Yearly Archives: 2011

Postponing the post…

BOOKS, LIVE IT!

For what are you waiting, hoping, daring to believe? An unexpected late snowfall has dumped a chill on the first signs of spring at our house. They say hope deferred makes the heart sick. (Prov.13:12) So what’s the antidote? I suppose it’s something like being patient, and establishing our hearts in the truth of what’s to come…I have been considering this week a related idea: the fight of faith. What’s that about? Unfortunately, these thoughts have not materialized into a post for two reasons:

One is that I was busy composing a book review of The End of Reason, an excellent resource for addressing the  underlying inconsistencies of the ‘new atheists’.  [Click the title to link to that review]

The other is that today, the day that these thoughts on the fight of faith were to have materialized in print, we woke to a phone call saying our grand-daughter is about to be born in a far-off city… and that’s where we are heading with hopes in hand tomorrow, so the post proposition was pre-empted till a later date…..

The fight of faith.  It remains an on-going battle, even today, for peace and trust, and coherence of thought minus the fears, minus the tumult of rushed plans.  For God has given us a spirit of love, power and a sound mind–all we need for today.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you’ll check out the book review and keep it in mind if you ever need to say a  timely word in defense of your faith to one who thinks it’s all magic and dangerous delusion.

—LS

What’s the Difference?!

All Sorts

I was challenged this week to consider what the difference is between me and ‘the Lady’, that is, between one who professes to ‘know’ Jesus and be indwelt by His Spirit—a ‘believer’, and one who has chosen to live a prudent and moral life as much as possible but denies the existence of any god.  She knows plenty of mainline ‘Christians’, lots of religious people but claims to see no difference between us— I quote:

“As I say often, what interests me greatly is why it is so important for some very intelligent people to so willingly accept these myths. There is no difference in the lives of people like you who believe and people like me who do not. Your life is not any richer or happier or free from strife and problems.”

This seemed such an audacious claim that I of course set about contesting it. In part my response was:

“It is true that we are all made of the same genetic ‘stuff’. We may even share certain interests (chatting about books for instance) but your ‘phone’ is dead (referring to a prior conversation on the subject of prayer). Until that connection is made live you will never know the dimension of life you are missing, and the quality of life comparison becomes mere wishful thinking…from my observation there is nothing compelling about denying the reality of God in this world. Even if my belief were mistaken I would rather have lived with the joy, purpose and hope that come of knowing there is a God who holds my life in His hands, calls me by name and keeps count of the hairs on my head–who indeed loves me without conditions, than to trade these in for denial, which offers a transient show of ‘freedom’ but ends in lonely bondage to the tyranny of myself as my only god.  That’s the way I see it.”

Well, that led to a barrage of responses from the defenders of the god-less viewpoint which sobered me to realize something more… but first some excerpts—

What an atheist (with regards to the Christian God) does get is intellectual honesty and freedom to wonder if “God” may take some other form than the unimaginative and limiting deity conceived by religion. I don’t think denial applies to an atheist. –George

Joy, purpose and hope can be achieved without an outside force.
If a belief in God gives comfort to those who have none, or love to those who have none, then yes, a belief in God may have some merit. But, that merit is only an imaginary coping system. As an individual, I take full responsibility for my circumstances. It does not give me comfort, or hope to blame my circumstances on a God, or to expect a God to change them. The thought that a God holds my life in his hands is a bit scary actually. It takes all control away, it takes all choices away. I am responsible for how I choose to live my life and the actions I choose to make.–Suzie

If I select five atheistic friends and compare them to my five siblings, I see no difference in the morality of their lives, their human frailties and weaknesses, their kindnesses and generosities. The only difference is the lack of Church and God in their conversations and of course attendance at religious services. Also the atheistic are more accepting of the religious beliefs or lack thereof of others in their lives. –the Lady

Skepticism is a virtue, but faith is not. I’ve seen too many good people duped into believing false things over and over and over again, and being seriously financially or physically harmed.—Mr.Brain

There is no difference between the lives of those who believe and those who do not. When Katrina hit New Orleans it did not separate believers from non-believers to impact.
I do recognize that there are some differences between us because I assume you spend much time either in church, saying prayers or thinking of God and Jesus and asking for guidance from them which you then implement in your life and the lives of those for whom you are responsible. I would imagine the biggest difference is that you attribute the decisions you make for running your life to God/Jesus and I accept the responsibility for myself.
I don’t know that joy and (can’t remember your quote exactly) are exactly quantifiable in this way. So many other factors enter into such evaluations. No matter how deep your faith, don’t think you would be so joyful in the presence of a dying family member or if you are prone to depression or ill yourself etc.—the Lady

And all these heart-felt missives led me to do some thinking too.  How different are we as Christians because we believe there is a God we can know?  Does it really just amount to church attendance and time spent praying?  Is this what people perceive? 

I read a research report suggesting that the ‘new atheism’ is in part a protest against organized religion.  It is people observing ineffective religion and opting out altogether. Could it be they have never seen authentic Christianity lived out?  In Acts I see a very different story.  The first followers of Christ turned the world upside down. Their faith and boldness to speak in Jesus’ name were unstoppable! Onlookers were converted in droves.  These believers  knew their God and really believed.  They were living evidence of His unlimited power.  What’s happened to us?  What witness does the average person see to the power of the Gospel to transform lives?

One idea that I proposed to this group of staunch un-believers was that in denying a God, they in effect make themselves to be god.  Have we as believers done the same thing? Have we forgotten our God and put ourselves in His place? For whose pleasure do I live?  Whose interests do I promote?  How different am I from someone who claims there is no god and lives by their own intuitions?  Are the ‘christians’ these folks see virtual atheists in the way they live?  Am I?  How deep is  my joy anyway?  I don’t mean to sound overly introspective here but I’ve been rolling these questions around in my mind even as I pray the Lord will plant authentic believers in these ones’ lives and help the rest of us to be that sort of believer to those around us.

This has been a very interesting on-line community to be involved with. [Incidentally, though I have changed the user names above to protect the privacy of these real persons,  they do represent a virtual community who rally together to defend their rights to think outside the box and I do appreciate their willingness to interact with me and put up with my objections and clarifications.]  Having said that, I’ve had to correct some of my assumptions about ‘atheism’.  I assumed that atheists would all be a gloomy lot since the logical end to their beliefs leaves no option but despair.  But classic atheism is apparently a rather rare commodity nowadays.

The genuine atheist who seriously lives out the implications of his non-beliefs will always end up with despair.  Nietzsche is a notable example.  He came to the conclusion that “a universal madness would break out when the truth of what mankind had done in killing God (i.e. denying his existence, saying ‘God is dead’) dawned on us.” (Zacharias, The End of Reason, p.27)  Incidentally Nietzsche spent the last thirteen years of his own life in insanity being watched over by his godly mother.

Other notorious atheists have come to their senses and escaped this snare.   Jean Paul Sartre, to the embarrassment of the intellectual elite atheist, recanted on his deathbed, acknowledging himself to be the product of a Creator God. And more recently Anthony Flew authored his own story: There is a God: how the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind (2007)

When pursued to its legitimate ends an atheistic worldview is un-liveable, and yet here is this community of  people, living quite contentedly it would seem.  The ‘new atheist’ wants his morality, in fact exalts it above God’s moral standards– (after all, look at the suffering God allows!).  He toots his own self-righteous horn all the while denying the Source of moral absolutes.   He’s inconsistent—talking one way, living another—not really living up to the label he has chosen.  How does that work?  But should this discovery have come as a surprise?  Am I not also human and often inconsistent?  In fact this scenario of not living up to one’s labels sounds all too familiar.  How did Paul put it?  “…having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (II Tim.3:5)


Where else might this apply?

It dawned on me one day this week that we who believe there is an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving, personal God who is intimately acquainted with all our ways and promises to work in every detail for our best good…we above all people, should be filled chock-full and overflowing with contagious JOY, not to mentions unfathomable peace and boundless hope.  The atheist has every excuse for despair.  We have none whatsoever.  We believe in what we do not see.  We hope in situations beyond hope.  We live and are renewed when death is imminent.  We are confident of a destiny that reaches beyond our physical lives.  To the atheist, ‘destiny’ is “no more than a popular name for girls.” They have no expectation beyond the grave.  To us it is the hope that lights our present lives, the lighthouse we can see through the storms, the sight on which we fix our eyes.  And as we live with a sense of our destiny we will be brilliant lights for people stuck in uncertain aimless lives.
 
On the other hand, if my joy is not evident… if my kids don’t see it leaking out on my face…  If my peace is riddled through with the worries of this life, how is what I believe different than ‘the Lady’?  I don’t wish to be a practical atheist.  I want to fulfill the calling to which I have been called, to live what I say I believe, to walk by faith in a power beyond my own.
 
I was challenged by an excellent commentary called “Stretch out in the Spirit” by T.Moore from the Colson Center. (http://www.colsoncenter.org/the-center/columns/viewpoint/16248-stretch-out-in-the-spirit ) He says,

 â€œâ€ŚBut if the Spirit of God lives in us, and if He is, indeed, able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, should we not expect more of ourselves than merely what we’ve ever known or endeavored in the past? Shall we be limited by our experience when an exceeding abundant power is at work within us?”  

So, for perhaps the first time I am looking at ‘holes’ that need to be filled and wondering if God could possibly prepare me to be able to fill them… I don’t see the details yet but I’m daring to pray that He will make a way for His Kingdom to be advanced in these spots by my ‘living sacrifice’.  It’s a start in making a difference… He’s invited us to ask and He will give the nations as our inheritance (Ps.2)… to ask and He will do through us greater works than He Himself did while on the earth (Jn.14:12-14)…To dare to ask, is a starting place. 

And yes, there will be a noticeable difference, not because of who we are, but because of WHOSE we are.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  AMEN!”


“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…”

(Eph.3:20-4:1)

MISSIONS FEST–Vancouver

All Sorts

This past weekend, we went into the big city to check out Missions Fest for the first time.  Was it worth the time, expense and energy?  Without a doubt!  Rather than rehearse all the details I put together these impressions.  I was struck by the incredible privilege of being part of the family of God, standing en masse (1500+) to worship God together as one, and in contrast I thought of how very different is the atmosphere when people gather to pursue their own pleasure irrespective of God’s Kingdom.  There’s no comparison.

A gathering from hither and yon’ of saints-the church-His Body
Worship
Purpose
Music
Passion
Singing
Eagerness to hear
Testimony
Praise
Goose-bumps
Tears welling
Awe of God ——Attentiveness to hear His instructions


“What does the Lord require of me?”

Acquaintances made
Earnest Discussion
Kingdom strategizing
Bold Words
Heartfelt messages
Challenge
Seeking to put God’s Kingdom first
Excellence
Zeal

God IS alive!——God is MOVING!——-GOD IS AWESOME in this place and all over the world!

Renewed faith
Hope
 Encouragement
Opened Eyes
Fresh Vision
Expectancy to see God at work in our sphere of influence and join in!
To confirm His calling

in our lives
in our times.

This was the celebration rightly called MISSIONS FEST!

It could hardly have been in greater contrast to the atmosphere of the ‘fertile plain’ we’d just glimpsed, the strip of imitation ‘life’ we caught a glimpse of on our recent trip to Las Vegas.

Crowds flock there too.  Conventions gather.
But there is no glory, only transient glamour.
No music of heaven, only noise—the incessant drone of casino din (ding,ding,ding,ding,ding,ding…)

The smoky haze of worship misdirected yields no purpose that energizes
Only drained countenance, weary of life,
Bored to death with pushing buttons,
playing chips,
tossing dice
watching outcomes in vain.

Hope dulled by disappointment
Despair settling on shoulders, dismal

Passion is here traded for lust—
No kingdom to live for, die for, celebrate
But my own.
Greed, lust, appetite for more, 
Turns to gluttonous disillusionment.
Stuffed but not satisfied.
Spent but nothing gained.
Entertained, titillated, and wowed senseless.
Deadened
Empty.
This is the ‘life’ of the fertile plain.
Abraham chose differently.  Moses too.
Both willing to deny the pleasures of sin for a season in order to stake their lot in future glory.
The world will pass away and the lusts thereof
But he who does the will of God will live forever.(IJn.2:17)

In His right hand are pleasures forevermore.(Ps.16:11)

An inheritance that neither spoils nor fades, kept in heaven for you who……..through faith and patience inherit the promises…(I Pet.1:5)(Heb.6:12)

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.(Mt.6:33)
And I consider, “What does the Lord require of me?”
To do justly
To love mercy
To walk humbly with my God(Micah 6:8)

All              the           days           of               my             life
And then to dwell in His House forever
In unending awe 
At what He has done.
God, you are amazing!
—LS

“Declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised,
and He is to be held in awe above all gods!” (I Chron.16:24,25)

What Would You Say?

All Sorts

‘You know how children often have an imaginary friend? That is how I look upon your “relationship” with Jesus. I would define a relationship as well, even what you and I have; or more desirably with someone you actually have seen and heard speak. Anything else is just a daydream or wishful thinking. Kind of like when a teenage girl gets a crush on a movie star or such.’

What would you say?  How do I explain this unseen relationship upon which I have built my life to a skeptic?  This was a snatch of actual ‘conversation’ (online) I had with ‘the Lady’ as I will refer to her.  She is in her 70’s now and appears quite smug and self-satisfied having abandoned the faith of her upbringing.  By way of introduction here is her story in her own words:

“You are right about upbringing as I was raised in a church [Episcopal] and my siblings (five of them) either are still in that church or have converted to Catholicism (because of marriage in two cases) I am the only atheist of the six of us, but of our 18 children, only 4 or 5 are active church members. My child had no religious upbringing, nor did her two. We are all happy, moral people who feel no lack (or even consideration on the part of my daughter and her two) of the absence of such “a pursuit of the knowledge of God” In fact to me it would be akin to chasing a will o’ the wisp.

Don’t you think it is interesting that what you consider a central and significant part of your life has no part in the lives of many and yet we all think of ourselves as having very full and complete lives?” 

So what is there to say?  The ‘imaginary friend’ allegation is not original. It comes straight out of popular atheistic works.  It of course feels insulting but there’s little value in reacting.  I had in another post attempted to differentiate between religion and relationship to which ‘the Lady’ responded:

“The statement you make about having a “relationship with Jesus” confuses me. In fact as soon as I read it I called my sister (whom I had wanted to speak to anyway) and asked her if she, as a Catholic, had a “relationship with Jesus” and she said she had not and so I asked her if she knew what it meant and she did not.”

I was encouraged by this indication of her curiosity and by the fact that she discussed the concept with her sister, who is incidentally involved in a Bible Study at her church.  This too fuels my hope that God can yet reveal Himself to these ladies.  Eventually she asked me to spell out what I mean by ‘relationship’.  She addressed these questions to me and the other Christian active at this site:

“What exactly is a personal relationship with Jesus? Since that is the essence of Christianity, please explain it.

Do you speak to Jesus and does he answer? Do you pray and enter a trance state? Do you meditate and reach a different level of consciousness and call that a personal relationship? What exactly does personal relationship mean? Does each individual who claims to have one, define it differently?

Is it pointless for you to describe, since the unbelievers could not grasp the deeply mystical significance of such a relationship? If so, isn’t it your responsibility to convince us?

In claiming this, unlike for instance, saying you believe in Jesus and in God, you are elevating yourselves to a grander standing than most of those who merely “think” they are Christians. So what exactly does a personal relationship mean and how many people do you think have one?”

What would you say?


Explaining who Jesus is to you in a context of hard-core skeptics, many of whom doubt the very historical reality of Jesus Christ, is a little like casting pearls before swine.  I had a sense that ‘the Lady’ was not so much asking out of personal interest as she was looking to mock my naivety.  But we are to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us so I thought and prayed and came up with this answer:

“Lady, …Your question is a fair one, and assuming it is an honest one, deserves a well-thought out answer. This is going to be tricky without referring to the Bible, (which seems to ‘push your buttons’, so bear with me here ( : I will try to speak for myself, as I suppose, as in any relationship, different people will have different experiences and ways of explaining what they appreciate about their relationship, not to mention the different phases a relationship goes through as two people grow together. All these things are true of a relationship with Jesus. Except that in this unique case, problems in relationship are always the fault of the human factor. 

I could run through and answer your questions: Yes, yes, yes and no, no, and probably yes. But I’m afraid you still won’t get what I’m saying, not because it’s ‘deeply mystical’ but because this is a spiritual relationship. Obviously, Jesus is not here on the earth in bodily form. But He is alive and His Spirit lives in every genuine believer. This is in fact what distinguishes a Christian from one who merely follows the ‘Christian’ religion. How can I explain this to you though if we are only material beings in your line of reasoning? And no, it is not my responsibility to convince anyone of anything, only to share the good news I have found. No one has to believe it. The convincing job is where God’s Spirit comes in. (We call him the Holy Spirit) All right, I’m already sensing that I’ve lost you… The one basic obstacle we have here is that spiritual concepts (and you’re not going to like the sound of this) are only discernible to spiritual persons. And I don’t mean ‘spiritual’ in some vague way, but in the sense just mentioned—persons who have the very spirit of God residing in them. That may sound pious and other-worldly but it can be your experience too, same as any other believer. It’s not some unattainable state.

There is in fact a rather famous conversation between a teacher of the Law and Jesus that explains this. This man didn’t ‘get it’ either but saw clearly that Jesus was no ordinary man. He arranged a private interview, and Jesus came right out and told him that unless he was born ‘from above’ he could not comprehend God’s kingdom. When the man asked how this could possibly happen, being ‘born again’ (an overused term but this incident is its origin) , Jesus said it was a spirit thing. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. He then compared the Spirit to wind which we cannot see but we surely can see and know its effects! Without his spirit all the talk about having a relationship with Jesus will sound like foolishness. 

So when I say yes, I talk to Jesus, and yes, He talks back, if you’re thinking in merely physical terms you’ll think ‘ah, she’s looney’. But though I may or may not speak to Him in voiced words, his response is one that communicates with my spirit. It is a strong ‘sense’ of knowing something, an impression that goes beyond mental conjuring. It is communicated to my spirit. Here lies another obstacle to this making sense. The spirit of man. It is a dead entity until God gives it life. And because God is spirit, its being alive is necessary for one who wishes to hear from God. The Bible teaches that at the moment of entering this relationship, the believer’s spirit is made alive. It is then the place of communicating with God who is Spirit. This goes on 24/7. He’s fully present to me and I to Him. We can be silent together, or talk. To know I am fully known and loved at all times by the all-powerful God who created me is enough to face anything that may arise in my life. That’s the long and short of what I mean by relationship. Don’t know if it really answers your query. And I don’t doubt that it sounds strange, esp. if you’ve not considered the reality of a realm other than the physical one. Also, it is far more complicated to describe one’s own relationship with a spiritual being than it is to give information on how to enter this relationship (which I believe would be considered proselytizing on this thread). I guess to state it simply is to say that it’s a relationship in another dimension than the physical. It’s an ongoing, growing thing which doesn’t come naturally to any of us. An excellent book on the subject that I’ve read lately is called Hearing God. It is a sound, non-sensational explanation of what it means to develop a conversational relationship with God. It is, of course, written by a Christian ( Dallas Willard, who happens to be a long-time professor of philosophy at the U. of California) and for Christians, but you might glean some insight here.

And as for this notion of ours being a ‘grander standing’ than those who merely believe in Jesus and in God. First off, there are plenty of people who believe in ‘God’ in a vague sort of way, but want nothing to do with Jesus. That gets too personal for some reason; it demands I talk about sin and needing ‘salvation’ for instance. The Bible makes clear that it isn’t enough to merely believe God exists. Jesus said, even the demons do that. [ Yes, if there’s a good spiritual world, there’s a bad one—God’s enemies, the Devil and his demons (fallen angels)] |”You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that-and shudder”.James 2:19 So no, this isn’t an exclusive club, just one that most choose not to join. 

As for numbers, it’s difficult to speculate but there is much reference to sheep vs. goats in the Bible and this way of relationship is called a narrow road that few find (as contrasted to the wide road leading to destruction)– Pilgrim’s Progress depicts this excellently in allegorical terms– So the numbers are limited, fewer than polls suggest I would expect. This is not to say the way is not clearly offered to all. There are just few willing to pay the cost of following it. To me the benefits far outweigh the costs, but to the skeptical onlooker this does not seem so.

For further reading since I’ve eliminated quotes a.m.a.p. I would commend to you these chapters in the Bible: 

John 3 (the famous conversation)

Ephesians 1 & 2 (the ‘scoop’ on being dead vs. alive in spirit)

John 10 (Jesus likened to a good shepherd. His sheep hear His voice)

I Corinthians 2 (the spiritual man described)

Hebrews 1 & 2 (the big picture. God communicating down through time, and now in Jesus)”

So that is how I answered.  What would you have said?


Her reply was brief, nothing unexpected:

“Well, … I do thank you very much for your explanation of your personal relationship with Jesus and I do understand what you are saying. I don’t doubt at all that you experience what you say you experience. I don’t understand it, except that I would probably say it is some form of self hypnosis, or wish fulfillment or such. I really am not enough of either a psychologist, psychiatrist or person like Joseph Campbell who may have some explanation for people like you. When I say “people like you” I do not mean that in a pejorative sense.”

She has no good explanation for ‘people like me’… but at least now she has ‘met’ one.  And I pray for her sister to come to the knowledge of the truth and be able to report back to her that ‘Yes! She does now know what a relationship with Jesus is!’  Until then, I guess I’m just a teeny light shining into a bunch of dismal darkened intellects.


Shortly after that conversation I came upon this poem and was encouraged. It is quoted in C.S. Lewis’ Letters to Malcolm in answer to the taunting of a skeptic that prayer is nothing more that talking to oneself…

“They tell me, Lord, that when I seem
To be in speech with you,
Since but one voice is heard, it’s all a dream,
One talker aping two.

Sometimes it is, yet not as they
Conceive it.  Rather, I
Seek in myself the things I hoped to say,
But lo! My wells are dry.

Then, seeing me empty, you forsake
The listener’s role and through
My dumb lips breathe and into utterance wake
The thoughts I never knew.

And thus you neither need reply
Nor can; thus, while we seem
Two talkers, thou art One forever, and I
No dreamer, but thy dream.”

When all is said and done, we are His children and it is God who initiates and sustains this relationship we claim to have.   Who can really explain it?!  And yet, it is more real than life itself.  And that gives me something to shine about!

“But you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” Rom.8:15

—LS

Blessed–in plenty and in want

LIVE IT!

Blog due today, after a week of only nibbles in the Word.
When I have not heard His voice, I lose my own.
The crumbs I have to share grow stale.

After a week of relaxing and reveling in sunshine and lovebeams I am turning over one of these ‘tidbits’ in my mind again.  It seemed so out of place to contemplate in the midst of our happy holiday.  I turn to it again to make sense of its ‘blessed’s and ‘woe’s.   Luke 6 is the passage– Luke’s abbreviated version of the Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping.
Blessed too the hated, excluded and reviled…
And introspective me threatens my happy lot by asking, ‘Am I these? Shouldn’t I be?’

Having had the wealth to take a holiday, buffets sufficient to stave off any sign of hunger, and delight that took us far from tears and sadness, I wonder, ‘Am I these? The poor? The hungry? The bereft?’ And a niggling of guilt drags at my satisfaction.

The woes that follow feel uncomfortably applicable—
‘Woe to you who are rich’ (you’ve got all you’re getting)
‘Woe to you who are full now’ (hungry times are coming!)
‘Woe to you who laugh now’ (heartbreak ahead!)
‘Woe to you, when all people speak well of you’ (that’s how their ancestors talked about false prophets!)
And I reflect on these truths and wonder how they fit my days.

I have been banqueted and cosseted, lavishly loved and romanced, not only by my life’s true love but by the Lover of my soul.  He fills my life with such tangible tokens of His love.  He knows the very desires of my heart and meets me there.  His words come to me in the night “I delight over you with singing”.  I am finding that not only is God not opposed to pleasure but He actually delights in my delight. He fills my life with good things—not just food and frills—but His presence and His smile.

So why the twinge of guilt as if I’d opened a forbidden present, when in fact I have only enjoyed the lavish banquet He unbegrudgingly set before me?

Have I unwittingly believed that anything delicious, delightful, or in any way seductive is bound to be wrong and best avoided?  Is God in fact romancing my heart while I have held tight to ‘self-denial’ in the name of holiness?  Have I spurned His gifts in an effort to forge my own standards of perfection?  And can I say ‘yes’ to plenty, to beauty, to pleasure… “Yes, and THANK-YOU!” without regret?  I am learning, with wariness. I have been blessed.  I have been made rich.  I am loved beyond measure.  And, I have been entrusted with good things that can turn my heart from its true home.  The warnings of Deuteronomy 6 come to mind.

10 “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of [fn4] slavery. 13 You shall [fn5] fear only the LORD your God; and you shall [fn6] worship Him and swear by His name. 14 You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will [fn7] wipe you off the face of the earth.

How do I avoid the blight of becoming ‘spoiled’, demanding more, or becoming enthralled with the gifts and losing sight of the Giver?

These things too I consider and I give thanks to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. I think this is the key to contentment in plenty and in want.  It is the preventative for becoming a spoiled brat.  It is the antidote for the shock of coming home to normalcy and responsibility.  Giving thanks, in everything.  This is the will of God for me. In thankfulness I can partake of plenty confidently without guilt or misgiving.

I woke one night from a ‘LOSER’ dream.  In this dream I could do nothing right, could not please anyone, could only cause trouble and leave others wishing I were not there…  What a welcome relief to wake and turn my thoughts to ponder instead this One who loves me as I am, wants me always with Him, lavishes His love on me and declares me perfect.  He takes me, holds me, and enters my life to recreate it whole and new and beautiful.  All faults I see, my sins, are all in time, but He is timeless.  He sees the End from the Beginning—perfection, holiness, the finished product.  He is happy, well-pleased, satisfied. And when I awake from the dream that is this lifetime, I will behold His glory and be like Him—just as He created me to be!

And as for the ‘problem’ of the ‘blessed’s.  Matthew amplifies:  Blessed are the poor in spirit…those who mourn…those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.  Theirs is the Kingdom of God, the comfort of God and the satisfaction of being filled with God.

God does not begrudge His children’s pleasure.  There is no inherent holiness or blessing in poverty, deprivation and misery.  There is holiness in yielding my days to the Lover of my soul, receiving His gifts with gratefulness and giving thanks in every circumstance that comes my way, because He is with me in it.  There is blessing in loving Him with all my heart and soul and mind and strength—in presenting my body a living sacrifice for His glory.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Ps.16:11 ESV

Could it be that my capacity for experiencing pleasure is actually enhanced by knowing the God who designed me and following His instruction manual?  That’s a thought for another day.  For today, I’m full of smiles at the memories made in this season of plenty we were given, and I’m thankful ( :





“I will bless the LORD who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night”.
–Ps.16:7 NASB

—LS


May I invite you to take a moment to consider this lyrical and tender rendition of a beautiful piece of music that expresses my heart today… [just click on the link below and enjoy.]
What am I Without You by Twila Paris