to rest in HIS shadow

what an amazing, “turned-out for the best” day! it started at a about 8:30 a.m. I honestly thought I had slept in and was going to be late for work. Jumped out of bed and the first thing I saw was “that white stuff falling from the sky!” — the first snow of the season.

the house was cold. one of the warm-blooded men had turned off the furnace last night so I threw on a morning “chal” and headed to turn on the fireplace. another frustration awaited for me! the thing would not ignite not matter what I did! called my husband who was at his promise keepers breakfast but he did not pick up. from all angles not a good start.

“in everything give thanks” — so I did. fixed me a cup of coffee and a cheese omelette and sat down to read as the snow kept falling strong. one by one my kids started to walk into the living room:
“awww snow…”
“yeay! snow”
“snow?”
it is so interesting how the first snow of the season causes such a myriad of reactions…

by then my husband came in the house, cold nose and cold hands and bringing in a chilly breeze AND the power to start the fireplace!

all church activities and services where canceled so we ended up “snow confined” at home listening to Christmas music, chatting, reading, laughing together, after all a wonderful family time that did much good to our souls! I even digged out the pressure cooker and made an amazing roast and even baked a cake – not in the pressure cooker of course!

Last night as I was examining my schedule to serve in translation the Holy Spirit awoke my conscience to examine my heart.  Gently, He posed this question, “why are you doing this?” My almost immediate answer was, “what do you mean WHY am I doing this? Obviously because we need people to do the simultaneous translation of the message!” AINK! Wrong answer.

As I began to stop my blabbing to respond to the why’s and quieted myself before the Lord, He said, “Let’s take a look at those deep, deep corners of your heart … and these not in reference only to translation, but in reference to ALL the different ways you serve me!”

I thought I knew my heart.

I thought I intentionally guarded my heart.

I even thought I nurtured good motives in my heart!!

And maybe I did all these to a certain degree … a “certain” degree, not to the full degree.  As I began to look into those hidden places that I seldom look at, I saw what the Lord was pointing me to.  Even understanding the importance of the attitude of my heart in my service, I wasn’t giving my heart totally to Him in my service, I was just offering my talent.

Father God, create in me a pure heart, a heart that is emptied of any and every part of self, a heart that belongs integrally to you. Free me from “I.”  Teach me to order my days, my talents, any gift you have given me in a way that I can be completely used by You and for You. Lead me to the place where I can truly be a holy vessel in Your hands.  Lord, let my quiet silence before you be more frequent than my display of abilities before people.

Pastor Dale just finished an incredibly powerful series on how to identify and defend ourselves from common, every day life challenges. If we do not handle these life challenges correctly, we open the door to our  “pressure points” [our weaknesses, the vulnerable areas of our life] for the destructive work of the devil.  When this happens the adversary impacts our walk with God, quashes our usefulness for His Kingdom and ultimately destroys us. 

a pressure point was defined as,

“a part on the body that provides an aggressor a temporary or permanent advantage over a victim; it is a kind of built-in vulnerability that can be capitalized on or exploited by a knowledgeable foe to bring someone down, knock someone out or make someone hurt and render them helpless; a weakness in someone that can be their undoing.”

what are some of those common, every day life challenges that we need to we aware of?

He mentioned: fear, failure, hurts, hurdles, problems and pain in our relationships, temptation, test, trials, decisions, priorities and financial stress.

and how do we defend ourselves from the advancements of the devil when we face these?

Applying into our lives practical spiritual guidelines that enable us to protect our pressure points and guard our walk with God. Here’s my take away in a sentence from his 8 messages:

•  is your pressure point fear and personal failure?

= get rooted in the grace of God!  Understanding the grace of God strengthens our spiritual confidence, commitment and contribution to the Kingdom

•  perhaps you are vulnerable to hurts and hurdles?

= look out for the presence of anger in your life, recognize it, resolve it and let go of it quickly

•  are relationship problems and pain your weak areas?

= seek harmony in your relationships, practice God’s relationship principles and imitate Jesus’ by living an ofenseless life

•  is your pressure point temptation?

= examine your character weaknesses, understand the painful consequences of giving in to temptation, if nothing works run from it!

•  is it difficult to persevere during times of test and trials?

= understand their purpose, walk consistently with God, keep the reward in mind

•  do you tend to make poor life decisions?

= mature your character, follow God’s principles of life

•  do you have trouble at establishing life priorities?

= put God as your first priority and all the rest will fall in place, seek to discipline yourself

•  are you struggling with financial pressure?

= differentiate between what you need and what you want, learn the principle of sowing and reaping

2 Corinthians 4:8, 9 – We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Yes, indeed we are pressured BUT NOT BAMBOOZLED!

We will not be brought down or knocked out in this fight!

download mp3 of these messages or to subscribe to Pastor Dale’s podcast

our lives are an open book to God, nothing escapes His control.

He has established a cycle of life and no matter how crucial our daily routine seems to us, we have no control over it at all, spring time brings it and the fall watches it go.  Man in all of his pride says to himself “I am in charge” ~~ life of illusion, we are not in charge of anything!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

how do we make sense of the cycle of life?

because He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion

the plans of God need no amendments

I find my meaning in my rest in God, He has his hand in all things that happen to me, I exist for someone greater than myself and every moment of my life God is fashioning his purpose and plan in me  

He does not abandon projects, He has no forsaken children!

if He is involved in the life cycle of the sparrow, He is intensely involved in my life

I am held in God’s grip, nothing escapes His control!

Have hurtful words, insensitive actions, a contemptuous look, an unkind remark, a neglecting attitude, found their way into your heart and started to build a nest?

We all at one point or another have experienced distress in our interaction with people, if we are not careful ––if we are not active vigilantes of the integrity of our heart–– these can be nurtured by our lack of awareness and birth resentment, bitterness and anger in our life.  God’s Word encourages us, “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts” (Proverbs 4:23, The Message).

Let’s be quick to forgive any offensive interaction and erase from our memory every sour impression left by them. Let’s pray that God will help us to identify the presence of the smallest sign of sinful thoughts, attitudes and behaviors that result from painful encounters.  The easy thing to do is to make excuses and find someone to be blamed for them.  It takes courage to give a step of faith and turn your pain to God, trusting that He will sooth any discomfort and start the repair process to make your heart pure and tender again.

I was listening to my husband’s phone conversation with our oldest son. Of course I could only hear my husband’s words as we were both sitting in the living room. My heart was touched by the wisdom he was imparting to his firstborn –– who is close to 30 now –– about being the aroma of Christ in the workplace.

Professional rivalry, jealousy, competing for recognition and promotion are not uncommon in the daily life of a young professional, especially in our present economy when jobs are scarce and unemployment is rising. It seemed that our son had sensed some of that in his office and felt uneasy about it all. He had called dad to help him sort through those feelings and get some clarity of thought.

My husband brought up to him 2 Corinthians 2:15, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” What a privilege that God would consider us to be the aroma of His Son and what a responsibility to become fragrance of life to the world and in doing that draw others to Jesus!

I don’t particularly care for perfumes, lotions or colognes, I think a good soap does the job, but there is certain fragrance that is pleasing to me and puts a smile in my face, I imagine that is how God feels when by our actions we bring the aroma of Christ to His nostrils.

As followers of Jesus, my husband was saying to my son, we are to be the fragrance of Christ in our relationships, some will appreciate us and some will despise us. Some will come near to us and some will reject us. To some we will be a delightful smell to others we will be a wrinkle of the nose. And that is just the way it is. No need to complain, nothing we can change about it, our responsibility is to live as the aroma of Christ, splashing His fragrance where ever He takes us.

After he hanged up I asked my husband “What did he say?”, he responded, “Thanks, dad.”

It blessed my heart to hear that father-son talk.

For the past five months we have been anticipating and planning to attend our niece’s wedding in Dominican Republic.  We got the invitation in February, a stylish envelope containing a delicately rolled scroll tied with a gold braided thread announcing the wedding of Angela and Raphael.  The invitation alone was quite impressive, we couldn’t stop imagining what the actual celebration would be like!  Carefully we looked for our party attire, an elegant suit, a glamorous dress, the right shoes so we could dance the night away… the perfectly priced tickets and all-inclusive resort package… and of course our hearts and minds were dreaming of how wonderful of a time it was going to be… all of us in the Caribbean island, sun, beach, family.

Came the traveling date, we woke up at 3 a.m. to make sure we would get to the airport with plenty of time, we drove for about an hour under the exasperating drizzle, and got to the counter to check in, only to find out that we were not allowed to get in the plane because we had not brought our passports! I was in total shock, we had our D.L., we were sure that was enough identification but the agent gave us that scoffing look and said, “ma’am, do you have your passport? because you are not getting in that plane if you don’t!”

A deep sadness filled us completely.  How could this be happening after so much preparation? We didn’t cry, we didn’t pout, we didn’t scream at each other, we did not complain, and after trying different alternatives to make it there, we came to the realization that we had missed it, that we were not going to be present at that great celebration.

In the quietness of our resignation, the Lord gently reminded us of this, “I am coming soon, and there is going to be the greatest celebration in heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, that is the celebration you want to prepare for and you don’t want your loved ones to miss.”  Listening to these softly spoken words put things in perspective for us, lifted our spirits and helped us to realize we have to “carry our spiritual passports at all times!”  We don’t know the appointed day when the Bridegroom will come for His bride.  The finest invitation has been sent out, it is the blood of Christ and preparations are on the way for the glorious banquet day!

God’s love for us is so high and so far beyond anything that we can wildly imagine!

His love for us is unsurpassing and satisfies every longing of our soul. His love is so never-ending and searches for our heart in the most uncommon and surprising ways.  Sometimes through periods of quiet waiting and sometimes through overwhelming challenges, even some other times through painful relationships that cause us to struggle, but most often than in these ways, God searches for us in the daily things that bless our lives past beyond our comprehension, like coming to the realization that He has been walking all along by our side in our waiting, our challenge and our struggle; and that He has listened and paid undivided attention to every Word we have uttered in our cry and every tear we have shed.

Dear God, You have my wholehearted affection.