Continue how you began…
“As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Col 2:6
I’ll never forget the first time those words echoed in my heart. College, probably sophomore year, Pastor Mark read them slowly. So walk… the room stood still.
So walk in Him. Of course! Why hadn’t I understood it before? I was striving, struggling, trying trying trying to live a life of faith. I was frustrated, defeated, discouraged. What was I doing wrong? No matter how early I rose in the morning or how long I prayed I still seemed to struggle. Ready to raise the white flag, I came to Bible study.
As you have received Christ …
How did I receive Christ? As a child. A 5-year-old child. Did I have anything to offer God? Nope. Did I have to rise at 5am to earn His love? Did I try really hard and pray exactly the right words and sweat my way into His kingdom?
No. How did I receive Christ?
I bowed. I clasped my starfish hands and …
asked.
I asked. I brought empty hands and bowed my head and bent my knees and asked God for the gift of grace.
So walk in Him…
Why do we think that we continue any differently than we began?
Sinners are not only saved by grace through faith, but the saved sinner lives by grace through faith.
Grace is the way to life and the way of life.
Paul would say to the Galatians and me,
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (3:3)
Would we really receive God’s glorious gift of salvation and then push His hand aside, “Thanks, God, but I can take it from here.”
Are there any areas in our lives that are, essentially, saying those words?
Let’s continue how we began… amen?
{Think today of how you received Christ. What would it look like to walk in that manner today? Practically, what would that look like, if you lived that way today? Thank you, as always, for reading.}
The Only Place That's Safe {9/11}
They lined us up for execution — one by one — little white flags in our hands, words in a language I didn’t understand. Fear rolled through my stomach, “We’re actually going to die.” I stood, waiting … waiting … waiting …
Bang! The wind blew the fence gate shut outside my bedroom window. I sat up in bed, out of breath from the vivid, sickening dream, the curtains flapping from the night’s wind. I almost never have dreams.
The previous night’s dream was terror of a different kind — not physical death, just marital.
I looked at the clock — 6:03am. Feeling in the dark that Jeff was already up, I crept downstairs and found him in the corner chair, leaning over his Bible, the warm glow of a lamp behind him. When I’d settled in next to him he spoke, “I had the most horrible dreams last night …”
Him too?
Strangely, I felt comforted. God is on the move, of that I know. After hanging laundry on the line, I crept back upstairs for quiet time. Opened my Bible to my place, it’s always Jeremiah in September. Kind of wished I were in Psalms —will Jeremiah really have words for me today? I found my place, Chapter 26, and looked at the heading: “Jeremiah Threatened with Death.” Hmm. Maybe it will apply…
Jeremiah is prophesying to King Jehoiakim about the impending disaster coming upon them if they do not repent and turn from their evil deeds. His words aren’t popular, as you can imagine, so
“when he finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, ‘You shall die!’ (v.8)
“Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, ‘This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city.” (v.11)
Is Jeremiah safe? How does he respond? First he exhorts them to mend their ways and obey the voice of the Lord, and then he says,
“But as for me, behold I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you … for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.” (v.14-15)
I am in your hands.
How could Jeremiah say that? How could he entrust himself into the hands of an angry mob of people who most certainly intended to kill him?
He knew whose hands he really was in.
Jeremiah could entrust himself to their hands because he’d first entrusted himself to God’s hands.
Perhaps he knew the song of David by heart,
Jeremiah was safe because his heart was free of fear. He was then spared from death. But you know what the very next story holds? Another prophet, Uriah, who had spoken the same sort of words. His story is told,
There was another man who prophesied … Uriah … He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. Then … they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him down to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into a burial place of the common people.” (vv.20-23)
Jeremiah knew whose hands he was in so he entrusted himself to the people and was spared. Uriah, who spoke the same message, was “afraid and fled and escaped,” and yet was put to death.
Where are we truly safe?
Today we are reminded that this world is not safe. I remember the emergency landing, the panic in the passengers, the calling my parents and hearing their sobs of relief knowing we were ok. I’m on my knees this weekend praying for friends who lost dear ones ten years ago. How can we trust when this world is not safe?
The only place we’re truly safe is the place of trusting God. Of refusing to escape, to fear, to flee. Sometimes escape, fleeing, is subtle — It can make us run to facebook, food, entertainment, control. But whenever we escape, we let the enemy win.
The only real enemy we face is fear. Fear will bury us deep and rob us of a life of experiencing the love of God.
Even if our dollar bills don’t say that we trust God …
Our lives must.
Because that is the only place that’s truly safe.
—
{I pray God’s comfort and grace to you whose pain is so real this day. Thank you for letting me be part of your day; thank you for reading.}
Week's end with thanks
- My girl’s curls. (And sweet friend who snaps shots!)
- Falling asleep to the river’s song.
- Warm little puppy-boy wiggling in next to me at first light.
- Sunlight through leaves.
- Crunchy peanut butter.
- Sidewalk chalk on asphalt.
- Children’s feet black, running barefoot races round the drive.
- My dad’s homemade ice cream.
- Enjoying two berry seasons in one weekend — picking last of summer’s blues (and eating all six pounds fresh!), then forging through thorns into fall’s blacks, kids faces stained purple.
- Sweet juice running down chins.
- Summer’s night, reading outside, eyes slowly straining until darkness drives me inside.
- Long talks and prayers with friend.
- Husband home.
- Coming home-home.
- No place like one’s own bed.
- Clean sheets.
- Business cards on countertops, a common sight this year.
- Opening hands wide.
- Saying yes.
- Hammerle park with friend of 31 years …
- Raw honey sweet.
- Feeling overwhelmed, but fighting for thanks, for joy.
- Meeting a new friend from of old.
- Friends who lift arms and chins.
- Prayer while the sun comes up.
- New mercies.
- A day bathed in prayer.
- A life bathed in grace.
- Visit to Multnomah seminary, kids running happy through the lawn. First time not attending or TA-ing in six years. Jeff and I reminiscing, all the drives, visits, tests, prayers, tired tears and happy days. Both children, now running in the grass, filled me up large while I walked those seminary halls. Morning sickness followed me to class. Those stairs, at nine-months-pregnant, were tougher than any exam. So worth it — what a blessed place — so thankful to have called it home for a bit.
- Finding a squeaky bath-toy in our bed. Someday, when the house is quiet and clean, I will miss the toys strewn. I tuck the squeaky fish under my pillow for the night.
- Family date night bed-delivery. So fun to watch our kids enjoy blessing someone. They were so happy!
- Nana visit.
- Dentist visit — not fun — but thankful that we have the resources to have dental work done!
- Afton Field Farm.
- More and more of my grocery shopping being done in honor-system garages … And my kids don’t even have to get out of the car!
- Books.
- Apologies.
- Forgiveness.
- Tomato soup dinner for aching teeth.
- Green tea.
- Feeling spent, trusting God to fill us afresh each day.
- Pounding headache, grateful for a bed and an easy mother-in-law who makes herself at home.
- Trusting God.
- Being stretched.
- Leaning in.
- Peace.
F is for Farm, Afton Field
Someone recently asked me where we’ve landed with food. That is, what kind of food, how to keep within the budget, etc. after a year of following the Food Stamp Challenge. It’s pretty much gotten whittled down to this: Eat real food for fuel and fellowship.
As life gets full, I’m finding less and less time for elaborate meals or even extensive meal-planning. Our grocery list has gotten very short, our budget has stretched a bit (up to $250), but all in all it works for us. If you’re interested, here’s the gist of it:
- My goal is to have a mindset that food is fuel. How often do we use food for things other than what it’s met for? To nourish our bodies for God’s service. But secondly, food is for fellowship too — we’re meant to break bread together and enjoy each other, so I never want to whittle down so much that we don’t have room for hospitality and the joy of a good ‘ole BBQ!
- I switched to just meal planning per week because it’s easier to take advantage of sales, specials, and seasonal peak-picked produce. I only cook about 4 nights a week, the rest is leftovers.
- We quit drinking milk altogether (just a preference & cost thing). We stick with Tillamook cheese and stock up when it’s on sale. (my kids eat lots!)
- For meat we buy Draper Valley or other high-quality/local/or organic poultry and grass-fed beef. (*more on that in a moment…) Still making lots of chicken stock!
- We quit sugar and bought a gallon of raw honey and use it whenever we need sweetener… yum.
- I haven’t made bread for a few months. Not cutting out all wheat, I just wanted to re-train my kids to eat a variety of foods besides bread! That’s helped so much!
- We’re plowing through the organic eggs for breakfast every morning. About 10 dozen a month. Yikes! But it’s still a fairly inexpensive protein source and kids love it. I still make them oatmeal each morning as well, with applesauce, frozen blueberries, and a touch of raw honey.
- Lots of organic peanut butter from Costco.
- I still buy most my produce from Azure Standard or Spicer Brother’s Produce.
- I still aim for the under-$2/lb. rule on everything except meat.
- Treats: uncured nitrite-free hot dogs and the occasional 1/2 gallon of ice cream. There’s just nothing like a hot dog and ice cream on a summer’s night…