every friendship for God's purpose

I firmly believe that everything in our lives happens for a purpose.

One of my favorite Bible verses is Romans 8:28.  For some comparison, here are three translations of the verse, thanks to www.biblegateway.com:

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁸ We are assured and know that [^[a]God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

Footnotes:

Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts read, “God works all things with them.”

English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, ^[a] for those who are called according to his purpose.

Footnotes:

Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts God works all things together for good, or God works in all things for the good

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁸ And we know that God causes everything to work together^[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Footnotes:

Romans 8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together.

My NIV Bible reads, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  This is my favorite translation, along with the NLT, because of one thing: Those versions focus on God working.  Yes, everything does work out in our lives for good--but it's not because of luck, or some unknown force.  It's because of GOD.  It's important to remember that we might not understand why he allows certain things to happen.  God does not cause evil.  Evil is a result of the work of Satan and every person's own sinful nature.  However, God sometimes allows evil to happen because through it he can work good.  We may not see at the time why certain things happen.  We may never know why it was allowed.  But we can trust that God worked some good out of it--because he always does.

Specifically today I want to talk about how God brings people into our lives to fulfill his purposes for us.  Two dear friends of ours, Joseph and Ruth, are moving away to begin a new chapter in their lives.  We've been good friends with them for just over a year: Ruth and I met and became friends in January of last year, and it's gone from there.  They and we were engaged at the same time, and we got married just a couple of months before they did.  We have that kind of friendship where everyone can be themselves and not feel judged in any way; we all love each other for who we are.  We've been there for each other though the first year of our marriages, encouraging each other, praying for each other, and just being there.

It certainly hasn't been perfect.  We all communicate in very different ways, and although we learned that and understood it, sometimes that caused misunderstandings between us.  But that's what forgiveness is for.

Ruth and Joseph have been an incredible blessing to Joshua and me in so many ways.  Just having friends who understand this first-year-of-marriage thing has been a huge gift.  We're not as close with any other young married couples around here--although I do hope to become better friends with some other people over the next months.

I believe that God places people in our lives because he has something he wants to tell or teach us or of which we need reminding.  With friends like Joseph and Ruth, and my friend Sara, some of those things are pretty obvious.  God reminds us that he is always there for us.  That he will always provide.  That we are precious to him.  That we are loved even when we feel most unlovable.  That we don't have to hide who we really are.  That the way he created us is the way he wants us to be.  That he still has so much he wants to do in our lives.  That he loves us, more than we could possibly imagine.

I am so thankful for the friends that God has placed in my and Joshua's lives.  Some of them are just for a time.  Others, I think, will last for years, perhaps even our whole earthly lives.  Ruth and Joseph are two such friends.  I take great comfort in knowing that, even if we don't see each other very much any more, we have eternity to look forward to--all of us together, in the presence of God.

A Work in Progress

This, I'm ashamed to say, is what my kitchen looked like yesterday morning.

The remains of breakfast (and other dishes) on the table...

A sink filled to overflowing...

Dirty dishes and pans all over the counter and stove.

Facing that was a bit daunting.  It was a big mess in my little kitchen.  But I got started and soon it didn't seem so bad.  Doing dishes isn't really fun, of course, unless you're one of those rare people who thinks so.  The end results are great: a clean kitchen and clean dishes.  But sometimes to get there it takes work, elbow grease...

and smelly Bar Keeper's Friend.  I don't know what I'd do without it, but the smell is nasty.

But getting a pot sparkling clean isn't always pleasant.  Getting rid of yuck usually isn't fun.

I realize I'm being a bit cryptic here.  What does a messy kitchen have to do with anything (other than reminding you that I can sometimes be lazy and messy)?

Well, as I was working, I realized how much I'm like that dirty kitchen sometimes.  I let yucky stuff pile up in my life till it's absolutely overwhelming.  It's such a daunting task I just let it be, ignore it, hope it'll go away on its own--but it doesn't.

That's when I realize how much I need God.  I can't clean up my life on my own.  I can't obey him of my own will.  My own will is selfish and sinful and doesn't want to do what's right.  That results in a messy kitchen and a messed-up life.

God has to come into my life and say, "All right, you have a big mess here, but it's nothing I can't handle.  No mess is too big for My hands.  It's not going to be fun.  It might hurt.  It might be nasty.  It might take a while. And you might not enjoy the process.  But trust Me--it'll be worth it."

God does it right.  He doesn't just do a quick wipe-down of my life, making it look clean, and call it done.  He knows the real problem isn't outward appearances, but what's on the inside.  Outwardly, this bowl looks clean.

On the inside, it's a sticky, smelly, grody mess.  It needs serious work.

In the book of 1 Samuel, God gave the prophet Samuel the job of finding the man God had chosen to be king of Israel.  Samuel went to the house of Jesse and looked at all of Jesse's sons.  Samuel thought they all looked big, strong, and ready to be king.  But God wanted David, the youngest and smallest son.  God told Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

God, in his mercy, doesn't just clean me up on the outside.  He tackles the problem of my sin at its very root: my heart.  In Psalm 51, David cried out to God after David had committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba.  David prayed, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me" (Psalm 51:10-12).

When we realize our sin and cry out to God in repentance, this is exactly what he does.  He makes us right with him and gives us a fresh start.

Unfortunately, as humans we continue to sin, every day.  My kitchen didn't stay clean for long.  In just a few hours, I did more cooking and it got messy again.  But God is patient.  He doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves.  He knows we can't clean up our lives on our own.  A dirty dish has no power of its own, it can't want to be clean, let alone clean itself.  By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we have a desire to obey God, to love him, and to serve him.  He gives us the strength to obey him, and he forgives us when we fail.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

I am a constant work in progress.  God my Creator knows that.  He's willing to keep working on me.

(Oh, and by the way, my kitchen did get clean!)

Linking up, one year later, 7/27/2012

Noel's Beautiful Life

Christ the Groom, the Church the Bride

Marriage was designed by God to bring couples comfort, companionship, mutual joy and pleasure, and often the gift of children.  But have you ever stopped to consider that another reason for marriage is to give us an example of God's love for his Church?

My pastor explained this to us shortly before the wedding.  A wedding is a picture of the relationship between Christ and his bride, the Church.  The bride is presented holy, pure, without blemish (dressed in white!), radiant and beautiful, to the groom.  All eyes are on her, as she represents the body of Christ.  She is her groom's beloved, and they pledge themselves to each other, for life, no matter what.  He promises to love and cherish and protect her; she promises to love, cherish, respect, honor and submit to him.

In the service of Holy Matrimony (as it is written in Lutheran Service Book), the groom promises to "nourish and cherish her as Christ loved His body, the Church, giving Himself up for her."  The bride promises to "submit to him as the Church submits to Christ."

The love and commitment that God desires a married couple to have for each other is fulfilled and made perfect in Christ's love for the Church.  The bride and groom take each other "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish."  In the 8th chapter of Romans Paul writes, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35, 38, 39).

Christ's love for us is completely unconditional.  As sinful human beings there may be times when our love and commitment to our spouse falters.  God has given us the gift of forgiveness for those times when we fail, and he restores broken trust, broken hearts and broken relationships.  But Christ's love for us will never falter or fail.  There is nothing that we as people can do to escape Christ's love for us.  And the wondrous thing is, Christ give us his unconditional love to share with others.  As husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, children, grandparents, sisters and brothers, we do not have to search within our selves for the strength to love those around us.  That love comes from Christ alone.  It is he who enables us to love others, by the love he has for us.

A Political Victory, or a Spiritual Tragedy?

A friend posted on facebook last night, "Who needs the news when I have facebook?"  Around 9:30 and 10:00 every other post was announcing Osama bin Laden's death.  My initial reaction was one of relief--finally, the ring leader of Al Quaeda is dead.  And then, to my shame, I thought, I wonder how Satan felt about this.  It's a victory for our side, right?  One of Satan's most powerful tools is gone, after all.

My wonderful and wise fiance reminded me, when I voiced this thought, that Satan probably laughed: he had claimed another man for his own.  God would not want me to consider this a victory.  He weeps whenever one of his created people is lost to Satan.  It hit me:

Jesus died for Osama bin Laden for the same reason He died for me.  Paul wrote in his first epistle to Timothy that God "wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:4).  John wrote in his Gospel, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).  The Gospel is for ALL people.  Jesus died to save the world.  That includes bin Laden just as surely as it includes me.

Some are calling bin Laden the "Hitler of our generation."  That he may be.  He certainly is responsible for the deaths of millions of people.  It was the attack on our country that he orchestrated that caused the war that has lasted for the last decade.  This man was responsible for much grief, pain and death.

But Jesus took all bin Laden's sins on himself, just as he took my sins on himself.  "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," Paul writes in Romans 3, "and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  The death of Osama bin Laden is a tragedy, because he rejected the saving grace of Jesus Christ and will now spend eternity separated from God.  Who could rejoice at such a thing?

I rejoiced yesterday, watching over 20 confirmands profess their faith in Jesus Christ.  Two of them, adults, had been born and raised Buddhist, and have recently come to faith in Jesus.  That was cause to rejoice: two more people are members of the Body of Christ and will spend eternity in heaven with him.

I don't want to sound legalistic or holier-than-thou.  I admitted that at first I felt relief knowing bin Laden was dead.  But I feel greater relief at knowing that in Jesus, I am alive, by the grace of God.

Great Sin, Greater Savior

In my writing class this morning we were given a few minutes to write a "creative non-fiction" essay with a religion prompt.  One of the suggestions was that I "Think of a time in your life when your faith reached a turning point...when life experiences brought an abstract concept such as sin, forgiveness, grace or hope of eternal life into focus."

This is what I wrote:

I've always, at least as far back as I can remember, been aware of God and his love for and forgiveness of me.  I know that at the age of five I wasn't afraid of dying because I knew I'd go to heaven.

But the magnitude of God's love and grace, his mercy and forgiveness, has become more real to me as I've become more aware of the magnitude of my sin.  I think as we get older and lose innocence, we gain capacity for "bigger" sins, not ones any worse than those we committed as children, but sins that have far greater consequences than hitting a little brother or taking a cookie we shouldn't have.  I know that the sins I've committed in the last couple years have created strong feelings of guilt and remorse that I didn't experience as a child.

Becoming more aware of my own sinfulness has also opened my eyes to the wonder of the Gospel.  God created me, and I sin against him.  He sent his Son to die, and thereby take the punishment for my sins on himself, and I still sin!  But the mind-blowing thing is, no matter how much I sin, God still forgives me.  When Jesus died he paid the price for every sin that I've ever committed or will commit.

I don't want to sin; I want to do good and obey God.  But I end up doing what I don't want to do and not doing what I want to do.  Paul talked about this very thing in Romans 7: "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:18-19).  Paul concludes chapter seven with, "Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (7:24-25).  Chapter eight begins, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death" (8:1-2).

Despite my sinfulness, I know that God has taken away all my sins and forgives me, completely and daily.  David writes in Psalm 103, "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever.  He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:8-12).  God does not treat us as our sins deserve.  Instead, he is compassionate and gracious, abounding in love, and removing our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

As I have become more aware of just how grievous my sin is, so I have come to realize and become awed by how great God's love is.  His love far surpasses my sin: how great is the love and mercy of God compared to my sin!  How wonderfully does he not reject me.  How amazing his grace is.

He Provides: Matthew 6:25-34

It was brought to my attention yesterday that I worry a lot.

I do.

Right now, I'm worrying about studying for finals, the grades I'll get for said finals, money, where my fiance' and I are going to live in less than six months when we (finally) get married, getting everything done before I go home, etc.  I'm going to miss my honey for a week till he comes to my house.  And there are so many other things that I'm thinking and fretting and wondering about.

Jesus says in Matthew 6, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (6:31-34)  Earlier in the passage, Jesus summed it all up: "Do not worry about your life."  He made the point that worrying really does nothing to help us: it's pointless and it doesn't do any good.  Instead, we can trust that God knows what we need and will provide it.

Psalm 111 talks about how God provides our most basic needs: "He provides food for those who fear him" (verse 5), and "He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever--holy and awesome is his name" (verse 9)!  God has provided redemption: what else do we really need?  Paul also speaks of this in Romans chapter 5, verse 17: "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."

On the last page of Philippians in my Bible, I wrote, some time ago, "Earthly things just don't matter when I have Christ."  I'm going to rephrase that a bit: "When I have Christ I don't have to worry about anything."

I am a saved, forgiven, loved child of God.  That's what matters.

Today, I'm going to focus on God, instead of myself, and in focusing on what really matters, stop worrying about the things that don't.

Pondering Mary: Luke 1:26-56

In the title of this post, "pondering" could either be a verb or an adjective.  I've been pondering about Mary this morning, when my fiance' and I were discussing this passage.  But we can see how the word is an adjective in Luke 2:19: "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."  I'm going to imitate Mary and ponder "all these things"--the birth of Jesus--from her perspective for a bit today.

In Biblical times, women were pledged in marriage (not a sexual union but as binding a relationship as marriage) as young as fifteen or sixteen.  We can assume Mary to be about that age.  She was young, a virgin, and probably known by almost everyone in the small town of Nazareth, where she and her betrothed, Joseph, lived.  We know that Joseph was a carpenter, so neither of them was very wealthy.

Mary was "highly favored" by God (Luke 2:18).  He had found favor with her, and had chosen her as the young woman to be the mother of his Son.  Mary was visited by an angel, six months after Mary's cousin Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were visited by the same angel and Elizabeth miraculously became pregnant despite being well along in years.  This angel, Gabriel, told Mary that she would "be with child and give birth to a son" (1:31)  Gabriel explained that this baby would be the Son of God.  Mary, quite understandably, asked, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" (1:34)  "The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you...For nothing is impossible with God" (1:35, 37).

Now, Mary was a good Jewish girl, and had heard her whole life about the coming Messiah that would be the Savior of God's people.  She know how powerful God was.  But in imagining this conversation she had with Gabriel, I wonder what was going through her mind: "I'm going to be pregnant even though I'm a virgin?  What will my parents say?  What will Joseph think?  What about the whole town?  They're never going to believe me that it's the Holy Spirit that made me pregnant.  I mean, yeah, nothing is impossible with God, but how am I going to convince everyone of that?  Will Joseph still want to marry me?  He's going to think I've been unfaithful to him!  The punishment for adultery is death!  I could die!!  What is God thinking?!?"

Chances are, if I had been in Mary's place, that's the sort of thing that would have been going through my head.  We don't know what mary was thinking, but we know what she said, and it was an incredible display of faith: "'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered.  'May it be to me as you have said'" (1:38).

We often skim over this verse, but just think of the implications of it!  Despite the dozens of difficulties and accusations that Mary was about to face, she was faithful and trusting in God.  She went along with the plan, no matter how crazy it might have seemed.

Joseph was, understandably, very concerned when he learned that Mary was pregnant, but being a kind man, he planned to divorce her quietly instead of publicly disgracing her which would have led to her stoning and death.  Before he could do this, he too was visited in a dream by Gabriel, who explained what had happened to Mary.  Joseph believed the angel's message and took Mary to be his wife.  They later had several other children, and settled back in Nazareth after Jesus was born in Bethlehem.  (I'll get to that story another day!)

Mary is probably the Biblical woman whose faith I most desire to emulate.  The book of Romans wouldn't be written for many years, but Mary realized that when God's in control, everything works out for good.  Probably at the time of her pregnancy, she had no idea how much the baby inside her would change the course of human history, and be her own deliverer.  I know she was somewhat aware of it (Gabriel shared a lot with her), but not until she saw her Son hanging from the cross, and then risen from the grave three days later, did she really understand what it meant to be the mother of God's Son.

One of my favorite Christmas songs, that connects nicely to this, is "Mary, Did You Know?"  Here's a link.

On Forgiveness and -Not- Blogging

I'm frustrated with myself.  I mean, really.  It has been a week since I blogged last!  Which means I haven't done much in the way of Scripture reading lately either.

Once again, it's the old excuse of being too busy.  I really have been extremely busy; there are more things going on than I care to list.  On the other hand, I know that part of my neglect is simple laziness, which is one of my worst faults.

However, I learned something this morning when my beloved fiance was leading a Bible study at his dad's church.  My man talked about how God in Christ has paid for, covered, erased, and generally gotten rid of all our sins.  When we, by faith, believe that Jesus has taken our sin on himself and given us his righteousness, God looks at us and sees none of our sin, but only Christ's righteousness.  No matter how much or how often we sin, when we repent of that sin, God forgives us.  He loves us, no matter what!  He has even claimed us as his own children.  To be called a child of God is something I have been familiar with my whole life, but every now and then it really hits me.

The Creator of the universe calls me his child!!  His own daughter!  His heir, and one who will get to spend eternity with him in heaven!!

This doesn't mean I can just keep sinning, knowing I'll be forgiven.  Quite to the contrary: when we really realize what God has done for us, out of faith, love and gratitude we will respond by serving and obeying him to the best of our abilities.  We can't do that perfectly, no, but that's where God's forgiveness comes in again. It's a blessed, loving circle.

With the knowledge that I am God's child, one he has chosen, I can really apply Romans 8:28 to my life again.  Yes, this keeps coming up, but right now my honey isn't well at all, in fact he's not able to go to the last performance of our college's annual Christmas concert.  And my heart aches for him.  How I wish I was the one with the sinus infection instead of him!  But I keep reminding myself, God works all things for good  for those he has called according to his purpose.  In this too, God will work good.

Today, I am going to remember that I am a loved, forgiven, and saved child of God: one he has called for his purposes.

Vocation: God at Work in Me

With ten minutes till my next class, I just wanted to post part of what we discussed in my last class, Faith and Life.  We're reading the book "God at Work" by Gene Edward Vieth, and discussing what vocation means for us.

To me, vocation is the gifts, responsibilities, and roles that God has given me in order that he might accomplish his purposes through me.  Those could be the gifts of writing and encouragement, the responsibilites of student and employee, and the roles of fiance, daughter, and friend.  In all of these, God works through me to bless others.  And in the same way, I am blessed through others' vocations.

A vocation is a means by which God is glorified through me.  There are as many vocations as there are people, really, and that's part of how Christians are the body of Christ.  One could use the analogy of a machine or a body to envision how each member has their own unique role and job, and they all work together to accomplish God's purposes.  As members of the body, I can't do the same things everyone else can, and others can't do all the things I can.  But we are each called to do our part as well as we can, by God's grace, and through us his work is done.

For my life, this means doing the best I can at everything to glorify God.  I work hard at my studies, I am a good worker at my job, I live my roles as fiance, daughter, sister and friend the best I can.  But the wonderful thing about that is, even when I sin and don't do as well as I could, God can still work through me.  God's purposes being accomplished doesn't depend on my doing everything perfectly.  God can work through me despite me.  It reminds me, again, of Romans 8:28: God works ALL things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.  (The word "vocation", incidentally, comes from the Latin word "vocatio" which means "calling".)  Even when Satan tries his hardest to accomplish his purposes, God can work through that and use even bad things to accomplish great good.  Even though I am a sinful being, God is not bound my humanity and uses me for his work, by his grace.

Today, I am going to remember that I am a called child of God, and I have the honor of serving him through all my vocations, and that God works through me no matter what.

Advent: He is Coming!

I remember when, as a child, I would wait excitedly for a guest to arrive.  Sometimes it would be my grandparents, sometimes my friends.  I would clean the house, make myself look nice, and sit in the living room ready to greet whoever was coming.

We prepare to greet honored guests all the time.  It's exciting when we're expecting a special person to arrive.  But do we realize that a person more honored and special than anyone on earth is coming?  At the very end of Revelation, Jesus said, "I am coming soon."  At the end of time, when God decides, Jesus will come again in glory and take believers to heaven with him.  We don't know when he is coming, but we will know it when he arrives.

Just as I prepared excitedly for family or friends to visit, we have the opportunity to prepare for Jesus' arrival on the last day.  A clean house won't matter very much, nor will nice clothes or combed hair.  But there are things we can do to prepare.  In Romans, Paul encourages his readers to be awake and ready for Jesus' appearing.  He writes,
"The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.  The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.  Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."  (Romans 13:11-14)

We are living in the end times right now.  They began when Jesus ascended into heaven and promised his disciples that he would return someday.  The next great event in God's plan of salvation is to send his Son back again.  That is what we are waiting for.

The season of Advent leads up to Christmas; it's the beginning of the church year.  During Advent we remember how Mary and Joseph waited for Jesus to be born.  That was the Messiah's first coming.  In these last days, it is also a time to remind ourselves that Jesus is coming again and to be prepared.

Today, I am going to remember to live in anticipation of Jesus' second coming, and to wait on him: for he is coming!

He's Working for My Good: ALWAYS

I had originally intended to choose a Psalm to write about today, but other things are on my mind.

I'm tired.  I think I'm coming down with something.  My fiance is sick.  I would rather skip classes for the next two days and have break now.  I miss my parents and siblings.  But (with the spirit of Thanksgiving quickly approaching)-- I have SO MUCH to be thankful for!!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

One of my favorite books ever is "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom.  She was a Christian in Holland during WWII, and her family hid Jews in their home to protect them from the Nazis.  The Jews they protected all stayed safe, but Corrie, her family and friends were arrested one day when the Nazis raided their house.  Corrie and her sister Betsie were able to stay together when they were taken to the concentration camps, and they managed to smuggle in a Bible.  Betsie was not strong enough to do physical labor, so she was forced to knit clothing for the Nazis while Corrie did hard manual labor.  In the filthy dormitory where they lived, the beds were infested with lice.  One night while reading the Bible, Corrie and Betsie came across this passage in 1 Thessalonians.  Betsie prayed and thanked God for everything she could think of, including the lice.  Corrie protested that she simply couldn't thank God for lice, but Betsie insisted.  A few days later when Corrie returned from her work, Betsie met her joyfully.  They had been holding Bible studies for other women in the dormitory, and couldn't understand why the guards were leaving them alone.  That day Betsie had overheard the guards talking about why they wouldn't go into the dormitories.  It was because of the lice.  Corrie realized how true it is that we CAN thank God for EVERYTHING, because we can't see how he will work things out.

Paul writes in Romans 8:28, "For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Despite the little frustrations, discomforts, and inconveniences I've been experiencing lately, I know that I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13), and that includes being joyful always, praying continually, and giving thanks in all circumstances, because God will work all things out for my good, even if I can't see or understand how.

Also, when I have an eternal mindset- knowing how short and temporal this life is, and how much more there is to life than the physical things- little things like sickness or weariness hardly matter.  Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But [the Lord] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

It is when I am at my weakest that God can work most powerfully through me, because through my weakness his strength shines all the more.  Through weakness, sickness, and trials, God can be glorified in and through me.  So with Paul, I can say, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me"!

He is Righteous: Psalm 119:137-144

Righteous (as described by dictionary.com) means upright, morally right, virtuous.  I'd say to call God righteous is an understatement!  He defines what is upright, morally right, and virtuous.  And his righteousness surpasses anything anyone else could achieve.

That's how the psalmist describes God and his laws in this passage.  Verses 137 and 138 say,
"Righteous are you, O LORD, and your laws are right.  The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy."

God's laws are good.  Sometimes they might not seem so: they might seem strict, constricting, intolerant, old-fashioned.  The law causes frustration among those who try to uphold it, because it is so righteous that it is impossible to keep it completely.  However, if we look at the life of the One who did keep the law completely, we can see an example of how good it really is.  Jesus was that One who fulfilled every requirement of the law, and he was completely perfect and lived a sinless life.  Thank God he did: because he did that for us.  You and me.  He did it so that God would count us as righteous.  Paul writes in the book of Romans,

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in [God's] sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.  But now a perfect righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets [that's the Old Testament] testify.  This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  (Romans 4:20-24)

A rather long passage, but Paul explains it so well.  Through faith in Jesus his righteousness is imparted to us!  God's plan of salvation is so marvelous.

I had meant to comment on other verses in the psalm, but this post is getting long enough for today.  I did want to share something, however.  Last night at Praise (the student-led contemporary worship/devotions that we have every week here on campus), the two student speakers were talking about worry.  The passage was from Matthew 6, 25-34, where Jesus talks about not worrying.  Lately I've had a lot of homework, a lot of projects due, other decisions to make, things to figure out, future things to plan for, and I've been very stressed and worried about it.  One of the speakers made a great point.  When we focus on our worries, we lose sight of God and how powerful he is and what he can do for us.  When we focus on God, our worries are still there, but we realize that God is in control and that he is taking care of us.  It really hit me, and God's timing was great with having that message just when I needed it.

One verse from the Matthew passage actually ties in really well with the psalm passage for today:  "But seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Matthew 6:33-34

Today, I am going to seek God's righteousness, and know that by faith I am covered in the righteousness of Christ.

A Light to My Path: Psalm 119:105-112

The entirety of today's passage is great, but tonight it's verse 105 that's really speaking to me:

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

I'm in the process of making a really big life decision, and although I have a lot of options I really don't know which direction to take just yet.  However, I know that God has a plan for me, like the prophet Jeremiah wrote: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'" (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

God's word has direction for me, like this passage from Jeremiah, and the message I'm getting from this is that I'm to seek God first.  And then everything else will fall into place.  Jesus says in Matthew chapter seven, "So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Matthew 7:31-34)

Thank you God, for giving me your word and for showing me the way to go.

It's really all about trust and priorities.  Is God the biggest priority in my life?  Am I trusting him to take care of me?  Am I trusting my fiancee to take care of me as well?  Is he the second biggest priority in my life?

If those things are in place, everything else will fall into place after them.  When I put God first, he will take care of me, and work everything else out as well, as my favorite passage in Romans says:  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)

Today, I am going to get my priorities in order, and I am going to trust in God above all things, and let his word light my path.  (Click on the link to hear a beautiful version of Amy Grant's "Thy Word".)

He Teaches Me: Psalm 119:97-104

Today's passage is all about God's law, and how (according to my study notes), "meditation on God's revelation yields the highest wisdom."  Here is the passage:

⁹⁷ Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
⁹⁸ Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
⁹⁹ I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
¹⁰⁰ I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts.
¹⁰¹ I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word.
¹⁰² I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
¹⁰³ How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
¹⁰⁴ I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.


I think this passage points out how wonderful and all-surpassing the wisdom of God is.  Oddly enough, in the song that was playing on my iTunes as I typed that last sentence, "Have You Not Known?", I heard this phrase: "His knowledge is unsearchable, his wisdom strong and sure."  Coincidence?  I think not!  Romans 11:33  says, "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!"


Another wonderful thing about God's wisdom is that he imparts it to us also, though his word.  This passage of Psalm 119 says that when we meditate on God's law, it makes us wiser than all our enemies, gives us more insight than any human teacher, more understanding then our experienced elders.  Why should we not then desire to learn and follow God's law?


I do have the desire; it is the carrying out of God's will that I have trouble with sometimes.  But I know that God has patience with me, and I can say with the Psalmist, "I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me."


Today I am going to listen to God's teaching and learn from him.

He is Good: Psalm 119:65-72

As I begin to focus more on God and less on myself, I'm going to change the titles of my posts to reflect that.
This is something I need to do in all my life.  I am so often focused on ME: what I should do, what I shouldn't, what I don't do that I should, what I want to do but can't.  I would become a lot less selfless if I focused on God and on others instead of myself.  I'm going to work on doing that in my posts, too.

In today's passage, three verses stood out to me.  Verse 66 says, "Teach me knowledge and good judgement, for I believe in your commands."  My notes say about this verse that we can have confidence in God's commands because they are not deceitful.  The note on verse 52, which says "I remember your ancient laws, O LORD, and I find comfort in them," says, "God's law is not fickle, but it is grounded firmly in his unchanging moral character.  This is a major source of the author's comfort and one of the main reasons he cherishes the law so highly."  Unlike human laws, which are changeable and made by changeable people, God's laws stay the same forever.  They teach us "knowledge and good judgement".

I was discussing this with someone the other day: how it is such a comfort that God is unchangeable.  People are so fickle and unpredictable, and it's impossible to fully understand them because they're always changing.  Now, it's also impossible to fully understand God because he's more than we can understand, but he will NEVER CHANGE!!  So when we do begin to understand aspects of him, we can be sure that those aspects will stay the same no matter what.  God's laws are the same way.

This leads into the next verse I underlined, verse 68: "You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees."  This sentence is such a comfort to me: God is good, and everything he does is good!  Even when things seem to be going horribly, even when I can't understand why things happen, I know God is good.  All the time.  Because he doesn't change.  One of my all-time favorite Bible verses ever is Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (the emphases are mine).  I get so excited about this verse (all of Romans, actually)!!!  God works IN ALL THINGS for the good of those who love him and whom he has called!!  That's ME!!!  That's you!  That's everyone who loves him and whom he has called!!

This leads right into the third verse that I underlined, verse 71: "It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees."  I firmly believe that in every trial we go through, God teaches us something.  The frustrating difficulty I've been experiencing for the last few weeks has taught me patience.  It's taught me to trust God more.  It's taught me to be thankful for my many blessings, because even my trials are insignificant compared to many others'.  God is so amazing like that!  Even when we experience the influence of sin in the world, he uses it to teach us how much he loves us and to trust him!

I could go on and on about this (I sometimes do; don't get me started talking about Romans 8!), but for now, I'm going to remember how good God is.  And how he's always working for my good, no matter what!!!