PS on March 2 Blog Entry

When I needed God's help again this morning (Isaiah 30:18), I thought about the abounding graciousness of our mighty God. Don't you just love how even a rebuke like in Isaiah 30 is full of awesome promises? Here is one more:

"How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you" (Isaiah 30:19).

GOD IS GREAT!

How do we get from here to there?

The LORD will cause men to hear his majestic voice.

Isaiah 30:30

How to get from here to there represents a universal dilemma. We all want to know if we are doing it right, heading in the right direction, and pursuing the right purpose. But how do you really know? After struggling with this quandary for years, I have finally come to the conclusion that I don't know and never will without hearing his majestic voice. He causes me to hear him by putting me in places that are completely out of my control, like when my aging, diabetic father, who depends on me for help, remains noncompliant of doctors orders. No matter how many times I tell him (and the doctor tells him) the importance of taking medications properly and on time, he still does it his way. I get so frustrated, I just want to scream!

I then have to wave the flag of surrender and say, "Lord, I give up. I can't do this on my own. Please speak to my heart and tell me what to do next." I re-visit old promises like the one in this same chapter of Isaiah that says, "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21).

But I know I can never take promises in God's word out of context. The Lord is rebuking Jerusalem in Isaiah 30. Their only hope was to repent, return to the Lord, and by faith rest only in him, but they refused to listen to his voice and obey. It works the same for me. I have to repent from my attempts to control those around me, especially my family and by faith rest only in God. I'll get there all right, as long as I come to him first, before I get aggravated.

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him

so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the Lord is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help.

Isaiah 30:18 (NLT)

Who have you been with?

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John

and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,

they were astonished and they took note that that these

men had been with Jesus."

Acts 4:13

At the time Luke wrote this, Jesus had been crucified, already returned to heaven, and Pentecost was over,* yet the rulers, elders, and teachers of the law noticed that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Had Peter and John already figured out how to spend time alone with Jesus praying in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24)? He hadn't been with them (physically) in a while. The answer is yes, because when we back up to verse 8 in this chapter, Acts 4, Peter answered the rulers questions filled with the Holy Spirit.

Since Pentecost 2009 years ago, praying works the same way for Peter and John as it does for us. We cannot speak in the power of the Holy Spirit without spending time alone with Jesus listening to him through his word. The only difference is that Peter, John, and others were working on writing the word of God, but we have the complete and perfect word of God in our hands between a leather cover. We have the privilege of knowing the whole story, even the end that has not happened yet.

The verse bolded above makes me ask myself--Who is taking note of me? Does how I act prove who I hang with? I hope and pray people around me can tell I spend time alone with Jesus. I have some bad days, but for the most part, I desire for those God puts in my path to have their notepads ready and jot down "Susan has been with Jesus!" Because when it comes down to it, everything good I do is his idea, anyway.

Always Listen!!

*Jesus was crucified during Passover, after he rose he stayed on earth for 40 more days (Acts 1:3). Pentecost occurred 50 days after Passover.

From Six Calamities

From six calamities he will rescue you;

in seven no harm will befall you.

Job 5:19

Feeling like you are on your sixth calamity? I know my friend does. While walking across the parking lot at her grocery store, she was hit by a car. One minute she stood pushing her cart, the next, her foot was under the tire of an automobile. Ouch! She's quite beat up; with a cracked elbow, and a broken ankle.

What do you do when life knocks you down? When you are feeling uncomfortable today, try not to forget all that God has brought you through yesterday. Remember all of his past graces. And think about it. If he has brought you through six troubles, will you not trust him in the seventh?

After pleading his promises and presenting our cases to God in prayer, we usually realize that if there is any help to be found, it will come from God. For like Peter we say, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68-69). Though we don't know how it will work out and when, we look to God. Even when we are knocked down and unable to do a thing, we look to God. Our eyes may be full of tears, but they are looking up.

I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help come from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121:1-2

Move Past Your Devastation; Stay Close to God

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,

I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength

of my heart and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalm 73:21-28

We all experience times of devastation that cause us to cry out, "Why God? Why did you allow this to happen to me?" or "Why did you allow this to happen in my family?" I cried out to God in this way when my brother was murdered. And sometimes horrible things happen when we are attempting to serve God, like David. Anointed as King at 15 years of age, David did not sit on the throne until he was 30. During those 15 years of waiting, he regularly inquired of the Lord. As a result, he wanted the presence of God to be near him as he ruled over Judah (and 6 and a half years later, Israel too. 2 Samuel 5:4-5). This caused the first thing on his agenda to consist of bringing back the ark to Jerusalem, which the enemy had captured.

David put together a huge party, about 30,000 in all, to commemorate the return of the ark. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and every instrument they owned. When they made it to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. Uzzah, the man guiding the cart and oxen, reached out and took hold of the ark of God. Because of his irreverent act, God struck him down and he died on the spot. The party--instantly over. David became angry and afraid. He asked, "How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?" (story from 2 Samuel 6)

When was the last time you were angry and afraid of God? Are you still there? The Scriptures (in the Psalm 73 above and 2 Samuel 6) reveal that the man after God's own heart moved past his devastation back into the arms of his Lord. After the tragedy with Uzzah, the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months and the LORD blessed him and his entire household. David must have spent that time figuring out the proper way to carry the representation of our Holy God's presence. As soon as David heard about Obed-Edom's blessings, he mustered up enough courage to finish the task of bringing the ark to the City of David. Uninterrupted celebration and worship followed. David danced before the LORD with all his might.

Life works the same for us. When we get past our trials and heartache and truly understand that God is not harsh; GOD IS HOLY, we are prompted to return to brave obedience and do things God's way instead of our own way or the way the unsaved world works. God's ways will always surpass our thinking (Isaiah 55:8-9). Even though he is holy and mysterious at times, he remains a personal God who wants to comfort us and guide us through the ups and downs of living in a broken, sinful world. Our enemy wants us to stay devastated. What if David had held on to his anger and remained afraid to come near to God? There would be no "rest of the story." We can follow David's example by wanting the blessings of God for ourselves enough to get up and start over again. And then, we dance.

An Axhead Floats

The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live."
And he said, "Go."
Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?"
"I will," Elisha replied. And he went with them.
They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it. 2 Kings 6:1-7


I love this short little story tucked into the narrative of Elisha's ministry. It shows us God’s great concern for us, especially in everyday things, like cutting down trees and building a place to live.

All Elisha had to do was to cut a stick and throw it where the axhead fell in. God did the rest. Cutting and throwing a stick seem a little weird, but against all expectations, the heavy iron floated to the top of the water. “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

I pray today that God opens our eyes so we can see Him working His little miracles all around us. And if he prompts one of us to cut and throw some sticks, well—“according to our faith let it be done” (Matthew 9:29). May we reach out our hands and take all God has in store for us and experience floating irons on a regular basis.

Striving for Excellence

We are all so busy being good;

we have no time to be excellent.

Charles Jarvis

In recent months, God has impressed upon my heart the importance of using our God-given talents to serve Him with excellence. It's a good thing that God always manages to find ways to teach and encourage us, because with the ideas he puts into our minds comes a desire to follow through. Soon after God kept repeating the theme of excellence during our time alone, I came across Mr. Jarvis' quote (above) in a perpetual flip calendar on my desk. This statement rings true in most church-members. We love doing good, but sometimes we get so busy at it, we fail to follow God into the best he has in store for us.

I then ran across this story on the Jews for Jesus website: http://www.jewsforjesus.org/ that I want to share with you. It is a little longer than most of my blog entries, but well worth it. This story written by the founder of Jews for Jesus, Moishe Rosen, tells the tale of a person who got so busy he had no time for excellence. I pray that as you read this story you understand that you are a man or woman of destiny. You have a call. Don't ever settle for anything less than God's best. Strive for Christian excellence in all you do.

He was a wise young man—a coal miner who became a lawyer by studying at night school. First he learned shorthand. Then he found work in a law office. Later, when his shorthand improved, he became a court reporter. He attended law school at night and passed his bar exams. Then he received a call from God for missionary service. He even knew the place—Burma.

She was the most popular girl in her class, but never took any of her suitors seriously. She too, had received a call from God. After high school she enrolled at a newly-founded missionary college in preparation for answering that call.

Each of them might well have been named "Most Likely to Succeed" by society's standards, but they both had other standards in mind. They wanted to serve God above anything else. They met at that missionary college. It was inevitable that they should decide to marry. Together they prayed and looked forward to their missionary service. They were married the day after graduation.

Before their appointment to Burma came through, there was a small complication. He weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 20 inches long. When finally the appointment was made, her need to recuperate from an extremely difficult labor prompted them to postpone their acceptance for a year. But the next year brought a flu epidemic. It nearly took his life and did claim the life of their little son. The overwhelming medical bills caused another delay. To get out of debt, he became very much involved in his law practice.

The third year brought another baby. The new father, now a successful lawyer, was in the midst of a contested probate where a godly widow had left a huge sum of money to missions. Her ungodly children were using all kinds of legal maneuvers to keep that mission from receiving the funds. He felt he could not leave for Burma until the case was settled. He rationalized that he was fulfilling his call by serving as an attorney for God's work, and that the delay in going to Burma must have been God's will. That case took four years to resolve.

Once again he applied as a missionary, but this time only half-heartedly. He now had three small children, and with relief he accepted the mission board's notification: they could not use him in the field. Burma had been closed to missionaries.

His law practice continued to flourish. His monthly donations supported several missionaries. He served on the board of directors for several missions, and through his generosity several churches were started. I attended their 45th wedding anniversary celebration and heard that very attractive older couple declare their happiness and sense of fulfillment and their love for the Lord and one another. They were never to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. She passed on and he became frail in health.

At that time I was a young missionary and greatly discouraged in my ministry, thinking that I might better serve the Lord in some other way. I considered "tentmaking" as Paul had done. The idea had always appealed to me. Because there is an onus on being a missionary to the Jews, it would be so much easier if I could continue to witness but say that I was a shoe salesman or a teacher—anything respectable—anything but a missionary to the Jews, which was not at all "respectable"!

I shared my burden with the elderly lawyer because I knew and respected him greatly. That was when he told me a shocking secret—one he had kept from even his closest associates. He confided it to me because I needed to hear it, and I have never forgotten it. He said,

"I've had a happy life, but not a joyous one. I've made and given away a fortune. I have the love and respect of many, but I did not fulfill my destiny. It's easy to excuse myself by saying that circumstances dictated another call, but only in the last year of my wife's life could we admit to one another that we had chosen to do the second best. I am not unhappy, but I am not fulfilled."

Then he added something that helped me overcome my discouragement. He said, "I recognize that you are a man of destiny. You have a call from God. Don't do anything less than what He has called you to do."

He died shortly after that. He was a man who taught me many things. He was certainly a godly man. I can testify to that. He was happy and successful, but by his own admission, he had not fulfilled his destiny.

Some time back, I read Christian Excellence: Alternative to Success by Dr. Jon Johnston, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Discussing our success-oriented evangelical society, Dr. Johnston made a distinction between success and excellence. He described his own efforts to be a super-person, and how he had continually failed and concealed his failings. Then he had read a highly recommended secular book, In Search of Excellence. The book dealt with companies that did things right and made it big. As he read that book, Dr. Johnston realized that it was not describing excellence, but success.

He pointed out the differences. He said that success is cheap. Success might mean enjoying the acclaim of the crowd, having the keys to the executive bathroom and driving a Mercedes, but success does not necessarily last. Excellence, on the other hand, does. Excellence does not gain the applause of the crowd. Excellence does not produce popularity. Excellence demands more than success. Striving toward excellence requires striving to change one's character.

After reading that, I wondered if Dr. Johnston was not just playing word games. Wasn't excellence implied in success? If a person did an excellent job, then didn't he or she succeed? If a person received recognition for being successful, wasn't that success due to excellence? In our society that seems to be the case. Excellence, success and recognition seem to go hand-in-hand.

Then I realized what Dr. Johnston was saying, and it was an important lesson to me: in the Christian sense, excellence in serving the Lord is quite different. Christian excellence is motivated by a desire to please the Lord and to fulfill His purposes. Such endeavor is an act of worship, not to be applauded by human hands. Christian excellence entails offering one's best to God. It cannot be snatched away by lack of human praise or augmented by human recognition or earthly reward. It seeks only the Master's affirmation: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

I know from personal experience that Christian excellence can exist without "success" and without applause or fanfare. If you want to see excellence and godliness, come and sit at our Jews for Jesus mail table and read some of the mail we receive from friends and supporters. Sometimes the spelling isn't correct; sometimes the handwriting is scrawled and shaky and almost illegible. But I look at those pages and see the reflections of godly people. I see hearts of love and praise to God. I see overcoming strength and victory in the midst of illness; trust in the midst of poverty. That is Christian excellence.

Excellence is better than success. It entails pleasing God—fulfilling one's destiny as His child—godliness. Godliness does not lead us to strive for success, but to strive for excellence—to strive to accomplish God's purposes, thus fulfilling our highest calling as His redeemed ones. How we love to quote Romans 8:28: "…all things work together for good.…" But we must be careful to remember the rest of the verse: "…to those who are the called according to His purpose." And if you read the rest of that passage, you find that God calls us to be conformed to the image of His Son. We are not all called to be professional missionaries. We are not all called to be preachers. But we are all called to fill and fulfill a definite role within the Body of Christ. As those who have received the Spirit of Christ, we know what God asks of us, and we know when we settle for doing—for giving Him—something less.

That godly lawyer knew. He told me, "You are a man of destiny. You have a call." He didn't want me to settle for anything less. He exhorted me as one who had not fulfilled his own destiny. I, in turn, want to say to all blood-bought believers in Christ: You too have a destiny because you have a call, as does every believer in Christ. Your call is to do your part in accomplishing the purposes of our Heavenly Father. Once you realize this, you have the potential of excelling in the fulfillment of your destiny. And fulfilling your destiny will bring unmatched and lasting joy.