Walk Don't Run

How many different types of walking are there? Have you ever thought about it? I was reviewing a lesson for Sunday School and was considering a few things about walking. First, you never run before you walk and never walk before you crawl. So as babes in Christ we will be crawling. We must be felled to our knees before we can even begin walking again.Paul talks about walking in Ephesians.

He starts in Ephesians 2:1-11. He is referring to the "old" walk. That is, the way we lived before we became children of God. It sort of reminds me of a rags to riches kind of thing. We are walking, but maybe not that gracefully and then we have Christ come into our lives and we see now what it means to walk in grace:) When our new life begins, we are to start a whole new walk and after we get up off our knees to begin our new walk, it should be at a different pace and on a different path than the previous walk. Also, notice that he always refers to our travels as Christs' followers as walks and not marathons!

What happens when we walk rather than run? Do you see more and hear more? How does it affect you differently? You probably aren't out of breath or anything from walking and you can take your time and even appreciate what you encounter along the way. You can contemplate your steps before each one lands, you can think quietly, you can get to your destination at a steady pace.There are several different types of walks...humanly speaking. We have the walk that bounces along, the sauntering walk, the purposeful walk, and the childlike walk. The list goes on.

So how do you "walk" your Christian walk? I would say that sometimes I even stumble along. Only by the grace of god go I.

Dancing!

A very dear friend of mine sent me the following rhetoric. I love to hear how others break down what they hear from God and what they see in the Scriptures. I think about how often I don't listen to what I truly know to be the truth and how I struggle sometimes to find my way and then something like this comes along, whether in email, snail mail or general conversation with one another, and I feel so much better knowing that we all cover the same ground, just in a different way.

Dancing With God

When I meditated on the word Guidance, I kept seeing "dance" at the end of the word. I remember reading that doing God's will is a lot like dancing. When two people try to lead, nothing feels right. The movement doesn't flow with the music, and everything is quite uncomfortable and jerky. When one person realizes that, and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to flow with the music. One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing Lightly in one direction or another. It's as if two become one body, moving beautifully. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other. My eyes drew back to the word Guidance. When I saw "G": I thought of God, followed by "u" and "i". "God, "u" and "i" dance." God, you, and I dance. As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance about my life. Once again, I became willing to let God lead. My prayer for you today is that God's blessings and mercies are upon you on this day and everyday. May you abide in God, as God abides in you. Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and to guide you through each season of your life.

Drifters

Hebrews 2:1-4 Paul tells us to pay attention to what we have heard and not to forget what we have heard. I got thinking about what I have heard and whether or not I retain the information or if I just dismiss it. When we dismiss what we have heard, we have more possiblilty or a larger guarantee that we will slip into the old ways or backslide.


So I started thinking about what I have heard myself that I am not "hearing"? These are the things that realize about myself and need to be willing to change;


1. I am prideful. I do not always do things for the glory of God. My life should be a radiant reflection of God and everything I do should be done only for His glory and not for human recognition, appreciation or satisfaction.


2. I can be arrogant. I know that I'm not any better of a person than anyone else, but I do tend to react in that way and the emotion is in the deepest part of my heart. God knows my core and when I really sit and evaluate my reations to things and people and why I react the way I do, often times it is because I am both prideful and arrogant. This combination will not allow me to ask forgiveness or even to grant forgiveness. It will cloud my judgement and smudge my testimony. A deadly combination!


.3 I am selfish. The first two will create an outcome that will only allow for this conclusion. Selfishness is the act of being centered on self and looking at the result of your efforts and how they directly affect you. Also, it shows a severe lack of servanthood. Christ showed the ultimate in servitude. Washing the disciples feet, laying His life down for us, allowing Himself to be covered in all our sins and lowering Himself to our level of existence from His own high position. When is the last time you thought about how truly self-centered and selfish you are? Do you even realize that you are?


4. I am discontent. Paul states that we should be content no matter what condition we find ourselves. No matter what we have, how much, how little, how healthy, how busy, etc. I always am looking for more and better. Not “things”, but just that life would be more or better. That desire creates discontentment.

5. I will mumble! I know that this falls under discontentment, but I thought that it sometimes overpowers me to the point that it needs it’s own category! I will mumble and grumble about things that I have no right to grumble about! Rather than talking to God and giving Him all the worries and choices, I take them and run to another human or twist them around inside me so much that they start to eat me.

Life can change in an instant! My faith is still there and still alive and well. Sometimes I wander away and forget what it is that I have learned, but I am a work in progress. As long as I remain willing to listen to Him and let Him mold me, I’ll be in good shape. Are you setting sail, or are you a drifter? What have you heard that the Holy Spirit is challenging you about?

How Well?

One of my favorite hymns to sing as well as to listen to is "It is Well With My Soul". Without ever having known the circumstances behind this hymn, I loved it. Then I heard the story that is attatched to the words.

The article below is a copy of a wonderful rendidtion of this tale. The link is as follows and has additional Bible Study attatched to it. I hope whoever would read this would take the time to look at the study. http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html
This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled,'It is well with my soul', you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words,"When sorrows like sea billows roll ... It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford's life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors.

The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later.

With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair.

Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.No matter what circumstances overtake us may we be able to say with Horatio Spafford...

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul!It is well ... with my soul!It is well, it is well, with my soul.

So I ask you, how well is it with your soul? What personal tragedy do you have going on right now that would justify you turning away froma Lord and Master who has every hair on your head counted? What purpose are you being preserved for? What heavy or hurting heart will you be able to comfort because it is a reflection of your own? It may be something as tragic as divorce, death, sickness or a unexplainable as loneliness.

Take heart! Draw your strength from the Lord.

Sunrise and Sunset

I am thinking about the night before Christ rose from the dead and the Resurrection Day. I wonder if the sunset of that evening prior to His resurrection is clipped in a scrapbook by God. What did the sky look like that evening? Was there a glorious mixture of purples for royalty, reds for the shed blood and sleek white clouds to show the upcoming pure cleansing which would then prevail from that day forward? Were the birds quiet that evening and the olive trees still against the sky? What did the sea of Galilee look like that evening? Were the tides low and the waves quiet ripples or were the seas crashing against the shore line in eager anticipation to feel Christs feet on their shores again?

And what of the sunrise on that glorious morning? The women had gone down to the tomb very early in the morning. ( Luke 24 ) I wonder if the sun had even come over the horizon yet. What time of the day did Christ rise from the dead? Was He out of the tomb as soon as the days had changed from one to the next or did He wait for a glimpse of daylight and the symphony of renewal that the Creation would pulse with upon His resurrection? How brightly did the sun shine that morning than it ever did before? The birds must have been singing, the insects and butterflies flitting around, the squirrels chittering, the fish leaping and the trees waving. No one must have noticed the change in nature that day as they tried to understand that Christ had done just what He had said He was going to do....Risen from the dead!

Review the story again with a new outlook. Put yourself in the shoes of the believers of that time and consider what you may have thought. This is a story that needs consideration every day of our Christian walks. Reminding us that He is the reason we have hope and joy!

Thank you Jesus for the new life you have given me and the day to celebrate each year your Resurrection!!

This Little Light

I heard this let of verses read the other night and when I actually thought about the way the words were presented, the literal meaning changed from the preconceived translation I had always had. The verses I am referring to are Luke 11:33-36. We have heard that “the eyes are the windows of the soul” but why is that true? This will prove that there is Scriptural foundation for that quote. Luke is quoting Jesus here, who is saying; “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

Have you ever been some place where the darkness is practically palpable? Standing on a country road in the middle of the night with no streetlights, or on a farm that is a good distance from anywhere else? What happens when you turn on a light or you have only one light one, like the dusk to dawn light on the side of the barn? The light reaches far out into the darkness. It’s fingers touching further than you realize and chasing away the shadows. The light Jesus is referring to in this verse is His light that is inside of us when we believe on Him. Christians are distinctive because they have a glow about them and there is no way to cover that light.

Secondly, Jesus says that the eyes are the lamp of the body. The eyes are a channel into the soul. Not a mirror of what the soul is, but a funnel that will determine what your soul is. So if you spend time watching violence, giving dirty looks, looking at questionable magazines, surfing wrongful sights in the internet or watching TV shows that would make your mother blush, all these things are things that feed your soul. Luke continues to write that if what you observe with your eyes is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if what you observe is bad, than you will feed the darkness. Think about what you do that interrupts your communication with God. How much quiet time to do spend with Him? I don’t mean that the kids are an interruption, either. I mean things that you voluntarily put in your own way. TV, computer, I-pod, whatever it may be. It is extremely crucial that we protect ourselves from what come in through our channels; our eyes and our ears.

Develop your light and let others see it shine. You’ll be surprised at how well received the joyous light of Jesus is received and how many moths you may draw to your flame.

In Like a Lion

February is the shortest month of the year but it seems to last forever!! Then, as we emerge on the other side, March awaits us in all its raging glory! The winds blow, the snow falls, the mud swallows up anything brave enough to cross its threshold, the icicles hang sideways and the birds sing mightily. Crazy!

As I venture out for my morning walk on this mild March morning, I am reminded of what Paul said about “putting off the old man” (Ephesians 4:22-24) and also how he himself struggled with doing what he didn’t want to do (Romans 7:14-25).

Just as the seasons battle year after year, so we battle constantly over the sin nature. Our sin nature, or old self, is powerful, terrifying and sometimes immense. Sounds like it’s hopeless, doesn’t it? Our “new man”, the person we are with the help and saving grace of God is radiant, steadfast and enduring. We should hold godly characteristics like kindness, gentleness and humility. II Corinthians 5:21 says “God made Him (Christ) who had no sin, to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” To be sin…Christ had never had a mean thought, never talked back to His parents, never stole anything, never kicked the dog, never was vengeful to anyone, been jealous or envious or anything! Then He became all that sin is. It’s ugly, full of guilt, hateful, angry, dirty and lost. Think about what your core self feels like when you knowingly have done something wrong. Now multilply that not only by all the things you have done in your own life, but what about all the people you know and all the people who have lived and died since Christ was on the earth.

It is incomprehensible what that must have been like for Christ and yet we take this gift of salvation and eternal life for granted.

Take some time this month of March to evaluate your growth and your battle. Is the Lamb of God winning that battle over the “old man”? Have you surrendered the battle to Christ to let Him fight for you?