What version of God do you prefer?

I am somewhat disturbed by the casual approach people take to God and His Word.  No matter how much I see around me, it always astounds me that there is little regard for a sovereign God.

It seems to me that everyone is choosing to view God in his own way.  Some of the things I hear are, "surely God would not judge me for ..." or "If God is a loving God and he made me this way, then He understands..."  "A God of love would never judge me for being this or that way..."  "God is full of grace and mercy..."

When I read the scripture, it reveals a God that is sovereign and above all.  It reveals a God who does not think like I do.  It reveals a God that is merciful, but a God of judgment also.  

Our ability to reason has somehow made some of us believe that our rationale is the same rationale that God uses, that our sense of reason and justice is also His sense of reason and justice.  This is a very dangerous mode of thinking.  It leads to man thinking that he has a handle on God, and defining who and what God is.  

God's Word is quite clear on His grace and His mercy, but that grace and mercy does not negate the fact that He is also a God of justice and wrath.  He is also a holy God, whose holiness demands that all who come into His presence be holy.  His holiness is the reason He cannot tolerate sin.  His holiness is the reason that He had to come and become the ultimate sacrifice for our sin.  His holiness is the reason we cannot be in His presence without the redeeming blood He shed for us.

When we relegate God to a being whom we can define and make into our mold, then we take away His deity.  He becomes our puppet to manipulate and direct.  If we choose to do this, then we are only deceiving ourselves, and self-deception is the worst kind of deception.  Our humanity desires control.  We wish to be in charge, and so it is easy to fall into the mode of our culture, which is quite intoxicated with its own self-importance and its own development of knowledge.

I have observed that we all want our own version of God.  We want a God who thinks like we do.  We want a God who tolerates our sin, and is always loving and patient with us.  He is clearly loving and merciful, and the scripture does say that His mercy endures forever.  But scripture plainly states that we will be judged for our iniquity.  That judgment is based on His holiness and the impossibility of sin entering His presence.  While His mercy endures forever in eternity, there will be those who rejected His love and redemption who are spending eternity in hell.  So mercy that endures forever does not equal Him being so loving that He overlooks sin.  Mercy is an everlasting characteristic of God, but His holiness is also everlasting.  He is unchanging, and His Word is true.  The Bible clearly states that those who continue in sin will not enter into eternal rest with Him.

It is easy to see that there are sects of our society that want their own version of God.  God would not be so unkind or unmerciful to judge them for their sin.  But God’s Word has already judged them for their sin.  Scripture has clearly defined sin, but some pick and choose to embrace some scriptures while ignoring others.

This concept is also being used by some "Christians," who are choosing to embrace some things that were once considered sin, or at the very least, unhealthy for a Christian lifestyle.  God would not judge us for these things.  After all, most of these things are legalistic and just cultural differences.

Who are we to presume that we can judge what God thinks or does not think?  The only guide we have to God's thinking is His Word, and if His Word defines sin and speaks clearly about what God will or won't tolerate, then who is the created to assume that the reasoning ability God has given him is equal to the Creator's reasoning.

On a more personal level, I can do the same thing.  As a human, I can choose to believe that because God loves me and has extended mercy to me He will overlook my sin or my indiscretion.  We are all guilty on some level of justifying our weaknesses and sins.  Clearly scripture calls us to repentance.  We must turn away from our sin and be cleansed in order to be redeemed.  This is not because God loves to punish or judge us, but because His holy nature cannot tolerate our sin.  Our sin separates us from Him.

I do not want to be guilty of making an idol of my own version of God.  By doing so, I am deifying myself and ignoring God's sovereignty and holiness.  My own version of God would have my faults and failings, and would be quite fallible.  I would reduce God to a servant to do my bidding.  

I want the God of the Old and New Testament.  That God is sovereign, holy and all powerful.  He has the power to save me from my humanity, the power to change me into His image.  As long as I am calling the shots, there is no chance to become perfect.  But if He is God, and He is all that His Word says that He is, then He can redeem me and set me free from the sin that I so want to justify.  

Stickability

This post was actually written the day of my anniversary, but I was unable to post for a number of reasons.  I  hope it is not any more irrelevant because of the time passed since it was written.  So we have been married 29 years and one week, and that is how time marches on and gets away from us so quickly.

Today, March 10, 2013, I celebrated 29 years of being married to my husband.  In reflecting back on those years, I am amazed at just how quickly the time goes.  I’ve told several people that I can’t possibly have been married for 29 years…I’m barely 29 years old.  Of course, this brings a laugh.  And then there’s the cliché, “time flies when you’re having fun.”  I say that time flies no matter how much fun you’re having.  No reflection on my marriage there.  We have definitely been having fun.

What makes a love strong enough to last 29 years?  What makes a love strong enough to last 48, almost 49 years?  That’s how long my parents were married when my mom died in 2008.  How about 58 or 60 years? 

I have observed that in marriages that last a long time, love is a verb, not a feeling.  Love is something you do, not something that gives you goose bumps.  Love is tough and it is hard work.  Love is what you do when you do not feel like it. 

I have also observed that quitting is not an option in these long lasting relationships.  When there is no way out, it is amazing what you can endure and tolerate.  Loving and staying with any human being for a number of years is a feat of endurance.  We all have weaknesses and blemishes.  It is “stickability” that I see in love that endures.  It is, quite simply, faithfulness.

I am privileged to love a remarkable man.  He is my best friend as well as my husband.  We have traveled some smooth roads and some rough roads in our marriage, times of want and times of plenty.  It is the plowing through the tough times that has made us really good friends and built a strong relationship.  Have there been times when it would have been easier to call it quits than to continue to tough it out?  Of course.  I believe in every relationship there are times that are so hard and painful that it would be easier to walk away than to deal with it and work it out.  When you weather life’s cruelty and the bouts of selfishness that can at times inflict every relationship, you cement your relationship. 

There is no one I trust more than my husband.  He knows my bumps and imperfections and loves me in spite of them.  I love him even though I have discovered he is not perfect.  That obviously makes him the perfect man for me.  In our imperfections we are completely compatible!

It is the respect in a relationship rather than the hearts and flowers that will sustain a relationship.  It is mutual respect that keeps a relationship going when you do not have the feelings of infatuation and romantic love.  Respect allows you to be friends even when there are obstacles to overcome to make the relationship work.

The older version of wedding vows contains the words “in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer, until death do us part.”  I know some people have changed these.  I wonder how much thought is given to the fact that, if you really love someone, there may come a time when you will have to love with no guarantee of love returned.  There may be a time when that person for whom you have feelings is incapable of returning those feelings.  What then?  We have all seen examples of this.  Some in relationships that lasted and some that did not last, because there was a lack of faithfulness.  The kind of love that lasts is one that is based on friendship, faith and endurance.

I hope to attain that kind of love.  After 29 years, I hope I have a small handle on some of that love.  I hope that God gives us many more years to experience.  I will take the bad times as well as the good.  There is no one that I would rather travel life’s road with than Billy Babb, who is truly in my eyes, Mr. Wonderful!  He puts up with me, doesn’t he?  I think I’ll keep him! 

I beg your consideration as I take some time today for personal introspection.  I would like to give honor to the memory of someone for whom I have grieved deeply.

Today is a day of significance and remembrance for me.  Five years ago  today my mother-in-law, Ruth Babb, passed away.  She was 75, and a wonderful woman of faith.  I learned many things from her.

In dealing with loss of those I love, I try to remember and enumerate the things that I have learned from them. In the search for significance, I think the most that we can hope for is that we can leave behind something of value for those that follow.  I am not speaking of material or tangible things, but values and virtues that teach and bring depth to a life.

This godly woman taught me many things.  First of all, she raised my husband, who, of course, has had great impact on my life.  This man is a man of incredible strength and determination.  His grit and courage has taught me much about life, and it has brought much gain to my life.  His work ethic has made my life easy, because he has always been a good provider, which gave me the freedom to be home when I needed to be to raise my children.  He worked three jobs at times to grant me the privilege of being at home.  He is always in pursuit of excellence, which has raised the bar, not only for me, but as an example to our children.

I am very grateful to his mother for her influence in his life.  I discerned very quickly that he had inherited his strong courage from her.  As I came to know her, I learned that she had faced significant hardship in her own life, and had been faithful to stand strong in adversity.  She had been a rock for her children through many difficult years.  As a mother of nine children, she did not shirk her duty in raising her children, even though many times she was alone.  Her children have much for which to be thankful, as they had a mother who loved them and always did right by them.

I also saw incredible tenacity and faithfulness in her service to her husband.  Stricken with Alzheimer's in his latter years, he was quite dependent, and I watched her stand by him and care for him for a number of years.

I also observed her love for her children and grandchildren.  She had unconditional love for each of them, regardless of where they were in life.  Some of her children had made choices that were difficult to understand and caused hardship.  She always loved and did her best to be a godly mother.  I saw her embrace her children's spouses with that same love.  She always treated me as though I was one of her own.

In her latter years, after her husband's death, she served many of the elders in her church by spending time with them, giving them transportation to church and other places, and just being a friend.  Her servant's heart was a defining trait, and since her death, she has been greatly missed by those whom she served.

She always exemplified a contented Christian.  I observed that, although her circumstances were not ideal many times, she accepted and embraced those circumstances with beautiful grace, making the best of the situation, and even serving others when she might have had reason to complain.

I watched as Ruth battled heart disease and diabetes at the end of her life.  She had dealt with the diabetes for many years, but once the heart issues began, her body did not deal well with both diseases.  Her struggle was painful and heartrending to watch.  She finally decided that the physical struggle was not worth the fight, and she began to pray for relief.  I find it significant that she prayed for release from this life.  She was not afraid to meet her Maker.  In fact, she embraced that event with passion.  When we heard that she was praying for relief, we began to pray with her, asking for God's will.  In a matter of hours, God answered those prayers.  On Tuesday, February 26, 2008, she gained relief from her suffering.

In retrospect, I very much doubt that my mother-in-law regarded herself as a teacher.  She might be surprised to know that I see her as one of the best teachers I know.  In living her life, she became an example and role model to those around her.  I daresay that her children and grandchildren would say that she was a great teacher also.

I believe the greatest honor I could give would be to emulate and follow the principles which I have been taught by this precious lady.  Following her example and serving unselfishly would not only bring honor to her memory, but also impact her legacy.  I can affect the next generation the same way she affected mine.

I am so thankful for the precious memory of Ruth Babb.  May her legacy of service and love live on in me and my children.

It is the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.

-Aristotle

Gratefulness seems to be a lost art.  In our modern American culture, which is characterized by plenty, and I do mean plenty of everything, it is difficult to find gratefulness.  According to most of what we read and know, even the very poorest of Americans are much better off than much of the rest of the world.  

In a satiated society, it is not only difficult to find gratefulness, but it is difficult to teach and transfer that virtue to the next generation.  How do you teach someone to be thankful for what is always available and easily taken for granted?  Even though I have raised my children with many material blessings, I have tried to convey to them that these are not guaranteed, and that being grateful is a part of being content.  

It seems that the advertisement industry inspires discontent and the concept of never being satisfied, because the consumer "deserves" the best. The advertisements, which clamor for our attention, are always based on the idea that we should never be content, but always strive for more of everything, and if we happen to have everything, then we should look for the better version of everything.

In our dissatisfaction, we become convinced that the next thing that we are seeking will satisfy us, but in all reality, we are never satisfied.  This is because material things only fill a void for a space of time, and then our human spirit is looking for something fresh and new to inspire and bring happiness.  Aristotle's quote is true.  We are born wanting and seeking; our entire lives are spent striving to fulfill our desires, and when our lives end, we are still seeking and looking for the next thing.

As I have grown older, I have come to realize that if I had everything my heart desired, I would soon become discontent and seek for more.  This is easily seen when we observe the lives of the "rich and famous" among us.  If material things and fame brought complete satisfaction, then those who have such things would never have need of mind altering drugs or alcohol to help them face life.  All too often, we see that those who seem to have the most in our society have the biggest problems dealing with life.  Could this be based in the fact that we have high expectations that fortune and fame should bring ultimate satisfaction?  When will we really come to the understanding that true contentment is a condition of the inner man and is a God given thing, not at all related to how many material things a person possesses?

It is ironic to me that the most contented people are the ones who have the fewest possessions.  Material things are demanding, and the more that we have, the more we must do to take care of these things.  When you look at the lives of those who have much and those who have little, it is interesting that satisfaction and contentment and thankfulness is not dependent on how much one possesses.  It is a condition of the heart.  Any one can choose to be content, can make a decision to be grateful and to live a life that reflects that gratefulness.  Gratefulness keeps us from becoming self centered and dissatisfied.  The focus in a thankful heart is on the giver, not on the gift or possession.

My goal is to be grateful every single day that I live.  I want to live a life that reflects gratefulness.  As I've pondered this, I realize that there are some areas in which I can improve.  I often gripe and complain about small petty things.  In my mind they are not really complaints, because it appears that I'm just stating the fact...that I am cold, or I am tired, or I have a headache, or my feet hurt, or I wish I had a better car, or more dark chocolate!  For someone who is truly grateful and filled with inner contentment, these things would be trivial and small, not necessarily topics of conversation.  I am not advocating that we never state that we are cold, or hungry, or tired. I just think that it would be good to step back and get perspective.  I dare say that someone in a third world country would gladly trade places with me and bear the things about which I complain without saying a word.  It really is all about perspective.  A mature well rounded individual seeks to gain perspective, and strives to get out of the narrow rut or mind set that is the result of a life lived selfishly and directed inward instead of outward.

I am striving to be more grateful.  I want to live in a world that is filled with thankfulness and thankful people. A culture of grateful people is a kind culture, a generous society, a family that is constantly aware of our dependence on God and a dependence on and mutual need for each other.

Let's start a revolution of thankfulness!  I'll start today by being thankful for you, the reader of my blog.  I am very grateful that you have taken the time to read and reflect on my latest speech made from my "soap box." I am also thankful for the wonderful privilege of being an American.  I am thankful for my heritage that is rich in love and trust.  I am thankful for my family and for the God who has blessed me with all these things, and I am grateful for chocolate!

Dark Chocolate is Negotiable

I am no expert on spiritual matters; I am merely a traveler on the journey to perfection in the sweet by and by.  I only know what I have learned and what I am learning as I walk this path.  As I walk with the Lord, and I seek to know Him better, I have come to understand a little something about myself. 

As a human being I am prone to falling back into a carnal nature.  I so quickly revert to being a fleshly creature that complains and gripes about the situations in which I find myself.  Many times I have read about the children of Israel and their grumbling and complaining and felt a little superior, but I find that I am so very much like them.  I very quickly forget what God has done for me, and I tend to face each new dilemma as though I must take care of it on my own. 

This seems to be the plight of humans in general.  We are created in God’s image, and He gave us many abilities and a mind for reasoning.  We are creatures who are accustomed to solving problems, because God has given us the ability to do and accomplish many things.  Because He created us with this nature, I can’t help but believe that God is aware that this is a stumbling block to us when it comes to trusting Him and giving Him complete control of our lives. 

It is interesting that God tells us in His Word that we must become as little children if we are to enter His kingdom.  As a teacher for more than 25 years, I have often been amazed and amused by the complete trust of a child.  A child will believe what you tell them.  They are vulnerable and gullible.  I have always felt a tremendous responsibility in dealing with children.  Those who are in authority over children have powerful influence over the minds of those children.  I believe that this is the reason for God’s judgment against those who misuse and abuse authority over children.  Matthew 18:6 states it very plainly.  But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 

The trust of a child is complete and pure.  It is not polluted by the reasoning that so often keeps an adult from trusting.  In innocence a child will place complete and utter trust in the one who leads them.  As a child of God, I have been trying to develop a sense of complete trust in God as my father.  I have been brought up to believe God’s Word is true, and I have lived long enough to find that I can trust His Word.  Why is it, then, that sometimes I still doubt?  Sometimes I question God, and I wonder if He’s listening when I pray.  I only know that I constantly return to His Word for the answers, and I always come back to what He has done for me in the past.  If I have been able to trust Him with issues in the past, then I know that I can trust Him for the future.        

I have found that the only way that I can stay focused, and not get entangled in the circumstances around me, is for me to praise God.  Just like that little piece of chocolate helps me to get through my day, praising and worshiping God gets me through the circumstance.  

Now, this is not a new concept by any means.  In fact, it is one of the principles taught in God’s Word.  God desires our worship.  He created us for that very purpose.  David’s writings in the Psalms are filled with praise.  As a man after God’s own heart, his praise during all kinds of circumstances is recorded for us to use as an example.  I have found that this "praise principle" is vital to my well-being.  I tend to get sidetracked so easily by life’s cares.  Praise keeps me focused on the problem solver instead of the problem, on the Creator instead of the created, on the Giver of life instead of the cares of life.  

So, praising God and a piece of dark chocolate are on my agenda for any given day!  But if I have to do without one of them, the chocolate can wait.  Dark chocolate may be an option, but praise is an essential!

Dark Chocolate Days/Relentless Praise

Today is a dark chocolate day!  Actually, for me, every day is a dark chocolate day!

My stash of chocolate is missing!  I’m trying to remember if I ate it all and forgot to replace my supply.  If not, some nosy family member probably found my chocolate saved for those cravings that I occasionally get.  Now, I’m not stingy, but I would like to be informed when the chocolate is depleted.  It is imperative that I replenish and restock when it is low or totally gone.  It is amazing what a small piece of chocolate, specifically for me, dark chocolate, can do!

Now we are hearing all these health reports about the benefits of consuming a small amount of dark chocolate each day.  Those of us who already had a chocolate craving readily embraced this news, quickly using it as a handy excuse for our indulgence!  We already knew it had certain elements that added to our sense of well being.  A little chocolate goes a long way toward raising me out of the doldrums!

Just as that little piece of chocolate offers me a pleasant experience that can uplift my spirit, I have become aware of something else that encourages and uplifts me like nothing else can.  A little praise goes a long way toward making my day a great deal better.  I find that the benefits of praising God are to my spirit somewhat like what that little piece of chocolate does for my mental state.  Praise can raise me from the depths of despair or just lift me above the mundane routine of the day. 

Praise reminds me that God is still on His throne, that He is in control, and that it's not all about me anyway!  It's all about Him!  When I focus on Him I can see how big He is in contrast to my problems.  So, in the morning, if you happen to pass my front door and peek in, you may catch sight of me dancing and singing to a little praise music.  I'm just gettin' my praise on!  

And now, if you don't mind, as I unwrap this chocolate bar, can we bow our heads and give thanks for this dark chocolate?

God is great; God is good.

This dark chocolate is so good!

Thank you Lord for daily bread,

But I think I'll eat this chocolate instead!

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