The i's have it!

"And every kid will have matching sox that they can keep!"  Maurice announced. 

Our little church had taken our kids to a competitive event.  We were told the "official" uniform was a white  t-shirt and jeans.  When we arrived in our jeans and white  t-shirts, we were stunned and embarrassed.  Every other team had matching shirts and shorts. 

On the ride home, the adults planned for the next competition.  We had our eyes opened and we were not going to be innocent again.  Our kids would compete looking like a real team.  We told ourselves they would compete better when they looked better. Although, we took second place!

I've been meditating on Deuteronomy 27: 9-26 for a long time.  If you follow my blog posts you will note it has been three months.  I have been busy enjoying Life  by becoming a grandmother and preparing gifts for Christmas while concerned that I'm nearing the end of Deuteronomy and what will I study next?  It is so easy to slip into distraction and lose focus on the important tasks.  So I'm back with "another beginning"!

In Deuteronomy 27 Moses tells the people to be silent and listen.  If they are going to own the Promised Land they will need to live and act like God's people.  Half of the tribes stand on Mount Gerizim to repeat the blessings and half the tribes stand on Mount Ebal to repeat the curses.  All the people say "Amen" after each curse.

As I rewrote each curse in my journal, I noticed the common thread of the innocents being victimized.   The victims of the  "do nots" were blind, unaware and powerless.  This reminded me of Maurice and the other adults protecting our innocent little kids from future embarrassment.

I also noted that the curses were about very intimate matters.  Most of them dealt with sexual immorality in very specific relationships.

God wanted to impress upon the Israelites the importance of these commandments, these "do nots", so the people were instructed to say "Amen" (or in my own translation "so be it" or "I do") after each one.

These verses convince me that the "i's have it!"

Don't let idols distract me so I lose focus on following God into my Promised Land.

Don't take advantage of the ­innocent so I can prosper, even when I may be the only one who will know, God will know.

Don't be impure in the intimate matters in my life. Maybe I am the only one who knows but God does know my heart.

The "do nots" are really important, every single one of them.  It made me think of initialing every single line in a contract, time consuming as it would be I would read every line and decide I accepted each line.

Hallelujah, we have such a loving and forgiving God.  Even though I am again impressed with God's expectations for my life, including the "do nots", I can come back to Him daily and admit my distraction and loss of His priority in my life and begin again. I do want to follow God into the Promised Land He has destined for me.

Here I begin again, "Another Beginning"!

Learn like a dog

“Eyes, Nose, Ears.”  I had made this note while reading one of the Dog Whisperer books.  He says that’s how dogs learn, through their eyes, nose and ears.  Praise the dog every time he or she looks at you, so they will recognize the pack leader.  Dogs learn a lot about the environment and us through their noses–hence the intimate sniff-over strangers get upon arrival at my house.  Dogs need to learn to recognize the pack leader voice and her commands. (Wishful thinking on my part that as the human female I am the pack leader.  Those puppies recognized Dick as the alpha dog the minute he came home!)

I pondered these tips for successful dog education when I read Deuteronomy 27:1-8.  Moses and the elders commanded that the Israelites keep all the commands given by God.  To help them remember after they have crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they are instructed to set up large stones, coat them with plaster and write the words of the law on them.  They are to build a stone altar, no iron tools used and use it to offer burnt offerings to God.  At that place, they are to sacrifice fellowship offerings, rejoicing in the presence of God.  They are to very clearly write the words of the law on these stones.

Perhaps we learn in a similar manner to my puppies.  To remember God’s expectations, I need to  hear them.  Occasionally I hear the audible voice but usually God “speaks” to me during my personal reading of the Bible.  When I read the scriptures I need to have my listening ears ready to hear.  Too often, I have to call Molly several times when she is playing with Mickey, to get her to listen to me alone.  I imagine God calls to me many times before I listen to Him and not to the distractions of the world.

I know I learn better when I have written down what I want to remember.  My desk and files at the office have cryptic notes with numbers, names and partial words.  Usually I know what they mean and they remind me to take action.  My bathroom mirror often has bits of scripture taped to it so I’ll focus on them beginning first thing and work that day to apply them to my daily life.

Finally, I do need to “Keep my nose to the grindstone” and conscientiously learn, review, apply and do what God has asks of me and expects of me.  Each day I want to incorporate my learning from God’s word into my whole day, not just five minutes first thing.  I think about what I’ve “heard” while brushing my teeth and driving the car.  I ponder how I can apply or use God’s word in my daily actions.  This takes effort and commitment on my part.  I need to be busy with my “nose” to the following God’s word “grindstone.”

“Ears, eyes, nose" that's how I learn to follow God!

I promise...

 

"...through all the varying experiences of our life..." The phrase from our marriage vows makes us giggle.  It was trendy when we spoke it so many years ago and several young couples have used it in their vows since.  Little did we know that it would be so descriptive.  Together we have see gain and loss, success and not so success, accomplishment, opportunity, lessons, parenthood, illness, joy and a whole lot of just plain fun.    Little did we know that we promised to live together through so many changes in a world where most people don't or aren't able to keep a commitment.

Deuteronomy 26: 16-19 made me think about promises.  In these verses, God asks the Israelites to promise that He is their God and to walk in His ways by keeping His commands.

I realized that I have made only a few promises in my life.  I was a Girl Scout for many years and promised to do my best to serve God and others.  I made a promise for life to my husband.  I am careful with my promises.  Life happens.  I'm human and fail to deliver occasionally.

In a world where promises and commitment are uncertain, these verses in Deuteronomy remind me that God always delivers.  He promised the Israelites that they would be His treasured possession and He would set them above all nations to be His people.  The Israelites who would have heard these verses for the first time were about to actually see the land of milk and honey, to be rich beyond anything they had known before and to become leaders instead of slaves.

These verses also remind me of the purpose of my promise, to fulfill my longing for belonging.  When I said the Girl Scout promise, I declared that I belonged to a troop and a worldwide network of other scouts. 

After nearly 40 years of marriage, there is no doubt that I belong with Dick Sipe for life.  Through all the varying experiences of my life, my longing for belonging has been satisfied with Dick.

God knows our heart and soul and knows that we long to belong to Him.  There is a void within each of us that only God fills.  He promises that we will be treasured. 

History and my personal experience with God affirms that God keeps His promise. He is faithful and dependable.   He asks that I keep my promise to Him to follow His ways.  I see no other way!

I'm a basket case

 

I'm a basket case. I love a particular brand of baskets.  I have more than I care to count.  Most have stuff in them but a few have not been filled with purpose, yet.

Deuteronomy 26: 1-15 reminded me it was time to fill my "basket."  The Israelites were told that when they had settled in the Promised land, they were to take some of the first fruits of the land and put them in a basket.  Then they were to take the basket to God's Name's dwelling place and declare to the priest:

My father was a wanderer and went to Egypt with a few people that grew to a great nation.  The Egyptians mistreated them and  made them suffer.  They cried out to God who heard our voice and saw our misery.  He brought us out with a mighty hand and outstretched arm with great terror and miracles and brought us to a land of milk and honey.  I bring this basket to God and bow before Him.  I rejoice, along with the Levites and aliens, in all the good things God has given me and my household.

In addition, every third year, the Israelites were to give to the Levites, aliens, orphans and widows so they could eat and be satisfied.  Then they were to  say:

I have removed from my house God's portion and given it to others; I have not turned aside from God's commands nor forgotten them;  Look down and  bless the people you gave the Promised Land.

Today I am reminded that I should regularly review what God has done in my life; share His gifts to me with others and renew my commitment to follow His ways.

B efore I was__________________

A nd God delivered me.

S ince then,      

K uz God loved me first, I share with others.

E ach day I obey God's commands.

T o God belongs my love and praise.

I have a very large, expensive basket which was a gift.  I haven't given it its purpose yet--it's empty.  Today I need to give it a purpose and fill it. 

Each day I need to fill a spiritual basket.  In this basket I put

my review of what God has done in my life;

how I will share my blessings with others, and

give thanks that God has given me life, an abundant life!

 
 



Don't forget to forget"

I turned to my traveling companions and said "I think I just shook hands with a piece of history!"  I was in a small home in Northern Thailand not far from the Burmese border.  A wrinkled elderly gentlemen had finished his testimony.  He wasn't speaking in English but even before the translator related his comments, I recognized his mention of Adoniram Judson.  He had said, "My grandfather was baptized by Adoniram Judson."

God called Adoniram Judson to be a missionary in Burma in the early 1800s in a time when most believers thought missions was a waste of time. Many years passed without a single convert. Judson served the Lord his whole life.  He suffered the loss of wives, children, friends and finance.  Perhaps his time on earth seemed a failure when measured by human standards.

Yet his faith in God and his faithfulness laid the foundation of missions as we know it today. Thousands have come to know salvation because of his persistence to share God's love with a few.  He has inspired hundreds to duplicate his call and go to other lands to live and tell of God's great love.

Today I am reminded that the fulfillment of God's plan has its own time schedule.  In Deuteronomy 25: 17-19 God tells the Israelites to remember the evil of the Amalekites, what they had done to them on the way out of Egypt and that the Amalekites had no fear of God.  The Israelites were to blot out the memory of the Amalekites.   God told them "Don't forget to forget them!"(That's a Jan Sipe translation!)

The evil of the Amalekites began well before the Israelites who heard these words were even born.  They were a generation removed from the exit from Egypt.   The Amalekites attacked the Israelites at Rephidim early in the journey to the Promised Land. (Exodus 17: 8-16) The Israelites defeated them but the victory came only when Moses kept his hands held up.  When his arms grew tired Aaron and Hur helped him sit and they held his arms up. That day they were instructed to write it down that the memory of the Amalekites would be blotted out!  Don't forget to forget them!

Generations later, Samuel told Saul (I Samuel 15) that it was time to punish the Amalekites for what they had done to the Israelites on their way out of Egypt.  Saul was not to spare any Amalekite human or animal.  He was to be the one to blot them out.  Yet he let Agag the king of the Amalekites live along with his best livestock.  He forgot to forget them and instead forgot what God said!

In our instant gratification mindset, it seems that fulfillment takes forever.  Yet these verses remind me that God has a plan with a completely different time frame.  I am reminded that I am to forget the obstacles along the journey but remember the victory and that the victory belongs to God.  I  may enjoy the fruits of the victory but God is the victor.  So my thought of "Don't forget to forget" means forget the effect of the obstacles, ignore the scars and don't live as a victim of the bumps along the journey.  Remember the victory, even when it has been a long time coming or perhaps is still yet to come, and that God is The Victor.  As Adoniram Judson was an ingredient in the fulfillment of God's plan to reach all people, so I am given the opportunity to be a part of God's plan.  Yet His timetable will be different from my desired timetable.

When I was a young girl facing life's slights and disappointments, my mother would ask me a question to keep these obstacles in perspective.  "In the span of eternity, just how important is this........?"  It may not have been the answer my young heart wanted to hear but the question eventually made me keep a balance to the power of disappointment.

My elderly Christian brother from Thailand will remind me that God has a  plan and I have a part in the plan if I so choose to follow God's call.  Adoniram Judson will remind me that I may not see the full fruit of my service but what I do is part of something much bigger than I could plan or imagine.  My  mom will also remind me not to think more of myself nor life's disappointments.  If God will insure that the Amalekites will get what they deserve, at just the right time,  He is certainly able to handle the obstacles in my lifetime.

Today I am reminded to trust The Plan, God's plan, and have patience, the victory is imminent.  I need to forget the obstacles in my journey and  refuse to live under their power.  I will remember that the victory is sure because God is in control, He is able and He has a plan!

Life's obstacles  present us with a choice- to allow the obstacles to form the path of our existence or to trust the One True God on the path of abundant life.  Don't forget to forget the obstacles.  Do remember that God is in control.

Remember me as The Sandaled

 



This is a photo of the organizer on the back of our bedroom door.  As you can see I have "a thing" for sandals.  I love to wear sandals.  My collection is smaller than usual.  Mickey, my young male dog, likes to eat them.  He is stealthy and quick to snap the strap so the sandal is no longer is functional.

Deuteronomy 25: 1-16 is a collection of curious instructions on crime and punishment, sharing your grain with the ox treading for you, a brother marrying his brother's widow, the improper method of rescuing your husband in a fight and using only one set of weights and measures.

These verses seem totally unrelated to each other and maybe to modern life.  Yet today they remind me of mercy, justice, fairness, honesty, integrity and my legacy.

Several years ago I attended the funeral of the father of a coworker.  After the grandchildren told stories of him and gave a compelling description of his character, I thought "Gee I wish I'd know him."

I frequently regale my son and my brother's daughters of stories of "MaMa", my mom and their grandmother to preserve her legacy.  I keep some of her possessions in the hope that her grandchildren will cherish these seemingly valueless objects to remind them of her character and personality.

In Deuteronomy 25: 5-10 God gives the instructions to brothers to marry their deceased brother's wife so the deceased brother will have a child to carry on his name and legacy.  God also gives the warning that failure to do so has consequences.  The consequence may not seem like punishment to us but in that culture to be known as "The Unsandaled" must have had quite a sting.

Today my sandal organizer will become a reminder to me to be merciful, to be just, to be fair, to be honest and have the reputation as a woman of integrity.  In today's world this goal can be a challenge.  Too many times in a week the thought of "this is not fair" crosses my mind.  God tells me to be fair in an unfair world.

My sandal organizer will be my reminder to build and protect my legacy by living my life according to God's love and way (The Sandaled), not the world(The Unsandaled).  I want to be known as "The Sandaled" because of how I live my life and not because I have a large collection of sandals!  (Thanks Mickey for keeping the collection number low.)



12 and counting

More miscellaneous laws? Not even close! This is a special learning for a special day!

Deuteronomy 24: 10-22 tells the Israelites how to be rich.  They had been slaves and nomads but very soon they would be landowners, powerful and have more wealth than they could imagine. The prosperity to come will also mean responsibility. 

God tells the Israelites to give their debtors dignity, to not go into  their homes to collect the collateral; to pay their laborers every day because the laborers will be counting on it; not to take advantage of foreigners, orphans or widows; to leave some of the harvest available for the poor to glean.  God reminds them to remember that they once were Egyptian slaves. 

God instructs the Israelites to be generous, to be honest and to provide for the powerless.  He also tells them that their attitude for being generous, honest and caring was not to gain God's favor but they were to remember how God blessed and delivered and be thankful.

God reminds them to  be kind to the lost and those who have lost because they once were lost.  God is giving the Israelites examples of how to live out one of my  themes for the Book of Deuteronomy- God does not leave us alone.  He reminds them that once they felt alone but He heard their cries as slaves and delivered them. He will give them opportunities to share their blessings with those in need.

These verses are a lesson in how to act when you are blessed. The key word for me today is Remember. Remember your past.  Remember why you are blessed.  Remember to do as commanded.  Remember you are never alone.  God is always with you.

Today is a special day of remembrance for me. Today I mark 12 years as a cancer survivor. I celebrate the freedom from that disease but more importantly, I celebrate today as the day I really learned that I am never alone.  My family and friends rallied around me 12 years ago and were tangible reminders that God was and is in control of my life.  God loves me and will provide for me.

Today I am planning on partying with cake, pie, friends and maybe flowers.  Yet I want to begin the day remembering that I AM NEVER ALONE- God is always with me.  I hope I have reminded others of this great blessing.