Sweet, Sweet Peace Cake

It was potluck time at my new job.

God led me to a nice cake recipe. Then, while I was buying the ingredients, God led me to a nice cake mix.

I asked Him, so which is it? Should I put the recipe things back on the shelf, and just get the mix? But God was leading me to get both. I wondered what the point was, when God already knew what would be needed. Then I had to wonder what the point of wondering was. Since God already knew what would be needed.

I didn’t really know how things were going to turn out, yet He was preparing me with whatever was needed, however it was needed. And He was preparing me that He might just change things up. If that’s what was needed.

I faithfully followed the recipe directions. And in the end, when the recipe cake didn’t work out — even when I gave it so much extra time to come together — God had already provided what I needed. I was thankful, no doubt. But I did wonder. I wondered why He didn’t just tell me to skip my efforts to make that cake.

It baked and baked and baked. I mean, it got as done as it was ever going to get. Then the time came to let it go, and start over.

So I did.

I put together what I had left (the glaze icing from the recipe), and the new thing He’d already made available (the cake made from mix).  And because He’s the one who did the cooking, I don’t mind saying it was good.

I really didn’t need to be concerned about the finished product. As I went to bed, I reminded myself that my assignment was to serve up what He’d put together for me, and that I wasn’t actually in charge of my coworkers’ tastebuds. The next morning, that same thought made me smile twice as much: when some said they really enjoyed it, and when others politely told me they didn’t prefer the ingredients in the glaze.

It was as done as it was ever going to get.

Funny thing God’s been showing me, long before I made that cake: That His glory is not in us being able to say we’ve ourselves done everything from scratch, or as we originally intended. Instead, we find His glory when we take what He’s given us, and share it with others. When we serve that up, we see His delight.

This is sweet, sweet peace.

Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Return and Rest

     He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

     I smile, and breathe a deep sigh of ease, looking at a picture of my husband and younger son relaxing in our back yard.

     It is surely one of those green pasture moments. My son is playing with his pecan-tree-branch walking stick and our fuzzy small dog. My husband is sitting on the porch steps, savoring every spoonful of his ice cream cup. And the sun sets slowly enough to illuminate everything.

     And this is another green pasture moment. I sit on the plane, headed to vacation. Both sons sit behind us, still enjoying their reunion after the firstborn's return from freshman year in college. Husband has his audio book and a nap. I have time to play with my phone, to actually change the wallpaper all by myself, to find the golden sunset picture. To be soaring here and there, all at once.

     The next day I am praying to God, glad for rested sleep and strengthened body, the fullness of the day previous and the newness of the current day, letting thank you fill me until I feel it in my soles. This is green pastures too, taking a longer gaze at my Shepherd.

     And in my prayer I trust him with the times He's led me through and rested me from. As I pray, I am freed from wearying myself all over again when I remember them, and how they tried me.

     And I trust him with the times He's leading me to, where my soul will be called to remember Him and His green pasture. To return to rest not only in summer, but daily, and throughout each day. Not to commit entrance to his green pastures to memory, but to frequent His presence, to seek Him and enter fully into His rest at all times -- instead of being stranded by the situation. To feast in His presence in the presence of my enemies: distraction, frustration, offense, pain, weariness and fear.

     To become rooted there. Tended there. To be reminded that nothing in God's green earth bears fruit from great concerted effort, but rather yields it.

In the eyes of Truth

     Oh what needless pains we bear. When we’ve been misjudged by a friend. When our dedication doesn’t shape our job evaluations. When someone you love turns away with a wound you didn’t inflict. When a stranger responds to you with indignation or contempt. And you’re left saying, why?

     When we finally remember to pray, our monologue prayers can be just as confused. We ask to be vindicated. To be justified. To be found innocent for all to see. We try to cling to and defend our value, as we long to be seen for who we are. To be reassured that’s who we still are.

     But believers, there's a better Way.

     We can resist being caught up in the drama that seems ongoing, and we can pause to listen ... to hear Jesus’ decisive last word that it is finished.  We need not establish that we know the truth, because we can recall that we know, and are known by, the Spirit of Truth.

     When we believe on Jesus for reconciliation with God, the Spirit of Truth alights on us. We are removed from condemnation, and found righteous and acceptable. God says to us as He said to His firstborn: This is my Child. And … He is beloved.

     Beloved! Beloved means that being loved by God has recharacterized us, redescribed us, renamed us.

     Funny – it can be cheaply traded in for being bedazzled. There was a gadget that came out in the ’70s, and grew more popular in the disco-ball ’80s. It promised to add rhinestones and glitzy sequins to any item of clothing or accessory you already had. Once bedazzled, the wearers would be sure of basking in the attention of people noticing their sparkle.

     I think most of us settle for being bedazzled, when we overlook the more priceless item of being beloved. We’re eager to be seen as shiny, to be recognized for the inherent qualities we treasure. But we end up beguiled by the effort to represent ourselves, missing out on the authentic glow of those qualities that God has stored up in us on the inside.

     When someone finds fault with us – especially when they continue to do so – it’s like they’re just picking off our sparkles. And we are busied by the work of defending ourselves, either out loud or mentally. Existing flaws seem trouble enough without people taking a dim view of us, with flaws that they imagine.  If we’ve been faithful in some area, we want at least to not be devalued in the eyes of another in that area – particularly if it’s the eyes of a loved one.

      You ever notice how sometimes when your back is turned, you can become aware of someone looking your way? Your senses tune into that person. If you’re bold enough, or well enough acquainted, you’ll turn and return the gaze.

     There’s a gaze we often have our backs to, and that we sometimes tune out.

God looks upon us. His gaze is as steady as His love for us. If we’re emboldened to turn and focus on God, we see in His eyes who we really are. The nonbeliever sees someone ardently pursued by God and in urgent need of Him. The believer sees the irrevocably Beloved of God.

     To be Beloved by God is to be-Valued by God. To receive God means to receive how He values you, and He values you as precious. To receive God means to receive his Spirit of Truth, which is an inner light, and a light round about you, that never dims.

     To receive God means to receive being identified with His son, Jesus. And you will receive favor among men just as Jesus did, but you will also be unfairly rejected just as Jesus was.

     So what really matters, and must come to matter most to us? That God has received you. That you are loved by God. You are valued and viewed by God the way he values and looks at Jesus – someone greatly worthy to be treasured, embraced, honored, anointed and authorized to represent all that He is.

     Because that’s how God chose to see us, we are invested with all that value.

     Beloved, let us reflect on what His light reveals:  our reflection, in the eyes of Truth.

And a happy new year

   

     My family has a way of stretching out what's known as a seasonal greeting. At the end of the midnight countdown, wherever we are, we all join in to imitate my father. Thirty years ago, we began doing it in his memory — emphasizing that first syllable like a bleat from a bugle horn: 

“HAP-……………………!”

     Then dramatically, emphatically, holding our breaths — until the rest just has to come rushing out.

“…-PY New Year!”

     Sometimes happy sounds like something  whimsical, wish-ful and wistful, because happy sounds elusive. It’s had various meanings through history, from a luck-based status (as in happenstance), to drunkenness, to impulse and obsession (i.e. gadget-happy).

      Sometimes the commercial energy of our economy’s retail sector at this time of year can prompt a misplaced celebration of the gimmes. And the gimmes represent the most familiar connotation for happy —having what you want.

 

     When we begin to learn about joy as revealed in Scripture, we often start by contrasting it to being happy. We think of being happy as something fleeting, based on whim. We come to know that joy is something else. That joy is something you can have, and be strengthened by, even when times are not happy — times of grief or sorrow.

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fair, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.     Habakkuk 3:17, 18 KJV

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.      Psalm 30:5b KJV

     There’s more, and it comes rushing out from the meaningful words of Scripture, which offer more meaning for happy.

    When the Psalms and Proverbs speak of being blessed, their Hebrew wording includes esher, or ashar. Ashar means “to go straight, make progress, be on the level, to lead on, to be made right, and to be made happy.” (http://www.beithashem.org/SeedsOfFaith/June2002a.php)

     Esher is the noun, defined as blessedness and/or happiness.  Here we can find a conjunction of meaning.

     

     We discover in the Bible a definition for happy that is rooted in blessed, in language that is based on the Giver instead of the gimmes.  Picture if you will a little kid, who seems happy because cotton candy is now in hand. That’s a gimme image. Now step back a bit for a different scene: a little kid already delighted in anticipation of the parent buying it. That’s a Giver image, of the happiness in having a Father who you trust to give you good things.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.     James 3:17 NIV

     He’s a Giver of good things.

     

     Before the countdown begins, our family has another tradition, led by my mother. The TV and its party sounds are silenced, and whoever can kneels in prayer. We take turns thanking Him aloud for the great things He’s done. We ask Him to tend what is on our minds and in our heart. We entrust him with the days to come.

     HAP………py new year! It’s really more than a greeting. It’s a blessing, emphatically reminding all who have ears to hear that happiness truly awaits. It’s in the fullness of that conjunction of meaning between blessed and happy.  It’s like a bleat from a bugle horn, ultimately sounding praise for God who dramatically has revealed His goodness to us throughout all time.

For more on a happy new year, turn to:

• 1 Kings 10:8     Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.
• Job 5:17     Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:
• Psalms 144:5      Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
• Psalms 146:5     Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
• Proverbs 3:13, 18     Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
• Proverbs 16:20     He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.
• Proverbs 28:14     Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
• Proverbs 29:18     Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
• John 13:17     If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.
• James 5:11     Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
• 1 Peter 3:14     But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
• 1 Peter 4:14     If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

O Come Let Us Adore Him

The candles wait to be lit.

An Advent wreath sits on display in our living room all year long. I bought the candles 25 years ago this Christmas, and they’re still in use.

More often than not, it’s the middle of this season when I remember that it’s time. Time to make time, together, to read a few verses, sometimes sing a song. To light a candle and see it shine.

Venite, venite. That’s Latin for “O come ye.” No, I never studied Latin, but I sang choir in middle school, and our teacher – my mom – taught us things like that. We’d sing “venite adoremus”  and then interpret it, singing “O come let us adore Him.” The translation would be veni, veni for the song our family sometimes sings for Advent: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Translated from Hebrew, Emmanuel is “God with us.”

Veni, veni Emmanuel.

If you’ve invited God into your life … do you trust Him to actually show up?

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

Once He does, will He be welcome to move in? Each time a family friend or relative has come to stay at our house, there’s been only so much room that we found for their things, as we edged around our own clutter. Our interests furnish and yet disorder our lives, and our concerns add to the disarray.

Even if you deem the items and affairs of your life as attractively organized – when Jesus comes knocking, ready to redeem your life, you might still have to consider whether you’ve really made any room for him to even get inn.

His taste might not match your signature style. He might want to redecorate.

What if there were parts of your life that He was ready to tear down, to renovate and build something stronger, and more beautiful? What if – instead of remaining a creature of habit — you were to be rebuilt to His code and to his taste?

Yeah, that’s a lot. But then again, at some point you’d have to ask … whose house is it?

Venite, venite. O come, let us adore Him.

God will show up. And He will edify you. He builds on a grand scale in the life of each believer, replacing a spirit of fear with a spirit of power, love and of a sound mind. The one whom God loves is set free from condemnation by a true Judge, and defended by the Almighty. Is cared for faithfully and prospered by the presence of the God who delights in His people. Is guided by God’s omnipresent wisdom.

As we come to know God, we come to know Him as the God who is with us. Exult in knowing Him.

My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.  Psalm 34:2

And exalt time spent with Him.

Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.  1 Chronicles 16:10  (See also Jeremiah 9:24, 1 Chronicles 16:35; Psalm 105:3; 1 Corinthians 1:31; and 2 Corinthians 10:17.)

Rejoice at His advent in your circumstances, and the epiphany of His place in your life and the lives of those you love.

Light the candles.

The Power of Praise

Real Talk Ministries tweeted today: "God’s people will worship Him regardless of what their circumstances are." To ready our minds to understand and celebrate that, we need to review that “regardless.”

We do regard our circumstances, and we were made to be alert and observe what goes on around us. 1 Peter 5:8 advises: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

People throughout Scripture called out for justice, just as people heeding current events of today. Right after God's word explains how we suit up for spiritual battle, which we usually think of as our own personal trials, Ephesians 6:18 reminds us: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

And yes, people throughout Scripture called out in their personal pain, just as people facing struggles do today.

People of God are not called to denial. We are called to acknowledge our circumstances, and then to seek God’s response, already in awe. We pray expectantly, expecting God to act.

When we say God’s ways are above our ways, we’re not shrugging our shoulders in resignation. We’re keeping an eye out to see God to act on a grand scale.

We stay on the lookout, because we know that God’s grand-scale moves are not always obvious to those who aren’t looking for Him in a situation. Jesus -- God’s grandest move yet, from the perspective of humanity -- showed up in a stable, spent a few years on the run with his family, and altogether about 30 years in obscurity.

And the wait for this Messiah stretched beyond any one person’s lifetime. Yet still the faith of some allowed them to wait.

When we regard our circumstances, they can be our distraction, or serve as the education of our faith.

God’s people, once we truly come to know Him, will worship Him because of circumstances. Either we will praise Him for abundance of comfort, or the abundance of His comforting. Either way, we eventually realize we are so greatly blessed in every circumstance.

Romans 12:12 calls us:

Be joyful in hope,

patient in affliction,

and faithful in prayer.

And how do we do that – ensure that our hopes are not wistful, our afflictions are not fretful, and our prayers are not doubtful?

Praise Him,

Praise Him,

Praise Him.

Try it.

A 23rd Psalm Attitude

My dog Al came looking for me. I was the only one upstairs, and he’s like a sheep herder’s dog, checking up on the flock.

Nah. He’s more like a sheep himself. After gazing into my face, he leaped into my lap and curled up there.

He’s a good sheep – for a miniature schnauzer.

I wanna be like Al.

My dog leaps into my lap because he knows he has a place there. He leans his head back all the way, just to gaze with adoration at my face. I want a 23rd Psalm attitude like my dog Al.

Whatever we’re eating, he wants some. He’s there, as close to the stove, table or dish that we’ll allow. Yes, his dog dish is full, but he’s still eager, for the crumbs we’ll surely drop. After we’re done, he’s allowed to leap up again, where he’s eager to even to sniff the fragrance of what we had.

He knows that staying close means sharing even more in what we’re enjoying.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

Freedom from fear — the fear of going without — is the idea that opens this psalm. The rest details tender tending for a sheep. Al, who’s carried, petted, entertained at length by the members of his household, would relate.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

In this psalm and elsewhere in the Word, we get the heads-up that we will face tribulations, and we are glad to get the Word that we will know victory. But that victory is more than the relief we experience when our tribulations are over. It’s so much more, because God also provides us the rest, comfort and peace we need before, during and after those tribulations. He tends us tenderly with healing for our souls – our minds and emotions – and strengthens and soothes our bodies.

In the midst of all this providence we find in the next verse the reason for great trust: our undivided awe for God, who is omnipotent within us and around us.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

God acknowledges and addresses what we face. Enemies stand against us; and we are given time to receive and be strengthened by whatever we need in that day – our daily bread. Disease and injury threaten; and we are fortified, soothed and healed.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Because God is everpresent and eternally faithful, our faith endures. And we always have a place to turn to, a place with Him.

Surely Al knows he has a place to go – a place of goodness, lovingkindness. He has a place to abide, and an abiding trust.

He’s so eager to draw closer. He’s leaping at the opportunity.

Let’s take a leap of faith today.