Embracing Instruction

???????????????????????????????The other day I was walking down our narrow stairway with Emerald in my arms. She pointed to the wall in front of us and “verbalized” the familiar squawk she makes when she wants to stop and examine something. Posted in my stairwell is 2 Corinthians 5:7, God’s advice for us to walk by faith and not by sight.

Emerald and I stopped and stood on the steps while I read the words to her, pointing to each one. At 15 months she has no understanding of their meaning, but I put lots of animation into the reading, and when I finished, she put her pudgy hands together and applauded. We laughed and moved on down the stairs. And that was that.

Later I thought, why can’t I read those words to her every single time we go down the stairs together? Eventually she’ll begin expecting me to stop and read, and one day (after she learns to talk in more than single words) she’ll start reciting the words along with me. Though she still won’t understand them, a lovely thing will have been accomplished: the memorization of an important, practical piece of God’s truth. And eventually she’ll want to know what it means.

How great it is that the God behind Scripture’s words is the same Person today in 2014 as he was 2000 years ago when that letter to the Corinthian church was put on parchment. And his unchanged nature is the reason we can post pieces of the Bible in our homes (or anywhere else) with confidence in its value and power.

Moody Church choir loftOf course we should be careful never to take verses out of context or twist their meaning to fit personal purposes. But when we post these verses with a sincere desire that God himself permeate our homes and families, I believe it pleases him.

He strongly encourages us to do it in Deuteronomy 11 where he says, “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds… Teach them to your children… Talk about them when you sit, walk, lie down, get up… Write them on the door-frames of your houses.”

It’s that last part that has motivated me to hang up bits of the Bible in every room.

???????????????????????????????If we intentionally soak our minds in these potent words, it’ll gradually shape our thinking and then our lives, how we act and what we say. And when we miss the mark (as I often do), visible Scripture can bring us back to center.

Every time I walk downstairs, with or without Emerald in my arms, my eyes fall on God’s advice to walk by faith and not by sight. And even a thick-headed person like me eventually finds herself folding this principle into her life.

???????????????????????????????I pray it will one day be the same for Emerald.

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)

The Flip Side

45sBack in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s we bought popular music on small black records with big center holes that could only be played on properly equipped hi-fi machines. Because of their rpm speed, they were nicknamed “45’s”, with a Top 40 hit on the A side and a not-so-popular one on the B. We wore out the “good” sides and virtually never played the “bad” ones.

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My 3 year old grandson Micah reminds me of those old 45’s. His A side is tender and sweet, causing him to suddenly stop playing and rush over to me (or someone else) to deliver a kiss and a hug. “I love you,” he’ll say in a lilting voice, and I absolutely melt. With his strawberry blond curls and round face, he resembles a cherub straight from heaven.

But Micah has a B side, too. It can pop up without warning and amaze us with its intensity. For example, when asked to get ready for his bath, he might ask for a longer play time. But very quickly the “please can I…” escalates to “I can’t because…” followed by further resistance at increasing volume, till finally he’s having what I call a hissy-fit.

It’s his flip-side, and he has flipped out.

We adults may inwardly feel much like Micah when we’re told what to do, but we don’t let ourselves show it. It can be especially evident in our relationship with God.

Scripture refers to this problem as our old and new natures warring against each other. Paul explained it well in Romans 7 when he described his repeated failure to live a righteous life. “I want to do what’s right, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what’s wrong, but I do.”

We (and Micah) can all relate to this same miserable struggle, because it’s endemic to mankind. Paul says, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there’s another power within me that’s at war with my mind.” He defines it as sin. He recognizes, as all of us should, that the trouble is not with God but with us. We’re willfully disobedient and need empowerment from someone other than ourselves if we’re to rise above hissy-fits.

Thankfully, Paul defines that help as the Holy Spirit. He says it’s not necessary to bounce back and forth between our A and B sides. “The power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin.” (8:2) Now that’s good news!

Tender-hearted Micah.And as precious Micah gets to know Jesus better, one day he can live regularly on his A side with only an occasional flip to his B. In the mean time, his grandma Midgee is eating up the hugs and kisses, letting his mommy and daddy deal with his flip side.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” (1 Peter 1:14-15)

Frozen Solid

Last weekend we reached the middle of December, and in southwest Michigan we’ve had 3 snowstorms with colder-than-usual temps. It’s the kind of weather that makes us start the car 10 minutes ahead of departure to let it warm up.

A frozen beachAt the beach, ice-dunes have begun to build, and the creek has morphed into a skating pond. None of us were ready for winter’s fast arrival, and we hadn’t even brought home all of our beach chairs yet.

Frozen solidYesterday, while waiting at the bank drive-through, I saw a perfect picture of winter’s speedy onset. A gutter drain had frozen solid right in the middle of emptying itself.

Sometimes “cold experiences” come to us just as fast and unexpectedly. We might get the cold shoulder from someone we were close to, unable to figure out how we got in the relationship deep-freeze. We don’t know what to do next and feel blocked from reconciling, frozen in our tracks, so to speak.

“The relationship has gone cold,” we say, as we experience icy rejection.

Sunday morning at church a friend in her 80’s was describing how she struggles with the cold, especially with ice beneath her unsteady feet. Suddenly she straightened herself and said, “Well, spring can’t be far behind.” Chuckling, she walked away, leaving me with a furrowed brow.

“That’s crazy talk,” I thought. “It’s not even officially winter yet!”

What she meant, though, was that in the midst of the freezing-cold weather, she knew for sure her future was going to include warmth and ice-free walking.

The same can apply to our cold relationships. Though circumstances seem frozen and we think they’ll never thaw, God has a few suggestions for warming things up. He says, “First of all, pull Me into the mix. Just as I insist every harsh winter eventually give way to spring, I know how to thaw cold relationships and can teach you how.”

He doesn’t say it’s easy, but here are 10 of his surefire ways to melt icy situations and bring relationship-springs:

  • Talk in a soft voice. (Proverbs 15:1)
  • Speak evil of no one. (Titus 3:2)
  • Never avenge yourselves, but leave that to God. (Romans 12:19)
  • Never be irritable or resentful. (1 Corinthians 13:5)
  • With a tender heart, forgive each other. (Ephesians 4:32)
  • Show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:2)
  • Never be arrogant or rude. (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
  • Be open to reason, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17)
  • Never repay evil for evil. (Romans 12:17)
  • Don’t insist on your own way. (1 Corinthians 13:5)

Frozen creekIf we follow these biblical guidelines, even those relationships that are frozen solid will experience a warming trend soon.

”Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’  Then you will shine…. like stars in the sky.” (Philippians 2:14-15)