The Ear of the Servant

If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,' then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

Exodus 21:1-6

This week, I fell in love with this chapter of the Bible...it is a wonderful example of the importance of followers of Jesus seeking out and executing the spirit of the law in their lives by looking deeply into letter of the law.


I know, it seems kindof outdated, right? It's definitely a difficult passage. Slaves? Ear piercing? What could this possibly have to do with us? But take a step back and look at the words, and I think you'll see it has the utmost relevance to us as believers.

First, we're talking about a bondservant here, one who serves by choice to pay a debt. (Remember, Paul refers to himself as a bondservant in his writing, and we also are called the same.) Next, we see that out of love and loyalty to a bondservant's bride and his master, he can choose to remain indebted forever, though freedom is available for him. And... here's the giveaway...we see a piercing as a sign of that love and loyalty.


By now you may have picked up on the fact that this embodies the life of our Messiah, who came to pay a debt - not his own, but yours, and mine. He served faithfully, dutifully, and in the course of doing so, He took a bride - you and me and the whole assembly of those who have trusted Him as Lord. That fateful night when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He had legions of angels at His disposal. He had the whole world in His hands. But he chose us over freedom. He chose to be pierced, His sacrifice completely fulfilling what was owed. One of the few places we see the word "door post" in the rest of the Scriptures is where we see the blood of the Passover lamb applied. Just more indication that there is a connection between this servant and our Messiah, Jesus. Last, this is the role He has chosen for Himself for all time - Scripture tells us that He is the lamb who was slain "from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8)."


Now that we understand that this set of instructions reveals something deeply spiritual, what is the appropriate application for us as His bride? According to Luke's gospel, Jesus said, "A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher." John echoes the sentiment: "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." This tells me that what is required of us is not a lifeless and passionless obedience to commands. It's not about what's on the outside, about appearances, at all:

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire
but my ears you have opened (literally PIERCED!)
burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come
it is written about me in the scroll
I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart.”

Psalm 40

What a beautiful revelation of what God wants from you and me - the simple and sincere offering of our hearts. He wants the love and loyalty that come with giving Him our ear - listening to His words, by heeding and honoring His heart as revealed in the Bible. You see, if God has our ear, truly, he has our whole body. He works from the inside out, not the outside in. Maybe you find total commitment a little overwhelming...friend, can you just begin by giving Him your faithful attention each day? The rest, I trust, will fall in to place.

Oh, that we would want YOU, oh God, and give ourselves to You in service, in the way that You want us and gave Yourself for us...that is my prayer for us, Your body today...


Blessings!

Joy to the World: A Holiday Devotional

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a  manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7

The Christmas season is upon us, as evidenced by the twinkling lights and ornate wreathes and of course, every radio station's beloved Christmas favorites inundating the airwaves. When I listen to music generally, I'm really a words person. I have to like the message to enjoy the instrumentation. But even I get so used to the familiar melodies that I hardly take time to really hear them now. Yet the other day when I stopped to really listen to Joy to the World, I felt...well convicted, honestly.

Joy to the World
The LORD is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart
prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing
And heaven and nature sing

Joy. What, I thought, brings me joy? Particularly in this season? When's the last time I really felt real, deep, genuine, laugh-out-loud joy? I hear tales of hunting for the perfect gifts, exquisite decorations, and lovely traditions...shopping and family gatherings and parties and the wonder of it all...and the stress of it all too...and my head spins with the busyness. And commitments as a ministry family are completely separate from that list! Is all that truly where joy comes from?


Aligned next to this beloved Christmas carol... that all seems to be in direct conflict with what it's all about. I think about that simple scene, that manger, the rough textures and cruel elements on bare skin...and yet...perfection...peace...and absolute joy. It wasn't fancy. But it was real and life changing.


Oftentimes, God's joy, what He really wants for us, is simply squelched by the constant filling and stimulation of our culture and pace, by the need for packaging and presentation. So much so that we miss the miraculous because of our obsession with the mundane. Much like the inn-keepers on that fateful night in Bethlehem, we miss out on the presence of our Savior in the midst of all the stuff with which we fill our lives...so we miss out on that real joy that we crave and that He offers so freely.


In a culture positively drenched in a lifestyle of consumption and acquisition, this verse challenged me so much. The message is that there is a need to make room, that joy only comes from becoming an empty vessel. What if I sought joy by making room, by being a person who empties, simplifies, prioritizes and surrenders...a person of singular focus on my Savior...rather than of adding, expecting, pursuing, of appointments and obligations and traditions? Then, instead of frantically racing toward my joy (and really finding only exhaustion, disappointment and unmet expectations), it would simply descend, as a dove, arriving in my heart, my home, my life...in the stillness of sitting at the feet of my God, at that manger, on that Holy Night...


Oh, the power that lies in vacated space in our days and our busy schedules, in our traditions and our relationships...because God's presence, peace, hope and joy will come to fill it. Don't miss the possibility of true joy in this beautiful season. Determine what is excess, keep the main thing the main thing, dare to become an empty vessel, and watch God fill you with the gladness, wonder and hope that come so naturally with His presence...the very best - not acquisition - but rather, gift - that could be hoped for in this season and in life. 




Let every heart prepare Him room indeed...praying blessings and good tidings of great joy to all this season...

“Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am

 coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the LORD.

Zechariah 2:10

Blessings!

Finding Purpose in Failure

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Genesis 3:20

In the moment of her great defeat, Eve received her name.

That really struck me today. Why on earth, and in that moment, would Adam have thought to give her a name? A quick look back in my reading revealed that this was not in fact the first name she was given. She had been called Woman, and had been purposed as a helper.

But in that role she had utterly failed. And here they were, cast out and away, heartbroken and divided. With the dawn of their failure and a new way of living lives separated from God's presence, more than ever, these people needed hope. And in this divinely inspired and ordained moment, Eve became a picture of that hope. Mother, bearer of life.

She would bring life into the world with pain and hardship, but it would give way to something greater. A joyful reunion of mother and child after a traumatic separation. She would become a living picture, a prophecy that one day, joy, new life and deliverance from the curse would come. Her descendant would be the Conqueror. His birth would usher in freedom and restoration from that terrible separation and defeat.

You and I, the bride of Christ, experience moments of weakness. We are called...we fail. We are driven by our passion, our desire for possessions, and or yearning for position, just as Eve was. And we give in sometimes. And yet, just as the first Adam, the last Adam, Jesus, from whose side we have been given life, chose to "call" and "purpose" us, even in our frailty.

Be a container of the hope. Be a giver of life. Be a reminder and a picture of the life that is to come through Christ. Remember, that just as in Eve's life, even after our greatest defeat, we can still receive our greatest calling.

Thankful for that truth today.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

1 Peter 3:15

Blessings to you today...

amanda

Who's Your Architect?

"For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory."

Colossians 3:3-4

Discovered over the weekend that the word for Ark...you know, that big boat you're envisioning right now, crammed with elephants and giraffs and Noah's family...is actually the word for "box." In fact, many linguists think that this was a derivative for an Egyptian word that meant "coffin." Yikes! So while we think of God commissioning the building of a boat, the real story is that God commanded Noah to build a box that looked like a coffin. Maybe Noah's peers laughed at him ...as He built. "So...what you're saying is getting in that giant coffin is going to save your family from a flood we haven't seen? Riiiiight." I might have raised an eyebrow myself...after all, it didn't make any sense that this is the way life would be preserved...at the time, it didn't even seem like a necessity! It was at best ironic, and at worst, insane.


Surrender and obedience can, often, to the world, look crazy and irrational. They can feel like a form of death as we release our vision of our lives, our control, and what makes sense to us. That's what Jesus meant when he said "whoever will save his life must lose it." But more than that, the ark is a picture of Christ's death on our behalf, and our resulting deliverance, eternal security. The door in the side through which they entered symbolizes our doorway through the death and injury of Jesus, the atoning blood and the purifying water flowing from His side...

Though it may not make sense, and relinquishing control may be hard for you (as it is for me!), remember that the place that seemed rational, the plan that didn't include God in the days of Noah, resulted in separation, destruction and death. But there came a time when out of that ark, that "coffin," erupted a new beginning, a people of God, a life and a future and victory on solid ground.

Enter in to that place, as crazy as it sounds...forget about all the things you are building and simply enter in to place and plan commissioned just for you by God. Look up at the window while you rest safely and securely and thank Him in prayer for the light, the warmth and His hand at work in providing that security. And as the waters of confusion and destruction rage all around you, smile, knowing that God's plan and provision and grace always... always ...rise above...always prevail...always lead to life...

"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more."

Romans 5:20

"I am the door, if anyone enters through me he will be saved."

John 10:9

Thanks be unto our wonderful Father for His wonderfulword, and His steadfast love...and blessings to you today, sweet friends!

The measure of success...just a thought for today...

"Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
and it will be a memorial to the Lord,
for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."

Isaiah 55:13

I. love. this. chapter. It is all about how reading and seeking to understand God's word, and responding to it in obedience, yields success, abundance and joy in life.


And while it is a wonderful blessing for us to walk through life with those things, the ultimate purpose for that is revealed here in this verse. Jesus, the Word of God, called living water, came down from heaven and walked the earth as a man, teaching, healing, modeling... creating and nourishing life and fruitfulness in us, so that we can become like the cypress tree, known as an enduring and strong tree...and like the myrtle, emitting a beautiful and fragrant aroma, always green and so pleasant.


The effects of our obedience to God's word make us a memorial, proof, that Jesus is God, that He is alive, that that He truly is our Messiah sent from heaven. Our response of obedience proves Christ's identity to the world. In Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, he says “I do not ask on behalf of these alone (his disciples), but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." That's me and you!


It's a reasonable and wonderful thing to want to go to heaven when we die, to have success as we live. But when we surrender to Christ, our lives aren't just about us any longer. Brothers and sisters, let us never forget the vital role we have to serve as living proof of the One to whom we owe it all, to point to His glory, as we walk in newness of life and freedom...


Blessings today, sweet friends and fellow trees...

a