Jesus and Government

We've just gotten through, what to many people, was an emotional election season in our country. A lot could be written on the topic of Jesus and government, but I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts and observations.

We've probably all heard the old saying, "never discuss religion or politics in polite conversation", there is a reason why this phrase is so well known. People tend to become passionate about both religion and politics. Both of these areas represent a worldview, and very often they become so intertwined that in conversation with someone who has a differing opinion in one of these areas, the listener will assume they are hearing dissent to the other as well.

Why am I writing on a topic like this on the Lydia Blog? Well, the recent election has affected relationships of some people very dear to me. As I try to understand the reason that people who otherwise truly love one another, could be so unloving in attitude and action it makes me ponder the power of religion and politics. Perhaps you have experienced something similar.

It's interesting to me that both religion and government represent the promise of provision, comfort and protection. Both also have laws that if followed will promise rewards and if not followed result in punishment. In a way both religion and politics offer us a set of rules to live by. That is very appealing to us isn't it? After all, without rules there's anarchy, right? Well, almost right.

Before Christ came there were rules. There was the Law, the Ten Commandments. That was the basis for both the religion and the government for Jewish people. They needed this to keep them from anarchy, to help them to be holy, to keep them pure....how well did it work? When we read our Bibles we can plainly see that the Law was not sufficient. The people who were given the Law either weren't satisfied with it so they added more laws (Pharisees), or others felt burdened by it and went into rebellion and began adopting other laws (idol worship). People wanted the boundaries the Law provided, but constantly crossed those boundaries.

But as God's plan continued to unfold, at the right time the Law for humans became obsolete as the Law of God was perfectly fulfilled. Jesus came, He did not add to the Law and He did not rebel from the Law. He lived the law perfectly everyday of His life. Fulfilling the law as the only Son of God and also as a human being made Him able to take on all of our rebellion and all of our attempts at our own righteousness (also sin) and become guilty FOR us -- then take the punishment of death FOR us.

When Jesus died so did the need for Law-following die. He fulfilled the Law, for us, forever! But, does that mean that if a person is a Christian he or she can live in anarchy? Actually, it means the opposite. Being a Christian is not being a Law follower, it is a Christ follower. I am not in relationship to any Law, I am in relationship to a Person! A live, real and interactive Person...who did not stay dead, but who rose from the grave and who now lives in me!

It would be very foolish for me to run to Law when I have Jesus. It is very foolish for me to run to religion or politics when I have Jesus.

So how should we live in this day and in this country? Follow Jesus in this - love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. And who is your neighbor? Jesus made it very clear from His parable of the "Good Samaritan" that our neighbor is not defined by nationality. The neighbor that we are to love is anyone...parent, immigrant, co-worker, teacher, politician from the other party or even family member who doesn't agree with you.

Jesus died to set us free from the Law... let's not run back to that bondage. It can only lead to two avenues...one is the realization that we've failed to live up to the standards that we believe we ought to and we become downcast...the other is that we believe that we are doing all the right things in keeping with our standards and we become filled with pride. Neither of these extremes glorifies God and neither leads to growing in the freedom that Jesus died to give us.

In closing I want to stress to whomever is reading this that I know that I'm just as much in need of this message as anyone else. We are all in this mess together and following Christ in His freedom is both wonderful and scary -- but this is what Christ followers are called to do. So let's help each other along as we follow the only Leader who is worth following.

Another look at the importance of your ezer role...

It's been a while since I've written about our role as women and the importance of that role in the kingdom of God. Today something came to my attention that has stirred my passion to encourage you to please seek out how you may live out your calling as an ezer.

If you've have heard me teach on the topic of biblical womanhood you've no doubt heard about your role as an ezer. For those of you who don't know what that means, ezer is a Hebrew word that is found in the bible. It's used in Genesis where God says that it's not good for the man to be alone so He will create a "helpmate" suitable for him. Well, of course the book of Genesis was not written in English, it was written in Hebrew. And you guessed it, the word in Hebrew for "helpmate" is "ezer". So, what exactly was God showing us about His intention for the purpose of woman when He inspired Moses to choose that word? Well, what does the word actually mean? In ancient Hebrew the word ezer means, "strong warrior". Usually when this word appears in scripture it's the word chosen to describe Jesus role to God.

This is no wimpy, silent, ineffective role! Yes, God is the ultimate authority in the triune Godhead, but without the work of Jesus the honor of God would not have stood against Satan's accusations. Jesus fought, using the most powerful weapon in all existence to prove God's singular holiness. He used a weapon the Enemy never imagined. Jesus fought with sacrificial love.

So, how does this knowledge instruct us as women, who bear a similar role in respect to the men who are in leadership over us? Oh, maybe you were thinking that this really doesn't apply to you because you're a single woman. NO, you are an EZER. In every place, at work and especially in the church you are an ezer. It is important for the women in God's family to fulfill their role in every relationship. In order to do this in a way that honors God we need to follow the example of the Perfect Ezer, Jesus Christ. Look at how Jesus lived out His ezer role:

• He always submitted to the will of His Father


• He met with God often in prayer


• His aim always was to bring honor to God and to show love to others and grow God's family


• He did not shy away from confrontation when it was needed, but He confronted with an intent to bring change.

So, the question for you and me is, "How can we live out our role as an ezer in way that brings God glory, and in particular how can our living out that role encourage the greater health of our Church?"

I'm not going to answer this question...but I'm hoping that you will engage your thoughts as to how you can use the gifts, the insights, the wisdom that God has blessed you with to be a mirror of Christ's sacrificial love and warrior heart along side the men in leadership where you worship.

I Think That I Shall Never See a Seed as Lovely as a Tree

Yes, I'm stealing badly from an old poem, but I think this fits the point the
Apostle Paul is making in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

Paul was directing this passage of his letter to those Corinthians who
believed that there was no life after death. They did not believe in
eternal souls, they believed and taught that this life is the only reality that
people should be concerned with. Paul was trying to show this audience that
true reality is much, much more expansive than what is presently experienced on
earth. In this message, which is Christ's message, Paul was making it
clear that the Corinthians intellectual icons were just flat wrong.

Starting in verse 20 of this chapter Paul tells how someone can KNOW that
there is life after this one.

"But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the
resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For just as in
Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But, each
in his own order..."

Of course the life that we have because of Christ is contingent on how we view Him. Do we love him as our Savior, recognizing our desperate need to have our curse of death removed? If yes, then we will have the kind of LIFE after this one that Paul goes on to describe. If we don't think we need a Savior, or if we aren't sure about the Jesus thing, then the curse remains - death is our only future...but it will be a living death. Either way we will be changed into something different than what we are now.

All we know is what we know. OK, that sounds impossibly redundant, but the truth
is that our experiences in this life are all we know. But God, speaking through Paul lets us know what is beyond this world. God lets us see glimpses of life after death. In verses 35 - 46 we see
this:

"But now someone will say, 'How are the dead raised? What kind of body will
they have when they come?' Foolish one! What you sow does not come to life
unless it dies. And as for what you sow--you are not sowing the future
body, but only a seed, perhaps of wheat or another grain. But God gives it
a body as He wants, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh
is the same flesh; there is one flesh for humans, another for animals,
another for birds, and another for fish. There are heavenly bodies and
earthly bodies, but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is different from
that of the earthly ones. There is a splendor of the sun, another of the
moon, and another of the stars; for star differs from star in splendor. So it is with
the resurrection of the dead:

Sown in corruption, raised in incorruption; sown in
dishonor, raised in glory; sown
in weakness, raised in power; sown a natural
body, raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is
written: The first man Adam became a living
being; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit. However,
the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual."

Wow, so right now, you and I are only seeds! All the awareness, abilities, or power that we think we may have in this life still add up to us just being seeds of what we will become. What will
that be?? How different will we be in the next life from what we are now? Think of how different a tomato seed is from a tomato plant; a sunflower seed from sunflower plant; or an acorn from an oak tree??

For someone who truly believes in Christ in that personal, thankful-for-forgiveness and want-to-follow-Him, sort of way, this passage of scripture ought to make you marvel. We are only seeds of what we will become. When our seed, the physical body, dies our true self will emerge. The seed is only a promise of the living, fruit producing plant to come. In the same way we are only a promise of the eternally living, God-glorifying person we will become.

Doesn't that grab you? Do you find this amazing? If we really do it ought to change everything we think about our temporary "seed" life here. Or are we like the people Paul originally wrote this letter to? Oh, we may say "sure I believe in life after death", but do we really live like we believe it?

I wonder...if I woke up everyday as sure of my upcoming future transformation as I was say of a great vacation I was looking forward to, would my focus be different? Would I maybe not obsess so much about the same "seed-bound" things? Would I experience more joy? Would I be more excited about what God intended for me? Would I think about Him more?

Would I be more in love with Him for what is to come?

The Beauty of an Open Heart

Our group is named after a real woman. As a single woman she had the daily pressures of running her business in a male dominated society. At one time she may have been married and was either widowed or abandoned by her husband. More than likely her business was begun by her husband, but when she was left without him she continued to work hard at making it thrive in order to provide a living for herself and her household. Lydia was a woman of faith and the bible introduces her to us by telling us that the Apostle Paul ("Apostle" meaning someone who was chosen by Jesus) first met her alongside a river as she was meeting for prayer with a small group of women.

What struck me so about her story today as I reviewed it in Acts chapter 16 of the Bible, is that even though Lydia had faith in God there was more that God was offering her. If Lydia had been content to keep going as she had been, content to stay where she was in her understanding of God feeling that her knowledge of Him was all she needed to know, we would never have known about her. As we first learn about Lydia she does have a belief in God, but it's a belief that left her on the other side of a barrier which separated her from really being close to Him. There was more that God had for Lydia then just an understanding of His power in creation and His greatness over things. God used Paul to bring a special message to Lydia, God extended to her an invitation to enter a sweet relationship with Himself. But, in order for Lydia to enter that relationship she'd have to have an open heart. Look at how Luke (the author of the book of Acts and traveling companion of Paul) describes the meeting with Lydia.

Acts 16:13-15
"On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira (Philippi), who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, 'if you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.' And she persuaded us."

Did you see it? "The Lord opened her heart to pay attention..." She didn't stay where she was in her understanding of God; she followed the path that God was showing her to a deeper relationship with Him. Jesus Christ is the one that cut through the barrier, a barrier made by our sin, and blazed a trail that leads to being family with God. Jesus did that when he died on the cross and took the punishment that had to be paid for (Lydia's, yours and mine), the punishment that we were being shielded from by the barrier!

If you have not taken that path yourself yet but feel that your heart is being opened, please don't hesitate to follow Christ. Tell him how you feel and that you believe in him. Then please tell someone that you know of who follows Christ so that they can pray with you. If you already are headed up the path with Christ, be aware that all along the way we continue to have wonderful opportunities for more "heart openness" and deeper intimacy with our God.

Lydia Women in Africa

When I began recording my thoughts about the trip to Africa on this blog I hoped that it would fit with the purpose of our ministry. I did not realize just how appropriate it would be.

Before I arrived my African friend, Marthalene, distributed registration forms to all the women who planned on attending one of the workshops. These registration forms asked for basic information: name, address, marital status, number of children in the home, as well as church affiliation questions. The registration forms were collected by Marthalene and she made sure that we had an equal number of women plan on attending on each of the first five days of instruction. I was not given the registration forms until the end of each day.

At the end of the day, back in the guest house that I stayed at, I read over the forms in hopes of better acquainting myself with the women who attended that day. Each day, as I read over the sections on marital status, and number of children in the home, it was clearer and clearer that most of the women in these workshops, and possibly most of the women in Liberia, were "Lydia Women".

I began asking the women questions about their lives and if they had been married. Some had, most had not. It was common that for the women who had been married that after having a few children their husbands left, finding a woman who had more education or just simply left. Some women were widows, others had not been married but were hopeful that the men who fathered their children would take care of them.

As I write this I hope that it is understood that no judgment against these women is intended. Their survival through the bloody and lengthy civil war is a triumph. The damage that was done to their country is evident on the surface everywhere you look. At every turn there are empty looted homes, roads in terrible disrepair, garbage strewn about, poor medical facilities, horrible drainage or sanitary systems...and the list could go on. But, the damage that I was faced with most directly, and the damage I was hoping to address was precisely the damage done to the human heart. And that damage was evident in the eyes of each of these women.

These women have all lived through more than I can imagine. Most of them are Lydia Women. Most of them shoulder the responsibility on their own to care for their families. Quite often their families include children that are not even theirs, but who were given to them to raise.

I am sure that as the weeks go on I'll have more reflections on all that I experienced, but what I hope to communicate now is that even with the intense daily suffering, these women walk in faith. They do not merely "hope" that God hears them when they pray, they really KNOW God hears. And that solid faith is evident in their praise. Wow, how they can praise God! They love Him so much, they are excited to learn more about Him and oh how they love to sing to Him!

May we all love God with a love like theirs that does not doubt, and does not hold back our expression of joy!!

Shelly

"Want to hear God laugh? Tell Him your plans."

We all know that life is unpredictable, some surprises are good, some are not so good, but it seems that the initial reaction is always a mental version of the Garmin's mechanical, "recalculating".

It's as if I need to have things unfold as I expect them to, as I've planned for them too in order for me to feel that I have a firm footing. When my plans are sidelined and the unexpected happens I feel the stress level rising.

I guess the reality of it is that trying to hold on to the expectation of "my" plan unfolding exactly as I expect it too is nutty. That would take a degree of power over the elements, other people and events that I just do not have.

I plan to leave for Liberia in just about a week and a half. (AHHHH!!) My plan was that the booklets that I wrote and got help in assembling would be more than enough for all the women who may show up at the workshops that are planned while I'm in Monrovia. Actually, I really thought I was being way overly optimistic at producing so many booklets. But, I always like to have more of anything than not enough. I hate running out of things, don't know why...I'll have to think about that one. But, anyway a couple of days ago, as my production plans were all in motion and gearing into the binding stages of assembly I got a call from my friend in Liberia.

She was very happy to let me know that it looks like we are going to have many more women coming to these workshops then she first thought, and she just can't turn anyone away. I agree with that. So, okay what was my first reaction? "Couldn't the women share?"

Really - that's what I said. I'm embarrassed to admit that. My friend on the other end of the line was sort of quiet but polite. I think my response surprised her. Here God was doing this great work of spreading excitement for this training, and I was stuck in my limited plan.

After getting off the phone it occurred to me that if I just worked a little harder, put a little more effort in, I could make the additional booklets. But, the plan was for 80 booklets, not 110!! Okay, my plan was for 80 booklets. God was changing that. Now I have the opportunity to adjust.

Yes, I'm working on cranking out 30 more booklets. I've been told the first lesson of mission work is "flexibility" (thank you Sheree) I think this is a good lesson and quite possibly useful in all of life.

Now off to glue pages together....

Preparing for the Unknown

In four weeks I'll be stepping into the unknown. No, that sounds way too ominous...I'll be stepping into what is unknown to me. Of course I'm referring to my upcoming adventure of boarding a plane in Jacksonville, Florida and thirty-five hours later stepping off another plane onto African soil.

Thankfully, there are others who are travelling with me who have made this journey before and they do know how to prepare. Their experience and guidance go a long way toward making the unknown more knowable. As they share their knowledge with me I no longer feel as bewildered as I would otherwise. Even though I am headed down a road that I've never travelled before I can move forward unafraid because those I trust have alerted me to what lies ahead and how to safely traverse the terrain.

Do you see how this applies to so many areas of our lives? We all come to points in our lives where what is stretched in front of us is completely new, sometimes frightening. Perhaps you felt this way when you first realized that your marriage was ending and you had to seriously begin thinking about your life on your own. Or maybe you felt a cold terror, mingled with crushing grief at the death of your spouse. How would you go forward? What would tomorrow look like for you?

Isn't it true that in those times it was the friend who had traversed that terrain ahead of you who afforded you some of the best help? She assured you of the possibility of life on the other side of the unknown. She provided guidance born of her own experience. She let you know what was previously "unknowable" to you.

Perhaps you have been the guide a time or two for a tearful friend just coming to her own precipice of the "unknown".

Have you ever noticed that very often the kind of guidance that is truly called for may not always be the kind of news that our friend (or ourselves, for that matter) like to hear?

If, as I prepare for Africa my traveling companions told me to "take whatever was easiest, don't even bother your busy schedule about the trip until the night before" I'd be in big trouble. For one thing I'd not have my immunizations that I need, I would not be protected from malaria, and I'd probably not even be going because I wouldn't have a visa to get into the country. Being properly prepared has cost and parts of preparation is even painful.

The same is true when bringing genuine help to a friend looking down the prospect of a dreaded life altering event, genuine help first brings comfort, but must also bring reality.

For me, comfort and reality have a name...Jesus. He truly is the personification of these traits, and so many others that also bring peace. The comfort and reality that I will be clinging to in Africa is Jesus. I will need Him. This much is not unknown to me. I am so, very grateful that He is my first and best Guide.

Looking Forward to Meeting Marthalene

Last Sunday at church I was able to talk for a little bit about the woman I'll be working with in Liberia. She is truly a hero. She has overcome the horror of learning of the murder of her brother, the horror of watching both of her parents and her sister murdered and then being separated from the only other living member of her nuclear family, her other brother. She survived 15 years of living at the whims of violent, desparate men...and somewhere in all of this ordeal she cried out to God and He heard her.

She became a Christian, she now had a Father, she had a Protector and Friend. She had a Savior who invited her into His rest. How??? Well, when I meet with Marthalene next month I'll be better able to answer that question, but for now I've got to believe that the over arching answer is that she could come into God's rest because of the new faith she had came with the practical help of a godly man to look after her. Matthew became Marthalene's friend and protector. Eventually they were married and today they work side by side in their community, Matthew is a Pastor and Marthalene, as his wife, helps with the church and with a school they run for the many orphans who were coming to them.

Faith from God coupled with practical help coming through the love and obedience of other believers. I think that God intended this marriage of "faith" and "practical help" to act in unision in order for His Kingdom to spread. If this is so than it's clear what side of the equation we all stand on. I cannot give anyone faith. God alone can do that. But when He ordains that practical help to come to the person He is blessing with faith, then that means He could be calling your number.

When you hear your number called, what will you do?

Going to Africa

I was toying with the idea of creating a web page to record my up coming trip to Africa, maybe even post a few pictures if I can figure out how that's done. But, then I realized that I could just post on the Lydia site. The reason this makes sense to me is that what I'm about to embark on is a faith journey. I will be going someplace I've never been before, surrounded by the unknown, and (at least for the first week) doing this on my own. Yeah, I think that translates to some of the things many of you experience everyday.

I'll be going to a country that is no doubt, full of "Lydia Women". These women are our sisters. I am looking forward to introducing you to them. The country I'm going to is Liberia. It's located on the West Coast of Africa. While there I'll be leading several small groups of women through some basics of the Gospel, some encouragement of how God loves them and values them as women and finally I'll attempt to do a little biblical counselor training.

The need for biblical counselling in Liberia is huge! The people of Liberia have just come out of many years of civil war. The ones who survived are witnesses, victims and some perpetrators of all sorts of evil acts. Healing and restoration is so badly needed, both physically, spiritually and economically.

The need is so great the question that first comes to mind is "I'm only one person, what can I do?" But as I've learned more about the horrors suffered, and I begin to care for individuals in that suffering the more powerful question for me is, "It's so bad, how can I do nothing?"

The plan is to leave from Jacksonville on June 12th and arrive back two weeks later.

Please pray for me to keep my eyes on God for wisdom, so that I am able to see clearly what He wants you to know about your sisters in Liberia.

Shelly

What Does Communion with Us Mean to Christ?

Last week at the close of our Sunday morning worship service we had communion. What do we really think about communion? If you go to a church like mine you are taught that communion is one of only two sacraments, the other being baptism. They are sacraments, I suppose because we have record that Jesus actually told us to do them and did them both himself. As my thoughts this week were particularly drawn to communion, that is the sacrament that I'd like to focus on.

Since I've been a little girl I've been taking communion. I have distinct memories of Pastor Bates reciting the words of Christ from the last supper as He broke the bread..."this is My body broken for you", and again as he was getting ready to distribute the trays of tiny shot glasses filled with grape juice..."this wine is a symbol of My blood poured out for you. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup do so in remembrance of Me until my return." For me it has always been a very somber practice, filled with introspection and confession. This past week my thoughts were drawn in a direction that they had never gone before and this new perspective left me with a new sense of joy as I held onto my tiny shot glass of grape juice.

The thought was simply of Christ - now. Now, not only Christ on the cross, but Christ now, in the present. How was He communing with us as His Bride as we were "taking" communion? I know that it is important for us to come to communion seriously and with no unconfessed sin harbored in our hearts...but why? Because it's good to be clean...well yes, but even more so because we as the Bride of Christ are joining with our Groom in this beautiful act of WORSHIP!

Ah, worship that is supposed to be meaningful and enjoyed by us and by our Groom. So, that is when I found myself sitting there with a big smile on my face. The thought that my Lord, Jesus was getting enjoyment from the love of His Bride as he received our worship through communion - that thought was just so wonderful!

What are your thoughts? I'd love to discuss this with you.