A Choice of Trees

TREES
A Poem by Joyce Kilmer. 1886–1918
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  KJV

Ever wondered why God put That tree into the garden, you know the one...Knowledge of Good and Evil (what kind of fruit is that?)?  I know that I have asked the question a time or two.  God planted a beautiful garden in Eden and rivers flowed into it to water the garden.  He provided all those beautiful trees and plants and told the man to take care of the garden and all that was in it.  The man was given one specific instruction (just one rule)...don't eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  One rule and a tree that appears to have no purpose and man (and woman) blew it.  Eyes were opened to their nakedness, communion with the Creator was lost and the couple was cast out into Eden's environment, the world of good and evil.

If the tree wasn't good for us, then why put it in the garden? Right?  Kind of like putting rat poison in the pantry and telling a child not to eat it.  Well, this weekend I was given insight into the situation.  A young minister brought this explanation.  God spoke the world and all that is in it into existence, with one exception...man.  Everything in the garden was designed to do a job, fulfill a purpose.  Man was created in the hands of the creator from the soil of Eden, filled by the breath of God and then placed into the garden.  Man was created with the power of thought, because he was made in the image of God, the Creator and with the power of thought comes the power to choose. 

Man was created for a higher purpose, communion with God by choice.  Trees lift their branches to the Creator as a matter of course, survival.   Animals act out of genetically coded instincts; but Man makes choices.  If God had not put the two trees, Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil, into the garden with the divine instruction 'don't eat of this one'; there would be no choice.  Without choice there would have been only duty not love.  God is Love and love is a choice not a duty.

Because man made a choice he met death, not just physical but spiritual death and was removed from the garden and from access to the other tree, the Tree of Life.  Because of his choice he lost that sweet communion with the Creator, the easy life of the garden and was sentenced to a life of striving for his survival.  But the Creator was never far from man waiting for him to make a better choice and out of His Love and Compassion brought about the Salvation of man through sacrifice... and then the final sacrifice.  What began in a garden with a tree, Knowledge of Good and Evil, ended above a garden on a tree (the Tree of Life) with the death of His son, Jesus.  God, became flesh and once again walked with His creation, drawing them into relationship as He made disciples.  When the time was at hand He gave Himself as the final sacrifice making it possible for us to once again choose to eat from the Tree of Life as we set aside our desire for the worldly.

Today we still have a choice.  Each of us has the power to choose the life we live, the god we follow and our eternal future.  Which tree will you choose to eat from - Knowledge of Good and Evil, worldly fare, or Tree of Life, sweet communion with the Creator and eternal life with Him?  I choose Life and that more abundantly in Him.

"O Lord God, let these words touch all who read them with a desire to know more of You, to walk in communion with You.  Keep me ever in the center of your Will that I may always choose Life.  I am flesh and blood already aware of Good and Evil, having experienced the world, but this I know that You are all I need.  Keep my heart soft and humble before you full of your Mercy and Goodness."

Another Day

Yesterday we had an awesome church service...but that was yesterday and it is over and gone unless, we have awesome church today. It isn't Sunday? There's no service today? Wrong, we don't have to be in the building to have awesome church. HE loves meeting us where we live...right there in our living room, den, or .... He will show up when and where we invite Him and where He is will be awesome church. 

We all enjoy 'awesome church' don't we?  But, Jesus wasn't really much into the whole 'church' thing.  His church was in the streets, out on the roadside or hillside or beach or ... You get the picture, right.  So let's share this awesome 'church' with all we meet.
God is just too good to keep to ourselves.

And in that vein let me share this:   This past weekend we attended the Connect Workshop at The Promise Center in Santa Rosa, California.  The  purpose of the workshop...to promote the VISION of God.  Emphasis was on the importance of making connections between the people in the church and the visitors to the  church.  The Word tells us that "without a vision the people perish" and statistics tell us that 'without making significant connections within the church' visitors will not stick around.

The 'great commission':
Matt 22:9    Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.' Matt 28:19  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

We are 'co-missioned'  not just to go and invite but to go and make disciples.  Making disciples is a process of time and as such requires that we make lasting connections with our visitors.  Go out and invite, become a real friend, teach by Word and deed and thus make disciples.

Planning for the Future or Emergency Planning

Thinking about the future…something best done when young

After you reach my age, thinking about the future should be referred to as emergency planning.  To be honest, when I was in my  20’s I was busy trying to make ends meet while rearing 3 children and going to university.  Finances were tight and there was always more month than money.  So thinking about the future was done with our heads buried in the sand (or the bills).  When we reached our 30’s we had teens, 3 of them, in the house and finances were still iffy.  We also tried to make up to our kids for the lack of money in their early years.  Both of us had grown up in low-to-middle income families with very frugal parents.  We had never travelled or took real vacations and wanted something different for our kids, so we spent rather than saved.  To be honest, I wasn’t too concerned about the future because I quite honestly did not expect to be here that long.  Both of my parents had passed away at age 60 from health related issues, and I figured I would probably be gone before retirement age arrived.  And beyond that reasoning, I fully expected the Lord to return long before I passed away.  Well, hello retirement…I have arrived at medicare age and the future looms before me.  Now it’s all about emergency plans because social security won’t be sufficient.  So, what to do? 

We are facilitating a small group study about breaking free from debt and when Pastor asked us to do the class I had to laugh.  Of all people to handle a class about finances…I would have never chosen us.  We are debt free at this point, but we have very little net worth.  We own no home and our investment income is minimal.  We will be dependent on God,  Social Security, and Medicare for our future.  The only sure thing about our future is God, the other two are seriously in doubt.

If you are reading this and you have not planned for the future begin now!  Find a way to put money into a retirement investment (preferably tax sheltered).  Set aside some part of your income each month in savings for emergencies along the way.  So, words of wisdom learned from a life lived on a shoe string and learning the hard way:   Invest in your future, teach your children to save and invest, and invest in the Kingdom of God.  Don’t think you have to keep up financial appearances in public; as much as possible live debt free.   Take time to plan for the future so that when you reach retirement age you don’t have to do emergency planning. 

God has been good to us and kept us through the years and I have no doubt that He will continue but looking into the future right now is not pleasant.  I cannot see what God has ahead for our provision and I wish that we had found a way to hang onto more of the money when we had it.  Reaching age (?) without a plan can contribute to worried dreams that keep you awake at night.

Ps 37:25   I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. KJV

Matt 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  KJV

 

Hooks...

We’re All Hooked!

As a child I remember going fishing with my mom.  She loved fishing and catching fish wasn’t absolutely necessary to her enjoyment..  She could sit on the riverbank, bait her cane pole with an unfortunate worm and fee countless fish without catching anything.  She just enjoyed being there – watching the flow of the river and dangling those worms in the warm water.  It was peaceful for everyone except the worm.

As I have grown older and gone fishing I too enjoy the ‘just being there’ like Mom did.  I’m hooked on the peacefulness of the rivers flow and the ‘fishing’- poor worms.  I live in California now and there are a lot of rules that apply to the fisherman, lots of places where you can’t fish, restrictions on when you can fish for certain kinds of fish and what type of gear you can use.  I have discovered that there are different kinds of hooks you are allowed to use or not use as the case may be.  There are barbed hooks and  barbless hooks and ‘game laws’ that dictate the use certain hooks for certain game fish.  I’ve often wondered why game laws restrict the use of barbed hooks for some kinds of fish and recently I realized that fishing with the barbless hook causes less damage to the fish and facilitates safe, easy removal of the hook. 

Now, this is not a fishing blog (well maybe sort of…in the sense of fishers of men) so why am I talking about fishing gear?  Well, while thinking about my mom and her ‘ addiction’ to just fishing , I got to thinking about being ‘hooked’.   So, let me share a few thoughts on “Hooks”.

God calls us all to be ‘fishers of men’ and as such we need to be familiar with God’s fishing gear.  Spiritually speaking , God only goes fishing with  barbless hooks;  while Satan’s tackle box is only equipped with barbed hooks.  Why??

 Ever tried removing a hook from the mouth of the fish you just caught?  A fish caught on a barbed hook will not be able to free itself once the hook is swallowed.  The barbed hook has a tiny ‘thorn’ at its tip that digs into the soft tissue of the fish.  Once the hook is swallowed the fish will find it almost impossible to disgorge (spit out) the hook.  Conversely, a fish caught on a barbless hook can usually manage to spit the hook out, unless the fisherman is very smart.  Fishing with barbless hooks gives the fish the advantage.  Have you ever tried to remove a hook from the mouth of a fish?

 

God designed each of us with the ability to intelligently make choices and then released us to make those choices.  When He God goes fishing for men, He chooses to do so with barbless hooks.  Those who are caught by the Spirit will escape the hook easily unless they choose not to fight the tug of the Spirit. Those who desire to do so may slip off the hook (backslide) whenever they choose.

Satan’s barbed hooks are the hooks of addiction: worldly desires, fame, drugs, and self-pride.  Once hooked on these  barbs it is almost impossible to escape the tug on the line.  Those caught up on these hooks must desire to be freed from the hook; then and only then can God free them.  

I am hooked God’s line…not fighting the tug of the Spirit.  So blessed to be spared the barbed hooks of this world and the scars they leave behind. 

 

Finish Line

Life is a race

Where God sets the place
And it’s not to the swift or the strong
Victory belongs to those who  hold on
And keep their eyes on the finish line.

Over mountains so high or

Through valleys so low
Though troubles surround me
Still onward I go
My steps are established
Here I’ll abide
And keep my eyes on the finish line.

I have my eyes on the finish line
I won’t look to the left or the right
For Victory belongs to  those who hold on
And keep their eyes on the finish line.

Jacque Chance 2000


Running this race with one thing in mind...reaching the finish line and helping others run the race.

Rejoice Always...

   This is the day that the Lord has made!  I will rejoice and be glad in it!  Easy to say and easy to do when the day is a good one and all things are going just right.   But the scripture doesn't say... 'This is a good day that the Lord has made.'  It just says 'This is the day...'   So, I will bless the Lord with joy and praise whether the day is a good one or not.  He is Worthy, He is Faithful, He was the Sacrifice for my sin and I am blessed beyond measure on any day, good or not. 

    Today is His day...take your praise to His house and offer yourself without reserve to the One who loves without reservation and without measure. 

THE BITTER CUP

That night –

We sat together sharing
The bread and the cup –
Faithful companions and followers
He said take this  bread,
Eat and remember me.
We ate and wondered
At his words.
He said take this cup
Drink and remember me.
We drank from the cup
And marveled that He
Thought we could forget.
We sat together sharing bread and cup
As He called one of us a betrayer.
We sat amazed as He washed our feet
And told us of the Servant’s heart.
Then we slept in the garden
As He prayed out His agony.
We slept as He prayed Father
Take this cup, this bitter cup.
We slept on in sweet peace,
Little realizing that we –
Each of us would become His betrayer.
They took Him away that same night
And we ‘forgot’ Him.

Who is He

Do we remember this man who spoke of cups?
Who is He
This man we betray with our silence?
He is Jesus ,
Who drank the bitter cup of our sin.
He is the Cup  of Life
Poured out for you and me.
How can we forget?
How can we be silent?

Jacque Chance 2006

A few years ago my daughter asked me to write a soliloquy for her Easter drama, you know one man, in this case a disciple, talking to the universe from the voice inside his head.  Today while browsing through some old notebooks I found what I had written for her and read it again.  I haven’t forgotten Him or the sacrificial offering He made for me, but I do realize that over the years I have taken Him, His Presence, for granted at times.

Isn’t this in itself a form of betrayal?  When I come to my senses and repent of taking Him for granted I often try to excuse myself with “Lord, I’ve just been so busy….”  He lovingly reminds me that He has the whole world and its problems on His schedule but He’s never too busy for me. 

‘Lord forgive me for my betrayal of your gift.  Remind me often that without You I am nothing and can do nothing.  Don’t let me forget the lesson of the bitter cup and servant’s heart.  I am human, just flesh and blood, nothing special and yet You loved me, died for me, drank the cup of my sin – how could I forget?”

 

 

Checking our Connections

Jiggle the Wire

The Creator of this human body did not design us to be self powered individuals.  We are dependent upon external sources to power this body.  Our physical power is derived from the life-style we live and the diet we consume.  These facts aren't debatable   Our bodies are designed to be dependent upon proper physical maintenance:  nutritious foods and physical exercise.  Without these our bodies begin to break down, becoming less and less efficient - more and more debilitated. 

Like wise the Creator designed us spiritually to be dependent upon external sources for our spiritual power. Much like the battery in our car or the heart and brain in our body - we require spiritual recharging regularly.

Our heart, brain and other organs depend on diet and exercise for recharging.  Our car battery requires that the connection between battery and alternator (the equipment that converts the power generated by internal combustion into energy for the battery) be secure and uncorrupted.  When the battery on the car fails the first thing we do is lift the hood and 'Jiggle' the wire (battery cable).  When the toaster doesn't heat up we 'jiggle' the plug to make sure the connection is good.  Our spiritual life requires a good connection to our external power source. 

What is that external power source?  There are only two choices for recharging the spirit. 
One choice is to rely on the world and its smorgasbord of delectables.  The other is to rely upon the Creator of the body and the spirit.   A daily connection to the Spirit of the Creator, a constant refreshing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the right choice for powering a healthy spirit.  

The Creator gave us power over this body, the power to choose our diet and how we use this body.  Likewise we have the power to choose how we nourish our spirit.   Joshua of the Old Testament spoke to his people and told them they had to make a choice - God of mammon (the world).  We can't be plugged into both.

Josh 24:15-17
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;
17 For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
KJV

So, if your body is failing you, make a change 'jiggle' or adjust your diet and get some exercise.  And if your spiritual man is suffering from debilitation you need check your power source.  Are you connected to God, from whom all blessing flows, or are you too connected to this world and its temptations?  Get busy, plug into God and jiggle that wire every morning with praise and prayer.

Cry of the Heart

Ex 33:18-23
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
KJV

Sometimes I am weary of this world, tired of the daily tedium, and trying to move my life along in the right direction.  Sometimes it seems that I pray to no avail and all I want is to leave it all behind and just go home.  I think Moses must have felt the same way as he tried to negotiate between the Israelites and the wilderness.  I think he was tired and frustrated when he asked Jehovah God to "shew my thy glory".  So, here I am Lord and the cry of my heart today is....

LORD SHOW ME YOUR GLORY

Lord, I have heard  your voice in whispers,
Soft as the wind brushing the leaves.
I've heard you in the thunder of the storm and
Waves breaking on the shore.

Lord, I have seen your hand
As it touched the sick, the lame,
Healing the broken and
Providing from the abundance of your Kingdom.

Lord, your voice and your hand
Are wonderful to me
Providing from your riches,
Directing with your wisdom.

But much more than your voice,
Which I truly love to hear,
And so much more than your
Hand of comfort reminding me I am yours.

More than these my heart's desire…
Your Precious face to see
And so my cry today
"Lord show me your Glory"

Lord show me your Glory
Let your train fill this place
Show me your Glory
Let me look upon your Face.
Lord, Show me your Glory
Let it overflow my soul
Lord please show me your Glory.

Jacque Chance  2006

 

I Only Have A Future

At my feet lies the rubble of a life spent in sin

The broken pieces of my past cast shadow
Making dim.
I long for something different
For a change
And then I met the Master
He swept it all way

Now I only have a future

I’m starting new today
To write the story of my life
To walk a different way.

His Word is now my roadmap,

His Purpose now my plan
My will submitted to His Way
And every day His day

For I only have a future,

I’ve left the past behind
It’s just a distant memory
Used only to remind
That He swept away the rubble
Today I’m new in Him
And I only have a future
And that future is in HIM.
            Jacque Chance Oct-2012

Beautiful to Me

                
Isaiah 53:2
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.    KJV

The Word tells us prophetically that the person of Jesus, His image, would hold no attraction for the eye...no beauty for the eye of the beholder...no visual WOW factor.  In the Gospels we are shown a man with dusty feet, dusty clothes...a man without home or possessions...no place to lay His head.  This man drew crowds wherever He went.  They followed for the miracles.  That same man is later  painted by scars, bloodied hands, bloodied feet and back...bruised and shamed by soldiers.  He still drew the crowds though today they were drawn by His defeat.  If we were handed an artist rendition of either, our natural man would be repulsed by the images,  but today I think of Him and find in Him great beauty.  That dusty wanderer, that bloodied and bruised man holds a 'wonderous attraction' for me.
    
                    
                        JESUS BEAUTIFUL TO ME

                       Crown of thorns upon your brow

                       Nails in your hands and feet
                     Blood flowing out … dripping down
                     You did it all for me.  

On that rugged cross you died for me

                     As my sin debt you paid
                     You rose again  defeating death
                     You did it all for me

       Cho:       Jesus beautiful to me
                     Wonderful in Wisdom
                       Great in Majesty
                       Savior and healer
                       Keeper of my soul
                     Jesus my Redeemer
                     Beautiful to me.