Luke 13:34

Luke 13

34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’

As the girl slept until 8 am this morning (and we don't make habits of waking sleeping children), we missed our window for church this morning. While I am sad not to start the New Year in the house of God in fellowship with our friends and church family, I am equally blessed to have started my New Year the way that I did (not to mention getting to sleep in, horray!).

A while ago I had started with the PWOC in a Bible study with Beth Moore's personal reflection series on Jesus (a 90 day study). Though 90 days has come and gone, I am on day 62. The birth of Isabelle put a huge dent in what I had found to be a wonderful way to start my day - morning quiet time. I am slowly getting back to it when I can, and this morning was one of those blessed mornings.

Today's scripture was Luke 13:34-35, talking about the desire of Christ's heart to shelter the children of Israel, but that they were not interested, not willing to allow that covering to take place. I love Beth Moore's writing. Her discussion on these verses was compelling, presenting the case of a covering of immunity when we are walking in the will of the Father. That there are two levels of immunity as she suggests, one when you accept Christ as Lord of your life, you are immune from the fires of Hell as you will be with the Lord in Heaven. She suggests a second level of immunity, being only when you are walking in the will of the Father, under the covering of his protection as you live in obedience. She goes on to write about the two witnesses in Revelations 11, a picture of this second level of immunity. They could not be killed until they had fulfilled their God given purpose.

This picture of the covering of protection from Above is empowering. Your life will not end until God's purpose has been fulfilled in you. And if you walk in obedience to the will of God, you are covered under His protection. Not to say you will not experience trials, but that those trials must first come through the will of God for His greater purpose. And let's look back at the end of the verse 34... "and you were not willing".

I pause. And ponder. The children of Israel missed out on covering from above against Satan because they were not willing. Yes, it involves of obedience. But what better place to be than walking in the will of the Father and covered by His protection? Why would you not want this?

I want to be willing, Lord, all year long. Welcome, 2012, and may the God of my salvation bring me closer to fulfillment of His will for my life. Even if it means to obey.

And because I have some baptist background, I'll close with these hymnal lyrics, "Trust and Obey" as they came to my head as I was looking to close this post:

1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
   What a glory He sheds on our way!
   While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
   And with all who will trust and obey.
   • Refrain:
     Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
   But His smile quickly drives it away;
   Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
   Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
   But our toil He doth richly repay;
   Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
   But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
   Until all on the altar we lay;
   For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
   Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
   Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
   What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
   Never fear, only trust and obey.

Thanksgiving

It is a sad day when family has to leave. We just finished two wonderful weeks with Matt's mom (known as Grammie). It makes me really look forward to being closer to family so we can have visits like these much more often. We have more family coming for Christmas too!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (at least, in my heart, no snow here). Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

True Colors

My mom used to do True Colors trainings at one point in her career (http://www.true-colors.com/index.html) - its essentially a personality profiling and group dynamics. There are four colors which stand for a dominance of character traits - green, gold, blue, and orange. Here - generically speaking - is how they break down:

Green - I have a huge goal, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. (dreamer)

Gold - I can name, number, alphabetize, colorize, organize, and administrate the steps to get to that goal. (planner)

Blue - I have so many feels about this goal, do you want to talk about this first? (feelings)

Orange - That's a really neat goal... oH LOOK... A CHICKEN! (spontinaity)

My dear husband is gold-orange dominated. To him, this is what he'd say (regarding the focal point of this goal):

I can help you plan all those steps. Want to go hiking first?

Me, on the other hand, would say this:

This goal is the culmination of my livelihood. I have been focused on this goal since I was a young adult, and have been planning/replanning since then the steps I'll need to get there. I'm sorry (or not..), that I don't focus on (or care about) how you feel about it, and I'll be really upset if you try to change this subject.

bwahaha! Yes, I am a green-gold combo.

I just happened to be pondering this as I refilled my water bottle tonight, and got a chuckle out of the buckets I put people in according to this True Colors method, and trying to imagine (based on the traits of the 4 colors) how they'd react. It's pretty funny if you ponder it. Or maybe I've just had a long day and needed a quiet giggle. :)

Leave a light on while you work

My daily devotional (which has been monthly at best for some time now) brought me to Luke 12:35-40, a passage which speaks about a servant being expectant of the master's return, whenever it might be. I've been a little downcast lately, having been battling this awful chest cold and healing from minor surgery. My heart has longed to "feel" normal and healthy again. This time right now that I am writing here is the first time in weeks that both kids are asleep and I've felt alive and well enough not to pass out with them. I was prompted (thank you Lord!) to not sit down and surf, or read, but to return to my Beth Moore study on Luke... and I am SO GLAD that I did.

What gets in the way of expecting Christ's return?... my answer was life. Kids. sickness. appointments. cleaning house. You name it. And what is a way I can return to living a life that is daily expectant of His return?... by being in the Word, daily. Duh :) I have said over and over to my friends and husband when talking through issues, that when you START with Christ, (living outside your circumstances), your focus is so much clearer. It's true today for me as it has been true every time I've returned to this truth.

Here was my prayer for this day's devotional:

Lord, a servant does not just sit and wait expectantly. A good servant toils forward about his Master's work, expecting the return but not just sitting and waiting. The good servant is mindful of use of time and resources, being a good steward of all things given. Lord, drive me forward with this motivation of being a good servant and a good steward of the gifts I've been given and the burdens of life I joyfully carry. For I have not been a good steward lately, being caught up in my circumstances which has caused a spiral of mood swings and bad days. Thought I know my first fruits doesn't necessarily mean first thing in the morning, Lord please help me to give to you of my day in a way that blesses You and gives glory to Your name. I can't do this life alone Lord, help me to actively await your return as I toil forward with Your work. Amen!

Longing

The Lord keeps returning to my heart the desires of 4 seasons - specifically fall and winter. My mind wanders to the summer spent in Paradise, my years in Houghton, the snow shoe trails, the skiing, the swimming, hiking, blueberry picking, the fall colors... I could write for weeks about my love of the land of fall colors, snow, lakes, trees, rivers, birds, campfires, crisp evening air. Though that land has a name in my memory (the UP) there are so many other areas that fit the bill. But Okinawa is not on that list. Sigh.

It's very difficult to keep my attitude positive and Christ-centered when the intensity of this longing is strong. It is darn right frustrating, sad, and a bit depressing to not be where your heart longs to be. Until Christ either fulfills this desire, or takes it from me, all I can do is pray for grace under this pressure, surround myself with my beautiful family, and remember that Okinawa has its blessings too.

Peace,
Kristy

This Life

In this life, what has the greatest cost? .... The forgiveness of sins.

And how much did that cost? .... it was priceless.

Who paid it? .... Jesus did. By His death, and He did it with much joy.

Oh, to follow in His footsteps and deny myself daily, as He did with His life. For you. For me. Everything comes back to this simple truth; that this life is not my own.

Welcome to my world.

Luke 9:23

"23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self ? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."