Advent

THE STORY OF ADVENT

2012

Once upon a time the Most High made the world. This world was a house. God made man and put him in a garden in this new world. Man stayed in the garden but he was to move out and be master of the whole house.

God gave house rules to the man. He gave man a name, Adam. Adam was to walk with God in the garden and follow His rules. Adam was to tend and defend all that was in the garden. God new that man was alone and that it was not good so he put Adam in a deep sleep. He took Adam's rib and made women with it. She was a helpmeet for the work God had given Him. Her name was Eve and she was the mother of all things.

There was a great dragon in the world. He was wicked and hated the Most High. He had started a war with God and God cast him out of heaven. He wanted to rule this new world. He sought to destroy Adam, who was the King of this new world. He wanted man to be at war with God too. This dragon was subtle and deceitful above all.

There were trees in the garden for food for Adam and Eve. They could eat of all the trees but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was one of the house rules and if they ate of this tree, they would surely die.

The dragon came to the women in the cool of the day and tempted her. She listened to the dragon. Adam did not kill him like he should of. He did not defend the garden or his wife. The dragon led Eve to the tree that was forbidden. He told her that she would be like God if she ate the fruit. Eve believed him and she ate. She gave it to Adam and he ate it.

God came to them and found them hiding. They where ashamed because they where naked. They had broken God's house rules. God judged them for the wrong they had done. Life would be bitter because they had followed the dragon and disobeyed his rules. The war between God and the dragon now involved the man and the new world. Man had plunged they whole world into darkness. He was far from God and his life would be full of fighting.

Adam and Eve had to leave the garden. They had to enter the wider world. But they where not ready. Their training in the garden was not yet complete. But they transgressed God's rules and had to go. God promised them that he would make right what they had done. He would send a second Adam to the world and he would come save them from their darkness. He would end the great war and crush the great dragon. Man would again walk close to God because of this new Adam.

Adam and Eve became fruitful and had children. They filled the world up with people. But these children followed the serpent as well. The thoughts of man where continually wicked. God found only one man who loved Him and followed his rules, his name was Noah. So God had Noah build a boat and fill it with animals because God was going to destroy the world and make a new one. Noah was to be a new Adam. Noah, his family and all of the animals that he spent his life collecting and caring for, entered the ark. God filled the world up with water.

After Noah we find that man continued to disobey God's house rules. But God never forgot his promise to fix what was broken. God was working his promise to end this war by crushing the dragon. God found a people for himself and he put his name on them. They where to be his special people who would follow him and keep his rules. Abram was the father of these people. He became a new Adam.

Abraham had a son and his son had sons. Jacob was the younger son of Isaac and he had twelve sons that became a mighty people. They became the Hebrews. The Hebrew people ended up slaves in Egypt. After 400 hundred years of slavery God delivered his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. He promised that he would give his special people a land flowing with milk and honey. He promised that they would inhabit cities that they did not build and eat grapes that they did not plant.

The Hebrews become the nation of Israel. But they were a stiff necked and rebellious people. God gave them new house rules and gave them a new house, the Tabernacle, where they could meet with him daily. They were to follow these rules so that they could be closer to God and receive his blessings. But if the rules where broken, God would judge them. These rules pointed ahead to the new Adam that was yet to come and be the true King that would rule the world.

After the Tabernacle is built and the law is given, God's special people forget him. He never forgets however and he kicks them out of the new house. They go into exile again and again for their disobedience. When they humble themselves call on the name of the Lord, God saves them from their troubles and restores them to peace with him. But this pattern is one that continues for thousands of years. They forget God's rules and follow the dragon's rules instead. They delight in listening to the Deceiver rather then following hard after God. The cleave to fake god's and forsake the law of the Lord.

God never forgot his promise in the garden.  In all of the Old Testament stories we see God preparing the way for the new Adam. He will come in glory and He will be the brightness and fullness of the Lord Most High. He will be lowly, coming on a donkey to reclaim this house for the Lord. He will come to listen and obey the rules of the Lord. He will come to defend and care for the world that Adam plunged into war. He will come and save the lost and restore fellowship with the world and God. He will crush the head of the Dragon of old. He will be given a new world like Noah but he will rule it in wisdom and this kingdom will have no end. It will be the beginning of a new way. It will be a new house, a new world and he will rule it well. All peoples, nations and tongues will follow this new way. The world will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. And at the end of time, heaven and earth will joined together when the knowledge of the Lord fills this house. The joined houses will remain forever and ever and will live in sweet fellowship, joining the chorus the angels sing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

2000 years ago we find Israel under Roman rule. The Romans do not know the Lord and they do not follow him. They are harsh to the children of Israel. Israel is waiting for the promised King, the new Adam. They have cried out to God in their exile and are waiting to be delivered.

The Song of Mary

46 And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from theirthrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

I wrote this for the kids.  I am turning the above story into Advent books that we will use for our morning advent reading.  I am leaving room for the kids to draw because if you are a Farley you need to illustrate the story!  Unless you are mama Farley who cannot even match Malachi in skill level. I am super excited to use this for Advent.  One of the most striking things about advent for me is the way it begins, not with Mary but in the garden of Eden.  Advent is the story we find on all pages of Scripture.  I wrote a super brief summary of Old Testament History so that my children will understand the whole story of Advent.  I want them to see how Jesus was anticipated, promised and looked for for thousands of years.  Jesus is a big deal.  He is the big deal.  I want my children to see Jesus on every page of Scripture.  I end my little book with the Magnifcat.  My goal is to have them memorize this over the advent season.  It is not super long and they memorize much longer at school.  But the reality of doing all of this before school.....we will see!  But the point is that Jesus came. God came as a man to crush and conquer and fulfill all of God's commands.  He came as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and he came as the true King.  He was longed for, hoped for, promised, and we meet him as a son to Mary and Joseph born among the animals.  All of the miracles of His story should hit us like a train every year.  It is a wonder that we ever lack faith when we meditate on this awesome story.  God is doing far more then we could imagine or deserve.  It is all grace because of Christ.  And it all started in Bethlehem.  

Moses' Great Sermon

I have been out of Deuteronomy for a while now.  It is time to recall some of the amazing lessons learned (and being learned) in this a huge book.  Deuteronomy happens to be one of my favorites.  It might be strange to have a favorite book in the Bible but I do so love Deuteronomy and 1st and 2nd Samuel   I probably have other favorites that I have forgotten about but these are my favs at the moment.  

The setting for this book is super fantastic.  Israel has wondered in the wilderness for forty years.  There wanderings have been full of rebellion, epic battles, the law, the blue prints for the Tabernacle, the making of the Tabernacle and oh so much more. Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land.  He is to perish in the wilderness with the rest of the rebellious generation.  He gathers all of the people together (women and little ones are mentioned as being there for this very long sermon).  They are about to receive the promise that was given to Abraham.  God is going to give His people a land flowing with milk and honey.  He is going to give them a land that has fields full of produce, vines heavy with grapes that they did not plant.  They will inhabit cities that they did not build.  God is giving them what they do not deserve.  It is all grace.  It His gift to His children.  This theme is continued from the garden and continues on into the new garden, the new world that Jesus establishes by his death and resurrection.  It is all grace.  Even in the giving of the law and the temple rituals, we should grace.  God loves to bless us beyond what we deserve.  This is what grace is.  This is such a beautiful theme found in God's word and it is amazing how often we miss it!  Back to Moses and his story.  He is declaring this very truth to God's people.  He is reminding them of the grace they have received.  Reminding them of the grace that they are to receive.  But....he is also reminding them of what happens when they disobey and forget their God.  As they forget God, God does not forget them.  He remembers the vow that they have taken to follow after God and to obey all of His commands.  When they are unfaithful to their word, God stays faithful to His.  He sends them enemies to remind them of what they have forgotten.  He reminds them that false gods are just that....false liars, works of their own feeble imaginations.  This sermon is can be broken into two basic categories: if you remember Me and obey all of my commands, you will be blessed.  If you forget me and follow other god's, all of the curses and plagues of Egypt will swallow you up.  The blessings are great when we follow God and cleave to Him.  The curses are heavy and buckle anyone they fall on.  But the curses also have grace wrapped up in them.  The purpose of the curses is to administer Gods justice.  But they are also for the purpose of bringing the people back to the Lord.  And if you look at the whole book of the bible we see this again and again.  God's people disobey.  They go into exile.  They become slaves and have bitter lives.  This reminds them of when God's favor was on them.  They call out in repentance and ask God to deliver them once again.  God is the only deliverer that brings us peace and blessings.  If we think differently, we are already compromised in out minds and can be sure that an idol is being worshiped.  Find the idol, cut it off and turn to the Lord.  God is your fullness, your deliver from all things, your surety and praise.  Cleave to Him.  This is the message of Moses' sermon.

Therefore keep all the commandments....that you may be strong.  Deut. 11:8

Hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all of His commandments...to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Deut. 13:18

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey his voice and ye shall serve him and cleave unto Him.  Deut  13:4

Thou shat fear the Lord thy God, him shalt thour serve and to him shalt thou cleave and swear by His name.  he is thy praise and he is thy God.  Deut.  10:22

Quotes That Rock my Boat

These quotes are from an article called,  Our Dangerous Obsession With Health by Wesley J Smith found on First Things Blog.  

"Fundamentally, it is not mere life, nor even a healthy life, but rather a good and worthy life for which we must aim . . . Indeed, though there is no such thing as being too healthy, there is such a thing as being too concerned about health. To be preoccupied with the body is to neglect the soul, for which we should indeed care “first and most.”

In other words, if we individually and collectively practice virtue—even when it means accepting suffering—we will make Nietzsche a false prophet by promoting health and pursuing happiness in the overarching context of protecting the equal moral worth of all human life. 

Getting Good at Being Sick

One of the things that I have noticed about being sick is how consuming it can be.  When your body is a raging mess it is easy to get obsessed with how you feel.  It is easy to go inside and hang out with mess.   It is also so true that we are not gnostic and able to separate the body from the soul.  When the body suffers, the soul is effected.  But I would say that this is where we engage a fight rather then let our souls slip into the goo that our body is oozing.  What i mean by this, is that in the storm of upset health we engage in active combat to keep our souls facing outward and heavenward. It is super easy to turn our gaze and our ears on the thing that is shouting the loudest and jumping up and down for attention.  In this context i am speaking of health issues.  When bad health sets in it is super easy to turn inward and hang out with the mess.  But even in this we are called to seek first the kingdom.  Even in these times we are promised that our needs will be taken care of.  The practical side to this is, bad health slows you down.  This is where it is super tempting to join the Gnostic.   Lets just ignore that I feel super horrid.  Lets pretend that mind over matter is more spiritual then being where I am..... being sick to the glory of God.  Being good at being sick is a good work.  Learning to trust in the Lord in all things, is the point.  When we are sick, we glorify God.  We do not pretend it away and we do not let it consume us.  We are called to fight as Christians   Some of us fight with ailments.  We learn to get really good with our handicap.  We learn that we are in a body and that we are  not fighting on our own.  And we learn that the real enemy is in our hearts, in the world and is the cunning serpent of old.  We fight the real enemies.  And yes, bad health is a real enemy.  It is apart of the dying man that Jesus had victory over.  We remember that Christ has had the victory.  He tasted this victory after death.  Our pattern is no different.  Bad health is a type of death.  If it is a christian death then you should see Resurrection life springing from your dying body.  Your family should be blessed by it.  Trials are promised.  They are guaranteed.  Health trials are from the Lord and for our good.  

The Book of Numbers

I am in the book of Numbers.  Loving every bit of it (ok, the numbering of the people in all of the tribes was a bit rough).  Korah and the earth swallowing him up.  The bit about the spirit of jealousy coming over a husband.  The 12 days of sacrifices that took place, one day for each tribe to sacrafice, sanctify the alter.  The spying of the Land.  Internal struggles as princes lead their tribes to doubt God.  God sending a disease that wiped out thousands.  Aaron and Miriam having their own little rebellion that leads to Miriams uncleanness and exile.  And do not forget the unnamed man that collected sticks on the Sabbath.....he had a very rocky ending! Miriam dies.  Aaron dies.  Phineas stops the plague with his manly javelin skills.  The number of rebellions found in this book is unbelievable.   In it all we have a beautiful reminder of what God is doing.  God is taking a people, a people that are His and He is drawing near to them.  That is what He is up to.  That is what all it is about.  He wants to be near to His people.  The book of numbers is full of stories about rebellion.  God's people keep pushing Him away.  Look at what He has done for them.  And yet they still want to go back to slavery.  They have forgotten what their God has done.  They remember the pleasures of slavery in Egypt but refuse to see the pleasures that their God has given them.  He wants them to be near.  He wants them close. This generation is stiffnecked.  They perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief.  This book is full of warnings.

 We are God's children.  He has gone to great trouble to be near to us.  We should be Joshua and Caleb in this story.  We are to believe that God can and will bring us through the wilderness.  We are to thirst after His ways and not the ways of the world around us.  We do this by remembering and being thankful. God's story is not just to be known by us. It is to be loved. We know his ways, walk in ways, delight in His ways and continue on in His ways. We love the law and meditate on it day and night.  We teach His stories, our stories faithfully to our children.  We walk before them, showing them how to be true sons and daughters of the Most High God.

The stories found in numbers are full of lessons.  Are we Korah?  Are we the bickering princes that cause others to stumble and lose their way?  Are we Miriam who murmurs against God's chosen?  Are we the grumblers in the wilderness who despise the food of the Lord?  Are we forgetful of what God has done for us?  Or can we say that we are sisters of Joshua and Caleb.  Faithful to Moses as he walked before God and led a stiff necked people. We follow Joshua into the promised land with confidence of victory because we know what the Lord has done and what He has promised to do.  We should be people of courage.  Do we look at the giants in our own story and shrink back?  Or can we say with Caleb and Joshua, "lets go to war now for the Lord will deliver our enemies into our hands!"  We pray for this kind of courage in the story we are in.  We all have our giants.  But we also have God as our Father and deliverer.  So we walk in the strength of Lord, knowing that He has led us into the wilderness so that He can bring us into the glorious promised land.

Our culture is bankrupt. We should not be tempted by what they have. They offer the same thing that Egypt offered Israel......slavery.  We need to renew our desires and seek after righteousness. We need to teach our children to love what God loves. We do this by loving His ways and keeping our own hearts from idolatry and vain things.  "Think not on worthless things," says Psalm 119.  Guard your hearts and your minds and keep the book of Numbers close when you are tempted by the ways of this world.  The stories found in this book should knock some good ole sense into our straying hearts.  The basic lesson is this:  idolatry and grumbling lead to death in the wilderness. Following, believing, and remembering our God leads to a land flowing with milk and honey.  Super easy to decide which one is best.  Super easy to slide into rebellion when we are not being diligent to keep the idols out. Idol minds lead to idolatry in the heart.  Stay vigilant!  Fight the good fight and learn to follow Joshua and Caleb into the promises that God has for you. 

Life On Steriods

Life is good.  The weather is an amazing 63 degrees.  My kids are at soccer with dad.  I talked to two of my sisters today.  Man do I miss you ladies.  I think you all need to come down here with your kids and we can just have a fun time in the sun together!

I went to the doctor today.  I did not want to go.  Jason wanted me to go.  I went.  I told Jason on the way that we should never, never do the steroid thing again.  I finally feel that it is all of out my system from my last round with that nasty stuff.  It makes you feel horrid.  It tempts me to act horrid.  And boy is it bad on the face.  I mean really, I puffed up like a cheese puff.  Not a good look for me.  So I decided on the way to the doctor today that I probably just needed a round of good ole antibiotics to kick what has been getting me down.  I went into the doc (who is a friend as well) and put on my happy face.  I gave him my symptoms with a calm and cheerful disposition.  I mean really, if you where there to hear me you might start cracking up.  "What seems to be the problem?"  I like to start my answers off with a note of,  "oh not much I just have not seen you in a while," kind of way.  I did say that I deserve a frequent visitor card.  For my sisters, they know that this is a big deal for me.  I do not like going to the doctor.  I avoid it at all costs in fact.  I often hear from my doctor that I wait too long to come in.  So I know that I am not a crazed hypochondriac....I have many temptations but this is not one of them.  Back to the conversation.  I did tell him that I woke the other night choking and coughing and having a hard time recovering.  I have been super short of breath, coughing up some beautiful green stuff, having chest pain, and (imagine this) having a hard time sleeping.  All of this and more was said in a super chipper tone.  He listened to my lungs for a while.  My doctor is awesome.  He is a christian and a man that I respect.  He is not over dramatic but calm and clear.  He told me very calmly that I need to go back on steroids   I do not sound good and I need to go on the good stuff for 15 days.  We are hoping that this 15 days does not turn into 3 months like the last time.  He said that my air flow is restricted which is troubling because I am on a high dose of an inflammatory inhaler already and this should not be happening.  This is what is going on inside of me: I can breathe in just fine, it is the out breath that is the problem.  I can not get all of the air out.  This is why my chest hurts so bad.  I have air in there that is puffing my lungs up like a balloon ready to burst....not a pleasant feeling I assure you.  I am short of breathe for this reason as well, and waking in the dead of night with horrible asthma attacks.  He also gave me an antibiotic because I have some type of infection.  It may be a sinus infection or it may be bronchitis but he said that it does not matter which one it is, breathing is the real problem.  This is when you know that do not have the "normal" run of the mill kind of health issues.  If you have had a sinus infection or bronchitis, you know that they are enough to put you out for a while.  But this was a minor detail in todays visit.  Super encouraging......I think not.  But I did get some super good news today.  I am in the middle of a root canal.  I do not like going to the dentist.  The good news is, i get to delay my root canal for a while because he cannot work on my while I am steroids!  I loved canceling that appointment today.  Here I was, sitting on the doctors bed and ready to accept this trial is not over.  I did keep calm.  I trust him.  I will take the nasty stuff because I know that I have to.  I will suck it up and feel like junk for the next while because I have to.  And in it all I really am thankful.  Is it hard, yes.  Manly because it is the cause of something bigger going on that we have yet to figure out.  We thought that in the spring we figured it out.  I had a major lung flare up because of my allergies.  But I am on allergy medication, and my allergies are under control at the moment.  So we rule that out.  Going on steroids is not done lightly by any doctor.  But I am thankful for them.  And I am thankful that I have a doctor who I trust.  I love that I told Jason I would never go on them again.  But here I am dosed up and feeling horrible already.  My head is killing me, I am shaky and I feel sick to my stomach.  I usually do not write when I hurt so bad.  But I wanted to so that my family and friends will know that I would love your prayers.  Prayers to figure out what in the world is going on with my lungs.  Prayers that I will be good at feeling nasty.  Prayers that I will stay close to my God as He hands me this trouble.  Prayers that I would bless my lovely family while I am sick.  Prayers that I would not have insomnia this time around.  My mom died of lung disease.  And watching her die was painful.  Lung disease is a brutal beast.  I want to kill it and have victory over it.  I want to beat it for my mom.  I still remember walking into the ICU when I was 18 and seeing my mom ravaged and beaten on life-support.  I thought I would be strong when I walked in.  I thought that I could handle seeing her.  I walked in, looked at her, gasped and left quickly in tears.  I want to beat this thing.  I want to hold my great-grandchildren.  Pray that we figure it out.  My mom was undignosed until the day she ended up on life support.  She lived only 4 more years after that.  She finally found a good doctor when she got super sick.  But it was too late.  He told us that.  I want a different story.  I have a doctor is pro-active and trying to figure out the "why" behind it all.  So my story is already different.  I am so blessed to have such supportive family, doctors and friends.  I just kept thinking that it would all just go away.  Ignore, ignore, ignore.  But I am motivated to figure this out so that I can better care for my family.  God gives us all of our days.  He knows them all.  Everyday I get to live for Jesus is a gift.  Health is a gift.  Having it taken away is the main means that God has used to change me.  I do pray that I come through this looking more like Jesus.  I do pray that I will reflect His glory more in this trial.  I have a smile on my face.  It does not stay on for long because it hurts my head to smile but my heart is thankful.  And I am honored to be worthy to walk through this trial.  May Jesus be seen clearly in the Farley home as we go through this together.

Thanks for all of your prayers.  I will probably not be around for awhile.

Blessings,
Erin

Discipleship

People do things for a reason.  Shocking I know.  We all are motivated to get up in the morning.  We take care of our families.  We are women who understand the need for mom to be around.  We understand that we are doing our children and husband a great service by staying out of the "work force" and tending to the real work of family life in the home.  We could continue to talk about the host of other things that we do better then the world.  We sure do know that educating our children is important and that we would never put our kids in the devils academy.  I mean can you believe that some people do that?!!!  We are a thinking people.  We make decision based on biblical principles.  Do not sacrifice your children to Molech (or we could say public schools!).  It is really easy to justify and defend why we do what we do.  But I have noticed a temptation here.  Once we make the big decisions, we feel that we are done.   Illustrate this please.  Ok, we know that we need to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  This translates into seeking to educate our children thoughtfully and under God's care.  We pick a good christian school or homeschool to be faithful to this command.  Good and well done.  So we  start our homeschool year.  Or we put them in a good school.  This is not where we end however.  We go from glory to glory all of the time.  We don't figure something out and then have done with it.  For homeschooling families, you constantly have to fight to have Christ at the center of your time, your curriculum and in every lesson that you teach them in and out of the working school day.  Parents of day schoolers have the same battle.  We put our children in school not so that we get some time off  but we put them in school and walk alongside them.  We know the teachers.  Know what the teachers think of our children and work on the character issue that arise.  We constantly make sure that we know what they are learning.  We make sure that we know their friends.  We should know what games their playing at recess.  Who they have issues with and what issues our own children have.  Discipleship is the name of the game.  It does not end when we decide to follow Christ, it is something that we do everyday, every minute. And this is the pattern.  Not to make super godly decision and then idolize them.  Or make super godly decisions and then think we have done our bit.  We are walking, running, fighting, at all times of this Christian walk.  David finds all of the men of battle sitting down and not fighting the nation of Philisti.  David walks in and takes on the giant.  It was good and right for Saul to go to battle with the Philistians.  But when he got to the battle, he sat down and did nothing.  David is the hero, the example in this story.  And David is victorious over his enemies again and again.  We are not just called to make "good" decisions, we are called to get up everyday and walk hard after Christ in all that we do.  If we stay home with the kids, we get better and better at it.  If we send our kids to school, we get better and better at this.  If we homeschool, we get better and better at it.  Christians are disciples.  Disciples follow hard after Christ.  We did decide to follow Christ but we must continue on in our walk following Him in all ways.  Keep making godly choices.  Renew again and again your love and zeal for this Christian life.  Change and change and then change some more, more into the likeness of Jesus.  Our choices may change.  Our choices may stay the same. But in both we should be changing, our hearts should continually be drawing closer to Christ.   We do all things for the glory of God and our hearts being refined is a big part of this.  The disciples dropped all they had and followed Jesus.  But that first day was the beginning for them.  They where not done when they started following Jesus.  We are to be like the disciples.  We begin as they did and drop all we have and follow Jesus. We stay strong in the thick of our troubles and stay by Jesus.  And when our end comes, we continue to walk through the valley of death with Jesus at our side.  They grew stronger everyday they walked with Jesus.  The church was built on their blood.  Did they have any clue about their end in those first days they spent with Jesus? No!!  But God changes us as we stay close to Him.  He makes us ready for all things.  He changes us and puts His glory in and on us.  We are only a light when we stay close to the Sun.  We follow hard after Jesus at all stages of our walks, in all manner of choices that arise.  We do all for the glory of God giving thanks to Him for all things.  And we remember daily that we are going somewhere and that we are meant for glory.

Stay close to God in all of your decisions, new and old.  Make the old new again by continually bringing your ways before God and asking Him to make you more and more like Jesus.

Disobedience to Friendship

I am done with Exodus.  I do love this book.  It is so full.  I love knowing that I will read for the rest of my life and still find things to shock and teach me.  I love how the story ends.  Exodus is a story of God drawing His people close to Him.  In Genesis we have God drawing close to individuals.  In Exodus we see God drawing close to the nation of Israel.

God called Israel to separate herself by worship.  Her worship was to distinguish her.  She worshiped one God.  She worshiped the High King of Heaven.  God was revealing Himself to His people in a way He had not done before.  God was also showing Pharoah that He was in charge and that His people would be free to worship Him on His holy mountain.  We learn from this part of the narrative a fundamental truth.  Worship changes us, worship defines us.  This is why idolatry is such a problem....you will become what you worship.  God wanted Israel to be different the nations around them.  He gave them a law.  He gave them ordinances.  He gave them a calender with holy days to observe.  He gave them food laws.  All of these He gave as grace.  All of these He gave as a means for His people to fellowship with Him.  And all of these things when obeyed in faith, changed them for glory.  

The tabernacle is a huge part of Exodus.  It is easy to skip over it.  Easy to think that the measurements, detail of fabric and metals is not significant.  Or maybe we know that it is significant but we are not sure what it all means.  Lets look at some of the obvious things found out about the tabernacle.  The tabernacle is a meeting place.  God will meet with His people here.  Think back to Genesis.  How is this different from the way God treated His people then?  We see Noah make an alter.  We see Abraham worship God.  We see Jacob make alters.  But there is no house.  There are no regular meeting times.  And there was no nation in Genesis, just the beginning and the promise.  God wants to be near His people.  He will continue to get closer to His people throughout the Old Testament and we find the ultimate closeness with God when He sends the Holy Spirit on Pentacost.  So we have a house, a meeting place for God and His people.  This tabernacle is broken into three parts.  Holy of Holy's, Holy place and courtyard.  All three are important.  These three parts reflect creation as a whole.  God also establishes the Levites to be Priests and to minister in the tabernacle.  This is a huge calling.  The priestly duties where extensive.  The courtyard is where the people come to worship.  This is where sacrifices are made.  The tabernacle is a huge part of Exodus.  It is important to note also that this was a "tent" church.  The brought this with them as they wondered in the wilderness.  God's cloud came to rest over it and it guided the Israelites in their wanderings.  We see in the tabernacle organized worship becoming mandated  by God.  God's people are drawing nearer to Him.

In Exodus we also have the nation of Israel fighting their first war.  This is an amazing battle, we might call it epic.  Moses stands on a hill.  He has Aaron on one side and Hur on the other.  The strategy is simple.  God gives victory when Moses hands are raised.  The Israelites start loosing when Moses drops his arms.  Oh come on.  This sounds too easy.  But stand up and try to see how long you last.  Good thing Moses had some helpers!!  What we learn from this little scene, is that the Israel is becoming a might nation, a war winning nation.  Do not mess with this group and their God.  And the Israelites learn that the battle is the Lord's and that He is their deliverer again and again.

Are you getting the picture that this book is massive!  There are so many other stories in here.  We have the ridiculous incident with the calf.  We have massive internal manslaughter as a punishement for the calf indiscretion.  We have a new way to worship.  We have holy food falling from the sky.  We have water pouring forth from the rock (the rock we later find out is Christ).  We have the glorious ten commandments.  And there is that whole thing about Egypt and God sending plagues.  Passover, new calender, Joshue leading and training an army.  So many amazing things and the end scene sums up the book.  We have a wonderful scene with Moses in a tent of meeting, sitting and talking to God face to face as friends.  Remember the begining of Moses' journey with God.  It was one of disobedience and lack of faith.  But God.....and here at the end we have God meeting and talking to Moses as a friend.  And that is the whole point for us as well.  God wants to be friends with us.  He wants us to draw in worship.  To draw near in a way that changes us.

Exodus is full and it has Jesus on every page.  Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Because of Him we have fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He busted the Israelites out of Egypt.  It was His blood on the doorposts that made the angel of death pass over.  He was the rock in the wilderness that gave the water.  He is the reason that the sacrifices "worked."  He was the fulfillment of the ten commandments.  Jesus is in every story in the book of Exodus. If you do not see Him when you are reading this book, then you are missing the point.  God wants to draw near to a people that do not want Him.  But He sends Jesus anyway.  He gives us grace regardless of what we want.  And thanks be to God that He did, does and will give us that same grace again and again.

I can always identify with the Moses that we find in the beginning of the book.  But it is so hard to be humble enough to say that I am a friend of God.  God does call me friend.  It is not because I am worthy of such a thing.  It is because God is.  God is my rock and deliver and yes He is even my friend.  This makes me want to be a better a wife, a better mother, a better church member.  I am a friend with the God of heaven and I want my face to shine like Moses'.  I want the city of Santa Cruz to know that their is something going on with our little church because we reflect our Father's glory in how we love our families.  I want my life to be a light to this dark place; this place full of idols and fake peace.  I want to be wise and want what is good and right and forsake the ways of this world.  I want Exodus in my life again and again.  I want to worship God so that this city will know who my God is.  And that will know that is God indeed and that there is none like him.  There is none like Him and He alone is to be praised.  It took Pharaoh a lot to be persuaded that God is God.  I want my heart soft to Him and hard to the world, not the other way around.  Man pleasers end up dead in the Jordan.  But God brought His people through and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey.  What is the price? Look at this book again and again.  Take the road of friendship with God.  Take the road that leads to blessings forever more.  But remember in this story, in this book the tails of the unfaithful. Exodus teaches us that we are to have one God.  We are to keep our hearts on Him and Him only.  We are to seek hard after Him and remember His ways.  He delivers us so that we can worship Him.  When we worship Him we are transformed into the likeness of His Son and when this happens we find that we are friends with the Maker of heaven and earth.

I Know How Much Syrup Is (and was) In the Bottle

Cedric is many things.  One of the them is a chef.  He helps with breakfast so often and is a huge blessing.  Today he manned the french toast.  I got things set up and left him to it.  I was busy getting everything ready for the day.  When I came to the table, the syrup was out, plates and forks where out and  Malachi and Cedric where eating their breakfast happily.  Cedric just turned 7.  Most moms would enter this scene and see that this little man is quite wonderful.  He is so competent in the kitchen and takes great care of his younger brother.  Cedric really should get a medal for "awesomeness."  But oh no, that is not what happened next.  Big bad mom enters the scene and what does she notice first......why has such much syrup been consumed!!!  Seriously, the injustice of the kids pouring too much syrup on their french toast!!  I mean, don't they know how much that stuff costs (I bought the real stuff after all).  And don't they know that I did not budget this in on my next grocery outing.  I was so put out.  I did a little investigating at this point.  I wanted to know who the culprit was!

I often pray and talk with mi hermanas about this little problem of being hyper-focused on the wrong things.  I keep track of things without knowing that I am doing it.  Seriously, who remembers how much syrup is in the bottle from the last time we used it?  This is such a good question.  I have a photo-graphic memory for things like this!!  And the next question one must ask is, who really cares?  I do!!  So I know my problem.  I know that it is petty and missing the greater point.  In this scene of my son being super awesome I point out that someone used too much syrup.  Talk about a really big squash fest.  

I am so glad that God does not treat me this way.  I bring him broken offerings and He delights in them! He uses my insufficient-ness by applying Christ's blood to it.  It is like the sacrifices of old.  Like a lamb, or a calf took away sins.  No, it has been and always will be the blood of Christ that changes us.  And this is all grace.  Grace changes us.  Not the big, bad critical mom.  I am a child.  My son is a child.  I have a different standard then God.  You would think that the Perfect one would be critical.  But no.  He knows that I could not fulfill the law.  He knew in the garden.  He knew when He gave the ten commandments.  He knew when he set up the sacrificial system.  He knew when He sent priests, judges, kings.....He knew that all of us throughout all time needed the same thing.  Jesus.  And it is Jesus everytime!

Here is to better imitating our Savior.  Here is to better imitating our Father.  And here is to getting over how much syrup is in the bottle!!!

Motivation

There is a prize for running the race faithfully.  You get something good if you do what God wants in faith.  You will be rewarded according to your works.  Works of faith or works of the world.  There will be a grade.  You will get a "well done my good and faithful servant," or "depart from me you worker of iniquity."  I find that I am shifting in my seat a bit.  I will be judged.   I will be rewarded.  You are to seek so that you find.  You are to fight so that you win.  You are to want blessings forevermore.

What makes me tick?  Am I running the race to receive the prize?  Am I seeking in a way that turns the whole house upside down?  Am I fighting the Goliath's in my life, aiming the rock at the head of the monster in faith knowing that God is my deliverer?  Am I wanting the reward that is mine in Christ?

You want stuff.  You want praise.  You want to be "the best" at something.  Contrary to our modern gospel, this is not wrong.  Want righteousness.  Want God to delight over you with singing.  Want to be the best and most faithful women that you can be.  Want God and His word more then anything else.

You will want.  Pray that God would transform your desires to be His desires.  You will not stop wanting until you die.  So seek first the kingdom of heaven and enjoy all that He gives you!

Pretty simple.  Pretty good.

Called To Remember

The plagues of Egypt where fierce.  They ravaged the land.  They ravaged the beasts of the land.  They killed the chosen first born boys of both man and beast.  Egypt in all its splendor is humbled in every area.  The Passover feast is inaugurated the night before the people of God leave Egypt.  This feast is to change the Hebrews.  It will change their calender.  It will now be the beginning, their January.  They are to be a people full of newness.  New ways to worship.  They are becoming a nation.  They are becoming a nation of priests.  God's consecration is spreading to not only the patriarachs but to what is now the whole nation of Israel.  Israel started as a promise to Abraham.  It progressed when Jacob received it as his name.  The Hebrews leave Egypt with 600, 000 men, 430 years after Joseph dies.  They are an army. They are a nation.  And they are becoming a holy nation.  The Passover feast is to a memorial.  They are to celebrate it every year.  Why?  So that they can tell the story of the Passover to their children.

This is how it worked:  get a lamb (sheep or goat), male, spotless.  Kill it but do not break any of its bones. Put its blood on your door posts and on the lintel over your table.  Do this at twilight.  Cook it in fire.  Do not cook it in water, do not eat it raw.  If your family is small, share with your neighbor.  Eat it with bitter herbs and crackers.  Be ready to travel, have your shoes on and your belt on.  Make sure that none of it left in your house in the morning.  At midnight the angel of death will come.  He will pass over any house that is marked with blood.

This feast is ending their time in slavery.  It is a new beginning.  This new beginning is entered into through blood.  Death and resurrection.  It is a new feast, a new table, a new way of life.  This feast is a foreshadowing of the nation of Israel becoming a priestly nation.  This feast is a holy feast.  The people are eating holy food. Later we learn that only the priests are able to eat the food sacrificed to the Lord.  We learn in the wilderness that the Israelite boil their meat to cook it.  Fire smokes.  This smoke rises to the heavens and God smells the sweet aroma of the sacrifices of His people.  This meal is priestly.
They are not to break the bones of the lamb when they kill it.   Why?  Who does this lamb represent?  Jesus.  Jesus' bones where not broken.  So the lamb is not to be broken.  The table of the passover is an alter.  Every house that night was a temple.  God again and again is making a statement to His people and the nations that surround them.....these are my people and I am their God and I am that I am.  God's people are to be holy.  We are holy because we worship a holy God.  We eat holy food we eat at God's table.  Israel is to remember this.  The nation of Israel is called to celebrate this feast every year to come.  She was called to remember what the Lord had done for her.  She was to remember who she was and who her God is.

What do we do with this?  We see that the table of the Lord is still where we are called to remember Him.  We meet every week at God's table and we are called to remember our God and remember what He has done.  We are to remember that the Lamb is Jesus. We are to teach these stories to our children so that they will know what the Lord has done.  And when we tell it, it makes us remember God even more.  We remember that we are a holy people, priests of the Most High God.  We act in a way that declares who we serve.  We are set apart, we are holy, we worship the God who saved the Israelites with an outstretched hand and showed His wonders in Egypt.  We remember that Jesus was slain, his blood spilled so that we could be children of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  We go to church on Sunday with open hearts and take the Lords supper with thanksgiving and joy for the work the Lord has done and is doing in our lives. We remember that we are to walk worthy of our calling.

My life is full.  Your life is full.  Remember to be full of the right things.  Remember what God has done for you.  Tell it to your children.  Rejoice and rejoice again as you call to mind God's word and God's marvelous works in your own story.  When we remember, we believe.   Forsake foolish thoughts and remember them no more.  We need to make sure that we remember the right things.   If your faith is weak, remember what God has done.  Recount the stories in the bible. May we all be found remembering our God more this week and tell these stories to our children so that we will remember the great works our Lord has done for us!

Don't Pause

Pause. Let's just say that you have the omnipotent pause button. This button allows you to stop time and bask in the moment. It allows you to stop time for a time. I have been reading my bible with the intention of getting through it as fast as i can. One of the biggest benefits of this type of reading is to see the stories in relation to one another or rather to see them as one story instead of separating them from one another. 

I am in exodus. Genesis to exodus. Creation, fall, restoration, hardships of living in a fallen world, murder, mass destruction, new promises, Abraham, the beginning of the nation of Israel, the multiplication of the Hebrew people, slavery in Egypt. This is just a rough list of events and not In the least comprehensive. In this list is Adam and eve, fall of mankind and the promise of jesus coming to win the most epic of battles. Cain and Abel come next, their is a story of envy and murder. We walk through a list of names and find the deep corruption of mankind who's thoughts are continually wicked before the lord. Enter a whole bunch of water. 

But hope is rocking in an ark and waiting the dawn of a new day, a new beginning. Noah plants grapes in his new world and makes wine. Men begin to gather together and plan to be like God, the tower is made. This tower is so big and reaches so high that God is forced to take a seriously long journey to check it out (irony intended). Men are dispersed all over the earth and God confuses their language. You start to see new communities pop up. We meet Mr. Abram. He is called by God to be the father of nations. Abram obeys God and it is credited to him as righteousness. He is Abraham now. He And Sarah have Isaac. Isaac is the son of promise. Isaac marries Rebekah. Two nations fight in her womb. Enter Esau and Jacob. God gives his blessing to the younger brother. Jacob gets a new cool name after he wrestles with man and God, Israel. 

Joseph is Jacob's favorite son born to him from Rachel. Joseph is not a favorite with his brothers. They sell him into slavery. After 13 years, Joseph stands before Pharaoh. He is raised up after betrayal, slavery, imprisonment to be the most powerful person in Egypt save Pharaoh. He is restored to his family. They all move to Goshen and God multiplies them exceedingly. 

Joseph dies and the new pharaoh does not know the God of the Hebrews. He sees that the Hebrews are many and orders all of male infants to be thrown into the Nile. Moses is born at this point in the story. His mom sees that he is a handsome boy and hides him. When he can no longer be hid, his mom makes him an ark. She puts it in the reeds of the Nile near the princess's bathing spot. She sends Miriam to hid near the arc. The princess's hears the cry of Moses and takes pity on him. She keeps him as a present from her god. Miriam appears and offers to fetch a nurse for the baby. Guess who she goes and gets......that's right, her mom. 

Moses is weaned and moves into the palace. He knows he is a Hebrew and sees the oppression of his people. He raises his hand to spare one of his brothers the wrath of an Egyptian. He kills the Egyptian. pharaoh hears and wants blood for blood. Moses flees. He heads to Midian and finds a wife there. Mosses has children and becomes a shepherd. One day he sees a fire in the distance. He checks it out and there meets the god of the Hebrews. He has seen the affliction of his people and wants to save them so that they can come to this mountain, Mt Horeb (the mountain of the Lord), to worship him. God will send Moses to stand before Pharaoh to deliver the message. Moses does not want to go. God wants him to go. Moses goes. 

I am sitting in the hospital. Jason is sleeping. They just came in to put a new IV in. They tried yesterday but could not get it in. They like to change IV's every four days. They even brought in an ultrasound machine yesterday to find a vein. But today his veins co-operated. And sleep is his reward. 

What if in this little narrative of sickness I stopped time. How about night one when Jason woke hotter than hot acting like a crazy man. How about day two when pain, fever and vomiting ravage his body and threaten him to despair. Pause here. I was scared. I knew that things where getting worse. Jason is tough, he was built Ford tough. He does not scare easily. Pause button off. Time to act quickly. We go to the hospital. I entered his room with a mask on. Signs on the door warned of serious infection. They ordered blood to be ordered, lots of blood. Waiting. Spinal test ordered. We were in that room for 7 hours before they admitted him (my back is still demanding new chairs to replace the old ones). Spinal tap. Four vials of spinal fluid. Let's pause here. Whatever is going on is serious. Jason looks like death and is still not in his right mind. What if..... So many what if's are possible at this moment. But I replace them with thanksgiving. Thankful for so many things. Jason being someone to be proud of at all times, in sickness and in health. Thankful to love him so much. Thankful for friends watching our kids. Thankful for constant texts asking what can we do to help. Thankful for all of the people praying. Thankful for the doctor in the ER. Thankful for 3 bags of fluids that they poured into my husbands veins. Thankful for antibiotics that save lives, that saved his life. 

There have been some intense moments over the last 5 days. If I paused the crisis times I would forget that I am in motion. That this story is not stagnant but going somewhere. That it is not an isolated story at all (Jason was quarentined and we did feel quite isolated!). The stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are a part of me. I am to remember them, says the Lord. I am to recall them. I am to teach them. I have been praying that God would write his word on my heart. That his word would be found deep inside of me. I have been praying to see things through the stories of scripture. 

Thankfully we cannot pause time. It goes on even if we do not. Forgetting that we are headed somewhere brings a lot of unnecessary drama. Forgetting who we are is also damaging. Our default button is set on "old man" status. Forgetting the story that we are apart of is dangerous because it can be tantamount to forgetting our God (God constantly instructs us to remember). Joseph was wronged again and again. He had a dreams before his betrayal landed him in a pit. He had the stories of his father. The stories of how his dad wrestled with God. The story of how he married his Rachel, Joseph's mom. Of uncle Esau and the wrestling matches he won even though Esau was the stronger one and the first born. Joseph was not a normal man. 

He had incredible hardships come his way. In his pain and bitter trials he had the stories of his father, grandfather and great grandfather. He had his dreams, visions of things to come. Not many people have the father of nations for a great granddad. He had these stories in slavery. He had them when betrayed by Potiphar's wife. He had these stories when he was in prisons and forgotten again. He had these stories when he stood before Pharaoh and God exalted him. He had these stories when he saved the very family sold him into slavery. He had these stories when he secured the land of Goshen for his family. God wants us to have these stories too. When things are hard, we remember. When things are good, we remember. Bitterness sets in hard and deep. Why? Because we tell the story over and over again until it becomes second nature to think it. What if we meditated on the Word of God with the same passion. 

What if we stopped "pausing" time during hard times. What if we looked ahead when things are hard with the stories found God's word as a filtering device for what we are presently walking through. It is in remembering our story that we have the strength to endure our current trials. It is in remembering where we are going that we find strength to keep walking in hardships. God sees. He saw Joseph in the pit. And he restored all to Joseph and then some. This is the same God that we serve. We have the same promise. Promises of God keeping us and exalting us. When we are in the pit, we remember that this isn't the end of the story. We remember God's word, God's promises, God's work in the saints that have gone before us. And crying in the pit is not a problem. God comforts His people. There are times when we need comfort. This is not a sign of weakness. I am talking about refusing to get out of the pit when you are rescued. Refusing to go form glory to glory. 

Joseph went from pit to slave to imprisoned slave to elevated slave in pharaohs court. Faith has eyes to see that his progression was from glory to glory. But it is in staying in the pit, pausing in our hardships in a way that refuses the grace of God that is the problem. Joseph had to have courage to be a slave in a foreign land. I am sure that Joseph cried. I am also sure that God comforted him in his distress (look at what he named his son). We do know that Joseph was blessed by God as he was enslaved, imprisoned and at court with Pharaoh. We know that he was faithful when things where hard. But this is what we remember when things are hard. 

Faithfulness does not pretend that things are easy when they are hard. Faithfulness remembers God when things are hard. Faith is the substance of things not seen, hoping when things look impossible, faith remembers the saints that have gone before us and walked through valleys to come out on the other side shouting praises to God. We are honest about where we are. A Christian should never despair. That is what I am talking about. We have hope be cause of Christ. We have the stories of our fathers to look to in times of great need. 

Here is to getting the Word of God deep down in our hearts so that we never forget him or forget to give him the glory as he unfolds our story. And may our stories inspire the saints to walk with courage and obedience. And may they reveal the light of Jesus to those sitting in darkness.

Face to Face

God loves to grow his people up to be friends with Him.  Moses is a fun read.  Moses is a man I can relate with. He grabs after things prematurely and then when God speaks super clear to Him, he argues and presents a better plan for his life then the one God has for him.  Moses was in Egypt for 40 years.  He was in the wilderness in Midian for 40 years.  He goes back to Egypt when he is 80.  The part of the story right now that I am meditating on is the scene at the burning bush.  Moses is scared and hides his face.  He is reluctant to obey.  He doubts.  He is faithless.  This part of the story is easy for us to miss because we know the ending so well.  We know what God turns Moses into.  But right now I am interested and intrigued by who Moses was and I am encouraged to see God's faithfulness change him.  It gives me hope.  It allows me to walk where I am right now, knowing that God wants me to be His friend.  Moses got to meet with God.  He got to talk with God.  But back at the burning bush he was hiding his face.  Moses will later hide his face but he will do so to hide the brightness of God's glory from those around him who cannot handle it.  He is now able to sit and talk with God.  And this story is what God wants for us.  He wants us to commune with him and talk with Him in this way.  This is one of the most amazing things about our walk with God.  Moses' journey is prophetic.  It is his journey and at the same time it is the story of Israel.  God will be their God.  They will be his people.  After the burning bush, Moses heads to Egypt.  The angle of the Lord comes to disrupt this journey.  God requires blood for sin; the wages of sin are death.  Moses tries to skip this step.  The problem is, to skip it is to place yourself at war with God.  To make peace with God we must have our sins atoned for.  Moses does not obey the law of the Lord.  He does not do what the Lord required.  So God sends his angel to sacrafice, to make atonement.  Moses knows that his sons should be circumcised.  He does not obey this law.  He does not seperate himself.  God will separate.  Zipporah swoops in and saves the day.  She does a little circumcision surgery on the spot and saves her family from the wrath of God. Remember that the whole point of the plagues is to show Gods wonders not only to Pharoah but to the Israelites   God says again and again, that the plagues are to show the division between the hebrews and the Egyptians.  God wants Pharoah to let his people go so that they can go and worship Him.  But God requires blood.  Blood of circumcion.  Blood of the lambs on the door post.  Blood at the alter.  They are to go and make sacrafices to the Lord.  They are to be a holy people, a people cleaned and separated by the blood of the Lamb.  This was an abomination to the Egyptians and was subject to being stoned to death.  The Hebrews could not worship the Lord in the land they where in.  They needed to leave Egypt and her ways and go to their God and worship Him on His holy mountain.   I think that this story is just plain overwhelming.  There is so much meat here.  So many types, so many shadows of Christ.  Moses and Christ have very similar stories.  Moses is such a clear picture of Christ.  It has been so fun to meditate on this story.  The kids are loving it.  When we have a minute, I tell them this story, trying to get it right so that I can better etch in my mind.

My own story is being told.  I do not know the end.  I mean, I know the end in one sense.  But I do not know how God is going to get me there.  It is easy for me to look at the right now and be consumed by it.  Jason is recovering very slowly. He only gets out of bed to use the bathroom.  My body is aching, tingling, and not allowing me to sleep for more then 2 hours at a time.  When I say I ache, it is not a dull pain.  I have been to the allergist, the nuerologist, the internal medicine doctor and I am on my way to an MRI, Sleep Center and rhemetologist.  One of the things about my story that is very clear is that God is using my health to sanctify me.  Being sick takes your money, your time, your sleep, your comfort.  It is a constant reminder to me that I am in a battle.  I have the spirtit of the living Lord inside a dying body. I am wiped out.  I ended today with a dizzy spell that had me thankful I was sitting on the floor.  I put the kids to bed, turned off the light and told them the story of Moses with (at times) slurred speech at points.  They did not notice that my story telling skills where a bit off.  I tried to get through the story as quick as I could.   I am beat.  Back upstairs I trod.  Jason is restless.  I give him hydrochodone and log it in my medicine log I have for him.  And my brain spins as my body hurts.  I do think that looking forward to rest as a motivation for me.  Sleep for God's beloved is something I have known little of.  But Abraham is the father of nations and he believed God even as he steadied his hand to sacrifice his only son.  He believed.  Faith is believing.  I will find rest.  I do have rest.

  It has been my biggest prayer of late to ask God to get Himself deep into my heart.  I want to the think of Him more then anything else.  I learn so much from this story.  I see God's faithfulness to a stiff necked people.  I see the Israelite s leave their home of bondage with gold in their hands and God going before them, leading them to a holy land, a land they will be free to worship God on.  Egypt was not just slavery of body, it was slavery of soul as well.  They are free in so many ways when they leave.  They walk through cleansing water on their way and we see a journey from a slaves to holy priests.  God wants them to commune with him.  This is what priests do.  They talk with God.  God wants His people close to Him.  He wants them following closely.  It is the same for us.  We are to walk with God in accord with His word.  We are to stay close and follow hard after Him.  We are to eat His food and be cleansed by water.  We are to be priests and talk with God.  We are to be separate.  We are different because of who we worship.  Moses is a story for us.  He is an example.  We see him go from belligerent to friend.  We see him change from coward to savior.  We learn that we are on a journey and it is a journey that ends in rest.  It is an adventure and we are to stay close to our God for the whole ride.  God changes us.  Being close to Him is what separates us from the world.  We want to shine as Moses shined.  Moses when to the bush to see why it was not consumed.  We see Moses ending the same: meeting with God but not consumed by him.  We get to be the same way because of the blood of the Lamb that was slain for us.  May we find ourselves encouraged by this story.  Moses messed up.  But God was faithful.....this is what makes us different.  God.

What We Learn From Joseph

There was a dreamer.  He had crazy dreams that indicated he would be something big.  His family would bow down to him, even his father the great Jacob.  Jacob wrestled with God.  Jacob saw stairs coming down from heaven with angels ascending and descending.  Jacob was named Israel because he had wrestled with men and God.  He did not like that his favorite son was having these kinds of dreams.  But Joseph was born from Rachel and Jacob worked 14 years for his cheating father-in-law to have this women.  He got her after 7 but he promised to work 7 more for Laban.  Joseph was not very esteemed by his brothers.  They did not like their baby brother's dreams.  They did not like his fancy coat that their dad had made for them.  Joseph was treated differently.

 God again and again picks the younger son to rule over the older. Isaac over Ishmael.  Jacob over Esau.  Joseph over his brothers.  And even Josephs youngest gets a better blessing then his oldest (Joseph does not much relish it).  God's plan for the younger sons is one of first-born right.  This is a pattern in the scriptures that does not end with Joseph.  Moses is younger then Aaron.  David is the youngest.  And then their is Jesus.  Jesus is called the second Adam.  He inherits the kingdom of God.  

So what does this mean for us?  We (most of us) are gentiles.  God made his covenant with Jews.  But we are grafted in to the tree of life by faith.  We are real heirs to the promise Abraham received because Abraham is the father of the faithful.  Jacob acted like a first born.  When his father refused to give him what God said was his, he took it from his brother by faith.  When Joseph was exalted above his family in Egypt, he acted as the first born and saved them.  David became King and destroyed his enemies and gave his son Solomon great peace so that Solomon could build the Lord the temple.  And Jesus came as the chosen one to save his people from the sin that the first Adam plunged the world into.  Firstborn rights have some firstborn responsibilities.  We are co-heirs with Christ.  This means that we must act like children of the promise.  It means that my life should  reveal Jesus.  It means that we walk worthy of our calling.  What does walking worthy mean?  We find our examples in the scriptures.  We find instructions in the Scriptures.  We find patterns for our life, in the Scriptures.  It is here that our minds are renewed.  Here that we learn the stories that should shape us and guide us.  When we are betrayed, we remember Joseph and say with him, you meant it for evil but God used it for good.  When our enemies surround us we remember David and the deliverance that God showed to him again and again.  We remember Jacob wrestling with God and receiving the promise.  When we stand before kings, we remember Moses and God's promise to give him the words to speak to Pharaoh.  These people in the scriptures are our people.  We learn from them by seeing their story in our story.  We look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith as we find trials surrounding us. We remember.     

Joseph was envied.  Envy leads to murder.  They threw their brother in a pit.  They tore his special coat.  They sold him for the 20 pieces of silver (Jesus was betrayed for 30).  What do you think he thought of his dreams as he lay in that pit, betrayed by his own people?  When he was sold in Egypt he was sold to the captain of the palace guard.  Potipher entrusted all to Joseph.  He was betrayed again by Potipher's wife.  He was again thrown into a pit.  He was in prison for a long while.  He was dead for a number of years.  But God exalted him even in prison.  Joseph's dreams would come true.  He would be exalted above his family and they would bow down to him.  God is faithful to do what he promises.  Joseph is also an interpreter of dreams.  I think we can safely say that he knew what his dreams meant.  Two men are thrown into prison from the Pharaohs courts.  One the cup bearer, one the baker.  Both these position are ones of great honor.  They have dreams.  Joseph interprets the dreams and in return asks to be remembered.  God remember me.  The one that you gave those dreams to.  Remember the promises that you made to me.  And to this cup bearer he asks to be remembered.  He is not remembered for two years.  Pharaoh has a dream.  It is a bit more like a night mare.  No one can give him the meaning of this dream.  Joseph is remembered.  He stands before Pharaoh and shows him what the dreams mean.  He is given Pharaohs ring, the ring that gives him complete authority over Egypt.  Joseph is remembered.  And he is the means that God uses to save his people.  He is a savior.  He is a Christ to his family, who will become the nation of Israel, and to Egypt.  His family comes and bows to him.  Joseph feeds them when they are hungry.  He saves them when they needed saving.  He gives them land not just any land but Goshen, the best land.  

There are so many deaths in this story.  But each one is followed by a resurrection.  This is one of things that we remember when we are in the pit.  God remembers His people.  God makes good on His promises.  Death is never without a Resurrection.  Joseph was 17 when he was sold as a slave into Egypt.  He was 30 when he stood before Pharoah.  That is a long time.  May we remember his story when we are in a pit.  May we remember the beginning, the middle and never forget the end.  God is faithful and brings saving life out of our trials.  And if we are faithful like Joseph, we will be an abundant blessing to those around us!

Bed Time Stories

When the lights go out at the close of our day, the lights in my childrens head experience a new life.  God tells us to talk to our kids.  Here are a couple stories that I told my special little people as their heads rested on their pillows.

Story 1: loving who God made us to be

God brought all of the animals before Adam.  He brought them in bunches.  One boy, one girl.  One boy hippo, one girl hippo.  One boy horse, one girl horse.  One boy bear, one girl bear.  One boy unicorn, one girl unicorn.  What do you think Adam noticed?  "That he was alone."  He was missing something.  This is the first time in the creation story that God says, "It is not good....."  It was not good for Adam to be alone.  God put Adam in a deep sleep.  How did God make Eve?  "He used Adam's rib."  Yes indeed.  How did God make Adam?  "I do not know."  From the dust of the ground.  God gave Eve to Adam to be a help meet.  "What did she help him with?"  She helped Adam tend the garden, she was the one that  would have the babies and care for them when Adam was at work.  She was to strengthen Adam for the days work.  It is God's plan from the beginning that little girls should be helpers.  God has us called to be life givers.  We should want to help.  We should protect life.  We do this when we see what our little brothers need and help them.  We do this when we do not play fighting games with our brothers but find ways to bless and honor them.  We do this by respecting their desires.  We do this with our words.  What we say will build up or tear down.  If we find that we do not want to be a helper, we go to God and ask Him to put that desire in our hearts.  We go to Him and ask Him to open our eyes to what others in this family need.  We go to Him and thank Him for our brothers.  We go to Him and ask Him to put His desires in our heart and make them our desires.    

Story number two: fear

Yelling, "Mom, Mom, Mom."  Yes sweetie, what do you need.  "I am scared, I do not want to be alone."  This is the thing, you are never alone.  Their will be times in your life when I will not be their.  But God will always be with you.  He can protect you in ways that I cannot.  He is your God and He watches out for you.  Listen to this story:  Jesus told the disciples that he was going to leave them.  They did not want him to go, they wanted him to stay.  Jesus told them that he would send someone to them and it would be even better.  They did not believe this.  Jesus left them and they panicked.  They hid.  They where scared.  When they where hiding what did they accomplish?  "Nothing."  When they where scared, who where they thinking about?  "Themselves."  Fear is not a sin.  But it can cripple and blind us.  We have to obey when we are scared.  God sent the Holy Spirit to the disciples in the form of flaming fire on their heads.  "You are making that up."  No, it really was fire on their heads.  And God put this fire in their hearts.  And it is this fire, the Holy Spirit, that is in you now.  We have the same spirit in us.  "How can God be one but be in you and me at the same time?"  Because God is omnipresent, this means that he is everywhere.  "How can he be one and have bodies everywhere?"  God is not flesh but spirit, so he can be everywhere.  Remember that obedience gives you strong muscles.  It is what will make your path straight and it will light your way so that you will not stumble.  There are things on this road that will be hard and scary.  When you come up to a big dark hole on this path, you must jump over it and continue on.  You can be scared but you need to look down the path and see Jesus there shinning the way for you.  It is not ok to sit down and look in the whole and spend time focusing on what is down in the pit.  It is so easy to sit down and shake with fear for the hole that is before you.  But you must get up and look ahead to Jesus and jump over that hole.  Stay on the path, keep moving.  And know that God will never leave you nor forsake you.  He is with you when I leave your room.  Go to Him.  He wants you to tell Him when you are scared.  Go to Him and ask Him to calm you down.  And remember that He made everything, so there is nothing to fear. Love you and good night.

These are the stories that I told to two of my children tonight.  I love talking with them.  Reminding them of who they are as they close their eyes.  I love the opportunities that night-time brings.  My kids have questions at night that never come out in the day.  They have confessions, fears, stories, attitudes that come out before they go to sleep.  Sleep is a death.  You lay down, close your eyes as the world around is dark and your eyelids reiterate this.  Dark, horizontal, closed eyes, stillness.  This is a type of death.  You look a bit dead when you are sleeping.  And the morning dawn brings new life to us.  I love that my children clear their heads before this nightly death.  They get rid of sins.  They test out some crazy theories.  They ask questions that take some bravery.  They accuse in very pointed ways and remember offenses in tender ways.  They tell their own stories.  I love how many good talks we have had.  I love that God is letting us fulfill His command to teach our children as they lie down.  It can get long, but it is all relative. And I love that my children live boldly and honestly.  Night time is story time here and I pray that they remember the lessons they have heard.

Things Learned

Our table was in the corner of the kitchen.  The table was pushed up against the wall.  At the end of the table was her chair.  She had some shelves near her chair.  Her bible, prayer book, holy cards and cigerettes where on these shelves.  She said that I was the best coffee maker.  I loved making her coffee.  She drank it black.  She loved eating green bananas and the peels of oranges.  She devoured books; she finished a couple a week.  She did not cook except for Christmas fudge that she passed out to the parish, lamb cake that she made for each kids reconciliation, gingerbread cake, and cookies with nuts in them.  Eating cookies growing up does not hold a happy place for me.  After taking out all the nuts, not much was left.  She learned to drive when I was in fifth grade and my dad made her a licence cake to celebrate.  She was a horrible driver.  Her domestic habits where strange.  She cleaned with straight bleach.  Her fingers cracked and the bleach did not help.  She was complicated.  She loved Vogue magazine (for the fashion).  She never wore makup but got obsessed with Mary Kay discount lipstick.  We threw away so many tubes of lipstick after she passed away.  Passing away is a strange thing to observe.  It is easy to tell when someone has gone.  It was Christmas Eve and we knew that mom had no idea what day it was.  She hated being the center of attention.  She did not like having anyone making a fuss over her. Christmas Eve is a day of anticipation.  We knew that when they pulled her of the ventilator she would not make it.  But I did hope. I was wrong. I wanted that miracle to happen.  It did not.  She was in so much pain.  So young, so beautiful, so amazing in so many ways.  Gone.  I cried.  Partly because she was home.  Partly because she no longer suffered.  Partly because I desperately wanted  her to come back.  She was still.  Her chest no longer heaved.  I remember going to see mom at the hospital.  One time I went to see her and when I turned to go in her room, she was not there.  Devastation hit.  The nurse rushed to me told me that they had moved her.  Big sigh of relief.  She was drugged while on the vent.  Once she woke up alert and pulled the tube out of her throat.  That was the last time that happened.  They kept her heavily medicated and strapped her hands down.  Mom was a fighter.  I was proud of her for pulling it out, and I scolded her at the same time.  She had a smile that she gave when she knew she was being a bad girl.  I loved that smile.  I was pregnant when mom was in hospital.  Mom had shingles.  The Doc in the ICU thought that it would be best if I stayed away for awhile.  He did not want me to get shingles because it could be dangerous for the baby.  Life growing in me.  The one that gave me life was dying and I could not see her.  Mom was rarley aware of what was going on.  She was often asleep.  When she had wake times we gathered around her so that she new she was not alone.  We never wanted her to wake up without one of us there.  Often she thought she was in the hospital because she had had a baby and would ask for her baby.  She sometimes saw things in the corner of the room.  Other times she was aware of her great discomfort and the thirst she felt.  We would swab her mouth out and try to relieve a little of her thirst.  There where posters on the wall of her grandkids.  We all watched the monitor.   I told my  OB what the hospital Doctor had said me about my mom shingles.  He said that it would be fine to see my mom.  I left quickly and felt so relieved that I could see her and hold her hand.  When I got there no one else was in the room.  This was rare.  I took her hand and her eyes instantly locked on my mine.  It was a gift.  One the biggest that I have ever received.  She knew who I was and she was not confused at all.  The way she looked at me  melted me instantly, so much love, so much affection swept over me and she looked so peaceful, so relieved to see me.  She missed me too.   I treasure those moments.  My mom grew up catholic.  There are lots of varieties in the catholic church.  My mom had a hard view of things.  We talked about God and the Bible so I was blessed to have many good conversations with her.  Jason led a bible study on Matthew with her.  I remember talking to her once about heaven.  She thought that she would spend a whole lot of time in purgatory.  She told me that you where never to be sure of your salvation.  That this confidence was a sign that you where not saved.  We talked about grace.  And I do think that she ended up agreeing with me.  Working things in and working other things out though takes time.  And we often go to default mode when things are hard.  It was nearing the end of her life.  We all new that the day would come. 6 months on life-support is a long time.  June to December.  Those where some of the longest months of my life.  I came to visit her and she was alone again.  I touched her and she opened her eyes.  She looked so scared.  Fear in a dying body is sad.  "Mom, are you scared?", she nodded her head yes.  "Mom, do you love Jesus?", she nodded her head yes.  "Then you do not have to fear." Her face relaxed and her eyes closed.  She woke up a couple days later ready to go home, ready to see Him face to face.  And I have the gift of knowing that God gave her rest even before she died.  That He made His grace known to her in a way that gave her the strength to walk through the shadow of death.

Nation Building

I have nothing to say about who I am voting for or if I am voting in the upcoming election; I am still undecided.  I will obviously not be voting for Americas idol, Obama.  But that is about how far I have come in deciding what to do. When I asked Jason what he thought about Paul Ryan and whether he thought that Paul made Romney eligible, he said, "who cares."  We laughed and then Jason went on to tell me what he always tells me about politics....politics do not matter much.  Gasp and revolt but know that this is what came from his mouth.  If Rush where listening what would he say, what would he do.  I love listening to talk radio around election time.  It has the same feel as a soap-opera.....drama, death, doom and a whole lot of scandal.  I get tense when I submerge myself for to long in the dark land of talk radio.  I often need to come up for a breath of fresh air and remember that our view is not limited to this earth.  We christians walk differently, we have a different view.  Our eyes look up and remember that all that is going on in our nation is small in comparision to the sky and what is beyond that sky.  We remember that it is this sky that Abraham looked up at and had faith in God. We remember Jacob seeing a ladder in this sky.  We remember the magi looking up and knowing that the Messiah had come.  We know that we are in a story and it is God's story. We remember in that in this point of history we are something more then Americans getting ready to make the biggest decison of our lives (vote or don't vote).  We remember who we are in Christ.  We remember our citizenship in heaven.  We remember that however we vote (or don't vote) should be done to the glory of God giving thanks to Him for our wonderful country.  This should also be a time where we go and seek God's blessing on our nations behalf, knowing that it is He who rules here.  Nation building is done by God, not men.  It took God turning Nebuchadnezzar into a cow to learn this lesson!!  May all we do be done to the glory of God.  And happy deciding as we enter this election period!!