GIVING AND LOVING

By Shirley Wiggins

Walking wearily through this world of woe, painfully as onward and upward I go;

Today I am reminded of the wonder of You, Lord, as You watch with love-filled Eyes, my ascent:  home to You in my heavenly haven – my safe harbor where all is rest and peace and joy without end.

No deadlines, no more long and winding pathways of pain and disappointment; no more tears and no more sorrow.

I feel so unworthy of the trust You’ve placed in me – my adoption into Your Royal family!  My appearance is that of a waif:  ragged, torn, stained clothing, with bare and dusty feet, my eyes tear-filled at my shabby appearance.

I can hardly imagine being presented faultless before You,  before Your majestic throne surrounded by sparkling pure jewels and splendor.  And, before a royally robed crowd of onlookers who sing and worship You,  yet they also may see my pitiful progress as onward and upward I climb….

Slowly, haltingly and weakly I walk, feeling so tired and weary and worn-out.

Yesterday  I happened upon a sister traveler who plainly said she was just trying to stay out of the way of others.   First my heart, and then my lips unbidden, acknowledged that I, too, have often felt the same.  The more I tried to stay out of the way, the more I seemed to always be in someone’s way.

Yet, I hastened to say that You, Jesus, never see us as in the way;  You’re always glad to see us!

Oh, that this truth we might always remember:  No matter how the world ‘sees’ us, You look at us through eyes of love; and, through the lens of Jesus’ atoning blood, we look just like You!

You encourage us daily not to look down, but to look up – to gaze at You and see how far we’ve come because of Your sacrifice.  You gave Your very life for us, that we might gain entry into Your kingdom of glory and good.

You place Your people all along the way as guideposts and mile-markers.  They offer encouragement and opportunities for gaining jewels along the way.  The jewels which will adorn the crowns of righteousness reserved in heaven for us, part of Your legacy:  our inheritance.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!”  Romans 11:33 (NIV).

How great You are to send what I need and all that I have need of just as I need it – even before I am able to recognize and receive it, You abundantly give it!

For where sin did abound, grace did much more abound!  You give and You guide me until  I see it and receive it with grateful heart.  Like one dying from hunger and thirst, I fall at Your feet and feast upon the riches of Your Word.   I drink deeply from the well of Your Holy Spirit until I am nourished and refreshed and able to walk another mile.

All along the way, Your outposts provide for me until I am able to say with the Apostle Paul:

I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

I have kept the faith.

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved {Your} appearing.”              2 Timothy 4: 7-8.

I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”  2 Timothy 1:12b.

“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”  1 Thessalonians 5:24.

“God is faithful” 1 Cor. 10:13.

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”  Romans 5:20.

“And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”   1 Timothy 1:14.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” 1 Timothy 1:15.

Paul, the apostle, said he was the chief among sinners, but it was for this reason he obtained mercy, that in him first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who were going to believe on Him for everlasting life.  See 1 Timothy 1:16.

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.  Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17.

“Wage the good warfare” 1 Timothy 1:18.

For there is One God and One Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all,”  1 Timothy 2:5-6.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.  He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:10-14.

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael.

God loved and God gave…. See John 3:16 - 18.

Jesus gave His life and Jesus gave to people the right to become children of God – See John 1:12.

God, in Jesus, commands us to love, and asks us to give – to yield our lives to Him that we might gain eternal life.  We give what we cannot keep, in order to keep what we cannot lose.

The life given in full and voluntary and willing surrender to God in and through Jesus Christ is preserved in God in and through Jesus Christ forever.  See John 15:7-17.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  Galatians 2:20.

Action Step: You will need three envelopes of varying sizes.  In the smallest one, write on an index card cut to fit inside the smallest envelope:  “Jesus.”  On the outside of that smallest envelope, write your full name, then insert the index card into it.   Take the next size larger envelope and on the outside of it, write:  JESUS.  Insert the small envelope with your name on it, and the index card inside it with Jesus’ name on it, into the medium envelope.  Take the largest envelope and write on it:  GOD, and place the medium envelope inside it.

We are safely hidden inside LOVE:  “…you will see Me.  Because I live, you will live also.  At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”  John 14:19-20. 

Keep this visual reminder where you can see it every day.  We are truly loved by LOVE.  We are safe forever.  Because Love loved and Love gave, we give ourselves to Him, and He lives through us and in us.   See 1 John 3:1; 1 John 4:7-10, 15-16, 19.

THE GREATEST LIE

By Shirley Wiggins

“…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:17b.

What do you believe about lies?  Do you believe lies?  Have you ever told a lie?  In your opinion, would the greatest lie ever told be the lie that is most often repeated by the most people?

In my opinion, the most repeated lie ever told, and believed, by the most people is probably this:  “I just don’t have enough time!”

When you think about all the things you don’t get done, do you ever consider why they aren’t accomplished and finished? 

Or, do you, like me, just list all those things you would do if you just had more time and end up grumbling, whining, and complaining (with a good bit of self-pity) over the difficulties of your life?

The thought came to me as I pondered yet another list of the things I don’t have time for, that since God created  life and the universe and time in the first place, that surely for any one of us to say we don’t have enough time is just not true.  “Selah.  Pause and calmly think about that.”

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.  …God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.  God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.  And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”  Genesis 1:1-5 (NASB). 

God created absolutely everything in the space of six days and then He rested.  Over everything that He created, He declared that it was good.

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule … over the earth.’  God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  Genesis 1:26-27

What a great idea God came up with!  I am thrilled and absolutely delighted with it because that made it possible for me to be me.  And, it made it possible for you to be you!

God was apparently delighted with it, too:   “God blessed them; and … said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and … rule …over every living thing that moves on the earth.’   … God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

God created everything and it was very good;  and there was, and still is, plenty of time to do the things that are needful and necessary with time left over for rest.

“… By the seventh day God completed His work ….  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”  Genesis 2:1-3.

The Amplified Bible defines the day of rest as one  to be … “withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God.”

Even with taking the seventh day to rest, there seems to be enough time to do all our work. So, why do we say that we don’t have enough time?”

If we are honest, it probably  means that we are not spending our time wisely but are casually letting it spend itself, just slipping away from us.  

 “Spending” reminds me of a financial budget which shows me how much money I have to spend and how it should be spent.  There is a limited amount of money and time, and it is possible to use either or both of them up and be left with none.

Our time on earth is limited.  It will be used up one day.  One of the most important things we can do is to learn to number our days and be good stewards of the time we have left.  We cannot be good stewards of our lives if we do not know the truth about life and the God who designed it and gives it.

Just as Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, was sent to earth with a mission to be fulfilled in a limited amount of time – 33 years – God also has a plan for our lives.   God frequently sends me reminders to number my days and to seek His guidance.  He faithfully gives me grace and wise instruction.  Do I listen to it?  Do I take that most important follow-up step and do what He says?

Oh, yes – the greatest lie?  In my opinion, the lie I tell myself about my time is not the greatest lie ever told, even though it seriously damages my life. 

The greatest lie ever told, in my opinion,  is the first lie recorded in the Bible,  told by the father of lies, with this implication:  that God is a liar and that what He says cannot be believed, that He isn’t good, nor is He loving to the people He made to inhabit and to rule over the earth.

This lie is too often believed and passed down from generation to generation – whether deliberately stated or deceitfully implied.

Read Genesis 3 and look closely at the conversation between the deceiver and the first woman as he engaged her in some question and answer time.  As a woman, it causes me great concern that the Enemy of our souls came to the woman to introduce the first lie.

Outrageous lies are born from the outrageous Liar and they continue to be perpetrated today from the “devil”… the father of lies, in whom there is no truth, and from whom there will never come truth, for he can only speak lies.  See John 8, especially verse 44.

All of God’s Wisdom for us is hidden in Jesus Christ, not in a “tree” desired to make one wise!  Contrast Genesis 3:6 with First Corinthians 1: 17-31. 

Let’s challenge ourselves about some of the things we’ve heard and believed that we are deceiving ourselves about in our day-to-day lives.

The world offers millions of distractions and entertainments and something to fill our minds with every moment.  But we don’t take time to know the God who made us in His own image.

Will you make a nakedly honest inventory of how you are spending your time?  Look around your home, your car, your office and note the devices that you devote precious time to each and every day.

Number those items, such as the iPad,  iPhone/Smart Phone,  MP3, laptop computer, radio, television, etc. Then make an honest assessment of how much time they subtract from your day and from your family.  How many ‘social media’ accounts are you maintaining and managing every day?

 As you carefully look at the words, the lyrics, and the images that are being poured into your mind through your eyes and your ears, and which will eventually fill your heart, ask yourself how you feel about God seeing and hearing these things, too.

Are they healthy and wholesome, adding days to your life and life to your days?  Or, are they garbage and filth, fit only for the trash, as they subtract the days from your life and turn your soul into a stone-cold, dead thing within you?

Are they deceiving words which fill your mind with lies of the enemy and the world?  Deceptions always harm and they never turn out for good.

Or, are they words of truth and beauty, filling your mind with truth?   God’s Holy Bible is Truth. 

How much time are you investing in reading and studying the Bible, God’s Holy Word?

NOTHING WASTED

By Shirley Wiggins

“When they were filled, He (Jesus) said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.’”… “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” (John 6:13, 39.)

“Wherever He leads, I’ll go!  Wherever He leads, I’ll go…”

The words to this refrain ran repeatedly through my mind as I went about the duties of my day. 

I remembered as a young wife and mother standing with the congregation in the little hometown church on Sunday mornings and evenings singing so confidently the words of this hymn.

With the most sincere of hearts and strongest of beliefs in my mind, I affirmed to the Lord that I would always go with confidence wherever He might lead me in the coming days of my life.

Oh, what a naïve young woman I was!  I had absolutely no idea the winding paths my life would take as I followed my young husband, with our three small children in tow, from state to state with his jobs.  We settled in and enrolled the children in schools and sought out the church homes for our growing family in each new city and state with great anticipation that this would be “home” for a long, long time.

It never was for more than a few years at the time, but God blessed us with good friends in each and every town and our roots grew as deeply as they could in the time allotted in each new place.

Even though we missed parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, we had each other and our family was intact.

I had no idea then that one of the “places” I would have to live for years would be in the heartbreak of a splintered family.

The years of holiday gatherings with more than one Christmas and Thanksgiving celebration held each year on separate days was truly a difficult time.

Tough times in life do eventually pass, and when they do, they can leave us with such potential for greater strength for facing the next difficult challenge.

 Women, I think, endure life’s disappointments differently from men, even their own husbands.  Each one suffers, but in ways that the other cannot quite understand.

The heartbreak of a seemingly voluntary separation on the part of a loved one seems particularly hard to endure – not a separation in miles but in life’s moments shared together.

The hurt of being excluded from a particular gathering, whether intentional or just through a careless neglect, weighs heavy on the heart, doesn’t it?

One of the most vivid remembrances I have from a speakers’ and writers’ conference is a picture of a woman crying buckets of tears above the caption:  “Journal until you can control yourself.” 

It spoke volumes to me then, and still does.  It helps me so much to use the pages of my journal to write what’s in my heart— private thoughts, dreams, hurts, whatever I am feeling— until I am able to express myself sensibly and succinctly, without wasted words.

I read a quote some time ago that echoed my own thoughts:

“I’ve sensed God say, ‘It’s time to let go.’  But I don’t want to.  Relationships define me.  And if they are out of whack or different, that rocks my foundation.” – Author unknown.

Relationships do so define a woman’s life and emotions, don’t you think?  I, too, have sensed God giving me that same five-word directive about some expectations I’ve tried to hold onto long after they should have been released.

My first family fracture left me with the strong conviction that my response through it all should have been one of firmer faith  in God’s timely intervention of the circumstances, trusting Him to do just the right thing, at just the right time.

I believe that none of my life’s experiences will have been wasted. Pain from the past and pain in the present will be used of God to enhance my future.   Pain always has a purpose, and whether it is physical or emotional pain, God will make it turn out for good to those who love Him. 

My prayers continue to be that my future responses to life’s painful and disappointing experiences will be biblical, as God’s Word instructs:

·       Count it all joy because I have fallen into this tribulation; James 1:2.

·      Remember that God will use it all for good benefit to me; Romans 8:28.

·      Know that all of this has happened that I might learn to rely on God and not on myself;            2 Corinthians 1:8-11.

·      Be mindful that God, the God of all comfort, will comfort me in this experience so that I may comfort another woman going through any kind of painful heartbreak;                                    2 Corinthians 1:3-7.

·      Trust God, Talk to God, Tell God Everything, Tell others the praises:  “Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest.” (Mrs. Charles E. Cowman; Streams in the Desert, page 351.)

Jesus never allows anything to go to waste, so I am excited to see what He is going to do with all of my life’s experiences!  

Future encounters with painful situations do not need to defeat us, nor make us fearful.  They only need to cause us to look to the Lord our God, for we are each one uniquely defined by our relationship with Him:

“I lift up my eyes to You,  to You whose throne is in heaven.  As the eyes of slaves look 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.”  Psalm 123:1-2.

“Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.  I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them---the Lord who remains faithful forever.  He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.  The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.  The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.  The Lord reigns forever, Your God, O Zion, for all generations.  Praise the Lord.”  Psalm 146:1-10

In everything that you and I are privileged to experience, we may know that God is gathering it all up and will make each life event work out for good at just the right and proper time.  With nothing wasted…. Amen.