Guard Against the Joy Thieves

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

- John 10:10

When I think of a thief, I instantly picture a cartoon figure clad in a striped shirt and sporting a black eye mask – not too sneaky of a get up for a thief, if you ask me.





But the thieves Christ is speaking of are so much less obvious than what our minds imagine. They show up in the subtle lies whispered by our sinful hearts, the world and Satan, whose main goal is to trick us into believing that there is something else in life that will make us happy. These thieves never rest; they are ever attempting to lure us away from chasing our joy in Christ. When we fold to them, we fling open the door to our hearts and allow them to wreak havoc on the peace Christ died to give us – the abundance of life we are offered in Him.

These thieves are opportunists, knowing that our physical lives this side of heaven will very likely be one of trials and struggles. They've helped twist the understanding of this verse and promoted the “prosperity gospel” lie that the abundant Christian life is one marked by a full bank account and a clean bill of health. While most of us, if we are honest, desire those things, what Christ is talking about here is so much more than just our material security, which we all know is fleeting and can change on a dime (no pun intended).

So what is the abundant life? When we are born into God's family through faith in Christ's redeeming work on the cross, His Spirit dwells in us and the abundant life can be experienced in our daily decision to be satisfied in Him alone. Our simple lives become supernaturally empowered, allowing us to live life to the fullest in the strength He supplies, just as He designed it to be lived.

It seems like a foolish question, but who doesn't want a MORE joyful, fulfilling life? That is the abundant life that Jesus promises – that in Him (and Him alone), we are graciously given the chance to operate infused with his unshakable joy every day; and when our days on Earth are done, eternal joy. Let's make it a habit to ask God for the grace to stop being satisfied by lesser joys, as C.S. Lewis famously wrote,

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Lord, help us to lock out the thieves and vigilantly guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), turning our minds toward the face of Christ by saturating them in Your Word, our main weapon, as often as we are able, knowing that a richer, fuller life marked by joy and strength in Christ alone awaits us.

Rome: An Unexpected Lesson on What Falls and What Stands

So, Rome. It's hard to walk away from a visit to what has been called the “Eternal City” without, at least on a sub-conscious level, pondering the question of what is truly eternal and worthy of ultimate trust.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” (Psalm 20: 7)

Imperial Rome, although at one point it ruled all of what was the known world at the time, had a set time for its reign, and eventually collapsed. It doesn't take a lengthy glance back at human history to see clearly that the same has gone (and will go) for all other man-made institutions of this world. Anything that is not based on what is eternal will inevitably fall.

So, the question looms large before us – at this point in human history, where is our hope based? Is it our country, our financial security, technology, medical advancement, our philosophies, those around us, ourselves? Or is our trust, our final sense of assurance, based on the only One Who sits on the everlasting throne?

As we watch our country struggle, we do well to remember that even though we should stand firm in graciously speaking the Truth in love, when all is said and done, we can rest in knowing that God's providence cannot be thwarted. We can trust in the name of the Lord our God, even if all that we know collapses and falls, because if we are in Christ, His saving work on the cross will ultimately cause us to “rise and stand upright” in the end.

 

Until that Day, may God help us to remember and live out His command to love with a true love:

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever."(1 Peter 1:22-25)

What's On Your Mind?

“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things...practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
 - Philippians 4:8, 9b

Every year the mud martins came – pretty little birds who would build their muddy nest in the safety of our front porch. We welcomed them because they were fun to watch, but any time we attempted to walk out our front door, they dive bombed us with military fervor. Pretty little birds with a pretty impressive attack mode.

When it comes to our thoughts, there's great wisdom in the old saying that you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from building a nest in your hair. Often thoughts can seem to bombard us out of thin air, and before we know it, we find ourselves, sometimes even subconsciously, letting them “build a nest in our hair” by dwelling on that which is unhealthy, unhelpful, and unholy.

 

Do you ever find this to be true in your life? Your day starts out fairly smoothly, but then somehow - totally undetected - some lie begins to sneak into your thoughts, clouding the Truth in your heart, and slowly turning your mind towards that which is negative, fearful, selfish, just ugly...And before you know it, your perspective on life is completely tainted by that insidious lie's shadow, causing your actions (usually regrettable) to follow suit. It's been rightly said, “Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character.” What we allow ourselves to think on, we will do, and what we do, we will become.

Any time I find myself covered with the splattered mud of my selfishness (or any number of sins), I can always trace my actions back to my mind's believing in some sort of lie that my sin nature, the world or Satan has thrown at me. Every sin is rooted in wrong thinking – just as, conversely, every godly act is rooted in right thinking. When we find ourselves slowly sinking into a mental pit of stinky thoughts (jealousy, worry, selfishness, insecurity, anger, idolatry, etc.), we are believing some sort of lie that has been sown into our minds. And we can be sure that if we continue to brood on it, the inevitable result is sin – which, if we have God's Spirit dwelling in us through faith in Christ, will always destroy our peace.

So how do we conquer "the life of the mind"? God knows that, since the Garden of Eden, we humans have been easy targets for the swaying of our minds toward the dark and untrue (and we've been watching the results of wrong thinking wreak havoc on human history ever since). So, out of the Father's tender love, He commands us to get control of our thought life by continually redirecting our minds to that which is:

true

honorable

just

pure

lovely

commendable

excellent

and praiseworthy

 

– essentially, turning our minds toward Jesus and His Word, which embodies all these qualities.

 

To do this, we must trust Him. God's Word promises,

 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"

-Isaiah 26:3

 

Do you trust in the Lord? Does your heart rest in the fickle fact that you have enough money in the bank, your last health check-up was good, you've got a ring on your finger, or you're just feeling generally well-liked at the moment...

 

Or does your heart truly, moment-by-moment, peacefully rest in the unchangeable fact that - no matter what - the Lord is

sovereign,

faithful, 

all-powerful,

merciful,

loving,

patient,

forgiving,

gracious,

and will work all things together for the good of those who love Him?

 

People (including ourselves) will fail us. Our health will fail us. Whatever we are leaning on to maintain our false sense of security will ultimately fail us.

 

Only Jesus is fully trustworthy and will never fail us.

 

When we discipline ourselves to think on this Truth (and a huge tool to help us do that is memorizing Scripture), we are much more likely to fulfill the next verse's command: to put these things into practice.

 

As we think God's thoughts, which are clearly laid out for us in His Word, and should be in our hearts through memorization, we are forever changed as His Spirit redeems our minds. We begin to see life from God's perspective, and we can then live out the kind of walk He desires. And as obedience leads to deeper intimacy with Jesus, we are promised that “the God of peace will be with [us].”

Are you lacking peace in your life today? Do you want more intimacy with God?

 

First check your thoughts – what is your mind's “default setting”? What do you think on when you're just “spacing out”? If it's not Jesus and all His beauty spilling forth through Scripture and His grace around us, then ask the Lord to help you learn to trust Him and learn His Word (see links below) - so that, even if you're bombarded daily with all manner of thoughts, you will find your mind always returning to its safe haven, always being restored and grounded, settled and ultimately wrapped in peace and not fear, as you learn to dwell on Jesus and His powerful Word, which alone is

 true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Father God, please give me the grace to capture every thought that is not from You and replace it with Your Truth, as I seek to write it on my heart. My mind desperately needs to be renewed by Your Spirit through Your Word every day. Thank you that no lie from the Enemy, world or my own sinful nature can stand up to the purifying light of Truth found in Your Word. Amen.

[P.S. To learn more about God and how to have His peace, click http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally.html
P.S.S. www.fighterverses.com is an excellent tool for Scripture memory! Find someone to be your partner in memorizing God's Word to hold you accountable - it'll make all the difference.]

Troubled or Trusting?

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” - John 14: 27

Just as it does in our beloved Texas, the “weather” in my heart can change in an instant. It seems that within any given week, my perspective on life can swing from mountain top to valley – sometimes within just a matter of minutes! Often the stormy moments are kicked up by very real outside factors, but many times the waves come crashing as a result of my own sinful heart (or hormones!). Regardless of the cause of the storms of life, we all know they come, are approaching, or are already here - sometimes as brief gusts that leave as quickly as they came...and sometimes as F5 tornadoes that lay waste to virtually everything standing in our lives. Life is rarely smooth sailing.

Knowing this, when we begin to see the waves rising, when the winds start to stir up in our hearts and we think, “surely, not another storm already!”...where is our hope anchored (Heb. 6: 19)? When the tempests hit, may we be found steadily clinging to our Rock, our hands securely resting in the unbreaking grasp of our Savior. As the storm waves come, may we let God's Word wash over us too, reminding us of His Truth that:

never will He leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6);
He will work all things together for our good (Rom. 8: 28);
His purpose will stand (Prov. 19:21);
He is our refuge and strength (Ps. 46:1);
He has overcome the world (Jn. 16: 33);
He disciplines those He loves (Heb. 12: 6);
He will make all things new (Rev. 21:5);
and even though we walk through deep places, we will not be overtaken (Is. 43: 2)...

(This list of promises could go on - God's Word is chock full of 'em).

We must, moment by moment, anchor our souls in Christ; and as we do, He will flood our hearts with His promised peace that passes all understanding – that true soul rest that the world cannot give, although it searches desperately for it at empty wells.

Sweet Captain of my life,
as You lead me through the inevitable heights and depths of life's adventure, strengthen my failing heart to not be troubled or afraid, but trusting in You and Your great, never-ending, unfailing love – the ultimate source of all lasting peace.

The Gift I Wouldn't Have Chosen, But Am Glad I Received



 

It was a sweet birthday spent surrounded by my most treasured little people and darling husband, filled with homemade gifts, drawings, letters and little voices shouting “happy birthday, Mama!” every half hour or so (love how kids are even more excited about your birthday than you are). I thought I had really been taking it all in – this ridiculous blessedness in my life – trying to thank God, as often as it occurred to me throughout the day, for how He has lavished His grace on my life.

 

But apparently God had an unexpected, more profound birthday gift for me that He knew I needed, one that was most definitely not on my 'want list' – but one I am now grateful for because of the renewal is has birthed in my heart.

Driving home from taking our kids to AWANA and grabbing a quick birthday dinner at my favorite local restaurant, my eyes were once again opened to the brevity and fragility of this life. We were coming up to a hill, slowing down on the dark two-lane highway to turn left onto the road that leads to our neighborhood, when a truck coming the other direction swerved into our lane. I was mid-yawn, listening to my silly 3-year old sing Christmas carols (even though it's now well into January), half-dreading the beat-down of our nightly routine of wrangling 4 small kids into bed, when, out of nowhere, the lights of an extremely close oncoming vehicle appeared in our lane. Before my brain could even really register what was happening, Chris swerved to the right to make room for the truck, while thankfully its driver realized his error and corrected himself back into his lane as well.

And there we were. All okay. Chris smoothly turned left off the highway, and we cruised safely back home. But in my mama heart, something snapped awake. Something changed. God used the lights of that truck to shine deep in my sleeping heart, snapping me awake with a renewed appreciation for every single breath that not only I take, but that fills the lungs of my precious family - because in an instant, they could've been emptied. The nightly bedtime routine suddenly became less of a beat-down and more of a blessing - needless to say, I treasured my moments with my children as I marveled at them snugly tucked into their beds, because they so easily could not have been.

And what if they weren't? What if our night had ended in the hospital, or if we'd never even made it off that highway? What then?

 

This is where it gets hard.

 

It's easy to praise God for His steadfast love and mercy when life is on the upswing. But what about when He allows it to slide back down the pendulum? What about the dark times, the valleys of the shadow of death? I've only been around 37 years now (as of yesterday), but I've lived enough to walk through some of those shadows myself and have certainly seen other precious souls thrown headlong into them.

It is a tricky question that my heart runs away from because I naturally want to shield my eyes from the darkness of life. But two answers come to mind when I am forced to think through the “what ifs.”

 

First, I am reminded in my spirit that life is a gift. And we're not just talking “a good long life” - we're talking every single beat that my heart is allowed to pump. How can I say that I deserve any of it? Did I make myself?! Did I choose the time period and location in which I would be born? This list could go on, and with each question I become more and more aware of just how little I have to do with anything and just how phenomenally gracious God has been to allow me even one day (let alone 13, 505 now!). The poetry of G.K. Chesterton rings in my ears,

Here dies another day

During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

And the great world round me;

And with tomorrow begins another.

Why am I allowed two?

Why am I allowed two? Oh, that I could live every waking moment with the awareness of the grace that has been lavished on me in the miracle of every moment I am given. It overwhelms me to think of the tragedy of how many moments I have wasted in selfishness, ingratitude and countless other vain outcries of my sinful heart. All I can do is turn to my merciful Savior and whisper, “forgive me,” knowing that He does. Forgive my blindness, my pride, my complete ignorance of how abundantly, ridiculously good You have been to my undeserving self. Good even in allowing what we would deem as bad – because in the bad, there will be good that comes. [God promises to work all things for our good and His glory, for those who love Him (Romans 8:28), and through His discipline there will be great fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12: 3-11). ]

The second answer that washes over my shaken heart is Jesus' beautiful words, acknowledging that life will most certainly be hard this side of heaven:

“In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

- John 16: 33

I love how Jesus is so honest with us – He doesn't sugarcoat things or try to paint a picture of “the easy life.” For the One who will carry the heaviest burden ever shouldered - the sin of all humanity - He is well aware that our days on this earth can be dark. He acknowledges this, but doesn't leave us with a, “well, that's just how life is, son...”

 

No.

 

He tells us to “take heart!” He lifts our chins up and redirects our floundering focus onto HIMSELF. He has overcome it all. Our hope is renewed. Not only does He promise that through His work on the cross, we are guaranteed eternal life – life that will make this earthly one seem like a blink, just a blip on the radar screen...but He promises that while we are still in this frail tent of a body, He will be with us – even more, He will carry us...if we let Him (Matthew 11: 28-30).

So I wake up, this second day of my 37^th year, treasuring the gift God has given me – the priceless reminders that:

Life is a fragile, fleeting, precious grace of a gift, and I should do my utmost to soak up every second, shouting out praises of gratitude in my heart for every moment I am given (yes, even the tough ones!),

and

Even when the dark times come (which they most certainly will), I can take heart because my Savior will never leave me nor forsake me and He has 'overcome the world', working all things together for my good and His glory.

 

Our hope can never be shaken when it is based in Him,

Who will most certainly make all things new

on that Great Day...

that is closer now than it was yesterday.

I Can Rest Because He Will Stand

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”

- Proverbs 19: 21

I've never been good at “going with the flow.” I like to have a plan, to know what's coming so I can be prepared. I want clear-cut directions to ensure that if I do XYZ, then I will get my desired result. The problem is, life is not a series of well-planned, flawlessly executed events – just ask any parent who has wrung their hands as they watched all evidence of “control” over their environment quickly disappear! We rapidly learn that children are not robots, and are pros at making any “plans” we might have regarding them fly out the window rather than actually come to fruition! Flexibility is the key.

But it's hard to be flexible. Why? Because we're prideful. We want things to go the way we think they should go because, well, that's what we want. Maybe it's easier. Maybe it'll make us look better. Maybe it feels better. Problem is, life is not about us. Yes, we have an important role to play in God's Kingdom; yes, we are so loved that He provides for our every need and loves us so intensely that He gave His perfect Son to die so that we could live eternally...but ultimately, all of this world revolves around and exists for God's glory (not our preconceived plans).

So, the next time I find myself getting all in a fuss because my day isn't shaping up the way I planned it to (which happens more often than not!), instead of allowing myself to stomp/scowl/huff/puff around in frustration, I pray I'm able (by God's Spirit within me) to see the bigger picture that supersedes my limited perspective – that there is a great mosaic God is weaving through the lives of every single one of us, and He is in control of every detail; everything has a purpose (HIS purpose!) and a plan. Nothing is random; nothing happens “by chance.” What peace that can give my control-hungry heart as I learn to fall back and rest in the arms of my sovereign Father and, with childlike faith, trust that He is good and He has it all under control. And I don't have to.

Little Joys from Our Ultimate Joy

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”

- Psalm 127: 3-5

What are you counting on to bring you joy every day?

 

God has used the gift of motherhood to gently and continually remind me that only in Christ can I find ultimate joy. In His Word, God says that children are a reward and a heritage from Him, and that we are certainly blessed by their presence in our lives. It seems to me that this blessing unfolds itself in a myriad of unexpected ways.

First off, it's not hard to see that kids are just fun! They have more capacity to bring light and laughter to a home than anything else. Dogs and cats are great, don't get me wrong...but kids?! I've never laughed so hard in my life – they're downright hilarious, whether they intend to be or not! They are like the gift that keeps on giving – what a joy it is to get to “unwrap,” day by day, the unique little person God has providentially placed in our home.

But alongside the fun part, I believe God uses the challenging aspects of parenting to bless us as well. Children, by their very nature, are divinely designed to disrupt our comfortable, orderly, selfishly-motivated lives. Anyone who's been a parent for more than five seconds knows that children cannot help but interrupt our agendas (when our agendas don't include them). As an aside, I think we would be wise (and I keep telling myself!) to simply expect to be interrupted by them, so that when the interruptions inevitably come, we are mentally prepared and by God's grace handle them with love.

I have had to constantly remind myself that as a parent, my daily goals that I think are so important should never take higher priority than the little lives circling around me. My default is to be so performance and project-oriented that I completely forget that my children ARE the goal of my day. Oh, how I struggle and fail continually with maintaining this mindset.

Children are built to stretch us. To date, nothing has sanctified me more than being a parent! But when we stomp around with the (often subconscious) mindset that children are more burdens than blessings, we are believing the lie that “if only life could be easier, I would be happy.” Yes, raising children is hard work. But anything worth doing is difficult - and when we only focus on the drudgery of parenting tasks, we risk missing out on enjoying the beauty of each individual soul that somehow miraculously graces our homes.

There is great hope in knowing that these kids didn't just happen to us by genealogical chance – God very specifically chose you to be the parent of your children with the intention that nobody else could do the job for these little souls quite like you could. Yes, our children are purposeful gifts to us from a loving God, designed to ultimately (if not always in the immediate present!) give us joy. They are a gift. A reward!

Nonetheless, children are gifts with their own free wills, so at times their choices may bring pain into our lives (just as our choices sometimes bring pain to our own Heavenly Father). But we are called, regardless of our kids' actions, to faithfully love them as Christ does us, diligently praying for them every step of the way (oh, if we only knew the impact praying parents have had through the centuries!).

As we parent and pray, we should do so with a heart that trusts that it is the Lord who builds our family (Psalm 127:1). In Christ's strength alone, as we do our part (love, pray), we can trust that He will do His part. And even though we may struggle with feeling totally inadequate for the task, that's okay – because truthfully, nobody can parent in their own strength the way God desires for us to.

The weight of parenting is in reality a good thing – God is able to take the burden and turn it into a blessing. The continual challenges of parenthood are designed to drive us to our knees so that we draw nearer to God and cling to our loving Savior as our Guide, Provider, Teacher and Comforter – God is the Ultimate Parent, full of wisdom and grace who longs to spill it over onto all those who seek Him for it. So as we come to Him, “weary and burdened,” He will “give us rest” (Matthew11: 28-30) – not by totally removing the burden from us, but by giving us Himself, Who alone has all the strength we need to carry on.

The tumultuous, unpredictable winds of parenthood can shake a person to their core. When this happens, whatever our hearts cling to deep down as our source of true joy in life is clearly revealed. If we are seeking to find joy in anything other than Jesus (a clean house, an accomplished to-do list, healthy kids, successful career, praise from others, a perfect figure, “me time,” sleep!, etc...), our life's foundation will crack. We cannot stand on anything in this life other than the solid Rock of Jesus Christ.

Children bless their parents not only through the joy they bring, but also by continually forcing us back to the Cross – we can't parent in our own strength the way God wants us to. We are weak and broken and need Christ's help every waking (and sometimes half-awake!) moment. We can trust that as we come to the Lord for help, seeing Him as our ultimate satisfying joy in life, He will graciously provide everything we need for the task (Hebrews 4:16). It is the Lord alone who builds a family (Psalm 127:1), and in the end, we can rest assured that we will be “blessed,” and not “put to shame” when our time as parents is done (Psalm 127: 5).