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

Transient Illusions point to a greater hope

LIVE IT!

We’re having a winter get-away in the land of let’s pretend…where darkness is better than light, where life begins at nightfall, where spending is gaining and when the lights go on it’s closing time…In the excesses of this artificial world are a thousand chances to pretend, some more innocent than others.  Is pretending all that bad?  and why do we like such illusions when we know they aren’t for real?

Take for instance our cheap hotel—Let’s pretend we’re at the beach.  Surfboards are at the ready.  Wet footprints in the elevators.  Palm trees and orange décor fill every room in the Ocean Tower but… where’s the surf?!

Tired of the beach, let’s go to Venice.  Serenaded by the gondolier plying his craft down the canal under the quaint footbridges we wander through quaint side streets under a stunningly realistic painted blue sky studded with fluffy clouds.  We are stuck in a sort of ambient twilight zone that makes the mind unwind and the soul dream.  It’s a surreal world of glitzy shops and picturesque cafes and pastry shops, of ‘sidewalk’ restaurants with very unreal prices that must be paid with real money while the world goes peacefully by in virtual happiness…

I have always wanted to visit Venice so was captivated to discover this little ‘world’ within the world of Las Vegas.  As we sat relishing a picture-perfect and delicious fruit tart and breakfast croissant in the early morning quiet of our little wonder-land I got to reflecting on what it is about such unreality that makes it so endearing.

Las Vegas is the epitome of ‘the lust of the eyes’.  What you see is however, not what you get.  It’s pretend.  You can pretend for instance, that “I love you” and “You are mine”, but the morning light will prove it not to be so… Is this why the lighting is such that it is always fading day or darkest night?

The land of pretend is flawless.  The canals do not smell dank.  The tenement housing of New York, New York is quaint and picturesque, not sordid.  The cobblestone streets of Rome are polished and its dictators benign statues.  No coliseum for torturing saints here. It’s magnificent. It’s opulent. It’s decadent.  But, this land of ‘let’s pretend’ is transient.  It represents the worlds we long to live in but never quite find.  Our hearts are drawn to love these things, illusions of the true, better than the real in some ways—this is a land of sanitized miniatures and flawless facades.  Paradise is not here.  Nor is love.  It is these we were made for.  As I sat in that Venetian pastry shop sipping and nibbling I recognized this longing for a beautiful reality that never fades, a lasting love that never tires—things that outlast the night—that befit endless day.

We are made for the real thing, a city that has no need of light for the Son is there.  A city where it is never night but always there is life.  A land of endless day and rapturous love.  On this I choose to set my heart.  The rest is imitation.  Fun to visit, in spots.   And great for kindling dreams of greater things…

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ, He is the true God and eternal life.  Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” I Jn. 5:20,21

–LS

A Forgotten Prayer

All Sorts

“Don’t be afraid, your prayer has been heard.” Lk.1:12


Everyone was praying.  Zechariah too, on duty burning incense.  An angel appears bearing God’s reply.  Zechariah is dumb-founded.  Had he not expected a response?  Had he given up believing?  But the God who does more than we can even ask or think (and never forgets a prayer) had a surprise in store for him.  Not only would there be a baby in his old age, but this would be a son, a special son– filled with the Holy Spirit before he was even born, a son who would be ‘great before the Lord’ (Lk.1:15)


Zechariah had wanted a son and had prayed.  How long had it been since he had stopped asking, stopped hoping, stopped planting the seed?  But God had not forgotten the faith He’d planted in Zechariah’s heart.

And I wonder, what prayer have I prayed long ago with high hopes and young eagerness that has now dwindled in the face of unfulfillment.  Or perhaps faded into cynical disillusionment.  Things don’t ‘seem’ to be turning out as I’d dreamed.  Time to check the dreams against the promises of God to my heart perhaps.  What has He promised?  Am I planting seeds of faith, praying with hope, looking eagerly for God’s intervention in my days?

Zechariah is left quite literally dumb-founded.  Skeptical of the angel’s good news he is left unable to voice his doubt. “You will be silent, unable to speak because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”Lk.1:20 In silence he will wait to see God perform His purpose.  He will have no say in the matter.  But he does have a role to play—when his days in the temple are complete he will go home and celebrate with his wife.  And in God’s time, God’s promise will be fulfilled.  Despite Zechariah’s lapse of faith, God remains faithful.  How reassuring.   But perhaps for me it is not yet too late to call to remembrance the promises given, the prayers prayed in eager faith, and to echo a different reply, Mary’s reply.

When this same angel, Gabriel, came to Mary she asked for some clarification of how his words would come true but was commended for believing.  She had the benefit of hearing Zechariah and Elizabeth’s miracle story of course and the reminder that with God ‘nothing will be impossible’.  Then she simply responded: “Let it be to me according to your word.”  That’s the kind of heart response I want to have. 
Let’s share our miracle stories and remind each other that nothing is impossible for our God… then let’s unearth those old God-given hopes and prayers and waft them to heaven like sweet incense while we wait and celebrate what is yet to be.  And we shall see what God will do, when the time is right.



“Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” Lk.1:45

The Spirit—alive and well

LIVE IT!

When a strong, hard-working and talented craftsman sits slumped in mental confusion unable to fasten a snap or string two thoughts together into meaningful speech, the reality is clear.  The outer man is decaying.  The brain as a function of the physical body is wasting away.  What is left?

I have been mulling over these things with particular concern this past week as my own Dad has taken a sharp turn for the worse in his journey with Alzheimer’s.  How can I pray for him?  What understanding do I need in order to see things from God’s perspective?   Our bodies are described as ‘tents’ that house the ‘inner man’, temporary wind-blown affairs that grow tattered and burdensome, tents in which we groan in anticipation of the real deal, the imperishable version.

What resides in the tent that is our body?  A soul with an eternal destiny, whether that be endless torment or unending life!  As I understand it the soul is the very center of my being, my ‘heart’.  From it emanate the values and beliefs that shape who I am as a person.  So what happens when the brain goes ‘haywire’ and the body is no longer able to communicate who I am to people around me? [Incidentally, this belief in an immaterial part of us is not to be taken for granted.  Secularists will mostly deny it, and those who acknowledge an unseen reality want to attribute it to brain chemicals or some such ‘scientifically’ verifiable substance.] Who am I then?  Am I utterly alone in my plight?

I was sitting here this morning considering briefly how to pray for my Dad when these words came to my attention: “Though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” (Rom.8:10)  A precious comfort is given to the believer, for not only does his ‘tent’ house his own soul, but God’s spirit has also come to dwell there.  He has brought to life the spirit of the man and is able to commune with him there by His Spirit.  The inner man is alive and well!  The Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are indeed God’s children. (Rom. 8:16) Sweet reality, no matter what is happening on the outside,  the inner man is being renewed day by day, ever being transformed into the likeness of Jesus.  This is the believer’s destiny! The whole creation is said to be waiting for the sons of God to be revealed.  Who’s to say whether Alzheimer’s cannot be part of the refining process by which God perfects his saints?  Does God stop working all things for the good of those who love him when they have lost their mental abilities?  Does His Spirit vacate its residence in us because of physical disease?  No, in fact His Spirit is given as a guarantee of our inheritance to come—that imperishable, undefiled, unfading inheritance kept in heaven for us, guarded by God’s power through faith. (I Pet. 1:4-9)

And it gets even better, there’s more to the work of the Spirit.  How am I to pray?  How is my dad to pray if his mind won’t work? When no one understands his confusion?  When he feels abandoned by his own family and sits forlorn chin in hands… Can the Spirit stir in his spirit to elicit prayer, to give comfort?  I believe so.  We are given a glimpse of the Spirit’s work in Romans 8: “the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (8:26-27) Does it get any better than that?! The verse following reminds that God is working in everything for the good of the one who loves Him.  What is this good?  Conformity to the image of His own Son—via choosing, calling, justifying, and at last glorifying! Is Alzheimer’s disease an obstacle to His purposes.  Will it separate one from the love of God? Assuredly not.   The lyrics to the powerful hymn “The Love of God” further attest to this fact.  Are you aware where the 3rd stanza originated?  It was found written on the wall of an inmate’s room in an insane assylum:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
So how do I pray for my dad these days?  I am praying from Paul’s prayers that God will grant him to be strengthened with all power through His Spirit in his inner man, so that being rooted and grounded in Christ he may be able to comprehend the full extent of God’s love for him and in so doing, be filled up with all the fullness of the God who is Love.  (Eph.3:16-18)

Not a bad prayer to pray for any of us I’d say—till we all come to maturity in Christ and the perishable has put on the imperishable.

Praise be to God who leads us in triumph in Christ!  (I Cor.15:56)

May your New Year be filled with the awareness of the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord—Christ in us, our hope of glory.

…………………
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.
………………….

–LS

Joy to the World!

All Sorts



Joy is the province of the believer.  Though we have not seen Jesus we love Him.  Though we do not see Him now yet we believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.  And the outcome of such faith?–the salvation of our souls.  (Can I cite this verse here without being derided for holding such a silly faith that has no evidence to support it?  What a relief.)  What a joy!  And enough of it to share with the whole wide world. 

Joy to the world!  The Lord has come.  Let earth receive her King.


But alas, Jesus came to His own and His own did not receive Him.  
But to all who did receive him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. 


Amazing!


I have a new appreciation for my faith these days.  It has become a precious commodity in a forum of people who find it not merely an enigma, but a maddening (un)reality.  Their world knows no sin, no Saviour, and no Good News.  They resent certainty, faith, and I suppose, Joy.


I am ready for a holiday, a holy holiday to celebrate the real live birth of my real live Hero into a world that needs Him more than we know!  


Joy to the World, our King has come.  


Wishing you and yours a joy-filled holy holiday!!!


–LS


“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!”
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, for He that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”


Quotations and almost quotations are taken from the following:
I Peter 1:8,9; John 1:11,12; Luke 2:14; Heb.11:6