Worship for the Weekday
Because of Christ, We Can Dream Big
Hosea 2:8 KJV
And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
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Isaiah 65:25 NASB
"The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent's food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the LORD.
These words from the Old Testament seem almost amusing to us in this day and age. First of all, we live in a time of conflict and, if you watch the evening news they’ll tell you we’re on the verge of World War III. We may be tempted to think that well, maybe the animals can all learn to get along, but not man!
Are Hosea and Isaiah talking about heaven? Are they speaking figuratively? I haven’t researched the context of both of these, but I found it interesting that this same imagery is used by different prophets. Of course, Christ is the one who allows all this to even become a remote possibility. His life and death changed the paradigm of human history forever.
Through these two prophets, God wanted to convey to us that anything is possible through Him. Not only can God change a current reality into something unimaginable in the future, we can change our own reality through faith in Him. That requires a great deal from us, doesn’t it? Especially since our accomplishing anything in this life requires surrendering the outcome to God. Honestly, I resist that surrender, even though God sent Christ – and turned his death into a victorious resurrection!
That’s where I hesitate. No, that’s where I flounder! I’m a real control freak! I don’t know why, because often my plans are smaller and narrower and “less” than they could be if I allowed room for God in the planning process. Perhaps these verses are about peace. I read them as God telling me He can turn the best laid plans of man upside down. I read them this morning to say that whatever plans I have, God will allow them to be so much for fruitful if I give Him control of the outcome.
I know the world is so big, and it seems as if man has just gone too far down the path of greed, power-grasping, selfishness and hate. I know that the whole world can seem to be tumbling toward destruction and devastation. I know my dreams and hopes seem really big and unattainable. I know I’m just one small, solitary person. I know, too, though that because of Christ the history of the world was changed.
Because of Christ, my own future and destiny were re-written as well. Through Christ, I can achieve anything that I desire, if I will give God glory. God wants us to imagine the kind of world described in Isaiah and Hosea. Because if can imagine that world, we can imagine anything!
My prayer today is that you dream big, and turn the results over God, who can bring about all things.
Mary
Labels: Christ, dream, dreams, future, history, prophets, surrender
Hope and Good Courage
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Psalms 146:1-6
Praise ye the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, [nor] in the son of man, in whom [there is] no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy [is he] that [hath] the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope [is] in the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein [is]: which keepeth truth for ever:
Deuteronomy 31:6-8
Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he [it is] that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the Lord hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he [it is] that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. The Lord God goes before us. I’ve come to terms with this truth recently in a rather surprising way! Our son has dealt with some undiagnosed learning disabilities his entire life. At 19 (this year) we finally received a valid diagnosis, and so are able to acquire some services that will allow him to live a full and productive life. My initial response to the situation was not one of joy, though. I was angry and sad—in fact, I was both outraged and devastated that he did not receive the help he should have had while in the school system.
Last week, I met one of my dear brothers in Christ for our annual Christmas “meet at the book store coffee shop” to get caught up on the year past and share plans for the upcoming year. While we were talking I had the revelation that I was being quite sinful in that I was limiting God and his power and doubting his wisdom. I had shared that I was so sad and angry that my son might not have the life he “could have” had if he had of received more help during his school years. Then I posed (to myself as much as my friend), “Who am I to question God?” Further, I shared, “How do I know that God did not intend the exact path for my son that he was on throughout his life?”
Even if the path was not the one “originally” planned for him, God surely will use everything my son has experienced and struggled with and celebrated and use it for his good and bountiful future! I wasn’t looking at all the wonderful qualities my son has, at all the ways he sees the world as a godly and faithful young man. I was discounting God’s ability and desire to overcome whatever obstacles man puts in our way and to turn it into something more, even better, than it might have been otherwise.
These verses tell us not to “trust in man” or to rely upon the wisdom or inherent goodness of human kind. We are rather to lean upon God and his understanding, wisdom, power and will. His knowledge is perfect. His wisdom is without flaw. His understanding far surpasses anything the human mind can comprehend. My son’s hope has always been in the Lord. It is my hope that has faltered and been overshadowed by doubt and fear.
God not only prepares us for our future, he sustains us in our present and transforms our past to equip us to do His good will. If that is not reason for hope and good courage, I don’t know what is. I’ll say it again: God not only prepares us for our future, he sustains us in our present and transforms our past to equip us to do His good will.
My prayer today is that you will Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid. And that you will sing praises unto your God while you have any being.
Mary
Labels: courage, faith, fear, future, hope
C’mon, God!
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2 Corinthians 4:6-11 6. For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. 8. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10. always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
I think these verses are referring to the old adage, “God never gives us more than we can bear.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve doubted his wisdom in that regard more than once! I think sometimes his confidence in me is misplaced and mistaken! I do believe God is both wise beyond my comprehending and merciful beyond measure, but I admit I pause every so often, raise my eyes to the heavens and protest “C’mon God. Enough, already!”
I readily admit this because a friend of my agreed with my response a few days ago. She and I have had some similar challenges in our lives recently and so have shared some of the same battles of spiritual warfare. The very fact that she and I have someone else with whom we can share our sense of being overwhelmed and feeling ill-equipped for our current circumstances is reason to be hopeful and even comforted. We are part of a faith community together. We have a built-in support system because we belong to the same church.
So I wonder how does one deal with disappointment, discouragement, even anger and grief if they have no one with whom they can express their feelings. I recently was overcome with regret and disappointment regarding a particular situation. It overtook every aspect of my life. My best friend shared with me that she was concerned about the source of my uncharacteristic responses to situations and events. What was the root? What was causing me to view the world so harshly? Why was I so unsettled? Why did I feel so put upon and disgruntled?
The truth was, I felt as if God had let me down. I felt I had done my part to bring about a positive conclusion, but ultimately I doubted if I had done enough; doubted whether my efforts had been enough. Notice a pattern here? My efforts, my doing, my, my, me, me. It’s so easy to get to that point when we have a bad day, piled on top of an issue or situation we’re struggling with. Then something else comes along that throws a monkey-wrench in the whole works. It doesn’t matter the situation. We’ve all experienced those situations where we have invested time and energy, in some cases sweat and tears, only to have someone say, “Oh, I can make that right.”
What? Where was this person all along? Why wasn’t this option presented earlier? Why? Why? “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.” Get over it! God’s plans are not always evident! Look at the life of Job? He lost everything—absolutely everything. God restored his life, gave him a new family, wealth and land and abundance that far exceeded his original life. No, he never stopped remembering his past life. Job would always miss the family he lost. That didn’t stop him from celebrating his current blessings.
I think that is the lesson. We can look back with regret, sadness, even anger. But when we do that we miss the blessings of today. Worse, we lose hope for the future. God assures us that He has a plan for us. He will take every pain, disappointment, regret, sin and event and make them into something good, powerful, reason for rejoicing. We can rejoice not because we forget, but because we remember and then realize God was in it all! And He is in our future.
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9. persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10. always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
My prayer today is that you turn over all your regrets and disappointments to the God who restores us. And that you look to the future – where Christ won for you a place in heaven.
Mary
Labels: Christ, despair, future, God, grief, heaven, Jesus, regret
God’s Good, Pleasing and Perfect Will
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Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.
1 Corinthians 2:12
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
One of the first prayers many young children learn is the Lord’s Prayer. “Our Father Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done. On Earth as it is in Heaven.” The Bible tells us this is the prayer Jesus taught the disciples when they asked him how they should pray. This model follows the instructions of these two verses. I guess I should say, once this prayer was introduced, the disciples preached based upon the prayer.
Thy Kingdom Come: God’s Kingdom – Heaven – Not this world. Thy Will Be Done: God’s will – not man’s, not what we think or want – what God wants for us. That’s how we are to live: in accordance with God’s will for us. In order to live in accordance with God’s will, though we need to know what it is! That can be tricky, because so often in our lives we are required to take the lead, to be in charge, to make a snap decision. Life is so fast-paced in our world today that we could be run over and left behind if we’re not on top of our game.
But God has a better way. He has amazing, unimaginable plans for abundance and blessings in store for us. He desperately wants to pour them out into our lives. We risk missing out on God’s will for our lives when we charge ahead, thinking with our heads rather than our hearts and our souls. If we never allow time for God to reveal his plans for us, we will trample right over them. God wants to renew our minds to His way of thinking and living. He’s not going to force it though; he waits for us to be open to His will.
That’s a lot of responsibility. That places the burden on us. Perhaps that’s why so often we just don’t “go there.” We feel so burdened and weighed down by the cares of this world that we just can’t or won’t take responsibility for one more thing. No matter how wonderful the end result could be, we just don’t have the energy to do one more thing in our lives.
What I repeatedly re-discover is that if I just stop for a few minutes and clear my mind of all the cares of this world I can begin to see the vision God has of me in my mind’s eye. When I go for a walk, or sit quietly reflecting on God’s word or reading scripture, my mind begins to be renewed. God reveals himself to us when we are fully open to Him and fully engaged in discovering His will.
When we set ourselves apart we have taken the first step in the transformation process. Getting in that habit will increase the likelihood that our decisions will be based on God’s will for our lives, not man’s.
My prayer today is that you have the opportunity to renew your mind so you can test and approve God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for your life. And that you make it a habit to spend time with God each day.
Mary
Labels: bible, future, God's will, heaven, Jesus, plans, scripture
