Work amounting to nothing...Isaiah 41:24

Behold, you are of no account and your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. Isaiah 41:24

I was just turned down for a job. The interview went extremely well, I thought. My hopes were raised, though I was scared as everything about actually getting it. It is in my field of study, somewhat. It matched my skill set, somewhat. It got me thinking and dreaming, developing thoughts and activities, studies and programs, to make the performance of the job wonderful. And it is now a memory and those plans just aren't going to happen. Ever, probably. So now what? I keep doing what I am doing. That is good in some ways and not so good in others.

This verse does not summarize my life right now, though Satan would love to use it against me. I am following the Lord, doing what He calls me to do where He is calling me to do it. I have free time to give. I have a flexibility in my schedule that not many others have. But this is where the rubber meets the road.

God is speaking here to those who work, who build, who create against His will. They were crafting idols and seeking guidance from them. You are the idol-makers, and He is the idol. They did a bang-up job (play on words for the hammering of the metal they were smelting in the early part of the chapter) making these things. They crafted and worked hard to make these things. But it was all for nothing. Or worse than nothing. It turned God's back on them. He pleads with them to turn, and knowing they wouldn't, He was going to send an army, a leader from another country, to send them into repentance mode. It seemed that that is what it always took...a real beating from God, to turn their heads back in the right direction. Even later on in verse 29, God repeats Himself. You did all this work for nothing. They were as empty as wind, emptiness, and confusion, depending on your translation.

There are few people on earth who don't want their work to account for something. Anything. People will stand on assembly lines day after day to get a paycheck, but at least they know that the part they play is a necessary one. That screw needs tightened, or the car won't hold together. The burrs need polished off, the paint applied, the tubing connected. It is all for a purpose - to make something that will make someone else happy, get them somewhere, or make their life easier. People paint pictures to arouse emotions. We make hats and blankets and clothes to provide for a need. Those who go crazy or lose hope are like those in the concentration camps who were forced to move wheelbarrows of dirt back and forth across the grounds. There was no purpose in it. It was forced "work" and torturously mean. This work may have kept the body strong, or forced it into weakness from malnutrition, but if the people doing it didn't assign it some purpose in their minds, it drove them to anger, resentment, and hopelessness. God said that if we make our own gods, our own task-list, we will be empty, our works will be futile, and we will have wasted our lives and angered Him.

So right now I sit and wonder what to do next. This must be that empty-nest syndrome they talk about. No one here to care for (hubby, yes, and I do), but the daily work that had meaning in the days of a full house now seem empty and mundane. And I HAVE TO remind myself that God has numbered my days and given them purpose beyond the doing of life. If I am where He wants me, doing and being what He wants, then my works are not empty. But I have to look at them as God's assignments. My last is in year 3 of college, and many of the assignments she has may not seem to serve the purpose of achieving the goal she has set for her life, but they are still a part of the process of getting there. How sitting here with sewing machines, fabric, and being still and alone will get me closer to being like Christ I have yet to see. I have the time to do Bible studies, pray, listen to sermons and hymns and be still with God. I have to keep my longings here and learn to focus on Him and have that not only be enough, but to be everything. Love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness. I need to be filled. You cannot drive the car and fill it with gas at the same time. Not that my goal is to stay at the pump and do nothing. It's not to sit in the driveway full. But like my car, it gets sent out when there is something to be accomplished. God is the driver, not me. He will drive me when He wants, as often as He wants, and as far as He wants. I need to just be at His service. So for now I sit in anticipation of His use of me, steering me in the direction He wants me to go. The car does not make that choice. And I have to be ok with that. I am learning to be ok with not being the doer, but the vehicle. I always have been, but it takes us so long to relinquish control for us humans.

Do you feel like me today? Do you want your works to be more than wind and emptiness? Let all things be done by Him through you. Don't make something else your god, forging it in the fires of hard work, only to find out we were serving the work instead of the great Creator. God just calls us in these verses to look to Him and not fear, to be His and not give ourselves to another. "I am thine, O Lord, and I heard thy voice..." says the old hymn. And I am still listening.

Answers in white linen Daniel 10

I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:5

Daniel...my youngest daughter was named after him...Courtney Danielle...and it means God is my Judge. We think of him being bold and courageous. We see him given power after meeting the test of his faith and after being jealously lied about. He was like Joseph...second in command and highly favored. But the sight of a man in linen brought him to his knees.

Actually, he had been on his knees already at this point. He was a man of troubled soul. God revealed to him many things about the future of his countrymen. He was told of the future troubles that would overtake the Jews in particular, and the whole world eventually. These were going to be troubling times, and Daniel was overwhelmed at the thought. He was a man of prayer. He asked God questions, pleaded for his people's faith, and mourned over the sins of his people. He had been mourning and praying, fasting and weak, sick of soul. The thought of the sufferings to come had overwhelmed him. Now granted, this was God talking to him about the future, which means it's all good, right? Obviously not. And we take that outlook ourselves. Our church is starting the series “Follow Me” by David Platt. And the question set before us is do we trust God enough to follow...to accept where He is taking us...knowing that the end is the cross and sufferings, but ultimately, a joy irrepressible. The idea of having to go through the bad to get to the good is hard to swallow. And Daniel was having a hard time dealing with all of this.

And God met him at the point of his need. The fight was on in the heavenlies, and the messenger was delayed in coming. Daniel suffered alone. He fought on his knees. And the answer came in bright white clothes and a loud roaring sound. This dazzling figure was more than he could take. Now not only was he overwhelmed with grief, he was overwhelmed with fear. Poor guy. But a gentle touch, words of encouragement and comfort, and a hand up greeted him. God heard his pleas to understand, to accept the thoughts of God, and He responded.

There have been many nights where I have been burdened greatly for my family, my church, my community, and my country. I would toss and turn, seeing prophecies fulfilled and yet questioning where all this would lead. It is a great comfort and a great humbling process to see God answer my prayers for understanding of these things. It doesn't all come in a blazing light. Sometimes it comes in a rainbow, a caught baseball, and change in tone in someone's voice, or an unexpected video clip. It can come out of the mouth of the most vile actors or the most saintly servants. But God reminds us that He is there, that He sees our concerns, and that He has the answers all planned out. We just have to remember who is God in this process and that we do not need to see and understand it all. Why we think we can understand the mind of God is a mystery and a folly, really. Even when He answers, it tends to put more questions in our mind. This happens to me just as it happened to Daniel...”OK, God, now that You have shown me this much, what about that?” And He just says, “Trust Me. That's all you get to know for now.” And still the human heart churns to know all the ways of God. We still remain troubled to an extent, but there is still the gentle touch and comforting words to help us carry on, to trust to the extent that a human can trust. I love Daniel. I can relate to Daniel. His past experience with God drew him close to God, and his heart for his people longed for them to have that same relationship. His walk with God was personal and trusting, but he was still human in his longings for God's mind and heart and ways.

And sometimes those longings present themselves in people that fascinate us who shed light on God's will and ways. David Platt is taking me there right now. He is not dressed in shiny white robes. In fact, he is dressed downright casually, sitting with a Bible and an I-Pad and preaching the Words of God which both comfort and disturb the human mind. But God is answering some of the questions that I have been asking through him. And it is always a blessing when God speaks to the point of our need. Let Him speak to you. Open the Book, listen to wise preaching, and ask God to talk to the questions you have. The answers may not come all at once, for we could not handle it if it did. But He will renew your mind, give the grace to accept all of God's ways as Good, and draw us closer than we have ever been to His loving side.

Habitually Dressed in Purple Luke 16

Now, there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. Luke 16:19

This is not going to be a rant against the rich. I can't tell you how many people do rant against the rich, but it is just about everyone. Not because they are upset that that person is rich, but more because they envy the rich. They wish THEY were rich, and because they are not, they mumble. These same people admire tv celebrities and sports figures. It seems that if they know where the money is coming from an approve of it, it is ok if THOSE people are rich...so you catch my drift.

And Jesus was not putting down every rich person. Solomon was rich, Abraham, David, and multiple others had far more than they needed. It said that the Lord blessed them, and if the Lord chooses to bless someone, who are we to envy, slander, or look down on them?

You only have to look up a few verses on the page...Now the Pharisees, who were LOVERS OF MONEY, were listening to all these things are scoffing at Him. vs. 14. This is on the heals of, “You cannot love God and wealth.” vs 13. These are the people who flaunt their wealth, who take it at the cost of others, and want people to admire them for it. Can you say “tv preachers” and “politicians”? Now I am not talking about the David Jeremiah's of the world...they work hard, stick to the Word, and don't live for the noteriety of the job, but to actually spread the gospel. We all know the fakes when we see them...or do we? These guys wouldn't still be out there if people weren't supporting their false ministries. Discernment is a lost art. And it is not that the true ministers are sinless. But we can usually tell when someone is on an ego trip. They change. They morph into something they didn't used to be. The messages soften so as not to offend the givers. They become people's cheerleaders for people's comforts and successes instead of their purifiers and true encouragers to fight the fight of faith. They have come to love the joyous life of wealth, and forget that the fame and fortune they have come into was supposed to go toward ministries and not toward their own personal gain.

The biggest clue here was that the Pharisees could no longer discern good from evil, truth from error. Here stands Jesus, and they scoff at Him and His teachings. They look at this itinerate preacher from Nazareth who owns nothing, dresses in common clothes, and preaches against pride, and they swell with more pride. They are better than this guy. They know the law, and see how God has benefitted them! They deserve the respect of the people for their position! But Jesus tells them that He and God both see their hearts, and that all the trappings that they are wearing are a cover for the ugliness that is inside. Maybe that is why they are called trappings...they trap us into thinking we are better than we really are. They trap other people's minds into thinking they should treat these well-dressed people differently just because they are well-dressed. They even had this problem addressed in the early church. We tend to think and act differently around people of wealth and reputation. Somehow we feel like they should be treated with more respect, with more care of what they think, than the other people in town. “Don't you know who that is? You can't talk to them like that!” There is fear that we will not get from people like that. The point is, they probably aren't there to give to you, but to get from you...so why do you care? There are wonderful exemptions to this rule. There are the rich who are the givers...and give freely, not just to get their name on a building or something. It is almost hilarious the way people in the town I live in treat and talk about the people in town with money. The expectations, the attitudes, the hopes and fears that go along with a relationship with these folks is a spectacle to watch. Some of them feed these fears, and some just mind their own business and get on with their lives, being stewards as God has called them to be.

There is also being Lazarus, having nothing, and receiving nothing from him who had so much. When the rich are so busy living the good life that they fail to see the people at their own gate, that is when God calls them into judgment. God placed Lazarus before this man's eyes, and he refused to see. The Pharisees did the same thing. When Jesus healed right in front of their very noses, instead of rejoicing with the healed person, they resented Jesus taking their limelight. They couldn't heal these people, but they could have fed them or given them a place to sleep at night. They could have hired them to wash these rich robes and make a living. It is the ignoring of the mission God gave them that angered God so.

What kind of heart do you have, rich woman? Do you see the needs God has placed under your nose, or are you so busy living the good life that you forget to praise God and use His gifts for His glory? Let us have a proper attitude toward money and earthly wealth, knowing that our faith should never be in it. We must love God, use wealth to honor Him, and keep an eye out for the ministries He gave it to us to participate in. Reading this chapter will give you God's counsel on what you have, how you got it, and how to use it. He is good to tell us His mind, and to give us His mind, as well.

Worshiping the Works of Our Hands Jeremiah 1

My judgments on them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands. Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. Jeremiah 1:16b-17

Just a few days ago I was posting about our creativity being a stumbling block at times, and here is another verse to confirm that tendency in our lives. We like to worship that which we can see and feel. Why else would people make little idols and bow down before them? How can a piece of wood or stone hear our prayers, sense our needs, or act on our behalf? Yet I see these idols all around me. Symbols of the horoscopes, where people place their hopes in star patterns in the sky. Buddhas sitting there looking wise and peaceful and fat and happy, with people praying to them so that they can themselves be those things. Other ugly gods like the Aztec or Inca, where people acted violently because they had images of a violent, blood-thirsty god. If people believe their god to be good, the image may be beautiful, if angry, then fierce-looking. Their perception of god dictates their image of him/her/it. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it is true. The image of God you have in your mind helps form your opinion of that which is acceptable, truthful, and worthy. Most of the little gods I have seen in museums are not pretty, and some are so rudimentary that it is hard to believe that people could wrap their lives around them. But it happens with too much ease. There has to be a lot of guilt in the human soul to think that he/she has to give sacrifices to cooking pots or statues or poles. We look for something to take our guilt, our sin, our pain, our dysfunction and make us feel good about ourselves. And all the while, there is the true God who defines Himself as all we need through His many names: the God Who hears, the God Who sees, the God who heals, the God Almighty...etc. We can't make an image of Him because He refuses to show all of Himself to us at once. And He tells us to walk by faith and not by sight. We can see the works of His hands, and a study of those things, geez, I think we call that science, all point toward a God Who made all things work together for good. There is balance, there is rhythm, there is color, there is unity, and if any one thing was not in that order, there is no chance that any of it would hold together. And what we do to manipulate that can only work within that order. As we try to use the creation around us, be either reflect God's beauty or seek to create for ourselves something “other.” And there is discomfort in our souls when we see that. Graffiti is one method. Some of it can be decorative, but most is destructive. There are laws of physics that won't allow a house to hang in suspension no matter how hard we try. Some things appear to “break the rules,” but when it comes down to it, they have to follow the rules to stand for any period of time. Houses built on the sand will eventually fall unless their foundations run deep, therefore having to follow the rules when no one sees the pylons plunged deep into the rock below. We know certain things will not hold for the long haul. Like the Jenga game, eventually things will reach the tipping point and fall. We can choose to push the limits of God's patience and live tottering on the edge, living in fear and imbalance, or we can choose to live in God's will and build firmly and confidently, having an inner peace and security that comes with having Him as our foundation.

So we are also asked here to gird up our loins...a phrase repeated over and over throughout scripture. We are told to speak what God has commanded. There is no need to fear when truth is spoken. The only reason people get upset when truth is told is because they believe a lie. We like to think we know what we are doing, so when someone plants a doubt in our mind, we get upset. Are they crazy, or am I wrong about something? Did God really say that? Do these people think they have a corner on the truth market? God tells us to be confident in His Word and not be dismayed that others do not listen. If we don't have confidence in His Word, we will ourselves call into question everything we believe to be true. There are times when I wonder how what God says can be true, if He will indeed act on our behalf in any situation. We are commanded to speak what He says, so I have to pray, open the Bible, and see what He says and repeat it to myself...convince my own heart that God means what He says. Of course, the Holy Spirit makes that happen. Without The Spirit, God's Word is just words. If you don't understand it...the simple parts of salvation and God's will, after reading the New Testament and studying it...if it is all just words, then come to Christ and tell Him that you don't know Him yet. When He gives you His Spirit, you will know His mind. You will not be dismayed any more. Beg for wisdom, and cry out for understanding, Proverbs says. Ask God to show Himself, Jesus Christ, and yourself for who you all are, and ask Him how to fix that relationship. Then put your nose back into the Word and await the answer. He says He will come to any who truly cry out to Him. He will open His Word like a flower in bloom when you are His, slowly and gently in some cases, and more like a prison break in others! He meets you where you are. So do not dismay. And someday soon you will be able to speak to others the Word He has commanded you.

Ad"dressing" the future Daniel 12

And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be until the end of these wonders? I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right and and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. Daniel 12:6-7

We are human. And we as human, or at least I as human, ask God often what will be. I know it is an exercise in futility, for we do not know what today holds, let alone years in the future. We have the scriptures that tell us many things about the future, and Daniel even gets visions of some of these things, but we do not have every piece to the puzzle, and so we have questions. What is going to happen...He told Adam some things, Abraham some things, Daniel some, and David some. And all that really did was to put more questions in our minds. If it is any comfort, scriptures say that even angels and prophets want to look into the things of God, to see the results of this play that He has scripted. They were given the job of telling humans many things, not themselves knowing any more than what God told them to say.

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things” (I Peter 1:10-12).

So Daniel, having been told many things that troubled his mind, asked when. This was not unusual, and God is patient with us when we ask questions of which He is not volunteering the answers. Daniel had just been told about the end of the world, and how was he not supposed to wonder when such things would take place. I am sure he thought it would be imminent, within a generation. We tend to think of things happening in our lifetimes. The man did tell Daniel that he would not live to see those days, but would rise again to receive his allotted portion at the end of days. He could live out his days in peace without looking for these things to be fulfilled.
And that is how God works. He told Abraham, David, and multiple others of things that would happen far in the future, beyond their days. We are given reassurances that God holds the future and has the whole of the time of the world planned out for His people. He predicted the Exodus, the multiplications of Israel, the destruction of the temple...every last detail of the coming of Christ, the appearance of the anti-Christ. We see it all from afar. We see signs of fulfillment at times, but 99% of the time, we have hindsight instead of a whole lot of foresight. And we wonder, fret, stew, and beg for answers, only to realize that when we get the answers, we still will not understand very much of them. We want to see face to face, but we get a dim ancient mirror instead.
The man in linen gave Daniel the answer to his question, and what did Daniel do? Realized he still didn't understand, and asked another question. From when, to what will be the results. He was confused and thought that if this much had been revealed to him, surely he should understand that revelation. And he was told to get on with his life and that not everything would be told him. He was told that people would not change...good would be purged, purified, and refined, but that wicked people would remain wicked. He was given a little more information when of his first question, but reassured that he would not be around to experience it.

We are glad that Daniel asked these questions, for they tell us things that we can look at now and see the results of...the destruction of the temple after the coming of Christ, for one. But the comforting thing for us is that we know all God wants us to know. The additional information God gives us may answer our questions to a point, but those answers will not change anything that God has planned. We are told to go on our way, live our lives, and prepare to rest in death and rise to the reward of the godly ones at the end of it all. Life may be hard, but we will rest from all of its' woes. Be willing to be purified, though the process may be hard for the holy people, and await the reward from the Holy God. Ultimately it is not for us to know any more than God is in control and it is to our benefit that He is.

Swallowing the veil Isaiah 25

On this mountain He will swallow up the (face of the) covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which is stretched (woven) over all the nations. He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:7-8

I must admit that bad news has overwhelmed this first week of January. It is easy to get bummed, even in the face of knowing that God has a plan for all suffering...and that is to draw us back to Himself. And though it is the first week of resolutions and desires for new beginnings, I still love to eat and do too much of it. And here I see that God loves to eat, too. But what He eats doesn't sound all that appetizing to me.

God swallows. And in this passage He swallows 2 things...the covering or veil that is over mankind, the veil of sin that has separated us from Him since the first bites of Adam and Eve. It separated them from God before they even knew what had happened. They suddenly wanted to hide from God. Their original covering was gone, showing their nakedness. It would be evident to God that they had done something wrong, and somehow they tried to cover themselves like God had, and it didn't work. It didn't work so well that God made them coverings, killing animals for their skins to represent the life of His Son that would have to be taken later in history to truly cover the sin that they had brought into the world. Then God removed them from the perfection He had made and removed His Spirit from the earth except on special occasions. He appeared to Cain when he was contemplating what to do about his picture-perfect brother. He talked to Noah, and to Abraham, and made a few other appearances, but the veil separated Him from the majority of mankind. The Spirit now dwells in the earth in His believers, those who have been forgiven through the blood of Christ and in indwells them as Jesus promised before He died. All peoples, all nations, are separated from Him, and the world reflects that. There have been periods of revival throughout history that have brought man closer into alignment with who God is and what He requires, but there is still lack of true communion with God. And God will swallow the veil. He will chew it up into a mass that take it into Himself where no man can bring it out again. No more separation!

And He will swallow death. He will take that on as well. No more will man need to die to come to Him. It will never be found again. Chewed up, and swallowed. Not spit out so we can see the pile of slime...swallowed. It will be consumed, digested. Turned into something that will empower God to be still mightier than the power of death. The food we take in serves the purpose of making us stronger, giving us energy. Imagine the invigorating power of death being turned into life! Into glory and majesty. The power that the veil and death had over people will be changed, transformed into something God will use for good.

The verses before this tell us that God will prepare a lavish banquet of all the best stuff...the best wine, meat, and other fruits for the people on this mountain, His people. He will prepare for them all they can eat, and what they will swallow will be good...the best. He lets us swallow His prepared goodness while He swallows up everything that was wrong between Him and us. THAT, my friends, is a merciful, loving God. The banquet will even be filled with the songs of His praises, sung by the feasters. We will sing of how long we have waited for this glorious day...how we have longed for this fellowship, how the spirit within us as sought him diligently We will not be disappointed in the wait. What we have desired will come true. And the joy of it will overwhelm us. We will have that perfect peace that all human hearts long for, but few are willing to come to God for in repentance and humility. Most shake their fists at God and blame Him for the veil, blame Him for the sin and death, little seeing their own roll in contributing to it in this world.

I laugh and cry at the fools that blame “the man” for the trouble in this world, when they are mocking God and living destructively, and then when the consequences come, they don't see their role. I got a response to a Facebook post about those killed for making those vulgar cartoons about Islam. The fellow blamed me for being ignorant and not seeing how this paper promoted free speech, but he could not see how being vulgar and unloving fueled the fires of hatred in already hateful people. Considering his naked picture, I see he himself is fighting against God's authority in his life, and simultaneously laugh and cry at his ignorance of God, proper authority, and use of media. Some day that, too, will be swallowed. Death is swallowed up in victory, says Paul in Corinthians. And that victory is Jesus.

And to that I say, “Let's eat!”

His Train fills the temple Isaiah 6

In the year of King Uzziah's death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of his robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:1

Uzziah is an interesting read...a king who started well by worshiping the Holy God of Israel. He was a good king, and God prospered him. But getting God's approval can do funny things to a person. He decided he didn't just want to be king, but also priest. He decided that he was going to present the holy fire in the temple and the priests tried to stop him. But you know how powerful men are. He took the offering in, and God struck him with leprosy. He ran from the temple in shame and despair, and he became a ruler only behind the scenes. His son Jotham took over the public rule of the country. Pride does go before a fall.

When most of us look at this passage, we rush past those first 6 words and into the exciting part of his wonderful passage of scripture. But I think those words are there for our benefit. It not only sets up the time period of this happening in Isaiah's life, but the context for what was probably on Isaiah's mind.

Every time there was a new king in those days, there was the question of which type of king would take their place. Even though there was usually family succession, the kingdoms varied greatly. Some kings would follow God, tear down altars and idols, and God would bless. Others would set up idols and lead the people into great sin. I can imagine Isaiah sitting there, pondering the future of his country, much like I do today. Congress was sworn in yesterday and I wonder what kind of people we have elected and if God will be able to bless, or if we will be plunged into more sin, more walking away from the ways of God.

Well, God is great. He answers Isaiah's question with Himself. Who is on the throne? God. Not Jotham. Not any man. God. And this was not some puny throne and a robe and crown. This God was on a throne lofty and exalted...placed high up where all of heaven could see Him. He is sitting in the temple...now this is a vision, so if it is the temple of worship on earth or heaven we are not told, but you can still imagine that it has to be pretty big because the heavenly hosts are flying about, and the burning coal is taken from the altar. Was this the altar that Uzziah had tried to use, with its burning coals? Again, who knows but God. But in this space, God is clothed with a robe whose train length covered every inch of the floor of the place. He is clothed in majesty. He is taking up every space in His Holy Place. There is no room in this place for the feet of man nor angel. God's robe took all of that space. The angels flew to do His bidding, including the purifying work of purging sin. That train was just a part of God's message to Isaiah. He was ultimately the King of both worlds. He knew the beginning from the end. He was in control of the means and ends of His people. When they would worship He would rule in love. When they would not listen to His counsel, they would be punished so that they would return a purified people later.

Isaiah I can relate to. His job was to tell people God's warning, and God tells him that they will not listen. Some of us have kids who will not hear us. (Hi, kids! Love you!) Now I must confess that I was one, as well. For some dumb reason we refuse to hear our authorities that are in the Lord, thinking we are so much wiser, better, whatever. Then God grows us up and gives us the same assignment...and we see our own hard hearts. Repentance and tears, pain and heartbreak ensue. We are not alone in this. Most parents have their kids question their every move. Some bosses or supervisors never get the benefit of the doubt or the ear of those who could learn from their knowledge.

But there is the train. It is not the sceptor, the rod of iron. It is the beauty of God, the regalness. It is the splendor and majesty of a robe that cannot be equaled. If we tried to wear a robe that big, it would weigh so much that we wouldn't be able to move. It would weigh us down. We would be stuck sitting there. But God is not limited at all by his train. It is just an extension of who He is. It covers the unsacred parts of our being. There is no floor to His love, no dirt in His presence. There would be no feet or shoes there...in His presence, all is Holy Ground. There is no need to question our future, for He is in control, and nothing is in our power, as much as that unsettles us.

Like Isaiah, we should offer ourselves as His ministers here on earth, and leave the consequences to Him. Some will hear, and but most will not. And yet it is ok. We can be in His Holiness, and hope in Him, regardless. Admire the robe, and let it fill the temple of your heart.

Creating delusions Jeremiah 10

For the customs of the people are delusion;Because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers so that it will not totter...do not fear the, for they can do no harm, not can they do any good. Jeremiah 10:3-4,5b

This passage continues our thoughts of how our creativity, if not directed by the Spirit of God Himself, can lead us into sin. This is the story of the craftsmen...remember, we talked about the children of Nehemiah's time moving into the valley of the craftsmen...those who worked to make idols of worship, leading millions into the worship of pieces of wood representing false gods. We tend to think of people “back then” who were superstitious and bowed to idols. It happened in the Old Testament, in the New, where Paul was run out of town when the idol makers for Diana thought they were going to be put out of business, and today, all over the world. If you don't think people bow before idols, go to Asia. Look at India. Images of the Buddha, of Shiva, of thousands of gods we in the west have never heard of, are bowed to daily. The rat god, the snake god, the gods of war and fertility get offerings of food, money, and praise. And lest we think Christians are immune, look into some of the denominations and cathedrals. There are relics and tombs and “holy places” that draw people not only to wonder at God, but to worship those pieces. Instead of hearts being lifted in praise to a Holy God and His Son Jesus, they prostrate themselves before a statue or image and beg for God's attention. Some places do help our hearts submit to God, but others...well, I will politely put it that they are a stumbling block.

We are so easily deluded. A delusion is: A false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory evidence and is not explained by a person's usual cultural and religious concepts …

We are lead away from what we know is true and develop ideas that make us believe the lie. Satan is the master of delusion. He deluded Eve...she knew that God was good and had given everything she needed for happiness and holiness, and yet she began to doubt that. And she acted on that delusion. It was a piece of wood coated in gold and silver...the forbidden became beautifully coated in “being like God,” to look like more than it was. She forgot one important thing in Satan's coaxing. She already was like God! He had made Adam and Eve in HIS IMAGE. They were as close to God as they could get as created beings, and yet the lie became more beautiful in their minds. Why is it when we have it good that we desire something more? I have a SABLE, fabric “stash accumulated beyond life expectancy,” but I also have a wish list for Hancock's of Paducah, Jo Anns, and Crafter's Choice on my computer. I need not one more thing (ok, I need a FQ of a certain fabric to keep from having to tear out a couple of blocks on the quilt I am working on, but you get the point), but all I have doesn't keep me from wanting more. And that discontentment poisons the well. I can look at the things I have managed to achieve and make the idols or look at them as pointless endeavors. My mind can delude me into thinking that satisfaction can be found somewhere other than in His Holy Will, outside of His desires for my life. I can wrestle with these things, or I can shake the delusion out of my head. Face it, the desire for more fabric or books or machines pales in the face of the other delusions Satan sets before us. But Jeremiah reminds us that these things, if seen for what they are, cannot harm us ultimately. When we look at that idol and think,”You are wood covered in gold. You are harmless, and your only value is the gold itself.” that we can walk away unharmed. When we see the threats of the god it represents and believe that lack of submission to it will cause us harm, we fall into the trap. What if I walk away from the demands of this god? Will I starve, be cursed, or not have children? Will I wander aimlessly and come back in the next life as a bug or fish, or a rich man? We see threats, deprivation, and unfulfillment everywhere. If we are looking anywhere but at God, we wander. When we fail to see the whole of God, all of His beauty, all of His goodness, even in keeping away certain things and people from us for our good and the good of those around us, we believe the lie and are deluded.

I will confess to watching “The Bachelor” last night. The guy is from Iowa, and I wondered how Iowa would be portrayed and what kind of women they would put in front of him. One by one, gorgeous women stepped before him, most putting their best foot forward in making a first impression. Then you see the behind-the-scenes, who is really sweet and beautiful, and who is a potty-mouth, back-biting piece of work. The girls start to see each other, and the next weeks, which I do NOT plan on watching, will be full of this guy dealing with delusions. What he will see of these gals is not the whole picture. There are plenty of gold-covered pieces of wood for him to look at. But unless they show him the tape of these gals when he is not around, he will be deluded. And we delude each other until we become real with each other, confess our sins, and come clean.

On a brighter note, some day we will all be presented to Jesus, and he will separate the sheep from the goats. He won't be picking one “perfect” bride, but all of those chosen by God to become His bride. He will not be like the bachelor who didn't want more girls to come...too many choices. Jesus wishes all would come to him, but not all will. He wants the banquet hall full to the brim, but knows that many are called, but few are chosen. Not everyone will want to share in the bounty of His love. I just hope that I can look beautiful in His eyes, that I be pleasing when brought to the mansion to be His. That is when true beauty will be enjoyed forever.

Creating a clean heart Psalm 51

Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shal be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot our all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:7-10

Continuing our creativeness theme...more on a sad note, but with eternally good results.

We can use our creativeness to do evil.

Our minds like to wander from the reality of what is and turn to the possibilities of what could or should be. This is good if we are painting a flower that doesn't exist, but we wish did. The blueness of a rose (I know they are breeding them now, but maybe not in the shade you like), the shapes and sizes of things that are not. Apples are not the sizes of horses, but you find them bronzed in a park somewhere. Things can be made bigger, stronger, faster with a little imagination and the right materials. Yeah, so that apple may not be edible or nutritious, but the image exists because we want it to. This creativeness leads to cures for cancer, breeding of pest-proof crops, and other advancements in human lives. Proper procedures for digging wells for fresh water, the high-rise building, and lead-free paint were creative ventures for someone out there.

And then there are the daydreams of the destructive kind. The sort of thing that we all fall prey to. The idea of what life would have been like if we had married differently, if we hadn't told God we would follow certain guidelines for life like paying our taxes, or being willing to be honest on the job. This creative thinking leads to adultrous relationships and discontentment with what we have, fines and jail time for tax evasion, and being distrusted and fired from our jobs for petty theft or dishonest dealings. The problem was creative thinking...irrational thinking that we would be happier doing wrong and not contemplating the consequences of such actions. Satan puts temptations before us and tells us we would be happier with someone else, with more money, and with a different job or position in the business. This type of creative thinking is not godly, not good, and not glorifying to the God we claim to serve. David walked into all sorts of pain and misery for his creativeness...from taking another man's wife creatively, bringing the soldier home creatively, and killing him off creatively. And God dealt with him creatively, with a story of a man and a sheep. David condemned himself without even knowing it.

And right now there is this very pain and suffering in the lifes of about the last people I would have imagined. A marriage is under attack and the creative thought that justifies it can only be imagined by those of us on the outside. But those thoughts are not new. Every day Satan gives us creative thoughts. We have rules and he tries to convince us to break them, we have standards and he wants us to lower them, we have money and he wants us to waste it instead of invest it, and we have commitments and he wants us to walk away from them. And the things he uses to fool us look good, appear compassionate, appeal to the eye, the ear, the mind. We question the God who would withhold all good things from us. Creative thinking can cause us to walk away from God in areas we never dreamed we would.

This is where David saw what he had done, and asked God to create...to create a clean heart. His heart was so evil at that point that it could not be fixed, it had to be replaced. For God to create, He starts with nothing. He speaks it into existance. David needed a heart transplant, and he asked God to do the surgery. The spirit needed renewed, but the heart needed replaced. The vessels were so clogged that for it to be cleaned was impossible. It was corrupted beyond repair. David asked God to make him a heart so different from the one that caused him to wander. Later David was called a man after God's own heart. I have often thought of that David being the innocent one, the shepherd and psalmster. I now wonder if it wasn't the David who had God's heart made after the sinning. This was the new heart God created for him since his own had lead him astray? In any case, David knew that all his creativity was nothing, and that God's creative breath was needed in his life.

Pray for our dear friends, and for all marriages and relationships that are in peril from our creative thoughts that wander destructively from the right paths of God. Pray for all whose thinking begins to question the holiness of God's ways. The church is filling with people with their own ideas of right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness. Pray that God's Word would bring our hearts back to a proper and acceptable creativeness that exalts God and doesn't rebel against Him, for the sake of God and mankind.

Get 'er done Prov 23

For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags. Proverbs 23:21

Continuing our talk on creativeness...and what we can learn from it.

2. There is value in beauty. This verses proves that being covered in cloth is not a goal. How you cover says a lot about you. There are times when being clothed in rags is acceptable...when you are scooping out hog barns or painting. The rest of the time, being clothed in rags says you are poor, or you are lazy or irresponsible. Learning to dress well, to have a pleasing fabric, cut, or grade of fabric for what you wear or use is part of being human. We are told not to worry about what we wear, but we are also told not to look like a bum unless you are John the Baptist out in the desert. We are told to work hard, and to dress modestly, but with a bit of decorum. We are reflecting who God is in our everyday life. And clean tidy, well-fitting and designed clothes are one way to do that.
3. Creativeness helps tell the world who God is. If we all wear the same clothes, in the same color, with the same cut, I'm sorry, it wreaks of Mao Tse Tung. I think of the pictures of Communist China. Everyone looked alike. The hair to the shoes, there was no distinction between people. They were all the same. Treated the same. Pawns in the chess game. God created people differently. We should be distinquished from one another. God says He will judge us all, but that we will be judged on the gifts we were given. Not everyone has the same gifts...not everyone has the same job. Not everyone has the same interests or skills. And we should reflect that on the outside and through what we do. Everything from letterhead of a business to the color of the walls and carpets tells us something about the people we are dealing with every day. If you go and look at the paint chip department at Menards or Lowes, you will see there are those little variations between colors, even on one card, let alone the hundreds they have to pick from. We are all like that. We may be similar, but we are not the same. And that is a good thing. And God Himself is like the rainbow...He is every color, coming out through His Son shining after the rain of our sin. He shows us the beauty that is still there and that He will make something good happen, redeeming and not destroying.
4. There is function in beauty. I have become a volunteer in many causes. Quilts of Valor is one. We all make quilts for veterans. Most of them are red, white, and blue, but not all. And the variations of patterns are innumerable! Many do buy a kit for a certain pattern and make the quilt the same, but many others take their own fabrics or ideas and make them. They serve a function, and that is to honor the men and women who have served our country and paid for it with years of their lives and possibly other inner and outer scars. The function is to let them know that someone, and lots of someones out here in the cheap seats, appreciated what they gave. Their service is not forgotten. They are not forgotten. Now if we all made the same quilt, mass produced, they might feel appreciated, but knowing that these were handmade by some one individual, they feel more special. This isn't just another medal for their uniform. It is a piece of the person who gave it. That function of taking the time for someone is what quilting is all about. Anyone can buy a blanket. Quilters give their time and heart and soul with their gift.
5. There can be valleys for craftswoman. Even writers get writer's block. Quilters weary of their project the longer it takes. I finished a quilt last night for my nephew. I couldn't wait to see it finished! We are eager to start, but anxious to finish. UFOs abound. We get tired of seeing the same fabric, the same blocks, the same seams, the same quilting motifs. We sense that there is so much more out there to do and we want to do THAT instead. We get sidetracked by life and can't work on things when we would like. Even Jesus walked away from healing to take some time away. As humans, even the things we love get to us after a while. The museum may hold our interest for a time, but by the end of the tour we aren't reading the plaques as thoroughly. We feel the need to do something else, go somewhere else. We have to get out. Every once in a while something will be so great that we have to be drug away, but these things are few and far between. We need to give one another grace for the weary times, but encourage the finish. Paul says he needs to press on to the goal. We have to set goals. Deadlines are helpful. We love to create, but the results are usually slower than we would like. Imagine building the great cathedrals and never seeing them done! If that is our calling, work on, knowing that someday the finish will be spectacular in the eyes of God and man. Do what you are called to do, and find the end. The results will be useful. A half-done quilt or dress or whatever cannot serve the purpose for which it is being made. Get 'er done. Count the cost, and finish.

Valley of Craftsmen Nehemiah 11

The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazor, Ramah, Gittiam, Hadid, Aeboim, Neballat, Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. Nehemiah 11:31-35

It is a new year at the time I type this. Every year I ponder the ways of God. I wonder as I wander through this world what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It was an easier thing to think on when the kids were home. We homeschooled. I spent my days keeping them in schoolwork and school activities, cooking, cleaning, and running people to and fro. And I was a craftswoman. It seemed to be a natural part of who I was. I wanted to make things, to experiment with color and texture, techniques and shortcuts. I wanted to try new patterns and rulers and was anxious to share these new-found skills with anyone who wanted to learn.

Well, the last of the kids is in college and I still wonder if I am wasting my life sewing. Isn't that a sad thing to say? If it's “all going to burn,” then why do I do this? The quilt I made in high school is wearing out, and several others that I have downstairs are used and wearing, along with the ones made by my mother-in-law. The only ones that do not fade are those that are never used, tucked away from sun and friction of being pulled on night after night, day after day.

Then I read verses like these and am encouraged. There was a place called the valley of the craftsmen. They were artist colonies, of sorts. They were skilled in carving, weaving, sewing of curtains and tents, skilled in hewing and decorating. Even the great cities and buildings of their day were built, used, and eventually destroyed. But they were, and they served their purpose for the time that they existed. As a people made in God's image, we need beauty. There is the rugged beauty of the outdoors, and there is the gentle beauty of it. From the clefts of the Rockies and the Grand Canyon to the placid scenes of oceans and plains of grasses, the world is a beautiful place. Then there are flowers, grasses, trees with their many-shaped leaves. There are the curly shells, and the ones that look like angel wings. The colors of fruits from red and green and yellow apples to the bluest of berries and purplest of plums, there is a rainbow on the earth as well as in the sky. And man was created to appreciate all of these things. Man was created creative, like the God who made him. And if not given the gift ourselves, we can appreciate the gifts of others. I may not be able to paint a picture (and believe me, I CAN'T!), but I can stare for hours at the paintings of others, some bringing me to tears, some to laughter, and some to shear puzzlement. Creativeness touches us in our emotions. This is what makes us human. Put a canvas painting on the floor and a cat will sleep on it, a dog will pee on it, and a person will pick it up off the floor, study it, and hang it on a wall. It is who we are.

So I guess God has placed me in the valley of the craftswoman. I am surrounded by artists in the fabric world. I know personally people who design fabric and bring it to life in various quilts and other fibercraft. I work for a shopowner who selects the fabric bolts that she think would suit her clientele. I belong to a guild that teaches new techniques and encourages charity in handmade goods. Fibercraft is encouraged and used for the benefit of mankind, be it veterans, homeless children, struggling families, or various patients needing help paying their bills. Even though every single item will someday become a rag, for the time that it is needed, it is a useful, helpful, thoughtful gesture of love that will complete its task for the days it which it is needed.

God has gifted us with the desire to be like Him, and creativity is one of those ways. What does being a craftswoman teach me?

1. Some things go together, and some do not.
   There are colors and shades that simply work together, and others do not. There is blending or clashing. It is not the piece of fabric's fault if it doesn't “go with” the item next to it. It is what it is. But there is a way to make things work together: cut them smaller and put all sorts of things together...the more variety, the easier it is work with all types, styles, and colors of fabric. The thing that makes scrap quilt work is there is not coordination to the point that one piece stands out. We are all so different from one another in:interests, tastes, intelligence, creativeness, areas of expertise, and jobs. But all of that makes us work together to make the church of Christ a beautiful thing.

Shall we continue this tomorrow? What do I learn by being a creative woman so made by God?