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Hope in Heaven

Some messages stand the test of time:

When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons: “Arrogance and scorn have now grown strong; it is a time of disaster and violent wrath.  Therefore, my children, be zealous for the law and give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors.

“Remember the deeds that our ancestors did in their times, and you shall win great honor and an everlasting name. Was not Abraham found faithful in trial, and it was credited to him as righteousness?  Joseph, when in distress, kept the commandment, and he became master of Egypt.  Phinehas our ancestor, for his burning zeal, received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.  Joshua, for executing his commission, became a judge in Israel.  Caleb, for bearing witness before the assembly, received an inheritance in the land. David, for his loyalty, received as a heritage a throne of eternal kingship. Elijah, for his burning zeal for the law, was taken up to heaven.  Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their faith, were saved from the fire. Daniel, for his innocence, was delivered from the mouths of lions. And so, consider this from generation to generation, that none who hope in Heaven shall fail in strength.

Do not fear the words of sinners, for their glory ends in corruption and worms.  Today exalted, tomorrow not to be found, they have returned to dust, their schemes have perished. Children! be courageous and strong in keeping the law, for by it you shall be honored.

1 Maccabees 2:49-64

Thousands of years later, the same advice is pertinent to me and my son.  “Arrogance and scorn have now grown strong; it is a time of disaster and violent wrath.”   No one can argue that these are our times too.

There are so many pitfalls in life.  So many people and things pulling you in different directions, and often pulling away from God.  Promises of glory and happiness and immediate gratification.  “Today exalted” but “tomorrow not to be found.”

It is easy to give in.  So hard to be courageous and strong in keeping God’s law.  As I read about the faithfulness, zeal, innocence, obedience and loyalty of some of the “greats” from the Bible, my eyes keep going back to the same line:  “And so, consider this from generation to generation, that none who hope in Heaven shall fail in strength.”

So many of the Bible’s teachings are really so simple — it is we who make them complicated.

Dear  God,

My hope is in you and in your salvation.  I ask you to help me here on earth.  Please provide me with sufficient grace.  Please provide me with sufficient faith, zeal, innocence, obedience, and loyalty.  Grant me the courage that I may be steadfast despite all of the pulls and promises of today.  It is my tomorrow that I want to focus on.  My hope in heaven.

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Return to Me

How many times does God call out to us to return to Him?  It seems like a recurrent theme in the Bible.  It doesn’t matter what we do, why we turn away, or how many times we turn away.  God is always there patiently waiting and calling us back.

Today the Bible opened to Malachi:

Return to me, that I may return to you, says the LORD of hosts.  But you say, “Why should we return?”

(Oh wow — don’t we do that?  What’s in it for us, we ask)

Can anyone rob God?

I have reread this line several times, trying to understand what it is saying.  God seems above being robbed — how can we take anything away from the one who has everything.  But maybe that is just it.  We take Him for granted.  Because He is always there and we know we can screw up and still return to Him, I think we (or at least I) take Him for granted and don’t pay attention to the hurt that we cause when we turn away.  He has plenty of others who are much better than me, what does He care if I turn away.  As I reread this passage what I am struck with is, HE DOES CARE!  How amazing and important is that?!

But you are robbing me!  And you say, “How have we robbed you?”  Of tithes and contributions!  You are indeed accursed, for you, the whole nation, rob me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house.

Put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure!

Malachi 3:7-10

Although this passage talks about tithes and contributions, it seems to be much more than that.  Trust me God says.  Let me show you.  Put me to the test — put your faith in me — let go of your worldly possessions, your money, your fears that you will be without — put your faith in me “And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure!”

Dear God,

I am sorry for all of the times I have robbed you, robbed you of my heart, my trust, my faith and my tithe.  I do not want to turn away from you again.  Thank you for calling out to me again and again.

 

 

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Evicted! For the Cross

Tonight I watched two Catholic high schools play a baseball game.  And mid way through the game one of the boys from our team was ejected from the game.  Not for fighting.  Not for cursing at the umpire or even arguing with the umpire.  Not for taunting or excessive celebration.  Not for reckless or injurious play.  He was ejected for wearing a cross on a chain around his neck.  Now , yes there is a rule against wearing any jewelry and so yes, he was in violation.  And in some sports a necklace can be dangerous — but in baseball?  When both teams are from Catholic high schools?  It warmed my heart to see this 15 year old proudly wearing the cross.

Fittingly, tonight the Bible opened to Romans:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.  For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:8-13

“For, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Tonight on the baseball field,  a high school teenager confessed that Jesus is Lord.

Lord,

Help me to spread your good news!  Help me to spread it not just on an anonymous internet page but in my every day life.  I know that you can save me.  I believe that you will raise me up.  I know that righteousness comes from faith and your grace.  Only you can save me.  You are my hope and my salvation.

Jesus is Lord!

Alleluia!

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Break into song! Happy Easter!

Sing a new song to the LORD, for he has done marvelous deeds.

His right hand and holy arm have won the victory.

The LORD has made his victory known; has revealed his triumph in the sight of the nations,

He has remembered his mercy and faithfulness toward the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

 

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth; break into song; sing praise.

Sing praise to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and melodious song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout with joy to the King, the LORD.

 

Let the sea and what fills it resound, the world and those who dwell there.

Let the rivers clap their hands, the mountains shout with them for joy,

Before the LORD who comes, who comes to govern the earth,

To govern the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

Psalm 98

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Good Friday

As a child I never understood why we called the day Jesus died “Good.”  Today it makes sense.  Today Jesus laid down His life for us.  As He said in John: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  Today is all about God’s love for us.  And also the reminder for us, that death is not the end.  Our loved ones who have died, still live.  We will see them again.

Today the Bible opened to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians:

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  Indeed, we tell you this, on the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore, console one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

It truly is a good day.  What might seem like a terrible day to those without faith or hope —  what may seem terrible here on earth —  can be the most beautiful thing — can have a greater purpose.  Because we have faith and hope, we need not grieve like the rest.  Our God is stronger!  As I am typing the words to Chris Tomlin’s song “Our God” are singing through my head — rejoicing through my body:

“Into the darkness you shine, out of the ashes we rise there’s no one like you, none like You!
Our God is greater, our God is stronger, God you are higher than any other.
Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God! Our God!

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against?”

 

 

 

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Old vs. New

I struggle with the Old Testament.  It seems so different than the new.  So many rules, and anger and “fire and brimstone.”  Its different than the love that pours out of the New Testament.  I have questioned why God seems so different in the Old Testament as compared to the New.  Today I think I found an answer.

Today, the Bible opened to Galatians:

Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed.  Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian.  For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.  For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise.

I mean that as long as the heir is not of age, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under the supervision of guardians and administrators until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were not of age, were enslaved to the elemental powers of the world.  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption.  As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Galatians 3:23-29; 4:1-7

Initially humans were like infants.  We needed rules and discipline.  We were not able to understand or have faith — so we had to be told what to do.   We needed supervision and guidance.  We were “enslaved to the elemental powers of the world.”  God knew what we needed.  He had a plan.  And when the world was ready, He sent His Son, so that we might have faith, see faith in action, believe and know God.  He “sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts.”  That one is powerful:

“God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts”

We were ready to no longer be slaves to rules without understanding.  We were ready to live by faith, so we could know God.  God sent us Jesus so we could know Him, so we could have faith.  With faith — we are no longer enslaved to the elemental powers of the world.  The world has nothing on us, on our faith.  How blessed we are to know God.  To live in the time of faith, instead of fear and wrath.  To know God’s love through His Son, Jesus.  To know the Truth.

Thank you Lord!  Thank you for creating us to know you.  Thank you for sacrificing yourself so that we might believe.  Thank you for saving me!  Please send your spirit into our hearts!

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God loves you

I was reminded of this today.  A fairly simple thought.  God loves you.  God loves me.  What else do we need?

A friend reminded me of this verse from Joel:

Yet even now—oracle of the LORD—return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God, For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment.

Joel 2:12-13

God loves us and is always asking us to return to Him.  He is always waiting for us.

Whenever my son did not know the answer to a religion test question, he would answer “because God loves us very much.”  We still laugh about it — but he was right every single time.  Why?  Because that is the answer . . . to everything.

Tonight, I opened the Bible to Psalms:

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief.

Psalms 22:2-3

Although the Psalm started off in what seemed like a cry of despair.  It actually foretold of God’s greatest act of love: sending His only son to die on the cross for us.  The Psalm goes on to state:

They have pierced my hands and my feet I can count all my bones.  They stare at me and gloat; they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.

As Good Friday approaches, the similarities between the psalm and Jesus’ suffering are fresh in my mind.  In the gospels, Jesus tells us that he must fulfill what is written.  This never made sense to me, until I read the rest of this Psalm:

Then I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the assembly I will praise you: “You who fear the LORD, give praise! All descendants of Jacob, give honor; show reverence, all descendants of Israel!  For he has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch, Did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out. I will offer praise in the great assembly; my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him. The poor will eat their fill; those who seek the LORD will offer praise.  May your hearts enjoy life forever!”

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before him.  For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations.  All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage. And I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you.  The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought.

The Lord is great!  Although God may not answer every prayer in the way that we hope (we are often wrong in what we think we need or want), through His greatest act of love He has shown us without question that He does not turn away from us.  He hears us when we cry out.  He hears us, He loves us, He sacrificed for us, so that we would know.

All glory and praise to God! God, I wish I knew how to rightly pay you homage — but nothing seems adequate.  I find guidance in the Psalm: “And I will live for the Lord.”

Lord, may I show you homage through my life!  I love you.

 

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Help me be subordinate!

Oh I needed this one!  (It probably would have been even more helpful, if I had read it before I got frustrated with my husband.)

Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.  Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.

Slaves, obey your human masters in everything, not only when being watched, as currying favor, but in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ.  For the wrongdoer will receive recompense for the wrong he committed, and there is no partiality.

Colossians 3: 18-25

This is another one for which I could probably use a daily reminder.  Usually I get hung up on the subordinate language (which I don’t particularly love), but today I focused on: “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ.”   Here is what I heard when I read this: Do everything from the heart — from goodness.  Everything is for the Lord.  I think sometimes I let myself get trapped into reacting to how others treat me.  But really every action we take is for the Lord — and if I remember it in that context, instead of whether the other person deserves goodness or whether I need to respond to  what they have said or done, then my response will be better.  I just need to love — I don’t necessarily need to correct, or judge, or prove that I am right.  My attitude, my response, my heart needs to be for the Lord, and I suspect if I do that, my interactions with others will be more loving, humble/subordinate, obedient and unprovoking (which is how God calls us all to be).

Dear God,

Grant me the grace to be humble, to be loving, to be obedient to you.  Help me fill all of my relationships with your love.  Help me treat everyone as I would treat you, instead of how I might feel treated by them.  Help me to do everything from my heart — the heart that you gave me.  Help me to place my desires subordinate to the needs of others.

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Palm Sunday Wisdom

It’s Palm Sunday!  Which means today’s Gospel at church was the long gospel where we hear about the last days and hours of Jesus’ human life.  Where we shout out “crucify him” in imitation of the crowd — and in recognition of our own sin for which He died.

This afternoon, the Bible opened to the book of Wisdom.  It is a long section, so I will break it up a bit:

For, not thinking rightly, they said among themselves:

“Brief and troubled is our lifetime; there is no remedy for our dying, nor is anyone known to have come back from Hades.  For by mere chance were we born, and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been; Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason a spark from the beating of our hearts, And when this is quenched, our body will be ashes and our spirit will be poured abroad like empty air.  Even our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will recall our deeds.  So our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud, and will be dispersed like a mist Pursued by the sun’s rays and overpowered by its heat.  For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow; and our dying cannot be deferred because it is fixed with a seal; and no one returns.

What a very sad way to think of life.  How very sad and desolate must it feel to not believe in God.  To not know that there is so much more to life than what we experience here on earth.

Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are here, and make use of creation with youthful zest.  Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes, and let no springtime blossom pass us by; let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.  Let no meadow be free from our wantonness; everywhere let us leave tokens of our merriment, for this is our portion, and this our lot.  Let us oppress the righteous poor; let us neither spare the widow nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time.  But let our strength be our norm of righteousness; for weakness proves itself useless.

When it is put this way, it is easy to see why some who do not know God, have no care for those around them.  Why not enjoy life and center on me — if this is all there is…

But then what is my excuse when I fall into similar behavior?  Is this what is meant when they say that sin pulls us away from God?  Because if I believe, as I do, that God is present, and that there is life after death, then when I act out of selfishness or out of me-centeredness, I am surely acting as though I believe this is it — I am acting as though I do not believe that there is much more waiting for me.  I am not trusting God, not trusting that following Him is better than doing something for me or doing something for immediate gratification.

Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us; he opposes our actions, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.  He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.  To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, Because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways.  He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.  He calls blest the destiny of the righteous and boasts that God is his Father.  Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him in the end.  For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.  With violence and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.  These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them,

This sounds very much like the crowd taunting Jesus at His death.

And they did not know the hidden counsels of God; neither did they count on a recompense for holiness nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.  For God formed us to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made us. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.

Wisdom 2:1-24

Lord,

Thank you for this beautiful day!  I am not worthy of it.  Thank you for sending us your only Son, to show us what true love, true selflessness, true faith and trust in you is.  Help me to remember that this is not my home.  This life is only temporary and is just a small part of your plan.  My home is with you!  Guide me with wisdom that can only come from you!  Help me to reject the devil.  Bring me close to you always.

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There is Dissension All Around Us

Romans is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  Today it opened to the end of Romans:

I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles, in opposition to the teaching that you learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the innocent.  For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise as to what is good, and simple as to what is evil; then the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Romans 16:17-20

“Watch out for those who create dissensions and obstacles.”  I feel like that is all of us at some point or another.  Think about all of the arguments that occur every day, in your own life, in the world.  Think about all of the ways that we classify each other or otherwise try to draw lines of distinction between us and others.  Think about all the times we try to feel better about ourselves at the expense of others.  How many times do we start arguments or otherwise create separation between us and others?  Watch out for everyone?  Watch out for ourselves?

This one is hard for me, because I feel like I live in dissension.   Sometimes I even thrive on it.  I need to recognize that every time I argue, or try to place myself above others, or classify or rank individuals into groups, I create dissension.  And in doing so, I am certainly not serving the Lord, instead I am serving my own appetite, my own desire to feel right.  I am flattering myself and deceiving myself from what is right and what is good.  This false flattery weakens us, weakens me — it doesn’t make us better, it doesn’t make us right.  It pulls us away from God and his purpose for us.  It pulls us away from love.

Lord,

Let us be wise to what is good and simple to what is evil.  Let us reject the dissension around us (and that sometimes bubbles up inside us (me)).  Let us recognize it for what it is.  Provide us with the peace of knowing your love and knowing that there is enough for all of us.  We do not need to fight over it or try to put ourselves above others to receive it.  Help us to share your love.