A Bible That's Falling Apart...

I hate it when a good book ends. Yesterday I finished reading "Sisterchicks in Gondolas" by Robin Jones Gunn and I regretted turning the last page. Although fiction, it had been a heart-gripping book for me. I even made a list of quotes from the book that struck me so intently so I wouldn't forget them. Ideas about shame and grace and freedom. I shared one of those thoughts in my blog about shame. I'd like to share another one today: "A Bible that's falling apart ususally belongs to a person whose life isn't." I'm reminded of the first Bible I owned after I became a Christian at the age of fourteen. I read it over and over, underlining passages and memorizing Scripture from it until the binding literally fell apart. Fast forward twenty-plus years to the present. I no longer own just one Bible that I read from on a daily basis, but now I own several Bibles in different translations and sizes. I have Bibles I mark in, and others I don't. Some are used for study purposes, others simply for reading. I've got favorites for memorizing verses. Favorites for toting along to Bible studies. And depending on what my "flavor of the day" is, I have at least a half dozen translations to choose from for general reading. Have I complicated the process of reading God's Word? At the very least, with the inconsistency in which Bible I use, I most likely won't see another Bible fall apart any time soon!
I guess the real issue isn't how many Bibles I own or use, but whether or not I am in God's Word consistently. Am I reaching for it as I reach for food when my physical body is hungry? My spirit needs to be fed the Word just as my body needs to be fed food. Am I daily reading it, listening to it, meditating on it, and digesting it? My spirit will shrivel up and die if I go too long without God's sustaining Word. Of course it would make sense that a Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to a person who whose life isn't. No other book can impart the hope, healing, guidance and grace needed to keep a life together. My prayer is that God would help me to always be faithful to His Word. May He help me to daily desire above all else that which I need the most...His holy, empowering, encouraging, guiding, cleansing, healing, live-giving Word.

Perspective

This morning I awoke to a terrible smell. The smell of smoke lingers throughout our home today as a result of a frightening oven incident that occured last night. What started out as a simple, "Let's have frozen pizzas for dinner" ended in an oven that somehow went into the self-cleaning function mode, resulting in a house filled with smoke and fire trucks at our home. Lots of drama over pizza! Although it was upsetting and costly, we are grateful that nobody was hurt. It could have been so much worse...
I saw a sign this week that says "The closer we are to God, the smaller everything else appears." That's persepctive. Perspective is what allows us to look at something like a house full of smoke and still be thankful. This morning when I got up and was greeted by an offensive smell, instead of allowing it to start my day off with a crabby attitude, perspective allows me to see it as a reminder that I have a lot to be thankful for. My family is safe. My home is still intact. And when I keep my eys on Jesus and follow close to Him, the things that can seems so big and overwhelming seem a whole lot smaller. I guess sometimes I need reminders...even stinky, dramatic reminders like ovens billowing clouds of yellow smoke...to remind me of this truth.

Casting Crowns- "Always Enough"

I listened to this song as I was driving my kids to school this morning and I thought what a perfectly beautiful follow-up this makes to my post from last night about Jesus being enough. What a wonderful song...

"You're Enough"

Yesterday as I was organizing a binder filled with things I have written, I came across a poem that I wrote a year and a half ago. It was a poem among many from the last year or so still waiting to be filed away, but the title of this particular one caught my eye: "You're Enough". In the last couple of weeks, circumstances both around and within me have brought me to a place of needing to be reminded of the truth that no matter what I am facing, Jesus is enough. His love is enough. His grace is enough. HE is enough. It was true over a year ago when I wrote the poem. It's true today. And it will always be true because He never changes! How thankful I am that God so graciously reminds me of His faithfulness to be all that I need!

"You're Enough"

You're enough when I am hurting
Enough when I'm afraid
You're enough when I'm regretting
Choices that I've made
In every situation
No matter what life brings
Jesus, You're enough in everything

You're enough when I am lonely
Enough when I am weak
You're enough when I'm not able
To find all that I seek
Today and each tomorrow
In the days still yet to be
Jesus, You're enough for all of me

You're enough when I am empty
Enough when I'm alone
You're enough when I'm discouraged
By the troubles that I've known
Every step of this journey
Wherever You may lead
Jesus, You're enough for what I need

J.A.P. (2008)

Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)

This has got to be one of the most beautiful songs ever! I can't get enough of it!

"The Most Beautiful Place To Be"

For the last month or so I've been so blessed to be a part of a Bible study with a great group of ladies. We've been going through the wonderful book "Seeking Him" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. The heart of the study is about personal revival. This poem came about as a result of the last couple of weeks' studies. Such powerful stuff. Broken before Jesus truly is a beautiful place to be.


"The Most Beautiful Place To Be"

At the feet of Jesus a woman wept
Washing His feet with her tears
Broken before Him, she kissed Him and knew
She had no reason to fear
Though she was a sinner, in Jesus' great love
Her soul had been set free
Broken before Him
Down on her knees
The most beautiful place to be

At the foot of the cross a woman wept
As Jesus suffered and bled
The body of Christ, broken and torn
Her precious Savior now dead
Though she was a sinner, in Jesus' great love
Her soul had been set free
Broken before Him
Down on her knees
The most beautiful place to be

At the foot of my bed, I wept tears of grief
Repenting of all my sin
Humbled and broken by mercy and grace
Changed by His cleansing within
Though I am a sinner, in Jesus' great love
My soul has been set free
Broken before Him
Down on my knees
The most beautiful place to be

J.A.P. (2009)

Shame Off You

I've been reading the "SISTERCHICKS" series by Robin Jones Gunn. The thing I love the most about good Christian fiction is how God's truth is weaved throughout the story line. Sometimes I believe God uses fiction to speak into my life just as much as He uses profound writings by scholarly authors of non-fiction. It happened just this past week...

All of us have heard...and probably have had someone say to us at one point or another... the words, "Shame on you". It's a phrase that parents frequently use when scolding their children and perhaps it's not given a whole lot of thought to. In the story I was reading, two friends were sharing parts of their life journeys with one another. Sensing that one of the friends was carrying a heavy weight of shame, the other friend turned to her and said, "Shame off you." Shame off you! I was completely struck in a way I have never experienced when I read those three words. Never in my life have I heard that statement. What beautiful, liberating words! For those of us...(because of abuse, childhood hurts, our sin and the sin of others, etc)... who have been shame magnets and know what it's like to live with a heavy load of shame, words such as these are life giving! To be able to speak freedom from bondage into somebody's life. That's powerful! God's Word Says in Isaiah 54:4 , "Do not be afriad; you will not suffer shame; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth...". Romans 10:11 says that, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Shame off you. Shame off me. Jesus took our shame upon Himself when He was on the cross so we wouldn't have to bear it. Not then. Not now. Not ever. What a beautiful Savior.

I Want to Be the Moon

As I was driving my kids to school this morning I passed a church with a sign that read: "Love, Beauty; it is the shadow of God on the universe." It reminded me of a T-shirt that I saw in a catalog earlier this week that really inspired me: The front of the shirt read: Be the Moon. On the back of the shirt were the words: Reflect the Son. I love that! Both the quote on the sign and the words on the T-shirt speak a wonderful truth: God is amazingly glorious, and we were made to reflect His glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

The author of the quote on that church sign declared in a poetic sense what Scripture has proclaimed to be true for thousands of years: God's glory overflows from the very essence of who He is, filling both the heavens and the earth. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands"(Psalm 19:1). In Isaiah 6:3 we read: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." Truly His glory is everywhere. In creation. In us as we operate as the body of Christ. In love lived out in relationships. In service. In sacrifice. In forgiveness and compassion and humility. I know that God doesn't require my assistance in displaying His glory, just as He isn't dependent on me to bring Him praise. But even though He can cause the rocks to cry out in praise to Him (Luke 19:40) if His people don't worship Him, and He has put His glory in all of creation to testify to His power and divine nature (Romans 1:20), it is His desire and plan that His people would be the most brilliant reflection of His glory! That is why we are here. I want to be a part of such an amazing and priviledged purpose. I want to reflect my Creator's glory to those around me. I want to be like the moon. That's my prayer...that I might reflect the Son more clearly along this journey.

Lyrics to "Your Hands"

"Your Hands"- J. J. Heller

I have unanswered prayers
I have trouble I wish wasn't there
And I have asked a thousand ways
That You would take my pain away
That You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand
How to walk this weary land
Make straight the paths that crookedly lie
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine
Oh Lord, before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

When You walked upon the Earth
You healed the broken, lost, and hurt
I know You hate to see me cry
One day You will set all things right
Yea, one day You will set all things right

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave Your hands

Your hands
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still
Your hands that shape the world
Are holding me, they hold me still

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave You when...

When my world is shaking
Heaven stands
When my heart is breaking
I never leave...
I never leave Your hands

"Your Hands"- J.J. Heller