Weight - A Journey

This morning I wrote my devotional about trusting God. Within 2 hours I was defeated and down-cast, why? Well, I weighed! In the last 30 days, I have lost and gained exactly 6 pounds. This has been my theme song since January. I was devastated. 

How can others make it look easy? Yet, when I talk or read about those who are successful in the weight-loss game, they testify it isn't easy.

I fixed my protein drink and sat down to read. This is what I read:

"You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light." 2 Samuel 22:29

Well surely darkness was falling on me! So I turned the page in the devotional to this:

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Coincident, I think not! 

I have no idea why God is making this so difficult for me. Friend, I'm doing all the right things counting calories, trying to add more fruits and vegetables, yet it is like this weight is trapped on me, and I question God. But why?

Elizabeth Elliot once said, “This hard place in which you perhaps find yourself is the very place in which God is giving you opportunity to look only to Him, to spend time in prayer, and to learn long-suffering, gentleness, meekness – in short, to learn the depths of the love that Christ Himself has poured out on all of us.”

So in this journey He is teaching me! To learn trust, long-suffering, and the depths of His love. May my prayer be like the man in Mark 9, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Remember Lot's wife

 Yesterday as I was getting ready for a lovely lunch with some of my new church ladies, I caught myself looking back. Leaving a church of 23 years has been hard on my heart, and for a second I thought of the "should have beens."

As I entered the land of "should have been" I instantly thought of Lot' wife. You see looking back for her was not an option and in so doing God turned her into a pillar of salt! Why? Because according to gotquestions.org, "This was more than just a glance over the shoulder; it was a look of longing that indicated reluctance to leave or a desire to return." 

Thankfully, I've been blessed with friends who reminded me that if I looked back with longing I'd miss the here and now. Also, I'd miss the blessings in front of me. As I ate with my new sisters in Christ, I heard wonderful stories of God's faithfulness throughout their lives. What a blessing!  

CS Lewis wrote in 1963 in a letter to a dying woman, "Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (3:12)

Matthew Henry wrote, "He forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be content with past labours or present measures of grace. He reached forth, stretched himself forward towards his point..."

Lord, I don't want to look back other than to remember your goodness to me. Instead I want to be like Paul looking forward. Friend, I pray you aren't looking back, but instead looking forward. Press on!

Keep Your Confidence

 ...but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. 

Daniel 2:28 

As you go into chapter 2 of Daniel the message is the same it is God who is in control of all things.  Alastair Begg calls chapter 2 in his book "Keep Your Confidence." See Daniel had long before he was in need of God's help learned who God was. The situation did not overcome the ultimate outcome.

As I pondered chapter 2 I wondered how I can truly believe in a Sovereign God. There is no doubt in me where He is concerned. I truly believe He is in control of all situations, but how do I believe it? Why is my belief in this one characteristic of God so different than others I know?

So last night I pondered. Was it from being raised by Alice? Who instilled in me the phrase, "Where are you going to go but to the Lord?" Is it from the multitude of biographies of strong Christians I've read?

Elizabeth Elliott once wrote, “The Auca story …. Has pointed to one thing: God is God. If he is God, he is worthy of my worship, and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in his will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest nothings of what he is up to. God is the God of human history, and he is at work continuously, mysteriously, accomplishing his eternal purposes in us, through us, for us, and in spite of us. … Cause and effect are in God’s hands. Is it not the part of faith simply to let them rest there? God is God. I dethrone him in my heart if I demand that he act in ways that satisfy my idea of justice. … The one who laid the earth’s foundations and settled its dimensions knows where the lines are drawn. He gives all the light we need for trust and obedience.” (Through Gates of Splendor, pgs. 268-269, 273)

Daniel got it! I've been blessed with that confidence that He is capable of holding it all together. So my pondering led me to this answer - it is a gift. I have been blessed by God!

Friend, in who is your confidence placed? The God of Daniel, strong and mighty, or the God of your own making. 

 A new week ahead of us full of opportunity. I don't know how you feel, but I want to make it count for Him.

We start standardized testing this week, so schedules will be interrupted. Exhaustion will be real. Yet, in the midst of all the hurrying, waiting, and fretting God still speaks.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you." Psalm 32:8

What comfort we have in this verse. First, it might help to know the difference in God's omnipotence and His manifest presence. When I'm looking for answers to specific questions got questions.org is a great resource. 

They state, "God’s omnipresence is His attribute of being everywhere at once. He is omnipresent even when we do not experience His presence; He is here, even if we do not recognize Him. God’s manifest presence is, of course, His presence made manifest—the fact that He is with us is made clear and convincing."

I find great comfort in the fact that God granted me the ability to see Him at work in all things. At the age of 60 I became aware that there are many people who declare themselves Christians, but do not believe He is in control of ALL things. This still flabbergastes me!

The article in got questions.org goes on to say, "We know of God’s manifest presence experientially. The manifest presence of the Spirit may not be visible or aural or able to be sensed physically, but His presence is experienced nonetheless. At the times of His choosing, the Spirit manifests His presence, and our theological knowledge becomes an experiential knowledge. Creedal acquaintance becomes loving familiarity."

I have a busy week. What comfort I find knowing that God's eyes are upon me!

Grace

 Fredrick Buechner once wrote, “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”

Some days it is easy to wake up and concentrate on the evil around us, to the point we miss the grace of God. 

Yesterday, we had a discussion on which is more important written word or the authors meaning. I said the author's meaning. Think about that a moment!

When I study God's Word I am concerned with the words, but ultimately it is what He means by those words that changes me. Psalm 119:130, "The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple."

So, when I read the many verses on grace I get the surface meaning, but it is only by repeated study that God allows me to become enlightened on the depth of that meaning. And that too is grace.

I still am unsure how grace works, but I can promise you it does. That in this life in your weakest moment he will give you more than enough grace. What a great God we serve!  

 Alice-isms...I was raised with them.

"Be sure your sins will find you out."

"Treat others the way you want to be treated.

"They haven't hung you on a cross yet, so your good."

"All but by the grace of God goes you."

Alice didn't play. She didn't show fear. She had a "take the bull by the horns attitude." Weakness was never an option. If you grew weary "in your walk" then pray. 

I come from what you'd call a "strong matriarchal family." The women in my family were not weak! My great-grandmother would say, "The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck and turns the head." These gals were tough! My grandmother had five sisters and an ex-sister-in-law who was her best friend. My uncle's wife, Aunt Ruby, could hang right with them. 

They were a different family. Tougher than boot-leather, but literally oozed Jesus.

I've gotten to the age I speak Alice! I never has thought I was tough as them, but life has proved otherwise. I look back and I can't help but think how blessed I've been! Yet, at the same time I'm sad I didn't get to share them with my kids, because stories just aren't enough.

Friend, what are you leaving behind?

Children are a gift from God.

 "This is what the LORD says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." Jeremiah 31:15

About two years ago I had one of the strangest experiences. As I walked in the building I passed three classrooms, it was before school, and in every classroom ALL the students were looking at their phones. It was weird! However, in that moment the Holy Spirit pierced my soul and laid Jeremiah 31:15 on my heart.

Sadly, it was a feeling I haven't been able to shake. Since that day, numerous things have been on the news regarding school incidents in Georgia. With just this week WSB reported on a 14 year old in Glascock County facing possible felony charges over a picture on his phone taken of another student.

Psalm 127:3 says, "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him."

 Physically, mentally and spiritually caring for our children should be a #1 priority of everyone. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. As this year has progressed I've been saddened by the "scuttlebutt" I hear from students about things going around on their social media accounts. Friend, it is shocking! I'm talking 12, 13 and 14 year old kids!

Recently our church has decided to put on a conference entitled, "Growing God's Gifts."  This conference will deal with the impact social media is having on our children (yes, they are still children).

It amazes me that main-stream media and psychologist all see the ramifications on our youth. Yet, Christian parents are almost confident that their child won't be damaged. 

In an article by Carl Trueman in the Public Discourse he states, "As our dependence on technology reshapes the moral imagination of our culture to see human beings as psychological wills that need not respect material limitations, so the old order that was built upon the vision of human beings as both body and soul will become increasingly implausible. The things that make Christianity stand out from the wider culture—belief in the incarnation, the resurrection, and embodied human nature as a real, universal thing with moral consequences—are antithetical to the terms of membership in the emerging world order."

That is a lot to unpack! If you need help understanding our role in a changing world join us!

Our conference will be April 21-22, 2023 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Covington. 

 Conference Schedule

Friday night: 6pm Dinner; 7pm Samuel D. James

Saturday morning: 9am Coffee & Donuts, 9:30am Angel Shelton

10:30am Panel Discussion

Saturday evening: 7pm D.J. Seals

If you are interested please register online at:

                     https://connectionpointcounseling.org/growing-gods-gift-2023

Or call our church office at 770-787-7493