God's Story - Grace

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.   (2Co 5:21 NLT)

CREATION...THE FALL/BROKENNESS... A PROMISE... THE LAW... REBELLION...


GRACE

As God's story continues to unfold, the rebellion of God's people has them doing their own thing and God's anger burning against them.  It really isn't that hard to understand...today if someone break the rules that are meant for our well being like driving under the influence, we want justice - to its fullest extent!

God is a just God (Psalms 11:7).  The law as well as scripture teaches us the cost of sin - death (Romans 6:23).  However, we don't really want that justice directed to us when it comes to our breaking God's rules.

Also, throughout scripture God is a loving God (1 John 4:8).  He desires that we be with Him... in the Garden... in the Promised Land... in the temple of our person.

God's loving nature desires to be able to wrap His loving, protective arms around us, but His justice requires Him to punish us for turning away from Him, for breaking His rules.

You might say that God is God and can change the rules, but God is also Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) - He will not move or change the rules.  He will never contradict Himself.  He will always be the same.

Ever think of God being between a rock and a hard place?  How can He do both?  How can a loving God punish us?

Age old questions... the truth is He does all three: maintains His justice, His love, and His holiness all through the person of Jesus Christ.  In so doing, He also offers GRACE to all of us!

Jesus

• lived a perfect life (Hebrews 4:15).  Therefore, He did not deserve to die.
• died anyway.
• was both God and man.  As God, He has the infinite nature of God (Philippians 2:6-8).
• took our place in death on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21).  As an infinite (on and on and on) God, He was big enough to pay the price for all of our sins - past, present, and future!

Through Jesus God extends GRACE to us.  Sin is punished. God stays the same and we can be back with God.

We still deserve death, both physically and spiritually (eternal separation from God), but God out of His incredible love for us, has rescued us from His wrath by extending us the free gift of GRACE through Jesus Christ.

This is not the end of the story!  It continues...

God's Story - Rebellion

"And when your people ask, 'Why did the LORD our God do all this to us?' you must reply, 'You rejected Him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.' "Make this announcement to Israel, and say this to Judah: Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for Me? Why don't you tremble in My presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean's sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But My people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned Me. They do not say from the heart, 'Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for He gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.' Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. 
(Jer 5:19-25 NLT)


CREATION... THE FALL/BROKENNESS... A PROMISE... THE LAW...


REBELLION

God went to the extreme of putting a system (LAW) in place that would keep the scales balanced - that would keep a right relationship between the Israelites and God.  But the people not only rejected God rules, but they reject God Himself.  They made a mockery of God, His love, protection, and provision.

The Israelites turned away and worship gods of neighboring nations.  They no longer made the animal sacrifices at the temple to keep those scales balanced for a right relationship with the one True God.  Instead they sinned greater than even their neighbors, defiling the temples, sacrificing their children, and in so doing totally rejecting God.

God gave them a choice just as He gives us a choice today.  God gave them over to the results of those choices and nations came and conquered them taking them into exile.

Even in exile though God's people were not without a choice, nor without hope of God's promise.  God sent prophet after prophet to point out to Israel and at times even other nations where they were falling short of God's standard.  These prophets encouraged them to turn back to God.  They spoke messages of hope in the midst of exile and brokenness.  Some turned their hearts back to God.  They continued to watch and listen for God's fulfillment of His plan.

"Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the LORD. 
(Jer 5:18 NLT)

God's Story - Law

Then God gave the people all these instructions: "I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. "You must not have any other god but Me. "You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected--even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject Me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands. "You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name. "Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you. "You must not murder. "You must not commit adultery. "You must not steal. "You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. "You must not covet your neighbor's house. You must not covet your neighbor's wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor." 
(Exo 20:1-17 NLT)

CREATION... FALL/BROKENNESS... A PROMISE... 


THE LAW

For the Israelite the law was a complex system of rules and consequences.  That being said, they were basically the 10 commandments (with every variance that the human mind could manage) and the action/cost required in order to reconcile with God.

The law was like a big scale.  When one of God's rules were broken (sin) then something was required to re-balance the scale (usually an animal sacrifice).  Through this system God taught the Israelites the cost of sin and to value God's rules or standard.

It was through this system of LAW that God established a people for Himself.  His plan was that all the nations of the world would see His Glory through the people of Israel - that Israel would be different as they showed their love and respect for God by honoring His rules, but also that in doing so God's grace and power would be poured out and stand in contrast to the neighboring nations and their "gods".

I love the fact that in the middle of this fallen world, God gave us a picture of a people who could have all the benefits of the Garden in the middle of a world that went against Him.  A picture of a God who went to battle on behalf of His loyal people as a protector, a God who was a provider, a God who poured out His blessings as long as they chose Him by obeying Him.

It is in this picture that the Israelites still live with the hope of the promise given to Abraham, because those neighboring nations simply watched as Israel and her God stood out, yet they were on the outside until that promise is fulfilled.

There are people today who watch from the outside as we reflect an incredible God, waiting to take their place as a part of God's plan....

God's Story - Promise

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father' family, and go to the land that I will show you.  (2)  I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.  (3)  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you."  Genesis 12:1-3 NLT 

PROMISE

God created a perfect world for us and a special Garden for mankind to live in.  In this Garden all our needs are met, and mankind experience ideal relationship with one another and with God.

But God gave us a choice - did they want to be with Him or against Him (Don't eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil/Do eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil).  We all make the same choice as Adam an Eve at one time or another in life and we fall from God's standard.

The reason I like this passage from Genesis 12, is that inspite of the fact that Adam and Eve and all of their descendants (us) blew it, God, out of an indescribable love, made a PROMISE to Abraham that includes us today.  He promised him many things but at the end of the list the last promise is that all the families on earth will be blessed through him (Abraham).

For the next couple thousand years until Christ, people had hope because of this promise to Abraham.  Today we still have hope because this promise has been fulfilled through Jesus.  Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham and through what He did on the cross the gift of salvation, of being reconciled to God back to His original design, has been opened up to all of us.

About 9 years ago,  I first saw that this promise to Abraham included me and that its fulfillment came through Christ, I was just in total awe.  God put His provision for our sinning against Him into process over 2000 years before Jesus came to earth as a baby, and nearly 4000 years before I was even a thought!

Adam and Eve and all who followed turned against God.  He leaves them to suffer the consequences of their sin, but not without hope... a PROMISE of what is to come!

God's Story - Brokenness

I'm continuing my process of wrapping my mind around the awesome "story" that God has given us in His Word.  I put "story" in quotes because the word brings with it the connotation of being fiction.  This is not the case!  It is truth!  The beauty of this is that as a book that is written over a period of more than 1500 years and by over 40 human authors, through God's Spirit it tells one "story" from beginning to end.  It holds together in an incredible way! 

As you go through this process with me, I challenge you to put aside any doubts that you may have so that you can see what God has to say.  His story story is not only His; it is also ours.  It's a story of God rescuing us - restoring us back to that original picture in the Garden that I posted about last time. 

In my last post I wrote about CREATION and this wonderful environment that God created.  Part of that was a perfect relationship on a human level between Adam and Eve.  There was no baggage to cause problems for either one - they were completely open and transparent with each other.  The other aspect of this perfect picture of creation is a perfect relationship with God - one that was so close that Adam and Eve could recognize God's voice and His footsteps in the Garden.

All of this was short lived though (at least within the pages of our story).  By page 2 of the Bible (Genesis 3) Adam and Eve make a choice that turns them against God.  As part of the original creation God put a tree in the Garden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and told them they could eat of every other tree in the Garden except that one.  God gave them a choice, "Do you want to be with me or not?"  

Satan in the form of a serpent (Revelation 12:9), came and convinced Eve that there was something she was missing out on, that God was purposefully withholding something good, and the way to get it all is by eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  She believed his deception, ate the fruit, shared it will Adam, and BROKENNESS entered our story.

The relationship between themselves is now broken.  It is less than what God planned for them.  Their relationship with God is broken as Adam and Eve are exiled from the Garden.  They have chosen their own wants and desires over God’s perfect want and desires for them.   And the relationship between mankind and God's creation is broken as the ground is cursed. 

This idea of brokenness is something I believe we can all relate to.  We have all fallen short (Romans 3:23).  My guess is that you (as I) can still feel that pain of having messed up or fallen short.  Unfortunately, that pain doesn't easily go away.  We carry it along with us as baggage adding to it as we go through life.  This brokenness that we carry impacts all our other relationships - with those close to us and with God.  All of it is less than what God desires for us.

I want you to spend time feeling that brokenness today, not because I want you to suffer or get depressed.  I want you to be ready to get rid of it because the rest of the story will have us learning how incredible God's love is for each of us and the extent that He was willing to go to take the brokenness away and restore us. 

If God has already restored you from your broken state, give Him all your praise today!

God's Story - Creation

I seemed to have been challenged recently to really get to know God's story and how to communicate it.  A book that I've been reading, "Spiritual Parenting" introduced me to the idea of telling God's story to our children; with the Elementary kids we have been looking at the Old Testament and how God is working to restore us back to Him; and at the Family Ministry Conference that I attended in February they reiterated the importance of parents telling God's story to their kids as they would any bedtime story. 

I didn't grow up in a Christian home and so I didn't really have modeled for me ways of building Christ into my family.  I have done things by hit and miss and by the grace of God's direction.  When our kids were very young, much of their spiritual development occurred at church.  Around the time all 3 of my kids were in elementary school, God was laying on both mine and my husband's heart to take a more active role in their spiritual development.  While we did devotions and even memory verse work, it never occurred to me to tell them the story of the whole Bible - God's love story to us and His plan to rescue and redeem us.  It is not only about Jesus it is also about us.  The story begins a long time ago...

CREATION - God created the world.  It was beautiful and perfect.  He created man and woman and placed them in a garden that not only provided for their every need, but also provided companionship with one another and most wonderfully with God - a perfect unhindered relationship with one another and an intimate, know-your-voice-and-footsteps level relationship with God.

It is almost beyond our ability to comprehend this, because our relationships are always complicated with some degree of baggage - stuff that we want to keep hidden or simply unrealistic pictures of what relationships should be like from watching others or the media.

This is the ideal picture that the Bible begins with... it is also the picture that we are trying to get back to.  The rest of the story will look at how this first human experience with one another and with God was broken and what God has done to restore these original, unhindered, intimate relationships both in this life and for all eternity.

For today simply allow your mind to meditate on this picture.  Read Genesis 2:8-25.  It is easiest to share a story that you personally connect with so, think about what it would have been like to live in the garden without any secrets, regrets, or guilt - just perfect relationships with others and a perfect relationship with God.  Let your mind's eye see God's creation...

Me First!

"Dancing into my own little world is what I like to do, no one can come in and take me away; for dance is the way into this world bringing joy and love to everyone, not anger and hatred. You can come into this world too, bringing joy and love, by doing the thing you love to do!"  - FaceBook Post by my daughter, Amanda Kersker


We have teased Amanda about having her own little world since she was about 5 or 6 years old when one night as we tucked her in we asked her "What color is the sky in your world?"  She very simply looked up at us without missing a beat and answered, "Purple."

What can you say to that?  To some degree Amanda has never out grown her own little world and as I read posts like this I see that she is learning about cultivating or defining what that world is like - a place filled with joy and love.

I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about environment creating.  My thoughts aren't necessarily as orderly as I'd like but each time I sit down and write I'm exploring another aspect.  In earlier posts I've looked at distractions to cultivating our Haven environments and in another why we pursue creating the Haven.  Today, what is on my heart is the idea that it begins with me.

I couldn't begin to create a Haven for my family until I worked on myself first - really it was allowing God to work on me - healing my heart and opening my eyes to His truths.  I had to be willing to go places in my heart with God that were hard - that meant admitting to my husband I was wrong and then changing my actions to match what was right and true.

All of us have baggage.  We learn this game of life by trial and error.  If we have godly parents that guide and direct us and we listen, maybe the baggage isn't as much.  For others of us our parents, friends, and many others contribute to that baggage as we choose to listen to wrong advise or maybe are victimized by abuse or the poor choices of others.  As we go through life, these end up effecting who we are and how we respond to situations and to others - especially those closest to us, our family.

Some of my baggage that I needed to deal with and allow God to heal in me manifested itself as poor self image, low self-esteem, and an unhealthy picture of sexuality.  Probably Satan's strongest tool against me even now is the thought that "I am not good enough."

When I began my process, it began with me learning to see myself the way God saw me and to accept that; it began with me seeing my roles in life the way God did - being a stay at home mom and wife wasn't because I wasn't good enough at something else; it began with me seeing His design for sexuality and throwing away stuff from the past.

I guess my point for today is that in this case it really is "ME FIRST."   Until I began with me and started working through my stuff, I was too defensive to address any of the other issues (distractions to my Haven) as they came up.  A comment about the house or dinner was seen as an attack and my head just kept ringing with "I'm not good enough" which became a downward spiral.

The process is a continual one, but once I began to open my mind and heart to what God wanted me to see and one by one I brought my actions in line with that, it was like dominoes falling into place and it began to make a beautiful design!


Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. 
(Rom 12:2 NIV)


In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 
(2Ti 2:20-21 NIV)