Careful Now

All my life I have loved being outdoors. As a child I spent a lot of time hanging in trees, riding my bike, splashing in creeks (or ditches I pretended were creeks), and scratching in the dirt. My mother had to MAKE me come inside at the end of the day. Being outside sometimes feels like a spiritual experience for me. God’s fingerprints are all over Creation, and I feel the wonder of His greatness.  Unfortunately, the Enemy knows this about me and sees it as an opportunity for my undoing. 

Recently, I participated in an herbal medicine class. My love for plants and fascination with how they can be used for healing led me down this path. There’s another group of people who are big into nature and herbal medicine: pagans. Pagans (and New Agers) dominate this field of study. The lure of being in nature, experiencing that spiritual feeling, prayer, and a sense of connectedness with nature and the Universe are attractive to many. Being one’s own god is intoxicating – having that feeling of having power or control. While taking my class, I rubbed shoulders with several pagans who were very passionate. Having shared several weekends together, these ladies became my friends. Careful… 

I have a strong thirst to learn more about this subject and have been invited to an herbal conference in Florida. This conference is being held at a campground which appeals to us nature lovers. There’s also a bunk house where I could bunk with other ladies at the conference. There will be circle-time and music. I researched the presenters and musicians. Although not overtly pagan on their websites, the pagan vibes were there. This conference feels more like a worship service to me. But then I rationalize. I just want to go for the learning about herbs. I don’t have to participate in the pagan rituals. 

Careful, whispers the Holy Spirit. The relationships would be key for pulling me down an idolatrous road. I would be spending lots of time with pagan “friends.” Some of the ladies from my class would likely be there. It could be subtle too. At my age, I tend to think I would not so easily bend to peer pressure or be influenced. But that’s silly. We are all influenced by those around us. We all experience peer pressure. I remember my mother talking about situations among her peers when she was in her 80s. During our last class, we gathered in a circle to “toast” to each other (with a non-alcoholic herbal drink), and I wondered where this was leading and if I would have the courage to step back if it became ritualistic. It did not, thankfully, but I was edgy. 

I have decided that if I ever do attend any herbal conferences, that I will not spend much time in the presence of these influencers. I certainly do not need to room (or camp) with them. Will I be friendly and kind? Absolutely. Ready to share my faith? Of course, but I should not become bosom buddies with those who do not follow Christ. And I should put on my Armor ahead of time. (I have discovered a Christian Herbal Association, but they do not have any events planned right now.) 

Proverbs 12: 26, “One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” ESV 

Proverbs 13: 20, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” ESV 

Do you have any natural interests or passions that the Enemy might use against you? Things that maybe aren’t sinful but could lead to idolatry? Careful. 

joyce hague

A Challenge and a Word of Encouragement for the New Year

 

Twenty twenty-four is upon us! In thinking about what to write this week, I decided to combine two things that I myself have been pondering in regard to a new year.

            First, I would love to challenge you with something I am planning to do myself. I have heard my husband often say, “We don’t drift toward intimacy with God.” We see this in other relationships as well. If we aren’t intentional about maintaining or even growing a relationship, we drift away from it. If we want to grow closer to God, learn more about Him, love Him more, and become more like Christ, we need to be intentional. And the start of a new year is a good time to take stock of where we are. I came across this article with a questionnaire of sorts that allows you to reflect on the previous year and then asks questions about the upcoming year to help you be intentional in growing that important relationship with the Lord. For example, it’s great to want to spend time in the Word every day, but without a plan, that is less likely to happen. This is true for prayer as well. Also, we want to fight sin in our lives, but without looking at ourselves and recognizing our sin patterns, again, this becomes more challenging. I will attach the link here, but if it does not work, type the following into your internet search engine: Melissa Kruger “New Year, New Beginnings.” This should hopefully take you right to this article on The Gospel Coalition’s website. In this article, there is a printable guide for you to work through these “reflecting and refocusing” questions on your own.

 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/melissa-kruger/new-year-new-beginnings-vitally-important-consider-ways/

            Secondly, here is how I am encouraging myself at the start of this new year. I hope it encourages you as well. At the beginning of my day planner for this year, I have written out this question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism. I love how it weaves together truths from the Word of God to create something so beautiful and encouraging. I plan to turn to this reminder often throughout the year.

Question 26: What do you believe when you say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?” That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and all that is in them, and who still upholds and governs them by his eternal counsel and providence, is, for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father. In him I trust so completely as to have no doubt that he will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul, and will also turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this life of sorrow. He is able to do so as almighty God, and willing also as a faithful Father.

            Ladies, the eternal God is our Father. He is for us, He sustains us, and He holds this year in His hands. He is sovereign over all that will occur in these 366 days. Let us look ahead with confidence, trusting our all-wise and good God.

--Amy O'Rear

Christmas Train

 

Every year it comes like a train on a fast track. I first realize Christmas is upon me when my daughters start asking for lists. What do you want?  is followed by a frantic search for that slip of paper where I started writing down ideas. What do I want? What I really want is something that cannot be bought or ordered. And I’m not even sure how to voice it.

Maybe it’s the magic I felt as a child sitting in the dim candle glow of our little country church. Mary and Joseph in their bathrobes up on stage welcomed with shy smiles the shepherds and wise men in similar bathrobes, heads adorned with towels wound up in artful precision, to see the baby lying in hay. Angels in white bed sheets, tree tinsel on their freshly washed curls, stood benignly by as a hush fell over the congregation and “Silent Night” arose in the near darkness. Never have the words been more meaningful or the thoughts so sublime.

What do I want? I want to pass this wonder to my loved ones, to have them experience this thrill for themselves, to imagine with me the joy of the shepherds as they returned to the hills changed, the awe of the magi traveling over miles of desert, talking among themselves. Who would believe it? Who could believe it? God come to earth. After so much waiting.

Children understand waiting. Much of their lives is spent plodding from one unwanted task to another, being obedient, doing homework, counting the days. For them, Christmas is a slow train that seems forever just around the bend. Maybe the anticipation of gifts is what drives their eagerness. I’m sure it was so for me as I avidly searched the pages of the Sears Wish Book every November to dream of the gifts I might receive, but I’m glad I somehow caught the vision of God’s example in the very best of gift giving.

Maybe my memory of those early Christmas celebrations is enhanced by the shiny veneer of time. Maybe what I really want is to be young again, to see things fresh and exciting. In fact, the truth of Christmas is always upon us. The event we celebrate at Christmas is ever one for amazement, regardless of the time of year or the stage of life. Whether it comes charging like a runaway train or chugs slowly along, Christmas is, indeed, a holiday that is centuries old yet forever new.  

And here we are at the start—or nearly so—of a new year. It has become cliché to suggest that we keep Christmas in our hearts, so I won’t do that. But I do want to suggest that we take time to realize that our lives are a bit like that train, moving forward whether or not we feel ready. As our pastor reminded us recently, our goal must be to live under the control of Christ, as Paul stated in II Corinthians 5: 14 & 15, ^“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Did you write down those three questions Pastor Love asked us? In case you missed it, here they are. May these questions and their positive answers lead us forward this year until Christmas comes again.

1.     How will I demonstrate the treasure of the gospel in my daily life?

2.     What will guide my decisions and purpose in this year?

3.     Am I living with eternity in view?

--         --Sherry Poff

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The Song of the Shepherds

 

On this Christmas Eve, I have chosen to share with you this lovely old poem I read recently. If you are reading this blog after Christmas, it will still be good. Take your time and appreciate the rich truth in this piece by Edwin Markham, published sometime before 1923.

 

The Song of the Shepherds

It was near the first cock-crowing
And Orion’s wheel was going,
When an angel stood before us and our hearts were sore afraid.
Lo! His face was like the lightning,
When the walls of heaven are whitening,
And he brought us wondrous tidings of a joy that should not fade.

Then a Splendor shone around us,
In a still field where he found us,
A-watch upon the Shepherd Tower and waiting for the light;
There where David, as a stripling,
Saw the ewes and lambs go rippling
Down the little hills and hollows at the falling of the night.

Oh, what tender, sudden faces
Filled the old familiar places,
The barley-fields, where Ruth of old went gleaning with the birds.
Down the skies the host came swirling,
Like sea-waters white and whirling,
And our hearts were strangely shaken by the wonder of their words.

Haste, O people; all are bidden—
Haste from places high or hidden:
In Mary’s Child the Kingdom comes, the heaven in beauty bends!
He has made all life completer,
He has made the Plain Way sweeter,
For the stall is His first shelter, and the cattle His first friends. 

He has come! The skies are telling:
He has quit the glorious dwelling;
And first the tidings came to us, the humble shepherd folk.
He has come to field and manger,
And no more is God a Stranger:
He comes as Common Man at home with cart and crooked yoke. 

As the shadow of a cedar
To a traveler in gray Kedar
Will be the kingdom of His love, the kingdom without end.
Tongue and ages may disclaim Him,
Yet the Heaven of heavens will name Him
Lord of prophets, Light of nations, elder Brother, tender Friend.

 

Merry Christmas, friends!

 

 

Endurance

 

“Endure” is defined as to suffer patiently; to remain in existence or to last.

God’s people give Him glory when we endure wrong, remain faithful in persecution, or, as in Job’s case, simply trust and praise God in the midst of suffering.

In Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Christ speaks to His churches, praising most of them for patient endurance, faith, service, faithfulness against spiritual darkness and not denying His name.

To each church, He promises rewards to those who endure, to “the one who conquers.” The criticisms and warnings could apply to any believers anywhere; the rewards could apply to any believers anywhere. If we collect all the promised rewards into a single list, the gifts in store for us are thrilling beyond comprehension!

“To those who conquer” --

I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

The one who is victorious will not be hurt by the second death.

I will give some of the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on the stone.

I will give authority over the nations.

I will give that one the morning star (which is the final name by which He calls Himself at the end of Revelation).

The one who is victorious will be clothed in white garments and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God and I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem and my own new name.

I will grant him to sit with me on my throne.

We are happy to know that He has purchased for us eternal life. These promises are a part of His description of that life! Can you imagine?? (A rhetorical question – the answer is “no”!)

The physical/mental sufferings of this life are a spiritual battle, as demonstrated by Job’s life. The sufferings of faithfulness to God’s Word are a spiritual battle. Jesus told us of His planned gifts so we would be encouraged to endure. And who gives us the ability to do that? Romans 8:35-37, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

--Lynda Shenefield

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting

 

There is a sweet children’s picture book that our three kids enjoyed when they were younger called Waiting Is Not Easy. At the very start of this story, Piggie tells her elephant friend Gerald that she has a surprise for him. Over the next few pages, Gerald’s excitement builds as he anticipates the surprise, but then Piggie tells him that he must wait for it because the surprise is not there yet. Throughout the majority of the book, the two wait together for the surprise – Piggie patiently and contentedly waits with a smile on her face while Gerald gets more and more agitated as time goes by, groaning and complaining about the long wait. Meanwhile, the white background of the pages becomes subtly darker. Gerald himself notes how dark it is getting and is frustrated because the day has almost ended and the surprise has still not come. He thinks he has wasted the whole day, wailing, “We have waited and waited and waited and waited. And for what?” At this point, Piggie says, “For that” and points up. As you turn the next page, the camera lens (so to speak) zooms out and you see that Gerald and Piggie are standing under a beautiful sky filled with stars. They look up and stand in silence, and then Gerald says, “This was worth the wait.” Piggie responds, “I know.”

            Waiting is hard, isn’t it? Just this afternoon, I was reminded of a matter I used to pray about for years that I longed to see happen and which the Lord brought about in the last few years in a unique way. I didn’t know if it would happen or how, but I did desire it, and God chose to answer that request after a season of waiting. We all have things on our hearts that we are praying about, waiting to see how God will answer. And in many of these matters, we are not guaranteed a certain outcome. Yet God has made us promises that we can know for certain will come to pass, even as we wait for it to be so. He has promised to work all things for good in the lives of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He has promised that His Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). He has promised a future inheritance that is kept in heaven for those who have placed their faith in Him (1 Peter 1:4-5). He has promised a new heaven and a new earth where sin and death will be no more (Revelation 21:1-4).

            Advent is a season of waiting. We are reminded of the thousands of years between God’s promise of a Savior and the day that Savior was born as a baby in the small town of Bethlehem. Generations of Israelites waited. They died, having not yet seen the fulfillment of that promise. I’m sure there were those who, like Gerald in the story above, groaned, tired of the long waiting and maybe beginning to wonder if the moment would ever come. Yet, in God’s perfect time, “the fullness of time” as Paul writes in Galatians, God sent His Son.

            In this Christmas season, let us remember that God always keeps His promises even when the waiting seems long. God’s timing is perfect, and our waiting is not wasted. Our trust in Him deepens, and our dependence on Him grows. Let us also remember that there is another advent coming. The same Christ who came the first time as a baby will come the second time as a King. In the meantime, let us walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27). Let us rejoice in Him and all that He has done on our behalf (Phil. 4:1). Let us bear suffering and trials with endurance, knowing that God is at work and that we can trust Him with our lives (1 Peter 1:6, 4:19). In all things, let us fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1). And when He returns at His second advent, we too will lift our eyes to the sky and know that the long wait was worth it.

--Amy O'Rear

A Prayer Approved by God

 

“…at the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.” (Daniel 9:23) This was what Gabriel said to Daniel, in addition to many other things, in response to Daniel’s prayer. What had Daniel prayed? He had fasted and poured out his heart to God confessing his own sin and that of his countrymen. He had begged for mercy. God noticed Daniel’s prayer from on high and was pleased by it. Prayer was a priority for Daniel. He nearly got eaten by lions over his prayer life. Eaten by lions! 

Are you a woman (or man) of prayer? I so want to be! 

If we truly understood the importance of prayer, we would likely never neglect it. 

We are doing battle in the spiritual realm – in the unseen. We do not even know when it makes a difference much of the time. We might feel like it accomplishes nothing since we cannot always see the results. It is hard work too! If God does not really need our help, why do it? Because He invites us into building His kingdom. I do not know why, except that maybe He wants us to have ownership in it? Or maybe it changes us into the image of Christ? Or both? We are commanded to pray, and who else are we going to look to but God Himself? These problems are bigger than anyone except Him. Our prayers, especially those like Daniel’s, please God. Is that not reason enough? 

I am praying for revival in this country, for the end of trafficking, for the fall of Planned Parenthood, for the peace of Israel and Ukraine, and many other people and situations. I hope you are too. Revival begins in our hearts with confession and submission to Jesus’ authority. Intentional seasons of fasting go along with this. We can make a big difference right from our prayer closets. Big changes because we have a big God Who is waiting for us to ask Him to move. We have not, because we ask not. Jesus said so. 

Daniel did not get exactly what he requested even though he was greatly loved and favored by God. But I do not believe his prayers were for naught. God had much bigger plans (some terrifying) than Daniel could imagine, but no telling what a difference Daniel’s prayers made. 

The Bible tells us that life and death are in the power of the tongue. I do not think we maximize that enough. Like prayer, this is another mystery we do not fully understand. I believe it though, and many of my prayers are out loud. I want the Enemy to know I’m on to him and praying against him in the Name of Jesus. 

What do you think? Are you a woman (or man) of prayer?

 

joyce hague