Blahh Humbug or Beautiful Happiness?

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness; and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die, and said; it is enough, now, O LORD take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.  I Kings 19:4

 Elijah felt sorry for himself. After great bravery and demonstrating God's magnificent power before the people who were drawn into worshipping the false god Baal, then slaying all the false prophets, he became frightened when his life was threatened by the evil Queen Jezebel. He ran for his life and asked God to take him away.

We might think to ourselves after reading this. "Oh Elijah, how could you?"

We could never think such a thing, could we? 

The day after Christmas, I felt so blahh humbuggish. (My new term for the after Christmas blues.) It was dreary and gloomy and now that the holiday was over there was the usual letdown. Plus the fact that Christmas is forever different now with Dad's homegoing To make things worse, when my husband came home that night we got into a little argument over the stupidest thing and he went off to bed and we hadn't really resolved it. So I stewed and went to bed early myself.

The next day, it continued to be gloomy and miserable and my attitude had not changed either. I felt terrible, but started to listen a message on Psalm 139.

Oh LORD thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou dost understand my thought from afar off   (verse 1,2)

Didn't God know that I would fail in arguing with my husband on December 26th? Didn't He understand the world and all its bad news, and the gloom of the day outside? 

For there is not a word on my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid thine hand upon me. (verses 4,5)

My despair started to lighten when I thought about how much He loves me, right here and now, not before I am sinlessly perfect but in my weakness and failure. That's what He came here for. For people who fail constantly. He came to be the perfect Person and stand in our place when God had to punish our sin.

I also thought of the greatness of His power as He knit me together in my mother's womb and created all the trillions of cells that would make my human body. (verse 13) What kind of God could plan such a wonderful machine as our human bodies?

I cannot escape from His love, no matter how I feel. Even as I age, I do not have to fear for He will still be my God then, even as He is right now.

Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs will I carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. Isaiah 46:4 

In the message, I was reminded that He was the One who created me, who understands me better than I understand myself. And I have this gift called eternal life. Even if I feel blahh humbug, right here, right now I have eternal life through my relationship with Jesus Christ.

What more could anyone want? We watch and read stories of rich and famous people. People who have everything their heart could desire.But just like Charlie Brown said, they aren't happy.  It is not enough. It will never be enough. 

Deep down, that One who made us and knows how each one of us ticks, is the only One who will (or even can) fill our craving souls. Most men are searching for happiness and it is right there, if only they would reach for it.

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

"so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." Acts 17:26-27

Suddenly I had this joy in my heart, a feeling of beautiful happiness. Even if the day is gray and gloomy, I have Christ, and the hope of a bright future which no man can take away from me. 

Anyone reading this post who does not yet know Jesus can have this same gift simply by receiving by faith the free gift of salvation that He stands waiting to share with you. You can start the new year of 2017 with a brand new faith and a hope that will last forever.

 

God fills the craving heart...

                       
Will the Lord cast off forever?

Will He be favorable no more?

Has His mercy ceased forever?

Has His promise failed forevermore?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has He in anger shut up
His tender mercies?

Psalm 77: 7-9


There has been so much disaster.  2015 is going out with a bang, and 2016 doesn't look better. Maybe we would be tempted to think God has forgotten us. I feel terrible to hear about all the people in our country affected by the awful tornadoes, the flooding, the earthquakes, the methane leak in California, and on and on. I pray for God to comfort and help them.

Where is God when disaster strikes? Maybe God is trying to wake us all up.  Maybe I should look no further than myself, even. Though disaster has not struck me in the physical realm, financial concerns have been unrelenting. In spite of that, I use food to comfort me. My weight has crept up insidiously and I face the fact that my clothes don't fit. Why? Like the Psalmist, somehow I did not believe that God was enough, that I must satisfy my cravings for comfort from food.

The last couple of days, I decided enough was enough. I began tracking my calories and exercising, and limiting myself to a certain number of calories. The first night, the urge to quit was so bad I nearly gave in. I treated myself to a cup of Hershey's cocoa with skim milk and stevia and somehow there were no hunger pangs when I went to bed that night.

The next morning, I woke up from a dream that I have had repeatedly in my life. The dream is that I am back in college, However, this time, I was going to a different college, the one my sister attended, instead of the one I actually attended and frequently dreamed about. I thought to myself in the dream, "Why did I ever like my old campus, this one is so much more beautiful?" I told my husband the next morning that maybe I had a break through somehow in my dream, by not giving into my appetite's screams for attention the night before. Seems crazy, I know.

But I am heartened when I have woken up the past couple of mornings, I have had more energy and felt more refreshed. Even though I haven;t lost any pounds yet. My knees are not aching as bad. My terrible heartburn is going away. God is enough to fill the cravings of my soul.

Last night, I drifted off to sleep with a slight growl in my stomach and I thought about all the people in the world who know constant hunger. I think about those who are running from terrorists, from persecutions. This world grows darker, yet One day the true Light of this world will satisfy all the souls who long for Him, who ache for Him.

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they may grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."  Acts 17: 26-28  (emphasis mine)

Maranatha, may our Lord come quickly and fill our hungry hearts with Himself. May He satisfy every longing soul who craves for Him in the New Year 2016.

Live Up to or Live Unto

Did you ever have something wonderful happen to you before people and felt you must work hard to keep giving a good impression of yourself? That you had to "tow the line" or you would lose your good standing before men?

I have felt that, but it isn't that way in the family of God. God sees me today, and accepts me just where I am. He doesn't even get tired of me repenting for the same sin over and over. He tells us to forgive our brother 70 times 7. Well, I say that you can't forgive others if you don't forgive yourself first.

Guilt has a way of coming in and accusing us of things we have already confessed in order to break the peace we have as a free gift of God. But I am slowly learning to answer back when I am accused:

"That is NOT who I am!"

Why can I say that? Maybe it looks obvious to the world that I have failed in some sort of sin. But God says: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away: behold all things are become new." in II Corinthians 5:17. Are these just nice words or are they God's truth?

I choose to believe they are true. I am not who I was in the old person. That person died when Christ died, was buried when He was buried, and rose up to new life when He rose up to new life. I must internalize and believe it, because the Word says it, and it is my refusal to believe it that keeps me stuck in the same old ways of failure.

Romans 6: 1-4 tells us: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life?

It almost sounds too good to be true, but if I want to get past the failures then I must choose to see myself the way He does. Yes, I may have sinned, but God does not see me in that sinful state. He cannot, because He tells us He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), that they are buried in the deepest sea (Micah 7: 19), that He has put them behind His back (Isaiah 38: 17). What an awesome, gracious God we serve.

If He did see me in my sin, He would not be satisfied with what Jesus did to pay for my sin on that cross. Therefore I need to give myself a clean slate each day, and be thinking only of what is ahead, not what is behind. I cannot do anything about the past, but I can choose what I will do with today.

Sometimes I say to the Lord: "Lord, I am receiving the love you have for me. I am believing the love you have for me."

It helps me to remember that everything He does in my life is done because He loves me. Even when He has to discipline me, I must remember it is done because He loves me. Just like a little child who throws a tantrum needs disciplined, so I also must receive discipline so that I will learn His ways, which lead to peace, rather than my ways, which lead to ruination.

Just think of what God gives to His undeserving children the moment that they place their faith in Christ:

Ephesians 1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having pre-destinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved."

From this passage alone He promises us: 1) All spiritual blessings 2) that we were chosen before the foundation of the world 3) that we are holy and without blame before Him in love 4) that we were predestined to be His adopted children and that we are 5) accepted in the Beloved.

We don't have to try to impress God with anything good we have done. He loved us when we could not save ourselves and His love for us is according to who HE IS, not who we are. So I am not living up to some standard today, I am living unto my Lord, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2: 20)

Change is Coming... Let's Wake Up for the Warning!

Today, flash flooding overwhelmed some parts of our city. Cars were submerged suddenly on their way into town without warning. Railways flooded with muddy debris and were knocked out of commission, at least temporarily. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of our viewing area. In fact one was scheduled to go right over my parents home, which thankfully broke up before reaching them. It could have been much, much worse.

Yesterday I watched a fifteen minute You tube video of the disasters that had occurred in just this past month of June alone around the world and it was really eye opening, to say the least. It also was heart breaking, thinking of all the people who had lost either their life or their home in the wake of up-stepped natural disasters. You can find it on the first of two video links posted at this blog link:

http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/07/09/2013-unprecedented-natural-disasters-june-retrospective/

I saw a microcosm of suffering in my hometown today. Now multiply by what has been happening all over the world, not just in 2013, but in the last decade or so, although each year it seems to be getting incrementally worse. I would love to just ignore it and say life will go on as usual. The Bible doesn't have good news for those who are just trying to be good people and are hoping for the best, somehow thinking that this world will get better and better. No, He does not, but God made an easier and better way, completely devoid of any human good works. Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4: 4-5.

In the face of natural disasters, there are tough questions that deserve an honest answer. But before you raise a fist in anger at God for what's happened, did you ever think that somehow God may have allowed these things to wake people out of slumber, maybe even you, so that they could possibly seek after Him now, before things get even worse? I love what Paul proclaimed as part of his speech to the Greeks in Acts 17: 26- 27 when he found their tomb to the Unknown God:

"And He (God) has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us." {emphasis mine}

Jesus talked about terrible events in the last days being the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24: 8)Sorrows over what, you ask? The evil in this world will not be permitted to go on like this forever. Sin was already paid for and judged at the cross of Calvary around 30 A. D. But the problem of evil has not been dealt with in finality. Evil is what caused the plague of sin in the first place. It was found in God's enemy, Lucifer, when God replied to his proud look in Isaiah 14: 12-14 and his five "I will's."

"How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!

For you have said in your heart;
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mound of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the clouds,
I will be like the Most High."

Isaiah 14: 12-14

Lucifer had not only sinned, but now had introduced evil into the world.

In the Chronological Study Bible put out by Thomas Nelson I have learned much this past year. As I read through its clear arrangement of Israel and Judah's history, I have reached the part where the prophet Jeremiah had to preach a most unpopular message: His beloved country was going down. Other prophets told people the things they liked to hear, that certainly they would not be destroyed. Jeremiah was God's man, though, and he could not prophesy lies. He was the "weeping prophet" because he knew that King Zedekiah would be carried away captive with his eyes taken out by the Babylonians. Israel's capital, Jerusalem, would go under siege for all her years of rebellion and idolatry against her God.

Jeremiah wrote of terrible times coming as the siege by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon neared. But his writing could also foretell of the times that are coming now. For we cannot undo the prophetic clock. It started ticking when Israel became "reborn" as a nation on May 14, 1948, which also was prophesied clearly in Scripture, after 2,000 years of dispersion to the four corners of the earth. (See Isaiah 66:8)

Jeremiah declared in Jer. 30: 23-24:

"Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD
Goes forth with fury,
A continuing whirlwind;
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
The fierce anger of the LORD
will not return until He has done it,
And until He has performed the intents of His heart.

In the latter days you will consider it. {emphasis mine}

I propose, along with many others who know much more than I do, that we are in those latter times now. The birth pangs, which signal Christ's return for His Church and His ultimate judgment on evil are at any moment ready to come to fruition. There is no time to be on the fence. Whose side will you be on? Christ has already made a way for you by His Finished Work on the cross. If you listen to the world, Christ could come for His church and you will be left behind to suffer the wrath of God on this unbelieving planet. While you may still believe on Him at that point, you will have to undergo trouble then like never seen in this world before, which is called the time of Great Tribulation. You can skip all that though by believing in Christ now and being a part of His Church today.

God spoke to Israel also through the prophet Amos, but He also speaks to us now:

"Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" Amos 4: 12a