Hebrews 13:8
"Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever."
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Back to School......back to the basics.
It’s the “Back to School” time of year and that means we have to stop with the summer fun and get back into a routine. I was in my Bible the other day and I felt like looking back at the basics is where God wanted me to go in my quiet time as well. Lately He has me studying the foundation of our faith, Jesus and His work on the cross. I was honestly kind of in a rut and the Lord led me back to the cross. He had me stare at the cross and what Jesus has done for me. I realized that I liked to skim over that. It’s hard to look at afterall, it makes me sad, sorry and uncomfortable so I tend to push it to the side and look at something more “fun”. I asked God to wake me up and reignite a fire. To Jesus is where He took me. As I was studying Jesus I found myself studying a very controversial topic…... “bread”.
Americans are obsessed with bread. Whether it is gluten free, low carb, whole wheat, white, sprouted, sourdough or made from coconut flour, many of us love (or miss) BREAD. It’s like a love- hate relationship. I hate that I love it! It is beautiful, soft and when warm and fresh from the oven it can taste heavenly. But then after you eat it, many of us feel regret, sometimes it causes allergy reactions or we worry it will go straight to our hips. What is a Christian woman to do? In our low carb culture many of us just avoid bread like the plague! Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” several times in scripture. We use bread during communion. Jesus compares himself to many things and BREAD is most certainly one of them.
Something I noticed just the other day was that not only does Jesus compare himself to bread, he compares himself to MANNA! I never really absorbed that part before. I have read and re-read those verses about Jesus being the bread of life and studied all about manna as the miraculous provision from God for the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years. Yet, I never put the two together until recently when studying God’s Word. And guess what, they most certainly go together. Let me show you!
John 6:28-35, “Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Jesus is calling himself the bread of life in comparison to Old Testament manna in these verses. So, we should know more about this manna Jesus is comparing himself to.
Manna was unlike anything they had ever seen or tasted. Manna in the Hebrew literally means “whatness”, “what is this?” (Remember a whatchamacallit candy bar :)
What is the most exotic thing you’ve ever eaten? I ate a dessert in the Caribbean once that came out on special plate with vented holes and dry ice underneath. It was all smokey and mysterious! I had that feeling of excitement and wonder. I bet that is what they thought the first few times they saw manna!
Exodus 16:15, “And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.”
Manna miraculously rained down each night with the dew. Manna was described as “like coriander seed, white and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.” (Exodus 16:31) It was also described in Numbers 11:7 as to be the color of bdellium. Bdellium is a fragrant resin produced by a number of trees related to myrrh, used in perfumes. (Myrrh was one of the gifts given to Jesus at his birth and was used ceremonially for embalming the dead)
Another interesting insight to manna as described in Numbers 11:7 as looking like “resin”. This word also appears in Genesis 2:10 at the beginning of creation. “A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)
The provision of manna in the wilderness is fascinating! If you have ever studied the Sabbath rest you will see that God commanded the Israelites to collect enough manna for just one day of eating. They were to collect only enough for one day, except for the day before the Sabbath they were allowed to collect double so they could properly rest. If they took more than a day’s worth it would be full of maggots the next day. (Exodus 16)
Why did God choose manna to feed His people? Deuteronomy 8:16 says, “He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.”
-Manna was sustenance - we all need food to survive our journey.
-It was unknown to anyone, you couldn’t compare it to anything before or after.
-Manna was an instrument of humility. It is very humbling to be completely dependant on someone daily.
-Manna was a test of obedience to God’s instructions. There was only one way to handle it. HIS WAY! Any attempt to do it their own way turned out disastrously wrong.
-Moses had a jar put into the Ark of Testimony as hard evidence for God’s people to always remember what He had done for them those 40 years of wandering. (Ex 16:32, Heb 9:4) I find it so interesting that if they tried to collect double it would spoil, but Moses was able to put a jar full of it in the Ark of the Testimony and it didn’t!
If there is one thing I want you to remember is that every time you read in scripture the phrase “Jesus is the bread of life” hear in your head “Jesus is the MANNA of life.” Not just bread, like plain white Wonder bread (is that still a thing at the grocery store???) , but MANNA!!! Manna is a supernatural provision from God, daily gifted, we are dependant on, should be respected and evidence of a GOOD FATHER providing for His children as we wander down here in the wilderness, waiting to cross over into the Promised Land!
I love this parallel! Jesus is the “MANNA of Life!”
That’s all nice and pretty, packaged for us and served in a beautiful bread basket, but it comes with a warning. If we keep reading in Numbers 11 we see what happened when the Israelites grew tired of God’s ways. They were miraculously provided for with a perfect food just for them and what was their response? They grew bored. Became ungrateful. Took God for granted.
We must continue to meet with Jesus, daily! If we keep our eyes fixed on the miraculous provision God made for us through Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross we will not grow bored. We need to guard our hearts and attitudes to not take this gift for granted as the Israelites did.
They grumbled and complained. First it was all about how hard the journey was. (Numbers 11:1-3) God sent a fire to burn in the camp. They cried out and the fire died down. Then they started wailing again about being tired of manna.
Aghhhhhh. One of the things that drives me absolutely crazy is when I do something big for my kids and they grumble and complain the whole time! Like fly them to Disneyland and they fight the whole time we are in the park! Or when I spend all night cooking something nice for dinner and they cry I cut their food the wrong way or didn’t serve it on the right color plate. I get why God burned the camp. It is frustrating!
Numbers 11:4, “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! Remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”
People, stop looking backwards. Keep your eyes forward! It is so very important to guard our minds from outside negative influences. Something I noticed in this section was the word “rabble”. There was a group of people mixed in among them from Egypt. They were not part of God’s people but came along during the Exodus. The extra people were not all that came along. So did their stinky attitudes, discontentment and complaints. It spread through the camp like a flu virus. Verse 10 says Moses heard wailing from every family. It started out in the rabble and spread to every family!
Have you ever experienced this? You are going along through life, dealt a less desirable hand and are coping, but then someone comes along and starts talking in your ear. Telling you it’s not fair. That you were better off before? Things were more fun, more variety, more control……..You start to question yourself, your choices, God? The rabble will lead us astray if we let them.
For the rabble and complaining Israelites, God gives them what they ask for. It was in form of quail and He drove it to them by winds in enormous quantities. Actually it was a plague. Those that ate and ate were struck with sickness and instantly died. Those who did eat the quail were the rabble and now mixed in some Israelites It wasn’t everyone or the story would have ended right there for God’s chosen people, but the Israelites who did die that day were led astray by the rabble. Be careful who you listen to. Don’t let the rabble share with you their contempt for a God they don’t even know.
Let that sink in for a moment.
A GOD THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW!
Who are you listening to that is telling you how you should feel about God? Do they even know Him? Trust Him? Would you accept the opinion about someone from a person that didn’t know them in real life? They form an opinion from their perception of others’ experiences or relationship. It’s like reading a tabloid article about someone and believing what the writer who most likely has never met that person says is all true.
One of my daughters dated a boy her first year in college who was not a believer. She said every time they got in the car he wanted to poke holes in her faith and debate with her. It became exhausting and she broke up with him. He was the rabble! Thank God she didn’t listen to him! There will ALWAYS be rabble in our lives. They are people who are drawn to God’s people and mix in. Don’t be afraid of the rabble, just be sure you are speaking truth to them about who God really is and don’t fall for their perception.
So here is the “Back to Basic” we can always return to: Jesus is the MANNA of life!
He is our miraculous provision from heaven.
Turn to Him daily and be filled.
Guard your heart and mind and don’t allow yourself to grow contempt, boredome or take God’s blessings for granted!!! Try to stay thankful. Trust HIM on your life’s journey. He is trustworthy!
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
I wish I had a Time Machine....
This morning I was sitting in my chair praying, reading in my Bible and I felt led to go across the room and pick up a journaling book that has been sitting there FOREVER. I thought, ok, I'll dust if off and peek at it. What was the last thing I wrote? It was from almost 8 years ago. Here is the entry:
March 24th, 2009
Well, here I am 1 month later and on the other side of my 3rd miscarriage. My mind is in turmoil and the voice of God is being overpowered by the voices of myself, family, friends and the enemy keeps throwing in his 2 cents as well. What I need is for everyone, including myself, to be silent. I am trying, yet again, to make a decision on our current situation. I am frustrated by God's lack of direction, but upon further reflection His lack of direction should result in my lack of action. Waiting can be just as difficult for me as stillness or quietness. So I am back to the crossroads.....waiting for God to tell me N-S-E-or W. I looked at the previous journal a month ago and it reminded me of something very important:
"I need to pray about this and be sure that my path is being God led, not my desires or emotions. God alone knows what is best for me, what I need and He will supply my answers. In His time, not mine."
All of that is easier said than done. Losing a child is devastating. One minute I am fine and feel like I have accepted the fate of my child. The next minute I am crushed by the reality the pregnancy is over and that I may never experience another. Then a few minutes later I am terrified at the prospect of ever being pregnant again , feeling so sick, worrying every minute about the baby, enduring changing over maternity clothes in my closet to have to pack them up a few weeks later and take them back to the basement. I feel like my 5 kids here can't count on me to have clean underwear in their drawers or enough milk in the fridge. Feeling like Mike is forced to bear an unfair load when I'm pregnant with working so hard and then grabbing groceries on the way home, feeding kids and then put them all to bed in a dirty house. It all leaves me feeling so selfish for desiring another chance. No wonder my heart feels separated from my mind and my soul is stuck in the middle. Deciding to not try again feels as selfish as not trying. Until I hear from God, any move will the wrong one. Please forgive me Lord if the hold up on the next step is because of my stubbornness, but strengthen me for the wait if it is Your's.
Oh sweet Shelli from 8 years ago! I can still feel your pain and confusion. It was such a long hard road. It feels SO LONG AGO, I feel like I KNEW you, not that I AM you! How weird.....and cool. So today I read that and thought I wish I could go back in time. I wish I could give you comforting words like:
-It's going to be ok, really.
-You are going to be amazed at what comes next, like double amazed.
-Don't worry so much, especially about cleaning, you never learn to like it and will always avoid it. The kids learn to help out and you get a robot vacuum someday!
-Trust God, He is trustworthy.
-Mike is going to keep calling you on the way home and grab things from the store, and guess what? You learn to LOVE that!
-The kids are going to be ok. They are going to drive you crazy some days, be helpful, fight, get into trouble, disappoint you, but they are going to end up WONDERFUL ADULTS and make you so proud.
-You are going to stay in love your darling husband, you are even going to keep growing closer when you think it is impossible to do so!
But, I can't go back in time. Nope. No special invention to rewind and give those words to my former self standing at that mountain. I CAN look at the current mountain. There always is one isn't there? I can take those same words of comfort and apply them as I stand here today.
Take heart as you stare that current mountain down! Enjoy the best moments of today. God's got you. Eight years from now you are going to be AMAZED!
"Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever" Hebrews 13:8
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Be brave.....
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Trusting God in the Storm
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Listening for Daddy
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Blood vs Water
Wait, what just happened here? No she didn't!!!!! This went from fun to OUCH! I took a deep breath and bit my tongue so hard I thought it might fly across the room spraying blood across the counter! God help me!
"No, no they are all mine," I managed to say smiling. "Not really, because you adopted the last two" she said with complete innocent ignorance.
Blood means your biologically related. It doesn't mean you love no matter what, that is a choice you make...or don't. If blood was the only important factor, we wouldn't read about parents killing their biological children in the news. If blood determined loving "real" family connection, brothers wouldn't fight, aunts and uncles wouldn't avoid each other at family gatherings, moms and daughters wouldn't go years without speaking, or fathers and sons either. Unconditional love isn't a side effect of DNA, it's a choice made.....daily.
Several years ago in my personal prayer time I was asking God what his heart was on this topic. After some silence went by I heard a simple question, "Do you consider your husband Mike family?"
"Well, you're not blood related." God whispered to my heart.
Thank you, God. That's all I needed to hear!
Monday, December 9, 2013
A night like no other....
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Don't pray for patience....?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
We can see clearly here that patience is a good fruit or gift of the Holy Spirit. So....shouldn't we ask for it? I think the trouble we find ourselves in is when we try to bear this good fruit (patience and self control for example) on our own. When we try to hold it all together or strive for it in our own strength we will eventually fail.
This morning I wasn't satisfied with my amount of patience, peace or gentleness. I was upset by how quickly I could go from kind to angry over a child who screamed for juice instead of milk. I needed an outpouring and filling of the Holy Spirit. I apologized to the children, went to my room, confessed my inadequacy and utter dependency on the Holy Spirit, requested a filling and outpouring of the fruit of the Spirit.
And guess what? I got it. The rest of the day went so much better than the first hour. I'm very thankful that when we blow it we can receive forgiveness and that we don't have to try to do it all perfectly by our own strength. I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit who is a great Helper indeed!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Don't Fight Your Life Preserver
Thursday, October 24, 2013
It must be a twin thing.....
"Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children.
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them."
Proverbs 13:24 (NLT)
"Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you." Deuteronomy 8:5 (NIV)
"Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord, the one you teach from your law;" Psalm 94:12 (NIV)
Have you ever been out with a close friend and you correct her child and it was okay to do so?
Or have you ever given someone you trusted the okay to correct your child when you are not around?
Ever said to a family member or best friend, "Just treat them like they are your own!"
Our personal prayer should be of thankfulness in times of the LORD's discipline. It means God loves us as His own child. He is teaching us the way of righteousness. He loves us too much to let us stray away. God's boundaries are meant to keep us safely on the correct path.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Parents, Be Encouraged
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Facebook: the honeymoon is over!
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Pure Sweetness
- "People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Luke 18:15-18
But the leaders were indignant. They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’ Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight." matthew 21:14-17
We need faith like a child, they don't fight the Truth. They don't doubt who Jesus is, they receive it and proclaim it!
Friday, August 23, 2013
Waiting on The Lord