Heart Clean-Up

The holidays are just about over at my house. Somehow, because of the mid-week holiday, three days off work netted me a ten-day stretch out of the office.  If it sounds confusing, it's because it is. I'm astounded at how long I've been off. It's been like a little vacation!  Not only did I have a great visit with my son, but I've had a few days with no pressing agenda. I've managed to get all the Christmas decorations down, boxed, and stored. I've even rearranged the storage house to make it more "user friendly".  

With that task accomplished, I've started cleaning off countertops, sorting through junk drawers and junk boxes, and straightening bookshelves. As I've sorted, rearranged, and redistributed, I've found that the more "stuff" I get rid of, the more stuff I want to deal with. I'm liking these leaner shelves, and wondering what to sort through next. It's early spring cleaning!

As I was thinking about spring cleaning my house, I remembered a little pamphlet  from years ago. (It might've been a book, but I don't think so). It was called "My Heart: Christ's Home", and the memory has me thinking about spring cleaning my heart as well. You may never accumulate a bit of sin that you don't repent of right away. I hope you don't, but sometimes I do. Before you know it, those sins can accumulate and you will have an unforgiveness issue, critical spirit, unkind words, bad attitude. You know how sin piles up if you don't keep short accounts. This evening, I've been running through my list and trying to clean my heart-house as well. Just like my house cleaning, the more I deal with, the more I want to do. What sweet fellowship with The Lord comes from these times of "I'm sorry"!

A clean house is nice, but you just can't beat a clean heart. Perhaps your heart could use a little clean up, too. There's no time like the present, so why not get started? You may be as surprised as I by what's been accumulating! 

Through-the-roof Prayers: The Long Way Around

But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. (Luke 5:19 NASB)

The four determined men had brought the paralyzed man to the building where Jesus was teaching, and they were not going to be thwarted by a crowd. When they could not get through the people in the doorway, they immediately began looking for another way. Their goal was to get the man directly in front of Jesus, where the two could be eye-to-eye. 

I've seen many Bible story pictures that suggest these men committed a serious act of vandalism in trying to get to Jesus. It has sometimes been presented as if these men destroyed a portion of the roof through which to let the stretcher down. Blue Letter Bible suggests a different scenario, which I favor. Middle-eastern houses had flat roofs, with a door to them so that the roof could be used for walking around or even sleeping at night. The roof was accessible by ladder or stairs. Perhaps, rather than vandalism, they saw the stairs, recognized an alternate way, and carried the man long-way-around to lower him before the Healer. 

These men were not dismayed by a crowded doorway, nor by an uncertain patient.  They were taking him to Jesus and would not be deterred. When they determined to carry him to Jesus, they did not have a promise of healing, nor a guarantee of change. Their job was to get him to Jesus. They left the decision about intervention to Jesus. Did they believe Jesus could heal? Yes. Did they believe Jesus would heal? Certainly. I don't know if you recognized this it not, but no request of Jesus is recorded. The presenting him before Christ was the request. 

I've prayed this way before, simply calling out the name of the one for whom I'm praying, knowing they need Jesus desperately and simply bringing them before the throne of God.  These prayers of desperation leave the choice of intervention to God, and may be the purest form of prayer. It's a "through the roof" prayer that puts our loved ones right before Jesus so that He can do what He wills.

Today, take the long way around and offer "through the roof prayers" for our loved ones. Call their names before Jesus with all the love and concern in your heart and wait expectantly for Him to move. 

The Seeking Heart

...And they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. (Luke 5:18b NASB)

What a surprise I found when I was studying this verse today!  I was going through the interlinear Bible, checking every Greek word by the Strong number, and came to the words "trying to". I expected this word to mean "attempting".  Instead, I found that "zēteō", the Greek word used here, actually means seeking. These men were not just looking around. This is the word used for Herod's search for the baby Jesus, as well as the kind of seeking we are to do for the Kingdom of Heaven. It is also the seeking The Good Shepherd does for the one that has gone astray. This seeking is determined seeking that does not stop until the object of the search is found.

What a challenge! Those men were looking for a way to take the paralyzed man to Jesus, and they would not stop until they found it. If we were that diligent to find a way to take our loved ones to Jesus, I wonder if we would see more success. 

The encouraging part of this seeking is that our Lord seeks for His lost lambs with this same tenacity and determination. He seeks until He finds, so take heart that He is faithful in His efforts, even when we are not. 

Today, pray for zēteō (diligently, determinedly seeking) hearts that will not give up until all our loved ones have been brought to Jesus. Praise God, too, that He will not give up in His efforts to bring them back to Him. 

The faith that brings Healing

And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. (Luke 5:18 NASB)

The word translated here as "paralyzed" is paralyō and is most often used to indicated "paralysed or weak on one side".  The most common cause of one-sided paralysis is a stroke, which more commonly occurs in middle-aged and older people. This was likely an older man who was paralyzed as a result of a stroke. 

The word for "men" doesn't clarify the relationship of the men to the sick man, but the same story is related in Matthew and Mark, where we learn that there were four men. We also know that the four men initiated the visit to Jesus, not the paralyzed men, because Jesus said He was responding to the men's faith when He healed him. 

Take those facts and consider how this must have happened. The paralyzed man was lying on his mat, as always. The four men (sons, maybe?) had already made up their minds when they approached the man about going to Jesus, who was said to perform miraculous healings. This man did not have faith that Jesus could heal him, but that didn't matter to the four men. They were taking him to Jesus anyway.  They each took a corner, lifted him on his mat, and off they went. These men were so sure that Jesus could and would do a miracle that they hauled him through the streets of Capernaum and straight to the place where Jesus was teaching. 

The paralyzed man was powerless to change his condition. He did not believe Jesus could change it either. He believed he was stuck in this very weakened, difficult condition. The men, however, had such faith that Jesus could heal him that they carried him on his bed, despite his protests, all the way to where Jesus was teaching. They believed Jesus could and would heal him. They knew he did not have to stay the same. 

We are all either the sick man without faith, the men with more than enough faith to bring the ones we care about to Jesus, or the bystanders waiting to see what happens. Which are you?  Do you believe that Jesus can heal those you love? Will you bring them to Jesus? You can bring them straight to Jesus through your prayers, and have confidence that the Great Physician can and will heal them. Can He heal their wounds? Yes! Will He heal if your faith is great enough? Yes. Sometimes He heals this side of eternity and sometimes He heals on the other side, but He always heals.  

Today, use the faith you have, whether mustard-seed sized or the size of a mountain, and bring those you love to Jesus in prayer. Present them and their needs to Him. When He moves, you and your loved ones will be so glad you did. 

The New Year's Sign

There are two things you needs to know about my mama. First of all, she made great fried chicken. It was my favorite thing that she cooked. The other thing you need to know is that my mama always said that what you do on New Year's Day is what you are going to be doing all year long, so what happens on New Year's Day is a sign of what's to come in the next year. 

Today, I drove Ryan back to Atlanta and Georgia Tech. We had a leisurely drive with too many stops and were running late. The plan was to unload Ryan's things at his apartment, stop by the hotel and let me check in, stop somewhere for dinner, then see The Hobbit in IMAX 3D. Unfortunately, it took longer to unload Ryan than we expected and our schedule was suddenly extremely tight. Somehow, we managed it with 45 minutes to eat and get in the movie. 

Chick a Biddy is the new restaurant across from the theater. "Hey Ryan, let's see if we can get something quick here," I said. He wasn't hungry but I wasn't sure I could hold out for three more hours, so we stopped in. Since they had fried chicken, and I can't eat wheat, I figured I'd just get a salad. We picked up menus, and I started trying to find something gluten-free to eat.  Suddenly, Ryan said, "Hey Mom, look. They have gluten-free!"  There was a GF icon by the chicken tenders. The FRIED chicken tenders. There was also a GF icon by the sides section. ALL the sides. 

The waitress came to take our order. I wasn't positive about what I'd just read, so I asked to be sure. "Does this mean the tenders are gluten-free?" She smiled a huge, beautiful smile and said, "Oh, yes! Our fried tenders and all our sides are gluten-free." Somehow, it was such an unexpected gift that I started crying. I had to blink back tears and swallow back sobs to regain my composure enough to order my meal. I looked like a total nut, but Ryan just watched and smiled. He was rejoicing with me. Well, he was laughing a little bit, too.

When my meal came, it was astounding! It had been a long time since I last had fried chicken, but this was so crispy, juicy, and tender that it was just about better than my mama's. The Mac and cheese was so smooth and creamy that it was unbelievable. Yum! My tears had dried, but when the waitress came by to see how we were doing and asked how I liked the chicken, I started crying again. It was outrageous and embarrassing, but Ryan wasn't embarrassed. He was thrilled for me, still smiling and laughing. Then, the manager came by to see how I liked the GF Mac and cheese.  Apparently, they'd been talking about the weepy lady at the front table. I started leaking again. She was radiant at my response to their food. 

It wasn't so much that the food was wonderful, nor that it was gluten-free, although it was. Because of her celiac disease, my mama was gluten-free long before it was trendy, and she would've loved the meal. That was part of what was overwhelming. Really, though, my tears were mostly because my mama would've said it was a sign of something good to come in the new year. 

Such a sweet, totally unexpected surprise was not just a coincidence. I took it as a gift from God and, regardless of whether or not it was a "sign", it was an unexpected blessing in the least likely place. Because of travel today, we missed all those traditional New Year's foods like cabbage and black-eyed peas that are supposed to bring luck and prosperity. I've never put much stock in that anyway. I know that every good and perfect gift comes from above. The likelihood of blessings has nothing to do with peas or cabbage, or with chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese for that matter. Tonight, I was reminded all over again that blessings come straight from the hand of God, and the one I received at dinner was mighty precious, indeed.  

I've had some blessings that didn't look as much like a gift from God as the fried chicken did, though. In fact, they looked terrible and more like a curse than a blessing.  Now that I'm on the other side of them, however, I can see they made me more Christ-like, and that made enduring the blessing worth it. Perhaps you've had a few of those blessings yourself. There's no way to know what form our blessings will take this year, but there is one thing we can count on. Every blessing we receive will come, not from our own hard work or as a gift from a loved one, but straight from the hand of God, and that is something to which we can look forward all year long.  

Power from Prayer

One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. (Luke 5:17 NASB)

This was a hard verse for me, because of that last phrase. It sounded to me as if Jesus had power at times and other times did not, but the word for power used here is also used in other passages to describe the power that emanated from Him. It is the power that the woman with the hemorrhage of blood accessed when she touched the hem of His garment. This is not intermittent power Jesus had that day, it means even greater power. My difficulty in understanding came from failing to take the verse in context. Charles Spurgeon clarified the situation for me when he wrote, in his sermon "Carried by Four" (#981) in 1871:

"He withdrew into the wilderness to hold communion with his Father, and, as a consequence, to come forth clothed with an abundance of healing and saving power. Not but that in himself as God he always had that power without measure; but for our sakes he did it, that we might learn that the power of God will only rest upon us in proportion as we draw near to God."

Jesus had just returned from a prayer retreat in the wilderness, which was the source of His direction and strength. This verse demonstrates for us the abundance of power available from time spent drawing near to God.

Selah. Pause and consider. 

Jesus was fully human and fully God. In His humanness, He consciously made an effort to go to a quiet place and spend time in private prayer and listening (conversation) with God. As a result of that time, He had greater power. Spurgeon is right. It points out to us what is available if we were just willing to spend serious time seeking God and drawing near to Him. 

In this past year, did you experience an abundance of power from on high? Could it be that lack of power is a result of a lack of prayer time?  As we begin 2014, commit to seek The Lord to such a degree that He will be able to use you for the miraculous because of the power of God that rests upon you. This power only comes from God and only comes out of quality quiet time with Him, but it is as available today as it was in Jesus's time. 

Pray today that God will draw us and our loved ones into such relationship with Him that we emerge from our time with Him clothed in His power and His righteousness. 

The Superpower and the Superhero

This time last year, my pinkie finger had three Frankenstein pins sticking out of it as external fixation for a shattered bone (proximal phalanx for our medical readers). I had dropped a jar of peanut butter on it Christmas Day and had surgery three days later. I was truly astonished that a bone that small could hurt that much, and I was a big baby. It does not hurt my feelings one bit to admit it. You can ask anyone at my office, and they will confirm that I was a baby. I was pitiful and whiny and not at all a big girl. All my attention was directed at that very small wound and I cried a river of tears.

You may not realize it, but it is hard to put your hair in a French twist with one hand. Why, you can't even wash your hair with just one hand! Buttoning and zipping pants - forget it. Manicures? One handed. Feeding livestock? Nope. Tossing hay bales? Nope. Type? One finger pecking was all I could manage. My life as I knew it came to a screeching halt. Suddenly, I was dressing in yoga pants and wearing an elastic headband to hold my hair back. I gave up manicures. Bill the Magnificent came to work and started doing my farm chores. I ate protein bars and cereal for supper because it was so hard to cook with the cast. 

This time last year, I was astonished at how fast my life had changed and I didn't like it one bit. As the months wore on, and the X-rays looked much the same, I began to worry that I might not get my life back. It was a frightening, sobering thought. 

Now, twelve months later, my finger is still crooked but it's about as well as it's going to get. It's functional and the strength is returning. I can hold a baby aspirin in my hand. That may not seem like much, but it takes a pretty good grip to hold it. All those things I couldn't do are back on the agenda again. 

I have one thing that's new since last year. I can tell the weather with my finger. Ryan says it's a minor superpower. I'm thrilled to have a superpower, although I wish I had a more desirable one. A superpower... Does that make me a superhero? I wish. According to my son Ryan (who is 21 and therefore very knowledgable about these things), people with superpowers are either supervillains, superheroes, or superneutrals. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure which would be worse - supervillian or superneutral. Ok, you are right. Supervillain is worse, but I don't want either of those. 

I guess I'll have to settle for superhero. Hmmm. That means I will have to do something heroic, and that will be a real challenge! I guess that's my new year's goal. Superpower in 2013. Superhero in 2014. Sounds good, doesn't it but it's not realistic. 

The dictionary describes a hero as someone who has done great and courageous deeds. The good news is we already have a real superhero, and His name is Jesus. If dying on the cross and rising again wasn't great and courageous, I don't know what would be. How wonderful! Jesus has done the hard work, and I don't have to be a superhero after all! I'm leaving that job to Jesus. He's the greatest superhero of all!