HOME

As another semester is coming to a close, my mind has become, once again, preoccupied with the packing up of our home and with the preparations of a move back to Alberta for the summer months. And to be honest, as excited as I am to be with family and friends there again, I am weary - weary of packing, weary of transition, weary of settling temporarily, anxious to have a place to more permanently call home.

HOME

This word has been on my mind a lot lately. 

What is home? Where is home?

In this transitional and temporary stage in our life, there are many places in our vocabulary that we describe as home. Home is here, in Texas, where we have been blessed to make memories, to build friendships, and to spend the majority of our life over these past two years. Home is Alberta where we spent our first year of marriage and have been blessed to escape for our summer months to work and enjoy family and friends. Home is Ontario where we have invested many wonderful weeks visiting more family and friends.

"Home is where your heart is." --- Pliny the Elder ---

"My home is not a place, it is people." --- Lois McMaster Bujold ---

"Where thou art, that is home." --- Emily Dickinson ---

But there are some things that all of these "homes" lack that my heart often longs after; there are things that another move is deepening a longing for: consistency, stability, permanence. When will I have such a place to call my home?

And then, in this longing, the Holy Spirit has been quietly reminding my heart:

THIS EARTHLY TENT IS A TEMPORARY HOME

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 

--- 2 Corinthians 5: 1 ---

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." 

--- Philippians 3: 20 ---

"They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them."

--- Hebrews 11: 16 ---

"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

--- John 14: 2,3 ---

"Life's a voyage that's homeward bound"

--- Herman Melville ---

A Dozen Ways to Make Yourself Miserable

Count your troubles, name them one by one—at the breakfast table, 

if anybody will listen, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Worry every day about something. 

Don’t let yourself get out of practice. 

It won’t add a cubit to your stature, but it might burn a few calories.

 Pity yourself. 

If you do enough of this, nobody else will have to do it for you.

 Devise clever but decent ways to serve God and mammon. 

After all, you’ve got a life to live.

 Make it your business to find out what the Joneses are buying this year 

and where they’re going. 

Try to do them at least one better 

even if you have to take out another loan to do it.

Stay away from absolutes. 

It’s what’s right for you that matters. 

Be your own person, and don’t allow yourself to get hung up 

on what others expect of you.

 Make sure you get your rights. Never mind other people’s. 

You have your life to live, they have theirs.

 Don’t fall into any compassion traps—

the sort of situation where people can walk all over you. 

If you get too involved in other people’s troubles, you may neglect your own.

Don’t let Bible reading and prayer get in the way 

of what’s really relevant—things like TV and newspapers. 

Invisible things are eternal. 

You want to stick with the visible ones—they’re where it’s at now.

 Be right, and be sure to let folks know it. 

If you catch yourself in the wrong, don’t breathe it to a soul.

 Review daily the names of people who have hurt, wronged, or insulted you. Keep those lists up-to-date, and think of ways to get even without being thought of as unreasonable, uncivilized, or unchristian.

 Never forgive a wrong. 

Clutch it forever, and you’ll never be unemployed. 

Resentment is a full-time job.

 

 

----- Elisabeth Elliot -----

What is Enlightenment?

           This is an excerpt from the final section of one of Mike's final papers analyzing the Enlightenment period, and specifically Immanuel Kant's ideas in his paper "What is Enlightenment?" As I was editing the paper (one of my many helper-completer tasks :) I found it very...well...enlightening and so I thought I would share it.

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Enlightenment is, “man’s emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in one’s own mind without another’s guidance.”                                                                            --- Immanuel Kant ----

....Cornelius Van Til, in reference to Kant’s supposed autonomy, says that "The very idea of Kant’s Copernican revolution was that the autonomous mind itself must assume the responsibility for making all factual differentiation and logical validation. To such a mind the God of Christianity cannot speak. Such a mind will hear no voice but its own. It is itself the light that lighteth every man that comes into the world. It is itself the sun; how can it receive light from without?"

             God never intended for man to be autonomous. Even from the beginning man was always to be dependent upon God’s revelation, both general as well as special. The Christian belief that God created the universe and all things suggests that there is a distinction between man and God and the realm of knowledge. God’s knowing is authoritative as well as exhaustive. It then follows that if man is to know anything it is that he is “thinking God’s thoughts after Him” (Prov 22:17-21). Christian philosophers do well to compare their theology to their philosophy in order to see that there would be no contradiction in its basic presuppositions.
            Often philosophers assume neutrality in teaching that human reason is an objective standard, free of prejudice. Christians are often told to lay aside their religious commitments in order to think objectively so that they might find truth. This also goes contrary to Christian philosophy; for if Christianity wishes to hold that God is indeed the Creator as well as the Sustainer of all things, it then follows that neutrality is impossible and that everything in creation, including all facts, must be related to Him in some way and express the meaning which He has infused in all of creation.  It is as Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not an inch in the entire domain of...human life of which Christ, who is sovereign of all, does not proclaim ‘Mine.’”....

  
                            What then is true enlightenment? 
True enlightenment is not man coming to the understanding of the nature of reality through his own autonomous reasoning; instead, the Scriptures speak of light as a person. Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world” (John 8:12). Being enlightened is more the matter of one’s disposition toward Christ (Matt 6:22-23); one must receive the Light in order to be enlightened. The Scriptures refer to Christ as “the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man” (John 1:9). They also speak of “all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge” as residing in Christ (Col 2:3). It is clear then that if one is to know the true nature of reality he must first submit himself to God, who knows all things. This is true enlightenment; anything else is darkness.

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"The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that Man is on the Bench and God in the Dock."                                                      --- C. S. Lewis ---

Daniel & the Valley of Vision

Today's Word of Life QT in Daniel 4 reminded me again of the great paradoxes we find in the scripture as well as the blaring differences we find between the thinking of the world and the way God desires us to think. I went back to this prayer i found and was reminded of those things.

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee
in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold
thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley."

~ The Valley of Vision

The Silence of Heaven

     "I think there is nothing so startling in all the graces of God as His quietness. When men have raged untruths in His name, when they have used the assumed authority of the Son of God to put to death His real children, when they have with calloused heart twisted the Scriptures into fables and lies, when they have explained the order of His creation in unfounded theories while boasting the support of rational science, when they, using powers He grants them, claim universal autonomy and independence, He, this great silent God, says nothing! His tolerance and love for His creatures is such that, having spoken in Christ, in conscience, in code of law, He waits for men to leave off their bawling and turn for a moment to listen to His still, small voice of the Spirit. Now, after so long a time of restrained voice, bearing in Almighty meekness the blasphemies of His self destroying creatures, now, how shall it break upon the ears, the consciousness, hearts, and minds of reprobate men, the voice of One so long silent?
      "It shall thunder with the force of offended righteousness; rage with lightning bolts upon the seared consciences; roar as the long-crouched lion upon dallying prey; leap upon, better, destroy, and utterly consume the vain reasonings of proud humankind; ring as the battle shout of a strong, triumphant, victory-tasting warrior; strike terror and gravity to souls, more forcefully than tortured screams in the dead of night!
      "O God, what shall be the first tones of Your voice again on earth? And what their effect? Wonder and fear, denizens of dust, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with battle-cry, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet blast of God Himself made more terrible, if that could be, by the long suffering of His silence."

---- Jim Elliot, November 29, 1949, in The Journals of Jim Elliot ----

In the meantime, Heaven is silent.

      "Yes, but it is not the silence of callous indifference or helpless weakness; it is the silence of a great sabbatic rest, the silence of a peace which is absolute and profound - a silence which is the public pledge and proof that the way is open for the guiltiest of mankind to draw near to God."

---- Sir Robert Anderson ----

"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him"

---- 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ----

(As quoted by Elizabeth Elliot, in Secure in the Everlasting Arms, Pgs.28-30)

Sermon in Malachi: "Return to Me"

Today our Pastor, John Meador, started into a series on Malachi. I was encouraged and challenged by the "introduction sermon" he shared this morning as it brought a timely reminder to my life about the tendency to stray from true worship, the gracious love and rebuke of the Lord, what He requires in response to His Word, and the consequences of not returning to Him. 

If you have opportunity I encourage you to read through Malachi this next week (it's a short book - only 4 chapters). I have included below the sermon notes from this morning and the things which especially stood out to me as we looked at the over-all theme of this book. These are the last words spoken to Israel for 400 years. For 4 centuries, until the time of Christ, God's people didn't hear another word from Him. How important are these last words?!?!

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Background to the book of Malachi:

• Even after all the incredible things God has done for the nation there is an incredible indifference to Him on the part of the people.
• These are the last words spoken to Israel for 400 years, until John the Baptist comes on the scene. For 4 centuries, God's people didn't hear another word from Him! How important are these last words?!?!
• Malachi is God in quotes - it is Him speaking very directly to the nation of Israel.
• Malachi shows what God has to say about spiritual life, worship, relationship (Historic Israel becomes a picture for us today).

 Key Verse:

"From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?'"

----- Malachi 3:7-----

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God's Reminder Is..."I have loved you" (1:2)
     This is the foundation on which this book is written and upon which Israel's relationship with
               God exists.   
     He loves them with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3) - "everlasting" = eternal, unchanging
     Why this introduction?
               He wants them to know that the hard things He is about to say to them (His rebuke of
                       them) is encompassed by His love - this is the basis for His rebuke.
               In reality, they cannot experience this love of His fully unless they heed the hard things.

The Response Is...Indifference (1:6)
  God: "I have loved you."                                         Israel: "How have You loved us?" (1:2)
  God: "You have despised my name."                Israel: "How have we despised Your name?" (1:6)
  God: "You are presenting to me defiled food." Israel: "How have we defiled You?" (1:7)
  God: "I do not accept your offering."                    Israel: "For what reason?" (2:13-14)
  God: "You have wearied Me by your words."     Israel: "How have we wearied You?" (2:17)
  God: "You have robbed Me."                                 Israel: "How have we robbed You?" (3:8)
  God: "Your words have been arrogant."             Israel: "What have we spoken against You?" (3:13)
 
   God's rebuke is meant to humble the people and show them what to turn from in order to come
               back to Him.
   God knows when His people's heart is not really His - when they are just going through
                the motions. Israel questions whether God's judgement is true (forgot His
                omniscience and perfect ability to judge) demonstrating their indifference, but
                ultimately their pride in saying that they are more accurate evaluators than
               God, Himself.
                       "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference."
    Israel: "It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge..." (3:14)
          Why do we serve God? For what gain? For what purpose?
                The example of Job - will a man still serve God for nothing?
                Serving God isn't about our gain, it's about who He is.
    Our actions and passions reveal the reality of our love for God (what's in the heart eventually
                shows).

God's Continual Call Is..."Return to Me" (3:7)
      Israel: "How shall we return?" (3:7)
      2 Cron 2:14 - REPENT
      The tragedy of not heeding: We know from both Israel's response in this book and also
             from future historical records (particularly the New Testament) that Israel did not
             heed the Lord's warning. It was the descendants of the recipients of this book who
             rejected Christ. This was the ultimate tragedy of not heeding the rebuke of the Lord.

     Warning to us: If we do not heed the Words of the Lord, if we do not heed His discipline
             and rebuke, we risk the great tragedy of also missing the most important things.

"He has told you, O man, what is good;  

And what does the LORD require of you 

But to do justice, to love kindness, 

And to walk humbly with your God?" 

----- Micah 6:8 -----

"Return to Me, and I will return to you."

-----Malachi 3:7-----

  

Witness to a Miracle

Several weeks ago a young woman walked into the pregnancy center that I volunteer at and her ID and form were handed to me to take on as my client. What made her different than any other client I had personally dealt with up until that point was that she had checked the "unsure" box answering the question of what she plans to do about her pregnancy. When checked it most often means that abortion holds a lot of sway as an option. It was a moment that I was reminded of my inadequacy as well as the great weight of the ministry of the center: it is a matter of life or death.

Scared, I went out to meet this young lady and led her back to a counselling room. What she wanted was something we couldn't offer: abortion referrals. What I could offer I was limited to give because we can only provide information and help so far as the client gives us permission, and that permission was not granted me. (Legally and to protect the organization from being shut down or slandered by those in opposition of it we are at liberty to share only that which the client gives us permission to share.) So our meeting was very methodical, me leaving out any religious opinions, as she requested as soon as we had sat down, and she being very closed to share much of what was going on in her heart and life. Our conversation remained at the surface, primarily focused on what the abortion procedures are and the risks involved, information that the majority of abortion clinics do not offer to their clients. At one point she broke down crying so I did see a little glimpse of the battle going on in her heart, but she told me she still didn't want to talk about it. Following the positive pregnancy test results I offered her a sonogram appointment which she reluctantly accepted but told me she probably wouldn't keep. I left that time with her feeling drained, discouraged, and pretty sure that I would never see this young girl again.

I continued to pray for this young girl over the next days, but with little expectation. We tried to contact her via phone several times but she never answered and never returned a call. A couple of weeks later her sonogram appointment came and went. I left the pregnancy center that day after my shift discouraged but honestly not very surprised.  But half an hour after I got home the client advocate director gave me a call saying that the nurse had managed to get ahold of this girl, found out that she had not yet had an abortion, but had been told by her that she could not talk at that moment and would give the center a call back. I continued to pray for her that evening, hopeful in the fact that she had not yet made an irreversible decision but still doubtful that she would give that promised return call.

I was scheduled to be back at the center that next morning and shortly after I walked in the door I was greeted with the excitement of some of the staff members who had just received a call from this girl. Together as a group of women we lifted the appointment scheduled for that afternoon to the Lord. I was afraid to hope in too much of a change of heart. I had seen the hardness of her heart firsthand, yet I knew the fact that she had not yet gone through with an abortion had to count for something or rather, Someone at work in those weeks since I had last seen her.

Sonograms are handled primarily by the nurse so I was not there for the initial part of their counselling session. I had asked if I could witness the sonogram, though, so I could at least try to touch base with this young lady again. When the nurse came to get me I was nervous but she was smiling. Upon entering the room I was shocked at the young woman I saw sitting before me. She looked so beautiful and so joyful! I would honestly have probably not recognized her had I not known going in that it was her. The nurse asked her if she felt comfortable sharing with me all that had gone on in the weeks since I had last seen her. With a huge smile on her face she told me about how a few days before she had gone to the abortion clinic for her scheduled appointment and upon arriving there she was told that the actually procedure could not be carried out for at least 24 hours following this initial visit (a new law that came into effect on October 1!). Her next appointment happened to be scheduled on the same day as the sonogram appointment we had scheduled for her and it was when she was on her way to the abortion clinic that the nurse had managed to get through to her on the phone. That was the evening before the very moment that we found ourselves in this room together. Many other things factored into this change of mind including her family, who are believers, finding out about her pregnancy; several friends who were standing against her in her decision to abort; as well as, I believe, the work of the Lord in her own heart because as far as we could tell she was a believer throughout all of this.

Out of all the sonograms I have witnessed this one by far was the most joyful and exciting, not just because I felt that way but because this young woman could almost not contain herself. She was laughing, nearly crying, and talking constantly and asking questions about the little baby she was seeing and little heartbeat within her that she was hearing. I'm humbled and amazed that I got to be a witness in this choice of life. I'm ashamed at my lack of faith in the power of the Lord who is at work both at the pregnancy center but also in each and every life that leaves our doors. I'm so thankful that He graciously let me watch His power at work, inspite of my own unbelief. It's not only that young girl who experienced change yesterday, but myself too!

Why does God not show himself?

"You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!" 

--- Yehweh (Exodus 33:20) ---

'Why does God not show himself?' -

'Are you worthy?' - 

'Yes.' - 

'You are very presumptuous, and thus unworthy.' -

'No.' -

'Then you are just unworthy.' 

--- Blaise Pascal ---

"There once lived a people who believed that no man could see God and live. These were the wisest people on earth, not from themselves, but because God chose them...

It is God's mercy and kindness and love, as well as our sin, that hide his face from us."

--- Peter Kreeft ---

"Therefore, having been justfied by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him" ...

"Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may recieve mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

--- Romans 5:1,9, Hebrews 4:16 ---

(*Pascal and Kreeft quoted from Peter Kreeft's book, Chritianity for Modern Pagans, p. 253-54)

Not as those without hope

"...that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope." 

--- 1 Thessalonians 4: 13---

 Yesterday I had a divine appointment with a book, a news station, and the Holy Spirit.

While waiting for some work to be done on our vehicle Mike and I were sitting in McDonald's reading and studying. I was working through Alva J. McClain's book The Greatness of the Kingdom and specifically, a chapter on the blessings of the coming kingdom. In the background and frequently distracting me from my reading was picture after picture after video footage after testimony recounting that tragic day that ten years ago shook up and impacted this country so deeply. As I continued reading in between watching I began to realize the stark contrast between the words on the pages of the book and the reality of the events that were being remembered and which are not too far back in my own memory either. In my own little world I realized that I was seeing

the depths of the depravity of man,
the deep mark and consequences of sin upon this world,
and the hopelessness and insecurity that people live in day after day
starkly contrasted with 
the greatness of the Messiah who willing took upon himself the depravity of man,
the One who is coming again to finally remove the effects of sin and to restore this creation to its former glory, and the security and hope that no circumstance of this world, not even death can take from me.

It was one of those moments where I realized anew that there is so much more to this life than this life alone and that I truly am not as one who is without hope! In this is a renewed thankfulness and a refreshed plea in my heart: "Come, Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20), please come quickly!

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Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away..."Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new"...there will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads..."And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."

--- Revelation 21: 1, 3-5; 22: 3-4, 7 ---

Prairie Storm

This past Thursday evening the storm clouds were brewing. A glimpse of the awesome power and beauty of the clouds and seeing the effects of the wind puts life into perspective. How small we really are! Day to day we go about our lives thinking that we actually have some sort of control or security of our own making but one glimpse of a prairie storm in the distance is an awesome and humble reminder of our true place and of our dependence on the One who truly can control all things!

*photo credits go to my mom & mandy

  

Who has ascended into heaven and descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name or His son's name? Surely you know!  

- Proverbs 30:4 -

Out of all of this we got not even one drop of rain but only miles away the wind demonstrated its strength. The pictures below are from a farm about 5 minutes up the road from my parent's who told us that they suffered minor damages compared to farmers only a few more miles north of them.

Song of the Week

"Farther Along" - Josh Garrels from Josh Garrels on Vimeo.

I discovered this guy by accident and since then have listened to this song several times. (this is Mike posting by the way). This song brought to mind a familiar passage of scripture... 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
"Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."
 
Farther Along

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Joy

"Although joy is something which manifests itself visibly, at the bottom it is spiritual as to its source and nature. That is why, apart from God, 

'even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness' (Prov 14:13). 

It is true that the people of God in every age have known in their hearts the joy of the Lord; but all their rejoicings have been tempered by a somber note, as they faced the uncertainties and problems inevitably present in human life this side of the Kingdom. 

At the coming of the King all this will be changed: He will come to 

 'comfort all that mourn...to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness' (Isa 61:2-3)."

---Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom, pg. 220---

The Shekinah Glory and Palm Sunday

she·ki·nah/SHəKHēˈnä/  to reside, to dwell

This "visible manifestation of the Divine Presence" had resided with the nation of Israel since the day in which they were called out of Egypt. It was the pillar of fire by night; the cloud of smoke that guided them by day. He who was their protection, their glory, their God, had set them apart by His dwelling presence and their unique relationship with Him. But in the sad days when the kingdom of Israel rejected the very God who resided among them His shekinah glory departed from them.
   

Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. When  the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them...The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. 
--- Eze 10:18-19; 11:23 ---

As a nation they were scattered,                               
                                  at the mercy of the Gentile captors,
                                  stripped of their past glory,
                                  without a true relationship with their God.

This is the state in which Israel remained to that day, 500 years later, when Jesus entered Jerusalem, humbly seated on the colt of a donkey. That day He, the incarnate Shekinah glory, returned to the city following the same course through which the glory had departed (and the same path through which He will come again - Eze 43:1-12). His presence there was an offer of Himself to restore His glory among them, an offer to redeem the kingdom which was lost, an offer to once again be their God, an offer to reside with them as their Messianic King. Their shouts of  "hosanna" could be misinterpreted for their acceptance of this offer but insight into their hearts (and their shouts of  "crucify Him" only days later) show that little had changed since the day when they had rejected Him and their nation had crumbled.

In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return, 

And I would heal them.'

--- Matt 13:14-15 ---

   

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 
 --- John 1:11 ---

When {Jesus} approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.  
--- Luke 19:41 ---

His Holy Name

"It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went...I will vindicate the holiness of My great name...Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God.

--- Ezekiel 36: 22-23 ---

Over the past several weeks I have been working my way through the book of Ezekiel (as outlined in the Word of Life Quiet Time Diary); and though it has challenged me on many fronts one thing I have particularly noticed is an often repeated phrase: "for My name" (Ezek 20:9, 14, 22, 39; 36:20-23; 43:7-8).  The significance is this: on these words hinge both the Lord's rejection of and the promises of the eventual restoration of His people, Israel. 

Israel's failure to hold to the covenant He made with them at the time of Moses was not just a simple disobedience with simple consequences. As God's specific viceroy they held a great responsibility before all the other nations and their disobedience brought, not shame to them, but to the God they were representing. "My holy name...you have profaned among the nations" (Ezek 36:22). The word "profaned" carries with it the idea of making something commonly ordinary; secular. It is the opposite of setting apart; it is in direct contrast to holiness. His character - holiness - required that He reject, for a time, and judge the profaning nation of Israel with the purpose of vindicating His name. His glory is what is at stake.

But God's character functions in perfect balance and His name is not accurately vindicated ending at judgement alone. The same name that caused him to reject and judge the nation of Israel is also the foundation on which all the promises made to Israel rest. Would not the same nations who questioned the holiness of God because of Israel's failure at representing Him also question His holiness, faithfulness, sovereignty, and goodness should He reject them forever and therefore nullify the promises He had made to them since the time of Abraham? Would not Israel also, as the recipient of yet-unfulfilled promises, be able to question the name of their God? God is well-aware of this and at the same time Israel is undergoing His judgement He renews and makes a new promise to them as a nation. As during the judgement in the wilderness where God resolved to pour out His wrath on them but said, "I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned." (Ezek 20:22) so also, God promises to take His people, Israel, from among the nations and bring them back into their own land. "Then they will know that I am the Lord." (Ezek 36:38) And on that yet-coming day the glory will be to His holy name!

If we are faithless, He remains faithful,

for He cannot deny Himself.

---2 Timothy 2:13---

Though Israel's promises are not all necessarily mine, their same God is! I'm so thankful that He deals with me according to His name. Should the guarantee of the promises of my salvation rest on me it would have long ago been lost. But praise Him "for He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust" (Psa 103: 14). By faith in the work of His Son on the cross He has removed my sin "as far as the east is from the west" (Psa 103:12). And even when "we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself" (2 Tim 2:13). Because I am still prone to failure and to misrepresent the One who saved me, He promises to graciously discipline which, though difficult while under it is not His rejection of me but rather evidence that I am His child and produces, in the end, sweet sanctification (Heb 12:5-11). And all this for the glory of His great name!

"His will is our hiding place" (con't)

Corrie Ten Boom's story also captivated me for another reason. Two years ago I was given the opportunity to visit Ravensbrück, the final concentration camp in Germany where her and her sister, Betsy, were imprisoned. I was looking back through some of my pictures as I was reading and I found it interesting to be able to envision in my mind her setting even more than just through her written descriptions. I remember during the tour finding it hard to fathom the reality that had taken place on that location only 50 years ago. The sun was shining far too brightly that day to fit the mood which hangs over the camp....

I included below some of the pictures from that tour (please excuse the photography - I'm more of a tourist than an artist when it comes to picture taking :)).

SS Headquarters at Ravensbruck

        Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed.
"Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam - when do I give you your ticket?"
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
       "Why, just before we get on the train."
       "Exactly, And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look in your heart and find the strength you need - just in time."

SS living quarters, on the outskirts of the camp

       Tante Jans put her hand over her eyes and began to cry. "Empty, empty!" she choked at last through her tears. "How can we bring anything to God? What does He care for our little tricks and trinkets?"
...she lowered her hands and with tears still coursing down her face whispered, "Dear Jesus, I thank You that You have done all - all - on the Cross, and that all we need in life or death is to be sure of this."

Looking into the main entrance of Ravensbruck

       "Oh, my dears, I am sorry for all Dutchmen now who do not know the power of God. For we will be beaten. But He will not."

The sleeping barracks were torn down but each tree marks where one once stood.

       Betsie put a finger on my mouth. "Don't say it, Corrie! There are no 'if's' in God's world. And no places that are safer than other places. The center of His will is our only safety - O Corrie, let us pray that we may always know it!"

Some of the remaining working/factory barracks

       "Those poor people," Father echoed. But to my surprise I saw that he was looking at the soldiers.... "I pity the poor Germans, Corrie. They have touched the apple of God's eye."

A memorial to the prisoners.

       Love. How did one show it? How could God Himself show truth and love at the same time in a world like this?
       By dying. The answer stood out for me sharper and chiller than it ever had before that night: the shape of a Cross etched on the history of the world.

The "bunker" where prisoners underwent interrogation, solitary confinement, and discipline.

       "Would you be willing to take a Jewish mother and her baby into your home?"
       For a moment I saw compassion and frear struggle in his face. Then he straightened. "No. Definitely not. We could lose our lives for that Jewish child!"
       Unseen by either of us, Father had appeared in the doorway. "Give the child to me, Corrie," he said...
"You say we could lose our lives for this child. I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family."

Located in the "bunker".

       "That old man!" he cried. "Did he have to be arrested? You, old man!"
       Willem led Father up to the desk. The Gestapo chief leaned forward. "I'd like to send you home, old fellow," he said. "I'll take your word that you won't cause any more trouble."
       "If I go home today," he said evenly and clearly, "tomorrow I will open my door again to any man in need who knocks."

The crematorium (Ravensbruck had their own gas chambers for the final year of operation)

        "The truth, Sir," I said swallowing, "is that God's viewpoint is sometimes different from ours - so different that we could not even guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us such things."

A picture of a picture in the museum at Ravensbruck.

      "Thank You," Betsie went on serenely, "for the fleas and for --"
       The fleas! This was too much. "Betsie, there's no way even God can make me grateful for a flea."
       " 'Give thanks in all circumstances,'" she quoted. "It doesn't say, 'in pleasant circumstances." Fleas are part of this place where God has put us." (pg. 199)...
       "You know we've never understood why we ahd so much freedom in the big room," she said, "Well ---I've found out."..."She wouldn't step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?"
       "Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: "because of the fleas! That's what she said, 'That place is crawling with fleas!'"
       My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie's bowed head, remembereed her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for.

"His will is our hiding place"

Corrie Ten Boom, 1915

A friend recently lent me the book, "The Hiding Place". It is one of those biographies that I've been wanting to get to for a number of years now but had not found the opportunity to pick it up. The history surrounding World War II has always fascinated me, and specifically the stories coming out of the events of the holocaust. Perhaps it is because for me, as a believer, it is more than just a history of some horrible things done to a particular group of people; it has a deeper root in an understanding of Satan's desire to thwart the work and promises of the Lord and of the Lord's prevailing power and gracious intervention throughout it all. As we look at the whole of this historical account some may ask, God's gracious intervention? What are you talking about? Are you saying God was intervening and all this still happened? Yes, God was very present and very involved. Corrie Ten Boom's story is just one small proof of His gracious involvement.

When reading biographies I find I often come away with another hero who has reached a reserved pedestal in my mind. I found Corrie's story much different. In it she shared about the circumstances she found herself in, but not without sharing about what the Lord had taught her through each and every one of them. She wrote of her work in the underground in Holland where many Jews came through the doors and found hope and a refuge in her family home, but not without writing about how the Lord very specifically preserved that work. And she talked of her time of imprisonment, but not without talking about how the Lord continually sustained her and, yes, even blessed her there. It is not that she wasn't a great woman, she just wasn't a great woman apart from the work of the Lord in and through her; and on every page of the book she seemed to be acknowledging that. The glory of God resounds in her story.

It caused me to think, when I tell my story who gets the pedestal? The Lord or myself?

M&M meet and marry their M&Ms

I met Maressa during my first year of college. We lived across the hall from each other in the dorm and it took us a little less than two weeks to hit it off and find ourselves nearly inseparable...because it was just so much more fun to be together! And from that point on we were known as M&M or Marissy to most everyone else.

That year together was a blast. But when I think of Marissa what always first stands out is her love for the Lord and the things of the Lord. It was in this aspect that Marissa became much more than just a friend, she was a redemptive friend; that is, she was someone the Lord has used to greatly teach me and grow me in my own relationship with Him. A friend you can find anywhere, but a redemptive friendship is hard to come by.

Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 says, "Two are better than one...for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion...a cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart." This concept of redemptive relationships comes neither easy nor natural to me, a sinner who more often than not selfishly looks for friendships to my own gain and comfort. I want friendships, yet I steer away from complete honesty and truth to keep myself from being to vulnerable to another.

Paul David Tripp's book, How People Change, has had an incredible impact on my understanding of this intended purpose for relationships. He writes:
       "...meaningful relationships are often avoided. They require work, sacrifice, humility, and selflessness. While the idea of loving another person taps into something inherently human, it also exposes our sinful self-centeredness...At one level we want friendships. At another level we don't want them! In creation, we were made to live in community, but because of the fall, we tend to run from the very friendships we need. Quite often our longing for them is tainted by sin. We pursue them only as long as they satisfy our own desires and needs. We have a love-hate relationship with relationships! The Bible recognizes this profound tension, but still places our individual growth in grace in the context of the body of Christ...the work of redemption involves our individual relationship with Christ alongside our relationships with others." (pgs. 75-76) (see also: Romans 12: 1-8; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 2:14-22; 4: 7-16; 1 Peter 4: 10-11)

I'm so thankful that the Lord brought Maressa into my life! But, this same redemptive purpose is not just for friendship relationships but is also and especially for marriage relationships...and a marriage is what initiated all the thoughts written in today's post. The last I time saw Maressa was 1 1/2 years ago when she came all the way from Brazil to celebrate my marriage to my M. Today is the celebration of her marriage to her M. Today Maressa Arevalo will become Mrs. Marcelo Crivella. I wish I could be there to celebrate with my Brazilian sister, but I am excited for her and for this new relationship that the Lord has brought into her life for His glory and His purposes! Congratulations Maressa and Marcelo Crivella!

Maressa and Marcelo Crivella