"Sunday is Coming!" But It's Not Here Yet

Friday taught us to love. 

Sunday taught us to rejoice. 

But Saturday - a cold tomb, no angels, no answers - His silence taught us to trust. 

~ Unknown

This is a truth that we so often forget during Easter weekend. We want to jump from sadness to joy, from defeat to victory, and we forget about the time in between. There was a stillness, a silent waiting, an aching hope; Jesus said He would rise again, and they believed He would, but right now all they could see was a grave. There was a question of whether anything would really be any different come the morning...

Easter is a wonderful time: we are reminded of Jesus' love and sacrifice for us on the cross, and the victory He claimed in His resurrection. But let's not skip over the middle part because it's the part that relates a lot to our daily lives. We have our times of sorrow, and our times of joy but what about the times when we feel neither? There have been times in my life when I've felt like I was just existing, nothing was happening, it felt like my life was buffering. I was desperately clinging to God's promises for my life, and I was trying to find any way to move my life forward but there was just nothing. I would ask God to speak to me, show me the way, to open doors and push me through them but there's was only silence. I never doubted His love, I never questioned His plan but I didn't understand His methods. That's why "Saturday" is so important: there are, and always will be, moments where life seems to be at a standstill. You see what's behind you, and you're awaiting your future but the here and now seems lacking. Will you continue to trust in those moments? Will you continue to pray and seek, and do Kingdom work? Or will you decide to take things into your own hands?

When you try to force God's promises to come to pass by human means, they won't turn out how He intended. What would history be like if Jesus' followers had decided to just make it look like Jesus rose from the dead, so that they wouldn't look foolish if it didn't happen? What if they had gotten too stir crazy, and just couldn't wait for the real thing anymore? You can use salt in place of sugar but no one will want your cake. God uses you in His plan but that doesn't mean it's all about you; if you try to add more of yourself, you will not get the intended result. Trust Him in the silence, don't try to take things into your own hands. Sunday is coming but it's not here yet, so make good use of Saturday; don't sit on your hands, and let the day waste away! Use those moments in your life when everything seems to have slowed to a halt - read, pray, study - and you'll find yourself prepared when things begin to move again. Abraham Lincoln said, "I will study and get ready, and perhaps my chance will come." It does no good to sit around, and wait for a chance to live your calling if you haven't prepared yourself at all. Make use of every season in your  life, whether sorrow, joy, or silence.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven," -- Ecclesiastes 3:1

The Wrong Alice

Matthew 5:14 -- "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid."

In Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, a grown up Alice goes back down the rabbit hole. In Wonderland, most of the people she is greeted by wonder and argue about whether or not she's THE Alice. This doesn't seem to bother her too much, until she finds out that THE Alice is destined to fight and defeat the Jabberwocky. All of a sudden, she is very adamant in telling everyone that they have the "wrong Alice." Every time they would mention her "destiny" or the "prophecy", she would answer the same way - "You've got the wrong Alice." But really, how many girls named Alice fall down a rabbit hole into another world? Seriously. I think, deep down, Alice knew she was the girl they were looking for; she knew that she would have to be the one to fight and defeat the big, bad monster. So why would she keep denying it? Fear.

First of all, have you seen Wonderland? It's kind of trippy, and not normal at all; obviously Alice already had a lot going on in her mind. She grows and shrinks a bunch of times, she has to try not to get her head cut off by the evil Queen of Hearts, and a ton of other wacky stuff -- that's already a pretty full day if you ask me. And then to throw in there, "Oh, and you're the only one who can save us from this horrible beast"?! If Alice hadn't been afraid, I would seriously question her sanity (not that I don't already). So out of fear, she denies being the person everyone knows she is. When you let fear overwhelm you, it can cause you to do things that you never thought you would do - things that are completely out of character.

Look at Peter in Matthew 26:31-35 (NLT):

"On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”
 
“No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same."

Peter was arguing with Jesus, as if he knew better than the One who knows EVERYTHING. Did he really think that Jesus was wrong? Probably not, he just couldn't imagine himself denying Christ. There was no possible way in his mind that he would EVER do something like that. But then he let fear get a foothold, and he did something he never thought he would do.

We have been called to shine the light, and spread the Gospel to the world. All of us. The Bible says, "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me..." This is our mission, this is our job, this is our "destiny". But too many times we run around telling ourselves, and others, that we're the wrong Alice. The preacher says that we need to be soul winners, and we shout AMEN! Then we go home and say, "He wasn't talking to me, I'm not cut out to win souls." Too many times we allow fear to talk us out of pursuing God's plan for our lives. He has blessings, and callings, and outpourings prepared for us but we're too afraid to move. I've heard preachers tell stories of how God called them to preach, and they said, "Sorry, God, you've got the wrong guy!" As if God meant to call the person next to you but He got the wrong number? You have a purpose, you have a calling that only you can fulfill! You need to rebuke the spirit of fear, step up, and say "Here I am, Lord! Send me!"

You are the called of God, the chosen, the ones this world has been waiting for -- you are THE Alice.

The Heart Issue

This is the lesson from Ladies' Bible Study a few months ago...

We get so caught up in going through motions. We make sure we’re singing the right songs, saying the right things, going to the right places. These things are important, but it’s about so much more than that! We are so focused on the outward show of our salvation, that we neglect the Savior. He needs to be your heart’s desire; not a ministry, or calling, or greater anointing – those things will come as you pursue the One who gives them. Bro. Walters once said, “Anything you wrap your heart around will cost you something.” I’m going to take it a step further and say, anything you wrap your heart around will cost you your LIFE. So isn’t it in your best interest to wrap your heart around the Creator, and Giver of life?

People in earthly relationships can get very mushy, and sometimes obsessed with each other. They say things like, “I just need to hear your voice!” Or “I can’t wait to see you again!” Even if they just walked away from each other 5 minutes ago. They say they want to know everything about their significant other; they want to spend every second with them. (I doubt they would feel the same if their wish ever came true.)

              While we might not take it quite that far, we are still very invested in our earthly relationships (romantic or otherwise). And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, everyone knows that if you don’t put effort into a relationship, it will fall apart. What I’m saying is this – as hard as we work to keep our earthly relationships going, making sure we stay in touch and get together, don’t you think we should be giving God, Who IS love, at least twice as much effort? If not MUCH, MUCH more?

 Let’s think about a relationship for a moment. When you start out, you don’t automatically know everything about the other person. You have to get to know them. There’s a big difference between knowing someone, and just knowing of them. Just because you know my name doesn’t mean you know me; knowing who someone is doesn’t happen until you have some details, some information about them. You might start with some general information like name, age, hobbies, and just some general small talk. But as the relationship progresses, you need to learn more than that. You learn likes and dislikes, you learn what makes them happy or sad. You see the hidden parts of their personality.

 

            The process is the same in our relationship with God. When you first come into the church, it’s enough for you to know that He is your Savior. It’s enough to know that He died for you, and loves you. But as we grow in our relationship with Him, we need to know Him on a deeper level. It’s not that He stops being our Savior, or stops loving us. Not that we should ever forget that He died so we can live; but we need to add to this knowledge. We need to get to know Him as our comforter, our provider, our healer, counselor, and deliverer. There is so much more to Him than we could ever know, and getting to know Him needs to be our passion. Finding out what makes Him happy, what pleases Him, and doing those things; learning what displeases Him, and removing those things from our lives.


             Matthew 15:8 says, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” If your heart is really in this, God will be your number one priority. Not just the work of God (although that’s very important, too), but God Himself. Loving Him, knowing Him, hearing His voice. When He is first in our lives, reading His word will become more important the checking Facebook. Having a deep conversation with Him will be more exciting than a new episode of your favorite show. Coming to His house to sit at His feet and worship with His children will be more important than visiting family and friends. And if their hearts are in it, they won’t mind when you say, “Sorry, I need to be in church.” If their hearts aren’t in it, then maybe they will feel convicted when they see how your heart is wrapped around God.

Joel 2:12-13 – “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”

If your heart is not in this, then don’t bother with the theatrics. God gets nothing out of you lifting your hands, or bawling at the altar when it’s done so people see you. When you do things with the mindset that people will believe you’re spiritual if they see it, that’s equivalent to just rending your garment with no involvement of the heart. That’s where it has to start – in your heart.

 

            Esther went before the King, risked her life, because her heart was in it.

 

Those three Hebrew boys were thrown into a fiery furnace because their hearts were in it.

 

            Jesus went to the cross, and died for sins that He didn’t commit because His heart is wrapped around us!

 

If your heart isn’t in it, what’s the point? Wrap your heart around God, let Him have every part of you, even if it costs you your life. He’s worth it all.

....And Then I Went to Church

         In my daily Bible reading, I got to Psalm 73, and as I read it really struck me; I felt like 'Wow, that's me. I could've written this Psalm!'

          In Psalm 73:1, Asaph starts by saying, "God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." Right away this sounds like it's going to be one of those praise ye the Lord, bless the Lord o my soul Psalms. So when I read this first verse, I was ready to get into the "Yes, God is great!" mode. But the very next verse caught me off guard; verse 2: "But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped." Wait, what? He was just talking about how good God is, what does he mean he almost slipped? Then I read verse 3, "For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the  prosperity of the wicked." NOW it makes sense!

           The whole middle portion of Psalm 73 is Asaph describing how he almost fell away from God, and his holiness, because he starting desiring what people in the world had. They're strong, they're not troubled, they're rich. After a couple of verses, he starts saying how wicked they are - they're corrupt, they set their mouths against the heavens - and yet they prosper, and keep getting richer. In verse 13, he says, "Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain..." Why am I bothering to live the way God wants me to live, when the wicked live however they want, and they still prosper! Asaph was struggling to figure things out, to make sense of the world's riches and prosperity. He says that just thinking about it was too painful. Verses 16 & 17, "When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; UNTIL I went in to the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end." God reminded him that the people of the world might have a lot of possessions on earth, but he has the real treasure in Heaven. Then Asaph was like, "Man, how could I be so dumb?!" And finally, he went back to praising, and talking about how awesome God is.

       I was like Asaph. There was a time in my life when I looked at the world, and thought they had it better than me. It wasn't so much that I wanted the things of the world, but I wanted to be like the world. I wanted to blend in, I was tired of being different. The enemy came against my mind concerning my holiness, and personal covenants with God. And, like Asaph, my feet almost slipped. I almost gave in, gave up. But then, also like Asaph, I went into the sanctuary of God. I got to church, and God showed me how things will end for people in the world. I might think I have it rough now (I don't), but my "end" has joy, peace, hope, life everlasting. The path of the world leads to destruction.

      I thank God for His grace and mercy, and for not allowing me to wander down that destructive path. He wrapped me in His love, and reminded me who I am, where I've come from, and where I'm going.

Dx: Iron Deficiency

           Proverbs 27:17 - "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." (NIV)
"As iron sharepeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." (KJV)

           At the start of Rise of the Guardians, no one believes in Jack Frost, rendering him invisible to the human eye. In one scene, a mother puts a hat on her child's head, saying, "You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose." He asks, "Who's Jack Frost, mom?" "No one," she replies, "It's just a figure of speech." Needless to say, this upsets Jack. Later, when Jack is picked to be a guardian, he doesn't think he has what it takes. Most of the other guardians put their faith in him, so he starts working together with them to defeat Pitch Black, who has been slowly destroying the children's faith in the guardians, making them more susceptible to fear (but that's a blog post for another day). Just when it seems like the bad guy will win, someone tells Jack they believe in him, the faith of children around the world is restored, and good eventually wins.

           Like Jack Frost and the guardians, we need people in our lives who believe in us. People who will lift us up, and encourage us to pursue the life that God would have us to live. We need iron in our lives that will keep us sharp! Now there's a difference between people who just agree with everything you say and do, and people who actually help you become a better person. That being said, there's also a difference between people who speak the truth in love, in order to help you be better, and people who just want to tear you down. The latter kind of person is NOT iron, and they don't belong in your life!

           Here's the thing about Jack Frost: even when nobody believed in him, he still had the ability to change his surroundings. Even if you feel right now like you have no one in your life that believes in you, God will always believe in you, and you still have the ability to change the world around you! And while you're doing that, start finding and surrounding yourself with positive people! People who have a physical iron deficiency are very tired, pale, and weak. Spiritual iron deficiency can cause the same symptoms! We weren't made to walk this world alone, we need each other!

Seeing Is Believing

Deut. 1:30

"The Lord your God, which goeth before you, He shall fight for you, according to all the He did for you in Egypt BEFORE YOUR EYES."

        God showed His awesome power in Egypt by sending plagues, and delivering the Israelites from Pharoah. Yet when the Israelites came to the Red Sea, they threw a fit! "Why did God deliver us from Egypt, just to let us die out here?!" God lifted them out of bondage, but somehow they didn't think He could deliver them from a body of water? So God parted the Red Sea, and the Israelites crossed on dry land. That must've given them so much faith! If God can lead us across a sea, there must be nothing He can't do! But when they drew close to the land that God PROMISED to give to them, they decided the enemy was just too strong, and there's no way they could win. Moses was like, "What is wrong with you?! God will give us this land just like He promised! Don't you remember everything He did in Egypt right in front of your faces?" Verses 32-33 of Deut. 1: "Yet in this thing, ye did not believe the Lord your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day."
The Israelites decided they failed before they even tried. So God gave the land to their kids instead!

         We tend to have Israelite faith. We see God providing, healing, delivering people right before our eyes, but we don't have faith that it will be done for us. We deny the power of God in our lives. Somehow our problems are just too big for Him. He parted waters, but I don't know if He'll be able to get me a job.

         Here's the really crazy part:
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things NOT SEEN." Faith is believing for something that hasn't happened yet! It's the evidence of things not seen, but we can barely scrounge up enough faith to believe for thing that we HAVE seen! We've seen God heal, but we're too scared to pray for the sick because "what if they aren't healed?" Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, built an ark..." Everyone thought Noah was crazy. "Why are you building a boat?" "What is this rain your talking about?" Noah had never seen what God was talking about, but he had faith and built a boat.

         We need to start having faith. REAL FAITH! Believe for the things you've seen in the lives of others, and then start believing for the things you haven't seen!