Suffering

It seems that the people who know Jesus best are the ones who suffer (2 Corinthians 12:7). This is a troubling thought. It's a good thing the Lord is gentle and compassionate and kind.

Witnesses

God calls us to be His witnesses. A witness is someone who sees something and tells about it. So I'm thinking that being the Lord's witness is about having an encounter with Him and sharing that with others. Not just regurgitating what we've read in the Bible or heard in church; our witness should flow out of our relationship with Jesus. As we get to know Him and see Him at work in our lives, it's then easy to say to others that God is real, and to explain why we believe He's real. And we don't have to be eloquent preachers. All we have to do is explain what God has done. It's His story.

This becomes very exciting when we look at what Scripture says. It says we are witnesses to His glory. I love 2 Corinthians 4:6: "For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." We get to see God's glory! If only "as in a mirror" (2 Corinthians 3:18), still this is awesome. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). And when we believed in Him, He gave us pure hearts (Is. 1:18), so we're qualified for this astounding privilege.

Proverbs 2:3-5 says, "Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the KNOWLEDGE OF GOD." Hallelujah. That's what I want.

It makes me think of Third Day's song, "Show Me Your Glory":

I caught a glimpse of Your splendor

In the corner of my eye

The most beautiful thing I've ever seen

And it was like a flash of lightning

Reflected off the sky

And I know I'll never be the same.

Show me Your glory

Send down Your presence

I want to see Your face

Show me Your glory

Majesty shines about You

I can't go on without You Lord.

Lord, open the eyes of our hearts that we may see You.

Winter Ends, But It's Still Christmas

My Help Comes from the Lord

Because I didn't want to get rained on while filling the gas tank of our van, I put off the trip to the gas pump. So on Thursday when Liz and Kelly were en route to youth group, I received a call from Liz. She told me that the gas gauge was on E. I could tell she was quite worried about whether she'd reach her destination or not. My thought was to bring her some gas, but I had no vehicle. Jeff was ten minutes away from home. I told her she needed to talk to him because I couldn't help her. She was too stressed to wait, and her stress freaked me out a bit, because my advice wasn't making her happy. Two panicked females do not make a pretty situation.

It would've helped if I hadn't forgotten that Jesus exists. I had defaulted into Problem-Solving Sandra, the one who functions independently of God. My friends, this does not work. If I want to fix things, I need to look to the One who makes my paths straight (Proverbs 3:6). In our low fuel situation, He could have guided me in calming my daughter's fears, which was the real need. (It turned out that the gas tank got filled before any worst-case scenarios occurred).

It is very difficult for me to remember Jesus when I feel that quick decision-making is required. But He's able and willing to help with that.

So that is my latest story in my journey to learnn to abide in Christ. God bless you all on your journeys.

Sandra

Mortality Swallowed up by Life

Call me crazy, but I have a fascination with death. Not a morbid fascination though. I just have a ton of curiosity to know what it'd be like to see Jesus and to not ever have to live with sin. I've been reading a book called Life After Life, written by a doctor who has interviewed a lot of people who had life after death experiences. It's encouraging that these people report feeling very peaceful, relaxed, and untroubled by fear.

One man said that he had noticed that his mind was thinking more clearly than it did in everyday life. In his words, "My mind just took everything down and worked everything out for me the first time, without having to go through it more than once. After awhile everything I was experiencing got to where it meant something to me in some way." To me this sounds like the way life is supposed to be, even in this earthly life. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has good plans for us. He's not just letting us walk through the day for no reason. Sometimes my life seems so mundane and insignificant. Maybe that's a lie. Perhaps every minute is important. Surely the hand of God is at work every minute. It's pretty exciting to think about life that way.