Statistically Insignificant

Image by dianjo via Flickr

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul. ‘Therefore I hope in Him.’” Lamentations 3:22-23 (NKJV)

If I am honest, I would have to admit that I find the subject of statistics incredibly boring. However, the concept of statistical insignificance has direct application to the walk of faith in a Christian’s life.  As we come to the end of another year, I have been looking back over the events of this year and those of my life.  Most of us have faced multiple challenges this past year personally, professionally, spiritually, financially, and even emotionally.  Many of these challenges have been, and continue to be, significant in our lives. It is often easy to be severely distracted by them on any given day, causing us to be ineffective in other areas of our lives.

Something my daughter recently posted on her Facebook page got me to thinking: “looking back at everything God provided for this year–above and beyond what was needed. What seemed like huge problems then were easily taken care of by Him.  I am so excited to see what He will do this month and then 2011!”  Personally we have had some rather significant challenges, not only this past year, but in the previous ten years as well.  I do not believe that we are in any way unusual in this regard.  What has made this past year so much easier for us is that we have determined to change our attitude.  We have actively worked to maintain an “attitude of gratitude” in all situations.  While we have certainly not been perfect in the execution of this “attitudinal adjustment”, we have begun to make significant progress.  When we choose to have a grateful heart in all things we take the focus off of ourselves and put it where it rightly belongs, on Him.

It is always easier to be fearful and focus on our problems than to have faith that God will bring us through. The process of maturing our faith in God is hard work. This was one of the principal issues for the Israelites as God brought them out of Egypt, leading them towards the promised land.  They were not willing to trust in the God Who had already done countless miracles on their behalf.  Instead, they focused on the temporal: the pursuing Egyptian army, the looming Red Sea that appeared impossible to cross, their lack of meat, their lack of water, and finally the strength of the people occupying the promised land which God had so faithfully led them to.  These tests of faith in the wilderness resulted in their complaining about God’s provision. “And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, ‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the LORD!’  Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there.  Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.’” Deuteronomy 1:34-38 (NKJV)

We have all heard many sermons on the exodus and even on this particular passage of Scripture. What we rarely talk about though is that God can get angry. We focus much on the goodness, grace, love, and mercy of God but we often don’t think about the rest of His character and nature. We tend to forget that our God is also a Consuming Fire. We forget that He is Holy and Righteous. While we will acknowledge that this generation of Israelites lost out on their inheritance because of continued rebellion and disobedience, we generally treat the slippage of these forty years as somehow statistically insignificant.  However, the intractable rebellion of their hearts ultimately caused this inheritance to pass over them and to be given to the next generation.  They never walked into the blessing that God had intended for them and had promised to them.

When we refuse to trust God to meet each of our daily needs and challenges, we are in essence saying: “God, I don’t trust You to handle this problem the way I want You to”; “God, you couldn’t love me enough to deal with this. Your mercy and grace are not sufficient for me. Your provision may not be adequate for what I want and need”; or “God, this problem isn’t that big, I’ll just handle this one myself”.  The root of this is pride, the horrible ugliness of pride, and we know from Scripture that God actively opposes the proud. He wants us to come to Him, trusting that we will see the provision of His Hand to be sufficient for our every need.

I would propose that the God Who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” could indeed become angry with us, just as He did with the Israelites.  Even though He loves us with an everlasting love and has never-ending patience, He is not pleased with our persistent rebellion and lack of faith in Him. What have we lost, like that generation of Israelites, because we have refused to completely trust in Him? What presumptions do we make about Him when we have this attitude?

We have, in many ways, treated our God like an eternal Santa Clause. We come to Him asking for what we want or need and presume that not much will be required of us in return–that God’s love and grace will somehow negate any responsibility we may have in the matter.  We often neglect to rightly discern that our faith and obedience is a necessary part of the equation that will lead to the resolution of our problem or need.  He has given us a free will so that we should willingly chose to obey and trust Him. He expects us to use that free will correctly.

I am increasingly bothered these days at how much it appears we often take the love, grace, and mercy of God for granted. We presume upon it much more than we should.  In many ways it seems that we have increasingly used this precious gift as a license for sloppy living. We often act as if, as long as our salvation is assured, our daily practices of faith and obedience are not entirely statistically significant. I would propose that God may not feel the same way.

As I look forward to this New Year, I have made several important resolutions.  In past years these have never come to much. This year, however, I want to see significant progress in several areas of my life.  I have made a committment to seek the Lord this year until those issues that have, in the past, represented persistent disobedience and rebellion, become areas of tenacious obedience.  Just as we resolved to have an “attitude of gratitude” this past year and saw significant progress, I want God to do a new work in those areas of my heart that I have kept for myself. I want to be quick to repent when He shines the light of His Truth into the dark corners of my heart. I want Him to “clean house” so that I become a more fit vessel for the work He has set before me to do.

I am always be amazed at how the mercy and grace of God sustains us through difficult times.  I can barely remember so many of the problems which I felt were going to consume me at the time I was going through them.  His faithfulness has kept and carried me even when I did not think we were going to make it.  I am so very grateful that His love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness have covered over my many sins, mistakes, and in some cases, continued rebellion.  As I commit to diligently seeking Him this next year, actively working to turn to and trust Him in all things, He will continue to deepen my faith and give me the strength to become more obedient. As a result, the problems and challenges which seem to be so overwhelming today, will be seen in the proper perspective and will take their rightful place in my life. They will become, in the light of eternity, statistically insignificant.

“Thou Blessed Spirit, Author of all Grace and Comfort, come, work repentance in my soul; represent sin to me in its odious colors that I may hate it; melt my heart by the majesty and mercy of God; show me my ruined self and the help there is in Him; teach me to behold my Creator, His ability to save, His arms outstretched, His heart big for me. May I confide in His power and love, commit my soul to Him without reserve, bear His image, observe His laws, pursue His service, and be through time and eternity a monument to the efficacy of His grace, a trophy of His victory. May I be served by grace through faith, live by faith, feel the joy of faith, do the work of faith. Perceiving nothing in myself, may I find in Christ wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption.” (‘The Convicting Spirit’ from ”The Valley of Vision: Puritan Prayers and Devotions”)

“I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel… I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do without man or beast’… there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, ‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.’” Jeremiah 33:7-11 (ESV)

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Jesus Christ The Apple Tree

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Merry Christmas to all! He is the reason that we celebrate. I hope that you will enjoy the video below in the comments section as much as I have.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

 
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne’er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I’m weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I’m weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

(Author Unknown)

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

God’s Heart For Adoption

“I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you.” John 14:18 (NKJV)

Christmas is a season, probably more than any other, when we focus on children and family. The traditions that we observe within our families give us a sense of generational continuity, they give our children a sense of security, and they give us the satisfaction of passing down to our children that which we believe is important.

God has a heart for children and families; He places great value on both. He has put deep within every heart the desire to marry and have children.  No matter what corner of the world we live in, each culture has family as foundational to its survival.  A culture’s long-term survival rate is deeply dependant of the strength of the family unit.

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ Who restored to us our place in the family of God.  “Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself.”  (Ephesians 1:5-9 NKJV).

As a result of the sin that is so evident in our culture, and in other cultures around the world, the family unit is disintegrating. We are constantly told that marriage is no longer necessary, that children don’t require both mother and father to thrive, and that family is what we make it or how we see it.  Children bear the painful brunt of these sinful decisions. We don’t seem understand the long term consequences of our rebellion against the Scriptural tenets that God has said are so important.

My husband and I have always had a heart for adoption.  As the years passed and we were not blessed with children, we frequently considered adoption as a means to build our family. It was with great joy that, after twelve years of marriage, we found ourselves expecting our daughter.  When we realized that she was the only child God was going to bless us with, we again looked to adoption.

I know that many people have had wonderful experiences with the adoption process. This was not so for us.  My husband and I have always been drawn those children that were deemed “difficult to place” either by reason of age, being part of a sibling group, or having a specific challenge.  We particularly had a special place in our hearts for sibling groups.

Our first adoption attempt was with a Christian organization who placed orphans from Russia. We found a group of three siblings (two girls and a boy) who especially tugged at our hearts.  I do not know how to explain how a mother’s heart can be bound in love to children she has only seen in a picture. I can only tell you that my heart was bound to these three children. I could see them living in our home. I could see them as siblings for our daughter. I could imagine their future with us.  As we began to complete the mountain of paperwork necessary for a foreign adoption and prepare our home, we were able to keep track of them via the computer and the adoption agency’s website.  And then something happened. They completely disappeared from the system. We never did find out what happened to them, but we were able to ascertain that they were not adopted by anyone else. We understand that this problem was not entirely unheard of in the Russian state system at that time. We were deeply disappointed to have lost them.

After that experience, we began to discuss domestic adoption as we knew there were many children here in need of loving homes.  We began to work with another Christian adoption agency located close to our house.  After completing all of the paperwork, home study, and other preparatory elements, we began to look at available children.  We again placed special emphasis on sibling groups.  One day we received a telephone call from our social worker telling us about a picnic sponsored by Los Angeles County for parents interested in “difficult to place” children.  At that time there were over one thousand adoptable children in the Los Angeles/Orange County system within this group and only ten couples who were interested in these types of children. The premise for this picnic was to meet some of these children, get to know them, and then, if you made a special connection with one (or more) of them, you could express your interest to the social workers who would then quickly set things in motion.

We found ourselves seated at a picnic table with a social worker and a ten-year old girl.  We heard this girl ask the social worker who all of the people were at the picnic and why they were there. The social worker gently explained to her that these were people who were looking for children to adopt. We saw her face light up with hope.  As we sat there, we learned that the day of the picnic was also her eleventh birthday. The county had thoughtfully provided a cake for her so that we could all help celebrate her birthday.  I can’t tell you how I knew this, but as I saw her face light up with hope, it was as if I could see her thinking: “Maybe this year I will get a family for my birthday.”  My husband and I lost our hearts to her at that moment. Her yearning for a family was palpable.  After we had finished our meal, we made our way to the table where the social workers were sitting, to express our interest in this girl.  After taking our information, they told us to contact our adoption agency on Monday to let them know of our decision, which we did.  And then we waited, and waited, and waited for six long weeks to hear something. We made multiple calls to our social worker trying to find out what was happening and they, in turn, kept calling Los Angeles County, getting no response. We became increasingly frustrated. Finally someone from the county called our social worker to tell us that this girl was no longer available for adoption. She had been recently hospitalized after suffering an emotional breakdown.  We were incredibly angry. It didn’t take much for us to come to the conclusion that this young girl’s hopes were cruelly crushed as she waited and hoped for a family that never materialized.  What made us so angry is that there was a family for her–us!  It was because of bureaucratic ineffectiveness and inefficiency (to put it nicely) that she suffered this unnecessary emotional trauma.

So, we returned to the beginning of the process by paging through the book of available children.  We settled on two sisters who were considered difficult to place because, not only were they part of an older sibling group, but they were considered “racially mixed”. These sisters were half Caucasian and half Hispanic and currently were in foster care with a Hispanic woman who had made it clear that she did not want to adopt them herself. We felt these girls were a safe emotional risk for us.  Not only had their mother’s parental rights been legally terminated for abuse and neglect, but their grandmother’s custodial rights had been legally terminated for neglect, as well.  It was not unusual for the issue of unresolved parental or custodial rights to complicate the adoption process. After our two previous aborted attempts at adoption and its associated heartache, we were hesitant to consider any children where we might lose them at the last moment to a legal snafu.

As we began to prepare our home for their arrival (many of our friends had generously given us clothing and we had purchased furniture for their room) the grandmother’s visitation rights were temporarily reinstated, with the proviso that these must be supervised visits. We were pleased that April and Rebecca would have some connection with their birth family, as we felt this would be helpful with their adjustment to us.  Then our social worker told us something that we did not recognize as problematic when we heard it. The girls’ foster mother was extremely angry that the girls were being placed with a Caucasian family and not with a Hispanic family.  She was concerned that they would ultimately lose their Hispanic heritage and culture.  We were also told that she particularly disliked Caucasians in general.

Our social worker assured us that this foster-mother had no say in the matter and that since we had already been approved by Los Angeles County for the girls’ adoption, we had nothing to worry about. The social worker requested that we wait until just after Christmas for April’s and Rebecca’s placement in our home.  We felt that letting the girls spend one last Christmas in this foster home, where they had been stable for some time, would be a good idea.  We gave them our permission.

After New Years, we began calling our social worker trying to find out when we could expect the girls.  As time continued to pass, we began to get extremely nervous.  Something was obviously very wrong.  We can only surmise what must have happened over that Christmas holiday, but we feel that April’s and Rebecca’s foster-mother must have spoken with their grandmother during one of those supervised visits, convincing the grandmother that she would never see her grandchildren again.  We did learn that the girls’ grandmother had gone to court, filed an emergency petition to stop our adoption of them, requested that her custodial rights be re-instated, and then promptly left on vacation for two weeks, thereby significantly delaying the process. Even though her custodial rights had already been legally terminated once for neglect, the judge not only heard her plea, but also ruled in her favor.

This left us with an incredibly difficult decision to make. We could have fought in court for these girls, and probably would have won, but we were concerned that April and Rebecca might never forgive us if they perceived that we had taken them away from their grandmother. Our other choice was to completely release our parental intent, allowing them to return to a grandmother’s care that we felt likely was unsafe.  There was no easy answer to this dilemma. We agonized over what we should do. One of the most difficult aspects of this was having to explain to our daughter that she may lose the two sisters she was so excited about having.

After much prayer, thought, and discussion we decided to release our interest in their adoption. To say that we were devastated would be an incredible understatement.  We were not sure if we were willing to take the risk of going through this type of heartbreak again, so we elected to put our status at the adoption agency “on hold” until our hearts could heal. It was a full three months before we were ready to proceed once more.  Just as we had restarted this process, my mother-in-law suffered a massive stroke. As we were not sure what our part in her long-term care would be and whether this would require an out-of-state move, we elected to permanently stop any attempts at adoption with our agency.

For many years there was a significant hole in my heart where those children should have been. I do not know why God, in His Sovereign plan, did not allow us to either have more children or adopt these children that we so greatly desired.  I do know however, that His plan for our lives is perfect and have since come to peace with the outcome. I will have to admit, however, that there is some residual anger with a governmental adoption and foster-care system that is so fundamentally skewed.  I can’t imagine how many children would have or could have been placed in good, loving homes, were it not for a system that functions so badly.

One thing I know for certain, God has an eternal heart for adoption. He has adopted us into His own family and He specifically addresses in His Word the care we are to give to orphans.  God values children, that is abundantly clear. He desires that we bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He desires that they are adopted into His family for eternity.   So, whether we physically adopt children into our families, or support the many fine organizations world-wide who take care for them, I would hope that we make adoption a priority in our hearts. God’s heart is for adoption.  Ours should be too.

“Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth–everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” Isaiah 43:6b-7 (NKJV)

“A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families.” Psalm 68:5-6a (NKJV)

Suggested Link: http://www.gobena.org/

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The Perfect Gift–The Blessing

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV)

There is no argument that the greatest gift we have ever received is that of Jesus Christ’s birth, atoning work on the cross, and His resurrection.  In this Christmas season we are mindful of that Perfect Gift to all of mankind, but, we can also be distracted by the commercial emphasis in the market-place as merchants bombard us with the need for giving gifts to each other. 

This Christmas, as never before, I want to focus on something of eternal value in my gift giving.  So few of the gifts any of us will exchange this year will even be used or remembered by next year at this time. The gifts that we give to our children are often quickly broken or forgotten as they are turn their focus onto the next hottest item advertised by commercial interests.

Our church has a lovely custom for its graduates, one which I had not previously been aware of. It is based on the Biblical principle of the father’s blessing.  Each graduate is given a Bible and then the father (or mother, if no father is present or available) is encouraged to pray for his child and speak a blessing over him as he enters into the next phase of his life.  It was a great disappointment to us that only two of the fathers in the group of graduating seniors officially blessed them. My husband was one of that small group. He spent a number of hours working on the blessing that he would speak over our daughter during that ceremony.

It is so easy, as parents, to focus on many things where are children are concerned. We work diligently to pass down to them the knowledge and skills that they will need to make their own way in the world.  We try to provide them with a rich environment for learning and character development. Within the home school community this becomes a full time occupation for at least one of the parents.  However, I believe that most parents omit one fundamental gift to their children in this growth process: the father’s blessing.

There are a number of examples of the father’s blessing within the Old Testament. As a father passed down to his sons their material inheritance, he also spoke over these sons a spiritual blessing.  Genesis 27 recounts Isaac’s blessing to Jacob:

“Then his father Isaac said to him, ‘Come near now and kiss me, my son.’ And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: ‘Surely, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed. Therefore may God give you the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!’” (Genesis 27: 26-29 NKJV).

Clearly this is more than just the gift of material blessings. This blessing speaks into the spiritual realm something of real significance.  How is it that those of us in the church have neglected something this important?  What has been lost because we have done so?

Prior to my daughter’s departure for college, many people expressed their sincere sympathy about the impending loss in my life. I was told about the difficulties of “empty nest” syndrome and how I would struggle emotionally with it.  I was informed that my marriage would be stressed and that I would continually weep as I grieved over her going away from me. Actually, neither one of those occurred. Did I miss her?  Yes greatly, however, those moments of emotional distress were few and far between.  I believe that this was mitigated by several factors. Besides the obvious grace and mercy of God, the fact that our daughter is exactly where God has ordained her to be has been an incredible blessing to us.  She has not distanced herself emotionally from us, even though she physically no longer resides in our home for the better part of the year. Our marriage has not suffered either. We had twelve years of married life prior to the birth of this child which we never thought we could have.  Our patterns of marriage were well established and we returned to that which we had before she was born.

My husband and I have discussed many times as to why our experience was so radically different from most of the people we know. We have come to the conclusion that this ease of transition had much to do with the blessing my husband spoke and prayed over our daughter during that graduation ceremony. In that blessing we released her into the next phase of her life. As we let go of her in the physical and spiritual realm, God gave us peace in the emotional realm. Here is the blessing that my husband spoke over her that day:

                                     “The Fathers Blessing”

“Hannah, joy and delight or our lives, I charge you today before God, our family, and our friends to serve the LORD wholeheartedly, to seek His kingdom first, and above all, to faithfully run the race He has set before you with joy and perseverance. As your father, it is my honor and privilege to bless you with wisdom and insight, to bless you with courage and grace in the face of the challenges you will face in this next stage of your life and service to the Lord.  I bless you with Divine Protection in every activity–in your daily life, in your travels, in your dance and dance training, that in every way God will cover you with His wings and keep you from all harm.  In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I bless you and I release you into this next stage of your life and service to the LORD, with our love and our full assurance that God will direct and protect your every step.”

This year as we contemplate what gifts we will present to our daughter on Christmas morning, I have decided that the most important gift I want to give her is a mother’s blessing.  I want to speak into her life that spiritual inheritance which will have eternal value.  Just as my husband and I chose our daughter’s name to exemplify one of the spiritual qualities we wanted to be most evident in her life, I want to continue that spiritual inheritance with a mother’s blessing.

                                        “A Mother’s Blessing”

“Hannah, you are such a treasure to us. We have been blessed to see so many elements of your father’s blessing already manifesting in your character and in your spirit.  I charge you today before God to continue serving God wholeheartedly, seeking His Will and His purpose for every decision  that you make.  As you grow in Him and walk into His Divine plans for your life, I would bless you with those elements of a Godly character that He most values in women.  And one day, if God should so bless you, I charge you to give to your husband and children that which God has so generously given to you.  I bless you with the Godly attributes of the “Proverbs 31 woman”.  It is His Desire, and mine, that you will be an example to all of that which constitutes a virtuous woman: that the heart of your husband and children will safely trust in you; that you will do your husband good and not evil all the days of your life; that you will willingly work with your hands to provide food and a loving home for your family; that you will gird yourself with all spiritual strength to meet whatever challenges come your way; that your lamp will never go out, even during the darkest nights; that you will not be afraid, trusting the LORD your God in every situation; that strength and honor will be your clothing; that you will open your mouth with wisdom and speak the law of kindness; and that you will watch over the ways of your household, not eating the bread of idleness.  As you walk in these Godly attributes, your children will rise up and call you blessed and your husband will also praise you. It is in agreement with the Word of the Living God, that I speak His Truth over you today; that you may continue to walk in His Ways and be a living example of His Love to all those He brings into your life. As you do so, you will bring Glory and Honor to the King of Kings, both today, and for the rest of your life.”

As we think about those gifts we want to bless our children with this Christmas season, let us not forget the God’s Perfect Gift. I would also ask every parent to consider what spiritual blessing you might speak as a gift into each of your children’s lives. This is not a gift that will be quickly broken or forgotten. This is a gift that has eternal value and will continue to bear eternal fruit.

“I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands.”  2 Timothy 1:3-6 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Seasonally Adjusted

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NKJV)

Most of us have read and heard of the continuing battle over the removal of anything related to the true meaning of Christmas from public buildings and public spaces. Everyone has likely seen the bumper stickers: “Jesus is the reason for the season.” and “Keep Christ in Christmas.”  There has been a whole-scale assault in our country to remove every vestige of Jesus Christ (and the real meaning of Christmas) from every aspect of  life.  To think that we could actually do this is ludicrous.

The American church has, for many decades, focused solely on the aspects of a Loving God. At Christmas, we sing and talk about the “babe in the manger” and recount the Christmas story in songs and sermons in countless Christmas programs.  It is good and right that we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, giving Him honor and praise for His willingness to temporarily set aside His Glory to enter the world as a baby, ultimately giving His life as a sacrifice to pay the price for our sins. We know that it is “the goodness of God (that) leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4b NKJV).  It is His mercy, grace, and love that sustains our every breath, and in a world without much love in evidence, He is the embodiment of Love.  It is only His love that will completely fill that hole in our heart that can never be satisfied in any other way.

Unfortunately, by focusing principally on the love, mercy, and grace of God, we seem to have lost our fear of God. We have become lop-sided in the church and have largely ceased to be ”salt and light”.  We are not the preservative to our culture that salt is meant to be and our light is not driving out much of the darkness in our culture either. We have focused much of our attention in the church to immediate needs, but have not necessarily looked to the future and completed our job. The mercy ministries of the church are essential and are Biblically mandated, but for many in the church this has become a Christian welfare program: meeting an immediate need, but not changing people’s lives. It is the Gospel that gives us the hope that we can be different. Hunger, or hopelessness, or poverty does not have to be a permanent condition when the Gospel is rightly applied to our lives.  The church, in addition to immediate aid, must give those we help the hope of the Gospel and the tools they need to change their lives. 

A good example of this is Mission India.  Mission India has a program to teach the illiterate women of India how to read and do basic math. Women are not routinely educated in India and many women do not have the elementary reading and math skills they need in order to function in the market place as they shop for their families. Over the one year literacy program, they are taught to read using the Bible and a series of reading primers.  This has had a profound effect on these women, not only spiritually as many accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, but also socially and financially as they are given the tools to better their lives. These women then bring their families, who also largely accept Christ, and become the nucleus for a church in their villages. As a result, God is moving powerfully in India and the darkness of the demonic is being driven out.

Who has not heard the quote:  “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime” (Author unknown). This is what Mission India, and many other fine organizations, are doing around the world.  They are fulfilling the command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19 NKJV).  In this season with the focus of gift-giving, we must remember that a gift without the Gospel is only half a gift.  A gift without the Gospel is a temporal pleasure; a gift with the Gospel bears eternal fruit.

Much of the American church, by primarily focusing on the goodness of God, has lost its fear of the Lord.  We have not rightly focused on all of who Jesus Christ is. We have, in essence, focused only the elements of His character that make us feel good, thereby losing the  desire to remove from our lives that which displeases Him: the ugliness of sin.

We have fundamentally done the same today as the Jews did during Jesus’ day. They focused on the Jesus that they wanted, the conquering King, and missed the Jesus who was the sacrificial Lamb. Today we are focused on the Jesus Christ we want, the sacrificial Lamb (and rightly so), but we have forgotten about the return of the Conquering King. Conquering kings are not known for their “warm and fuzzy” ways. King David, who was a man after God’s own heart, was likely not beloved by those nations that he conquered at God’s command.  Jesus Christ is returning for His bride, “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27 NKJV).  The church that He is returning for will have fulfilled the dominion mandate God spoke over Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

This Christmas, as we worship Jesus Christ who entered our world as a little baby, let us not forget the entirety of His purpose in doing so.  As we share the life-changing hope of the Gospel with those God would have us to, we need to remember that the God we serve is not only Love, Grace, and Mercy, but He is also the Judge of all the earth, the conquering King, the Hope of Glory.  He is the God who spoke the universe into being.  He deserves our worship and our reverence.  While Jesus Christ is our Saviour and our Friend, He is also our Lord and our Master. We need to bring back the fear of the Lord to its rightful place in our walk with Him. It is time for the King’s army to stand up and bring light to the dark places. It is time for the church to “salt” our culture and bring in the harvest that He will prepare as a result.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19: 11-16 (NKJV)

Links: www.missionindia.org

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

A Christmas Carol

Image via Wikipedia

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap,

     His hair was like a light.

(O weary, weary were the world,

     But here is all aright.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s breast,

     His hair was like a star.

(O stern and cunning are the kings,

     But here the true hearts are.)

The Christ-child lay on Mary’s heart,

     His hair was like a fire.

(O weary, weary is the world,

     But here the world’s desire.)

The Christ-child stood at Mary’s knee,

     His hair was like a crown.

And all the flowers looked up at Him,

     And all the stars looked down.

Source:  The Wild Knight, first published 1900. Also published in The collected Poems of G.K.Chesterton

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved  

   

Jesus, Name Above All Names

Image by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi via Flickr

“Jesus, name above all names,

 Beautiful Savior,

 Glorious Lord,

 Immanuel, God is with us,

 Blessed Redeemer,

 Living Word…”

Those last three names – “Immanuel, God with us,” “Blessed Redeemer,” and “Living Word” – captured our attention as we thought about Christmas in India. What does “Immanuel, God with us” mean? What is God’s presence? We get so caught up in temporal, soon-to-be broken or discarded presents that we forget the ultimate gift is the eternal, unending presence of Immanuel!

Just as cold is the absence of heat and darkness is the absence of light, so evil is the absence of the presence of Christ – but the Enemy is being pushed back in every corner of India. Jesus’ presence and His love will warm and shine light into the families and villages of the more than 5 million new Indian believers who heard the Good News in the last 5 years through a Mission India program. Jesus will be “home for Christmas” in their families as they celebrate “Immanuel, God with us” this Christmas.

And we remember that high-caste Brahmin lady in Bombay who told us of the horrible fear of the gods that drove her to keep on sacrificing to them. “And then,” she said, “I found the blessed Redeemer God who gave the ultimate sacrifice for me: His only Son.” Tears of joy streamed down her face as she looked up to heaven in pure gratitude for the gift of a Redeemer, for the gift of the Living Word who through His death showed her God’s infinite love.

It’s not presents but Presence that our souls truly long for. It is the Presence of the Beautiful Savior, Glorious Lord, Immanuel God with us, Blessed Redeemer, and Living Word who brings light in darkness, warmth in cold, and dispels sin and death with forgiveness, purity, and eternal life. The gift of His Presence is the ultimate Christmas Present!

Dr. John F. DeVries

Founder and former President of Mission India

Source: The India Intercessor-December 2010 (Excerpts); www.missionindia.org

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Food In Due Season

“These all wait for You, that You may give them their food in due season, what You give them they gather in; You open Your hand, they are filled with good.” Psalm 104:27-28 (NKJV)

It somehow seems appropriate during this Christmas season to discuss the subject of food.  Everywhere we look there are advertisements for food items to give as gifts, ideas for food to eat at holiday parties, and recipes to serve at our Christmas dinners.  Cookbooks abound for every season, occasion, and cuisine. We even have an entire cable channel devoted to food; programs with chefs whipping up delectable food meant to bring joy and happiness into our lives, showcasing those foods we absolutely must serve to our families and friends in order to make the holidays another memorable event.

I have to admit to having some unresolved issues on the subject of food and nutrition.  For women, feeding our families is a tangible sign of our love, just as a man’s provision and protection are a sign of his.  Food is not always a straight-forward subject for us.  Food is often tied up in social, emotional, and spiritual issues. Most of our social gatherings take place around food, we eat when we are stressed, lonely, or upset, or we do not control our appetites when we eat (eating out of habit instead of hunger) as we cook for growing children and hungry husbands.  All of these can then lead to a physical and/or spiritual imbalance in our lives.

I started cooking for my family at a fairly young age.  My mother returned to college when I was in first grade, and over the next ten years, completed her Bachelor’s degree while raising three children (she had married at age 19).  Gradually, as I grew older, more of the cooking fell to me while she was in class or studying, finally taking over the preparation of the weekday meals as she began teaching in order to help pay for our upcoming college expenses.  My mother was an excellent cook, although she never really enjoyed it much. The irony here is that she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Home Economics and went on to teach cooking, sewing, and child developement in a large high school, eventually becoming the department chair.

My mother had strong opinions about food and nutrition (and other subjects, as well!).  We were frequent guinea pigs for many new recipes that featured foods she believed were “good for us”.  She was particularly convinced, in those days, that liver was an excellent source of iron and nutrition, experimenting with multiple liver recipes hoping to tempt us.  I can still remember vividly her attempt at a new liver loaf recipe–this is not a pleasant memory.

Like many others of my age, I come from the “clean your plate” generation.  The concept of “clean your plate” was born as a result of the Great Depression and the wide-spread lack which occurred in those years. It is no doubt that the fear of not having enough to eat was very real as parents struggled to feed their families in the face of great financial lack, something many of us are beginning to understand today in the face of our current economic climate. We were encouraged to eat everything on our plates whether we liked it or not and even whether we were hungry or not. I believe that this was one of the foundational elements of some of the health issues we are seeing today.  We have not always accurately applied Godly wisdom to what we eat, how we eat, or when we eat.

In addition, as women have returned to the work force in ever greater numbers, the need for fast, convenient foods has given birth to a food industry that doesn’t really have our best interests at heart. Rarely any longer, do women make things “from scratch” as in previous years.  Instead women tend to open cans, microwave frozen food, or stop for “take-out” with increasing frequency as our lives have become busier. Corporations and restaurants that provide this convenience have actively encouraged women to spend less time in the kitchen as we eat more and more of what I call their “plastic” food.  Also, more of us have become ”city dwellers” with limited access to the good nutritious food of previous generations. We have lost touch with the production of our food, only understanding that our food comes from large grocery stores in brightly colored packages.  The results to our health as a nation are pretty obvious.

No matter where you turn you can read about the “right” answer to our nutritional needs. The U.S. government has its food pyramid, there are low fat, high fat, low carb, high carb, low protein, high protein, no red meat, no pork, vegan, vegetarian, and no sugar diets, with every conceivable dietary combination in-between.  Each nutritional plan and diet is documented with nutritional research, its proponents speaking with the utmost authority. No wonder most of us are confused.

I will be the first to admit that I have not always done as good a job in this area for my family as I should have.  I have often struggled with the drudgery of daily meal planning, cooking, and cleaning up. And while I still cook predominately from “scratch,” I have not rightly discerned God’s true purpose for food.

The Bible actually speaks a fair amount about food.  We can be assured that God does have an opinion on the subject. God provided manna and quail as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years. When God brought the Israelites into the promised land, He brought them into a land of “milk and honey”.  In Leviticus 23, God mandated times of feasts that were meant to be ”holy convocations.” Leviticus 11 speaks in great detail about dietary laws. The Bible has numerous references in both the Old and New Testaments regarding this subject.

Recently I have begun to realize that my views about our physical nature have been entirely wrong.  The church has done an exemplary job of emphasizing the sinful nature of our flesh, but has done very little to teach us how we should be good stewards of this body that God obviously sees value in. We have given “lip service” to the fact that our bodies are meant to be the temple for the Holy Spirit, but we don’t really treat them that way. In actuality, many of us treat our bodies more like  “junk” cars rather than the “Rolls Royce” that He created.  We usually don’t rightly discern the necessary balance between treating them with respect versus worshipping the physical body, as is prevalent in our culture today.

God has given us a variety of food for our enjoyment.  He desires that the times of fellowship around the dinner table should strengthen our ties with each other, binding us closer together.  God created a definite spiritual element to the breaking of bread with each other.

In this season of tables ladened with holiday foods, I am reminded once again of the need to bring into balance this area of my life that has been so often out of balance.  I am striving to work on rightly discerning the principles about this issue that God has set down in His Word and then daily apply them to my life.  It takes a lot of work to overcome the many distractions, not only of this Christmas season, but also within our culture, in order to do that.  The temptations that face us daily are often difficult to ignore and resist.  Clearly, it will only be through His grace, mercy, and strength that this can be accomplished.

Thus, I have come to these basic conclusions: eat food as close the way God has made it as possible (without the chemicals and preservatives that are in most of the food that we eat), drink pure water, eat everything in moderation, eat when I am hungry, enjoy the food that God has so graciously given, and have occasional feast days to celebrate His goodness.  If I can follow these simple guidelines, then I will begin to restore balance in this area of my life, leaving the rest to the daily direction of the Holy Spirit.  Sounds like the makings of a New Year’s resolution to me!

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things.  But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.” Luke 12:29-30 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved