The Power Within

Sermon:  July 26, 2015

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

--Ephesians 3:14-21

Today’s scripture reading is a prayer. This was Paul’s prison cell at the time that the letter to the people of Ephesus was written.

First, Paul tells us that he kneels before the Father. Imagine him kneeling in there. Kneeling is a posture of submission. We have special cushions for kneeling in submission to God in prayer, yet Paul kneeled there on that stone floor.

Paul’s word choices here are intentional…he refers to God as Father and to all of the families under heaven and earth. It is important that you see our church as family. We are a family. And just as Paul prayed for the church in Ephesus (and in many other surrounding areas), we should also pray for our church…our extended family.

And in every family, there must be a certain amount of patience and understanding. We are all different and yet we must love one another, be kind to one another, confront each other when it’s necessary, and forgive each other. No family is perfect, but we are all important.

And, as I mentioned early, God is described as our Father. When we describe the Trinity we say “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”. God the Father is spirit, the Holy Spirit is spirit, and Jesus (the Son) was fully human and fully God—he is a physical being. But we need to understand that Jesus is the only member of the Trinity who had a human body. God is spirit. He is not an old white man with a long white beard…or, as many younger people may think, he is not an old black man in a white suit with the voice of Morgan Freeman. He is spirit.

So…why do we call him Father? Well, there are many who have begun to refer to God as Mother…or they alternate between both. However, I struggle with this. The Bible tells us that Jesus is God’s son. Jesus had a mother—Mary. Jesus refers to him as Father. Many references in the New Testament refer to God as the Father. So, I believe that God intends for us to see him as a Father. Dad. Daddy. 

Now, for people who did not have a good father figure in their lives, sometimes this reference is difficult. But keep in mind that God is the perfect father. He has none of the faults that our human fathers have. And just as a perfect father would love his children unconditionally, God also loves us in this way.

The prayer that Paul prays focuses on strengthening the young church with the power of the Holy Spirit. He prays that God will strengthen them “with power through his Spirit in their inner being”. He prays that “Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith”. And he prays that they “may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Next Paul describes the power of the Holy Spirit: He says that the Holy Spirit is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

The Holy Spirit! The same Holy Spirit that lives within us today!

We talked last week about the splitting of the veil in the temple that symbolized God’s presence leaving the confinement of the Holy of Holies. God is with us…his church. But the Holy Spirit did not make himself known to the people until after Jesus ascension.

We celebrate this momentous occasion! It is called Pentecost.

(Famous painting by Jean Restout II in the Louvre.  15 ft by 26 ft.  The “Pentecost” was originally a much larger artwork. It was wider and had an arched top displaying a dove symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit. From this dove once radiated golden shafts of light that streamed down upon the apostles.)

Jesus told his followers when he was preparing to ascend into heaven that another was coming…a helper, the Holy Spirit. Here is what the book of Acts tells us about that day.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4)

Yes, the gift of tongues is real. I don’t have it so don’t ask me to do it! Nor do I have the ability to translate tongues—but there are also those with that gift.

The point is…the Holy Spirit came to us and gives us special power. In Paul’s first letter to the people of Corinth, he tells them about these special gifts.

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

And Paul tells us in our scripture reading this morning that the Holy Spirit is able to do immeasurable more than all we can ask or imagine.

Yet…are we allowing the Holy Spirit to give us this power in our lives? How can we access this amazing power of the Holy Spirit…this power that is living within us.

I believe that there are four things that we can do. And I got these four things from the work of John Piper. He’s a theologian and pastor that I respect. I learn from him and many other theologians on a regular basis.

First, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word.

Do you realize that when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, he responded to each temptation with scripture? There is POWER is scripture, folks. Yet, how can we defend ourselves with scripture if we don’t know any?

The bible is, by far, the bestselling book of all time. If you think about Bibles in your home, how many can you count in your head? I don’t even know how many we have—multiple translations from multiple events and occasions. We probably have more than 20.

Yet, when was the last time you read this best seller? When was the last time that you sat down in a quiet place and immersed yourself in God’s Word? And, even if you wanted to, it is often difficult to know where to even start!

It is not a normal book. It’s a library! A book full of books. Some of them are historical records, some are poems, some are songs, and some of them are prophecy.

I recommend starting with James. There are lots of recommended lists for “how to” read the Bible. Pick one and jump in. God will guide you.

The Bible is the primary way that God talks to us. He provided us with His Word. Read the Bible with the expectation that God will talk to you personally through the words that you read.

Secondly, we need to trust God.

Believe that the Bible is the truth and that God still speaks to us today through its enduring words. Know that you can trust that the Bible was written through the authority of God and inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. The writers of the scriptures were instruments that God used to pen His words. They were tools.

The Bible was written by men but inspired by God. Read it. Meditate on it. Believe it. And trust in its truth.

Faith is critical to our lives as Christians. Just ask the many who were healed and told by Jesus, “Your faith has healed you.” “Your faith has made you well.” 

The third thing we need to do is pray.

Prayer is another primary way that God talks to us. Yes, I know that we think of this as our primary way to talk to God, but we also need to take time in our prayers to just be still and listen.

And sometimes we are also called to fast. Fasting was used throughout Biblical times to speak to and hear from God. It is still a powerful tool today. In fact, John Wesley fasted every Wednesday and Friday…and he required his Pastors to do the same. It is important to know your physical limitations, talk with your doctor, and drink plenty of water when you fast.

But regardless of HOW you pray, know that God hears and answers prayer. That’s whether you pray constantly throughout the day in your mind, whether you pray aloud with your family, or whether you kneel and pray quietly. The Holy Spirit living within you makes sure that God knows your prayers before you even ask. In fact, the book of Romans tells us that the Holy Spirit knows what to pray for us even when we ourselves don’t know what to pray for.

Pray. Be intentional about it. Talk to God, your Father who loves you, and know he will answer. He won’t always answer in the way we think is best. But what do we know? Trust in his answers.

And finally, we need to be responsive to the nudging of the Holy Spirit.

If we want to take advantage of the power that we are offered through the Holy Spirit, we must be willing to do what the Holy Spirit prompts us to do. And it’s not always easy.

Have you felt the Holy Spirit urging you to visit someone, urging you to make a call, urging you to get involved in…something? All too often we ignore that prompting of the Holy Spirit because we don’t understand, or we’re scared, or we’re too proud.

When we resist the Holy Spirit, we are giving up this amazing power that God promises us. 

Sometimes I think it is unintentional. I think we can get so caught up in this world that we don’t even understand when God is trying to get our attention. But I will promise you that if you read God’s Word, if you pray earnestly and often, and if you believe…God and the Holy Spirit will find how to talk to you in a way that you understand.

When I work with youth, I encourage them to look for God Sightings. They begin noticing how God works in the world around them and before long they see how He is working in their own life. I encourage you to do the same.

Let’s use some of this mighty power that is right here within us to do amazing things for God in our community and in the world.

Our Spiritual Blessings

Sermon July 12, 2015

Ephesians is a special book in our Bible.

There is some argument regarding who wrote it…although the general consensus is that it truly was written by Paul in about 60 AD. And there is some argument regarding who it was written to. In fact, our earliest and best manuscripts do not say that it was written to the church in Ephesus…but to all Saints. It is believed that maybe there was a blank there for the deliverer of the letter (possibly Tychicus) to write in the name of the current city.

You see, this was probably a circulated letter that was written, as stated in the opening, to the saints…to God’s holy people. All of them. That includes me and that includes you. So as we work our way through the highlights of the well-written masterpiece of Paul’s, keep in mind that God our father intended for you to hear these words.  As we believe that all scripture is inspired by God, we also know that God is omniscient. He put you in this time and in this place so that you would be touched by the words he gave to Paul so long ago. So receive them as God’s Word given to you.

Ephesians is a broad statement of Paul’s theology. In this letter he is not addressing a problem, as he usually is, in the developing church. Instead, he is systematically laying out God’s work in this world and the appropriate response to it as His church.

Following a brief greeting, Paul praises God for his blessings on us as Christians. In the original Greek, this is all one long sentence. But in our translations it has been broken down into smaller chunks. And that is how you and I will look at it this morning…in small chunks so that we can hear, absorb, and marvel at the blessings that God has given us as his followers.


“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” 

--Ephesians 1:3-4

Paul starts by telling us about the blessing given us by the Father, God.

We have been blessed in the “heavenly realms”, in the spiritual world--a place that is beyond our senses but that is no less real than the building in which we meet today, the pew in which you sit, and the people that you currently see and touch.

This is a blessing that is difficult for us comprehend…but know that in this spiritual realm you have EVERY spiritual blessing. Understand that God chose us, me and you, before the world was even created. We were extended a grace, in our Methodist faith this is called prevenient grace, that precedes any decision to follow Christ. It existed prior to and regardless of anything that we have done.

Know that through all of this, we are holy and blameless in the sight of God.

Will you accept this blessing today?

“In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” 

--Ephesians 1:5-6

We were “predestined” to be His children. Now we need to be careful when talking about predestination. Paul never states anywhere that anyone was predestined to hell so our understanding of predestination is universal. We believe that all people are given the prevenient grace that can lead to everlasting life.

But notice that our predestination is through adoption. We were NOT God’s chosen people…the Isrealites were. We, as gentiles, were “grafted in” by adoption, we were not born into the family. Paul’s letter was obviously written to an audience that would’ve been largely made up of non-Jews…like you and I. This “grafting in” came through Jesus Christ. But it was God’s will and it was to his pleasure. And through this predestination through adoption we receive God’s glorious grace…which is given freely to us.

Will you accept this blessing today?

And now Paul transitions to sharing with us the blessing that we receive through the Son…Jesus Christ.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” 

--Ephesians 1:7-8

We have redemption.

Redemption is something that might have been paid for a slave or a piece of property. A ransom. We have been bought for a price…and that price was Jesus’ blood. The redemption was paid for our sins, our sins which put us into slavery in the first place. (We talked about this just last Sunday.)

Folks, this forgiveness, redemption, ransom is only possibly through the riches of God’s grace. He lavishes this grace on us.

Will you accept this blessing today?

“With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” 

--Ephesians 1:8-10

God is omniscient. He knows everything. From the very beginning before time even began, he had a plan for this world. And as we continue to work our way through time, His will is revealed to us. 

Much of it is a mystery…but part of the mystery was revealed when Christ fulfilled his purposes on earth. You see, God’s plan is perfect. The events are perfect, our understanding of it is perfect, and his timing is perfect.

God promises that when the “times reach their fulfillment”, everything will be in unity under Christ. Everything under heaven and on earth. Everything physical and everything spiritual. Unity of everything. The lion and the lamb. Muslims and Christians. Blacks and whites. EVERYTHING, including spiritual forces, will be unified.

Will you accept this blessing today?

“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” 

--Ephesians 1:11-12

Again Paul talks about the fact that we are chosen. Another terms used to describe this is “election”. We are the elect. And he mentions here that he is talking to the young church who were the first to put their hope in Christ…just as we, as Christians today, put our hope in Christ.

It is reiterated that God works out everything so that it fits into the purposes that He intends. God works out EVERYTHING for his purposes…for His will.

So we are chosen you and I so that we would praise his glory. We were meant to glorify our creator, our Father…who is all knowing and in control.

Will you accept this blessing today?

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” 

--Ephesians 1:13-14

Now Paul shares with us the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

So prevenient grace brought us to the point where we heard the message of the gospel…we heard the message of the truth. And when we believed this truth, we were marked with a seal.

Seal’s back then were often made with melted wax. Not only did the seal indicate ownership, but it also indicated protection.

We, my friends, are marked with this seal. It is the seal of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. The Holy Spirit who is a “deposit” on our future inheritance…just a little taste of the spiritual world right here in this physical world as a promise that we are destined for spiritual immortality.

The Holy Spirit living within you and within me is our guarantee from God himself that we are His. It can’t be taken away. It is guaranteed until the time of our redemption.

Will you accept this blessing today?

Following these verses…this one long, long sentence, Paul offered a prayer of Thanksgiving.  Allow me to offer such a prayer on behalf of this congregation and this body of Christ. Will you bow your head with me?

Lord God, I thank you for the First United Methodist Church of Syracuse and their faith in Jesus Christ. I ask you, Glorious Father, to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know You better.

I pray that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened in order that they may know the hope to which you have called them, the riches of Your glorious inheritance, and Your incomparably great power for all of us who believe…the same power as the mighty strength you exerted when You raised Christ from the dead and seated him at your right hand in heaven, far above the powers of this earth, where you placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Amen.

(Prayer based on Ephesian 1:15-23)

The Transfiguration of Christ: Listen to Him!

Sermon 5
February 10, 2013

Lisa was 15 years old, dark-haired, and 6 foot tall when I met her…and she was already a beauty (#32). It was my first teaching job and, of course, it came with a coaching position. Volleyball. I was so excited for this new challenge but also scared to death. 

I met the girls and their parents a few weeks before school started. And Lisa could smash the ball. She was a power house.

Those girls were sure special to me. In fact, all of those Healy kids were. We were there for three years…watching Lisa and her classmates grow up—going from gangly, goofy sophomores to graduated seniors ready to leave for college.

I saw Lisa several years later when she married Jason then got to see her briefly at a funeral when she was pregnant with her first child, Jaren.

And then tragedy struck.

Lisa and Jason were expecting their second child the next month. With four-year-old Jaren in his car seat in the back of the car, they were driving home from a delightfully baby shower in Lisa’s home town of Healy. 

As they approached an oncoming car, a deer jumped out in front of it. When the approaching car hit the deer, the impact shot the deer right into their windshield. Like a bullet, this large animal went through the driver’s side of the vehicle and shot out the back window.

Lisa realized Jason was unconscious and had to fight to get the vehicle stopped. She screamed Jaren’s name and he was so brave when he answered her, “Mommy, I am okay.” But Jason was not. Lisa used her cell phone to call 911 and then just tried to hold Jason steady while she kept her finger on the pulse she could feel in his neck.

But Jason died on the way to the hospital. And Lisa was left as a single mother to endure the labor and delivery of her second child without her husband by her side.

She was lost. And she needed a word from God.

 Have you been there? Maybe not to this extreme. But have you needed God’s direction? His comfort? His strength?

I want you to imagine that day long ago when Jesus took Peter, James, and John on top of that mountain. Jesus had been teaching, healing, and performing miracles. We just heard from the word of God that Jesus predicted his death and resurrection and then about a week later he took Peter, James, and John up there to pray.

So there they were, climbing up the mountain. And all of a sudden Peter, James, and John realized that they were no longer alone with Jesus. There were two other guys. On top of a “high mountain”.

Can you picture the astonishment? They would not have recognized these men.

Think about it. We know now that these two men were Moses and Elijah…great men of the faith who had lived hundreds of years before. Peter, James, and John would only know them by the stories that have been handed down from generation from generation. Their stories, of course, were read by these three in the Torah.

There weren’t pictures!

So here are these two extra men…talking to Jesus. And they’re all shining.

They are pretty confused at this point. And I would guess that they were pretty freaked out.

God talked to Jesus through Elijah and Moses! Who would believe that? Well, I suppose Peter, James and John would, wouldn’t they?

And actually, God spoke to them also. Once he had their attention, He said, “This is my son. Listen to him!” Who was God speaking to? He wasn’t speaking to Jesus, Elijah, or Moses. God himself spoke to Peter, James, and John in a voice from the sky. Who would believe that?

Can you imagine them telling that story once they got down? Ha! They didn’t! We are told that they kept it to themselves.

How in the world could they keep it to themselves? Well…it would sound a bit crazy, wouldn’t it?

Think about other times in the Bible when God spoke to people. Sometimes it was an audible voice, like this. But He also spoke to people through a large hand writing on a wall, dreams, visions, prophets, angels, Jesus, and finally, the Bible.

The Bible. This is the obvious way that God chooses to speak to us. He inspired the writers of this book and insured that those words would last forever. 168,000 Bibles are sold or given away every single day. How many Bibles are in your house right now? I did a quick count around our house last night and found 26.

But 26 Bibles don’t share with You the Word of God if you never pick one of them up and read it. Read it! And read it with the expectation that God has something to tell you through it. Because He does! And He will! This is the most basic, most obvious, way that God speaks to us. If you are seeking His guidance but not bothering to read His Word, you need to back up and work on your relationship with Him. And relationships hinge on our ability to “listen”. So read…and listen to Him.

But relationships are a two-way street, so it’s also important that we talk.

In our scripture reading today, we learned that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain to pray. Throughout the gospels, Jesus often took time to go off to pray. I had a friend tell me a while back, “I don’t really pray. God knows my thoughts so I don’t need to take the time to pray to Him.” I’ve heard other people make this same comment. Let me ask you…If Jesus needed time to pray, why in world should you feel like you don’t.

Sometimes I worry that we model prayer as a complicated thing. It’s not. It’s a conversation with God. Just speak to Him. He will answer. Are you waiting, watching, and listening for it?

My friend, Charity, shared a story about God answering her prayer. Charity and Mark were newlyweds. They were loving life! They were young and had the time to do the things THEY wanted to do. Living out in the country between two towns gave them a privacy and solitude that many of us don’t understand.

But during one winter storm in 1992, things changed. Charity and Mark each got snowed in a different town. On the third day, Charity felt that the roads were cleared enough that she could get home. So she headed that way (without telling anyone) with plans to surprise Mark. But about a mile and a half from home, she slammed into a drift and was stuck.

Although she knew it would be smartest to stay in the warm car, she also knew exactly where she was and convinced herself that she could make the walk home. But about 100 yards into her walk, she lost her bearings. She was lost. And after a while, it was dark. The cold was burning her hands. She pulled them up into her sleeves and pulled her arms to her chest then squatted down to provide as much body heat as possible.

She prayed and prayed, and God answered her. He LITERALLY answered her. "Have children," he clearly said to her. She heard it. You see, at the time, she and Mark did not intend to have children. She knew he didn't want them and she was willing to go along with what he wanted. But she heard God's voice, and she promised God that if He would save her, she would have children and raise them up to serve Him.

About twenty minutes later she saw some headlights. How Mark realized she was missing and found her is a whole other story in itself. But suffice it to say, Charity was saved. And she kept her promise.

Seven of them…although one is already with God. Six beautiful children love and walk with God every day because of message that God gave their mother one winter.

Prayer. God wants to have a relationship with you. Talk to Him…and listen to Him.

God also talks to us through other Christians—the church.

How many times have I sat in this room…in this very room…and been touched so deeply by the Holy Spirit that tears have flooded my eyes and run down my cheeks? More times than my kids will let me forget! Ugh…is mom crying again?? 

But it’s not just in the sanctuary…or necessarily in the church building at all. Part of the church meets here on Sunday morning, but “the church” is the collective body of Christians in the world.

God uses you and I (the church) to talk to his people. Wow! I believe that we often don’t even realize when God uses us to give a much needed word to another human being much less how. But that’s one reason that it is so important that we come together as the church. We need each other. The body of Christ needs all of its members. God uses our time together to talk to us through one another. Come together…and listen to Him.

And finally, God uses circumstances.

What about Moses and the burning bush? Think about it. Imagine that you are out mowing the lawn this summer and out of the corner of your eye you realize that one of your bushes is on fire…and then God starts talking to you through it. Sound a little crazy? Think you might think twice about sharing that with others? 

You know, the thing is…God gets our attention in whatever way He knows He can get our attention.

Some of you have heard the story of my call to ministry. It involves the story of the Transfiguration. In fact, after Pastor David gave me the dates I would be preaching this year, I was at my desk and I thought…I’ll bet one of them is Transfiguration Sunday. So I turned to the first one…and sure enough.

It’s a long story that I will share with you when you have a free couple of hours, but the abbreviated version is that God has reinforced every step of this journey into ministry with the story of the transfiguration. Including today. God is talking to me right now, through this time with you.

But God also talks to me in other ways…ways He knows will get my attention.

As Pastor Watson has been mentoring me into ministry, he allows me to come to his office for a weekly meeting to talk about things going on in my job and in my walk with God. One day, I asked him…have I ever told you the story of my call to ministry. And he said, “I don’t think so.” I said, “Well, it’s a long story, but I will tell you this. God talks to me through Bruce Springsteen.” 

Pastor David just sat back and smiled…then said, “I don’t think I’d tell that to the Board of Ordained Ministry.”

Ha!

But it’s true. It’s not ALWAYS true. And when I’m seeking the answer to a question, I don’t pull out my “Born in the USA” CD and listen to it to find the answer. After all, I don’t worship Bruce Springsteen.

But I’m grateful that I have a God that knows me so well and pursues me so diligently that he would be so creative in the way that he speaks to me.

Some people experience God through visions or dreams. Do these things sound crazy? Really, Gina. Bruce Springsteen? God’s voice in a snow storm? Visions? Dreams? Yes…and a burning bush, and a giant hand writing on a wall, and a talking donkey, and a pillar of cloud and fire, and Moses and Elijah on top of a mountain.

Sound crazy. Oh yes. That’s why Peter, James, and John kept it a secret. But it’s not crazy.

A couple days after Jason died, Lisa had a dream about him. In this dream Jason was sitting on a huge gold throne. Lisa was at his feet looking up at him. He reached his hand out and told her that everything was going to be OK. He then proceeded to give her instructions on how to take care of the finances, which made her laugh because she had no clue about any of their finances. He was an accountant, after all, and just took care of them. When she woke up the next day, although she was still so sad, she felt a calming peace and knew that this was God's message to her that Jason was in Heaven and that everything would be OK.

Lisa remarried a few years ago.

Scott had lost his wife to an extended illness in the days between the death of Jason and the birth of Lynsi. Each has a son and a daughter and are now raising them all together while daily celebrating the lives of the spouses they lost.

God will also talk to you through circumstances in your life. I don’t know what that will look like. But I believe more in “God-incidences” than coincidences. Are you paying attention? Look around…and listen to Him.

Father in heaven, We thank you that you are a God who is present with us. You are active and involved in our lives…not distant and uncaring. 

Lord, open our eyes…open our hearts and our minds to you. Speak to us in ways that you know we will understand and give us the strength to respond to You obediently. Amen

A Prayer for our Girls

Annie came home a couple of weeks ago with an interesting memento from her day.  One of her teachers had each of the students write his/her name at the top of a piece of paper.  Then they passed these around so that everyone had a chance to write on every paper something that they like about that person.

It's a good idea.  I've done this before in classes where my students didn't seem to be getting along and needed to be reminded that everyone has good qualities and brings value to the classroom.

Annie's list proclaimed that she:

• is pretty,
• dresses nicely,
• is someone several of them want to know better,
• has pretty hair,
• is nice,
• is hilarious,
• and is intelligent (ironically, it was misspelled).

All of these are flattering, but the majority of them are superficial.  Most of the comments focused on the first four things listed above.  And I would agree with all of them.  Annie does take care of her appearance and she was blessed with her grandmother's beauty--including the amazing dimple and naturally slim, athletic body.  

But, I don't want her to see these as her true assets.  "Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  (Proverbs 31:30)

Annie is so much more than a pretty face.

She has a big heart.  She worries.  My daughter worries about other people (especially her twin, Andy) and wants everyone to be happy.  She is nurturing.  I love to watch her "mother" Emmri and Greyson, the little neighbor girls.  She loves her friends and family.  Like me (and probably Heath), she associates people and events with music.  There are songs on her iPod that she listens to specifically to remind her of times with her cousin, Tyler, and Grandpa Tyler...as well as her brother, Heath, who is in the Navy.

Every girl should have to go through an "ugly phase" to learn some empathy for others.  Not all girls do.  My biggest fear for my daughters is that they will be "mean girls".  Mean Girl syndrome stems from jealousy and pride.  I know, I had my own bouts.  Mean girls get their value from their looks, boyfriends, and status (ie. popularity).

I don't want my daughters to assess their value on these things.

Lord God,

Please give my daughters empathy for all people.  Help them understand that beauty, boyfriends, and popularity do not determine their value.  In fact, help them choose NOT to desire to be popular.  Instead, lead them to live their lives according to Your will, which is counter-cultural and not popular.  Give them friends that will support them and hold them accountable.

Help Todd and I to teach them to not judge others as they see their peers make bad choices.  But help them avoid the same bad choices.  And when they do make mistakes, give them a remorseful heart and remind them that Your Son died so that they can be forgiven.  Give them the strength to say "No" even when they have made the mistake of saying "Yes" before.  Repentance is hard and painful and full of temptations.  Turn their hearts toward You when they must go through it.

Continue to help our girls nurture tender hearts.  Help us instill in them that their value is not in their appearance or status, but in their impact on others.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will give them the gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  (Galatians 5:22-23)

Give them the desire to seek You above all else.  And help us be the examples that we need to be.  Remind us every day that we are the spiritual guides of our children--not our church and not our youth pastors.  Give us the desire to learn every day from You so that our children will see this and know that You are the focus of our daily lives.

Thank you for blessing us with our amazing daughters...as well as our cherished sons.  Be with them all every single day...reminding them that they are Your children, too.

Amen.

The Tattoo

I’m a people-watcher.

It has always been interesting to me to note how people choose to look and behave in public. Oh, don’t get me wrong…it isn’t because I think I always look presentable or behave accordingly. Ha! Rather, I find it interesting to ponder the events that led up the specific moment in time that they happen to cross my line of sight.

And what better place is there to people-watch than the water park?

Actually, I don’t even realize that I’m taking in the details of other people until something grabs my attention. The tattoo did.

He was fairly young…well, younger than me anyway, with a slender build and short hair. He happened to be right in front of me playing with his children and I noticed that he had many tattoos. Tattoos, in themselves, often draw my eye. It always intrigues me to note what types of things people choose to permanently display on their bodies. A couple of words just jumped out at me. Did that say something about “save me?” Huh? So I watched until I could see the whole phrase.

Written across his upper chest right below his collar bone in upper-case old-English text was printed: SAVE ME FROM MYSELF.

It stayed with me the rest of the evening…and the next day…until this morning when I finally decided to put down my thoughts.

Throughout my life, I’ve made choices that have created my path in the world. No, things didn’t just happen to me. Life isn’t about luck or misfortune. Don’t get me wrong, I realize that we all enter the world with immediate advantages and disadvantages, but we all are also given the free-will to respond to these circumstances and the ability to make the decisions that dictate the course of our lives. We all have burdens that we bear—even those who keep them well-hidden. It’s not WHAT we bear, but HOW we bear it that really defines us.

The fact of the matter is…we are all sinners. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. Think about it. By definition, if you are a Christian you are a hypocrite. I am a hypocrite. I love God. God hates sin. I know it is wrong to sin. I speak out against sin. And yet, I sin. I am a hypocrite. I don’t want to be. I try not to be. But I am.

It cracks me up that we put so much stock into the “scientific discoveries” of man. How many of these are later proven wrong, even laughable, by future generations? Yes, we have developed some pretty cool technology—but could we develop a self-sustaining eco-system? What about a human eye? Hmmm…not even just one strand of brilliant DNA? Ha! And yet sometimes I choose to ignore God because I think I have it all figured out.

There are times I pray for comfort when I’m mourning loss, healing when I’m sick, help for others when I see them hurting, and of course thanks for my blessings. But most of my prayers can be summed up in the words of a young father’s tattoo:

Lord God, save me from myself.