Who's Hand Are You Holding?

One of my earliest memories of my Daddy is of his hands. I remember being in our small Nazarene church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sitting on the pew between him and Mom. At some point during the preaching, I took Daddy's big hand in my tiny ones and played with his fingers. I remember turning his hand over and studying the lines there, bending fingers back and forth, and basically entertaining myself. Daddy was an Engineer for the highway department by day, but on the weekends he used his hands to build a beautiful Santa Fe-style adobe home our family lived in for 55 years. His hands were not soft and smooth, but had calluses and strength. Daddy wasn't showy with his affections, but those hands comforted me and told me I could trust him to take care of me. He never let me down.

The above picture not only brings back that sweet memory, but it also reminds me that my "Daddy" in heaven wants to take me by the hand. His scars are available for me to touch, to run my fingers over, and to know the love that spilled out of him for me as he hung on that cross.

"But I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way, who can't see where they're going. I'll be a personal guide to them, directing them through unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what roads to take, make sure they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things I'll be doing for them--sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute." Isaiah 42:16 The Message

As I'm preparing to attend the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference next week, I'm thankful for these words. God has all my tomorrows in his hands. He knows the roads I need to take and the roads I need to avoid. He already knows the books I'll write and the book ideas that might not ever make it into print. I trust him to open doors that will lead to new opportunities and close doors that should remain closed for my good even if I don't understand. His plans and purposes for me have been in place since before I was born. The work he has for me to do is already prepared. I don't have to do anything more than take his hand and walk into them. Isn't that great news?! No struggles! No forcing my way onto a road I wasn't supposed to be on. No fear and no regrets. Just peace, joy, and fulfillment, knowing I'm exactly where God wants me to be, doing exactly what God wants me to do.

Have you fallen into a ditch because you weren't holding fast to Abba's hand? I've been there too, friend. Thankfully he doesn't leave us there to wallow in the mud and muck. He'll offer his hand over and over, until we finally understand that holding onto his hand is the ONLY way to travel through life.

Tomorrow is unknown to every single one of us. Like the passage above says, it's "unknown country." When we travel to places we've never been, it's so much better when we have a knowledgeable guide who knows the area, the attractions, the sketchy and dangerous places where we shouldn't go. That's exactly what our Father is offering. He'll show us the roads to take, and he'll protect us along the way. 

All we have to do is take our Father's hand!

Who's hand are you holding?

Blessings,

Michelle

Fasting ... Is it Still Relevant to Christians in 2016?

I love food! I don't like to cook, but I do love to eat! Growing up I was a pretty picky eater, but these days you can put just about anything in front of me and I will happily gobble it up! Mmmm!

So when God started calling me to a day of fasting each week, I wasn't exactly hopping for joy. Shamefully, I had only fasted a few times in my life, despite having grown up in the church. (Here's a link to my testimony.) Fasting isn't fun. It is sacrifice. And like most of you, I'm not too anxious to sacrifice what I hold dear. Some folks fast from something during Lent, but God was calling me to something more regular. Like ... one day every week. Every week?? Wow. Could I do that? I hadn't been too great at fasting in the past, so I didn't have much confidence in myself.

But God wouldn't let it go. After a few weeks of knowing in my spirit what He wanted me to do, I gave in. That doesn't sound real spiritual, eh? Giving in. But that's kinda how I felt.

"Okay, Lord," I said, already missing my favorite meals. "You're gonna have to help me do this."

I decided what day of the week I would fast and what meals. I won't spill the details here, because fasting is not supposed to be a public display for all the world to see. It's between you and God. It is a very personal act of worship and obedience.

From the get-go, God led me to Isaiah 58, a chapter with the heading "True Fasting." I encourage you to read it, because God has some very specific things to say about what fasting is and what fasting is not. I read this chapter each week on my fasting day to remind me that what I'm doing is not about me. It's not even about food. It's about being obedient to what the Father asked me to do.

Some Christians don't believe fasting is relevant to us today. "Isn't that an Old Testament practice?" they ask. Why should Christians in 2016 fast? Well, the answer I give to that question is the same answer I give to a few other questions:

Why should Christians in 2016 pray? Because Jesus did. (Matthew 6:9-14)

Why should Christians in 2016 be baptized? Because Jesus was. (Matthew 3:13-17)

Why should Christians in 2016 read the Bible?  Because Jesus loved the scriptures. (Luke 4:17-21)

Why should Christians in 2016 go to church? Because Jesus did, regularly. (Luke 4:16)

Why should Christians in 2016 fast? Because Jesus did. (Matthew 4:1-2)

If we are going to wear his name -- Christ -- then we must be Christlike. In all things. No where in my Bible do I find an expiration date on fasting or praying or attending church. On the contrary, I find plenty of instructions to do these things continually. In Matthew 6:5 Jesus said, "When you pray ..." He didn't say "if" you pray. In verse 16 he said, "When you fast ..." Again, he didn't say "if" you fast. The Apostle Paul also encourages us--New Testament Christians--to pray, to fast, to attend church regularly, to read the scriptures, and to be baptized.

So, let's answer the question I posted in the title of this blog. Is fasting still relevant to Christians in 2016? Answer: a resounding YES, it is!!

In my prayer journal, I wrote down the date I started fasting: September 28, 2015. I am happy to say I have kept up with fasting once a week for an entire year now. I don't say that to get pats on my back, or to toot my horn, or to claim to be holier than thou. I simply state it with a grateful heart for what God is teaching me through my day of fasting. I truly, truly look forward to that day now. Instead of eating a meal, I spend time in prayer. When my tummy starts to growl in the afternoon, I stop and thank God for the provision he has always given me. Several HUGE prayer requests have been answered in the past year, too. If you have never fasted, or if it's been a while since you fasted, I highly encourage you to incorporate fasting into your regular worship time with God.

I'll leave you with these beautiful promises from God found in Isaiah 58:8-9. Promises to those who are sincere in their fasting:

"Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say, "Here am I."

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Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, France, China, Spain, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Philippines, Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands, Russia

Exactly how far is the East from the West?

I admit it. I'm a star-gazer. You? I positively love looking at a dark night sky, filled to overflowing with tiny pin-pricks of light. Living out in the country, far, far away from city lights, I'm astounded on moonless nights how many, many stars I can see! And what's even more astounding is there are billions and billions of stars I can't see.

Did you know that new galaxies are being discovered as science and scientific knowledge increase? This latest discovery claims that "four unknown galaxy clusters, each potentially containing thousands of individual galaxies, have been discovered 10 billion light years from earth."

Can you imagine?! Four "new" galaxies that potentially contain thousands more galaxies! Wow!

I have to chuckle at the use of the word "discovered" as though we are the first to know about those galaxies. We aren't. God breathed them into existence. Angels no doubt enjoy their beauty. Maybe even the folks in heaven can look down and see them. We may be the first people on earth to know about them, but Someone knew about them the moment He created them.

So, with the discovery of new galaxies, and the potential for more discoveries of more galaxies in the future, it makes me wonder...exactly how far is the east from the west? What do I mean? Psalm 103:12 says, "...as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

Often people--including me-- read that verse and think in earthly terms. Spherically. Like, if you start out walking from your house and head east, will you eventually run into west? Even the Message Bible, which I love, says, "as far as sunrise is from sunset." But God is so much bigger than our little world here on earth. His thoughts are so much grander than ours. (Isaiah 55:8-9) When God tells us he has removed our transgressions--our sins--as far as the east is to the west, I believe he's speaking in terms similar to the discovery of new galaxies. Can these galaxies, added to the galaxies that are already known and those that are unknown, be measured? Can you go from the east of one galaxy and get to the west of another? I don't think so. As far as we know, all these galaxies go on and on and on, unending. Infinite.

That is the distance between God's east and west. Infinite. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives and believe that his death on the cross freed us from our sins and paid our debt, God takes our transgressions and --- if you will indulge me --- balls them up into a tight wad like a piece of garbage and flings them as far as an all-powerful God can fling something.

As far as the east is to the west. 

And once he has flung my sin and your sin away, do you think he's going to go searching through the galaxies and stars and planets to find them again? To remind you of how much you messed up? No. He's not. When God removes your transgressions, your sins, your screw-ups, your messes....they are gone! The enemy will remind you of them and try to make you feel unworthy and worthless, but God won't. Because once he has flung them into the infinite space that is 'the east to the west,' he chooses to remember them no more.

"I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25

Next time you look up at the stars, rejoice in how far the east is to the west! Rejoice that God has removed your transgressions so far that they can never be found again. If you haven't asked Jesus into your heart and repented of your sins, you can right now. Then imagine God wading up all those sins and flinging them across the galaxies!

Hmm, I wonder if that shooting star I saw the other night is actually someones transgressions flying through the galaxy? ;)

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This week's Prayer Shout-Out countries are:
USA, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Argentina, Ghana, India

By His Wounds We Are Healed

Okay readers. I have some homework for you. I'd like you to read Isaiah 53. The whole thing. It's only twelve verses long. Will ya? Pretty please, with cherries on top?

In my humble opinion, Isaish 53 is one of THE MOST important passages in the entire Bible. It's a passage that all believers should know and understand.

Why?

Because it foretells us about Jesus! Yes, Jesus is in the Old Testament! No, He is not called by name, but it's Him, make no mistake about it. It tells us that He will live, that He will die, and that He will live again.

I encourage you to read the whole passage, but some of the verses that really speak to my heart are:

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (v. 2)

I find that extremely interesting, especially in today's society. These days people are OBESESSED with outward beauty! Billions of dollars are spent every year on plastic surgery procedures, cosmetics, skin treatments, hair styles, finger nails and even toe nails, jewelry, clothing, shoes. On and on the list goes. Hollywood is especially obesessed with outward beauty. It doesn't matter how disgusting and bad a person is on the inside as long as they are beautiful or handsome on the outside.

But the verse I quoted from Isaiah 53:2 tells us that Jesus was not handsome. He wasn't kingly. He didn't have movie star good looks, fancy clothes or anything that would attract us to his outward self. He was just an average Jewish carpenter from Nazareth who ultimately would save the world. I love that!

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows." (v. 4)

That verse goes along with my last post about being weary. Jesus has always been willing to carry our burdens. Isaiah wrote these words hundreds of years before the man Jesus was even born yet it foretells us that He will carry our sorrows and infirmities. That was the plan all along. I find that extremely comforting to my soul.

The verse that truly speaks to my heart is verse 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."

Peace. Healing. That is what we get out of Jesus' death on the cross. This verse describes what Jesus will go through because of our sin. He'll be pierced. Crushed. Suffer punishment. All because of our transgressions. He took OUR punishment upon himself so we could have peace. So we could be healed. Hundreds of years before he actually hung on the cross, Jesus was already prepared to take the fall for us. He was already willing to say to you: "I love you enough to die for your sins." Wow! That is THE MOST amazing love you will ever encounter!!

Finally, verse 11 gives us eternal hope!

"After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied."

Jesus didn't stay dead. His body was not in the grave the day the stone rolled away. The tomb was empty because, like this verse tells us, Jesus once again saw the light of life. The same light Jesus himself talked about in John 8:12:

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

Do you have the light of life? You can! All you have to do is BELIEVE! Believe that Jesus is God! Believe that Jesus' life was foretold in Isaiah 53. Believe that He came to earth as a man to take our iniquities upon him so that we can have peace.

It's yours for the asking.

Now...go do your homework! =)