Freedom

It's Memorial Day, a day when we are all reminded of how expensive our freedom is.  It has cost the lives of millions of men and women over the centuries, and it continues to be costly today.

In terms of our salvation we know that freedom for us meant Christ's death on the cross...the ultimate price paid by the sinless Son of God.  There is another level of freedom we are meant to enjoy as God's beloved children.  We should be living lives that are free from the entangling grip of sin tripping us up in our daily lives.  We know how we should live, so we redouble our efforts and try harder.  We hopefully come to learn that our own efforts are worthless and we need to depend on Christ's life in us to live as we should. 

There is an example in the history of Israel of this kind of daily challenge to trust the Lord.  As the people were being led to their new promised land they were fully aware of the promises that God had set before them of a land of freedom and provision far greater than they had ever known.  Yet as soon as they experienced hardships of needing water and craving familiar foods, they're first reaction was to say, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt?"  They actually preferred to return to lives of slavery and bondage rather than adapt to changes in their appetites and comforts.

Are we so different?  We like what we like, and we want what we want.    We proclaim that we will follow Christ as He leads us into freedom, but when we are made uncomfortable we have a real decision to make.  It requires a strong faith that God's way is higher than ours and true surrender of our own agendas to follow Christ into all He has purchased for us.  We will only be able to lay ourselves aside moment by moment if we remember how great His love for us really is.

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I hope you've all had a nice Memorial Day weekend!  Ours has been fun...seeing family, friends, and sleeping in, too!  There is a box on the right hand side of this home page where you can enter your email address to receive email notifications whenever I've posted something new here.  I hope that will be convenient for you; I know it's hard to keep up without reminders. 

Blessings on all!

To Move or Not to Move

Do you like to know the plan?  Are you uncomfortable with uncertainty and not knowing what to expect from day to day?  Me too.  Part of my reading this morning was Numbers 9 where the Bible tells about the tabernacle, when completed, was filled with God's glory.  By day the tabernacle was covered by the cloud, and by night by the appearance of fire.

 As long as the cloud and fire remained over the tabernacle, the camp stayed in place.  If, when morning came, the cloud had lifted, they broke camp and moved where the cloud led them.  That sounds very nice and all, but can you imagine living this way?  They never knew how long they would stay in one place...overnight, a few days, months, or a year or more.  Not much room for planning ahead or putting down roots.  You wouldn't be getting too attached to your surroundings. 

I'm not saying that we need to live that radical a lifestyle, but can we aspire to be open to God's leading day by day, moment by moment?  Can we begin to agree with Him not to move ahead without His direction, and to not hesitate when He shows the way?  Let's seek His heart and mind about how He would have us live every day, every hour, every minute.  He has had lots of practice and will be faithful to lead.

Arise, Shine

One of the passages I read this morning was Isaiah 60, and it starts with this verse..."Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."  The words that grab my attention are arise and shine.

Arise...get up, stand firm, meet the situation, open your eyes, open your ears, take stock of your resources, determine your position. 
Shine...praise Him, trust Him, leave all your cares with Him, depend fully on His life, give freely, give fully, rejoice, give thanks, pray always, love others, bless others, reach out.

This is how we are to live.  We are to arise and shine.  Every day.  All day.  In every circumstance.  In every joy.  In every pain.  In every trial.  In every temptation.  In every sorrow.  In every blessing.  In every victory.  In every answered prayer.  In every uncertainty.  In every disappointment.  In every dream.

How easy it is to live in the pit of our own making.  We forget how blessed we are and wallow in self-pity or despair while the Lord waits for us to step into the life He has provided in His Son.  In Him we can indeed arise and shine in every situation we face.  Trust all that God has provided and rely upon Him.

I'm Back!

It's been a long time since I published a post, and I think the time has come for me to pick this back up.  I hope that these posts will be helpful and encourage you to seek the Lord more fully, and I hope that your input here will help me as well. 

We, all of us who love the Lord, are family.  We share His life, His Spirit, and His heart for the world around us.  I tend to forget sometimes that we are supposed to depend on and help each other, and I go day to day making it on my own.  Isolation is one of Satan's more effective weapons.  It's my hope that we can come together here in this small way and support and help each other as we live the lives He has called us to.

Check in from time to time and share encouragement, insight, and hopefully some laughter, too.  Here's wishing you a great start to a great week!  Many blessings!