You And I Are The Same

by Karen

A gnarled hand grabbed my arm as I passed by. In a depressing common room of a “retirement center” outside of Savron, Ukraine, my fellow missionaries and I had finished delivering the good news of the Gospel to about twenty residents.

I was last in line as the 7-member team single-filed out of the room that smelled of stale urine and cheap alcohol. Only a few steps from the beckoning fresh air, my progress was halted by the twisted hand restraining me.

I looked up from the hand to find a pair of blue eyes wet with tears.

The owner of the hand, an older woman, began to speak urgently in Russian. While waiting a few minutes for one of the translators to get to us, my impatience grew. This visit had disheartened me, temporarily stuck in a warehouse of people whose crime of growing old and poor landed them in a collection of decrepit buildings with staff that seemed uninterested.

This place was far beyond my easy faith. Forged on the comfortable pews of Midwestern Lutheran churches, my faith was rarely challenged. Growing up, I had no doubt that God loved me, that Jesus died to save me from my sin, that as long as I believed (whatever that meant), I would be fine.

But the truth was that I wasn’t fine, and hadn’t been in a long while. As soon as I could, I left those comfortable pews and didn’t look back. I still believed (whatever that meant) but the fruits of my easy faith were far from what God promises. He had recently brought me back to the fold but in significant ways, I was still pretending that I was fine. As I stood there in Ukraine, the reality was that my easy life had crumbled.

When the translator reached us, he told me what the woman was saying: “I’m all alone. My husband is dead. I have no children. My family lives far away. No one loves me.” Apparently, she repeated this mantra as Zhenya, the translator, also repeated it in English.

Listening in stereo, I heard a third voice, one that had become too familiar over the past eighteen months. I heard Satan whisper: “Take a good look Karen. This will be you soon.”

Now, my impatience turned to panic – I craved to be out of that room, away from this woman and back to my “I’m fine thank you, and you?” life.

I didn’t need any reminders of the horrible thoughts that come deep in the night when you find yourself a 41-year old widow. When the reality of your life is absolutely not what you pray for.

I guess the woman stopped speaking because Zhenya also stopped. Now, two pairs of blue eyes were looking at me. I was on the spot, needing something – anything -- to comfort this woman, convince her that God loved her.

But how could I do that for this stranger when I couldn’t do it for myself? When that hideous voice, which came during the night, was here now in the bright sunshine of the day?

I opened my mouth, and in answer to a prayer I didn’t realize I had prayed, the following words came out: “You and I are the same. My husband is dead. I have no children. I live far away from my family. But Jesus loves both of us and tells us we are never alone. His last words on Earth were ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

As I spoke, the woman’s grip on my arm loosened. No longer a shackle, her touch now comforted. I covered her hand with mine and said I would pray that she would always feel Jesus’ love.

When Zhenya repeated these words in Russian, I gently lifted her hand from my arm and murmured “Бог с тобой,” (God be with you).

Zhenya and I walked into the fresh air and bright sunshine.

I then realized I had never said aloud those terrible words – My husband is dead, I have no children, I’m all alone. Keeping them silent made them, and their author, powerful. By insisting that I was fine and needed nothing from anyone, I was easy prey for the lion who prowled around me. I resisted Divine Love and the perfect peace found only in Him.

The fairy tale ending would be that, with this realization, I have lived the rest of my days completely content in the Light of the World.

I wish.

The truth is that the end is not yet here. Just like any believer, I struggle with the old Karen every day. But I don’t struggle alone.

The words I spoke to the woman are truth: You and I are the same. God loves us and where His love is, we are never alone, even to the end of the age.

See You In The Round!
Karen

Selfishness

by Jenn

What an ugly word.

Yet I find my heart can often be described as nothing but that. Selfish. Stingy. Ungenerous. Mean.

I find my selfishness is the problem most often when things are spinning out of control in my home. Relationships are tense. Joy is buried deep under a pile of hurt. My husband suffers. My kids suffer. My communion with God suffers. Sometimes I believe it's really not my fault, but everyone else that has the problem. The kids don't want to obey. My husband wants to be lazy. But reading James 3:16 sure shines a light on that dark place:

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."

Am I more selfish than other people? Probably not. I think most of us can admit that we struggle here. We know the Bible calls us to be self-LESS. Not full of self. It's one thing to know this; another to live it out. What's a girl to do?


Well, for starters, how 'bout a confession of our true heart posture? If selfishness is pouring out, that certainly means our hearts need a good dose of humble pie. What better person to look at than Jesus himself.

Christ's Example of Humility

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:3-8

Jesus was the epitomy of selflessness. He gave up his cozy throne, warm robe, shiny crown, kingship. He came as a humble servant on a cold dark night as a helpless infant to a poor family in a barn. The reason He came? His beloved...us! He came to serve, not be served. Ultimately, he laid down his life so we could hear 'Not guilty' from the throne of God.

 

How does that empower us to live selflessly? Tim Keller says,

"People with a deep grasp of the gospel can turn around and admit that their selfishness is the problem and that they're going to work on it. And when they do that, they will often discover an immediate sense of liberation...You must lose yourself to find yourself." The Meaning of Marraige

Hold on tight to it. For it is the only fuel that can feed us to continually be selfless, no matter the circumstance.


What situation in your life do you need to grasp the gospel more deeply? Is there a struggle of selfishness you need to confess today? Be liberated, my friend!

"...let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:1-2

See you in the Round!
Jenn

Can You Teach Me How To Shower?

by Kim

"Can you teach me how to shower, just like you taught your kids?"-Daisy

When Daisy first came into our family, she was dirty, bruised all over her body, sick & longing for love. She was so excited to use toothpaste (something she had never used before) that we went through about six tubes of toothpaste the first two weeks. I bought all that the store had to restock our supplies. Even though most of the toothpaste ended up on the floor, it was so special and my little girl was thrilled! Hygiene was a new concept to her.

I did not know that putting her in the bath for the first time would be so momentous. To wash away a layer of uncleanliness, to see hopeful eyes staring back at me, "Can you teach me how to shower, just like you taught your kids?"

"Yes." I replied holding back tears knowing this child had never been taught how to brush her teeth, never been fed properly, barely even knowing what it was like to actually feel clean.

Watching the dirt run down the drain of that first bathwater felt like brokenness and healing all in the same filthy swirls of hope.

Today, my daughter happily plays in the bathtub or shower, whichever she is wanting for the day. She has bath time paints to paint on the wall, bubbles in warm water and most importantly, a loving Mommy who is there to teach her how to wash herself. It has only been a few months of having her here but what a difference a few months can make!

As we allow the cleansing of Jesus' healing to wash over our dirt-covered lives, may we try not to get discouraged when we don't know how to get the filth off. Jesus wants us to come to Him and ask for help to learn, just as He taught His disciples and Saints through history.

Matthew 11:28-30 says

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and LEARN FROM ME, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Lord, humbly, I come before You in awe of Your wisdom. Jesus, teach me. Help me to expand the depths of my thinking to know love and grace which does not come naturally in my humanness.


See You In The Round!
Kim

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Terrifying Transparency

by Megan

In September, the women in

my church began a study on the book of Jeremiah. I've never been a part of a women’s bible study that was not full of fluff and facades. However, I had been desiring one in which we took off the "I have my life perfectly together" hat and put on the "my life's a struggle and I'm in need of God's daily grace" hat.


Women are quite good at putting up a facade by pretending they're okay, pretending their life is in order, pretending they are not in need of help, or pretending they are someone contrary to whom they truly are. I’m 100% guilty of this.


Why do we do this? Why do we close ourselves off? Well, letting people in is risky. I discussed in my last post how the standards the world presents hinder our ability to be genuinely us. That includes sharing the depths of our heart with those we love. Therefore, we are also unable to be transparent and vulnerable in our community for fear we will disappoint or be judged.


When we decide to let someone in, we are signing up for potential judgment, hurt, disappointment, or condemnation. BUT, we are also signing up for encouragement, accountability, compassion, support, and counsel.


More times than not, bible studies for women function in a similar way. You come, meet with a group of ladies you probably do not know all too well, talk solely about surface level topics and the content of the study, but not what's actually going on in your heart. However, that's not how our first meeting went. Praise The Lord!


We established that it would be a safe place we could discuss the tough, difficult, embarrassing, shameful, and controversial things present in our lives; a place in which we could be totally transparent free from judgment. It was in that moment that I felt an overwhelming conviction from The Spirit to share what had been going on in my life for the past decade.

Galatians 1:10 asks,

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

I battled with this conviction for minutes, which felt like hours. The more I fought God, the more I ran from Him…the more my heart beat faster and harder. I ran because I was absolutely terrified of what they would think of me. It was the first time in my life I had a paralyzing conviction to be obedient. Eventually, I caved. I cried a lot. I shared. I felt peace. Peace that permeated my soul. I was able to relax and finally stop running, hiding, and carrying this burden.


To my shock, it was received well. Their view of me did not waiver based on the honesty of my past. SO much good has come from my obedience and transparency, which I did not expect. I even felt physically lighter, like a 40 pound weight was lifted from my shoulders. My trust in God was significantly heightened. My friendships changed drastically. I was able to live freely around them because they knew me, the real me. They knew the deepest, darkest, most shameful areas of me and loved me still. Women bond through vulnerability because we like to know we're not alone in this struggle and that we're not the only one with a messy life.

“The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace.”
-Psalm 29:11

Peace comes from God, not sin. When we put our trust in the One who made our brains and made us able to trust in Him, we no longer have anxiety about our futures. Feeling restless? Seek and obey the Lord God and rest will come.


God is my only source of peace. It is only in His presence that I feel absolute peace, safety, comfort, and security.

We are called to live in perfect obedience to The Lord. So why is it so hard? Why do we run from His promptings? We think we know what is best for our lives. We don't trust He has something better planed. We can't see past our present circumstances. God can, though. He knows our future.


Jesus said in John 14:27, “I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart, And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”


Acts 5:29 says, "But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”


If you're not living your life being genuinely you, then you're not living - you're performing. You're no different than the actress in your favorite movie. Performers seek applause and affirmation to know what they are doing is acceptable and appreciated. Human beings fear rejection, so we seek acceptance. Think about all the televised awards shows there are.


However, we are not widely accepted when we are pretending to be someone other than ourselves. We are accepted when we are being genuinely us. When I stopped trying to please the world, I actually achieved acceptance.

See you in the Round!
Megan

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Good News

by Elaine

I have been thinking a lot this week about why exactly I believe what I believe about Jesus.  Every other reason a side (apologetics, historical proof, etc.), it is THE best news that I have ever heard.  I would much rather believe the Jesus of the Bible over anything else that the world offers.

In my last post, I referenced Philippians 2:1-11 when talking about living out Christ’s example of humility.  Now, I would like to simply meditate on the fact that my God became man and died to set me free.


I have found that in most other world religions, a set of strict rules is provided to help mostly good people become even better people and maybe, just maybe, gain favor with God and a pass into heaven.  God may be merciful, but you have to at least do your part in tipping the scale toward good rather than bad throughout the course of your life.

It is NOT about being Good

The beauty of Christianity is that I do not have to be a “mostly good person”.  I know and can freely admit that I am a bad person.  A person who messes up on a daily basis.  A person who continually fails.  A person who is stained, marred, blinded and stuck in a miry pit of sin and selfishness.


However, in the midst of my sin and selfishness, the perfect, holy, King of all Kings, Beginning and End, Savior and Redeemer came to earth, lived life, obeyed the Father, and submitted Himself to death on a cross.


It did not end there.  God raised Him to life and lifted His name above all names.  Through Him, life and freedom are available to us all and we can come just as we are; broken, and dead in our transgressions.

A Daughter of the King

So, I can admit that I am not anywhere close to perfect and I can even admit that I am terribly rotten.  How does the God of the universe, the Almighty respond?

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NASB)

The law of the Spirit of life is freedom.  It has set me free.  My sin is removed; I am no longer dead.  This is so much greater, better than systematic rules to follow.  Not only this, but God also takes this freedom much further,

“ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:15-17, NASB)

Wow. Reading this, I am utterly awe-struck.  I am not only free, but I am also adopted.  I can call myself a Daughter of the King.  I do not think I really have anything else to say.  I think I will just dwell in these beautiful words and conclude by saying I would so much rather believe this, follow this, commit to this, live and die by this than anything else in the entire world.


See you in the Round!
Elaine

*Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Contrapuntal Treatment

by Christina

con·tra·pun·tal [kon-truh-puhn-tl]

adjective Music.

Of or pertaining to counterpoint.

Composed of two or more relatively independent melodies sounded together.

Dictionary.com



Bear with me and my semi-musically geeky self here a minute.

The other night while my husband and I were talking, we somehow got onto the subject of music and fugues. He, being rather non-musically inclined, asked me what a fugue was, and I, drawing on my ancient knowledge from Music Appreciation in college, told him it was a piece of music that is basically made up of several melodies—each line can stand on its own, yet played all together, they complement each other to make a song. I looked it up on dictionary.com just to see how close I was to the real thing, and sure enough, that was the gist of it.


What caught my eye, though, was where it said that a fugue is composed of “several parts or voices in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment...” That was something I didn't remember from Music Appreciation, so I had to click on over to learn what “contrapuntal” was. I was, quite frankly, fascinated—probably mostly because it was so much fun to say “contrapuntal treatment”!


Richard and I then started joking about how we were each our own melodies and that we were subjected to contrapuntal treatment on our wedding day, and then again when William was born. Then it hit me—blog idea!

Living contrapuntally

What started out as just having a couple laughs struck me as actually being very true. We enter this world with something to offer that no one else can. We go about our lives carrying out the tasks God has placed before us in whatever place he has called us to, and no two of us do things quite exactly like the other.


Taking the different lines of a fugue apart will give you several different voices that are able to stand on their own. But oh, the music they can make when played all together! When we live and work together in harmony—or contrapuntally, I should say—we can do great things to the glory of God,                                                                shine his light in this dark world, and lift each other up.


It's kind of like the body parts in 1 Corinthians 12—we all play a different part, “but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work” (v. 6). And the same as in music, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ” (v. 12). Every part is essential on its own and with others, and no one can tell you your music is no good (and even if they did, you could remind them that Psalm 98:4 says to “make a joyful noise,” not music!)

In the Round

Our lives are one big fugue, basically. You could even compare it to a round—you start your life as a counterpoint to someone else's melody that has been playing for a while. You grow up, you play your own tune, and one day that melody is joined with someone else's in a joyful contrapuntal treatment. You make beautiful music together, and, Lord willing, another little melodic line is added to your fugue in another happy counterpoint. That baby grows up, finds his own melody, and it's started all over again.


Each melodic line joins another in an unending song, starting with one fugue and then joining with another, one big round, over and over. It's one big hymn to our glorious God above!

See you in the Round!
Christina

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Living The Dream (Part 1)

by Stacy

"Livin' The Dream!" Most of us say this phrase with a lot of sarcasm. We say it to make the person laugh who asked us how we’re doing because we all can relate that life can just be dull sometimes. My husband and I are in a transition period right now. Yeah, you know how fun transition periods are! Lol! Trying to find a house to buy, trying to start a family, trying to find out where God is leading us next. Well, let’s remind ourselves that we each have a dream that was placed inside of us by God. This dream is specifically for us to do the will of the Creator.


Dr. James Merritt, a pastor in Georgia and once the President of Southern Seminary in Kentucky, recently spoke about living out the dream that God has placed in our hearts and how we can fall for things to get us off track.

In this day and age when everyone worships celebrities and desires to look and to act like them, it is easy to fall into the trap of comparison. The pressure is on to keep up with the Jones’. It’s not a secret that our society is teaching us everything contradictory to the Word of God. TV Shows called “Revenge”, “Betrayal”, and “Scandal” just perpetuate this way of life.

I’m not even just talking about a cultural level of comparison, but also a comparison even amongst ourselves as sisters in Christ. You and your husband may have been trying for a baby for years and your best friend just got pregnant. Please do not fall into the trap of comparison or jealousy will rear its ugly head and drive a wedge between your relationships. Our envy of others devours us most of all. God’s relationship with you is just as special as it is with your best friend. He sees you and is with you. God has a plan for your life---through you, with you, for you.

Following Jesus is making God-given dreams come to life. Remember Joseph?? He had a dream. Let’s look at the beginning of his story in Genesis 37:5,

 “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

Now I have a brother and if he came to me with this dream, my reaction would totally depend on how he presented it to me. lol If he came to me proud and haughty, I would probably call him a punk. But if he approached me innocently and sincerely to tell me that God gave him a vision, I would keep it in mind. Who knows how Joseph presented it. All we know is that his brothers didn’t take the information so well.

It also didn’t help that Joseph’s brothers were jealous because their father favored him over all. But God doesn’t say that everything will be perfect in life. He doesn’t say to behave according to how someone approaches you. I’ve got some work to do over here. He warns that jealousy is worldy in 1 Corinthians 3:3, and that we are not to behave in jealousy in Romans 13:13. The point here is that Joseph had a dream. God showed him over and over that He had a purpose.

Warning: You will be criticized, even mocked, for carrying out the dream God gave you. For example, Alexander Graham Bell’s naysayers said in a Western Union internal memo, 1878, “the telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” Responding to an offer from Alexander Graham Bell to sell his telephone company, the Western Union president William Orton said, “What use could this company make of an electrical toy?”

The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., in 1903, saying, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad.” Being from a Chevy family, my Dad would probably have a joke or two about Fords at this point.

And Joseph’s brothers mocked him saying “Here comes this dreamer.”

See me next time in the Round for Part 2!

Stacy

*Scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide