Friends

After Atlas died last month several people told me how much they loved it when I wrote about him. Well today, as concisely as I can, I'm going to share my two favorite Atlas stories. 

This past Easter at the farm as we were singing grace, yes, the Covert family has had a long-standing tradition of singing "Doxology" before meals at family gatherings, I guess it got everyone thinking about their favorite hymn. During the conversation as everyone piled up their plates with spiral ham and potato salad, Dad asked if any of us knew the greatest hymn ever written. I was thinking "Amazing Grace," but he informed me it was in fact, "What a Friend we have in Jesus." 

I didn't know Dad loved the song so well. Not that I know the criterion for a song to be considered an official hymn, but I never thought of that particular song as a hymn. However, if Dad says it's a hymn, then a hymn it is. Ashamed for not already having it on my playlist, I immediately downloaded "What a Friend we have in Jesus," mostly because it seemed to mean so much to Dad.

Listening closely to the words I can see why. 

"What a friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!" 

Great Pyrenees were bred to guard sheep and other livestock by shepherds living in the Pyrenees Mountains of France. You don't have to train these independent-natured, intelligent beasts to do this; it's instinctive. But you do need to train them as puppies to protect poultry and waterfowl because that's asking a lot of a dog to guard a delicious-tasting meat bird. 

When I got Atlas as a puppy, we had female Pyrenees already guarding our sheep, his job was to be my companion and to guard me, which he did wonderfully right up to his dying breath. As I would work around the farm Atlas would go in the fields with me and wait, sniffing and peeing on things until I was ready to leave and go to the next area.

One day several years ago as we entered the sheep field, I noticed that one of my ewes had delivered twin lambs. She was the first that season, so I was anxious to hold them, not paying attention to Atlas. My girl dogs were not in with them since the sheep get all nervous nelly when they are giving birth, so I have to put the dogs in the field surrounding the pregnant sheep to keep the peace. 

After I checked the new lambs a bit, I didn't see Atlas. I called and called for him, but he didn't come. He had never done this before; he would always be waiting for me at the gate. I finally had to go traipsing all around the wooded hillside looking for him, wondering what on earth he was doing. I kept calling his name. I finally spotted him in the long patch of pine trees in between the chicken coop and the front sheep field. He was just sitting there in the soft pine needles resembling a Greek, marble statue in a philosophical pose. 

As I approached him, I stopped and gasped because right under his big burly, curly chest was a tiny, newborn lamb. My eyes filled with tears immediately because even though Atlas did not work the sheep field, he knew instinctively that lamb was lost and vulnerable. It was apparent that he wasn't about to budge from the spot either until I came and rescued the baby.  

I quickly realized that the mama ewe had actually given birth to triplets, which made perfect sense because she was a triplet herself and that runs in her family line. The lamb must have wandered away. She gladly received the lamb back and began to lick him, nudging him to nurse. I gave Atlas a huge bear hug and buried my face in his fur. He was something else, that big lug. 

About a year or so later when we were walking back up to the house after barn chores, Atlas did it again. I got to the top of the hill, and when I looked back for him, there he was sitting as still as Stonehenge protruding out of the tall hay half way up the hill. I didn't have any sheep or lambs in that field, so I couldn't figure out what he was doing. 

He wouldn't respond to me, so I had to walk down to him. I remember the grass being so long that I couldn't see anything until I got right up on him, and there in front of him was the most adorable pair of beagle puppies rolling around and tugging on each other like they didn't have a care in the world. And why would they if Atlas was their guardian?  

Again, that lovable, gentle giant knew those fur babies were not where they were suppose to be, and he wasn't going to leave them. After a few phone calls, I found out the puppies belonged to a neighbor at the end of our road who was actually looking for them. I cuddled and pulled off a few ticks, and then thanks to Atlas, the pups were returned safely to their owner.

It is the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, to never leave us. 

No matter how close we think our human relationships are, "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." ( Proverbs 18:24 ) "No longer do I call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you." ( John 5:15 ) 

If our Savior came to earth to live a perfect life for us when we were rebellious sinners, to satisfy the wrath of God on our behalf, bearing all of our sins and sorrows on the cross, will he leave us now when we need him most? In our most painful hour? Never. 

Jesus doesn't promise to take away the circumstances of our lives, but he does promise to stay with us in the midst of them. He promises not to ever leave us alone. He knows what it's like to be us. 

If our heavenly Father made his creatures to be so perceptive to the needs of another weaker beast, will he, the Creator of them all, not watch over his children? Always he will. ( Deuteronomy 31:6 ) 

Let's keep that thought before us throughout the week. 

"What a Friend we have in Jesus." 

"Praise him all creatures here below!" 🐾🐑

Happy Monday! 

Atlas's granddaughter Skipper, peeping over the sheep. 

"Doctrine Brings Devotion"

"The Bible, including the Old Testament, Paul, and even Jesus, do offend me," I told someone recently as I listened to their personal arguments and concerns with the God of the Bible.    

"I hear you," I said. And I really did and still do. I've come to terms with and committed myself to wrestling with the offensiveness as well as the things in the Bible that I don't understand. It seems the more intense I study the more insight I glean of the triune God through the Scriptures, and with every glimpse I catch of his divine nature, the less afraid I become of the hard passages. 

Possibly the greatest lesson for us to learn in our study and the one we should most jot on endless sticky notes attached to everything we own is the reminder of the vast difference and distance ( not relationship-wise, but greatness-wise ) that exists between God and his creatures, his image bearers. 

I've learned that what I don't understand has become firmly rooted in what I do understand, if that makes sense. 

It's true, doctrine seems to intensify devotion. 

I know some would qualify this as drinking the Kool-aid, but God encourages and even commands us in Scripture not to worship him with our emotions only, but with our minds as well. He doesn't require us to check our brains at the door, becoming mindless, brain-washed followers. 

God's Word invites us to study deeply, probing the difficult questions for answers while developing our critical thinking skills in the process. Ours is a logical and rational faith. 

"But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." Jesus speaks these words to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. 

The Father desires the kind of worship that involves our minds and our emotions. 

Even though many denominations appear to swing one way or the other, it's both. We are called to worship God with our emotions/heart and with our minds. As I sing or read about the doctrines of grace found in the Bible, whether I'm alone or with my church family, because I've learned both types of worship are commanded, my hands seem to automatically raise in worship and thanksgiving to him. My mind and my heart engage in praise together. 

We are called to be undivided in our devotion to Jesus, but also to be biblically literate in our understanding of the Scriptures. When we are both our love for Jesus causes us to be faithful, and our correct theology of the Bible keeps us from falling prey to false prophets, teachers, lunatics, and every "wind of doctrine." ( Ephesians 4:14 ) 

I believe God intends that the two should continually embrace each other on this path of sanctification toward our glorification that will one day be complete. ( Romans 8:30-31 )  

Another thing I see in scripture is that God has made me for a large family composed of every tribe, tongue, and nation, a family that is not confined in isolation like a small religious sect, but one sent out into a lost and broken humanity to share the gospel of grace, where everyone is welcome to come in and participate from every walk of life. 

The Bible never insinuates God's people should follow blindly, but even calls us to remind him of his promises to us. ( Isaiah 43:26 ) God wants a relationship with us and has even provided the only means by which that is possible in sending his own Son as the atoning sacrifice so we do not perish in our sins, but have forgiveness of them when we repent and believe in him. 

Christianity isn't a secret faith meeting in the shadows or in dark corners. No, it's meant to be a public faith. ( Matthew 28:20 - one among many )  

And there are no enticing, attractive gimmicks luring us into the Christian faith. Jesus proclaims to all who will listen what one will be in for if one believes and follows him: trouble, dragging a cross, persecution, and losing one's life in this world. 

We will be offended. If Jesus is going to heal and transform us into his image in the sanctification process then we will feel terribly offended as he begins to confront our pride, selfishness, and idolatry, the sin and rebellion residue remaining in our hearts. The Farmer often reminds me that the Sword of the Spirit cuts both ways. The Word brings power and also life by performing supernatural surgery as it removes the infections and tumors in our spirits, but we have to stay in the operating room and lie still for the work to be done.  

Also I see in the Bible that Jesus offers through his salvation true freedom from our bondage. 

There are "house rules," but these are constraints that actually free us. One of the ways our relationship to Jesus is portrayed in the Bible is as a groom and his bride. When I think about my own wedding ceremony years ago to the Farmer, before he was a farmer, like each of us who take the marital vows, I became bound that day to a covenant where I promised to forsake all others. 

Through the years, the more I honored that commitment, the more I thrived within those limits. I found that the marriage vows were put in place for my prosperity and flourishing. I've found the same to be true with God's commandments to his children. As I obey, even when I don't understand or feel like it, I'm not beat down, but I flourish and grow as a result of my obedience.  

Real freedom is finding the right restrictions - like a fish finds in the haven of his water. Outside of that perfectly-suited, aquatic environment, the fish dies, but inside he swims and splashes for the glory of God. I've lived by my own rules, and I can honestly say that there is nothing in this world like living by God's. It's difficult to explain to someone looking from the outside in. I can relate to that, but once I stepped inside, I prayed the door would be double bolted behind me. I never want to leave; no matter the struggle. 

We must savor the layers of the Bible slowly like a Jolly Rancher. It takes time to taste our way through the sour and zest of the Scriptures and into the honey, meditating and contemplating on them as we go, taking God at his Word and accepting all that lies within, not explaining verses away or adding to his voice, but living within the paradoxical tensions that exist and allowing reformation to take place in our hearts always. 

The flawless order of the universe isn't run by a cranky, old killjoy or a brain-washing madman, but from a magnificent, all-wise Creator and loving Father who only desires and orchestrates good for his children. ( Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 2:9 )  

We have to slow down though. We can't expect we'll get to know God if we are not willing to sacrifice our time to study. 

At the end of day, I need God to be sovereign; I need him to be in control even if I don't always understand. If he's at the helm holding the map, I feel like I can do anything. However, if I'm the one completely in charge of my own life, I would have no desire to get out of bed in the morning. I don't understand how my human responsibility works itself out into the sovereign will of God, that's his problem. I just need to know he's the One with the ultimate say. And thank God He is. 

Because Jesus isn't mixing up Kool-aid, he's turning the water into wine. 💜

Don't Get Sloppy

A couple of days ago I noticed some blood in the chicken droppings as I was stepping into the coop. If it's a stringy-looking blood, it's probably okay, that could be broken blood vessels from the hens laying a big egg. But if not, it could be coccidiosis, a parasite that attacks the intestines of poultry. I knew it was in my flock because we had coccidiosis a few years ago. 

Coccidiosis is a crafty predator and can wipe out chickens faster than a sly, hungry fox, so one must move quickly as it attacks first the young birds then the weak. Thankfully, a small amount of Amprolium ( an over-the-counter medication ) in their drinking water eradicates the sickness immediately. 

Seriously, it seems everything in this world wants to eat or destroy chickens. If you keep poultry, you know it is a never-ending battle. 

How do they get coccidiosis? It is usually brought it to the farm on the bottom of someone's shoe or from another animal. ( I recently took hens and roosters from four of my friends, and it was none of you! The illness came well after I got those birds. ) We don't wear our boots off the property, but then I remembered sometimes I walk down my road in them and also at the county dumpsters. So I really don't know how I got it, but I could do a better job of wiping the bottom of visitor's shoes and keeping ours cleaner. I got sloppy. 

Here's your farming PSA: In addition to cleaning shoes, do not integrate any new animals into your flock or herd when they arrive at your farm. My vet instructed us to isolate newbies for at least two weeks. Some farmers you buy from may have a coccidiosis-free certificate from a vet, and that's great. But the livestock could possibly have something else, so keep them separate and keep an eye on them. 

It is rare for coccidiosis to be passed to humans or other livestock, but again, there are plenty of other demonic ailments to be on guard against and cast out. It's farming in a fallen earth. 

And here's the thing, even if you do everything you can to prevent coccidiosis, a wild bird could bring it in to the flock. I see wild birds all day long swooping down to eat left over grain, scratch, and corn from my chickens and even in the cow and sheep fields. This is impossible to totally prevent. 

We just have to do the best we can. Anyway as I was treating my flock, it made me think of my last blog on how sometimes we share our faith and forget the sin part. We only tell how much Jesus loves us and saves us, and forget to mention what he is saving us from. You have to tell the bad news for the good news to be good. 

Well, I thought the opposite can be true too. Sometimes we might focus so much on the sin part that we neglect the fact that Jesus took on hell for us. 

We become so focus on pointing out the person's sin, and this is important as sin can spread like a nasty, contagious disease, but we don't follow up with the good news of the gospel that Jesus carried all of our sin, sorrow, guilt, and shame on the cross. If sin is all we are concentrating on then we will leave that person feeling worse than before and probably not wanting to be around us anymore. Can you blame them?

Especially in our current culture, we need to learn how to engage people better with the gospel. There are so many hurting folks out there in so many different situations and with a myriad of different background beliefs and life experiences. The church needs to constantly pray and ask God how we can serve them and reach them specifically and compassionately with the love of Jesus to treat their pain and mend their hearts. We need to be more loving in administering the balm of the Truth. I know I do. 

I'm posting early because I'm excited to be heading to Atlanta today to visit my family and grand-pups, so I'm also in a bit of a hurry. Sorry for the sloppiness. It's been a sloppy kind of week. 

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." ( 1 Corinthians 5:21 ) 

Soli Deo Gloria 💛 

A Life "Well" Lived

After his death Dr. Keller is still teaching us. 

If you were not able to live stream the memorial service, I recommend listening to it. The funeral was held three months after Dr. Keller's death from pancreatic cancer at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City ( I texted my oldest man child and told him, "Leave it to Dr. K. to find a way to unite Catholics and Protestants even after his death. ) where Dr. Keller lived and where he started Redeemer Presbyterian Church and several other ministries, including the Gospel Coalition with D.A. Carson, an invaluable resource for Christians.

Even before his son Michael, a pastor who conducted the service, told the attendees that his father had planned the program, it was apparent. It was all done in Dr. Keller fashion. There were no pictures of him or videos or slide shows. His good friend, Rev. Sam Allberry, delivering the homily, mentioned Dr. Keller, of course, but the focus was clearly on Jesus. I know he told his friend that that was how it was to go down. 

I was glad that there were two other speakers who honored his memory with their stories, one from his first church as a young pastor in Hopewell, Virginia and the other from Redeemer. I believe these positions helped Dr. Keller have great insight and familiarity with the needs of folks in the country and the city. 

Dr. Keller picked each hymn to be sung, their order, and a brief note before the hymn on why it was in this order and why it was important. 

His wife Kathy in her usual casual, comfortable manner had a few words for those who were gathered. She in her grief actually comforted us. She told us that her husband was buried in St. Micheal's Cemetery, and I knew he would be because Dr. Keller was always about the city and how to reach the greatest amount of people. He loved the city, and I learned too, a country girl, to love the city by listening to him. It was a lesson I needed. 

Dr. Keller's other two sons stood on either side of her; the youngest spoke of fond memories of his dad both in his childhood and manhood. For me the most touching moment came when the oldest son started to pray. His grief, still hot and intense, caused him to pause for several minutes as he slowly uttered the words of a heartfelt prayer, his mother and brother supporting him on each side. 

This is what death does, or what it should do, invite us to pause, to honor the loved one, but more importantly to search our own hearts. Dr. Keller taught us that it was good to grieve, but in every sermon he also led us straight into the arms of Jesus and reminded us that our only hope is in him. 

At the end of every sermon he preached, Dr. Keller invited those who did not know Jesus to please enter in, and the sermon at his funeral ended the same. 

 

Monday Devotional

If we have people in our lives that we regularly share our faith with but become frustrated that they are not responding, it may be because we are only sharing half a gospel, which is no gospel at all. 

Let's face it, the gospel is offensive. And we don't want to offend anymore than we have to, but unless we share the entire gospel, our friend, neighbor, or co-worker isn't hearing the truth. And it's the truth that sets us free. ( John 8:31-32 ) Not half a truth. 

We have to have the courage and love! to share first the bad news which is that we are sinners and need to repent. No one wants to tell someone that they are a sinner, but it's this very harsh reality that brings the life and death of Jesus clearly into focus. It's what the desperate soul needs to hear.

Just when the difficult truth of our sin settles into our understanding, how grievous it is against a holy God and how our punishment is an eternity without him, the good news that Jesus died in our place, brings joy unspeakable. 

The gospel is powerful because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. ( Romans 1:16, Romans 3:10-18 ) But we must proclaim the whole gospel, proclaiming only half the truth empties the gospel of its power.   

Until I finally understood how sinful I was against a holy God and how desperately I needed his grace, I remained prideful, like I really wasn't that bad of a person. The truth humbled me and caused me to long for his grace and mercy. Until my heart was opened to the whole truth, I didn't "get" the gospel either. 

It is the whole truth of the situation that makes Jesus so beautiful to us. 

It is what caused Mary to break open the most expensive and exquisite belonging she owned and pour it over the feet of Jesus. It is what made Zacchaeus, the tax collector, sell half of all he owned, giving it to the poor and restoring what he had stolen fourfold. Jesus didn't tell either of them to do these acts of gratitude. They sprang out of grateful hearts. 

The whole truth is why two prominent, rich men, Nicodemus and Jospeh, took the body of Jesus down from the cross and prepared it for burial. An unclean task reserved for women and slaves in that day. This is why they no longer cared who witnessed them hike up their formal robes and stretch over the Lord's body, anointing it and wrapping it, not in swaddling clothes this time, but in a burial shroud, placing his body in a tomb that belonged to Joseph. They became undignified out in the open. 

People who are truly saved and understand both the gravity of their sin and the love of Jesus are radical in their worship of him. 

May we not shrink back, but have the boldness to love our neighbor that well, and that whole. 

Happy Monday!  

Morning Glory

"The Lord gave and he has taken away..." ( Job 1:21 )

Yesterday morning our white, American Park heifer Morning Glory went into labor with her first calf. It was apparent from the beginning that she was experiencing more than the usual distress. The Farmer called our neighbor Richard. When Richard arrived sadly, he and the Farmer had to pull a large, dead calf during her contractions. In the years we've had our farm, it was the first calf we've lost in labor and delivery, which I understand is very good odds. I am thankful for that. Even still, death always stings. Death is not natural in any situation. 

In the creation story of Genesis, we see that we were not created to die. And yet, God promises to use all things, somehow, someway, only known fully to him, for our good and his glory. ( Romans 8:28 ) 

So in striking back at death, because I hate death, this is what I observed: 

1.) Our neighbor Richard was at home and not on a call. He owns a tire and tow business for heavy equipment vehicles. 

2.) Richard was raised on a farm and also worked on a cattle farm for years.

3.) Richard is a big, strong guy.

4.) Richard knew after one look the dead calf had to be pulled immediately to save the mom. 

5.) Morning Glory survived and is recovering nicely.

6.) We called Richard in time. 

7.) Neither the Farmer nor Richard were injured in any way. It's one thing to help pull a lamb from a distressed 75 pound ewe, but a laboring cow is an entirely different rodeo. 

8.) We did not have to pay for a huge vet bill. Although, I will happily and cheerfully make Richard and Beth a meal with all the trimmings. 

9.) The Farmer and I learned some things about cattle we did not know from Richard that morning, like the size of our bull in comparison with the heifers and such. Two rookie farmers learned some valuable information that will help in the future. It humbled us, and that is always a good thing. 

10.) I had the experience of watching Aslan, my youngest Great Pyrenees lie beside the dead calf and protect the body from vultures. I know, seriously, they started circling immediately and when Aslan went to get a drink of water, one tried to land, and he went ape on the bird. I seem to find an exuberant joy in watching my dogs work. Aslan made me smile in the midst of sadness. 

I don't have life in this broken world figured out even as a Christian, but I've learned a few things in my sanctification process. One is that when circumstances seems to flow perfectly and everything turns out the way I wanted it to, it's easy to trust God and skip to the Lou, my darling. 

I have to admit that I've walked through some painful situations where I've had to plead with God to show me some measure of good in them because I simply could not see any bit of good. A calf and a dog are one thing, a loved one is quite another. 

The answer is always the same: "Just because you don't see any good doesn't mean there isn't any. You're trusting God more; you're drawing closer and deeper to him, aren't you?" And that too is always a good thing. Yes, it's a glorious thing. God didn't cause death, but he promises to use it. That has to strike a deadly blow to death itself. 

We might think that when we get to Heaven we will ask God the answers to all of these paradoxical mysteries. Except when we get to Heaven our breath will be so taken away, we won't even remember the questions. 

I pray I can always focus in the here and now on what he has given over what he has allowed to be taken away. Sometimes suffering just seems to crash over us like a tidal wave with relentless pounding as we gasp to breathe and find stable footing. In the turbulent waters I've learned if I hold onto God, he not only rescues me from drowning, but unexpectedly plunges me into the depths of the living waters that I might behold even more of his glory. 

When I can't feel my arms around him, his arms remain around me. 

What the enemy meant for evil, God used for good. In light of this truth, I refuse to give in to death anymore than I have to on this earth. I will rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances because this is God's will for me in Christ Jesus. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ) And I want to please my Father. 

To anyone who says that death is natural: "Stop deceiving yourself." It is an enemy of the human soul, and God says in essence he is saving the worst for last. "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." ( 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 ) 

The horror of death should make us pause and reflect seriously on life and the life to come. We should allow it to act as a torch flame we hold in the cavernous darkness of this existence, continually moving us away from fear, guiding us out of bondage and into the daylight of freedom, guiding us toward the true Light. Death should raise questions. Maybe that's it; for now, death is a signpost. Maybe that's its purpose. Maybe God uses death to point us to life. I pray we have eyes to see this. 

And that light comes by believing and trusting in Jesus, the Light, to save us, and one day he promises to take away death forever. Rest assured. "Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire." ( Revelation 20:14 ) The last enemy. 

"How can we know this?"

Because he gave his Son and took away our sins. 

He gives and takes away. 

Blessed be the name of the LORD!  🌻

Vessels of Righteousness

The sun seemed to be shining exceptionally bright as the dogs and I made our way to the barn and sheep field this morning. I noticed as we were returning that the recent rain showers had filled in the dirty trenches again along the fence line forming huge mud puddles. The sun radiated in a brilliant sphere above the murky waters, and the reflection that gleamed off the small muddy pond caught my attention. I tried to capture the scene on my phone, but couldn't do it justice. 

I stood there for a few minutes and thought, "That's me, I'm the muddy mess, but God still chooses to reveal his glory through his imperfect vessel." I notice that my eyes were not focused on the mud, but on the light reflecting off of it. 

That's us, that's all of us in the Body of Christ. One day God will change us into this perfect, clean, sparkling stream, but for now the lesson is that even in our weakened, imperfect state, God has made us vessels absolutely capable of reflecting his glory to the world. In fact maybe that's why he leaves us messy for awhile, so the world looks at him and not us. 

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." ( Matthew 5:16 ) 

Soli Deo Gloria 

Happy Tuesday! 🌟

Monday Devotional

There was an article last week on the Gospel Coalition website, maybe you read it, and the title of it just grabbed me immediately because it is so profound: "You must be weak to be sanctified." by Caleb Clark

In Scripture we see that the word "sanctification" refers to the holy status we have in our union with Christ the moment we trust him as our Lord and Savior, known also as "positional" sanctification. This consecrated standing is the foundation from which we begin to grow in holiness in every area of our lives, also known as "progressive" sanctification. 

I love the expression, "we become what we are." This helps bring clarity as I tread daily the transformational path before me.  

In Christ, once we begin this journey it isn't so much a taking of the bull by the horns, as human nature so often attempts, as it is discovering the balance between "work out your own salvation" and "it is God who works in us." 

"...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to work and to will for his good pleasure." ( Philippians 2:12-13 ) 

"fear and trembling" does not signify strength. 

Neither "I've got this," or "Let go and let God," work in the sanctification process, but instead finding the rhythm of the dance between us and the Holy Spirit. And the lyrics to the music go something like this:

"They are weak, but He is strong." 

We follow his lead, but we move too. 

Another terminology I love is, "The Holy Spirit does the work, but he isn't going to do it without us." It reminds me of the analogy of a dad mowing the grass and his little son runs up to help. So he positions the boy under him with his small hands reaching up on the handle bar between the dad's large hands, and they push the mower along together. Who's got the power in the push? And yet the dad desires to have his son help; it brings him pleasure. 

It's not so much a matter of us attempting to humble ourselves into a weak state; it's remembering the reality of the situation: We are weak. That's how we always come whether we are aware of it or not. And the key is always being aware of it. I've noticed in my own life when I've forgotten this truth, it only takes a second for me to remember my place when I'm confronted with a scary situation, like an over-confident toddler. The next thing I know I've got my arms and legs wrapped around God 

And like so many other things in our Father's kingdom, it is a bit of a paradox. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." ( Hebrews 4:16 )  It is in our weak and needy position, not strength, pride, or ability, that we can come confidently, some translations say 'boldly,' to the throne of grace.  When our confidence rests in God and his strength, not ours. 

In God's kingdom, the way up is down, down on our knees, but more importantly, down in our hearts looking up to him. 

Only then in the rightly positioned, sanctifying push together can we begin to progress and experience transformation and growth into the image of Jesus. 

We are weak, yes, but praise God, He is strong. May we take this seemingly paradoxical truth into our new week, remembering when we are weak, only then are we strong. ( 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 )  

Happy Monday! 💛  

Atlas was like having my own protective, gentle bear to love and hug.
I miss him terribly. 

                                  

"Open the Doors and see all the People"

Even though my dad didn't become a Christian until I was twelve years old, he never objected to my mom taking me and my sisters to church. Every Sunday Mom would drive us to a local Presbyterian church here in the valley because that was her parent's denomination and also where she had me baptized as an infant. Dad would come with us sometimes as long as he could get back home in time for the kickoff or starting pitch, depending on what gaming season it was. 

Mom kept chewing gum in her pocketbook, and as we would pull into the parking lot each Sunday, we would beg her for a piece. She would always say the same thing, "I'm going to give you girls a stick of gum, but you'll be spitting it into a tissue the second I see you chewing it like a cow." 

Unlike the farmer's ill-mannered cattle, Mom was all about the social graces. When I walk through our humble herd with the dogs each morning, the memory makes me laugh as I watch the cows grazing and chomping. Honestly, it's kind of funny because I see what she meant.

Like all parents my mom and dad made mistakes, but I have to say that one thing in my childhood that was constant and good was the establishment of going to church on Sunday. 

I hear people say that you don't have to go to church to be a Christian. True. Some say it's legalistic. Some churches can be. Some Christians can be. Some say it's full of hypocrites. It's actually full of sinners saved by grace and that grace extended to us in the sacrificial atoning work of Jesus Christ is the very reason we long to connect with our church family, worship God together, and allow our pastor and Bible teachers to speak the truth into our broken, hypocritical, often times legalistic lives. 

Church is God's idea, partly to deal with the residue of the "old man." ( Ephesians 4:22-24 ) ( Exodus 20:8-11 ) (Deuteronomy 5:12-14 ) ( Ezekiel 20:19-20 ) ( Isaiah 58:13-14 ) ( Hebrews 10:25 ) 

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." ( Exodus 20:8, the 4th commandment ) 

"And he ( Jesus ) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom,  he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read." ( Luke 4:16 )  

"I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth." ( 1 Timothy 3:14-15 ) 

Christians are "the church of the living God." That's powerful. And on the first day of the week we gather together in a building or structure of some sort. 

I'm thankful to my parents for instilling this in me because on the heels of setting aside the Sabbath to attend church it also ingrained in me a reverence for the first day of the week in general. I grew up understanding that Sunday was suppose to look different from every other day of the week. 

Today, I'm in a new season of life and travel on the weekends quite a bit to visit the grand-babies, so I do church with them when I can't attend mine. I'm overjoyed that they have connected with their Sunday school teachers, learning sound doctrine alongside of other junior students of the Word, serving God's purposes in their generation. ( Acts 13:36 ) ( Proverbs 17:6 ) 

In a recent sermon entitled "The Longing for Belonging," Pastor Michael Rowntree of Bridgeway Church explained that Jesus designed the church to be our primary relationships and the world to be more like missionary relationships. Not that they aren't true, genuine friendships, but if they are our primary relationships, guess what happens? We will look like non-Christians. 

He went on to say that we look like our five closest relationships. 

"And we are not self disciplined enough," he continued, "to have close relationships with people who hate Jesus and surface level relationships with Christians and not be affected more by the first." 

We are easily influenced, I'm sorry, but we just are. God saved us and put us in a family, and when we become embedded in that family with our brothers and sisters, we begin to develop deep, close friendships with other believers that helps us in innumerable ways to steady our feet on the hard, narrow path of life. They are on the same path with us. We rejoice together. We grieve together. We become like Christ together. 

Today I look back over my own life, and I have taken so many things for granted, God's sovereign hand the most, weaving his details throughout the unfolding tapestry, stitching and embroidering my good and bad choices into the whole of his pattern. It's one of the great paradoxes of Scripture, and I've learned to rest my weary soul in the soft, mysterious landing of its embrace. 

I've also taken my church family for granted. 

"Bernie, thank you for reading my blog each week and always wanting to discuss it when I see you at church. It means the world to me. It was good to see you back last Sunday after being under the weather for a bit." 

Yes, there are issues and differences to work out with each other, of course there are, people are involved. We must though because of how important it is to Jesus. ( John 10, John 17 ) One day we will all be made perfect, until then, this is how God has arranged things. 

If the younger generations would allow a little mothering, I would say, "Take your babies to church." 

"Go to church as a family." 

"And then when you connect to a local community of believers, look around your neighborhood, your area of influence, your workplace, your favorite coffee shop, your children's playgroup; seek out the lonely. Invite them to church and serve their needs. Share the good news with them. Do life together." 

Yeah, you don't have to go to church to be a Christian, but you do if you desire to be an obedient Christian and partake in what pleases our Father. He created us to be "The church of the living God." 

Chew on that. 🐄

"When a cow is prettier than me." Baby Blossom