The Roaring Lion

I believe in the devil and all the Bible says about him, but I've never been one to talk about him like others do. I hear people say things like, "The devil has been attacking me," or "I could feel the devil at work." I am often skeptical when I hear people talk like that because I don't think like that normally. But I have to say that today I became a believer.

I just got a clear picture in my mind of I Peter 5:7-9. It says, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

The devil is attacking my family. He is seeking to devour my children. It is real.

Now here is my next thought. If a lion were literally attacking my children, if the lion had one of them in its jaws and were dragging them off, I would not run away and hide, or stand there and cry. I would find myself a club or some kind of weapon and go after that lion. I would beat the lion and grab hold of my child and fight with all my might to take them from the jaws of the lion.

So I'm on the attack. I have my weapon, the Word of God. I will resist the devil with all my might, and the Word promises that the devil will flee. Pray for me. The battle is raging.

My Dear Sister

Today was a sad day for me. My dear sister Penny and her husband David left for Ukraine this afternoon. She told me she was sad but that once she got on her way she would be fine. And she said that being sad didn't mean she didn't want to go. She was looking forward to being back to the home she has made there in Kharkov. Finally, she told me that she thought it would be easier to leave her boys once they were both married. It wasn't true.

Penny has been such an inspiration to me. She takes the hardships of life in Ukraine with much ease and grace. I know it hasn't always been as easy as she makes it look, but God has been gracious to her in giving her what we might think of as a "pioneer spirit." She has been able to go to the "frontier" and make a beautiful life. I have had only peeks at the sacrifices she has made throughout the years she has been in Ukraine. I feel that I don't recognize them or acknowledge them enough.

When I was able to go to visit her five years ago I got a small taste of her life there. We ended up in several circumstances that I found very challenging. I told her that being there was really hard for me in so many ways. I tell you again... she made it look easy.

She has been my dear sister and friend for all these years. I have been so thankful that she has been here for me in some of the most difficult days of my life. She has been a strong arm to lean on.

God bless you, Penny. I love you very much.

What I've Been Reading

I was roaming around on Facebook one night, just checking on some of my friends and I came across the profile of J.D. Whitlock. He's married to my dear friend, Jane. As I looked at his profile he described his religious views as "Christian hedonist." Now I was intrigued. What is a "Christian hedonist"? So I began exploring this idea and found a book called Desiring God by John Piper. I ordered the book and that is what I recently finished reading. I intend to share some ideas and quotes from the book here over the next few days. I was afraid if I posted it all at once I would scare off some reluctant readers.


The famous old tradition says:
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The Christian hedonist changes this to say:
The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever.

So the premise of this book is that God is most glorified when we seek our own happiness and find it in Him.

The first section was about how God is the happiest being of all because he accomplishes everything He sets out to do. None of His purposes is ever thwarted. Just think how happy that would make a person!


Ps. 33:10-11 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

“And if none of His purposes can be frustrated, then He must be the happiest of all beings."

“Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling and pouting and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated and despondent and gloomy and dismal and discontented and dejected? Could we join David and say, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water”?
“I don’t think so. We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him, or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor."
(I'm so thankful that we don't have to feel this way about our heavenly Father.)

“The foundation of the happiness of God is the sovereignty of God…He does all that He pleases…He makes all things work together for His glory."

“He has designed from all eternity, and is infallibly forming with every event, a magnificent mosaic of redemptive history. The contemplation of this mosaic (with both the dark and bright tiles) fills His heart with joy.”

I like thinking about this happy Father. I like serving a God like this.

More later...

Suffering

I have been so appreciative of the preaching I have been hearing the past few weeks. I have posted about Andy Stanley and he continues to be a blessing. But two weeks ago Bro. Brian preached on suffering and he had a lot of good thoughts to share. I have been in the midst of suffering the last few months, so it was especially meaningful to me.

Reasons to rejoice in suffering

1. Suffering proves the reality of our faith.
2. Suffering promotes our dependence on God.
3. Suffering purifies our relationship with God.
Just as God used poverty, loneliness, temptation and betrayal in Jesus' life, He uses them in our life.
"The pain passes but the beauty remains."
4. Suffering produces endurance in our lives.
5. Suffering primes us for greater effectiveness.
6. Suffering provokes courage in other believers.
7. Suffering provides opportunities for witness.
8. Suffering prepares us to reign with Christ.

Our response to suffering in the Christian life should not be to avoid it, but to embrace it. We are called to discipleship in the here and now, and to glory later. And there is no comparison be the suffering now and the glory that will be revealed later.

There are ways to equip yourself for suffering. We must be willing to renounce the pleasures of this life, and to see them for what they really are... cheap trinkets compared to the true treasures of God. We should memorize scripture and meditate on it daily, hourly. And we should be dedicated to the Lord. We should be content to be nothing.

Finally, Bro. Brian said that faith marches into the darkness of suffering, holding the hand of the Savior who will never leave us or forsake us, never let us go.

Good thoughts! Good things to remember!

My Diamond Man

Today is our anniversary. We have been married 31 years. Being married is hard. It's good, but it's hard. Today I'm thankful that Phil and I hung on to each other. There were many times when either one of us could have called it quits. Anyone who's been married for awhile can testify to this. But in the end, we were able to stay together for a couple of different reasons.

The first reason we stayed together is a determination to stay committed. In spite of how we might feel at different times, we did not let leaving become an option. We were in it for the long haul. My sister said she thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" But she too has stayed committed to her marriage.

Another reason we have stayed married is because we have learned to forgive each other. Over and over we have had to forgive. Every day. Forgive seventy time seven. And then forgive again.

I am happier in my marriage today than I have ever been. Phil would say the same. We have come to care about each other in ways that we did not and could not in our younger years. We were too immature. Too selfish. Too busy with kids. But now we have time for each other, and we understand how much we need each other. We have learned to speak each other's love language, and we can't believe the difference this one thing has made. (If you haven't learned this one, I say get started on this one today.)

So today I'm thankful for 31 years of "Dancing in the Minefields" with my man, my diamond man.

The Least of These

On Wednesday night I taught a lesson on honoring God and I asked the kids what they would do if Jesus were coming to their house for dinner. They said they would cook and clean and decorate. One boy said, “Cook the food with love.” I said, “What would you cook?” He said, “Angel food cake.”

But then I told them how we honor God when we treat others as if they were Jesus. If we honor the “least of these,” it is the same as honoring Him.

Later, there was not enough room on the vans for all the kids so I took some kids home. They got in my car and one of the boys saw my screen and asked me if I had GPS. He said, “Cool…can we use it?” I said no because it would take too long to put the address in. He said OK.

After I dropped them off, I thought about our lesson. And it occurred to me what I had done. I thought, “What if Jesus had been in my car? What if He had said, ‘Would you show me how that GPS works?’” I knew how I would have responded to Jesus. I would have been delighted to show Him how it works. And I would have been pleased that He had asked.

I was so ashamed. “Whatever you do to the least of these you do to me.” I had just said that to the kids. And now I had done it. I had been too busy and in too big a hurry to be done with them and be on my way home. I had treated them shabbily. I had treated Jesus shabbily.

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I posted this quote a few weeks ago on my FB status.

“Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with them.”
- Mother Teresa

It really got me to thinking about how I interact with the poor. My first thought was that I don’t interact with them because I was just thinking of poor as the homeless or people who need food from the food bank or things like that. And then I thought, “Duh.” I interact with the poor every day. Eighty percent or more of the kids at school get free or reduced lunch and are considered “poor.” So I have been interacting with the poor on a regular basis over the past 31 years that I have been teaching, and I haven’t really thought of it like that very often.

Another place I interact with the poor is in Kids Club on Wednesday night. Many of the kids who come on the van are poor.
So I have decided that I need to think more about this new perspective. How does God want me to interact with the poor?

I have been to several training sessions at school that have helped us to be aware of poverty as a subculture in our society. These sessions have made me think about how people in poverty view the world, what they value, and some of the unwritten rules that they live by.

Now if I were a missionary in another country, I would be aware of the differences between my culture and the country where I am working. It is the same with the poverty subculture. I have to be aware of the differences. If I were in another country, I would not expect the people there to think like I think, or value what I value. But often, I react the wrong way to those in poverty. I think they should behave differently, or think differently and I can be frustrated by their inability to do so.

So I need to have more patience and love.

It’s a work in progress with me. Awareness is the first step.

Forgiveness

My pastor, Brian Kearns, has been preaching on forgiveness the past couple of weeks. It has truly blessed my heart. Here are a few of the notes I jotted down from the messages.

Forgive seventy times seven. Wow!

The offender cannot calculate the impact of what they have done. Forgive anyway.

There is absolutely no way to fix what has been done. Forgive anyway.

The 5 excuses for carrying unforgiveness in our lives:
1. It is too big.
2. Time will heal it.
3. I'll forgive when they say, "I'm sorry."
4. I can't forgive if I can't forget."
5. They will do it again.

When you harbor bitterness and fail to forgive, you are the one who suffers. It is like drinking poison and expecting the offender to die.

When we forgive, we don't keep bringing the offense up to others; and we don't keep bringing the offense up to ourselves. ( I have been so guilty of doing this.)

Different actions will lead to different feelings. So, we should be kind and tenderhearted. And thus, we become more like Christ.

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The ideas of forgiveness, mercy and grace have been taking on new meaning in my life. I am seeing more and more clearly just what God did for me and what I, in turn, should give to others. I am thankful for all that I am learning. Hard lessons, but very precious.