Blessed in the Waiting Room of Life

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed"  John 20:29

I have written quite a few posts on the topic of waiting on God.  Actually, the theme of my entire blog is about waiting on God.   I write so much about it because in your lifetime and in my lifetime, we will probably experience waiting on God more than anything else.  I know many people that are in the waiting room of life at this very moment.  I have friends who are waiting on God to bless them with children and they've waited a VERY long time.  I know other people who are waiting on God to open the door for them to own their very own home.   Some are waiting on God to give them a job.  Some are waiting for Mr. Right or Ms. Right. Some are waiting for God to open the doors to open their own business. Some are waiting for God to deliver their children from drugs and other addictions, while others are waiting on God to allow the seeds they've planted to grow.  I know quite a few families who have started a new church or mission and are waiting to see God bring the increase as they water the spiritual seeds in the lives of people they minister to.   Its a natural desire to see the end of our waiting or to see the outcome, yet, we see from the account of Thomas in John 20, that there is something powerful to be gained in the waiting room of life.  We see from the scripture that we are the most blessed when we cannot see something, yet we still believe it.   When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, Thomas could not believe it.  He immediately requested the  "evidence" that his Lord was alive. He asked to see the nail scars and to touch them with his very own hands. He would believe once he did this.  We read that Jesus allowed Thomas to do so which obviously caused Thomas to believe.  Jesus then told Thomas some of the most powerful words, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”   Reading this portion of scripture, I have come to realize that when we are at a place in our lives where we cannot see God in a situation, or when we cannot see an answered prayer, we are truly positioned to be blessed.  The longer you wait, the longer you are blessed.  I am starting to think back to all the waiting periods I have experienced so far in my own life and can clearly see how blessed by God I truly was while in that waiting period.  It was when I was waiting on God for a job after being laid-off  that God blessed me with the opportunity to take a short-term missions trip to Santo Domingo and Haiti which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  It was while I was waiting on God for a specific answer to something I was going through that I came to know God in such a powerful way.  I have never been the same since.  I could give many more examples, but I'm sure you have your own when you think about it.  So if you are in the waiting room of life  and are serving God like never before, know that right now, where you are at, in this very moment, YOU ARE BLESSED!  Stop looking at the answered prayer that you don't have yet, but start looking at the ways that God IS blessing you in this present time. You may not have children yet, but God is using you to impact the lives of others in your community.  You may not have that house you want, but what about that promotion you received at work.  You may not have a job, but God is raining financial blessings on you.  You may not have church growth at this very moment, but you are being blessed with opportunities to travel and minister to people from other nations.  Remember,  you are favored!  Keep trusting in God.  Don't be nervous, don't be angry, don't be frustrated, don't be disappointed, don't be hurt, don't be doubtful, but BE BLESSED!

A View of Jesus Christ's Love Through the Story of Abigail

We all sin.  We all mess up.  We may love God and strive to please Him, but at some time or another, we will mess up.  When we do fail God and fall short, the enemy enjoys sending condemnation to flood our hearts and minds and make us feel like God doesn't love us anymore.  Even after we've sincerely repented, we sometimes still carry the weight of guilt, feeling that any moment, God might send his wrath upon us.  Yet, God's thoughts, as the Bible says, are not so.  The Old Testament of the Bible contains many types and figures of Jesus Christ starting with Adam to Moses and so on.  These Old Testament types and figures come in the form of men, and rightly so because Jesus was a man.  Yet, recently, I stumbled upon another example of a type and figure of Christ in the form of a woman. The story of this woman allows us to see just how merciful God really is and how he handles our failures, weaknesses, and sins.

In the first book of Samuel, chapter 25, we read about a woman named Abigail.  The bible describes Abigail as, "a woman of good understanding and beautiful appearance..." (v.3).   Abigail was married to a man by the name of Nabal who the Bible says was "harsh and evil in his doing" (v.3).  The story goes on to say that David and his men were in the wilderness and heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep.  Most likely he and his men were tired and hungry.  David sent ten men to greet Nabal and ask him for food. Nabal, drunk at the time, refused to acquiesce their request and then went on to insult David.  At the time, David had been anointed King, but was experiencing the power struggle between him and Saul. Nabal, knowing this, used it to insult David by saying, "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants nowadays who break away each one from his master.  Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men when I do not know where they are from?"(v. 10-11).  David's men returned to David and told him what Nabal had said.  As you might imagine, David was furious. How dare this man insult him in such a way, especially when he had come to him in peace!  Immediately, David has his men prepared their swords as he planned his revenge on Nabal and his household, saying, "Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light.”  We see clearly that the wrath of David was about to fall upon this evil and foolish man Nabal, and rightly so.  They began marching towards Nabal's house to execute their plan. Meanwhile, Nabal's servants went back and told Nabal's wife Abigail of all that had happened and how her husband had treated the future king.  Being the wise woman that she was, the Bible says that she "made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys" (v. 18-19).  She then ran out to meet David.  We are told that she threw herself before David and asked him for mercy and to overlook her husband's actions for he was foolish, just as his name meant (v. 25).  She went on to take the blame upon herself for not being there to greet David's men when they came the first time.  She asked David to receive the offering of food that she had brought him and went on to acknowledge David as the rightful ruler of Israel (v. 30).  David, realizing that he was about to make a big mistake, said this, 

^"Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand.  For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!' So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, “Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and respected your person.”

This story goes on to say that Nabal died shortly after the incident due to a stroke and David took Abigail as his bride.  This story is not only a beautiful story about a woman's virtue and character, but also a story about how powerful God's love is towards us and how precious the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was and still is.  Nabal represents who we are- wretched and foolish sinners who offend God with the insult of sin.  As sinners, we offend God by not acknowledging his authority and kingship just as Nabal did not acknowledge David's.   David represents God who is ready to pour out his wrath on us and our offspring because of our sin.  Abigail who represents our Savior Jesus Christ because she stood in the gap, taking the blame upon herself even though the sin was not hers.  She brought her offering which pleased the King and turned away his wrath.  Jesus Christ did the same for us.  He took our sin upon himself like it was his own.  He didn't have to take the blame, but He did anyways.  Like Abigail, He brought a precious offering to the King, offering of his own blood.  This offering pleased God and turned his wrath away from us.  Isaiah 53:5 says," But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."  Jesus stood in the gap and became the propitiation for our sins.   Once we've given our lives to Christ and fall short, we still deserve the wrath of Christ, but there is Jesus once again, shielding us from the wrath, covering us in His blood. Don't ever say that you're not forgiven. Don't ever say that you've gone too far that God can't love you anymore.   Jesus paid the price by becoming the ultimate sacrifice.  Yes, we deserve punishment, but Christ took the punishment for you.  It doesn't stop there. Once the sacrifice was made, David took Abigail as his bride after her husband's death. We too have become part of the bride that God will come back for. Isn't God's love amazing?  I pray this thought will allow you to appreciate just how wonderful God has been to you and allow you to see that no matter what you do, God already has you covered. 

Jesus, My Teacher

"The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned."  Isaiah 50:4

As my alarm went off this morning, I did my usual grumbles and argued with myself on whether or not I should hit the snooze button or stay underneath the warm blankets.  I finally dragged myself out of bed and onto my feet, even if I was still half asleep. I began to set my mind upon the Author of my day and ask for His guidance.  Immediately, my mind was taken to Isaiah 50:4 and the words began to recapitulate themselves in my head, morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. These words began to saturate themselves in my heart as I realized that God had something to teach me today if I was willing to open my spirit to His still small voice. Thinking about it further, I realize that every morning that I am ushered into a new day, God has something to teach me and words to pour into me.   I am his student and He is my teacher. His still small voice offers me guidance when I'm not sure in which direction to walk, confidence to be what He has called me to be, the power to be a witness, and wisdom to make the right decisions that the day calls for.  If we rise each day ready to be taught,  God will pour into us words, dreams, visions, and most of all, valuable instruction that will empower us to do His will. When God has poured into us, we can then pour into others. Tomorrow morning, when God wakes you up, come before Him like a student ready to learn from the Teacher of Teachers.  Who knows what you will learn for the day!

Paul Washer on the Virtuous Woman

I found an excerpt from a sermon given by Paul Washer on the Virtuous Woman.  Single men, are you attracted to a woman's virtue or her personality?  A personality can be misleading, but virtue is evidence that Christ that is manifested in her life.  Enjoy!

The Desire of a Pharisee

For the most part, we Christians desire to know Jesus in a more intimate way.  We desire to seek his face, know His will, and hear that precious still small voice speaking into our lives on a daily basis.  Desire is a good thing especially when it pertains to our walk with Jesus, but desire, just like potential is dormant until expressed in action. We have our busy lives with work, family, and even church activities that can sometimes leave us tired with little time for prayer.  Due to our hectic lives, so many times it's our relationship with Jesus that sometimes gets pushed to the back of our lives. Jesus so often gets our scraps or leftovers when what he desires is the first-fruits of our time and energy.   It's not so much that we are living sinful lives, but it more about what we're not doing and the special intimacy with him that we are missing out on.    In Luke chapter 7, many have focused on the woman who brought an alabaster box of ointment to the home of the pharisee where Jesus was at. She stood at the feet of Jesus, and weeping, began to wash his feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the oil. Her story is one of worship and forgiveness that will be remembered for all generations, but today, I would like to focus on another character in the story- Simon the Pharisee who Jesus was visiting.  Luke 7:36 says that "one of the pharisees desired him [Jesus] that he would eat with him."  The story goes on to say that Jesus accepted the invitation and came to eat with this man. At this point, the woman with the alabaster box came in and ministered to Jesus as we just described. Simon, the Pharisee saw this and spoke within himself about how Jesus could allow such a sinful woman to minister to him.  Jesus, knowing Simon's thoughts, spoke to him with these words,

"Simon, seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.  Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.  My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment...for she loved much..."  (Luke 7:44-47). 

I can imagine Simon's heart dropping to the ground as the words cut into his very core.  Simon had the desire to meet Jesus.  We know this because he invited Jesus to his house, but unfortunately, his desire did not meet with his action that day.  It was a middle eastern tradition that whenever a guest came to your home, a servant of the host's house would take the guest to an area of the home and wash his feet.  As you can imagine, feet were pretty dirty due to the sandals that were the norm in many middle eastern cultures. Washing one's feet showed a sign of respect, hospitality, and graciousness. Simon offered none of this for his special guest of guests- Jesus Christ. Simon may have had good intentions, but when it came down to it, He did not make Jesus a priority.  Sometimes, we too, do not make Jesus a priority as we should.  We tell him we want Him in our lives, but our daily schedule omits our time with Him.  We slowly find ourselves in a dry spiritual state and even death because of the lack of connection with Jesus. We can't live a joyful life without His presence.  We can't know what He wants from us without being in His presence.  We need Him like oxygen,  taking every bit of our strength and life from him.  Maybe you have felt His special nudges and call to you, Why didn't you meet me this morning? I miss you.  I want to talk to you.  I know you ministered to your family and church, but when are you going to minister to me, the Lover of your soul? Won't we answer Him? God takes pleasure when we minister to him. Won't we give him the time he wants?  Today, let us touch Jesus with not only our desire, but with a commitment to prayer that is birthed out of that desire.  

God, Get Me Out of Here!

During the first Jewish diaspora, the people of God were carried away to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  They were torn away from their beloved homeland and separated from their loved ones. The people of God found themselves in a strange land where there was no fear of God.   This was a place in which they didn't want to be.  They cried out to God to bring them back to their homeland and lift this burden that seemed  too hard to handle.  In the 29th chapter of Jeremiah, God sends a word through the prophet Jeremiah to those Jews that had been carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon:
  

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace" (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

We must first note that it was God who caused the Jewish people to be carried away to Babylon into captivity.  It is often God that takes us to those places in our lives where we don't want to be. Gasp!  April, God wouldn't do such a thing!  Yes, God would do such a thing.   He is using this uncomfortable place to make you more like Him.  The good news is that if he takes you to such a place in you life, He will be the one to take you out of it when it is time. 

Next, notice how God told the people to build houses in Babylon, live in them, plant gardens, eat the fruit thereof, takes wives and husbands, and have children and great-grandchildren.  In essence, God was letting them know that they were going to be here for a while so they needed to live their lives and find peace in this particular place.  This is not what the people wanted. They wanted  God to rescue them immediately,  but this was not God's will yet. We see a couple of scriptures later that it would be 70 years before God would take them back to Jerusalem (and He eventually did, true to His word).  So often, we ask God to rescue us from particular seasons or places in our lives.  We cry to God to make a way out when He is the one that made a way in to this place. We throw spiritual tantrums (can I get a witness?) and resist what He is doing.  What we must realize is that God may relieve us of our burden in a short period of time, or He might keep us in a this place for a longer period.   I know the pain seems so unbearable at the moment that we can't imagine months or even years of feeling like this, but just like God told  the people to seek the peace of the city where they were carried away to, he is telling us to do the same.  He instructed them to embrace this place for it was where God had placed them.  Some of you may be living with cancer or some other disease while some of you might be dealing with heavy marriage problems or you're seeing your spouse go through something very hard. Others might be experiencing unemployment or homelessness, bankruptcy, the death of a loved one, a divorce, or even just loneliness.  Maybe you are experiencing obstacles in your ministry.   I don't know the place where God has you right now, but God does. He wants you to know that He has you in this place and everything is going to be alright. Don't fight it, but get on your knees and ask Him to give you peace in this place and grace to make it through. God will not rescue you, but He will renew you.  He will not allow for a place of escape, but He will allow you the grace to endure until it is time to bring you out and mark my words. HE WILL BRING YOU OUT in His time. In verses 10-14, we read God's word to His people,

"For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place...Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." 

 When all is said and done, you will know God in such a wonderful way. You will look back and see how God transformed you and your family. You will see how God changed and perfected you.  You will see how God is faithful to answer you and accomplish that which He promised.  Why should we trust God to fulfill His promises in us and answer our prayers?  The answer can be found in verse 11 of the same chapter,  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).  Know that you serve a loving God who has a wonderful plan for your life. Know that He finishes what He started.  Know that He hears your prayers even when you don't feel Him.  He will not just leave you in the place to die there, but will be with you through it all.  That's the kind of God that we serve.

Thoughts from a Woman Who Never Stops Thinking

 "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

I have always tried to respect all people regardless if I agree with them or not.  I hold very strong religious views because I hold the Bible as my standard for living and I am zealous for the things of God, but I do not believe that the Bible gives me the license to hate on people and treat them as inferior.  Further, hate and violence are not supported Biblically, even if its the side with opposing views/beliefs that initiated.  On the contrary, we are told to bless and pray for those that curse us and spitefully use us (Luke 6:28) and to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).  Christians have a long history of using violence and hate as a means of controlling others (ie. Crusades etc), but I truly believe that we do not have to continue that pattern. The truth is that we don't have much time left in this world to continue the pattern with the return of Christ coming so soon.  I do not believe in backing down in one's beliefs, but if people disagree or even hate you for your beliefs, we should let them do so without reciprocating anger. We will accomplish nothing by getting angry and name-calling or by holding signs on the corners and telling people they are going to hell.  I simply cannot imagine Jesus doing this.  When Christ went to the cross, he was ridiculed and taunted, spit on, and whipped, yet He held his peace and I believe that He calls us to do the same thing while carrying our cross.  He was sent like a "lamb to the slaughter" yet "opened not his mouth" the Bible says which means He took a passive approach.   He didn't take a passive approach to preaching the Gospel and loving others, but he took a passive approach to dealing with the hate and the persecution.   I'm tired of focusing on all the negative in the world and am making the conscious decision to be a vessel through which God can demonstrate His love to others no matter where they come from, their status, their sins etc. I will focus more on my own imperfections and allowing God fix mine so that I can be a better vessel of His love. When I get to heaven, God is not going to say, I wish you would have protested more on the corner on my behalf, but He will tell me, What did you do to allow people to experience my love?  I'm going to make myself ready so that I can usher in thousands of people and say Lord, here's what I did to show your love and these are the people that came to know you as a result of it.

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" ~ Hebrews 12:14