ONLY SKIN DEEP

The other day "The Hub" and I had to go to the dermatologist.

And since we live almost an hour away from his office, we scheduled back-to-back appointments.

We made the long, twisty trip – and stepped out into an oven.

I don't know how hot it was – well over 100 degrees – but if I'd had an egg handy, I'm sure it would have fried, in my hand.

We were early for our appointments, but opted to go and sit inside where the cooling A/C wafted over our sweat-covered brows and reminded us of an oasis.  (Poetic touch…nice, huh?!)

As we waited, I looked around at the people surrounding us.

This day there was a good across-the-board representation of all ages.

Usually there's a preponderance of middle-aged people in various stages of *skin repair.*

I've put them into categories…

There are the people who have spent way too many hours in the sun – just like "The Hub” and I – and have the marks and bumps and discolorations to prove it.  This is the consultation and check-up crowd.

Then there are the people who have had some sort of procedure to fix the various marks and bumps and discolorations.  Trust me, people, we've seen some gnarly looking bandages and some Frankenstein-worthy stitches!

Finally, there are the ladies (and the occasional gentleman) with obvious (mostly well done) plastic surgery and injections of various fillers.

May the Lord forgive me, but I always seem to judge.

Besides the fact that plastic surgery is very expensive, I am way too afraid to have anything done on me!  I would be the unfortunate soul with numbness, or residual twitching, or hardness, or scarring, or any number of "Wow, that usually doesn't happen" complications.

Now don't get me wrong, I respect anyone's right to plastic surgery, and if you've had some done yourself, you go for it!

But I will never understand what makes anyone think that giant lips or a frozen face or a perpetually surprised expression is attractive.  Just my opinion…


OK, so finally we're ushered into the examining room, after politely being asked whether we'd like to be seen separately.  I am tempted to say that we'd rather not be seen at all, but I keep my thoughts to myself.

It's a *full skin check* day, so there's disrobing involved.

OK, no big deal, it's not like "The Hub" and I are showing off anything we haven't seen before.  But still, in a doctor's office, it all feels a little weird.

My appointment was first, so I got to sit on the examining chair.

"The Hub" sat across from me in another chair.

As I looked over at him, and then looked down at myself, I started laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked me.

"Look at us.  Here we are in our matching hospital gowns, nude as the day we were born.  What a pair we make!" I chuckled.

He started laughing, too.

That's when I made the comment, "Wow, living large!"

I just could not stop laughing.


All things considered, I like the fact that "The Hub" and I go to all our doctors' appointments together.  I like having him with me to make sure that I get all my questions answered, and that I have all the follow-up instructions accurate and complete.

And truthfully, I get very nervous at doctor's appointments, so it's nice to have some back-up along.

I think he takes me along so that I hear all the information first-hand. That way he doesn't have to deal with my million questions when he gets home…

"Did you ask about…?"

"What did he tell you to…?"

"Why didn’t you remember to say…?"


So it's nice to bond over appointment time (???)

However, I have noticed in all my medical travels that it's usually middle-aged and older people that travel together.  I know my parents never went to an appointment alone.

Retirement at its best??

So, sitting there in that examining room, in our matching gowns, waiting to have our marks, bumps, and discolorations checked out, I felt kinda old.

How on earth did this happen?

The years keep piling on, and I keep aging, but inside I feel much the same as I did a good long time ago.

It's one of time's mysteries, I think.


So finally the doctor came in.

And, like a mad scientist with his bug-sized goggles on, he inspected me from head-to-toe.

Randomly and rapidly, without any warning, he took his trusty little canister of liquid nitrogen and zapped several *things* on my body.  (This is called cryotherapy – I think because it hurts and makes you shed a tear or two).

Then it was "The Hub's" turn – he got zapped, too.

The doctor shook our hands – thank you, Igor – and left the room.

The kind nurse assistant asked if we'd like her to leave while we put our clothes back on.  We told her that we didn't care if she stayed, as long as she didn't laugh.

I thought I heard a snicker, but it might just have been her clearing her throat??

And as "The Hub" and I paid the bill, I looked at our blistered bodies and thought to myself, once again, "What a pair we make…"


On the drive home, I got to thinking about skin.

Skin is really an amazing thing.

Here's some fun facts:

1. It's the body's largest organ.

2. An average adult's skin spans 21 square feet, weighs nine pounds, and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels.

3. In one square inch of skin there are 625 sweat glands and 90 oil glands. There are also 19 million cells, 19 feet of blood vessels, 19,000 sensory cells, 65 hairs, and about one million pores.  Best of all, 20 million microscopic animals, such as mites, live in each square inch.  (I am the hostess with the mostest??)

4. Every inch of your skin has an exact stretchiness and strength for its location.

5. Your skin performs a range of different functions, which include physically protecting your bones, muscles and internal organs, and protecting your body from outside diseases.

6. Skin plays an important role in regulating body temperature, allowing you to feel and react to heat and cold and using blood to regulate your body heat. Your skin acts as your body's thermostat.

7. The skin releases as much as three gallons of sweat a day in hot weather. (Areas that don't sweat include the nail bed, the margins of the lips, and the eardrums).

8. Body odor comes from a second kind of sweat – a fatty secretion – and the odor is caused by bacteria on the skin eating and digesting those fatty compounds.  (Yum…)

9. A fetus doesn't develop fingerprints until three months' gestation.  Some people never develop fingerprints at all.

10. Your skin regenerates itself, shedding its dead skin cells on a daily basis, creating a new layer of skin every 28 days.

11. Your skin sheds 50,000 cells every minute.

12. Globally, dead skin accounts for about a billion tons of dust in the atmosphere.  (OK, this is just disgusting.  Forget global warming, global shedding is a much more serious problem, eh?!)

13. There are at least five types of receptors in the skin that respond to pain and to touch.

14. All mammals have some hair on their skin, even if it isn't easy for you to see.  And some animals have very thick skin – for example, a rhinoceros’ skin can be as thick as ½" – 2".  (However, though a rhino may be thick-skinned, I wouldn’t tease him, just sayin').


Those are some fun physical facts, but there is a spiritual fact that is also true.

While we live on this earth, our skin is like the body's *house.*

It's a temporary abode for all the things that make us who we are.

The Bible calls our body a *tent* – and I can think of no more apt description for our skin – a covering that shelters us for a time, until we return home.

For indeed, there will come a day when we leave this body and go to be with Jesus.

Listen to the words of Paul:

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.  We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.  While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us.  Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit." (2 Corinthians 5:1-5, NLT)


I love the imagery of putting on the new body like clothing – and I think of the concept of literally putting on new skin!

Yes, for the time being, my body and my skin ages, and needs a lot more attention than it used to.

And yes, there are days when I groan inside of it.

But these sufferings are only temporary, for there is a day coming when my perishable will put on imperishable, and I will live forever!

Can you even imagine?!


The freedom!

The rejuvenation!

The energy!

The glory!


Yes, in so many ways, this life is only *skin deep*...




What reminds you that this life is only temporary?

Walking home...

"He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again." (Psalm 78:39, ESV)

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow?  Your life is like the morning fog – it's here a little while, then it's gone." (James 4:14, NLT)

"All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return." (Ecclesiastes 3:20, NIV)

"All these people died still believing what God had promised them.  They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.  They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth." (Hebrews 11:13, NLT)

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." (2 Corinthians  4:7, ESV)

"Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8, NLT)

"So is it with the resurrection of the dead.  What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory.  It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.  If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." 
(1 Corinthians 15:42-44, ESV)

"For the trumpet will sound…and we shall be changed.  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'"

(1 Corinthians 15:52-55, ESV)


"He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers." (Romans 2:7, NLT)

"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son [as Savior], so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life." (John 3:16, AMP)

"Jesus said…'I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.'" (John 11:25-26, NIV)

"'And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.'" (John 6:39, NLT)

"…as for me, God will redeem my life.  He will snatch me from the power of the grave." (Psalm 49:15, NLT)

"For you have delivered my soul from death…that I may walk before God in the light of life." (Psalm 56:13, ESV)

"My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better." 
(Philippians 1:23, ESV)

"I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes – I, and not another.  How my heart yearns within me!" (Job 19:25-27, NIV)

"I shall walk before the LORD In the land of the living." (Psalm 116:19, NASB)




Linked with:

SMALL WONDER, MONDAY'S MUSINGS, MONDAYS AT SOUL SURVIVAL, LIFE GIVING LINKUP, GOOD MORNING MONDAYS, MONDAY OF MANY BLESSINGS, THANK GOODNESS IT'S MONDAY, THE ART OF HOMEMAKING MONDAYS, MAKING YOUR HOME SING MONDAY, MUSING MONDAY, MODEST MONDAY, MOTIVATION MONDAY, INSPIRE ME MONDAY, LIVING PROVERBS, MOM-TO-MOM MONDAYS, MOMENTS OF HOPE, GLIMPSES LINKUP, TELL ME A TRUE STORY, WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY,  TITUS 2 TUESDAY, TESTIMONY TUESDAY, TUESDAY TALK, RA RA LINKUP, TEACHING WHAT IS GOOD, INTENTIONAL TUESDAY, WISE WOMAN, TELL HIS STORY, WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAY, CHRISTIAN BLOGGER COMMUNITY, WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY, COFFEE FOR YOUR HEART, COFFEE & CONVERSATION, WOMEN WITH INTENTION, SITTING AMONG FRIENDS, FROM MESSES TO MESSAGES, GRACE MOMENTS, THANKFUL THURSDAYS, LIVE FREE THURSDAY, THURSDAY FAVORITE THINGS, SHINE BLOG HOP, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY, THOUGHTFUL THURSDAYS, GRACE AT HOME, LITTLE THINGS THURSDAY, COZY READING SPOT, NO RULES WEEKEND BLOG PARTY, FROM HOUSE TO HOME, FUNTASTIC FRIDAY, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY, EVERYDAY TESTIMONY, FAITH FILLED FRIDAY, SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS, FAITH 'N FRIENDS, MAKE MY SATURDAY, GRACE & TRUTH, DANCE WITH JESUS, FRIDAY FEATURE PARTY, TGI SATURDAYS, SMALL VICTORIES SUNDAY, WORD OF GOD SPEAK




BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

HE KNOWS MY NAME

So, I am down visiting family again.

And when I'm in town, I like to visit the "chains," as I like to call them.

You see, our little mountain town has no chain restaurants or stores.  (It's a rule that’s even written in our charter!)  

Therefore, I must wait either for: 1) Errand Day – when we venture off-the-hill to do errands, or 2) Family Visitation Days – when I make the 2½ hour trek down the mountain to visit family.

I'm not gonna lie, sometimes I just might…

Peek in at IKEA or Costco.

Run into Macy's or Barnes & Noble.

Covertly sneak a Big Mac or a Quarter Pounder.

Scarf down a Subway.

Indulge on a fancy dinner at Outback or Joe's Crab Shack.


But really and truly, my biggest vice is the nearly-daily run to the local coffee place – 

(*$’s…)

Which is what I did this morning…

Which is where, yet again, I was confronted with one of my biggest pet peeves!

My name.

I have tried and tried to get those adorable (?) baristas to spell my name right!!

Nope.

In fairness, sometimes I'll get an older wiser cashier, and they usually get it right.

But the other ones?!

Hardly ever, even when I spell it out loud and s-l-o-w-l-y.

(Refer to the photo at the end of this post for the latest version, AFTER I spelled it for them…GRRR!)

What is the deal?!

It's actually kinda humorous at this point.

But if I'm in a particularly *weird, sensitive, grumpy mood* – (which is why I am getting the caffeine boost in the first place) – I might just feel a little hurt and offended.

C'mon, people.

It's my name – it's who I am!!


Names are funny things.

They seem to creep into our very souls and become a defining part of our personalities.

Some people love their names, some people hate their names.

Some people even change their names.  (For instance, my paternal grandmother despised her middle name and had it legally changed to R!).

When I entered elementary school, I thought my name sounded too old-fashioned.  I can't remember which grade I was in, but I asked to be called Shari.

OK, if you think Sharon gets mangled, you should see the permutations of Shari!!

Years later, after entering "adulthood," I thought Shari sounded frivolous, so I changed it back to Sharon.

Interestingly enough, though, "The Hub" knew me in elementary school, and still calls me Shari.  So do my uncle and my cousins.  The rest of my family calls me Sharon.

I now like my name a lot…(I remember once having a conversation with my mom.  Seems that they almost named me Patricia!  Not sure what they had picked out for a boy's name!)  


What's in a name?

Evidently, a lot.

I got to thinking about my name, and about how much it bugs me when it's misspelled, and I realized something.

There is Someone who never forgets who I am…

And thinking about that pointed me to four Scripture verses that have something to say about our names:


Verse One:

"But now thus says the LORD, he who created you…he who formed you…: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.'" (Isaiah 43:1, ESV)


Isn't it rather amazing, and very comforting, to know that we are specifically and individually called by God?! 

Yes, I know this verse originally referred to the nation of Israel, but don't you think that it's perfectly applicable to us today?

He created us, and formed us in the womb.  

He knows who we are, and knows everything about us.

He has called us, by name, and we belong to Him.

I love that!


Verse Two:

"'Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.'" 
(Isaiah 49:15-16, ESV)


Again, though this was originally directed at the nation of Israel, I love the idea that God purposefully remembers us, and holds us close.

And our *walls* – the things that are part of us – our personalities, our thoughts and emotions, our failures and shortcomings, our joys and triumphs, our families, our concerns, our bodies, our health, our finances, our moments, all of the life that surrounds us – is constantly held in His omniscient thoughts, and centered in His omnipresent love.

Good stuff!


Verse Three:

"'The one who is victorious will…be dressed in white.  I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.'" (Revelation 3:5, NIV)


The Bible speaks often about the Book of Life – a record of all those who have given their lives to Christ, and accepted His gift of salvation.

It is an eternal record, and it is infallible.

A person's name is either in there, or it isn't – and that is a fact with eternal consequences.

I celebrate the fact that when I confessed Jesus as my Savior and Lord of my life, my name was written in this book.  

Sealed there forever. 

(I kinda like the image of Jesus taking a pen and hand-writing it!!)

One day, the book will be opened, and the names will be read.

And on that day, I will hear my own name, and I will enter into the promise of everlasting life!

I rejoice over that, don't you?!


Verse Four:

"'And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.'" 
(Revelation 2:17, NLT)


I remember when I first read this verse, I was puzzled by it.  

It is a bit mysterious, and I doubt that I'll ever fully understand it on this side of eternity.

But the more I contemplated it, the more excited I became!

Yes, in so many ways, the Lord is the only one who knows who I truly am.  

He is the only one who intimately knows the spirit that He created in me.

He's the only one who knows what I will look like with no sin, shining in His righteousness, complete in His perfection.

And on this day, I have a feeling that this Truth will be revealed to me, in an exquisitely intimate moment between just the Savior and me.

I picture it in my mind…


Jesus looks me straight in the eye, with one of His precious scarred hands on my shoulder.  

He says:

"Sharon, I have known you since before the creation of the world.  I know every part of you, even the parts that you have not known of yourself.  I love you beyond your comprehension.  I have been waiting for this day."

Then He gently opens my hands, and lays a beautiful white stone into my palms.

I stare at my new name, and tears flood to my eyes.

I look up at Him…

"Yes, this is who you truly are.  Forever this will be your name, and forever you will be My child."

In that moment, I will know what I have never fully known or understood before….

My very being will be defined by my Creator.

I can scarcely take that in!


So, friends, what's in a name?

It's a sign of identification, a touchstone of our personality, an emblem of who we are.

But so much more than that…


It's a personal call.

It's a stamp of belonging.

It's an assurance of love.

It's a promise of life.

It's the hope of one day becoming our true self.


Yup.

I am Sharon – no matter how it's spelled.

And my name is remembered where it counts!




What does it mean to you that God knows your name?

Close...

I think the barista was a pirate.

"Arrr!" 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:13-17, ESV)

"'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…'" (Jeremiah 1:5, NIV)

"Know that the LORD, he is God!  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." (Psalm 100:3, ESV)

"The gatekeeper opens the gate…and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out." 
(John 10:3, NLT)

"'I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…'" (John 10:14-15, ESV)

"The LORD is good…he knows those who take refuge in him." 
(Nahum 1:7, ESV)

"'Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth – everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.'" (Isaiah 43:6-7, NIV)

"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (Revelation 21:27, NIV)

"And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it.  The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide.  I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God's throne.  And the books were opened, including the Book of Life." (Revelation 20:11-12, NLT)

"You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God himself…" (Hebrews 12:23, NLT)

"'…rejoice that your names are written in heaven.'" (Luke 10:20, NIV)



Linked with:

SMALL WONDER, MONDAY'S MUSINGS, MONDAYS AT SOUL SURVIVAL, LIFE GIVING LINKUP, GOOD MORNING MONDAYS, MONDAY OF MANY BLESSINGS, THANK GOODNESS IT'S MONDAY, THE ART OF HOMEMAKING MONDAYS, MAKING YOUR HOME SING MONDAY, MUSING MONDAYS, MODEST MONDAY, MOTIVATION MONDAY, INSPIRE ME MONDAY, MOM-TO-MOM MONDAYS, MOMENTS OF HOPE, GLIMPSES LINKUP, TELL ME A TRUE STORY, TITUS 2 TUESDAY, RICH FAITH RISING, WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY, TESTIMONY TUESDAY, TUESDAY TALK, TEACHING WHAT IS GOOD, INTENTIONAL TUESDAY, WISE WOMAN, TELL HIS STORY, WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAY, CHRISTIAN BLOGGER COMMUNITY, WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY, COFFEE FOR YOUR HEART, COFFEE & CONVERSATION, WOMEN WITH INTENTION, SITTING AMONG FRIENDS, FROM MESSES TO MESSAGES, GRACE MOMENTS, THANKFUL THURSDAYS, LIVE FREE THURSDAY, THURSDAY FAVORITE THINGS, SHINE BLOG HOP, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY, FROM HOUSE TO HOME, GRACE AT HOME, THOUGHTFUL THURSDAYS, LITTLE THINGS THURSDAY, COZY READING SPOT, NO RULES WEEKEND BLOG PARTY, 100 HAPPY DAYS, FUNTASTIC FRIDAY, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY, EVERYDAY TESTIMONY, FAITH FILLED FRIDAY, SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS, FAITH 'N FRIENDS, MAKE MY SATURDAY SWEET, GRACE & TRUTH, DANCE WITH JESUS, TGI SATURDAYS, FRIDAY FEATURE PARTY, WORD OF GOD SPEAK, SMALL VICTORIES SUNDAY, GIVE ME GRACE



BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

I'M BESIDE MYSELF

Yup.

Beside myself.

Know what I mean?

I looked up this phrase to better define it.  Here's what I found:

"Why do we describe a distraught person as being 'beside himself'?  Because the ancients believed that soul and body could part and that under great emotional stress the soul would actually leave the body.  When this happened a person was 'beside himself.'  (In an extreme state of some emotion)."


Have you ever felt like that?

Like you're two people living in one body?  Like your mind and your heart are warring against each other?  Like how you're feeling just isn't meshing with what you believe?

This sums up what I've been feeling for the last few weeks.

Gripped in a state of anxiety that is battling for my thoughts.  And yet, holding on to what I know is true, and in what I believe.

Fearful thoughts and trusting heart.

Can they exist in the same person?

Evidently so, for this is the conflict that I've been experiencing lately.

I find this co-existence exhausting.

You see, I'm an interesting mix of feelings and thoughts.  I have a big heart, I'm very sensitive, and I care about things deeply.  I'm a feeling person.

But, I'm also a thinker.  Thoughtful in my approach to life – analytical, pondering, ruminating – always searching for answers.

So, I have an interesting way that I'm doing life.

Something will happen.  It causes deep feelings.  Sometimes confused by these emotions, or feeling out of control of them, I try to figure them out. You see, to me it seems that if I can understand what I'm feeling, then I can manage and deal with it.

But sometimes life isn't that straightforward.


This year has brought so many things.  And my feelings are out of control.  At least it seems that way, for I cannot always understand why I'm feeling what I feel.  And that just increases my sense of anxiety.

On the other hand, my faith is deepening.  Gradually being strengthened by an unshakable belief in a God who is there.  A God who is in control.  A God who loves me without reservations – unconditionally – with His whole heart.

A God whom I love the very same way.


So, I feel like a split personality.

Two people in one.

The emotional person and the thinker.  The fearful person and the believer.  

The *wearied-by-being-me* person.

I'm hoping someone can relate.  I hope someone understands.  I hope there's some *two-in-ones* out there in Blog Land like me.

I do know there was someone in the Bible like me.

His name was Paul.

Paul struggled with the two natures that lived within himself.  The sinful nature, and the Spirit-filled nature.

He knew what it was like to feel torn apart by warring thoughts and feelings.

"The trouble is with me...I don't really understand myself..." 

(Romans 7:14, 15, NLT)



Two people…

Helpless and hopeful.  Scared and secure.  Confused and confident.

And, in the end, it boils down to this dilemma…

Sinner and saint.


Yeah, beside myself.

And yet, beside my Savior, too.

Digging in close to Him, though I cannot figure out my life or myself.  I still want to understand, and I'm still trying to understand, but failing in both.

So, this is what I'm praying for:

That He will bring to my tired mind and helpless emotions the restful repose found in the hope that only He can offer.

That He will free me from my fears and fruitless worrying by reminding and reassuring me of the security I possess because of His salvation.

That He will replace my internal confusion and desperate need to understand myself with the confidence that He knows my heart, knows my name, and knows what He is doing.

And through it all, I truly want Him to become greater.

Paul understood that, too, and said it this way:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." 

(Galatians 2:20, NIV)



You know, I think I'll always be a bit confused by all the paradoxes that exist within me.

I think I'll always be a unique (and often frustrating) mix of feeling and thinking.

And I know that the battle between my flesh and my Spirit-filled nature will rage on until I am made complete in eternity.

You too??

Take heart – we are not alone in the battle.

We are promised a High Priest who understands – our dear Jesus.

For He was also a *two-in-one*…

God and man.  Divine and human.  Infinite and finite.  Humble and glorious.

The death that saved us, and the Life that lives on within us.

In Him all things come together and are made complete.

And someday, all the warring and confusing and paradoxical things that exist in us will be united and perfected.  

For in the twinkling of an eye, we will become all that He has intended for us since before the creation of the world.

One day, we will be like Him, for He is coming back.

Maybe today!!

Sometimes calm, sometimes mad,
Sometimes happy, sometimes sad -
Sometimes the person I want to be,
Sometimes chagrined at being me.

But I am saved, and one day I'll see,
All that God has in store for me -
And I will become like His loving Son,
And the battle will finally be over and done!

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding…Be not wise in your own eyes…" (Proverbs 3:5, 7, ESV)

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10, NIV)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4:15, ESV)

"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less." (John 3:30, NLT)

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2, ESV)

"And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory." (Colossians 3:4, NLT)



What is something paradoxical that exists in you?  



Linked with:

SHARING HIS BEAUTY, PLAYDATES WITH GOD, UNFORCED RHYTHMS, MONDAY'S MUSINGS, MONDAYS AT SOUL SURVIVAL, TELL ME A TRUE STORY, SALT & LIGHT, TITUS 2 TUESDAYS, SOLI DEO GLORIA, UNITE, TESTIMONY TUESDAY, INSPIRE ME MONDAY, WHIMSICAL WEDNESDAYS, CAPTURE YOUR JOURNEY, WOMEN HELPING WOMEN, A LITTLE R & R WEDNESDAYS, WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAYS, THREE WORD WEDNESDAY, TELL HIS STORY, WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY, COFFEE FOR YOUR HEART, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY, THRIVING THURSDAY, EVERYDAY JESUS, FAITH BARISTA, HEARTS FOR HOME, GRACE AT HOME, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAYS, FAITH FILLED FRIDAY, ESSENTIAL FRIDAYS, SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS, COUNTING MY BLESSINGS, MAKE MY SATURDAY SWEET, STILL SATURDAY, SATURDAY SOIREE, WEEKEND BREW, RECOMMENDATION SATURDAY, GIVE ME GRACE, SUNDAY STILLNESS



BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

I AIN'T GOT NO BODY

There once was an old song called, "I Ain't Got Nobody."

However, whenever I hear that title, all I can think of is a scene from the movie "Young Frankenstein."  Igor, (actor Marty Feldman), sings the first few bars of the song in a scene where only his character's head appears in a line of skulls, thus making it appear as if he had no body.

A dumb pun, but it still makes me chuckle.  Puns do that to me.  I have a very punny sense of humor…(sorry).

All kidding aside, though, I have been thinking and pondering on some deeper thoughts as of late.

My mom, "The Hub," and I recently visited my dad's gravesite.  The cemetery finally finished and placed his headstone.  I have to say, it's really beautiful.  Simple and elegant, with a lovely teal-blue background to honor his love of the sea.

And yet, it's also a bit creepy.  I am still having trouble comprehending that he is gone.  Death, on this side of eternity, is so FINAL.

And it is very difficult to grasp the truth that the *real person* is with Jesus, even as their body lies buried six feet under the ground.

I was having a conversation with Mom the other night about Dad.  I told her how wonderful I thought it was that Dad was happy now.  How he doesn't have to feel pain anymore.  That his mind is intact again.  How one day he will have a brand-new body that will never, ever get sick or hurt or tired or die.

She smiled.

I did, too.

For this is a truth, a hopeful and joyful Truth, for all of us.

And then I said this, "You know, Mom, I think it's incredibly gracious that God gives us a body again someday.  I think He understands how we might want one."

It got me pondering.

Did God understand that it might feel creepy and unsettling to think of spending eternity as a disembodied spirit?  Maybe…

Yes, I do think it's incredibly kind of the Lord to grant us these future resurrected bodies.  For I believe He just might understand how attached we get to our physical *tents.*

How our spirits are used to hands and feet and faces.

And in His wisdom and love, He will once again give us a body – new and incorruptible – for us to live in for eternity.

However, is comfort the only reason He will do this?

I think not.

For, in His perfect work of creation, we were not created as spirits only. We were created as spirit and soul encased in a body.  God fashioned us out of the dust.  He molded us with hands and feet and faces.

He "knit us together in our mother's womb" – intentionally giving us a corporeal home in which to live.

And then, of course, He also chose to enter the same *housing development*!!

God Himself, Jesus, incarnated the actual material of atoms, entered into the physical realm of organs and muscles and veins.  He chose to be confined, and yet also defined, by the parameters of a body.

Jesus had hands and feet and a face.


So, God has a purpose and a plan for bodies.  Now, and in eternity.

What might that be?

Well, we can only speculate on that – but I think it's pretty awesome and exciting speculation!!

Perhaps we'll use our new bodies to explore the vast reaches of God's perfectly re-made heavens and earth.

Maybe we'll use our new bodies to give glory to God.  Maybe we'll sing and dance and play music and write and jump and paint and climb and run…

Maybe the angels will think we're crazy!!  ☺

But here's what I think is the best…

I don't know about you, but the mere thought of being able to SEE Jesus face-to-face (literally!!) and HUG Him – well, it gives me goosebumps.

Maybe I'll have heavenly goosebumps on resurrected skin at that moment?!  And real tears of joy?!  And a smile on a new face?!

And oh, only real and physical hands will be able to touch those blessed and beloved scars.

Sigh.


Yes, we will have bodies.

What will they look like?  What age will they be?  Will we eat or sleep?

I used to spend many hours wondering about these things.  Sometimes feeling stymied that I couldn't come up with answers, or frustrated because God didn't reveal the answers.

But now, though I'm still curious, my feeling is more excited anticipation.

I don't know what our resurrected bodies will be like, but I know that I know that I know that we'll have them.

For we have been promised, and God never reneges on a deal!!

Thank you, Lord.

Hands connect hearts,
And we will live forever...
Eternally held
in the hands of our God,
Forever connected
to His heart.

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16, ESV)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship." (Romans 12:1, NIV)

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands." 
(2 Corinthians 5:1, NLT)

"'In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.'" (John 14:2, NASB)

"We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.  While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us.  Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit." (2 Corinthians 5:2-5, NLT)

"Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life." (1 Corinthians 15:22, NLT)


"But someone may ask, 'How will the dead be raised?  What kind of bodies will they have?'  What a foolish question!  When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn't grow into a plant unless it dies first.  And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting.  Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have...
There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth.  The glory of the heavenly bodies is different from the glory of the earthly bodies...
It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead.  Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever.  Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory.  They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.  They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies.  For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies...
Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.  What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever...
For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.  And we who are living will also be transformed.  For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,[j] this Scripture will be fulfilled:

'Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?'"

(From 1 Corinthians 15, NLT)


"Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.  We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." (1 John 3:2, NASB)

"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." 
(1 Corinthians 13:12, NIV)

"...those who die in the LORD will live; their bodies will rise again!  Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy!" (Isaiah 26:19, NLT)

"No longer will there be a curse upon anything.  For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.  And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads." 
(Revelation 22:3-4, NLT)


"He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, 

'Yes, I am coming soon!'

Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20, NLT)



Why does it matter to you that we will have resurrected bodies?



Linked today with:

INSPIRE ME MONDAY, SHARING HIS BEAUTY, UNFORCED RHYTHMS, MONDAY'S MUSINGS, MONDAYS AT SOUL SURVIVAL, TELL ME A TRUE STORY, SOLI DEO GLORIA, TITUS 2 TUESDAYS, TESTIMONY TUESDAY, WHIMSICAL WEDNESDAYS, WINSOME WEDNESDAY, A LITTLE R & R WEDNESDAYS, WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAYS, WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY, THREE WORD WEDNESDAY, COFFEE FOR YOUR HEART, TELL HIS STORY, CAPTURE YOUR JOURNEY, WOMEN HELPING WOMEN, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY, THRIVING THURSDAY, EVERYDAY JESUS, GRACE AT HOME, HEARTS FOR HOME, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY, LIGHT FRIDAY HIT LIST, FAITH BARISTA, FELLOWSHIP FRIDAYS, ESSENTIAL FRIDAYS, FAITH FILLED FRIDAY, SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS, COUNTING MY BLESSINGS, MAKE MY SATURDAY SWEET, THE FRIDAY FIVE, STILL SATURDAY, SATURDAY SOIREE, WEEKEND BREW, RECOMMENDATION SATURDAY, GIVE ME GRACE, SUNDAY STILLNESS



BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

I AM A FANATIC

Yes, I am.

A hockey fan-addict.

And my team is the Los Angeles Kings.

Who just won the Stanley Cup, thank you very much.


Wanna hear a story?  (Say yes…you're gonna hear it anyway).

My oldest son got into hockey about 20 years ago.  He's always been a huge sports fan.  Me too.  Of course, like every child born in California, he started out playing soccer.  I think it's a *right of passage* here.  Like you can't grow up unless you've kicked the old white-and-black around for a few seasons.

We never really liked the game too much.  (My sincere apologies to all you World Cup fans…).  So, around 1st grade, my son started playing basketball.  We loved watching the LA Lakers.  Exciting, thrilling…FUN!

However, at some point, my son realized that he was never going to be tall enough to play competitively for long.  (Sorry, my genes stopped at 5' 4"...)

So, hockey came to reign.

He started by playing roller hockey.  We all loved the sport.  It was rough, fast, and explosive.  And, though we lived closer to the fan base of the Anaheim Ducks, we became furious fans of the LA Kings.

Fast-forward about 20 years…

Two seasons ago, I decided to buy my son season tickets for his 30th birthday.  Two seats.  I was lucky enough to be his game buddy most of the time, until he got married!!  ☺

In case you're not a hockey fan, this season was an incredible ride.  The Kings finished the regular season with the record for the least goals scored against them.   And then they started the playoffs by losing three games in a row: 6-3, 7-2, and an OT killer 4-3.  On the brink of elimination, they won four in a row to move on.

The rest is history.  Incredible, exciting, heart-stopping history.


I had the privilege of going with my son to the 2nd game in the finals.

The game in which we were behind by 2 goals, three separate times.  The game in which we finally won in a 2nd (!!) overtime.  The longest (at the time) game in LA Kings history.

And you know, the whole experience just made me think.

I remember sitting in the arena – silent, anxious, hopeless, despairing – the game was lost, I kept thinking.  My son and I didn't speak for over an hour – we were so nervous.  I know it's just a game, but still…

And then, that magic moment came about halfway through the second overtime.  A lightning-quick goal, an eruption in the crowd – against all odds, we had WON!!!

There is something quite thrilling when over 18,000 people simultaneously jump to their feet in ecstatic cheering.  There is something quite thrilling to be one of them!

I laughed, I cried, I hugged my son.  I high-fived tons of surrounding strangers.  United in near defeat, we were now united in sweet victory.


Now, I am always thinking in spiritual terms, you know.

So, this whole experience made me ponder another moment of seeming defeat – The Cross.

I can only imagine the deep despair of Christ's followers, the ones who had had such high hopes.  The ones who watched victory slip out of their hands. Did they whisper amongst themselves, "Wasn't it less than a week ago that He was being praised as our king?  What happened??"

I can imagine their faces – silent, anxious, hopeless, despairing – as they watched, helplessly watched, their Jesus die.

There was no cheering, no cheer, among the many followers of Jesus that day.

There might have been some cheering and high-fives among the followers of the enemy, however.  I'm sure they were quite pleased to have defeated their opponent, and in such a demolishing and demoralizing way.

End of story, right?

Nope.

There's a sort of motto in sports – "It's never over until it's over."  I learned that lesson well in this playoff season with the Kings.

And, a whole bunch of people also learned it when they saw the return of The King!

You see, when I was screaming like crazy at the Kings' win, I was also picturing the throngs of people, and angels, erupting in celebration when Jesus walked out of that tomb!!

Victory!  Sudden and explosive victory!  

Hugs and high-fives in Heaven!

Tears of joy on earth!

Against overwhelming odds, the lowly Man of Sorrows had overcome.  He took the sting out of sin, and destroyed death.


Because of that day, there is another moment coming…

A moment when the *final* victory is won.  When our enemy will be once-and-for-all defeated.  When God will reign forever, and we will all be champions.

Can you imagine being part of the crowd that day?!

On that night in a sports arena in downtown Los Angeles, I did imagine that moment.

And understood that this awesome sports moment had given me a foretaste of something bigger and better that awaits.

A time of momentous victory.

A time when against all odds, against the seeming winning tide of sin in this world, against everything evil, against pain and suffering, against despair and hopelessness, there is coming a BIG OL' WIN!

You know, I think God gave me another insight into the deeper meaning of joy. 

Joy can be found in knowing that there is coming a day when I will be sitting in a throng of multitudes, waiting for God to complete His purposes. Waiting for the culmination of history.  Waiting for God to display His glory and win the victory for His children.

And then, I plan to erupt from my seat, hug and high-five strangers (who are no longer strangers, but dearly beloved saints!) – and cheer along with a throng of people who will now be united in sweet victory…forever!

Salvation has made us all season ticket-holders!!

And I am a Jesus fan-addict!

We are ALL champions in Him! 

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57, ESV)

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37, ESV)

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession..." (2 Corinthians 2:15, ESV)

"For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory." (Deuteronomy 20:4, ESV)

"'I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.'" 
(John 16:33, ESV)

"He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him." (Colossians 2:15, ESV)

"The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (Revelation 21:7, ESV)

"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2, ESV)

"Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance..." (Hebrews 9:15, ESV)

"'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.'" (Revelation 22:13, NLT)



In what area of your life do you desperately need a victory?



Linked today with:

SHARING HIS BEAUTY, UNFORCED RHYTHMS, INSPIRE ME MONDAY, SOLI DEO GLORIA, TELL ME A TRUE STORY, TITUS 2 TUESDAYS, UNITE, TESTIMONY TUESDAY, INSPIRE ME MONDAY, A LITTLE R & R WEDNESDAYS, TELL HIS STORY, WINSOME WEDNESDAY, WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAY, WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY, THREE WORD WEDNESDAY, COFFEE FOR YOUR HEART, FAITH BARISTA, THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY, THRIVING THURSDAY, ESSENTIAL FRIDAYS, FAITH FILLED FRIDAY, WHATEVER IS LOVELY, FRIENDSHIP FRIDAY, FELLOWSHIP FRIDAY, THE FRIDAY FIVE, SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS, COUNTING MY BLESSINGS, MAKE MY SATURDAY SWEET, STILL SATURDAY, RECOMMENDATION SATURDAY, WEEKEND BREW, GIVE ME GRACE, SUNDAY STILLNESS


BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"