Canaan's Rest

Dear Ones, Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I plan to clean the apartment today and tomorrow we will be going to hear Leif preach and then on to the lake for Mother’s Day dinner with family. 

Let us not be doubters, but believe what the Word says. We can ask anything in His name and He will answer us according to His perfect will. That is best, because many things we might ask for are not good for us and could bring ruin. I often ask for something and then say, “Only Lord if this is your will.” Many times, the Lord has us wait, but in the waiting it is a chance for our faith to grow. I’m sure we can all think of an instance right now that we would like changed and for the Lord to open the door, but so far nothing has happened. It is in these very things we need faith to believe that God loves us and has a purpose, even though we may never understand.

Our hope is built on the Lord, and not that we get the specific answer to prayer that we would like. Wise King Solomon said to his son in Proverbs 3:5 (Amp), “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.”

Maybe we have a loved one who lives in pain and we are praying for healing. “Lord, why don’t you answer now?” We may not understand His ways, but we pray in faith and hope. I love the story of the water-bearer who carried a pole on his shoulders with a large pot hanging from each end. One pot had a crack in it, and water dripped from it so when the water-bearer got to the house, it had only half of the water that was in the other pot. Of course, the cracked pot felt bad until shown that because of the water leaking out of his pot, there were beautiful wildflowers that grew up on the side of the path. Every day these seeds were watered, and now those flowers graced the Master’s table. We often don’t know how even our weaknesses may bring glory to the Lord.

When we are new Christians, we are grafted into the Vine which is Jesus and we become a new person. We begin to sprout, and are meant to mature and bear fruit. It doesn’t happen overnight, but gradually we receive the sunshine and rain, and changes start taking place. People around us may notice that our reactions are not the same as those of the old person we were. Then blossoms appear, and our family may notice we are caring and willing to serve others and not quick to get upset. More growth takes place, and the tree starts filling out and looking lush. This tree flowers with big white puffy flowers on the branches, that to me looks like a bridal bouquet. People walking by oh and ahh over its beauty. We might feel we are in the limelight with our new faith, but that phase doesn’t last forever. We come to realize that all glory goes to the Lord. Soon we are willing to decrease that He may increase. That is not always easy but the more we come to love the Lord, the more we realize it is not about us, but is all about Him.

The white flowery puffs give way to green leaves that blend together, appearing as one and providing shade for all who live here. It is a lesson to me as I see the phases of the tree before me, that I want to be continually growing in the Lord, welcoming new believers and blending into the Body of Christ, that we may become one beautiful tree that welcomes others to rest in its shade. Jesus said in John 15:5, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.”

It’s good to have some songs and Scripture verses committed to memory as they will be right there when we need them the most. The beloved disciple John’s said in I John 2:2, “And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then you will be ready for Him when He appears, ready to receive Him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when He arrives.”

We have work to do as we wait for His coming but we want to be prepared. None of us knows what our personal future may hold and who in our family may go first. My childhood girlfriends and I got together many times in years past but back then we had no knowledge of what the future would hold. We didn’t know who would leave this world first but two of them are now in glory. Recently a joyful friend from our present Bible study class shared how ready she is to leave our world and be at home with the Lord. Until our Homecoming Day comes for each of us, may we ask for His guidance and strength for each day and that we would fall deeper into love with the Lord.

Maybe we wake in the night and think of a presentation we have to give, and we start mulling over feelings of failure. What if we get questions we can’t answer, etc.? Soon we get anxious, and God is left out of our thoughts. How much better if we are aware of the Lord’s presence, ask for His wisdom and guidance, and thank Him that He will go before us and prepare the way!

We hear a lot about mindfulness today, and we need to be aware of what is happening in the moment. That means we pause, become still, listen and we are present. What helps us do this so we are more conscious of God’s presence with us?  First of all, we can pray before we even get out of our bed in the morning. Thank the Lord for the night and that He will be with us during the day. Then during the day, we can have conversations with Him as we drive to work, and any time during the day. We just lift short prayers, asking Him to direct our thinking even as we work. When we are home, we can meditate on Scripture and ruminate on what we read. Then as we reflect on it, ask the Lord to help us respond to it by seeking to do His will. He will tell us what we need to do next and give us power to carry it out.

Let us understand that God is not just wanting to deal with wrongs we have done, but wants to help us with what is really going on underneath in our thoughts, feelings and attitude. We may say we forgive someone, yet wish something terrible would happen to them to teach them a lesson, rather than praying for them to find the Lord. Our words often say one thing, but our thoughts and feelings may be those of judgment and even hate.

John Ortberg writes some helpful things that can help set us free to live in forgiveness, and begins by telling us to make a list of those we have hurt in an emotional sense, spiritually, physically or financially. Then we ask, how can God help us repair the damage so bitterness doesn’t grow in our own heart. Of course, we would rather make the list of those who have hurt us! But we are responsible only for ourselves and our hurtful words, etc. and must be willing to make things right, as we try to see our behavior through the eyes of the other. It helps to follow through by naming what we did, and give decisional forgiveness that agrees to not get even or hold their mistakes against them. When we put ourself in their place, we can better understand the situation from their perspective. Then Ortberg suggests offering forgiveness as a gift from the heart, for they are another person for whom Jesus died. In the long run, we may even see this situation helped us grow.

Woman have a unique role as a helpmate, but are also meant to display the glory of God. A woman Is a gift to her husband, and he is to protect, love, and provide for her. A wife is to submit to her hubby (not to all men). To submit is to lower self to make more for someone else. As a wife, we are to be our husband’s number one encourager. He needs our respect, and what we say has great power. When Joby preaches, he doesn’t ask the elders or parishioners how he did, but he said most important are the words his wife says. We don’t realize how much our words impact our husbands: we are either a lift to him, bringing encouragement, or a lid that holds him back.

Hopefully, our husbands can trust in us and that we are supportive, and not one to expose all of their weaknesses. We are not to be nagging or think our husbands should be the answer to all our insecurities. We are not to compare ourselves with other women, and it doesn’t matter what is important in the eyes of the world like certain labels, a certain look, or having the latest things. We are to rest in God’s finished work in us, for our security is in the Lord, not in comparisons with others.

For both husbands and wives, we are not to keep score, but to forgive again and again. Love never quits and says it is not all about me, but to walk the way of His love that is patient, kind and loving.

James learned in ministry how compassion breaks down walls and opens hearts towards those who may not think exactly like we do; and we can rejoice in the Lord together without seeing eye-to-eye on everything. Billy Graham told him to spend time with people he had been taught to avoid. And in doing so, he has learned much. He said God can sometimes mold us better through even our enemies who may be harsh and unkind; but we must be willing to take it to the Lord, for it’s His love that can lift us above barriers. James had times when the Lord supernaturally healed him of two masses in his chest. Up until that time, he had not given thought to healing. Later he prayed for his daughter who had asthma for years and she was also healed. But years later she died of throat cancer, and he came to know how God is still all loving even when he doesn’t do what we would desire.

Let us not judge others, but love them into the kingdom. If you want to read what God’s wondrous love can do, I recommend reading Living Amazed by James Robinson.

Challenge for today: Show God’s love to those around you today, and if given the chance, tell them of Jesus.
Blessings on your day and prayers and love, Judy