Wait on God

Isaiah 64:4

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.


Good morning ladies,

Yesterday at church we sang Chris Tomplin's song "Everlasting God." Most of you probably know it, but just in case the title is not familiar the words, Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord" reference one of my favorite passages in Isaiah:

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

But do we really wait upon the Lord? Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking about that.

The other morning I was eating breakfast. Joshua and Abigail, my beggar dogs, had joined me. They were sitting, one on each side, waiting for their share of my Raisin Bran.

Since I do this every morning they had every reason to expect that I would give them a flake or two. But after a very short time of waiting Abigail got impatient and started sniffing the floor.

She had decided I was too slow in producing the desired flake so she went to look elsewhere.

I immediately recognized myself.

I ask God for something, and I wait for a while, but if He doesn't produce it within a reasonable amount of time I go get it for myself.

Of course I still give God the credit, but deep down I know I manipulated the situation.

That's how I got huskies and a bunch of other things that have caused me grief. None of which would have happened if I had just waited on God

In this society of fast food, fast cars, and fast Internet we really don't like to wait, but we will never know what God had planned to give us unless we do.

Love,
Jill

Looking Odd

Deuteronomy 12:4

You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.

Good morning Zebras,

I prayed that you would wake up this morning thinking about how much God loves you and I hope you did. But if you didn’t, it isn’t too late. God does love you, He made you, He saved you and He called you to be His own. How much more proof do we need?

In Bible study we are finishing our study on Joshua where we have had the opportunity not only to look at the faithfulness of God as He fulfilled EVERY promise He made to the Israelite, but also at the commands He gave them on how to live in the Promised Land.

And although I have read Deuteronomy numerous times I never noticed today’s verse before. Look at what Moses is telling them: do not worship YOUR God THEIR way.

Isn’t that what we have done?

I don’t know how many of you remember the excitement that came when you were first saved. Personally I couldn’t stop talking about it. I was bold beyond bold. But slowly that changed. Why?

I think part of the reason was I got subtle and not so subtle hints that I had gone way overboard. I mean worshiping God is fine, but don’t get carried away with it.

But is that what the Bible teaches?

No.

The Bible teaches us to boast upon the Lord, to dance, to sing praises to God, to be joyful always, and to rejoice,

But in our world that looks odd. But why do we care?

David didn’t. Remember that great scene out of 2Samuel 6 where David, the king of Israel, danced before the Lord. Remember what he said when his wife rebuked him?

If not I suggest you look it up and read it for yourself. And when you do, remember David is the only person in the entire Bible referred to “as a man after God’s own heart.”

So dance little Zebras, dance.

Love,
Jill

Changes

Act 26:19

"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.”

Good morning ladies,

Those of you who only read this on the internet are probably not aware that about two weeks ago my computer crashed. According to the young man who tried to fix it my hard drive “fractured.”

Because of that I lost all my files including everyone’s e-mail address so I have not been able to send out my morning z-mail to my friends and the ladies from my church.

I post on the blog by using my daughter’s computer while she is at school. And although not everyone is happy with the change, I think this is the way God wants it.

Only one time in my life have I felt the need to fall flat on my face during prayer and that was when God called me into women’s ministry. My original prayer was for the women at my church, but God said that vision was too small. Then I prayed for the woman at a neighboring church and again He said it was too small. It wasn’t until I prayed for all of God’s women that I felt Him say “Now you’ve got it.”

I know what it is like to be an odd ball for Christ, to be consumed with the desire to know Him. To watch things that used to matter fade away in light of knowing Him and wonder if you are losing your mind. And I know it can be lonely.

That’s why God had me start Zebras. He wanted all of you who have the same desire to know Him to know that you are not alone and you are not crazy. God wants us to know Him, love Him and serve Him and He wants that to be the driving force of our life.

He wants us to get past ourselves and start looking at Him and He wants us to learn to get along. He wants us to support each other, encourage each other and He wants us to grow in our faith.

To quote Tozer: “Are you contented with the nominal Christianity? If you are, I’ve nothing for you. Are you contented with popular Christianity that runs on the authority and popularity of big shots? If you are, I’ve got nothing for you. Are you content with elementary Christianity? If you are, all I’ve got for you is to exhort you earnestly to press on toward perfection. But if you’re not satisfied with nominal Christianity, with popular Christianity and the first beginnings of things and you want to know the Triune God for yourself, read on.”

Love,
Jill

Man vs Ant

Isaiah 55:8-9:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Good morning ladies,

If you haven’t been following along I have been on a personal pursuit to understand what it means to fear the Lord.

One of the aspects of fearing God is getting the right perspective on who He is.

We often use comparisons and word pictures to help us understand God and our relationship to Him. One common comparison is that the difference between us and God is like the difference between an ant and a man.

I’ve learned the difference between man and God is even greater.

The difference between an ant and man is finite, it can be measured, but the difference between us and God is infinite, because God is infinite, and therefore beyond measure.

But what does it mean to be infinite?

Infinite is defined as: having no boundaries or limits; immeasurably great or large; boundless and endless; inexhaustible and subject to no outside limitation.

Therefore when it is applied to God it means there is no limit to His power, knowledge or love. It means there is nothing that is too hard for Him to do, no one who is beyond His reach. It means that no matter how great we think God is He is actually greater. It means no matter how much we think He loves us He loves us more. And it means that we cannot understand with our limited minds the majesty and splendor that is God.

Thinking this way may, as Tozer said, give you a “charley horse in your head” but I think you will find it is well worth it.

Love,
Jill

Honoring God

Matthew 15:7-9

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you.” “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain their teachings are but rules taught by men."

Good morning ladies,

Sunday Gary and I had to run some errands so we left Katherine and Nick home by themselves.
As we were walking out the door Nick asked what he should do while we were gone.

I told him to bring us honor.

“Exactly what does that mean?” he asked.

“Do what you are supposed to do and don’t do what you aren’t.”

“Oh… "

Finally Gary jumped in. “Do your homework and don’t play video games all afternoon."

Then he got it.

But did he really? Did he understand that every decision he made while we were gone should be evaluated in the light of: “Will this bring honor to my parents?”

Some people want to reduced the Christian faith to a “to do” list. If you do these things and don’t do these things you are a “good Christian.” But it is so much more than that.

God has commanded that we honor him with our body.

And when you really think about “bringing honor” to someone, it is not limited to a few specific actions. It is a mindset that involves everything you do.

God does not want our lips or our actions if our hearts are not attached.

Part of learning to fear the Lord is realizing that God is deserving of honor and glory and ordering your life accordingly.

Love,
Jill

Perfect Love

1 John 4:18

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Good morning ladies,

Some mornings I have to pray for hours to figure out what to write to you because I feel like I have nothing to say, this morning I had to pray because I have so much to say I didn’t know where to start.

Learning what it means to fear God has been an incredible experience. I feel like God has taken a growth spurt.

Of all the verses in the Bible about fearing God this is the one that is often quoted to prove that God does not want us to fear Him, He only wants us to love Him, because doesn’t it say “perfect love drives out fear?”

However, that is not consistent with the rest of scripture and since scripture does not contradict itself this verse must not mean that. So I started praying, I told God I didn’t understand and I asked Him to explain it to me.

And I think He did.

I love the hymn Amazing Grace and I am so glad Chris Tomlin incorporated into one of his songs. It gives me a chance to hear it more often.

But I have a confession to make; I never understood these two lines:

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.

What the heck does that mean? Grace taught me to fear and Grace relieved my fears? It never made sense, until Friday.

I was driving to Sacramento for an Awana event, listening to my music and Chris Tomlin’s song came on. When he sang the second verse I felt a light turn on.

God’s grace He taught me to fear Him. And because I fear Him I have nothing else to fear.

That’s why John can write “perfect love drives out fear.”

It is not the fear of God it drives out it is the fear of everything else.

Love,
Jill

Good Grades

1Thessalonians 5:16-18

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Good morning ladies,

This is an often quoted verse, but I think that it is better understood if it is rearranged: Knowing that everything that happens to you is God’s will allows you to be joyful always, pray continually and give thanks in all circumstances.

Last night our family had a small chance to test whether or not we believe this.

Katherine, my daughter, was really sick the last week of April and the first week of May. She missed seven days of school.

Wednesday when she checked Power School she realized that she had not turned in all of her missing work in one of her classes. Yesterday she tried to turn it in and the teacher refused to take it.

When she got home from school she was really upset. Because of the missing work her grade dropped from a “B:” to a “D-“ and with only two weeks of school left she doesn’t have much of a chance to bring it up.

That is not good news, especially to a child trying to get an academic scholarship, and I was upset too, but God allowed it so there is a reason, and lessons to be learned.

First dealing with a person who has no grace is unpleasant. The teacher had a rule and they were being absolutely fair about not letting Katherine turn in her work. It is funny how “unfair” “fair” feels.

God has rules too and when He returns the next time He is going to be enforcing them. People who think He won’t are foolish and they don’t know God. Only God’s grace is going to save us from His wrath.

Second, there is way more at stake in this situation than Katherine’s grade. Everyone at school knows she is a Christian so lying and trying to sneak by, although tempting, was out of the question, but so is whining and complaining.

If we really believe that everything that happens to us comes from God then we need to stop complaining. God has a reason for everything and even if we don’t understand it He does.

Third, God’s goals are not ours. Katherine’s goal is to get good grades; God’s goal is to save souls. Maybe God has ordained this situation to allow Katherine to finally reach her two unsaved friends, both of whom are in the class.

And finally, God allows everything that happens in our life, the good and the bad. And even at seventeen Katherine realizes that God has given her an opportunity to bring Him honor by the way she handles it.

Love,
Jill