Good Story

Matthew 14:26–29 (NIV84)

When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”  “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

 

Good morning Zebras,

Once upon a time there was a Christian lady who was tired of having a useless faith and she prayed earnestly to God to allow her to get out of the “boat” and walk out on the water with Jesus.

And He did.

He started off small. Opening doors for her to go and speak at different events, first it was an event in Santa Rosa, the next year He added Sacramento and then He told her to go over the mountain to Nevada and speak there.  Even though she cried all the way over the mountain, she had never left California to speak before, she went because she knew God was telling her to go and because He had opened the door

Time passed and God kept teaching the woman new things.

First, He taught her He was a good God.  That His goodness was not measured by her life experiences but by what He had written in His Word.  He taught her that He really loved her, and that He was Holy and Perfect and in-charge.  He helped her to learn that sometimes when you work to please God, it makes men unhappy.

And she went around telling people what she had learned.

Then He taught her more, for although she had spent a lot of time learning about God the Father, she had forgotten about the Son.  So she spent year learning about Jesus.  She learned that Jesus was not only God’s Son, he was also God and that following Him meant more than just a life of free grace, it meant living a life of obedience to God as modeled by Christ.

And once again He opened doors for her to go and tell people what she had learned.

 

But God is a triune God and although she had learned about the Father and the Son, God showed her she was ignoring His Spirit.  It is God’s Spirit which allows His people to do all that God has called them to do.  And it was the final piece to the puzzle.

So now when she went places, she didn’t just talk about one aspect of God, she talked about four, God’s Word which reveals God, who sent His Son, who gave His life so that we could not only eternal life, but also the Spirit. 

And God blessed her efforts.

So she started praying God would open a door in her hometown where she could give this wonderful message of hope to the people she loved and knew. But because she thought it would be scary, she prayed God would do it in a miraculous way so she would know without a shadow of a doubt that it was Him opening the door.

And He did.

This Saturday, with only four days’ notice God has opened the doors at the Benicia Clock Tower for His message of hope.  And although the story is way too long to tell here, the following excerpt from an e-mail I received should give you an idea of what God did to make this happen.

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Feb 26 (2 days ago)

From: Benicia Grad night

To: the board

 I'm sure you've seen by now that we cancelled the poker tournament due to lack of interest.

Luckily, Jill will be using the Clock Tower for an "Evening of Hope and Encouragement" …From her description of it, it sounds like a lovely evening... I know, from poker and drinking to something much more spiritual and soul-satisfying!  Ha!

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And I thought “Only God…”

So the only thing left is to get the word out.  Everyone is invited, men, women and youth, saved and unsaved because it is God’s event and only He knows who is supposed to be there.

Love

Jill

An Evening of Hope

This Saturday, March 2
6:30-9 pm
Benicia Clock Tower
Free admission

Not Just For One

John 11:51–52 (NIV84)

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

Good morning Zebras,

Have you ever heard anyone say some variation of this thought: “If I was the only one who was going to accept Christ, Jesus would have come and died just for me.”   

I have and I’ve wondered if it were actually true. I find that people usually say it when they are trying to convince themselves that they have value.  But why do we have to have God die just for us to make us feel important?

Then last year Katherine, my daughter, started talking about it.  She asked me if I had ever heard anyone say “God would have died just for me.”  When I replied I had, she shared that her New Testament Survey professor at Moody said it wasn’t true.

At the time I was so excited to hear it, that I didn’t ask her what verse they used as reference.  And when I asked her a few weeks ago she couldn’t remember.  So I started praying that God would show me where it was.

This morning I think I found it-actually I think I found at least two.

John 6:37–39 (NIV84)

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

John 17:2 (NIV84)
For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.

Jesus says He came to get all the people God had given Him.  The word “all” is plural which means Jesus never came for just one person He came for everyone that the Father had set aside for Him to get.  That means there is no way to know if Jesus would have come for just one person because that was never the task.  Saying it might make us feel more important, but it doesn’t mean it is true.

Jesus did come for you, and He came for me, but He came for millions of others too and it is our job and privilege to tell them so.

Love,

Jill

Carrying It Around

Romans 8:12–14 (NLT)  

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Good morning Zebras,

My mother-in-law never leaves her house without a large bag of stuff that she might need; water bottle, snacks, heating pads, etc.  Anything she thinks she might need while she is out, she takes with her.  That’s her prerogative, of course, but personally I think it is silly.  We usually aren’t going far and she rarely uses the things she brings along.

But Saturday God showed me that it is the perfect illustration of how I often live and it is no sillier than me wandering around with all the fruit of the spirit stashed inside of me and never pulling them out and using them.

God has given us the Spirit of Christ.  We have at our disposal love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, not to mention humility.  But we usually leave them “in the bag.”  We pull out a little now and then, but most of the time we are just carrying them around doing it on our own.  And to add insult to injury we often start asking God for more before we even try to use what we have been given.

For me, at that point, there was nothing left to do but pray: O Lord forgive me!

Dear Lord, forgive us, for not using what You have given us, for not really understanding that we are new creatures; that the old has passed away and that You have given us the ability to live a new life.  Lord forgive us for constantly trying to do it on our own and then getting discouraged when we fail, or even worse taking the credit when we succeed.  Dear Lord, I pray this day You increase our understanding of the Spirit that lives inside us, help us to understand that on our own we do nothing of value and remind us that it is not about us and what we do, but about You and what You do in us and through us.  Amen

Love,
Jill

Walking Ahead

James 4:13–15 (NIV84)

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Good morning Zebras,

It is my habit to get up in the morning and do my quiet time after which I make a list of the things that I feel God wants me to get accomplished that day.   The list is filled with the tasks I need to get accomplished that day and although most of them change from day to day there are a few that I write down every day one of which is “walk the dogs.”

Recently I have gotten in the habit of starting the list the night before, heck I knew I needed to walk the dogs so what is the harm in writing it down beforehand?  I didn’t need to ask God about something as simple as that.

Then yesterday I woke up to an injured Josh and I wasn’t able to do the one thing that was already on my list to do.  So this morning, as I was looking at yesterday’s unfinished task, I felt God prompt me with today’s verse.

Obviously there is no harm in planning ahead, but none of us knows what tomorrow will bring and it is easy, when everything is going smoothly, to start running on ahead of God doing the same things over and over again without stopping to ask Him if that is what we are really supposed to do.  We make our own plans based on past experiences and accidently leave God out of the mix.

So this morning I am back to writing out my “to do list,” after I have consulted God.  

Love,
Jill

Resting is Work

John 11:5–7 (NIV84)

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Good morning Zebras,

I love my moodles.  This morning they taught me another lesson from God.

Resting has never been easy for me.  I am a “get-‘er-done” kind of a person, so it’s not surprising God would use waiting as a training tool.  Every day I wonder if I’m doing the right thing.  Should I really just be sitting around doing nothing?

The answer is yes, and here’s the reason why.

At the Zebra retreat in September, the unofficial anthem became Chris Tomlin’s song “I Will Follow.”  Which starts out like this, “Where you go, I'll go, Where you stay, I'll stay, When you move, I'll move. I will follow...”

Notice it says where You go, I’ll go, Where You stay I stay.  Following Christ does not mean an endless stream of busy activities.  Sometimes it means sitting and waiting until God tells you to move.  Just like Jesus waited two days to go to Lazarus.

And that is what the moodles taught me today.

Moodles, (my mutt-poodles) are good resters.  They are content to follow me around all day, stopping when I stop and going when I go. They never get anxious, they never look worried.  They are happy just to be in my presence and follow me around. 

And I think that is what we are supposed to look like.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why I’m not doing as much as I used to do. I mean there isn’t any “real” reason. It isn’t that I don’t have enough time or that I dislike doing ministry, in fact the opposite is true, I love doing ministry.  So maybe what I am learning is that I need to love God even more.

I love you little Zebras.  Remember the resting is as important as the doing.  And there is nothing wrong with being a “Moodle for God.”

 

Love,

Jill

Strict Training

1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV84)

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Good morning Zebras,

Continuing on with the theme of obedience, here are some thoughts from the book, Manners and Customs of the Bible

”Every competitor in these games was obliged to undergo a severe and protracted training, sometimes lasting nearly a year. During this time he carefully avoided excesses of every kind. A passage from Epictetus, the Greek Stoic Philosopher, illustrates this text so well that it is cited by most commentators: “Would you be a victor in the Olympic games? So in good truth would I, for it is a glorious thing; but pray consider what must go before, and what may follow, and so proceed to the attempt. You must then live by rule, eat what will be disagreeable, refrain from delicacies; you must oblige yourself to constant exercises at the appointed hour, in heat and cold; you must abstain from wine and cold liquors; in a word, you must be as submissive to all direction of your master as to those of a physician.” Thus Paul says in out text-verse, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.”

Paul goes on to write: “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Since Paul knew he wouldn’t be disqualified for heaven have you ever wondered what the prize was?  Could it be the joy that comes from knowing and obeying Christ, the promise of hearing “Well done good and faithful servant.” at the end of his life, or the privilege of being used by God in the here and now?

Whatever it was it was enough for Paul to count everything else a loss.

Love,
Jill

Three Men

Luke 23:39–43 (NIV84)

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Good morning Zebras,

Three men hung together on those crosses.

The criminal who mocked Jesus, Jesus himself and the criminal who realized who Jesus was and asked to be remembered when he came into His kingdom.

One died and went to eternal damnation, one died and rose again enabling us all to go to heaven and one died and went to heaven.

Two lived their lives however they wanted and one lived their life in obedience to his father.

One illustrates the lost, one illustrates free grace, and one illustrates what it really means to be a Christian. 

Which one are you following?

Forgive me Dear Father for too often following the cross of free grace, for choosing to ignore what You have asked me to do and counting on the fact that You love me and are going to “let me in anyway.”  Forgive me that my life does not always represent the obedience a child of Yours should have. Thank You for indwelling me with Your Spirit which enables me to say no to those things I know I should not do and yes to those things I know I should.  Forgive me for quenching it. 

Love,

Jill

Knowing God

Good morning Zebras,

Today’s post is from the opening chapter of Tozer’s classic The Pursuit of God. 

“Every age has its own characteristics. Right now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.”

Oh Dear Heavenly Father, forgive us that we are so busy that we never have time to sit at Your feet, to sit and learn and soak up the essence of our God.  Forgive us that working for You has become more important than knowing who You are.  Lord, please, place within the hearts of Your people the desire and longing to know You more and then satisfy that desire by showing us more of Yourself.  Amen

Love,
Jill

 

Build Altars

Genesis 12:7–13:3 (NIV84)

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.  From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.  Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.  Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe…  So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had… From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.

Good morning Zebras,

When Abram left Egypt, he returned to the altars he had built earlier, maybe to encourage himself that all of this was real; maybe because it was the last time he had clearly heard God; or maybe to repent for lying about Sari.

The Bible doesn’t say, it just says Abram returned to where he had first built an altar.

This morning, I was reminded again that journaling is my way of building little altars to God. They are the places I go back to, when I begin to doubt I have heard God correctly, or when I need some encouragement to keep going.

God’s journey can be long and it is easy to fall victim to Satan’s oldest trick…”Did God really say that?’ (Gen 3:1)   When you have it written down it’s much easier to respond with “Yes, He did!”

Be strong little Zebras, trust God, build altars, and walk in faith.

Love,

Jill