I grew up a Dallas Cowboy's fan. But as I have gotten older and more mature, I have come to realize that professional football is good, but Selma Parks and Rec. football is better - especially when your children are involved!
Two Saturdays ago was the first game of the season for our boys. They're on different teams, because of their age, but they are both Selma Yellow Jackets, nonetheless.
There were many "Proud Mamma" moments that day, but one seems to replay itself in slow motion over and over in my mind. Alex was playing on the offensive line, closest to my vision. The quarterback snapped the ball, handed it off to the running back who immediately began his journey towards my son. Alex played his position well and successfully blocked the first defender.
Whoo-hoo!
But the play wasn't over...while continuing to push off the first defender, Alex looked backed over his shoulder and saw the guy cradling the ball, headed his direction. He turned his attention back to his opponent and noticed another defender headed his way. Alex knew what he had to do. Keeping his left hand on the shoulder pads of his first opponent, he reached out with his right and pushed away the second defender, keeping him from making the tackle. This allowed the running back to come through the "lane" and drive down the field, making a touchdown.
I was so proud of Alex. He saw what was happening all around him and responded quickly to each threat for his team.
After the game, I told him I thought he played "smart ball" and recounted that particular play. I made the statement that his teammate followed his lead, and he replied (as if it were not a big deal), "That's because I told him to 'follow me.'"
Thoughts flooded my mind at that moment. I pictured the players in the huddle as the quarterback called THAT play...the play where the ball would be handed off to the running back, who would head down Alex's side of the field. I pictured Alex then looking intently at his buddy and saying, "Just follow me."
And then the thoughts changed.
Is 43:19 came to mind, which states that God will "...do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert."
All of the sudden, the pictures in my mind that had been strictly about football, suddenly morphed into pictures of Christ. All of the sudden, the Spirit began flooding my mind with thoughts of Jesus and how He makes ways "when there seems to be no way," as the song so beautifully says. I pictured Jesus looking at me intently and saying, "Follow Me," and me responding to His lead. I pictured Him pushing obstacle after obstacle out of my way, defending me, as a big Brother would. I thought about how He sees what's coming and protects me as I run this race called life. I thought about how glorious it will be when one day I, too, cross that goal line and step into Glory, victorious because of my Defender.
Tears poured down my face, as I continued to contemplate how and why God would speak to me...through a simple football game.
You know, that running back had to trust Alex would clear his path and make a way for him to get through. I wonder what would have happened if he had decided Alex wasn't big enough or strong enough to defend him. I wonder if the outcome would have been different if he had stopped half-way and headed the other direction, as he saw the other defender coming. Fortunately, he instead decided to trust Alex's instructions implicitly: "Follow me."
Once we trust our Father with our lives - once we trust Him with all we hold dear - once we truly believe that He will take care of us and choose to follow Him, He WILL indeed make a way in the wilderness. Paths will open up that we never knew existed. Our lives, though they may not be easy, will have a targeted goal, and He will be our block and tackle. Our job is not to question His abilities. It's to simply trust that He can...and that He will.
I praise You, today, Father, that You will make a way. You will overcome those things that see impossible, in order for me to be able to traverse the path that You have chosen for me. Thank You, Father. Thank You.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
No Wonder They Loved Him
"No wonder they loved Him," I thought.
Thousands of people crowded around this Teacher. They came with their diseases, their hurts, their "unclean spirits," and Scripture says that Jesus "healed them all." But that wasn't why my spirit was pricked with the realization that they loved Him. It would have been enough to do so, but that wasn't why I marveled at this One called Christ.
You see, Jesus didn't just heal them physically. Of course, they DID need healing. Many of them, were "tormented" by unclean spirits. Many of them, I am sure, had spent all of their lives trying to find a cure for their specific infirmities. Many of them were at their wit's end. So, the Healer simply did what He does, and He healed them.
Yet Jesus wasn't just after physical healing for these people. He was after something eternal - spiritual healing. Scripture says in Matthew 23 that the Pharisees - the ones who were supposed to be directing people to the Messiah - were actually the ones keeping people from the Messiah and out of the kingdom of heaven (vs. 13). They had become so sure and proud of THEIR teachings, that they distorted God's teachings to the detriment of the kingdom, and Jesus wanted everyone to know it. He spoke to the people and said, "Therefore whatever they (the Pharisees) tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (v. 3,4).
The teachers of the Law had become distorters of the Law, no longer wishing to help the people, but instead to judge them. The Pharisees, as Jesus said, had in essence placed heavy weights on the people's backs - weights that made them believe they could never be "good enough" for God.
I don't know if you've ever had someone in a position of authority tell you that you were "nothing" and "would never amount to anything," but that is what was happening in the relationship between the Israelites and the Pharisees. The supposed holy ones were "guilting" the people into obedience, and the people were exhausted and depressed, trying to comply - trying to reach holiness.
Can you imagine - spending your whole life trying to be "good enough?" Sadly, I think, that statement rings true in the hearts and minds of people today, just as much as it did back then. Pretty depressing, don't you think?
But then Jesus...
Jesus comes on the scene and lambasts the Pharisees for their hypocritical behavior. I'm sure the people were completely shocked. They probably thought that Jesus would have eloquent words and letters of commendation for all the hard work of the Pharisees. But He didn't. Instead, He looked deep into their hearts and called them "white-washed tombs" - pretty on the outside, but full of dead men's bones. He said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (v.25, 26). How would you like to be spoken to in that manner in front of thousands of people...talk about Someone with authority calling you out.
Then Jesus turned His attention to the others. But this time, instead of speaking judgment over them, as the Pharisees had done so many times before, Jesus spoke life. He spoke HOPE into their weary souls.
To those who had spent their lives, scraping for a little here and there to survive on...to those who had struggled financially and physically trying to keep their family alive...to those who had been shamed by the Pharisees and told they were in sin and fought to "attain" righteousness, Jesus says, "BLESSED ARE YOU who are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of God." All the treasures of heaven...everything would belong to those who the Pharisees had spoken judgment over. Everything could be and would be theirs.
And for those who were hungry and thirsty for righteousness - for those who had also been shamed into believing they would never and could never be good enough - for those whose souls were depressed and empty - to those He said, "BLESSED ARE YOU are you who hunger NOW, for you shall be filled."
Brings a smile to my face and hope to my heart. It truly was no wonder they loved Him.
It's no wonder I do, too.
Oh my Jesus, You are so precious to me...speaking life into my own soul, as you did for those who walked in the same paths You did so many years ago. Thank You for speaking deeply into my needs today. May I respond with praise and adoration. I love You, my Lord. I love You.
Thousands of people crowded around this Teacher. They came with their diseases, their hurts, their "unclean spirits," and Scripture says that Jesus "healed them all." But that wasn't why my spirit was pricked with the realization that they loved Him. It would have been enough to do so, but that wasn't why I marveled at this One called Christ.
You see, Jesus didn't just heal them physically. Of course, they DID need healing. Many of them, were "tormented" by unclean spirits. Many of them, I am sure, had spent all of their lives trying to find a cure for their specific infirmities. Many of them were at their wit's end. So, the Healer simply did what He does, and He healed them.
Yet Jesus wasn't just after physical healing for these people. He was after something eternal - spiritual healing. Scripture says in Matthew 23 that the Pharisees - the ones who were supposed to be directing people to the Messiah - were actually the ones keeping people from the Messiah and out of the kingdom of heaven (vs. 13). They had become so sure and proud of THEIR teachings, that they distorted God's teachings to the detriment of the kingdom, and Jesus wanted everyone to know it. He spoke to the people and said, "Therefore whatever they (the Pharisees) tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (v. 3,4).
The teachers of the Law had become distorters of the Law, no longer wishing to help the people, but instead to judge them. The Pharisees, as Jesus said, had in essence placed heavy weights on the people's backs - weights that made them believe they could never be "good enough" for God.
I don't know if you've ever had someone in a position of authority tell you that you were "nothing" and "would never amount to anything," but that is what was happening in the relationship between the Israelites and the Pharisees. The supposed holy ones were "guilting" the people into obedience, and the people were exhausted and depressed, trying to comply - trying to reach holiness.
Can you imagine - spending your whole life trying to be "good enough?" Sadly, I think, that statement rings true in the hearts and minds of people today, just as much as it did back then. Pretty depressing, don't you think?
But then Jesus...
Jesus comes on the scene and lambasts the Pharisees for their hypocritical behavior. I'm sure the people were completely shocked. They probably thought that Jesus would have eloquent words and letters of commendation for all the hard work of the Pharisees. But He didn't. Instead, He looked deep into their hearts and called them "white-washed tombs" - pretty on the outside, but full of dead men's bones. He said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also" (v.25, 26). How would you like to be spoken to in that manner in front of thousands of people...talk about Someone with authority calling you out.
Then Jesus turned His attention to the others. But this time, instead of speaking judgment over them, as the Pharisees had done so many times before, Jesus spoke life. He spoke HOPE into their weary souls.
To those who had spent their lives, scraping for a little here and there to survive on...to those who had struggled financially and physically trying to keep their family alive...to those who had been shamed by the Pharisees and told they were in sin and fought to "attain" righteousness, Jesus says, "BLESSED ARE YOU who are poor in spirit, for yours is the kingdom of God." All the treasures of heaven...everything would belong to those who the Pharisees had spoken judgment over. Everything could be and would be theirs.
And for those who were hungry and thirsty for righteousness - for those who had also been shamed into believing they would never and could never be good enough - for those whose souls were depressed and empty - to those He said, "BLESSED ARE YOU are you who hunger NOW, for you shall be filled."
Brings a smile to my face and hope to my heart. It truly was no wonder they loved Him.
It's no wonder I do, too.
Oh my Jesus, You are so precious to me...speaking life into my own soul, as you did for those who walked in the same paths You did so many years ago. Thank You for speaking deeply into my needs today. May I respond with praise and adoration. I love You, my Lord. I love You.
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