the swing sits silently no child to make it go
was there an accident or infertility, this I do not know

could it be her finger never a ring did wear
time traversed just leaving with the owner one solitary tear

or did the owners after patient waiting, joyously conceive
but shortly after news brought pain and with it cause to grieve

was there a child who daily toddled to this backyard swing
til illness came and whisked away on heaven angel wing

not understanding why they were robbed of their intent
I offer up this prayer for the owners who lament

would God please comfort these childless downhearted
replace with hope and faith the dreams that have departed

may these earthly trials and sorrows that crush and take their toll
lead them to the Fathers arms which are waiting to console

fill up the empty places with the vastness of your love
remind them of your promise of eternal life above

Lisa Hempel
May 13, 2012

This Mother’s Day, I was incredibly blessed by my awesome children and husband and my heart is truly grateful. But I could not, would not forget that for so many dear ones, this is a day of hurt, pain and emptiness. There are many among us who are Childless Not By Choice, a title of which I have only recently been made aware. But my heart grieves with these wonderful loving women who because of one circumstance or another are childless. I dedicate this poem in your honor. To those who have yearned to be married and have a family, but you faithfully plod on in your singleness. To those who have struggled and been ravaged by infertility, yet you graciously attend your friends’ baby showers and their toddlers’ creatively themed birthday parties. To those who have known the joy and amazement of seeing your baby’s head crown as he is miraculously birthed into this world and you’ve held her precious little hand for a day or a decade only to have her taken home way before your time. There is a comforter. There is a joy giver. There is one who is able to heal your wounds. You are not alone. He is there. LH

I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in! Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute—you’re already there waiting! Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I’m immersed in the light!” It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you. Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Psalm 139:5-16 MSG

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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Meditations for Childless Not By Choice

Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalms 139:14b

A few days ago I was eating a banana. Not just any banana. This banana wasn’t green(unripe) or brown(over-ripe) but it was a perfect yellow and it was amazingly delicious. I don’t know why I never noticed these things before. But on this morning I was greatly impressed with how easy it was to peel and how neatly it could be eaten. There was no waste and the skin served as the ‘wrapper’ which prevented getting any fruit on my hands.  I have eaten many bananas in my lifetime, but for some reason this banana made my soul well up with praise and admiration to God! I even said out loud, “Wow God, this is amazing! I really like your engineering and design on this! “  I finished my breakfast and went on with my busy day. Later that afternoon, I was doing my weekly grocery shopping and was passing through the fruit section. I looked down at my list and then back up, when to my surprise, I saw a fruit I have never seen before. It was cooler than cool! The grocer, who saw my reveling, filled me in on everything I needed to know about the Dragon Fruit. This was a Burning Bush moment!  I had told God what a great job He did on the banana and now He was finishing the conversation by saying, “If you thought the banana was so special, take a look at this one!” I purchased the Dragon Fruit and took it home.  I was so marveled by it that I took the following pictures and posted them on facebook.

My first dragon fruit.

It has seeds like a kiwi.

Dragon fruit peels like a banana.

On the facebook photo album which I posted, I added the caption, ”I was just admiring God this morning and giving him kudos for the amazing job he did on the banana, then I see this!” Thinking it might be disrespectful to put God and Kudos in the same sentence, I decided to look up the meaning of kudos to make sure it had no irreverant slang definition. What I found was that I probably couldn’t have used a more appropriate word. Kudos is from the Greek word κῦδος, which means glory or honor!

It got me thinking. These are only two of thousands of fruits that God created. (Just to get an idea of the vastness of just the culinary fruits, CLICK HERE.) If God put such consideration into something as insignificant as a piece of fruit and if that fruit could evoke such praise and admiration, why don’t we praise him more? This is just fruit we’re talking about here. We can’t even begin to fully consider every amazing insect, sea creature, bird, land animal or the magnificent human body! And what about the amazing universe out there of which so much we are still unaware because our technology is so incredibly limited compared to what is out there!

The ONLY thing we can know “full well” is that God’s works are wonderful! The ONLY thing appropriate for us to do is to give Him all our praise. He alone is worthy to receive all the glory and honor!  LH

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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Kudos

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalms 51:17

When my husband and I married, we also started our lives together in the ministry. We were youthfully passionate about our call to serve God. There was one particular song, which we sang ardently throughout those early years and it epitomized our hearts cry. We would sing this first verse:

WILL YOU BE POURED OUT LIKE WINE UPON THE ALTAR FOR ME?
WILL YOU BE BROKEN LIKE BREAD TO FEED THE HUNGRY?
WILL YOU BE SO ONE WITH ME, THAT  YOU WOULD DO JUST AS I WILL?
WILL YOU BE LIGHT AND LIFE AND LOVE, MY WORD FULFILLED?

(And then we would cry out our response to this call to sacrifice!)

YES, I’LL BE POURED OUT LIKE WINE UPON THE ALTAR FOR YOU!
YES, I’LL BE BROKEN LIKE BREAD TO FEED THE HUNGRY!
YES, I’LL BE SO ONE WITH YOU, THAT I WOULD DO JUST AS YOU WILL!
YES, I’LL BE LIGHT AND LIFE AND LOVE, YOUR WORD FULFILLED!

It was a beautiful thing– until we were poured out like wine and broken like bread! I somehow forgot that the grapes had to be crushed before there was wine to pour out on the altar and the dough had to be kneaded and baked before there was bread to be broken and dispensed to the hungry. Funny thing was, when I realized what the song really meant, for a while, I didn’t want to sing the song so much.

God was using circumstances and people in my life to bring me to a place of brokenness. A place where I could recognize all that I have and all that I am and all that I do in and of myself is greatly and miserably insufficient. Before that, I am ashamed to admit, I thought God was fortunate to have me on His team. I actually thought I had done Him a favor by switching my major and transferring to a different college to prepare for the ministry.  I was so proud, self-righteous and full of myself.

I did not know that humility was a prerequisite for being poured out like wine and broken like bread.

I learned, in fact, its only when we come to that place of brokenness that we are actually able to truly magnify the Lord. And apart from brokenness we are incapable of authentic worship and service. Without brokenness, we think we are owed something for our service to God. We come in looking to be satisfied, appeased, recognized, congratulated, rewarded and prospered. Well, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since I first began to learn these lessons of brokenness and I am still learning them.

I believe God uses three types of brokenness. He uses the Brokenness Of Sin to help us see there is nothing good in us apart from His grace, mercy and forgiveness. We must cry out like David in Psalms 51, “Have mercy on me, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin for I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me.”  There are some who would say that brokenness over sin is not necessary or even scriptural because of the advent of God’s grace through Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. But I would have to agree with Randy Alcorn, who said, “Any concept of grace that makes us feel more comfortable sinning is not biblical grace.” I believe we, as a society have embarked upon a major cultural shift. As Leonard Ravenhill so eloquently put it, “The world has lost the power to blush over its vice; the Church has lost her power to weep over it.” Thomas á Kempis in The Imitation of Christ writes this of the brokenness of sin:

It is there you showed me to myself, what I am, what I have been, and what I am coming to for I am nothing and I did not know it. Left to myself I am nothing but total weakness. But if you’ll look upon me for an instant, I am at once made strong and filled with new joy. Great wonder it is that I who of my own weight always sink to the depths am so suddenly lifted up and so graciously embraced by you.

God also uses the Brokenness of Circumstances. Most of us are trying to be godly without understanding the ways of God in suffering. The character of Christ is worked out in us by God through the seasons of tribulation we encounter in life, not by any virtue, effort or good intentions of our own. Hebrews 5: 7 and 8 says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” Even Jesus was willing to be “broken” through sufferings. He became personally “acquainted with grief” and showed through His sinless life that obedience may be manifested in the deepest sorrows. In prosperity we forget it. We become self-confident and rebellious. Oswald Chambers said, “God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with.” I have to admit, there have been times when God has used a certain person or circumstance to ”crush” me and it took all the trust and faith I could muster and I still came up short on being obedient. But when I finally submitted myself and embraced what God was doing, I received a deeper revelation of God and one more reason to give Him all of my praise and adoration! Oh, and the flavor of the wine and bread got better!

The last brokenness God uses is the Brokenness Of Intercession. There have been times in my life when I was praying and I was overcome with brokenness for a particular person or situation. I could feel their pain or despair with such intensity and this caused me to pray more fervently. This brokenness removed my personal ambitions and agendas from my prayer and helped me pray with the compassion of the Lord. We see this same brokenness in Nehemiah, Ezra and Jeremiah, which you can read more about by clicking on the ”Just Say Know” Bible Study link on Brokenness below. I like the way Don Nori describes it in his book, Tales of Brokenness.  He says of the power of brokenness in intercession, “You see through the eyes of the Lord instead of eyes of a selfish human being. You are moved by the things your Father is moved by. For the first time you see humanity as God sees it—struggling to prosper, struggling for happiness, struggling for fulfillment, struggling for love. You also feel His heartache for the men and women He so carefully created, and hear the groan from much deeper in His heart than you can comprehend. It is as though His heart is broken and so it is. You see His love for us, a yearning for our well-being so great, so intense that He gave his son for our redemption. ” This brokenness, as the others, again makes us see how insufficient we are on our own. It makes us understand that our capacity to love, care and forgive is virtually nonexistant when compared to God’s capacity. If left on our own to minister and love in our own strength, the wine would be bitter and His children severly malnourished by the only bread we would have to offer.

Dear Lord, Do whatever you like in my life. Produce in me the kind of bread and wine that will benefit your children that you love so much. Yes, I’ll be poured out like wine upon the altar for you. Yes, I’ll be broken like bread to feed the hungry. Yes, I’ll be so one with you, that you can do just as you will. Yes, I’ll be light and life and love, your word fulfilled.  LH

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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Brokenness

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecclesiastes 4:10

Not too long ago, my husband and I did a LORD OF THE RINGS marathon over a three-day weekend. Wow, was it intense! We hadn’t seen the movie trilogy since they came out in the theater about 10 years ago and it was many more moons ago when I last read the books. Back then, I was pretty enamored with Frodo Baggins, the ring bearer, and had always considered him to be the glorious hero of the story. So it was very interesting to me, when this time around, I found myself drawn to Sam Gamgee. I watched his loyalty, courage and how he sacrificed himself for his friend. And thought to myself, this is the glorious hero!

Why hadn’t I seen Sam as the hero of this story before? After some contemplation, the answer came to me–I was older and more experienced with the calamities of life. I had actually walked through some of life’s valleys. I had seen the death of some dreams like when we learned of the rare genetic disorder that left two of our children with physical and cognitive challenges. I had lost my father and then my mother. Therefore, I now realized that I could not have weathered those experiences without the help of my friends.

When our children with special needs were younger and we were trying to work through the disillusionment that comes from disappointed expectations, there were so many friends that prayed for us and encouraged us. Precious letters, phone calls, scriptures shared and times of loving fellowship helped us walk through the darkness and back into the light. And even recently, when we were just about ready to give up hope on taking our 25th anniversary trip because we were unable to find anyone to take on the physically and emotionally demanding task of watching our special needs children , some wonderful friends came through for us. They sacrificed their Easter break so we could get away by ourselves for a much-needed vacation. We returned invigorated and ready to carry out our responsibilities with a renewed sense of joy and purpose!

When my father died in 2007, friends helped with the memorial service and prepared amazing dinners for our grieving family. I will never forget one young man from our church. We had just got back from our summer vacation the day before my father passed away. In our absence, there were some repairs and desperately needed cleanup around the church that needed to be done. This young man took it upon himself to have our church grounds looking so wonderfully inviting for the many guests that attended my father’s memorial service. You may think this weird, but his thoughtfulness comforted us. He had relieved us from the stress of having to worry about such things and we have never forgotten his kindness.

My mother got very sick just a few months after my father passed away and I have to describe that following year as one of the hardest of my life. Her health had rapidly declined and at one point I had to move in with her for a month. Fortunately, she only lived 20 minutes away from us. But things got worse. Her kidneys failed, requiring dialysis four days a week and then she began experiencing necrosis in her lower extremities which would require an amputation of her right lower leg. She elected to have the amputation surgery in a town that was two and a half hours away from us. She developed complications from the surgery which kept her in that hospital for the next six months. I was driving back and forth three to four times a week and this all took a terrible toll on our family. After a few times of nearly losing her, my mother miraculously began to recover and she was able to transfer to a convalescent home in our town for a couple of months where she would regain enough strength to return to her own home. Sorry for all the details but it was necessary for you to understand just what a wonderful thing my amazing friends did for me. I had friends who lived in the city where my mother was hospitalized for six months and they graciously and lovingly opened their homes to me, providing wonderful meals, amazing encouragement and helped to eliminate hotel expenses. One friend from that city faithfully visited my mother when I had to return home to care for my own family. She didn’t just visit. My friend arrived at the hospital room with meals from my mother’s favorite restaurants, brought beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers that she had lovingly arranged herself, and often arrived with makeup paraphernalia to do my mother’s hair and nails! It was so comforting to know my mother wasn’t alone when I couldn’t be with her. To top this all off, when the hardest part was over and my mom had returned back home, this friend called me up one day and offered me an airline ticket to anywhere in the United states to give me a short respite and refresh myself from the long ordeal!

My mother was able to return to her own home at the end of that year and live alone for two more years. We had some hospitalizations in those years but we managed to get through them. And when it came time for the Lord to take her home, again my friends were there for me. On the day my mother died, one dear friend came to my house to watch our son so that I could have the wonderful privilege of being at my mother’s bedside and hold her hand until Jesus took it. When I got home from the hospital, I found that my dear friend had not only watched my son but she had spent the day cooking four or five meals for my family for the days ahead.

I could not make it through this life without my dear friends. This post has only just a few of the many wonderful stories I could tell about my incredible friends with whom God has blessed me. They truly are such an amazing gift from above. With what friends has God blessed you? Who has been there in some of the most traumatic experiences of your life? Who has been a source of encouragement when you thought you couldn’t go any further?  Take some time this week to send a text, email, letter or make a phone call to express your gratitude to those “glorious heroes” who have loyally and faithfully stood by your side. Don’t take for granted those friends that God has given you. Something else to think about: Who does God want to bless, encourage or assist through your friendship? LH

Got time? Check out this video from one of my favorite musicians, Bill Withers and the “Just Say Know” Bible Study on Friendship below!

(NOTE: To those reading this post who might view The Lord of the Rings negatively as many view the Harry Potter books and movies, I would just like to point out that the author of The Lord Of The Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien, was a Christian and a fellow member of a literary discussion group with C. S. Lewis called the Inklings. Christian Values were notably present in the work of several members of this group. In fact Tolkien actually helped C.S. Lewis on his journey to Christian faith. While Tolkien clearly denied that this trilogy was a covert allegory of the Gospel, he did describe his fantasy as a fundamentally religious work growing out of his own faith journey. Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware wrote a great book on the subject, Finding God in The Lord Of The Rings.)

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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Lean On Me

 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18

To Richard,

i just want to say, as we celebrate our 25th anniversary, how grateful i am that God put us together. We have never loved like

Bogey and Bacall in To Have and Have Not,

Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity,

or Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind.

. . . Well, maybe a little like Ricky and Lucy!

But I have to concur with the lyrics to Pat Terry’s song, Happy Man.

“I have never really loved the way I saw it in the movies. . . but I’ve been a happy (wo)man!”

i love your heart.

i love your integrity and how you seek Christ and righteousness.

i love the humility you have shown in your successes

and the courage you  have shown in your failures.

i love the perseverance and steadfastness you have shown in life’s challenges that have come our way.

i love your quiet strength, stability and confidence.

i love your words of gentleness that you always exhibit, even during times when we disagree.

i love the way you make me laugh.

i love the way we have fun and enjoy being together.

i love that your favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla. (i did think that was a little weird when we were first dating and that is what you picked out of 31 flavors. But now i know it means that you aren’t very demanding and you are easy to please!)

i love that you eat my cooking without ever a complaint. (You even eat my Tuna Casserole–i don’t even eat my Tuna Casserole!)

i love the way you manage our finances. You never overspend and yet you are generous to others.

i love that for 25 years without fail, you have led our ‘family devotions’ even when they were ‘family commotions’!

i love that in everything that matters, i can trust you. (Not so much with picking clothes that match or getting all the items on the grocery list )

i love that you have been a godly example of a husband, father, pastor and friend.

Most of all, i love that i can still say you are the most like Jesus of anyone i know! Even after 25 years!

With all my love, this song is for you! LH

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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To Richard With Love

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins..      Colossians 1:13,14

This week’s post is an excerpt from one of my favorite books, When God Weeps, by Joni Eareckson-Tada and Steven Estes. This is what Easter is all about!

THE RESCUE

Five centuries before Christ, Xerxes, King of Persia, organized the largest land-and-sea force ever witnessed and crossed the Dardanelles into Europe. His goal was to thrash Greece for its role in a rebellion against his father, Darius the great.

Five centuries later the Son of God, King of Kings, by himself crossed the chasm between divinity and humanity and walked onto earth to achieve a Rescue. His goal was to endure the thrashing due his creatures for their rebellion against his father, Jehovah.

Consider the Son of God. His gentle kingdom is described in the four gospels. The Rescue will mean more to us however if we don’t flip the pages too fast getting there. Let’s not burst into the room where he sits with his disciples. Let’s watch his reign through the keyhole first. Let’s stand back twenty centuries or so before Jesus ever came and see what led up to God becoming man.

God appears to Abraham. He promises him a baby boy and more great-grandchildren than Abraham can see stars. But the nomad’s beard is not as dark as it once was, and no midwife has ever shooed him out of the tent and told him to go boil some water. But the Lord kept his word. Abraham had a boy, who in turn had a boy, who had bunk-beds full of boys, who each married nice Jewish girls—and soon there was an Israel.

God carried the nation from birth “as a father carries his son.” When Egypt enslaved them he “heard their groaning” and “was concerned about them.” He loved them and engraved their names on the palm of his hand. When they fell into trouble, he rode to the rescue because he “delighted” in them and “could bear Israel’s misery no longer” They were his “sheep” his “wife”, his “inheritance”. Mothers would forget their nursing babies before he forgot them—he swore it.

But they forgot him. They had stood knees shaking as the mountain breathed fire, swearing up and down to stick to his wishes. Like a bride at the altar who can scarcely wait for the “I do”—they couldn’t spit the words out quickly enough, “We will do everything the Lord has said: we will obey.”

But they lied. In no time the nation’s hand was in the cookie jar. One sin led to another and soon there wasn’t a single commandment that Israel hadn’t broken. The Lord sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people. But they mocked God’s messengers. They despised his word and they scoffed at his prophets.

But it wasn’t just Israel. Every nation on earth spurned what little light it had–where God’s rain had softened the fields and his sun had ripened the grapes. God’s kindness failed—it failed to fan any spark of human righteousness—there was none to fan. Jew and gentiles alike sickened the stomach of their maker, causing him to write: “there is no one righteous, not even one.”

Is this how his kindness is repaid? There must be an accounting. War, Exile, hell-on-earth—and after death, eternal hell—these satisfied God’s justice, but that was all. For God, this was not good enough. He had created humans to mirror him, not be miniatures of Lucifer. Someone was needed to cut through the stench and Rescue this pathetic race. How to save them with out trivializing their guilt? How to mingle mercy with justice? He prepared for the rescue by donning a mortal body.

His last true comfort was that final moment before slipping from his mother’s womb. Then a borrowed feeding trough met him, and the story of his pain began. Did he taste tension in the milk of his mother as she hastily fled in the night from those searching to murder him? What did he feel when he grew up to learn what his presence had cost the baby boys of Bethlehem? How old was he before realizing what people thought about his mother and her morals.

Nazareth became his home town when the danger had passed. Nothing much happened there. We never read that as a young man he drew appreciative glances from the girls in his neighborhood. There is no story of courtship or mention of romance, and he was never to marry. “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Instead he was known for his solitary strolls in he hills. By the time he was thirty, those long walks had done their work. He sensed it was time to go public.

This was how the Rescue began, the most unexpected, set-on-its-head campaign a king had ever launched, very unlike Xerxes. For as long as sovereigns have reigned, citizens have been asked to sacrifice for king and Country–their lands, their money, their children. But this king stepped from the merriment of his palace. He abandoned the cheery fireplace and the spread table, he resigned his luxuries and lands, and set out to perish for his citizens.

The people at first found him delightful, the way New Englanders welcome winter’s first snow before it becomes inconvenient and stays too long. They flocked so enthusiastically that merely getting around soon became cumbersome. “See that no one knows about this”, he strictly urged two men who had been blind until just minutes ago. “But they went out and spread the news about him over all that region”. “See that you don’t tell anyone,” he ordered a leper with brand new baby skin. “Instead he went out and began to talk freely spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly and stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people came to him from everywhere”.

Back at the high priest’s mansion they would gather for hushed discussions. What would they do with this Galilean embarrassment? They kept coming back to one rather extreme suggestion. The public would have been horrified to know of it, but Jesus knew, and the knowledge accompanied him everywhere he went.

By the flicker of oil lamps, he looked up from dinner and studied the faces around the room. Twelve familiar expressions. They were his friends, all but one. The miles they had walked together! Yet how could they fathom his thoughts tonight? Can the child really understand his father? These were the ones he had come for—natives of this sad planet who had never tasted what had delighted him in that other Place—so slow to learn—so dull in the most urgent of matters—always scrapping about who deserved top honors in a coming world they couldn’t possibly grasp. But he loved them.

Who can describe the whirlwind of the succeeding hours? Could so many lies really be told at a single trial? Could so much sin be poured into one court room? The drowning ones he had come to rescue screamed that he be thrown from the lifeboat. God had claimed to be God—what could be worse? God had kept his sworn promise to send a Messiah—how ridiculous! In the wee hours of that morning, Sodom and Gomorrah came to look virginal next to Jerusalem. Later, in the brighter light of day and to the background of a pressing crowd screaming insanities, Pilate washed away centuries of Roman justice in his finger bowl.

The Savior was now thrown to men quite different from the eleven. The face that Moses had begged to see–was forbidden to see–was slapped bloody. The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth’s rebellion now twisted around his own brow. His back, buttocks, and the rear of his legs felt the whip . . . From Heaven the Father now rouses himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his mane, and roars against the shriveling remnant of man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky. The Son does not recognize these eyes.

“Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped–murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten, fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh, the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever so ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk–you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end! Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp–buying politicians, practicing extortion, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves–relishing each morsel and bragging about it all. I hate, I loathe these things in you! Disgust for everything about you consumes me! Can you not feel my wrath?”

The Father watches as his heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah’s stored rage against humankind from every century explodes in a single direction. “Father! Father! Why have you forsaken me?!” But heaven stops its ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply. Two eternal hearts tear–their intimate friendship shaken to the depths.

The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the God-man from Nazareth, perished. The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.

Not the end–only the beginning! LH

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The Rescue

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7, 8

Very recently, I had a revelation from a personal circumstance which gave me new insight into our Lord’s death and resurrection–and just in time for Palm Sunday! Right before this revelation, I had been extremely blessed by someone and this allowed me to pass on a blessing to someone else I knew. I withheld no stops. I willingly and generously lavished this person by spending quite a bit of money on them. When they told me how grateful they were and repeatedly told me, “thank you”, I told them to thank the Lord, because He was the one who ultimately had provided me with the funds to bless them. My motivation behind the generosity was just to express Christ’s love.  The VERY NEXT DAY, this same person behaved in such a way toward me, that I was deeply hurt by their actions. I was astounded. I couldn’t believe the drastic difference from one day to the next. I did not give to receive anything in return and yet, if the depth of my hurt was any indicator, I must have had some expectations.

I began to process my hurt through prayer and this post’s main scripture came to mind. Rarely would someone sacrifice and give so much, like their life, for someone who was righteous, good or appreciative, but still it might be done.But to sacrifice and give to someone who is unrighteous, bad and has nothing but disdain for you would be unthinkable. And yet that is exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross.  And even though, there are many who reject and despise Him, He still gave his life for each one of them.

I realized the hurt I felt from my experience was absolutely nothing compared with what Christ suffered. Especially the last week of His life. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey as some of the crowd paved the road before Him with their garments, symbolizing homage to royalty and others with palm leaves, which were tokens of victory. They shouted, “Hosanna, Son of David: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel; Blessed be his kingdom. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest”.  These varying phrases cited by the Gospel writers reflected different expressions from the multitudes, yet the combined chorus was one of exaltation.

Then just a few days later the shouts synchronized into just one. “Crucify Him!”

What had changed? Unfortunately, the praise the people lavished on Jesus was not because they recognized Him as their Messiah. They welcomed Him out of their desire for a deliverer, someone who would lead them in a revolt against Rome. But when He failed in their
expectations, the crowds quickly turned on Him.  Those who hailed Him as a hero would soon not only reject and abandon Him, but force his execution. And yet He proceeded with The Plan, and committed the rarest act of love the world will ever know. LH

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:16a

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Rare Love

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Psalms 37:23

Coincidentally, I recently came across a very interesting article about a bolt. Yes, a bolt. The writer was formerly a CNC machinist, but for sometime now had been in a white-collar desk job. One day, he found himself with some free time and decided to change the front brake pads on his car. By his description, it was an easy job that should have taken him no more than an hour. But when he was half-done and ahead of schedule, he came upon a bolt that would not budge. To make a long-story short, he spent the next six hours torching, twisting, lubing, hammering, filing, cutting, and finally UNSCREWING the little bolt but not without leaving him with some bloodied knuckles! He concluded his article by explaining some lessons this experience with the inanimate object had taught him. The greatest one being he had begun to take this kind of work for granted and lost a level of appreciation for those that literally keep our country going by working with their hands.

This story of the man’s encounter with the inanimate object brought me back a few years to an unusual church service. It was that time in the service when people were invited to give a short encouraging word to edify the congregation. I was debating with myself about sharing my own encounter with a bolt but thought it might sound a little ridiculous. I had pretty much talked myself out of sharing when a lady in our church quickly popped up and said, “The Lord uses inanimate objects!”and just as quickly sat down.  While this lady’s behavior might have seemed strange to some, it was not to those who knew her. She had a brain tumor removed when she was younger and it left her with a cognitive deficit. What I still find awesome to this day is how the Lord often used this lady to encourage our congregation. Well, this day was no different. Because of her encouragement, I then felt compelled to share my ”bolt” story.

It was a snowless, cold winter night but the roads were covered with black ice. Ordinarily, I would not have gone out in such weather, but my husband wasn’t home and my mother needed to be picked up from the Dialysis Center. I had safely dropped her off at her home and was headed to my own home traveling very slowly. I had just driven over the top of a hill, when to my surprise there was a three car accident immediately below me.  Since I had been driving so cautiously, it was not hard to brake and stop the car. But because the road was so slick, my van began to slide very slowly and I landed in a big ditch. There happened to be an officer already present because of the earlier accidents. He came and investigated the road where I had slid and remarked about a gouge in the ice that covered the distance from where I had stopped to where my van went into the ditch.  The officer then filled out an accident report and called a tow truck. The tow truck operator came, pulled the van out of the ditch, looked it over and gave me the green light to drive it home if I promised to take it to a mechanic the next day to have it checked more thoroughly.

The following day I drove it to the mechanic and everything seemed to be working fine with one small exception. There was a bolt in the front tire. I was encouraged to take the van in to Costco to have the tire repaired. The mechanic suggested I go early the next morning to avoid a long wait. I arrived early that Saturday at Costco only to find everybody else had the same idea. They weren’t able to repair the tire, which meant I had to purchase two new tires and there was going to be a 3 hour wait. It was right about then that I started to get a little whiney with God! “I was doing a good deed. Couldn’t you have prevented this from happening? Now I’m going to have to pay 200 bucks and waste three hours of my time!” I was stuck at Costco feeling sorry for myself and trying to kill time when I ran into my good friend. She was just leaving Costco to go to her daughter’s basketball game. After hearing my frustrating situation, she invited me along. We got to the game, climbed the risers and found a seat. I had only been there a few minutes when I happened to look over to my right. There seated close by were two men from the church we had pastored eight years before. As we sat and talked I learned that they both had gone through some rough times and neither one had been involved in a church for quite a while. I had the opportunity to listen to and encourage them as we watched the game. When the game was over, I invited them to join us the next day at the church where we were presently pastoring.

Both men were there the next day which happened to be the morning I shared my “bolt” story. After the service, they came up to me and thanked me for sharing about the bolt. We all were amazed at how God arranged so many events that culminated in these two men re-dedicating their lives and coming back into a deeper relationship with Him.  If it hadn’t been for that bolt, I would not have been stuck at Costco, where I was waiting and “coincidentally” ran into my friend, who “coincidentally”, invited me to her daughter’s basketball game, where “coincidentally”, the granddaughter of one of these friends was playing in the same basketball game! (Oh, also, while I can’t prove it, I believe it was the bolt that left the scratch in the ice, slowing the momentum of my van while it was sliding and keeping it from serious damage!)

I am sure you gathered by the placement of the quotation marks that I don’t believe anything that transpired was actually a coincidence. I believe it was ”providence”. The word comes from the Latin providentia (Gk. pronoia) and means essentially foresight or making provision beforehand.  As applied to God, it expresses His attention and magnificent power exerted in and over all His works. It is the opposite of “chance,” “fortune,” and “luck.” Stephen Charnock, a puritan pastor appropriately once said, “He that denies providence denies God’s attributes, His omniscience which is the eye of providence, His mercy and justice which are the arms of providence, His power which is its life and motion, His wisdom which is the rudder whereby providence is steered, and holiness the compass and rule of its motion”

The Bible is full of scriptures that reveal God’s amazing involvement in even the minutest details. One of my favorite biblical accounts is of the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac, and God providentially directs him to Rebekah. Another story of Divine Providence is how Moses’ life gets spared and he is raised in the Pharoah’s household. (To read these miraculous accounts see Days 3, 4, and 5 in the ”Just say Know” Bible Study Link below.) I once heard the quote,“A coincidence is a miracle in which God prefers to remain anonymous.” But I have found they happen so often, anonymity for our God is impossible–if that is possible! God’s fingerprints are all over every aspect of our lives. I believe He wants it that way. He wants us to know we can have full confidence in Him. What I find most comforting, is that there is a special providence for those who put their entire trust in God. Our times are in his hands and he is directing our steps. LH

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The Nuts and Bolts of Providence

Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. Psalm 61:1

There are many people who believe that God does not hear us when we pray. I am not one of them. Too many times, I have prayed and God has clearly answered. Some might say that I am simply interpreting coincidences as actual answers or responses from the God of this universe. Well, decide for yourself.

We were on top of the world. We had two beautiful daughters and God had just blessed us with a wonderful baby boy. So much thought had gone into what we would name him and during the pregnancy we also started dreaming about what it would be like to have a son–Little league, football, what college would he go to, maybe he would be a pastor like his dad or even a missionary! But the dreaming stopped when he was two months old. We started noticing something was very wrong. The most notable thing was that he could not hold his head up. From that time on, we made several trips to our pediatrician until finally at eight months old, when our son had not reached any of the developmental milestones, we were advised to take him to a developmental doctor or a neurologist. We decided to take him to both. This began the long road of hospitals, specialists, blood draws, metabolic tests, EEG’s, and MRI’s. When he was around eighteen months old, he began also having seizures and that was the beginning of the darkest time in my life.

I descended into a very deep depression. Where there had been faith, doubt was all that remained. One morning, I remember desperately crying out to God. I started to beg Him to touch my son and help him to be able to understand so we could communicate with him. Not having enough faith for such a prayer, I stopped and decided all I wanted was just to know if God even heard me. I felt completely alone and didn’t even have the faith to believe he was listening to my cries. I repeatedly told him, “All I’m asking is for you to let me know you hear me.”  Trying to encourage myself, I finished this time of prayer by speaking out loud the verse, 2 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”  Then I went up from my knees as depressed as when I went down on them. I definitely had not anticipated what was about to happen.

A few days went by and I received a letter from a lady in our church. Her letter said that while she had been praying that morning, the Holy Spirit prompted her to write me a letter.  She felt that God wanted me to know how much He was pleased with me and so she wrote to me. There were two things in the letter that really got my attention. First, were the two scriptures she had included in the letter: “As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you for you are highly esteemed.”  Daniel 9:23. And “Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” Daniel 10:12.  Second, was how she ended her letter. She wrote, “And remember to keep on praying, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Somebody had heard my prayers! I am fully convinced that the Holy Spirit prompted this lady to write that letter and directed her on what to write. God was speaking to me clearly. As soon as I began to pray he heard me! If you are in a time of doubt and questioning, I encourage you to remember that God is listening. Isaiah 65:24 says, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” God knows our frailties and He speaks to us in our moments of desperation.

Although, I have just shared one of the most faith building responses to my prayers, I could write a book about all the other times God answered our prayers. There was the time our daughter was turning sixteen and asked if we could buy her a car. Her father told her we didn’t have the finances but encouraged her to pray and ask God to provide for her. When she told us about a 1985 Mercedes-Benz that a neighbor was selling, I laughed. But my husband again encouraged her to pray. That week we got a card in the mail from some old friends from our college days. Inside the card was a check for the EXACT amount the neighbor was asking for the car!

There was the time I was praying for a friend who lived in another city. She was just on my mind and I hadn’t seen her for a while. I went to sleep one night and I dreamed that she was falling deeper and deeper into a pit. When I woke up, there was a man’s name on my mind that I felt had something to do with her. I called her up and told her about the dream and then asked her if this name meant anything to her. I could hear her surprise on the other end of the phone. She then confessed that she had crossed the line in a relationship at work with a married man by that name! I told her God loved her so much that He gave me that dream to warn her about such a destructive relationship.

Another time, my husband and I had been praying about how to invest some inheritance money we had received. Our desire was to invest it wisely so that there would be something more substantial available to help take care of our two children with disabilities after we passed away. We had received some counsel  from a friend about purchasing some property to build on but we still were not sure. One Saturday, we went for a long walk and discussed our plans.When the walk was over, we were still undecided. The next day, we went to church. As we walked in, we received a program which in big bold letters showed the sermon title, ACQUIRING THE PROPERTY! We looked at each other and laughed. I know what you are probably thinking–that it was a coincidence. Was it? Of course, we wouldn’t make a major decision on such an occurance alone. We make sure everything lines up with scripture, we seek godly counsel, and we pray. (Not necessarily in that order!) For another story about God answering prayer, click on this link for the post, ”The gift of the Magi.” I could tell you many more examples, but I will save them for another day!

Somebody out there needs to hear this. You need to hear that you are not alone. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know if this message was timely for you. I close with a wonderful song of encouragement, Are You Listening? May God bless you and encourage you through this post and don’t forget to check out the “Just Say Know” Bible Study below for more on how God hears our prayers. LH

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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God Can You Hear Me?

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3

I don’t know about you. But I don’t know how much more of the presidential campaigning I can take. The robocalls, television and radio ads, and news coverage — all coated with mud. Was there ever a time when the candidates

just debated the issues without personally tearing each other down? Every election year, I literally cringe, when I hear the hurtful things that are said about each candidate. Unfortunately, it isn’t just the candidates slinging mud these days. When discussing politics, I have witnessed some surprisingly harsh discussions from people who are usually pretty friendly. (Interestingly, in classical latin, the word ‘discussion’ meant: to strike asunder, break up, smash apart, scatter, and disperse. But in post-classical times it evolved to its present meaning: to investigate, examine, debate.When discussing politics we seem to regress!) Recently I was discussing the mud-slinging phenomenon with a friend when I was reminded of my own mud slinging. And not just of the ‘political’ sort! (Whenever you point a finger there are always three pointing back!) Just that morning, I had made an unkind remark about a public servant, who had been very impatient with me when I asked for help. As I thought about it, other times I had said unkind things also came to my remembrance.

I decided to write this post based on a gut feeling of mine, that I am not the only person who struggles with the words that come out of my mouth. If you do too, we are not alone. Even King David struggled, which caused him to write, “Set a guard over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips.” and “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth . . .” Actually, according to the Bible in James 3:8, “No man can tame the tongue.” You may be strong in some respects of guarding your words, but maybe you struggle with others. James Melton wrote a great article, Sins of the Tongue, in which he dealt with every kind of struggle of the tongue. The Lying Tongue, Flattering Tongue, Proud Tongue, Overused Tongue, Swift Tongue, Backbiting Tongue, Talebearing Tongue, Cursing Tongue, Piercing Tongue, and Silent Tongue. Melton also points out that the Bible likens the tongue to various weapons.

Scripture is very vivid in its description of what harm the tongue can do.

• The tongue has the power of life and death. Proverbs 18:21
• Reckless Words pierce like a sword. Proverbs 12:18
• The tongue is a fire. James 3:6
• The tongue is full of deadly poison. James 3:8
• A deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4
• A lying tongue hates those it hurts. Proverbs 26:28
• Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow. Proverbs 25:18 NLT

I think if we could actually see the emotional wounds our words leave on the hearer we would be more restrained. Fortunately, the tongue also has the power to give life and bring healing.

• The lips of the righteous nourish many. Proverbs 10:21
• The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life. Proverbs 15:4
• The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom. Psalm 37:30
• The tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18
• Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
• He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity. Proverbs 21:23

So, how do we put a guard on our mouth? First, we should pray. Just as David did. We need God’s help. Remember, “No man can tame the tongue.” But with the help of the Holy Spirit, our words can be life-giving and pleasing to God.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalms 19:14

Second, a practical way we can guard our mouth is to simply THINK before we speak. Before we let a word out of our mouth, we must ask ourselves these questions.

Is it Truthful?

Is it Helpful?

Is it Inspirational?

Is it Necessary?

Is it Kind?

The Bible has a lot to say about our words and how we use them. I invite you to click on the “Just Say Know” Bible Study link below to learn more. If you are someone, who really has a raging battle with controlling your words and it is having an immense impact on your life, I also encourage you to read the R-rated version of this post.  LH

“JUST SAY KNOW” Bible Study

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Guard Your Mouth