Category Archives: Christian Life

Bible “One Anothers”

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I thought I had posted this before, but I couldn’t find it. Once I did a word search on the Bible for the “one another” passages that instruct us in how to minister to each other. It was very convicting! Here’s what I found:

Bible “One Anothers”

Wash one another’s feet—John 13:14.
Love one another—John 13:3; 15:12, 17; Romans 13:8; I Peter 1:22; I John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11.
In honor preferring one another—Romans 12:10.
Don’t judge one another—Romans 14:13.
Receive one another—Romans 15:7.
Salute one another—Romans 16:16.*
Greet one another—I Cor. 16:20, II Cor. 13:12, I Peter 5:14.
Serve one another—Gal. 5:13.
Don’t provoke one another or envy one another—Gal. 5:26.
Bear one another’s burdens—Gal. 6:2.
Forbear one another in love—Eph. 4:2, Col. 3:13.
Forgive one another—Eph. 4:32, Col. 3:13.
Teach and admonish one another with song—Col. 3:16.
Comfort one another—I Thess. 4:18.
Edify one another—I Thess. 5:11.
Exhort one another— Heb. 3:13; 10:25.
Consider one another to provoke unto love and good works—Heb. 10:24.

(* Looking up the Strong’s definition, “salute” means “to draw to one’s self, to salute one, greet, bid welcome, wish well to, to receive joyfully, welcome,” even “retarding” one’s own journey to do so.)

Thanksgiving service

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Last night we attended one of my favorite church services of the whole year: the annual Thanksgiving testimony service. Not that we’re not thankful or don’t have testimonies at other times throughout the year, but this is a particular highlight and often the testimonies involve looking back at God’s goodness over the last year. We have it on Tuesday rather than the usual Wednesday night midweek service since so many people are traveling on Wednesday. I don’t usually say much there — I’m thankful, I just don’t like speaking in public. 🙂 And there is no “dead air time” or lack of people to speak up, so I am content to listen, to be brought to laughter and tears and praise to God for what He has done in the lives of our folks.

I was convicted last night, though. There was one area that kept coming up as a matter of praise that I had been somewhat critical of. Someone pointed out years ago in a message I heard that part of a melancholy temperament is an eye for details and a strong desire for things to be done “right,” and a strong desire to fix what isn’t right. That inclination can often develop into a critical spirit, and in areas where it is not my jurisdiction or business to “fix” anything, that desire can lead to chafing and even resentment. With those kinds of situations I’ve often just had to pray that if it is something that really needs fixing, the Lord will bring it to the attention of those involved and help me not to be critical and to just leave it with Him. As I heard praise and thanks given for this particular area last night, though, I was reminded that just because something needs fixing doesn’t mean God can’t use it and that there aren’t many good things about it as well. We’re all flawed, and thank God He patiently and lovingly deals with each of us. He’s not finished with any of us yet. So I was convicted and reminded to be thankful for all things and people He has brought into my life and not to just focus on the one area that isn’t “right.”

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

What’s the Shape of Your Faith: God’s Thumbprints

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In the continuing series, “What’s the Shape of Your Faith,” Heather’s question for us this week has to do with those times in life when God has done something specific, something that was obviously just from Him. All Christians have moments like that, whether they are the big dramatic moments or the everyday manna of God’s blessing. Heather calls them “God’s thumbprints.” I like that. 🙂

I’ve been excited about this since I first read of it. Here are just a few:

  • My family moved to a new small town before I started the eighth grade. I had never had trouble making friends before, but that particular school was the most cliquish place I have ever seen. I don’t know how many weeks I spent walking around the grounds at lunch time by myself. Every morning I would beg my mom not to make me go to school and she would practically have to push me out of the car. I’m not sure how long this went on — it seems like months, but it may have been just a few weeks — but finally I became friends with one other girl who was also outside any of the established groups. It was a lonely and painful time in my life, but there are things God wants to teach us in those times. I didn’t see God’s specific thumbprint in the situation, however, until years later when I heard about some of the things that those who I admired and wanted to be “in” with (yea, even had a crush on 🙂 ) were into. I was shocked. Then I saw the Lord’s mercy in keeping me from close friendships with those people. That was a vulnerable and unstable time in my life because it was the time my parents’ marriage was in its final stages. That was the era I did things for which I am ashamed now: who knows how much worse that would have been if I had been close friends with people who would have led me farther astray.
  • I mentioned this in my testimony, but when we moved to another town before I started the eleventh grade, we interviewed at a Christian school. I really wanted to go, but we couldn’t afford the tuition. We drove to the school again to tell them that I would not be able to go after all. My mom went inside while I stayed in the car. The pastor and his wife drove up, saw me, came over and told me someone had paid my way to go to school that year. Someone did the same for my senior year. It was at that school and then through the church the school was under that I got under regular consistent teaching, made sure of my salvation, formed the basics of my convictions, got grounded in the faith, heard about the Christian university I would later attend, and so much more.
  • My parents were not able to help me attend college. I had one scholarship from my Christian school for I think maybe $1,000. I determined every year that if I had the money for the first month’s tuition, I would go and trust God for the rest. Working every summer, I was always able to have at least enough to start, but not enough to go very far. Many times over the years I found a note from the business office in my post office box saying that an anonymous donor had applied money to my account. One semester when I was particularly low in funds, I felt it was presumptious to go to school that way and I should probably plan to stay out a semester and work. Though I did not broadcast my plans, I received notes and checks from people at church urging me to stay in school. I remember one time in particular when my Sunday School class back home took up an offering and sent it to me. It came at just the right time, and I went to the store to buy deodorant and other necessities. I ended up with one dime. When I got back to the dorms, someone told me we were having a hall party that night and they were collecting a dime from every girl on the hall for refreshments. As I gave away my last dime, I had a moment of panic being totally and literally without a dime to my name. Then the Lord reminded me of what He had just done by sending money for my necessities and reminded me to trust Him about every need. Even with all of that, though, I had a pretty big debt accumulated at the end of my college career. (In fact, my husband used to sometimes jokingly refer to our wedding as that happy day when we consolidated our debts. 🙂 ) I struggled with that — the Lord had provided so much, had I not had enough faith to take care of all of it? My husband reminded me that sometimes the Lord provides miraculously through other means, but most often He supplies by giving us work to do to provide money to pay our debts.
  • Just after our first anniversary, my husband and I were driving from SC to Texas to spend Christmas with my folks. On Christmas Eve morning, our car broke down just outside of Biloxi, Mississippi. Our car was a little German Opel that my brother had nicknamed Gustav. We had had trouble with Gustav before, and it was always hard to find parts for it. In fact, one time it had taken four weeks for the needed part to come in. That was in the back of my mind as I silently wondered what we were going to do, how long we would be stranded, how would we get either on to Texas or back to SC — and how we would pay for it as we had no resources, no savings, not even a credit card. I don’t remember for sure but we must have walked somewhere to call for a tow truck because there were no cell phones back then. My husband just picked a mechanic with a towing service out of the yellow pages and called, explained our situation, and mentioned that we had an Opel. The man responded, “Oh, that’s fine. We just bought out an Opel dealership and have a lot of parts on site.” They towed us in, and even though they had closed at noon, one mechanic stayed and worked on our car. I don’t even remember what was wrong with it, but they had the part we needed. I called my mom to let her know we were delayed, and she offered her credit card to pay for it, which the mechanic accepted over the phone. We were amazed at God leading us to just the right mechanic with a random pick from the phone book, and what could have been a long, drawn out ordeal was taken care of in short order!
  • When my second son, Jason was born, he had not one but two knots in his umbilical cord. I hate to think what would have happened if either of those knots had been tight enough to cut off the oxygen and food supply he needed, and I thank God for protecting him through whatever gymnastics he had performed to cause those knots. 🙂
  • After I came down with transverse myelitis, so often I felt that I could serve the Lord so much better without the residual effects of it and asked the Lord many time to remove them. He did provide a great deal of recovery (and after I found out more information about it, I realized it could have been so much worse, and He had indeed limited that trial), but there were still symptoms which affected my everyday life that dismayed me. Yet I did see how He worked in and through it, both in teaching me further dependence on Him and in using me to encourage others. Not long ago I came across a devotional by Elisabeth Elliot about how God uses limitations to shape our ministry — that was a new thought to me which greatly ministered to me and helped me to see the TM in a new light.

There have been so many other little everyday instances of the Lord’s intervention and provision: safety during near collisions in the car, finding something that was lost after earnest prayer about it, praying for wisdom and receiving it, a word of encouragement at just the right moment, something from the Word that was just exactly what I needed for the day. I am so thankful for His loving, intimate, wonderful care!!

You can find other stories of God’s thumbprints or add your own here.

What Is Faith?

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What is faith? It is believing
That God’s promises are true;
Gladly taking what He offers,
Knowing that it is for you.

What is faith? ‘Tis simply trusting,
Leaning on the Mighty One;
Putting all your weight upon Him,
Yielding all to Him alone.

What is rest? ‘Tis faith reclining
In the Everlasting Arms;
Doubts removed and burdens banished,
Perfect peace amid alarms.

 

—Author Unknown

What we wanted all the time…

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The following was written by Amy Carmichael and included in Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton. It is a wonderful picture of our ultimate need and desire: our Father’s fellowship:

It was the hour between lights, and five little people under two years old were waiting for their food. Sometimes the cows belonging to the adjoining village from which part of our milk comes saunter home with more than their usual leisureliness, and then the milk is late. The babies, who do not understand the weary ways of cows, disapprove of having to wait, and that evening they were all very fractious. To add to their woes the boy whose duty it is to light the lamps had been detained, and the quickly gathering twilight fell upon us unawares as we sat together on the nursery veranda. The five fretful babies made discouraging remarks to each other and threw themselves in that exasperated fashion which tells the experienced that the limits of patience have been passed. And the more depressed began to whimper.

At this point a lamp was brought and set behind me so that its light fell upon their toys — a china head long since parted from its body, a tin with small stones in it which when shaken makes a charming noise, several rattles and other sundries. If anything will comfort them their toys will, I thought, as these illuminated treasures caught my attention. But the babies only looked disgusted. One of the most sweet-tempered seized the china head and flung it as far as ever she could. Not one of them would find consolation in toys.

Then a small child endowed with a vivid imagination and a timid disposition was sure she heard something dangerous moving in the bushes outside and she wailed a wail of most infectious misery and terror, and the quick panic which comes upon birds when they hear their own particular warning call, suddenly filled the babies’ hearts, and they howled.

Then I took the lamp and set it in front so that its light did not fall upon the toys but upon myself, and in a moment the whole five were tumbling over me cuddling and caressing — and content.

Are there not evenings in life when our toys have no power to please or soothe? There is not any rest in them or any comfort. Then the one Whom we love best takes the lamp and puts it so that the toys are in the shadow, but His face is in the light. And then we know that that is what we wanted all the time. And He makes His face to shine upon us and gives us peace.

What we have in the Lord

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chbiblegrouping.gifOne of the passages from today’s selection in Daily Light on the Daily Path was from Isaiah 45:24: “In the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.” That gave me a lot to meditate on during the rest of my morning routine.

When I buy new t-shirts and put them in the drawers next to the old ones, I’m appalled at how grey the old ones look — the ones that looked white before. That’s just a paltry comparison of what our righteousness would look like next to God’s. Even what might look like righteousness to ourselves and others is only filthy rags. I am so glad the Lord is my righteousness! I certainly don’t have any of my own. I’m so thankful He made a way that we could be made righteous through Christ.

And then I also have strength in Him! I couldn’t get by a day without it.

“All that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.” Though in some ways I am looking forward to the day when the mockers and scorners of the world are set right, my hope is that as many as possible will see Him aright before it’s too late.

A short while after I read these verses, I was a reminded of a study I did some years ago about what we have in Christ. I’d recommend that study to you: it’s enriching in many ways. I looked up in my Online Bible program (you could use BibleGateway as well — it’s helpful to put the words you are looking for in quotation marks when you are looking for an exact phrase) phrases like “in Christ,” “in Jesus,” “in the Lord,” “in him” (though with the last one you would have to sort through to find the ones specifically about the Lord) and then listed them and underlined what we have in Him. Here are a few:

Romans 3:24: ” Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

I Corinthians 1:30: ” But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

Acts 17:28: ” For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

I John 1:5: ” This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

Colossians 2:9: ” For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

This study not only rejoices our hearts and strengthens us as we’re reminded of all that we have in Christ, but we can’t help but overflow with praise to Him for all that He is!

(Graphic courtesy of Creative Ladies Ministries.)

When no one understands

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No, I am not feeling particularly misunderstood just now. 🙂 But I was reading this morning about Hannah in I Samuel 1. Not only was she longing for a child, but her husband had another wife who did have children and who “provoked her sore” and “made her fret.”

(Aren’t you glad we don’t have polygamy these days?! Years ago our pastor said that people sometimes asked him why God didn’t say anything about the patriarchs having more than one wife. He replied, “Does He have to spell it out? Isn’t it obvious from the stories we have recorded that it doesn’t work well?” But I digress….)

Hannah’s husband, instead of understanding and empathizing, said, “Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?”

She was even misunderstood at first by the man of God, who mistook her fervent prayers for drunkenness.

When not only our nearest and dearest but those who are supposed to shepherd us and give us counsel fail us, what can we do?

We can do what Hannah did: pour out our hearts to the only One who can truly understand our heart’s longings and our deepest needs. He understands thoroughly; He cares intimately; He alone has the power and the wisdom and the grace to meet our needs in the best possible time and way.

Though He often does give us human helpers to counsel, encourage, uplift, and empathize, sometimes they fail us. We need not hold it against them: they’re only human, and we even fail others sometimes, so we shouldn’t be surprised when others fail us. And sometimes He takes them away so that we may draw closer to Him.

Some years ago a friend on furlough from the mission field was telling about how her family and their co-workers were not quite on the same wave length. They could work together but just didn’t quite mesh. One morning as she was taking a walk and praying, she was explaining something to God so He could understand where she was coming from, because she was so used to her co-workers not understanding. Suddenly it dawned on her that she didn’t have to do that with Him. It was such a blessed relief and a joy to be fully understood.

It makes me think of the song “No One Understands Like Jesus.”

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,
thou understandest my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:2

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15-16

A loss by any other name…is still a loss

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Several years ago, friends of friends experienced a devastating loss: two of their three sons were killed in a one-car accident. Our friends were very close to the family and ministered to them as much as they could. Our church and ladies’ Bible study were frequently asked to pray for this family during the dark days of grief that followed. The family experienced many ups and downs, as you can imagine. One night at our ladies’ Bible study when this family was brought up as a prayer request in their time of loss, another sweet, well-meaning mutual friend said something like, “They haven’t lost anything. We know right where those boys are.”

I thought that, though true, it seemed a bit…insensitive, though the lady who said it is kindness personified and I know meant it as a comfort.

I’ve been dismayed over the years to hear this sentiment — that you haven’t “lost” your loved one because you know where he or she is — many more times in different situations. It seems to be “catching on.”

Well, it’s true, for those who have placed their faith in Christ. We know they are safe in heaven, free from pain, sin, temptation, enjoying the Presence of the Lord, and we know we will see them again. And that is a comfort, it really is. It is for those reasons alone we would not wish them back when our own grief longs for them.

But when we say we’ve lost them, we don’t mean it in the same sense that we lost our car keys or puppy dog. We’ve lost their presence, the ability to be with them, share with them, talk with them, experience life with them. It’s a very real loss and there’s nothing wrong with grieving over it. As far as I can recall, there was only one person in Scripture who was told not to grieve (Ezekiel 24), and that was a one-time object lesson to the children of Israel. The fact that he was told not to grieve indicates that grieving over the loss of his wife would have been the normal course of action. Paul said that he would have had “sorrow upon sorrow” if Epaphroditus had died of his illness (Phil. 2:25-30).

We do sorrow, but not as those who have no hope (“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.” I Thess. 4:13-14, NASB).

Romans 12:15 tells us to ” Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Too often, instead, we want to make those who are weeping rejoice. There is a time for that, as well, but sometimes just coming alongside a fellow believer in sympathy is the best ministry.

So, I would encourage you, the next time someone tells you, “I lost my mom” (or husband or son or whomever), please, please don’t tell them they haven’t really lost anything. They really have, and counseling-by-catch-phrase is not all that helpful most of the time.

Well, I suppose I can’t really tell anyone not to say that — but just think about it and see if that’s really what you think the Lord wants you to say. Sometimes a person might benefit from being reminded that their loved one is with the Lord and free from pain and sin. Most Christians know that already, but sometimes a shift in focus might help. But don’t say it flippantly or in a way that it makes them feel guilty for grieving.

So what does one say to one who is grieving? There’s not a formula…just depend on the Lord for the right words to say and the right timing. When my mom died last December there were different things individuals said or wrote, different verses shared at different times that really helped at the moment. Sometimes just a hug, and hand on the shoulder, an “I’m so sorry — we’re praying for you” is immensely helpful. Sometimes people “pitched in” unasked in helpful ways like making a meal, offering to watch children, etc. Don’t over-worry about saying or doing the wrong thing, but just ask the Lord to speak through you if He wants to.

(There was someone with whom I was discussing these things on a forum recently, and though I don’t think that person reads my blog, just in case he does, please let me assure you this is not a “rant” and is not in response to that conversation. These thoughts have been collecting for years.)

Missionary anecdotes: prompted to pray

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Continuing a series about answers to prayer in missionary biographies, today’s entry focuses on a couple of remarkable incidents when folks were prompted to pray for a missionary. The following came from Goforth of China by Rosalind Goforth.

Jonathan and Rosalind Goforth were missionaries to China in the late 1800s and early 1900s. When they first went to China, Jonathan had a terrific struggle with the language, though he put in many hours studying. When he preached, the Chinese would point to his colleague, Mr. Donald McGillivray, and ask him to preach because they couldn’t understand Goforth. Things came to a crisis one day. Jonathan told his wife, “If the Lord does not work a miracle for me with this language, I fear I may be an utter failure as a missionary!” Rosalind writes that he looked heartbroken, then picked up his Bible and started off to the chapel.

Two hours later he returned, saying, “Oh, Rose! It was just wonderful! When I began to speak, those phrases and idioms that would always elude me came readily. The men actually asked me to go on though Donald had risen to speak. I know the backbone of the language is broken! Praise the Lord!”

Rosalind goes on to write, “About two months later, a letter came from Mr. Talling (his former roommate, still in Knox College), saying that on a certain evening after supper, a number of students decided to meet in one of the classrooms for prayer, ‘just for Goforth.’ The letter stated that the presence and power of God was so clearly felt by all at that meeting, they were convinced Goforth must surely have been helped in some way. On looking in his diary, Mr. Goforth found the students’ prayer meeting
Knox coincided with the experience recorded above.”

She goes on to say, “Some years later, Dr. Arthur H, Smith, one of the best speakers and keenest critics of the spoken language, said to Mr. Goforth, ‘Wherever did you get your style of speaking? For any sakes don’t change it! You can be understood over a wider area than anyone I know!’”

In the same book Mrs. Goforth tells of another incident when Mr. Goforth was on furlough. “While in London, he was taken to see an invalid lady. She told Mr. Goforth that when she heard of his proposed meetings in Manchuria, she felt a great burden laid upon her to pray for him. She then asked him to look at her notebook, in which was recorded three dates when a special sense of power in prayer had come upon her for him. A feeling akin to awe came upon Goforth as he recalled those dates as being the very days when he had witnessed the mightiest movements in Manchuria.”

Answers to prayer from classic missionary biogaphies: an urgent need for clothes

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I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to start a short series telling about answers to prayer from classic missionary biographies in hopes that it would encourage us in our faith and in our praying.

I wanted to start off with something close to home. Missionaries don’t spend all their time on the front lines fighting spiritual battles or out on the streets witnessing to everyone they meet. They have to deal with the same mundane affairs of life that we all do, and often those mundane affairs are more complicated than they are in America. That was especially true in previous centuries.

The Goforths were missionaries to China in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Mrs. Goforth has written Goforth of China, a biography of her husband; How I Know God Answers Prayer (I was delighted to find what appears to be all or most of the text of this book here); and Climbing, which includes many anecdotes she was requested to share as well as some of her own personal struggles. The following comes from Climbing.

The Goforths had just escaped from the Boxer Rebellion in China to Shanghai. Until a ship left that they could find passage on, they had to stay in an empty house with little furniture. In the ten days they were there, her husband and son Paul bought some ready-made clothes, and she was able to have one dress made.

But the other three children! They were in rags given by the Chinese on the journey. How could I, without materials, without a machine, get an outfit made for even one, and the ocean voyage just ahead! Alone with the baby one morning I cast myself down by the little one and cried again and again to the Lord to send someone to help me. My distress was great. Help I must have, but I knew no one to whom I could turn. Then suddenly, while I was praying, the doorbell rang. On opening the door I found two women outside. They introduced themselves and told of having seen our names among those of the refugees. They were in charge of a Chinese girls’ school, but on account of the Boxer troubles, all the girls had been sent home. They then said, “We have nothing to do and thought you may need help.” Scarcely able to speak, I told them rapidly my story; how I was on my knees pleading for help when they rang the bell. A few moments followed in which we stood clasping hands, weeping, just too full for speech. Then they went away to get materials, for there was no time to lose.

In a very short time, they returned with a pile of materials of from three- to five- yard lengths. I cut out and gave directions for a number of garments. The women took all away and, with the help of some friends, made practically everything needed except for the baby, who, in the rush of getting others provided for, was forgotten! The day we sailed, I gathered a quantity of material together, planning to make the most necessary things for him on board ship. Then came the most beautiful proof of God’s overshadowing care.

We had been passing through the Inland Sea and were nearing Yokohama. I had been trying my utmost to get some necessary things ready for baby W., but my hands trembled so I could scarcely hold the needle. I struggled on, realizing my strength was going, but kept sewing til I could no longer see the needle. Rising, I folded the work, and, going down to the cabin, put it quietly, numbly into the trunk, saying, “Lord, I have done all I can. I can do no more. As you provided for the others, do so now for baby.” I then went on deck and lay down on a long chair exhausted. How long I lay there I do not know, but suddenly someone touched me and said, “There’s a large bundle come off the lighter for you: it is in your cabin.” Dazed at first, I could not take it in. Then it flashed into my mind, “It’s the answer.”

In the cabin, I found a letter attached to the bundle from Mrs. O. E., of the China Inland Mission, whose husband was at that time risking his life in China, seeking to bring out to safety women of the mission who were in peril. The letter stated that her little son, the same age as my baby, had died some months before and she felt it laid upon her to send me, for my child, his outfit. I opened the bundle to find not only a most beautiful, complete outfit for my little one, but also many things I needed for myself and the other children. It was indeed one of the Lord’s exceedingly abundant answers. Is it any wonder that those words written so long ago by the psalmist have always had a deep thrill of response in my heart?

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. – Psalm 116:1-2.