Jonah 1-4... I read this while we were on vacation in Sun River. I have to admit that I had a smirky smile on my face as I read from Jonah that day. You know you've had one of "those days" when you are going through a series of decisions and events and you wonder "How in the world did I end up here?" I'm pretty sure that Jonah felt that way as he found himself in the belly of the whale.
It's in "those times":
1. We realize that God can or will orchestrate our lives to bring us either to a time of crisis or reflection. Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days and 3 nights. Plenty of time for God to allow Jonah to see where he was at and where he needed to go.
2. God doesn't intend to make us stay in hard times any longer than we need to. In verse 7 it says that Jonah remembered the Lord and God heard his prayer. He renewed his commitment to the Lord and it wasn't long after that God delivered him from the belly of the whale.
3. God doesn't change His mind. This cracked me up. Jonah wasn't long out of the whale's belly when God again reminded him of what he was to do. Jonah had been selected to deliver a message to the people of Ninevah and He hadn't changed His mind. Do you suppose Jonah was saying to himself "Really God? Do you have any idea the week I've had?" It's the same process we all go through when we've gotten off track - just get back on track and keep going.
4. God hears our prayers even when we are walking in disobedience. Vs 7 says Jonah prayed (I remembered the Lord) and his prayer came to God in His Holy temple. He's not as far away as we think in the tough times. He is waiting for our attitudes to adjust or for us to acknowledge our need of Him. This paints a picture of a true and loving Father. One that says "I'll just wait until you straighten up and recognize you need Me, but I am right here and ready to receive you when you are."
God rocks...
Friday, July 29, 2011
A Father of Example - My Gift from God
This week marks the 8th anniversary of when my Dad died. He suffered bravely through pancreatic cancer and went home to be with the Lord on July 26, 2003. This one's for you Dad. I love you.
Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good and what the does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to have kindness and to walk humbly with your God."
This was my Dad's favorite verse. I didn't know it until he passed away and we were making funeral arrangements. As I reflected on my Dad's life - he really did live out this verse and lived a simple life that pleased God. My Dad's greatest pursuit was to know God and His Word and to live his life to please Him. It wasn't a pursuit of personal greatness, wasn't a pursuit of wealth, it was truly a day to day pursuit of God. Seeing himself in light of God's greatness, realizing his need of a Savior, being grateful for God's love and work in his life, and working to live his life as an example to others.
Thank you God for my earthly father, Donald William Cross - I will be forever grateful...
Micah 6:8 "He has told you, O man, what is good and what the does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to have kindness and to walk humbly with your God."
This was my Dad's favorite verse. I didn't know it until he passed away and we were making funeral arrangements. As I reflected on my Dad's life - he really did live out this verse and lived a simple life that pleased God. My Dad's greatest pursuit was to know God and His Word and to live his life to please Him. It wasn't a pursuit of personal greatness, wasn't a pursuit of wealth, it was truly a day to day pursuit of God. Seeing himself in light of God's greatness, realizing his need of a Savior, being grateful for God's love and work in his life, and working to live his life as an example to others.
Thank you God for my earthly father, Donald William Cross - I will be forever grateful...
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Organizer of the Event
2 Chronicles 16: 7,9,12
vs. 7 "...Because you relied on the King of Syria and not the Lord, the King of Syria has escaped you."
vs. 12 "...yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord but sought help from physicians."
vs. 9 "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him."
I picture someone in charge of a large event - a walkie talkie in hand briskly walking around looking for problems and issues that can arise, ready to solve them. Someone you could easily go to if you needed directions or if you needed assistance, even offering to walk you over to the place you are trying to find. If I went over to just an attendee of the event, they in no way could help me like the organizer could. If I needed something in an emergency they wouldn't have the resources available to give me everything I needed. The organizer would have planned for potential needs that came up. He would have resources and pull to get me what I needed. In this picture that organizer is my Lord and the big event is my life.
So what that tells me is you have known since the beginning of time, those weeks when I'm going to have one of "those" weeks. You have a plan and a way out. You are equipped and ready to give me all the support I need. You are not worried and you may be wondering why I am because You have everything under control. You know the way out of this crowd of chaos and You know what I need to solve the problem I'm facing. You have all the resources available and all You have to do is call it into existence. I can have peace in my circumstances because I am with the organizer of the event. I am safe in Your presence.
Sometimes I feel like I'm lost in the crowd at a chaotic event. In those times, I don't feel safe and with all the chaos I don't see a solution. With every turn it feels like I am even more lost and I feel like I'm losing track of the things I care about. Your word promises strong support. I believe I will find the Lost and Found station and soon I will be reconnected with who I care about. Away from all the craziness of the crowd, I will be able to hear myself think again. If I am injured, there will be a First Aid Station next door where I can get my injuries attended to. You have already thought of what I would need today. The resources are already in place - I just have to keep walking until I find them. I trust there will be signs along the way to help me find what I need. There will be places of refreshments and even benches to sit down and rest along the way.
The crowd may be loud and chaotic. It may take longer than I anticipated, but You have already planned it all out and I don't need to worry. I just need to trust You. You know what I need and You will never let me down. Thank you for being my strong support today. I love you Lord.
vs. 7 "...Because you relied on the King of Syria and not the Lord, the King of Syria has escaped you."
vs. 12 "...yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord but sought help from physicians."
vs. 9 "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him."
I picture someone in charge of a large event - a walkie talkie in hand briskly walking around looking for problems and issues that can arise, ready to solve them. Someone you could easily go to if you needed directions or if you needed assistance, even offering to walk you over to the place you are trying to find. If I went over to just an attendee of the event, they in no way could help me like the organizer could. If I needed something in an emergency they wouldn't have the resources available to give me everything I needed. The organizer would have planned for potential needs that came up. He would have resources and pull to get me what I needed. In this picture that organizer is my Lord and the big event is my life.
So what that tells me is you have known since the beginning of time, those weeks when I'm going to have one of "those" weeks. You have a plan and a way out. You are equipped and ready to give me all the support I need. You are not worried and you may be wondering why I am because You have everything under control. You know the way out of this crowd of chaos and You know what I need to solve the problem I'm facing. You have all the resources available and all You have to do is call it into existence. I can have peace in my circumstances because I am with the organizer of the event. I am safe in Your presence.
Sometimes I feel like I'm lost in the crowd at a chaotic event. In those times, I don't feel safe and with all the chaos I don't see a solution. With every turn it feels like I am even more lost and I feel like I'm losing track of the things I care about. Your word promises strong support. I believe I will find the Lost and Found station and soon I will be reconnected with who I care about. Away from all the craziness of the crowd, I will be able to hear myself think again. If I am injured, there will be a First Aid Station next door where I can get my injuries attended to. You have already thought of what I would need today. The resources are already in place - I just have to keep walking until I find them. I trust there will be signs along the way to help me find what I need. There will be places of refreshments and even benches to sit down and rest along the way.
The crowd may be loud and chaotic. It may take longer than I anticipated, but You have already planned it all out and I don't need to worry. I just need to trust You. You know what I need and You will never let me down. Thank you for being my strong support today. I love you Lord.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Words worth repeating
Proverbs 21:9 and Proverbs 25:24 - SAME Verse
"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house with a quarrelsome wife".
Ouch! But I understand... who wants to live with someone picking at you? The picture of this wife is someone with a scowl on their face, a critical word on their lips and ready for a fight. Someone who sees the negative in everything including her spouse.
In contrast I think of the Proverbs 31 woman. Vs. 11 says - the heart of her husband trusts in her... she does him good, not harm. Vs. 26 says - she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
So who am I versus who I want to be? I know at times I have been and can be woman in the verse above. I'm not proud of that and do not want to go there again. It doesn't feel good. It accomplishes nothing - in fact it tears everything I care about down.
I want to be the woman that her husband has no doubt how much she loves him. I want our home to be a refuge for him and my family. I want my words to build him up and let him know I believe in him. That I see all the possibilities and plans God has for him. I want to be an example to my girls of how to love their future husbands.
Where do I start? By loving him. By reflecting on his strengths and not his weaknesses. By appreciating the role he has as head of our family and not trying to take his authority from him. By serving him in our home. It's intentional. Yes, there is a risk to love, but by serving my husband,loving him, recognizing him as head of our home - I am serving my Father in heaven who will never fail me.
"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house with a quarrelsome wife".
Ouch! But I understand... who wants to live with someone picking at you? The picture of this wife is someone with a scowl on their face, a critical word on their lips and ready for a fight. Someone who sees the negative in everything including her spouse.
In contrast I think of the Proverbs 31 woman. Vs. 11 says - the heart of her husband trusts in her... she does him good, not harm. Vs. 26 says - she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
So who am I versus who I want to be? I know at times I have been and can be woman in the verse above. I'm not proud of that and do not want to go there again. It doesn't feel good. It accomplishes nothing - in fact it tears everything I care about down.
I want to be the woman that her husband has no doubt how much she loves him. I want our home to be a refuge for him and my family. I want my words to build him up and let him know I believe in him. That I see all the possibilities and plans God has for him. I want to be an example to my girls of how to love their future husbands.
Where do I start? By loving him. By reflecting on his strengths and not his weaknesses. By appreciating the role he has as head of our family and not trying to take his authority from him. By serving him in our home. It's intentional. Yes, there is a risk to love, but by serving my husband,loving him, recognizing him as head of our home - I am serving my Father in heaven who will never fail me.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Redemption
Redemption is the word on my mind today. As Christians it is a word often used, but I don't know how well we understand it.
For those of us who have BIG THINGS in our past I believe redemption is key to our understanding of who we are in Christ. It is recognizing God's forgiveness and the salvation He gave us simply because He loved us and wanted a relationship with us.
Without redemption we are still walking scarred, flawed, remembering with clarity our failures and feeling that we are one decision away to returning to our old life.
I was trying to think about what redemption might look like. At first I thought of a purse. The compliment to the perfect outfit that God has given us. But then I thought how we could easily put down the purse and walk away without it... that won't work.
Then I thought that redemption could be a shirt. It's a gift, something we put on and people can see it. But still, as discouragement comes we can decide we are no longer worthy of the gift God gave and take it off - revealing the scars and identity of the past.
Now listen - I am not a fan of tattoos (think you will all look really silly when you are 92 with those things on), but this is the picture that I believe best represents redemption. It's a conscious decision to put it on. It's personal and it's permanent. It is something that God intends for us to keep with us forever. It is not temporary but even more than that, it reflects WHO's we are. Anyone can get one, but it does come at a price, but the ultimate price has already been paid.
Come to Jesus and He will change your life forever. His grace is sufficient for you.
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,"
Ephesians 1:7 ESV
For those of us who have BIG THINGS in our past I believe redemption is key to our understanding of who we are in Christ. It is recognizing God's forgiveness and the salvation He gave us simply because He loved us and wanted a relationship with us.
Without redemption we are still walking scarred, flawed, remembering with clarity our failures and feeling that we are one decision away to returning to our old life.
I was trying to think about what redemption might look like. At first I thought of a purse. The compliment to the perfect outfit that God has given us. But then I thought how we could easily put down the purse and walk away without it... that won't work.
Then I thought that redemption could be a shirt. It's a gift, something we put on and people can see it. But still, as discouragement comes we can decide we are no longer worthy of the gift God gave and take it off - revealing the scars and identity of the past.
Now listen - I am not a fan of tattoos (think you will all look really silly when you are 92 with those things on), but this is the picture that I believe best represents redemption. It's a conscious decision to put it on. It's personal and it's permanent. It is something that God intends for us to keep with us forever. It is not temporary but even more than that, it reflects WHO's we are. Anyone can get one, but it does come at a price, but the ultimate price has already been paid.
Come to Jesus and He will change your life forever. His grace is sufficient for you.
"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,"
Ephesians 1:7 ESV
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
God's love in tough times
Romans 5:3-5 ...we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
We can look at hard times a completely different way than the world does. They may have endurance for a time and hard times may shape their character. But we have hope. Hope that points to a God that is a rescuer, a redeemer. This scripture says hope does not disappoint or put us to shame because in our hope God's love is poured out on our hearts through the Holy Spirit who God gave us.
I can honestly say I knew the hard times would teach me valuable things about God but I had never seen the last part of that verse about God pouring His love into my heart. What was interesting was I had been driving around town and I just couldn't shake this feeling of love. Ya know the kind when you first fall in love with your spouse and you just walk around knowing someone loves you? It's the silly smile, skip in your step kind of feeling.
When we were going through some pretty rough times I started having this "loved" feeling. I was so confused by it because this feeling didn't match my circumstances at all. I asked a friend of ours and he mentioned this verse. I had known the first part of the scripture of what hard times would develop in me but had never seen the part about God pouring out His love - which exactly matched the feeling I had been having. God was showing me in the midst of my hard times how much He loved me. Look for it... He wants to show you too.
We can look at hard times a completely different way than the world does. They may have endurance for a time and hard times may shape their character. But we have hope. Hope that points to a God that is a rescuer, a redeemer. This scripture says hope does not disappoint or put us to shame because in our hope God's love is poured out on our hearts through the Holy Spirit who God gave us.
I can honestly say I knew the hard times would teach me valuable things about God but I had never seen the last part of that verse about God pouring His love into my heart. What was interesting was I had been driving around town and I just couldn't shake this feeling of love. Ya know the kind when you first fall in love with your spouse and you just walk around knowing someone loves you? It's the silly smile, skip in your step kind of feeling.
When we were going through some pretty rough times I started having this "loved" feeling. I was so confused by it because this feeling didn't match my circumstances at all. I asked a friend of ours and he mentioned this verse. I had known the first part of the scripture of what hard times would develop in me but had never seen the part about God pouring out His love - which exactly matched the feeling I had been having. God was showing me in the midst of my hard times how much He loved me. Look for it... He wants to show you too.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tucker vs the Plunger
This morning as I was getting ready for work, Tucker my lab/rottie mix was walking through the bathroom and somehow saw the plunger in his vision. He stopped abruptly and his tail curled as if he was in tracking mode. He would lean in and try to get a whiff of the plunger (ewww!), then back up and let out a little cry in frustration because he couldn't seem to figure out if the plunger was another dog or a really short person. I sat back and watched this scene as Tucker was more and more distraught at this new discovery, wishing my family was here to see this.
Then the most precious thing happened. Tucker noticed where I was in relation to the plunger and his realized that he needed to protect me from this disgusting necessary evil in the restroom. The next thing I knew Tucker had put his back to me and he was standing facing the plunger, protecting me, ready to lunge if anything unexpected happened. In the face of danger, through his own fear, he would choose to save me first.
What a precious love you extend to me Tucker! Here I thought you would ward off intruders or boys who wanted to date my daughters, but you have taken it to a new level. Thank you Tucker for saving me from the evil plunger. I don't know what I would have done without you. :)
Then the most precious thing happened. Tucker noticed where I was in relation to the plunger and his realized that he needed to protect me from this disgusting necessary evil in the restroom. The next thing I knew Tucker had put his back to me and he was standing facing the plunger, protecting me, ready to lunge if anything unexpected happened. In the face of danger, through his own fear, he would choose to save me first.
What a precious love you extend to me Tucker! Here I thought you would ward off intruders or boys who wanted to date my daughters, but you have taken it to a new level. Thank you Tucker for saving me from the evil plunger. I don't know what I would have done without you. :)
Mercy over Sacrafice
Matt 9:13 "Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
vs 34 "But the Pharisees said "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."
The Pharisees thought they knew "the formula" to get God to act. They had mastered the law and everyone knew they were in a place of position. Their knowledge and position became the stumbling block and kept them from being able to see who Jesus really was. How sad that they had spent so much time learning the ways of God but yet they didn't recognize His own Son. I found it sad that they knew the law in text and theory, but the ways of God had not changed them... they were not transformed by God but were robots of the law, unteachable for what God had truly intended for His people.
I took 2 things from this:
1. I need to experience God in my life. I need to not only read His Word and study the things of God but I need to see that God is working around me; healing people, loving people back to Him, rescuing people, defending His people - He is alive and relational. He desires a relationship with us. If I just look to the Word but never looked for the fruit of that word around me, I would miss the whole experience of God and who He really is. Jesus was an example of the experience of God. The law fulfilled.
2. So powerful where Jesus says "Learn what this means - I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Jesus wanted us to break free from the law. He wanted to give mercy because that represents something that would happen in a relationship. God wants a relationship with us. Why? So He can reveal Himself to us. I need both - His word and I need to experience God, His word at work.
vs 34 "But the Pharisees said "He casts out demons by the prince of demons."
The Pharisees thought they knew "the formula" to get God to act. They had mastered the law and everyone knew they were in a place of position. Their knowledge and position became the stumbling block and kept them from being able to see who Jesus really was. How sad that they had spent so much time learning the ways of God but yet they didn't recognize His own Son. I found it sad that they knew the law in text and theory, but the ways of God had not changed them... they were not transformed by God but were robots of the law, unteachable for what God had truly intended for His people.
I took 2 things from this:
1. I need to experience God in my life. I need to not only read His Word and study the things of God but I need to see that God is working around me; healing people, loving people back to Him, rescuing people, defending His people - He is alive and relational. He desires a relationship with us. If I just look to the Word but never looked for the fruit of that word around me, I would miss the whole experience of God and who He really is. Jesus was an example of the experience of God. The law fulfilled.
2. So powerful where Jesus says "Learn what this means - I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Jesus wanted us to break free from the law. He wanted to give mercy because that represents something that would happen in a relationship. God wants a relationship with us. Why? So He can reveal Himself to us. I need both - His word and I need to experience God, His word at work.
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