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

It Makes Space for Remembrance

Freedom to grieve intensively from the onset of loss
is what makes space later
for a remembrance of Christ's suffering
and a reaffirmation of the loving will of God
that seemed so strange
when the pains of grief were so acute.

~ from All Our Losses, All Our Griefs by Kenneth Mitchell and Herbert Anderson

Image ~ On the Seashore, 1879

Hanus Knochel, 1850-1927

public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Through Gates of Splendor

I had read the book many years ago and grew up hearing the account many, many times. Recently, we watched Through Gates of Splendor as a 35-minute documentary which told of the events leading up to the death of the five missionaries who were trying to bring the gospel to the Aucas in 1956 and how the Aucas were initially reached. The documentary was particularly interesting because it was narrated by Elisabeth Elliot herself as a young mother, based mostly on home-movie film footage and Life magazine photos.

I found the account of Elisabeth's and Rachel Saint's return to the Aucas to be a bit different than what I had understood it to be. My own misunderstanding, to be sure, but I had always envisioned these women tenaciously heading right back into the jungle, determined to do what their husbands had been thwarted in doing. Not exactly. The desire to reach the Aucas with the gospel message was, of course, their heartbeat, but how they ended up living in the village was more of God's direct intervention than that of their own sheer determination.

Once again I was reminded that it's all about God, not about us. It's not even about Elisabeth Elliott, as much as I am grateful for her life and writing. Neither is it about Rachel Saint, who lived with the Aucas until her death, translating the gospel into the Aucan language. Nor is it about Dayuma, the young Aucan woman who played a key role in bringing the gospel to her people.

God's purpose was to reach the Aucas, and Elisabeth, Rachel and Dayuma were simply willing instruments in the hands of the Redeemer. Dayuma's role in spreading the gospel among her own people was part of the story that I had somehow missed down through the years.

I do recommend the documentary, but you'll want to use discretion in its viewing. The Aucas are shown in their natural attire at that time, so there's nudity throughout. 

Hanging on to Bitterness

Sharing a thought with you today as I've been studying the assignment for our Bible class at church. I'm not very familiar with the minor prophets, so I signed up for that class, and this week we were to read through the book of Jonah. Among other aspects of the book, we were to read with a view toward the gospel--how is the gospel seen in the book of Jonah?

The book is not really about Jonah. It's about God, about how He extended His universal grace toward all of mankind--even the most wicked of the wicked, the Assyrians who lived in Nineveh and had been barbaric toward the nation of Israel. Jonah was to go and warn them of God's judgement. A scary mission, to be sure, but God was calling them to repentance, and wanted Jonah to be His messenger. 

Jonah was extremely bitter toward the Ninevites, a bitterness rooted deep, deep in his soul, to the point of preferring death over the possibility of their repentance. He wanted them punished for all the wickedness they had done to his own people. He didn't want any possibility of good coming to them.

In His abundant loving kindness, though, God was relentless in pursing Jonah as well as the inhabitants of Nineveh. He was merciful towards both--the wicked and the righteous. Remember, Jonah was a prophet of God.

Forgiveness was offered to both. It's interesting to me that the wicked Assyrians were the ones who repented. The book closes with Jonah still a bitter, angry man. The gospel has the power to save us from our sin, but we are called to release the sin in our lives, turn from it toward God, and accept His forgiveness. That frees us to return to relationship with Him. The Ninevites accepted. Jonah held onto his bitterness and hatred.

Bitterness can dig deep into the soul and drive the events of our lives. It propels us away from God. It takes us where we do not want to go, and soon we wonder how we ever got into the churning, convulsive belly of a fish in the great deep that engulfs us.

If you're struggling with unwanted feelings toward a situation or a person, and wonder if it's bitterness or something else, I recommend this book by Rebecca Davis that might help untangle your thoughts and emotions. Click the image and it will take you to Rebecca's website. 

Painting ~ An Elegant Lady Reading Under A Tree, Karl Raupp 1837-1918

Why Do We Love?

The sun is low in the sky, pouring into my sewing room where I sit and journal as homework for our Sunday School class. Sunlight floods the room, an object lesson for me for this evening's topic.

God's love toward me, and my acceptance of that love, permeates my being. It draws me, causes me to love Him in return. It's the Gospel, reminding me of His love, creating love in me. I love Him because He first loved me.

Do you know Him? Do you love Him? Have you seen His love through the Gospel? The gospel--the good news of His provision, Himself. That even though we are separated from Him, He draws us to Himself. Some of us have gone to Him, and we find love in Him, for God is love. Is He drawing you to love Him back? Is He drawing you to come to Him? I pray that is so. I pray that you go.

I am the way, the truth and the the life. 
No one comes to the Father but through me.

~ Jesus, John 14:6

We love because He first loved us.

1 John 4:19

Painting ~ Young Girl Reading, Johann George Meyer 1813-1886

This is the book we're using. 

You can see more about it here.

Keep Silence, O My Soul

If I cannot keep silence over a disappointing soul 

(unless for the sake of that soul's good 

or for the good of others it be necessary to speak), 

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

~ Amy Carmichael

(from her little book If, based on her meditations on 1 Corinthians 13)

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,

And lead me in the everlasting way.

~ Psalm 139:23-24

Crossing Paths Again

I was talking with a friend recently about our upcoming move, and she commented that I probably would miss running into friends while out and about shopping and such. Yes, that I will miss. A friend that I hadn't seen for several years came into the restaurant where we were eating on Sunday. It was so good to catch up with how things are going with her and then hug goodbye. Then we ran into one of My Beloved's friends yesterday, and they talked for awhile.

Today a friend that I haven't seen for many, many years crossed my path at the grocery store. I was ever so glad that I didn't go shopping yesterday as is my usual routine. I would have missed a wonderful, timely blessing. 

She has been taking care of her 95-year-old mother who has had Alzheimer's for eleven years, staying at her mother's home and keeping it up for her since it was familiar to her, tending to her flowers, planting some zucchini, keeping things as best she can as her mother knew them. My friend has had shoulder replacements and has difficulty moving one arm, so her son helps with getting his grandmother in and out of bed and tending to some basic needs, while his little 3-year-old plays and brings joy to Great-Grandma, sitting on her lap and talking to her. Before caring for her mother, my friend had taken care of her father for three years before he passed on. Before that she and her husband had brought someone into their own home that they had met while camping and was caregiver to her, and before that they had brought a friend of their son's into their home and had taken care of him for three years. Sad to say, though, her adult daughter's life is a mess. She has a lot that could depress her.

But in the midst of it all, my long-time friend is a joy-filled woman. She says that some people tell her that she should put her mother in a care home. "What?!" she says, "And miss all of the love and joy I've had over these years with her? Memories I will cherish forever?!" We had a wonderful conversation about God's abundant grace and how His mercies are new every morning. Grace and mercy that she may never have known except for the difficulties and challenges of life. His grace is truly sufficient. And His love abounds.

Father God knew that my friend and I needed that conversation today. He planned it that way...for both of us, for our paths to cross once again. For her, because she doesn't get out much to talk to people. For me, because I was discouraged after listening to My Beloved's friend yesterday talk about all he is doing--writing books, speaking several times a week in different locations, visiting in nursing homes, overseeing a chaplains' group, and how so many people are so glad that he's doing what he's doing. And on and on. I came away from that conversation feeling like I wasn't doing much of anything that really mattered. Does anyone even read my little blog posts?

Then I look up today across the rows of produce, and there's my friend from long ago. And God uses that encounter to remind me that there are a gazillion ways to do good and to bring Him glory. And that what I do does matter....to Him and to others.

Long-time friends pick up where they left off. So we hugged goodbye and said that we were so glad we ran into each other today, that both of us needed that conversation, and that if we don't see one another again here, we'll look for each other up there. And please give your mama a hug for me.

So, dear one, keep looking upward and homeward, where blessings abound and God's mercies are new every morning. And remember that what you are doing today matters. A lot.

Painting ~ The Day's Catch, Daniel Ridgway Knight 1839-1924
Wiki Commons public domain

God's Love at the Quilt Shop

Today was quilt class for another of Kim Diehl's Simple Whatnots Club. We're working on Cloud Nine this month, 541 little pieces for a 24.5 x 24.5-in quilt. Cloud Nine? I do feel a little spacey after all that cutting! We started the sewing today, and the little 3.5-inch squares really are cute.  This is what I hope mine will look like.

There's a lot of chatter in a quilt shop. A lot of sharing of ideas. A lot of sharing of hearts. One of the women had recently lost her husband to cancer, and a friend who had stopped in was recalling his generous qualities. A blessed time of encouragement for this new widow. She said his death made her realize that she needed to be with people more on a friendship level, so she had quit her job that was taking up too much of her time. A wise decision.

Another lady came in who has terminal cancer to see if she could sell her fabric stash and a few books. She is selling everything and going to Florida. It was sad, and an opportunity for being a channel of God's love. We bought all of her fabric and most of the books she had. I had the opportunity to pray with her in the parking lot before she left.

Most of us need encouragement on a daily basis. Sometimes we know when someone is in need, but I think most often we don't. I was glad to be an encouragement to someone today, but these ladies were also an encouragement to me. Their situations reminded me that our times are in God's loving hands. They made me thankful that I still have My Beloved. And thankful that I still have good health.

But even if I didn't still have My Beloved,

and even if I didn't still have my good health...

I know that nothing can separate me from the love of God.

And that's what I prayed for that dear lady packing up to move to Florida.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor death, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

~ Romans 8:38-39

Sunday Ponderings ~ What Manner of Love!

This morning was frigid and frosty, one of those mornings to just snuggle in and stay warm and toasty. Glad we didn't because we would have missed a blessed time of worship with our fellow brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Pastor reminded us of God's great love for us, the creator of the universe, who loves us beyond measure.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God.
~ 1 John 3:1

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
 ~ Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
~ John 4:16

I hope to meet you over there, if not while here. He loves you, too, you know.

Painting ~ American Homestead Winters, 1868, Currier & Ive
Wiki Commons public domain