Think on it Thursday

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Begin at Forgiven
I wish I could sit down over a cup of tea with me from ten years ago.   Two things I would encourage her (myself) to do is offer forgiveness quickly and receive forgiveness completely.   I knew ten years ago that Jesus took my sins at the cross and bore my punishment, offering me complete forgiveness and reconciliation with God.   However, the hurts I carried with me from my young and colorful youth didn’t disappear with my new life.   I just hadn’t discovered the emotional tools necessary for building new relationships with myself and others that intentionally accepted forgiveness as a beginning and not an end; as a starting point for healing and not a grand finale of resolve.  Just as my new life in Christ begins with a foundation of me accepting His forgiveness of my sins, I needed to realize that my earthly relationships have to reflect that truth too.  Living as someone who has been forgiven of so much gives me permission to not hold someone else’s sins against them.  I can say in full confidence that it is just not my job.  If you’re still not sure to whom the job belongs let Psalm 103:8-14 sink in for a good while.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9  He will not always chide,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
    he remembers that we are dust.

The Bible has so much to say on our forgiven life in Christ and what God expects from His forgiven children.  I encourage you to go read Ephesians 4, Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:25 and Philippians 2:12-13 for starters and prayerfully ask God to break down any walls that may be keeping you from experiencing and offering His forgiveness.  God willing, my next ten years will be filled with crumbling walls and broken chains because life is just too short to not live in the abounding joy of my Forgiver and share it with everyone else.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m craving a cup of tea…
Heavenly Father, you show compassion to your children and as your child I ask for grace to pour over any areas of my soul that are holding on to past hurts.  Let your words be my words and your desires my desires, Lord.  If I am withholding forgiveness from someone open my eyes and show me how to offer it freely as you have done for me.  I ask these things in the name of Jesus, the author of my story, Amen.

Think-On-It Thursday

PARENTING WITH IDOLS

In trying to make myself feel like a better mom, I really blew it with my kids.

The thing about my kids is that, in many areas, they seem to lag behind their peers.  And I let it bother me. While all the other girls in dance class do their perfect renditions of Swan Lake, my six-year-old daughter is chasing feathers from her boa and taking her twirl five seconds too late, skipping three other moves.  At soccer, I actually overhear other parents of soccer stars criticizing my parenting (I don't practice with her enough) because she can't dribble (is that the right word??) as well as their daughters... in voices just loud enough to make sure I hear their disapproval.  And I feel attacked.

While all the other boys are speaking in clear sentences and honing their fine motor skills with precision, my near four-year-old son is struggling to put final consonants on his speech, hasn't picked a hand to favor, and is receiving early intervention. 

Don't get me wrong, my kids have plenty of strengths too. The problem is, I get so caught up on the abilities my kids lack that I let comparison creep in, and I shame myself.  I hear this voice (yes, those soccer parents' voices) saying, "You don't do enough to teach them; it's your fault; if only you were a better parent."  And out of my own self-blame, I get frustrated... at my kids.

It reared its ugly head one day when I was trying so desperately hard to help my daughter overcome her fear of riding a bike that I became Tiger Mom.  She is so close, and yet it's the grip of fear that stops her every time.  I get mad about this.  Mad at her fear, yes, but mostly, mad that she doesn't measure up to my expectations (who's really afraid?), which I've adopted from the expectations and experiences of others.  She needs time, but I'm too begrudging to give it.  And what's meant to be a joy of childhood freedom becomes a battle that binds joy.  And it's not right.  And it's not good.

I apologized to my daughter for being so demanding with the bike, gave her a hug, and told her I would work on being more kind and patient with her.  She didn't seem too battle worn, but my spirit ached inside of me. Why do I yearn so much for the approval of others, especially in the way I parent?

The other day, I heard powerful words that stung me:

"GOD, BAPTISE ME IN THE CRITICISM OF MAN TO INOCULATE ME FROM THE APPROVAL OF MAN."

Can I get an Amen?! (Oh wait... there I go, asking for approval again.)

With a lot of soul-searching, I’ve realized this need for approval stems from two other problems: pride (pride that I’m a stay at home mom, that I write for a parenting magazine, that my husband’s a child psychologist… added pressure that our kids are supposed to be perfect, of course), and the idolatry of misplaced priorities: worrying more about my kids’ talents and nebulous developmental milestones than I sometimes do about the most important thing, their spiritual development. It’s the old “big rocks little rocks” analogy—I fill the cup of life with the little rocks first, and the big rocks are almost squeezed out. 

But slowly, one day at a time, I’m changing my course.  And to hold the rudder steady, I’ve adopted a new prayer:

"I HAVE NO GREATER JOY THAN TO HEAR MY CHILDREN ARE WALKING IN THE TRUTH." ~3 John 1:4

Today, I'm wading into those vulnerable waters; washing off my toxic need for approval; and tearing down parenting idols to give God the throne over my family again.  Because life's too short to worry about dribbling a dang soccer ball.

~Wendy Connelly

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Think On It Thursday

How do I describe landing on foreign soil,
sitting on an old rusted school chair in the back of an open milk truck,
traveling through a forgotten city,
watching a new world unfold before my eyes?

The heat bore down on my bare arms,
the smell of hot trash overwhelming me,
the city in ruins breaking my heart
and the people…
Everywhere,
Hungry,
Homeless,
Naked,
Forgotten…
they filled the streets.

This is the country of Haiti.

We traveled over an hour before we reached our final destination,
Canaan Community, an orphanage.
We stepped out of our truck,
relieved the old rusted truck didn’t break down before our arrival,
and we waited…
Slowly, little faces appeared,
peaking around corners and standing in doorways.
Curiosity wins over apprehension
and they soon approached us.
It’s not long before I feel little warm hands on my back,
heads in my lap,
fingers through my hair
and hearts entangling with mine.

Here is where I met and fell in love with many abandoned children,
abandoned by their parents, but not forgotten by their God.
They are fought and cared for because
God called his people to love the forgotten,
to fight for the broken hearted…
And a couple, Gladys and Henri responded,
“Here am I Lord, send me.”

As I watched this couple live and love like Jesus,
I wanted to become more like them,
Seeking HIM,
Hearing HIM,
Obeying HIM,
and opening my heart to a world in need.

If you read the Bible, it doesn’t take long understand God’s heart for the forgotten,
the poor, the orphan, and the widow.
He has called us to open our hands, to give generously,
to spend our lives on behalf of them…

However, you don’t have to travel over oceans to love the forgotten.
They fill our neighborhoods, our cities and our countries.
Ask God to open your heart to the world around you in need,

Open your bibles and read these scriptures. They beautifully articulate God’s heart for the forgotten, forgotten by this world…

Not forgotten by their Creator.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Isaiah 58:6-11

Ezekiel 34: 2-4

I John 3: 17-20



~written by Rachel McKenna

Think On It Thursday

THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SINS OF THE WORLD

Two thousand years before the incarnation of Jesus Christ on the earth, God used the Jewish people as a prophetic timepiece pointing straight to their Messiah Who was to come.  As God delivered the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, He told them in Exodus 12 to take a 1- year old lamb without blemish and keep the lamb at their homes for 4 days.  Then on the 4^th day at twilight, they were to kill the lamb and take the blood of the unblemished lamb and apply it to their doorposts.  Then when God sent the angel of death over Egypt that evening, wherever the blood of the unblemished lamb was applied, the people were saved.

What a beautiful prophetic foreshadowing of the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God

Who would come 2000 years later—Jesus Christ our Savior and Messiah.  Through His shed blood , all who believe on Him are saved.

As we approach the time of the death and resurrection of our Lord, take time to meditate on the beauty, truth and perfection of the word of God.  Read and meditate on the entire chapter of Isaiah 53.  Worship the One who, like a lamb led to slaughter did not open his mouth.  He did not utter a sound and gave His life willingly for you and for me.  What a magnificent Savior.  We worship you, Jesus!

~Frann Wohlers

Think On It Thursday

It has been days since I saw them together, yet my mind has wandered back to them dozens of times.  It was within a glance that I saw them there, one wearing dainty white gloves, and the other a special and beautiful pin on the lapel of her coat.  They crossed their low heels at the ankles and giggled like young girls as they sat close with their arms looped through one another’s.  The genuine joy on their faces belied their ages which I imagine to have been somewhere in the neighborhood between seventy and eighty. The two ladies (which is exactly what they were) were on an outing to Target together and had stopped in customer service near the exit to rest on a bench before heading home.  They were in no hurry and seemed to be simply enjoying the other’s company as they chatted and laughed. 

Driving home, my mind wandered to the two women.  How long had they been friends? How did their friendship begin?  Did they have husbands? Were their husbands still alive? Did they live in their own home or did they live in an assisted living residence somewhere nearby? I wondered what kept them close. Common life stage? Mutual friends? Geography? A long shared history?   Thinking about those two women on the drive home reminded me how thankful I am to be a woman as well as how grateful I am for all of the amazing women God has put into my life...especially recently.

The Mother’s Together community of women has truly touched my heart over this past year.  I remember my first Wednesday morning last September.  I barely arrived on time and felt a huge sense of relief when I finally located my table among the crowd.  While I recognized a few faces around the room, I still was not sure about myself or my place in this giant group of professional moms.  I felt like everyone knew what they were doing with their children except me.  I felt like everyone looked cute and put together except me.  I felt like everyone had something interesting they were doing to inspire their kids except me.  However, as I opened my heart to God and got past myself and my own pile of motherhood induced insecurities, I realized that this amazing gathering of women was not only welcoming but also authentic in their own struggles and accepting and loving toward me with mine.   

I have found comfort, friendship, humor, inspiration, challenge, support and fun alongside these dear faces I see each Wednesday morning.  I look forward to the smiles, the hugs and the sense of community where I not only feel I have something to contribute, but that I am continually blessed by as well.  I adore how God works like that; just when you think you have to figure things out yourself and go it alone, he sends some friends into your life to help out and encourage you along the way.  I love the idea that no matter our life stage, (even when we ourselves are older, and hopefully lively old ladies), He will still be filling that need in our hearts for genuine community by sending us girlfriends to walk alongside us on the journey to hold our hands and our hearts....and who knows, maybe even make a Target run or two. 

                                 - Sarah Leimer

Clinging to Jesus

Six months ago we bought a home with nine rose bushes. All out in the front yard where every pair of eyes in the neighborhood can enjoy their fragrant blooms. I counted six different colors last fall and I could smell them through open living room windows.  A neighbor graciously clued me in to the fact that the previous owners spent long hours refining each plant.  Two words sprang to my mind…no pressure.  Of course, I took to the web and started researching “how to grow beautiful roses”.  With Google in my corner we could master greatness, or at least manage to not kill the plants.  After what seemed like hours of web research and several phone calls to my garden experienced grandmother I purchased pruning shears, trimmers, and heavy duty gloves because the one consistent piece of advice Grandma and Google kept offering was that I must prune my plants.  I don’t mow grass.  I don’t cut bangs.  I’ve never pruned a plant, let alone nine rose bushes.  That was last fall and the prickly plants still have not been pruned.  Not because I’m not equipped.  Not due to lack of beautiful weather (what winter?).  Not because I haven’t had time (hours are adding up that I’ve analyzed how to cut the silly things).   It’s simply because I am a cling-o-maniac. 
 I tend to hold onto things too tightly.  Right now, as new growth springs forth I have beautiful, thriving green bushes with height and foliage galore.  I’m clinging to the fact that they’re still alive and growing.  If I was striving for beautiful greenery then I’m probably doing pretty well, but I’m not.  This summer I want color.  I saw what these plants were capable of and I want that and more.  A cling-o-maniac, like me, doesn’t stop or start with roses, unfortunately. The fear of losing what we have can be utterly paralyzing! Usually they’re things our world holds in high esteem, often the highest esteem; a comfortable home, predictable schedule, well stocked retirement fund, good health, successful career, thriving children, and a loving marriage. I could list hundreds of great reasons why each of those is a wonderful thing to want and have.  However, if I am striving and placing my hope in ideals, things, or people then disappointment, fear and I are going to be well acquainted.  Anxiety over trying to cling to the things we think will bring us ultimate happiness and fulfillment, but in the end leave us thirsty for more is what this world offers.  Jesus hits this issue head on with a woman at the well:

"Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” John 4: 13-15

Matthew, Chapter 6: 19-21, Jesus talks to his disciples about this very idea of placing our hearts in temporary things:  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Jesus, I want my heart to be fully yours.  Amongst the thorns and blooms of life be my courage and strength to cut away anything that keeps me from clinging to You.  Reveal your grace story through me so my children and my children’s children will know of Your unfailing love. 
Jena Meyerpeter

Think On It Thursday

Intimacy in Marriage

 

In reading Ephesians 5, we are given a clear picture of God’s purpose and plan for marriage:

 

Instructions for Christian Households

 21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

 

When I go back to verse 31, and read verse 32, I’m reminded first of Christ’s incarnation, and then His atonement: He left His Father in heaven and became flesh (incarnation) in order to reunite mankind, His church, to the Father (the work of the atonement on the cross, which brought at-ONE-ment with God through the gift of the Holy Spirit).  Jesus came to earth, fully God and fully man, so that we could become “members of His body” through His sacrifice on the cross.

 

Paul the Apostle, citing Genesis, draws parallels here between the message of the Gospel and the marriage bed.  He calls it a “profound mystery,” and raises the act of sexual intimacy to a sacred rite of deep spiritual significance.  Sexual intimacy, when properly understood, is sacramental.  It is life-giving—physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally—and it begets new life.  It is a gift from God, as holy as communion, because this is precisely what it is. 

Think On It Thursday

Thank you, Kim, for such a wonderful teaching on the Song of Solomon!

Here are the final chapters of the SOS in lieu of a devotional this week.  Also, be sure to check out Liz Sear's Lenten Tree tradition on the blog (under the Recipes/Traditions tab) as you begin the celebration of Lent.

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Think On It Thursday

To review the Song of Solomon week 2 reading, click on the links below (NIV version):

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

To read ahead for week 3, click on the links below:

Chapter 5

Chapter 6 

Think On It Thursday

Glossary for Song of Songs - Kim Specker

Allegory -   the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; also: an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression.  Example:  Chronicles of Narnia. : A symbolic representation: emblem 

Bride – or Beloved in SOS.  Also known as the church in the book of Revelation in the Bible.  Can be known as a person who seeks after a personal relationship with God.   Also known as the female partner in marriage when reading SOS as a literal translation. (individual male or female, church )

Daughter of Jerusalem, maidens - young believers, those early in their journey or don’t the personal Jesus yet.

Lover - Known as Jesus in SOS.  Can also be known as the husband in a marriage relationship when reading SOS as a literal translation.  Could be referred to as Jesus or God synonymously with the Trinity.  Father,  Son and Holy Spirit.

Bride’s inheritance in Christ – what the Bride receives from Jesus as she grows in her relationship with Him.

Christ’s inheritance in the Bride – what Jesus receives from the Bride as she matures in Him.

Divine Kiss  -  is a metaphor for the Word of God spoken from his mouth.  Heavenly  truth.  This is NOT to be confused with physical touch of God’s lips. 

Great Commission – The command given in Matthew 28:20 to make disciples.

Intercession - prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another

Ministry – could be an act of service.  Not necessarily just in the church but in the marketplace, neighborhood, family, friends and volunteering.  Where talents, spiritual gifts and passions can be demonstrated.

Mature in ministry –   advancing in the spiritual disciplines that lead to a deeper more personal relationship with Jesus.  Being able to let go of self-desires and preferring what God desires for us.

Paradox –  a tenet contrary to received opinion : a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true b : a self-contradictory statement that at first seems true c : an argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises

Prophetic , Prophetically -  foretelling events : predictive

revelation – new understanding of spiritual truth or awareness of something about self that is divinely inspired

redeemed –  something made good out of something broken or ugly  to free from what distresses or harms: : to free from captivity by payment of ransom b : to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental c : to release from blame or debt : clear d : to free from the consequences of sin.  : to change for the better : reform : repair, restore

  A personal relationship with Jesus that takes a life and makes something beautiful out of it.

righteousness –  acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin a: morally right or justifiable, a righteous decision b : arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality<righteous indignation>

Supernatural Love – love that is greater than what the fleshly body can offer to others.   It is the kind of love God has for his children.  Incomparable or rare by earthly measurement.

Supernatural abilities – abilities given to God’s children when he needs to accomplish something or it would bring God glory.  These abilities are unique to individual and circumstances.

Union of agreement –  God’s acknowledgement of the bride’s obedience.

Vindication of the Bride   - The Bride (individual and/or body of the church) is publically known as one whose  sacrifice has been noticed by God and he wants others to see it.  Sometimes he demonstrates favor over his children.

Song of Songs 1

 ¹ Solomon’s Song of Songs.

   She^[a]

 ² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
   for your love is more delightful than wine.
³ Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes;
   your name is like perfume poured out.
   No wonder the young women love you!
⁴ Take me away with you—let us hurry!
   Let the king bring me into his chambers.

   Friends

   We rejoice and delight in you^[b];
   we will praise your love more than wine.

   She

   How right they are to adore you!

 ⁵ Dark am I, yet lovely,
   daughters of Jerusalem,
dark like the tents of Kedar,
   like the tent curtains of Solomon.^[c]
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
   because I am darkened by the sun.
My mother’s sons were angry with me
   and made me take care of the vineyards;
   my own vineyard I had to neglect.
⁷ Tell me, you whom I love,
   where you graze your flock
   and where you rest your sheep at midday.
Why should I be like a veiled woman
   beside the flocks of your friends?

   Friends

 ⁸ If you do not know, most beautiful of women,
   follow the tracks of the sheep
and graze your young goats
   by the tents of the shepherds.

   He

 ⁹ I liken you, my darling, to a mare
   among Pharaoh’s chariot horses.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
   your neck with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make you earrings of gold,
   studded with silver.

   She

 ¹² While the king was at his table,
   my perfume spread its fragrance.
¹³ My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh
   resting between my breasts.
¹⁴ My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
   from the vineyards of En Gedi.

   He

 ¹⁵ How beautiful you are, my darling!
   Oh, how beautiful!
   Your eyes are doves.

   She

 ¹⁶ How handsome you are, my beloved!
   Oh, how charming!
   And our bed is verdant.

   He

 ¹⁷ The beams of our house are cedars;
   our rafters are firs.

Song of Songs 2

   She^[a]

 ¹ I am a rose^[b] of Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.

   He

 ² Like a lily among thorns
   is my darling among the young women.

   She

 ³ Like an apple^[c] tree among the trees of the forest
   is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
   and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
⁴ Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
   and let his banner over me be love.
⁵ Strengthen me with raisins,
   refresh me with apples,
   for I am faint with love.
⁶ His left arm is under my head,
   and his right arm embraces me.
⁷ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.

 ⁸ Listen! My beloved!
   Look! Here he comes,
leaping across the mountains,
   bounding over the hills.
⁹ My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.
   Look! There he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
   peering through the lattice.
¹⁰ My beloved spoke and said to me,
   “Arise, my darling,
   my beautiful one, come with me.
¹¹ See! The winter is past;
   the rains are over and gone.
¹² Flowers appear on the earth;
   the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
   is heard in our land.
¹³ The fig tree forms its early fruit;
   the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
   my beautiful one, come with me.”

   He

 ¹⁴ My dove in the clefts of the rock,
   in the hiding places on the mountainside,
show me your face,
   let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
   and your face is lovely.
¹⁵ Catch for us the foxes,
   the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
   our vineyards that are in bloom.

   She

 ¹⁶ My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
   and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
   on the rugged hills.^[d]