"Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" Hebrews 7:25

That blows my mind. Jesus, the High Priest annointed by God, lives to make intercession for those who come to God through Him. Have you ever thought Jesus was praying for you? 

He has the ability to save. There is a contemporary Christian song called "Mighty to Save." I almost get teary every time I hear it. Do I really believe God is might enough to save even the most wretched of us. Of course, I know it is true so why do I have so many doubts about this. I think it is arrogance. It creeps in. " Oh, I am so anxious and fearful about  this person's salvation." " Will they ever know the Lord?" Arrogance that there was something worthy in my life that God saw or that I was smart enough to know God's mysteries. Where is my faith? Someone prayed for me. Now Jesus prays for me. 

Sometimes Biblical truth sounds so arrogant, I dare not speak of it. Jesus loves us so much that He is praying always for us.  Am I willing to trust that He knows what is best? Am I willing to humbly take God's correction? When Jesus makes intercession for us, He has only the best in mind. Sometimes that includes pain. It is hard enough to go through trials of my own but harder to see loved ones go through trials. I want to intercede. I want to pick up the pieces and make things all right.  Oswald Chambers often writes of this." We need to identify ourselves with God's interest otherwise we get frustrated with God."  Let my intercession for others be like Christ's intercession. The only motivation is God's will not mine. Not blocking the trials but embracing what God brings through trials. 

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

 I spent this past weekend with 40 lovely ladies from my church. Every year we organize a women's conference in the spring. This year it didn't feel much like spring. The temps were in the 40's. However, that couldn't dampen the Holy Spirit!  

 Our theme was idols of the heart with Proverbs 4:23 as the theme verse. I was excited about this theme. It surely affects every person that claims Jesus as Savior. A verse ought to really grab your attention when it starts out "above all else". Wow, with all the things I feel compelled to do in the Christian faith - above all else - sounds pretty important. Before I accuse God of being hyperbolic, I thought about it. I cannot do anything else for the Lord until I guard my own heart. I cannot serve, worship, praise, love, etc, until my heart is right with the Lord.

 Our speaker did a great job of giving us tools to clean out those places in ourselves that we allow sin to creep in. At the same time, she emphasized that we cannot do it on our own. "Willpower" is a false hope. If we could do it on our own, who gets the glory? Besides, willpower never works. 

 So how does one go about guarding your heart? Be diligent. Daily meditate on what it is I want to rid my heart of. Ask God to work with the Holy Spirit to strip away this false god within me. Focus on that which pleases God. Change your perspective. Go forth in a new direction. As it says in Ephesians 4:22-24. We are to put off old desires and put on new. 

 If one really examines their heart, they must wonder,"How can I ever succeed? My heart will never be right with the Lord." Oh yes it will! As promised, when His Kingdom comes in all its glory we will be perfect in the Lord. The Lord sees Christ's righteousness in you. However, we are the ones that create the veil Christ tore away with His sacrifice. We create the division that harms the closeness He desires with us. Of course, we can't be perfect but as we chip away at these idols of the heart, we get closer and closer to the God of the Universe. 

 I must live by the promise of Philippians 1:6 "And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you, will bring it to completion at the day of the Lord Jesus Christ." Until that day, may I continually moving forward.

prod·i·gal  (prd-gl)

Last week I read a book entitled, "A Prodigal God" by Tim Keller. It really isn't like me to read a book in a week but this is a fairly short book and I couldn't put it down - my kind of book. Tim Keller uses this provacative title to draw readers in. He doesn't really explain his title much in the book.The interested reader has to ferret it out. If you look at the second definition above ( which I pasted from thefreedictionary.com) it is actually a great definition of the God of the Bible.

Keller goes in depth interpreting the parable of the lost son. The first son leaves the Father by his free will to experience what he sees as freedom. The temptations of the world look so much better than living under the control of his loving father. He realizes when he hits bottom that he has wasted his inheritance and wants to return to the Father. He returns in shame just hoping to be one of his father's servants. When he gets there, the father welcomes him with open arms and plans a feast of homecoming. A perfect vision of the lost individual with a repentant heart, amazed at the abundant gifts of a forgiving father. 

But we often forget the other, elder brother. Keller reminds us that Jesus is speaking to a crowd that includes Pharisees. These parables follow the Pharisees commenting that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them (Luke 15:2). The elder brother sees it as unfair that the father bestows gifts and forgivness on this brother who blew his inheritance. The older brother was obedient to the father because he expected love and reward for his obedience. It got me to wonder am I obedient because I love God or because I feel it is expected of me or because if I am obedient, I will get blessings? In the end, Jesus leaves it up in the air that the elder brother ever joins the feast. The father invited him but his jealousy, anger and feeling of injustice didn't allow him to celebrate the lost brother's redemption. 

Keller cuts to the heart of modern believers. Why are we obedient?  Do we daily remind ourselves of that day when we came home to the Father and He greeted us with open arms? Do we realize that we are attending the Feast of Homecoming?

I highly recommend this book for it contains much more insight into this parable than I can relay in a blog. 

Proverbs 11: 13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, bit who is trustworthy in spirit keeps things covered.

I have never liked secrets much. I always thought people were secretive because they were hiding something they were ashamed of. Not that I don't have things I was ashamed of, I just thought about it having to do with other people. Sounds pretty typical of the human condition, doesn't it? God has laid on my heart that a gossiping tongue needs to be cut off, like in Matthew 5:30, " And if your right hand causes you to stumble, better to cut it off and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell." Wow, that is pretty harsh. I don't think we need to cut out our tongues but God takes slander and gossip very seriously. 

So how do you define such use of the tongue? I once heard an old Quaker adage that before repeating something, ask yourself is it kind, necessary and truthful? If not, do not repeat it. I wondered to myself, would I have anything to talk about? However, it is an honorable goal. I need to tame my tongue. I need to remove myself from situations where I find myself delighting in others sin or misfortune.

So, why do I do it? One reason is to satisfy that selfish area of my heart that wants others to fail in order to feel superior. Another is just idle talk. To fill the space, to be in the know. I have been the victim of untrue gossip before and I know how it can hurt someones reputation and not even be true. I should have learned from those experiences how much it hurts. 

I pray for forgiveness for my spiteful tongue. For my itching ears that want to listen to gossip. I also think gossip can be one of the biggest stumbling blocks for Christians to young, growing Christians and to nonbelievers. My son is a good test for me. I can see the look on his face when we begin to discuss someone else's failing. He rolls his eyes and I can see what he would like to say," Why do you repeat stuff like that?" "You don't even know if that is true." "Even if it is true, Mom, why do you care enough to chat about it." He is like a visible conscience. If I think before I speak and imagine that my own children are hearing it, I would not say it. Better yet, if I think" would repeating this make Jesus happy?", that would help with the tongue taming. You know, maybe those WWJD bracelets were not such a bad idea.

"Not that I am speaking of being in need, For I have learned in every situation I am to be content." Philippians 4:11

I received a free book on my kindle the other day by Thomas Watson. Watson was a English Puritan that was jailed for his beliefs in 1651. It seems that alot of great writing occurs while believers are imprisoned. I am just a little over 10% into the book and I was so inspired, I wanted to summarize what I had read so far.

Watson hits the nail on the head that contentment must be learned. I think of the marathon runner. He does not go out and run a marathon one  day when the idea hits him. He must train. We must train if we are to be Christ-like. We must train to be content, not just try. 

Watson states, " The doctrine of contentment is very superlative, and until we have learned this, we have not learned to be Christians." Discontentment has been the sin of sins since the beginning. It is what caused Lucifer to fall. It is what caused Eve to eat from the tree of Knowledge, Cain to kill Abel. Our human nature wants more and we pay for that.

Thomas Watson sums up sanctification like I have never heard before," Some of you have heard much ------ in the forty, fifty,sixty years under the blessed trumpet of the gospel,---what have you learned?" I wanted to say "thanks I needed that." That is a hard pill to swallow. He goes on to describe me very well. Of all the reading, hearing, witnessing of the Lord's teaching what have I really learned? What have I heard and cannot remember? It does take effort and training. I realize that I have sat back and taken alot in but not actually trained to internalize the Lord's teachings. How is that done? Watson outlines some steps in these first pages. First, I need to pray for the Holy Spirit to be mold me and change me. Second is to become a fool. To trust that Jesus' teachings are true and to follow him. We often try to rationalize His radical expectations as impossible in our modern lives. Watson wrote this in 1650 and his listeners suffered the same problems! Thirdly, practice self-denial. I have often said,"I pretty much have everything I could want." I didn't even realize how arrogant that sounded. I need to appreciate my blessings but also deny myself so that others may see Christ.

Before we can change our behavior, we need a change of heart. 

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." Romans 12:11

How can Christians avoid burnout in serving the Lord? I was going to say Christian workers and I thought," that's redundant. Being a Christian is being a worker."  It is what I signed up for. Colossians 3:23-24." Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive your inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." 

I spent 15 years as a Christian as a load. A load on the Church family. I took way more from the church experience than I gave. Luckily, my church family did not give up on me. About 5 years ago, through spending some intense time in the Word ( big surprise that wonderful things come out of that), Jesus showed me some truths in His Word that I didn't see before. God doesn't need me. He can accomplish all He wants without me. But He has opened up before me a multitude of opportunities to serve. I don't know if they were there before and I didn't see them or if God knew I wasn't ready. 

The last 5 years have been so terrific. I wish for my kids and every one who claims Christ, to find the blessings brought on by service. Could I do more, give more, care more? Absolutely! That is why I look forward to the next 10 years or however, long I have to serve Him here on earth. 

How do people avoid burnout? Is burnout Biblical?  I believe quitting is not an option. "Fight the Good Fight" 1 Timothy 6:12."Labor to enter rest." Hebrews 4:11. I believe one avoids burnout and runs the race only on the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it on our own at all. We are weak. We focus on ourselves, if we lose our focus on Christ. It is the default modeof the flesh.

So how can I stay focused? I am not helpless. God has given me all that I need. I just need to employ all  the gifts He has given me. I know it sounds like repetitive Sunday School answers but I need to be in the Word daily. I need to pray and ask for His help. I need to really believe that He will give it to me. I also need accountablity partners that I can talk to.

Does He believe I need rest? Absolutely. I need to take a rest. But I could not rest more that a short time or I would miss it too much. I think that if I took a long break, I would need to do some serious soul searching. A part of me would be lost. 

Burnout is a process that occurs over time. People need to recognize these stages early on. They need to talk to others about their feelings. They may need to listen to God's call and see if they are in the wrong ministry. We need to fight the urge to take a break because God has immense blessings and crowns and rewards for every believer. And remember - quitting is not an option.

What is heaven really like?  I have talked recently with a group of young people about heaven. This group included some who have been raised in church and some who weren't. It surprised me that their "visions" of heaven were so similar. We envision white clouds, doing nothing all dayb ut singing hymns and bowing to God. I wonder how many of my fellow church goers are dreading heaven. Some come to church 15 minutes late every week to avoid singing. They must feel heaven will be a little but of hell on earth. So what does the Bible say heaven is really lik?.

We were created in God's image. One major character of God is that he is a Creator. First He created the dust then He breathed life into it. I highly doubt that He would then create a heaven where we do not use our creative minds. I believe we will be fluorishing in the characteristics that we embody that are like God. God loves individuals. I don't believe that in Heaven we become some robot that will not recognize others, that we somehow lose our individual personalities. His greatest command is "Love Him", his second command is "Love your neighbor." I think in heaven these 2 commands will be our nature. We will get to know all the other believers and our love for each other will be overwhelming. There will be no impediment to loving each other. On earth there are those that are harder to love - not in heaven.

"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death will be no more. neither shall their be mourning or crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Rev 21:4. I imagine this to be full communion with God, like the Garden of Eden. If we think about how many regrets, how much guilt we think about even in the smallest way every day, heaven will not have any of that. 

There are many things unknown about heaven. But somewhere along the way, God's heaven got hijacked by some crazy assumptions. I see no evidence that the New heaven and the New Earth contains believers, transformed into winged angels floating on clouds with harps singing day in and day out. I see a New Earth like the Garden of Eden with all of the Lords wonderful creation without death and decay. I see believers   seem to dread heaven for to get to heaven we must let these earthly bodies die. I pray that God will continue to spur my desire for heaven even more. For heaven should be our encouragement, not our dread. Paul described this beautifully in 1 Corinthians 15:35-37. I guess the early church goers struggled with this same thing.

"For the message of God is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthinans 1:18

I met a new friend online. I wrote a twitter message about how atheists are better evangelists sometimes than Christians. i included no hashtags and didn't write it to anyone. I was surprised when ProudAtheist responded. I really didn't want to get in a duel with an atheist. I have heard all of their arguments before and I thought it would be a waste of time. I found him/her to be very polite and respectful. So when he said the gospel was following the teaching of Christ. I said that is not the gospel. So he asked,"please enlighten me." I felt such a warm affection for ProudAtheist. I felt free to explain the gospel without expecting to change his mind. If God wants to do that he can. So, in many twitter messages i explained the Roman's Road to Salvation.  He thanked me and said it is meaningless for one who doesn't believe in God. And I said,"Yes, that is a Biblical truth!"

I have learned alot about atheists in my convo with ProudAtheist. I feel blessed to have met him/her. I also feel so blessed to know Jesus. I found out that true atheists don't believe people have souls. Which I think is at least being consistent. Without God, we would have no soul. We would be like computer chips of chemical reactions. I think if that were so man, would eventually be able to create computers that would love and be sad or even hate. 

God follows 1 Cor. 1:18 with 1 Corinthians 1:19 "For i will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

"if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

I have had a wonderful weekend once again at Winter Blitz with the church youth group. What made it even better than usual was the openness and questions my cabin group shared in our "breakout" times. God put the right people together at the right time. As we began to answer the questions that our speaker had raised, more questions were raised. At the end of the weekend one of the girls commented that if someone would not have been brave enough to ask questions, she never would have gained so much. She had attended church since birth yet had so many questions - and good ones at that!

Most teens will have very deep questions about faith and even have doubts in their spiritual journey. If these kids grow up in a church they often feel embarrassed to ask some of the most common questions. What is the trinity? How can Jesus be God and man? Why did Jesus have to be sacrificed for me? Aren't my sins too great for God to accept me? How can God send anyone to Hell, especially those that never hear the Gospel?

Tough questions that deserve answers. As James says in Chapter one of his letter, ask God for He will answer without reproach. Sometimes his answer comes through Scripture, sometimes through his own children. I was certainly faced with that "be prepared to give a full account." Did I have the right answers? Not for everything. Did it make me want to go home and study more? Yes! But it also got me excited to see these teenagers asking really deep questions. I don't want that openness to end. I am praying for each of them to open their Bibles and search for the answers. We are failing our youth by not encouraging them to be open about their questions. Their faith and our own will grow - God promises it. Jesus said,"go make disciples of all nations." Sometimes that nation is right here. I am hoping God can use me in disciple making. I  am hoping He sends someone to help me be a better disciple. 

"The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."Proverbs 8:13

Our Youth group is planning an open mic this Wednesday. The plan is to encourage the kids to speak about what has been happening in their lives spiritually or any questions they may have. These things usually start the same way every time........crickets. Who can blame them? Even adults shy away from speaking to a group of friends about their feelings. I have been thinking about what I could talk about that would be relevent to junior and senior high students. Something to get the conversation started.

Pride came to my mind. I see the sin of pride as being overlooked by adults as well as youths in America today. Our students are taught to have pride. Pride in their team, their school, their community and country. We claim our school to be the best. We gloat at victories. The new term "Swag" is popular which brings a cringe to my ear. If we are the best, what does that say about our fellow schools? Are they lesser beings? Why can't it be enough to win a competition and say to the competitor, "hey, it was fun playing with you, you played well. We look forward to playing with you again." Why can it not be enough to win and be grateful for our God given talents? Students that excel at sports win a medal.  Academic success brings good grades and admission into the school of your choice. Why can't that be enough?

How would the atmosphere at school's change if Christian students were grateful for their God given abilities but have compassion for those that don't win? That don't find schoolwork easy? That aren't blessed with an abundance of "stuff"? It is human nature to want more recognition for our accomplishments.  The consequences of pride are severe. God hates pride. Satan was cast out of heaven because of pride. One of the most quoted verses about pride is Proverbs 16:18 - 19 "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud." Better by God to be found with the "losers" than gloating with the winners.

What does that look like in real life? Our theme verse for the winter retreat coming up is about letting your light shine. This doesn't mean some "light" for which you think makes you an asset to God's kingdom. But a light that shines in a world of darkness, a light that looks different from the world. "For God, who said, 'let light shine out of darkness', has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Corinthians 4:6.  Next time you begin to boast, no matter what for, think about it and make a decision to look different than those around you. Do your schoolwork, play the game, do your job for the sake of doing it. Not for the glory of men.