Plastic Cow

1.25.14

And let us consider one another, studying how we may stir up one another to love and helpful deeds and noble activities, not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together as is the habit of some people but admonishing one another.... Hebrews 10:24-25

This verse has been used by many as an "exhortation" to go to church.  Sometimes, however,  exhort sounds more like extort. 

I will be the first one to say that we as believers NEED to meet together for the purpose of praising God together, edifying one another, and encouraging one another in the faith.  There are great things that happen when 2 or more gather in His name.

We can not take this verse to explicitly mean going to "church".  Anywhere believers meet together for the purpose of earnest praying and genuine worship is assembling even though it may not be an formal assembly.   

I remember one particular Sunday morning I was bemoaning "having" to go to church.  I realized that if I went out of obligation because I was "expected" to I would only be "playing church".  The Holy Spirit told me that day to just stay home.  God didn't need my "sacrifice" of a plastic cow, meaning I would have just been going to say I went.  It wouldn't have been, on that day anyway, a genuine gesture of worship for me.  

However, there have been times when I've not felt like going or didn't want to go, but went anyway and was so glad I did!! 

What I have learned is that we can do church religiously or we can meet together, not necessarily in a church building and still be obedient to this scripture.   

The problem does become when you don't go at all anywhere, anytime.  Like I said before, meeting together for worshipping God is needful for us as believers.  That just doesn't always have to look like singing 3 hymns, passing a collection plate, hearing a 5 point sermon and  having an altar call.  

Please do not hear me saying that I don't think that type of gathering/assembling is NOT important or needful.  It is absolutely.  I just know that some of the best times I've been in worship have not been in church and some of the best times of exhortation and encouragement have been in a bible study.  

There have been times when in my own home, alone, I've experienced God and an intimacy with Him that I have never gotten being in a church building on a Sunday morning.  I've heard people say that they were listening to a song on the radio and felt God's presence and experienced an encounter with Him like they never had in church.  

If you are regularly experiencing moments where you are encouraging and being encouraged, discipling and  being discipled, and comforting one another and being comforted, you are fulfilling the spirit in this verse.  

But you must as a believer not forsake these encounters, these types of assemblies because we need them for the purposes described in these verses.  25/365

1.9.14 He's Real

1.9.14
"...You are The Lord , You alone; You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens; with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all, and the hosts of heaven worship You."  Nehemiah 9:6

When I read this excerpt from Ezra's prayer that this priest who lived 480-440 BC, was a documented historical figure and his writings/prayers are in front of me today, thousands of years later, it caused me to think of several things.

First of all, Ezra was a real person.  Josephus, a first century historian wrote of him.  Hebrew history books contain information about him and his returning from Babylonian exile, and reintroducing the Torah in Jerusalem.   A real historical figure, like George Washington, like Qín Shǐhuáng (259 BC – 210 BC who became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC.)  Like Stalin and Hitler, like Robert Boyle (considered to be the father of chemistry), like Edison, Franklin, and Ford.  Like Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, and like Jesus.

I realize you can't trust everything you read in history books, and just because it's from a so called reliable source, it's not always the entire truth.  However, when looking at the Bible as an historical book which contains historical figures which has withstood the test of time like any other book around, one must at least give an honest look at it's contents.  What parts of history do you choose to not believe because they are too bizarre to have really happened, or you don't think someone is capable of such feats, inventions, atrocities or conquests?  What do we trust and put our confidence (faith) in which we can't necessarily verify is truth, but we believe it anyway?

Why not look at the Bible as a history book, which it is in part. (It's also a book of poetry, law, wisdom, science and other things).

Can we look back and admire the historical people of the Bible for what they did to leave a mark on the history of the world?  We should.

The second thing that I thought of as I read this passage is how Ezra, in his prayer, attributed creation to God, recognized Him as Lord, realized that the earth and all that is ON it and the seas with all that is IN them is preserved/maintained/retained by God, and that there are angels and they worship Him.  All in that one little verse.  9/365

1.8.14 The Good Hand

1.8.14
"And by the good hand of our God upon us..."Ezra 8:18  "the hand of God was on us and protected us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes along the way." Ezra 8:31

Ezra must have had a thing about hands as I do.  For as long as I can remember, I've had this fascination with hands.  Permanent snapshots of people's hands are embedded in my memory.  From my Paw-Paw's hands as he handed me a piece of Juicy Fruit gum, to the hands of my newborn babies as they wrapped their tiny fingers delicately around my pinky, to the hands of my brother as I watched him change the brakes on my car, full of grime and grease under his nails, and then much later as he lie in his hospital bed.  He had my daddy's hands.  To the hands of my granny dropping dumplings gently into a pot of rolling broth.  I remember the hands of my daddy as he gripped the lawn mower handles or turned the key to wind the clocks in my childhood home, and the hands of my mother as she used two spoons to scoop cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, and as she received one of my babies I handed to her to hold.

I see these pictures vividly in my memory and now my imagination turns to seeing the hand of God that Ezra talked about.  He saw the hand of God as God's favor, and as a protection over them as they traveled.

I know many times I've prayed for God's hand of protection over my children, my family and others as they've traveled.  I've prayed that over my children in general, no matter where they were, many, many times.  God's hands are expansive, covering us in our everyday life, not just physically from harm, but from the attacks of the enemy.

Satan likes to trip us up and set up ambushes.  He does that by whispering lies to us.  He does that by putting a thought into our heads that leads us to an entire  3 act play of what "might" happen as we play out that one little tidbit of information he "shared" with us.  If he can get us to focus more on the what ifs, the could have beens, or even the so called greener grass on the other side, he will.

I've often seen myself as a little puppy chasing a butterfly.  I see this big meadow and I am frolicking around chasing this butterfly, all the while going further away from my Master.  But the hand of God protects me from my own self and God guides me back to my own back yard.

The hand of God, I wish I could fathom how big it is and has been in my life.  It will not be a surprise to me, or maybe it will, when I get to see how He has had it on my life for all my years.  The hand of God as His favor, His protection, His covering over me is comforting to me as I walk out the door today to realize His mighty hand is there to keep me-safe-physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  Thanks be to God.  8/365

1.7.14 Please Don't Stumble

 1.7.14  In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses and sins) in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor.  Ephesian 1:7

"Let your behavior and your beliefs tell the same story." -Chip Ingram

Ouch, that's a pretty strong rebuke there.  But when I heard Pastor Ingram say that years ago, I wrote it down in my Bible so that I could remember it and be reminded to do just that.

Too often I've been guilty of NOT letting my behavior and what I felt like I truly believed in  my heart tell the same story.  When I'd lose my temper with my husband, I'd hear that still small voice saying, "a soft answer turns away wrath" but I'd just keep on trying to make my point by raising my voice.

Or when fear would creep in I'd allow it to keep me up at night instead of giving it to God cuz He's up all night and doesn't need to sleep, but I do!

Also there were things that I was doing like smoking, drinking, seeing R rated movies and hanging out with people who were not encouraging me in my walk with The Lord, in fact I was being led back into the "world" by being around them.  I know as Christians we are free to do whatever we want, go ahead and smoke, you won't go to Hell for smoking, you just might make it to Heaven quicker.  Go ahead and drink, but remember you have, if you are a professing Christian, people who are watching you and your freedom to drink may be a stumbling block to them, or they may think it's ok, however, they may be that one that becomes addicted which causes them a lifetime of misery, rehabs, loses etc.  Go ahead and see those movies with all the nudity and bad language, you are free to do so, but remember what you see and hear goes into your soul.  Go ahead and see those movies that promote violence and irreverence towards certain people, all which God specifically teaches against.

When you reread the verse above, we realize we do have the forgiveness of our sins, past present and future, because of His great grace, so why would you want to do things that are displeasing to God, like not caring properly for your body by putting in things that are bad for it whether it be food, alcohol, images or thoughts and thereby cheapening the grace of God?

Oh yes, His grace covers us, we are still loved by Him but isn't that the reason to let your behavior and your beliefs tell the same story?  To say to God, because You love me and I say I love you, I want to live more like You'd have me to live...a life that says I'm devoted to You.  I won't be a stumbling block to someone because I love you and I love them more than my freedom to do whatever it is that would cause them to stumble. Because Jesus never looked at a woman and had impure thoughts, I won't look at women like that.  Because Jesus' words are truth and life, I will speak in a way that is encouraging and not coarse and harsh.

Love is truly never having to say you are sorry because you don't do, out of love, anything that looks like you don't.  7/365

1.6.14 He's A True Know-it-all

1.6.14

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Proverbs 3:6

How do we acknowledge God in all ways?  By first of all knowing Him as God and in all that or as much as you can know Him as God.  As God the Creator, the Father, the One who heals, the One who Saves, the One who delivers, the One who sings over us, the One who provides, the One who is peace, the One who is compassionate, the One who is  omnipresent (everywhere at all times, He never sleeps, nor slumbers, nor hides that He cannot be found), omniscient (knows EVERYTHING, there is nothing that He does not know, past, present or future, He is a true KNOW IT ALL), omnipotent (all powerful, having more power than anything, anybody, any force on the face of the earth and universe).

When we start to know Him for who He is, then its fairly obvious why the writer of Proverbs (wise sayings) tells us to know Him.  If we know Him as the One who is up all night, we can talk to Him and give Him our sleepless nights with all it's worries, fears, and so tired I can't sleep issues.

If we know Him as God our Healer then we can say "You are the God who Heals me" and believe, trust in, rely on the knowledge that He has provided for your healing.

Whatever our need is, our day looks like, our worries may be, our fear seems, God has a response for.  When we realize that then we can trust that He will direct our paths.

A path is not just a course or direction that we are taking as we walk in our everyday life, it's also the direction or course our conduct and thoughts go.  

It's important for us to realize that we can ask God which route to take to work, which state we should live in, where we should go to school.  But its as equally important to realize that we can ask Him to change the direction of our hearts, mind and will.  As we know Him more a beautiful thing will take place in us, we will find ourselves finding He is our "go to" source for everything we need to know about ourselves and where we are supposed to be, who we are supposed to be and why we are who we are here on this side of Heaven.

I want to purpose in my heart to not be frivolous about acknowledging Him in all my ways, but to earnestly seek to know Him in all aspects of my life, to understand what the good and perfect will is for my life.  To do that I must not be conformed to this world, fashioned after and adapted to it's external, superficial customs, but to be transformed by the renewal of my mind with new ideas and attitudes that are from God.  (Romans 12:2) 6/365

1.5.14. How Far Will We Go?

1.5.14
But we commend ourselves in every way as true servants of God, through great endurance, in tribulation and hardships, and privations, in sore straits and calamities, in beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless watching, hunger;..."
2 Corinthians 6:4-5

And the list goes on...through long-suffering,through dishonor and defaming; the apostles suffered for the cause of Christ in a way that most of us will never have to.

The apostle Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, left for dead (several times) put in jail, chained to other prisoners, without food, and endured other hardships, but remained a devoted follower of Christ.  He was willing to die for the One who called him to be a follower.

When and if it comes down to it, how far will we go, how long will we suffer, what will we take to stand for Jesus?

Will we try to hide that we are a follower of His, like Peter did three times?  Will we sell out for a few pieces of silver like Judas?  Will we decide our way of life is too much too give up like the rich young ruler did?  Will we take a bullet like Cassie Bernall allegedly did for her faith and belief in God?  Will we still stand strong in our relationship with God like Pastor Saeed Abenini and Youcef Nadoukhani have and are doing while being imprisoned for sharing the good news of Christ with others in a place that is hostile to Christians?

We do not know what suffering is.  Suffering the consequences for your sin, your bad choices, your irresponsible behavior and praying God will help you get out of it is NOT suffering for Christ.  (just so you'll know when you go through it)

I will remind myself that I have made a choice to follow Christ no matter what.  That I have what it takes to suffer for Christ if I ever have to, I have the "word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness..." in the Holy Spirit to withstand whatever comes my way.  I pray for the strength and courage to stand up for Him even if I am uncomfortable bringing up the name of Jesus, or praying for someone.  I will pray for those who are truly suffering for the cause of Christ, for them to be set free from prison, for safety and protection, for their needs to be met.  5/365

Who's Your Idol?

1.4.14
They deck the idol with silver and gold they fasten it with nails and hammer so that it will not fall apart or move around. Jeremiah 10:4

The problem with man made idols is that they are made by man.  They must be glistening with gold or shining with silver to be attractive to the potential or already faithful worshipper.  It has to be hammered or glued so that it won't fall apart and nailed down so that it won't fall over.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is when Elijah put God up against a god.  He told the people, look quit "limping between two opinions.  If The Lord is God, follow Him, if Baal, follow him." (This is a whole nuther subject for another time!) So he put on a little demonstration to help them make up their mind.

He told them to set up their barbecue pits, slice a cow in half and he'd place half on one side and they'd place the other on their side and see who's God provided fire to the pit.

So they called on Baal to send down fire, nothing happened and then again, but still no fire.  Elijah says, maybe you should yell a little louder, he might be off somewhere deep in thought, or perhaps he's taking a potty break(relieving himself, yes they really did say that in the Bible).  Or maybe he's taken a vacation and didn't inform you.  I like your style Elijah, a little sarcasm to state the obvious.

Their idol, their god could not can not do what our God can.  Idols come in all shapes and sizes.  Some don't even have a shape because they are our careers, our children, our pursuit of having more, our hobbies or pastimes.  Anything that we excessively devote ourselves to over God is idol worship.  Eventually we will find those things don't "fit the bill" or fulfill what's missing.

The things that once held our attention and had attracted us to them once will change.  Things change, even silver tarnishes, gold loses it's luster, wood rots, things topple over and things fall apart.  God the one true living God does not.

I will endeavor this year to recognize what I've put first before God and switch that around to the proper order. It has done me well to recall even if just for a brief moment this morning, how easy it is to put other "gods" before God, and to realize how great our God is.

He's not held together by nails, He was pierced by them to pay for our sins.  He wasn't fashioned by wood, He was placed on a piece of wood in the shape of a cross.  He can and has called down fire from Heaven in His judgment, but His grace and mercy was sent down from Heaven in His Son, Jesus who stands now before God and us. So thankful I am to know the only real God, and to get to know Him more!  4/365