Eternal Setting

Diamonds last forever.


Do they?

Really?

Lately I have been thinking about eternity. Solomon tells us that God “set eternity” in our hearts. I think that “setting” will last longer than a diamond one.

When each of us is born, we enter the eternity continuum with infinity extending behind and before. Once we are here, we have a decision to make: Will we bow to our creator and spend the eternity with him in the “new heaven and new earth” or will we be separated from him and experience spiritual death.

Heavy topic, I know.

But, real, all the same.

Things on this earth can seem so important, so disappointing, so whatever. But are they? Really?

Remember today: You are a child of God, and you have eternity in your heart. Live like that is true.

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. And his love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Instant RePray

Have you ever come across a prayer you wrote in the past, and you realize you could have written the very same prayer today?

Here is one I found a while back and taped up in my workspace...it is dated 07/07/80:

O Father, I make a promise to you today:

I will trust that you are in control of my life totally.

I will ask your help and direction in every matter.

I will have no part of or fellowship with doubt.

Forgive my lack of trust,

       my giving ear to the accusations of Satan,

             my lounging in doubts.

You are my life!

I praise your name.

Thank you that you inhabit that praise.  (Psalm 22:3, KJV)

Camping Angel

                       The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
                              and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)

                     

I have been “camping” on this verse quite a bit lately. One reason is that I pray often for my youngest daughter, Corrie, who is currently living and teaching in Bogota, Colombia. As a mom, of course, I would like to live closer to her, but Tom and I have no plans for such a move.


At my desk in front of me is a board on which I pin various pictures and papers and lists. Inspired by this verse written by David, I have a picture that reminds me that God’s angels are “encamping” around Corrie. This was taken on the front porch of an artist friend of mine in Montgomery, Alabama.

As you see, the angel (sculpted by my friend) is in close proximity to Corrie. She is right there with her all the time. When I get up from the desk and can no longer see the picture, that angel is still right there beside her. She is camping with her for the duration, and she is never distracted.


What a comfort this is to me as a mom.


I hope this picture can also remind you that God’s angels are encamped around you too as you go through your day today.

Jesus: The Most Focused Man

Six weeks ago, my husband's dad died. His name was Thomas Reuben Jones, and he was generous, smart and witty. We miss him.

We have been with Tom's mom (two hours away in Sheffield, Alabama--our hometown) 80- to 90% of  the ensuing time up until now. There was much to clear up and to get done...as there always is after a death.

I had my computer with me, of course. I worked and kept things going with DPI. But one thing I realized was that it was very hard to stay focused. This was true in my time with God too. My rhythm was off, my schedule derailed, and my thinking distracted.

Today...this Monday morning, I had some good time with God (I decided to read back through DPI's first book: Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. That book and the scriptures it points me to always help me focus on the center of God's message.)

And I love being back in my office, at my desk, in front of my large-screen monitor. My to-do list is getting checked off with precision. I'm riding high in the saddle of productivity.

All this made me think of Jesus, a man who never once lost his focus--not even while in torturous pain, hanging on a cross. What love, what power, what confidence in God.

In Proverbs 4:20-27, Solomon gave his son instruction about staying focused:


My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

*

Lord, help me to "look straight ahead," to stay focused on your words, and not to "swerve to the right or the left." Thank you for walking with me and lifting me up when I stumble. I need your help!

God's Heart for the Alien

After we lost our little Shih Tzu Lydie last May, my only pets were “my” bluebirds. I eagerly anticipate their inspection of the bluebird “condo” I put up for them outside our bedroom window. I enjoy seeing the guy bring his girl to check out the digs. The male seeks to impress the female by finding a great first home and proving himself to be an able provider. I have seen the female stick her head into the entrance hole at least thirty times to carefully inspect the box and figure out if all the furniture will fit.


This year, there was a problem. A big problem…with a small bird: English sparrows, to be exact. Sometimes they take over bluebird houses, and they have been known to actually kill the bluebirds if they trap them in the house. So bluebird enthusiasts instruct you to trap and kill the sparrows (since they are not indigenous birds, it is legal to kill them). I could never do that, so I just clean out the nesting material and put duct tape over the hole, hoping they will give up and settle elsewhere.


This year I went back and forth with them, but they kept persisting. Finally I thought I had won the battle when a pair of bluebirds came house hunting and seemed to be settled on my offering.


But the next thing I knew, here was Mr. Sparrow popping into the hole carrying a load of straw. Foiled again!


I finally gave up, assuming that the bluebirds had been intimidated and decided the neighborhood was too dangerous.


I used to get up in the mornings and open my blinds to check in on the bluebirds. I still open the blinds and look out, but it doesn't give me any pleasure to see the little sparrow head poking out of the house.


I realized that I had to get a handle on this. I really resented the sparrows for messing up my joy. Those alien birds. They don’t belong here anyway. I missed my beautiful bluebirds.


Tom said, “Maybe God is just protecting the sparrows.” Which I know is true; the Bible tells me so. But I still muttered a bit.


Then I thought about God’s heart for the aliens in the Old Testament:


"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)


“And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” (Deut. 10:19)


“Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:10)


God has a soft heart for the alien. And if I get right down to it, I was an alien myself before God redeemed me and brought me into his family:


"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Ephesians 2:19)


And in another way, I am now an alien in this world:


"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:11)


I pray that God will use that little brown English sparrow to remind me to have my Father’s heart for the alien.

The Kingdom: God's Book of Poems

My husband, Tom, and I got to hear the gifted author John Ortberg speak about his newest book, The Me I Want to Be. He quoted Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ortberg makes the point that disciples are never mass-produced; they are handcrafted by God, always in the context of who they uniquely are.

In some study Tom did after hearing Ortberg, he found that the word translated “workmanship” is poiēma, rendering the English “poem.” And in his Mind Change Online blog this week, he commented that “just as every poem is uniquely designed, so each of us is uniquely designed.”


This got me to thinking.


It is so true that all poems are very unique; they are completely original and individual, just as people are. They are the creation of an artistic mind, just as we are the creation of The artistic mind who spoke the world into being.


This thought encourages me in two ways:


First, it reminds me that I am special to God. He loves me, quirks and all. And as I yield myself to him, he is handcrafting me into the “me” he has prepared me to be.

Second, it reminds me that every person is special to God. Think about another disciple whom you find it difficult to like, maybe one who really gets on your nerves. (Even though we are “good Christian people,” we still have to deal with feelings like this—be honest—admit it!) Now think of a person you genuinely like and are eager to spend time with. Each one is God’s poiēma. Each one is special and is being handcrafted by the God of Creation to be exactly who he or she was born to be.


I know what it feels like to share poems I have written. It is like transferring your child with trembling hands to someone else’s care. There is a certain vulnerability, a fear of rejection and a flush of victory in the risk.


As God shares his poems with each of us, every day, in our interactions with others, let’s remember to listen to the heart of the poem, and not to judge its style or delivery. Let’s try to look more through the Poet’s eyes and less through our own.

Follow Me

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)


Jesus calls us to follow him...throughout our lives...all the way to self-denial...all the way to the cross.

In Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is called the "archegos" of our faith, the one who goes before us and establishes the way for us to follow:

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author [archegos] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Have you ever tried to follow a friend on an Interstate highway? Let's say they are driving a blue van. You have absolutely no idea where you are going, so you are totally dependent upon their guidance...upon keeping that van in view.

But have you noticed how many blue vans there are on the road? If you get distracted, look to the right or to the left, and then look back at the road ahead, you can lose contact with the lead car. Where did it go? Is it that one getting off on the ramp? Or is it the one that just passed that semi? Or maybe the one three cars up behind the U-Haul?

When we lose touch with who we are following, we become disoriented and confused. Left to our own senses and thoughts and figurings, we are lost. Totally lost.

This is why we are enjoined to "fix our eyes on Jesus."