Noah

Have you seen the movie “Noah?” Granted it’s not a word for word rendition of the actual account, but it does give some food for thought.

Some friends and I got together and watched it last week. Then we took some time to read how God said it happened. One of the best ways to discern what is true from what is not, is to know the truth!

I’ve heard it said that the best way to spot a counterfeit one hundred-dollar bill is to know the real thing so well that you can easily detect a fake.

And so it is with truth.

We need to know the truth so well, that a deviation…any deviation can easily be spotted.

In the biblical account of Noah for example, we are told how things happened.

God spoke to Noah. He told Noah what He was going to do, what Noah should do and how to do it. (Genesis 6:13-15) We’re not told how God spoke to him. Apparently, that wasn’t something Moses felt he needed to explain. God had also spoken to Moses. We find it all over Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

What I like about the biblical account is that God did speak to Noah in a way that he could understand. God’s instructions were clear.

Later in the book of Hebrews we’re told that Noah was warned of things that were not yet seen. Because he believed the words of God, he prepared the ark.

His faith in what God said prompted him to action!

Sawing, hammering, lifting…putting your back into it, sweating, preaching and proclaiming judgment to come. This was Noah. He was persuaded concerning the reality of things he could not yet see! So much so, that he kept at it for years…sawing, hammering, lifting, and putting his back into it says Jeff Kinley in his book on Noah.

This is faith. Real faith prompts us to action.

The other day I was grousing about something. Got my feelings hurt. Mostly because it revealed a character flaw which made the situation even worse. My heart began to ache. The more I thought about it, the deeper my despondency grew.

“LORD, I am grieving and my heart hurts…”

As I was laying it before the LORD a picture came to my mind of an ocean in the middle of a storm. In the midst of the waves that were rising and falling was a rope from above the waters reaching into the waters below…straight and totally undeterred by the storm.

“Grab the lifeline!”

In the quiet of the moment, a thought came to me. “You can either be tossed about by the storm or you can grab the lifeline. What do you know about My word? How does it apply to your situation? This is your lifeline!”

At that moment various Scripture began to come to mind.

If we say we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins and tell God that we agree with Him about what we have done, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:8-9

My words are life and he who believes in Me will have life!  John 5:24 & 6:63

Not only does God give eternal life, but there is a quality of life that comes from obedience to His word.

“Do you want to be tossed around by the waves of the storm…or do you want to grab the lifeline?”

Funny how it’s not always the big stuff, but the daily grind of hammering, sawing, lifting, and putting my back into it that makes life so hard.

“LORD, You have clearly spoken. Like Noah, help us to be men and women of faith and act on it!”

 

 

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Ruffled Feathers

Sitting here after another beautiful day. Well, it didn’t necessarily start that way…but that’s how it’s ending.

I woke up with a burr in my saddle, a bit on the “ouchy” side. The night before, someone had said something that I considered a bit rude. You know what I noticed? The more I thought about it and “argued” my position, the more upset I became.

At first, I thought I would just hide myself away and no one would ever notice. I mean, I didn’t even say anything!

But unresolved conflict has a way of creeping out.

To make matters even a bit sillier, it wasn’t even that big of a deal. I just had my feathers ruffled.

In a book I am reading by Gary Thomas called “Sacred Marriage” he gives an illustration of an ongoing battle that he has with his wife over the ice-cube tray. Growing up, his family had a simple rule…you refill the ice-cube tray before putting it back in the fridge. He even timed himself and found that it only takes seven seconds to refill the  tray.

Finally, he couldn’t take any longer and asked his wife. “How much do you love me?”

“More than all the world,” she professed.

“I don’t need you to love me that much,” he said. “I just want you to love me for seven sec…”

Then it dawned on him, if it only takes her seven seconds to fill it…then it will only take him seven seconds! Is he going to let SEVEN SECONDS worth of inconvenience become a serious issue in his marriage? He asked himself, “Really?! Is my capacity to show a little charity that limited?”

Indeed it was…and that was the trouble.

I love the story.

I guess because it tells me I’m not alone, when I find myself all too willing to let inconvenience and ruffled feathers rob me of relationships.

It’s funny, but once I realized I had it in my power to turn the tables on myself, I had to make a decision. Am I willing to show a little charity and let the comment go?

How many times has God forgiven me? How many times have I wept and said, “It’s me again, LORD. I am so sorry, please forgive me?”

Quietly the words of Scripture came to mind.

“I have forgiven you and carried your sins as far as the east is from the west.” He answered. “Your sins were carried by My Son to the cross…and they are nailed there!”

“Do you believe Me?”

“Then, go and forgive others as I have forgiven you. Show the same kindness, as I have shown you!”

Interestingly, the process was not complete until I acted on it. I picked up the phone and made a call. Once I physically began to move in the right direction, something happened inside of me. It was as though I was held prisoner and was suddenly set free.

Over and over again, I have found God’s word to be true. His ways are good and I have seen it!

For Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, then you are My disciples; and you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32

 

 

 

 

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True Friends

I’ve had a late night bowl of chili, a package of Twizzlers and a Milky Way. That’s it! No more munchies. I will not leave this chair and eat one more bite. Wait a minute, has anybody said anything about tea? Hold on…ah, now that’s better. Fingers wrapped around a warm cup of tea, feet propped up on a chair, and a friend leaning over the table attentive to our every word. Doesn’t that make you smile?

Someone has once said that if you can count one to two true friends in your lifetime, than you have been truly blessed.

I remember the first time I saw her. I was new in the neighborhood and wanted so desperately to go outside and play. I looked outside the third story window of our apartment and a saw group of kids having a picnic in the backyard. I grabbed my camera and ran outside hoping they would invite me to play. It soon became apparent that one girl was in charge. She grabbed my camera and began to tell us all what to do.

Though I was a bit shy, I wasn’t about to have someone take my camera and boss me around.

I don’t remember being very vocal, but what I do remember is that this same girl happened to go to my new school and also happened to be in my classroom. I had difficulty making friends and found out that she had spread the word that no one was to be my friend. This went on for the entire fall semester. Several weeks after Christmas, on my tenth birthday, my mother said that I could invite six friends over for a party. I could only come up with five. I had one invitation left. What would I do? Who would I invite? There was a struggle in my soul. I could throw the invitation away, but…

I decided that I would invite this girl and if she didn’t want to come, that was her decision.

She came. The short skinny Jewish girl with light blue horned rimmed glasses and the new girl with blond hair and a brownie camera became best friends. We started a club that lasted five years, joined the Girl Scouts and volunteered as Candy Stripers at a local hospital. We shared our dreams and hopes for the future, and talked for hours. We created codes, so that we could send secret messages, and learned sign language so we could talk in the classroom without getting caught.

I do remember one time asking our parents if we could have a Valentine Party at her house. “Sure, no problem,” they said. What they didn’t know is that we only invited two boys. When they showed up, they asked, “Where is everybody?”

We told them, “I guess, no one else decided to come.” Ha! That’s junior high girls for you.

We were kindred spirits. When I hurt, she hurt. When she cried, I cried. We finished each other’s sentences and soon became indian “blood sisters”. We had a little ceremony and somewhere in that backyard we buried our treasures with a promise of being best-friends forever.

To love and be loved, to be known and still loved…is that not the joy and longing of the human heart?

The theme, this year, for the women’s ministry of our church is Purses, Pearls & Prayer…Discovering the Beauty of Friendship and Wisdom of God’s Ways. Through prayer we will deepen our friendship with God. As we pray together, we will strengthen our relationships with one another. Each, feeds the other!

God who gives us friendships to enjoy and who has made us for community, has also made us for Himself. It is important to note that the deepest longings of the human heart can only be filled by the God who made us and the One whose love we echo.

• God knows everything about us. “…for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of our thoughts.” From 1 Chronicles 28:9
• We are loved. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,” said Jesus to His disciples. “I will be delivered by the religious leaders who will condemn me to death and they will turn me over to the Gentiles.” Mt. 20:18 & Mk. 10:33 Knowing what was going to happen, the Scriptures say, that Jesus “… resolutely set His face towards Jerusalem.” Lk. 9:51b
• The love of God is rooted in action, not empty sentiment! “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Ro. 8:32
• In the same way, our friendship with God is rooted in action, not merely
  sentiment. “…and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God…[for] a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone.”

A true friend is not a friend in word only, but in deed. A true friend loves at all times. (Proverbs 17:17) A true friend seeks what is best for his friend, is not easily provoked and does not keep a tally of every wrong that they suffer. A true friend puts up with faults and shortcomings, believes and hopes for what is best, perseveres and does not give up. (I Corinthians 13:4-7)

Hey, Judy, Carol, Margie…and many others since then. Thank you for being my friend, because of you I have seen a glimpse of God!

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