We’ve been on high alert in my home the past day or so. It all started during my favorite television show; when my husband turned to me and quietly suggested he might have pink eye.
May I just ask who reveals something like that during a girl’s favorite show?
I nearly dropped my tub of popcorn and hit the deck! Pink Eye: My greatest fear.
His very mention of this eye-issue sent me into a full-fledged frenzy. We are talking Clorox wipes, cloroxing; knees on the ground, beseeching Heaven; requests for latex gloves were becoming increasingly louder; a lock-down status was handed to my husband with the utmost of eye-avoidance care. I was eyeing sheets wondering how to inform the love of my life that he would be spending the night on the couch.
If this pink problem was going to rear its ugly eye, we were going to be ready. And I was not going to be taking part in the germ festivities.
The next morning, a full 18 hours after Eric’s concern was spoken, I was scrubbing myself in the shower begging Jesus to protect my eyes and my hands and my skin and my knees and my spleen – hey, who knows how deep pink eye can really go – when I felt the nudging of the Holy Spirit.
“Kristen, why don’t you protect your spiritual health like this?”
Loaded question. One that had me fumbling with my Dove body wash and loofah.
How true is this? We do our very best to protect ourselves from physical ailments and sickness at the very mention of anything that would be harmful to us. Flu season ushers in flu shots. Common colds have us making batches of chicken soup. We work out to stay in shape. We watch what we eat to avoid high cholesterol and too much body fat.
We are on guard when it comes to our physical health.
What if this was how we approached our spiritual health? What if at the very mention of sin, we began to guard ourselves against it? What if at the very sound of gossip, we fled? Or if at the sight of impatience we hit our knees and asked Jesus for help?
1 Peter 5:8 speaks to us,
“Be self-controlled and alert.
Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
I love the way The Message Bible puts it,
“Keep a cool head. Stay alert.
The Devil is poised to pounce,
and would like nothing better
than to catch you napping.
Keep your guard up.”
What would happen this week if before the threat of sin, we guarded ourselves by putting on the Full Armor?
My challenge this week is to make my spiritual health a priority. I hope you will join me…
Ephesians 6:17-18, TM
“Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.”
What four tools for battling the enemy do we see in this portion of Scripture?
In what ways can you begin to apply them?
In what ways have you been applying them and in turn seeing righteous activity?
In what ways have you not? Why is that?
Dialogue with Christ on this topic for the week. If you feel discouraged, remember He is our Encourager!
I learned this lesson early on in life. With two brothers courageous enough to scale mountains and wild enough to repel off the house in the middle of the night it became quite clear. I cannot make civilized men out of undomesticated boys.
I cannot will permanent blonde highlights to dim overnight; making something out of a desperate ‘fashion-nothing’ emergency. This lesson came during high school. No matter how Moses-later-in-life-like your hair may become, if the streaks are permanent, you have to wait out the Gray Storm (which is what I have dubbed that time period in my life! You should’ve have seen my 16 year old hair! I looked like a fully grayed old man. Not that I have anything against older gentlemen with gray hair. As a matter of fact I am an avid supporter of the Proverbs 16:31 clause.)
I cannot stop loss. Try as I might. I have learned and lived this one. Personally taxing is this life. There will be let downs, defeat, heartbreak, disappointment and ultimately the lesson of loss. This became abundantly clear as my broken heart made the sorrowful journey to yet another cemetery, shocked to the point of silence and devastated along with my family.
I cannot make something out of nothing.
If I were to sit and list all of the other Something/Nothing lessons I have learned we would be here forever. There was The Curling Iron Incident of 2000. The Split Pants Tragedy of ’03. The Phone Call of ‘06. I am in no way skilled at bringing something from nothingness.
But I know The One who has and does and will. 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks powerfully still today, here among us.
“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him to tell others of the night-and-day difference he has made for you -- from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.”
His Word and promise is for the tired. The hungry. The broken. The thirsty. His is a journey for sinners in need of something more. Something life bringing.
God has a plan for your life – invite Him in and watch Him bring it to life.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me…"
Isaiah 61:1
From the age of twelve, I was planning my wedding. As someone who adores a sturdy folder, a pink highlighter and post it notes; planning a wedding seemed the ultimate event to test my organizational skills.
That is why I was rather shocked how terribly taxing the process of planning my wedding was! There were days leading up to our nuptials where I was quite convinced I was losing my mind. There were moments as guests complained who was going to be at their table or inquired about why so-and-so wasn’t invited, where I nearly cried out, “We are eloping!”
Actually, I did declare that one night. Locked myself in a bathroom, on the phone with my Mother, agitatedly explaining Eric and I were hopping a flight to the Bahamas and getting married on the beach, like I had wanted in the first place.
I calmed down. The wedding went forward.
Just days after the majority of my programs were printed; one of my flower girls was told she could not be in my wedding by her mother! The morning of my wedding my entire bridal party’s dresses arrived from the boutique wrinkled. They had not been pressed as promised. So, there in our kitchen, my Mom was ironing full-length gowns.
Not to mention, they were not even the bridesmaid dresses I had originally wanted. Not even the color scheme I wanted!
But still, I went forward. Not because I was in love with the wedding planning process, far from it actually, but because I was in love with my Man.
If I could’ve just said, “I am not Eric’s wife,” and went on to live in marital bliss with him, you can bet, I most certainly would have.
But that is not how things work in America. Marriage licenses must be applied for, vows must be made, followed by a paper signed by two witnesses. Of course, the party is optional – but the legality of it all is necessary.
I cannot say I am someone’s wife if I am not.
I don’t have the authority to do that.
This is why I am so taken with the authority of heaven. Our Father God says it and IT IS.
“Let there be light.”
“Let there be sky.”
“Let the earth grow flowers.”
“Let birds fly.”
“Let fish swim.”
In Luke 4, we find Christ full of the Holy Spirit, back in Galilee after being tempted in the desert. We read news spread quickly through the countryside and to everyone’s pleasure He was teaching.
When He came to Nazareth, like always he attended the Sabbath meeting place and it was here he read what was handed to Him: the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
“Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, ‘God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor; Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind; To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, ‘You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true now in this place.’” (Luke 4:14-21, The Message)
The portion of Scripture in bold italics humbles me to no end. Escaping from the very lips of the Savior King, the words: “God’s Spirit is on me. He has chosen me.”
Jesus did not wake up one morning and decide He was going to be the Son of the Most High God. He didn’t sprinkle some Tinkerbell dust on His hands and just start performing miracles. Matthew 28:18 tells us ‘all authority in heaven and on earth’ was given to Him.
This means it is rightfully His.
Just like I am rightfully Eric’s wife, Christ is rightfully anointed in and with authority.
Where today do you need to see the authority of Christ exercised in your life?
Isaiah 61:1-3 offers us more than just a glimpse into the ministry of Christ. This is His mission statement:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
Whatever your concern, whatever your heart’s status, whatever weight you carry- Christ has the authority and anointing to bring you rest and comfort.
Ask Him for it.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of joy instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called mighty oaks, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”
What does the authority of Christ mean for you according to this verse?
What ten things has Christ been anointed to do in this passage?
Have you seen them at work in your own life? If so, how? If not, where would you most welcome the activity of heaven – in the binding up of a broken heart, in the bestowing of the oil of joy in place of mourning…?
Why is this? Tell Christ.
Believe Him for these things, for these are what His ministry is made of.
Read Galatians 5:22-23 – here we find the fruit of the Spirit. Dialogue with the Lord about this passage. Ask Him to make a salvation-garden of your life with these things.
I am thrilled to join you this week as we take a look
at what we are to “cherish and cultivate”.
Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
This is why Weed Whacker Guy has Got. To. Stop. I awoke, yet again, this morning to his incessant weed whacking of what I now imagine to be patches of dirt. I asked my husband a week ago, “How fast do weeds grow, for goodness sake!?!?” This man, who I simply cannot refer to as neighbor at the moment because that suggests I love him as myself, has an obsession with landscaping. Perhaps, he actually is a landscaper. Who knows! I’ve been trying to identify him in the early a.m. but alas his face alludes me.
Or perhaps God is protecting him from my coffee-lacking-exhausted-rage. This could very well be the case. If, and when, I track this Weed Whacker Guy down -there are two MAJOR things I would like to discuss:
Pick a more decent hour of the day to banish the growth of your wild blades of green
Give the poor, little weeds a chance to even grow back!
As I sit here this morning, caffeine in hand, pajamas tussled, my brain concocting all sorts of weed whacking pranks, God forgive me, I feel a slight amusement resting in the air.
I think Christ has a soft spot for Weed Whacker Guy.
I think He sees a bit of Himself in this man’s love for landscaping.
I think my Savior knows this man only cuts to cultivate growth.
Weed Whacker Guy, as much as it pains me to say so, is reminding me that Christ is the vine and we are the branches. From His own lips, Jesus spoke, “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more.”
This particular verse selection speaks to me this morning; it says two things in particular:
The landscaping never stops.
Weeds are continually pruned out of the believers’ life.
Seems like Weed Whacker Guy is on to something…
I pray for us today that we will continually present ourselves before the Lord and give Him access to the areas that could use a little weed whacking.
James 1:21 beautifully sums up my desire for us this morning, “In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.”
What an awesome phrase: A salvation-garden of your life.
I wonder, if we are to be known by our fruit, as Matthew 7 says, just what fruit God is nurturing in your life?
Now, I’d love to stay and chat but my Caffeine Intravenous Drip just arrived.
KJ Schiffman is a Christ loving coffee drinker who adores a good scarf. She writes curriculum full time for various church organizations, owns a design business, loves to organize things and drives her husband wild with activity on the weekends.
K.J. is also a contributor to the The Internet Cafe and writes devotionals here at Exemplify.
