Out to Lunch

To be more accurate - Out to Convention.  Fresh Starts will return by July 2.  Thanks in advance for your prayers as my family and I head into a very busy, and fun, week.

Running Our Race in Faith

Many thanks to Mrs. B for her insightful and encouraging words.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6

As I have gotten older, I have found myself wondering if my life has been pleasing to God. Have I served enough, prayed enough, repented enough? Recently I was reminded of this verse – without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him! Let me explain how this has caught my attention.

In the first few chapters of Genesis, Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord.  The Lord accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s. Why? A man named Enoch is discussed in chapter 5; he walked with God, and then God took him to heaven without experiencing physical death. Why? In chapter 6 God was sorry and grieved in His heart that He had made man, and He decided to blot out every creature. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord and was saved. Why? Then Abraham and Sarah -- they were blessed beyond anything we can imagine with as many descendents as the stars in heaven! Again, why?

The key is found in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews - “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval” (v. 1-2).   

Verse 4 says that by faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain – because Abel offered it with faith. Enoch was taken up by faith, which was pleasing to God. Noah prepared an ark by faith so that his household could be saved, and it says in verse 7 that he became an “heir of the righteousness with is according to faith.” Abraham obeyed God by faith and left his home country, and later Sarah, by faith, took God at His word and received the ability to conceive in her old age.

As those who love God and who serve Him in various ministries to our families and the Body of Christ, how can we be pleasing to Him through those? On the one hand, we can do NOTHING to please Him – our righteousness is as filthy rags to Him, and the only way to please Him is to come to Him through the righteousness of Christ. Yet on the other hand, this verse clearly says that there IS a way to please Him – we can bring our offering of ministry and lift it up to Him by faith. We can turn our hearts to Him and trust His Word – that He will do what He has promised to do.

… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for these examples that are written down for us, including Your perfect example. Thank You that I can be pleasing to You by running my race in faith, believing in who You are and believing in Your promises.  I am so grateful.

Challenge: Reflect this week on the promises God has given to you in His Word and to your own heart.  Commit to trusting Him all over again that He will do what He said He will do. Purposefully push aside doubts and fear by fixing your eyes on Him.

Mrs. B :) 2012

Marriage as Chemistry

Many thanks to Barb K. for her insightful words!

I am back in school, after a 37-year hiatus. I was reading in my Anatomy and Physiology book about the chemistry of the human body, and came across something I have learned several times in my life (high school chem, college chem, homeschool chem, you get the picture...) but which always fills me with awe at the incredible Creator God that we serve.

God can take a silvery-white metal (sodium) and bond it with a poisonous green gas (chlorine) to make a white, crystalline substance that has healing properties, preserves food, and makes food taste better, as well.

A. Mazing.

Two completely unrelated things, and one of them poisonous to humans, to boot. (tho' does pretty well at bleaching your white things...) He designed their outer valent shells (think back, your chemistry is still in your brain somewhere!) to "desire" to have the full allotment of eight electrons. Sodium has one electron in its outer shell; chlorine has seven. Sounds like a "match made in heaven," right?

Exactly.

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." --Gen. 2:24a

When sodium and chloride get together, that's called bonding (ionic bonding, to be specific). There's another type of chemical bonding called covalent bonding. This is where the two elements share electrons. An example of this is two hydrogens sharing with one oxygen to make water. Since we are 60% water ourselves, we have a lot of covalent bonding going on already. But that "two become one" thing--always difficult to grasp, though with a marriage of almost 36 years (so far), I can "apprehend" it. God takes two different things, putting them together to make something strong and beautiful. Somewhat different from the original parts (tho' a marriage is not as drastic a change as sodium chloride, right?) but better, stronger, and with a shared purpose.

"Ye are the salt of the earth." --Matt. 5:13 

Salt has so many beautiful properties. It is healing. It preserves things. It tastes good! My pastor says that we should work to make our marriages the very best they can be, because Christian Marriage is the best picture God has, to show Himself to the world. So I can say the same thing about marriage: it is healing. It preserves things. It tastes good!

I suspect that marriage is an example of covalent bonding--the "shared electron" thing. My textbook says that "the shared electrons orbit and "belong to" the whole molecule, ensuring the stability of each atom." Isn't that beautiful?

Whew. I'm glad we're not ionic bonding. Then one of us would have to be the "silvery white metal," and the other would have to be the "poisonous green gas." And I'd be a little afraid to ask God which one I am...

Prayer: Lord, help me to appreciate the wonder that you can take two so very different people and make them one. And not only a patched-together “one,” but “one” who, in relationship with You, has the power to heal others, preserve society, and make life “taste better.”

Challenge: This week, as you take out that salt shaker, think about what it does. It can heal wounds; it preserves foods such as bacon; and there’s no denying it makes food taste better. Then think about these possibilities in your marriage, and determine not to let your “salt” be “trampled underfoot.”

Barb K. 2012

Textbook quote taken from Human Anatomy and Physiology, Marieb and Hoehn, ninth ed., p. 34.