Passively Active

"By definition, a Christian is someone who trusts Jesus' death on the cross as the sacrifice that atones for our sins.  Theologians call this Christ's 'passive obedience.'" (pg 9 of devotion booklet Thanking God for Your Servant Heart)

When I read this this morning there was that all too familiar "ugh" in my spirit.  It always signifies to me that there is something not quite all together right about a statement that has been made or written.  I began praying and felt the need to look up the definition.

Wikipedia states: Passive obedience is a religious and political doctrine advocating the absolute supremacy of the Crown and the treatment of any dissent (or more precisely, disobedience) as sinful and unlawful.

Dictionary.com says: 

noun

1.unquestioning obedience to authority

2.the surrender of a person's will to another person

 

And finally Webster's: absolute obedience or submission of a subject to the authority of a ruler regarded by some political writers as mandatory even when the ruler is bad

 

All of this is true in that Jesus was absolutely obedient to the Father's will.  To me, however, there is much more to His obedience "even unto death on the cross." (Philippians 2:8)

 

When I was a child, my parents would often tell me to do things I didn't want to do.  Helping keep our bedroom clean (which 5 of us shared, so it was difficult), taking my turn making breakfast and other various chores, but the worst of the worst was cleaning the kitchen after supper.  There are only so many hours of sunlight in a day, so when it was my turn to do dishes, I knew I had to give up those final moments of outdoor fun with friends.  Oh, I did the dishes all right, but I would grumble inwardly (sometimes outwardly, but where my parents couldn't hear) and in my angst to get finished and hopefully have a bit of daylight left, I would rush through the job and inevitably get in trouble when Daddy found a dish or two that wasn't quite completely clean.  He became so fed up with my uncaring attitude that one day he told me I would have a week of dishes for every dirty dish he found.

The next morning I was greeted with THREE weeks of dish washing!!  I was deflated!!  I did my three weeks, but they were accomplished with a bit of bitterness.  However, I learned to make sure the dishes were clean!!  I found no joy then in having to obey, but I didn't want a sore behind, so I did it.  Looking back I am grateful for the lesson I learned, but at the time, I was anything but.

Jesus gave complete and unquestioning obedience to the Father, but He went above and beyond by obeying in both love and joy.  

 

 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 Amp)

 

Even if my daddy had sat me down and explained that one day I would be grateful, I might have believed him, but I still wouldn't have been joyful.  Jesus, though, was happy to die for the prize of receiving us as His bride!!  We, who have been disobedient, defiant, hateful and all sorts of despicable things, were longed for by Him so much that He willingly obeyed His Father, even though His humanity cried out against the horror of it all.  (John 17) But He joyfully gave Himself in our place so that we might become righteousness in God's eyes at the very moment we accepted His sacrifice for our individual person. We were His prize.  A people that would "finish the race set before them by the perfecting of our faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2)

" For he who had not known sin made himself to become sin in your place, that we would become the righteousness of God in him." (II Corinthians 5:21 Aramaic Bible)

 

When our children were small there were times I wanted to run away and hide or beat my children into submission.  I knew both of these to be evil and so I would instead run to our bedroom and kneel down in prayer asking for wisdom and strength in dealing with whatever the situation might be (sometimes I would just cry though, because I was and am not perfect).  I would then go in determined to continue in supervision and love.   It was during those times of prayer that God reminded me of the goal He had given me - rear my children in love and faith in Him so that they in turn could do so with their children and their children with theirs and so on.  So, even in my weary state, I was able to find joy in doing the most difficult of human tasks, being the wife and mother God designed me to be.  How minor that seems to what Jesus went through in order to rear me in love and faith in Him.  

Father, thank You that Jesus didn't just passively lay down His life for us, but actively sought us out and found joy in doing so on our behalf!  His death was both passive in admitting Your sovereignty and active in willingly giving Himself. 

No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. (John 10:18 NLT)

How minor is my sacrifice in comparison!  Help me focus on the joy of pleasing You now and in the world to come rather than the physical weariness that comes from serving in this world alone.  I love You!!

 

 

  

Childlike Sacrificial Faith

I have a confession.  I have always found the book of Leviticus rather, no other word for it, BORING and something to drudge through as I read through the Bible.  Let me say that as of today, my views have changed.  The more I study the Law and sacrifices, etc. the more I come to appreciate God's wisdom in everything.  It just proves that in spirit we really are just children, because, not only do we want to question everything, we want to show how irrelevant it is to us today.  We may not say it aloud, but we certainly exhibit it in our attitude and actions. 

Today I began Leviticus once again.  I have lost count as to how many times I have read the Bible through.  That is not to say I have read it through so many times I cannot count them.  I'm sure I could quite easily.  I have simply truly lost count.  For reference sake I will say this is possibly the seventh time I have done so.  I know I have five, but am not certain how many times after that, so seven seems reasonable.  Anyway, I came across this passage in the very first chapter: 1:6-7 says, "He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces.  And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire."

In the past, without actually thinking the words I just knew this verse had no relevance to me.  After all, Jesus paid the full sacrifice for my sins.  There is nothing else that needs doing correct?  Shows how very little I know!! 
There were the regularly scheduled times for the burnt offering. Burnt offerings were to be made every day, in the morning and the evening (Exod 29:38-42; Num. 28:3, 6, cf. 2 Chron. 2:4, etc.). An additional burnt offering was to be offered up each Sabbath day (Num. 28:9-10). Also, at the beginning of each month (Num. 28:11), at the celebration of Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month (Num. 28:16), along with new grain offering at Feast of Weeks (Num. 28:27), at the feast of trumpets, on sacred day in the 7th month (Num. 29:1ff.), and for the celebration of the new moon (Num. 29:6)  (Bible.org)

There is a very vital reason this passage should speak directly to each and every Christian daily...we are to offer our flesh as a daily sacrifice, a soothing aroma (vs. 9) to God.  Just as the priests would kill the bull, sheep, ram, whatever and then skin it before offering it on the fire as an offering, so we must remove our flesh (its power over us was already killed when we accepted Jesus death as our personal sacrifice).  However, our flesh clings to us, begging us to allow it to do its thing.  After all, it only has a short time on this earth.  We only live once.  Enjoy life while you can!!  All these things are lies that we accept as truth willingly.  While we do only have a short time on this earth, we have an eternity with our Father.  It will be better to be disciplined now and get it done and over with than to wait until then!!  Secondly, we do not ONLY live once.  We live once with this mortal, fleshly body, but then we shed it and receive an immortal and perfected body to dwell in for eternity!!  Therefore, it is not ONLY once, but it is once, so make the VERY best of it now, but learning how to live for Christ now so that it is much easier in the real life to come!!  As for the third comment, "Enjoy life while you can," I have discovered that I enjoy life much more living for Christ than when I am living for self.  My flesh will tell me anything it thinks I want to hear to get me to do its bidding.  If I listen to it enough, I will begin to agree (and it does happen, much to my chagrin) and if I give in, I am miserable.  Self pity, pride, greed, anger, bitterness, and so much more, invade my being and make me absolutely miserable, as I can never have enough of ANYTHING to satiate them.  However, when I am living for Christ, He does the work within me, it never seems an unbearable burden and I have no need to be satiated for I am no longer hungering for anything other than more of Him.  This He willingly and graciously gives, even though I do not deserve it!!  Of this I do not wish to be satiated.  I pray I will always hunger for more of Him.

After removing the skin (flesh) we must offer the sacrifice to the fire of the Holy Spirit.  He will burn it up in His power and give us the strength we need in each and every situation, even the ones that seem impossible!!

Yesterday I had both of my two youngest grandsons with me in the back yard.  Our back yard is flat for about 20-30 feet and then goes abruptly down hill into woods.  The older of the two (5 years old) was playing on the Big Wheel trike and I was holding the 4 month old.  Suddenly, the Big Wheel rolled out from under him and down the hill, into the woods.  He looked at me with huge eyes and said, "One of us will have to go get it!"  I told him I couldn't because I had the baby.  He asked if I couldn't put him down and go. After all, he was quite willing to go with me.  (He thought that since he was scared, I must be too.)  I told him that, no, I would not leave my baby grandson alone in order to get a bike.  He resolutely said that he guessed he had to go then.  Now you need to know that the bike was no more than 8-10 feet down max.  However, there are a lot of leaves, which makes it slippery.  I showed him the hanging vines and how to grasp them in order to make his way to the bike.  Long story short, he succeeded with a bit of difficulty.  When finished, he looked at me and said, "I just risked my life and I am proud of myself for doing it!"  A little later he looked at me questioningly and asked, "Gramma, I really did just risk my life, didn't I?"  While not wanting to lie, but wanting to assure him he did a very good and manly thing, I said, "You really did take a risk buddy!"  About an hour later, his uncle came to get the baby.  He recanted his story of risking his life and added, "And I got some thorns too, and I almost bled!"  His uncle very solemnly looked at him and told him he had been very brave.  I was proud of them both.

Once again I learned a lesson from a five year old!!  They are such good teachers!!  Be willing to lay down your life for the life of others, especially those weaker (baby) than yourself.  This is real living!!  If you could have seen the joy in his eyes, you would know exactly what I am talking about.  I pray he remembers the joy he experienced in this as he grows and even when he comes to the place of realizing his life was not in any immediate danger (though there could have been a snake, he could have slipped and bruised or broken something or any number of other possibilities) that the joy of being willing to sacrifice will carry him on to living for Christ by living to serve others all throughout his life!!

Listen Attention

"So pay attention to how you listen! Those who understand [these mysteries] will be given [more knowledge]. However, some people don't understand [these mysteries]. Even what they think they understand will be taken away from them." (GWT Luke 8:18)

I always thought this verse was saying to be careful WHAT you listen to, but today I was amazed to discover this is not what it is saying at all. It is saying to be careful HOW you listen. I thought, “Huh?

Do You mean to pay closer attention or be more discerning or what?”

I've thought on this verse off and on for over six hours. Within the last hour or so, while reading a book by Ted Dekker called Chosen, the thought went through my mind that we all tend to hear differently. 

An example would be yesterday morning in worship. I was singing in the choir and from my vantage hearing point I could hear the soloist well during an amazing song entitled “Alive.” The words are powerful, the arrangement melodic and the emotion we felt as we sang it was absolutely wonderful!! I didn't really pay attention to balance, as I trusted the sound crew to do their job. I knew all the words and was caught up in the joy of singing them. So imagine my shock and dismay at hearing from my husband, son and daughter-in-law that the audience could not hear the soloist or choir at times because the worship team in front was miked so loudly!! Then it hit me..they were sitting in the balcony, along with a couple hundred others, but their vantage listening point may have been quite distinctly different that of those seated at floor level, as that is where the house amplifiers are located. Perhaps (I don't know this for a fact, but the sound crew is on ground level as well, so it could be assumed) the floor level people could hear everything from soloist, to worship team to choir and orchestra. Perhaps, (and again, I don't know this for a fact) the choir and those in the balcony were at a hearing disadvantage and so received a distorted signal.

We do the same thing when we overhear a conversation. We think we hear what is being said, but we'd better ask before sharing, because we may have caught only a portion, misheard, or may have been listening in to a distorted version of the story. Then there are the times we think we hear someone talking about one person, when in reality it is someone altogether different. This happened quite recently to a dear friend of mine. She overheard someone mentioning a need for prayer for a baby and since we have a friend in common whose baby has that name, thought it was he they were talking about. A quick text to this friend revealed it was not her baby at all, but we all agreed to pray because God knew which little one it was that needed us.

So we need to be careful HOW we hear and then be careful what we do with the information gained. We must make certain we understand correctly and then only proceed with what needs doing, if anything.

There is a warning in this verse. IF we make sure we understand what we are hearing, we will gain not only knowledge, but wisdom. If we do NOT make certain of our understanding, not only will we gain nothing, but we will lose the very knowledge we THOUGHT we had. I don't know about anyone else, but I absolutely HATE losing things.

Yesterday we had our annual egg hunt for the grandkids. We hid 168 plastic eggs filled with candy. They each found twenty four of their individual color-coded eggs. When all was said and done, I did one last counting of eggs to make sure we had them all. We did, except ½ of one egg was MISSING!!

It has been driving me crazy ever since. I have checked the entire yard twice, poured over the house, went through the kids' candy bags and recounted the eggs twice, just in case one was stuck together. The ½ egg still eludes me!!

 I need to be this extreme with my hearing. Listen, if possible say it back to the person speaking, if not, ask about it later. If the message was heard correctly and was regarding someone else, go speak with that person to make certain I have the right person AND that the message was accurate. Perhaps then I would quit assuming I knew things and maybe stop placing my foot so succinctly into my mouth where it gets stuck and I get choked. Perhaps I would gain new insight into people that would allow me to love them more fully and openly. Perhaps I would grow more in wisdom and understanding of my God Who made me and loves me even when I screw up so wildly.

Listen – give one's attention to a sound. (Webster's)

Strong's Exhaustive concordance tells us that the word listen in this verse means to hear with comprehension.

In other words – pay attention and truly understand!!

Just Balance

Many, okay most, Christians do not think a person is called into ministry unless you have the title pastor of some sort or missionary attached to your birth name.  I am not one who believes this way.  I believe every truly born again believer (one who has confessed their sin before God, received His forgiveness and has chosen to follow Jesus regardless of the cost) is called to ministry.  Because of this we can receive accolades for what we feel called to one moment and be considered heartless the next by the very same people.  This should be considered a blessing, as it is what happened to our Lord and Savior many times over and is still happening today.

I have been asked multiple times by multiple people how to cut back.  My answer has been the same over the years, mostly because I didn't know how to put into words what God has done in my personal life to get me to a place of balance for the most part.  I'm not perfect, by any means, so I still get out of kilter now and then, but God is faithful to bring me back to where I confess not coming to Him for direction first, but just jumping into things.  So my answer has always been, "Learn to say no."

Learning to say no was a BIG part of my deliverance from constant frustration and feeling overwhelmed.  I felt like a three year old that has everyone making all the decisions for him including what to wear!! I was always just on the brink of yelling, "I CAN DO IT MYSELF!!"  However, when I started REALLY praying about it, because I was desperate for deliverance, I discovered something amazing.  Most of the things I accused others of deciding for me were in fact decisions I had made for myself so as not to offend someone else!  When it got down to the nitty gritty, I was doing things to please others and receive their praise rather than seeking God's direction and in the process of obedience, receiving HIS praise.  Truth be told, I even allowed myself to get overbooked so I could receive pity from others who were in the same boat as I.  I didn't want to feel left out when they spoke of how tired and overbooked they were, so I became tired and overbooked as well.  For the most part though, it was simply not wanting to hurt people's feelings. 

The really tough part of the process of deliverance is knowing that you will be found an offense to some, especially those you hold closest to your heart.  They know you love them, and because you have always been there for them in the past, they feel you should always be for every occasion or at least a lot of them.  If not, then maybe there is something wrong; perhaps they have offended you? Or you don't love them as much anymore? Or you have simply chosen to cut them out for reasons they will never understand, but it hurts?!  Truth is, none of this is true.  They are lies from the evil one trying to cause division where division isn't warranted. 

Perhaps anyone reading this might be wondering just what ministry I am personally involved in that would cause all this questioning.  First and foremost I am in the ministry of my marriage.  God's word makes it clear to me that marriage is a picture of salvation and therefore must have priority second to Christ Jesus alone.  There was a time when motherhood would have been next in line with such a fine line between it and marriage that it needs to be seen through a microscope with a magnification of about a billion.  The reason for this is that children are part of that picture of salvation - us becoming one with Christ Jesus.  However, my children are grown, married and have children of their own, so this responsibility has fallen to them.  Not that I don't try to be there for them as much as possible, but their families are their responsibility.  I am simply one of the minor support beams.  Jesus must be their foundational Cornerstone. 
Now I am Gramma and teaching has become my next top priority.  Teaching Scriptural Truths to be exact, although God has allowed me to be an academic teacher as well to many children, though I don't have the actual certification to do so.  Teaching is part of who I was created to be evidently, because it comes naturally, like breathing.  It is nothing I have done or accomplished on my own.  As a matter of fact, God made it quite clear to me at an early age that He is the One doing the teaching through me and that if I step out on my own, I will fall flat on my face!!
Next in line comes ministry through music.  I love to play flute, but I am a words person, so singing God's praise lifts me to a place of unspeakable joy!  Recently I was singing a solo for the first time in a year and a half and found myself quite nervous.  As I stood on stage and the interlude began, I prayed, "Lord, I hate feeling so nervous like this!"  Immediately He spoke these words and the nervousness abated, "Just tell the story."  That may sound confusing, but many times I have told people how funny it is to me that I can stand in front of a million children and tell a story from God's word and thoroughly enjoy the experience, but put me in front of adults to sing and I become extremely nervous!  When God spoke those words to my heart, I knew He was reminding me that we are all children in His sight and we all need to hear His story, so I needed to tell it!!  Changed my perspective in a way that must be experienced to understand. 
I cannot, at this point in my life, give up any one of these ministries, nor can I ignore any other ministry God places on my heart, such as inviting neighbors to an event where they will hear the word, but makes them feel comfortable when a regular church service makes them nervous and unhearing; disciplining children with words of love and compassion when they are in conflict with each other; taking a meal to someone recovering from surgery or illness; making a gift for someone who needs to know I love them; listening when someone just needs to talk; giving counsel to those who ask and are ready to listen to what God's word has to say regarding their situation; cleaning my house; and I could go on.  The point is, when I am asked to go to any particular event, but I feel a check in my spirit or a reminder of a previous commitment, I must say no to that invitation EVEN if it is an invitation to teach. (That is a VERY difficult one for me.) 

To sum up, learning to say no is important, but learning WHEN to say no is vital.  Learning to trust God to deal with those who find or take offense at our obedience is also vital.  I say "find" offense because, unfortunately, there are those who simply look for reasons to complain about others so as to make themselves look better in their own eyes.  If they could but understand that what we think of ourselves and/or what others think of us just simply does not matter!!  It is only how God sees us that has any benefit whatsoever!!  We must learn to love the person God created us to be even though we will never fully be that person until Jesus makes all things new and allow ourselves to become that person through the tutelage of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  He is the Great Teacher, Transformer and Guide.  We must learn to listen to His instruction alone by testing all we hear, see and think through the Scriptures and prayer.  In so doing we will begin to find it easier to love others for who God created them to be and accept the choices they make as coming from Him rather than trying to get them to do the things WE wish they would do.
Proverbs 11:1 - A false balance [is] abomination to the LORD: but a just weight [is] his delight.

Doing things for personal or influential praise may seem all well and good, but is a false balance.  A just balance comes from the Just One - Father God - for only He knows what is truly just and right for our lives and the purposes for which He has created us.  Therefore, we must live in a manner of making sure that whatever we do is done for His glory and not our own.
Colossians 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

What If......

What if.....this question popped up in my mind as I finished the final chapter of the book Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman. In the final chapter he writes about a time when his dad was praying with him before bedtime. They were going to be praying for a family friend who was going through a divorce due the the wife's unfaithfulness. Kyle asked his dad what he would do if he were the husband. His response was a surprise to Kyle, but brought a smile to my heart as I realized how wonderful to have a husband think that way!! Here is the response for those who have not read the book. Remember this is coming from an extremely devoted Christian man. I think I admire him very much!!

“Well, I'd go downstairs. I'd get your wooden baseball bat. I'd drill a hole through the handle. I'd tie a leather strap to that belt. I'd put that strap around my wrist. I'd go over to the man's house and I'd tell him that if he got within one hundred yards of my wife, I would break both his legs.”

If I were the straying wife and my husband went after the man who had seduced me in this fashion, I would love and become more devoted to my husband than he would ever dream possible!! I am sure we would still have to go through counseling to discuss why I had strayed in the first place, but with dedication like this man has for his wife, I think I would be willing to got through anything to be allowed to remain his.

Jesus loves us like this man loves his wife. He would and HAS done any and every thing for us. He claimed our sin as His own, even though He had never personally sinned in His life, took our beating and curses, and then paid the price of death on the cross in our place. Talk about devotion!! If I feel love well up inside me towards my husband just thinking about him being willing to give up everything for me, then shouldn't I feel even greater love for Jesus Who DID give up everything for me?

So my what if thought was this: What if instead of going after straying husbands and/or wives we went after the ones pursuing them? If my best female friend came to me and said her husband was having an affair, I think, after having this question come to mind, I would suggest she go to the woman involved and tell her that she either not come anywhere near her husband again or that she would be sued for grand theft!! I wonder what would happen if she followed that suggestion and became determined to follow through at all costs. I realize that due to the corruptness of the world we live in that this would not work every time. Some spouses would be so heavily involved with the pursuer that they would simply get angry, but I daresay some would wake up to the realization that their husband or wife really, REALLY loved them and would break off the other relationship toot sweet. They would most probably seek forgiveness and reconciliation not only with their spouse, but with God.

What if, when I am hurt or angered by someone, instead of taking it out on them, I turned to the sin that is plaguing them and told it to loose them in the name of Jesus and began to fast and seek God's will for their life? What if I went to them and explained the hurt and/or anger and told them I forgave them and was praying for them rather than seeking revenge? What if I began praying for my neighbors' salvation and started seeking ways to minister to them rather than not wanting to feel rejection and mockery?

What if I was willing to give up one meal a day so that someone else might have one meal a day? What if I were willing to give up some of my “spare” time to read to a senior in a retirement home, make a blanket for a baby of an unwed mother, visit someone lonely and the list goes on.

There are many what ifs out there. At the end of my life I pray that many of them will have gone from “what ifs” to “accomplished.”

 "And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'  Matthew 25:45

The Circle Maker

Today I begin a new journey. 

Saturday I woke at 4 am, did my Bible reading a short prayer time, wrote a blog and went back to bed at 7 am.  I slept about an hour until my husband woke up, then got up again to make breakfast.  Our day had begun.  However, it was not to be a usual day.

There were a few places we had agreed to go; the bank, Dollar Tree and Ace Hardware.  We were then going to go home and have a relaxing day.  We had talked the night before about needing a day to relax.  However, I mentioned that I had a Barnes and Noble gift card in my purse and that I would probably wait until summer to use it. I wasn't planning on bringing it up, but just felt I should.  My husband asked if I wanted to go right then?  I reminded him that we were not planning on that, but he said he had absolutely nothing else planned for the day, so why not?  Long story short, we went.

When we entered the store, a couple entered before us and I remember thinking something about how the man should be a gentleman and hold the door open if he was a Christian.  Even as I thought this, he looked over his shoulder, saw me and reached backward to grab the door for me.  I thanked him and went on in.  I walked around the store in seeming circles looking for I didn't know what.  I finally decided I needed the Christian Living section and started looking.  As I stood on my toes to search, I saw the same couple we entered with and they were walking away from the very section I wanted.  Just as I made it to the section, the wife turned around and went back into it.  I heard her say, "It's called Blink."  I felt impressed to encourage her, so I said, "Excellent book."  She turned and asked if I had read it then.  I told her that I had and own it.  This seemed to make her day.  We began a discussion on what books were really good, had changed our lives and that we recommended for each other.  I recommended Heaven and If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn and the Martyr's Trilogy by Tedd Dekker.  She recommended The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson and Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman.  She knew right where to go to get them and handed one of each to me.  I looked at the prices and had my purchase!  I thanked her and we went our separate ways.  Now I know that God has a plan and purpose for every moment of our lives, but this episode in my life only increased my belief that He orchestrates our days when we let Him.

Sunday morning I was ready to begin a new study, as I had just finished one by Charles Stanley the day before.  I looked at my two new books and felt compelled to begin The Circle Maker.

Have you ever felt that you wanted to jump up, run to and hug God HARD around the neck?  This was one of those times for me.  I read the first chapter and thought, "WOW!  This book is going to change m prayer life immensely!"  I am halfway through chapter three and it already has. 

Today I begin a new journey of discovering my Jerichos.  What do I REALLY want God to do and why?  Have I ever asked for it and if so, how did I ask?  Am I praying small so that I can make sure it happens, or am I asking the impossible so that only God can make it happen?  If I am not praying the impossible, then I am most likely still depending on myself.  But first, what is my Jericho right now?  If I don't know what it is, how can I pray about it?  Have I really defined it for myself so that I can understand it?  Well, today I did!!  Because I did, I became extremely excited and started looking for promises regarding it in God's word.  Because I actually found several promises in regard to it, I feel more confident in my prayers regarding it.  Because I feel more confident that God hears my prayers, I feel more confident He will answer.  Talk about circles!!  I am learning to make circles around my family, friends, habits, etc. and all before I have even finished the third chapter (There are eighteen, plus an epilogue)!!

I am writing this to invite you to join the journey with me if you haven't already done so.  I am praying for you even now.

Let My People Go!!

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." Exodus 9:1

For a while now, God has been speaking these words to my heart, “Let my people go.” One way of interpretation is that I have been enabling some to continue in sin. I can see this as true in my family. It is not as true as it used to be, but I still have difficulty. If one of my children is in need of help, of course I want to be there to help them!! However, if they continually place themselves in the same situation over and over again, complaining to me all the time that they need help, my mothers' instinct cries out to go to their aid, but the Holy Spirit whispers to my heart to step aside. Once in a while I actually listen to Him. During those times I go through a grieving period first. Then I listen to see if there is anything the Lord wants me to do or say. I have to force myself to do as I am told, because it virtually always brings tears, rantings, defiance, hurt, etc. and these things make me feel as if my heart were literally breaking in two. If I don't do what I am asked, a void appears in that same heart. A void that becomes filled with loneliness and despair due to the fact that I know that I know I have disobeyed and am having to face the fact. I also have to face the consequences of having work to do that is not mine, but I took upon myself.

The truth is, we can really only rescue a person from a pit one time. If they go back to it again, we are no longer rescuing them, but are instead enabling them to do it again and again, as they are convinced that we will always be there to pull them out. If we are able to pull them out once by following God's direction in so doing, we should rejoice.

Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins. James 5:20 NIV

But if they turn around and jump right back into the pit of sin you just helped pull them out of, then we must allow God to do what needs doing, rather than jumping right back in to try and pull them out again. There may be times He sends us back to them with a warning, saying something along the lines of, “You were given a second chance and you chose not to take it. God is always willing to give you another chance, but you have to choose to take it and hang on to it,” but ultimately, they have to make the decision, as much as we wish we could make it for them.

I am personally going through a time of letting go right now. My husband has decided that he needs to gain back the weight he has lost. For a while I was out right angry!! I kept praying and asking God to change his heart and help him see what he is doing is destructive to himself. Then one day I decided to pour out my heart to a dear friend and relative-in-law I knew would not talk to others about anything I told her. I told her every concern and how I was so angry inside. She comforted me and said she would pray and I am confident she did, because the next morning I woke to do my Bible and prayer time and a remarkable thing happened. I read my devotional and then prayed and asked, “Lord, is there any particular scripture You want me to read today?” Faster than immediately came this, “Obadiah 3.” Obadiah? Who reads Obadiah unless they are getting ready to teach/preach on it or are reading their Bible through in a year? But I opened my Bible and started turning pages, but I did say to God, “Lord, I don't think there are three chapters in Obadiah.” I found the book (it comes in handy to know the books in order) within seconds and as I saw there was only one chapter and smugly felt rather than said, “see?” the words, “Just verse three,” shook my thoughts.

The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' Obadiah 3 NIV

And now I will tell you what I was taught as I read: “You say you live in the cleft of My Rock in safety and no one can pull you down, but you are filled with pride. You think you know what is best for your husband and he thinks he knows what is best. The truth is, neither of you do. I DO!!”

I got on my knees and cried out for forgiveness. I told God that I have battled pride all my life and just when I think it has left, it rears its ugly head again! I repented and was able to really and truly let my husband go.

As long as we are clinging to a family member, dear friend or even a stranger we are simply trying our best to help, we cannot truly cling to God. Have you ever tried holding on to two children as they are pulling to keep going? It is extremely hard work and they are small!! So how do we expect to be able to cling to God Who is humongous and human being at the same time? When God moves, we will either slip off or be left hanging by a handhold.

Pride is devious. I thought I was walking in love and concern, and while part of me was, another part was doing just as God said I was....trying to be Him.

There is only One God, Father, and He is You!! Thank You for revealing the truth of my sins and making me right with You once again.