Weeping With Those Who Weep

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” – Romans 12:15-16

The news this week has given us extra reason to weep with those who weep. 

An Amber Alert was issued after a car was stolen with a 6-year-old boy in it. His kidnapping and subsequent murder riveted attention all across Mississippi and beyond.

When Kingston Frazier’s disappearance was announced, details of the crime and countless expressions of hope and anger were shared on social media pages throughout the state. When it became known that he had been killed, grief was palpable in people of all shades. 

May God use our shock, mourning, and even our outrage to comfort Kingston’s family and each other, reminding them and ourselves that in viewing such horror against the infinite goodness of God, we now see only in part and know only in part but that someday we will “know fully” (1 Corinthians 13: 12).

Back in Romans 12, we’re told not only to weep with those who weep, but to rejoice with those who rejoice. That’s a particularly emotional juggling act for pastors, who may be called on to grieve with one family at a funeral and to celebrate with another that same day at a wedding.

Rejoicing and weeping at the appropriate times, with the appropriate people, for the appropriate things, is part of living “in harmony with one another,” as Paul urges. Grief and celebration alike are improved by sharing them with others.

But what about when a friend flashes her engagement ring, and we’re still waiting for someone special to show up in our lives?

Can we “rejoice with those who rejoice” when a couple near you have their third new baby, while each month is another announcement that you and your wife are infertile? 

Can we rejoice when we’re asked to train the person who will be our new boss?

Similarly, can we weep with the gambler whose house is being foreclosed on, the smoker who’s been diagnosed with lung cancer, or the coach who’s being sent to prison on a child pornography conviction?

Romans 12:16 makes Romans 12:15 more plausible.

To weep with those reaping what they’ve sowed takes being willing to “associate with the lowly.”

To rejoice with those whose celebration makes us feel our own lacks more intensely takes “never (being) wise in your own sight.”

We can envy and backstab and tear down those rejoicing in great blessings like a bucket of crabs that pull each other down.

We can point fingers at those under crushing grief, as some have at the family of little Kingston Frazier. 

Or we can reflect our Savior’s humility by setting self aside to share others’ joy and grief.

Guest Blog by Errol Castens

_____________________

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: Why We Need to Hate Our Own Sin

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

Why We Need to Hate Our Own Sin

I'm tired of hearing about sin...

A friend and I are doing a Bible study, Deepening Your Worship by Lorraine Hill. Usually, I write my own studies, so it's different to be doing one someone else wrote. Sometimes, this study stomps all over my spiritual toes.

Today was one of those days. This week's topic has been about pursuing holiness, and today's topic is the seriousness of sin. She's a little blunt, but I love her words because they're so true.

"We may view the Lord as an indulgent old man, a grandfather who spoils us and winks at our sin. We confuse the Lord's patience and long-suffering with tolerance; but the Lord hates sin and will always rebuke it." (1)

Truth rang in my heart as I read those sentences. There is a tendency to view God as indulgent with His children... partly because we, in the U.S., live in a society that's obsessed with our own sense of entitlement. 

We've mentally devised a list of perceived "rights" to which we believe we're entitled, and we expect to receive them. Tucked into the list is the right to sin in the way we prefer. We would, of course, never admit to this perceived sin-right, but that's the way we live.

I'm ashamed to admit that it's the way I live, too. I also behave as if God hates every sin except my own. That's the heart of the matter, isn't it? We easily condemn the sin of others while cherishing and guarding our own. 

Here's the truth of the matter: God hates sin. All of it. Even our sin.

Here's another hard truth: God requires payment for all sin...even our favorite sin...even when we don't think it's a big deal at all. 

Sin is a big deal to God.

What are we, as God's people, to do? Admit our sin and stop it. 

Yeah. I know. I don't particularly mind admitting my sin, but stopping it? That's not always on my to-do-list, but it should be.

Here's how the Apostle Paul explained it:

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Galatians 5:23 nasb

We are to relinquish our sin, run from it, and hate it as God hates it, not keep doing it because we think we can get away from it.

To help us understand, Paul gave us a short list of the deeds of the flesh, the ones we're supposed to be done with. This is not an exhaustive list, but it's a good start:

Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like... (Gal 5:19-21)

Some of our favorite sins probably fall into one of these categories. We may not sin in the drunken orgy category, but what about the discord category? The factions or envy categories?

We have a choice. We can choose sin or we can choose holiness, but we can't have both at the same time. Here's the holiness list of choices (again, also not exhaustive): 

Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Which list looks most attractive? The holiness list appeals to me. If I, as a disciple of Christ, want the holiness deeds, I'll have to relinquish, let go of, and stop the fleshly deeds. 

It's that simple. It's that hard. 

Today, let's ask God to shine His light on our hearts and reveal the sin lurking inside. When He does, let's agree with Him, admit our sin, and repent (turn 180 degrees away from our sin.) 

God hates sin, and we should, too. Especially our own.
_____________
(1) Hill, Lorraine, Deepening Your Worship, Tate Publishing, 2014. p. 129
_____________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: When Blessings Depend Upon Obedience

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

When Blessings Depend Upon Obedience

I don't know how many temptations you face every day, but I have plenty. Most of them aren't action temptations as much as "attitude" temptations. 

Murder isn't a temptation to me. Critical thoughts sometimes are.

If we want to avoid those temptations that come our way on a daily basis, we would do will to imitate Jesus. When He faced the temptation in the wilderness, He countered it with Scripture. When the enemy spoke lies to Him, He countered them with truth.  

In response to the temptation to worship the evil one, Jesus answered, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'" (Luke 4:8 NASB)

He was quoting from two passages in Deuteronomy that deal with the importance of obeying God's commands. The purpose of all the commands was 
that God's people would both fear Him (respect with awe and reverence) and obey Him. 

IF they willingly obeyed, God would pour out blessings on them: 

1) they would have long life
2) they would be blessed and things would "go well"
3) they would "multiply greatly" (many children)

Moses taught that obedience begins by loving God. Even at a time when faith seemed to be based on a stack of laws, God wanted a love relationship with His people. He still does. 

All-consuming love for God, coupled with an all-encompassing obedience, brings an amazing reward. God will surround us with blessings we don't deserve and give us the precious gift  of contentment with what we have. 

There's a risk in this extravagant blessing, however. In our contentment, we can easily forget that every gift we enjoy comes from the hand of God. 

We avoid that danger by diligently fearing God, worshipping Him, and serving Him. 

Moses taught the people (Leanna paraphrase) that God is a jealous God, and He won't put up with a bunch of mess from us. He means what He says. We can have blessings galore, but we will only have them by doing things God's way. 

In the wilderness, the Scripture Jesus had learned as a boy came back to Him. Those words He had hidden in His heart helped keep Him from sin, (Psalm 119:11) and allowed Him to begin His ministry the same way He continued it: by focusing on His Father and obeying, every step of the way. 

It's the way we avoid the tactics of the evil one, too. Know the Word of God. Live the Word. Use the Word to help us choose God's path. 

Let's actively choose to memorize Scripture and refresh those verses we've learned, then pray that God's Word will keep us from sin and point us to truth. 

God's extravagant blessings are available to use, but only when we choose both love and obedience. 
_______
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Vomiting Dog and the Holy God

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

The Vomiting Dog and The Holy God

I had an outrageous night last night, and I haven't quite recovered. 

First, I'd been writing a new novelette as part of a creative writing project I'm doing with students from Pontotoc Middle School Ag classes. Writing in the first person of a thirteen-year old boy is quite an experience, and includes a fair amount of grossness. 

When I went to bed last night, I was so keyed up I couldn't go to sleep for far too long. I turned the light off, tried to sleep, got up and read for a while, tried again. Twice.

I hadn't been asleep too long when the sound of gagging awakened me. Mamie (one of my dogs) was vomiting. On the bed. I got that cleaned up and went back to sleep.

I hadn't been asleep long when I awakened again because my foot was wet. Mamie had thrown up again. On my bed. On the clean sheets. Enough to soak through to my foot. 

I went through the clean-up-my-foot-and-deal-with-vomit-sheets routine again and went back to sleep. It might not have been a good idea, but I let Mamie sleep with me. Again. I thought I needed to know if she kept vomiting. 

Maggie chose to sleep on the floor. She was the smartest of us, because Mamie started gagging again. 

I grabbed her and ran like the wind to the bathroom, where she successfully vomited in the toilet. This was especially good, because I was about out of clean sheets.

We all went back to bed again and slept until 6 am when I awakened and found that my swallower was a little broken because of a severe sore throat. I haven't had a sore throat since I was a child, so I felt particularly injured by this new finding.

When you have to spray your throat with Chloraseptic to numb it enough to drink coffee, that is not a good sign. It doesn't help the taste of coffee a bit, either.

And then, it was time for quiet time...

My topic this morning was the holiness of God, His absolutely perfect and complete purity and virtue. I read Isaiah 6 again. Those words always stab me right in my repenter, and they did again.

As you might imagine, I started quiet time with a good bit of grumbling about the night's activities. Then, I read these words...

"I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple... Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts... Then I said, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips; For My eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts...'" (Isaiah 6:1,3,5)

I pondered that for a bit. The King. The Lord of Hosts. Commander of the entire angelic army. 

I freely admit that my visual for the angelic warring angels comes from the writing of Frank Peretti. Those fighting angels don't fool around. They fight to win and they don't lose. Our God is the commander of all those warriors, and He's the king.

I started my quiet time with my mind focused on lost sleep and dirty sheets, but in less time than it took Mamie to puke, my focus had changed completely. I'm not just a servant of the King, I'm His beloved daughter and there is nothing I face that He can't handle. There's no enemy (including the evil one) that My King's army can't defeat. I am loved. 

The song we used to sing as kids came to mind... "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace..." 

And they will... and they did.

Today, let's get our focus off our circumstances and put it on the One who reigns and rules forever. Our King and Lord of Hosts. 

He has everything under control. Including the events of our lives. He's in charge, and He can handle it all.
________________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: When the Weeds Have to Go

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

When the Weeds Have to Go

When you work a scandalously huge number of hours a week, almost always away from home, things in your house go undone, especially when the hours at home are spent working, too. 

I've had to make some schedule changes recently so that I can be a better steward of the gifts God has given me. I believe I'll be more efficient with ministry as a result. I know I'll be more rested and content. 

One of the tasks that's gone undone recently is weeding my flower beds. This morning, I walked outside with the dogs and "saw" my landscaping for the first time in a while. (Of course, I've seen it, but today I paid attention to what I saw...) A scandalous number of weeds threatened to choke out my perennials. 

"Lord, this looks pitiful. I'm really sorry." I repented on the spot. Overlooking weeds in the flower bed is not a sin, but poor stewardship of resources and inattention to the gifts God has given is... I looked at the stretch of patchy, faded mulch and the encroaching weeds and despaired of getting it back under control. 

The problem can only be solved by removing one weed at a time. While Maggie and Mamie ran around in the yard, I pulled weeds. I didn't clear the entire bed, but I managed to clear a nice patch. By tomorrow, the patio landscaping will be cleared. One weed at a time.

That's how we, as disciples of Christ, deal with the weeds in our heart, too. One at a time. 

God seldom says, "Leanna, you're nothing but a mess of sin. You need to get cleaned up." Instead, He gently convicts me of one thing at a time and tugs at my heart until that weedy sin is removed. 

One weed at a time, He clears the garden of my soul.

If we honestly appraise our lives, we all have sins that need to go, usually more than one. Today, let's choose the goal of a sin-free heart and invite God to remove one thing at a time until all the work is done. 

A weed-free garden is lovely, but there's nothing more beautiful than a sin-free heart, so let's do what it takes to get those pesky sin-weeds out.

"For it is written, 'Be holy because I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:16 niv

_______________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Incredibly Dirty, Stinky, Yucky Morning

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

The incredibly dirty, stinky, yucky morning

It started out like any other Friday.  It was my day off, so I slept a little later.  Maybe that's when the trouble started.  

Sleeping a little later (6:45 am later) meant I was late with blog posts and behind on dealing with social media notifications.  My page views would be down all day. I don't worry so much about blog views now, but I did back then.

I had a way-overdue lunch date with two friends scheduled for that day, and I was excited.  I planned to dress up, have a fun lunch, and hang out with the girls.  For dessert, I was going to the garden center for mums.  I'd been praying for mums that weren't bloomed yet.

For me, this was a big treat.  You'll understand why soon enough.

When I unloaded feed at the barn earlier in the week, I had overlooked a bag on the back seat.  You may be thinking, "How could she miss a FIFTY pound bag of feed?!!" I don't really know.  Maybe because I had already unloaded FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY pounds of feed, and I was tired. 

Anyway, I needed to pick up the hopefully-not-bloomed-yet mums to decorate the town hall, so that bag of feed had to go.  

Maggie the Wonder Dog was outside, but I needed her inside before I left.  My bright idea was to let her ride with me to the barn (she loves to ride), trap her in the car, drive back to the house, carry her back inside, lock her in the kitchen, and be on my way.  I would be right on time.

It really was a perfect plan.  She jumped in the car just like I planned.  We went to the barn, just like I planned, and unloaded the bag of feed.  Again, just like my plan. 

About that time, a cow mooed really loud.  We call that bawlin' here in Mississippi.  Anyway, from all that bawlin', it was obvious she wasn't happy about something.  I walked over to see, and that's when the morning started unraveling.  Her calf was out.

This was the calf that had accidentally imprinted on me when he was born, so usually the problem is to get him to quit following me around like a puppy.  That day, however, imprint was over, I guess, because he wouldn't do anything I said and would NOT let me get near him. 

I opened the gate.  Nope.  Not going in. 

I brought a bucket of feed.  Nope.  Didn't want it. 

I had the unfortunate idea to let Maggie the Wonder Dog herd the calf.  I gave her the command.  "Maggie, move the calf." 

She did just that.  Quick as a whistle, she had the calf back through the gate and in the pasture.  Unfortunately, I was not as quick as a whistle, and all the other cows spotted their big chance.  All four of my cows (I know it was not a big herd but you may be able to tell it was all I could handle) headed through the gate and into the pecan grove, along with a second calf.

Maggie had such success with the first calf that she decided to tackle the second calf without a command.  Boy, could that calf run! 

That was all it took.  Maggie the Wonder Dog thought they were playing chase and she was off, running like the wind, chasing calves.  All three were running like crazy, and I couldn't catch any of them. 

It was not a pretty sight.  Two calves running for their lives, yappy high maintenance Wonder Dog chasing them like the Hound of the Baskervilles, and chubby middle-aged mama running behind, yelling like a banshee. 

Finally, I just stopped. I was wilted and no longer fresh as a daisy.  That surprised Maggie, so she stopped too - right atop a cow paddy.  Of course, she chose that time to take a quick roll in the dirt, aka cow poop. 

She was covered with stinky pooh and ecstatic about her fun morning.

Since the calves had run back into the pasture by that time, I trudged back to the pecan grove to work on the cows again. 

These were former show cows and they knew how to mind.  My cows would take three steps back when I told them to do it.  They were great cows.  Usually. 

That day, every one of the cows was deaf as a post.  Or appeared to be.  I tried using the lunge whip, yelling, begging, offering feed. I was invisible. This was becoming ridiculous.  I text'd my friends that I would, at best, be late.

Heading back to the barn for yet another bucket of bribe-feed, I stuck my hand in my pocket for my keys.  It was empty.  All my keys, including the only key I have for my car, were missing.  I had dropped them somewhere during the festivities. 

That was the breaking point.  I was muddy, the dog was covered in pooh, the cows were all out, the calves were terrorized, and I was exhausted. 

I did what any female would do.  I sat down on the ground and tried to blink back the tears, which was harder than ever when I realized I had sat down on some pooh.  Now the dog and I were both muddy, stinky, and pooh covered.  Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

I sent another text, this time to say that I wasn't sure the girl lunch would happen unless I got a miracle. 

Chin trembling, voice quivering, eyes blinking back tears as fast as possible, I sat there and started to pray.  "Lord, what in the world is this about?  My animals never act like this! I can't see any point to it. I have pooh on my cute pants, mud on my cute top, and I'm sweaty and stinky. AND I HAVE LOST MY ONLY KEY!!!! If there is a point here, I sure wish you'd help me see it. I was so glad to have girl lunch, but this is surely not girl morning.  Please help me."

I took a deep breath, hitched up my big girl britches, and started toward the house.  I didn't know what else to do. 

About that time, my neighbor drove up.  "Oh, no" I thought, but headed to his car to greet him.  Just as I arrived at his car, I looked down and saw something wonderful.  My keys!

If I hadn't walked down the drive to greet him, he'd have driven right over them. 

Those keys were covered with hope.  Maybe, maybe this day was about to get better. 

Maggie the Wonder Dog ran up about that time and sat down at my feet.  Much to my surprise, she let me pick her up, poop and all, and carry her to the house.  I locked her in the kitchen with all that pooh, hitched up the BGB's again, and headed back to the barn for one more try. I had begun to consider fresh beef for lunch. 

With the fourth and final bucket of bribe-feed, I headed to the feed trough, dumped it in, and called the cows.  They looked up, their hearing restored, and walked over as if they had never refused a command in their entire lives.  Into the pasture they went.  I locked the gate and headed to the house.

After a quick scrub-down for Maggie and another for me, I dressed and headed out.  Amazingly, I was only an hour late for the original time, and early for our rescheduled time. We had a fun lunch and parted with promises to get together sooner next time.

On to the garden center for mums.  I didn't want just any mums, remember.  I only wanted mums that had not bloomed yet. 

As I pulled in, they were just finishing up unloading a truckload of mums... that hadn't bloomed yet.  Until the truck arrived, all they had were beautiful, but fully bloomed, mums.  

If I had been on time for lunch, I'd have been too early for the mums I needed. Maybe, just maybe, there had been a reason for the delay after all. 

When I got back to town hall, unloaded the mums, and my fellow alderman and I arranged the decorations, (the marvelously festive, cute decorations) I was really grateful I'd been delayed. 

I'm still not really happy about the cow pooh on my britches, but they will wash.  The best part of all was seeing that, even in adversity, there was a point. 

The incredibly dirty, stinky, yucky morning wasn't a waste after all.  It was really an answered prayer in disguise.

""I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'Plans for welfare and nor for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.'" Jeremiah 29:11 nasb

                                                                     The Mamas
__________
In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Divine Redirect and the Us that Became Me

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus

The Divine Redirect and the Us that Became Me

The morning's reading was on the topic of promises from Scripture. I'd already reviewed 2 Chronicles 20:15 (The battle is the Lord's) and Hebrews 10:35-36 (Endurance will produce a reward). 

When I read Hebrews 13:5, I wrote a note in my journal. "God will never leave us nor forsake us." As soon as I lifted my pen from the page, I had the sense that I needed to correct something.

I reread the verse. "I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you." Yep. I had it right. 

But I didn't. Not exactly. 

I checked an online Greek Lexicon and found that I had made an error with the pronoun. The "you" used here is second person singular. This wasn't a promise for a big group of people in general. God's promise was for one "you" at a time. 

It's true that God will never leave us, His people, but the precious promise for me today is that God will never leave me. That's what "you, second person singular, means. 

I personalized the verse with my name and read it aloud. "Leanna, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you." It was beautiful.

I tried it a different way. "God will never leave me. God will never forsake me." Even better.

Here's the good news. Because of the pronoun used in the original language, you can put your name there, too. Try reading it aloud the way I did.

No matter what you face today, (the singular you, not the general big group of us) God will never leave you nor forsake you. It's the same for me.

We, individually, do not go through the hard parts of life alone or without assistance. Our God, the Great and Mighty Jehovah, ruler of heaven and earth, will go through everything we face with us. 

He's as real as the ground beneath our feet, as close as the breath in our lungs, and He is with you. Second person singular. 

Let's ponder that today and share the good news with all those who feel alone. No matter what comes our way, we don't have to face it alone. 

"...I will never leave you. I will never forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

______________

In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: iPhone Storage and Expectations 

Please like and share to extend our digital reach.

If you feel led to partner with this ministry (US, Jordan, the digital world), here's the link to give your tax-deductible donations: Global Outreach Acct 4841 

Or you can mail your check or money order to: Global Outreach/ PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802. Be sure to put Account 4841 in the "for" line.

#Jesus