May 5, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God. I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:5-7)
Truth of the Week: One of the ladies in our Hungry Women group yesterday shared how this passage from Isaiah encouraged her because God did not shy away from using the word calamity, nor did He balk at taking ownership of its origin. Often, when we are faced with circumstances that cause us deep distress, we can be tempted to say that it happened because the evil one was at work. While it is true that we do have an adversary, and that he does desire our harm, any influence he has in our lives is governed by a sovereign God. Another temptation we face when encountering a crisis is to sugar-coat it or to try and minimize it, denying that it is as painful as it is because somehow this seems more spiritual. We berate ourselves saying that if we simply had more faith we would not hurt so deeply.
Perhaps it would be better if we were able to be more honest…to simply say that the adversity that we are facing is painful and it hurts beyond what our words are able to express. To openly admit that calamities are hard and that we wish they would completely disappear from our lives. And then, to continue being honest and to say that in spite of this, God is not unkind. If He has brought adversity to us, it is always so that we may know that He is the Lord, and that we may see Him more clearly and experience the truth of who He is more fully. It is hard to believe, but gaining intimacy with God really is worth the path of pain that may need to be walked in the process.
So, when calamity strikes (and it will), let’s not blame it on the devil, or deny that it causes us pain. Instead, let’s confess that God often sends what may not feel good to bring about what is good – a richer and deeper relationship with Himself. May we learn to embrace what we would not choose, trusting that God will not waste the pain but will use it for our good and for His glory.
Quote of the Week: “A season of suffering is a small price to pay for a clear view of God.” (Max Lucado, The Eye of the Storm)
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May 1, 2010 by kathydoremus
An excerpt from my journal from this morning…
“Reading in Matthew 6 this morning, as Jesus continues to teach His disciples how to live differently from the world – how to live for a different kingdom and how to live for a different King. If I had to boil it down, I would say that Jesus’ message to His disciples and to me is “Guard your heart.”
1) Guard the motives of my heart. Do not do things “in order to be seen” by others. If I have the applause and approval of man as my goal, then the applause and approval of man will be my reward. This might taste sweet for a moment, but it is shallow, fleeting, and quickly forgotten. It is unsatisfying in the end.
2) Guard the treasures of my heart. Don’t strive after material things, accumulating an ever-increasing supply of possessions. These will not last, nor will they ever be enough. Being devoted to earthly prosperity robs me of intimacy with God, thereby stealing the very joy and security that I was hoping to gain.
3) Guard the thoughts of my heart. Be aware of what kinds of thoughts I am allowing to set up camp within me. Are they thoughts that hold forth God as a good Father who takes care of His children? Thoughts of a mighty and strong God who battles on behalf of His beloved? Thoughts of a sovereign God who has everything under control? Thoughts of a glorious God who is worthy of my whole-hearted worship? Or am I allowing anxieties to creep in and distract me? Are the everyday details of my life causing me to become consumed with my “little kingdom”?
Father, all of this makes me cry out to You – “take my life and let it be, consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” Cleanse me of the craving for glory from man. Cleanse me of setting my heart on earthly treasures. Cleanse me of worry and disbelief. Fill me with a desire to please You and to honor You. Fill me with an assurance that all that I need is found in You. Fill me with confidence in Your character and with the rest that should come from being Your child. Help me to show, by how I live and by what I love, that You are my King.”
I share this to pass along to you the same exhortation that God gave to me: Guard your heart!
Posted in Reflections | Tagged guard your heart, seek first His kingdom | Leave a Comment »
April 28, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” (Isaiah 49:14)
Truth of the Week: In the first thirteen verses of Isaiah 49, God is showering His hurting people with good news. Not only is He sending someone to rescue them from the hands of the Babylonians, where they have spent years in exile and slavery, but He is also sending them a Savior to free them from their spiritual captivity, and to reconcile them to Himself. One would think that this would be cause for celebration and great rejoicing, but instead the people respond with a “woe is me” attitude, saying that God has certainly turned away from them. What’s up with this? Why the discouragement and disbelief?
It would be easy to judge the Israelites harshly, but haven’t we all been there before? There are times when things appear so hopeless that it is hard to see beyond our present circumstances. It feels like things will never change. There are seasons of pain and adversity when God’s promises seem unreal to us. In the midst of heartache and hardship, it can feel like we have been forgotten by God, despite what His Word says to us. But the truth is that God never abandons His children. He is never unaware or uninvolved in our lives. Even when we are blinded by the difficulties that surround us, we can be confident that God is at work for our good. He knows, He sees, He hears and He cares about what is happening to us. He assures that the glory that awaits us far outweighs the pain of our momentary trials, and reminds us that he has engraved us on the palms of His hands (49:16) and will never forsake us.
Quote of the Week: Before the Morning, by Josh Wilson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MniOtRnCO9I
Posted in Truth of the Week | Tagged forgotten by God, God will not leave us, trusting God in trials | Leave a Comment »
April 21, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15)
Truth of the Week: This verse has been floating through my mind a lot lately. Here is what has struck me:
1) I was created for the glory of God. Scripture tells me this is so, time and time again. I was created to know and enjoy who God is, and to be transformed so that my life displays His image. My purpose in life is to proclaim His excellencies.
2) According to Psalm 50:15, one thing that glorifies God is when I call on Him in my times of trouble. Trusting Him in adversity highlights His fullness and His faithfulness, and reveals Him to be an overflowing fountain of all that I need in life. Depending on Him, magnifies Him.
3) Therefore…if I was created for God’s glory, and if calling on Him in times of trouble brings Him glory, then I can be absolutely certain that my life will contain difficulty. I can trust that God will be faithful to bring trials to my life in order that I might place my dependence on Him and experience the truth of who He is. In a sense, times of trouble are an arena for me to fulfill the purpose for which I was created. If my life was all ease and comfort, I would never know God the way He designed me to and desires me to.
I am trying to learn to see times of adversity as evidence of God’s grace and as opportunities to see and to show His glory. I confess that this does not come naturally to me, but I trust that God will continue to help me grow in this way. More and more, I pray that my response to trials will be the sweet wine of thanksgiving, rather than the bitter whine of complaining.
Quote of the Week: “All our difficulties are only platforms for the manifestations of His grace, power and love.” (Hudson Taylor)
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April 14, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (Isaiah 46:3-4)
Truth of the Week: While on spring break last week, my family spent some time in western North Carolina. We stayed in a beautiful cabin (which felt more like a mansion) that was situated on the top of a mountain in a small town. Each time we left our cabin we passed by a church with a sign out front that said “It is great to serve a living God!” While I understand the sentiment that was being conveyed, everything in me wanted to stop and rearrange the words just a bit so that it said, “It is great to love a serving God!”
The truth is, we do have a God who serves us. We like to think that we serve God, but in reality, it is always the other way around. From before we were born until the day that we die, God has promised to take care of us. Because of His character and because of His unwavering love for us, God has pledged to us His protection and His provision. Just like earthly parents serve their children by giving them what is best for them, even when it requires personal sacrifice, our heavenly Father has done and will continue to do the same. Acts 17 reminds us that God gives us “life and breath and everything” – we are utterly dependent on Him for all things. If He were to cease serving us, we would be without hope. Actually, if He were to stop serving us, we would be without anything!
God serves us by offering Himself as the answer to our soul’s deepest thirst. He serves us by making and keeping His promises to us. He serves us by bidding us to find in Him a rich supply of all that we need and long for in life. He serves us by pouring His fullness into our emptiness. He serves us by giving us purpose and identity and fruitfulness. The truth is, God serves us every second of our lives. Indeed, it is great to love a serving God!
Quote of the Week: “God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.” (Thomas Brooks, A Puritan Golden Treasury)
Posted in Truth of the Week | Tagged God is our Father, God takes care of us, God's sufficiency, serving God | Leave a Comment »
April 11, 2010 by kathydoremus
April 11th is a special day for me…it is my spiritual birthday. It was on this day, twenty-nine years ago, that God opened my eyes to my need for a Savior and to His provision for my need. I was amazed then, and I am amazed now, at such grace. I did nothing to deserve His calling me to Himself, and I have done nothing to contribute to His keeping me for Himself. I am so grateful to God that I belong to Him and that He will never disown me or abandon me. He holds me tightly in His hands and nothing can separate me from His love.
I pray that in this next year of walking with Him, should He be pleased to grant me another year here on this earth, that I would love Him more passionately and more supremely, that I would trust Him more quickly and more completely, and that He would pour His love into my heart for others, that I might care for them more willingly and more genuinely.
Posted in Everday Life | Tagged amazing grace, salvation, spiritual birthday | Leave a Comment »
April 8, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)
Truth of the Week: Love God and love people: this is the message that I feel like God has been impressing on me afresh lately. Jesus called these the greatest commands, but I fear they are easy to lose sight of in this fast-paced, task-oriented, high-volume society in which we live. Personally speaking, I know how prone I am to measure productivity by the number of things that I check off my “to-do list.” If I am not careful, I can become so bent on rushing to the next thing in my busy schedule that I run the risk of setting God on the sidelines and treating people like they are obstacles in the way of my agenda.
Earlier this week I wrote in my journal, “I feel as if God is again calling me to slow down and simplify – to notice Him, and enjoy Him, and listen to Him, and be with Him, and then as an overflow of that, to notice people, and enjoy people, and listen to people, and be with people.”
In the midst of living my everyday life I often lose sight of what is eternal and find myself devoting far too much time and energy and attention to what is fleeting. I waste too many moments trying to achieve what truly has no lasting value. I want my idea of a successful life to line up with Jesus’ idea of a successful life. Loving God and loving people: this is what matters most, this is what matters for eternity, and this is what I want to matter to me.
Quote of the Week: “Love is the overflow of joy in God which gladly meets the needs of others.” (John Piper, Desiring God)
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March 31, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “They shall rebuild the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61: 4)
Truth of the Week: My husband and I both enjoy watching the shows on HGTV, with one of our favorites being a program called “Holmes on Homes.” The basic premise of each episode is that certain homeowners want to have a room renovated in their house, and they hire a contractor who promises to deliver an outstanding finished product. The contractor assures them of his superior skill and expertise, but inevitably, the home repairs end up being disastrous and the homeowners are left out of money, out of hope, and not knowing what to do with the mess they are facing. Just when all of their resources seem to be exhausted, in steps master renovator Mike Holmes to save the day. He exposes the faulty workmanship of the inferior contractor and sets to work to make things right. By the end of the show, the project has been completed the way it should have been done in the first place and the homeowners are left delighted with their new room.
Each of these “Holmes on Homes” episodes reminds me of a scene that took place in the Garden of Eden in the early days of humanity. Like the deceitful contractor, Satan promised Adam and Eve that he could make things better for them and they fell for the lie. The results were disastrous and their lives (and the lives of all to be born after them) were left in ruins. They were helpless and hopeless until God stepped in to save the day, sending a Savior to repair the damage done by sin and to restore things to how they were meant to be.
Francis Schaeffer used a wonderful term to describe the condition of human beings in this world – he called us “glorious ruins.” We are glorious because we were created by God for the noble purpose of being His image bearers; yet we are ruins because sin has marred the divine image we were designed to display, at times seemingly beyond recognition. The good news for us is that God is a master renovator, and no devastations are too difficult for Him to repair. When we place our ruins in His hands, we can be certain that the finished product will be pleasing in His sight. He can restore us to who we were meant to be!
Quote of the Week: “You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honour enough to exalt the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.” (C.S. Lewis, Aslan speaking in Prince Caspian)
Posted in Truth of the Week | Tagged glorious ruins, Holmes on Homes, image bearers, rebuild the ancient ruins, restoration | Leave a Comment »
March 24, 2010 by kathydoremus
Verse of the Week: “Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you.” (Isaiah 44:2)
Truth of the Week: “Help, I need somebody. Help, not just anybody. Help, you know I need someone, help!” (John, Paul, George, and Ringo:)
These well-known Beatles’ lyrics express the cry of the human heart. We are a people who are in need of help. The good news for us is that God delights to provide it. Throughout His Word He repeatedly tells us not to be afraid, that He will help us. There will never be a difficulty that we face where God will say, “This time you’re on your own.” There will never be a circumstance we encounter where God will say, “Sorry, this one’s got me stumped. You’ll have to handle it.” God promises to always give us grace and to come to our aid in time of need. We can count on it.
While it is true that God will always help us, it is also true that we cannot dictate the timetable in which it comes, nor demand the form in which it takes. This can be hard for us to handle. Yes, we want the help, but we also want to have a say in what it looks like. But God will not be treated like a genie in a bottle. He promises to help us, and then bids us to place our confidence in Him. He calls us to believe that He is always wise, always merciful, always powerful, and always good. He will never fail to do what is right. So when we need help, may we be quick to run straight to God – with no detours and no delays – and trust that He knows what is best for our lives and will act accordingly.
Quote of the Week: “We prefer a vending-machine God to a sovereign, personal one. We insert the proper change, pull the appropriate lever, reach for our treat, then enjoy it as we walk away.” (Larry Crabb, The Pressure’s Off)
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March 20, 2010 by kathydoremus
Yesterday morning I was issued a citation for failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign, where I honestly did stop! Now I’m not saying that I paused long enough to have breakfast or to enter into a lengthy dialogue with my children – it was more like a “blink and you’ll miss my brake lights” maneuver – but I did stop. I was in the process of taking my kids to school, and had just turned out of our neighborhood, when I saw the flashing lights in my rearview mirror. A mere second before, my son had remarked, “Good thing you stopped mom, ‘cause there’s a policeman right there.” The officer approached my window and explained to me the reason that we were having this early morning rendezvous. Wanting to be respectful, but not wanting to get a ticket for something I hadn’t done, I told him that I truly had stopped, to which he replied (in a sarcastic tone) that he didn’t pull me over for no reason and that I could contest it in court….
Well…at this point my daughter, with her strong sense of justice, was irate. She told me that this incident had “stirred a fire within her” and that she was heading into school to write about it – debating if she would compile a list of facts or record it in narrative form. She insisted that I take it to court. I have to confess that I was none to pleased myself. It’s not that there haven’t been countless of other times when I could have rightfully been pulled over for committing a wrong, but this was not one of them. I too felt that I was treated unjustly.
When wrongs are committed against us (even extremely minor ones like I experienced yesterday) something rises up within us calling out for justice. We long for wrongs to be made right and for fairness to reign, but the reality is that each of us will undergo countless experiences within our lifetime that feel unjust. These experiences can truly be tough on our faith. “Why doesn’t God do something?” we ask. Yet, we can be absolutely sure that He is doing something. God never steps off of His throne, and anything that touches our life is meant to somehow be an instrument for our good, helping us to depend on and delight in Him more fully. We can also be assured that there will come a day when God will say, “ENOUGH!” and Jesus will once again return and set right every wrong that has ever been committed. So whether it is something as minor as a traffic ticket or as major as human trafficking, may we trust that God is good, that God is in control, and that God will bring about justice. May we rejoice that our Savior already paid the price for the wrongs that we committed against Him, and may we place our confidence in the character of God that is promised to us in Deuteronomy 32:4 – “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”
Posted in Everday Life | Tagged God is just, justice, making right what is wrong, trusting God | Leave a Comment »
