Faith – Page 8 – goodchristianfiction

Who Said We’d Be Rescued?

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Who told us we’d be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
We’re asking why this happens to us

Who have died to live; it’s unfair
This is what it means to be held
How it feels when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive

This is what it is to be loved
And to know that the promise was that when everything fell
We’d be held…..

Natalie Grant, “Held” lyrics

In Philip Yancey’s book, Where is God when it hurts?, he points out how important pain really is. Without pain, how would we know what it is to feel joy? Paul reflects numerous times on the many trials that he faced as he boldly continued to exalt the good news of redemption through Christ:

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. –Romans 5:3-4

Just because we have chosen to believe in Christ and walk in the ways of righteousness does not mean that we escape the challenges of this life. For whatever reason, God needs us to grow into that hope in His promises. So, even when things are so low that you wonder, God, I have confessed my belief in You, can’t You just let me go home to You already, you have to continue in faith of the larger plan that only God knows.

The prayer requests in Bible class in recent weeks have included a growing number of believers whose lives are being not only challenged, but outright shattered. And yet, as believers, we must continue through faith to go before God in hope and pray for the “peace that transcends understanding,” the peace and strength that can only come from God and that is our only key to getting back into the good race that we must run (Paul writes about this race analogy too, in 2 Timothy for one, and you can also read about it in Hebrews).

I have been pretty down on myself in the last few weeks, feeling like I have too easily caved to recent events in my own life. I was pretty quick to give up hope when I had to put down my cat. She was very sick with nothing left to do for her, so it was the right thing. And when I hear the prayer requests I mentioned earlier, they are about problems way, way bigger than losing a cat. I wonder with trepidation what I will do when I have to face the really big challenges. Where will my hope be then?

Of course, then I remember that I have been facing challenges just like we all do in my 44 years. Both my parents are cancer survivors. I have had to live in the big city I never liked without being able to live near my family for my entire married life, and I am the kind of child who still talks to her parents every day on the phone, so this is no small feat. I have dealt with medical issues myself that haven’t been life-threatening, but have definitely reduced the quality of my life.

And yet, through all of these challenges, I have continued to work to grow my relationship with God. I keep trying to spread His word and do His will, even when a lot of days I wonder just what I think I am doing. So, maybe I am not so bad in the hope department as I thought.

I share these things because I have learned the hard way that being able to hear what other people really think deep inside can be helpful. When you hear somebody else express an emotion or reaction that you too have had, you don’t feel so alone in the universe. You don’t feel so guilty about having a thought. You realize you are not alone.

With God, of course, we really never are alone. That’s part of what Jesus meant when He told us, “my burden is light.” Being held by the Love of loves may be hard to feel when you are in the midst of overwhelming grief, but as you begin to come out of the deep hole of despair, you realize that the only thing that kept you from falling completely away were the Arms of that hope you foster every time you pray, join in fellowship, or read His word–what it means to be held, as Natalie Grant puts it.

May the grace of hope in Him bless all of us this week, whether we are dealing with the worst thing that has ever happened to us in our lives or just a flat tire on the freeway. As the Psalmists remind us:

The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. . . . Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. –Psalm 33:18, 22

Christian Living, Faith

Salvaging the Sacred

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.
― Mother Teresa

Prayer is a sacred act we have a tendency to take for granted in a multitude of ways. Many of us have a bad habit of not turning to prayer unless we are in some kind of trouble. Others of us fail to appreciate the great gift it is to approach the Maker of Heaven and Earth in conversation just as we might speak to a respected friend. Because Christ serves as our High Priest, we always have access to the inner sanctuary of the temple, so to speak. All we have to do is believe, ask, and, as Mother Teresa so eloquently reminds us, to listen.

Unfortunately, our ability to listen is daily challenged by a bombardment of messages and information that is greater than at any other time in human history. From television and internet to cell phones and radios, we are almost never in silence. Unless, we make a concerted effort to find time to be quiet.

The first step to silence is to pick a time in each day when you plan to spend time with just yourself and God. Enter a room or your closet, close the door, turn off the cell. Begin by finding a comfortable position. Take three deep, breaths. Spend the first few moments with God concentrating on clearing your mind. Don’t let thoughts about your To-Do list or the confrontation at work that day get in the way of this moment when you are preparing to speak to the Most Holy of Holies.

The ability to clear one’s mind and be comfortable in our own silence takes practice. Don’t expect to get it right at first. But having with you your two strongest weapons–your faith and your Bible–will certainly help you focus your mind on the things of God and not the things of this world. Ask Him to help you listen. Admit your fears and your hope to Him.

Eventually, you will be able to expand the time you spend in your sacred space. In fact, you will grow to covet the quiet time. You will find there is always something or someone to pray about. You will also find that even just sitting and concentrating on your own breath once you have invited God in can be a holy experience.

But, be ready to check the answers you think you hear from God against what you know He says in His word. Ask your spiritual advisors for confirmation of what you think you have heard. Remember that our human hearts are known as “the great deceivers” for a reason. Often, the truth God needs us to see is initially painful, but it always leads to a better us, to the healing that is the promise of Christ’s love for us.

The power of prayer is meant to be shared

Finally, remember that, as your ability to find the sacred places in your own heart and day increase, you are duty-bound to share what you have learned with others. Sacred spaces are even more sacred when we learn together to be still and listen for God:

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them, Christ tells us in Matthew 18:20.

The family that prays together stays together, isn’t just an old wives’ tale. It is the profound truth of the power of God when we truly let Him into our lives.

So, the next time you prepare to pray, take a moment or two to remember the value of the privilege it is that we Christians can speak, speak, to the One and Only in full knowledge that He is listening to us and that the One who died for us is sitting at His right hand to intervene on our behalf. Now, that is a sacred truth worth feeling from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes.

Be on the lookout for the sacred this week. Make time in your day for it. All you need do is ask.

Christian Living, Faith

Living in the Perpetual NOW

Posted on February 2, 2014February 2, 2014 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

One of the first concepts you have to “get” when you are a beginning cultural anthropology student is the idea of how many non-Western cultures view time.

For most of us, time is a linear thing, lines of days in a week or month that we can cross off or circle as we wait in anticipation for their arrival. We divide our days into morning, afternoon, and evening. We distinguish between past, present and future.

For some of us, the past is a living thing we carry each day, a burden of mistakes or victimizations we haven’t forgiven ourselves or others for. Each present moment gets lost in the miasma of not letting go of what has been. Instead of learning from the past and moving on, we stay in a cycle of non-growth.

For others, the future is our challenge. We are so busy worrying about what might happen, we don’t enjoy the moment in hand. We also fail to remember all the times in the past when our worries were proven unfounded.

In Native American cultures, the concept of linear time is quite foreign. Instead, the circular is the more favored concept. Circles represent how connected people are to each other and to the natural world around them.

The perpetual now embraces the circle in that past, present and future are considered to be always with us in each moment. We are never without what has come before, but we are also not without the promise of what is to be.

Living in the perpetual now means understanding the kind of wholeness in time that makes enjoying each moment truly possible. My best present is in full knowledge of where I have come from and where I intend to go.

For the Christian, embracing a perpetual now attitude means tapping into the awesome power that is Christ’s love for us. It is living in each moment knowing that we are forgiven. It is living like we truly believe the promise of our salvation.

In her book, Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyers explains:

Think and speak about your future in a positive way, according to what God has placed on your heart, and not according to what you have seen in the past or are seeing even now in the present.

Reading and knowing God’s Word, spending regular time in quiet contemplation with Him, and believing God “will work to the good all things for those who believe in Him”–these are ways to grasp the kind of now that is backed by the full power of God (Romans 8:28).

Christian Living, Faith

With God, there is no try

Posted on January 23, 2014January 25, 2014 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Do or do not, the wise, grizzly Yoda advised his enthusiastic pupil, Luke Skywalker, there is no try.

When you are nine years old, straining forward in a blackened movie theatre, the buttery popcorn in your lap all but forgotten as you are transported once more to far away galaxies where the lines between right and wrong, good and evil, are clearly defined, you are ready to take on the challenge with your hero Luke. And you share in Master Yoda’s frustration when Luke lets the distractions of his friends keep him from moving forward in his training for the privilege of being a Jedi.

When you are decades older than that nine-year-old movie fan, you take a few moments to reflect on the wisdom of what Yoda has to say in his funny, inside-out kind of dialect. If we approach anything with an attitude that we will try, we have already admitted to ourselves the possibility of failure. Either we must proceed with the sincere belief that we will succeed in what we are doing, or we have already failed.

“All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one,” Christ tells us (Matthew 5:37).

Yes or No. Do or do not. If we are living the life that Christ calls us to live, than when we say we will do something, it should be a certainty that that thing will be done.

Above all, my brothers and sisters, James admonishes, do not swear–not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned. 5:12

Perhaps, it is a bit of a hard line to say that with God, there is no try. There are certainly times in every person’s life when we feel so broken, that even being able to say, “I will try,” seems too much effort. But isn’t the precise point of faith in an Almighty God that we should take that bold step in full belief that by leaning on God we can do whatever He wills?

Christ, ever leading by example, gives us full proof of this process as He prays in the Garden on the night of His betrayal:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done,” He says (Luke 22:42).

To reach success in anything, one must be disciplined to practice the skills required, over and over, in order to improve one’s abilities. Whether those skills involve scales on a piano or speaking with patience, humility and love, the discipline means moving forward with an attitude of doing rather than trying.

I cannot fail God because He already knows all the mistakes I am going to make in this life. I cannot earn God’s love because I already have it through my acceptance of Christ’s grace. But, when I accept the grace Christ offers, I am saying I will go beyond trying to follow the word of God.

I am promising to DO. Doing not?–not an option.

Christianity, Faith

The Key to Peace

Posted on December 8, 2013December 8, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Isn’t it strange how sometimes you hear something over and over again, but then when you hear it one day, you understand it in an entirely different or more profound way? The Elder helping our congregation prepare for Communion this morning made a key point that struck me in just such a way.

Peace, he said, only exists in the presence of Jesus.

We humans have a difficult time with abstract concepts. Peace is one of them. We have a tendency to equate peace with ideas like happiness, easy times, successful times, smooth waters on a sunny day. But, those who truly walk with Christ know peace even in the midst of great trouble.

Peace isn’t happiness or smooth sailing. Peace is a state of mind gained through an honest relationship with God that keeps one calm and centered no matter how many winds of change or trouble swirl around. At Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of God-made-man, the Christ who died for our sins and rose again, we hear more often than at other times of the year the phrase, The Prince of Peace.

I don’t usually think too much about that title for our Lord, but today’s comment in church made me pause to think about it. Usually, royal titles such as Prince are important for the things of this world. In fact, when Christ came to this Earth, He was rejected by many Jews because He did not create a Kingdom they could see and control. Instead of throwing off the chains of Roman oppression, the Messiah told His followers to turn the other cheek!

So, what’s so important about understanding what it means to call Jesus the Prince of Peace?

Before I give my answer to that question, let me point out another concept (for want of a better word) I’ve found useful lately. When I start to feel really stressed, I repeat to myself until I feel better, I know what calm feels like. As silly as that may sound to those of you who don’t often feel anxious, it actually works quite well. For one thing, I do know what calm feels like. The more I say the statement, the more I get flashbacks of times when I felt strong and able, the more I am reminded of problems I have conquered in the past that are much more serious than what is making me nervous now.

But what is really happening as I remind myself what calm feels like? What I am really doing is reminding myself of the times when I really leaned into what FAITH means–believing that God will keep His promises, including the ones where He says that He cares for me, where He tells me not to be afraid. After all, if I really believe that God has a plan for my life, shouldn’t I also believe that what happens in my life will eventually be revealed to my good?

Christ Himself emphasizes His role in knowing peace in this life:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Truly accepting Christ as your Prince of Peace means facing the good and the bad in this world with a steadiness that will be hard for others to ignore. It means truly shining the light of Christ in a dark world.

Just in time for a wintry world squinting skyward for a bright and shining star.

Christian Living, Faith

To Be Willing

Posted on November 16, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

I found a sticky note with this question scrawled in my own writing as I was tidying up this weekend. I’m sure I read it in one of my theology books, wrote it down to emphasize the point, and then, as often happens, life got in the way of my good intentions.

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

There are times when that is not an easy yes. Doing things happily for people who irritate me, refraining from gossip, and loving instead of judging are just a few of the daily foibles for which I have to be on guard. God loved me enough to come down to earth, live as a man, and die a humiliating death on the cross for me. And I rationalize not giving something to the guys on the corners holding cardboard signs that are a mainstay of the “big city.”

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

The holidays are the time when we find it easier to love. Everywhere we look, there are shiny decorations. Everywhere we go, there are songs about happy times, family and warm fires on chilly nights to make us feel good inside. I already have my Sirius radio tuned to the Christmas channel!

But, what will we do when January rolls around, when the icy fingers of winter are full upon us, and the holidays are a fuzzy memory? Will it be so easy to love then? Not without prayer and study and practice and faith. If we want to shine the light or leave the kind of footprint in the sand that is the mark of the love of Christ, we have to choose to follow Him everyday of our life, not just during the holidays.

Am I willing to do what Jesus says?

Are you?

Christian Living, Faith

Believing God’s Good Intention: Practical Steps to Shine His Light

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Believing is the basis of everything a Christian does. It is with faith like that of a child that we are encouraged to come to Christ (Luke 18:17). It is faith that gives Abraham the courage to follow God’s commands to the point of almost sacrificing the very child God had promised him, a faith that is credited to Abraham as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). It is faith that allows Joseph to see his exile in Egypt as a positive thing. He tells his brothers:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives (Genesis 50:20).

Faith guides Peter to found Christ’s church, sees Paul through more than one perilous mission trip and long periods of imprisonment, gives Ruth the courage to follow her mother-in-law, heals the woman who touches the edge of Jesus’ garment with her fingertips. Throughout God’s word, we are provided with examples of faith-based responses to the best moments and the worst moments in a person’s life.

So, even though I know all this, why do I still worry? I don’t have an answer for that, except maybe the same prayer as the father of the demon-possessed boy, who cried out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief” (Mark 9:24).

In a media-driven world, we have plenty of heroes, usually action stars like Indiana Jones or Rocky or Captain America. These men usually hold in their emotions, are good in a fight, and ultimately win. But most of them are not heroes of faith. In fact, most profess a faith in nothing except themselves, the individualism that marks American culture.

However, in the last few weeks, I’ve been struck by the heroes of faith in the Old Testament like Abraham and Joseph. When I read how Joseph had such conviction that the events of his life were worked to the good by God, I found a new hero. I thought to myself, what kind of power would I give to my life if I started seeing it in light of the same kind of conviction? Wouldn’t I worry less if I kept reminding myself that God will work to the good everything in my life, maybe even especially the challenges?

Courage that can face the good and the bad in life with perfect peace is the kind of courage that means true heroism. Read the rest of Hebrews 11 for a list of other heroes of faith. Shining the light of Jesus starts with the first bold step of faith. And if you don’t think you have it, all you need do is ask:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Christian Living, Faith

The World’s Greatest BackUp Plan

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

My computer hard drive crashed earlier this week. I knew I was in trouble when I woke up to one of those blue screens filled with white type in a language that I know is English but doesn’t mean a thing to me. I rebooted to get an even worse message. My writing and all my business work were in the proverbial wastebasket.

And I hadn’t even had my morning bowl of cereal yet.

Twenty years ago, when we all accessed the fairly new internet through our phone lines, FTP’ed everything, and experienced conversations in semi-real time on black screens with just words and symbols, I loaded a new program onto my new computer without first creating a directory for it, thereby giving my computer a signal for two executables that left it confused. I was in tears, literally. I managed to remove all the files of the program I had just installed improperly (there weren’t so many files to a program back then), and my computer was up and running again. But, I was a basket case.

In contrast, Monday morning’s fiasco was just another day in the life of me. Why? Well, for one thing, I use an online backup service that constantly keeps all my files up-to-date, just in case. So, staring at a computer screen that wasn’t going to operate, I knew that, worst case scenario, I would be able to download everything that I needed if I had to start over. My second backup was the knowledge that I have a great guy for working on computers who has gotten me out of more than one mess. Before the day was out, I had a new, cloned drive and hadn’t lost a thing!

The moral of the story? Experience and a backup plan are the key to facing life’s challenges with the kind of calm demeanor we see portrayed on the big screen by great teachers like Yoda, or better yet, with the utter peace Christ, our greatest Teacher, demonstrates in the Bible.

Experience is one thing that time itself takes care of. The longer you live, the more things you have to deal with. As my Dad is always reminding me:

“90% of the things you worry about don’t even happen, and the 10% that do are never as bad as you thought they would be.”

With a growing body of lessons learned through actually living through problems or challenges, you discover as you age that, even though life always has curves to throw you, your growing arsenal of problem-solving skills makes those curves much more manageable.

Life’s backup plan works a lot like my own online backup subscription. All we have to do is “sign up” by knowing in our hearts that Christ died for us and then come before Him to ask for Him to be our Savior, repenting of our sins and taking on the guardian of the Holy Spirit who will guide us in our new life. With Christ as our backup, we cannot lose! He took on our sin so we would not be condemned by it to eternal death. He has in mind our ultimate best interest, which is glory in the eternity of Heaven. Jesus has our back.

Make no mistake: a Christian life still has problems. In fact, that is part of God’s design. Paul explains:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37)

We are going to face problems, in the name of Christ and as just a part of living in a fallen world. But God has a plan to bring us out on the other side of those problems. The better we get at leaning on Him during times of trouble and triumph, the more we will feel Him catching us even before we have time to get too worried about the problems we are facing.

Kind of like my reaction to a crashed computer Monday morning. Truly, I took the problem as a sign that I needed to take a break from the electronics for Monday and reflect on my own relationships with God, my family, and myself. It was a nice “break” that really helped me set up a happy, productive, and calm week.

Paul emphasizes the bonus of our backup plan:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

So, as you face challenges this week, remember that you have the greatest backup plan on the planet. And you not only have a lifetime subscription, but an eternal one:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Christianity, Faith

Three Reasons Old Testament Reading Is Fun . . . Really!

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

The Old Testament has a bad wrap. People often skip right over it and go straight to the “good stuff” of the New Testament. But, I’ve got three of I’m sure many reasons to find fun in reading Genesis to Malachi. Give me five minutes, and see if I can’t give you a more positive view of God’s word than you may have held once before.

Reason #1:

What we call the Old Testament is the Bible Jesus read! At the time that Jesus walked on the earth, the only Bible that existed was what we now call the Old Testament. Christ’s death and resurrection is what created the New Testament whose name we have applied to the part of our modern-day Bible beginning with the Gospels. When Jesus unrolled the scroll and read in the Temple, He was reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. When He spent time speaking with the priests of the Temple, He was discussing the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (which was the way the books were arranged at that time). The Laws that Jesus refers to in His parables come from the writings of Moses. John tells us that “In the beginning, was the Word,” equating Christ to the Word of God, and underscoring the first-hand knowledge that Christ has of what we call the Old Testament. Philip Yancey has written an entire study of this reason, aptly titled The Bible Jesus Read.

Reason #2:

The science and history that backs up what the Bible says. Don’t let your school textbooks or cynical college professors fool you. Real science and artifacts exist that back up what the Bible says. A good place to start exploring these truths is the website Reasons to Believe at reasons.org. If you are a DVD fan, I can recommend three series that explore the science and history behind the Bible, especially the Old Testament, really well (thanks to my friend and life-group member, Roger Jay!): If God Made the Universe… based on the work of Dr. Hugh Ross and TrueU: Does God Exist? Building the Scientific Case & TrueU: Is the Bible Reliable–Building the Historical Case . . . both based on the work of Dr. Stephen Meyer.

These DVDs do a much better job than I could in making the case for faith, so to speak. Also, I have an “Archaeological Study Bible” that is full of articles and references that point to real artifacts and known parallelisms between other historical sources and the Bible which makes reading the Old Testament an even more fulfilling experience.

Let me make myself clear on this fun point, however. The reason Christ said we must all come to Him “as little children,” doesn’t mean that you have to believe in Him before you become an adult. It means that believing in God and what He says is like having the open-mindedness and trust that only children can give us the purest examples of. No amount of scientific or historic evidence can change the reality of faith in Christ. He is Who He says He is. He does what He says He will do. Period.

Reason #3:

My final fun reason for reading the Old Testament is discovering in its pages for myself the connections to what I know from the many times I have read the New Testament, like when you see similar phrases to ones Christ uses in His parables and teachings. (Yeah, I know those connecting verses are clearly labeled for me in the margins of my New Testament, but I rarely look at those! Shame on me.)

What is even more fun about these connections is when God opens them up to you Himself. For example, my Bible reading includes a little bit of Old Testament and then a little bit of New Testament. Right now, I am still making it through my Old Testament in the order it is published in my Archaeological Bible. But, having long since made it through the New Testament in my copy of that Bible, I am now reading the New Testament in my Ryrie NASB study bible, not in the order it was printed, but in the order the scholars think the books were actually written. So, while I am making my way through Lamentations in the OT, I am reading Romans in the NT.

One day last week, I was struck to read in Lamentations:

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men. To crush underfoot all prisoners in the land, to deny a man his rights before the Most High, to deprive a man of justice–would not the Lord see such things? (Lamentations 3:31-36)

Remember, this book follows a time in Jewish history when the entire people of God have been defeated by the Babylonians and cast to the far reaches of the earth. Jerusalem is razed, and almost no Jews remain. In Lamentations, the author is trying to reason out the unknowable, to find hope in a time of despair most of us can only imagine. During that same day of reading, by chance (or I like to think by the power of the Holy Spirit that guides us when we move out of the way), my NT passage took me here:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned–for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. . . . The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5: 12-16, 20-21)

The Lamenter, having survived a punishment brought about by God through the Babylonians because God’s people had turned so far from Him, He had no other choice in calling them back to Him, asks the question: “wouldn’t the Lord see our need for justice?” Generations later, Paul, writing to a group of newly-formed Christians, mostly non-Jews, answers with a resounding “Yes!” The Lord has indeed seen our need for justification, and He has given it to us in the only way we sinners can hope to achieve it–as a gift of GRACE through the sacrifice Christ made for each of us on the cross.

Reading these two passages in close proximity to each other, I was struck at how the members of Paul’s audience who may have been very acquainted with the passages from Lamentations would have heard his teachings on justification through grace with eyes so different from my own. I know I have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, but I don’t have stories told me at my father’s knee, passed down generationally, about whole civilizations of my people who paid the price for continued disobedience in ways that would keep me up at night if I took the time to dwell upon them. How much more wonderful did the promise of Christ’s gift to us sound to those ears?

My Old Testament view gave me the goosebumps as I read Romans this week. Now, there’s a fun reason to open the front half of your favorite book!

And one more P.S. on the subject of finding fun aspects to things you might not feel like doing. I began this post with the notes I had jotted down earlier in the week when this idea came to me, but I really didn’t feel like writing today. I had to say a quick prayer to have the willpower to begin my post. But, as I got to writing, I really started to enjoy exploring just why the OT is fun to read. I learned a few more reasons why myself, and if that’s the only reason this post got written according to His will, then that’s reason enough.

Have a blessed week, full of smiles, family-time, prayer-time, and a little time in the Old Testament. See what gems of truth or delight you uncover. And if you have the time, share them with the rest of us. I, for one, am eager to hear about your time in God’s word.

Christian Living, Christianity, Faith

The Promise We Carry

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

A Christian Treasure Map (clipartlog.com) — A Christian Treasure Map
(clipartlog.com)

It was a sunny, summer afternoon, but a cloud of sadness and worry and death hung over our house like the proverbial monster in the closet that nobody wanted to talk about. My grandfather had died eighteen months earlier at the young age of 52 in a faraway hospital in the big city. My grandmother had lived with us for a time, gone to help my aunt on her mission trip in Mexico, and was now going to live in the used but serviceable mobile home we could afford to get her with the small proceeds from the sale of my dad’s “ancestral” home and the pittance of a widow’s salary from social security, which for a carpenter who charged just what he thought a job was worth came to a whopping $400 a month in 1981.

In prepping the lot beside my great-uncle’s house for my grandmother’s trailer to set upon, my uncle, just 33, developed what appeared to be an appendicitis attack. When the doctors opened him up in the nearby Lamesa hospital, what they discovered was cancer, an overwhelming amount of it. They sewed him back up and sent him home with pain medications and hospice care. He had a three-year-old son, a four-year-old marriage and a handful of months to live.

When you are 11 years old, these things tend to happen more around you than to you, swirling around you in black clouds of that which cannot be defined. On this particular afternoon, alone at home with my sister somewhere in the house, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to do something.

I knew just enough about the Bible to be dangerous. I believed in God. I prayed to God. I had often wanted to go forward to be a part of what the preachers were talking about at the end of every sermon I attended. But, as my dad explained to me, I wasn’t old enough yet to really understand what it was I was stepping forward for. You’re fixing to agree with him.

Because what I knew about God included the use of sacrifices, I figured, why not give it a try? I thought about what meant a lot to me. My practically-flattened teddy bear, “Sugar Bear,” came to mind. (My sister to this day takes great delight in comparing her plump version of this same bear to the one I slept with and on, apparently, each night, as he resembles my sister’s version on permanent Weight Watchers). So, with not much assurance of what I was doing, but with the optimism born of ignorance only youth can bring, I snuck into the back yard with Sugar Bear, placed him on a pile of cinder blocks, and offered him as an exchange for my uncle’s improved health.

This take on theology was bad on so many levels, I don’t even know where to begin. Also, note that since I wasn’t allowed around matches, I didn’t even think to light the teddy bear on fire, so who was I kidding? I thought the sacrifice would work by God just reaching down and taking my teddy bear? It may have been the most egotistical moment of my life. (Unfortunately, for me, it probably wasn’t the most egotistical moment in my life. I’m sure I’ve done worse.)

Luckily for me, I have since learned much more about the meaning of sacrifice in our relationship with God and the exact role of Christ in that relationship. Within a year of my ill-fated attempt at “miracle making,” I was indeed baptised into the family of God. And then the real learning began.

In my first adult Bible, a KJV from 1977, I have marked the step-by-step guide of verses to share with somebody who is ready to be led to Christ. I want to share those verses with you in case you have never seen them in this particular order before, or if you yourself have been wondering what all this Jesus “stuff” is all about. We begin in Romans 3:10:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23 reiterates:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

After establishing that none of us are blameless before God, we need to understand why blamelessness is so important:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:(Romans 5:12)

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)

And how is Jesus a gift to us? Turn to Romans 5:8:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Now, we understand why we needed something to get closer to God, which is because we all have sinned, and we see that God’s plan was that Christ’s sacrifice would wash away that sin once and for all. So, what do we have to do? The next steps come in Romans 10: 9-13:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Even 31 years later, I can remember sitting in class with my Sunday school teacher, Patty Taylor, who had us all mark these verses in our Bible, including our starting point and the verses to go to next, like a treasure map to the greatest prize of all time! I have quoted this treasure map in the KJV from the original Bible where my young hands marked this all out, full of anticipation of being able to share this very map with somebody else some day.

Today, I’m sharing it with you. Anyone who knows me personally knows that I talk about God all the time because He is a part of my life (though, believe me, I am NO saint). However, in 31 years, I think this is the first time I have actually shared the treasure map I have offered to you today. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity.

I grew up in the era of fire and brimstone from the pulpit, and I tend to lean in that direction way too often, seeing the cup half empty instead of half full. But, the whole point of our Gospel Treasure, this thing we carry within us every day and everywhere, is that our cup is overflowing! What a wonderful gem to shine. No wonder Christ emphasized His role in casting Light into the darkness.

So, I say to that 11-year-old trying to pray away a teddy bear in the cool breeze of a summer afternoon many years ago, focus on the promise we carry, which is the love of God. The ultimate sacrifice has already been made. Now is the time to pay it forward.