Oh Glorious Weed

 

Tending to my garden of flowers soothes me and lifts my spirits.  I just love the Orange King Zinnias - they are tall and prolific and burst with color, so I couldn't believe it when I read that zinnias were once considered a weed and that orange is the least pleasing flower color.....such beauty from an unfavorable weed.  No matter, I love them, just as the Lord looks at this least pleasing, common woman and proclaims His love toward me.  

As a believer, I have wrestled with predestination and the inevitable question, "do I actually have a choice?" and if I don't, then "am I just a puppet?"  I have come to peace by realizing that I cannot understand the ways of God - I am limited as I walk step by step on this journey; I cannot comprehend eternity due to the constraints of time and capacity.  If God, who created time, is outside of time, than, yes....my journey is predestined.  But part of my journey is that crossroad where I have a choice to walk one way or another.  How can these concepts be reconciled?  Only by the infinite God.  

As I worked in my garden and listened to Chuck Smith, the Lord blessed me with a little glimpse in Genesis 24-26 of the reconciliation of these seemingly opposed points. 

As Abraham, now living as a stranger in the land of Canaan, faced death, he sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac from amongst his land and people.  The servant questioned Abraham with all the "what ifs."  Abraham, undeterred, stood on the promises of God and told the servant, "don't worry!  just do it, and if God doesn't provide this way, then you're clear from this directive."  Knowing only that he was headed to Abraham's land, the servant obeyed.  Upon reaching a well, the servant prayed to God, "I stand here by the well of water....let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink and she shall say, Drink and I will give thy camels drink also:  let the same be she that thou hast appointed..."  Of course, Rebekah, showed up and said exactly that.  The servant, I'm sure blown away by this direct answer, with trepidation asked, "uh, whose daughter are you?" inwardly praying she was Abraham's kin.  She said, "I am!  Come lodge with us!"  The next morning Abraham's servant, anxious to run back home with the good news and Isaac's prospective bride,  said, "ok, let us go now!"  But the bride's mother and brother cried, "no!  let her stay a few more days, 10 at least!"  I certainly would have said the same, "No, don't take my daughter away just yet!!!"  But the servant was anxious - and I suspect the mother and brother thinking Rebekah would agree to delay, said, "ok, we'll let HER decide.  If she's willing, fine."  But it's interesting that they didn't say to Rebekah, "will you go with this man NOW."  They just said, "Will you GO with this man?"  

So here's Rebekah, a perfect picture of the reconciliation of predestination and free will.  Behind the scenes, Rebekah had no clue that she was being sought after.  The servant had no clue that Rebekah was who he was seeking.  The servant went in obedience to his master.  Rebekah went to the well to satisfy her thirst.  When the servant offered her the marriage proposal, she said she was willing.  Could Rebekah have said no?  Probably.  But she didn't because God DID have a clue - He had been behind the scenes all along, drawing her to the well to accomplish His purpose.  This wasn't serendipity; this was God's divine appointment.  I've heard over and over again from believers, how after they believed, they saw every incident in their prior lives as being drawn to Him (the well).  I suspect unbelievers will also see that same thing on the day of judgement.  Yes, I heard, but.  Yes, I went to Sunday School, but.  Yes, I read the bible, but. 

Then Chuck Smith mentioned that Esau's name meant "hairy" and Jacob's name meant "heel catcher" - named for something noticeable happening at their births.  Esau "came out red, all over like a hairy garment," and Jacob, Esau's twin,  at birth grabbed hold of Esau's heel.  For some reason the sequence of the birth of Israel hit me - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.  The Old Testament is full of pictures of the Christ who was to come.  First we have Abraham, the father of the nation, like God, a picture of God our father.  Then we have Isaac, Abraham's son, like Jesus, God's own son.  Genesis 25:5 is an obscure little verse that creates a vivid picture of the relationship of God the father and Jesus.  It reads, "and Abraham gave ALL that he had unto Isaac."  Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:18, "ALL authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."  Then Jacob, next in my sequence, is the heel catcher.  In Genesis 3:15, we read one prophetic action of the coming Messiah, - "and you will strike his heel," and in 1 Cor. 15:25, we see, "For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet."

So when we say, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob....we are seeing God's plan of salvation in this simple little sequence of names.  God the Father, giving all power and authority in heaven above and earth beneath to His only son, Jesus Christ, who will deliver the crushing blow to sin.  

God's word is like that onion skin.  Peel it back, layer upon layer.  Let it bring tears.  Let it sweeten your appetite.  Let it make you thirsty.  Let it transform a garden of undesirable weeds into a splash of glorious color.

The Big Bad Wolf is Dead, but the War Still Rages

Yesterday, Osama bin Laden was killed and justice was served.  For that, I was grateful - a fugitive from justice over the mass murder of so many Americans finally delivered his just desert. 

Our televised reaction to it, however, alarmed me; yet I was afraid initially to say it.   I expressed to my husband that while we are of course rejoicing that the big bad wolf is dead, we should not be "partying in the streets," and that is what it appeared to me the young crowd was doing in front of the White House and every single channel we turned to covered it as such!  Revelation 11:10 immediately came to my mind and I realized, "oh my God, this is what it will be like when the two witnesses who the world will so hate are killed."  And, all the world will see it.

I beseech that we Americans humble ourselves and get down on our knees, repent and pray.  Rejoice in the Lord and pray that He lifts us up.  

I quote below a few stanzas of America the Beautiful.

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

America! America!

God mend thine ev'ry flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life.

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears.

RESURRECTION JOY

Today we visited our church from moons ago: in fact, it was 1991 and church then took place in a little elementary school before we progressed to a local community center.  Circumstance brought us to another place, but now, 20 years later (yikes!) we are back.  Twenty years later, the crowd has grown and the familiar faces aren't so familiar anymore, though perhaps time has costumed them, like me, with wider backs, jollier bellies and crowns of glory.  I was anticipating sneaking up from behind with a giggle into the ears of my old friends, but they no longer sat in the same approachable folding chairs, but sunk into a sea of stadium seating, if they were there at all.

Though saddened by the loss of intimacy, I was overwhelmed to see this humble little beginning now a big, Texas-sized, amphitheater, and I just thanked God for the many lives that have come and gone, just like mine, through the loving arms of Jesus-loving, people-caring folks like those at Calvary Chapel Houston. 

The pastor's teaching was entitled "The Door."  We who have come to that massive door in our lives, remember that it seemed so imposing, so closed, so limiting, so ominous, before we got close enough to hear Jesus' sweet voice beckoning for us to enter and soon we discovered it wasn't a door to shut us off, but one to show us the way, to enter in - a door to Joy, Peace, and Hope.  It was the mere veil that was rent in two at our Lord's crucifixion, torn so that we might HAVE ACCESS.  We who have entered through that door find a joy not subject to the vacillation of circumstance (as is happiness), a peace deep inside that no trial suffocates, and hope that this "corruptible will put on incorruptibility, this mortal put on immortality."

Hearing Ron illustrate his message with stories brought the gap of 20 years to nothing and it was like I hadn't been away that long at all.  I must admit I drifted off during a few stories, giggling (to myself), that I was so much like my mom, always looking for something poetic, the play on words - in fact,  I just googled the technique I'm thinking of, and ironically, it's an ACROSTIC, where the first letter of each line spells out a message and aids in memory retrieval.  In fact, according to Wiki, one of the most famous acrostics is Ichthys:

A famous acrostic was made in Greek for the acclamation JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S SON, SAVIOUR (Greek: Ιησούς Χριστός, Θεού Υιός, Σωτήρ; Iesous CHristos, THeou Yios, Soter — ch and th being each one letter in Greek). The initials spell ICHTHYS (ΙΧΘΥΣ), Greek for fish – hence the frequent use of the fish as a symbol for Jesus Christ from the early days of Christianity to the present time.

So I giggled to myself over the word JOY and every one of his points brought to my mind a message in the word Joy.

You go through that door when  
Jesus  
Overwhelms  
You.

Revelation 3:20 tells us that, "Here I [Jesus] am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Think of every single jot and tittle of His Word as a Knock.  When we hear knock, knock, knock in a car we know it's time to see a mechanic; so it is when the master of our vehicle knocks, pay attention.  If you hear that knock, get thee to Jesus.  Hence my next wandering thought was:

Jesus
Operates on
You 

When elaborating on Peace in John 20:21 "Peace be unto you:  as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you," I continued reading the next verse which said, "and when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost."  I immediately said,

Jesus
Oxygenates
You

then

Jesus
Opportunes
You

I couldn't think of any more O words though I pondered throughout the rest of the message.  Pulled out of my daydreaming by Ron's beckoning those who heard the Lord's voice to come forward for prayer, my eyes focused on a gathering crowd, around whom were gathered believing friends and deacons, with Pastor Ron on just a couple steps up before them praying in earnest and I began to cry as I felt like I was watching the miracle of birth.  The position made Ron appear as though he was the doctor receiving the child from the mother's womb, who had the assistance of the father and friends.....

and Jesus giggled in my ear:

Obstetrician.  I am the obstetrician for you.  You must be born again, but I am there, waiting to receive you into my arms.

And my search for O words was complete, except for one:

Other.  There are other doors the Bible speaks of:  the gates of Hades.  Those gates may look less Ominous, they may look more inviting, they may look like you can easily Open them, but you really don't wanna see what's behind those doors.  In fact, Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Don't be deceived.  This isn't harmless fun like the Price is Right, for Luke 13:25 tells us, "When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You (not Jesus knocking this time) will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Lord, open the door for us!' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'"