A Locket of Charms

Hearts, watering can, hummingbird, rose, teapot, chocolate bar, ice skate, snow globe, Madonna, Nativity, words like hope, love, Grandma, Mom—all charms to go in my necklace locket.  My daughter gave these to me, as well as many more.

            Last week for a beach getaway with my daughters the locket held a bright sun, a camera, a swimmer, a bare foot, a stack of books, and an ice cream cone.

            That vacation is over and we are back to the routine, so the charms have been changed again. Today I thought of what made up my life, what represented where I am in life.  So as I filled the locket once more, I pondered each charm.

            A cross is the first, the symbol of my salvation, my reason for living.  I have known the Lord for almost all of my life, but sometimes I am complacent.  Sometimes I get a little proud of what I can do, “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”  (Galatians 6:14)  For many years my goal has been to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.”  (Philippians 3:10) So the cross must be paramount.

            The next charm is of a hand showing “I love you” in sign language.  I feel loved and I want to express love.  My Gram said many years ago, “Faith, what the world needs is love.  They need to know that Jesus loves them and that you love them because Jesus does.”  That means I want my children to see love, not criticism from me. It also means my neighbors must feel love from me, that the waitress must like to see me come in, that I must not be quick to insist on my interpretation of events in the world.  We live in a society that seems to encourage hate and rage, not love.  We must be different!  We must be the love of Jesus with skin on.

            The next charm shows a stack of books and says, “I love reading,” and I do!  I would rather read than watch television or do most other things.  I love reading silently and I love reading aloud to others.  Sometimes I even read aloud to myself.  There is reading material in every room of the house. There is a pile of books on the floor next to my bed.  I try to keep it under control, but those books multiply!  Right now my Bible is there, a book of hymn histories, a devotional book, fiction, decorating magazines, and even a Word Search.  I am consumed with curiosity and hate to ignore anything printed. Today I am struggling to stay alert because I stayed up last night reading until 1:00! I read for spiritual growth, for mental stimulation, and just for fun.  I want to keep my mind alert.

            The locket also contains a coffee cup.  Yes, I love my morning coffee, especially now that I’m retired and can sit on my front porch and watch the world wake up while I enjoy my coffee.  I no longer have to drink from a travel mug as I drive to work. Hurrah!  But that’s not what the coffee cup represents.  It represents fellowship, friendship, companionship.  A cup of coffee or hot tea shared is better than one sipped alone.  Ecclesiastes 4 says, “Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” This year I have spent a lot of time alone.  I love my solitude, but only to a point.  I need people, and so do you!

            The final charm in the locket for this week is a beach ball!  You didn’t expect that one, did you?  It represents fun and enjoyment.  One of my life mottoes is “Be fun to live with.”  That was some of the best of the advice offered before I got married.  I think of it often.  I enjoy life and I am determined to make life rich and enjoyable for others. 

            Can you tell I love symbols?  These charms are my symbols. They help me identify what is important to me and they help keep me focused.  So many times I get distracted and frustrated because I forget what my priorities are and should be.  May I concentrate on making Christ first, learning to practice love, continuing to grow, sharing with other friends, and remembering to play, to enjoy living. 

What would go into your locket?  What are your priorities? What are the symbols to help you focus on the important things in life? You don’t have to have charms in a locket to remind you, but it helps.  Think about it, at least.

                                                            Faith Himes Lamb

What is Your God Like?

Look in the mirror.

Speaking of “the nations,” the Psalmist says,

Their idols are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
    eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
    noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
    feet, but do not walk;
    and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
    so do all who trust in them.

Ps 115:4-8 ESV

Idolaters become like their idols? Mute, unseeing, deaf, unable to smell, unfeeling, unable to walk or talk? It’s a pretty good description of those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.”

The Bible indicates that those who worship the true God are like Him, just as idolaters are like their gods.

Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he (God) is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. I John 3:7-104

Jesus tells us we need to make an effort to be like God – love and pray for evil people, because God is good to evil people. Then he tells us to be perfect, because God is perfect.

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt. 5: 44, 45, 48 ESV

Evidently is takes no effort to be like an evil god. Evidently, it does take effort to be like the one true God. In any case, we do look (think, act) like the god we choose for our lives.

That’s scary. Do I want my God to be like I am? No. Am I content with my own life as a reflection of the character and actions of God? No. But God’s Word says we are like the god we choose. So have I really chosen the Almighty, the Pure and Holy? It’s a choice that has to be made every day. Every minute. Every second. I’m failing miserably.

The apostle Paul makes a big deal of the difficulty of doing right.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. Romans 7:18 ESV

The ease of our tendency to do wrong is a lifelong plague for all of us. While repentance and saving faith in Christ is a definite-time event, striving to be like God is an unending quest.

This poem by Thomas T. Lynch, 1818-1871, was set to music by K. Lee Scott. May it be our prayer, ever.

Gracious Spirit, Dwell With Me

Gracious spirit, dwell with me, I would gracious be;

Help me now thy grace to see, I would be like thee;

And, with words that help and heal, thy life would mine reveal;

And, with actions bold and meek, for Christ my Savior, speak.

Truthful Spirit, dwell with me, I would truthful be;

Help me now thy truth to see, I would be like thee;

And with wisdom kind and clear, thy life in mine appear;

And with acts of charity, speak Christ’s sincerity.

Holy Spirit, dwell with me, I would holy be;

Show thy mercy tenderly, make me more like thee;

Separate from sin, I would and cherish all things good,

And whatever I can be give him who gave me thee.

 --Lynda Shenefield

Nothing Wasted

Recent events have got me thinking about the shortness of life. When I read in Psalm 103 that the human lifespan is "as grass," I can only agree. The passage goes on to say, "As a flower of the field, so he (man) flourishes. For the wind passes over it and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more."

Several years ago, one of my students read me a poem called "Perfection Wasted" by John Updike. The idea of the poem is that people work all their lives perfecting their personalities, their "act," and then when they die, it is all gone forever. I couldn't help crying as I thought about my own dad and the wonderful man he was--funny, smart, compassionate--and the thought that all his jokes and his wit died with him did indeed seem like a waste.

But my dad knew Jesus. My dad lives. I confess I don't really know how the afterlife works. I know that Paul says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8), but I don't really understand where or how we are present with the Lord. Perhaps I should be content to know that God knows. When I was a child, it all seemed so simple, but as I myself get closer to finding out first hand--and as people I love make the transition--I wonder more and more about what we'll be doing when we're finished here.

And we'll be finished here very shortly--like a flower of the field. But even flowers replenish the earth after they die. They're not wasted. If God doesn't waste flowers, is he going to let all our love and learning die with our bodies?  Think of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. We are more valuable than lilies of the field. God has a bigger and better plan for us.

The passage in Psalm 103 goes on to say, "but the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him." If God's mercy for me is everlasting, then his plan for me must be so as well. I remember asking Bea Ward if she thought we'd be able to do things in heaven that we didn't have time for in this life. Her answer was immediate: "Oh, yes!" she said. "I'm going to learn Chinese."

--Sherry Poff

Pressing On

 “I press on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus! Philippians 3:14!”

I remember saying shouting this verse every Wednesday night in the Word of Life Olympians club at my dad’s church growing up. Pressing on toward my calling was something I latched onto from a very young age.  I have known I was meant to be a teacher since I sat in Mrs. Rutledge’s kindergarten class at Brainerd Baptist in 1990-1991.  I did not always know what I was to teach or whom I was to teach. But, I knew God had placed that calling on my life. I have always felt a great responsibility for the trust the school system and parents have put in me as they send their children into my classroom. That feeling of great responsibility was magnified when I had my own children, Caedmon and Selah, for now I was not only a teacher, but also a mother. To be entrusted with such precious lives has been both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

When the Lifeway Women’s blog posted earlier this summer they would be offering the study “Entrusted: A Study of 2 Timothy” for free online, I was excited to explore the teacher/mentor relationship of Paul and Timothy.  I had picked up and put down this study several times because I’ve always been intrigued by Paul.  I imagine him to be a cross between the look of Paul Giamatti, the intelligence and wit of CS Lewis, and a knowledge of scripture like Dr. Price. J  Across the five week study, I got to look deeper into the remarkable faith and incredible humanity of this amazing teacher.  He reminded Timothy to guard what had been entrusted to him, the gospel and the gifting of the Holy Spirit (“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us” II Timothy 1:14) right alongside voicing the pain of betrayal (“…Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me…Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm…”II Timothy 4). 

I know I have definitely been guilty of assuming at times that the people in the Bible are in there because they are super-human when in fact they are in the Bible because they are just like you and me and faced the same relationship struggles that we do.  I think that is why we are encouraged thus in Hebrews10:25 : “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” It has always been a human tendency to withdraw when things get difficult, but it is a God-tendency to press on, roll up the sleeves and build each other up.

Throughout the study we were reminded we have been entrusted with both the gospel and the gifting to see our calling through. If you are a child of God, you have a calling. 

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, When He ascended on high he led captive a host of captives and He gave gifts to men…for the equipping of the saints for the work of service for the building up of the body of Christ" Ephesians 4:7-8, 12  

We have all been entrusted with the gospel and the gift to proclaim it in our own unique ways.  Some people are teachers, some are caregivers, some have the gift of hospitality, of cooking, of encouragement, and any number of gifts from our infinitely creative God. What are we doing with those gifts? How are we fulfilling our calling? Are we actively seeking ways to connect with others and build our community? Are we looking for mentors/mentees with whom to trust our burdens and to encourage in theirs?

I have learned much from my teachers, my students, and my children about who God is, His love, the gifts He has given us, and the calling He has on my life. That’s usually the way these teacher/mentorships go.  I have a feeling Paul would say he learned just as much from Timothy as Timothy learned from him.  And I believe Paul and Timothy helped press each other “on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  Are you pressing someone else on? Are you being pressed on?  We’ve all been entrusted with the gospel…what are we doing with it?   

--Gabrielle Haston