Salt and Light

by Debbi Weeks

Matthew 5:11-16 (The Message)

“. . . count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble. Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

I have been so convicted by this passage; that I’m hiding my light under a bucket. I have unintentionally become a monk surrounded by my Christian bubble. I have a Christian family and Christian friends. I work at the church for goodness sake! What a blessing and yet, it makes me useless in being salt and light. Other than a few moments with the grocery clerk each week as I check out, I have basically no contact with non-believers and definitely no substantial relationships where I could really make an impact. “Let me tell you why you are here,” – I’m not being what I’m called to be.

It used to be easy when my kids were small and in the public school. We would have their playmates over and I would get to know their moms – in those relationships, I was salt and light. Now I need to make more of an effort. I need to be more intentional. I need to get out and meet non-believers. Do you have any suggestions for an old mom who feels like her plate is full, has a busy schedule, has enough friends (to be a good friend to), but really needs to interact with non-believers on a deep level? It sounds like a silly question, but where do you even meet non-Christians? I want to be who I’m supposed to be. I want to be doing what I am supposed to be doing. I want to live to make an impact on the world around me. But I need help to “keep open house.”

How’s your light shining? Are you up on a hill for the world to see? Please pray with me and for me that I would build relationships with non-believers where I can shine my light and have an impact. I am open to any advice/help/suggestions you might have for me.

Soon I think I’ll share my thoughts on salt losing its saltiness!

Father God, thank You that You are sovereign and that You allow us to be a part of Your plan.

Please forgive me for moving into my comfort zone so much that I no longer can even impact those who need you.

Thank You that Your Word has convicted me and that these women will be praying with me.

Please allow me to meet and get involved in the lives of people where I can be light in their lives.

Feeling Blue

by Sue Donaldson

I emailed a friend the other day telling her that I was feeling “blue” for no real reason that I could pin down. And, since I have a good life, I felt guilty on top of it. (Which made the “blue” more like “gray.”)

Maybe you know the feeling: a general malaise, nothing to look forward to, lots of sighs, no zest behind the smile, no energy to cheer another on, no desire to get going. And worst of all, if someone asks, “How are you?” and you begin to answer honestly, the throat begins the close and tears come unbidden. Oh, brother! You think, “What is wrong with me? Where are those hormones? Aren’t you a child of the King? Don’t you have the Holy Spirit at your disposal? Can’t you get your eyes off the present long enough to see what God has in store?”

My friend gave some good advice. First, she said it was normal around the holidays to feel “blue.” (I thought the colors were red and green. . .) And, that it was good to let people know so that they could offer TLC. I told her I didn’t like to do that because then I cry. She said that crying was good. I only like crying after I’m finished. The load diminishes and since I know God counts my tears, I know He’s heard me.

It helped to figure out why I felt low (not enough tea parties – I need tea parties; my eldest was heading back to college – she’s happy there, but the transitioning makes me grieve a bit; I needed to be around people more – I’m made for more than watching the Lakers by myself.) Someone told me to check my sugar intake – I told her I do, every time I take a bite. . .

Isaiah said that when we're too tired to carry on, we can mount up on eagle's wings -- "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

I bet he meant tired in spirit - not just plain tired.

But, you may not even have the strength to get up on God's wings. That's when David’s comfort in Psalm 91:2, 4 helps: "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.' He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge."

Where do you find refuge? On top of God's wings, soaring above your circumstances? Or, running for cover under His wings, letting Him shelter you til the storm is past?

Either way, He's ready for us. That makes me feel better already. And, part of running for cover is letting your friends know you could use some TLC. I’m going to Jean’s for tea today. Feathers and tea parties. Always a good combination.

Father God, Thanks for loving me through the low times. The good part is running for cover under your feathers. Thank You for friends who love me, too. I know You get it – You are the Father of compassion. Amen.

PS

The best place to cry – even better than the shower – is at night in the car on the freeway. I dropped Bonnie off yesterday at USC, and blubbered on parts of the 10 freeway, the 405, and a small stretch of the 101. It felt great and there was no traffic! Now, to clean her room . . . now that’s depressing . . .

Joy?????

by Peggy Brown

As I write this, Saturday morning, I am about to embark on an adventure. While Wayne goes on a business trip, I am going to spend a week at the home of a….let’s just say difficult person. I admit, it was my idea, but don’t ask me why I came up with it because I really don’t know. Sue Donaldson blames the Holy Spirit!

The closer the trip gets the more I am;

a) wondering what I was thinking, and

b) thinking about how God wants to use this time for His glory.

It’s funny how my random thoughts have slowly focued into a theme. That theme is JOY. Song titles like “There is Joy in Serving Jesus”, “I Have the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart”, “The Joy of the Lord is My Strength” keep popping into my mind. As I went to sleep the other night a little chorus that I learned as a child came into my mind like someone had turned on a tape! It goes like this:

Jesus and others and you, what a wonderful way to spell Joy.

Jesus and others and you, in the heart of each girl and each boy.

J is for Jesus and He gets first place,

O is for others you meet face to face,

Y is for you in whatever you do, put Jesus first and spell Joy!

What is joyful about going into a difficult situation? What does the Bible mean when it uses the word JOY? I went looking.

I found Ps. 21:6 – "Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of Your presence".

And – Ps. 16:11- You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

And- Rom. 15:13- May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

(emphasis mine)

Here’s that Holy Spirit thing; as I look forward to the trip, I realize and acknowledge that it probably won’t be an enjoyable week. It will most likely be trying and difficult. But, that doesn’t mean that I can’t have joy. Joy is NOT feeling good or happy or content. Joy is the result of acknowledging God’s presence with me the whole week. Joy is the result of trusting Him, my hope, for His strength and the power of the Holy Spirit to be His hands and feet (and mouth and attitude) in this situation.

My desire is to show Jesus to this one who doesn’t know Him. My desire is to minister where there is much need and to overflow with hope. Clearly I can’t if I am focused on myself, or my needs. I can only do it if I am focusing on the joy of the Lord. Will you pray with me and for me as I head into this adventure? Pray that my eyes will be off of myself and on Jesus only and that He will be glorified by my life this week!

Thanks!

Lord, You know my heart. You know that I want to be a light and a blessing this week. You also know that it is a difficult thing for me to do in this situation. Help me to focus on You so that what others see is Your joy in me and that in the end, You will be glorified. Amen

Scripture for the week of January 12th....Psalm 139:7-12

"Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you"
ESV

"I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you."

New Living Translation

Home

by Kate Hasson

Our home is not able to be lived in right now due to a fire we had in the dining room last month. Unfortunately, although its been almost a month since it happened, we still haven’t heard of what will be covered by our insurance, so nothing has been cleaned yet and its looking like we may not even be moved into our house again until late February / early March.

So God has been stretching me and challenging me. I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve been able to spend just thinking about my life and how I view my relationship with the Lord. I’ve always said and really believed that nothing came close to my desire for Christ. I’ve always said that my security comes from Christ alone and that I would throw everything away easily for the sake of knowing Him better. But that was the “me who had never lost anything” talking. I’ve been feeling a bit lost since I’ve lived in three different houses in the past 4 weeks and I’ve come to realize that much of my “subconscious” security comes from having my own home, my own routine, and basically my own life.

I was quite surprised when I realized I have been the very person that I’ve never wanted to be. How ashamed I am, and how dependant on the Lord to change me! I came across this verse today while reading the book of Job (which I thought would be an appropriate one to go through at the moment):

22:23-25 – “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, Then the Almighty will be your gold, And choice silver to you.”

I want to place my gold: my home, my comforting and routine securities, in the dirt and dust, leave them behind, and I want the Almighty to be my True Gold.

Its amazing how a trial that is difficult can be so wonderful at the same time. God is good and all that He does is GOOD. “Blessed be the name of the Lord” Job 1:21.

Full Armor

by Rebecca Irwin

"Ching ching, ching ching"! My youngest son was fighting an imaginary foe, clad in a silver breastplate and weilding his sword. His interest in knights lead us to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) last weekend to see the "golden knight" exhibited as part of William Randolph Hearst's collection. He was not disappointed, nor was I. There were four suits of armor on display behind glass cases. Each one was an amazing work of craftsmanship and a study in how they once did battle. But it also shed a spotlight on Ephesians 6:10-17:

"10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God..."

Looking up at the armor it finally made sense! The wearer of this armor was fully concealed in heavy steele. It would have taken great strength to run, and even then, it would not be far. That is why Paul writes "that you may STAND", "STAND firm" and "STAND therefore".

It also became apparent that it was no small chore to "put on the whole armor" or "take up the whole armor". The first thing that struck me is that it required discipline to fit into it - the breastplate fastened together front and back and was cast in metal! There was no room to gain weight, or wear another layer. I also imagine each piece had a sequence: the chain mail, the breastplate, the shoulder and forearm pieces, the hands, the upper and lower legs, the shoes, the shield, the weapon. Since one could not bend a the waist, they would have required assistance strapping each piece of armor on. That is why we must be strong IN THE LORD and the strength of His might! We cannot put on the whole armor on our own - it requires God!

I wish I could collect you for a field trip and perhaps even at Hearst Castle, as we view a suit of armor, we could contemplate the other "aha!s" drawn from this Scripture. I certainly could meditate on this all week. However, I also wanted to share something about the sword. We were also able to view an amazing, intricately detailed, beautifully cast sword. It was exquisite. This week, providence lead me to read John Piper's blog entry from January 5 titled Swords are For Killing. The title caused me pause - what a violent heading! But the portion I wish to share with you had a great impact on me.

In New Testament times swords were not for digging, shaving, or whittling. They were for killing. The only reason Peter cut off Malchus’s ear was that he missed (John 18:10)...That’s what swords are for. So when Paul calls the word of God the “sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians 6:17, he is serious—something must be put to death. And it is not people. Christians don’t kill people to spread our faith; we die to spread our faith. The link in Paul’s mind is given in Romans 8:13.

If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The word of God is the sword of the Spirit. The Sword is for putting to death. And by the Spirit we put to death our sinful deeds. So I conclude that the way we kill our sins is with the Spirit’s sword, the word of God. All temptations to sin have power by lying. The are “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). They tell us that the pleasure of the sin is worth it. The killing blow against these lies is the power of God’s truth. Hence the sword of the Spirit, God’s word, is the weapon to use. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin, or it will be killing you.” That is what swords are for, especially the Bible.

Father God, may we do all to stand firm in this evil day! Arm us with your Word. Show us the value in each piece of armor as we are clothed in it. We are so grateful that you do not leave us unarmed, unprotected and without power in this other-worldly battle. You have given us all we need, including the example of your Son, Jesus. Thank you!

Practical Help

by Debbi Weeks

First, birthday blessings to my wonderful sister, Tammi. I praise God for her influence in my life and I praise Him for speaking to her heart at that Billy Graham Crusade back in 1971 - because without her going forward to trust Christ, I probably still wouldn’t know Him. I love you, Tammi!

I’ve grown a lot since that July night back in 1971. God has been faithful to grow me up in Him – and praise Him, He’s still faithful and I’m still growing! Two of the spiritual disciplines that have been so important in my spiritual growth are prayer and meditating on/memorizing God’s Word. But, being dull of mind, I’m a big forgetter – I practically have to have a note to remind myself to go to the bathroom (okay, so that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point)!

In order to curb my forgetfulness, I’ve developed two ways of incorporating these disciplines into my day that work for me and I want to share them with you to encourage you to be praying and meditating. When it comes to prayer, I start out by typing out a prayer reminder sheet and then I put it in a strategic place. My scripture meditation is similar as I post verses that God has laid on my heart, all around my house and in my car. I need to always have the prayer reminder or the verse(s) in front of me if I’m even going to remember to pray or focus in on the verse, and my shower/bathroom time is some of the beginning part of my day, so it’s there I want to be reminded first.

Okay, I’m going for really practical here today. I regularly (my goal for this year is to have regularly be more often, like maybe once a month or so – I tend to be lazy and go off of a really old list!) make up a list of people I need/want to be praying for – and sometimes I include specific requests along with their name, i.e. President Bush – wisdom, integrity and listening to the Lord, were the things the Holy Spirit led me to be praying for him recently.

I print my list out on the computer and put it in a plastic sleeve (you can buy them at Staples) and then use packing tape to adhere it to the tile in the shower – it stays for a really long time (if the water isn’t directed right at it! J).

So this is what my shower prayer list looks like:

As I’m showering, I look at the list and pray for the different people God has laid on my heart. Then I move on to styling my hair, brushing my teeth and putting on my make-up. This is what my bathroom mirror looks like (obviously, I’m not going to be shown in House Beautiful magazine, but maybe someday God will call my heart beautiful!):

I post Scripture on my bathroom mirror for me to look at and focus in on as I continue to get ready in the morning.

Here’s my suggestion for the weekly Scripture meditation (see Saturday’s Sojourner Post), type out the verse(s) (you could just print them out, but typing them helps in thinking through the words – writing them out by hand can be even more effective sometimes!). I print out a bunch of copies. Usually I do them all in the same version, whichever one speaks to my heart when I first read it, but if you’re just meditating on it (versus memorizing it) you may want to have several different versions around. I put them up on my bathroom mirror, on the dash of my car, on my nightstand, on my desk, at the kitchen sink and any other place I frequent throughout my day. As I repeatedly read God’s Words, they begin to sink in – He is faithful to use them to change me.

Isaiah 55:10-11 (The Message)

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens
 and stay on the ground to water the earth. 
They cause the grain to grow, 
producing seed for the farmer
 and bread for the hungry. 
 It is the same with my word. 
 I send it out, and it always produces fruit. 
It will accomplish all I want it to, 
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

I’ve heard it said, “Failure to plan is planning to fail.” So, I’ve incorporated these little things into my life to help me with prayer and Scripture meditation. Perhaps they’ll be of help to you as you strive to grow in Christ in 2009.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (Amplified)

“Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always); Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly]; Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].”

Father God, thank You for your faithfulness in bringing us to maturity.

Please forgive me for neglecting to pray perseveringly.

Thank You for giving me practical ideas for remembering who and what to pray for and for meditating on Your Word.

Please allow us to draw close to You in 2009.

In Christ’s Name, Amen.