The hard things in life

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 9.23-26

there are stages in life - phrases thru which we all pass. i go thru stages of reading. there are times when i desire to read absolutely everything in front of me, and then there are times when i dread reading a chapter. currently i'm in the 'read-anything-i-can-get-my-eyes-upon' stage. so next to my bed right now are these books: The Message Bible, Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible, The Sacred Way, The Sacred Romance, Prayers That Avail Much, Revolution in World Missions, 90 Minutes in Heaven, Utmost for His Highest, Simplify Your Life, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Book of Sudoku, The Practice of Godliness, The Power of Prayer and Fasting, Enjoy the Silence, Heaven, my prayer journal, Diary of Daily Prayer, Thunder of Heaven, Love and Respect, Red Moon Rising, Thr3E, SpiritLed Woman magazine, and The Secret of Victorious Living. Those are all the books stacked up next to my bed. (it's pretty pathetic, but i've read parts of each of them within the last 3 weeks.)

so i was reading The Secret of Victorious Living and came across this passage which jumped out at me. this is a fictional statement as to what our forefathers may tell us today. (and keep in mind, this book was written before 1934 (which is the copyright date.):
"...We were not so tempted as you are to forget that the destinies of the race are within the soul. It is easier to build a skyscraper than to build great caracter. It is easier to erect your modern apartment houses than to achieve the peace that passeth all understanding, when you are in them. It is easier to amass physical power than it is to achieve spiritual life which knows how to use it. It is easier to harness the forces of the external universe than to release the inner powers of the divine world by which man lives indeed. And when you do this easier thing and omit the deeper matter, where does it bring you save to catastrophe? Lift up your eyes and see. One civilization after another has fallen, fooled by its illusions. What profit without the soul?"

i love how our forefathers would tell us about character, spiritual life, peace that passeth understanding, and innner powers of the divine world. i long for those things, those things which satisfy the soul. and it is so easy to get lazy and not pursue them. i'm learning that it's very difficult to quiet the soul and listen for what my Savior desires to say to me. it is easier to skip on building character... oh but the profit which will come should one put in the time and energy to raise one. and about this peace that passeth understanding - in this crazy world which forces us to be constantly busy and moving, it is so tough find peace. but Jesus proclaimed that He came to bring peace. and so spending time with Him has to be fulfilling, and it builds character.

Oh Jesus,
thru Your Word i read how my forefathers struggled to pursue You. they stumbled and fell, gained strength and rose again just to stumble more. i see the same pattern or stage in my own life. but thru the trials and errors, the strength to persevere continues to pour into my soul. as i try to hold fast to you, my mind is filled with thoughts of who You are creating me to be. You've changed me - You placed within me desires that this world could never offer. i want to know this peace, and to be able to release the divine powers into a lost and hurting world, and have Your characteristics, and be compelled to live out what my Spiritual life manifests. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
thru Your Name, Jesus, i humbly pray ~ Amen.

*Tricia *GNC Event across the nation *Prom go-ers

His Song

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.
psalm 42.8

saturday night i stayed up way too late to finish a book. it was an excellent book - part of a series called the Martyr's Song series which i highly recommend by Ted Dekker. so after finishing the book i laid in bed for a few minutes trying to fall asleep, but plagued by all the action-packed adventures from the book. so, i turned on the light, grabbed my Bible and felt compelled to turn to psalm 42. after reading about the thristy deer, panting souls, downcast souls, and deep calling to deep, i ran across this verse about God directing His love by day and His song being with me at night. i could tell it was one of those verses that would roll around my head for a few days, and then something would tie it to my heart. well, i've found what it is: Invisible Children i've read articles and books about these chidren soldiers. these kids are abducted in the dark of night and forced into becoming soldiers. some kids walk 10+ miles a night and sleep in towns, so they won't be quite as scared to sleep in the bush. i can imagine how they fear the dark of night... and how this verse ties right in - "at night His song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life." can you hear their broken hearts praying to the God of their lives? and to have His song be a comfort in the thick blackness at night. that moves my heart... to tears.

this weekend there are events thru out the nation - rallying people to make a stand for these kids. i realize it's a problem on foreign soil, but our God is there, too. and that transcends my pride as an american. these are people need help - they are oppressed and in slavery. Isaiah, a great prophet, wrote: "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?"
Isaiah 58:6

this is a chance to make a difference, even if it means i loose some sleep.

All-Powerful God,
i fall before You; i stumble and fall at Your greatness. You are omnipotent, and that makes You worthy of praise. You use Your power for good. You have the power to break free those bound in slavery. i lift up this event for these invisible kids to You and set it upon Your altar. may it be an offering which pleases You. use this event to move people to see beyond the walls of our nation, and do something good. you know each of the kids and families affected by these wars. make Your presence known among this country of uganda. reign down, Holy Spirit, and let these people soak You up. let their weary souls find rest in You. Jesus, baptize these broken souls with Your blood, the blood that cleanses all sin and shame.
in Jesus's Powerful Name and by His Blood ~ Amen

*GNC *World Vision Uganda *Andy

Oh so many lessons to learn in one parable

Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence, and do not claim a place among great men; it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.
proverbs 25.6-7

"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
luke 14.8-11

i read the proverbs often, and some how these few verses slipped past me. i've heard this parable spoken by Jesus many times, and yet i didn't realize He was expounding on the wise words of solomon. Jesus simply added some 'life application' to the story which solomon spoke nearly 2000 years earlier. i love it when the old and new testaments connect. that fires me up!

there's something amazing in the words which the king and the wedding host say, "come up here," and "friend, move up to a better place." i've been rolling those phrases around my mind for about 2 hours now, since my lunch break. to hear a king say to me, 'come up here'... has to be such a great honor. but before this person hears those words, he needed to take a back seat. he had to decide to be humble - to give up what would would have been a good seat.

a friend and i have a phrase for the seats near the rear of an airplane... we call them 'dumpster' class, as opposed to first class. as someone who worked for an airline, i flew in dumpster class often. but then there were times... oh the good times, when i would be sitting in dumpster, and the flight attendant would come to me and say, 'your seat assignment has changed.' and that is the key to move to first class... to the good seats! oh what joy to sit in first class as opposed to those cramped seats. and the warm towelettes... and the food and drinks for free! it's a real treat!

there's something amazing when someone invites you to come... like when Jesus says, 'come to me, all of you who are struggling right now, and i will give you rest.' (loose translation of matt. 11.28) there's power in an invitation. and there is power in being willing to give up what may be entitled to us - in being humble enough to hold open a door for someone - in giving up our hard earned money for someone in need - in opening our homes to a homeless person - in losing sleep to pray for someone.

King of kings...
it is by Your great invitation to join You on this journey called life. thanks for calling out to me when i needed You most. Your timing is excellent. thanks for giving us this example to be humble and how to give of ourselves. Your life is an example of humility; let me follow hard after You. guide me in ways which i can be willing to give up for Your sake. let Your light shine thru me. be glorified thru my actions and thru times of seeking Your wisdom and truth.
in Jesus' Name ~ Amen
*valerie *valerie *Allison

Untamed Animals

"Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance."

So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
1 sam 6.7-12

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
mark 21.1-7

so as a reader you probably skipped over the verses. but can i recommend going back and reading them? go back and catch how the two stories resemble each other. see how the ark and Jesus both had a mission which included wild animals. see the animals overcame their natural instincts.

not sure if you've ever experienced the wrath of a bucking bronco or a cow without her calf, but it's pretty intense. my grandfather was trampled once by a cow when she felt threatened for the safety of her calf. and i've been bucked off a horse... (there's a funny story in that somewhere!) but some how God ordained for these animals to behave and do exact what they needed to do. not only did the cows abandon their calves, but they were under control even after being yoked and pulling a cart. critters feel very threatened when something is following them! so it's really not a normal behavior for these cows. and this colt knew how to behave with a rider on it's back. (again, that's not normal!) i've been part of training horses, and it's not easy. horses have a mind of their own.

time after time in the Bible, God uses object lessons to get people's attention. i can only imagine how these philistines marveled at these cows, and how the disciples must have thought Jesus was insane for attempting to sit on a wild colt. but the miracles happened. and they still happen today.

Amazing Father,
You have a way of taming the wild, from jonah's experience in the belly of the fish to calming the raging sea. what in me needs to be tamed? what object lesson do you have for me today? open my eyes so i can see great and marvelous things You create and say. let me hear Your voice, and not miss what it is that You desire for me to understand. (that was the long version, "let me hear what You are saying.") as the trees lift up their arms in praise, let me rejoice even more, for You are good and Your love endures forever.
*Derrick *Landra *Misty

Untamed Animals

"Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us and that it happened to us by chance."

So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
1 sam 6.7-12

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.
mark 21.1-7

so as a reader you probably skipped over the verses. but can i recommend going back and reading them? go back and catch how the two stories resemble each other. see how the ark and Jesus both had a mission when then were on the wild animals. see how both needed the overcame to natural instincts of these two 'beasts'.

not sure if you've ever experience the wrath of a bucking bronco or a cow without her calf, but it's pretty intense. my grandfather was trampled once by a cow when she felt threatened for the safety of her calf. and i've been bucked off a horse... (there's a funny story in that somewhere!) but some how God ordained for these animals to behave and do exact what they needed to do. not only did the cows abandon their calves, but they were under control even after being yoked and pulling a cart. critters feel very threatened when something is following them! so it's really not s not a normal behavior for these cows to behave. and this colt knew how to behave with a rider on it's back. (again, that's not normal!) i've been part of training horses, and it's not easy. horses have a mind of their own.

time after time in the Bible, God uses object lessons to get our attention. i can only imagine how these philistines marveled at these cows, and how the disciples must have thought Jesus was insane for attempting to sit on a wild colt. but the miracles happened. and they still happen today.

Amazing Father,
You have a way of taming the wild, from jonah's experience in the belly of the fish to calming the raging sea. what in me needs to be tamed? what object lesson do you have for me today? open my eyes so i can see great and marvelous things You created and said. let me hear Your voice, and not miss what it is that You desire for me to understand. (that was the long version, "let me hear what You are saying.") as the trees lift up their arms in praise, let me rejoice even more for You are good and Your love endures forever.
*Derrick *Landra *Misty