Ready for Jesus?

We started this semester with a charge to not just learn about history, but to learn from history.  So we dove in together to the historic books of the Old Testament, moving from king to king, trying to absorb as much as we could.  We were a people eager to know God through His Word, to learn how to “Keep calm and follow on.”  Our journey together began with a snapshot of God’s people as they begged for a king, so they could “be like all the nations.”  God gave them a king, and the people choice award went to… Saul.

When we first were introduced to the big and burly Saul, we found ourselves too easily relating to his partial disobedience, his self-deception, and his struggles with insecurity rooted in pride.  Like Saul, we felt the convicting burden of the way we care too much about our own agendas and the opinions of others, and how we end up sacrificing obedience to God in the process.  Samuel tells Saul (and us) that “to obey is better than sacrifice,” (1 Samuel 15:22) but as Saul spirals downhill in disobedience and eventually dies in battle, there’s an awkward discomfort we started to feel about our own lack of obedience and sacrifice. 

We were able to set aside that slight discomfort for a bit while we happily enjoyed our weeklong stroll with King David.  Who doesn’t enjoy revisiting the battle scene between David and Goliath?  We were inspired and hopeful, until we saw the fall of this man after God’s own heart.  As we listened to David’s words from Psalm 51 “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me,” we were soberly reminded of the reality of sin and simultaneously overwhelmed by the grace of God as Nathan tells David “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”  There is something special about God’s love for David, and we continue to see that throughout our study.  “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.  Your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16)  We filed that promise God made to David away in our thoughts as we continued our visit down the line of the kings.

As we met David’s son, King Solomon, we were filled with hope and expectation for the establishment of the nation.  As Solomon steps on stage, he brings with him the gift of renown wisdom, extravagant riches, and the building of glorious temple for the Lord.  The kingdom was at it’s heyday, as political peace and global recognition gave the Israelites a tremendous sense of national pride that future Israelites longingly would look back on all the way to the days of Jesus (who may have shocked the people when he announced in Matthew 12:42 that “something greater than Solomon is here”).  That momentarily greatness of Solomon’s kingdom was washed away before our eyes as we witnessed how Solomon’s divided heart quickly and sinfully led to a divided kingdom. 

The line of David did continue into the divided kingdom as Solomon’s son Rehoboam reined over the southern kingdom of Judah.  In the Northern Kingdom, we watched in horror as King Jeroboam devised from his own heart a way to keep the people from returning to the house of David – the establishment of “me” church.  Like fingernails scrapping down a chalkboard, we cringed as we read about the ways that Jerry (who we non-affectionately began to call him) set up false worship out of convenience and control.  What became even more painful in our reflection, was the reality of our own sin and false worship (our own versions of “me” church).  It burdened our hearts to recognize our own ways that we attempt to come to God on our own terms.  The only cure to “me” church is the mercy of God, so we became even thirstier for God’s merciful touch as we moved on to our next king.

With King Asa, we discovered a new hope.  What a sweet moment to imagine ourselves standing next to King Asa and his army as they watched in amazement as God defied all military logic by defeating the Ethiopian multitude coming at them.  We found encouragement in learning about how God battles for His people, and couldn’t imagine that Asa or the others who had witnessed such an incredible experience of God’s victory and protection, would ever struggle to trust again.  Yet, later in life, Asa failed to trust God, and missed God’s blessings as a result.  We were really bummed out because we were really hoping for at least one of these guys to finish well.  However, we weren’t totally shocked because of our own awareness of how often we forget about the provision and protection God has so often given us. 

It is said of King Ahab that “there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil.” (1 Kings 21:25)  Studying the evil that happened during Ahab’s reign was depressing, and we found ourselves wondering what hope we could have in a world so full of evil and injustice.  But then we read an account of something fascinating that caused us to raise our eyebrows, adjust our glasses and lean in for a closer second look.  In 1 Kings 21:27-29, we saw the evil King Ahab fall down in mourning and fasting at the prophetic proclamation of the death of his household.  Although Ahab’s humble response may have surprised us, what most captivated our attention was the wonder of God’s response.  “And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days.”  We gazed in awe and wonder at the mercy of our God, and captured a clue into our relation with him.  It may not have been immediate, but a continued meditation on Ahab’s humility and God’s mercy gave us hope. 

Hanging out with King Jehoshaphat and his courageous heart for a week was delightful.  We savored his beautiful prayer he lifted to God as a multitude came against Jerusalem… “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”  We wondered what joy the people must have felt as they heard God’s response “Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.” They did nothing, yet they got the spoil!  Deep down, we desired to be a part of that, to hear God tell us that we don’t have to fight the battle.  No matter if we were barely keeping our head above the tides of suffering or feeling bored in the monotony of life, we realized that we too were craving the victory and spoils of battle. 

By the time we got to King Hezekiah, we were starting to get pretty good at laying out the lives of these individual kings in front of us and stacking up their performance.  

Good guy – be like him.  Bad guy – don’t be like him.  

We were acquiring a collection of to do’s and not to do’s in the process, but certain weeks the burden began to feel too heavy to bear.  King Hezekiah encouraged us with the revival and reform that he brought to the nation.  He followed God, he clung to God, he did so much good.  Yet, the sobering reality of his mortality touched him the way it touches us all.  Faced with the prophesy of his own death, he fell on the floor and wept.  In a beautiful scene, we saw how God not only heard his prayers, but also saw his tears.  God healed him and gave him another 15 years to live.  But he was still going to die.  The reality wasn't removed, just postponed.  At the end of his life, we are saddened by his prideful response to his healing.  It was sobering for us to study this king who worked to be righteous his whole life, but still fell into sin, and could not avoid God’s wrath.  That heavy burden of the reality of sin, the brokenness of God’s people, and their frustrating inability to follow God in perfect obedience continued throughout the semester to loom over us like a dark rain cloud.  We saw God's wrath on one side and God's steadfast love and mercy on the other.  How would it all come together?

We enjoyed moments of sunshine in these clouds, like the week that we studied Josiah the boy king.  As Bible study girls, we just loved that way he discovered God’s Word and was completely transformed by it.  We watched in awe as he led the people through a beautiful observation of the Passover.  Yet layered into the sunny scenes of that joyful revival, was the ominous and impending judgment that God had declared on a people who we had witnessed king after king continue to forsake God.  As Josiah and the people ate of the same Passover meal that the ancient Israelites had taken with Moses prior to their exit from slavery in Egypt, we realized that this meal was being taken prior to an entrance into slavery.  The time of exile had arrived.

70 years of exile in Babylon.  The time of the kings appeared to have come to a screeching halt.  As we turned the pages of our study, we encounter God: who never stopped working, who always had a plan, and who stirred the King of Persia to initiate the return and restoration of God’s people to their chosen land.  We watched the Jewish remnant return to Jerusalem in three waves and with three leaders – Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.  In this messy and long restoration, we smiled when the people finally made it back to Jerusalem, we sighed deeply as we observed the people lose heart and give up in apathy, we rejoiced when the people gathered together around God’s Word, and we cheered when the people worked together to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in just 52 days.  But then it just ends.    

When we came to the end of the book of Nehemiah, Israel’s Old Testament history seemed to abruptly end.  The other wisdom and prophetical books were written around the same time as what we studied in our kings, so there is no more biblical historical record after Nehemiah – just 400 years of silence. 

If we ended our semester study here, with no lesson 12, we would have been forced to walk away with a few good life principles coupled with the eventual discouragement we would experience as our own efforts at life change would stall out.  The mounting burden we experienced as we stacked up king upon king, would have led to despair if Week 12 had our names written next to it.  Can you imagine what your life would look like laid out onto the pages of this study?  

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:14  But thanks be to God that as we open the last week of our study together, the name that reads beautifully next to the lesson title is not our own, but the name of our Savior and King Jesus Christ.

So, are you ready for Jesus?  If we learn not just about this history, but from it, we will find ourselves sitting in front of this week’s study in eager anticipation for the story to come to its full fruition.  Through the study of the lives of the kings and the reflection on our own lives, there is recognition that like Saul, we cannot live a life of full obedience.  Like David, we have felt the weight of our sin.  Like Solomon and many other kings, we have allowed our heart to be divided and sought after other gods.  Like Asa, we have seen much but remembered little.  Like Jehoshaphat, we have nothing to offer the battle.  Like Hezekiah, death remains a sobering reality.  Just like the people, we are desperate for a Savior, for a Redeemer, for True and Perfect King in our lives. 

I don’t know about you, but I am so ready to study Jesus.  I am ready to remember how He gave it all up to come down to earth as a baby, living a perfectly obedient life following God, doing God’s will even to the point of death on the Cross.  And then, through His resurrection, conquering death – not just postponing it 15 years, but completely and utterly conquering it!  And as if that weren't enough, he has gifted us with the eternal spoil of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us.  Just like the battle that King Jehoshaphat witnessed, we are able to stand in awe and wonder at the work of Christ on the Cross.  It was not our battle to fight - God won our salvation.  It's beautiful.  It's life-giving.  It's freeing.  Yep, I’m definitely ready for this all to come together – the kings, the prophecies, the covenants, the promises. 

“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him [Jesus}. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” 2 Corinthians 1:20

May this week find us uttering our Amen to God for his glory.  May our utters become songs.  May our songs become loud praises.  May our loud praises together be a sweet aroma that rises up to the very real and very awesome throne room of God. 

Keep calm and follow on...

Grace like Elisabeth...

Although I never personally met her, Elisabeth Elliot became one of my mentors when I went to hear her speak.  Eloquent? No. Polished? No. Charismatic? Not necessarily. Hip? Definitely not. I honestly cannot even remember what she said. But I do remember wishing I could sit at her feet and simply learn from her. Why? I wanted to know the LORD she knew, to fall in love with Him as she clearly had.

A recent article interviewing the now ailing Elisabeth and her husband, Lars Gren, gave insight as to why I was so drawn to her all those years ago. Although Elliot was thrust in the Christian limelight when her young husband was speared to death by the Auca Indians he was attempting to reach for the Gospel, Elisabeth never desired that notoriety. Even after taking the Gospel to the very indians that killed her husband, Elisabeth refused to share her “wisdom.”

Although she wrote 23 books during her 54 years of ministry, her response to any and every question asked by those seeking advice was “What does the Bible say? Do what the Bible says.” According to Lars Gren, when one overly excited young woman once asked, “Who is the real Elisabeth Elliot?” Elisabeth replied, “I don’t know. And may God keep me from ever finding out!”  

Alzheimers has silenced Elisabeth. She is no longer in the “limelight,” yet she still mentors. As Lars shared that she knew the disease did not surprise her God and that with acceptance came peace. As he shared this, Elisabeth broke her silence and said, “Yes!”

20 years later I thank God for introducing me to Elisabeth Elliot. As she finishes her race, this servant of the LORD has allowed me (and you) see why she continues to know and love tHim so deeply, even within the confines of lost memory: she knows Him far more than she ever knew herself.

Hmmmmmm……

Oh LORD, give us your grace, like Elisabeth, and Paul before her, to live the words of 1 Corinthians 1:1-2, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or widsom. For i descided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him curicified.”

Needing Mercy,

Pattie

Another Maggie Moment - "The Noser"

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – 

everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the 

house of the Lord in Jerusalem.  Ezra 1:5

I returned home from a week away and Maggie would not leave me alone. She climbed onto the couch next to me and laid her head in my lap where she pushed and prodded at my hand with her nose until I would agree to pet her. My husband said, “She’s our noser alright”!

Although she was particularly persistent since I had been gone, it is actually a regular occurance at our house to have Maggie “nosing” us, demanding the attention and affection she desires we give. Of course we can chose to ignore her or push her away, busy with a different focus, or perhaps just not in the mood, but then we miss out on the good stuff, the reward of a closeness and joyous companionship that she is always so generously waiting to draw us to.

It is like this with our relationship with the Lord. He nudges, prods, pokes, or “noses” us with the truth of His word in order that our hearts will be moved. He speaks in order to get us moving, to protect us from stagnation and receiving less than he desires that we partake of, and to keep us progressing toward the life we have been called to in Christ. It is tempting to ignore, deny or rebel against the prodding. Often the poke is inconvenient. Frequently the nudging is annoying. Usually it is stressful. Occasionally it is overwhelming. Sometimes it is frightening, and even traumatic. Almost always it requires setting aside our own agendas, attitudes, ideas or desires. Sometimes we are simply lazy, while other times we have seemingly legitimate objections. But deep down it is clear that we are resistant to giving up our easy, comfortable and controlled lives and when truth breaks in we are tempted to dig in our heels and say no to the demand, to the advancement of our faith.

Yet we are called to give up all that is our own in favor of something much better. This better is to “go up”, to grow up, to live in His glorious presence, and to participate in increasing measure with the divine nature that lives in us as believers, and thereby take part in the building of the Kingdom of God here and now.

No matter the distance or the difficulty in where we are called to move in our minds and hearts, we can be assured that we will never be left alone to do so. For God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live fully as a man, to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that He might live today, and forevermore, at the right hand of the Father in intercession for us as God’s chosen people. He is there, right now, helping us to make our moves, clearing the way, and bringing us along, closer to Himself, and to the good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do.

It is hard work to move a heart. Gratefully, it is God’s work to move a heart! 

May we not be distracted, lulled or tempted to dismiss or take a detour from the nudges and nosing that He graciously provides to keep us on the narrow path of life so that we may lay claim to His great Kingdom building purposes. 

To Christ be the glory, forever and ever. Amen!

-Jeanne

Shifting Gears

I’m not sure what was tested more, his patience or my coordination, but my dad did succeed in teaching me how to drive a stick shift —a 1979 Datsun 510. I realize I just totally aged myself, but honestly, even way back then, I was the only one of my friends that had to learn to drive a stick. Actually, of our two family cars, the 510 was less geeky. As hard as it was to drive a stick, I did not want to drive our only automatic, an avocado green station wagon. Driving the “boat” would have been far worse for my reputation than stalling at intersections and rolling down the often greased hill that led to my high school parking lot—greased to embarrass new drivers forced by their parents to drive a stick!

I had thought those days were long behind me until Jeff decided our daughter Olivia should learn to drive stick. (Is this a dad thing?) Jeff believed a stick would make Olivia a better driver, prevent texting while driving, keep those who shouldn’t from borrowing her car, and, most of all, Jeff said a girl who drives a stick is irresistible. (Pretty sure I was not!)  I caved.  After all, we do live in Fresno now, Olivia’s routes are flat. 

I felt like a teenager again when I first drove Olivia’s bright blue VW Super Beetle. But I had forgotten a few things, like stick shifts like to roll backwards. After parking the bug in the church parking lot, I later found it had rolled from where I parked it, into the middle of the parking lot!  Thankfully the bug stopped rolling before it crashed into anything.  If you have ever driven a stick, you know they not only roll backwards if left in neutral, but they require acceleration to move forward at all. Unlike an automatic that will at least move forward slowly even without stepping on the gas.

I think I have mistakenly approached faith like driving an automatic. I will grow faster if I give it the “gas” of truth, obedience, holiness, love for others, but if I do nothing with my faith in Jesus, I will at least move slowly in the right direction. But that is not what we are seeing illustrated in the lives of the Old Testament kings and it is not what God’ teaches us in the New Testament. 

  

….make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 1:5-8.

From our study of the Kings of Israel, I am reminded that faith is active; it is like driving a stick shift, not an automatic. When I “coast,” I roll backwards; I slide down greasy hills of compromise, roll backwards into idolatry and crash right into disobedience.

But each week, our study has also reminded me that God is active. His kindness draws us to repentance; His mercy is newly offered each morning; His power is given to “gas” my faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. And because the fuel He supplies is the life of His Son in me, these qualities can be every increasing, evidencing His Kingdom has come.

May we allow our Father to successfully teach us how to drive this thing called faith.

Needing Mercy,

Pattie

The Royal Tiara

“I have word for you from the LORD Pattie. May I give it to you?” Her question startled and troubled me. Gathering up my speaking notes, I nodded apprehensively while shooting up a quick prayer for discernment. “As you were speaking, I believe God gave me a vision of you and a message for you.” She went on, “You know the scene where Cinderella is carrying all the trays? That is the vision God gave to me, only Cinderella also had a tiara and you were Cinderella.” The woman then confidently added, “God wants you to know you are doing exactly what He has asked of you as His princess.”

This was not the first time someone had approached me with, “I have word from the LORD for you.” But this was the first time I had to choke back tears. The timing was literally astounding. Just the night before, I was lying flat on the floor of my bedroom crying out to the LORD asking Him if I had taken on too much, if the weight of responsibility that was overwhelming me was of my own doing. I literally prayed, “Lord am I living as your daughter? Is all this for your Kingdom or my queendom?”

And then, just twelve hours after lying on my floor, I was receiving – from a perfect stranger – a message that addressed the cry of my heart complete with a visual aid: Cinderella, wearing a tiara, balancing trays. Suddenly I found myself ‘rolodexing’ through the word of God, attempting to retrieve whatever I knew His Word had to say regarding prophecy. I wish I had found Deuteronomy 13:1-3.

If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Had I recalled this passage, I would have remembered that any “word” from the LORD is a test to determine whether I love the LORD my God with all my heart and with all my soul. Will I follow one who has a “word from the LORD” or will I follow the “LORD of THE Word?”

As we have been discovering in our study of the kings of Israel, God used everyday men to speak for Him. Because God’s people did not have the whole counsel of His Word—the Bible we hold in our hands---God appointed and equipped specific men (prophets) to counsel and confront His people. Often God’s prophets had visual aids, miracles that would authenticate the source of their message: God himself.

We, who now have the whole counsel of God, have our hands full!  As A. Graeme Auld writes, “Obedience to what we already know from God is to be preferred to new disclosures—however powerful, and apparently divine, the visual aids employed to present them.”

So what if I tell you I have a word from the LORD for you? Well I do. It is 1 Peter 2:9 and it comes with a visual aid. Can you see the tiara on Cinderella as she moves from queendom to Kingdom?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Pattie

Still thinking about David...

A little more than a year ago I suddenly started experiencing loss of balance.  I found myself running into things and even though I tried to walk in a straight line I veered off to the right or left.  I found myself walking more and more slowly and carefully to keep from falling.  Eventually I was diagnosed with an inner ear disorder and the doctor arranged for me to have physical therapy to address the balance problems.  The physical therapist gave me several exercises to practice at home.  Most of them involved focusing the eyes on a certain spot while either moving the head side to side or while walking. 

I was reminded of what I learned in college gymnastics class about the balance beam:  don’t look down at the beam, but instead keep your head up and focus your eyes at a spot in front of you. After King David opted for the faster and more efficient way of moving the ark rather than the way outlined in the Law, there were severe consequences.  But when he made another attempt to move the ark three months later he was much more deliberate:

So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.  (2 Samuel 6:12b – 15)

This time, King David made sure his focus was on the LORD, not on the expediency of moving the ark.  How often in the name of “efficiency” do I take my eyes off of the Lord and miss an opportunity to honor, worship and obey Him?   I would rather move more carefully and deliberately and take just 6 steps in obedience than travel miles without fixing my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.

Six steps in Him,

Dorinda

Moving from King David to King Solomon...

Admittedly, one of my "ah-ha" moments in the life of David was how little I repent over my sin, and quite honestly, how often I don't recognize it and am truly broken up about it.  My prayer in reviewing David's brokenness in Psalm 51 (v. 4:  "Against You, You only, have I sinned" and v. 11: "Cast me not away from Your presence") was, "Lord, reveal my sin to me.  Let my desire for right relationship with you far outweigh my guilt over my sin and desire for forgiveness."

As we move into the life of Solomon, we learn from Deuteronomy 17:18-20 that a king is to fear the Lord and walk in obedience according to the law (the Word of God).  David further reminds his sons of the importance of seeking wisdom and insight in Proverbs 4:1-9.  An application question in our study asks, "How does making God and His Word the foundation of your life practically affect your life?"  My hope and desire is that, as I read the Bible and reflect on the words written and instructions given, I would allow it to penetrate my heart, change my thinking, and affect how I approach every situation in my life.  But do I?

My prayer this week is that I would be increasingly convicted . . . in such a way that moves me to stronger connection with my Lord and that I would allow His Holy Spirit and His Word to truly change me.  Change how I react, change how much I try to squeeze in a day, change what needs to be changed.

Where to start?  In addition to allowing every word of Scripture I read to speak to and change my heart, I was reminded of the immense wisdom found in the book of Proverbs (written by Solomon).  When I was in high school, a youth pastor encouraged us to read a Proverb a day over the course of a month (since there are 31 Proverbs).  I've done this sporadically throughout my life.  Today I decided to add this reading to my life again, as we start a new month and as I desire more of His wisdom and insight in my life.

Proverbs 1:33 says, "But whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."  Lord, let me listen and hear You today, follow You, and as a result, be at ease, without dread of disaster.  Amen.

Desiring to follow His Word,
Rachael