Stand and Shepherd- FIX IT!

“He shall stand and shepherp his flock in the strength of the Lord,in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth.

And he will be their peace.” – Micah 5:4-5

~ His reign is practical in its character. It is said, “He shall stand and shepherd.” The great Head of the church is actively engaged in providing for His people. He does not sit down upon the throne in empty state or hold a scepter without weilding it in government. No; he stands and shepherd. The expressions “shepherd” in the original is like an analogous one in the Greek that means to do everything expected of a shepherd- to guide, to watch, to preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed. His reign is continual in it’s duration. It is said, “He shall stand and shepherd”; not “he shall feed now and then and leave His position”; not “He shall one day grant a revival and then next day leave His Church to barrenness.” His eyes never sllumber, and His hands never rest; His heart never ceases to beat with love, and His shoulders are never weary of carrying people’s burdens. ~ Spurgeon, Morning & Evening

I loved this from my devotional book, Morning & Evening. That God is practical, continual, and powerful in his care for His people. So often times there is a lot of “talk and no action” from people, from leaders, from friends, from ourselves. It is much easier to TALK about a solution or problem than it is to get down & dirty & FIX it.

I thought about that “Fix It” skit from SNL and had to laugh aloud this morning (yeah go ahead, judge me, spending time with God and SNL comes to mind) But seriously, it applies. Think about it. God doesn’t just save us from our sin at the moment of salavation. We’re continually being saved from our sin the the sense that we are continually being molded and shaped into the likeness of Christ- READ: God keeps fixing us up. One sin down, ninety million to go. Identify a problem, FIX IT, identify another problem, FIX IT, and move on ’til it’s all FIXED!

You don’t get sloppy drunk anymore? Great! Don’t swear? Great! How about that judgemental heart? Or that gossip, carefully disguised as a “prayer request”?

He guides us and shows us those things that are destroying us, those things that are displeasing to Him, and works on our hearts until we yield to him and FIX IT!

He gives us all we need to be able to follow Him- his Word & His Spirit. He never tires of us, never goes on a break; He is always shepherding us. Fixing us.

And, unlike the fixing that we do in our own strength, when He fixes something, he does so in the strength of the Lord, a strength like no other!

A joking and not so joking matter

I’ve been working on some resurrected WIPS, namely these socks I started, um, over two years ago.

I call them my Jester Socks, because of their crazy colors. They actually go with those crazy knee highs from Vogue that I made a few years ago.

I wanted detachable socks, so I could have the option of knee highs or socks. So I made some Jester Socks.

The not so joking matter? I live near Buffalo, and a commercial plane crashed last night into a neighborhood on the flight path. Everyone on board died.

I don’t know of anyone personally that was on the flight, but I do know a few people who’s husbands are emergency responders or work for some of the agencies on the scene.

The only place for comfort is Jesus. This morning I read from Psalm 46, 62, and 121. If you have a bible, check those out. If not, I linked to biblegateway. Truly, God’s Word is amazing and He is the only source for true joy, comfort, peace, and healing in troubling times. (Thus my knitting and bible in the first pic).

Hold tight to your loved ones and hold tight to the Lord.

recharge

My daughter just turned one.

And some of her toys have batteries that are nearly that old. In need of a recharge. The music doesn’t play well anymore, it’s out of tune, off tempo, and the Old MacDonald toy generally sounds like a dying farm animal. Mmm. Lovely.

Ever feel that way in your relationship with God? Or maybe a lack thereof?

Like a worn out battery in a toy, we too will sound out of tune when we don’t continually spend time with Jesus! It starts slowly, like not having a devotional time because there are 587 PTA phone calls to make, choir practice, family obligations, church-y expectations. Maybe we’re having company over and just NEED to have a Martha Stewart-ish home for the holidays.

“It’s just one day, God understands I’m busy,” we tell ourselves.

Have you ever tried writing that down? Like, in a prayer journal?

“Dear God. Sorry- no time for you today. Got to go. C-ya l8ter! Thanx.”

Mmm. Mmm hmmm. It’s not that easy to write that down, is it? It sure isn’t for me.

One day can turn into two days, three days, a week, a month, a loooong time.

The less time you spend with God, the weaker you get. Little by little. Your song plays slower. It starts to change into a different tune, and not a godly one.

Then one day you wake up and realize that you sound like a dying farm animal. You’re faking it, you know it, and you wonder who else does too.

I get it. It’s tough to carve out time to spend with the Lord daily. It is always hard! There is always something vying for your attention, your spouse, the house, the kids, the checkbook being off 3 cents, the tv…

So what do you do?

Acts 3:19 says “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord“

Repent.

Turn around. Do a 180. You are never standing still in your relationship with God, you are either moving closer to him or further away. Turn to Him. TURN. Away from sin. Towards Him.

Receive His forgiveness! And this means to forgive yourself too! If you have repented and asked for forgiveness, you do not need to hold guilt over your head. You are forgiven. Jesus has WIPED away your sins.

Then, and this is so amazing to me, times of refreshing may come from the Lord!

A recharge!

ESCAPE!

A Dogs on Thursday one day late post…….

Mercy escaped last night.

Keith had just gotten home from work and was changing into comfy clothes.

I had just returned home with Sweet Pea after an incredibly busy day and sat down in her rocker to nurse her.

We both suddenly realized that Mercy had not been let out. Keith sprinted downstairs to do so, as we are zealously protective of our freshly refinished floors with respect to doggy business.

He opened the back door and bent down to grab Mercy’s line when RABBITZILLA appeared in the middle of the yard.

I heard some loud barking, followed by silence, and then an “Uh oh, she’s gone.”

SP and I came downstairs to three-stooges-esque activity. I was running one way, Keith was running another, neither of us had shoes on, he was in his “drawers”, I had a baby in my arms.

Our neighbor showed up, breathless and barefoot with a spatula in hand. “Your dog!” Much panting.

“I was grilling steaks,” more panting, “and she ran past me chasing that rabbit! She went through the fence into the thick brush in the park!”

Sweet Pea went into the playpen while I grabbed a bag a treats. I ran into the yard and started calling for Mercy, interspersing her favorite words like “treats” and “chicken” and “go for a walk.” Keith had since gotten dressed and was running to the park.

It seemed like forever before I heard my neighbor yell, “He got her!”

Mercy had eventually given up her pursuit of rabbitzilla and was walking back on the path towards our street (was she coming home?). When she saw Keith, she turned around and started walking the OTHER way, with her tail between her legs and ears back! He commanded her to sit, which she did, and he scooped her up and brought her back home.

Phew!

I was thinking that her turning around and walking away was an illustration of us and God. He wants us to live a life of obedience to him not just for us to follow the rules, but to protect us. We want Mercy to stay in the yard to protect her! When we stray from Him, there are consequences to our actions. Sometimes even when we are confronted with truth we continue to do our own thing or even turn away, but He will scoop us up and bring us back.

What an amazing God.

“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.” – Matthew 18:12-14

No other words to add

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.