Rejoice In Truth, Speak With Love

There are very few things I can write about with firsthand knowledge. I may not be an expert on those few subjects, but I can speak from a place of experience. Having given birth to three wonderfully sweet babies, and as I am still in the process of raising those still growing humans, I feel I can confidently say that being pregnant and being a mama is hard. Everything about you changes from the very first moment those tiny cells join and begin becoming something more than they would ever be on their own.

Your body changes. It almost becomes foreign as you feel things physically shift and move inside and out. It never goes back to the way it was before. Not only are you changing, but that newly formed life inside of you is also changing. You begin to feel every movement they make the more they grow. Sometimes you wonder if their future career will be "gymnast" as you watch your entire belly sway and roll even though you are sitting completely still.

Your hormones change. I recall a moment of pure joy I had that brought me to a place of strange emotions. During my last pregnancy, I burst into tears as I devoured my Zaxby's salad. My husband, looking very concerned, asked if I was alright. Through my cries, I managed to say, "This is the best salad I have ever eaten! It makes me so happy! Thanks for getting it for me!" On the other end of the spectrum, I also admit that I have had to be on anxiety medication off and on since the birth of my first child. The highs and lows of your emotions as you knew them, reach new heights and dive to deeper depths. You go from "Glorious salad!" to "I will never get this right!" and sometimes you go to both places in the span of 5 minutes.

Your abilities change. Yes, I lost the ability to do some things freely. By the end of each pregnancy, I couldn't even tie my shoes on my own due to the giant basketball shape protruding from my mid-section. As soon as they were born, I lost the ability to shower, use the bathroom, or walk into another room alone. To be honest, 17, 15, and 6 years later, I still can't do those things alone. But change doesn't always mean losing something. I gained the ability to love more than I ever thought possible. I gained the ability to speak up for my children. I gained a strength I never knew was possible. Most of all I gained the ability to understand the description of God as our Heavenly Father. I can now see His creation through the eyes of a parent.

Your responsibilities change. I don't really know how selfish I was before children. Perhaps it's because I have a tough time remembering life before them in some ways. I do know that I became much less important to myself from the moment I knew they were growing inside me. The things I ate changed, the way I moved changed, the way I planned life changed when my babies came into my life. My level of responsibility went up exponentially more than it ever had at any other point in my life. It wasn't the same as adding my husband to my life. This was not another grown person that mostly had it together. This was a completely dependent human being. They relied on me from the very moment they were conceived to sustain the life that had been breathed into them. No pressure, right?

Pregnancy, giving birth, and raising those precious ones have been amongst the hardest things I have ever done. It's not always pretty or painless. I cannot look over all that we have been through as a family and say everything has been perfect but, I can look back with joy and know that I have loved nearly every minute of it. Even with all the changes my body had to endure, the things I had to set aside, and the tough choices I have had to make as a parent, I would never choose to change any part of the life God has blessed me with.

I know I am only able to say these things because of the love and presence of God and His people in my life. However, I am not naive enough to think that every woman shares the same experience. While my heart rejoices that laws are being passed that protect the precious little souls created by their loving heavenly Father, it would be wrong to ignore the hurt coming from those on the "other side." They too are precious souls created by a loving Heavenly Father and those souls are in pain. If we listen past the rhetoric, we can hear some of the questions that are really being asked by many. These questions, asked in sincerity, should speak to us as Christians seeking to do the will of the same Heavenly Father that created all of us. Our number one job as followers of Christ is to show the world who He is. We can only do that if we exemplify His patience and understanding. Yes, we must be straight forward and speak the truth, but we have to do that in love by meeting others where their questions are. Here is what I hear when I really listen beyond many of the shouts:

What about the woman who is scared and alone?
What about the woman who cannot afford to care for her children?
What about the circumstances surrounding the reason she is now pregnant?
Why don't those who commit the crimes against women that cause the fear, poverty, and hurtful situations appear to receive the same scrutiny as the one carrying this life you claim is so precious?
If no one cares for me how am I supposed to care for someone else?
What about my precious life?

I hope that as these questions are now swirling in the minds of many we, as Christians, stand ready to answer. I hope we will stand up and tell the hurting that because they are fellow image bearers of the one true and holy God and because God has tasked us to do good to all, we will help in the ways that we can. Let us say, "If I can calm your fear, help deal with your financial situation, or help counsel you and comfort you whatever your current circumstance, I will. I can treat you and your blessed child with love, respect, and decency, I can be a voice against those who have hurt you and remind you that they were wrong, I can pray fiercely as an advocate before the throne of God and help in whatever way I am able. Most of all I will welcome you with open arms and allow God to do His work as he heals and protects."

While we as Christians rejoice at the passing of new laws concerning abortion that we believe will be a blessing in God's creation, we cannot merely shout for joy and then sit idly by while we still see people who are hurting. Perhaps if those of us who have found the grace of God would be gracious enough to treat others with the very Christ-like understanding and kindness we have been so blessed to receive, many fears would be alleviated. As much as we need to stand up and speak out against what God has declared sinful, we also need to follow the example of God in the Flesh and reach out to those in this world still caught in its clutches. We can and we must do both.

Some verses to read and study as these thoughts are considered:

Genesis 1:26-27
Psalm 139:13
Ephesians 4:14-16
Galatians 6:1-10
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Matthew 7:12, 21-23; 28:18-20
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (particularly verse 6 as we couple that with speaking the truth in love)
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (particularly verse 11 as we remember that we have all come out of the world of sin)
Romans 5:1-11

Home

On September 21, 2018, I will have been on this earth for 40 years. As I have written before, over the years my heart has found a home in various places and amongst many different people. However, there has always been a constant place of comfort that I return to. For 40 years it was the place that remained while so many other things in my world changed.

I close my eyes and still smell the coffee perking in the old school percolator. I can imagine myself pretending to be asleep in the bedroom next to the kitchen while straining to hear the “grown-up” talk and laughter. I can feel the breeze on my face as I swing on the front porch pretending that I’m flying away to some new adventure.  I can feel the thrill in the air as my cousins and I scurry to try and find my Paw Paw hiding in a dark room pretending to be the boogie man. I hear the peels of laughter from deep in our little bellies as we hurry through the house to get away and my Granny, feigning frustration, laughs as she hollers, “Bill, you’re riling those kids up!” I see myself working word search puzzles at the kitchen table with my Uncle Danny, playing thousands of games of Triominoes, Uno, Upwords, and any other game that could be played. I feel the sticky, hot summer nights in the backyard catching lightning bugs in jars. I hear the chatter and smell the food cooking at the reunions on the 4^th of July when the house seemed to explode with family. I feel the heat of the sparklers as they burn my fingers for the thousandth time and see the explosions of bottle rockets in the front yard. I hear the crunch of the dirt and gravel as I walk out the back gate and step into the alley. I run down to my pal Holly’s house, to the drug store to get a suicide Slush Puppy, or to have an adventure at the church building or (in my little mind) to the far corners of the earth. I hear words spoken and songs sung as we prepare food in the kitchen. I feel the burning in my mouth because I was not patient and ate the fried squash as soon as it left the oil, worth it! I hear advice that I wish I had heeded sooner to save my heart from aching. I see people hurting yet receiving comfort from one another and I understand what it takes to go through the calm and the storm as a family. I hear arguments followed by laughter, love, and forgiveness. I hear the clanking of that fence opening and closing, the door on the patio slam behind me and voices from inside holler “Well, Hello!” I feel hugs and kisses on the hand and smell breakfast cooking on Saturday morning. I see my babies grow and play in the living room and on the patio just like I did. And then, I open my eyes.

No, it wasn’t a dream. I was there. It was real but, now, it is a memory. Just a few weeks ago the house that my Granny and Paw Paw purchased nearly 60 years ago and the location of some of my most precious memories, was sold. My Paw passed in 2008 and my Uncle Danny in 2016. My Gran is still with us, but we have had to say goodbye to the Gran she once was as her memory is ravaged. Saying goodbye to people you love so dearly is unexplainable until you have to do it. I have had to say goodbye to many people in my life and each time has been a unique experience. In the case of those I have mentioned here, those goodbyes have been deeply painful but, they have also come with a hope. This hope inevitably pushes through some of the scars from the deep wounds of loss and reminds me that I will see them again. My faith in Christ and His resurrection taught to me by these loved ones, assures me of that fact.

I have been a bit blindsided by how broken my heart feels at the loss of this place. It is, after all, just a house. I never really imagined I would feel so deeply hurt when this moment came. I suppose it’s because, though my heart has had experience with finding a home wherever it has roamed, this place was where the largest part of it lived. It was my safe, home base. Perhaps that will translate into eternity as well? 

If I close my eyes again maybe, I’ll see it?

After I meet my God, my Jesus, and witness their Holy Spirit perhaps they will show me to my heavenly home?

As I turn down Ashe Avenue with it's newly paved golden street of course, there it will be, 551 Ashe. Paw will be waving from the porch “Where ya been sis!” I’ll see my uncle run to me, something I never witnessed in my life on earth. When it’s time for my Gran to join them, she will take her place and I’ll see her working on the flowers in the front of the house or standing in the kitchen telling me to come on in the house. I will feel their arms wrapped around me again and I will be able to do the same to them. Most of all, I will get to hear them say “Welcome home forever!” So, I reckon when Y'all get to heaven, you can just find me up at Gran and Paw’s house burning my mouth on squash, catching lightning bugs, listening to the sounds of my family worshiping together for eternity, and loving every moment of it.

Mercy Me - Finally Home

                               

     

 

A Simple Plea

A simple, quiet, plea for help. A calm invocation of the Lord’s intervention in our lives. A peaceful prayer to the God of all power. A whisper of thanksgiving that we know who holds this world in His hands.

The descriptions I just listed come rushing to my mind when I hear the word Kumbayah. To be honest, I hadn’t thought of that word for many years until just a few weeks ago. As I have mentioned in a previous post, my prayer time is not always as quiet and reflective as I would like it to be. I often find myself praying while I’m driving, cooking, cleaning, or even giving the 4 year old a bath as I just had to do while I was writing this because he “almost” made it to the potty (face in palm).

I found myself praying in one of these situations a few weeks ago for a sweet friend that just happened to be on my mind at that moment. I knew of a struggle she was having but I wasn’t sure what she needed to get her through it. My simple prayer was for God to be with her and give her the help she needed to make it through this difficulty. Immediately after I prayed for her I lifted a thanksgiving to God that he is able and willing to help His children. When I concluded the thought occurred to me, “I have just prayed Kumbayah.” I am not sure why this thought came into my mind. As I mentioned, it had been years since I had thought about or heard the word. Then, as random thoughts have a way of doing, it sent me on a search through my mind, the internet, and the Bible. Before I share this journey, I need you to know it was a long one. As evidenced in my earlier confession of ceasing the writing of this to deal with a potty emergency, things don’t happen as quickly in my real life as they do on the page.

The first stop on the train of thought was childhood. I could vaguely remember my mom singing me this song one night as I sat in her lap. I can’t remember exactly where we were but it wasn’t home and I remember being a bit scared. Then my mother sang this prayer to the Lord and all was calm. I didn’t know what it meant but it made me feel better. I also heard echoes of the song being sung through the years at worship or during VBS. I remembered I liked it’s comforting melodic sound and that it seemed to be asking God to be near, though, I wasn’t sure if it actually was.

Stop two, the internet to search for definition of this interesting word. I was remembering a faint voice somewhere in my past that was telling me the word was roughly translated “Come By Here” but I knew nothing else about the origins of the word or the song it was attached to so, I asked Google. That was a fascinating pit stop. Let’s just say, they don’t make dictionaries like they used to (and I’m not that old people).

A site called Urban Dictionary can apparently be added to by it’s users to give traditional definitions of words and the newer, updated meanings used by many in our culture today and then have those definitions voted on and ranked according to how it’s used. It’s an interesting look into cultural changes in vernacular through the years. Some of the differences are minimal but the changes to the use of Kumbayah struck me as a profound and telling. This definition was listed for the word as the most popular: “Kumbayah is a uniquely African-American Contribution to American English. Kumbayah is Gullah pronunciation of the phrase “Come by here” (or ‘come by yah’, ‘yah’ being a West African Form of ‘here’.) This word has been turned into an ironic term by over usage and misinterpretation by the mainstream culture. However, it’s actually a call to God to visit the singer ‘Kumbayah my Lord’ means ‘come by here my Lord’.”

I also found two articles written on the song from people with two different platforms and backgrounds, one a Christian perspective and the other political, who reached the same conclusions. (Those articles here and here) They both agree on the fact that this song has it’s roots off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina in the times of slavery. The Gullah people did in fact sing this soothing spiritual to cry out to our mighty God to come near, to comfort them, to hear their pleas for His relief from their suffering. They invited Him, “Kumbayah Lord! Hear us pray! Hear us sing! Hear us cry!” They also both agree that it has been thoroughly hijacked and abused by our modern culture. The Christian writer says, “Kumbayah is an excellent example of a song that was made internationally available but in the process it was robbed of it’s meaning. What would the song have meant if it was left as the local prayer a few saints on the coast of South Carolina?” The political commentator says, “Rather than Kumbayah representing strength and power in togetherness and harmony as it once did, the word has come to reflect weakness and wimpiness.” They also both ponder why this happened and, I believe rightly in part, place the blame on the winds of change in society. I say I only agree in part because this only addresses that changes have been made on a societal level. It doesn’t really address the heart of those changes or, rather, the hearts of the people who are blowing in those winds. Why have they made a cry to God something to be ridiculed or viewed as weak?

In asking myself this question I was lead to the place I find myself in pondering moments like these, God’s Word. As I thought about the background information I had learned about this word and the song it is connected with I could not help but think of Psalms. This song was, and is, in fact a psalm to it’s core. It is a poetic, lyrical, prayer. It echoes many of the poetic prayers of David in the book of Psalms as he cries out to God for deliverance from his foes and has the tone of assurance that God will appear and save His children.

Here are a few examples from the book of Psalms of pleas to the Lord for rescue and relief:

“Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people!”  Psalm 3:7-8

“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!” Psalm 4:1

“O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.” Psalm 7:1-2

“When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:17-19

These urgent requests have one thing in common, they recognize God as an active source of the deliverance for which they plea. They admit and proclaim that God is the source of salvation, righteousness, relief, refuge, and deliverance for the brokenhearted, afflicted, and crushed in spirit. Just as Kumbayah, though quiet and unassuming, is an urgent request to God to hear and recognize the lion of slavery tearing apart the soul of the Gullah people trapped in it’s terrible jaws. They sang because they knew He heard and He would come to save and deliver. These Psalms, and this song tell the story of those who sang the prayers but most importantly they tell of the power of the God they were praying to.

I believe the ridicule by many that Kumbayah has experienced in our society is a small, but very telling,  indication that the knowledge who God is and what He has done for His creation is being lost. Asking God to come near in our times of distress is not a sign of weakness. When God’s children sing songs such as this together and pray prayers with it’s sentiment together they are praying to the only one with the absolute ability to bring the peace we are pleading for.

Those outside of the family of God do not understand this. Those who do not know His power cannot see the point. It seems foolish to many in the world who think themselves their own savior. Because they do not understand they view it as irrelevant and laughable that we call out to an “unseen” God.

   

This may seem like a giant “bunny trail” I hopped down a few weeks ago after a simple prayer for a friend, but, I am rather glad I followed it. Whether you enjoy the little song that caused this journey of mine or not one thing is certain, it has made me think. Reverence for our great God and a failure to recognize His power has always been and will always be a problem for the world until Jesus comes again. Our job as Christians is to keep it from infiltrating the Lord’s body and shine a light on His holiness and mercy so the world will begin to see it.  

I am thankful to know the same God of Israel that David and the other psalmists cried out to. I am thankful to know that He is my heavenly Father and the Father of Jesus Christ who is the intercession for all of His children. In times of hurt and despair I may feel weak but He makes me strong when I cry out to God this deceptively simple plea, “Kumbayah!” I know He hears. He not only hears, He acts to meet the needs of His people. When His children invite God to “come by here” we can be sure He will arrive and that he will deliver.

Dear Sister Preacher's Wife

I may know you or I may never have met you. Whoever you are, if you are a Christian woman we are bound together by a bond of sisterhood. If you are a preacher’s wife we are sisters not only in Christ but in the ministry of His Gospel in a unique way. I wrote this several years ago at the request of a dear friend for someone that would soon become a minister’s wife and I decided to revisit it and give it a bit of an update.

I have been married to my wonderful husband, Paul, for 18 years. We have three children ages 15, 12, and 3 (that, however, is totally another letter) We have been privileged to work with several great congregations in Tennessee, New Mexico, Kentucky, West Virginia, and coming soon, Texas. Paul and I have known each other for 20 years and have been in ministry together for nearly that long as well. Having been a preacher’s wife for 18 of those 20 years I do have a few things that may be helpful to you as you begin your life as a minister’s wife, that may be helpful reminders if you’ve been in that role for a while, or may encourage you to be a blessing to your preacher’s wife if you are not one. I hope that you will find these things helpful and I welcome advice from you as I strive to maintain my focus.

1. God should be your first priority in all you do. If you do not put God first on every list you make, it makes life more of a struggle than it needs to be. Be present to offer worship to God at every opportunity. Be present to study His word with fellow Christians at every opportunity. Surround yourself with His people as much as possible. There is a reason Deuteronomy 6:4-5 is called the great Shema or the great listen. God says to Israel, if you don’t hear anything else, hear this: “The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” God should not only be a small part of you, He should be all of your whole being.

2. With God firmly in place as the head of your family make sure that you and your family grow in Him. Pray everyday, read or meditate on His Word everyday. One of my favorite things to do is post things in my home that have scripture on them. It helps me to gear my mind in the right direction. Have conversations with your family about scriptures you have had on your mind and have been studying. Engage in conversation with your husband about his sermon or class study focus for the week and it will enrich your appreciation for God’s Word and grow your relationship at the same time. After telling the people of Israel to love God with their whole self, the Lord goes on to tell them how they can accomplish this command. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” This will work for us today as well. As we strive to keep God first in our lives we must keep His word in our hearts.

 3. You, as a minister’s wife, are living in a fish bowl now. Sorry to say, right or wrong, it’s the truth. Be aware of this but DO NOT let it rule your life. You are a Christian Woman just like every other Christian Woman held to the same standards by the only judge that matters, God. You can not control that others will feel they have the right to comment on everything from your hairstyle to your footwear to how you raise your children, but you can control how you react to it. The right reaction will set the stage for how future conversations will be directed and for how you may influence someone to do better for the work of Christ. Proverbs 25:11 says “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” If you remember numbers 1 & 2 on the list, it makes number 3 easier to handle. As Matthew 12:34-35 says “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” What are you treasuring in your heart, the Word of the Lord and His encouragement through it or hurt and disappointment from those who do not represent Him well with their criticism? It will be reveled in your responses. Your tongue will deceive you (James 3:5-12). Do not allow a few thoughtless people and their words to invade your heart and ruin good works for God. Guard your heart and guard your words.

4. This point was not in my original letter. After careful consideration I realized I could not omit it. You need to know there are far more people that will encourage and lift you up than you realize. There are people that will help you get through the tough times and tough words from others. Allow them to do it. It’s tough to be under the microscope or in the fish bowl as I said before. There will be some who like to analyze or tap the glass and irritate you but with prayer and focus on God and His work He will bless you with so many of His people that will want to do nothing but lift you and your family up. I have pieces of my heart all over this country because of the wonderful people God has given me through ministry. They will help you remember that God is in control and that He is worthy of your commitment even when Satan sends people to hurl darts of insult and hurt at you. Don’t let the few that injure you lead you down a path away from service in the kingdom. Hear the voice of God in those who seek to encourage you to follow Him.

5. Be full of Joy. This point used to say be happy but I have come to the conclusion that happiness is relative. It is based on how I feel from day to day. Some days, I am not happy. Some days I am down right upset. But, on those days, I am still full of joy even in the midst of my sadness or fear or upset. Joy at the blessings I have received from a God that will never leave me alone. Joy runs deeper than happiness in my opinion. It is something that allows me to feel those days of hurt and know that that’s not all there is. My marriage is a constant reminder of that deep down joy. How blessed am I, how blessed are you, to be married to a Godly man! Take comfort and joy in the fact that even if this man were not a minister he would still be an active member of the Lord’s Church. Know that he, like you, is a Christian just like any other Christian and he is being held to the same standards by the only judge that matters as well. Others may see the labels “Minister and Minister’s Wife” but God sees His children working in His vineyard as He commanded. Be joyful in this! You are doing God’s will together and not the will of any one else. How blessed you are! 

6. Preacher’s Wife does not equal “she who will run every program.” You have your strengths and weaknesses just like any other human being. Be aware of those strengths and weaknesses and do not be afraid to say “I do not feel I am suited to that job. Perhaps I could do…. instead?” Just because the wife of the previous minister took on a project does not mean you have to. If the Elder’s ask that a program continue that you do not feel suited to, respectfully offer to help find a replacement or find an alternative activity that you can do. Also remember that you have different and unique talents that may or may not mirror your husband. Just because he can do something does not mean you can too. DO NOT try to be someone you are not. It won’t help you, it won’t help your husband, and it won’t help the Lord’s Church. 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” Apparently this has been a problem for a long time, even in the 1^st century church. We don’t all do the same things; we can’t all do the same things. See also 1 Corinthians 12:14-20 which tells us we are all one body but we all have different functions. We can’t all be ears or eyes or feet. We need each part to function the way God intended it to. Find the gift He blessed you with and don’t be afraid to try something new to help you discover that gift. You may discover a talent you didn’t know you had. Whatever you do, do it for His glory.

7. You will have to share your husband with the entire congregation. Office hours may be posted but his job is 24/7. Refer to numbers 1, 2, & 3 above. Be patient with him. It’s a hard job to have to be the “go to guy” for every single member. You need to make sure that you are his “go to gal” when he needs an outlet. Keep confident the things he shares. Offer an ear to listen and advice when asked. Let him know when you need attention. Your husband can not read your mind. He is busy with other people’s business much of the time but don’t let yourself get shoved out of the way. You are a priority because you are his biggest supporter. He needs you over any other person in this world and you need him just as much. When God is first in your family and your husband is your best friend you will be able to make it through whatever challenges may be presented to you.  

Please remember that my experiences are my own just as your experiences will be your own but be confident that even the seemingly bad experiences will work out for good if you continue to trust in God’s Word. You are not alone and you are not the only woman in the world that will walk the road that a Minister’s wife walks. You are blessed to be a Christian woman and wife. You are blessed to be a child of God. Not perfect by any means but completely forgiven by the blood of Christ. May God bless your marriage and your work for Him.

If you are reading this and you are not a preacher’s wife, thank you for taking the time to read and try to understand some of the things we face. Many of these things may sound like your life too. As I said, we are all really the same, just Christian women seeking to take the Word to the world. I hope some of these things will be useful to you as well. If you have a preacher’s wife at your congregation that is striving to be a Godly wife and supporter of her husband, encourage her. I am certain she will encourage you as well. I know I would. You would have a piece of my heart along with so many other women who have encouraged me throughout these 18 years.

Your Sister in Christ,

Amanda Merideth

What do you Treasure?

Well, it is time once again for me to take a moment to be a proud mamma. This is the speech that Emma has prepared for Lads to Leaders this year. We have had so much going on here in our little neck of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. My sweet daughter has worked diligently on study and preparation for this speech and I am filled with joy to share her words with you. 

"What do you treasure? What’s at the top of your priority list?

Two years ago my family moved to West Virginia from Louisville, KY. It was hard work to pack and unpack all our stuff, but what was even harder was leaving the people I’ve known for 8 years, and trying to make new friends. This was especially hard once school started. As I tried to find good friends, I began to notice that I was focusing on and valuing the wrong things. I wasn’t only looking for the wrong things in other people, but I was valuing the wrong qualities in myself. I was worrying about how I could change myself, so other people would view me as someone who’s important. As I worried more and more about what other people thought, I was worrying less and less about what God thought. I was treasuring all the wrong things. Instead of God being at the top of my priority list, the opinions of others took his place.

In Mathew chapter 6, Jesus is in the middle of delivering his first sermon: the Sermon on the Mount. Throughout this section of the sermon, Jesus is saying that no matter what we are doing, whether it’s praying, worshiping, fasting, serving others, or dealing with the worries of life, we should do them all with one focus in our heart.

Matthew 6:19-24 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

It’s easy for us to read this portion of Matthew chapter 6 and focus in on the word money, and while this is an important part of the passage, it’s not the main lesson Jesus is teaching. We may have the mindset that if we are generous with our money and not greedy, we don’t have a problem, this passage is for someone else who struggles with that and not me. This mindset is dangerously wrong. You may not love money, but do you love electronics, your car, or making sure everyone likes you no matter the cost? What Jesus is saying here is not only that you cannot serve God and money at the same time, but that you cannot serve God and the stuff of the world at the same time, no matter what that stuff may be. This is a point Jesus tries to drive into his followers from the very beginning of his ministry to the very end. And, he never promised it would be easy.

In Luke 14:26-27 Jesus uses some very intense language to drive this point home for those who would be his disciples.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

Wait… I have to hate people to follow Christ? That can’t be right?

Jesus is not saying it’s ok to have hatred in our hearts here. He’s using very strong and hard to hear language to make the point that we must value him and his teachings over any other person in this world. His apostles knew and believed this and taught it after Christ had ascended back to heaven.

    

Paul in Colossians 3 verses 1-3 says, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

If we have been raised like Christ this implies that we have died in some way. We have died to the “things that are on earth” and are now living for the “things that are above.” Our minds, our hearts should be filled with all the things that are important to God in heaven.

As I struggled with finding a place in a new community I lost sight of all of these things. I lost sight of what really mattered and of the fact that true treasure doesn’t look like what the world may think it does. My heart was not valuing heavenly things and my eyes were losing focus.

Verses 22 and 23 of our main text in Matthew say, “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.”

It warns that the things you are focusing on can give you light or can darken your life entirely. I am thankful that I already had some treasure hidden in my heart. If I had not, this small struggle in my life may have become much larger. I could have been blinded by the darkness of the world.

I know this won’t be the only time in my life I will have to fight to stay focused on what is truly valuable. Jesus never promised that the treasure he offered would make life on this earth easy. I will have to make tough decisions and sometimes others won’t like what I choose. But, this world is temporary and heaven is eternal. I will choose to focus my heart on the treasure that God has for me and on serving him. I have died to this world and my “life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3)

I was treasuring all the wrong things. Instead of God being at the top of my priority list, the opinions of others took his place. My new treasure is focusing on what God thinks about how I pray, worship and serve.

What do you treasure? What’s at the top of your priority list? "

He Revealed the Mystery

Over my 37 years on this earth I estimate I have heard 3,478 Sunday sermons give or take a few, and have attended roughly 1,739 Wednesday night Bible classes. These figures do not include 4 years at a Christian University taking a Bible class every semester, attending lectureships, ladies’ day programs, ladies’ Bible classes, youth rallies, summer youth series, camps, gospel meetings, retreats, and workshops.

After so many years and so many lessons I think it’s a safe assertion that I do not remember every word spoken in those sermons and classes. I do, most certainly, carry with me the lessons and principles from God’s word that they instilled in me. My faith has been shaped by these times of study with many wonderful teachers who wanted nothing more than to share God’s love, grace, and mercy. Preachers who were committed to teaching me about following God’s commandments, understanding His holiness and having confidence in His justice. They wanted to impress upon me the importance of knowing God’s will for His creation. For most of my life I took these lessons for granted.

Despite the lack of appreciation in my youth God was and is working through those thousands of lessons taught in classrooms and from behind pulpits. I am glad to reflect on the memories, vague though they may be, of sermons from many years ago. One lesson I have been reflecting on in recent weeks is from the book of Ephesians.

“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 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, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)

The mysterious will of God has been revealed and we can know and understand what that will is. From the beginning, from the time of creation, from the first separation because of sin, God had a plan. His purpose, His every move, His will, is to give us the most gracious gift of being united in a relationship with Him. That hope lies in Christ alone. God has called to us through the death of our adopted brother, Jesus Christ, to have unity in the hope He gives us because of His sacrifice (Ephesians 4:1-4).

I have thought of this lesson many times through the years but it has taken on a special meaning to me in the last several weeks. You see, the man who delivered this message was not just “my preacher,” he and his family were and are some of my dearest and closest friends. From the time I was 2 or 3 years old until I was 17 or 18 years old he was the one who revealed the mystery of God’s will to me from behind the pulpit, in the classroom, and even in his home. Though he wasn’t the one who dipped me in the waters of baptism, he was there to hug me and cheer me on as I grew in my faith. He stood beside Paul and me as we exchanged vows and were joined together as husband and wife. He and his wife raised two faithful daughters that I love deeply and I have the distinct honor of claiming as my lifelong friends and sisters. He has left us here on this earth far too soon. I have cried for my friends and I have cried that this world has lost a faithful preacher that loved to reveal the mystery of God’s will to people in his neighborhood and even across the world.

I cannot remember if it was one sermon or a series and I cannot remember the exact words spoken but I certainly remember the man that taught me those lessons and more importantly I remember the principle that has been applied to my life and tied to many important decisions I have made.  I don’t recall ever uttering the words thank you to Johnny Mack Young but I am confident that, because he revealed the mystery to me, I will thank him in our heavenly home as we worship together the One who called us to His worthy cause. 

Goodness

I love to cook and bake. Trying new recipes and making up my own tasty concoctions is what I call fun. My family enjoys that I have this hobby as well. My husband especially loves it when I use the Crock-pot. In his words “It’s a magical pot!” Well, at least that’s how they feel most of the time, there is what has been dubbed "the 1%."

A few days ago I created an extremely delicious looking chicken pot pie. The sauce was thick and creamy and filled with chicken, carrots, peas, onions and some nose tickling, yummy smelling herbs. It was topped off with golden brown, flaky biscuits. The whole house was bathed in the aroma of creamy, bubbly, splendidness and the dish looked gorgeous. The children came into the kitchen to watch me prepare it and there were smiles on their faces as they licked their lips in anticipation. Finally, it was time to gobble up the goodness!

Plates were piled high, the blessing was said, forks were raised, and mouths eagerly received the food. Suddenly, eyes closed, lips curled, forks dropped, and my loving husband gazed across the table and said “This is really bad isn’t it?” We all agreed and were very grateful that there was instant oatmeal in the pantry.

What went wrong? How could this happen? This dish was not destined to be in the 1%! It was beautiful. It was made with love. It smelled like a warm hug (if that has a smell). It had all the right stuff and it was really good, until we tasted it.

As it just so happens, it was entirely my fault. I think the recipe called for 2 teaspoons of thyme … it got 2 Tablespoons … maybe more. I tried to correct it but the more I tried to scoop it out the more incorporated it became. I decided it would be fine since it still smelled and looked so good. The problem was I had defined goodness superficially. I didn’t stop and consider that the real definition of goodness, when it comes to cooking, is how good it tastes.

I am quite convinced that I fall into this trap often when it comes to what the definition of goodness is in my Christian life. I think I am a fairly good gal. I do all the stuff I am supposed to do. I go to all the right places and say all of the right things. I give to those in need. I open up my home to people. I care for my children and my husband. I offer my time and energy to my friends. I don’t give into the “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21) and I know all about the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).  My good deeds seem numerous at times and I try to fill my home with all the good things I can but, am I full of that fruit that is of the Spirit? Am I full of that goodness? 

When Jesus was asked by the rich young man “what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) Jesus tells the young man that there is only one who is good and that to have eternal life he must keep His commandments. There is momentary joy; the young man already does all the good stuff. He already keeps all the commandments. He thinks he is all set and asks “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20) Jesus tells the young man that he cannot merely keep the commandments and go through the motions. Jesus says that he must give up all that he has. He has to sacrifice what he thinks is important; in this case his vast wealth. He must make Christ and following Him in His ministry the center of his life. His deeds, no matter how amazing, really don’t do anything to secure his eternal life if they are void of devotion to “God who is the source of all good, including eternal life” (ESV Study Bible note). This proves to be too much for this young man and he goes away saddened by the thought of such a great sacrifice (Matthew 19:22). 

This young man was a good guy by the standards of the law. He did all the good stuff and went to all the good places. He knew all the right things to say and all the commandments to keep. But he was not full of goodness. I know this may seem to be a harsh thing to say about the rich young man but if we are honestly looking at what the text says, the logical conclusion to draw for him and for me is that even if I am doing all the good stuff and I do not fill my heart and soul with devotion to Christ, I am not full of goodness. My question then is the same as the apostles after this event. 

“‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ Then Peter said in reply, ‘See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.’” (Matthew 19:26-29) 

Much like my beautiful chicken pot pie, I am deeply flawed on the inside. Even in the midst of all the good I may profess or that may be seen outwardly I am not good enough. My words are not always seasoned well, I am broken, and I struggle. I may do many things that look good to those around me but there is only one who is truly good. Through Him, eternal life in heaven is possible, not easy but possible. His goodness was made known to us through the tremendous act of love through Christ on the cross. Unless “I have been crucified with Christ,” and “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life 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) I cannot be full of true goodness and I cannot receive the inheritance of eternal life. If I am willing to leave behind whatever earthly distraction stands in the way and follow Him then I will be full of goodness, not my own but, the goodness of God.