A Word from the Word on Wednesday

I hate alliteration! But somehow when it comes time to title my posts I have this ridiculous urge to use alliteration! Gah!

Any-who . . . I just wanted to share with you all a Psalm that really struck me the other day. Psalm 146 -
Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever,
Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.
The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
The LORD shall reign forever-Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!

The whole Psalm is really good. We need to remember more often that we need to trust in the God who is all the things and has done all the things listed above. But the part that struck me the most is the Psalmist's assertion that "I will sing praises to my God while I have my being." May that be true of my life and yours!



Keep on singing,

Project 2 ~ The Bible

The second in my series of four projects is--the Bible!* I've striven for years to have a personal devotional time, and somehow I always manage to screw up. I hear that if you do something for a month straight it becomes I habit. Well the closest I ever got to consistency in a devotional time was 2 months . . . I thought for sure 60 days (double the "required" time!) would surely cement my daily devotional time. Wrong!

So what makes this month different? Maybe nothing, maybe motivation. Who knows? But I know that I serve a living Saviour, an awesome God, and He deserves consistency, dedication, and respect. So here we go!


*Disclaimer: These projects are not in order of importance!

Transparency

Wow, it has been a week and a half since I posted anything! My dear little lappy, Miss Emma, was quite sick so I had to send her to California to be repaired, poor little thing (not that I actually think of my computer as anything more than an inanimate object, of course!). So I hooked up my old desktop so I would not get behind in schoolwork, and you know what?? That thing is slow! I ended up getting slightly behind in my schoolwork anyway, and there was no way I was getting a blog post up. Emma returned to me late afternoon on Monday, so my Monday evening and Tuesday were spent playing homework catch-up. Yesterday and today, I had classes and more homework. So anyway, that is why I have not posted anything . . . even though I have had several posts floating through my head these past several days.

So what does that have to do with transparency?? Nothing. Just a random picture of my life for your viewing - or, I should say, reading – pleasure.

So transparency. In church on Sundays, our ladies' Sunday School class has been doing Beth Moore's Bible study on Daniel. I did this study at the summer camp I work at back in 2007. It has been interesting to see the different things I pick up this time through, 3 years later. This week we were in Daniel 3; you know, the story of the 3 friends in the fiery furnace? Well the main point of her lesson was that there are three ways we can be delivered from "fiery trials." God can save us from the fire (avoiding it altogether), through the fire (bringing us safely to the other side), or He can use the fire to deliverer us from this world of sin right into His arms. This was the thing I noticed three years ago and it stuck with me. But this time something else struck me, and I think this will stick we me too.

Daniel 3:1a - Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its width six cubits (ninety feet high and nine feet wide). Now clearly, we are not going to go out and build a huge statue out of gold (though it would be impressive if we had the capability to, huh?). So Beth Moore posed the question, how are we image builders? I expected the cliché response that anytime we place some "thing" before God it becomes an idol for us. And while I believe that is true, that is not where she went with this. She took the stance that every time we present ourselves as something we are not, we are building an image.

Wow. Which one of us can say that we are completely real all the time? I do not think any of us could. Does that mean we should all spill are guts to everyone around us. No, I do not think it does. According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, transparency means: the state of being free from pretense or deceit. Transparency does mean that we should not attempt to pretend we do not have flaws. We all have flaws, we all sin. Maybe that sin you have been hiding from the world, pretending does not exist, is exactly what one of your sisters is going through. Maybe they need to know they are not alone. Maybe they need to see you instead of the image of yourself you show to the world.

So, I am instating a "you ask (or share), I'll tell" policy for my life. Sure, I would like the whole world to think I am perfect –wouldn't we all? But I'm not. And I won't be this side of heaven. So wouldn't you join me in being just a little transparent?

Feet to Wash and Shoes to Tie

Jesus washed the disciples' feet. We all know the story. We all say we know the meaning. But how do we, 21st "centurians," who don't live in middle eastern countries where people walk around in sandals and get their feet all dirty, incorporate this into our everyday lives? Certainly, even in America we have those people, myself being one of them, who wear flip-flops practically all year long which results in some pretty dirty feet. And yes, washing their feet would be pretty nasty. But in our modern world we don't really need people to wash our feet. We have showers for that, and they work just fine. So what is it that we're called to do? Because, while I appreciate the symbolism of foot washing (it's especially sweet in wedding ceremonies :P), I don't think God calls us to do something that is not needful to our world. I mean can you imagine the look on your neighbors face if you walked up to them and said you wanted to wash their feet?
So what can we do? How can we "foot wash" in the world surrounding us?
The Mennonite Confession of Faith says this in regards to foot washing "Those who follow Jesus are likewise called to let go of privilege and pride in order to love others more fully, even those who are hard to love. By this life of love, they show that they are cleansed and a part of Christ (John 13:8-10). Washing one another's feet is a way of expressing this commitment to follow Jesus in powerful, humble service."
Sometimes the way we express our "powerful, humble service" can make us feel just as dirty as we imagine the foot washing of Biblical times would. You know, those times we have to wash all the dishes from the church dinner, weed the church flowerbeds in the middle of summer, or *shudder* clean the puke off the church restroom floor.
But sometimes, the way we express this "powerful, humble service" is through something much simpler, much cleaner. Sometimes all we need to do is kneel down and tie a shoelace.
So maybe someday there will be a person in my life who needs their feet washed, literally. But until then, I have shoes to tie.

'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee

’Tis not that I did choose Thee,
For Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me.
Thou from the sin that stained me
Hast cleansed and set me free;
Of old Thou hast ordained me,
That I should live to Thee.

’Twas sov’reign mercy called me
And taught my op’ning mind;
The world had else enthralled me,
To heav’nly glories blind.
My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst;
This knowing, if I love Thee,
Thou must have loved me first.

~Josiah Conder