Get Out Of Your Cave

1 KINGS 19:9 NIV
9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word
of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Elijah was hiding in a cave, fearful, discouraged, and
confused.

Why?

Elijah knew God and had seen God do mighty things, even in
answer to his own prayers. Yet he was human, just like the rest
of us.

JAMES 5:17 NIV
17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it
would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a
half years.

Elijah had only one real problem, and it was not the
adversaries he faced. It was that he got his focus off of God
and onto himself.

To me, God seems amazed at Elijah's hiding. I picture Him
thinking, "Doesn't Elijah know that I am greater than all his
adversaries? Doesn't Elijah know that I will help him?"

I would paraphrase the verse above as, "What in the world are
you doing here, Elijah? Have you forgotten who your God is?
Have you forgotten who you are, a servant of Almighty God?"

Elijah was human -- just like us -- and we face the same
difficulties in life. But just like Elijah, our real problem is
not the problems we face -- but our focus.

We can focus on our inability and lack, or we can focus on
God's ability and abundant provision.

Are you hiding in a "cave" today, afraid to venture forth and
face life? Are you afraid of failure and rejection? Are you
discouraged because things haven't worked out like you thought
they would?

What are you doing?! Get out of your "cave!"

God is on your side. The Greater One is in you. The Lord is
your helper. He has promised to never leave you or forsake you.
You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

SAY THIS: I will focus on God, Who loves me, and Who is greater
than anything I will ever face.

----------------------

Getting out of my cave. That's what I've been doing. Facing life and "taking it by the horns" as they say. And it has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done. It's hard to appreciate the gift of life until your see the full glory of its capacity. Realizing that you can breathe deeper, go higher, zoom faster, hike further, brave colder waters, taste more, see more, feel more, learn from more people, stay longer, speak more italian, love bigger, give more...than you ever thought possible.

All of these are contained in the gift of life. And although in the end we may end up going back to our comfortable spots in life. We're not pressured that maybe we would like something more. We've been there and are happy where we are.

His Words

PROVERBS 4:20-22 NKJ20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to mysayings.21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in themidst of your heart;22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to alltheir flesh.

Giving attention to God's Word is not as easy as it once was.Today we have a multitude of distractions. Busyness seems to bea disease shared by everyone. We all have more than we can do.

Yet . . .God doesn't change. His Word doesn't change. It still says thesame thing it did a thousand years ago -- and it will still saythe same thing a thousand years from now."Give attention to my words...."

We are confronted with a choice. What is most important? Towhat shall we give our limited time? God, or....?

God makes promises no one else does -- or can. He created, soHe knows how things work.
Life. Life in its fullness. Life as God intended it to be. Andhealth. Isn't that what everyone would like? That is thewritten guarantee offered by God to the human race -- forpaying attention to what He has said.

SAY THIS: I choose to pay attention to God's Word. I chooselife and health. I choose God.
(from my daily devotional email)

Seed, Time and Harvest

Here is a devotional email sent to me..i am just meditating on it. no comment right now. thought you all might like to read...



GENESIS 8:22 NIV22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, coldand heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

Planting seeds. Then harvesting the crop. As long as the earthexists, this is the way things work on earth.
This is true in the spiritual realm as well as in the physicalrealm. The Bible teaches that our words and our actions are theseeds we plant, that produce a harvest in our life.
If we are merciful to others, we will be treated with mercy. Ifwe show love and respect, others will show love and respect tous. If we speak words of faith and blessing, good things willincrease in our lives. But if we continually speak fear, doubt,and trouble, life will not go well for us.

GALATIANS 6:7 NIV7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what hesows.
The world has a saying based on this principle, "what goesaround, comes around." We reap what we sow. Using modern terms,we harvest what we plant. And the more we plant, the larger ourharvest will be, good or bad.

(Fortunately, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf,we can receive forgiveness and cleansing from our sins and notreap the harvest of death and failure we deserve.)

GALATIANS 3:13a NLT13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by thelaw. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself thecurse for our wrongdoing.

1 JOHN 1:9 NKJ9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive usour sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Too many people think God "moves in mysterious ways" and anyspiritual blessing we may receive is just like winning thelottery -- entirely by chance. But the Bible teaches us thatthe kingdom of God operates on the "seed principle."

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6 NIV6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reapsparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reapgenerously.

So the wise course of action is to continually give out whatyou would like to receive. If you desire respect, respectothers. Would you like people to give you things? Thencontinually look for opportunities to give to others.

LUKE 6:38 NLT38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you infull -- pressed down, shaken together to make room for more,running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you givewill determine the amount you get back. "

Seed, Time, and then Harvest is how God operates.
When Jesus wanted to explain to people how God operates in HisKingdom (or rule), He told them it could be illustrated byplanting a seed, which will then grow, and produce a harvest.

MARK 4:30-32 NLT30 Jesus said, "How can I describe the Kingdom of God? Whatstory should I use to illustrate it?31 It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is thesmallest of all seeds,32 but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it growslong branches, and birds can make nests in its shade."

When seed is planted, it grows up, and increases.
First you have the seed, which must be planted. Then the seedgrows. Growth takes time. This is why it can be helpful toremember this principle as "seed, time, and then harvest."Those are the three phases of receiving what God has providedfor you. Plant the seed. Be patient and keep believing whilethe seed grows. Then you will reap a harvest of blessing.
Jesus said this is the way He could illustrate how the wholekingdom (or rule of God) works.

A Gift of New Life

April 17, 2009
So, it’s been a few days since Easter but I feel that time is worth going back to recount for you.
In the weeks before Easter I was getting very excited about the thought of a new celebration of the Lord. However, I was also getting a little sad that I may not be able to participate in many of the fun celebratory traditions that I usually do – dying eggs, learning a message from an enlightening homily at a familiar church, spending a day with overflowing love from close family and friends, receiving colorful and tasty chocolate treats from my mom even though I’ve outgrown them, and many other things many of us cherish about Easter traditions spent at home.
The closer it got to Easter the more I realized that virtually all of these things I cherished would be missing from my Easter this year. Even though I thought my sadness was somewhat pitiful and missing such little physical things was childish, I realized that I needed to make preparations to avoid falling into a slight depression (one lesson I have to say I learned at camp in preventing homesickness – Take Preventive Action!).
I set to work on redirecting my focus from the material aspects of the holiday to Christ’s intended spiritual focus of this time – Himself, God, and the Holy Spirit. The week before Easter I went to church in Apeldoorn, Holland. It was a last minute decision and my lack of preparation and thought was apparent to me as I sat in the Dutch mass and realized I would not be finding a service in English in such a small town; neither here, in Austria, nor probably in Italy. I spent that time in mass listening intently to foreign Dutch words hoping to understand a word here or there; or hoping that I would perhaps be miraculously gifted with tongues enabling me to understand the message and communicate with my Lord during that hour. There are only so many things I could think to pray about: the homeless, the oppressed, world leaders, my friends and family, my enemies, the Kleins, my faith, my friends’ faith, and my purpose during this time of travel in my life and in the future. After those ten minutes, I was kind of stumped. I admired the ancient church’s paintings and sculptures and squinted to see the distant alter pressed far against the back wall of the church behind iron railings guarding against pleading sinners. I slowly got frustrated with this whole situation and wished that this reality of being a foreigner wasn’t true. Most Dutch people speak English, why didn’t they at least have an English program or copy of the homily? (Classic American Philosophy: why shouldn’t the world should cater to English speaking Americans, most tourists speak English and it would help everyone). Then I thought about foreigners living in America, and how it never crosses our native minds that people have to deal with such struggles on a daily basis. I was in a selfish mode of thought which was the total opposite of what this time in church was supposed to be purposed for.
But the hour and a half long service was not a total loss. The chapters from the bible readings were printed in the Dutch service leaflet I bought for $.30 and I had brought my recently purchased copy of the New Testament. I focused intently on following the readings and as they read them in Dutch I worked on my translating skills matching word for word along my English print listening closely for the related words I could pinpoint like Jerusalem and Jesus. I also racked my memory for the priest’s traditional presentation of the Eucharist at home –I could tell this Catholic Dutch service was using the exact the same words and intonations. I whispered to myself the Nicene Creed, the Our Father, the prayer for Forgiveness of Sins, and participated in the Peace. All in all, when the service ended I felt satisfied in my worship participation but knew that I could make more preparations.
When I returned back to my hostess’ house, I looked up next week’s Easter readings and printed out a 2008 Easter homily from an Episcopal church. While I made a few preparations, I did not print out the words from the Old Testament, of which I didn’t have a copy. This I would find almost devastating at the Easter mass in Austria.
After a tired long journey to Berwang, Austria a few days later I should have reveled in the gift to be with a familiar face for celebrating Christ’s resurrection and for Doris’ wiliness and desire to accompany me to a Saturday night vigil and Sunday Easter mass. While I did appreciate these things, when I ventured to the small town’s local church the German mass was not so similar and the quiet close space didn’t leave much room for Doris to whisper translations to me. I became very frustrated when she didn’t pay attention to the announced chapter in the bible, the message that was being communicated, or make an effort to keep me abreast of the ancient stories that were being recounted. All things which I held very dearly. After having missed the Good Friday mass, I wanted to make that Saturday night vigil into an intense spiritual meditation on Christ’s sacrifice and having to sit in silence unable to sing or listen to the stories I needed to hear was making me increasingly upset. It didn’t help that this Saturday night service was not following traditional programming and I couldn’t figure out whether people were reading or praying or what I should be doing.
After mass I ended up falling into tears to Doris communicating frustration about not being able to participate in worship. A good friend, she listened as I cried as I explained how my heart yearned to do this one thing so vital to my being and purpose in life – honor my God. After relieving all of these emotions, I began to have some clarity on God’s perspective on what I was feeling. I heard his wise response as a father advises a child – "I know you want to worship me and participate in the service like you traditionally do, but really, this Easter season isn’t about focusing on your needs. It is actually about recognizing My sacrifices, not yours."
He wouldn’t say it to my face but I could realize the different levels of sacrifice. Mine: sacrificing an hour of sitting still listening for the Lord and just spending time with Him without necessarily receiving satisfaction. His: God giving up His only son through a painful death as He bore the weight of the world’s sin on His heart.
"I appreciate you just being there. For giving up the hour. For loving me and contemplating my death" He would continue. "Everything, especially this season, isn’t always necessarily about you, my child."
After hearing this message, I began to calm down a little. As I had heard my concerns out loud, I realized the Lord was right (dugh). But I also realized that I was more to blame for my frustration than God or life. What I saw was that I hadn’t prepared enough for mass that day but I also hadn’t prepared my soul over the Lenten season. At the beginning of the Lenten season, I thought about the tradition of giving something up for God. The more I thought about it, the more I began to despise the act as something Americans had transformed into a dieting excuse. I also thought about adding something to my worship schedule as I had tried before – such as daily devotionals or prayer time. But instead I lazily dismissed the idea because I was sick of making promises to God that I couldn’t keep, devotional commitments were something I had seemed to fail at regularly.
So now that Easter was here I found myself resenting the fact that everyone else was celebrating Christ’s resurrection when I hadn’t got to morn his trails and death. But it was no one’s fault but my own. Despite my feelings that this Lenten period had been modernized out of its true meaning, I realized that the period of self-sacrifice to acknowledge Christ’s still holds great value.
As I tried to make sense of how to move forward from this new perspective, I heard knew I couldn’t go back in time 40 days as much as I wanted to. I also didn’t want to be the one at the party who was still morning death instead of celebrating life. I decided that Christ and I both were satisfied with my lesson learned and we both decided to move on and do better next year. Another essence of character I love about our Lord: the ability to look past transgressions, appreciate a child’s mistakes and the lessons they learn, and give us, through grace, yet another shot at tackling life and faith.

I let you know how it goes…

Love Gives

Thursday, 2 April 2009
JOHN 3:16 NKJ
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave . . . .

His only son.”

GALATIANS 2:20 NKJ
20 ". . . I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me.

EPHESIANS 5:25 NLT
25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ
loved the church. He gave up his life for her

Love is only expressed through giving. If there is no giving,
there is no evidence that love exists. The only proof of love
is giving. Giving is the action that demonstrates love.

So, the measure of your giving is the measure of your love. The
more you give -- of yourself, your time, your attention, your
affection, your patience, your treasure -- the more you love.
This is what Jesus meant in John 15:13.

Love is an effort. Who am I giving to right now, at this very moment? I guess I am giving my time, my attention, my mind, my heart, my soul to the Lord through this devotion. That is how every day should start and continue. But it does. I love the Lord by loving others I meet throughout the day. Showing compassion on the needy. Lending a helping hand when I can. And that is why it hurts so much when I pass up an opportunity to help someone out of fear, selfishness, or weakness. It is because I am passing up my God. My King, my Lord. I am denying his children my aid.
But I am still torn…I don’t have endless amounts of money to give to beggars on the street.
Oh how I can so clearly hear in my ears the voice of the Almighty –

“You have plenty. I have provided for you so that you could share it with your brothers and sisters. You have never wanted for anything – that I have given you. That is some my love, that gift. You need to pass on the gift to others, for it was not meant for you to hold onto or to be yours alone.”

He is right. The Lord has done nothing but provide for me. Whilst saving for this trip, I was sure with every paycheck to commit my tithe of 10% back to the Lord. Some days I feared I wouldn’t have enough money for my journey or for all the exciting things I wanted to do. But as a friend once explained to me, that money is not mine. It was a gift from God and who am I to deny the provider one small request. Those checks were some of the biggest I have written and while part of my had to force my fingers to let them drop into the plate, the overwhelming sense of joy that I received after releasing that money from my wallet was incomparable. I felt like a I was making my Daddy proud in such a small and simple act and I had a huge feeling of relief. That a burden had been lifted from my shoulders, the burden of responsibility for the money. The responsibility to use my gifts in a way that please the Lord, that is not selfish, or succumbs to the materialism of this world. It is true; the bible says one cannot serve God and Money. I relieved and grateful to choose the Lord.


JOHN 15:13 NKJ
13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's
life for his friends.

Why did Jesus say there was no greater love than to give your
life? Because you can't give any more. That's total commitment!

I give my life to the Lord. Today and this day forward.

So, whenever you see "love" in a sentence, you may substitute
"giving" and express essentially the same meaning.

JOHN 13:35 NKJ
35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you
have love for one another."

Who will I give Love to today? A man on the street, a child with a smile, a grocery clerk with a bad day. There are so many opportunities not only to Love throughout my day. But to look for the Lord.

One of my favorite missions of our camp counselor bible study in the summer is to look for God throughout our day. You can see him in little acts of love, in the innocent children, in the beautiful nature around you, in a counselor’s effort for a child, in caring for the horses and God’s creation, but fostering true morals and holy virtues in the children that attend there. By worshiping on Sunday outside in the chapel area looking up at Old Bald watching over the breezy lake, or any day. In London perhaps.

So, I’m going to try something. I am going to try throughout my day to note the presence of God around me and report back to you. To show that he is out there. And to brighten my day. I encourage you to do the same and see what we find. Feel free to post your results in a comment. And if you’re reading this later than today – do it anyway. Come back to this when you have something to add – God calls us to witness to the world. To give testimony. This can be a place for testimony. For we are God’s disciples. And we are called to spread his love.

By understanding that love results in giving, we see that Jesus
indicated His disciples would be known for their giving. We are
to be famous for our giving! This is the way Jesus indicated
people would know His true followers: by their giving. (Not our
fighting, our preaching, or even our correct doctrine.)

We see in the early days of the church, this is exactly what
happened.

ACTS 4:34-35 NKJ
34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the
proceeds of the things that were sold,
35 and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to
each as anyone had need.

Don't think that your gifts should only go to churches and
preachers. Jesus made it clear that giving to any believer was
the same as giving to Him.

MATTHEW 25:40 NKJ
40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say
to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My
brethren, you did it to Me.'

But God has not called us to give to others just so we could
end up poor, also. NO! God has promised to multiply what we
give, so we will have more to give in the future.

LUKE 6:38 NKJ
38 "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your
bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be
measured back to you."

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NLT
6 Remember this -- a farmer who plants only a few seeds will
get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a
generous crop.
7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And
don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. "For God
loves a person who gives cheerfully."
8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will
always have everything you need and plenty left over to share
with others.

As testimony, after relinquishing that tithe with fear that I would not have enough funds for my travels. I surpassed my savings goal by 60%. God will provide.

So, based on God's promises, we can give to others in faith,
with confidence that God will continue to supply all we need.

EPHESIANS 4:28 NKJ
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor,
working with his hands what is good, that he may have something
to give him who has need.

(This verse gives us an idea of how giving was paramount in the
thinking of early Christians.)

JOHN 15:12 NKJ
12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have
loved you.

If you desire to follow Jesus, love (giving) is not optional.

SAY THIS: As a disciple of Jesus, I will be a giver.

The WHITE text comes from a daily email devotional I recieve http://aDevotion.org/tell the bold words are things I want to emphasize

Matthew 9: Faith, Compassion, Life Lessons #1 & 2

“Jesus stepped into a boat crossed over and came to his own town. Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
Matthew 9:1-2

“A ruler came and knelt before him and said, ‘my daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.’ Jessus got aup and went with him ..he said ‘go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up.”
Matthew 9:18-25

“Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said ‘ your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed from that moment.”
Matthew 9:20-22

“two blind men followed him calling out, ‘have mercy on us, Son of David!’ When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him , and he asked them, “do you believe that I cam able to do this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you’; and their sight was restored.”
Matthew 9:27-30

Faith is what Jesus is looking for from these followers. He has crowds around him all day everyday trying to get something from him, trying to be heard, trying to be healed and even trying to harass him. But it is their faith and their trust that he is looking for. That is all you need to please the Lord and to convince him that you put him as the highest most powerful savior and almighty ruler.

We must recognize that He can do anything. That he is in control of all things good and powerful.

Lord,

I turn my life over to you again today. I put my faith in you and my trust that you will heal me of weakness and this sore throat and that you will give me strength and clarity as to how to spend my precious time on this earth.
That is one lesson I have learned over the past week. That life is a gift. This time in my life is a gift and I must try harder not to waste it. And not to spend it in ways that displease you. Instead I should search for a way to please you.

All year I have pleaded “I want I want I want to live abroad, go abroad, travel.” Sitting in Kingston, not talking to anyone, not venturing out, not producing anything, no learning, not devoting myself to you, not reading or studying or working…is not the way to repay you for this amazing gift. Please help me find a way to make this a useful week in my life and on my journey with you.

Love you bunches, Please forgive me,
Jessica

Another lesson I learned from this chapter today (which I read on a bench outside a Starbucks on a busy pedestrian street in Kingston outside of London) is that now is the time when the guests should morn the bridegroom’s absence. Now is the time we should be fasting. I forget that we are in the Lenten seasons. I think the reason I am so often forgetting this is that I did not give anything up for Lent this season. I saw the whole “giving up” or even “taking on devotion pledges” as a falsity that shouldn’t only be a Lenten sacrifice but a life sacrifice. I was also being lackadaisical and lazy, careless, and rude to my King. So although I don’t necessarily agree on the whole group buy-in to pledge this transformation of sins/life under the title of a few weeks “Lent.” I feel like I have rebelled without a better alternative – and have instead lived unpleasingly to my King and regret it. I also feel like today or even tomorrow I will make no change in my life. I could take something on today. Or give some ode to my Prince. But instead a strange foreign and overwhelming lack of motivation and selfishness has seem to overcome the last few weeks of my life. It is a sad revelation. Perhaps I am infected with a demon, perhaps sloth (definitely sloth). Perhaps it is loneliness or frustration. Either way I should do something about it. As a Richmond student, as a strong follower of Christ, as the eldest, as someone people look up to, as a biggest, as a woman – I should be facing challenges in my life instead of letting them pass over me.

What is my problem?

Is it a lack of faith? Lack of God in my life? No, I cannot blame this on my savior but only myself. And perhaps poor planning. This is a lesson I must learn in life. That I have to make something of whatever comes along. And if it’s a free week in London then, albeit, I should be able to make something of it.

I need to keep my mind engaged. Downloading some news podcasts has helped my insolence a little but I need to stay connected to the world instead of swallowed by a dark apartment. (Gosh if my family and friends read this I feel like they would be so let down – I have built up this time so much –just like Carter said, if its not the “most fabulous time in my life that its supposed to be, then I just feel like a fake, a waste, a liar, a failure.” But I’m not, its not. I am learning things and growing but I can learn and grow more.

Pace. It’s all about keeping up the pace of life. I have learned an important lesson (#2) that the world doesn’t stop when I leave. Yes, the world at home is still whipping by. Bonnie’s engaged, Steph got her drivers license, Doris has a graduate school interview, everyone’s having a girls weekend in the quarter this weekend…now these things while I’m not wishing I was back in the states to be an immediate part of..its just a funny feeling to realize that I want to say to the world “hey wait! Don’t keep rolling. Spinning! You’re not allowed to go on without me!”

But that my be the spoiled little self centered princess within me. Perhaps.

Ok well “jessica’s life” – here I come!!

On to writing my journal, updating my blog, figuring out my budget, and my plans for the next week…oh yeah and life. I’m back.

So get ready to get exciting! (sometimes everybody needs a little pump up :)

Cheers to 2 life lessons come to realization today. Thanks Lord. Keep it up.

-Jessica