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Freedom in God’s Will

My dearest sister,

Do you ever fret about which school to go to, which job to take or what house to buy? Do you worry that if you choose one path over another that you’ll miss out on what God had planned for you if you had chosen differently? Are you waiting for signs to appear and peace to befall you before you make a decision? I have been there, dear sister, and I know that it is a difficult place to be. For the Christian, decision making can often be confining and make you feel like you’re walking on a tight rope because we are doing our best to follow God’s will for our lives. We don’t know what God’s will is for our lives when it comes to what school to go to, what career to choose, what man to marry or what house to buy or how many kids to have. This is why we (or at least I) often feel constrained when faced with a choice and always fearful of making the wrong decision. 

I struggled for days and possibly weeks to decide whether I would go to Stetson University or Florida State. I prayed. I weighed the pros and cons of each. And then I prayed some more. One day I would lead toward Stetson, the next I would want to go to FSU. I continued praying, wondering if God was ever going to “tell” me what school to go to. Still, after more praying and weighing of both options, I didn’t feel “God leading” me one way or the other. One day my dad told me that I had until the end of the day to make a decision. Yikes! The prospect of making such a decision in a matter of hours was not welcomed but by the end of the day I had decided to go to FSU. The decision had been made and there was no more going back. 

Recently, I read a book on discerning God’s will and it has completely liberated me from this sort of experience in decision making. It is called Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung. Though it is geared toward younger people the principles he lays out in his book can be used by everyone and applied in every stage of life. In short the book explains that we are not meant to know what God’s hidden will for our lives is. All we can know for certain regarding His will is what He has laid out in Scripture. God does not expect us to know where He is taking us before we get there. He doesn’t expect us to know that we need to go to this school or buy this house in order to accomplish His will for our lives. More than that, He doesn’t plan to tell us in advance, before we make life-changing decisions. 

So what can we do if God isn’t going to be putting up big red blinking arrows in the sky for us to happily follow along our way? We must search the Scriptures. There we will find the principles needed to make every decision we will ever be faced with. We must use these principles, check our motives, and finally ask God to grant us wisdom. And then we make the decision. We don’t wait for signs. We could end up waiting a long time and never do anything! What’s more, if we are looking for a sign are we really trusting God? If God “tells” us, “Yes, you must go to school here or buy that house” are we taking risks for Christ? Does not God desire us to put our trust in Him unreservedly?

So dear one, dig out the principles of decision making found in God’s word that He has given to us. Pray for wisdom and just do something! God’s will is not a tight rope as we often imagine it to be. But know that there is freedom in Christ! Freedom to obey His word, freedom to trust Him and freedom to make decisions without lying fleece on the ground. So stop living in fear that you are “missing out” on God’s will for your life if you make a decision without signs or visions or that supernatural peace that we often talk about. The only way to miss out on God’s will for your life is to not do anything at all! 

Your liberated sister,

Kayla

KBM

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Jesus Wept ~ John 11:35

Do Christians grieve?

Yes, Dear One, Christians grieve.  Oh, I see what you are asking.  Why, then, so little sobbing and so much joy at a Christian funeral?

One would naturally come to that conclusion when a congregation smiles as a fellow member is said to have gone home to be with the Lord.

Christian memorial services and funerals are truly joyous events, for all believers are unified around the throne of God- some in spirit, some still in the body, and we know that we shall all see each other again.

 

 

23Nevertheless I am still with you, You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.

Psalm 73:23-24

However, Christians do not lose their normal emotions when they are born again and, while here on earth, Christians do still feel the pangs of pain and death, hurt and loss, misery and depression, sadness and inner turmoil, just as anyone else.  The human condition is not eradicated when we are given the faith to believe that God has chosen us, has forgiven us, and has destined us to be His forever. In the face of earthly affliction and misery, we just know that there is something so much better awaiting us—in Heaven with Him eternally!

27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;

neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

John 10:27-28

The Believer trusts that God is sovereign. God controls all things—the course of the stars and planets, the fur growth on little rabbits, the ups and downs of the stock market, and each beat of the heart of every person in the world.  His omniscience and omnipotence, His eternity and infinity, His power and might are astoundingly constant.  God never changes and He remains the Creator and the Sustainer of life.  When a person worships this magnificent God, even the losses and hits in life are bearable, pointing us to His greater purpose.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are the called according to His purpose.

 

 (Romans 8:28)

Why should we not grieve when the Bible tells us that Jesus wept when His friend, Lazarus, died?  We know this from the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept.  (John 11:35) This may be the shortest verse in the entire bible, but it makes powerful impact on us.

To begin with, Dear One, Jesus grieved the death of His friend because Jesus was fully human, as well as fully God.   He was overwhelmed to sobs with compassion. He felt the weight of the sorrow of Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus.

Jesus knew that He would bring Lazarus back to life again—in order to glorify God.  He also knew that He, Himself, would experience death, as any man, and, on the third day, rise from the dead. But, unlike Lazarus who would experience death again, Jesus would be risen from His earthly tomb, be seen by hundreds, ascend with His glorified body, and sit at the right hand of His Father in heaven, and return again to judge the living and the dead, as our Creed says.

Which brings me to a second aspect of the verse, Jesus wept.  Jesus cries because man is sinful and all creation pays the price of sin.  Everything about us:  our health, our house, our family, our marriage, our work, our daily routines and everything we forget and take for granted—are under attack, because of the Fall of Man.  We grieve at illness.  We grieve at job loss. We grieve at divorce. We grieve at calamity.  We grieve even when a pet dies.

 

Believe me, when I read the prayer requests from my home church I am stunned at all the hardship and troubles that surround our beloved congregation!  I grieve alongside each one of my Brothers and Sisters making their unique prayer requests known.  Just imagine all the suffering of the world!

 

This is what Jesus is also grieving, and we, Believers, grieve the same, crying out to God, How long, Lord, how long?

One last thought on the grief of Jesus as He wept.

Jesus grieved the lost, the perishing, those who would remain under the wrath of God because of their unbelief.  No matter what Jesus told His own people about Himself as the Messiah, no matter how many times He spoke with authority in the temple, no matter how many miracles He performed, and how many people He restored to life from death—the people refused to believe that Jesus is the Son of God come into the world as Savior and Redeemer.

The people were lamenting the death of Lazarus and figured that this was the end for him.  They had forgotten about the Resurrection of the Body and, yes, Lazarus would rise again to live forever.

So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

I Corinthians 15: 54

Oh, Dear Sister, Christians do grieve, especially for the unbeliever.

Is your heart burdened for someone who refuses to know Jesus Christ?  Mine is.  Pray with me, pray hard, and then, pray some more.  We are to pray unceasingly for that person, storm the very gates of Heaven with our prayers, and then rest on the God’s glorious grace on us and His perfect and sovereign will.

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.  Lamentations 3:25-26

Christian grief is a real emotion that keeps our heart pounding in rhythm with the heart of Christ.  Do not be afraid of your grief.  If Jesus wept, so should we.  Depend on His trustworthy word:  Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Matthew 5:4

By Grace and Faith alone,

Mimi

 

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Radical Freedom

Sister,

“Choose Freedom!”  I said to my fifteen-month-old daughter Annabelle as she once again reached out to play with the computer cords.  I had already begun training her not to grab the cords in the house, as they can be dangerous if pulled and yanked.  She looked back at me slyly as her chubby fingers barely grazed the cords.  “No Annabelle,” I said to her quietly.  She continued to stare me down while carefully caressing the cords.  I could see her little mind wrestling between her perceived freedom of touching and grabbing everything she desired, and the real freedom of obeying her mom.

Aren’t we all like this?  We truly think that freedom is doing whatever we want when we want.  But in fact, that is anarchy and chaos.  If everyone does what is right in their own eyes, societal orders collapse and individual freedoms soon follow.

So, how can we choose freedom?  Freedom implies that we are a slave to something.  One thing all of humanity has in common is that we are a slave to sin.  No matter what country you are from, no matter who your parents are, no matter what age or maturity level you have obtained, you are a slave to sin.  The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 6:23a).  Annabelle knew she was not allowed to touch the cords, yet she was compelled to touch them because she is a sinner.  Me too!  I know I should be patient with her and my husband but how quickly I choose impatience and anger.  The Bible also says that the wages, or cost of this sin (disobedience to God), is death.  DEATH.  Death is no joking matter.  Scripture describes death as a real place, hell.  Hell is where God pours his wrath down on sinners.  There is fire, gnashing of teeth, and separation from all that is good and right, God.  We are a slave to THIS!  THIS sin that God will punish in eternal hell.  Stop and sit on this fact for a bit.  The longer you think about how completely hopeless, painful, and abhorrent God’s wrath in hell is, the sweeter the freedom of Christ will be to you.

The rest of Romans 6:23 says, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  He died for us when we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).  When believer’s eyes are opened to the utter slavery of their sin and the freedom that came through faith in Christ, our joy abounds!  We have been set free from the ultimate penalty of sin and have the ultimate freedom of heaven!  I can hear you now, “but I still sin!”  “I still want to touch the cords!”  “I am still impatient!”  Yes, we still have our moments of desiring perceived freedom, but real freedom is walking in the righteousness that Christ has already given us.

So sweet sister, no matter where you are in life, there is freedom for you.  If you have not yet put your trust in Jesus, you can have the freedom from the ultimate penalty of sin.  Trust that He paid the price for your sin by dying on the cross and rising again!  He took on your filthy sin and put His righteousness on you instead!  What an amazing gift of freedom!  And fellow sister in Christ, you are free to walk in His righteousness!  Your righteousness is not based on what you do or don’t do.  Your freedom does not rely on your good or bad works, it relies on Christ alone!  So be radically free!  This gospel is for you!  There is freedom in obeying Christ!

~Colleen

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Unlikely Grace

My Dearest Sister,

The topic this month holds a special place in all of our hearts; for without God’s amazing grace you and I would still be lost in our wretched sinful selves, without hope!  Praise God for His mercy and love which He has so graciously lavished upon us and has allowed us to be called “His children”!!! Praise Him, Praise Him that it is so by no merit of our own!!!

My heart’s desire in writing you this letter is to share with you a time when God’s grace came to me and my family in an unexpected even unlikely manner.  It was such a small thing in the grand scheme of things as they say.  The grand scheme, if you will, was my daughter’s life long battle with seizures.  She was 14 at the time and had just undergone brain surgery where a neurosurgeon severed the right hemisphere of her brain from the left hemisphere.  The journey our family traveled to that moment was strenuous and filled with many tears.  Just when it seemed things would calm down to a point where growth could take place those nasty seizures would show their ugly head again to disrupt any progress that had been made in our daughter’s life.

Don’t get me wrong, our path was definitely sprinkled with joy as well along the way.  However, most days held a quality of oppressive uncertainty to it.  Eventually we made it to a group of Dr.’s that could see the problem and offered a solution that promised (albeit a very slim promise) an end to her besetting seizures.  Test upon test led her to an operating room where for six hours we heard very little….and then finally: all went well, she is stable, the permanent separation was complete.

In the ICU we were told the next 24 hours of her recovery would be critical to the outcome of the surgery: she could reject what just took place, she could start to seize again, she could bleed out in her brain causing irreparable damage, she might not wake up for days…the list went on.  It was late in the day when we  began to see signs of her waking up, but no one wanted to rejoice for after all that little bit of hope might be fleeting!  All the emotions that had been set aside in the making of the decisions that brought us there to that moment seemed to well up and over flow all at once, uncontrollably we wept.  Then, in came the nurse who would be caring for her through the night.  I cannot even recall her face although when she smiled I got the sense that something unforgettable was about to happen. She said “Hello, my name is Grace….” I do not even recall anything else she said!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not one to read too much into ordinary things, nor am I someone that reads between the lines.  However, at that particular moment I knew without a doubt that God used this sweet nurse’s name to speak peace into my heart when my heart was tempted to doubt Him and all the lovingkindnesses He had shown us up to that time.

As her name was spoken my heart recalled that it was by God’s grace that my daughter had even survived beyond the first trimester of gestation and the stroke that took place, it was by God’s grace that her condition was discovered when it was, it was God’s grace that sustained her life and ours and that allowed us to always look beyond all the medical prognoses, it was by God’s grace that Olivia’s God given personality was protected and reserved for a time when all the seizures would be gone and the medicines would no longer play a part in her life, it is by God’s grace that He  taught me the sweetest, deepest things of Himself through Olivia’s life!

I pray that this simple recollection of mine would help to open your eyes and your heart to God’s grace for you today! Do not let the small things in your life that take place slip by without seeing His gracious omnipotent hand!

“My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply…”

~Susan

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Gardens of God’s Grace

This is a morning of mornings, Sweet Sister!

A tiny hummingbird paid a visit to our newly planted morning glories.  The whirring wings produced a diaphanous halo around the bird as she hovered about the wide open lavender trumpets.  The elegant beak moved into one flower for, what seemed, but a small eternity, and then, off she went, seeking her sugary repast from another part of the well endowed garden.  This was one smart little bird!

I could not help but think of this diminutive creature, blessed with the capability to hover as a helicopter, equipped with her own built-in straw to suck sweet nectar from a magnificent bloom.  She was small, but lovely, as was the flower that provided her food this morning. And, although it was my husband’s delight to plant for me such a royal garden—right outside my breakfast nook— it was certainly God’s precious grace that initiated everything—this morning, from all eternity.

As if I had no cares at all, my thoughts today continued on the bird and the flower and the whole landscape. Every portion, part and parcel of that moment was a gift from God. God enhanced this creature with a talent for suspended animation, as her tiny wings fluttered at a rate impossible to determine. Her delicate beak, light enough for flight, long enough for feeding, little enough for her lilt, was crafted by our perfect Creator.

There was, also, the morning glory, a triumph among flowers, a delicate little roadside diner for passing hummingbirds. Each bloom with wide open mouth, singing praises to our gracious Father, enticed me to burst into Doxology—to Him be the glory—alongside the roses, hibiscus, geraniums and hydrangea.  What a Garden of Grace! God gives us eyes to see the color of each flower, ears to listen to the rainfall on the petals, hearts to enjoy His Creation.

At prayer, today, my eyes fell upon a cross.  It is an ornate metal object, designed for beauty, a symbol to remind me of what God’s grace did for me.  I thought about Jesus and His gardens.  One was the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) where sinful man would first hear the Gospel of Grace—the promise of Jesus, the Redeemer.  Then there was the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22), Christ’s torture chamber, where the suffering of Jesus, the Savior, would begin.  But, oh, Sister, there was a third garden—the Garden Tomb—where death itself, was defeated (John 20)!  Jesus, our Risen Lord, reigns eternal.  Now that is Grace!

As we sing the hymns that describe Grace as amazing, wonderful and marvelous, and, ah, Grace is certainly all of these, we should keep in mind that God’s grace was expensive, is abundant, and belongs to Him alone to give as a gift.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9.  His grace is bestowed on us, not earned by us.

That is what makes it so special—that a simple, little hummingbird would be designed so well to be able to be fed in midair from a flower that grows wildly in the garden of the home where dwells a sinner—a sinner saved by Grace!

~ Your sister, Mimi