Hanging on His Words

When I picked up my Bible today, my eyes fell on the following passage:

“Yet they [the chief priest, the teachers of the law and the leaders of the people] couldn’t find any way to do it [kill Jesus] because all the people hung on his words.” (Luke 19:48)

The statement that “all the people hung on his words” hit me. It seemed like a modern day idiom. I doubted that this is what it literally said. So, I asked my husband, Tom, “Is this an exact translation of the phrase ‘hung on his words’”? He looked it up and said, “Yes it is.”

Hum-m-m, what would it mean—that the people hung on his words? They held on tightly to his words because they were amazed and mesmerized by them. They had never heard such riveting teaching or such understanding of their minds and hearts.

They didn’t realize that these words came from The Word. And The Word came and lived among them to impart truth and light and life.

I reached over and put my hand on my Bible, my oldest and my favorite. This book contains the truth about how to live. We need to hang on to these words and never become complacent about them or trivialize them.

We need to live as he lived, day in and day out. We must hang on to his words because he hung on a cross to reveal them to us.

The Return of Jesus--A Fairy Tale?

13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 

15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thess 4.13-18)

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Do you ever read a passage such as this one and find yourself asking, “Is this really real??” Imagine all of a sudden when I am driving to the grocery store, the skies open and there is a loud trumpet call and the powerful voice of an angel… 

Forget the milk and bread!! Don’t run off the road, but then if you do, you know everything is still going to be okay. Jesus has returned.

And he is bringing with him “all those who have fallen asleep in him”: my mom and dad (Edith and Taylor), my friend Brad Bynum, my friend Andrea Browning who died 27 years ago today, and hundreds of friends who have died from cancer or heart attacks or car accidents...as well as some precious children who left us in an "untimely" way to go on to be with Jesus. 

All this can seem like a sci fi movie…special effects abounding and plentiful. Being “caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” No ride in Disney World can even begin to compare.

Living in the age of reason and science and skepticism and realism, we can lose sight of this incredible promise from the Bible.

If we really do believe that after the death of “his saints” there will be a resurrection, a new heaven, and a new earth, wouldn’t we be extremely motivated not only to live our lives for Jesus but to encourage others to do so also?

When disciples of Jesus die, we do grieve, but we don’t grieve as those with no hope…we grieve while holding on to the sure promise of resurrection, renewal, reunion.

Though all this is no fairy tale, those of us who are His followers will live happily ever after and after and after…

Visualization Gone Wrong

Some people use visualization techniques to help them relax and not be anxious.

(Peaceful, new-age music is playing in the background): “Picture yourself standing in a field of vibrant green grass. In your mind’s eye, look up at the blue sky and billowy white clouds. Now cast your eyes below at the shimmering lake of water, mirroring the sky. Hear the burbles and gurgles of the nearby brook, etc.”

                         

I have found this type of visualization to be helpful, but sometimes it doesn’t work so well for me. I can experience a visualization gone wrong, very wrong. It can happen something like this:

“Imagine yourself on a yellow rubber raft in the ocean. Feel the undulating motion as the waves lap at the sides of the raft…” 

Good so far, but then I start thinking, I am out in the open ocean being lulled into a state of torpor and unawareness of my surroundings. What if I mindlessly float out too far and no one knows where I am? Will a helicopter notice me dotting yellowy upon the limitless sea?

Okay, in my mind I will rope off an area that keeps me safely close to shore. Back to my visualization:

“Now…imagine yourself on a yellow rubber raft on the edges of the ocean…bobbing safely up and down, up and down, up and down…”

Wait a minute, now I am assured that I will not be carried out to sea, but what about sharks? They could swim under my rope, get me in their sights, and munch my toes off. What can I do to safeguard myself so I can truly relax? I know. I will put up a filtering fence that goes from three feet above the surface all the way down to the ocean floor.

Done! Now finally I can relax, float my anxieties away, bob blissfully.

But what is this I hear?... “Mommy, look at that swimming pool over in the ocean there. See, where that lady on the yellow raft is. Can we swim there too?’”

They coming running—all seven of them—invading my placidity, my place, my privacy.

“Sorry, lady, I didn’t mean to splash you in the face.” “Uh oh! Sorry I kicked you, lady. It was an accident.” Then they play volley beach ball, using me for the net.

I slither off the raft, pack up my anxieties and swim slowly toward the shore. Maybe next time I will go to the mountains.

***

I am thankful that Paul tells us not to “be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present [our] requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus.”

When my attempts at peaceful visualizations go wrong, I am glad to know that my Father is the God of peace. Through his Spirit living within me, he can quiet my fears and calm my anxieties—with or without background music.

The Divine Disposition: The Widow of Nain

Many of my friends and I are hurting today over several difficult losses we are experiencing. I pray that this chapter from Jesus with the People, written by my sister, Emily Presley Bringardner, will be an encouragement as we remind ourselves of our Lord's incredible compassion.

  

When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Luke 7:13 

            

I imagine the funeral procession as they approach the city gate to bury the dead man. In that coffin are the dashed hopes of a mother.

            

We don’t know how long it had been since she walked this same route to bury her husband. We do know she was a widow, and this was her only son; a mother who had lost her husband now had lost her son. All the “what ifs” or “might have beens” were now in vain, for he was gone.

            

A mother was alone and crying.

I heard that same crying the night my brother died. It was a Friday night after a high school football game. I remember getting the phone call that there had been a car accident. I was sipping hot chocolate and talking with my mom when we both heard my Dad ask someone on the phone, “Both occupants of the Volkswagen?” Dad hung up the phone and very quietly said, “Ron and Elaine are dead.”

           

And then I heard my mother cry.

            

And I couldn’t say, “Don’t cry.” I remember holding her tightly and quoting every Bible verse I could remember. My heart ached for her, and I longed for her to have no reason to cry, but I knew she had reason…and I had no power to remove the reason.

            

I was fifteen and had been to many funerals before. But this one was different. This was my brother—the one who gave me twelve valentines when I wasn’t yet in school and didn’t get valentines from classmates like my older sister did. The one who used to tell me I was special. The one who’d given me his guitar and taught me to enjoy music and theater. And most of all, the prize of my mother’s heart¾her firstborn. The one she was both Mom and Dad to during the World War II years. The one she struggled with and prayed for during his difficult teen years. Then, there he was--a senior in college, newly married and so full of life and promise. His life had ended, and the promises could not be kept.

            

This funeral procession was different because I was personally involved. I was vulnerable, but not by choice.

The Choice of Love

Here is where I stand in awe of Jesus. He chose to be vulnerable to everyone’s pain. His heart ached for a woman whom he had never met. It was a simultaneous thing for him, “when he saw...his heart went out to her” with no reserve. By nature, Jesus was involved, compelled. He saw a woman he had never seen before, and immediately he felt her pain. And he did not just go about his own business.

 I am reminded of the contrasting view of W. H. Auden, the poet:

           

            About suffering they were never wrong, the Old Masters; How well they understood it’s human disposition:        How it takes place while someone else is eating, or opening a window, or just walking dully along.

Yes, this describes the “human disposition.” One suffers while another does a mundane task, unaware of the suffering of the other. I am so thankful for the contrast of the “Divine disposition.” 

I treasure the comfort of knowing that Jesus cared when my mother cried and that Jesus is never oblivious to my pain. 

While he felt the joy of someone else’s baby’s birth, at the same exact time, he felt my pain of miscarrying our first baby at four months. 

While he felt the happiness of someone else’s wedding vow, at the same moment he felt my sadness as I held my mother’s hand in the intensive care unit of the hospital and promised with my sister to “take care of Dad.” 

While Jesus’ heart rejoiced at someone’s engagement celebration, his heart went out to my family as we made my father’s funeral arrangements. Realizing this gives me a glimpse into the unfathomable depth of the heart of Jesus. This is God’s omnipresence. Jesus’ compassion knows no bounds; he has an unlimited capacity for caring, as Paul describes in Ephesians 3:19: “how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”            

Jesus did what only he could do to ease her pain. He said, “Don’t cry.” What precious words to hear from the very lips of Jesus! How she must have let those words echo in her mind until her dying day, and how she must have recounted them over and over to her son when she got him back. 

She got him back! Amazing! A gift from the very heart of God. He did not just tell her “Don’t cry.” By his action, he gave her a reason to rejoice, just as he would one day give his own mother--and all of us--a reason to rejoice through his own death and resurrection.

There was no burial outside the city gates in Nain that day—only a Mother rejoicing in hope.

§

            The heart of Jesus is touched as he sees and feels our pain. Just as this woman felt the love and hope brought to her life that day, so can we. Though Jesus will not always remove the source of our pain, he will always support us and love us as we go through it. And he will remind us of the home he has prepared for us where there will be no death, no tears and no pain.

Straw to Gold

Do you remember the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about the miller’s daughter who was commanded by the king to spin straw into gold?

It occurs to me that life often gives us straw in the form of financial problems, health challenges, relationship difficulties, or life-jarring grief. A person of faith says, “This is happening to me, so I need to make something out of it that will encourage other people. I need to spin the straw into gold. I can’t let it be wasted.”

What about you? Has some straw been delivered to your life? Some straw you didn’t order? You checked the address to make sure it was correct. Yep, it was. Must be your straw. What will you do with it? Brood, complain, whine, blame, despair, stew? Or will you spin some gold?

Tom and I both deal with health challenges—definitely a bale that we didn’t order. We want to spin this straw into gold, but we are learning that we can’t do it by ourselves. In the gold-spinning story, someone else—Rumpelstiltskin—did the actual spinning.

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we choose to have a "spinning" attitude, he will do the actual miracle. He will produce the gold. He will give us the faith we need to believe that this challenge will really work to strengthen us…and others.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” This seems to me like a straw-into-gold kind of promise—one we can hold on to no matter what life brings us.

How Much for a Hug?

Do you remember seeing a YouTube video of a man on a busy sidewalk holding a sign offering “Free Hugs”? At first people were skeptical and ignored him. Then a few people took him up on his offer and found it was a bargain. They took/gave a hug, and they cashed in on a surge of serotonin. They replenished their “happy hormone.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4)

Everyone needs hugs and touching to maintain serotonin levels, so be eager to hug friends and family—and, even your pets (except fish).

Hugging relaxes muscles, releases tension in the body, lifts the spirit, and can even diminish pain.

I read about a professional cuddler in Portland, Washington, who is building a business based on hugs. Charging $35 per half hour and $60 per hour, she is booked out for two weeks at a time. While this might not be the best or safest idea, it does show how desperate people are to be hugged by someone.

Though the Bible gives us no command to “hug” one another, it is full of people kissing those they love. (Do a search for “kiss.”) And it does give us a command of sorts to “greet one another a holy kiss.” Maybe the next time we go to a church service, we should hold up a sign offering “Free Kisses.” And then, maybe not…

When my kids come home to visit, I wrap my arms around them and hold tightly and hold tightly and hold tightly. They say, “Mom, you give the best hugs!” And “Mom, I miss your hugs.” I like that. I want to be remembered as a good hugger. 

And the best part is that the huggER and the huggEE both benefit. What you give comes back to you. “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Some say we need eight hugs a day to meet our emotional, mental and physical needs. I have no idea what the magic number is. I want to give/receive as many as I can. How many have you given/received today? How about giving a few more?

Finish Strong

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)

Gabriela ("Gaby") Andersen-Schiess ran in the women’s marathon in the 1984 Olympics. Twenty minutes after the winner, Joan Benoit, crossed the finish line, Gaby staggered into the stadium. The crowd gasped in horror and disbelief when they saw her. Something was evidently wrong—badly wrong.

Gaby’s body was twisted, her left arm hung limp, and her right leg was seized. Realizing that she was in the throes of heat exhaustion, the medical personnel started out on the track to offer her assistance. To everyone’s dismay, she waved them off, knowing that if they touched her, she would be disqualified from the race—a race that seemed impossible for her to finish.

After an excruciating 5 minute 44 second final lap, she fell across the finish line and received medical help. Thankfully within a couple of hours, she was revived and doing well.

The apostle Paul was fond of racing metaphors when he spoke of the need to persevere in our faith and commitment to Jesus, no matter what difficulties we may face—physically, emotionally, spiritually.

How easy it would have been for Gaby to give up, to quit the race. No one would have questioned that decision. But she was determined, and she ran with perseverance.

Think of the obstacles that get in the way of you running the race. Sometimes life is just plain hard! Illness, the death of someone we love, financial setbacks, a difficult marriage, estrangement from our children, and much more.

We each have a race marked out for us. The particulars of that race are different from those of other people’s race. But God calls us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Let’s encourage each other not to throw the towel in, not to give up on our faith when things get tough. Then at the end of a faithful life, we will be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Lift with Your Faith

Have you ever lifted something heavy and told yourself, “Lift with your legs! Lift with your legs” and then yell out, “Oh! I hurt my back”? Just telling ourselves to “lift with our legs” doesn’t mean that we will necessarily do it.

In life situations I tell myself, “Rely on God! Rely on God!” and then I proceed to rely on myself. I said the right thing to myself, but myself didn’t listen. And when I rely upon myself, I end up ushering in anxiety and fear and faithlessness without even realizing.

Going into 2013 one of my focus scriptures is Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian Christians:  

    For this reason I kneel before the Father, [15] from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. [16] I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

    [20] Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

As I read through this prayer the other day, God gave me an insight I had not had before. Paul prays that (1) that they may be strengthened with power through the Spirit in their inner being, (2) that Christ may dwell in their heart, and (3) that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The Spirit, Jesus and God—all indwelling us, empowering us, filling us up! As I was reading this, I was sitting in my car overlooking a quiet pastoral scene in Tennessee. But what I was imagining was spiritual explosions going off inside me with so much power surging and crackling within!!

I am reminded that in every way possible I have been given the power to “lift with my faith.” I pray God will help me to rely on him in simple, new and inventive ways. How about you?

Eternal Setting

Diamonds last forever.


Do they?

Really?

Lately I have been thinking about eternity. Solomon tells us that God “set eternity” in our hearts. I think that “setting” will last longer than a diamond one.

When each of us is born, we enter the eternity continuum with infinity extending behind and before. Once we are here, we have a decision to make: Will we bow to our creator and spend the eternity with him in the “new heaven and new earth” or will we be separated from him and experience spiritual death.

Heavy topic, I know.

But, real, all the same.

Things on this earth can seem so important, so disappointing, so whatever. But are they? Really?

Remember today: You are a child of God, and you have eternity in your heart. Live like that is true.

“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. And his love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Instant RePray

Have you ever come across a prayer you wrote in the past, and you realize you could have written the very same prayer today?

Here is one I found a while back and taped up in my workspace...it is dated 07/07/80:

O Father, I make a promise to you today:

I will trust that you are in control of my life totally.

I will ask your help and direction in every matter.

I will have no part of or fellowship with doubt.

Forgive my lack of trust,

       my giving ear to the accusations of Satan,

             my lounging in doubts.

You are my life!

I praise your name.

Thank you that you inhabit that praise.  (Psalm 22:3, KJV)

Camping Angel

                       The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
                              and he delivers them. (Psalm 34:7)

                     

I have been “camping” on this verse quite a bit lately. One reason is that I pray often for my youngest daughter, Corrie, who is currently living and teaching in Bogota, Colombia. As a mom, of course, I would like to live closer to her, but Tom and I have no plans for such a move.


At my desk in front of me is a board on which I pin various pictures and papers and lists. Inspired by this verse written by David, I have a picture that reminds me that God’s angels are “encamping” around Corrie. This was taken on the front porch of an artist friend of mine in Montgomery, Alabama.

As you see, the angel (sculpted by my friend) is in close proximity to Corrie. She is right there with her all the time. When I get up from the desk and can no longer see the picture, that angel is still right there beside her. She is camping with her for the duration, and she is never distracted.


What a comfort this is to me as a mom.


I hope this picture can also remind you that God’s angels are encamped around you too as you go through your day today.

Jesus: The Most Focused Man

Six weeks ago, my husband's dad died. His name was Thomas Reuben Jones, and he was generous, smart and witty. We miss him.

We have been with Tom's mom (two hours away in Sheffield, Alabama--our hometown) 80- to 90% of  the ensuing time up until now. There was much to clear up and to get done...as there always is after a death.

I had my computer with me, of course. I worked and kept things going with DPI. But one thing I realized was that it was very hard to stay focused. This was true in my time with God too. My rhythm was off, my schedule derailed, and my thinking distracted.

Today...this Monday morning, I had some good time with God (I decided to read back through DPI's first book: Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. That book and the scriptures it points me to always help me focus on the center of God's message.)

And I love being back in my office, at my desk, in front of my large-screen monitor. My to-do list is getting checked off with precision. I'm riding high in the saddle of productivity.

All this made me think of Jesus, a man who never once lost his focus--not even while in torturous pain, hanging on a cross. What love, what power, what confidence in God.

In Proverbs 4:20-27, Solomon gave his son instruction about staying focused:


My son, pay attention to what I say;
listen closely to my words.

Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;

for they are life to those who find them
and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.

Put away perversity from your mouth;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead,
fix your gaze directly before you.

Make level paths for your feet
and take only ways that are firm.

Do not swerve to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

*

Lord, help me to "look straight ahead," to stay focused on your words, and not to "swerve to the right or the left." Thank you for walking with me and lifting me up when I stumble. I need your help!

God's Heart for the Alien

After we lost our little Shih Tzu Lydie last May, my only pets were “my” bluebirds. I eagerly anticipate their inspection of the bluebird “condo” I put up for them outside our bedroom window. I enjoy seeing the guy bring his girl to check out the digs. The male seeks to impress the female by finding a great first home and proving himself to be an able provider. I have seen the female stick her head into the entrance hole at least thirty times to carefully inspect the box and figure out if all the furniture will fit.


This year, there was a problem. A big problem…with a small bird: English sparrows, to be exact. Sometimes they take over bluebird houses, and they have been known to actually kill the bluebirds if they trap them in the house. So bluebird enthusiasts instruct you to trap and kill the sparrows (since they are not indigenous birds, it is legal to kill them). I could never do that, so I just clean out the nesting material and put duct tape over the hole, hoping they will give up and settle elsewhere.


This year I went back and forth with them, but they kept persisting. Finally I thought I had won the battle when a pair of bluebirds came house hunting and seemed to be settled on my offering.


But the next thing I knew, here was Mr. Sparrow popping into the hole carrying a load of straw. Foiled again!


I finally gave up, assuming that the bluebirds had been intimidated and decided the neighborhood was too dangerous.


I used to get up in the mornings and open my blinds to check in on the bluebirds. I still open the blinds and look out, but it doesn't give me any pleasure to see the little sparrow head poking out of the house.


I realized that I had to get a handle on this. I really resented the sparrows for messing up my joy. Those alien birds. They don’t belong here anyway. I missed my beautiful bluebirds.


Tom said, “Maybe God is just protecting the sparrows.” Which I know is true; the Bible tells me so. But I still muttered a bit.


Then I thought about God’s heart for the aliens in the Old Testament:


"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21)


“And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt.” (Deut. 10:19)


“Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 19:10)


God has a soft heart for the alien. And if I get right down to it, I was an alien myself before God redeemed me and brought me into his family:


"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household." (Ephesians 2:19)


And in another way, I am now an alien in this world:


"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul." (1 Peter 2:11)


I pray that God will use that little brown English sparrow to remind me to have my Father’s heart for the alien.

The Kingdom: God's Book of Poems

My husband, Tom, and I got to hear the gifted author John Ortberg speak about his newest book, The Me I Want to Be. He quoted Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Ortberg makes the point that disciples are never mass-produced; they are handcrafted by God, always in the context of who they uniquely are.

In some study Tom did after hearing Ortberg, he found that the word translated “workmanship” is poiēma, rendering the English “poem.” And in his Mind Change Online blog this week, he commented that “just as every poem is uniquely designed, so each of us is uniquely designed.”


This got me to thinking.


It is so true that all poems are very unique; they are completely original and individual, just as people are. They are the creation of an artistic mind, just as we are the creation of The artistic mind who spoke the world into being.


This thought encourages me in two ways:


First, it reminds me that I am special to God. He loves me, quirks and all. And as I yield myself to him, he is handcrafting me into the “me” he has prepared me to be.

Second, it reminds me that every person is special to God. Think about another disciple whom you find it difficult to like, maybe one who really gets on your nerves. (Even though we are “good Christian people,” we still have to deal with feelings like this—be honest—admit it!) Now think of a person you genuinely like and are eager to spend time with. Each one is God’s poiēma. Each one is special and is being handcrafted by the God of Creation to be exactly who he or she was born to be.


I know what it feels like to share poems I have written. It is like transferring your child with trembling hands to someone else’s care. There is a certain vulnerability, a fear of rejection and a flush of victory in the risk.


As God shares his poems with each of us, every day, in our interactions with others, let’s remember to listen to the heart of the poem, and not to judge its style or delivery. Let’s try to look more through the Poet’s eyes and less through our own.

Follow Me

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)


Jesus calls us to follow him...throughout our lives...all the way to self-denial...all the way to the cross.

In Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is called the "archegos" of our faith, the one who goes before us and establishes the way for us to follow:

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author [archegos] and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Have you ever tried to follow a friend on an Interstate highway? Let's say they are driving a blue van. You have absolutely no idea where you are going, so you are totally dependent upon their guidance...upon keeping that van in view.

But have you noticed how many blue vans there are on the road? If you get distracted, look to the right or to the left, and then look back at the road ahead, you can lose contact with the lead car. Where did it go? Is it that one getting off on the ramp? Or is it the one that just passed that semi? Or maybe the one three cars up behind the U-Haul?

When we lose touch with who we are following, we become disoriented and confused. Left to our own senses and thoughts and figurings, we are lost. Totally lost.

This is why we are enjoined to "fix our eyes on Jesus."

Be at Rest My Soul

Be at rest once more, O my soul,
    for the Lord has been good to you.
                                                 Psalm 116:7

When troubling and challenging times come, and my soul is not at rest...when it is anxious and searching, I need to remember this pithy verse.

I need to think back to other difficult times and to remember that God saw me through. I must tell my soul: "Be at rest once more becuse your God is faithful. He has been good to you in the past, and he will be good to you now."

Good Things in Our Feeders

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:8-9 )

As I shuffle out in bathrobe and slippers to feed the birds, they sense the winter storm on its way. As it was “rescheduled,” it is slower to arrive than originally thought. But it promises still to come.

As cardinals, titmice, chickadees and other bird-types hungrily munch the seeds, I am praying to God about my day. Whatever I am going to need, he has already put in my feeder.

Though God doesn’t wear a bathrobe or slippers, and he has never “shuffled” once in his eternal existence, he always moves ahead of me, anticipating and meeting my needs.

Thank you, God, for all the “good things” you put in my feeder every day.

To Live Is Sheila?

Paul was a man with a single focus: "For me, to live is Christ..." (Philippians 1:21).

How easy it is for me to live by another focus: "For me, to live is Sheila." When I approach life with this focus, everything revolves around my comfort, my convenience, my desires, my time, my opinion, my sleep.

Much like the sea gulls in the movie Finding Nemo, my heart cries, "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

I love Paul's heart as it cries: "His! His! His!"

My heart is never more at rest than when I offer myself as a living sacrifice to the one who gave all for me...when I realize that "for me, to live is Christ."

Seen by an Unseen God

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1)
"When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6)



Jesus warns us not to do our acts of righteousness to be seen by men. Then he goes on to assure us that we will be seen by an unseen God. I love the interplay with the word “seen.”

He basically says,

“Do not give to the poor, or pray or fast to be seen by men. But just know that in your quiet obedience, your unseen Father is very aware of you; he sees your heart and your sacrifice.”

God is never interested in deeds apart from a pure heart. We cannot buy our way into his graces. But he never misses any nuance of a giving heart.

This passage always challenges me. Am I content to know that God sees and affirms me? Or do I have to make sure other people do too? Do I have to be recognized, applauded, lauded, lifted up, shouted-out, praised by others to feel a satisfaction in being obedient to God?

Or am I encouraged to know that the unseen God, who sees what I do in secret, is saying to the angels: “That’s my girl!”

Looking Through Feathers

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
   will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
   my God, in whom I trust."

He will cover you with his feathers,
   and under his wings you will find refuge; (Psalm 91:1-2, 4)


I love the imagery used by the psalmist: we are hiding beneath the wings of God, finding shelter, safety and comfort.

It seems likely to me that Jesus had this psalm in mind when he spoke of his heart's desire for Jerusalem:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed  to  gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."


Lord, I am willing--gather me under your wings. I want to view life through feathers.