Gravestones & Significance ~

Play the harp well, sing many a song, so that you will be remembered. Isaiah 23:16

Can you believe we're moving into the last week of July? I can't! I had a birthday on the 20th and it was a very good one. I love that my birthday comes somewhere in the middle of Le Tour de France. Another year has passed and what do I have to show for it? The most imposing part of the year is influenced by the fact that I decided to write a novel in November of 2010. And I'm still working on the details. I even added a character last week--not a main character, but a character to be woven in and brought to life. This has been my concentration when I write, so I've neglected my blogs for many months. I wish I were more prolific, but with all the other things going on in my life, I'm just not. And now that I'm more comfortable with the fact that I'm a writer, I read someone else's work and realize how I fall short of their beautifully written prose. But there is one thing for sure--my writing is my own and no one can take that away. It keeps me going on days when I lose heart about the whole project! I really do appreciate all the encouragement I get from you all.

Today I'm going to summarize the last chapter in Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith. Like coming to the end of July,  we've come to the end of the book with Chapter 31. And this last chapter gives us something to think about in regard to our lives. The question is: What will you leave behind when you die? Have you had a significant impact on your world? Have you influenced lives? Have you changed lives? Hmmm...LaGard gives us some thoughts to contemplate today which remind us why we're here. Actually, the graveyard says it all.

The Cotswolds receive many organized groups of ramblers every year, and part of the route they take is through a graveyard filled with ancient gravestones dating back to the 1700's. Some of the gravestones  have little epitaphs which tell the story of the one buried there. Others now appear blank because the words once engraved there have been washed away by time. But the lesson for all of us is clear: whether great or small, they are all on equal footing now.

We're familiar with the urgency of the great--their insistence on having precedence because their work is important to the lives of everyone else. The rest of us must give way and be thankful that someone cares enough to do the work we cannot do. And in England, the class system has always meant that the divide between master and servant was much greater than we'll ever know. But when we look at their graves all these years later, we may ask: Did it matter that one was a master and the other a servant? All the important tasks which the master carried out are trampled under the feet of rambling visitors just as often as the chores of the servant. You'll remember that the wisest man who ever lived was Solomon, who said: "Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.... There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow."

And it was Solomon who concluded that life is meaningless! No matter how special we think we are, generations to come will not remember us. No one will care that we ever lived. As Solomon said: "For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"

                                                 

OUCH! I don't like to think about myself  like that. I want to be remembered. And I'm looking for some way to lengthen that memory. To accomplish that, I must leave behind something of significance...a legacy that says I helped to create a better world. I suppose I take wife, mother, and teacher for granted. But they aren't to be dismissed. "The hand that rocks the cradle..." and all that. The fact that we raise and teach our children the best we can  is of significance.

Significance is most often added to our lives in small ways. And in so many small ways, our own legacy is associated with those who went before us and gave us guidance and support. What lasts of our lives--our legacy--is the influence we have in changing the lives of others.

Think of the apostles who spent their lives preaching the gospel--the good news brought to the world by Christ. Peter was a powerful preacher, giving his life in service to the early church. But who told Peter about Christ? It was his brother Andrew. It was Andrew who made a significant difference in Peter's life and in the lives of countless thousands, including you and me!
                                

But we can go back even further for the young evangelist Timothy, who also spread the gospel. The scripture says that his faith "first lived in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice." The influence of mothers and grandmothers is so important in the lives of all of us. And not forgetting that fathers play a big part in bringing up children. There is no greater significance in this world than bringing up your children "in the training and instruction of the Lord." We are all interested in our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren having good lives, aren't we?

                                                                                                                              

LaGard says: "Changed lives are our greatest legacy. Changed lives are the gifts that truly keep on giving, generation after generation. No matter how seemingly insignificant our own lives, we achieve significance through the lives that we touch for good. And never are our lives more significant than when the lives we touch are brought to know Christ. For at that point lives are not simply changed, but transformed!"

Take a few minutes to remember those in your past who made a difference by touching your life. If possible, let them know that you recognize their significance in your life and how much you appreciate it. And look around you to see if there is someone in your life right now whose life you are changing or could change. Because of you, someone could take a different path. And not just a different path, but a higher one! 

Give some thought to your legacy and have a great Sunday!

Blessings...Mimi

   

Grasping the Nettles of Commitment ~ Part 2

Tender-handed stroke a nettle,

And it stings you for your pains;

Grasp it like a man of mettle,

And it soft as silk remains.

My new motto is "Better late than never." But I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July! I was happy because I got out of the house and visited with family. It's been a long haul with the smoke-laden skies of New Mexico, but it's better now. There is often a haze and poor air quality, but it isn't oppressive like it was at first.

This is the second half of a valuable lesson for us from Chapter 30 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith. In the second part of the lesson, LaGard wants us to understand what the parable is saying about our own reluctance to surrender to God. Why are we so hesitant? Because we're afraid it's going to hurt!

LaGard says: "Most of us flounder about, wanting to be fully committed followers of Jesus--thinking about it, coming close--yet never quite getting to the point where we are willing to "grasp the nettle"--to give ourselves wholly to God. To empty ourselves totally of self-will and self-direction. To surrender completely to Christ."


We're afraid of the unknown, asking serious questions about what it would mean:
1) What would my life be like if I really gave my life over to God?
2) What would my family think of me?
3)  How would it affect my job or career?
4) What would it cost me financially?
5) With all this at risk, do I really want to "grasp the nettle" of full surrender?

Remember the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life? He had obeyed all the commandments, though probably without much sacrifice. But when Jesus asked him about giving up all his possessions, his heart couldn't make the complete surrender that was required. Ask yourself about your own willingness to surrender. What treasures in your life are you unwilling to give up for God? Are you holding on to something at all cost?                                        

The prophet Joel tells us that we aren't alone in deciding whether to surrender to God. He says: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." And what he's really saying is that most of us go through an entire lifetime in the valley of indecision. We just can't decide whether to surrender to God--or NOT!

The prophet Elijah was on a mountaintop when he asked the people of God to choose between the one true God and Baal. The verse says: "Elijah went before the people and said, 'How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.' But the people said nothing." NOTHING! Saying nothing is saying everything. It says that we haven't given up self to trust in God's leading.

Another man who chose God was Joshua when he said: "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua's surrender to God was a matter of life and death. And then there was Moses, who said to the children of Israel: "This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life...." Moses was pleading with the Israelites to cling to the God of their salvation--to surrender all for Him.

But no one "grasped the nettle" like Jesus did. Jesus had no possessions to give up like the rich young man who wanted to inherit eternal life. But Jesus knew that surrender to God doesn't lead to death, it leads to life. Sweating drops of blood, His agony was apparent when He prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me." And then He said, "Yet not my will, but yours be done." Not even death was too great a sacrifice. Jesus' surrender was complete because He knew there is freedom in submission. And there is liberation in wholehearted, unwavering commitment!

Can we begin to say like Jesus, "Not my will, but yours"? Are our eyes fixed on Jesus who endured the cross for us? LaGard says: "Through his complete surrender on the cross, Jesus has already grasped the nettle for us. He has taken away the sting of death. All we need to do is to put our hand in his--to feel the softness of his love and never let go!"

It's wonderful to me that we have a choice...we can make the decision or not...it's up to us whether we surrender to God and live our lives through the love of Christ. Stresses and strains make it hard for us to give up our stubborn control, but you can be sure that it will make life more worthwhile in every way.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings...Mimi

         

Grasping the Nettles of Commitment ~

Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  Deuteronomy 10:12

Nettles are the subject today from Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith--the way nettles can represent more than a wild weed which stings. LaGard says that nettles can remind you that not everything in the English countryside is cozy and inviting. Nettles may look like a harmless green plant, but they can be very painful when you brush them on your walk. You may remember the old adage to "grasp the nettle" and get on with it. Do you have the courage--the boldness--to do the right thing even when it's going to be costly? When you know the pain is going to linger with you for hours? It is said that if you grasp the nettles quickly and firmly, it won't hurt. How many of you want to try out that expression, to see whether grasping the nettle will end up in a lot of pain?

Surrendering to God can have the same sense of grasping the nettle--a painful experience. And that pain creates hesitancy on our part. You may be hesitant to surrender your personal pleasures and lifestyle to accept a faith that seems onerous and burdensome. You wonder whether knowing God is worth the sacrifice. On the other hand, you may have that comfortable feeling of one who has walked with God for many years--church on Sundays, Bible study during the week, and keeping your nose clean, which means that you can live pretty much like everyone else. But what does Jesus say about that attitude?

This quotation from Jesus says a lot about half-hearted discipleship; you must either surrender to him all the way or just quit pretending: "He who is not with me is against me." And remember the scathing rebuke given to the Laodiceans: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither cold nor hot--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Holding onto God with one hand and the world with the other doesn't work. Jesus said: "No one can serve two masters." And Joshua said, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve!" It's all about commitment, isn't it? And our job is to think about just how committed we are--not just getting by, not just biding our time, not just seeming to be a Christian, but truly committed to faithful lives of service and dedication to God. .

This is enough for you to chew on today. I'll give you more on how to surrender to God as many others have done. There are some good examples for all of us to follow. But no one has ever grasped the nettle as completely as Jesus did. More on what it means for us to grasp the nettle next time.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Blessings...Mimi 

Cricket & the Bible ~ Understanding ~ Part 2

Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it. Proverbs 16:22

We're in the 28th chapter of Meeting God in Quiet Places: the Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith, and the question we want to considerer is: What activates the transition between reading or hearing the gospel and actually becoming a person of faith?

What does that have to do with cricket? Cricket has rules that are so difficult for us to understand that we simply don't enjoy the game. For most Americans, the rules and even the actual playing of the game--where the same player may be at bat for hours and the game may go on for days--leave our emotions cold. But that isn't the way cricket fans see the game. As one lifelong cricket fan said, "Cricket is a contemplative game which has inspired poetry, art, and music." That was an eye-opening statement for LaGard, who realized that there must be more to the game than simply understanding the rules. Surely there is something about the spirit of the game that is very special. 

The word that strikes a cord between Christianity and cricket is contemplative. In fact, LaGard says that this may be the key to the mysterious process of transforming someone who has biblical knowledge into a person with genuine, enthusiastic faith! In other words, we don't want to simply know about God technically, we want to know God personally. LaGard says: "There is so much more to appreciate about our faith, so much more to feel and to be! What is it that instills the passion? What is it about Christian faith that becomes obsessive? What is it that would cause a person to live for its teaching and die for its truths?" Can you believe that it's the working of the Holy Spirit?

                                                             

No, the Holy Spirit isn't a magic wand to be waved, so that we suddenly burst into a fiery faith. Nor does the Holy Spirit overwhelm us and turn us into miracle workers. And being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't help us find an open parking space or "hit for six" in a game of cricket! So what does the Holy Spirit do to make God come alive in our hearts? LaGard explains: "He awakens us! He stirs us! He enlightens us! If faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, it is the Holy Spirit who makes sure we actually hear the truths that transform." 

But reading or hearing the Word of God is only the first step in our learning process. It's the Holy Spirit's role to say: "Wake up and catch what God is saying to you through His Word!" He awakens us and stirs us to seek God with intensity. And because knowledge alone isn't enough, the Holy Spirit enlightens us like a good teacher. As a law professor, LaGard says he aspired to be the good teacher that Jesus spoke of when He said, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." And that is exactly what the Holy Spirit does.

Most of us have re-read a familiar scripture which we've studied many times before, but this particular time a new understanding was gained--a light was switched on in our mind. Could it be that the Holy Spirit actively reached out to make sure we got the intended message--perhaps for a particular need? The Holy Spirit could well have blessed us with enlightened eyes. Not a new revelation, but an understanding of "the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of openness to receive and understand God's revelation for our own individual lives. 

This kind of enlightenment makes God real to us; His love is no longer an abstract concept, but gives us motivation to serve others, to sacrifice for others, and to live a morally pure life, just as Christ did. When we're enlightened through the Word, our passion is kindled and transforms us. And at this point, having God in our lives begins to make a difference.                 

                                                                           

Being enlightened means that we no longer just follow the rules as in a cricket match. Our victory is not simply in a game, but is victory over sin, over insurmountable circumstance, even over death! But our most important victory is over disbelief. When we ask God to help our unbelief, God transforms us from spectators into participants. How it happens exactly remains a mystery. But for people watching our lives, let us hope that the Holy Spirit can use our transformed lives as a means of illuminating them as well.  

                                                                                               

This lesson will not only give you something to think about for the moment, but will remind us all that contemplating spiritual truths is the most important thing we can do to make the world a better place for ourselves and others.

Blessings...Mimi 

   

  

Cricket & the Bible ~ Understanding

Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it. Proverbs 16:22

In my Bible blog yesterday, I talked about hope as a necessary element in living a faithful life. And clearly, the way to keep our hope alive is by having the Holy Spirit living within us. In Chapter 28 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: the Cotswold Parables  by F. LaGard Smith, the point is made that understanding is the key to our enlightenment through the Holy Spirit.

This parable is taken from the popular game of cricket, which is played, watched and loved by most of the British people. In fact, the game of cricket gets much more attention from the British people on Sunday than does any worship service, in spite of the fact that its rules of engagement are obscure to most Americans. The obsessive fever of the Brits for cricket comes closest to our obsession for baseball, but at least we understand the rules of baseball and know why we're excited. The fact that we don't understand the rules of cricket is probably the biggest reason we don't enjoy watching it. And through this analogy, we can see that when we don't understand the Bible, we find it impossible to know God.  

So you may well ask the question: What would it take to know God? And you may feel that understanding the rules of engagement with God are as muddied in your mind as the rules for cricket.  It isn't hard to see that many people find it difficult to appreciate the worship of a God they've never seen; a God who can create a universe, but who later takes human form and is killed on a rude cross by the very creatures He's created. Like cricket, the rules of engagement involving propitiation, reconciliation, and salvation may sound like a foreign language to the uninitiated. And so do all those scriptures telling us that to live we have to die, that to receive we must give, that to love God we may have to "hate" our own families! Nonsensical verbiage or profound truths? The game of cricket could NOT be this difficult to understand! 

                                                                                         

Of course, reading the Bible--which is considered the Christian's rule book--is very helpful in gaining understanding about God. But in spite of this view of the Bible, please remember that it is much more than a rule book! LaGard says: "Far surpassing any such comparison, the Bible is meant to reveal to us nothing less than the wonder of God and the mystery of faith!" And the apostle Paul says in Romans: "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." That sounds simple enough until we hear Paul say that "the mystery of godliness is great!" In other words, two people can read the same Bible--one turns to God in faith and the other turns away in doubt and skepticism. We have to figure out the answer to this question: What activates the transition between reading or hearing the gospel and actually becoming a person of faith? 

The important point of the parable will be explained in tomorrow's post. For now, contemplate the questions proposed here to see where your own understanding lies. 

Have a great weekend!

Blessings...Mimi   

   

Signposts on Life's Path ~

Along unfamiliar paths I will guide him.  Isaiah 42:16

Good Sunday morning~ Today in Chapter 29 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith, we're gently reminded that one of our goals in life is to be an example to others. This parable comes from the many footpaths which are in the area where LaGard takes his daily walks. These paths have many signposts--yellow arrows on gates, posts, trees, and rocks--arrows pointing the direction to the next crossing or turn. And, not surprisingly,  there are also maps and guidebooks to help walkers manuever hill and dale.

Sounds easy, but it isn't always as clear as it sounds. No matter how many signposts and maps are in place, both time and nature may have managed to hide the signposts and cause confusion about which direction to turn, especially for someone who is new to the area. No one is going to get completely lost, but searching for hidden signposts can cause walkers to become disoriented and confused, taking them in a circular pattern for a while, or even into a wall of rusty barbed wire. But once the footpaths and signposts become familiar, they're like old friends waiting to greet you. In fact, LaGard has become so familiar with both, he can now direct visitors toward the right footpath. Taking directions from an American may come as a surprise, but even British walkers are grateful for help  in making their way across the area. In the end, his experienced direction means the ramblers no longer feel lost and confused. 

How does this create a parable that has meaning for our lives? Well, for one thing, we can remember that Jesus is our personal guide when our written instructions seem unclear. Jesus, as the incarnate Word, helps us when we have decisions to make, or are having a confusing time in our lives. In a spiritual sense, He is our friend and personal guide toward the right path. So, where does that leave the written word? Well, we know that Jeremiah said that it isn't within us to direct our own steps. And when we try, we get lost and confused. So even though the Holy Scripture is full of stories, drama, and poetry, it also contains signposts which point us to God. And that's why God's revelation is so important to us.

                                                                                           

But, we should also be aware that the written Word can give us an opportunity to take spiritual shortcuts with the meaning of the text, or find loopholes which take us off the beaten path; therefore, God has given us a personal Guide in the written and spoken Word made flesh. Jesus is our reliable guide--a guide we can safely and confidently follow. Remember when Jesus called the twelve apostles, saying, "Follow me"? He was also calling you and me, saying, "Follow me, for I am the Way." Yes, you're right...following Jesus does mean taking the highest path, and the highest path stretches us to points we never thought to go. At least we can know for sure that it's the right path!

But there's more to following Jesus than simply staying on the right path. Jesus has given us an example to follow in daily life, as well as in death and the life to come. We follow by faith because He is the personal expression of all the written biblical precepts. And we follow in his footsteps because He is the One who has gone before us as our example. 

LaGard says: "But here the metaphor must change. No longer are we 'following' Jesus--as if separated by some distance--but we have Christ in us, bringing life, and strength, and hope. With Christ in us, never is the destination clearer!" So it isn't as easy as it sounds--just like being on a footpath--the path seems easy, but may become confusing without knowing the directions. So we may begin to wonder why more people don't want to follow Jesus and have him intimately involved in their lives. One answer might be that they don't know they're lost! And that makes sense, if those who claim to be leaders are actually following the lost. If people can't tell that you're doing something different, how do they know you're following Jesus? If people are watching you, what do they see?

                                                                                                  

As we make our daily walk, we might want to ask whether people who have never read the Bible for themselves, or people who can't make sense of it on their own, can read the Bible by looking at our behavior. LaGard says: "Whether or not we think of ourselves as spiritual leaders, the truth is that, day by day, we are leading people either to or away from a relationship with God." You might even say that you're a human signpost--a yellow arrow pointing down one path or another. And what makes the biggest difference is whether you are simply following Christ at a distance or whether you have Christ in you!

Ask yourself these questions: Is Christ really at the center of my life? Have I been transformed by his strength and power? Does my relationship with Christ make a difference, moment by moment, in what direction I take? If people follow my example, will I be leading them in the right direction?

                                                                           

Have a blessed Sunday~

Mimi

  

        

Sunsets & Reconciliation with God ~

Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 

1 Kings 8:30

Grace and love like mighty rivers
Poured incessant from above,
And heaven's peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.
                    ----Robert Lowry (1826-1899)

Today we're in Chapter 27 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith. In this parable, sunsets represent reconciliation to God. LaGard says that "sunsets are a daily declaration of the majesty of God. They speak of infinite beauty and of the power of Him who created the incomparable realms of heaven and earth. They tell of God's greatness and, by comparison, my own smallness." What does he see in sunsets that we can also find? The gentleness that comes with getting older, a clearer meaning of life and loved ones, and an understanding of the end of a life of faith on earth and an expectation of a life to come. All of these are touching and meaningful, but there is an even more appealing image.

No writer captures the imagination as well as the psalmist, and in his vision of sunsets, he sees "heaven reaching down to kiss the earth, and in that rapturous moment bring peace." If the image of heaven kissing the earth is hard to grasp, think on these words of the psalmist: "Love and faithfulness meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven." Beautiful imagery which brings God and man together, imagery which is at the heart of Christian teaching...it's very essence caught in a sunset--heaven has kissed the earth! The King James version says that "Mercy and truth are met together." In other words, the truth of man's unrighteousness and sinfulness meets with God's mercy in the salvation of man.

                                   
Modern translations speak of "love and faithfulness" meeting together rather than "mercy and truth." But that doesn't mean, as we might think, that our faithfulness meets God's love. We are NOT faithful. We aren't good at keeping our promises to each other, much less to God. We fail miserably at keeping our marriage and other social contracts. In truth, it is God's faithfulness and merciful love that brings us peace. 

And here, I quote LaGard: "The peace of God is not the mere peace of tranquility, as in the 'peacefulness of the Cotswolds.' God's peace is harmony where there was disharmony; acceptance where there was rejection; rightness where there was wrongness. Because of God's own righteousness, whatever is wrong can be put right." And the source of God's righteousness is seen in His love and faithfulness.

And where is the love of God most profoundly seen? In the life and sacrificial death of Jesus Christ: "For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son!" Now that's an image we can all relate to! Christ dying for our sins is a phenomenal event which had been promised by God for centuries. Only God's faithfulness brought about the birth of Jesus. And with this event, God came near. Heaven and earth rejoiced. The heavenly hosts sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." No longer was the abyss of sin standing between heaven and earth. Like the sunset kisses the earth, God had come down to earth, bringing peace between God and man--heaven kissing the earth. 

All of this is mysterious and full of wonder, but in searching for inner peace, we know that it can only be found in reconciliation with God. It is the death of Jesus Christ which makes this possible; we are no longer alienated by sin. Not that we won't have trouble in our lives, but that we can find inner peace in spite of our troubles. Because of God's love and faithfulness, we can even transform our troubles into triumph! And remember--a time is coming when we will have eternal peace living in the presence of God. In the meantime, let the sunsets you see each evening remind you that heaven is kissing the earth!

Have a wonderful Sunday!
Blessings...Mimi

          

Pursuit ~ The Hunt

Set your hearts on things above.  Colossians 3:1

Today we're in Chapter 23 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: the Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith. I enjoy the many true-life stories in this book that have been made into parables for our lives. They're such a vivid and delightful way to reach our hearts and  minds. Jesus taught in parables, but not everyone understood His message. I pray that we'll not only understand the message of each parable, but apply it to our lives. This chapter has to do with a fox hunt. The horse, rider, and dogs chasing the fox are analogous to our chasing the material goods of this world.

LaGard says that it's fascinating to watch the hunt as it tears through his yard, and to see that even when the fox isn't caught, the chase is great fun and ends at the pub. So what does all of  this mean to you and me? Perhaps it can serve as a parable for us to ask whether we're chasing society's style-setters. It's these style-setters who  realistically set the pace for us, as we search for the answer to the question: What should I be chasing to be successful? 

I can think of people who are proud of their frenetic lifestyle--keeping both themselves and their children in the game. And when they somehow catch what they're chasing, they honestly feel that they've gained a little more power and recognition. Not much, but enough to keep them in the hunt. LaGard says: "If I'm honest with myself, much of what I chase after is immediate physical gratification rather than long-term spiritual fulfillment--a meaningless life exercise having little to do with anything soul-enriching or eternal." Does this ring true for you? Have you bought into a jaded culture? I love what Solomon said: "Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind." And he learned the hard way.

And what's the irony here? Foxes usually chase and kill rabbits and lambs, but now the tables are turned, and the hunter--the fox--has become the hunted. Now the fox is being chased for his life! The hunters always become the hunted, which causes LaGard to say: "In our desperate search for earthly fulfillment, humans are hunted down by the very things they chase after. Accumulation brings fear of loss; achievement begs even more herculean effort; and recognition robs me of privacy. When that happens, who is chasing whom?" Have you and I become the hunted?

Jesus warned us in His Sermon on the Mount that all our chasing isn't likely to bring us what we're seeking. He said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." Our chasing an earthly prize invites others to chase us, basically meaning that we're pursued by advertising, commercials, and other pitches for products. It guarantees we end up the hunted! 

          

Do you and I have our priorities all wrong? Jesus says: "Do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear.' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them." This is the hunt of pagans, not of Christians. As Christians, we believe that God will provide for us, and that chasing after all these things takes all our energy. Yes, I know these "necessities" do not count as accumulation of wealth. But all that energy chasing after these things shows a lack of faith and trust in God. 

              
The way out of this vicious circle comes by seeking, not by chasing. Remember what Jesus encouraged us to do: in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said to "seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Spending our time seeking God means we'll never be disappointed. We won't be empty, or searching, or discontent. There's no reason to chase after the illusion of happiness, when true happiness can be found in Christ!

I hope you're enjoying a wonderful weekend!
Blessings...Mimi

Inconsistency Reflected In A Greenhouse ~ 2

The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Matthew 26:41

Good afternoon to everyone! I ended the lesson from Chapter 26 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith yesterday promising to tell you how to dismantle the panes of glass that make up the greenhouse. Or, more precisely, dismantling the parts of yourself that are ugly and out of place--"pain by pain" as it were. You don't have to work alone on this project: God himself does the dismantling!

 LaGard says: "Jesus is at work in me, completing what he has already begun. As long as I live, he will continue to work with me so that who I am today is never the person I am yet to be. That which needs dismantling is being torn down. That which needs restoring is being built up." Good news for those who don't know how to dismantle their ugly parts.

                                                             

In his beautiful chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul speaks of a different kind of glass--a mirror through which we dimly see ourselves. He says: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." And LaGard sums it up by saying that looking at our present lives, we can know that "the person we see today is but a dim figure of the person that God has in mind for us to be." How does the metamorphosis take place?

Mainly it involves spiritual growth. You will quickly realize that spiritual transistion requires spiritual growth, as Paul says, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." Physical growth requires physical nourishment, and spiritual growth requires spiritual nourishment.
 

Looking down on the greenhouse, the outside is totally out of character with the landscape of the Cotswolds. But inside the greenhouse, tomatoes grow without the soil that we all believe essential to growing food. While the greenhouse remains a blight on the horizon, vegetables are mysteriously growing prolifically--more than they ever could under natural conditions. So what's the equivalent on the spiritual level?

On the spiritual level, the transformation--really a complete metamorphosis from natural to spiritual--happens with the same spirit that mysteriously raised Jesus from the dead! And the source of this power is seen in this passage: "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."  Amazing! And truly miraculous!

God sees that you and I are out of character with His goodness and looks for ways to nurture us into newness. LaGard explains it this way: "Through His Spirit working in my innermost parts, God transforms my ugliness into beauty. He cultivates within me a transformed life that flourishes bountifully from the spiritual nutrients of His grace and love." Sounds like the vegetables in the greenhouse, doesn't it? Everything has to have the proper nutrients to grow!
~

And what did we learn about beauty in this parable? We learned that true beauty lies within--greenhouse or person--and not on the outside. God knows that! And letting God accomplish His plans for our lives will mean that we don't have to be a blemish on His spiritual landscape. With God nourishing our lives, there will be an explosion of spiritual growth that will go through the roof!

Blessings on this beautiful Sunday...Mimi

   

 

     

Inconsistency Reflected In A Greenhouse ~

The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.  Matthew 26:41

This weekend we'll be looking at Chapter 26 in Meeting God in Quiet Places: The Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith. And if you're wondering what the title means, I'll explain as I go. We've all had the experience which LaGard describes in the beginning of this chapter: you return to a much-loved place, usually a house where you lived years ago that contained happy memories, to find that it isn't the same as you'd remembered. You're disappointed, filled with great loss as the memories were precious to you, and had been so vividly real when you'd recalled them all these years.

~

And so it was with LaGard as he returned one year to his beloved Buckland in the Cotswolds of England and struck out on a walk to the top of a hill, where he could look out over the beautiful little town and countryside. But this time, instead of looking down on the beautiful village, he was shocked to be looking down on a new greenhouse the size of two city blocks! All the protests by letter and phone from the community had not worked and the greenhouse had been constructed. The massive greenhouse--a sea of glass within the green fields--stole the view from the village. Anger and outrage seemed a mild response to such a vulgar creation--one which "profaned one of the last truly unspoiled pockets of beauty in the English countryside." So what is his point in regard to a parable that we can understand? The greenhouse reflects an inconsistent presence on the landscape, which indeed reflects inconsistency in our obedience to God.

                                                                    

The point is that perhaps God looks down on me and sees how often His glorious plan for my life is profaned. Is God's call to purity blasphemed by my sin? Does it spoil the spiritual landscape? Yes, part of my life is submissive to God's will, but what about that other part? The part that is dark and ugly. Even though I see that it's totally inconsistent with the rest of my character, I accept it as a part of myself--it's just who I am. Like LaGard, I agree with the apostle Paul that saw "another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." 

How do you want to live your life before God? Are you able to accomplish what you plan? Again, I can speak for myself when I say that I agree with LaGard and with Paul that, "What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do....I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." Hmmm...I wonder if God is angry and outraged at my poor showing. But surely not...it's only one small part of my life that's in rebellion. But am I deceiving myself? Am I justifying myself by thinking that so small a dark spot can be overlooked? I reassure myself with the knowledge that no one is perfect. And I also reassure myself with the knowledge that the grace of God is promised to all of us humans because we are so imperfect. Being inconsistent is in the very make-up of mankind. And I'm definitely inconsistent in how I think and how I act. 

Listen to what Paul said about excuses for sin: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Even if I can hide my sin from you, sin is always glaring to God. Saying that my sin is simply "inconsistent" with the other part of my being isn't good enough. It doesn't begin to describe how God sees my rebellion. So why is it so hard for me to see my sin for what it really is? Why can't I see that my sin mars my walk with God...that my sin is reflected like a mirror of glass for everyone to see? Like the greenhouse, my life reflects my beliefs. Shouldn't I be incensed and outraged at my own sin? Like the neighbors of the greenhouse, shouldn't I be protesting and writing letters to change the result? 

                                                                   

But there is another way...perhaps not easier, but more effective. You and I can decide to dismantle that part of ourselves which is ugly and out of place. After allowing this dark and ugly part of our character to remain for so long, it will be quite a project to take on. But it must be done. And as LaGard says, "Pain by pain, if necessary." A thoughtful image. Tomorrow I'll give you more on the dismantling process in which God and Jesus give us help. 

Have a great weekend with Spring peeping through just a little...just enough to tease our spirits. But we'll take it!

Blessings...Mimi      

  

Gargoyles & Idols ~ 2

A good Sunday morning to you all! The weather is once again cold, but sunny here. There is so much going on in the world that I believe we have to steep our hearts and minds in God's word to find our way. And so today  I'm going to put a finer point on the lesson from Chapter 25 of Meeting God in Quiet Places: the Cotswold Parables by F. LaGard Smith, simply because there are so many good thoughts to be had about worshiping idols. There are gods we don't recognize--money, food, television, sports, politics, or maybe even a religion that doesn't have much to do with God--anything that you put in the place of the one true God.

That has always been the problem. Think of Moses, who had delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt by parting the Red Sea, as he was on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. The Israelites were down below, worshiping a golden calf! And then there's Isaiah, who talked about a man who worshiped a god, which--like the gargoyles--he had made himself. Here is the scene he portrayed:

~

Half of the wood he burns in the fire;

over it he prepares his meal, he roasts

his meat and eats his fill. He also warms

himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see

the fire." From the rest he makes a god,

his idol; he bows down to it and worships.

He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god."

Does this man in Isaiah have something in common with the men who put gargoyles on churches? They don't see that there isn't any security in any god that they have created themselves--that they are trusting in their own weakness! LaGard has something to say about this, and I quote: "Never in our own time have paganism and Christian faith been so muddled together! Never have we as a society been more keen to hedge our spiritual bets, whether through the pluralistic acceptance of all religions, or through worshiping Mammon, the god of shopping malls, or even for literally worshiping ourselves!"

~

What is the end result? These "faith-substitutes" take us backward to ignorance, superstition, and spiritual darkness. And listen to LaGard's evaluation: "Given their ability to deceive us into thinking that we are secure when we are not, our gargoyles are more grotesque and menacing than we might ever imagine! Worst of all, they drain away our faith, leaving us more alone and fearful than ever before." That isn't a good prospect, is it? We end up trusting in our own fearful emptiness.

  Do you trust other gods or the power that created this?

So where can we put our faith and trust? We can be like the psalmist David, who proclaimed, "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust'." And when we trust in God alone, there is no terror too great, no illness that we can't face, nothing in this world can happen to us that we can't overcome. Gargoyles in whatever form are empty and powerless and cannot save us. But in sublime contrast, our God is alive and offers security and salvation!

Have a wonderful day, but give some thought to whether you have built up idols in your life. If you have, take time to destroy them and trust in God.

Blessings...Mimi