Good morning Zebras,

I got no words for you today.  The world is full of words and sometimes I feel bad adding to them, what it needs is prayer so that is what I shall give you instead.

Yesterday God gave me a wonderful prayer for His people.

Pray My people are, first of all humble, pride is such an ugly sin, that they ask for and accept the wisdom and strength they need to successfully accomplish the tasks before them, remain under My protection by not giving the devil a foothold into their lives, and finally pray they are filled with the fire and passion of My Holy Spirit so that everywhere they go their faith is seen.

Humility, strength, wisdom, protection, and passion easy to remember and pray.

Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you and God really loves you which is why He is constantly training you.

Proverbs 3:11–12:  My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

We act like we are being trained and disciplined because we are “bad.”  But nothing could be further from the truth.  We are constantly being disciplined and pruned by God because He loves us and He is willing to do the work to make sure we do not settle for anything less than being transformed into the image of Jesus.

When I was a teacher it always frustrated me to see a bright child unwilling to do the work necessary to get an “A”.  To me it was more frustrating than the student who tried and still got a “C.”  Sometimes there were extenuating circumstance but usually it was just because the bright student was lazy or distracted by activities outside of school that they preferred. 

All of us have the ability to know and obey God and to resist the “corruption of the world.”  All of us have the capability to get and “A” because it was given to us by Him.  How it must frustrate Him when we are too distracted by the things of the world or just too lazy to use it. 

Matthew 13:22 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.

Peter says God has given us everything we need, which is a reference to the indwelling Holy Spirit, and then he gives us a list of things that we should do to make sure we receive a rich welcome into the kingdom. A truly life changing passage once it is understood and applied. 

2 Peter 1:3–11 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.  Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Two years ago, my family came home to a “Welcome to Torporville” sign on our door.

Torpor is the state of rest hummingbirds go into when the conditions in the environment are hostile to their survival.  It is sort of like hibernation, but much shorter.  For years God had had me praying our house would be a safe place for our family, a place where they could rest and be recharged before going back into the world, He had just never given it a name before. 

Recently God confirmed that vison when Gary and I went to the wedding of his uncle.  The pastor, who was is his eighties, gave a list of charges to the couple, one of which was this:

I charge you to make your home a place of honor and spiritual refuge from the storms of life, not only for yourselves and your family but also for your friends and guests.

A noble goal.

In the Old Testament, a city of refuge was a place where a person who had accidently killed someone could run and be safe from those who wanted to take his life.

Numbers 35:9–12 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.

I think it would be wonderful if every Christian home was a spiritual refuge, a safe place, a place filled with God’s Spirit where God’s people could rest and be safe from the attacks of the enemy.

I remember reading once in a book that mothers should pray over every room of the house for eyes to see hidden things that are offensive to God and then remove them because God’s Holy Spirit is quenched in the presence of sin. At the time, I thought it was weird but fifteen years later I find that is exactly what God has taught me to do. Of course, since I am a practical person I find it easiest just to pray as I clean.   

And second, and probably equally important, we need to make sure we don’t let Satan follow us in the door.

In some cultures, people take off their shoes before they enter the house so they don’t track in the world’s dirt and grime.  In a Christian home, maybe we need to consciously pause at the threshold of our homes and pray before we enter so that we don’t track in the sins and the dirt of the world. 

And if we are really bold, and serious about protecting our space, we should ask our Christian guests to do the same.

Love,

Jill  

Good morning Zebras,

I hope all of you who stopped by this virtual watering hole yesterday received your “roses” from God.  Praying for all of you was my job yesterday.

Today, I would like to discuss the importance of doing what we are told to do and being where we’re supposed to be.

Thursday, I ignored God’s gentle prompting about somewhere He has been telling me to go and chose instead to stay home.  The rest of the day I found myself battling to stay within the will of God.

Friday I went. As I sat there I could feel God saying, “The reason I wanted you to do this was not arbitrary, it’s because it takes you out of temptation’s way.”  And I immediately thought of David.

We all know the story of David and Bathsheba.  How David, who stayed home from battle, found himself tempted by a lovely woman bathing below him.  Giving into his desire he inquired after her and eventually ended up laying with her.  She gets pregnant and David chooses to have her husband killed.  Not one of David’s finer moments.

But it all started because David wasn’t where he was supposed to be.

2 Samuel 11:1: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.  They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged 

Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

Had David gone to war, like a king was supposed to, he wouldn’t have been there to see Bathsheba bathing and none of it would’ve happened.

James 1:13–15: When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.”  For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

God does not tempt us to evil, we do that ourselves by being where we shouldn’t be, lingering when we should be leaving and by refusing to give up people and things we know tempt us to sin.  Alcoholics who want to remain sober do not hang around bars.

God is able to protect us, if we will only let Him.

1 Corinthians 10:13:  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you so.

I have two kids and they have different needs.  Each morning I ask God what I should be praying for them because I know He is the only one who truly knows.

Sometimes He has me pray for encouragement and sometimes He has me pray for conviction because God’s people need both if they want to stay within the will of God.

It is so easy for us to get distracted and get off track, and it is just as easy for us to get discouraged when the track God has us on gets rough. 

I love that God knows how to get us through both situations when our eyes are firmed locked on Him. Just like the old hymn, turning your eyes on Jesus changings everything.

I have a friend who used to pray God would give me “roses” when I was discouraged.  And sometimes He would, but sometimes He would say “get up and walk you’re just feeling sorry for yourself.” Remember what I said to Cain:

Genesis 4:6–7 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

I don’t have any idea which one you need today, correction or encouragement, actually they are both “roses” from a God who loves us, but I know God does and I am praying you are ready and willing to receive which ever one it is.

Matthew 13:15 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you. I’m not sure why, but this was a huge encouragement to me yesterday.  I hope it encourages you as well

Yesterday I spent some time with a lovely sister in the Lord who told me a story about her family.  She said her sister would put up with verbal abuse from other people, but if anyone ever said anything unkind about her, that is where her sister drew the line.  “You can say mean things about me, but you cannot say mean things about my sister.”

I love that, such loyalty and the phrase she used. “you can go no farther” in describing her sister’s ultimatum to the bullies made me think of this verse:

Job 38:11 ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’

God told the ocean no farther-you must stay within the boundaries I have given you and it gave me the most beautiful picture of God saying the same thing to Satan.  Here are your boundaries-you may do this and this but you may not do that. And Satan had to listen.

Job 2:6 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

I know God allowed Satan to destroy everything Job had, which was a horrible trial for Job to go through, but he was not allowed to take Job’s life. That is where God drew the line.

And what did Job learn through all his trials?  One of the most important lessons we can ever learn, that God is in control, no plans of His are ever thwarted, and if He were to ever show Himself to us in all His glory we would repent in dust and ashes.

Job 42:2–6 “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.  You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’  My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

We act like God has lost control but nothing could be further from the truth we have just forgotten, like Job, how big God and His plans really are.  

Jude 24–25 To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I was reading Spurgeon’s Treasury of David and I came across this:

“All the sea outside a vessel is less to be feared than that which finds its way into the hold.”

If you know the ship you are in is water tight it doesn’t matter how big an ocean you are in you’re not afraid.  But on the other hand, if the boat you are sailing in is filled with holes then you will experience fear, especially if you can’t swim, in even the smallest of lakes.

Jesus Christ is the water tight ship, in Him we are safe. We are the ones who damage the “hold” and let the water in. The phrase “do not give the devil a foothold” from the following verses comes to mind:

Ephesians 4:25–27 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Lies, sins committed in anger, and anger that you are not willing to release are just three of the ways Satan gets a foothold into your life. Another is our refusal to control our thoughts. We act as if we have no choice, but we do. “Take every thought captive unto Christ” in a practical sense means:

Philippians 4:8–9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Years ago, at camp I asked a bunch of high school girls to write down everything they could think of that fit those criteria-things that were true, lovely, admirable etc. Things that would be worth thinking about.  And all they could come up with were things related to God.

Remember you are safe unless you choose to let the enemy in and his easiest way in is your brain.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you.

As you can see our onion has gotten huge.  If it is going to get any bigger and actually produce fruit, it needs to be taken outside and planted.  But I’m not willing to do all that work.  Whatever fondness I had for it is gone, now it just looks like a large plant that does nothing, so out it goes.

Even typing that seems harsh, but no harsher than what Jesus said to a tree did not produce fruit

Matthew 21:18–19 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

We focus so much on the love and grace of Jesus Christ we gloss right over some very difficult and frightening passages.

John 15:1–6 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, God is the gardener constantly pruning and shaping us into something that will bear fruit.  Our job is to remain in the vine and not wiggle away from God’s clippers. If we do that the passage says, we will bear much fruit.   Otherwise, we will be gathered up and thrown into the fire.

Thankfully the choice is ours.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Friday night we watched “Suffragette.”  If you haven’t seen the movie you might want to skip today’s post because there are spoilers.

The movie is about women’s battle for the right to vote in England.  The only thing I knew about the subject was what I saw in Mary Poppins, which it turns out was not very accurate.

According to the movie, women who got involve in the battle were jailed and horribly mistreated.  They were fired from jobs, thrown out of their homes and ostracized from their family.  But they kept on going.

The climax came when a woman, who was attempting to bring worldwide attention to their cause, stepped out onto the Derby racetrack and was killed by the King’s horse. Incredibly, all of it turns out to be true. 

Such passion, such willingness to give everything to get something they were sure was going to improve women’s lives, just not necessarily theirs.

Like the early disciples, they were willing to give everything, endure anything for the “cause” so  other people would someday benefit.  

Humbling when you realize how self-focused our faith has become.

Father, forgive us for taking something that was all about You and Your desire to save the world and turned it into something that is all about us and our comfort and happiness.  Forgive us and give us the hearts of the early disciples, men and women who were willing to risk everything to advance the Gospel because they knew what they stood for was important.  Lord, please help us get our eyes off ourselves and on to You and let us embrace, from this day forward, the same slogan as the suffragettes, that it’s “Deeds not Words” that will change things.

Zebras, the world is filled with words what it needs is Jesus and Christians, true disciples, transformed by the Holy Spirit doing what He tells us to do.

Matthew 4:19–20  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

James 2:14, 26: “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?...”As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I believe God started Zebras not to encourage us to look different than the world, but to look different than the majority of people who go to church.  At the time I just couldn’t sit on the pew anymore and be lukewarm-the desire to get out of the boat and walk on water was all consuming.

But I needed/wanted other water-walkers.  I needed other people who wanted to be crazy for Christ. Other people who saw what I saw-that the tiny faith displayed by the average American Christian falls far short of the faith depicted in the Bible.  

Jesus Christ deserves everything we have and the love of God should compel us to give it all to Him and “run with perseverance the race He has marked out for us.” 

Of course, each of us have a different race, each of us have a different gift, but we all have the same God and the same responsibility to work out our “salvation with fear and trembling” and to give Him everything we got.

There are enough people in the world who will allow us to sin, we don’t need any more.  What we need are people who are going to hold us accountable to the standard God laid down in the New Testament. 

God is able to do far more than we ever think or imagine and He is able to ignite a fire in the heart of the lukewarm if they are willing.  But if they aren’t willing they can easily become a stumbling block.  Those who want to “sit for Jesus” feel better when everyone else is sitting too.

Having spent my whole life as a “fluffy” person I can tell you it can be convicting to eat with a person who is passionate about their body, even if they don’t say anything.  What they believe is obvious by how they look and they choices they make.

I think the same should be true of us.  Our passion for Jesus Christ should be convicting to those who are lukewarm because our life should speak volumes about what it looks like to live all out for God. 

A few weeks ago I shared a collage I made when I was still teaching.  I told you it was my “coming out party” at work because what I had depicted, in cut out pictures, was my all-consuming passion to be transformed into the living image of Christ. 

And that is still true, but I think I’ve gone a step further, it is no longer enough to be transformed into the image of Christ now I pray to be filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit so that my passion for God, as revealed through Jesus Christ, makes a difference.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

When my kids were little we went to see “A Series of Unfortunate Events.”  If you haven’t seen the movie it starts with happy elves frocking in the forest and then the announcer says something like: if this is what you came to see you need to go to a different movie. 

That’s how I’m feeling today: If you came to read something light and fluffy guaranteed to make you feel better about yourself you probably need to go to a different site because that isn’t the message God is giving me today.

If you don’t live in California, you might not be aware of the weather situation out here.  After multiple years of drought conditions the rain we have been praying for has finally come and we seem woefully unprepared, unlike Noah we did not build “an ark” to survive the storm.    

Noah is such an inspiration to keep doing the “crazy things” God tells us do.  But you have to wonder, as Noah was building that ark, did he have any idea how bad it was going to get? I know God told Noah He was going to wipe everyone out:

Genesis 7:4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.

But I can’t help thinking the flood was way worse than Noah imagined it was going to be.

For everyone who prays for Jesus’ return do you ever think about what that is really going to look like?  Do you think we are prepared?

For the longest time, Matthew was my favorite Gospel.  Then all of a sudden I couldn’t read it anymore. Everything in there seemed to be about living full out for Jesus Christ and/or being prepared for Christ’s return. Both subjects would make me sick to my stomach.

It was odd, my favorite Gospel went to being my least favorite in a blink of an eye.  I’m guessing it was because God finally made the words “real.”

I love you little Zebras, that’s why I’m saying this. God’s people need to quit playing around and trying to walk a middle line that does not exist. We cannot stick our heads in the sand and think that lukewarm is good enough-not if we want to withstand what is coming.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Another story that’s better understood when read in conjunction with the preceding verses.

I’m sure it is a story you are familiar with.  Ananias, together with his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge, he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.  When asked by Peter if this was all the money he hadn’t gotten from the field Ananias lied and said “Yes.”

This is Peter’s reply:

Acts 5:4–5: “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.

I never really understood why Ananias did this, it seemed rather random, sell a field and then lie to God about it, but the answer is in the preceding verse.

Acts 4:36–37: …Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

Ananias sold the field because other men, like Barnabas, were selling their fields and giving the money to the “church” and he didn’t want to be left out.  He wanted the glory the other guys got but he didn’t really want to give God all the money, so he lied.  He was by definition a hypocrite: a charlatan, fraud or phony, one who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a person who conceals facts, intentions, or feelings.

Years ago, in Bible study we found this passage:

Deuteronomy 21:18–21:  If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

Laughingly we said that would solve the rebellious youth problems, stone one problematic youth to death and the rest would sit up and take notice.  Of course, that was Old Testament times and fortunately those laws don’t apply to us.

But Ananias is from the New Testament, from the early church years and he wasn’t killed by men, he was struck dead by God.  In an age where we don’t even practice church discipline can you imagine what would happen if God struck down even one hypocrite?

I’m guessing, just like the example of the problematic youth, there would be a lot less hypocrites in church.

Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful God doesn’t strike us dead for our foolishness.  It just seems dangerous that we seem to have forgotten He can.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Two more puzzle analogies.

When I opened this new puzzle, I prayed that there wouldn’t be any missing pieces.  I don’t know if they come with missing pieces or if I lose them myself but I’ve had a few odd puzzle experiences, the oddest one being that one puzzle had duplicate pieces.  Two of one piece and one piece missing.  But the company was great and they sent me a new puzzle of my choosing for FREE, which is the puzzle I am currently working on. 

As I work it is impossible to think about missing pieces without thinking of verses like these:

Matthew 18:12: “What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?”

John 10:28–29: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

God doesn’t lose “puzzle pieces” and no one can take us out of the Father’s Hand.  But I do wonder sometimes if we can “jump out” and wander away.  Otherwise why would verses like this exist?

James 5:19–20: “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

And it is equally difficult not to think of these verses when I am looking high and low for a specific piece. 

Isaiah 55:6: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near…”

Matthew 13:44–46: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.’”

If God’s people would only look for Him with as much passion as they look for their lost phone, and realize the kingdom of heaven is worth selling everything for, things would change.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I hope you had a wonderful God-filled day yesterday.

Last year God gave me a new way to spend my some of my free time, jigsaw puzzles.

I’ve never been a “puzzler,” to be honest I don’t think I had the patience for it.  But it is a great way to let your mind wander and pray.  The first thing you do, if you are doing a large puzzle, is sort the pieces by color.  At first it is difficult to distinguish which piece goes where but the more you handle them and study the box lid, the more you can see where they go.

Two God analogies: First, the more you handle the Word of God, the better you will 

understand it.  At first it may look confusing and overwhelming but keep at it, pray as you read and obey what you learn, and the day will come when you will realize passages you never understood before make sense. 

But obedience is key.  One of my life changing epiphanies from My Utmost For His Highest:

“The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience. If a person wants scientific knowledge, then intellectual curiosity must be his guide. But if he desires knowledge and insight into the teachings of Jesus Christ, he can only obtain it through obedience. If spiritual things seem dark and hidden to me, then I can be sure that there is a point of disobedience somewhere in my life. Intellectual darkness is the result of ignorance, but spiritual darkness is the result of something that I do not intend to obey.”

And two: Just like I sit and sort puzzle pieces, someday God will be sorting us.

Matthew 25:32–34: “Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,’”

But unlike me, who separates puzzle pieces based on their color and appearance, God is going to separate us based upon our faith in Jesus Christ.  And I can’t help thinking we are going to be surprised at the outcome.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Happy Valentine’s Day.

The other day it was sunny and as I headed out of the house I felt a prompting to go get my hat-but it’s winter for heaven sakes!  So, I ignored the little voice’s prompting and went out bareheaded. 

What I had forgotten is the anti-wrinkle cream I’ve been using makes my skin more sensitive to the sun.  Plus, I had forgotten to put on my face cream, which has a SPF of 15.  The result: my extra sensitive, unprotected face got burned.

Today is the day to get gifts from people who love you.  Praying you spend some time today with God, the person who loves you most, and you listen with a sensitive spirit to what He has to say.  Only He really knows what you need to hear today.  

1 Samuel 3:10 The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Psalm 23:2–3 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Hebrews 12:5–6: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Revelation 3:19–20: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Oswald has been wonderful the last few days on the importance of listening to God.  Starting on February 12^th with “Are You Listening to God?” and ending today with “The Discipline of Hearing”

There is nothing I can add to what God has already had him say. 

Love,

Jill

Are You Listening to God?

Good morning Zebras,

A few random thoughts:

Be careful about bragging, humility is huge with God. 

Luke 14:8–9: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’  Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.”

No one really thinks they are lukewarm because we compare themselves to other  Christians. But the standard isn’t “others” it is Jesus Christ.

John 14:30–31: “I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

Philippians 2:8:  “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

“Obedience unto death” that’s the standard.

We waste a lot of time focused on other people’s sins.

Matthew 7:3–5: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

And if the world isn’t interested in our God, maybe it’s because we are bad advertisements. Originally written to the Jews but it could just as easily apply to us: Do those of us who brag on the love and grace of God, dishonor His name by refusing to pass it on?

Romans 2:23–24:  “You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?  As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I am loving going back to old z-mails and rereading them. This one is from October 2013

Tuesday at Bible study God gave me the perfect picture for what I believe is the purpose of this ministry. Coals burn brightest when they are in the presence of other coals. If you take them out and lay them to the side away from the heat they begin to grow cold. Christians too need one another to burn bright.  Not so they can stay together in a heap and do nothing, but so that they can come together be re-energized by the fire of the Holy Spirit and get back out there doing what God has called them to do with a renewed power and passion. 

I love you little Zebras, more than you know and WAY out of proportion to what is normal. It must be from God. 

All of that is still true but to be honest it has been much harder than I thought it would be. I think that is because I missed an important aspect of the coal analogy. Fire. Each coal has fire and when they gather together they encourage the fire in one another to burn brighter.  What I hadn’t counted on was our basic lack of fire. 

Some days it feels like we have completely forgotten Pentecost.

Acts 2:1–4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Getting together and chatting about ourselves, our jobs, our kids, our church or the sad state of the country does not ignite the Fire of the Spirit.  Nor does a rational discussion on the importance of following God. Following God is a lot of things but I don’t think rational is one of them.

Four times in three Gospels Jesus says something like this:

Mark 8:33–38 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Nor is the Fire ignited when we talk about the “good works” we are doing for Jesus or the way we need to “act” if our motivation is not our passionate love for God. Three times in three Gospels Jesus said this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

You don’t need any one else to help you “burn for Jesus.” Lose your life, carry your cross, quit thinking about yourself, learn to love the Lord with your whole heart, and pray and work until you understand the Holy Spirit and you will find that God will start a fire in you.  A fire that hopefully will inspire others to do the same.  Maybe that is the real purpose of Zebras. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

The second story is found in Acts 18.  I have often quoted Acts 19 where Paul asked the people of Ephesus what baptism they had received and when they replied “John’s baptism.”  He proceeded to lay hands on them and baptize them with the Holy Spirit.  But I never connected it to the preceding passage until Wednesday.

Acts 18:24–25  Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.

The reason the people in Ephesus only knew about the baptism of John is because that’s all they were taught!  That explains so much.

If all you do is listen to people preach, all you are going to know about the truth of God is what they tell you and I can say without a shadow of doubt-there is so much more to learn!! 

Which God will happily teach you if you open the Word and make the time to listen.

We place a huge emphasis on the love and grace of God but what changed my faith was the day He told me He was holy.  Jesus died on the cross because He loved us but also because the holiness of God required someone to pay the price for sin.  It should have been us, but it wasn’t, it was Jesus.

Make no mistake God loves you, but He is also holy and righteous and should be respected and feared.  And obeyed!

Luke 12:4–5   “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear him.

The Jewish people did not need to be taught to fear God, their ancestors had lapped the desert forty years until everyone who refused to believe God died and He sent their entire nation into captivity for their disobedience and worship of false idols.    

Teaching Jesus died only because He loved us is teaching half the Gospel and it is as dangerous as teaching the Baptism of Repentance without the Baptism of the Spirit.  Which we also do, but that’s a topic for another day.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

God showed me a couple of “new” stories in the Bible.   Of course, they aren’t new-but they certainly hit home in a new way.  I’ll share one today and one tomorrow. The first one is in 1 Kings 13.

God sent a prophet to cry out against king Jeroboam, which he did. When Jeroboam tried to seize him, God made the king’s hand shrivel up.  The king asked the prophet to intercede on his behalf, which he did, and the king’s hand was restored.  The king then invited the prophet home, but the prophet refused.

1 Kings 13:7–10 The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and have something to eat, and I will give you a gift.” But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ ” So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

On his way home, he was met by another prophet who after hearing what had happened came out to meet him.  He too invited the prophet to come for dinner and once again the prophet refused until the man said this:

1 Kings 13:18–19 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ”(But he was lying to him.) So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.

During the meal, the word of God came to the liar:

1 Kings 13:21–22 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your fathers.’ ”

In my book, it is the liar who should have gotten punished, but it wasn’t, it was the prophet who disobeyed God.  On the way home, he was attacked by a lion.  The lion killed him, but did not eat him nor maul the donkey he had been riding.  The lion was found just sitting by the body.  Because the circumstances of his death were so unusual it served to reinforce the message he had been sent to give: those who disobey the Lord will die.

So many lessons!  

The prophet resisted the temptation to eat when it came from someone he knew was “evil” but gave in when it came from another “man of God.” If you have been given instructions from God, you are the one He is going to hold responsible.  There is no shifting blame to someone else, you need to obey, it didn’t work with Adam it won’t work for you. 

The prophet’s death served to reinforce his message. We act like God will always protect us when we are doing His work and He will but that does not necessarily mean physical protection here on Earth. Perhaps God will be more honored by our death. Jesus died a horrible death as did many of the disciples and their deaths served to spread the Gospel. The world is afraid of dying, Christians shouldn’t be because as Paul says: “for me to die is gain.” We need to be willing to “die” for the cause of Christ. 

John 12:24–25 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

And finally, never play the “God card” to get your way.  Do not say “God told me” (or in this case one of His messengers) unless He did.   

Love,

Jill