He hates God

It's true. Satan hates God. Therefore, it stands to reason that if I love God, and have asked Him to come into my life, then Satan hates me as well. This is a sobering thought. There is part of me that knows that I must trust God and believe He will guide me safely home to heaven one day and yet there is also the undeniable truth of God's Word that says:

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8

This is the reality I must live in everyday of my life here on earth. But can I do both? Can I trust God while at the same time stay self-controlled and alert? Absolutely! Just look at Nehemiah. Although the gracious hand of God was upon him (see Nehemiah 2:8), when he left the citadel of Susa to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, the opposition from the enemy was immediate and very real (2:10). There was mocking and ridicule (2:19), the enemy became angry and incensed (4:1), and they plotted together to fight and stir up trouble for Nehemiah (4:7-8). We must be aware that the enemy is persistent (6:4), he uses fear because he knows this weakens us (6:9), and he tries to intimidate us (6:13). But Nehemiah shows us how to respond. First, he sees the enemy for who he is (6:11-13) and then he prays and asks God to strengthen his hands (6:9) and to take care of his enemies (6:14). Then he gets back to work trusting God! And what happens?

"So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." Nehemiah 6:15-16

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Someone has got to die

I took the title of this blog post from what I frequently say to women who have come to me about some trouble in their marriage. "Someone has got to die," I say. Then I add, "Preferably both of you." What I mean, of course, is that for a marriage to work, each of us must die to our sinful, selfish desires. It means we give up what we want, so our spouse gets what they want. Most often (not always) when we do that out of obedience to our LORD, our spouse responds by dying to what they want. A win-win. However, when we both choose not to die to our selfish desires, the relationship will likely dissolve.

This Sunday, my husband will be speaking on Romans 6:23 which says:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD."

In our relationship to Christ, someone had to die. He has already made the first move. He willingly laid down His life so that we may gain eternal life. We can choose to accept that, and respond by receiving that gift, or we can say "No thank you," and dissolve that relationship. Death or life - our choice.

Mother

I find it interesting that there is not much in the way of instruction for mothers in the Bible. There are clear commands for women in general, but not specifically for mothers. Of course there are examples of good and bad mothers in the Bible. We would all do well to take note of women like Jezebel (Ahaziah's mother) and Eunice (Timothy’s mother), and try to figure out what character traits we should or should not copy.

Proverbs 31:28 says that a mother’s child will arise and call her blessed  (and her husband will also). The older I get, the more meaning this has.

As a mother, those who know you best are your husband and children. So it carries a lot of weight if they are the ones who rise up and call you blessed, because they are the ones who have watched your life most closely.

In her book, The Shaping of a Christian Family, Elisabeth Elliot says “A mother is a chalice, the vessel without which no human being has ever been born. She is created to be a life-bearer, cooperating with her husband and with God in the making of a child. What a solemn responsibility. What an unspeakable privilege—a vessel divinely prepared for the Master’s use.”

Mothers are care givers, teachers, nurses and taxi drivers, but most importantly, we are models. We are each called to model faith, hope, love, obedience, discipline, determination, courage, holiness, etc. to our children. We strive to show them how we love to read and study God’s Word. We show them Who to turn to when trouble comes. We pray and never give up. We ask for forgiveness when necessary. We teach them the Word of God. We lead them to Christ when they are ready.

As Elisabeth said; what a solemn responsibility!

Unashamed

This Sunday my husband will be continuing his Nurture Series of sermons. He will focus on Genesis 2:25 which says "The man and wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

This takes place before the fall of man into sin which is recorded in chapter three of Genesis. Adam and Eve felt no shame because they had not yet sinned in disobedience to God's command. Over and over my husband has been trying to drive home the fact that ever since the fall of man, we have been born in the image of those sinful parents (Genesis 5:3). However, God provided a way back to that beautiful relationship Adam and Eve once knew. It is through our relationship with Jesus Christ, and the transformational work He does in us, that we are able to stand before God unashamed!

Yesterday I attended a Global Missions Conference where a missionary who resides in Kenya told us about the horrific attack on Garissa University that occurred on the 2nd of this month. Four gunman stormed onto the university campus killing 147 and injuring 79 more. Their attacks were focused on Christian students. It was painful listening to the details of the attack. The missionary told us that at one point, the gunman had the girls come out from one dormitory and line up. The gunman told those who were Christian to step forward. Then they shot them. Would I have stepped forward? Would I have been unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I need to settle that question now, not when I am at gunpoint.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." (Romans 1:16)

Take a different route

Yesterday I put my grandson in his stroller and went for a walk. I took the same route I usually take when I am walking by myself. I got about 3/4 of the way through when I realized I had dropped one of his burp cloths somewhere along the route. So, instead of completing the route, I turned around and retraced my steps. The most interesting thing was that I noticed so many "new" things, that several times I had to ask myself if I was going the right way! Could it be that I do the same thing in my life? Am I doing the same things, the same way so often, that I miss some fabulous things that were there the whole time?

As my husband and I are reading some books about marriage, we've been discussing whether or not people can really change; especially couples like us who have been married for 25 years. I just heard a statistic on the radio that most divorced people surveyed 5-7 years after their divorce said that if they had worked a little harder, they may not have gotten divorced. The speaker also said that most people drown 10 feet from shore! In other words, hope is not that far away! We just need a new perspective. Perhaps it's time to take a different route and notice some new things.

Perhaps the way we've been "doing church" needs to change. What the church (universal) has been doing isn't working. In fact, we're drowning. But what if we're only 10 feet from shore? What if the answer is close at hand? My husband challenged the congregation last Sunday to take a new route. He asked for 10 people to commit to a year of discipleship training for themselves, with the understanding that each person would then train someone else the following year. Will we move away from the route we've always taken, gain a new perspective and make it to shore?

What is Maundy Thursday?

We are in Holy Week/Passion Week. The time from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. This Thursday we will celebrate Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. You may have gone to church all your life and not known what Maundy Thursday is.

Maundy (pronounced: mawn-dee), is from the Latin mandatum which means to command. It is the name we give to the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, known as the Last Supper. (Luke 22:19-20) At that supper, Jesus gave His disciples the command to love and serve one another. (John 13:34) Not a bad idea, but are we doing it? At that same supper, Jesus washed His disciples' feet. (John 13:3-17) He acted as a servant in great humility. This is the King of the Universe, God's own Son we're talking about. The Sinless One. He got down on His knees and washed the feet of all the disciples, even the one who He knew would betray Him.

Why would He do that? Once again it comes back to the Passion Week. Jesus was all about His passion for us, even those of us who betray Him. This week is an excellent time to reflect upon where we are at on the whole self denial thing. Do I have a passion for people? Am I considering others better than myself in humility? Am I loving and serving others? If not, am I truly a disciple?

Part of the crowd

This Sunday is Palm Sunday, a day I looked forward to as a child. In the church I grew up in, it was a day of celebration. You could see it the moment you walked in. It was no ordinary day. There were Palm branches everywhere! It was a day of rejoicing! I enthusiastically waved my palm branch along with everyone else in the crowd as the account of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem was read aloud.

I was part of the crowd then. Later, I would accept Jesus Christ as my personal LORD and Savior and enter into an intimate relationship with Him as one of His disciples. That's it. There are two groups. One group follows Jesus along with the masses, to be fed. The other, much smaller group become His disciples and choose to follow Him to the Cross. I read a sobering scripture this week. It is from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7. Verses 13-14 say this:

"You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few find it." (NLT)

Looking back, the act of taking the Palm Branch and making it into a cross wasn't just a simple act for us children. It was a teaching moment. This Palm Sunday, take your palm and make it into a cross. Explain to your children that as the masses celebrated Jesus' arrival on a donkey into Jerusalem, the joy and celebration would soon turn to sorrow as their King would be nailed to a cross. Tell them that it's OK to feel sad. The disciples felt sad too. Then tell them there's more to the story!

If you're a visual learner, here is a You Tube Tutorial on how to make a Palm Cross:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT-0Z6YSJoU