MJ's Blog

This past weekend, my extended family gathered here in town to celebrate my aunt and uncle’s 40th wedding anniversary. What an exciting time!

The gathering made me stop and think how blessed our family truly is. It is rare in these times for a marriage to last that long. Yet, many of the couples in my family have been married that long. I thank God for a family whose goal is to serve our precious Lord and Saviour.

It was good to see my cousins and their families, catch up on what is happening in everyone’s lives, and reminisce over the many good times we have had together.

Thank you Lord, for this wonderful blessing!

Change. None of us like it. But, the Psalmist said, “…Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” (Psalm 55:19b) The path on which God sometimes takes us involves change. This change is not always easy for us as it may not be something we like or may remove us completely from our comfort zone and will force us to depend totally on God.

Six weeks ago, God began working on my heart about a change that He wanted me to make. I did not understand it. This change was not in my plans and not only would force me completely out of my comfort zone and mean a time of loneliness, but also would force me to depend totally on God instead of the help… and approval of men. (This is a good thing although extremely hard.)

As I went through the process of seeking God and praying about this change, it was a time of revival in my own heart. (Good thing number two although not always pleasant during the process.) I am ashamed to say that I still did not want to make the change - even after getting other things right in my life. Then, I read the story of Joseph’s obedience to his father when he was instructed to take supplies to the very brothers who hated him. Genesis 37:13 Joseph’s response? “Here I am.” And, the story of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. “…O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39b) They both were asked to obey in situations much, much worse than mine. But, you don’t see skid marks as they dig in their heels resisting God’s will. As my Dad would say, “That sat down hard and took up a lot of pew.”

Yes, my obedience may be misunderstood. It may cause hurt feelings. It will not be easy for me or others. It will take me completely out of my comfort zone. However, I must obey. It will make me totally dependent upon God. I must yield to His will.

So, even as my heart is breaking (and maybe my will), I yield to His will. It is not easy and may not be for awhile. God brought Jeremiah 29:11 to my mind. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 Now, although I don’t know what the outcome will be, I have a sweet peace.

Several songs come to mind: “Trust and Obey,” “If Jesus Goes With Me I’ll Go Anywhere,” and “I Surrender All.” Also, this chorus I learned in college.

“I need You, Lord, in all I do.
I can’t get by unless I lean on You.
You light my way, You keep me out of the dark.

The Lord has a will and I have a need to follow that will,To humbly be still,
To rest in it, nest in it, fully be blest in it, Following my Father’s will.”

So, as a friend of mine said this past week, I now continue to walk this ever-surprising adventure that is life with the Lord. And what a precious adventure it is as He walks beside me and carries me through.

Check out some photos here.

Romans 8:28-29 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

This cayenne pepper grew in my “garden.” It’s “lovely” shape was caused by growing against the wire surrounding the plant.

Do I stay close enough to my Saviour to be conformed to His image?
Do I let the trials He sends mold my life into His image?

What an object lesson!

After considerable pondering of a question that perplexed me, God showed me an answer this past week. Since a few friends have voiced the same question, I posted what God is teaching me on my chronic warrior blog. The answer is simple yet complex and a “work in progress” so to speak, but I hope it will help others as it has helped me.

So, I just recently moved into another apartment and am learning its little quirks. I am very thankful to have a roof over my head and a great place to live. I am also thankful for food to eat. And, finally, I’m thankful for the little things that God does in our lives to make us smile, build character, and teach us wonderful lessons - even if the lesson in this case is patience and keeping one’s sense of humor!

The first cause to laugh is my refrigerator. It has character. Translation: several shelves are broken along with the crisper so you have to be a bit careful what you set where. That is no problem. I just need cold food. It also has its own little song - it heralds each cycles entrance and exit with a “drum roll”. Again, this is not normally a problem except when I have a migraine and each cycle finds me scraping my body off the ceiling. Did I mention that I typically have two migraines a week? But, can I fault my appliance for its joy at being called into service and then being allowed a rest?

Let’s move on to the stove/oven. I must admit that the stove in this new apartment looks rather dubious. It is extremely old. A knob is missing for the clock and I don’t trust the time bake. But, I didn’t want to pronounce it guilty without a trial so I withheld judgment and gave it a fair chance. I mean, what does it matter if it looks old as long as it bakes and cooks, right?

Well, the oven is a bit fickle. Its moods vary from workaholic (50 degrees above temp.) to sluggard (25 degrees below temp.) during any one use. Since variety is the spice of life, my food is well seasoned!

Finally, the crowning glory- the stovetop. Each burner has five settings: warm, low, medium, medium high, and high. However, this old stove really has its own language. The settings really are: “somewhat almost warm,” “slightly warm,” “lukewarm,” “warm,” and “smoke alarm in 60 seconds or less.” Since on “warm” (medium high) water takes longer than thirty minutes to boil (I was too hungry to wait to see how much longer it was going to take to boil), I am frequently testing my smoke alarm. (Hmmmm….maybe I need to keep allowing God to work on my patience!) Thankfully, there are not many people living in this building this summer.

The apartment management is working to solve these difficulties. I know they will be resolved soon. However, in the meantime, I’m enjoying my companionable appliances - I mean, who else has appliances that take the time to make you chuckle while you work in the kitchen?

My how time flies!

This past week, my niece turned three! It seems as if it were just yesterday that we were waiting for her to make her appearance into the world. Now, she is three. (Pictures of her birthday are posted here.)

Her party was a wonderful family time with croquet, cake, and, her favorite, presents! Afterwards, the birthday girl and big brother (4 years old) helped me get groceries. Soon, my other niece will also turn three and two more children will join the family.

I’m so thankful that God has granted me such a wonderful (and crazy!) family!

Yesterday as my roommate and I were driving through a poor neighborhood in our city, I commented on the mission field it is. The people there are close-knit with even their own culture. Many children live in the neighborhood. It is definitely a mission field. I know that several churches have endeavored to reach people in this neighborhood with a few people trusting Christ. As I pondered what it would take to really reach these people, it hit me. You would have to be willing to live among them as missionaries live among the people groups with whom they work.

Then, it hit me. Christ did that for us. He dwelt among us in order to save us. John 1:14

Am I willing to do the same?

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of attending my parent’s church in Middleville, Michigan. That day, the Pastor exhorted us to have true Biblical Fellowship with other Christians as it is commanded in Scripture. He started with Acts 2:42, “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” and pointed out that the church then grew by leaps and bounds.

He gave some sample questions that could be used in fellowship. These questions and this type of fellowship is sadly much different than your typical potluck fellowship conversation in American churches today.
1. How often did you meet with God this week?
2. What has God been saying to you through His Word?
3. What sins/temptations did you experience this week that you need to confess?
4. Are you giving to the Lord’s work proportionately to how God has blessed you?
5. What internet, TV, etc… did you see this week that blessed you or that you shouldn’t have?
6. How did you influence your family/close friends this week? positively or negatively?
7. Did you pray for me this week?
8. What challenges or struggles are weighing on your mind?
9. What lives did you influence for Christ this week?
10. Did you just lie to me?
While I do not believe the questions are an end in themselves, I do think that we as God’s people need to be having more of this type of fellowship as we love Him with our all. (Luke 10:27) Why is it that questions about our spiritual walk and about God become awkward to us even in church?

The pastor went on to say that they would be doing a study on the “one anothers” of the New Testament. Since I wouldn’t be there for it, I looked up these one anothers and was a little surprised at what I found. There are many more of them than I had realized and a lot that I hadn’t thought about in our Christian walk. I want to study this out more, but here’s a very “raw” list of what I found.

1. love one another - 1 John 3:11; 3:23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2 John 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 Peter 1:22; Romans 13:8; John 13:34; John 15:12; John 15:17
2. bear one another’s burdens - Galatians 6:2
3. forbearing one another in love - Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13
4. care one for another - 1 Corinthians 12:25
5. pray one for another - James 5:16
6. have compassion one of another - 1 Peter 3:8
7. comfort one another - 1 Thessalonians 4:18
8. hospitality one to another - 1 Peter 4:9
9. greet one another with kiss of charity - 1 Peter 5:14; Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12
10. fellowship one with another - 1 John 1:7
11. receive one another - Romans 15:7
12. minister gift one to another - 1 Peter 4:10
13. serve one another - Galatians 5:13
14. wash one another’s feet - John 13:14
15. be subject one to another - 1 Peter 5:5;
16. submit one to another Ephesians 5:21
17. edify one another - 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Romans 14:19
18. exhort one another daily - Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25
19. admonish one another - Romans 15:14
20. be kind one to another - Ephesians 4:32; Romans 12:10
21. forgiving one another - Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13
22. teaching and admonishing one another - Colossians 3:16
23. consider one another to provoke unto love and good works - Hebrews 10:24
24. speak truth to one another - Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9
25. speak not evil one of another - James 4:11
26. grudge not one against another - James 5:9
27. don’t judge one another - Romans 14:13
28. confess faults one to another - James 5:16
29. in honor preferring one another - Romans 12:10
30. tarry one for another - 1 Corinthians 11:33
31. same mind one toward another - Romans 12:16; Romans 15:5
32. be not puffed up one against another - 1 Corinthians 4:6

And, it is implied that we used to but no longer:
bite and devour one another - Galatians 5:15
provoke one another - Galatians 5:16
envy one another - Galatians 5:16
hate one another - Titus 3:3

What difference would this kind of fellowship make in our churches today and in the world around us?

There have been a couple passages of Scripture that have encouraged and blessed my heart the past couple weeks. I just wanted to share a bit of what I have been learning.

First, in John 4:6-8 Jesus was weary and had to rest while his disciples went on ahead to “serve” by getting food. While he was resting, God had a plan for Him to reach someone else. God had a plan for His rest as He then met and witnessed to the woman at the well. Simple, yet profound!

When I shared this with Anita, she reminded me of the time Jesus was actually sleeping in the boat while the disciples were rowing. As I was looking at those and related verses, I came to the following passages in Mark 6 and Matthew 14. I have heard and read these verses many times, but God really brought out several lessons that helped me when I studies them over the course of many days. I thought I would share them in hopes that they will encourage you, too.

Mark 6:45-52; Matthew 14:22-33

1. Jesus sent them to sea - He sent them into what He knew was going to be a hardship as He knew it was also going to be best for them.
2. Even though He must have been exhausted after ministering to people all day, He went to pray. That was convicting to me!
3. Jesus saw them toiling on the sea, but didn’t come immediately. He didn’t come until the fourth watch.
4. He would have passed by them. He knew they were ok and that this trial would show them His power. But, when they cried out in fear, He was there for them. We (at least I) want out of trials immediately. God has a greater purpose. Also, He will not give me more than I can bear! (1 Cor 10:13; Psalm 103:14)
5. The disciples were afraid and in the midst of the storm. When Jesus came, at first they didn’t recognize His presence but thought their trial had gotten worse (a spirit on the waters). How often do I not recognize God’s hand of intervention in my life?
6. Jesus took the faith that Peter did show and acted on it. When Peter faltered again, He reached out to Him, rebuked His lack of faith, but still helped Him - this time immediately. This was a great comfort to me as I struggle on this journey.
7. The storm was still raging until Jesus got into the ship.
8. After the storm, the disciples then worshipped, praised, and wondered at who Jesus was.

These passages really spoke to my heart this past week. They also taught me a lot about the heart of Christ.