundation of the world.  For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works”; and again, in the previously mentioned place, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Therefore, since it remains that some will enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, he once more set a day, “today,” when long afterwards he spoke through David, as already quoted:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice: ‘Harden not your hearts.’”

Now if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterwards of another day.  Therefore, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God.  And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his.  Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience. Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.  No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Hebrews 4:1-13

I often feel like I need rest.  A few more hours of sleep.  A few hours to sit down and just breathe in and out, enjoying the day.  Just a little rest.  Just a few minutes.  I am weary.  I am exhausted.  Weary from the stress of life.  Exhausted from the fast pace of today’s electronic, mobile phone, everything at out fingertips, I-want-it-now life.  When I ask God for rest, I often think in terms of sleep.

Today, the Bible reminds me of the real rest that I am seeking.  God’s rest.  The peace and rest that comes from knowing God.  Proverbs talks about mortal man being weary — because he does not have wisdom, he does not know God.  Hebrews reminds us that we have been promised rest — through God.  It is not something we can achieve without Him.  True rest comes through faith in God, listening to His word and being obedient.  Without that faith the weight of the world can be overwhelming.

Lord,

Let me hear your voice.  Harden not my heart.  Help me to be open to your words and your plans.  I want to find rest in you.