Long Time No Type

My computer is back!! Yahooo!!! Much has happened, since last I wrote here... What portion of those events I will bore you with remains to be seen. Time will tell. :D


However, I will begin with:

MERRY
CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas is my favorite holiday--or rather holy day.





In honor of the real REASON FOR THE SEASON, enjoy a journey through this gallery...


I also love this time of year, because it's hot chocolate weather....

Share the pleasure with a friend.



While you enjoy the classics:

Hearing Voices (Part 2)

Nope, I’m not nuts. Well, no more than usual. However, I do want you to try an experiment. Even if you don’t carry it out physically, at least let it play out in your mind, and see where it takes you. Make a list of the five people with whom you spend the bulk of your time, and yes, phone contact counts. For everyone that list will vary. Parents, teachers, siblings, spouses, children, bosses, co-workers, friends–the type of connection doesn’t matter.

Put yourself in a darkened room. Those five people are with you, and you are sitting with your back to them. Have them, each in their turn, speak one word. Your name. Can you give the name of each speaker, without looking back?

The answer is likely a "yes".

What if it were the top ten, fifteen, twenty? The bigger the group gets, the more inaccurate the identifications will become.

Why is that? It’s not that we’re stupid or lazy. The answer is the deciding factor is TIME.


Time is the investment; familiarity is the return, and relationship is the interest. We cannot have familiarity unless we invest time.

=====

Next question: Look back at your list. What number was Jesus?

Was He in the room?...

Even though he has never taken human form–purely on the basis of time invested–did Satan have a right to be in that room? As strange as it may seem, we often find it easier to listen to his whispered lies than to Christ’s shouted truths.

Often, we cry out to God, because we feel ignored, or neglected, or confused. Make no mistake; he does not want us to feel that way...

Ignored: Isa 1:18, Heb. 4:15–16

Neglected: Matt. 11:28–29, Ps.91:4

Confused: John 14:26, 2Tim.1:7

========

Are we by chance griping about lack of contact, not because Jesus is silent, but because we lack the familiarity with Him to know His voice when we hear it?

If we have not invested the time, how dare we expect the return?!

The comfort, the healing, the growth, the peace, the clarity, the future that we seek through Him–are they there being held out to us. Are the blessings we plead for standing unnoticed before us, because we don’t understand their form?

In one of my favorite books, Max Lucado said it this way:
　Once, there was a man who dared God to speak.

Burn the bush, like You did for Moses, God;
And I will follow.
Collapse the walls, like You did forJoshua,God;
And I will fight.
Still the waves, like You did on Galilee,God;
And I will listen.

And so the man sat by a bush, near a wall, close to the sea;
and he waited for God to speak. . . .

And God heard the man, so God answered.
He sent fire, not for a bush, but for a church.
He brought down a wall, not of brick, but of sin.
He stilled a storm, not of the sea, but of a soul.
And God waited for the man to respond.

And He waited. . . .
And He waited. . . .
And waited.

But because the man was looking at bushes, not hearts;
Bricks and not lives,
Seas and not souls,
He decided that God had done nothing.

Finally, he looked to God and asked, Have You lost Your power?
And God looked at him and asked, Have you lost your hearing?

=====

　

Jesus wants us to know His voice and be familiar with His ways(John 10:10–11, 27).

He wants to be in our darkened room’s group of five... In fact, He prefers to be and belongs at the top of our lists.

May, our response, when He lovingly speaks our name be, "Oh, that’s my friend, Jesus. He’s my Savior, my guide, and the holder of my future."

Three-in One Takes Center-stage

Hey,
Sometimes, I'm privileged to step into the role of teacher, in a particular Bible study series. What follows is a piece that was written in that role. I offer it here simply because I love the word-pictures it creates; and I wanted you to see how thoroughly God's answers to prayer are.

Bible References on Christ in The Trinity:

John 14:9, John 10:30, John 17:5,

Col. 2:9, Heb.1:1--3

There’s only one God, and He wants us to know Him. Like a curtain slowly rising on a stage, He has gradually revealed Himself to us. First we saw The Father, in the glory of Creation. Then, the curtain rose a little higher. Time unspooled a little further; and we could see Jesus completing the work of Redemption. Finally, stage was fully revealed; and saw The Holy Spirit in the Role of Teacher. Understand, they have always been on stage–always there, always together. Our viewing them did not cause them to begin.

So, we have three distinct persons, but only one God. To understand how three equals one, consider an apple. One apple. It is a single piece of fruit. However, if you slice it in half, you’ll see that several distinct parts make up that one whole apple. The peeling matches with The Father. It’s the first part we see. The meat of the fruit, (the part we eat) matches with Jesus. When we let Him in, He nourishes our souls, just as the fruit nourishes our bodies (John 4:14, 6:51). Finally, the core of the apple matches with The Holy Spirit. Just as it is the part deepest inside the apple, The Holy Spirit is the part of God dwells inside us; and just as the core holds the seeds that will make new apples, it’s The Holy Spirit who empowers us to share the Truth will create new Christians.

Jesus is called The Word (John 1:1–3), because The Father sent Him as the ultimate message of Himself. Jesus is a walking, living, breathing love letter, from God to us. Just as you’d wear a suit to your wedding or pajamas to bed, God knows what it is to dress for an occasion. In the Person of Jesus, we see God putting on a suit made of flesh, and blood, and bone. That He did, so He could draw near to us and draw us back to Himself. Whether you are wearing sweats at the gym, shorts at the beach, or a suit at the office, you are still the same you. What you wear does not change who you are. Neither did putting on a suit made of flesh, and blood, and bone change or lessen who God was. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal parts of the same whole.

Growing With Rose

This is old e-mail, old but good--good for growing on.

The first day of school, our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around and a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me, with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may!” She gave me a giant squeeze.

“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked.

She jokingly replied, “I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids...”

“No, seriously?” I asked. I was curious what motivated her to take on this challenge, at her age.

She told me, “I always dreamed of having a college education; and now, I'm getting one!”

After class, we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine”, as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon. She easily made friends, wherever she went. She loved to dress up, and she reveled in the attention bestowed on her, by the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester, we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us.

She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I'm sorry. I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent, and this whiskey is killing me!

I'll never get my speech back in order, so let me just tell you what I know.”

As we laughed, she cleared her throat and began. “ We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.

You have to laugh and find humor, every day.

You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!

There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old... If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up, by always finding opportunity in change.

Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing The Rose. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.




At the year's end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral, in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

*****

As we let the lessons that Rose left behind take root, let us treasure the vibrant and fragrant flowers that fill our lives and go by other names than "Rose". Bloom and be blessed, my friends!

Hearing Voices (Part 1)

Hey, there,
If anybody actually reads this thing, long time no type. And this is me avoiding a very full inbox. All good stuff, I'm sure. There's just sooo much of it! :D

I haven't been online for a couple of weeks, cuz I was working on a final proofing of A Gentle Strength... Very soon we will have a printed book on our hands.

Recent weeks have reminded me of some lessons learned long ago.
　
Words have weight, but we get to choose which words weigh the most. We must be careful. Let us make certain that the words we cling to will lift us up in truth and trust, not hold us back and weigh us down with fear.

Faith--real faith--leaves no quarter for lingering fear, because faith is founded in love; and perfect love cast out fear (1 John 4:18, 2 Tim. 1:7).

By faith, we venture foward, in spite of convention and human expectations, because our souls hunger for and need the best that God has for us. I take great comfort in knowing that, as I take these baby steps forward, I am never beyond His protection; and He is never out of earshot!

Psalm 91:4

As hard as it is (and sometimes, it is near to impossible) we must have selective hearing. Believe what God says about you, over and above all other opinions--even the opinions of well-meaning but wrong-minded loved ones!

I am reminded that God has good things in store for me; and while I wait for those things to manifest, I will cling to Jesus, so that His voice is always the loudest whisper in my ear (Isaiah 30:21, John 10:27)...

Equalizers

American culture paints a warped picture of feminine success. So focused are we on acquiring our rights that what began as an urge and a drive to not be counted as less valuable or able than men has strangely morphed into the generally accepted idea that women and men are not only equal but the same. The same. On the surface, that seems fine. No differences equals no barriers. Right?

That sort of thinking is what makes the feminist movement dangerous to the fabric of the family. Men and women are different; and that is not a bad thing. Saying that and knowing that does not make me anti-woman. Nor does it mean that I am in favor of suppression.

Remember Annie Oakley’s song line, "Anything you can do, I can do better"? I love that line. Love that song. But even though it makes me smile, it’s not quite accurate. Being able to do something does not mean that I should do that thing. I can do many things, but only a few of those many things are part of what I am called to do. Doing those few things means employing my God-given gifts. For each of us, work that is part of our calling always does the most thorough job of highlighting our strengths, magnifying our joys, and glorifying our Savior.

Men and women are divinely designed to be different; but "different" is not a synonym for "less". He set it up so that our gifts, our strengths, would lie in different areas. That He did so that we would compliment each other. We were designed to work together--designed to need each other. That need is not weakness. It is meant to be the beginning of a new kind of Christ-centered strength.

The principle of submission used to scare me. Loss of control is always a little scary. Then, I realized The Cross is the great equalizer.

There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female:
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
--Galatians 3:28--

As long as he is your brother in Christ before he becomes your husband, there need be no fear attached to submission. I love the way that Maya Angelou worded it. She said:

A woman's heart
should be so hidden in Christ
that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.

His being bound to The Cross insures that the power that you yield is used to bless and not to abuse. The Cross becomes your safety net, and submission becomes very much a mutual and joyous act.

Therefore as the church
is subject unto Christ,
so let the wives
be to their own husbands
in every thing.
Husbands, love your wives,
even as Christ also loved the church,
and gave himself for it.
–Ephesians 5:24--25

He who loves you as Christ loved the Church will find joy in seeing you shine, not in forcing your silence.

These words from the Hebrew holy book called the Talmud paint a beautiful picture of marriage as Jesus means it to be:

The woman came from a man’s rib–
not on his feet to be stepped on;
not on his head to be superior,
but on his side to be equal;
under his arms to be protected,
and near his heart to be loved.
　
As I read these words again, I am reminded, again, that nowhere but in The Cross of Christ can women find such equality, such voice, such victory. Thank You, Lord, that we are so valued. Thank You, Jesus, for that precious liberty!

Resolved to Rest in Jesus

A new has begun.
Did you make any resolutions?
Resolutions should not be depressing.
Why is it that even making that list makes us feel defeated?
　
Because the strength of human will alone is never enough to bring lasting change.

Lasting change is always fueled first by The Holy Spirit; and apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

Because I want to feel victorious instead, I resolve:
to rest in Jesus
to trust that He wants good things for me--good beyond my wildest dreams
to seek His Will
To bank on His Power, rather than my strength
to revel in the insulating comfort of His Peace
and to let my soul feed daily on His Joy!

The Joy and Peace that come with knowing Jesus do not cancel out the stress and stife and sometimes, the chaos that are part of our normal days. Rather, they insulate and arm us; so that we can succeed, in spite of the turmoil.
　
　
Whatever your resolutions might be, I pray that 2010 brings renewal, real growth, and soul-deep victory (Proverbs 3:5--6, Ephesians 3:20).

Let us begin to realize and relish how thoroughly we are known and how lavishly we are loved by our Jesus!!