Author: admin

My dear friend Penny Cave has such an appetite for the Word of God. In turn, she notices how God speaks to her in unique ways. One of which we all probably have and rarely take notice of. I’ve asked Penny to share with you today and I know you will be encouraged by her message in The Voice of God:

One of my favorite sounds to hear on a warm summer evening is that of my wind chimes that hang off the eaves of the roof on my back porch.  I could sit for hours just listening and daydreaming to the soft, gentle tinkling of the tubes as they brush against the clapper.  My wind chimes are metal, and they make a sort of “tinny” bell-like sound when the wind blows.  There’s really no rhyme or reason to the melody they play, but for some strange reason hearing them brings me comfort and peace.

Wind chimes can produce a variety of sounds.  Sometimes they make soft tinkling sounds like I just described.  This is my favorite.  It’s soothing to the soul and results from just the slightest of breezes.  Sometimes, though, when there is a strong wind – perhaps a storm is coming – they make a strong clashing sound, a clattering, ear-piercing sound beckoning me to take cover from the storm.  Still, at other times, it’s sort of in between the tinkling and the clanging, sounding more like a dinner bell calling out – “Time to eat!”  But no matter the type of tintinnabulation, the chimes speak to me.

The history of the wind chimes is very long and dates back thousands of years.  Archaeologists have found the remains of wind chimes made from bone, wood, bamboo, and shells in part of Southeast Asia that date back to around 3,000 B.C.   Still others have dated back to circa 5,000 B.C.  Amazing!  These delicate instruments had several uses.  The Chinese believed the sound of bells or chimes would ward off evil spirits.  They would often hang wind chimes around pagodas and shrines to keep evil away.  Another important use for them was for sending out warning signals in the case of dangerous typhoons and tsunamis heading straight for land. In Indonesia, wind chimes took on a more practical approach and used them to scare birds away from their crops.  Many cultures believed wind chimes could also express emotions and could establish an atmosphere of peace and harmony.  Eventually, wind chimes spread to other regions and into other cultures.  From China to Japan to the Western World, wind chimes have evolved in design and purpose.

Wind chimes are often associated with many types of religions and spiritual influences.  While they are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, there are references to similar musical instruments.  Bells and harps, cymbals and trumpets, the lyre and the pipe – these are just a few of which the Bible speaks.  These instruments were used in many ways – for praise, for temple worship, and for battle.  King David often found joy and comfort in song and expressed his heart and soul to the Lord through music. 

“I will sing a new song, O God;

upon a ten-stringed harp

I will play to you.”

Psalm 144: 9

Anyone who knows me knows that music has always been a big part of my life.  Thanks to my mother, I grew up in a house filled with music. As a paid church musician for more than thirty years, I have had the opportunity to experience the joy and comfort similar to King David.  So often, I could hear the voice of Jesus in song.  Music would many times speak to me as if God Himself were talking.  The music I made was instrumental in nature, but the words came from God.  My wind chimes speak to me in the same way.  When I hear their sound, no matter if they are tinkling or clanging, I can hear the voice of God.

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, O weary one

Lay down your head upon My breast.”

I came to Jesus as I was

So weary, worn, and sad.

I found in Him a resting place,

And He has made me glad.

“He has made me glad.”  That is what I am filled with, the gladness from God, when I hear the music from my wind chimes because He speaks to me through them.

Wind chimes are powered by the wind, and the wind is often used as a metaphor for communication between God and Man.  The Bible shares many scriptures that prove this to us. One scripture passage is from the book of Genesis 3: 8 – 9:

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as

He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the

LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man,

“Where are you?”

What did God sound like as He walked in the garden?  Could you hear His voice as He called out to the man? Was it the sound of the wind?  Was it a soft breeze? 

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

Calling for you and for me.

Earnestly, tenderly Jesus is calling,

Calling, O sinner, come home.

In the Bible, wind often symbolizes the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven on the Day of Pentecost, it was in the form of a mighty, rushing wind.  Perhaps it was like the sound of the wind chimes in strong winds letting us know that something unusual was approaching.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind,

And it filled all the house where they were sitting.

Acts 2: 2

God speaks through the wind.  There’s a passage in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah hears God’s voice, but he hears it after experiencing several strong winds.  It’s almost as if he had to wait for the clamor to pass before he could hear God speak.

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.”

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains

And broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind;

And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake;

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;

And after the fire a still small voice.

So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out

And stood in the entrance to the cave.

God spoke through a whisper – a soft, gentle breeze. 

The Bible suggests that God speaks to us in many ways.  Sometimes it’s through grand physical phenomena and sometimes through a still small voice.  God speaks to us in a variety of ways.  He speaks to me in a variety of ways but especially through my wind chimes. 

How does He speak to you?  Is it in a gentle breeze?  Is it in a mighty rushing wind? 

Listen closely, and you will hear the voice of God speaking to you.

In the early morning hours, I sometimes just sit and think about the state of our world. It can be a little heavy just thinking about all that’s happening. But, it’s just so in your face. So much hurt, so much pain, so much brokenness. Hurt, pain, and brokenness causes the hurting, the pained, and the broken to inflict hurt, pain, brokenness on others or to be afflicted by others’ hurt, pain and brokenness. (What a word salad – Yikes!) That’s really the problem today. And what causes that hurt, pain and brokenness — sin. We don’t like to talk about that word do we? We like to think we’re above that, don’t we? But, truth be told, it always comes down to sin. Sin is separation from God. Separation from God is what causes hurt, pain and brokenness. Our world will not change until it recognizes that. Who’s the “the world”? Each of us, individually. Ouch. Sorry, but if we don’t get down to the root cause of our problem, we will always have our problem. The root cause of the broken world we live in today is sin. But, there is a remedy. His name is Jesus Christ. The One who can wash away all our sin. The Only One who can forgive. The Only One who can heal. The Only One who can change the world.

Posted October 2018 – Clean Up My Act

Guess where that’s from.  Yep.  A laundromat.  I was walking down Maple Avenue one day on my prayer walk.  On the opposite side of the street from the Federal Building is a laundromat.  I don’t know what it’s called other than “The Laundromat.”  Anyway.  I was bebopping along and I happened to glance over at the laundromat.  This is what I saw right through the front window, plain as day.  SOAP.  BLEACH.  SOFTENERS.  I immediately thought of myself.  How clean am I, not how clean I am.   Not physically clean like, do I have dirt on my face, or is there a stain on my dress.  Clean as in my heart – cleanliness is next to godliness, right?

Is that in the Bible?  Nope.  So, where’d it come from?  It is alleged to have come from a sermon by John Wesley in 1778.  To be exact,  “Slovenliness is no part of religion.  Cleanliness is indeed next to Godliness.”  Break it down, Beth.  Slovenliness means untidy or unclean in appearance or habits.  At first glance, it could sound like Mr. Wesley was being a little pharissical (is that a word?).  Remember the Pharisees who thought the act of outer cleanliness (following all the rules) led to God? But Wesley wasn’t talking about our physical cleanliness, he was talking about cleanliness of the heart.

What Wesley was really getting at was the kind of cleanliness that actually is next to Godliness.  A clean heart.  Wait, I have a clean heart, don’t I?  I’m nice, sometimes.  I do good things, sometimes.  I’m not such a bad person, sometimes.  Does my heart need to be cleaned?  Yep.  It’s pretty scroungy.  We all need to be cleansed from the dirt and filth that is in our hearts.  What’s that dirt and filth called?   Sin.  We all got it, we all need to get rid of it.  We were born with the need for cleansing.  All our hearts need cleansed.  Why our hearts?  Because that’s where it all starts.  Look what Jesus says to Peter:

“Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked him.  “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes out of the body.  But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. ” For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying and slander.  These are what defile you.  Eating with unwashed hands could never defile you and make you unacceptable to God.”  Matthew 15:16-20

Here, Jesus is teaching about inner purity, purity of the heart, cleanliness of the heart, not washing your hands before eating lunch.  If our words, our actions, our deeds, come from the heart.  Guess where sin comes from — our heart.

It looks to me like I could use a good scrubbing, how about you?  How does it happen?  How do we get clean?  We go to the laundromat.  The Laundromat of Christ Jesus.  You see, He’s the only way to a clean heart.  He shed His blood so that we could be pure, clean, decontaminated, dissolved of sin.  His blood in exchange for our sin.  His blood pardons our sins.  His blood shed for me.  His crimson blood shed to clean my wretched heart. 

If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.  1 John 1:8-9

Not only does Jesus’ blood cleanse us from all sin, once and for all, the cleansing blood is also transformative.  It causes a lasting change. 

Ahhh…do you feel cleaner already?  Then how about a little bleach?  What does bleach do?  It’s a disinfectant, a deodorizer, and it strips or removes color or stains – it changes, it transforms

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:  though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool.  Isaiah 1:18

There are no permanent stains with Jesus.  He can remove even the toughest stain, the red like crimson stain.  After the stain of our sins is removed, real transformation can take place.  His life’s blood is a balm to our hearts that softens, smooths, calms, quiets, tenderizes and gets rid of the rough edges — it heals. Soap.  Bleach.  Softeners.  All this can happen because of the blood of Christ Jesus.  I say can because Jesus doesn’t go where uninvited.  He will not cleanse your heart because it looks dirty.  He will only do so if you ask Him.  His forgiveness will come at our repentance. So, here’s the question:  Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?  In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?  Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?  Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

We’ve all at some point or another heard, or maybe even said to someone – You Gotta Have Faith.  How about – Have a Little Faith?  How about – Faith is Believing?  How about – Just Believe?  Almost like it’s something you can conjure up or manifest on your own, like something you can pick up in aisle 12 at Wal-Mart.

I’ve been struggling with that word “faith” lately.  What does it mean?  What does it look like?  Where do I get it?  How do I “have” more?  Am I doing it right?  Do I have the energy to pursue it?  Do I have the desire to pursue it?  Does anyone else out there struggle from time-to-time with any of those questions, or maybe even some of your own about “faith?”

I’m speaking solely to myself here and wrestling to understand – I’m afraid my hip is about to be popped out.  As I took a plunge into the depths to understand these questions and more, I found the water is just way over my head.  I also found that if I honestly and genuinely take up my questions with God and pursue His truth, He will hold me up, even if it takes a bit for me to touch the bottom.  We need to understand that God is not a surface worker.  He works deep in our minds and hearts to change us.  If we are not willing to dive into the deep stuff, the hard stuff, the murky waters, we will never find our footing and will be relegated to just floating on the surface.  Let me be perfectly clear here:  Any questions I have about faith do not come from any doubt about God and who He is – He is worthy of all my praise, they are doubts about myself.  As you read on, you’ll see just how Great a God He really is.  Ok, sorry for my diversion.

I know many people say that faith is believing, and it is.  But it is not simply that.  First of all, if it were just believing, there’d be a lot more Believers in the world.  Right?!? Second of all, if faith were that simple, it would put the onus or responsibility for faith all on us.  A people who are completely incapable of and yet arrogant enough to think of faith as something we have control of and the burden of proving to God, ourselves, and others.  So I started digging and here’s what I learned.  By the way, the first six words of 1 Timothy 6:12 precipitated my dive:

Fight the good fight of faith.

When I read that last week I thought how can I fight if I don’t know what I’m fighting for, if I don’t quite understand what I’m fighting for?  Here’s what I found:

According to Strong’s, “faith” is translated from the Greek word pistis.  Stay with me here, it’s revolutionary.  Pistis is from the word peitho which means “persuade, be persuaded, persuasion.”  What’s that mean, you say?  Strong says it means that “faith” is always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. He says:

In short, 4102/pistis (“faith”) for the believer is “God’s divine persuasion” – and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it.

In other words, faith is always received from God and never produced by us.  That’s mind blowing in light of the platitudes – You Gotta Have Faith, Have a Little Faith, again, as if faith is something I’m completely responsible for getting.  Faith comes from God and God alone.  That may have been obvious to you, but it was an ah ha! moment for me.  Faith comes from God persuading my heart to believe what my eyes can’t see.

I may have come up with more questions than answers as I dove into “faith.”  But I have learned and am so comforted that it is not my sole responsibility to obtain.  It isn’t something I get; it is something I’m given.  I cannot have “faith” without God’s persuasion and yet it “involves” me.  Involve is from the Latin word involvere it means “to roll in or up.”  Faith is being rolled in, rolled up,  combined with God.  Strong’s goes on to say:

The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers.

“Yielded believer.”  The Lord will produce faith in the surrendered believer.  Faith is a gift from God that I can’t produce in myself, but that I can receive if I’m open to it, so I will know what He wants me to do.

What is faith?  It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen.  It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.  Hebrews 11:1

It starts with knowing God’s character, learning who the Faith Giver is, what He’s like, what are His qualities?  What’s  His nature, His personality, His character, His temperament, His Spirit?  As we come to know who God is, we will learn that He is believable, that He is trustworthy, that He is true, He is just, He is fair, He is…etc.  In His Word, He divinely persuades us to trust, believe, to watch, to listen, to look, to have faith that He is fulfilling His promises even when we can’t see.

So, I think I can now go back and answer some of my original questions — What does it mean?    Faith means knowing God is going to do what He says He’s going to do, even if I can’t see it happening.  What does it look like?  My outward appearance (face, words, actions) of the inward belief that He keeps His promises.  Where do I get it?  I can’t “get it,” I’m given it freely and yet I play a part.  How do I “have” more?  Learn more and more about Him, surrendering more and more to Him, believing that He is who He says He is.  Am I doing it right?  That’s a question for Him – does my life honor His unmatched commitment to me? Do I have the energy to purse it?  Do I have the desire to pursue it?   Not one bit, I have neither. But His “divine persuasion” can give me the energy to trust, and the will to seek it.  We are assured that God began a good work (faith) in us and that He will continue to use divine persuasion to perfect it in us, until He returns. Hallelujah!

I know not why God’s wondrous grace

to me is daily shown,

nor why, with mercy, Christ in love

redeemed me for his own.

I know not how this saving faith

to me he did impart,

nor how believing in his word

wrought peace within my heart.

I know not how the Spirit moves,

convincing us of sin,

revealing Jesus through the Word,

creating faith in him.

I know not when my Lord may come,

at night or noon-day fair,

nor if I’ll walk the vale with him,

or meet him in the air.

But “I know whom I have believed,

and am persuaded that he is able

to keep that which I’ve committed

unto him against that day.”

How does your garden grow? Ours is doing decent this year. It’s really an odd year for gardening. We have to water constantly because we’ve had no appreciable rain in nearly two months. We have a lot of produce, but none yet ripe, except for cucumbers which are thriving, but you just can’t keep a good cucumber down.

It’s been a particularly decent year as far as the necessity of replants. Last year we replanted so often that we finally gave up and bought produce and did no canning. This year we’re planning to put up a mess of pickles tomorrow evening. You see last year we had a pest problem. Deer landed right in the middle of our garden quite often even with a fence. They were just so brazen about it too. You could walk within 10 feet and try to shoo them away and they’d look at you as they were taking that last bite before leaping out. This year it is different. We rethought how to secure and protect our garden. We’re learning as we grow, I mean go.

We decided on different fencing, and believe it or not, it is much more light weight than our layers of chicken wire and seems to be more efficient. It’s a nylon fencing that is easily repaired when Haddy is butterfly chasing. Nevertheless, it so far has protected us from the mowing deer.

As I mentioned, we did, however, have to replant a few tomato and pepper plants early on because of culprits. Twice actually before we put additional safeguards in place. Isn’t that so like our lives, sometimes it takes us a few replantings, a few replacing, a few problems, before we figure out we need a safeguard.

One of the safeguards we put in place was a solar light. Nighttime animals obviously don’t like night. Tony installed a small solar powered promo light in the garden. Every time there is movement in the garden, the light comes on. We think this light, and the ridding ourselves of one culprit has helped keep our garden safe.

While walking the other morning, I saw the light flash on. It was very bright in the dark. I thought about how like Jesus that beam is. When we have installed Jesus into our lives, He is our safeguard, He is our protector. When the culprits of the world come round, and they will, they may steal a little fruit, chomp on a few leaves, but when Jesus’ Light shines, the darkness flees, the Light scatters those invaders. Sure, we may be left wounded, our plants may be topped off and our fruit scarred, but when the Light shines, the darkness is gone, the enemy retreats and we are bathed in His Light.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5

As I was walking, I thought, next year we need to put the light up straight away. Instead of trying to control the problem, we need to be prepared and prevent the problem, to the extent we can. Much like life, we can’t control what other creatures will do. But, we may have much less replanting, and certainly less aggravation and heartache, if we just install the Light and allow Him to shine into our darkest places.

The light of God surrounds us;
The love of God enfolds us;
The power of God protects us;
The presence of God watches over us;
Wherever we are, God is!

by James Dillet Freeman

While porching the other day, just taking in all of the early morning sounds of darkness, a sweet smell wafted across my nose.  I slowly inhaled to take in all the sweetness.  Then it was gone.  Has that ever happened to you?  Out of the blue a beautiful aroma will gently appear on the breeze.  It lingers for a few seconds and the breeze either carries it to another place, or we stop noticing.  You know what I mean, don’t you?  Out for a walk and the breeze carries to you a reminder.

Smells are in the nostril (that’s a funny word) of the smeller.  What is fragrant to me may be stench to you.  To me, babies smell good.  Flowers smell good.  Rain smells good.  Cookies baking smell good.  Laundry on the line smells good.  Horses smell good.  A roast in the oven smells good.  Aged leather smells good.  But there are other smells that just plain…stink.  When they arrive on the breeze we get wide eyed and look to see where they came from. 

Have you ever thought about the smells of the Bible?  Living in a hot, arid land, wearing a robe, taking care of livestock  — think about it!  I know what I smell like when I clean the barn.

The story of Lazarus made me think about Bible smells.  John 11:39:

Then they came to the grave.  It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance.

“Roll the stone aside,”  Jesus told them.  But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said,

“Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days.”

Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe?”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking that that Martha was one practical woman.  In fact, Martha’s words translated in the King James Version of the Bible were: “by this time he stinketh,” That was my first thought too!  Yikes!  But you see, Martha need not fear the stench, she need only believe. It wasn’t about the smell that was assuredly unpleasant, it was about the body that had been resurrected. Belief is life.

You know that upon his death, Jesus was laid in a tomb, just like Lazarus.  Luke 16 tells us that the evening after Jesus’s death that Mary Magdalene, Salome and the other Mary went out and purchased burial spices to put on Jesus body.  These ladies too probably thought about the smell of death.  But hadn’t He also told them that if they only believed they would see His glory?  In fact, what did the angel at the tomb say to them:  “Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive?”  The angel was saying, the stench of death is not here, only the sweet aroma of everlasting life.

You see, Jesus had told them repeatedly about His resurrection, but it wasn’t until the angel spoke that that they remembered and had understanding.  The absence of the smell of death reminded them of the sweet smell of Jesus’s words.   They need only believe.  We need only believe.

Just as Martha ran to tell others the good news that Lazarus was alive, and just as Mary Magdalene, Salome and the other Mary ran to tell others the good news of Christ’s resurrection, we are to do the same.  We are to spread the sweet aroma of everlasting life.

Now, wherever we go he uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Good News like a sweet perfume.  Our lives are a fragrance presented by Christ to God. 

But his fragrance is perceived differently by those being saved and by those perishing.  To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom.  But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16

Are we spreading sweet perfume everywhere we go?  Are we talking about Jesus, pointing to Jesus, looking for Jesus, sharing Jesus, living Jesus, proclaiming the aroma of salvation to all?  Do our lives smell like we know Christ, defer to Christ, fall humbly at the feet of Christ, or should we be afraid to roll away the stone? The sweet smell of everlasting life is available to all.  We need only believe in order to see His glory.  Then the stench of death will become the fragrant aroma of everlasting life.

I read a phrase the other day and I’ve been ruminating ever since – profound trust.  Not the kind of trust where my lips say I do but my mind says I don’t.  Something more, something deeper, something well, uh…profound. 

I began digging into those words.  Starting with profound.  The dictionary defines profound as “penetrating or entering deeply into subjects of thought or understanding.”  I’m definitely an overthinker, but I’m not sure that’s the same thing.  It goes on to say “having deep insight or understanding.”  Ok.  I can say I occasionally have the rogue deep thought.  How about this one, “being or going far beneath what is superficial, external or obvious”?  Hmmm.  Or, maybe this one, “Of deep meaning; of great and broadly inclusive significance.”  Or, even “pervasive or intense, extending, situated, or originating far down, or far beneath the surface.”

Profound trust.  A kind of trust that doesn’t just skim the surface. That deep to the bone kind of trust.  That no matter what may come my way trust.  That David and Goliath or Isaac on the altar kind of trust.  We all struggle with trusting what we cannot see and in some ways, we cannot see God.  We can see His creation, we can see His work in our lives, we can see some of the things that He does, but we cannot see Him.  But then I think, well you can’t see air but you still profoundly trust it to fill your lungs.  You can’t see sound but you still profoundly trust it to fill your ears.  We can’t see Wi-Fi but I still trust (not profoundly) that it will work!

Then I went to the word trust.  Defined as “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person or thing.”  This one might be clearer, “to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something; to have confidence, hope.”  I can get behind that one.  And here’s the last, interestingly enough, it is a verb!  That means action!  “To rely on, to have trust or confidence, to commit, to permit with trust and confidence.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5

Profound trust defined means relying on God with all your heart, not just a little bit, or on occasion, or with the easy stuff, or just the stuff you can’t handle.  It means to the very depths of our soul reliance on Him. Trust Him in everything.  It’s not a shallow or waxing and waning trust.  God wants us to profoundly trust Him at all times. 

My hand’s up, it’s easier said than done.  But Profound trust is not impossible.  Unfortunately, for us to have profound trust, we must practice and to practice means to be tested.  It’s super easy to trust when the world is all roses, ice cream and unicorns, right?  But what about when your world is a dark, empty, lonely, uncertain place?  What about those times when the path gets windy, we hit a deep pothole and we’re up on two-wheels around a curve? 

When we’re in those places in our lives is when we must practice profound trust.  Yes, it is practice.  How do we do that?  First, we get into the Word of God.  We check out who He is, we check out the promises that He made, we cling to Him for dear life around that dangerous curve.  We memorize scripture to throw back at the evil one, and we call upon God because He is worthy and because He is able.

If you haven’t had a need for profound trust in your life yet, you definitely will.  Our world is not changing for the better and we’re told in scripture that it won’t.  So, there’s no time like the present to prepare and practice and profoundly trust.

Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.  Isaiah 26:4

Sure I wave the American flag.  Do you know a better flag to wave?

Sure I love my country with all her faults.

I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.

John Wayne

The American Flag.  Just the mention of it gets us all riled up, doesn’t it?  It stirs us to love, hate, fear, gratitude, commitment, reverence, pride, disappointment, anger, allegiance, something.

It stirs me to love.  Many different loves.  I think of those who loved me enough to die for me, even though they didn’t know me.  To die for me so that I might have freedom.  Freedom, while on this earth to write this blog, to go to work, to live in my home, to worship my God, all unencumbered, for now.  This kind of love is devastatingly costly.  I honor those who have paid the ultimate price so that I and others around the world may have freedom.  We use the American Flag as a symbol of that freedom.  We revere it, wave it boldly and defend it.

The American Flag has 13 white and red stripes representing the original colonies.  The colonies were founded for different reasons.  Some for business reasons, some for religious reasons.  All with independence from the crown in mind.  This is similar to the Cross of Christ isn’t it?  Don’t both have stripes?

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon him;

and with his stripes we are healed…he was whipped and we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

John Wayne spoke so boldly of the American Flag.  Can I, will I, speak so boldly of the Cross of Christ?  You see the Cross of Christ is another symbol of freedom – the ultimate freedom – the eternal freedom.

Shouldn’t we also seek independence?  Freedom from the dependence on sin?  Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.  The price was devastatingly costly.  He was wounded, striped for our transgressions, so that we might have peace.  He died so that we would have freedom, freedom to choose life.  Freedom from hurt and brokenness.  His wounds heal our wounds!

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

He counts the stars and calls them all by name.

How great is our Lord!  His power is absolute!

His understanding is beyond comprehension!

Psalm 147:3-5

Isn’t this land, and our kinsmen in it, in desperate need of having its wounds bandaged, it’s brokenness repaired?  You know healing for the wounded and brokenhearted has already been accomplished. 

The stars on the flag are named, named for each State that makes up the union.  It’s the same for the Cross  – our names are stitched on hands that were nailed to the cross, the name of each person that makes up His Eternal Kingdom.  Count them.

Freedom and independence are not to be taken lightly.  In order to be freed and independent, you have to leave captivity and dependence.  We have to leave the known, no matter how bad it is, for the unknown, no matter how good it is.  We have to turn from sin – He has freed us from bondage. 

The American Flag represents our earthly freedom.  The Cross of Christ represents our eternal freedom.  Only by waving the Cross of Christ can we also wave the American Flag and thus experience true freedom and independence.

 Sure I wave the Cross of Christ.  Do you know a better Cross to wave?

Sure I love my Jesus, the perfect Son of God.

I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.

By his stripes we are healed.  By his wounds we are healed.  By the Cross of Christ we are made whole.  Do you know a better Cross to wave?

Persisting in living in God’s Presence is about seeing Him all around.  Next when you see an American Flag, may it remind you of the Cross of Christ by which you are healed.

I happened to catch this shot last week. The sky was just amazing that morning. Do you see how the clouds look like they’re bubbling up from the sun, even before it burst forth? I’m in awe of His wonderful creation!

Then God said, “Let there be space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens and the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called this space “sky.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day. Genesis 1:6-8

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. A.W. Tozer

What we think dictates our entire life. Our thoughts govern how we act, what we say, where we go, what we do. In other words, “what we know, what we believe and what we think about God determines everything about us.” (Wolgomuth) Oh my!

That’s kind of heavy, isn’t it? In fact, I’m still thinking that through. The more I read it, the more the meaning is starting to take shape in my mind. It begs the questions – What do I know about God? What do I believe about God? What do I think about God? How I answer those questions determines everything about me — What I think. What I do. Who I am. It’s worth a ponder.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2

What you do matters to God, because it matters to God. (Dr. Emerson Eggerichs)

Profound. Something else to think on. Initially, it makes such sense, but the more I read it, the more I believe there’s something more to it. Make sense?

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17

When we do “whatever” in the name of the Lord Jesus, we are touching the heart of God. When we do “whatever” in the name of the Lord Jesus, we will find favor with God. He delights in our obedience.

…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

Only to sit and think of God        

Oh what a joy it is!

To think the thought, to breathe the

Name;

Earth has no higher bliss.

Father of Jesus, love’s reward!

What rapture it will be,

Prostrate before They throne to lie,

And gaze and gaze on Thee!

Frederick Faber

Have you ever done that?  Just sat and thought only of God?  Closed your mind’s eyes and your heart’s eyes to everything around you except God – even for a few moments?  What was it like?  Joy?   Bliss?  Reward?  Rapture?

As I read Mr. Faber’s heart-thoughts those questions came to my mind.  I thought about whether I truly see thinking on God as the blessing and privilege that it is.  Did you also know it is an instruction from Jesus?  Yes, it is.

In our daily lives we do little sitting and thinking, we don’t have to.  We don’t have to be smart, we have phones that are smart for us.  We don’t have to keep calendars, we have computers that tell us when and where to be.  We have electronics that think for us.  We have television that tells us what we should think and how we should think.  We are so programmed. Our lives are filled to the brim with work, games, meetings, commitments, Church.  Who has time to sit and think?  We have lost the gift of sitting and thinking — simply coming before the King – kneeling at the Cross.

Jesus tells us in Luke 10:42 “But one thing is needful…”   This is Jesus’s word —  needful.  The word needful means necessary or required.  Read Luke 10:38-42.  You know this story.   It is the story of Jesus’s visit with Martha and Mary.  We’ve read it a thousand times and what do we take away from it?  We take from it that some folks are Marthas, always busy, always preparing, always serving and that some folks are Marys, they know how to sit and think of Jesus.  Somedays we are both Martha and Mary.  Somedays neither.  Jesus tells us that what Mary was doing, sitting at his feet, was “needful.”    Here’s the thing – we need to sit at Jesus’s feet and think on Him too.  If we are honest, we know that.   If we’re honest, we probably don’t do it often enough.

 Luke tells the story of the man possessed by demons  in Luke 8:35.  Verse 35 says:  “And they saw the man who had been possessed by demons sitting quietly at Jesus’ feet.”  He needed Jesus.

In Mark 3:34 Jesus again tells how folks sat:  “And he looked round about on them which sat about him.”  They needed Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon puts it this way:

Some things in this world are necessary, after a measure, but this is necessary without measure; infinitely needful is it that you sit at Jesus’ feet, needful now, needful in life; needful in life for peace, in death for rest, and eternity for bliss.  This is always needful.

Over and over again in God’s perfect Word we are given examples of the “needful thing” — “sitting.”  So how does it work?  Practically speaking, how do we sit at Jesus’s feet?  How do we carve out time just to sit and think on Him?  What does that look like in our lives?  How do we push away the busyness and anxiousness in our lives to make room for the only thing we really need in our lives?

We’re talking sitting at his feet, in complete submission and total reliance and meditating only on Him.  Commit to sitting at the feet of Jesus daily.  What would it take for you to make that commitment?  What would need to change?  What do you need to get rid of in order to come prostrate before him and think on Him, to submit, to obey, to glorify, to learn, to know Him more, to love Him more.

I need Thee, oh, I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee; Oh, bless me now, my Savior!  I come to Thee.  We are so desperately needful of you Lord.  Please quiet our spirits so that we may sit at your feet.  Amen.

How many times do I have to tell you? Heard that?  Yep.  Me too.  It’s a chorus sung a lot in raising children and training animals.  You teach a lesson, you train.  Over and over you sing the song and somehow the children and the pets still seem to forget the assignment.  We’re not so different from them — are we?  We hear the lesson, we train – over and over –and still we forget.  God knows of our short memories, our lack of diligence in our studies. 

The priests of the Old Testament recognized forgetfulness too.  They actually experienced that forgetfulness.  Mistake after mistake after mistake.  Wandering after wandering after wandering.  Repentance after repentance after repentance.  Restoration after restoration after restoration.  I wonder if the priests asked the question too.  How many times do I have to tell you?  I wonder if God ever thinks that about me?  Beth, how many times do I have to tell you?  How many times do I have to tell you to be obedient?  How many times do I have to tell you the path to take?  How many times do I have to tell you I love you?  How many times?

O my people, listen to my teaching.

Open your ears to what I am saying,

For I will speak to you in a parable.

I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—

Stories we have heard and know,

Stories our ancestors handed down to us.

We will not hide these truths from our children

But will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord.

We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.

Psalm 78:1-4

Psalm 78 was written by a guy named Asaph.  Asaph was appointed by King David to lead one of the Levitical choirs.  Asaph was a choir director in his Church.  This Psalm, like so many others, recants the history of the Jewish nation from the time of their slavery in Egypt to the reign of King David.  Why?  To remind them — us. 

The people of Israel made a habit of forgetting about God.  We look at their history, their story, and we say how could you forget?  How could you forget the Passover, the parting, the provision?  You were there.  You saw it.  You lived it.  Isn’t it emblazoned on your mind?  How can you forget?

Again, I’m not so different.  I forget about the One who stilled the water when the waves of life are crashing over me.  I forget about the One who restores when I need restoration.  I forget about the One who loves when I most need loved.  I forget about the One who saves when I most need saved.  I forget about the One who died so that I might live.  I forget the One…  I forget the One… I forget the One… He knew we would forget.  He knew we would need reminders.  He gave us His reminder.  The active, living, breathing Word of God.  One of his most precious gifts to us filled with reminders of forgiveness, love, mercy, grace, redemption, rehabilitation.  I don’t know about you but I need reminded every second of every day.  Not to live in the past, but to learn from the past. To focus in on the One who wrote the past, who wrote the present, and who wrote our future.