FINDING JOY

Finding Joy

Friday, June 30, 2023

12:25 PM

 

How do you find joy in times of trial and frustration?  In times of sadness and loneliness?  How do you find the inner strength when every day is such an effort to endure?  Why is the joy of the former days so distant and seemingly out of reach? 

 

These are the questions I have been asking myself this week or at least for the past few days.  My mind and my body are not happy.  My heart is sad and my eyes are on the verge of tears every other hour.  I feel sadness about everything right now and I am not sure of the exact cause except for the fact my helpmate, my sweetheart, my best friend, my husband is no longer here on earth to help me find my joy again.  He always figured out a way to make me smile when I was sad.  He could say something that would remind me of all I had to be thankful for.  He knew how to bring me back to the joy of the Lord.  I miss him and his wisdom.  I miss his voice in my ear.  I miss his arms of love when I needed a hug.  It's lonely without him.

 

I could go for a walk on the beach and cry.  I could go for a drive and cry.  I could go shopping for something I do not need and then come home and cry.  I could make phone calls to my family or my friends and cry.  But what good would all of that do besides bring others into my sadness and have them worry about me and my mental stability.  Everyone has their own troubles.  Each one of us has something that troubles us.  Our only hope is in the Lord.

 

In John chapter 15 Jesus spoke these words;

 

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:1-17

 

Without Jesus we have no hope, no joy, no peace, no happiness.  We follow Him and His ways because we want to please Him and be the kind of person who loves others.  Without hope, joy, peace and happiness we are just like those in the world who are lost souls.  This is how they live life every day.  But read these words again. Jesus calls us his friend when we are his followers.  He chose us to follow Him and to hear His words of encouragement to not be like those in the world.  He called us to be different than the hopeless, the joyless, those without peace, those with no happiness.  Wrap your mind around the words spoken by Jesus over two thousand years ago,

 

"I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."

 

God the Son, Jesus Christ, chose you.  He chose me to speak His name and give others a spark of joy, a piece of hope, a word of peace.  Maybe not every day but the days when others around me need to hear these words.  Some days I need to hear these words and no one is here to speak them into me.  But the Holy Spirit is here with me.  He does speak to me.  I do hear Him even when I am sinking in tears of sadness.  He does comfort me with words of love and guidance.  With words of peace and contentment.  Without any condemnation for my feelings, today He encourages me to look forward to tomorrow. 

 

Proverbs 17:22 (NLT) - A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16 (NLT) - Always be joyful.

 

Romans 14:17 (NLT) - For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

Isaiah 55:12 (NLT) - You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!

 

Psalms 126:5 (NLT) - Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.

 

Psalms 9:2 (NLT) - I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.

 

Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV) - Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

 

The Holy Spirit meets with us when we are downcast and sad. He comes along side of us and cries with us.  He knows all too well our sadness and why.  He understands everything and holds our tears on His shoulder of strength and compassion.  He is our Comforter, our Advocate to the Father to help us see the wonder and beauty of our lives and those who touch our lives throughout the days and the years.  He leads us out of those valleys of darkness and sadness and puts us back on the path we have been set on by the Father and the Son.  He restores our joy so that we can move forward to the days ahead when we can stand along side one of our family members or friends that is having a sad and joyless day.

 

Acts 13:52 (NKJV) - And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

 

When we have times of sadness, which are pruning times,  we need to remember we are a branch attached to The Vine.  We are chosen by Him to produce fruit and the fruit of the Spirit is;

Galatians 5:22 (NKJV) - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

He is with us and encouraging us to come back to the joy of our first love, Jesus Christ Son of God, our King and our Savior!

 

Thinking of Paul and Little Children

There are a couple of things the Holy Spirit has brought to mind this morning that I wanted to get written down.

THOUGHTS ON THE APOSTLE PAUL:  
My first thoughts are about the apostle Paul and the thorn in his side.  In 2 Corinthians 12 he talks about it a bit.  He says he was "given a thorn in his flesh, a messenger of Satan."  A thorn in the flesh is something that would cause him pain or discomfort every day.  All the time.  Neverendingly poking at him.  Constantly on his mind.  

We know that Paul, when he was Saul the Pharisee, he was a thorn to many early Christians.  He caused them much discomfort even to the point of death.  He persecuted them.  But then one day on the road to Damascus, on the way to persecute more Christians, he was stuck down by an intense bright light and Jesus spoke to him.  He was blinded and taken to a house where he suffered while the Holy Spirit fell on him as he had fallen on the Christian people.  It wasn’t till Ananias came and spoke to him that "something like scales fell from his eyes."  He tells the story in Act 9 and Acts 22.

I wonder if the intense bright light and the scales which fell from his eyes caused permanent damage to his eyes, his eyesight?  We know there are scriptures that tell of his poor eyesight.  We know he had trouble with his eyes for the rest of his life.  I wonder if the thorn in his side was his sight, this messenger of Satan, a daily reminder that he could no longer see clearly with his physical eyes and had to rely more on his mind and the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through him.  He would never fully see with his eyes again after that first encounter with Jesus.  He would always be reminded of what he did before he came to know Jesus and his saving grace and mercy.  This could be the thorn in his side that never went away but did not hold him back so much that he would be unable to keep from spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ and the miracles of coming to Him and following Him?  I wonder.

THOUGHTS ABOUT LITTLE CHILDREN:
My next thought is about little children and the Lord's love for them.  Over and over through the Bible little children are adored and loved by the Lord. God the Son, Jesus the Christ, says in Matthew 18:3, that unless we turn from sin and become like little children we will never see the Kingdom of Heaven and that if we lead one of these little children into sin it would be better to have a stone tied around our necks and drowned in the sea!  That is pretty straightforward. It is intense if you really think about it and dwell on it.  Read the word NEVER.  The King James Version says, "ye shall not", which means never, enter the Kingdom of God.

'And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. '
Matthew 18:3

What is it about little children?  He calls us his children.  Father God calls his people his children.  Jesus calls us his family, his children. Children are young and innocent until adults get a hold of them and show them sinful ways.  Adults are their teachers and their leaders. Children live how they are taught and how they are disciplined.  Children are the earliest example of mankind,  made in the image of God here on earth.  They have just left the spiritual realm of God a short time ago.  They were with the Father and then the spark of  life, that first breath of life, was breathed into them. If that tiny baby does not breath they do not live.  They die and the spirit returns to the Father and the tiny body is returned to the dust. Each of these little ones were knit together in the womb of their mother and then when they drew that first breath of life on earth they became a full human being. Before that they had not breathed the air on this earth but were fully and totally connected to the Father, Spirit to spirit.  It took that first breath to put the child physically and spiritually on earth.  When the umbilical cord was cut the baby became an individual, a person, a separated being from the Father.  A human being made in the image of God but now cut from the Spirit of God.  A human being with a free will but a little child needing to be taught the ways of the Father and a lifetime to find a way to restore that spiritual connection that was just cut.  He wants us each to find the way, the truth and the life.  He wants us each to find Him again.

As the little ones grew here on earth that connection of God's Spirit and the spirit of that little child began to separate more.  Each month, each year the spiritual separation widened.  Each year the child learned from the adults and those around who had been in the world for a longer period time.  Some of these people involved in the nurturing of the child did a wonderful job and taught them about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Some lead these little children on a path of spiritual destruction. The innocent little child was lead to sin and selfishness which is totally opposite than God, who is loving kindness, mercy and grace.  God will hold the adults accountable for the sins of the little children. The initial plan of God was to have a beautiful relationship with His people and the people were suppose to be following God and leading their children towards God, not away from Him.  An evil one came into the picture a long time ago and is still doing his best to lead every single soul he possibly can away from God.  He has been damned to hell, the burning lake of fire, for a long time but the plan has not been completed yet as God wants each of us to return to Him spiritually.

If we could see the world in spiritual eyes we would see billions of adults walking around with millstones hung around their necks.  God will eventually be drowning them in the sea or the lake of fire for what they have done to the little children.  The only way to cut the rope holding the millstone is to repent and ask for forgiveness from Jesus for causing the little ones to follow after sinful ways and selfishness.  Jesus will forgive those with a truly repentant heart.  

Stubborn or Determined

 

Today has been a day of much contemplation.  Today has been a day to officially let go of the past.  Some one in the past has hurt me and I have let that hurt surface for the last time.  There is no need to go into detail but it took most of the morning,  a long conversation with daughter and a couple of letters written but torn up to come to this point of letting go. Completely.  Fully. Once and for all.  I am determined not to go back to this person in my own heart. With my own tears.  That season of life if over and actually has been over for decades.

This brought me to the next thoughts of how stubborn I am.  I like to think I am determined rather than stubborn.  Stubbornness can be a bad thing.  When we dig in our heels to something and not be the least bit unyielding.  Especially when it is a selfish thing.  Something we do not want to give up or give up on others.  So when I think about my own stubbornness I need to stand back and look at exactly what it is all about.   If I am determined to do this thing, is the blessing of the Lord upon it?  Is it something that will bless the person and the kingdom of God?  Is it worthy determination or plain stubbornness and refusal to give in?  Am I just being stubborn and not wanting to give up out of self gratification? There is a huge difference between selfish stubbornness and Godly determination.

This takes me to how opinionated I am.  Am I opinionated and mouthy or am I opinionated and wise?  Am I choosing wise words to share or merely stating my opinion in another self gratified way? As I have gotten older I have calmed down with the words coming from my mouth.  Not the amount of words, as I still talk a mile a minute, but the words are a bit more hand picked by the Holy Spirit before they come out.  This is another good thing happening to me as the scriptures talk a lot about the tongue.

Proverbs 21:23 (NIV) - Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity.

James 1:26 (NIV) - Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) - The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

I Corinthans 13:1 (NV) -  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Since I have been a firm proponent of "Choose your words wisely" then I need to be very careful how I speak out among others.  Since I am now leading a women's home ministry group I need to speak carefully and thoughtfully.  Since I am older and (should be) wiser than a younger person or a younger believer I need to be using words from the Holy Spirit that edify Him.

Today is a day of good reflection and more of the daily dying we are asked to do as we get closer to our day of redemption.  My past sins have crucified Jesus time and time again and I need to stop doing that to Him.  I love Him with all my heart, mind and soul and do not want my stubbornness to hurt Him or others.  Today I am letting go of some things and ways that needed to be let go of a LONG time ago.  

Called

 Our Power of Twelve word for this month is "called" and the scripture reference is 1 Corinthians 7:20 which says,

"Each person should remain in the life situation to which he was called.

As I first pondered this I was wondering what is the Apostle Paul trying to tell us.  Why did he advise us to stay where we were when we heard Jesus calling out to us to come to him and be saved?  Wouldn't we need to start changing our lives, become better and to do better?  What if we are in a terrible part of our lives when God gets our attention and tell us to leave the world behind and become a part of his kingdom and family?  Why would God want us to stay right there where He found us in our lives of sin?  Didn't God want us out of our world of sin?  Yes.  He does.  But this verse must be read in the context of the entire chapter. Also note the word "should" in this verse.  The King James version (the original version) and the New King James version do not have the word should.  Many other versions say "should".  More about that later.

As I read the entire chapter and did some research I began to understand Paul was addressing the Corinthian church about marriage and sex.  Verses 1 - 16 tells them that only married couples should be having sex and that each one should stay in the marriage even if only one is a believer when that one person is called.  That one believer could be how the other partner can also hear the call to salvation.  Paul then goes on to explain in verse 20 that the one who is called needs to stay right where they are and not leave the life situation they are currently living in.  Just because one has been called to salvation you do not leave your spouse.  They are free to leave, but the believer is not.

In verses 12-14 Paul explain that the believer in the household "sanctifies" the entire household.  The word sanctifies means to be holy.  God's holiness resides upon the entire household because of the faith of the one believer.  God's favor is upon the household of the believer and all who reside there in the family.  The marriage contract is sacred to God and He is the one who wants us to stay with the partner we married no matter what.  The exception to this is adultery.

The word "should" is in this translation but when looking at the original translation the scripture says,

"Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called." (KJV)

God is instructing us to  remain right where we are when He called us to salvation.  God gives a condition that if there is adultery or the unbeliever leaves the marriage then the marriage contract is broken and the believer is free of that contract.

Chapter 7 of First Corinthians is almost entirely in regards to the life situation of marriage (he does speak to slaves so that may pertain to where we work?) and remaining in a marriage to a non-believer.  You may have been "called" by the Lord to salvation but your spouse has not heard that calling…..yet.  Who knows what kind of impact you can have on your unbelieving spouse?

God knows!  He wants us to stay (remain) where we are and watch and see what miracles God can do in marriages, families, jobs and our entire lives. When God "called" each of us He always knew the plan and the purpose for when, where and how.  We trust in Him and His wisdom.

BACK AND FORTH

Poor King David!  In Psalms chapters 41, 42, and 43 King David says in one verse that everyone hates him, then that God is merciful and will strengthen him.  He says that his souls is down cast and he cries for mercy then says that God is his rock and he will praise Him.  Then he asks for deliverance from his enemies who surround him but is then is filled with hope and praise.  David goes from being sad and discouraged to being hopeful and strengthened.  In many of the Psalms this is how David worked out his walk with God.  Just like me.  Just like you. Up one day, down the next.  Just like the hours of the day.  Filled with hope and peace, then trials and turmoil.  Back and forth.  Back and forth.  We sway in the storms.  We do not break. We stand in the calm. 

 

The main thing in all of this back and forth in our thoughts, emotions, actions and feelings is that we continually come back to the Lord.  We come back and find the peace that He gives to our troubled souls.  We seek Him and feel Him giving us what we need for the moment, for the hour, for the day, for the month, for the year, for each year.  We continually come back to Him.  He is our rock and our fortress.  Our tower in the storm. Our tower in the calm.

 

Psalms 61:3 (NIV) - For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.

 

Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) - The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

 

2 Samuel 22:2 (NIV) - He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.

 

Psalms 59:9 (NIV) - You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress.

 

Jesus told us  we would have trouble.

 

John 16:33 (NIV) - “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 

Then in James we are told to consider the trials and troubles pure joy!

 

James 1:2 (NIV) - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

 

How do we joyfully accept those trials, temptations, troubles and woes?  Even King David had trouble doing this so why should we feel that we will not experience the same back and forth feelings and emotions?  We won’t and Jesus does not expect us to get it all under control in an out of control world.  We are mere human beings but we do have the Holy Spirit living in us to bring us back each time we start feeling down cast. 

 

The game of tennis goes back and forth, back and forth, until someone hits the ball to an unexpected spot.  We have watched the professionals go for long periods of time back and forth but eventually there is one unexpected hit and a point is scored.  The evil one will try to get us to think that that we are not hitting the mark just right and we have failed.  He will try to make us feel inadequate and undeserving.  He will do whatever he can to discourage us in the plans of the Lord but because we are able to hear God's voice we are able to drive the devil into the ground and away from us.  We are able to hit back powerfully with the joy and perseverance set before us.  God is with us!

 

Psalms 46:11 (NIV) - The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 

Yes, we will go back and forth from day to day.  Yes, we will be downcast and overwhelmed at different points of time.  Yes, we will have trials and tribulations.  But when we are held by the Lord God of the universe there is nothing and no one that can keep us from His love, His strength, His peace, His understanding, and His joy. Look up!  Look to Him!  See His face from the top of the tower!  Hear His voice calling to you in the wind!  Know He is with you in the back and in the forth!  Press on!

 

Psalms 9:9 (NIV) - The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

FIRST FRUITS

 

God requested His people, the chosen nation of Israel, to give their first fruits to Him. In Exodus 34 He speaks to Moses about the people and their rebellion against Him and their way of always falling back into sin and falling away from Him.

After everything they had seen Him do for them, freeing them from century's of slavery to the Egyptians, freeing them by dropping plagues and death on the Pharaoh and the Egyptian people, taking them through the Red Sea, then supplying water and food in the desert, they still turned to their wicked ways! Yehovah warned Moses when they got to the Promised land to not fall into the traps of the pagan people and follow after their gods. News alert!  They did it any way.

 

Yehovah told Moses the people would have to dedicate their first fruits to Him.  The first born of every animal and their first born son.  The first fruits of their harvests.  The best.  It is not that God needed this for Himself.  He needed the people to make a sacrifice to Him and for Him.  One that would cost them and one they would have to give freely and willingly.  God does not need any "thing" so this was something He needed for the people to understand would bring them closer to Him because they would be showing their love to Him by giving first to Him and then trusting Him that the rest of their needs would be taken care of for them and their families.  Is God your provider or are you the one who provides?

 

Today, we are still in that same pattern with the Father.  He is still asking for our first fruits.  Are we willing to give Him the top, most important things of our lives?  Are we willing to give Him the best of our lives?  Do we happily give Him whatever He asks for? As Christians, followers of Jesus, we know we are not under the old covenant of the laws of God given to the nation of Israel.  Jesus brought us under the new covenant but bringing in the first fruits is still as important today as if was 4,000 years ago because we are still a "stiff-necked and rebellious" people.  We still wander off from God and His way of doing things.  We still become selfish and hold on to things that have no importance at all in the eternal world to come.  There is not one single thing from here on earth that we will take with us when we die.  Not one single thing.

 

Many times Jesus taught about fruit, the vine, the branches, the tree that bears good fruit, the one that does not. 

 

John 15:5 - I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

 

John 15:16 - You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

 

Matthew 3:10 - And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 

Ephesians 5:9 - for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth,

 

We as Gentiles have been grafted into the nation of Israel, into the chosen people of God.  We are still required to give our first fruits to the Lord even though we are not held under the law of Moses.  We do this out of love for our Father God.  We do this to show Him we trust Him and adore Him above all else in life.  When we submit to His authority and acknowledge there is nothing we are able to do on our own or apart from Him we are bowing before this throne and saying, "Everything I have is yours, Father!  I own nothing.  I have nothing.  I want nothing but You!"  We are sacrificing all for Him.

 

The Tribes of Israel time and time again followed false gods.  They followed after the world just as so many people do today.  They were selfish and rebellious just as we are selfish and rebellious.  Nothing has changed.  God is still asking for the first fruits of our lives.  Are you willing to give Him, the God of all creation, everything you have?  Are you willing to lay down your life for Him?  Are you willing to say, "You are Yahweh and I trust you completely to being me out of the desert into the Promised land"?

 

I hope you are and that you give Him everything for every single day of you life.  It is worth it!

RIGHTEOUSNESS

What does it mean, to be righteous?  There are many scriptures that speak of God's righteousness and there are many scripture that speak about our righteousness.  How can we, as mere human beings, made of dust and dirt, ever be righteous before our Creator who is righteousness himself?  We are fallen creatures with selfish desires and filled with sin. So many times in our lives all we want to do is what we want to do and hardly even look at God, let alone know who He is and how righteous He is.  We seek our "self" most of our lives.  We are very selfish created beings.

 

So why do the scriptures tell us over and over again to be righteous? 

 

Proverbs 21:21 (NLT)

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.

 

Ephesians 5:8-10 (NKJV)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.

 

Matthew 5:20 (NKJV)

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

Webster Dictionary defines righteous as:

acting in accord with divine or moral law

free from guilt or sin

morally right or justifiable

acting rightly

upright

according to what is right

righteous actions

a sense of what is right

 

Being morally right can be different in the eyes of each person depending on what their convictions are.  One person's idea of what is right many times does not match another persons idea of what is right.  Look at the comparison of what the criminal believes in and what the law abiding citizen believes in.  A criminal may believe that he can take whatever he wants from whomever he wants to take from while the law abiding citizen believes that it is illegal and is a crime and should be punished.  Each person makes a determination of what they believe is right and just for themselves.  Each person has their own idea of what truth is.  We live in a world where truth can be whatever you want it to be regardless of the reality of it.

 

But God is a spiritual being.  He is not a created being. He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is the Beginning and the End.  He is I AM.  He always was.  He always is.  Our finite minds have a hard time thinking about our Spiritual Father who is infinite.  His righteousness is compete.  It is without flaw.  It is perfect just as He is.  We are not.  So again, how can we be righteous in His eyes?  How can we ever meet that expectation?  How can we ever be like Him in righteousness?

 

Isaiah 55:9 - For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

 

Romans 11:33 - Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

 

Psalms 113:4 - For the LORD is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens.

 

Being right in the eyes of God is based upon His standards and not man's standards. He has given us teachings on how to be righteousness over and over in the Bible.  He has set the law down in writing and tells us to follow these laws.  His laws are not man's laws.  His ways are not man's ways.  Our conduct in the world is taught in scripture.  Our attitude towards others is taught in scripture.  Our use of words in the world is taught scripture.  Everything on how to go through day by day life on earth is taught in the scriptures.  We chose whether or not to live by those teachings or should I say, His law.  

 

Isaiah 33:22 - For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

 

When we choose to follow Jesus as our Lord, king and savior we choose to follow His laws. 

 

John 10:30 - I and my Father are one.

 

We choose to walk as He walked and talk as He talked.  We choose to do things His way and not the way of the world.  We come to the point where we know we are not of this world and are separated from the ways of this world.  We understand that the prince of this world is the evil one who seeks to steal, kill and destroy all things of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  The devil is filled with rebellion and wants to make us rebel against the laws of God.  We understand the battle is between good and evil and a fight for the souls of the people born into this world.  We understand that the devil wants to lead us away from God and His righteousness.  He wants us to be in rebellion to God so that our souls will be judged against God's law.  He does not want us to have any part of God's righteousness.

 

Every day we make choices to follow God and his righteousness or follow the ways of the world.  We have been given free will to determine the outcome of our lives.  We choose what to pursue in life.

 

Proverbs 21:21 - Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love will find life, righteousness, and honor.

 

Desert and Wilderness

Today is my 69th birthday but instead of feeling excited and happy I feel like I am in a desert and a wilderness.  Alone In unknown territory.  This is the first year in 40 years that Jerry is not here to wish me a happy birthday and make a fuss over me. He always made this day special for me and made me feel special.

 

Tomorrow will be 7 months since he went home to Jesus.  It feels like years but feels like moments have passed since he left.  It's very hard to describe how we become so accustom to a way of life and then when it changes we are at a loss on how to navigate this new life.  I know the saying that "Time heals old wounds" but it is still such a new wound and not one that I really thought about in detail.  I knew for a year before his passing that his health was failing more and more and that the time was coming.  It just came so abrupt.  Not that I wanted him to suffer any longer but I had no idea of all the after effects of him not being here with me.  I had grown to count on him in so many ways for 40 years.  I was 95% thankful for him.  The other 5% was his human selfishness which we all have.  If he were to say the reverse of me I think it would be about 70% to 30% since I am a "high maintenance" woman.  Of course that is how I think of myself and he did not agree with me a lot of the time.  I know these "first's" will be the hardest but I also know without a shadow of doubt the Lord is beside me helping me set one foot in front of the other, day after day, month after month and hopefully year after year as I learn the lessons of this wilderness experience.

 

In these past months I have learned about Elijah's three year wilderness experience.  I have learned about Paul's three year experience.  I am right now learning about Habakkuk and his journey with God.  Habakkuk was filled with dread for what was to come for God's people because of their unbelief.  They were slaves to the Egyptian for centuries and then walked in the desert for 40 years with God supplying all their needs and yet eventually followed after others gods so God sent the Babylonians to take them captive as slaves, again.  The chosen people had turned their backs on Yahweh, again.  It was time for them to go back into the wilderness, again, and this time for 70 years.  After the 70 years they were freed, again, but then centuries passed as they again followed other gods and left their first love, Jehovah the One True God.  So I AM had to send Jesus to stop the repetition.  The people were never going to be free of sin without the one final sacrifice, his son.  His one and only son whom he loved.

 

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

Sometime the wilderness experiences are not because we have turned away from our Lord.  It is a wilderness experience of learning and growing.  When Jesus was in his 40 days of wilderness it was for the testing of his faith in the Father who had sent him to proclaim freedom for the captives.  To understand fully that He was here to save the people from their sin once and for all.  To give his life for others as the final sacrificial lamb.  Two thousand years later we have a hard time understanding all animals that had been sacrificed for the sins of the people for them to only continually turn away from Yahweh again and again.  Aren't we the same kind of people today?  Don't we call on God when the trouble comes and then turn away when life is running smoothly again?  Have God's creation changed their hearts to continually walk in his footsteps?  No.  We still think of ourselves first in so many areas of life.  Our time is ours.  Our money is ours. Our possessions are ours.  Everything in life is ours.  Wrong.  Everything is His!

 

I know this in my heart and mind that all I have is his but there are still times I seek my own selfish ways.  I let my tongue lash out.  I accuse other's of not being holy and righteous and then I am not holy and righteous. I point a finger at the sins of others without thinking about the sins I am committing right then and there by grumbling and whining about their sins instead of prayer for them.  This would be why I am in this desert right now.  To learn how to be more like Christ and less like me.  Even after 40 years of walking closely with him I still fall short.  I still need to learn how to curb my tongue.  I still need to hear the Father telling me how I have failed.  I still need Jesus to show me the way to walk rightly before him and others.  My hope today, here on my 69th birthday that it will not take me three years in the wilderness to learn how to be a better servant of Jehovah Elohim who is I AM.  Who is the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.

Purify My Heart

Over and over this morning the old song "Purify my heart" has been on my lips. 

 

Purify My Heart,

Let Me be as Gold and precious Silver.

Purify My Heart,

Let Me be as Gold, pure Gold.

 

Refiner’s Fire,

My Heart’s one desire

Is to be… Holy;

Set apart for You, Lord.

I choose to be… Holy;

Set apart for You, My Master,

Ready to do Your will.

 

I know the reason for this is in the past week I have not been close enough to the Master and fretting over many different things going on in the world and in my life.  I do my best but I continually fall short.  You would like after walking with Jesus for over 40 years I would be able to keep on the straight path but nope.  I fall short.  You would think that being an inch away from being 70 years old I would stay steady and keep all of my thoughts and speech filled with only goodness.  I fall short.  You would think that after experiencing in the past 5 years the removal of a tumor in my head and my husband dying I would be strong enough to show wisdom, mercy, and endurance to those around me.  I fall short.  You would think that with all of my scripture reading and seeking the Lord on a daily basis that I would have everything in place as far as being a shining example of Christian life. I fall short.

 

I get tired of falling short and then feeling like I am not good enough and I am not pure enough.  I get tired period.  I whine and cry out to the Lord asking why I can't keep on the narrow path?  I want to do better but then I do not do better.  These are the times I know I have no choice but to endure myself and my inadequacies.  I have to persevere on a daily basis to hear the Lord and to walk with him.  The cross is heavy on me some days and only because pile a bunch of cement blocks of my attitude and doubts on top of it.

 

I full well know the scriptures;

 

Matthew 11:30 (NKJV) - For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

 

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV) - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

Psalms 55:22 (NIV) - Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

 

Matthew 11:28 (NKJV) - Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 

I also know these scriptures;

 

Romans 3:23 (NIV) - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

 

Hebrews 12:15 (NKJV) - looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.

 

Psalm 43:5 (NKJV) - 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God: For I shall yet praise him, Who is the health of my countenance, and my God.'

 

I know that getting discouraged some days is bound to happen in this cruel world we live in.  Like I said, I am almost 70 years old and I have seen a lot of darkness and the darkness increases.  I also understand I am still standing on this earth because the Father has seen fit to keep me planted where I am.  Some days I don't see the path clearly because of the tears and my eyes are red from the sorrows.  I also know so many others are on paths that are far, far deeper and harder than my own.  Then I feel the guilt creep in for my whining and pouting. My woe is me attitude.  My words of discouragement not encouragement.  I fall short.

 

So as I move through this day with a song asking God to purify my heart I will watch and listen closely as He removes more of me, creates in me a clean heart, and removes more of the impurities from within me.  I fall short and I am still a work in progress.  I am still a cracked pot in the hands of the Potter.

 

SALT AND LIGHT

Today I am being prompted to write about salt and light.  This is something I have struggled with many times in my life.  How do we find a happy balance between being salty and being the light?  What does being salty mean?  As we walk for years with the Lord we know what it means to be his light but how are we to be his salt and how much of it do we use?

 

Mark 9:49 (NIV) - ' Everyone will be salted with fire. '

 

Mark 9:50 (NIV) - “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

 

Leviticus 2:13 (NIV) - Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings.

 

Colossians 4:6 (NIV) - Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

 

Ezekiel 43:24 (NIV) - You are to offer them before the LORD, and the priests are to sprinkle salt on them and sacrifice them as a burnt offering to the LORD.

 

2 Chronicles 13:5 (NIV) - Don’t you know that the LORD, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?

 

We know that salt is a preservative and extends the usefulness and life of food when it is salted.  Without salt these foods decay in time.  We also know that salt is used a flavoring.  Do we completely stop using salt as a flavoring or do we use it in moderation?  Does everyone need to use salt or just those who can discern the appropriate amount to use?

 

I will admit that throughout the years the salty words that come out of my mouth are not always what the Lord would have me say.  I know that I let my emotions and feelings spout out of my mouth without thinking of their effect on the ears that hear my words.  I sway this way and that way depending on what is happening in the world and in my world.  I am a mess at times but the Lord always brings me back into his way of thinking and acting. I know he wants me to do better and be better in how I spread salt for him.  There should always be a happy balance of salt and light for spreading his word.

 

We live in a world today much like the times of Noah and the times of Sodom.  The world has lost it's way and the people are dying and decaying right before us.  We can see that the wickedness of the world is taking the people farther and father away from God.  Even in the Christian world the foundations are cracking and breaking because the storms are battering them.  They no longer bend and sway in the storms because their foundations were not strongly built in the Lord.  Many are breaking and falling into the stormy waters and are drowning.

 

In Old Testament times Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others did their best to tell the people to come back to the Lord.  They told of the terrible things to come if the people did not change their ways and stop worshipping false idols.  They stood before the Temple gates and cried out to the people but the people would not listen.  This happened over and over again even up to the time the Messiah came and they were unable to see and recognize him.  They killed him and moved on in their lives.  The prophets did not want to antagonize the people with their words of salt. They did not want to hear and see the anger of the people towards their words.  They did not want to feel the wrath of the people but they did fear the wrath of God far more.  They did what the Lord called them to do, to warn the people of their impending doom if they did not mend their ways and stop following false gods.

 

Throughout time there have been those standing on the street corners with signs saying, "Repent or Die" and they were scoffed at and ridiculed.  Twice in Luke 13 Jesus told the people,

 

Luke 13:3 (NIV) - I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

 

Luke 13:5 (NIV) -  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

 

I believe when Jesus says something more than once he is truly trying to get the ears to hear exactly what he is saying.  Read those two verses again then read them in the context of the chapter.  This is a call to repentance and then speaks of the destruction that comes from lack of repentance. Jesus gives the grower one more year to help the tree produce fruit.  He gives the tree one more chance to not be thrown into the fire and burned.  He will not continually disregard our sins and disobedience.  A price will be paid for those who do not repent.

 

We live is a world today that cares very little for the light of God and cares very little for the salt of God.  Their hearts are hardened.  Their eyes are blind.  Their ears cannot hear.  So do we, who do still hear the Lord speaking, give up and quit being salt and light stop also?  Of course, we do not!  Not if the Lord is speaking into our own hearts and minds about the impending doom of the people.  It's no fun being that person on the street corner holding the sign of God to "Repent or Die".  It's no fun being ridiculed and rebuked for not being a light for the Lord.  Salt in an open wound hurts painfully.

 

For me it is hard finding the proper balance of how to warn the people and how to encourage the people. I have not been trained properly in speaking out effectively and honestly in a good balance.  I will be damned by some for doing it one way and be damned by others doing it another way.  It is so much easier to only be the light sharer than it is being the salt spreader but some are called to do both.  We are told that every joint supplies in Ephesians 4.  It also says,

 

Ephesians 4:15 (NIV) - Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

 

How do we, as his voice crying in the wilderness, maturely speak truth in love?

How do we tell the people that unless they repent from their sins they will die?  No one wants to hear the truth about their sins and their eternal death because of their sinful ways.  No one wants to speak out with the saltiness of this truth.  It's a hard truth. I would so much rather only be the light of Jesus but for some reason he has decided I also have to be salty in my words.  I need to make sure to find the correct balance the Lord would have as I speak out to a world that needs to repent or die.  This part of my walk with Jesus is very hard as many do not understand that each journey he takes us on are individual journeys.  Each one of us who are followers of Jesus have a different ministry on earth.  Some are called to be one thing and others are called for other things but all are part of the kingdom of God when they are called according to his purpose. 

 

Romans 8:28 (NIV) - And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

 

Ephesians 1:11 (NIV) - In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.

 

1 Corinthians 3:8 (NIV) - The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

 

Each one of us are called in different ways and for different purposes but all are called to Jesus, the savior of our souls.  Some are called to only shine light in a dark and dying world.  Some are called to spread the salt to preserve the word of God to repent from their sins or they will die.  All of Jesus' followers are called to do both but as human beings we sometimes do not have the proper balance of how to do this.  Only he can show us the way to be effective in our world today. 

 

My prayer for myself is to find the best balance of salt and light and then to go out into the world spreading his word of salvation which only comes to those who surrender to him and confess their sins and sin no more.