Attitude of Gratitude

     I confess. I’m a lurker. I love social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, but I rarely post. I like to stay in the shadows, lurking around, watching everything you do and say. I leave the occasional pithy comments (I seriously need a sarcasm font, so you all will know when to take me seriously). I make myself post from time to time so that my family doesn’t get worried. I love to post silly jokes (cow jokes are my favorite). I try to keep my posts positive and uplifting. Rarely do I share the stuff that weighs on my heart.

     I admire those people who ask deep philosophical questions, probing their friends for the answers to the questions of the universe, those answers beyond 42. They encourage us to think and are willing to engage us and prod us to go beyond our comfort zones. They aren’t worried about making us angry. I think they want us to think deeply, but maybe what they really want is for us to agree with them.

     My favorite time of year on Facebook is the month of November. Over the past few years someone there has issued a gratitude challenge. The challenge is to post something that you are grateful for every single day.

 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”  Psalm 136

     It’s harder than it sounds. There are thirty days in the month. Once you get past your family and friends (how many kids do you have, anyway?!), past the gifts of nature, you have to begin to really look. I find myself keeping my eyes open for things I can post that I am thankful for. Every day becomes a scavenger hunt of sorts. What will I discover today? What might I have missed if I weren’t looking?

     I reconnect with the amazing way God is working in my life. I see my days in a new light. I have a new awareness of how blessed I am. My mood is lighter, and I find myself whistling more. (Yes, I whistle. I like to whistle.) I actually feel better.

 “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones.” Prov. 15:30

     Some of the best parts of this month of gratitude are the responses of other people. When we share the goodness of the Lord, we are sharing the gospel, the good news of what it means to be in relationship with God. God is good to us. Sometimes we forget. We get bogged down with the details of life, and we forget the bigger picture that shows how blessed we are.

     We are intended to live life with an attitude of gratitude. We should be a people who are hugely aware of how good God is, of how wide is his mercy and how full is his grace. We can encourage one another just by keeping our eyes and hearts open.

     So, how about it? Will you take up the November challenge? Either on Facebook or Twitter or in your personal journal or your blog will you look for and post every day something you are grateful for? I’ll be watching, and I hope you’ll share with me as I open my eyes as well.

We've Got Today!

“This is the day that the Lord has made;

Let us rejoice and be glad in it!”  Psalm 118:24

As I look at the Body of Christ, I see a people who are often just as worried and harried as the non-Christian world around them.  In the words of an old-timer, “too many Christians look like they’ve been suckin’ on sour persimmons!”  The Psalmist implies that joy is a choice.  I can choose to rejoice in this day, or not.  He goes on to give us several clues to living joy:

Live in the present.  “This is the day…”, and truly, this is the only day we have.  Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come.  But I have today, this moment.  Right now I can choose to find something to rejoice about.  If you are reading this I can only assume that you are breathing.  This alone seems cause for joy.

Keep focused on the Lord.  “This is the day that the Lord has made…”  God made this day.  To what end?  What does He intend for this day?  As Jesus talked to His disciples in John 15 about abiding in Him, He says that “these things I have spoken unto you that My joy might be in you, and that your joy may be made full…” Living in Jesus, dwelling in His presence, is a key to joy.

Remember to be grateful.  “Let us rejoice and be glad…”  Perhaps finding things to be grateful for, to be glad about, is hard for you.  Maybe you are alone, or facing financial hardship, or perhaps you struggle with depression or poor health.  Still, God tells us to rejoice, if for no other reason than that He died to save us.  Having an attitude of gratefulness to the Lord is a choice we make.  We choose to focus on His blessings and remember consciously to thank Him for them.  This may require a shift in our mindset, but such a shift results in our strength and in our becoming a people marked by joy.  As others around us see joy that surpasses human understanding, they can’t help but wonder at it’s source.

Goofy love

At my school there is a one-lane road that goes past the library. There is a lot of foot traffic that crosses it, so there is a stop sign and a mirror, so that you can see if someone might be coming. A young man was walking along with a baby in a Snuggli on his chest. It was at a time when most classes were in session, so he was largely alone. He stopped at the mirror, and pointed to the baby in the mirror, talking to the baby in the Snuggli, smiling and sweet with a really goofy look on his face. He then kissed the baby on the top of the head, and continued on. I watched this exchange through the window of the class I was attending, and the thought occurred to me that men have no idea how attractive they are to women when they are sweet and tender, especially to their children. There is something incredibly appealing about the combination of masculine strength and fraternal tenderness.

           

I have to wonder that if we understood that this is a picture of how God loves us, how could any of us resist him? The Ultimate Strength loves us in the most tender of ways.

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are.” I John 3:1

This is our reality. The great God, who created the universe, loves me. He loves me like the father I watched loves his baby. There is a tender, goofy sense to how much God delights in us. He loves watching us grow, playing with us, feeding us, communicating with us.

There is fierceness to his love, as well. He is guiding us, building us into his people, the bride for his Son. He protects us.

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, and now and forever. Jude 24-25

He is able. He is our Father. He is willing. We are his.

These are such simple truths, little bitty sentences that contain so much love and tenderness for us. I have written often about the relationship that God desires with us recently. I have to wonder how different our lives might be if we could grasp and believe how loved we are. I confess that I struggle in this area. I believe in God’s love for me in a big, overarching way, in the way that he loves all humanity. I struggle to understand that God loves me like a father loves his baby, like a King loves his princess. Intellectually I know it; my heart struggles to believe it in a way that makes it a part of the way I live.

If I really believed that God loves me in this way I would never struggle with what other people think of me. I would live in obedience, knowing that God really does have my best interests and my joy in mind. I would never feel insecure, wondering what anybody could find interesting about me. I may not be interesting, but I am his!

“Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God…” I John 4:7

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

We were his enemies. He has adopted us as his children. We fight him. We disobey him. We ignore him. Still he loves us. I am so blown away by this truth, and yet sometimes I forget. You forget. And so he gives us to each other, to love each other and remind each other of how precious we are to him.

How different would your life look if you lived into this truth today? Could you assume the best intention from your husband when he does something you perceive as hurtful, because you know your worth? Could you reach out one more time to that angry, surly teenager, because she needs to be reminded of how precious she is? Would you take the time to reach out to that sister who is hurting, knowing that sometimes encouragement requires skin and arms? Would you be able to let go of the hurt that resides in your heart because of the callous way someone has treated you, knowing how much God has forgiven you in order to love you as his child?

Consider yourself reminded. You are loved. You are precious. God gets that goofy look when he thinks about you. Now, go remind someone else.

Would God be able to trust you?

              Job experienced the ultimate test of faith.  He endured more tragedy in a single day than most people experience in an entire lifetime.  In the span of a few hours his servants were slaughtered, his possessions were stolen, and his children perished in a collapsing house.  And that was only the beginning.  Within a few days his body was covered with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.  His wife was no great encouragement.  “Curse God and die” was her advice.  His friends attacked him with a series of insufferable speeches.  Satan assailed Job’s faith as feeble and fleeting; “Let me have him, and he will surely curse You to Your face.”

            Job’s response to all this was remarkable.  Emotionally he was on a roller coaster, his mind desperately seeking answers, yet in the midst of the turmoil, Job personifies extreme faith by staking his fate and fortune on the trustworthiness of God.  In Job 13:15 Job shows the firmness of his faith; “though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”  In 19:25-26 he exposes the foundation His faith is built on. 

         “And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.  Even after my skin is destroyed yet from my flesh, I shall see God…” Job 19:25-26

            Jobs faith amazes us.  His ability to hang on to the Truth that stands true outside of circumstance and emotion is an example to each of us.  Job must have felt abandoned by God, yet the reality of the situation is that at no time in Job’s life was God paying closer attention.  Job’s present reality was awful, yet he retained an eternal perspective that enabled him to see beyond the current events to a future where He would see God face to face.

            The truly amazing part of this story is God’s faith in Job.  Satan comes to God and tells Him that Job only follows Him because God has blessed him.  If God were to take away the blessing, Satan says that Job would curse God.  But God knows Job.  God knows the strength of Job’s faith and commitment to Him.  God knew Job well enough to know that He could trust Job with His very reputation.  We often forget that a relationship with God goes two ways.  As we grow closer to God and learn more of His nature and character, God is also growing closer to us, knowing our strengths and what our character holds.  While God’s knowledge is not limited like ours us, somehow He treasures a relationship with us, desiring to be our friend.

            Ephesians 6:16 calls faith our shield, able to extinguish the flaming arrows of Satan. With the shield of faith in his hand, Job was able to stand strong and steadfast against persecutions, temptations, and even the thoughts of Satan whispered in his ear.  Because of faith, we too can stand firm, even when we don’t understand the purpose of God.  Extreme faith, like that of Job’s, can be ours as we draw near to God, and trust in His character and friendship. 

            Some days I can relate to Job. I feel like God has handed me over to Satan, and I am wallowing in a dust pit, picking my sores. I am a bit of a whiner. I've not gone through anything compared to Job. Some of you are going through rough times. Money is tight. You're having to move. Your kids are having a hard time in school. Life is hard. But remember, not only can you trust God, but God is trusting you. You hold his reputation in your hand; he holds you in his hand. Somehow, I think we got the better end of the deal. 

          Rest in him. He is able. 

          

          with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 

Romans 10:10-11

Starving at the Banquet

The human body is amazing.  When it has a need, it lets us know.  When it needs fuel, it creates pain in the form of hunger.  We feel hunger pangs in our stomach, and even though we aren’t starving to death, we know it is time for a meal.  This is a normal and healthy occurrence.  We can ignore the body’s prompt to eat and the pain of hunger will subside at least until it is time for another meal, and then the pain returns.  If we ignore the hunger pangs long enough, starvation sets in. 

When the body is starving, it begins to draw from reserves it has stashed away.  Short term reserves are held in the liver.  Longer term reserves are held in fat cells.  Fat cells give up their stores a little at a time, and do so based on a value system.  The fat around the kidneys is given up later than the fat around our chest or abdomen because it is essential to the function of the kidney.  As starvation continues the sense of hunger builds.  Your mind becomes consumed with food.  But then something different happens.  Once all the reserves are used up, hunger ceases.  Apathy replaces hunger.  Even if food becomes available, the starving body has no interest in it.  It must be fed intravenously or force fed drops at a time.  Death comes quietly, without the body feeling hunger. 

Our spiritual bodies are similar.  When we are spiritually healthy, we have a hunger for the Lord.  We have a need to be spiritually fed, recognize that hunger and take steps to be fed.  We strive to be in the Word daily, and to meditate on the things of God.  When this hunger is denied, spiritual starvation can set in.  We begin by using up our reserves.  The Holy Spirit calls scripture to our memory, and we may take in small morsels by reading a short devotional or going to church.  But eventually apathy sets in.  Our hunger ceases.  We are still in need of being fed, but we don’t recognize the need because we cease to feel the pain.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”  Matt. 5:6

This condition doesn’t need to be permanent.  Through obedience and discipline, I can feed my spirit on a regular basis whether it feels hunger or not.  When we do this, an amazing thing happens:  hunger returns.  The appetite is awakened, and begins to function normally again. 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good…” Psalm 34:8

Taste and see. The Word of God longs to dwell richly in you. Instead we often ration out small amounts of his Word, as if we could use it up by reading too much. Such silliness. God has given us the means to know him more. We can never know him fully and yet we hold back, choosing to wade in an ocean. The only thing holding us back from a deeper relationship with him is us.

Open your Bible today. Find out what you don’t know, what you are missing. Drink deep. Satisfy that hunger before it disappears. Discover the banquet that waits for you.

I like chickens!

I like chickens. There is something noble and grounding about chickens. A healthy hen reminds me of my mother’s aunts, handsome in a hard working farmer’s wife kind of way, a different honest kind of beauty. Solid. Nothing airbrushed there.  Plus, they eat bugs. Anything that gets rid of bugs is okay with me.

I follow several chicken pages on Facebook. It’s kind of silly; a city girl like me, reading up on caring for chickens. Repeatedly people post pictures of a plump chicken with her wings out, covering a fluffy little group of chicks. She is fierce looking, ever vigilant against any danger to her babies.

In Psalm 91, the Psalmist paints a picture of God as a bird, perhaps a hen, who spreads her wings and covers her children, protecting them.

“The person who rests in the shadow of the Most High God will be kept safe by the Mighty One. I will say about the Lord, ‘He is my place of safety. He is like a fort to me. He is my God. I trust in him.’

He will certainly save you from hidden traps and from deadly sickness. He will cover you with his wings. Under the feathers of his wings you will find safety. He is faithful. He will keep you safe like a shield or a tower. You won’t have to be afraid.”

Because God is our protection, we can huddle like protected babies, safe under his protection.

We often think of God as our Father, and in fact scripture speaks of him this way often. But God is also like a Mother, nurturing and protective, providing us with life and comfort and love. Jesus expressed this clearly as he lamented over Jerusalem. The religious leaders who should have been caring for them, directing and teaching and protecting them, were more interested in their own power. Jesus longed to gather his people and love them, like a hen with her chicks.

“Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you. Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. But you would not let me!” Matt. 23:37

Jesus longed to gather the people of his day to himself and mother them. They rejected him. He longs to do the same to us. The people of our day are lost, rejecting him and running into danger, depending on their own resources when in reality they are fragile little chicks, ill equipped to handle the enemies of this world.

Jesus wants to Mother you. He wants to draw you to himself, spread his wings out over you and have you rest in his care. Often we are just too busy. We run about, busily handling things on our own, ignoring the wisdom and strength and peace that are available in his presence. He is so accessible to us, and we refuse even to know him more.

Stop, just for a minute today. Come to Jesus as a little child, trusting and willing to snuggle up and rest. Talk to Jesus like you would talk to your mother, learning from him and enjoying his presence.  He loves you. Believe.

Prayer

“Call to Me and I will answer you,

and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

            For many of us, prayer is a mystery.  It’s hard to talk to someone you cannot see, and yet God tells us to bring all things to Him.  We don’t understand it, yet we are better because of it. 

            As we look into His word, God shows us reasons to pray:

            First, we need it.  We need to bring our concerns, our burdens and needs before the throne of Jesus and leave them there.  Only by giving them to Him, by acknowledging our need for Him and His sovereignty in our lives can we experience His peace.  By coming to Him in petition and in worship we express to Him and to ourselves our trust in Him and His dealings in our lives.  He works through prayer.

            Second, because He asks us to.  For some reason almost beyond our comprehension, God desires a relationship with us.  He longs for fellowship with us.  He wants us to make our concerns known to Him and delights in answering them.  We can begin to understand this as we look at our own children.  Even when they are very little we desire a relationship with them.  We talk about their day, about what has happened while we were apart.  We delight in hearing them tell us what they are learning.  It wasn’t anything new to us; we mastered the alphabet years before!  Yet still we want to hear about it.  Their personality shines through, and often we end up laughing or crying together over events in their day.  As they grow and mature we continue to enjoy our conversations on topics of politics, current fashions, their love lives, and spiritual issues.  We are touched by how they deal with life.

            I imagine God feels the same about us.  He seems to want to be included in our lives and to delight in the ways we are maturing.  He wants a friendship with us, a cool-of-the-day kind of easy conversation that comes between people who are close.

            Non-Christians would say that the only power in prayer is psychological.  They are wrong.  We do not understand the power of prayer, but we do know that it holds power.  God works through the prayers of His people.

            Call out to God.  He is waiting.  He has great and mighty things to share.

The Heavens are Declaring!

I don’t like thunder and lightning. I never have, but I like it less the older I get. It’s scary. It’s loud and powerful and makes me want to stay in bed. I remember hearing a story about a little girl who was out in a thunderstorm with her Grandmother. Every time the lightning would flash, she would smile a sweet smile and smooth out her dress. Her Grandmother asked her what she was doing? Her reply was “I’m trying to look pretty for God. He keeps taking my picture.”

When I see lightning, I am afraid. When she saw lightning, she saw it as God’s personal attention on her.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4

God declares his power and work in the world every single day. We see it in the sun that shines on us, in the stars that light up the velvety night sky, and yes, even in the thunder and lightning. I look at them and see the glory of God displayed unquestionably. Others look at the same starry sky and see nothing more than a happy accident.

It’s a glass half-full/half empty thing. God has prepared our hearts, giving us a conscience that knows right from wrong and a desire to know him, as evidenced by the presence of a religion in every major civilization. He then made nature itself testify of his goodness and power. We are left without excuse. We get to choose to believe or not.

And then, as if that all wasn’t enough, he came down lived among us. He was Emmanuel, the God who was with us, teaching us and living in relationship to us. He wrote down his word, so that we can consult it whenever we want to.

I am all about choice. We choose the life we live. We choose to believe God and take him at his word, or not. We choose to get to know him, living in an understanding of who he is, reflecting him to the world around us, or not. We can choose to live in fear of his nature and power, or, like the little girl smiling at the thunder, we can choose to understand that all that noise and power is a demonstration of his love for us.

The fact is that God loves you. How will that affect how you live today?  

Whose image do you reflect?

We’ve all been hearing a lot about politics and the running of our government lately. The Republicans think that the Democrats are irresponsible; the Democrats think that the Republicans are lacking compassion. Neither side wants to compromise or see the other’s perspective. Neither side wants to budge. Both sides claim that God is on their side.

I’m not going to argue politics here. I look at the life of Jesus and I don’t seem him involving himself in politics much. He was less concerned with systems and organizations than he was with people. He saw people. He saw their hearts and their hurts and their sheer humanity. The one comment he did make about politics was this:

         “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:21

The Pharisees had asked him if it was okay to pay taxes to Rome or not. Rome was a vile, evil government, and the people were suffering under her rule. Jesus knew the Pharisees concern wasn’t for the people, called them hypocrites, and asked them to bring him a coin. He asked whose image was on the coin. It was a picture of Caesar. Give to Caesar that which bears his image, and give to God that which bears HIS image.

Pay your taxes, and value people.

Who bears the image of God? We do. In Genesis, we are created in the very image of God. All of us. Because we are human, we bear in some aspect the image of our God. Regardless of what you believe about God, or how you treat people, or how you live your life, you are created in his image. You are precious to him. When he looks at you, he sees a little of himself reflected back.

This has great significance for the follower of Jesus. You can choose to be involved in politics or not; you have no choice but to value people. People are hurting, and the response of the corporate Church and of the individuals who make it up must be one of compassion. And for the most part it is. I have been so touched by the people who have reached out to me with offers to help pay for my medications. I have experienced firsthand the love of God through his people.

But I have also been appalled at the anger and vitriol I have heard expressed over the politics of the day. There is no love expressed in the accusations against politicians. There is no love in accusing the poor of being crooks, who only want to milk the system. There is no love in the generalizations that see people as statistics and forgets that they are fathers who are watching their children endure illnesses without health care, or mothers who put their kids to bed hungry. We all say that we are willing to help if we knew someone who was hungry, but nearly 25% of children in our city, Vancouver, WA, live below the poverty level. It is estimated that 40,000 children in our state will go to bed hungry tonight. 1,600 people in our city are homeless. This is right here in our town. Do we see these people? Or are they just statistics, an ill to be cured? We tend to trust organizations to take care of these people, but due to the economy, many are unable to meet the need. The Lord’s Gym, a major contributor to helping people who need help, is closing due to lack of money and a building with overwhelming needs for repair.

Jesus said that he came to reach the sick and the lost. That’s all of us. It’s you and me. It’s the homeless and the poor. We have to open our eyes and our hearts to see and love those around us.

What can you do? What has God blessed you with that you can share? Programs need money. Mothers who depend on Headstart need childcare so that they can work while the government is shut down. People without jobs need food, and grace from landlords. The homeless youth at the mall needs at least a smile, and the knowledge that you see him. God wants to work through you, his hands and feet. What can you do? At the very least, you and I can be careful about what we say and post on Facebook, being sure that our words don’t blame those who need our compassion.