No Fear (He who dies with Jesus wins)

Yesterday, I turned on my most recently purchased Third Day albums--Move and Revelation.  As "Trust In Jesus," one of the tracks from Move, began playing, I remembered the first time I heard it and the dread I experienced during the first verse.  I was having a bad day and felt a moment of brightness when my CD arrived (pre-order has its benefits) because Third Day is one of my favorite groups.

Here is the first verse:

One of these days we all will stand in judgment for
Every single word that we have spoken
One of these days we all will stand before the Lord
Give a reason for everything we’ve done

And what I’ve done is 

What a terrifying thought!  For everything I have said, done, or thought, I have to give account to God!  I almost changed the song.  I needed encouragement, not more guilt!  But when the song continued into the refrain, I decided to continue listening:
          (And what I've done is)

Trust in Jesus
My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever
The Holy One, the Holy One

What are you going to do when your time has come
And your life is done and there’s nothing you can stand on
What will you have to say at the judgment throne
I already know the only thing that I can say I

Trust in Jesus
My great Deliverer
My strong Defender
The Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer
My Lord forever
The Holy One, the Holy One

There’s nothing I can do on my own to find forgiveness.
It’s by His grace alone I trust in Jesus

Trust in Jesus 

Oh.  Yes. Christ's gift of salvation doesn't just mean my sins are forgiven, it means they are absolved, gone.  I am completely healed.  I do not have to worry about standing in front of God and having Him list off every evil thought, word, or deed I have committed.  I trust in Jesus!  His grace, His love, His power alone frees me from the bondage of sin!

If you would like to hear the song, it is on Third Day's official website here.

"Marry" Christmas

While I am certainly not above them, I have the blessing/curse of seeing misspellings, homonym errors, and punctuation problems. This can be either a good or bad thing.  It is certainly good when proofing papers. However, it can be a drawback when I read wishes from old friends of "Marry Christmas" and cannot move beyond the first word.  Sometimes I like to think about word-misuses as intentional, especially in cases such as these.  So I asked myself, "What could it mean to 'marry Christmas?'"

For the past several years, I have had difficulty getting in the Christmas spirit.  The first year, I blamed this on the fact I was in college full-time and no one can possibly feel Christmassy over homework and finals (well, maybe one or two people can). The next year was the first Christmas since my Grandpa's death, I was busy house-sitting up until the day before Christmas Eve, and I was in college after a personally rough semester. This year was little better despite my hope for feeling the Christmas magic again.  I had little external distraction and could dedicate myself to Christmas stuff as much as I desired.  And yet, I was still surprised when I realized Christmas was only a few days away.  I just didn't feel it.

After contemplating my lack of Christmas spirit, I returned to thinking about the commanding message I received.  How could it apply to my life? Why did I feel my Christmas happiness was so contingent on my environment?  Isn't the true reason for the season alive in my heart?  Perhaps the way to marry Christmas is to devote--dedicate--fully to the meaning of Christmas.  The love of God.  God sent His Son, Christ, to be our Savior.  The glory of this moment, a true celebration of it, should work from the inside out into our environment.  My Christmas tree, the decorations outside, presents, or even my nativity will not provide a Christmas spirit.  I need to feel the joy in my heart first.  Marry myself to feeling and spreading the awesomeness of God and His gift to us.

Perhaps the misspellings were not misspellings after all.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  And best wishes for the new year.

The Great Romance (yeah, I've been reading the Circle Series)

You walk into a room, and a smile creeps onto your face.  There she is.  Your eyes meet, and she smiles and walks toward you.  You ask how she is, and your conversation flows in low tones.  Everything seems perfect.   Then he enters the room.  Her voice trails off as her gaze follows him.  Your heart sinks. She continues listening and distractedly adds to your conversation.  You try to hold her interest, but she excuses herself from your conversation and crosses the room to meet him.  You watch, downcast and concerned.  They begin talking, and she seems shy at first, glancing over her shoulder in your direction occasionally.  As those looks become less frequent, he grasps her hand.  She starts speaking with animation and awards him with such smiles you've only wished she would display for you.  Your heart aches, not simply because she has devoted to another, but because he is not worthy of her.  He will never fulfill her and will eventually leave her feeling empty and alone, forced to find another relationship.  How can you make this clear to her and win her back?


Something similar to this has likely happened to you.  Most people have some instance of unrequited love or affection.  Many have been in the situation of loving someone who they felt loved them at first but slowly slipped away towards someone who is not right for them. And you are left wondering if s/he ever cared to begin with, if you will win him/her back, and if your heart will ever heal.  This experience is definitely temporally painful, and I believe God feels it far more intensely when his children dedicate themselves to other gods. God is jealous for us.  He is El Qanna.   When we begin devoting ourselves to other gods--whether they be an actual idol, or a god of education, god of money, god of attention, or a sex god like the one to which the Israelites turned--He seeks to win us back to Him.

  ¹⁴ “ Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Will bring her into the wilderness, And speak comfort to her.  ¹⁵ I will give her her vineyards from there, And the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing there, As in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. ¹⁶ “ And it shall be, in that day,” Says the LORD, “ That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ ¹⁷ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more. ¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them With the beasts of the field, With the birds of the air, And with the creeping things of the ground. Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, To make them lie down safely.

 ¹⁹ “ I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; ²⁰ I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the LORD."

 Hosea 2:14-20

This Christmas, let us make sure to focus on God.  Ask Him to show you in what areas you might have "stepped out."  He alone can help you turn back to Him.

Unto the Lord

‘Then it happened, as [Moses and Elijah] were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” ³⁶ When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.’  

Luke 9:33-36

   Friday at Ab Initio, Beth Bentley taught us a Bible study method using Luke 9:28-36 and having us work along with her.  Since then, I have been thinking about the portion of this passage when Peter speaks, particularly the portion after “Master, it is good for us to be here.”  I have gone through several interpretations of what “not knowing what he said” might mean, but one idea has remained prominent in my mind.  Peter seemed to focus upon earthly needs instead of seeing the heavenly things happening around him.   He focused on wanting to provide shelter for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah instead of hearing the discussion of Jesus’ death and the salvation that would entail. 

  
   I think this stuck with me because I know I am frequently guilty of the same thing.  I often format my work to please whoever my immediate earthly authority is instead of looking at the bigger picture.  Even while doing this practice exercise on Friday, I kept stopping my thoughts because I wanted to make sure I was getting the type of answers Beth would want.  Now, there is nothing wrong with trying to please people, but I definitely should have been willing to share the answers I felt God was providing rather than thinking, “Oh, this cannot be what she wants.”  Once I realized I was doing this instead of focusing on what God was trying to reveal, I resolved to apply this interpretation immediately.  I’m working to be more aware of realizing who the real authority in a situation is.  Learning to focus on the heavenly will also help with having a better attitude.   If I look to see what the long-term is and look to see what God is doing, the difficult or annoying situations won’t be as frustrating. 

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” 

Colossians 3:23

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

1 Corinthians 10:31

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” 

Psalm 118:8   

Every Day is Thanksgiving

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
² Day after day they pour forth speech; 
   night after night they display knowledge. 
³ There is no speech or language 
   where their voice is not heard. 
⁴ Their voice goes out into all the earth, 
   their words to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4a

This time of year, many people set time aside to draw closer to God in humility, thanking Him for the material and spiritual things He has given them.  He delights in our praising Him, in our acknowledging Him to be the good, holy, trustworthy, loving God and Redeemer He is.

As the crowning glory of God's creation, let us learn from the skies and heavens and praise the Lord, profess His holy name, and declare His glory day after day, night after night-- always.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his Sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1, 6

Will Look to Help

I saw something thought-provoking on my way to lunch.  On one corner of the driveway, a crude sign proclaiming, "Homeless: Will Work for Food." On the other side, a Salvation Army Christmas kettle.  I began to wonder.  To whom are more people going to give?  Would they give directly to the unfortunate? Or would they give to the organization that gives to the unfortunate?

I'm inclined to think people would be more willing to give to the organization.  Perhaps they fear the holder of the sign could be scamming or would use the money to support unseemly habits.  Perhaps they think the little cash they have with them would not be enough to assist the sign holder and feel guilty about not being able to do more.  Or, perhaps, donating to an organization makes it less personal--makes it so they do not have to see those suffering from the problem.  Maybe we are helping the unseen people, trying to defeat the unseen enemy of poverty instead of reaching out to help people on our own.

Now, there is nothing wrong with donating to The Salvation Army (or other organizations).  For the most part, they (and many other groups) seem worthy.  However, this scenario challenged me to open my eyes and see ways to help those around me directly instead of only delegating assistance to other people or organizations.  I ought to be more active in assisting people in addition to placing some change in the red kettle--whether it is helping someone pick up the papers he or she dropped on the floor, offering a sympathetic ear, or considering giving food or money to someone who needs it.

Socially Appropriate

Yesterday was one of those days where I hoped it wouldn't end simply because I would have to get up the following morning.  Nothing overly awful occurred.  A lot of compounding situations and feelings contributed to the dourness. My grandmother's sickness and pain hurts and saddens me, the potential for infection in my horse's wound worries me, questions about my future make me anxious, and the fallen state of the world causes me to grieve on behalf of God.  Thankfully, Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross absolves us from our sins and allows us to walk with Him.  Hallelujah!  


So, 82% of myself was trying to be miserable while the remaining 18% meekly, but persistently, attempted to show me my irrationality.  Thus, I wasn't given over to despair, and was frustrated I couldn't have a consistent internal feeling.  Cooking didn't help.  I could not pray.  Music annoyed.  With daylight fading rapidly, I took a break from my cooking and drove to the barn to clean up Black Jack's face.  On the drive there, my negative and self-degrading thought processes continued until I arrived at the barn in tears.  As I opened my door, I smiled a bit ruefully at the sound of children laughing.  I quickly forgot their joy.  But then, as I walked towards the pastures, Black Jack surprised me by coming up to the fence, greeting me even before I called him.  His eagerness to see me didn't affect me immediately, but as I cared for his injury and felt his sweet, willing-to-please attitude, my foul mood began to dissipate.


This demonstrated far more to me than the fact I love my horse and he makes me happy.  His soft expressions and eager desire to spend some time with me proves the power of a smile and honesty.  Too often I find myself hiding my emotions because I feel they aren't socially appropriate for me to express. If I am happy to see someone, I should convey that.  If a person is down, a genuine smile could brighten his or her day.  I also need to not fear initiating communication with others.  I seldom do initiate--even if I really want to talk to that person--because I am afraid of being a bother: if he or she wants to talk to me, he or she will.  If he or she doesn't want to talk, I will content myself with watching and waiting.  When put in writing, I see how flawed this thinking is.  In practice, I know that if Black Jack hadn't come to the fence to greet me, hadn't been preemptive in his showing his appreciation of my company, I would have been stuck in furthering my morbidity.  People want to know they are valued, liked, loved.  And one of the ways I can show I value, like, and love them and their company is through my actions: greeting someone with a smile, meeting and greeting someone at the door, and simply going out of my way to let them know I am here for them if they need it.  Conveying appreciation is important, even if I do not know the person all that well.  Christians are to be mirrors of Christ and His love.  Despite our falleness, God loves and values us so much, He sent His Son to live, die, and rise again so we can be with Him forever.  If my smile and pleasant greeting can brighten a person's day, whether friend or stranger, and make them feel special, then I am pleased to give them a taste of what God's love can do for them.   What is more appropriate than that?  

Obviously!

I caught myself having this thought process while watching a segment of Focus on the Family's Truth Project.  The group of people "from the street" who have been asked questions were discussing their histories, and I felt myself rationalizing their situations in an almost judgmental way.  I was convicted, so I began a journal entry which ended up turning into an essay of sorts to share here.

Obviously!

Analyzing away the Effects

One can analyze a situation and rationalize it away.  However, this doesn’t change the fact people were and are emotionally affected by it.

Too often I find myself doing this.  Saying “Well, of course that happened!  What did you/he/she/they expect?!”  I decide the effect—result—of this scenario is something those involved should have anticipated.  Obviously this would happen!  Most people, however, do not go into situations expecting a bad result, and any number of clichéd phrases could be said in reprimand of my incredulity: “you don’t know their circumstances,” “Hindsight is 20/20,” etc.  But, these statements, however applicable, do not really address the point: these people are feeling, suffering, affected by their situation. 

The same applies to an “Oh, I never would have guessed that! You mean to say…” regard for the reasons a person is the way he or she is—that these effects had a cause.  Unfortunately, my sarcasm about an apparently obvious realization of events does not help the facts.  A person is suffering.  He needs help, not dismissal for being “obvious.”  The obvious nature of a situation doesn’t change the reality.  I need to keep a godly perspective of those around me.  I need to see people as a heart and soul, not some physical machine in a natural world.

However obvious the situation seems, the person(s) involved ultimately need understanding, sympathy, and love.  Do some of them need to have the error of their ways made known to them?  Yes.  Do I need to be the one to point this out to them?  Perhaps, but it definitely does not follow that such a revelation ought to be made in a harsh, judgmental way.  My ultimate responsibility is not to judge—it is never to judge—but rather to be available to address the needs of a person.

Rationalization or a sarcastic “no, really” response doesn’t eliminate the affect on those involved in a situation.  No matter how analytical or rational a situation seems, people still feel emotional ramifications.  When people are hurt, they need to receive sympathy, not ridicule.

Getting Started

I have been somewhat leery of beginning a blog because I find them to be overused.  In my mind, there were two types of bloggers: those people the general public have deemed important and are thought to have something of worth to share, and people wanting to share everything going on in their lives, thriving on "being seen."  Recently, I realized few bloggers actually fit into those categories.  It seems most have something they desire to share and do not care about the following  their musings, photographs, etc have achieved.  I, for one, am not blogging out of any sort of exhibitionist desires.  In fact, I would not have started Enquiries if I didn't feel as though God desired it of me.  Quite simply, I feel God wishes I share what I have learned about Him, His Word, and His creation (a very broad category, I know). God frequently speaks to me and helps me work through ideas while I have a literal pencil pressed to literal paper, and He wants me to share some of these ideas with you.  So, I will do my best to avoid filling this place with non-profound things--your time is far more valuable than to be spent reading selfish ramblings.