Where There Is Love....

Love is always ready to deny itself, to give, sacrifice, 

just in the measure of its sincerity and intensity. 

Perfect love is perfect self-forgetfulness. 

Hence where there is love in a home, unselfishness is the law. 

Each forgets self and lives for others.

~ J.R. Miller

Painting ~ Helping Little Sister, Paul Seignac, 1826-1904

public domain via WikiGallery

Rise and Go Home

Sharing a quiet time thought with you today. I'm reading in Matthew 9 about the paralytic who was brought by his friends to be healed. He had no other way to come to Jesus than through the compassion and faith of his friends. And it was their faith that impressed Jesus. How often it is that our need brings our faith into fuller focus.

And as Jesus remarked to those who thought He blasphemed because He forgave the man's sins, which is the more difficult to do? Heal or forgive? And we might ask as well, which is the greater need? We so often (as we should) pray for the strengthening of physical needs, our own and those we love. But there is the accompanying spiritual need of faith that needs strengthened all the more.

It is in the adversities of life that our faith can be enlarged, our hearts drawn closer to the heart of God. Not only physical hardships, but those of the soul, the mind, the thoughts that so often sweep over us and pull us down. Too often they are medicated away. But it is while we are in the midst of our trials and troubles that seeking Jesus brings healing to our hearts and minds.

So as with the paralytic's friends, we bring our loved ones to Jesus, to encourage their faith, to bring them hope, to heal their weary souls. "And he rose, and went home." (v.7)

Image by Gellinger via Pixabay

CC0 Creative Commons

It's Not Easy Being Vulnerable

Thinking about Proverbs 13:3:

The one who guards his mouth preserves his life; The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Mark Twain put it this way:

"It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt."

That's sometimes my own MO. As an introvert, it's easier to stay quiet. Keeps me out of some trouble, too. Speaking up is more of a challenge for me than keeping my mouth shut. I sometimes regret what I've said and think about it far too long into the night. We introverts tend to be too introspective.

But relationships aren't nurtured very well without conversation. And so I must give attention to guarding what I say, to whom I say it, and about whom I say it.

And yet, being vulnerable enough to share my sorrows and struggles without the fear of being labeled in ways I don't intend or are not motivated by. Of letting someone into my heart to see the real me.

But also being open enough to examine my own heart issues about what I say, to whom I say it, and about whom I say it.

It's not easy being vulnerable.

Painting ~ Portrait of a  Girl, Blanche Macarthur, 1870-1896
public domain, WikiGallery

Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise

When men worship Jesus Christ, 

they do not fall at his feet in broken submission but in wondering love. 

A man does not say, 'I cannot resist a might like that.' 

He says, 'Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all.' 

A man does not say, 'I am battered into surrender.' 

He says, 'I am lost in wonder, love, and praise.'

- William Barclay

Thinking back to our study this morning in the book of Esther. King Xerxes was a man with insatiable desire for power and honor and rule. He was approached in fear.

Such a contrast to our relationship with King Jesus. He is all-powerful, deserving of all honor, ruler of all. Yet we need not approach Him in fear, for He bids us, "Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

Image~Saint Coloman's Church

Pixabay, CC0 Creative Commons

Forgotten Empire: Persian Empire

As I'm studying the book of Esther, I've become  interested in the historical setting of the place where the Jews were living in exile at that time, as well as gaining a broader understanding of their life and times in the Persian Empire.

Although during the time of Esther, the Jews were under King Xerxes who was hostile to anyone who opposed him, they had previously been ruled by benevolent kings (Cyrus and Darius) who were tolerant of the various ethnic and religious groups living within the empire.

I've watched several videos online, and one that I found particularly engaging (and somewhat less "dramatic" than some others) is Lost Worlds: Forgotten Empire, an Ancient History Documentary. While there are differing perspectives on interpreting the ancients, this documentary was an interesting way to spend the evening. Click here to go to the documentary.

Image - Architecture with Bas-Relief at Apadana Palace - Persepolis - Central Iran
Adam Jones, via Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA 2.0

 

Push Me, Pull Me

We’ve been taking turns In our small group giving our testimonies. This week was my turn, and as I’ve been reflecting on my life, God’s providence has been evident. It’s always clearer to us looking backward, isn’t it? Many of the life-altering changes in my life have been brought about by God pulling me forward or pushing me out. 

My early-in-life plan was a career of teaching, which I did for several years to my delight. Then a situation happened at the private school where I was teaching that I felt that I could not support, and so God was using that to push me out. It was that change that brought about our decision to begin our family, which opened a new dimension to life that I had never even imagined. And we began to educate/train/disciple our girls at home.

When our daughters were 4 and 7, I got pulled in to living in Venezuela. God used those years to work in my heart and mind in ways that forever changed me. When asked how long we were there, My Beloved says two years, and I say too long. They were difficult years, but years that brought tremendous spiritual growth for both of us.

After being back home for a year and a half, God pulled us into another temporary transfer to Houston, hundreds of miles away where we knew no one. This experience was another life-changer. We had been homeschooling for several years, but knew no one else who was doing it back in the 80s. We got involved in a church with many homeschooling families in Houston, some who were high schoolers, which at that time was a new way of thinking about education. It opened our eyes to what could lie ahead for our family. The assignment was over too soon, and we had to return home. Pushed out by God once again. We did not want to leave, but we had no idea what He had planned for us once we got back home. A new way of life opened to us that I could have lived in forever. Having experienced the blessings of knowing other families who were training their children as we were, we searched and found some in our own hometown. At our first meeting we had 12 families. We began a local support group and was on the founding state Christian organization. When we finished our journey, we had over 200 families in the local group. And to think that those years began when God pushed us out a place we didn't want to leave.

I went to graduate school after our girls were graduated from homeschooling, then returned to the classroom for a few years. But it was interfering with higher priorities in my life, and God used those priorities to pull me back home. The next few years were arid in many ways, and God used those feelings of loneliness to turn my heart to moving nearer my parents to help in their care as well as to become more familiar with my cognitively handicapped sister's care, whose care we’ll have when my parents are gone. 

That pull brought us also to a wonderful new church family that has embraced us from the very first visit. They help me keep my equilibrium. 

It is often the looking back when we see God’s Hand most clearly working good into our lives--when He has pushed and pulled and provided. He is truly our loving and faithful God. 

Image - Reading Goethes Werther, Wilhelm Amberg Vorlesung , 1870

public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Its Neglect ~ A Strange Inconsistency

Interior with Woman Teaching Child to Pray

I trust there are none here present, who profess to be followers of Christ, who do not also practice prayer in their families. We may have no positive commandment for it, but we believe that it is so much in accord with the genius and spirit of the gospel, and that it is so commended by the example of the saints, that the neglect thereof is a strange inconsistency.       

- Charles Spurgeon

Restraining Prayer, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit v. 51 p. 327

Painting - Interior with Woman Teaching Child to Pray

Pierre-Edouard Frere, 1819-1886

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

And the Worst That Could Happen?

What's the worst that could happen? I thought about that yesterday as I put pressure on my nose after it began to bleed for no apparent reason. I was having breakfast, and drip, drip. I had had recurrent profuse nosebleeds several years ago that were difficult to stop. Had to have a blood vessel cauterized because I was about to be put on a blood thinner due to a clot. Pain doesn't usually make me cry (I realize I haven't experienced great pain, but doesn't childbirth count?!), but when the surgeon numbed inside my nose, tears trickled down my face. I hope never to have that done again.

So the nosebleed yesterday brought back memories. I'm now on a lifetime blood thinner that at present has no antidote for patient prescriptions. My hematologist said we'd probably have one within the year. But this is now and the blood is flowing. For now I'm supposed to apply pressure and hold for thirty minutes. If that doesn't work, head to ER.  

Then my mind took off into what's the worst thing that could happen? Ever done that? My conclusion was that I'd bleed to death, one drop at a time. Then what? I'd be with Jesus! What a marvelous thought! 

Sometimes reading the last chapter first is a good idea.

Image via pixabay

CCO Creative Commons

Covered. No Need to Hide

Being the first of the month, I went to Psalm 1 for devotional reading today. You might be familiar with the plan--Day 1, read Psalm 1, add 30 and read Psalm 31, add 30 and read Psalm 61, etc.. But my eye caught a note at the bottom of the page that referred to Psalm 32 that interested me, so I turned there.

It begins,
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

That struck a chord in my heart. The guilt and shame of sin causes us to want to hide. From God. From others. Trying to hide is no answer. We might be able to hide from others for awhile, but soon we find our relationships fading as we back away into the darkness.

We cannot hide from God. He knows our coming and our going. And deep inside, we know He knows. And He knows the sorrow we bear from our guilt and shame. He is after us, in pursuit.

He knows we need help. He knows our sin is in need of a covering. To cover the guilt, so we will no longer be ashamed. So we will no longer want to hide. From others. From Him.

He wants relationship with us. He wants us to have relationship with others. But what about the guilt that separates us? The shame that overshadows us?

God has provided the covering. He wants us to receive the covering. That covering is His Son, Jesus Christ. He provides forgiveness for our guilt. He removes the shadow of shame that comes with it.

For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ, God sees Him as the covering for our sin and our guilt.

We need not hide. Our sin is covered. Our transgression is forgiven. And how blessed we are!

I needed to be reminded of that this morning. Maybe you, too, dear one?

Image ~ Marguerite, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1903

pubic domain, via WikiArt