No Reference Needed
by Barbara Chadwick
A lady recently asked me to give a reference for her for a job interview. The problem for me was that I didn’t know her very well. What could I say about her? She’s pretty, she wants to please, she cares about her family – all commendable things in a woman. But the other part is she does not show up to meetings, she has an anger problem and she sometimes does things haphazardly. What could I say that would help her get a job?
A Human Resources Director for a company wants to know if you are reliable - will you show up for work at the appointed time and work the stated hours? Are you conscientious? - do you try to do your best? Are you trustworthy? - can you be trusted to do your work and care for your workspace? Are you considerate? – do you treat others with respect? Are you presentable? – do you care about your appearance? These are all human approaches to how to do life.
But all of this got me to thinking. What if I asked Jesus to give a reference for me to take to heaven. I know, I know. God already knows everything about us. Even the very hairs on our heads are numbered. (Luke 12:7) He knows when we rise and when we lie down and He knows our thoughts. But what if I approached Jesus like this:
Me: Jesus will You represent me to God?
Jesus: Can you show me any evidence that would help?
Me: Well, I read my Bible every day unless I have too many other things to do.
Jesus: Hmm.
Me: I go to church every Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday.
Jesus: Yes….
Me: I have a picture of an angel on my bedroom wall.
Jesus smiles.
Me: Remember that I took food to that family after the funeral?
Jesus: That was nice.
This approach won’t work. This is the way we humans look at things but, we can’t justify ourselves to Him. Psalms 51:17 says, You do not delight in sacrifice…you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit. Isaiah 64:6 says, All our righteous acts are like filthy rags to Him.
So just, confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(Romans 10:9) Then talk with Him daily (Pray) and learn about Him daily (Read the Bible) and use the talents He has blessed you with (Serve Him).
When we enter heaven Jesus will take us by the hand and bring us into the presence of Almighty God. He will say to the Father, “Here is Barbara (or put your name here) I bring her to you. She is mine. She has served me faithfully. It is true that there were times when she was not perfect but I have washed her clean by my blood.” (Romans 5:8)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Wanna be RED?
Just watched RED: Retired Extremely Dangerous. I love watching movies where the bad guy is eliminated in 1 hour and 45 minutes (the movie is actually 111 minutes long) and the good guy gets to jump in there and kick … something or shoot something … really just make the bad guys pay! I mean the story line is just long enough to enjoy getting all worked up and involved with the characters and plenty short enough to share the whole thing with a friend or too and remote enough that I can go to bed and forget all about it. SO not like real life.
In real life … I prefer problems that I can solve and feel like the hero OR problems that my husband can solve and I’m married to the hero OR problems that my friends have and it takes me, or them, 1 hour and 45 minutes to help out and “poof” the problem’s solved. SO not like real life.
In real life … about the only problem that can be solved in 1 hour and 45 minutes is dinner … Start to finish and it’s done. Most of my problems take days, weeks, months, years … They take my prayers, my husband’s prayers, my family’s prayers, my friend’s prayers, … God’s intervention.
In real life … I’ve spoken to people who’re homeless, who’ve lost their jobs, who’re addicted to food or drugs, who have no idea how to maintain healthy relationships … and my response? … I want to solve it … my mind (with its extensive knowledge of book and movie lore) begins to search for the 1 hour and 45 minute solution … you know the plot (if you’re American) because we’ve seen the solution on the screen or on the printed page all our lives. And worse, once I’ve arrived at a solution, I’ve opened my mouth and suggested it. I don’t know about you, but I rarely need to pray to come up with these great ideas to solve social issues, to solve other people’s problems, to solve my own … because the answer is obvious … right?
In real life … that’s not how God works. It’s not how He works with me and it’s not how He works with you and it’s not how He works with the homeless, jobless, hopeless, hurting people who desperately need our help … not our help … God’s help. In real life they need someone who will give them every opportunity to change, every opportunity to accept free gifts of hope and healing … of encouragement and energetic friendship … of solutions that are patient enough for a lifetime of giving.
Remember Judas? Jesus knew from the beginning who was going to betray Him and yet He continued to offer him opportunities to “flip” over to the good side. Remember Peter? Jesus knew He was going to deny Him, in fact He warned him that he would deny Him three times and yet when he did, Jesus forgave Peter and welcomed him back. Remember the 10 lepers? Only one of them came back and said thank you. Remember me? Oh … maybe you don’t know me … but God has given me grace and forgiveness and opportunities to learn from Him … over and over and over … I’ll run out of paper … I’ll run out of ink … I’ll run out of megabites before I would run out of ways that He has rushed to help/save/solve my dilemmas.
In real life … there are too few of us who are willing to just be someone’s friend … to just pray for God to help these people and then go the extra mile, give the extra jacket, … to just give Jesus as a solution. I don’t want to be a Religiously Educated Dingbat. I want to be RED: Radically Empowered Disciple. I want to be someone who runs to help the poor and needy … and stays till the job is done not just 1 hour and 45 minutes … in real life … wanna be RED?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Expectancy
By Barbara Chadwick
Yesterday I went to the symphony with a friend. As the conductor lifted his baton I held my breath in anticipation, the musicians held their instruments, ready, expecting the downbeat. The music began, filling the concert hall with glorious sound. The instruments interplayed, some made their musical statements while others waited in anticipation to make their statements.
A man held the cymbals in his hands, leaning forward with his knees slightly bent and when the conductor gestured toward him – Pow! We could almost feel the reverberation.
Sometimes the conductor shook his clenched fists with grand gestures and the musicians played with all their might. Other times his hands were gentle, swaying, and the musicians played soft, lyrical phrases.
The last piece was The Planets by Gustav Holst. As they played the first movement entitled, War, we heard the clash of cymbals, the drone of the basses and the boom of the drums. The hurry, the push and the chaos of war was evident.
The second movement called, Peace, was exactly that. It was placid, quiet and restful. The third movement, Messenger, was a skitter, a run. As the other four movements continued I was reminded of our Sunday School lesson that morning from II Kings chapters 6 and 7. It’s a story of war and siege, starvation and hopelessness, then grand deliverance.
In capsule form: The king of Aram held the Israelites captive, under siege. They were starving. The king of Israel gave up any expectancy or hope of deliverance and said, “Why should I wait for the LORD?” (II Kings 6:33) Four lepers at the city gate also had no food, no hope and no expectancy of deliverance. They decided to go to the Aramean camp. Maybe those foreigners would give them some food. Entering the camp they discovered it was abandoned, “for the LORD had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army” (II Kings 7:6), so this huge army had run for their lives. The messengers, the lepers, ran back and reported to the king of Israel who thought it was a trap but sent a few men to investigate. They discovered it was true then the Israelites were saved by provisions the Arameans had left behind.
Over and over in the Bible God tells us to not be afraid because He will rescue us. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
We do get weary but as the musicians kept their eyes on the conductor expecting their cue, let us keep our eyes upward, our focus in expectancy on the LORD. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)
By Barbara Chadwick
Yesterday I went to the symphony with a friend. As the conductor lifted his baton I held my breath in anticipation, the musicians held their instruments, ready, expecting the downbeat. The music began, filling the concert hall with glorious sound. The instruments interplayed, some made their musical statements while others waited in anticipation to make their statements.
A man held the cymbals in his hands, leaning forward with his knees slightly bent and when the conductor gestured toward him – Pow! We could almost feel the reverberation.
Sometimes the conductor shook his clenched fists with grand gestures and the musicians played with all their might. Other times his hands were gentle, swaying, and the musicians played soft, lyrical phrases.
The last piece was The Planets by Gustav Holst. As they played the first movement entitled, War, we heard the clash of cymbals, the drone of the basses and the boom of the drums. The hurry, the push and the chaos of war was evident.
The second movement called, Peace, was exactly that. It was placid, quiet and restful. The third movement, Messenger, was a skitter, a run. As the other four movements continued I was reminded of our Sunday School lesson that morning from II Kings chapters 6 and 7. It’s a story of war and siege, starvation and hopelessness, then grand deliverance.
In capsule form: The king of Aram held the Israelites captive, under siege. They were starving. The king of Israel gave up any expectancy or hope of deliverance and said, “Why should I wait for the LORD?” (II Kings 6:33) Four lepers at the city gate also had no food, no hope and no expectancy of deliverance. They decided to go to the Aramean camp. Maybe those foreigners would give them some food. Entering the camp they discovered it was abandoned, “for the LORD had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army” (II Kings 7:6), so this huge army had run for their lives. The messengers, the lepers, ran back and reported to the king of Israel who thought it was a trap but sent a few men to investigate. They discovered it was true then the Israelites were saved by provisions the Arameans had left behind.
Over and over in the Bible God tells us to not be afraid because He will rescue us. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
We do get weary but as the musicians kept their eyes on the conductor expecting their cue, let us keep our eyes upward, our focus in expectancy on the LORD. "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful." (Hebrews 10:23)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Forgiveness: It's is a tricky thing..
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And after all the things He created He said, “It is good.” Except man, when He created man He said, “It is not good … it is not good for man to be alone.” So, God created Eve and then He said, “It is very good!” Relationships are very good. And Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the garden and they enjoyed sweet and precious times together.
Until … The Day … that horrible day … the day they will never forget … the day that everything changed for them forever … Adam and Eve disobeyed in the garden. Do you have a memory of a day or a series of small days, small events, that looking back now you realize that they changed the direction of your life forever? Ever sat around and wished things could’ve been different? Ever wished you’d made different decisions, you know, like the saying “hind sight is 20/20”?
You see in relationships there’s always some kind of give and/or take. Because we keep doing things we shouldn’t OR other people in our lives do things that they should’nt’ve done and we’re suffering for it … shoulda, woulda, coulda.
This whole train of thought started yesterday when I was talking to an old friend and he was asking me about an incident that happened almost a year ago between me and someone else. I had made up my mind that I was going to follow the Biblical principal of forgiveness and either not speak about it OR only speak those things that build up and I’d done pretty good up till then. But I don’t know, maybe he caught me when my guard was down, or maybe I was just feeling a little low, or a little insecure. But have you ever noticed that sometimes when we’re down we “step” on other people in order to get “up” a little? Ever noticed how people who are secure in who they are don’t “step up” on other people? (Ponder Romans 8:31-39)
Dave Ramsey, popular “get out of debt” guru, replies “better than I deserve” when people ask him how he’s doing. When I was younger I used to get SO impatient with other Christians who kept talking about the cross, and pastors who kept teaching on it. I thought, “Ok, ok He died, He rose again, He’s forgiven us, now let’s move on I want to learn something else.” But the truth is there’ve been a few times that someone’s done something so remarkable, so amazing for me that I just can’t seem to ‘get over’ it. I’ve noticed that when I’m very aware of the cross and how it ‘should’ve been me’ there that I don’t struggle so much with what other people do … do to me … because I truly do have it ‘better than I deserve.’
I pray that today as you ‘think of the cross’ that you will be so filled with the glorious riches of His love for you that you will press into your relationships, that you will be filled with love, compassion, and forgiveness towards those around you and that the sweet aroma of Christ will follow you wherever you go.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Clean Out Your Closets
by Barbara Chadwick
On my To-Do List for today is “Clean out the closet in the back bedroom!”
You know that we are here at this church as Interim. That is, until the church finds a full-time pastor. Well, recently the church had a candidate come to preach in view of a call. We invited them to come and see the parsonage. As they walked through they opened the closet doors. This was a natural thing for them to do but I hadn’t thought of this part of the tour! I was embarrassed. We’ve been here two years and - well – stuff accumulates. What can I say?
I had been putting off cleaning because I hesitate to get rid of some of the things in there. Also, I can’t decide where to put some of those things.
There are some shabby clothes that I’m keeping in case one day I should have to paint or clean up the garage, or do yard work.
There are some good clothes I can’t wear any more. I need to give them to somebody who can. There are several pairs of good shoes that I bought. They felt fine when I tried them on in the store but they hurt my feet now. (Age does something unexplainable to feet!) They would look nice on someone with strong, younger feet.
There are travel bags that need to be put where the suitcases are. A pile of scarves sits on the third shelf. They need to be put in a drawer. Three pairs of pajamas are sort of wadded up on that shelf also. Why aren’t those neatly folded in a drawer?
There are empty boxes that held gifts of jewelry. The jewelry has been put into the jewelry roll but I save these boxes in case I craft some item of beads or some such that I can give to someone. However, in order to do this kind of thing a person would have to either have a gift of creativity or take a class in something or other. Alas…
Receipts, scrapbooking stuff and calligraphy stuff go in a closet designated for that genre of “stuff.” Books and papers from seminars need to be filed. Cobwebs need to be swept down and scrapes on the wall need to be fixed. One day we moved in and the closet was clean and the next (well, actually two years later) it's a mess! How did this happen!
Little by little my heart gets full of “stuff”, cobwebs and scrapes, too. I have closets in there that are full of jealousies. There are closets where I'm hoarding anxieties. There are cobwebs of prideful issues and scrapes of slights I'm nursing - holding on to. I go along and things pile up in there.
When I stop to think about how God sees it I’m embarrassed about the mess - the pride, selfishness, judgmental attitudes, etc. and ad nauseum. It all needs to be cleaned out. Renewed. Filled with the love, joy and peace that only God can give.
I need to ask as David asked, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10
by Barbara Chadwick
On my To-Do List for today is “Clean out the closet in the back bedroom!”
You know that we are here at this church as Interim. That is, until the church finds a full-time pastor. Well, recently the church had a candidate come to preach in view of a call. We invited them to come and see the parsonage. As they walked through they opened the closet doors. This was a natural thing for them to do but I hadn’t thought of this part of the tour! I was embarrassed. We’ve been here two years and - well – stuff accumulates. What can I say?
I had been putting off cleaning because I hesitate to get rid of some of the things in there. Also, I can’t decide where to put some of those things.
There are some shabby clothes that I’m keeping in case one day I should have to paint or clean up the garage, or do yard work.
There are some good clothes I can’t wear any more. I need to give them to somebody who can. There are several pairs of good shoes that I bought. They felt fine when I tried them on in the store but they hurt my feet now. (Age does something unexplainable to feet!) They would look nice on someone with strong, younger feet.
There are travel bags that need to be put where the suitcases are. A pile of scarves sits on the third shelf. They need to be put in a drawer. Three pairs of pajamas are sort of wadded up on that shelf also. Why aren’t those neatly folded in a drawer?
There are empty boxes that held gifts of jewelry. The jewelry has been put into the jewelry roll but I save these boxes in case I craft some item of beads or some such that I can give to someone. However, in order to do this kind of thing a person would have to either have a gift of creativity or take a class in something or other. Alas…
Receipts, scrapbooking stuff and calligraphy stuff go in a closet designated for that genre of “stuff.” Books and papers from seminars need to be filed. Cobwebs need to be swept down and scrapes on the wall need to be fixed. One day we moved in and the closet was clean and the next (well, actually two years later) it's a mess! How did this happen!
Little by little my heart gets full of “stuff”, cobwebs and scrapes, too. I have closets in there that are full of jealousies. There are closets where I'm hoarding anxieties. There are cobwebs of prideful issues and scrapes of slights I'm nursing - holding on to. I go along and things pile up in there.
When I stop to think about how God sees it I’m embarrassed about the mess - the pride, selfishness, judgmental attitudes, etc. and ad nauseum. It all needs to be cleaned out. Renewed. Filled with the love, joy and peace that only God can give.
I need to ask as David asked, Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalms 51:10
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Crystal Clear Evidence of His Work in Our Lives
At my school we take the first week of January and use it as a time to explore fun new ways to teach and to learn. So teachers are encouraged to teach anything they want. This year, Mr. Frisinger and I decided to lead a mission trip. We went to the Western Indian Ministries Private school with a group of twelve students grades 7-12. The focus of our mission trip was to bring encouragement and help them in whatever way we could. We had a fantastic time and were SO blessed to be able to serve.
On Thursday morning we were doing our group devotionals when I got a call from the principal asking me if my girls would like to substitute teach the kindergarten class … and could we be there at 8am … it was 7:15am. I said I knew they would and hung up and told the girls they would get to be substitute teachers for the day in the kindergarten. They were thrilled. What a treat for them.
As we were walking down to the school the sun was just coming up over the hill and shining up through the frozen branches. What a treat for me. God reflecting His glory through His creation … just like my girls did while they were teaching that day, and while they were cleaning out the closet the day before … just like my boys did while they were shoveling snow, and entering data into the library’s computer, and giving guitar and drum lessons … just like the whole group did at Awana’s on Wednesday night and especially how they did on Fun Day Friday when they taught a Bible story, played an indoor game, and helped build igloos out on the playground.
Looking at those branches giving clear shiny evidence of His glory, watching those kids give clear shiny evidence of God in their lives … now that’s inspiration!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A New Year
by Barbara Chadwick
Wow! A brand new year. A year to travel, play, learn, grow (hopefully not wider!) but grow in Christ. - in knowledge of Him and experience with Him.
Kenneth just read to me that to lose a pound a week I would have to eat 400 less calories PER DAY! In addition to that fact is the knowledge that it takes 100 calories to walk one mile. So just think, if I would walk four miles a day that would take care of that 400 calories!! Hmmm, that might not happen every day. Actually, that might not happen ANY day!
Another topic of discussion this New Year's Day was the old wive's tale that whatever you do on New Year's Day is how the year will go. So this year should be filled with Turkish Delight kinds of things because I made Pumpkin Pie and Kenneth made Peanut Butter Fudge with sugar free marshmallows he made. We might have to buy another journal just to log in all the calories we'll have!
We visit a lady in a rest home each week. We talk and pray with her. She tells that our visit encourages her. A group of people from our church go to the Pioneer Home once each month and lead the people in singing their favorite songs then serve Birthday cake and ice cream. They love it.
Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. I John 3:18
Henry Blackaby says we should stay alert to what God is doing around us and join Him. I like that. However, so often I'm more dull than alert! I pray that God will nudge us all when He has words for us to say, love for us to show, meals for us to give and smiles for us to share.
by Barbara Chadwick
Wow! A brand new year. A year to travel, play, learn, grow (hopefully not wider!) but grow in Christ. - in knowledge of Him and experience with Him.
Kenneth just read to me that to lose a pound a week I would have to eat 400 less calories PER DAY! In addition to that fact is the knowledge that it takes 100 calories to walk one mile. So just think, if I would walk four miles a day that would take care of that 400 calories!! Hmmm, that might not happen every day. Actually, that might not happen ANY day!
Another topic of discussion this New Year's Day was the old wive's tale that whatever you do on New Year's Day is how the year will go. So this year should be filled with Turkish Delight kinds of things because I made Pumpkin Pie and Kenneth made Peanut Butter Fudge with sugar free marshmallows he made. We might have to buy another journal just to log in all the calories we'll have!
Well, I was thinking that I really don't want to major on desserts this year. I'd really like to accomplish something - something significant, something of value.
What would you like to accomplish this year? You could:
- learn a new language
- study to play the harp (or any other instrument)
- build a house
- complete a year of study into getting an advanced degree
- take tennis lessons
- travel to a third world country and minister in Jesus' Name
We visit a lady in a rest home each week. We talk and pray with her. She tells that our visit encourages her. A group of people from our church go to the Pioneer Home once each month and lead the people in singing their favorite songs then serve Birthday cake and ice cream. They love it.
Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. I John 3:18
Henry Blackaby says we should stay alert to what God is doing around us and join Him. I like that. However, so often I'm more dull than alert! I pray that God will nudge us all when He has words for us to say, love for us to show, meals for us to give and smiles for us to share.
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