a child of god
this is the way, run in it
Genesis, chapter 3. We have just read in chapters 1 & 2 about the beauty of God creating everything - the universe, the sun, moon and stars, the earth, and all that lives on it and in it, including us - human beings - made in God's image.
We could stop right there and ponder that for a while, profitably. Made in God's image, His love and care for us demonstrated in how He created us, male and female, in His image. Made for God and for each other. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, given the Garden of Eden to live and work in, God to walk and talk with, life. And then sin rears its ugly head. The devil, through the serpent - one of the animals God created - comes and speaks with Eve. The first thing he does is to raise doubt in her mind. "Did God really say that?" (Ch 3, v.1). Eve replies, yes, He did. And then repeats what God said about the one tree being forbidden for Adam and Eve to eat from. The devil then lies, but he mixes his lie with truth, which was tricky of him. He says, "You shall surely not die!" Lie. Then he says, "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil." Truth. And Eve was tempted. She was tempted to give that tree another look, falling under the sin of the lust of the flesh "seeing that the tree was good for food" and she wanted some. She was tempted by the lust of the eyes, "she saw that it was a delight to the eyes" and she wanted to reach out and touch it, and she was tempted by the pride of life "and that the tree was desirable to make one wise." And so Eve gave in to temptation, reached out, took the fruit, ate of it and gave it to Adam and he ate also. And the first two people ever created by God disobeyed Him and sinned. Then the blame game ensues. Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent, and all three have to face the consequences - as do we - as sin has entered the world. Now the good bit in this situation is that God made a way for Adam and Eve, for all human beings, to be made clean from sin and able to have fellowship with Him again. God always makes a way for us - but He requires us to choose Him, to choose to accept the forgiveness and mercy He extends to us. We can't have our apple and eat it too. It's either God or no God and an eternity separated from Him. But it is our choice. When Cain sins and kills his brother Able, the first murder, in Chapter 4, what makes me really sad is that when he cries out to God and complains about his punishment, he didn't say "I'm sorry" to God, he didn't say "I don't care what you do to punish me, just don't make me leave you." No, Cain was only interested in saving his own hide. He was worried someone else would kill him. I find that really sad. God doesn't get chosen by Cain, by Adam and Eve in the garden, although the bible seems to indicate that Adam and Eve have a restored relationship with God outside the Garden of Eden. And what makes me sad is when I don't choose God over things I want, or things I want to do, or. . . God is worth anything and everything. Until we realize how dark life is without Him, we sometimes don't understand the necessity of choosing Him. Maybe that is what the sin in the Garden of Eden revealed to Adam and Eve. God was better than that apple. God was better than hiding in the bushes ashamed and knowing they had sinned and were going to be punished. Until we realize that the lie mixed in with the bit of truth that we believed is a lie - we can't do something about it. In a world where there is sin, where there are lies mixed in with truth, we need to be able to discern the difference between lies and truth, and God wants us to choose to follow the Truth - Jesus Christ, His Son, our Savior. And He's given us His Word and His Spirit to help us discern what is right and what is wrong, and choose Him every time. Praise Him.
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Job's life, his story, how does it all end? Having just finished the book of Job, I've seen again an inescapable conclusion - we are not blessed if we do not forgive.
Job is validated by God in the end. The LORD God calls him "My servant, Job" and says to the men gathered to console and counsel Job, called his friends, "My wrath" says the LORD, "is kindled against you (Eliphaz the Temanite) and your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, like My servant Job has" (Chapter 42: v.7). Wow. Talk about a telling off - and from God, at that. But look at what God instructs. He makes a way for the three men to be restored to fellowship with Himself, and with Job their friend - He says they can bring an offering, "seven bulls and seven rams" to offer up to the Lord, but, Job - "My servant, Job" - is the one they have to ask to make the offering on their behalf and they have to ask him to pray for them. That is the path of humility, and you can't do that kind of thing while harboring any resentment or bitterness or anger in your heart towards the other person. The work of forgiveness is difficult, it requires a laying down, a surrendering, of our negative human emotions that rise up and separate us from God and from each other. The work of forgiveness is also easy, as easy as just that - laying it all down at Jesus' feet. Leaving our hurt feelings, our need to be vindicated, our feeling that we are right and they are wrong, and acknowledging before God that He alone is right all the time. When we belong to Him, and He calls us His servant, then that is what we are called to do. Now, check this out! It's not all about the baddie friends getting told off. Notice God makes a way for them to be restored, so they belong to Him as well, even though they got it really wrong. But! God also wants to see Job do something. The three friends, "Eliphaz the Termanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naanathite went and did as the LORD told them" (v.9), so they obeyed. They submitted to the Lord, they repented and they brought their offerings of sacrifice and request for forgiveness to Job as the LORD had directed them to. Obedience is always the best choice when it comes to life with God! And what does the bible say then, it says "...and they did as the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job." Why does it say that Job gets accepted when the friends do as God told them to? Look at the next verse, v.10, "And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends...". Job had to forgive as well. He had to be in a place where he could pray to God for his friends and ask God to forgive them. Forgiveness is a two way thing between people. We have to forgive each other. Have you ever humbled yourself and gone to your friend and said you were sorry for something, and then waited, fully expecting that they, too, would say sorry? And then they don't? I'm sure we have all experienced that. What happens though to us when one person forgives and another doesn't? The one who can't forgive lives with broken relationships - with others and with God. God requires us to forgive others, even when they are our enemies, even when they have really hurt us because they are our close friends. That isn't easy. But it is so necessary. Blessing flows from God when we forgive. Our hearts remain tender - to God and to one another - when we can let go of the negative things. The book of Job ends with this surprising twist. That both Job and his friends have to submit to God. One side asking forgiveness and the other side giving forgiveness, after a 42 chapter long book of suffering, pain and misunderstanding. Release, a forgiving heart, not only that but a heart that can pray for blessing is required by God of His people, and in this book in particular of His servant Job. I think He requires that of us today, as well. In fact, I know it. So I say, yes Lord. Please help me to honor you and love others enough to be able to do both - ask forgiveness and give forgiveness when I need to. Let your blessing and release and freedom and real life flow! One of my favorite sub-stories of the birth of Jesus is the one about the shepherds, out in the fields at night tending their sheep. They are unnamed in the story. And yet they get to play an integral part in witnessing to the supernatural happenings that surrounded Jesus' birth. They are unimportant to people, but they are very important to God. We may not know their names, but God knows their names. I love that.
Today, reading in the Gospel of John, Chapter 2, I'm at the account of the wedding in Cana where Jesus displays His supernatural ability for the first time, the bible calls it "manifesting His glory" (v. 11). And I've just spotted another one of those instances where unnamed people, with lowly jobs, get the privilege of being the first to see the divine breaking into life on earth. It's the servants at the wedding! Jesus' Mother brings it to His attention that the party has run out of wine (surely a panic point at a party!), He demurs, and Mary His mother turns to the servants and says to them, "Whatever He says to you, do it!" (v. 5). The servants, of course, obey, and what happens? The bible says they knew - before anyone else did - that Jesus had created wine out of water! They got to be the first to witness the supernatural, to see Jesus performing a miracle, one that after the disciples found out what He did, they believed in Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God, sent to save God's people (v.11). I love that. God loves involving everyone but especially those that others might choose not to draw in. We may not know these servants' names, but God does. They got to be a part of Jesus' ministry on earth, the very start of it, and I wonder - did they choose to believe as well? We all have a choice to believe - to believe whether or not Jesus is who He says He is - the Son of God - the Way, the Truth, the Life - the only Way to the Father - the Savior of the world. And God cares about our choice, He knows our names, even pays attention to us when no one else does. I love how when I choose to spend time with Him, He graciously meets me with love and God light bulb moments in His word. What a great way to start today! Being brave. It's not something that is always easy. I find when God calls me to a task, or asks me to do something, and in particular, just recently, to lay something down, it feels hard/difficult. It requires courage. It requires faith.
What I love about this, though, is when we say, "Ok, God," He steps in and gives us the courage it takes. He makes me brave - there's a song out now about that, isn't there? And it's true. Joshua was encouraged by God to be brave; therefore, he must have needed that encouragement. He must have been finding it hard, difficult, to step out in faith with God. Joshua probably thought he had big shoes to fill - Moses' shoes! But Joshua did step out with God. And look what God did! In the book of Joshua, chapter 1, God encourages Joshua to be brave, "be strong and courageous!", 3 x in the first 9 verses. The Bible says this, "Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD (love that - that Moses even after he has died is still identified by his relationship with God) that the LORD spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant (again, look at that identification - Joshua seen in correlation with Moses, and as someone who was faithful to serve Moses, just as Moses served God), saying, "Moses, My servant is dead; now, therefore, arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. ...Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." So Joshua has the LORD God speaking to him, and promising to be with him and to not fail him or leave him hanging. God then goes on to say, "Be strong and courageous...Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go ... then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." and the verse which we all love and many have memorized, verse 9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." And this is what I have found recently. It was a God appointed time for me to step down from being one of the leaders of our youth group at church, which I had been doing for 5 years. And it was a hard thing to do. I love them. I have prayed for them. I have served them, hopefully faithfully, for 5 years, alongside one of my best friends and the rest of the leaders in the team whom I love and enjoy working with, being with. But it was time. And so it happened, and they all went off together this summer to Soul Survivor, a Christian youth camp, and had a blast and grew in God together, and I didn't get to go. But, it was right. I could see this after the fact. I didn't have the physical strength to go, with a knee that isn't totally well yet. They, themselves, the youth group and the leaders, are going on together from here - and they got the time and space and God attention as a group that was just what they needed. And what about me? God surprised me - I love it when He does that. Some very fruitful prayer times happened, and I'm going to enjoy waiting and watching to see what God brings out of that! Two ministry opportunities were successfully accomplished by the grace of God - and it was right for me to have given myself to those. I learned more about dependency on God, and how He is really all I need, and how much I do need Him. I have learned that when God prompts me to do something, when He tells me to do something, it truly is the right thing to do. So even when it feels hard or difficult to do, I will do it because I know that God is faithful. He has promised to be with me, as He does for all His children, and He keeps His promises. Do I know what is next? No. Do I know the big picture in all its details? No. But I know Who does! Life with God is never boring! and infinitely worth it. I love living life with God! Whoo! You never know what is around the corner. I love that feeling of anticipation, wondering what God is going to do next, what He has for us to do today, what He's got in mind for He and I to do together.
Some endings are sad, painful, a bit of a let down. But other endings are exciting because they clear the way for something new to begin. Some endings are both. I've just finished two big God tasks, and I've just completed my read-through-the-bible program for the 4th time! Such a feeling of accomplishment. And I am now beginning to anticipate what God has for me next. I love that clear the decks feeling. It's also the beginning of a new season - autumn, a new school term - the Fall semester if you are American, the Autumn Term if you are British. All of those things bring new beginnings. So I am reminding myself that it is better to do one God task, than many man-made, man-devised/thought up, tasks. Paul Miller, a pastor friend, used to talk about it like this. Burnout comes from pursuing too many un-commanded works. When we are doing commanded works, God tasks that He gives us, even if we become tired it's not a burned out tiredness. That kind of tired where it seems almost impossible to drag ourselves out of comes from doing lots of things that other people ask us to do - even when they are good things! - or running ourselves ragged because we think we ought to, or should - which leaves us unable to respond to the commanded God tasks that God wants us to be doing - things He has created us and gifted us to do. I want to run my race well for Jesus! with Jesus! So I'm going to keep my eyes on Him and see what it is that He wants to do with me in this new season. I'm excited. Because life with Jesus is true life, spiritual life, satisfying soul life. Come join us. Reading in Job again today; I'm in Chapters 29 - 31 this morning. And Job describes his life with God - he's looking back at the past, when God's blessing was so abundant on him. And this is how he describes it, in verses 26-25: "When God watched over me, when His lamp shone over my head and by His light I walked through darkness. When the friendship of God was over my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me..." I find that incredibly beautiful and moving. Notice the repetition of God covering Job, that He watched over him, that He shone his lamp over his head, that it was by God's light shining over him that he could walk through darkness, and how the friendship of God was over his tent. That description of God's loving care, His shepherding - looking after, providing for, guiding and giving direction - of God's friendship and companionship with Job, is one we could all long for and delight in. "When God watched over me, when His lamp shone over my head and by His light I walked through darkness. When the friendship of God was over my tent, when the Almighty was yet with me..." When we choose God and enter into a relationship with Him as His children through faith in Jesus, the Son of God, as our Savior - when we do that, God delights to hover over us, to watch over us, to shine His lamp over our head, to help us walk through darkness by His light, to know that His friendship covers our home, to know that the Almighty God, the only true and living God, is with us all the time. And nothing is impossible for Him. He is God. What does it mean for you and for me today to belong to Him. Where do we need His light to shine? What path are we currently walking with Him where we need to feel His hand holding ours? He is with us. We do not need to fear. His love, His perfect love, casts out fear, through the darkest valley, and in the midst of blessing and plenty. So I say,
"God watches over me, His lamp shines over my head and by His light I walk through darkness. The friendship of God is over my home, and the Almighty is with me." Because I belong to Him through Jesus. Praise Him! In the midst of great struggle, of hardship, worry and hard work, of opposition - attacks in various forms, a phrase is found only once in the whole bible, in the book of Nehemiah, the phrase "the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). We sing so many songs about the joy of the Lord being our strength but that phrase in its entirety is found only once in the whole bible. I don't think that diminishes the truth of it, but actually highlights it - because of where it is found.
Joy has to do with fighting, with resisting the temptation to quit, to not believe, to give up. The Lord's joy brings us the strength we need to keep going, and not just keep going but to succeed in what He is taking us through, to accomplish what He has purposed in our lives, which are His. His joy strengthens our hands for battle, helps us raise our voice in praise and proclamation of His goodness, His authority, His lordship over all. His joy makes darkness flee, causes depression to wither and die, and helps faith to rise in our hearts again. Jesus and His joy, forged through the sacrifice of His own self on the cross for us, cannot be diminished or dimmed. His joy, His resurrection joy, shines for eternity. We heard a sermon in church a week ago where the preacher said that sometimes healing distracts us from listening to God. When we have no need, when we aren't desperate for a move of God, when we feel like we don't need God (how crazy is that?!), we become complacent, happy and we lose our edge. It's true. Iron sharpens iron, but it has to be drawn for use to be able to be sharpened. Come on, Church! What do we want? Do we want things that make us feel comfortable or do we want to see a move of God that shakes up everything? That kind of move comes through repentance before it hits the joy-filled revival stage. Do we want more of God? Do we want to see victory - His victory, His purposes accomplished, not ours - in our lives, in our times? Yes, we do! I was listening to a sermon by Bill Johnson of Bethel two nights ago entitled "Fulfill the Assignment." You can find it on YouTube and it is worth listening/watching. He talks about what motivates us to seek the Lord? What motivates us to pray? And he said, "many people wouldn't have a prayer life if they had no problems." That is sadly true of us all. Need drives us to God. But what about working with Him, living life with Him, talking to Him as our best friend, our boss, the One who is always for us? Bill Johnson also talked about a cycle of enduring persecution that leads to increase and that cycle repeats itself until we make it to a place of blessing. And he said that what we do in our moment of blessing actually determines how significant your next season will become. God tests us through persecution, through increase, He tests us through blessing, to see what is in our hearts and whether we have truly given our hearts to Him. Who do we give the glory to? Do we give the glory to ourselves, to one another, or do we give the glory to God who affects all things? And without whom we couldn't even draw a breath, let alone comprehend a spiritual concept. And when we make it through that cycle, through persecution without bitterness, we become more refined in purpose, in focus, and more bold in our witness. So the next time I feel like quitting, the next time I feel like complaining and giving up, I am going to choose to seek God's face, desperate for His presence, His voice, and His joy - to strengthen my faith, my mind, my spirit - and pray and wait and watch and see what He will do, because the Lord never disappoints us, hope in Jesus never lets us down. He's just so awesome and lovely and loving - infinitely worthy. ![]() I have to think that God must be so amused at me. Here He and I are, having come home from an amazing week in Greece with some of His people, and I'm wondering what to do now. I'm struggling with feeling down and out because of hurting my knee and being marooned - not easy to walk far, can't drive for a while - and this time is actually not a difficulty but an opportunity. To rest, to spend time at home, with God and with Ian, to recoup, refuel. And I have to think that God must be amused at me as I struggle to surrender to this time. A friend of mine once prayed for me that I would always have a Learner plate on with God - always be willing to learn from Him and grow. The verse I associate with that prayer is in Isaiah, chapter 50, verses 4-5. "The LORD God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The LORD God has opened my ear; and I was not disobedient, nor did I turn back." So I say, Yes, Lord! I will listen, I will obey, I will enjoy this time with you and I'm looking and waiting to see what You want to teach me through it. May I be quick to obey, quick to hear, quick to respond to You with all that I am, no matter my physical state. Please Lord, move in my heart and remove the frustration, the responses that prevent me from enjoying this time with you. Consecrate my heart again to You, Lord. I love You and I love this life You live with me. Let's laugh together, today, and tomorrow. ![]() I asked God for something this summer. Well, I've asked Him for more than one thing, but a special request was could I please see my roses bloom before I went to Samos, Greece, in mid June, with Richmond Holidays. The significance lies in the timing. June is rose month. That is their first and best blooming month, although some roses bloom repeatedly throughout the summer, and some have a second flush in August, usually, others really only bloom once. And my jaunt with Richmond is from the 14th - 21st, right smack in the middle of rose season, or the beginning if they are late. I love my roses. I'm all about English roses. So I asked God for that. And guess what?! They are in full, glorious bloom this past week and a bit, and I have loved every minute of it. Thank you, God! I have 12 rose bushes at home, and two out at the allotment. Most are from David Austin Roses as his have the most amazing scents. My rose bushes for the most part have a literary theme (no surprise there!) with Jude the Obscure (named after a Thomas Hardy novel) - here's a pic of him - and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (again, Thomas Hardy character) - here's a pic of her, a part bush part climbing rose ![]() and I am hoping to acquire a Desdemona bush this summer - named after the character in Shakespeare's Play Othello. There is something so extraordinarily gorgeous about roses. Their design is so intricate, so obviously God created, and they perfume the air and grace any room they are in. My husband, Ian, doesn't care for roses because he says they are boring when they are not in bloom. Ha! I just love waiting for the rose season, and I count myself happy when I have smelled my first Jude the Obscure rose. For all his "I don't like roses" stance, Ian bought me a rose for our 5th wedding anniversary. Here it is this year, A Shropshire Lad, pictured above. Thank you, Lord, for the early blooming season this year - thank You for Ian's love and for Your's too. I love clarity. I like to see - to see what is going on and what God is doing. It is often a morning prayer that I pray - Lord, please give me clarity today, help me to have clarity of mind and clarity of spirit today, to see what You see, and to hear what You are saying about it. And then to join you in it. So yes, I pray that again today, to You, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.
A pastor named Paul Miller once said to a group of us, the enemy hates you to see. Because once something is seen, it can't be unseen, and then you have to do something about it - take it to God. The enemy would prefer that we remain blind and trapped in sin and sin patterns. So bring your light, Jesus - shine it in our hearts and in our lives! May the eyes of our hearts be clear, clean conduits for You to shine through. Purify our hearts today, make us clean, washed in Your precious blood shed for the sake of the world. May Your word shine its light in our minds and remind us what it means to be Your children, and may Your word make clear the direction our feet should go in. May Your Spirit of life and peace and freedom fill us to overflowing today so that when people meet us they meet You - and so we can dance with You today, love You back. Thank You for today, Lord. Thank You for You. |
Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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