Rounding Another Bend --

These past several days I’ve watched three children master the words they are acquiring – communicating and inquiring distinctly, often as I struggle to find the word I know should come next in the thoughts I wish to convey.  Searching for just the right word in the middle of a conversation with a curious child is a humbling run into the joys of maturity.  

Case in point:  One child yells; I did not see the provocation. The other child has no clue why. So, I say it is unkind to provoke another person to anger.  Then I try to define provoke . . . Good luck, Mimi.

Another example: I say washing machine and mean dishwasher, and visa versa.

And I kept calling the baby by her older sister’s name.

On top of all my word worries, technology in my daughter’s home taunted me.  The dishwasher has a control lock system that only responds to Doug’s tap. It will not turn on for me. Doug said it needed a lawyer’s touch. And the television-DVD system required a training session and instructions on a legal pad, to which both of us referred frequently.  Finally, the rental car has an anti-theft locking system that was an unexpected surprise, and kept both Doug and a neighbor, who works on cars, and me busy for 30 minutes. Not that I am gloating – but I finally unlocked the sucker.  

So . . . this is the day that the Lord has made; I do rejoice and am glad in it.  I am tuckered out, but in a good way. I am just happy to have had these crazy busy days. On to lunch with the youngest grandchild and his folks!

Wooooo-hooooooo!

• Age is like the newest version of a software - it has a bunch of great new features but you lost all the cool features the original version had.  ~Carrie Latet, from the quotegarden.com
• The robe of flesh wears thin, and with the years God shines through all things.- John Buchan (1875-1940) "The Wise Years."

Whitney Elizabeth Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston

(1963-2012)

Whitney Houston’s mom took people to church for a longer length of time than many of us have spent there in the last month – four hours.  It was not simply a four-hour memorial to her daughter’s talent  -- but to how she lived, loved, struggled, failed and kept getting up and giving, until she died.  How she died, although the subject of hours of TV/cable/tabloid speculation, was not chief to the celebration – but it was a compelling reason I watched her home-going commemoration.

She said her faith was in God; (I Look to You) – but, gossips insisted she found help in drugs and alcohol.  Her friends described with spoken and unspoken words every Christian’s nightmare: professing faith in the finished work of Christ, we [can] resist the refining work of the Holy Spirit to whom we must needs give our idols – those objects of affection to which we cling. 

Why do we cling so?

Maybe Christians do not trust wholly God can and will be for us what we think the idols are – personal sources of help and love. Now, Ms Houston has finally been delivered from this lie. “Death appeared to win,” one pastor said, “But Christ fought him took away its sting and Love won. God is love.”

No commercial interruptions -- hours of worship –   And I saw the help that God never failed to provide her, even though Ms Houston died. Yes, she stumbled publically – but these were fewer times than I have stumbled out of the public eye.     

If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

But, throughout Whitney Houston’s memorial service, I saw the ferocity of the roaring lion, which devours those who will not remain alert or practice self-control. (1 Peter 5:8)    Nobody gets a pass on His battlefield – that I even have another day to live – an hour -- is mercy all.  And I saw the battle from which God delivered Whitney Houston remains as real for me as it was for her. 

Thank you Mrs. Houston and your family for having your dear daughter’s memorial service in your church – it was time very well spent! I got the message: Prioritize! Don’t put off until tomorrow what needs doing today.  (Matthew 6:25-33)

 

 

You Believe What?

Many years before I became a Christian, an Episcopal priest at my local church assured me there was no such thing as a devil – Satan, when I went to the priest for help. I was frightened because of a message my roommate gave me about a telephone call from someone who presented a real and dangerous temptation for me. It so frightened me I fled to the church, about twelve blocks from my home. I blurted out my fear that I felt the devil was after me – or something to that effect – and he laughed reassuringly and told me not to worry. Embarrassed, I left his office. I never again went to that church. Yet, the impression of evil from that phone message still resounds. It represented a clear choice. I decided not to return the call.

So, the reader might ask: “Do you believe in an actual devil, one named Satan?”

Yes, I do. But many Christians do not.

In a study by George Barna, many Christians – those who do not claim to be “born-again ” -- see Satan not as a living being but is “a symbol of evil.” Moreover, many of those polled do not believe in the divinity or sinlessness of Jesus Christ – or the power of Holy Spirit; He is a symbol – not a living entity. The poll also found we tolerate many other faiths because we often are not well informed on what the Bible teaches. And, Christians believe, “the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.”
( Barna Group)

So, beginning 2011 – and the fourth decade that I have been a Christ-follower – I believe the battle in the heavenlies still rages, though Christ has defeated Satan. And I believe a wise woman is never to be without her armor – no matter how out of fashion that suit seems!

. . . God is strong, and he wants you strong.So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way . . . You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. And don't forget to pray for me. Pray that I'll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all, . . .

(Ephesians 6:10-20 The MESSAGE)

Cause of Damage: Unidentifiable?

Moisture has been a problem in our little house, especially since it was vacant for almost two years.  We can see these problems because of the unusually rainy fall.  So, we’ve replaced the gutters and down spouts and we’ve installed a French drain whose conduit to the curb seems to be working. But we found old damage – damage that had been covered up by carpet for over twenty years.  Our contractor  noticed a little rotted wood under a window.

Fearing more moisture problems  or termites we asked the floor refinisher to investigate, and we called in the pest control folks, in an abundance of caution. The workman thought it was just old moisture damage; but, the manager of the pest control company came himself to ensure they had not overlooked anything in the initial inspection and treatment. He clambered around the crawl space and pronounced it free of termite damage. Then, he recommended an extra treatment, no charge, in case the culprits were carpenter ants, who eat damp wood.

Sin remains a problem in my life, though I confess Christ has paid my debt in full; I take steps to battle it – winning many battles, and losing some painful ones. Sometimes “religion”  gets laid over the losses, covering old wounds, the way that carpet covered rotted wood.

My Carpenter, Christ, (Mark 6:3) is in the business of removing covering – especially “religious”  coverings.  What we are discovering is the vestige of sin’s damage; like those floor planks that need ripping out and replacing – the damage needs replacing. But, with what?

I still have the memories, fears, and faithlessness. Frankly, it’s easier to replace rotten wood than live with the fallout of  rebellion – mine and others.    

Though the world has seeped into my heart as relentlessly as moisture accumulates under a pier and beam home and its passions gnaw at me as determinedly as termites or carpenter ants, yet I hesitate to act; I won’t act out of the same abundance of caution I did for our home. Too often I am embarrassed to call out for help, anticipating other Christians’ rejection or derision. Worse, I doubt God cares, or, can help.

Is that what I would tell someone, though, who asked me for spiritual aid and comfort? “ Don’t bother me – or God; I don’t care and neither will He?”

No! I’d urge you to pray – I’d read you Scripture – I’d pray for you! Why is it easier, then, to tell you what to do, than to hear the Gospel for myself?

Maybe because asking God to help me shows just how feeble I am. Asking God shows me Who really is in charge; Confessing His Sovereign rule is one thing; living it is quite another. I don’t mind asking for help I can pay for – I resist anything that underscores how poor  I am.

Today, Mr. Spurgeon commented on Lamentations 3:41, "Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens." He zapped me – identifying the cause of damage:

    The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust.

And there’s always so much dust during any worthwhile remodeling! (Romans 8:29-31)