Monday, November 29, 2010

When Not to Have a Heart




Like any rural dweller, I have a collection of Hav-a-Heart traps. Generally, there are two types of people who own such traps: either the ones who catch and release, or catch and decease! I, for one, am of the category of people who catch a varmint and dispose of it either in the pond or let my dear husband shoot it with his .22 rifle.

I don't judge the people who catch troublesome, chicken-killing raccoons or disease-ridden opossums only to release them on some other poor sap's land, because I understand that their soft hearts are getting the best of them. However, there is a kind of varmint that should never be released when caught. I am speaking of demons.

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first." (Matthew 12:43-45)

Many times, I encounter Christians who will struggle with a demonic issue. Let us say that the issue is lying, and the Christian compulsively lies even though he knows it's wrong. He wants to be free and cannot battle this demon of lying on his own. Out of a desire for deliverance, he cries out to God to free him, and in response to his broken-hearted cry, God "catches the varmint" for him. So now, he stands freed from his issue and Lying is in a cage. What will he do?

Many, many, many Christians I know will take a "hav-a-heart" approach to spiritual warfare and will believe the best of the Devil, not realizing that getting caught once is not going to "teach him a lesson" about messing with you. If you release this demon from his trap, believing your issue is done with, you may find that it is much like setting a greedy raccoon loose who has had a taste of your chickens. That raccoon may run off for a day or two, frightened from his encounter, but he will get hungry again. If he comes back to your land to find that you've done nothing to change your defenses, he will find a way back into your land to continue to ravage your flock. He may even live to tell his other raccoon buddies where the feast is, and you may be worse off than before.

As it is with greedy raccoons, so it is with demons. Jesus warns that they are prone to want to come back to you once you've "caught and released" them. If you've done nothing to build up your defenses, you will find yourself in a position worse than your original one. Deliverance and freedom are areas to never joke around in or ever let down your guard. Those demons will want to come back, and they will tell their friends where the great feast is. Build your walls high, check for chinks in your armor, and station a watch post (have accountability).

I know that we cannot drown a demon in the pond, shoot them, or even kill them at all. This is why we need to take such a serious approach to maintaining our spiritual freedom. Imagine a chicken farmer living in a land with giant, highly intelligen,immortal, rabid raccoons (yikes!). How dull of mind the farmer would be who would not diligently work to protect his livlihood in the midst of that!

The world, the flesh and the Devil will be here longing to destroy you until the day you are declared victorious and called into Eternal Retirement. "Well done, good and faithful servant," will say our Lord when we arrive after guarding what He has given us.

"To live in ignorance of spiritual warfare is the most naive and dangerous thing a person can do. It's like skipping through the worst part of town late at night, waving your wallet over your head. It's like walking into an Al-Qaida training camp, wearing an 'I love the United States' t-shirt. It's like swimming with great white sharks, dressed as a wounded sea lion and smeared with blood." -John Elderedge 'Waking the Dead'

"Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession the the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:11-12)

I call myself a Christian, and I claim that Christ has made me whole. I will eat of that fruit of my mouth (my proclamation of faith) and experience that which Christ died to share with me. I will show no mercy to my enemy, for he will surely show me none. When my time is done, I shall be able to truthfully say:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Moving Mountains




"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." -Matthew 17:20


I'll be the first to admit that when Jesus says in the Gospels, "I tell you the truth...", I will theologically agree with Him. However, my heart has the audacity to question Him. I do not have great faith. I sometimes wonder of my faith would even be the size of a mustard seed. Perhaps my faith wouldn't even fill the belly of a gnat.

My God is still greater (inside and out) that my failure of a mustard seed. If faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, that's great. Personally, I haven't needed any mountains moved; they seem pretty fine right where they are. However, I've needed hearts changed, diseases cured, favor granted, protection provided, etc. Somehow, my gnat's belly of faith seems not even adequate for this. God is still greater.

God proved this point to me profoundly through my goat. I have a pretty LaMancha doe named Milky Way who was a delight to milk this year. She steadily provided a gallon per day for several months on end. However, into her fourth month of lactation, she developed a horrible case of mastitis. Instead of producing milk, she began to only pass blood clots from her udder. As has been my custom, I laid hands on her and prayed for her healing. However, I had a friend who only weeks earlier had to send in her best Alpine doe to the butcher because she had a bad case of mastitis, too. I didn't really have much faith that Milky Way would be healed. I put her in with the other goats and stopped trying to milk her or treat her altogether. Cases of mastitis like this rarely heal, so I began to plan on having her butchered once her udder dried out completely.

After a week of passing her by on milking, I found her standing at the gate one morning, bawling. I looked at her and realized her udder was enormous. I let her out and she happily trotted to the milk stand. I washed down her udder and had my antibacterial soap ready because I was fully expecting her normal blood clots to come out. To my amazement, nothing but sweet, foamy milk came out and filled my pail. Again, that evening-- pure milk. I continued milking her for another three months before drying her out.

You see, it's not my faith that moves mountains-- it's my God. Instances like this simply grow my faith so that I trust God in the future to be my mountain mover. When I trust Him, we are more intimate--that is why faith is so important--it's not because faith actually (in and of itself) does anything.

My friend, I tell you the truth-- God is big; God is good. Faith in Him can only bring you closer to His heart. Watch mountains move, darkness flee, trees clap hands, and rocks cry out-- God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

"Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man's territory. But, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord'. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." -2 Corinthians 10:15-18

Monday, November 15, 2010

For Such A Wad As I




Prior to now, I've always made my soaps with a vegetable base. My soap's been made from goat milk, coconut oil and olive oil. Now, I'm attempting to make it cheaper by using animal fat instead of coconut oil. I found myself humbled by walking into a butcher's shop, asking for a box of fat.

In order to make the fat suitable for soap-making, it must be rendered. To render it, I must put it over heat and boil it so that the impurities will separate from the pure fat. After the fat liquefies, it is then put through my filter to catch any tidbits that would likely rot the bar of soap or just make your bathing experience less pleasurable (impurities like sinew, veins, meat chunks, hair, etc).

Lifting the lid to my stock pot, sniffing the smell of burning fat, and watching this squishy mass of blubber melt, I contemplate that this nasty blob will soon serve to be an agent of cleansing. It's raw form bears no resemblance to it's finished product. The finished product will be creamy, smooth, sudsy, and smelling like a wonderful something-- lavender? rosemary? Anything but burning cow fat, right?

When I walked into the Kingdom of God, I was about as refined as a dirty hunk of beef suet. God didn't care. He humbles Himself daily to work with me--to refine me. Lifting the lid of His work in progress, I doubt I smell very good! Somehow, though, He finds the smell of my purification to be as sweet as incense, because He knows what I'm becoming. Perhaps, I'm becoming uglier and uglier all the time in the eyes of someone who doesn't know what God is up to with me. He knows. I sort of know. I know that in the end, I will not resemble the dirty wad of grossness that first came to the Throne asking to be made into something of use.

"Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life." (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

Do not worry of what others may think of you during your unpleasant refining process. Man looks at the outward, but God looks at the inward.

"Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Suess

Hallelujah to the King of Kings, who was and is and is to come. Praise Him for my uncomfortable, ugly refining process. All glory to Him for what I'm to be one day. Skim out my impurities, drain away my excess, mold me and make me beautiful and useful! Oh Lord, I trust you. You are the Author and Finisher of my faith. You will make beauty from my ashes, and the filthy rags of my righteousness will be burned up so you may adorn me as your Beloved.


"I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.'" (Zechariah 13:9)

Friday, November 5, 2010

A Nourishing Life



"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)

There are some who would dispute me, but I do not believe animals are capable of love. I believe that they can interpret affection, and I believe they can conjure a sense of loyalty, but I do not believe that they can experience love. Love is so deep, so intricate, so impenetrable and indecipherable by human minds, that I cannot believe that a base creature like an animal can love.

However, there is much I can learn as the clock ticks toward the end of the life of one of our animals headed to the butcher. It is clear that they do not understand mortality; and because of this, they experience no fear or anxiety leading up to their "D-Day". As I prepare to load the cow up the ramp into the truck headed for the slaughterhouse, I ponder what it means to die for the sake of another. My cow is dying for the sake of nourishing me, though he doesn't know it. How much more valuable is it if a person can truly count the cost and willingly lay down his life for someone else and for their benefit?

Jesus is my supreme example of selflessness. He tried to foreshadow to his disciples what it meant that he was about to do for them by dying. At the Last Supper, he claimed that his body would be broken for them and his blood be spilled for them. He then encouraged them to eat his body and drink his blood. They were likely used to Jesus befuddling them, so they probably just went along with what he was saying without fully comprehending what he was communicating.

Jesus's body was broken to nourish us. When we partake of his flesh, we join in his fellowship of suffering. We experience his love inside of us and it compels us to share it with a lost and dying world, just as he did. Jesus is true manna--the Bread of Life-- broken in that fellowship, shared with us so that we may grow spiritually as the Body of Christ. This is a great mystery for those who have never known Jesus or shared in His fellowship of suffering. Truly, it is still rather a mystery even to me; but I have tasted and seen how good Jesus is. His life was a sacrifice for me, and now (out of love) my life is returned to him.

Jesus's blood was spilled for us. Life was not so precious to him that he was willing we should be separated from the Father for eternity. Brothers and sisters-- his sweet blood was spilled...and I know it hurt coming out. Drink up. His life is now your life. It's all for you. His blood runs down and spells out our names. In Genesis, Abel's innocent blood cried out from the ground; it cried for justice. How much more did the innocent Lamb of God's blood cry out? "Father," it said, "Forgive them, for they know not what they're doing." The most perfect and beautiful justice came into being when we were justified before a Holy God because of what Jesus did.

"Mercy, Mercy," screams my blood,
Poured out on the Mercy Seat.
Mercy, Mercy on all mankind--
I was one of them.

Sickness and heartache dwell
In their withering flesh.
Mercy, Mercy on all mankind--
I was one of them.

Hear me pleading, hear me groan--
Let them not be punished.
"Mercy, Mercy," screams my blood--
I was one of them.

These scars are speaking for my brothers
Still bound up in their skins.
Mercy, Mercy on all mankind;
I was one of them.

From me poured the payment
For their wickedness.
"Mercy, Mercy," screams my blood--
I was one of them.

Father, you are holy and just--
Look upon the blood I shed.
Mercy, Mercy on all mankind--
I was one of them.


For all time, the penalty of our sin was paid. We now have the privilege to die daily by walking in the footsteps of the Messiah. We can choose to make our life a nourishing one for those who will follow after us. Do we love others enough to forsake our preferences and rights? Can we count the cost...and still make the right decision? There is mercy enough to cover our mistakes--now let us make our lives a fragrant and beautiful sacrifice. May my very life-blood spell out the names of those I love; and may everyone's names-- from my friends to my enemies-- be found written upon my heart.

Monday, November 1, 2010

A Renegade From the Fold




Sturdy fences are a must. Unfortunately, I don't really have sturdy fences. Many things have broken them down in time. There have been goats that stick their heads through and push with all of their might to reach the farthest blade of grass outside of it, thusly making it sag badly. There have been horses rubbing their enormous rear ends on the posts to scratch a pesky itch, and so the posts now lean. There have been adventurous baby goats that try to crawl through, but get stuck and make me have to cut them out, thusly leaving large holes. There have been deer jumping the fences in order to come drink from our pond, and jumping back out in a hurry to not get caught in the line of fire, creating a problem with ripping the fences clear off the posts at the top.

Because my fences are less than ideal, sometimes I will have a goat get out. This is a problem, because my neighbor has a large garden that he labors extensively over and it's the first thing my goats want to enjoy.

The first couple times I found a goat out of the fence, I panicked and ran after it--big mistake. Seeing a person running at them make them freak out and bolt. If I were to successfully catch my renegade goat, I would need to approach it as if nothing were out of the ordinary. The more nonchalant I could manage to be, the more likely it was that I could catch the goat quickly.

When a brother or sister strays from the fold, I've found that panicking and running after them screaming biblical rebukes might be the last thing you should do if you want them to be returned to the fold. One emotional reaction usually begets another. Speaking gentle truth and approaching in a way to not stir up fear or defensiveness is far more effective.

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1)

It's hard, I know, when we care so much about what happens to our loved ones, to not get emotional about it. In the end, though, everything and everyone belongs to God and He will have His will done. He desires that none should perish, but that all would come to His saving knowledge-- but that's not going to happen and He knows it. Oh, we'll all know who He is someday, but that day will come too late for many. In the meantime, we will be His faithful fishers of men, stewards of souls, ambassadors for truth, and servants of righteousness. We labor for the Master and return wandering sheep to the fold one by one as best as we can. We must trust God with the results.

So we'll labor, but we'll do so wisely. We'll guard our hearts to make sure we don't carry out a spiritual duty in the flesh. Remember that once they're outside of the fold, they're already feeling insecure as it is--even though they are exhilarated with their new-found "freedom". It's very easy to make them flee in the wrong direction if we come to them in the wrong way.

"Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."(Matthew 10:16b)

Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood.