-
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
– Ephesians 4:29
According to the Urban Dictionary, the term “keeping it real” means “Do not be fake. Be yourself.”*
I was a tender teenager when the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies hit the United States. My generation threw off the social inhibitions of the previous ones with a deafening chant of “Sex and drugs and rock and roll,” which, if sung loudly enough, drowned out the whispers of a guilty conscience. They were, after all, keeping it real.
The societal rebellion that rocked a nation fifty years ago seems tame in comparison to today’s shock jock culture. Today it takes more to be a rebel. Normal is forgettable, and nobody wants to be forgettable. We reach for something new, minus the God that used to define us.
Keeping it real in today’s culture means making it raw.
As our culture slides down the gulf into perdition, God’s people dance around its edges in an effort to be genuine and relevant. We mostly just get sooty and soiled.
To be real is a good thing. It’s important we don’t hide our struggles behind a mask of religiosity. It’s vital the church walks the ground where suffering lives. We are called, though, to transform the wilderness we leave behind us. And that means living a life separated from the filth. It’s not about looking good on the outside, and it’s not about phoniness.
In fact, if you’re a believer, then vulgarity is phony, because that’s not the real you talking.
The vulgar old man is dead, crucified on the same cross upon which Jesus hung as His blood poured out to cleanse humanity.
You are a new man, arisen from the grave with our Lord. You have been resurrected to a new life. Do not walk around like Lazarus in the rotting graveclothes in which you were buried. You were meant for more.
The Greek word for “unwholesome” in Ephesians 4:29 indicates something that is rotten or foul, like spoiled food. Foul language is not real; it’s rotten.
If you are searching for something that’s real, try extending grace to someone who doesn’t deserve it. When another person is rude to you, extend courtesy instead. Humility is just as real as arrogance.
We’re told in the Bible that a gentle answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1). The restoration of a relationship is as real as it gets. You have the power of life and death in your words.
We are urged in Ephesians 4:29 not to “let” unwholesome words come out of us, a reminder that we are in control of our own tongues.
Don’t be a fake. Be yourself. Keep it real.
For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
– Romans 22-25
*http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Keep%20it%20rea
Slightly Obsessed #160 Is It Real or Just Raw?
-
The LORD spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire.
– Deuteronomy 5:4
Our youngest son was married in a beautiful ceremony last weekend.
For us, it was the culmination of months of harried activity not only preparing for the wedding, but restoring our tired-looking yard for the rehearsal dinner.
We painted. We built decks. We tore out the old front steps and built a handcrafted log deck. Solar lights, fountain lights, plants, and decorative bark were strewn about with abandon. We shoveled so much red bark onto our place that our eldest son was sure our yard was visible from space.
Two events warned me that I was focusing too much on the externals. One was the night I cleaned the outdoor kitty kennel. It was nearly dark when I emptied the old litter into a trash bag. Then I grabbed a bucket and went into the unlit shed to get the fresh kitty litter. I picked up a bag in the dark and poured out what I thought would be about the right amount of litter. Without looking at it, I took it back to the litter box and poured the contents of the bucket into the box.
I had just filled the litter box with dry cat food.
The other and more disturbing clue was my increasing irritability, spilling over onto my family and culminating in the morning I bolted outside in my old white robe to chew out two hunters shooting at birds next to our back yard. I was so mad I didn’t even care how I looked or the fact that they were holding loaded guns.
I just erupted.
Volcanos blow when underground pressures build until magma and hot gasses escape through a fissure in the ground in an explosive burst of power. The result is spectacular—and often destructive. An active volcano gets attention, even if it’s just grumbling and blowing off steam.
When we erupt in anger, it briefly makes us feel better, but it hardly glorifies God.
Do life’s pressures have to consume us? Is it possible to learn how to give our internal pressures to God instead of venting to others? Can God transform our reactions to our circumstances, so what rises up in us is a holy fire? Is it possible be so filled with God’s Spirit that under pressure we overflow with generosity and grace?
I believe so. Are you under pressure? Praise Him. Fill the night sky with the power of His glory.
Be a volcano. The right kind.
Slightly Obsessed #159: Volcano
-
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
-Revelation 21:2
She stands on the church stage with the other members of the worship team, singing the chorus to a Chris Tomlin song in her clear soprano.
Like a bride waiting for her groom, we’ll be a church ready for you.
At the words, she glows.
In four weeks, she will be a bride. In September, Jenna will walk down the aisle to join her groom and pledge her life to him in the presence of God.
I plan on crying that day. And celebrating.
Jenna will soon be my daughter-in-law, and already I can’t imagine our world without her. She and Dan have waited a long time to find one another, and it is a union for which many prayers have been lifted to God. The joy they have in each other is a beautiful thing to behold.
A whirlwind of activity surrounds the couple as they prepare for their upcoming marriage. They are sending out invitations and planning the celebration. They are sorting through two separate households to decide what to incorporate into one. They are casting off the stuff of their old lives and planning for a new life together.
Not much else matters for them right now, as it should be.
And as it should be for us, the Church.
Jesus is coming back, you know.
Whether it is now or in a hundred years, His Church is called to be ready. Are you preparing for His coming? Have you gotten rid of the stuff of the old life? Have you sent out the invitation to others?
It may be hard to fathom, but not much else really matters. Part of the purpose of our existence on this side of eternity is to prepare us to live forever with the Lord. The things we learn here and the things we do in His name aren’t lost when we cross the veil. The wisdom and discernment and the relationships we have forged will go with us into our new life. The people who respond to our invitation will join us in the celebration.
The day is coming. Without warning, He will call our name and we will be united with Him. I long for that day. I long to see His face.
Until then, we prepare. And wait.
He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
– Revelation 22:20
Slightly Obsessed #158: Like a Bride, Waiting
-
And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, ‘So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour?’
– Matthew 26:40
Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
– Matthew 26:43
Then He came to the disciples and said to them, ‘Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.’
– Matthew 26:45
Our youngest son is being married soon.
The rehearsal dinner will be held in our large side yard in the country. It’s ignited a frantic attempt to bring our log cabin and yard up to Idaho standards, which means taking down the chicken wire around the old chicken run, slashing a path through the weeds that have wandered over from the neighboring pasture, and spreading a truckload of bark over the dry hillside.
Oh, yeah, and replacing the rotting deck. And front porch. And adding a light post. And building a new sidewalk around the west side. Practically the only thing that has escaped a major facelift is the main house itself.
Since my husband and I are aging faster than our aspirations, we’re exhausted at the end of the day. For years, I had my quiet time with God in the evening. Lately, I’m mostly illuminated by the harsh glow of a monitor as I collapse into bed with my computer and fall asleep to some sappy show.
Last night, as I got ready for bed, Jesus’ words to His disciples at the Garden of Gethsemane suddenly popped into my head. The words were quiet and convicting, and I immediately knew their source.
Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?
Not lately, my Lord.
Chastened, I retrieved my Bible and decided to spend an hour reading. I got comfortable and began in the New Testament. Getting comfortable turned out to be a bad idea. Before long, the words blurred into a warm mush in my brain as my body gave in to the rigors of the day.
I awakened sometime later, chagrined at my weakness. I tried to pick up where I had left off but succumbed again to my tired body, awakening long after the hour had passed.
Not much has changed in the millennia since Christ’s night of agonized prayer in the garden.
We’re still full of lofty intentions but easily betray Him in a single hour. At one of the most crucial moments in history, humanity slept as the Savior fought for His creation. Not a one of us would have done anything differently. Like the disciples of old, we live in the presence of the Almighty Himself and still miss the moment.
Thank God for Jesus. He never sleeps, and His grace covers our every weakness. He lives, always, to fight for us, and He watches over us every hour of the day.
Eyes wide open.
For the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
– 2 Chronicles 16:9
Slightly Obsessed #157: Eyes Wide Open
-
This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
– 1 John 2:25
January, not July, is traditionally the month for resolutions.
It’s the symbolic equivalent of a new beginning, when we make all kinds of promises to ourselves and others. But New Year’s promises are notorious for not surviving past January. Most of us have forgotten our resolutions by summer.
We’re only human, after all. We know how hard it is to keep a promise.
A promise is a powerful thing.
It has no form or substance, yet it carries the weight of an entire relationship on its shoulders. If fulfilled, it’s priceless; if not, it’s worthless. Its value depends entirely on the integrity of the one who gives it.
In Genesis 9:16 we read God promised never to send another worldwide flood to the earth again. He sealed this promise with the light show we call a rainbow. He told us whenever a rainbow appears, He will look down upon it and remember His promise to humanity.
This doesn’t mean much to us today, but it must have been comforting for Noah and his family, when every rain would have been a reminder of fearsome destruction. After each storm, the survivors looked up and remembered God was looking down, creation meeting the gaze of the Creator through the many-colored cloak of mercy.
For Christians today the rainbow has become the symbol of promise. Although it technically only meant to seal one promise, by implication it means so much more to us. If God has kept this one promise so faithfully long after its significance has been lost on us, how much more will He keep all His promises?
And indeed, they will come to pass, promises of tribulation and overcoming, persecution and deliverance, sorrow and comfort. These themes radiate throughout the Bible with the light and dark hues displaying our salvation.
Just as both light and rain are needed to produce a rainbow, sorrow is needed to reveal the hidden splendor of the grace of God in our lives. Our tears are the prism through which the Light of Christ is broken and transformed into the many facets of His beauty.
We must be standing in the right place to see the glory.
The next time a rainbow appears, look up and take heart. God is already looking down—and remembering.
Slightly Obsessed #156: The Promise
-
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
– 2 Cor. 10:4
Never bring a knife to a gunfight.
– Original source unknown
The United States is embroiled in a battle over national security in the wake of recent shootings.
A 2015 poll found American’s fear of terrorism here and abroad at a peak not seen since the 9/11 attacks. While politicians and authorities struggle to address the violence, many people have responded by arming themselves and learning how to use a firearm.
As Christians, we understand our enemy is not a human or a nation. But are we aware of the seriousness of the warfare against us? Are we adequately armed to vanquish Satan? Do we know what our weapons are and how to use them? Why are we losing spiritual battles daily?
Maybe we live in defeat because we bring knives to the gunfight.
I’d like to challenge you today to take some quiet time to think about the battles in your life and how you can improve your chances of victory. Here are some ideas for engaging in successful warfare:
Write down what you are battling.
Ask God to show you how to employ spiritual warfare to each situation.
Objectively assess the situation.
Is it the result of your own actions? We often give the devil credit for our own bad behavior. If so, write down what restitution and changes you need to make. Then do it.
Read Ephesians 6 again.
Ask God to give you a fresh revelation of this passage of Scripture. Write down practical ways to apply it to your situation.
Bring a sword to the fight.
Memorize Scripture verses. You’ll be surprised how, at a critical moment, the Spirit will bring to your mind a verse you learned years ago and didn’t even remember.
Be willing to stop patterns of behavior leading you to defeat.
One of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal is one word: No. Resist the devil, and he will run from you.
If God reveals anyone to whom you need to talk, go in all the gentleness you can muster. But by all means, go. Take another person with you, if necessary.
Surrender to God.
No matter what you are facing, the safest possible place is in His protective care.
Praise Him.
The most powerful weapon in the world is no match against the name of the Lord Jesus. Focusing on Him releases the hold the enemy has on us.
Be confident in His victory.
“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper.” (Isaiah 54:17) God has won the victory for you. You can trust Him with your life, and He is a king worthy of your allegiance.
Remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.
-Nehemiah 4:14
Slightly Obsessed #155: Armed and Dangerous
-
I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.
– Genesis 18:21
Our children love telling their stories of growing up in a log cabin.
Now that they’re all adults and have their own lives, getting together is a treat. Our family times usually involve a lot of stories and laughter, and it’s often hard to get a word in edgewise unless you’re especially competitive. I always feel sorry for visitors to our home because they hear all the stories again and again, often told by several people at the same time.
If you’re a quiet person at our house, you might feel overlooked.
Do you feel like no one ever hears you? Sometimes I do, even when I’m not at a family get-together. Sometimes I feel insignificant in this loud, crazy world, one small life among billions. I wonder if anyone would hear if I fell in the forest. Or in church or on a street.
But then, I remember.
God hears.
He hears the honking of cars on a busy street and the shouts of children at play. He hears the curses of tired men and a newborn’s first breath.
To the Creator of sound waves and the eardrum come the roar of the crowds and the whimpers of a battered puppy. From this planet rise the outcry of nations and peoples and a twenty-four-hour news cycle.
He hears it, the weeping and the laughter and the music and the noise of our toys assaulting the heavens. He hears the groans of creation as it labors under the curse of a tired world. He hears the tears falling to the ground.
He especially hears your whispers to Him in the night.
Nothing escapes God, but He is so much God that He hears it all and yet gives special attention to those who are His. To Him, your prayers rise above the noise, because you’re His beloved child.
Never think your voice is lost in the crowd. The One who needs to hear you is listening.
Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.
– Romans 10:13 NLT
Slightly Obsessed #154: Outcry
-
If… My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
– Chronicles 7:14
King David longed to build the Temple of God for his people.
But God wouldn’t allow him the privilege because he was a man of war. David prepared the materials, however, and the task was fulfilled by his son Solomon.
When the Temple was finally completed, Solomon held a dedication for it. At the dedication, the people of Israel offered many sacrifices and the place was consecrated according to God’s instructions.
Solomon offered a heartfelt prayer to the Lord, asking God’s blessing upon the place. As he finished, the glory of God fell so heavily the priests could not enter. According to 2 Chronicles 7:1, “The glory of the LORD filled the house.”
This was God’s land and His people. The Temple was symbolic of both the Person of Jesus Christ and the coming Church, as revealed in the New Testament.
It was not representative of America.
I love the often-held idea our nation can be made whole if God’s people humble themselves and pray for America. Intercession is a good thing.
But Israel was, and is, a nation like no other. She is singular in that she was formed specifically as His own. In the Old Testament God worked with Israel corporately in the way He works with the worldwide Church today, and He has in no way renounced Israel.
No other nation except Israel did God declare to be His special possession.
The United States has been blessed, no doubt. If the symbolism of 2 Chronicles is to be applied correctly to the New Testament age, however, it means if God’s people, i.e. the Church, sins and falls into the discipline of the Lord, and the Church humbles herself and prays, then God will heal His Bride.
America is headed down a dangerous road. She desperately needs our prayers. More importantly, God’s people need to be on our knees for the Church. If we humble ourselves and pray and confess our sins, He will heal us.
If we are faithful to share the good news of the Savior, others may be turned from the path to destruction. Righteousness, we are told in Proverbs 14:34, exalts a nation. The way to help America is to lead others to righteousness.
I love my country.
It hurts me to see her so tortured by sin. We are not called to save America, though. We are called to make disciples in all nations, including this great land.
Let’s begin by praying for the Church to be all she can be. May she be healed. May the glory of the Lord fill the house.
Slightly Obsessed #153: Why 2 Chronicles 7:14 May not Mean What You Think
-
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
– Exodus 3:14
The car snakes past the other drivers as we jockey for position in the fast lane.
We accelerate as we leave the city limits, find our places, and settle in for the drive. I give the Jeep its head, and it glides along the river road as if by its own accord.
The old Jeep has made the trip many times. If I didn’t know better, I’d think it’s as eager to get home as I am.
My mind wanders along familiar roads, mentally sorting the day’s events into “done” and “in progress” folders. Like most Americans, I have been sucked into a vortex of busyness that consumes my days.
I am a slave to time. Too often, I get so wrapped up in doing that I forget to be. I need to still my brain. I need time with the Eternal One.
When I first began to search for God years ago, my main stumbling block to Christianity was the doctrine of the Trinity. I couldn’t accept Jesus as God. The idea of three persons in one Godhead was beyond my comprehension.
Actually, it still is. But as I began to read the Bible for myself, I was amazed at the power emanating from the pages. As I studied it, I discovered for myself why we worship the three persons of the Trinity as one God.
One of the many Scriptures that convinced me of Jesus’ deity was John 8:58.
John describes a day the scribes and Pharisees confronted Jesus as He taught in the Temple in Jerusalem. They accused him of being demon-possessed when He promised eternal life to those who believe in Him. No mere man, they correctly maintained, could offer eternity to humanity.
Jesus’ response floored me: “Before Abraham was born, I am.”
I AM was the name God used for Himself as He spoke to Moses at the burning bush, as described in Exodus 3:14. Jesus applied this title to Himself. He declared Himself to be God, the Word expressed in physical form.
I AM is the perpetual state of being. It transcends time; it has no beginning or end. I AM is to be, always. God doesn’t live forever, in the way we think of the passage of time. Time is His creation. He exists independently of time.
He lives.
In His incarnation, the Word entered time to rescue us. He has called us to pass through time and space in earthly bodies as He did, living toward eternity. He used the time given Him on this earth to walk out the plan of His Father, empowered by the Holy Spirit. His incarnation has granted us the chance to live forever.
Because He is, we are.
Eternal.
Slightly Obsessed #152: He Is; We Are
-
Then Jesus said, ‘Come to Me….’
– Matthew 11:28
We couldn’t find her all day.
P.T. has always been an independent little kitty. She’s a senior citizen in cat years, a streetwise old lady. She loves living outdoors, although she usually comes up every night to be locked safely into the large kitty kennel.
Last night, she didn’t come up to her bed and spent the entire night outside. This morning, she sauntered up for her usual breakfast. But when I walked away and turned my back for a moment, she let out a heartbreaking yowl and took off. At first, I thought she might have been bitten by a snake, since she was standing by my golden barbary bush. We have killed two snakes around that bush in recent years, a bullsnake and a rattler.
But I couldn’t find anything that may have hurt her. It occurred to me that she yowled when she tried to eat. An infected tooth, maybe?
I went looking for her and found her under the camper. Our other cat followed along and walked up to P.T., curious. P.T. batted at her and took off again.
Throughout the day, we searched for her without success. When our daughter came home from work, she hunted until she found the cat huddled under a shed. She refused to come out, even when offered her favorite food. In fact, she crawled back deeper into the corner under the shed.
We’re at a loss. Not only does she refuse to come to us, she runs away as if we’re the ones who have hurt her. We’re unable to help her until she comes to us or allows us to come to her. There’s no way to communicate to her that we didn’t cause her pain, and we can help.
Watching our kitty suffer and run from us has stirred some uncomfortable questions for me.
Do I suffer needlessly at times because I won’t allow God near me? Do I blame Him on any level for my wounds?
Why do we run from God when we hurt, and why do we refuse to let Him pick us up? What do we fear in surrendering our sorrows to Him?
Why can’t we trust Him?
P.T. doesn’t understand what is happening to her, but I know God better than this. And He deserves better than my mistrust.
Wholeness is rarely found in hiding. If you’re hurting, let God pull you out from under the shed. Or better yet, run to Him.
Slightly Obsessed #151: Why Do We Hide from God?
-
And hope does not disappoint.
– Romans 5:5
Hope lives in my yard.
It spills from baskets. It nestles in pots and peeks out from a layer of red mulch. It even inches around the rocks that line the pond at the end of the yard. At my house, hope is the thing with chlorophyll.
Every spring, my internal Eden awakens with the earth, stirred by the warm ground and the beckoning rows of new plants at the local garden shop. This year is no exception. In fact, spurred on by the prospect of an upcoming wedding, Eden has been working overtime.
This time of year teems with potential. I imagine the exotic King Tut grass I’ve carefully positioned at the west end of the little pond will look magnificent when it has filled out. I envision the red spirea playing the perfect accent to my golden barberry. The potato vine and silver falls should spill nicely from the planters when they have grown a bit.
I dream, I plant, I water, and I wait.
Then comes the hard space when dreams dissolve in the dirty reality of life.
One morning I walk out to inspect my plants and find holes where insects have eaten into the coleus. The red climbing rose falls prey to marauding deer in the night. Then hot weather hits, and I’m tethered to a sprinkler hose for the next three months. I battle weeds and bugs and weather and remember why it’s so hard to grow anything on a country hillside in northern Idaho.
I know, though, that barring a grasshopper invasion or a severe drought, at least some of my garden will survive the summer. It just takes a lot of perseverance.
I’ve been here before, in the dry space between hope and the harvest.
Years ago, Jesus saved me and gave me a commission to raise our family to live for Him. In those early years, I dreamed of what my children would be when they were grown. My husband and I planted the seeds of eternity in their hearts while we fed them, watered them, and chased away the predators.
Then came the hard years, when it seemed all I did was wipe dirty faces and comfort sick little bodies. We disciplined them, prayed for them, and wept over their struggles as they grew. In the heat of trials, I often failed them. Sometimes I wondered if I had done anything right.
My children are grown now, and I’m amazed at what a great job God has done. They all love the Lord Jesus, and I enjoy just being around them. They are wonderful people, and I love walking through the garden they are. It’s been an abundant harvest.
What seed has God planted in your heart? To what has He commissioned you? Are you in the dry space between hope and the harvest? If so, take courage. You are not forgotten, God is at work, and you will reap, if you don’t give up.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.”
-1 Corinthians 3:7 (Berean Study Bible)
Slightly Obsessed #150: Between Hope and the Harvest
-
Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past…
– Romans 16:25
There is nothing more delicious than a good mystery.
My bookshelf is lined with Agatha Christie books. I have watched every sappy episode of Murder She Wrote and even recently hosted one of those murder/mystery dinners for my writer friends. I love television documentaries that explore questions about who lived on Easter Island or whether the stone megaliths found around the world are man-made or natural.
I’m constantly intrigued by why stuff happens.
The greatest mystery ever presented to mankind was the one hidden in the Old Testament. The salvation message was woven throughout ancient history like threads to some great but unknowable theme. From the moment God promised the Deliverer to Adam and Eve, those who sought out the God of Israel read and stumbled over the mystery of God’s dealings with humanity. It was like trying to piece a puzzle together without the picture on the box.
Only in the coming of Jesus Christ was the veil pulled away from the holy place and the breathtaking plan of the ages revealed.
Why the gospel had to be kept secret for millennia? Was it to keep Satan and his evil forces unaware of His plan? Was it to allow history to develop the story line God wrote for Earth? Was it to provide for every possible human social experiment to play out, revealing our inadequacies in the search for heaven?
One thing is for sure: God’s ways are not our ways. He is infinitely smarter, wiser, more faithful, more powerful, and more patient than the most perfect of His creation.
Perhaps the only way we could understand the magnitude of the message was to see it against the backdrop of our corporate and utter failure to God. Deliverance means the most to those who know they are drowning. Joy is most complete when the waiting has been long.
Understanding is appreciated more by those who have had to search for it.
…but now has been disclosed, and through the Scriptures of the prophets, in accordance with the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
– Romans 16:26, 27
Slightly Obsessed #149: The Mystery Revealed
-
Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.– Psalm 22:3
Praise
Is the golden elixir of the soul.
It oils our rusty relationship with God.
It reaches beyond our fears to the Deliverer.
Praise
conquers kingdoms,
hearts,
and attitudes.
Praise destroys our enemies.
When it looked as if the people of Judah were going to be crushed by an overwhelming invasion of their enemies, King Jehoshaphat knew where to run. He proclaimed a fast throughout the land, gathered together with the people in Jerusalem before the Lord, and prayed for deliverance. God answered him with these words:
Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not your but God’s.
Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, put your trust in the LORD your God and you will be established.
– 2 Chronicles 20:15; 20
Early the next morning, Jehoshaphat and his army went out to meet the opposing forces. He put the singers ahead of the army. As they began singing and praising God, the Lord set ambushes ahead for their enemies. Jehoshaphat didn’t know that as they marched toward the battleground, two groups of their enemies had already fought each other to the death.
When Judah’s army reached a wilderness lookout, they found no fearsome army. All they saw in the valley below them were the corpses of their enemies.
Scattered at their feet.
Are you overwhelmed by circumstances?
Do the accusations of the enemy threaten to destroy you? Are you tired of living in defeat? Do you need deliverance today?
Meet God in the holy place. Sing His praises and recall every memorial stone along your journey with Him. Praise Him in your place of weakness. I promise that He will meet you there.
You will not be overcome.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you.
– Isaiah 43:2
Slightly Obsessed #148 Ambushed By Fear
-
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
– Proverbs 16:32
A guy pulls a gun on another customer during a dispute at a fast-food restaurant.
A teenager shoots his parents over a video game. A father kills his daughters because he feels they have dishonored the family name. These extreme stories happen with increasing frequency and highlight the destructive nature of a soul out of control.
Most of us would never consider doing anything this horrendous. Our paler version of anger still kills, though. Harsh words are effective weapons when fired at close range into the hearts of those with whom we come into contact every day.
Don’t you hate the moment you see pain in the eyes of someone you have hurt? A million apologies can never take back the violence of the blow. The wound may heal, but the scar it leaves will always be a reminder of your cruelty.
Sometimes we forget the power of words. Every day we have the power to speak life or death into another person. In our most unguarded moments, when we are feeling distinctly unspiritual, we may be presented with the opportunity to shine a light into someone’s darkness.
It will likely be when we are the most preoccupied and the least inclined to shine. When we’re wrapped up in our own needs, we’re ignoring the needs of others and are most in danger of crushing anyone who happens to get in our way.
To be effective soldiers of the cross, we must rule our own souls.
First and foremost, our war should be against our own barbarity. Before we can present the cross to others, we must first crucify ourselves.
It’s a difficult mission, isn’t it? Every day we face injustice and a lot of obnoxious people. There is never enough time, finances, or energy to accomplish everything. Under such pressure, it’s easy to get frustrated and give in to anger.
But then, Jesus didn’t call us to the easy path, did He?
Gentleness should be the mantle of all who follow the Christ. It’s the shield with which we protect others from the arrows of the enemy. If we learn to rule our own emotions and respond to others with kindness, we can be a powerful force for good.
Conquer ourselves, and we will be a true warriors for God.
Slightly Obsessed #147: Declare War on Your Self
-
You have fallen from grace.
– Galatians 5:4
He stands sweating in the spotlight, fending off a crush of media circling the podium at the scent of blood in the water.
His wife stands stoically behind him. A tight smile is frozen on her face, but her eyes tell the real story of betrayal: shame, disappointment, resentment.
You’ve seen it before. It’s become commonplace for both Christian and secular celebrities to be found straying from their public image. The words “fallen from grace” evoke images of disgraced televangelists and sleazy elected officials.
You know, the people in the gutter.
The phrase “fallen from grace” is often used for folks like these, especially if we’ve decided they just lost their salvation. There is, however, only one place in the Bible where the phrase “fallen from grace” is used. That reference has nothing to do with those who have sinned beyond possibility of redemption.
But if Paul wasn’t talking to the backslider, to whom was he talking?
This is the entire verse:
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
– Ephesians 5:4
The letter to the church in Galatians addressed a particular problem plaguing the early Christians. False teachers had arisen, insisting that Gentiles who wanted to convert to Christianity must first become Jewish followers and practice the Mosaic law.
Paul argued that forcing believers to live under the Law of Moses sentenced believers to a life of working to earn their salvation. This practice sidesteps the acknowledgement of our inability to fulfill righteousness on our own and voids the sacrifice of Christ. Without Christ’s redemption, there is no grace.
Mankind proved his inability to keep the Ten Commandments long before Jesus Christ was born.
From Adam on down through the generations, every single human failed to obey God’s Word. No perfect man lived who could fulfill the law.
So God did it Himself. His sacrifice ransomed us from the grip of Satan and sealed us in a new covenant.
In the book of Galatians, Paul argues Christ has freed us from the Law of Moses. We now live in an age of grace, a glorious – and undeserved – favor bought for us with Christ’s blood. Sinning grieves God, but it does not result in a fall from grace. Indeed, it magnifies the need for it.
Is it possible to fall from grace? Yes, it is if we seek to circumvent it by attempting to please God without Christ.
It’s cruel and judgmental to take away the hope of those who have given in to sin by stamping them with words meant for those who want to enslave us again to the law. Instead, let’s encourage each other to fall into grace, headlong, with gratitude and joy.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
– Galatians 5:1
Slightly Obsessed #146: Is It Possible to Fall from Grace?
-
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
-Matthew 10:16
My witty, irreverent aunt lived her entire life in the deep South.
She worked for many years as a registered nurse and taught nursing until her death from cancer at an early age. Her storytelling abilities were legendary. I would sit spellbound and listen to the tales she wove of her exploits working the wards.
Toward the end of her life, she struggled with a difficult relationship. Her greatest frustration was to be blindsided by a new issue. My mom and I traveled back down south to visit the family one year. I remember the three of us sitting at Aunt Mil’s table as she shared in colorful detail the emotional pain she had endured in recent months.
“I’m just trotting along, picking my pawpaws and putting ‘em in my basket,” she said, “when all heck breaks loose.”
Translation: “I’m just going along, happily minding my own business, when I’m ambushed by this person.”
Difficult relationships can make you feel like you’re surrounded by the bad guys. But who really is your enemy? Not people, of course. Especially not the people you love.
Our enemy is the devil, that ancient liar and thief, shrewd student of human nature.
Although he isn’t omnipotent or omniscient, he could easily conquer every one of us if it wasn’t for Jesus. The devil is a vanquished enemy, but a formidable foe.
Much of our defeat in our spiritual lives and relationships can be traced back to our own ineptitude in recognizing and dealing with him. Satan loves nothing more than to divide people and convince us to hurt each other. Are you aware of the spiritual warfare waged around you? Do you know the true nature of the emotional battles that consume you?
The Bible tells us that victory is possible. I haven’t arrived there yet, but I know God has given us strategies for success:
Live like a soldier, armed and alert to perils ahead.
Resist the temptation to be lured into a trap.
Learn to respond to every insult lobbed at you instead of reacting instinctively by attacking back.
Discover the emotional buttons that set you off and work on disarming those triggers.
Strive for authenticity in your relationships. Be the person you want others to be.
And do not give the devil an opportunity.
– Ephesians 4:27
Slightly Obsessed #145: Are You Smarter than Your Enemy?
-
You are the God who performs miracles.
– Psalm 77:14 (God’s Word Translation)
For the last couple of years, our family has been hit with a series of losses.
We said a last goodbye to several beloved family members and friends. Gains in other areas of our lives were reversed; our days loaded with new burdens.
I sometimes found myself dreading what the next day might bring. I could feel myself wearing out emotionally and physically. About the time I had resigned myself to loss, something changed.
A page turned.
It was a whisper, like when the wind catches the parchment-thin page of an old book. We turned an unseen corner, and a new chapter blew open in our lives. One after another, prayers that I had been sending to God for many years were answered with a resounding yes.
These were not your run-of-the-mill prayers. They were the “stone rolled away from the tomb” prayers, crazy prayers needing an absolute miracle to come to pass. They were desperate petitions, breathed with tears in the night for many years.
It may only be April, but for us spring came last fall. Our world began to thaw just as the first frost settled on the garden. Now, as the earth stirs to life and we watch renewal bloom around us, I remember God is not a principle or a life force. He is spring.
He is real. He is alive. He cares.
Today I proclaim to you that God still works miracles. He parts seas and moves mountains. He calls the dead to life and heals our wounds. I know because I have seen it.
Do miracles still happen?
Absolutely.
Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for me?
– Jeremiah 32:27
Slightly Obsessed #144: Do Miracles Still Happen?
-
Jesus answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
– Matthew 4:4 (Jubilee Bible 2000)
She sits nervously in the seat of the kiddie roller coaster, not comforted by the arms encircling her.
The ride clacks along the rail as her tension builds. She knows what is coming, and she scrunches her eyes tightly against it. The car tips downward and rushes toward the ground.
As the other children whoop around her, she screams.
“PONIES! I love ponies, and I’m not afraid to admit I love unicorns! I love ponies and unicorns! U..NI..CORNS!”
You may have seen the video of this little girl on America’s Funniest Home Videos. You may have snickered at her childish reaction. But you know you’ve been there. Life careens downward and your brain runs screaming irrationally to the first safe place that comes to mind. At least, I’m pretty sure yours does, because that little girl and I can’t be the only ones who bolt for the emotional trap door when life gets scary.
Unicorns would be the natural place to run for little girls, because they’re beautiful and magical. When we grow up, though, our hiding places change. We can’t swallow stories about one-horned horses that fly. In fact, Bible critics point to references to unicorns in older versions of the Scriptures as one reason the Bible is a nothing more than a collection of myths. I have news for them, though.
Unicorns are real.
At least, the Siberian unicorn is.
A well-preserved skull of an extinct rhinoceros has been unearthed near the village of Kozhamzhar in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan. This rhino is actually Elasmotherium sibiricum, a rhinoceros which was previously thought by secular scientists to be long extinct before man appeared on the earth. It is believed the Siberian unicorn could grow to be about 6.7 feet tall and 15 feet long. Evidence now indicates that the unicorn lived alongside humans, according to an article published in the February 2016 issue of the American Journal of Applied Science.
So what is the “unicorn” spoken of in older versions of the Bible? The confusion appears to originate with the evolving definition of the word “unicorn.”
The current Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the word as “a mythical horselike animal with a single horn growing from its forehead.” But Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828, however, defined a unicorn as “an animal with one horn; the monoceros.”
A study of the Scriptures using the term “unicorn” confirms the fearsome qualities of an animal more resembling a rhinoceros than a one-horned horse. It’s another example of how our misconceptions of the Bible keep us from believing it.
It’s easy to miss the truth when we have our eyes closed and we’re screaming the first thing that comes to our minds.
I’m not afraid to admit I love ponies and unicorns and most of the rest of God’s creatures. But when life gets scary, you’ll find me running to God’s Word for help.
And I’m not afraid to admit it.
For further study:
Unicorn-A mythical horselike animal with a single horn growing from its forehead.
–Webster’s New World Dictionary
- an animal with one horn; the monoceros. this name is often applied to the rhinoceros.
-Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828
The beautiful title “Siberian unicorn” belongs to Elasmotherium sibiricum – an elasmotherium Siberian rhinoceros, which as previously thought became extinct 350,000 years ago. Nowadays the researchers of Tomsk State University (TSU) decided the “unicorn” found his last refuge “only” 29,000 years ago in Kazakhstan. The article, describing the new location of the fossil mammals in the Pavlodar Irtysh, was published in February 2016 in the American Journal of Applied Science.
From the King James Version:
Job 39:9-12
Psalm 22:21; 29:6; 92:10
Isaiah 34:7
Numbers 23:22; 24:8
Deut. 33:17
Job 39:9, 10
Slightly Obsessed #143: Roller Coasters, Unicorns, and Facing Our Misconceptions
-
There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
– Ephesians 4:4-6
It’s the gospel proclaimed all over again.
It’s Easter morning and life pushing up out of the dead ground. Baptism not only commemorates the death of all that is old in our lives, it celebrates the eternal life God gives us in Christ Jesus.
Baptism is the outward symbol of an inward transformation when a person is brought up out of the old life in the resurrection power of God. In this simple, yet gigantic step of obedience, baptism becomes a powerful witness to the magnitude of God’s work in us.
At the baptism of every new believer, you can hear the low rumble of a stone being rolled away from another tomb.
Once again, the earth shakes before the unstoppable power of a life that can never be quenched.
The power of Jesus’ resurrection, in destroying death “from the inside out,” as one songwriter put it, shook the very foundations of the world. The spiritual tsunami it created two thousand years ago has circled the earth and rises up again in all its power every time another person bursts forth out of the watery grave and takes a first deep breath in the new air of God’s holy presence.
This Easter, we will once again visit an empty tomb and rejoice in God’s victory over death. We will remember how Christ’s resurrection sealed for eternity all He gained on the cross.
We who follow Him to the cross will live with Him forever. We who trust in Him can no more be held by death than He was.
We will rise again. We are eternal in our dying, victorious in our surrender.
Death, burial, resurrection: Every spring shouts the miracle. Every baptism declares it.
Have you been baptized?
Photo courtesy Erik Thorson (2016)
Slightly Obsessed #142: Into His Death – Why We Are Baptized
-
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
-2 Corinthians 10:3-4
A stronghold is the thing you give in to in the darkness.
Not long after God’s people entered the Promised Land, they were given their first test of faith. God revealed a stronghold of Satan to Joshua and commanded the Israelites to go up against it.
All strongholds have names. This one was called Jericho. Some more familiar to us are Anger, Lust, or Drug Abuse. It’s the thing you give in to in the darkness, the immovable wall between you and freedom.
The thing that controls you.
You hate it because you love Jesus. You want to serve Him with all your heart. But the craving for sin keeps you within its walls. You feel lonely and abandoned, yet you choose satisfaction over victory.
God is waiting to flatten those walls. When Joshua and the people of Israel stood before the fortress of Jericho, they must have felt very small. The temptation to walk away from the battle must have been huge. But Joshua believed in the promises of God. He believed God wanted them to conquer this place.
And He did.
God gave them specific and strange orders for the conquest of this fortress. He told them to place priests with trumpets and the ark of the Lord among the men of war and circle the city once a day for six days while blowing the trumpets. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times and give a mighty shout at Joshua’s command.
This was not conventional warfare. But Joshua obeyed God’s instructions carefully, and the walls fell before them.
Joshua’s next attempt at conquering a city would fail, however, because he didn’t listen to the word of God concerning sin in the camp. This failure would cost many lives and cause much heartache to His people.
There is no magic formula for conquering our enemies, save one.
Israel’s enemies scattered when Israel listened to God and obeyed Him. For us, as well, the secret to victory is in warring according to the Spirit. We can’t fight and win by trying hard. We win by surrendering to God. We are promised His weapons are supernatural, powerful, and more than adequate for destroying the fortresses the enemy has built around all that belongs to us.
Do you want victory in your life?
Read God’s Word. Listen. Surrender. Pray. Obey.
Repeat.
If you feel weak, that’s a good thing. God’s Spirit will be your strength and your conqueror. If you love Jesus, you are stronger than your walls.
Let Him conquer your fortresses today.
Slightly Obsessed #141: You Are Stronger Than the Thing that Controls You
Click Next Page to load more