Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

^{6 “}And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:6

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord–who is the Spirit–makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”2 2 Corinthians 3:18

I sat with my back propped against my husband’s legs. My sweatshirt felt good against my skin as the northern summer breezes flowed landward off Lake Michigan. The tall sea-green beach grasses wafted gently in the water. The sunset promised to be a keeper. My heart felt as content as the unusually peaceful waters of the Great Lake.

My eyes scanned the horizon like a seasoned sailor, counting the moments until the great event — the setting of the sun. We Michiganders take our sunsets seriously. Tourists and natives alike dotted the dunes along the shore. Watching. Waiting.

As the sun slipped lower in the sky, something caught my attention along the shore; a quiet radiance amid thousands of dark cool stones at the waters edge; one stone made brilliant by the setting of the sun. Loathe to disturb my comfort, I turned my head for a better view of the shining pebble.

Why a stone?

It stood like a lighthouse among its dull counterparts, beaming and casting its light. I marveled that such a small object could make so great an impact. A rock. Plain. Small. Unremarkable. Why a stone? Why not a diamond? Or a ruby? Just one small, plain stone.

Why one stone?

Thousands of millions of stones line the beaches of the northern Great Lakes … tossed and tumbled … worn smooth by relentless waves of time. But, only one glimmered in the sunset. Why? Three reasons: Position. Reflection. Water. The small rock, washed with water, was in the right position to reflect the light of the sun.

“And you are living stones …

… that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”

We are His stones. Small. Plain. Unremarkable. Made of clay. But, as living stones we can have great influence for three reasons: Position. Reflection. Water. Position in Christ. Reflection of His glory. Living Water. God has placed us on beaches of this earth, among the thousands of millions of people tossed and tumbled by the relentless waves of deception, to reflect His glory and truth in the darkness. Soaked by Living Water, we shine and reflect His light, enabling others to find their way to the Father.

Let your light shine before men.

Action Points:

1. How can you let your light shine?
2. Name something specific you can do today to shine God’s light to those around you.
3. Do you tend to shut down your light around certain people? Why?

Life is sweet.

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Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

She Heard

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You. But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” …“The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.”

Matthew 12:38-39, 42

Jesus is speaking to the crowds. While teaching from His Word, He heals a demon-possessed man of his many afflictions. The Pharisees are not happy. Like the rest of the crowd, they’ve been listening to Jesus preach. However, the teachers of the Law want a sign: a miracle on demand. Would they see with their eyes when they would not hear with their ears? What greater sign did they need than an exorcism? Jesus calls them out by mentioning the queen of the South.

The queen of the South? She heard. She heard all the way from Sheba. What the Pharisees would not hear from across the temple courtyard, she heard from across the continent. 1,200 miles. And she came to hear more.  Imagine being mentioned in the Bible, not because you won a great battle or conquered a terrible foe, but because you heard.

I Kings 10:2 gives us little more information: She spoke to Solomon about all that was in her heart.  That’s the difference between the Pharisees and the Queen of Sheba. She heard with her heart. The Pharisees, deafened by pride,  could only hear with their ears. (To learn more about the connection between the heart and the ears, look up the following verses: Deuteronomy 29:4, Proverbs 23:12, Isaiah 6:10, and Ezekiel 3:10.)

God has an antidote for deaf ears. Acts 7:51: “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Ask God to circumcise your ears to hear His Word.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord and open the ears of my heart.

In the Greek and Hebrew, to hear means not only to sense with the ears, but to understand, consider, comprehend, and OBEY.

Hearing God’s word requires change.

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Let’s follow the example of the Queen of Sheba, and do what it takes to hear from God.

She heard.

Action Points:

1. How can you put yourself in a position to hear from God?
2. What noise is blocking the Word of God in your life?
3. What action can you take to hear from God today?

Life is sweet.

Short and Sweet Nourishment for the Soul

2  … all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”  …  9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst … “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

She sinned.

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Action Points:

1. Take your sin to Jesus. Tell Him what you have done and accept His grace. Tell Him now.
2. Talk to Jesus. Like the woman caught in adultery, leave your accusers to Jesus. Notice the only person the woman talked to was Jesus. She did not fight, argue, or defend herself to the crowds. What do you need to do to spend more time with Jesus?
3. Turn and sin no more. Whatever it takes … new friends … new job … new habits … sin no more.  Change requires change. What will you change today to change your life?

Life is sweet.

Nourishment and refreshment for the soul.

“Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” James 5:3

On my earring rack hangs one lonely silver hoop earring.  I lost it’s partner three years ago during Christmas play practice. It fell out of my ear, rolled across the floor, and was crushed beyond recognition underneath the size 12 tennis shoe of a 6th grade boy. Since they were sterling silver, I couldn’t bring myself to throw the remaining earring away. I hung the lone hoop back on the rack and forgot about it … until the other day.

I was searching my rack for a fresh pair of spring-like earrings (yes, the snow has finally melted in Michigan), when I spotted a dull black earring, hanging by itself in a dark corner of the rack. What is this? I asked myself as I picked up the dingy earring. As I turned the earring over in my hand, I recognized my long-ago favorite hoop earring, now corroded from neglect and disuse.

All of my other silver earrings gleamed on the rack. What kept them shiny? Not polish, but daily use. Slowly my mind made a connection to a Bible verse from the book of James. If we do not use our gifts and our resources, but let them sit idly on a shelf, they will corrode. They’ll turn black and dingy from disuse, and will eventually disintegrate. Ultimately, no one will benefit from our gifts; they will be a complete loss.

God gives us gifts to bless others, and we reap blessings in return. Let’s dust off our gifts and use them today.

Action Points:

1. Are your gifts corroded or shiny from daily use?
2. What do you love to do, and how can you use that gift to serve others?
3. Find a way  to use your gifts to bless someone today.
4. Ask God to show you your gifts and how to use them for His kingdom.