Deal or No Deal

I've discovered I love the book of Deuteronomy. It's Moses' swan song. Like a parent writing a letter to their graduating senior, Moses is writing his last bits of advice to the nation of Israel before they enter the promised land and his earthly life comes to an end. He reminds the Hebrews of their adventures, travels and the laws God has given them. And he reminds them that they are God's treasured possession. Then he gives them the best deal they could ask for.

He says: "If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on the earth." Deut. 28:1 He tells them they will be so blessed that they will have tons of children, plentiful crops and vineyards, herds of livestock, tons of food, be disease-free and lead pretty charmed lives of success in whatever they do. No one will defeat them as a nation and they will be indebted to no one: a pretty sweet deal.

But, he says, if they don't obey, look out, the curses will flow. And everything listed above will be in reverse. So, it's a no-brainer really. Obey, good. Disobey, bad.

After all this, God then speaks to Moses - and you can almost hear Him sigh when He says: "They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them." Deut. 31:16. God knows, despite the fact that He has given them the best deal ever, they are going to turn away from Him after they are settled in the land. They do, and things get pretty ugly.

You know, God has given us a pretty good deal too. He says anyone who believes Jesus is the Christ will live forever with Him. He doesn't say you have to obey - though we should - or that there will be consequences for our choices - which, of course, there will. He just says believe in Christ. When I think of the many who will not take that deal, I sigh along with our Father. Because the results of taking the wrong end of that deal are pretty awful and, well, damning.

Yeah, I love Deuteronomy. It's a nice reminder of how much God has loved, nurtured, disciplined and forgiven His children inspite of their failures ... to the eventual point of sending Jesus (Deut. 18:15). When God asks, "Deal or no deal?" how will you respond?

Wandering Ox

The other day while driving home from church though this beautiful neighborhood with winding streets that force you to travel slowly, I thought I saw an elderly women about to topple over. She looked like she was losing her footing, so I was about to immediately pull over to the side and get out to make sure she was alright. When I got a closer look, I noticed she wasn't falling. She was crushing an aluminum can underfoot. Once it was crushed, she picked it up and put it in a plastic bag she was carrying. This woman was walking along those streets picking up trash.

It reminded me of a Bible verse that just makes me chuckle when I read it. It's Exodus 23:4. The Lord through Moses is giving the Israelites the rules to live by when He shares this one: "If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it." I giggle because this just isn't practical for me in this day and age, as neither my friends nor enemies have oxen or donkey to let wander off. However, anytime I see a person's trash can rolling in the street or some yard decoration blowing down the road, I stop what I'm doing to return it, remembering this verse, mumbling to myself, "Gotta save the ox." So when I saw the women picking up trash I thought, "There she is collecting the oxen." Granted, I doubt she was going to return it to its littering owner.

As I walked today, I saw aluminum cans, plastic bottles and - my biggest pet peeve - cigarette butts strewn along the curbside. I didn't have a plastic bag with me to collect these items, but I did grab stuff as I walked to put with my garbage at home. I didn't do it to make the world a prettier place or to recycle. I did it because God would want me to.

One thing I did not pick was the cigarette butts. I would like, however, to one day return one of those to their rightful owner. So if you are waiting at an intersection in front of me and toss your butt out the window, don't be surprised if I get out of my car, pick it up and knock on your window to return it. Just giving you back your ox.

Skill to All The Skillful

Yesterday while my son and I were talking music, I shared with him about the talents of the musicians in our church's praise band. I sing with the band, and I was telling my son how each is so amazing at their gift for music and adds their own touch to make a song we put together for Jesus uniquely what it is. And I'm blown away each time. I am in awe of what they can do, more so because I do not have the talent to play much beyond a kazoo, tamborine or "Chopsticks" on the piano (and "Eleanor Rigby" on the guitar - but that's a story for another time.) During practice, the Holy Spirit through these musicians weaves the praise songs into a worship service. And they have no sheet music. That's how good they are. They listen to the songs a few times, maybe have a chord list and pull it together every time. When commenting to them once about their musical gifts, one responded, "If God hadn't given me this gift, I truly don't know what I would be doing with my life."

Recently I was reading in Exodus where God is giving specific details to Moses how to create the Tabernacle ... and I mean specific. God wanted the colors, materials, dimensions, patterns and religious elements to be just so. If I was Moses, I would be thinking, "How am I going to accomplish this?" But before Moses can even ask this, God says in Ex. 31:1-6, "See, I have called by name Bezalel ... and I have filled him with divine spirit, with ability, intelligence and knowledge in every kind of craft to devise artistic designs to work in gold, silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting and in carving wood in every kind of craft. Moreover I have appointed with him Oholiab ... and I have given skill to all the skillful so that they may make all that I have commanded you." I'm sure Moses gave a big sigh of relief after that. How cool that God gifted these two men before they were even born with the skills God wanted them to utilize for this very moment.

Everyone I know has some unique, divinely-given gift. My brother is one of the most talented artists I've ever seen (and drew the soldier in the Armor of God above). Andrea and Kathy exhaust me with their energy and creative solutions. My mother and Deb are amazing pray-ers. Cindy befriends everyone in Christ's name. Carol, Barb and my sister Jodi compassionately put everyone else before themselves. Connie and Taffy are precious edifiers. My Dad and Ron can fix anything to help God's children. Jan is the great organizer. Brad's sports experiences have drawn many a man to Christ. And the list goes on...

We learn through this Exodus passage that God gifts us for His glory in some way to grow the Kingdom. Can't you almost see Him gently putting you together just as you are and nudging you on to fulfill your purpose? God is so cool.

For me - well, like the words used in Ex. 36:2, my "heart is stirred" to write. May it ever and always glorify Him.

Getting the Job Done

When I was learning to drive, I remember my father giving me this piece of advice: "You drive the car. Do not let the car drive you." He saw that I was afraid of this huge piece of machinary and wanted me to be clear that the car would do what I told it to. He wanted me to get a feel of the steering wheel and the touch of the brake. He wanted me to control the car instead of letting the car control me. It was great advice. I thought of another piece of advice he gave me as I was sawing several downed branches in my back woods yesterday and today. Once when my Dad saw me wearing myself out while forcefully sawing something he said, "Honey, let the saw do the job. You just move your arm back and forth." I relaxed and found that even with less physical effort the logs were cut quite easily.

The other day I felt as if I'd failed in an attempt to share the Gospel with two Mormon missionaries. I cried after our two encounters, feeling I'd failed these young men by not having the right words, even though I had prayed for the Holy Spirit to do the talking. This frustration was just another on top of the recent failure I was feeling towards the many folks I've been praying for recently who do not know Jesus. Knowing the eternal fate of these folks has weighed heavy on my heart. I was hoping I could see a success story.

Then a good friend from high school told me about a teacher she had who used to be Mormon. She said he commented that it took more than one person to cause him to question his beliefs. And I remembered the story of evangelist William Fay who said of his pre-Christian days that he remembered the face of every person who shared Jesus Christ with him. In other words, I may just be one of many the Lord will use to help these young men see the truth of Scripture. It was something I already knew, but was glad to be reminded of once again.

Then another friend reminded me that it's God that does the calling. We just do our part in showing and sharing the love of Christ, via our actions and testimony, and then step back and let God do the job.

The car and saw are both instruments we use to get a job done. One to drive and one to cut through things. We too are instruments used by God to get the job done. And each of us are individually gifted to do different parts of those jobs. I do not need to worry about the success of reaching these children of God. That is God's domain. I'm just supposed to do my part. I think Satan was working on me a bit, perhaps hoping I'd give up since I wasn't seeing results. Instead, I'm going to rejoice in the fact that God gave me two opportunities to speak to the fellows in my neighborhood. And I'm rejoicing that I can pray for my long list of folks who need Jesus.

God's got this. I'm gonna let Him drive and push the saw. And I'll gladly do what He wants whether or not I see the results ... and continue to give Him the glory!

Time to Clean House - Literally, Virtually and Spiritually

Black Friday, our family was checking out computers on sale. While learning about gigabite memory, dual core processors and the like, we asked about software we have installed on our current computer. We wondered if we'd lose it all. Some programs, we were told, we would certainly lose unless we paid an extra fee to have the hard drive information transferred over to the new computer. I turned to my daughter and said, "You mean if we don't do this, we'll lose the Sims' houses?"

Now if you've never played The Sims, that comment means nothing to you. In this video game, you can create families and houses. I never got into playing the game itself, but I loved designing and decorating houses. I got to play architect, interior designer and landscaper. My kids know a cheat code, so my houses had no monetary limit. I could design whatever I wanted in the grandiest scale. I haven't played Sims in several years now, but when I was designing houses for my children's Sims families, I would spend hours crafting homes. And I had some pretty awesome ones. (Not the one you see in the picture above, however. Someone else made that beauty.) Therefore, my comment to my daughter - and trust me, it was sincere - was refering to the fact that we could lose virtual homes. Fake homes. Imaginary homes. Pixels and megabites, if you will. I was lamenting losing them.

When I heard myself say it, I was embarassed. I haven't looked at those houses in years. I spent so much time on them. Yes, I had fun doing it, but what a waste of time! I thought back to Christ speaking to the disciples at the Sermon the Mount where He says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal."

Typically I'm a tosser - or a donater. I don't save what I don't use. I don't believe in wasting space. So a cabinet filled with Tupperware that I don't use to me is ridiculous. Yet for some reason, I was actually saving virtual homes on the hard drive of my computer!

While in prayer recently for several young men who I pray regularly for that do not believe in Jesus Christ, I thought about the wasted hours I'd invested in the Sims. Hours that could have been spent serving God's children, sharing His story of grace and mercy, reading and memorizing His Word or praying to Him. I was mortified at the lost time.

It's time for me to do a little house cleaning. December is always a great time to go through the stuff you have to decide what to keep, what to toss and what to donate. And yes, even a good time to clean houses off my computer. But I also need to do a little spiritual house cleaning as well and decide what needs more time, what needs fine tuning and what needs cast aside. Time to focus a bit more on those heavenly treasures, I think.

No more "Comen snada" for me. Comen snada you ask? It's Sims talk - they have their own language. I don't even know what it means, yet I remember the little virtual people saying it. Great ... I've even wasted brain space. Yes, definitely time for some house cleaning.

Wasting Away; Renewed Day by Day

There is a woodpile over the hill in my backyard. I didn't put it there. It was there when we moved in. When I found it, it was covered in vines and downed trees. After cleaning the overgrowth, I was able to utilize this wood for our many fall and winter campfires. Just recently when I went back there to get some dry wood, I'd found that a goodly portion of the pile had begun to decompose. Tiny bugs, weather and time itself have taken their toll on the cut logs back there. Many have decayed clean through. And there at the bottom of the woodpile, is the most beautiful earth you've ever seen. Those logs have been transformed into deep chocolate-brown loamy soil. I spent an afternoon recently digging up that dirt and filling a wheelbarrow, which I rolled up the hill to my garden. There I dumped it on top of the less hospitable soil I've planted my tomatoes, green beans and other vegetables into this past summer. Now nearly filling the garden plot, is beautiful black soil filled with nutrients God Himself supplied. I can hardly wait to plant my garden for next year.

How beautiful, how amazing is our God to take what wasn't being used and transforming it into something that not only will be used, but will make something else better! I like to think of us human beings in that same light. A friend told me recently she is lamenting leaving her family for the first time as she and her husband are relocating in the New Year. She wanted Bible verses to lean on in this transition. In addition to those verses, I gave her some advice from our many moves. I told her to find a church as soon as she could, for the church will become her new family. I also told her that every move our family has made has grown us spiritually. There is no doubt that we are closer to Christ, better servants and deeper in our faith with every relocation.

God is so wise and so good with this change. He's taken something that might not have been used in another place, and made it something that not only will be used, but perhaps make something else better. Scripture tells us that "Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day." (2 Cor.4:16). I can't wait for stories of God's plans for this young family after their move! How will they better themselves and God's Kingdom, I wonder. Just like the new soil will make for a better ecosystem in my garden, no doubt this move will make a better Kingdom of God! Glory to Him!

Waves of Life

My husband was holding me from behind with his arms around me as we stood in the Gulf of Mexico waste deep near the pier in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. He rested his chin on my head and we stood staring south out over the beautiful clear blue-green water. My husband delighted in the calmness of the sea, with the small rolling waves breaking behind us closer to shore. I spent much of my time looking for the sharks I'd heard about that I thought would love swimming near the pier where fisherman cast bait over the railing.

Since the gulf was so calm, the sea was nearly flat with tiny ripples, but every once and awhile a wave would nudge us both enough to throw us off balance just a bit. We'd giggle every time it happened. Finally my husband profoundly said, "You know this is just like life. You think you have your feet firmly planted and something comes along to try to knock you over."

As we were celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary there in the panhandle of Florida and reminscing over our years together, I thought about his analogy. Many times over those years we thought everything was stable, blessing after blessing, when all of a sudden something would happen to knock us off our feet. Sometimes the challenges were small and other times they were huge, difficult challenges that took much more time to recover from. Many times, it wasn't a recovery that occured, but rather a sharpening of sorts, winnowing perhaps or even a readjustment. No matter how firmly we thought out feet were planted in the sand, that has never stopped the waves. Brad was right. This was like life.

The morning of our anniversary as we looked at pictures from our wedding I asked my husband, "If you could go back in time to your newlywed self, what would you tell him?" He said quickly, "I would tell him to get his spiritual act together." I then asked, "Would you have listened to yourself?" Without hestitating he responded, "No, probably not." When asked the same question about what I would've said to that young bride in white silk organza, I replied, "Armor up, girl. There are challenges ahead."

When I think about the two of us standing in the cool waters of the gulf, I remember what each of us was doing at that moment, and how it reflects our outlook in life of late. My husband delights in the calm moments. You can hear him sigh, breathing in God's goodness. While I'm busy looking for sharks in the water, watching for the next challenge to head out way. It's just what our life experiences and spiritual journeys have brought us to thus far.

And no matter what waves are coming, it looks like between the two of us, with God as our anchor ... we've got a nice balance.