Join Me On the Journey

Most of us remember the story of David and Jonathan. Jonathan was Saul’s son and he and David formed a close friendship and made a covenant with each other. Jonathan saved David’s life in response to that covenant.

Later, when Jonathan was dead and David was king, he sought to find a way to honor his covenant with Jonathan. He questioned:

Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake? 2 Sam 9:1 (KJV)

David found Mephibosheth. You can read the story in 2 Samuel 9. The story of Mephibosheth has many applications, but today, I want to shift our focus from David and Mephibosheth to God and you.

You see, that question could be worded as follows:

Is there anybody in the church that I may show kindness for Jesus’ sake?

You and I have a blood covenant with God which is sealed by the blood of Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time wrapping my brain around that concept.

First of all, as modern day people, we don’t really understand the concept of covenant. The closest example we have is of a contract and we all know that contracts are easily broken. Even marriage, which is supposed to be a covenant, is treated by most of us as a simple contract.

But, a covenant is much more than a contract or simple agreement, according to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary (Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers). “A contract always has an end date [or an out], while a covenant is a permanent arrangement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person’s total being.”

God has a covenant with you and me. In the Old Testament, the making of a covenant was accompanied with the shedding of blood and so when God made a covenant with us, He shed the most Holy Blood of all…his Son, Jesus’ blood.

God is looking for a way to show you kindness today. Will you allow him?

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The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isa 61:1-3 (KJV)

Is this not an incredible passage?

I do not truly understand all that Jesus did for me when He died on the cross. I’m not sure that my brain, with it’s limitations here on earth, is capable of understanding it on more than a surface level. Oh, I get a glimpse of it now and then, but I must say that I don’t truly understand it.

This passage in Isaiah promises me and promises you that God will give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. What promises this passage holds! And yet, I must realize something.

This passage says that He will give me all these wonderful things, but I must give up something. I must give up my ashes and mourning and my spirit of heaviness. Oh, wait a minute…I have to give up something? I have to give up all those familiar, comfortable, awful things????

All of us have those things in our lives. Those ways of dealing with life that we see modeled by our family and friends and even other Christians. We take a little of the stinkin’ thinkin’ from each person who comes into our lives, plus we might mix in a little right thinking now and then; and we combine it all together to come up with our own way of dealing with life.

I spent a good part of my life depressed. I thought that I wanted to get better, but I realize now that I really didn’t want to get better…until I finally really did want to get better.

You see, depression had become like an old friend to me. I can still clearly remember the day that I realized that depression was like my security blanket. One that I had slept with every night, and carried with me every day, and cried on night and day until it had become worn and tattered.

I had even made attempts at throwing it away, but I would always go and retrieve it from the trash. And then it began to take on a smell…the smell of death and decay.

I had to burn the blanket.

So, I did. And, I very nearly, literally died in the process.

But, do you know what I did then?

I carried around the ashes.

Thank goodness, I didn’t carry them around very long. I was able to give them up and my Father gave me His beauty for my ashes. Wasn’t that a great trade?

There are still ashes I carry that God wants me to give up.

Are you carrying around ashes? What are the ashes that you are carrying? Are you ready to give them up?

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A few days ago, I encouraged you to spend some time listing the things that are truly bothering you about your life.

Did you do it?

If not, I would encourage you to read Control and perform this exercise.

Once you have your pages written, go back through and re-read them.

(Ideally, a little time should pass between performing this exercise and evaluating the content. It also works best if you do it without a preconceived notion of what you’re going to be doing with the material, so I would encourage you to perform the exercise before you finish reading this.)

Do you see some common threads? Did you make some discoveries that surprised you?

On another piece of paper (or in another page of your journal) make a list of the items you discovered. Look at each item and determine whether you control that thing or not.

If you’re unsure about whether you have control over that item on your list, just ask yourself, “Is there another person involved?” If so, you do not have total control over that item.

There are likely things over which you have no control. Again, you cannot control world events, or natural laws (such as the weather), or another person’s behavior. One way to make these problems less stressful is to change your attitude. You must work to come to a place where you accept what you cannot change. (remember the Serenity Prayer?)

There are likely several items over which you have only partial control. For example, if there is a relationship in your life that is troubled, you do have partial control over that situation. You can control how you feel about that person. You can control how you react to their behavior. You can become proactive in your response to their behavior.

Lastly, it is probable that you have items on your list over which you have total control. If much of your list contains things you can totally control, you are truly blessed.

When you have divided your list into things over which you have no control, things you partially control, and things you totally control; pick a place to start.

Start with the thing that’s really bugging you the most. Or, perhaps you discover a common theme to your list. You may discover your problems separate themselves naturally into different categories than I have suggested here. Remember, this is your list; your life. I am suggesting one way to tackle this list but you may intuitively follow a different trail. That is between you and God.

This is your journey and it begins with one step. Small, deliberate changes can have a big effect in your life.

One year from now, God willing (and He is), you will be a year older. You can determine today (and tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow) if you will be a year older with the same problems plaguing your life; or if you will be a year older with some of those problems taken care of.

I want very much to walk with you on this journey. The first edition of my e-zine will be coming out tomorrow and I will be talking about habits. Habits are the smallest units of change. Taking one of the items on your list, breaking it down into something small that you can change, and weaving that new habit into your life is a way that you can become proactive and make profound changes for the better.

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I have spent a great deal of time thinking about when and why true change occurs in a person. When I read, it’s what I notice. Even when I read a novel, I notice how the characters are growing and changing and what factors produce that change. I have read extensively about personality types, relationships, psychology, and parenting; and in everything I read, I am always thinking about what the author says about how and why people change.

This morning (while I was sweating away, red-faced on the treadmill ) I was listening to a podcast of Joyce Meyer who was interviewing John C. Maxwell and Les Parrott, PH.D. John Maxwell said something that filled in a piece of the puzzle for me and I wanted to share it with you.

There are three things that precipitate change in a person.

1. When you hurt enough, you have to change.
2. When you learn enough, you want to change.
3. When you receive enough, you are able to change.

Let’s think about these for a moment.

First of all, “When you hurt enough, you have to change.” This is the reason that I have focused on the most. I had in my head that the only time that people truly change is when they hit bottom and there’s no way out but up. I’ve been there…a couple of times. I understand what it’s like to feel my life was so bad that I needed to make a major change in order to go on. In fact, if you’ve read my blogs, you may have read comments like, “True change occurs when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.”

However, I realize now that the recent changes in my life have not been because of this first reason. My life is awesome right now. Nothing big, bad, and ugly precipitated the changes that began in November of 2006 and have culminated in my writing to you today. I realize that the recent changes in my life have occurred because of reasons two and three. I had learned and received enough that I was willing and able to change.

A few days ago, I wrote about my obsession with reading. (From Learner to Teacher) I take nuggets from nearly every book or article I read, or talk I listen to. I add those tidbits of information to the knowledge I had already acquired, reformulated them and as a result, I have come to this place in my life where I would love to have the opportunity to share all of it with you. That desire is burning in my heart.

A big part of what is spurring me on to write here is the possibility that I could help you change because I helped you learn enough to make you want to change; or because I provided you with enough information that you were able to change.

Can you think of a time when you’ve made significant change in your life? Tell us about it. Click the “comments” button below.

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It never ceases to amaze me how practical the Bible is. I find that sometimes, I can skip right over a phrase or a sentence while I’m “getting to the good stuff.” But, tucked away in James chapter 5, in a paragraph about prayer, there is this little phrase:

Confess your faults one to another, James 5:16a (KJV)

Now, this is such practical advice, and yet, in our culture, it can be so hard to follow. We live in a culture where image is everything. Even in the church, we aren’t often transparent with each other. We don’t want other Christians to know that we haven’t had our quiet time for weeks on end, that we are struggling in our marriage, and our kids are out of control.

We go to church, “How are you this morning?” “Oh, I’m doing great, how are you?” “Oh, fine, just fine.” I am so guilty of this, and I’ll bet you are, too.

Now I’m not saying that you need to spill your guts to the greeter every Sunday morning. But, what I am saying is that you need to find other women whom you can trust to confess your faults.

Confession accomplishes many purposes. Defining a problem goes a long way toward fixing it. Sometimes, just saying something out loud helps you to see it more clearly and then you can deal with it. Often, when you say it aloud, it’s not nearly as bad as it seems when it’s hidden inside your heart. You’ll often find that other women have thought the same thought or done the same thing or had the same or similar experience.

For many years, I didn’t have another woman to confide in. As a physician, I had little time outside the office to form relationships with other women. I know that those of you who work outside the home must struggle with that as well. The moment you walk out of work, you have family responsibilities. We’re just so busy that there is no time to find someone you can trust to “confess” to.

When I came home, I was the only woman (of childbearing age, LOL) who was home all day, so I faced the opposite problem; there wasn’t really anyone I could relate to.

After (literally) years of prayer, I finally have a few friends I can trust who live close enough for me to see regularly. It has been so wonderful to have those women in my life.

The Bible says:

For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. Rom 14:7 (KJV)

No woman is an island.

Do you have women in your life with whom you can share? Tell us about her. Click the “comments” button below.

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Several weeks ago, I was out in the early morning doing chores. As I was walking from the house to the chicken coop, I looked toward the East, and I was greeted with a most amazing sunrise. All around, the trees were covered with hoar frost. The sun wasn’t peeking up yet, but the sky was a light green-blue. There were low clouds on the horizon painted in soft shades of pink and purple and orange and yellow. It was breathtaking…spectacular.

As I stopped to drink in the sight, it occurred to me that no other person on the earth would ever see the same sight that I was gazing upon at that moment in time. It would never come again, and even if there were other people who were out in the early morning, watching the sunrise through frost covered trees, their view would be different because they were looking from a different place on the earth.

And I stopped for a moment, and I asked God, “Why? Why would you create something so incredibly beautiful that only I will see?” And I heard Him say to my spirit, “Because I love you. And because it’s My way of giving you a hug.”

For just a moment, I caught a glimpse of just how much God loves me.

And, He loves you that much, too.

Have you ever had a moment when the love of God has been so real to you? Please tell your story. Click on “Comments” below and share.

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This evening, I would like to share an email that my sister forwarded to me from her sister-in-law.

Theresa writes:

Good morning Ladies:

It has been on my heart the last couple of weeks that Satan is on the attack. I know he always is, roaming everywhere seeking to destroy whatever he can. But I sense him being extremely aggressive lately…maybe not with me…but with many that I love, including some of you.

Well, just as I pray on this, and ask for special protection, along comes a devotional lesson that addresses the subject of what Satan often does to me: he takes something that happens and helps me to blow it up, to wrap me up in lies, and to twist me in such a knot that all I seem to believe is lies about being worthless and the scum of the earth. Even though I am repentant and come to the feet of Jesus to ask for His forgiveness and guidance, I cannot let go of these horrible feelings. Then I completely forget God’s truth — though I am a sinner, He still loves me and want me to be free in his forgiveness!

So, here is Beth Moore’s lesson that reminded me of how valuable I am (and you are) to God: (content from Praying God’s Word Devotional Journal Copyright 2002 Broadman & Holman Publishers Nashville, TN)

He gives us more grace. That is why the Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

Never in all of Scripture did Christ resist the repentant sinner. Indeed, forgiveness is why He came. So, when we approach God in genuine repentance, taking full responsibility for our own sins, our prison doors swing open. Tragically, though, too many of us sit right there for years in our prison cells, living in torment of guilt, feeling unreleased from repetitive sins.

Satan knows that forgiveness leads to freedom, so he takes on the role of tormentor, taunting us with guilt and condemnation. He does everything he can to see to it that we don’t forgive ourselves. But we have God’s promises that our penalty has been paid, our time served, our guilt expunged. We can walk forward in His truth.

Satan can scream and holler all he wants to. We’re free to ignore him.

Father God, thank you for declaring no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). Help me to understand that the loving chastisement that might come to me after I have rebelled against You is only in the purest Father’s love and is never to be confused with condemnation (Hebrews 12:6).

My faithful God, if I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me. But if I confess my sins, You are faithful and just and will forgive me my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9).

Maybe this is not you right now. But I know that even though I am in a good place right now as I type this, there is likely to be a time when this will apply to me again. I am working on it, but because I believed Satan’s lies for so long, he knows that my self-worth and the way I view myself (instead of seeing myself through God’s eyes) is a vulnerable spot.

And even though I know I am free, when I do something (and it doesn’t have to be big) I have a hard time forgiving myself and I climb right back into that prison cell. I guess I need to work on believing I am free.

If you know someone this message might help….please pass it on to them.

Have a blessed day!

Theresa

I really appreciated her heart and I thought I would pass this on. I pray you are blessed by it.

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Did you know that God is a canner?

Now, many of you who LOVE to can, must have already known this, but it was news to me!

I wrote a few days ago about the fact that when you accept Christ, your spirit is made righteous and holy.

“…put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:24

At that moment, your spirit is instantly changed as it talks of in II Corinthians 5:17.

Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: behold all things are become new.

Our spirit is then “sealed” with the Holy Spirit as it says in Ephesians 1:13:

In whom (in Christ) ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Now, the word sealed can have several different meanings. For example, you can stamp an official seal on a document to warn people not to open it. And this is the way that several other versions I looked at translate this passage.

However, you can also take an illustration from canning. When you put up jelly, you “seal” the fruit with paraffin. The paraffin keeps out contaminants. In the same way, our spirit is sealed with the Holy Spirit and this protects us from the sin that we continue to commit despite our best efforts.

My spirit is sealed by the Holy Spirit and no impurities can come in and contaminate it. Why is this so important? Because my spirit is the part of me that communicates with God.

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for sealing my spirit! Amen

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