Spirit-led Relationship 12-27-10

“Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” Gal. 5:16-18

What is it about a Spirit-led person that stirs something inside another causing this other to desire what they have?
What is it about the faith of a Spirit-led Believer that beckons us into the arms of the God they serve?

Let’s explore some characteristics of a person who lives life led by the Spirit.
A Spirit-led person:

• is Not overwhelmed (level headed), yet can exhibit emotion with self control (like King David ~2Sam. 6:14-21; 1Chr. 28:19-20; Ps. 31:13-14)
• is light-handed and patient with life and circumstance (versus “controlling” in a negative sense) ~Ps. 138:8; Rom. 15:13
• knows their limits and understands their unique “call” (at peace with who they are purposed to be) ~Eph. 2:10; 2Cor. 10:13
• exhibits a humble and discerning spirit as well as the fruits of the Spirit ~Phil. 1:10; Gal. 5:22-23; Col. 3:12
• is thankful for personal correction (Seek accountability because of a personal desire to mature in Christ.)  ~Prv. 15:32; Jms. 1:4
• has a joyful heart amidst “realist understanding” of life’s challenges (don’t live in a fantasy bubble) ~Prv. 12:20; 1Ths. 1:6
• exhibits wholehearted devotion to God and a vibrant relationship with God ~2Cor. 6:4-10
• has a vibrant prayer life (Understands prayer opens the way for God to work.) ~Acts 2:42; Matt. 6:6; Phil. 4:6-7
• Love oozes from their being  ~1Jn. 4:7-8

There are a TON more verses and many more characteristics describing a Spirit-led person, but this is a start. ~If you are willing, please join us in this short prayer:

“Lord, give me Your eyes and Your understanding into the circumstances and relationships in my life today.
Give me Your LOVE, Lord. Help me to truly LOVE You and then, please pour out Your LOVE through my life today.
Help me to lean not to my own understanding of things and people, but to fully trust You Jesus.  Amen.”

We love YOU!
Shaun and Betsy   

We Cleary’s want to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

We Cleary’s want to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Jesus is the glorious reason for this amazing season.
May you sense His presence today, as we celebrate His birth!

Love, kisses and BIG hugs to you.
Shaun, Betsy, Kels, Conner, and Shannon

"I LOVE YOU!" 12-20-10

“’My son’, the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’” Lk. 15:31

Jesus, in Luke 15, tells three different stories of “lost things”: a sheep, a coin, and a son. When we hear this text, our minds generally focus on the “sin” aspect of the stories, specifically, the “naughtiness” of each. But what Jesus seems to be illustrating in these stories, is not so much the “naughtiness” aspect of sin, but the “separateness” aspect of sin. ~The sheep, the coin and the son were all “away” (or “separate”) from those who cherished them most.  The sheep were separated from the shepherd, the coin was separated from its owner, and the son was separated from his home and father.

In each of these stories, something very valuable was lost, a grand search took place, and great rejoicing took place when ‘the lost’ was found.

As with our Lord, each one of us is immeasurably precious to Heavenly Daddy....and when we stray from Him, He calls out a divine search party to bring us home to Himself. ~~And when we do come home, He and His angels totally rock-out in celestial celebration!

Are you feeling alone? Perhaps could it be that you have been “going it alone”, living life to the best of your own ability? Or perhaps you are doing very well personally, but someone you love is ‘major league struggling’ right now? ~~Jesus is beckoning each one of us to Himself. 
Remember the saying, we may be the only Bible some people will ever read. Folks will know the kind of Father we have when they see the love His kids live; the love of our Lord God in action.

So what do you say, for those of us who are currently living a life of joy and delight in Jesus, let’s “put on some divine skin” and touch someone else who’s hurting. We Cleary’s have had the best time this past week helping out the ‘hurting’ of our town by helping to provide for some basic needs both at our home and at local establishments in out community. Things like packaging hundreds of frozen chickens and stocking shelves, delivering items, wrapping gifts, loving on and praying with local families and individuals at our local Unity Shoppe and church.

~ And maybe, just maybe, through all of our ‘love in action’ (yours and ours), Jesus will be revealed in a way that causes another soul to come home! And for those ‘hurting’ who know Him personally, our love in action just may lift their spirit, give them hope, and meet a very real need. (After all isn’t this what we all desire?!)

We pray you have a treasured Christmas!                                                       
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy

Wired with Desire 12-13-10

“All my longings lie open before You, O Lord, my sighing is not hidden from you.” Ps. 39:9

God hard wired each of us with desires. Some of our desires are realized in this lifetime, but most are not.  And it is at this time of year especially, many of us find ourselves struggling with unfulfilled longings. 

• The loss of a job leaving minimal income for the bare necessities, much less Christmas gifts
• Loneliness and feelings of worthlessness (the “everyone has someone to love them but me” sentiment)
• Estranged relationships
• Physical and emotional suffering

What do we do with the unrealized desires within us? Here are a few suggestions: 

• realize that we are not alone...the whole of creation has been groaning since Genesis 3.  (Now, that’s A LOT of frustration and unfulfilled longing!)
• cling to the hope of Christ’s promises to us and His imminent return for us. (Rom. 8:18-32)
• discipline our minds to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” and put on our “spiritual armor” (2 Cor.10:5; Eph.6:13-18)
• take our thoughts off ourselves, get out and start serving others (Mk. 12:31; 1Pet. 4:10)
• talk with a friend
• PRAY

God promises us that His eyes are on the righteous, His ears are attentive to their cry (as soon as He hears, He answers) and His angel encamps around those who fear Him to deliver them! (Ps. 34:7,15; Is. 30:19)

~We will always have unfulfilled yearning this side of eternal paradise. Think about it, if all of our deepest desires were attainable here and now, “this” would be heaven, ~~~and wouldn’t that be depressing!

We love you. Jesus IS the reason for this season!                                     
Shaun and Betsy  

Cultivating Love 12-6-10

“Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins.” Eph. 5:2

Christmas time...what a wonderful, blessed, cherished time of year...that is if we slow down enough to realize what this season is truly all about.

It’s a fact, “EVERYBODY WANTS TO LOVE...EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE LOVED”, and it’s also a fact that loving the way Jesus calls us to love is only possible by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Mk. 12:30-31 (When we do this, He empowers us to love others and His love flows through us to others...otherwise, we are merely loving by our limited human strength and understanding.)
When we feel loved by another, it’s because that someone is generally giving us:

• their time and attention
• their appreciation and listening ear
• their honor and trust
• They show us that they value us and are thankful for us.
• They genuinely care about the things that concern us.
• They discern our “love language” (physical touch, words of praise and affirmation, acts of service, gifts, etc.), and trying to love us according to it (as opposed to loving us according to their own “love language”).

2 Cor. 13:5 tells us to examine and test ourselves. So, with this partial list, let’s examine and test ourselves in the area of loving others.

Picture someone in your mind right now. ~Got that person envisioned?

Question: Is my life right now characterized by love for him/her (following Christ’s sacrificial example) OR is my life right now characterized by my scurrying around trying to make things “perfect” by Christmas, and in the process, neglecting those I love most?

Check out this short song by Ingrid Michaelson: “Everybody”... It’ll make make you smile!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Zb4_Xc9io&feature=email

Let’s simplify our lives a bit and re-discover the true meaning of love this season, then ask ourselves, “Where can I ‘step up the love’ a bit?”

God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy

My Security Blanket 11-29-10

"You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom (society), living at ease and feeling secure, bragging as if you were the greatest in the world! You say, `I'm self-sufficient and not accountable to anyone!”         Is. 47:8

Right now, in what or in whom are we placing our security? Our money, our stature, our power, our spouse, our name, our title, our talents, our looks, our routine, our stuff?

What does God have to say about what or whom we entrust our security to?

• Hab. 2:9   “You believe your wealth will buy security, putting your families beyond the reach of danger.”
• Job 8:15    “They cling to their home for security, but it won't last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure.”
• Ps. 69:22    “Let the bountiful table set before them become a snare, and let their security become a trap.”
• Is. 47:8  "You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom (society), living at ease and feeling secure, bragging as if you were the greatest in the world! You say, `I'm self-sufficient and not accountable to anyone!’” 

From God’s perspective, what’s the true security solution?

• Prv. 3:26    “...the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.”
• Prv. 19:23    “Fear of the LORD gives life, security, and protection from harm.” 

~Now, we cognitively know this to be true, but have any of us ever secretly whispered to ourselves, “I’ve tried trusting God with ______, but in doing so, it seems more and more and more ‘bad things’ keep happening. And now I am beginning to question everything about God. Honestly? I actually am beginning to believe that God’s actually ‘not all that in control’ and not all that interested in me. Life’s more about who gets lucky.”

If any of us are entertaining these kinds of thoughts, nothing could be further from the truth, and we’re wise to both recognize our vulnerability and then seek wise counsel and prayer.

The devil wins when he can get us discouraged to the point of despondency. 
Jn. 10:10 “The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.” 
But God’s purpose is very different: “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”             Jn. 10:11

  “I love the LORD because He hears and answers my prayers.
Because He bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!
...I saw only trouble and sorrow.
Then I called on the name of the LORD: "Please, LORD, save me!"
How kind the LORD is! How good He is!
So merciful, this God of ours! The LORD protects those of childlike faith.”  
Ps. 116:1-6

May God bless us in the challenges we face this week!        
Shaun and Betsy    

I'm the Boss of Me 11-22-10

“Jesus Christ...the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” 1 Tim. 6:15

We all know that Jesus is the Ruler of life. But here’s a question: is Jesus the Ruler of our personal life? Really? ~Every single area of our lives, big and small?
Or are we more like the depiction in Is. 29:13, “These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men.”?
Question: In the pockets of my life, is the Lord:

• Ruler over my home, ...but not ‘the office’?
• Ruler over the office in general, ...but not my lucrative transactions?
• Ruler over my finances, ...but not my relationships?
• Ruler over my relationship with my spouse (ohhh, except for the bedroom, ohh, and that other ‘little area’)?
• Ruler over my kids, ...but not my worries about them?
• Ruler over my calendar, ...(Really? What does my calendar actually reveal about my priorities?)
• Ruler over most of my actions, ...but definitely not Ruler of my thoughts or Ruler of my heart?

OUCH!

Next question: If I’m the ruler of my own life (or parts of it), how am I doing? ...Really, how am I doing in my self-appointed ‘ruler role’?

Some of us are tired. We are flat tired. The reality is, we are flat tired of trying to be ‘god’ of our lives! In Matt. 11:28 Jesus beckons us:  “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The word “come” is an imperative, meaning “come here, come now!”

If we do, we will realize some great promises: 

• "This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it--the Lord is his name: 'Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer. 33:2-3)
• “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”(Jer. 17:7)
• “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.” (Jer. 29:11-14)

Ever heard, “I’ve tried religion and it doesn’t work”? Actually, this is true, religion doesn’t work. ~But He does. And He WORKS when a soul chooses to release control in all areas of life and embrace Him wholeheartedly. (All areas, big and small)

Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving! “Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song.” Ps. 95:2 “Come and see what God has done, how awesome His works in man’s behalf!” Ps. 66:5 
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy                                                              

Safe House vs. Liberty House 11-15-10

“God is my strong fortress; He has made my way safe.” 2 Sam. 22:33

Are we feeling “safe” in Gods arms? If the answer is yes, praise God…but let’s dig deeper: Are we feeling “safe” because we’re fearfully hiding behind impenetrable walls of our ‘safe houses’ or are we feeling “safe” because we’re living in freedom behind liberty walls of understanding (understanding of ourselves and the world that surrounds us and choosing to walk in the Spirit vs. hiding behind rules that work for us)?

Let’s flesh this out a little: The Lord does not give us an endless list of rules. He makes His standard very clear, and if our relationship to Him is one of wholehearted love, we will do what He says, regardless of our feelings at the moment. If we hesitate, perhaps it’s because we either love someone/thing else in competition with Him, we are fearful, &/or we are self-righteous, and are refusing to live in the Spirit?

As we mature in Christ, we learn what it means to “walk in the Spirit” and we become attune to the Spirit’s promptings in every circumstance/relationship we encounter. And when the Spirit ‘checks our behavior’, we promptly obey. ~~But, heads up: We are wise to understand that unless God clearly defines “this spiritual check” as a “NO” in Scripture, “this check” does NOT necessarily apply to all believers.  In other words, in ‘matters of grey’, it is inaccurate to deduce, “If God wants this for me, He must therefore desire this for all believers.” No, this kind of deduction would be choosing to live in fear, judgment and legalism, rather than walking in the Spirit’s wisdom, knowledge, love and understanding.  (e.g.: use 1Cor. 6:12 and 1Cor. 10:23-24 as our guide in even in the bedroom!)

Let’s illustrate with an innocuous example: 

• Say woman #1 births her child at home with a mid-wife in a few hours, with no drugs, virtually no pain and consequently believes that “this is the way birthing is.” 
• Enter woman #2: In the hospital, she births for 36 hours in extreme pain, uses pain suppressant drugs, and ends up having a C-section anyway. 
• Woman #1 now forms judgment and believes that woman #2 had a difficult birth because she didn’t have a close  enough relationship with God, her husband, &/or the doctor, and therefore, she “tightened up” ~~and the subsequent birthing experience was the sad result. (From her limited vantage point, woman #1 deduces that if woman #2 had had a close relationship with God, her husband and the doctor, and had used no drugs, she would have experienced an easy birth likened to her own.)

~~Some people’s ‘safe houses’ are small; they’re sturdy and impenetrable, and reality is: This ‘safe house’ is good for them and glorious to them! (And we who live in more freedom should not try to poke at their walls.) ~~Where it gets tricky, especially in leadership, is when the person who resides in the ‘safe house’ 1) demands that others build the same kind of house for themselves, and 2) deduces that those that don’t build and live in ‘this kind of safe house’ are therefore a) ungodly &/or spiritually immature, and b) should be dealt with accordingly. 

Love’s great foe is pride and fear.
Love’s great friend is humility and understanding.

So why do so many believers design “safe houses” for themselves from which some choose to judge the world and other believers? Many factors…a person’s history, current modeling, etc., but ultimately, we believe it’s because the person who’s making harsh judgments is actually living in pride and fear instead of humility and understanding. We believe God desires all of His kids to live in a “liberty house” full of freedom, guided by His love and holiness! And as we mature in Him, He allows us to experience more and more of this kind of liberty, but He understands that some of us are just not ready for such a house (perhaps until heaven)…and that  ‘safe houses’ are good and glorious.

Much love this week,      
Shaun and Betsy

Hope and a Future 11-9-10

“Do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see deliverance the Lord will bring you today.”
 Ex. 14:13

Feeling defeated? Losing hope? Ever feel like you’ve been set free from a particular personal “captivity”, only to find that you’ve backtracked the very next moment?

In Ex. 14:1-4, the Jewish people had just experienced the most amazing deliverance from bondage, yet in very short order, found themselves backtracking. However, what appeared to be confusion and chaos was in reality God’s purposeful plan.

God was in the process of strengthening His ‘victorious battle strategy’ but when God’s plan didn’t “appear” all that victorious, the people became disenchanted and in their confusion began to crave their former captivity. Why? For the same reasons that our friends go back to their abusive situations. ~~Captivity was familiar to them and this familiarity somehow brought comfort.

God has a “purposeful plan” for our lives. He desires to heal each of us regardless of our pasts, and to fully enable and equip us to enjoy His abundance for our lives. 

• “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”  Jer. 29:11-14 

• “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind, is anything to hard for Me?” Jer. 32:27 

• “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this _____. For the battle is NOT yours, but God’s” 2Chr. 20:15 

We’ve all heard, “Well, I’ve tried ‘it’, and ‘it’ didn’t work.” But remember, the ‘it’ is a ‘HE’ and He WILL answer and deliver us from every heart pain we have and will ever have.

Our part is to CONSTANTLY lean on Him with all of our weight, seek Him wholeheartedly with a focused mind, purposefully set our affections upon Him, and humbly bow down, spreading our hands out to heaven in utter dependence. He is FAITHFUL!!!! The question is this: Are we?

Big hugs this week,
Shaun and Betsy                                     
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=WViN2yOEDhk 

Who's Meeting MY Deepest Needs? 11-1-10

Question of the week: Who meets my deepest needs? …On a daily basis, on whom do I rely the most and to whom do I go first to get my heartfelt desires met?
The correct Sunday school answer is: “I love God above all and implicitly trust Him with my deepest needs.” ~~But is this true? Do my actions back this statement and prove that I significantly invest in my relationship with Him? Or do my actions prove that I’m merely going through ‘spiritual motions’ and lack real dependence upon my Savior?

God’s no fool. He knows whether or not we truly LOVE HIM by how we operate in every area of our lives. ("If you love Me, you will obey what I command." Jn. 14:15) No, when we neglect God's commands, yet we tell Him how much we love Him, we are the fools.

Think about it…we, like God, don't measure enduring love by what we hear either. ~~Loving and affirming statements are important, but the old adage stands true: Actions speak louder than words.

Rev. 2:4-5 tells us that the church at Ephesus had forsaken its "first love." What did Jesus tell them to do? Christ gave these believers a three-step plan for restoring relationship with Himself: 1) Remember from where you have fallen 2) Repent 3) Do the deeds you did at first.

Why this recommendation?

1. Jesus deeply desires restored relationship. (This is WHY He died…loving us despite our filth, with no detail of our life catching Him off guard…ever!)

2. He knows that when we place our trust in the wrong source our lives are marked by frustration and disappointment. (People simply lack the resources to meet our deepest needs and sooner or later will hurt or offend us.)

Let’s use a marriage relationship as an illustration: Picture a couple who is experiencing marital trouble right now. Got this couple in mind? (Perhaps a very familiar couple? ;) )  Straight up, Jesus wants to meet this couple’s inner-most needs/desires more than this couple can even fathom they have such needs/desires! 
So what happens when this couple thankfully comes to the end of their talented selves and decides to follow Jesus’ advice in Rev. 2:5? (Realizing from where they have fallen in their relationship with God and with one another, repenting, and striving to do what they did in earlier days when their love relationship was flourishing.)Their entire lives will change as a result of consistent and “full-weight” dependence in the live-giving power of Jesus to daily meet their needs, that’s what!
Let’s do some soul searching this week: ~~Who am I depending on to meet my deepest desires? If “Jesus” isn’t my honest answer, am I ready to heed Rev. 2:5?
Much love and God bless you!                        

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=WViN2yOEDhk 
Shaun and Betsy

There's a Reason 10-25-10

“The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; He looks to see if there is even one with real understanding, one who seeks for God.” Ps.14:2

God does not place people in our lives for no reason...God purposes each individual in our lives for a reason. 
And if God purposely places the individuals in our lives for a reason, then what do we do when a particular person in our lives causes us pain?

What would God have us do when someone says or does something to us that makes us feel like we’ve been hit by a mat truck, and now, figuratively speaking, we find ourselves being rushed to the hospital with a smashed pelvis, broken ribs and fractured skull...facing surgery, and then the arduous healing process? (~Remember, God uses both believing and unbelieving people to fulfill His purposes in our lives. (e.g.: Is. 45:13))

Well, we have a choice. As we heal, we will either choose to get bitter or to get better. If you are like us, you’ll choose to ‘get better’. And regardless of how long or short our personal healing process is, as we heal there are 4 questions we are wise to ask God:
 

1.     What are You trying to teach me about You ?.. (Lord, help me to know You better...who You  are...what You feel...how You felt  when this  same thing happened to You...Your perspectives on people and life...Your understanding and love for others)

2.     What are You trying to teach me about myself? ... (Lord, what are You trying to change/refine in me?)

3.     What are You trying to teach me about this person and people in general? ... (Lord, please give me increased understanding and love for others; give me Your eyes for the people in my life...Your enlightenment into the very soul of others)

4.     What is “truth” in what was said/done to me, intended by You to make me better, and what is from the devil, meant to steal, kill and destroy (Jn. 10:10)?  To this end, Lord, will You help me identify and learn from these truths, yet at the same time, will You help me identify the lies and cast them to hell...never to be recalled to my mind again?

God does not delight in seeing us in pain, He delights in creating something new in us...a bubbling spring that now flows through us, and spills over onto souls around us. And when understanding and love are woven into the tapestry of lives around us, we get a taste of the mystery of God...and it makes us yearn for more.

Much love this week,                                              
Shaun and Betsy
P.S.: ~Think you’ll enjoy this art Betsy & I prepared for the current marriage series we’re doing at CCSB.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=WViN2yOEDhk 

Embracing Pain 10-18-10

"Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips... Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." Is. 6: 5-6

Upon seeing a vision of holy holy God, Isaiah became acutely troubled. Truth had made Isaiah acutely aware of his own wretched state. ~~And just as sun melts wax and hardens concrete, truth either compels or repels its recipient. For Isaiah, Truth was compelling. Scripture is silent about what exactly happened when the burning coal touched Isaiah’s mouth, but in our summation, that must have HURT!!!!

My Shaun and I were musing about this today as we continued to discuss a painful event that happened to us recently. (Many of you think we are always the Rock of Gibraltar...but no, we too shed tears.) As we mused about Isaiah’s story, we began to see this painful occurrence in our life as a “burning coal tool” that God wants to use to purify and mold us for His purposes (rather than a tool of Satan purposed to bring us down).  And although the process is heart wrenching, we are sorting out truths from lies, tossing the lies and learning from the truths. And as we avail ourselves to this cleansing process and seek God with all of our heart, the neat outcome is that God actually trusts us with more revelation of Himself and His ways.(1Cor.4: 1-2; Ps. 25:14; Jer.33:3; Heb.5:14) Pretty cool, huh?

So let’s get personal: What in your life is likened to a hot burning coal painfully touching your mouth?  What pain or thorn in your life could God be trying to use to purify you? (It “feels” like it’s from the devil, but it is actually from God who’s trying to get your attention.)

Yesterday, we kicked off a 5-week marriage series at Calvary Chapel SB. One of the topics discussed is the power of our words. Make no mistake, words are powerful. They have the ability to build up and to destroy. Check out these verses:

• Prv. 18:4 A person’s words can be life-giving water; words of true wisdom are as refreshing as a bubbling brook.
• Prv.12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
• Prv. 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 

Each of us is affected by words, both positively and negatively. But it’s the negative ones that bite and tear at us. Have you ever thought that with some hurtful words, perhaps God is trying to help us by using His holy sandpaper in our life to sand off our rough edges, in hopes that He can make us more compassionate, kind, and long-suffering? (And yet some of the negative words are from the pit, meant to harm us and need to be cast out of our minds WITHOUT DELAY...no dwelling on these lies!) If you’re experiencing a ‘war of words’ or the silent treatment with a spouse, family member, friend or boss, what might God allowing for His use and ultimate good in your life?

We can learn A LOT from this kind of introspection if we humble ourselves ask God these 2 questions: What is this pain I’m feeling teaching me about You, Your will and Your ways? And what in this pain are You trying to teach me about myself and how I relate to this world?

In addition to introspection, over the years Shaun and I have found a neat way of dealing with difficult topics that we’d love to share with you. When we find ourselves becoming a bit “too passionate” regarding a certain topic, we have disciplined ourselves to:
1) recognize quickly when we are functioning in the flesh (Jms.4:1-2; Prv. 29;11; 2 Cor.13:5; Eph.4:29-32)
2) then ‘step away from the heat’ for a mutual break to collect ourselves and to seek God individually (Jms, 3:17; 1Pet.5:7-8; Prv. 15:14)
3) later, pick a time and schedule a meeting...a mutually agreed upon time where we will come prayed up and prepared to discuss the difficult topic. (Prv. 26:20)
4) at this “meeting”, come together with a focused thankful heart towards one another, vocalizing some kind of praise to one another beforewe discuss the difficult topic (Ps.100:4)
5) discuss the topic asking God to direct our words. (Ps.139: 4; Gal.5:22; Jn.16:12)
6) and if there is still an impasse, seek 3rd party counsel. (Prv. 12:15; Prv.18: 15)

So, if we experience heartache, do you think it’s possible that God is allowing it to function as His divine “hot coal of cleansing” in our lives, to purify us as His chosen vessels? We do. Let’s choose embrace this cleansing and allow Jesus His way with us this week.

Much love this week,                            
Shaun and Betsy

The Freedom of Commitment!...not from commitment

The Freedom of Commitment!

Real Life 10-11-10

“He did it to teach you that people need more than bread for their life; real life comes by feeding on every word of the LORD.” Deut.8:3

Isaiah records that the people of his day were ‘ever-hearing’ but never understanding...’ever-seeing’, but never perceiving...hearts calloused, ears dull, eyes closed to truth. Likened to society today, they thought they were truly living life, when in fact they were truly missing it. Ever feel like you are “missing it” in this life?

~~We all have expectations for our lives, and as little kids we had starry-eyed hopes and dreams for our futures. But somewhere along the way, many of us have lost this wonder and hopeful expectancy. What’s happened?

Have you ever paused to think that Jesus has expectations for our lives? Starry-eyed hopes and dreams for each of us here and now? If so, what do you think they are? (Recall Eph. 2:10; 4:1)

My Shaun and I have once again been exhilarated by the word “life” this week, and what this has meant in our daily living through the years.  Take a look at these verses and promises that depict different meanings of the word “life”...perhaps you too will blessed as you meditate upon them!

“chay”: means reviving; active; flowing; fresh

• “Don't lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning.” Prv. 4:22
• “These instructions are not mere words--they are your life!” Deut.32:47
• "Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death.” Deut. 30:15
• "Yes, God often does these things for people. He rescues them from the grave so they may live in the light of the living.” Job 33:29-30
• “Fear of the Lord gives life, security, and protection from harm.” Prv. 19:23  

“chayah”: means to have life; sustain life; revive; preserve; continue in life; remain alive

• “Look now; I myself am He! There is no god other than Me! I am the one who kills and gives life; I am the one who wounds and heals; no one delivers from My power!” Deut. 32:39
• “LORD, sustain me as you promised, that I may live! Do not let my hope be crushed.” Ps.119:116
• “Leave your foolish ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise." Prv. 9:6
• “Come back to the LORD and live!” Amos 5:6
• "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith. Hab. 2:4

“zoe”: means absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs of God; an active, vigorous and blessed life, devoted to God

• “Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Jn. 1:4-5
• Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.” Jn. 6:35
• “You have shown me the way of life, and you will give me wonderful joy in your presence.” Acts 2:28
• “...if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.” Rom.8:6
• “The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” Jn. 10:10

What does this mean to us? In this life (from birth to death) we can have abundant life (a spanking new energizing life) as we look forward to eternal life with Christ, all because our Savior gave His life as a loving sacrifice to redeem us to Himself. ~~We each are God’s masterpiece, and as we get to know Jesus better and beseech Him to make us wise with spiritual wisdom, Christ’s divine power gives us understanding and everything we need for living a godly life. (Eph. 2:10, 2 Pet. 1:3 and Col. 1:9) In short, when we lean, glean and obey, God blesses our socks off!!!!

Who doesn’t desire more of this kind of life? So here’s the question: If we want more of this kind of life...how have our attitudes and actions lined up lately?

God bless you this week! ~And for those of you near Santa Barbara, please join us at CCSB this Sunday at 9am for “The Freedom of Commitment!” 5 week series!
Shaun and Betsy

For those of you near CCSB, please join us! (Singles welcome!)

Calm in the Storm 10-4-10

“God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear…” Ps 46:1-2
 

Distraught and exhausted, 14 yr old Shannon asked, “Mom, what are we going to do?” It was 11:15pm in NYC and we still did not have a place to lay our heads for the night. Our flight was cancelled, all hotels were booked and the airport terminal was closing at 1am.  As Mom responded, “Pray”, the phone rang. It was Shaun asking us what was happening. Answer: “We don’t know, God hasn’t shown us yet, but as long as I stay awake, we’ll be ok…”.

~~Enter God and divine encounter #1: An enthusiastic, “I FOUND one!” interrupted our phone conversation. Management had been working for 2 hours to find us a place to stay, and this manager had discovered a hotel room vacancy…but it was located in a very sketchy part of NYC. ~~What to do?...(A mom alone with her 14 yr. old daughter at midnight in a ‘NYC not-so-safe suburb’?)  We did some research and decided to trust this messenger’s lead. She called a cab and we were on our way.

Divine encounter # 2: Our cab driver emigrated from Ghana to the USA some years ago after witnessing the horrific event of seeing his bother decapitated by a drunk driver, and the subsequent lawlessness of the courts and governmental systems in his country. Intrigued by his peaceful presence, I asked Harr why he was not bitter… conversation ensued and ended with us sharing the Lord with Harr, and praying for salvation.

The next morning we awoke and went down for breakfast before heading back to the airport. Divine encounter #3: In the hotel lobby a couple from Nigeria caught our eye, and we struck up conversation. Lengthy story short, what resulted IS the answer to a 12 year prayer of ours. ~~Simply astounding.

Yes, God had personally engineered inconvenient and fearful circumstances for us to overcome so that He could lead us to a place that we would have never ventured to on our own, in order to bless us (all of us). Isn’t this so God?!  Is. 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

Amidst wearisome, daunting, intimidating, or difficult circumstances, God is trustworthy and faithful. ~What an awesome example we have in Job’s personal story. Staying faithful to his faithful God, even when circumstances and relationships demanded differently, Job declared, “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” Jb. 42:2   And in the end, God bestowed on him amazing blessings: “The Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before…The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first.” Jb 42:10,12.

Amidst our trials, may we follow Job’s example and pray like the psalmist, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. … My soul finds rest in God alone.” (Ps.28:7; Ps. 62:1)  This week let’s determine to face our fears and our unknowns in faith, beseeching and trusting God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength for the outcomes.

God bless you!Shaun and Betsy  

Tools in the Toolbox 9-20-10

“Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use yourwhole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God." Rom. 6:13

Have you figured out that living life in relationship is a constant struggle? 

• each of us is messed up to one degree or another
• add interpersonal relationship to the mix, and this struggle is exponentially magnified.   
• we all have differing capacities or “tools in our toolboxes”... Some folks have a full box and use their tools as a well-trained craftsman. Others have just the basics, a hammer, screw driver and exacto knife and try as they may (evil intent aside), they simply do not have the tools to obtain a precisioned result. Further, their cut finger bloodies the project and is followed by the inevitable blame game, “This wouldn’t have happened if YOU...!!!

So what do we do when we come into inevitable unresolved conflict/misunderstanding? Let’s take a look at the words “grace and mercy” (not doormat/enabler/co-dependent):

Mercy: (to show favor, pity, be gracious)
Gen. 19:19 “ "You have been so kind to me and saved my life, and you have granted me such mercy.”
Job 9:15 “Even if I were innocent, I would have no defense. I could only plead for mercy.”

Grace: (unmerited favor)
Gen. 6:7-8 “ So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
Rom. 6:14 “Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the law, which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God's grace.”

Inevitably, we all have significant relationships in our lives that have caused us unresolved pain. The question is, what to do with it? 

• Pass judgment actively in the form of anger/confrontation/gossip?
• Pass judgment passively, choosing to treat them as if they are dead, ‘dis-ing’ them as in a junior high power play?
• Extend mercy, meaning that we choose to discuss and agree to disagree, or agree to step over the offense?
• Or extend grace, meaning that we choose to not only step over the offense, but do our best to bless the our offender?

(Careful here...remember, passing judgment about someone else tells us a lot about the person making the judgment!)

When we have unresolved conflict, we can show mercy and pardon the actions/words that have caused us pain...but to go a step further and extend grace is God living and acting in and through us. Our flesh says, “No way! Maybe I can forgive that jerk, but look pain in the face, and give of myself, expecting nothing in return? That’s too HARD!...It’s so much easier to live in my boundary box of avoidance than it is to walk in love and utter dependence upon You, Jesus.”
God’s grace: His merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Jesus, keeps, strengthens, increases them in faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the godly virtues.

God’s example: Is. 60:10 "Foreigners will come to rebuild your cities. Kings and rulers will send you aid. For though I have destroyed you in my anger, I will have mercy on you through my grace.”  God leads us by example over and over and over again, all we have to do is grab onto His hand, humble ourselves and walk...is this tooooo hard?

God bless you,                      
Shaun and Betsy 

Big You, little me 9-13-10

David records for us in both 2 Sam. 22:31-37 and Ps. 18:30-36 that besides giving us His shield of protection, arming us with strength, training our hands for battle, and broadening the path beneath us to keep us twisting our ankles, God “stoops down” to make us great. What? ~~‘Big God’ stoops down to help, to strengthen, and to direct, to make ‘little us’ great?

“Stoops” actually means gentleness; clemency (mercy/compassion); humility; help. In essence, our author is acknowledging that it is though God’s gentle and compassionate help that he, David, experiences greatness.

God is great: “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom.” Ps.145:3

God made Samson great: “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle.” Jdg.14:19

God made Joshua great: “So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.” Josh.6:27

God made Saul great: “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.  Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.” 1 Sam. 10:6-7

God made David great: “In everything David did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. 1Sam. 18:14

God made Jesus great: “But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end...” Lk. 1:30-35

God makes us great: “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory.” Eph. 3:20-21 (This same power that raised Christ from the dead! Eph. 1:19-20) ~~And Jesus tells us that the Spirit “will guide you into all truth. He will not be presenting His own ideas; He will be telling you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring Me glory by revealing to you whatever He receives from Me.” Eph. 16:13-14

Why? Why would ‘Big God’ make ‘little us’ great? We’re told in the above verses...to bring HIMSELF glory.

Yet today, as with the disciples, ‘exaltation of self’ mentality sadly abounds: “And they began to argue among themselves as to who would be the greatest in the coming Kingdom.” Lk. 22:24   Oh, if only we will begin to comprehend the divine power that resides within us, and learn to pray and to rest in this power, rather than being so intent on making a name for ourselves. Confession: We Cleary folk have had to learn this principle the hard way...but in our “older age” at least we are learning. ~~And watching God at work in and through us, rather than us striving in our own strength, is just the coolest thing!

Yes, we live in complicated days, and they will only get more difficult until Jesus’ return. But check out this promise: "But then the court will pass judgment, and all his power (the antichrist's) will be taken away and completely destroyed. Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High (us). They will rule forever, and all rulers will serve and obey them." Dan. 7:26-27       Wow. Now this is greatness!!

Let’s serve Him with 100% devotion this week...He is so very worthy.

God bless you!Shaun and Betsy   

Faith vs. Emotion 9-7-10

“Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said, ‘You have so little faith! Why are you worried about...’” Matt. 16:8

God beckons us to listen and to trust in Him with all of our heart, and not to depend on our own limited understanding. Why? Because He knows that our hearts are amazingly deceitful and is doing His best to protect us from ourselves! (Jer. 17:9) Now, while we whole-heartedly agree with Him in theory, the question is this: ~When the rubber of our life hits the road of our life’s challenges, does our ideology actually hold up? ~Amidst life’s crucibles, do our choices and decisions originate from a foundation of faith or a foundation of feelings?


Contrary to our societal norm, in God’s economy, the life of an effective believer simply cannot be built on the foundation of our deceptive feelings. Likened to Isaiah’s day, people today live amidst a pleasure-crazy kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure. Their ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ cause them to turn away from God, claiming self-sufficiency and not being accountable to anyone. (Is. 47:8; 10) Oh, let this not be us! 
God promises that if we chose to seek His will in all we do that He will do things like:
(Prv. 3:4-5; Is. 48:17-18; Jer.17:7-8; Deut.28:1-14) 

• lead us, direct our paths, teach us what is good, bestow righteousness on us
• bless our coming in, our going out and everything we put our hand to
• give us peace like a flowing gentle river (not class-5 white water rapids)
• grow us like trees planted by the water (living without fear, always green and bearing fruit) 

In 2 Cor. 7:1, Paul exhorts us to reflect of these amazing promises, then purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for Him. As we do, God empowers and enables us to override our own negative thought life, emotions, and desires and replace them with His own. And eventually (as we train ourselves to live in Him ~1Tim. 4:7; Heb.5:14), our feelings do align with our faith choices, and ‘old-nature’ thoughts, emotions and desires actually become distasteful to us.

Personal example: Just this week, Shaun and I were discussing a person whom we “feel” wronged by. But rather than following our feelingswe’re choosing to follow God’s advice for us in Prv. 20:22 (“Don’t say, ‘I will get even for this wrong.’ Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.”) The bottom line for us? We are trusting God to handle this matter. The result? We are experiencing Peace reigning in our hearts and in our household, plus great joy in the anticipation of all that God is doing in and through us!        
Jesus, by His own example of surrendered obedience to His Father (including death on a cross for crimes He did not commit), shows us the way. What do you say we follow His lead this week?

Much love,                                         
Shaun and Betsy