What Joseph Learned about the Past

The Bible is not evasive at all when it comes to telling us about its heroes. The life of Joseph is one of the more complete accounts we have of a person’s life. Most of the details we have about Joseph are from his teen years onward, but we can assume a lot about his childhood when we read the whole story in Genesis. His early years were marked by what we would now call “childhood trauma.”

Joseph was born into a family where there were already ten sons, the first son of his mother Rachel while the older boys were born of three other mothers. He was most likely still a young child when, hurriedly and secretly, they moved away from Grandpa Laban’s, the only home Joseph had ever known. They had traveled for a week when Grandpa caught up with them. There were loud, angry words; was the little boy afraid?

Father Jacob and Grandpa Laban worked something out, however, and soon they were on their way again—only to receive news that Uncle Esau was coming to meet them with four hundred men, ready to fight! Joseph’s father divided the servants, flocks and herds into several groups, sending some ahead to meet Esau. During the night he got up and moved his family across the brook, while he stayed behind. In the morning, when he returned for them, he was crippled! More scary stuff for a child!

Then there was the nasty encounter at Shechem, when the young men of the family slaughtered the residents for the rape of their sister. Also, Deborah, a faithful family servant died and was buried near the city. Where was young Joseph when all of this was happening? They were only a little way from Ephrath (Bethlehem), when Rachel went into labor, and baby brother Benjamin arrived. But Rachel died giving birth, and was buried along the way. A little while later, Grandpa Isaac, the patriarch that Joseph had heard so much about and the one whom they had traveled through such difficulty to join, also died. Such loss for a little boy.

Although not the youngest of the sons, Joseph was favored by his father, and this favoritism sparked ill will among those who were slighted. This in turn led to wrongdoing and undeserved suffering. He did not add to his likeability by unwisely, it would seem, telling everyone the dreams which forecast his authority over them and by serving as a “reporter” to his father. Finally, still only a teenager, Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave to foreigners.

So Joseph, an honored Bible example, even a foreshadowing of Christ Himself, grew up in a wildly dysfunctional family—think of that! Had he lived in modern times, he might exhibit one ailment or another and then say, “Well, you can’t blame me for my problems. I had a lot of trauma as a youngster.” Or he could behave badly, and ask, “What do you expect from someone with a dysfunctional family like mine?” Instead, he consistently acted with integrity—when propositioned, when unjustly imprisoned, when given responsibility, when forgotten, and finally when given power and almost unlimited authority. The ultimate demonstration of his uprightness was his forgiveness of the brothers who had so wronged him. Revealing himself as their long-lost brother, he declared, “God has sent me ahead of you to keep you and your families alive and to preserve many survivors. So it was God who sent me here, not you! And he is the one who made me an adviser to Pharaoh—the manager of his entire palace and the governor of all Egypt.” (Genesis 45:7-8, emphasis mine) And later, when the brothers feared that Joseph would get even after their father’s death, he assured them, “ ‘Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people . . .’ So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.” (Genesis 50:19-21, emphasis mine)

Joseph was able to look at his past through enlightened eyes. He was able to recognize that, all along, his life had been marked—not just with trauma—but with the presence of God. Even his employer and the prison keeper were aware of it. It was Joseph’s greatest asset.

We do not always comprehend the greater plan. We are myopic, seeing only what is right in front of us. But God does have a plan! Before the foundation of the world, He chose us to know Him. He looked ahead, saw the genes each of us would inherit, saw the people who would influence us as we grew up, saw the problems and questions and mistakes that would impact us negatively, and said, “I choose you . . . and you . . . and you. All of us. We look at our backgrounds and say, “But this is just the way I am. It’s too hard. I can’t do this, or I can’t be this, because of such-and-such.” But before any of us ever had a background, God was saying “I want you.” It took all of the experiences we have had—all of our past—to bring us to this very place of God’s calling.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Not How I Pictured It

I was sharing with a friend my surprise and dismay at a certain unhappy turn of events in my life. “I didn’t know it would be like this,” I told her.

“Have you ever seen ‘Lost in Yonkers’?” she asked. “There is a priceless line in the movie that describes what you are going through.” Since I was unfamiliar with Neil Simon’s play or the movie made from it, she gave me a briefing. The story begins with two young brothers sent to live with their domineering grandmother after their mother’s death, but it soon revolves more around their Aunt Bella. She is a sweet, unsophisticated woman of thirty-five, who will always think like a child but, as she explains, “feel like a woman inside of me.” An avid movie-goer, she yearns to find someone who will return her love. And so she found Johnny, also limited mentally and emotionally, who is an usher at the theater

One scene depicts a family meeting, nervously convened by Bella, to announce her plan to marry Johnny, open a restaurant with him, and have her own babies. As she herds mother, sister, and nephews into the places she has “assigned” them, her brother Louie is a holdout. He wants to stand—actually, what he really wants to do is to leave. Bella tells him, “But it would be much better if you were sitting, Louie. I pictured everybody sitting.” And later, when Louie raises objections during “the family talk” that Bella is conducting, she cries out in exasperation, “That’s not how I pictured it.”

Isn’t that like life? So often we imagine just exactly how circumstances are going to play out, and almost inevitably we are mistaken! Sometimes we are surprised and pleased, because things work out even better than we anticipated. But sometimes we are surprised and dismayed—or even deeply hurt or angry or embarrassed. The result we expected failed to materialize.

It’s easy to welcome the happy ending, not so easy to accept the disappointing one. However, neither outcome can cause us to lose our balance if we are secure in our knowledge that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) We’ll be happier if we can give up our attempts to engineer every single aspect of life, and can recognize that the outcome is not entirely dependent upon our cleverness, our sincerity, or our own hard work. We simply cannot control everything. What a relief to know that God is in control! And although not every experience is by itself a good one, yet in all of them together, God is working for our good.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Bearing Burdens

For a long time, I puzzled over the meaning of two Bible verses found in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians. “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ . . . For every man shall bear his own burden.” (Galatians 2:2, 5 KJV) What could Paul mean by these two seemingly opposite commands?

Then one day I saw a sketch that illuminated the passage for me. A line of travelers—men, women and even children—moved along a pathway. Each carried a “burden”: a big bundle under her arm, a large bag slung over his shoulder, a heavy jug held steady on her back by a long head-strap, a pack on his small shoulders, a bundle balanced on her tiny head.

Each person was carrying their own load, suited to their ability. At the same time, each leaned forward with one or both hands to help lift the burden of the person just ahead in the line. No one failed to take responsibility for himself/herself, but no one neglected the obligation to aid another. Everyone obeyed the command to bear one another’s burdens, and likewise the command to bear his/her own.

Jesus spoke of this same balance when He told us, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The love that does good to others is not meant to exclude oneself. Taking care of oneself is not freedom to eliminate reaching out to others. What a demonstration of Christian community if we can lovingly practice this way of bearing burdens!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

The sketch I describe above is from an old yellowed copy I have of “Good News for Modern Man, the New Testament in Today’s English Version.” Days Inn invited me, years ago, to “take it with [me] for spiritual uplift.” I did, and it has.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Trophies of Grace

All through the centuries, God has put some of His people on display. In the Bible, there are Abraham, David, Esther, the twelve apostles, Stephen, Paul, Lydia, and scores of others. That is one of the reasons we read the Scriptural accounts: to see how this Christian faith works.

There were early church fathers: the “honey-tongued” Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, and others; there were some “mothers” too, but we know very little about them. Much later some of the heroes were Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, John Bunyan, and many more. We read of their remarkable achievements for the sake of the Gospel, and we are challenged and encouraged.

Modern times have given us Fanny Crosby, Billy Graham, the five martyred missionaries to the Huaorani (Auca) Indians in Ecuador, Mother Teresa and others that you might recognize even more readily than these. The common thread throughout is that they were or are living examples of the grace of God.

You and I could very well be on someone’s list. They are watching to see, “How does this faith thing work?” “What does grace do, anyway?” We’ll likely not write famous doctrinal theses, preach to tens of thousands, or die with an arrow in our heart. But for someone, we are the ones God has put on display to demonstrate His grace.

There will be, some day, an even grander display when God showcases what He has done in the lives of those who follow Him. “He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, 7 NLT) Can’t you just see it? He points to you or me, and says, “We worked together, she and I, and see what we did!” Or “I’m so proud of him! He was worth the investment.”

“Look at them all! They’re My trophies. We won!”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Jesus in the Neighborhood

One of the concerns a family has when they contemplate moving to a home in a new location is, “What is the neighborhood like?” It is important who will be living next door and across the street. They ask about the schools and churches and shopping, parking and safety and drainage. The neighborhood matters to the new family.

What the new family may not think about is that the neighborhood is checking them out too! Will the newcomers keep their grass mowed? Will they be quiet after 10:00 p.m.? Will they park in front of their house instead of mine? The neighborhood matters a great deal to the folks who are already there too!

“The Word [the Son of God] became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son.” (John 1:14, emphasis mine) When Jesus came to our “neighborhood,” the world, He wasn’t just checking it out to see if He wanted to stay here. He had already decided that He would live among us and die for us, although the people “next door and across the street” were a mix of good and bad and really, really bad.

The neighborhood was checking Him out too. The Son of God? “I don’t think so.” And so most people didn’t believe. But still there was that glory, one-of-a-kind, and love and mercy like no one had seen before. So some did believe."

A loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we'll move right into the neighborhood!” (John 14:23, emphasis mine) If we love Jesus and obey His words, He and the Father will move in with us—now that is truly unbelievable! What a difference it can make if Jesus lives on the street where we live. That doesn’t make all the problems go away, doesn’t fix broken curbs or run-down vacant lots. But if a loveless world is without sight, that must mean that a world with love in it can see. If Jesus lives at your address and mine, then there is at least that much love and light. We lament the troubled state of affairs in our world and perhaps in our own communities. But don’t spend all your time grieving. Let Jesus move into the neighborhood.

Old Chinese proverb say: "Better to light one small candle than to curse the darkness."

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Sarah and Her Daughters

Sarah is another woman of the Bible in whom I have a great interest. She is the prototype for women of faith, standing almost alone in the Scripture’s “Hall of Faith” (chapter 11 of Hebrews). She is a held up as stellar example of another characteristic as well: submission. The Apostle Peter writes that the holy women of the past put their hope in God and were submissive to their husbands, “like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” (I Peter 3:6 NIV, emphasis mine)

Sarah, in her submission to her husband, was reflecting the culture surrounding her, both religious and secular: Women, even several wives, were part of a man’s possessions. Sarah was submissive to the point of risking her own integrity, cooperating twice with her husband’s deceit in calling her his “sister” (technically, his half-sister, so a half-truth) rather than acknowledging that she was his wife. There is no record of her objections. She was submissive because she was owned by him.

Even given these facts, I cannot imagine that Sarah sounded very submissive when she learned that Abraham was taking Isaac, the long-awaited promised son, off to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him. Perhaps something like this:

“You’re going to do what? Are you out of your mind?”

“Not Isaac! Ishmael maybe. But not my baby!”

“Well, you’re not taking him. It’ll be over my dead body!”

And finally, “You will not be coming into my tent again for the rest of your life!”

Abraham was not to be deterred. He insisted. Loudly.

I can imagine that at last, weary with weeping and pleading, Sarah gave in. What else could she do? She couldn’t very well bite and claw until she got her way. And what if her husband had indeed heard from God? She did not want to rebel against the Almighty. She was more afraid of offending God than she was of her husband’s actions. That is why the Scripture says, “You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. (1 Peter 3:6 NLT, emphasis mine). The MaryMartha version is “Do what is right, regardless.”

Things may not have gone smoothly for Abraham when he returned home either, even though Isaac came back safely with him. There must have been some pretty vigorous discussion! Still, most couples go through times of disagreement and have to negotiate a solution, even sometimes with a mediator. Unfortunately, some women that you and I know, and many that we do not, are in terrible, nonnegotiable circumstances. What can they do?

I personally believe there are some absolutes:

(1) Submission is not an imperative for women only. The Apostle Paul is often quoted on the subject, but before he addresses husbands and wives separately, he says to all his readers, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21 NLT) Not even learned Bible scholars agree on how far wifely submission should go when there is not the mutual submission clearly taught by the Scripture. It would be very difficult for those outside the situation to determine exactly what the answer is for someone else. We are Sarah’s daughters. We will “do what is right without giving way to fear.”

(2) The key feature of submission, as I understand it, is humility. One contemporary writer cautioned that an outwardly meek and dutiful wife could nonetheless be harboring a bitter and rebellious spirit. While that is true, I offer the counter suggestion that an inwardly gentle and submissive wife might very well speak unequivocal words and take decisive action. We are Sarah’s daughters. We will “do what is right without giving way to fear.”

(3) God’s original intention for marriage was companionship. All the while Adam was naming the animals, he must have seen that they were in pairs, yet he himself had no one. God saw this, and He said, “It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." (Genesis 2:18 The Message) Taking one of Adam’s ribs, He made woman and presented her to the Man. Adam saw immediately, “This beautiful creature is like me! But different too. What a great idea!” And this, the Scripture explains, is why “a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” God really did have a great plan! It is we who have managed to make, in many cases, a mockery of His intention with our marriage hierarchies of master-servant or parent-child or advisor-learner or controller-subordinate. We are Sarah’s daughters. We will “do what is right without giving way to fear.”

(4) We love and serve the God of hope. He is absolutely aware of the situation; He is in it with the sufferers. He will certainly make a way, although it is not the same for everyone. Most women will need wise counsel; some will need legal advice or intervention by the law; some will need a safe place for awhile. God will give hope to some in their situation; He will give hope to others out of theirs. But we are Sarah’s daughters, and we will do what is right without giving way to fear.”

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: Life Isn't Always Fair

If she heard it once, my mother must have heard it a thousand times: “It’s not fair!” The older children stopped at the country store for candy on the way home from school, but the “baby” who was still at home didn’t get any. “It’s not fair!” The boys got new shoes in September because, having gone barefooted all summer, they had outgrown the old ones. “It’s not fair!” The younger children, attending a city school as they grew up, took music lessons and played on sports teams. “It’s not fair!”

Life is just full of inequities, isn’t it? And perhaps you heard, as I often did, “No one promised you that life would be fair.” Small comfort, right? It took me many years to realize that my mother was quite correct, only at a far greater level than the administration of our family affairs. The high ideals of our founding fathers simply do not work everywhere. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Thomas Jefferson, “The Declaration of Independence”) Because we are, for the most part, a free people, educated and well-fed, it is easy for us to believe these are indeed inalienable; we think, “God gave me the right to have them, and I am going to have them.”

There is a problem with Jefferson’s philosophy, as I see it. It isn’t entirely Scriptural. When Jesus talked about life, He did not talk about having the “right” to living your life. He used terms like “laying down your life,” “taking up your cross,” and even “don’t fear those who can kill the body.” When He talked about liberty, He said, “If the Son makes you free, you’ll be free indeed.” And the Apostle Paul added, “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16 NLT) According to that, we have less freedom (or more, depending on where our allegiance is) than we might think.

And the pursuit of happiness is mostly a misnamed quest. It is elusive when it is the object of a chase. Genuine happiness doesn’t usually come in great big packages marked wealth or top-of-the-ladder success or passionate romance or elite education. “Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]! (Psalm 84:12 AMP) Happiness very often comes in simple ways: coaxing the baby’s first smile, lying down at night on fresh-washed sheets, having coffee with a good friend, or making something grow. Charles Schultz was right—“Happiness is a warm puppy.”

In our society, this simple, un-Jeffersonian view of life may not seem “fair.” And maybe it isn’t. But the Christian faith declares unequivocally and without apology, “God is fair.” After all was said and done, that’s what Job decided too, “God is fair.” I don’t understand starving children and terrorist bombings and refugee camps and weather-related devastation. But of this I am sure: God is fair. “Fair” doesn’t always mean everything everywhere is “the same.” But He is trustworthy. I have proved Him during financial crisis, in emotional trauma, in physical weakness. He is fair. Ultimately fair.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked AMP is from the Amplified Bible

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Clouds

When the children of Israel left Egypt under Moses’ leadership, God demonstrated His presence with them in a tangible way. “By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. (Exodus 13:21, 22)

Before long, however, the people were trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s pursuing army. While they huddled fearfully in their camp, “the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.” (Exodus 14:19, 20) When morning came, God instructed Moses to stretch out his hand over the Sea. The Lord caused a strong east wind to roll back the water, and the people crossed safely on dry land. Of course, that pathway enabled the enemy to cross, as well, but Moses held out his hand again, returning the Sea to its former depth, and every one of Pharaoh’s chariots and horsemen were destroyed. The opening of the Red Sea was a huge miracle, but consider too that most unusual cloud: covering one camp in darkness and flooding the other with light.

Have you ever considered that what seems like difficulty to you—a cloud, so to speak—could actually be your protection and provision?

The God of the Israelites sent a cloud
To serve as a guard in the night.
Old Pharaoh’s host saw just the dark cloud,
But the children of God, a light.

The cloud that today is shading your path
Is there for God sees it’s fit.
Despair or deliverance will all depend
On how you are looking at it.

Looking on it from the viewpoint of one
Whose heart has been taught to see Him,
The cloud will reveal Him, burst forth into Light—
But if you rebel, your eyes dim.

This cloud in your way, then, spells life and peace
Or confusion and doubt—for you see,
You alone can be the one to decide
On which side of the cloud you will be.

Are you dwelling where Israel’s faith abounds
Or in Egypt’s rebelling sin?
The cloud being darkness or light to you
Depends on which camp you are in. –MM

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Refuge

Not every command in Scripture concerning our spiritual enemy is “Resist.” Sometimes we must use another tactic. We are told to resist the devil and he will flee, but the devil is not the only source of our problems! There are the clamorings of a self that hates to “come under” and rebels when its way is denied. There is the warring we may feel in a time of great indecision. There are the feelings of sorrow, anger, disappointment, or hurt that threaten to overwhelm us. These things are from within ourselves and are not meant to be handled by resistance. To resist ourselves and our thoughts and emotions only adds to the conflict. This is not the way God intended the human mind and will to function.

What God did intend is that we find a refuge, a hiding place during the conflict, a shelter from the storm. And He has provided it for us. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” (Psalm 18:2) Perhaps all our lives we have been taught not to run from situations, not to hide. This does not always hold true. Sometimes we need security, a safe place to rest until we know what to do. Don’t be ashamed to hide! We must learn the difference between hiding from something and hiding in the Refuge.

In addition, we are commanded in the New Testament to run from certain things. We are to run from sexual sin (I Corinthians 6:18), run from the worship of idols—anything we put above God (I Corinthians 10:14), run from the love of money (I Timothy 6:10-11), and run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts (II Timothy 2:22). Don’t be ashamed to run! We must learn the difference between staying and trying to resist the temptation and running to the Refuge.

We do not, by seeking a refuge, avoid life. We learn rather to meet life as God meant we should: dwelling in “the secret place” of the Most High.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Forgive Your Past

I indulged in a nice piece of dark chocolate the other afternoon—thank you, Dove Promises—and the little message on the foil wrapper said this: “Live in the present, forgive your past.” One might wonder, at first, why the words are not, “Forget your past.” The truth is, we don’t forget significant experiences readily, especially if the emotions surrounding them were strongly negative. Research indicates that fear and sadness trigger increased activity in a part of the brain linked to memory. You probably can remember just what you were doing when you heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated or that the Challenger had exploded or that airplanes had flown into the Twin Towers. On the other hand, you may have a hard time remembering an important anniversary or to renew your driver’s license. That is because emotionally charged memories are preserved in greater detail, and thus remembered more clearly, than happy or neutral memories (although we must be aware that they are subject to distortion).

Probably everyone has personal memories they wish they could just turn off, memories about their own mistakes or failures. These may be as overwhelming as the remorse for a criminal offense or a tragic accident caused by irresponsibility. They may be as nagging as the regret that early health habits have created a present crisis or that one did not say “I love you,” to a friend or family member before they died. Since we are not likely to just forget these faults, how can we live at peace with ourselves? The answer was on the candy wrapper: Forgive your past.

Sometimes this is not easily done. We may even say, “I can never forgive myself for doing . . . saying . . . causing . . .” The wounds may be very deep, and we have trouble even facing the situation honestly. Or they may still be very new, and we cannot see them objectively. God is the perfect Forgiver; He forgives speedily and without question. When we forgive—especially, I think, when we forgive ourselves—we forgive slowly and with a great deal of caution. Then we must go just as far as we can, and keep ourselves working at it without self-criticism and guilt.

Many of us grew up hearing the adage, “Anything worth doing at all is worth doing well.” That sounds good, like the “pursuit of excellence,” but in fact there are some things in life we may never begin at all if we put them off until we can do them well. Some things are just too important to wait. We must begin by doing the best we can, even though we have little confidence in our ability and may in fact not do it very well.

Forgiving is one of those things. When it comes to forgiving ourselves, sometimes the best we can do is to forgive ourselves partly and then pray: “O God, I am trying to let go of the past, but I’m really not able to do it very it well. I have forgiven myself the best I can, but I still have times when I beat myself up. So now, Lord, I bring the whole situation to You. Here are my sins and my hurt, and my feeble efforts. Give me Your great healing power for my weakness.”

How can forgiving ourselves—even if it is only partly, at first—start us on the road to freedom and wholeness? Think of the thing you have the most trouble forgiving yourself for. Now, if your best and most trusted friend had been in this situation, if you discovered that the person whom you most respect had done or said or been this—could you find it in your heart to forgive them and minister gently to the wounded area in their life?

What keeps you from treating yourself as you would treat that friend?

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Source for the brain information: http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20070829/bad-memories-easier-to-remember?src=RSS_PUBLIC

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

What Job Learned about Reasons

Children grow up asking “Why?” In fact, we encourage their curiosity, and we’re glad (usually) that they are questioning the cause of things. This can lead to difficulty, however, when as more mature persons, we still engage that straight-line thinking: “Everything happens for a reason.” Actually, I’m not certain whether that statement is true or it isn’t. But this I know for sure: We do not understand all of life’s “reasons.”

Job, a man in very early Bible days, didn’t either. He was known as the greatest man of all the people of the East. He had huge holdings of livestock, many servants, a houseful of children—seven sons and three daughters—plus genuine godliness. In the Scripture account, there is no stated connection between Job’s prosperity and his piety, although that is what people at the time thought, and what many continue to think even today.

Job did not know that a hidden drama was about to unfold. Before God’s throne, Satan taunted Him with the suggestion that Job was righteous only because of all that God had given him. Satan proposed a test. “Let me take his possessions and he will no longer serve you.” With God’s permission, Satan brought calamity to Job. In one day, just minutes apart, messengers came to tell Job that his flocks and herds had been driven off or destroyed, his servants killed, and all his children destroyed in a ferocious whirlwind. Still Job worshipped God. “I came naked from my mother’s womb, entering this world with nothing. Now again I have nothing. You gave me all I had, O Lord, and now, all of a sudden, you have taken it away. I bless Your name.”

Satan’s cruel experiment had failed, so next he proposed the loss of Job’s health. God again gave His permission, stipulating only that Job’s life be spared. Some dreadful disease came upon him; references in the Book of Job highlight his misery: severe itching, sleeplessness, running sores and scabs, nightmares, depression, weeping, foul breath, emaciation, skin sloughing off, rotting teeth, chills and fever, diarrhea, and fear.

Job sat in the ashes outside his home, and using a broken piece of pottery, scraped his oozing sores. His overwrought wife said to him (screamed at him, I imagine), “Is this the reward you get for your integrity? Curse the God who treats you this way. Just die!”

“Shh,” I can hear Job saying. “Don’t speak so foolishly. We gladly accepted all the blessing of God during our years of prosperity, should we not accept adversity also for a time?” Boldly, Job held fast to his confidence. Although good and evil are contradictory, he did not see them coming from opposite causes. He accepted that all things come through the hand of God.

Word spread of the sorry spectacle to be seen at the home of Job in Uz. Three friends from far-off places came to comfort him. When they found that the dirty, unkempt creature they could barely recognize was indeed Job, they howled in genuine anguish and tore their robes in grief. They sat down with him on the ground, and for seven days and nights, no one said a word. Their silence respected the depth of Job’s pain.

At last Job spoke. “I wish I had never been born,” he cried. “Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? Why is life given to one who is in misery and longs for death more than any other treasure?” And although God was silent, Job did not turn against Him. He might curse the day of his birth, but he would not curse his Maker.

The men listened quietly to Job’s outburst, and then one after another they gave long speeches condemning Job. God, they said, rewards the righteous and punishes wrongdoers. Peace and prosperity are linked inevitably to upright living, and trouble and sorrow are linked to displeasing God. Job’s suffering, therefore, must be caused by sin for which he had not repented.

After each speech, Job protested his innocence to the men and to God. “I do not understand such misery,” he cried to the heavens. “I ask two things of You: Remove from me this terrible ordeal, or relieve the unbearable torment in my mind. Speak to me—or at least answer me when I cry out to You! My friends are quick to tell me I have sinned,” he stormed. “If I have transgressed, why don’t You tell me? Why do you hide Yourself from me? I cannot go on living, but You won’t let me die! Tell me, is there any hope for me?” But God was silent.

Each of the three friends spoke again, defending themselves and each other, repeating their accusations against Job. Over and over again Job’s visitors voiced their arguments, but try as they might, the three men could not convince him, shame him, or frighten him. After a long while, they stopped answering Job, giving as their reason that it was useless to argue further with a man so opinionated and so persistent in maintaining his own righteousness. They all sat in silence. And God too was silent.

At some point during the days of debate, the men by the ash heap were joined by another man. To Job, he said angrily, “You are full of empty talk, for God is neither injured by your transgressions nor gratified by your righteous deeds. Your suffering is not punishment for your sin, as your so-called friends have said, but a warning for you to correct the foolish idea that your actions are of any great significance to God!” He talked on and on, ending scornfully with, “Just don’t expect that the majestic Creator of all the earth is going to respond to your pitiful whimpering, Job. Your pleas are in vain.”

So this is it then: God does not care? He is going to remain silent?

But suddenly, a great whirlwind came upon them. With human voices stopped, God was ready to speak. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” God asked Job. “Did you lay the boundaries of the seas? Can you tell where daylight dwells and where is the place of darkness? Do you cause the grass to grow, the rain to fall, the deer in the forest to bear young? Who do you think you are?” The repeated piercing questions must have struck Job like lightning.

“Oh Lord God,” Job answered humbly, “how can I answer you? I was wrong to question you.”

“Stand up like a man,” God told him. “You must answer me. Can you tame the greatest of the wild animals of the field? No. But I made him, just as I made you, and he is perfectly at ease with me. Can you catch the fiercest scaly creature of the sea and make him do your bidding? No. But I created him and he obeys me without fear. Now what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Oh Lord God,” Job answered, “these things are too great for me. You are too great for me. I’ve babbled on ignorantly about the way You work as though I understood all about You. I don’t. I despise the words I’ve said to You, insisting that You had to explain everything to me, that You had to give me reasons for all that has happened in my life. I’m so sorry, God, I’m so sorry. You are God! God! Who did I think I was, calling on you to justify your purposes?”

And as far as we know, Job never did learn about the confrontation between Satan and God. He never learned the reasons for his suffering. What he did learn was that God is not obligated to explain Himself to us humans. He is God. He is in control. He has given us a fundamental outline in His Word—which, by the way, is a great advantage that we have over Job—but following God is not an exact science, with “religious” actions always connected to beneficial results and bad actions to unpleasant ones. “Reasons” are sometimes a mystery to us. “Is God trying to show me—or someone nearby—something? Is Satan the instigator? Am I experiencing the consequences of a poor choice I made, or decisions that another made which affect me? Or am I just caught in the crush of a broken world?” Sometimes we simply don’t know.

We must understand this: Although “reasons” may be hidden from us, God has purpose in everything; He can use anything and everything to fit His purpose—that we know Him. The source of our suffering is not nearly so important to know as the source of our strength. Job found that having the answer to “Why” is not nearly as important as discovering who God is.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Drawing from the Well

I have been remembering some of the songs I used to sing as a child in Daily Vacation Bible School. A lot of them were about joy.

"I have the joy, joy, joy, joy
Down in my heart . . ."

"Jesus, then Others, then You.
What a wonderful way to spell JOY. . ."

"The windows of heaven are open, the blessings are falling tonight.
There’s joy, joy, joy in my heart, for Jesus makes ev’rything right . . ."

"If you’re happy and you know it,
Clap your hands . . ."

Well, not surprisingly, life got more complicated as I grew older. Joy changed from mere youthful exuberance to something more settled—less noisy perhaps, but longer lasting. If I may put it this way, I have a history now with God, experience that makes me confident of His faithfulness. “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy [I] will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
(Isaiah 12:2-3 NIV) The well is deep now, dug through sands of weakness until He became my strength, sunk further through the clinging clay of fears until He became my song, bored through the stubborn rock of dubious hope until He became my salvation! The well is deep now, and it’s
reliable. Whenever I go there, I can draw joy. (Even though I may not clap my hands!)

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: Wash Before You Come to the Table

On Celebrating the “Lord’s Supper”

My mother was not unique among mothers in requiring us, her children, to wash our hands before we sat down to eat. There must be some special insight that mothers have in order to know, even without examination, that hands need to be washed! And mothers were not alone. The teachers in our rural school also insisted on hand-washing. One of the older students labored arduously (and proudly) to produce water from the creaky outdoor pump or in freezing weather presided over a water bucket and dipper. Washing before we came to the table was just a given.

When we come to the Lord’s Table—or differing faith communities may say, “observe the Eucharist,” or “receive Communion”—there are aspects of getting ready. Sufficient spiritual preparation is expected of Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers prior to receiving Holy Communion, sacramentally confessing any grave, deliberate sin. In Anglican and Episcopalian practice, it is “required that we should examine our lives, repent of our sins, and be in love and charity with all people.” Lutherans are taught to prepare to receive this sacrament through prayerful reflection upon their sinful nature, their need for a Savior, and the promise that their sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus' death on the Cross. In Methodism, the table is “open,” that is, made available to all people, reflected in the general invitation, "Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another." Presbyterian and other Reform Protestant churches urge “ . . . examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and wants; of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance; love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong; of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience; and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious meditation, and fervent prayer.” There are many other beliefs too, including that of the Quakers who do not use any physical elements at all, their silence indicating communion with the Lord and fellowship with one another.

Clearly, the various traditions differ widely in defining what happens at the Table, who may participate, and what happens afterwards. The common thread in these instructions, however, is something like my mother’s admonition: “Wash before you come to the Table.” The prayer of King David is appropriate at this time, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10 KJV) Preparation to receive this remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for us is not only about our relationship with Him, although that is supremely important. In many of the practices outlined above, those who participate are also to examine their relationship with others. The greatest commandment, the Scripture tells us, is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. “The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:31 NLT) Jesus Himself demonstrated the right attitude for us, humbly taking a servant’s place and washing each disciple’s feet—even the feet of Judas whom He knew would betray Him only a few hours later. “What I have done, you should do for each other,” He explained. Although a few groups follow Jesus’ example literally and conduct a ceremony of actually washing each other’s feet, we all, at the very least, are to have the same quality of loving and serving others.

If you are in a faith community that observes this sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, think the next time of the meaning of participation. And what if, on examination, one finds he/she is lacking readiness? Although the centuries-old wording sounds strange in these times, I love what one tradition expresses in their catechism.

“One who doubts of his being in Christ, or of his due preparation to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, may have true interest in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof; and in God's account has it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the want of it, and unfeignedly desires to be found in Christ, and to depart from iniquity: in which case (because promises are made, and this sacrament is appointed, for the relief even of weak and doubting Christians) he is to bewail his unbelief, and labor to have his doubts resolved; and, so doing, he may and ought to come to the Lord's Supper, that he may be further strengthened." (Answer, question 172, “The Westminster Larger Catechism,” 1648, emphasis mine)

The message of inclusion is clear: Come to the Table. Wash your hands on the way.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked KJV is from the Holy Bible, King James Version. Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Politically Correct and Legal (Or Simply Right and Kind)

In the last few years, a number of prominent persons in various leadership roles have, in their reported public speeches or in conversation which found its way into the media, opened their mouths and inserted a foot. Lest some important voter group or financial supporter be alienated, their official spokespersons have hastily apologized, “He didn’t really mean it that way,“ or “What she intended to say was—”

Although by then the term had been around for nearly forty years, we soon became quite accustomed to hearing the catch-phrase, “politically correct.” This term describes language, ideas, policies, or behavior which attempt to minimize offense to groups identified by gender, race, culture, disability, age or other criteria. To the leaders who made those public blunders, it meant expressing themselves next time in language that does not offend those who may prove to be important to the speaker’s cause! Because of that evident self-serving motivation, some Christians treat political correctness as a silly joke or even as a fault to be avoided. It is neither. For all the scorn heaped upon it, it is, for the most part, still correct. It is right not to offend others by trampling on their nationality, their occupation, or their physical characteristics. It is right not to disparage others’ religious beliefs, their part of town, or the car they drive. Why would I ever hear any political incorrectness when I go, of all places, to church?

Even the air at my professional workplace is “sanitized.” I never hear off-color jokes in the staff room, I never hear disparaging remarks about women, I never hear racial slurs or religious taunts. How did I come to be so protected? My employer, concerned about avoiding the hazards of a “hostile work environment,” provides mandatory sessions on diversity awareness and on harassment. How can it be that my workplace is a haven from ethnic jokes, religious put-downs, and gender-biased remarks--and among Church folks is where I have sometimes heard them?

With the very public recognition of what is appropriate language, ignorance is no longer an excuse. Just pay attention to what is expected in secular society. There is little reason to offend by our thoughtless words those to whom we want to minister--even though our expressions may be habitual because “That’s the way I was brought up.” If the world can learn to say what is correct and legal, we too can learn to say what is right and kind.

That is not to say that there will never be offense in presenting the claims of Christ. The Apostle Paul acknowledged this as a reality, because not everyone likes being confronted with the truth of the Gospel. We must heed the Apostle Peter’s admonition, however, to take care that we are not censured for our own faults. “There's no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you're treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God.” (I Peter 2:20 The Message) With presenting the reconciling Christ as our goal, why would we risk offending for a lesser cause?

It is my observation that most often these careless verbal offenses occur when an attempt is made to be funny. Paul warned us about this. “There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:4 NASB) I like a good joke; my family is blessed with several consummate storytellers who regale us with tales that are falling-down funny. And it is not wrong to laugh in church, either. I like the wacky photos that show up on the video screen and the humorous illustrations that the pastor gives. But we have to find something to laugh about besides people of other faiths, soccer moms and balding men, ethnic dialects, and used car dealers. What can we make jokes about? Well, let’s figure it out; to Peter and to Paul it was a serious concern. Politicians realize that their casual remarks are significant, and employers are concerned about the environment in which they place their workers. Are we to let the world be wiser than the children of light? There is no reason why the Church should be a decade or two behind.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture marked NASB taken from the New American Standard Bible, used with permission of http://www.lockman.org/

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

I Yam What I Yam

I Yam What I Yam

What do Batman, Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk, and Wonder Woman all have in common? They, and many similar characters, are super-heroes—fictional ones, to be sure, but icons of our culture nevertheless. But long before these heroes were created there was an earlier one, so ordinary that he was in the “funny papers.” Remember Popeye?

Popeye the Sailor, or as he called himself, “Popeye the sailor man,” first appeared in the Thimble Theatre comic strip on January 17, 1929. He was only a minor character, involved in a get-rich-quick scheme thought up by Castor Oyl, Olive’s enterprising brother. Popeye was such a hit that he was given a major role, and many years later the strip was run with his name as it still does today. Most often he was depicted as a middle-aged one-eyed sailor with muscular forearms embellished with anchor tattoos, thinning red hair, and an ever-present corncob pipe. Though at times he seemed uneducated and without manners, Popeye was capable of coming up with solutions to problems that seemed insurmountable, using perseverance, his spinach-enhanced strength, and his perceptive abilities. On the other hand, when he was fed up, he sometimes just used his fists in the name of Justice! Such has been Popeye's cultural impact that a whole generation of kids grew up eating extra spinach, and the medical professionals sometimes refer to the biceps bulge produced by a tendon rupture as the "Popeye muscle."

One of Popeye's memorable phrases is "I yam what I yam, and that's all that I yam." This pretty well expresses the state in which most of us find ourselves: We just are what we are. We are much more, however, than what we would be on our own, without the continued working of God in our lives. Perhaps like John Newton, a slave trader before coming to Christ, we can say, "I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be in another world. But still, I am not what I once used to be! By the grace of God, I am what I am!" He echoes the words of the Apostle Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.” (I Corinthians 15:10 NKJV)

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
And Grace will lead me home. – John Newton

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

If you’d like to take a reminiscent look at Popeye and associated characters, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye_The_Sailor

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Eve and Consequences

Adam and Eve had the perfect marriage union before they disobeyed the direct command of God. While Adam was busy naming all of the animals, he kept looking for a helper, but there wasn’t one “just right for him.” So God made a woman out of a rib taken from Adam and brought her to the man. “At last!” Adam exclaimed. He recognized in Eve someone just like himself, yet different in ways that would make her the perfect complement and companion.

When blessing became curse because the couple ate forbidden fruit, God punished all of the participants. The serpent (Satan in disguise) became a despised creature, had to slither along on the ground, and would ultimately be conquered by woman’s Offspring (Jesus). The man’s efforts to make the earth--his work, in general--productive became much more difficult and sometimes even futile; eventually, he would die and return to the earth from which he came. (This would be true of all the human race, women as well as men.) The woman would endure pain in bearing children, and then God said to her, “And though you will have desire for your husband, he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16 margin)

This cannot, I am sure, be the beginning of human desire for one another. God had already written procreation into His plan, and He had already had “the talk” with the human beings telling them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” So what is different now that sin has entered the picture? She will always want more than her husband is able to give. I do not see at all that this verse delegates Adam to take authority over Eve or for her to be subject to him in the sense of being controlled. She simply would have to accept the fact that she couldn’t make Adam be something that he was not able to be on his own. Now that they were out of touch with the Creator, what she wanted was going to be “overruled” by the sinful person she had to live with.

Although cultural norms in ancient days—and as recently as the last century in our own country—put women under the control of men, I do not believe this is taught in Scripture. (See my posts on authority and submission.) But just as Eve’s desires were overruled by Adam, there is no husband today who can ever be enough to satisfy the deepest yearnings of the woman to whom he is married. No matter how perfect the marriage, no matter how full of love and respect the relationship is, there is a need in them both that the other cannot fill. It was true for Adam and Eve; they needed God. They needed to walk with Him in the garden when the cool evening breezes blew. They needed to talk with Him, share their plans, and share His plans. If Adam and Eve in their perfect world found they needed more than just each other, how much more we in our troubled society need more than human intimacy!

But what if one sincerely believes that this “rule” over the woman does indeed mean she is to be obedient and submissive? Then consider the fact that this stipulation was the result of wrongdoing. It was not the original Divine intention. Wouldn’t it seem then that the more fully we give ourselves to following Jesus, the closer we could approach the ideal—harmony in our marriages and unbroken fellowship with God?

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

"I Pronounce It Done!"

Several in my family like to camp. (Well, actually all of us do, but some think that the way to do it is to make reservations at the Holiday Inn!) Those of us who like to be in the tent camper enjoy cooking over an open fire as part of the "Great American Camping Experience." Now outdoor charcoal grills are not the same as your average kitchen range. Sometimes the food that is near the center of the fire is well done while that at the outer edge is not completely cooked. There may be marked differences even on the same piece of food.

We have found a way to deal with this. We use the cook's judgment as the determining factor. The chef-of-the-evening makes his or her best estimate of the state of readiness--there is always a risk factor--and then calls us together with "I pronounce it done." The cook has done his or her job; any adjustment that needs to be made has to be done by the diners. They are free to remove parts they deem inedible. They may adjust seasoning in any way. They may even decline entirely if they wish. There is, however, one absolute rule: No whining is allowed! Following this practice, we have been able for many years to enjoy our camping trips together, "eating our meat with gladness and singleness of heart" as the early Christians did.

So simple a practice has profound implications for the Christian’s faith walk. Listen to the Apostle Paul as he "pronounces it done." “Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11) Again, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8) Listen to Jesus as He pronounces it done. From the cross, He cries, "It is finished." The work of redemption is accomplished, spoiling forever the power of evil to triumph.

How does this affect me? I can live by what I know, rather than how I feel. I can face the day with bold assertions. "I pronounce God's blessing on this day. I claim that what I do shall be productive. I declare my victory over the insidious power of stress and negativity over me. I acknowledge the presence of the God’s Spirit to enliven me so that the fruit of the Spirit is borne in my life today. I pronounce it done!"

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Making a Difference

Early in life, we may have had dreams about being Superman, or at least being able to fly. Later we may have wanted to be an NFL player or an entertainment idol. Or we might have set our sights on being a millionaire by age 35. Whatever the goal, we were convinced that it would be ours.

For most of us, reality has painted a different picture, not only because we found the Superman role already taken but because we have changed what we want. While some still intend to be rich and famous, others have taken a more altruistic approach. Many men and women want most of all to leave a legacy of having made a difference in other people’s lives.

There are a number of ways to make a difference: educate people, introduce them to Jesus, provide health care and instruction, mentor young people into successful careers, feed the hungry and teach then how to produce food crops. The list goes on and on, limited only by our lack of imagination or our unwillingness.

There’s another way to make a difference in people’s lives. “Treat them well.” I watched the 1964 movie version of “My Fair Lady” again recently. This is the Cinderella story of two life-long bachelors who make a bet that Professor Higgins, a master linguist, can/cannot turn a ragged girl with a harsh cockney accent into a well-spoken young lady able to convince members of high society that she is one of them. Eliza Doolittle, the girl who sells flowers on the street corners of London, tells the professor, “The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.”

Our household pets respond to loving attention; even wild animals can sometimes be persuaded through gentle entreaty to make their way onto the human scene. By what wild reckoning then, do we conclude that people—real men and real women and real young people and children—need less caring treatment than that? People are not for ignoring, or for deceiving, or for shaming. People are not for hitting, not for yelling at, not for growling at.

Respecting all people, to some degree, is what we must do because we share our humanity. We may have widely different values from others; we may not honor the choices they have made, but even so, we can seek to understand and to feel compassion. People with whom we have relationship, or want to build relationship, must be treated with special attention to the potential lying in them—not as ragged little street urchins but as someone worth knowing and even esteeming.

An unknown monk, living in the 12th century, wrote: "When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." We can make a difference.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Source for monk's story: http://www.agiftofinspiration.com.au/stories/personalgrowth/Change.shtml

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

What Adam Learned about Conscience

Adam lived in a perfect world. The soil was fertile, and plant life flourished. Animals lived in harmony with each other and the first couple. While there was work to do, it was productive and without struggle. There was no shame, no fear, no pain. God came down and visited Adam and his companion in the cool of each evening, walking with them in the beautiful garden where He had placed them. How could anything go wrong?

What went wrong was that Adam and Eve ate from the one tree God specifically instructed them to leave alone. The luscious fruit from every other tree in the Garden could be eaten, but the fruit of the Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil tree was off-limits. Why would God deny them this one thing? Well, that is what Eve wondered. Although they had already been made in the image of God and lacked nothing, the serpent (Satan in disguise) suggested that God was holding out on them. “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Why would God withhold this? Knowledge is a very good thing, isn’t it? Yes, the desire to learn is strong and can lead us to growth and to happy, productive living. But this forbidden fruit gave no ordinary knowledge; it was of a very specific kind: the knowledge of good and evil. Determining what is good and what is evil, and then choosing between the two, is a burdensome task. We wrestle with it almost every day of our lives, and God would have spared His friends in the Garden that troubling experience. But no, “knowing” has a special lure, and Eve did just what we probably would have done. She looked at the fruit and decided that it was not only attractive and delicious, but that it was also much desired because it would make one wise. And Adam concurred.

Up until now, Adam had known only good and the enjoyment of it. Now he learned that there was evil also, and it was not all that easy to avoid it. He had known only peace and contentment, an easy companionship with his wife, and intimate fellowship with God. Now he was finding life included difficulty and pain; there was shame and sorrow and loss in his family; there were many degrees of separation between him and God. All because now he carried the burden of a personal knowledge that there was good and there was evil.

I learned, as a child, that conscience is that inner awareness that tells us what is right and what is wrong. I learned that to avoid the unpleasant consequences of my misdeeds—often not punishment but dreadful self-condemnation—I must obey my conscience. I became a very serious, sensitive child, worried about offending God or displeasing those around me. However, I was mistaken in my belief that conscience would show me right and wrong. Conscience tells us only to do what is right. It is not always a reliable guide as to what indeed is right, because it does not, of itself, discern right from wrong. We are not born knowing right from wrong; we have to be taught that. The lessons may be too few and too sketchy, or too many and too harsh. They may be mistaken, or even missing altogether. The light first given to the newborn child may be dimmed or completely extinguished by the other humans with misguided or unheeded consciences who surround him or her.

The problem with the “Let your conscience be your guide” measurement of behavior is that it is not Scriptural. Nowhere does the Bible tell us, “”There is therefore now no condemnation to them who walk according to their conscience.” (Romans 8:1) It is not conscience that produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. (Galatians 5:22, 23) We could never say, “The conscience is life because of righteousness!” (Romans 8:10) It is only the Holy Spirit of God that enables us to walk in freedom, rather than condemnation. It is the Spirit indwelling us that produces lasting spiritual fruit. It is the Spirit who is life and gives life.

On the other hand, an overwrought conscience can crowd out the piercing action of the Word of God in a person’s life, the Word that is so powerful it determines the thoughts and intents of the heart and separates the earthly from the Divine. Such a conscience may subsume the gentle working of the Holy Spirit who is given to us as a Comforter, Teacher, and Guide.

We cannot escape conscience, nor would it be a good thing to try. But much of the unhappy burden of conscience is relieved by our relationship to God through Christ. It is no accident that Jesus is presented as “the second Adam.” Through Him, we humans have another chance to get it right.

Things Mama Taught Me: "Mind Your Manners"

On the Well-Behaved Believer

Some days I got a gold star, some days a blue. And sometimes when I was mostly good but not entirely, my mother put a gold star on my chart but stuck a blue star underneath to shade it on one side. We children were told to mind our manners, and Mama found in I Peter 3:8 a commandment to give her instruction unequivocal authority. “Be courteous.”

Being courteous covered a lot of things, more than I could remember, but my mother created individual charts for each of us. She ruled a card into neat squares, and at the top, in bold blue letters, she wrote the Scripture she was enforcing, “BE COURTEOUS.” Underneath were the days of the week, and the particular courtesies each of us needed to practice were listed in a column on the left. For me these were such things as:

• Not talking back—and not making a face—when I was corrected.
• Not fighting with my older brothers about whose turn it was to clear
  the table.
• Not teasing my younger brothers when they had an accident.
• Playing quietly while others did their homework.
• Saying “Please pass the butter,” instead of grabbing.
• Getting up when I was called in the morning.

Unfortunately, when people become Christians, they don’t automatically become nice! This usually comes as something of a surprise, if not to the convert himself, then to those around him. If she was an inattentive driver before she met Jesus, she will probably be an inattentive driver afterwards! If he was boring before, he will likely be boring still.

This is not to say that the lordship of Jesus doesn’t change the way we relate to people, for it does. But many things we would like to have changed—especially when it comes to the other person’s habits— are not necessarily attendant from the moment of salvation onwards. They are a matter of deliberate attention and intention. A lot of Christian “witness” would be greatly enhanced by heeding Mama’s words, “Mind your manners!”

MaryMartha

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Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

You Are Right

Lord, You are right!
Slowly I am learning to question less:
“Surely this can’t be the way.”
And “There’ll never be a change.”

But You are right!
Never would I doubt that You are faithful to Your Word,
That Your promises are sure and what You’ve said is true.
But the stuff of every day?
The tiny secret hope that would not go away?
I marvel: “This was You!”

And now I see You’re right!
I do not want to make You small by using human terms,
But Lord, You are so smart!
You figured out the whole
While I stumbled through the clues.

MaryMartha
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Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Not Just for Show

“Ma’am!” the young man working in the back yard called. “Your sundial is in the shade! You can’t use it to tell time if it’s in the shade!”

“Oh, I don’t expect it to tell time,” I explained. “I only wanted something to decorate that old stump. It’s just there for show.”

“Just for show,” I mused. I wonder how much of my Christian demeanor is genuine, Spirit-directed, and useful for pointing to Jesus, the Light of the world—and how much is just for show?

Just for show. Can it be that some of the criticism directed toward Christian believers is justified? “You act superior,” someone says. “You act like no one has quite as good a connection to God as you have. You act as though some spiritual experience or accomplishment demonstrates your excellence in the Kingdom of God.”

Can this be true? Do we ever attempt to use the power and presence of God to prove somehow our own significance or superiority? This is so wrong! “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (II Corinthians 4:7 NIV)

It is true that God chooses a certain kind of person to be of value in the Kingdom, but it is not the “superior” kind that one might suppose! This is what the Apostle Paul says. “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose those who are low born [margin], things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. (I Corinthians 1:27-29 NLT)

It’s plain in the Scripture that nothing in God’s eternal plan is just for show. No manifestation of power, spiritual wisdom, gifts or graces is just for show. We are His workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” We were not designed to pose prettily, but to function effectively in sharing the Good News. Are we content to be part of the décor like my non-functional sundial, or will we give ourselves to purposeful ministry in the place God has put us?

MaryMartha
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Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Rainbows

“Into each life some rain must fall; some days must be dark and dreary,” Longfellow wrote in his poem, The Rainy Day. It’s true. No one gets all sunshine. Sorrow, disappointment, loss, loneliness, hurt— the clouds are inevitable too. “God hath not promised skies always blue, flower strewn pathways all our lives through; God hath not promised sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.” (Annie Johnson Flint, 1919)

“Rainy days” can darken our lives—or they can create beauty not seen before. What are we able to see sometimes as rain falls and the sun shines through? The rainbow, an arch of colors over the clean-washed earth, bearing testimony of God’s presence and love. In the same way, though our hearts are sometimes troubled or heavy with cares, God gives “the oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” (See Isaiah 61:3) We can still offer to the world the joy of our salvation.

This makes rainbows: sunshine through rain, and radiance through tears. George Matheson, the blind Scottish preacher, prayed, “My God, I have never thanked Thee for my thorns. I have thanked Thee a thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorns . . . Teach me the glory of my cross: teach me the value of my thorn. . . Shew (sic) me that my tears have made my rainbow.” Matheson was engaged to be married, but upon learning that he soon would be totally blind, his fiancée left him with only shattered dreams. He thought of taking his own life, but instead wrote the moving words of “O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go.” (1882) “O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.” Matheson was blind, but he could see the rainbow that was joy shining through the pain. The words of this hymn show that he understood very well how the rainbows in personal lives are made.

“But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way, grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.” (Flint)

MaryMartha
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Source for Flint and Matheson poems: http://www.cyberhymnal.org

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Things Mama Taught Me: "Act Your Age"

On Becoming a Grown-up Christian

I am a middle child, born after two boys had arrived in quick succession and followed by two more brothers and a sister. When my behavior failed to measure up to the expectations of my mother, she would sometimes tell me, “Act your age.”

Acting my age was, I admit, sometimes a confusing point. I was old enough to wash the dishes and help feed the chickens, but too young to go to the grain elevator and watch the trucks dump their loads of wheat. I was too big to cry when my older brothers teased but too little to go along with them when they rode their bikes down the lane to play with the neighbor kids.

A lot of Christians are equally confused by the issue of spiritual maturity. Does it mean one is fully developed as a believer, that there is no more growth to be attained? Does it mean that we have been trained in every essential way and have reached some level of perfection? Does it mean that we have served all that we need to and can now “retire” from Christian duty?

It means none of these.

Maturity, in its finest sense, is acting out of what we know rather than what we feel. James, one of the Church’s early pastors, wrote, ”Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:2-4)

If we have obtained any knowledge at all beyond the recognition that we need Jesus as our Savior, then we are “old enough” to face with success the tests that come to everyone. Holding steady in the face of difficulty is not really about being tough; it is a choice we make, a challenge to act as nearly like our Older Brother as we can. Giving it all up as too hard, or giving in to whining while we endure, is not acting our age.

MaryMartha
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Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

On Being Green

We hear a lot today about being “green,” that is, being aware and exercising care of our environment. In a different sense of the term, God wants us to be green! He says so in His Word; in fact, it’s a promise found in Psalm 92:12-14. ”The godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon. For they are transplanted to the Lord’s own house. They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.” (NLT) This is a great encouragement to me! We’re not “old” yet—you and I—but secretly we sometimes think about aging a bit, don’t we? One of my life’s ambitions is to be a beautiful old lady. Really, I’m serious! I don’t want to be sour, and bitter about life’s disappointments, and hard to get along with. I want to be sweet and loving and generous and kind and faithful to God and fruitful. It is mostly true that as we get older, we only get more like ourselves. So maybe I should practice now?

But let me tell you about my tree. Up until a few years ago, I lived in a home where there was a huge old elm in the back yard. It finally succumbed to storms and disease, but before then it was a marvelous creation of God, formed over a period of fifty years or more. I never took it for granted, but appreciated that it sheltered fully half of my house from the hot afternoon sun. Its great branches also welcomed birds of many kinds and squirrels. It was a wonderful old tree and I mourned its removal, but it caused me to think about the “trees of the Lord” as Christians are called. (See Isaiah 61:3)

Here is something I’ve learned about trees: As the sun warms the leaves, the water inside them is turned to vapor and begins to escape through the pores on the underside of the blade. This helps cool the leaf, and it’s the reason we enjoy sitting in the deep cooling shade of a big tree. But there is another reason that this transpiration, or breathing out, is so important. It keeps water flowing up from the roots. Water forms a continuous column as it flows through the roots, up the stem, and into the leaves. The molecules of water in this column are actually sticking to one another so that as molecules are lost at the top of the column through evaporation, the entire column of water is pulled upward. This pulling force is strong enough to draw water to the tops of the tallest tress. One scientist said, “The force which causes sap to rise in the plant is, to a great extent, pull from above.”

So then this life that is flowing through us as Christians is not something we are doing for ourselves. It is the very life of God. The vital force which causes this surge of life is the pull from above! Then, just as evaporation forces new life through the trees, so the God-life that we pour out to others causes His presence to flow more freely through us!

About 95% of the water and sap that rise in the tree evaporates; only about 2% dissolves plant food in the leaves and returns down the tree for storage. This may be a good percentage for us to keep in mind. Probably 95% of what we get from God is for others, and a much smaller portion should suffice for ourselves! So then, when the Spirit enlightens a portion of the Word to me or gives me an insight into life and living, I should assume there will be a way to share it with another. Perhaps I can even pray, “Lord, give me a way today to share what You’ve given me. Help me tell this to someone, or demonstrate it, or just exude it from my life without even knowing it. I want to it to be ‘breathed out’ so that more of your Spirit can rise up in me!”

MaryMartha
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Scripture quotation taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Another Bad Word: Submission

This entry is now posted at http://claiming-our-selves.blogspot.com/2009/09/another-bad-word-submission/html

MaryMartha