Real Life

I realize that I come across "having it all together." It is rarely my intention to give this impression; instead, I am just trying to keep things from becoming a messy, embarrassing explosion. Those who know me well, also know that eventually I let it all out - usually complete with tears. Well, I reached my official melting point this week! Yeah?!

From the day we landed in Ohio after our Oregon vacation, I have been keeping a fast, stressful pace - like most people. In the midst of the pace, I have been battling a raging bad attitude about some key areas in life. I hate bad attitudes - even when they are my own (perhaps especially when they are my own). Challenges, in any form, have the power to break me or build me. Oh, how I desire the later option! I pray that reaching my breaking point allows me to turn a corner in the coming days.

This summer, while completing Beth Moore's Bible study of Esther (2008), I read the following:

"There in the shelter of the Most High we find our SIGNIFICANCE and the only SATISFACTION of our INSATIABLE NEED TO BE NOTICED. There and there alone we are free to be neither depressed nor impressed with the capricious reactions of this carnal world" (p. 147, emphasis added).

Oh, how I needed to be reminded of these words during the past few weeks. At this point, I could start listing all of my gripes about the situations surrounding me, but I will refrain. I could explain away my human reactions to my many frustrations, but I choose to be silent. I could persuade you to "be on my side," but I'll stop. Instead, I am seeking to focus on the purpose of my existence: to glorify God and to build His people. When all else is pulled away, and when I can point my eyes, ears, mind, and soul to this Truth, God strengthens my weaknesses and renews my humanly hopeless mind. I can't survive without Him!

Real life is overwhelming apart from God's Truth.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you saying,
"This is the way; walk in it." (Isaiah 30:21, NIV).

Meaningful Organization

It is October 2, 2009 - unbelievable! My 19th verse for the year is:

He said to the crowd, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It is going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It is going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?" (Luke 12:54-57, NIV).

I know that I speak frequently about this experience of memorizing scripture. It is such an amazing journey - I can't help but share it with others. For the first few months, memorizing came easily, which was quite a surprise. For about five months, memorizing was difficult and I wondered if I would be able to complete the goal. Most recently, I began to mentally pick up speed again. My new problem became reciting ALL the verses for the year in one sitting.

At the same time, I am currently teaching study skills courses and workshops for first-time college freshman. One of the tools I present to strengthen ones memory is "meaningful organization." This equals ordering items in such a way as to make the items more meaningful based on students' background knowledge. One morning while studying my memory verses, I began linking them in a different order (rather than the chronological order in which I had chosen each set of verses). There appears to be an underlying theme and progression in the verses. After completing the linking process, I tried reciting all 18 sets of verses. Within just a few days, I was able to recite all 18 verses one after another! What an awesome blessing!

The verses that the Lord has led me to memorize are so meaningful. They directly reflect my personal Spiritual journey in 2009. This year, and this journey, will certainly be considered one for my spiritual record book.

I'm Feeling...

In the spirit of another blog I just read,

I am feeling...

• quite fatigued over the humid hanging in the air.
• like I sweat my weight this week - which wasn't pretty.
• interested in the book I am reading (Epicenter, by Joel Rosenberg).
• in awe over what God is teaching me through memorizing scripture.
• mommy guilt over working and personal pursuits.
• enthusiastic to watch my son's play soccer this weekend.
• bummed that I can't sleep in tomorrow.
• grateful for my husband who is treats me better than I deserve.
• proud of my boys - who while they don't like school, go everyday without complaint.
• anxious about my work.
• concerned over the state of American homes and their impact on people's lives.
  
• intrigued by God's plans for the future.
• proud of myself for eating healthy and losing weight this last month.
• thankful for the life God has given me.
• responsible to give out of my abundance.
• love for my parents, grandparents, and other influential people in my life.

Lord, as I begin this day, may I hear your guidance
and obediently follow. May those around me sense Your love,
and be drawn to experience You.
Happy Friday!

Will the Real Knowledge & Wisdom Please Stand?

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of this world caused by evil desires" (2 Peter 1:3-4).

For the past 8 years, I have summed up my life's purpose in one goal: to glorify God. In this time, glorifying God has grown in its definition for me. Within the last 12 months, the definition has focused upon knowledge and wisdom. God gives those who believe and obey Him knowledge and wisdom. And not just a little, but any amount needed to live for Him. Even more, this knowledge and wisdom allows us to know God, to experience Him, and to escape evil. Knowledge of God is revealed by God. It allows believers of God, who seek His knowledge, to be wise and have understanding beyond that of people who do not know God and seek His Truth. This idea is evident in Western culture's knowledge and understanding of evil.

"Too many in Washington today have a modern, Western, secular mind-set that either discounts - or outright dismisses - the fact that evil is a real and active force in history. They insist on interpreting events only through the lenses of politics and economics" (Rosenberg, 2006, 46-47).

As real as God is in my critical thinking, evil is just as real. There is clear evidence of evil in our world: from pornography, molestation, and addictions of all kinds, to suicide bombers, threats of annihilation, and so much more. Evil seeps in through unGodly ideologies at all levels. The most disturbing aspect of unGodly ideologies is that so many of the current, controversial issues are cloaked in human-made costumes meant to pass for Godly Truth. God would never compromise Truth to make peace - never!

"Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by the world's standards, you will have to become a fool so that you can become wise by God's standards. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. (1 Corinthians 3:18-19).

I see many people in the world claiming knowledge and wisdom who have no resemblance of God. Worse, though, are the people who claim to have God, but whose wisdom is more similar to the world's than it is to God. Prophecy is powerful:

The Lord says, "These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent with vanish" (Isaiah 29:13-14).

Wisdom and intelligence without God is dead. An example of this is evident in Rosenberg's (2006) recollection of his first job in Washington immediately before the Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. He writes,

"When I first moved to Washington in January 1990 to work for the Heritage Foundation, it seemed increasingly clear to me that Saddam Hussein was going to invade Kuwait, attack Israel, and draw the world into a bloody new Middle East war.... I was certainly new to Washington and as green as they came. I had no master's or PhD in history or politics of the Middle East. I had lived but a semester in the Middle East, and Israel at that, not in an Arab or Islamic country.... But I could not shake the overwhelming feeling that the experts were about to be blindsided" (44 and 45).

The Washington experts were certainly blindsided in the summer of 1990, and again on September 11, 2001 with much more gusto. The difference between Rosenberg and the others was (and is) knowledge and wisdom revealed to Rosenberg through relationship with God and scripture (i.e., knowledge of good and evil).

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John, and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13).

In God's system of schooling, a life of knowing Him surpasses every level of earned degree known to humankind. Ordinary people with Godly wisdom and knowledge are able to participate in the divine and they are able to escape corruption caused by evil. Worldly knowledge and wisdom eventually drowns even the most intelligent among us.

My brain is beginning to stir....

My brain is beginning to stir with ideas to share, lessons that I am learning, and revelations close to my heart. Nearest the surface is a the conviction I sense to pray for my students. These young adults have already faced more trauma in their lives than my nearly 40 year old mind can comprehend.

Lord, may your grace and goodness rain upon these students. Bring healing to their bodies, minds, and souls. And Lord, guide my words and actions in Christ-likeness. Allow me to be a light, an example, a trustworthy individual who exemplifies your love for all people. May these dear lives experience You!

I am between Bible studies with a group of women, so I am focusing my quiet time on memorizing all of my 2009 verses. The Lord has blessed me in memorizing His Word in 2009 - beyond my ability to articulate. This process has taken me far beyond human plans and goals; it is mysteriously glorious. I had no idea the journey that was ahead of me when I signed on to meet this goal. No earthly idea! God is alive. His work is real on this earth. At the time of God's choosing, He will reveal Himself to every human.... I can not wait to meet Him f2f!

Psalm 90:17 - My 18th verse in 2009

"May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us -
yes, establish the work of our hands."

Ahhh!

I know this video is all over the internet and TV, but my heart is so warmed by this daddy's response to his little girl. I could not help but share it today!! This is great parenting in a nutshell. Enjoy....

2009 Goal - August 15 through September 15

I have not shared my 16th and 17th verses in Operation Scripture Memory 2009. For all of 2009, I am memorizing 2 pieces of scripture per month along with other bloggers on Beth Moore's blog. To say that this journey has been enriching is an understatement of cataclysmic proportion. I have been completely challenged and changed by this experience. The focus of my life has been transformed; there is still much work to be accomplished by the grace and goodness of God.

August 15-31, 2009

"I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching is not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (I Corinthians 2:3-5, NIV).

September 1-15, 2009

The Lord says, "These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish" (Isaiah 29:13-14, NIV).

I am continually challenged by the difference between man's wisdom and God's wisdom. One aspect of this difference that rocks my world is the Biblical idea that man without God CAN NOT know and understand Godly wisdom. For this reason, I am driven to know God more in order to think critically about the issues at hand. As one of my previous verses highlights, "the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God" (I Corinthians 3:18-19a).