Collateral Damage

“Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” 1 Samuel 8:6b-7 (NKJV)

For many years, Burger King waged a very successful advertising campaign based on the slogan: “Have it your way.” We live in a perpetual “me at the center of the known universe” culture. Our current culture is based on “we want what we want, when we want it,” without thought for God, others, or in many cases, the consequences.

During a recent conversation with my daughter, she told me that she is becoming increasingly aware of how it affects others when we sin–how it affects our family, our friends, our neighbors, and even those we don’t know. We tend to think that sin is a solitary decision, without fallout, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Sin has a ripple effect, both in our lives and in the lives of others. Sin “always costs us more than we want to pay and takes us farther than we want to go,” leaving us with collateral damage.

Not so long ago a friend told me about a decision she had made many years ago while standing at one of life’s proverbial “forks in the road.” She had been in a situation she desperately wanted to get out of. God had told her what He wanted her to do–to stay where she was, to walk it out and to work it out, but she did not want to do that. During a “talk” she had with God on the subject, she told Him: “I don’t care what it costs me, I want out.” And she walked out. It is no surprise that this decision cost her much more than she had anticipated and wanted to pay. Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their rebellion–their generation never entering the promised land–she went through many difficult times that likely could have been avoided had she done what God had wanted, when He had asked it of her. Each of us has many examples of the same in our own lives; the years littered with the cost of our rebellion.

There is an old saying: “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” When we seek things in life that are contrary to God’s perfect will for us, the results are predictable. God has given us a free will. He will allow us to head down the wrong path if we choose to do so. Every time we choose to rebel, we chose death. Rebellion sets us at the center of our lives and not God. When we put our desires ahead of His, we set events in motion that affect more than us. If this rebellion is left unchecked, it eventually leads to the “tyranny of self”–a miserable end, to be sure.

There are multiple examples in history of cultures that have allowed rebellion against God to foment until it became intractable. We are again living in such a time. The beginnings of rebellion in the 1950′s, culminated in the mass rebellion of the 60′s and 70′s against the biblically based moral value system of our parents and grandparents. The cries of: “I don’t want to grow up,” “If it feels good do it,” and “No one is going to tell me what to do,” still resonate today. Historically, it was expected that a young man or young lady would take on adult responsibilities in their teens. Now it is common not to make that transition until the mid-twenties (or even later), putting off maturity and extending the childhood years.

The maturation process requires changing the focus from self to others. The process of putting aside what you want for the benefit of others is not easy. These days “fun” is the hallmark of most of what we want to do–everything must have an “entertainment value.” The traditional concepts of responsibility, duty, hard work, and obedience are rapidly being silenced both in popular culture and in the Church.

A Bible teacher we particularly enjoy listening to has put it this way: “When you are out of your place, you are out of His grace. When you are out of His grace, you fall on your face.” God, in His sovereignty, has ordained a “place” for each of us. When we choose to go our own way, we bring much pain and heartache not only into our own lives, but also into the lives of those who love us. Rebellion removes the grace of God from us–our acts of rebellion, forming an ever-lengthening chain; linked to each other and progressively taking us farther and farther away from what He has planned for us.

I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble in life without purposely making decisions that remove the grace of God from my life. I want the decisions I make to line up with the Word of God, sowing life and grace into those around me and to my descendants.

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19b NKJV)

Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Afraid To Trust His Grace

The Heart Healed And Changed By Mercy

Sin enslav’d me many years,
And led me bound and blind;
Till at length a thousand fears
Came swarming o’er my mind.
Where, I said in deep distress,
Will these sinful pleasures end?
How shall I secure my peace,
And make the LORD my friend?

Friends and ministers said much
The gospel to enforce;
But my blindness still was such,
I chose a legal course:
Much I fasted, watch’d and strove,
Scarce would show my face abroad,
Fear’d, almost, to speak or move,
A stranger still to GOD.

Thus afraid to trust his grace,
Long time did I rebel;
Till, despairing of my case,
Down at his feet I fell:
Then my stubborn heart he broke,
And subdu’d me to his sway;
By a simple word he spoke,

“Thy sins are done away.”

William Cowper

Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

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Strut Of The Flesh

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b (NKJV)

When I was growing up in suburban Milwaukee, WI, there an empty lot next door. Eventually that lot was purchased by a family and a house was built on it. The family who lived there was not readily accepted by the other neighbors living on our street. “Mrs. R.” did not endear herself to our neighborhood because she was always bragging about how much bigger her house was, how successful her husband’s television repair shop was, how much money they had, and how brilliant her children were. This attitude spawned a saying of my father’s invention: “She struts when she sits.”

I have been very aware lately of how much pride is infused into everything we do–even as Christians. We are proud of our sports teams, proud of our schools and colleges, proud of our houses, our cars, our kids, our jobs, our education, our ethnic background, even our pastors, churches, and denominations. You name it, we’re proud of it. In fact, in many cases these have become “idols” in our lives. Whether we realize it or not, we actually “worship” these things as evidenced by the time and effort we put into them. Many take a more prominent place in our lives than the time we spend in the Word of God or in our time of fellowship with the Father.

It is no wonder our culture and our country are such a mess.  It is often difficult to tell the Christians from the non-Christians these days. There isn’t much that sets us apart as different. We listen to the same music, watch the same movies and television shows, read the same books, and go to the same events. We get so caught up in what we are doing that we don’t take the time to examine whether or not what we are doing is pleasing to the Lord or fitting behavior for those who are ambassadors of the King of Kings.

As we begin this new year, now is a good time to examine those things that consume our time and attention. We need to start looking at our lives and activities through God’s eyes. Would He be pleased with what we spend our time on? Would He be pleased with what we are so proud of?

I have a confession to make: I really hate any sort of competition.  So much of what we do in life is really a competition in disguise. When I was young I hated competition because it was the basis for all of the teams we were chosen for in gym class. I was always picked last because I was shy and not athletically inclined. The purpose of these teams was to “win.” If your team didn’t “win” you were looked at as second class citizens.

I haven’t changed my opinion any, as this also seems true for adults. We compete for everything in life–jobs, raises, social standing, even parking spots. We compete as a means of showing others that we are better than they are and to convince ourselves of the same. God forbid that anyone should get ahead of us in the “game of life.” Our lives become a never-ending “strut of the flesh.” Of course, we don’t call it that. We use words like “self-esteem” and “being proud of ourselves.” We determine that we “deserve” the good things that come our way because somehow we have worked harder and are more talented, smarter, or more ”special” than others.

You see, I know from experience that I have a strong competitive streak. I am well aware when that spirit of competition starts to creep into my heart. I hate the way it makes me feel. A sense of “superiority” begins to nibble at the edges of my consciousness. I find myself wanting to annihilate my opponents. It is for this reason that I don’t play many board, card, or video games. (Sorry to be the bearer of “bad news” for all those who thought I didn’t play games because I just didn’t like them.)

It is no wonder God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Pride is ugly–in all its various forms. Pride was the cause of Satan’s rebellion that resulted in his expulsion from heaven. Pride is the foundation of sin. Pride says: “My will is better than God’s will.” We know a pastor who is determined to strike the concept ”proud of” from his vocabulary for this very reason. He is the one who coined the phrase “strut of the flesh” as an accurate descriptor for the place which pride holds in our lives. I think he’s right.

Let us take this opportunity to examine our hearts and our lives. It is time for a little “house cleaning.” We need to “take out the trash” and remove those things from our lives that occupy a place of prominence they shouldn’t have. We must repent and put God back on the throne of our life. We need to ask Him for help in removing those “idols” that have captured our hearts.

If we did this, our lives, our culture, and our country would never be the same again.

Time for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. By God’s grace and for His glory. . .

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5: 6 (NKJV)

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2012 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The Brick

A young and successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between the parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.

As his car passed, no children appeared. Instead, a brick smashed into the Jag’s side door! He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid, and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,

“Just what the heck are you doing? That’s a new car and that brick you just threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”

The young boy was apologetic. ”Please, mister. . . please, I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do,” he pleaded. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop.” With tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the youth pointed to a spot just beyond a parked car. “It’s my brother,” he said.  ”He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”

Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts. A quick look told him the boy was going to be okay.

“Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger. Too shook up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a slow walk back to the Jaguar. The damage to his car was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair that dented side door. He kept the dent there to remind him of this message: Don’t go through life so fast that God has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!

God whispers to our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t take the time to listen, He needs to throw a “brick” at us. It is our choice to listen.

Or not. . .

Author Unknown

Edited by Susan E. Johnson

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!”  Psalm 81:13 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

The Long Dark Hallway

Miranda walked as if in a dream. Her heart was extremely troubled and she could find no peace.  She found herself in a long, dark hallway with many doors on either side. There was no visible light and she was puzzled as to how she could see anything at all. There seemed to be no end to the hallway she was in; she could not see where it led.  As Miranda slowly made her way down the hallway, each successive door opened, spilling light into the darkened hallway, and then closed of its own accord, leaving darkness where once there had been light. Door after door opened and closed as she walked, finally leaving her in total darkness.

And then she heard these words spoken to her heart:

“Each doorway represents a friendship or relationship that has ended because you would not let them into your heart. The hallways of your heart now echo with the desolation of your loneliness.  You have pushed away the people whom you love and those who have loved you in return, because you have been afraid.  Fear has choked true joy out of your life. You have run from relationships with others because you do not believe that there is anything in you that could be loved.  You have rejected others before they could reject you. The vulnerability of your heart, when you have allowed yourself to love, terrifies you.  You have chosen to hide behind sarcasm. You have wounded others with your careless words, hoping against hope to protect your heart.  You have become cold and distant. You have wanted to be alone, thinking this was somehow simpler, easier.  And yet this has not worked. You have come to the end of the road, but still you find no peace there.  Your life now feels empty. You are haunted in the deep hours of the night by the darkness in your own heart and by memories of hurt in the eyes of those whom you have shut out. This pain is often more than you can bear. And yet, you keep pushing it deeper and deeper so that you won’t have to deal with it. You have thought that you have been doing well; that everything was going according to plan.

You have lived your life and have made many of your choices as if you alone get to determine your path. You have forgotten that you belong to Me and that I chose before the foundations of time which steps you should take. I have placed specific people in your life to help you grow and to add richness to your life. I have not given you all the abilities that you will need in order to accomplish My Kingdom purposes for your life. You will need the strengths and skills of others to help you in that regard.

You now face a choice. You may continue on your current path and wind up alone and unloved, or you may turn around and retrace your steps down this long, dark hallway. None of these closed doors are locked. All you would need to do is turn each doorknob, open the door, and step in. Love still awaits you through those doorways, but you must first repent for your fear, repent for your hardness of heart, repent for your focus on self, and repent for how much you have hurt those who have loved you.

The choice is yours. Today you must choose.

But be careful what you choose. . .  because you shall have it.”

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)

“For You will light my lamp; the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.”  Psalm 18:28 (NKJV)

Related Link: 
http://manoahswife.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/the-fair-haired-child/

(Author’s note: While the story of the fair-haired child is auto-biographical, the above story is not. It is the result of a time of intense prayer for someone I know.)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

Homemade Brownies

This story has been around for many years in roughly the same format/text.  Recently, my husband and I made a decision to disassociate ourselves from a covenantal group we cared deeply about. It was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make; we agonized over it for months, trying to find a way out of making it.  We sought counsel from several wise, godly friends and then agonized some more. After the decision was finally made, I was reminded of this story and went searching for it. It is an example that each of us can relate to. We all have areas in our lives where we need to “tighten up”. This is the process of sanctification for a Christian. We work out our salvation each day with “fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12-16).

Homemade Brownies

Last week, I walked into my office to find a sandwich bag on my desk containing three chewy, tasty, homemade chocolate brownies. Some thoughtful and anonymous person who knew my love for tasty homemade brownies had placed them there, along with a hand written short story. I immediately sat down and began eating the first chewy, tasty, homemade brownie as I read the following story:

Two teenagers asked their father if they could go the theatre to watch a movie that all their friends had seen. After reading some reviews about the movie on the Internet, he denied their request.

“Aw dad, why not?” they complained. “It is rated PG-13, and we’re both older than thirteen!”

Dad replied: “Because that movie contains nudity and portrays immorality as being normal and acceptable behavior.”

“But Dad, those are just very small parts of the movie! That’s what our friends who’ve seen it have told us. The movie is two hours long and those scenes are just a few minutes of the total film! It’s based on a true story, good triumphs over evil, and there are other redeeming themes like courage and self-sacrifice. Even the movie review websites say that!”

“My answer is no, and that is my final answer. You are welcome to stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over, and watch one of the good videos we have in our home collection. But you will not go and watch that film. End of discussion.”

The two teenagers walked dejectedly into the family room and slumped down on the couch. As they sulked, they were surprised to hear the sounds of their father preparing something in the kitchen. They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven, and one of the teenagers said to the other, “Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he’s going to try to make it up to us with some fresh brownies. Maybe we can soften him with lots of praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let us go to that movie after all.”

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the sandwich bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was eating and the brownies in the story. I kept reading. . .

The teens were not disappointed. Soon their father appeared with a plate of warm brownies, which he offered to his kids. They each took one. Then their father said, “Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you both so much.” The teenagers smiled at each other with knowing glances. Dad was softening. “That is why I’ve made these brownies with the very best ingredients. I’ve made them from scratch. Most of the ingredients are even organic. The best organic flour. The best free-range eggs. The best organic sugar. Premium vanilla and chocolate.”

The brownies looked mouth-watering, and the teens began to become a little impatient with their dad’s long speech.

“But I want to be perfectly honest with you. There is one ingredient I added that is not usually found in brownies. I got that ingredient from our own back yard. But you needn’t worry, because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your brownies. The amount of the portion is practically insignificant. So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think.”

“Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is before we eat them?”

“Why? The portion I added was so small–just a teaspoonful. You won’t even taste it.”

“Come on, Dad, just tell us what that ingredient is.”

“Don’t worry! It is organic, just like the other ingredients.”

“Dad!”

“Well, OK, if you insist. That secret ingredient is fresh organic. . . dog poop.”

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out into the wastebasket by my desk. I continued reading, now fearful of the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and began inspecting their fingers with horror.

“DAD! Why did you do that? You’ve tortured us by making us smell those brownies baking for the past half hour, and now you tell us that you added dog poop! We can’t eat these brownies!”

“Why not? The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest of the ingredients. It won’t hurt you. It’s been cooked right along with the other ingredients. You won’t even taste it. It has the same consistency as the brownies. Go ahead and eat them!”

“No, Dad. . . NEVER!”

“And that is the same reason I won’t allow you to go watch that movie. You wouldn’t tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality in your movies? We pray that God will not lead us unto temptation, so how can we, in good conscience, entertain ourselves with something that will imprint a sinful image in our minds that will lead us into temptation long after we first see it?”

I discarded what remained of the second brownie, as well as the entire untouched third brownie. What had been irresistible a minute ago had become detestable. And only because of the very slim chance that what I was eating was slightly polluted. (Surely it wasn’t. . .but I couldn’t convince myself.)

What a good lesson about purity! Why do we tolerate any sin? On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every bit of leaven from their homes. Sin is like leaven — a little bit leavens the whole lump.  Faith and sin don’t mix.

Author Unknown

Edited by Susan E. Johnson

“On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came by Haggai the prophet, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, “If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”’” Then the priests answered and said, “No.”

And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”  So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”

Then Haggai answered and said, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.”  Haggai 2:10-14 (NKJV)

“Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:6,7 (NKJV)

Copyright © 2011 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved

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

Have It Your Way

“Give us a king to judge us.”  So Samuel prayed to the LORD.  And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” 1 Samuel 8:6b-7  (NKJV)

For many years, Burger King has waged a very successful advertising campaign based on the slogan: “Have it your way.”  We live in a perpetual “me at the center of the known universe” culture.  Our current culture is based on “we want what we want, when we want it,” without thought for God, others, or in many cases, the consequences.

During a recent conversation with my daughter, she told me that she is becoming increasingly aware of how it affects others when we sin–how it affects our family, our friends, our neighbors, and even those we don’t know.  We tend to think that sin is a solitary decision, without fallout, but nothing could be farther from the truth.  Sin has a ripple effect, both in our lives and in the lives of others.  Sin ”always costs us more than we want to pay and takes us farther than we want to go,” leaving us with collateral damage.

Not too long ago a friend told me about a decision that she had made many years ago while standing at one of life’s proverbial ”forks in the road.”  She had been in a situation she desperately wanted to get out of.  God had told her what He wanted her to do–to stay where she was, to walk it out and to work it out,  but she did not want to do that.  During a “talk” she had with God on the subject, she told Him: “I don’t care what it costs me, I want out.”  And she walked out.  It is no surprise that this decision cost her much more than she had anticipated and had wanted to pay. Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years because of their rebellion–never entering the promised land–she went through many difficult times that likely could have been avoided had she done what God had wanted, when He had asked it of her. Each of us has many examples of the same in our own lives; the years littered with the cost of our rebellion.

There is an old saying: “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.”  When we seek things in life that are contrary to God’s Will for us, the results are predictable.  God has given us a free will. He will allow us to head down the wrong path if we choose to do so. Every time we choose to rebel, we chose death.  Rebellion sets us at the center of our lives and not God. When we put our desires ahead of His, we set events in motion that affect more than us. If rebellion is left unchecked, it eventually leads to the “tyranny of self”–a miserable end, to be sure.

There are multiple examples in history of cultures that have allowed rebellion against God to foment until it became intractable. We are again living in such a time. The beginnings of rebellion in the 1950′s, culminated in the mass rebellion of the 60′s and 70′s against the biblically based moral value system of our parents and grandparents.  The cries of: “I don’t want to grow up”, “if it feels good do it”, and “no one is going to tell me what to do,” still resonate today. Historically, it was expected that a young man or young lady would take on adult responsibilities in their teens. Now it is common not to make that transition until the mid-twenties (or even later), putting off maturity and  extending the childhood years.

The maturation process requires changing the focus from self to others. The process of putting aside what you want for the benefit of others is not easy. These days “fun” is the hallmark of most of what we want to do–everything must have an ”entertainment value”, everything needing to benefit us and what we want out of life. The traditional concepts of responsibility, duty, hard work, and obedience are rapidly being silenced in popular culture.

A Bible teacher that we particularly enjoy listening to has put it this way: “When you are out of your place, you are out of His grace. When you are out of His grace, you fall on your face.” God, in His sovereignty, has ordained a “place” for each of us. When we choose to go our own way, we bring much pain and heartache into our own lives and into the lives of those who love us. Rebellion removes the Grace of God far from us.  I don’t know about you, but I have enough trouble in life without purposely making decisions that remove the Grace of God from my life. I want the decisions that I make to line up with the Word of God, sowing life and grace into those around me and to my descendants.

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19b NKJV)

Copyright © 2010 by Susan E. Johnson
All rights reserved