“He will have no fear of bad new; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord His heart is secure, he will have no fear.”
Ps. 112:7-8a
Seems like there is so much bad news flying around these days…
… The X-rays show some suspicious spots on your lungs…
… Your flight has been cancelled…
… The position you were interested in is already filled…
… I’ve been having an affair…
… Sir, this is the hospital, your son…
Ps. 112:7-8 promises that I will have no fear of bad news and my heart will be secure because I trust in the Lord. But let’s look at this verse in reverse phraseology: When I have fear of bad news, my heart is NOT steadfast because I am NOT trusting in the Lord. My heart is insecure because of my lack of trust, and fear is the result.
Who really desires fear and insecurity? No one! Then why do we so often choose to trust in all but God, when tough circumstances arise?
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Ps. 37:5-6
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever; for the Lord is the Rock eternal.” Is. 26:3-4
"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him." Neh. 1:7
Let’s determine to trust Him with the obstacles thrown at us this week. As with any relationship, trust is developed when we work together.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Rockin' Relationships: Longing heart? 4-19-10
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Prov. 13:12
Ever felt the sting of Mick Jagger’s words, “I can’t get no satisfaction!” and have they resonated deep within? Well, sooner or later every believer is confronted with this soul satisfaction dilemma. Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us to our own devices, but personally provides the enduring answer as He "satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Ps. 107:9
So how do we get to this place fulfilled longings? Let’s take a look at this cyclic progression:
Recognize our need: First, we must recognize our true need, reject the world’s message, and go to God with our longings! “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” Is. 33:2
Realign our Priorities: Remember the ole’ adage, ‘we can lead a horse to water, but we can’t make him drink’? Maybe we can’t make him drink, BUT we CAN salt his oats! ~~We can do things that simulate our thirst & longing for GOD. One thing we’ve found that can really stoke the fire of desire for God is being in an environment of worship and intimate fellowship. When is the last time you went to a Christian concert or retreat? “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Ps 63:1
Have a Vision of our Future: ~~ Sick and tired of being sick and tired? Found any new wrinkles or gray hairs? Any new aches & pains? Lost anyone close lately? Do we have a clear cut picture of what heaven will really be like? The greatest place on earth is a cesspool in comparison! “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.” 1Cor. 5:2
Trust God’s “Stimulus Package” for our Spiritual Economy :
“…the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, longs for us to be faithful.” Jam. 4:5 God places His Spirit inside each of us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us, possessively empowering each of us to live a life worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and His calling upon us.
“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.” Is. 30:18 God fashioned us for Himself. He is our Abba daddy and intimately knows every thought in our minds, every cell in our bodies, and every move we will ever make. He longs to be known by us, to shower His blessings upon us and to one day take us as His bride to paradise forever.
We pray a ‘longing fulfilled’ for each of you this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Ever felt the sting of Mick Jagger’s words, “I can’t get no satisfaction!” and have they resonated deep within? Well, sooner or later every believer is confronted with this soul satisfaction dilemma. Thankfully, God doesn’t leave us to our own devices, but personally provides the enduring answer as He "satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.” Ps. 107:9
So how do we get to this place fulfilled longings? Let’s take a look at this cyclic progression:
Recognize our need: First, we must recognize our true need, reject the world’s message, and go to God with our longings! “O Lord, be gracious to us; we long for You. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.” Is. 33:2
Realign our Priorities: Remember the ole’ adage, ‘we can lead a horse to water, but we can’t make him drink’? Maybe we can’t make him drink, BUT we CAN salt his oats! ~~We can do things that simulate our thirst & longing for GOD. One thing we’ve found that can really stoke the fire of desire for God is being in an environment of worship and intimate fellowship. When is the last time you went to a Christian concert or retreat? “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Ps 63:1
Have a Vision of our Future: ~~ Sick and tired of being sick and tired? Found any new wrinkles or gray hairs? Any new aches & pains? Lost anyone close lately? Do we have a clear cut picture of what heaven will really be like? The greatest place on earth is a cesspool in comparison! “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.” 1Cor. 5:2
Trust God’s “Stimulus Package” for our Spiritual Economy :
“…the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, longs for us to be faithful.” Jam. 4:5 God places His Spirit inside each of us. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us, possessively empowering each of us to live a life worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and His calling upon us.
“The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.” Is. 30:18 God fashioned us for Himself. He is our Abba daddy and intimately knows every thought in our minds, every cell in our bodies, and every move we will ever make. He longs to be known by us, to shower His blessings upon us and to one day take us as His bride to paradise forever.
We pray a ‘longing fulfilled’ for each of you this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Monday, April 12, 2010
Life of power and peace 4-12-10
“…do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Matt. 10:19-20
Just as Jesus prepared His disciples, He prepares us…by His own example. Jesus didn’t worry about His future or about accusations from legalistic foes, but instead chose to stay focused on God and God’s mission for Him. Jesus remained steadfast in intimate fellowship with God, and ministered to the folks who needed Him, regardless of what the effect of their slanderous remarks had on His personal reputation.
In the same way, through His Spirit in us, Jesus beckons us to remain steadfast. Steadfast in our intimate fellowship time with Himself, steadfast in the unique call He has placed on our life, and steadfast in loving ministry towards others who need a touch of God through us. God desires His light to shine with power through each of our lives. He wants to illuminate the darkness through each of us, in our unique areas of influence. And it breaks our Lord’s heart when He witnesses one of His beloved kids (us) succumbing to outside pressures or internal insecurities.
The psalmist in Ps. 119:161 exclaims that he diligently chooses to keep his heart tenderly in awe of God’s Word, despite the fact that his peers persecute him without cause. To me, this scenario likened to present day bible teacher, Beth Moore’s judgmental foes. I am so proud of Beth. ~ Despite negative opposition from legalist peers, she persistently seeks God’s will in her life, wholeheartedly and relentlessly avails herself to be refined and molded in God’s hands, and then acts upon what she believes God is calling and directing her to act upon, rather than succumbing to other believers agendas for her.
Remember, it’s a whole lot easier to live within a ‘legalistic rule box’, than it is to live in the ‘Lord’s freedom box’ which necessitates incessant comprehensive dependence upon God. So the first question is, when living for God, do we desire “easy” or do we desire God’s best for us?
The next question is, how are we doing in relating these principles to our own personal life callings? ~~ How do we conduct ourselves with our unsaved spouse? With a rebellious kid or relative? With our believing but legalistic employer who judges every breath we take? ~~ Do we succumb to internal and external pressures or do we, with the psalmist, choose to keep our hearts tender before God, and draw our strength, wisdom, guidance and peace from Him?
Do we, like Jesus, remain steadfast in intimate fellowship with God and minister to lives in our sphere of influence who need a touch from God, regardless of the effect other peoples slanderous remarks may have on our hearts and our personal reputations?
If the answer is yes, then we truly are living by God’s power flowing through us, and we don’t have to be concerned about outcomes. For if we have done/said (or not done/said) as God leads us, we have peace knowing that we’ve done what He’s asked, and HE’s in charge of the results. This is a life of power and peace, freedom and joy. And this is the life that our Lord offers to each of us.
Blessings this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Just as Jesus prepared His disciples, He prepares us…by His own example. Jesus didn’t worry about His future or about accusations from legalistic foes, but instead chose to stay focused on God and God’s mission for Him. Jesus remained steadfast in intimate fellowship with God, and ministered to the folks who needed Him, regardless of what the effect of their slanderous remarks had on His personal reputation.
In the same way, through His Spirit in us, Jesus beckons us to remain steadfast. Steadfast in our intimate fellowship time with Himself, steadfast in the unique call He has placed on our life, and steadfast in loving ministry towards others who need a touch of God through us. God desires His light to shine with power through each of our lives. He wants to illuminate the darkness through each of us, in our unique areas of influence. And it breaks our Lord’s heart when He witnesses one of His beloved kids (us) succumbing to outside pressures or internal insecurities.
The psalmist in Ps. 119:161 exclaims that he diligently chooses to keep his heart tenderly in awe of God’s Word, despite the fact that his peers persecute him without cause. To me, this scenario likened to present day bible teacher, Beth Moore’s judgmental foes. I am so proud of Beth. ~ Despite negative opposition from legalist peers, she persistently seeks God’s will in her life, wholeheartedly and relentlessly avails herself to be refined and molded in God’s hands, and then acts upon what she believes God is calling and directing her to act upon, rather than succumbing to other believers agendas for her.
Remember, it’s a whole lot easier to live within a ‘legalistic rule box’, than it is to live in the ‘Lord’s freedom box’ which necessitates incessant comprehensive dependence upon God. So the first question is, when living for God, do we desire “easy” or do we desire God’s best for us?
The next question is, how are we doing in relating these principles to our own personal life callings? ~~ How do we conduct ourselves with our unsaved spouse? With a rebellious kid or relative? With our believing but legalistic employer who judges every breath we take? ~~ Do we succumb to internal and external pressures or do we, with the psalmist, choose to keep our hearts tender before God, and draw our strength, wisdom, guidance and peace from Him?
Do we, like Jesus, remain steadfast in intimate fellowship with God and minister to lives in our sphere of influence who need a touch from God, regardless of the effect other peoples slanderous remarks may have on our hearts and our personal reputations?
If the answer is yes, then we truly are living by God’s power flowing through us, and we don’t have to be concerned about outcomes. For if we have done/said (or not done/said) as God leads us, we have peace knowing that we’ve done what He’s asked, and HE’s in charge of the results. This is a life of power and peace, freedom and joy. And this is the life that our Lord offers to each of us.
Blessings this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Love Capacity Increase 3-5-10
“A wise man will hear and increase learning.” Prov.1:5
Philippians 1:9-11 tells us that as our love abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, we will be able to discern what is best, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus. What is meant by ‘the fruit of righteousness’? Is. 32:17 tells us, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”
~~~ Love, knowledge, insight, distinguishing God’s best plus being filled with peace, quietness and confidence during this life and forevermore…who wouldn’t want more of these?
Throughout Scripture, God appears to be sharing with us that as our capacity for understanding our Lord and His ways increases, our capacity to understand others in our lives also increases.
Let’s illustrate and put this concept in context of a typical stereotypic marriage relationship:
We have a wife who’s ‘a talker’, and her husband has very little capacity to listen to her (especially at the end of a busy day). As this husband grows in his relationship with the Lord, he will grow in his love for his wife, and he will actually grow in his capacity to care about the things that concern her. Now, he may never match her capacity in this area, but his capacity grows.(And hopefully she too begins to understand his 'lesser capacity' in this area and out of love for him make adjustments in herself.)
Likewise, let’s say we have a husband who desires more physical intimacy than his wife. As his wife grows in her relationship with the Lord, she will grow in her capacity to truly care about the needs and desires of her man. Now, she may never match his capacity for intimacy, but her capacity grows. (And hopefully he will begin to understand her lesser capacity in this area and out of love for her, make adjustments in himself.)
As our love relationship with the Lord grows, regardless of what other relationships involved do or don’t do, all benefit. (And it works with all our relationships…kids, family, friends, and even enemies. Try it!)
God bless you this week,
Shaun and Betsy
Philippians 1:9-11 tells us that as our love abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, we will be able to discern what is best, and be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus. What is meant by ‘the fruit of righteousness’? Is. 32:17 tells us, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.”
~~~ Love, knowledge, insight, distinguishing God’s best plus being filled with peace, quietness and confidence during this life and forevermore…who wouldn’t want more of these?
Throughout Scripture, God appears to be sharing with us that as our capacity for understanding our Lord and His ways increases, our capacity to understand others in our lives also increases.
Let’s illustrate and put this concept in context of a typical stereotypic marriage relationship:
We have a wife who’s ‘a talker’, and her husband has very little capacity to listen to her (especially at the end of a busy day). As this husband grows in his relationship with the Lord, he will grow in his love for his wife, and he will actually grow in his capacity to care about the things that concern her. Now, he may never match her capacity in this area, but his capacity grows.(And hopefully she too begins to understand his 'lesser capacity' in this area and out of love for him make adjustments in herself.)
Likewise, let’s say we have a husband who desires more physical intimacy than his wife. As his wife grows in her relationship with the Lord, she will grow in her capacity to truly care about the needs and desires of her man. Now, she may never match his capacity for intimacy, but her capacity grows. (And hopefully he will begin to understand her lesser capacity in this area and out of love for her, make adjustments in himself.)
As our love relationship with the Lord grows, regardless of what other relationships involved do or don’t do, all benefit. (And it works with all our relationships…kids, family, friends, and even enemies. Try it!)
God bless you this week,
Shaun and Betsy
The unfolding of Your words gives light 3-29-10
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” Ps 119:130
Living life is tricky. We each have our own histories to learn from, vices to conquer, and stories to live. And although some life stories are filled with more challenges than others, we each have equal access to God, and the power He offers.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29 “The Lord confides those who fear Him.” Ps 25:14 When each of us comes to the end of our talented selves, and stand in utter dependence before the Lord, He reveals to us the true intents of His heart in a way we can personally grasp them.
“When the student is ready, the teacher shows up.” ~~ Our Lord does not carelessly toss His truths before us, but instead waits until we are ready to enter into His presence and fellowship. Then, He illuminates truths to us in a way we can recognize them, then internalize them, implement them into our lives, and safeguard them in our hearts.
This week, we have received some especially difficult life questions from some of you. Questions that are not easily answered, but questions that must be “walked through” with God (and sometimes with the help of a godly counselor). And it is in this “walking though” process that so many of us become discouraged, short sighted, and fatigued, as we are taunted by the devil, conflicted by our own sin natures, and regretfully give in to what we KNOW to be against God’s best for us.
It is in these trickier “walk though” times that the KISS principle reigns supreme in our personal lives: ”Keep it simple stupid.” (For just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, all too often we regretfully find that our minds are also somehow led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2Cor. 11:3)
2 Scriptures in particular have been an excellent practical guide for us in navigating “tricky” areas (1Cor. 6:12 and 1Cor. 10:23-24). In a nutshell, these verses together tell us that everything is permissible for us (except what God specifically says are a “no-no” in Scripture), BUT not everything is beneficial or constructive, and we are not to be mastered by anything.
In marriage this equation looks something like this:
· Beneficial: is what I/we “do/say” edifying to my spouse/ myself/ and is it drawing us closer together/apart, and closer to/further from God? Does it pull a negative “trigger” for either me or my spouse? (If so, don’t do/say it!)
· Constructive: is what I “do/say” constructive to my spouse, myself, my relationship with God and my marriage? Or is it destructive to any or all? (If it’s detrimental, don’t do/say it!)
· Mastered: What “controls” me? Is it godly? Does it draw me closer to or further from God? Closer or further from my spouse? (Lord, help me do the next right thing.)
Contrary to public opinion, God is NOT some cosmic kill-joy. He gives us such freedom and creativity, and tells us to go for it, enjoy it fully, and live life abundantly!
We promise you will NEVER be bored again. God bless you this week as you draw near to Him.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Living life is tricky. We each have our own histories to learn from, vices to conquer, and stories to live. And although some life stories are filled with more challenges than others, we each have equal access to God, and the power He offers.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29 “The Lord confides those who fear Him.” Ps 25:14 When each of us comes to the end of our talented selves, and stand in utter dependence before the Lord, He reveals to us the true intents of His heart in a way we can personally grasp them.
“When the student is ready, the teacher shows up.” ~~ Our Lord does not carelessly toss His truths before us, but instead waits until we are ready to enter into His presence and fellowship. Then, He illuminates truths to us in a way we can recognize them, then internalize them, implement them into our lives, and safeguard them in our hearts.
This week, we have received some especially difficult life questions from some of you. Questions that are not easily answered, but questions that must be “walked through” with God (and sometimes with the help of a godly counselor). And it is in this “walking though” process that so many of us become discouraged, short sighted, and fatigued, as we are taunted by the devil, conflicted by our own sin natures, and regretfully give in to what we KNOW to be against God’s best for us.
It is in these trickier “walk though” times that the KISS principle reigns supreme in our personal lives: ”Keep it simple stupid.” (For just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, all too often we regretfully find that our minds are also somehow led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2Cor. 11:3)
2 Scriptures in particular have been an excellent practical guide for us in navigating “tricky” areas (1Cor. 6:12 and 1Cor. 10:23-24). In a nutshell, these verses together tell us that everything is permissible for us (except what God specifically says are a “no-no” in Scripture), BUT not everything is beneficial or constructive, and we are not to be mastered by anything.
In marriage this equation looks something like this:
· Beneficial: is what I/we “do/say” edifying to my spouse/ myself/ and is it drawing us closer together/apart, and closer to/further from God? Does it pull a negative “trigger” for either me or my spouse? (If so, don’t do/say it!)
· Constructive: is what I “do/say” constructive to my spouse, myself, my relationship with God and my marriage? Or is it destructive to any or all? (If it’s detrimental, don’t do/say it!)
· Mastered: What “controls” me? Is it godly? Does it draw me closer to or further from God? Closer or further from my spouse? (Lord, help me do the next right thing.)
Contrary to public opinion, God is NOT some cosmic kill-joy. He gives us such freedom and creativity, and tells us to go for it, enjoy it fully, and live life abundantly!
We promise you will NEVER be bored again. God bless you this week as you draw near to Him.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Chastening or Love? 3-22-10
“Deal with your servant according to Your loving-kindness.” Ps. 119:124
Sometimes our behaviors and stinkin’ thinking necessitates a spanking to chasten us back on to the right path. But more often than not, when our hearts are supple towards God, He chooses to use His loving-kindness to ‘woo’ us back in step with Him instead of swatting us back in line. And don’t we all desire this kind of “dealing”?
We’ve found this same principle works in interpersonal relationships. Use me for example. When I’ve been a booger-head towards Shaun, it is not his chastening that most effectively alters my behaviors and attitudes, but it is his loving-kindness towards me in spite of my offensiveness that ushers in constructive outcomes and positive behavior/attitude adjustments. Although I may need a periodic ‘spanking’, I respond best to Shaun when he chooses not to return tit for tat, but instead, chooses to be the bigger person and love me in spite of my momentary ugliness or hormonal impulses. For it is through Shaun’s demonstrated Christ-like loving that GOD gets my attention, and changes me from the inside.
Now, this doesn’t mean that Shaun is some kind of mousy doormat who stuffs his feelings for fear of rocking the marriage boat. No, Shaun is very well equipped to transparently share with his wife the pains of his heart and the negative sensations he is experiencing from her. And he is also a man of God who is not afraid of allowing GOD to be the enforcer, instead of taking control himself to change his wife’s poor behaviors and attitudes.
Just as Jesus ‘chose not to entrust Himself to man’ (Jn. 2:24), but ‘instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly’ (1Pet. 2:23), we are wise to do the same. Entrust means to give oneself over to another and to commit to this another in confidence. In relationship, we’d be wise to use Christ’s own example and draw others to God (and godly behavior/attitudes) through our love, instead of returning ‘tit for tat’, or seeking personal justice.
In other words, with prudence share our thoughts and concerns with another, then allow God to be the enforcer and the aggregate for change.
Have a great week. And please join us for our final week of "Marriage on the Rock (not rocks)" as we discuss COMMUNICATION this Sunday at Calvary Chapel SB. (We promise you will LOVE IT, skits and all!)
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Sometimes our behaviors and stinkin’ thinking necessitates a spanking to chasten us back on to the right path. But more often than not, when our hearts are supple towards God, He chooses to use His loving-kindness to ‘woo’ us back in step with Him instead of swatting us back in line. And don’t we all desire this kind of “dealing”?
We’ve found this same principle works in interpersonal relationships. Use me for example. When I’ve been a booger-head towards Shaun, it is not his chastening that most effectively alters my behaviors and attitudes, but it is his loving-kindness towards me in spite of my offensiveness that ushers in constructive outcomes and positive behavior/attitude adjustments. Although I may need a periodic ‘spanking’, I respond best to Shaun when he chooses not to return tit for tat, but instead, chooses to be the bigger person and love me in spite of my momentary ugliness or hormonal impulses. For it is through Shaun’s demonstrated Christ-like loving that GOD gets my attention, and changes me from the inside.
Now, this doesn’t mean that Shaun is some kind of mousy doormat who stuffs his feelings for fear of rocking the marriage boat. No, Shaun is very well equipped to transparently share with his wife the pains of his heart and the negative sensations he is experiencing from her. And he is also a man of God who is not afraid of allowing GOD to be the enforcer, instead of taking control himself to change his wife’s poor behaviors and attitudes.
Just as Jesus ‘chose not to entrust Himself to man’ (Jn. 2:24), but ‘instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly’ (1Pet. 2:23), we are wise to do the same. Entrust means to give oneself over to another and to commit to this another in confidence. In relationship, we’d be wise to use Christ’s own example and draw others to God (and godly behavior/attitudes) through our love, instead of returning ‘tit for tat’, or seeking personal justice.
In other words, with prudence share our thoughts and concerns with another, then allow God to be the enforcer and the aggregate for change.
Have a great week. And please join us for our final week of "Marriage on the Rock (not rocks)" as we discuss COMMUNICATION this Sunday at Calvary Chapel SB. (We promise you will LOVE IT, skits and all!)
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Spiritual worrier or Spiritual WARRIOR? 3-15-10
“Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever mine…I have more insight than all my teachers…I understand more than the aged…I have restrained my feet from every evil way…for You Yourself have taught me.” Ps. 119:98-102
Despite his afflicted state, the psalmist in Ps. 119 repeatedly tells us that God’s words give him a sweet richness to his life, more wisdom than his enemies, more insight than all his teachers, more understanding than the aged, plus an internal strength to walk in righteousness.
Now, what believer in his right mind would NOT take advantage of these kinds of benefits?
One who truly does not believe to the core of their being, that’s who. For if we truly believe God at His Word (believe wholeheartedly that what He says is so), and not to our own limited understanding of His Word (leaning to our own limited understanding or fears), He comes through on His promises 100% of the time.
Well, God chose to test Betsy on this very thing, vacillating faith, this past week. And as Ps. 119:105-112 describes, I thankfully passed ‘the test’ and got to experience God personally revive me with His Word, then guide me, teach me, protect me (and my loved ones), and impart inexpressible joy to my heart. ~~ Now, I would like to say that my conviction never waivered, but that would be a lie…for fear gripped my heart as one of our sons struggled to come out from under general anesthesia Friday evening. You see, it was Conner’s 2nd surgery under general anesthesia in 8 days. (And both administered with enough “juice” to bring down a small elephant… so the docs tell us. And at 6’61/2” 240lbs, I suppose our 17 yr. old Conner John is a small elephant!)
Last Friday, when Conner was to be in surgery at 1pm, in recovery by 2pm, and home by 3pm, you can only imagine my thoughts when by 6pm Shaun was still not able to see Conner in the recovery room. (Regretfully yes, my imaginations started to run wild…but thankfully I caught myself relatively early as I sat down by the creek in our yard and poured out my heart to the Lord. 2Cor. 10:5) In my tears, I reminded God of the promises He had given me in our intimate time together recently. And in faith I chose to believe these promises, and not listen to my fears.
(Oh yeah, in addition to this scenario, I was having difficulty shaking a most disturbing dream that I’d had the night before. In the short version of this dream, I stood near a cliff side and watched in horror as Conner and Shaun were swept away by large torrent of water while rock climbing…~people were wailing over their dead loved ones…~I looked to my left hand and my wedding bands were missing…~Conner and Shaun no where to be found…~~~ Eventually, both Conner and Shaun were recovered, quite battered, but alive; and my wedding bands were found. Now back to reality:
In His perfect timing (and sense of humor), God also chose to send my amazing 4’11” kick-butt NYC all-heart dear girlfriend, Mary, to stay with us during this unscheduled surgery. And as I met her in tears around the 6 o’clock hour Friday evening, her NYC accented response went something like this: “What the F? Get in the car; we’re going down to the hospital!”… Perhaps not “God language”, but it was definitely God speaking straight to Betsy in the only way I was able to clearly “get” God’s multifaceted message to me!
Long story short, it’s now 3 days post-op, and Conner is doing well. And our family has been blessed beyond measure as we’ve been privileged to watch God work with such a tangible presence in and through our lives this week. ~~ And He will do the same for you.
Have an amazing week as we each seek Him daily, and walk with Him through the practicalities of our own lives! Join us this Sunday for the 3rd of 4 sessions of “Marriage on the Rock (not rocks)”; it’s been a blast for both married and singles.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Despite his afflicted state, the psalmist in Ps. 119 repeatedly tells us that God’s words give him a sweet richness to his life, more wisdom than his enemies, more insight than all his teachers, more understanding than the aged, plus an internal strength to walk in righteousness.
Now, what believer in his right mind would NOT take advantage of these kinds of benefits?
One who truly does not believe to the core of their being, that’s who. For if we truly believe God at His Word (believe wholeheartedly that what He says is so), and not to our own limited understanding of His Word (leaning to our own limited understanding or fears), He comes through on His promises 100% of the time.
Well, God chose to test Betsy on this very thing, vacillating faith, this past week. And as Ps. 119:105-112 describes, I thankfully passed ‘the test’ and got to experience God personally revive me with His Word, then guide me, teach me, protect me (and my loved ones), and impart inexpressible joy to my heart. ~~ Now, I would like to say that my conviction never waivered, but that would be a lie…for fear gripped my heart as one of our sons struggled to come out from under general anesthesia Friday evening. You see, it was Conner’s 2nd surgery under general anesthesia in 8 days. (And both administered with enough “juice” to bring down a small elephant… so the docs tell us. And at 6’61/2” 240lbs, I suppose our 17 yr. old Conner John is a small elephant!)
Last Friday, when Conner was to be in surgery at 1pm, in recovery by 2pm, and home by 3pm, you can only imagine my thoughts when by 6pm Shaun was still not able to see Conner in the recovery room. (Regretfully yes, my imaginations started to run wild…but thankfully I caught myself relatively early as I sat down by the creek in our yard and poured out my heart to the Lord. 2Cor. 10:5) In my tears, I reminded God of the promises He had given me in our intimate time together recently. And in faith I chose to believe these promises, and not listen to my fears.
(Oh yeah, in addition to this scenario, I was having difficulty shaking a most disturbing dream that I’d had the night before. In the short version of this dream, I stood near a cliff side and watched in horror as Conner and Shaun were swept away by large torrent of water while rock climbing…~people were wailing over their dead loved ones…~I looked to my left hand and my wedding bands were missing…~Conner and Shaun no where to be found…~~~ Eventually, both Conner and Shaun were recovered, quite battered, but alive; and my wedding bands were found. Now back to reality:
In His perfect timing (and sense of humor), God also chose to send my amazing 4’11” kick-butt NYC all-heart dear girlfriend, Mary, to stay with us during this unscheduled surgery. And as I met her in tears around the 6 o’clock hour Friday evening, her NYC accented response went something like this: “What the F? Get in the car; we’re going down to the hospital!”… Perhaps not “God language”, but it was definitely God speaking straight to Betsy in the only way I was able to clearly “get” God’s multifaceted message to me!
Long story short, it’s now 3 days post-op, and Conner is doing well. And our family has been blessed beyond measure as we’ve been privileged to watch God work with such a tangible presence in and through our lives this week. ~~ And He will do the same for you.
Have an amazing week as we each seek Him daily, and walk with Him through the practicalities of our own lives! Join us this Sunday for the 3rd of 4 sessions of “Marriage on the Rock (not rocks)”; it’s been a blast for both married and singles.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
In conflict, His way or my way? 3-8-10
“The arrogant have dug pits for me, men who are not in accord with Your law. All Your commandments are faithful; they have persecuted me with a lie; help me! Revive me according to Your loving-kindness, so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” Ps. 119:85-88
Persecutions come in 2 forms…those based on truth, and those based on a lie. Most often, persecutions based on truth have heart outcomes sounding something like this: “This hurts, Lord! But although it hurts to be misunderstood, I know that I am doing the right thing. Even though my personal reputation is being temporarily tarnished, people will see YOUR glory regardless of what they think of me or whether or not they believe in You.” Conversely, persecutions based on lies generally have outcomes sounding something like this, “Lord, good people believe this lie, and it tarnishes not only my own reputation, but YOUR glory and YOUR reputation is also being blemished.”
Do we see the significant difference? In the first scenario, God’s glory goes forth regardless, but in the second scenario, God’s reputation is tarnished. ~~Although this psalmist says his soul is languishing, his eyes are failing with longing for righteousness, and he is feeling “shriveled and good for nothing, like a wineskin in smoke”, he does not forget or forsake God in a weak moment. Instead, he pays careful attention to how he is responding to persecutions and chooses to stay consistently faithful. ~~ Can we say the same thing for ourselves when we find ourselves in a heated moment? How we respond tells us a lot about our personal walk with (or without) Jesus.
This palmist, in addition to his consistent choice of faithfulness, shows us just how he does it … when the heat is on. (Real life stuff, no theory here!) First, he recognizes his emotional state, then he freely and transparently admits it (even though it could be perceived as weak) and goes to God with it (rather than one of his friends). Next, he lays out his heart transparently before his Maker, and uses God’s own promises to lay back before God Almighty (i.e.: “You say in Your Word that You are always faithful, that You are the lifter of my soul, that You are the avenger of wrongs done to me, etc.).
The question is, do we follow this example? Or do we go to our own temperamental understanding when things get heated? ~~Well, wouldn’t you know it, within a day of studying this portion of Scripture, God chose to test Betsy with just this kind of scenario. ~~In short, a very abrasive woman came up to me and forcefully “asked” me for an immediate favor. I appraised the situation and told her that I would love to help her the rest of the day, but would be unavailable for the next 40 minutes. At this she “went vocal” in a very public manner, shaming me and my family for our lack of being team players. My response? Rather than get heated myself, I chose to believe that something most likely had got the better of her (like PMSing?), and stepped over the offense. Two hours later, she passed by me in the company of friends and shot another slighted comment across my bow. Still I chose to step over the offense. (Pro. 19:11 “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook and offense.” Pro. 29: 11 “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”)
She continued with back handed moves, and I recognized that this was now something that had to be addressed. I waited until a time when she and I were alone and again apologized for not meeting her expectations, and shared with her why I was unable to jump at her request immediately. At this she flew off the handle, stated her mind, and with a loud laugh, turned her back and walked off towards her friends. ~~~ “Ok….Lord, what to do/not to do now? This is like being back in junior high!” I thought.
Well, days have passed, I’ve poured over Scripture, availed myself to God’s promptings, and now rest in knowing that God will handle the situation and guide Shaun and me as stuff transpires. Our personal reputation is His to uphold…and by not returning tit for tat, but taking the ‘high road’ as best we can so that His glory goes forth. (Oh, what a freeing feeling! For I’ve found that when I have tried to stand up for my own reputation in the face of lies, it has the opposite effect and actually makes me appear guilty.)
So whatever interpersonal relationship may have you in knots this week, draw close to the “Master of Relationship”, and He will guide you.
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
Persecutions come in 2 forms…those based on truth, and those based on a lie. Most often, persecutions based on truth have heart outcomes sounding something like this: “This hurts, Lord! But although it hurts to be misunderstood, I know that I am doing the right thing. Even though my personal reputation is being temporarily tarnished, people will see YOUR glory regardless of what they think of me or whether or not they believe in You.” Conversely, persecutions based on lies generally have outcomes sounding something like this, “Lord, good people believe this lie, and it tarnishes not only my own reputation, but YOUR glory and YOUR reputation is also being blemished.”
Do we see the significant difference? In the first scenario, God’s glory goes forth regardless, but in the second scenario, God’s reputation is tarnished. ~~Although this psalmist says his soul is languishing, his eyes are failing with longing for righteousness, and he is feeling “shriveled and good for nothing, like a wineskin in smoke”, he does not forget or forsake God in a weak moment. Instead, he pays careful attention to how he is responding to persecutions and chooses to stay consistently faithful. ~~ Can we say the same thing for ourselves when we find ourselves in a heated moment? How we respond tells us a lot about our personal walk with (or without) Jesus.
This palmist, in addition to his consistent choice of faithfulness, shows us just how he does it … when the heat is on. (Real life stuff, no theory here!) First, he recognizes his emotional state, then he freely and transparently admits it (even though it could be perceived as weak) and goes to God with it (rather than one of his friends). Next, he lays out his heart transparently before his Maker, and uses God’s own promises to lay back before God Almighty (i.e.: “You say in Your Word that You are always faithful, that You are the lifter of my soul, that You are the avenger of wrongs done to me, etc.).
The question is, do we follow this example? Or do we go to our own temperamental understanding when things get heated? ~~Well, wouldn’t you know it, within a day of studying this portion of Scripture, God chose to test Betsy with just this kind of scenario. ~~In short, a very abrasive woman came up to me and forcefully “asked” me for an immediate favor. I appraised the situation and told her that I would love to help her the rest of the day, but would be unavailable for the next 40 minutes. At this she “went vocal” in a very public manner, shaming me and my family for our lack of being team players. My response? Rather than get heated myself, I chose to believe that something most likely had got the better of her (like PMSing?), and stepped over the offense. Two hours later, she passed by me in the company of friends and shot another slighted comment across my bow. Still I chose to step over the offense. (Pro. 19:11 “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook and offense.” Pro. 29: 11 “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.”)
She continued with back handed moves, and I recognized that this was now something that had to be addressed. I waited until a time when she and I were alone and again apologized for not meeting her expectations, and shared with her why I was unable to jump at her request immediately. At this she flew off the handle, stated her mind, and with a loud laugh, turned her back and walked off towards her friends. ~~~ “Ok….Lord, what to do/not to do now? This is like being back in junior high!” I thought.
Well, days have passed, I’ve poured over Scripture, availed myself to God’s promptings, and now rest in knowing that God will handle the situation and guide Shaun and me as stuff transpires. Our personal reputation is His to uphold…and by not returning tit for tat, but taking the ‘high road’ as best we can so that His glory goes forth. (Oh, what a freeing feeling! For I’ve found that when I have tried to stand up for my own reputation in the face of lies, it has the opposite effect and actually makes me appear guilty.)
So whatever interpersonal relationship may have you in knots this week, draw close to the “Master of Relationship”, and He will guide you.
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
Living out the eternal love story here and now 3-1-10
“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude; like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready.’” Rev. 19:8 “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev. 22:17
Have you ever considered the fact that Genesis begins with a wedding and Revelation ends with one? The entire Bible is about one thing…Jesus getting a bride for Himself.
In Genesis, God created man in His own image…Surprisingly, our all-sufficient God appears to be in desperate need of relationship, in need of an intimate ‘know and be known’ kind of relationship. In all of God’s creative work during this significant week of history, what was the first thing that God said was not good? ~~That man was alone. So what did God do? ~~He made Adam a woman! …God took one of Adams ribs and fashioned a perfect companion for him. God made Adam this perfect Eve companion, and then married the 2 of them.
Similarly, God designed His own bride-to-be when He created mankind (Gen. 1:26-27), and He is waiting to marry her real soon. (Ohhhh, what a wedding, reception and honeymoon this will be!!! ~~The ultimate marriage and eternal love story.)
But tragically in society today, where feelings take precedent over promises, marriage holds little esteem. Satan has effectively duped most all of us into believing that the marriage institution itself is no big deal. And the biggest travesty is that most believers continue to buy into this Satanic deception and choose to embrace the smaller ‘marriage story of ourselves and our little worlds’ over seeing our marriage unions as a picture of THE ETERNAL LOVE STORY. ~~From Genesis to Revelation, all God does is woo His bride to Himself….over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Oh, how He loves us; if only we could grasp just how much.
Herein lays the root problem: Whether married or single, at our individual cores, we don’t truly believe and trust that God is who He says He is. And our belief/trust (or lack of belief/trust) in God and who He says He is affects everything else in this life. The psalmist in Ps. 119:66 shares, “Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.” This man has a resolute desire for God to impart to him His discernment and knowledge instead of choosing to be the captain of his own ship. ~~ The psalmist desires God’s full blessing on his life (the big picture), and understands that this decision comes with a cost: death to self (the little picture…that appears so big). ~~An alien concept in our society today.
What do you say, married or single, let’s “get alien”, die to self and choose today to ready ourselves for our soon coming Bridegroom. Let’s set aside t-i-m-e with God, and ask Him to show us where our views/outlooks can be tweaked and be more aligned with His truths. Our world is in desperate need for true believers to take a courageous stand and to live fully for Jesus in wholehearted devotion.
“Lord, keep me tender and turned towards You. Break my heart with the things that break Your heart, and give me great joy with the things that make You smile. Amen.”
Much love this week! And if you live here in Santa Barbara, we’ll love to have you join us this month for 4 Sunday mornings of “Marriage on the Rock not rocks” teachings, 9:30am in the Jr. High room at Calvary Chapel SB as we discuss practicalities for living out this eternal love story here and now.
God bless you!,
Shaun and Betsy
Have you ever considered the fact that Genesis begins with a wedding and Revelation ends with one? The entire Bible is about one thing…Jesus getting a bride for Himself.
In Genesis, God created man in His own image…Surprisingly, our all-sufficient God appears to be in desperate need of relationship, in need of an intimate ‘know and be known’ kind of relationship. In all of God’s creative work during this significant week of history, what was the first thing that God said was not good? ~~That man was alone. So what did God do? ~~He made Adam a woman! …God took one of Adams ribs and fashioned a perfect companion for him. God made Adam this perfect Eve companion, and then married the 2 of them.
Similarly, God designed His own bride-to-be when He created mankind (Gen. 1:26-27), and He is waiting to marry her real soon. (Ohhhh, what a wedding, reception and honeymoon this will be!!! ~~The ultimate marriage and eternal love story.)
But tragically in society today, where feelings take precedent over promises, marriage holds little esteem. Satan has effectively duped most all of us into believing that the marriage institution itself is no big deal. And the biggest travesty is that most believers continue to buy into this Satanic deception and choose to embrace the smaller ‘marriage story of ourselves and our little worlds’ over seeing our marriage unions as a picture of THE ETERNAL LOVE STORY. ~~From Genesis to Revelation, all God does is woo His bride to Himself….over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. Oh, how He loves us; if only we could grasp just how much.
Herein lays the root problem: Whether married or single, at our individual cores, we don’t truly believe and trust that God is who He says He is. And our belief/trust (or lack of belief/trust) in God and who He says He is affects everything else in this life. The psalmist in Ps. 119:66 shares, “Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments.” This man has a resolute desire for God to impart to him His discernment and knowledge instead of choosing to be the captain of his own ship. ~~ The psalmist desires God’s full blessing on his life (the big picture), and understands that this decision comes with a cost: death to self (the little picture…that appears so big). ~~An alien concept in our society today.
What do you say, married or single, let’s “get alien”, die to self and choose today to ready ourselves for our soon coming Bridegroom. Let’s set aside t-i-m-e with God, and ask Him to show us where our views/outlooks can be tweaked and be more aligned with His truths. Our world is in desperate need for true believers to take a courageous stand and to live fully for Jesus in wholehearted devotion.
“Lord, keep me tender and turned towards You. Break my heart with the things that break Your heart, and give me great joy with the things that make You smile. Amen.”
Much love this week! And if you live here in Santa Barbara, we’ll love to have you join us this month for 4 Sunday mornings of “Marriage on the Rock not rocks” teachings, 9:30am in the Jr. High room at Calvary Chapel SB as we discuss practicalities for living out this eternal love story here and now.
God bless you!,
Shaun and Betsy
Want His Perfect Peace? 2-22-10
“Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he neither rose nor showed fear in his presence, he was filled with rage against Mordecai.” Est. 5:9
What a quick change in disposition … happy and high spirits now changed to a spirit of rage in a moments time! Such a dramatic and swift change should cause us to ask, “What? Why such volatility? Where was his heart centered in the first place? How could Haman let another person have such mastery over his emotions? ...”
Isaiah shares, “You (God) will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” Is. 26:3. For when our mind is steadfast upon the Lord, (meaning we are leaning our whole weight into Him, being sustained by Him, resting fully in Him), God promises us perfect peace (complete soundness, tranquility, contentment with God, with our human relationships, and with our bodies). Pretty cool promise, huh?!
Well, if this is true (God keeping us in perfect peace when we trust, lean and yield ourselves wholly to Him), what must have transpired with Haman in the Book of Ester?
We can safely deduce that Haman did not have a trusting, intimate, yielded relationship with the living God, but instead chose to lean to his own understanding (the opposite of Prov. 3:5). Haman tragically chose to listen to his jealous flesh and allowed another person to become an obsessive master over him. Hence, when Mordecai became Haman’s obsession (instead of God), things spiraled downward rather quickly. So swift in fact, that Haman ended up losing ALL that he had ever desired (including his life) to the very man he detested the most on this earth.
In the end, Haman received the exact opposite of his wishes and aspirations.
God profoundly desires to keep each of us in His perfect peace…complete soundness, tranquility, and contentment with God Himself (child-like simplistic trusting faith), with our human relationships (like our spouse, friends, work associates, teammates, relatives, etc.), and with our own bodies (no more anxiety, fretting or worry which in turn destroy us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually).
Additionally, if this is true, why do you and I choose to snub this promise to us and instead choose to follow the ‘Haman paradigm’ in areas of our lives?
Could it be that we truly don’t trust God? ~ That deep down you and I think we know best? ~That we are demanding an answer NOW, and God’s timeframe is different? ~ That we have grown accustomed to worrying, believing that somehow our fretting will produce a more positive outcome? ~That at the core of our being we are deeply prideful, independent, rebellious souls in desperate need of a Savior…but we don’t think we are?
So here’s the question: Who or what is causing you angst today? Who or what are you choosing to have mastery over you that is not God? And the next question is …………….. WHY???
Today, let’s commit to place all our weight in Christ’s hands, and lean on Him with wholehearted devotion…even when things or people in our lives don’t make sense and hurt our hearts.
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
What a quick change in disposition … happy and high spirits now changed to a spirit of rage in a moments time! Such a dramatic and swift change should cause us to ask, “What? Why such volatility? Where was his heart centered in the first place? How could Haman let another person have such mastery over his emotions? ...”
Isaiah shares, “You (God) will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.” Is. 26:3. For when our mind is steadfast upon the Lord, (meaning we are leaning our whole weight into Him, being sustained by Him, resting fully in Him), God promises us perfect peace (complete soundness, tranquility, contentment with God, with our human relationships, and with our bodies). Pretty cool promise, huh?!
Well, if this is true (God keeping us in perfect peace when we trust, lean and yield ourselves wholly to Him), what must have transpired with Haman in the Book of Ester?
We can safely deduce that Haman did not have a trusting, intimate, yielded relationship with the living God, but instead chose to lean to his own understanding (the opposite of Prov. 3:5). Haman tragically chose to listen to his jealous flesh and allowed another person to become an obsessive master over him. Hence, when Mordecai became Haman’s obsession (instead of God), things spiraled downward rather quickly. So swift in fact, that Haman ended up losing ALL that he had ever desired (including his life) to the very man he detested the most on this earth.
In the end, Haman received the exact opposite of his wishes and aspirations.
God profoundly desires to keep each of us in His perfect peace…complete soundness, tranquility, and contentment with God Himself (child-like simplistic trusting faith), with our human relationships (like our spouse, friends, work associates, teammates, relatives, etc.), and with our own bodies (no more anxiety, fretting or worry which in turn destroy us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually).
Additionally, if this is true, why do you and I choose to snub this promise to us and instead choose to follow the ‘Haman paradigm’ in areas of our lives?
Could it be that we truly don’t trust God? ~ That deep down you and I think we know best? ~That we are demanding an answer NOW, and God’s timeframe is different? ~ That we have grown accustomed to worrying, believing that somehow our fretting will produce a more positive outcome? ~That at the core of our being we are deeply prideful, independent, rebellious souls in desperate need of a Savior…but we don’t think we are?
So here’s the question: Who or what is causing you angst today? Who or what are you choosing to have mastery over you that is not God? And the next question is …………….. WHY???
Today, let’s commit to place all our weight in Christ’s hands, and lean on Him with wholehearted devotion…even when things or people in our lives don’t make sense and hurt our hearts.
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
The forgiveness, reconciliation, restitution bundle 2-15-10
“Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so also you must forgive.” Col. 3:13
God doesn’t merely suggest to us that we are to forgive those who have hurt us; to the contrary, He tells us we MUST forgive others of their wrongdoings. He knows full well that unforgiveness creates bondage, a self-induced prison for us. More importantly, He knows that forgiveness frees us up, liberating the forgiver to live life to its fullest.
So why don’t we readily forgive? Why aren’t we rushing to the forgiveness banquet table?
Perhaps what makes forgiveness appear so difficult to most of us is that we tend to bundle together forgiveness and reconciliation with restitution.
Let’s explore this a bit…
Jesus is all about reconciliation and restitution. He even charges us with the ministry of reconciliation in Matt. 5:24 and 2 Cor.5:17-21. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ; not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” But Jesus also tells us to guard our hearts above all else (Prv. 4:23), and what most of us have trouble grasping is how these 2 mandates can simultaneously coexist in the tough spots of our lives.
Remember the Kassi-skunk example we used a few weeks back? (We’ve attached that story above.) Well, some time has passed since her impulsive skunk butt-sniffing incident, and she soooo desires to nuzzle and cuddle with us. She has been washed repeatedly (baptized), prayed over, repented and the look in her eyes tells us that she genuinely desires never to smell a skunk again. However, our sweet little pup still carries the stink of her recklessness in her fur! And although she is now allowed back in the cars, in the house, can sit with us during a home movie, is sleeping back in our master bedroom, we simply are not ready to cuddle and nuzzle her yet…Straight up, as cute and repentant as she is, Kassi still stinks! We love her, we fully forgive her, we have reconciled with her, but full restitution is a boundary issue that simply takes TIME.
In our human relationships, we can forgive someone in a moment, be reconciled to them in a day or more, but full restitution of relationship requires trust, and trust requires time, character and devoted earnestness to develop or to win back. (~~ Remember, in the forgiveness equation there is the hurter, the hurted, and the hurting. And sometimes, there simply will never be a full-restitution, because one party is unwilling. We can only deal with ourselves, and allow God to deal with the other party.)
However, the cool thing in all this is that Jesus shows us, and then leads us by His own example. When we choose to seek and follow Him wholeheartedly, He actually shows us how to forgive and reconcile, then walks with us through the process of restitution.
So what do you say, let’s commit to give Jesus that person, that institution, that ungodly authority in our lives…and trust Him lead us in the steps towards full restitution. Whether we are the hurter or the hurted, as the hurting, we can choose to be set 100% free to live the abundant life Jesus has designed for each of us…but we each need to take the first step and forgive.
God bless you and hope your 4 day Valentine’s Day weekend was awesome!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
God doesn’t merely suggest to us that we are to forgive those who have hurt us; to the contrary, He tells us we MUST forgive others of their wrongdoings. He knows full well that unforgiveness creates bondage, a self-induced prison for us. More importantly, He knows that forgiveness frees us up, liberating the forgiver to live life to its fullest.
So why don’t we readily forgive? Why aren’t we rushing to the forgiveness banquet table?
Perhaps what makes forgiveness appear so difficult to most of us is that we tend to bundle together forgiveness and reconciliation with restitution.
Let’s explore this a bit…
Jesus is all about reconciliation and restitution. He even charges us with the ministry of reconciliation in Matt. 5:24 and 2 Cor.5:17-21. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ; not counting men’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” But Jesus also tells us to guard our hearts above all else (Prv. 4:23), and what most of us have trouble grasping is how these 2 mandates can simultaneously coexist in the tough spots of our lives.
Remember the Kassi-skunk example we used a few weeks back? (We’ve attached that story above.) Well, some time has passed since her impulsive skunk butt-sniffing incident, and she soooo desires to nuzzle and cuddle with us. She has been washed repeatedly (baptized), prayed over, repented and the look in her eyes tells us that she genuinely desires never to smell a skunk again. However, our sweet little pup still carries the stink of her recklessness in her fur! And although she is now allowed back in the cars, in the house, can sit with us during a home movie, is sleeping back in our master bedroom, we simply are not ready to cuddle and nuzzle her yet…Straight up, as cute and repentant as she is, Kassi still stinks! We love her, we fully forgive her, we have reconciled with her, but full restitution is a boundary issue that simply takes TIME.
In our human relationships, we can forgive someone in a moment, be reconciled to them in a day or more, but full restitution of relationship requires trust, and trust requires time, character and devoted earnestness to develop or to win back. (~~ Remember, in the forgiveness equation there is the hurter, the hurted, and the hurting. And sometimes, there simply will never be a full-restitution, because one party is unwilling. We can only deal with ourselves, and allow God to deal with the other party.)
However, the cool thing in all this is that Jesus shows us, and then leads us by His own example. When we choose to seek and follow Him wholeheartedly, He actually shows us how to forgive and reconcile, then walks with us through the process of restitution.
So what do you say, let’s commit to give Jesus that person, that institution, that ungodly authority in our lives…and trust Him lead us in the steps towards full restitution. Whether we are the hurter or the hurted, as the hurting, we can choose to be set 100% free to live the abundant life Jesus has designed for each of us…but we each need to take the first step and forgive.
God bless you and hope your 4 day Valentine’s Day weekend was awesome!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Enlarge my heart, Lord 2-8-10
“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your ways.” Ps. 119:71
Afflictions come in many forms…aliments to our physical bodies, torments of the mind, relationship heartache, etc. And they HURT! The good news is that God takes these rips in our physical bodies, holes in our personalities, tears in our relationships, and He enlarges our heart with them. …He enlarges our heart (its capacity) and inclines our heart (its yearnings) while He “works all things for good”. Rom. 8:28
These holes, rips and tears in our lives sometimes are healed on the spot, but more often, our Lord chooses to repair/heal the hole over a period of time (or like with Paul’s ‘thorn’, may choose not to heal it). And it is during this repair/healing time that He opens up new horizons that otherwise may not have been revealed or realized.
Let’s illustrate with this rather simplistic example: Our son’s blown eardrum of 1-4-10 is still healing…the ENT specialist did a “pseudo surgery” last week, and Conner was instructed: “No blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing or water immersion for 2 more months.” TWO more MONTHS?!!! That is a crazy long time for not blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing or cleaning oneself!
And yes, Conner was a bit depressed leaving the docs office, especially when told that at the end of 2 months, if the ear still hasn’t healed, they would schedule surgery (general anesthesia and another 1-2 months of “healing NO’S”). To top it off, our son now fully understood that indeed, he would have to take a sabbatical from 3 teams he is currently part of …along with managing all the questions from depressed teammates, parents and coaches. Conner diligently worked through his concerns and fears transparently before God. Yes, our virile man-child (17yrs.) was disheartened … but not for long.
God, in His loving sovereignty, quite creatively and very personally got hold of Conner and showed him the positives to this ‘hole in his ear down time’. And now Conner genuinely sees this experience as a blessing rather than a curse of some kind. (For now, without the extensive training, travel and tournament commitments, time have been freed up…freed up for things like senior year high school activities, God/quiet time, and family time. Additionally, with his alternative land workouts, he has gained much needed muscle and core strength (for playing with Stanford water polo in the fall), which he was not able to put on with his 3 team training regimen. ~~ But the best thing in all this is that Conner truly sees God’s divine hand on his life in a very personal way. Praise Him!)
~ Ok, this is an illustration for a literal hole in the physical body…how about holes in other areas of our lives? Holes like a husband leaving for another woman, a son or sister turning to substance abuse, a dear friend dying, a deep betrayal, personal sexual/verbal abuse suffered, hormonal/chemical imbalances that make real what actually is not, cancer riddled body, dementia disease, car crash survivor, abortion regrets, dysfunctional relationships,….on and on and on. What about these holes?
Again, God takes these rips in our physical bodies, holes in our personalities, tears in our relationships, and if we choose to earnestly seek and obey Him, He enlarges our heart and attends to all our needs while he works all things for good for us who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Now this is just too cool.
God bless you this week! Diligently seek Him…He is so faithful.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Afflictions come in many forms…aliments to our physical bodies, torments of the mind, relationship heartache, etc. And they HURT! The good news is that God takes these rips in our physical bodies, holes in our personalities, tears in our relationships, and He enlarges our heart with them. …He enlarges our heart (its capacity) and inclines our heart (its yearnings) while He “works all things for good”. Rom. 8:28
These holes, rips and tears in our lives sometimes are healed on the spot, but more often, our Lord chooses to repair/heal the hole over a period of time (or like with Paul’s ‘thorn’, may choose not to heal it). And it is during this repair/healing time that He opens up new horizons that otherwise may not have been revealed or realized.
Let’s illustrate with this rather simplistic example: Our son’s blown eardrum of 1-4-10 is still healing…the ENT specialist did a “pseudo surgery” last week, and Conner was instructed: “No blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing or water immersion for 2 more months.” TWO more MONTHS?!!! That is a crazy long time for not blowing your nose, coughing, sneezing or cleaning oneself!
And yes, Conner was a bit depressed leaving the docs office, especially when told that at the end of 2 months, if the ear still hasn’t healed, they would schedule surgery (general anesthesia and another 1-2 months of “healing NO’S”). To top it off, our son now fully understood that indeed, he would have to take a sabbatical from 3 teams he is currently part of …along with managing all the questions from depressed teammates, parents and coaches. Conner diligently worked through his concerns and fears transparently before God. Yes, our virile man-child (17yrs.) was disheartened … but not for long.
God, in His loving sovereignty, quite creatively and very personally got hold of Conner and showed him the positives to this ‘hole in his ear down time’. And now Conner genuinely sees this experience as a blessing rather than a curse of some kind. (For now, without the extensive training, travel and tournament commitments, time have been freed up…freed up for things like senior year high school activities, God/quiet time, and family time. Additionally, with his alternative land workouts, he has gained much needed muscle and core strength (for playing with Stanford water polo in the fall), which he was not able to put on with his 3 team training regimen. ~~ But the best thing in all this is that Conner truly sees God’s divine hand on his life in a very personal way. Praise Him!)
~ Ok, this is an illustration for a literal hole in the physical body…how about holes in other areas of our lives? Holes like a husband leaving for another woman, a son or sister turning to substance abuse, a dear friend dying, a deep betrayal, personal sexual/verbal abuse suffered, hormonal/chemical imbalances that make real what actually is not, cancer riddled body, dementia disease, car crash survivor, abortion regrets, dysfunctional relationships,….on and on and on. What about these holes?
Again, God takes these rips in our physical bodies, holes in our personalities, tears in our relationships, and if we choose to earnestly seek and obey Him, He enlarges our heart and attends to all our needs while he works all things for good for us who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Now this is just too cool.
God bless you this week! Diligently seek Him…He is so faithful.
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Choosing to be enslaved or free 2-1-10
“Be very careful then, how you love—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Eph. 5:15-17
“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” Gal. 4:8-9
Seems like a “no-brainer” ~~ be wise (not foolish), draw strength from the Lord to live on His path, and stay away from the ‘stuff of old’ that harms us. …Why so hard then? Why do we so readily choose to forsake certain heavenly rewards because of the intensity of today’s pain or pleasure? Because with a temporal mindset (vs. an eternal mindset), we sadly ‘lean to our own understanding’ way too often.
Part of the reason God allows these pain/pleasure trials in our lives is to burn the fake out of us and to see what we are really made of. (~~Said in a different way to the reasons stated in James 1:2-4 and 1Pet. 1:7) It’s about character…character is a BIG deal to our eternal Dad.
Ok, ok, we are getting that God is the potter and we are the clay, and that He is in the business of molding and shaping us into His perfect vessel. (Is. 64:8) ~~ However, what do we do when it is not us personally, but someone close to us that is amidst painful suffering or caught up in sinful pleasure?
We stay the course: be wise (not foolish), draw strength from the Lord to live on His path, and stay away from the ‘stuff of old’ that harms us.
When someone dear to us is “under attack” (painful suffering or sinful pleasure), it’s almost harder than going through it ourselves. Can you relate? For a lot of us it is harder with someone we love, because we don’t have any control over him/her or the circumstances! And for the control freak, this drives us CRAZY.
Heads up for us control freaks… we cannot control this other person, but we can influence (by our words, actions and prayers), leave the results in God’s hands, and grow personally. It’s a heartbreaking process, but God actually changes us by making us utterly dependent upon Him for those we love. And when we are wholly dependent upon God, our influence towards those we love is from Him, and not from ourselves. (It’s also a comfort to know that God’s heart is breaking for this one we love so dearly…more than ours ever will. God made this person. ~If you are unfamiliar with Gen. 6:5-6, check it out…an actual depiction of God’s breaking heart.)
We Cleary’s have a present situation in our lives where someone very dear to us is trying to re-enter our lives…a prodigal son type of situation perhaps. Many lives have been affected by this prodigal’s recklessness…and each person affected has his/her own story and each has his/her personal walk with the Lord. ~~ Hence this message. We are doing our best to “live this walk”, and not merely ‘talk the walk’ here and now! (And we so appreciate your prayers over us.)
God bless you this week, and we want to close this message with a smile:
“During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password: MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento. When asked why such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.” ~A short joke from a person who seems to have followed personal instinct instead of consulting the Lord!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” Gal. 4:8-9
Seems like a “no-brainer” ~~ be wise (not foolish), draw strength from the Lord to live on His path, and stay away from the ‘stuff of old’ that harms us. …Why so hard then? Why do we so readily choose to forsake certain heavenly rewards because of the intensity of today’s pain or pleasure? Because with a temporal mindset (vs. an eternal mindset), we sadly ‘lean to our own understanding’ way too often.
Part of the reason God allows these pain/pleasure trials in our lives is to burn the fake out of us and to see what we are really made of. (~~Said in a different way to the reasons stated in James 1:2-4 and 1Pet. 1:7) It’s about character…character is a BIG deal to our eternal Dad.
Ok, ok, we are getting that God is the potter and we are the clay, and that He is in the business of molding and shaping us into His perfect vessel. (Is. 64:8) ~~ However, what do we do when it is not us personally, but someone close to us that is amidst painful suffering or caught up in sinful pleasure?
We stay the course: be wise (not foolish), draw strength from the Lord to live on His path, and stay away from the ‘stuff of old’ that harms us.
When someone dear to us is “under attack” (painful suffering or sinful pleasure), it’s almost harder than going through it ourselves. Can you relate? For a lot of us it is harder with someone we love, because we don’t have any control over him/her or the circumstances! And for the control freak, this drives us CRAZY.
Heads up for us control freaks… we cannot control this other person, but we can influence (by our words, actions and prayers), leave the results in God’s hands, and grow personally. It’s a heartbreaking process, but God actually changes us by making us utterly dependent upon Him for those we love. And when we are wholly dependent upon God, our influence towards those we love is from Him, and not from ourselves. (It’s also a comfort to know that God’s heart is breaking for this one we love so dearly…more than ours ever will. God made this person. ~If you are unfamiliar with Gen. 6:5-6, check it out…an actual depiction of God’s breaking heart.)
We Cleary’s have a present situation in our lives where someone very dear to us is trying to re-enter our lives…a prodigal son type of situation perhaps. Many lives have been affected by this prodigal’s recklessness…and each person affected has his/her own story and each has his/her personal walk with the Lord. ~~ Hence this message. We are doing our best to “live this walk”, and not merely ‘talk the walk’ here and now! (And we so appreciate your prayers over us.)
God bless you this week, and we want to close this message with a smile:
“During a recent password audit, it was found that a blonde was using the following password: MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento. When asked why such a long password, she said she was told that it had to be at least 8 characters long and include at least one capital.” ~A short joke from a person who seems to have followed personal instinct instead of consulting the Lord!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
What's up with this stink? 1-25-10
“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” Is 43:25
What a refreshing promise! When Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior, so great is His love for those of us who fear Him, that He removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. Ps. 103:11-12 How amazing is this?
When God looks at us He sees us without blemish or defect, absolutely perfect. But if you are anything like we Cleary’s, this is a difficult truth to grasp. Why? Because we each know what we were thinking just 2 minutes ago, and ‘it wasn’t all that holy’!
So what’s truly up? Why do we feel so dirty when God tells us that we are now spotless in His eyes? Well, we believe that part of the reason is because we still carry “stink” around with us. And sometimes, amidst this sanctification process, we just can not see beyond this stink (and we don’t understand how God can either.) Allow us this analogy:
Friday night Shaun took our little dog out for her nightly pee ~~~ and she promptly ran over and tried to smell the butt of a not-so-nice skunk. It was late, so our eldest son did us a huge favor and washed/blow dried the dog, and then locked her in the garage for the night. (As you know, skunk smell doesn’t go away easily and he didn’t want to let her stink up the whole house.) Unfortunately our younger son did NOT get the memo.
Our dear Conner came in late, heard the dog crying in the garage, and his heart strings got the better of his brains. Discovering her stink, and then deducing that it would not be wise to let her in the house, he did us a “favor” and put her in mom’s car for the night…Oh dear, poor mom’s car…but the story gets better.
Saturday, Betsy gets her handbag out of the skunk-staked car, and drove with the family in Shaun’s sweet smellin’ truck to the funeral of a dear family friend. The service was standing room only, and quite touching. When Betsy opened the bag to get a tissue, out of the depths within, a most pungent smell arose and fanned out to all who were seated within a 5ft. radius (no joke). Heads turned towards Betsy, and eyes teared up as each must have thought, “Yeah, sure it’s coming from the PURSE………that’s a ripe one, girlfriend.” (I’m exaggerating a tad at this point, ~~ but not much.)
You see, even though our dear Kassi had been 1) thoroughly washed, 2) was truly sorry for her behavior, and 3) promised that she would never do it again, our sweet dog still carried the consequences from her misguided action in her fur. And further, the consequences of her impulsive recklessness spilled over on to those nearest to her, just like with us when we sin…Our stink affects those around us.
Thankfully, this is as far as this little analogy goes…because with us humans, God is talking about so much more that our physical realm here on this earth. He sees us through the eternal lenses of His Son’s blood, as Jesus Himself intercedes on our behalf. We truly are pure before His eyes… past, present, and future transgressions are all covered over by Jesus’ supreme sacrifice! The only thing we have to do is to accept His sacrificial gift, and then diligently chose to seek and to follow Him all the days of our lives (the sanctification process).
So what do you say…let’s allow God full control of our lives. Marriages will soar, relationships will be freed up, peace, and joy and incomprehensible love will reign in our hearts and lives, when we chose to avail ourselves wholeheartedly to Him!
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
What a refreshing promise! When Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior, so great is His love for those of us who fear Him, that He removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. Ps. 103:11-12 How amazing is this?
When God looks at us He sees us without blemish or defect, absolutely perfect. But if you are anything like we Cleary’s, this is a difficult truth to grasp. Why? Because we each know what we were thinking just 2 minutes ago, and ‘it wasn’t all that holy’!
So what’s truly up? Why do we feel so dirty when God tells us that we are now spotless in His eyes? Well, we believe that part of the reason is because we still carry “stink” around with us. And sometimes, amidst this sanctification process, we just can not see beyond this stink (and we don’t understand how God can either.) Allow us this analogy:
Friday night Shaun took our little dog out for her nightly pee ~~~ and she promptly ran over and tried to smell the butt of a not-so-nice skunk. It was late, so our eldest son did us a huge favor and washed/blow dried the dog, and then locked her in the garage for the night. (As you know, skunk smell doesn’t go away easily and he didn’t want to let her stink up the whole house.) Unfortunately our younger son did NOT get the memo.
Our dear Conner came in late, heard the dog crying in the garage, and his heart strings got the better of his brains. Discovering her stink, and then deducing that it would not be wise to let her in the house, he did us a “favor” and put her in mom’s car for the night…Oh dear, poor mom’s car…but the story gets better.
Saturday, Betsy gets her handbag out of the skunk-staked car, and drove with the family in Shaun’s sweet smellin’ truck to the funeral of a dear family friend. The service was standing room only, and quite touching. When Betsy opened the bag to get a tissue, out of the depths within, a most pungent smell arose and fanned out to all who were seated within a 5ft. radius (no joke). Heads turned towards Betsy, and eyes teared up as each must have thought, “Yeah, sure it’s coming from the PURSE………that’s a ripe one, girlfriend.” (I’m exaggerating a tad at this point, ~~ but not much.)
You see, even though our dear Kassi had been 1) thoroughly washed, 2) was truly sorry for her behavior, and 3) promised that she would never do it again, our sweet dog still carried the consequences from her misguided action in her fur. And further, the consequences of her impulsive recklessness spilled over on to those nearest to her, just like with us when we sin…Our stink affects those around us.
Thankfully, this is as far as this little analogy goes…because with us humans, God is talking about so much more that our physical realm here on this earth. He sees us through the eternal lenses of His Son’s blood, as Jesus Himself intercedes on our behalf. We truly are pure before His eyes… past, present, and future transgressions are all covered over by Jesus’ supreme sacrifice! The only thing we have to do is to accept His sacrificial gift, and then diligently chose to seek and to follow Him all the days of our lives (the sanctification process).
So what do you say…let’s allow God full control of our lives. Marriages will soar, relationships will be freed up, peace, and joy and incomprehensible love will reign in our hearts and lives, when we chose to avail ourselves wholeheartedly to Him!
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
Desires satisfied 1-18-10
“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits---who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.” Ps. 103:2-5
Ever felt overwhelmed, exhausted, emotionally and physically spent? All of us have had these kinds of days, weeks, and seasons. The question is, what to do when we find ourselves in one of these compromised states?
The correct Sunday school answer is JESUS. ~~ A simplistic answer, but nonetheless 100% true if we choose to draw our strength from His Spirit within…”To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Col. 1:29, and “…to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” Eph. 3:20.
Recently, Shaun and I (both of us) had reached a point of utter exhaustion…completely inundated with challenges of this current season of life. The details of our challenges are incidental, the point is, is that our God met us in our depleted state…just as He promises to do with each one of His kids. He met us IN this depleted state, guided our thoughts and steps through the ‘heat of battle’, then when He saw we were at a breaking point, in His sovereignty, chose to provide us with refreshment.
Now some of you are thinking, “Yeah, that’s great for you, but you do not understand my pain nor can you begin to comprehend the circumstances I’m in, the jerk I’m dealing with, the addiction that has gripped me, the death of someone very close…”
And you are right, we don’t…but God does. End of discussion.
Each of us has to choose to believe God and implement what He is telling us. The situation(s) may not change, but our individual perspectives regarding the situation(s) are completely altered. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chr. 16:9
~~ Where are our hearts committed? To our challenging circumstances? To the jerk in our lives? OR to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ our Savior?
Echoing Paul in Eph. 1:18-19a, we pray “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” He is coming soon.
In His amazing love,
Shaun and Betsy
Ever felt overwhelmed, exhausted, emotionally and physically spent? All of us have had these kinds of days, weeks, and seasons. The question is, what to do when we find ourselves in one of these compromised states?
The correct Sunday school answer is JESUS. ~~ A simplistic answer, but nonetheless 100% true if we choose to draw our strength from His Spirit within…”To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Col. 1:29, and “…to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” Eph. 3:20.
Recently, Shaun and I (both of us) had reached a point of utter exhaustion…completely inundated with challenges of this current season of life. The details of our challenges are incidental, the point is, is that our God met us in our depleted state…just as He promises to do with each one of His kids. He met us IN this depleted state, guided our thoughts and steps through the ‘heat of battle’, then when He saw we were at a breaking point, in His sovereignty, chose to provide us with refreshment.
Now some of you are thinking, “Yeah, that’s great for you, but you do not understand my pain nor can you begin to comprehend the circumstances I’m in, the jerk I’m dealing with, the addiction that has gripped me, the death of someone very close…”
And you are right, we don’t…but God does. End of discussion.
Each of us has to choose to believe God and implement what He is telling us. The situation(s) may not change, but our individual perspectives regarding the situation(s) are completely altered. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chr. 16:9
~~ Where are our hearts committed? To our challenging circumstances? To the jerk in our lives? OR to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ our Savior?
Echoing Paul in Eph. 1:18-19a, we pray “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” He is coming soon.
In His amazing love,
Shaun and Betsy
One of Influence 1-11-10
“Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers.” 2 Chr. 34:33
One man’s influence for good: Appointed king of Judah at 8 yrs old, Josiah began truly seeking God at age 18, and the Lord says He hears his pleas from heaven. At age 20, this bold young king begins to purge and cleanse his country, and at 26 years of age (after a copy of God’s word was found in the Temple), Josiah’s faith became an all consuming fire.
In studying Josiah’s life recently and having 2 young man-children of our own, we’ve been struck by the intensity of this young man’s faith in spite of the societal pressures that surrounded him. This young leader lived a bold life of faith…purging his land from evil practices of his day today, which in today’s terms would equate to our modern day porn industry, the abortion industry, the worshipping of idols like today’s idols of power, beauty, money, intelligence, and societal embracing of “tolerance” over righteousness.
Wow. Could we in our wildest dreams conceive of a present day U.S. President discovering God’s truths for himself in such a way that not only changed his personal life, but caused him to lead a revival to all the U.S. of A. in such a dramatic way as to cause the American people to destroy and eradicate our porn and abortion industries, obliterate idols of power, beauty, money and intelligence, and seek Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?
Well, this is exactly what happened in this segment of history … One man’s leadership and influence changed a nation.
Perhaps our individual roles in this life may not appear as divinely dramatic, but if we are walking in the life that Jesus has individually set out before us from before our life began (Ps. 139:13-16; Eph.2:10), we will be divinely “successful and prosperous”. (In a nutshell, this means we will be blessed and have “acted with prudent wisdom and accomplished that which God intended” Jsh.1:7-8. ~~ Very different from society’s definition of success and prosperity, isn’t it?!)
In light this, 2 of the coolest miracles happened to us this past week. We will be brief in their explanation, but we think you will be totally blessed, and jazzed to see how God will do similar things in your life this week as you avail yourself wholeheartedly to Him!
First miracle: We were in Mexico, second to last day of our trip. Shaun, our daughter and moi had been in the sun and fun all day, and our daughter wanted to stop by this cool shopping area she had seen. We strolled by a ‘pharmacia’ and decided to purchase some anti-biotic ear drops “just to have it on the shelf in case” (we are all swimmers). Wouldn’t you know it, just about the same time we were purchasing this ear medicine, our 2 sons were out on the ocean boogie boarding double over-head waves (storm off shore), and a boogie board mistakenly hit our Conner in the ear, rupturing his ear drum. WELL, in God’s amazing providence, we had medication in his ear within 30 minutes of the accident. And when we got back to the States, the doctor said that 1/3rd of Conner’s ear drum is missing, but that the drops he had been using were ‘the best on the market’, and because of its immediate application, he should have a good chance at full recovery!
Second miracle: Because we returned from Mexico mid-week this week, 3 days into the new college quarter, our eldest son sadly found out that he had been dropped from 3 of his 4 classes at UCSB. He hit his knees big time… As the week wore on, he was able wiggle his way back into the graces of 2 of his professors, but was still 4 units short. It was now Friday night, a full week into classes, and Kels had come to the complete end of his talented self. He had been praying fervently for days, but nothing was materializing and he was looking at summer school 2010 unless a miracle happened. Enter God……To help alleviate some stress, Kels went for a night swim and a hot tub at the UCSB Rec Center. He said the stars were out and there was not one person around. That is until a gentleman joined Kels in the hot tub. Kels sparked up a conversation, one thing led to another, and turns out this man is a young professor of one of the classes our son was trying to get into. This professor took such a liking to Kels, that he decided to make room in his class and that he would give Kels a private tutoring session in his office to catch Kels up with the class! (Oh, and this new class “happened” fit perfectly into Kels’ existing schedule. UNREAL!!)
Kels called home ‘pants lit on fire’, quoting one Scripture verse after another, and then exclaimed, “Can you believe it, GOD would send a professor in his bathing suit to me, and then arrange the details for a perfect fit?!!!”
God is amazing. Truly amazing…so infinite, yet so very intimate.
Have an incredible week, live life for HIM, and be blessed in His Hands!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
One man’s influence for good: Appointed king of Judah at 8 yrs old, Josiah began truly seeking God at age 18, and the Lord says He hears his pleas from heaven. At age 20, this bold young king begins to purge and cleanse his country, and at 26 years of age (after a copy of God’s word was found in the Temple), Josiah’s faith became an all consuming fire.
In studying Josiah’s life recently and having 2 young man-children of our own, we’ve been struck by the intensity of this young man’s faith in spite of the societal pressures that surrounded him. This young leader lived a bold life of faith…purging his land from evil practices of his day today, which in today’s terms would equate to our modern day porn industry, the abortion industry, the worshipping of idols like today’s idols of power, beauty, money, intelligence, and societal embracing of “tolerance” over righteousness.
Wow. Could we in our wildest dreams conceive of a present day U.S. President discovering God’s truths for himself in such a way that not only changed his personal life, but caused him to lead a revival to all the U.S. of A. in such a dramatic way as to cause the American people to destroy and eradicate our porn and abortion industries, obliterate idols of power, beauty, money and intelligence, and seek Jesus with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?
Well, this is exactly what happened in this segment of history … One man’s leadership and influence changed a nation.
Perhaps our individual roles in this life may not appear as divinely dramatic, but if we are walking in the life that Jesus has individually set out before us from before our life began (Ps. 139:13-16; Eph.2:10), we will be divinely “successful and prosperous”. (In a nutshell, this means we will be blessed and have “acted with prudent wisdom and accomplished that which God intended” Jsh.1:7-8. ~~ Very different from society’s definition of success and prosperity, isn’t it?!)
In light this, 2 of the coolest miracles happened to us this past week. We will be brief in their explanation, but we think you will be totally blessed, and jazzed to see how God will do similar things in your life this week as you avail yourself wholeheartedly to Him!
First miracle: We were in Mexico, second to last day of our trip. Shaun, our daughter and moi had been in the sun and fun all day, and our daughter wanted to stop by this cool shopping area she had seen. We strolled by a ‘pharmacia’ and decided to purchase some anti-biotic ear drops “just to have it on the shelf in case” (we are all swimmers). Wouldn’t you know it, just about the same time we were purchasing this ear medicine, our 2 sons were out on the ocean boogie boarding double over-head waves (storm off shore), and a boogie board mistakenly hit our Conner in the ear, rupturing his ear drum. WELL, in God’s amazing providence, we had medication in his ear within 30 minutes of the accident. And when we got back to the States, the doctor said that 1/3rd of Conner’s ear drum is missing, but that the drops he had been using were ‘the best on the market’, and because of its immediate application, he should have a good chance at full recovery!
Second miracle: Because we returned from Mexico mid-week this week, 3 days into the new college quarter, our eldest son sadly found out that he had been dropped from 3 of his 4 classes at UCSB. He hit his knees big time… As the week wore on, he was able wiggle his way back into the graces of 2 of his professors, but was still 4 units short. It was now Friday night, a full week into classes, and Kels had come to the complete end of his talented self. He had been praying fervently for days, but nothing was materializing and he was looking at summer school 2010 unless a miracle happened. Enter God……To help alleviate some stress, Kels went for a night swim and a hot tub at the UCSB Rec Center. He said the stars were out and there was not one person around. That is until a gentleman joined Kels in the hot tub. Kels sparked up a conversation, one thing led to another, and turns out this man is a young professor of one of the classes our son was trying to get into. This professor took such a liking to Kels, that he decided to make room in his class and that he would give Kels a private tutoring session in his office to catch Kels up with the class! (Oh, and this new class “happened” fit perfectly into Kels’ existing schedule. UNREAL!!)
Kels called home ‘pants lit on fire’, quoting one Scripture verse after another, and then exclaimed, “Can you believe it, GOD would send a professor in his bathing suit to me, and then arrange the details for a perfect fit?!!!”
God is amazing. Truly amazing…so infinite, yet so very intimate.
Have an incredible week, live life for HIM, and be blessed in His Hands!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Good things come out of stored good 12-21-09
“…for out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matt. 12:34-35
Are you in need of a relational miracle? We Cleary’s have stepped out in obedience and faith this month, and have endured a lot of hatred, but as we keep our eyes on our Savior, He works miracles. One such miracle happened a few days ago ~~~
A woman come up to Betsy in a public setting and totally “went off on me”. I answered this woman kindly, as 2 of my friends walked up and took over the conversation so I could hastily duck out and leave this scene. ~~Some 3 hours later, in the Costco parking lot, this same woman came running up from behind me…(Oh no, what now?)
I spun about to greet this woman, and noticed that the countenance on her face had completely changed from her morning fury. ~~For whatever reason, and before she got a word out of her mouth, I reached out and embraced her with a lingering hug. She stumbled back, somewhat bewildered…then proceeded to apologize to me for all the terrible things she had said earlier (emphasizing to me that I ‘had no idea of how badly she had bad mouthed me, and that she didn’t even know me, which makes it worse’.). I just loved on her, sharing that I had been praying for her all morning, then I shared Jesus. She was spell bound as she got to witness Christ. She left me with a hug saying that she couldn’t believe that I would be so kind to her after what she had done to me. But more importantly, she exclaimed, “You are not like the Christians I know. You are soooo different. ~~~I want to know the Jesus you know.”
Jesus IS the reason for this season!
What kind of relational miracle might you need in your life right now?
The holiday season, Thanksgiving through New Years, brings out heightened emotions…positive and negative. And with these holidays, we experience relationship. We experience relationship with people whom cause passion to be stirred inside of us (good and bad).
We Cleary’s have to regularly remind ourselves: With “passionate” relationships of a more negative bent, we are called to do our part…but also to allow God to do His part. God is the only one who can do His part ~~~ and we may break under the weight we were never meant to bear.
We cannot change another soul, but we can continue to work on ourselves… (And that’s a full time job!)
God bless you this Christmas. He IS the reason we celebrate!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Are you in need of a relational miracle? We Cleary’s have stepped out in obedience and faith this month, and have endured a lot of hatred, but as we keep our eyes on our Savior, He works miracles. One such miracle happened a few days ago ~~~
A woman come up to Betsy in a public setting and totally “went off on me”. I answered this woman kindly, as 2 of my friends walked up and took over the conversation so I could hastily duck out and leave this scene. ~~Some 3 hours later, in the Costco parking lot, this same woman came running up from behind me…(Oh no, what now?)
I spun about to greet this woman, and noticed that the countenance on her face had completely changed from her morning fury. ~~For whatever reason, and before she got a word out of her mouth, I reached out and embraced her with a lingering hug. She stumbled back, somewhat bewildered…then proceeded to apologize to me for all the terrible things she had said earlier (emphasizing to me that I ‘had no idea of how badly she had bad mouthed me, and that she didn’t even know me, which makes it worse’.). I just loved on her, sharing that I had been praying for her all morning, then I shared Jesus. She was spell bound as she got to witness Christ. She left me with a hug saying that she couldn’t believe that I would be so kind to her after what she had done to me. But more importantly, she exclaimed, “You are not like the Christians I know. You are soooo different. ~~~I want to know the Jesus you know.”
Jesus IS the reason for this season!
What kind of relational miracle might you need in your life right now?
The holiday season, Thanksgiving through New Years, brings out heightened emotions…positive and negative. And with these holidays, we experience relationship. We experience relationship with people whom cause passion to be stirred inside of us (good and bad).
We Cleary’s have to regularly remind ourselves: With “passionate” relationships of a more negative bent, we are called to do our part…but also to allow God to do His part. God is the only one who can do His part ~~~ and we may break under the weight we were never meant to bear.
We cannot change another soul, but we can continue to work on ourselves… (And that’s a full time job!)
God bless you this Christmas. He IS the reason we celebrate!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Its all about Him 12-14-09
“…the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom 8:6b
Many of you are aware of the “firestorm” we Cleary’s are experiencing here in Santa Barbara. Our details aside, these words of Paul reign so true in our lives, especially at a time like this. A mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
And we know that we are not alone…what trials are pressing in on you this season? Relationship predicaments? Financial trials? “Substance” temptations? Inward personal struggles? Outward pressures? Year end deadlines? Sickness? Home life messes? Perceived pressures from all over that make you just want to run and hide?
JESUS is the reason for this season!!!!!
Rom. 8:11 “…the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”
2Chron. 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
Ps. 145:17-20a “The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him.”
Job 36:26-37:2 “How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of His years is past finding out. He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders form His pavilion? See how He scatters His lightning about Him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way He governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark; His thunder announces the coming storm: even the cattle make known its approach. At this my heart pounds and leaps form its place. Listen!”
Yes, Jesus IS the reason for this season. Let us not lose sight.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Many of you are aware of the “firestorm” we Cleary’s are experiencing here in Santa Barbara. Our details aside, these words of Paul reign so true in our lives, especially at a time like this. A mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
And we know that we are not alone…what trials are pressing in on you this season? Relationship predicaments? Financial trials? “Substance” temptations? Inward personal struggles? Outward pressures? Year end deadlines? Sickness? Home life messes? Perceived pressures from all over that make you just want to run and hide?
JESUS is the reason for this season!!!!!
Rom. 8:11 “…the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.”
2Chron. 16:9 “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
Ps. 145:17-20a “The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him.”
Job 36:26-37:2 “How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of His years is past finding out. He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders form His pavilion? See how He scatters His lightning about Him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way He governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark; His thunder announces the coming storm: even the cattle make known its approach. At this my heart pounds and leaps form its place. Listen!”
Yes, Jesus IS the reason for this season. Let us not lose sight.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Staying on a short leash...God's way 12-07-09
“May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You.” Ps. 25:21
What this verse actually communicates is this, “May completeness, innocence, simplicity, uprightness and evenness protect, preserve, guard and keep me close, for I wait in eager expectation for You.” ~~ Basically, to live a life of integrity means to live every area of my life to God every minute and every step of the way!
Yikes, but how is this possible you ask? “The pressures from society and pressures even within the walls of my own home cause me such temptation…especially this time of year with all the added Christmas demands and family situations!”
Well, to have integrity doesn’t mean that perfection must be our standard, for we all know that none of us is perfect. What integrity does mean, however, is that we need to continually strive to surrender areas of our lives where we knowingly compromise. Areas of unrepentant sin, such as anger rages, hatred, lust, illegal goings-on…you get the picture. You see, God wants us to experience abundant life here on earth (not just in heaven), and Satan knows this. Satan is the cosmic kill-joy, not God. And the devil diligently, consistently and creatively labors to trip us up. If the devil can entice us to surrender one small area of our life to him, he knows he has a foothold on us. And often one compromise leads to another, then to another, resulting in more and more damage, which in turn leads to destruction…thus creating our own prison on earth.
Haven’t we all seen this with a married couple who has so much going right in their relationship but make just one compromise?… Like maxing out the credit card(ssss), or calling one another ugly names when frustrated (resulting in serious trust issues or much worse), or permissive parenting (with the children now running the family), or porn introduced (which now runs out of control), or refusing to leave and cleave( thus allowing in-laws to run the show), or becoming child focused instead of spouse focused (and losing intimate relationship with our partner, or work/recreation focused instead of spouse focused (and losing cherished connection with our partner), or….You get it.
Shaun and I are committed to “staying on a short leash” with God and with one another with the enticements in our lives. No compromises. We converse and pray regularly, beseeching God to cause us to desire to stay on His path…to cause us to want to live in innocence, simplicity, and uprightness of character. Why? Because we are old now J and we have found through trial and error, you’ve guessed it, God’s way leads to an amazing life, and our way leads to certain heartache.
Sure, we have had to give up some things and some relationships along the way. And although these sacrifices are incredibly difficult at the time of sacrifice, God keeps to His promise, and blesses us 100 fold for our obedience. “I tell you the truth…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother of father or children or fields for ME and the gospel will fail to receive a 100X as much in this present age…and in the age to come.” Mk.10:29-30
So, let’s commit to do some regular house keeping…for our own good, and our Lord’s glory. Don’t we owe it to Him? He gave it ALL so that we could truly LIVE, now and forever.
God bless you this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
What this verse actually communicates is this, “May completeness, innocence, simplicity, uprightness and evenness protect, preserve, guard and keep me close, for I wait in eager expectation for You.” ~~ Basically, to live a life of integrity means to live every area of my life to God every minute and every step of the way!
Yikes, but how is this possible you ask? “The pressures from society and pressures even within the walls of my own home cause me such temptation…especially this time of year with all the added Christmas demands and family situations!”
Well, to have integrity doesn’t mean that perfection must be our standard, for we all know that none of us is perfect. What integrity does mean, however, is that we need to continually strive to surrender areas of our lives where we knowingly compromise. Areas of unrepentant sin, such as anger rages, hatred, lust, illegal goings-on…you get the picture. You see, God wants us to experience abundant life here on earth (not just in heaven), and Satan knows this. Satan is the cosmic kill-joy, not God. And the devil diligently, consistently and creatively labors to trip us up. If the devil can entice us to surrender one small area of our life to him, he knows he has a foothold on us. And often one compromise leads to another, then to another, resulting in more and more damage, which in turn leads to destruction…thus creating our own prison on earth.
Haven’t we all seen this with a married couple who has so much going right in their relationship but make just one compromise?… Like maxing out the credit card(ssss), or calling one another ugly names when frustrated (resulting in serious trust issues or much worse), or permissive parenting (with the children now running the family), or porn introduced (which now runs out of control), or refusing to leave and cleave( thus allowing in-laws to run the show), or becoming child focused instead of spouse focused (and losing intimate relationship with our partner, or work/recreation focused instead of spouse focused (and losing cherished connection with our partner), or….You get it.
Shaun and I are committed to “staying on a short leash” with God and with one another with the enticements in our lives. No compromises. We converse and pray regularly, beseeching God to cause us to desire to stay on His path…to cause us to want to live in innocence, simplicity, and uprightness of character. Why? Because we are old now J and we have found through trial and error, you’ve guessed it, God’s way leads to an amazing life, and our way leads to certain heartache.
Sure, we have had to give up some things and some relationships along the way. And although these sacrifices are incredibly difficult at the time of sacrifice, God keeps to His promise, and blesses us 100 fold for our obedience. “I tell you the truth…no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother of father or children or fields for ME and the gospel will fail to receive a 100X as much in this present age…and in the age to come.” Mk.10:29-30
So, let’s commit to do some regular house keeping…for our own good, and our Lord’s glory. Don’t we owe it to Him? He gave it ALL so that we could truly LIVE, now and forever.
God bless you this week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Living for the King 11-30-09
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Rom. 1:20
We attended a memorial paddle for a friend recently, during which a highly educated well-meaning woman stood and addressed the gathered crowd,” Mother Nature has taken (friend) from us. And now when you venture out in the sea, know that ______ will be out on the water with you.”
~~Despite this woman’s heartfelt words and convictions, all I could think was, “Oh God, please let all these mourners see You, and not buy into this humanist lie … You are not ‘mother nature’, You are Father God”. And as I walked the beach long afterwards, I got to thinking … is this really all that is left of this wonderful man’s life? … A soul whose years boil down to few good memories and a sandy shore strewn with washed up rose petals and flower stems? … I pray not, Lord. I pray he knew You.
Soon after this memorial paddle, Thanksgiving Day was upon us….and again I was struck by another human being, only this time it was a mans life, not death, that plucked at my heart strings ~~ This soul took Lk. 14:12-14 to heart, picked up a handful of homeless people from around town that he had befriended over the last year, brought them back to his beautiful home, and there, prepared a magnificent Thanksgiving feast for them. But that wasn’t all … after dinner they gathered together, sat down in his living room and watched a family movie as one. ~~~ Expressions of thanksgiving and heartfelt love enthroned this home this blessed night.
(“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14)
Two human beings, two very different stories. Both stepped out of their comfort zones and touched a handful of lives … lives that will never be the same. However, one did it in what appears to be “in the name and compassion of humanity”, and the other did it “in the Name and love of Christ”.
Oh God, that each of our lives will be lives commemorated by stories of our intimate walk with You! Relationships … it’s all about relationships. Help us Jesus. Help us to see what really matters from Your eternal perspective, and what is going to merely burn one day. Rev. 20:11-15.
Below is a link to a young artist named Akiane Kramarik. Many of you have seen her story aired on CNN, but we Cleary’s decided to pull it up again to refresh and focus our minds on what really matters. Akiane’s continued story and insights into eternity are awe inspiring. www.youtube.com/watch?v=49wut32Cguw
What a glorious time of year it is! … Let’s live (and one day die) for Him.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
We attended a memorial paddle for a friend recently, during which a highly educated well-meaning woman stood and addressed the gathered crowd,” Mother Nature has taken (friend) from us. And now when you venture out in the sea, know that ______ will be out on the water with you.”
~~Despite this woman’s heartfelt words and convictions, all I could think was, “Oh God, please let all these mourners see You, and not buy into this humanist lie … You are not ‘mother nature’, You are Father God”. And as I walked the beach long afterwards, I got to thinking … is this really all that is left of this wonderful man’s life? … A soul whose years boil down to few good memories and a sandy shore strewn with washed up rose petals and flower stems? … I pray not, Lord. I pray he knew You.
Soon after this memorial paddle, Thanksgiving Day was upon us….and again I was struck by another human being, only this time it was a mans life, not death, that plucked at my heart strings ~~ This soul took Lk. 14:12-14 to heart, picked up a handful of homeless people from around town that he had befriended over the last year, brought them back to his beautiful home, and there, prepared a magnificent Thanksgiving feast for them. But that wasn’t all … after dinner they gathered together, sat down in his living room and watched a family movie as one. ~~~ Expressions of thanksgiving and heartfelt love enthroned this home this blessed night.
(“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:12-14)
Two human beings, two very different stories. Both stepped out of their comfort zones and touched a handful of lives … lives that will never be the same. However, one did it in what appears to be “in the name and compassion of humanity”, and the other did it “in the Name and love of Christ”.
Oh God, that each of our lives will be lives commemorated by stories of our intimate walk with You! Relationships … it’s all about relationships. Help us Jesus. Help us to see what really matters from Your eternal perspective, and what is going to merely burn one day. Rev. 20:11-15.
Below is a link to a young artist named Akiane Kramarik. Many of you have seen her story aired on CNN, but we Cleary’s decided to pull it up again to refresh and focus our minds on what really matters. Akiane’s continued story and insights into eternity are awe inspiring. www.youtube.com/watch?v=49wut32Cguw
What a glorious time of year it is! … Let’s live (and one day die) for Him.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Need some God illumination? 11-23-09
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us.” Deut. 29:29
Although there are things that will remain a mystery until we are united with Christ, the psalmist tells us in Ps 25:14, that God offers intimate and lasting friendship to those of us who revere Him…revealing His deep truths to us as we struggle in this life and mature. Some mysteries require a glorified body to comprehend, yet other truths simply require a child-like faith, sprinkled with some personal maturity.
Let’s illustrate this concept with a personal example this week: We Cleary’s have a trip coming up, and dear Mom (moi) misplaced 2 of our 5 passports. Despite our gallant efforts to uncover them, they weren’t to be found, and we were running out of time. (Shaun and I didn’t want to make a round trip to LA or to pay the $ to get new ones, confidently knowing that these 2 passports were somewhere in our home!)
After days of looking, we were at the ‘end of our talented selves’ (8-31-09 R&R message), and I decided to “clear my mind” and take a run out on the bluffs near our home. Running and praying aloud with God, I must have looked like a total kook. I combed my brains as to what “safe spot” I’d placed these documents, praying aloud something like this, “God, You are sovereign and totally in control…and You CARE about even the littlest thing… like this. ~breathe, breathe~ I know that You know where these passports are! And I sense that my hand has been within inches of them the last 24 hours. ~breathe~ Would You please just put a beeper on them or something? I know You can do this. ~breathe, breathe~ God, please illuminate them for me! Would You jog my memory to the exact “safe” location I placed them in? Lord, I sense that my hand has literally brushed over them, but they remain veiled from me! Please remove the veil!”
Then it hit me…”remove the veil”…”within inches, but cannot see”… Oh I get this, Lord. You’re interested in revealing far more to me than mere passports. You want me to understand a much deeper truth. I get it. God then proceeded to reveal to me a deep spiritual truth that I have been searching and beseeching Him for recently.
~~And just to show Himself ALL-KNOWING, when I got back home, He revealed the passports. Unreal! Discovering them in an envelope full of photos, we quickly called our eldest son to share our exuberance. He went silent. “Mom, as I was praying this morning God impressed upon my heart to tell you to “look in the pictures, they’ll be there.”
WOW, oh WOW. WOW, WOW. Kels and I felt like King David, dancing before the Lord down the streets of Jerusalem! Oh, You are so good, Lord! So faithful! “The unfolding of Your Words gives light; and it gives understanding to the simple.” Ps. 119:130. For, as we cried out before the Lord, He “revealed” according to His Word. Ps. 119:169.
Our God yearns to know and to be known by us as He constantly woos and pursues us!
This week, as we pause with an attitude of thanksgiving (even if our family situations are difficult), what will be our prayer and our response of praise to our Father in Heaven? He is so worthy.
God bless you this wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Shaun and Betsy
Although there are things that will remain a mystery until we are united with Christ, the psalmist tells us in Ps 25:14, that God offers intimate and lasting friendship to those of us who revere Him…revealing His deep truths to us as we struggle in this life and mature. Some mysteries require a glorified body to comprehend, yet other truths simply require a child-like faith, sprinkled with some personal maturity.
Let’s illustrate this concept with a personal example this week: We Cleary’s have a trip coming up, and dear Mom (moi) misplaced 2 of our 5 passports. Despite our gallant efforts to uncover them, they weren’t to be found, and we were running out of time. (Shaun and I didn’t want to make a round trip to LA or to pay the $ to get new ones, confidently knowing that these 2 passports were somewhere in our home!)
After days of looking, we were at the ‘end of our talented selves’ (8-31-09 R&R message), and I decided to “clear my mind” and take a run out on the bluffs near our home. Running and praying aloud with God, I must have looked like a total kook. I combed my brains as to what “safe spot” I’d placed these documents, praying aloud something like this, “God, You are sovereign and totally in control…and You CARE about even the littlest thing… like this. ~breathe, breathe~ I know that You know where these passports are! And I sense that my hand has been within inches of them the last 24 hours. ~breathe~ Would You please just put a beeper on them or something? I know You can do this. ~breathe, breathe~ God, please illuminate them for me! Would You jog my memory to the exact “safe” location I placed them in? Lord, I sense that my hand has literally brushed over them, but they remain veiled from me! Please remove the veil!”
Then it hit me…”remove the veil”…”within inches, but cannot see”… Oh I get this, Lord. You’re interested in revealing far more to me than mere passports. You want me to understand a much deeper truth. I get it. God then proceeded to reveal to me a deep spiritual truth that I have been searching and beseeching Him for recently.
~~And just to show Himself ALL-KNOWING, when I got back home, He revealed the passports. Unreal! Discovering them in an envelope full of photos, we quickly called our eldest son to share our exuberance. He went silent. “Mom, as I was praying this morning God impressed upon my heart to tell you to “look in the pictures, they’ll be there.”
WOW, oh WOW. WOW, WOW. Kels and I felt like King David, dancing before the Lord down the streets of Jerusalem! Oh, You are so good, Lord! So faithful! “The unfolding of Your Words gives light; and it gives understanding to the simple.” Ps. 119:130. For, as we cried out before the Lord, He “revealed” according to His Word. Ps. 119:169.
Our God yearns to know and to be known by us as He constantly woos and pursues us!
This week, as we pause with an attitude of thanksgiving (even if our family situations are difficult), what will be our prayer and our response of praise to our Father in Heaven? He is so worthy.
God bless you this wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Shaun and Betsy
Some basic people skills 11-16-09
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Ps.100:4
Can you imagine the above verse saying, “Enter His gates with anger and bitterness, and His courts with yelling and thoughts of hatred”? Not. Our Lord beckons us to communicate with Him in positive attitudes and words of affirmation in return for His faithful fellowship with each of us.
So then just where are we in our relationship with Him when we try to enter His fellowship with bitterness, angst, deception? ...Definitely outside His fellowship, as we pain His heart.
Equally, can you imagine how it pains God’s heart to see how His kids talk and treat one another so much of the time? Facts are, we are made in God’s image, and when we communicate unkind words and actions to others, we pain God’s heart and hearts close towards one another.
Whether this be our friend, our child, our spouse, our sister/brother/parent/relative or some obscure jerk at the check out stand…not only is each of us held accountable to God for our responses, but we live out the consequences of our communications here and now. For when we are angst towards another soul, and self-justifiably act out our animosity towards this individual, we experience hearts closing. And the situation usually gets worse, not better. ~~So why do so many of us choose to treat our fellow sojourners in this manner? Can’t you just hear God calling out to us something like this: “Yogh, you there! How about using some basic people skills? I know that (_______) is a jerk in your eyes right now, but you are responsible for your own thoughts, words and behaviors, dear one. And what you’re scheming right now is only going to make matters worse.”
Last week we had an unfortunate encounter with an airline agent… (Ohhh, how my flesh would love to tell you the name of this wretch and the name of her airline, but I will refrain…cause God'll SMACK me big time!) Anyway, this woman self-righteously stood on her “policy podium” and proceeded to treat our daughter and me like dirt. ~~Oh, I was mad as a hornet!! Thank God my Shaun walked up right then. He took one look at my face, kissed me on the cheek and told me that it would be best that I leave and let him handle this. (Praise God for my man, or I think I would have strangled this woman given another minute or so.)
After I left, I got to thinking about what made me so angry? What I found was that it was not this new ambiguous airline policy that had me so upset, but it was the spiteful manner and words of the policy enforcer. If this woman had merely shown some sort of compassion of any kind, some basic people skills, we could have avoided all heart ache and worked productively towards a solution.
But there, as I was bemoaning this woman and feeling justified in doing so, God spoke quietly to my heart: “Bets, where are you doing this exact same thing? How are you treating the precious people I’ve placed in your path? Strangers? Friends? Family? Kids? Spouse? ~~~ Oh, ouch Lord. He then prompted me take a hard look at my life right now and ask myself if my ‘communication outcomes’ are ones of blessing or ones of strife?
~~~How about you? Praise God if we are experiencing blessings from our communications! But if we are receiving consequences of strife, it’s time to own up and make some changes. (Living in strife is not abundant life.)
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
Can you imagine the above verse saying, “Enter His gates with anger and bitterness, and His courts with yelling and thoughts of hatred”? Not. Our Lord beckons us to communicate with Him in positive attitudes and words of affirmation in return for His faithful fellowship with each of us.
So then just where are we in our relationship with Him when we try to enter His fellowship with bitterness, angst, deception? ...Definitely outside His fellowship, as we pain His heart.
Equally, can you imagine how it pains God’s heart to see how His kids talk and treat one another so much of the time? Facts are, we are made in God’s image, and when we communicate unkind words and actions to others, we pain God’s heart and hearts close towards one another.
Whether this be our friend, our child, our spouse, our sister/brother/parent/relative or some obscure jerk at the check out stand…not only is each of us held accountable to God for our responses, but we live out the consequences of our communications here and now. For when we are angst towards another soul, and self-justifiably act out our animosity towards this individual, we experience hearts closing. And the situation usually gets worse, not better. ~~So why do so many of us choose to treat our fellow sojourners in this manner? Can’t you just hear God calling out to us something like this: “Yogh, you there! How about using some basic people skills? I know that (_______) is a jerk in your eyes right now, but you are responsible for your own thoughts, words and behaviors, dear one. And what you’re scheming right now is only going to make matters worse.”
Last week we had an unfortunate encounter with an airline agent… (Ohhh, how my flesh would love to tell you the name of this wretch and the name of her airline, but I will refrain…cause God'll SMACK me big time!) Anyway, this woman self-righteously stood on her “policy podium” and proceeded to treat our daughter and me like dirt. ~~Oh, I was mad as a hornet!! Thank God my Shaun walked up right then. He took one look at my face, kissed me on the cheek and told me that it would be best that I leave and let him handle this. (Praise God for my man, or I think I would have strangled this woman given another minute or so.)
After I left, I got to thinking about what made me so angry? What I found was that it was not this new ambiguous airline policy that had me so upset, but it was the spiteful manner and words of the policy enforcer. If this woman had merely shown some sort of compassion of any kind, some basic people skills, we could have avoided all heart ache and worked productively towards a solution.
But there, as I was bemoaning this woman and feeling justified in doing so, God spoke quietly to my heart: “Bets, where are you doing this exact same thing? How are you treating the precious people I’ve placed in your path? Strangers? Friends? Family? Kids? Spouse? ~~~ Oh, ouch Lord. He then prompted me take a hard look at my life right now and ask myself if my ‘communication outcomes’ are ones of blessing or ones of strife?
~~~How about you? Praise God if we are experiencing blessings from our communications! But if we are receiving consequences of strife, it’s time to own up and make some changes. (Living in strife is not abundant life.)
God bless you!
Shaun and Betsy
Get a love infusion from the Master 11-09-09
“This is My command: Love each other.” John 15:17
Entering another person’s world, discerning and identifying this person’s needs and desires, then loving this individual at the point of his or her need doesn’t “just happen”. ~~But this is precisely what it takes to effectively love another: take our eyes off ourselves and see another soul through the eyes of God.
A friend recently shared her sadness regarding the lack of the Gen. 2:24 “leave and cleave” in her marriage. As she spoke forth her heartache, I was momentarily transported back in time to my parent’s home 20 some odd years ago…….Shaun and I were there for a family event, and as we were about to leave, Shaun put his arm around me and told my parents what a lucky man he was that he got to marry their Betsy, and how proud he was to be her husband. (He did the same kind of thing in front of his parents at a separate time.) ~~~ Such a simple statement, but a statement that communicated VOLUMES to all hearers…and one that communicated love to his wife at the point of her need!
This love commandment is a “God-thing” and thus requires a “God infusion/transfusion” of our souls. This week, will you join us in this simple prayer for those most dear to us in our lives?
“Dear Jesus, please help me. Help me to see the people that You have placed in my life, through
Your perspective. Please help me to get my eyes off my self-centered insecure self and see
these people closest to me through Your heart and lenses, and not my own
(…people like my husband/wife and each of our kids, first and foremost).
Please help me to cherish, value, and treasure each of them … to individually identify with their
specific needs and desires, to identify with their hurts and disappointments,
and to fully share in each of their joys.
God, You have placed some very special people in my life; help me to see each one as a special
Gift ~~~ (even when “a particular special gift” gets all muddied).
I know how much I desire to be understood, validated, and comforted, especially when I’m acting
ugly. Please teach me how to be there for others in this same manner,
and to ask for forgiveness when I biff it.
Lord I need You! I can be such a self centered idiot! ... Would you please help me to have divine
perspective of my own life?
Help me; help me learn to love others as You do.”
Blessings this week,
Shaun and Betsy
Entering another person’s world, discerning and identifying this person’s needs and desires, then loving this individual at the point of his or her need doesn’t “just happen”. ~~But this is precisely what it takes to effectively love another: take our eyes off ourselves and see another soul through the eyes of God.
A friend recently shared her sadness regarding the lack of the Gen. 2:24 “leave and cleave” in her marriage. As she spoke forth her heartache, I was momentarily transported back in time to my parent’s home 20 some odd years ago…….Shaun and I were there for a family event, and as we were about to leave, Shaun put his arm around me and told my parents what a lucky man he was that he got to marry their Betsy, and how proud he was to be her husband. (He did the same kind of thing in front of his parents at a separate time.) ~~~ Such a simple statement, but a statement that communicated VOLUMES to all hearers…and one that communicated love to his wife at the point of her need!
This love commandment is a “God-thing” and thus requires a “God infusion/transfusion” of our souls. This week, will you join us in this simple prayer for those most dear to us in our lives?
“Dear Jesus, please help me. Help me to see the people that You have placed in my life, through
Your perspective. Please help me to get my eyes off my self-centered insecure self and see
these people closest to me through Your heart and lenses, and not my own
(…people like my husband/wife and each of our kids, first and foremost).
Please help me to cherish, value, and treasure each of them … to individually identify with their
specific needs and desires, to identify with their hurts and disappointments,
and to fully share in each of their joys.
God, You have placed some very special people in my life; help me to see each one as a special
Gift ~~~ (even when “a particular special gift” gets all muddied).
I know how much I desire to be understood, validated, and comforted, especially when I’m acting
ugly. Please teach me how to be there for others in this same manner,
and to ask for forgiveness when I biff it.
Lord I need You! I can be such a self centered idiot! ... Would you please help me to have divine
perspective of my own life?
Help me; help me learn to love others as You do.”
Blessings this week,
Shaun and Betsy
Who are you leaning on? 11-2-09
“There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.” Prov. 16:25
Ever feel as if you’re up to your neck in water with the H20 level still rising? Soon, you fear your head will be cocked back against your neck, and all that will remain dry are your puckered-up lips, to suck in one last little bit of oxygen (like breathing through a straw before you drown). ~~Overwhelming challenges can certainly make us feel this way…work challenges (or lack of work), relationship challenges, physical or health challenges and the like.
What to do as believers when we feel like this? One thing that we would be wise NOT to do is what Anne Heche exemplified in the movie Six Days, Seven Nights. In this movie, Heche’s and Harrison Ford’s small plane has just crashed on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. With no way to contact civilization, any rescue appears doubtful. So Heche decides to take things into her own hands, her cell phone first. She quickly discovers she has no cell coverage, rendering her “rescue phone” useless. Next, she discovers a rubber raft in the back of the crashed plane. Ford excitedly begs her NOT to pull that cord…but Heche pulls it anyway. Unable to exit the plane, the flotation devise fills the cabin, squishing Anne against the plane’s side with her face smashed against the window. Ford walks around to her side of the plane and calmly asks her, “Have you had enough?” She responds with a muffled, “Forget YOU!”…Ford can’t really make out what she has just said (or he was just so amused by the whole scene he had to ask twice), so he asks her again, “Have you had enough?” Again, she responds “FORGET YOU!!!” But this time, to emphasize her point, she twists and contorts so she can get her hand near her face, and gestures him with her middle finger.
What a scene! Shaun and I laughed and laughed…Why? Well you see, in a twisted way, this scene amused us because it illustrates what we sadly do with God from time to time. Figuratively speaking, it’s like God calmly walks around to our side of the plane, amusingly looks in the window at our squished faces and asks, “S&B…you guys had enough yet?” And there, we 2 ‘wee’ humans sit, looking back at Almighty God with our faces all smashed against the window and say, “Forget you, Lord, we’ve got this one!” …Kind of like a 2 yr. old saying to ones parent, “MINE! I do it MYSELF!!!” ~~~So foolish…who do we really think we are? (“There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death!”)
So what do we do when times are painfully difficult?
Pv. 3:7-8 tell us, “Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” And the verses just prior exhort us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Pv. 3:5-6. Do the next right thing.
In Heb. 12, Paul urges us to endure hardship as a discipline. “…God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Heb 12:10-1. Well, this is very true…but when I am hurting, I also need to hear something like this from my Lord, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chr. 16:9. (The truth/love equation we discussed last week.)
Oh Lord, that we can begin to comprehend and to trust in Your unfathomable love for us! Help us Lord. Help the motivations of our hearts to be in line with Yours.
Have a faith-filled week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Ever feel as if you’re up to your neck in water with the H20 level still rising? Soon, you fear your head will be cocked back against your neck, and all that will remain dry are your puckered-up lips, to suck in one last little bit of oxygen (like breathing through a straw before you drown). ~~Overwhelming challenges can certainly make us feel this way…work challenges (or lack of work), relationship challenges, physical or health challenges and the like.
What to do as believers when we feel like this? One thing that we would be wise NOT to do is what Anne Heche exemplified in the movie Six Days, Seven Nights. In this movie, Heche’s and Harrison Ford’s small plane has just crashed on a deserted island somewhere in the South Pacific. With no way to contact civilization, any rescue appears doubtful. So Heche decides to take things into her own hands, her cell phone first. She quickly discovers she has no cell coverage, rendering her “rescue phone” useless. Next, she discovers a rubber raft in the back of the crashed plane. Ford excitedly begs her NOT to pull that cord…but Heche pulls it anyway. Unable to exit the plane, the flotation devise fills the cabin, squishing Anne against the plane’s side with her face smashed against the window. Ford walks around to her side of the plane and calmly asks her, “Have you had enough?” She responds with a muffled, “Forget YOU!”…Ford can’t really make out what she has just said (or he was just so amused by the whole scene he had to ask twice), so he asks her again, “Have you had enough?” Again, she responds “FORGET YOU!!!” But this time, to emphasize her point, she twists and contorts so she can get her hand near her face, and gestures him with her middle finger.
What a scene! Shaun and I laughed and laughed…Why? Well you see, in a twisted way, this scene amused us because it illustrates what we sadly do with God from time to time. Figuratively speaking, it’s like God calmly walks around to our side of the plane, amusingly looks in the window at our squished faces and asks, “S&B…you guys had enough yet?” And there, we 2 ‘wee’ humans sit, looking back at Almighty God with our faces all smashed against the window and say, “Forget you, Lord, we’ve got this one!” …Kind of like a 2 yr. old saying to ones parent, “MINE! I do it MYSELF!!!” ~~~So foolish…who do we really think we are? (“There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death!”)
So what do we do when times are painfully difficult?
Pv. 3:7-8 tell us, “Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” And the verses just prior exhort us to, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Pv. 3:5-6. Do the next right thing.
In Heb. 12, Paul urges us to endure hardship as a discipline. “…God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Heb 12:10-1. Well, this is very true…but when I am hurting, I also need to hear something like this from my Lord, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” 2 Chr. 16:9. (The truth/love equation we discussed last week.)
Oh Lord, that we can begin to comprehend and to trust in Your unfathomable love for us! Help us Lord. Help the motivations of our hearts to be in line with Yours.
Have a faith-filled week!
Much love,
Shaun and Betsy
Find the truth/love balance 10-26-09
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1Pet.1:22
We live in a fallen world full of hurting people. Know any? Someone real close to you? With this knowledge, Shaun and I have had to check ourselves with this: Is our response to the hurting folks God places in our lives (like our kids or our spouse) one of merely “preaching the truths of God” at them, or is it coming alongside them with God’s heart of compassion, then speaking truths only as God leads? ~~Truth and love…the two go hand in hand, yet so much of the time in our Christian communities, we sadly see only one or the other. Either the Truth reigns supreme, resulting in constant fault-finding OR compassion runs supreme resulting in loved ones who never learn true freedom resulting from living in Christ’s truths.
You see, being students of Scripture, if my Shaun and I are not continually tenderized towards the things that make God’s own heart pained, we may find ourselves more fault finding and sour-faced about a person or situation, than we are understanding another’s heartache. Have you ever met one of these sour-faced legalist believers? Ahhh…makes me want to run and hide! (Especially when it is my own ‘lemoned-up image’ looking back at me in the mirror.) ~~~ Oh, how I desire to be a person who searches the heart of God for divine wisdom in how to live life victoriously in this fallen world, and at the same time, be one who is in touch with the heart of God towards people in my life who are hurting. How about you? How do you desire to treat and to be treated by others?
A quick story: Shaun and I just had a magical get-away weekend together up in the Bay Area, but the cherry on top of the banana split came with a surprise phone call from the water polo coach at Stanford University. This coach knew we were up in his area and asked by chance if we could steal our son away from his tournament and come over to Stanford to meet with him in person. We did. Long story short, our son, Conner, was told that he has been admitted to the school and asked to play H20 polo for them…pomp and circumstance ensued, then he was quickly whisked off to the student section of the Stanford vs. ASU football game.
All this happened so quickly…it truly was a mind-spin, and but when the coach commented on Conner as a person, Shaun and I were flooded with emotion. Oh my gosh, do we love this 6’6” yet to be shaving man-child! We were later asked “what we have done so right in raising our kids?” (Talk about humbling.) ~~~ Wearing out the knees in our jeans before God is the answer! But when pressed for something “practical”, it made us think…just what have we done, and not done?
Thinking on this, we believe that the “truth/compassion” equation discussed above has been key. When one of our kids has been hurting, instead of saying something like, “Oh, ___, I know it hurts, but what do you think God is teaching you through this?” Or, “You know, ____, God works all things for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose…like you.” Or, ____, consider it pure joy that you are facing this trial, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Oh no.
Instead, we have found that although these truths are very TRUE, the timing of their appropriation to a person’s hurting soul requires divine wisdom. More often than not, when our kids (or Shaun or I) have been hurting, what we’ve immediately needed were arms of love, not words of truth. Something like, “Oh, my love, I hurt so bad for you.” Or, “_____, I am here for you.” Or, with eyes full of compassion, merely pulling this hurting one close…and saying nothing. When hurting, each of us yearns to know, “Someone’s on my team and loves me unconditionally!” (…then later we are much more open to receiving and applying words of truth.)
(Confessional time J: Despite our awesome relationship, Shaun and I admittedly confess to you that we have been more consistent doing this with or kids than with each other. For with our kids, this balance has come rather naturally, but with one another, well…sometimes we just get jaded by our expectations, or flat out get lazy. We are a work in progress!! Any of you too?)
So this week, let’s each ask ourselves this: Who is it in my life that needs that divine balance of truth and compassion from me?
Blessings to each of you!
Shaun and Betsy
We live in a fallen world full of hurting people. Know any? Someone real close to you? With this knowledge, Shaun and I have had to check ourselves with this: Is our response to the hurting folks God places in our lives (like our kids or our spouse) one of merely “preaching the truths of God” at them, or is it coming alongside them with God’s heart of compassion, then speaking truths only as God leads? ~~Truth and love…the two go hand in hand, yet so much of the time in our Christian communities, we sadly see only one or the other. Either the Truth reigns supreme, resulting in constant fault-finding OR compassion runs supreme resulting in loved ones who never learn true freedom resulting from living in Christ’s truths.
You see, being students of Scripture, if my Shaun and I are not continually tenderized towards the things that make God’s own heart pained, we may find ourselves more fault finding and sour-faced about a person or situation, than we are understanding another’s heartache. Have you ever met one of these sour-faced legalist believers? Ahhh…makes me want to run and hide! (Especially when it is my own ‘lemoned-up image’ looking back at me in the mirror.) ~~~ Oh, how I desire to be a person who searches the heart of God for divine wisdom in how to live life victoriously in this fallen world, and at the same time, be one who is in touch with the heart of God towards people in my life who are hurting. How about you? How do you desire to treat and to be treated by others?
A quick story: Shaun and I just had a magical get-away weekend together up in the Bay Area, but the cherry on top of the banana split came with a surprise phone call from the water polo coach at Stanford University. This coach knew we were up in his area and asked by chance if we could steal our son away from his tournament and come over to Stanford to meet with him in person. We did. Long story short, our son, Conner, was told that he has been admitted to the school and asked to play H20 polo for them…pomp and circumstance ensued, then he was quickly whisked off to the student section of the Stanford vs. ASU football game.
All this happened so quickly…it truly was a mind-spin, and but when the coach commented on Conner as a person, Shaun and I were flooded with emotion. Oh my gosh, do we love this 6’6” yet to be shaving man-child! We were later asked “what we have done so right in raising our kids?” (Talk about humbling.) ~~~ Wearing out the knees in our jeans before God is the answer! But when pressed for something “practical”, it made us think…just what have we done, and not done?
Thinking on this, we believe that the “truth/compassion” equation discussed above has been key. When one of our kids has been hurting, instead of saying something like, “Oh, ___, I know it hurts, but what do you think God is teaching you through this?” Or, “You know, ____, God works all things for the good of those who love Him, those who have been called according to His purpose…like you.” Or, ____, consider it pure joy that you are facing this trial, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance…so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Oh no.
Instead, we have found that although these truths are very TRUE, the timing of their appropriation to a person’s hurting soul requires divine wisdom. More often than not, when our kids (or Shaun or I) have been hurting, what we’ve immediately needed were arms of love, not words of truth. Something like, “Oh, my love, I hurt so bad for you.” Or, “_____, I am here for you.” Or, with eyes full of compassion, merely pulling this hurting one close…and saying nothing. When hurting, each of us yearns to know, “Someone’s on my team and loves me unconditionally!” (…then later we are much more open to receiving and applying words of truth.)
(Confessional time J: Despite our awesome relationship, Shaun and I admittedly confess to you that we have been more consistent doing this with or kids than with each other. For with our kids, this balance has come rather naturally, but with one another, well…sometimes we just get jaded by our expectations, or flat out get lazy. We are a work in progress!! Any of you too?)
So this week, let’s each ask ourselves this: Who is it in my life that needs that divine balance of truth and compassion from me?
Blessings to each of you!
Shaun and Betsy
Lord, help me do the Next Right Thing 10-19-09
“…let him who des right continue to do right” Rev. 22:11
“Lord, help me to do the next right thing.” ~~~ This simple prayer has kept Shaun and me out of more hot water.
Last week, Alan (named changed) came to a group of us for prayer. He has bleeding in his brain, and was asking for a healing touch. (The cause of Alan’s head trauma most likely comes from physical blows to the head…for Alan has been a gang member for quite sometime.) I grabbed a pad from the pews to kneel on (cause we knew this was gonna take some TIME, and wanted to keep our focus on the King and not on our knees). We all knelt with Alan as he poured out his confessions, one after another, before God. Tears streamed down this broken man’s face, as he recalled difficult memories, asking Jesus to forgive him for the horrific things he has done to people. ~~ Oh, what a privilege it was to hold this mans hand in both of mine, look into his tear filled eyes, and share with him Christ’s limitless love!
We prayed that God would infuse Alan with knowledge of His love and mercy, that God would be a tangible presence in this new life walk,…that God would go before Alan, and be Alan’s rear guard as Alan changes his entire way of living,…that God would touch Alan physically in a way that Alan can see His presence,…that God would make Alan’s former way of living distasteful to him, giving Alan and insatiable hunger for Jesus instead,…that God would give Alan discernment to cast down the devil’s lies that he is “nothing”, and to know in his gut that he is now a righteous child of the King,…that God would help Alan not be overwhelmed by the “mountain” in front of him, but help him do the next right thing…
And all along, we prayed the same prayer over ourselves. (For although none of us there on our knees, had physically beat someone to death, we know that Christ sees us the same…sinners saved by grace in need of an ever-present Savior.)
Facts are, each of us wrestles with life! Each of us has our personal “mountain” to climb… So would you too join us this week and personally pray something like this:
“Lord I love You! Praise You for who You ARE. Lord, please give me an insatiable desire for You and the things that give You joy. Help the sinful desires and areas of my life become distasteful to me. Please empower me, through Your presence in me to live for You. Lord I need Your divine help to pull this off and I am asking You, Lord, to cause me to want to draw near to You! Change my very core, Lord…from the inside out! God, please give me divine eyes and heart into the situations and people around me…even into my own heart, Lord. Please help me not to look at the mountain before me, but instead focus on the next right step to make. (I know that this step may not appear “best” at the time, but I’m trusting You, that if I do what is “right”, Your best for me will be the result.) Oh God, protect me from my foolish self! Please helm me in from the front, behind and sideways…I need Your protection dear Jesus. I love You.”
Love to each of you,
Shaun and Betsy
“Lord, help me to do the next right thing.” ~~~ This simple prayer has kept Shaun and me out of more hot water.
Last week, Alan (named changed) came to a group of us for prayer. He has bleeding in his brain, and was asking for a healing touch. (The cause of Alan’s head trauma most likely comes from physical blows to the head…for Alan has been a gang member for quite sometime.) I grabbed a pad from the pews to kneel on (cause we knew this was gonna take some TIME, and wanted to keep our focus on the King and not on our knees). We all knelt with Alan as he poured out his confessions, one after another, before God. Tears streamed down this broken man’s face, as he recalled difficult memories, asking Jesus to forgive him for the horrific things he has done to people. ~~ Oh, what a privilege it was to hold this mans hand in both of mine, look into his tear filled eyes, and share with him Christ’s limitless love!
We prayed that God would infuse Alan with knowledge of His love and mercy, that God would be a tangible presence in this new life walk,…that God would go before Alan, and be Alan’s rear guard as Alan changes his entire way of living,…that God would touch Alan physically in a way that Alan can see His presence,…that God would make Alan’s former way of living distasteful to him, giving Alan and insatiable hunger for Jesus instead,…that God would give Alan discernment to cast down the devil’s lies that he is “nothing”, and to know in his gut that he is now a righteous child of the King,…that God would help Alan not be overwhelmed by the “mountain” in front of him, but help him do the next right thing…
And all along, we prayed the same prayer over ourselves. (For although none of us there on our knees, had physically beat someone to death, we know that Christ sees us the same…sinners saved by grace in need of an ever-present Savior.)
Facts are, each of us wrestles with life! Each of us has our personal “mountain” to climb… So would you too join us this week and personally pray something like this:
“Lord I love You! Praise You for who You ARE. Lord, please give me an insatiable desire for You and the things that give You joy. Help the sinful desires and areas of my life become distasteful to me. Please empower me, through Your presence in me to live for You. Lord I need Your divine help to pull this off and I am asking You, Lord, to cause me to want to draw near to You! Change my very core, Lord…from the inside out! God, please give me divine eyes and heart into the situations and people around me…even into my own heart, Lord. Please help me not to look at the mountain before me, but instead focus on the next right step to make. (I know that this step may not appear “best” at the time, but I’m trusting You, that if I do what is “right”, Your best for me will be the result.) Oh God, protect me from my foolish self! Please helm me in from the front, behind and sideways…I need Your protection dear Jesus. I love You.”
Love to each of you,
Shaun and Betsy
Hypocrisy...it runs in our blood 10-12-09
“The Lord is my strength and my song.” Ps. 118:1
Ever feel like you are dangling on the edge of a cliff a mile off the ground? Well, this is literally where I found myself Thursday morning, and like the man in Mk 9:24, I beseeched God, “Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!” Thank God my Shaun and our 13 yr. old Shannon were there too…especially during those “infamous cables”. ~~ I suppose the fear had a lot to do with our daughters fractured wrist, and my displaced hip, but regardless of the reasons, I was scared about this venture…especially the cables, especially about the cables! (check out the picture)
What is it in your life that has you tied in knots? If there is nothing identifiable presently, trust us, there will be soon. And when this knot tying situation presents itself…what is your response? Do you and I transparently admit our weaknesses honestly before God and others, or do we hide behind pride and religiosity, and hypocritically try to appear as if we have a “total handle on this thing”?
Currently, one of our sons finds himself quite disturbed about the Christian hypocrisy that surrounds him. As we beat up this topic together, what he discovered was this: All Christians are hypocrites! Yet … some Christians, despite their hypocrisy, are exceedingly refreshing to be around. These believers are transparent, honest, and forthcoming about their messed up nature, instead of putting on an “I have it all together” front. ~~~ Know someone like this? A believer like this is like a breath of fresh mountain air in downtown L.A.!
Well, as our discussion continued, I felt compelled to share a story with our son about a Christian hypocrite I met on our trek up the Half Dome cables last Thursday morning. I was so appalled at this woman…a woman I know quite well, (moi).
Here’s the abbreviated story: After sleeping in our truck (cause of the snoring man in the adjacent tent…even though Yosemite Valley was only ¼ full), followed by a 30min. “intestinal bout in the experience chamber” earlier that morning (which delayed our start time, which in turn made me exceedingly “unpopular” with Shaun and Shannon…’till they learned of my woos and had pity on me J.)…God showed up and performed the miraculous! Literally! You see, with my cable fear factor, displaced hip, and Shannon’s fractured arm, I knew that I NEEDED to completely focus on God to pull this venture off. (“this venture”: each of our kids’ summits Half Dome for their 13th birthday, and goes hang gliding for their 18th birthday). I started listening to praise music as we hiked, and literally danced the entire way to the summit. (The trial was virtually desolate, but the few hikers that passed us got some huge smiles on their faces! ~~ Worshipping the KING amidst this grandeur…ohhhhh, truly a glimpse of heaven for me!!!)
Well, no sooner had we made it to “the cable” section, fear totally gripped me again (a fight or flight thing). Instead of resting and readying ourselves for the final ascent, I just blazed ahead…all I could think about is, “Get me up there, Lord...and if not Lord, tell me to turn around in the first 10 feet!” And this is where the hypocrite showed up…(I only wish there had been a camera focused on her face, cause her face was all bent up…she looked 126 years old!) And all I could hear her chant over and over and over and over was: “Ohh GOD…help me! Help me! Help me!”...then her foot would slip and I would hear “Sh_t!... Sorry Lord, sorry Lord, forgive me”…then again I would hear, GOD HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME!” ~~~ ’till her foot slipped again…. Over and over again I heard these words under her breath. She was scared completely senseless!
And like this woman (me), each of us have times in our lives where we are completely stripped, naked and vulnerable...our real guts/heart totally exposed…and for me last Thursday, I was scared to the core of my being. All I knew was, keep your head DOWN Betsy, and focus on the KING….then my foot would slip, and I would be reminded of the sad sick canyons of my heart that have yet to be cleansed to glowing white.
So, the question is, where is their hypocrisy in your life? And are you and I going to commit to be “exceedingly refreshing transparent believers of the King” to our loved ones…and strangers, as we strive to be holy? People ARE watching.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Ever feel like you are dangling on the edge of a cliff a mile off the ground? Well, this is literally where I found myself Thursday morning, and like the man in Mk 9:24, I beseeched God, “Lord, I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!” Thank God my Shaun and our 13 yr. old Shannon were there too…especially during those “infamous cables”. ~~ I suppose the fear had a lot to do with our daughters fractured wrist, and my displaced hip, but regardless of the reasons, I was scared about this venture…especially the cables, especially about the cables! (check out the picture)
What is it in your life that has you tied in knots? If there is nothing identifiable presently, trust us, there will be soon. And when this knot tying situation presents itself…what is your response? Do you and I transparently admit our weaknesses honestly before God and others, or do we hide behind pride and religiosity, and hypocritically try to appear as if we have a “total handle on this thing”?
Currently, one of our sons finds himself quite disturbed about the Christian hypocrisy that surrounds him. As we beat up this topic together, what he discovered was this: All Christians are hypocrites! Yet … some Christians, despite their hypocrisy, are exceedingly refreshing to be around. These believers are transparent, honest, and forthcoming about their messed up nature, instead of putting on an “I have it all together” front. ~~~ Know someone like this? A believer like this is like a breath of fresh mountain air in downtown L.A.!
Well, as our discussion continued, I felt compelled to share a story with our son about a Christian hypocrite I met on our trek up the Half Dome cables last Thursday morning. I was so appalled at this woman…a woman I know quite well, (moi).
Here’s the abbreviated story: After sleeping in our truck (cause of the snoring man in the adjacent tent…even though Yosemite Valley was only ¼ full), followed by a 30min. “intestinal bout in the experience chamber” earlier that morning (which delayed our start time, which in turn made me exceedingly “unpopular” with Shaun and Shannon…’till they learned of my woos and had pity on me J.)…God showed up and performed the miraculous! Literally! You see, with my cable fear factor, displaced hip, and Shannon’s fractured arm, I knew that I NEEDED to completely focus on God to pull this venture off. (“this venture”: each of our kids’ summits Half Dome for their 13th birthday, and goes hang gliding for their 18th birthday). I started listening to praise music as we hiked, and literally danced the entire way to the summit. (The trial was virtually desolate, but the few hikers that passed us got some huge smiles on their faces! ~~ Worshipping the KING amidst this grandeur…ohhhhh, truly a glimpse of heaven for me!!!)
Well, no sooner had we made it to “the cable” section, fear totally gripped me again (a fight or flight thing). Instead of resting and readying ourselves for the final ascent, I just blazed ahead…all I could think about is, “Get me up there, Lord...and if not Lord, tell me to turn around in the first 10 feet!” And this is where the hypocrite showed up…(I only wish there had been a camera focused on her face, cause her face was all bent up…she looked 126 years old!) And all I could hear her chant over and over and over and over was: “Ohh GOD…help me! Help me! Help me!”...then her foot would slip and I would hear “Sh_t!... Sorry Lord, sorry Lord, forgive me”…then again I would hear, GOD HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME!” ~~~ ’till her foot slipped again…. Over and over again I heard these words under her breath. She was scared completely senseless!
And like this woman (me), each of us have times in our lives where we are completely stripped, naked and vulnerable...our real guts/heart totally exposed…and for me last Thursday, I was scared to the core of my being. All I knew was, keep your head DOWN Betsy, and focus on the KING….then my foot would slip, and I would be reminded of the sad sick canyons of my heart that have yet to be cleansed to glowing white.
So, the question is, where is their hypocrisy in your life? And are you and I going to commit to be “exceedingly refreshing transparent believers of the King” to our loved ones…and strangers, as we strive to be holy? People ARE watching.
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Need an affirming word? 10-05-09
“This is my Son. Whom I love. Listen to Him.” Mark 9:7
As the saying goes, “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” Everywhere we turn we see a world full of hurting people, and beneath so much of the anger and deviant behaviors of the people in our lives is PAIN.
God calls each of us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and after this, His 2nd most important command to us is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mk.12:30-31) We hear, “all you need is God.” Well, ultimately this is true…but we frail humans need “God with skin on” sometimes! And this is the job given to you and me.
So let’s look at Jesus for this example. In the verse above, Jesus has just finished a deep discussion with Elijah and Moses regarding His “departure” (His torture, abandonment and death most likely ~Lk.9:31) God the Father saw this scenario and spoke forth from heaven saying, “This is My Son. Whom I love…Listen to Him”.
Wow. Let’s think about this a brief second… We know that on the cross just before Jesus dies, He cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46) Obviously, Jesus desperately needed to know He was loved and treasured by His Father…and it BROKE Jesus to realize He had been forsaken! So let’s back up in time and revisit Mk. 9:7. ~~~I believe that even though Jesus knew well the divine task set before Him, He was still a flesh and blood man in need of some affirmation from His Father.
So the question is: Who is it in your and my life who needs some love, some empathy, an affirming word amidst their struggle? ~~~I just had the privilege of chatting with a young college student at UCSB. This young man is putting himself through school, having been abandoned by his family (severely abused/neglected throughout his childhood), and was sleeping on the floor of our son’s apartment this summer. I struck up a conversation with him, asking him about his classes, hobbies, clubs, etc.
He shared a lot with me, and then shared that he is an advocate for a “sexual and gender diversity club” on campus. He shared just a bit about this club, and all I could do was to pray to Jesus, “Lord, give me Your eyes and Your heart into the soul of this young man before me. Oh, please Lord!!!!! I need You to show up and give me Your lenses right now!!! I am trusting You Jesus, do this!”
Well, God did show up, and I do believe the Holy Spirit allowed me to see a spiritual glimpse into the core of this man, as I compassionately said, “Wow, Mark (name changed), you really love people.”
Mark looked up at me glassy eyed, and responded, “shouldn’t everybody?”
The door was now open…I could share the love of Jesus with this dear soul before me. It was amazing. Rather than judgmentally standing up on some kind of righteous Christian pedestal and “speaking forth truth”, through Jesus, I was able to love on this man and share Truth in a way Mark could embrace it. Praise you Lord!
So who needs a word of affirmation in your and my life today? I know my Shaun is on the road and could use one, ~~ and I am just the person to speak it forth! Who is it for you?
Love to you all, and have a great week,
Shaun and Betsy
As the saying goes, “People don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” Everywhere we turn we see a world full of hurting people, and beneath so much of the anger and deviant behaviors of the people in our lives is PAIN.
God calls each of us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and after this, His 2nd most important command to us is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (Mk.12:30-31) We hear, “all you need is God.” Well, ultimately this is true…but we frail humans need “God with skin on” sometimes! And this is the job given to you and me.
So let’s look at Jesus for this example. In the verse above, Jesus has just finished a deep discussion with Elijah and Moses regarding His “departure” (His torture, abandonment and death most likely ~Lk.9:31) God the Father saw this scenario and spoke forth from heaven saying, “This is My Son. Whom I love…Listen to Him”.
Wow. Let’s think about this a brief second… We know that on the cross just before Jesus dies, He cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46) Obviously, Jesus desperately needed to know He was loved and treasured by His Father…and it BROKE Jesus to realize He had been forsaken! So let’s back up in time and revisit Mk. 9:7. ~~~I believe that even though Jesus knew well the divine task set before Him, He was still a flesh and blood man in need of some affirmation from His Father.
So the question is: Who is it in your and my life who needs some love, some empathy, an affirming word amidst their struggle? ~~~I just had the privilege of chatting with a young college student at UCSB. This young man is putting himself through school, having been abandoned by his family (severely abused/neglected throughout his childhood), and was sleeping on the floor of our son’s apartment this summer. I struck up a conversation with him, asking him about his classes, hobbies, clubs, etc.
He shared a lot with me, and then shared that he is an advocate for a “sexual and gender diversity club” on campus. He shared just a bit about this club, and all I could do was to pray to Jesus, “Lord, give me Your eyes and Your heart into the soul of this young man before me. Oh, please Lord!!!!! I need You to show up and give me Your lenses right now!!! I am trusting You Jesus, do this!”
Well, God did show up, and I do believe the Holy Spirit allowed me to see a spiritual glimpse into the core of this man, as I compassionately said, “Wow, Mark (name changed), you really love people.”
Mark looked up at me glassy eyed, and responded, “shouldn’t everybody?”
The door was now open…I could share the love of Jesus with this dear soul before me. It was amazing. Rather than judgmentally standing up on some kind of righteous Christian pedestal and “speaking forth truth”, through Jesus, I was able to love on this man and share Truth in a way Mark could embrace it. Praise you Lord!
So who needs a word of affirmation in your and my life today? I know my Shaun is on the road and could use one, ~~ and I am just the person to speak it forth! Who is it for you?
Love to you all, and have a great week,
Shaun and Betsy
What proclamation is the reality of my life making? 9-29-09
“Generations will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds.” Ps. 145:6
I ran into a believing friend last week whom I had not seen in 6 months or so. She looked so good, so “chickie”…and I told her so. She smiled big and quickly told me she had lost 20 some odd pounds. But as I smiled back, she dropped her bomb on me: “Yes, I’m getting a new life…Divorced now…Tough on the kids, but ohhh, so much better for me…I was never happy in that marriage anyway.”
Well, I don’t know what contortions my expressive face did…but thankfully in that shocked/unguarded moment, I chose not to let any words come from my mouth. For if words had come out of my mouth, they would have blurted something like this: “You liar! I know you and ____; the 4 of us have known each other for a long time! And after nearly 20 years of marriage, don’t even kind of expect me to believe that crock of justification you just dished at me, girlfriend. Your mind is simply choosing to justify the lie from the pit of hell that your heart has sadly chosen.”
…See why I kept my mouth shut? I’m sure my face and body language said more than enough.
But it rattled me. For Paul tells us: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor. 10:12-13
Asking God to help me forsake the way I would do things and embrace the way He would do things is the daily prayer of my heart…(”Ohh Lord, protect me from myself!!!”) But please understand this, although ”God’s way” is the prayer of my heart, living out this prayer day in and day out, day in and day out, and day in and day out is not easy. For this reason, my Shaun and I have trained and disciplined ourselves to individually beseech God this prayer every day:
“Lord, please break my heart with the things that break Your heart, and please give me great joy with the things that give You joy… Keep me on a “short leash” Lord!... Would You please give me Your eyes, Your lenses, Your perspective and Your heart into the people and circumstances around me?... Lord, I love You and I trust You. Give me Your clarity to live for Your glory in this messed up world! Please give me a hunger and an unquenchable thirst for You, dear Jesus. Oh Lord, help the proclamation of my life to be You living through me, and protect me from my self centered self! Please Lord, do this. Amen.”
Love to each of you. Proclaim Him.
Shaun and Betsy
I ran into a believing friend last week whom I had not seen in 6 months or so. She looked so good, so “chickie”…and I told her so. She smiled big and quickly told me she had lost 20 some odd pounds. But as I smiled back, she dropped her bomb on me: “Yes, I’m getting a new life…Divorced now…Tough on the kids, but ohhh, so much better for me…I was never happy in that marriage anyway.”
Well, I don’t know what contortions my expressive face did…but thankfully in that shocked/unguarded moment, I chose not to let any words come from my mouth. For if words had come out of my mouth, they would have blurted something like this: “You liar! I know you and ____; the 4 of us have known each other for a long time! And after nearly 20 years of marriage, don’t even kind of expect me to believe that crock of justification you just dished at me, girlfriend. Your mind is simply choosing to justify the lie from the pit of hell that your heart has sadly chosen.”
…See why I kept my mouth shut? I’m sure my face and body language said more than enough.
But it rattled me. For Paul tells us: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor. 10:12-13
Asking God to help me forsake the way I would do things and embrace the way He would do things is the daily prayer of my heart…(”Ohh Lord, protect me from myself!!!”) But please understand this, although ”God’s way” is the prayer of my heart, living out this prayer day in and day out, day in and day out, and day in and day out is not easy. For this reason, my Shaun and I have trained and disciplined ourselves to individually beseech God this prayer every day:
“Lord, please break my heart with the things that break Your heart, and please give me great joy with the things that give You joy… Keep me on a “short leash” Lord!... Would You please give me Your eyes, Your lenses, Your perspective and Your heart into the people and circumstances around me?... Lord, I love You and I trust You. Give me Your clarity to live for Your glory in this messed up world! Please give me a hunger and an unquenchable thirst for You, dear Jesus. Oh Lord, help the proclamation of my life to be You living through me, and protect me from my self centered self! Please Lord, do this. Amen.”
Love to each of you. Proclaim Him.
Shaun and Betsy
Undivided (short and sweet) 9-21-09
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.” Prov. 27:19
The mind tries to justify whatever the heart has chosen.
Our prayer for this week is simply this: “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may revere Your name.” Ps. 86:11
Will you join us in this?
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
The mind tries to justify whatever the heart has chosen.
Our prayer for this week is simply this: “Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may revere Your name.” Ps. 86:11
Will you join us in this?
God bless you,
Shaun and Betsy
Know Someone with ESP? 9-15-09
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mk. 12:30
We covered the basics of this verse yesterday, but purposefully did not pursue the topic of “emotion” and how God addresses it in this verse. Today, I believe the Lord is prompting me to touch on in this area of emotion in a brief appendage regarding the female emotional component of “body, mind and spirit”. (See word study attachment).
Whether you are single, married, male or female, everyone would do well to understand “female extra sensory perception”…a skill my Shaun says I get every month or so, and a time he endearingly refers to as “mom’s sensitive days”. In another era, before the antiseptic hygiene practices of today, this monthly female phenomenon was a known fact to all…but men today, like our 2 Cleary man-child sons, are left relatively clueless. They (you too?) find themselves reasonably naive with regard to this huge human experience that directly affects their dealings with people. And unfortunately, it’s generally not until a man gets into a physical relationship with a woman that he even begins “to truly be enlightened”.
Presently, our once little girl is now a teenager, and I am getting quite the education from this “younger Martian” who appears in our home with increasing frequency. Figuratively speaking, our sweet little blondie can be walking straight, walking straight, walking straight…then, with no notice what so ever, make an about face, change direction mid-stride, smack right into me, and then get all ticked that I was in her way! With my mouth wide open in disbelieving amazement, I immediately look to Shaun for answers.
He just looks back at me with a sweet smile, then comes over to rub Shannon’s back (and smooth the creases in my forehead), and gently whispers into my ear, “Babe, I’ve got this down to a science…been studying this extraterrestrial behavior for years! I’ll teach you everything I know.” ~~~ (I’m fairly confident, however, that the inner thoughts of my sweet Shaun are doing ecstatic back flips, thinking to himself, “Yes, Lord…PAY BACK, big time!!!! Oh, ain’t it sweeeet?! Thank you, Jesus!!”)
Funny? Not so funny? Well, on a more serious note, we actually do believe that this monthly cycle our Lord has “blessed” women with is exactly that…a blessing, not a curse. Once a month most every 14yr-55yr old woman whom each of us comes into contact with, is experiencing a “heightened awareness” on life. She can detect subtleties around her that are virtually undetectable at another time. So men listen up here, the women in your life can be a tremendous asset to you!!
As I have learned to “take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ”, Shaun has learned to treasure this monthly sonar system that God installed in his wife! But first, his wife (me) had to learn that although her feelings about something or someone were quite accurate, they were not accurate to the extremes (high or low) that she was sensing. It’s kind of like looking at life through a magnifying glass…one can see things in exceptionally high def, but has to realize that it is an exaggerated image.
It is especially during “mom’s sensitive days” that I have had to purposefully apply the principles we outlined yesterday.
No cop outs women! We are passionate creatures, but this passion generally needs a little curbing a few days a month.
God bless!
Betsy and my man
We covered the basics of this verse yesterday, but purposefully did not pursue the topic of “emotion” and how God addresses it in this verse. Today, I believe the Lord is prompting me to touch on in this area of emotion in a brief appendage regarding the female emotional component of “body, mind and spirit”. (See word study attachment).
Whether you are single, married, male or female, everyone would do well to understand “female extra sensory perception”…a skill my Shaun says I get every month or so, and a time he endearingly refers to as “mom’s sensitive days”. In another era, before the antiseptic hygiene practices of today, this monthly female phenomenon was a known fact to all…but men today, like our 2 Cleary man-child sons, are left relatively clueless. They (you too?) find themselves reasonably naive with regard to this huge human experience that directly affects their dealings with people. And unfortunately, it’s generally not until a man gets into a physical relationship with a woman that he even begins “to truly be enlightened”.
Presently, our once little girl is now a teenager, and I am getting quite the education from this “younger Martian” who appears in our home with increasing frequency. Figuratively speaking, our sweet little blondie can be walking straight, walking straight, walking straight…then, with no notice what so ever, make an about face, change direction mid-stride, smack right into me, and then get all ticked that I was in her way! With my mouth wide open in disbelieving amazement, I immediately look to Shaun for answers.
He just looks back at me with a sweet smile, then comes over to rub Shannon’s back (and smooth the creases in my forehead), and gently whispers into my ear, “Babe, I’ve got this down to a science…been studying this extraterrestrial behavior for years! I’ll teach you everything I know.” ~~~ (I’m fairly confident, however, that the inner thoughts of my sweet Shaun are doing ecstatic back flips, thinking to himself, “Yes, Lord…PAY BACK, big time!!!! Oh, ain’t it sweeeet?! Thank you, Jesus!!”)
Funny? Not so funny? Well, on a more serious note, we actually do believe that this monthly cycle our Lord has “blessed” women with is exactly that…a blessing, not a curse. Once a month most every 14yr-55yr old woman whom each of us comes into contact with, is experiencing a “heightened awareness” on life. She can detect subtleties around her that are virtually undetectable at another time. So men listen up here, the women in your life can be a tremendous asset to you!!
As I have learned to “take my thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ”, Shaun has learned to treasure this monthly sonar system that God installed in his wife! But first, his wife (me) had to learn that although her feelings about something or someone were quite accurate, they were not accurate to the extremes (high or low) that she was sensing. It’s kind of like looking at life through a magnifying glass…one can see things in exceptionally high def, but has to realize that it is an exaggerated image.
It is especially during “mom’s sensitive days” that I have had to purposefully apply the principles we outlined yesterday.
No cop outs women! We are passionate creatures, but this passion generally needs a little curbing a few days a month.
God bless!
Betsy and my man
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