All the way

I had a significant birthday.  I have reached the time in life when I am almost proud of how old I really am! While I am definitely looking into the future and  many more years on earth, it is also the time in life when one looks back on life.  This state of mind guided my thoughts on Deuteronomy 8:2-4.

The Israelites were reminded that God led them ALL the way in the 40 year desert period.  He fed them with the strange new manna, kept their clothes from wearing out and their feet from swelling. God even told them why, to humble them and to know their hearts.

Life's journey, with its bumps, hurdles and obstacles, humbles me and teaches me about myself, the world and God.

It may seem that the trials of life are tests from God to determine the state of my heart.  Yet I know God knows the true state of my heart.  The one who needs to know the true state of my heart is me.  The trials of life teach me that I am not the center of the universe.  It is not all about me.

"You think you have it bad until you hear someone else's troubles."  My friend, Iona, taught me to keep life's trials in perspective.  In the handful of years I had the privilege to know her, Iona lost her husband to lung cancer and survived breast cancer with a long series of treatments.  When she spoke these words of wisdom for me, she was in the hospital dealing with her final battle with a brain tumor.  Dick and I were making the hospital visits.  We had shared with her that another church member was in the same hospital facing her final battle with breast cancer.  She would leave her husband and three young girls.

Iona's wisdom and perspective has humbled me.  She saw the other woman's tragedy as greater than hers.   I hope to life up to Iona's code of humility and wisdom.

The trials of life also teach me that most likely, I will fail to live up to my own goal of humility.  Thus the trials of life teach me that I need a savior.  I know I will possibly fail.  God knows that also.  God loves me so much He made the way for me to learn and live Life as He has destined.  Jesus came to save me from my failed attempts to live life on my own.

Today, again, I am reminded that God knows it All and is truly with me through it All.  God has given me the provision I need in life and He has been with me and will be with me ALL the way.

The Hornet

I was a little distracted this morning when I read Deuteronomy 7:20.  God will send The Hornet.  Cool.  I'm a fan of cartoon fantasies and I wondered "what was The Hornet"?

I did just enough internet research to conclude that I needed to return to my own study.  There was the question of hornets vs hornet.  The King James version has the plural.  The NIV has singular.  There were a few entries about numbers, Egypt and airplanes. I decided to return to my own ponderings and keep it simple.

The purpose of the hornet was to cause fear of the Israelites and God; to create confusion and to identify the enemy.  The hornet was going to reach even the few survivors who tried to hide from the Israelites as they possessed the Promised Land.

God had laid out the plan.  He would gradually drive out the other nations.  Otherwise, the wild animals would take over the land.  The Israelites would have time to multiply and fill up the land.  Yet, there was danger that the other gods would ensnare them.  God again reminds them to destroy their images, don't covet nor take their silver and gold and don't bring them into their homes.

The purpose of the hornet was to cause fear in the nonbelievers, not fear in the believers.  Thinking about a literal hornet does bring on some fear.  I don't think I've ever been stung but I believe the accounts of others. The sound of buzzing is enough for me to take action to avoid the sting.

What does all this hornet discussion mean to me today?  God is at work in the world today seeking the lost.  There are many who are spiritually hiding in fear of God.   The lost may try to hide but  God will seek them even in their hiding places.  The lost  think they are hiding from the sting of a hornet but there is Good News.  God has rescued us from the sting of death.

Today God's hornet convicts the lost, and perhaps me, of sin.  Maybe there is also spiritual buzzing when God's Hornet is working around me.  When I am aware of an indiscretion, or a sin, I can't seem to get it "the buzzing" out of my head, until I confess it.  I  worry about the consequences, the sting, until I confess it.  So maybe when I hear the buzzing of the world, it is the warning that I am too close to the world and need to move closer to God.

Just now, the fan in the gas fireplace changed tones.  The puppies heard it and moved away and gave a little  bark.  I think today I am reminded to respond to the "warning buzzing" I hear in my spirit and move closer to God.  

Deuteronomy 8:1, again, reminds me to be careful to follow every direction of God so I may live, increase and enter the Promised Life that God has planned for me.

Remember with an attitude

 To deal with fear, remember well.  The scriptures gave me my motto of the day. My mission each morning is to find a phrase or word to ponder for the day. In the past I would pencil these mottos on scraps of paper to tape to the bathroom mirror.  Soon I couldn't see into the mirror.  Then I needed glasses to read the notes! So now, I file them in the notebooks of my journals.  

Deuteronomy 7:17-19 gives me advice when I am afraid of a "foe" which appears to be stronger and greater:  Remember well.

God tells the Israelites to remember well what God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.  He reminds that He delivered them from great trials with miraculous signs and wonders and a mighty hand and outstretched arm.

I wish I'd made a scrapbook of the God moments in my life.  To remember well I do need to look back on the  many times God has miraculously intervened in my life.   To face the uncertainty of the future, I need to remember well my past.

Yet I am reminded to remember an attitude.  I am to remember

W hen God delivered

E ach and every time

L ook up to God and

L ook forward to new victories.

My parents, or someone wiser than I, must have told me "Facing life takes  attitude, the right attitude." If you want a sad life, adopt a negative attitude.  Your view of life, your attitude,  will determine how you face life. 

Just a couple of weeks ago I was boarding an airplane headed for my seat in the next to the last row.  A young woman, with a very large bag, realized she'd gone past  her row and now needed to go against the other passengers boarding.  Her seat was just where I stood waiting.  She politely apologized and tried to get her large bag in a small overhead compartment.  It did not fit, not even with plenty of pushing.  She muttered, "I hate (expletive deleted) flying." 

I felt sorry for her as I headed to my seat.  It made me remember well the positives.  Life is short.  It's only a bag. I was finally boarding.  It looked like I was going to arrive at my destination on the day I planned.  (I've flown more than enough to have experienced overnight stays in cities not my destination.) I used her negative attitude to remember well.

Today I am reminded that my attitude to face life's challenges is to remember God's work in my life and to expect God to be the same as He has been in the past.  The Bible has plenty of testimonies of miraculous signs and wonders for the Israelites.  If I remember well, God has done the same in my life.  God is faithful and dependable and has not abandoned me in my past.  Therefore, as I face the future I will expect Him to be the same, faithful and dependable.

To Pity or not to pity?

"Danger, Will Robinson."  My mind remembers a TV show from my childhood this morning when I read Deuteronomy 7:12-16.  A family was lost in space and the family robot was their protector.  When inquisitive Will wondered from the family camp, the robot followed and every week issued the warning of "Danger."

God tells the Israelites not to pity the peoples God has delivered to them to drive from the Promised Land.   He even adds not to pity them so much as to serve their gods.  Why?  Because they will be a snare, a snare that leads them away from God.

Even though pity and compassion are often used interchangeably.  Today I have pondered the dangerous side of pity.  Today I am probably doing a dangerous thing when I propose that there may be a side of pity that can be dangerous.  I pray I will not be misunderstood.  Yet today I have had a bit of an epiphany.

Pity can be an emotional response to another's tragedy. Yet pity can have its origin in selfishness rather than selflessness.  Pity can be a show of regret and compassion but too often it's really a show of relief, "Thank you, that is not me!"

Pity sometimes focuses on oneself rather than meeting the needs or alleviating a situation of another.  Pity turns our hearts away from God and what He has given.  Pity starts the comparison snare. The trap that begins with relief by comparing situations with another who is less fortunate but then progresses to questions like, "What about me?"  "How come I can't?"  Such comparisons are a snare to lead us away from God and center our lives on self.

Compassion has a more common feel to it.  It makes me think of coming alongside someone and relating to their circumstance based on a common experience. Compassion implies some action on my part to ease another's pain.  It's sharing and relating, not comparing.

I have a problem sometimes receiving another's care for me.  When inquiring as to my state has the inflection of pity, my pride flares up.  When I can hear compassion in another's question, my heart is encouraged.

So, sometimes, could pity be the beginning of lust-- lust that leads to sin, the sin of focusing on self, not God?  It's the first domino that leads us into a life led by satisfying self rather than God.

Pity and comparing our lives to others reminds us of our troubles, challenges and circumstances.  In this case pity shifts our focus away from what God has and will give to what others have and we don't.

There is definitely an "I" in pity.  I know there is an "i" in compassion but it is farther into the word!  Today I am reminded to have my compass set on God before I.  God showed compassion on us when He sent Jesus to be our deliverer.  He came alongside of us so we would know that He really does know how we feel.

Today I am warned of the dangerous side of pIty!   When I feel pity, I'm going to evaluate.  If it comes my relief and has a comparison "feel", I'm going to count my blessings, not compare them. I'm going to turn pity into compassion and  share with those that I am able to give comfort.  I am going to focus on God and not fall into the pIty-self snare.

Just because

"Turn to each other and tell why you love him."  My mind went blank.  I was in love and knew it.  It was one of life's mysteries.  The realization had hit me one day (taking a shower and reflecting on my life) and I knew I was in love and he was the one.  Now I was to explain it in words.   It was our first session in premarital counseling.

I'm sure my first words were "just because I do" and then I started a trite list of "you gave me a puppy" and so on.

I love you just because.  Love and its reasons and choices cannot always be explained in a logical manner.    Many times I've said I love and I'm not sure why but I've been sure of my choice.

Now after many years with Dick I can list many reasons why I continue to love him.  He has brought out the best person in me.  He has been faithful to me.  I am sure of his love for all of these years.

Throughout the years, I have made choices to put our relationship first.  Many in the world thought it illogical.   I happen to believe that love should be protected.

Sometimes we can't explain why.  We just know, just because....

I happen to like the response "I love just because."  God said it to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 7:7-11.  He reminded them it wasn't because they were a numerous people.  It was just because He loved them and He was faithful to His promise to their ancestors.

I can't explain why God loves me.  I just know He does.  The Bible has told me.  My life experiences have shown me.  Yet, at the end of the day, I just know.

God has also shown Himself to be faithful.  Countless times in my life I have realized that I was not alone in my circumstance.  God was there and knew how I felt.

In response, I am to be careful and protect that relationship.  God has given me guidance, in the Bible, on  how to live my life and become a better person.  The world will tempt me with cheap imitations of guidance, faithfulness and love.  God is the real experience of  love. 

Many years ago I didn't know I would become a better person as a result of my marriage to Dick Sipe.  Looking back, I know I am today. 

God has seen something in me that He sees as valuable.  I am and will be a better person as I carefully follow His ways.

Thanks for loving me, just because.

Chosen

 

"Stay with the group at all times.  No tattoos, piercings or swords."  I remember this as the list from Mom when my fifteen year old son went on an international trip.  I knew the excitement and temptations of independence in a strange land.  So I was very detailed in my cautions and consequences of ill-advised decisions.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6 has a very clear list of cautions and consequences for the Israelites as they enter and live in the Promised Land.  God gives the names of the nations they are to destroy "totally."  He tells them to make no treaty; show no mercy; don't intermarry nor let their children intermarry.  He reminds them He is jealous and will destroy them if they deviate from His instructions.  He is even very specific in how to totally destroy these nations:  break down altars; smash sacred stones; cut down poles and burn idols. 

Why must the Israelites do this?  They are God's chosen people.  They are holy to Him.  He choose them to be His treasured possession.

In my mind, God told them you are chosen and treasured so:

Be thorough;

Protect it;

Act like it.

By completely following God's instructions when first entering the Promised Land and then living the instructions into the future generations, they would act like and be the chosen people.

I wondered what "enemies" I should totally destroyed when I enter and live each day as chosen by God.

When I gave my heart to Jesus and decided to follow  God, the enemy of separation from God eternally was destroyed.  I now had an eternal destination that I knew was really, really good.

I now have meaning and purpose in my life.  There are absolutes of right and wrong that I can understand and live. 

I am never alone.  God is always with me.

At times I may try to use the world to fill these needs but the world has and will fail me.  God doesn't  destroy but the influence of the world will inflict the damage.

Fortunately, and time and again, I return to the gift and assurance that God is The One that provides.  I fraternize with the world, the enemy,  by wasting my time, my witness and opportunities to see God at work.

Today I want to renew my lifestyle to

Be thorough in following God's plan;

to protect my relationship with God and

to act like the treasure that God sees in me.

Share the Reason

"Thanks for being on standby for the puppies." I texted my friend yesterday.  I was flying home and have enough experience flying to know arrival times are often just suggestions.  I wanted to be prepared in the event my flight was delayed and I was too late to pick up the pups at the boarding kennel.  I had asked my friend to be my "umbrella".  Whenever I carry an umbrella it never rains.  It pours on me when I leave the umbrella in the car!

Deuteronomy 6:20-25 reminded me to be prepared.  Moses told the Israelites to be ready to share when children ask why?  Kids will always ask "Why" when it comes to rules.  Too often I have not been prepared for "Why" and have to  use the standard, "I'm the Mom and I say so."

These verses remind me of I Peter 3:15 - Always be prepared to give the reason for your hope and do it with gentleness, respect and a clear conscience, or honestly.  (My paraphrase).

There is an outline in these verses to answer the question for the Israelites' lifestyle of following God's rules.

1.  We were slaves.

2. God brought us out with miracles.

3. God brought us to the Promised Land.

4. We follow these rules so we will have a better life.

Often we are asked  why we believe and follow God.  I Peter 3:15 reminds me to be ready.  The outline in Deuteronomy helps organize my response to the question of Why I have Hope.

1.  Before I knew God I was...

2.  I knew needed a Savior when...

3.  My life is better now that I  have decided to follow Jesus....

4.  I live my life to serve  God and yet I know that I can't earn it by following the rules.  Jesus paid the price for my sins.  He was righteous so I could be in right standing before God.

When someone asks you why you believe, they rarely will give you time for a ten page paper on your life story.  At best you will have their attention for about four sentences.  I often practice a testimony in my head, or paper, using similar sentences that I finish.   How I complete the sentences is a reflection of the current circumstances in my life.  I don't always go back to the beginning of my belief in Jesus as my Savior.  Often my response includes current struggles and hopes.

Tis the season when Hope came to the earth.  Jesus came as a baby so I could relate, so I could begin to understand, so I would have the privilege of relationship with God.   

The Israelites tried to follow the rules just as I try to follow the rules.  Yet they were human just like me and failed.  They needed a Savior just like me.  Jesus is the One who gave  and still gives me the opportunity to have a friend that really knows about me and my life; gives me a better life than I could  have orchestrated and  a post earth destination. 

During this season of Hope, I plan to be ready to share the answer to the question, "Why do you have Hope?"

Light the fire

My study buddies have a new love.  The puppies have discovered the gas fireplace.  Now they spend their play time and nap in front of the fireplace. When it is not lit, Molly stares at it, hoping she can get it to "fire up."  As she warms in front of the fireplace she is almost in a trance.  To get her to come, I no longer use the bribe of "treat", I just say "I have the fire on."  The fireplace has distracted the puppies from me.

I pondered this distraction when I read Deuteronomy 6:13-19. These verses are a great list for living the Christian life: 

Fear the Lord or Deeply respect God from the Amplified version;

Serve Him only;

Take oaths in His name or Backup promises with Him from the Amplified;

Don't follow the gods of the people around you or Don't fool around with other gods;

Don't test God, carefully keep His commands, stipulations and decrees;

Do what is right in God's sight and it will go well with you in the Promised Land.

'Tis the season to get distracted from the reason for the season.  I have already been distracted by travel, food, decorating, parties and my life in general.

In these verses in Deuteronomy I hear God calling me to carefully follow Him.  I hear "don't be distracted" and "Don't fool around with the gods of the world." I hear God calling me to "light the fire."

Christmas is my favorite time of year--the gifts, family and the wonder of Jesus coming to earth.  I anticipate the moment that Christmas "falls on me".  Sometimes it's during a carol. Sometimes it's a scripture. Sometimes during the children's program.  Each year it's different. There is a moment when I am overwhelmed with the knowledge that God loved me, and you, enough to bridge the divide and be the vehicle so you and I could have a personal relationship with The One and Only God. 

OK, Christmas holidays, I'm ready.  My attention has been refocused on the Reason for the Season.  I think Christmas just "fell" on me in a very surprising way--Deuteronomy!