Amazing

Here are two paradoxes that amaze me.

(1) The God of the Universe, the Creator and Source of all things, the one who is perfect and almighty and has dominion over all powers, this eternal God became a mortal man and died for our sin.

(2) It is in admitting our sin and asking for grace that we are declared innocent and justified before our Holy God.

Also-- this is not a paradox, but it is amazing nonetheless:

God loves us.
God loves me.

Raised singing "Jesus Loves Me," since before I knew anything about either Jesus or love, I tend to take this truth for granted.

God loves me.

On the one hand, I think, "Yes, of course."

On the other hand, I think, "But how can He?  How can He be pleased with a loser like me?"

And yet, He is.

Today I am particularly thankful for His patience.  I am thankful that when I fail, He doesn't send me away in irritation.  God will never turn away the humble--not that I am humble, but He works to develop humility in me, too, which is painful but good.  As long as we come to Him trembling, admitting our need, our lack, our weakness, He will lovingly and kindly pour out grace.

His grace is sufficient, and His power is made perfect in weakness.

His power is made perfect in my weakness.  This, too, is an amazing paradox.

A September Prayer

How odd, that September is nearly over.  How does it happen?

My days have also been odd, a perplexing mixture of joy and sadness.  I lost a beloved dog and gained a darling puppy.  I'm expecting my first grandchild.  I've been blessed to have a Bible study to teach.  At the same time, there are broken relationships, lost jobs, medical bills, rejection, unforgiveness and heartache.

My flower beds are a royal mess.  Kind of like my life... in fact, a lot like my life.  Because amidst the mess is beauty.  Pockets of wonder and secret treasures abound, if I get my perspective right, when I view things from an advantageous angle.

God is always near.

O Lord, please open my eyes to see more of You.  

I know You are here.  I know You love us.  

O Lord, let me know Your love deeply 

in my heart, and not only in my mind.  

O Lord, please hold my faith together 

and keep me hoping, believing, 

expecting good things from You, 

because You are faithful, almighty and good. 

These black-eyed Susans are past their prime, 

but unfortunately, I did not photograph them in their prime.  

Still, something about their autumn fading touches my heart.

This must be a special grace from God.

When I have I ever had fresh daylilies in September?

And a praying mantis, too.

Preliminary thoughts about 1 Corinthians

We've dug into 1 Corinthians in our ladies' Bible study.  I couldn't figure out what 1 Corinthians was about until after we started.

It's about humility. 

In that vein, I've been pondering whether the fear of the Lord is actually humility.  Have you experienced the phenomenon where people recoil from the phrase fear of the Lord, saying things like, "Of course God doesn't want you to be afraid of Him!"

I have a new puppy.  He is a delight.  I love him dearly, and I also want him to be a little bit afraid of me.  I do not want him to cower and flinch when I come near, but I want him to watch and listen to me carefully, and do what I say.  I want him to know that I am his owner, and the Boss, and he is my dog, my good buddy, and we get along much better when he realizes that it is not okay to piddle on the floor, bite my ankles, or chew my shoes.  I want him to be afraid to piddle, bite and chew inappropriately.  I want him to respect my boundaries and fear my displeasure.  We are working to teach him to go outdoors for his potty needs, eat his food, chew his toys, sit, lie down, come, stay (stay is not coming very fast), and cuddle on the sofa in the evening (that is also turning out to be a difficult skill for him to master, but with patience and perseverance we will prevail).  I think there may be some similarities between the way I feel about my puppy, and the way God feels about me.

This is why I think fear of the Lord is very much connected to, and possibly the same as humility.  Humility is understanding our place under God, in His Creation.

On Wednesday, when we were studying together, we considered the following:

The world sees humility as foolishness.
God sees humility as wisdom.

We wrote it in a diagram:

  The world                                 foolishness.
                     sees humility as 
      God                                       wisdom.

Had we not been diagramming it to show the relationship of the ideas, I think I would have said it this way:

The world thinks humility is foolishness,
but God knows humility is wisdom.

Now, 1 Corinthians is not exclusively about humility before God.  It is also very much about how to live humbly in fellowship with other believers.  Every one of the issues Paul takes up and deals with, throughout this letter, will be solved when the people involved give up their pride and surrender in humility, willing to do whatever is best for others, and to do everything for the glory of God.

Humility is also based in love, as Paul explains clearly in 1 Corinthians 13.  Love is the only motivation that can save us from our sinful pride.  No good deed counts for anything, unless it is done in love, and love is humble: "Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged," (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 NLT).

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus told us these are the first and second commandments (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:29-34), the ones that are at the root of every other commandment.  Jesus told us that if we can keep these two commandments, we will keep the whole law.

Humble before God and man.

So simple, yet so profoundly difficult.  The power of paradox.  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:10).  Have this mind among you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, giving up all His divine privileges and taking the form of a servant, a humble slave, a mortal human.  In obedience to God, He humbled Himself to a criminal's death on a cross.  Therefore, God raised Him up, highly exalting Him, and bestowed on Him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2).

On the night before He was crucified, Jesus washed His disciples' feet.  He literally wore the dirt from their feet on a towel around His waist.  When He was done, He said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do just as I have done to you." (John 13:14-15)

Dear Lord, please help me understand what it truly means to have the mind of Christ. 

(1 Corinthians 1:16)

Glorious hope

Shawn and I went for a walk in the park at mid-day today.  Even though it is past mid-September, the temperature is in the nineties.  Well, technically it was 88 out there, but it sure felt like the nineties.

On account of the heat, we picked the shady path.  (On account of my lupus, we almost always pick the shady path.)  Today, at high sun, the shade was thinner than usual.  Brightly filtered light made for a beautiful walk.

The monarchs must be migrating, because they were everywhere, dozens of them, fluttering around us fearlessly.  They flickered with flashes of fiery orange as they opened and closed their wings and glided through the dappled light as it fell through the foliage above.  Shawn said he felt as though he were in a Disney movie, and half expected a voice to break out singing, "Zippety-do-da, zippety-ay, my-oh-my what a wonderful day!"

God has been doing things like this for me lately.

Last night's sunset was spectacular, a long row of horizontal white clouds stretched above the western tree-line, golden sunlight gilding their edges and streaming gloriously from behind them.  It was the very picture of what I imagine when I hear the word GLORY.  I sat in the car, slumped with sadness, but I knew God was decorating the expanse for me, showing me that He loves me.  Not only me, of course, but He made sure I noticed, because He knew I needed to see.

Even the sky during the day was amazing yesterday, the loveliest powder blue, filled with perfect, fluffy clouds, layered like soft white peonies.  You just can't look up at a sky like that and not realize that there is a God.

It's been rough lately.  Losses, disappointments, rejections.  Troubles.  "In this world, you will have trouble," Jesus said, and of course He was absolutely right.  He also spoke rightly and truly when He followed that statement with the encouragement: "But take heart; I have overcome the world."

Jesus has overcome the world.  Jesus triumphed over sin and death at the cross.  Jesus has risen, ascended to heaven, and poured out His Holy Spirit on all who believe.

This is why, in the midst of a difficult conversation, I could involuntarily glance down at a notebook I'd been using for Bible study, and suddenly see these words written out in my own handwriting:  "We trust through the paradox.  We trust that all will be well in the end, because of the perfect power of God."

This is why, when driving away from a situation that could easily have left me panicked and teary with despair, the CD in my van began to play a song that told me, "Let not your heart be troubled... Do not be afraid... Let not your heart be troubled... Just believe in Me."

Skies full of glory.

Bevies of butterflies.

Comforting words of scripture.

The perfect power of our faithful God.

I didn't have my camera (or my phone) on our walk, 

so when I got home, I went out to look for monarchs 

in our yard.  There weren't any monarchs here, 

but there were lots of these.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

Surrounded by flowers, butterflies and puppies,

I have so many reasons for gratitude.

God is always worthy of praise.

Duffy Doggie

When we lost Schubert,

I could have taken the blankets off my furniture,

and we could have applied some chemicals to our yard.

I could have dived into volunteer work,

or looked for a job,

now that I didn't need to be home at intervals

to let the dog out.

But no.

Nope.

We got a puppy instead.

On his sunporch

First vet visit (so tiny, 2.3 lbs.)

In a sunbeam

Ready, set . . .

PLAY!!!

Still reaching with a paw!

Outside

Exploring

Figuring out a zinnia, in front of the asters, on a blue-sky day.

Little dog, big hibiscus, small hole in big hibiscus made by little dog.

For a short time, this pillow made me very sad, 

but now it doesn't anymore.

A new puppy

We got a new puppy.

The house was too terrible without a dog.

Here he is bringing some joy to my hurting heart, tiny ball of fluff that he is.

He is a Morkie, with a tiny black body, brown paws that look like rabbits' feet, a stubby tail that is white from behind, like a deer, and a black belly with a little stripe of white like a necktie.  He is so tiny, I feel like a giant looking down at him as he looks up at me from the floor far below.  When he runs through the grass, he bounces like a bunny, and the tips of his ears flip up and down like tiny, triangular white flags.

This is his sweet, tiny face.

We have named him Fergus MacDuff,

and we call him Duffy.

Which is turning out to be a good name, because it rhymes with 

Fluffy

Tuffy

Ruffy

Puffy 

Stuffy and

Muffy

Lots of fodder for poetry here.

I will just say, he is no Schubert.  Schubert was the best natured little dog God ever did make.  Duffy can be a bit naughty, and we are working on training him up.  Yesterday, he tried on his new collar for the first time, very briefly, and it made him immensely cross for the rest of the day.

But, as I recall, Schubert had his issues with collars and leashes.  After much angst, we tried a Gentle Leader.  Schubert did not like his Gentle Leader either.  Oh no, he did not.  After we tried Schubert with his Gentle Leader, he became so pent up, he overturned the entire 5 x 7 rug in our front entryway, a big job for such a small fellow.  Duffy is too tiny to even attempt to overturn a rug, so he got mouthy and started biting.  We had to spend some time doing submission training after that.  He is doing much better today (and we left the collar alone; we'll wait until he is 10 weeks old, on Sunday, before we slowly reintroduce it).  There is always hope.  And love.