Thinking on These Things

WOW!!! I’m amazed that there are some who come back to my blog since I’ve written nothing in the past month.

Well…I haven’t given up. I just need to ‘think on these things…’ get myself a little more organized. I’m working on something now and am hoping to have something up soon. I’ll certainly send an email out when all this is accomplished.
Thank you for your patience.
Karen

Mountain of Vision

Ooops, I thought I had posted this blog before the Mount of Blessing.  So now I have to backtrack with Mt. Carmel.  Just didn’t want anyone to be confused about ‘the last mountain’…as I’m sure you’re all confused now. So on with this post.

While in Israel last year, we did get to climb Mt. Carmel.  What a magnificent view we had. From the vantage point where we stood, we could look in every direction and see for miles over the Jordan valley. Two views were the most impressive to me. The first was looking north. The picture I posted shows that view.

Can you imagine standing at the top of the mountain (which is the bottom of the picture) and looking north into the valley.  It was so easy to imagine all the people of  Israel surrounding that mount and watching the drama unfold between Elijah and the prophets of baal.
Then, our guide, Allen, started reading from I Kings 18:22-44. We all remember the event; it is the last couple of verses I want to bring out.

Elijah said to Ahab,”Go, eat  and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” vs. 41

As we all stood there, we looked to the west where the Mediterranean Sea was located. As Allen pointed out to us, you can’t see the sea. Looking west was all you see are low lying hills. Again, Allen reads,

“Go and look toward the sea, he told his servant.”

And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there, he said.” vs. 43

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” vs. 43 – 44

Then Allen turned us away from the west and pointed us to the southwest.  It was amazing, in the distance, we saw the waves of the Mediterranean Sea crashing on the sand.  It was that view that the servant was looking  when he reported a cloud as small as a man’s hand was rising from the sea.

So, you ask, the point is?  The point is this.  God was sending the rain…we who were standing on the mount would have looked (in vain) to the west trying to see that cloud.  Our sight had to be changed to a direction we would never consider…the southwest.

As Christians, we believe that God is calling us to do something; He has a purpose for us and  with all our hearts we believe and set out to accomplish that purpose. Along the way, doors shut on us and we begin to wonder did we really hear God’s calling?  We have a vision and we head out in a logical way to follow God’s calling.  What we don’t consider is the direction God is leading…we look the logical way and God patiently waits until we’re at our wits end and then repositions us to look in His direction. Therein is the struggle.

I always go back to Psalm 37 to give me the direction I need…then rest in Him to give me the open door.

Trust in the LORD….

Delight yourself in the LORD…

Commit your way to the LORD…

Trust in Him….

God is directing our steps; He knows the direction we are to take.  As we draw near to Him…He draws near to us and leads us on the path of His calling.

Mountain of Blessing

This is the last of my mountain experiences. After we left Mt. Carmel, we continued east to the Sea of Galilee and to the Mt. of Beatitudes…pictured below.

This was the first place where we knew Jesus had been.  As we looked down upon the Sea of Galilee, Jerri McGarrah, our pastor’s wife, recited the Sermon on the Mount.  As I listened to her I took in all the sights and sounds around me.  Not too far from me was a large tree with birds twittering in the branches.  Behind us, a small group of people were laughing and jousting with one another.  As I turned and looked across the sea, I imagined Jesus standing not too far from me and talking to the people.  I also imagined what was going on while Jesus was speaking.  The waves were lapping up on the shore;  fishing boats were lined up on the shore while fishermen prepared their nets; fires were burning as fish was prepared for a meal; children were laughing and playing tag with one another; small groups of people were half listening as they went about their business. It was not very hard to imagine all this.

As Jerri continued to recite…I heard her say…“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…” As I looked to my right…there was the city of Tiberius…a city on a hill which when lit up at night could be seen for miles.

Continuing on in chapter 6, Jerri recited, “Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns…see how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin…..”

As I looked around, I saw the birds flitting in and out of the trees; looking down, I saw the flowers that are seen all over Israel, a small poppy like flower, the anemone.

The whole content of the Sermon on the Mount became a reality.  Jesus stood somewhere on this mount and he saw what I was seeing now.  This truly was a Mount of Blessing.

Struggling to Love

Last week, I read the blog Without Wax by Pete Wilson, pastor of Cross Point Community Church in Nashville, TN. I read his blog daily; more times than not, he gives me something to ‘muse’ about…some ‘scrappy’ thought that stays with me for a long time. The following, from Pete Wilson, is one of those thoughts. His title, “Struggling to Love” makes me ask the question do I really struggle to love? The answer is yes. As I read through I Cor. 13, from the Message, I saw very clearly that I do have a few areas of ‘love struggles’…such as, ‘love never gives up’…there are times when I do give up. I believe the point Pete is making is that we need to be honest with ourselves…that we do ‘struggle in thought, word and deed’ daily with some of the commandments that Christ gave us. As we recognize that, then we can do something about it?…no…then we can let God do something about it. Read the following from Pete carefully, then prayerfully give consideration to an area where you need to love more fully.

Friday, February 20, 2009

There’s a wedding I get to perform tonight and I’ve been looking over my notes this morning. As usual, 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the selected scriptures. Sometimes when a particular passage has become redundant to me I like to read it out of a different translation. For this wedding I’m going to use the Message paraphrase.

We’ve discussed aspects of this passage before here, but take a second to read through this today.

1 Corinthians 13: 3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

When you read through the list which aspect of “love” do you struggle with?

For me it was, “love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have”. I have struggled with this on and off throughout my entire life. I’m trying to understand that part of loving God and loving people is learning to be “content” with who I am and what I have.

As long as I WANT your personality, your house, your gift mix, your bank account, your family situation, your health, your job, your friends….your life, then I can’t really love you in the way God has designed me to love you.

So there’s my struggle. How about you?

Amazing Grace

Yesterday, I wrote about Mt. Sinai, the mountain of glory. This is where Moses was sheltered in the hollow of the rock as God’s glory passed by. It was truly Moses’ mountain top’ experience.
I also related by own ‘mountain top’ experience. I spent a year running from God…not wanting to have anything to do with Him. Then, one night, God’s glory and mercy invaded my life in such a way that I fell to my knees repenting of my rebellious life before Him.
My ‘mountain top’ experience was what followed. With my year of rebellion behind me, God gave me a year of His glory. Every day I was consumed with His presence. When I walked to work…God and I talked about everything. When I was with others, I shared God’s loving grace; when I was alone…I wasn’t, for He was with me. It was a year like I’ve never had before. My chains were gone…I was set free.
Today, I present Chris Tomlin singing Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone. If you haven’t seen the movie, I encourage you to do so.