The Lion: "I wish I were..."

“I wish I were braver,” says Lucy Pevensie in the 2008 cinematic portrayal of C.S. Lewis’s “Prince Caspian.”

Aslan replies, “If you were any braver, you’d be a lioness,” and a smile dawns across her face.

When we next see Lucy, she’s walking alone to face the iron-clad Telmarine army on a bridge they constructed to cross the river. She approaches one side of the bridge, and the army stops abruptly on the other, stunned to see this little girl standing to block their way. With a small smile, Lucy draws a tiny dagger and half-heartedly waves it at them. Then we see Aslan pace with deliberate steps to walk behind her, and we realize the power behind her.
It was at this point that I burst into tears the last time I watched this movie. Like many of you, I feel like Lucy tottering on the edge of a river, thrusting my tiny dagger towards an army waving enormous swords.

I wish I were braver. I wish I were stronger. I wish I were more grateful; quicker to forgive; less selfish. I wish I were.

I wish I trusted more and tried to control less. I wish I had more faith. I wish I learned from experience and didn’t panic at the little stuff. I wish I had more patience.

I wish I had more to give. I wish I prioritized and time-managed better.

I wish I remembered to pray in the Spirit more. I wish I didn’t have to fight daily not to care about what people think of me. I wish witnessed more. I wish I judged less.

I….I….I…

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling
down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. [2 Cor. 10:4-6, my emphasis added]

It’s not about the strength of the sword in your hand–it’s about the Lion of Judah standing behind you.

give me Your Name...

"What an idiot!"
"You're such a doofus!"
"Did you see that jerk just cut me off?"
"Why are you being so stupid?"
"Ugh--he's so annoying!"
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The pastor of the church I visited this past Sunday spoke on the tripartite nature of man. In the course of his sermon, he reminded us that everything we learn in life about the world, we receive through our five senses; everything we learn about God, He communicates to us through our spirit.

In the middle of it all, our souls seek identity, trapping our spirits in the fabric of self-consciousness. No longer are we totally God conscious, centered on His will (as Adam was in the beginning); instead, we are a product of the "I-will" oriented nature of Lucifer in Isaiah 14, which he passed along to Adam and Eve at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The sense of self that was absent in Genesis 2:25 suddenly surfaced in Genesis 3:7, and we have been running around seeking identity ever since.

There are two identities competing to imprint themselves on our souls. There is an identity we receive through our physical senses from the world (reading magazines, watching television, listening to people around us), and the identity that God tries to communicate to our spirits. Hebrews tells us that the Word of God is the only thing that can cut through the self-focused nature of the soul to the spirit of man so that God can communicate from Spirit to spirit. What we read in the Word is truth.

Pastor Sino's message deeply resonated with something the Lord has been working in my heart for several months regarding identity. Revelation 2:17 promises that the one who overcomes will receive a new name from Jesus; and Revelation 3:12 promises the same man or woman that Jesus will give to him/her His new name. We thus exchange our identity for the one He gives to us, just like a woman who marries accepts a new identity by adopting her husband's name. People view her through the lens of her husband's name, for better and for worse.

The law of patents makes it clear that only the originator has the right to name the creation. We see this at work in numerous ways throughout daily life, from building names to virus strains and vaccinations. The same principal holds true in a spiritual sense. Only one time in scripture do we see that God relinquished His right to name all things; He gave this right to a man who was completely God-centered and God-focused before sin entered the Garden of Eden.

Therefore, when we take it upon ourselves to tell someone who they are without hearing the Lord's thoughts about them, we are presumptuously setting ourselves up in the place of God in their lives. The Lord uses people to communicate His heart and thoughts to other people, but we must always speak in line with His thoughts and His words about them. Just as a bridegroom does not take kindly to anyone insulting his bride, so the Lord will rage against those who deal with His Bride in any manner that is not tenderly loving.

This is why our words should heal, not hurt--why gossip is so dangerous to those who abuse others in the church (even behind closed doors); they invite the judgment of God on their lives for maligning the Bride He passionately desires. This is doubly true of those who dare to speak against His Jewish people (and since Jewish blood runs through the veins of many without their awareness of that fact, it's best to keep that in mind when talking about anyone).

With that in mind, I've started compiling a (by no means exhaustive) list of what God calls us. I welcome and request your input! I'll be updating as I discover more names... =) Bless you all!
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Who does God say I am?

1. Daughter (Matthew 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.)

2. Blessed (Matthew 5:3-10: the beatitudes)

3. Beloved (Deuteronomy 33:12: "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.")

4. Accepted (Ephesians 1:5-6: having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.)

5. Desired (Song of Songs 4:9: You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace.)

6. Precious (Psalm 72:14: He will redeem their life from oppression and violence; and precious shall be their blood in His sight.)

7. Beautiful (Song of Songs 4:1: How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.)

8. Lovely (Song of Songs 2:14: My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.)

9. Unique and perfect (Song of Songs 6:9: but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.)

10. Fearless (Psalm 91:5-6: You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.)
11. Satisfied (Psalm 17:15: And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.)

12. Friend (John 15:15: I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.)

13. New creation (2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!)

14. Free (John 8:32: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.")

15. Loved by God (John 16:27: No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.)

16. Spotless (2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.)

17. Chosen (1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen people...; Ephesians 1:4: just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; John 15:19: If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.) -- [I may be blogging about being chosen here in the next few weeks...]

18. Royal (1 Peter 2:9: ...a royal priesthood...)

19. Holy (1 Peter 2:9: ...a holy nation...)

20. Called out of darkness (1 Peter 2:9: ...who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.)

21. King and priest (Revelation 5:10: "And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”)

22. Enlisted soldier (2 Timothy 2:4: No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.)

23. Fruitful (John 15:16: You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.).....and bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.)

24. Dead to sin (Galatians 5:24: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.)

25. More than a conqueror (Romans 8:37: ...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.)

26. In covenant and remembered (Genesis 9:15-16: I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.")

27. Blessed, especially when I bless Israel (Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.")

more to come....

zoe

While reading in John 1 this morning, I felt the Lord quicken my heart over verse 4:

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

In particular, I felt the Holy Spirit settling over the words "life" and "light." Strong's concordance says life here (zoe) means, "of the absolute fullness of life; life real and genuine; a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, and blessed." This is a different kind of life than the one used in Mark 3:4--"psyche"--which refers more to the mortal life of all things, the process that distinguishes between an elephant and a boulder.

We can be alive without being alive. Anyone whose eyes have flitted open on a gray November morning and half-prayed to a corner of the ceiling, "God, I can't face another day" without expecting an answer knows this. It manifests in weak knees and thumping hearts when we've felt too heartsick to eat for a few days. It shows up when we avoid our friends for our televisions and fitfully daydream about inventing a switch hard-wired into our brains that would turn off all thoughts so we could force ourselves to sleep. It surfaces in a heavy, drugged feeling when we cannot seem to differentiate between dreams and reality.

Simply functioning from one day to another is not the life that is God. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the way, truth, and the life (zoe)--full, vigorous, beautiful life that transcends mere existence.

The word used for light (phos) in John 1:4 has many translations, but the one that I liked best was, "that which is exposed to the view of all, openly, publicly." The beauty of Jesus' life was for
all to see. He did not hide His freedom with the Father; nor did He share it with only a select group. The people who walked in darkness saw a great light.

In His kindness, God was not content for us to live a life bound to striving. He came that we might have zoe and have it fully. He came that we might have Himself. Today is the Jewish feast of Passover, and tomorrow marks the anniversary of Jesus' death (He died on Wednesday, was in the ground three days, and rose again on the first day of the week). Only God could bring life out of death and use sacrifice to bring fullness for all. The life He gave transcends momentary emotions. There will always be heartaches, seasons in the valley, flights into the desert; but
they are temporary. God glories in restoration, and when He comes to you, He brings with Him fullness of joy.

Father, I bless my friends to delight in Your fullness. You promised we would win if we did not lose heart. May we walk according to Hebrews 10:35-37 and Galatians 6:9, never giving up, never losing faith. May we have eyes opened to the "small" miracles that take place every day. May we never mistake the purpose of prayer as the right to tell You what to do. You are sovereign and Your ways are right. Give us the grace today to say, "not my will but Yours,"
hands that rush to give, mouths opened wide to sing Your praises, and hearts that embrace love and reject offense. In Jesus' beautiful name....

to say thanks (part 3)

22. jumping off the back of trailers with family-who-became-friends for the perfect picture.

23. helping me find my promise ring. i hadn't even worn it much lately, opting for silver instead of gold, but i mourned when i couldn't find it. the pledge to purity wouldn't have changed without it, but the history tied to the ring itself means so much.

24. the right to shoot at coke cans in the middle of the woods.

25. sitting with a kindred spirit in chummy silence.

26. old pictures of friends and family, and getting to laugh at former hair/clothing choices.

27. joe and miranda. too much to even go into there...

28. that weird little thrill that goes up my spine and the little ache that pierces my heart when i hear certain chord progressions. eric whitaker's "waternight" does it every time.

29. big words. pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis being the most recent, notable example. transubstantiationalist is another fun one.

30. baking Christmas cookies at all hours of the night. scratch that--baking any cookies at all hours of the night.

31. warm, fuzzy sweaters--the kind that make you want to curl up in a ball with a mug of hot chocolate and a black-and-white movie.

32. black and white movies. "white Christmas." "arsenic and old lace." "his girl friday." "week-end at the waldorf." and others...

33. shopping online. maybe i should put that one in all caps and bold.

34. the smell of freshly brewed coffee, fresh-baked-bread, and day-old garbanzo bean soup.

35. less than a month to onething09.

36. ted dekker's novels and a vivid imagination. it's day two and i'm almost done...and ready for the next one.

37. the beautiful, crisp days over the thanksgiving holiday.

38. giving my aging grandmothers strength. giving me a good relationship with both.

39. the sacrifices of our soldiers overseas. pictures speak volumes. those who give themselves away for people they may never meet remind me of another Man who gave everything for me.

40. unexpected blessings, and pleasant surprises.

coincidences

Nine o’clock on Easter Sunday night saw me wandering down the aisles of WalMart. I had just driven the almost-two-hour drive from my parents’ house after a long afternoon with friends, and was mentally already ticking off the list of things to do before I could fall into bed. I stopped and began to peruse the different boxes of crackers available, and had just settled on which flavor of Triscuits I wanted when “he” came over to me.

“Hi,” he said.

I gave a polite half-smile and nodded.

“Do you need any help?”

“No thanks–I think I’m good.” Do I really look that confused? Well, there are a bunch of choices...

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I think I found what I want.” The tomato-basil looks potentially interesting.

“‘Cause I’d hate for you to need help standin’ here and lookin’ all . . .”

Ooooooh. The light dawned, and I smiled for real this time. I thanked him again for the “offer” and assured him I was just fine. He told me where he would be if I needed anything and turned to go. After a few steps, he turned back toward me, and that’s when he said it.

“Keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

Then he was gone, and I didn’t see him again for the rest of the night.

What he said has stayed with me, though. Keep doing what you’re doing. Perhaps not the way he meant it–but the message came through just the same. Just keep going. Don’t quit.

God sends us encouragement and answers to prayer in our everyday lives, but I think a lot of the time we don’t accept them because they don’t come to us with pomp, circumstance and flair that we expect from a “miracle.” In His love for us, God is constantly speaking, tugging at our attention and whispering “come away.” Too often we miss it because we’re looking for something else. Because angels don’t show up shining like neon lights and waving banners trumpeting “thus saith the Lord” in our faces. Because it comes to us through commiserating with a stranger about the price of gas while standing at the pump instead of in the middle of a church service.

I don’t know who came to speak to me on Sunday night, but I do believe God used him to get a message across, and it has served as fuel to press on after God and to continue to believe that He’s got something bigger going on than what my finite mind can see. I pray that God will shift us all to a mind set where we look at “coincidences” and see answers instead.