Reflections

I heart technology. It is embarrassing how much I love my Mac and iPhone.  No matter how many gadgets I invest in, there is always something newer or cooler out there.  To make things worse, I work with programmers and techno-geeks all day, and they just feed the beast.

I marveled at technology a few mornings ago as I did something that I do a hundred times a day but take for granted:  I checked an email on my phone and  “automagically” my computer marked that message as being read.  How did it do that?!  I didn’t hear the phone tell the computer that I had read the message.  So, how did it know?  And come to think of it, just the fact that we can send a paperless message without seeing it fly through the air is amazing, and I’m not even taking into account the programming behind the scenes stored on itty-bitty computer chips so small you have to squint at them to see them.    

As I marveled at technology and what the human brain can think up, I couldn’t help but marvel at the God who gave us such incredible minds.   Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:25:  “For the foolishness of the Lord is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” 

Isn’t that amazing?  Isn’t that awesome?  The person who scored perfectly on the SAT is an idiot compared to God.  The man who holds the world record for bench pressing is as flimsy as toothpick compared to The Rock.   He makes the smartest businessperson in the world look like a pre-schooler. 

Truly, our God is too wonderful to comprehend. 
Too smart for us to figure out. 
Too strong for us to budge. 
And He is a God that is worthy to be praised!

I have to give my buddy, Tyler, a shout out for this week’s Music Monday.  Tyler and I go way back.  Somehow, someway, no matter what company we worked for, he and I have ended up working in the same office building for about eleven years.  It’s weird.

If I had to describe Tyler in two words it would be hip and quirky. Now, I have to admire someone who works at a bank and takes some fashion liberties, and, with the exception of some rose-colored sunglasses he donned about 7 years ago, Tyler can pull most stuff off with class. (Apparently, I have a fashion-line and that line stops at men in skinny jeans or rose colored shades.  It should be noted, at Tyler’s request, that he in fact, also has a fashion-line and it stops at skinny jeans as well.)

Tyler also has a great ear for music – as he should – being the son of a music minister.  To be honest, now that I think about it, he would make a great worship pastor.  You just can’t have that much style and play the guitar and not be a worship pastor.  Anyway, without further delay, here is a beautiful song by JJ Heller he introduced me to a while back.  Enjoy!

What Love Really Means

BY JJ AND DAVE HELLER

He cries in the corner where nobody sees
He’s the kid with the story no one would believe
He prays every night, “Dear God won’t you please
Could you send someone here who will love me?”

Who will love me for me
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love
What love really means

Her office is shrinking a little each day
She’s the woman whose husband has run away
She’ll go to the gym after working today
Maybe if she was thinner
Then he would’ve stayed
And she says…

Who will love me for me?
Not for what I have done or what I will become
Who will love me for me?
‘Cause nobody has shown me what love, what love really means

He’s waiting to die as he sits all alone
He’s a man in a cell who regrets what he’s done
He utters a cry from the depths of his soul
“Oh Lord, forgive me, I want to go home”

Then he heard a voice somewhere deep inside
And it said
“I know you’ve murdered and I know you’ve lied
I have watched you suffer all of your life
And now that you’ll listen, I’ll tell you that I…”

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done or what you will become
I will love you for you
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew

The Philistines annoy me.  You can’t read the first several books of the Bible without bumping into them, and just when you think they have taken their ball and gone home, they pop up again.

They remind me of Satan.  How many times have you won a victory over some sin in your life or are making progress on a struggle and he seem to pop out his slimy head with the same old song and dance?

Time and time again he comes to kill us, to steal what is ours, to destroy our hope, and usually (but not always) it’s in the same area of our lives.  Each time we are victorious, but it’s a battle nonetheless.

Protect our hearts, Lord, from the schemes of the enemy and give us victory!

 

I couldn’t just stop with one post from Joshua 22.  It’s a gold mine.  I’ve got this post up my sleeve and one more that I’ll share with you soon.

With their plunder packed, the Eastern Posse hit the dusty road to home, but before they crossed the Jordan, they decide to build an altar.  It was not just any altar, mind you.  It was “an imposing altar” or as we say in the South, “a biggun” (Joshua 22:10-12).

Apparently, word travels fast in the promised land, and the rest of the Israelites got wind of the altar and immediately jumped to the conclusion that the EPs had lost their minds.  So, they hold a meeting to discuss what to do about the wayward children.

Let us give credit here where credit is due.  The Israelites have been through the wringer many times because of some crazy folks in the family.  If there is one thing that they have learned through their travels, it is that Yahweh does not play when it comes to worshiping other gods or mis-directing worship to Him.  There are specific rules to follow and serious repercussions for not abiding fully to those laws.  So, the Israelites decide to confront their brothers, and behold, the first accountability group is born.

Accountability is tough but necessary.  If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I am a member of an accountability group which was born out of a larger women’s bible study.

Going from a bible study group to an accountability group is taking it to the next level.  It’s like the difference between “going out” and “dating.”

When you’re “going out” with someone everything is laid back and casual.  No time commitments, no serious conversations.  Everything is good and breezy and fun.  That’s how our bible study was pre-accountability.  Everything was easy.  People would float in and out depending on the study we were doing.  Serious conversations happened but rarely.

Then, one night at Donna’s kitchen table as we were patting ourselves on the back for completing another bible study book, we found ourselves smack in the middle of a DTR (Define the Relationship).

DTRs in my opinion are awkward.  In fact, I’m fairly convinced that they embody the very definition of awkward.  If there was a word more awkward than awkward, I would use it, but my vocabulary is not that exhaustive.

So, there we were, stuffed with hamburgers and potato chips, staring a plate of awkward trying to decide if we would take it to the next level of accountability.  We never looked back and I’m so glad we made that commitment.

Folks, we need other believers to keep us honest.  We need safe places to share what is in our hearts and the struggles that we face because this world is messy.  We need people who love us enough to speak truth to us – even when it’s painful – and we need people that will keep our feet firmly planted in His Word and our focus on Him alone because just as it was in the old testament days, there are serious consequences for mis-directing our worship and being disobedient.

Yes, we live under the new covenant of grace, but the God of the OT is the same as the God in the New Testament and the same God we worship today (Hebrews 13:8).  He will not share His glory with anyone or anything (Isaiah 42:8).

If you don’t have an accountability group, pray for God to provide you with one.  Pray for God to surround you with a group of people sold out to Him so that when the world tempts you to bow to the gods of  money, fame, power, prestige, beauty, relationships, work, and possessions, you have people to pick you up and re-direct your worship to Him.

 

Throughout the years, I have been blessed to have many, many people praying for me and over me.  My twenties were pretty tough and there was a darkness around me that was almost palpable.  I am so thankful for those of you that loved me through some pretty unlovely times, and more importantly thanks be to God for showing me over the last several years the purposes of those struggles.  I am so grateful.

For those of you who battled with me, and continue to do so, I smiled with delight as I pondered Joshua 22:6-8.

Since the Israelites are always wandering somewhere or another, let me take a moment to orientate you to where we are in their journey.   The Israelites have wrapped up their 40 years of desert wandering; God has given them the land he swore to their forefathers, and now it is time for everyone to take a breather from the battles, and rest (Joshua 21:43-44).

Prior to crossing into Canaan, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh asked for their inheritance to be on the east side of the Jordan because the land was good for raising livestock (Numbers 32:1).  For simplicity’s sake (and to keep my fingers from having to type that out) let us refer to them as the “Eastern Posse.”

Moses obliged their request on one condition:  their families could settle there, but the fighting men would battle alongside their brothers until the land west of the Jordan was settled.  All of them said, “Amen,” and it was a done deal.

Fast forward five years and you’ll find yourself in Joshua 22.  Joshua is now in charge of the people and, being the awesome leader that he is, honors Moses’ promise to send the Eastern Posse home to be with their families and get some well-deserved rest.

He sends them on their way with a great amount of wealth (a.k.a plunder, or if you speak Pirate, loot and booty).  Now, don’t miss this:  The EPs gathered plunder when they fought for their brothers.  They took large quantities of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron and clothes (praise the Lord that clothing is plunder!).

Are you going to battle for someone?  If so, then press on because I believe when we fight alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ, when we petition the throne with them and for them, we get to share in their victories and in their blessings. This is our plunder.

Celebrating victories and the answers God provides with those we love is some of the sweetest plunder we will ever receive.

I know.  I know.  It’s not Music Monday, it’s Sunday.  But it’s a special Sunday.  It’s Easter Sunday and He is risen!!!  How can we celebrate Easter Sunday without singing praises for the work that Christ accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection?!  Praise Him for “worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” (Rev. 5:12)

High Noon

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the deep of the valley was bright
When the mouth of the tomb shouted,
“Glory, the groom is alive”
So long, you wages of sin go on,
Don’t you come back again
I’ve been raised and redeemed;
You’ve lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle at
High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

And the demons, they danced in the darkness
When that last ragged breath left his lungs
And they reveled and howled
At the war that they thought they had won

But then, in the dark of the grave
The stone rolled away
In the still of the dawn on the greatest of days

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When Jesus took in that breath
And shattered all death with his life
Be gone, you wages of sin
Go on, don’t you come back again
I’ve been raised and redeemed
You’ve lost all your sting
To the victor of the battle
High noon in the valley of the shadow

Let the people rejoice
Let the heavens resound
Let the name of Jesus, who sought us
And freed us forever ring out

All praise to the fighter of the night
Who rides on the light
Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When the mouth of the tomb
Shouted, “Glory, the Groom is alive”
Be gone, you wages of sin
Go on, don’t you come back again
I’ve been raised and redeemed
All praise to the king
The victor of the battle
High noon in the valley
In the valley of the shadow

©Andrew Peterson, “Love and Thunder” 2003