Good morning Zebras,

Yesterday I messaged my friend after I’d put up the post, I wanted to make sure I had represented her accurately.  Printed with her permission is her response:

“I literally just read it. Yes, you said how I feel. Loved the insight God gave you on the extra time now available for Gary to spend with Him. That's a great practical way to keep Christ at the center rather than the "busyness" we can all fall into.  I know the Lord will bless your obedience as you laid down your desire for a fresh tree. Your home is and will be filled with the fragrance of Christ, which is a whole lot better than the smell of pine 😃"

I have hosted lots of holidays where the house was filled with the scent of pine, and this year, she's right, I wanted the fragrance of Christ.  I’ve people coming who need the healing touch of Jesus, people who have been here before and went away unchanged and the same thing is going to happen again, unless I do something different.

In the three Synoptic Gospels, Jesus heals a boy the disciples were unable to cure.  (Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 9: 14-29, Luke 9:37-43)  When they asked Him why they couldn’t do it, He chastised them for their lack of faith and said, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

And that is the key, prayer.  Recently I did a study on “perseverance” and I was surprised to find that the old dead guys unanimously pointed to prayer as the most important area of perseverance. Not quiet time or Bible study, prayer. 

I love you Zebras, Christmas celebrates the miraculous birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I see no reason why, if everything we do is bathed in prayer, it shouldn’t be the vehicle for a few more.

Love,

Jill

P.S. If this ornament could talk it would say “Get out of the boat you guys!  Life on the edge is great!  Nothing is impossible with God!”  And its life verse would be: 1 Corinthians 11:1 -Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Good morning Zebras,

For years I have resisted the idea of a fake tree but this year it was my idea.  Gary spends days procuring and lighting our ten-foot Christmas tree each year, so this year as an act of love I told him I’d rather he spends the time with God.

Fake trees have a lot of benefits, they are already pre-lit, they go up super quickly, and they have really really strong branches.  I’ve been able to hang ornaments I haven’t been able to hang for years and I can hang ornaments way out on the tippy edge because the branches don’t bend.  While most of the ornaments still hug the safety of the tree, there are a few daring ones that hang precariously on the edge.   

I have always loved my real tree, and I was unwilling to even consider changing, but I was wrong, I didn’t know what I was missing.  I loved the benefits of the real tree so much, I wouldn’t even consider letting go.

And that is how it is with God, people get so comfortable with the amount of God they have in their life that they are unwilling to let go and make the sacrifices it takes to get to the next level, to be totally filled and empower by the Spirit and able to do the impossible.

Oswald today talks about the different between the “holiness movement” in his day (1850’s) and the “rugged reality of the New Testament” saints.

“All that is required is a pious atmosphere, prayer, and devotion.  This type of experience is not supernatural nor miraculous.  It did not cost the suffering of God, nor is it stained with ‘blood of the Lamb.’  It is not marked or sealed by the Holy Spirit as being genuine, and it has no visual signs that causes people to exclaim with awe and wonder, ‘That is the work of God Almighty!’ Yet the New Testament is about the work of God and nothing else.”

I have a very dear friend who says, “All glory to God!” whenever she hears good news.  Some people get offended, but I know her heart, she wants to make sure God gets glory for everything good that happens in our lives. And I agree, people often take credit for the things God does.

But my heart is that God will start doing such powerful things with His people that it is obvious to everyone it could have only been done by God.

Pharaoh’s sorcerers could replicate the first of Moses miracles, but at some point, they realized they were out of their league.  That is the day I long for, the day when all of God’s people live lives that are so miraculous the world has to sit up and take notice. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

One of the challenges often faced in this incredibly blessed country, especially during the holidays, is not enough room in the fridge for all the food.  Many people have solved this problem by buying a second fridge for the garage. 

But you can’t buy a second life.  If you don’t make room in your busy life for God, He’ll stand outside and knock while you become more and more lukewarm. 

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

If you are feeling lukewarm, I can tell you what the problem is, you have overfilled your life and pushed God to the curb.  Fortunately, there is an easy solution.

Revelation 3:18–19 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

People act like lukewarm is something that happens like a cold, something they have no control over, but that is not true.  Lukewarm is a condition that happens when we place more value on the blessings of God, than we do on God.

I love you Zebras, resolve this Christmas to shake off the wisdom of the world, a world that tells you that you are fine, and pursue God with everything you’ve got.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you. 

Yesterday's picture of the ant haunted me from the minute I found it.  Demons and evil are as real to me as God is, and they should be real to you too.

Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

But that does not mean we need to be afraid of them.  The Spirit of God that lives in us is greater than the evil in the world

1 John 4:4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

I never used to dream about evil, but lately it has been a reoccurring theme.  Not the kind of evil that comes right at you, but the kind that worms its way in likes ants, or vultures in the shadows.

2 Timothy 3:1–7 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

We live in dangerous times, but not because of what is on the front page, but because of the intense battle that is being fought all around us for the hearts and minds of God’s people. Please Zebras, pick up your weapon, and pray. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

After putting up yesterday’s post I wandered off into the kitchen to get some coffee.  Since it’s something I do every morning I rarely turn the lights on, so I didn’t notice there were ants everywhere until I felt them crawling on my arms.

Needless to say, I turned on the light and wiped out as much of their civilization as I could see.

The sad thing is, it never needed to get to that point.  I have been battling a very small number of ants in my office for a while, but since we have a pest service, I figured they couldn’t get out of control.  Sure, a few may have gotten in but that didn’t mean anything.

Unfortunately, that’s some people’s attitude about sin.  A few sins here and there don’t really mean anything, they are, after all, covered by the blood of Christ.  But that isn’t the attitude of the New Testament and just like my ants, ignoring small sins is a dangerous choice.

Under the title: Warning Against Deliberate Sin

Hebrews 10:26–31: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.  Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.  How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?  For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

I love you Zebras, but Christians are fools if they think small sins don’t matter, (I actually had someone say this to me recently,) because Christ died to set us free from sin.  His life paid the penalty that should have been ours and His Spirit gives us the power to overcome.

Recently my sister called and asked, “What’s with putting the couch in the garage?”

I told her the couch was making it too easy for Gary to be lazy, to just come home and check out.  All day long he dies to self and tries to do his job in a way that honors God so when he gets home he wants some “Me time.”

I have tried to tell him there’s no “Me time.”  There’s just God’s time.  But I was battling the couch, so we both agreed it had to go.  Not just to the garage, but out of the house, because it was covered with “lazy memories.”  When we looked at it we didn’t see God, we saw our lazy flesh.

When I explained the situation to the Habitat guy who came to pick it up, he said it was the first time he had people donate furniture because it was too comfortable.  (Weirdly, his young assistant seemed to understand what I was saying.)

People have told me I’m too hard on myself when I apologize for behavior the world considers normal, but just like the couch, my standard is not the world’s it’s God’s.  And right now, I’m sitting here covered with ants because I was to lazy to deal with them earlier.

Love,

Jill

P.S. This is just a picture of a carpenter ant up close.  Isn’t it weird how something so “innocent” can cease to look harmless when seen from a different point of view?

Good morning Zebras,

One night, when the kids were little, I was doing the good Christian mom thing and listening to their night time prayers.  (I have to be honest here, that’s not a tradition that lasted very long, I was faithful about reading them bedtime stories and Gary took over when I was tired, but neither one of us sat with them while they prayed.)  Anyway, they were praying but I was really tired and all I wanted them to do was to go to sleep.  But Nick started thanking God for everything in the room.  Which was odd, so I opened my eyes and found him peeking over the top of his folded hands and looking around to find things to thank God for.

My reaction was, “You’ve got to be kidding me! This could go on all night!”  But as soon those thoughts formed in my mind, I heard God say “He has it right.  You should thank me for everything you see.”

Needless to say, I sat and listened in silence as Nick thanked God for the bookcase, the lamp, the nightstand, etc.

We have so much to be thankful for, all we need to do is open our eyes and look.

Ephesians 5:18–21 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

I love you Zebras, monitor your speech today and resolve to praise and thank, more than worry and complain.

Love,

Jill

P.S. I didn’t know there were books written about praying with your eyes open until I tried to find an image for today’s post.  But since no man or woman should get credit for what God has said, I decided to post with only words today.  

Good morning Zebras,

Last week when I was walking I saw a huge turkey vulture walking up the road.  Our family has a history with vultures, especially at Christmas time, so I always pay attention when I see one.

This one just seemed so odd that I snapped a picture of it. (See below) But when I checked the image on my phone I couldn’t see the vulture.  At first, I wondered if it might’ve been my imagination, but when I blew the picture up and pinpointed exactly where the vulture had been, I could see him in the shadows.

And that my friends is the enemy.

He does not come at us straight on because he knows that God’s people would turn away.  We are, after all not interested in doing evil things.  Instead he moves in the shadows of our lives enticing us to step a little to the left, or maybe a little to the right, just enough to get us out of God’s perfect will.

The wisdom of Solomon:

Proverbs 4:20–27 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.  Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.  Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.  Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.  Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Guard your heart and life Zebras because Satan will use anything to get you off track. Even according to Paul, false servants within the church.

2 Corinthians 11:13–15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Happy Thanksgiving.

Gary grew up in the church, I didn’t, so when we started going to church together I was shocked to find God wanted more than $20 a week but Gary knew the “tithing rule,” so we gave our 10%. (We actually gave more than that because Gary never let me deduct contributions made to other ministries from the required 10%.)

So, years later, when Gary got a pay cut and I asked God if we could reduce our tithe I was surprised when He said, “No, I want you to increase it.”

The thing with God is He doesn’t want you to focus on the rules, He wants You to focus on Him.  And tithing is just the training wheels to teach you all your money really belongs to God.

In the same way, getting up early and starting your day with God is the training wheels to teach you that all your time belongs to God as well.  Don’t let the enemy fool you into believing you’re “living all out for God” if you are still “clutching onto the pillow.”

Or even worse, convince you that getting up early and giving your day to God is just a "man-made rule" that doesn’t matter. 

Resolve today, to show God how grateful you are for the life He has given you by giving it all back to Him.

Love,

Jill

P.S. “Don’t touch anything twice when you are cleaning.”  And, “The first thing God asked me to give up was sleep.” are, according to my daughter, some of my best Mom advice.  

Good morning Zebras,

Twenty-six years ago, when Gary and I got married he asked me to stay home with the kids.  I had just gotten my teaching credential, something I had wanted since I was eight, so at first, I said “No.”  But after two years teaching I could see it would be better for the kids if I did.  So, when Katherine came along, I quit.

Twelve years later, when I had finally gotten into the swing of being a “housewife,” (it was a hard and painful transition.)  God said go back to work.  Originally, I said, “No, who will take care of the kids?”  And He said, “I will, you follow me.”  So, with fear and trepidation, I went back to work.

Three years later God told me to leave teaching and go do ministry.  I said “Yes.”  But Gary said “No.”  It was one of the longest years of my life teaching that fourth year, waiting for God to confirm to Gary what He had already told me.  But I waited because going against Gary was not an option.

Sacrifice means you do the hard stuff for God in a way that honors Him.

People often tell me they hate their jobs and they want to quit to serve God, expecting me to agree, but unless God tells you to quit your job, you need to stay.  Staying at a bad job is one-way God teaches us to die to self.

Only a child thinks sacrifices are made up from the things you don’t like to do.

When Nick was little, one of the questions on his Bible lesson was “What are you willing to sacrifice to God?”  Nick wrote “Vegetables.”  I said, “No.”

Sacrifice means you honor God by giving up the things getting in the way of your relationship with Him, not the things you wanted to quit doing anyway.

I love you Zebras, but we live in a culture that teaches us to “Treat ourselves well, after all we deserve it.”  But that’s not a teaching I can find in the Bible.  And God’s people are miserable because they are being taken in.  They are listening to what they think they want to hear and throwing out the truth.

The truth is, dying to self and living for Christ is the best thing you can EVER do for yourself-I promise.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

We are having some work done on the house. It started on September 22 and it should have been finished by November 7.  And it would have been if the guys had shown up to work.  But they overbooked themselves so instead of giving all their attention to one house, they had to divide their time between numerous projects, none of which are getting done.

Either you love God, or you don’t.  Either you want to do the things He asks you or you don’t.  And if you do you need to quit making excuses and organize your life, so He isn’t just one of many “irons in the fire,” but the main iron.

Putting God first isn’t hard once you resolve to do it, but until then you will always be battling the enemy who wants you to fail.

I love you Zebras, enough to keep saying the same things over and over again.   Love God with your whole heart mind and soul and everything else will flow from that. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I found this verse the other day and I have been waiting until Sunday to post it.

2 Corinthians 7:15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

It appears that Paul had sent Titus to the church at Corinth and that the visit had refreshed Titus’s spirit.  But what caught my eye was the phrase “fear and trembling” which is usually reserved for how we should respond to God.  So, I did a little digging.

“Paul uses the words “fear and trembling” in 1 Cor 2:3, Eph 6:5 and Phil 2:12.  Pointing to passages such as Exodus 15:16 and Psalm 2:11 where human beings respond with fear and trembling in the awareness of God’s presence some interpreters think Paul means here “with fear and trembling” in the sight of God.  More likely Titus was the object of their fear and trembling.  An alternate translation would be: “Therefore, when he thinks of the way all of you obeyed him and how you received him with great respect, his love for you increases.”

I left a church I loved because of this verse:

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

I knew that I was no longer bringing joy to the leaders of my church because we were butting heads on too many issues.  And I was the one who needed to go.

Think of this at church today: Are you bringing joy to the leadership of our church, do you respect them and obey with “fear and trembling”? 

If not, you need to pray about it and ask God what needs to change, remembering you are not responsible for changing others, only yourself.

I love you Zebras, and the church will never be all it could be until the people inside it learn to work together. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Yesterday’s Oswald was wonderful.  The verse was Genesis 22:16–17 but he only quoted part of it.  “…because you have done this…I will surely bless you…”  Which, of course, made me go look up what Abraham had done to get blessed.  (It was the sacrifice of Isaac.)

Oswald continues: “There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to Hs own nature in me.  Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; and when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust.  This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God lives in me.”

God expects obedience from His people but that only happens if you hear what He is saying and you can’t hear Him if your ears are stuffed up with your own plans.

Fifteen years ago, on July 27 in a cabin in Arnold, California, God smacked me over the head with one line from Oswald: “The golden rule to follow to obtain spiritual understanding is not one of intellectual pursuit, but one of obedience.”

Yesterday, as I was goofing around in the backyard I discovered why the God plants are growing differently.  The smallest plant has very little soil.  He has soil on the top, but underneath is all rock.  It is the rock that is preventing him from growing.  And I thought, “God what is the rock that’s keeping your people from growing?’  The answer was: “Disobedience.”

The reason most Christians aren’t growing is because when God asks them to do something hard, something they don’t really want to do, something that will prepare them to better serve the kingdom, they choose to disobey.  

It might seem odd or even extreme to put my furniture in the garage, but it’s nothing compared to what God asked Abraham to do.  And it’s nothing compared to what He has asked me to do in the past.  God expects His children to listen to His voice and obey and to rid their lives of the things that are displeasing to Him.  We are the ones who keep letting ourselves off the hook.

Jesus said, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.”  And we are supposed to do the same. 

I love you Zebras and I’m forever grateful God stepped in and showed me that all I needed to do to know Him better was to obey.  Because nothing I’ve given up compares to what I have gained.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

Once, years ago, when I went to a Women of Faith conference, I saw a group of German Mennonites who were dressed differently and I remembering thinking, “I’d like that,” because their clothes made a statement to the world. 

In hindsight, I can see, the statement was more about their denomination than it was about God.  But I still find the idea attractive.

The upside of wearing a religious outfit is God’s people would be on their best behavior around you.  Just like the way we all slow down when we see a cop car.  People who know the Bible tend to tread carefully in the presence of a “man of God.”  There would be less temptation to fall into sin, because God’s people wouldn’t sin in your presence.

The downside is the rest of the world would avoid you or dislike you before you even got to open your mouth.  And that defeats the purpose of being a Christian.

God didn’t save us, so we can sit around together comfortable in our godliness, silently judging and/or ignoring those who are lost.

Luke 18:9–14: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

He saved us, so we can work alongside Him to save others. (I purposely phrased it that way because we always need to remember salvation comes from Christ alone.  It’s the work of the Holy Spirit.  We do not save, we only point people to Him.)

Under the title: Paul’s Manner of Serving Men

1 Corinthians 9:19–23: “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

We will not win the lost if we think we are better than them.  Or by refusing to associate with “sinful men.”  And that isn’t even the message of the Bible.  The message of the Bible is God loves us and in return we are to love Him with our whole heart, mind and soul, and to love others.  And I can’t find anywhere in there, that limits who the “others” are.

I love you Zebras, have a great day basking in the unconditional love of God and passing it on to others. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I have Gary’s permission to write this.

Gary likes to watch TV. He finds it relaxing after a hard day at work.  And I like Gary, so I sit and watch TV with him.  Gary also likes to eat dinner in front of the TV, something we rarely did when the kids were home.  But again, Gary finds it relaxing and I love Gary, so I started eating my dinner in front of the TV too.

But from the start I knew it was something I shouldn’t be doing because what is a relaxing activity to Gary, is something that quenches the Spirit in me.

For years, before I was saved I would sit in front of the TV and eat to calm my nerves.  It started when I was young, but it got worse as I got older.  Binge eating and TV watching got me through many a crisis.  

But they are both part of my “Old Man,” something that God set me free from and something that needs to be kept off because they pale in comparison to knowing God. 

Philippians 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord

Gary is a great guy and he gets “talked at” all day so when he gets homes he just wants to be “lazy.” But his desire to be lazy, to turn off his brain and stay up too late watching TV, was impacting both of our lives.

His because he would be too tired to get up in the morning and do his quiet time before work, and mine because I was giving in to old sinful habits to keep him company. 

One reason we all need to take the sins in our life seriously is because they affect everyone around us.  Just like leaving poo in the yard puts everyone who visits at risk of getting it on their shoe.

Luke 17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!”

Gary and I are a team which means we need to tighten up our game and start working together more effectively if we want to run together for God. 

Love,

Jill

P.S. Since we are both committed to changing these behaviors we have moved the family room furniture into the garage.  Matthew 5:30 “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.”  Not because I think our TV watching was sending us to hell, but because our house needs to be a safe place, a place to grow in the knowledge of God, which means, for right now, the comfy furniture needs to go.  Love, Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I love you.

Yesterday’s Oswald was wonderful, and the theme of my morning was “stay focused while you are waiting on God.” 

Luke 12:41–48 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.  And that servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating.  But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

We, who have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, have been given much and we are the servants who know the Master’s business which is to reconcile a sinful world to Himself.  

John 3:16–17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Our business is to be His ambassadors to the world.

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Each one of has a different job to do for the kingdom, we aren’t all teachers or pastors, but we all represent Jesus Christ to a dying world. None of us can afford to get lazy because the master has been away so long and forget the prime directive. But lazy is so easy.

I was thinking about this yesterday as I was sweeping for dog poo in the backyard. A lazy person wouldn’t do a very good job.  They would need someone else to come behind them to make sure they hadn’t left any poo.  And it tends to be a difficult job for someone who is young.

That is why we need honest, mature people in our lives, people who are willing to make us mad by pointing out the poo in our life.  Poo that is there because we are lazy.  Anyone can whisper sweet nothings in your ear, only a friend will point out the poo. And a real friend, will walk alongside you while you clean it up. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

After yesterday’s post I couldn’t get the Israelites and their jewelry out of my head.

I kept asking God which was true, the older commentaries or the notes at the bottom of my Bible.

Were the Israelites told not to wear jewelry for the entire duration of the journey?  Or were they allowed to put it back on and then took it off to donate to the Tabernacle?

Off, on, off or just off?  And does it really even matter?

Finally, in desperation, I asked God, “Is there anything in the New Testament comparable to the Israelites and their jewelry? Something You have told us to take off and not put back on?”  And the answer was, “The old man.”

Ephesians 4:20–24: “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Colossians 3:8–10: “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

According to Paul, each one of us are told to put off the “Old Man” (or old self as it is referred to in these passages) and leave him, and all his nonsense off for the duration of our journey here on Earth, wearing instead the new creature that we are in Christ Jesus.

I love you Zebras, and I love how God will always answer when we are only seeking to hear truth.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

After yesterday’s post I went upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.  I often ask God what it is should wear, but yesterday I didn’t have the required outfit of sackcloth and ashes. 

Repentance should be part of the Christian life, but it shouldn’t be a momentary experience because it is meant to break our heart and change our behavior.

After the incident with the Golden Calf in Exodus 32 God told Moses to tell the people He was no longer going to accompany them.  He was going to send them ahead and give them all the material blessings He had promised but He was no longer going to accompany them on their journey.  This is their response:

Exodus 33:4–6 (ESV) When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.  For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

The NIV translates the word “ornament” as “jewelry” and does not include the word “onward.” The note at the bottom of my old Life Application Bible said: The ban on ornaments was not a permanent ban on all jewelry.  It was a temporary sign of repentance and mourning.  That was wrong! 

In Exodus 35:22 we read the people had jewelry. 

Exodus 35:22 (ESV) So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.

But nowhere does it say they were ever allowed to put it back on.  They brought the jewelry, they were not allowed to wear, as a sacrifice to God to help build the tabernacle.

We live in a culture of fast food, fast Internet, fast cars, and unfortunately fast repentance.  It happens for a moment but in the morning, it is forgotten, and we return to our old ways.  Forgetting that it is the "sacrifices" we make for God, the changes in our behavior that continue day after day, that turn our lives into a living tabernacle to God.

I love you Zebras, conviction is not a comfortable feeling, but it will produce a harvest of righteousness for those who are trained by it.

Love,

Jill 

Good morning Zebras,

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied

In this country we “hunger” for a lot of things, unfortunately God, as revealed in the Bible, the God that should be worshiped with fear and trembling, doesn’t seem to be one of them.

We are so busy trying to make our lives comfortable, that we have forgotten God is the one who makes our lives uncomfortable, so we can turn to Him. 

Luke 18:6–8 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

I guess that is the question.

The people in Amos’s time longed for God to return completely oblivious that they were going to be judged for turning away from God. 

An excerpt from the Introduction to Amos: Gods’ people should reflect His character.  After all, He made a covenant with them.  But Israel’s women have urged their husbands to do whatever it takes to provide them with luxuries.  The husbands comply, adding idleness and drunkenness to their wives’ greed.  They offer vain worship and cannot recognize God’s disciplinary acts.  Oddly enough, they long for the day of the Lord, as if they will be rewarded when God judges.  God demands repentance, a change in behavior that will see "justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."

Thor fought to save Asgrad, and he was distraught when he realized he couldn’t. But his father came to him and said “Asgard is not a planet it is a people.” God’s church is not a building, denomination, or country, it is the people, people the whole world over, who are called by His name and are longing for His return.

And those of us who think that way need to stand strong and encourage one another so when Christ returns He will find faith on Earth.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

One thing I noticed in the Thor movie was the abs and biceps on Chris Hemsworth, not because I was admiring his physique but because I know how hard he had to work to get those muscles.

Exercise takes self-discipline and work, but so does growing in the knowledge of God and, at least for me, they are linked.  Ten years ago, this was the verse that drove me to the gym to get ready for “my” first retreat.

Hebrews 12:12–13: Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

The lame in the verse does not refer to the physically impaired.  It’s a reference to the spiritually weak and it is more about strengthening ourselves so we can help strengthen others, than it is about exercise.  But I didn’t know until today, (I have no idea how I missed this,) it is a prophecy verse quoted from Isaiah.

Isaiah 35:3–4: Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

These movie actors sign contracts with the studios giving them complete control over their lives, so they can transform them into a “superheroes.”  And we signed the same contract with Jesus when we accepted His “free” gift of salvation.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.

God’s people are lazy because the world allows us to be, but that time is coming to an end. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit that lives inside all believers.  It isn’t a matter of “will power” as much as “will yielding.”  Yielding your will to God and doing what he asks rather than what you want.

I love you Zebras.  Strengthen your feeble arms and legs, physically and spiritually, and say to your fearful heart, “Be strong, God is coming.”  God’s people need to get armored up and ready for battle.

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

After yesterday’s post you probably have a pretty good idea how odd I have become.

I told my daughter it would be easier for me to live in the wilderness dressed in camel hair and eating honey than it is wandering around looking like everyone else.  It must be how people with a hidden infirmity feel.  Everyone expects them to behave “normally” but they can’t.

Matthew 3:1–10 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” … John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.  People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.  And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

This would not have been my first choice for a ministry.  But as Oswald said today:” As long as you maintain your own personal interests and ambitions, you cannot be completely aligned or identified with God’s interests.  This can only be accomplished by giving up all of your personal plans once and for all, and allowing God to take you directly into His purpose for the world.”

I love you Zebras, with a love given to me by God and it is why I do what I do, so that God’s people who are passionate for His name can be encouraged and so that those who are off-track can repent and change. 

Love,

Jill

Good morning Zebras,

I hesitated to put up yesterday’s post because I was afraid some people might be offended to think God would speak through a Marvel movie.  But fear of man is never from God, so I knew it had to go up.  The truth is, God speaks to me through lots of things because He has trained me to be constantly listening for His voice.

For twenty years I’ve used the same Bible, a NIV Life Application Bible I bought at Costco, when I started going back to church and it is thrashed.  It was a good Bible, it has helped me learn a lot and I thought about having it rebound, but God told me it’s time to move on, to let go of the past and strive for what’s ahead.

Recently I shared God was having me get the house ready to be used for ministry.

One of the things He had me purchase are the glasses and mugs pictured below.   Not because I had “sinful” glasses and mugs before, but so that when people comment on how cute they are I can recite my version of Psalm 1 1-3 which goes like this: “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on this law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”

(He also directed me to put my nativity up-it is literally the first thing you see when you walk in the house-because celebrating the birth of Jesus isn’t limited to December 25.)

So, I wasn’t surprised God directed me to a Bible with a tree on the front.

When I was a baby Christian I read the Bible with my eyes on me, which is why a life application Bible was perfect, but now it’s time to read God’s Word with my eyes completely focused on God.

1 Corinthians 13:11: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.”

Children look at the world as if it’s all about them, but disciples of Jesus Christ know it is all about Him.

I love you Zebras, I love God, I love His Word and I love the way His Spirit is ever-present always speaking if we would only tune our ears to His frequency.

Love,

Jill