Because Jesus paid it all, we have nothing to prove. Because He was perfectly adequate, we can be peacefully inadequate. Because our righteousness comes only from Him we can rest. Because He saved us, we can lay down our shame. The world will crush us if that is what we are chasing. Jesus will carry us if we cast our cares upon Him.
If we are not keeping our eyes on the cross, we are merely a blind man driving home.
Last Sunday our Sunday School teacher took us on a short field trip on the church campus. We were lead to the cornerstone of our church, and he gave us a brief history lesson about the church and a touching exhortation to be the church. He also pointed out the three crosses that stand high above our church building. The one in the middle stands the highest, and the two on each side a little lower. The two lower crosses represent the crosses of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus. The higher one, representing the cross of Jesus. The message was particularly special to me because those crosses, the highest one, in particular, holds special value in my life.
In September 2005, my parents were in town visiting. The second day they were here, my mom and I dropped my children at pre-school and headed to Sam’s. We had just parked when she got a phone call. It was my dad. “He said something has happened, and I cannot see.” Our Sam’s trip was averted, and we rushed back to my house to check on him. We would later end up in the emergency room to find out he had a stroke in his eye. This would be my dad’s second stroke. The first had affected his opposite eye. Now both eyes were impaired.
As hours passed, and the story unfolded, we found out he was in the car driving down Columbiana Road when the stroke besieged him. Our church sits on Columbiana Road. Although my dad had very limited vision, He said he could see ONE thing. The high cross that stands guard at the top of Shades Mountain Baptist Church. He went on to explain that he knew if he slowly proceeded toward the cross, he could find his way home because I lived just down the street. Miraculously he drove himself home, the cross guiding him the whole way.
After our field trip last Sunday, we were walking back into the church and I mentioned my dad’s experience to my husband. He said to me, “I still do not understand how he drove home blind.” It was at that moment that God spoke to my heart. The message direct and simple, “If we are not keeping our eyes on the cross we are no better than a blind man driving home.” Wow! I had chills, and I love how God used that little Sunday School field trip to go beyond our teachers lesson and deposit His own message into my heart.
We are all just driving home friends. Where are we fixing our eyes? On the world, on our problems, on our pain, on our possessions, or on the cross?
Sometimes my vision gets distorted. There are many things the world has to offer to distract my eyes. My flesh wages war against my sight. The goal is not perfect vision, but progressive vision. We must always be advancing, focusing and refocusing towards that one thing that now or later will make all things clear and guide us without fail, even in darkness-The Cross.
I know your “drives” sometimes become treacherous. I know your vision often feels blurry. Mine too, but Keep returning your eyes to the cross friends. It is the only way to get you home.
Perfect love permits pain. 1 John 4:8 says God is love. God permits pain. No one can estimate the profit of pain until we have journeyed far enough through it to see the distance we or our loved ones have traveled. God being sovereign could stay our suffering, but it would stifle His ultimate purpose. Only Divine love is steadfast and strong enough to allow the angel of adversity to remain until her work is done. Whatever pain you or a loved one are carrying today, rest assured it has an eternal purpose. It is not your job to understand it, just to stand still under it and believe God’s promises that have been given to you.
Father, I confess that the pervasiveness of pain and suffering around me sometimes leads me down resolving roads that maximize me and minimize You. In my flesh, solving feels more productive than being still. Remind us all today that it is in pain we find purpose and in stillness we discover strength. May we rest along the restless roads of life and leave the resolving to You, the true healer of all affliction. Amen.
Psalm 37:23 says, The steps of a man are established by the LORD. Over the weekend, I was reading, (I have forgotten which source), and it noted as He orders our steps, so He does our stops, also. I love that! If you feel stuck, stopped or in waiting, rest in peace that your pause was purposed by God. You are right where He intends you to be, and you need only be still, listen and wait. Happy Monday, friends!
Father you know we mamas are creatures who crave constancy not change. When it comes to our children, our hearts are never more troubled by the trials of transition. Tis the season of so much change, God. Our babies are starting kindergarten, entering high school, arriving for their senior year and launching off to college. As our lives are fluctuating, our familiar is becoming foreign, our normal is becoming new and our usual becoming unknown. It feels as if pieces of our lives are changed forever. They will never be as they were again. It is the dying of a chapter that is so deeply rooted and known that it is painful to imagine how life will look moving forward. We are challenged to hold gently and fondly to what was so that we may courageously embrace what now is. Give us the grace to be more than conquerors in all these circumstances of change, Father. May the faith that lives in our hearts be bigger than the fear that lurks in our minds. Bless our children. Insulate each and every one of them from head to toe in your cloak of protection. Remind us mamas that we have raised them to run this race with determination not retreat in doubt. There will be trails, and there will be triumphs. May we and our children know that disguise in all our disappointments are Your appointments. Give us the courage to not look for life somewhere under the sun but in someone above it-You, Father. Amen P.S. Father, please bless all our special teachers and administrators. Refresh them daily with endurance, compassion, empathy and love.
A well-dressed woman is clothed in kindness, gentleness and a smile. Her best accessories are words of encouragement, warm hugs and helping hands. Let us not forget the finest things in life are free and one size fits all!
I have found it challenging this summer to keep my plants alive. I do not remember a summer so hot and dry, and it has been problematic for beautiful, flourishing plants. I have to admit, it isn’t just environmental conditions that are to blame for my struggling plants. Some days I have been too tired to water. Some days I have been too busy, and some days I simply forget.
When I have not consistently watered my plants, pruned them, and removed the debris collected from blowing winds and storms, the neglect presents itself fairly quickly. They lose color, droop, shrivel up, and quickly begin to look dead. The result is they reflect very little of the artistry that is inherent to them.
I am always amazed that despite how desperate and lifeless they can become, returning to consistent watering quickly restores them to their natural beauty.
Last night as I was struggling with the tedious task of watering it occurred to me that like my plants, my soul is a garden, too. It needs constant attention, nourishment, pruning and debris removal. Without it I also become spiritless, worn out, and my life becomes more reflective of my dying flesh than the good and right image I was created in.
There is good news and bad news when it comes to maintaining both my plants my soul. They are not efficient jobs, but they are very effective.
That is the presenting problem today, though. Our world thrives on efficiency. We are oversaturated with to do lists; commitments and days planned so tightly; there is no white space on the calendar. As the scorching sun shrivels plants, stretched schedules suffocate souls.
When I am too busy, I am not available to God. Unavailability for God shifts obedience from Him to me. When I am operating out of obedience to self, I have little need for a Savior. Without a Savior, I am simply a dying plant starving for living water.
What “thorns” are you living with today? We all have at least one. The thing we pray and pray that God will take away. Sometimes He does, and sometimes He does not. Maybe it is a chronic illness, a prodigal child, a broken relationship, a deep loss, addiction, or simply life did not turn out as we planned on many fronts. Even the Apostle Paul lived with a “thorn” in his side. He prayed to The Lord for the thorn to be removed, but He did not.
Paul demonstrates for us in 2 Corinthians 12 that it is possible to live with a “thorn” in our sides and still reflect the character of a loving God. Whatever “thorn” you are living with today, maybe there are many, there is power in your “thorn.” They afford us access to greater amounts of grace. “Thorns” are the seeds that grow virtue, build character, perseverance, humility, empathy and so much more.
We may never understand why God removes some “thorns” from our lives and not others. Psalm 131:1 says, I do not concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp. Asking why is futile. Resting in what is for now, is faith.
Father, I confess the “thorns” in my side sometimes steer me down a path of unbelief and away from you. Enable me to remember and practice their power that leads me down a path towards You. Help us all remember today that the condition of our heart is always more important than the conditions of our life. Amen.
The way we are wired is an indicator of how we react, but it does not have to be a dictator. Being in touch with our tendencies is very helpful in maintaining stability.
This morning as people are defaulting to our natural fear mode about a “possible” Ebola patient at UAB, why don’t we take a moment and consider prayer before panic. Pray for the patient, the family and all health care workers involved in this persons care. So many times our fears never become a reality.
The media feeds fear. Be aware of what is going on to an extent, but fix your thoughts on a God, who is over ALL things, knows ALL things and is faithful through ALL things.
Whatever situation you are facing today, possible Ebola, a dreaded diagnosis, broken relationships, God is not surprised. He wrote the story, and He knows how it will end. Do you trust Him?
The biggest battle we all face is the one in our minds. Sometimes we become hostages to our thoughts but we are not helpless against them. Consider prayer before panic in all situations. It makes all the difference. I know this because it is a discipline I had to learn, too!
Philippians 4:8 ~And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
The scarred hands that fold for us in prayer are the hands that bled so we may be comforted in times when life is unfair.
The nail pierced feet that walk with us in triumph and carry us in tribulation are the feet that bleed to free us sinners from every nation.
The head that thinks of His children as beloved is the one that bled when pierced by thorn; making His perfect righteousness ours to be worn.
From His mouth with blood stained corners he urged; forgive them, Father, they know not what they do. The same mouth says, I know, and I finished it, so no debt or condemnation is due.
The One, who died to ransom you, sees where you are bleeding today, and He wishes you to remember that He will never go away.
Life is full of hurts and worries, but we must stay in His story; fixing our eyes to see, so not to miss His glory.
May you encounter His glory today.