Keep It Simple

" O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. " Psalm 131:1-2

Do you sometimes find yourself overwhelmed? Not just with busyness, but by the world today. Television, for instance. It brings SO much information into your living room. About everything. More than you need to know. But then, how do you decided what you need or don't need to pay attention to? From the latest discoveries in the world of medicine, to the current natural disasters, to the realities of war in far off places. So much to consider.

A hundred years ago, people dealt with only a fraction of the details and decisions that we are faced with today. Even grocery shopping is a mundane chore made into a complicated mission to pick the right products from toothpaste (whitening, for sensetive teeth, cavity fighting, breath freshening) to yogurt (pro biotic, low fat, anti oxidant, sugar free), and trying to get the best price on top of it all. Nothing wearies me like shopping! Oh how I long for the simple life!

I used to struggle quite a bit with the "things of the Lord". That is, concerning doctrine. Which denomination was right? Which interpretation of scripture was the most precise? Should I be pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib? Dispensationalist, Covenant or New Covenant? Calvinist or Arminian? These things weighed me down, and I was desperate to be in the right "camp". And if I thought I was, I was desperate to convince anyone who disagreed. But not any more. I know what I believe about the "essentials" of the faith, and I trust God to bring other truth to me as He sees fit. Instead of focusing on "being right", I am more likely to simply focus on Jesus, and be content to learn whatever the Holy Spirit brings to my attention. It's a beautiful thing, this kind of rest.

I think the verse above says it all. What a priviledge we have to be in Christ, to have any enlightenment at all! Not that we shouldn't be always learning, but if we make knowing doctrine more important than a living, personal relationship with it's Author, we will be the poorer for it, no matter how "right" we think we are.

Thank you Father for teaching your children. Thank you that there are no exams to pass, or need to prove anything to anyone. Thank you that we can be confident that you will give us all the revelation that we need, when we need it. Help us to be patient with others, and with ourselves, as we grow in grace and knowledge of you.

Nest of Grace

We can become so good at the game of hiding ourselves. From behind a wall of what we think we ought to be, we sit and observe. We weigh and measure each response, every lifted eyebrow, and adjust accordingly. Behind the scenes, we continually re-write our script, always searching for that one right way to be. Yet we are unable to calm our anxious hearts, for we know full well that we will never be truly “right”. We are made this way, and have grown this way, however bent and gnarled we may be.

But we are no surprise to You. You knew us from our mother's womb. Foreknown by you, we were saved. Even our struggles, our hearts' straining to know truth, You foreknew. “All things” can only mean all things. So even in our weakness, our groans, our stumbling, You work out Your purpose for Your glory. Even in our constant turnings, worries over what we've said and done, You stand guard over us.

We huddle within You, like newly hatched sparrows in their nest. We feebly lift our upturned faces to You, eyes still dim, our mouth opens, straining to be filled with understanding, with knowledge of You. For this is our food and drink, this knowing of You. We know that this Truth is the answer to all of our searching. We can take it and hold it up against every thought, every situation. It lines everything up in order. It casts away the dross, and makes more brightly shine the gold. It polishes and chips away, even at us.

Lord we are safe in You, in this nest of grace. Within it we can take new steps, even the wrong ones. Our searching after You is done with our whole heart, and You will guide our eventual end. You oversee every thought and action, and even in our wrongness, You gently lead us to Truth. Up ahead is so dark, like a gloomy forest at dusk. But Your light shines before us, one step at a time. God, if only You can see our hearts, if only You can know us through and through, it is enough, it is become even our great hope. For even though knowing us, You still love us with an everlasting love. This is our resting place.

"How priceless is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!" (Psalm 36:7)

Good To Me

I called You "Daddy" yesterday

As so quickly I did pray

In thanks for all You do for me.

My heart was full! There had to be

Some kind of letting out

Of all that joy accumulated
Grace on grace,I calculated
From before I was yet born.
Blessings rich upon me poured
Beyond what I can count.


It just leapt out so naturally;
"Thank you Daddy!". Could it be
My heart is melting ever slowly
As You look on me, so lowly;
Yet precious in your sight!


Why are You so good to me?
I don't deserve it, can't you see?
I've gone for years with head bowed low;
For surely all the world must know
How far I am from right.

But You have lifted up my head!
And now I need no longer dread
The present, past or what's to come
I'm in You now, forever home
Content to simply be.

Thank you Father, from my heart
My life is Yours, in every part
Your goodness flows beyond all measure
Lord you are my dearest treasure;
You are so good to me!

Seasons

I love the Fall. To me, it is the "middle age" of seasons. It comes after the newness of spring, when shoots of plants struggle upwards like a child standing up to take those first tentative steps. The sunshine and warm temperatures call those things that were dormant, or hibernating, or had migrated south, to reappear, ready to begin another cycle of life.

Summer arrives, and plants come into their fullness of bloom and fruition. From spring until September, we reap their harvest and drink in the beauty of vast varieties and shades of flowers. This is the "adult" of the seasons, when maturity comes to those furry and feathered babies born in the spring, and they are weaned from their mother's milk, or nudged out of their nests, to strike out on their own.

Then comes Autumn. The changing leaves seem to be shouting a last "hurrah" before letting go and dancing prettily to the ground. Scooped and bagged, now more of a nuisance than anything, they wait by the curb, or blown by the wind they gather in ditches, slowly making their way back to the soil that first brought them forth. Farmer's fields become barren landscapes of dried up corn stalks and shriveled plants, all their bounty now gone, depleted of the new life that once made heavy their vines and branches.

I feel I am in that "mid life" season. I look behind and see the Spring and Summer of my life, now gone past. I gaze with longing on the energy and promise they held, knowing I can't bring them back. Still, this is a good season. For it can bring contentment; a sense of not needing to peddle so fast as in younger days. The frantic pace of child rearing is behind, leaving grandchildren as its rich harvest.

I'm not ready for the rocking chair yet, however, and God willing, I've got a few last "hurrahs" left to shout. The best part is that I've got Him to show me how, where and when. And even as the Autumn of life fades into winter, where this life ends, the next is waiting, full of more promise and joy than this one could ever offer

Which season are you in? Are you content where you are? Have you considered what life’s next season might hold for you? Have you considered Him who made those seasons, and offers one of everlasting life?

“and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17)

Maureen Breakspear
Published in Millbrook Times 19/11/10

COME AND SEE

Stranger.
Talks to me!
Asks me for a drink.

Eyes that see beyond plain sight.
Knows those things I’ve hid from light.
I’m exposed.

Thirsty.
Every day
Brings me to this place

Tells of water ever flowing,
Prophet, this, who is all knowing.
Kind to me.

Master.
Speaks of God
Just as if he knew Him

Is this the Messiah here?
Holds me with his gaze so near;
I must tell them!

Running.
Leave my pot;
Quick before he goes

Hurry fast it’s not that far
Have to find them; there they are
“Come and see!”

The Prodigal Returns

Chapter Fifteen of the Gospel of Luke begins with Jesus telling the parable of the Lost Sheep, then the parable of the Lost Coin, and finally the parable of the Prodigal Son. All three focus on the joy of finding that which was lost, and more specifically, the rejoicing in Heaven over each sinner who repents.

As I read the story of the Prodigal Son, I couldn’t help but compare it to my own journey toward my Heavenly Father. I suppose each and every child of God can do the same. Reading this Parable brought to mind the months before I placed my faith in Christ. Our stories are similar. Like the younger son in the story, I took for granted all that I had been given. Just as he left his home and family, thinking that with his share of the family fortune he could find happiness in a distant land, I walked away from my home and family, searching for that elusive “something” that would give me the peace and joy that I longed for.

The Prodigal thought that all he needed was money to make his dreams come true. Off he went, searching for those greener pastures that he believed would satisfy his heart’s desires. Aren’t we all the same? Doesn’t mankind come up with countless ways to try and fill that God shaped vacuum that we are all born with? God gives each of us life and breath, opportunities and countless blessings. Yet in our blind, spiritually dead condition, so many of us end up in the swine pen, having failed to arrive at that place of promise, being led there by selfish motives and ignorance of the truth.

In my own swine pen experience, I awoke one day to realize what I had thrown away. The reality of my loneliness was like a cold lump in my gut. I staggered under an overwhelming sense of shame and regret, realizing the foolishness of my decisions, and the conviction that I was a sinner without hope. I can relate to that wayward son, as he sat in the muck, impoverished of body and spirit. He had thrown away what was good, and spent all he had, only to end up with nothing, no one, and nowhere to go.

And like the Prodigal, I too had a change of heart, a turning away from the selfish, foolish path that I was on, toward the outstretched arms of my Heavenly Father. For both that wayward son and myself, there was a happy ending; a homecoming where we were welcomed into an embrace of mercy and forgiveness. But it didn’t have to turn out that way. For countless others, their swine pen experience is only another step on the road to perdition. Instead of realizing their folly, being humbled and seeking forgiveness, they become bitter, or desperate, or further deluded to the true nature of their situation. Their hearts, instead of softening toward God, become hardened. Their final destination is not an eternity in glory, but one of never ending separation from the grace they shunned.

Only the work of the Holy Spirit can bring us “to ourselves”; that is, to see our true state as lost sheep in need of a shepherd. Had God not intervened and awakened me from my death stupor, I would have carried on, blindly stumbling toward a lost eternity. Instead of a worldly sorrow, however, the Holy Spirit brought true conviction for my sin. His work in a heart brings one low, so low that you lose every shred of pride. Like the Prodigal, you are ready to confess all, admit that all is due to your own folly, and come begging for mercy, even to be as a hired hand in your own father’s house.

Repentance leaves no room for pride. It casts it out as the stumbling block to salvation that it is. When we, like that lost son, are brought to our senses, we know that our only hope is the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ. Like that boy, we bow the knee, admit our sin, and seek to be brought into the Father’s favor.

And like the father in the story, our Father is quick to embrace, quick to forgive, and quick to rejoice in our newly found, newly saved state. We were, after all, dead. Dead in our trespasses, without hope. But now we are made alive in Christ, and clothed with His robe of righteousness which covers all of our sin stains. That muck of sin and despair, like the muck that the Prodigal wallowed in, filled with grief and regret, is washed away by the blood of the Lamb.

Thank God for His marvelous grace! Thank Him for his kindness that leads us to repentance! If you are His, thank Him that He did not leave you to continue down a path of destruction, but like the Prodigal, He brought you to your senses, and welcomed you home with joy and celebration. Pray for those that you know who have yet to be brought to life, who continue blindly down that broad path to eternal death. Pray for God’s grace to stop them in their tracks, and send them into the safety of His welcoming embrace.

But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15: 22-24)

Giving Thanks

Yesterday was the day that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving. Where I live, the the weather was beautiful. In fact, the whole weekend was the epitome of autumn perfection. My family came for dinner, and even though it was a lot of work for dear old gramma (that's me), it was well worth it.

I don't really mind the work of a big meal, if it means having my family gathered around the dining room table. Those are the moments I am most thankful for. Watching them all digging in, and listening to the varied conversations and laughter, I was content. Truly I am blessed. So many things to thank God for. The list is endless.

Yesterday I also received an email from a friend whose wife is seriously ill, and has been for a long time. I have been encouraged by this couple who, even in the midst of their sruggle, have taken the time to encourage others and pray for my family. I know they are thankful for their blessings also, though in their current situation, I know it must be difficult to focus on anything positive. There are things, though, that I know they will always be quick to give thanks for. Some of these are:

• the grace of God in their lives, in the midst of trials
• the shed blood of Jesus Christ for their souls
• the promise of their heavenly inheritance, an eternity with Christ
• the love and presence of God, though not always felt, that is always there and never failing
• the mercy shown to them in God's gift of salvation.

I know they are, and always will be, thankful for these things, because they are the things that all of God's people are thankful for. They are the things that carry us, and override every other situation in our lives. As I was reminded of today, no matter what we go though in this life, good or bad, at the end of the day, there is only JESUS.

If you want to know more about this couple's struggle, click on this link:

http://bloodtippedears.blogspot.com/2010/09/help-and-prayer-for-my-mother-carol.html

(For Ike and Carol, with love)