Living the Gospel

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As we continue to talk about Rest and the life of God in us, I want to share an excerpt about the power of the gospel.  The author’s definition of “gospel” is not just praying the prayer, but the death-to-life transformation that God has begun and will complete according to the promise through His Resurrected Son.

“In much of the popular writing on spiritual formation there is a tendency to convey a very stunted view of the gospel.  We get the idea that what unbelievers need is the gospel, and then, once they accept Christ as Savior, they move on to “needing  discipleship,” which consists of learning about Christ,  developing the fruit of the Spirit, learning how to have a quiet time, and so forth.

However, the picture that the New Testament gives is remarkably different.

We must remember the description  of the gospel as the power of God for the beginning, the middle, and the end of salvation.  Often we do not really understand all the vast implications and applications of the gospel. Only as we apply the gospel more and more deeply and radically —only as we think out all its truth — does it bear fruit and grow. The key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the persistent rediscovery of the gospel.

All our spiritual problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. This is true for us both as a community and as individuals.”

page 32 of Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered, James C. Wilhoit

A Merry Heart – Friday Funnies

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Regardless of whether you love animals like I do or not, this is hilarious. I found it at my vet’s office.

The Top 10 Reasons Your Dog’s Haircut Costs More Than Yours:

10 – Your hairdresser does not wash and clean your rear end.
9 – You don’t go 12 weeks (or six months) and never wash or brush your hair.
8 – Your hairdresser doesn’t give you a “sanitary trim.”
7 – Your hairdresser doesn’t clean your ears.
6 – You sit still for your hairdresser.
5 – Your hair cut does not include a manicure and pedicure.
4 – Your hairdresser doesn’t have to remove the “boogies” from your eyes.
3 – Your hairdresser only cuts the hair on your head, as opposed to your whole body.
2 – You don’t bite or scratch your hairdresser.

And . . .

The Number One Reason Your Dog’s Haircut Costs More . . .
The likelihood of you pooping and peeing on your hairdresser is slim.

God Story: The Power of Prayer

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I have so many God stories of His supernatural provision that I could write 10 books. But Tuesday night I was basking in the beauty of one of my favorite answers to prayer.

My daughter, Salem.

We were in her room, full from birthday cake, waiting for the clock to display 8:38 pm — the time she had been born 12 years earlier. And like all kids, she was asking about who was at the hospital, what was the scoop, what was her story.

“What did Dad do when I was born?”
“He cried.”
“What were you doing?”
“Crying.”
“And Grandmaw and Grandpaw, what were they doing?”
“Waiting anxiously, then crying.”

“Salem, I don’t think you realize how many prayers were sent up for us to have a baby. There was much rejoicing when you were born,” I said.

And with that last comment came a flood of memories. Of churches, of youth groups, and women’s groups. Places where I had shared my story of abortion, heartache and healing. The outcry of these listeners had been to pray for God to bless Chuck and me with a baby.  After Salem was born, I found out that people in my church had quietly prayed that God would heal our hearts and bodies so that we would be able to have children.

Here Chuck and I were walking through the silent and grieving hell of infertility, but God was stirring His saints to pray nonetheless.

Pray they did. And He was pleased to answer.

Looking at this feisty, strong willed, solemn warrior-child before me, I was really amazed again at the mercy of God.

My thoughts turned toward heaven when I will see all those people who prayed for us, who never saw us again and never heard the rest of the story. When I see them in heaven, I can’t wait to introduce them to Salem, the answer to their prayers.

Oh pray without ceasing, believing that He hears our cries and intercessions.

“The prayers of the saints are like sweet smelling incense.”

Death Begets Death

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Normally, we try to look at one real question on Wednesdays. Today, I’m not answering just one question. I’m answering ten! I know this is a loaded topic…BUT one worth talking about since it affects 1 out of 5 women. I was approached by a high school student with these questions and thought I would share my answers.

1. Do you believe abortion is morally correct?
No.

2. In what circumstances do you believe abortion is socially acceptable?
Never.

3. In your opinion, is the third trimester too late to perform an abortion?
Absolutely.

4. Do you believe abortion can cause depression or mental side effects?
Absolutely. In addition, it can cause nightmares, rage attacks, self-hatred leading to eating disorders, cutting, addictions to drugs and alcohol. Anything to numb the pain. It also causes long- lasting trauma to relationships, something people rarely discuss. This breach in conscience prevents future trusting relationships, especially with men.

5. What do you believe causes the women to have abortion as an option?
Fear. Fear of being alone, of being stuck with baby, of being “fat”, of being found out, of losing their life, of being a bad mother.

6. As an estimate, how many people do you know who have had an abortion?
I know personally 20+ but have counseled more than a 100 women.

7. Under the circumstances, what age is most common related to abortions?
17-25 is my guess.  Middle school girls think having a baby is “cool” and often decide to parent rather than release for adoption. Most occur around end of high school or in college when a woman feels like “she has her whole life ahead of her.”  Funny that the mother’s life has greater value than the life of her unborn baby.

8. Do you believe that the male has a substantial part in the decision process of an abortion?
Ahhhh, tough question. Yes, I do morally now. But when faced with that, I moved forward regardless of his decision.

9. Do you believe that the parents of the female play an important role in the decision process of abortion?
Many many abortions happen with the push of over active parents. They are more concerned with reputation than the value of life and the value of hardship in character building for their child. And many girls also have abortions out of fear of their parents finding out. They are trying to hide the evidence, as it were.

10. Can previous abortions cause emotional problems in future relationships and the start of a family?
I mentioned this but absolutely… Many women I have counseled with “withheld” this secret for fear of rejection from their husbands. So they are grieving in silence. It causes sexual disconnect and all kinds of trauma around having children in the future. “I killed one baby how can I welcome this one,” is the mentality.

Also there is a HUGE medical issue of damage done during the procedure where STDs are spread, damage to the cervix and tearing of the uterus.  Abortion is one of the riskiest medical procedures ever and it has NO medical oversight or accountability.  It absolutely affects the ability to bear children in the future.

A few more comments if I may?
I had an abortion at the age of 18. It was one of the most painful things I had ever lived through, physically, emotional and spiritually.  No one ever told me the truth about any of those things prior to the procedure. But more information is not the answer necessarily.  At that time, we made sure it was never called a baby, so when I found that out, I was doubly horrified. Today, we know it is a baby and call it a baby, but we so undervalue the intrinsic worth of a human being, it causes perhaps more harm. Mom has no value so baby has no value. And so even after abortion, mom continues to suffer from lack of value and worth which often leads to more sex, dirtier partners, more pregnancies, more abortions, etc.

I debated a woman from Planned Parenthood once and challenged her point that she was “empowering women.”  Empowering women is not accomplished by killing women and men, even if they are in fetus stage. Empowering women is to teach them about actions and consequences; sex leads to babies. But also about the overwhelming energy given to a woman when she is taught how to harness her passions and focus them on good and long-term results.  Parenting and adoption is incredibly hard. But they are choices that lead to life and hope and possibilty.

Abortion is quick and final. No life, no hope, no possibility.

Healing is my final point. I know many women who have tried many things to wash away the guilt of the blood on their hands. It has been my experience that only the blood of Jesus has the power to do that. I am not a church lady. But my life was radically transformed when I realized that even though I was a murderer, God still loved me.  It was a long arduous road to recover my heart, but one I am thankful for beyond measure.

Fleas

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Don’t know if anyone else has indoor-outdoor pets, but this is the season of fleas. The warm and cold weather is like a breeding ground for these tiny annoyances. So what started out as a random event, “Hey look there is flea on my leg,” soon became a overwhelming lament, “Mom, there are fleas all over my room.”

Funny how fleas multiply so fast.  There’s probably a Biblical truth tucked away in there. But we called the Orkin man to treat the house and called the vet to get some Advantage Flea treatment for the cats and dog. However, the reason I write about this tiny but powerful menace is because they reminded me of a story.

Corrie Ten Boom was an amazing woman who survived  the concentration camp in Holland during the Holocaust. We read her book, The Hiding Place, out loud a couple of winters ago. Her story of walking through such hell and still holding on to God, and believing that God was holding on to her, was life-changing.

She recalls a time when the dorm she and her sister lived was unbearable. The building that had been built to accommodate 400 people now housed 1400. Too many women. Not enough food, water, space, or blankets.

It was infested with fleas.  Everywhere, all the time, they were covered with biting fleas. And there was no Orkin man to call.

But like the smallest of flames push back the darkest of nights, these two praying women continued to believe that God was able to meet their needs. In their smuggled Bible, they came upon Thessalonians where it says  to “give thanks in all circumstances.”   By faith they began to thank God for all the terrible circumstances they were living through, one by one. But Corrie and Betsy both stopped short: How do you thank God for fleas? Finally, they came to a place of trust and rest, that yes, even the fleas were part of God’s goodness to them.

Weeks later, they found out that the reason they had been able to openly read their smuggled Bible, lead weekly Bible studies, and publicly pray with the women in the dorm was because the guards would not step foot in their dorm…because of the fleas.

Will you go there? Will you thank God for all the bad, hard, hurtful, annoying, painful places in your life? Will you still praise His name?

God really is working all the things in your life, all your fleas, for your good. So thank Him, by faith, believing that He alone sees beyond your circumstances and what He is doing in you, and through you.

http://www.broadcaster.org.uk/section2/transcript/hidingplace.html

Separated from Satan

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“Mama, my teacher said that when someone goes to hell they are separated from God forever,” Charis said, her eyes bright and shining.

“That’s right,” I said, typing on my computer.

“Well,” she continued, “I am going to be separated from the devil forever when I go to heaven.”

I stopped typing and sat stunned for a moment, just letting my mind reflect on this. That IS right. Separated from our enemy forever.

And I heard the Lord say in my spirit. “What can separate us from the love of God?”

Then it hit me. We are already separated. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” He completed, bridged, redeemed, restored all that the enemy had stolen from us. There is a New Covenant because He is the New Adam. We are New creations. There is “therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus,” says Romans 8. “The old has gone. The NEW has come,” Paul declared to the Corinthians and to us.

Would you today reflect on the great love of the Father?  Would you declare out loud the words from Romans:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—
how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God Story: The Aroma of Christ

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Wow.  That’s all I could say last night as woman after woman through tears, laughter and awe poured out their God stories. Stories of hearing God speak to them, stories of hearing their names, or receiving much needed comfort, or rejoicing in gifts given.  All revelations and encounters with the Living God.

It is so like the woman who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and then poured fragrant oil on His head.  The whole room was stunned silent as the scent of perfume reached every person present. Continue reading →

Real Question #3: How Can I Know I’m Saved When God Seems Far Away?

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Someone lobbed this at me recently.

This question is really important and really simple.

Let’s begin with the really important. Your salvation is an eternal exchange between you and God when you, by faith, respond to the Spirit of God. I don’t know your story, day, or awareness, but there is a time that you KNEW deep in your inner being that something had changed.

That was a Faith transaction. Not a feeling exercise. You didn’t flex a muscle, or swat a fly, or smell a flower. You signed an eternal covenant. You went from death to life. You went from being a homeless, abandoned orphan to wearing the King’s name, ring and gown.

You know it. And more importantly, so does God.

So no matter where you wander in the King’s country, you are still the King’s daughter. Even if you are not speaking to your Dad, He cannot and will not disown you.

Instead of questioning whether you are the King’s daughter, which is a settled issue, perhaps better questions are: why are you hiding from your Loving Father, and where do you think you can go to be away from Him?

Romans 8:38-39 says ‘Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.’ And Psalm 139:7 says ‘Where can I go from your Spirit?’

Here is the really simple part. He is as close as a prayer of faith. Speak to the One who is pleased to call you daughter.

How’s Your God Life?

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Today I am doing a little experiment, but I want to frame it up for you:

This is not a to do list or  a report card or a syllabus for the Christian life. This is more like a doctor’s visit where you look for symptoms, pains and needs. The goal is to help you maybe take a little medicine, adjust your lifestyle, cut out or add to your diet so that you can live healthier and stronger.

I want ask you some practical questions about your God life. Why? Because if you are not careful, you will read this blog, and others’ blogs, books and ideas and get more information but not more Revelation of God.

How can that be?  Because information is not the source of the God life. There are many people who are stuffed like turkeys with biblical knowledge but have no deepening relationship with God. The Bible called them Pharisees. To know the deep things of God, we are to ask, seek, knock for the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We search for truth as though we are looking for treasures. And the good news is, God promises that we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole hearts.

In short, we are talking about a willing spirit. Willing to know God. Willing to look for Him.  Willing to be open to His leading. Only the life of God produces God life. David said in Psalm 51, “Lord grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” David knew that God was worthy of the search and that finding more of God helped him to do his daily life in a sustained, supernatural way.

So here are some questions to ponder and answer. (Not just read and blow past…)

  1. On a regular basis do I set aside time to talk to God in a purposeful way, like I would to any person of importance? (Meaning not just in the shower, on the toilet, during drive time, or in a crisis)
  2. Do I have a piece of scripture that I am currently chewing on,thinking about, memorizing, believing?
  3. Do I purposely try to interrupt my life with the supernatural by listening to music that propels me heavenward, going for a walk and noticing God’s beauty, talking to a friend about God truths?

Okay this is enough prodding for today.  It isn’t a test to pass or fail, praise or condemn. . . . It is a doctor’s diagnosis.  Are you spiritually anemic? Then ask, seek, knock.  Bang on the doors of heaven.