Settling...A Dangerous Mistake

The Bible has a resounding theme throughout its pages. God has a promise land for us and we need to trust Him to reach it. Sad to say, very few of us want to trust him that much. From the beginning pages of Genesis to the last word of Revelation, we see countless examples of individuals who either took God at his word or decided the cost was too high. I have been thinking a lot about the ones of us who "settle" and thereby forfeit many of the promises that God has for us.
A story that comes to mind is in Numbers, chapter 13. Moses charged 12 men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, to scope out the land PROMISED to them. There was never a question about the chosen ones taking ownership. It was just a matter of waiting on God to reveal the hows and whens and wheres. When they returned, you remember the response from 10 of the men. "We can't attack those people! They are stronger than we are!" Only Joshua and Caleb trusted God to follow through with his promise to give them the land. You know the rest of the sad story...they wander 40 years until all the doubters and naysayers died off. They chose to forfeit their promise land. They decided that God could not be trusted and they were looking for an easier way.
Back up a few books and take a peek at Abraham. In Genesis, chapter 16, Abraham and Sarai decided to settle for an heir through Sarai's maidservant, Hagar. However, when Ishmael was born, God assured Abraham that this was not the way he intended. Later he reaffirmed the promise to give Abraham and Sarai their own son. "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham took him at his word this time and Isaac was born. God never intended on settling. Too much was at stake. From this man came the descendants "as numerous as the stars and as countless as the sand."
We read in God's word that "he knew us in our mother's womb" and that "he knows the plans he has for us, plans to prosper us and not harm us." Sounds like we all have a promised land. That is not the question. The question will always be whether we want to settle for less or wait on God to deliver the real thing.
The problem with me is always that I want to believe in "the seen, rather than the unseen." The impossible, miraculous, unseen things are meant for someone else. I purposely decide to settle on something a little more in line with what I can figure out on my own. Even in my prayers, I tend to pray small. I pray for things that seem "reasonable." The times I have stepped out on a limb and prayed for all out ridiculous...I was blown away with how God showed himself to be powerful, mighty, faithful to his promises.
There is this significant thing about promises. When God promises something, he delivers. He never intends on us to settle. I love the 11th chapter in Hebrews! In verse 13 it states that "all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised." Wait a minute...did I just say that they did not receive a promised thing? No way. The verse goes on to say that they saw them from a distance. There will be a total fulfilling of promises that will only happen when I am with the Lord. This is eternal thinking, not temporary thinking.
What areas of your life are you simply "settling?" If living your life is not requiring any faith at all, then you are DEFINITELY SETTLING! A question to ask yourself(I will ask myself, as well)...are you uncomfortable? Is your life requiring loads of prayer to get through the day? Don't settle. Stay the course. Wait on the Lord. He will blow your socks off..in this life and the life to come.

When you haven't blogged in awhile, then every time you sit down to blog you begin to second guess yourself. You doubt if the blog you are about to write is worthy of anyone reading it. I decided to get past this thought and just write about stuff.
This morning I was working on my Beth Moore Bible study, Stepping Up. This is a study of fifteen books in the book of Psalms. My mind was wandering, as it often does when I have two minutes of free time. I was imagining what I would speak about if I were a famous Bible study teacher like Beth Moore. I decided that I would want all of the vast listeners(I said I was going to be a famous speaker!) to know all of my weakness right up front. I would need them to know of my imperfections, right off the bat.
We all tend to glamorize public speakers and think that they are super Christians. We imagine that they do not struggle as we do. We think that they do not have a weight problem or a jealousy problem or a gossip problem or whatever. The fact that Beth Moore asks us to lie face down and pray everyday that we are completing her Bible study makes me feel inferior to her as far as my prayer life. I do not lie face down ever when I pray and so I must not have the powerful prayer life that she does. I do not even have hours to study the Bible and pour over every principal that I would like to ponder over. I am busy every second of every day. I am way over committed and do not seem to have any margins in my life.
I say all this to make a point. God is so marvelous, oh so marvelous! He takes my weaknesses and weirdness and uses them to bring glory to His name. I really am going to name some of my many weaknesses.
1) I am so prideful and arrogant. I always think I am right...always.
2) I am jealous of all the people that seem to have free time.
3) I do not have compassion. Teaching 8th grade for so long seems to drive the compassion out. I want them to tell me the "short" version of their story about why they do not have their homework again.
4) I am judgemental. I would have been a Pharisee. I love rules!
5) I am black and white, no gray areas.
That being said, I wonder why I have any friends at all. If I do have a friend it is because of this marvelous God I am in love with. Listen to what He does.
When I grow closer to God and really abide with him daily, he reveals my horrible weaknesses. In John 16:15 Jesus said, "you justify yourself in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." I DO NOT want to be detested by God!
He gives me a new perspective on "free time." He takes away the jealousy and reveals to me that my life is all about giving away my time, my money, my energy. Try to die broke, all used up, no regrets, etc. I won't be at my death bed thinking that I wished I had been blessed with more free time, more money to remodel, more expensive trips. Instead I would be wishing that I would have invested more in eternal things that involved giving my money away, giving my time away, and giving my heart away.
As far as the judgemental side of me, he changes my perspective and constantly reveals my wretchedness, my need for a Saviour. He shows me that I am comparing myself to others, instead of to His holy nature! That slaps me in the face and gets me kicked off the pedestal really quick.
One more thing I realize about myself. In John, chapter 1, Philip ran to find his brother, Nathaniel. He tells him that he has found the Messiah! Nathaniel answers him with this arrogant statement, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Nathaniel answered the same way I would have. He thinks that Philip could not possibly be right. Thank goodness the story continues. Philip humbly answers,"Just come and see for yourself." Nathaniel comes face to face with the Saviour, the Messiah, the Son of God and gets knocked off his pedestal. God, keep knocking me down to my knees. I am going to miss so much of the goodness of life if I think I know it all.

Who Do You Cry To?

Hosea 7:14a "They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds."

Wow, I was reading from Hosea this morning and I stopped when I read this verse. Listen to what it says. I will paraphrase…
When I am crying out in pain or confusion or suffering…I sometimes do not even cry to the right source. God is accusing Israel of wailing upon their bed because of their captivity, but they do not cry out to him from their hearts.
What a revealing statement! You know what you turn to first and it is not always your heavenly Father.
The prophets call this what it is…idols! Israel turned to idols that they had made to solve their worries. Idols are what you worship. My first response to a problem that causes me to “wail” is often to turn to others or mind numbing entertainment or shopping or whatever. Those are my idols.
Think of the last time you were going through a bad time in your life. Maybe it involved finances, a broken relationship, health issues, you name it. To "wail upon our bed" could be a literal wailing or just experiencing a pain with no hope, no end in sight. God is asking us "How long will you wait until you cry out from your heart to me?" How long will it take for us to completely turn to the one who has the solution?
When we pray to God, do we think of him as human, like us? We need to realize, deep in our being, that we are asking help from someone who is NOTHING like us. Can't you just imagine that God is watching us with utter amazement, thinking "Why are you turning to some wooden idol to solve your problem, when you could be turning to me?"
Notice that he said to cry from our hearts and not our mind. Our minds may rationalize that just because we can't see a solution in sight, it must be hopeless. Learn to pray for the unseen, not the seen. Our minds can't grasp the unseen...a heart that trusts in a mighty God can see the future through his eyes. He will keep us in that perfect peace if our heart is stayed on him.

Third Alternative Thinking

I  am not sure who coined the phrase "third alternative thinking." I want to explain what it means, if case you have never heard of it before. It is a very powerful concept.
I am going to explain it using dieting terms because that is the way I am most familiar. If you don't like the size that you are, you have one choice. You can eat less calories and exercise more. You will either choose this alternative and be successful or you will not change a thing and not lose weight. Only two alternatives exist...change your habits and lose weight or don't change a thing and do not lose weight. Some people decide that there is a "third alternative." They can eat the same way and lose weight. This possibility DOES NOT EXIST. However, people pretend that it does.
I tell my students the same thing. If you want to improve your grades, you must make changes in your study habits. If you do not want to change, your grade will not change. Many of my students want to improve their grades, but they do not want to study more. That is third alternative thinking, which does not exist. The only two alternatives are to change your study habits(and your grade will improve) or do not change a thing(and your grade will not improve).
Do you find yourself using "third alternative thinking" sometimes? I do it all the time. I want to lose 10 pounds but I eat a slice of Friendship Bread. I say,"Oh,it won't matter." I want to save money but I buy some new clothes. I rationalize that I will just save next month. This is third alternative thinking. Unless I actively change a behaviour, nothing will change.
The dangerous thing is that we apply this principal to our spiritual life. We want to be closer to the LORD, but we do not want to make any changes. We want to become prayer warriors, but we don't really want to spend any more time in prayer. We want to know what God is like, but we don't want to get up early and spend time reading the Bible. We want to live abundant, changed, joy filled lives...but we do not want to trust God with all of our trials. We want to conquer areas of sin in our lives, but we do not want to wake up everyday and put on the "full armour" of God. What are we thinking? We have got to quit living in la-la land. We need to confront what we are doing. There is no third alternative.
So choose ...is it the easy way that cost us nothing and we gain nothing or the more difficult way that cost us something?
Jesus puts it plainly, "Deny yourself or don't claim to be following after me!" Choose life or choose death. Choose trust or choose fear. Choose to lose your life and gain the whole world or gain the whole world and lose your life. Quit making up third options that do not exist.
Keep this in mind...the painful, difficult, risky options are not chosen very much because the reward comes much later. I can't see it right away. It is not instant. When I choose eat a brownie, I get an instant reward. The painful consequence does not hit me until later when I check the scales to see if I lost a pound. If I decide not to eat the brownie, I get the painful consequence immediately. The reward will be much later.
Same with the Christian walk. If I choose to wake up early and spend time in God's word, I will suffer at that time by being very sleepy. But over time, I will get the beautiful reward of really knowing who God is. Payday is slower when you make the right choice. But the rewards are out of this world!

A Sweet Story

I hope everyone loves a sweet story. I want to tell you about my mother-in-law, Betty. She was widowed at about age 50. I had seen Mark's father a couple of times before he died of a sudden heart attack. We were dating at the time and not engaged yet. Most of my married life, Mark's mom was a widow.
Almost 11 years ago, she attended her 50th high school reunion. A high school friend, named O.W. Miller, was also attending. You may be interested in the fact that O.W. had asked Betty to her high school prom but she had already accepted a date. Both had gone their separate ways. O.W.had been a widower for many years following the death of his wife.
Well, O.W. drove three hours to see Betty following that reunion. At the time, she had a male salesman at her home. O.W. mistakenly thought the salesman was a current boyfriend. He turned around and drove home without stopping to see Betty.
Fast forward to the 51st high school reunion the following year. Betty made it clear that she was NOT dating anyone. She and O.W. began calling each other nightly and talking for hours. O.W. would take Betty to Mississippi State baseball games. My mother-in-law going to a college baseball game???
After a whirlwind courtship, they were married. They have recently celebrated their 10th anniversary. Last weekend, we drove to Memphis to help celebrate Betty's 80th birthday. I am including a few pictures from that precious event. Betty is recovering from a year of chemotherapy and radiation after being diagnosed with breast cancer. God is so good and His plans can make you smile!
This is a picture of Mark and I, my sons, their wives and Betty.

Mark and I, standing with Betty.

President Bush and Luara Bush sent her a birthday card!

Some of O.W.'s family and most of Betty's family were able to attend.

What Do I Boast In?

In Jeremiah 9:23-24, it dismantles some popular thinking about where to find our value. "The LORD says: Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might,nor the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone. That they truly know me, and understand that I am the LORD of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way." Just sit in a group of people telling stories and you will quickly observe that everyone wants to boast about something. Even though I talk a lot in a group setting, I am by far the quietest one in my school lunch group. I eat lunch with a group of people that love to tell stories about their lives and try to "better" every one's story. I love these folks but they definitely can top my story any day.
What is interesting is what we all tend to boast in. I am thinking that God carefully chose his examples. This passage specifically mentioned wisdom, might and riches. The world highly values wisdom, might and riches! The world does not value the thoughts of a child(not wise enough), a weak person or a poor person. These categories of people need to depend on others. They are considered needy. They need someone to take care of them. Get the picture? I think I understand why God is pleading with the rich, wise or mighty people to not consider that something to find their value in. Those are the very things that cause them to not depend on Him.
So what does God want me to boast in? "That they truly know me." I have mentioned this so many times in my blog but it bears repeating. You can never truly know God without spending hours in His word. There is no substitute. You do not truly know God through hearsay or listening to a pastor or listening to your parents talk about God. If you are not disciplining yourself to spend time in the word, you are vulnerable to Satan's attacks. You will not know when he is lying to you.You will not know how mighty to save that our God is. God says boast or find value that "you truly know him."
Jeremiah also states that we need to "understand that I am the LORD of justice and righteousness." Sit on that fact for a minute. The world thinks erroneously that God will send everyone to heaven. In the newspaper a few days ago, I read an article concerning evangelical Christians, The author was pleased to report that many Christians now believe that they are not the only ones going to heaven.Trusting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is no longer the way,the truth and the light, according to the writer.
But God is not that way. God brings judgement on sin with an iron fist. When you read the Bible from cover to cover,your perception of God as non-judgemental will be shattered. Society preaches to our kids to be accepting of all sin and all beliefs. God is not like that at all. He brings judgement! However, remember he is the all-knowing judge who judges with fairness. He loves righteousness. We must know this about God. He does not ignore sin. He loves when I do the right thing and make right decisions.
The best is last..."his love is steadfast and he loves to be that way!" I cannot think of a thing to add. That is something to boast in...that God loves to be loving towards me.

What Do You Boast In?

I believe that we all have something about ourselves that we "boast" in. If we do not, then we are desperately searching for that item. It is human nature to cling to the one area that we can truly "boast" about. Child psychologists strongly recommend that you get your child involved in things that they can be confident about. This will help them weather the adolescent years when their self esteem is under fierce attack.
We say to ourselves, "I am not as beautiful as I would like to be, but at least I am athletic or smart or rich, etc." Human nature seems to compel us to find our value by what we have to offer to society. We place greater value on those who have more to offer. Is this wrong?
In Jeremiah 9:23-24, "The LORD says: Let not the wise man bask in his wisdom, nor the mighty man in his might, not the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: That they truly know me, and understand that I am the Lord of justice and of righteousness whose love is steadfast; and that I love to be this way." God always surprises us with His perspective. That is why, deep down, I always say, "If the world thinks this way, God thinks the opposite."
This is hard to take. When we spend our whole lives carefully building our self-esteem to the point where we finally feel good about ourselves 99% of the time...and God throws a curve ball. I hate that sometimes. I like to get my life together and feel good about it for the next ten or twenty years. I want to boast about myself. It took a lot of work to find something to boast about. I do not naturally have anything that the world would look at and admire...no beauty, riches, power, etc.
But there is good news. In fact, it is fantastic news! When God dismantles a false idea, he replaces it with an out-of-this world truth. I do NOT have to find my value in beauty or riches or the world's wisdom! What a relief! Probably not good news for the beauty queens or Bill Gates. That concept would not resonate very well with them if you told them this nugget of truth. But truth is truth. You can't change it just because you don't agree with it.
So why is this so exciting? Because there is something very precious to boast about. Everyone can boast about it...not just a select few. Verse 24 says, "Let them boast in me alone!" God is enough to boast about! Again, you must look at this with spiritual eyes and not the deceiving colored glasses of society. Picture a rich and powerful man who does not know the LORD. Next to him place a financially struggling young man who has decided that Jesus Christ alone is LORD of his life and is passionate in his pursuit of him. Society will find no value in the poor man, but will quote the rich man and will desire to know his "secrets to success." But who has actually has something to boast about? The man who has access to the creator of the universe! He can "walk boldly before the throne of grace" anytime he wants. God has invited him to "ask for wisdom" anytime he needs it. God has reminded the poor man that he owns the "cattle on a thousand hills." I would rather be hooked up with the poor man anyday. He has more to boast about.
I haven't done a cliff-hanger in a few weeks. My next blog will continue with the way to find our value.