SATURDAY STROLL - Sweet Surrender

Welcome to "SATURDAY STROLL!"

In these posts I will be interacting with Scripture – making it a conversational walk of faith.

Sometimes we'll be talking with Jesus, sometimes God will be talking with us.

There might even be *guest appearances* by some of our beloved characters from the Bible!

So put on your walking shoes – you know we can all use the exercise!

SWEET SURRENDER

(My paraphrase from Jeremiah 38:17-20)

This is what the LORD God of Heaven's Armies says to you, Sharon:

"If you surrender...you and your family will live a life of abundant adventure."

I answer:

"But I am afraid to surrender.  Who knows what the enemy will do to me!"

God answers back:

"You won't be handed over to him if you choose to obey Me.  Your life will be spared, and all will go well for you."

These verses were given to me on the last day in my old house - a place where I have lived for 28 years.  I found a tremendous parallel to my situation in the dialogue between King Zedekiah and the prophet Jeremiah.

King Zedekiah found himself threatened by the Babylonians, and he sought the advice of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah told him to surrender to the Babylonians...

I found that this message was perfect for me - on the brink of moving, I am so afraid to surrender the security and familiarity of my life here.  I am so afraid of moving to another place.  

How I echoed the king's sentiments - "But I am afraid to surrender."

Yes.

However, God is absolute in His answer to me.  

Obey and all will be well.

I take comfort and courage in this.

And thus I obey.

What is God asking you to surrender at this point in your life?

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

"FAN THE FLAME" FRIDAY - Connected

Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.

This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)

Just a word and a phrase, a sentence or a question...just a little something to "fan the flame" of your creativity!

Today's word: connected

What makes you feel connected to others?

What makes you feel connected to God?

What are the dangers of being UN-connected?

Let me know what you think!!

And...as if I wasn't facing enough changes right now, Blogger has changed their *COMMENT* format - Instead of showing 0 comments before anyone comments, they show NO COMMENTS.  I find this very deceptive -
Rest assured, I have my comments OPEN, and cherish your input!

(NOTE: If you're interested, I'll share my thoughts over the weekend!  After all, I need to fan my own flame!)

"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

COUNTING THE COST

On Monday I told you that God has been teaching me about letting go…

Today I want to share two more lessons that He's been teaching me.

Tougher lessons, perhaps.

The first is all about security.

What gives us security – at least in this world?

Money, possessions, good health, family, friends.  How we count on these things.  I know I sure have.

And yet, all of that has been well shaken up in the last several months.  In these last few days in my old home, I have been made acutely aware of how attached I am to the things that make me feel secure.

Especially familiar places, familiar faces.

It seems that the whole idea of security isn't really much of an issue, until you're forced to change.  Then the rubber meets the road…

And let me tell you, my rubber has met the road SO MANY TIMES in the last 45 days!

Abraham was asked to leave his homeland – his familiar places and familiar faces.  God issued him a challenge – but it was a challenge with a promise attached.

Abraham obeyed.

And in many ways, God's call to move up the mountain was a challenge to me.

"Sharon, are you going to obey?"

My answer has been yes – an anxious, tired yes this week – but still yes.

Because the truth of the matter is this – my security, my earthly and my eternal security – lies squarely in the character of God, and in His faithful promises.

The other lesson that He's been teaching me is that being a disciple comes at a cost.

God doesn't tend to make *suggestions* – He issues commands.

And we are wise to "count the cost" before we obey Him.

A faithful follower named Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a very important and influential book titled, "The Cost of Discipleship."  His thoughts:

"Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.


Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.


Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.


Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God."


Jesus Himself was very, very honest about the cost of discipleship.

"'Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.''  
(Matthew 16:24, NIV)


"'And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.  But don't begin until you count the cost.'"  
(Luke 14:27-28)

The original twelve disciples left family and jobs and homes when they chose to follow Jesus.  They left relative security to obey Christ's call.  I want to be a follower, too.

So, the cost is this – leaving familiar places, familiar faces.


But oh the rewards that await me!


I lift my eyes up to the mountains
Where does my help come from
My help comes from You
Maker of heaven, creator of the earth


Oh how I need You Lord
You are my only hope
You are my only friend
So I will wait for You
To come and rescue me
Come and give me life...



Are you willing to count the cost and follow Jesus – even into an uncertain future?


Linked today with Joan at the GRACE CAFE


BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"

THE INCREDIBLE, AMAZING CIRCUS CLOWN CAR (House)

I love the circus.

Except for the dreaded plate-spinning act that I talked (whined) about here.

Except for that, I love the circus.

Even the clowns.

A lot of people are unnaturally afraid of clowns.  I wonder why…

Were they terrorized by Bozo at an early age?  Do they fear oversized shoes and bulbous red noses?  Is their uncle named Chucky?

I like clowns because I enjoy watching people make fools of themselves – (on purpose, that is).  Clowns make me laugh – laughing is good.

Do you remember the circus act where a teeny, tiny car comes out – and clown after clown after clown comes pouring out?  I could never figure that out as a kid.  Later on I discovered that a mathematical impossibility can indeed become a magical illusion.

But I digress.

The circus clown car act is on my mind today – because my house has become one.

The boxes…and boxes…and boxes – the sheer volume of stuff should not (mathematically) have been able to fit into my smallish house.

And yet, the boxes keep on coming…

I'm wondering if there is a Good Fairy who (magically) keeps making more and more boxes in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping…or does cardboard harbor a recessive "rabbit" gene?

At one point I wondered if "The Hub" was doing it.  But of course, silly me, if he was involved in the whole process the boxes would disappear!

Abra cadabra.

God is teaching me some good lessons through all of this – (notice I said good, not easy…just sayin')

First of all, uprooting 28 years and moving two hours away (by yourself) is a challenge…BIG challenge.

And I have been humbled by the sight of my dear and hard-working husband laboring under an unending onslaught of stuff – which is mostly mine, to tell the truth.  You see, I've been in this house for 28 years – he's only been here for 7.

And I've been convicted.

I have way too much stuff.

Don't get me wrong – "The Hub" and I have some really cool stuff – and I think it's fine to accumulate things that make you feel at home in your home – stuff that stamps your own personality on the place you live. It's all the other stuff – the things that I probably don't need, but just can't seem to part with…

That's the part I've been thinking about.

Some people are really good about periodic *weaning* – not me.  I still have the heartbeat of a hoarder inside of me.  I get way too attached to my things – and my things get way too attached to me.

I am guilty of having emotions attached to temporal things.

Lord, I hear You speaking on this.

None of this is going with me.  None of it matters in the long run.  None of it is eternal.

Yes, I have my treasure in Heaven – but I've got a hefty little stash here on the other side, too.

Once we get all settled in (early 2013, hmmm??!) – I need to attend to this. It's time to let go of things…

And maybe it's a time for God to do some spiritual housekeeping, too.

I remember reading "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" by C. S. Lewis. At the beginning of the story, a rather distasteful young boy named Eustace steals away from the rest of the group, and comes upon the treasure of a dying dragon.

When the dragon breathes his last breath, Eustace revels in the treasure. Until he discovers the next day that he himself has turned into a dragon.

He tries and tries to peel, scratch, claw off those old scales by himself. And they come off – sorta.  But he still remains a dragon.

It is only when Aslan comes along, the great and terrifying Lion, that Eustace is saved from himself.

Because the Lion painfully (but oh so wonderfully) removes the scales, by tearing at the heart of the matter – and Eustace becomes a boy again.


"Then the lion said – but I don't know if it spoke – You will have to let me undress you.  I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now.  So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.


The very first tear he made was so deep and I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.  The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.


And there was I as smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been."


So, I'm thinking –

Maybe it's time to let go of some of the treasure.


Maybe it's time for me to shed some of my gnarly old scales.

It's going to hurt – (and trust me, I'm now beginning to feel the sadness, the anxiety, the unsettled uncertainty of the move) – but I know that somehow there is something really good awaiting me on the other side.

God is going to make me something new.

He is going to make me smaller than I have been – and in the process He will show me how big He is.

Is He big enough?


Oh, I think so…yes, indeed, I think so!


(Please come back on Wednesday, for some more lessons God is teaching me in this final week of moving...)


Is God big enough for you?


Linked with Joan at SHARING HIS BEAUTY


BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"