Enduring Temptation

How would you define temptation? Would you say it's the desire to go after things or experience you shouldn't? Perhaps it's going for the dessert when you're on a diet, late night websurfing on forbidden sites, flirting outside of your marriage, speeding to get where you want when you want... Certainly these are examples of going after what we shouldn't go after. What I know to be true as well, temptation is not going after something we should go after. Daily I get directives from God to send a note, make a call, put in the offering plate, love the unlovely BUT I don't. I don't go after what is best. I settle for laziness, procrastination, living in fear of risk... So temptation then can be either active or passive. Giving in to temptation either way yields poor endings. At age 55 I am still memorizing Scripture. I want to stay sharp both spiritually and mentally. Crossword puzzles may help my mind but not my spirit. I kill two birds with one stone. Right now I am attempting to take on James Chapter 1. My verse today, "Blessed is the man who endures temptation..." The word blessed means to be truly happy. To endure is to successively and victoriously survive a trial or testing. And temptation is that trial or testing. So when you put this altogether you have great words of wisdom. You will be the happiest when you go through a tempting time and don't give into it. Your choice to be active when God speaks or be passive when God speaks will determine your true level of happiness, success, and victory. Self denial doesn't get easier with age, or at least at 55 I am still struggling denying my fleshly desires. So today I ask myself this question,"Do I want the temporary happiness that temtation is flaunting me with, or the true happiness of endurance with success and victory that may take awhile?" Today I pray to endure!

The Unfamiliar

I received a newsletter from a missionary in an undisclosed location. Most of the letter was coded with initials and disguising words. The reason behind the secrecy is because the email newsletter could be intercepted and read by by government agencies. If any words referring to spiritual matters were found out our friends and their mission field would be in jeopardy. At the close of today's letter there was a prayer request for safety as our friends headed to an unfamiliar place full of unfamiliar faces. My first thought was how scary that trip would be. Then the Lord reminded me that daily I head into somewhat unfamiliar places with unfamiliar faces as well. So do you. We may walk into a new doctor's office, a new grocery store, car repair shop, etc. and encounter people we've never met. Without so much as giving our trip a thought we venture into the unfamiliar. If we were in a foreign country on a mission trip we'd view any encounter as a divine appointment set by God to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yet on our own soil, new places with new faces can be deemed as time wasted interruptions slowing down our own purposes. How easily we are distracted by the mundane and lose sight of God's every day purposes for us. We lose sight of the spiritual condition of those we encounter. We even forget to ask our Creator and daily Guide for appointments to share the Good News. The unfamiliar faces where we make our starts and stops along the way are as needy as those on the other side of the globe. My heart breaks that I lose sight of the lost that are within inches of my face and hands. I look past them and to where I am headed next, not where they are headed for eternity. God forgive me, forgive us all. Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left." May these words challenge and encourage us in our unfamiliar.

Maps

My dad used to work for a large map making company. I remember him bringing home maps that were sold to use in classrooms. Remember the day when the teacher would pull down a huge map that covered most of the blackboard area? She would hold up a long wooden stick and point to various places. Often fear and trepidation would engulf me if I was called on to approach the map and find a certain city, state or country. Only if I knew the map well would I hop up with confidence as I proudly displayed my knowledge. In later years I really began to appreciate maps as I started traveling. I enjoyed viewing the distance from my starting destination to my arrival point. I found security in projecting estimated travel time, places I'd see along the way, or places to stop and visit while traveling. Globes have always fascinated me as well. They seem to put people, places, and distances in some sort of proper perspective. My life and your life both have road maps. God is the map maker not some company. He knows the destination points and has since before we were born. Many times we are like the frightened child called to the blackboard to point out certain places. We approach the throne of God not knowing just where He wants us to go. Sometimes we are clueless to the where, the when and the how we will get there. No problem for Him. He's been directing His children for ages. He told Abraham to leave his family and head to a place that He, God, would show him. God didn't give the place a name or how long it would take to get there. He just said to get up and go. Abraham obeyed with no questions asked. Oh to have that kind of faith and trust. Often you and I are not afforded the security of looking over the map to see if we like the destination, the route to get there, the expenses for travel.... We are just instructed to go. With question marks in our heads but our Creator and Mapmaker over our heads we can set out. The road may be long, frightening, and filled with mountains and valleys we never thought we could scale. Our Mapmaker has known all along what we are capable of and just where our correct destinations should be. So with one foot forward let's move forward to this day's destination. Joshua 23:14 “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed."

As Is

I am a bargain shopper. Always have been. I love a good deal. My first direction in a store is to the clearance rack or bargain table. In my life time I have found some jaw dropping deals. Every once in awhile I find an item with an "as is" tag on it. Usually the item is defective in some way. Perhaps there is a chip, a snag, a hole, a crack, or a piece missing. Upon extreme examination and much deliberation I determine if I can repair the damaged item for good use. When an item has the "as is" tag on it, the item cannot be returned for any reason. Once I pay for my bargain, it's mine whether or not I can repair or use it. Looking at the first chapter of Ephesians I see how I once was on a bargain table. I was cracked, chipped, full of snags and holes. I had succumbed to the harshness of life and been discarded as one damaged item. Yet God in His goodness and grace picked up this human being that had no value in human eyes and saw a finished product. He paid a high price for someone of so little value. In a plan that took place long before my birth,only He knew my value. He counted the cost and sent His Son to pay for my redemption. He washed me in the blood of Christ and sealed me with His Holy Spirit. I cannot be returned to the bargain table. I am a trophy of His grace. He didn't purchase me only to realize later I should just be thrown in the junk closet. He doesn't kick Himself for purchasing one that is "unfixable." He has a purpose and plan for my life and it is good. I can't see the end results of my journey but He does. God delights in me as His good deal. This overwhelms my soul!

The Work of His Work

The power of God's Word can settle your heart like a summer breeze. God's Word can also grab hold of your whole being and stop you in your tracks. You can't run from it or stop it from echoing in your heart and mind. You can rip a page out of your Bible if you don't like the content. Yet, if the Author wants to speak to you, the torn out page will keep haunting your spirit like the whistle of a train long after it's passing. We've all had a passage that has taken us captive and set us free, or taken us captive into deep conviction. The average man cannot understand the power of God's Word as it works on a man's heart. The believer can only react to or refuse the work of the Word. Ephesians 1:11 says that God works all things according to the counsel of His will. The word "work" here comes from the word "energeo." Do you see energy in that root source? Break this down into a simple concept. God is the source of energy that put the world into motion. He's the same Source that created us human beings. And this same God is the One who energizes us to work out what He works within. The power of the Word being worked in us and through us is the Author, the Creator, the Energizer. Do you and I have any responsibility? Sure we do! We don't run from God, His Word, or the works He has planned for us before time. Yes, we can ignore, rip out, or refuse to be or fulfill His "energeo." The choice is before us. Will you and I be the work of His work?

On the Right Side

News headlines often capture the worst side of mankind. One that broke my heart this week was about a man leaving a stadium who was beaten to a pulp. Why? He was wearing a jersey supporting the team he was rooting for. Fans from the opposing team didn't like his choice of teams nor his wardrobe. Their solution was to almost kill the guy. I shake my head and wonder what causes evil to prevail in the heart of man. I just can't understand why someone roots for evil. I pity the parent who has family members playing on opposing teams. To sit in a stadium and try rooting for someone on the other side would cause utter chaos and most likely end up with blood splattering everywhere. Perhaps cheering from a distance would be the best case scenario here.

Last night I watched a movie about a child whose parents were murdered in front of her by a mob. She devoted the rest of her life to hunting the mobsters down and killing each one of them with brutal methods. While I thought what she was doing was wrong I found myself rooting for her to get the creeps who had caused so much pain to her as an innocent child. For a moment I got caught up in blurring right from wrong. The ends justifies the means is the world's mantra. I forgot my side of the stadium is for peace and a justice that does not belong in my hands. I had quickly switched allegiances and joined forces with the evil side. A gentle nudge reminded me that I needed to keep my mind from evil lest I act out on my thoughts.

In the fourth chapter of 1 Chronicles, the man Jabez prayed and asked God to keep him from evil and to not cause pain to himself or God. Every day I wake up I pray that prayer. I do not want to be an "pain spreader." I do not want to be on evil's side of the stadium rooting for victory. Like Jabez I want to pray against spreading evil and pain. This requires daily surrendering my thoughts and words to the only One who can keep me on the right side. So today, I surrender to Him.

2011 Newsletter

Isaiah 6 Ministries Newsletter
A Mooring for the Moorings
A hardbound dictionary will never go out of date for me. I love pulling the one off my desk to either look up an unfamiliar word or to see how Mr. Webster defined a familiar term. This year I looked up our last name- mooring. It comes from the root word moor. Some of the definitions for moor are - to secure a boat by mooring: ANCHOR; to be made fast.
2011 was a defining year of the mooring to the Mooring’s. 2010 had been a year of some deep highs and lows. Our hopes for 2011 had been for a smoother sailing kind of journey. God had different plans for us.
In the Spring, Mark’s dad took a turn for the worse. After a month long hospital stay he finally went to be with His Savior. In July my body started producing strange lumps and painful extremities. I saw just about every kind of specialist, had MRI’s and CT scans, and donated most of the blood in my body for research. The culprit was a herniated disc pressing on the spinal cord thus causing extremity problems. Physio- therapy has helped immensely. In August we received a new granddaughter, Joy Canaan Overholser.(She lives up to her name bringing much awaited joy.) October brought Mark a new awakening. No job is permanent. He was downsized after 17 years with AIG.
So what has been the mooring for the Mooring’s? Our God. He is an anchor for our souls, our minds, our bodies. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Oh how I want to be preserved blameless! I want the God of peace to be our peace. Job or jobless I want my peace to remain in Him. In life and death and birth and health I want the Prince of Peace to be our mooring.
I have had some ministry changes. I stepped down from teaching my ladies Sunday school class in March. I am now working in a young singles class. I serve as a mentor to the young women who desire an “older woman” to disciple them. At 55, I guess I am truly an older woman, though I still feel very young at heart! I had many speaking engagements over the Spring months and some in the Fall. My heart’s desire still burns to teach women the Word of God as their anchor, their mooring. 2012 already has some filled up dates with several pending. This excites me as I study and prepare. I am also working on a new study on the heart, mind, and MOUTH connection. As I look up verses I see my need to be careful with my mouth, my lips, my words. My desire is to teach believers how to edify one another and glorify God with what pours out. I am still needing God’s help and grace in this area of my life. Please pray for me as I finish this assignment God gave me awhile back.
Please pray for Mark and I as we decide what to do with our lives and ministries. We are at pivotal places in how we spend the second half of our journeys. Through it all we want to be obedient and honorable as kingdom builders. We pray the same for you with love!