Don't Worry, Stay Rooted: 3 Reminders for Homeschooling Families

What or who are you rooted to?

In all areas of life we should be asking ourselves that question periodically, but specifically as we begin this new school year, we'd do well to take a look at our hearts and ask: what am I basing my confidence in as a homeschooling parent? Is it the perfect curriculum, daily schedule, weekly routine, or homeschool group? Or is it in the One Who called us to homeschool in the first place?

Before our school year even starts, let's make sure we are rooting ourselves and our families in Christ alone – that we are firmly planted in His life and Word, drawing on Him only for strength and support each day, trusting that He will uphold, sustain and grow our family and us individually into the beautiful, unique reflections of Him that He has ordained for us to be.

My husband and I were blessed to visit Olympic National Forest this summer, and while we were there we learned about these incredible fallen trees called “nurse logs.” As we walked through the forest, we noticed these huge sleeping giants lying on the forest floor that now had other trees sprouting up out of them!

a nurse log supporting new trees

I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the picture of Christ that these nurse logs displayed – how He laid down His life for us, and when we are firmly planted in Him through faith, He gives us new life, sustains and empowers us to grow into new creations, and as long as we remain rooted in Him we are able to do whatever good He has called us to do.

So if you're feeling ill-equipped for the task of homeschooling, that's okay – to some extent, we all are. But Christ is not, and what He has called us to He will equip us for (Heb.13:20-21, Phil. 1:6, 4:13).

We don't need to worry, we need to stay rooted in Him. That's the first of three little points I feel God wants us to remember as we start this year together – first off...

Do not worry.

• Our natural inclination as parents is to worry – what if we totally mess this homeschooling thing up? But if God is our school's Headmaster, if He is at the helm of our ship, we can't mess it up, no matter what the surface outcome looks like.
• This year, let's make it a goal to spend less time worrying (aren't there just endless things to worry about?), and more time praying. God delights to show Himself powerful in our lives, even in the seemingly little details (Phil. 4:6-7).

Seek God.

• Instead of worrying, let's seek God together this year. Let's spend intentional time with Him, meditating on His Word and praying for Him to work powerfully in our own hearts to grow us into His image and lead us in our homeschooling.
• And as we seek Him, let's remember to rest in Him and...

Trust that He has a good plan for your family.

• We will not all look the same – God is so good at variety! The forest is not all made up of the same type of tree, thankfully. On our trip to Washington, we noticed that in certain areas of heavy foresting, they went back and planted rows and rows of the same type of tree, and it was so monotonous, boring and just unnatural to look at compared to the organic way a forest grows, with all sorts of varying plants – spruces, firs, pines, ferns - intermingled together. Variety is part of what makes the forest beautiful, and it's what makes a community of believers beautiful, too. We are all different, yet we can each reflect a unique aspect of God and His character so that we can minister to each other in the specific way He designed us to. (1 Corin. 12:4-6). We should never compare ourselves with each other, but only glorify God for the way He is manifested uniquely in each of us (1 Corin. 12:18-20, 25-26).
• God is at work for our good and His glory – He's the Master Teacher and He has the best lesson plan ever already at work in our lives. Our job is to do our best  in His strength to His glory, delight in Christ and His Word, and then to sit back and rest – firmly planted in Him (remember that nurse log?) - trusting that He will bring the fruit that we are toiling for in our families.

Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

- Psalm 1: 1-3

Who is Your 'Nurse Log'?

- nurse log supporting the growth of a new tree - 

This summer, my husband and I paid a bucket-list visit to Olympic National Park in Washington State. Walking through the cool, quiet forests of the park, amongst many stunning sights, you can't help but notice the fallen goliaths lying all around - trees that once proudly brushed against the heavens, now humbly resting on the forest floor. Upon closer inspection of these sleeping giants, you can clearly see little seedlings of new trees now sprouting up out of their fallen comrades - the death of one living thing springing forth the life of another. In this way, the dead tree, now sweetly named a "nurse log," lives on through the new trees it is supporting.

I couldn't help but be taken aback by the picture these nurse logs paint of the Gospel. Of course, as they all tend to do, the analogy falls apart at some point, but to an extent, the nurse log is just one more clear example of Christ that God uses to display His love for us in nature (I love it when He does that! The pictures of His grace are everywhere, if you really look. Rom. 1:20).

Like Christ, this nurse log once reached the heights of heaven, glorious in splendor. Like Christ, it humbly descended to the earth, ultimately dying so that others might live. Like Christ, now all that are firmly planted in it can have new life. 

But here is where the analogy breaks down - because those new trees that have begun their lives on the back of the nurse log will ultimately die themselves. 

But those who are rooted in the evergreen life of Christ:

• are made alive forever in Him through faith in the saving work He has done on the cross (Eph. 2:4-6),
• experience the abundant life now on earth and the fullness of joy that can only come through having one's identity established in Him (John 10:10; 15:4),
• are given strength and support that will never decay beneath them (Matt. 7:24-27).

Where is your life rooted? Are you trying your best to anchor yourself in your own strength to the shifting soil of this life? Are you attaching yourself to a different "false comforter" who promises to support you, but is ultimately as feeble as any of us? Or are you firmly planted in the true Tree of Life - Jesus Christ - Who will never leave you nor forsake you, Who alone can offer life abundantly now and eternally in the future? 

May we be firmly planted in the evergreen life of Christ alone.

Weeds and the Master Gardener

I'm a novice gardener – I really love digging in the dirt, sticking some seeds in the ground and then watching God do His thing to bring forth life. It's an amazing process to me how God can make so much come from such a tiny little seed. Now – I'm definitely an amateur gardener and really have no idea what I'm doing, but one thing I do know: weeds are bad! So every few days I find myself hunched over, pulling those wretched intruders up and away from my precious budding fruits and veggies.

As dirt piles up under my fingernails and my hand fork busily loosens up those stubborn weeds, I can't help but liken them to the sin in my life. Like weeds, sin incessantly threatens to take over my heart each and every day. Like weeds, sin can grow in all shapes and sizes, sometimes even mimicking something beautiful, but turning out to be toxic in the end. Like weeds, sin may start out as a small thing, not seeming to be much of a threat, but left untended, can develop into an ugly monstrosity that will wreak major havoc to the life around it.

If you know anything about weeds, you know you can't just mow over them (they'll come right back up with a vengeance) – you have to yank the suckers up by their nasty old roots. So like pulling weeds, I should ask God to help me daily attack sin at its root – even though it can be mighty frustrating and seem hopelessly futile at times, it is a part of life as long as I am planted on this earth.

As Rick Countryman says, “Like a garden that's unattended, sin will grow like weeds in your life. We don't have power over the weeds, over sin. But God does. Jesus, the Gospel, is the RoundUp for the sin in your life. It's the only thing that can deal with it.”

So, even though my natural self wants to bar the gate, I must be diligent to allow the Master Gardener into the garden of my life to do His digging and pruning, painful though it often is. The soil of circumstances in which His divine purposes have placed me are the perfect breeding ground for not only potential beauty to grow, but also for the latent sin that still lingers in my heart to be revealed.

Just as a garden cannot be untended and expected to not be overrun by weeds, there will always be work to do in the soil of my heart, till the day God calls me home. And on that great day, when my spirit is set free from this place, there will be no more weeds – no more sin to struggle against...there will only be pure beauty, thanks to all that Jesus has done! Until then, He promises to faithfully prune my heart, lovingly pulling away all that hinders my growth in Him. And even though I often struggle against His cultivation processes, I'm forever thankful that He will never give up on the garden of my life.

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit

he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” - John 15: 2

“...the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

- Hebrews 12: 6

Wisdom for Mamas, New & 'Seasoned' Alike

The following post is by guest-writer, Heidi Gifford, and was originally a devotional presented at the baby shower of a new mom-to-be - but the wisdom she shares is perfect for new and seasoned moms alike! Enjoy. :)

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Dear New Mom-To-Be...

It's hard to believe that in just a little while longer, you will be holding your sweet baby in your arms! I know that you have anticipated becoming a mommy and have spent much time planning and preparing to care for baby when he makes his debut! The journey that you and your hubby are about to embark on together is an incredible gift from our gracious God - one that will drastically change your life and will be used by God to make you more like Christ and train your heart to trust Him more. I know that your desire is to raise baby in a way that honors God.

But where do we start?!

Deuteronomy 6: 5-7 says,

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

The starting place for all of us moms is our own hearts. We see that in these verses as we are exhorted to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and might before we are instructed to diligently teach our children all day everyday. While none of us love God perfectly, we can and should be growing in our love for Him day by day.

But how?

By God's design, the way we do that is by the study and application of His word, by the power of the Spirit, and through prayer. The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to us. It is the primary tool that He uses to cause us to grow and mature in Christ.

Psalm 19 says,

“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb."

‭‭Make time every day to sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus and learn from Him. Stand in awe of who He is and what He has done for you, and that will fuel your obedience to His commands to you.

As you grow in your own relationship with Christ, you will be equipped to teach your sweet baby. We have a unique opportunity to make disciples in our homes!! For 18 years (Lord willing), our children live under our roof and under our authority! You and your hubby get to go on this journey together, growing in your own faith, and pointing your son to your Savior! Live authentically and intentionally. Let your child see you loving Jesus by how you live. Let your life be evidence that you really believe what you will be teaching him.

And do teach him! Tell him about who God is, show him his sin and his need for Jesus, and tell him about what God has done to make a way for him to have a right relationship with Him. Behold the glory of the Lord Jesus with him in the Scriptures and in the world around him. Dazzle him with the glory of God! I mean, have you ever slowed down and really pondered the complexity of the world we live in and stood in awe of the fact that not only did Jesus create it all but He is sustaining it all at all times. Look at the stars, watch the ants, examine the trees..."Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty!! The whole earth is filled with his glory!"

When you are blown away by how awesome God is, consider the fact that people are His most treasured creation. The Creator of the universe became a man in order to live perfectly and die for sinful people to have a way back to God! It is mind blowing! Talk about all these things and encourage your child to "taste and see that the Lord is good."

It's no small task, being a parent. The days to come will stretch you beyond your limits, expose sin you didn't know was hiding out in your heart, and some days you will feel like you're losing your mind! But God is working!! According to Rom. 8:28-29, for those that love God, He is working ALL things together for your good and His glory.

The good He is working for you is your conformity into the image of His son. God is not interested in giving you an easy life. His will for you is your sanctification, and you can count on Him using these years that you are in the thick of parenting to work toward that end. It doesn't always feel good, but it is good and it is His grace toward you. He is training you to depend on, and to trust Him and Him alone. Apart from Him, you can do nothing! As 2 Cor. 12:9-10 says,

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I remember bringing each one of my babies home from the hospital, looking at their tiny little bodies, and feeling totally inadequate to be all that they needed me to be. I had no idea what I was doing (I still don't!), but I wanted so badly to be a good mom - to feel good about my performance at the end of every day. I wanted to be the perfect mom, but I wanted that for all the wrong reasons.

But God, in his Grace, has and continues to teach me that I am inadequate. I can't be a perfect mom and He doesn't expect me to be. God wants my heart. He wants me to depend on and trust Him. He wants me to walk by faith with Him and be an instrument in His hands in the lives of my kids. He wants me to be faithful in parenting, not so I can feel good about what I'm doing and not even to get results from my kids. He wants me to be faithful because it pleases Him. How freeing that is!

In the book, "The Faithful Parent,” Martha Peace says,

“Faithfulness, not perfection, is rewarded by the Lord. That's because we can no more live a sinless life than we can make our children do the same thing. Only our Lord Jesus is he “who knew no sin” (2 Corin. 5:21). He never sinned, but we do, and he knew we would need his help and encouragement to raise our children faithfully as he desires. The astounding good news is that by God's grace Christian parents have been placed in a position where they can learn and obey God's will more and more, because they have God's Spirit indwelling them. A person who is striving to honor the Lord in parenting, repenting, and changing is a faithful parent. Although we will not be perfect parents, we can, day-by-day, learn to live out God's instructions. Some day, we can hear the Lord say to us what the master told his slave, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21).”

Mama, you won't be a perfect parent. None of us are. But by God's grace, you can grow in faithfulness day by day. Commit yourself to following hard after Christ. Trust Him in every circumstance that He allows, knowing that it is for your good, that His grace is sufficient, and that in your weaknesses, His power is perfect in you. And, enjoy each season! You'll hear this a thousand times, and it's so true - the days are long but the years are short. While parenting is challenging in a lot of ways, it is also so much fun! It is a tremendous gift to be a mama!!

May God grant you and your hubby much grace as you pursue Him together, and seek wisdom from the Lord to raise your child with the goal to please Him in all that you do. I pray that your heart will rest in the knowledge of God's goodness and faithfulness, and that He will equip you to be a mommy that leaves a legacy of loving and treasuring Jesus, and living a life of joyful obedience to the Savior of your soul.

He Hears the Needy

"But I am afflicted and in pain;
Let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
I will praise the name of God...
When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
For the Lord hears the needy..." -Psalm 69: 29-30, 32-33

We each have our own stories of feeling like we're drowning, sinking down into the mire, being attacked by the Enemy and so wearied from crying out for deliverance that our throats have grown hoarse and our eyes cloud with exhaustion (Ps. 69: 1-3).
We are needy, even if we don' realize it or won't admit it.

When the floods of life threaten to rush over you this week, where will you turn? To the rickety, unstable towers of the world or your own coping mechanisms?

David - a man pursued and battered by his enemies if ever there was one - gives us the clear solution to surviving the inevitable storms of life in Psalm 69:
humble your heart and seek God with praise and thanksgiving.

Father, we praise and thank you because You hear us! In our afflictions, help us to see them as divine opportunities to trust You with the frailty of our lives. Let us have the humility of heart to see that we are needy. We "need Thee every hour" - no, every second. Shine Your light on the areas in our hearts that still turn to false comforters or ways of dealing with stress that aren't from You. Revive our hearts, Father, and may all the trials we walk through become beautiful pathways leading us to an ever-deepening nearness to You. In the midst of our storms, show us how to praise and thank You in our hearts, trusting that You DO hear us and that You are at work - and when we do, let the light of our belief join with Your children's praise to shine brightly on the beauty of Jesus' glorious Name.

Unfair Expectations

As providence would have it, I just so happened to be struggling with anger and unforgiveness in my heart at exactly the time I began to prepare to write this devotion on - of all things - forgiveness.

For a few days or so, there had been this icy undercurrent of a vague sense of anger and hurt flowing through my spirit toward a very significant person in my life. I couldn't exactly put my finger on what it was that had caused me to begin to feel this way, but there was no denying its presence. I'd get up in the morning for my quiet devotional time, and there it was, hovering over my heart like a murky cloud, stopping up my sense of connection with my Savior.

I felt stunted, short-circuited, cut off and confused.

But then, within only a few minutes of pouring over Mark 11:25, God's Spirit convicted me of my unforgiving, angry heart.

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

- Mark 11: 25

It was clear as day. I couldn't run from the awful truth that I had allowed my pride to place unreasonable expectations on this precious person in my life - and when they failed to meet them, my sinful heart began to harden in hurt, anger and unforgiveness.

What I'm learning is that sometimes unforgiveness stems from real hurts inflicted by others...but far too often in my life, I have to own up to the fact that I feel hurt because others have failed to meet the unfair expectations that I've subconsciously put on them - I feel like they must act in a way that protects my sense of self-worth and if they don't, then I struggle with disappointment and hurt. All of this is rooted in ugly pride! So, ultimately I begin to see that I am the one who needs to seek forgiveness from my Father (and those I've hurt in anger), and I don't necessarily need to forgive those with whom I'm angry because really they haven't even done anything wrong in the first place! Phew!! What a mess our hearts can be...

But praise God that He uses the power of His Word to gently probe us and show us what sin we need to deal with - all with the purpose of reconciliation to Him and others. I thank God that I was able to go to the person with whom I was unjustly angry and make amends, restoring our relationship to an even deeper level of intimacy. That's what Jesus is all about - restoration of the broken through His power of forgiveness.

In this season of Thanksgiving, let's praise Him for this gift - that through His
forgiveness offered on the Cross, we don't have to sludge through the heavy, murky waters of unforgiveness in our hearts, but we can be washed clean by His Spirit's power to forgive and start fresh every day.

More Jesus, Less Me

We've all been there - felt that stab of jealousy as someone else gets whatever it is that our own hearts are set on. We're just born with the desire to be on top, to be first, to be recognized by others as the best. Hang out with small children for more than two seconds and you're bound to witness at least one fit if someone else wins the game, gets to be line leader, Star Student, or whatever place of honor another child covets. As grown ups, we still struggle with our smoldering selfishness - we've only gotten better at hiding it.

But here, in John 3:30, we see a radically different way of thinking - a way of viewing oneself that is completely foreign to natural man. John the Baptist's disciples anxiously approach him about Jesus' rise to popularity among the masses, but contrary to our natural knee-jerk reactions of self-preservation, John responds in beautiful humility. It's this Christ-exalting position that Jesus praises, calling John "the greatest man born of women" (Matt. 11:11). John's response sets the example for all who would follow Christ with seven earth-shattering words: He must increase, but I must decrease.

This should be our singular goal throughout each and every day - more of Christ, less of me. But, how do we do this? How do we go against the grain of the very fiber of our naturally self-promoting hearts?

First off - through prayerfully seeking God's strength to do so. We can't muster up such an upside down view of things in our own feeble power. But He can. If we are in Christ through saving faith in His work on the cross, then that same Spirit that raised Him from the dead is available to us! He is able to do miraculous works in our hearts, scrubbing us clean and removing impurities in our personalities, through the power of His transforming Word (Rom. 12:2).

Secondly, we see Christ increase and ourselves decrease in our lives by settling our sense of self-worth in Jesus, not in how we perform or what accolades we're given. If we are in Christ, the question of "am I valuable?" (which is at the root of so many of our selfish ambitions) is already answered with a resounding Yes. So there's no need to frantically struggle for appreciation in this world - we are bonafide children of the King...how could we ask for anything else?

Thirdly, we decrease and Christ increases when we make it our aim to treasure Him more every day - to see Him as supremely beautiful amongst all else in life. We must constantly remind our wandering hearts that Christ is what it's all about (Col. 1:15-20).

Is there a constant undercurrent of self-preserving thoughts flowing through my mind throughout the day? Am I striving - even subconsciously - to have my name honored? As Christians, we might not even dare to admit that we have that thought - but God knows our hearts. He calls us to "do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more significant than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3). If we're honest, we all struggle with this. Ask God to make Christ supremely beautiful in your life, to grow your love for Him more and more, which will gradually stamp out self-concern. May it be that each night our heads hit our pillows, we can look back on the day and see less of ourselves and a bit more of Jesus shining through our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

In the Day of Trouble

We were about to board our plane to fly back home from my husband's incentive trip to Italy when a fellow traveler said to us, “hey, did you hear about the attack in Nice, France?” Only a couple hundred miles from where we were standing, families were reeling from the shock of losing their loved ones in yet another heinous act of terror. As I prayed for the suffering, my heart clenched with sorrow, anger, and fear, and I wanted more than ever to just get home and hold my four babies.

This world we live in seems more insecure and unstable than ever, and only getting worse. What are we to do but turn to the Lord for understanding? As we started our long flight home, God's Word yet again brought the clarity my heart craved as I read through Psalm 86.

“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble, I call upon you, for you answer me.”

- Psalm 86: 5-7

Although we live in a fallen world, underneath the chaos and the threats are the steadfast arms of a sovereign, loving God – an unchangeable Savior who promises to abound in goodness, forgiveness, steadfast love, and grace to all who call upon Him.

So, when life comes at us hard, may we turn to Christ. When we cry out with David that “insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life,” may our hearts quickly return to the truth that “you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,” trusting in Him to “give your strength to your servant” (Ps. 86: 14-16).

Our hearts can rest in the amazing reality that ultimately, regardless of what happens in this breath of a life, our hope can never be taken from us because of the salvation Christ secured for us on the cross. God's love will always win, “for great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol” (Ps. 86: 13).

As you face whatever lies before you today, call out to the Lord to help you trust in His future grace and steadfast love toward you through Christ. Make it your top priority to seek to know Him better – to not be blinded or paralyzed by the distractions around us – but to call upon Him all day, trusting that He will answer your pleas for help. And as your heart rests in that place of peaceful security, you can be free to share His steadfast love and grace with everyone He places in your path.

Seeing Ourselves and Others Through God's Eyes

"Love one another with brotherly affection.

Outdo one another in showing honor."

Romans 12:10

Whether you have 20/20 eyesight or not, each of us is born desperate for vision surgery from the Great Physician – for the Holy Spirit to enter into our lives and radically transform the viewpoint from which the eyes of our hearts see life.

Our struggle in life is that we are all born with eyes that are constantly turned inward – we are, by nature, concerned primarily with how we are affected by what is going around us. Our default is not to seek to understand how something might be impacting others, but rather to compulsively see only how we are treated. We are, quite simply, self-obsessed.

Instead of being “me-focused,” Christ calls us to be “others-focused.” Instead of being self-obsessed, Christ calls us to be self-forgetful. And what He calls us to, He will empower us for. His Holy Spirit alone can perform such monumental paradigm shift in our thinking – sometimes in big, dramatic ways, but often in small steps as He, little by little, adjusts our lenses to see and honor others above ourselves. It is how our King lived as He walked this earth, and as His followers, we are being made like Him, “being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corin. 3:18).

When we allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in our hearts, when we ask Him for eyes to see ourselves and others the way He sees us, we begin to walk in unspeakable freedom! Suddenly, as His Gospel washes afresh over us, we're reminded that, because Jesus paid the price for our sins, we are justified before God and set free from the pressure to perform perfectly in this life to gain His acceptance (which we never could!). His Spirit reminds us that, because Christ is our Savior, we are beautifully clothed in His righteousness and forever declared “good enough” by the only One Whose opinion of us really matters! We are free then to take our eyes off ourselves, free to stop trying to make sure nobody shakes our fragile false sense of self-worth – and instead we can open our eyes to those around us, seeing their needs and joyfully seeking to meet them, trusting that our Savior has and will continue to meet all of ours.

Our love, devotion and service to others is genuine when it comes from a Holy Spirit-inspired place of gratitude for all that Christ has done for us. May we daily seek to see ourselves and others through His eyes so we can spend our time walking in true brotherly love for one another!

The Stooping Saint and the Standing Savior

"But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus...Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”

- John 20: 11-16

Waking up early, she was unstoppable in her search for the One Whom her soul loved. Mary – the one who had once been filled with all sorts of unspeakable evil – lingered at His empty tomb that first Easter Sunday morning, overwhelmed with grief at the seeming loss of Her Savior's presence, unable to comprehend that even though it appeared that He was forever gone, He was always right there (and would shortly show Himself in answer to her diligent search). Although the other seekers had come and gone, not staying to search with her, she stood fast in her pursuit, stooping into the grave to look just one more time. In the loss of such a love, how could she not? Even the reward of seeing angelic beings at that moment wouldn't console her as she wept of her confusion. Majestic as they were, arguably the most glorious of all creation, still they were not enough.

All souls are born to know that nothing in all creation will satisfy except the Creator.

And then He spoke her name.

Her spirit within her leaped with recognition of her Shepherd's voice, just as He had said (“and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” - Jn. 10:4). Instantly, she knew it was Him, for “Christ's way of making Himself known to His people is by His word, His word applied to their souls, speaking to them in particular” (Matthew Henry). His voice called her up out of the pit of despair, just as it does to all who – after finally dropping their false comforters - diligently seek to know Him. Her soul couldn't help but respond, My Great Master! - the One Whom she had unswervingly sought, knowing without Whom she was destitute.

This same Jesus is here with you, calling you to Him today. Even though the darkness in our lives may blind us from seeing Him for a season, we must press on to know Him. He is our only hope, the one true source of salvation, both from our sins in this life and the certain punishment they require in the life to come.

This Easter morning, may we fall at the feet of Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Heb. 1:3). He is the only One Who, even though He holds everything together and sees all people for who they are, loves us with such an unfathomable love that He would come down and die for us, forever paying the price for our sins and clearing the pathway to God – our souls' True Home.

And even more than that, He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us constantly. He has not left us, as Mary feared and as we sometimes feel. Often, the clouds of darkness that blind our eyes from seeing Him are the very necessary instruments of grace that will be used to humble, grow and ultimately stir in us an even greater love for our King.

And although we will most certainly fail Him - just as every disciple since that first Easter has done - His unfailing love will always seek to restore, comfort and strengthen us (although He could've called the first disciples “my betrayers”, He mercifully chose to call them “my brothers” - Jn. 20:17).

As Mary did, may we be unstoppable in our search for the Living Christ. May we hear His voice, turn to Him and let Him be our Great Master today and every day while we have breath. There is nothing in all creation that compares.

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The One Thing Worth Chasing

Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up..,

 

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth...”

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Hosea 6: 1, 3, 6

If to know the Lord is to walk in clarity and light, just as the dawning sun illuminates the earth – if pursuing Him leads to refreshment, growth and renewal, as the rains of spring do to the winter-hardened earth (v. 3) – then when we find ourselves tired, confused and spiritually dry, we might do well to consider what we're chasing after.

What is our main pursuit in life – is it the approval of man, the satisfaction of our flesh, the avoidance of our fears? Or are we consumed with “pressing on” to know the Lord better every day, which is the only goal in life that will ultimately satisfy and revive the soul?

How are we like the ancient Israelites, offering up “sacrifices” instead of genuinely pursuing to know the Lord out of steadfast love (v. 6)? Sacrifices are the easy route – we simply muster up the spiritual zeal to serve in some way that we feel is important, and then we're done. We can move on with the rest of our week, relatively unchanged in our hearts, yet feeling good about having checked off our “service to the Lord” box.

But Christ desires our hearts, not just our hands.

 

He desires us to daily draw so near to Him that we cannot help but walk away changed by the experience of knowing Him better through His Word and prayer.

 

And as we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8), our love for Him will grow, and we will hunger for more of Him, pressing on to know Christ – whom to know is life eternal (John 17: 3). As we embrace Christ, we embrace eternal life in the here and now.

So let us daily draw nearer, knowing and therefore loving Him better. Let us fight against the temptation to put ourselves on spiritual cruise control and complacently sit back, content with the knowledge of Him that we've gained from previous days.

There is infinite goodness in Christ to be had! If we spent every one of our remaining waking ours at His feet, we would still not come close to drinking in all His beauty! But let us be found there. Let it be our goal that we do less “returning” (because we never left) and more remaining at His feet.

All throughout our days, let our hearts ever anchor themselves next to His. And “as sure as the dawn” - as certainly as the ever increasing morning light of a sunrise gradually reveals the world around us - God will steadily give us more knowledge of Himself and a deeper relationship with His Son if we stay awake and pursue Him.

International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church - Nov. 1 & 8, 2015





Even if our understanding of it is limited, there is no denying that prayer is a mighty weapon gifted to us from our Father, Who calls upon us to wield it "without ceasing" on behalf of our Christian brothers and sisters:

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 - Hebrews 13: 3

 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

- Ephesians 6: 18

 

Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 

- Galatians 6:2

 

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

- 1 Corinthians 12:26-27

 

...you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

- 2 Corinthians 1:11

 

 Today and Sunday, Nov. 8 are International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. May each of us carve out time to "bear one another's burdens" out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. For great suggestions and verses to pray for the persecuted church, click the following links:

• International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church website http://idop.org/en/
• downloadable resources to help you pray http://idop.org/en/downloads/
• "How to Pray for the Persecuted Church" http://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/prayer/pray-for-persecuted-church.html
• http://www.persecution.org/
• "Why and How Should We Pray and Act for the Suffering Church?" http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-persecutedchurch.html#howtopray
• "As You Pray" by Voice of the Martyrs https://www.vomcanada.com/prayer.htm
• "Pray for the Persecuted" http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/hebrews/pray-persecuted.htm
• "The Persecuted Church Taught Me to Pray" http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/perspectives.php/1205/10-2009

 

And as we go about our daily lives here in America, may we also remember:

"The persecuted Church needs our prayers. But we also need their example. Often, they have told me that they pray for the Western Church—that we will be faithful to Christ in the midst of our materialism and the numerous temptations of our culture. We need their prayers, not least because they need for us to be strong in our faith in order to stand with them. Together we are one body—suffering together and rejoicing together." - Al Jannsen



 

Waking Up to the Syrian Refugee Crisis

A Confession

For far too long, I've been living unto myself, safely tucked away in my little American bubble with no real worries to speak of. I shamefully admit that, even though I'm saturated with far more blessings than most of the world would even know to dream of, I have daily battled against discontentment and self-pity. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, as a byproduct of being raised in modern America, I had bought in to the consumerist lies that permeate every facet of our culture. It nauseates me to confess the trivial thoughts that were constantly at the forefront of my mind: Could I find a good deal on outdoor sofa cushions? When will I finally get some “me” time? I wonder what's happening on Facebook? I'm so tired of my purse – I need a new one. Wouldn't things be so much better if I could just keep those five pounds off?

 

Although, through the years, God's Spirit within me had steadily moved my heart closer to what concerns His heart, my mind was still far too consumed with thoughts about myself.

Then came February 15, 2015, when ISIS released the graphic video of their brutal, systematic murder of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on the shores of Libya.

 

 



 As I stared into the determined eyes of those brave martyrs, my own eyes that were once sealed shut to the ISIS-induced crisis going on in the Middle East began to crack open. I was finally jarred awake to the magnitude of monstrosities that are being committed every second in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Men, women and children – children - raped, tortured, and beheaded on a daily basis, under the banner of a holy calling.

 

Refugees in crisis.

EPA

Life is so desperate for them that, in 2015 alone, of the 300,000 refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat as they flee the terror of ISIS for the safety of European shores, over 2,500 have drowned, their bodies washing ashore as the world watches.

 

To understand more about the extent of the crisis, click here.

 

A woman removes the life jacket from a baby, who survived the journey,

moments after Syrian refugees arrived on a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos

Reuters/Dimitris Michalakis



How could I have missed this for so many years? Where had I been?!

 

I knew at the very least that I needed to start praying for this situation, so in February I set an alarm on my phone and began to pray every day for the relief, strengthening and protection of the persecuted Church. And now, six months later, I feel like God has been faithful to answer my prayers in a way I didn't expect as He has more fully removed the scales from my eyes and stirred deeply in not only my own heart, but in the hearts of my husband and close friends.

 

I came home last week to find a book titled Defying ISIS: Preserving Christianity in the Place of Its Birth and in Your Own Backyard lying on my husband's nightstand. He had devoured that book in only two days, and God used it to spark a raging flame in my husband's heart. I am now married to a man on fire who is consumed with prayerfully searching out how we can use our lives to bring God's light and love to those suffering through this crisis. And in His perfect providence, God has simultaneously been at work in the hearts of many of our friends as well, stirring us all more and more awake. This has caused my prayer focus to now shift toward asking God how my family, friends and I can specifically be the instruments of relief, strengthening and protection for which I was originally praying.

We've only just begun this journey, but for starters, my husband's and my whole outlook on how we spend the money with which God has blessed us has radically changed. We've become hyper-aware that every dollar that flows in and out of our home can either be used for eternal good, or for our own selfish gain (oh, how much money we have wasted!) – and so consequently we are in the process of completely re-vamping how we manage our funds so that we can free up more of them to go toward the refugee relief effort, as well as looking in to various ways we can make extra income to donate.

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A Call to Action

What if we all began to have the radical perspective that God allowed us to be born here in America not simply for our own comfort and gain, but so that we could maximize the opportunities we have in order to bless others with them? We did nothing to deserve being born here – why do we think we should just hoard all our gain unto ourselves? Who does that benefit? In the end, it doesn't even benefit ourselves – just look at the results of our national greed (obesity, depression, debt, addictions, etc.).

A person can never be truly satisfied if they are living only for their own gain. If you want to see a truly joyful person, find someone who is following Paul's example in Philippians 2:17 and pouring out his every day for a cause greater than himself. In the inspirational words of George Bernard Shaw:

 

This is the true joy in life...being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one...being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy...I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

The ultimate joy is to align our lives with the mission of pushing back the darkness by holding out the light of Christ. Jesus rightly said in Matthew 10: 39 that unless we lose our lives, we cannot find them.

 

The persecuted Church knows all about this.

 

Syrian refugees in Bulgaria

But as modern Americans, we are pummeled daily with the completely opposite message: YOU are what it's all about. Seek comfort, pleasure and protect whatever is YOURS above all else. We are fools to think this self-absorbed, antichrist mindset has not permeated the American Church.

 I challenge you to spend some time asking Christ how you specifically have bought into this lie, and to help you see that, as His children, our lives are not our own, they were bought with a price, and truly there is no greater joy than laying them down out of gratitude and love for Christ.

 

As Defying ISIS author, Johnnie Moore, writes, “It has always been a mystery to me why so many Christians in the West struggle to live for what so many Christians in persecuted countries are willing to die for.”

 

It is a difficult exercise, but for the sake of compassion, just take a moment and try to really understand what life is like for those being hunted down by ISIS. Allow yourself to imagine what it would be like if ISIS showed up on your front doorstep, lined your family up and then demanded that you all either convert to their ideology or die. And then imagine what it would be like if the last thing your eyes ever saw before you entered eternity was the murder of your own children for their refusal to deny Christ. As seemingly impossible as it sounds in our modern era, this is no nightmarish fairy tale – this is the brutal reality for thousands of Christians this very moment.

 

The stories are endless. And it could very easily be our own reality sooner than we think.

 

We are living in a time of laying down lives – our persecuted brothers and sisters lose theirs because they would rather die than deny their precious Savior. Let us follow their stunning example and, at the very least, lay down our comforts, taking up the mandate to live simply, so that our storehouses are opened to their needs, and perhaps somehow we can offer them relief.

 

Syrian refugees.

Photograph: Sedat Suna/EPA

In the words of Sister Rose, a young Iraqi nun who is bravely risking her life to save those hunted down by ISIS, “Americans are wonderful people. It's shocking to me that they are so silent in the face of our genocide. Please help us. Raise your voice for us. Our children are dying. In America you care for your pets so well, can you care for your Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering?” (Defying ISIS, p. 70).

 Start asking God how He wants you to help:

•  For an excellent article on practical ways to get involved , check out 8 Ways to Help Refugees a World Away.
• How can you encourage your friends, family and church to get involved?
• Whatever job God has given you to do, do it for a greater purpose! If you write, write for this greater purpose. If you create, create for this greater purpose.
• Take a hard look at how you spend the money with which God has blessed you. What if you only lived on half your income and donated the rest of it, instead of saving up for another toy that you'll tire of in two weeks? Or, what if it was a given that, of course we all lived on one income and gave the other one away?
• What do you have lying around your house that you could sell and donate the money to help refugees? What about all that old jewelry getting tarnished in your closet? How many bags of gently used clothing can you fill up to donate? 

We all know that in the end, we can't take anything with us when we are done with this life. Scripture speaks again and again of our need to not be tied down with the love of money, but to be satisfied with living simply. If the Church would take this Biblical mandate seriously, billions of dollars would be released to serve those in need. According to the Status of Global Mission 2010, only 1.73% of the total global church member annual income is given to Christian causes.

 

Beloved Church, our brothers and sisters are desperate, displaced, and dying every day...and yet we are shamefully far more concerned about where our next vacation should be or what restaurant we'll eat out at tonight.  

 It's far past time for us to wake up to the vicious reality of what is happening on the other side of the world (and is rapidly on its way to our shores). Christ calls us to help those who are suffering, especially those of the family of faith (Galatians 6: 10), and when we do, it is as if we are doing it for the very Lord Himself:

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ - Matthew 25: 35-40

Christ's Body is floating in the Mediterranean Sea, beaten and bruised. How can we sit idly by and do nothing?

This is the greatest humanitarian catastrophe we will ever see in our lifetime, and it's happening to our Family members. We can no longer turn a blind eye with the hopes that it will just all go away. It is happening, even as I type these words – and we need not deceive ourselves with the thoughts that it will never happen on the presumed safety of American soil.

We each have to decide in our hearts whether we will be a part of the silence, or will we join with those who are standing up, speaking out, sacrificing comforts, and serving?

We were born for such a time as this.

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The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

Psalm 94
O Lord, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

8 Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
11     the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.