Life, Hospitality, and Tozer

It has been too long since Jill and I posted something and the reality is there is no specific reason except life has been busy. Both our families had children who were sick for over a week, my husband's work has been crazy, and throw in a one year old who I can't take my eyes off, a women's conference at our church, and Jill's spring school schedule we are just in the throws of life.

I've learned over the years to not make excuses for things but just be real. We have six children between us and honestly some days I'm just glad I fed them all. I'm learning that to pour in to my children the way I desire I must let other things go. My oldest goes to kindergarten in a little over a year and I'm treasuring this time with her. I'm carving out specifics things we can do together just the two of us. I'm savoring our long conversations about Jesus, why butterflies fly, and who changes the lights from green to red.  She very much dislikes soccer but loves t-ball. She loves ballet and singing into her karaoke machine brings her great joy!

My boy keeps me equally on my toes.  I'm loving playing cars, trains, and learning all about Buzzlight Year, Woody, Mater, and Lighting McQueen. I love watching my boy make a bee line for the largest puddle of mud and dirt and see his eyes light up as he rolls around. I love when he asks me to look for worms with him. I love teaching him how to open doors for girls, and how he tells his sisters they are beautiful. He asks me to rock him each night just for a minute so I'm basking in the time I have to rock my son while he clings a little to babyhood by sucking his thumb.

I'm wonderfully exhausted from chasing my baby girl around as she discovers life is so much bigger than her days of crawling. I love her smiling face when I tickle her and let her eat new foods. I love how content she is in my lap when I fold laundry and how she loves to wrestle with her siblings even though she isn't quite big enough. I love that when we go to the park she just loves to put the sand between her toes and enjoys the swing. I can't wait to see what personality the Lord gives her. She seems to be our gentle smiling one. I'll take that.

So, that is what life has been for me. It is passing by so fast. Some days I collapse and debate whether to leave the dishes to the next day. Other days I find myself longing to keep my kids up extra late so we can have one more scooter ride up the street.

This weekend our church is having a wonderful Women's Conference. I'm excited to participate in it and talk about what biblical hospitality looks like. I'll share my notes after the conference but did you know what the Greek word for hospitality means?  Xenos means stranger and Phileo means love. It basically means loving strangers. The OT and NT have a lot to say about this topic as well as Jesus himself.

I've been rereading "Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer. If you haven't read it please please do. It is a game changer. One thing Tozer writes that I cannot get out of my head is this:

"All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared to the overwhelming problem of God:  That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him."

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy: at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" Psalm 16:11

JOY,
Leeanne

Holy Week

As we celebrate the Holiest of weeks in the Christian faith our prayer is that you would see that Christ satisfies. He satisfied it all on the cross 2013 years ago. What a joy that our King rose three days after Black Friday.  Below is a beautifully written exert on Black Friday and what it means.  May your Easter be filled with all the Hope, all the Love, all the Joy that only Jesus Christ can bring.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV 

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2:9 ESV

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In his Good Friday sermon of 1928, Dietrich Bonhoeffer drives this cosmic tragedy home like three cold steel stakes pounded through the nerves of humanity's own wrists and feet.

Good Friday is not the darkness that must necessarily yield to light. It is not the winter sleep that contains and nourishes the seed of life within. It is the day on which human beings — human beings who wanted to be like gods — kill the God who became human, the love that became person; the day on which the Holy One of God, that is, God himself, dies, truly dies — voluntarily and yet because of human guilt — without any seed of life remaining in him in such a way that God’s death might resemble sleep.

Good Friday is not, like winter, a transitional stage — no, it is genuinely the end, the end of guilty humanity and the final judgment that humanity has pronounced upon itself. . . .

If God’s history among human beings had ended on Good Friday, then the final pronouncement over humankind would be guilt, rebellion, the unfettering of all titanic human forces, a storming of heaven by human beings, godlessness, godforsakenness, but then ultimately meaninglessness and despair. Then your faith is futile. Then you are still in your guilt. Then we are of all people most to be pitied. That is, the final word would be the human being.¹

This is the awful memory Good Friday presses on us.

Humanity, aspiring in arrogance to become godlike, has slayed the God-man by both murderous intent and by woeful passivity. And in this crime, Bonhoeffer goes on to explain, everything else has been made futile. All our culture, all our art, all our learning, all our hopes, have come to a meaningless end once we have heaped on our own heads the murder of God’s only Son.

Thank God, the story doesn’t end here, but Good Friday presses us to imagine if it did. What if the story ended at the cross? What if the God-rejecting sin of humanity wrought despair to life now and nothing short of a godforsaken despair for eternity?

Divine words of accusation stab into the ribs of humanity:

You have swelled up around him like a wall of unfounded hate and vicious lies (Psalm 69:4).

You have circled him like ravenous dogs (Psalm 22:16).

You have ambushed the beloved son (Mark 12:1–9).

You have killed the Author of Life (Acts 3:15).

Let these hard words sting as we consider for a moment together how stupid and how foolish and how ignorant and how wicked is the human heart to have brought this end upon human history — the darkest day of mankind, the apex of human ignorance, a situation so hopeless that human history seems to have been brought to its very end. What now can we look forward to but only eternal despair and desolation forever?

But sinful mankind does not get the last word. How appropriate the prayer of the dying Christ — “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

As a human race we can scarce understand what we've done, what we've unleashed in evil ignorance.

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¹ Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 10, Barcelona, Berlin, New York: 1928–1931 (Fortress, 2008), 487–88.

Amy Carmichael

No book has moved me recently like Amy Carmichael's "Let the Little Children Come". Amy was an everyday person like you and me. She trusted beyond her comforts, her dreams, her hopes, her circumstances in a God she knew was real. Amy was a missionary in India for 53 years without ever taking a furlough. God called her to go to the Indian people and she went. She loved the Indian people and spent the majority of her life rescuing girls who had been dedicated to the temple as prostitutes. The caste system was a brutal taskmaster and tradition upon tradition perpetuated this belief that girl babies were a curse and if they were dedicated to the temple, then surely in the next life the parents would gain favor. Many girls were dedicated from birth and given over at age 4 or 5. It is estimated that Amy rescued over a thousand girls. 

Why does Amy speak so deeply to me?  She has become such a spiritual hero and mentor to me that I find myself reading and rereading so many things she has written. The thing that has gripped my heart lately is she tells a story of a young girl name Mimosa who was born into her spiritual traditions and never heard His name but knew deep down there had to be "a God above all Gods they worshiped". One night she heard the name of Jesus, and she knew He was that God. She knew. She believed. For 26 years after her conversion she never heard a sermon, lecture, read a bible, sang worship songs, had fellowship with any other believers but Amy said "she was kept by Him for 24 years until she arrived safely in Amy's home". 

For 24 years the name of Jesus was enough to sustain her. Only The Name can sustain. So the question I ask myself now is what is sustaining me?  Where is my hope and peace and comfort? When I hear the name of Jesus am I stirred in my spirit?  Does it invoke emotions that cause me to fall down and worship?  Does it motivated me to tell others the glorious news?  

Those are the things I'm mediating on this Easter. We search so hard in this world for peace. I find my thoughts drifting more and more towards people like Mimosa and Amy Carmichael. My spiritual hero's. I bet a young Hindu girl in 1900 never dreamed a girl in North Carolina in 2013 would be praising God for her testimony of faithfulness and endurance. I can't wait to meet her in heaven one day. 

As Easter comes I don't want to forget the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31).

With great JOY,
Leeanne

Search me, O God!

Part III

Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

My middle child is much like my younger sister was as a child, which humors me in many ways.  She has a tendency to be sneaky and mischievous only to soon after confess her own sin to me without much prodding.  The guilt overwhelms her and she turns herself in.  Now, my oldest daughter is just like I was as a child.  She can lie with a straight face to the point that even she believes her own lie.  It takes a lot more reasoning and time (days sometimes) for her to admit her sin and ask for forgiveness. 

As Christians, the Bible says that you have died with Christ and it is no longer you who lives, but Christ in you. (Gal. 2:20)  So why do we continue to sin and struggle with the same sins for long periods of time?  The reality of it is that we were born sinners and in our own flesh we will sin until the day we die and are resurrected with Christ in heaven.  Sanctification is a process of getting rid of the old and putting on the new, the newness of Christ that comes from within.  For most, it is certainly not an overnight process.  The Bible says that the Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.  Paul says in Romans 7:21, “So I find this law at work:  when I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”  Isn’t that the truth? 

We are not alone in this battle of the flesh.  We are not adopted into His family of faith and left as orphans.  The more we sin the stronger our flesh becomes.  Fighting our flesh with the Spirit of God takes deliberate effort and work.  The devil is real and entices us to sin and will even help us to justify and excuse our sin with lies that we believe.  God’s conviction to our sin is just as real, but if we are not spending time in the Spirit (God’s Word, prayer, accountability, etc.) than there is nothing in our flesh that will hold up our sin to the Truth.  Some Christians are walking around living like the rest of the world—dead and numb to their sin.  A non-Christian does not feel the weight of sin. There is a sense of entitlement to feel the pleasure their sin brings.  

Pray that God would search your heart and reveal to you your sin so that you can turn from it.  For some, God has revealed to you your sin and you are having a difficult time turning from it.  You are in bondage.  The only way to break that hold is by daily clothing yourself with the full armor of God spoken in Ephesians 6:10-17.  The devil wants to win every battle here on Earth, despite God already winning the war of your salvation.  Fight back and pray the for the Holy Spirit to guide you in your daily battle and against flesh and Satan.  

Warmly,
Jill

Your Inner Circle, Part Two

Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

There was a time in my life where I did not know or believe God’s love for me.  I was drowning in my own emotions, felt like a misfit in this world and was filled with self-loathe.  My self-talk was abusive towards myself.  Any accomplishment was never good enough or self-criticized.  I was struggling with bulimia and although was too skinny, I considered myself too fat.  I disrespected myself in every way.  What I didn’t understand at that time, is my self-abuse was also being disrespectful to my Creator.  My depression was all about me and nothing about God.

If this resonates with you at all, you too can overcome the feelings of worthlessness and despair.  One of the first steps is to gain a godly perspective.  Reread the verses above.   God created you in your mother’s womb, He thought of you before the beginning of time.  There is no accident in that.  God has purpose and knows the plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11).  Every part of your mind, body, gifts and talents He thought of especially for you, whether you agree or disagree with His design. 

Spend time with your Creator.  Learn about His love for you.  Meditate on His Word, memorize it.  Pray with Him—have short and long conversations opening up to Him in your inner circle.  Over time, and with time and discipline, your mind will be transformed through the power of His Word.  He will heal your destructive self-talk and replace it with healthy, God breathed affirmations.  Invite the Holy Spirit to work miracles in your heart. 

Warmly,

Jill

Where is God in Your Circle?

Psalm 139: 1-4 “Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.”

Psalm 139 brings comfort to me knowing God is all-seeing, all-knowing and all-powerful.  In the human realm, people only know what we tell them or what they observe.  Beyond that, they can make judgments—some accurate and some out of preconceived notions.  I often describe my friendships in circles.  I have my “inner circle” and these are the friends that I share the dirt with.  They know most of my fears, my struggles with sin and dreams, hopes and aspirations.  The "mid-circle"  may know some of this, but certainly not as much as the inner circle.  And then there is the outer circle, which are my acquaintances—those I still consider friends, but I do not know the details of their daily life and they do not know mine. 

Which circle does God fall into for you?  Do you share the intimate details of your daily life—the dirt, your fears, struggles and sin, dreams, hopes, desires and aspirations?  Or is He in your mid-circle where He knows some, but only intermittently?  Possibly, He is merely in your outer circle—where you consider Him part of your life, but do not consult with Him daily or consider the fact that He knows you best. 

We let others know and see what we want them to.  On the flip side, we hide what we do not want them to see and do not share out of fear they will discover something.  God already knows everything about us, even the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30), and still accepts us and loves us.  Isn’t that comforting?  God is always in our inner circle with us.  His greatest  gift is to allow us to know Him, turn to Him and become more like His Son, Jesus.  

Warmly,
Jill

What my 4 year old Taught Me

Recently I got a wonderful glimpse into the beauty and heart of a child. A few Saturdays ago my husband and I were getting ready for the day and my 4 year old came downstairs with a bag of toys. She told me she wanted to give these to her friend who was having a birthday party that morning. When I looked in the bag I was a little shocked at what she had put inside.  Many of the toys were my daughter's favorites. Sadly, my first reaction was to tell her she probably shouldn't give those away because my daughter liked them so much. She looked at me very matter of fact and said, "Mom, these are my friend's favorites to play with over here so I thought she would really be happy if she could keep them at her house". Wow!  The tears started flowing and I hugged my daughter and told her how proud I was of her and that Jesus was giving her such a tender heart and heart for loving others.

My husband came back in the room and I told him what happened and he just said, "Praise God. She is learning to hold loosely to things of this world. Let her give away whatever she wants". We both talked about how these are the moments in parenting that bring great joy. The day to day grind of training, correcting, modeling, etc. are hard. Then God in His kind and perfect way gives us parents who feel torn down, weary and tired a beautiful glimpse that it is paying off and the hours of prayer, sacrifice, and discipline on the parents part matters. It so matters!

My daughter was so proud to give this gift to her friend. She was beaming the whole car ride over. Once she got home I asked her about the party and the first thing she said to me was, "Mom, those toys are gone now. But that is OK, we have lots of other toys and it made my friend so happy". Yes it did baby girl and it made this momma happy.

We have an Altar Box where we keep mementos of God's goodness to us throughout the year. I put a small toy of Rachel's in there to remind me that the joy in giving is so much bigger than the gift. It is a divine attribute of Christ. He gave His life for us. Hold on loosely to things of this world. Only Christ matters. My baby girl taught me so much that weekend. Funny thing how God uses children to teach us adults divine lessons. I love the beautiful soul she is and how Christ is beginning to penetrate her heart. My prayer for her since I found out I was pregnant 5 years ago is that she would be a leader for Christ in this world and spread His fame with the talents, treasures, and time He gives her. He did that this weekend. I am so very grateful for a bag of princess toys, wooden staking blocks and fake fruit. It is a moment in my life that I will never forget.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
Psalm 105:1-4

With JOY,
Leeanne