As He Loves

[Thoughts on Steps to Christ, chap. 1]

Through the ages, Satan has distorted man's perception of God to such an extent that most people view God as a stern judge - always "watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He may visit judgments upon them." [SC 11] My heart was immediately pricked with the thought that I probably come across the same way to the boys I homeschool - always watching to catch them in some misdemeanor so I can give them a mark. But if I am to be a representative of Christ, and reveal His love to the world, I must work to remove this misconception of God's character. How am I to do this, and yet maintain proper discipline and structure? The rest of the chapter explains how Jesus did that very thing.

"Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in every act of His life." SC 11-12

"Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He always uttered it in love. He exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful, kind attention in His intercourse with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. ...tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes." SC 12

I am also reminded of what EGW says in another place, "We are to put the best construction upon the words and motives of others." If the boys see that I expect only the best from them, at first they may try to take advantage of that, but I believe that in time, they will be prompted to put forth all their effort to measure up to that expectation and prove me right. At the same time, I must be careful not to "censure human weakness" - to be aware of their limitations and not demand things beyond what they are able.

This goes right along with what Alicia told me last night about Daniel - he doesn't respond well to punishments and negative consequences, but rather to positive reinforcement - rewards and encouragement. Of course there will always have to be consequences for our actions, but God's way, I believe, is the same - to shower us with love and encouragement, gently, lovingly nudging us forward towards the right, and expressing genuine sorrow when unpleasant consequences must be meted out.

I love this closing thought at the end of the chapter:

"The thought [of God's love]...brings the mind into captivity to the will of God." SC 15

It is only as my mind is in "captivity to the will of God" that I will be able to accurately portray His character to the world, and remove the misconceptions that Satan has planted. According to the above quotation, if I want to have the mind of Christ, to be always in harmony with Him, all I need to do is meditate on His love for me. This simple meditation has the power to captivate my heart and bring me into harmony with Christ. What a wonder!

Courageous

 I scrolled nonchalantly through the movie list, not expecting to see anything worth watching. However, my eyes stopped abruptly when I saw “Courageous” on the movie list. Now, I’m not one to typically watch movies, but I knew that this was a Christian film, and I’d heard a lot of good things about it. So I settled back in my seat to watch it.

     It was about fathers. The story of five policemen who signed a resolution to be the best they could be for their families and for God. It tells of the battles Satan hurled at them as a result, and how they (minus one) conquered together through Christ. About halfway through, the dam broke, and tears cascaded down my cheeks as I thought of my own father, now deceased. What if he’d had a chance to watch a film like this, I wondered. Might things have been different?  Would it have changed him?

     My father wasn’t a bad man. He tried to do what was right. He had a passion to proclaim the truth. But like the 5^th policeman, he had “lost control of the wheel,” and didn’t know how to get it back. (Or maybe he never really had the wheel.) It wasn’t his fault, really. It started decades before, with his own father…or rather, the lack thereof. Habits were formed which I guess seemed to him impossible to break. And even though he became an SDA and passionately proclaimed the truth, he never learned of the power of the truth to wholly transform him. What if he had? Oh, how things could have been different. I try to imagine what it would have been like to have him in my life now, as a truly converted man and father – transformed.

     Yet, God reminds me again of the miracle he brought into my life through my step-dad. No, he’s not my idea of “the perfect dad” – he doesn’t have all the characteristics on my wish list, but he has the most important thing yet – a solid walk with God. And he has been an incredible example to me of what a godly man is supposed to be like. For this I thank God immensely.

     As for my birth father, well…I just hope he made things right with God before he died. It’s been a long journey, but now I can truthfully say that I sincerely hope to meet him in heaven, so we can rebuild a relationship together, and then he can learn to be a real father, the way God designed.

I highly recommend “Courageous”. It’s even better than Fireproof (in my humble opinion).

The Law According to an Apple

I found something interesting in SOP this morning which started a train of thought...

If the Ten Commandments really are Ten Promises (see 1BC 1105.1), then they really are moreso descriptive statements than they are commands - descriptive of how a true child of God will act when he truly loves God.

Take the Law of Gravity, for instance. If you hold an apple above your head and suddenly let go, does that apple have to struggle and put forth effort in order to comply with the Law of Gravity and fall to the ground? Of course not! That's silly, right? It is merely a natural, predictable phenomenon - what goes up must come down.

It is the same with the Law of God - the Decalogue. Those 10 Laws are merely descriptive of what will happen when you are subject to God's rulership in your life, just as the Law of Gravity is descriptive of what will happen to weighty objects subject to the atmosphere of Earth.*

The difference between people and apples is that we have a choice as to whether or not we will be subject to the Law. (Apples, obviously, do not.) Keeping the Law is not the problem; choosing to be subject to the Law every moment, by accepting God's sovereignty over us, this is where we find our perpetual battle. When we fully accept Him, it will be (through His power) but a natural, predictable phenomenon for us to abide by His Laws and display His character.

Isn't that beautiful? 

"You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will. He will then work in you both to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ." ~ Steps to Christ, p. 31

*Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. Please forgive my painfully pathetic description of the law of gravity. Thanks.

News Flash

New post at thai4christ.blogspot.com. (This is my new blog where I'll be posting while I'm in Thailand.)

Blessings in Disguise

Mom and I have been partners in missionary adventures ever since I was a baby, when she took me in a stroller to distribute tracts and booklets door to door. Since I've been home from college, we've been at it again - this time, I drive her from house to house as we systematically blanket a neighboring town with literature. We've long since finished the easy part - the city limits. Now we're in the byways. And I assure you, it is one adventure after another!!! Here's a sampling of the latest. :)

The Dog Bite

We always carry a dog daser with us. It emits a high frequency which dogs dislike, so most dogs run away when they hear it. This particular day, Mom got out of the car and dased the huge white dog cautiously approaching her. Nothing happened. He advanced. She dased him again. Still nothing. Thinking perhaps he was scared, she thought, I'll just pet him to let him know I'm okay and won't hurt him. Wrong move. The instant her fingertip brushed the tip of his bristled neck hair, his jaws connected with her forearm. Dazed, she stood there, holding her arm in shock as wet, crimson liquid soaked her white shirt sleeve. Just then, the owner - who had been sitting outside when we drove up - arrived to assess the situation. "Did he bite you?" Well, obviously... She thoroughly scolded Mom for petting a strange dog, and proceeded to escort her dog to the house.

She returned shortly with first-aid paraphernalia. We kept telling her, "Don't worry, it'll be fine." At first she was like, "Don't worry?!! My dog just bit someone and you tell me 'Don't worry'?!!" But she calmed down bit by bit. When everything was bandaged up, the lady ushered us over to the chairs where she had been sitting before we arrived, and said, "Well what did you come to bring me? Invite me, invite me!" We were able to share what we had come to bring her, as well as a copy of The Great Controversy. The lady was intrigued, and said, "I'm a librarian, so I will read this and research it for myself." We had a wonderful conversation together, and ended with prayer. By the end of the prayer, this lady - who had sort of a scowl on her face when we drove up - hugged us, all aglow with smiles. 

We met her again this past week, and she was so happy to see us. Of course she wanted to see Mom's arm immediately, which has healed up very nicely except for a little scab. She also informed us that she had her dog put down just a few days ago. You see, 14-year-old Shay was blind and deaf, which explains why he never heard the high frequency of the daser. He just knew that he smelled someone strange and he was going to protect his owner whatever the cost.

The Car and the Ditch

A few weeks later, we went out again to continue our door-to-door adventures. All was going well, until we reached this gravel driveway that went up, and up, and up, until finally even the lowest gear couldn't handle the grade. So Mom got out and walked the rest of the way up to the house. When she returned, I proceeded to back down the driveway, as there was no turnout in sight. Now, I've had to back down many a driveway, and I believe I've gotten quite proficient at it. However, something happened that day. I don't know what - I just know that, in the process of trying to avoid a deep rut on the left, I must have overcorrected, and by and by I found myself hugging the muddy mountainside on my right. I maneuvered this way and that, but no matter what I tried, the tires spun us deeper into the muck.

Finally I concluded, "We're stuck." So I order Mom into the front seat, while I get out in my white denim skirt and proceed to push our little Toyota with all the strength my 90 pounds could muster. Fail. Okay, I know what to do. No problem. We'll just get those flat rocks piled beside the driveway, wedge those under the wheels and drive out. Easy! Uhh, well, actually not. That didn't work either. We had been praying all this time. I tried pushing some more, adjusted the rocks, adding more here and there. Then I stopped. Lord, I'm going to try this one more time. If you want us to get out of this mess and proceed, please get us out. But if You have a special reason for us to meet the owner of this house, then have this last effort fail also. You can probably guess what happened. FAIL! :D

So we trekked up to the top of the mountain, where we met a kind old hermit. He was very gracious, and successfully pulled us out of his muddy driveway. But as we talked together, he confided that he didn't study his Bible all that much. In fact, he was rather disgruntled with organized religion. But he agreed that it was important to follow Christ's example, doing good to others, etc. We prayed with him before we left, and shared with him Steps to Christ.

Conclusion

These experiences reminded me of Paul's account of his missionary experiences: 

"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." (2 Cor. 11:24-27) 

 And yet, he didn't complain. He penned the words to the Philippians, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." Having gone through our own small trials of dog bites and a car in the ditch - which "delayed" us from the Lord's work - Mom and I are starting to see why Paul could rejoice even in trials. You see, really, those trials were God's blessings in disguise. They weren't really delays - they were keys to building friendships, chances to minister to souls, who might never have listened if we hadn't shared that bond of working through difficulties together. God always knows what He's doing, and what a blessing to be His instruments, his servants, even if we have to suffer a little in the process. Because really, what is the price of a soul? Is it worth a dog bite? Is it worth a muddy white skirt? I say far, far more. For Christ, it was worth leaving paradise. It was worth even life itself - just to save one soul. Just to save you; just to save me. How can I complain?

Miracles

My heart sings.
With such an awesome God as mine,  how can I be silent?

Two phone calls. $1000.
Yes, that's three zeroes.

God, you take my breath away.

It's Official

The torture of keeping this secret is finally ended, because it's now official - I'M GOING TO THAILAND!!!!! ^_^

John Baxter from AFM called me a couple months ago with an urgent need - a homeschool teacher for the children of a young missionary couple in Thailand. After much prayer, I accepted the call.

Now, let the challenges begin. The first $1,700 of $5,000 is due in just 10 days. The rest is due by August 15.  Then, there's the language... Then, the challenge of trying to teach two active little boys, when I've had only one class on such things - "Intro to Teaching" - 6 years ago. Am I in over my head? Perhaps so. But by holding God's hand, I can walk on water, just like Peter. Where challenges abound, God's grace much more abounds. I'm excited. :)

Contact me for more info on how you can help with this project! I'd love to answer any questions you might have. You can email me at studentmissionary05@gmail.com or call me at (828) 837-4219.

I look forward to seeing how God is going to work!