God meets Me in the Middle

Writing on the word "settle" linked with fiveminutefriday.com


“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[ your evil behavior.  But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. Col 1:19-23

Today is Saturday,  the day after Good Friday and the day before Easter. I am thinking about the disciples and deliverance and being settled in between. Oh the Christian now can be settled. We know the history. We have the Holy Spirit who is our witness and comforter.

Are we always settled? I'm not. I just peeked at a few things that happened after the crucifiction. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Joses were looking from a distance to see where He was laid. They sat across from the grave, I'm sure in great grief,  but also I suspect they were figuring a plan. When they returned home they and some other women prepared spices and perfumes. My question is, how did they expect to get on the other side of that stone?

The Sabbath was the next day. It was Jewish law they could do nothing but rest. I know that grief sometimes buffers anxiety. In grief everything seems to slow down. There's not the energy for any adrenaline surge in any direction.

Do you remember the story of Daniel? King Darius was deceived into issuing a law that anyone found serving any other King for 30 days would be cast into the lion's den. His governors of his kingdom hated Daniel and knew he prayed to God. So he was caught and it was told to the King. This upset him but there was nothing he could do to revoke the law. He said to Daniel “The God who you constantly serve will himself deliver you. A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den and the King sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel.” Dan 6:16-17. The rest of the story? God shut the mouths of the lions and delivered Daniel.

I see a few similarities here.

What do I do when I see my hopes hanging, bleeding out before me. And there are laws, either of the land or of my own making that cannot change. Can I be settled knowing that God will deliver me? There are things that I cannot change, and things that can never be undone. But I can continue in faith and don't move from hope of the gospel.

These are just a few thoughts to get us thinking in this journey of ours.

When The Road Bends

Ps 143:10 “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Do you have specific daily routines? Have you ever noticed that one change can throw you off completely? With me it started with one gradual change and then over time I notice it is affecting my whole day. It is like a domino effect. My thought patterns are more displaced. Add sickness to the mix and suddenly I feel I am under an avalanche of misguided emotions and thoughts.

But even in these times, the Father is not moved or shaken. Neither should I be. Changes will come. They are good. Sometimes God allows the routines to go to bring me out of the monotony. Sometimes a rest is needed so something else can be accomplished that I don't even know. Even though the schedule may be different,  God is still asking that I follow His leading, maybe down a path I have never been.

Linking up with fiveminutefriday.com

When I Am Just Too Tired

FiveminuteFriday (on Saturday)
Five minutes of thoughts into words.

Ps 62:1 “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him”.
My actions tell me when I'm overtired:

Like the time I worked overnight and couldn't get the proper sleep for ten months andmended up not knowing my name or what day it was half the time.

Or the time I was driving with some ladies to a Bible retreat after working all night long. The first thing I did was go through the easy pass without having an easy pass transponder in my car. I argued with them until they refused to go unless I surrendered my control.

And then one day I went to make coffee and instead of putting coffee in the filter, I put the cat food. Multi-tasking is not my forte when tired. Luckily I noticed in time.

What about the time I baked oatmeal cookies and while eating them I realized I had left out the oatmeal. They became brown sugar, raisin cookies. A new recipe is born.

Some things make for good stories later, but not all. The most frequent and obvious telltale sign of my lack of sleep is my emotions. I tend to get very annoyed very quickly.

Stress, anxiety or poor decisions are all factors of sleep deprivation. A scripture that comes to mind is Romans 12:1, 2 “Therefore I urge you,  brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not conformed to the pattern of this world,  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Whereas there is responsibility and definite work to be done and concern to be had in this world,  I need to examine the patterns of the world by which I shape my life. Renewing (waking up, strengthening,  regenerating) my mind to Christ's will transform me more and more. Tired should be healthy and sleep, restful.

Make Despair the Pathway to Hope

fiveminutefriday.com
Just rough drafts and maybe incomplete thoughts to whet your appetite for the Word of God
Todays word is ‘regret'

But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. “My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. Job 23:10, 11

Do I have regrets? Am I sorry for careless decisions and impulsive acts of my will and passions? Is regret the same as repentance? Do I look at my consequences and just wish nothing had ever happened the way it has transpired? What about God,  does he regret me as he regretted creating man before the flood? That's what it says in Genesis 6. Is God a God who repents and regrets what He has done? Num 23:19 “God is not a man,  that he should lie; neither the son of man,  that he should repent….” Is that contradictory?

Where it is true we all make mistakes and suffer consequences,  our hope is in the redemption of God rather than the remorse of our fallen wills. The way to redemption is through our godly sorrow. It works to salvation not to be repented of.

I can,  and often do,  regret things all day long. I think we have to always keep a check on ourselves,  not to lead us to despair but to remind us of the perfect salvation we possess. Grace shows us our inheritance but does not diminish our responsibility. God hates our sin. Before the flood He had foreknowledge. He saw the wickedness of man. One translation says “it repented Him”,  it all brought sorrow and grief to His heart to know they would never respond anyway no matter what He did. He saves whosoever wills but He knows who they are.

Frank Sinatra made the song famous “Regrets,  I've had a few,  but then again,  too few to mention.”  I wonder if now he would do it his own way.