Won't you let Him?

When I wrote the first devotional on dandelions I never imagined that God would wrap so many lessons up in this little weed.  That's me putting Him in a box, I'm sure I could never look at another flower in my life and He could show me something new about Him through this bright flower every day until I die.  But we do that don't we, put Him in a box?  We forget that He is so amazing and try to limit Him.

Or maybe you just limit His use of you....  Perhaps you feel to unworthy for Him to use you.  Or you just can't picture how He could.  After all, you have done ___________(fill in the blank with your own hidden act) in the past and if anyone knew, they wouldn't listen to you about how God has changed you.  Or this morning RIGHT after you finished your Bible study and your cup of coffee you yelled at your kids, or said some not nice things about the guy in the car in front of you that cut you off, or you thought some unkind words about a co-worker.  How could He use you if you can't even manage to keep it together for an hour, much less a day?

Here is the thing, God can make ALL things beautiful.  My daughter and I have been observing a dandelion in my yard for about two weeks now.  The bright, colorful yellow flower only lasts a few days, it is short lived.  Reminds me of our life here on earth, it doesn't last long in the grand scheme of things.  After those first two days the flower closed up and we have marched outside to stare are closed flowers on top of some jagged leaves for days and days now.  Ever looked at one?  It's not a beautiful picture.

Kind of like our past.  We may have had a few bright moments where we thought we were beautiful creatures, but we all have sin in our lives.  We all have more moments where we look like the picture above.  But then we meet Jesus and hidden in that flower bud He works the transformation that I spoke about on Tuesday.  And then something amazing happens...

Hidden within that bud are up to 100+ seeds.  Watching them bloom is a beautiful sight.  And each seed can be lifted by the wind and carried to start a whole new plant.  God wants us to be like that.  He has equipped us to impact the world around us, to spread His love to the world. But first we have to open up our tightly packed, protective bud.  We have to share the transformation.

It's so tempting to keep it all in.  After all, it is a personal relationship, isn't it?  When we are going through our transformation, when we allow God to work in us and change us from the person we were in the world to the new person He is creating us to be, we don't really stand out.  We can still kind of blend in to the world.  You may not actually be like the rest of the field, but you are still green so you aren't obviously different.  To open up and let the transformation show will definitely make you look different.  But.....

Have you ever observed an uninterrupted field over a season?  You might see one or two dandelions to begin with, but before long you see more...and more......and more dandelions.  They spread quickly.  The seeds easily take root in any soil.  And the message that God has placed in you, the unique way you can reflect Him in this world, can spread like that too....if you let it.  Won't you open up and let it?

A new Creation

Last Thursday I shared about how dandelions remind me that it is not only okay to be different than the world, but that we are supposed to be different.  (You can read it here)  Today I want to talk about another lesson I got from this common little weed.

My 5 year old and I have been studying this little plant this month as part of our nature/science portion of school.  We have discovered that a dandelion blooms it's bright yellow flower for only a day or two, and then it closes its petals and begins a transformation.....

We start out being a good creation of God, loved and beautiful in His eyes.  But we are also like a weed.  No matter how much God loves us or how beautiful we are to Him, we just don't belong in the garden.  But God can transform us into something new, something totally different.

What a wonderful word, transformation.  Merriam Webster's dictionary defines transformation as a "complete and major change in someone or something".  We see transformations all around us, especially at this time of year.  The trees transform from leafless, seemingly lifeless entities to plants that are vibrantly green.  Animals transform from a cold state of hibernation to an energetic state of motion.  Flowers transform from bulbs underground to stately, colorful displays of beauty.  God promises to transform us too when we decide to allow Him.

We are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that when we choose Jesus, we are made new, sounds like a transformation to me.  And Romans 12:2 reminds us that we are not only supposed to be different than the world, but that this difference comes from a transformation of our mind, something internal and not really seen by the world.  Sounds like a dandelion to me.

A dandelion closes its flower head and the transformation begins.  How long it takes varies depending upon outside stimulus.  How much sunshine and rain there is greatly affects the transformation.  You know, the things a plant needs to survive.  Our transformation is similar.

When we give our life to Jesus the process begins, but how long it takes is dependant upon our exposure to the Son and how we weather the the rainstorms.  Transformation requires energy, and it requires being feed.  Unlike the dandelion we aren't rooted in place unable to seek out what we need to complete the transformation.  God has given us His Spirit which is life (John 6:63).  We can choose to feed our transformation by soaking ourselves in His Word, by listening to His Spirit, by choosing His ways.  Or we can choose to make the transformation more difficult by not "feeding" ourselves on Him.

In my daughter's study we chose two dandelion plants.  One is mostly in a shaded area that doesn't get much water due to it being under the eaves our house.  The other is in a sunny location that receives plenty of water.  Bet you can figure out which one transformed first.....

 

*originally published on Coffee with Christ

In but not of...

Spring has finally arrived here.  The leaves on the trees are budding, my crocuses and daffodils have made an appearance, and I have even heard the sounds of lawn mowers in the neighborhood.  I have also noticed the bright yellow heads of dandelions amongst the emerald green grass as well.

For many, the dandelion is a weed, a nuisance plant that is out of place in a well-manicured lawn.  As a child, I loved them.  They were a flower I was allowed, even encouraged, to pick.  I can remember creating bouquets of them with some Queen Anne's Lace and proudly presenting them to my mother, who dutifully sniffed them and proclaimed it to be beautiful without even wrinkling her nose. (A true effort of will if you have ever smelled Queen Anne's Lace!)  As we grow older, though, that bright yellow flower loses its allure and becomes an undesirable.

I don't know about you, but I have felt like that at times.  I poke my head up, a little different than the things around me, and let my colors shine...only to be left feeling undesirable or out of place by those around me.  I felt that way when I returned to college, the old-timer in my 30's amongst a crowd of teens.  I felt that way when I went against the norm and decided not only to homeschool my youngest child, but to keep my middle school child home as well.  And I have felt out of place in certain crowds simply because of my faith in Jesus.   I'm sure you have too.  Do you know what though?  That's okay.

You see, we, as followers of Jesus, are called to be out of place.  Don't believe me?  Read Romans 12:2 and John 15:19.  (Hover over the verses and the Scripture will pop up for you.)  We aren't supposed to be like everyone else.  We are supposed to be transformed-different than the world around us.  We aren't supposed to be loved by everyone living in the world, if we are then we would belong to the world and not Jesus.  We are supposed to be like the dandelions in a field of green grass, letting our bright color stand apart and show God's beauty and love.  It's not an easy road.  Jesus knew this, and He even prayed to His father about it:

I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.  They do not belong to this world any more than I do.  Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.  Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ~John 17:14-18 NLT

He knew that we were going to feel out of place once we decided to follow Him, but He also knows that is necessary in order to bring God's truth to the world.  If we looked and acted like everyone else, how could we point the way to Jesus?  So the next time you see a dandelion, remember that God calls you to be in the world, a part of that field, but not really of the field.  Rather you have been sent to the field.  You have a mission to stand out and be different, it's a good thing.  Take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus has already prayed for your protection on this mission to stand apart.

Next Tuesday I'll share another little lesson I picked up from that little yellow weed.

*originally published on Coffee with Christ

True Light...

 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ~John 1:9-12 NLT

I have to admit, it is really hard for me to grasp that God, who created billions of universes, paid attention to teeny tiny details of His creation, and for whom nothing is impossible, sent His Son down here to yet again give us a chance to be with Him.  And He did it knowing we would not only reject Him, but kill his human form in a horrible way.  I just can't grasp that kind of love.

I love my children with all my heart, but I would never send one to be tortured to save another, and yet that is what God has done....

for you.....

for me.  Let that soak in.   This wasn't something He did for your neighbor, or just for the ones who were trying to get it all right.  Jesus came for the drug addict, the pornographer, the liar, the thief, the mom who just wants to get away from her children, the father who abandoned his children, the murderer....He came for ALL of us.  That includes you and me despite the things we have done or are doing that are detestable to God.

You see, God isn't looking at us with condemnation in his eyes, but sorrow.  He knows the person we were created to be, He created us.  He knows what we are capable of if we weren't burdened down by all of the bad choices we had made.  That is the person He sees when He looks at us, and that is the person He wants to restore us to.  That is why He sent Jesus, and why Jesus accepted His fate knowing how difficult it would be.  Take a moment and read His words in Luke 22:38-39:

Then he (Jesus) said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” 

 You see, not only did Jesus accept His fate, He loved us enough to follow through.  Read that again...He loved us enough to follow through.  Jesus died for you to be able to enter into a relationship with His Father and not only that, but to be able to stand before God pure and clean.  Jesus paid the price for every sin you ever thought or committed as well as those in the future.  And yet we go about our day and try to squeeze Him into our life....if we have time.....if we remember.....

Take a moment today and give Him the time.  Not because He has earned it, which He totally has, but because of who He is...because of how much He loves....because He deserves our all.

The Ugliest Doll Ever

Meet the ugliest doll ever!

For more than 6 months every time Princess and I go to the craft store, she has picked up this doll and carried it around with her.  Even when Princess first found her, she was ugly.  She had a blue tinged face, wiry hair, and was naked other than her shoes.  She was in a display box with other dolls - pretty dolls - dolls that I felt were much better than this one.  But Princess was drawn to her.  Princess named her Cinderellabella the very first time she saw her.  Over time, sitting in that display box, the doll had lost most of it's hair and one of her sleepy eyes.  Still, Princess would seek her out every time we went in. I  warned her as we entered the store each time that perhaps she would not be there.  Cinderellabella always was.

Yesterday, she finally asked if we could bring her home.  My first instinct was to say "no way." After all, the doll wasn't worth paying for- it was broken, used up, defective.  But I saw the love in my daughter's eyes and couldn't say no.  What I did say was that she would have to ask the price of the doll  and she would have to pay for it herself.  If she truly wanted this ugly doll then she would agree.   She did.

The store owner told her it was a dollar.  My opinion was that it wasn't worth that much.  The owner would never be able to sell this doll in it's current condition to anyone other than my daughter. But my sweet 4 year old agreed and brought Cinderellabella to our home.  

 

  She rushed to show this rag tag doll to her siblings.  When dad arrived home, this was the first thing she told him about.  It now goes everywhere with her.  This unkempt, broken, marred doll has become her prized possession.  I didn't get it... 

Until I did.  This morning God showed me something special about this situation. I am sure you have already seen it.  I'm a little slow sometimes.   I had seen only an ugly doll, while my daughter saw something of great worth.  Much like God sees the worth in each of us.

We are all less than perfect.  We have our own versions of an off color face, an eye that doesn't see. We  are each flawed  in some way. We are less than beautiful, even if only on the inside.  Many may view us as less than desirable, choosing to walk on by, to overlook us in favor of something they deem somehow 'better'.  Jesus, however, sees our true worth, much as my daughter saw worth in this doll. 

 He seeks us out at every opportunity and loves on us.  He values us so much that he paid a price that was much to high just so he could give us a home.  Jesus is proud of us and loves us unconditionally.  While the world may see the ugly doll, Jesus sees each of us as a beautiful treasure.

It's days like this that I wonder if God gives us children so we can teach them, or so they can teach us.  I learn so much about Him through them!

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst,  a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness;  he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.


 *Originally posted on Sunflowers at Home

build - The Tower

verses:  Genesis 11:4, Genesis 11:5, Genesis 11:8

image source

If you ever attended Sunday School you probably already know this story, even if you didn't chances are good you have heard it before.  The Tower of Babel, a monument to what man can accomplish on their own, an expression of self-worship.  A big ol' billboard that screams, "We don't need you God!"

Genesis 11:4 tells us that it was built so that man could "make a name" for themselves and so they wouldn't be "scattered over the face of the whole earth".  Hmmm....didn't God instruct for them to do just the opposite?  Genesis 9:1 says that God told Noah and his sons to, "increase in number and fill the earth".

Remember that this is one of the cities built by Nimrod, and this is the city that falls in Revelation.  It is no wonder that we see this city as the site of man's arrogance.   What were they thinking?  Josephus wrote that, "He (Nimrod) also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach."  (Antiquities of the Jews [Book I, Chapter IV])  So the tower was built in defiance of God, as if man could out do Him.  

God seems to get curious as to what we are doing down here though, and comes to check it out, Genesis 11:5.  Don't think that He didn't know what was going on, He is omniscient after all!  Perhaps He was looking for some people who still had reverence for Him, perhaps He wanted to re-establish His presence with these people.  I don't know.  What is interesting to point out is that man's efforts were to reach the heavens, and yet even our combined efforts were so far beneath God that he had to come DOWN to view them.  While I don't know why He chose to come down, I do know that our efforts displeased Him and led to our own disunity.

You see, before this time we were able to work together, we could share our knowledge, God still allowed us to be a part of the whole of humanity.  When once before we walked with Him, He had allowed us to continue walking with each other.  Unfortunately we quit trying to walk with Him and started focusing on ourselves instead.  God recognized that this would lead to a total separation from Him, that it was a path to destruction.  Rather than stand by and let us walk that road easily, He stepped in and "confused" our language.  When we could no longer work together to conspire against Him, we quickly realized that the path we were on was not the one we should be and we abandoned the project, and did what we were supposed to do in the first place, spread out and filled the earth.

This building of a tower was more than just a physical construct, it was a religious one as well.  Man was trying to rise above God, and to do it without God.  Most false religions can be traced back to this one point, this one place.  While not the beginning our our straying from our Creator, this is the first instance where we decide to make a name for ourselves, to consciously proceed without Him.  It is a path that mankind is still on.  

Even today we strive to be known in and of ourselves.  We want to feel as if our efforts will be remembered by mankind, or at least recognized today.  "Look at me!  Look at me!"  we seem to scream, when what we should be saying is "Check Him out!".  You see, while the builders may have been the laborers, the building was impossible without God.  He provided the materials, He provided the knowledge, He provided the strength....He still does today.  When we forget that and begin to think it is our efforts that should be recognized we too will become confused when they fail to bring about the desired results.  In the end, God gets the glory.  Period.  Whether in this life or the next we will all have to recognize that, and give Him what He is due.

Build - 1

Did you know the word "build" appears 237 times in the NIV version of the Bible?  When you throw in the word "built" that number goes up to 423!  Wow!  On top of that 7 different words are translated as build in our Bible.  Looks like there is more to this than a simple case of get moving and make something!

I have decided to study each occurrence of the word "build" in the Bible from beginning to end and see where God takes me with that.  First is Genesis 4:17, "Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then BUILDing a city, and he named it after his son Enoch."

This is the first of our translated "build" words, banah which simply means to build or establish.  Interestingly, this is also the word used in Genesis 2:2 when God made Eve.  

So here we are with Cain, the son of Adam and Eve who half heartedly gave an offering to God and then killed his brother out of jealousy.  After that he attempted to hide it from God, only to be cast out and marked.  He settles in Nod.  Whether Nod was an actual place or just a description of his life is anyone's guess.  Scholars tend to vary on this point and since the flood there really isn't a map with an X marks the spot on it.  Nod simply means, "aimless wandering, to shake, waver, more to and fro, show grief, flutter, lament.  As one person put it, "Nod was a God forsaken region".  In this wandering away from God he settles and become a father to Enoch.  

Enoch means dedicate, begin, instruct, and make wise with the root having connotations of speech (source). So Cain names his son in such a way that we know he is a beginning, and proceeds to build the first city and name it after his son.  This is to be a new beginning, a place of instruction where people can be made wise.  The problem I see is that the instructor (Cain) was a bitter teacher.  Here is a man who knew God, whose parents actually walked and talked with Him, and had been cast out.  It is hypothesized that Cain began a false religion here.  Instructing his descendants on God but in a distorted way.  He kept enough of who God is so that his family recognized Him, but twisted it due to his own feelings of rejection.  He may have regretted killing his brother, but not enough to truly be remorseful as evidenced by his building of a city to train up other according to his views of God rather than return to God himself.  Cain didn't completely give up on God, he did move towards Eden, the home of his parents when they walked with God.  

Enoch was built, but then never mentioned in the Bible again, presumably destroyed in the flood.  It was a city touched by God, but twisted by man's selfishness and pride.  Cain built the city without God and it didn't stand the test of time.  

How many times have we build something in our own lives as a result of our own wandering?  We step back from God because we have created a separation through sin and rather than be honest and face it, ask for forgiveness, and truly repent.  So we begin to perceive God through our own hurt and that distorts our picture of who He is.  Then we begin building - a wall between us and God, a career that consumes us, a life that only marginally reflects who God is.  People around us know that we know God so they look to us as examples.  Only what they see in us isn't the real picture.  None of Cains descendants survived the flood.  The legacy of what he built isn't that of a beginning of something good, but the continuation of a fallen world's spiral.  God wasn't building this....Cain labored in vain.