Roberta

Renewal

We had our first bible study of the year the other night. I was not prepared to continue with the material we have been studying. Just a bit slow getting back into the swing of things, I guess.

Instead, I asked the group to reflect on the idea of renewal.

Many people look at the start of the new year as a blank slate. A time to make resolutions and redouble their self-improvement efforts.

Resolutions are different than renewal. Resolutions are based on our own efforts to change. We ‘resolve’ to create a new habit or quit an old one. Renewal is less about what we can do. We can’t create ourselves over. We can’t cleanse our lives of all our iniquities. We have to lean on God for renewal.

Psalm 51: 10 – 12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Generational faith

I have a friend who runs a lovely Facebook group. It is a space for women to discuss everything related to money and finance. It is a supportive group and she does an amazing job of moderating it. When I read comments I come across the phrase – generational wealth.

People want to build something for their children. They invest wisely and budget so they can help their kids. Whether it is through education investments, properties, or a plan to leave wealth to their children. I have no fault with this. Money drives our society and thinking of your own family is a caring and wonderful gesture.

I would just like to expand it a bit. I’d like to see families add the concept of generational faith. We wouldn’t just ask how can I best provide financially for my family, but also how best can I build faith for my family.

In the same way that there isn’t just one path to building financial success, there isn’t one way to building strong faith either.

The issue isn’t a ‘how to,’ but one of focus. If you are interested in building wealth it needs to be front and centre as you make decisions in your life. The same thing goes for faith. It needs to be a central pillar of our daily plans. It needs to be the lens through which we see the world.

So today I exhort you to contemplate generational faith.

Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Seek truth

This weekend I got a text from my brother. He was asking for clarification on a question on which I was the expert. He was having a debate with our mother, and he wanted to know who was right. I gave him the answer. He responded, “Oh, so that means mom is right. Can I tell her what I said?” I laughed and told him to do what he needed to do.

This silly anecdote reminded me of another more serious issue that I have been pondering. There is wide gulf between looking to be right and looking for truth.

The difference amounts to a posture of humility. If I am searching the scriptures for a verse to prove a belief I already have, then I am looking to prove myself right. This is how we end up with bad interpretations of scripture. Let alone bad relationships caused by our desire to be ‘right.’ The issue is not in our search for information, nor is it in our desire to seek the right answer. But rather the problem lies in a posture that aims to justify ourselves.

If we seek answers for our questions with a spirit of humility, with the knowledge that we might be wrong, we are looking for truth. This is easier in our relationships too, as we approach discussions and debates with the possibility that we might be incorrect. This posture of seeking truth allows space for us to be wrong and ensures we are more gracious when we are correct.

The irony is that as we pursue truth we are also pursuing the righteousness of God.

Matthew 7: 7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Choose God

We attended a wedding a few weeks ago. It was a joyous day watching a lovely young faithful couple declare their commitment to each other. Blue skies, warm weather and a crowd of family and friends were there to bless the bride and groom.

One can’t help but reflect on your own life in this situation. I am grateful that God brought Wes into my life. I am thankful that Wes chose me. There is a real honour in someone trusting you with their love and their future. I believe he feels the same way about me. Nice how that works isn’t it?

God chose me. Even before I knew him. Even before I was born he loved me. He loved me so much that he sent his son to die for me. God chose you too. Even before you were born he loved you. He offers his love to anyone who will chose to accept it.

An amazing choice – to receive another’s gift of love. We just need to accept. We can trust God with our love and our future. He is faithful.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The irony of fall

Fall has always been a time of renewal for me. A time for a fresh start. Perhaps after years of starting school in September it seems like a natural new start time. We even got married in the fall. Two of my babies were born in the fall. We bought this house in the fall. I have started new jobs in the fall.

The season of change where nature prepares itself for the oncoming winter shouldn’t be associated with newness. And yet it is. The leaves aren’t turning yet and the weather is still pleasantly warm. My garden is still growing. Summer is lingering on. But, there is a change to the way the air smells (minus the smoke – cough cough). The evenings are getting shorter. Before long the harvest will be in and the leaves will be crunching under our feet.

For the first time since Wes’ stroke I feel as though we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It has been an extremely difficult time wandering lost in the wilderness. I hope now that this fall ushers in a time of renewal and rebuilding.

In the same way as a renovated kitchen has to follow the demolition of the old one, so do we have to undergo times of great trial and sorrow in order to be built up stronger.

I pray that fall will be a time of refocusing and renewal in your heart and life.

Psalm 51: 10 – 12 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Contentment

How easily we get discouraged. It is human. It is far more natural than optimism. Weeds don’t need to be planted they grow without urging, natural to our fallen world. In the same way the troubles of life will come, whether we encourage them or not. This can be extremely frustrating and disheartening.

As often as these weeds of life crop up we must learn to pass these off to God. To rely on His strength. Trust His guidance and not continue to grasp control like a drowning man.

This sermon was remarkably on point and worth sharing.

Open to inputs

I could not move my dog last night. He was sleeping by my feet and was on the sheet and blankets in such a way that I couldn’t cover my body. I tried to move him. He resisted. He used his substantial weight (ahem!) to resist my nudges.

This reminded me of my kiddos when they were little. As a parent I always respected a bit of a stubborn streak in my kids. Thinking that a bit of firmness of character is a good thing, and it is. But there were those times when my kids were unreasonably committed to the cause of that moment. If you are a parent you understand what I’m describing. The times when a child takes a stand. A firm unmovable stand. Not because the issue is so serious or because they would normally feel this way, but because they are hungry or overtired, or just feeling out of sorts. An unreasonable, unwilling to listen to logic, unflinching stand.

While I do believe we need to stand on our principles, we first need to work out what our principles are. We need to be willing to examine information and test it against the scripture. We need to make sure the hill we die on is worth doing so. Children have not yet learned the art of picking their battles, or self examination. We need to do this to be mature. We need to review our beliefs and question what we accept as correct. This way we know when to be steadfast and when we need to adjust and grow.

It made me wonder if when Christ was on the cross he looked at the mob in front of him and saw them the way a parent sees a petulant child. The weight of His understand and his love is truly overwhelming when you consider it.

Luke 23: 33-34 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there,
along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

Knock at the door

I listened to a podcast the other day. A lawyer was explaining how he got involved in a certain case. He said how a group of women followed him around and continued to badger him until they took their information seriously. I laughed because it was exactly what Jesus described in Luke.

The issue these women were carrying was greater than their concern for their reputation. Most times when someone brushes a person off, they retreat and give up. These women had a passion for what they were doing and they weren’t going to be brushed off. Their need outstripped all other concerns.

We see this as being about persistence. But it’s about more than mere persistence. It is about being so convicted in what you are asking for that you continue to knock, driven by your need for a result. If only we recognized our own need for God in this way. If only we pursued Him the way we pursue wealth or comfort. After all, we need salvation more than anything else.

Luke 11: 5-10 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Remember Him

I pondered the words. “Do this in remembrance of me.” This is likely the most common reference to the Bible used during communion. We have carved out a special time to reflect and honour this moment. The bread and the wine are significant and symbolic of Christ’s blood and body. We think about His sacrifice.

Yesterday as we did this a thought came to me. Jesus didn’t use fancy or special items. He used the items before him – the Passover feast. Yes there is greater significance in this as the meal ties him to God’s great retribution against the Pharaoh. But also these were everyday items. The bread, although unleavened, was the staple diet. The wine was ubiquitous.

Had Jesus’ last supper happened just last week in Texas, the items might have been cornbread and cola. Or if it happened in India it would have been green tea and naan bread. This is fanciful perhaps. But the point is these were the staples of life.

We are to remember Jesus in the everyday, in the mundane repeat parts of our lives. We are to focus on him always not just in special moments.

The Israelites were told to teach their children about God in every moment. To have His commandments infiltrate every part of their lives. As we go about our lives remember Christ – the bread that sustains and the drink that quenches. The living water that will make us thirst no more.

Deuteronomy 6: 4 – 9 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The Power of Truth

The days are dark. The battle looks insurmountable. The visual that comes to my mind is from the movie The Two Towers. The creators of this film catch the essence of this so beautifully and so clearly. Galdalf appears shining and white then leads an army down the hill to the rescue.

We can get so embroiled in the battle before us that we forget to keep our eyes on the light.

The forces of evil hide in lies. They cloak their deception in perceived virtue. But the truth cuts through this blackness and cannot be denied. Don’t get mesmerized by the evil or fascinated by the lies, keep your eyes on the light.

Mark 4: 21 – 23 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”