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Mirror Images

May 3, 2012 by 8thday4life

People who know me know… I hate being on the lens side of a camera. I don’t know when the problem started, but for many years I have not been able to stand how I look in photos. I didn’t even know why, but today I figured it out. I got myself ready this morning and thought I looked unusually chipper for a change. Decided maybe I’d try to take a half-way acceptable profile picture in case I ever get brave enough to actually use one. Tried the phone, the camera… all of them had the same effect as usual. Just yuck. That’s not me!!! That’s not what I see in the mirror, and why isn’t it the same? I decided to experiment and take a picture of my mirror reflection instead and see if there was a difference. I felt ridiculous because that’s what 16 year old girls on social networking sites spend all day doing. But it worked!!! I was amazed to finally see a photograph that matched what I see in the mirror! I suppose that’s why all the “young people” (yep.. I’m old) use the mirror, right? I am a little slow to catch on.

With excitement I told my son of my discovery, who promptly deflated my elation. He explained how he’s heard we psychologically take the image we see in the mirror and think we look like 15 times better than we actually do. Really?! I asked him why my mind doesn’t do that with the photographs too. He didn’t know. For some reason, the 2D image of my face in the mirror is much kinder than the nuances the camera lens seems to find, especially as age brings sags, wrinkles, and is my nose really getting bigger? Sigh. But the question remains, “What do I actually look like???” Do people see what my mirror shows, or what my camera sees, or something completely different?

Suddenly I realized, I have no idea what I really look like, and I don’t have any way to know.

For over 20 years my husband has told me I am beautiful. He is so sweet but I never have figured out what HE sees. My view of things is never the same as his! But no matter how old I get, he still keeps telling me that. After a long time, he finally convinced me that he really means it; from his perspective it’s an absolute truth. From mine, it’s hard to understand.

What does that have to do with this blog? If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’ll explain. People say the Law was a character mirror, given to mankind to reveal our sinful and ugly nature.  Without getting into theological debates about the purpose of the Law, I will agree that it can have that affect on some people.  But we can also try to dress up, put on make-up, convince ourselves we are “all that” and maybe even fool ourselves when we look in the mirror.

Then we have our close friends and family who may see us differently and give us various perspectives, both good or bad, about what we look like on the inside. Sometimes they are unfairly critical, sometimes patronizing, or just needfully honest. I have always believed that our closest relationships are one of the most effective avenues the Holy Spirit uses to show us our helplessness and depravity without Him.

But looking at ourselves is so discouraging. All these mirrors, all this feedback we keep working to build up our defenses against. We may try to run away from what we see, cover it up, dress it up, or contemplate plastic surgery.

The the Bridegroom comes and says… “You are beautiful to me no matter what.” You can argue all you want, but His answer is always the same. “I love you and you are beautiful, precious, priceless.” We can’t see what He sees. But we can look at Him instead of ourselves, and choose to believe His words and His love toward us.  That truly changes everything!  Maybe not all in one day, but day by day we are changed into His image. 

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part;

then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

1Corinthians 13:12

Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man

while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law,

and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

Likewise, my brothers,

you also have died to the law through the body of Christ,

so that you may belong to another,

to him who has been raised from the dead,

in order that we may bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:3 ,4

Posted in Jesus is Enough, Thinking Out Loud | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments »

I don’t have a blog for that….

April 24, 2012 by 8thday4life

8thday4life was the beginning of my blogging life, or as I like to call it, self-directed therapy with the possibility of an audience.   Since then, I’ve started a few more, for different flavors of subject matter.  This one I’ve tried to keep to the mission – testifying about Jesus and how He delivered us from really distracting, damaging religious ideas.  I have another one for more personal spiritual discussions, one for being goofy and posting pictures, and a private one for poetry.  If I am writing poetry, I’m venting.  I have a new one registered  to talk about nutrition and natural health – which was supposed to start this year. Well not yet.

I thought I had the bases covered for all my various writing outlet needs.  But then my fairly-calm, superficially-organized life with a vague routine and goals in sight, just got splattered all over the map.  I still have the need to write, but ….  what I have to say doesn’t fit anywhere.  I don’t have a file category for what you want to say when everything you don’t expect happens in three months’ time.  I’ve tried to always maintain a level of pessimism high enough to not be shaken by all the various disasters that could emerge from the void of the future unknown.  I believed this ability to expect the worst insulated me from the shock of unexpected crises.   I’ve said it before on this blog, and I say it again now.   I was wrong.  Not only have I been taken by utter surprise more than once, but some of my very close friends have as well.  It’s like we’ve all been thrown into the cauldron at the same time.  I don’t want to give my enemies a cause to rejoice so I will just say, what the enemy has meant for harm, God has intended for good.  Always. (Romans 8)

But I am here to testify that GOD IS GOOD.  No matter what.  If I started to list here all that He has done, and all that we are thankful for right now, I’d run past the word limit where people stop reading and go back to facebook.  He has made His presence and direction so evident that it cannot be explained in any other way than to know – there IS a God, and He is an awesome God!  I hope someday I can tell the whole story, but it’s not time right now.

I also used to believe (another one of my legalistic fallacies…. adding this in so this post is still relevant for 8thday4life :) ) that a person’s spiritual level was a mathematical equation directly related to how much time they spent reading the Bible every day.  (BIG Qualification:  We do need to read the Word.  ALL the Word.  As much as possible.  Every day is highly desirable!)  I thought spiritual strength and faith would wane if this practice was neglected for any reason at all.  I judged other people for their lack of habit in this regard as less spiritual.

Right now I’m in a season, one I’m praying is over soon, where I am not keeping this habit up.  (Another reason I have not been writing here).  I don’t like it.  I want back what I had before life got crazy.  I can’t focus to read much of anything, let alone the Word of God.  I do know that what I’m going through would be immensely harder if I had not invested so much time previously renewing my mind.  But I miss it.  Maybe this is to teach me not to even trust my ability to do ANYTHING in my own power toward being a “real” Christian.  Here’s my mind battle.

The old programming says, “If you were a REAL Christian you would have more discipline no matter what was going on.  You will fail if you don’t hold up your end of the duty.“  My NEW program, which I choose to listen to, says, “Pray for strength to be restored, and the ability to digest spiritual food again.  It is HE who wills and enables you.  Trust Him to get you through this season and to restore what has been set aside, even greater than it was before.  Patiently wait for the Lord.  Don’t trust your striving, but wait for the Lord.  He will revive you”

Only Jesus is the rock.  The Word is precious, but He is the LIVING reality of it, the Rock that gives water in the desert.  Our family and friends are the most beautiful gifts from Him on earth, but He is the Rock.  Even though I don’ t know the final outcome of all the various situations going on right now I know enough to say for sure, Jesus is enough!!  More than enough.  He is everything.

Posted in Hebrew Roots Movement, Jesus is Enough, SDA Topics, Testimonies of God's Power and Mercy | 4 Comments »

Connections

March 18, 2012 by 8thday4life

Not long ago I stopped at a church yard sale and found a little treasure, “Abide in Christ” by Andrew Murray.  It’s an old copy without a publication date, but my guess it was printed in the early 1900s.  I have to confess that although I’m familiar with this author’s name and some of his titles, I hadn’t known anything about him.  When I decided to share some of what I read today, I thought it might be a good idea to find out who he was exactly.  When I did, it made sense why his words impact me so deeply.

He lived longer ago than I had realized (1828-1917), and he and his brother joined a revival movement while studying theology in the Netherlands.  He was a Revivalist in his ministry as a pastor in South Africa, the country of his birth.  The biography sketch states his written works greatly influenced Watchman Nee, which would explain why I said this morning, “Wow! This sounds so much like Watchman Nee!”  :)

When it comes to great Christian writers, I am consistently drawn to the same genre of literature.  Revival is the continuing desire of my heart and for my heart.  I am so moved by those believers whose words were generated by this fire.  They inspire and challenge me.

But enough about what I think… here is what excited me this morning, an excerpt from Day Three of a 31 days of meditations on Abiding in Christ.  These words have direct implications for the subject matter of this blog as well.  (added emphases below are mine)

Chapter 3–TRUSTING HIM TO KEEP YOU

“I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I also am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”–PHIL.3:12

MORE than one admits that it is a sacred duty and a blessed privilege to abide in Christ, but shrinks back continually before the question: Is it possible, a life of unbroken fellowship with the Saviour? Eminent Christians, to whom special opportunities of cultivating this grace have been granted, may attain to it; for the large majority of disciples, whose life, by a divine appointment, is so fully occupied with the affairs of this life, it can scarce be expected. The more they hear of this life, the deeper their sense of its glory and blessedness, and there is nothing they would not sacrifice to be made partakers of it. But they are too weak, too unfaithful–they never can attain to it.

Dear souls! how little they know that the abiding in Christ is just meant for the weak, and so beautifully suited to their feebleness. It is not the doing of some great thing, and does not demand that we first lead a very holy and devoted life. No, it is simply weakness entrusting itself to a Mighty One to be kept–the unfaithful one casting self on One who is altogether trustworthy and true. Abiding in Him is not a work that we have to do as the condition for enjoying His salvation, but a consenting to let Him do all for us, and in us, and through us. It is a work He does for us–the fruit and the power of His redeeming love. Our part is simply to yield, to trust, and to wait for what He has engaged to perform.

It is this quiet expectation and confidence, resting on the word of Christ that in Him there is an abiding place prepared, which is so sadly wanting among Christians. They scarce take the time or the trouble to realize that when He says “Abide IN ME,” He offers Himself, the Keeper of Israel that slumbers not nor sleeps, with all His power and love, as the living home of the soul, where the mighty influences of His grace will be stronger to keep than all their feebleness to lead astray. The idea they have of grace is this–that their conversion and pardon are God’s work, but that now, in gratitude to God, it is their work to live as Christians, and follow Jesus. There is always the thought of a work that has to be done, and even though they pray for help, still the work is theirs. They fail continually, and become hopeless; and the despondency only increases the helplessness. No, wandering one; as it was Jesus who drew you when He spake “Come,” so it is Jesus who keeps you when He says “Abide.” The grace to come and the grace to abide are alike from Him alone. That word Come, heard, meditated on, accepted, was the cord of love that drew you nigh; that word Abide is even so the band with which He holds you fast and binds you to Himself. Let the soul but take time to listen to the voice of Jesus. “In me,” He says, “is thy place–in my almighty arms. It is I who love thee so, who speak Abide in me; surely thou canst trust me.” The voice of Jesus entering and dwelling in the soul cannot but call for the response: “Yes, Saviour, in Thee I can, I will abide.”

Abide in me: These words are no law of Moses, demanding from the sinful what they cannot perform. They are the command of love, which is ever only a promise in a different shape. Think of this until all feeling of burden and fear and despair pass away, and the first thought that comes as you hear of abiding in Jesus be one of bright and joyous hope: it is for me, I know I shall enjoy it. You are not under the law, with its inexorable Do, but under grace, with its blessed Believe what Christ will do for you. And if the question be asked, “But surely there is something for us to do?” the answer is, “Our doing and working are but the fruit of Christ’s work in us.” It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that its energies are stirred to their highest activity, and that we work most effectually because we know that He works in us. It is as we see in that word IN ME the mighty energies of love reaching out after us to have us and to hold us, that all the strength of our will is roused to abide in Him.”

The entire book is available to read online: Abide in Christ

There is such a subtle but life-altering difference between the approach that we must strive to be a good Christian, and the reality that we must simply let Jesus live it out in us.  Those who live in the former state, often have no realization there is another way.  That they are mixing their own efforts with the sufficiency of God’s grace.  They push others to strive as they themselves feel obliged to do.  It’s the logical thing to do.  Be a good Christian soldier.

Lately as my own personal battles have raged at new levels, I have seen the stakes differently.  Success and failure in the living of our Christian life revolve around how we love.  We may fail in many ways, but to fail to love is the only true failure.  Love in the fiercest of spiritual battles cannot be manufactured in our dead human hearts.  Love indicates where my life abides.  In Christ?  Or in my own desires and disappointments.

People are never what we want them to be, or we can blame God for the storms we expected Him to steer us away from.  But people we must love, and our Father we must trust.  And here my language goes back to knee-jerk human compulsion to “work”.  We must, but we can’t.  He does.

Posted in Jesus is Enough, Stuff I Love | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Happy 2012, Post 100!

January 1, 2012 by 8thday4life

Hello Friends, Enemies, and the Generally Disinterested,

I thought I would kick off the new year with my 100th post!  Who knew I could talk that much?  Okay, anyone that knows me in person had no doubts!  But in my defense, it has taken three years!  I launched this blog (thanks to the prodding of a wonderful woman God sent into my life!) in January 2009.  I haven’t gotten famous (infamous… maybe) but I have made some amazing friends and avoided having to pay a therapist!  A few dear friends are better than fame any day.  I have also gathered a few dissenters, and that’s good too.  I am thankful for both!

WordPress sends out a helpful end-of-year report to their bloggers and I noticed 8thday4life had visitors from many different countries!  I feel so privileged to share what God has done in our lives with so many people that I would have never had the opportunity to meet otherwise.

One project for the coming year is a website/blog dedicated to health and nutrition, especially for those who wish to transition from a vegetarian to a more omnivorous diet.  I am learning so much in this area myself (and this idea also coming from a good friend).  The health issue as it relates to Seventh-day Adventism is one of the most sought after topics on this blog, which had come as a surprise to me.  We seek to find our true rest in Christ in all aspects of our lives, even food.

I am praying about what to share this year, and am excited about what God has in store to teach me.  I don’t want to sit on yesterday’s revelation.  I pray we all grow in Christ this year, feeding on our daily Bread, Water of Life, walking in the Light of Life!

Blessings in Jesus to you for 2012!

 

Posted in Thinking Out Loud | Tagged , , | 11 Comments »

Inadequate

December 23, 2011 by 8thday4life

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” Matthew 4:16

 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1:4,5

 … a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”  Luke 2:32

This year I have been enjoying the season through the eyes of my younger children.  Their awe and excitement has warmed the heart of a tired, overwhelmed mom.  We have moved a few weeks ago into a house we are so blessed to live in, but it came with some challenges of its own.  And normal life demands don’t slow down just because you add in a big extra event.

But through it all, I have been overwhelmed mostly with gratitude I can’t really express in words.  I have never sensed the hand of God so near as He has been the past few weeks… in spite of myself!  Yes, I get irritable when I’m tired and feel as if I’m losing my grip.  But losing grip does something interesting. It causes you to fall back into the arms of the One who has it all under control.  Time after time, things I worried about fell into place in ways I couldn’t have planned if I tried.  With each hurdle or frustration came a blessing of equal or greater value.  I am finding thankfulness a way of life that I never have before.

But all these words..they don’t tell the story.  Not really.

Just like this picture doesn’t come close to capturing the awe of seeing the light in the darkness for yourself.

I have a feeling no matter what kind of camera I tried to use, this light cannot be experienced second hand.  You can admire it, but you can’t truly know what it’s like unless you see it for yourself.

The light of Jesus is the same.  Darkness is powerless over it, yet it can’t be captured and held in your hand.  We think we can tell someone about it and have them see it, but truly, only He can reveal Himself to another person.  Our words may be used to invite a person to turn and see… but they must see Him, and not ourselves.

Gratitude for the true rest and freedom that is in Christ is not something I can explain to you, even though this entire blog endeavors to do so.  My prayer for those who visit is that they will see JESUS.. and His light in the darkness.

Posted in Jesus is Enough | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments »

Webinar Archive Now Available

December 19, 2011 by 8thday4life

My husband recently shared an overview of the Hebrew Roots Movement for our friends at after7.tv and I am happy to be able to share the link for those who were not able to join us live!

CLICK HERE to watch the replay.

Lots of other great topics to explore there as well.  Enjoy!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Names

November 27, 2011 by 8thday4life

Today I ran across a post on facebook and learned of Knowing Me Ministries in Portland, Oregon.  It caught my eye because they work with the homeless population, an avenue of ministry our family also has been given a heart for. What intrigued me, besides their amazing testimony and witness (check it out!), was the verse that inspired their name:

  He judged the cause of the poor and needy;
then it was well.  Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:16

It reminded me of another group who derived their name from a passage in Jeremiah.  We called ourselves “Yada Elohim”  which means “Know God.”

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah 9:23,24

The Hebrew word indicated a very intimate relationship.  The same word is used in passages were a when a man “knew” his wife.  We desired this intimate knowledge of God so much, and believed that increasing our level of obedience to Old Covenant commandments would bring us to this closer understanding of God.   We believed if we walked as Jesus walked, in the Jewish sense, we would know God like we had never known him before.   We seemed to have missed the verse in chapter 22.

Our desires were noble, but our method could be compared to trying to make the trek of Lewis and Clark, as they did; by boat, on horseback, and on foot.  Why do that when you can now drive to the Pacific coast?  It might be a great adventure, but if you were to tell people they must go this way to get there, as you sport your leather moccasins,  this would be a silly and even dangerous assertion.  Yet, that is in effect, what we believed.

Later as I read Matthew, I realized what the words of Jesus said about who HE would know, and I became suddenly aware that the fruit in our lives did not resemble the group which were commended.  This began the gift of seeing Jesus as the ultimate Truth.  These words stopped me in my tracks:

On that day many will say to me,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them,
‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Matthew 7:22,23

And these:

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
Then he will answer them, saying,
‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’  And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  

Matthew 25:40-46

Not every believer is called by God to directly do all of these things.  But the corporate fruit or our movement, across the board, fell in the goat camp.  Yes.. there are individual exceptions, but this was most certainly not the focus of our “mission”.   (Then again, it’s not the mission of most of what calls itself Christian in the Western world.)

Our mission to know God through the Law and not Jesus Himself did not produce compassion, self-sacrifice for the “least of these” or calling out the Good News to those God is calling to Himself.  Our purpose was to show Christians they had turned their backs on Torah, and that we followed the REAL Messiah.

Today I saw parallels in the names of two ministries, and great contrast in the mission.  It brought to my mind again that these two paths do not converge.

The first reaction upon deliverance from this mistaken mindset was to exchange the Old Covenant “to do list” for the New Covenant one.  ”Now I need to make sure I’m doing these commandments of Jesus!”  Yes, but no.  I am thankful God did not allow me to jump into trying to obey even more correctly that I had been doing the last six years.  I wanted to, but He needed to transform my whole outlook.

When I saw the the New Covenant, I saw the Spirit brought this life of compassion.  This fruit comes through allowing GOD to work.  I knew I needed to pray.  Pray for my heart to be filled with love and compassion where it had become cold and hard.  Pray for the privilege to serve those God would lay on my heart to serve.  Pray for the ability and provision to do so.  Pray pray pray.

Life in the Spirit is not about checklists… it’s about being blindly abandoned to Jesus and letting Him fill us up and lead us, and empower us.  We don’t reassure ourselves that God is going to save us because we are doing the works the good guys are doing in the parable.  He confirms the Promise in us when we see that He is doing in us what we know we had no ability to do ourselves, nor even the desire, if left to ourselves.  We see that we become the tool in His hands, and lives are impacted, because of what HE is doing, not us.

Some believers are called to works where they don’t get to see the fruit God will bring from it.  Even here, the witness of love in their hearts, confirms this same thing.   The still small voice that spurs them on comforts them as well.  Are there moments of doubt and despair?  Most certainly.  Look at Elijah and John the Baptist.  God alone is strong and He alone is worthy of glory.

Another verse comes to mind.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”  
John 3:21  

The KJV uses the word “wrought” for “carried out”.   Christ is the author and the finisher.   He is all in all.  My good intentions, hard work, striving, and planning in human wisdom… futile.  Sabbath rest in Christ becomes a necessity for anyone who wishes to serve in His army.  We have to trust Him daily for everything from start to finish, and hear Him.

What has God called you to do?  Maybe it’s prayer (what is more effective in this world and how few of us devote our time to this?),  sacrificial giving, or the ability to sit and listen to a broken heart without judging.  Do we desire for our hearts to be broken for the things that break His?  Does our cause in this world match what He has declared matters most to Him?

Next week our family is moving back into the city from a small town.  I have been so excited to know I will be near all the things I love, and need.  No more long drives home.  This time of year especially, it’s easy to get excited about the consumer opportunities.  Today I am reminded of one of the chief reasons I believe God is allowing us to go back in.  He loves people more than He loves Sam’s Club.  I will keep praying for the open doors, and the willingness to allow the Spirit to flow through me to people, whether it’s a neighbor, or a homeless friend under a bridge.

What does it mean to know God?  I am continuing to learn.  But most of all, I am thankful that He has patiently, and lovingly known me.

Posted in Discernment & Laodicea, Hebrew Roots Movement, Jesus is Enough, SDA Topics, Stuff I Love, Testimonies of God's Power and Mercy | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

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