Living with Dying in Mind

Imagine if you knew for sure something unspeakably horrific would happen to you one day. Undoubtedly it would define and overshadow your life.  You may even feel tempted to commit suicide to avoid the impending anguish and pain.

Think about Jesus and the reality He lived with each day on this earth.  He knew He was "born to die" and not just any death.  No wonder He was a "man of sorrows."  (Isaiah 53)

When Jesus got to that DAY, He endured to the end--the suffering of the cross and despising the shame (Heb. 12:2).  All the sins of all time were laid on His shoulders--the punishment and the shame of every sinful act ever committed or still to be committed in the future of every human being ever to live who would call on His name--clung to Jesus.  And, the Father looked on His Son for the first time with absolute wrath and divine judgment.  Jesus, at the cross, experienced Hell for us--"outer darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth."  (John MacArthur:  The King Crucified - Luke 23)

He did it so we could escape that divine wrath and eternal punishment--so I could go free.  He did it for the "joy set before Him."

All the days of Jesus' earthly  life and mission were lived with you and me--those drawn by the Holy Spirit--in mind.  He experienced crushing fatigue, hunger, and poverty without uttering an unkind word.  He put up with proud, arrogant, selfish people every single day and still looked with love and pity upon them.  What a bittersweet but perfect life Jesus lived for me!

Think of Jesus in His final earthly hours as Peter denied Him vehemently.  As Peter's words were leaving his mouth, Jesus looked upon Him fully knowing He was about to go to the cross to atone for this very sin.  This is our Savior.

"Re-Words" in Scripture

As an English major, I love words.  Their etymology intrigues me.  For quite a while now, I’ve been thinking over all the “re-words” of Scripture.  Words like re-newal, re-store and re-surrection.  These powerful words convey bringing something back with completeness.  Many other English words come to mind-- not found in the Bible--but can be used to effectively describe the work of Christ. These are words such as re-generation, re-habilitate, I decided I should search the Internet to see if anyone else had this fascination with “re-words” in the Bible.  I was excited to see that Randy Alcorn (a favorite author of mine) also loves “re-words.”  (Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i94wSc6lmyU)

Think about these verses:

Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Matthew 19:28  “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes. . . “

Isaiah 40:31 “. . . but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”

Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul.”

Nahum 2:2 “The Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, though destroyers have laid them waste and have ruined their vines.”

John 11:35 “. . . I AM the resurrection and the life.”

Randy Alcorn writes extensively about heaven and reminds us that one day everything that is not “right” with Creation will be renewed, restored, rebuilt, reclaimed, released from bondage and His own will stand before Him, the redeemed Bride before the resplendent Bridegroom.

Sowing & Reaping

Last weekend, we traveled to New York City with good friends to celebrate a milestone birthday (a year later, but hey, we made it finally!)  Our friend's birthday wish was to attend a church service at Redeemer Presbyterian Church and hopefully hear Pastor Tim Keller preach.  So last Sunday  morning, we found ourselves in church on the Upper West Side and we settled in to hear God's Word.

The message, entitled Why a Public Faith?, covered Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).  Keller explained the call to all Christians of spiritual sowing and reaping.

In John 4, Jesus traveled with his disciples to Samaria but when they got to Jacob's well, Jesus stayed there and rested while His disciples went into town to buy food.  Around 12 noon, a woman arrived at the well to draw water.  Jesus asked for a drink.  Of course, we know that Jesus went around breaking all the "social rules" so the fact He is alone with this Samaritan woman--something Jews & Samaritans would never allow--should not surprise us.  And, Jesus lets the woman know He has water for her--living water.  Later, He reveals to her in v. 26 that He is the Messiah.

The disciples return and are surprised to find him alone with a Samaritan woman.  They were concerned for Jesus and they told Him to eat something.  Cryptically, Jesus answers, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."  And, "my food is to do God's work."  Then, He shares a well-known proverb, "Don't you say 'four months more and then, the harvest'?" 

The harvest/crop is eternal life.  Sowing is pointing to Jesus as the source of eternal life.  Reaping is faith in Jesus Christ.  In the natural world, the reaping takes time. 

For Christians, the Gospel should be our food.  Jesus makes it clear what we should be doing in His strong call to spiritual seed sowing.

The method?

Jesus pointed the woman at the well to eternal life in Him.  She went and pointed others to Jesus.  (v.28  "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did!")  As a social outcast and probably the lowest of the low in her village, she bravely and winsomely shared with people what's happened to her.  She chose personal transparency.

"Public faith is simply letting people know who you are. . . letting people see the wellspring of your heart.  If it is appropriate to let someone know how you made a decision, set priorities or dealt with a crisis, you can share about Jesus.  Not to do so would be dishonest.  This is the logical consequence of public faith."  --Tim Keller

The challenge/declaration/the take-away:  This little light of mine--I'm gonna let it shine! 

Treasure Girls: We Need Each Other

About two years ago, my daughter (age 11 at the time) & I decided we wanted to have a group of her friends over for the purpose of learning how to cook, making fun crafts and learning lessons from the Bible (a little discipleship group).  We called it "Treasure Girls" highlighting that we wanted to treasure Christ above all things--avoiding being "Pleasure Girls--living for ourselves which is so easy to do.

It's been a great experience.  We've included the moms each time and it forces us to focus on spending time together once a month, building relationship & hopefully, our relationship with Christ.

Lately, I've encouraged the girls to begin daily devotions which was a huge struggle for me when I was their age.  My daughter is now 13 & feels the devotion book we picked is really helpful for her.  It's called "Becoming God's True Woman While I Still Have a Curfew" by Mary Kassian & Susan Hunt. 

Tomorrow night when we get together, we're going to talk about this main point:

How can we think biblically today (as 13 year old girls & forty-something moms) when we are constantly being told we need to be independent, follow our hearts & do whatever makes us happy?

One of the answers to this question is discipleship--older women helping younger women.  In Titus 2:3-5, it states:  "Older women. . .are to teach what is good, and so train the young women that the word of God may not be reviled."  This is God's good plan.  (Actually, the word reviled is such a strong word--in Greek, it comes from the word blasphemed and carries with it the thought of making fun of, or irreverence for God's Word.)  So, teaching younger women is a big responsibility & one that requires lots of prayer.

Unfortunately, when I was 13, having grown up in the church & being a preacher's kid, I thought I knew everything.  My proud attitude kept me from being taught effectively by older godly women.  I remember one woman who faithfully taught us girls each week in Awana.  Although she was the mom of 4 small children at the time, and I am sure she didn't have much energy left for rambunctious, boy-crazy girls, she came every week and greeted us with a huge, warm smile, her love for us shining in her eyes.  At the time, I knew she loved me so I knew I wanted to listen to her when she taught us from the Word.  When we memorized Titus 3:5,6, she taught it to us as a song.  I still remember it--the essence of the Gospel in a song I tucked away in my heart.

These kind of relationships are God's will for us.  See Psalm 78:4-7:  We will tell to the coming generations the glorious deeds of the Lord. . . which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God."

What are older women supposed to tell us?

The praiseworthy deeds of our God!

In Susan Hunt's section of "Becoming God's  True Woman. . .", she reminds us that older women are to tell younger women 1) "God created them in His image--created male & female--distinct differences, 2) to live for God's glory" (Treasure Girls treasuring Christ; not Pleasure Girls, treasuring self), 3) "to let older women share their lives with you; whether this is your mom, your sister, your grandmother or an older friend/lady at church."

St. Patrick & God's Providence

The early morning mist encircled him and he strained hard to see through it as he stumbled on the rocky path down to the sheepfold.  He had spent another freezing night in the barn with the cows and he was expected by Seamus to be up before the sun tending to the sheep.  What a miserable existence!  If only he could get back home but he didn’t even know the way. . .

            It had only been a few years earlier that on another very misty, gray morning, he had been down by the shoreline skipping rocks into the waves when they caught him.  Up at the main house, his family’s servants had warned him not to go out that day but he was willful and did as he pleased.  His parents had been away on a trip and he was put into the care of the family’s faithful nanny.  At the time, he was thirteen and extremely annoyed to be told what to do.  But, there had been warnings back then about pirates and the rough men who traded with them were in the area, taking what they pleased and pillaging where they wished.  And, sure enough, he didn’t even hear the men coming up behind him as he lazily threw rocks and seashells into the foamy waves.  He was caught and the sound of the sea muffled his screams and his cries for help.

            Now he was seventeen and he missed his family terribly.  He knew he was somewhere in Ireland far from home and he knew that Seamus was a hard-driving man and a pagan chieftain, purchasing him from the pirates some four years earlier to tend sheep and generally do whatever he was told.  He was barely given any food or shelter and the only thing that kept him warm at night was the burning anger inside his heart. 

            Every day was the same.  Seamus would command him to take care of the sheep, muck out the stalls for the horses, clean out the family’s chamber pots and feed the pigs.  The harshness of his treatment was hard enough to endure but it was made even harder when he could see that Seamus’ wife, Deidre and his daughter Una wanted to help him but they were forbidden to even look kindly towards him by the wicked Seamus.  And, he was always around, watching to see if the work was being done satisfactorily.  Sometimes, his stomach hurt so badly, he would begin to eat the pigs’ slop but a sudden blow to the head would send him reeling. 

            He learned the language of the area quickly.  He had to if he wanted to stay alive.  He didn’t know how much longer he could last and he dreamed constantly of escaping.  He wanted to see his family again, despite their religious fervor and constant talk of God’s love.  He remembered his name—Sucat (“warlike”)—and would whisper it to himself often so, in a way, he would remember and hold on to his past. 

            Despite the harshness of his life, Sucat began to wonder about God, the God he had learned about as a child on his mother’s knee.  He gazed gaze up at the stars at night on walks with the sheep near the rocky cliffs overlooking the sea and he began to think about how big and great God is.  Sucat felt weighed down by his heart’s bitterness and enormous self-pity at his wretched condition.  One day, he began to weep.  He cried so hard and long that when it began to rain, he did not even notice his cloak was drenched.  At that moment, Sucat turned with his whole heart to the Lord.  He remembered the Lord cared for him and loved him and was with Him even on this remote cliff in Ireland so far away from home.  He poured his heart out to the Lord and asked him to forgive his anger and pride, his self-reliance and his hatred toward Seamus. 

            Sucat found himself changed—not outwardly but in his heart.  Gradually, his hatred for Seamus and at his circumstances of having been kidnapped changed to love and hope for the people around him.  Sucat worked hard and although his harsh conditions did not change, he began to learn the language of the people.

            One day, while Seamus was away from his lands, on an extended trip, Una, followed him as he took the sheep to the sea cliffs to graze.  He was glad for the company since his days were long and lonely.  On this day, she brought good news to him.  News he had longed to hear since he had arrived six years earlier.  There was a ship from Brittania down at the docks and word had it that the ship would sail that evening, heading home to England.  Curiously, Una reminded Sucat that her father would be away for another fortnight so why shouldn’t he try to get home?

            His heart full of joy, Sucat hugged Una, feeling such a love for this “little sister” of whom he had become so fond.  He would miss Una and her mother who were never permitted to show kindness to him when Seamus was around but who managed to sneak him extra bits of food in stealthy ways. 

            Yes, Sucat would be on that ship sailing for Brittania this very night.

            And, so Sucat arrived home after six bittersweet years in Ireland.  His parents were overjoyed to see him again, having grieved long and hard for him.    Curiously, God placed a burden on Sucat’s heart that he should go back to Ireland.  With training from his church and much time spent in God’s Word, he returned to the place where he had been enslaved.  He changed his name to Patrick which means “noble” and he devoted himself to preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to the people of Ireland who didn’t know they were enslaved to sin and pagan ways. 

            One day, as Patrick was ministering in his little stone church, a young woman dressed in rags entered.  She was not alone.  She was leading an elderly, stooped-over man along very slowly and carefully into the door of the church.  Patrick stopped his sermon because of the disruption.  It was very obvious these two wore the hardships of life in their bodies and in their faces.  They would need food and shelter and no doubt, spiritual sustenance as well.  With love and kindness, Patrick made his way over to them.  Before he knew it, he was staring into Una’s eyes.  At once, he could see that she held her father’s hand—Seamus’ hand that had beaten him so many times.  He could also see they did not recognize him.  Patrick reflected in his heart on who he had been:  “Sucat”  - warlike and who God had made him.  In an instant, his heart filled with love and forgiveness and he joyfully revealed himself to Una and to Seamus.  Seamus trembled visibly—not from old age—but from realizing his past wickedness had not served him well.  Here was Sucat or Patrick now, an honorable man known for preaching God’s justice on sinner and His great mercy.  Before he could stammer any words, Patrick engulfed him in his arms, crying words of love and forgiveness over him.  Seamus fell to his knees in sorrow and repentance while Una gasped in amazement.  God’s mercy flooded Seamus like a tidal wave and he wept openly at the deluge. 

            In the meantime, the crowd of parishioners stared and wondered at these things.  Gently, Patrick hushed the crowd and taking Una by the hand, he began to explain his past and how God arranged the circumstances of his life to allow him to fully forgive Seamus of his cruelty.  Patrick preached with power that day and many sons and daughters of Ireland gave their hearts to Patrick’s forgiving and merciful God.          

God's Word - A Surgeon's Knife

Today I'm thinking about how gracious God is to give us His Word.  Hebrews 4:12 (NIV) states, "For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."  The Bible is unlike any other book ever written.  It's living and dynamic--spiritual life is contained therein.  When I am prayerfully reading it, it "penetrates" and convicts me of the sinful, hidden places of my heart. 

God is even gracious in the use of His Word in my life in that He graciously uses His Word as a surgeon's knife.  A surgeon doing surgery is very specific to the area of disease or infection.  He or she does not hack the surrounding tissues unnecessarily causing additional damage.  No, the surgeon is specific and precise, addressing only the area of malignancy.  God, my gracious Heavenly Surgeon, uses His Word like a knife to carefully cut away the sinful malignancy in my heart--what He has brought to my attention that requires repentance.  He sees many other areas that need to be addressed but He carefully brings my slow and sin-ignorant heart along not exposing more than I can bear at the time.  God has all the time in the world to conform me to the image of His Son, Jesus but each day, He wants to lay my heart open with the surgeon's knife of His Word.--only then will I experience healing.

Was Jesus ever sick?

I've been sick lately.  A nasty sinus infection has settled in for the long haul and despite my many valiant efforts to dislodge the thing, it remains.  It's easy to get discouraged at times and give in to self-pity because this is not the first time this has happened.  The first sinus infection etched into my memory occurred when I was about to give birth to my son Zach, over 14 years ago.  The pain was so incredible, like my face was on fire.  Despite not being able to take much of anything at the time for the infection, I remember God graciously took away the symptoms so I could deliver Zach but afterwards, I had a cough that lingered for weeks.  Imagine breastfeeding your newborn and all the while trying to keep from hacking into his beautiful little face.

So, needless to say, it's actually been at least 14 years of not-so-stellar health.  One doctor told me I have borderline chronice fatigue syndrome--a diagnosis I fought against for several years because it just sounds so nebulous and weird.  I didn't even research it at all for the longest time because I didn't really want that to be me. 

Well, I accept it.  The diagnosis does fit me to a "T".  And, I am doing everything I know to get myself better but I also know that every day when I wake up feeling pitiful again after a night of tossing and turning that "This is the DAY the Lord has made:  I WILL REJOICE and be GLAD in it!"

Okay, enough background information.  It brings me to say that I am studying Hebrews at Community Bible Study (an incredible in-depth Bible study) and I keep wondering if Jesus ever got sick.  Think about it:  Hebrews explains, more clearly than anywhere else, that Jesus was fully God and fully man.  The author of Hebrews goes on to say that "He was made like us in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted."  (Heb. 2:17, 18) 

Since He was fully human, He experienced what humans (after the Fall) experience.  All the suffering in this world of sin was part of His life.  I just never thought about it before.  The Bible never mentions that Jesus had a painful toothache or sinus infection, but it does tell us He experienced rejection by his own family, betrayal by a close friend, extreme hunger & extreme fatigue (in the wilderness when tempted by Satan).  (When I experience extreme fatigue, I get really sick and it takes me a long time to feel better.)  Somehow I gain comfort knowing Jesus knows what chronic fatigue feels like. . . I don't know if He ever had a bad cold or any of the physical afflictions that plague mankind every day.  But, I do know He definitely experienced terrible physical suffering leading up to His death on the cross.  Was there also a daily suffering of seeing peoples' hearts and knowing their hidden inmost pride and unbelief? 

My friend Aileen (teaching director at Community Bible Study, Collegeville, PA) reminded me, too, that Jesus suffered every day from the temptation to sin--that there was suffering in rejecting the temptation.  Just because He was perfect, doesn't mean living as a human was easy for Him.  Think about how every day we are sinned against and our default response is not to resist temptation.  It is to sin back -- and quickly, so that we can "protect" our rights.  Imagine being sinned against every day, all day long and never striking back but entrusting the offenses to God who judges aright. 

Encouragement comes from Hebrews 4:14-16.  (NIV)  "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with CONFIDENCE so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." 

Encourage yourselves today that our perfect, sinless Savior atoned  for our sins and was the pure and  spotless sacrifice before God.  He did for us what ever could never do for ourselves.  So, we can be confident to come to His throne daily to receive grace (what we don't deserve) and find mercy (a withholding of the punishment we do deserve).