“Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
- Jeremiah 23:29
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
- Jeremiah 23:29
Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways!”
- Haggai 1:5
Judge not, that you be not judged.
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;
and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye,
but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Or how can you say to your brother,
‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’;
and look, a plank is in your own eye?
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye,
and then you will see clearly to remove
the speck from your brother’s eye.
- Matthew 7:1-5
Do not judge according to appearance,
but judge with righteous judgment.
- John 7:24
Taking Stock
Another month ends today.
Another opportunity to pause and look back over the past weeks... to reflect... take stock of my inner condition... evaluate my present spiritual position.
This practice of naming each month is part of my desire to live the reflective life, to examine where I have been and see the direction I need to take.
To always be upward moving and forward going - that is my heart's desire... not tossed to and fro emotionally by the circumstances I find myself in, but to have an anchor that steadies me, whether I am sailing on calm seas or turbulent waters.
These past few days I have been waiting on Jesus to reveal again where I am.
Socrates a famous philosopher once said that the unexamined life is not worth living.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Thus I examine my inner life, my thoughts, my attitudes, my words, my feelings, and hold them up against the searchlight of God's word, draw near my Abba, and ask Him, "What do You see?"
Not that I may become overly introspective ... but that He may bring change; that I might become more and more Christlike, a reflection of His character and nature to this world where I serve as an ambassador for Him, never to forget that I am a citizen of another kingdom.
Choosing Life
There has been a cry on my heart the past days.
Details are not important. One thing that has been a source of comfort to me is knowing that because I love God, everything I go through in this life will work together for good.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Every situation that I encounter has a spiritual significance.
Looking back at the events of the past month helps me realize that God is opening my eyes to understand what is happening in the spiritual realm around me.
When difficult circumstances arise, there are always two kinds of response to choose from: a response that gives life, or a response that leads to death.
In the past, it would have been easy for me to respond with finger-pointing or offense. Today such a response of death no longer appeals to me.
A life-giver, that is what I choose to be.
To respond with life as the month ends helps me welcome the next month with the right spirit.
On this post I take time to articulate and translate these feelings, the cry of my heart, into words. If not, the moment passes by too quickly, and before I know it, the prompting is gone, and the opportunity lost.
The Purpose for Seasons
I love the changing of the seasons. I also love the changing of the months!
God allows these changing seasons, months, weeks, and days, for a divine purpose: that we may not be stagnant pools of water, unchanged by the events and circumstances of our lives, hardened by our prideful arrogance and made callous by self-righteousness.... but rather softened by hope and compassion.
Unless our hearts are softened by a response of hope, it is easy to believe we are moving forward when in fact we're not!
Week in, week out - events come and go... but until the Holy Spirit is given freedom to break up the fallow ground of our heart, it remains hard and unchanged.
Jesus warns us of the subtlety and deceitfulness of sin. He knows we can be entrenched... in our unenlightened opinions of ourselves, the world, or the people around us.
Sin dissipates... yes, it does. I've seen this in my own life and in the life of others as well.
I don't mean the overt sinful acts... but the more insidious, hidden ones - the sins of smugness, complacency, the refusal to budge from our treasured doctrinal standpoints, prejudices we are unwilling to let go of... religious pride... a Pharisaical spirit.
These hidden sins create blind spots in our spiritual vision rendering us unable to look deeper within... oblivious to our true spiritual condition.
The Gift of Time
God has been speaking to me about time these past weeks. Time is a gift I give, a friend I send to accomplish My purposes in your life.
Take time to grow. Yes, Lord. I need time to grow, to mature, to learn new things, and to let go of attitudes that ensnare.
Time heals. Over time, we begin to look at things differently. Oh, how we need to spend time with God and His word, allow Him to teach us... change us... and soften the hard areas of our hearts!
How the Father longs to give us a redeemed perspective, help us understand how to be a life-giver in another person's life!
We all need time to develop the mind of Christ, and let Him expose and remove our faulty ways of thinking.
Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians reminds us to beware of dissipation ... of wasting the time that is at our disposal.
Time is a vital tool in God's hands and in ours. But the enemy tempts us to pour our energies into trivial pursuits, engage in worthless activities each day, take on assignments God never intended for us to undertake... or be motivated by what leads us away from our true calling.
Our wrong opinion of another, a false judgment, dissipates us!
Unnecessary words also dissipate... even "words" not spoken per se, but put down in writing and published in cyberspace. Sad but true - time spent on too much blogging or surfing the net...on twitter... on facebook... also dissipates.
The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus has come to give life, abundant life!
God calls us to renewal... to repentance... to have a change of heart... to make a paradigm shift.
We are called to kindness and compassion, to righteous judgment -- of ourselves, and of others.
A Heart of Wisdom
And tonight, I open my heart before God, the One who redeems my life from the miry bog. I have asked Him for clarity.
Where do I go from here? I have asked Him.
Give words to what is on your heart is His gentle reply.
Hence this post where I have verbalized the cry of my heart.
August is at the door, waiting for July to leave. In just an hour or so, July 2011 will say good-bye... never to come back.
That is how time is -- month after month, week after week, day after day. Time marches on.
That's why I so appreciate the Ephesians 5:15-17 passage which is such a clear reminder that I am to make good use of the time available to me:
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
How easy it is to waste time, by not understanding what the will of the Lord is.
May God show me with every decision how to make choices in light of eternity!
Already 57 years of my life are gone, and I am now in the fourth month of my 58th year.
Psalm 90 is a very beautiful prayer written by Moses, and again, verse 12 speaks to me about time:
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore do not be unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is.
How easy it is to waste time, by not understanding what the will of the Lord is.
May God show me with every decision how to make choices in light of eternity!
Already 57 years of my life are gone, and I am now in the fourth month of my 58th year.
Psalm 90 is a very beautiful prayer written by Moses, and again, verse 12 speaks to me about time:
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I have named this month Redeeming the Time.
Many thoughts fill my mind as the month of July ends. I have been thinking: What changes has this month brought to my heart?
Have I become a better person after thirty one days?
Have I become kinder, wiser, closer to God?
Are the words I have spoken of another person a balm of healing to his heart if he were to hear them?
Have the thoughts that I have entertained in my mind been the redeeming kind?
It is easy to be judgmental, and find fault... but when God reminds me to think redeeming thoughts, I know He wants me to have a different perspective when tempted to be critical or to focus on the way other people fail to measure up to my expectations.
Expecting from God
Ah, expectations! Some expectations are reasonable and important.
But more often, the expectations we have of others can cripple... even kill, relationships. Because when we make our expectations the ultimate measuring rod for another, then most likely we will be disappointed. And our disappointment with that person will poison the way we look at him or her. And looking at another person with a poisoned point of view can cause a relationship to die.
Indeed, expectations can kill; disappointment is poisonous.
The enemy of our souls knows exactly when and how to use these subtle deadly weapons of self-righteousness and self-focus.
Self-righteousness says, I am the standard...do it my way. If you don't meet my expectations, then you are a disappointment to me... and I shut you out of my life.
Do you see how self-righteousness is really all about I... me... my?
As a young Christian in the early 1970s, I told God that anything He wanted for me, I wanted as well. And anything He didn't want for me, I also didn't want.
Through the years, as I walked in obedience one step at a time, God did reveal to me what He wanted. Let your expectation come from Me alone, and You will never be disappointed.
It certainly isn't easy -- being on the high road of being a Christ-follower in the truest sense of the word.
But this extremely important lesson can only be learned the hard way. And after 38 years of learning to obey the voice of Jesus, this has indeed become the cry of my heart: to be what He wants me to be...and to do what He wants me to do.
...to consider my treasures in heaven as more important than my treasures here on earth,
...to look at whatever resources I have - be it time, abilities, or finances - as a means to building God's kingdom.
Now that my husband has passed away, and my three children are grown and have careers of their own, I am free to be used by God in whatever way He wants to.
Giving My All
Elaine Olsen in her blog post a week or two ago spoke about the widow who put in all she had into the offering. Two coppers -- it was all she had, yet she willingly gave it all.
This is the cry of my heart: to be selfless, and offer to God the last two coppers I have.
To give Him my all, and then trust Him for the outcome of my efforts.
To keep growing into the kind of woman God wants me to be.
To reflect the generosity and kindness of His heart in the midst of a selfish... grasping... and greedy generation.
To be kind in my assessment of others.
Not withholding good, an act of kindness, when it is within my power to give it. Often the act of kindness required of me is a good word, an understanding heart from which to view another person.
Not having a book keeping mentality... where I constantly update a mental list and keep a running balance of what I have done and what others owe me!
To release forgiveness to those who have hurt me... instead of nurturing offense in my heart.
To speak healing words, being a redemptive agent in the midst of people I live and associate with.
I am not able to always live this way for I, too, am a person in process. But this is my goal and my desire: to be a mouthpiece for God's heart. Yes, to reflect His heart to a dying world.
Understanding the Times
Still on the subject of time, the passage of 1 Chronicles 12:32 will always be among my top favorite verses:
...motivated not by greed, or by a growing earthly bank account... but fueled and empowered by the love of Christ burning in my heart
...growing in Christ-like humility... and simplicity
...appreciative and thankful -- with my eyes wide open to see what others do for me, and thank them
...showing compassion to those who are heavily burdened in any way
As I read back over what I have written, I realize that this is the character of nobility, the nature of one whose heart is large enough to overlook the failings of another person, and instead, go beyond what is required... and willingly walk another mile... gladly give more than what is expected.
Help me spread Your light... surprise another heart with an act of generosity!
Spare me, save me from calculated moves...
Teach me new steps to the heavenly dance of freedom! I am free to love, I am free to give... expecting nothing in return!
Leaving Room for Growth
In the past ten years of my life, as my children were graduating from university and beginning to earn a living, God enabled Ernie and me to have a paradigm shift in the way we do family.
God taught us through the ministry of Family Foundations International that the thoughts we think and the attitudes we carry inside of us are the wellsprings of the words we speak to one another.
Through this ministry, God healed us of layers of emotional wounding where lies about God, ourselves, and others were effectively hiding and festering.
The setting free happened in stages, but the new freedom we experienced gradually enabled us to give God the opportunity to heal our family of wrong parenting, coming mainly from the blindness of perfectionism, self-righteousness and pride.
When I became a mother-in-law to my sons' wives, I prayed that God would give me daughters in law who would be like Ruth to Naomi.
But God spoke a clear message to my heart: it always starts with me.
Live by the simple principle of sowing and reaping. What you sow, you reap.
If I wanted my daughters-in-law to really love me, then I had to be the example of unconditional love to them. To accept them as they are. To allow them to make mistakes without judging them. To not expect them to do things the way I did. God said that I was not the standard, that my role was to guide, to be a model, to be a blessing.
This kind of attitude has freed me tremendously from finding fault with my new daughters when they do things differently, a common pitfall with many mothers in law.
Why be on the lookout for what others do wrong? Isn't it a lot better to be on the lookout for what others do right?
So God has enabled me to truly appreciate them, and enjoy them, and have a growing, meaningful relationship with both of them. They are their own persons, intelligent, resourceful, industrious, hard workers, teachable, willing to learn, gifted with many abilities, and they bring fresh blood to our family.
I am thankful for how my heavenly Father helps me establish a culture of acceptance in my home. There is room to make mistakes, and there is room to grow.
This gives me the freedom to be myself as well, enjoying the journey, drinking and savoring each moment... instead of being in a constant hurry with a daily list of many things to accomplish.
I don't want to miss the meaning of each moment as it comes, or be blind to the hidden beauty of the person in front of me.
We are all people in the process of growth... there is enough time and a wide space for transformation to take place.
There is so much hope ahead of us!
This is the cry of my heart - for wisdom, for understanding what the Lord wants.
That I will not be guilty of dissipation - time fluttering by at my fingertips - when I am called to be about my Father's business, building His kingdom, first in my heart, in the heart of my immediate family, and in the lives of those whom God has called me to serve.
To do ministry as He wants it done, not the way I want it done...
To be a second mile Christian...
This is the cry of my heart - to see that I walk circumspectly, not as a fool but as wise... redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
My prayer:
Father, this is the cry of my heart: that You will help me grow in wisdom, and enable me to understand Your will.
You know my heart's desire, to respond with humility when confronted with manipulation and control. I do not need to defend my position, You already are doing that.
In these the remaining years of my life, I am discovering the gentle beauty of simplicity.
Thank you for being on my side... rooting for me... cheering me on... helping me be a model, a Godly example, to my immediate family - my two sons and three daughters and grandchildren.
More than anything else, I want my life to be a blessing and a legacy to them. May they and others who are watching my life learn from me.
I never, ever want to be too full of myself, my rules, or my agenda... that I miss out on the beauty of each moment as it comes.
Only Your will, always Your will, not mine... be done in my life.
A Prayer for Elijah
And as July ends, this too is the prayer and the cry of my heart for my dear grandson Elijah, who turned eight months old on July 13.
Dear Elijah,
On this the eighth month of your life, I pray that you will grow up to be as a son of Issachar... understanding the times... that you may know what you ought to do.
May you be trained to be about your Heavenly Father's business at a young age.
May you be a man who is not self-absorbed... but rather one who gives people a wide space and the freedom to be different.
Elijah at eight months
May God give you an understanding heart where you sow and reap seeds of love.
I do declare and decree today that you will grow to be a man whose eyes will see and appreciate what others do right...rather than be continually focused on their faults.
As always, you will need the humility of Christ to be this kind of person. To be teachable... to be willing to change.
I pray that you will understand what it means to redeem the time... to discern the things God has called you to do.
May God indeed grant this the prayer of my heart for you.
Love
Nana
Liberated from Fault-finding by Enoch E. Byrum
That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I have named this month Redeeming the Time.
Many thoughts fill my mind as the month of July ends. I have been thinking: What changes has this month brought to my heart?
Have I become a better person after thirty one days?
Have I become kinder, wiser, closer to God?
Are the words I have spoken of another person a balm of healing to his heart if he were to hear them?
Have the thoughts that I have entertained in my mind been the redeeming kind?
It is easy to be judgmental, and find fault... but when God reminds me to think redeeming thoughts, I know He wants me to have a different perspective when tempted to be critical or to focus on the way other people fail to measure up to my expectations.
Expecting from God
Ah, expectations! Some expectations are reasonable and important.
But more often, the expectations we have of others can cripple... even kill, relationships. Because when we make our expectations the ultimate measuring rod for another, then most likely we will be disappointed. And our disappointment with that person will poison the way we look at him or her. And looking at another person with a poisoned point of view can cause a relationship to die.
Indeed, expectations can kill; disappointment is poisonous.
The enemy of our souls knows exactly when and how to use these subtle deadly weapons of self-righteousness and self-focus.
Self-righteousness says, I am the standard...do it my way. If you don't meet my expectations, then you are a disappointment to me... and I shut you out of my life.
Do you see how self-righteousness is really all about I... me... my?
As a young Christian in the early 1970s, I told God that anything He wanted for me, I wanted as well. And anything He didn't want for me, I also didn't want.
Through the years, as I walked in obedience one step at a time, God did reveal to me what He wanted. Let your expectation come from Me alone, and You will never be disappointed.
My soul, wait silently for God alone,
For my expectation is from Him.
- Psalm 62:5
For my expectation is from Him.
- Psalm 62:5
It certainly isn't easy -- being on the high road of being a Christ-follower in the truest sense of the word.
But this extremely important lesson can only be learned the hard way. And after 38 years of learning to obey the voice of Jesus, this has indeed become the cry of my heart: to be what He wants me to be...and to do what He wants me to do.
...to consider my treasures in heaven as more important than my treasures here on earth,
...to look at whatever resources I have - be it time, abilities, or finances - as a means to building God's kingdom.
Now that my husband has passed away, and my three children are grown and have careers of their own, I am free to be used by God in whatever way He wants to.
Giving My All
Elaine Olsen in her blog post a week or two ago spoke about the widow who put in all she had into the offering. Two coppers -- it was all she had, yet she willingly gave it all.
This is the cry of my heart: to be selfless, and offer to God the last two coppers I have.
To give Him my all, and then trust Him for the outcome of my efforts.
To keep growing into the kind of woman God wants me to be.
To reflect the generosity and kindness of His heart in the midst of a selfish... grasping... and greedy generation.
To be kind in my assessment of others.
Not withholding good, an act of kindness, when it is within my power to give it. Often the act of kindness required of me is a good word, an understanding heart from which to view another person.
Not having a book keeping mentality... where I constantly update a mental list and keep a running balance of what I have done and what others owe me!
To release forgiveness to those who have hurt me... instead of nurturing offense in my heart.
To speak healing words, being a redemptive agent in the midst of people I live and associate with.
I am not able to always live this way for I, too, am a person in process. But this is my goal and my desire: to be a mouthpiece for God's heart. Yes, to reflect His heart to a dying world.
Understanding the Times
Still on the subject of time, the passage of 1 Chronicles 12:32 will always be among my top favorite verses:
...the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times,
to know what Israel ought to do...
This is the cry of my heart. To be as a son (daughter) of Issachar... who has understanding of the times... to know what she ought to do...
to know what Israel ought to do...
...motivated not by greed, or by a growing earthly bank account... but fueled and empowered by the love of Christ burning in my heart
...growing in Christ-like humility... and simplicity
...appreciative and thankful -- with my eyes wide open to see what others do for me, and thank them
...showing compassion to those who are heavily burdened in any way
As I read back over what I have written, I realize that this is the character of nobility, the nature of one whose heart is large enough to overlook the failings of another person, and instead, go beyond what is required... and willingly walk another mile... gladly give more than what is expected.
Help me spread Your light... surprise another heart with an act of generosity!
Spare me, save me from calculated moves...
Teach me new steps to the heavenly dance of freedom! I am free to love, I am free to give... expecting nothing in return!
Leaving Room for Growth
In the past ten years of my life, as my children were graduating from university and beginning to earn a living, God enabled Ernie and me to have a paradigm shift in the way we do family.
God taught us through the ministry of Family Foundations International that the thoughts we think and the attitudes we carry inside of us are the wellsprings of the words we speak to one another.
Through this ministry, God healed us of layers of emotional wounding where lies about God, ourselves, and others were effectively hiding and festering.
The setting free happened in stages, but the new freedom we experienced gradually enabled us to give God the opportunity to heal our family of wrong parenting, coming mainly from the blindness of perfectionism, self-righteousness and pride.
When I became a mother-in-law to my sons' wives, I prayed that God would give me daughters in law who would be like Ruth to Naomi.
But God spoke a clear message to my heart: it always starts with me.
Live by the simple principle of sowing and reaping. What you sow, you reap.
If I wanted my daughters-in-law to really love me, then I had to be the example of unconditional love to them. To accept them as they are. To allow them to make mistakes without judging them. To not expect them to do things the way I did. God said that I was not the standard, that my role was to guide, to be a model, to be a blessing.
This kind of attitude has freed me tremendously from finding fault with my new daughters when they do things differently, a common pitfall with many mothers in law.
Why be on the lookout for what others do wrong? Isn't it a lot better to be on the lookout for what others do right?
So God has enabled me to truly appreciate them, and enjoy them, and have a growing, meaningful relationship with both of them. They are their own persons, intelligent, resourceful, industrious, hard workers, teachable, willing to learn, gifted with many abilities, and they bring fresh blood to our family.
I am thankful for how my heavenly Father helps me establish a culture of acceptance in my home. There is room to make mistakes, and there is room to grow.
This gives me the freedom to be myself as well, enjoying the journey, drinking and savoring each moment... instead of being in a constant hurry with a daily list of many things to accomplish.
I don't want to miss the meaning of each moment as it comes, or be blind to the hidden beauty of the person in front of me.
We are all people in the process of growth... there is enough time and a wide space for transformation to take place.
There is so much hope ahead of us!
This is the cry of my heart - for wisdom, for understanding what the Lord wants.
That I will not be guilty of dissipation - time fluttering by at my fingertips - when I am called to be about my Father's business, building His kingdom, first in my heart, in the heart of my immediate family, and in the lives of those whom God has called me to serve.
To do ministry as He wants it done, not the way I want it done...
To be a second mile Christian...
This is the cry of my heart - to see that I walk circumspectly, not as a fool but as wise... redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
My prayer:
Father, this is the cry of my heart: that You will help me grow in wisdom, and enable me to understand Your will.
You know my heart's desire, to respond with humility when confronted with manipulation and control. I do not need to defend my position, You already are doing that.
In these the remaining years of my life, I am discovering the gentle beauty of simplicity.
Thank you for being on my side... rooting for me... cheering me on... helping me be a model, a Godly example, to my immediate family - my two sons and three daughters and grandchildren.
More than anything else, I want my life to be a blessing and a legacy to them. May they and others who are watching my life learn from me.
I never, ever want to be too full of myself, my rules, or my agenda... that I miss out on the beauty of each moment as it comes.
Only Your will, always Your will, not mine... be done in my life.
A Prayer for Elijah
And as July ends, this too is the prayer and the cry of my heart for my dear grandson Elijah, who turned eight months old on July 13.
Dear Elijah,
On this the eighth month of your life, I pray that you will grow up to be as a son of Issachar... understanding the times... that you may know what you ought to do.
May you be trained to be about your Heavenly Father's business at a young age.
May you be a man who is not self-absorbed... but rather one who gives people a wide space and the freedom to be different.
Elijah at eight months
I do declare and decree today that you will grow to be a man whose eyes will see and appreciate what others do right...rather than be continually focused on their faults.
As always, you will need the humility of Christ to be this kind of person. To be teachable... to be willing to change.
I pray that you will understand what it means to redeem the time... to discern the things God has called you to do.
May God indeed grant this the prayer of my heart for you.
Love
Nana
Liberated from Fault-finding by Enoch E. Byrum
