Scintillating

I love sparkly things. Sequins, glitter, jewelry, anything that sparkles. As my daughter said, "I am drawn to sparkly things like bugs to a zapper."

I have a pair of silver sparkly shoes that I got at our church youth yard sale a year ago for 25 cents. (I know, great bargain, right?) They are comfortable and super sparkly ... unless it's cloudy outside. Then, not so much. They don't sparkle at all actually. They need some kind of light to reflect to be completely appreciated.

Sunlight or artificial, they need it to scintillate (my new word for the day - basically means to sparkle). And if you're wearing something with sparkle potential, you want maximum scintillation.

I think Christians are a lot like my glittery shoes. We need to be in the Light to truly shine. Every moment of every day, we need to find the Light, stay in the Light and reflect the Light so others see it. If we are, perhaps people will be drawn to Christ the way I'm drawn to sparkly things.

I used to wish that when I walked, I would leave sparkle behind me (you know like Tinkerbell when she flies). And with these sparkly shoes, that sometimes happens, as the little glitter bits fall off now and then. Again, I think that, too, is something we as Christians should aim for: leaving that sparkle of Christ in our wake so people will know we've been there in His name. You know - change the world for Jesus so they see it's all because of Him.

It's a sunny day today. I've got the sparkle shoes on. Praying I radiate the Son as much as they reflect the sun.

Commanded to Love

If you call yourself a Christian and are not loving your enemies, you're a joke. Just let me state that flat out. It was one of Christ's commands in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:43). He didn't say, "tolerate your enemies," "ignore those who are displeasing to you," or "give someone you disagree with the silent treatment." No, He said plain and simple, love them. LOVE THEM.

I am sure you are detecting a note of frustration in my voice. I am so very, very tired of people calling themselves Christians and finding all manner of ways to dismiss those they just don't like. I have been treated kinder, frankly, by non-Christians than people who call themselves Christians and smile to my face, while their behavior is blatantly opposite to what Christ commands.

Our Father calls us to be honest, compassionate peacemakers and He even gives us a formula for its success. First, Christ tells us in Matt 5:23-24 that we are required to reconcile with our brother or sister before we bring our gifts to the altar. Second, He tells us to forgive this person so our Father will forgive our sins. And thirdly, if we catch someone in a sin, we're to point out the person's fault and if they listen, all is well, but if they don't, take one or two witnesses along so the matter can be rectified. There's even a final option about getting the church evolved in Matt. 18:15-17. Therefore, based on all three of those Scriptural guidelines, we Christians should be resolving conflicts, forgiving one another and loving one another. But if even the forgiveness is coming slowly, we are above all, to love.

There. I know I feel much better getting all that out. And honestly, I don't follow all the above perfectly all the time. But I strive to, and praise Jesus, have an accountability group that calls me on the moments I am not doing as such. But if I don't see my Christian brothers and sisters working to reconcile, then I just plain and simple don't believe they are following the commands of Christ. They may be building walls around themselves or removing themselves from different things thinking they are protecting themselves from further harm. But that is folly. It's simply Satan isolating that person from the loving, reconciliation that Christ encourages. I know because I was there, doing that isolation bit, when all it did was make me more bitter, lonely and heartbroken.

If you love Jesus and owe your life to Him, He had a command that He considered second only to loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength (Deut 6:5), and that was to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev. 19:18) - and that doesn't mean just Christian ones. When we stand before His throne we will be accountable to Him.

So stop faking it. Stop metaphorically stabbing people in the back when they aren't around. Stop eliminating souls from your life thinking that is how you will guard your heart. Stop rolling your eyes at people you disagree with. Stop pitying yourself. Stop being so arrogant that you believe you alone have been wounded or are sin free. Stop looking for reasons to dislike someone God created in His image and was willing to die for. In the name of Christ Jesus, stop it.

And start being who Christ commanded ... Him.

The Daniel Plan

If I like something, I am one to be sure to tell everyone about it. For example, I love chocolate. I love sparkly things. I love my husband. I love my children. I love my Lord and Savior. Anyone who knows me, knows how I feel about all of this. So when I come across something that has changed my life for the better and really works, I'm going to make sure you know about it.

Just recently our church started The Daniel Plan. It's a program created by Rick Warren author of "The Purpose Driven Life" and pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. As Adult Education Coordinator in our church, I was sent some material about it and it intrigued me. First of all it was Biblical, and secondly because it was a life-change wellness book and not a diet plan.

The Daniel Plan has five initiatives: faith, food, fitness, focus and friends. It's a book on complete wholeness and wellness, showing us how our bodies can be a temple for the Lord (1 Cor. 6:19). The book is excellent and filled with Scripture, facts, statistics, stories of success, goals and suggestions. But it's the advice it gave that has been an inspiration.

Much of the health part you've heard before: eat more fruits and vegetables, the right portions of the food groups necessary to maintain health, eat the right fats, limit sugars, exercise at least four times a week, don't skip meals, etc. But it was other information I hadn't heard that opened my eyes. For example, how foods with labels including more than five ingredients, probably aren't foods (especially if you can't pronounce the ingredients). How sitting has become the new smoking in its detrimental effects on our bodies. How your brain immediately craves carbohydrates in food emergencies, so you should have a food emergency kit on hand with healthy choices. How the brain releases certain chemicals throughout the body based on the negative or positives thoughts you have. And the dangers of processed foods we eat. My husband commented last night: "I tell you what, the Lord has truly made the human body resilient after all we put it through."

As a result of The Daniel Plan, we are grocery shopping in a whole new way, reading every label to make sure we're eating actual food, selecting more fruits and vegetables and avoiding the processed food aisles in the center of the store. And we've been shocked by the changes in a few weeks, and we're not talking weight-wise. We sleep better, longer and deeper. We have tons more energy during the day. Brad's blood sugars from a diabetic standpoint are more controllable. We are excited to see if our new habits stick and more importantly to see if it translates into better health for the two of us. When 15,000 people joined Rick Warren in this first Daniel Plan, they lost a combination of 260,000 pounds. That's impressive and encouraging. And the fact that it's all revolving around our love for the Lord is the coolest part.

I've been given one "jar of clay" (1 Cor. 4:7), and to be the best, strongest, most resilient soldier for the Lord, it's about time I took better care of it. As the book says, "You wouldn't give a hamburger and french fries to your dog. So why would you eat it?" When I look around me and see how poorly we've done as a people taking care of ourselves, and how we truly have only ourselves to blame (self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit after all), it's startling ... but not hopeless. We may be coming to this realization late, but at least we're here. As chapter one in the book ends: "Welcome to the journey."

47 Faith Focuses

Next Tuesday is Mardi Gras - the French words for Fat Tuesday, the day you're to feast before the fasting of Lent. Lent is the 40 days plus Sundays leading up to Easter. Some people throughout history have sacrificed something during these days - candy, smoking, social media, television, video games - to remember Christ's sacrifice. But I'm going to suggest a different method of celebrating.

If sacrifice is your preferred method of focusing of the Lord in the days leading up to Easter, go for it. Fast from whatever you feel is pulling you away from Him. But you can also proactively approach these days in efforts to improve yourself spiritually. I've listed 47 things that you can do, one each day, leading up to Easter Sunday. You don't necessarily have to do them in order (although the last seven do coincide with some events from the most important week in history). Perhaps these will revive your soul, encourage your spirit and grow the Kingdom in some God-glorifying way. Have fun! Praise His Name!

47 Faith Focuses during Lent (40 Day of Lent + 7 Sundays)

1) Read your Bible every day. Even if for a short while. Document over these next 47 days what the Lord teaches you through His Word.

2) Pray all throughout the day, as you wake up, mealtime, before bed, devotion time – even at restaurants if you’re out to supper. And ask the server how you can pray for them.

3) Do an anonymous random act of kindness in Christ’s name.

4) Write a thank you to someone for their service to Jesus.

5) Honor your parents in some way. Write them a love letter, do something in remembrance of them or in honor of them.

6) Give to a charity in Christ’s name.

7) Care for God’s Creation in some way – compost, plant a tree, start a garden, clean the streets.

8) Find reasons to edify others throughout the day.

9) Spend some time in study – read a Christian biography, take a new Bible study.

10) Podcast sermons to hear what others called by God are sharing.

11) Switch your radio to Christian music and see what change it makes in your life.

12) Journal your prayers. Write down when God give a specific answer to prayer.

13) Find a devotional that works for you: couples, women's, men's, family, beach, etc.

14) Ask the Lord to convict your heart in forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness from those around you that you have wronged. Forgive those who’ve wronged you.

15) Find a cause you are passionate about that involves helping the oppressed.

16) Clean out your closets and donate to a local Good Will, Salvation Army or thrift store.

17) When you grocery shop, pick up a few extra items for the food pantry.

18) Visit someone who is lonely, in the hospital or a nursing home.

19) Boldly speak to someone about Jesus Christ that you know could really use Him in their life.

20) Watch a Bible DVD or movie and have a discussion together about its accuracy, theme or message.

21) Sing praise songs to the Lord all day long.All. Day. Long.

22) Memorize Bible verses, or entire chapters of Scripture, like Psalm 23, the Sermon on the Mount, Romans 8, 1 Cor. 13, etc.

23) Avoid watching garbage on TV. Yes, that may mean turning it off completely. Remember, garbage in, garbage out.

24) Write out your faith story for future generations to read.

25) Ask the pastor: “What need does our church have that I can fill?”

26) Ponder the names of God and praise Him for the name that means the most to you today.

27) Take a good look in the mirror: What do you need to do to improve your body as a temple for the Lord?

28) Count your blessings. Write down everything you have to be thankful for.

29) Ponder God’s majesty by spending sometime tonight under the stars. Look for constellations in the sky, watch for shooting stars, check out the phase of the moon.

30) If your Bible is worn and filled with notes and highlights, considering getting a new one or different version and reading it with fresh eyes. If it’s not worn – open it up. The best kind of Bible is a well-read one.

31) Whatever task you face today, do it as if serving the Lord Himself, with joy, respect, grace, love and enthusiasm.

32) What has been the high of your day? Your low? What did God teach you through both of those things?

33) Take a spiritual gifts test. See what your strengths are and utilize them for God’s service.

34) Invite someone over for supper and learn more about them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

35) Be creative today! Make something, paint something, fix something, all for God’s glory and in His Name.

36) Go to the highest point in your town and look over the vastness of God’s creation. What new things do you see?

37) Look up the author and back story of one of the old hymns and sing it out, sing it out, sing it out!

38) Ask the Lord to nudge you about a particular person that may need to hear from you today and then act on it.

39) Go the whole day being “third.” Putting God first, then others, then yourself. Humbly let others go before you.

40) Read the story of the Exodus and participate in a Passover Meal. See how Christ took the place of the Passover lamb.

41) Check out Biblical maps to see where the patriarchs lived, where the 12 Tribes of Israel settled, how the Kingdom divided after Solomon, where the Israelites went during the Diaspora, what the Holy Lands looked like in Jesus time and what they look like today.

42) Do a spiritual inventory. Are you worshiping, reading the Word, studying, serving others. Put it away to be opened a year from now and see how you’ve grown spiritually.

43) When out to lunch – pay for someone else’s meal without them knowing. Tell the server to tell them it was done in Jesus’ name, but not that you did it.

44) Take communion today in remembrance of Him.

45) Read the story of Christ’s arrest, trial and crucifixion in all four gospels to get all their perspectives on this most important week in history.

46) Put together an Easter treat for a friend – flowers, balloons, candy and a Bible verse or devotion. Tell them how much Jesus loves them.

47) Dance before the Lord because Jesus Christ is risen today! This is a day of completely glorifying the Lord! Hallelujah, Amen.

 

I Have You Now

My coworker and friend at The River radio station, Hiawatha, was sharing an amazing story with me yesterday. She said she had a friend who was going in for heart surgery that did not believe in Jesus Christ. Right before he was to go under, a man in the operating room leaned down close to his face and said, "I have you now." Under anesthetic, he wrestled with this man during the entire surgery, until he finally called on the Name Above All Names, "Jesus!" When he did, he heard a voice say, "Leave him alone" and Satan went away. Yes, he believes he saw Satan in his operating room prior to his surgery and wrestled with him all during surgery. And when he awoke, this man asked Jesus Christ into his heart. I got the chills when she shared that story.

Hiawatha and I were discussing what an interesting method of evangelism that could be in hospitals. A person is going in for a major surgery, a man comes up prior to surgery and asks "Do you know Jesus?" If the person says yes, proceed to pray with them prior to surgery. If they say no, whisper menacingly "I have you now." It may just scare the hell out of them ... literally.

We had a laugh about this, but thinking about it later I wondered what reaction people would have. Because, let's face it, if they don't have Christ in their lives and their life is cut short, the truth of the matter is, Satan does have them. Because Christ told us "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." John 14:6. There is no other way to the Father. Not good works, not being a good person, not any other religion. It is Christ and Christ alone. He died the most horrifying death for the very purpose of bringing us to the Father. To pay the ultimate price for the sins we've committed.

I remember another friend telling me about two men in the trenches during World War II. During heavy fire, one man asked the other if he believed in Jesus and Heaven. One said he did. The other said he didn't. As the barrage continued, the one who believed said, "One of us is wrong and one is right. I'm thinking in a few minutes we're both about to find out. I'm pretty confident about my beliefs. I hope you are confident about yours."

There is no doubt in my mind about Jesus Christ. Not one. I believe in Him. I love Him. I want everyone to know Him. And my heart aches for the ones who do not. French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire wrote: "The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist." And yet he does. And he's a liar, constantly trying to convince the children of God that the Word isn't true.

If you knew you were being lied to, wouldn't you want to know?

The Word is the Truth. Christ, the Son of God, died for you so that you could be in Paradise with Him. And Satan since the beginning of time has been trying to pull you from Him. Who do you want to believe? The liar? Or the one who loved you so much He died for you?

Because let's face it, if you believe the liar, then he can in all confidence say .... "I have you now."

Clear Winner

The other day we were invited to play a card game with friends called Raupoly. Oh, you've never heard of it? Well, that's because our friend's uncle's wife's brother's friend's cousin's mother's someone-or-other made the game up. And it's a hoot. It's a combination of hearts, the bidding process of pinochle and poker. You need at least five people to play (six max). You all have chips and anti-up, bid for the free hand, bet on your poker hand (which I've learned I do not entirely comprehend - but sure had fun trying), then start laying down your cards with hopes of winning even more chips. There is very little strategy involved and little you can do to alter your hopes of earning more chips short of just paying attention.

Here's the interesting part. This group that was playing, we were not gambling with money. We were using chips without monetary backing. And it was an endless supply of chips. When you ran out of chips, all you had to do was turn to my sweet friend, Katelyn, who was maintaining the bank and say, "I'm out." She'd hand you ten more chips. I think I was out of chips at least three times, and others had similar experiences. It allowed us to play endlessly.

We sure had a lot of fun. I honestly don't know if there was even a winner. There were two folks with more chips than everyone else at the end, but remember we all ran out of chips periodically, so no one knows truly how much in debt they were before they accumulated all the chips they had. So anyone's win was truly meaningless.

Someone commented that in future we might want to set a limit to the number of chips we start with so there's a clear winner. Perhaps, but it certainly wouldn't be as fun. Because then we'd have folks run out of chips and they're out of the game. If you drop below five players, the game is over, and with the max number of players at six, that would happen pretty fast.

It did get me thinking about our government-supported programs and national debt, however, which at this writing is over $17 trillion. How fun it is to continue to spend, spend, spend when there's an endless supply of money. How easy it is to continue to take at someone else's expense, and never have to earn it. The problem is, in the real world, there isn't an endless supply and we do need to earn it. Not so that there's a clear "winner," but that so when you do succeed it really means something.

Raupoly is a fun game. Life on the other hand, isn't one. It's a journey, and a spiritual one at that. We learn from our successes and failures on this walk with and to the Lord. We will have times when it seems the bank has an endless supply, but more often then not, the purse strings will be taut. We are not guaranteed happiness nor excess. But we are guaranteed an abundant life in our belief in Christ (John 10:10). In that sense, there are - we are - clear winners.

So Very, Very Loved

Last April on a Friday when I was praying for 30 minutes during a prayer vigil for the Kairos Prison Ministry weekend that my husband was lay director of, I tried something different in my prayer time. Instead of uplifting all these inmates in prayer and talking to God about them, I instead asked God to do the talking.

With a list of their names beside me, I prayed for each one by name, asking the Lord to tell me what I needed to pray for them. He would reveal words or images to me, so I wrote them down next to the person's name. When Brad came home that Friday night, I showed him the list and said, "This is what the Lord wants you to pray for for these men." As he read over the list, his jaw dropped. Many of the things I had written down, I couldn't possibly know because I hadn't met the men, but he said the prayers were dead on about them. Some he didn't know. For example next to one man's name I wrote: "He misses his Mom." Brad went up to him the next day and hugged him saying, "I know you miss your Mom. I'm praying for you." The guy just stared at him and walked away. Later in the day, he asked Brad how he knew that, then explained that his mother had been paralyzed years before, couldn't come visit him in prison and that it was his birthday that day. It was a confirmation for Brad and me about that prayer time.

Brad shared the prayers I had written down with several of the other inmates over the weekend as well. When several other men were added to the weekend, he asked me that next day to pray for them. One kind of interested me when the Lord had me write the word "energy" next to his name. I thought that was strange. Was I supposed to pray for energy for him? At closing when this man went to the podium to tell what the weekend had meant to him he said, "What amazed me most about this weekend was the energy I have felt from all of you." I nearly fell out of my seat, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Apparently he needed to feel that energy from the people there that day. It was such a profound experience for me from a prayer standpoint, and I have reexamined the way I pray. I am usually a talker with the Father. I decided I need to make a better attempt at being the listener. But since that weekend, I hadn't prayed that way.

Last Wednesday Brad went back to the prison for a visit. One of the inmates went up to him and explained that his wife had gone through the Kairos Outside weekend for spouses of inmates. It helps them better understand the changes in the lives of the inmates after a Kairos weekend. The inmate walked up to Brad and handed him a slip of paper with the name of his wife, Shantel, on it. He said his wife had an amazing weekend and he wanted me to pray for her to get a message from God about her.

I have to say, I was a little uncomfortable with this request. I hadn't prayed like I did that Friday night in April since then, so I wasn't sure the Father would necessarily give me a message about Shantel. But I promised Brad I would pray for her.

A couple days ago, I sat in my office on the bed in there to pray for Shantel. It was a dark cloudy day. As I prayed, with my eyes shut, I saw light. Lots of it.

I opened my eyes to see the low-hanging sun peaking through the clouds and beaming right on me through a soft steady rain. I thought how beautiful it was, then went back to praying as the clouds covered it back up again. As I started to pray for Shantel again, it happened again, the sun burst through the clouds right on me. Then I felt it. "It's a time of steady soft rain for her, but she will be a light through it all. And there is a promise." That was it. I wrote it down and went back to pray as the clouds covered the sun back up. But as I prayed, I thought "Lord what if that was just a coincidence - that whole sun thing. Is there something else you have for her?" And the sun burst through yet once again on me. The Lord likes to work in threes with me. Apparently, I am not easily convinced a first, or even second, time. And then the Lord did something for me that had never happened before. For just a brief moment, seconds even, He allowed me to feel the love He has for Shantel. And it was overwhelming. I started to cry. Oh my, how He loves her! An all encompassing, fill-your-heart-to-overflowing love that just surrounded me, made me feel safe, special, embraced. I wept as I realized this is how He feels about every single one of us. How blessed we are that God loves us so very, very much! Christ coming for us made complete sense to me in those moments. He loves us that much.

After this moment of worship with Him, I went back to praying, saying "God is this what you want me to tell Shantel? I just want to be sure I have it, that I'm not imagining all this." And the Father spoke to my heart, "Close your Bible, Jill. That is it."

It was my closest moment to Christ this week. To feel the love He has for her. To open my heart to God's direction. Let me tell you, there is nothing like it. We need to open ourselves to the Almighty. He wants to use us. He wants us to be willing recipients of His Word, direction and love. We just need to be available for it.

I think it's about time I started praying that way more often. I look forward to hearing what He has to say next. Open your heart to Him. He's waiting.