Do you ever have those days where you feel like Cinderella (you know before she was ever set into the place of who she was for real)?Today that is my feeling. Sick kids, dr appointments, dishes, dishes, dishes, dogs, keeping a listening ear for wise solutions for on going struggles (that threaten to make me feel like a failure). But I don't have to stay there in that feeling! When we know Who and Whose we are, serving at home or on the job, takes on a whole new light. I can get rid of the weariness and poor me's. I wonder how many of us walk far short of the true person we are in Christ shrinking inside with little expectation of good to come our way. Cinderella sang in the midst of her oppressive circumstances seemingly forsaken and little more than a slave to her wicked and jealous step mother and step sisters. When every cruel attempt was made to rob her of value and dignity.
I know the scripture I am about to share was directed to Israel but I would like to personalize it for us.
...you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah (literally My delight is in her) and your land Beulah (literally Married) for the LORD delights in you and your land shall be married...
from the book of Isaiah 62:2a-4
Cinderella may be a fairy tale but there are plenty of examples of people raised from rags to ruling in scripture. You may be one of God's best kept secrets right now but get ready for Him to reveal who you are. It will start on the inside princess.And that goes for you guys getting this-you are made to rule and reign with him. Let's begin believing His press about us and not the evil ones lies.
“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise, your foundations with lapis lazuli.
I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels,
and all your walls of precious stones." from Isaiah 54:11-12
My experience in my walk with Jesus (much to my initial surprise) has had various types of affliction. I am not complaining about my life, just so you know. I am not looking for sympathy or an outlet to feel sorry for myself either. But sometimes like it says in 1 Peter 1
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed...
We aren't supposed to think it's strange either when we encounter these fiery trials! During those times I want to say like the Psalmist did "my heart is fixed (set) trusting in the LORD, I shall not fear when evil tidings come".from psalm 112
There does come a time though for the promise of being be set or established and rebuilt with foundations of precious stones.
So today we are ready to see the stone set. Sometimes stones are just kept aside until they chosen to be put into use. Sometimes a group of stones are used together in a setting. Sometimes the use is solitary in a simple ring. Or it may be solitary in a specially wrought work of silver or gold. There are many ways and many purposes for a stone to be displayed. It could be a ring that is worn everyday signifying engagement or a family or organization I am part of. Could be earrings or necklaces and bracelets. Could be for very special occaisions only and seldom shown off... However they are to be used, they are "set" to be useful.
Much of the time we have an inkling of what we think we are called to be or do for the LORD. And then begins the process and all we have spoken of this week until God is ready to fully establish us. So enters the season of wondering if I even heard from God and if I did what in the world is going on with me and my life?!? Even though we have seen Him use our lives in many ways and known His hand on our lives the separation, preparation and process can make us feel forgotten.
But now in the setting phase we are matured more and will bring more forth in our lives. Don't get weary of process. Don't worry if you feel put aside a while. Seek Him and He will be found of you. Trust Him, you are not forgotten and discarded. The day will come where you will hear "Ready, get set... GO!"
...He will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire...from Matt 3:16
The gem process we are looking at today is the purpose of heat. Not every stone has heat applied. Those that do, have different types, temperatures and length of time used according to the stone they happen to be. Heat helps to do a couple of things.
First of all it clarifies and brings out the color like in the picture above. The stone on the left is after heat was applied. Have you ever felt like you were going through the "fire" so to speak in the difficult trials in life? Is there a point? There is a promise that we will walk through the fire and not be burned Isaiah 43:2 (This isn't walking a bed of hot coals by the way). Remember the Hebrews Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego who refused to bow to the idol even though they would be thrown into the fiery furnace? Daniel 3 They came through without being singed or even the smell of smoke on them. And what's more there was "One like the Son of God" who joined them in the fire. We don't go through our fires alone. And in the end God is glorified and we display more of His glory ourselves. We get our "color"...
The second use of heat on gems is to "fill in cracks". That makes me think of the Holy Spirit filling me! Where I am weak, He is strong. He gives super to my natural! He also reveals the areas that need tightening up in my walk. The areas that need healing. And then goes about helping to make that happen. He is so indispensable to our walk with God yet is the quiet almost forgotten One in the Trinity. He is the promise Jesus spoke of when He was ascending to Heaven.
So today remember He never leaves you nor forsakes you. He is your comforter and teacher making Gods word alive and real in your life. Making life shine in your countenance. He will bring you through the fire.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16
God went to great length and detail in the design of His temple in Old Testament times. He had all sorts of people involved in different ways but He ultimately had some who were filled with skillful wisdom in the areas requiring the finer details of color and weaving and working with metals, wood and stone. The scripture above tells us we are the temple of God now. Scripture also tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And we know He spared no expense in redeeming us.
This week I am drawing comparisons between our lives, the work of God in them and the process of refining precious jewels. Today I am looking at the process of cutting the stones into a glorious reflector of light. In our case reflectors of His light.
When we submit to His word, wisdom and ways we are yielding to being shaped carefully under His skillful hand. When a diamond, for example, is cut the depth of the cut and the angle and symmetry are all important for the stone to reflect brilliantly.
The lower picture of the above chart is a shallow cut stone. We could say we want to be sure our walk with God is not shallow. I was thinking this morning how it is possible to be saved from sin but still not walk with Jesus as my LORD. That is a shallow cut.
I am not too sure what application to make of the center cut except disobedience where our walk is on again off again or our character is not well developed so the reflection is not as broad or brilliant.
Then there is the "perfect cut" in all it's beauty. I don't know if anyone is a perfect walker with God no missteps (we do have Enoch who walked with God and then was not because God took him). But I do know His love covers a multitude of sins. I do know it is not my perfection that saves me but I also know my disobedience hacks away at my testimony.
I want to keep in mind obedience to Him. I want to be sensitive to His voice telling me "this is the way walk in it" book of Isaiah and I want to reflect Him to others around me so I want to yield to His skillful working. Be blessed today and shine!
"They shall be Mine," says the LORD of Hosts,
on the day that I make 
them my jewels. Malachi 3:18a
Do you ever have those days where a scream is just welling up inside? And you know you really can't let it rip (or at least it would be best if you didn't!).... Yes, well today and yesterday too, that has been this blog writers experience as I sit here tip tapping away on the keyboard and eating left over perogis for breakfast. Just so you know there is only One real Hero who never blew His cool unless you count the whip and table flipping at the temple one day. And it is true the Holy Spirit can be grieved. Then there is the bit where God sent plague after plague to stubborn Pharoh's realm. I guess it's that God is always righteous in the things that provoke Him and in His response. In fact God even invited negotiation in some of that. Hmm, ok then on with the devotional...
Jesus sees something in you! Value, potential and beauty. He bought and paid for you while you were still rough cut material being mined from the ground. To bring the gem to full value there is process involved. Just as, obviously, when a baby is born there is process invested in the growing of that person into full potential even though I don't wait for them to be full grown to declare them precious and valuable to me. And so it is with us in our Christianity.
There is a procedure in fashioning the stone to a useful adornment. One of the processes I want to touch on today to compare with our walk is called Tumbling. This is not the fun tumbling in gymnastics.
A well-chosen speed for stone polishing causes the rocks within (a) barrel to slide past each other, with abrasive grit between them. The result of this depends on the coarseness of the abrasive, and the duration of the tumble.Wikpedia
Did you catch that part about abrasive grit? Does any one have any circumstances going on that might fall under the category of abrasive grit? (Why else would I have a scream welling up inside) God has a plan for the jewels we will ultimately be. Remember His good plan. So even though I may not like the abrasive circumstances taking me through the process of getting there, I am committed to the barrell tumbling instead of barrell jumping.
But then this almost begs the question "How long?".The precise tumbling time is determined by many factors, including the hardness of the rock and the degree of smoothing desired in the coarser steps. wikpedia Some of us come into the process with pretty hard hearts or heads. We also have some sharp barriers we have built around us to "protect ourselves" so some of that will have bearing on the overall process.
His word says I am being conformed to the image of His Son and that nothing can separate me from His love and all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. the book of Romans So hang in there Ruby. Hold on Pearl. Don't quit Jasper! Your brilliance is about to reflect His glory!
Sometimes we have irritating circumstances that seem to be part of our life for a long season. In and of itself that is simply irritating! However I think we can see a strategic life lesson in the oyster. When a foreign substance is introduced into its shell, it is kind of like getting a splinter so to relieve the pain that creates, the oyster secretes substance and surrounds the irritant with it. A cut in the mantle of the pearl can produce the same effect. It takes many years for a natural pearl to develop (about 5 years for a 3 mm pearl).
So what strategy am I trying to draw from this? These pearls are very valuable. I think the trials and tribulation the Bible says we will have in our lives can produce something better than crankiness or despair.
The substance we surround the irritant with is the Holy Spirit and His wisdom. After all one of the fruit of our Spirit filled life is (dare I say it?) long suffering. Ouch. No one wants to suffer long. But sometimes that is part of our life experience. Jesus sanctified Himself and suffered for us.
I am not saying every painful thing has to be accepted and we shouldn't take steps to resolve circumstances and differences, maintaining healthy boundaries. Or sometimes, as my friend said yesterday, determine if the offense while still needing our forgiveness, is a "deal breaker" and the offender not allowed to stay as part of our immediate relationship circle.
If it isn't a deal breaker though let's let it be a pearl maker (cheesy play on words I know).
Holy Spirit, today do your work in me. You make the difference in this situation I don't seem to be able to change on my own. I give it to You. Help me to cooperate with You. Fill me today. I choose Your way of responding. I choose to worship and keep a heart of remembering your goodness and promises. Amen
I started a blog post that was depressing me, myself and had to erase it to avoid sending any of that on to you. Ever have those days that you focus on the things that have been wearing you out? I know that was the thing about the 40 day Fast From Wrong Thinking. It was supposed to help turn those thoughts around to God's point of view. Because I went through it twice I do know it helped me to re-focus. And so many things are good and right! But the things battling to hold my mind today are up front in my face close so they look large and intimidating. God however has that view from above that lets Him see further than I do. He even sees the end from the beginning If I will look at things from where He does they will look like ants crawling.
As we remember, David was a worshipper who knew Who his God was and he remembered and spoke of the things God had done for him and through him in the past when he faced the giant Goliath. Wow! I am amazed at how he was not intimidated by the giant but spoke back to him about how he was going to take him down in the Name of the Lord! Those were fighting words for sure! Well Goliath asked for it. He started it! He just really didn't think he could be beaten. Sometimes we just need to remember the things God has already done for us and promises to still do then speak to our giants in the Name of Jesus, and do what God has equipped us to do. We are told we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but principalities and powers and rulers of wickedness in high places. Unfortunately they tend to use people to do their work against us.
My paraphrase of Habakkuk 3:17-19 (though please read it for real for yourself) is this:
Even when everything I set my hand to seems to come up empty at the moment and challenges me to my face, I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD...He is my strength and will make my feet quick and sure like a gazelle ... to walk over the mountain set in my way..
Happy Valentines Day!
I am my beloveds and he is mine...His banner over me is love...I love chocolate...love you!...I love my car...I love playing golf...I love chicken nuggets... I love your hair...I love money...I love Jesus...I love my husband...I love my dog, my kids, my parents, my lattes, my boots, and so on. Love gets used so many ways for so many things, it kind of loses its meaning. I want my husband to know he rates higher than my favorite boots and I want to know I am more important than some TV show he might love to watch. (Just so you know, that is a random list there. Those are not all things I "love". For instance, I do not golf.)
I don't mean for this to be a dry topic since it is a holiday, but I want to bring the different levels or types of love to our attention (in between giving attention to my husband, kids, granddaughters, house, dogs and my malfunctioning computer, that is).Three of these involve our emotions.
The first comes from a Greek word storage. This would be the type of love and affection that naturally occurs between parents and children, between siblings and then in healthy marriages between an husband and wife.
Then we have the word Greek word phileo. This would be the love that means "to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend". So it is a strong liking or strong friendship.
Since this implies strong emotional connection between friends, we would not phileo our enemies but is possible to agape them, which brings us to the next Greek word translated love.
Agape is the word that refers to the love of God, the very nature of God ("for God is love" 1 John 4:7-12 and "for God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son" John 3:16). It's one of the types we are to have for people. Even though we tend to think of love as primarily an emotion this type is actually love because of what it does regardless of feeling. I also think this means regardless of what I get out of it. It has the good of another in mind.
Eros is the word for passionate or sexual love. It referred to the Greek god of love when used as a noun and has pervaded our culture as seen in advertising, porn, attempts to legalize perversion and maintain legalization of abortion making uncommitted sex without responsibility possible and more "legitimate", the trafficking of young girls, clothing styles and more currently sexting. My lengthy assessment on this does not mean God is against sex. Of course not! He created it but also knows how we function best and are healthiest so set boundaries up (in marriage people!!!) for the enjoyment of sex. And as we see the above distorted uses of sex we can see His boundaries are for the protection of society and it's people.
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Again Happy Valentines Day! Enjoy the day and make sure those you love know you do!
Do you know your loved ones love language? There is a book that is highly recommended called "The Five Love Languages" by Dr Gary Chapman. This is designed to help us understand each other better and communicate our love in a way the other can receive. Here is a link for an assessment tool:
www.5lovelanguages.com
I thought it was eye-opening. It doesn't take very much time and will be worth the time it takes. I only understand English for the most part so if someone is speaking to me in another language, I pretty much don't get what they are saying. I might guess at it and they might be smiling but it just isn't my language!
Let's just say I am a cat. I have hunted and brought home a dead mouse and laid it at my person's doorstep as a gift because I love them and appreciate them feeding me everyday so it is my language as a cat to show that by mousing. My owner screams. She just doesn't get it. I am perplexed by her reaction to my expression of love.
Well clearly we do not always "get" each others expressions of love either so will end up feeling unloved when we are in fact unlearned in the others "language". On the other hand we may not understand why the person can not see I am showing love when I am speaking it loud and clear in my own love language.
This can be a fun tool to use as a couple to open conversation and to clear up misunderstandings paving the way to more loving relationships. Find some time to spend together for this. Loving relationships take time and maintenance and yours is worth it!
I love the absolute exhultation in his voice as he sings this! So many things cross my mind. I think of God when He declared His creation was good! I think of Adam when he saw Eve! I think of first love and then the moment of isle walking in weddings. I think of new borns. I think of God singing over us in Zephaniah. Proverbs says "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor of the Lord". It is shown in statistics that married men and women have longer lives than singles.They have lower levels of depression. Married sex is better. Married women are less likely to be victims of violent crime. Married men are safer drivers. Chidren are more secure. Society is stronger and safer. I know there are voices who would have us think differently. And sometimes our own experience may seem to say differently, but click this link for a fuller picture of benefits:
http://www.psychpage.com/family/library/brwaitgalligher.html
So if all this is true what is the story behind all the broken families? That, my friends, is for another blog another day. But I want us to be reminded God means for marriage to be GOOD and til death do us part.
Click on Stevie Wonders song and take time today to remember why you married who you married, if you are married that is. Begin to re-do the things you did in the beginning to win each others heart...and thank God for your husband or wife!
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