Because people shouldn't be bought and sold.
5.15.2007
5.14.2007
Right Through The River
2 Kings 5:10
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."
There is a famous Irish novelist who is quoted as saying, “The wrong way always seems the more reasonable.” I happen to agree with him daily as I look at the bookmark in my Bible that is home to his quote. I’ve been wondering what it is about wrong that always seems so right?
I remember being on class retreat in which we, the students, in order to form a more perfect classroom (forgive me for borrowing from the constitution as inspiration) were asked to go out into the wilderness and get lost. We were given the compass, map, partner (and camp leader who stayed back at a distance watching his or her assigned team) that would make the exercise possible. It was exhilarating, chilly, time consuming, tiring, fun, terrifying and remarkable all at the same time.
After hiking through the forest, for what felt like 12 hours, my partner and I came to river that was running through our piece of Find Your Way Home Land. Dan and I were rather certain the counselors would not have us wade across this icy, fast paced waterway so we began to explore our other options.
Ok, I still don’t like the tool entitled, “Compass”. What good does knowing we are indeed going north matter if the only way to continue on is to swim across a raging river? How is the compass going to help us then? Does it suddenly sprout wings and fly us home?
The map wasn’t much help either. The map told the truth: Looks like you guys are about to get wet. Dan and I still, even with a compass and map urging us on, could not understand how this was remotely realistic. So, we decided it wasn’t and we ventured outside the guidance we had been given; looking for another way.
We did not find one. All of our Other Ways turned out to be dead-ends or they sent us south. Not one was sending us in the right direction, not one was a pathway back to camp and S’mores.
At this point I did what any normal, teenaged girl would do. I began to primp and fix my hair; if I was going to wade across the river I was at least going to look good doing it. Dan was not as willing to jump into the h20 as I – this was what sparked his let’s-jump-on-the-rocks-across-the-raging-rapidly-moving-river plan. I nearly broke my ankle. Dan ended up soaked. But we made it home.
I wonder had we not accepted the least-reasonable plan how long we would have had to wander and aimlessly walk before the counselors stepped in and demanded we get going and get drenched!
Naaman, a 2 Kings chapter 5 personality, was a man both Dan and I could’ve gotten along with really well. Quick recap: Naaman was a man suffering from a severe skin disease. He was a general under the army of King Aram and even with his skin condition he is recorded as a man of serious importance to his master. He was important because through him God made sure King Aram was given victory. The Bible tells us Naaman was ‘truly a great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease’.
You must see where this is going. Naaman gets wind that there is a man who can heal him of his skin situation and so he makes his way to his friend, the king, and asks if it would be ok if he went on a road trip. King Aram gives him the go ahead, with a letter of introduction to the King of Israel to help Naaman out and so ‘he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold and ten sets of clothes.’
2 Kings 5:6 is priceless: “Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, ‘When you get this letter, you'll know that I've personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.’”
Talk about a serious request! The King of Israel basically freaked out after reading this letter, asking if King Aram was looking to pick a fight because, of course, how could a normal man ever heal someone of a skin-stripping disease.
Enter Elisha. Prophet of the Living God. Elisha tells the King of Israel to send Naaman his way. Naaman hops on his horse, arriving in style at the door of Elisha. And in true to his fashion Elisha says, “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be good as new.”
Check out verse 11 of this chapter! “Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of Israel’s rivers. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.’ He stomped off, mad as a hornet.”
Stick with me, verses 13 and 14 are priceless. “But his servants caught up with him and said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn't you have done it? So why not this simple 'wash and be clean'?" So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.”
I wonder if there is a little Naaman in you. I love that line: If the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?
All throughout the word of God we see the following themes: Believe and be saved. Repent and be pardoned. Wash and be cleaned.
It doesn’t take a tight rope walk, while balancing a plate on our nose, which holds a piece of double chocolate layer cake we had to bake ourselves before hand, in a kitchen covered in glass, blue glass imported from France…and so on and so forth.
Romans 10:8-19 could not spell it out more clearly for us if its author tried “…the word of faith which we are preaching, [is] that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Simple this salvation. Believe and be saved. Repent and be pardoned. Wash and be clean. What do we do when we are convinced we cannot be healed unless we do something in order to prove our worthiness of Christ’s gift of forgiveness?
I pray for us right now. That the ‘Naaman’ in us would not hold us back from the life Christ offers. I pray that we would not be held captive by our thoughts of grandeur. That we would not box God into the realm of ‘Only Gargantuan'. May our hearts not be hardened so that they are convinced Christ is only within displays that require a ‘show’. Christ’s ministry here on earth was not one of attention calling, publicity desiring,on tour exhibits. He went where there were people. And where there are people, there are serious issues.
Skin diseases. Broken hearts. Empty pockets. Dashed dreams.
King David of the Bible, after having an affair with a married woman and proceeding to have her husband killed, speaks in a prayer to the Lord, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Dan and I learned during our wilderness trek that the only way home to our camp was through the river. Naaman learned it as well. I wonder tonight if you will join us. It seems so simple to sinners. Too simple, really. So we say it is impossible. Couldn’t be true. An idea for the simple minded.
Take it from someone who has waded across, is wet up to her chest and knows about sin all too well: Wash and be clean. Life-giving salvation. It really is simple as that.
Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."
There is a famous Irish novelist who is quoted as saying, “The wrong way always seems the more reasonable.” I happen to agree with him daily as I look at the bookmark in my Bible that is home to his quote. I’ve been wondering what it is about wrong that always seems so right?
I remember being on class retreat in which we, the students, in order to form a more perfect classroom (forgive me for borrowing from the constitution as inspiration) were asked to go out into the wilderness and get lost. We were given the compass, map, partner (and camp leader who stayed back at a distance watching his or her assigned team) that would make the exercise possible. It was exhilarating, chilly, time consuming, tiring, fun, terrifying and remarkable all at the same time.
After hiking through the forest, for what felt like 12 hours, my partner and I came to river that was running through our piece of Find Your Way Home Land. Dan and I were rather certain the counselors would not have us wade across this icy, fast paced waterway so we began to explore our other options.
Ok, I still don’t like the tool entitled, “Compass”. What good does knowing we are indeed going north matter if the only way to continue on is to swim across a raging river? How is the compass going to help us then? Does it suddenly sprout wings and fly us home?
The map wasn’t much help either. The map told the truth: Looks like you guys are about to get wet. Dan and I still, even with a compass and map urging us on, could not understand how this was remotely realistic. So, we decided it wasn’t and we ventured outside the guidance we had been given; looking for another way.
We did not find one. All of our Other Ways turned out to be dead-ends or they sent us south. Not one was sending us in the right direction, not one was a pathway back to camp and S’mores.
At this point I did what any normal, teenaged girl would do. I began to primp and fix my hair; if I was going to wade across the river I was at least going to look good doing it. Dan was not as willing to jump into the h20 as I – this was what sparked his let’s-jump-on-the-rocks-across-the-raging-rapidly-moving-river plan. I nearly broke my ankle. Dan ended up soaked. But we made it home.
I wonder had we not accepted the least-reasonable plan how long we would have had to wander and aimlessly walk before the counselors stepped in and demanded we get going and get drenched!
Naaman, a 2 Kings chapter 5 personality, was a man both Dan and I could’ve gotten along with really well. Quick recap: Naaman was a man suffering from a severe skin disease. He was a general under the army of King Aram and even with his skin condition he is recorded as a man of serious importance to his master. He was important because through him God made sure King Aram was given victory. The Bible tells us Naaman was ‘truly a great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease’.
You must see where this is going. Naaman gets wind that there is a man who can heal him of his skin situation and so he makes his way to his friend, the king, and asks if it would be ok if he went on a road trip. King Aram gives him the go ahead, with a letter of introduction to the King of Israel to help Naaman out and so ‘he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold and ten sets of clothes.’
2 Kings 5:6 is priceless: “Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, ‘When you get this letter, you'll know that I've personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.’”
Talk about a serious request! The King of Israel basically freaked out after reading this letter, asking if King Aram was looking to pick a fight because, of course, how could a normal man ever heal someone of a skin-stripping disease.
Enter Elisha. Prophet of the Living God. Elisha tells the King of Israel to send Naaman his way. Naaman hops on his horse, arriving in style at the door of Elisha. And in true to his fashion Elisha says, “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be good as new.”
Check out verse 11 of this chapter! “Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of Israel’s rivers. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.’ He stomped off, mad as a hornet.”
Stick with me, verses 13 and 14 are priceless. “But his servants caught up with him and said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn't you have done it? So why not this simple 'wash and be clean'?" So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.”
I wonder if there is a little Naaman in you. I love that line: If the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?
All throughout the word of God we see the following themes: Believe and be saved. Repent and be pardoned. Wash and be cleaned.
It doesn’t take a tight rope walk, while balancing a plate on our nose, which holds a piece of double chocolate layer cake we had to bake ourselves before hand, in a kitchen covered in glass, blue glass imported from France…and so on and so forth.
Romans 10:8-19 could not spell it out more clearly for us if its author tried “…the word of faith which we are preaching, [is] that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Simple this salvation. Believe and be saved. Repent and be pardoned. Wash and be clean. What do we do when we are convinced we cannot be healed unless we do something in order to prove our worthiness of Christ’s gift of forgiveness?
I pray for us right now. That the ‘Naaman’ in us would not hold us back from the life Christ offers. I pray that we would not be held captive by our thoughts of grandeur. That we would not box God into the realm of ‘Only Gargantuan'. May our hearts not be hardened so that they are convinced Christ is only within displays that require a ‘show’. Christ’s ministry here on earth was not one of attention calling, publicity desiring,on tour exhibits. He went where there were people. And where there are people, there are serious issues.
Skin diseases. Broken hearts. Empty pockets. Dashed dreams.
King David of the Bible, after having an affair with a married woman and proceeding to have her husband killed, speaks in a prayer to the Lord, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”
Dan and I learned during our wilderness trek that the only way home to our camp was through the river. Naaman learned it as well. I wonder tonight if you will join us. It seems so simple to sinners. Too simple, really. So we say it is impossible. Couldn’t be true. An idea for the simple minded.
Take it from someone who has waded across, is wet up to her chest and knows about sin all too well: Wash and be clean. Life-giving salvation. It really is simple as that.
5.01.2007
Thunder In The Vicinity
Psalm 9:12
“For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.”
The forecast tonight on Long Island is (and I quote), ‘Thunder in the vicinity.’ I can hear it booming outside my home. I can nearly feel the rain falling on the grass; saturating the trees and bringing spring life to a previously wintered, barren land. My eyes have caught glimpses of electrifying lightning shooting toward the earth with a force I can only imagine as unrivaled. Indeed, there is ‘thunder in the vicinity’.
Have you ever felt as if nature has the same emotions as you? Sunny days normally coincide with beachy, fun moods for me. Snowy moments, usher in comforting food and a warm, relaxing blanket and book. The wind always parallels a day of inspiration for me. It is as if with every sweep of hair across my face, the very breath of heaven is ushering me to create.
And then there is the rain. More often than not when it rains I feel as if I have no tears in me left to cry and the earth has felt the need to rally around, carrying out the task for me. Have you ever felt as though you simply had nothing else to give? Have you ever been sure that if one more stream of emotion were to fall off your face, surely you would indeed be dehydrated for the rest of your life?
This has been one of those days for me.
And then I read the words, ‘Thunder in the vicinity.’
I am simply sold out for the Word of God. You cannot imagine the depth of promise, purpose, passion and power there is to be found within its pages! Nothing makes me jump up and down like a discovery about Moses. Nothing can make me cry like reading the very syllables that escaped from the lips of my Jesus. No one makes me laugh harder than Jonah. I sympathize with no one else the way I do with Jeremiah. No one encourages me quite like Paul. No one moves me to press on toward change more than Peter. No one has taught me more about love than John.
Let me tell you with eyes that are weary from much Scripture study and hands that are daily cramped from writing my findings: You will never be satisfied fully in Christ without the study and application of His Word! I promise you that. You will not. You can test me on this. I challenge you to! I rest today in the voice of God. And I know His voice well because I am familiar with it, as I hear it everyday through His Word.
Job, the dear man, is written heartbreakingly within the pages of the Bible. We have covered his life before. He is famous for living righteously in one of the most horrific accounts of loss ever recorded. It is in the pieces of this account that we find the following about our God: “Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work...”
Such majestic and breathtaking truth to be discovered! Borrowing the words of Elihu, a central figure in Job, “At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place.” My heart pounds and leaps from its place at the very sound of the thundering voice of God.
I believe the Christian community pushes friendship with Christ and a holy intimacy with much sincerity. I for one can testify that it is the promise of this friendship that keeps me hanging on…but what about the fear; some holy reverence before the Lord Almighty?
This place we are in is a struggle. There are constant let-downs. Disappointments. Health issues. Broken promises. Losses. Sometimes we need to have something more than friendship…and that is where the holy reverence comes in! We serve a powerful King! His voice roars like thunder! And there is nothing in your path this day that He is not fully aware of. Rest in His saving power today. Welcome a little noise. Stand in awe of His earth-shattering glory. Praise Him for His matchless might. You get yourself alone with Him and try to wrap your mind around His incomparable worth. The Word of God tells us that it is this God who will avenge on our behalf; the cries of the afflicted are not lost to Him.
Beloved, no matter what you face at this moment, I know the forecast:
There is thunder in the vicinity.
“For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.”
The forecast tonight on Long Island is (and I quote), ‘Thunder in the vicinity.’ I can hear it booming outside my home. I can nearly feel the rain falling on the grass; saturating the trees and bringing spring life to a previously wintered, barren land. My eyes have caught glimpses of electrifying lightning shooting toward the earth with a force I can only imagine as unrivaled. Indeed, there is ‘thunder in the vicinity’.
Have you ever felt as if nature has the same emotions as you? Sunny days normally coincide with beachy, fun moods for me. Snowy moments, usher in comforting food and a warm, relaxing blanket and book. The wind always parallels a day of inspiration for me. It is as if with every sweep of hair across my face, the very breath of heaven is ushering me to create.
And then there is the rain. More often than not when it rains I feel as if I have no tears in me left to cry and the earth has felt the need to rally around, carrying out the task for me. Have you ever felt as though you simply had nothing else to give? Have you ever been sure that if one more stream of emotion were to fall off your face, surely you would indeed be dehydrated for the rest of your life?
This has been one of those days for me.
And then I read the words, ‘Thunder in the vicinity.’
I am simply sold out for the Word of God. You cannot imagine the depth of promise, purpose, passion and power there is to be found within its pages! Nothing makes me jump up and down like a discovery about Moses. Nothing can make me cry like reading the very syllables that escaped from the lips of my Jesus. No one makes me laugh harder than Jonah. I sympathize with no one else the way I do with Jeremiah. No one encourages me quite like Paul. No one moves me to press on toward change more than Peter. No one has taught me more about love than John.
Let me tell you with eyes that are weary from much Scripture study and hands that are daily cramped from writing my findings: You will never be satisfied fully in Christ without the study and application of His Word! I promise you that. You will not. You can test me on this. I challenge you to! I rest today in the voice of God. And I know His voice well because I am familiar with it, as I hear it everyday through His Word.
Job, the dear man, is written heartbreakingly within the pages of the Bible. We have covered his life before. He is famous for living righteously in one of the most horrific accounts of loss ever recorded. It is in the pieces of this account that we find the following about our God: “Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.’ So that all men he has made may know his work...”
Such majestic and breathtaking truth to be discovered! Borrowing the words of Elihu, a central figure in Job, “At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place.” My heart pounds and leaps from its place at the very sound of the thundering voice of God.
I believe the Christian community pushes friendship with Christ and a holy intimacy with much sincerity. I for one can testify that it is the promise of this friendship that keeps me hanging on…but what about the fear; some holy reverence before the Lord Almighty?
This place we are in is a struggle. There are constant let-downs. Disappointments. Health issues. Broken promises. Losses. Sometimes we need to have something more than friendship…and that is where the holy reverence comes in! We serve a powerful King! His voice roars like thunder! And there is nothing in your path this day that He is not fully aware of. Rest in His saving power today. Welcome a little noise. Stand in awe of His earth-shattering glory. Praise Him for His matchless might. You get yourself alone with Him and try to wrap your mind around His incomparable worth. The Word of God tells us that it is this God who will avenge on our behalf; the cries of the afflicted are not lost to Him.
Beloved, no matter what you face at this moment, I know the forecast:
There is thunder in the vicinity.
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