Childlike Faith

Children amaze me. They believe in nearly anything, as long as the person telling them is someone that they trust. I remember before I entered kindergarten I honestly believed that Santa Claus squeezed through the mail slot on Christmas Eve to deliver gifts (we didn't have a chimney), that it was a good idea (at the time) to write my name in purple crayon on the wall in the hallway, that the oil islands off of Long Beach were really Hawaii (see picture above), and that my daddy could fix anything.

With these beliefs came grand expectations: I could peek out the mail slot in search of Santa; mom would treasure my artwork; the world was smaller than it really is; and daddy could make all things good as new again. I believed in all these things because I had complete faith and trust in the people who loved me, an unwavering faith that they would never do anything to harm me.

The faith of a child.

But then I grew older. I made discoveries about the world around me. Things weren't as I once believed. People don't fit through the mail slot. Crayon marks belong on paper (inside the lines), not on walls. Luaus are not common on the oil islands. And there are some things that are beyond repair and have to be thrown away.

Often times when we first encounter Jesus we are no longer in a state of wide-eyed wonder of a child. Yet there is something about this Son of God that makes us want to know more about him.

It's been said that children are a reflection of their parents. And Jesus is no exception. God has chosen reveal Himself through His words and actions, and Jesus is God's perfect self-revelation to us. By studying the words and actions of Jesus, we learn that God is faithful to keep His promises and is worthy of our trust. And our response to this is "faith."

Jesus holds children in very high esteem. He even tells us that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter the Kingdom of heaven. When we come back to the place where we can trust Jesus with a childlike faith we will receive more blessings than what will fit in any mailbox, realize that our names are engraved on the palm of God's hand, stand in awe of the beauty of the vast universe that God created, and have full access to our Father in heaven, who truly does make all things new.

Spiritual Warfare

I don't know about you, but it often seems that when I step outside of my comfort zone to do something to further the Kingdom of God, things that have been under control start to spin horribly out of control. This phenomenon is so much bigger than Murphy's Law. It's part of the battle between God and Satan for control of our loyalty. It's Spiritual Warfare.

Satan used to be one of God's angels. That is, until he got prideful and got to be rebellious. God does not allow rebellion in His kingdom, and consequently, Satan was cast out of heaven along with his entourage which numbered 1/3 of all the angels.

Needless to say, Satan wasn't happy about this. In his fury, he does whatever he can to keep us from God.

That's why he makes the sin so attractive ("You'll feel better if you drink this/smoke this/sleep with her ... no one will get hurt from it, and no one has to find out.") It doesn't take long before we're caught up in that sin, and so stuck in our guilt that we believe that we are of no use to God.

*stops the flow of the post*

Even as I write this post, I sense some spiritual warfare going on. My friend Chris and I decided about a month ago to blog each week on the same topic. This week it's Spiritual Warfare. Chris posted on Thursday. My intention was to have mine up by early Saturday afternoon. Now it's Sunday night.

During the week I've done some reading and written notes on the topic. I have no idea how to tie all these notes together. It seems every time I sit down to write, some distraction comes up. I look for a Bible verse or a picture on the internet to stimulate my creativity, and spend way too much time looking. Or a friend will send me an instant message online. Or I'll start messing around on Facebook. Saturday morning I even had to make an emergency trip to the optometrist (nothing serious ... just a minor allergic reaction to something).

It seems as though this post is trying to be kept from happening.

Murphy's Law? I don't think so. Spiritual warfare isn't always an all-out assault. Often (as is this case) it's subtle. And we're deceived into thinking we can handle it on our own. The truth is, we can't handle this adversary on our own. We need assistance from the One who has already defeated him -- Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul gives us some great battle strategy in chapter 6 of Ephesians:

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

Satan is not greater than God, nor is he equal to Him. He is actually subject to God's authority. That doesn't stop him or his minions (demons) from wreaking havoc in our lives. But we are not in this battle alone. We have other Christian warriors on our side to help us out. And we have Jesus Christ in the battle with us, watching our backs. And Christ comes out victorious!

More stories of God's love

A couple of weeks ago I asked people to share stories of God's love. Here is a submission from Martha in California:

One of my most outstanding stories of knowing God's love happened many years ago. My daughter was only seven months old. She was very ill with a high fever caused by I knew not what.

After taking her to the doctor's office, I was told to immediately get her to the emergency hospital. As I frantically drove I prayed silently that God would be with both of us. With Mary to let her live and with me to make the trip safely.

In the process, she stopped breathing twice, but recovered her breath.

We were met by nurses and a pediatrician at the door to the hospital and she was taken away for treatment. After what seemed an eternity, the doctor came and told me that she should, with God on our side, survive.

God was with us and he did allow her to survive, unscathed, to become a lovely, caring and giving, young lady and a daughter to be proud of.

I have thanked God for his love everyday since then.

God shows love to us in many different ways. How has He shown His love to you lately?

The Sacred Nature of Marriage

To marry the one person that God intends to share your life with is one of the biggest blessings we can receive. That’s because it is a relationship patterned after Jesus’ love for his bride, the church (a match truly made in heaven described in Ephesians chapter 5). When we model our own marriage after this pattern, there is a deep, unbreakable, unconditional love, trust, and respect between a man and woman, the husband and wife.

But what happens when this pattern isn’t followed? What can happen when the legal commitment and covenant isn’t there?

· Fear of abandonment. It’s easier to leave the one you are ‘committed’ to. Divorce is as easy as one partner leaving the other, with no legal ramifications on the one who leaves. Not only can this be devastating to the adults involved, it is equally and often more devastating to children (even to adult children).

· Disunity. In the marriage covenant, a covenant made in the presence, and with the inclusion, of God, “the man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Outside of the covenant is an attitude of “he has his life, and I have mine.” Too often, spouses become little more than roommates.

· Lack of trust. Jesus is faithful to his church. In the same way God wants spouses to be faithful to each other. If the sacredness of marriage is not taken seriously, a wife may question her husband’s faithfulness and love for her, and vice-versa, straining, if not breaking, the trust that should be inherent in the marriage.

These are only a few things. As anyone knows, no marriage is perfect. Many marriages are not modeled after Jesus’ love for the church. I’d even venture to say that most marriages don’t even include God.

If a couple has been married for many years, does God really allow do-overs to make the relationship better? I believe the answer to this question is “Yes.” Here are some suggestions:

· Pray. Accept Jesus to be the Lord of your life. If your spouse is willing, pray together as a couple. Ask Jesus to be the third partner in your marriage. He has solutions to problems and situations that you and your spouse cannot see on your own. Model your love for each other on the love he has for the church.

· Find at least one couple who has a long-term, successful marriage. Ask them if they will be willing to mentor you. No one ever said that a couple has to figure out this marriage thing all on their own. Learn from someone who has “been there, done that.”

· If you’re not married, enter into the sacred covenant of marriage. If you are married, renew your vows, this time including God in them. You don’t have to go all-out with a huge ceremony, but make it special. God does not want you to start your relationship in debt, unless it is a debt of love for Him and for each other.

Take advantage of the do-over that God so graciously allows. Invest in your marriage to make it long-lasting, so that you can turn around and mentor another couple in the future. If God uses you to be a part of saving one family, it is worth it.

Experiencing God's Love

People today live hurried, stressed-out lives. Between the demands on us from our jobs and families, it's not surprising that the only down-time many of us seem to get is the precious few hours of sleep every night. It seems the only time we stop and smell the roses is when we spray the artificial fragrance from a can of air freshener.

It's time to change that. It's time we slow down, breathe the fragrance of the Holy Spirit, and tell others of the ways that we have experienced and known God's love in our lives.

I'll go first. I'll try to keep it short, so everyone gets a turn to share their story.

The time that comes to mind of knowing God's love happened last summer. At the time I was a section manager in a busy public service office, and had just finished a week full of employee drama and a few missed deadlines. That Saturday I decided to go to a park with my pen, my journal, and my Bible, and spend some time with God. My plan was to re-hash the events. I suppose I wanted to see what I could have done differently and come up with a strategy for the following week.

Shortly after I got settled at the park I saw a gray dove walking on the lawn about ten feet from me. At that moment I sensed Jesus telling me that whatever burdens I was carrying were His now, and that this moment was intended to be spent in the peace of His presence. Immediately the stress of the past week was relieved. When I arrived at the park, I was expecting tears of frustration. Instead I had tears of joy from experiencing God's love for me.

Now it's someone else's turn to share. Who's next?

The Affair of the Unfair Fare to the Fair

It’s no big secret that the price of gasoline is higher than we ever imagined we’d be paying. So, to try to save some money, I decided that I’d start to ride the bus more often. Now riding the bus does have its benefits, such as saving money, good for the environment, and getting exercise by walking to and from the bus stop. But there’s one thing that I noticed about the bus that, if you take time to think about it, seems a bit unfair.

The fare.

Let’s suppose that the carnival is in town on a Friday, and three friends take the bus to get there (just one bus, no transfers involved). The first friend gets on the bus 7 miles from the fairgrounds, and pays the $1.25 bus fare. The second person boards 4 miles from the fair, and pays the same $1.25. The third person gets on only one mile before their stop, and, yep, a buck and a quarter for him too.

Even though a buck and a quarter isn’t much, if I were the third rider in this story I’d feel like I might have reason to complain. After all, I had to pay as much as rider #1, yet he got seven times the benefit??? Wassupwiddat?? I’m so miffed about this injustice that I decide to write to the bus company and tell them what I felt about the unfairness of the fare to the fair. Here’s the response I’d likely get:

“Fair rider,

A friendly thank you to you and your friends for riding Fast-Trak Bus.

We are sorry that you frettingly found fault with us and felt that the fare for you and your friends was unfair. The policy of Fast-Trak Bus Company is the fare for the bus is determined by the rider setting foot on the bus. The payment is per ride. As owner of the Fast-Trak Bus Company, I make the rules as I see fit. Furthermore, the fare for the Fast-Trak Bus to last Friday’s fair was in fact fair for you and your friends.

If you find our findings faulty, you may in the future find that the ferry may be feasible.

P.S. Fried fair food is fabulous, unless you’re finicky.”

(OK, maybe not in those exact words….. but you get the idea.)

So the unfair fare is fair once you understand the rules – Pay $1.25 to get to your destination, no matter where you start from.

The Kingdom of Heaven has a similar unfair fairness about it. Particularly when it comes to “bad” people accepting Jesus at the end of their lives. Who can stomach the thought of a serial killer being allowed into heaven? How can God allow someone who committed that kind of atrocity into His presence? And for eternity, no less?

It’s God’s Kingdom. He makes the rules. And the rule is that God does not want anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). With that in mind, God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Looking at my own life, I have done things and treated others in a way that should keep me banned from heaven. But by faith in Jesus Christ and receiving his forgiveness for all that I’ve done, I can look forward to entering the Kingdom of Heaven someday.

In all fairness, I hope the same for you.

Unanswered Prayer

Have you ever pondered why people have periods of time when they don't pray? For myself, the times when I don't pray much are times that I feel things are going well in my life. And the times that I pray the hardest are when I was most desperate. Times when I knew I couldn't see a way through on my own and needed God to intervene where I was otherwise powerless. When I surrender to God in my helplessness is when I often have seen the power of the Holy Spirit intervene in my life to move me forward.

But what happens when we don’t perceive God’s answers to our prayers?

As I write this, I can’t help but think of a couple who are "just meant for each other" after their first date. They hit it off, have a great time, and at the end of the evening he promises to call her.

A day or so later, he does call, believing that she is "the one", and hoping that the relationship will progress. But for whatever reason she doesn’t get the call – not home at the time, doesn’t get the message, she didn’t pay the phone bill, whatever the case may be. The woman becomes disappointed. Maybe he’s been busy. She’ll wait a little longer.

He tries sending a note. The envelope is non-descript, and she mistakes it for junk mail.

He tries to call again. Visits her home. Looks for her in places she frequents, hoping to connect with her. But they just don’t connect.

She believes that this guy wasn’t so great after all. Maybe even starts to believe that he is a jerk, like so many before him.

What she doesn’t understand is that her date did keep his promise. She just didn’t see the evidence of it.

Aren’t we like that when we don’t see God’s answers to our prayers? We miss the evidence that He gives us. We pray for healthy living, all the while reaching for another piece of chocolate cake instead of the fruit salad. We pray for our finances to be better, hoping that we’ll have a windfall of cash, yet delete the email with tips on budgeting what we have. We ask for resolution in a relationship, hoping our mate will change, and write off the radio talk show host that gave spot-on advice to the caller who seemed to know our story all too well.

God answers our prayers, even when it’s not what we expect. His will is to connect with us, to move our relationship with Him forward. It’s no big mystery … He DOES pursue us relentlessly. We just seem to get in the way. We don’t always see the ways He answers our prayers, our longings, our cries of desperation. And in some cases, we may even believe that He doesn’t even care about us.

But He does.

Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.- Isaiah 59:1-2

Our sin caused a huge gap between us and God, and it's a gap that we cannot bridge on our own. But God loves us too much to be separated from us. So He gave us Jesus, who by his death paid the price for our sins, to fill in that gap between us and God, a gap that only he could fill. The break is repaired so that we can embrace the One who lovingly pursued us all along.

The Burden of Guilt

I did something wrong. I failed. I let you down. I’m sure that you must think less of me now. I don’t know how to be right with you again. Every time I look at you I see how I let you down. So I turn my eyes down. That way you can’t see in to my soul.

I look down. I cannot see outward, cannot see forward. So I look inward. Inward at my inadequacy. My wrongdoings. My shame. My guilt.

All I see is the emptiness that once was me. A huge hole where I was once whole.

And it will never be made right.

I’m so sorry.

Not even God will forgive me.

And so the burden of Guilt takes hold. Gripping. Controlling. Suffocating. It can weaken even the strongest of bonds. Yet it is one of the worst types of bondage there is.

We’ve all been there. Some are still there. Inside a prison cell, without a key.

I look up. For the first time in what seems like months I let you see my eyes. Afraid. Anxious. I look at yours. The eyes of my Savior. I see compassion where I expected anger. Acceptance instead of scorn. Love, where contempt should be.

Is this the key to the cell door?

How can this be? I hurt you so deeply. I don’t deserve this kindness. Not from anyone. Not from you.

You simply stand in front of me. You raise your arms, but not to strike me. They are stretched out, inviting me to embrace you.

You offer hope, where I had none. You offer forgiveness, in exchange for my guilt. Healing to make my hole whole again.

But the choice is mine.

Lord Jesus, help me to let go of the guilt and run into your waiting arms. I want to be whole again.

Three In One

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
-- Ecclesiastes 4:12

I am the middle of three siblings in the Thuente family. As a child, I was often content to sit alone in the corner of the living room, even though I wasn't in trouble. My dad would ask me what I was doing, and I'd tell him I was "thinking." "What are you thinking about?" "Nothing..." "Then when do you know when you're done?" I'd just shrug, and contemplate some more.

In a home with two sisters growing up with an older brother, alliances are continuously being formed, and eventually someone gets left out. Our brother would find some reason to try to pick a fight with my sister and me. If my sister and I happened to be in alliance at the time, the fight-picking would not be very intense. BiggieBrother knew that his two sisters were able to fend him off ... most of the time. However, there were times when he would try to wear us down with his persistence. One tactic he used was to try to get either my sister or me to take his side. "If you let me do this, I'll be your friend..." We all knew that two was better than one. We also each knew that being the "one" would be devastating ... it meant that you didn't have a friend.
Even in early childhood we know that we were not created to be alone all of the time, but to have relationships with one another.

We know the comfort and security of having friends. But we also gain a sense that having only one friend is not good enough. We started our mornings with the famous breakfast trio "Snap Crackle and Pop!" We are told the story of the Three Musketeers with the motto "One for all, and all for one!" We watch the Three Stooges on television, and realize that if there weren't three Stooges, there may as well be no Stooges. Each trio, united in their own purpose, was inseparable. Thinking of any of them in terms of only two is unthinkable. (Whoever heard of "Snap-Pop!" in the cereal bowl?)

A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of assisting an "experienced" citizen on my job. When she mentioned that she was a triplet, I recognized her as Millie Boyd, the only surviving Del Rubio Triplet. I had seen these charming identical sisters perform at a local restaurant several years earlier. They rose to notoriety due mostly to their campy style of dress and their goofy interpretations of songs. Think about it - three women in matching hot-pants and go-go boots, performing songs such as Devo's "Whip It" and Madonna's "Like a Virgin." And it was good, clean entertainment!

During my too-brief conversation with Millie, she told me of how she and her two sisters never married because they couldn't stand to be apart. They chose a career in performing because that was the only thing they could do where the three could be together. I found this quote from Millie's sister Eadie:

"It's obvious that we were meant to serve God by being together. It reminds me of the blessed Trinity and the sense that each one is individual, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But the three together is God. That's the same thing with us three. Each one is individual, and it's our individuality that makes the act what it is. But it's the three together that make the act. The three make the whole. We've sensed that ever since we were little kids, that the three make the whole."

Most people that we have a relationship with are not triplets with nearly unbreakable bonds. But we do have access to an eternal Cord of Three Strands that will never, ever break, and that is the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. When we feel overpowered or defeated, tie a knot in this Cord, and hold on tight!

Oprah and the Lifeboat Theory

In elementary school, a common lesson in teaching the value of others is this lifeboat scenario:

If there were a lifeboat adrift at sea, and in the lifeboat were a male lawyer, a female doctor, a crippled child, a stay-at-home mom, and a garbageman, and one person had to be thrown overboard to save the others, which person would we choose?”

This type of thing is done every day. You see it in the school yard when teams are chosen for dodgeball. The weakest players are seldom chosen first. Why? The team captain doesn’t want them in the lifeboat. It carries over into adulthood. Recently on Celebrity Apprentice it happened in the final show. You had two team captains, and thus, two “lifeboats.” The first captain chose the player who the other team captain had grown to rely upon the most, which weakened the other captain’s team.

In a family, even small children have a basic understanding of lifeboat theory. Mom is fixing lunch, and little Suzy is perfectly content to play in the floor in front of the TV. Why? Because she feels safe in the lifeboat that she shares with Mom. There is no threat to whether or not Mom will forget about her in favor of something else. But the instant the telephone rings, Suzy goes into a mild panic. There’s something that is competing for space in her lifeboat, and she has to make sure Mom knows that this intruder must go. So she cries, or she clings to Mom. Anything so that she can have more value than what Mom is showing value to at that particular moment. Eventually, Suzy becomes secure in the knowledge that Mom values her no matter what, and that her place is firmly established in Mom’s lifeboat.

As we grow up, we find ourselves in many lifeboats along the way – popularity in school, competing in the job market, finding a mate. We are validated as a person from how we relate with each other. We are validated by people outside of ourselves. In the lifeboat scenario that I opened with, each one of these people has worth, all of them equal worth. Yet when the exercise is presented to the students, this ideology is rarely, if ever, considered. There are too many in the lifeboat, and someone must be thrown overboard! But of course no one will voluntarily throw himself overboard to save the others because his life is just as important, if not more valuable, as the next person’s.

So, what does this have to do with Oprah?

Let’s look at our relationship with God as a lifeboat. It’s us and Jesus (God in the flesh) in the boat. When Oprah was sitting in church and heard the preacher say that God is a jealous God, her reaction was “What? God is jealous? Of me?? Her place in the lifeboat was in jeopardy. Rather than clear up the misunderstanding, she chose to get out of the lifeboat. Not only did she get out of the lifeboat, she built herself one of her own.

If she had sought understanding, Oprah would have learned that yes, God is a jealous God. He does not want us to put ourselves ahead of Him, because that is his rightful place. But He also does not want us to perish adrift in the ocean. In order to save us He willingly gives up his place in the boat so that we will be able to live. If we had placed our lives ahead of God, we’d still be in jeopardy of losing our place. By freely offering his place in the boat, our relationship with God is secure now, and for eternity.