I was invited to an ornament swap that I didn’t think I was going to be able to go to, so I didn’t bother picking up an ornament. Well, turns out I was able to go. I showed up empty handed and was quite content to simply enjoy the company.
My friend wasn’t about to let me get by with that, so she grabbed something and wrapped it in my honor. Lol
While the gifts were being swapped, she and I were sitting next to each other and I told her I didn’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but my gift should be to make a personalized ornament for whomever picked my bag. She was the only one who knew I now planned to do that.
It turns out that my bag was the last to get picked. And my friend just happened to be the last one to get to pick! She got my bag and immediately said she wanted angel wings.
I’d never made angel wings before, so I just began praying that these would turn out. And I’d also just gotten my kiln and didn’t even know if it would fire properly yet! So I started praying over that, too. With only 2 weeks till Christmas, there wasn’t any time for a do-over!
Thr creating went great. The bisque firing, perfect! Then it was time to glaze. I used a combination I hadn’t tried before, (not usually a good idea for an important piece you don’t have time to make again if it doesn’t work out). I put it in the kiln with some other pieces, said another prayer, and pressed start.
Glaze firing is a much higher temp than bisque. Just because the bisque was successful didn’t guarantee a successful glazing. Once again, I prayed: Lord, if nothing else, please at least let these wings turn out ok.
Well, the kiln didn’t even get close to the temp necessary for glazes to fire properly. Not. Even. Close. And yet I still hoped. And guess what… when I opened the kiln not one single piece fired properly except for these wings!! They were perfect!
After doing a little jig and giving God a BIG thank you, I took the wings inside to brush a little luster dust on just to give them a little shimmer. (If you knew my, you’d know she’s a fan of a little shimmer). While I was brushing over one of the wings, I dropped it on the floor and it broke in half.
My first reaction was to be really upset. But for some reason a peace just came over me. Kind of like I knew this wasn’t a bad thing. I picked it up, started looking for my glue, and almost jokingly thought surely there’s some spiritual significance here.
Once the glue dried, I added all the little finishing touches, wrapped it up, and took it to my friend. As she opened it up, I told her what had happened – about the firing, the break, pretty much what I’ve told you so far minus the parts she already knew. As I told her, her eyes began to tear up.
This obviously meant something to her. Something special between her and God that I had no clue about. The break wasn’t a break to her, it was a kiss from her King.
It still amazes me how God answers prayer. It blows my mind how much He cares about the little details. How He finds ways to speak to our hearts in ways that we know it can only be Him. In ways that no one could know but us.
Oh what manner of love the Father has given to us…
This. THIS. This is why He came to earth in the form of a man, to live a life we couldn’t live, to pay a price we couldn’t pay, to conquer sin and death that we might find mercy and grace.
“And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:69
Read:
James 2:14-26; Romans 4:13-25; Galatians 5:16-26; John 14:15-31
Reflect:
This time of year we often hear people say, “Do you believe?” or “I believe!” It’s a season of, well, belief. But these sayings refer to something pretend. Something that, ironically, we don’t really believe in.
The belief I’m talking about is a real one. A belief in God.
There are two types of belief when it comes to our faith: 1) Do we believe in God, 2) Do we believe God?
You might, at first glance, be wondering what’s the difference. Although grammatically speaking the difference is slight, spiritually speaking it is profound. One speaks to the head, one speaks to the heart. The second chapter of James gives us a clear understanding of this distinction:
“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’—and he was called a friend of God.” -James 2:18-23
Believing that God exists is not enough. As James said, even the demons believe that. Yet they continue to live in rebellion against Him. But Abraham… he believed God. And because he believed God, he obeyed Him. That right there, that is the difference between believing in God, and believing God.
Obedience. That’s a trigger word if ever there was one. We’re taught not just culturally, but also within the church to be independent, to think for ourselves, to be our “true” selves (whatever that means), and that we should embrace our mistakes and shortcomings as a part of who we are. Those things all sound so very good and nice. And that’s what we want to be, right? Good and nice. What happens, though, is we begin to find 1001 different ways to justify why we don’t really have to be obedient as long as we are being good and nice. But what exactly is good and nice, and does the Bible really say that is enough? Are those things an acceptable substitute for true Biblical obedience?
Warning! I’m about to throw out another trigger word… legalism. It is the most common argument against adherence to the commands of God. We don’t have to do that anymore. That’s being like the Pharisees. Jesus abolished the law. We aren’t under the law, we’re under grace. I’m sure you’ve heard those arguments before, and maybe even used some of them yourself. It’s pretty common rhetoric within the church today. But is that really what the Bible teaches?
I’m sure you probably remember the catchy WWJD slogan that started in the ’90s (What Would Jesus Do). Well, let’s try WDJS… What Did Jesus Say?
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 5:17-19
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” -Matthew 7:21-23
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.” -Matthew 18:5-9
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John -14:15
I have read God’s Word cover to cover, more than once. I have studied, prayed, researched. And not once have I found where God said we didn’t have to obey Him anymore. Sure, there are plenty of verses when taken out of context that can be made to sound like that. But a truth taken out of context isn’t the whole truth.
Obedience matters.
Believing God matters.
Abraham counted obedience to God as of more value that the life of his own son… and it was counted to him as righteousness.
I want to be clear. Obedience and legalism are not the same thing. Legalism is trying to prove you are righteous according to your own merit. Obedience is humbly honoring a righteousness you have been given that you know you could never earn on your own.
Do you truly believe God? Or do you simply just believe in God? Is your life marked by a desire to trust and obey? Or do you spend most of your time justifying why you don’t need to change? Is your heart enraptured by the grace that has been lavished on you in such a way that your earnest prayer is like that of David when he said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24) Or is it just head knowledge that hasn’t yet penetrated your heart.
Respond:
One of the bravest, scariest, most humbling, difficult, and satisfying things I ever did was pray that prayer. I asked God to take everything I thought I knew about Him and sift out all the things that weren’t true. To show me who He really was, so that my faith, my belief, might be genuine and pleasing to Him. And He did. He answered that prayer, and is continuing to answer that prayer every single day.
In all honesty, it’s been a hard road. Much of what He has shown me isn’t in line with popular opinion. It’s not lined up with the easy Christianity that so many have embraced. But what I have found is that it is so much better.
Maybe you want to pray that prayer with me today. Maybe you’re not ready to do that. Let me encourage you, where ever you are, to do your own seeking. A good place to start is with the scriptures listed at the top of this post, then let God lead you from there. God promises that if we seek Him, we will find Him, provided we seek him with all of our heart. (Jer. 29:13) And that is key. It’s not about the head’s knowledge, it’s about the heart’s desire.
Next week my husband and I will be celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been that long, and yet I almost can’t remember life without him. I certainly can’t imagine it without him, either.
I often tell people that God used him to change my name. My maiden name is the German word for beer. My married name means “blessed one.” I found out recently that it is derived from the Hebrew word baruch, which means “to bless,” or literally, “to bend the knee.” God took a very carnal name and changed it to one that honors Him above all else. Wow!!
We see many examples throughout scripture where God changed someone’s name when there was a spiritual shift in their purpose and relationship with the LORD. We see it with Abram and Sarai, who became Abraham and Sarah. Then Jacob, who became Israel. Jesus renamed Simon as Peter. There are other examples, too, but they all have similar spiritual significance. They move from common to holy.
They are an outward sign of an inward shift.
What’s amazing, though, is that when we turn away from our sins and turn to God, He changes our names, too. We change from sinner to saint, from lost to found, from condemned to redeemed, from outcast to child of God.
What a beautiful thing that who we were holds no claim on who we are. What a humbling thought that we might be counted as righteous because of what someone else did. And what a comforting thought that we are loved, not conditioned on who we are, but because that’s who God is.
Respond:
Father, thank You for making me new. Thank You for loving me just as I was, and for loving me too much to leave me that way. Thank You for giving me a new name, not one of this world but of Your heavenly family. Help me live in a way that honors all that You have saved me from, and created me for. Amen
A Scarlet Cord 