Trash is defined by Wikipedia as:
"An unwanted or undesired material or substance".
It sounds so simple...almost elegant.
"Oh, I just took out the undesired materials..."
When I went to run on our road today, I was unpleasantly surprised to start my run behind the 'trash man'. No, I'm not talking about Oscar the Grouch and his little trash can on Sesame Street; I am talking about the huge, smelly trucks that collect rotten bananas, moldy bread, soured milk, and stinky diapers. All of these things smell awful by themselves, but that garbage truck had all of these things (and more) combined in one place.
While I was running, it was all I could think about. It was the most horrible trash smell that I have ever smelled, and no matter what I did, I still smelled it. After a little while, a breeze came in and fresh air replaced the ghastly air that I had been trying not to breathe. Only then was I relieved from the stench of trash.
I wonder if that is how God looks at us. Here we are in our pit of smelly, stinking sin, but we do not smell a thing. We get used to that smell after a little while. I know the trash man does...if he didn't, he would be sick to his stomach every day!
My desire is for sin to be as unappealing to me as that smelly garbage truck. I want to see sin through God's eyes and be completely repulsed by it. Jesus came and paid the price for us to have a life without the stench of sin. He is that fresh breeze that blows in and makes the air as fresh and clean as it was before.
Jesus is willing to relieve us from the awful, smelly sin in our lives.
When He does, you will ask yourself,
"How did I ever live in my old, stinking pit?"
Lord, You tell us in Your word that all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags... Our hope is that You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand...God, may I be moldable clay in Your hands. Cleanse me and make me new...because of Your love, I am not consumed...Your compassions never fail...they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A Blog Inspired by Trash
Monday, May 26, 2008
Make up your Mind!
He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
~Psalm 40:2~
"After all that slip-sliding and skydiving you've done,
your feet are finally planted on a rock,
and you've got a firm place to stand...
God is not just a firm place to stand.
He's a firm place to stay."
~Beth Moore~
God gives us the firm place on which we can stand, but it is up to us to decide if we will take Him up on His divine offer. John 3:16 speaks of how God sent His Son into the world so that no man would die, but it is up to the world to accept God's grace and mercy.
God is loyal. He made up His mind about us before the foundations of the world. It doesn't matter if others have let us down, broken promises, or betrayed our trust...God will never waver in His unfailing love for us! Even if we change our minds about Him, He will not stop loving us. *We must understand that this loving God is also the Righteous Judge. We will be held accountable to Him for the times when we strayed from His path.
God is the only one who can get us out of the pit, keep us out of the pit , and provide a firm place for us to stand. He delivers us with "a mighty hand and an outstretched arm" (Deuteronomy 5:15). He desires to have a relationship with us each and every day of our lives - not just when we decide it is time to climb out of a pit.
For those who you know that are still stuck in a pit, "Pray for them....Love them lavishly, but as a Rock-dweller, not (as) a fellow Pit-dweller." When (not if, but when!) they ridicule you, misunderstand you, or think you are just downright crazy, remember that God may be using you in their lives to show them that it is possible through Him to get out and stay out of the pit.
It's hard. It's really hard. But so very worth it.
"Be strong and courageous.
Do not be terrified; Do not be discouraged,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
~Joshua 1:9~
"To Him who is able to keep you from falling
and to present you before His glorious presence
without fault and with great joy -
to the only God our Savior be
glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen."
~Jude 1:24-25 (Ascription of Praise)~
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Hang On!
All of me...
It takes two to tango, even out of a pit.
His part is to lift you out.
Your part is to hold on for dear life."
~Beth Moore
Sometimes, we are delivered instantaneously from our pit of sin, but the majority of the time, there is not instant gratification. It takes our hard work and relying on the Lord to get us out. Through us learning how to trust God again, our relationship with Him will grow stronger as we work so desperately to get out of the pit.
"Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord;
O Lord, hear my voice.
Let Your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with You there is forgiveness; therefore You are feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in His word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning."
~Psalm 130:1-6
Wait. What does the word 'wait' say to us?
The Hebrew qwh used here means "to lie in wait for someone...to expect, await, look for patiently, hope, to be confident, trust, to be enduring." After we call out to the Lord, we are to expect, to wait, to hope and have confident trust that God is indeed coming to our rescue.
Another definition of this qwh is "to bind together (by twisting)". The following illustration from Beth Moore makes this very clear:
Beth speaks of her young daughter, Amanda, would hold onto her leg as Beth did the household chores. "Her ten pink toenails stayed planted atop five of mine...dragging her from room to room on my right foot..." When her next child, Melissa, came along, she quickly learned this trick from Amanda. They would 'ride' together, each one grabbing tightly to their mom. "I'd walk all over the house with those two munchkins atop my aching feet..."
"This is the picture of 'qwh'. While you wait for God to work and to manifest your sure deliverance, you wrap yourself around Him as tightly as you possibly can...bind yourself to Him with everything you've got so that you will ultimately - inevitably - go anywhere He does. Hang on for dear life and never let go. No matter how long it takes...He'll never run out of breath or stop to soak His aching feet.
Pin yourself so close to Him you can almost hear Him whisper. His words will live in you and you will live in Him. God does not make His home in a pit. Bound to His holy robe, neither will you.
~Beth Moore
Lord, give me the desire to be made new in you...let me put off the old self and put on the new. I give you my entire self as a living sacrifice. I will not find wholeness by conforming to this world. Transform my mind with your precious and holy Word that I may test and see that your will and way is good and perfect.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Three Not-So-Easy Steps
The Bible gives us three steps to get out of this 'pit'. Ironically, they all involve our mouth. Since this is a Christian study, they (or course) all start with the same letter...
- Cry out
- Confess
- Consent
- "He turned to me and heard my cry" ~Psalm 40:1
- "His (God's) refusal to bend to our will may at first seem uncompassionate in light of all we've endured, but He's pushing for the best thing that could ever happen to us..." ~Beth Moore
- "He will deliver the needy who cry out" ~Psalm 72:12
- "He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted..." ~Psalm 9:12
- "To the Lord I cry aloud, and He answers me from His holy hill" ~Psalm 3:4
2. Confess
- "The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. " ~Psalm 145:18
- "Confession, by the way, is incomplete until we actively accept God's certain forgiveness...we will never stay out of that pit until we believe all the way to the marrow of our bones that God has forgiven us." ~Beth Moore
3. Consent
1 John 5:14-15 reads, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that he hears us (and He just said He does!) - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him". To me, this verse says that we can have confidence that if we are in God's will, He will hear us and give us what we ask of Him according to His will! And what is His will? For us to get out (and stay out) of the pit.
Beth Moore suggested that since all three of these steps have to do with our mouths, that we utilize our mouth in getting out of the pit. Cry out in prayer confessing to God and read God's word out loud. After all, the Bible says that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). There are prayers written out in the back of this book (Getting Out of the Pit by Beth Moore) that are full of Scriptures. Praying these out loud is powerful. Nothing injures Satan more than a mighty swipe from the Sword of the Spirit.
- "Don't let up when you begin to feel better. Feeling better is not what we're after. The goal is freedom from the pit for the rest of your life." ~Beth Moore
- "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." ~Psalm 103:1-5
Past Blogs
I decided to get a new email to go with my new computer...
So I had to switch up my blog! LoL...anyhow, here are my past blogs:
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
AMERICAN IDOL 7 RESULTS!!!
Yeah, I bet that title caught your attention.
To be honest, I am tired and not really in the mood for a devo right now. I was just about to crawl into bed after hours spent sitting on the couch listening to "Thank you for voting for contestant num---click" and pressing 'redial'.
The program's title is really quite fitting: "American Idol"
We don't usually think of things in our lives as 'idols', but when faced with the decision of wasting time instead of doing a Bible study, which do I choose? Where is my heart and my joy...? Is it in a life-altering moment with my Savior or the "Season Finale" of a television show?
Should I care who is
smarter than a fifth grader,
doesn't 'forget the lyrics',
makes it off the island,
gets the music contract,
or receives 'the final rose'?
I would rather care about
an intimate relationship with Christ,
developing godly friendships,
and bringing God glory in all I do.
Lord, help me see when I am wrong. Forgive my MANY faults and skewed priorities. Let me remember that you ALONE offer freedom and forgiveness. Your grace is SUFFICIENT for me, for YOUR power is made perfect in weakness. Oh, how weak is my flesh, Father...let YOUR power and strength make me perfect IN YOU.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Getting OUT!
Let's talk about getting OUT!
It is not a matter of 'dealing with it', we need to get out and stay out. It doesn't matter if your whole life has been spent in the pit or in and out of the pit, you have to get out!
Ummm...problem. Just how do you get yourself out of a pit? The answer is, you CAN'T do it. GOD is the only one who can deliver you from this pit. I can hear everyone (and even myself) saying, "Nah, I can get some friends to help me out". Guess what...it won't work. I know from experience!
I mean, it is a lot easier to get a human to help you out. You can see them, hear their encouraging words, and know that they are listening, but that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong. All these things are great, godly things to do when someone you love is in distress, but you cannot get them out of that pit they are in.
Beth Moore uses Joseph to illustrate this point:
"If a man - or woman - pulls us out of the pit, solely assuming the role of the deliverer, he or she will inadvertently sell us into slavery of one kind or another almost every time..."
Wow. Just think about that for a minute.
Have you ever been hurt in a friendship or relationship that left you scarred? The person who hurt you may later come back to pull you back up out of that pit, but you will still be left with emotional or physical scars from what was done to you. They can never mend the heart that has been torn in two. You will be enslaved until you give this over to the Lord.
An amazing quote from Beth:
"People can help us but they can't heal us. People can lift us but they can't carry us. On occasion people can pull us out of a pit, but they cannot keep us out. Nor can they set our feet upon a rock...
They may pull us out of a pit and even hang around a while to push us away when we try to get right back in it. But eventually their backs will give out. And when they do, we're liable to be mad at them. In fact, we might not speak to them for years. They let us down."
Guess what, folks... People are almost always going to let you down. God is the only One who will never let us down... Why can't we put all our trust in Him???
I loved this analogy from Beth Moore, but I am going to add a bit to it: "Human clay finds it moisture in relationships and will evaporate into dust without them." I would like to add that God is the one that is in charge of shaping this piece of human clay... not the friends, not the relationships, and not the churches. It isn't their job. It is no one's job but the Master Potter.
Isaiah 30:1-5, 15 says this:
"Woe to the obstinate children...
to those who carry out plans that are not mine...
heaping sin upon sin...
In repentance and rest is your salvation
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."
This passage reminds my heart that God is always there. I am the one who turns away from Him when I choose to follow my way and not His. He waits for us with all of His love, but we do not want to be a part of it. For me, I felt like God wouldn't love me anymore or that I had messed up too much to be forgiven. This pride will keep you chained in your sin.
Then we come to an incredible verse from the same chapter in Isaiah: "YET the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion."
Wait, you mean that God forgives me for everything that I have done? Exactly. He longs to be gracious to us and He will be there forever. He rises...HE - our Almighty, Amazing God - gets up off of His throne to show ME - a poor sinner saved only by HIS grace - compassion that I do not deserve... wow. Not only that, but Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:10 that "He has delivered us...He will deliver us...He will continue to deliver us". Past. Present. Future. God never did leave anything out now, did He? :)
Let's stop trying to deliver others out of their pits.
Let's stop relying on other sinners like us to get us out of our pits.
Let's let Jesus be Jesus. He's good at it.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Pit Jumper-Inners
I guess I have been putting off this next chapter because I am so guilty of being what I have termed a 'pit jumper-inner'. To me, this is the worst pit possible. You have a full awareness that what you are going to do is completely wrong, but you do it anyways. You don't care what the consequences are, you just want to do your own thing because it 'feels good'.
Winding up in these pits is usually a result of placing someone in an unworthy place in your life that is "either a wimp or a fraud". We must remember that God is neither one of these, and He is most worthy of the highest place in our lives.
"When all is said and done, you, like me, probably do what you do because you want to. You ordinarily jump into a pit because you like the trip. No, you don't necessarily like the cost but, like all vacations, a great trip can be worth the expense. It looks good. It feels good. Or it tastes good. It just doesn't last nearly long enough, which is why we come back and take the next trip"
~Beth Moore~
Job 33:29-30 says:
"God does all these things to a man-
twice, even three times-
to turn back his soul from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on him."
Though God gives us warnings, we choose to avoid them Basically, we stick our fingers in our ears before we jump into the pit. Jumping is the "most dangerous and the most supremely...consequential". God examines our motives and our character, and both of these are out of whack when we choose to jump into a pit. He doesn't look at simply what we did and how we did it, but why we did it.
1 Chronicles 28:9 says,
"the Lord searches every heart
and understands every motive
behind the thoughts"
Psalm 19:13 says,
"Keep your servant from willful sins;
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be innocent,
and be cleansed from blatant rebellion.
These 'willful sins' and 'blatant rebellion' are what drive us to jump into a pit. The only way to get out is through a deep repentance - turning of the heart and mind - and healing from the Lord. Without this change of heart and healing from the Father, we will soon revert back to our old ways.
Beth Moore points out the Greek translation for the 'evil desire' mentioned in James 1:13-15 is epithumia which means 'deformed desire'. This is referred to in Isaiah 44:20:
"He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say;
'Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?'"
Our only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ who can save us from these pits. We must go to Him with a willing and repentive mind and heart and be ready for His healing. Psalm 40:8 reminds us that our delight is in the Lord and His law is within our hearts. The desire to jump into a pit shows our deep distrust of God. We think that, like others in our lives, He will cheat us and betray us, but this is not so!
Ephesians 4:27 warns:
"Do not give the devil a foothold"
It is not too late...even if Satan has wounded you, he hasn't devoured you.
"He got the leg, but he's never gotten the thigh, though goodness knows he wanted it. I may walk with a spiritual limp, but thanks be to God, who holds me up and encourages me to lean on Him, at least I can walk. So can you. Walk away from that pit before its the death of you."
~Beth Moore~
Lord, let my hope and trust be in You as I live my life for Your delight! Let me trust you and know that You will not fail me...Do not allow Satan to have a single toe in the doorway of my life. Your mercies are new every morning...blessed is Your name!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
'Get Out of that Pit'
I have recently been reading a book called "Get Out of that Pit" by Beth Moore. It has inspired and encouraged me over this past week, but it has been a tough read. Basically, these pits are traps that Satan has put out there for us that we find ourselves in. I went through a lot this past semester in the way of 'pits' and this books has shown me how these 'pits' progressed in my life. Let me explain... There are three different ways to get into these pits:
1. You get Thrown in
2. You Slip in
3. You Jump in
At the beginning of the semester (Spring 2008), I innocently found myself in a pit. I got thrown in before I realized what had happened or where I was. Just like when Joseph's brothers threw him into the pit, I was blindsided by this pit. I wonder, however, if I could have prevented this first type of pit. I mean, as Joseph was walking around, talking about his dreams and flaunting his new coat...was I looking for trouble, too?
This first pit makes you believe that everything is your fault. Believe me, it is very difficult to forgive the person who threw you in. God's grace and power is the only way that you will ever get out of this pit. You have to forgive yourself for being swept in and forgive the other person for pulling you into their own existing pit.
The second type of pit is one that you slip in. You don't mean to exactly, but you weren't watching where you were going and got distracted by new things around you. It wasn't what you wanted to happen, but before you knew it, you found yourself in the bottom of a dark hole. No one else can be blamed for it, but boy, do you want everyone to feel bad for you!
I kinda 'progressed' from being thrown into a pit to slipping into it later on my own. I thought it had to be someone else's fault, but I was wrong. When I tried to point a finger, I found three fingers pointing back at me. Each day that this pit is a struggle for me, I have to remember to put my hope in God and praise Him...for He is my Savior (Ps. 42:5).
I just started the chapter on the third pit, but it has to be the worst. You know that this pit is wrong, foolish, and is not God's will, but you jump into this nasty pit of sin anyway. I know that this became my attitude in the last few weeks of the semester. I tried to blame this pit on my own innocence, but there is no innocence found in the bottom of this pit.
So...that is where I am in the 'pit' book. It has challenged me to live each day and every moment for the Lord. I can't just go crawling back to Him each time I find myself in a pit of some kind. Each day is His, and the decisions I make will effect my future.
I have been reading through Proverbs as well...one chapter each day. My favorite verse thus far is Proverbs 4:23. You probably know it as "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I always wondered exactly what that meant, but I came across a children's version that made a lot of sense to me. It said, "Be vey careful about what you think; your thoughts run your life." How very fitting. Every thought I have must be held up to the Word of God. Like a farmer sifts his wheat from the chaff, my ungodly thoughts must be blown away in the wind.
Lord, help me live each day for You and give You all glory and praise. This day is not about me or my desires, but about giving you the honor for my every breath.