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Perfect Love

Valentine’s Day is my least favorite holiday. There. I said it out loud. And it’s not because I’m alone and bitter, or I have relationship issues or anything like that. Quite the contrary. But still.

Valentine’s Day thrives on guilt and cultural pressure to make a person express sentiments of affection and love. How genuine could those expressions be after they’ve been teased out over the requisite nice dinner/flowers/candy. I mean, if you wouldn’t say it July or October, why should I believe it on February 14?

In thinking about Valentine’s Day, it made me wonder if we give our relationship with God that same treatment? Is it based on culturally expected declarations of love and devotion? Are we guilted into picking up the latest token to show our affection? Have we checked off Christmas and figure once Easter is passed we’ve done what’s expected of us until next year?

He deserves so much more than our obligatory, cursory commitment.

This is God who delights in us (Psalm 18:19, Isaiah 62:4)
Who sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17)
Who comforts us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
Who defends us (Psalm 5:11)
Who lifted us up (Psalm 3:3, Psalm 147:6)
Who loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3)
Who laid aside His glory in order to identify Himself with us (Philippians 2:7-8)
Who died a horrible death because the prospect of being separated from us for all eternity was too much to bear (John 3:16)

This Valentines’ Day, regardless of what your relationship status is, take a moment to bask in God’s perfect love for you.

Being Shepherded

By Paula Wiseman

(This week, I have the twin hassles of a sinus infection/head cold kind of thing and some server maintenance. So while I had a fresh post started, I didn’t get a chance to finish it. Judging from how I feel when I’m taking cold medicine, I’m not sure it would be worth reading 🙂 So, please enjoy this post from the archives with my thanks for your kind understanding.)

Psalm 23 has been commented on maybe more than any other passage, and there is much comfort to be found in the promises of provision and protection. A shepherd is a person, but let’s consider “shepherd” as a verb.

So where does He shepherd me?

Green pastures – abundant, easy-to-obtain nourishment. He will lead Me through His Word to feast on the riches of His Truth.

Still waters – He understands my frailties, and graciously works through those.

Where He restores my soul – He so desires a relationship with me that He will shepherd me through the tough process of repentance and restoration, so that nothing stands between us.

The valley of the shadow of death – First off, it’s a shadow. While it’s the size and shape of death, it’s only a shadow. He’s with me. He’s still leading.

The presence of my enemies – To prepare the table, He had to get there first, before me. No matter what the enemies have in mind, the Shepherd is one step ahead.

Where He anoints me – Healing, favor, selection, identification, consecration, commissioning … Anointing was used to show all these things.

None of these places is a one time stop-over. We revisit them as often as needed according to the Shepherd’s assessment, timing and purposes.

The ultimate destination is the house of the Lord – He will finish the job, and will safely bring us into His eternal presence and glory.

I was not made to be a free-agent, but to glorify God through obedience. He is Shepherding. The question is, am I “sheeping”?

Salvation in the Now

By Paula Wiseman

“[H]ow will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” Hebrews 2:3

Each of my kids has a special account at the bank. In exchange for a better interest rate on their deposits, they can’t any money out until they turn eighteen. Sometimes I think we treat our salvation that way, as if it were some glorious thing, held on reserve for us until we die. Granted, the eternal life doesn’t kick in until after we die, but Jesus intended for us to benefit from our relationship with Him now, in the course of our normal everyday lives.

So what is your salvation doing for you?

It gives you unlimited access to the King of the Universe. No limit to the prayers you can offer, the requests you can make, the time you can spend. (Hebrews 4:16)

It gives you the indwelling Holy Spirit. The mind-blowing reality is that God Himself comes to live inside us, taking over the reins of our lives, directing us in ways that never would appeal to us before we became believers. Those acts of kindness you do, those brilliant flashes of insight, those times you step out on faith, the Holy Spirit is behind all those. (John 14:16-17)

It gives you a purpose and the power to accomplish it. No more floating along wondering what in the world is going on and why you’re here in the middle of it. God has a unique kingdom work for you. (John 15:16)

It gives you freedom from performance. No more trying to earn God’s favor. You have it. Forever. Pressure is replaced by peace. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

And on and on… Here’s the thing– when we treat salvation only as a past event or even as a future hope, we miss the great work going on in our lives each and every day. After all, God only does great work. (Philippians 1:6)

By the way, these are just the first four I came up with. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

The Wait Really is the Hardest Part

By Paula Wiseman

Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:4-5

It was almost exactly two years ago. It was a Sunday morning. Church was canceled for snow or ice or something. Jon and I discovered God had impressed us both, strongly, about adoption. It was clear. We were sure, and we got to work. We investigated agencies. We filled out forms, saw doctors, bought a different car, set aside money. Here we are, though, no closer to accomplishing what we believe God called us to do.

Maybe it’s just me, but I had an expectation that things would go a little more smoothly. I mean, if God is that clear in His instruction, doesn’t it make sense to believe that He has gone ahead of us, that He’s smoothed out the path, that He’s working in the details to accomplish the purpose He so clearly revealed? I thought it made sense.

And so, if we’re here, two years later, wouldn’t it make sense to suspect that maybe we were wrong? Maybe adoption wasn’t what God called us to do at all. Maybe there was some wire that got crossed, some idea that we had that we just hung God’s name on. Maybe that’s what happened. If that was the case, then naturally we wouldn’t trust the voice of God any more, that we would doubt and second guess and hesitate.

Or maybe we did something wrong, wrong enough that God shut the whole process down. He’s unhappy or displeased with us, and until we confess, and make up for it somehow, we’ll be spinning our wheels for who knows how long. Right? Doesn’t that make sense?

No. It’s an expectation – my expectation, at that – fueled by a misinterpretation, propped up by insecurity. God’s gracious response to that wasn’t condemnation, but confirmation that yes, adoption was exactly what He had in mind for us. Sometimes God’s call is as much about the journey as it is about the ultimate fulfillment. I think this is one of those times.

Will we trust God just as much when He tells us to wait as we did when He said move? So far the answer is no. Maybe He wants us to get to yes. Maybe He just wants us to understand that the patient, obedient waiting was the whole point. I don’t know.

But I am confident that as I strive to learn His ways, to follow His paths, to grasp His truth … I’m going to have to let go of my expectations, and my insecurities. I’m going to have to infuse my misinterpretations with discernment. And I’m going to have to learn to wait.

Believe the Truth, Not the Worst

By Paula Wiseman

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. John 17:17

Yesterday afternoon, a lady from church called to ask me if Jon had broken his ankle. No, I reassured her. He slid on some ice in the driveway Friday morning, but he just twisted it. It’s fine.

This morning, I got another call from another lady asking the same question. Nope. No broken ankles here. Hours later I got a call from someone else who had heard he’d broken his leg, then hurt his good ankle.

Now between traveling over Christmas and canceling church services for snow, nobody has seen Jon for a couple of weeks and maybe that contributed to it. Or maybe it was just that the story sounded reasonable. It was icy Friday morning, after all. I think the story caught on because we have an innate ability, maybe even a desire, to believe the worst.

While this works out to the advantage of gossip-mongers and reality television show producers, it really messes with our relationship with Christ. And the enemy knows it messes with us. He slinks in and whispers things like, “God may have saved you, but He’s never going to use you, not with your past.” Or maybe, “After a mistake like that, you’d do best to let someone else do it from now on.” Or even, “There’s got to be a catch.”

They sound reasonable. They sound bad. And we believe them. And we live our lives in the long shadow of a lie that’s too easy to believe.

That’s not what Jesus wants for us. In fact, in His prayer in John 17, He prayed for God to sanctify us by His truth. Then He clarified, “Your word is truth.” God gets the last word. It doesn’t matter what gets whispered in our ears. The truth about us is not determined by our past, our situation, or our fortunes. It is determined by God Himself.

The truth about who we are as believers – truth that we’re loved, accepted, gifted, blessed – sets us apart, lifts us up, dignifies us. How would it change our lives, our relationships, our churches if we could grasp and cling to the truth about who Christ Jesus says we are?

Now make it personal… how would it change you?