Christmas Countdown - Dec 10

The Mustard Seed

Jesus told a parable about the Kingdom of God in Mark 4:30-32.  He likened it to a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, yet grows into a great tree.  Scholars have said that Jesus Himself is the seed, and faith in Him results in believers, who make up the Kingdom of God.  This fits the analogy well: the mustard seed not only produces a great tree, but as the seeds drop into the soil they almost immediately begin producing new growth.  Due to this tendency to reproduce, the mustard plant is virtually impossible to root out.  This also represents Christianity - it continues to spread, even as those who don't embrace it seek to root it out and destroy it.  

The Lord also used the mustard seed to draw two different correlations between our faith and its potential impact.  In Luke 17:6 He said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."  In Matthew 17:20, Jesus said, "I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Since I'm fairly confident that Jesus wasn't giving us instructions to reconstruct the topography or transplant trees, He must have been using these extreme examples to illustrate something else about our faith.  Here's my thought:  God's power is SO immense and limitless, even the tiniest bit of genuine faith will result in amazing results.  The emphasis is not on how much faith I can muster up; rather, on how much power is available from God to accomplish what He wants to do through me - my part is to believe that He is capable.  

In Mark 9:14-27, we read about a man who brings his son to Jesus to be healed.   "Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.'  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!'" (v23,24)  I join him in his cry!  I do believe - but I also know there is SO much room for my faith to grow, especially where my belief in God's power is concerned.

My fancy sewing machine comes to mind . . . several years ago I invested in a sewing machine that basically has a computer in it.  It can embroider beautifully, as well as sew myriad stitches for regular sewing.  But truth be told, after all this time, I still only tap about 2% of what the machine is capable of!  I do a lot of straight stitching, zig-zagging, buttonholes and occasionally use decorative stitches.  However, that just scratches the surface of what this machine can do!  I have at my disposal the ability to do so much - but I under-utilize it due to my lack of knowledge and experience, which is directly related to the amount of time I've spent getting to know my machine!  I need to read the manual and then practice what it tells me to do, and then I could create amazing things!  But that takes time, and other things tend to get priority in my life over exploring my machine and creating things.

Of course you see where I'm going . . . God tells us all about His power, His abilities, how He has moved in the past, how He desires to move in the present, even some of what He will do in the future.  He promises that if we call to Him in genuine faith, He will show us great and mighty things, beyond all that we could ask, think or imagine!  But I'm busy straight stitching and occasionally zig-zagging . . . my life gets going on auto-pilot, doing what I've always done.  And here is my ENORMOUS God - full of power and might, yearning to reveal Himself to the world that He might draw all men to Himself; willing and able to use that power to enable me to do works that He designed for me to do from before the beginning of time!  

Oh God - I believe!  Help my unbelief!  Open my eyes to who You are, and help me to lift my eyes and my mind to whatever You may have me to do, confident that if I believe in You, You are able to accomplish anything You call me to!  Shake me out of my slumber, my tendency to sleep-walk through my days, and remind me that You are great and mighty, and want my life to be abundant and full of YOU!!!  Help me prioritize my time so that I am reading Your word, discerning what You would have me do, and then getting busy actually doing it!

(The link to the kids' post is: http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-10.html)

"I Am the Good Shepherd"

I Am the Good Shepherd

Start today by reading the 23rd Psalm, and John 10.  Pray and ask God to help you really hear the texts as if for the first time - if you find you are reading it routinely, stop, pray and begin again.  Ask God for a fresh understanding of His words.

Most of us have NO experience or firsthand knowledge of keeping sheep.  It is worth a few moments to try to get into the mindset of Jesus as our Good Shepherd, if we're going to really find significance in this.  Here's what I've gleaned about sheep and shepherding;  sheep are not the brightest animals, and a shepherd is gentle and knowledgeable, yet also strong and fearless.  Let's start with sheep:  they seem to have little or no sense of self-preservation.  They don't seek out food and water, they must be led to it.  If one of them starts heading over a cliff, the others will follow, unless stopped.  Sheep are defenseless against predators - they have no way to fight back or protect themselves.  The sheep are dependent upon their shepherd for food, care, direction and protection.  

The shepherd takes on complete responsibility for his sheep.  He finds and leads them to food, water and shelter, choosing mountainous pastures in the hot summers, and warmer valleys in the winter.  He uses his rod and staff to herd the sheep;  the hook of the staff could be used to grab an errant sheep by the neck and redirect it, or to pluck a sheep from a precarious perch he may have climbed onto.  The rod was sometimes used in a swift strike to break the leg of a sheep that continuously strayed, putting itself and those who followed it in danger.  The shepherd would then bind the leg and carry that sheep on his shoulders until the leg had healed.  That sheep would never stray far from the shepherd after that; he was particularly attuned to respond to the shepherd's voice, which he had heard so closely during the days he was carried.  

The shepherd would create a sheepfold for his flock, a three sided area with an opening, referred to as the gate.  These were often created from stacked stone.  The shepherd would gather the flock into the fold at night, and then stretch out across the opening himself to sleep.  He typically had a slingshot and was an expert in its use, always prepared to kill an animal that attempted to have the sheep for its meal.  

Just that information alone is FULL of material for making analogies between us and sheep, and Jesus as the Good Shepherd - especially the part about the shepherd choosing to wound a habitually wayward sheep for it's own good, and for the good of the flock, then personally carrying that sheep until it's healed, leading to a deep confidence in and obedience to the shepherd . . . But I'll resist that urge and move instead into what the scripture has recorded.

Here's my paraphrase of Ps 23:  Jesus makes Himself responsible for me; there is nothing I need that He doesn't provide.  He makes me rest in rich places where true renewal is possible; He charts a path that is calm and refreshing.  He restores my soul, and leads me in ways that are right, that bring honor to God.  Even when my path is through frightening terrain, I do not have to be afraid, for He is always with me.  He guards me, directs me and protects me.  He lovingly, personally provides all that I need to sustain and strengthen me, even when I'm surrounded by those who would prefer to see me suffer.  He anoints my head with oil - that is, He provides what only He can: holiness -  He covers me with His righteousness while He is busy providing opportunities for obedience that I may be transformed into His likeness.  My cup, my heart, my soul, my life - they are truly full to overflowing!  He will never leave me nor forsake me on this earth, and He will usher me into His Father's house when I leave here, where I will dwell with Him forever.  Can anybody say "Amen"?  

Like the sheep, I have done nothing to warrant all this goodness from the Shepherd - He Himself has chosen to bestow this upon me, if I am willing to be His sheep, He will indeed be my Shepherd.

Looking at Jesus' words recorded in chapter 10 of John's gospel, we see truth after blessed truth - warnings, promises, choices to be made.  He begins by telling us clearly that we have enemies - those who would seek to destroy us, to steal us away from the safety and well-being of life with the shepherd.  Think of the ways that you are regularly tempted to stray from His side, to go where you KNOW He doesn't want you to go, to do things that you KNOW He doesn't want you to do!  Flee from that and run to your Shepherd's side, where you know safety, goodness and life itself is.

By the way, verse one says that these enemies can actually enter the sheepfold!  Don't assume that because someone says they are a Christian or attends your church or preaches a sermon that they are indeed speaking for Him!  If they lead you in ways that are contrary to God and His word, that is NOT of Him!  He says clearly that His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. When in doubt, check it out!  Compare what you are hearing with what you read in His word - even believers can be deceived, and lead others into deception.

Verse 4 holds a simple, yet profound check-point for me:  the Shepherd goes before the sheep and they follow Him.  I am embarrassed to say how many times I have become excited over an idea and started to run with it, calling back over my shoulder to God "Please bless this!"  I'm daily learning to get behind Him and FOLLOW as He leads . . . 

Verse 11 is the pivotal truth of this entire chapter:  "I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep."  Look at all the people we follow in our lifetimes - people we elevate, imitate, aspire to be like, follow the lead and direction of.  Would any of them give their life for us?  Do they even stick around when the going gets rough?  Are they even people we have a relationship with?  Some of us emulate people we've never even met!

We need to follow one who is worthy of our trust - One who is in it for the long haul.  Jesus is that One.  Listen to this: "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.  As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.  And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father." (John 10:14-18)

Jesus was always letting His followers know that the cross was ahead for Him.  He came in order to make a way for us to be restored to relationship with God - to become His sheep.  All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Rom 3:23)  The price we pay for our sin is death (present and eternal separation from God) but the gift of God is eternal life (beginning right now) through Jesus Christ our Lord.  (Rom 6:23)  If you have not turned to Him yet, this Christmas season He is calling you by name!

And let your heart rise in absolute confidence to His promise:  ^"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one."  (John 10:27-30)

Oh Jesus - this world is confusing, large, full of false promises and hidden pitfalls, as well as full of ways to just waste away my moments, hours and even days in things that leave me feeling empty and without direction.  And I know that I have no hope of connecting with God on my own . . . I've tried . . . I'm asking You to be MY good shepherd - to lead me in YOUR ways, to show me what You have planned for me - a life that is rooted in connection with God the Father through You, His Son.  Lead me by Your Holy Spirit, Who You promised would come when You left, (John 14:26, 16:7) and make my life all that You know it can be.  I love you.

(the link for the kid's post is:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-9.html)

 

December 9 - I am the Good Shepherd

(Ps 23 / Jn 10:7-9 / Jn 10:11-16 / Jn 10:27-29)

A lamb is totally dependent upon its shepherd for food, care, direction and protection.  What does David mention that God provides for His sheep?  The shepherd of Jesus’ day would lead his sheep into a fold that was enclosed on three sides – then he himself would lay in the opening to form the door.  What does this suggest to you?  How does Jesus contrast Himself with a “hired man”?  How secure do these last verses say that you are in God’s hands?

How can you be a more confident lamb today?

Jesus is Recognized and Adored by Children

Jesus is Recognized and Adored by Children

I really love children - have all my life.  I love their innocence, and how straight-forward they are.  They haven't learned to posture, put on masks, or beat around the bush - their emotions come through unfiltered, they express what they think without an awareness that others may have an opinion about them or their thoughts, and they get right to the point, especially when asking for something that they want or think they need.  They are genuine.

They are also fairly good at judging a person's nature.  Children don't come running to just anyone.   They keep their distance from those who radiate disapproval.  Ultra-serious types don't draw children either.  No, children enjoy adults who are fun, who smile and laugh naturally, who allow time to get to know each other, and who actually listen to them and respond to them intelligently. 

So it comes as no surprise that children LOVED Jesus!  Unlike in our day, children in Jesus' day were not considered important.  Most adults did not acknowledge children, let alone converse with them.  But Jesus is not like other people.  In Matt 14:13-15, Jesus is in the midst of a crowded city.  Parents are bringing their children to Him that He might lay His hands on them and pray, but the disciples will have none of it!  They are rebuking the parents; I imagine they were incredulous that these people would bother someone as important as Jesus with children!  But Jesus rebukes them, and tells them to "let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven." 

Picture the joy on those children's faces to be welcomed by Jesus!  And picture the joy on His face at their simple trust in Him!  I love that these children were able to have such an amazing encounter in their lifetime.  But I really love the challenges that this story presents to me:  first, that I need to be really careful deciding that something that is a bother to me must certainly also be a bother to God!  Not only were the disciples wrong, but they were actually thinking the opposite of Jesus' thoughts.  Help me, Lord, to be a student of You first - to be willing to question my suppositions, rather than assuming that You share my thoughts, values and standards. 

Second, since Jesus says "Of such is the kingdom of Heaven," then I want to learn to be childlike in the ways that matter - I want to be genuine, authentic, without pretense, trusting, simple in my thinking, living in the moment for its own value.  I want my heart to be so open that I recognize Jesus, and run to Him without hesitation.  I want to swap smiles and laughter with Him, instead of always being SO serious!!!  

In Matthew 21:15-16, Jesus is turning over the tables of the moneychangers in the temple, and healing people, and the children are crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David!"  The chief priests and scribes are indignant, and expect Jesus to tell them to stop saying that.  Jesus responds by quoting from Psalm 8:2 to these men who've spent their lives studying the scripture:  "Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"  There is such a risk of studying the word and missing the Lord - we should NEVER think that was only true of the Jewish leaders in Jesus' day.  Any one of us can become deceived, and even the studying of the word can become an end in itself, or a point of pride, rather than a seeking of the revelations of God of Himself and of our true selves.  The children saw Him for who He was - they were old enough to have heard that the Messiah would be from the line of David - what they were seeing, hearing and experiencing of Jesus told them that He was the One.    

Jesus, thank You that You tell us to come as little children to You - a child is aware that he has no power, that he is dependent upon those he trusts to love and care for him.  Help me to love and trust You with the simple faith of a child.  

(The link for the kids' post is: http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-8.html )

 

Jesus Stills the Storm

 

Jesus Stills the Storm

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  

But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"    (Mark 4:35-41)  

WHAT an incredible story!!!  Can you just picture this?  Many of the disciples are fishermen - they are used to the storms that arise on their waters.  Yet this storm is so strong that they fear for their lives!  And Jesus is asleep!!!  And HE'S the one who told them to go out there in the first place!  

Let's start with that one - sometimes God will lead us into situations we cannot handle on our own.  Good thing, too, as we have this annoying human tendency to forget that apart from Him we can do nothing - especially in areas of life where we have some skill or past experience.  We can motor along for quite some time without even acknowledging God, let alone asking Him to lead us, empower us or enable us to do what He would like us to do.  Then suddenly we are hit with a situation that is clearly beyond us, and we call out to Him.

Interesting that He was asleep in this instance.  He wasn't worried about them dying . . . but rather than recognize His peace, they interpreted it as a lack of care and concern on His behalf for them.  They came right out and said "Don't You care that we're going to die?!!!"  I can't help but wonder how that must have hurt Jesus to hear that . . . yet isn't that often our accusation?  In the face of a natural disaster, people will say "Where was God?", as if He were somehow off doing something else and failed to act on our behalf.  The tendency of most is to point our finger at God when life challenges us or disappoints us.  But Jesus was always truthful in His teaching.  "In this world you will have trouble," He declared, "but take heart, for I have overcome the world."  (John 16:33)

Then He stands up and tells the wind to be quiet and the waves to be still - and immediately all is calm.  The Bible says there is a GREAT calm.  Wow.  The Creator speaks to His creation and there is immediate obedience.  What power He has!  Interestingly, this actually frightens His disciples.  They believed He was the Messiah - they had left everything to follow Him.  They were eyewitness of His miraculous healings and His powerful, authoritative teaching.  Yet in the face of this they breathe out to each other "Who is this, that even the winds and the waves obey Him?"  

Oh I want my faith to be shaken up like that too!  Forgive me Father, for getting comfortable with You . . . for being so casual in Your presence that I forget who You really are; that You are awesome in power and might, pure and holy and sovereign over me, over all humanity, over creation - over everything!  Forgive me for regularly underestimating You - for having little faith, faith that is small in the face of Your enormity.  Help me to lift up my eyes beyond what I know and expect to see You move in ways I could never have imagined!  Enlarge my understanding of You, my dependence on You, my hope in You.

And Lord, help me to know that sometimes You will calm the storm, but sometimes You will allow the storms to rage and instead calm me.  Thank You that no matter what You lead me to, I can trust You to lead me through.  Thank You that You have promised again and again throughout Your word that You will never leave me nor forsake me.  Thank You that no situation ever catches you unaware, off-guard or unprepared.  You always know what You are doing, and what You intend to accomplish.  I believe . . . help my unbelief. 

(Here is the link to the kid's post:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-7.html)

Jesus Sees Me and He Knows Me

Jesus Sees Me and He Knows Me

I LOVE Psalm 139.  When I was 15, I became Christian.  A lovely senior couple sponsored a trip to summer camp for me at Spring Hill, in mid-Michigan.  The camp grounds are beautiful, and one afternoon I took my Bible and sat in the woods to meet with God.  I read Psalm 139, and this was the first time I heard God speak to me through scripture.  It was SO intimate, so beautiful - so personal!    I couldn't believe how the Psalmist described all the ways that God knows me!  

Verses 1-3 go like this:  "O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.  You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways."  Verse 16 adds "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.  And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them."

Here's some of my parade of thoughts reading through those:  Lord, You spend time searching me - amazing!  You KNOW me . . . and I don't even know myself!  You know simple things like when I sit, rise, walk and lay down, and you know intricate things, like my ways - my habits, strengths, weaknesses, giftings, skills and talents.  Before You even had formed me in my mom's womb, Your eyes saw my substance - miraculous!  And before I'd lived a single day, ALL my days were written in Your book - You are ready for any and everything that happens in my life - You've already seen it all as if it has happened!  I left that wooded hillside just as giddy as could be!  Before this, I had NO IDEA how interested God was in me, how much time He spent thinking about me, and how much He knew about me. 

Almost 40 years have passed since then - filled with growth as well as lost ground, success and failure, righteous decisions as well as sin, so much grace it cannot be quantified, times of deep repentance met with tons of forgiveness, and a process of learning His word and finding increasing freedom and maturity in following Him.  

So it goes without saying that one of my favorite parts of reading the gospels is seeing how Jesus displayed this truth - how well He knew the people He interacted with, and how surprised they were at His intimate knowledge!  I think of Phillip bringing Nathanael to meet Jesus, and Jesus telling Nathanael that He saw him sitting under a fig tree just before Phillip came to him.  Freaked Nathanael right out!  (John 1:47,48)  Also convinced Nathanael that He was the Messiah, and he immediately followed Him!  

I love when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, and tells her how many husbands she has had, and that she is presently living with a man she's not married to.  (It is worth noting that He doesn't shame her in any way - in fact, I sense that He has an opinion about the now-absent husbands, too, as well as the man who hasn't chosen to legitimize her through marriage . . . but I digress.)  She also is convinced that He is the Messiah, telling all in her village "He told me all that I ever did!", and bringing them to meet Him.  (John 4:39)   

When I see Jesus through the words of the gospels, I notice some other things about His manner, too.  Picture ANY conversation from the gospels - where do you imagine Jesus' eyes to be focused?  They are absolutely ALWAYS looking into the eyes of whomever He is speaking to, aren't they?  Can you even imagine it any other way?  Whether teaching, healing, encouraging or rebuking, He looks each man and woman fully in their face, His eyes on their eyes.  He validates their worth, and relays His calm, confident authority.  He knows them.  No matter if they are ashamed, lying, conniving, conspiring, searching, doubting, aching, grieving, laughing or crying, He is fully engaged with them, answering them from His full knowledge of who they are, what drives them, what their motives and intentions are, as well as their needs and hopes.  

He knows you this well too - and He calls you to come boldly to Him, holding nothing back.  There is absolute freedom in talking with someone who already knows everything about you and STILL wants you to come!  He LOVES you!  He doesn't approve of everything you and I believe, think and do, but that doesn't prevent Him from loving each of us completely!  He wants to walk you into freedom, into the life that He has planned for you.  And just as Phillip and the Samaritan woman did, once you know that He is who He says He is, Jesus wants you to tell others so that they also may find their freedom in Him.  THIS is Jesus' idea of a Christmas gift worth giving!!! 

(The link to the kid's post is:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/jesus-sees-me-and-he-knows-me-jesus.html) 

*The painting pictured above is by the artist Akiane.

 

The Greatest Commandments

 

The Greatest Commandments

"A lawyer asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"

Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  (Matt 22:35-40)

Wow!  When Jesus answers, He really puts it on the bottom shelf, doesn't He?  He condensed the entire Law and all the teaching of the Prophets into two commands!   If I love God with my entire being, and love my neighbor as myself, then I'm doing everything He asks of me!  Wow!  I can get my mind around that, can't you?  Just two things - love God, love people.  So clear . . . should be simple, right?  Ah . . . that's where the rub comes in!

When I was a young Christian, I was certain that my 'job' was to learn what the Word told me to do and then do it; confess whenever I failed as soon as I recognized that I'd failed, and get back to it.  But I found, as every seeker of God has found since the beginning of man, that I CANNOT live a godly life.  I'm not holy.  I struggle with my human nature - my sin nature - they are one and the same.  My nature tells me NOT to let anyone control me, NOT to give in - let alone submit - to anyone, to watch out for myself first, and to give love only to the people who treat me the way I want to be treated.  How about you?  Honestly, sometimes I can muster up enough sense, courage or selflessness to do loving things - but all the time?  With all my heart, mind and soul?  Can't do it.  And I lived in secret as a defeated Christian, hoping no one else would know that I wasn't making the mark.

But Jesus told us upfront that we could NEVER do what He asks us to do on our own.  (How did I miss that?!!!)  Only He can give us the power to live out God's commands, only He can give us a new nature, a new heart, a new set of desires to love Him and obey Him.  "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."  (John 15:5)  He NEVER asked us to learn the commands of God and then 'get out there and do them!'  As a matter of fact, it's our inability to live up to the commands of God that shows us that we need a Savior - someone to save us from our own sinful condition.  We need Jesus . . . and He knew that, so He came. 

God's design is for man to live in union with God.  When God told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would surely die, He meant it.  The trouble comes in our misunderstanding of death.  We think of death as the end of life here on earth - when our body ceases to function.  That's not death - that's just the end of our life here on earth.  Death is separation from God.  Man, on our own, is separated from God, and our sin keeps us separated.  Jesus' sacrificial death payed the price for our sin, and His resurrection affirmed that He has conquered death.  By believing that Jesus died to pay for my sins, confessing that I am a sinner and asking Him to forgive me, Jesus voluntarily pays my debt.  I am now forgiven, and the Holy Spirit of God takes up His home within me.  He gives me a NEW heart, one that is Holy and capable of obeying God, and begins the internal work of transforming me into the likeness of Jesus.  My part is to consciously choose to be in His presence, learning of Him, letting Him love me, and asking Him for the power to do the things He is leading me to do.  And guess what He leads me to do?  Love Him, and love others as I love myself.

Btw, there are three loves there - did you see that?  Love God.  Love others.  Love them as I love myself.  For many of us, learning to love ourselves is a HUGE part of the transformation process.  I have to let God love me, begin to love myself as He does, and then love others that same way.  Jesus was never teaching us to learn a bunch of rules and then go out and apply them.  He was calling us back to the Father through Himself, the Son, so that we could be reunited with God through the Holy Spirit.  As we spend time in relationship with Him, we learn to be like Him, we start to want to think and act like Him, and SO fulfill the law.

Jesus spoke much about love - I want to include two other teachings here.  How are we supposed to love other people?  Jesus gave us the most straight-forward answer of all, what we've come to call the Golden Rule.  "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."  (Luke 6:31)  Beautifully simple, isn't it?  Before I respond or act, I can just ask myself "Would I want them to respond or act toward me this way?"  Gorgeous test!  If yes, go ahead.  If no, don't.  LOVE it!!!

Then He spoke a commandment that sobers me right up.  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  (John 13:34,35)  That really ups the ante, doesn't it?  How will people know that I'm a Christ follower?  By the way that I love them.  I'm thinking about the irritation that frequently creeps into my voice when I start talking to my husband about his "archivist" tendencies and how it's really just a bunch of clutter!  I'm thinking about the way I talk over my shoulder to my kids while I'm in the midst of doing something else.  I'm thinking about the way we spend our money . . . when so many have so little, and we know such plenty.  I'm finding that my identity in Christ - and the ability for people to see that there is a supernatural work going on inside me by God Himself - is intimately tied to my attitudes and priorities.  I must continually choose to sit in His presence and soak in His nature and character so that He can transform the deepest parts of me.  That means making time in my day to sit quietly, reading my Bible and asking Him to speak to me through it.  It means talking to Him throughout the day about my feelings, my thoughts, my impulses and reactions.  All this is inside of me, unseen by anyone else, and must take place continually if ANYONE is going to find my love - which is expressed outwardly - to be a proof of my life with God.  

So today God, while our minds are full and our hearts are yearning to experience life and love the way You desire us to, help each one of us to choose to be with you in quiet stillness, and let You love us as only You can, teaching us how to love ourselves and each other.  Lead us in this way that we may glorify You, and cause others to desire to be reconciled and united with You too.  We love you . . . and we want to love You well.  Teach us.

(Here is the link to the kid's page:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/christmas-countdown-dec-5.html)

God is All-Powerful

God is All-Powerful

Today we focus on one of God's attributes:  He is all-powerful. NOTHING is impossible for God!  I remember being a teenager in my youth group, and kids joking around about this truth.  "Well, could God make a rock so heavy that He couldn't lift it?"  one of them asked.  While it was fun to imagine improbable scenarios, it also spoke to our lack of spiritual maturity - most of our lives were relatively simple and stress-free in those days, and focusing on God's limitless power wasn't fueled by a desperate need to know that it was true.  Living life changes that.  

Wondering if I could survive the pain of loss through miscarriage changed that.  Trying to survive divorce and rebuild a life with my children changed that.   My awareness of the enormous responsibility of parenting compared to my lack of ability or understanding changed that.  For some, devastating health issues in their life or that of loved ones changed that.  For others, growing knowledge of man's inhumanity to man, and our seeming powerlessness to turn the tide changed that.  Many things cause us to turn our searching, aching hearts and minds to God, but perhaps none so much as the realization of our limitations.

As Jeremiah prays to God in the face of an enemy army's conquest of Israel, he cries out "Ah, Lord God!  Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm.  There is nothing too hard for You."  (Jer 32:17)  Affirming this truth, God answers with "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.  Is there anything too hard for Me?" (Jer 32:26) 

These statements present different views of the same truth - NOTHING is impossible for God!  He is capable of doing anything - nothing is too 'hard' for Him.  This gives me great comfort - I will never find myself in a situation that God cannot handle.  No matter how inadequate I am, or think I am, or feel that I am - no matter how overwhelmed or powerless - HE remains all-powerful.  I can trust Him, and count on Him.  What blessed peace that brings me.  God can handle me and my life.

However, this does not mean that challenges won't come.  We live in a fallen world, where people have free will.  Many times we use our freedom in ways that cause each other pain.  Nature functions fairly consistently most of the time, but natural disasters do occur.   And we are mortal - it is appointed unto man once to die.  Everyone we love will eventually be lost to us on this earth, by their death or ours.  None of this contradicts the fact that God is all-powerful.  

When looking at the attributes of God, we must remember that He is all things at all times, in perfect harmony with Himself.  He is not only powerful, or only knowledgeable, or only love, or only righteous in judgement - as if His attributes function independent of each other.  He is all that He is at all times.  He also is the only Being with true perspective.  

Consider a man who is fit to be tied because his storage unit has been padlocked due to lack of payment.  He is outraged by this!  He was planning to sell some items that are IN that storage unit in order to be able to pay his bills.  He thinks the manager of the storage units acted impulsively, without giving him time to make his account right.  In his perspective, this is an unjust and devastating situation.  Now consider trying to explain to a person in a third world country what a storage unit is:  a place to hold the excess things one owns that cannot fit in his home.  Suddenly the perspective changes.  This person hopes to find enough food to feed his wife and children that day...that is his unjust and devastating situation.

Many times we think that God should go around 'making things right' simply because He has the power to do so.  We are limited in our perspective;  instead of asking "Why doesn't God DO something?", a better question may be "What would God have me do about this?".  Or "What do You want me to learn through this, God?"  Or "I don't know WHAT to do, nor HOW to do it!  Please use Your power to lead me, and to enable me to follow through on Your leading."

God challenges Jeremiah with "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."  (Jer 33:3)  Paul declares that God "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think"!  (Eph 3:20)  I dare say that our real need is to lift our eyes to the heavens and ask God to do what HE knows is best, rather than tell Him what we hope He will do.  My prayers are often pitiful, wordy requests for my will to be done . . . 

What if we prayed throughout the rest of December for God to go ahead and do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, and to show us great and mighty things which we do not know?!!!  Maybe He'll show me a different approach to take in that relationship that is marked by conflict.  Maybe He'll lead you to participate in a ministry that you've always felt ill-equipped for.  Maybe He'll prompt us to go next door and actually have a conversation with our neighbor, seeking genuinely to get to know them, in order to serve them with God's love.  

Paul also writes, in Romans 8:31 "What shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?"  Oh Father - surprise us with Your power and majesty - not for our entertainment, but to energize and strengthen our faith, as well as our resolve to stand up and say "Here I am, Lord; use me!"  We pray for this Christmas season to be marked by Your power in us this year.  Help us to live boldly because You are all-powerful; to step beyond our comfort-zones, our self-imposed limitations and even our loved ones' expectations.  Show Yourself strong and mighty in Your children as we seek to glorify and obey You.

Link to kid's post:  http://elizabethtreger1.blogspot.com/2014/12/god-is-all-powerful-today-we-are-going.html