Live Alive {Day 4}: A Hymn - God Be Merciful to Me

Hey y'all!  I take a break from writing on Sundays.  But here's a hymn for your edification on this Sabbath day.  Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.  James 4:10

If you'd prefer not to listen, here are the lyrics from the Indelible Grace site.  This hymn is based on Psalm 51, a Psalm of David, written after he had committed some grievous sins.

TEXT:

Scottish Psalter

MUSIC:

Christopher Miner

1. God, be merciful to me;
On Thy grace I rest my plea
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within;
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.

2. My transgressions I confess;
Grief and guilt my soul oppress.
I have sinned against Thy grace,
And provoked Thee to Thy face.
I confess Thy judgement just;
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.

3. I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.

4. Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice,
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.

5. Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true.
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation's joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.

6. Sinners then shall learn from me,
And return, O God, to Thee
Savior all my guilt remove,
And my tongue shall sing Thy love
Touch my silent lips, O Lord,
And my mouth shall praise accord

©1997 Christopher Miner Music. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Live Alive {Day 3}: Death Enters In

Previous posts in the Live Alive series can be found here.

Genesis 1 and 2 teach us that God created all that is, including humans in His image, breathing life into them, making them for relationship with Him, and giving them work to do.  The impression you're left with after reading those two chapters is that the world was a good and beautiful place, fertile and flourishing.  The last verse of chapter two even says, And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.  Not only could people freely relate to God and enjoy Him and His creation, but there were no barriers or shame between them either.

So, what went wrong?

I look at the world now - and inside my own heart and mind - and my first thought is not always "good and beautiful place."  Sure, the fall foliage is amazing, but people are not living in harmony with their Creator.  And the shame piece?  Shame rules the day!  We all hide behind walls we build up to protect us from people knowing who we really are.  And, we wear clothes!  Today's world is not like what God set up in Genesis 1 and 2.  Again I wonder, what went wrong?  How could it go so bad?  Isn't God big, strong, and wise enough to keep things together?  I certainly like the idea of living in a place and in relationships like that.  Why would anyone want to screw up such a good gig?

Genesis 3 tells the story:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'"  And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, let you die."

In three verses we learn some new things about this paradise:

1. There is a dissenting voice that lives there, one that is anti-Yahweh.
2. God had some rules that His image-bearers were to obey.
3. The image-bearers had freedom to choose to obey.
4. Death would come if they disobeyed the command about the tree.

Guys, there's so much theology in these few verses.  I don't know enough - nor do I have the time - to go into it all.  But maybe, reread those again.  I'll wait.

As I think about it this morning, I'm struck anew by the fact that God could not have been surprised things went south.  He gave His people a choice from the get-go.  They were not puppets.  And, the serpent who speaks had already chosen to defy God (he is believed to be the devil or satan - whose name I refuse to capitalize, haha - who was an angel who had rebelled against the Lord).

But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The serpent gets at the woman with a lie: the God that made you and put you here doesn't actually have your best interests at heart.  You could do better.  He's withholding something from you, but you can have it!

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked ...

Darn it.  Rather than tell the serpent where to get off and remain loyal to their God, Eve and Adam believe the lie and rebel against their Creator.  And THAT is what went wrong.

You may notice that they did not die, as the serpent had said.  At least, they didn't die in the sense that we think they should have; you know, like God didn't smite them on the spot, ending the human race.  But rebellion opened the door for death enter in.  No longer could they be freely together.  No longer could they enjoy strolling in the garden in God's presence; they hide from Him, v. 8.  And a blame-game begins: the woman made me do it, the serpent made me do it!  (Every parent in the world knows this game among their children quite well.  And we all play it, too, if they're honest with ourselves.)

Sigh.

We need to note something here, in this dark space when paradise is shattered by rebellion against the Good Creator (who only gave them one real rule!): they don't die-die.  God is gracious.  The image-bearers have to leave the garden and  life now will be plagued by curses (vs. 14-19), but God clothes them and makes a promise, to the serpent.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,between your offspring and her offspring;he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel. (v. 15b)

Even as rebellion destroys paradise, God's discipline is full of mercy.  Hey image-bearers, you really blew it for selves and your descendents.  Your new existence under death is gonna be hard, but I have a plan to restore our relationship.  Time will bring it to fruition.  I am not abandoning you, but you and your offspring must now live out your days under the rule of death.   Living alive,  the way I created you to, will now be fraught with struggle and sorrow.

That struggle has been the hallmark of life since Genesis 3, which explains why it is so hard on our own to know God, relate well with others, choose joy, to live alive.  But by believing in Christ, the only one to never rebel against God, we can be restored to right relationship with God and receive help from His Spirit to overcome our own desire to rebel and try to rule our own lives.  We'll learn even more about Jesus and His role in living alive next week!

Heather 💛

Live Alive {Day 2}: Created for Living

For some of you, the next few of posts will be review.  You're quite familiar with the Bible stories about creation, "the fall," and God's redemption plan.  For others, you may only think of the season we're in when you hear "the fall."  Wherever you find yourself on that continuum, my prayer is that the Lord will use each post to draw you deeper into life with Him.

What do you think of when you hear the word alive?  Naturally, most of us probably think of breath, heartbeat, blood coursing through veins.  Then, if we think about longer, we move toward thinking about feeling alive, like our life has drive, purpose, and meaning.  Or people talk about really feeling alive when they're doing something daring or starting a new adventure.  I think, and I hope it's safe to assume, most of us think being alive is a positive - we want life to keep on being.  Death or even despair are things we don't like to talk about or experience, even though we know they are part of life.

To explore the concept of life from a Christian perspective, we need to open up our Bibles and we need to start with the first page where it says, In the beginning, God [Elohim - God the awesome and majestic creator] created the heavens and the earth.  Hey, earth, that's where we live!  This may have something to do with us.  For many verses, the author goes on about how God created the earth and the creatures that dwell on it.  Then in verse 26-27 things start to get personal:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.  And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth"

So God created man in His own image,in the image of God he created him;male and female he created them.

I'm fairly certain that a billion and one sermons have been preached on these verses, and there are so many things to learn (since God's Word is living and active) and angles to take.  But for now, we are simply thinking about how we were created for living.  Did you know there is a second account of creation in Genesis 2?  There is!  It hones in on the creation of man and woman:

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. ... Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. ... So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ... And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.  (Gen 2: 7, 18, 21-22, 25)

Genesis 1 tells us that we were created in God's image and then Genesis 2 gives us a little detail about how God formed us: dust from the ground or a rib and the breath of life breathed into us.  God gave Adam and Eve rule over the rest of creation.  There was something different about this species of creation, this humankind.  The major difference came from their relationship to this God who created them.  The personal-ness of the relationship is expressed in Genesis 2 with the use of the name LORD God, which is Yahweh, "which is God's personal name and used in the context of God having a relationship with His people." (In our Bibles, if Yahweh is used, it is written in all caps.)

So a couple of things about being alive:

1. There is no life apart from God; he creates and sustains life.
2. God intends for life to be lived in relationship with Him and according to His rule and direction.

Tomorrow we will venture into Genesis chapter 3, where things go terribly wrong!  But for today, let's meditate on these two Bible truths.  I encourage you to consider what it means to you that God is your Elohim (creator) God and your Yahweh (wants a relationship with you) God.  And, if you want to take it a step further, also consider what it means that that is true for those around you, too. Our God is so great that one name can't encompass all that He is!  Let us awe and wonder that this God of all cosmic power and dominion also breathed life into humans and created us specifically in His image and for personal relationship with Him.

You were created to LIVE!

God loves you and made you on purpose.

Believe this good news,

Heather 💛

Live Alive {Day 1}: An Introduction

Last time we were together, i.e. if you read my teaser post about this series, I left you with a few questions.

• Have you experienced being brought to life by God?

• Are you living alive?

• What the heck does that even mean?

Probably since the summer - I wish I had a better memory - I have been wondering about what my life would look like if I "lived alive."  What I mean by that phrase is this: What if I really lived like Jesus has saved my soul, because I really believed that I am alive-alive, no longer a dead woman walking?  Because from my understanding of Scripture at this point in my life, Christians should be the most alive living people on the planet.  Jesus says things like, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full or abundantly." (John 10:10)  That gives me the impression that knowing Him means a lot more than a ticket out of hell, but rather eternity with our Lord and a life that is vibrant, flourishing, and beautiful now.

How many of you would describe the way you are living right now as "vibrant, flourishing, and beautiful"? Not many of you?  Uh-huh, I thought so, because I am right there with you.  And I say "the way you are living" rather than "life" because I also believe from Scripture that our circumstances don't have to be vibrant, flourishing, or beautiful for us to live that way.  Oooo, that's a hard pill to swallow.

But I get ahead of myself.

For now, I simply want to introduce Live Alive and give you a general idea of where we are headed in this series.  I have loved how God has been leading my mind all over the place and His Word as I've been mulling this over!  So here's the deal, our central verses are Ephesians 2:4-5, (this is from the English Standard Version):

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved.

We will get into the surrounding verses later in the series, but these two verses give such an excellent summary of the Good News.  Let's pause here a minute and make some observations:

• God interrupted something (see "But")
• He is rich in mercy
• He loves us
• We were dead in our trespasses (fancy word for sin)
• God made us alive with Jesus
• We are saved by grace

That's just a quick list!  In summary, God majors in mercy, love, and saving grace; we were dead, but God made us alive in Christ.  What I immediately take from this is that until God makes us alive in Christ we are dead men walking.  We have breath in us, we can do all the things, but something about us is dead and unreviveable without God's intervention.  I also extrapolate that once God has intervened, I should no longer be living life like a dead person!

And that my friends, is what we'll be exploring this month, to get to answering those questions I left you with last time. First, we'll set up some backstory, like, how the Bible says we were made, how we became dead men walking, and what role Jesus plays in bringing us back to life.  Then we'll dive into what that new "alive life" looks like, examining how Jesus lived and the various commands and encouragements the Bible gives us to pursue this amazing alive life the Lord longs for us to embrace and LIVE.

Thanks for joining me; I am so thankful you are here!

Heather 💛

What is Wrong with the World? I Am.

At the risk of who knows what, I feel like I need to say this today, because my faith compels me to do so.  I read an article this morning about three hate crimes committed this week, two of which ended in murder - thirteen lives lost.  There are absolutely no words to properly express the emotions.  I also know that in our culture (and our humanity) we quickly look for the reason and seek solutions to end these acts of violence through changes in policy, medical care, or leadership; and we rightly want justice.  We need someone to blame to make sense of the madness, and we want to see the criminals punished.  I get that.  But can I tell you something that happens in my heart when I read articles about these perpetrators of evil?  I think, I have more in common with that hater/murder than I want to admit.  But because of what God has done in my life, I will admit it."

Now, what do I mean?  Well, the Bible tells us that our biggest problem is not bad policies, bad healthcare, or bad leadership, not society, culture, philosophy or economics.  The Bible teaches that the problem is sin and that it lives happily in every human heart.  Sin is the desire in each of us to dethrone the God who made us, forsake the way He tells us to live, and to take up our place as rulers of our lives.  According to the Bible, we are all born "bad people" in Adam (our forefather who ate the forbidden fruit - things were perfect between God and man before that, as He intended) and we need rescuing.  Romans 3 quotes the Old Testament and tells us that there is NO ONE who is righteous, note even one.  No one seeks God.  So while I don't have any plans to own a gun, let alone enter a place of worship or my local grocery store to murder anyone, I AM CAPABLE OF IT - unless there is an intervention, a rescue, something that turns me down a new path.

Yesterday I got angry at some people at moments, people in my own home whom I love.  And I am reminded that Jesus upped the ante when he compared anger with murder in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-22).  No blood was shed in our home yesterday, but murderous seeds were sewn.  By me.

I feel like this quote from G. K. Chesterton sums up what I'm trying to say:

Okay, but that all seems pretty hopeless, doesn't it?  We're all full of evil.  Is there any hope for me or the world?  The Bible's resounding answer is YES!!  And the answer isn't a 12-point how-to-not-be-evil program.  The answer is a person, God Himself in the person of Christ.  No amount of good works or penance could earn righteousness back for us, but God could.  And He wanted to!  So that evil in your heart?  There's a remedy!  That inability to "do better" when deep down you do desperately want to (and are really trying)?  Transformation is possible!

But it takes surrender.  We have to let go of our need to be ruler of our own hearts and lives, and let the King of kings back onto the throne.  We have to believe that our only hope is Christ: that we needed Him to take our punishment (He did!) on the cross, so we could receive His righteous record in exchange for our own filthy RAP sheet.  We "make it official" (i.e. become a Christian) by confessing our sin (both our condition and our sinful acts), admitting our need for Him and His work in our life, and declaring He is now Lord of our life.  That's a long way of saying what Jesus called people to, which was to repent and believe the good news.

From that start, the true transformation begins!  You are a new person!  God's Spirit comes to live in you.  You have the power to resist the sin that would have you return to it as master.  I was reading Colossians 3 this morning and it is amazing. Putting off the old self and remembering we are made new is something we have to keep coming back to our whole Christian life.  Eternity will be easy, all things will be made new and fully restored.  For the time being, we are at war!  But in Christ we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37) and have hope!

Phew!  Okay, I got a little excited there!  But back to the beginning of this post and the tragic, disturbing, and heartbreaking events of this past week in our nation.  I don't think that acknowledging that sin is the world's biggest problem means we don't fight for policy changes, vote in the leaders we hope will bring change, or move to see better mental healthcare and create better community where we live.  But I do think it will rescue us from the "us vs. them" mentality that pervades our society, this erroneous idea that there are good people and bad people and if we can simply set up the best system and get rid of the bad people, we can eradicate evil on the earth.  I really like that idea and wish it were true.  But the truth is, we all need Jesus!

What's wrong with the world?  Me.  And but for the grace of God, there go I, guns blazing, hate raging in my heart, trying to forge my way in a world that was made to function best under the Creator's direction and care.  Will you join me in turning to the Lord?  Maybe in faith for the first time!  Maybe so He can show you where your heart is still dark and needs His transforming power.  Maybe for clarity in how to take action and be a light in places in our society that are full of darkness.  Maybe for wisdom about how to interact in His love with those with whom you disagree.  Maybe all of the above, and more.

Love you all, friends, and praying God will meet all your needs today in Christ,

Heather 💛

Live Alive: a New Series Coming Soon!

Hi friends!

It has been ages since I've done any kind of regular writing here at Life in the Valley, and even more ages since committing to a series.  I feel prompted, however, this November 2018, to pour out to you a little of what has been on my mind over the last several months: What does it mean to live alive?  What would it look like if I approached life thinking "I am alive"?

Y'all know, or may not know, that I write from a Christian perspective about "life in the valley," i.e. the life we live in the normal day-to-day that makes up most of what life is for us on this planet.  The "mountain top experiences" are wonderful, but they're not where we spend most of our time.  Nope.  We come down the mountain and have to figure out how being on the peak influences and relates to how we stroll along by the streams in the valley, loving God and our neighbor in the mundane routines of daily life.

I also believe, because of who God says He is and who He's calls us to be (His very own sons and daughters!), that just because life is routine and mundane - hold on, I need to go switch the laundry and wash some dishes - doesn't make it void of meaning and something we endure until we finally get to that awesome eternal life Jesus promises us.  Oh no, my friends!

Ephesians 2:1-2a & 4-5 says:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, ... But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved -

Once we were dead, but if we are in Christ, we are alive.  That seems important!  So that's what the Life in the Valley November 2018 series is going to investigate!  What would my life look like if I lived alive?  What would your life look like if you lived fully alive?  Oh, it's gonna be fun to discover together!

Oh my gosh, writing is so much fun and helps me explore my thoughts so much better than sitting and thinking! (I envy my introverted husband who can process information in his own head and then say such intelligent things - I ain't that person!)  All that to say, I would love for you to join me on this journey to learn to live alive with me.  November first we'll get the party started!  If I get my ducks in a row, or at least slightly less all over the pond, my plan is write each weekday about one Biblical description of an alive person.  For example: alive people are kind or alive people remember they are alive.  That last one sounds silly, doesn't it? But just you wait till we get there; I'm excited about exploring the importance of that one!

In the meantime, start thinking about it:

• Have you experienced being brought to life by God?
• Are you living alive?
• What the heck does that even mean?

Live alive!

Heather

On Mentoring

As I begin to write about mentoring, I wonder why you are choosing to read it.  Are you longing for someone to mentor you - to help you figure out how to figure out how to do this life that seems more complicated the older you get?  Or are you wondering how to be a mentor - seeking guidance about how to get started or what to do next?  More than likely it's the first set of reasons.  We all long to have a mentor, but cannot imagine ever feeling put together enough to be a mentor.

This past semester our church college ministry (Yay, CCO!) invited church members to mentor a student or two.  One young woman, requested me specifically as a mentor, so I was approached and asked to do so.  Friends, I am the kind of person who wants to help everybody all the time everywhere.  I know that I cannot do so, and have been in a season of saying "no" to a lot of things.  But I knew this was supposed to be a YES!  We were paired up, and the church provided us with a wonderful little book called The Gospel-Centered Life to work through together through the spring semester.

Let me tell you why this book was so wonderful: it hurt!  Every chapter and activity not only probed my mentee's heart, but it cut through my defenses as well.  Together we shared about our sin, where we get tripped up most often, what embarrasses us, how hard some of our relationships are.  Apart we tried putting into practice things we were learning, because we knew God had good in store for us and we have confidence that He can transform us.  Together we would marvel at the goodness of God and the beauty of the Gospel.  Apart we'd pray for one another and send texts during the week to encourage one another or just to say, "Hey, friend!"

And that's the best thing I learned through this mentoring experience!  When God invites us into someone's life as a mentor, it's not about dumping our life-experience or knowledge into them from a distance.  It's about sharing life together in an intentional way.  It's about being the real you, so together you get to see that God is at work in the ordinary and through the imperfect folks He calls to be His own.

Your church may not have an official mentoring program, but I know there's a gal or a guy (if you're a male reading this) out there who would love it if you'd invite them out for coffee or over for dinner (or whatever dudes like to do).  How desperately we all want to know and be known by another; we spend so much time in this life pretending.  Someone coming along behind you wants a relationship with someone a few steps ahead of them to run alongside them and cheer them on.

I'll leave the prompting and the details up to the Holy Spirit, but in summary, here's the deal:

• To be a mentor, all you need to be is YOU.  I firmly believe you are the best at that!

• To be a mentor, you don't even need to use the word mentor.  Simply pursue a relationship intentionally.

• To be a mentor, walk with the Lord yourself each day.  He provides all we need to grab the hand of another and sojourn from here into eternity, or at least for a semester!

• To be a mentor, an outside resource can be a great help.  My friend and I are going to read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis "together" while she's home with her family this summer.

K, all!  I don't have time to really proofread this, so it is what it is!  Haha.  Have a blessed day and may the Lord lead you to that person or group of people who need a relationship with you, for the sake of the King and His kingdom.