The Perfectionist

When we hear someone described as a 'perfectionist', we all have an image of someone dedicated to details.

If the perfectionist is working FOR us ... we are delighted at the quality we can count on ... but if we are being compared to a perfectionist we quickly feel inferior and defensive, knowing we do not measure up.

While we love the idea of 'perfect', there is a tension in us... the longing for it yet the reality that it is always beyond our grasp.

Only God is truly Perfect and Jesus the God/Man is the only true Perfectionist who ever walked our earthly soil. He came dedicated to fulfilling every detail of the Old Testament. Every detail ? yes... in His own words every jot and tittle. (Matt.5:28)

We are familiar with the obvious prophecies that speak of Him....and are aware that some of the OT characters are types foreshadowing Him, but what about the details that fall into 'jot and tittle' category - the ones that maybe you have to look for; the ones that only a Perfectionist would fulfill.

I found one of these today tucked into the following Old Testament story. (found in I Sam.21:1-7)

David, and the men with him, were fleeing from the wrath of Saul. Being on the move, any food they had with them was quickly consumed .

Three days had passed and the men were hungry.

The men were under David's command; he felt responsible for their needs. What could he do? An idea came to him.... he must have dismissed it at first because it was something against the law. But his men were hungry. He put them first.

David slipped into the temple and said to the priest named Abimelech, "Now therefore what is under your hand? Give me five loaves of bread in mine hand or what there is present."

Overturning the law, the priest gave the hallowed loaves to David... bread that had been dedicated to God. It cost him his life.

Fast forward a thousand years.... and we have two similar stories

One is in Matt. 6.

Jesus, and the people with Him, had consumed the food they had brought with them. Time passed and the people were hungry. Jesus had been meeting all their needs, were they not also looking to Him to feed them?

Jesus asked, "what do you have?" The answer was 5 loaves and two fishes.

He looked up to His Father (Abimelech means "Father of the King") , 'hallowed' the bread to Him.... and passed it out. The 'hallowed' bread fed the multitude.

We are told of another time in Matt.15:32, when Jesus fed the multitude ... this time three days has passed and again the people were hungry. Once again Jesus hallowed the bread and God provided from heaven the provision needed. Jesus overturned natural law, Jesus fulfilled heavenly law.

To provide living bread cost Him His life.

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You might ask, why is it important that we have this parallel of stories?

Perhaps at first glance, it is not important at all as it supplies no new information, nor does it add to any understanding of either the OT or NT stories.

But this is what it does do ; it gives to us the confirmation that God's Word is always true in every detail . We have the assurance that we can trust it.

God's Word is so tightly woven that its intrinsically connected details make it impossible for anyone other than God to have written the bible over a period of 4000 years.

The scriptures are indeed wondrously spoken forth. With what awe should we guard it, and obey its Words.

**

Framed

My husband's photographic eye was delighted by the 'frame' nature provided for the cabin cruiser in the above photo.

How carefully an artist frames his work. The frame can make or break the picture - it can bring out certain aspects or color..or play down another part. The frame directs the eye to what the artist wants to draw attention to.

I read a quote recently by Dr. John Allen Lavender, " ..Everything you say and think and do is governed by your own 'frame of reference'. Actually, there is not a single phase of life which isn't colored to some extent by the approach you make to it."

An interesting quote isn't it ? And how true !

If , for example, your frame of reference is an easily offended spirit, then you will view everything from within that 'Frame' and look for any intended or unintended offence directed toward you.
Or, if you have a frame of thankfulness, it is easy for you to find the good where ever you go.

I think we are often quite unaware of how what we believe 'frames' our judgements and on what we base our decisions and opinions.

There is a verse in scripture that has the word 'framed' in it.. Reading the verse with this understanding of 'framed' suggests a very enlightening concept.

Heb 11:3 "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."

We understand that God's creation was spoken into being by His Word... but envision what this verse articulates. That God did nothing, created nothing, except it fit within the FRAME of His Word. God's work and being is 'framed' by His Word.

Should we not also take care that who we are, what we 'create' in the world around us, is framed by God's Word? That all we say or do or think is consciously kept within the frame of reference of God's Truth and God's directive for our lives as revealed in the scriptures?

What is your frame of reference for viewing the world around you? Your frame of reference not only determines how you view your world but also how the world views you!

The Miracle of the Rainbow

(coming home on a rainy day we came upon a beautiful double rainbow that arched in a perfect bow across the sky )

Thousands of years ago ...... God said an amazing thing.

"And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen 9:17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. "

Gen 9:11-17

Noah had just experienced the greatest flood this world has ever known ! In viewing his story from the safety of our vantage point in history we do not feel the emotional impact of being the sole survivors of the outpouring of God's wrath.

I'm sure Noah's family could not help but feel fear that it could happen again, and the next time there might not be an ark to carry them to safety.

Over and over throughout the scriptures God says to His people ....."Fear not!" God knew that He could say "Fear not" to Noah and Noah would believe Him... but would his sons? his sons' wives? his grandchildren ? his descendants thousands of years removed ?

And so God said "fear not!" in a way that would resound again and again as long the earth should stand. Man would continually have the assurance that God's covenant with Noah was an everlasting covenant.

The miracle of the rainbow !! Every time it appears in the sky it is God's promise repeating itself,

My husband loves space science -- anything to do with the heavens. He brought an article to my attention today and one paragraph caught my imagination !

In the article, atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley in talking about the amazing aspects of the rainbow said the following...

"Rainbows need transparent and almost perfect spheres to refract the sun's rays, so perfect it seems miraculous that we ever see a rainbow !"

The rainbow is described by modern scientists as 'miraculous' ? It makes me smile.

God's children have ALWAYS known that it is miraculous !! And should it surprise us that even after 6,000 years science marvels at its perfection?

God made a promise and the timeless pronouncement of His faithfulness is displayed in His perfect rainbow!

The REAL Secret

The Secret --- it can move mountains and create miracles.
The Secret reveals a law that has traveled through centuries to reach you! When you discover it you will never be the same. Everything you have ever wanted to be, or do, or have, will be yours.

The official website of The Secret reaches out – movingly spiritual, bringing alive the lure of ancient mystery and tempting with its glorious promises of fulfillment.
It is well done.

What does the ‘secret’ promise?? It promises that YOU can sit on the throne of your life! You can have the power to ‘attract’ into your life the things that you want!!
The law of attraction!
Really?? A thought has the power to change the world??
If that were true wouldn’t you expect the most horrific traffic jam of thoughts colliding in the universe - all of them vying for primacy??
Maybe that’s why it’s a secret….to keep too many people from finding out about it!!!

In the hype of excitement it is being proclaimed as a newly discovered secret law….but really it is simply an old lie done up in new packaging.
Its funny, isn’t it? We never get too old to be tricked into judging a ‘gift’ by its wrapping!!

Isn’t the Secret really the same old lie that caused all of our problems to begin with?
Satan whispering ‘the secret’ into Eve’s ear that if she would just eat of the forbidden fruit, power would be hers? Promising she could rule over her own world!
It didn’t work for Eve; I doubt it has worked for anyone else since.

Have you ever noticed that the most powerful lie has the most truth in it?

This is true of Rhonda Byrne’s “Secret”.
The Law of Attraction does states things that are true.

For example,
1> It says that you get what you focus on in your mind.
True.
God says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7)
But the difference is that the Secret promises that you can change things outside yourself,
God says that what you think about defines who you are.

2> The Secret says an affirmative thought is a hundred times more powerful than a negative one.
True.
Scripture tells us, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, it there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, think on these things.” (Phil.4:8)

The lie of the Secret is that it ignores the Source of the Power.

If I sold someone a house and showed them the outlets in the walls, telling them that they could plug any appliance they liked into the outlets and every appliance would work, I would technically be telling them the truth. But if I neglected to tell them that the house was not connected to any outside hydro source I would have sold them a useless house and a lie.

The Secret is disconnected from any real power because it leaves God out!
"And God has declared… “God has spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongs to God!” (Psalm 62:11)

But I think the biggest reason the Secret lie is so powerful is because there really IS a Secret.
A real One!

Listen……..
“The Secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant!!” (Ps. 25:14)

I think the reason we all so love a secret is because a ‘secret’ speaks of intimacy. We have a need, a longing to be intimate…to be loved, to belong in a very special way.

And here God Himself reveals that there is a Secret known only to those who fear Him, those who love Him, are willing to surrender their will, their heart, their life, to Him alone.

The Secret reveals to us .......

1> Where there is a hiding place to keep us safe when we are in trouble.
“For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me…” (Ps. 27:5)

2> How to find a place so close to the heart of God that the insults, the offences of man, and the words that so easily wound, cannot hurt us.
“You shall hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man; you shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” (Ps. 31:20)

3> That we are called to live under the shadow of God Himself - that intimate place close to His heart.
“He that dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Ps. 91:1)

4> That God delights to share the Secret, looking for those who desire to live according to His commandments.
“For the forward is abomination the Lord, but His secret is with the righteous.” (Pro. 3:32)

5> That when you are privy to God’s Secret, He tells you about treasures and riches and where to find them…… those who live in God’s secret learn to know and understand Him - knowing the wonder of His Words.

“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places …..” (Is. 45:3)


I have watched with puzzlement how people en mass are grasping onto the world's Secret and embracing it with all their might -- ignoring the real Secret that God offers!
Why?
Perhaps because the counterfeit seems free but the real one will cost you your life!

Jim Elliot said,
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

To give up our ‘selves’ to gain God, how is that a sacrifice???
Is to know the Secret of God not a pearl of great price that is worth whatever the cost may be???

God's Heart

God declared King David to be a man after His own heart.
There is one descriptive verse about David in I Sam. 22:2 that I think portrays God’s heart in a ‘nutshell’.

It says, “and every one that was in distress and every one that was in debt and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him.”

There was something about David that drew those who were troubled or struggling with life – those whose life was going nowhere fast, those who found no purpose in their life, those who were overwhelmed by circumstance.
Is that not also true of Jesus? Was it not the common people, the rejected, the lame, the halt, the sick, the hungry that followed Jesus and were drawn to Him?

This world extols the ‘beautiful’ people, the rich, the famous, those who have excelled in some field of endeavour. So often we carry this standard of judging merit over into our perception of God, and cringe in our unworthiness.
Yes, we are unworthy before God but recognizing our need is what qualifies us to enter God’s very throne room.
He is looking, not for the worldly wise, but the one who looks to Him for direction,
not the strong but the one who recognizes their weakness,
not the rich but the one who is poor in spirit,
not the one who commands the stage of life, but the one who is forgotten in the crowd.

God says, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price..
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?
And your labour for that which satisfieth not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live;
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David, behold, I have given him for a witness to the people.” (Is.55:1-4)

Isn’t it comforting to know that we can come to God in our brokenness, in our need, in our frustrations and heartache of life and He is waiting to answer the deepest cry of our heart!

A Pearl of Great Price

I love reading the description of the New Jerusalem, the city of God. (Rev. 21:9-27)
John describes for us his vision of her descending from heaven , having the glory of God, shining with a pure light, her twelve foundations adorned with all kinds of precious stones, sapphire, emerald, topaz, jasper….…the twelve pearl gates, the streets of gold, the river of water as clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God.

Oh what a sight!! And to think that one day it will be our home!

I was thinking of this celestial city today and my thoughts focused on the pearl gates and the fact that each gate was made of one pearl. I had never before stopped to consider the significance of this fact.
Pearls are totally different from all the other precious stones and jewels that are used to build this city. All of the building materials are found in the earth, except for pearls. Pearls are made, not found and not only are they made with living material , they are formed out of suffering.

Contrary to popular belief, the beginning of a pearl is not a grain of sand irritating the oyster. It is much more serious than that. It is actually a parasite, an attacking intruder that drills through the oyster’s shell and imbeds itself in the mantle tissue.. The oyster to protect itself begins to coat the foreign invader with thin layers of nacre (crystals of calcium carbonate) , the same substance that makes up its shell. It can take a year for the oyster to just coat the offending unwelcome irritant , and it takes 2-6 years more to form the pearl.

In cultured pearls , which come from oyster farms, a piece of muscle or mantle tissue is surgically implanted into the mantle tissue of the oyster. It is a delicate procedure and puts the oyster into shock so severe it takes six weeks for it to recover..and some never do.

A natural pearl is found in only one out of 10,000 oysters. And it takes sorting through 10,000 pearls to find 50 uniform enough to string together for a necklace. No wonder that Jesus in the parable of the Kingdom of heaven compares it to the Pearl of great price.

A pearl is the result of pain and suffering - and it is the gates of the city that are made of pearls. Why?

Because entrance to this city was won through the suffering of Jesus.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God…” (I Peter 3:18)
Not only did Christ suffer for us but we are called into His suffering as well, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps.” (I Peter 2:21)

I am sure that the gates to the eternal city will be big and beautiful and for a pearl to be so large that each gate can be made from just one, can you imagine how long it would take to create that pearl? If the tiny pearl in a necklace takes 3 or more years… then a pearl the size of a gate would take thousands!! Perhaps exactly the number of years that men and women have suffered - for the sake of righteousness in the old testament , for the sake of the gospel in the new , the martyrs who gave their lives.

Just as the suffering of the oyster reminds it to continue layer after layer to form the beautiful pearl, so our suffering in the flesh reminds us that we need to be changed layer by layer into the glory of Christ…
“Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (I Peter 4:1)

All through the ages suffering has always been part of the lives of godly men and women. How symbolic that forever and ever as we go in and out of the city through the Pearl gates we will be reminded of the price in suffering that was paid for us to gain entrance. Rev, 21:27 tells us only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be allowed to enter those pearly gates! Only those who have excepted the gift of forgiveness that Jesus’ suffering paid for.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy!” (I Peter 4:12,13)

An Unusual Find

In a corner of the attic in the Smithsonian Museum lay an old Havana cigar box waiting to reveal a secret clue that that would lead to an amazing discovery.

How long it lay there, I don’t know, but in the spring of 1960 a young man by the name of Kjell Sandved arrived to conduct research for his encyclopedia on animal behavior.
One day he was standing on top of a high ladder looking at stacked boxes and drawers containing butterflies and moths and he discovered the old , long forgotten, cigar box.
Opening it , he found it was full of exotic butterflies and moths. To his utter amazement what caught his eye was a silvery letter ‘F’ woven into the tapestry of one of the top butterfly’s wings.
Realizing that he had found a piece of a puzzle he shared his excitement with his assistant, Barbara Bedette. They reasoned that if there was one letter on one butterfly’s wings then surely there would be others.
Abandoning their original research at the Smithsonian Institute, they dedicated themselves to search for the rest of the alphabet. Because of the delicacy of the butterflies’ wings they could not be handled without destroying them, therefore, all the pictures had to be taken of live butterflies in their natural surroundings.

They traveled the world for the next 20 years to complete their search for all the letters and numerals of the alphabet.

Is it by accident that all the letters of our English language are inscribed on the butterfly wings? Or is it by design… to delight and amaze us at how detailed and careful God has been to leave His signature in hidden places.

Why the English alphabet? and not other languages?
I think because……………
As…..
God used the Romans to build an infrastructure of highways that connected the then known world populations. These roads were the means by which the gospel was spread to all peoples, allowing the early church to grow!
So also….
God knew that the universal language would one day be English - not just for international business but also to spread His word. We have some friends teaching English in China and they use the bible to do it !

Doesn’t it give you a sense of security to know how in control God is of everything that happens? Knowing that English would one day be the accepted universal language , he foretold it by inscribing it’s alphabet on butterfly wings!

Perhaps to say, “See, I knew it all along!”

Proof that He is indeed All-Knowing - not just the past but the future also!!
In a world that is more and more moving away from faith in an infinite and all-knowing God, He has left proof for those who seek Him.

”For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory , for ever! Amen!!”