The next morning they asked the princess how she slept. “Terrible!” she exclaimed, “I scarcely closed my eyes. The bed was so uncomfortable, I tossed and turned all night.”

And that’s how they knew she was a real princess.

In the midst of a long night, when sleep escapes me, I often recall this Hans Christian Andersen tale, placing myself in the role of the weary princess. Last weekend, I took my boys to a three-day sleepover camp offered by our church. My 6 year old was more than thrilled to sleep in the cabin with 12 other boys. My 8 year old (who has autism) opted to sleep in my minivan. I cleared the seats out of the back and he and I spent a couple of long nights on the minivan floor.

As I watched the moon traverse the sky, and shifted my weight from one bruised hip to the other, the princess and her pea came to my mind.

If there had been giant boulders in her bed, they would have been recognized immediately and certainly a discomfort to anyone who tried to sleep on them. If there were mid-sized rocks scattered around under the covers, one might notice them after a bit of observation. Some might find them uncomfortable, some might be okay to lie on them for awhile. The princess, however, found the tiny little pea, buried beneath 20 mattresses, to be as excruciating to lie upon as if it were being hard-pressed directly into her skin.

And in the dead of night, with coyotes howling nearby, I thought how well this tale illustrates an aspect of our Christian life - our purification.

It would be more accurate to say that our purification is not an aspect our Christian life - it is the purpose of our life. Many souls remain lost with fear that living God’s way means they have to “give up” the things they enjoy. The deception that the Christian life is not “fun” has a stronghold on countless people who are cruising along just fine, thankyouverymuch. In reality, God gave us His word for our safety - not for drudgery.

Our commitment to God to lay down our worldly pursuits comes out of a realization that our sinful natures are something to be abhorred - not celebrated. Then, an amazing thing happens. His Spirit moves in and He reveals to us the boulders of sin in our lives. Those major things that need immediate attention. The cool thing is, He not only highlights them, He begins to remove the desire for them. As you continue to seek Him and obey Him, they become increasingly easier to walk away from - until one day you realize He has removed the boulders completely. Losing the desire for the sinful things you pursue is something you often can’t even imagine until you experience it. The joy in that moment of realization is immeasurable.

He continues His inward purification - dealing with things in your life on increasingly more intricate levels. Your sensitivity to the sin in your life is heightened - and, dear princes and princesses - the smallest pea-sized sin, that the world would deem as minor, that the world probably wouldn’t even recognize as sin, becomes as excruciating to your soul as the pea was to the princess. Why? Because the truth is that all sin is ugly; and all sin, when not dealt with, leads to destruction. If you truly want to follow Christ, He will reveal to you how He feels about all sin. He hates it… and you will too. Confess it when you recognize it. Ask Him to change your behavior. He will give you His mind on the matter.

The blessing and joy comes through your obedience. It may not be easy at the time, but very step of faith will bring more joy than even the joy I felt when I returned to my own pillow-topped mattress after our trip.

Peace.
~ Kimberly

Tae and I love to sing. Sing out loud. When we are in the mood, mostly while driving, we like to belt it out. There are times however, that we just don’t feel like singing.

As I drove him home at the end of Friday, the last day of VBS, Tae’s eyelids were droopy and his head started bobbing. He was nearly asleep in his car seat and I didn’t want him falling asleep at that hour. I quickly pressed play on his new CD and turned the volume full-up. Before I could even adjust my rear-view mirror to peek, I heard Tae’s little voice singing along.

When the song had ended Taelyn said, “Mom, I don’t even want to sing, but I just can’t stop myself.” I smiled and thought to myself, “ Now that is the power of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit nudges you to do the things that glorify God the most. His power is most evident when you find yourself doing those things when don’t even feel like doing them.

Sadly, many Christians live their lives void of this power, and therefore, miss out on the true abundant life. Now to be clear, all true believers have the Holy Spirit, but not all believers are filled with the Holy Spirit; our sin prevents it. Yet, God commanded His children to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The use of the verb “to be filled” implies that it is not by one’s own doing, but that God does the filling.

So how do we allow God to fill us up with His Spirit? GOOD QUESTION, I’m glad you asked.

The Holy Spirit will have more power as you begin to make good choices. The spiritual disciplines are, by God’s design, a way to put yourself in a posture that allows Him to fill you. When you spend time praying and fasting, praising God and reading His word - you are spending time with God. The more time you spend with God the more likely you are to want to become like Him. When you want to become like Him, you begin to give up some of the sin-filled practices.

When you make the decision to resist sin and spend more time with God you will experience a spiritual detox. With your old nature gone, there is more room in your heart for the Holy Spirit. That’s when you will see His awesome display of power first hand.

The Holy Spirit’s purpose is always, first and foremost, to glorify and give evidence to Jesus as the Messiah. In addition, He was sent by Jesus to purify you. As the Spirit has more room in you, you might begin to find yourself leaping tall buildings with a single bound. No wait - that’s a different superhero story.

You will begin to find yourself doing things quite out of character - your character that is. Just like Taelyn, singing when he didn’t even feel like singing, you will do things that glorify God even when you don’t feel like doing them.

Rather than praising and giving thanks to God only in the good times, you will praise Him for the difficult times as well. In place of being impatient with your children, you will find yourself sitting a spell, laughing and being silly with them. Rather than criticizing your husband, you will shower him with words of encouragement. Instead of dreading the weekly call from your mother-in-law, you will find yourself calling her first, and feeling joy in your heart while chatting to her. Now that my friend, is the power of the Holy Spirit.

While you cannot fill yourself with the Holy Spirit - the amount of filling will be in direct proportion to the amount of space you are willing to give up in your own heart. So how willing are you?

Shalom Aleichem

~dl.

My concern with this philosophy is several-fold and the ramifications, HUGE!

The term “missions” is often used to justify personal connections outside of God’s boundaries; whether business, friendships, love or any other kind of association.

The motive for entering into such relationships is, more often than not, a self-centered pursuit rather than a godly one. For example;

• A romance pursued because of a physical attraction is exactly that, non-spiritual, purely physical.

• A business partnership with someone deemed to be an expert at what they do, likely has more to do with a desire to prosper in some way, rather than to have a kingdom impact.

• An opportunity presented to show-case God given gifts and talents in an environment that invites a compromise of values, likely has everything to do with exalting ones-self, instead of glorifying God.

Even if the intent for pursuing the relationship seems pure, the reason for forming such alliances may be hidden deeper within the heart. Here are some thought indicators; “If he or she just spends a bit of time with me, I know I can be a good influence in his/her life.” - or - “I know what they are doing is unethical, but I will convince them that there is a better way; If they like me and see that I’m cool, then they like Jesus too”; these thoughts should raise a red flag.

When you buy into the deception that what you say or do is going to be the thing that prompts a person to choose Jesus, you wrongfully place yourself in the position of being God to that person. You can not make other people believe in Jesus. Only God can do that.

Additionally, there is at best a 50% chance that you will have the influence. More likely than not, the missional relationship will backfire. Have you ever been around someone who swears a lot? Have you noticed how those words slowly creep into your thoughts and before long, you swear out loud?

It is dangerous to place yourself in a position where you are tempted to depart from God’s will. Countless stories exist of prominent Christian figures falling into terrible sin. I know of a young Christian fellow who determined missionary dating was a wise choice. He recently converted to Buddhism, the faith of his girlfriend. Many have abandoned their faith because of the influence of others.

We were commissioned to go out into the world to share the good news about Jesus. Early missionaries had very strict boundaries. They did not form personal alliances with non-believers. They made huge sacrifices, with little or no personal gain, all for the sake of sharing the gospel.

To form an intentional bond with an non-believer is in direct conflict with the word of God. Paul likened these kinds of relationships to a partnership between Christ and the devil. Paul said, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Instead come out and be separated.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-17.

Friend, if you want to be a missionary, it would be wise to establish boundaries!

On the other hand, the bible gives us advice for forming good connections. God’s idea; fellowship. Fellowship by definition is association with people who share the same interests. For Christians, someone who will help you fight against sin. These relationships are sacred and have God at the center. Companionship with another believer is necessary, invaluable and life giving.

Aleichem Shalom

~dl.

Although the man in this video does not reference God or his faith, he too has a solid understanding of how thankfulness impacts our ability to face the things we encounter in our lives. Watch and be blessed.

Peace.

Philippians 4:6 - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [emphasis mine ~ but feel free to emphasize thankfulness for yourself!]

~ Kimberly

I love the simplicity of children’s Bible stories.  Especially when they are really well done.  Often, while reading one to my own kids or to the Sunday School class I teach, a new truth will strike me (even when I’ve heard the story umpteen times).

Many children’s stories are written about Jonah.  Whether it is the sheer wonder of a fish swallowing a man -or- the hilarity of the man being puked up onto the shore -or- the terrific illustrations of a sad faced Jonah hiding from God… kids love the story of Jonah.

Here is my new truth today from this age-old tale…  This is not a story about a group of people (the Ninevites) changing their sinful behavior and turning to God.  It is a story about one of God’s followers (Jonah) dealing with his own disobedience and judgmental attitude.

It is not about God’s people going to the sinners and telling them about their sin.  It is about God’s people dealing with their own reactions to the sin in this world.

Jonah knew God’s rules.  He prayed to God.  He even heard God’s messages.  But there was something about the Ninevite people that caused Jonah to put his foot down and say, “No God.  What they are doing is too wicked.”  It’s caused me to stop and wonder: Who are my Ninevites?  Is there someone you classify as a Ninevite?  It could be someone close to you who has hurt you -or- a group of people who live a lifestyle you don’t agree with.  The problem?  The problem isn’t their sin.  It is your (and my) lack of love.

God’s answer isn’t to wage war against them or run from them.  It isn’t to preach a message of doom and then wait for it to come true.  Jonah said, “I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God…”  Jonah knew that God desired reconciliation from the Ninevites, not their destruction.  Jonah knew there was a chance that they would repent and be restored.  In his opinion - they didn’t deserve the chance.  That’s pretty harsh, isn’t it?

God does not want us to have Ninevites in our lives.  Not in our families, not in our towns, not in this world.  He is the one to pass judgment - not you or I.  Our job - love them.  Our job - obey Him.  Through our obedience there is the great chance that we get to be a part of someone else’s reconciliation.

God didn’t need Jonah to restore the Ninevites.  God would have used someone else if necessary.  The book of Jonah is about Jonah dealing with Jonah’s sin.  Whoever causes you or I to want to turn and run the other way is in our lives because we have something we need to deal with too.  Our pride, our disobedience, and our demand for justice done on our terms keeps us in the belly of the fish.  Not a place I want to hang out.  How ’bout you?

~ Peace.

KP

(I got this image from South African Illustrator’s website - they own the copyright)

My favorite morning cup is an Italian roast - sweet and caramelly, with just a hint of smokiness which comes from the way the bean is roasted, dark and darker still.  I take my coffee with a bit of cream and there is nothing like that very first sip of the day.  Yet, on a warm sunny day there is nothing I enjoy more than to indulge myself in an iced-latte made with espresso, 1% milk and some, but not too much, ice.  My favorite coffee house does not carry one percent milk, however, the mission of that company is to prepare my drink, “However - I - want - it,” so the barista is only too happy to mix two percent milk with skim milk to personalize my drink for me.

Burger King’s brilliant jingle, “have it your way,” set the standard to which most companies are now obliged to live up to, if they wish to retain their market-share.  I can now customize my electronics communication package.  I am able to personalize my banking products.  When it comes to products and services, I can design, bundle, modify or individualize.  I can have what I want, the way I want it, as long as I am willing to pay the price.

Speaking of services - this consumer mentality has slowly infiltrated our Church services as well.  To accommodate the variety of work schedules and lifestyles of the people who want to go to church, many churches now offer several worship times for corporate assembly, including Saturdays and Sundays and often a mid-week time as well.

The Saturday night worship-time is often a popular choice for families with young children, while the “aging” church-going population tends to prefer an earlier Sunday morning gathering.  The youth and young-adult generations typically opt for the later Sunday morning or Sunday evening service times.

It is comforting to know that we have a variety of options.  If we want to stay out late Saturday night, we can sleep in on Sunday morning and still take in a church service if we choose to do so.  If we work Sunday, we can go to church on Saturday night and not feel like we have missed our weekly time with God.

With declining membership issues and in an attempt to attract and retain new and younger members, churches have gone to extremes to be culturally relevant.  It is not uncommon to even find one church offering a variety of different styles of worship.  Some churches specialize in contemporary formats; with seeker-targeted messages and music that might make you feel as if you were at a rock concert.  Or, if you like it “old-school” - simply attend a service that sticks to older hymns and ‘suit and tied’ preachers with a more solemn message.  If neither of those works for ya, there are a growing number of churches calling themselves “Emergent” or “Social” - with comfy couches placed appropriately to promote conversation.  The couches help those who are not ready to commit to Jesus to feel welcomed and unjudged.  This package comes complete with candles, coffee and an open mic for Q&A.

Perhaps you prefer a special blend of one or more of these styles - just text your vote to, “I - am2 - bee - plzd.”

When it comes to Christianity, our choices are no longer limited to service times and worship styles; somehow we have even managed to customize “Jesus.”   If we like the Jesus who healed the sick, that is “our” Jesus.  There is the Jesus who turned water into wine - if you like wine - that’s a good Jesus to have.  It’s comforting to know we can have a Jesus who loves us and forgives unconditionally, especially if we are not ready or willing to make any changes to our current lifestyles.  There are even those who like to claim that Jesus is a good role model, but He’s “not” the only way to heaven - there is more than one path.

As you can see, you can have your church, your worship experience and your Jesus - “However-you-want it.”  My specialty drink usually retails at about $3.50.  It’s a lot to pay for coffee, wouldn’t you agree?  But, have you ever wondered how much the new, “However-you-want-it,” Christianity is costing us?

I think Paul, in an urgent letter to Timothy, explained it best when he said,  “Envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions and constant friction arise between men [women] who are deprived of the truth. 1 Timothy 6:4-5.  For further clarification, those whom Paul considered to be missing the truth were:

• Anyone who advocates a different doctrine (than the doctrine of the entire Bible - cover to cover).
• Anyone who does not agree with the sound words of Jesus Christ (all of them, not just the ones we pick and choose).
• Anyone who does not conform to godliness (a life of moral purity and obedience to the Word of God).

Paul went on to suggest that those men [women] who advocated a different doctrine were only interested in a form of godliness and only as it profited in their own personal gain. The Apostle commented on the depravity of those mens’ minds.  Ouch!

Sadly, what gets missed most often is the balance between what Jesus said and what He did.  There is a difference between following the entire doctrine of the Bible and following the actions of Jesus.

The cost of a customized Christianity, you ask?  The thought of that number frightens me.  Many gone astray from the faith.  Paul exhorted, “Hold fast to what has been entrusted to you - avoid worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge.’” 1 Timothy 6:20-21. Grace be with you!

Aleichem Shalom

~dl

Whenever we have more than just our family of 5 riding in the minivan, I get stuck in the very back, seated between Cooper and Ben.  Yesterday, on our way to Canada Day festivities, my boys thought it would be funny to repeat everything I said.  It began when I asked my husband to turn down the radio.  They chirped, “Colin, please turn down the radio.”

He asked me when the activities began and I said, “I think the parade starts at 10.”  And the boys said, “I think the parade starts at 10.”   On it went.

I thought I’d get cute with it and I said, “We have the best Mommy in the world.” So my boys repeated, “We have the best Mommy in the world.”   Then I said, “We will do whatever she asks us to do.”  So they said, “We will do whatever she asks us to do.”  And I said, “We will clean our room when we get home.”  They said, “We will clean our room when we get home.”

The silliness ended when we got to the parade and our focus diverted elsewhere.  The boys had no intention of cleaning their room and as far as the accolades to my fabulous parenting - well, in those moments, their words didn’t mean anything.  They were mere empty phrases.

Last night, I woke Ben from his peaceful slumber at 9:45 pm.  Even though he was the sleepiest boy on the planet, I dressed him, strapped him in the car, and took him down to the lake to watch the fireworks.  He was a grumpy but willing companion.  I even stopped and bought him hot cocoa along the way.  We sat huddled together under a blanket.  When the awesome display of colors, twinkling lights, and fire comets streamed across the sky he perked up considerably.  He had never seen fireworks before.  He was awestruck.  About 10 minutes into the show he hugged me tight and said, “You are the best Mom in the world.  Thank you for bringing me here.”

THAT was genuine.  THAT was his heart speaking.

Many parenting fads are geared towards evoking appropriate behavioral responses from children.  Using bribery, time outs, with-holding privileges, etc. we hope to change kids’ minds about their behavior.  But do these build a heart response?  Or are they simply teaching kids how to provide empty actions?  It is in the moments that we display our genuine love and affection for our children that their heart response strengthens.

I don’t want copy cat children.  I want the heart response.  It is a more narrow path because it is infinitely more work.  However, one genuine hug is worth it.

~ Peace.

Kimberly

The Bible calls God’s children to be sanctified, or consecrated, to the LORD. Even though there is no sanctification without the power of the Holy Spirit, we do have an integral part to play in becoming consecrated. Paul reminded the Church of Corinth, “Therefore having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Living a life of holiness is hard work - it requires constant focus to resist against worldly pleasures! Paul described it in Philippians 3:12-14 as a leaving behind his old ways and pressing on or reaching forward to what lies ahead.

Recently I read a story that I think best describes what Paul was trying to teach us and will help us to understand our part. There are many renderings of the story, so here is my paraphrase:

God appeared to a man one night while he lay sleepless in his cabin. God gave him these instructions, “There is a large boulder outside, in front of your cabin. I want you to push, repeatedly, against the boulder with all of your might.”

The man went to work right away. Each morning he arose early and pushed as hard as he could against the rock. Day after day he repeated his efforts. No matter how hard the man pushed, the rock would not budge. Disheartened, he began to relax his efforts. He stopped getting up quite as early. Most days, he did not work hard at all.

One day Satan happened along. Noticing the man’s discouragement, Satan mocked the man and said, “Why kill yourself? You are never going to move that thing.” Satan continued to taunt until finally the man gave up on all of his efforts.

Sometime later God returned and found the man slumped over in a pit of self-defeat. “What went wrong?” God asked. The frustrated man complained, “Lord, I’ve been pushing and pushing against that boulder, just like you told me to do, but that rock will not budge.”

The Lord responded compassionately, “Son, who told you to move the rock? I just asked you to push against it. Look at the muscles on your arms, your shoulders, and your legs, how they have grown. Do you see how much stronger you are now? Son, your only job was to push against that boulder, now I will remove that big rock Myself.”

~ Author Unknown.

There is a huge boulder outside your cabin and mine. It’s called sin. No one is immune from it. No one escapes life without a desire to indulge themselves in something that is wrong. 1 Corinthians 10: 13 reminds us, “no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.”

Friend this may be difficult for you to swallow, but the boulder outside your door has been placed there intentionally. God has given Satan permission to tempt you so that He might test you.

In our culture, when it comes to temptation, we’ve simply raised our white flag and surrendered ourselves. Satan barely opens his mouth to mock us and we’ve given ourselves over to him and we’ve given in to sin. We do not need to let the enemy push us around! God is faithful. He said he would not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear. Do you know that?

It’s time to get yourself up off the ground and push against that boulder. You have everything you need to be able to stand against sin because God is on your side. The more you push, the stronger you will get. James said, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Ok, imagine that with me - the enemy fleeing from you! It makes me smile every time. I picture Satan, head down, slumped shoulders, scurrying away with his tail between his legs and he knows he’s got nothing left!

No one can remove the huge boulder of sin except for God! The only one you need to humble yourself before is God - and He will exalt you!

Have a sin-free day!

Shalom Aleichem

~dl

All three of my children are amazing little people bursting with personality. Each one has a unique approach to life; style and quirks that belong to him or her alone, and all are curious as the day is long. (And believe me, some days are longer than others.)

I’ve written previously about my Benjamin and this post is yet again one in which I marvel at the creation that IS Bennie. I realized today that my Ben is brimming with my new favorite word: muchness.

Every single thing we do has adventure potential. Every little thing I say must be analyzed and decoded into “Ben language.” Life is stretched out before us and is ripe with opportunity. Nothing slides by unnoticed or unprocessed. He is full of muchness.

He began a journal today that will contain all of the adventures we are going to have this summer. He drew us playing doubles tennis against my husband and my mom. He wrote: I am playing tennis tomorrow. I love that his journal is to be a foreshadow of fun to come - not a look back at what we did. He plans to draw it and then live it.

Is there a muchness within you that you’ve suppressed for too long? I don’t mean this to be a “rah-rah you can be anything you want to be” post. Reality is, we can’t be anything we want to be. We do have limitations. However, we all have things inside of us that we know we can do. We all have things in our lives that we are doing. You don’t have to climb a mountain to live a life of muchness. Muchness comes from your belief that in whatever you are doing, you are all in.

This includes your faith. Jesus spoke of the tragedy of lukewarm faith…a faith without much of anything. The tragedy was - He said He would spew those lukewarmers from His mouth.

We can tell when someone is giving us half their attention, can’t we? We know when we have given half of our attention to a project, or worse, to a person. Friend, live with muchness - in your relationships, in your work and especially in your faith. If you are there - BE there. If you believe in something strongly enough to claim to have faith in it, then live it. If you are depended upon, then be dependable. If you have given your word - keep it. Do what you do fully. This challenge is to encourage myself just as much as I hope it touches someone else.

I dare you to draw a picture of yourself full of muchness. What does that look like? Now go do it.
~ Peace. KP

The imagery of God pruning us has been written about often throughout the centuries. He gave us that very picture Himself (John 15, Psalm 119:67-72 for example). Much like a good pruner trims not just that which is dead, but also that which is alive in order to bring about greater fruitfulness - He too will seek to whack from our lives that which is sin and also prune that which seems good; if it will yield greater growth.

Many of these parallels came to my mind as I worked my cedar trees. As my arms were cut, my back became sore, and my whole self dirty - I thought about the hurt I feel when God removes things from my life that appear good to me. I thought about the dirt and grime that accompanies dealing with sin. And then, I noticed something else.

Flying in circles above me were several very angry birds. Their screeching and squawking was undoubtedly directed at me. They swooped low with their cries and then flew away - only to return a few minutes later. My disturbance of their comfortable (albeit overgrown and mostly dead) home displeased them greatly.

Whether you are taking steps to cut out something from your life that is unhealthy or God is at work with His holy shears, you too will have your own squawkers. There are those people who would rather you stay in your muck. There are those that don’t want you to ever change because they are used to the same ol’ same ol’. Your change might mean they have to change. As a result, when you try and break old patterns; when you react differently; when you refuse to engage in a fight and instead forgive - you will have a squawking flock nearby with condemning or mocking words. Knowing it will come won’t make it easier to deal with - especially if the flock contains some of your loved ones. However, the One who can see the end result is the One to listen to when you hear the squawks.

My trees are looking much better. The squawkers appear to have moved on. My cuts are healing and my back is less sore. I’ve even cleared some beds and planted a small garden. And God is always good.

Peace.

~Kim