We Rest, He Works

Psalm 127:1 (ESV)

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Good morning Zebras,

At the Colusa retreat God gave me today’s verse, which has quickly become one of my favorites.  Debra, one of the women organizing the event shared it with me and she said that it had become her current life verse.

I liked the verse so much I came home and looked it up in context.  The entire passage reads:

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

God gives us rest because He loves us.  He does not want us anxiously toiling night and day. He wants us to rest and trust that He will provide for us like He has promised.

But when I read it in the NASB the promise got even better. Although the first verse is the same the second verse reads:

Psalm 127:2 (NASB95) 

It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.

Isn’t that cool? God gives us rest because He loves us and He continues to provide for us even while we sleep.  Of course, if we’d thought about it, we would know it is true.  We know God doesn’t go to sleep when we do and he doesn’t quit watching over us just because we go to bed. 

But do we act like it?

Do we act like rest is a gift from God given to those He loves and that He is perfectly capable of accomplishing whatever needs to get done while we rest?  Or have we elevated ourselves to such a place of importance that we think everything depends on us? Unintentionally acting like God can’t get anything done unless we assist Him.

God says He gives rest to those He loves and He promises to keep working while we rest, in faith we need to take Him up on it.

Love,

Jill

The Great and Powerful Oz

Hebrews 12:28–29 (ESV)  

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

Good morning Zebras,

This month my herd, what I call the gathering of the zebras at our church, is studying the holiness of God.  And I am once again reminded that if you need to get your life back on track the best attribute to study is God’s holiness.

As I was reading Hosea this morning I was struck by all the horrible things God told the Israelites would soon be happening to them, they were going to be taken into captivity and their cities would be destroyed.  Only a remnant of what was once God’s mighty people would remain.  And why?  Because they had turned away from God and forgotten all that He had done for them. They had offered sacrifices but not obedience.  

They had toyed with a holy God and they were about to lose.

Then I go to Revelation and I read God’s warning to the churches and it reads pretty much the same way.  God warns His people not to tolerate false teachings, grow lukewarm in their passion for Him or forget their first love. He tells them that works done in their own power is useless and He warns them not to become superficial.

Basically, He tells them not to toy with a Holy God because if they do they will lose.

Jesus said He was coming again.  He said He was coming to judge the earth and if I read the book of the Revelation correctly the judgment is starting with us.

I remember watching the Wizard of Oz as a young child.  For those of you old enough to remember life without DVDs the Wizard of Oz would only come on once a year and it was a BIG deal.  Everyone would be in front of their TV that night watching.

Near the end of the movie, Dorothy and the others finally get what they have been working so hard for-an audience with the Great and Powerful Oz.  As they stand shaking before a screen depicting a large head accompanied by a huge voice and booming thunder Dorothy notices something that makes her go and look behind the curtain. What she finds is not the great and powerful god she was expecting but just a man with a lot of fancy gadgets. She was really disappointed.

Fortunately, this is not going to be our experience when we finally stand before God. Unfortunately, for some people, it may be just the opposite.

Love,

Jill

Us, God, and Others

2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV 84)

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness…so that you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world…For this reason add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measures, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Good morning Zebras,

Today’s passage is of my favorites.  I have shortened it down so that you can digest the main parts, but if you have time I recommend you find your Bible and read the entire passage yourself.

I still remember vividly when God showed me these verses and told me He had given me everything I needed for life and godliness.  We had quite the discussion at Bible study because I sure didn’t feel like I had everything I needed.  And of course we all know if it doesn’t “feel” true…  I mean I felt like I had one or two things, but certainly not everything.

However, the thought of being unproductive and ineffective in my knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ struck fear in my heart and got me motivated to do my part. 

The qualities are not listed in order of importance and we are told to develop them all in increasing measure so I started with the one I liked best: knowledge.  Since God had already given me a great love of His Word making myself spend more time studying the Bible was not a hardship at all.

Perseverance came next, “to keep on keeping on” as they would say, to get up every day and choose for myself who I would serve. I learned serving God really is a daily decision and perseverance requires that I consciously choose Him every day.

Self-control was a little more difficult.  I kept trying to control the wrong things.  Finally, God showed me that I needed to start by controlling my tongue and then controlling other things would get easier.  He was right.

Then two weeks ago I taught on this passage at Colusa.  At the time I noticed I only emphasized three items on God’s list of important qualities to work on but I wasn’t sure why.  I told the ladies it was because those were the only ones I knew about and that I was finding godliness, goodness, brotherly kindness, and love came as a result of knowledge, perseverance and self-control.

Which, I still believe is true, but only half right because yesterday God showed me the other half.

The reason I focus on knowledge, self-control and perseverance is because I can work on those qualities alone. The other qualities; goodness, brotherly kindness, love, and godliness require that I interact with others.  I can be as loving as I want when it is just me and God, but the real test is when someone else gets involved.  Which is confirmation for me that God never intended for us JUST to have a wonderful relationship with Him, He also wanted us to have wonderful relationships with others. 

Remember it is the lone Zebra who gets eaten.

Love,

Jill

Narrow Road

Today's post was written by Nalatie McAlpin, the herd facilitator for Colusa. She wrote this to encourage her women and with her permission I am passing it on to you. Enjoy!


Love,
Jill


Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it.”


Last weekend my husband and I decided to take a much needed break from our family’s hectic schedule in order to reconnect and regroup. We packed up the travel trailer, grabbed the three boys after school and headed to the hills with our beagle, bikes, motorcycles and plenty of food. Destination Lower Letts Lake!!


We love to camp at Letts Lake for a few different reasons. It is beautiful, quiet, secluded and most importantly, we can ride our dirt bikes there. For our family, it’s a little piece of heaven on earth. But, the road to Letts Lake is truly the most frightening road I have ever traveled in my entire life. It is an extremely narrow, dirt road with ninety degree turns and sheer cliffs that drop hundreds of feet down. I’m not talking “Oops we went off the road and dented our car.” It would be more like “Oops we went off the cliff and now we’re dead!”


I really, really hate certain parts of the two hour drive to Letts Lake but other parts of the drive are beautifully magnificent. In the fall, the mountains are painted the warm colors of rust, gold and green. At certain points you can look back and see hundreds of miles across the valley. We always see the same herd of Elk grazing on the rolling hills and turkeys crossing at one particular turn in the road. But most importantly, it’s what is at the end of the journey that is simply amazing. I can think of many roads I would rather travel, but the final destination just wouldn’t be as spectacular.


Needless to say, our trips to Letts Lake are filled with much prayer, and I must confess, a lot of worry. I worry about meeting a truck and trailer on the one lane road and having to back up until we find a spot wide enough to pass. I worry about my husband going too fast and losing control. I worry the brakes will suddenly go out and send us plummeting over a cliff. Obviously, I haven’t quite learned to let go of worry and trust God completely in these situations! Yet I continue to go on the road willingly again and again, because I know that it is the only way to get where we want to go.


The above verses in Matthew where Jesus talks about the narrow road that leads to life remind me of the road to Lett’s Lake. Sure, the broad road might seem more appealing, easier to travel or the popular choice by the world’s standards. But, what is at the end? What does the final destination hold for those that chose the broad road? Jesus said it leads to destruction. It is a road where one chooses to live their life apart from Christ and ultimately an eternity separated from the loving mercy, grace and forgiveness of our Savior. Would anyone ever willingly choose a road knowing without a doubt that it headed straight for death and destruction? I would think not, yet so many people are doing just that. When we chose to live our lives apart from the saving grace of Jesus’ death and resurrection we are choosing the broad road that leads to destruction. So the choice seems obvious, choose the narrow road that leads to life!

Jesus never said the Christian life was an easy life. In fact he said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33 God has not promised a pain free journey but he has promised to travel the road with us and that he will never leave us or forsake us. As Christians, we are not left to wander aimlessly about on our own. We have the Holy Spirit living within us guiding us in truth and directing us along the way. And don’t forget, we have God’s word, the very best GPS system available at our fingertips each and every day.

As I was thinking about the road to Letts Lake again, I realized that the road itself is really not scary or dangerous at all. The road is actually quite comforting. You see, the road is not the problem. The frightening part, the deadly part is being off the road. As long as you stay focused on the road there really isn’t anything to be afraid of. The edges are obvious, road signs are posted and directions are clear. The driver’s responsibility is to choose the correct road and then stay on it and remained focused no matter what. Jesus said in John 14:6 , “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“ Jesus is the narrow road. Choose Him and choose life. Better yet, let him have the driver’s seat!

My Dog Has Fleas

Psalm 127:1a (NIV84)

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain

Good morning Zebras,

Thank you to all who prayed for Saturday.  It went really well.  God’s hand was amazingly evident, but unfortunately stories about found CDs, lost names tags, booklets, zebra cups, and fuzzy pants do not translate well to the written word.  But everyone who was there benefited from your prayers.  Even in what went “wrong” I saw God’s hand and it doesn’t’ get any better than that.

But what I want to talk about is Friday. Friday, as I was getting ready to leave for Colusa I was overtaken by an overwhelming sense of my inadequacy.  To be honest it had been coming on for a few days, but Friday morning it was in full swing.

When I woke up on Friday and my dog, Joshua, was obviously not himself, it was enough to send me to the couch. I laid there waiting to take Joshua to the vet thinking, “Who are you, what do you have to say, why should anyone listen to you, you really should just stay home.”

And the longer I laid there the worse it got.

At noon I drug myself off the couch and took Joshua to the vet only to find out he had pulled a back muscle scratching at fleas.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I was grateful it was only fleas, but at that moment in time fleas seemed like a big deal.  I felt like I needed to wash the beds and treat the dogs before I left for Colusa.

While I was in the midst of this, Ellen, my pastor’s wife, called.  She asked if I was on the road yet because she wanted to pray for me. When I told her that I was still at home because the dog had fleas, she did the best thing possible.  She laughed.

She didn’t sound shocked, she didn’t feel sorry for me, and she didn’t tell me I was under spiritual attack, she just laughed.  And somehow that made everything better.

In her laughter I heard God say “Don’t take yourself so seriously my friend. I’ve got this under control. You are just along for the ride.”

And of course He was right.

The success of any venture is not dependent upon me, or us, but is entirely dependent upon Him.  Her laughter was just what I needed to put things back in their proper perspective and remember: The only thing I should take seriously in life is God. 

Love,

Jill