Jesus Listens

Time and time again, I find that if I actually seek God and Christ with my whole heart, they listen and answer.  For me, this has meant that I'm not searching outside of them for answers, but that I go straight to them (or I catch myself as I'm wanting to get advice or comfort from another source, and turn to them instead).

If I show them that I actually believe that they can solve my problem, they always do.  Not that a solution is what always solves the problem, and not that I'm looking for a quick fix for everything - I know that often, all I need to keep going can be provided by a word of comfort or encouragement from my Master or my Father.

But from there you will seek 

the LORD your God 

and you will find him, 

if you search after him 

with all your heart 

and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 4:29

Working with God

I have often wondered why God works with certain people.  What makes him able to do so?  Or what makes them the type of person God likes to work with?  In what ways might people need to be different than everybody else?

(Quick sidenote:  I don't like the expression "use" in Christianity - "God used him" or "please use me, God" - it's not there, biblically.  God works together with us "to will and to do of his good pleasure," he doesn't control us and make us do things the way I "use" a fork, if you see where I'm coming from).

And, I don't really know the answer to this!  I don't know that any of us can fully understand why certain people were chosen, or ended up doing "big things" for God.  Often, these people are of no account to the rest of the world.  For example, Esther was just a Jewish child who, through God's provision, became Queen and changed the fate of her people.  But on the other hand, people in high up positions also become great in God's economy.  King David would be one such person.

I've been looking at possible reasons Daniel was such a great man, and why God was able to work with him.    More specifically, I've been considering what set Daniel apart for God's work.

Here are some things I discovered:

One of the first things said about Daniel (1:8), is that he RESOLVED that he would not defile himself with the King's food, which he was commanded to eat.  He took a big risk and asked the person in charge of him to let him eat something else.  Vegetables!  Who would choose to eat vegetables over the same food the King was eating?  (Which happened to be meat and wine, by the way).  Well, it was more important to Daniel to honor God than to enjoy tasty food that would defile him (I haven't researched, but my guess is that the meat was offered to idols).

Read the book of Daniel and you will see that over and over Daniel (and his awesome friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) chooses to honor God despite any personal harm or discomfort he may suffer from such a choice.  To me, that seems like a quality that would allow God to work with a person.  How could God do mighty things through us if we shy away from something that needs to be done if it is threatening?  Daniel and his friends would not have been able to make the statements they were trying to make if they had not stood firm in the face of death.

For example, Daniel, in chapter 6, continued to pray to God three times daily despite a grave decree from the King he served that anyone who petitioned any man or god beside the King would be thrown into the lion's den.  If he hadn't, it would have sent the message that the King is more important than Daniel's God, that Daniel is afraid of the King, that he doesn't think that God could save him from any peril, and that Daniel doesn't really take his relationship with God seriously.  But since he DID stand firm, it not only sent a strong message of complete trust and dependence on God, but it also gave God the chance to show the entire kingdom how awesome He really is, and that he can save anyone who relies completely on Him.

It seems like our culture is all about compromise and pleasing ourselves, and so it is no wonder that in America we don't see amazing things from the hand of God.  I think that it would do us well to get back to a place of true dependence on God, and to making the right decisions to show the world that we honor God above anyone and anything else.  I'm working on it, and I'm thankful for the examples in the Bible of people who did just that.

A Tribute to My Fish and to Jesus

Last week, a tragedy occurred in the Trigg household.  My beloved Betta fish, Alfa, had his final adventure as he leapt out of his bowl and flopped all over my bed side table while I slept.  I found him before I left for work in the morning, nice and crispy, his gorgeous teal scales dried up into a horrible black color.  I wailed.

As shocking and sad as this event was (and believe me, it was sad - I cried every day for a week), I was reminded of the hope I have in Christ because of God.

Death is truly a horrifying, ugly, ruthless thing.  It rips and tears at everything it can dig its claws into, and leaves us traumatized and wounded.  But all of us have to face death!  And as indescribably terrible as it is, we have to remember that death itself will be destroyed.  Because of what Christ did to ransom us, someday the reign of Death will be broken, and death's evil prince, Illness, will no longer influence the world.  Instead, there will be Restoration - we and our loved ones who have fallen asleep beside us will be RESTORED!  This is an unbelievable salve for the wounds death has marred us with.

While I wait to be reunited with my dear little feisty fish, and, much more seriously, with my fellow brothers and sisters who have endured this life and fought in love for the Lord, I am SO thankful for the short time we have here together on this earth.  Honestly, what a gift each moment is!  I can say I enjoyed Alfa every day he was in my life (it's so easy to love a fish unconditionally), and I want to be able to say the same for each person I love when that time comes .

Finally, what dawned on me was that if a silly little two inch long fish that does nothing productive in life can capture my heart so, how precious must we be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ?  How do they feel when we die and they too have to wait until the Resurrection to hear our voice again?  Alfa's death just really opened my eyes to how loved we must be and how our lives must warm God's heart when we spend them with Him.

Why I Need Jesus

I'm always a little surprised and sad when I talk to people about Jesus and they don't seem to feel the same way I do about him.  It seems often to be no fault of their own, except maybe unwillingness to check out what they have heard about Jesus.  I'm lucky because I grew up in a family where God and Jesus were a big deal, and I've known about the benefits of living life with them, if not first-hand, at least by exposure to the Bible and to other believers.  And because of this I've always loved Jesus.  But I don't think I finally felt my real need for him until the things I usually thrived on failed me and I landed hard on my hind end.  Then I got up, looked around and realized this wasn't the first time this had happened, but was in fact probably the hundredth, and maybe I should re-evaluate what I think I need in life.

And that's the thing - anything, anyone, that isn't God or Jesus Christ is going to hurt you, let you down, leave you.  Including yourself, if that's what has gotten you by in life so far.  Sometimes feelings seem like facts, and other times facts are not backed up by feelings.  It might not feel true to you that everything will fail you, because perhaps it seems that you have always done okay and been okay.  You don't need Jesus because you can't even see him, maybe.  But let me tell you, you WILL see him, and I hope you meet him before you have to stand in front of him when it's time to sort out the people he knows and doesn't know.  Because he is good and he loves you and not only will he save you eternally, when the time comes, from the long, dark shadow and the creeping death Satan has cast over this earth, but he will also give you everything you need to live a truly full life right now - that being a relationship with him.

I need Christ because I live on this planet and this planet and all of us on it are tanking.

Don't let anyone but God sit in His chair!

If you're like me, you often feel like the people you meet relish picking you apart in their mind - maybe like a gourmet crab, cracking your shell and taking out your insides, contemplating them before they chew them up with a satisfied smile.  You sense them deciding whether you have good or bad character, if they like your hair, if what you said was really intelligent or the stupidest thing they've ever heard.  Later you imagine them talking about you, recounting their entire time with you as if critiquing your debut movie.  


And it doesn't bother you so much when you hit it off with that person, even if you had to act against your nature a little bit (they wouldn't know the difference, right?).  If you feel like they will be raving about you later, you don't really care what they think of you.  It's those people who you know aren't your biggest fans that get to you.  Even if they disgust you, you still feel this pressing need to make them think highly of you because they are doing the J-word, and you just can't handle that.  


Judging.


We all do it, even if we don't pronounce it over people like monarchs giving sentence.  But the thing is... get ready for this... try as we might to judge, we fail miserably.  Every.  Time.  We try to decide the status or fate of people, whether we mean to or not, but we simply do not hold the power to make such decisions.


Humans can't truly pass judgment because they aren't God.  The first time I realized that, it blew my mind!  No matter what someone says about me behind my back, no matter what they think of me or what disdain they have for me, it's not real judgment.  It's just an opinion, and it holds such dinky weight in comparison to the opinion of God, my Creator and the lover of my very soul.  God's opinion is judgment, and though he hasn't declared his full judgment yet, the day will come.  


More than luckily for people who believe that God's son has come to whisk us away from this epoch of darkness by dying on our behalf (maybe soon I'll dedicate an entry to why this makes perfect sense and why I believe it...) - more than luckily for us, if we have made Jesus director over our lives, and we call on his name for help and strength, we are pre-judged as having good standing with God.  Perfect standing, in fact.  Our mistakes and acts of rebellion are banished and not taken into account.


All that to say we can shut our ears to the un-constructive criticism of those who have "judged" us.  And we can and must shut our mouths and swallow when we feel the need to spit out an un-constructive "judgment."

Fools and Love

Just thinking about how much God loves us.  What a healing thing it is.  He places so much value on us and is very thoughtful towards us.  Look at how well objects in nature suit us - they are beautiful to us, just the right size for our needs:

Trees are big enough to make things out of or climb in
Fruit is big enough for one serving or to share
The sun lights up the day so we can go about our business, but it goes away so we can sleep
We have animals to do things we can't do, or for companionship
And on
And on!

It makes me want to know God better so I can honor him and be thoughtful toward him in return.

I just read an article that mentions that it is ridiculous to claim we cannot know God because he is mysterious.  It quotes the verse "My people are fools; they do not know me." (Jeremiah 4:22) Ouch!  I don't want to be a fool, I think I'll go ahead and believe God when he says:

¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 1

God Day!

Today is Father's Day, and I just want to take a moment and thank my Father in Heaven, my God, for everything he has done for me.  If I tried to list it all, I would not be able to!  

But I will say that for who he is and everything he has done for me, that he deserves all of my energy, all of my time and all of my thoughts.  

Nobody can love me like him: when I am a huge, cranky brat, he still calms my heart and ministers to me so that I can gracefully return to pretending I'm not a big pain in the butt.  

Nobody can take care of me like him: he knows every little thing in the world about me and uses that to fill my life with good things and to protect me and keep me from ruining my life.

My life would be nothing without him and his incredible son.  

I have found that real joy and stability in my life have come from spending time getting to know God.  The more I know him the more I trust him.  And nothing can really mess with me too much when I let God and Jesus Christ get close to me.  They are my body guards (except better because they also guard my more valuable treasures: my heart, my mind and my spirit).  They are my best friends when things just don't seem to be going all that well.  They celebrate with me when I'm having the time of my life.  They are peace, safety and vitality.  They are my life.

Thank you God for choosing fatherhood!  You are the best Dad anybody could ever ask for.  I love you!!