It's Worth the Wait!

 Waiting for God's help in time of trouble is hard. We usually want to pursue our own solutions first, leaving God as Plan B! Even as we pray for God's will and help we are often already figuring out our own ways to proceed. Now that's really dumb! I should know!

The Israelites responded like that when they were threatened by their enemies. They sought help from the Egyptians instead of turning to God. Read about it in Isaiah 30.

"Woe to the obstinate children who carry out plans that are not Mine...who go down to Egypt without consulting Me..."

God tells them what to do instead in verse 15: "In repentance and rest is your salvation; in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

"In quietness and trust," God tells them.

Then Isaiah adds: "The LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore, He will rise up to show you compassion...blessed are all who wait for Him."

Do we every consider that? Our Father wants -- longs -- to show us His grace and mercy. He is eager for us to come to Him!

BLESSED ARE ALL THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM!

Waiting is hard, but it is worth it, and it pleases God!

Father, help me learn to be patient. I know You are a good and loving God whose ways and timing are always perfect. How could I ever doubt Your love and faithfulness and wisdom? How could I ever forget that? Forgive me, my dear Father. Amen.

Understanding Truth from Narnia

Here's another provocative thought from C S Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia

From The Magician's' Nephew

In this passage Digory has just foolishly and disobediently helped the wicked witch to enter Narnia.

The Lion, Aslan, calls the Narnians together.

"You see, friends," Aslan says. "That before the new, clean world I gave you is seven hours old, a force of evil has already entered it, waked and brought about by this son of Adam."

They all turned their eye on Digory, till he wished the ground would swallow him up.

"But do not be cast down. Evil will come of that evil, and I will see to it that the worst falls upon Myself. In the meantime, let us make this a merry world. And as Adam's race has done the harm, Adam's race will help heal it."

                                         ******

I am so moved by these words from Aslan: "I will see to it that the worst falls upon myself." And He did. We see it pictured from the beginning of Genesis (re-read Genesis 3:15 - our protevangelium) all the way through the Bible to the closing chapters of The Revelation. 

The worst fell on Him, by His choice. 

He would rather die than live without us. And so He did. But we must  help heal the damage while we are here. Someday, maybe soon, He will take us to our new home, where no damage can ever be done again. Maranatha!

How Satan Works!

 Satan's work in the world today and in past history is no laughing matter! But as we see in Revelation, our God has the last word, and Satan is doomed!

But as a wild animal, dying from fatal wounds, uses all his strength to do as much destruction as he can, we see Satan still at work, causing as much damage and taking as many hostages as possible.

But when we see Satan at work in our own lives, we can find humor and ridicule his futile attempts to bring us down.

Imagine him now, the great "accuser of the brethren," before God. Maybe he is calling your name -- 

  "This one you call your child. He is a failure. He is selfish. Goes for days without praying. Often his so-called good works are for show only. Even this morning he chose to ignore his time with you again!"

You hang your head in shame. "Yes, I am guilty," you mumble.

Satan asks, "Okay, your honor, what is your sentence?"

The  Judge answers, "The wages of sin is death. But that death has already occurred. For this, My child, died with Christ. My Son Jesus paid his debt. He is free from all penalties of sin! And that means ALL! Case dismissed!"

We need to get in the habit of laughing at Satan's attempts to trap us. See how  pompous and arrogant he is.

Keep reminding him of what Jesus did...ignore him...and best yet, interrupt him and begin praising God, loudly and joyfully, for rescuing you and saving you from all his attacks!

Turn his attacks into victory cheers - God is on the throne! You are His beloved Child! Forever!

Remember what God said: you are "NOT GUILTY" - and He is the Sovereign Judge - He is the final word!

  

Satan Always Ready to Pounce!

 Is Satan hanging around looking for your weak spots? He usually is.

Getting ready to pounce? Probably. It's his strategy.

Satan is sowing seeds of shame and guilt -- often concentrating on sins that are most difficult for you to battle against, especially those you repeat the most. 

Thoughts from Max Lucado --

"If he can't seduce you, he'll let you sink in your guilt. Nothing pleases him more than to see you cower in the corner, embarrassed that you are still battling some old habit. He's probably telling you 'God is tired  of dealing with this,' or 'Your Father is weary of your petitions for forgiveness. He will shut the door this time. You'll never beat this!'

Maybe you are thinking, 'I must not be His child. I must be an orphan. I can't keep going to the well of grace so many times. I don't deserve to keep asking for forgiveness. He will shut the door this time.'

But now stop and think. Who told you you deserved forgiveness the first time? 

When you came to Christ, did He already know all the sins you had committed? Yes. 

Did He know the sins you would commit in the future? Yes.

So He saved you, knowing all the sins you would commit, every mistake you would ever make? YES.

Sounds like God has already proven His point. If your sins were too great for His grace, He would never have saved you in the first place!

Your sin does not surprise God. He saw it coming. And sees it coming.

Is there any reason to think that the One who saved you in the first place won't receive you every time?"

Remember - He promised to! And He knows you better than you even know yourself.

"If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

The fountain of grace is still full and flowing....

Our Golden Journey

 

There is an ancient Japanese art of pottery repair called "kintsugi."

Sometimes the word is translated "golden journey."

The goal is not to repair the shattered pottery by hiding the cracks, but by highlighting them!

The artist uses a special lacquer to mend or seal the fractures and then he covers them with a fine gold or silver powder. The result is a unique and beautiful masterpiece, with gold and silver designs winding their way across the pottery. Each is truly unique - one of a kind!

The repaired piece announces to its admirers the story of its past -- with every crack and fracture, once hopelessly broken, now gloriously redeemed by the artist-potter!

We should let God do that to us. Don't hide your past faults and failures -- let the world see how He is changing you. Remind them that you are not what you used to be...and are not what you will be...but you are His  Child...loved by Him! He loves us as we are, but He doesn't want us to remain the way we are...He has a higher goal for us. He wants us to be like Jesus!

Years ago we had a phrase we used often: Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet. We even had t-shirts imprinted PBPWMGINFWMY to remind ourselves of our godly make-over.

That was a good way to look at our mistakes. I think I need to find one of those old t-shirts - or make one to wear now! 

PS Remember this song?

     Something beautiful, something good

     All my confusion He understood

     All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife

     But He made something beautiful of my life.

Thank you, Dear Jesus!