Belted in Peace

Poor Isaiah.  Remember his whole book was prophesies to the people of Israel about their impending exile.  They, of course, did not know it was impending, but God did and Isaiah tried to warn them.  But in the midst of the words about their coming doom and exile, we know there are portions where the people get to learn what life would be like after this punishment of exile.  In particular, one passage states so clearly what they need to do in order to live the life God had intended for them, which, truly, is a life of peace.  In Isaiah 32:17-18 it says, "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.  My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest."  I hope that Isaiah was able to live in peace with the calling he had on his life.

Jeremiah had the same 'wonderful' call on his life (can you tell I don't envy them) where he also spoke to the Israelites about their impending doom/exile.  What is cool about Jeremiah is that he got to use illustrations that related to their everyday life, similar to the parables that Jesus used when he was speaking.  One of his illustrations was striking for me.  In Jeremiah 13:11 it says, "'For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me', declares the Lord, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.'"

Think for a moment about what a belt does.  It not only holds everything together, it is the finishing touch, the gathering of the outfit, the thing that makes the rest all come together and hold in place.  Cole is my detail kid, my specific kid.  Recently, while ordering his school uniforms, we saw that they were offering a belt this year.  It was not just any old belt, it was shiny, reversible, and awesome.  Now, Cole is a pretty skinny dude, but he has never worn a belt, so, we ordered the belt.  In Cole's world, the belt rocks!  He has gone through many machinations of showing me the belt under a t-shirt, telling me how it helps when his pants are too big, understanding that the belt color must match the shoe color which makes the reverse feature all that more important.  After about a week he got dressed up for his birthday on his own for our family dinner and came down the stairs with collared shirt tucked in so the belt could be seen.  It was the cutest thing I had seen in a while, a little Steve Erkel, but still really cute!  This belt is important to Cole and he has not been without it since he received it.  That's how God wants his truth and his being to be to us and our kids.  Never without it, always allowing it to hold us together.

 There is another belt that is mentioned in the new testament.  Do you know where I am going?  Remember last week we talked about walking in the sandals of peace.  If we back up from Ephesians 6:15 and start with 6:14 it reads: "Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace."  Now look again at the Isaiah 32 verse above.  The fruit of righteousness that comes from being girded with the belt of truth will be peace which will bring quietness and confidence forever.  So, if we wrap ourselves in God's truth, the outcome is a life of peace.  As God intended to be the belt of Israel, he also intends to be that for us, by being our truth, our center, our focus and driving force, the thing that holds us together.  With God's truth secured around us and our kids then they can walk in the knowledge and the comfort that he is holding it all together.  We are equally yoked to someone who has a defined plan and action steps to move forward.  "Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:32  The truth of God's love for us, his sacrifice for us, his desire for us, provides us with the ability to not worry and to walk in his peace.  Now, we will worry and fret, we may even spin out of control sometimes, but if we remember his truth, his belt around us, the peace he has promised, then can't we help our kids to get closer to not worrying?  Can't we move toward releasing our own worries?

Cole is due for an orthodontic expander on his bottom jaw, the top one has already been expanded.  I know, I had never heard of top and bottom expanders, however his mouth is pretty crowded and I digress.  As we were talking about the installation of the expander and how he may be in pain for a day or so he had a revelation.  Cole, from the mouth of babes, said that in the end it would be ok, because his mouth would have more room, his teeth would be straight and it is only a small part of his life.  WOW!  I love when God tees up a conversation.  So, Cole was comfortable with something that might hurt because he knew the truth.  That ultimately it would not hurt anymore, that the outcome would be wonderful.  What if when we entered a situation we remembered that we are girded with the Lord's truth and, in that knowledge, walked into each situation in peace?  Get out a belt and talk to your kid's about being belted in God's peace! 
Next month we move to the next all important fruit of the spirit: patience.  Just in time for a school to begin and the schedules to kick up.

By His Grace

Walking in Peace?

If we pick up where we left off last week we come to being yoked with Jesus.  When animals are yoked together they are together for a purpose.  It is not to stand there and look at the field in front of them, it is to move forward and pull that heavy plow behind them.  So we are yoked with Jesus to walk forward, not to stand still.  And we are given specific tools to make that walk in Ephesians 6.  This chapter contains the armor of God, but for our peace purposes specifically, Ephesians 6:15 says, "...and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace."  In this portion of scripture, as the fittings of God's armor are listed, each of the pieces are followed by a comma, until we come to peace.  Once peace is listed we find a period, a stopping point, a chance to reflect.  I believe this is for a purpose, a chance to consider all that came before and the gravity of the last comment - "...and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace."

We have said a couple times that life will not be easy, we are called to be different, to show a different way of life, to react in love, not with other emotions that may be closer to the surface in a given situation.  So imagine, for our children, if love actions were hard, how hard is it to understand walking in the sandals of peace?  Walking in the sandals of peace requires that God be the center of their being.  We can help define that walk by remembering that we are to expect joy.  To look expectantly to a God who has a plan for us and our best interest at heart.  So walking in peace means knowing that you have salvation and hope and that you have an awareness of all that the Lord has in store for you - that we look up in situations and not out or down.  Psalm 123:2 says, "As the eyes of slaves look up to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us mercy."  Expectant and peaceful walking. 

As we get close to the beginning of school my husband and I remember that each year our dear Emma has a hard time transitioning into school.  It began in about 1st grade and has not stopped.  Each year it manifests it's unsettling nature in a different manner.  For the first couple years we approached it with discipline because it was so out of character for her.  She is an even-keeled child.  She does not get really upset at much and is fairly obedient and respectful.  But the first month of school is always a struggle.  Once we finally clued in to this we just rode it out and prayed and encouraged.  One of the scriptures that we used with her the last two years was Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."  In the context of being yoked with Jesus and walking in the sandals of peace doesn't this scripture take on a more intense meaning?  Emma would much rather stay home and not transition into school, just as we would rather not move forward because in our humanness that yoke is just too heavy.  He becomes our strength to move forward in the peace of our life yoked to him.

Walking in peace is knowing that we are on a journey to somewhere.  There is a reason for that period after being reminded to walk in the sandals of peace.  Being yoked we move, but we move forward in the knowledge that the burden is not ours to bear alone - that we have someone who is closer than a brother and who loves us more than anyone else even has the ability to love.
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
"..being filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" is to walk in peace.  To know that he is our strength and is with us to move forward into the journey that he has for us.  Because he is with us.

As I begin to talk with Emma about the start of school and prep her little heart for another transition into school, I will pepper those moments with the peace of God and how much he loves her and the plans he has for her.  In the end, I want for her what He wants for her.  And I want her to want that also.  I want the Lord's purpose to prevail.
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Walking in the sandals of peace we experience the width, length, height and depth of God's love for us and our children and we can rest in all situations because he is our strength.

By His Grace

From Shalom to Eirene

Last week I posted about the old testament term for peace, which was Shalom.  In the new testament the greek term used for peace is 'eirene' pronounced i-ray'-nay.  One definition I found stated it in the following way: the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.  In juxtaposition to last week's discussion of peace, this new testament peace is no longer a striving for or seeking of, but a walking in something we already know.  In the old testament, the people relied on the priest (the Levites) to go to God for them on the appointed times and to ask for forgiveness, so until that happened they walked in a manner of 'seeking' the peace that would come when they were forgiven on the appropriate day.

The awesome thing about what Jesus did on the cross is that the appropriate day is right now!  Because of Jesus' death and subsequent resurrection on the cross we can now walk in peace daily.  Peace meaning the knowledge of what we have in our salvation.  Now, again, we know that not all is fine and dandy in the world and in our lives each day.  But in contrast to the people in the old testament who had to wait to walk in peace again, we have the opportunity to do it each day.  This is where his yoke is easy and his burden is light comes in.  Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to me all you  who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Rest, complete and relaxing, soft and comforting, isn't that God's peace?

Peace is an inward feeling of knowing you are not alone and do not have to carry the burden on your own.  A yoke is a two person thing.  Tangibly, it is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull.  So Jesus' yoke is what we share with him.  Throughout our days, as we walk in his peace, he is yoked to us and helping us to carry our burdens.  Isn't that a relief?  How can we help our kids to understand this?  We are to walk as if we are physically yoked to Jesus, that he is with us each step and can carry the burden through our hard times.  I began with the following illustration with Emma.

Emma has recently 'graduated' from 5th to 6th grade at our church which means that as far as church is concerned she is in junior high.  Lucky for me her elementary school goes through 6th grade so I get the slow entry to all things junior high beginning with the church group.  Isn't that awesome?  Anyway, she has been attending the youth meetings there and different events and thoroughly enjoying it.  We talked the other day about how when I was growing up I had school friends and church friends and I really enjoyed the church friends, often more than the school friends.  She then said she felt a little the same.  She said that when she goes to the junior high group everyone acts as if they know everyone else.  She clearly feels very free and accepted at the church group.  Emma does not have social issues at school, but it was clear to me that she can be totally herself and 'in her own skin' at the youth group.  I explained to her that the feeling of complete acceptance is what the peace of God feels like.  That the peace Jesus wants us to walk and live in is his complete acceptance of us.  He made that clear on the cross.  He accepts us, faults and all, and wants us to rest in him and be at peace in all situations.  We are completely and lovingly accepted.  Just as Emma is completely and lovingly accepted by the junior high group at church.

Back to Jeremiah.  While God wanted the Israelites to "..seek peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.." (Jeremiah 29:7), he also knew that he had plans for them and that they would ultimately be restored to their land of promise.  But today we can also walk in the knowledge that God has plans for us and wants the best for us because we are yoked with Jesus and our burdens are light!  I want my kids to be yoked to Jesus and able to walk in the knowledge that he is with them all the time.  I want them on a Journey to Somewhere.  After telling the Israelites to seek peace and prosperity, God explains to them, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart.'"

We are in enviable position of being able to seek God daily and not wait for a priest to intercede for us.  We are yoked with Jesus.  Isn't that enough to walk in peace in all situations?  For our children the knowledge of peace could be the feeling of complete acceptance.  I am encouraging my children in that and hoping that when they lose the feeling of complete acceptance they would look inside and see who they are yoked to.

By His Grace

A Lesson in Old Testament Peace

In the old testament the Hebrew word for peace is shalom.  It held a wide range of connotations (wholeness, health, security, well-being and salvation) and there were many contexts in which shalom was used which include the state of the individual as well as relationships between two people, nation to nation, and the people to God.  It took on an important connotation when the lack of peace separated the people from their belief in God. 

In my last post I mentioned Isaiah and his book which includes a ton of warnings of devastation as a result of not following God and his commands.  It also has some sweet areas where God, through Isaiah, explains what the outcome will be if only they would obey God's commands.
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the rock eternal."  Isaiah 26:3&4  Perfect peace is shalom, a feeling of wholeness, health, security, well-being and the knowledge of salvation.  Salvation in the old testament is not the salvation we talk about today.  It is the constant repentance and offerings and commitment that the Israelites practiced that permeated their culture and affected their hearts.  But we know that often those rituals became only that, a ritual and that they did not feel the source of the ritual in their hearts or live it out in their daily actions.  Things became routine and they sought other things, built other gods and lost the true source of their peace.  To complete those rituals religiously and mean them from their hearts took self-control, commitment, a true love of God and many other fruits of the spirit. 

Where does this put us in terms of peace?  Stick with me a little longer.  It the midst of the potential and then ultimate devastation, God wanted them to turn to him, to remember all he had done for them and to not get caught up in their current circumstance.  This becomes even clearer in the book of Jeremiah.  Jeremiah was a prophet in Judah right before and during the exile period.  The exile period was when a good portion of the Israelites were taken captive by the king of Babylon, removed from their land and forced into slavery.  Jeremiah spends his life trying to warn of this, but he also has a call to action from the Lord for the Israelites that are enslaved.  If you remember my very first post, I am big on calls to action!
"Also, seek peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."  Jeremiah 29:7
In the midst of their fear and slavery, God still wanted them to just turn to him.  And he promised to provide peace if they did.  So, if we are to learn from this, peace is being okay in any situation and in fact being peaceful in it. 

Our kids are bound to encounter many situations where they do not feel peaceful, but our job is to teach them how to flip that situation around.  As we prepare to return to school and my kids will not be with me 24x7, I feel a little angst.  Sending them back into a place where their peace might be affected makes me a little sad.  It also means that they are getting older which holds a whole different set of emotions for me.  Some of you might think I am crazy, but I am that mom.  However, I know that with God I can proactively equip them to live in peace and hopefully that will transfer from our home to their school environment when the time is upon us.  How can I do that?  Maybe I will align school to the Israelites exile and give them the story and tell them to find peace in it...just kidding! 

What I do want them to know is that in all things God wants good for us.  Do good things always happen, no, but can we find good in all situations, probably, if we keep our eyes on him.  I am struggling with how to explain this to my kids.  Love actions were easy for them to grasp, peace is a deeper, more committed topic.  So, in our case, I am going to talk about attitude and how we approach things.  How can they find peace in a given situation?

Cole takes Tae Kwon Do and we have been lax in attending over the summer.  We recently returned for a class and he was hesitant to attend knowing that he may be behind.  I talked with him before and encouraged him to give himself a break and to enjoy the class regardless of the feedback he may receive from the masters.  He went and had a fantastic class, but he went with a positive attitude.  When our circumstances tend to seem overwhelming, what if we just found peace in that exact circumstance.  The thing is, we have control over very little, isn't there peace just in that knowledge.  Cole did not have any control over how the masters would react, the Israelites lost all control over their lives during exile, but still we are called to ..'seek peace and prosperity...' (Jeremiah 29:7)

Bottom line is God intends good for us and wants to be ours and our children's center.  One last scripture to share..."They will be my people and I will be their God.  I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.  I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me."  Jeremiah 32:38-40

I would love to have my children be inspired by God!  That they would seek him in every area of their life and know that in ALL things he intends good for them, then they would experience true peace.  It can begin with our attitude in all situations.

By His Grace

Joy in Context

Did you wonder about the last joy post?  I am a week late, but still here!

In the context of joy I have been very observant of my daughter and her joyful nature.  She bounds through the house, skips across the tile, races upstairs and has a smile on her face most of the time.  She also has a very messy room, makes poor food choices and is unaware of what might hurt another's feelings.  It has caused me to reflect on the core of joy.  Joy is a fruit of the spirit, which is the foundation for this portion of my blog.  God put joy in the context of the other fruits.  As a reminder, the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  When you take things in the context they are created in, it can expand and deepen their meaning.  I have found this with joy.

Our joy is to come from a deep seated belief in our heavenly inheritance, what Jesus did for us on the cross, the fact that we are a treasured possession of the one who "..made the sand a boundary for the sea,..." (Jeremiah 5:22)  Joy is an action, a decision, a way to expect good things or look for the good things in our circumstances.  Remember my first post on joy?  And then we look at joy in the context of the other fruits of the spirit and it takes on more weight.  Joy is more than happiness and smiles.  It is a feeling, but it is also a choice and requires the other fruits of the spirit in order to maintain a constancy of joy  in our lives.  Joy is beautiful when it is gentle and patient, joy can provide us peace for our soul, kind words and goodness bring us joy, we find joy in our faith, love is a joyful feeling, and joy requires self-control! 

I just finished reading the book of Isaiah, talk about self-control!  Whew, serious conviction in that book.  The book holds Isaiah's sermons to the Israelites regarding their straying from God and their need to return to him, tear down their idols and remember the God of their forefathers.  But amid all the words of correction there are a couple bright spots and clear paths for joy.  One of those scriptures is Isaiah 58: 13&14.  Isaiah had been talking earlier in the chapter about the rituals they were practicing (fasting being one of them) and that their rituals were not rooted in any relationship with the God of their fathers.  It was nothing more than a ritual, like any ritual we have in our lives today, perhaps like doing the dishes.  It meant nothing to their soul and it was completely out of context.  Then...
"'If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.'  the mouth of the Lord has spoken.' (Isaiah 58:13&14)

As our children and ourselves are challenged throughout the day to choose a different path, to speak unkindly about someone, or to get caught up in an inappropriate discussion, to leave someone out, to lash out in anger, our joy is zapped, it is removed from the context in which it was intended.  When we gossip, when we are unkind, the feeling we have is not joy.  If we want to approach life with joyful expectation, we need to take into account all the fruits of the spirit, we need to approach the temptation to take the broader path with a love action (Normal Action or Love Action) which will point us toward the less traveled path.  And we need to equip our children to do the same thing.  Doesn't it take self-control to not speak idle words?  But aren't we more joyful when we employ that self-control?

God wants us to walk in ALL his ways, not just the fun ones.  But when we employ all his ways our life is in his hands and we are free to experience his joy, that deep seated joy that is based in his truth.  That means employing joy in the context it was intended.
"Obey me and I will be your God and you will be my people.  Walk in all the ways I command you that it may go well with you."  (Jeremiah 7:23)

My daughter attended a birthday party this week.  She took some time to decide whether she would go or not.  Normally she would just say yes to a party.  In this case she had some concerns.  The party was in the evening, she was a little nervous about the theme, she was nervous about the number of girls there and how that all might play out with a group of 11 year old girls.  This is highly introspective for my 'live in the joyful moment' daughter.  In the end, she chose to attend the party and had a great time, but I was blessed that she considered the situation and sought to be in a situation where her joy would not be zapped.

Joy in context is eternal joy that cannot be zapped.  And from that joy our soul finds peace, which is what we will focus on in August!

By His Grace