Scars

 

An osprey guarding his nest

   When I look in the mirror each morning, I am reminded of how rambunctious my childhood really was and how terrifying it must have been for my mother.  I don't think I was accident prone as much as I was undaunted by trying risky things or just not thinking about the consequences.  The three scars next to my left eye were a result of falling on outside steps, the inside stairway steps and last but not least the metal frame of a roll away bed.  The first two I do not really remember but the last one I do.  My mother had told me not to jump on the roll away bed, but I did anyway.  Unfortunately, I lost my balance and hit my head on the metal frame leaving a gash next to my left eye.  I remember sobbing from the pain, the ride to find the doctor on the golf course (ice pack against my head) and the trip to the emergency room where the kind doctor said it wouldn't hurt...but it did!  I could feel every stitch he put in, and the lecture I received after it was all over.  I never jumped on a roll away bed again.
     Then, there is the ever present scar on my left elbow, but this came later in my life.  On a lunch break from the office where I worked, I went to a local restaurant to pick up some food.  It had been raining that day and quickly freezing in our Ohio winter.  The parking area of the restaurant was blacktop so I was not able to see where the ice began.  I ran from my car to get inside from the cold which resulted in a spectacular fall.  I landed on my left side with my arm pinned under me.  I thought nothing of it initially other than my arm hurt quite a bit.  Back at the office, my left hand began to swell and suddenly pain set in.  I had a badly broken arm which required surgery to put in a pin.  Then, after the healing, they had to remove the pin.  Lesson learned....don't run on a blacktop drive up north when the rain is freezing!
     While these scars no longer hurt, I can remember quite well what caused them.  The same is also true of spiritual scars.  Wounds from broken relationships, loss of a loved one, emotional or physical abuse as well as church hurts can leave us with a scar.  Hearts heal with the love of Jesus Christ, the passing of time, the giving of forgiveness and a decision to put things behind us, but the scar is there nevertheless.
     This past week as I listened to "The Strange Fire" conference (live streamed from his church and some of which is available through Preterist Global on YouTube - eventually at Grace to You on the web)  led by Dr. John MacArthur, I was reminded of the spiritual scars my husband and I carried from a painful experience in our past.  It gave us time to remember what we had been through as well as where God has now guided us and we were grateful at how the Lord had worked all things together for good in our lives.
     Paul wrote to the believers in Rome these words of encouragement found in Romans 8:28:  "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."  This is a verse well known to most of us, but I love Matthew Henry's commentary on this particular verse.  He writes:  "That is good for the saints which does their souls good. Every providence tends to the spiritual good of those that love God; in breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, and fitting them for heaven. When the saints act out of character, corrections will be employed to bring them back again. And here is the order of the causes of our salvation, a golden chain, one which cannot be broken."  Indeed, God was at work even during and after the spiritual pain we had endured.  He bound up our broken hearts.  He set our feet on solid ground once again and led us to a pasture where we, His sheep, could be fed.
     When I look at scars today, I am reminded of those painful circumstances, but even more, I am reminded of the grace of God which has brought healing into my life again.  We must never let those scars intrude upon our thinking so much that we prevent God from working His good in our lives.  In fact, we need to resolve to learn from the lessons which we have received that caused the scar in the first place.  I know I never jumped on another roll away bed again after my experience.  Likewise, my husband and I grew in our understanding of God's Word rather than run from the church altogether.  We drew nearer to God and the study of the Bible.  We examined doctrine making it a priority to know what we believed and why we believed it.  This is how God brought good out of the hurt.  Our Lord built us up again from the inside out.
     No one is ever promised an easy life that skips over difficulties like a child at play.  Nor are we always treated fairly by the world system or at times, other Christians.  In fact, Jesus reminds us in John 16:33:  "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  It is only through Christ that we can overcome the wounds we have faced.  We must never let scars hold us back from trusting in the Lord but instead, see them as a point of God's redemption.  He takes what is meant for evil by the enemy of our souls and turns it for our good and His purpose.  May we rejoice in this truth and give Him the glory!  Selah!

Have you experienced scars in your life that God has healed?  I welcome your thoughts.
   

No Condemnation

     This is a busy time of year for many families.  Ours is no exception.  In May, alone, we have five
birthdays.  Added to these types of celebrations, there are also lots of graduation open houses to attend and vacations to plan in the weeks to come.  With all the activity, tempers can flare and words can be spoken that ought not pass our lips.  We have all experienced this to one extent or another at times when we are overloaded, not feeling well, or stressed.  Unfortunately, our tongues can sting others as mightily as a whip.  When we realize what we have said or done, we know the guilt feeling that rises within as the Holy Spirit reminds us that we have transgressed not only towards another but also against our Lord.  Upon that recognition, we would do well to practice 1 John 1:9:  "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Following sincere repentance, we should put to rest all the guilt we felt and accept God's forgiveness.  But what if we still feel estranged from God?
     In Paul's letter to the Romans 8:1-2, he writes:  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."  I think this needs to be before our eyes and seared into our memory banks so we never forget this.  When we are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are clothed in His righteousness.  God looks upon us and no longer sees our sinful heart.  Instead, He, Himself, has given to us a new heart.
     Christ has made us free; however, when we do fall and walk in the flesh, there is no condemnation.  We are not utterly cast off!  This is the Good News of the Gospel.  I wish I could stop writing at this point with this said.  Nevertheless, there is a lot of false guilt being laid upon the children of God by the enemy of our souls.  This is not guilt resulting from sin, but instead, it comes as a result of a works mentality that has slipped into the Body of Christ.  We may impose this guilt upon ourselves as we tell ourselves we are not doing enough...in church...in the home....at work.  Or we may fall under the spell of an errant teaching that is out there which requires Jesus + something else in order to please God.  That is why it is so critical to know the Word.  Read Romans 8:1-2 again.  Paul could not be any clearer.  "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus..."  We must not allow ourselves, like the Galatians, to fall under the sway of false teachers who told them they had to be circumcised in order to please God.  Likewise, we need to address those vain imaginations we sometimes raise up in our own minds that tell us we are not worthy of God's love.  Our Lord's Word is true and if our heart does not condemn us of a sin then we need to dismiss Satan's lies.
     Paul tells the Galatians in 5:1:  "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."  Good words for us to live by and remember.  We must not allow anyone to place us into bondage again when we know that in and through our Savior there is no condemnation. False guilt used by others to manipulate us into believing our salvation is Jesus + something  has no place in our thinking.
     If we do sin against our Lord, we know that our forgiveness is assured when we repent.  Therefore, when we do fall into short tempers over busy schedules, let us stop and turn it over to the Lord.  Let me close with a portion of a Puritan prayer that serves as a good model for our own:
     "Holy Lord, I have sinned times without number, and been guilty of pride and unbelief, of failure to find thy mind in thy Word, of neglect to seek thee in my daily life.  My transgressions and short-comings present me with a list of accusations, but I bless thee that they will not stand against me, for all have been laid on Christ;  Go on to subdue my corruptions, and grant me grace to live above them.  Let not the passions of the flesh nor lustings of the mind bring my spirit into subjection, but do thou rule over me in liberty and power"   (The Valley of Vision, pg. 138).
     Once we have laid all things at the foot of the cross, we must live in the freedom of knowing that "there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."  Selah!

 

An "Ah Ha" Moment

     A couple of weeks ago, my dear husband and I traveled to see our son and daughter-in-law for the weekend.  We attended church with them on Sunday morning and our daughter-in-law read a passage of Scripture that was eye opening to me.  I had heard it many times before and read it myself but on this particular day, it really spoke to me.  That is one reason why I love Scripture reading so much.  The Bible is truly alive and active in our lives if we will take time to sit in the presence of God through the pages of His Word.

     Her Scripture reading came from Romans 5:1-11:  “Therefore since we have been  justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  For while we were still weak, at just the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person-though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved to him from the wrath of God.  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  More than that, we also rejoice to God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

     What a passage of Scripture this is!  Throughout this section, there are words of encouragement to be found in a day and age when encouragement is in scarce supply.  Consider some of these points that the Apostle Paul makes.   First, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  While there may be war in this world or conflict between our neighbors, we can live in and experience complete peace with God.  Our broken relationship with Him has been mended and made new again.  Secondly, we not only experience peace, but our relationship with Christ has given us access to God.  We can go to Him day and night with all our requests, needs, hurts and praise.  No longer is there is barrier or chasm that separates us.

 

     Another blessing of our relationship with Christ is found in the ability to face suffering.  We now have hope.  While our trials are not necessarily pleasant, we know that God will use what the enemy means for evil and He will use it to build endurance in our lives.  This endurance will, in turn, produce character which leads to hope.  It is a winning situation.  Without Christ, our trials did not produce hope.  In fact, they often led to despair. Now, however, the reverse is true.  How great and mighty our God is!

     A fourth aspect of this passage of God’s Word deals with the Holy Spirit which is given to every believer at the time they accept Jesus Christ as Savior.  Having the Spirit live within us brings about change.  We are filled with God’s love and able to see things from His perspective where we could not before.  The Holy Spirit guides, teaches, comforts and leads us to know our heavenly Father and understand His Word.  There is no one like Him and God has placed Him in our hearts!

     For me, verse 6 really jumped out.  It reads:  “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”  I take comfort in these words which point to the perfection of God’s timing.  Christ came at just the right time!  God is Sovereign and has a plan both in terms of salvation and specifically a plan to use our lives to His glory.  Isn’t that exciting?  It is to me!  We do not need to give up if something doesn’t come to pass according to our timetable.  It will be done if the Lord wants it to be completed.  So, we can rest in that and trust in Him.

     A final blessing comes in the knowledge that we are reconciled with God.  We were separated from our Creator by sin in our life but through the death of His Son Jesus Christ, we are now reconciled to God.  This healing of relationship also leads to more stable relationships with those around us.  When we can love like God does, we can build healthy friendships, marriages and parenting skills.  This is where it all begins…with that reconciliation. 

     When I listened to this passage read, it really was an “Ah Ha” moment for me.  It really summarizes all that God has done for us and should give us encouragement each day.  Ponder this passage and meditate on it.  I guarantee that it will bring you an “A Ha” moment as well.   Selah!

PS  To all my readers, my husband and I will be shortly heading off for our 40th wedding anniversary on a wonderful trip abroad.  I am planning to take my trusty IPAD so I can post on my blog and send photos from the places we travel.  This is a very special celebration for us.  Hard to believe it has been 40 years!  So...bear with me....for the next few weeks, my format will be a little different than usual.  However, I hope you enjoy looking through my eyes at the things we will discover.

I welcome your thoughts and insights here.  Please feel free to leave a comment.