BE STILL





Be still awhile and search inside for a place to meet with the Lord. You will know, he will come. The presence of the Lord is the power of creation. Lay yourself as a garment upon his perfect pattern and resting there be woven with the silver thread, be conformed to the image of Christ.                                                                                                                                                                             

Daily in His presence your 'self' will slip away, errant body cells resume their rightful functions and peace, like a river, prevails.

water

                                                                    




                                                                                                                                     

                                                                        Given





Not just that Jesus died for us but in living he lived for us.   In every way Jesus gave his life to us.   His time, his tears, his privacy, his right to have a 'life' literally, he gave it away to the dying around him.

     Jesus set the standard and calls us to it:  In living give your life away.   Do the unthinkable: think of others first.   Pour yourself out for Christ's sake,  in the process you become living water. 
The people may hunger for comfort and things but the souls of those people thirst for the water of life!   In the thing that is given there may be great worth but  the grace of God attends to the heart and soul of the giver not the gift.    Acts of human compassion and sacrifice aligns one with the dynamics of God where the Christ-light spans the void.  Out of our wealth we give wealth but out of our compassion we can  give life.

The Porcelain Papoose

I ran my fingers over the contours of the porcelain doll as I admired the colors and minute detail. Having never paid much attention to ceramic art, I had no idea what its age or origin were.
But I was able to recollect some tidbits about ceramics from Arthist101, a class I had in college.
Ceramic casting is a fine art that has evolved from the crude clay pots of pre-history to the exquisite porcelain creations of China. During the time of Jesus the clay water pots, like the ones at Cana, were called ‘earthen’ vessels because they were made of earth as opposed to the also common goatskin bottles.
The piece in my hand, though far more refined than clay pottery, was also made of earth. And the masterpieces of China? Yep they’re earth too.
Amazing how simple crude clay can be made into something so delicate and beautiful! Almost before I had finished the thought, a broader, higher truth unfolded. If we are amazed at what the porcelain artist has done with clay, how shall we describe what God has done…with clay?
God has fashioned the ultimate china doll: the human baby, for all it’s beauty and complexity, is ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ ..of clay.
“..and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground.’ (Gen 2:7)
Formed of clay, enlivened by the breath of God and and filled with the Holy Spirit. The child of God. What a doll!
But let us be reminded as Paul reminded the Greeks who had witnessed the
Works of the Holy Spirit in the saints at Corinth. “..we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.’ (2Cor 4:7) If you give back to God the clay pot that you are, though cracked and weathered, he will fill it with the treasures of his spirit to perform immortal works of love and ministry through you. And you will reign in life through him, living out the heritage of the saints of God and
‘..if ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit return to God who gave it’
(Ecc.12:6) When the work is done and the sealed soul has taken flight.
May your memory be, in the hearts of your loved ones, a precious porcelain papoose.
By the way it is also God’s design that has placed in our hearts a tiny handle that babies take hold of and bend us to their will.

The Fat Lady Sings: Amazing Grace

It’s usually heard in the fourth quarter of a football game or the late rounds of a fight: ‘its not over yet’, and then something about a fat lady singing at some point before the loser will concede.   Well , I get the part about perseverance and never giving up, but does anyone know who the fat lady is?  We’ve been primed for her performance but she never seems to sing.  We want the fat lady now!  Maybe she objects to her stage name, 'fat lady'.   I’m sure she would prefer 'Jazzy Lady', but would settle for just 'Lady'.   Maybe we’ve not been sensitive to her potential insecurities.  But you wouldn’t expect her to have issues about weight, after all she is just a figment of popular culture, art imitating life.

Only living breathing overweight people get to wrestle with their weight, their image, and public insensitivity at the same time.  Obesity, [hereafter referred to as 'the beast'] has surged to the forfront of public health concerns; a prowling plague of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.

The miracle drug? Well, there is always a buzz about the latest one but so far they've all succumbed to time and trial.  Preventive and therapeutic strategies are behavioral;  diet and exercise are matters of discipline and will, two factors that assure failure for  many of us.

The oppression of mankind by whatever means has always been the work of ‘…spiritual wickedness in high places.’ (Eph6:12) but as justice would have it, human suffering is a cause cele’bre for the Spirit of Grace.  The winged warrior sent from God fends for us, like an eagle for it’s young. The healing in her wings is the Word of God to the household of faith: ‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper and every accuser you shall condemn”(Isa 54:17)

The children of God need not languish among the prey of the ‘beast’.
Healing and health is our heritage to be had in harmony with the spirit.  God’s love is a dynamic stream of energy that permeates creation, broadcasting the divine frequency around which we are designed. This 'river of life' contains the operating codes to optimize our natural functions and gifts when we tune in, and give in, to it’s flow.

Obesity like all other human ailments is a symptom of systemic imbalance.  In the grand scheme of things mind is arranged over matter.  Balance is a matter of mind directing matter as the spirit directs mind.  Both unregenerate and reverent thought has authority over matter hence we have good or evil accordingly. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Pr23:7)

Overeating and inactivity may initiate weight gain but if the state of being obese is maintained in the mind it is oblivious to diet and exercise. An overweight unhealthy body in your reality is being sustained by an
overweight, unhealthy image in your mind.   Likewise a mental equivalent of fitness and health, held by faith will manifest a material equivalent displacing what ever is there now, and that includes body fat!   It is God’s own decree: ‘…be it unto you as you have believed.” (Mat9:29)

Scripture, prayer, and affirmation are the weapons of the Christian who would pull down the stronghold of obesity.  First we need to get our heads straightened out!   Grace by it's nature cannot cooperate with an unclean or unbelieving mind.  Scripture is a mind cleanser and conditioner with detangler! “..and be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds..”(Rom12:2)…’that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word” (Rom. 12: 2)

With our eyes on God, prayer is to the soul is as breath to the body, natural and necessary.  But prayer does not move the hand of God, prayer moves us into the hand of God.  The act of prayer submits our will and attunes us to the transmission of grace.   God  knows better than we what that must be accomplished.  We need only pray our 'self ' out of the way and our soul into position so that grace can do the work it has come to do.

The term ‘speak to a situation’ has been used to describe what we are able to do with affirmation. To affirm is not to command change but rather to avow an existing truth no matter what is seen in the mirror or anywhere else. ‘Calling those things that be as though they were not.”(Rom4:17

To agree with God before the end is seen is to declare what the end will be. There are no overweight children of God, there are those who for lack of knowledge consent to oppression. “My people perish for lack of knowledge” (Hsa4:6) Affirmation of God’s truth is a victory song even though the battle is ’not over yet.’ Let the fat lady sing from the depths of her soul a song of grace so amazing; how sweet the sound to which the beast of obesity must bow!

Mousetrap trials

It really didn’t seem to matter what I tried I could not catch that mouse. He stole from snap traps, tiptoed around sticky pads and shunned poison with impish distain. His most annoying habit was climbing the leg to the tabletop to search for crumbs while staking out his territory with droppings.

Stumped but not discouraged, I went online in search of help. There were several descriptions of a simple but ingenious trap using a paper towel roll.
The cardboard paper towel tube is placed on the table or countertop with about half the tub extending off the edge. An empty wastebasket is placed under the tube. The extended end of the tube is then baited with peanut butter or chocolate. The mouse enters the tabled end of the tube in pursuit of the bait. When he passes a certain point the tube tips over and politely deposits him in the wastebasket.

Well thats the way it worked for your average mouse but not for ‘savvy’ as Id come to call him. Claustrophobic about the inside of the tube, he tried to get at the bait from the outside. Hence when the tube tried to feed him to the wastebasket monster he landed on the floor and was gone like a shot. The tube gave him a great scare but he escaped which meant I could trash the trap, he'd never go near it again.

Tru dat, so much so, I could now place any size paper tube on the table and he conceded the territory. I quickly pressed my advantage with tissue tubes on the counter and sink, not traps, just harmless tubes. Psyched-out, Savvy was forced to retreat before the paper predators all the way to his hole behind the fridge. Their advance ignored his now frantic territorial droppings. Still thinking on his feet though, savvy moved to my neighbors house before the inevitable yawning jaws of a tissue tube at his doorway.

I was feeling a little smug about having played on the mind of the mouse when it occurred to me that the enemy of my soul had played on me in like manner many times. He plants harmless but scary illusions before us hoping we will retreat from our blessings or our commitment to walk with God. He shows us swallowed up by debt, betrayed by our spouse , a lump in the body somewhere and we retreat into self-preservation mode. The problem part of self-preservation is the 'self.'
When fear replaces faith, self replaces God at the center of our being. How big is this? Its huge. There is no commandment given in the bible more often than fear not from Genesis:  fear not Abram I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward(15:1) to Revelations:  'fear not [John] I am the beginning and the end (1:17) Both in terms of the challenges we face and our worldly needs Gods policy on fear is zero tolerance!   In the book of Deuteronomy God calls the fearful out from the army of Israel and sends then home lest their fear infect the others. (Deut 20:1-8) They were not fit for Gods service.
This hard reality is true for us as well when, having all his '..great and precious promises', we are afraid to stand on them. When we have fled the fortress of faith we are subject to the proverbial brick wall in the midst of our flight. Though we have no immunity to feelings of fear, dread, or worry, the children of God have authority over the things that fear forecasts: sickness, poverty, death.  Having power over fire shall we flee from smoke?  David king of Israel, when his fights and flights from Saul and Absalon had taught him this truth, cried:  '..O thou most High, [at] what time I am afraid I will trust in thee.' (Ps 56:3-4) Gods instruction on fear is clear and pervasive.   "Thou shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day..'  "For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and a sound mind.' (Ps91:5; 2Tim 1:7)
We must be urgent to sow this Word in our spirit and nourish it there. It will yield a fighting competence in our spiritual warfare and the moxy to stay on the field when the fight gets scary.
When our own roof is leaking we can keep right on building the house of our neighbor; the appearance of scarcity
Will not stop our giving, nor danger defer the profession of our faith.