Prepare Our Hearts

Tag: God

  • Deep Roots

    Deep Roots

    The Oak Tree

    by Johnny Ray Ryder, Jr.

    A mighty wind blew night and day.

    It stole the Oak Tree’s leaves away.

    Then snapped its boughs

    and pulled its bark

    until the Oak was tired and stark.

    But still the Oak Tree held its ground

    while other trees fell all around.

    The weary wind gave up and spoke,

    “How can you still be standing Oak?”

    The Oak Tree said, I know that you

    can break each branch of mine

    in two,

    carry every leaf away,

    shake my limbs and make me sway.

    But I have roots stretched in the earth,

    growing stronger since my birth.

    You’ll never touch them,

    for you see they are

    the deepest part of me.

    Until today, I wasn’t sure

    of just how much I could endure.

    But now I’ve found

    with thanks to you,

    I’m stronger than I ever knew.

    What gave the oak tree those deep roots? The strong wind is something we are feeling right now. We are in a time of adversity. It is hard and we have never navigated it before. COVID has impacted us in a lot of different ways. I wanted to take a few moments and just acknowledge the troubles we are all facing. The changes, the way the wind is hitting us. The way this storm keeps on giving, though we all thought it would come and go.

    People feel like they are being held hostage by COVID. A friend of mine lost her dad this month in the nursing home. He had gone on a hunger strike because of being so lonely. Children and adults in group homes cannot leave and feel trapped. Suicide rates and substance use issues are going through the roof. It’s incredibly sad to see what is happening because of the virus.

    Yesterday at the post office I noticed how people were desperate for connection, the line was longer than I’d ever seen. An old friend and I caught up while the stranger behind us joined our conversation. Before we knew it people around us were joining with their body language and eyebrows. All of us wanted to share about how COVID had impacted us.

    “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
        because he has anointed me
            to bring good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
        and recovery of sight to the blind,
            to let the oppressed go free…”

    Luke 4:18

    In Jesus, there is freedom. Jesus sets the prisoner free. In Him we have good news, release, recovery, freedom! Jesus brings good news to us, He allows us to see the truth!

    Those who are with God are described as oak trees. If you look out my back windows the tallest trees you can see are the oaks. What I love about them is that they  keep their leaves the longest. They’re beautiful. If you ever try to dig up a little one to move, you will discover that though it’s only a foot tall, its roots go deep down about two feet. And it will be quite a challenge to move it, because it is so firmly rooted.

    The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
        because the Lord has anointed me;
    he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
        to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim liberty to the captives,
        and release to the prisoners;
     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
        and the day of vengeance of our God;
        to comfort all who mourn;
    to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
        to give them a garland instead of ashes,
    the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
        the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
    They will be called oaks of righteousness,
        the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
    They shall build up the ancient ruins,
        they shall raise up the former devastations;
    they shall repair the ruined cities,
        the devastations of many generations.

    Isaiah 61:1-4

    While we are in the midst of this COVID storm, or any storm for that matter, what can we do? How can we make it through it? We have to recognize that we have an enemy that is prowling around trying to get us worked up, worried, and wandering around. If we do not keep our focus on Jesus, our roots could lose their grip. “They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display His glory.” We are a part of His kingdom, and therefore the ones who display His glory, even in the storm!

    In the storm we have to remember who is in control. It may look like we are about to perish, that everything is about to be lost, but Jesus is able to use the storm to demonstrate His strength. This helps us trust Him rather than ourselves.

    On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

    Mark 4:35-41

    According to preservationists, Eagles do something really neat when it rains. They are the only bird that flies above the clouds rather than finding shelter and waiting it out (Rockland at Eagle Rest Sanctuary).

    We have work to do, while we face our storms. We cannot just go and hide in the bushes.

    Check out this scene from Forrest Gum. “I Gotta Find Bubba” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrYWJcC023A

    People are dropping like flies around us, never being rescued, never finding the Truth. We have got be on a mission like Forrest, going back at all costs to save them. Fearless, full of faith, in the mission.

    Think back for a moment, what attracted you to the Kingdom in the first place? What people did God use to bring you to His Son? What attracts us now to the body of Christ, to the Church? What does that look like in scripture? Let’s look at the early Church…

    Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

    Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

    Acts 2:37-47

    Keep reading in the book of Acts, look at Acts 4:32-6:16, the Early Church was so attractional because all people had all in common, no one had need and great wonders were being done among them. Think of a time where you met other Christians that so greatly looked out for each other that none were in need! If one’s car was broken down, another fixed it, if a single mom needed help with daycare, another family watched the kids. The Early Church had this right, they were generous and giving to each other, always caring in practical ways.

    If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.  Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

    who, though he was in the form of God,
        did not regard equality with God
        as something to be exploited,

    but emptied himself,
        taking the form of a slave,
        being born in human likeness.
    And being found in human form,
     he humbled himself
        and became obedient to the point of death—
        even death on a cross.

    Philippians 2:1-8

    We are to be of one mind, without self-ambition, humble, regarding others as better than ourselves. This is a tall order, isn’t it? Yet, this is what attracts us to the Kingdom. I want to be with people who do not think they are better than me, I want to be with people who love me. Jesus was so humble, so obedient to the love He had for His Father that He willingly laid down His life on the cross. What a beautiful example He gave us, so that we would know how to love others.

    “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”

    John 13:14-15

    Jesus demonstrated a life of servanthood, so that we too would live lives of servanthood. So that the world would look at the Church and see calm in the midst of the storm, love in the face of hatred, light in the darkness.

    As we enter into life’s storms, remember how the eagle sores above, it continues its flight even in the midst of a storm. Remember how Jesus was in control of whatever happened to the disciples in the boat that day. Remember that Jesus laid down His life for us, and like the might oak trees, our roots are planted in Him, firm and deep, so that we cannot be moved.  If you are in the midst of a mighty storm right now, maybe It’s COVID complications, or maybe it is just the rough parts of life, remember that King Jesus prayed for you, He is with you always. Remember that is in the storm where we see His greatest strength. I will leave you with that prayer from John 17:  

    After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.  I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

    “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;  for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.

    “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,  that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

    “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

    John 17

    *All Scriptures are taken from the NRSV.

    *All Scripture references are taken from the NRSV.

  • Is God 1st?

    Is God 1st in Your Life?

    Exodus 20:3-4

    You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth…            

    What does it look like to have another god before God, to have an idol?

    There are many examples from the OT but here are a few:

    Micah commits idolatry with an ephod, household idols, a carved image and a molded image (Judges 18:21-25).

    The tribe of Benjamin commits idolatry by their wickedness and sexual sins. They wanted to have their way with the man called a Levite. Instead they end up raping and murdering his concubine. (Read the story and the one before it in Judges 17-19).

    Pharaoh has said, “My river is my own, I have made it for myself” (Ezekiel 29:1-21)

    Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble (Jeremiah 11:12)

    The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them! (Psalm 135:15-18)

    All these have one thing in common: they put their own wants and fleshly desires before God’s will for their lives. They chose their own way. They satisfied the desires of their flesh. They did not turn back, turn away from, or repent and this brought the wrath of God to their front door.

    O Father, I pray that I would not be filled with my own ways. Teach me your ways so I will obey because I do not want my flesh to be stronger than the Spirit You have put inside me. Let your Holy Spirit dwell so richly in me that my flesh won’t stand a chance! I beg You for forgiveness and for mercy. Many idolatrous sins have I committed against You. Forgive me, I am sorry.

    • Idolatry distorts the truth and it will take you away from God.
    • In the OT (Isaiah 44 we can read about the people cutting down trees or the craftsmen shaping idols from metal).
    • In the NT we see sins become the idols.

    Gal. 5: Works of the flesh, covetousness

    Eph. 5: Covetous man, who is an idolater

    Col. 3: Covetousness, which is idolatry

    What is coveting?

    Wanting with great desire someone else’s stuff (stuff can include someone’s personality traits, good looks, or lifestyle).

    Exodus 20:17

    You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

    The Revell Bible Dictionary says, “In every case of covetousness in Scripture the passionate desire for material possessions brings personal and spiritual disaster”.

    There’s a great story found in 2 Kings 5 about a man named Gahazi who wanted something for the healing from his master Elisha that was done for a man named Naaman. Gahazi was so bent on being paid back for the healing that he chased Naaman outside the city secretly and demanded payment, even though Elisha healed him through God’s power and would accept no payment. Because of Gahazi’s sin he ended up getting snow white leprosy.

    If you are tempted to put an object before you and God, this is the day for laying it down. Sometimes my “object” is Facebook, or my heart to live in a foreign land (still here in the US), sometimes it’s been my house, sometimes it’s my hurt feelings, or my marriage – whatever it is, it’s not worth the sacrifice of your relationship with God. Lay it down today!

    Your homework: Find out what can happen when we trade our God for an idol at Romans 1:20-28.

  • Be Still…

    Are you ever trying to do it all in your own power? Ever seeing constant failure and letdowns rather than victory?

    Do you know God is with you? When the Israelite’s walked through the wilderness after escaping the Egyptians, God was with them.

    ExIMG_0734odus 13:22

    Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

    The people were shaking with fear as their enemy pursued them but Moses reassured them saying, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still” (NRSV).

    You have only to KEEP STILL.

    Imagine that for a moment, you are still and God is fighting the battle for you. Your enemy is surrounding you, maybe it’s cancer, maybe it’s a disease that plagues your breathing night and day or makes you sick every time you eat, or a spouse that always wanders, or a kid on drugs.

    Whatever the case, what if you looked at it and knew that God was fighting for you? Could you keep still? Could you wait for Him to destroy the enemy, the thing that consumes your life?

    This is a big challenge for me, maybe it is for you too. I want to hurry up and fix it myself but it’s not always so successful when my hand is on it, and God’s is forgotten. What if you eat every healthy food and the sickness persists, or read all the right books and the struggle continues, or do everything right in your parenting and the kid still resists?

    But what if you were still instead, trusting God, waiting on Him? What would that look like? Would He really come to your rescue? I believe He would. I have seen Him do it for me and for others. Don’t give up, but do figure out if you’re being still or not.

  • Go Where He Leads You

    The Israelite’s exodus from Egypt is one of the most engaging stories in the Bible! You read of the calling on Moses, the plagues of Pharaoh’s land and the Israelite’s trek through the wilderness. All of it is impressive and amazing to contemplate. However when you come to the passage about God dwelling with them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night you can only stop and just imagine the power of God.

    While I was reading this morning something caught my attention:

    When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, “If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.” (Exodus 13:17) You see God wanted them away from the Egyptians so they could be free to worship Him. As the Egyptian’s slaves they also were incredibly mistreated and God heard their cries. He would rescue them but it would not be easy and because of their tendency to go back to the things which would destroy them (like idol worship), God wanted this experience to be something unforgettable, something that would be seared into their hearts and minds forever.

    So God led them through the wilderness.

    traffic-circle-from-hellHave you ever been on a roundabout in a little town? You can always see where you want to go, but there’s always someone in front of you or a person on your right turning into your lane and you cannot tell who has the right of way. Going on a roundabout takes some patience, even practice if you want to make it out unscathed.

    Sometimes God takes us on the roundabout. For many years I’ve felt a specific calling on my heart, yet the door has never fully opened for it. I’ve seen it opened for other people and closed for some as well but it’s always obvious God is in the mix, taking someone where He wants them most. For some reason I’m still here. Have you been on a roundabout with God? Trying to figure out which way to go? Trying to head in the right direction? When God took the people in that direction, He took them the long way around, and He did it because it was the best thing for them. He was protecting His people. He wants to protect us in the same way.

    What would happen, if you make a commitment to go wherever He leads you? Even if it’s not where you want to be right now? Even if it’s not the place you think you’re destined for? Who knows, you may still get there, just not right now. And why go where He hasn’t obviously opened up the door and led you?

    Look at this:

    Exodus 13:21-22

    The Lord went in front of them in a pillar of cloud by day, to lead them along the way, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

    eikon_1129_02Imagine that you are one of those Israelite’s and your God is before you as a pillar of light, you’re in the wilderness surrounded by complete darkness, howling animals, the fear of Pharaoh, and the weight of all you’re carrying on your back. Would you turn and walk in any other direction besides the one you’re being pointed in by your God? Of course you wouldn’t, that would be a death sentence!

    Remember today, you can follow, because He is leading. Where you see His presence, go. Where you hear His voice, go. Where you know He is changing lives, go.

  • Ever Asked God, “Why”?

    Exodus 5:22-23

    Then Mosses turned again to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me? Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people”.

    And the next chapter is all about God slashing Moses to bits on the highest mountain and showering his body parts from the sky…

    Just kidding…

    Actually, God answered with a promise. Because God had a made a promise and God keeps His promises. He then showers something from the sky: a whole raft of plagues. Plagues that we cannot imagine today, water turned to blood, frogs that invaded every house, flies that bit, locusts, hail and storms, and ultimately the death of every first born Egyptian child, including Pharaoh’s son.

    Have you ever been in a church group or Bible study where people said to not question God? I have, a few times. But I’ve always been the questioning type. In fact as a kid they called me “mouth” because I liked to ask questions. Of the lady who named me that, I asked, “Why are your eyebrows drawn on like that? Wow, how she didn’t smack me that day I’ll never know!

    But Moses did ask God “Why”? And Moses lived. AND he got an answer from God. Why are we so afraid of asking God “Why?” Maybe it’s that verse about the grumbling complainers that God did slash to bits in the dessert. But for context read Numbers 16 and 1 Corinthians 10. Moses just asked “Why”, he didn’t complain.

    SO, I have a theory, I think God allows, our “why” questions. In fact, I think He may even honor them. If you’re in a real relationship with someone. Say, it’s your new fiancé, aren’t you going to ask them, why they want to be with you? If they do something unexpected, like apply for a different job, won’t you ask why? If they think you should move to another country and work among the natives, won’t you ask why? It’s a normal question.

    hands up whyNow let me speak to the times of life that are hard and you need to know why. Times, like surviving abuses, or a friend that passes away. Those times also necessitate the “why”. Maybe you got a cancer diagnosis, or maybe the one you prayed for did not live. Maybe you did live, and another died, you need to know why. You just do. I believe God honors that, and even knows we need those kinds of answers. And though we may not always get the answer we’re after, I even believe there’s still one to be found. For instance, as a sexual abuse survivor, I cannot explain why the abusers chose to do what they did. Maybe they too were abused and acted out, or maybe just have addictions to sex. Whatever the case there came a day when I sought God on why that happened. I needed to understand His perspective.

    The verse that came to me was Romans 8:28, “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (NRSV). And I also could recall the life of Joseph, who’s brothers tried to kill him, but ended up selling him in to slavery. This life is full of troubles, we are guaranteed in the Bible. Joseph said an amazing thing though, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good…” (Gen. 50:20).

    Something else stuck out to me after asking “Why?” I realized there were countless other women in the same shoes as me. Countless women without a voice, girls, daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts, friends, who have suffered in very similar ways and are still suffering. As I contemplate why I also contemplate this God I serve’s intentions of good in it. What will He use it for? As it stands it’s sort of my Nineveh, the thing I avoid.

    Afterall who wants to talk about such a thing. But that’s just what needs to happen, and even more so, why else would I have earned the name “mouth” if I weren’t to be such a talker! So more to come later on that, but for now I’m praying how I can be a help to point women to the path of victory after the word “victim” has come across their lips.

    When you ask God such a question you may not find any answer is given at all. I cannot see why my friend Diana was taken, why her cancer was not healed, why her 5 children are without her. Yet I do know one thing, she longed for heaven. I have never met anyone so excited to go and be with Jesus. Most of us are like, “not yet, I have too much to do here”, but not Diana, she was ready to go! Maybe that was the answer, maybe God just answered her prayer that she could come home. But to us who miss her, we may not yet see the answer.

    In that case, the answer might be faith. Do we have faith to believe that God knows everything, He is sovereign and has a purpose in all He does? A good true purpose! Do we have faith to believe that?

    And sometimes your answer is not one you wanted. I have prayed and prayed for a situation to change but it never did, not for many years. It was the hardest thing I had ever been through. And ultimately I decided that it may never change and so I accepted it the way it was, the way it may always be. Because like Paul with the thorn (2 Cor. 12), He is gracious to me and in that grace may leave me with it. Because with this thing I am on my knees before God, begging Him on a daily basis to be with me as I walk through it. It may be the only thing that does bring me to my knees, and for that I have to be thankful instead of angry.

    Your answer may not come, or it may and you may not like it, or it may be the inspiration for the calling on your life! Who knows! But to not ask God “why”, seems to miss out on the whole adventure of maybe finding an answer!

    For another take on the “Why” questions, click here, it’s an article by Timothy Keller.