Between the Lines of the Sermon

As we climb up the stairs from the Sunday school classroom to the auditorium, I think about how well the children behaved today. A few of them may have had too much sugar in their cereal this morning. Anyway, we all sit down in the back pew, and the kids start talking. One of them is opening a hymnal, the other flipping through a tract. Don't rip it; don't rip it! - is all I can think. One of the girls is studying a missionary card, and she asks me what a missionary is. "A missionary--" HEY, WHO'S THAT?!? the boy next to me interrupts. "A missionary," I continue, "is a person that tells people about what Jesus did for them." The teacher and I calm the kids down for the singing. The pastor says "...page 541" and one of the kids wants to find it, starting at page one and flipping page by page. She eventually resorts to flipping about  50 pages at one time and finds it, only to sing the last five words of the song. Here comes the prayer... "okay, everyone, we're going to pray now," and I motion to them to fold their hands. "Dear Heavenly Father," the prayer begins, BANG! - there goes that hymnal...

...We're in the middle of the sermon. I've got a girl beside me that found the color-by-numbers page in the coloring book. She can't read, so she needs me to read them for her. Oops. There go the crayons. As I bend down to pick them up, she asks me about the lesson. I wince as the Pastor pauses and she is talking. But her question surprises me... "Jesus loves the children like in our lesson today, right? Is the baby in my picture Jesus? Why is He a baby? Why are there animals all around? I sit up, hands full of crayons, and glance at her pink-skinned baby Jesus, and smile. The important thing about this morning isn't that the kids are perfect and quiet during the sermon, or that the sound of their coloring is soft, but the important  thing this morning is that Jesus loves the little children, and between the lines of the sermon, these children are learning of Jesus's love for them.

Sometimes God speaks to me in church through the great correlating sermon points, but, sometimes like this morning, He is speaking to me through one of His kids, and maybe even through the dropping hymnals and crayons.

Grace in time of Need

Hebrews 4:15-16: 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.

But we forget that too easily. We forget that Jesus Christ perfectly understands every single struggle every single human being has ever needed to confront. We also forget that He not only understands us, but He wants us to come to Him for help. We forget that He is the Lord of the universe but He intimately relates to each of us. He will give us grace in time of need; we need to boldly come to His throne of grace... Let me tell you a story of the not-so-observable side of something I recently went through... (but beware... there might be some run-on sentences, for effect :) )

I was feeling alone, empty-hearted, stale, confused, misunderstood... my hope was torn, my life was spinning, and I was dizzy, lost, and disoriented. I was falling, falling, falling... when a thread of confidence and hope surprisingly kept me from hitting the bottom of the pit. The confidence that He felt alone, empty-hearted, stale, confused, and misunderstood, just as I had, and the hope that He wanted me to reach for and receive His comfort and consolation that because of His mercy and grace I would be lifted out of the pit of discouragement and up to the plateau of heavenly peace... was more than my heart could hold and what it could not hold poured itself out in the form of tears.

There you have my personal experience, but the great thing is that He understands Your experience. He is with you, princess of Heaven, and He understands you more than anyone ever will. Reach and receive His comfort and consolation, for because of His mercy and grace He will lift you out of this pit of discouragement and up to the plateau of heavenly peace.

this was exactly what i needed to hear this morning...

**by Spurgeon

“Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant?”
- Num. 11:11

Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts his servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which are his own handiwork. When “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,” the Lord is honoured by these growing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which his vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions tend also to heighten future joy. There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil? Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified? There are many other comfortable answers to the question with which we opened our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day long.

it's a good day

When the flowers smile and the sun shines or rain fragrance graces your nose or the clouds display their silver lining and you just know that today is gonna be a good day, no matter what comes your way :)

stressed?

I don't know about you, but there are plenty of moments when I am stressed. Actually no, that's an understatement.

I don't know about you, but there are plenty of moments when I feel like hundreds of pounds of negativity are pressing on every square inch of my heart.

And, I feel like I need a place to go. Sometimes I go to a friend, sometimes I get angry at myself, and lots of times I lash out at someone else, craving that puny moment of release, which is always followed by more stress.

When I should be claiming this verse...

"Thou (God) art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance."                                           -Psalm 32:7

I should be running into the reaching arms of my faithful Saviour, the caring Almighty, the loving Creator. And when I do, His arms hold me with the fiery love of His holy heart. And when I don't, He is there, seeking for me to fall into His arms.

Even when I am in the deepest trouble of circumstances, my Saviour preserves me. Even when I feel like the only way to release my anguish is to attack peers or God with spiteful words, the Comforter compasses me with beautiful, consoling songs of His work in my life, replacing the negativity nagging on me in all places.

And God's not just my Hiding Place, He can be yours, too. Run to His reaching arms!

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God's faithfulness... In my life and yours!

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” I have experienced God’s faithfulness to His promises, such as this one, many times in my life. Most of the time, the days that I realize God’s everlasting faithfulness to His promise are the days that I have matured spiritually and trusted Him the most. Those nights when I don’t feel “good enough” or when I feel alone have ended with the morning light that the God of angel armies is always by my side, and that the Creator of the universe loves me beyond words.

One of these noticeable instances in my life was a night when I was completely focused on myself and my own personal problems. I had convinced myself that I was lonely; I had overwhelmed myself; and I had told myself that the lies filling my head were truth. In the depths of my soul I knew with a certainty that God was there for me, but I couldn’t seem to convince my heart and mind of these things. I finally pulled myself over to God’s Word, and read of His faithfulness and mercy. I read that I was God’s child; I read that this was a building block in my life if I would trust God in it; I read that He was trustworthy. And not only did I read these things, but I cherished every word. I received these words and their Author as the genuine truth.

Looking back, what I was so overwhelmed about is so small in comparison to eternity. Most of the people in this world have gone through horrors that I don’t know if I could ever face. My “hardships” seem quite puny compared to theirs. However, I do know that God has promised to be faithful to those who trust in Him. I have experienced His faithfulness personally, and know it to be real. I can claim along with David, “He leadeth me beside still waters, He restoreth my soul. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.”

I don't know what you are personally going through; maybe it's and emotional roller-coaster and maybe it's the death of a loved one and maybe it's a situation you didn't choose for yourself. But I do know that no matter what fire you’re in right know, you should trust God. You should trust that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Claim His promise that He is faithful!

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Solar-Powered

It was a new morning. I was feeling encouraged through my time with the Lord, and the joy of the Lord surged through me. I was thinking about this, when I saw an adorable little flower dancing in the sun. The solar-powered flower was sitting in the windowsill, soaking up all the sun it could get, and while it was in the sun, it danced. It seemed happy. But when the flower was hid from the sunlight, it ceased dancing. Only the light of the sun powered it to dance.

This little thing reminds me of us. I suppose we could think of ourselves as "solar-powered." When we enter into the light of the Son, Jesus, we are strengthened+powered to dance. Let's put away the darkness; we shall not enter that realm anymore. Let's enter into the light of God.

John 8:12 says,

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.