The Invite: 28 Chapters/ 28 Days

It's all pretty simple to me: Just like many of you, I love The Church and I love my church.

In 2011, I want to see God do in and through my New Testament church what only He can do. How about you?

I don't want to wait until January to begin targeted, focused prayer, as many New Testament churches do for 21 days to usher in the new year. 

I am going to pray through the Book of Acts, one chapter a day, from Dec. 1 - Dec. 28. This is not a churchwide prayer event, it is something the Lord has impressed me to do personally. Just one chapter per day. Easy enough. I'm doin' it. And I'm going to blog on the applicable prayer points lifted from each chapter every day. 

Regardless in which New Testament church you worship, if these events and principles were good for that New Testament Church then, it's good for my/your/our New Testament church now. So why not put that to prayer?

Curious? Join me.
First day/ first post, Wednesday morning, 12/1.

the shadow on the stairway: a prayer for jamie



"And the shadow on the stairway turned backwards ten steps."



Jamie was sleeping in her hospital bed this afternoon when I arrived. It’s the first time I’ve gone to visit her during her many months off and on in the hospital. She is a 26-year old warrior, a hero of the faith in the eyes of our church family. Jamie is someone I have met and talked to only on a couple of occasions, but when you’ve been one of many praying for someone for months on end, you know them.

Bone marrow transplants, graft vs. host disease, chemo ...all have ravaged this young woman’s body, but not her spirit. And not her unflinching faith and trust in Jesus.

My family knows leukemia far too well. My brother underwent a bone marrow transplant, and one of our sisters was the donor. Thanks to God’s grace and mercy, He was healed. Not many years later my mother was diagnosed with leukemia. Thanks to God’s grace and mercy, He took her.

From the eyes of faith, I know what it’s like to pray for healing for two different loved ones with two different outcomes. Even so, when it comes to praying for healing, I will always choose to err on the side of faith, because the LORD alone has the final word. Not the doctors, not those who lack faith or fear the worst, not even Jamie.

I learned from her mom that today brought potential good news, but many days the medical diagnosis seems grim. So, aside from persevering in faith, how will I continue to pray for Jamie?

I have been studying the prayers in scripture of praying kings, prophets and New Testament church leaders which is an insightful read found in The Complete Works of E.M. Bounds on Prayer.  We learn about King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18-20. When King Hezekiah and Jerusalem were under threat of attack by an Assyrian army numbering 185,000, Hezekiah took the messenger’s report, went to the House of God, and spread the report before the Lord. He pleaded with God to avert the attack, so that all would know He alone was God. The victory was secured in a way that only God could do but not before forceful petition by the Praying King in the House of God.

Hezekiah gets very sick. It is decreed by God through the prophet Isaiah that his illness will result in death.  While we know that Jamie does not believe her leukemia is ‘sickness unto death’, grim medical reports can most certainly decree it.

So how did Hezekiah respond to this dismal decree?  The Praying King goes to the wall and prays:  

"Remember now, O LORD, I beseech you, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight."

While he was still praying, Isaiah returns with a word from the LORD:

“I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you.”

As proof that God can reverse the laws of nature, medical reports, and His own decree, He causes the shadow from the setting sun on the staircase in the kings’ palace to go back up 10 steps. This staircase was a feat of engineering that served as a sundial in the days of King Ahaz. Causing the shadow to reverse ten steps backwards (or ten degrees in reverse) defied the laws of nature and time. It was something that only God could do. God Himself stated that the prayers of this righteous man moved the hand of God.

 A prayer for Jamie:

“Remember now, O LORD, we beseech you, how Jamie has walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and has done what is good in Your sight. Hear her prayers, see her tears, and heal her. Reverse the shadow of the setting sun on the staircase!  Reverse this disease, reverse the effects of the treatment, and do what only You can do, so all will know that You alone are God." In the Name of Jesus.

thanksgiving: our parents' legacy

 


wekiva springs  --sb 3.10

  
We often consider thanksgiving as a single act instead of a lifestyle.

But I have learned from watching my parents over the years that thanksgiving as a lifestyle comes in the form of appreciation. And appreciation as a developed lifestyle is the manifestation of a grateful heart. For us, it was taught and modeled.

Dad: " 'Preciate it, Sug’ " or " 'Preciate it, Son" . . . “Thoughty, thoughty”   Mom: “ ‘Preciate it, honey…that was reeeal thoughtful.”

My brother and sisters and I have heard my Mom and Dad make these statements endless times our entire lives. Both my parents have never failed to say thanks for anything done for them by us, even the seemingly insignificant things.

And they always demonstrated it, too, which is the real art form of appreciation. They would do this with a return gesture, a follow up phone call, and sometimes a greenback slipped to you by Dad with his signature statement, “that’s between you, me and the lamppost.”


Often Mom would show appreciation with a thank you note that she always wrote rough drafts for first. That’s how important you and your act of kindness was to her. Thanksgiving was a formal process for her. Sometimes Mom would show her appreciation with a gift that was always personally meaningful. Never wanting to bring attention to herself, she would cover it up by saying….“Wellllll, I was at Belk Lindsey and happened to see…” “…and by the way, it was on sale, I had a coupon, and I found a tiny, pinhead size mark where no one will ever see it and gave me an extra 60% off  ;) ... Love you forever, Mama... miss you.

I am so thankful that expressing appreciation in various forms comes naturally to me because of my parents’ example. What amazes me is how some people are overwhelmed and sometimes uncomfortable being on the receiving end of it. I don't get that. I suspect it’s because they didn’t grow up with it like we did. I wonder.

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for many things, but especially for my parents for modeling and teaching us to express and show appreciation to others.
It is not just a gift my parents have given us. It is a legacy.

"Thanks, Mom and Dad. 'Preciate it." I thank God for you.

　
　
　
　
　
　
　

boundary stones

Proverbs 23:10  "Do not move the ancient boundary stones."
(Mishlei / Proverbs  22:28 / Hebrew Bible)

I've been thinking a lot about boundaries lately. My own, which I rearrange at will some times, and the boundaries in my relationship with others. Boundaries have an intended design to protect us. We can set them up, we can push them back, we can conveniently/situationally decide to move them. We allow ourselves and others to cross them and sometimes freely, and selfishly, attempt to cross over and push back the boundaries others have established for themselves.  So how do we remedy that? 

Years and years ago, my twin sister and I gave each other one half of a Mitzpah Covenant charm which reads:

"May the Lord be betwen you and me, while we are apart, one from another."

When we bought the Mitzpah charm for each other for our birthday, we were like many Christians who sometimes isolate a verse outside of the context of the meaning. The Mitzpah Covenant sounds like a beautiful covenant of love and  special bond--one that friends, sibilings or spouses can have.

Wrong. That is not the context of this particular covenant. Go to Genesis 31 and you will find the Mitpah Covenant was made between Laban and Jacob at Mitzpah where they built and set up a boundary stone on the land.  The covenant had one purpose: to establish a boundary line which two opposing sides--by covenant--have vowed not to violate, with the reminder that God is keeping close watch on those who have made the covenant.

 ⁵² "This pillar is a witness, that I will not go past it to your side to harm you and that you will not go past it to my side to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father,  judge between us.”

I know painfully well the cost to me and to others of pushing back, crossing, and violating boundary lines established by the ancient boundary stones mentioned in the Book of Wisdom, Proverbs 23:10.  Recently I put back on my half of the Mitpah Covenant charm, but for a new reason. It serves as a visible reminder to me of my responsibility to assess the current boundaries in my life. Boundaries regarding my choices, my relationships, my emotions, my habits. I  desire for God to do a deep work in me in this area. It also serves as a reminder to me to honor and respect the boundaries others have established between themselves and me.

We are all personally responsible for our choices relating to our boundaries and the boundaries of others, but in certain scenarios, we need to erect a boundary stone in that moment and say to ourselves and to one another in a spirit of love: 

“ This far and no further.”

chiaroscuro (kē-är'ə-skʊr'ō)



chiaroscuro over sanibel causeway --sb 4.10

 

chiaroscuro (kē-är'ə-skʊr'ō)

n., pl., -ros.   In all senses also called claire-obscure.

1. The technique of using light and shade in pictorial representation.
2. The arrangement of light and dark elements in a pictorial work of art to give an illusion of depth. 

[Italian : chiaro, bright, light (from Latin clārus, clear) + oscuro, dark (from Latin obscūrus).]

I captured this photo on the Sanibel Causeway this past spring when a skyful of black storm clouds came rushing in. Did I evacuate like most people did? No. That would soooo not be my personality, not when there is a camera in my hand! But I did capture one of my favorite photos, which I call Chiaroscuro Over Sanibel Causeway.

I really fell in love with the word chiaroscuro when reading The Tale of Despereaux with my 4th graders back in 2008.  First, it's fun to say (give it a try, with a really bad Italian accent). Second, it is the symbolism behind the name of one of the characters in the novel: Roscuro.

Roscuro is a rat living in the depths of a dark dungeon.  Unlike other rats, Roscuro is fascinated by light and the hope that it brings to his dark prison and world.  In pursuit of that light, he leaves the dungeon and finds it. However, along the way, he gets distracted by crisis and circumstances and becomes a bitter rat, consumed with revenge, despair and darkness.  Sounds like many Christians I know.

While chiaroscuro is an art technique used to create the illusion of depth, the chiaroscuro in my life and yours (which God allows to create depth and beauty in our character and our lives) is no illusion.

Some saw dark clouds hovering over the Sanibel Causeway that afternoon and fled. Me? I saw the Light behind the clouds and chose to stay. I want my life to continue to reflect that causeway parable! I know this to be true in my life --the One who wraps Himself in light as with a garment (psalms 104.2) always pushes back darkness. 

Through the viewfinder of my lens, Light is always the backdrop to darkness. Will you resist fleeing from your dark circumstances long enough to witness it?

"oh, you see things clearly now, do you?" ;)



lake lily sky on a clear spring day --sb 4.10



The name of my blog, seemz CLR 2 me, has been in my spirit for a few days now as I have been planning to begin a blog. 

The name is intended to reflect what I've been wanting for so long to write about--the things that God has revealed to me through His Word, His Spirit, through people, and by what I have learned through my failures and trials. 

I took this picture in my 'backyard' at Lake Lily.  Never had I seen such a clear blue sky!  Perfect visibility. And just like this sky, certainly for me, there is a crystal clarity that eventually comes in a situation or trial, the point when it just...all...finally...seems perfectly clear, right?

After I named my blog, I went to the next step of creating what it would look like from a template. I found one I liked, but with two or three careless clicks too many, an unintended design appeared. It is what you see now--the appearance of a fogged window with rain droplets.

God has a sense of humor.  It was as if to say, "Oh, you see things clearly now, do you?"   1corinthians 13.12   It wasn't a rebuke, it was one of those God winks ;). He quickened my spirit with the friendly reminder that, no matter how much I've learned and have grown in wisdom and in truth, as long as I remain earthbound, I only know in part, and things will never be fully clear. So, there you have it...my blog design is God picked, and what seemz clear 2 me will always, at its best, be observed dimly through a glass while I am in this earthly tent. Though we know in part, one day we will know in full, just as we are fully known now by Him.

In the meantime, I invite you to peer through this dim glass with me.