GROWING SEEDS: Grace Covers Sin

April 7, 2019

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. 

But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 

1 John 2:1

For two hours most every Sunday afternoon since January, I have spent it sitting next to a cute little pre-teen in our church's Confirmation Class (i.e., Baptismal-type class for those who aren't Methodist).  They are learning about the importance of Relationship between God and us...who God is (and isn't)....and how Grace covers Sin.

This past Sunday, they were asked to write out the word "SIN" in their own unique way all over a page in their study book..  I watched as my little mentee used squiggly lines to write out in her own artistic way, "SIN", all over her page with a light-colored pen.  They were then instructed to use a dark colored pen and write the word "Grace" on top of and to cover the sin words.  

As I watched her creative mind and hand working together to complete this project, it reminded me of an example I heard by Guest Speaker, Josh Hood, at our last week's Wednesday night service of The Stand.  He explained Sin and Grace this way:

Imagine you are sitting at a kitchen table with a filthy dirty plate in front of you.  The filth on the plate is your sins, your transgressions, your wrong-doings.  Now, imagine God sitting directly across the table from you with a clean white plate in front of Him.  This spotless plate represents His grace.  When we ask God to forgive us of our sins, it's as if He replaces His squeaky clean plate with our dirty filthy plate.  He swaps them right there in front of you on the table.  He takes your soiled and unclean plate full of sins and, in return, hands you His immaculately dirt-free plate.   

It was a beautiful visual of how undeserving I am that he would switch my sins for His forgiveness.  I've heard Grace explained as God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves.  That would describe you and me.

May the grace He has given you today, yesterday and tomorrow, be the grace you share with others.

Amazing Grace!  How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

GROWING SEEDS: The Masks We Wear

March 31, 2019

They say that once you top the hill of mid-life and start heading down the other side, the importance of the journey changes from one of Adventure to one of Meaning.  Ok, nobody said that....I said that....but most of us reading this right now are in the season of "Meaning".  We have shed the designer backpack (perfection) and are now toting a Walmart bag instead (reality).  The "things" that once were the most important, have been moved to the least important.  Funny how that happens as you slide down this side of life....

For my 50th birthday, my friends and family thought it would be a great Birthday gift to laminate Jerry Jones' (Dallas Cowboys) face and glue him on popsicle sticks in honor of....wait for it....me.  I've never been a fan of JJ and most everyone that's spent 5 minutes with me knows why.  But suddenly, everyone was waving at me from the side of our road and looked just like him.  It was like my worst nightmare.

I tell you this, because we all, at one time or another, have worn the mask we long to be seen in.  Fortunately, they don't all look like Mr. Jones, but we often feel the need to hide our brokenness, our sin, our pain and yes, our suffering behind a mask of happiness, perfection, and stylish backpacks.  It was easier when we were living in the season of Adventure, but now that many of us are living in the Season of Meaning, we find it harder to keep that false mask on our face during times of struggle.  

Interestingly, I get the most comments when I write about the hard times...the vulnerable times when I blink through the tears as I type that life is hard...when the string holding my mask on keeps breaking and you see the real me.  I'm guessing that you, too, are struggling to hold that smiling perfect mask on your face. 

But, if I've learned anything in my 50+ years, it's that we get stronger through the parts of our stories we'd rather not share.  It's in those parts of the story that we become unstoppable. Rebuilt, actually.  

But here's the cool part.  It's in the vulnerability of our story that allows others permission to take off their mask.

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, 

for my power is made perfect in weakness."  

For when I am weak, then I am strong."  

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

GROWING SEEDS: I Don't Have To Know the Plan to Know There Is A Plan

March 24, 2019

"I don't have to know the Plan to know there IS a Plan."

Have you ever been angry at God?  My sister tells me it's okay to be angry with Him...that He can handle it...that He understands how we can get angry with Him when He takes us down roads that appear to be dead-ends and doesn't appear to be for our own good.  And I'll admit, I'm going down such a road right now.  

How about that....I'm human after all.

This week, I have vented rather harshly to God.  The question "Why" has occurred no less than 2,679 times in the form of "Why would You lead me down this road...answering prayer after prayer after prayer....only to get me within a few feet of the Finish Line and pull the rug out from under me?"  Yes....this has been a common prayer-rant of mine for the past two days.  It feels almost like a form of betrayal and actually cruel of Him to do or allow such a thing to happen.  

But then the picture of Mary and Martha pops suddenly into my mind.  I think of these two cool sisters standing by the bedside of their dying brother Lazarus, urgently sending a New Testament-text to Jesus who is only a short distance from their home.  They know...and BELIEVE...that if Jesus will just stop what He's doing and come quickly, He can save their brother Lazarus from certain death; after all, he is one of Jesus' best friends they reason!  But then they receive word that Jesus isn't coming right away...He's staying put for a few more days...and they are desperate to understand "why".  By the time Jesus arrived where Lazarus was, he had been dead and in the tomb for 4 days.

And that's where I am now.  "Lord, why did You lead me down this road only to desert me now?"

And He says to me like He said to Mary and Martha, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  In other words, did I not tell you I had a plan?  You don't need to know the plan, Liz...you only need to believe there IS a plan.  Trust Me....it's for My glory and your own good.  

I promise.

GROWING SEEDS: Welcome Home, Prodigal

March 17, 2019

"While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; 

he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."  

Luke 15:20

I just love the story of the Prodigal Son.  For the longest, my heart went out to the older brother who stayed home, worked hard and didn't cause his father any trouble......cause at one time, that was me.

When I was a teenager, my older brother who was 17, was enrolled in a church boarding school 10 hours away when he found himself in a heap of trouble.  I won't go into what he did, but suffice it to say, he got kicked out of school.  While he was driving himself the 500 miles home, my mother and father were busy making a gigantic sign to place in the yard that said "Welcome Home, Son".  When I drove up in my Chevy Vega from school that day and saw that sign, I was furious.  I couldn't understand why my parents were welcoming this good-for-nothing, troublemaker prodigal son of theirs, home with open arms.  They barely acknowledged me; they just continued looking out the front window for him to drive up.  I just didn't get it.

Many years later while talking to my Dad about this incident, I asked him why he welcomed my brother home without even a hint of anger and disgust.  I'll never forget how he looked up, as if his mind was rewinding back to that time, and told me that he and Mom were so afraid that James would not return home that night...they feared they might never see or hear from him again.  They wanted to make sure he knew how loved he was even with the mistakes he had made.....and he was forgiven.

It was a modern-day Prodigal Son story.  I admire my folks 1000x more now than I did then cause, you see, my brother turned out to be one of the most spiritual people I've ever met....no doubt because of the love and forgiveness of that day many years ago.

Thank God we have a Father who will go to the ends of the earth to forgive us, love us and welcome us home.

GROWING SEEDS: Why I Stopped Keeping A Prayer List

March 10, 2019

I have a True Confession.

I threw out my Prayer List.  Well, not exactly "threw it out"...I organized it.  Ya...that's what I did.  I organized it.

See, for the past few years, I've been flooded (interesting choice of words) with Prayer Requests.  Friends struggling through illness, divorce, death, hardships, drugs, angry husbands, even angrier children....on and on and on.  The trials and struggles of living on this earth and me trying to "keep up" with my prayers for each of these has been interestingly comparable to trying to complete a weekly homework assignment for a Beth Moore Bible Study.  Virtually impossible.

So, I sat down and categorized my prayer list into 7 groups:  

SUNDAYS...I pray for my Church.  Not necessarily my "specifically-attended-church", but rather, my Christian Church.  This includes Baptists, Church of Christ, Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Lutheran, etc. 

MONDAYS....I pray for my Granddaughters, Bella and Brie.  They are 14 and 16 and if there were ever an age group to pray for, it is 14 and 16.  My Monday morning prayer is focused exclusively on these two miracles in my life.  

TUESDAYS...I pray for my Family.  This includes my Dad, Sisters, Brothers, Nieces, Nephews, Cousins, Uncles...by name.  It gives me an opportunity to think of each of them and pray for their specific need.

WEDNESDAYS...I pray for our Son and Daughter-in-law, Troy and Jen.  They hold a special place in my heart and in my life and they deserve their own day for special prayer.  

THURSDAYS...I pray for my Friends.  Yes..that includes You.  I list you by name and I pray healing, peace, hope and rescue for you during this often difficult journey through life as you travel the path to Home.  Just know, I pray for you on Thursdays.

FRIDAYS...I pray for my Enemies.  Yes...I have enemies.  I pray my heart to be softened towards them...that I learn to love them as God loves them...and that they see Him in me as my heart changes towards them.

SATURDAYS...I pray for Me.  That as the enemy pulls the rope I'm holding onto in this tug-a-war life I live between Good and Evil, that God will give me the strength to pull harder towards good and win the battle against evil.

I encourage you if you're feeling this same pressure to pray for every-one, every-day....try this.  It changes every-thing. 

GROWING SEEDS: Does God Know You?

An ABC News poll says that 83% of Americans see themselves as Christians.  That's baffling to me since our country is in the desperate mess it's in.  With state(s) legalizing the death of children as easily as they pass a subway tax (late-term abortion), and 37 states legalizing same-sex marriages, not to mention the second state has just made it a requirement to teach our young children the history of LGBT, it all leaves me scratching my head.

But then I realize, belief in Christ....without following Him....is simply belief.  Anyone can believe in God; even those who despise God can believe He exists.  But there's a big difference in saying we believe in God and living out that belief.  The Bible is abundantly clear we must believe AND follow; but before we can follow, we first must be saved.

About a year ago, I was watching a movie on Pureflix; a Christian version of Netflix.  Although I don't recall the name of the movie, I do remember it saying this:

"Wouldn't it mean everyone would go to Heaven and no one would go to hell if Christ died for a world of sinners?  Well, not exactly.  If I was handed a bottled water, I'm still thirsty unless I open it and drink it.  It's not enough to just have the water in my hand and made available to me, but I have to do my part and drink it in order to quench my thirst.  The sacrifice of the cross was like God handing me the water.  Unless I do my part by opening and drinking it, I'll still be thirsty.  I have to ACCEPT and DRINK the water."

"In the same way, faith (belief) by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

James 2:17

In other words, we're not saved by our good works; but if we are saved, we will do good works.  It's virtually impossible for us not to. Make sense? 

My fear is that many of the 83% of Americans in the ABC poll has made being a Christian less about loving God and more about knowing OF Him.  Which leads us to the scariest verse in the Bible:

"On that last day, many will call me Lord.  They will say, "Lord, Lord, by the power of Your name, we spoke for God.....

Then I will tell those people clearly, 

'Get away from Me, you people who do wrong.  I never knew you."

Matthew 7:22-23

GROWING SEEDS: You - Are - A - Target

February 24, 2019

You - Are - A - Target

A number of years ago, I watched as a friend went from one crisis catastrophe after another.  It seemed as if she could barely catch her breath from one before another slammed into her.  And these weren't small hiccup attacks in her life....they were massive tsunami attacks.  Through it all, she kept her head up, a smile on her face and said the following to me:

"Christianity is a battle, Liz, not a dream."

Wendell Phillips

And boy-howdy was she right!  

Before God and I started getting to know each other (ok, He already knew ME, I just didn't know HIM), my life was EASY.  There were very few issues...struggles were scarce and life was one big beautiful trip to Disneyland.  The hardest decision I had was where to go for dinner that evening.  

But then the attacks started coming my way.  It seemed the more I got to know God, the stronger the attacks got to know me.  And I remember hearing these words:

"If you are a Christian, you are the target of Satan, the enemy of our souls.  It is his aim to lure you off the path of strength, life, and authority and onto a course of destruction."  

Friends,

Satan - Has - Your - Name - In - His - Crosshairs  

The side we choose to be on in this battle for our souls is what we have to ask ourselves.  There is no neutral territory you can stand on and be safe.  You have to pick a side.  But just remember; God chose YOU before He even created the earth.  He whispered your name while in your mother's womb as He was busy knitting you into the person you are.  He always had a mighty plan for your life.

Choose your battle side carefully....and remember; He promised He would win this battle.

GROWING SEEDS: Don't Quit In The Pit

There is this invisible hole we all long to climb into when times get tough.  When flood waters come, when cancer knocks on the door, and when death happens while we sleep.   We get our shovels out and we dig.....we dig until the Pit is big enough to crawl into and we can no longer be seen.  We sit with our knees curled up to our chests as we rock back and forth, in perfect sync with our pain.  

If you haven't taken that shovel off the wall of your garage yet and started digging, you will someday.  

It's not a matter of will you....its a matter of when will you.

I sat out next to a fireless-firepit this past Saturday with my dear friends Jack and Marlane as my realtor showed the house to a potential buyer.  It was cold, misting rain and my coffee had moved from hot to cold in an instant.  We talked about the Pit....the Pit that swallows us up during times of crisis and heartache and how, when life comes crashing down all around you and nothing looks familiar anymore, the Pit is the only place you long to be.  You want to be alone with your sorrow....feel the comfort and proximity of the walls around you and feel the familiarity of your knees wrapped tightly in your arms.  It's a place of comfort....for awhile.

Right after Chuck passed away, I picked up the shovel to start digging my Pit.  I wanted to be in that Pit almost as bad as I wanted to sit and eat an entire Becky-Arterbury-Buttermilk-Pie alone.  But.....I couldn't.  Every time I'd pick up that metaphoric shovel, someone would come up and say, "Come on, you need to go to coffee"....."Let's go to The Stand"...."Keep Moving...Keep Breathing...Keep out of the stinkin' Pit, Liz."   And before long, the Pit lost its appeal.

And in the words of my friend Jack, when we look up from that dark quiet Pit of despair, we see a pinhole of Light.  We see a roll-down ladder heading straight towards us...and no matter how deep your Pit might be, it is not too deep for God to reach you....and rescue you.  

"There is beauty in your despair.

You just need to know where to look."

GROWING SEEDS: Not A Fan

"All throughout Scripture, following Jesus isn't something you can do at night where no one notices.  

It's a 24-hour a day commitment that WILL interfere with your life.  

That's not the small-print; that's a guarantee."  

Kyle Idleman, "Not A Fan"

Once a year, my sister, Debbie and I reread a book titled "Not A Fan".  

"Not A Fan" asks the question, "Are you a Fan or Follower........of God?"  Do you KNOW God or do you just know OFGod?  Huge difference, friends.  We may know all the Fun Facts about Bible stories....be able to quote scripture and say the 23rd Psalm perfectly, but do you truly KNOW God like you know your spouse, or child or parent? 

When I was 14, Elton John was my hero.  Once, a girlfriend from my school called into the local radio station, KVIL, and won an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles to hear Elton John in concert.  She had back-stage passes, she had front row seats and she even got to meet Elton John in person.  I was so envious of her and quietly thought, "That should have been me...I know Elton John better than anyone!".

But what I actually knew of Elton John was he was born on March 25, 1947; he was 5'8" and his real name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight.  And even though I knew the lyrics of every song he ever sang, I didn't actually KNOWElton John personally.  I knew OF Elton John.  I was his biggest Fan.

I have found in my life that, so often, I would treat God like Elton John.  I would claim to know everything about Him....ramble off the facts and figures...the parables and the prayers...without actually KNOWING Him; i.e., having a Father-Daughter relationship with Him.  He was more of an acquaintance, less of a relative.  Many have made a decision to believe in Jesus without making a commitment to follow Him.  

Remember; even the enemy believes in Jesus.

Truth is, God isn't interested in having you as His Fan.  He wants you as His Follower. 

GROWING SEEDS: Hidden Blessings

A few weeks ago, two decent looking guys drove down my road, pulled into my neighbor's driveway and started checking out a large pine tree between our two houses.  They made their way over to me, shook my hand, pointed to the 70' pine tree and said, "That tree REALLY needs to come down, ma'am.  We'll be happy to take it down for you."  I was immediately skeptical.  Yes, that tree had been hit by lightning TWICE years before, but it still had new growth and looked fairly healthy from my vantage point.  They asked me to walk over with them and look at my neighbor's side of this tree...and it was only then that I saw the frailty of the tree.  If it were to fall, it would fall straight on my neighbor's house.

Since the tree appeared to be more on my property than my neighbors (wouldn't you know it), they gave me a price to cut it down.  I said I'd call them when I was ready.  Fast forward...three weeks went by and every time the wind kicked up, I thought about that dang tree.  I knew the damage would be substantial to the neighbor's house if it were to fall, and I knew I needed to do this sooner rather than later.

So I called these decent looking guys and gave the go-ahead.  The next day, a freezing Wednesday morning, they stood next to that dying tree, placed their hands on its rough bark, looked straight up into the heavens, and prayed.  Yes....they PRAYED over my 70' pine tree.  They prayed protection for themselves...they prayed the Lord's guidance on where the limbs fell...they even thanked Him for bringing them down the road to ME.  They never knew I was watching as I grabbed my cell and took pictures of their amazing witness to me.

I realized at that moment, that our vantage point doesn't always show the true picture of our story.  I thought the tree was fine from my side of it, but it was diseased from the unseen side.  I thought these were just two guys trying to make a buck removing a tree, but they were actually messengers sent by God to protect and help me.   

And I uncovered that sometimes... what appears to be invisible to us....is actually God's hand in disguise. 

There are hidden blessings in every story.