How Will We Respond to God: Fear or Faith?

This morning's Scripture reading had a verse that was so unutterably sweet that I'm still in awe of it. The passage in Deuteronomy 5 is part of Moses' farewell address to the nation of Israel. 

Moses recounted the time God spoke to the people from the fire. 

(Leanna paraphrase coming up.) When God spoke, the people were terrified. "This fire will consume us if we stay here and keep listening," they told Moses. "You listen to God for us and tell us what He said." 

The people backed away from a personal encounter with God because of fear. They obeyed His commandments because of their fear.

Moses had listened to God ever since the burning bush. Being close to God was a treasured spot. In His presence was the safest place to be, and Moses knew it without a doubt. 

Moses drew closer to God. He obeyed God from faith. From love.

We, too, will respond to God in one of these two ways. God will allow the fear response if we choose it. He will still give us His commands, His watch care, His provision. 

When we choose the faith response, however, He gives us all that and more. 

When Moses stood in faith, God extended an invitation that is breathtaking in its magnitude. It's the invitation I most want for myself and my family. 

"But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you..." 

Deuteronomy 5:11 nasb

When we draw close to God, He draws near to us. He speaks with us as a man speaks to his friend. He knows us, and we know Him. It is a place of indescribably holiness, overwhelming sweetness, incredible peace. 

Standing by God is the place where we learn to trust Him, and it changes everything. Limits fall away, because we know He will see us through whatever He asks of us. It's the place of faith, love, intimacy. 

Our Lord offers the same invitation to us today. "Stand here by Me, that I may speak to you." 

Will we move closer or step away? Which will it be?

The decision is ours. 

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Be sure to check the updated Prayer List 

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In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Honoring Our Heroes, #writerslife and the power of words,  The King with the Plan That Wasn't God's, Numbers Don't Lie: The Price of Rebellion, Numbers Don't Lie: The Grumble-Free Zone, The Broken Wing That Was Not: The Killdeer and Jesus, Faith and Hope: We Do Not Wait Alone, God Uses Everything, Even Manwich, The Angel-Talk: Fear Not

#fearorlove #chronologicalBible #JesusChrist #linesfromleanna #leannahollis

A Little Taste of Heaven: Body of Christ

God gave me a little taste of heaven yesterday, and I'm still savoring it. 

I spoke at the Calvary Baptist Church Senior Friends meeting. The room was filled with people I dearly love. It was a sweet, sweet time. There were lots of smiles and hugs and a few tears, too.

I attended that church for more than two decades, and I love the people there as much now as I ever did. Lately, though, I've been attending a church closer to home. 

I've said this many times before, but I repeat it because of the truth in it. Even though my location has changed, one thing has remained the same. 

We are still family, because we are the body of Christ.

 I've spoken in so many churches and worked in ministry alongside people from so many other churches, that every church feels like home to me. I believe that's the way it's supposed to be for the body of Christ, and the concept goes back to the time of Moses.

The chronological Bible reading today was from Leviticus 27 and Numbers 1. It talks about the different tribes, their numbers, and their locations in the camp. The tribe of Judah camped on one corner and the tribe of Ephraim camped on the opposite corner, but they were both part of the nation of Israel, both equally vital parts of the people of God.

When the tribe of Judah fought in a battle and received a victory from God, the people of Ephraim fought alongside them and shared in the victory, as did all the other tribes.

I believe that's how the body of Christ should function. Serving together. Sharing together. Rejoicing in victory together. No matter which tent we call home.

There's nothing wrong with having separate tents based on location or personal preference, as long as we understand there is One Lord, One Savior, One King. 

What matters is not the name on our sign, the size of our building, or the format of our services. 

The only thing that matters is our Savior.

I was a little nervous about speaking yesterday. I worried that people might be upset with me because I have a different "tent" now. Instead, I was treated as a much loved daughter who had come back home. I can't begin to tell you how deeply that touched my heart. They felt the same way I did. 

We're still family, and we always will be.

While we're on the subject, there was another topic we talked about yesterday that's an important truth. Over the course of two decades, the people at Calvary and I invested in each other's lives. My faith walk is deeper and stronger because of the people who shared their lives and faith with me, both at Calvary and at the other churches across this nation. 

We've participated in ministry together and we share in the victory, as do the people who have prayed me through. We share in the fruit.

It may be my name on the blog post, but when God uses these words to touch hearts, it's the body of Christ that shares the fruit.

We are interconnected in a way that we will not see clearly until we reach heaven. Yesterday, I caught a glimpse of it, and it took my breath away. 

People who rejoiced in my first few sentences of writing twenty years ago, people who encouraged me every step of the way, are a part of my words on the page today. I pray I can be faithful to honor their investment in me.

God used them to make a writer and now He's giving them fruit for their labors every time someone clicks on my blog posts.

We are more connected than we will ever understand this side of heaven. One day, though, we'll see how our prayers, our encouragement, our support for one another yielded a greater harvest than any of us could accomplish on our own. 

So let us love freely, give with abandon, encourage with all the hope in our hearts. It matters matter more than we know. 

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all men and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:4-6 nasb

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The Friday Night With Friends blog post for this week has arrived. Don't miss it.  It's so good. You'll enjoy it! Friday. 6 pm.

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Be sure to check the updated Prayer List 

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In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Friday Night With Friends: Between the Frying Pan and the Fire, Peace Only Comes When We Have Dealt With Our Sin, Starting a Prayer List, Priorities and the Goat Demons: Who has first priority in your life?, Death is Swallowed Up in Victory,  The Turning Point: A Grateful Heart, You are Greatly Loved.

@alittletasteofheaven #bodyofChrist #chronologicalBible #linesfromleanna #leannahollis

Hand Washing and Heart Cleansing

She was four decades my junior and, in many ways, just finding her way, but, for a brief time, we were prayer partners. We longed to see God move, to see Him change hearts and lives in tangible ways, so we agreed to meet before worship services and pray. 

I, who have spoken about prayer and fasting numerous times, expected to teach her about prayer. Instead, she taught me a very important lesson.

The first time we met, she washed her hands before we prayed.

Her hands had not become soiled between her house and the church. The hand washing had nothing to do with dirty hands. It was about a dirty heart. Her symbolic cleansing made sense to me. I washed my hands, too, and, as we washed, we asked God to cleanse our hearts.

It's a principle as old as the tabernacle. God instructed Moses to put the bronze laver, filled with water, between the tent of meeting and the altar. Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons were to wash their hands and their feet before they approached the altar as a symbol of man's need for cleansing before God.

Soap and water will never remove the stain of our sin, of course. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse me of sin. I know that. 

The symbolic hand washing is a reminder that I go before God with no righteousness of my own. My life is stained by sin and only God can remove it. As I wash my hands, I ask Him to do just that. Cleanse and purify.

King David knew the power of God's cleansing. After his terrible debacle with Bathsheba, his sin haunted him night and day. That's what sin does. Its relentless clamor and accusations leave us exhausted and hopeless. 

David wanted peace, and he knew where to find it. He went before the Lord and begged for cleansing. 

"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin..." 

Psalm 51:1 nasb

David knew what he wanted and he knew there was only one way to get it. God's cleansing and forgiveness.

Clean heart. Right spirit. 

When we allow God to cleanse us from our sin and wash us white as snow, we get a bonus of peace and joy.

Are we burden by the choices we've made? The sin in our lives? Do we desire peace? Allow God to create a clean heart, clean mind in us. When we do, we'll find that He has restored our joy as well.

"Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit." 

Psalm 51:12 nasb

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photo courtesy of freeimages.com

In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links:  Leaving a Legacy: Choices That Last for Generations, Jumping to Conclusions: The Terrorists That Were Not, Nothing is Impossible: Ayman al-Zawahiri,  Morning Quiet Time: Who Speaks First, Changing the World: What One Man (Or Woman) Can do, When Hard Times Come: Pressing On, and Friday Night with Friends: Sara Foust.

#chronologicalBible, cleansing #cleanheart #forgiveness #disciple #JesusChrist

Changing the World: What Just One Man (Or Woman) Can Do

One of the most exciting stories in the Bible (at least to me) is the story of God's wrath after the children of Israel made the golden calf. 

You probably remember the details. Moses was on the mountain with God, getting the ten commandments, for forty days. The people had counted on Moses as their deliverer and leader. Aaron made a poor substitute.

Mankind has an inherent desire for an object of worship. While Moses was away, they remembered the gods of the Egyptians and wanted something tangible. 

"Make us a god to go before us," they told Aaron.

"Sure. Great. Take the earrings from your wives and daughters ears and bring them to me. I'll make you a great little idol." (This is the Leanna Paraphrase, as are the following "quotes".)

It's a good thing I'm not God, because I would have zapped Aaron on the spot when that stupidity came out of his mouth.

On the other hand, I'm no better than Aaron. Although I don't make idols from earrings, I am as adept as anyone at attaching a greater significance to "things" than I should.

But I digress.

God, of course, knew about the "earring idol". He was ready to destroy the people and start over, but Moses begged for them. 

"No. It will make you look bad among the surrounding peoples. They will think You couldn't deliver your people so you killed them."

God relented on destroying them, but He was still angry. He'd just delivered them from Egyptian slavery and done a flashy and fabulous miracle with the Red Sea. 

"Go ahead to the Promised Land, Moses. I'll send you an angel to help, but I'm not going in your midst."

The people did a kind of "ornament fast" and mourned the loss, but God did not relent. Moses begged for them again. 

"Don't make me go without You."

"Okay, Moses. You win. I'll go with you, but I've still had it with these people."

Moses begged one more time. "No, Lord. If Your presence doesn't go with us, don't make us go."

A miracle happened during that quiet time between God and Moses. The Lord God Almighty relented and agreed to go with the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land.

"And the Lord said to Moses, 'I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight, and I have known you by name." Genesis 33:17 nasb)

The people who journeyed to the Promised Land didn't know it, but they enjoyed the presence of God because of one man's passion for Him.

One man's passion for God can make a difference we can't begin to imagine. 

D.L. Moody's friend, Henry Varley, once said, "The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him." Moody vowed to be that man. He went on to have an evangelistic ministry on two continents that resulted in more than one million conversions.

One ordinary man, serving an extraordinary God, can do things most of us don't dare to dream. 

I'm just an ordinary woman. You're probably ordinary, too. It's easy to discount the kind of impact we could have on the world, but our surrendered lives, in the hands of God, can be part of incredible blessings. We can impact more than just the people around us. We can impact the world for God. 

If we will.

Varley was right. The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man or woman who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.

By God's grace, let's commit to be that one.

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Our next Friday Night with Friends guest blog will post at 6 pm this Friday night. You don't want to miss it!

In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Friday Night with Friends: New Beginning, The Temperament Test and Married Oneness, Leaving a Legacy: Choices That Last for Generations, Jumping to Conclusions: The Terrorists That Were Not, Nothing is Impossible: Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Morning Quiet Time: Who Speaks First.
#chronologicalBible #powerofone #changetheworld #Moses #presenceofGod #passion #disciple

Morning Quiet Time: Who Speaks First?

I found two notes in the margin of my Bible as I was reading this morning that stopped me in my tracks. 

The passage was from Exodus 29. It was about the consecration of the priests and I was maybe not paying quite as much attention to priest consecration as I should. When I came to verse 43, I had to backtrack to get the full impact. I'll show you the two verses that spoke to me, then tell you what I learned.

"It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations

 at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, 

where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God 

who brought them out of the land of Egypt, 

that I might dwell among them. "  

Exodus 29:42, 46 nasb

My notes in the margin of my Bible (from 2/2005) read:

"The purpose of meeting with God daily is for Him to speak to me."

"The reason for bringing them out of bondage was so that God could dwell with them."

I don't know about you, but sometimes I forget who is supposed to be talking in these early morning quiet times of mine. There are days when my routine goes something like this:

Read a little Scripture. Run through a litany of prayer requests. Proceed to my day.

That's not the way quiet time with the Lord is supposed to go. 

It's not called quiet time because God is supposed to be quiet before us. It's called quiet time because we  are supposed to be quiet before Him. 

I hate to admit this, but I kinda wanted to read over what I'd written yesterday before I got to quiet time this morning. My laptop was in my hand, but I set it aside. "No, Lord. I'd rather hear from You first," I said and reached for my Bible. 

I was cruising through the passage when Exodus 29:42 hit me like a palm to the forehead. "I'd rather speak to you first, too," it seemed as if the Lord said. "I want to dwell with you. That's why I brought you out of your sinful life."

It's what God wants with all of us. He wants to abide, to dwell with us. To speak with us and help us live the kind of lives He intended for us.

We don't have to do life alone. God stands ready to walk through it with us, but the choice is ours.

Will we stop talking long enough to listen? 

Will we step outside our Egypt of sin and allow Him to dwell with us? 

We have a choice to make, and it's one we must make every day. 

No matter how busy we are, no matter how many concerns burden our hearts, the first One who should speak as we begin our day is the Lord God Almighty. If we'll listen, we might find He has exactly the words we needed to hear.

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Our next Friday Night with Friends guest blog will post at 6 pm this Friday night. You don't want to miss it!

In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: Behavior That Demonstrates Belief, Answered Prayer: The Bulletproof Vest, Bringing Good from Tragedy: Wives of Warriors Make a Difference, Friday Night with Friends: New Beginning, The Temperament Test and Married Oneness, Leaving a Legacy: Choices That Last for Generations, Jumping to Conclusions: The Terrorists That Were Not, Nothing is Impossible: Ayman al-Zawahiri

#quiettime #Godspeaks #chronologicalBible #devotions #JesusChrist #disciple #wordofGod #Biblestudy #Bible

Behavior that Demonstrates Belief

The weather forecast yesterday was a confusing one for me. "We're gonna have a huge storm," people told me. "It's a bad sign when the weather channel sends a reporter to our town."

I head the reports, but I also looked at the weather maps. There was going to be a storm, but it appeared that it would miss my little town. I moved my car away from the trees, just in case, because I have a little experience with weather predictions coming true. 

My behavior demonstrated my belief.

Weather reports seem an iffy thing to me. They are based on predictions and directions of wind and air movement, and they're constantly in flux. What we think is coming here goes somewhere else. What we worry about dissipates. We never really know.

When Moses gave a weather report, though, you could count on it. 

If he said hail was coming, Pharaoh knew, without a single doubt, that it was.

That's the difference between man's wisdom and God's wisdom. 

I noticed today, for the first time, that some of the Egyptians believed Moses. When he said a bad hailstorm was coming and every living creature that was outside would be killed, a few Egyptians gathered their people and all their animals in the house and waited for the storm Moses predicted. (Exodus 9:20)

Most did not. They scoffed at Moses, left their animals outside, and lost every single one of them due to the hail.

We are so much like those foolish Egyptians, aren't we? 

People today still pick and choose what they want to believe. We still want to believe things will stay the same, that we will be safe. 

The Bible, however, paints a different picture. Suffering will come to us all. A great tribulation will come. 

One day, Jesus will come back for his church and we need to be ready.

We can tell what we believe by how we behave. Do we live as those who expect our Savior to return or not? 

One day, Jesus will return. One day His church will rise and meet Him in the sky. It's going to be an exciting day, but on that day, it will be too late to change our minds. We must prepare now for our journey heavenward.

If our behavior demonstrates what we believe, and it does, what does our behavior say about our faith in a Risen, Returning Savior?

Live like you believe.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  A Little Good News: Working Together,  Things I've Learned: There is a God and I'm Not It, Cutting Down a Tree and Praying for Miracles, and The Tree That Preached a Sermon, The Wounded Deer and the Unsaid Words, Being Angry Without Sin, and Starting Over: It's Not as Easy as It Seems.

#chronologicalBible #livelikeyoubelieve #JesusChrist #disciple #secondcoming #weather #Moses

Starting Over: It's Not as Easy as It Seems

I don't know if you've ever stepped away from the life and work with which you were comfortable to do an entirely new thing, but I have. 

It's not as easy as it looks. 

This morning, I read in Exodus about Moses' return to Egypt after forty years in his personal wilderness. He had been comfortable shepherding Jethro's flocks. He knew how to do what must be done, and he was skilled at it. 

I know about being skilled and comfortable in your work. It's hard to give up the sense of security it gives.

Shepherding people was an entirely different matter. Demanding their release from Pharaoh was a task that seemed doomed from the start, and Moses felt unqualified. He didn't want the job and he repeatedly asked God to get someone else.

I know about being uncomfortable in the new work God has planned. I've said, more than once, "I can't do this. You should call someone else."

From the beginning at the burning bush, God told Moses it would be hard. Pharaoh would not want to let the people go and God would have to force their release. 

"I'll do miracles that convince everyone. The Egyptians will give you their treasures to get you to leave. This will work out." (Leanna Paraphrase) 

I've heard "this will work out", too. It not much comfort when you're desperately trying to find your way.

No matter what God said, one thing was clear. Moses didn't want the job. The obedience he offered was half-hearted because he felt so unqualified. In the end, God sent Aaron to do much of the work He had called Moses to do.

What Moses couldn't see was that God had prepared him to the do the work. Moses had spent his first forty years living in the Egyptian court as the grandson of Pharaoh. He was familiar with the court and its ways. More important, he had been trained in leadership. 

Moses had spent another forty years in the wilderness. He knew how to manage livestock and how to survive in the wilderness. 

It's easy to forget that our journey through life is part of God's plan. Nothing is ever wasted. We serve a God who is more than able to accomplish what He intends. Even with us.

Moses, at the age of eighty years, returned to Egypt with every skill he needed to accomplish the work God had given him, but he refused to believe it. God could take the skills He had already placed in Moses to accomplish exactly what He intended. All Moses had to do was obey each step of the way.

When we, like Moses, move out of our comfort zone, we tend to see the uncomfortable, but we fail to see the detailed way God has equipped us in advance. 

We see the monumental task but we fail to realize the smaller steps along the way that will get us there. 

Like Moses, I'm in a new place. Writing fiction was not what I had planned to do with my life, but here I am. Struggling to make sense of point of view and character development. Agonizing over balancing emotion with story, depth with detail. It's harder than I thought. I know I'm not qualified. I'm pretty sure I can't do it.

But God. 

Our Lord reminded me again today that He released the children of Israel with one miracle at a time. It took one act of obedience after another to accomplish their deliverance. 

In that same way, this job is a series of tasks that, when completed, will make a whole. My job is to develop one character at a time. One scene at a time. In the end, the parts will make the whole.

Perhaps you, too, are called to a task that feels overwhelming. Maybe the job God has given is far too big for you. 

He has called you to a God-sized task.

Take heart. Our God is in the business of preparation. He will equip you to do that to which He has called you. All you have to do is obey, one step at a time. It may take longer than you'd like, but He will accomplish that which He has planned.
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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:    The Importance of Light, A Little Good News: Working Together,  Things I've Learned: There is a God and I'm Not It, Cutting Down a Tree and Praying for Miracles, and The Tree That Preached a Sermon, The Wounded Deer and the Unsaid Words, and Being Angry Without Sin.

#chronologicalBible #obedience #JesusChrist #authorlife #iamwriting #preparation

Truth that Matters: God sees

Job's friends meant well, I suppose, but their "encouraging words" were anything but encouraging. Even worse, they had just enough truth in their soliloquies to make them dangerous. 

Eliphaz claimed that clouds are a hiding place for God. The clouds, he believed, hid The Almighty and prevented Him from seeing us. 

Job was not convinced.

For Job, being in the midst of his suffering was like being trapped in a dense fog. 

No matter which way he turned, Job could not see the hand of God. In the midst of his pain and sorrow, he felt separated from God and alone in his suffering.

Job understood, however, that his feelings and his reality were not the same. 

Job knew that His Redeemer lives and he knew that His Redeemer sees. 

"He knows the way I take..." Job 23:10 nasb

God had not lost track of Job. Suffering and grief had not obscured God's vision. Job's response to his suffering and grief had not cut him off from God. He was not alone.

God sees.

Just as Hagar found, when she was sent away into the desert and separated from all she knew, God was there. He saw her and met her, right where she was. She understood, at last, that Jehovah is the God who sees.

El Roi

We, too, can easily feel separated from God by circumstances or by sin. It's common to feel isolated in our suffering, but we are not. 

We serve a God who sees us, no matter where we are, no matter how far away from Him we roam.

We may be controlled by our feelings, but God is not. He is. He sees. He lives. Whether our feelings tell us so, or not.

Take heart, then, in the truth that God sees us in our suffering and distress, regardless of how we feel. He sees and He is nearer than we realize.

He is here. 

We are not alone.

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photo courtesy freeimages.com

In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane, What is the Point of Suffering: Extracting the Precious, Mamie and the Ink Stain, The Blizzard That Was Not, and The Truth That Matters Most: My Redeemer Lives.

Be sure to check out my new Amazon Author Page.

#Job #Godsees #truth #ChronologicalBible #Christian #faith

The Truth That Matters Most: My Redeemer Lives

Poor Job.

That's what I always think when I read the book of Job. He had so many things wrong. His friends had so many things wrong. 

Job thought God had caused his suffering. It was true that God allowed Job's suffering, but He neither initiated it nor caused it. 

Job's friends thought secret sin was the root of Job's problems. They were wrong, too.

Today, I came to that pivotal passage where Job correctly stated the one thing on which he had staked his life and his sanity.

"And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

Even after my skin is destroyed, 

Yet from my flesh I shall see God."

        Job 19:25-26 nasb

Job had this truth right, and it was the one truth that mattered the most. 

He knew without a single doubt that His God lived and would, in the end, be victorious over every foe. 

Job knew that his faith in the Holy One was not in vain. 

Job's faith was, ultimately, the most important possession he had. His faith was not dependent upon prosperity or loss, health or sickness, welfare or calamity. His faith was anchored in unshakable truth and nothing his misguided friends said could shake him.

Nicole C. Mullen wrote a song that expresses this beautifully. I thought you might enjoy hearing her version of My Redeemer Lives today, so click on the the link to listen to her "official video". (It opens in a new tab. You'll have to listen to a few seconds of an ad.) I've excerpted part of the lyrics below. 

Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean you can only come this far?

And who showed the moon where to hide til evening?

Whose words alone can catch a falling star?

Chorus:

Well I know my Redeemers lives

I know my Redeemer lives

All of creation testifies

 This life within my cries

I know my Redeemer lives

Yeah

The very same God that spins things in orbit

Runs to the weary, the worn and the weak

And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken

They conquered death to bring me victory...

                                 From My Redeemer Lives by Nicole C. Mullen 

We, too, can live with the same certainty Job had if we place our trust in the One who set the stars in the sky and put the earth in orbit. He knit us together in our mothers' wombs. He knows every one of the hairs of our head and every second of our lives. 

Our Redeemer lives and will, one day, take His stand on this earth. 

Every knee will bend. 

Every head will bow. 

He knows His own and they are never forgotten.

He will return for His church. 

He will return for you, so put your trust, your hope, your live in the hands of the One who holds everything in His loving, no-slip grip.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:   The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane, What is the Point of Suffering: Extracting the Precious, Mamie and the Ink Stain, and The Blizzard That Was Not.

Be sure to check out my new Amazon Author Page.
#Job #myredeemerlives #truth #ChronologicalBible #Christian #faith