His servants in like manner must go forth to sow.  When called to become a sower of the seed of truth, Abraham was bidden, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land I will show thee."  Gen. 12:1.  "And he went out, not knowing whither he went."  Heb. 11:8.  So to the apostle Paul, praying in the temple at Jerusalem, came the message from God,  "Depart; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."  Acts 22:21.


So those who are called to unite with Christ must leave all, in order to follow Him.  Old associations must be broken up, plans of life relinquished, earthly hopes surrendered.  In toil and tears, in solitude, and through sacrifice, must the seed be sown.

COL 36, 37

Provision

"Watch out for the nettles!" he told me as I went out to pick black raspberries.  As I happened upon the overgrown patch where the berries were, I noticed the nettles.  But I also noticed the touch-me-not.  Touch-me-not is a green plant with orange flowers.  When it forms seed pods, they become more bulging the more mature they get.  When touched, they burst open sending the seeds soaring through the air.  Another use for touch-me-not is for bug bites, poison ivy, and of course, nettles.  When the leaves and stalk are smashed up, one can smear it on the affected area and it works as a natural anti-itch.  We used to smear it on ourselves as kids on mosquito bites when tramping through the woods by the river.  What struck me about the above situation, however, was how there was touch-me-not growing right next to the nettles.  The cure for the ailment was very near.  It reminds me of how God makes provision for us.  He's the touch-me-not to our nettles. 

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Already Not Yet

There is a word which fascinates me very much.  It only has three letters. And depending on which way it is used can mean opposite things.  When a person says it sometimes I have to think twice so as to decipher which meaning they are using:

      Yet. 

      Are you at the store yet?

This could be heard two ways (at least I think only two!).  The first--you are driving down the road in your car.  Your mom calls you on your cell phone.  She says "are you at the store yet?"  Meaning, have you arrived at the store?  The second--you are busy putting 20 cans of black olives in your shopping cart because they are on sale for 89 cents, and you love black olives.  Your cell phone rings.  It's your mom.  You think to yourself, oh, perhaps she needs me to pick up something else at the store!  Mom says "are you at the store yet?"  Meaning, are you at the store still?  Is it just me, or isn't that fascinating!? 

Do you ever wish you could go back in time?

Yesterday "Amber" of the previous post decided to stop studying with me.  There had been a spiritual battle for a few weeks.  After talking with Amber's Adventist neighbor, and guidance from the Holy Spirit, I decided to do a study which puts the heart of God on display.  It's based on David Asscherick's The Heart of God class at ARISE* and also his book God in Pain. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:8 that God is love.  He is not simply loving but is love.  Once we accurately define love, we can better grasp God's character of love.  For the sake of time while writing this blog (as blogs can take me hours to write) I will be brief.  It all points to the cross.  How do we know that all things work together for good?  (Romans 8:28)  The evidence is the cross.  The very heart of God displayed.  It revealed what was in God's heart from the beginning (Romans 1:16, 17).  I ended with Romans 8:32--"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"  The cross says that God is for us!  If God has already given everything, why would He then withhold anything?

So I get to Amber's house.  Her dog was sprayed by a skunk (very lightly).  A quick text to my dad solved the proportions for the baking soda and peroxide mixture in which to bathe the dog.  Then Amber told me that she was going to join the Baptist church in town and go to the Bible study before church, and not study with me anymore.  I wasn't surprised, but my heart sank.  I have seen Amber grow by leaps and bounds.  She now has a really good foundation for learning Bible truth.  We chit chatted some more and then I said "well, shall we study?"  We did the study.  She was visibly touched.  And those large, curious eyes which always had frequent eye contact with me were lowered and filled with tears.  At the end she prayed, repeating after me, to have Jesus fully in control of her life.  Bittersweet. 

Warning: this is a rough (as in not polished) blog, because I am writing in haste.  I don't believe there is anything more I could have done to keep Amber studying.  But it makes me angry.  It makes me angry that she will go to the Baptist church and learn about a God who torments people forever in the flames of hell.  That once you're saved you don't have to worry about anything...because you can never fall away.  That suddenly all the believers will disappear in a secret rapture.  I know she knows that is not true because when she watched the "Left Behind" movies she told me how funny they were because it wasn't true.  "People believe that?"  Yes...the church which you are now going to join believes that.  It makes me angry (not the throwing glass bottles against a wall kind) that the lady who I care about so much could possibly be led to deception.  Please join me in prayer that she will remember the things we have studied in the Bible.  That she won't simply believe what the preacher or teacher says.  That something will happen and that she will want to study again.  That she will still have the sincere desire to know truth and most importantly the God who revealed His love in a Savior upon the cross.   

Hanging upon the cross Christ was the gospel.**

*For a full length sermon on the topic visit here, but if you want to experience the full length class then go here :).

**{6BC 1113.1}

$3.11

Today was an interesting day.  Here are three snippets.

This first snippet will be just that--a snippet.  I had a really tough Bible study on death.  Pray for her and me!

As I drove to the next study I reflected.  Why doesn't she understand what the Bible is saying?  What is holding her back?  I tried to get a hold of myself as I fought back tears.  Part of me dreaded going to Amber's (name changed) because she is in a fragile state.  She postponed studying until after the holidays.  Originally she wanted to stop studying, but then changed her mind.  God help me to concentrate on this next study!  Give me Your Holy Spirit!  I knocked on the door.  Amber opened the door and her dog greeted me as usual.  We talked about our holidays and such and then she started to open up.  "Becker," she said in her Boston accent, "I'm just not getting anything out of the direction I'm going in and what we're studying."  She went on to say that she doesn't feel a connection with God or anything emotional like she thought she would.  She talked about how she envied her neighbor (an SDA church member) who has a connection with Christ.  She's read the book of John but she's not "getting it."  She and a friend are going to try and start going to different churches to see if she can find what she's missing.  She doesn't think she's gotten very far because she's such a "dummy."  This I thought was the most profound--how she doesn't understand the love God has for her, because she doesn't understand love.  This began an hour long heart to heart.  I explained how we shouldn't base our faith on feeling.  I was able to share much of what I am experiencing in my own life right now.  Funny how that works.  She asked me I if I felt that connection with God when I went to church.  I explained how God wants us to go to church to be with fellow believers and worship Him.  But it is dangerous to go to church to have an emotional high through the experience we have there or the music. I shared with her, from the outside, how much I've seen her grow.  From the first study till now, she has grown leaps and bounds.  But it's been a process.  She went on to say, "I swear like a sailor.  If I had a connection with Jesus, I wouldn't be swearing!"  "Amber," I say, "Have you ever asked God to help you stop swearing?"  "No..."  Have you ever felt remorse for swearing before?"  She hesitated.  "Well...no..."  "That's the Spirit of God working in your life!  He would rather that you not swear because it doesn't glorify Him.  He's convicting you about it.  So next time listen to Him and say "I'm sorry God, help me not to do it again.""   

Now here's the thing.  I don't just go to random people's houses and have things to talk about for an hour.  I have no idea how all of the words came tumbling out of my mouth.  Actually, I do.  God prompted me to say things and sent verses to my mind.  And of course, now, I can't remember half of what I said.  But I pray that the Spirit of God brings these things to her remembrance and gently softens that stony heart of hers.  That He "will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her."    

Amber doesn't see how right she is.  How we all have a heart of stone, every one of us, save the vivifying power of the Holy Spirit.  How we all struggle to make our connection with God a matter of the heart, and not just a matter of the head.  How we try and pray but get distracted.  How we are all like Amber at times, trying to get somewhere on our own--but find it's not working.  Because it doesn't work.  But there is hope!

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

(Emphasis mine)

I think these two studies are at a pivotal point.  I think that God is leading them both to make a decision.  To heed His voice, or to ignore it.  Pray that they listen. 

After that study with Amber I went to her neighbors' house to use their bathroom (very important!) and to tell them how it went.  The neighbor will visit Amber this week and let me know how it goes on Sabbath.  Then I'll go back to Amber's next Tuesday.

Snippet 3:  As I left their neighborhood I breathed a heavy sigh, emotionally exhausted from the day.  I remembered I had to get gas and to stop at the gas station which had it for $3.11, the cheapest I saw as I had driven through town earlier.  I pulled into the gas station and stopped at one of the pumps, only to notice that it said "FULL," meaning full service.  I do not want full service.  I glanced over at the worker filling someone's car and rolled my eyes to myself.  I turned my car around to stop at the pump labeled "SELF."  I inserted my card.  Denied.  I inserted it again, remembering to pull it out QUICKLY.  (What's up with the "quickly" part, anyway?)  Again, denied.  And a third time, denied.  Frustrated and tired, I pulled my car up to the next pump, only to notice it had a bag over the handle.  Out of service.  So after much heeming and hawing around the snow bank, I pulled my car to the other side of the pumps.  I WILL get gas for $3.11, I thought to myself.  First pump--bag over the handle.  Out of service.  Next pump--bag over the handle.  Out of service.  What is with this gas station?!  Whatever!!  I will go to the other one and pay $3.12!  I did not even care that the man who worked there was watching me in this whole ordeal.  As I inched around the snow bank to see if traffic was clear, I glanced up at the huge sign.  "$3.19."  Ohhhh.  That's funny, I was at wrong gas station.  8 cents more expensive.  I laughed to myself.  Thank you, God!  I drove down the road to the correct gas station.  Sure enough, the bright sign blared at me.  "$3.11.  I care about you."  -God.