The Scoop That is Always Full

Because Toby, our 28 year old horse, is very grumpy when he wants to be fed, we fill the horses' feed buckets after the evening feeding and leave them in the feed bin for the next morning. Since the horses' feed is prepared ahead of time, we go ahead and prepare the goat's feed scoop, too. As soon as someone (me) gets to the barn in the morning, the goat starts throwing a fit. Everyone wants to be first. The horses get their feed first because Toby kicks the barn door like crazy if he's not. All the goat does is baah over and over. She waits, but the only way to survive the ruckus is get prepared ahead of time.

Today was no exception. I went to the barn, fed the horses, grabbed the goat scoop, and headed to the goat pen. As always, I dumped the scoop into the trough. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised, but Shamrock the Goat was definitely unhappy-surprised. She looked at me and started throwing a baahing fit. The scoop was empty. I had grabbed the wrong scoop. It's the first time I've ever fed the goat air, and she did not like it one little bit. 

Of course, I went back to the barn and got feed, but it made me think about all the times I've turned to God for spiritual nourishment. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." It is Scripture that is absolutely essential for our spiritual life, and it is always nourishing. The good thing is that God never feeds us from an empty scoop. When we turn to Scripture and ask the Lord for spiritual nourishment, we find that His scoop is always full, and He gives us exactly what we need to grow and mature into the faithful disciples He has called us to be. 

Are you feeling a little "lean" spiritually this holiday season? Maybe you need to let His word nourish your spirit and renew your soul. Turn to the Scoop that is always full. 

Refusing Jesus

and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. (Luke 9:52-53 NASB)

Jesus had His face turned toward Jerusalem and His ascension back to heaven, as well as everything in between, including the crucifixion. It was a long walk to the city and He planned to spend the night in a Samaritan village along the route. Messengers were sent ahead to prepare the way and make the arrangements. The Samaritans refused to receive Him, however, because He was headed to Jerusalem. 

This Samaritan village refused to rent rooms to Jesus, not because His entourage was too large and not because there was not available space. They refused to rent rooms to Him because He was heading to Jerusalem. One of the big controversies between the Samaritans and the Jews was the place of worship. The Samaritans worshipped at Gerazim, near Sychar. The Jews disagreed and said worship had to be at Jerusalem. It was so hotly contested that there was, basically, a feud over the matter. Because Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, they were having none of Him. 

It is easy to look at this passage and think that it has little relevance for us, but look again. Do we not also avoid intimacy with Christ because of the direction He would take us? The little village was content for Jesus to pass through, but not abide there. A Savior that is "just passing through" requires much less of us than one that has come into our hearts and intends to stay. 

This Savior who invades our lives and dwells with us will also likely disrupt our prejudice and our error. We can respond to the Divine Disruption in one of two ways. We can respond as the Samaritans did, refusing Jesus the opportunity to affect our prejudice and change our hearts. On the other hand, we can welcome Him, allow Him access to all the prejudice, wrong notions and sin, knowing that, with His coming, things will change. We will change. 

If the Samaritans had understood Who they refused, would they have chosen prejudice over their Savior? Would hatred have won out over freedom? Surely they would not, but how easy it is to forget that this Son of God dressed in dusty robes and sandals now reigns on high in gleaming robes of white with throngs of worshippers at His feet. He is worthy of our welcome, even though His arrival brings change. Let us respond to Him with open invitation. Come, Lord Jesus, and have your way in Me. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/12/writing-cop-talk.html
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The new book, The Waiting: When the Answer to Your Prayer is Delayed and Your Hope is Gone, as well as The Clay Papers and The Road to Bethlehem (an advent devotional guide) are now available at http://www.leannahollis.com/online-store/ Get your copy today. 

Writing Cop Talk

I am so excited about this news that I've decided to share it in a blog. You may be sick to death of my new novel, but the writing of it was such a spiritual experience that I can't get over it. For those who don't know, I wrote more than 50,000 words of a thriller Christian novel in 19 days.

This book is full of terrorists, policemen, FBI agents, gun shots, high speed chases, and (of course) Jesus. I, however, have never been a policeman or an FBI agent, nor have I even once ridden in a police car. I've actually never been inside a police car, although I did vote for my town to buy a police car for $100 once. That's as close as I've gotten to the world of criminals and justice. 

It was an impossible task, so I would sit down at the computer, say, "What do you want me to write, God?" and ideas would flow like a river. Sometimes, I had to take notes because I couldn't type that fast! I was very surprised by the appearance of the first gun, but as a former ER doctor, I've seen my share of gunshot wounds and I've shot a few guns myself in my time. A few. Really, it seemed out of character for God to be telling me about all these guns and this terrorist business, but (in case you've wondered) He is very informed. 

Things quickly went out of my area of expertise into the vast unknown. I could not have imagined this stuff. I don't have the background for it. Terrorists appeared. FBI agents were summoned. More gun shots. High speed chases. Plots and tactics unfolded. I didn't really make it up. I would just get very still at my computer, pray that God would tell me what to write, and I would write it. On my own, there was not a chance I could do this. There's the problem of  the lingo, the "cop speak", the procedures. I didn't know it, and yet I wrote. 

Tonight, I sat down with Officer Anthony Anderson after the Blue Springs board meeting. He demonstrated the patience of a saint as he listened to every single cop, FBI, terrorist, jail, high speed chase, and gun scene. Practically the whole book! I wanted him to correct what was wrong and help me fine tune it. I was constantly saying, "Tell me if this is not right," and he would say, "You're doing fine, keep going. I want to know what happens next." At the end of the book, he gave the writing team (Almighty God and Leanna) some high praise. "I can't wait to read this book. It sounds like you are an ex-cop writing!" How about that? 

God dictated and I typed. That's how it was done, and a novelist was born. It was my dream and, at nearly sixty years old, God gave it to me. Not only did He give it to me, He did it for me. This is not because I am so special. It is because we serve a God who is so nice. I know people don't usually describe God as nice, but that's what I say, because it's true. He cares about us and all our projects. He cares about my book and all the Jesus parts that are in there. He already has a plan for how He's going to use it, and I can't wait to see it unfold. 

You may wonder how I "heard" God. The voice of God is described as a "still, small voice". It's a little like an inaudible whisper in your heart. The words form and you know they are not your own. There's a key word here. STILL. Don't expect to hear God's voice if you aren't still. You can't hear a whisper in the midst of clamor. 

There may be someone who thinks that God would not do such a thing for you. Ah, but He would. He delights in those who love Him. He delights in those who obey Him. He may not help you write a novel, but whatever the task for which you are responsible, he will help you. All you have to do is ask. That's what I did, and look at the results!

Going to Jerusalem

When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; (Luke 9:51 NASB)

This is such a profound verse, but the truth in it is easy to miss. "When the days were accomplished for His ascension" sounds like it was time for an appointment and Jesus was going to town to keep it. In a sense, that was true. It was almost time for Him to return to heaven, and He was going to Jerusalem to be ready. What this verse doesn't say is that the ascension only came after the arrest, beatings, crucufixion, death, burial, and resurrection. There were quite a few highly significant (and extremely difficult) events before the ascension, most of which were not just unpleasant but extremely terrible. 

It's amazing, isn't it, that Jesus looked past all the bad that was to come and focused on the ascension, His return to heaven. He wasn't plodding along, consumed by dread of the beatings, the crucifixion, taking our sin upon Him. He had his eyes fixed on going Home. He knew that there was eternal joy on the other side of what He faced, so He looked toward the good.  

It was an attitude of certainty that He would not be abandoned by His Father in the darkest hour, the time of greatest need, and it would carry Him all the way through. It is a certainty of our Father's care that will carry us through those long, difficult times that seem too hard to bear, the uncertainty of what life will bring overcome by the certainty of eternity. 

Are you in the midst of a difficult and seemingly impossible situation? Take heart! Our Lord set an example for how to make it through, and it is one we, too, can follow. Look to heaven. Take our eyes off our circumstances and what we expect will come and put them, just as Jesus did, on the other side of our circumstances. Let's keep our feet planted where God has placed us but our hearts set on that place our Lord has promised, our eternal destination in Heaven. 

He kept going to Jerusalem "for the joy set before Him", and so should we. No matter the circumstances, keep walking in the direction He has set. There is eternal joy just ahead. 

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Link to last night's post is here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/12/a-little-too-much-help-from-your-friend.html

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 The new book, The Waiting: When the Answer to Your Prayer is Delayed and Your Hope is Gone, as well as The Clay Papers and The Road to Bethlehem (an advent devotional guide) are now available at http://www.leannahollis.com/online-store/ Get your copy today. 

A Little Too Much Help From Your Friend

As you may remember, Maggie the Wonder Dog has an incredible array of abilities. I will not list them all, but just want to remind you that she does have the enviable ability to sneak like a spy, which is not exactly being an FBI agent, but was, nevertheless, an inspiration to me during my recent novel-writing marathon.  Said novel, of course, was filled with FBI agents, who could easily pass for spies. They did a little bit of sneaking, but not with the finesse of Maggie the Wonder Dog. 

As wonderful as she is, Maggie the Wonder Dog has a little history that still plagues her. She is a recovering chicken-shaking, neck-breaking (also known as chicken killing) addict. Every once in a while, she goes to the barn and picks up a stray feather. She will hold it in her mouth at length, just remembering those intoxicating days. To her credit, she has not done any chicken-shaking in nearly two years, mostly because she and the chickens are not loose at the same time, but I still give her some credit for her success.  

Today, the Wonder Dogs both went with me to the barn. As you probably already know, Mamie is Maggie's adopted baby sister, also a Shih Tzu, and will turn one year old later this month. She is an expert at getting in trouble already and does not need any help from her big sister at all! 

I may have started the trouble when I went to the chicken stall to give them food and water. It was so much easier to leave the door open to the chickens and reach back to the food barrel. Back and forth I went, still leaving that door open. Maggie ignored that door for as long as she could. Finally, that wonderful aroma of "chicken house" enticed her past what she could stand and she headed into the chicken's stall. I was, fortunately, still standing there and was able to slide the door shut in an instant, averting catastrophe, and keeping her out. 

Once she had a good look at the chickens, she was overcome with that old blood lust and a desire for chicken shaking. She jumped up on the door and demanded to be let in for one good round. Trying to get back to her old ways was not enough. The next thing I knew, she had invited Mamie into the fray and they were both demanding entrance into the chicken sanctuary. They were barking and scratching on the door. "Let us in! Let us in!" I would not. 

When they calmed down about the chickens, we had a serious discussion about Maggie leading her little sister astray. I am doubtful it made much of an impact, but I felt better for having my say. 

Unfortunately, we are a lot like the Wonder Dogs, aren't we? Even when we walk away from our "big" sins, there's always something that has an overwhelming attraction to us. I'm not talking about things like drunkenness, using illicit drugs, hanging out in rough places, and doing dastardly deeds. All those things are potential areas of downfall, but those of us who have been a part of the faith for a while are usually a little more subtle with our "reverting". Instead of those obvious sins, we tend to get drawn into things like gossip, gluttony, selfishness, arrogance/pride. I'm meddling now, but I'm as guilty as any of us. What about that pleases God, though? That's the question we need to answer. 

When we behave in these ways, those new to the faith must wonder. Is this acceptable? Is it okay if I act this way? Unfortunately, no tragically, these are things that grieve our Lord and can easily disillusion and lead new believers astray. 

Perhaps we need to focus on removing all  the sin from our lives instead of being content with removing the "big things". Let's be sure our lives lead new believers closer to Jesus, not further away. 

Body of Christ, part 4

(This is designated as part 4 because I just recognized today that this is a series on the body of Christ. The first 3 were not labeled as a series but they were )

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But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you." (Luke 9:50 NASB)

But Jesus said, "Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. (Mark 9:39 NASB

The account of the disciples' rebuke of the man who was casting out demons in the name of Jesus is also included in the gospel of Mark, where we find additional detail. The disciples had seen a man casting out demons (an area of recent personal failure for them) in the name of Jesus. He was not known to the disciples and not part of their group and they sought to restrain him. 

Jesus, however, had other ideas. If he is not against you, he is for you. He was performing miracles in the name of Jesus and no other. Although he wasn't part of their "group" he was no less on the side of Christ. The decision about who was "for" Jesus did not rest with the disciples, nor does it rest with us. 

Jesus made another point that is very interesting. No one can perform a miracle in the name of Jesus and soon afterward speak evil of Him. That statement is worth pondering. The commentaries I consulted had little to say about this, but it's worth considering. The worth translated as "miracle" is dynamis and indicates the power to perform the miracle. The word translated as "be able to" is dynamai and indicates power to perform a task. Both words come from the same root. When we have the power to perform a miracle in the name of Jesus, we will not also have the power to speak evil of Christ afterward. 

If a reported miracle worker can speak evil of Christ after performing said miracle, we should not trust the miracle. What is amazing is that, when the power of God flows through us for the performing of miracles, it has a restraining power over our tongue, so that we cannot speak evil of (or curse) our Lord.

It is always the power of God that brings cleansing, never our own actions. Unworthy though we be to act in the name of Jesus, when the power of God flows through us, it should purify our mouths and make us not only more like Jesus but also make our words more glorifying to Him. Perhaps this concept could be better understood as the fact that a "clean" tongue (speech that glorifies God) should accompany our service to Him, especially if signs and wonders, or miracles, are performed in the name of Jesus. Our words, if injudicious, can completely undermine our service to God. In fact, our words are often the standard by which people judge the body of Christ and our place in it. James spoke of this in powerful terms: 

But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. (James 3:8-10 NASB) 

The words we say matter. They matter as they bless or harm our Lord, and they matter as they bless or harm our witness. We would do well to consider what our words say about the source of our power. Do our words demonstrate the power of God at work in our lives or not? Those tongues of ours are like a deadly poison, and only God can purify them. Let's invite our Lord to make those words pure and sweet, speaking only blessings and not curses. Create in us, Lord, not just a clean heart but also a clean mouth. 

The Body of Christ

John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you." (Luke 9:49-50 NASB

The disciples had seen a man effectively casting out demons in the name of Jesus, causing harm to the kingdom of darkness and great benefit to the kingdom of God. Because this man was not part of their "group" and had not been known by them to be following Jesus, they tried to stop him. Jesus rebuked them and instructed them not to hinder him. 

"He who is not against you is for you," Jesus told John. We will look at this in more detail over the next few days, but this word "against" is an interesting word and we do well to look at it a little closer. The word translated as "against" is kata and is used 328 times in Scripture. It is translated as "against" 58 times and as "according to" or "after" 168 times. Perhaps what Jesus was saying is that there will be believers who see things and do things that are a little different from the way you do it, but that does not mean they are not part of the kingdom of God. It does not mean we have the right to criticize or condemn nor to exclude them from fellowship. 

This does not mean that you can believe anything you want or do anything you want. There are areas, however, that bring great controversy but should not. One example is worship style. In most of the churches I've attended, the worship style is to sit in your seat and be both quiet and still. This is pretty confining for me, but unless God moves me to join another part of the body of Christ, I'm sticking it out. I will have plenty of time to move around and shout in heaven. (Just so you know, we will all be doing that in heaven, according to Scripture) 

I have much loved friends and brothers and sisters in Christ who have a freer style of worship. Clapping and a lot of motion is distracting to me, but they are accustomed to it. Neither of us is "wrong". I have a friend who dances while she worships. She doesn't call it dancing, but it looks like that to me and it is beautiful. She has a graceful, flowing motion before the Lord that is in time with the music and is beautiful to watch. It is a form of prayer for her, and I wish I could have the same freedom of motion. Again, neither my stillness in prayer nor her movement in prayer are "wrong" and Christ would not have us restrain either. 

 It was Jesus who said, "He who is not against you is for you." It was not the world at large to which He was referring. It was to fellow believers. The body of Christ is one body. There is not a Baptist body of Christ, a Methodist body of Christ, a Pentecostal body of Christ. We are ONE body, and as such we should function in unity, regardless of which sign is on the building where we worship.