Love Speaks . . . Through You

29 Jun

Oh Sisters in Christ, how I love you.  Ones I know and ones I don’t.  I love you because you are fighting the good fight in your homes, in your communities, and in your churches.  I love you because you aren’t perfect but you keep plugging away, confident that God will see to completion the good work He has begun in you.  I love you because no matter how hard-pressed on every side you may be, you cling to the knowledge that you are not crushed and your God has not abandoned you.  I love you because you aren’t afraid to be honest with your God about how hard it can be on this planet while simultaneously thanking Him for the very messy life you lead.  You carry so many loads.  You are responsible for so much.  Your to-do-list never becomes an I’m-done-list.  But you still press on.

So in case no one has told you lately, you are admired.  I’m in awe of all you do, amazed at the love you share, and I know it makes a difference in the lives of others.   I know it seems sometimes as if no one sees you.  No one recognizes all the love you pour into life.  So may I just assure you that not only does the One who has declared you to be the apple of His eye see you, those around you see you too.  Please forgive us for the times we fail to tell you how amazing we find you to be.  Please forgive us for not taking the time to give voice to love.

I know there will be those who read this and want to remind me that if we are doing things for the glory of God it really won’t matter who sees, who mentions, who takes the time to notice.  And I wholeheartedly agree that God sees and is enthralled when we live life for Him; when we love wherever we are in His Name. But, I also wonder if one of the ways God chooses to spur us forward might be through the encouragement, confirmation, and kindness of those around us.  I might even ask you to entertain the idea that there is Biblical exhortation to do exactly that.

  • After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” Acts 13:15
  • And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. Acts 15:32
  • Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:18
  •  For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.  Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.  1 Thessalonians  5:9-11
  • And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14

Every one of those verses, and there are many more on both sides of the Covenant Line, exhort us to tangibly love.  Even the word admonish, which might sound harsh if not investigated a bit, is an exhortation to love through instruction.  It means to appeal to the mind with spiritual substance, to exert positive pressure on someone’s logic, and to urge them to choose God’s best.

It seems to me based on the Truth of Scripture that I need to be looking for opportunities to notice and affirm those around me.  False flattery?  No, not ever, no.  That’s the enemy’s deceitful twist on building one another up—ingratiating for gain—Satan’s counterfeit.  But honest encouragement, honest appreciation, honest strengthening. . . done for no other reason than to say to your Sister, “I see you and I esteem you so.”  Girlfriend, this is more than just a good idea.  It’s essential to our doing life together as believers.  It’s what distinguishes us from the dog-eat-dog emotional environment so many women we know are devoured by.

See, here’s what I think.  If you and I were to begin to make a concerted effort to give voice to all the wonderful things we see the Sisters in our lives being and accomplishing, it would draw attention.  If you and I were to make an effort to express appreciation every time we see a fellow Sojourner going the extra mile, others would sit up and take notice.  If we were to come along side one another and celebrate the choices we see our sweet Friends making to serve others instead of being served, heads would turn. Why?  Because only a woman who has been changed by the Unchangeable One lives like that—no one does those things, no one gives voice to genuine love— UNLESS THE VERY PRESENCE OF LOVE IS LIVING IN THEM.

Do you get it Girlfriend?  The love you pour out on others spreads His fame and strengthens His Kingdom. It says to the world that He will not be contained and His LOVE will always change things, even the deep self-serving things that keep us from building up those around us.  Yes, only He can revive hearts and encourage souls, but what if you were the way He chose to do it?  What if Love chose to speak through you?  Doesn’t the idea of it make you almost giddy?  Oh, how I pray you walk away today being encouraged to give voice to love and your path crosses a heart that needs to hear it.

But I’m not stopping there.  I’m also going before the Throne with one more request. I’m asking Him to send you someone to speak the voice of love straight to your heart. To encourage you. To strengthen you. To  esteem you.  And may I just exhort you Sweet Friend to receive His message with full assurance of His Love and His desire to revive your heart because while I may not know you, I do know Him and I have no doubt, Daughter of the King, that you possess the affection of your Father’s heart and He finds you to be worth every word.

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Younger Me, You Were Loved . . .

22 Jun

September 10, 1988 –

  • Brett and Bunny were married in a church but certainly did not exchange their vows before God nor consider Him as even a small part, let alone the center, of their marriage.

April 20, 1993 –

  • Brett and Bunny had their first child.  A beautiful little 7 lb. 6 oz. baby girl was born at 5:21 p.m. in Alma, Michigan.  No praise was given to God for her healthy little body or sweet little face.

May 24, 1993 –

  • Brett finished the electrical work and the three Biddingers moved into their first family home.  No prayer of thanks was offered.  No blessing was prayed over the home.

June 24, 1993 –

  • Brett was in a near-fatal car accident and flown to Grand Rapids.  If someone cried out to God and asked for His intercession, His preservation of life, it was not me.

Brett was in the hospital for 31 days.  Most of it was spent in ICU.   The crash team was called to his room more than once and it was two full weeks before we knew for certain that he would he live.  I can’t really say he slept, more so he floated in and out of consciousness in a room with glass walls for constant observation.  The tubes in his chest and down his throat forced air into the collapsed lung and the halo screwed to his skull aligned what was left of his crushed spine.  The traction apparatus above his bed held his broken femur in the air until he could survive the surgery necessary to fix it.  Still I did not pray.

I slept on couches in the family waiting room for many of the 31 nights. I listened to the doctors explain his paralysis — nipple line down, no use of hands, will not walk. I watched the nurses dump medicine down his feeding tube.  I saw the fear on his face each time he regained consciousness.  I guarded him fiercely and sat for hours in the hard, orange, plastic chair beside his bed listening to the hum of his respirator. I sat. I guarded. I watched. But I did not utter a single prayer.

Our baby girl took up residence 90 miles away from us with my parents.  My Mom bundled her from head-to-toe in the dead of summer because the hospital was so cold and they shuttled her back and forth, with the help of friends, almost daily.  My Dad’s right arm has to be two inches longer from all the miles he carried her crossing that parking ramp and skywalk in her baby seat.  Her visits were the only time Brett showed real interest in being awake.  The change in him was so marked when she was there that the nurses noted it all throughout their charting.  And yet, no thanks was given to the One who had given her to us.

Oh, others were praying and praying hard.  But I was not.  And still He did not leave me.  His thoughts concerning me never wavered from the unfailing love He professes in His Word.  I have no recollection of cognizantly crying out to God during that time.  But He must have been whispering straight to my heart because I found myself standing in line at the hospital gift shop with a Bible study on the Book of Isaiah in my hand.  I wish I could tell you that it was the beginning of a passionate, consistent walk with God but it was not.   I did do the Bible study though and this morning, with the anniversary date of the accident approaching, I felt oddly drawn to dig it out and read through the questions and answers on its pages.

It is so strange to look at my responses.  I know it was me but the young woman who wrote those words is such a dim memory.  I think I’ve worked so hard to leave her behind that I’ve almost forgotten that God loved her too.  Does that make sense to you?  He loved that girl who gave Him no consideration as deeply as He loves the one typing these words.

His affection was as firmly fixed on the woman who wrote “He is powerful and He protects even the weakest follower” 20 years ago in that Bible study book, as it is on the one who desires to write for His glory today.

His heart was just as consumed with the girl who read Isaiah 5:1-6 and scrawled, “God has planted many seeds in my life, from the time I was a small child.  He sent people into my life to tend them, but they were ignored.  Finally, He has let the cows trample me.  Too much sin has left me a wasteland.” as it is with the woman who clings to the truth of Isaiah 61:4 and knows that the ancient ruins and places long devastated in her were destined to be restored.

Oh, how He loved the one who wrote “God has guided me through many troubles only to receive nothing from me.  For a long time I have used the excuse that you can’t pray when you’re in trouble if you don’t pray when you aren’t” and then finished the thought by wondering, “But what if these things were brought to my life for precisely that reason. Is the Lord trying to get my attention?”  And oh, how He loves the one who now confidently answers, “He will always bring beauty from the ashes– if not on this side of Glory, then on the other. My God is good. My God is faithful.”

I guess the point of all this reminiscing is to say that you, Sweet One, are always and have always been on His mind.  There is no point on the timeline of your life that He has not loved you. No matter where we are on the spectrum of faith, He’s always about the business of loving us.  Rather we acknowledge or even notice Him is an entirely different matter but I assure you based on the authority of His Word that the One who was, the One who is, and the One who will be has always been with you.

And somewhere, in the back of her mind, that younger version of me knew that truth too.  She knew He was there and when she finally began to speak, she knew His heart was listening.  This is the final entry from that Bible study so many years ago:

“My understanding of this changed.  My heart believes that the Lord is listening.  God hears all my prayers and He answers them.  At times not the way I want but all my prayers are answered.  His thoughts are higher than mine . He sees the whole picture.  I don’t.  I can trust Him for the outcome.”

Well said younger me.  Well said.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV

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Girlfriend, You ARE the Miracle!

15 Jun

LAZARUS HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD!

LAZARUS HAS COME TO LIFE!

JESUS HAS PERFORMED A MIRACLE!

Imagine the resurrection of Lazarus occurring in our no-holds barred tell everything social media society.  Oh, how the twitter birdie would be singing and the hashtags flying. . . . .

  • Martha warns of stench.  Jesus is not deterred! Lazarus lives!#stenchovercome #Christunafraid
  • Jesus frees Lazarus from the tomb!  Death clothes peeled! #rollingstones #outfitchanged

Not to mention the status updates that would be popping up on facebook pages all over Bethany . . . .

  • He seems better than before and I sure didn’t notice any smell! 🙂 –feeling happy
  • Saw Lazarus and Jesus today.  Both seemed in good Spirit. –with Mary and Martha

Funny thing is that even though the internet was still far off, news of the miracle spread!  It must’ve been all the buzz at the market place, at the synagogue, and around every Jewish supper table.  We get our information from the Apostle John and it’s guaranteed to be truth so we don’t even have to visit snopes.com to see if it’s myth or urban legend.  In fact, the passage in John 11 and 12 is so chocked full of truth that there is absolutely no way to look at it all in this small little blog entry.  So as always I’m encouraging you to go and read the whole thing and count on God to show your heart more and more.

When I’m leading a Bible study and I have a lot of stuff I want to share, I quite often tell the sweet Sisters who are with me what “I won’t be talking about” that night.  So if we were actually sitting face-to-face with the Bible in our hands, I might say something like “I was really torn tonight.  I thought about pointing out the way the Scripture specifically tells us how much Jesus loves Mary, Martha, and Lazarus before it notes “So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.” At a cursory read we might think the two verses don’t fit too well together. But might it be that His love for them was the very thing that prompted Him to give these three dear friends, the ones He held in loving esteem, the opportunity to believe Him more and take part in glorifying the Father?  Could the same be true of us?  Might it be that the purpose in the wait from time to time is so that we might have a part in pointing the eyes of those around us toward heaven?”

Or I might have chosen “not to talk about ” Christ, who was about to raise a man from the dead, having those around Him roll away the stone and remove the death clothes binding Lazarus.  He could’ve just pointed at the stone and told it to move.  He could have disintegrated those linen strips with a Word.  Instead, He chose to let others be involved in shining the light into that very dark tomb and give them a role in setting the dead man free.  Sister, what kind of a privilege would it be to be known as a “stone roller” in the lives of those around us?  And how honored would we feel if we were given the assignment of peeling away the death linens so our friends, family, and neighbors could walk freely in the Truth?

And, of course the last thing that wouldn’t be discussed is Jesus calling Lazarus to life by NAME.  Oh, don’t you love to entertain the idea of what it must be like to hear LOVE say your name.  Maybe we’ll hear that very thing when we finally look Grace in the face.  And maybe it will sound something like this

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name;

and you are mine.”

Isaiah 43:1 NIV, 1984

Dear One, I so pray you take Him at His Word.  This is personal to Him and it’s meant for you.  Hear His heart . . . “Don’t be afraid Bunny.  I have rescued you and called you out of your sin.  You belong to me.  I won’t let you go.”  Now, you do it:

“Don’t be afraid _________.

I have rescued you

and called you out of your sin.

You belong to me.

I won’t let you go.”

Doesn’t that give you glory bumps?  Hear Him speaking right to you?

So if these are all the things we wouldn’t be chatting about, what in the world would we be considering?  Well, it would be those tweets and those status updates that would have our attention.  It would be the news spreading from ear-to-ear that would be at the center of our discussion.  Why?  Because people of all kinds are going to hear about the miracle Jesus performed in your life.  They will be absolutely a twitter about the new life that they see in you.  You will be modern day evidence of the miracle.  Living proof that Christ still raises people from the dead.   Indisputable confirmation that the Author of Life still revives hearts today.

The change in you, the transformation from walking dead to abundant life, will be beautiful.  Your entire life will be a testimony to His power, just like the life of Lazarus.  So, what of Lazarus the man brought to life in full view of those who believed and those who did not?

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there,

they came, not only on account of him

but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,

 because on account of him many of the Jews

were going away and believing in Jesus.

John 12:9-10 (ESV)

That’s right.  The last mention we have of Lazarus in the Bible is under the heading “The Plot to Kill Lazarus” and the truth is, the headline over your life, if you are a believer, is similar.  Beloved, don’t you dare think for one moment that your enemy does not notice the difference you are making in the world around you.  Don’t you let yourself believe for an iota that living out the miracle every day is of no significance.  You may not be under the threat of flogging or crucifixion but the battle that rages is real.  The arrows slung in your direction may take the form of isolation, cruel words, and intimidation, but believe me when I tell you based on God’s exhortations to be aware, to be suited for battle, to be alert that they are part and parcel of “The Plot to Kill the Miracle.”  There is no doubt that your enemy, the devil prowls like a lion looking for someone to devour.  That’s truth, flat out.

But Girlfriend, here’s the bigger truth– the One who redeemed you, the One who called you by name, is not about to let you go.  FEAR NOT, the will of the Lion of Judah will prevail.  The Miracle will live!  And live to the full. He has summoned you by name, and YOU ARE HIS!

And just as certainly as the news of new life could not be contained in Bethany, news of your transformation will spread like wildfire.  I find that to be worth a status update.  Maybe even a change in my relationship status ♥– feeling loved.

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Are You Brave Enough?

4 Jun

signsI stand at the crossroads and look . . . and I try to imagine what life might be like if I do things in a way I’ve never done them before.  I try to conjure up the best and worst case scenarios that might be catapulted into existence if I step out into unfamiliar territory.  What will I find if rather than pursuing the path of “what I know” and “where I’m comfortable” I take God at His Word, believing that He will always lead me in the good way, and I step out in HIS NAME?  What if instead of being limited by what my finite mind can see, I trust the Infinite and allow Him to unfold a God-sized vision concerning me?

Honest answer is, “I don’t know.”  Full confession is, “I might not be brave enough to find out.”  I often pray for a spirit of contentment to settle over me.  To be certain that my days, no matter how secluded or contained within the four walls of Biddinger Boulevard they might be, are spent pursuing His agenda and not mine.  There are days when other than one another, we don’t come into contact with anyone.  So at times, it’s hard to imagine that there is a vision that includes us, let alone to conceive that a God-sized vision might be in the works.  But I firmly believe that this time of “quarantine” has come straight from the hand of God and it has come for a holy purpose.  I don’t want to miss it.  I don’t want Brett to miss it.  I want us to heed the words of the Lord to be “strong and courageous” and to take every opportunity to seize the cities He sets before us–even if it appears that we are the only ones occupying those city streets.

Not everyone is given a time in life when they are required to limit their activities and I so pray that we are faithful with the gift we have been given.  I think the worst thing that could happen is that Brett would finally be healed and we would look back to find that physical restoration was all that had occurred.   To whom much is entrusted, more will be asked.  Perhaps the God-sized vision requires the more.  Maybe it’s in the unfamiliar territory that we will truly begin to see.

I recently shared with a friend that God has turned me upside down by diligently shining His light on all the places I would rather just keep hidden.  It hasn’t been exactly unpleasant (it’s actually been exciting) but it has had a feeling of “are you kidding me?  There’s more?”  I’ve said aloud on more than one occasion, “Marilyn, will you ever get to the bottom of yourself?”  (I grew up with Marilyn being my trouble name and I’ve carried the tradition forward 🙂 )   Just when I think all the self-serving goop has been dug out, I start to smell a not so pleasant aroma emanating from my heart and I realize . . . more goop has bubbled to the surface.  Another bastion of judgementalism is uncovered.  Another stronghold of haughtiness brought to light.  Another fortress of jealousy is revealed.  While somewhere in my mind I understand that all that goop dredging is a required part of the process, it doesn’t always make cooperating in the whole thing come any more naturally. I tell myself that that’s probably true for almost everyone.  It makes me feel better to think that feeling exposed and vulnerable with all your goop laid out on the Throne Room floor would be a little difficult no matter who you are.  Exposure.  Vulnerability.  Sounds risky to me.  Are you ready for that?  Are you that brave?

What if only a handful of us were to answer that question with a resounding “YES”?   We would, undoubtedly, turn the world upside down.  If only a few were committed to truly make Jesus the Lord of their lives, life as we know it would cease and life, true living, would really begin.  Henry Blackaby writes that you can’t say “No, Lord” because it presents an oxymoron.  If you say “No”, He’s not your Lord.  Plain, simple, true.

I’m praying to be one of the handful.  I’m asking God to make me one of the people you’d be pleased to join with in taking the world by storm.  I’m petitioning Him to make me into a warrior who does not flinch in her belief that the victory is already won.  Girlfriend, the battle that rages over you in the heavenlies is huge.  I want to be the one you want at your back.  And I want that life of tenacious commitment for you too.  When people meet us, they ought to see something different.  Something more.  Something Divine.  They ought to see Christ in the unique way that He displays Himself through each one of us.  I might even be so bold as to say, they ought to glimpse glory.

So what do you say if for the next week we live as if we are unafraid? We obey the small nudges from God rather than talk ourselves out of acting because we aren’t absolutely, 110% sure, convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that it was God’s voice.  We look undeterred at the dark places He reveals, repent, and take the path He leads us down.  If it doesn’t contradict Scripture and it’s consistent with God’s character, what say we throw caution to the wind and err on the side boldness?  Err on the side of obedience?  Why not do the good thing?  Corny as it may sound, we’ll never pass this way again.  So, let’s just see where the God-vision goes.  Even when it’s unfamiliar.  Even when it’s uncomfortable.  And especially when it doesn’t fit within the confines of our finite imaginations.  I have to believe that the Divine of God, the All of Elohim, who has entrusted us with much will never ask for more than He has given. Sister, the way of the Ancient One is good — let’s be brave enough to walk in it.

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.”

Jeremiah 6:16 (NIV, 1984)

(Here’s a secret wish:  I wish I could be peek in at the lives of the Sisters who choose to take this challenge.  What a thing of beauty I would behold!  — You go Girl!)

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The Most Excellent Way

25 May

If you’ve had prior occasion to visit the blog, you know that God seems to be driving home the need for me to love people exactly where they are at in life.  Despite the circumstances they place themselves in.  Despite the poor decisions they may make.  And perhaps most importantly, despite my desire to just give up on them.  I think there is somewhat of this current to love others running through the Church right now.  I fully concede that I might have “pregnant woman” syndrome –when you’re pregnant you see other pregnant women everywhere—but it seems that many of the things I read or hear of late center around reaching out in love.  I think it’s great.  I think the world needs to be loved with an unchanging, unconditional, secure, steady love.  What a contrast to the fleeting, up-and-down love roller coaster so many who live apart from Christ are trapped on.  I so support every believer who is following Christ to live out loud in love …first in their Jerusalem, then Judea, Samaria, and then unto the ends of the earth.

 But you will receive power when

the Holy Spirit has come upon you,

and you will be my witnesses in

Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,

and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

I pray God’s blessing all over those Christ followers who, filled with the Spirit, display the love of the Savior in their communities, their state governments, their country and the nations around the world.  Indeed, wherever God has placed us as stewards of the Firstborn’s inheritance, let us be faithful.   Let us walk boldly in His Name and love beyond ourselves. We want those who are wandering lost, feeling isolated, and even the ones who don’t know they need His grace, to see a difference and feel welcomed by His love. But I have to wonder how that happens if we are engaged in subtly tearing one another apart.  How can we reach out to love those who have chosen another path if we can’t even love those who are walking the trail with us?  And, I fully confess, that I have kicked dust in the faces of the saints traveling by my side on far too many occasions.

I read a blog this morning encouraging believers to consider practicing the spiritual disciplines.  The author didn’t profess to be an expert on the subject.  He just presented some things worth challenging our minds and hearts with.  I scrolled down to the comments fully expecting to see believers encouraging one another to examine their hearts on the subject.  What I found instead was sniping at the author over ONE quote that had been included in the piece.  Further down in the comments, the author explained that since posting he had removed the quote because of the uproar.  He was defensive about the thing and I probably would’ve reacted the same way.  I might’ve thought to myself “Really, all of that and this is what you’re choosing to focus on? ”  I wonder if the pastors and teachers in our midst often feel that way—“Really?”.  And I wonder more, how often that kind of critical spirit has flowed from MY heart and straight out of MY mouth.

At the beginning of every Bible study, I encourage the ladies who are participating to be Bereans and search the Scriptures for themselves to be certain the teaching is sound.

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character

than those in Thessalonica,

for they received the message with great eagerness

and examined the Scriptures every day

to see if what Paul said was true.

Acts 17:11 (NIV)

But might it be that a worthwhile commitment to confirm the unifying Truth of Christ Jesus can become distorted and slide too quickly into divisive, self-exalting legalism?  Don’t misunderstand, we must be on guard against false teaching.  The Bible couldn’t be more clear about that subject.  We must be alert and we must man the watchtower.  However, from my perspective there is a huge difference between willful deception and a poor choice of words.  So might it be that as the Church is experiencing a renewed desire to reach out and love on God’s most prized creation, that we are forgetting to show gentleness and love to one another?  A house divided against itself simply will not stand and oh, don’t you know that it must make the enemies of the Cross absolutely giddy to watch the Bride devour herself.

We often hear 1 Corinthians 13 read at wedding ceremonies. Truth is, it wasn’t written in the context of temporal marriage, but it was written so the Bride, the Body of Christ, would know what love looked like to the Bridegroom. Under Divine inspiration, Paul calls it “the most excellent way” and goes on to provide the ultimate description of the love the Body is called to lavish on one another.

If I can speak in the tongues of men and even of angels but have not love, that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion—the kind that is inspired by God’s love for and in me—then I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose, and I understand all the secret truths and mysteries, and possess all knowledge and if I have sufficient faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, God’s love in me, I am nothing, a useless nobody.

Even if I dole out all that I have to the poor in providing food and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory but have not love, God’s love in me, I gain nothing.

Love endures long, is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy; it is not boastful or vainglorious and it does not display itself haughtily.

It is not conceited, arrogant, or inflated with pride; it is not rude, unmannerly, nor does it act unbecomingly.  Love, God’s love in me, does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking, it is not touchy, or fretful or resentful.  It takes no account of the evil done to it nor does it pay attention to a suffered wrong.

It does not rejoice in injustice and unrighteousness but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, it is ever ready to believe the best of every person; its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening.

Love never fails, never fades out, becomes obsolete or comes to an end.  As for prophecy, it will be fulfilled and pass away.  As for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease and as for knowledge, it will pass away, it will lose its value and be superseded by truth.

For our knowledge is fragmentary, incomplete and imperfect and our prophecy, our teaching, is incomplete and imperfect.

But when the complete and perfect total comes the incomplete and the imperfect will vanish away, become antiquated, void and superseded.

When I was a child I talked like a child, I thought like a child and I reasoned like a child; now that I have grown I am done with childish ways and have set them aside.

For now, I am looking into a mirror that gives but a dimmed, blurred reflection of reality, as in a riddle or an enigma, but then  . . . . . . .  1 Corinthians 13 (AMP)

You are going to have to go to your Bible to read the rest because this is as far as I have memorized –for now.  See, if this thick headed woman has learned nothing else in her pursuit of Life outside the Tomb, she has learned that without a doubt, left to her own devices she is a critical, sharp-tongued woman with a desire to puff herself up by making others feel less than.  The only hope I have of living the lovelife, of imitating God, is to have a total heart transformation.  Only His truth will change me.  I must treasure what He treasures and see His children from His perspective.  I have to be filled heart, soul and mind with Him so that what flows from my mouth is love.  It cannot be simply what I know, it has to become who I am. . . LOVE . . . because it is who He Is.  And it must flow first to the warriors who fight the good fight and run the race beside me –those whose faces I know and cherish and those I will not meet this side of Glory.

The world doesn’t need to see another fractured family living out a dysfunctional existence.  They need to see a family acting like their Dad and following His example. They need to see us doing life together, honoring our commitment to one another, and loving each other despite our glaring imperfections.  I have to believe that when we love each other the way He loves us, when we live and love the “most excellent way,” it’s going to draw some attention.  Attention that will give us the opportunity to explain why we love the way we do.

Sisters, let’s be gracious today to the family we share eternal blood with.  Let’s be committed to believing the best of them.  Let’s give the same grace and understanding to the Body as we do to those who have not yet answered the call of Grace.  Let’s live the “most excellent way” so the world can see the most Excellent One.

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You are When You are and . . .It is Good!

20 May

Not only are you where you are by His Divine Hand, you are also when you are by His appointment.  Think about that.  The One who always has been, is today, and will be forever has chosen this place and this time for you to shine like a star in the universe.  You didn’t end up here by chance and your appointed days were always intended to be specific to this dispensation of time.  I don’t know about you but I find that to be comforting, motivating, and scary all at once. There’s just something so absolutely huge in considering that the One who proclaimed His creation to be very good felt that this point in history would be better if I were here.  Ponder it for a moment.  The Creator of the universe heart-picked you for the right here and the right now– not because He needed you, but because He WANTED you.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth, and HE DETERMINED THE TIMES SET FOR THEM AND THE EXACT PLACES WHERE THEY SHOULD LIVE.  

Acts 17:24-26 (NIV 1984)

See!  Straight from the mouth of God.  He put you here and He put you now.  The Omniscient God who decided when and where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would set their feet on planet earth made that same decision concerning you.  And Sister, I’m declaring to you today based on the authority of His Word that you are every bit as precious to Him as those men were.  I know this to be true because your God does not play favorites.  He did specific works—huge works, good works— through those imperfect men and He desires to do the same through you.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in the advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV 1984)

Now you may be throwing arguments at me in your head at this moment that explain to me why, in all of creation, in the entirety of the world timeline, you are the one exception.  You are the one God cannot possibly want to do specific, huge, good things through.  After all, God raised them up to be men of renown, known as heirs of the promise and the blessed recipients of an unbelievable inheritance.  He even allowed them to participate in building a nation.  Without a doubt, these things are true.  God had big things set aside for those guys.

But an argument always has two sides.  So what I’m going to ask you to do is to read through those Acts 17 and Ephesians 2 verses set side by side from the Amplified Bible*.

26 And He made from one [common origin, one source, one blood] all nations of men to settle on the face of the earth, having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes).  10 For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship),  recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Acts 17:26 and Ephesians 2:10

With that fresh in your mind, let your heart travel to your work place.  Let it drink in the family that visits your home, strangers you welcome with a smile, and the faces of your dearest friends.  Now stare into the eyes of your children, linger there and soak them in—woman of God, this is your nation.   You are an heiress, fashioned for this very purpose and filled with the Spirit of God, to point those entrusted to you toward the Promised Land.  Yes, Beloved, the boundary lines have fallen for you in a pleasant place and a pleasant time.  Surely, you have a beautiful inheritance.

Sister, you have been anointed and appointed by God to do things –specific things, huge things, good things!  Don’t doubt for a moment that you are here and you are now for a reason.  . . And it is good.

Acts_17-26

*The Amplified Bible utilizes multiple English word equivalents to each key Hebrew and Greek word clarify and amplify meanings that may otherwise have been concealed by the traditional translation method.

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A Day in the Caboose!

14 May

We’ve looked at some pretty heavy stuff the last couple posts and, to be truthful life itself has been quite heavy since the last writing, so what I really feel the desire to do today is just roll around in His goodness.  Some days you just have to pull a little closer to Glory and ride there for a bit.  What say we leave the temporal worries and anxieties, the hurts and the can’t-do-a-thing-abouts sitting on the curb for this day and ease out into the freedom lane with the Spirit?

I know Facts are the engine of my Faith and Feelings aren’t always accurate indicators of the spiritual reality, but for this particular moment I’m giving myself permission to get swept up in the Godness of Him and simply enjoy feeling like He is with me. These kinds of days are necessary for me.  I need times when I can indulge my emotions and let myself feel lavished in His love.  Times when I can look past the urgent of this planet and imagine life from a heavenly point of view.   Times when I can entertain what it will feel like to walk in Glory.  In other words, I need days when I can just be the caboose!

I have a wonderful friend who is married to a gentleman with a penchant for her, God’s truth, and a whiteboard. One of his favorite illustrations depicts a train engine marked Facts, followed by a car with Faith written on it, and finally, a caboose with the word Feelings.  The idea of the drawing is that we can’t let our feelings dictate our faith or diagnose our spiritual condition.   It’s right on the mark and I love them for their team teaching efforts to make this knowledge part of my freedom walk because it has given me the tenacity to stand firm in truth many times when I didn’t “feel” like it. But just for today I’m going to hang off the back of the caboose, wave my arms around, and drink in the Sonshine.

Lessons from Kim and Rod

Lessons from Kim and Rod

I’m going to let the wonder-if-I-did-that-right thoughts all slip away and replace it with being thrilled that my obedience brings Him joy.  I’m not going to fret about what will come from the maybe-I-should’ve-said-that-differently moments or let myself be weighed down by the hope-I-didn’t-overstep-my-boundaries-there conversations.   Instead, I’m going to let my heart dance at the idea that the One I have my eyes fixed on never takes His eyes off me.  I’m going to celebrate the notion that the One I find too beautiful for words is enthralled with my beauty.  I’m going to get all caught up in the absolute giddiness I feel when I picture Him as my Mighty Warrior and myself as the chick with a sword at His side.

I could gush on and on, and believe me I’m totally fighting the urge to do so.  It feels so good to have the smile spread across my face and my eyes crinkle for no other reason except I am thinking of Him.  It’s been too long since I have thrown off everything that hinders and just run with the Spirit.  Yesterday in my devotions, I was reading about Hagar who was facing some massive challenges in her life to say the least.  She had been sent away from her home with a young son, some food strapped to her back,  and a canteen of water.  As they wandered in the desert, the water ran out and she was certain her boy was going to die.  I can’t imagine the helplessness and despair she must of felt as she placed Ishmael under that shrub to die.  Imagine how gut-wrenching her sobs must have been as she sat down a distance away from him and just waited for the inevitable.  And then . . . God intervenes.  The One she had called El Roi (the One who Sees) at another well in the desert had never taken His eyes off her.

Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, “I can’t watch my son die.” As she sat, she broke into sobs. . . .

Just then God opened her eyes.

She looked. She saw a well of water.

She went to it and filled her canteen

and gave the boy a long, cool drink.

Genesis 21:19 (The Message)

See the sweetness of Him?  He opened her eyes to see His provision.  He gave her exactly what she needed, right when she needed it, and He gave her eyes to see the blessing.  There is so much more in that passage to look at.  Such significance in the well.  Such parallels between Hagar the slave girl and the Samaritan Woman who felt the unconditional love of Christ in the Gospel of John.  But those are for another day.  Today, we’re just loving being with Him.

Yes Sisters, let’s enjoy our day in the caboose.  But here’s the truth of it.  A day of celebration in the caboose would go nowhere without that engine. No hair would be flying around in the wind of the Spirit.  No cool breeze of freedom would blow across our souls.   There would only be sitting at the depot feeling erratic gusts of air now and then. Only the engine, the absolute TRUTH of who He is and the LOVE He lavishes on us, will get that caboose moving.  And only feelings that match the truth of His character are worth celebrating.

I came to the train station years ago with more baggage than I can describe.  I stood on the platform with all my sin stacked around me.  God met me in my need and said, “I see you child, get on board.”  He’s not left me unattended once.  He has never taken His eyes off me.  And when I have days filled with challenges, and maybe even despair, He opens my eyes and shows me the well of His goodness.  He fills my canteen with the truth of His blessings, invites me to the caboose, and lets me enjoy a long, cool drink.

Girlfriend, He will not be bothered a bit should you choose to hang off the back of the caboose in celebration today. And if you’re just not “feeling” like it, ask Him to open your eyes and show you the well.  The Fact is that our Faith in the One who is the Living Water will never leave us Feeling thirsty!  Oh, how I love that His well will not run dry!

Some Interesting Information:

  • El Roi: wonderful expansion and exploration of the Title — http://www.preceptaustin.org/el_roi_-_god_who_sees.htm
  • The Message:  The goal of The Message is to engage people in the reading process and help them understand what they read. This is not a study Bible, but rather “”a reading Bible.”” The verse numbers, which are not in the original documents, have been left out of the print version to facilitate easy and enjoyable reading. The original books of the Bible were not written in formal language. The Message tries to recapture the Word in the words we use today. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Message-MSG-Bible/

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The Engraving of God (Part Two)

28 Apr

As you come to him, the living Stone

—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—

you also, like living stones,

are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,

offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:4-5

Baby Dog

Baby Dog

Well, we have taken some time to consider our God being God in both the Old and the New Testaments.  We have seen Him reveal Himself to be the Holy Engraver of the stone tablets as well as the Living Stone so that His children on both sides of the Covenant line could see His perfect holiness, perfect freedom, and perfect love.  Isn’t it funny how we always return to the fact that our God does not change?  Are you beginning to appreciate the security in His unflappable Godness?  That’s one of my prayers for you all.  I want you to know that to your bones because grabbing a hold of that particular truth changed my faith dramatically.

I have to wonder what you have been thinking in the time that has passed between this posting and the Engraving of God (Part 1).  Might it be that in this time of consideration you have thought to yourself, “Kinda cool, Bunny, but how does that apply to me? And . . . what in the world does your dog have to do with anything?”  I find both of these to be good questions.  I hope to give you answers, based on the authority of God’s Word, which will show you that for believers in Christ this particular Old Testament/New Testament parallel could not be more significant.  Having God be true to His promise to show those who seek Him great and hidden things has convinced me that part of my destiny, and may I suggest part of yours as well, is to be a chip off the Almighty Rock.

It’s not hard for us to wrap our minds around God carving each character into the stone tablets until His perfect message was completed and presented to His children.  It’s tangible and concrete.  But grasping the carving Christ underwent might be more difficult for us because of the abstract nature of it.  It’s my feeling though that the etching Christ endured was every bit as real.

Consider our Jesus, hungry and thirsty after fasting 40 days, doing battle in the desert with Satan.  How deeply do you think coming face-to-face with evil, especially in such a vulnerable state, would have cut?  Imagine the heart of perfect compassionate being confronted with a sea of sickness and need, knowing that this was not the time for physical restoration to come to all.  How might that have etched His heart of Love?  And what of the engraving He experienced as all the disciples deserted Him and He heard Peter say, “I do not know the man.”  Perhaps we could picture the very real marks He bore across His back and the blood that ran from His head as the thorns carved their way into His temples.  And the ultimate etching of the nails in His hands as He willingly surrendered to the Cross.  Yes, our perfect Savior, fully human underwent the pain of being engraved for our benefit.  Remember, Jesus was perfect.  His character was flawless and He knew that He needed no refinement, no engraving.  His Father knew it.  And yet, Father and Son joined together to complete the carving.  Why?  For whom did the Father allow His Son to go through such agony?  Who did Christ find worth the suffering?  Who needed to see Him triumph over every obstacle and endure every etching?  WE DID.

We, who are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, needed to see the Living Stone emerge in victory from the sadness, pain, and difficulty of life.  It was essential for those who are destined to be conformed to the likeness of the Son to witness the purposefulness of the carving as well as His triumph.   We needed to see Him come through as the Conqueror displaying the message and glory of the Father because as those who are “like living stones” I fully believe we can expect to go through the engraving process too.   There is a purpose to the hurt and loss of this world just as there was a purpose to the suffering of Christ. For me, this truth began to wear my name at the passing of our sweet little cocker spaniel.

Britt and Baby

A Special Gift

Baby Dog had been a part of life on Biddinger Boulevard for a long time.  Britt got her for a birthday present when she was just a little girl but truth be known, Baby , without a doubt, placed herself above Britt in the family hierarchy.  And our Puppy Girl was definitely absent the day the memo announcing that she was a dog circulated.  She ran the house and had her little black nose poked into everybody’s business.  There wasn’t one thing in life that she didn’t leave her paw print on.  So after she was gone, there was just this immense hole in everything.

Baby died in September of 2012 and her death was kind of like the exclamation point to a lot of other loss that had taken place for me.  It started with Britt leaving for college the previous year, and though I don’t want to dramatize what is a very natural part of life, I honestly felt physical pain in my heart when I watched her pull out of the garage and leave for Florida.  Like a chunk of me was cut away.  Several other things took place and then, a sweet Sister and warrior Friend completed her race and went home to be with Jesus.  It was painful to say goodbye even though you knew her faith had become sight.  In August of 2012, Brett began battling these new health issues and it took so much of his independence.  It was like watching the accident steal his freedom all over again. … and … and…and it all hurt.  And when I looked around at the people I have the honor of doing life with, so many of them were walking through absolutely agonizing situations.  The hurt of a sick child.  The pain of lost health.  The grief of a lost home.  The uncertainty of aging parents.

So when Baby Dog passed away, the floodgates opened and I began to cry.  I swept up dog hair and I cried.  I got Brett’s breakfast but not her Beggin’ Strips and I cried.  I pulled out of the garage and saw the freshly mounded dirt in the yard and I cried.  I am still crying, even in the card aisles at Walmart.

And the loss didn’t stop with Baby.  It continued to roll through the Thanksgiving Season when a sweet friend was taken from us far too soon.  I can’t describe the pain I saw on his Momma’s face and his sister’s face.  It was anguish I haven’t seen up close and personal before.  And I hurt for them and I grieve the loss myself.  And it feels like another trench has been etched into my heart.

I would look around and think to myself as I watched people hurt and grapple with pain, “How are they getting out of bed in the morning? I didn’t even want to face losing the dog.”  Everything I saw people go though would come back to the pain of doing life without Baby Dog and I would think,  “What in the world is that in comparison to . . . losing your home? . . . losing your Mom? . . .losing your son?”  And  the things people were enduring and walking through was almost unbearable to me and that is when I really began to weep.  To weep for their hearts and their hurts and their loss.  God used that little dog, who brought me such joy, to carve out my heart so that I could begin to love other people.  To understand in a small way the loss in their lives, the need in their lives, and the hurt in their lives.  I have experienced loss and hurt before but never have I seen it produce fruit in my life.  This time was different.

The death of the Dog brought every cut, every mark, every engraving to the surface.  It brought me closer to reflecting His character and made me want to look more like Jesus–no matter the cost, no matter the carving.  I care more now.  I try to listen better.  I hope I comfort more and that I do so abundantly.  I pray I LOVE like I never have before in my life and I absolutely ache to be filled with the LOVE of Christ so I can love those around me like they don’t deserve to be.  That wasn’t a mistake.  I meant to say that.  I want to love others like they DON”T DESERVE TO BE because that’s the way HE LOVES ME!

I want my love for them  to depend on my love for Him, not their personality, not their status, not their faith profession.  I want love to be all that is left because everything else has been stripped away.  I want to transformed to the image of the Son.  I want to be an imitator of God.  I want Life Outside the Tomb to be marked, engraved, and shaped by Love.

Don’t you want that?  Don’t you ache to bear the marks of Christ so vividly that the unmistakable message of God will be clearly seen and understood by others?   We, who are like living stones,  cannot be afraid of the hurt – it’s the very thing that will enable us to do what we say we want to do.  Sister, embrace the engraving.  Cooperate with the transformation.  Fulfill your destiny.

You, Baby Dog, continue to be a good gift to me!

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The Engraving of God (Part One)

15 Apr

This blog post is going to have to be broken down into two parts.  It’s got some depth to it and we really need some time in between to chew on the first bit before we try to consider the Dog (yes, the Dog).  The connections that God revealed, and I’m certain there are so many more He is yet to unfold, are just too much to take in while at the same time trying to explain how it hooks to “Life Outside the Tomb” and “The Love Life.”  So, I’m asking for a little stick-to-it-tiveness for these next couple posts.  I think if you will snug up your hiking boots and keep moving up the mountain, you’ll find it to be worth the work.

Eventually, I’m hoping to share with you the way God used our family pet to perform open heart surgery on me.  You know, the kind that separates joints from marrow and divides spirit and soul. Like all my stories do, this one begins quite a while ago, back in May of 2011.  This was the beginning of what I have come to affectionately call my “season of loss.”  It began a period of heart reconstruction that as necessary as it was, has been the most painful of all my life – including the accident in 1993.  I’ve recognized God beckoning me, disciplining me, challenging me, and even sitting me in the corner but this is the first time I have recognized being carved out by His hand.  Engraved by His Holy touch.

That is what I intended to write about today; the lessons of love that God has taught and continues to teach me through losing our beautiful, bossy cocker spaniel–Baby.  That was MY plan.  His is ALWAYS BETTER!

Imagine yourself settled into your favorite reading chair consumed with the material in your hand and suddenly, Someone (capital “S” intended) comes in and hands you a new book.  Same subject but a deeper exploration than you might have anticipated.  That is exactly what happened to me as I began preparing this post.   I sat down with my laptop along with a vague notion of the verses I might reference and God unfolded beauty that I simply wasn’t prepared for.  It’s taken me well over a week to just begin—and I cannot stress “just begin” enough—grabbing hold of it and I’m so praying that I can articulate it with some clarity because it’s just so . . .well, it’s just so Him.

I don’t know if you write in your Bible or not, but I do.  I put question marks beside things that pull at my heart but I don’t understand.  I draw arrows to verse references I feel like connect to one another and in many margins you will find definitions of words my soul has gravitated toward.  After I make these marks and notations, I pray off and on over the verses for God to give me clarity and explain it in terms that even the heart of this very thickheaded woman can understand.  I’m convinced that in His timing, He’ll address each one and if not on this side of Glory, on the other.

Hebrews 1:3 is just such a verse for me and when I originally typed “recognized being carved out by His hand ” it popped into my brain because I remembered the definition I had scrawled in the margin of my Bible beside it years ago. (I wish I would remember to date entries in my Bible so that I would have a tangible reminder of how patiently He works with me when I’m tempted to lose my patience with others!)  I have revisited that definition many times but never really felt I got the significance of it.  Sister, I could not have been more correct!

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory

and the exact representation of his being,

sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins,

he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Hebrews 1:3 NIV 1984

So I had all these thoughts rolling through my brain about Baby Dog and being carved out and I was trying to come up with a cohesive way to put them on paper.  I jotted Hebrews 1:3 down with the intention of drawing your attention, as He had drawn mine, to “exact representation”  in order to give you the definition of the Greek word before I moved into the bulk of the post.  See, this particular Greek word is only used once in the entire New Testament and since it isn’t a definition I have worked with a lot, I thought I should flip to it in my Bible just to be certain I had the right meaning in my mind.

exact representation

Bunny’s Wonderings

You can see the Bunny paraphrase in the margin:  “to carve; something engraved, cut-in or stamped; refers to Jesus Christ as the perfect expression of the Divine essence.”  I thought, yep, that is exactly what I remembered, but I couldn’t shake the nudge to confirm it further.  So I got out my Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible just to make certain I hadn’t written something down wrong and turned to the Lexical Aids in the back where I located the Greek word and definition:

Charakter:  to carve.  The –er suffix signifies agency, hence the word originally denoted an engraver or engraving tool.  Later it meant the impression itself, usually something engraved, cut in or stamped, a character, letter, mark, sign.  This impression with its particular features was considered as the exact representation of the object whose image it bore.  In the NT, representation, expresses image. Occurs only in Hebrews 1:3, where it is translated “exact representation,” referring to Jesus Christ, who is the perfect expression of the divine essence. (#5917, Pg. 1686, HGKWSB)

I was happy with the accuracy I had noted it with in my Bible, but the thing that caught my attention was the appearance of the Greek word:  Charakter.  Doesn’t that bring a very familiar English word to your mind?  It sure looks like “Character” to me.  And I started to roll over in my mind all the verses that talked about looking like Jesus, living like Jesus, showing Jesus to a watching world, and Him being made perfect in suffering.  I thought about God being much more concerned with developing my character as a Kingdom citizen than the Kingdom work I might do and I decided to look up the origin for the English word.

Character (noun):  the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person or thing.  early 14c., from O.Fr. caractere, from L. character, from Gk. kharakter “engraved mark,” from kharassein “to engrave,” from kharax “pointed stake.” Meaning extended by metaphor to “a defining quality.”

I didn’t want to rest on just one source for the origin so I went to one more sight and read down through it.  It gave much the same information but I hadn’t realized that I had stumbled onto a Bible based dictionary and right at the bottom there was an additional note:  Strong’s 2801 with the reference Exodus 32:16.  Now if you’re not familiar with the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, it’s a wonderful, enormous reference book that lists every occurrence of every word in the King James Bible according to a numerical system that is linked to the definition of the root word.  You can find it online but I prefer my big, old, clunky hard copy.  Not just because I love the feel of the pages but more so because of the hearts that blessed me with it. So I got out my KJV and looked up the verse:

And the tables were the work of God,

and the writing was the writing of God,

graven upon the tables.

Exodus 32:16

Now, certainly the word “graven” is used in other verses, but this verse, according to Strong’s, stands alone.  This particular Hebrew word, harut, is only used one time in the whole Old Testament (sound similar to exact representation?) to describe what appears to be the first recorded account of the writing of God.   The short definition is to engrave.  There are about five other words that mean simply engrave.  So why might God, the Creator of language, have chosen that particular word, to use this single time in the Bible? Might I suggest to you that it is the relationship that it shares with the Hebrew word “herut’ which means liberty and freedom.  My Jewish Study Bible beautifully described it as “there was freedom upon the tablets.”(Pg. 185, JSB-JPS)

So, it seems accurate to me to say that what we have upon the stone tablet, engraved by the Divine Hand, is the perfect expression of His love and His will for His chosen people.   Are you tracking with that?  Little “s” stone is displaying the message of God.  He has carved His Holy character into the stone, by His own Hand, to plainly show Himself and speak freedom to His people.

I know I’m getting long but oh, if we can keep plodding forward, I think He will show us new ground outside the tomb that we want to claim as our own. Read over the following verses and see where your heart lands. (I’m going to add some bold-type and capital letters.)

Exodus 24:12 KJV

And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

Exodus 32:16 KJV

And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

Psalm 118:22 NIV 1984

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Acts 4:11 NIV 1984

This JESUS IS THE STONE that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Hebrews 1:3 NIV 1984

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

  • The stone ( Exodus 24:12) engraved, carved out by God, His Word given to His children to display His character (Exodus 32:16).
  • The Stone (Acts 4:11) engraved, carved out by God, the WORD given to His children to display His character (Hebrews 1:3).
  • The stone and The Stone bore the writing, the carving, spoke the Word of the Holy Engraver and expressed His Divine essence:

Perfect Holiness

Perfect Freedom

 Perfect Love

On display for all in Heaven and Earth to see!  The Holy Engraver was shouting love from the MOUNTAIN TOP to the hearts of His children and, Girlfriend, He still is today.  Oh my goodness Beloved, that we could grasp how high, how deep and how long is His love for us.

Engraved by God (Part Two)–Lessons from Baby Dog on the way.  In the meantime, chew on this (no Dog reference intended but it did make me smirk), leave me a comment and let me know if you’re tracking with me.  And I’ve had some questions about following the blog.  On the sidebar, you’ll see “Follow” underneath the calendar.  Just click it and follow the instructions.  Happy to have you along for the ride!!!

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Life Outside the Tomb

2 Apr

I have found myself in the last few days residing in a place I don’t often visit.  I am at a loss for words.  Not just a lack of what to say, but really more of a holy hush.  Every Resurrection  season I try to articulate the overwhelming love and gratitude I feel toward Jesus, my fully human and fully Divine Savior, and every season I am woefully inadequate.  How exactly do you put into words what it means to be rescued from yourself by the One who has overcome the world? How do you say thank you for being ushered into the Most Holy Place by the Promise wearing flesh?

I ask these questions of myself as I fully celebrate the Empty Tomb and know that life outside those walls of rock is meant to be lived to the full.   John 10:10 is so clear.  The thief, the prince of the air, seeks to kill and destroy, but our Jesus has dealt him the death blow.   He has purchased life, abundant life, for those who will believe.  (Everything in my heart is shouting Amen!) But even as I engage my mind in the freedom dance my Savior has bought for me this is the question I sit with:  What would I know of the abundant life, what would I see of Him, if I truly began to live life outside the tomb?

If you have been reading the blog you know that I have such love for Rahab and I think, when we consider that the “innkeeper” became the great-great…grandma of the Savior, she illustrates “the inheritance that we cannot conceive or imagine” in living color.  But my kindred affection is not limited to the Old Testament.  No, it crosses over the Covenant line and falls with awe on the head of Mary Magdalene.  Some suppose that she and Rahab shared a common profession, I have no idea if that is fact or historical surmising.  The Scriptures never say what Mary Magdalene did for a living.  But what the Holy Writ does say about her is that she was a tormented, afflicted soul who was held in complete bondage by seven demons and the Savior set her completely free.  Doesn’t that make your heart dance?  The redemption of Rahab and the release of Mary Magadalene – have you ever gazed upon two more beautiful women?

Well, Sister this is what I believe – you and I were meant for that same radiance.  They reflected His grace and His mercy and we, when we dare to live life outside the tomb, will undoubtedly do the same.  Mary Magdalene did not simply say “thanks for the healing!” and go about her life.  Her whole life after meeting Him was consumed by Him.  Think about it.  She followed Him wherever He went.  She was the last at the Cross and the first at the Tomb.  She pursued Him!  She looked for Him!  AND HE WOULD BE FOUND!

Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.  And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned and said to him in Aramaic,“Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).  

John 20:10-16

Oh, Girlfriend, please don’t read that last verse too quickly.  Let the moment settle on you.  The One she came to anoint with burial spices, the One she thought she had lost, the One she called LORD was saying her name. . . And as the Shepherd spoke, she recognized His voice.  Put yourself in her sandals as she turned her face to meet His.  Hear His voice say your name and let the comprehension that He KNOWS you flood your heart.  You have to believe that as much as we might want to grab a hold of that moment, anything we can imagine about the love that passed between the two of them, the Healer and the healed, would fall dramatically short.  Does the sight not take your breath away?  That is the first encounter Mary Magdalene had with Jesus outside the Tomb.  She had heard His voice countless times.  She had seen His face daily.  But never like this. And then He entrusted her to be the first to spread the Good News – He is Risen!

See that’s who I want to be.  I want to be the woman who realizes the depth of her healing so profoundly that she refuses to return to her home and stays just a little longer.  I want to be the one who weeps because my heart cannot stand the fact that I am not near Him.  I want to be the one who desires to see Him so badly that I stoop down and strain my eyes in hopes of getting just one more glimpse.  I know that one day He will say my name in Glory, one day He will say your name in Glory.  We will recognize His voice and Beloved when we turn, oh the love that will pass between the Healer and the healed.  But in the meantime Sister, for the redeemed and the released, there is life outside the tomb – abundant life.  Live it to the full Girlfriend.  Live it to the full.

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