Stupid Sorcery

This morning I read through the Exodus story. As I've been reading through the Bible lately, I keep discovering little things I wasn't aware of or didn't remember. Within this story I realized something that made me chuckle.

Since Pharaoh wasn't about to let the Israelites leave, God has decided to send some plagues on the Egyptians to demonstrate his sovereignty over the earth. The first was turning the water to blood while Pharaoh is out taking a bath. Here's where I raised my eyebrows and thought "Huh?"

Exodus 7:22 But the Egyptians magicians did the same things by their secret arts...

A week later the frogs came up out of the Nile and were all over the place. Strangely I've had a small taste of this. In South Africa we had to keep the door to our hut closed at night to keep out the frogs of all things. Just a few frogs in unexpected places (like a shoe) was enough for us forgo the breeze and keep the door close. So I can only imagine finding frogs in every nook and cranny, including hopping on you while you are trying to sleep. And again we read:

Exodus 8:7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

So... God turns water to blood and so do the magicians. God floods them with frogs and the magicians add even more! The magicians were apparently powerless to reverse either plague, so instead they added to their own misery and boasted about it. How stupid!

Yet, how often are we just as stupid? How often when God is seeking to get our attention do we harden our hearts and add to our own misery?

Then we come to the third plague of gnats and the Word tells us:

Exodus 8:18 But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts they could not.

They ran out of their own power. In this case thankfully as I'm sure they didn't need more gnats in the air. It would have been better if instead they had just realized how they were only compounding the problem making their efforts futile. In the end, the surrendered and admitted the work of God in the plagues.

Lesson learned today: Don't try and prove yourself, surrender and ask God to soften the hardened places in your heart.

Melancholy

I have no plan or purpose for this post, I just feel like writing tonight. I'm in that melancholy place where I can experience the emotions I usually can't get to. It's as if there is a steel wall between my intellect and emotions most days, but every now and again the steel wall becomes a fence where these pass through fluidly.

It probably doesn't help that I just finished reading through Ecclesiastes.

“And, at such a time, for a few of us there will always be a tugging at the heart—knowing a precious moment had gone and we not there. We can ask and ask but we can’t have again what once seemed ours for ever—the way things looked, that church alone in the fields, a bed on belfry floor, a remembered voice, a loved face. They’ve gone and you can only wait for the pain to pass. ”
― J.L. Carr
Does anyone else ever feel like they are living in a void? Not in darkness or depression... but thinking, feeling everything from pain to joy... living... but at the end of each day feeling like none of it mattered. Days with no authentic human interaction and no one knows whether it was a good day or a bit of a struggle. A few of those kind of days aren't so bad, but week after week it starts to feel pretty empty.

I guess this is just my way of making a mark somewhere during this season. To remind myself that I really was a part of humanity at this time - that I don't walk the earth as invisible.

Not to be all dreary... God has been a faithful friend. I've become much more aware of His leading and presence, spent more time in His Word reminding myself of who He is and who I am supposed to be. That has been the beautiful amid the sorrow.

Broken hearts and misplaced trust take time to heal. While some are content to settle for a substitute to come along and play in the mud, that isn't what God wants for me. I need to wait (not so easy) until the right wind blows across my life...

This girl was meant to soar!

“Love is not something your heart falls into, but something that picks it up and sets it soaring.”


I feel a bit better now. Off to bed...

Pain Divided = Love Multiplied

As I take in this blessed Easter weekend reflecting on the gift of my salvation and the season of death I am coming out of and emerging into a new beginning, I recalled this post from several years ago. It was written for very different circumstances and yet it is so fitting for right now - these circumstances. While my heart is deeply bruised with overwhelming loss, I was preciously reminded this morning that "a bruised reed He will not break."

I hope perhaps it will be a reminder and comfort to someone else at this time too.

I cannot attest to the increasing heaviness of carrying life within me, or to the weight of eager anticipation. Neither can I remotely imagine coming home empty-handed and deflated in every way imaginable. But I have born the pain of loss. We all do in some way, shape or form. Our hearts grieve what was looked upon with hope yet was left buried in a grave not of our choosing. We are humans after all. Intricately designed to feel, even beyond the extremes we think we are capable of at times.  Sometimes grief throws itself on us like a dark heavy blanket we can't seem to get out from underneath. It feels suffocating and the struggle saps our energy to nothingness. It is a heavy load to carry, this loss. I know it well - back bent, arms sore and legs weak from the long journey. But it was a load I was never meant to carry alone. It isn't a load any of us are meant to carry on our own.

Pain is an interesting thing. When divided it becomes exponentially lighter. Pain divided is love multiplied. This is what Jesus did in his ministry... He came along side those unable to stand up and lifted their head. Why wouldn't we want to love the same way? Your burden gets lighter and somehow mine doesn't get any heavier. It's lightened, too. We stand a little taller. We look up and feel the sun on our faces again instead of only staring at the shadows it casts.

Galatians 6:2  Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (NIV)

Without us, God will still be faithful. But the blessings of being joint carriers are immeasurable. Costly.... Yet eternally priceless.

We feeble humans all have times in our lives when we face the mirror, seeing what mettle we are really made of. It could be anything. It may even come unexpectedly.  The measuring tape comes out and we are so minutely aware that we do not measure up to our own ideals and even less so to God's. We must stare into the glass and face these losses and missed opportunities. For a time we may be weighed by the burden of it all and acutely feel the sting of barrenness that is left in its wake. 

We must not lose hope. God will fill the barren space with the life He chooses for us to birth. In patience and eager anticipation we must wait. In the meantime journey on side by side.

Sorry, Not an ATM

I've come to the conculsion that most people have lost the ability to have relationship, to even know what that is supposed to look like. Instead, we've become a culture with "interactions." We find it so much easier. Why shouldn't people be just like the machines we've come to rely on?

Our lives are so busy and we forget that we actually chose the things that fill up our time. Most of which aren't as important as we think they are at the time.

Genuine relationships... who has time for those??

But...

When we hit a bump in the road, we expect our so-called friends to be there. Yet, we treat them like an ATM machine... drive up, make a withdrawl and drive away. We don't even have to have an active account at the bank and we just expect the ATM to provide and not expect anything in return.

The next generation is sufferring from getting just the drive-thru version of their parents. The sad thing is, they don't even know anymore that it could be different. That it should be different!  The parents themselves don't even have relationship with each other, because they never took the time to really build one... they just "fell in love."

My heart aches for us all. I believe God's heart aches even more. This isn't the example Jesus left us.

I know my words here aren't going to change anything or anyone (cause we're really good at denial and justifying our actions). I still feel it's good for me to tell you -

I am not an ATM.
I am a person with worth who desires to love and be loved.

Unbridled Passion

Oh, Peter... passionate Peter. A rush of emotion and he's off. He sooo wants to get it right and be approved.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.  John 21:7

 

 Something interesting struck me about this verse as I was reading it. This happens just days after Peter had denied Christ and knew he had failed. His unbridled passion took a vacation, just when he needed it most. AND YET... when John pointed Jesus out to him on the beach, Peter didn't waste another moment. He jumped out of the boat and made a bee line to Jesus.

Contrast that with the first man Adam. He was walking with God in a state of perfection. Until... When God reappeared, he didn't go running and throw himself into God's arms. Nope. He and his wife decided to hide from God instead. They knew they failed and they didn't want to admit it.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”  Gen 3:7-9

Peter had his eye opening moment too.

One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.  John 18:26-27
 
After Jesus warned him it would happen. After those three seemingly innocent denials. The rooster crows and Peter knows he let God down.

We are no different today. When we fall and fail we have the same choices. We can hide from God, refusing to admit we haven't gotten it right yet or we can passionately run to Him like Peter, trusting in His love for us. I think Peter ran to Jesus because he was filled with so much love for Jesus.

I can see some of myself in Peter. I am very passionate about some things. Sometimes our beliefs can get in the way of loving people the way God wants. Recently, I experienced my eye opening moment, when the rooster crowed and I saw how I had failed, in the very ways I was adamant about protecting. It hurt. I had a choice. I gathered up the pieces and wrapped them around me and ran straight to Jesus. He opened his arms of love, just like I knew He would.

I believe that running to Jesus breaks the cycle of the curse, while hiding simply lets it continue. The cycle can go on for generations. Peter broke the cycle and let Jesus use Him for greater things. He was still a man of unbridled passion, but now it was wrapped in humility and the personal experience of restoration.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matt 16:18

Adam chose to hide. God didn't love him any less, but I believe Adam lived his days ashamed and never really accepted the restoration of God. And so the curse cycle continued for generations.

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created  Gen 6:5-7

My fall brought me to a place of humility before the Lord, but also before my fellow humanity. I believe God has a greater purpose for me because I've experienced the restoring power of God.

Pursuing Christ with unbridled passion wrapped in restoration.

Threading the Needle

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 
Luke 22:24

I've been white water rafting several times on the New River in West Virginia. (I even have video of me swimming the end of a class 5 rapid, while everyone else stayed in the raft.)

One of the rapids is calling Thread the Needle. It's likely just what you picture - two large rock columns in the middle of the river, with rapids going between and around them. When the conditions are right, you can float on your back through the rapid. The goal is to go easily between the two rocks, but it isn't quite that easy.

When I read this verse today, I thought about this rapid and the parallels it provided.

1. You can't go through the narrow middle unless you first choose to get into the river's flow. The guide simply offers this as an option. Some people stay in the raft and go around.

2. A life jacket is a neccesity!

3. You are in the river and on your own. This is no team effort this time. In fact, there is no effort at all - you just lie back, keep your feet pointed in the right direction and enjoy the ride.

Lastly, even though everyone starts in the same river headed the same direction, not everyone will thread the needle. It makes a difference where you are in the current's flow. In order to go through the narrow middle, you have to position yourself in the current that goes through that way. If you aren't paying attention, you may end up in a current that steers you away from the middle or may even crash you right into one of the rocks.

Jesus Christ is the needle threading rapid. Got your life vest on? Feet pointed toward Him? It's an adventure for eternity.

Don't We Already Know This? (Unpacking Parables)

Several months ago I started writing out the words that Jesus spoke in a notebook. I will admit that I got sidetracked for a bit of time and just recently started again, but isn't it like God to have a purpose in even that? Right before I began writing the parables of Jesus, I read a book called Scouting the Divine (check it out) which brought a deeper revelation to some of the words I was reading and writing down. 

The following is my interpretation...

Matthew 13
New International Version (NIV)

The Scene: On the hillsides of Galilee, hundreds have walked up from the village to hear this man Jesus speak. Much has been mumbled and rumored about him, this new Rabbi with students who failed school the first time. They came wondering if they would see one of his miracles. They came wanting to know how to make religion easier. Perhaps some even came in skepticism and cynacism to disprove him.

They sit, wanting to be close enough to hear his words but far enough away that he won't notice if they dose off. Jesus steps to the front as the late comers stumble up the hill. The disciples assist in getting the children running around to settle in a bit and shussing the bustling conversations.

They are attentive and Jesus begins...

The Parable of the Sower

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

"Huh???? We all plant things of one nature or another, even if just for our own family."
"Of course we don't plant seed where it won't grow! Why would we waste good seed?"
"Hey Matthew! I've been farming land since before this young man was born. Does he think I'm stupid?"
"I thought he was going to teach us about God. Is this just his common start intro?"

During the mid-morning break after hearing the confusion, the disciples wanna know why too.

The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables

“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

It's so simple, it's easy to miss.

There is an intersection I stop at just about everyday. There have been a couple times I've pulled out to make a left turn to find a car right there even though I stopped and looked. I realized that I was looking further down the road at what was coming in the distance, but failing to look and pay attention to what was right there in front of me.

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Farmers know their fields and the areas with good soils and bad. They may still plant in the harder areas but use less seed than areas where they know the harvest will be good and healthy.

God alone knows the soil quality of our hearts.


After the break and sidebar with the apostles, who are now listening to Jesus's stories but also watching to see those in the crowd who might beginning to understand these things. Jesus continues with the next story, as everyone eagerly anticipates that now he'll do or say something spectacular.

Jesus continues.

The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

Good wheat results in grain seed that can be stored and used in a mulitude of ways. Sometimes what looks like wheat ends up being just an empty husk. Unfortunately, the farmer cannot tell the difference until it's time to actually harvest the wheat. In order to tell, the farmer must grab, squeeze, and crush the wheat to find out whether there is seed or not.

God alone knows how much time we need until harvest, when we are revealed as fruitful or a false facade.


The woman are starting to get a little bored at this point, all this talk about farming.  But Jesus wasn't about to exclude them. He was ready to draw them in as well.

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

"Yes! Finally something we can relate to. Now maybe we will understand what he is talking about." 

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

 "Huh? Is that all? There must be more explanation than that? We know yeast gets kneaded into the dough, but we don't understand how that relates to this kingdom you are referring to."

Jesus knows that small things, whether seeds, thoughts, or actions can have significant impact for better or worse.

God takes the smallest offerings and they become exceedingly large.


Not wanting to the merchants in the group to feel excluded, Jesus offers them a story too.

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

"Yes Jesus, we understand finding a good deal, but selling everything for one item no matter how amazing is crazy. It works better if you just sell the minimum and keep as much for yourself as possible. One pearl might be fine, but it's still only one. Maybe the sun is getting to you, Jesus."

God wants to be our one prized possession.


Of course Jesus wouldn't forget his friends Peter, James, John & Andrew. Speaking the language of the fishermen, he tells them again.  

The Parable of the Net

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"No one wants a distugting, diseased fish. That's just common sense, but the rest of it sounds really harsh, like being chewed up by something terrifying."

God will live with the righteous and leave behind the rotting.


“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

“Yes,” they replied. (really?)

He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

As the people begin to head home they are perplexed by the day. They feel mentally tired, but aren't sure why. It feels like they are missing something. Perhaps one turns to another and says, "That was a waste of a day listening to stories. We already knew everything he told us, it's what we do everyday."

Jesus desperately wanted them to understand and know the Father the way He did, but most of them never would. He spoke to them based on their personal experiences. But, he knew if they couldn't see God in the everyday around them, all the mysteries and miracles wouldn't change their hearts. He taught using what they already knew to help them understand the kindgdom of God now on earth.

God who is perfect in every way created this earth in such an intricate way that everything points back to Him and his kingdom. The Bible tells us that man is without excuse because creation testifies of God's presence, he doesn't just mean the beauty and creativity of it. He means the way plants grow, how fish are caught, how bread is made, and even in business deals. How can we not see the hand of God in everything!

God teaches us about Himself in the everyday things.