2nd Corth. 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Following is a long but sweet story of how a pastor brought the parable of the talents alive for his congregation. This is the very same way that tithing works. But don't believe me, try it for yourself.
Mal. 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
It was a balmy Friday evening in September. From several floors below faint melodies drifted up - the choir practicing for Sunday service.
Throckmorton was oblivious. For hours, perched awkwardly on child-sized wooden stools surrounded by biblical murals and children's drawings, the pastor and a handful of coconspirators concentrated on the count.
Forty-thousand dollars. Throckmorton smiled in satisfaction as he stashed the money in a safe.
That Sunday, the 52-year-old minister donned his creamy white robes, swept to the pulpit and delivered one of the most extraordinary sermons of his life.
First he read from the Gospel of Matthew.
"And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his ability."
Then he explained the parable of the talents, which tells of the rich master who entrusts three servants with a sum of money - "talents" - and instructs them to go forth and do good. The master lavishes praise on the two servants who double their money. But he casts into the wilderness the one so afraid to take a risk that he buries his share.
Throckmorton spends up to 20 hours working on his weekly homily, and his clear diction, contemplative message and ringing voice command the church. Gazing down from the pulpit that Sunday, Throckmorton dropped his bombshell.
Like the master, he would entrust each adult with a sum of money - in this case, $50. Church members had seven weeks to find ways to double their money, the proceeds to go toward church missions.
"Live the parable of the talents!" Throckmorton exhorted, as assistants handed out hundreds of red envelops stuffed with crisp $50 bills and stunned church members did quick mental calculations, wondering where all the money had come from. There are about 1,700 in the congregation, though not everyone attends each week.
The cash, Throckmorton explained, was loaned by several anonymous donors.
In her regular pew at the back of the church, where she has listened to sermons for 40 years, 73-year-old Barbara Gates gasped. What kind of kooky nonsense is this, she thought.
"Sheer madness," sniffed retired accountant Wayne Albers, 85, to his wife, Marnie, who hushed him as he whispered loudly. "Why can't the church just collect money the old-fashioned way?"
In a center pew, Ann Nagy's eyes moistened as she considered her ailing, beloved father, his suffering, and the song she had written to comfort him near death. She nudged her husband Scott. "Give me your $50," she whispered. Nagy knew exactly what she would do.
Throckmorton wrapped up his two morning services by saying that children would get $10. And he assured the congregation that anyone who didn't feel comfortable could simply return the money. No consignment to outer darkness for those who didn't participate.
Throckmorton is warm and engaging and approachable, as comfortable talking about the Cleveland Indians baseball team as he is discussing scripture. At the Federated Church, he is known simply as Hamilton.
But as church members spilled into the late summer sunshine that morning to ponder their skills and their souls, there were many who thought: Hamilton is really pushing us this time.
"There was definitely this tension, this pressure to live up to something," said Hal Maskiell, a 62-year-old retired Navy pilot who spent days trying to figure out how to meet the challenge.
Maskiell's passion is flying a four-seater Cessna 172 Skyhawk over the Cuyahoga County hills. He decided to use his $50 to rent air time from Portage County airport and charge $30 for half-hour rides. Church members eagerly signed up. Maskiell was thrilled to get hours of flying time, and he raised $700.
His girlfriend, Kathy Marous, 55, was far less confident. What talents do I have, she thought dejectedly. She was tempted to give the money back.
And then Marous found an old family recipe for tomato soup, one she hadn't made in 19 years. She remembered how much she had enjoyed the chopping and the cooking and the canning and the smells. With Hal's encouragement Marous dug out her pots. She bought three pecks of tomatoes. Suddenly she was chopping and cooking and canning again. At $5 a jar, she made $180.
"I just never imagined people would pay money for the things I made," Marous exclaimed.
Others felt the same way. Barbara Gates raised $450 crafting pendants from beads and sea glass - pieces she had casually made for her grandchildren over the years. Kathie Biggin created fanciful little red-nosed Rudolph pins and sold them for $2.50. Twelve-year-old Amanda Horner pooled her money with friends, stocked up at JoAnn's fabric store, and made dozens of colorful fleece baby blankets, which were purchased by church members and then donated to a local hospital.
And 87-year-old Bob Burrows rediscovered old carpentry skills and began selling wooden bird-feeders.
But it wasn't the money; everyone said so. It was something else, something far less tangible but yet so very real. For seven weeks an almost magical sense of excitement and energy and camaraderie infused the elegant red-brick church on Bell Street, spilling over into homes and hearts as the parable of the talents came alive.
In her sun-filled studio on Strawberry Lane, Shirley Culbertson felt it - a joyful sense of purpose that she had rarely experienced since her husband passed two years ago. Culbertson, 81, is a gifted painter and watercolors fill her house. But she discovered another talent during this time - knitting whimsical eight-inch stuffed dolls with button noses and floppy hats. She raised $90.
Zooming down country roads clinging to the back of a leather-clad biker, Florence Cross felt it too. For the challenge, Barry Biggin had parked his 2006 Harley Davidson Road King outside the church, offering 12-mile rides for $30. Cross was the first to sign up. Never mind that she is in her mid-80s, had never been on a bike, or that her husband of 60 years had to hoist her up.
"Oh, it was such a thrill!" said Cross, her face glowing at the memory. Her friends now call her "Harley Girl."
Martine Scheuermann lived the parable in her Elm Street kitchen, transforming it into an "applesauce factory" for several weeks. The 49-year-old human resources director would rise at 6 a.m. on Sundays in order to have warm batches ready for sampling at church services.
In his origami-filled bedroom on Bradley Street, Paul Cantlay lived the parable too. Surrounded by sheets of colored construction paper, the 9-year-old crafted paper dragons and stars and sailboats. He set up an origami stand at the end of his street, charged 50 cents to $5 depending on the piece, and raised $68.
Talents began multiplying at such a rate that the church held a bazaar after services on two consecutive Sundays for people to display - and sell - their wares.
The pretty little village on the Chagrin River falls had never seen anything quite like it. Everyone seemed to be talking about the talent challenge: over the clatter of coffee cups at Dink's restaurant, at the Fireside bookshop on the green, sipping drinks at the Gamekeeper's Taverne. Even members of other churches weighed in: Have you heard what's happening at Federated?
"Anyone can open their wallet and give cash," Kris Tesar said. "This was just an extraordinary process of exploration and discovery and of challenging ourselves. It became bigger than any one of us or than any individual talent."
Tesar, a 58-year-old retired nurse, discovered her talent in buckets of flip-flops for sale at Old Navy. She stocked up on yarn and beads and made dozens of funky, fluffy decorative footwear that were a huge hit with teens. Tesar raised $550 for the church, is still taking orders and is thinking of starting a business. Now even her children call her the "flip-flop lady."
People also got to know the "hen lady" - Gabrielle Quintin, who took to raising chickens on a whim 23 years ago when she moved into a 180-year-old house with a barn. Her "ladies," as Quintin calls her backyard flock, provide a welcome distraction from her nursing job in a cancer center. Quintin decided to put her brood to work for the church. For $10 church members could "hire-a-hen" and get three dozen fresh eggs complete with a photograph of the "lady" who laid them.
"It wasn't exactly spiritual, but I had a lot of fun," said Quintin, whose husband, Mike, made glass birdfeeders. "And it was just this great way of bringing everyone together and connecting with the church."
Kathy Wellman quilted. Mary Hobbs knit shawls and penciled portraits. Cathy Hatfield auctioned a ride in her hot-air balloon. Norma and Trent Bobbitt pooled their money with another church member to hire a harpist from the Cleveland orchestra and host an elegant evening dinner party. Folks paid $50 each to attend and the Bobbitts made over $1,200.
And physician Peter Yang took over shifts from other doctors in his partnership (he used his $50 for gas to get to the hospital) and raised $3,000.
The deadline to return the money was Sunday, Oct. 28. Nervously, some church council members suggested posting plain clothes security guards at services that day. But Throckmorton would have none of it. He insisted that the spirit of the challenge, which had already inspired so much goodwill, would carry them safely through. And it did.
Organ music filled the church as people silently filed down the aisle, dropped their proceeds into baskets, and offered testimonials about what living the parable had meant to them. Throckmorton thanked everyone for their generosity. Then he started counting.
A week later he delivered the joyful news: They had more than doubled the amount distributed.
The initial take was $38,195 over the loan, but the amount is still growing. Some people didn't make the deadline, or extended it in order to finish their projects.
The final sum will be divided equally between three charities: One-third will go to a school library in South Africa where the church is involved in an AIDS mission; one-third will go to micro-loan organizations that provide seed money for small businesses in developing countries; one-third will help the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Cleveland, specifically programs for homeless women.
Throckmorton is asked all the time if the talent challenge will become an annual event, but he is doubtful. It was a special time and a special idea, he says, and he is not sure it could be re-created or relived.
Yet in a very real sense, it lives on. Church members who never knew each other have become friends. And orders for applesauce, flip-flops and Rudolph pins are still rolling in for Christmas.
There are other, more poignant reminders. Like Ann Nagy's haunting tribute to her father, who died of brain cancer on Oct. 11.
Nagy, 44, has always been a singer with a clear lovely voice. It wasn't until her father grew ill and moved into a hospice that she started writing songs. She found solace in the music and a way of communicating that was sometimes easier than spoken words.
At hospice, patients are taught five simple truths to tell their loved ones before they die: I'll miss you. I love you. I forgive you. I'm sorry. Goodbye.
Borrowing from that theme, Nagy wrote a farewell song for her Dad. She pooled her $50 talent money with her husband's share and cut a CD to sell to church members. Ironically it was finished just an hour before her father passed, on Oct. 11. Nagy stood by his bed and sang it for him anyway.
On Nov. 11 - her father's 72nd birthday - Throckmorton preached a sermon about dying. He invited Nagy to the altar. There, accompanied by a cellist and a pianist she sang "Before You Go."
Her voice soared. The congregation wept. The parable of the talents had never seemed so alive.
The wise men are depicted by the Greek word 'Magi', and were in fact astronomers. The star they followed was actually several conjunctions of the star Regulus, known as the king star, with the planet Jupiter, known as the king planet, in the constellation Leo, which ensembles Judah. These astronomers would have noted the following astronomical events as significant in announcing the arrival of the Christ child.
1, Aug. 12, 3 B.C. A conjunction between the planets Jupiter and Venus in the constellation Leo (near the star Regulus)
2, Sept. 1, 3 B.C. Mercury and Venus in conjunction in the constellation Leo.
3, Sept. 11, 3 B.C. The 'great wonder' from Rev. 12:1-2; At sunset, the constellation Virgo was endued with the Sun, (exactly centered on the belly as if she was pregant with the Sun), and the cresent moon was just under her feet.
4, Sept. 14, 3 B.C. A conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus in the constellation Leo.
5, Feb. 17, 2 B.C. An unusual 2nd conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus in the constellation Leo.
6, May 8, 2 B.C. A never before seen 3rd conjunction between Jupiter and Regulus in the constellation Leo.
7, June 17, 2 B.C. A given as impossible 2nd conjunction in less then a year, between the planets Jupiter and Venus in the constellation Leo (the star Regulus was almost, but not quite in the conjunction too)
8, Aug 27th 2 B.C. A massing of the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, with Mars and Jupiter in conjunction, in Leo, again near the king star Regulus.
The mathematical odds of 8 astronomical events with 7 conjunctions in the constellation Leo, six of which involved the planet Jupiter, in just over a 1 year period of time was so far beyond impossible, that it was beyond any educated man's comprehension. Three conjunctions in any given constellation involving any one planet, within a two year span of time, is the most that was mathematically possible. Yet here was an astounding 7 conjunctions, all in Leo, all but 1 involving Jupiter, 3 of which were with the same star, and 2 more with the same 2nd planet, and all occurring in the same area in the sky.
In the Bible numbers are significant. The number 2 means it is established by God, 3 means completeness, the number 6 is the number of man. 7 signifies spiritual perfecton, and the number 8 means a new beginning. The stars announced the birth of the spiritually perfect one, established by God as now being complete. Which was a new beginning for man.
The Magi would have known something of great significance HAS happened. The Magi left for Jerusalem, arriving several months later to find Jesus around a year and half old, and living in a house in the nearby town of Bethlehem with his mother and stepfather. This visit most likely happened in early Dec. of 2 B.C. which is when Jupiter would have been in the constellation Virgo, the symbol for the virgin mother of the Christ child.
If traveling to Bethlehem from Jerusalem during this time, the planet Jupiter would have appeared to be directly above Bethlehem.
History notes that a few months before Herod died there was a total lunar eclipse. The only total lunar eclipse in the time frame occurred on Jan. 9, 1 B.C. By which time Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would have been in Egypt as warned by the angel in Mat. 2:13;
I stand in awe at how accurately the Word fits with history and science when the Word is understood exactly as written.
Today Really Saved2 posed an interesting question in her blog. I am unable to post because her's is a friends only blog, and I'm not on her friends list. However the question is intriguing, so I decided to post it myself as well. Here are Jean's questions.
Quoting Reallysave2 "So, those of you who are Spirit-filled, were you baptized in the Spirit when you were saved or was it a separate experience?
Also, along that same line, do you think we receive all the gifts of the Spirit upon baptism or do you think we each get certain gifts?"
For me, receiving the holy spirit was a separate experience which came 10 years after I got saved when I was a child. I was raised in a Protestant church which didn't teach about the Holy Spirit.
The Bible clearly says that receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit is part of the package we received at salvation. So it is technically possible to receive gifts of Holy Spirit right away, and this is what usually happened in the time of Acts.
However, you can't receive that which you don't know about, and that is why for many of us receiving the gifts is a separate experience. This is what happened in Acts 18 and 19 when Apollo led some folks to salvation, and Paul came along later and taught them about the Holy Spirit.
I totally agree with Kharbor's post that the Holy Spirit is a gentleman, and doesn't force itself on anyone.
One more thing comes to mind for consideration. Many folks (who don't have the gifts of the spirit) have been quick to claim that those who do are overemphasizing the Holy Spirit at a cost of glory to the Father and Son. If so, then the Holy Spirit would be known about far more then the other two of the Godhead. That having been said, who can tell me the Holy Spirit's name?
The Father's name is Yahweh, or Jehovah in English, and the Son is Yesuia, or Jesus in English, so what it the Holy Spirit's name?
It has never been revealed in the Bible. The Holy Spirit always directs the glory to the Father and the Son. With all that the Holy Spirit has done, he has NEVER given his name.
That and the fact that nearly everyone who receives the Holy Spirit today does so AFTER having received the Son and His salvation. In many cases years or decades later. Kind of hard to overemphsis something that comes after the initial salvation experience, which seeks no glory of it's own, instead directing it to the others, and has profoundly changed the world, without ever revealing his name.
Unlike what tradition teaches, the wise men were not kings, we can't conclusively prove there were three of them, and they did NOT show up at the manger on the night Jesus was born. 'The Star of Bethlehem' was not especially bright, but was especially unusual. Many different things have been used to explain the star of Bethlehem, but the leading conclusion these days was it was a planetary conjunction between the star Regulus, and the planet Jupiter within the constellation Leo which happened repeatedly.
Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
The Greek word used here for 'wise men' was 'magi,' men of science, specifically, astronomy, the study of the stars and their movements.
This has nothing to do with astrology, which is a false religion that teaches the position of the stars when each person is born will determine the events of their lives.
The Greek word used for 'his star' is the word 'as-tare' which is a loose generic term to describe any night time celestial object or occurrence except for the Moon.
Mat 2 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. Mat 2:8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. Mat 2:9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
By the time the wise men visited, Jesus was not an infant but a young child, like a toddler, and they lived in a house, not a manger by then. I also wish to point out that there is no mention of Joseph here. Only Mary and the young child Jesus. It would have been improper for men, especially strange men to visit Mary at night without her husband present. It is likely that this visit took place during the day when Joseph would have been at work.
Mat 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. Mat 2:11 And when they (the wise men) were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Then the wise men returned to their homeland without revisiting Herod.
Mat 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.
It would have been a matter of weeks to maybe a couple months, not years, before Herod figured out the wise men were not coming back. That is why Herod specifically ordered the murder of all children under age two, rather then only infants. It is likely that young Jesus was around 15 to 18 months old, when the wise men came to see him.
Jeremiah 2:2 Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the desert, through a land not sown.
Revelation 19 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his bride hath made herself ready.
Jeremiah 2:32 Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.
Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy son marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
“This Time I Will Praise the Lord” by Francis Frangipane
Disappointments Are Inevitable We cannot pass through life without getting hurt. Pain and disappointment in this world are inevitable. But how we handle our setbacks shapes our character and prepares us for eternity. Our attitudes are the pivotal factor determining the level of our immunity from strife.
Regardless of the hardships we have faced, and in spite of the mistakes we have made, the end of our lives can either be full of praise and thanksgiving---or full of misery and complaint. In the final analysis, what we have experienced in life will be as rich as the desires we have had fulfilled or as painful as the things we regret.
The Bible tells us, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). Those deep disappointments in life have a way of never leaving us; they enter our hearts like fire and then harden into our nature like lava. Setbacks can leave us cautious about new ventures and suspicious of new friends.
Our woundedness restricts our openness. We are fearful we will be hurt again by new relationships. Gradually, unless we learn to handle heartache correctly, we become embittered and resentful cynics. We lose the joy of being alive.
The Source of Fulfillment It is our own desires and the degree of their fulfillment that produce either joy or sorrow in our lives. Even basic desires for marriage or friends can enslave us if they consume our attention. Are these desires evil? No, but if having our desires fulfilled is the main reason we have come to Christ, it is possible our lives simply will not improve until our priorities change.
The Lord is concerned about fulfilling our desires, but to do so He must pry our fingers off our lives and turn our hearts toward Him. Indeed, the reason we are alive is not to fulfill our desires but to become His worshipers.
Personal fulfillment can become an idol; it can develop into such an obsession that we are living for happiness more than living for God. Thus, part of our salvation includes having our desires prioritized by Christ. In the Sermon on the Mount, He put it this way: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself” (Matt. 6:33-34). God wants to, and will, satisfy us beyond our dreams, but not before He is first in our hearts.
A wonderful example of this can be seen in the life of Leah, Jacob’s first wife. Leah was unattractive, unwanted, and unloved by her husband. Jacob had served Laban, Leah’s father, seven years for Rachel, who was Leah’s younger sister. On their wedding night, however, Laban put Leah in the nuptial tent instead of Rachel. Although Jacob actually did marry Rachel a week later, he had to work another seven years for her. So Jacob had two wives who were sisters.
The Scriptures tell us that Rachel was loved by Jacob, but Leah was hated: “And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated . . . ” (Gen. 29:31, KJV).
We must understand this about the nature of God: The Lord is drawn to those who hurt. “The Lord saw . . . Leah.” What wonderful words! In the same way water descends and fills that which is lowest, so Christ reaches first to the afflicted to fill the lowliest and comfort them.
The Lord saw that Leah was unloved. He saw her pain, loneliness, and heartache. Leah, though unloved by Jacob, was deeply loved by the Lord, and He gave her a son. Leah’s reaction was predictable. She said, “Surely now my husband will love me” (v. 32).
Worse than living your life alone is to be married to someone who hates you, as was Leah. How Leah wished that Jacob might share the love he had for Rachel with her. Who could blame her? Leah’s desires were justified. She had given him a firstborn son. In her mind, if the Lord could open her womb, He could also open Jacob’s heart. But the time was not yet; Jacob still did not love her.
Twice more Leah gave birth to sons, and each time her desire was for her husband. She said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons” (v. 34). Yet, Jacob’s heart did not desire her.
For Leah, as well as for us, there is a lesson here: You cannot make another person love you. In fact, the more pressure you place upon others to accept you, the more likely they are to reject you instead. Leah’s concept of fulfillment was based on attaining Jacob’s love and now her problem was worsening. For not only was she unattractive to Jacob, but her jealousies were adding to her lack of loveliness.
Three times we read in this text that the Lord saw and heard that Leah was unloved. He had seen her affliction. Through all her striving for Jacob and her disappointment with her marital relationship, the Lord was tenderly wooing Leah to Himself.
As Leah became pregnant a fourth time, a miracle of grace occurred within her. She gradually became aware that, while she had not been the focus of her husband’s love, she was loved by God. And as this fourth pregnancy drew near to completion, she drew nearer and nearer to God. She became a worshiper of the Almighty.
Now as she gave birth to another son, she said, “This time I will praise the Lord” (v. 35). She named that child Judah, which means “praise.” It was from the tribe of Judah that Christ was born.
Leah had been seeking self-fulfillment and found only heartache and pain. But as she became a worshiper of God, she entered life’s highest fulfillment: She began to please God.
It is right here that the human soul truly begins to change and enter God’s stronghold. As she found fulfillment in God, He began to remove from her the jealousies, insecurities, and heartaches that life had conveyed to her. A true inner beauty started growing in Leah; she became a woman at rest.
Likewise, we each have character defects that we are reluctant or unable to face. Others have seen these things in us, but they have lacked the courage to tell us. Both physically and personally, these flaws in our nature are what leave us anxious, threatened, and unfulfilled.
It is not counsel or classes on success or self-esteem that we need; we simply need to discover God’s love for us. As we begin to praise Him in all things, we simultaneously put on the garments of salvation. We are actually being saved from that which would otherwise have destroyed us!
Disappointments and heartaches cannot cling to us, for we are worshipers of God! And, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:2. If we continue to love God, nothing we experience can ultimately turn out harmful!
The Tree of Life You will remember the verse we quoted, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov. 13:12). The verse concludes with, “but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” As our desires are fulfilled, we are fulfilled. Since it is the fulfillment of our desires that fills us with satisfaction, the secret to a rewarding life is to commit our desires to God.
Let Him choose the times and means of our fulfillment, allowing the Lord to prepare us for Himself along the way. The truth is that in ourselves we are incomplete; but in Christ we have been made complete (Col. 2:10).
You say, “That’s easy for you to say. You have a wonderful wife and family. You are blessed. But you don’t understand my problems.” Yes, I do. My wonderful marriage was very difficult for the first few years. We struggled with many things in our relationship. My wife and I both came to the place where we were unfulfilled in each other. But, like Leah, we both looked to God and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” In fact, we named our second child the very name Leah gave to her fourth---Judah.
For us, as for Leah, our lives were turned around as we chose to delight in God in spite of being unfulfilled with each other. As we became His worshipers, He began to work on our hearts until we were not only more pleasing to Him, we were also pleasing to each other! What I am relating to you is the very thing that saved and blessed our marriage!
Psalms 37:4 reads, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” As you delight in God, you change. The negative effects of disappointment and grief fall off. As love and joy from God begin to fulfill us, our very souls are restored and beautified. Yes, delight yourself with Jesus and your self-destructive tendencies will actually begin to vanish. Christ will beautify your life from the inside out.
The Outcome Of Leah’s Life What happened with Leah? Well, the long years came and went. In time, Rachel and then Leah died. Jacob, on his deathbed, spoke to his sons: “I am about to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave . . . which Abraham bought . . . for a burial site. There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah” (Gen. 49:29-31).
Jacob had buried Leah in the ancestral place of honor! Oh how those words, though few, say so much! They tell us that God had beautified this afflicted one with salvation. After Leah found fulfillment in God, God gave her fulfillment in Jacob. Over the years, inner peace and spiritual beauty shone forth from Leah; Jacob was knit to her in love. It is not hard to imagine that when Leah died, she left smiling, with the praises of God upon her lips.
Become a worshiper of God! As you surrender your desires to Him, as you put Him first, He will take what you give Him and make it beautiful in its time. He will take what has been bent and imbalanced within you and make you stand upright in His light and glory.
Therefore, this day speak to your soul. Tell the areas of unfulfillment within you that this time you will praise the Lord!
Lord, I am a Leah, unlovely and always seeking the love of those who have rejected me. How foolish I have been. How blind. There is no love, no fulfillment in this life apart from You. You are the Tree of Life that satisfies all desires; You are the Healer of my heart. I love You, Lord Jesus. Amen.
This evening I am reminded of two events from last year at this time, which has led to the most profound and significant changes in my spiritual life.
A year ago yesterday (Black Friday of 2006) I was replying to an E-mail from my adopted little sister Sharyl, (Fullofjoyeternal), a former B.C. member. She and her two little girls had been shopping, and she took them to see one of those Santa's at the mall. Her younger girl who was 4 years old asked Santa for a new daddy for Christmas, which had nearly broke Sharyl's heart as much as being a widow for the past two years.
Near tears myself for feeling my friend's pain, I was beside myself to think of anything to say that would be of comfort to her. I pondered and pondered what to say.
The TV was on, (which is unusual for me) and was showing the Hallmark movie, 'A Boyfriend for Christmas.' As I continued to ponder what to write to Sharyl, my mind kept returning to the phrase, 'a boyfriend for Christmas.' Then I knew what I had to tell her. It was to the effect that the next 30 days would be the hardest of her life, in dealing with the loss of her late husband, but a special man would enter her life near the end of that time, and he would be her boyfriend by Christmas, with a distinct possibility of becoming her children's new daddy before next year's Christmas. (2007)
I spent that New Years Eve in Madison Wi. where I attended church services with Sharyl, her two daughters, and her new boyfriend. I returned to Sharyl's church in May of this year to attend her wedding.
What I didn't know was God had a purpose for me to visit Sharyl's church that New Year's eve, and my idea of going up to meet them and confirm the prophesy given to me, was actually the means that God had used to get me there. The events that occurred on that trip was my voice of one crying in the wilderness, and shaped many things since, and others that are yet to come for me.
Having come home from my Sunday evening class, I found the movie, 'A Boyfriend for Christmas,' on TV which has brought back these memories.
The other event was a year ago today, (Nov. 26th) which was the first time I visited what has now become my home church. I had known for a few months that I would not stay with the church I was attending for the rest of my life. It was a very nice church, with wonderful loving people, and had it's place for me at the time I needed it. But in time I would need to move on. To where I had no idea.
In the prior months, my B.C. friends, Marilyn (Spiritfilled) and Barb (Speeritwoman) had led me to books written by a nationally renown prophetic pastor. One that really knew his stuff, and was the real deal. His books were very enlightening, and left me wanting to learn more.
During a phone conversation with Barb, we were discussing one of those books, when she looked inside the cover to see where it was published. Which turned out to be that this nationally renown author was in fact the senior pastor of a very popular, and large, Charismatic church right here in the city in which I live. Even with all the religious pride I had, and many years of continued disobedience to the Lord, I could see that the spirit was now calling me elsewhere. It was time for me to check out this popular Charismatic mega-church for myself.
Within minutes of the beginning of the service, I knew this was where God was calling me to. Over the next three weeks I began to transition from one church to the other. I left my old church in good standing, and still have friends there even today.
One morning a man was walking along the beach, and noticed another man would bend down in the sand, pick something up, and fling it into the sea. He did this over and over and over. Curiosity finally got the better of the first man, and he proceeded over to where the second man bent in the sand. "Excuse me," the first said to the second, "But I am wondering what you are throwing into the sea." The second man turned to the first and replied, "I am returning the starfish back to the ocean. Each morning the tide rolls in the starfish, and then leaves them on the beach. They will die unless they are returned to the water."
The first man pondered this strange thing as he looked up and down the beach shore. It was littered with many, many starfish. He then posed this question to the second man, "Why waste your energy and time on these starfish? What difference in the world are you making? Aren't there more important things to be doing?" The second man bent down, picked up a starfish, and with a slight twist of his wrist, flung the creature back into its home. With a smile on his lips he then replied, "It made a difference to that one."
Our times of prayer and fasting may seem like a waste of time and energy, especially when we aren't seeing any fruit at the moment. And they will look like foolishness to the world. But remember, the promises of God endure forever. His Word declares to us that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. (We are righteous by the Blood of Christ Jesus.) We are making a difference, one "starfish" at a time.
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
. If we continue to love God, nothing we experience can ultimately turn out harmful!
