Waiting Eagerly for His Return

My husband has been traveling for work frequently enough throughout our marriage that the kids and I should be completely accustomed to not having him here, but we have never adapted. Each time he travels, we all wait eagerly in expectation for his return. We miss his presence every hour, every day. The kids are usually on their best behavior, especially when unexpected trials come as they almost always do when he is away. And despite being completely wrung out by the time he returns, I usually have the fridge & pantry stocked with his favorite foods, the house tidy and clean, and all the laundry done, for I want things to be in proper order when he returns. I can only imagine how a military wife must prepare for her husband's return after deployments of 6 months or longer. Those sweet reunions of servicemen with their families like we saw at the 2020 SOTU melt our hearts as all those months of longing and eager expectation are finally realized. So much peace floods a home when the father/husband returns to his family.

How much more, then, should we be fervently preparing and eagerly awaiting the return of Christ our Savior, lover of our souls? How precious will be that reunion when we see him face to face and join him in glory. Are you ready?

For further study, please read Luke 12:35-48 and Matthew 24:42-44.

Examining our own hearts in light of continued racism, hatred, and violance

As hatred, violence, division, and accusations mount (according to plan), perhaps we should first honestly examine our own hearts in light of God's truth before reacting in unhealthy, destructive, volatile ways, fueled by the heightened and irrational emotions evoked by the media's false narratives, angry attacks, distortions, exaggerations, and outright lies. I have written in second person to engage others, but only after asking myself each of the questions below.
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"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses." (Proverbs 10:21)

• Is your heart consumed with hatred or with love? 
• Are you praying for God's love to touch and redeem your enemy, or are you praying for him to suffer?

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 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives..." (James 4:3)

• Do you really expect God to hear your prayers if you pray outside of his will....wishing harm on others instead of good, simply because the media or some well-funded radical group told you that you should hate them? 

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalm 66:18)

Note:  Regarding iniquity refers to deliberate, habitual, unrepentant sin.  It is placing one's desire to sin over their desire for God.  We all fall short, and God's grace is not dependent upon our works, but a truly repentant heart that receives the grace and redemption of God will hate one's sin and ask for God's help to overcome it instead of shaking one's fist at God and insisting He can't have that area of their life.  Such defiance is rejecting the Lord, not receiving Him.

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2 "For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love." (Psalm 109:2)

• Are you slandering and attacking others without cause? Whether or not you agree with them is irrelevant. If they have offended you, then that is your problem, not theirs, for we are each individually responsible for how we respond to the words and actions of another. No one has the power to offend us unless we willingly give it to him. 
• How has the subject of your ire legitimately and truthfully (media narratives do not count because they are often unreliable) harmed you to warrant your attacks? 
• Are you returning evil for good or good for evil? 
• Are you seeking vengeance or trusting in the Lord's justice and goodness?

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12:19)

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"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." (Romans 13: 1-2)

• Are you mad at God for allowing Trump to be elected? 
• Or are you a Republican upset over the fact that your state elected a DNC pawn as it's governor?
• Do you really think God makes mistakes? 
• Are you suggesting that you know better than the omniscient One who made you and who is the source of wisdom and truth? (John 14:6, Proverbs 2:6) 
• Are you subjecting yourselves to the authorities God has established or rebelling against them out of selfishness and without Biblical mandate?

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2: 1-4)

• Are you praying for your leaders and seeking peace with your brethren, or do you wish injury and shame upon him?

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"31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4: 25-32)

"6Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3: 5-17)

• Are you verifying statements before repeating them in slander?
• Are you ready to forgive, or are you storing up resentment?
• Are you choosing to be thankful or bitter?
• Do you view all people, regardless of social class, race, or gender as your brother or sister, worthy of respect, acknowledging that you are nothing without Christ and no better than anyone else?
• Do you strive to obey God in all things, asking Him to help you when you fall short, ever grateful for His mercy and grace?
• Are you opening your entire life, every decision, word, thought, action, and heart's desire to Him so that He can redeem and transform you? Alternatively, do you only obey Him when it is politically correct or convenient? 
• Is He Lord over your life or do you think you have authority over Him and are thus better able judge what is right and wrong, just and unjust? 
• Do you insist that you know better than God does with regard to His word, omitting the parts you find uncomfortable and clinging only to those that fit your narrative and make you feel good? 
• Is your life consistent with the knowledge that we will never experience freedom from sin, lasting joy, or peace until we become so uncomfortable with the reality of our sin that we choose God over our unholy lusts and humbly repent? Until He is Lord over all, He is not your Lord at all.
• Do you do all things to honor Christ or to exalt yourself?
• Are you a peacemaker? Do you put the interests of others before your own? (Philippians 2:4)
• Do you acknowledge that Christ is the only one who can unite us all and give us peace? Is He your only hope and heart's desire, or are you still trusting in earthly powers and fleeting carnal enticements?

The Total Solar Eclipse of the Heart

On August 21 at 2:00 EST, the moon will completely block the sun. Everything will grow dark.

Source:  NASA

 Just because we can't see the sun, however, doesn't mean it's not still shining. The sun remains completely unchanged, but our perspective is darkened by the moon. For that moment, it seems darkness has overcome us, but the sun is still there in all it's massive splendor and light.

Note: The sun is over 400 times larger than the moon in diameter. The sun is over 113 times larger than the earth, and the earth is 3.67 times larger than the moon.

So, while we may go through periods of darkness as we journey through this life and while God's light may sometimes be hard to see, He's still there, massive in glory, shining brighter than ever. Our problems are smaller than we are, but they are infinitely smaller than He is. Furthermore, our dark days are temporary, only a blip in the timeline of eternity. So, when darkness overwhelms you, trust in the light you cannot see, knowing that He will ultimately set you free.

The radiant sun as viewed by the author on 8/19/17

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do" - Cedermont Kids

Throw off the old man....every single carnal bit of him

How many well-meaning, professing Christians preach "GRACE" while deliberately ignoring or without understanding Romans 6?

How many churches deliberately skip over that chapter in their teaching, pushing their flocks off the straight & narrow path that stands high above the destructive ditches of legalism on one side and license on the other?

Christ did not die on the cross so that we could live like pagans, committing every sin imaginable, worshiping the lusts of the flesh and the idols of this world instead of the one true God, all with the expectation that we can carry Jesus' blood in our pockets as our "get-out-of-hell free" card. He didn't die so that by sinning more, we could make His grace increase. That is backwards, heretical thinking that makes no sense. 

 His grace is infinite on it's own, and it's purpose is to draw us closer to God, not to push us into increasingly destructive behaviors. He died to make us holy. He died to FREE us from sin's grip, to lead us to REPENTANCE, to fill us with His Spirit, and to change our heart's desires, so we could live for Him, not for ourselves. He died to open a way for us to have fellowship with the all Holy God. To treat His sacrifice as a gift that merely removes the eternal consequences our sin deserves is as foolish as thinking abortion will remove the consequences of our own disobedience. 

As I was stewing over the liberal church's twisting of this Biblical truth, I came across this excellent post, "Loving Jesus but Living in Sin" by Melissa over at Loving Jesus Blog. She balances grace and truth so much better than I do. I highly recommend it.  

Here are a few teaser quotes from her post:

• "My sweet Jesus was not nailed to a cross for me to periodically acknowledge that there is always someone there who loves me, while still living in my sin."

• "My sweet Jesus was not nailed to a cross, killed and crucified, for me to, in vain, praise and utter His name as Lord and Savior while denying Him and continually nailing Him back to the cross with my sin."

• "My sweet Jesus was crucified to set me FREE from my sin."

• "God’s heart for your repentance from sin isn’t a heart of a dictator, of an authority who makes demands of you to conform to his way.  No, no, my sister, God’s heart behind his desire for you to repent is because your sin is going to kill you. He loves you."

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Romans 6What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Great I Am

I just had the most awesome conversation with my daughter about God's holy name, YHVH (which we pronounce as Yahweh) which means "I am". I always interpreted His name to mean that He is eternal, greater than all, sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, creator of all, protector, provider, everything we need. Unlike polytheists who see each of God's attributes as too great to be contained in one God so they create lots of little gods to represent each one,Yahweh is all those attributes plus more than we could possibly comprehend.

But how many of us have considered how personal God's name is for each of us? Consider that we cannot name, define, or describe ourselves without using God's holy name. Examples: "I am God's child. I am forgiven. I am blessed. I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. I am verbose. Apart from Christ, I am nothing. When I am weak, He is strong." No matter how I describe myself, His name is woven into that description. How fitting given that our identity, existence, purpose, and worth, are all found in Him. "‘For in him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28)

I wish I had known to apply God's name in that way when I was my daughter's age and going through so many changes inside and out. Teen years seem too consumed with struggling to "know thyself", but the only way to find one's identity, purpose, and meaning in life is by knowing Christ personally as Savior and Lord. Now whenever my sweet girl attempts to define herself, she will be reminded of the great I AM who loves her infinitely and created her in His own image to live in close relationship with Him forever as her perfect Father who has a good, pleasing, and perfect plan for her life. What comfort and confidence there is in that truth! There is no identity crisis to be had when our identity is completely in Him. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His love never fails.
This personal application of God's name is recorded more eloquently in Jonathan Cahn's book entitled, The Book of Mysteries. Cahn writes, "His existence is first and your existence flows forth from His....Therefore you must put Him first and then let everything flow from that. ....To not only live for Him, but to live your life from Him, to live from His living, to move from His moving, to act from His actions, to feel from His heart, to be from His being, and to become who you are from who He is.....I am."

I highly recommend reading this book along with the Bible passages upon which each lesson is based as a daily devotion or all at once if you, like me, can't stop reading. If you like Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, you'll really appreciate this book.