Fighting Fire with Light

Isaiah 43:1-13

 “But now, this is what the Lord says – He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.” 43:1 – from my cousin, Hannah

This section of Isaiah is proclaiming who Israel’s only Savior is – Jesus.  It never mentions Jesus’s name, it calls Him Lord, because He has not been born yet.  But, He was and is and always will be.  He is promising that Israel will be saved – when they pass through the waters and rivers and walk through the fire.  They are precious and honored in His sight.  He loves them and they do not have to be afraid.  

At first, this seems irrelevant to me, as a Christian, today because it is talking about Israel and if you are not born into the Jewish nation, it would seem that these words are not for you.  However, we have words from the New Testament that show that these words ARE meant for us today as well.  

“He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will-” Ephesians 1:5

“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:11-13

These words apply to us today!  He is with us.  He is our only Savior!  We do NOT have to be afraid!

John 14: 15-31

 “All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 14:25-27 – from my cousin, Hannah

This section is the promise from Jesus that the Holy Spirit will come to us.  He will live in us and will be in us.  Jesus could not stay on earth because He had a job to complete.  He had to defeat Satan.  He had to die and then come alive again.  But He still could not stay, He had to return to Heaven.  The fact that Jesus came to earth in the first place shows such an intimate relationship with us.  Yes, God molded us, created us, breathed life into us, created us in His image, and walked with us in the garden.  But the relationship He had with man was severed the moment they listened to death.  From that point on, God had interactions with His people and took care of His people, but He never dwelt with His people – until He sent His Son.  He wanted to be with us, to save us, to spend eternity with us.  He loves us that much.  And in this passage, Jesus is foreshadowing to His death, resurrection, and ascension.  The fact that He had to leave us is not how God wanted to leave it.  He wanted to continue the relationship He rekindled with us and sent Himself to live inside of us.

And for this reason we do not have to be afraid.  We do not have to be troubled.  We will have peace.  The peace that passes all understanding.  The peace that the world cannot give and cannot understand.  

At the end of this passage, Jesus explains that Satan is coming.  It is coming close to the time for Him to be nailed to the cross.  His explanation of why Satan is coming is one of the most powerful messages in the Bible.  “…for the prince of this world is coming.  He has NO HOLD over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I LOVE THE FATHER and DO EXACTLY WHAT MY FATHER HAS COMMANDED ME.” v. 30b-31 If we are to be like Jesus, this is who we need to be.  The one who Satan has no hold over because we love the Father and do exactly what He has commanded us.  Praise God, Hallelujah!!!

Psalm 44

“It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, for You loved them.  You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.  Through You we push back our enemies; through Your name we trample our foes.  I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame.  In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise Your name forever.” 44:3-8

These are powerful words.  Words the psalmist is using to tell the Lord that he knows His power is greater than any power here on earth.  He has been told by his ancestors what God has done for them and he has seen first hand the glory God gives His people.  Yet, in the very next verse He asks God why He has forsaken them.  It seems that this is a time when God has let Israel fall to their enemies.  There is desperation and suffering.  There is belief that God is sleeping and has rejected them.

It can still feel like this today.  The accident was horrible enough but God didn’t start making our lives perfect because we had to go through something terrible.  We have still had worries and sins to deal with outside of things surrounding the accident.  Life has gone on, and with it all its worldly troubles.  There have been times when we have asked why God seems to have abandoned us.  Why do we have to keep struggling.  Haven’t we struggled enough?  Aren’t we told in the Bible that God protects and loves and has good plans for us?  And yet, we still suffer.  Bad things still happen.  Where is God in these times?

He is still there.  He is waiting for us to lean on Him.  He is working through the problems we face.  He is molding us into who He wants us to be.  He is refining us and bringing us closer to Him.  We just have to remember to choose Him, like the psalmist.  Choose Him to put our trust in.  Choose Him to bring us joy.  Choose Him to bring us peace.  Choose Him to give us strength.  Choose Him to help us love.  Our situations may not get better, but our souls will.  We will feel peace because we know that in all things, we can trust God to bring us through them.

Psalm 40

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in Him.” 40:1-3

He rescues us.  I need His saving grace.  Sometimes I feel like I can’t think.  I know what I want, what the Lord wants, but life gets in the way and there is so much pulling on me that I don’t feel like I am being who God wants me to be.  “For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.  They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.  Be pleased to save me, LORD; come quickly, LORD, to help me.” 40:12-13  

This is how I feel.  My sins are eating my insides.  Lack of energy and time and strength are making me feel like I am failing on all sides.  But my God is my strength.  He is my deliverer.  I can call on His name and He will rescue me.

Dear God,

I feel beaten down, tired, and worn out.  I’m trying to keep all the aspects of my life together by myself.  I can’t do it alone.  I need You.  I am nothing without You.  I feel better when I’ve been in Your word.  I know that if I will open the Bible and seek You, I will find You.  I will be renewed.  My life will reflect You.  I will be on the path You want me to be on.  Thank you for being my strength, my rescuer, my redeemer.  You are worthy of all my praise.

In Christ’s name I pray,

Amen

Psalm 34

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” 34:17-18

David wrote this right after he fled from King Saul. He was scared for his life.  He had nowhere to go and no one to help him.  He was completely alone.  Everything in his world had been lost and he was on the run to stay alive.

This scripture hangs on my window at my kitchen sink.  It has been one of the scriptures that has truly comforted me since the accident – to know that God is near and will take care of me through everything I have to go through on this earth. He is my Deliverer.

Psalm 103:8-14

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” 103:8-14

4 years ago today God gave me a gift.

Delores always said that mothers should be celebrated on their children’s birthdays. She said, “We did all the hard work, why are we celebrating them?!” Then her musical laugh would ring. She cracked me up! And up until their last year on earth, Delmer would take her out on each of her children’s birthdays.

I do love the idea of mothers focusing on what a huge day it was when God gave them their treasures. We can get wrapped up in making it all about the child and forget that it was all about God.

So today, I’m going to focus on my treasure, my gift, Keren. She was beautiful and wild and dangerous and full of complete joy (except for when she wasn’t). She brought laughter and chaos to our family. She was not afraid to be herself. There was something so special about her. She was an “Odell kid” like our others but she put her own twist on it. She made life vibrant.

Today I can choose to be a victim or a victor. I can focus on my loss or focus on Heaven’s gain. I’m going to see the miracle that she was. In her short life she taught us so much and through her death God is reaching out to so many. He is using it for good.

I will cry today and look through her memory box and miss her. But, I will have hope because I will see her again. And until I do, I will focus on bringing as many as I can into the Kingdom with me.

Thank you, Father, for loving me enough to give me her.

2 Chronicles 14-16

 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9

The Life of King Asa of Judah – When Asa took the throne he “did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord.” He got rid of all idols and anything used to worship other gods.  He trusted in God and knew that his strength came from Him.  When he went to war the first time, he called upon God to deliver him from his enemies.  God did, but Asa’s army plundered all the villages in their path.  This immediately struck me as wrong – killing and taking just because you can.

Then as they were returning Azariah received the Spirit of God and warned Asa about what happened to Israel because they did not seek God.  They were tortured and suffered.  So Asa listened and repented.  He had all of Judah and the surrounding areas get rid of all idols, pledge an oath to God, and sacrifice huge amounts of plunder they took from those villages as an offering.  Because of this repentance, God blessed them with 20 years of peace.  Then Israel came.

When the king of Israel attacked Judah, Asa went to the king of Aram to ask for help.  He offered him silver and gold and asked for a treaty to help him run Israel off.  He agreed to the treaty and Judah was freed from Israel’s attack.  However, because Asa did not rely on the Lord for his strength but another king, God removed peace from the land.  Asa was so angry that he died without ever trusting in the Lord again.

Can we become too comfortable in our times of peace? In those 20 years of peace that Asa enjoyed did he forget how much the Lord had done for him and when struggle arose again, forgot who to put his trust in?  I absolutely believe this is something that has been, is, and will continue to be a serious issue.  When times are good, we start to believe that we don’t need anyone to help us out – “we got this.” I’m doing everything right, sort-of-thing.  But then disaster strikes and we don’t know where to turn.  We’ve forgotten how to depend on God and try to take matters into our own hands. I have definitely been there and I can look back and see how God allowed events in my life to happen to bring me back to Him.  

I can even see it in losing my daughter.  It pains me to think about this.  I don’t want to believe that it took something that drastic to bring me back to Him.  And I don’t know if I was really falling away from Him.  But, I can see places leading up to the accident where God worked in my life to prepare me for it.  I was in a comfortable place, life was good.  Yes, 4 children and a full time job and a church ministry was stressful but I was happy.  I had no valid reason to be distraught or in anguish. However, God was working. He was there. He had been improving our marriage and helping us work through the many problems we faced over the 17 years we’d been married.  In February, He placed on my heart, through a devotional I had read, to begin a journal where I wrote down something about Joel that I was thankful for each day for a year and present it to him the next Valentine’s Day.  I’m still working on it and it has been such a blessing to me. (I showed him the journal in progress while we were still in the hospital with Phoebe to show him how much I appreciated him and was invested in him). A couple of weekends before the accident, He gave my parents and me a healing weekend of rejuvenating our relationship.  And, the morning of the accident, He woke Keren up before I left for work (she was always a late sleeper and I did not usually see her in the mornings) so that I could hold her and hug her and laugh with her one last time.  God knew I would need these things to help me get through this.  He never abandoned me and I never want to get so comfortable that I forget what He has done for me.  I want to live my life in full service to my Father.  I want to always feel Him close to me and remember how much He loves me.  He is my strength.  

Zephaniah 1-3

“The Lord your God is with you; the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  Zephaniah 3:17

Zephaniah begins like a horror movie.  It details the destruction God will bring to earth in the last days.  To all those that worship idols, false gods, who take on foreign ways, who are complacent and believe God won’t do anything – to all of these He “will bring such distress on all people that they will grope about like those who are blind, because they have sinned against the Lord.  Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like dung.  Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath.” 1:17-18  This is TERRIFYING!  Not because of what the punishment will be but because of God’s wrath.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to have God turn away from me.  We were created to be in Him, with Him, like Him.  If we are separated from Him it would feel just like these verses entail.  This entire first chapter reminds me of the parable of the wedding guests in Luke 14:7-24.  Those that were invited, the rich, the family members, the neighbors would not come so the host sent his servant to bring in all the poor, lame, and blind from the streets to enjoy the feast.  This book is written to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people.  He chose them to be His children but they refused His invitation and, because of this, they (we, because we have been adopted into God’s family through Christ) will suffer.  

Chapter 2 warns the nation of Judah in Jerusalem to repent before it is too late.  He continues to name the nations that will suffer for turning against Him.  Then chapter 3 turns back to Jerusalem and the way it is described sounds frighteningly familiar.  “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!  She obeys no one, she accepts no correction.  She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God. Her officials within her are roaring lions; her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning.  Her prophets are unprincipled; they are treacherous people.  Her priests profane the sanctuary and do violence to the law. The LORD within her is righteous; He does no wrong.  Morning by morning He dispenses His justice, and every new day He does not fail, yet the unrighteous know no shame.” With every detail I keep seeing the name “AMERICA” flashing in my mind’s eye in neon lights.   I am grateful that I have freedoms to worship my God without the threat of arrest or death but I don’t believe this country is headed on a path to bring us closer to God.

But, then, the book changes into a redemption story.  Beginning in verse 9 of Chapter 3 comes the hope.  Those that have been faithful may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him shoulder to shoulder, they will bring Him offerings, He will leave the meek and humble and all will trust in the name of the Lord.  They will do no wrong, will not tell lies, no one will make them afraid.  They will be glad and rejoice with all their heart.  The Lord will take away all punishment and turn the enemy away.  He will be with them and they will never again fear any harm.  The Mighty Warrior will save them, take great delight in them, no longer rebuke them, and will rejoice over them with singing.  He will rescue the lame, gather the exiles, give them praise and honor, gather them, bring them home, and restore their fortunes before their very eyes. I want to be one of them!!!