It is the LORD who keeps me

YOU GAVE ME LIFE AND SHOWED ME KINDNESS,

AND IN YOUR PROVIDENCE WATCHED OVER MY SPIRIT.

JOB 10:12

"Lord, please provide some shade in this desert."

I found myself praying this just a few days ago. The past 3.5 years I have had - what at least seems to me - incessant physical problems. Nothing life-threatening, so I don't want to seem dramatic. But migraine after migraine, then back pain, and just recently a nasty cold that coincided with an allergy flare-up that left me feeling a fiery ache all over. It felt as though my own body was fighting against me... Exhausted. I am physically exhausted.

And this is all subjective, really, because I know that others go through much worse. It just seems relentless. And at these times - times like the fiery ache or migraine, I turn to the Lord and ask for relief. I more recently find myself fighting for joy. And by His grace, I am driven to God's Word. Thankfully He does give that relief, and rather quickly now that I think about it (although at the time, it doesn't seem soon enough! - ahem, sound familiar?).

I often think of the Israelite's during their time in the desert. What did it look like for a single woman in that wilderness? At any rate, every person was going through a hardship. They groaned and complained, and God sweetly provided for them. Maybe not just as they wanted Him to, but He always did. His love for them was so big, they couldn't comprehend it.

Amazingly, His care was such that their clothing never wore out and their feet didn't swell. Throughout their time in the wilderness, they had everything that they could ever need. (Nehamiah 9:21, which coincidentally one of the men on my church's pastoral staff posted this verse on Facebook shortly after I thought about it :) he said that this is a reminder that God does not treat us as we deserve, that during their rebellion, God still cared and provided for them - AMEN!).

It's funny that the only scripture I could think of with shade in it was from Jonah. And I definitely felt as though I was being just as petulant as he. But I wanted to see if there was any comforting scripture that mentions "shade," so I decided to do a word search on my trusty ESV iPhone app and found this:

Psalm 121

My Help Comes from the LORD

A Song of Ascents.

¹I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
²My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.

³He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
⁴Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
⁶The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
⁸The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

What a sweet balm to my soul this was! It is the LORD who keeps me. He is a God who doesn't need sleep! His care for me is constant, 24/7, never failing. I will say that as I was sick this past week, I was thankful that God doesn't get sick. I felt so useless, and was grateful that He is never useless! And strange enough, I knew that even in times like that, He is still doing His good work in me.

This God: He keeps my very life. With Him, I will meet no harm. Even when it feels as if I will, even when physically I feel any degree of pain. The Creator of all the universe, who sent His son to die for my sins, so that I can be forgiven, that same God keeps me. He alone is my refuge. He has provided that shade in the person of His son, Jesus Christ. Why is it so easy to lose sight of this? (Grumble, grumble, grumble - says this sinner in this desert).

After reading this Psalm, I was reminded of Revelation 7:

¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?" ¹⁴I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵"Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

(emphasis mine)

This is where God is leading me. And while He is leading me, He is changing me - readying me for that Day when I will see Him face to face, and these earthly trials will be no more. He is keeping me for this endless Day, eternity. Such great mercy! Of which, He has endless supply.

And it's certainly not just for me. Beloved Christian, it is for you, too! It is part of His redemptive plan for the church, Christ's bride. He is displaying His glory through the church to the heavenly realms (Ephesians 3). Surreal mystery.

Speaking of mercy, I was listening to this song on my morning commute:

The lyrics say "such favor undeserved." So good, definitely take a listen!

Sweet note resurfaces!

I have made it a habit to use thank you notes and birthday cards as bookmarks. It feels like I’m "saving" a kind thought by practical use.

Well, lo and behold, after picking up A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken again, I came across the above card! It’s from a dear friend, probably 3 birthday’s ago. She has moved to Austin, TX, and it’s been over a year since we’ve seen each other. BUT she will be at church THIS Sunday!

How cool is that?

J

Count it all joy - no really - all joy

James 1:2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I think this may sound weird, but bear with me. Why is it that when someone is going through a trial, we don’t tell them to "count it all joy?" You lost your job? Praise the Lord! Your illness is back? Great is His faithfulness! Struggling through fill-in-the-blank? You should be so JOYFUL right now!

Trust me, I don’t think this is easy to do. And done in the wrong way could be disastrous. Much discernment is needed, and the word of God should be central in the conversation. But I was jarred a few months ago, when I said to a friend – who had struggled with singleness, but had gotten married and pregnant before their first year was over – “wow, God is so faithful to you!” And yes, I was able to tell her that He was faithful during those years that she struggled. But just not in the same way as I did when He had so sweetly answered her prayers.

So yes, He was (and still is) faithful to her. Just as He had been every day of her life. Just as He had been with me through my unemployment; as He is now through ongoing migraine issues. Faithful.

But back to my first (weird) point. As I read the Holy Spirit inspired words of James, I see that:

1) He is telling believers (my brothers), to count it all joy when;

2) We meet various kinds of trials.

Why?

1) Our faith is being tested so that;

2) Steadfastness (perseverance, NIV) can be produced.

Why would we want steadfastness/perseverance in our faith?

1) So that that steadfastness/perseverance in our faith will take its full effect (finish it's work NIV), therefore;

2) We may be perfect (mature, NIV) and complete, lacking in nothing.

Count it all joy? When I meet trials? Really? YES! Why? Because your faith is being tested. But why? Why is it being tested? Because the testing produces steadfastness/perseverance in your faith. So what, why should I care? I don't want to be tested! So that steadfastness/ perseverance will have its full effect/finish it's work, which is that we may be perfect/mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

What does it mean to be perfect/mature and complete, lacking in nothing? The only thing I can think of is that when we are glorified. When we are finally with Him. Without sin. Perfectly and completely made like His Son. Home.

Going further: God uses trials to test our faith, and when put to the test, we must turn to God (James 1:5-8) when we don't know what to do. We must have faith that when we ask, He will give us wisdom. We must be humble enough to know that we can't do it on our own. He wants us to realize our utter dependence on Him.

It seems to me that these "various kinds of trials" are the means by which God prepares us for glory.

We Christians are strange creatures, are we not? Born in sin, saved by His grace. But still not seeing the point. This life that we live in this fallen world is brief. It is fleeting. We are in the wilderness, making our way Home. And this life is not all about us. Not all about comfort or "good things" (which, let's face it, are really just things that we want). This life is readying us for Heaven. To be in perfect relationship with God, which is what we were created for. And all for His glory. Our good, yes, but ultimately for His glory. And He knows what "our good" is so much better than we do.

Hopefully when a dear friend in Christ is going through a trial, I will be able to point him or her to the words of James. Count it all joy! Trust the Lord through this. You are being prepared for glory.

We Rest on Thee lyrics:

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!

We go not forth alone against the foe;

Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,

We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yea, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!

In Thy dear Name, all other names above;

Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,

Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,

And needing more each day Thy grace to know:

Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,

“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!

Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;

When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,

Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

Words: Edith G. Cher­ry, cir­ca 1895.

Music: Fin­land­ia, Jean Si­bel­i­us, 1899

* blogged after praying this morning "all that matters is that You love me." John 3:16

3 December 2010: "Jesus Paid It All" - today's gchat status

Quick note as to today's gchat status:

Woke up singing this in my head this morning - And when before the throne/I stand in Him complete/Jesus died my soul to save/My lips shall still repeat/Jesus paid it all/All to Him I owe/Sin had left a crimson stain/He washed it white as snow!

This was STUCK in my head this morning. On repeat. Oh, and I should stay delightfully stuck. :)

And it just made me think of all times I've woken up with a hymn or praise music stuck in my head. Made me think of this:

Lamentations 3:22-24

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

What a great mercy that the Holy Spirit reminds me truths about God and Christ and the Gospel, and He does so often first thing in the morning!

Oh yeah, and it was a great reminder to read the whole chapter. Here it is for you!

Lamentations 3

¹ I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the LORD’s wrath.
² He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
⁵ He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
⁶ He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
⁸ Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
⁹ He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰ Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion in hiding,
¹¹ he dragged me from the path and mangled me
and left me without help.
¹² He drew his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.

¹³ He pierced my heart
with arrows from his quiver.
¹⁴ I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.

¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with gravel;
he has trampled me in the dust.
¹⁷ I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the LORD.”

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,
for the LORD has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
³⁰ Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,
and let him be filled with disgrace.

³¹ For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.
³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.
³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
³⁵ to deny people their rights
before the Most High,
³⁶ to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?

³⁷ Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?
³⁸ Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?
³⁹ Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?

⁴⁰ Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the LORD.
⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled
and you have not forgiven.

⁴³ “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us;
you have slain without pity.
⁴⁴ You have covered yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can get through.
⁴⁵ You have made us scum and refuse
among the nations.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide against us.
⁴⁷ We have suffered terror and pitfalls,
ruin and destruction.”
⁴⁸ Streams of tears flow from my eyes
because my people are destroyed.

⁴⁹ My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,
⁵⁰ until the LORD looks down
from heaven and sees.
⁵¹ What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.

⁵² Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.
⁵³ They tried to end my life in a pit
and threw stones at me;
⁵⁴ the waters closed over my head,
and I thought I was about to perish.

⁵⁵ I called on your name, LORD,
from the depths of the pit.
⁵⁶ You heard my plea: “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
⁵⁷ You came near when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”

⁵⁸ You, Lord, took up my case;
you redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me.
Uphold my cause!
⁶⁰ You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.

⁶¹ LORD, you have heard their insults,
all their plots against me—
⁶² what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.
⁶³ Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.

⁶⁴ Pay them back what they deserve, LORD,
for what their hands have done.
⁶⁵ Put a veil over their hearts,
and may your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ Pursue them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the LORD.

Encouragement Shout Outs - LB

After I posted my Encouragement post, I put it on my Facebook status. Not long afterward, my friend Lindsey posted on my Wall this passage:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words! (1 Thes 4:16-18)

:)

Encouragement Shout Outs - AA

I've decided to share when people are encouraging;

1. Because I really do intend to study the Bible more on this and share what I learn on this blog, and;

2. Because I'm sinful and forgetful, and need to be reminded - and to continue to be grateful.

This is from my friend Alexis.* She let me know that she sent this before reading my encouragement post. And that's just awesome!

* I just googled the title of her blog, it's Yiddish for hopelessly lost. You're welcome.

Encouragement Defined

By man (aka Websters Dictionary), because words matter:

Definition of ENCOURAGEMENT

1: the act of encouraging : the state of being encouraged

2: something that encourages

Related to ENCOURAGEMENT

Synonyms: boost, impulse, goad, impetus, incentive, incitation, incitement, instigation, momentum, motivation, provocation, spur, stimulant, stimulus, yeast

Antonyms: counterincentive, disincentive

Definition of ENCOURAGE

1 a : to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope : hearten

b : to attempt to persuade : urge

2: to spur on : stimulate

3: to give help or patronage to : foster

— en·cour·ag·er noun

Synonym Discussion of ENCOURAGE

encourage, inspirit, hearten, embolden mean to fill with courage or strength of purpose. encourage suggests the raising of one's confidence especially by an external agency. inspirit, somewhat literary, implies instilling life, energy, courage, or vigor into something. hearten implies the lifting of dispiritedness or despondency by an infusion of fresh courage or zeal. embolden implies the giving of courage sufficient to overcome timidity or reluctance.

12 October 2010

I had two, count em 2 babysitting gigs today!

The first was about 40 minutes, so I almost feel as though it doesn't count. I got to hold smiley little John and watch cutie-pie Will be a "soldier" in his knight costume. :)

Then I had Becks again, such a cutie! I think it's pretty awesome that I will be learning from him. Take today for example. He wasn't happy at all. It was so pretty outside that I decided to take him for a walk. His crying stopped as soon as we stepped out the door. Then about halfway through our walk he got fussy again. As we walked home, I kept saying "we're almost there. Then you can take your nap (REST!)" It made me think about how God knows exactly when I will make it home to Him. About how He's guiding me there. And how I groan about it - and for the most part don't even realize I'm complaining!

Now, I realize that's he's 3 months old, and doesn't understand, but it made me think of the sermon that was preached last Sunday at much church. Click here for the audio. He uses the illustration of kids on a car trip saying "are we there yet?" as how we are as we are on our journey to heaven. Keep in mind he's a lay member of our church, a full time lawyer! We have such depth in our pulpit, such a blessing!

And I think Becks likes "I Will Glory in My Redeemer." :)

Oh yeah, and here is my lunch from Em, beef stew yummmmmm!

And FYI, here is what 4 hours with Becks looks like. He's only awake for about an hour or so. But keep in mind (especially if you don't know much about newborns), this schedule is repeated over and over again almost 24/7. Let me repeat, 24/7. Two-Four Slash Seven. I only do it 4 hours a week. Sheeesh...

Oh yeah, and check out the Encouragement in there. I have a sweet small group! :)

Studying Encouragement

Thinking about my post last night (which was pretty late, I was tired, and wish I would have thought it through more), I have decided to do a biblical study on encouragement. I really want to know what God says about it. So I will be putting my read-through-the-Bible-during-quiet-times on hold, and concentrating on encouragement passages.

And I do want to reiterate how grateful I am for practical help. Of course it is appreciated, and is ultimately a provision from the LORD. But just as God has been teaching me about how to trust Him as my Father, He is teaching me oh so much more! I've realized that maybe I don't do all that I can with encouraging others. That sometimes I feel like there isn't much I can do, and may not do anything at all. And that's not as it should be. Especially with fellow Christians. Reading Hebrews 3 last night just really hit that home for me. (as for non-Christians, I'm convinced that sharing the hope of the gospel is the best that I can do as far as encouragement).

Any thoughts or suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated! :)

Encouragement

I've been thinking lately about encouragement. Being unemployed and needing it is an interesting place to be. I've found that people either tell me that they've been praying for me or they try to fix my problem by giving me advice on job searching, thinking of ways to help me financially, etc. The former is great, the latter is not so helpful* (see below for more about that, here's a preview - it's not so great if that's all you get).

So I decided to look up the verse about 'encouraging one another daily.' Here it is:

Hebrews 3:13

¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Then I read the surrounding text:

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:

"Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the desert,
⁹where your fathers tested and tried me
and for forty years saw what I did.
¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation,
and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.'
¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "

¹²See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. ¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. ¹⁵As has just been said:

"Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts,

as you did in the rebellion."

¹⁶Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

It seems to me that encouragement is a means to help one another keep from disbelief, which points to there being a danger of this happening. Therefore, our encouragement to one another is to keep us from turning away from God. It's to keep us from being hardened against sin and its' deceitfulness.

As I think of this, and of needing encouragement at this time of my life, and how the most helpful is when I'm reminded of God's promises - through His word. Trying to fix my 'problem' is fruitless, because I don't see unemployment as my biggest problem. My biggest problem has already been fixed - through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ - who died for my sins - taking on Himself the eternal wrath that I deserve. I now have an inheritance of an eternity with Christ. Praise the LORD! However, there is a danger for me personally, through this on-going trial, that I may start to be hardened towards my God. That I may start to believe the lies of this world and of Satan. This is what I need most help with. And by God's grace and through His Holy Spirit, I'm persevering! But as I just read in Hebrews, we are to help each other with that.

Where God has me in my life right now is not a problem at all. It's a privilege! It's right where He has planned** for me to be. Where is the problem in that?***

Psalm 16

⁵ LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup;

you have made my lot secure.

⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.

⁷ I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸ I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

I think from now on I will seek to encourage others in the gospel, in the hope of their salvation, using God's word and pointing to them how He works.

Think I will be looking into encouragement some more. Stay tuned...

*I do want to stress that offering to help is great! But I thing that sometimes it's just easier for us to offer solutions to a problem, instead of maybe giving more of ourselves for someones spiritual good. I think a balance of both is good. Personally I'm getting more of this kind of help, and would really appreciate more encouragement for my heart.

**Psalm 33:11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purpose of his heart through all generations.

+

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

=

:)

***The answer is the hazards to my heart.