Speaking the Truth in Love

Last weekend, I went to a conference on creation.  It was supposed to focus on teaching a literal 6 day creation of the world, as taught in the Bible.  I was excited to learn new evidence that I can use to not only support my own faith, but to help me defend my beliefs with others that may have questions.

I was very disappointed to see that the speaker spent so much of his time denouncing certain groups of people and practices that had nothing to do with the topic, all in the name of Christianity.  I was upset, ashamed, and embarrassed.  He even went as far as to group Seventh Day Adventists in with those whom he believed did not believe in Jesus and would burn in hell.  Obviously, he has never met a Seventh Day Adventist, nor did he have an accurate understanding of hell.  In any case, his mean-spirited statements completely took away from any good information that he may have had to share.

This made me think about my own actions.  The Bible admonishes us to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  I wonder how often my actions focus on the "truth" as I see it, leaving out the more important part, love.  No one will listen to the "truth" if they don't at first feel the love and trust what I have to say.  We won't believe Jesus until we understand first that he loves us.  The love must prevail before the truth can be heard.

I must always be willing to show truth through love.  I must act in love, in order to share truth.

I always here, as an argument to this, that the Bible also teaches that Jesus' word is a stumbling block to others, that the truth must offend, and other such things.  It is true that God's word is a challenge to us.  The straight and narrow road is usually not the easy way, and it does cause us to stumble over ourselves, but none of this says that WE need to be stumbling blocks or that WE need to be offensive to support God's word.  God is love.  WE need to act and speak in love.

This is what I am thinking about on the day that everyone is thinking about love.

Busy-ness

I can't believe it has been almost a year since my most recent regular post!

Life, as I'm sure you know, can get so busy, that things just tend to go by the wayside without our even noticing sometimes.  Right now, I am working long, long days, then by the weekend, I am exhausted.  I have grandchildren now, and new puppies at home, so my free time on the weekends is spent trying to make up to them for the time I lose during the week working such long hours.  Can you relate?

Even at work, where I am a nurse, I get caught up in trying to get so many things done, meetings met, notes charted, assessments done, that I get annoyed when I have to stop "working" to take care of my patients.  And taking care of patients is my real job.  Since when did the people I am called to care for become annoyances?

I know where this really comes from.  Is it surprising to find that we are in the middle of a great cosmic conflict, a battle between good and evil, in which each and every one of us is fighting for our lives and for the kingdom?  It is so easy to get so caught up in the busyness that we forget what is really going on.  Satan knows that if he can't take us out directly, that he has a much better chance at taking us down if we are simply too tired or too distracted to fight!

I need to stop each time I feel tired, each time I feel overwhelmed, each time I feel distracted or annoyed, and remember why I am really here, what I am fighting for, and Who is fighting right beside me, (and in front and behind me-- see Psalm 125:2).  Who is willing to stand up and fight today?

New Interactive Game for the Whole Family

I finally started on my Football Bingo game, which has been in the works for years.  Check it out:

Football Bingo

Hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Mother's Day Bouquet

So, my family asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day.  Here is the bouquet I got:

We hiked the 4000 ft. to the top of Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge.  The wildflowers were in full bloom.  The hike was a lot harder now that I am in my 40's that it used to be, but it was well worth the climb.

     

I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day gift!

On Peace

John 14:27:  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."


John 16:33:  "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."


What I wouldn't give for some peace and quiet!  I have heard that so many times.  Life is so hectic, with demands on our time and energy seemingly all day, every day.  And there seems to be so much pressure and so much trouble all around...economically, politically, in the environment, in our neighborhoods, and in our homes.  It appears that peace is in very short supply.


But peace is just what Jesus promised to leave with us when he returned to heaven.  The key, from the verse above, is that he does not give as the world does.  What does that mean?  In the second verse above, we have the answer.  "In this world you will have trouble..."  We tend to think that peace means having it easy, with no pressure, no hurrying, no trouble at all.  Jesus tells us that this simply isn't the case.  As long as we live on earth, we will still have trouble.  This is a given.  Yet, we can have peace.


Our peace does not come in the absence of trials and troubles.  it comes in knowing God and trusting his sovereignty.  "...take heart!  I have overcome the world."  Knowing that no matter what happens, God has our backs, now that brings peace!


The apostle Paul understood this.  with everything he went through to bring the good news about Jesus to the world beyond Jerusalem and Judea, he still tells us, "...if god is for us, who can be against us?  (Romans 8:31).  The Old Testament king, David, also learned how to have peace in the midst of great trial and tribulation.  Even though his life was in danger, with the enemy army surrounding him and his men, he cried out to God, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can mortal man do to me?"   (Psalm 56:4).




Peace, therefore, is something deeper than a calm, quiet life.   Peace is being able to stand firm, unafraid in the middle of even the most difficult circumstance, knowing you have a God you can trust.

Thoughts on Jesus' Divinity

 

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David.

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
² My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.
⁴ In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
⁵ To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
⁷ All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
⁸ “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

¹² Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
¹³ Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
¹⁵ My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
¹⁷ All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
¹⁸ They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.

¹⁹ But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
²⁰ Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
²¹ Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²² I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
²³ You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
²⁴ For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
    he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵ From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
²⁶ The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

²⁷ All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
    and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
²⁸ for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

²⁹ All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
³⁰ Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!

 

 

I read this during my morning devotions.  I remember that Jesus quoted the first line of this Psalm when he was dying on the cross.  It only just now struck me what he was saying to the crowd around him.  I always thought that the Psalm was prophetically relaying what Jesus would do when he was dying, but I didn't make the connection that Jesus then reminded the crowd that He was the one about whom the Psalm was referring.

 

Looking at verse 8, I am reminded that the one thief dying next to him mocked him in a similar manner. Then there are the descriptions of pouring out his life, like a drink offering, pierced hands and feet, casting lots for his clothing, and the promise of redemption for all those who "remember" (verse 27).  Since it was a custom of the Jews for the young men to study the scriptures, I would imagine that many were familiar with this Psalm.  I wonder how many went home and pondered this, or if anyone brought it up in the synagogue later (if they dared)?  I am amazed at how each part of scripture is related, how God brought all things together.  The God that lives outside of time moved David to record Jesus' suffering down to the smallest of details, then Jesus reminded the people of just what had been predicted and how accurately in the details.  Yet they did not see.

The Process

I just finished "God Distorted" by John Bishop.  It was very, very good!  One line that really touched me at this time in my life was this:

"We never want the process -- we only want the destination -- but it is in the process we find God."

This has proven true over and over again in my life.  If only we could remember how much God loves us when we are struggling with life's complexities.  We could learn the lessons God has for us, grow in the process in our relationship with Him, and we could stop stressing so much!