Crowning Lights

 

Christmas was coming down.

The ornaments having been removed, it was time to unwind the string of lights in-bedded in the tree. Putting them up had been a family affair; two people on either side of the tree simply handed the steadily-shrinking coil of lights from one to another as the green wires were laid among the branches. But by now the family had all gone home; newly retired, I was undressing the tree at my leisure. Since there was nobody on the other side to pass the lights to, I removed as much as I could from one side, then laid the coil on the ground and went to the other side where I picked it up again and continued to remove them from there. So it was as I was rounding the tree to do so again at one point that the sight of them lying on the ground seemed oddly familiar to me, like something I’d seen before. I stopped and stared at the coil for a minute… the green circle of wires with lights sticking up at odd angles in its midst. Suddenly I realized that it looked like pictures of the crown of thorns that was placed on Jesus’ head at the time of His crucifixion. 

How amazing that God could use even a string of Christmas lights to remind me of the reason of the season… that Jesus was born so that He could later die in my place. The gift of salvation was truly under my Christmas tree in more ways than one. What a blessed reminder that even as I was putting Christmas away, it’s purpose had come to stay… in my mind and my heart, and in all the days ahead in the New Year. 

“For unto you is born in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

(Luke 2:11 KJV)

Tidings of Comfort and Joy - Part 1

A friend lies in a hospital bed and freely admits on Facebook that he is afraid. Another is worried about a doctor's request for further tests. “I'm only twenty,” he says. “How can I possibly have cancer?” Someone else pens a song about facing a first Christmas and a coming new year without a beloved's face at the table and voice in their ears.

And God's response? Tidings of comfort and joy.

But is that what we want? Don't we want our problems to be fixed, our pain taken away, the tough days to come to an end? What He gives us is His Presence in the midst of our difficulties. He wants to be born right smack in the midst of our problems, to arrive in the middle of our darkest night, that we might find comfort and joy right where we are, in the middle of our smelly and primitive hopelessness.

Instead of checking items off our Christmas lists of wants, God gives us what we need... His Presence in our pain, His sharing in our suffering, His love to fill the void of loss, and Hope to hang on to in the days ahead. He gives us what we need to see us through.

“In this world you will have tribulation,” He told us. “But take heart. I have overcome the world.”

Tidings of comfort and joy.

Sunrise Surmise

My soul needed to see the sunrise this morning.

I argued against it, saying that it was too hot outside, too humid, and the chairs on the deck were still soggy from yesterday's rain.

The spirit within me argued back, and so out I went. And there were blessings...the squirrels coming out of their nests to likewise greet the morning...the cock's crow from down the street, the first to serenade the coming day...and finally, the bright ball itself. I went back inside grateful that I hadn't wasted the opportunity to start the day in such a way.

Sometimes I fight against the voice telling me to meet with the Son at the start of the day. There are always excuses...I'm too tired or my time is too short or it's just too inconvenient today. Yet what happens in those morning minutes largely determines the course of the hours that follow. I'll face the same hurdles regardless, but how wonderful when I can remember the warmth of God's embrace, the faith that He will turn the problems that crowd my day into showcases of His glory...the belief that I will see God rise above any challenging circumstances that may come. The sun will rise without me, but I can't fall back on the encouragement of those morning moments with God if I didn't take the time to drink them in first thing.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name."

(Psalm 103:1 KJV)

Walking Shoes

“Where are my shoes?” my son asked as he hurriedly grabbed what he needed in order to survive another day at school. Knowing he was already agitated about other items he hadn’t been able to locate, I quickly laid his footwear out before him. “There’re right here,” I answered, hoping to calm him somewhat before he headed out to where his friend waited patiently for him in the car.

Laying out my son’s clothes and finding missing footwear have been a part of my life since his birth seventeen years ago. For years now I’ve rummaged for clean jeans, missing  jackets, and lost socks and shoes of all sorts and sizes. Especially the shoes. I’ve set out school shoes, tennis shoes, soccer shoes, and work shoes. But more important than any of those are the spiritual footwear I’ve laid out for him to walk in.

The Bible tells us that as Christians our feet need to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Sometimes, as was the case this morning, that peace is a little hard to find. So all his life I’ve been placing spiritual shoes before him by teaching him to look for it in the pages of his Bible, dig into the promises of God and unveil the hope for the future that God’s Word contains. He’ll find that the spiritual walking shoes he’s been missing have been waiting for him there all along.

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 

(Proverbs 22:6 KJV)

Turtle Crossing

I marveled that the little box turtle lumbering his way across the road hadn't yet been run over by the high-speed traffic. Stopping my van opposite the little creature I jumped out to lift him to the grassy berm on the side. Legs tight inside his shell by the time I reached him, only his head poked out to watch my approach. Paralyzed by fear of the cars that zoomed around him or simply too exhausted to go on, it looked like he’d decided to rest awhile right where he was.

I, too, once left the secure life I had known and wandered into dangerous territory. The layers of protection I carried around me – experiences I thought would shield me from the hazards I’d meet along the way - could not get me safely to where I desired to go. My only hope was the help offered from above. I looked up and accepted the free ride.

We must be willing to point others we come across in our journeys towards that Hand that reaches down to rescue them from the circumstances in which they find themselves. It’s the only way some of them will ever reach the Other Side.

"Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes." 

(Psalm 17:7 NIV)

Treasure Here

My favorite photo from our recent vacation has nothing to do with the family, friends or scenic vistas we visited. In fact, I’m not even sure why my son captured the image on film. His brother had taken a piece of driftwood from along the beach and marked a big “X” in the wet sand with the words “Treasure Here” written beside it.

Reminiscent of pirate maps that directed the treasure seeker to the location of hidden wealth, the photo prompted thoughts of another treasure map in my possession: my Bible. Following the directions found in its pages likewise directs the seeker to a treasure trove of incredible riches. Clues to health, wealth, life and true love are all hidden in its pages.

In days of old it was the one who possessed the map who knew how to find the bounty, while other treasure hunters had to stumble along largely in the dark, piecing together clues as they could find them and gathering information from those they could glean from in passing. So many fall in that latter category today, spiritually, seeking truth from others they come across when in fact the map to true riches is easily available to all in the pages of God’s Book.

I plan to clip that photo to the front of my Bible to remind myself that truly there is “treasure here”…if I’ll just take the time to dig into what’s buried inside.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
(Matthew 13:44 NIV)

Times of Testing

With a house full of teenagers, I knew to expect occasional outbursts and emotional power plays during this trying time of hormonal change and emerging adulthood. Yet there were days that I handled the stress better than others.

I didn't do very well on one particular morning and entered my devotional time frustrated and upset. God quickly let me know that He knew exactly how I felt. He reminded me of the Israelites sojourn in the desert and how they begged him for one thing after another only to moan and complain when He gave them the very things they'd asked for. Their repeated rebellion cost them the right to enter the Promised Land.

God knows what it's like to have sometimes-difficult children. And I found encouragement that day in the knowledge that He doesn't ask me to go where He hasn't already been. While my kids would eventually outgrow that stage in a matter of years, He had to struggle through four long decades of continual attitude adjustment! But the Bible says that He "stood their test". Surely then, with His help, so could I.

" Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and found I stood their test…"
(Hebrews 3:9 AMP)

This is the Day

Twelve times a year I celebrate the first day of the new month. It’s a day in which I rejoice in the blessings of God and the life He’s given me, and I do so by filling it with little activities and actions all geared towards making the day special in some way. I do simple things like putting new pictures in picture frames, going out for breakfast, or changing my schedule around to include some playtime instead of just work on that day.

One day during a discussion of “firsts” in our lives I shared with my pastors my practice of first-of-the-month celebrations. Quite naturally they asked me what kind of things I do to mark the day. And suddenly I found myself hesitant to tell them, afraid that my little ceremonies would sound frivolous in light of the spiritual discussion we were having at the time.

In thinking about the situation again later, however, I asked myself what is wrong or unspiritual about simply enjoying life? Repeatedly in the Bible we are told to rejoice in our salvation. Not just once a month, but every day it gives God joy to see me enjoying the world He created and the blessings which fall from His Hands, in whatever way I choose to do so. No activity is unspiritual if it’s done with gratitude in one’s heart towards Him.

“This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
(Psalm 118:24 NIV)

Spot Mop Your Walk

Keeping the floors looking beautiful is one of management’s top priorities in the grocery store where I work. Therefore twice a year or so the store locks its doors in defiance of the normal open-24-hours policy in order to strip off the old wax and apply a shiny new coat. In between those times, however, the floor is kept clean by an employee who regularly walks up and down the aisles, a mop in one hand and a spray bottle in the other. He squirts water on any dirty spots he finds and wipes the floor clean and dry with the mop. Daily every inch of the floor is inspected and treated as necessary.

Jesus tells us in John 13 that our spiritual lives need the same kind of attention. At the beginning of our walk with the Lord each of us was washed clean when we repented of our sins and made Him the Lord of our lives. And there may be other times in our spiritual journey when we have to shut down completely and ask for forgiveness for some major sin we’ve allowed into our lives. But most of the time we just need to inspect ourselves daily, ask the Holy Spirit to point out areas in our walk that are spotted with sin and then be washed in Living Water to be made clean and fresh once more. Not only does such action keep us in right relationship with God, but it keeps our spiritual journey attractive to those who may be shopping for something more in theirs.

“Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet;
his whole body is clean…’”
(John 13:10 NIV)

Spiritual Driver's License

Desperate to get his driver’s license, my 16-year-old son waited nervously for the driving examiner to approach the car. Confident of his abilities on the road, it was the maneuverability portion of the exam that was a challenge to him. Steering the vehicle forward and back, to the right and to the left without hitting the orange cones on the corners of the test area had been to this date more than he could manage. After his first failed attempt he’d spent several hours in empty parking lots practicing the maneuvers. What once had seemed next to impossible he now could do successfully almost every time. Despite the knots in his stomach he believed he could pass the test today.

We face the same struggle in the spiritual realm. Before God places us behind the wheel of any ministry He tests us, sometimes repeatedly, to see if we can operate spiritually within the boundaries He’s designated, moving forward and back, to the right and to the left at His command. Like my son we sometimes try to move ahead before we’re ready and are frustrated by God’s insistence that we remain in training a little longer. But soon the day comes when we find that we can move in the spiritual realm around whatever obstacles the enemy places before us with ease. It’s then that God can trust us with the keys that unlock the doors to ministry and sends us on our way, confident in our ability to bring ourselves and our spiritual passengers safely Home.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved; a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV)

The Shepherd's Voice

A devout believer, a friend of mine couldn’t understand why she was having difficulty hearing God’s voice. She assumed that He just wasn’t talking to her. I tried to explain to her that God talks to all of us all the time. She just had yet to learn how to differentiate His voice from all the others that call out to her on a regular basis.

The woods around our house are host to a large population of red-bellied woodpeckers, and for a long time I assumed that I’d never heard one call. Eventually I associated a peculiarly throaty birdsong with this particular species and suddenly realized that I’d been “hearing” it for years - I just hadn’t made the connection between the two. Once I learned to recognize the call I was able to readily identify it in the midst of all the other bird chatter that I hear regularly. I was thrilled to be able to tell when one was near, just from the sound of its voice.

Likewise it takes time spent in God’s presence for a new believer to recognize His voice when He speaks to her. Yet once we learn what it sounds like we recognize Him speaking to us wherever we are and whatever else we may be doing. From that point on we won’t confuse it with any of the other voices that compete for our attention in the spiritual realm.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
(John 10:27 NIV)

The Scope of my Scoop

I accidentally left the pitcher I use to scoop birdseed in the bag of bug-infested sunflower seeds I threw away yesterday. For a minute I considered digging it out of the trash, which at that moment was sitting out on the side of the road, waiting the collector's imminent arrival. God must've smiled when I decided instead to find another scoop, as that was what He intended all along.

He's been talking to me lately about the measure with which I've been doling out seed - not sunflower seeds, of course, but financial seed, especially. He's been challenging me to use a bigger scoop.

There was a reason my bag of sunflower seed went bad. I let it sit for too long. Moths found their way inside, and the resultant worm-like larvae ruined the seed. If I'd used it in greater measure each day it would have gone to its intended use. And God is telling me that my financial resources will similarly go to waste if I don't scoop them out in greater measures towards the purposes for which He's supplied them.

My spiritual bag of seed doesn't just contain my finances. The same principles apply in using all the gifts I've been given with which to bless others. I need to freely sow God's love into the lives I come across each day. The faster I empty my bag of seed, the sooner I'll receive a new supply.

I simply need to use a bigger scoop.

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty."
(Proverbs 11:24 NIV)

School Prayer

I was driving my kids to their first day of school when I saw her – a mother with her three kids on the driveway of their home, gathered in a circle and holding hands. There was no doubt what they were doing – they were praying as they waited for the school bus to arrive.

I suddenly realized that I had done everything else that morning but that. My kids surrounded me, dressed in their new school clothes, their favorite lunches packed in their new lunchboxes, all the necessary school supplies stowed away in their backpacks. And yet I’d forgotten to pray. Their hearts were full of the excitement of seeing their friends again, but I’d neglected to have them visit with their best Friend before setting off in the car.

This woman didn’t forget that. While I was dressing my kids, she was addressing their Father. While I was loading their backpacks, she was lifting their burdens to the Lord. While I fed my children breakfast, knowing they’d be starving again by lunchtime, she fed hers food that never fails to satisfy. In all my rushing around to make sure mine would get to school on time, she’d taken the time to wrap hers in their Father’s love.

How sad if we get everything else right but miss the one thing they need most of all. There’s something so much more important than what we put in their lunches and book bags… it’s what we put in their hearts.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33 KJV)

Recording Wrongs

"One… two… three…," I counted as I moved across the grass, bending repeatedly to retrieve the empty pop cans now squished flat after my son and his friend had gleefully ridden their go-cart over them the evening before. I'd stood at the window that night, watching them litter the lawn with the aluminum containers that they used for obstacles to drive around and targets to aim at, the boys relishing the resounding crunch each time one of them was smashed by a wheel.

Darkness had dropped too quickly for them to clean up the cans that night, and my son's early work schedule prevented him from completing the task before he left home the next day. The need to cut the grass before his return that evening forced me to perform the pickup duties myself. I tallied the cans as I gathered them, so that I could later impress upon my son the magnitude of the work I'd done for him.

Suddenly the Lord stopped me, instructing me to pick up the rest without counting how many of them there were. As I did so He reminded me that He hadn't kept track of the number of times He'd had to forgive me that day. Neither had He counted the minutes He'd hung on the cross for my sins. After all, it was a lot easier to use my hands to pick up a few cans than to have the same stretched across the beam of a cross and nailed to the splintered wood beneath them.

The next time I'm tempted to record another's wrongs I'll remember instead to count the ways my Savior loves me, and offer a little mercy myself as a result.

"Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?"
(Matthew 18:33)

Powered by the Son

My oldest son bought me a solar-powered lighthouse for the yard. All day long the panel on the top absorbs the sunlight, and then when darkness settles in, the light comes on and shines brightly all night long, powered solely by the energy that was absorbed during the daylight hours.

All of us in the Body of Christ are called to be God’s light in dark places. We gather together regularly to absorb the light of the Son of God, and then as we go our separate ways in the sometimes-dark places that are our jobs, our homes, and our lives outside of church, we can shine brightly, powered with the spiritual energy we stored during our time together.

God expects more of us, however, than that we be bright with His love just after church services. Lighthouses along the coastline guide weary travelers every night, and we, too, are called to show His goodness on a regular basis. That means that we have to have our spiritual solar panels pointed in His direction every single day, reading our Bibles, opening our hearts in prayer and absorbing the light of His presence, so that when darkness comes we’ll be powered up and ready to guide the lost safely home to the shelter of His love.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”

(Ephesians 6:19 KJV)

Party Girl

"I'm a Party Girl." The thought brings a smile to my lips and a chuckle from somewhere deep within, probably in the vicinity of where I've kept my party-girl persona safely tucked away and hidden from view all these years.

A partying past is not normally something to be proud of in Christian circles. It's usually associated with a life of sin now covered by the Blood. Once put behind us, we lock the memory of those days away and bury them in the graveyard of our sinful past, rarely re-visiting them as we seek a lifestyle that glorifies the One we now serve. But every once in a while, aspects of our old personality pop up and reveal who we really are deep down inside.

God told me the other day that I wasn't fooling Him with my pretense of propriety. And I'm delighted by the revelation that it's okay to be who I really am, while leaving behind the sinful behavior which dominated my life in the past. I can let the lightheartedness of my life emerge from the more proper and reserved person I thought I had to become to be pleasing to the very One Who put the laughter inside of me in the first place! I am free to embrace each day fully and live it with laughter and joy, as God intended for me to do.

He's looking for "party girls" like me to spend eternity with. After all, the greatest celebration of them all is just about to begin.

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me."
(Psalm 139:1 NIV)

Look Up!

I find cemeteries to be wonderfully peaceful places. I love to wander along the rows of graves and read the headstones, looking at names and dates and the occasional cryptic messages carved in granite for those left behind. Many make me stop for a minute and think about my life and the way that I am living it in the time that I have left. Understandably, my eyes are usually looking down at the ground as I make my way through the burial plots.

But not so come fall. When I walk though the same grassy hillsides in the autumn months I find a message for me not on the stones on the ground but high in the treetops. My eyes are forever lifting to the colorful branches that shade these final resting places, heeding some internal urge to simply look up.

Truly the answers I seek to the situations I’m faced with every day come not from the world around me but the one above me. Whatever the spiritual condition of those buried there when they left this earth, they now know the truth about the love of God and Jesus’ death on the cross to save us. The lessons they may have learned too late to help them are now mine for the taking if I will just go beyond the obvious beauty of the surroundings and heed the call to look up to God while I still have the chance.

“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Jehovah;
in the morning I will direct my prayer to You, and I will look up.”
(Psalm 5:3 MKJV)

Jesus in a Jelly Jar

I have something in common today with the jars of jelly on my grocer’s shelves. I’m preserved! The Bible tells me that God preserves me from all evil. He preserves my soul. And He preserves my going out and coming in forevermore.

The dictionary has several definitions for the word preserve. Perhaps the one we’re most familiar with is “to save from harm or destruction, to protect.” Surely that describes God’s actions on our behalf against the attacks of the enemy. Another meaning of the word is “to cause to remain good and wholesome.” God truly protects our souls this way even as a woman might do the same with canning, smoking or pickling a food item. But the word “preserve” can also be used as a noun, as in “a place set apart for the shelter and protection of… natural resources.” Surely we Christians are God’s spiritual resource! We were created for fellowship with Him and to accomplish His purposes on earth. He shelters and protects what He’s placed inside of us to use and enjoy as He desires.

A jar of jam is a simple reminder that my life is preserved for God's purposes, not my own.

“He preserves the way of His saints.“ (Proverbs 2:8 AMP)

Heavenly Housekeeping

My house is easily overwhelmed with clutter and mess. So God told me to leave each room better than I found it as I move around my home. I do one thing to tidy a room before I leave it. I pick up an abandoned pop can as I walk through the living room, scoop up the socks in the hallway as I head for the bathroom, and then wipe the counter before I leave. Soon my eyes became accustomed to looking for something to tidy everywhere I went.

The same truth applies to my spiritual house, as well. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by needs calling for physical healings, financial miracles, or emotional make-overs, everywhere I go.

Jesus suggests I tidy life spiritually as I go. I could improve things for those around me if I made an effort to offer a quick prayer for someone here, loosened the hold on my wallet there, or gave a smile of encouragement, a word of praise or a helping hand of some kind or another wherever needed.

One hot day at the zoo recently I was walking up a steep pathway with my husband and kids. A woman beside me was struggling to get a double stroller leaded with two toddlers and all the accompanying paraphernalia up the hill. She was pushing with all her might and barely moving. God told me to grab the front handlebar and help her along. And that's what He wants us to do spiritually, as well. If we lighten the burden of the one walking beside us, we'll both make it over whatever mountains stand in our way.

"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
(Galatians 6:2)

The cover of Newsweek Magazine said it best: In a world gone to hell - thank God, a wedding.

How wonderful for one day to have something to think about besides tornadoes and tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns and government take-downs, gas price hikes and NATO air strikes. I'm grateful today for the reminder to believers that in the end all the turmoil will boil down to the ultimate "royal" wedding of a Bride to her Groom.

Jesus will wear the crown, and we, the wedding gown.

Lord, hasten the day!

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24 NIV)