God's plan for the family

This past week-end I had the rare opportunity to speak with my brother.  He came over the house to eat the breakfast our mom had left for him.  Yes, at fifty plus my brother is still being left breakfast from his mother.  It is her expression of love and so he ate it heartily.  It was while he ate that we spoke.


Our topic went from the family as God intended to forgiving others because God says we should.  I am thinking now and I can't say that I remember how we even began.  I do know that God spoke truth and I know that chains were broken.  Jesus said that when we know His truth we will be free.


I told my brother that the family is set up to have God as the head, the husband as the covering of the wife and children, the wife and then the kids.  When we put God at the bottom we have an increased probability of failure, conflicts and heart ache without resolution and healing.  When we turn things upside down where the wife or child is the "boss", what we have is a recipe for chaos.    God established the family from before time and he has provided a template for us to follow.  It is to guarantee success if only we should follow.  God first.  Husband, loving their wives as Christ loves the church and being the Priest in the home.  Wife, submitting to her husband, coming under his head-ship and covering, not emasculating him or disrespecting him.  Children, honoring their mother and father so that their days may be long and it might be well with them.  A family under God, in God and with God.


So what has happened?  Well, sin is one word to cover all but it can be more defined.  He asked me which woman would agree with what I just told him.  I said maybe none that I know.  I honestly did not always agree with this order of things.  There was a time where the idea of a man leading me was unheard of and out of the question.  I threw out the verse about submission and argued that God did not mean that if the man is not this or that.  My distortion of the truth came from years and years ago.  In my childhood home, my father was the bread winner and my mom was the dominant boss.  I grew up knowing that it was whatever she said that carried the weight.  What did that cause?  Well I saw women as leaders and men as well workers.  His presence was missing in the home even though he came home every night.  I'm not endorsing being a door mat and allowing abuse to happen but in a home that is "normal" God has a plan.


We talked about keeping God as the head of the home because our spouses can never be Him. There is no way that we can be satisfied by our wives or husbands.  They will never be able to meet all our needs because of their humanity.  We seek to be healed, affirmed, desired, encouraged, engaged, and fully satisfied by the one we married. In truth that person can never ever give you everything that you need with abundance and overflow.  He or she cannot be God.  Until we realize that, the family will be in trouble.  Hurt and disappointment will fester and remain until broken pieces are all that remain.


We talked about how God says things to us to prevent us from hurting ourselves and others. He says do not engage in pre-marital sex not to be mean but to keep us safe.   I used myself as an example. I gave my body away and as a result, the man I will marry will not have a new gift to open in the form of me.  I suffered great pains when I was "dumped" because I was living like we were one without the covenant of marriage.


I had a son from unprotected sex that suffered from an absent father, a different last name than every one around him, self esteem issues as he grew older and looked less and less like my side of family.  He was estranged from his father, lived in a home without a male presence and struggled to find out how to be a man from a group of women. 


Chaos, the result of doing things outside of God's frame work and perfect plan for the family.

God is our defence and forever hope

I am always amazed at how God works.  He takes the brokenness that is our lives and makes something whole and beautiful out of it. In the midst of tragedy and despair He somehow turns it around. He somehow brings life from something inside of us that is dead.  He brings a diamond from a coal. He gives us beauty for ashes.

 

I have read multiple testimonies that reveal this, the most recent one being that of Danny Gokey, a Christian singer and song writer.  He sings about redemption. He tells his story in the songs that inspires us to look up and see God.  He suffered the loss of his wife at 28y/o.  In fulfilling a promise he made to her, he auditioned one month after her death.  At a time when he was low, he says God was writing his story before he got there (taken from K-Love.com).

 

I heard how God raised up the unsaved to fight on behalf of his very own.  Gene Simmons came to the defence of Tim Tebow when others criticized him for his faith in Christ.  I believe that he spoke as God placed it into his heart and mind.  It was a perfect illustration of how God remains our champion and advocate and He will use whomever and whatever to accomplish this will.

 

I am moved to read about him and so many others.  God is amazing to me and I am left speechless in His presence.  God is our defence and forever hope. In Him there is no failure.  Trust Him today with all your heart and be amazed.

God calls us by name

It is hard to believe but we are already past Christmas of 2014.  For my family, we have a family breakfast and then the exchanging of gifts among the Robinson clan.  Usually we are loud with laughter echoing throughout the house.  I love it and wouldn't want to change any of it.


This time as we sat on every available surface in my family room, the presents were distributed by my elder sisters - one to see and read and the other call out the names she heard.  It works.  I got one gift in particular from my sister and brother.  It was a terry robe, but the best part of it was that my name was on it.  On the robe, in pretty white letters, my name was sewn into the robe.  My mom, received a blanket and the names of all her children and grand-children were printed into a heart on it.  My sister received a robe and her name was also written on it.  There is something about seeing your name on an item that belongs to you.  Somehow the value changes and it becomes even more special, more precious, more thoughtful, more appreciated, more loved.


For me the mention of names always takes me back to Isaiah 43:1 where it is written "But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned [called] you by name; you are mine." (NIV). God calls us by name and something about that always causes me to pause.  I heard a story of a man who was determined not to answer to a begging woman no matter what she said. He had it all planned that even if she said mister, sir, young man, or any other term he would walk away.  The lady called him by name and he stopped. The mentioning of his name had him throwing out his plans and stopped him right in his tracks.  He had to respond. 


That is what those gifts reminded me of on Christmas day.  God's calling of my name causes me to stop and respond.  God's calling of my name tells me that he knows me and there will be never ever be a case of mistaken identity.  God is calling out your name today.  No mistakes, he means you.  What will your response be to Him? 

God Says Don't Be Afraid

God says "Don't be afraid".  These are the words I have been teaching my two year old grand-niece. We were reading through the book of Isaiah and I wanted to give her something to chew on, so that when she is old she will have that Word in her. We had been practicing this verse for at least a month if not more.  So on one night I said to her, "Go down stairs and get your pull ups."  She replied, "I can't. I'm scared." I jogged her memory saying " God said?" She replied "Don't be afraid!"  We shouted it out loud for all the monsters in the dark to hear us.  We chanted and clapped our hands, all geared up to face the darkness, or so I thought.  I said, "Ok, go now."  She looked at me, looked at the stair case and said "I'm scared."


After all our rehearsing and chanting she was still the same as she was before we began.  Afraid.  It reminded me of us.  We know the word.  We have it all memorized, underlined, written down and the works. Still we are unchanged.  Why is that?  Do you remember the story of the man that came to Jesus who said in one breath, I believe I believe.  Oh Lord help my unbelief.  I find that most times this is our story.  We are missing that last step - believe.  We somehow miss the mark as doubt, fear and the cares of this world choke out the very word that is our source of life and strength.  We remain unchanged because we say the words with our mouths but our hearts are far from it.


Think about it. How many unbelievers do you know that know the scripture verses and could perhaps quote it better than yourself?  They know it but the application of that very word is missing from their lives. They don't really believe it to be an absolute truth.  Just like you and I sometimes.  We miss the mark. 


That night, I looked at my niece and said to her, "Sometimes we need a little help."  I went with her down the stair case where she could get what I sent her for in the first place.  God knows that we are like this little girl and we need help.  I believe this is why he constantly reminds us "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.", Isaiah 41:10 (NIV).

God of Possibilities

This year I decided I wanted to read about the Christmas story.  No not the one that is a made up tale that we all know “It was the night before Christmas….”  I imagine that when you read that you were able to finish it off yourself.  But that is not the story I wanted to read.  I wanted to look into history and as my friend Paul pointed out, read about His story.  So I grabbed my bible and started in Luke chapter 1. 

 

I read it with the expectation to see and find nuggets of truth and value.  I was not disappointed. Just a few verses into the chapter I met Zachariah. He was a Priest you see who honored God. God found Him to be a man that sought after Him and he was righteous in God’s eyes.  Both Zachariah and Elizabeth were praying for a child. They were married for many many years and no baby came from their union. By the time I met him, he was an old man. I imagine that he had ceased praying. The people had labeled Elizabeth as Barren.  They were childless and that was life as they knew it.  Things were about to change. 

 

As Zachariah worked in the temple, he was visited by an angel that would change his life forever and ours.  You see, Gabriel came to give him news that was unbelievable. It was impossible to say the least, but we know that with God all things are possible. J

Gabriel told him that his wife Elizabeth would be pregnant with child and bring forth a son in God’s timing. This child was to be the forerunner for the Messiah, the Savior of the nation and the world.  He would call his name John.  WOW!  Zachariah was floored. He questioned the possibility of this being true. He looked at himself and considered it beyond possible – even for God.  He forgot that his very ancestors, Abraham and Sarah were icons of God making the impossible possible.  He forgot that the very nation of Israel was from that miracle. God turned barrenness into fruitfulness, disregarding medical diagnosis, defying reason and bringing about a promise that He made to Abraham years and years ago.

 Zachariah had ceased perhaps ceased praying for a child with Elizabeth and he just did not believe anymore.  He had given up on this prayer ever being answered.  Gabriel muted Zachariah and so often I wish God would do that to me.  He did it because Zachariah did not believe. His mouth would have been a dangerous weapon, spewing doubt and fear.  So it was an act of mercy on Gabriel’s part in my eyes. 

Are you with me on this?  I see myself in this story.  Are you?  Have you gotten to the stage where you have given up on that prayer request(s)?  Don’t.  Don’t trade faith for unbelief.  Don’t trade hope for resigned despair. So here is the question, “is there anything too hard for God?” And you say…? All things are possible with God.

 

Anticipating God's Good and Perfect Gifts

Today on the Embrace Prayer Line the devotion was about anticipation.  It’s Christmas and for most of the world we celebrate the time by giving gifts to each other. The speaker described how as a child, she and her sister anticipated opening the gifts that were under the Christmas tree.  She described what most of us might remember ourselves – the waiting with held in breath, the receiving and the tearing into the package because you can’t wait to see. Sometimes it would be something that you wanted and the excitement continues. Other times you would be disappointed because that is not what you desired and it would be like a pin stuck in an inflated balloon.

 

What are you anticipating?  What are expecting to happen this Christmas?  Or maybe you are living in the state of disappointment because what you expected to happen didn’t occur.  Maybe for you, you anticipate not hope but more doom and gloom. Maybe your expectation is that nothing good will happen now or in the next year.  Maybe you have found that for you, the only thing that you think comes is misery and pain.

 

May I tell you something?  I know of someone whose gifts are always good and perfect.  I know of someone who gives you just what you need.  You guessed right if you said God.  He is the giver of all good things. The bible says in the book of James 1:17 that “¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” 

 

If we put our hope in God, we will never be disappointed. We can anticipate His good and perfect gifts and know that He will deliver.  I urge you however, not to say what He didn’t and then make Him out to be a liar.  Sometimes we put a time line on when He should deliver.  God has told me many times that He is not a Genie.  It is not in our timing but in His perfect time that what He says will be accomplished.  His words are true.  So go ahead and hope again; go ahead and anticipate His goodness, His perfect peace, His strengthening Joy, His perfect will and definitely His good and perfect gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Life is Worth Living

There is a song that came to mind this morning.  It talks about a relationship that is broken between a man and a woman. In it the woman says “I can’t live, if living is without you.  I can’t live, I can’t live anymore.”  The lyrics caused me to think about all those people that are not having a Merry Christmas.  I thought about how there are so many that are saddened by the season, about how many actually feel alone, about how some are depressed, about how for others there is a sense of hopelessness and despair.  I thought of the many that are cloaked in darkness, lied to by the enemy of God and man and fed thoughts of death. I can’t live anymore. 

 

I thought about you.

 

Just when I would have despaired myself, God replaced one song for another.  This song speaks of a truth that made me weep with joy.  This song was about hope. This song was about life.  This songs says that “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all my fears are gone.  Because I know who holds the future. My life is worth living, just because He lives.”

 

You may not be in the best place right now. Life is not easy nor is it smooth, but be encouraged today. Why? The One who knows about your tomorrow is holding your hand.  Your circumstances may not magically change but trust me God is not leaving you alone.  He wants to bring you His message of hope, not just for today, but for the future.  You are worth it to Him.  Your life is worth living.  Live in His Light my friend for Lo, He is with you.  Live and move in Him.

 

Acts 17:24 -29The Message (MSG)

^24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?