God's Resolutions for 2014

1) To be consistent. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8

2) To love you, no matter what. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

3) To stick with you always, no matter what. Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

4)To be forgiving As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

5) To listen intently and be available. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord.. Jeremiah 29:12-14a

6) To give lots of mulligans and second chances. Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

7) To work it all out, for your good and His glory. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:28-29

8) To keep His promises, every last one of them. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:7-8

But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3: 8-9

I do not know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future.

The Crucible - a poem

Just took a few minutes to begin letting the poetic inclinations flow. It feels unfinished, but it also ceased to flow. This is an interesting gift I bear... if it is in fact a gift at all. Anyway, here it is...

The Crucible

Tender mercies draw me near
In the darkness I see You here

“Come to Me,” I hear You call
Into Your arms I long to fall

Hold me dear and whisper sweet,
Into Your grace I must retreat

In the silence I seek Your voice
To pursue Your heart is my choice

Things about not as they ought to be
My faith in You is an anchor for me

The storms about it twists and blows
What comes next no one knows

Changing always is this life
This world replete with pain and strife

‘Tis not our home is what You’ve said
Heaven’s our home on up ahead

This season’s purpose is to refine
To knit Your heart into mine

This crucible is to test and distill
Pressure and pain purifies for Your will

Change and growth it will demand
But in Your likeness I'll someday stand

That’s the promise You’ve made to me
In my reflection more of You I'll see

That’s the joy to be found in the trial
The pain of the crucible is but for a while

But the glory’s eternal and belongs to You
As You’ll redeem my life the way that You do

Your Word is certain, Your promise sure
On these alone I stand secure

Though now Your work is yet complete
Your purpose for me none can defeat

All things together knit by Your hand
In Your likeness I’ll eventually stand

Whenever my dying breath may be
Until that day You’re working in me

Sometimes the pain and pressure great
But the curse of self it will abate

Your work You continue in love and care
Shaping me into a proper heir

A perfect reflection eventually seen
Lifetime of sanctifying making me clean

That’s the someday that’ll eventually come
Today is the place I’ll journey from

So when in this darkness it’s hard to see
I will look for You beckoning me

And in tender mercies as You draw me near
I’ll surrender to Your purposes here.

And in the crucible I’ll find my joy
For it’s a place You build not destroy

Character, hope, and faith will grow
And more of You I’ll truly know

By Diana DePriest
© January 8, 2014

Things not seen...

As I am looking around lately, I do not see a lot that instills hope in me - not personally, not financially, not nationally, not globally. I look about and see so much more that wants to water fear and discouragement.

This morning I am a bit overwhelmed by several of these things that fan fear and angst. I had to stop myself and take a deep breath walking up the stairs at work. My thoughts like a gut punch, I had to just be still for a moment and take a slow, deep breath.

Bent a little and gripping to the side rails up the stairs a phrase of scripture wafted through my brain. "...things not seen..."

I know the verse it comes from, I recite it to myself quickly:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
Now if I am going to be honest, I must confess that as much as I treasure this scripture and accept it as truth, I also find it one of the hardest things to do a s Christian, to be the champion of "things not seen." But it is in fact as Christians a large part of our calling, because so much, dare I say most, of the essence of our faith is UNSEEN.

In the midst of difficulty and tragedy even, we as Christians hold to a promise that (even this) "All things work together for good for those that love God." We hold to it over sickbeds, in prayer over wayward children, at the loss of jobs, homes, marriages, family members. We stand in faith holding on to the promise we cannot see yet fulfilled.

It's good that with our brothers and sisters we can stand together on the "unseen." But it is challenging when we stand before those who hold no hope of Christ. I think it is the challenge of our faith, and yet perhaps also the essence of it. In the perplexity of those who do not share our beliefs, might it not rise up an envy or admiration for a peace they cannot comprehend? In some ways, I think perhaps that is the goal. Too woo those who do not know the truth, who long for a peace that surpasses understanding (of what is seen) and settles in the heart of those who believe and stand on what is not.

I think that's why we are told "perfect peace" is kept for those whose mind is fixed on God (Isaiah 26:3). Who in all practicality is also "unseen."

Sometimes I am tempted to pray (or guilty of praying) "God give me a sign. Show me something that gives me hope." And as I type that it occurs to me, I think God's answer is simply, "Look at Me."

That's what I did when I stood back up straight and walked the rest of the way up the stairs. I took my eyes off of all that felt like the gut punch and looked to what I cannot see with my physical eyes, but I know to be real and true to the very depth of my being: God, His Word, His promises.

As I look ahead, I stand as the dichotomy of flesh and spirit - everything in my "self" that sees reason and justification to fear and doubt is silenced by my soul who knows intimately well the goodness and faithfulness of God, the truthfulness of His promises and the Hope that IS in the person of Christ.

Things not seen.... Beautiful.

The thing about pain and stress....

I was thinking this morning about when my kids were little. We are a "roughhouse" family - even to now, a pinch or a smack in a timely manner is shared among family members all in "the name of humor." Maybe it's because my hubby grew up with brothers or because I grew up with no siblings at all, but it's not completely shocking for a "dog pile" or a wrestling match to erupt on our living room floor. It's how we roll.

But this morning I was thinking about when I used to flick my kids behind the ears, mostly my boys - and how it created two completely different responses in them. Whereas Jacob would shake his woolly head and shake off the little offense, Ethan on the other hand would often end up in tears. Needless to say, I didn't flick him much for that reason.

I never flicked Ethan any harder than I ever did Jacob, but their reactions were very different. I remember saying to Ethan a time or two, "I didn't flick you that hard." And in all sincerity I hadn't, but Ethan would look me dead in the eye and tell me from the depth of himself, "Mom, that HURT."

And that's what occurred to me this morning - the injury or infliction may be measurable, it may be something we can judge from the "outside," but the pain itself is completely subjective. I knew that when I looked into Ethan's little tear stained eyes. When he told me it HURT, he meant it. And I could tell by looking at him, it hurt a LOT.

I look around at a lot of people in my life, myself included who are hurting and struggling in one level of pain or another. Sickness, loss, loneliness, fear, financial struggle - they are all creating levels of pain and stress in the lives I see around me.

It's easy to look at someone else's situation and make comparisons. Sometimes it causes us to judge the other person - we think, "What is their problem? That's not that bad..." I know for me I think people might be thinking about that when I am too apparent in my struggles. And sometimes too we have the opposite response. I think about our struggles and they suddenly seem very small compared to someone who is dealing with death, disease or devastation. Now mind you, perspective is a GOOD thing, but at the same time it's not a call to be dismissive of the hurt or stress we feel.

I think it's very important to realize a few things:

(1) Pain is a gift. What? Yes, a gift. What do I mean about that? It's a warning system that God created within us to protect us. Whether it's the pain in your hand that causes you to draw it away from a hot stove, or the pain in your heart that causes you to reevaluate what you've gotten too close to or too far from to be healthy - it's a gift. It tells us there is something that we need to do in response to the pain. Also, not all pain is bad. The great pain of physical labor in a woman birthing a child helps to bring new life forth. Likewise sometimes in the spiritual and emotional sense, pain is required to bring forth change and new life in those areas as well. If we did not ache in places where we shouldn't be, we just might stay there.

(2) Pain and stress are completely relative." I could flick Ethan's ears today and not at all get the same response I once did when he was younger. Is it because he's older? Or because his ear's are healthier? (He actually had a lot of ear problems when he was little.) No one can say for sure, except that SOMETHING changes. It's like the pain of grief. It does change, and in some ways subside - but not on a schedule, and not in the same manner or way for each one. A lost job or a lost loved one, some adapt more quickly, some struggle longer. Sometimes change takes a long time, and sometimes it's a very sudden improvement, or for another three steps forward and two steps back, and even another two steps forward three steps back. Everyone has to walk out the process on their own. Stress too is relative. I've had days where the car breaking down could send me over an edge, and others where I can manage a far greater crisis in peace. So many outside factors to account for, but at the end the point is, we cannot judge another's pain or stress level because we have no accurate point of reference.

(3) God understands. That's the most important factor of all. God gets it. And He does not differentiate between one man's pain and another to prioritize who He ought to comfort and who ought to get over him/herself. The Bible describes Himself as "the God of all comfort." It tells us He comforts us "in ALL our afflictions..." (pain and stress) and makes no mention of it having to reach a certain level, or supersede that of another to qualify. He just IS the God of all comfort for each of us who needs it.

What I'm walking away with this revelation from this morning is this: (1) Be compassionate - towards others especially, and without judgment. People are hurting and under a lot of stress, and we need to be sensitive to their hurt and struggle without quantifying it. We don't know all the factors. If they are hurting or overwhelmed (and most people are to some degree or another) then be the hands and feet of the God of all comfort to the best of your ability in whatever capacity and opportunity you are given. (2) Don't exclude yourself from the "right" to comfort. - Don't be dismissive of your own pain or affliction, don't ignore it or belittle it, don't be ashamed of it, but rather respond to it in a healthy manner. Figure out the what response you need to make to it. I would say first and foremost move toward the Lord in it. He is the Great Physician, and no one knows suffering more than He. Most of all He has made the invitation to us, "Come all you who are weary and heavy laden..." God calls the hurting and struggling and promises comfort and rest.

If you are not one of the hurting today, be joyful and GRATEFUL in that place, and be a conduit for those around you by directing them toward the Source of comfort with your compassion, a gentle word, a listening ear, a time of prayer. But if you are hurting, pursue the God of comfort for yourself. I encourage you, He is waiting with open arm ready to enfold you in His love and grace and help you move to a healthier and stronger place.

Clean Slates

There's something about a fresh start. Whether as a writer with a blank piece of paper (blank screen?), a painter's new canvas, or opening a door on a snowy morning to a fresh blanket of snow (not part of my normal experience) or turning the "page" on a calendar to a new month, or even better a new year, almost everyone I know likes a new opportunity.

So we've turned the page, and 2014 is here, and the slate it clean (I hope you didn't muck it up too badly on January 1st anyway.) So what's next?

Some of you are resolution makers. I am not one of them. If I were, yesterday would have been very bad for this girl who spent most of the day on the couch overeating and failing to open her Bible or any redemptive reading of any sort at all, but I digress. Some of you ARE resolution makers, and you have your determinations set. I won't go down the discouraging statistics of broken resolutions, but rather I will cheer on those of you who are giving up sugar, signing up at the gym, breaking out a new Bible reading plan, or changing some other habit that you feel needs to be altered or abandoned. Good for you! Blessings on your endeavors! Go for it!

Some of you are goal setters. You are likely the visionaries. You don't just look at the details, you look at the direction you want to head. You're not just joining a gym, you see yourself, you see yourself running your first half marathon. You're not just giving up sugar, you see yourself two sizes smaller. You're not just starting a reading plan, you see yourself reading all the way through your Bible in a year! I am not a visionary, but I admire those of you who are. Go! Achieve your goals! Make yourselves (and the world?) a better place!

There's more of you blank slate responders. There are the hopers, the ones who hope things will change, happen or improve in the New Year. There are also the pray-ers. You're the ones who hope and put your faith into it by actually asking God to help you accomplish it. The prayer factor is a good one to add to any of the other clean slate responses. With your resolution set, pray for help and strength. For the goal setter, pray for favor and direction. It's all good. Prayer is good, and something about praying over a clean slate that just instills a little more hope and expectation. It's like a spark of a flame, and prayer is the best way to fan it. In all honesty, I am NOT the best pray-er either, but that I plan to work on in 2014...

Those are my first steps onto the snow of 2014, the first words on the page, fisrt brush stroke onto the canvas... I want to pray more.

It's not a resolution. Because really, it's about conversation and relationship with God. It's not a goal, because how do I measure it? What is "enough"? And if I get there, do I stop? That would be just silly.

So my non-resolution, non-goal intention? plan? steps?... for 2014 is to pray more because I want to get to know God more. I want to go deep (I won't even declare it "deeper") with Him.

I do it with one thought in mind though. God's economy is not an annual clean slate the way we like to make it. We decide ever 365 days (366 on leap year) to give ourselves this said fresh start. But God says His way is to give a fresh start every morning. Except He calls it something different.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
So my second thought on the New Year is simply this, I'm going to take 2014 one day at a time, maybe even one step at a time. Back in early December my end of the year started to fall apart - my eating, my reading, my (total lack of) exercise. And I honestly looked ahead at the coming clean slate of 2014 and threw the rest of 2013 in the trash, and I did a lot of damage waiting for the biggest canvas. So I think I will find wisdom in waking up with a clean slate every morning. I know even the poor choices of yesterday (no bible, no exercise, and bad food) can be put behind me in this day. And that's what I want for 2014.

So I have this in my heart, to seek God continually, to go deep with Him, and to remember each new day comes with new mercy, new opportunity and new hope. Welcome 2014, I plan to take you in moment by moment and day by day.

Schizophrenic faith...

"When we all get to heaven... what a day of rejoicing that will be.... when we all see Jesus... we'll sing and shout the victory..."

That song was playing in my head this morning... RANDOM! But it got me thinking....

You know what I think is going to happen on that day of rejoicing? A big collective sigh of relief. You know what about? The fact that we got there even though we got a lot - a LOT - of things wrong...

I inadvertently upset the atheist set on Twitter earlier this week. I posted an article that I thought was an interesting that surmised that it's not possible for one to be a "good atheist." I think some of the reaction was misinterpretation at the title, because it wasn't saying someone couldn't be a good person and be an atheist, it talked about the contradictions in the "faith" (my word) of atheism. I don't get Twitter updates on my phone so it was hours later before I stopped back by so there was a list of angry and irritated responses by the time I got there, making lots of surmises about me and what I believe. You'd have thought they were Christians they way that they made angry and defensive generalizations. (Wink, wink - get a sense of humor my Christian friend.)

One of the "points" that came up in the ensuing discussion was the inconsistency of our faith. Someone said something to the effect of "if you got a room full or pastors/ preachers in one room and asked them all the same questions you'd get a whole variety of differing answers." And it's true.

There are so so so many topics "we" (the church) disagree on. To name a few: the gifts (uh hello, tongues?); the place of women in ministry and the church; the rapture; the last days (pre-trib, post-trib, mid-trib); pre-destination vs. free will; Arminianism and Calvinism (look it up)... The list goes on and on. And our precious little "Body" is divided all over the place. If we were able to make a person-sized model, the reality is it would be a wretch of a schizophrenic chap.

And every sect of us is totally convinced we are right and our answers are absolute. And let's face facts, we can't all be right. Either the pre-tribbers or post-tribbers have a solid "I told you so" up ahead, I don't actually think we'll have any interest in speaking it when the time comes, but the opportunity will be there for someone (Me, I don't think you mid-tribbers have a shot, but maybe - you'll have the right to give me an "in your face!" if I'm mistaken.

I think it's sad that so many Christians are afraid to admit they don't have all the answers, and instead of denying that there is a certain level of "blind faith" in our faith. There's a leap we all take - for some of us it's a longer wider leap than for others, but at the end of the day, even the most studied and certain theologist or the most "sense it and believe it" prophetically gifted pentacostal has a gap between what they know and what is real.

I think the reality is the world is completely black and white, right and wrong, no subjective truth - and I don't believe that a single one of us is going to get 100% A+ on the quiz - thank GOD that we don't have to pass to get into heaven.  I'm glad that this "walk of faith" is really a "best ball" tournament in life and that only the shots Jesus is hitting are going to count for anything in the end.

That's the one thing that is the non-negotiable - Jesus.  "The Way, the Truth and the Life." He said it Himself - NO ONE comes to the Father except by Him.  Everything else has a multitude of interpretations and they just can't all be right.  And it makes me sad when I see Christian friends get all pent up and heated over their need to be absolutely right.  It hurts me because I've been there.

I've been in that place where my need to fight for what I was convinced was RIGHT and TRUE.  I've felt the rush that starts in the stomach and moves up through the shoulders into the brain.  Your blood pressure elevates and your hands begin to shake a little.  Your breath catches in your throat.  A mix of anger and intensity battles for release. You try to choose your words carefully "in Christian love" but the more you disagree the harder it gets to be peaceable and kind.  And that's just when you're disagreeing with another Christian!  Don't even get me started when you are disagreeing with a non-Christian who actually feels like a threat to your faith.

My encouragement to you is simple: when disagreeing with a fellow believer, take a deep breath.  Remember 2 things.  (1) It's OK if you're wrong. It's possible, and worst case scenario, when it's not the "Christ and Him crucified, raised from the dead on the third day" essential, there's a pretty good chance you could actually BE wrong. It's not the end of the world. (2) It's OK to disagree. It's ok to "agree to disagree"

When it comes to unbelievers (non-believers) - my encouragement to you is this, no one was ever argued into the faith. And you need to remember that just because someone doesn't believe what you believe, or even worse, if they are actually against what you believe, they are STILL NOT YOUR ENEMY. The Bible says it "we do not war against flesh and blood." And if you can stand nose to nose or even "tweet to tweet" against another, they are not the enemy. And Jesus didn't call you to come and defend Him or His word - He called you to love and serve the lost and dying world, and let the Holy Spirit be about the work of convincing.

I'm not arguing against your certainty or your beliefs, I am inviting you to at least accept some small measure of "what if." "What if I am mistaken? What if I missed the mark on some point of the plan of salvation? I have news for you, THAT is why Jesus came for you, because "sin" is just "missing the mark," and you need Jesus to fill in the shortcomings in every aspect of who you are - what you believe, what you do, how you act, what you think, how you love - it ALL falls short, and WE all fall short, and it's why Jesus came. NOT to school us, but He came to save us- from our sin and from ourselves.

I'm not negating the importance of knowing and being in God's word, it's study, meditation and instruction are all critical, but keep in mind we all make mistakes. I am not the perfect Christian, you are not the perfect Christian. We are not all-knowing, not all-understanding, and I say it again THAT'S OK.

Let us not focus on the fight and disagreement - let's focus on the love and the unity in the body - those were Christ's priorities for us. "Love God and love one another," those were His greatest commands. "SPEAK GRACE," the bible says "SEASONED with salt." The key there is the message of His love and grace trumps the nitpicky need to talk about the details of what we perceive as absolute truth (remember I am NOT talking about the plan of salvation.)

What if we were actually approachable? What if we could actually have calm conversations about the differences and confusion in what all the different denominations believe about topics that unbelievers get passionate about? What if we could reason together and not get to the contentious point that our passion overwhelms our compassion. What if our sadness over an unbeliever being lost made us love them enough that we didn't have to beat them over the head with our Bibles? What would happen?

Maybe I am completely wrong about all of this. I'm so thankful I'm getting to heaven on Jesus and not on being right - and not on convincing everyone else I'm right either.