I have a dear friend who has held a neighborhood Easter egg hunt in her yard for years. She was the first person I called when the idea struck my mind that we should do that this year.
My friend is entering the zone of elderly now, but her life is still truly a testimony of God’s grace. She spent a good hour with me on the phone, telling me how she went about hosting the egg hunt every year. She has shared the gospel with hundreds of children as they have passed through her yard searching for plastic filled eggs. Some years over a hundred-showed up!
My first Easter egg hunt is very much a trial version. I hope to build up to the extravagant event my friend prepared, but we are not there yet. I am curious how it will go this year. And what things I will need to alter to make it better next year.
My friend impressed upon me the value of praying in advance. She spent time praying for the people who would come, conversations, relationships, and things like the weather.
Then she would trust the Lord that the right people would be there…parents and children. She did not wonder if she would have enough eggs or stress about who might come or not be able to come. She simply rested in God’s sovereignty in the whole matter.
Her preparations began for the coming year, the day after Easter. She snatched up eggs, toys, decorations and games on sale.
She ordered bulk egg toys and shopped dollar stores for egg fillers.
But Easter eggs weren’t her only activity. She planned a craft table with things for children to do.
She prepared a short time to tell the story of Easter and share the gospel. She used the wordless book, Resurrection eggs, had young people from church come tell the story, or read a book.
As I listened, I realized, filling and hiding eggs was a very small part of my dear friend’s Easter egg hunt preparations. The bulk of her time was in prayer over the event and the people.
I was truly impacted by my dear friend’s testimony and humble heart as she described to me what she did. Her voice is quiet and gentle. I have met few people who are as much of an introvert as she is. Yet, her love for people and their broken souls moves her to reach beyond her comfort and into the lives of others!
Oh, that my heart may be so loving of others that I am daily moved out of love for them to share Christ!
I know I labored for hours, writhing in the pain of each contraction leading up the he birth of my first child. But despite the deathly pain, I only remember one thing most about that day. The moment I saw my sweet little girl’s round head and the immense joy that filled my soul as I gathered her in my arms for the first time. Every ounce of discomfort was completely worth it.
I rarely read the news anymore, but for the sake of a quick knowledge, I took a quick glance today. As one could imagine, I left my reading of current events with a heavy heart. The pain in this earth is incredible. Wars, famines, unrest, oppressions, death, disease, destruction, hatred, violence, storms, earthquakes are a few of them endless and increasing troubles I see in the news.
Then I reflected on conversations with friends this past week. Every one I know has major pains in their lives. People are hurting, struggling, and in distress everywhere I look.
Is this how things have always been? Or is it getting worse? I think everyone on earth would agree that they have never seen the world in the incredible turmoil we have now. My heart is weary of all the disturbing news. I feel as though the earth is crumbling apart beneath my feet.
Then Romans 8, like a plumb bob, slides down right before my quaking heart, bringing my faltering heart back in sink with truth.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:18-25
I do remember contractions. Ouch! A wave of pain surges through the body, then I breathe a moment, as I prepare for the next pains. The pains surge closer and closer together, almost overlapping in intensity as the birth of my precious little one closes in.
Several thousand years ago, a birth was taking place in a small Bethlehem stable. Mary, in the throws of pain of labor, held the promise of the child in her mind. Struggling for that moment when the King would be born!
Just as a woman giving birth, the whole earth is in labor. Waves of pain are pulsing closer and closer together, hardly giving mankind a moment to catch his breath as the time of the King’s return approaches. Creation groans. Humans, who are without hope, lapse into fear and despair.
A smile spreads across my soul. That means ONE thing! My King is coming! My heart bursts with joy as I consider the joy set before me. The earth is preparing for the birth of a Kingdom! Yes, I know much more pain is ahead, but I also see the other end of this mess we call earth. I see glory, fulfillment, and a King sitting upon His throne, ruling the world in perfect harmony.
I suddenly see that I am living in one giant advent season…my heart ought to be in a constant state of rejoicing and hope of my coming King. The despair flees my soul as the brightness of hope soars in.
As I share my joyful ponderings with my husband, he gently reminds me of our Savior who walked through pain, His face set on the joy of our redemption.
“Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Romans 12:2
Pain must come before the joy of holding a new life. I can set that joy set before my heart and, see this troubled world through the eyes of expectant hope.
“Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16: 20-22
As I wait, watching the world writhe with pain, my heart is free to ache for those without hope, but it is not free to be troubled. My heart is free to long for an end to this troube, but not free to despair. My heart, is free to persevere in its calling, but not free to seek safety and flee earthly troubles. I am secure in the hope set before me and I can endure, with God’s ongoing grace, all that will take place in my time, with hope, joy, and wonder. My King is coming!
JOY TO THE WORLD
Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room; And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n and nature sing. And heav’n and heav’n and nature sing.
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns Let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy Repeat the sounding joy
No more let sin and sorrowsgrow, Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness. And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders of His love.
I plugged the three, hundredth string of twinkling lights into the middle of the Christmas tree. Tears filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. My heart was full! Listening to songs of Christmas worship and pondering the magnificent and grace filled birth of my precious Savior! He has come! Suddenly the three-hundred twinkling lights I had spun on the tree didn’t seem like enough! How could I ever put enough lights on the tree to express my heartfelt joy of the Savior’s incarnation?
I have been told since I was a little girl that Christmas is not about the gifts under the tree or the food on the table. Christmas is not about the lights or the stockings. From stories like The Grinch by dear old Dr. Seuss to Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, the heart of Christmas is displayed as more dear than all the decorations, gifts, food, and traditions we enroll in our Christmas festivities.
But what is the heart of Christmas? Secular stories might leave that answer to the reader’s imagination. Generosity, benevolence, joy, and peace are often spoken of by both secular and Christian’s during the Christmas season. But is any one of those what fires our souls during the Christmas season?
My heart overflowing, as it meditates on the holy, righteous, merciful God, and Him who lowered Himself to my pitiful human level for the sake of my redemption. The fullness of time had come, what the earth groaned for had arrived. Healing of what was broken was about to begin.
The Christmas spirit is a leapingspirit; much like that of baby John. Luke 1:41 “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
My soul is a leaping soul as it ponders my Savior and His coming to earth. I resonate with John as my soul literally boils with joy! This is Whom my soul knows and loves! He came! What preciousness there is in setting aside a month of the year to worship my Savior as I ponder His incarnation!
God’s own beloved Son, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Phil. 2:6-7. This is not something to be taken for granted, pushed aside or downplayed! I am so grateful our culture takes the month of December to focus on that incredible, divine outpouring of God’s grace to us.
I added another string of lights to the tree….
How often I had allowed myself to feel guilty about our family’s extravagant celebration of Christmas…gifts, decorations, food…. But now, I feel no remorse. My leaping spirit is free. The celebration takes place in my heart, and if my extravagance in the celebration within finds its joy in lights, food, and gifts that serve as reminders and ongoing outpourings of my inadequate celebration of Christ’s birth. No one ought bear no remorse for that.
It is very freeing to simply worship in all things. I can do that with a tree loaded with a thousand lights, or with nothing but a small candle and some holly on my dining room table. I can worship Christ through the giving of gifts, expressing love toward others by giving extravagantly, or simplifying my gifts to home-made keepsakes.
Simplifying the Christmas season does not necessarily focus one’s attention on Christ any more than extravagance does. One either finds complete joy in Christ or she does not, regardless of if it is Christmas or not.
It is in my heart where worship takes place. And through that heart I can choose to keep Christmas in a simple manner or in a brilliant way. I can take joy in a simple string of lights on a tabletop tree, or in a ten foot tree decked with bulbs and lights.
What my heart has come to understand, is that there is no right or wrong in how a one celebrates Christmas. The point is that the joy of my Savior thrives within my heart all year, every year.
Ebenezer Scrooge proclaims at the realization that Christmas is not an event but a spirit of the heart: “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” Charles Dickens
So may my heart leap at every thought of Christ’s incarnation, at Christmas, every day, and all year long! And may I not shut out the joy I have in my Savior.
“How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!” Mary’s Magnificat: Luke 1:47
This fall, I had the joy of traveling to see a dear friend in Colorado. As we ventured deep into the Rocky Mountains, my gaze was continually looking up in awe of the vast, rigid peeks around me.
Psalm 121:1 kept coming to my mind. As I thought of how the mountains around me had the power to force my eyes upward. Mountains make us look up!
As I looked up, my heart was drawn to the power and sustenance of the God Who created those mountains. And further in that thought, my heart rejoiced in the God of grace Who spared the human race as He drowned those mountains in a great flood.
Psalm 121, suddenly was rich in its message to my soul. It was as if the mountains themselves were calling to my soul in a windy, deep chorus, “Look up Oh, soul and remember Who has created you! remember Who has redeemed you! He is YOUR God!”
How could I not let my heart rest in the rich thoughts of My Great God of whom the mountains continually draw up my eyes?
I can resonate with David as he too was in awe of the Creator and keeper of His soul as he found his eyes beholding powerful, majestic mountains.
The God Who made these mountains is MY God! He made me, redeemed me, and eternally keeps my soul, without even a wink of sleep! There isn’t even a small thing that this Creator/Redeemer has not done and is continuing to do on my behalf!
I will lift my eyes to the mountains! From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. Psalm. 121:1-8
Hosea went to see the man with whom his wife was currently living. He then covered the cost of what his wife meant to that man-essentially the price of a slave. And Hosea took Gomer home to be his faithful wife for many days.
And “So I purchased her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and a homer and a lethech of barley. Then I said to her, ‘You shall live with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute, nor shall you have another man; so I will also be toward you.'” Hosea 3:2-3
In this passage is the description of the redemptive story of Israel that will come when they are drawn by God to believe the gospel. In Hosea 3, I also see the story of my redemption.
Redemption is illustrated many times throughout Scripture. I see it in the book of Ruth as Boaz redeems a family by purchasing land. I see it in the book of Genesis, as Noah is chosen to redeem the human race through the ark. I see redemption in the parables of Jesus, like the parodical Son and lost sheep.
I see redemption in the chapter of my own soul as, I, a soul owned and consumed by sin, was redeemed by God’s grace. For in His mercy reached down and bought my soul from it’s possession of sin. And my Husband purchase of my soul was not fifteen shekels of silver and a lethech of barley, but with His own blood. “Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” I Peter 1:18-19
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Eph. 1:3-7
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring–not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.” Rom. 4:16
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Rom 3:10-11
Left to my own demise, like a sheep, I would wander in this world in my own doomed way. I am utterly incapable to even seek after God for redemption. Unless He chooses to seek me out of the wasteland of life, I am doomed to a bitter end. It is as though my eyes are completely blind to God unless He choses to open them.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44
I am not alone in my plight, all mankind suffers the same destiny if not rigorously perused by their loving Creator, Father. We are helpless to even seek out God. God’s wooing is the only source of hope for our souls to begin to desire to seek Him.
But thankfully, God does woo. He gently romances the heart of a desperately, self-consumed sinner. And he proves to be an irresistible Lover, for no one whom He calls, is able to resist such affectionate kindness.
God is a gentleman, He does not force His hand to win the heart of His bride. No, He plans, He prepares, and He whispers. God needs His bride alone. If she is with her lovers and gods, she will be too distracted to see the emptiness of her soul. There must be a moment of desperation for the bride to run to her Bridegroom for deliverance. Note more on her wilderness experience…
So, God takes His bride away from her comforts, from her distractions, from all the silly things she calls important. He entices her to a place alone with Him. There she can clearly see how vain her pursuit of happiness has been. And there, God speaks to her heart, gently, affectionately, and with much mercy.
“And I will punish her for the feast days of Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.” This is the romancing of God on a heart, that does not even desire to seek Him.
This is truly a breathtaking moment. The God, Creator, in His perfection and holiness, in his all-knowing wisdom and glory, does not rush down upon his chosen bride with condemnation and fierceness as she so deserves. No, God speaks gently, tenderly, softly with his still, small voice. And so, the journey of redemption begins.
Despite being a chosen bride, Gomer had yet to fall in love with her husband. She did not understand that Hosea was able to give her both satisfying love and provision for her needs, she had no need to roam for love. She was loved. She had no reason to search for provision. Provision was given her.
Gomer would go live with a man who was not her husband and say: “these are the wages which my lovers have given me” Hosea 2:6. She saw all she had as a her own doing. She sought love for money, and money for love. She thought both would fulfill her and she thought both were in her power to attain.
Israel is clearly illustrated through Gomer’s story. And even yet, the prophecy remains unfulfilled as many people of the Jewish race seek gods of their own making, and are blind to the complete satisfaction and joy to be found in Jesus.
Looking in Gomer, I can see glimpses of my own heart. I belong to God, called by His name, yet “I will go after my lovers, who gave me my bread and my water, and my wool and my flax, and my oil and my drink” Hosea 1:10. I often seek all things that I think bring comfort and joy and satisfaction to my soul. I tend to use God’s gifts of money, home, family, marriage, friendships, and provision to sacrifice to the gods of my heart.
Yet all the time it was, and is Him. “And she did not know that is was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal” Hosea 2:8.
It is God who has provided for me. He has purchased me for His own and I am His. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” I Corinthians 6:15-20
God is my Husband. It is God who has given me any cause for celebration and joy in this earth. It is God who has shown me mercy, when time after time I have praised and worshiped much, but not Him.
How easy it is to follow my own heart, to my own demise, instead of simply learning to fall in love with my Husband wherein the complete satisfaction and joy of all life resides.
What the adulterous deserves? Divorce. No one, even God, should have to put up with such unfaithfulness. But what does the gentle Husband do? He clothes. He shelters. He provides food. He even gives causes for celebration and festivities. And in all that, He shows the most mercy by staying His righteous hand from breaking His vow to His unfaithful bride.
Judgement is such a misunderstood term in today’s culture. We see it as dark and overbearing. Perhaps it is because we tend to humanize judgement instead of seeing it as designed with a wonderful purpose. There are actually three reasons I considered that affect our perception of God’s judgement.
We wrongly see God.
We take seriousness of sin lightly and not as the horrific beast it truly is.
We do no conceive how deeply we need God.
As my knowledge of God has grown, so has my respect for who He is grown expedientially. Knowing more God cannot be valued enough. Knowledge of God will naturally put a reverence of God in the heart of a man. I could write endlessly on the attributes nature and the nuances of what I know about God from Scripture. There are those who could write even more than that. God is simply beyond our human comprehension.
I see God’s astonishing holiness, righteousness, grace, and mercy through Hosea’s eyes, as God gently draws the children of Israel back to Himself by the mercy of His judgement. It is a beautiful picture. God begins His case in what parallels to that of a courtroom.
“Listen to the word of the Lord, you sons of Israel, Because the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, For there is no faithfulness, nor loyalty, Nor knowledge of God in the land.” Hosea 4:1
The courtroom scene I see in Hosea helps sweeten my understanding of God’s judgement. God does not have to explain Himself or the wrong done Him by His created and chosen. But God takes time to explain in verse after verse, the iniquity of His people.
“And the rebels have gone deep in depravity, But I will discipline all of them. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me; Because now, Ephraim, you have been unfaithful, Israel has defiled itself. Their deeds will not allow them To return to their God. For a spirit of infidelity is within them, And they do not know the Lord.” Hosea 5:3-4
On their own, the wicked have no ability to turn to God. Depravity is met with more depravity. Divine assistance is needed for the depraved man to even notice that he or she is depraved. One must be placed in the wilderness, alone, with none of the comforts of life, with no souls to comfort. One must see the utter desolation of his or her life before one can even see their Hope and call out to Him for deliverance.
“I will also make her like a wilderness, Make her like desert land, And put her to death with thirst.” Hosea 2:3b
Judgement precedes restoration. This is what makes the cross so beautiful to us. Because the judgement we deserve for all our sins is an eternal judgement without hope of restoration. Instead of entering into that judgment
“Come, let’s return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord. His appearance is as sure as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, As the spring rain waters the earth.” Hosea 6:1
“When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom” Hosea 1:2.
So, while Gomer was a pagan, self-seeking, harlot, Hosea chose her, knowing completely the pain and trouble she would repetitively bring to him. Hosea did not chose to marry Gomer because she was seeking God, or even because she showed potential of being a faithful wife someday. Hosea chose Gomer because she was hopelessly depraved, and unknowingly desperate of redemption.
As I continually see God’s choice as the only factor in the redemption of mankind. I see it in the moment God choose a people, starting with Abram.
“And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac'” Joshua 24:2-3.
God did not choose Abram because Abram was a worshiper of God. Abram and his family were idol worshippers. It wasn’t until God called out Abram that Abram put his faith in God and left his family for a distant promise. It was God who drew Abram’s heart toward Himself, even giving Abram the necessary faith in order to make a covenant with a sinful man and giving Abram a new name…Abraham. And through Abraham, God chose Israel, a people he knew would utterly reject Him over and over, causing Him great grief.
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” Deuteronomy 7:6-8.
And now it is I, I am the one who has been chosen. As the gospel was spread to all the parts of the world to fulfill God’s plan, here I am today, several thousand years after Christ’s atoning blood was shed, rejoicing in the truth that I too am “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” I Peter 2:9-10.
Marriage is a covenant that merely gives us, in our limited human nature, a snapshot of the deep, eternal covenant God has made with us as His eternal bride. Marriage on earth, although sacred, is temporal, and a covenant capable of being broken.
In contrast: the covenant Christ has made with us, His bride, is an impeccably sacred and pure covenant. It is an eternal covenant. And unlike earthly covenants, no amount of unfaithfulness on my part will ever break it. The covenant between Christ and the church is holy, sacred, eternal, and unbreakable. God’s covenant with me is unlike anything my earthly mind can comprehend.
In Hosea 2:19-20 we read a beautiful promise that has yet to be fulfilled for Israel, but in the promise is the words of God’s vows to His Bride. The promise God gives Israel is one that cannot be made here on earth. His commitment to His covenant is one we can only we relate to through our finite marriage vows. “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.”
The sweetness I see is the covenant is made by an absolutely perfect, holy, and all powerful Being to very wicked, unholy, and powerless beings.