Sweetly Broken

I was pondering Psalm 23. Everyone knows it. The Lord is my shepherd. It makes me think of Sunday school, with little white fluffy sheep lying in grass that is unnaturally green and plush, a brook of tropical clear water flowing by. The Lord has painted a different picture for me lately.

When you see the pictures of the little lamb snuggled into the shepherd’s neck, what comes to mind? Cute, right? Maybe the lamb won the sheep fold lottery and goes on a ride along instead of walking that day?
When a lamb loses his way, the shepherd goes out on the search, and brings him back into the fold. If that same lamb ventures off again, and again, he has to be taught a lesson. The shepherd would break the legs of the little lamb, bandage it back up, and lay it on his shoulders. Harsh? The poster isn’t looking so cute now.

The Lord is our shepherd. He lays us in green pastures and still waters. He is the perfect, Good Shepherd. He wants what is best for us. We stupid sheep wander from the shepherd, free for the ravaging of wolves and prey. He loves us too much to let us get lost in the wilderness. This Shepherd loves us! He owns us. He is invested in us through the price of the blood of the Lamb that was slain!

What was the purpose of this harsh discipline to the lamb? Seems a little extreme! The lamb would learn to be completely, utterly dependant on the Shepherd. They would breathe in his air and walk where he walked. Most important, though, the lamb would learn his voice. It would learn to recognize his voice, the nature of the tones, the implied inflections. The lamb learns to tune into the Master.

The Good Shepherd carries both a staff… and a rod. He leads, and guides, nurtures and protects. He also corrects, disciplines and exhorts. When the Lord breaks us, he bandages our wounds, lays us on his shoulders, close to his heartbeat, and carries us until we can learn to depend solely on Him. We learn to constantly abide with Him, drinking in His character, His voice, His breath. We follow the Lord, we know His voice, and He knows our names!

When we feel broken by the Lord, He lifts us up, carries us through, and restores our souls. This is a sweet time with the Lord. Soak up the undivided attention of our Master, our Leader, and our Savior! Learn the lesson of abiding, tune your ears to the voice of your Creator. Then, when you are fully restored, He sets us down on solid ground, ready for His work once again.

Come, let us return to the Lord ; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; (Hosea 6:1, 3)

(Ps. 95:6-8, Hosea 6:1, 3, John 10: 11-16, 27, Psalm 23)

Sweetly Broken

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyJuKHvoPGc

Whole Sacrifice

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. You delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings… Ps. 51:17,19

The Lord has called us to be living sacrifices and to present ourselves before Him in full submission. A living sacrifice is a willing sacrifice. Do sheep or ox just willingly lie down on the altar to be burned alive? No, of course not! They are first killed. Not so with us. The Lord has given us the choice to sacrifice our lives to Him. But, He does demand that we give ourselves fully to Him. Everything. Not leaving any part of us behind. And often that is what holds us back. There are areas in our lives that we try to hide, and would rather not reveal. Can I just remind us that nothing is a shock or a secret to our Father? God sees all. He knows our hearts. He knows the secret things, the hidden things.

King Saul knew this all too well. God called him to destroy the Amalekites. Totally. Utterly. Everything. Saul followed through with what the Lord asked, at least, to the extent he felt like obeying. Apparently, ‘utterly destroying’ to Saul was just a suggestion. Saul chose what was in the category of evil and vile and destroyed that. But what was precious to Saul, he kept for himself. Samuel came to Saul the next morning for a progress report. Saul haughtily told Samuel that the mission was complete. "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam. 15: 14,22)

The Lord calls for obedience in His kids. When He calls us to lay something on the altar, nail it to the cross, we need to follow through with that in completion, as a whole offering, not holding anything back. Sometimes we hear the voice of the Lord to sacrifice something. We take that, analyze it, compartmentalize, and decide what put in storage. Don’t do that!!! Don’t be a Saul! If the Lord has called for a bonfire, light it up!

We cannot overshoot our obedience to the Lord. I think that we sometimes fear that we may be over zealous and take the thing too far. No! The Father loves us! When He sifts through our lives, He will separate the chaff from the wheat. What is holy and righteous and fruitful will remain. Look at Abraham. The Lord called him to lay his son on the altar. What was the purpose? So that Abraham would know for himself that he was fully devoted to the Lord, obedient even unto death. Did the Lord stop him too late? “Oops, I should have been watching more careful!!! You actually needed to stop 5 minutes ago. Oh well! I’ll pay more attention next time!” No! That is not our God. He stopped Abraham from taking it too far. He will do that for us, too! Could it be that sometimes it is a test of our obedience? “Be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice!” (Gen. 22:18)

May our sacrificial lives be a sweet savor to the Lord. May we carry the fragrance of Christ with us. May we have the smell of the incense of the throne room all over our lives. And as we walk through this life, may we carry the aroma of the holy, refiner’s fire, an acceptable sacrifice ready for the Lord’s service.

(1 Sam. 15, 1 Cor. 4:5, Romans 12:1, Eph. 5:2, Gen. 8:21, Gen. 22)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz9qTLVowWo

Who Me?

Have you ever got the feeling the Lord is calling you to witness to someone, or maybe teach a Sunday school class, or be involved in some other kind of ministry, and you just do not want to? I mean, you get all clammy, and light headed and you want to crawl in a hole somewhere? Maybe you just don’t feel worthy enough? And our first response is, ‘Who, me? Sorry, Lord, I think you got your addresses scrambled.’ Sometimes we feel like we are nothing but a clay pot, not worth a thing. We feel kind of ugly and awkward, and dusty from sitting on the shelf.

Gideon… poor guy! Talk about a very humble, maybe even humiliating character in the Bible. Well, at least at first. The Lord came to him while he was hiding out from the Midianites at the threshing floor. Amazing! The Lord called to Gideon as who he was going to be for the Lord, and not who he was. ‘…Thou mighty man of valour!’ Umm… Who, me?

The Lord seeks to use a humble servant. He loves to take what you were and make you what you will be in Him. A clay pot is exactly what He wants to use for His glory. He is constantly looking for those in whom He can show Himself strong. As believers, we have treasure inside of us that the world is desperately seeking. It is the gospel, the keys to life and death. If we hide the gospel, we only hide it from those who need it! The Lord commands that we shine in this dark world. We are earthen vessels.

So, how do we get what is inside of us out? Well, to take our earthen vessels and become broken vessels. To have a spirit that is humble and willing to serve the Lord. To come to Him in our weakness and let Him be our strength. Just to fall at His feet and admit that we need Him for the task at hand.

Oh, back to Gideon. He took his puny army of 300 and surrounded the camp of the enemy. All they had were trumpets, clay pots, and a flame. That’s it. But, in their willingness to do the work the Lord had called them to do, they blew those trumpets with all their might, broke their clay pots and the light shined out from them. The enemy was defeated that day. They were victorious doing nothing more than letting their light shine.

The Lord is calling each one of us to His service in one way or another. You can do this! Take heart! The Lord sees you victorious already! The Lord is with you wherever you go! Walk in victory today and fear not, thou mighty man of valour!

(Judges 6:12, 7:19, II Chron. 16:9, II Cor. 43-7, Josh 1:9, Matt. 5:16)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfL4LettVV0

Great Exchange

‘You are not good enough. You do not deserve anything. You fell down again. Why can’t you stay out of sin? You were warned about that, do you have a problem obeying? Look, Jesus, look at your so called believer. Ha! They cannot do a thing you have asked of them.’ Any of this sound familiar to your spirit? It does to mine. The Accuser, the enemy, the Father of Lies comes to the presence of the King and night and day, stands and tells of our failures and faults.

The thing about the Accuser standing before the Judge is that he is telling the truth. We are sinful, we do fail, we do fall, and we do spit on the cross with our flesh. But, in the midst of the enemy spitting out his dirt on us, the Father turns and looks at His Son, our Intercessor, our Savior, our Redeemer. Jesus stands before the Sovereign Judge, and He shows Him the scars, the holes, the blood. See, the Accuser comes, but we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, clean, forgiven.

Joshua stood before the Lord, Satan right on his heels. Joshua was clothed in filthy rags. But, the Lord called for the old garments to be exchanged for new raiment. Taking the sin off him and clothing him with righteousness. That is exactly what the Lord does for us. We are not worthy to stand at the throne. But, Jesus is! Jesus saves! We were cursed under the law of sin, but Jesus took that curse and went to the cross. It is the Great Exchange!

The enemy can come and do his worst over us, but he was defeated by Calvary. Case closed!!!!

(Rev. 12:10,11 Zech. 3:1-4, Gal. 3:10,13, Is. 64:6)

Be encouraged by this song.

Embracing Accusation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncZI5thqCmY

Highways to Zion

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. Ps. 84: 5-7

Grab your sheep, grab your kids, grab your pita bread, and let’s go! The Israelites every year made the trip to Jerusalem to take part in the feasts and the Passover. The road was not always safe. There were robbers, there were wolves, there were rocky mountains, and deep valleys. Then the danger cleared and there would be meadows and sunshine, a smooth path. Never, though, would families travel alone. They always kept safety in numbers.

I was thinking about our journey, our daily journey, the walk through the dust of this earth. It is much like this road to Jerusalem. There are seasons of plenty, and seasons of drought. In the bright sunshine, and then, we find ourselves in the valley of Baca, the Weeping Valley. Along this road, there are times where like the Israelites; we lift our tambourines and voices in unison to the Lord. Other times, we walk in silence… forgetting that we are even with a crowd of people, through the valleys, feeling very much alone and abandoned.

Interesting, though, there in the Valley of Baca, they found wells, springs of water. Where did they come from? How did they get there? They were dug and provided by those who had gone before them. The Jews that walked through the same valley before them, made wells for the ones coming behind them. How odd that in the Weeping there is Watering!!! On the contrary! That is how the Lord designed the economy of the saints!

So what do we do in the Weeping Valley? Do we pass through it with our head hung low, maybe in shame, maybe grief, sorrow, trying to just get through with our eyes closed until we break out into the meadow once more? I believe that we make a grave mistake if that is our approach. There are saints coming behind you that need to be watered by the wells you dig in Baca. Leave your wells! Dig them deep! Water them with the Word of life. Teach them about the Messiah who cried:

‘Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ John 4:14

If you are one that finds yourself in the valley of weeping, there is a promise for you. Check it out! Do you see it! Be encouraged, weary traveler, ‘each one appears before God in Zion.’ You will make it! We, who are on the highways to our Zion, will complete the journey. Not one will be lost on the way. So, strengthen yourself in the Lord! Tighten those sandal straps, shift the weight of your knapsack, grab your walking stick, keep your eyes on heaven, and take courage today!

This Is The Day

...'This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it'...

Simple statement. The second my eyes opened this morning, this ran through my mind. I have heard it a million times, obviously, and even sing it with the kids in the morning over breakfast. But, it has taken on a different meaning for me now...

...This: Today was not an accident. The Lord actually designed this day for me on purpose. He knows everything that will happen and it is actually ordained for me. Amazing thought. When I think back on my life, there are super awesome days, and there are really bad days.I think of my Dad's accident. When I woke up that morning, when my dad woke up, when my mom woke up, the Lord knew what was coming just hours later for all of us. Why Lord? Why? Well, the blessings that were the result of that are still flooding in. Sobering how the Lord works.

...Is the day: His mercies are new every morning. Every morning. Good thing that the Lord allows the sun to set and rise again. And, it's only a day. One day! Sometimes things that happen in a day seem to be the end of our world. But, it is only a pin prick on the heavenly calender. Just a vapor of a moment. Tomorrow, there will be a new batch of mercies and events, and adventures with the Lord. I need to learn to walk with Him moment by moment. The Lord demands my walk with Him to not be a annual event, like a marathon. It is a daily stroll.He wants the daily relationship with us. Amazing how the Lord works.

....That the Lord has made: made, created, formed, ordained, planned... Thinking about how the Lord has such a creative mind. He created sounds, color, the platypus, he created taste, and smells, the cactus, the ocean... I mean, he didn't have to do that. He created a beautiful world for us to enjoy. He could have thrown us in a world that was all shades of grey, with no sound, everything tasting the same, everybody looking the same. But, He chose to give us a glimpse into His nature. Awesome how the Lord works.

...I will rejoice and be glad: This is where the verse gets tricky. Because, depending on what type of day you are having, this could be an excited statement, or a forced statement. Think about it... you wake up and everything goes wrong... for me, it's the kids are sick, or the car breaks down, or my guitar is not right, or dinner burns in the oven, or the kids draw on the wall... and I think 'I will rejoice and be glad!" Come on! I can be happy right now! urggggg!!!! Or, you wake up, and the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the kids are angelic, dinner is a masterpiece. Ahhhhh! I will rejoice and be glad in it! See the difference? Same statement, totally different emotion. But, the Lord calls us to rejoice knowing that He does not make a mistake in what our days hold for us. Sovereign how the Lord works.

So, as I take on my day with my son with pneumonia, the house in disarray, laundry up to the ceiling from toddlers with the flu, feeling trapped in my house, not getting to go to church and lead communion tonight, and not even being able to get to STARBUCKS... I KNOW that: This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!