He Loves to Be Reminded

Sometimes I sit on my couch and plead with God to answer a request.  I forget to thank Him that He is in control and already has the answer.  But more importantly, I forget who He is. 

When I think of some of the most dramatic answers to prayer, especially in the Old Testament,  I think of the pleas of Abraham (Genesis 18:25), Moses (Exodus 33:13;  Numbers 14:11-23)  and, now, Nehemiah whom I’m studying.  I always thought it was a little presumptuous of these men who were so close to God to remind Him of His promises and His character and attributes.  Surely He doesn't need reminding! But God responds to those kinds of prayers!  How many Psalms tell of His mighty works and His love and compassion?  

In chapter 1 of Nehemiah, he is confronted with the truth of what has happened to God’s remnant and His city of Jerusalem.  Nehemiah is devastated and weeps and mourns, fasting and praying for days. 

His prayer is recorded in 1:4-11 and it contains these three elements:  he reminds God of His greatness (“the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.”); he confesses sin for the nation of Israel and for himself and his house; and He reminds God of His promise (“Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.”)  In chapter two, God answers Nehemiah’s prayer by touching King Artaxerxes’ heart to let Nehemiah, a servant, go to inspect Jerusalem and begin plans to rebuild the city’s walls.

Do these kinds of prayers bring God glory?  Absolutely!  If someone asks  for advice about a situation they have pretty much given up on, the most effective thing we can do for them is to remind them of times they have persevered.  Those reminders accomplish two things:  they remember what they have done and who they are and they know that we remember, and that we know and care about them.  When we remind God of His promises and His greatness of character, He knows that we have been in His Word…we know what He has said and we are familiar with who He is.  This brings Him glory!

I Choose Joy (and Hope!)

I’m listening to my contemporary Christian station on Pandora this morning.  One of the songs reminded me of an ad for a Time Life series of contemporary Christian music.  Many of the crowd shots included masses of people with arms raised swaying back and forth.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve been in those crowds taken away by the moment of a really great band and really great praise.  And I do love to see arms raised in worship!  

 

But what bothers me is the media perception, or perhaps it’s just representation, of Christians. Because they always fall into one of two camps.  Either they shuffle around (or sometimes march aggressively) with a Bible in one hand, looking angry or unhappy.  Sometimes they’re in church singing slow, sad-sounding music.  These folks are usually in the older generation.  Or the younger are usually shown in that concert setting, arms raised, glassy-eyed, looking like they just drank the Kool-Aid.  Why is it that I have yet to find on regular tv or in “secular” movies someone who is Christian but is also intelligent, upbeat and funny?  Someone with hope and peace and the confidence measured with humility that comes from Jesus Christ?

 

Our Pastor has been giving us a series on “End Times Madness” and how we should react and live our lives as believers.  His point is that we tend to forget that Jesus Christ has already been crowned and reigns as King of Kings and Lord over ALL.  We look at the way the world is turning and operating and hunker down and wait for the worst.  We try to adapt our church programs, ministry and outreach to “fit in” with what will appeal to the current community environment. 

 

Why are we not living in outward allegiance to our true King?  Yes, the Word tells us we must submit to civil and government authority, such as does not ask us to act in an unbibilical manner.  But why can we not stand up, act with hope and joy and a sense of humor, for goodness sake!  Why can we not insinuate our own believers’ culture and Christian worldview?  And, definitely, let’s not keep perpetuating this myth about a dull heaven where we all sit around on clouds and feel like we’re supposed to be happier than we are!  It will be a New Earth where God will live with us!  And it will be amazing and the world needs to know this.  WE need to know this…because when we do, we will not be able to keep it to ourselves.  We will choose joy, and hope!

I've Read the Last Page

Most of you know I have just finished reading the Harry Potter books.  (I am a slow starter.)  I don’t mean casually reading them at intervals and waiting for the next one to come out.  Because they are already published, I had all of them at my disposal.  And I am retired.  So I dove into them completely – nonstop.  

 

Readers will understand that reading even one book immerses you into that world.  If the book is good, you live it for as long as you are reading.  So for a while now, I have been seeing my whole world through vivid Harry Potter glasses.  And now I’m watching the videos.

 

I’m about to read another imaginative, dark story called “Hollow City”, a follow-on to “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”  These books are weird, wonderful and completely creepy.  And this is not really like me.  I will not watch scary movies.  (My children will tell you that Beetlejuice scared the wits out of me.)  For a while now, my hard-drawn line was “I will not read scary books or watch scary movies.”  I’m still holding part of it – I do not enjoy scary movies, except in the case of the Potter series because I’m simply curious to see what they’ve done with the books.

 

But a few days ago, a friend of mine shared a link to an article, “The Dark-Tinted, Truth-Filled Reading List We Owe Our Kids” [i] about the value of darkness and evil properly represented in books.  The timing was perfect considering my current reading list.

 

So today as I drove into town and looked into the woods with my Harry Potter eyes, I realized that I need this reminder that there is, indeed, a very real battle being fought against me and my faith and also on my behalf.  I need not be obsessed with the idea.  But I relish the comfort that comes in the understanding, the very real assurance that I have a Hero and He has already won.  He will slay the dragon in the end.

 

Ephesians 6:12; Romans 8:38-39

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms… For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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[i] http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-february/dark-tinted-truth-filled-reading-list-our-kids-need.html?paging=off

Can I Get an E-Intervention?

Going through old email today.  I’m not what you’d call a pack rat.  I’m pretty willing to part with old papers, ticket stubs, receipts and paper hats.  I will donate old clothes (except for those two or three sets of smaller-sized ones in my closet waiting for the new me).  I can part with dishes, furniture, baskets and knickknacks.

But someone needs to take charge of my email.  And my digital pictures.  And my Word documents.  Someone needs to explain to me that even if I have them all neatly tucked away into an efficient (and  pretty massive, actually) filing system, several hundred emails is simply…well, hoarding.  

I have an inspirational folder; one for family and friend pictures (and these are just the email ones!); cute, fuzzy animals; family emails; friend emails, in which folder are several more friend folders.  You want to know whether you are important to me?  Don’t look at my speed dial.  Check for your friend folder in my email.

Detritus.  I have always loved the word and have tried to find an opportunity to work it into my everyday language.  One of the definitions listed was “flotsam and jetsam.”  Just under that was “Penny Jo Horn’s email.”  

I am working diligently to clean this mess out.  I am deleting with abandon; answering old emails; and filing those I just can’t let go.  The only way I feel like I can honestly let some of these go is to print them out and put them in notebooks.

And today an awful thought occurred.  So I went into my “Sent” folder to peer through my fingers.  3,341 emails.

It occurs to me that we are the first generation that will not only be leaving “stuff” for our kids to go through when we die.  We will be leaving thousands of emails, pictures, voice mails and texts and tweets.  Not to mention Facebook pages and posts.

So kids, I’ll make a deal with you.  I will make an effort to go through my stuff and keep it cleaned out if you will sneak into my house every couple of months or so and delete my email – all of it.  Otherwise, I’ll just be printing it off and you’ll have to go through several hundred notebooks.

What If the Ground Only LOOKS Dry?

Something Noah didn’t do caught my eye this morning.  I am reading about the flood and Noah’s ark.  I’m discovering much I missed before, even though I’ve read it time and again.

I’m a bad one to watch for “signs” from God.  I do pray and ask for guidance.  But like a child that goes rushing out the door before he gets his jacket on – or, it’s playoff season, like a football player that jumps offsides – I often ask and then sit nervously, one knee jumping up and down, waiting for His answer so I can move!  As soon as I see any activity remotely associated with my issue, I leap up and charge forward.  Waiting is not a concept that works well for me.

Noah followed God’s instructions to the letter, and they were not easy ones!  Having loaded his family and all the animals and the food for them all onto the ark, Noah waited through the rain.  (I must say, if I have to wait, I do love doing it in the rain – just not that much.)  Let’s look at the timeline.  The rains began in the 600^th year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the 17^th day (Genesis 7:11).  It rained for forty days.  But that's not the end of the water!  Verse 24, “And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.”  And the waters began to recede and the ark rested on Ararat.

On the first day of the 10^th month, the tops of the mountains became visible (8:5).  Noah waited…  Forty days later, he sent out the raven.  Seven days later, he sent out the dove.  There was still no resting place.  And at this point, I’m doing pretty well with understanding the waiting.  What else was Noah going to do?  A week later, he sent the dove out and it returned with an olive leaf in its beak.  So Noah knew that the waters had pretty well receded.  (It’s at this point that I’m beginning to get a little antsy to move.)

The next week he sent out the dove and it did not return.  So he knew there was dry land.  And yet, he waited!  For another whole month, he waited.  Finally in the 601^st year of his life, on the first day of the first month, he removed the covering of the ark and looked and the surface of the ground was dry.  It’s at this point, I’m pulling on my flipflops and running down the gangplank shouting for joy.  I have had my fill of rain!

But Noah still waits.  He doesn’t move until the 27^th day of the second month (8:14)!  What on earth?  Had he developed some crazy, strange attachment to the ark?  Why did he wait so long?  Verse 15, “THEN God spoke to Noah….”  He waited until he heard from the Lord before he moved.  

If I pray, why not believe all the way and just let God handle the situation on His own, in His way?  He doesn’t need my help.  How many times have I just gotten in the way or muddled the issue?  If I wait, He will answer.  If I ask, He will let me know when to move.  

Psalm 38:15; 33:18-22
I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God…But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.  We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Preparation

Steve and I finally got our Christmas tree up.  Christmas trees and I have a history that causes me to cringe every year as I approach the stand.  But the tree is part of the decorating that I would not give up.  I see it as “preparing” for the season.  However, the true preparation has to come from elsewhere.  

There is a wonderful book by Douglas Wilson called “God Rest Ye Merry:  Why Christmas Is the Foundation for Everything.”  I read it last year and, when I got to the last quarter of the book, it contained Advent thoughts and devotionals.  So I left it as a treat for myself for this year.  I’d like to share a part of one of those thoughts with you:

“The first man and woman were placed by God in a glorious garden, and given the earth as their inheritance. They were told to stay away from one tree— for the time being— and when the serpent worm entered the garden and lied to them, they gave way to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. They, and all of us with them, fell into darkness and confusion apart from the life of God, and were expelled from the garden. Since that time, in the darkness outside that garden, as we have told one another stories, they have all centered on some way or other of getting back into the garden— but it never seems to work. 

But the Lord Himself promised a way for us back into the garden. Since the serpent had deceived the woman, and brought condemnation into the world by means of that woman, God in His mercy determined that salvation would come through the woman. The seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent’s head, and deliver us all from our self-deceptions. Throughout all the Scriptures, God gave us various indications of what He was going to do— by raising up women to crush the heads of the foe and the avenger. 

And when the time was full, when the time was right, the Holy Spirit came to a young Jewish woman who was steeped in the sacred stories, and He told her that she was to be the one. And the Holy Spirit caused her to conceive, such that her son would be truly and completely human, born of a woman, and at the same time He would be the divine Son of God. She received the news of the enormous honor that had been bestowed on her in all humility, and she received the news as the handmaiden of the Lord. She bowed before Him, as we do now.”

Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord,  And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.   For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.  He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.  He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty.  He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy,  As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever." 

Wilson, Douglas (2012-11-16). God Rest Ye Merry: Why Christmas is the Foundation for Everything

General Observations

• Strap on enough gear – cameras, phones, belts, bags – and you begin to look less like a tourist and more like a professional (what I don’t know).  This may be a new look for me.

• Some places leave you as a particular sensory memory – a smell, a kind of music.  But I am becoming so much more aware of color on this trip.  Mykonos will always be white and primary colors; Santorini, white and blue; Malta, sand-colored; and Venice, (my favorite colors) turquoise, ochre, and ancient dark red brick.

• People are people no matter where you go.  Some will be grouchy no matter the circumstances.  And some will be joyful.  (And I think I know why!)

• European plumbing challenges the bravest heart.  In Greece, just because a bathroom says WC (water closet) and has a picture of a lady, does not mean a thing.  One lady went into one with two other friends.  There were three stalls.  They all opened the doors to a hole in the ground.  On the flip side, I went into one last trip in the Vatican and it was huge and modern.  Problem was, there were so many knobs, pullies and cranks, I couldn’t figure out how to flush!  I tried a few and nothing happened.  I finally just slunk (is that a word?) away.  I was afraid if I continued I would shut off the water to Vatican City.  Now I’m in Prague with a beautiful modern shower and a completely wet floor, wall, and door.  And a slightly panicked me.  Yesterday in Italy I got a face full of cold water.  Today I remembered to push the shower wand away from me.  But there were six additional shower heads, three to my left and three facing me.  Yes.  It happened.  I turned on the water; three shower heads greeted me up and down with cold water.  I fumbled the door closed (with the water running) and began to mop up water.  Then I jumped in the shower and started turning knobs.  I’m very clean.

• Steve does love to have change jingling in his pockets (not really; but it improves the story).  However, now if I ask him to buy me a coke, there’s a good chance he’ll pile out pennies, quarters, half euros, tenth euros and Czech koruna coins.  Actually what he does is hold out a handful of coins and let the shop owner just have a ball.  I’d rather be thirsty.