Life Is Hard: Hype or Hope

Life is hard. The world says if you don't like something, change it. If your marriage isn’t happy, try again with someone else. If you don’t like your job, find a new one. If your church doesn’t meet your needs, shop for one that does. To be happy is to be successful, and people know you are successful by what you possess or how important you are. You need all the information and communication in the palm of your hand. But it’s all hype. Life is still hard.

Even Christians offer hype as the answer to the hardness of life – just accept Jesus and all your life’s problems will be solved.  God wants to bless you with wealth and health.  Live by the formula in His Word – obey, serve, pray, claim His promises – and you will be victorious, happy, and successful in this world.  It’s all hype.

God says life is hard.  He knew it would be ever since Adam and Eve left the garden.  We fight the frustrations of living and work that seems futile.  Yes, marriage may feel less than beautiful, the job (or the job of searching for a job) may seem meaningless, and troubles may be closing in. As Christians, we don’t need to deny the difficulties or explain them away or hide them. We don’t need the hype.  We can admit them straight-on. But we don’t stop there.

Because God offers hope – hope, not hype.  The sweetness of hope comes when we kneel at the cross, (or in my case lately, when desperately grasping the foot of the cross).  He offers to supernaturally sustain us as we endure life’s adversities. When we are misunderstood, or when we fail, endurance may be wavering, but we have hope that the misunderstanding or failure will not be wasted, that God will use it. Meanwhile, He wants us to trust Him, to trust in His goodness, even when it seems obscured.

When life is hard, He wants us to hope in Him. Through the difficult things, He wants to illustrate facets of His character through our experience so that we can really identify with Him. Even in the darkness, He enables us to capture glimpses of an incident from His perspective and in an enlightening context.  Suddenly we can distinguish something shining and precious in the blackness.  In the midst of suffering, even if we still feel blind, we have the hope that someday we will be able to distinguish the beauty through the darkness, when we are enabled to glance backward through His eyes after we have reached the end. Then it will all be worth it to explode with joy unexplainable.  

Light is brighter next to darkness.  Though it is night, joy comes in the morning. Until then, I will skip the hype and choose hope.

As Silver Refined, by Kay Arthur - Book Review

If you are weary of the deceiver taking your thoughts captive, or if you often allow your thought process to send you into a spiral of defeat, Kay Arthur’s magnificent book As Silver Refined: Answers to Life’s Disappointments, can help you break the cycle.  The core of this book centers on the truth that life’s disappointments are actually God’s appointments to make us more like Christ.

Kay Arthur explains that you must know how to handle disappointment head on, in the battlefield of the mind, before you find yourself slipping and spiraling downward into the deadly D’s – discouragement, dejection, depression, and  despair. It is essential to blast out  disappointment with biblical truth, and she provides insights that will change your perspective and help you practice taking every thought captive before it grows into a stronghold. 

She addresses the issues of failure, regret, stress, physical pain, emotional anguish, etc.  While thoroughly explaining the sovereignty of God and His character, she also provides tools for overcoming strongholds, learning victory over dejection and despair, and practicing the secrets to everyday endurance.  In 15 chapters, she applies Bible verses abundantly and sprinkles brief stories of her own humbling experiences that felt like failures at the time but were actually used by God to transform her character to be more like His. 

A study guide in the last third of the book would be a great resource for either a women’s Bible study or for personal use to examine Scripture and process the truth in relation to past, present, and future. The questions are thought-provoking and present great opportunity for lively discussion.

During the duration of time spent reading this book, I was repeatedly pummeled by disappointing circumstances beyond my control.  I clung to the thesis of this book and absorbed every word, which brought me comfort beyond measure.  This is among one of my most favorite books that I have ever read, perhaps because it was so timely. I want to soak up every single word and saturate myself so fully with trust in God’s sovereignty so that I transform my thinking of disappointments into His appointments.  I will be reading this book again and again.

Check out chapter 1: http://www.scribd.com/doc/53092241/As-Silver-Refined-by-Kay-Arthur-Chapter-1-Excerpt

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this review.

A Woman's Guide to Fasting, by Lisa E. Nelson - Book Review

The spiritual discipline of fasting has always fascinated me, but in actual practice, all it had left me with is crankiness, weakness, and irritability.   Until recently.  Lisa Nelson’s book A Woman’s Guide to Fasting is the best material I have ever read on why and how to fast as a spiritual discipline. She explains that the point of fasting as a spiritual discipline is not necessarily giving up food. The purpose is to give up something good and acceptable because you want more of God.  When you take the legalistic aspect out of fasting and replace it with the heart, the spiritual discipline of fasting becomes a tool that God uses to transform you. 

Lisa Nelson explains that fasting is not a transaction, nor a way to work a deal with God. It’s not acting like a spoiled kid refusing to eat until we get what we want. It’s not a reward system where we try to earn the answers to our prayers.  Rather, fasting is declaring God is more important. It is the pathway to humility before Him. It’s about letting Him work on our hearts as we seek hard after Him.  She provides the following reasons to fast:

·         To help us grow spiritually and overcome sin

·         To empower our intercession and petitioning

·         To prepares us for spiritual warfare

·         As an expression of obedience to God’s call

·         As a response to a crisis in our lives.

In this practical book, Lisa Nelson explains the purposes of a fast and the types of fasts. You may have medical reasons or other reasons to not do a water-only fast, but there are lots of other effective options.   She repeatedly explains that it’s all about the heart, not the letter of the law. 

She also explains both physically and spiritually what to do while fasting, how to prepare for a fast, how to end a fast, and the effects of a fast.  In addition, she also explains the physical and spiritual aspects that happen during a fast -- what to expect, how to cope, and how to listen to God through His Word.  Whether you have health issues to consider, are a busy mom, or have an active schedule, Lisa Nelson offers realistic advice on how to work an effective fast into your life.

After reading this book, I started incorporating fasting into my life as a regular discipline and I am finding that my prayers are more focused and my heart is more submissive to God’s will. God is using it as a tool in my life to strengthen and empower me.

Except for the pretty cover, I see no reason why this book should be a guide for women only.  If you never thought of trying to fast as a spiritual discipline, this book will inspire you and give you ideas on how to make yourself available to God for a more intimate walk with Him.  If you ever tried fasting and felt like it failed or was meaningless, this book will give you all the information and encouragement you need to try it again.

Bethany House provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

God's Plan

"God has a plan for your life," I told my daughter nearly every night ever since she was a baby. I wanted her to know that God had a purpose in her existence and to feel her sense of worth. 

One night when she was four years old and I was tucking her in bed, she asked, "Where is my plant?"

"Your plant?" I questioned, furrowing my forehead in confusion.

"Yes, my plant!" she insisted. "You keep telling me God has a plant for my life and I keep wondering when He's going to give it to me."

She is 15 years old now, and whether God has a plant or a plan, she still wants it now.  She wants to see the blueprint of her life all mapped out - college, career, husband, family, etc.  At least she is firmly convinced that God has something in mind for her.

Or is that such a good thing? She is so firmly certain that God has a plan for her life, that her choices that she makes now will not necessarily impact that. In fact, she says that maybe God wants her to make specific mistakes so she can be more usable.

This thinking is totally foreign to me.  When I was a teenager, I never really felt for certain God had a plan for my life, and if He did, I was pretty certain I kept messing it up. I figured He gave up on me. I know better than that now. This is why it seemed so important for me to let my children know that they were significant to God and He had a plan and purpose for their existence.

It's hard trying to teach the balance between God's sovereignty and our responsibility.  Just because God has a plan doesn't mean it will be fulfilled when we deliberately choose our own way instead of His. Maybe it would have been better if I had said that God had a "dream" for her life.

God has a dream for how He wants us to live and how we become a greater reflection of Him. But sometimes we resist. Sometimes we can choose sin. Sometimes we think our own way is easier or we'll miss out on something if we go His way. Sometimes we can turn our back on Him and the dream might never be realized. Then we miss it.

But I also think that when we've missed it and we turn back to Him, he weaves our mistakes into the plan, His dream, and can change them into something beautiful. The biggest key is in our turning back to Him.  Still, the road might be more difficult as a result of our choices.  But for God, nothing is wasted.

Just when Satan thinks he's winning, God graciously takes the defeat and turns it into a magnificent victory.  Just like the cross.  Except in the cross, there were never any "mistakes".  Jesus was obedient to the very end. God knew before He created the world that there would have to be the cross.

So how do we live God's plan for our lives? I think that no matter what is thrown our way, He wants us to lean hard on Him, depend on Him, follow His ways. He wants us to know Him and His ways more by studying the Scripture and listening to the assurances He places on our hearts. He wants us to talk to Him and to listen so that we can see from His perspective. He wants us to believe Him, trust Him, and to obey Him.  He wants us to love others and to show them His greatness. 

If we are doing these things, then we are living His plan, no matter where the road takes us--even if it doesn't fit the neat little map we have pictured in our minds, even if it's through the valleys of the shadow of death.  It's always worth it to obey the Father and trust Him - just like Jesus.  If we do, in the end our joy will be full and complete.

Nearing Home: Life, Faith, & Finishing Well - Book Review

“I had been taught all of my life how to die, but no one had ever taught me how to grow old,” said Billy Graham several years ago in an interview by Newsweek.  That started him thinking about writing on the topic of aging.  In Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well, the 93-year-old evangelist offers his lessons learned, advice, and encouragement for preparing for and dealing with the difficulties of illness, retirement and aging.  While aging is full of challenges, it is also a time that can be full of effectiveness and meaningfulness in living out God’s plan for your life, because God has a plan for you as long as you are living.  The best way to meet the challenges of old age is to prepare before they arrive. When we plant our roots deep in the Word of God, our faith is strengthened and He gives us strength to prepare us for whatever life has in store.

Whether you are 29 or 99, there is much to ponder in these ten short chapters on how you are living out the days of your life and how to be hopeful for the years ahead. But most of all, the words in this book will fill you with a sense of hope, no matter which season of life you are living. If you are fearful of the change of seasons or uncertain of what the upcoming season will bring, Billy Graham’s spiritual and practical advice will fill you with courage and prepare you to face it with victory. I have underlined and highlighted many words of wisdom from this encouraging and useful book. It holds a permanent place in my personal library and I plan to open it frequently in the years to come.

BookSneeze® provided me a complimentary copy of this book.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

The Jesus Experiment - Book Review

“WWJD” (What Would Jesus Do?) is a simple question with a not-so-simple answer. Yet it almost seems cliché to ask the question. But before we DO something, we are thinking something, and feeling something, both of which potentially impact how we do something.    When I’m in a specific situation where I have a choice to make, I have rarely stopped to ask myself “what would Jesus THINK?” or “what would Jesus FEEL?”

The book The Jesus Experiment, by Bill Perkins, brought the mental aspect of being like Jesus to my attention.  Conforming my thoughts and feelings to those of what Jesus might think or feel impacts what I will say and do.   To get such a grip at the very front on my thoughts and feelings would truly be life-transforming and this book was just what I needed to begin moving my head in this direction. 

Bill Perkins states that the purpose of the book is to show how to have a real-time on-going connection with Christ so we can test His promise to give us abundant life. If we line up our feelings, thoughts, words, and deeds to be guided by Jesus, we will experience the abundant life He offers.  He dares us to try the experiment and see what happens.  But be aware that the abundant life is not based on a health/wealth prosperity-gospel life.  Rather, the abundant life (by his definition based on Scripture) consists of having our basic needs met, a life of power and purpose, a circle of close and trusted friends, and accomplishing God’s will. 

This practical book is divided into twelve weeks of looking at what Jesus did and thought in private, in public, and with people, with each chapter ending in reflection and Bible study.  Each chapter looks at some aspect of what Jesus would feel, think, say and do in the situation we are in and comparing it to what we are feeling, thinking, saying, and doing.  Does it line up? If not, how can we prepare for the next time we’re in a similar situation?

As Bill Perkin’s personably and honestly relayed his own weaknesses, he encouraged me to keep striving even as I lament how much unlike Jesus I am. I must note that I disagreed theologically with his interpretation of what Jesus laid aside when he came to earth as referenced in Philippians 2:5-8 (I think it was status, not divine attributes), but he is still able to make his point soundly with other Scripture passages that point to how Jesus depended completely on the Father.  I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for a review. 

Doing "Whatever"

You might think no one notices, but they do.  You might think your hard work, your integrity, and choosing the right thing when no one is there to see are invisible before the world.  But maybe it’s not.

You might think only God notices when you do “whatever” for His glory – and that is good enough, but it would feel more fruitful if the “whatever” impacted the world for Him and produced visible fruit.  Maybe when you think you are invisible, you really aren’t.  

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the floor next to my closet in my bedroom, tying my tennis shoes for a hike in the woods.  My twelve-year-old nephew walked in unexpectantly from outside through the sliding glass door of my bedroom and was startled when he saw me.  He apologized profusely, over and over, and I kept telling him it was okay.  Still apologizing, I tried to re-assure him, checking to make sure I really was wearing pants or a shirt, that he hadn’t actually walked in on me half-naked. Not sure what he thought he saw, I finally informed him I was just putting on my shoes and it really wasn’t a big deal, to come on in.  Relief replaced the guilt on his face as he crossed the threshold and said, “Oh! Okay, I thought you were praying.” 

As I thought more about it later, he must have thought I was praying when I was actually putting on shoes because he had caught me down on the floor in my bedroom before, on my face in desperate submission before God, unaware I had been observed. I have been doing that a lot lately. 

One day this summer at work, I was overseeing a driller as he probed deep holes into the ground to evaluate the extent of contamination from an underground chemical.  While the sun cooked us at 110 degrees that afternoon, he continued to labor hard, all by himself on a two-man job, never once complaining.  Early into the evening at the last hole, we plopped on the grass with exhaustion, waiting for the results so we would know if the day’s work was finished or more holes were needed.  He smiled cheerfully and announced, “I’m really praying this one will be clean.” I was too!

I knew immediately his brightness and work ethic originated from the light of Jesus in him.  I will likely never see him again, but I will never forget he worked hard without a single gripe on a miserable day conducting mundane, tedious work that may have seemed senseless.   He may think it went unnoticed, but it impacted me.  I’m sure God was proud of him that day and all the angels were applauding because he was doing his “whatever” for the glory of God.

You might think what you do every day is insignificant. But He wants us to do “whatever” it is that we are doing for His glory (I Corinthians 10:31).

And who knows just what people see in us on a day-to-day basis? Whether checking out at the grocery store, typing a report, taking care of our homes, loving our husbands, or teaching our children –  our efforts will not go unnoticed. And even should you think they do, God and a whole realm of the unseen are watching you on the stage of your life and He and the angels are yelling “encore!!” while you are doing “whatever” for the glory of God.

Afraid to Believe in Free Will - Book Review

I never thought about free will outside the realm of theology, so I was confused as I started reading the book Afraid to Believe in Free Will by Carl E. Begley.  Rather than an Arminian versus Calvinism argument, it is focused on free will in the discipline of psychology.

Since this was a new concept to me (the psychological aspect of free will versus determinism), I needed some definitions up front to know what the author was discussing.  Who really believes that we are predispositioned to turn out the way we are, that our choices are already determined? Free will upsets psychology, which is based on a system of fixed relations.

By the time I got to the second chapter, I was asking who was afraid of free will (as defined psychologically, not theologically)? What’s to be afraid of? Isn’t free will obvious? But he points out how much our culture and media are opposed to the idea of free will by searching out root causes for destructive behavior. A violent crime is committed because the perpetrator’s past as a victim of child abuse or an alcoholic – well, the explanation of whether or not an alcoholic has free will boggles my mind. The author says, “It would help if the media would stop affirming all the excuses and send the message that the person acting destructively is responsible for the bad consequences.”

He goes on to say that he estimates that 30 percent of our behavior is not free, but determined.  “We need to know when we are powerless and have to rely on outside help; we need to know when we have the power and responsibility to act on our own, without making excuses.”

Finally he approached the theological argument in the latter part of chapter 3. He claims that Jonathan Edwards and R.C. Sproul resist the importance of free will and rely so intently on emphasizing God’s sovereignty that they leave no place for human faculties.  When the creature is diminished, the Creator is more glorious. The author says, “Taking this to its logical conclusion, we have to say that it is more glorious of God to create a creature with little or no free will than to create a human with authentic free will.” This isn’t the logical conclusion for me!  He further accuses them of making so much of the irresistibility of grace that there is no place for free will.

This book is very academic and requires complete concentration.  It’s deep. I confess I skimmed the parts that didn’t interest me (a couple entire chapters). The biggest thought that I take away from this book is how often do I rely so much on the sovereignty of God that I fail to acknowledge my own responsibility or even take action? In a seminary or college setting, there is much material here for students to discuss and argue.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255, I am disclosing that BookSneeze® provided me a complimentary copy of this book.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

Going Deep - Book Review

Don’t be intimidated by the title of this book.  When I selected to review the book Going Deep, by Gordon MacDonald, I had no idea that the book would shake me awake from my doze into the land of mediocrity.  Tomorrow’s church is headed for trouble without an abundance of “deep people,” according to the author, who bases the premise of his book around Richard Foster’s statement that there is a desperate need today “not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.”    Through a fictional account of a pastor and the people in his New England church, the author explains his points in an entertaining style.

The idea of what it means to cultivate deep people and how to accomplish it is illustrated through the dialog of a core group of people who have a dream of ensuring their church is sustainable in the years to come.  Deep people are people who have a reverence for Jesus, care for others, remain calm with certainty in the face of difficulty, make Christ and spiritual things real to others, and are someone people look to for inspiration, guidance, and assurance.  Deep people don’t just happen – they must be cultivated, nurtured, and trained.  The story continues in sharing the steps of how this church took action into growing deep people through a diverse group of people with differing personalities.

While this book was long, it was a joy to read.  The short chapters and writing style made it easy to pick up and read a few minutes here and there.  Besides, I always think it is fun to study and learn when you don’t even realize you are doing it – to get lost in a story of another life but find perspective and ideas to pull back into my own.  If you are looking for something to inspire you to be a better spiritual leader or searching for ideas on how to disciple people, I highly recommend this book.

To comply with regulations by the Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255, I am disclosing that BookSneeze® provided me a complimentary copy of this book.  I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.

When to Love, When to Hate

When my daughter was a pre-schooler, she asked me if it was okay to hate the devil.  I think I stumbled over the question, trying to say both yes and no, explaining that God loves everyone and had created Satan as the most beautiful angel ever. It was the actions, the sin that God hated. When I think of Satan, I think of the evil things he does and I hate them…it’s hard to separate his actions from his being. 

Try saying to your children, “I hope you grow up to be as good at hating as Jesus is.”  Such a provocative statement will grab their attention! It’s been easy for me to see that Jesus is loving and caring. But to think of Jesus as someone who hated is harder to swallow.  No, he never hated people. But he always hated sin and evil, actions that led the people he loves into bondage. 

I live in a small city that is occupied by a “Christian” hate group that stands on street corners with signs expressing God’s hate for certain types of people.  That’s not the kind of hate Jesus had. I hate their hate. Then there are those who protest the protesters by waving our country’s flag and proclaiming peace.  Instead of responding with returned hate, they try to point to what is good.

While sometimes it is hard to separate a person’s actions from their being, it is truly possible to completely hate the action of a person and still completely love him. When one of my children tells me a lie or shows disrespect, it brings me grief. I hate that lie with a passion and I hate the disrespect with a vengeance because it puts a strain in our relationship. Yet even in my frustration, I still love both my children immensely and nothing they do could ever change that. I want them to hate sin and to hate evil in their own lives so that they will not suffer that barrier that they place between themselves and God.

Jesus may have hated, but he hated actions, not people. His love for people even in the midst of their sin is evident throughout the gospels. He loved them even while they were choosing sin. He offered the means for the barrier between them and God to be broken. Because He loved so much, through the cross He provided the way for the bridge to remove the gap.

I want my kids to hate – to hate sin – to hate it enough to turn away from filthy music, raunchy television shows, and immoral actions of peers. I want them to love goodness and light, to let Jesus shine through them so that others will be drawn to Him and away from the ways of the world that entice, trap, and enslave. I want them to be good at hating what Jesus hated, and to be good at loving what Jesus loved.