Memorial Unto the Lord

"And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever." Exodus 12:14

The scripture above refers to the Feast of the Passover, a feast day still observed annually by Jews everywhere, whether they are secular, which so many are these days, or whether they are religious. It was a day to look back and remember how good God was to the nation of Israel. He forgave their sin and delivered them from slavery to the Egyptians. It was a memorial set aside to remember their Lord and to remember their freedom and not to take it for granted.

Here in America, we celebrate Thanksgiving, a memorial to the Lord as well. Or at least that was the original intent.

I found an interesting little website that talks a bit about Thanksgiving and its origins. There are many of them, of course. This particular one [ http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g007.html ] speaks of the Thanksgiving that we all know of: celebrated by the Pilgrims after a successful harvest in their new homeland, having run from England because of religious persecution, coming to a faraway place that became known as "New England" – a place of freedom. But it also tells of how first George Washington, and later Abraham Lincoln, made the day an ordinance in a sense, a national holiday here in America. It goes on to tell of how Abe Lincoln became a Christian while walking among the graves of some of the 60,000 men who had died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Thanksgiving has come a long way since the days of the Pilgrims, and Washington, and Lincoln. It follows pretty closely on the coattails of Halloween, the holiday producing big profits for retail in America – estimated at 6.2 billion this year – I think I heard that it's bigger than Christmas in sales, but I haven't verified that. Regardless, 6.2 billion in sales for Halloween this year [ http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/halloween-2010-more-treat-than-trick/19693833/ ] says something rather significant, I think. Especially in our current economic times.

Thanksgiving is a lot about food, as are many Biblical feast days. But how many of us remember that it's about thanking God as well?

In my own family, there are some who don't give God a thought at all on Thanksgiving, for they don't yet know Him as their Lord and Savior, giver of all that they possess, including their next breath, and the one after that, and the one after that….

Yet, for many others in my family, and in so many families all over America, we still remember that this rather secular holiday had very spiritual beginnings. And we remember the Lord on Thanksgiving Day, but not ONLY on that day.

A heart filled with grateful thanksgiving is an everyday occurrence for true believers. In fact, I believe that a grateful heart is the one thing that marks true believers and sets them apart from others who simply call themselves by the name of Jesus Christ, but really don't know Him or rely on Him.

God, the Father, sent His Son, named Jesus, the Christ (the Anointed One) to show us the way to Himself. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to His Father, then He died for US. By the power of God He was resurrected from the dead, the first of many to receive eternal life and to experience the joy of living in the presence of God, both now and in the future. But those who follow after Him, who call themselves His disciples, understand that He is the source of all that they possess and the supplier of all their needs. And I'm not speaking of material things here, for in light of the knowledge of what Jesus has done for us, material things have little value. I speak of things having eternal value: the joy of knowing our sins are forgiven, the peace of knowing that we will spend eternity with the Lord rather than in a place of everlasting torment called hell, the hope of knowing that the Lord is always with us, never forsaking us, leading us always into righteousness, right living, holiness, as we rely and depend upon Him for all that we need and all that we are to become.

And because of all of these things, we receive the most blessed gift of all: REST.

"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." Exodus 33:14

God loved us enough to give us REST. REST from worrying that we haven't been good enough and never will be to attain heaven. REST from fear of death and hell. REST in times of economic turmoil. REST from trying to figure out how to survive. REST in times of religious persecution. REST from worrying about the future of our loved ones. SO MUCH REST!!!

If you aren't experiencing rest, then you aren't calling out to and relying upon Jesus. It's very simple to do. Just call out to Him. He WILL Answer. He WILL give you REST.

Have a blessed (and grateful) Thanksgiving!

Psalm 77:11: "I will remember the works of the Lord, surely I will remember thy wonders of old."

Able to Subdue

"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." (Phillipians 3:17-21)

There is only ONE who is "able even to subdue all things unto Himself." It certainly is not me. And even if you have more will-power than I do (admittedly I have none at all) it is not you, either. For no matter how disciplined a person is, no matter how much will-power, no matter how strong they are in themselves, only One is able to subdue ALL THINGS….and that is GOD. It is the Lord God Almighty, who gave His Son to us. It is Jesus Christ Himself who subdues all things by the power of God, because He IS GOD and CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. And it is the Holy Spirit of God. It is the Lord our God who is ONE LORD. It is THE LORD. (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29)

Recovery programs can teach us guidelines to healthy living, but it is only the strength of the Lord, the power of God, that causes us to remain faithful to Him and consistent with those program guidelines that we have been given. It is only HE that is our victory, it is not the programs themselves. And no matter what you believe, it is not you who are able to overcome sin. There is none perfect except God. Our fleshly appetites (not just food and drink, but emotions and greed and ambition and anger and fear and worry and so many other things) have control over us all until we surrender ourselves to the Lord. There is no one who does not sin... EXCEPT GOD…whose name when He walked on this earth among us was JESUS CHRIST:

"Only in the Lord shall one say, I have righteousness (salvation and victory) and strength [to achieve]." (Isaiah 46:24 AMP)

But we will go our own ways, walking right into defeat, unless we appropriate for ourselves, the gift that the Lord Jesus Christ left for us when He went to sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven. That gift is none other than: THE HOLY SPIRIT.

As the opening scripture says, there are those who "mind earthly things" and then there are those whose "conversation is in heaven."

I find that my desire is for eternal things, yet I can get distracted by temporal or earthly things. I also find that this happens dependent upon whether I am walking "in the Spirit" or am, instead, "walking by the flesh."

"For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh….walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:13-16)

It's very simple. We are to walk by the Spirit. So why don't we do that always?

I believe it is because we don't pull away from the turmoil and activities that surround us each day, long enough to do so. We don't separate ourselves and pray.

Remember how often Jesus pulled away from the crowds and went off to pray?

When things get too hectic around me, as happened prior to this trip, time alone with the Lord sometimes gets set aside. And when I later stumble, I am surprised… when it really should come as no surprise at all. For if I am not walking by the Spirit….filled with the Spirit, aware of the Spirit's leading in all things, with my mind on heavenly things…then I must be walking by the flesh, with my mind on earthly things and not on the Lord. And that's when sin happens.

The Lord has left us the strength and the power to be obedient by sending to us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of God. We just need to pull away and receive a fresh filling from Him each day, and sometimes throughout the day. AND we need to pray for one another….which ALSO requires pulling away. (I'm preaching to ME!)

I'm thankful for God's continued mercy, grace and faithfulness to me. I'm thankful for His forgiveness and that He brings me to repentance each time I fail. And I am thankful that the Word of God promises me that as I continue to submit to the Holy Spirit, He will subdue all things unto Himself…INCLUDING MY FLESH!

In the Lord alone is my victory! And on Him I must rely!

Beauty from Ashes

"…to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3)

Mourning and the spirit of heaviness can be caused by many things, but for me it seems most often to be caused by my sin. And yet, no sooner do I finish crying out to God for deliverance once more from this body of sin, than He does things that cause me to praise Him all over again! And suddenly my mourning is turned to joy as He moves me once more from darkness into the light of His beauty and glory! Oh how faithful He ever is to us who are so unfaithful and so helpless without Him!

I've been struggling for a couple of weeks. A big road trip was coming up (my 10 year-old grandson and I will drive for our fourth and last day today to reach our destination in Texas) and there was much to be done to prepare for the trip; much to be done ahead of time since I would be gone for three long weeks. My husband, who had been out of town for six weeks, came home two weeks ago and after such a long absence, there always seems to be a period of re-adjusting to one another that goes on, in this case, made a bit more rough by all my preparations and little attention spent on him. Not that I was paying much attention to me either, especially to my program of weight loss. As each day went on, I told myself I would "catch-up" on my program work "tomorrow" until finally, on the second day of my travels, I found myself checking into the hotel room with my grandson, sitting in the room's recliner and polishing off his uneaten bag of popcorn that the hotel had provided to him free of charge…all of that AFTER I had eaten MORE than my share of calories that day already!

A month ago, I would not even have been tempted by that popcorn; but I was in a different place spiritually today than a month ago and I had been in this place for almost two weeks now…losing my focus on the Lord, feeling as though my thoughts were always on food…just like it used to be. In all the busy-ness and all the distractions, I just couldn't seem to re-focus properly on the Lord and on my program. I realized just before I left on this trip that I had missed a whole week of lessons in my program lesson book. I found it almost impossible to believe I had lost a whole week, but I had! I felt a very gradual descent into the darkness coming upon me again.

The morning following the popcorn indulgence (Tuesday) I woke up very early (a guilty conscience often does that to me) but remained in bed contemplating my sin and what had brought it on. I came up with the usual excuses: a) my husband has demanded so much of my time and attention that I haven't had time to do my daily lessons (he's always my first choice of scapegoat, poor thing); b) it's all the pressure I'm feeling to succeed now that I've told everyone about my victory and even posted it on my blog; c) I've just had NO TIME with all the preparations for this trip; d) it's…it's…well, I couldn't think of the other reasons at the moment, but there must have been other reasons.

But what I was left with was the fear of how many people would be so disappointed in me when I returned from my trip weighing 50 pounds heavier than when I left. I jumped up and ran to the mirror. Yep, there it was…I could SEE my body EXPANDING already with weight gain even as I stood there looking in the mirror, sort of like Pinocchio's nose growing with each lie. That's what I was…just a LIAR. Being in a small hotel room with my grandson, there remained no place for me to hide in the darkness of my shame except the shower.

It was there that I cried out to God: Help me! Help me please! I KNEW my sin was towards HIM, not others, and yet it was OTHERS that I was fearing, it was their RESPONSE, THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT IN ME that I dreaded….not the Lord's. I could see it and yet felt helpless to control it. And I cried out to the Lord even more! Finally, I finished my shower, dressed, and coaxed my grandson, who had just sat up in his bed, to go back to sleep as it was early still (to which he gratefully responded by rolling over and burying himself deep in his blankets again). II sat down still feeling very far from the Lord, still wallowing in my shame and self-loathing. What exactly had caused me to sin after such a long stint of really easy victory? What was I going to do now? Maybe if I fasted I could lose all this weight that I was suddenly gaining (mind you I have no scale to tell me I had gained, just my guilty conscience…similar to Adam and Eve suddenly being aware that they were naked.) I was attempting to hide my sin behind fig leaves just as they tried to do.

Not ready to hear what the Word of God had to tell me quite yet, I reached instead for a book that I had brought along with me called "The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual Life." Upon merely opening the book, the page turned to an excerpt which immediately caught my eye about Jacob's struggle with the Angel of the Lord of which the author wrote:

"The power of resistance – which is self-will – being broken, the strength to cling – which is faith – is now brought into exercise. So we see Jacob, the moment his thigh was out of joint, no longer wrestling, but clinging – no longer an antagonist resisting an enemy, but as a suppliant in an attitude of earnest entreaty: "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me."

I re-read that same passage three times at least…self-will…self-will. Oh, not that AGAIN!

Suddenly, the clock/radio on the bedside table began to talk…really loud! My grandson jerked his head up and we both stared at the clock/radio (for different reasons, obviously) as it said these words:

"Proverbs 28:13 says 'He who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes his sins will obtain mercy." The preacher who spoke those words then began to preach about that very sin of lying, trying to cover sin, and suddenly I felt like laughing!

Laughing that the Lord would use such methods to bring me to my spiritual senses! A page out of a book I hadn't opened for months – a talking clock/radio that spoke directly to my sin as I contemplated how I could get out of the mess I was in. How amazing that He loves me enough to prepare ALL of this, knowing in advance where I would be spiritually! How amazing IS our GOD?

The Lord reminded me that it was confession of my sin in the first place that had brought about victory over the sin of gluttony for such a long time. It was not my cleverness, OR my spirituality. It was simply God's divine principle at work: bring your sins out of the darkness and into the light, confess your faults one to another, and I will heal you, He reminded me. His healing WAS my victory…yet not mine, but HIS alone; purchased with His own obedience at the cross.

And so, once more, I confess that I have sinned. Once more I confess my sin to GOD first (who already knew it) and then to my fellow sisters in the Lord to whom I have made myself accountable in His name.

Jesus has once again turned the ashes of my sin and shame into the beauty of restored fellowship with the Father for which I praise HIM!

Perhaps I have gained weight, I don't know and won't know for now. But, if I have, it will come off again. He's not done with me YET! And it isn't, after all, about losing weight. I think I forgot that for awhile.

It's about restoration; it's about a LIFETIME of obedience to the Lord; it's about being transformed into HIS image. That's the REAL goal of this weight loss program and all else that the Lord brings our way….that's HIS goal:

"JESUS, the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)

HE IS ABLE.