Finding God in the Garden of Pain

The Lord has been speaking to me a lot lately about fasting. He's led me to the book of Joel and I've been reading John Piper's "A Hunger for God." Recently, through a time of fasting, the Lord gave me the clarity I've been seeking since I returned home from Africa. And it's all summed up right here. The Lord gave us Isaiah 58 going into the fast, and now He is giving it on the way out as well. Once again, He is proven faithful!

by John Piper, "A Hunger for God",
what the Lord taught me from chapter 6:

"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke,to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house;when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong;and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in." Isaiah 58.6-12

"Fasting is, as much as lies in us, an imitation of the angels, a contemning of things present, a school of prayer, a nourishment of the soul, a bridle of the mouth, an abatement of concupiscence: it mollifies rage, it appeases anger, it calms the tempests of nature, it excites reason, it clears the mind, it dis-burdens the flesh, it chases away night-pollutions, it freas from head-ache. By fasting, a man gets composed behavior, free utterance of his tongue, right apprehensions of his mind." Chrysostom, AD 407

"So God comes to them and says, The fast that I choose is not that you religiosly make yourselves hungry and afflicted, but that you make the poor less hungry and afflicted. If you want to fight sin by taking bread away from your own mouth, then put it in the mouth of the poor. Then we will see if you are really fasting for righteousness' sake. . . Go without bread for the sake of the poor. That's the fast I choose."

"Against this backdrop of the pervasive contemporary American consumerism, the fasting of Isaiah 58 begins to have a sharper point. That a lifestyle of serving the poor rather than consuming another commodity should be called a "fast" is not so strange after all. Most of our life is a gorging of one artifically inflamed appetite after another. Any alteration of this pattern for the sake of ministry is a "fast"--and one that would please God more than a hundred skipped lunches with a view to more pizza at supper."

"God will not allow me to content myself with severe discipline that does not attack the oblivion in which most comfortable middle-class Americans live. He says that fasting is meant to awaken us to the hunger of the world, not just to our own hunger."

"It is one of God's many paradoxes that there is more light in the dark places of the world for those who go there to serve. And there is more darkness in the glitz of great malls for those who go there to escape."

"The guidance of God is not meant for the bright paths of the garden of ease, but for the dark places of pain where we have few answers and paths have never been cut."

The Way I Should Go

It's a question I've been struggling with a lot lately. But, HIS Word has the answer.

He was faithful to the Israelites:
By a pillar of cloud you led thim in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. . . you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go.
Nehemiah 9.12,19

He willl be faithful to me:
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will h instruct in the way that he should choose.
Psalm 25.12

I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Psalm 32.8

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143.8

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go."
Isaiah 48.17

Phos Hilaron

Hail, gladdening Light, of his pure glory poured,
Who is the immortal Father, heavenly, blest,
Holiest of holies, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now we are come to the sun's hour of rest,
The lights of evening round us shine,
We hymn the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit divine.

Worthiest art thou at all times to be sung
With undefiled tongue,
Son of our God, giver of life, alone:
Therefore in all the world they glories, Lord, they own.

His STEADFAST LOVE endures forever

I looked it up. . . isn't it intriguing that the first occurance of "steadfast love" is in Genesis 24 where God presents Rebekah to Isaac.



But it occurs so many times. . . like in my favorite verse.

Psalm 63.3
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

But, lately it seems like every time I got to church, read, talk with a friend, or do anything that is scripture related--there it is.

As it turns out, it occurs 202 times. That seems like it's a pretty important concept.

And I obviously don't get it!

For starters, He promises to keep His steadfast love to those who keep His commandments. He can take His steadfast love away, just like He did for King Saul; He keeps His steadfast love for those who walk before Him with all their hearts; I can enter His house because of His steadfast love; All His paths are steadfast love; His steadfast love surrounds those who trust in Him; Steadfast love belongs to Him; It is better than life; I should make it known to all generations; It goes before Him; My steadfast love is with Him; It will satisfy me in the morning; It upholds me; As high as the heavens are above the earth, so is His steadfast love towards those who fear Him; It is from everlasting to everlasting; My enemies will be cut off in His steadfast love; He is my steadfast love; It never ceases; He desires it more than sacrifice; HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42.8

Third Time Is A Charm?

You know when the Lord takes a verse you have never thought much about, and he puts it in your face several times within a short amount of time. That has happened to me lately, and now I have to ask--Lord am I seeking the water that does not satisfy.

Labor day weekend I went on a beach retreat and the speaker talked a lot about God's purpose for our lives. Not necessarily His purpose in our occupation--but His Grand Design. One of the sessions focused on some verses from Jeremiah chapter 2.
The "ironic" part is, several months ago as I was reading in Jeremiah, the Lord showed me this verse and I highlighted it and drew a big circle around it, but it obviously did not sink in.

Jeremiah 2:11-13
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

So, I thought a lot about this verse that weekend. And then, exactly a week later, our Pastor was teaching on praying in depressing times and he referenced this same verse.

Then, my friends sent me this exerpt from Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening yesterday.

THE LORD IS A JEALOUS AND AVENGING GOD.
NAHUM 1:2
Believer, your Lord is very jealous of your love. Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another.
Did He buy you with His own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own or that you belong to this world.
He loved you with such a love that He would not remain in heaven without you;
He would sooner die than have you perish, and He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and Himself.
He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in yourself. He cannot stand the thought of you hewing out broken cisterns and neglecting the overflowing fountain that is always free to you.
When we lean upon Him, He is glad; but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom or the wisdom of a friend-worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own-He is displeased and will chasten us, that He may bring us to Himself.
He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus.
To remain in Him alone, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient satisfaction in our earthly comforts, to even prefer the company of our fellow Christians to secret fellowship with Him, this grieves our jealous Lord.
He longs to have us abide in Him and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; and many of the trials that He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from created things and fixing them more closely on Him who created everything. Let this jealousy that would keep us near to Christ also be a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us and will protect us from all our enemies. May we have grace today to keep our hearts in holy purity for Christ alone,
with sacred jealousy closing our eyes to all the fascinations of the world.

So, what does all this mean? Have I turned my back on the fountain of living water? May it never be! Have I hewn out for myself broken cisterns? I pray it isn't so. But Lord, what are you saying? You have promised that your Word does not return void--it accomplishes the purpose you sent it out for. All scripture is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness. . .

You Must Increase

I lift you high and bow down low
How high can You be?
How low can I go?

You must increase I must decrease Lord
I'll bow down and You will be adored

Matt Redman

SELF-Centered

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2.3-7

And I'll Fall FACE DOWN. . .

I was blessed to spend my weekend at the Precept Ministries National Women's Convention. The theme was "Set apart. . . passionate for truth". The Lord spoke to me about so many things that it has been hard to take it all and figure out where to start. But I feel like He wants me to start on my face.
One speaker in particular focused on this and she talked about the clarity that comes when you humble yourself like that. Another mentioned that when we are face down before Him, arms spread wide, what can be seen from above is the cross-what a cool picture.
Our pastor started a sermon series on prayer yesterday. In true Baptist fashion, we had a "special song" during the offering called "Bow the Knee". I tried to find the lyrics to share with you, but no such luck.
I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to process all that I learned and the Lord gave me a couple physical examples that parallel the spiritual state of going face down before Him.
1. In a fire, they tell you to get as close to the floor as possible-the air is clearer there and you can breathe.
2. In bootcamp soldiers devote a large portion of their time crawling on their faces (preparing for battle) to avoid the onslought of the enemy.
All of this brought to mind song:

Too Tender by Caedmon's Call
Water water everywhere
And I complain about my thirst
The prescription's in my hand
While the pain I curse

I know the longer
I know the harder
The walk will be
With my calloused feet
And my too tender knees

Stumbled upon the truth
Wished it'd get out of my way
When I see the light
I pull down the shade

If I were as smart as Christopher
I'd find a closet
If I were as weak as Samson was
I'd make a prophet

And a last great word from Beth Moore, "if you don't humble yourself, the Lord will humble your behind!"

An Alabama Blessing

A friend sent this to me today. It's a perfect discription of what it is like to live in the south.

Note: If you are not a resident of ALABAMA or never have lived in the hot, humid Southeast, you may not understand the weight of this blessing!
Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry.
Please keep it cool in mid-July.
Bless the walls where termites dine,
While ants and roaches march in time.
Bless our yard where spiders pass
Fire ant castles in the grass.
Bless the garage, a home to please
Carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas.
Bless the love bugs, two by two,
the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you.
Bless the towns of which we speak
Millions of creatures that fly or crawl,
in ALABAMA, Lord, you've put them all!!
But this is home, and here we'll stay,
So thank you Lord, for insect spray.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN ALABAMA IN JULY WHEN. . . . .
The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron!
The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out andend up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out andadd butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from layingboiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.
Ah, what a place to call home.
God Bless Our State of ALABAMA !!

Lord Reign In Me!

Over all the earth,
You reign on high,
Every mountain stream,
Every Sunset Sky,
But my one request,
Lord my only aim,
Is that you'd reign in me again,

Lord Reign in me,
Reign in your power,
Over all my dreams,
In my darkest hour,
You are the Lord,
Of all I am,
So won't you reign in me again

Over every thought,
Over every word,
May my life reflect,
The beauty of my Lord,
Cause you mean more to me,
than any earthly thing,
So won't you reign in me again