Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Revealed in Action

A new impressive building, many stories high, was built for a large company.
Several years after moving into the building, a staff member came to the CEO and pointed out that there was a crack in the wall on the 42 floor.
The CEO immediately called the architect and made an appointment to meet him. The CEO left instructions to be notified of the architect’s arrival.
Dutifully, his staff alerted him the moment the architect stepped foot in the building and the CEO went up to the 42nd floor to meet him.
He waited, but the architect did not show up.
Finally, he called his staff and said, “The architect is not on the 42nd floor, where is he?”
He was informed that the architect was in the 6th floor basement.
The CEO went down to the basement and asked the architect why he wasn’t up on the 42nd floor where the crack was.
The architect answered “The crack may be on the 42nd floor but your problem is here in the foundation.”

In every building the most important part is the foundation, but then it is covered up and no one sees it again. Unless, an action manifests itself somewhere higher up in the building.
The condition of the invisible foundation will manifest itself as a symptom in the visible part of the building.

There is a wonderful lesson here.
The person we are is like a building.
What we believe is our foundation.
Our foundation cannot be seen, but our visible actions will reveal what our foundation is made of.

Characters we find in the bible illustrate this so precisely because we are given both their ‘actions’ and their heart ‘foundation’ beliefs.

We have Abraham who lifted the knife to kill his own son, and we marvel at his action.
What was his foundation belief that made his obedience to God’s Word such a natural thing?
Hebrews 11:19 tells us that Abraham’s foundation belief that God would be true to His promises was so strong that he knew if he did kill his son in obedience to God, God would simply raise him up from the dead.
His obedience was a natural action resulting from his core beliefs.

Admiring Abraham’s actions is much like admiring someone who walks to the edge of a roof and stops. His foundational belief is that if he takes one more step, gravity will have its way with him. So the fact that he stops is not amazing….it is the natural action of a strongly held foundational belief.
What we should admire is Abraham’s foundation belief that made his actions the actions of a faith giant.

Take the example of Moses.
He had been raised with every comfort and privilege, adopted by the Pharaoh’s own sister. He had a position of affluence and authority.
His life held every promise of earthly glory.
But then we see his ‘actions’ when he choses to take the side of the slaves that were his people.
Why was he willing to give everything up??
We are told why….because his foundational belief was that the temporary treasures of Egypt were not worth comparing to the eternal treasures of God. (Heb.11:26)
Moses gave up nothing; he simply chose what he believed to be the most valuable!
An easy, natural choice.

We have the example of Lucifer, who was heaven’s most beautiful angel; in fact he was the worship leader. We see his actions of rebellion against God. And wonder - Why?!?!?
We are told what his foundation was. Pride in himself was his core belief.
(Ez. 28:15,17)
His attempt to take over heaven was a natural action.

There is a verse that says, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”
(Prov. 23:7)
Our heart is our 'basement', the foundation of our life, where our beliefs determine the strength of our life.

What you believe will determine how you act.

If you believe that as long as you have enough money, life will be worth living, then your actions will reflect this belief. Walking over people to get what you want, being dishonest in business practices, becoming a workaholic and neglecting the emotional needs of your family would all be natural actions coming out of your foundation belief.

If your foundational belief is that Jesus meant what He said, about God not forgiving you if you do not forgive others, then your actions will reveal that belief – you will be quick to forgive those who offend you, or hurt you. (Matt. 18:35)

People have asked me if I don’t get angry at the pain, angry that I struggle to do even simple things. I have thought about it and wondered why I really never do. Anger is not an emotion that I have ever felt regarding my RA.
I believe my ‘actions’ come naturally out of my very strong belief that God is in control of my life, what comes into my life was first cleared by Him, and I know that everything will work for good and for His purposes.

Do I enjoy the pain and disability? Of course not!
Do I want to be healthy again? Of course!!
Do I try to get better? Take medication? Of course!
But I am not anxious or upset because I know that God is with me…what more do I need?
I remember when I was first diagnosed and I saw my life as it had always been slipping away from me.
My first emotion was keen disappointment, “But Lord, I wanted to serve you! I wanted to do so much for you, and now I can’t!”
But immediately the answer came. "When my plans for your life were laid, I already knew that you would have RA.
You physical condition will not hinder you in serving me.”

Well, then of course, I will walk this path for as long as I need to walk it!
And pray that I be faithful in my glorifying Him.

Are there other ‘actions’ in my life that need some foundational repair?
Yes, I am not perfect --- yet!!
I say with Paul , .”“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12)

Think about your actions…. Especially the ones you are not proud of and wish you could change….Check your foundation. Out of what beliefs do your actions spring? Trying to change the action will be futile, you need to go down into the basement and examine and change your core belief.

"Nothing to Worry About"

Said the robin to the sparrow, “I should really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so?”
Said the sparrow to the robin, “Friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly Father such as cares for you and me.” Elizabeth Cheny

Worry for some of us human beings is a way of life - it is the default response of our emotional make-up to any stimulus.

What makes us worry?

We are afraid of the unknown.
We are afraid that we will fail.
We are afraid that we may suffer.
We are afraid that things won’t turn out the way we want.
We are afraid that something bad will happen.
We are afraid for our loved ones’ safety or health or financial status.
We are afraid something may disturb our comfort zone.
We are afraid of what people may think of us.

The foundation or motivating factor of worry is fear.

God’s word tells us that ‘fear has torment’. (I John 4:18)­­
There is nothing like ‘worry’ to destroy our contentment, sap our strength, paralyze our ability to act, and put ulcers in our stomachs.

Worrying is not new to our generation… we come from a long line of worriers.

Abraham, our father of faith was a worrier.
He worried that God’s promise to give him a son would not come true. Ishmael is the result of his worries, and Ishmael’s descendents still trouble our world today. Abraham worried that the Egyptian king would desire Sarah’s beauty and kill him in order to take her. The result of his worries was a plague upon Pharaoh’s house, a reprimand to Abraham by Pharaoh, and Abraham being asked to leave Egypt. (Gen 12)

Job was a worrier.
Job 1:5 says, “So it was when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.”
He worried that perhaps his children had sinned. So just in case he sacrificed for them to cover their sins.
Then when he lost his wealth, his children, and his health Job proclaims, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”
In the thousands of years since Job have we much changed?
Our financial situations, our children and our health – do not most of our worries fit into those same categories?

So often in scripture when an angel or God Himself appears to someone in the bible His first words are “Fear not!”
If fear is the foundation of our worries, then the logical conclusion is that without fear we could not worry.

I am by nature a worrier, but I have learned to worry much less than I used to.
One day in reading my bible I came across a verse that suddenly had that ‘Holy Spirit enlightening’ that is so special.
The verse was in Lam. 3:23.
Lamentations is the book written by Jeremiah who is called the weeping prophet. It is a book written with tears and heaviness of heart… perhaps even worries. But here we find the verse that says that God’s mercies and compassions are new every morning.
New every morning.
That reminded me of the manna that the Israelites gathered in the desert – food from heaven. If they gathered more than they could eat the day they gathered it, the leftovers were rotten by the next morning.
Suddenly, what my mind was illuminated to understand was that when we worry about something that MAY happen tomorrow it is a very heavy burden that we cannot carry because we must carry it in our own strength. God has not given us His strength or mercy to deal with it. He is the great I AM. Ever present in the present – today… not tomorrow!

When our long arm of worry reaches into the future, it reaches into the dark, and darkness brings fear, and fear flips on the worry switch.

When I find myself starting to worry about something, I ask myself. “Does the thing I’m worrying about have anything to do with today?” If the answer is no, then I tell myself, “OK, then you can worry about it tomorrow… you have enough to cope with today.”
The Manna God gives us every morning is specifically fitted for that day... it is of absolutely no use if we try to use it for our ‘worries’ about tomorrow!!

How do we get rid of fear? The bible tells us.
“Perfect love casts out fear.” (I John 4:18)
Love? Not just any love, perfect love. Only God’s love is perfect …but if we completely trust in His love there will be no room for fear.
Selah! (Think on that!)

A small child does not worry – he has no fear – he trusts Mom and Dad will take care of it. Are we not to be like little children? Believing that there is nothing too big or too small that our Father will not take care of?

“Don’t worry!” is still something I need to be reminded of …as I have reminded myself in this post.

And remember – the greater your capacity to worry, the greater your capacity for faith!
Look at our examples of Abraham and Job!! Both went from worriers to great men of faith!

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (I John 4:18)

"For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things......
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matt.6:32,34)

Feeling Good

Christianity is not about feelings …. it is about words…. The Word … who speaks Words of life.
But sometimes we forget !

We are created an emotional people and emotions are good and appropriate but when elevated above reason we become what we are today … a ‘feel good’ society. Try typing ‘feel good society’ into Google and you will come up with almost 500,000,000 hits.
When we over emphasize feeling good, then we become unrealistic and we no longer chart our life’s path according to our destination accepting the fact that the journey will not always be easy. Instead, we avoid any pitfalls along the way - willing to take long detours to avoid anything that will leave us other than not ‘feeling good’. A serious side-effect of living by feelings that have been elevated to a 'ruling' status, is that they are never satisfied but continually demanding that we seek the next 'feel good' experience.

I came across an article yesterday written by Karen De Coster .
She made a point that had never occurred to me.
She said that we are so into ‘feeling good’ that our emotions become our motivation for what we do rather than reason. I have always thought that the mountain of flowers, bears, cards, left to commemorate someone who tragically lost their life is a touching tribute , but she has another view. She says, ”These are the mementos left behind to impart an emotional nod toward tragedy; a sort of self-therapy for folks who have a need for feel-goodism.”
She goes on to say that substance is lacking in this kind of emotional display , nothing of lasting value is given except that the participant feels good. I’m not sure I entirely agree with her. Expressing sympathy one to another IS valuable but I think she has a point in the fact that we place too much emphasis on feelings , letting them dictate our actions.

It is not a new mind–set , of course. Human nature does not change, it just adjusts to what is considered the ‘norm’ in any age.
Feel-goodism was there in the time of Jesus.
When He began His public ministry , it was not long before Jesus was attracting attention… not because of what He said, but because of the things He did. People saw the miracles; the turning of water into wine , the healings, the feeding of the five thousand and they wanted to be on the inside of whatever this man had to offer. Had Jesus lived today the paparazzi would have been clamoring over each other trying to get the best shot , the crowds would have caused unbelievable traffic jams, and the evening news would have been focused on reporting His activities of the day. The parallel was true in Jesus time too - the streets , the places of community meeting were abuzz with the latest exciting news about this new prophet.
He attracted attention because He was different. Instead of the ‘repent or destruction will come’ prophets the people were used to, here was a prophet that made them feel good ! Someone who fed and healed them… who turned water into wine!! Who wouldn’t follow Him?

But then the day came when Jesus’ words offended His followers. He accused them of following him because of His miracles that made them feel good and not because they recognized that He was the Messiah. (John 6:28) He went on to imply that following Him entailed sacrifice and commitment and suffering. No longer a ‘feel-good’ message.
Stunned and disillusioned, many turned away from following Him.
Watching the ‘feel-good’ crowd turn their backs on Him, ]Jesus looked at his twelve disciples and asked a poignant question…. “Are you going to leave me too?” (John 6:67)
And Peter gives an answer that is inspired by more than a ‘feel good’ attitude !! “To whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Peter had moved from a ‘feel-good’ philosophy to being aware of something infinitely more important.

While we all know that our faith is based on solid truth rather than how we feel, I think sometimes we don’t realize how much we are tainted by the mind-set around us. We are like the proverbial frog in hot water - we slip into the stream of thought or attitude that permeates the world around us and don’t realize how far down stream it has taken us. Then when we have a down day or a difficult time in our life or something doesn’t go our way or we ‘feel’ that God is far away, we become discouraged and we 'feel' like we want to give up.

We all love to feel ‘high’ in God, we enjoy those experiences that leave us breathless and excited about the things of God - and answer to prayer, a miracle, an insight, a time of worship, those times when every thing seems just right in our world and we find it so easy to explode with thanksgiving and praise. But we cannot live on those spiritual highs all the time -not in this life- as Peter found out on the Mt. of Transfiguration He felt the rush of the experience and wanted to camp there….but his request was denied and the experience faded and Peter had to climb back down into the valleys. And we are no different- there are days and times in our life where we don’t ‘feel’ spiritual, we don’t ‘feel’ that we are strong in the Lord, we don’t ‘feel’ like doing the things we know we should, we don’t ‘feel’ like we are making a difference in the world around us.

At times like this we need to make Peter’s words our words… “To Whom should we go ? You are the ONLY one who has the Eternal Words of life.”
God is the same yesterday , today and forever !! It is the Word of God that keeps us on a steady course, our knowing that we stand on the Rock that will never be moved !! He is our answer, no matter what our need! We need to persevere on our journey of life, sometimes ignoring our feelings and reminding ourselves of Who we are…children of God . It is what we BELIEVE that matters - Our God is an awesome God who has promised never to leave us or forsake us -no matter how we 'feel'!

Fruit - Real or Plastic?

Is the fruit in the bowl real or plastic?

A little hard to tell just by looking, right?
I’ll give you a hint….the bowl is 100 years old and the fruit is 50 years old,

so if you said plastic , you are right.
Plastic fruit has a long shelf life and is low maintenance , requiring nothing other than a quick wash now and again.
While it is decorative and appealing to the eye, plastic fruit cannot be eaten, it has no life and gives nothing of itself.

In contrast, real fruit takes a long time to grow, conditions must be right and the tree on which it grows must be healthy.
The fruit must be picked when it is ripe and eaten when it is fresh.
Real fruit has life in itself and it offers life to others.

Which kind of fruit – plastic or real- do you have in the basket of your heart?

As Christians we are called to bear fruit but we sometimes confuse the real with the plastic imitation.
There may not be much visible difference when we are casually observed but the test is in the ‘eating’ ….when people look to us for nourishment for their soul do they find our fruit to be real or plastic? Is it life-giving or superficial?

To have healthy fruit…we must first have a healthy tree. Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches. There is no doubt the Divine Vine is healthy, so our responsibility lies with drawing our sustenance from Him to keep our branch alive and life giving.
If we have His Spirit life in us then our fruit will be real but if we are a dead or dying branch our fruit may be of the plastic variety.

Galatians 5:22,23 lists the fruit of the Spirit : love, joy, peace, long suffering, goodness, gentleness, self-control, meekness, faith

How can we tell if we have the real or the plastic, the true or the carnal??

Plastic love is self-focused….loving only that which is lovely, loving only where it is loved in return – plastic love is concerned with self protection.
Real love… is about self-sacrifice, loving the unlovely and the unlovable, willing to go where others turn away.

Plastic joy responds to the moment, is dependant on circumstances , expressed with feelings of happiness for something gained or enjoyed.
Real joy is a reservoir deep within that comes from being in the presence of God….it cannot be suppressed because it rejoices in thanksgiving to God in all circumstances.

Plastic peace is simply the absence of chaos or calamity, it exists only where nothing frightens or disturbs.
Real peace is the security of knowing the Prince of Peace who rules over every stormy gale , it is finding in Him a shelter from the turmoil of life.

Plastic long suffering will suffer only for promised gain, or fame or wealth.
Real long suffering is willing to carry someone else’s burden, to pay another’s debt, to bear ridicule or shame that is undeserved.

Plastic goodness looks for praise and acclaim and recompense, it is careful with valued possessions
Real goodness is watchful not to inflict pain or offence , it looks for opportunity to do kind deeds and loves to do them in secret.

Plastic faith is mind over matter, manipulating to get it’s own way, believing because it feels right.
Real faith is childlike trust in God, believing in His goodness and mercy, resting in His word.

Plastic self-control considers the ramifications of letting loose with words or actions , it considers personal cost.
Real self-control results from desiring to honor Christ in word and deed.

Plastic meekness focuses on self-lack, it is patient when there is no threat of loss , no interruption of it’s own agenda.
Real meekness honors others and does not see itself at all, it quietly walks along side to help and support and encourage and is willing to wait .

Plastic kindness gives to receive again, its deeds calculated for personal benefit.
Real kindness finds expression in tender love for another, it is compassionate and caring, responding to need.

Real fruit – “against such there is not law.” (Gal. 5:23b)
Let’s examine the fruit in our heart basket, take it out one by one…. is it real? or plastic? or real with plastic spots?

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit “! ( Gal. 5:25)

Do You Feel Fulfilled?

Fulfillment … a basic need of every human being….. Many people strive fruitlessly all their life to satisfy this need and miss the obvious.

Allow me to use a silly example… An inventor/creator builds a machine to wash clothes. In every way this machine is suited to do the job intended. If it is forced into any other function , such as cooking food, it will be hopelessly inadequate . In the same way God has created each one of us equipped to achieve fulfillment in doing what God created us to do. Somehow most of us have the ill-begotten idea that to serve God we must do something we dislike or find difficult.. Actually the opposite is true… To please God most we get to do what we love best !!

Contrary to what many may think, I don’t believe it is hard to discover the talent or gifting that is uniquely ours. Proverbs 18:16 says , “A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.” Here we have the answer… Your gift will make room for you … In other words, it is part of who you are….it will be what people notice about you , without you having to force or promote it.
What do people like best about you ?? For what do you get the most complements? What do you love to do ?
I have a cousin who loves to entertain.. To be an invited guest in her home is a delight and blessing, and I always find her inspiring . (You can see evidence of her joy on her blog – see link whatmattersmost- ) While I enjoy having people as guests in my home, I always feel to some degree insecure, worrying and hoping that everything is going to be alright.. Hospitality is not my special talent, although I do make an effort to be a gracious hostess. My joy is teaching.. I used to feel guilty thinking that I had the best gift… – but then I realized that everyone who has discovered their gift feels that theirs is the best one. God gives us the desires of our heart to make it easy for us to please Him.

But lest we become prideful of our talent , there is a built-in ‘humbling factor’ in each gift. We have the choice of using our gift to bring blessing or cursing to the people whose lives we touch. I know a woman who loves to give advice . I’m sure her gift is to be an exhorter but she is so overbearing with her advice - giving it when it is neither wanted nor asked for - that people tend to avoid her . We need to grow in learning how to express our gift so that it will be honoring to God and a blessing to others.

Often we strive to be like someone we admire and are discouraged knowing we can never measure up. Isn’t it neat to know that we can please God best by simply being who we are, and doing what we find pleasure in doing?? Whether our gift is worth one talent or ten talents (Matt.25:14-29)…. it doesn’t matter… what matters is what we do with it. And the greater our joy in exercising our gift , the greater our opportunity to please God and bless others.

New Year's Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions

I have come to the age-seasoned conclusion that my New Year’s resolutions rarely surpass a good beginning, no matter how good my intentions might be.

I wonder why we have such eagerness to reach for new goals on the first day of a new year. Perhaps it is because we are born with instinctive motivation triggered by the ‘unsullied page’. I can, without effort, reach back and reclaim the feeling I always had on the first day of a new school year when I clutched in my hand a new , clean notebook. How very carefully and neatly I penned the first page and how deep was my resolve to carry that same diligence to the last page . It never happened !!

Perhaps the problem is not with our commendable desire for perfection but with the length of our grasp.
God never asks more of us than what we are able to achieve and I read nowhere in scripture where God asks us to reach for a year at a time. The ‘time grasp’ He has put into our hands is one day. “Give us this DAY”, “Sufficient unto the DAY” , etc. So perhaps the key to our success is to live one day at a time… Not a new idea to any of us… but a key that we seem so easily to misplace. Worries, concerns, trouble, demands , disappointments, discontent are always in abundance waiting to snatch the key to success from our hearts.

If we make everyday “the first day of the rest of our lives”, will it change how we do life?
I love Jeremiah’s words in his Lamentations 3:22-24. Here we are told God’s mercy and compassions are “new EVERY morning”. These joyful words of encouragement promise us a ‘new unsullied notebook’ every single morning - not just on the first day of the new year. These words are even more encouraging when we realize that Jeremiah penned these words not after the best days of his life but after his worst… the strength in this promise of God was what kept him secure in the deepest anguish of his life.

So -- my New Year’s resolution this year is to live 2007 ONE day at a time with the assurance that each morning greets me with the promise of God’s mercy and faithfulness to cover every moment of the day and it is in His strength and love that I give my best effort to joyfully live each day in the center of His will.