Handout

Here’s another phrase that you might have heard: “I’m just one beggar telling another beggar where I found some food.”

When I share a thought or a verse here on KenaniahSings, I always remember this simple phrase. I’m no spiritual giant -- in fact, many times I’m a spiritual gnat. But that’s the really cool thing about God & how He works with the Body of Christ. One of us might share a thought that sparks another insight in another of us. It’s how we help each other grow.

It's not that one of us is more spiritual than another, but rather that God in His wisdom & greatness created each of us to be unique, with unique thoughts, emotions, & insights. So even though I’m a beggar, He works THROUGH me, & often He works IN SPITE OF me.

“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.” [I Corinthians 1:27-29]

So if you’re feeling like a cracked vessel, take heart. God can use you, & He can use others to minister to you. It’s what the Body is all about.

BLOOMING

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Bloom where you are planted”? Well, this tree really demonstrates that principle.

I’ve noticed this tree for the past 10 years. Every fall, I wonder whether the tree will die over the winter due to its cruel confinement. But every spring, out pop this year’s leaves. Somehow, that tree triumphs over its prison every single year!

It gives a great example that I should be following. A Christian classic, Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, describes the fear & misery of the primary character, Much-Afraid. Much-Afraid breaks away from her family (the Fearings) to follow the Shepherd to the High Places. Along the way, she finds a small flower blooming in a cave. The flower is called “Acceptance With Joy.” This tiny flower was dropped in the cave as a seed -- it had done nothing to deserve its sunless existence, but it bloomed forth with all its strength. For much of Much-Afraid’s subsequent journey, she was reminded of the lesson of that flower, blooming in the dark of a cave, which helped her to overcome the obstacles she encountered before ascending to the High Places.

Personally, I’m going thru a very challenging time in my life. Many things are at risk due to circumstances beyond my control. Sometimes it feels as if I’m at war. Sometimes I break down & cry because of the stress of my situation.

But God’s Word contains many passages that bring me comfort & help me to overcome the stress & worry that I confront daily.

“I have been young & now I am old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread.” [Psalm 37:25]

If you’re like me, & have been fighting a battle in some area of your life, or dealing with trials & adversity, remember the example of the tree above. Against all odds, that tree grows. It has chosen to thrive in its prison & make the very best of its situation.

I leave you with a poem that has always given me comfort. This poem was written by Madame Jeanne Marie Guyon while she was locked in the Bastille in France for opposing the sinful behavior of King Louis XIV’s court. This poem, & the imprisoned tree, challenge me to strive to be more than I am:

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air,

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there;

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.

Nought have I else to do,

I sing the whole day long;

And He whom most I love to please

Doth listen to my song;

He caught and bound my wandering wing;

But still He bends to hear me sing.

My cage confines me round;

Abroad I cannot fly;

But though my wing is closely bound,

My heart's at liberty;

For prison walls cannot control

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

O it is good to soar

These bolts and bars above!

To Him whose purpose I adore,

Whose providence I love;

And in Thy mighty will to find

The joy, the freedom of the mind.

~Madame Guyon (1648-1717)

Grass of the Field

In my neck of the woods, forsythia are bursting into a riot of jubilant yellow. Tulips, violets, daffodils, crocus, hyacinth, and vinca are adding their own unique notes to this visual symphony. Since we live in a northern state, we get to see this transformation each spring, after a winter of white, grey, & brown mud. The wealth of color that spring brings is priceless, made even more so by the preceding months.

I am fortunate to live in a rural area, where the fields are being plowed and baby farm animals are appearing in the fields. My own sheep are acting like lambs again. My chickens are happily pecking the ground & enjoying the springtime. Woodpeckers drum in the woods, and the squirrels are “twitterpating” {remember “Bambi”?}.

As I drove today, I remembered the words of an old song sung by Amy Grant, “Jehovah”:  “Consider the lilies of the field, Solomon dressed in royal robes has not the worth of them. Consider the lilies of the field. He takes after each and every need. Leave all your cares behind, seek Him and you will find your Father loves you so.”

These lyrics mean a lot to me right now, because I’m looking at the possibility of losing my job, and looming {{financial ruin}} {dramatic ta-dum here}.

The riotous jubilation of the springtime reminds me that God has poured out His love on me in so many ways: “But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’…for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” [Matthew 6:30-34]

Thinking on this as I soaked in the beauty of the spring, I also realized that I was falling short. I was letting my fear of the future sap my strength. The fact is, faith and fear are just incompatible. In fact, fear runs & hides when confronted by faith. Ephesians talks about this: “taking up the Shield of Faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.” [Ephesians 6:16]

When I’m going through a challenging time, or my faith is being tested, I need to be sure to protect myself with the tools God has given me: “Take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” [Ephesians 6:13]. With His help, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Stand firm, brothers & sisters!

The Good Part

As you can see from this blog, I enjoy writing. I also feel led by God to write this blog, so hopefully, it’s something that I do fairly well. Over the years, one of the things I’ve learned is that it’s so easy to put off writing time in order to do something more “urgent”.

The fact is, some of those “urgent” things are really trivial in the great scheme of things. Many years ago, NavPress released a little booklet entitled The Tyranny Of The Urgent. That describes it precisely for me. Too many times, I let these trivial urgencies get in the way of the things that I know are most important. And it’s not just writing that gets postponed. The big problem is, these trivial things get in the way of my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

I know what my priorities SHOULD be. I’ve set them down in writing. They are pasted up in my home & my office. I truly believe that these priorities are right. But I’m just not sure how well I adhere to them.

Of course, on paper, God is ranked as my #1. But sometimes I feel as if I treat God more like a drive-thru window than my Redeemer & King. I drop to my knees to pray for something I need for myself, or to pray to ask for something for someone else. Or I do a quick thanks before a meal. It’s kind of like “drive-by praying”, & it disrespects my Lord.

In reality, my quiet times with Him are often hurried times before I race off to do something else. In my haste to address the “urgent”, I lose sight of the fact that I am given this precious opportunity to commune with the Creator Who calls all of the stars by name. [Isaiah 40:26]

It’s not that complicated. Sadly, it’s pretty simple. I just need to set all of the other “stuff” aside. Sounds pretty easy, but it’s anything but. Still, we need to have that goal, & we need to push forward toward it.

Think of the story of Mary & Martha. They were Lazarus’ sisters, & they were really excited when Jesus came to Bethany to visit with them. “Mary…was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet. Martha was distracted with all of her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” [Luke 10:39-42]

So I’m going to make that my goal -- to choose the good part, the necessary things, instead of being worried & bothered about many things. I know there will be times that I’ll fail. But it’s worth taking a really good try!

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:8]

JUSTICE, MERCY, AND GRACE

I’ve been giving some thought to the death of Osama Bin Laden. I vividly remember the tragedy of 9/11. Media coverage brought constant images before our eyes. Crushed fire engines, toppled buildings, and first response teams in tears. Fences covered with pictures of the missing.

There is that part of me that rejoices that he has died, and that justice has been done. He now stands before the God of all creation, where he will have to give account of his actions. This is justice -- to stand before our final Judge & give an accounting of our lives.

But there is also the part of me that is saddened. With his death, there is no longer a chance that Bin Laden would turn from his ways & turn to Christ. Was this likely? Certainly not. But while there is life, there is always the chance for a soul to turn. Now, a soul that was lost in life is now lost in death. I don’t rejoice in the loss of any soul.

Do you remember “Saul, Saul, why persecuteth thou Me?” [Yes, sometimes I do think in the King James Version 8-) ] Acts says that “Saul was in hearty agreement with putting [Stephen] to death…Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.” [Acts 8:1,3] Saul was fully intending to put everyone in the new Church into prison. But on the road to Damascus, Jesus spoke to him, and thus began the transformation from Saul to Paul, apostle of Christ.

“Immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ And all those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, ‘Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?’ But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” [Acts 9:20-22]

No one can deny that Paul’s letters have challenged and transformed countless Christians’ lives. But there, at the beginning, he was a persecutor, not a believer. He was transformed by the power of Christ, as he turned from his old ways and turned to Jesus.

As long as there are sinners, there will be miraculous transformations, whether it be from a persecutor to a believer, or from a drug dealer to a follower of Christ. I believe in transformations, because I myself was transformed by His amazing love and grace. As long as someone lives, transformation is possible. 

It is God’s mercy that saves us from the consequences of our sin. II Corinthians 5:21 says “He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” It is His grace that gives us eternal life. It was His mercy and grace that saved Saul and transformed his life, as He also transformed mine.

So today, even though I am pleased that justice has been done in Bin Laden’s case, there is still some conflict in my heart. It is hard to rejoice in anyone’s death, even though the evil of his actions certainly earned it. Now, he stands before our Creator.

What are your thoughts? How do you view the death of Bin Laden?

WELCOME TO THE WAR!

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; do not hide Thy face from me, lest I become like those who go down to the pit.

Let me hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for I trust in Thee; teach me the way in which I should walk; for to Thee I lift up my soul.

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in Thee. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God; let Thy good Spirit lead me on level ground.

For the sake of Thy name, O Lord, revive me. In Thy righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble. And in Thy lovingkindness cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul; for I am Thy servant.

Psalm 143:7-12

Haven't we all felt this way? As if we're at war and all the forces of the world are against us? As if we've been forsaken and have no more strength to fight?

As believers, much of our lives is spent in trying to walk in a godly manner day by day. If you’re like me, you fall sometimes, or you do something that doesn’t show Jesus’ love to the world very well. Or you get soooo tired of having to answer to so many demands during the day, and yet still try to find that quiet time to seek God with your heart.

I like to read from the book of Psalms. No matter how I'm feeling, there is always a Psalm that describes my emotions. Whether I'm feeling embattled, jubilant, or worshipful, there is a Psalm to describe it. So I make it a practice to read Psalms every day. Since there are 150 Psalms, and 30 to 31 days in a month, I try to read five Psalms per day.

My informal “system” is to read Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, & 121 on the first day of the month, Psalms 2, 32, 62, 92, & 122 on the second day, and so on. On the 31st day, I read Psalm 119, which is like five Psalms in itself. Many times, one of the Psalms that I’ve read helps me to redirect my emotions to a more positive focus. So that maybe I can shine His light a little brighter throughout my day.

Maybe you'd like to try it too. Skim through the Psalms, and see if you can find one that describes how you're feeling. It’s worth a try! And let me know how it goes. KenaniahSings is more than just a blog. It’s also a place for discussion, so I want to hear your reactions too.

Catch you next time! 

“Welcome to the War” by Kerry Livgren (Kerry Livgren AD: TimeLine, 1984)

http://www.myspace.com/kerrylivgren/music/songs/welcome-to-the-war-44352705