Category Archives: Obedience

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Acceptance – Part Three

Not My Will, But Thy Will Be Done

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“He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”  (Luke 22:41-44)

Imagine Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He has trained the disciples.  He has concluded His ministry.  I was time to return to the Father, but there was one last task…His death and resurrection.  In preparation, He is coming before His father in prayer.  However, it is a prayer like no other that He has offered…He is asking “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”. 

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Acceptance – Part One

“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”

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“I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.  For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.  God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.  Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”  Genesis 45:4-8

When trials hit, our lives are often turned upside down.  What once was, is no more.  We mourn our loss, we wonder how we can continue, and we are anxious about both the present and our future.  In our frustration, we often focus on survival and the disruption of our plans rather than godliness.  We think that knowing what God knows will help…that somehow our small finite minds can adequately evaluate the vast, all knowing mind of God.    In the end, if we are honest, acceptance is really about giving up control.

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Looking in the Mirror

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“But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”  James 1:22-25

Mirrors are quite useful in our lives.  We use them to make rooms brighter and look more spacious.  In gyms and dance studios they help us improve our form.  Most commonly, we use them to make sure jewelry and ties are in place, hair is properly styled and generally everything is tucked and straightened to present the best possible appearance. 

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Tug of War

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In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:6

Demands and expectations can be a source of struggle for anyone.  However, for those of us with chronic illness and pain, there is an extra level of frustration.  The limitations that our health issues place upon us make it difficult to accomplish what we desire let alone what others would like or feel that we should do.  In this regard, we’re often our own worst enemy.  We try so hard to rise to the occasion or maintain an appearance of “normalcy” that others believe that we are capable of accomplishing much more than we are truly able to deliver.  It is the tug-of-war that that we regularly face which requires much discernment.

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Clay Pots

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For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

Producing art, whether for functional use, the sheer beauty of it or some combination of the two, takes effort and skill.  In my youth I used to tool leather.  I made belts, purses, bible covers, etc.  Some projects were from kits, others were on pre-cut pieces and the remainder were those that were started with a piece of tanned hide.  Obviously the latter required the most effort in that I had to decide what I was making, its intended purpose, its shape, and its dimensions.  From there the cutting had to be precise which was not easy with a utility knife.   Once cut, the leather had to be moistened to keep it pliable to that the stamping and carving could be done properly and evenly.  After being tooled it had to be died and finished.  Each piece was unique and an investment of time, effort, and creativity.  The process was a very faint imitation of how God has created each of us.

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Dancing With God

Trusting Him

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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”  Proverbs 3:5-6

My wife and I like to dance.  Considering all of the choices, the waltz is our preferred dance.   I’m not talking about the basic box step, but rather moving down the line of dance with whisks, weaves, turns, etc. 

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Making Our Days Count

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“So teach us to number our days,  that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  Psalm 90:12

My wife and I are at that age where we seem to be attending significantly more funerals.  Very recently a dear uncle has left this earth to be with his Lord.  His wit, humor and compassionate spirit will be greatly missed for the duration of our lives.  While we are happy for those receiving their eternal reward, we truly miss those that have had a significant impact on our lives.  Psalm 90 is one of those psalms that really puts life into perspective.  A very brief summary is; “life is short; live it well.”  Oh how short our lives really are and the comparison of life to grass in verse five drives the message home!

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Where’s Your Mission Field?

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“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 18:19-20

To say that my father was passionate about missions would be an understatement.  In 1948 my parents with a toddler in tow, headed to China as missionaries.  However, a dock strike left them stranded on the west coast and the communist takeover in China prevented them from leaving the U.S.  In the late 1950’s my father traveled to Ecuador to investigate the possibility of starting a new mission site.

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