True Hope

This week begins the 2010 Advent season.  Advent means 'coming' and is a time that believers in Christ prepare their hearts for the yearly celebration of His birth on December 25.  We pray that you will have a thoughtful and enriching Advent season, setting your heart on things above. Fresh Starts will focus on a different Advent theme each week until Christmas.   For a more thorough explanation of Advent, please take time to read this.*

In today’s casual use of language, the word hope has become a common verb. “I hope that chicken is still on sale” or “I hope my husband remembers our anniversary this year!” Rarely do we hear one use it in regards to the actual definition of a desire for good accompanied by expectation.

The word ‘hope’ was first used in the Bible in Ruth 1:12. Naomi was disheartened by the state of her life. Her husband was dead, her sons were dead, she was in a foreign land with no one but her daughters-in-law, and they were not even of her nationality. As she prepared to travel home to Bethlehem, Naomi said to her dead sons’ wives, “…Turn back, my daughters, go—for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, if I should have a husband tonight and should also bear sons, would you wait for them till they were grown? Would you restrain yourselves from having husbands? No, my daughters; for it grieves me very much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me!”

Naomi had no hope for a future of little more than begging and loneliness. There was surely a desire for good in her life, but she had zero expectation of that good. In her mind, her situation was beyond help. In spite of Naomi’s urging, daughter-in-law Ruth chose to stay with her and travel to Bethlehem. Although she herself was certainly unsure of what to expect, Ruth made a vow to stay with Naomi and to follow the Lord. (Ruth 1: 16,17) Upon arrival in Bethlehem, Ruth (after an incredibly romantic “should be made into a PBS special” courtship) ended up marrying Boaz, a man who stepped up to the plate and redeemed his distant family members from a life of poverty and hopelessness.

But did Naomi herself ever find hope or did she remain the tag-along mother-in-law? Oh no! Naomi ended up with more hope that she ever could have imagined. She ended up nursing the very child that would start the chain of events leading to the coming of Jesus. (Ruth 4:14-17) Ruth and Boaz had a baby boy. This little guy’s name was Obed and he later became the father of Jesse, who in turn became the father of King David. And who is in the lineage of David?

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Our True and Perfect Hope – Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Father, thank You for hope. Thank You that in spite of what my circumstances look like, You are always there moving and preparing things for my good. Help me to press into the Hope I have in You. Amen.

Challenge:

As you celebrate Advent this week, either with your family or in your own personal quiet time, look up Scripture verses on hope and meditate on them. In what or whom are you placing your hope? Or maybe, you are not hoping at all – but wishing. A good way to determine is to put your ‘hopes’ to the test. Does your way of hoping bring a joy and expectation of waiting on the Lord and His goodness? Or does it bring worry and anxiety and restlessness?

Advent – Week One:

Theme: Prophecy (Hope)

Scriptures: Sun. Is. 40:1-5, Mon. Is. 52:7-10, Tue. Is. 40:9-11, Wed. Gen. 3:8-15, Thu. Gen. 15:1-6, Fri. Deut. 18:15-19, Sat. Ps. 89:1-4 (You can limit your readings to one day if you that works better for your family.)

Advent Resources:

The ADVENTure of Christmas by Lisa Whelchel

Free Jesse Tree Advent Devotional by Ann Voskamp and Nancy Rodden

Jen G. 2010
* This link gives a good history and explanation of Advent.  Inclusion of this link does not necessarily mean an endorsement of all content on that website.

For His Mercy Endures

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever... Psalm 136 1-3 

As my son shared these verses this morning during our church family time, I was drawn to the words, "His mercy endures forever."  Twenty-six times the writer of this Psalm repeats those words. Why does he continuously use the word mercy?  What does mercy have to do with thankfulness? 

Webster's 1828 dictionary defines mercy this way:

[Mercy] implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency,

but exercised only towards offenders. 

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

Notice the last line of that definition. In order to receive mercy you must be an offender.  We are ALL offenders, if not towards another person, then certainly towards the Lord.  And yet, He still gives mercy. It is what each believer in Christ fully experiences the moment they die. That mercy does not wear out or get cast aside when someone sins one time too may.  He does not decide to recant His mercy once it is given. It endures forever. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:36

As Christ followers, we are to extend mercy to others.  How do we do that? Mercy is given when someone hurts you, leaves you or hates you and you choose not to hurt, leave or hate in return.  That seems like such a hard thing to do because it is hard!  Thankfully, the Lord has given us a way of escape in this hard thing. That is done by going directly to Him and asking Him for help to do the thing He has called us to do.

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:15-16

The Lord's mercy has a continuous existence, it is perpetual, for always, everlasting.  It has an indefinite and unending future, it lasts for eternity.  It is forever and always. (BLB) 

His mercy endureth forever.

That is worth all the thanks we can possibly give. 

Prayer:

Father, there are not enough words to thank You for Your mercy.  Nothing is so high, so wide, so deep as Your unending love and mercy towards me.  As I approach a day set aside for thanksgiving, let me feel Your presence and pleasure daily as I worship and honor You for your great and unending mercy.  Please help me to extend mercy towards those in my life as you have extended it to me. Amen

Challenge:

Read through all of Psalm 136 and then write your own Psalm of thanksgiving.  Think of all the ways the Lord has shown mercy on you and thank Him for each one.  Do you need to extend mercy to someone in your life?  Go boldly before the Lord and ask Him for the help you need.  He is faithful and will give you what you need to do what seems impossible!

Jen G. 2010



Are You a Jonah or a Moses?

My daughter and I were out with some friends looking for riding gear. While we were chatting, the young woman assisting us briefly shared a recent trial. The “I will be sure to pray for you” sentiment pushed forward in my mouth. And then the Lord clearly told me to offer to pray with the young woman assisting us.

Jen: “Seriously, Lord? You are seriously telling me to ask this girl if I can pray for her. In the middle of this store?”

Lord: “Yep. I am.”

As my heart surrendered to His leading, the sweaty palms and pounding in my chest subsided. A peace and confidence flooded over me as I boldly asked, “Would it totally freak you out if I prayed with you right now?”

The young woman looked surprised, but immediately said she would love it if we prayed. My daughter and our friends bowed their heads as if praying in the middle of a ritzy tack store while people milled around was the most natural thing in the world. And I prayed.

This story is shared not because I have a handle on immediate obedience, but because I do not. More often than not, I resist the urging of the Holy Spirit. I beg Him to speak to me, give me direction and use me. And then, when He tries to, I argue. I tell Him I am too embarrassed, not qualified and not gifted enough. In doing so I miss whatever blessing He has for me in the task at hand. Even worse, I fear, is the blessing someone else will miss because of my orneriness. Praise the Lord that this time I listened!

Jonah argued with the Lord. Instead of listening and obeying, he came up with a myriad of excuses. Most of them centered on the unworthiness of the people of whom he was being asked to minister. He did eventually end up obeying, but it was with a sour heart bent on getting the job over and done with. When the people listened to the Lord’s warning Jonah was mad! (Jonah 3:10-4:1)

Moses argued with the Lord as well. He gave reasons why he was not qualified to do the seemingly impossible job of leading the Israelites into freedom. Moses’ issues stemmed from fear rather than stuck up, Jonah pride. The Lord spoke to Moses firmly, assuring him that he was called and would be thoroughly equipped. As a result of Moses' obedience, God’s people were led into freedom and we have a beautiful example of an Old Testament shadow of Christ’s atoning work. (Exodus 3 and 4)

Are you a Jonah or a Moses? What is the Lord asking you to do and how are you responding? Do you jump at the chance to see how the Lord will work in your weakness or do you puff yourself up thinking that you are too good for the mission He has called you to perform? I encourage you to get ready to respond positively to what He calls you to do today.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 2:8-10

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Prayer:

Father, I thank You that You have equipped me for every good work and that nothing is too difficult for me to accomplish through You alone. Help me to listen to Your voice today and to act immediately. Amen.

Challenge:

This week, start your days off asking the Lord to prepare your heart to hear His instructions and act on them. When you feel Him speaking to you, step out and DO what He is directing you to do. Keep a written record of how often you felt prompted to speak or do something and the results.

Jen G. 2010

The Perfect Sin-o-Meter

This article was posted last November on Fresh Starts.  At the time, I was breathing a huge sigh of relief because I thought the Lord was all done with the area I addressed in this writing.  Boy, was I wrong!  He was just getting started.  Our God is so faithful to finish the job, never leaving anything undone or unaddressed.  I pray that He will speak to you again, or for the first time, through this week's Fresh Start.  Jen

This past year has been the most wonderfully difficult time I can remember in my adult years. You might think the words ‘wonderfully’ and ‘difficult’ do not belong in the same sentence, but I can tell you that they certainly do! The Lord has been taking me through the deepest, darkest parts of my heart exposing and rooting out selfishness, unforgiveness, resentment, pride, harshness, anger – the list is long and ugly. I was unaware that most of these things where even in there. Thankfully, the Lord has a handy attribute called Omniscience and He is not afraid to use it.


In His goodness, the Lord has allowed me to see, read, and hear my own ugliness. This year long process came to a head this past month when He directed me to Psalm 19, having me read over and over again how His Word is the perfect sin-o-meter.

Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. Psalm 19:12,13

When I see justification for an offence taken, the Word sees an excuse to set up walls to keep others out. (Proverbs 18:19) When I see a reason to withhold forgiveness, it sees a woman who is willing to receive the precious forgiveness of Jesus but is unwilling to extend that same forgiveness to a peer. (Matt. 18:23-35) When I see a situation that is ripe for sarcasm and anger, He sees a heart that is refusing to live at peace with all men. (Romans 12:18)

I encourage you not to stuff and ignore those nagging feelings that pop up. Trust me on this - I tried to ignore the conviction and it only extended the process, creating more issues along the way. Recognize the niggling for what it is: a warning to be heeded (Psalm 19:11), and the reward for paying attention and taking action is great and worth the pain of facing and dealing with your sin.

When we allow the Lord to work freely in our hearts, the process is usually very uncomfortable. The great thing is that with that pain there is the gain of having a clean heart before Him. The secret faults, the presumptuous sins – none can be hidden from the lamp of God’s Word. When those secret sins are exposed and dealt with the effects are long reaching to our homes, churches, friendships, and workplaces, making the result of the difficult process truly wonderful!

Prayer:
Father, thank You for exposing my sin. Thank You for doing it little by little, bringing me to a place of repentance. Help me to walk in Your ways in every area of my life, never resisting Your good and perfect plan for me.

Challenge:
Read Psalm 19 in its entirety each day this week, focusing especially on verses 7 through 14. Make special note of what the Word of God is. Be careful not to fall into presumptuous sins - things that tend to be given a stamp of approval because, well, we are human after all. Some of those might include your tone of voice with your kids (They made me mad!), your critical spirit over the worship at church (It is just not my style. Why can't we sing more [insert favorite style here]?), your resistance to do something your husband has asked (He knows I hate fish! Why should I have to cook it?). Those justified sins can be the most dangerous and quickly gain dominion over you (Psalm 19:13).
Jen G. 2009

In Everything

Part of my calling as SuperMom is to be sure that my children have loads of good memories. Holidays are super handy for this purpose. I realized a while ago, though, that holidays have so much more potential than one single day of memory stock piling. That is why our holidays are month long events, not single days that come and go in a flash. With that in mind, let’s chat about Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving has been around much, much longer than the presidential appointed day in November. The first mention that I can find of the word thanksgiving in the Bible is in Leviticus 7:12 in relation to peace offerings. I am certainly not a scholar of Levitical law, but in reading the portion I am struck by the words “sacrifice of thanksgiving”. A sacrifice is something that must be slain, given up, surrendered. I think of Philippians 4:6 and 7 -

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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

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When things are difficult and concerning, usually the last thing I want to do is pray with thanksgiving. Begging and pleading for things to go my way is more my style. But the Scripture tells me to pray with thanksgiving and so I strive to sacrifice my natural feelings. When I do that, the benefit is a peace that surpasses all understanding and guards my heart and mind. Sacrificing my fleshly desire to control and be comfortable brings blessing. Sacrifice is hard, but worth it.

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As November unfolds, do not wait until November 25 to celebrate Thanksgiving. Start today. Begin to offer your own sacrifices of thanksgiving as situations arise in which you see no purpose. Remember, ALL things are known to the Lord and He will use everything to grow us up in Him. Do not reject the hard. Do not resent the difficult and painful. Embrace it with a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Trust that the One who knows all has a greater purpose beyond what you can see and understand.

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

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I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me. I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. Psalm 69: 29-31

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Prayer:

Father, I want to be a thankful person. I want to be thankful for more than food and a home. I want to be thankful for difficult people who help me grow in love and patience; thankful for hard circumstances that cause me to work through fear and doubt and grow my faith. I determine to make a willing sacrifice of thanksgiving in my life, trusting that You will bring peace and blessing in my obedience. Amen.

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Challenge:

Take a real 30 day challenge! Stop over to Revive Our Hearts challenge page and sign up for the 30 day Gratitude Challenge. (PDF)

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Extended Challenges for the Month:

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Make a list of everything in your life that you are NOT feeling thankful for right now – finances, job, being home all the time with little people, your husband’s sloppiness, the broken toilet seat, the musty basement, the whiny friend, the nosey neighbor, the music at church – nothing is off limits. Next to each unthankful-for item make an opposite thankful response. (You will have to use your imagination until you really do find your thankful spot!) Spend time each day making a sacrifice of thanksgiving in these areas. I.e. your husband’s sloppiness gives you an opportunity to serve him in practical ways by cleaning up after him joyfully.

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Make a thankful tree with your family. Tear a brown paper bag into a trunk and branches and tape it to the wall or a door. Each evening at dinner, have each family member write one thing they are thankful for on a cut out construction paper leaf and tape it to a branch.

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Purchase Thanksgiving: A Time to Remember by Barbara Rainey. This beautiful book is a great read aloud that includes a CDs of instrumental Thanksgiving hymns.

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Jen G. 2010