Posts

Posted on

Eternity In Our Hearts

Dear sister,

This week I started reading Ecclesiastes. It is an odd book. The theme that Solomon seems to be driving home is that everything is meaningless. It doesn’t sound like a particularly biblical message, does it?

Ecclesiastes is about a man who had everything the world had to offer. Solomon even says, “And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure” (2: 9, 10). He had fame, honor, great riches, and every pleasure known to man. Yet, he says, “All is vanity.”

Today we see the heart of man pursuing satisfaction in similar things—fame, fortune, sex and every pleasure imaginable—there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But Solomon confirms from experience that even all of this does not satisfy the longings of the human heart. Moreover, Solomon seems to be asking, “What is the point of my toil? Why am I working so hard?” He acknowledges that earthly rewards are temporary and our desires are never fully met.

Maybe you’re asking the same question. You think, “I wake up; I go to work; I come home; I eat, drink and sleep; and the next day I do it all over again.” Perhaps you, like me, are looking for meaning in the mundane and purpose in the repetitive. We enjoy the fruits of our labor but not without sometimes making them our idols. We experience pleasure but it never lasts. So what is the point?

The funny thing about the apparent vanity of life is that this is how God made it. Yes, the world we live in is broken and not how God created it to be, but he did establish seven days that would repeat every week, and he established morning and night, a cycle earth would complete daily. He intended for man to work six out of those seven days every week. We are to honor the Sabbath weekly, etc.

So how does Solomon answer our question? In chapter 3 Solomon says, “He [God] has put eternity into man’s heart” (v. 11). We weren’t created for the temporary and fleeting. Our hearts were made for eternity, to live in perfect communion with God. Consequently, the things we experience on earth will never satisfy our hearts. We are longing for something much greater than this world will ever be able to offer. So let us seek to honor God by living for eternity in the every day.

Yearning with you,

Kayla

Posted on

Paper, Stone, and Flesh

Dearest sister,

My 2-year-old daughter just learned how much she enjoys cutting with scissors. She cuts tiny pieces that transform our Okinawan home to a snow-covered lair. Since this month is February, I hope to help her learn to cut out hearts, a seemingly easy thing to do. This way our Valentines can be filled with pink, red, and white hearts instead of snow capped tables. I have to be honest with you, this month’s theme is the heart and I would rather simply make paper hearts than look at my own.
What is the heart? The heart is the central core and drive of our lives intellectually (it involves the mind), affectionately (it shapes the soul), and totally (it provides the energy for living. The Bible is pretty consistent with what should control our heart. God the Father declares to Moses in Deuteronomy 6:4-6 that His people are to love the Lord their God with all their heart and teach this to their children each day. Jesus commands this again in the New Testament in Matthew 22:37. Easy, right? Just love the Lord with all our hearts and we will be so affected by this that we then love our neighbors with this love. Yet, even though I know the answer, I can’t do it! Why? Jeremiah 17:9-10 declares that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” My heart, all of it, is diseased from the get go. Not only that, but it deceives me…and then the Lord gives me what I deserve from this diseased heart. How many times as women are we told to go with our heart or how we feel rather than loving the Lord and our neighbor? This can be dangerous advice when our heart is sick.

But how can my diseased heart be healed? Deuteronomy 30:6 says, “and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Look at who starts this process? God. And here: “I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart (Jer 24:7 I). And one more: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ez 36:26). This news makes my affectionate heart swell! God covenants to give us a new heart out of His grace and mercy! How? Jesus! God does this through the work of Jesus for me and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in me. He illumines my mind through the truth of the gospel, frees my enslaved will from its bondage to sin, cleanses my affections by His grace, and motivates me inwardly to live for Him by rewriting His law into my heart so that I begin to love what He loves. The Bible calls this being “born from above.” How amazing is that! It is good news. But even as a believer my heart is still prone to wander.

This is the hardest part for me. Positionally, I have a pure heart, I am sinless because of Christ. My sins are forgiven! Yet practically I still sin because I live in a fallen world and am not yet in my glorified body. So scripture says I must guard my heart. Guard it from things that easily draw me astray. That can be different for you and me as our sin snares vary. We also need to keep our hearts healthy by reading and memorizing the Word, going to church, and fellowshipping with believers. And pray. Pray that the Lord will keep your heart pure and from the evil one. Oh sweet sister, I fall away so easily. I forget to guard my heart and feed it a good diet. I want my own desires and not the Lord’s. Then conviction comes when I read the word and see that I have taken my new heart for granted. Yet this conviction is what drives me to the cross yet again. To be reminded that positionally my heart is righteous, pure, and like Christ’s. Not because I deserve it, but because of what Christ has done. I am humbled and weep at what I have settled for rather than the new heart I have. How about you?

So yes, we will cut paper hearts and scatter them around, but I pray that I will remember to look at my own heart as well and bow down and beg the Lord to guard it.

Faithfully, Your sister in Christ,

Colleen

Posted on

Loved By God

Dear sister,

I know how you feel, I really do. No matter how hard you try to fill your deep need for approval, nothing really ‘does it’ for you. All of us sisters have been gathered ‘round this month, chatting about our imperfections and need for grace. I feel that vast pit in my soul that cries out for love, just like you do. Isn’t that what drives our image obsessions? Don’t you want someone to affirm your beauty, worth, and loveable-ness? Well, I’m grabbing your hand and we’re doing a happy-dance together, because you ARE loved! I am loved! Loved with purpose, intention, passion, and complete abandon.

Why is it that the knowledge of Christ’s sacrificial love often does not penetrate our hearts and give us rest from striving for perfection? Why do we, why do I, feel the constant compulsion to prove our worth and value in every other way than in the proven love of Christ? This question has haunted me over the years, as I’ve wrestled with the vast expanse between my knowledge of God’s love and deep belief and experience of that love. Like a windshield wiped clean in the fog, I’m starting to get a clearer picture of the mystery I’ve faced. To be frank, I’ve resisted His love. I’ve chosen to go to so many broken cisterns, and God will not compete for affection.

For My people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned Me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that cannot hold water. – Jeremiah 2:13

When we persistently chose other gods, He allows it (Romans 1). But even in giving us over to our sin, His purpose is to win us back again. God is a relentless lover, and will not give up on us. We see this clearly in the Old Testament, as Hosea the prophet is asked by God to marry the prostitute Gomer. We are just as unfaithful, sweet sisters. Every time we run to another ‘god’ for affection, approval, and worth, we turn away from God. Look at Hosea 2:6-8:

Therefore, this is what I will do: I will block her way with thorns; I will enclose her with a wall, so that she cannot find her paths. She will pursue her lovers but not catch them; she will seek them but not find them. Then she will think, “I will go back to my former husband, for then it was better for me than now.” She does not recognize that it is I who gave her the grain, the new wine, and the oil. I lavished silver and gold on her, which they used for Baal.

When I first read this passage, I remember being very upset that God would do such a thing, but it is true compassion that He allows the other ‘gods’ we worship to disappoint us. Because they will, sister. Perhaps you, too, find everyday idols to be so very tempting…and this includes the high opinions of others that we often desperately crave.

We also see this in 2 Corinthians 3, as Paul contrasts the Old and New Covenants. Similarly, when we strive for the perfect image, we are living under the law, but when we live in the freedom of God’s love for us, we are transformed! Have you ever seen someone in love? She’s probably glowing in the knowledge of her Beloved’s love. You sister, can have that glow too! Read in 2 Corinthians 3: 17-18:

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Why not REST in the knowledge of God’s love? That has been so difficult for me to learn, and I finally threw up my hands and starting asking God to please. help. me. There’s nothing to feel badly about though, we’re all learning! We need to repent and move on to new life in Christ! In fact, Jesus even acknowledges this learning process in Matthew 11:29:

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

He’s been so faithful to help me. He has pried my hands off of so many silly obsessions and placed my eyes and heart squarely back on His face, his heart for me. It’s certainly been a journey, but I’m making small steps every day, every year. Sister, we can count on the promise of God’s never-failing love!

Abraham was promised a child, promised that He would be the father of many nations. In Genesis 15 we see that rather than giving Abraham the solution he wanted on the spot, God performed an ancient ritual that showed His commitment to keeping His promise to Abraham. In the midst of Abraham’s questions, God offered him what he offers us all: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

God’s love is the shield that protects us from the lie that we need to perform to win approval. God himself is the reward we crave, not the perfect appearance we are striving for. We’ll be delving into this deep ocean of love for the rest of our lives, but start the journey now. Ask God to take away the idols that require so much of you. You will never satisfy the demands you or others place on you for image-perfection. It’s time to turn in your resignation as Image Consultant and start day one as Beloved Daughter of the Most High God!

Loved by God~ your sister,

Ruth

Posted on

Reflections

My Dearest Sister,

I have a confession to make: I am a recovering perfectionist. My desire to be the absolute best I could be used to have a great hold on me and nowhere was it more evident than in my school work. I’ve always loved learning, but at some point in my college experience an obsession with being a straight-A student took over. I absolutely had to do well in school; There was no alternative. I was so determined to be the perfect student that I would spend hours upon hours studying and doing research for papers, always making sure I was impressing my teachers with what I could accomplish. Most of the time I succeeded, until one fateful poetry class broke my long-running streak. I had completed the mountains of exercises and writing assignments with as much effort as I could muster yet still only received a B.

It may not seem like a big deal to some people, but I was very disappointed at the time. Just like that, my record as a perfect student was tarnished and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to justify it with excuses, like the teacher had expected too much of us or the grading scale hadn’t been fair, but the truth is I just wasn’t a very good poet. In short, I was not perfect. This was a hard truth to accept because back then, if I looked in a mirror I didn’t just see myself; I saw a good student who was smart and always got A’s. It wasn’t until that perfect image of myself was shattered, that I realized just how much of my identity it had become.

Today when I look in a mirror, there are a host of new images to contend with: perfect wife, loving mother, crafty homemaker, good cook, helpful friend, and talented writer, just to name a few. There is a lot of pressure these days to be perfect, and the route of stay at home mom is no exception. There’s always something to improve, something at which to try harder. Sometimes it just feels like too much to handle. And do you know what? It is. You see, sister, the world has deeply and tragically lied to us. It’s told us that having a good image is a necessity for happiness. What we fail to realize is that this way of thinking is as old as sin itself. What is dwelling on one’s own importance other than the same wickedness that led Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit so they could be like God?

The truth is, our identity is not the one that matters. As the apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Beloved, this should be our heart’s cry! Once we become new creatures in Christ, our lives are no longer ours alone. We become a living vessel for Christ and no matter where we go or what we do, we represent Him. This means that instead of striving to be a perfect student, we should be a student who loves Christ. Instead of trying to be the best wife in the world we should be a wife who loves Christ. The same goes for our role as a mother, a daughter, an employee, a homemaker, or whatever other roles God has given us. And do you know, it’s ironic what happens next. When we put Christ first in our lives, we are more equipped to handle those roles than we ever were on our own.

2 Corinthians 3:18 sums it all up pretty well: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as if in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” When I look in a mirror, I want to see a woman who loves Christ, nothing else. I don’t have to be the perfect wife or mom or writer or friend, because not only is trying to maintain a perfect image exhausting, it does nothing to add to the kingdom of God. Rather, it takes away from it by turning the focus to me. The only way to turn the focus back to Him is by living my life in a way that reflects His glory, not my own.

So, sister, I have one question left for you: Who do you see when you look in the mirror?

In His Love,
~ Lauren

Posted on

God’s Very Righteousness

Dear Sisters,

Who am I? Who do people see? Who does my family see? What image does God see when He looks at me? How much of my appearance contributes to reality or a charade? I confess to my own confusion and frustration by these questions. I know what the ‘pat’ answers to the questions are—but what is the truth?

The Greek Word, eikōn “image” means that which resembles something, represents that thing—not in the sense of a coincidental resemblance, or a similarity, but an actual relation of one to the other. For instance, “And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.” Col. 1:15. Jesus is part of the God-head. In seeing Jesus, we see God.
On the contrary, appearance is simply my outward aspect. I have a tendency to confuse the importance of the two. My image in Christ should be manifestly more important than what I wear to a party or how ‘the Jones’ view my house. What does God see when He looks at me (and into me)? Thankfully, as a believer, He sees Jesus, “yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach” Col. 1:22.

But our image does not stop at simply being cleaned. Paul continues, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col. 3:1-3. So, we should keep our minds with Christ where our lives already are, and catch this—we become God’s very righteousness: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Cor. 5:21. How is that for an image? Not only have we been washed clean from our sinful filthiness, His blood covers us so thoroughly that His righteousness is imparted to us as well! Who needs that ‘little black dress’ now?!

Running with you,
Rebecca