Archives

Not Where I Belong

May18

Yesterday, as I was watching my Oakland A’s play the Texas Rangers on the MLB app on my Blu Ray player (I love technology), I randomly heard a snippet from the Building 429 song “Not Where I Belong.” The lyrics of the chorus go like this: “All I know is I’m not home yet. This is not where I belong. Take this world and give me Jesus. This is not where I belong.” After getting over the shock of hearing such a blatantly Christian song at a baseball game, I thought about the words.

Why do we sometimes feel like such aliens here on earth? Well, it’s because we are. This world is not our home. 1 Peter 4:11 says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” Our citizenship is in heaven.

I have a dear friend who has lived in Australia for the past nearly five years. She and her family are coming back this summer. While she has come to love the land down under, she is still a citizen of the United States. She has made many friends that she will be leaving behind, but she is coming back to many friends here who still love her. Will the re-entry be easy? I’m guessing not, because she was all there and is returning before she really wanted to. But her parents’ declining health has made it necessary. Will her heart be torn? Yes. She gave a big part of it to Australia, even though she was only a temporary resident. Was that a bad thing? No. She needed to be all in while God had her there. But we as believers are warned not to become so enamored of this world that we have a hard time thinking about going home.

The Bible speaks to this issue: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

We are on a mission here., and we are to represent Jesus as ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Our greatest desire should be to return home where we belong, and to bring as many people with us as we can. But I remember when I was younger, I didn’t want to die before I was able to experience certain things here on earth: getting my driver’s license, getting married, having children. But how those pale in comparison to being home with Jesus. While there is much beauty on earth, the beauty of heaven cannot be compared.

All I know is I’m not home yet. This is not where I belong.

Thankful today for:

285. cookie crunch frappiccinos from Starbucks. Yum

286. three more days of teaching this year

287. my little sister and nephew being able to join us in Seattle

288. the smell of bacon

289. insightful articles

290. being republished

291. an anticipated party

292. coupons

293. gift cards

294. a lessening pain

295. kitty breath

296. appreciation

Down in the Dungeon

May14

There’s a comic strip in the newspaper called “Rose is Rose.” It features a stay-at-home mom, Rose, who has a tattooed, leather-clad biker-babe alter ego. She has a hard-working, love-note writing husband, Jimbo, and a sweet, school-loving boy named Pasquale.

They are a typical family in many ways, but the illustrator of the strip brings out a very important spiritual truth: Every once in awhile, the strip will feature Rose at the bottom of a deep pit, a shackle around her ankle and a deep, disturbing frown upon her face. It’s usually not clear what has happened to plunge her into that dungeon of her own making, but her family is usually waiting at the top, trying to coax her out. But Rose alone holds the key.

Our dungeons, like Rose’s, are of our own making. Whether we’re simply offended by something unintentional, or truly sinned against, forgiveness is ours to give. It’s always our choice. So is being a blessing to those who have offended us.

“When you forgive,” says Joyce Meyer, “it opens a door for God to heal you, but honestly, it doesn’t do much for the person who offended you. But when you bless them, you ask God to bring truth to them so they can repent and experience the real freedom He provides. Forgiveness” she says “sets you free…blessing your enemies sets them free.”

Romans 12:14 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”

Likewise, when we repent of something we have done to offend someone else, when they extend forgiveness to us, and bless us by word or deed, then we are set free from the guilt that might plague us, if we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Granted, some people offend us and have no idea they’ve done it, but our forgiveness and, as stated before, our blessing, can serve as a way to clue them in to something that may need to change in their heart. But their repentance is not our job; our extending forgiveness and blessing is.

That self-made dungeon is cold and damp. The air is so much nicer on the outside.

Thankful today for:

279. clouds

280. flowering bushes

281. remote controls

282. tough love

283. community

284. movies

Truth, if you Dare

May7

There’s a saying in journalism circles: If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

Years ago, I was assigned a story about a man who was then very old living in Phoenix. Apparently, he had been a gangster in Chicago way back in the day of Al Capone and his ilk. But God had gotten ahold of his heart and he had experienced a dramatic change in his life.

So I was sent by the magazine to check out his story. What I heard was an amazing tale of organized crime activity and redemption. But, of course, being the good journalist that I was, I had to verify these stories.

This was in the days before the Internet, so a simple Google search for any corroborating newspaper articles or anything was not possible. So I went to the library and did things the old-fashioned way: microfiche.

Boy, was that painstaking–and fruitless. I simply couldn’t find any evidence that what this sweet old man had told me was true. It made me feel a little better that his family wasn’t all that sure it was true either.

Nowadays, with all kinds of information right at our fingertips, we still have to be careful about what we believe. Websites like truthorfiction.com and snopes exist to help dispel erumors, but not even they can catch everything.

And wonderful tool that it can be, Photoshop has made even the statement “pictures don’t lie” untrue. Just take a look at the National Enquirer if you have any doubts about that.

So, when Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” how can we trust that? Check it out. Read the Bible and test and see if anything He’s ever said has not been true. Joyce Meyers says this, “Believing what others say rather than exploring God’s Word for yourself will actually limit you and even keep you from doing what God created you to do. But, if you will contend for the truth, embrace it and build your life upon it, you will succeed in every endeavor.”

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)

Thankful today for:

255. a fun field trip to Green Meadows petting farm

256. sweet baby goats, ducks and chicks

257. goats that will push each other out of the way just to be petted by you

258. cold water

259. so many teens going on misson trips this summer

260. good mid-term reports for my kids

261. a two-day work week

262. my identity in Christ

263. digital photos

New Shoes

Apr30

I love buying shoes. But I’m also frugal, so I don’t buy shoes that cost a lot of money. And, compared to many, I don’t actually own very many pairs. But I love to buy them. I have something in mind  now that I’d like to go hunt for, and I do have some money saved up in my little allowance budget, so I think I might hit a couple of the nicer department stores this weekend and see if I can find what I’m looking for. My husband doesn’t understand this. He doesn’t need to understand it; he just needs to live with it. I’ll stay on my side of the closet.

Did you know that the Bible has several things to say about feet and shoes?

The first one that comes to mind is Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'”

Then there’s  Ephesians 6:15 and the armor of God: “With your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

There are quite a few others verses mentioning shoes (or sandals, really, as that was the common footwear in Old and New Testament times). I guess the point I want to make is that what we wear on our feet is important.

Not our physical feet, our metaphorical feet.

“Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Are we ready to go at a moment’s notice? If God calls us, will we talk to our neighbor? Our co-worker? Our friend? Are our feet ready to move?

Jimmy Choo makes some beautiful shoes (and for a mere $600, a pair can be yours).

But I like what Jesus is asking for better: proclaim peace, bring good tidings, proclaim salvation, say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Put on your shoes. Let’s go!

Thankful today for:

237. choices

238. digital photos

239. miraculous healings

240. birthday celebrations

241. that my husband is back in Florida

242. math answer books

Care Full

Apr27

I have a friend who lost her husband to cancer three years ago. Every time I am sad or lonely because my husband’s been gone for almost two weeks, I think of her. At least I have the hope that my husband will return on Monday. She has no such hope.

Tomorrow, my church will be serving the community in what we call Vista Serves. It’s a coordinated effort throughout the church to help wherever we are needed. My family will be going to Jo’s house to help her with some things that have needed doing around her house. Things that around my house, David would normally do: fix a light fixture, replace a shower head, build a small guard around young trees. Or they are things I would do if only I had the energy and weren’t completely wiped out from having all the responsibility of the entire house resting on my shoulders.

I’m worn out from my husband being gone for two weeks. I can’t even imagine how Jo feels. I’d like to sleep in on a Saturday morning, but it is my privilege to spend half of my day at Jo’s house.

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing” Deuteronomy 10:18.

Instead of being full of the cares of this world, bearing the burden alone, we will be full of care for those who need our help around us.

 

Thankful today for:

231. the ability to help

232. abundance

233. community