Love notes

The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter “L”

   

Thy steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, thy faithfulness to the clouds. – Psalm 36:5 (RSV)
      
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.  – 1 John 4:16 (NKJV)
      
      
My first high school boyfriend, a tall, skinny basketball player nicknamed “Rebo” (short for “rebound” – his job on the court) was the first boy in high school who liked me back. Finally, I got love notes like the other girls. I was loved! Oh, joy! He even gave me a huge stuffed St. Bernard that took up nearly half my single bed for Valentine’s Day. I named it “Rebo.” (Duh.)
      
Our romance lasted three months. On the bus ride home from our class picnic at the end of the school year, he handed me a note and told me not to read it until I got home.
      
It was a “Dear Michele” letter.
      
I was devastated. I mean, I finally get a boy to like me back, and he dumps me for a cheerleader!
      
I grieved all summer, sitting in the dark living room on the hard floor in front of the stereo, listening to Bobby Vinton and all those emo songs back then. I didn’t think I’d ever run out of tears or that my heart, shattered in a million pieces, would ever be whole again.
      
Then one summer evening, I went to a church bazaar with friends, including the boy who became my high school sweetheart. It was the last night of the event, and the magical August night sky blossomed with fireworks to end the evening.
      
Well, that was the first display of fireworks that night. The second was when I arrived home after walking my best friend, who lived across town, home. I should have called when we got to Kathie’s house. (Remember, no cell phones existed back then.)
      
It was after midnight when I climbed the front porch steps. My father, who’d never gotten angry with me before, met me at the door – not unruffled and quiet, like he usually was. After our heated exchange, I stormed to my room, grounded for two weeks.
      
I treated Dad with icy silence the next day, Sunday. Monday he left for work. He traveled for his job and would be gone a week.
      
Wednesday I received a letter.
        
My dear Michele, Dad wrote. Perhaps by now you are over the mad spell at me for scolding you.
      
It had been the first time I’d ever stayed out late without calling, he explained.
       
I was sick with worry after walking up to the bazaar and not finding you there, he wrote. By that time I was imagining everything.
      
Mom told me he’d ventured out in his pajamas, poking through the bushes along the way.
       

It is so hard for a parent to be cross with a child, he concluded. But sometimes it is necessary for your own good. Perhaps when you have children of your own, you will understand how we feel.
      
My icy heart melted. One moment of panic, I realized, doesn’t cancel out years of steadfast love. I clutched the letter to my heart, tears once more filling my eyes. But this time they were tears of joy.
      
Love notes – I think my father’s trumps them all.
      
      
Thank you, Father God, for Your steadfast, faithful, and unfailing love. And thank you for the Bible, Your love note to me. Amen.

Special-Tea: Read Romans 8:31–39

(Love note image courtesy of StuartMiles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

God is Holy

The ABC’s of knowing God better:  

The letter “H”

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD almighty. – Isaiah 6:3 (NIV)

“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44 (NIV)

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy.”  – 1 Peter 1:15–16 (NIV)

Of all God’s attributes, I struggle with His holiness the most. He is perfect, totally and completely pure. He cannot sin. It’s not His nature. His Word says He cannot even look upon sin: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrong” or “look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13).

While I don’t consider myself evil or wicked, neither am I perfect. I feel much like Isaiah in today’s reading: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Or the apostle Peter, when, courtesy of a Jesus miracle, returned with the catch of a lifetime: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

That’s what understanding – truly understanding – God’s holiness does to us. Instead of strutting around, complaining, defiantly declaring that God has some explaining to do when we get to heaven, we fall on our faces before Him, utterly undone because we finally understand His holiness and our unholiness.

But we are not undone.

“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’” (Isaiah 6:7).

And what did Jesus say to Peter? “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10).

God is holy, yes. We, by nature, are unholy. But we don’t have to clean up our act. God Himself washes us:

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

Sin carries with it the death sentence, but God has inked a pardon in his Son’s blood: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “The blood of His Son Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7)

In our stead, Jesus went to the death chamber – and came out alive three days later, releasing us from the power and punishment of sin. (Read Hebrews 9 and 10)

I don’t need to struggle with or be intimidated by holiness. Because, while God requires His children to be holy, He provides a way – the only way (see John 14:6) – for us to become holy and enter into His presence – now and forever.     

Father, I feel so unworthy of the sacrifice your Son made for me. As the song says, “I should have been crucified. I should have suffered and died. I should have hung on that cross in disgrace, but Jesus, God’s Son took my place.”* Thank you. Help me to live my life in such a way that Your implanted divine nature in me matures and produces a harvest for You. Amen.

Special-Tea: Read Isaiah 6:1–9

*“I Should Have Been Crucified,” by Gordon Jensen, © 1973

God is good

The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter “G”

Taste and see that the LORD is good. – Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
      
“I am the good shepherd.” – Jesus, as quoted in John 10:11, 18 (NIV)
      
      
As a child, I was strongly encouraged to be good – obey my parents and teachers, respect my elders, do my homework, inform my parents of my whereabouts and call if I was going to be late. I wasn’t to do anything that would bring shame and dishonor to the family name. My parents taught me that “a good name is more desirable than great riches” (Proverbs 22:1).
      
I attended a good school – one with a reputation for academics, discipline and a faith-based curriculum. My parents were good people – honest, hardworking, faithful.
      
I was taught to believe that good will triumph over evil.
      
Foods may taste good but sometimes aren’t good for your health. A relationship may be good or bad. Ideas may be good or bad, and sometimes we have to wait to find out. Actions are good or bad. Are there any in between? Declaring something “good” requires judgment, and aren’t we supposed to not judge?
      
But some things are clearly good and some clearly bad. If you read Scripture, it isn’t hard to figure out which is which. God’s Word sets the standard, draws a clear line between good and bad.
      
In the beginning, God declared all He created “good” (see Genesis 1). How could creation not reflect the Creator? And the Creator is good.
      
God didn’t become good. He always was good. God cannot lose His goodness. He is, was, and always will be everything that the word encompasses.
      
What does “good” encompass? My dictionary defines “good” as “excellent; right, as it ought to be; desirable; satisfying; pleasant; kind; friendly; real, genuine; beneficial.” To that I add: “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy” (Philippians 4:8).
      
I look at today’s world and think we as a society have stopped believing in good. Life and culture have led us to believe that evil has eclipsed good. That good is weak, and bad is strong. That “good” is a thing of the past.
      
I refuse to believe that. Good is still a force to be reckoned with. Good is still stronger than evil.
      
How do I know?
      
Because God is good. And God is not dead. Nor is He passive. He’s very much alive and active in the world today.
      
I chose today’s Scripture readings, Psalm 23 and John 10, carefully. Meditate on all the Good Shepherd does for you personally: He leads, He provides, He protects, He restores, He refreshes, He comforts, He loves – so much that He lays down His own life so you, the sheep, may live.
      
“The LORD is good to all,” the psalmist writes, “He has compassion on all that He has made” (Psalm 145:9). Still true.
      
“The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD” (Psalm 33:5 NKJV).
      
We need only eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that responds in child-like faith and trust. What you focus on is what you see.
      
It’s your choice.
             
Open my eyes, my heart, my mind and my spirit to Your goodness, O Lord. Amen.
      

Special-Tea: Read Psalm 23 and John 10:1–18

Special-Tea: Read Psalm 23 and John 10:1–18     
      

Compassionate God

The ABC’s of knowing God better: the letter C

Quy Hoa Leper Hospital, Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam

When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. – Exodus 22:27 (NIV)
      
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. – Psalm 103:8 (NIV)
      
      

When I was researching historical background for Part 1 of my novel, The Heart Remembers, which is set in Vietnam during the war, I discovered an interesting fact: Medical teams from the military hospitals were often sent into nearby villages when there was a lull in their hectic schedules to treat the locals. One of the places they visited was the Quy Hoa Leper Hospital in Binh Dinh province.
      
I was intrigued not only by the compassion shown by U.S. troops in the middle of an ugly war but also by the way this hospital treated lepers.
      
The hospital itself is located in a secluded cove, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with one of

Quy Hoa Beach, Vietnam

the nicest beaches in the area as the fourth boundary. But far from being depressing, the hospital grounds are more like a resort, and the patients live with their families in small, well-kept houses. They work, too — in the rice fields, the fishing industry, and in repair and craft shops.  
      
That’s a far cry from the way lepers were treated in biblical times, when they were the “untouchables,” forbidden to associate with anyone else but another leper. They were to cry out “Unclean!” whenever healthy people were in the vicinity, and if someone touched a leper, that person was considered defiled and was then shunned.
      
Unable to live with their loved ones, lepers were relegated to colonies outside the town limits and, being unemployable, begged for handouts to survive.
      
We can understand the desperation the leper felt when he approached Jesus, dropped down on his knees, and said, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
      
The Son of God did not shun him. Instead, “filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said.”
      
I like the way The Message phrases it: “Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I want to. Be clean.’”
      
The Son of God didn’t have to touch the leper. He wanted to. It would have been better if he hadn’t. Now he’d be considered defiled. But as one commentary put it, “Jesus’ compassion for the man superseded ceremonial considerations.”
      
Compassion is defined as “sharing the hurts of another and wanting to help.”
      
It’s one thing to feel sorry for someone. But it’s another to feel so sorry that you have to do something – anything – to help that person.
      
Think of the outpouring of love and help when disaster strikes: when Hurricane Sandy devastated the Eastern Seaboard, when a mentally unstable gunman shot and killed 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Or 9-11. People with no connections to anyone in the disaster-stricken areas dropped what they were doing, loaded up provisions, and drove hours to find a way to help. 
      
Compassion trumps policy, procedure, ritual, ceremony, even common sense. Compassion is what drove Jesus. Compassion is what drives God. It is why he sent his Son to die in our place.
      
But we don’t have to wait until disaster strikes to show compassion. We can show it every day. Just look around. Ask God to open your eyes.
      
Who are the lepers in your world? The untouchables? The ones outside the city gate, shunned by “decent folks”?
      
Who can you reach out and touch today?
        
  
Fill me with Your compassion, Lord! Amen.

 

Special-Tea: Read Lamentations 3:21–23, 32; Mark 1:40–45

      
      
      

My word

Renew a steadfast spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10 (NIV)

      
      
When the latest round of New Year’s resolutions took the shape of just one word, I scoffed.
      
One word to sum up all I wanted to accomplish in 2014?

Huh-uh. I struggle to keep within the word limit for my column. In fact, many weeks I delete more than a hundred words from the first draft. When I have a speaking engagement, I watch the clock carefully. If there’s none in sight (and many times there isn’t) and my husband is in the audience, he sits in the back and waves his cell phone to signal it’s time to start wrapping up. Long-winded – that’s me, all right.
      
One word.
      
Then, out of the blue, it came to me, my one word for 2014:

Steadfast.
      
Where did that come from? I wondered. I wasn’t even thinking about it, and I certainly didn’t plan to jump on the “one word for the year” bandwagon.
      
But there it was. In all its naked truth.

Steadfast.
      
I knew the second it planted itself in my mind, heart and spirit that it is my word.
      
I looked it up online. “Fixed in direction; firm in purpose, resolution, faith, attachment; unwavering; firmly established; firmly fixed in place or position,” I read at Dictionary.com.
      
I looked up Scripture that used the word. I noted the words the Amplified Version uses in Psalm 51:10: “Renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.”
      
Then I looked back at 2013. While I persevered at a few things, I hadn’t completed others – things I could have and should have finished, that were within my power to do so. But I didn’t.
      
I need steadfast.
      
First, I need to be steadfast in spending time with God. I tend to start out the year reading the Bible and praying with gusto. Then eventually I peter out. I didn’t even start this year with any zeal. Twice, and it’s not even three weeks into January, I’ve blocked a chunk of time to get caught up on my Bible reading. Now that I’m caught up, I need to be steadfast and stay caught up.
      
And I need to be steadfast in sitting still and just listening. Too many times I don’t hear what God is trying to tell me because my mind is flitting about like a hummingbird. I need to remember Isaiah 26:3: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast” (stayed or fixed on God).
      
Second, I need to be steadfast with my ER-ER (Eat Right-Exercise Regularly) program and make it a lifestyle. Two years ago I lost 25 pounds, then went back to feeding my addiction for bread and pasta, and gained it all back. I felt tired and lethargic. Now that I’m back on track, I have more energy and feel so much better. But I must remain firm in my purpose of obtaining and maintaining good health through ER-ER.
      
Third, I need to be steadfast in my work – professionally and personally. Finish that novel, then rewrite and edit it. Review student writing lessons in a timely manner. Personally, keep ahead of the clutter.
      
STEADFAST.
      
Yep, it’s a good word for me.
      
What about you – what is your word for 2014?
      
      
Renew a steadfast spirit within me, O Lord – daily, hourly, minute by minute. Amen.

Special-Tea:  Read 1 Corinthians 15:58

      
      

The ABC's of knowing God better

O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! – Psalm 63:1 (TLB)
      
And You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. – Jeremiah 29:13 (NKJV)
      
Come March, I’ll have been writing my weekly newspaper column for 17 years. Quite frankly, it’s downright scary. Think about it: one column a week or 52 columns a year for 17 years – that’s 884 columns.
      
Granted, I’ve recycled some, but when I sit down at the computer on Friday morning (deadline time), fear washes over me. What haven’t I written about? What can I write that will be fresh, original, true to Scripture? What words will deepen our understanding of who God is, and how He expects us to live? That will reach out to readers’ hearts and draw them closer to the God I love, serve and struggle to know better? What aspects of the Christian walk haven’t been written about not only by me but by others?
      
When my kids were living at home, they provided much fodder for this writer. But no more. They are adults living lives of their own, and I must respect their privacy. The empty nest provides little in terms of writing material. My poor husband says, “We have no skeletons in our closets.” He’s a good sport and never complains when I write about him or some interesting tidbit of our life together.
      
I ran out of “Michele” long ago. The well of creativity, I feel, has been plumbed dry.
      
So every time I sit and face a blank screen, I close my eyes, bow my head and pray, “Lord, what do You want to say through me? Who needs to hear what from You? Write this column through me.”
      
Sometimes I’m pleased with what flows from my fingers. Sometimes I’m not. But when I hit SEND, I have to trust that God answered my prayer and someone out there needs the words I sometimes think are ineffective.
      
In 2013, I focused on the theme of “hope.”
      
This year, 2014, liking schedules and lists as I do (must be the teacher in me), I’ve decided to explore God’s attributes using the alphabet. Not only will that give me 26 ideas for columns, but will also provide an opportunity for us – for me as the writer and you as the reader – to explore more deeply who God is and what having faith in Him means in our daily lives.
      
When I first started writing, I wrote a prayer that I ask you to pray with me throughout 2014:
    
      
Bless me with Your creativity, O Lord. Sharpen my mind, my thinking. Bless me with originality and creativity – creativity of ideas and of expression. May my writing be fresh, crisp, refreshing, like a breath of fresh air in a stale and stagnant room. Let it inspire others to a practical faith, a deeper commitment, and a closer walk with You. May it encourage better relationships with others and provide discernment and guidance. Change lives through the words You give Me. Amen.

Special-Tea: Read Psalm 63

(Next week, we’ll seek God through the letter “A.” We’ll explore a new letter every two weeks.)

Blessings,
Michele