the legs of men

Psalm 147:10 & 11

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,

nor his delight in the legs of man;

the Lord delights in those who fear him,

who put their hope in his unfailing love.

i really don't have much time this morning.

which is indicative of how this morning has gone.

actually, how every morning this week has gone.

not that their all that bad...more disrupted.

my quiet times with the Lord have been short and interrupted.

repeatedly.

this morning as i read i came across these two verses 

and realized i've read them before in the last few weeks.

and, maybe, this is saying something.

because i literally journaled that today will be a day when i'll be offering sacrifices of praise.

it's easy to praise the Lord for all that is good when everything seems to be going right.

when the sun is shining and the birds are singing...

when the planets and stars are all aligned and the children do what they are supposed to without being asked.

this is what i consider to be the "strength of the horse" and the "legs of man".

those things that we offer up when we are in The Zone.

but then there are days when the clouds roll in,

the rain comes down,

the children are being lazy,

and we are off kilter.

nothing seems to be going right.

the computer is running slow.

the to-do list is a mile long and the dishwasher has broken.

we've run out of gas in our car and the smallest child gets out of school in five minutes

but we're at the other school talking to the principal about a problem with the oldest child.

i am having one of those days.

and it's sunday.

always on sunday.

but...

(i LOVE the 'but' because it's about Jesus)

the realization is slowly dawning that my God is bigger than all those things.

that in the midst of the difficulties He wants me to stop and look up.

to see Him, to thank Him, to praise Him in the midst of all that.

to delight in Him is to wait a moment,

to remember what He's done and to say thank you for it.

it's to remember that His plans, ways and thoughts are immensely bigger than mine.

that He delights in ME when i see that my husband noticed the windows down on my car and puts them up for me and i appreciate him for it instead of belittling myself for forgetting.

He delights in ME when i bring my child in close, kiss them on the cheek and tell them i love them deeply despite the chores not being done.

He delights in ME when i raise my voice in praise to Him even when i feel like i'm drowning in the long list of things that need to be done but aren't because small crises pull me away from it.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,

so that Christ's power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ's sake, 

I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.

For when I am weak, then I am strong.

it's an amazing thing that happens when we fall at the feet of our Jesus

with tears and whispers of insufficiency.

a cry for mercy and help.

for when we know that He loves us we know that when He says He'll never leave us nor forsake us in the things we are struggling with.

and now i must go eat breakfast.

may the God of the universe be found in your heart today.

xo,

~ h

the flawless word

proverbs 30: 5 & 6

Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

this morning when i opened my Bible this is the scripture that was right there.

it jumped out at me.

every word of God is flawless.

flawless.

there is nothing wrong with it, the word of God.

all day this has turned over and over in my head.

but i just had a thought.

God spoke the world and all that is on it, above it, around it...all of it into existence.

genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created...

then over and over again

"And God said..."

and it came into being.

john 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word,

and he Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made;

without him nothing was made that has been made.

according to the Bible God made everything from the beginning.
and by Jesus existence it is held together.

psalm 139:13

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

are you connecting my dots?

what i'm trying to lay out here is that when God creates it is spoken in words.

he spoke you and i and all that is made into being.

every single bit of us tangible and intangible by touch

(that is, our physical bodies, our personalties, etc.)

he spoke into me the love of dancing, the love of quilting,

gardening, dogs (!!), going fast, a business owner.

he made me intelligent, quick witted, kind and loving.

what did he speak into you??

so, if he spoke you into being...

then what he said when he was done was,

"it is good."

seriously.

not only is it good.

but it's intentional.

you were created the way you are intentionally.

and so was i.

as a result i think i can confidently say that God made me intentionally and it is a good thing.

i was made to be exactly who i am meant to be.

the world that is messed up and broken continuously assaults this idea.

from the time we are born we are assaulted externally and internally.

the external messages we receive can be as close as our own homes

or as far as messages from people we don't even know.

they can be blatant (example: you are stupid!) 

or subtle (example: messages about what is pretty through commercials).

and we take these to be truth instead of what God says about us.

proverbs 30:5 & 6

Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you

and prove you a liar.

when i first read this i thought, "what do these two verses have to do with each other?"

they are set right next to each other...there is a space before and a space after.

which indicated to me that they were intentionally put together.

which means it's important.

and then i realized something really important.

something i hadn't thought of before.

God said of you, "it is good."

and the world says, "you are stupid."

we believe the world.

then we say of ourselves, "i am stupid."

my friend...beloved of God...

you have just added to the words of God.

in the Christian world it is often said, "do not add to the words of God."
and i've always interpreted that to mean legalism.
the lists of do's and don'ts that corral us into a controlled human do-ing (instead of being).
it's also applied to Christian cults...that have changed what God has said.

and both of these things are true.

but if we really look at it in a different way we can be just as guilty of adding to the words of God in a more insidious way.

these words destroy the beautiful creature God has made.
they also destroy those around us.
for what we think of ourselves is then put onto other people.

proverbs 30:5 & 6

Every word of God is flawless;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

or he will rebuke you

and prove you a liar.

we look at rebuking as harsh, mean, unloving.

but in the context of a loving creator God, rebuking is setting the record straight.

he points out to us that our thinking, attitudes, behaviors are what is actually harsh, mean and unloving.

translation:

you are lying to yourself and the world around you.

and, if i may be so bold...

stop it.

just, stop it right now.

these words that you listen to break his heart.

because satan has whispered lies into your ears.
you have listened to them and believed them and lied to yourself.
honestly, it's hard to hear the words, "beloved, you are a liar."
speaking untruths about ourselves does not reflect the beauty of Christ.
it speaks only the ugliness of satan.

one of the very first scriptures i learned when i became a Christian is

1 james 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.

and did you know that hebrews 4:12 is to help us figure out 1 james 1:9?

For the word of God is living and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, 

it penetrates to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow;

it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

and that will lead us back to psalm 139:22 & 23:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

here's what i've learned...
our thoughts (both of mind and heart) are hidden within the dark recesses of our bodies.
we stew on them, meditate of them and believe them.
but once we speak them out loud in confession to the Lord, to Jesus,
they lose the power they held over us.

Lord Jesus,
i confess that i feel inadequate in what i put my hands to.
that i will fail or not meet other people's approval.
self-doubt follows me around like a nagging wife
controlling my choices and opinions of myself.
free me!
i'm desperate for freedom!
show me that the strong tower of your word is safety, comfort and rest.
it is a place where i am accepted and my failures are even embraced.
thank you for loving me.
thank you for healing my bleeding.
thank you for honoring me as i secretly reach out to touch your robe.

a thought on honor

john 5:19

"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

back to Risen.

(i'm really hoping you don't get sick of me saying that!)

peter says to clavius (sp? he's the roman tribune tasked with finding Jesus' body),

"We are followers.  We follow."

Jesus does what the He sees the Father doing.

and we are to follow Jesus.

and do what we see Jesus doing.

1 corinthians 11:1

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

(for those that don't know, that's paul speaking there.)

i think that what paul is saying is that he is seeking hard after Christ.

and that in Christ there is no distinction between race, religion or gender.

BUT,

whatever we do, we "seek the good of many so that they may be saved."

paul didn't do what he did for his own glory but for the glory of God.

following paul as he followed Christ means that until we are able to follow Christ directly we are meant to follow his lead.

make sense?

john 5:22 & 23

"Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

which leads me to the next bit.

since we're doing all this following.

i think, to follow well, we need to go back...to exodus.

to the ten commandments specifically.

(one little tid-bit...i'm working with my new international version bible and biblehub.com for references.  if i'm off please feel free to comment with either better references or more specific information.  kindly, of course.  always kindly...)

the fifth commandment says:

Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

john 5:23 talks about honoring the Son and in doing so we honor the Father...but if we don't honor the Son then we don't honor the Father either.

exodus 20:12

"But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.'"

people...trust and honor are tightly woven together.

you can not honor someone you do not trust.

nor can someone honor you if they do not trust you.

but why do we struggle to trust God?  He is all that He says He is.

not just holy and righteous...

but good, kind and just.

the simple fact remains that Jesus trusted the Father implicitly and so He honored the Father by obeying no matter how absurd or foolish.

Jesus was able to trust the Father because He KNEW Him.

He knew Him to be good.

to be kind.

to be just.

relationship.

it's all based on relationship.

here's a list of what makes up a relationship

(i made up this list...just so you know):

- exchanging of ideas and thoughts

- honesty and truth: saying out loud all that is within

- being touched and touching: physically but spiritually too

- seeing and being seen: recognizing that person not necessarily by their appearance alone but their attitudes/behaviors, etc

- hearing and being heard: not just their voice but hearing what they're saying underneath the words

- taste: obviously we can't EAT another person but a relationship with them leaves us wanting more

honoring the other person means you value them as a person.

honoring preserves a relationship and communicates that you trust them.

we obey because we trust and because we trust we want to honor.

it's really that simple.

it's now past my bedtime.

i pray that we all start trusting God more.

and when the opportunities arise for that to be challenged that our actions match our beliefs.

xo,

~ h

(just a side note: i understand, while looking at this, that some might call into question issues of abuse that use some if not all of the elements i've shared.  everything that i wrote about is based on mutual love and trust...from God to human, then human to human.  abuse and the lies that come with it use parts of healthy relationships to disguise what it's really there for...which is to destroy the lives of all involved in abuse.  we can all, due to inherent sin (the word to describe anything that tears us away from God), be prone to abuse in all its various forms.  if you think that you are an abuser or are involved in an abusive relationship please reach out for help!  there are many ways to get the help you need to live out the life God has marked out for you.)

the large haul

one of my very favorite Bible stories of all time is the story of peter when he realizes that Jesus is on the shore and had commanded them to throw their net over the right side of the boat.

this was after he had denied Jesus three times, right before He was crucified.

i feel the story of peter fishing takes its roots in his denial of Christ.

Jesus predicted it.

peter did it.

and then, Jesus dies.

imagine if you were peter.

imagine if you were any of the disciples.

but peter in particular...

the shame of denying his lord and then thinking that there was no way to even say, "I'm sorry."

i bet he was thinking, wishing, hoping for a second chance.

then fast forward to the shore of the sea of galilee. 

this morning as D and i chatted over this bit of scripture the word 'default' kept coming up.

what do you do when everything is different and yet nothing has changed?

your default.

until you figure out the next thing.

and this is what peter and his friends did.

their default.

they went fishing.

taking a wee bit of a detour right here...

have you seen Risen yet?

if not, you so should.

it's about the resurrection but from the point of view of the roman tribune who was tasked with finding the body of Jesus.

and guess where the search takes him?

you guessed it...to the shore of the sea of galilee.

(see...i told you i was a wee bit of a detour...and i didn't give much of the movie away either.

i promise.

it's really THAT good.)

now that we're back to where i left off...

this fishing scene is so good...

you can see them relishing in being together doing what they've always done.

the exhausting work of throwing, rowing, pulling (wash, rinse, repeat)...

and since they hadn't done it in quite some time i bet it was refreshing to be at it again.

have you ever done that?

something that your body knows so well that you don't even need to think about it.

auto-pilot.

and at the end of the night.

there was nothing.

in the dawn tinged light of the morning there's a voice from the shore,

"friends, haven't you any fish?"

"no," they answered.

he said, "throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some."

amazingly enough they actually do it!

and that is when john realizes that it was Jesus on the shore.

peter...good old peter.

he wraps his robe about him, jumps into the water, and runs to Jesus.

my heart always warms at this.

i've tried so many times to wrap words around the emotion i feel.

and yet they slip away...like fish too little for the net.

to hear His voice!

to touch His skin!

to feel the delight in His eyes!!

my heart swells with delight for Peter.

and to know the depths of the forgiveness only Christ gives...

*deep sigh*

this, my friends, i find deeply satisfying.

but, there's something else.

something new.

something i realized last night...

imagine throwing that net all night.

only to catch nothing.

have you ever had days, weeks, months or even years like that?

all it feels is work, work, work...

set your face like flint...

don't give up...don't give in...fight...fight...fight.

but it's tiring.

it feels life-draining.

and you wonder,

"is this even worth it?"

proverbs 13:12a

hope deferred makes the heart sick

there is story after story of people in the Bible who have done just that.

they sought the Lord.

they did what they were supposed to.

and yet none of it was enough.

and then...something changes...something happens.

and Jesus cries out from the shore,

"throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some."

proverbs 13:12b

but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

could it possibly be that Jesus isn't in our defaults?

that our defaults are comfortable.

here's a thought...one that just came to mind...

for three'ish years they followed Him.

day after day seeing and doing some pretty amazing stuff.

after He dies and rises again He tells the ladies to tell the disciples, "go to galilee".

so off they go, obedient.

and when they get there...there's no Jesus...but there's a boat.

now, i'm not saying that our defaults are wrong, or sinful, or even leading us away from Christ.

quite the opposite actually...because if you really look at it closely He actually LED them to that boat.

i'm thinking it might've been a fantastic object lesson.

do your default...nothing happens.

do what Jesus says and you get the largest haul of your life!

but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life!!

so.  amazing.

Jesus is so amazing.

to clarify...i'm not saying do what Jesus says so you get stuff (or money, or fame, etc).

what i'm saying is that when we obey Jesus will confirm it.

we are, sadly, very temporal needy creatures so He often helps us along with actual things.

He is so wonderfully gracious that way!

God has made us to be fishers of people.

for myself, i am often afraid of what that may mean.

so i stand in my boat thinking, "but...what will happen if i throw my net on the right side?"

then i worry it to death.

it's sad.

and pathetic, really.

but sometimes i get it right.

and to feel the Lords approval...it's like sun on my face.

but better.

oh so much better.

makes me want to obey more and more.

and hence this blog.

right...super long now.

please know...i'm not a theologian.

it's just me, my Bible, a journal and the Holy Spirit.

sometimes i run it by D (my husband who was known as big 'd' growing up)...

if there's something you're not sure of or you think i'm just flat wrong...

please be kind.

there's no need to be rude or mean or even a know-it-all.

this is my meagre way of sorting out what he's saying to me.

and now it's time for bed.

may the Lord bless you and keep you.

xo,

~ h