What's in Your Closet?

(picture from oliphantlock .com)

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him….” – Revelation 3:20 KJV 

John Pantry is a singer we met in England who recorded some phenomenally incredible music. One song used this scripture as it’s premise and the chorus cheerfully beckons, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock and if any man hears my voice, I will enter in and take away his sin and together we will rejoice.” To hear the song, click here: Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock 

Pondering this verse led me to the thought that every verse we read in scripture means more to us each time we read it. God reveals new truth to us every time we read His Word, as we’re ready for it. “Behold”, He says, “I stand at the door and knock….” What door is He knocking on? The common answer is the door to your heart, because that’s where He longs to reside. 

But after letting Him into your heart, what if there are more doors for Him to knock on? What about all those closet doors you like to keep closed? Some of us will protest that there is no unopened door in their heart. Well, good for them. But some of us are an ongoing work in progress. 

We’re Christians, but we need healing in many areas of our lives. Our healing has already been provided, Jesus already took care of that. But sometimes we yield our wounds over to Him one by one, and little by little. 

You may just have a few closet doors in your heart, and they may not even be locked shut. Or – you may have many closet doors in there and you think you’ve got them all locked up tightly, secured against infiltration. No one needs to know what’s in them. In fact, you may have forgotten what you locked away in some of them. It's the silliest notion to think we can hide things from God. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what we have hidden away in dark corners, and He knows what we’ll be doing at precisely 4:03pm next Thursday. He knows everything we know, and everything we don’t know. He knew where Adam and Eve were trying to hide even as He called out to them. He knew what they’d done – and yes, He still loved them. 

(picture from reddit)

No matter what’s buried in our closets, it’s okay, God isn’t mad at you. He loves you more than you can imagine, despite what you think. But He won’t go nosing around in our closets until we open the doors for Him. 

Once you work up whatever courage you think it takes to face what’s behind those doors, He’s ready and willing to go in with you and get them cleaned up and organized and ready to show off to anyone who passes by. 

He’s ready to give you that certificate of forgiveness or healing or deliverance or whatever the closet calls for. 

Television commercials ask, What’s in YOUR wallet? 

 Let me ask, rhetorically, What’s in YOUR closet? 

He’s knocking…….

The Excellence of the Guard; My Conclusion

(picture from pinterest .com)

Our hearts hold untold treasures. Go ahead, try to list them. That's sure to renew your joy!

We’ve also stored plenty of memories in there; we’ve buried feelings and emotions there.

How can we guard it with excellency?

God said to “Guard your heart above all else,” Why? “for it determines the course of your life.” – Proverbs 4:23 NLT

He doesn’t tell us to do anything we’re not able to do – with Him.

I believe our hearts are that hidden place where our spirit and soul come together; the place where God lives, if we let Him. Just as we have a triune God, we are triune beings. We ARE spirit, the part of us that is redeemed from the sin of the world; the part that joins into union with God Himself. We HAVE a soul (our mind, our will and our emotions) and we LIVE IN our body till we leave this world. When we come to Christ and invite Him to live in our heart, it involves submitting ourselves to Him completely. Many of us want God to save us from hell’s destruction after we leave this world but have absolutely no desire to become one with Him and submit the smallness of our humanity to the only all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent God.

Whether we know Jesus or not, we can guard our minds. We can be disciplined and hyper-vigilant about what we take in, at least for a while. We can stive to watch wholesome entertainment, we can study certain topics while deliberately avoiding others. We can limit who and what we surround ourselves with.  But plenty of garbage gets past us. We’d have to live alone on a deserted island to not get input from others. That’s not where we live.

(picture from pinterest .com)

Whether we know Jesus or not, we can guard our bodies, though few of us have the discipline or perhaps resources to do so. Some are very determined to have healthy bodies. We do the best we can with what we have. But we all have unwelcome input that makes its way into our bodies, via our food or the air we breathe or the water we drink. To not get that input, we’d again have to live on that island and now it would have to be an island that could provide for healthy body requirements.

Only when we DO know Jesus are we supernaturally empowered to adequately guard our heart. That power comes from being united with the source of ALL power. By guarding our hearts, we become better equipped to guard our soul and our body.

The ONLY way to guard our heart is to follow biblical instruction, given to us in Romans 12:1-2 (NIV). “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

This means submitting ourselves to God, renewing our minds (spending time with God and His Word) and putting our hearts in His hands. Does doing this mean we will never suffer attacks? No, we’re promised attacks. But the more quality time we spend in His Word, the more easily we’ll recognize the assaults the god of this world and come against them. With God, we are the most excellent of the Guard.

(picture from youtube .com)

With God living on the inside of us and being joined together with us in the most intimate way possible, we can tap into His power. When we do OUR best, we weary ourselves. There’s so much to pay attention to around us. All our energy is consumed by constantly being on guard. We lose our creative energy and abilities to glorify God. By joining WITH GOD, we become capable of guarding our hearts, (where our being comes together), and doing it well. We are too weak to do it without Him and the struggle will make us weaker. The excellence of the Guard comes only through relationship with the God Who created our heart in the first place.

Yes, He's Still There

 As intimacy with our Creator grows, it becomes easier to abandon doubt.

How does intimacy grow between two individuals?

We stop holding back from each other, we dare to reveal our whole selves to each other and in doing so, love grows, trust grows and intimacy grows.

Once we’ve been betrayed and hurt a process of withholding begins within us, for the sake of self-protection.

In our relationship with God, disobedience is betrayal. Yet, when creation betrayed our Creator, He already had His arms out waiting for us.

“But God commends His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

(discovermagazine.com)

God didn’t wait for us to make the first move. He didn’t wait for us to recognize our wrong doing or to come to Him to ask forgiveness. No, He provided a plan for our redemption and the reconciling of our relationship with Him before we even rebelled.

God’s love for us is unconditional. Nothing can separate us from His love!

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38-39 (NKJV)

(cafaweb.com)

Right in the middle of our ugliest sin – God loves us!

Most of us have known personal betrayal and the agony of the pain it causes. Who among us hasn’t felt that anguish?

We know trust is seldom easily restored, and as the betrayals amass, trust can completely fade away.

And even before we consider trusting our offender again, we’re confronted with the dilemma of forgiveness.

I believe the best way to enter any relationship that’s expected to last, especially marriage, is with the intentional plan to forgive. Offenses will come.

(allthingsclipart.com)

“Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!” - Luke 17:1 (NKJV)

Many of us attempt to enter into relationships with each other and with God, and expect to never be offended.

While walking out the gospels, Jesus even said things that offended His followers, many stopped following Him when He told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Without understanding, that does sound sick and disgusting.

When God confronts our sin, our pride, our disobedience or even our lack of participation in the relationship, sometimes we tend to get a bit bent out of shape. Don’t we? Often we’ll flat out deny our part in the matter.

(memegenerator.net)

Relationships between people require attention. If you routinely ignore your spouse, they’ll become offended, thinking they’re not important to you. How can we expect to ignore the most important relationship of our lives?

Our wounds can make us do crazy things.

But, unlike people, God is always anticipating our return, always looking to the reconciling of our relationship with Him. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

God, being God, reaches out to us continually.

Yet, we, in our fear or pride, attempt to hide things from Him, perhaps because we get away with hiding them from ourselves and others for a season.

We all need validation; to share our story in our own way. (I realize not everyone feels the need to talk to anyone, anywhere, like I do.) Yet, we think we can hold back parts of our story from the One Who’s seen it all.

As much as we crave intimacy, we’re the ones who stand in our own way.

God desires intimacy with us so much so, that He chose, out of love for us, to cover the cost of our offenses. He lovingly provides endless intimacy for the taking.

God loved us first, so that we could love Him. “We love Him because He first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19 (NKJV)

It’s our move.

It’s your move.

Decide now; what is your next step?

“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24:15 (NKJV)

Giving Good Gifts

(My own photo.)

God restores my soul.

What part of me is my soul? My spirit is one with His, my body is my flesh and blood, but my soul is comprised of my mind, will and emotions. All of those parts of me have been influenced, and sadly, damaged by the world.

God restores me through various means; often just a walk through the beautiful creation of the nature around me brings incredible healing. But one of my favorite ways is when He touches me through my friends and their encouragement and the parts of life they share in with me. Most of the time they probably don’t even realize the healing they impart to me. Maybe that’s because God is actually the One imparting the healing, He’s just doing it through them; through you!

One little reminder of love that brings me healing is a gift my friend Marie gave me. Though my friends can be very giving, Marie’s gift illustrated to me one of the many times she listens to me. Being heard and acknowledged brings tremendous healing.

I drink a lot of water and had mentioned, off the cuff, that when at home I should drink from a glass, not bottled water. I hate contributing to the plastic problems we have in our earthly environment. During a visit with Marie, she gave me a cup; perfect for my needs. I don’t sip from this cup, I guzzle. I drink more water than anyone I know. But, each drink from the cup reminds me that she loves me and she listens to me and that she chooses to allow God to restore my soul through her and our relationship. It was a simple gesture, but it came from pure motives and a loving heart. I love her for this.

I find it quite easy to love most everyone. But, certain people more significantly write their names on our hearts. Marie is one of those people. God bless you, Marie.

There are so many ways we can allow God’s healing to pour through us into those we love, and even into the strangers we meet every day. If you take a few minutes, I’m sure you can come up with a list of ways God has poured into you through the people around you. Sure, you can come up with a list of ways people have hurt you, too. What kind of person do you want to be? One that drips with healing or one that inflicts injury, {most commonly the kind of wounds we can’t always see with our eyes)? We can bring healing just as easily as we can hurt. We get to choose which words and actions we’ll use.

I’ll bet we’ve all heard the phrase, “Hurt people hurt people”. The truth of the matter is that when we inflict pain on those around us, it’s not always intentional. When acting from a place of hurt, we do hurtful things, sometimes, without even realizing it.

Often, we can’t help but ask, “But when is someone going to pour into me?” If someone shares healing with us, we can pass it along, blessing others from our place of healing. It can feel impossible to help others when we’re hurting so badly ourselves. We might be overlooking the actual sources of our distress, or even be in denial about the wounds we bear; being blinded by our pain. That definitely makes it harder to give good gifts to others and can prevent us from seeing ugliness we might be spewing about into the lives of those we love.

But, God does not leave us helpless or without resources. His Word is filled with power and tools to make us more like Him; whole. When our pain is so great that we refuse (consciously or not) to turn away from His Word, rather than to it, He sends someone along to take our hand, or our heart, and lead us to Him. Of course, we always have the option of pulling away from the help He sends to us.

Some of the biggest sacrifices we can make are through allowing God to act through us, even when we ourselves are in insurmountable pain. And sometimes, some of our biggest healing comes through the self-sacrificial love we choose to share.

Whether it’s through a token of our love, or through our actions, we’re all capable of showing our love, even when we’re tempted to act selfishly. We can do this only when we yield to God and what He shows us to do.

How has God been pouring into you? How has He been pouring through you?

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.” – James 4:7-8 (NIV) 

Is God Mean? Part 2

Not settling for less than the best sums up the submitted Christian life. God wants the best for us, and sometimes what’s best is something we can’t see yet or perhaps even something we’ve been running from. But that doesn’t keep God from presenting one opportunity after another, one facet of revelation after another.

It might feel like we’re doing that old dance that takes us one step forward and two steps back, or maybe we’re going through a season where we actually see what we consider to be progress on the road of life.

God’s Word tells us that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.” - Psalm 37:23-24 (KJV)

There’s more to life than what we’ve already gone through and seen, and much more than the plans we’ve created in our own mind, though our dreams may be God-given. There is a divine plan in place. We weren’t abandoned here to flounder around like a fish out of water. We were designed and created with specific purposes. None of our lives are without purpose, whether our purpose is obvious to us, or to others, or not.

Some suggest that life is pointless and we die. Nothing preceded our existence and nothing follows it. I cannot even fathom that being a viable option.

Jeremiah 29:11 is an often quoted verse, because it encourages us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (KJV)  The New International Version reads: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Clearly a verse to cling to.

Does God do things we don’t understand? Absolutely! Again, His ways are higher than our ways. If God was so puny that I could understand everything about Him, He’d be too tiny to meet my needs, too small to be my God. Our God is a BIG God, He’s everything we’ll ever need. He’s all we need! Once we invite Him into our lives, understanding begins to unfold……

Is He mean? It only appears that way when elements of our understanding are missing.

Is God Mean?

Throughout time, God has been accused of many things.  I’ll attempt to sum them up with this insulting question.

“How can your God force you to do things His way; making you submit to the way He wants your life to be lived? He gave you this life and freedom of choice so you could do things your way, didn’t He?”

I’m taking a step back to see this from a point of view other than what my limited carnal vision can see when I focus on ‘what I want’.

How incredible is it that the God of the universe loves me too much to allow me to live in my own righteousness without extending me the grace He generously provides, freely, so that I can walk in His righteousness?! His mercy is beyond my understanding, as are many of the other facets that make Him Who He is.

How cruel would it be to give someone the opportunity to do anything he wants to do, without providing the option of doing whatever he chose to do – the right way?

Rather than bind us up, submitting ourselves to God and His ways, actually sets us free to live abundantly and in liberty. His ways are not our ways (For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. – Isaiah 55:8 KJV), and sometimes seem paradoxical to us.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6 KJV

I was taught that the phrase “filthy rags” in Isaiah 64:6 was literally translated as soiled menstrual cloths.

("All our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment ..." (Isaiah 64:6). This is inferior to the KJV which has, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." "The word rendered `garment' or `rags' here has the literal meaning of "vestis menstruis polluta", that is, a soiled cloth of the type used by women in their monthly periods." The reference could not be to "garments," but to "rags." http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=isa&chapter=064 and http://www.deepbiblestudy.net/2007/03/isaiah-646-menstrual-cloth/)

In God’s mercy and through His grace, we can rise above our own righteousness (living as if clothed in those filthy rags) and walk in His righteousness; His glory.

Peace and Pleasure

We have peace AND pleasure!

When searching for peace, do we sometimes settle for pleasure?

Pleasure can seem to bring peace…..for a season. But sometimes it’s sin that brings that pleasure, though in the end it leads to destruction.

So when is pleasure a good thing? When it’s not brought on by sin, all pleasure is a good thing. God created us for His good pleasure, God loves pleasure.

But, when pleasure takes the place of peace in our lives, something’s gotta give. When we continue in sin simply because we find pleasurable, that destroys our peace.

If we seem to be fighting our way through life with no peace to be found, perhaps we need to search out any hidden (or blatant) sin in our lives and purpose to get rid of it. Repent of that sin – turn from it; separate ourselves from it.

I have friends who expect God’s “umbrella of protection” to still shield them while sinful behaviors dictate their lives. Peace isn’t going to be found there, whether you call yourself a Christian or not. Going to church doesn’t save us from ourselves, but submitting ourselves to Jesus and His ways will result in everlasting peace and eternity of complete joy and unspeakable pleasures.

“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  (James 4:7 NKJV)  It’s a matter of the heart; our hearts. We can’t resist anything from Satan without submitting our hearts to God. His peace is forever, but yes, it’s conditional.

God’s peace is unique, it’s not the kind of peace that results from things going our way. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  (John 14:27 NKJV)

This is one of my favorite portions of scripture, so I’ll share it with you here again:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”  (Philippians 4:4-8 NKJV)

Fruitful

Apple Blossom photo courtesy of Darlene Folk.

Though I love plants, here in Colorado the only luck I seem to have with growing anything is with houseplants. But whether it’s a fruit tree, a rosebush in your yard or begonia in my window, pruning them makes them plush, bushier, more beautiful, and produce more blossoms, instead of spending their energy growing spindly and flowerless.

 

In the book of John, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are His branches, and that His Father is the gardener that keeps us pruned – for our own good and His glory. (John 25:1-8)

 

When our lives are not as productive as they should be, perhaps we’re resisting that pruning. So often we insist on doing things our way, without even considering that our way might not be the way God want us to go about it.

 

In our own reasoning, we will do things completely different than the way God chooses to. (There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12 KJV)

 

If I had to come up with a plan to redeem mankind, I don’t think my finite brain would have come up with a plan like His. Jesus leaving His throne in heaven to take my place on the cross seems like a harsh way to go – but Jesus Himself said to His Father, “Not my will, but Thine.”

 

That makes me stop and take a second look at what I’m doing during my day and with my life and ask, “God, is this what you’d have me do?”

 

Then comes the harder part; listening for His reply. Yes, we’ll recognize His voice if we’re seeking Him with all our heart. He’s the good Shepherd and we are the sheep of His pasture. We’ll follow Him closely if we’re paying attention, but sheep can be dumb and wander off wherever the grass looks greener.

 

Take the time to be intentional; about the things you do, about submitting yourself to God and about listening for His voice and direction. The pruning will begin and you’ll start producing beautiful (blossoms) fruit immediately.

 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” John 10:14-15 (NIV)

 

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 (NIV)

A Scary Thing

Way back in the dark ages when my husband was in the Air Force, we were stationed in a small town in Illinois at a base that's now closed. (For you history buffs, that was Chanute AFB in Rantoul, Illinois.)

 

We lived in an apartment complex in town until base housing became available. Another couple that occupied an apartment across the street from ours was in the spotlight because on a regular basis, this large American man would yell at; berate; cuss loudly at and degrade his tiny Asian young wife.  

 

One morning as I walked my kids the few blocks to school, I heard God tell me to stop at her house and tell her that He loved her. I determined to do that on the way home. But I didn't follow through. I made excuses and piddled the day away. Before I knew it the clocked chimed time to go walk the kids home from school.

 

As my toddler and I passed her apartment, I felt God nudging me. But I walked all the way down to the corner kind of "arguing" with God about it, making excuses why I couldn't take the time to stop. "She won't understand English." And, "It's too late now, I'm halfway to the school, if I turn back now I'll be late getting the kids." God wasn't hearing any of that. "If you'd have stopped as I asked you to, you wouldn't be running late."

 

Convicted and knowing how much I love knowing that God loves me, how could I not turn back and tell her? As I approached her door, butterflies were having a wrestling tournament in my stomach. Why? I have no idea! I knocked on her door. No answer. Gentle nudge; I knocked again. No answer. Smile. Sigh. "Oh, God, you just wanted to know that I would do this, or rather, wanted me to know that I could do this!"

 

Before I could turn to walk away with relief, she opened her door a little, shyly peeking through the crack. She looked up at me (yes, I'm taller than she was, if you can imagine that) with pleading eyes, whispering Asian words I couldn’t understand. I sweetly told her that God asked me to drop by and tell her that Jesus loves her. Her face melted as she began to cry. She came out onto the step and hugged me, tears turning to sobs as she wailed, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

 

As I walked to the school to get the kids (no, as it turned out, I wasn’t late), I marveled at how simple that was. I felt a glowing joy about doing it, but wondered why I was so easily intimidated in the first place.

 

I never saw the woman again. I have no clue what happened to her. But I can’t tell  you how happy I am that I obeyed the voice of my Father.

 

“…To obey is better than sacrifice…” 1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV)

 

God prefers our obedience to a million sacrifices. Ponder this!

In Christ

Are you in Christ?

 

Is Christ in you?

 

Many of us call ourselves Christians without realizing that this means that Jesus Christ actually lives inside of us, and through us, and that we are instructed to live in Him.

 

Our flesh is merely the clothing we wear in this world, the tent we reside in. We are spirit beings, made in the image of our heavenly Father, created to reflect His glory, while being one with Him. Until we recognize this, we give more importance to our flesh, often denying our spiritual needs. Our soul dictates what we do and the decisions we make. Our soul is made up of our mind, our will and our emotions. Just as God is three parts, with innumerable facets, so are we. Most of us recognize God as God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is Spirit (the Holy Spirit), made flesh (Jesus) with a mind (the Father) that knows everything.

 

To yield ourselves to God, we submit our spirit to His, we give ourselves to His authority, but also to everything else that He is. We essentially hide ourselves in His identity by allowing Him to reside within us.

 

Can you imagine “pulling Him out of you” when you want to do something you know He wouldn’t approve of? Sort of setting Him aside so He won’t see… that conjures up a funny picture.

 

Once we’ve invited Him in, we “take Him” everywhere we go, to do everything we do. Not that He isn’t always there seeing everything that goes on in the first place, but now you’ve invited Him to go along.

 

When I look for contentment and fulfillment outside of Jesus, that’s when I sin. When I feel that my life is lacking in some area, and even if I don’t recognize what it is that I’m lacking – I need to be looking for it in Christ, or I’m creating my own god to worship and love; a false god.

 

Where have you been looking for fulfillment?

 

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 NIV

 

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—  John 17:22  NIV