| #89 "Paradox and Perspective" March 27, 2007 "...we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4: 16-18) My dear friends, we're not going to beat around the bush today. I want to get right in to the meat of the matter because the lessons are life changing. What trouble are you in today? What mess is in your life? If you're like me, you can call that one up almost immediately. You know that address and phone number by heart. Okay, you got it? Is it in the forefront of your mind? Good. It seems pretty darn huge, doesn't it? It kind of looks like that part in "Beetlejuice" where he turns into a snake-like creature and looms over everyone with his big ugly self. It's scary and even though you might not think about it all the time, it's there. When it comes to mind you get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach and your mind starts to run away with itself. Are you there? Good. Do you know that God calls that big giant problem "light and momentary"? Go ahead, look for yourself in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17. That statement is even more amazing in light of what the apostle Paul was going through when the Holy Spirit inspired him to write those words. If we go to 2 Corinthians 6: 4-10, Paul reviews his issues with us. He had troubles, hardships and distresses. Beatings, imprisonments and riots. Sleepless nights and beatings and hunger. Dishonor, bad reports, regarded as an imposter. Dying and sorrowful. Do you call that "light and momentary?" Paul did. He turned his paradoxes into perspective. A paradox is a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true. When our big Beetlejuice of a problem is staring us in the face, it is certainly a paradox to call it light and momentary. But Paul uses the Greek word, "elaphron" for "light". It means "light in weight, easy to bear" and for "momentary" he uses the Greek "parautika" which means "brief, for the slight moment, on the spot." Though his hardships were far beyond his ability to endure them, he said that the coming glory far outweighed them all. This eternal perspective and hope in things to come sustained Paul in the midst of temporary sufferings that marked his ministry. Notice I said, "temporary." The world and its present sufferings are passing away. Paul urged the believers to look not on what is seen but, ironically, on what cannot be seen. What the inner man "sees" surpasses what the physical eyes see. That's perspective! Would you allow me to show you more of Paul's paradoxes? Look at the same chapter; Chapter 4, verses 8-9. Paul says, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." Allow me to show you the Message translation of these verses: We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken. And verses 16-18 So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today and gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. Look at that....small potatoes!! Paul calls that giant problem you're facing "small potatoes". Perspective, my friend, perspective! I want to encourage you to do something this week. Look at your problem and speak to it. I don't care if it doesn't make sense. I don't care if it's paradoxical (if that's even a word). Speak these verses out of your mouth, out loud, from whatever translation you like. Be like God, "who calls things that are not as though they were." (Romans 4: 17 and Isaiah 42:9) In the words of one of my favorite preachers, "I dare you...I double dog, Dino, Scooby Doo, Sponge Bob Squarepants...Dare you!" I promise you that God's word will plant itself inside of you because it is living and active. (Hebrews 4:12) Your "Beetlejuice" will turn into "light and momentary." You will believe that you are not crushed, in despair, abandoned or destroyed. You will believe in the eternal glory that problem is achieving for you. You will start to fix your eyes on Jesus Christ and the unseen. You will stop seeing what is only temporary and get a vision of the eternal. Somerset Maugham, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor at St Peter's Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless, the man invested his meager savings in a tiny tobacco shop, where he prospered, bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of tobacco stores worth several hundred thousand dollars. One day the man's banker said, "You've done well for an illiterate, but where would you be if you could read and write?" "Well," replied the man, "I'd be janitor of St. Peter's Church in Neville Square." (Bits and Pieces, June 24, 1993, p. 23). You just never know what God is up to in the midst of your problem...Perspective, my friend, perspective! Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.
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| #88 "The Cry of the Empty Womb" March 20, 2007 "And she [Hannah] made a vow, saying, 'O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.'" (1 Samuel 1: 11) I was trying to recall if there had ever been a time in my life when I wanted something so badly that I ached for it inside. You know what I mean...a longing, a desire, a dream, that I wanted fulfilled so badly that it hurt. I remembered all manner of things like that. Longings for my marriage. Longings for answers to prayer for my children. More recently, deep longings for my ministry. Intense longings for more of Christ. I don't care if you're a man or a woman....we all have empty wombs in our lives like Hannah. Wombs waiting to be filled with the seed that grows out of the collision of the egg of our dream and the sperm of God's power to make us pregnant. What is it for you? What do you want to see conceived in your life today? What do you want to be pregnant with and see the birth of? But more importantly...what will you do with it when you get it? Hannah is a beautiful example of right motives. She longed for a child. She was continually provoked by her husband's other wife who had a boat load of kids. She was barren and ached for the answer to her prayers. She wanted a son. The Bible says that she came to the Lord "in bitterness of soul". The Hebrew words denote that she was greatly distressed and troubled. But no where do I see that she had selfish motives. This is proven when she promised God that if He would hear and answer her prayer, she would give the child back to Him for "all the days of his life." What will you do with the answer to your prayers when conception takes place, pregnancy ends and the birth of your dream takes place? What will you do with what you birth? I believe that God loves to answer prayer. I believe that He loves to fulfill our deepest dreams and desires. What parent doesn't want to see his children happy and fulfilled? But on the other hand, I believe that He blesses us to be a blessing. He gives to us so that we will give to others. When God began His amazing work in me He told me that I was not to be like the Dead Sea and keep taking His word and instruction in, and never share it with others. This was the beginning of my call to service for Him. Enjoy God's blessings and answers to your prayers....then give them back to Him. If He is the strand that holds your marriage together and keeps it strong...share that with other married couples. If you are praying for a child to come to the Lord, release that child when He comes to a knowledge of the truth and send him off to serve God. Don't just pray so that you feel better about your children...pray that they will be wholly devoted followers of Christ and witnesses for Him among their generation. If you need finances, make a vow to God that you won't hoard them and be content that your bills are paid. Vow to Him that you will release those finances back to Him to be a blessing to others who are in need. When you are made aware of a need....meet it...with what God has blessed you with! If you are praying for a ministry, don't make it your goal to have a huge following, a huge revival or even to save souls. Make it your goal to please Him. Oswald Chambers says, "Paul was like a musician who gives no thought to audience approval, if he can only catch a look of approval from his Conductor." 2 Corinthians 5:9 says, "We make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him." Pray, my beloved, that everything you will receive in prayer will not only bring you joy, but that it will be used for the glory of God. Don't just bask in the light of your blessings....bask in the light of your blessings being a blessing to someone else...for His glory and His approval. It's not about you! It's about Him! Be an empty vessel...waiting to be filled....willing to be poured out for Him. Each and every day ask God to fill you up. Ask Him to hear your cry and answer your prayers. Then take those answers...take that infilling and pour it back out to Him. Again, make it your aim to please Him. 1 Samuel, Chapter 2 tells us that after Hannah gave Samuel back to the Lord, He did not forget her. As is so often the case, He gave her not only what she had prayed for but much more --- in her case three sons and two daughters. And Samuel, the child she gave back to God, became God's instrument for establishing the kingdom of Israel in a great national crisis. Samuel had spiritual power in word and prayer. He laid the foundation of the prophetic office and developed it to the level of the priesthood and the kingship. Wow! Receive the answers to your prayers. But receive them with open hands. Hands willing to give back your every blessing. Always remember that "every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1: 17) They came from Him, they belong to Him and they are for His purposes and His glory. Let conception fill your empty womb. Be pregnant with the possibilities. Give birth to your every hope and dream. Then watch them grow into something beautiful for Him! Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.
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| #87 "I Surrender Some" March 13, 2007 Peter said to Him, "We have left everything to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." (Mark 10: 28-30) "When the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die. (Addison Leitch, quoted in Passion and Purity, Elizabeth Elliot, Revell, 1984, p. 72). Jesus makes no bones about telling each one of us who that "somebody" is. And it certainly isn't Him! When I read this passage of Scripture in Mark 10 this morning, I realized that Jesus certainly is consistent. You will never find Him contradicting Himself. I guess maybe He's trying to pound His point home in my heart. And because He lets me in on His secrets, He expects me to share them with you. Unlike the rich young man who couldn't leave his riches to follow Jesus, Peter, acting as the spokesman for the twelve, asks Jesus, "What about us? We've left everything to follow you! What do WE get?" Again, he was thinking of material honors in God's kingdom. Jesus answers him "verily" (surely, solemnly affirming) that we should leave everything. For His sake and the sake of the Gospel. Not for money, not for blessing, not for divine favor, not for salvation. Jesus says, "Leave it all FOR MY SAKE AND THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL." Peter probably thought it... and we're going to ask it..."But what about all those other things that I leave behind?" We are so attached aren't we? Attached to people. Attached to our possessions. Attached to our ideas about how things should be. But Jesus says, "Leave them and I'll take care of the rest." Now I'm not telling you to run out and file for divorce today. Don't go sell your kids to the gypsies. (even though when my kids were younger, it sounded like a great deal!) What Jesus is telling you here is that your feelings for all of these things should be disregarded IN COMPARISON TO your devotion and feelings for Christ. God should always be first place. And He'll take care of the other things. The prescription for our worry and anxiety over the things we might think we're giving up for Christ's sake and the sake of His gospel, is found in Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 33. Our beautiful Savior tells us, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." See what I mean about consistency? In our verses today Jesus in essence says the same thing. "No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields - and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life." Different words...same concept...don't you think? Pastor and missionary, Andrew Murray said, "God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him." After pondering Jesus' words I believe that to be absolutely true. Give it all to Him, for His sake, and He will take care of the rest. We love to sing the song, "I Surrender All". We lift our hands but our fists are held tightly closed. We are clenching and holding on to so many things. Our spouses, our kids, our jobs and certainly our time. Oh, how we value our own precious time. I know this one first hand. As God has called me deeper into preaching and teaching, my time had to be surrendered to Him. The time that I used to spend relaxing in the afternoons are now spent reading, studying the Word, preparing for messages and writing. Because I surrendered to His call on my life I can't do a lot of the things that others can do. I have to say no to a lot of lunches out with friends. I have to say no to some fun activities so that I can stay true to my calling. When God is calling, surrender must take place. And can I tell you...He HAS taken care of the rest. My husband is supportive. My boys have learned to adapt to my schedule of study and writing. And they're doing fine! And my time is so much richer than it has ever been. I do even get to rest. I don't know how He does it but I still have time for everything else and I never have to hurry or rush. He is graciously showing me that I am to serve Him, where He's calling me, because I am deeply in love with Him and the Gospel, not for any rewards that may come from Him. But the rewards are there...I promise you, my beloved, they are there! Open your fists and instead of singing "I Surrender Some"...sing, "I Surrender All" and mean it with all of your heart. One of my favorite quotes from Charles Stanley is, "Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him." He will handle everything that comes your way as a consequence of your obedience and devotion to Him. He just wants you to serve Him for His sake and the sake of the Gospel. Kingdom focus. Kingdom living. Kingdom serving. After all, His Kingdom will last forever. And that's where we need to stake our time, our energy and our treasures. Let Him handle the rest! I promise you, He will. PS...I didn't intentionally leave out the part of our verse that says, "-and with them, persecutions". Discipleship often includes suffering. This fact removes the temptation to associate with Jesus simply for the rewards. But that's a whole 'nother message, for a whole 'nother day. Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.
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| #86 "Heart Trouble" March 6, 2007 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139: 23-24) Last week we had a little scare. We were told that tests done on Chuck showed "coronary artery disease". When all was said and done and we had seen the cardiologist, we were relieved and praising God that the blockage they saw was minimal and could be treated with diet, aspirin and some life style changes. The funny thing was that Chuck has never had a symptom of any kind that would indicate a "heart problem". The issue was found after he took a stress test and a cardiac scan. Not ever wanting to waste a life experience that God has allowed to come my way, I began to think about hearts...spiritual "hearts", that is. Our spiritual heart is not an organ. It is our inner man. It holds the mind, the will and the soul. It is the inner part of us; in the midst of ourselves. The heart encompasses the mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection and memory. It causes our inclinations, resolutions, and determines our will. We have a conscience in our heart...a heart of moral character if you will. It is the seat of appetites and the seat of emotions and passions and courage. There are 252 occurrences of this Hebrew word, translated "heart" in the Old Testament Hebrew. [Strong's Number: 03824] It sounds to me like this thing called "my heart" is pretty vital. No wonder Proverbs 4: 23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Just as the physical heart is the most vital organ to keep the body alive, the spiritual heart is the source of being alive spiritually. The Message says, " Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts." It governs what we say, what we choose to look at and what we do. Out of your heart proceed your actions. Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Luke 6: 45) What's in your heart? In Psalm 139, David is asking God to search him and know his heart. He wants to be thoroughly investigated. He's saying, "God, find out everything about me. Cross examine me and test me. What am I about?" David wants a total heart scan done by none other than the Great Physician Himself. Do you have the guts to ask God to do that kind of total, thorough examination of your heart? Just as vital as it is to have a yearly checkup of our physical heart....it is vital to submit to the total scan of our spiritual hearts. This scan can only be done by looking into the Word of God. Hebrews 4: 12 says, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Want to know the condition of your heart? Search the Word. It is like a spotlight aimed at every corner of your heart, exposing the good, the bad and the ugly. "We do not know ourselves. We do not even know how to distinguish, by feelings or rationale, between that which comes from our souls (psyche) and from our spirits (pneumas). Even our bodily functions (symbolized here by joints and marrow) are beyond our full knowledge. Only the all-seeing eye of God knows us thoroughly and totally, and before Him we will stand and ultimately give account. (The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. Hebrews. Ray C. Stedman) When we let the Word of God open our inner life like a sharp sword, all of our thoughts, motives and sins are out in the open. We are exposed for who we truly are on the inside. We may be leaves on a fig tree with no corresponding fruit, as my pastor so eloquently put it this Sunday. We may be "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean", as Jesus put it. And just like Chuck did not even know that there was anything wrong...you may not know the extent of the disease of your spiritual heart until the light of the Divine Scan reveals the problem. Joel 2: 13 says, "Rend your hearts, not your garments." Don't keep doing the outward things. To rend means to tear open. Tear open your heart, do the inner work not the outward show. Tear it open before your God and humbly ask Him for His forgiveness. God did not save you and give you the newness of being reborn for you to be selfish and bask in the glow of your escape from the fires of hell. You have been carefully chosen and adopted. You have a purpose. You are sanctified and born again for the purposes and work of the Kingdom of the One who by His grace saved you. You've got work to do, my beloved. A commission from the King to fulfill. One day you will hear Him say "Well done, my good and faithful servant." And just as your commission and your purpose are unique so are the anomalies of your heart. Don't look for the Word to reveal everyone else's problems. Let God reveal yours. Lay open your heart before Him. Submit yourself to His examination through His Word. Every artery, every chamber, every valve and every muscle. Let the light of His Word scan reveal the disease hidden in every corner of your heart. It may be minor and require a few changes in lifestyle. It may be major and require open heart surgery. But it literally could save your life. Lay your life down on the examination table of God and submit to His scan. Listen to the results and act on His instruction. Pray God's Word with me::: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts, See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139: 23-24) "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast, right spirit within me." (Psalm 51: 10) Donna Schultz See www.tuesdayswithjesus.blogspot.com for archives. If you would prefer to not receive these e-mails, please let me know at savemom@aol.com. Feel free to forward them as the Lord leads you and if others would like to receive it, e- mail savemom@aol.com to be added to the list. If you are viewing this on Blogger.com and would like to receive "Tuesday's with Jesus" in your e-mail box each Tuesday, please e-mail Savemom@aol.com and you will be added to the list.
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