Brand New Boots....

Do you remember that old song, "These Boots Were Made for Walking"?  I was thinking about that today.  So odd how old songs will sometimes pop into mind seemingly out of nowhere leaving you wondering what reminded you of them.  

"These boots were made for walking and that's just what they'll do.  One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.  Are you ready boots?  Start walking."  

I used to have a pair of boots just like that.  Being angry and hurt with feet to rush in for revenge.   The key word here being "used".  One of the definitions in the Merriam-Webster dictionary for the word used is "accustomed, habituated."  Pretty fitting in this case.  I was accustomed to fighting for myself at one time and I was wearing my war boots.  Sometimes I habituated the wrong places and wore my party boots..... I could go on but I know you get the picture.  

Let me share a jewel with you found in Ephesians 1:18-23 "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way." 

Hmmm..... all things are placed under his feet.... guess that means our walking boots are of little effect.  Jesus already has it all under control.  We have a hope now and are able to look forward to a bright future, no more worries of what was in the past.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  So, why is it that we keep trying to put on our old shoes?  Why is that we return again and again to those things that we are "used" to?  Those things that we have grown accustomed to and those places inside of us that we have habituated.  It is a lie from the enemy that those old things are more comfortable.  He would have us believe that we can never escape from those old boots and just when we are feeling good about our progress we either slip them back on or someone comes along to say, "hey, aren't you the girl that used to wear the walking boots?"  

Yep, that WAS me.  But God is doing a new thing in me.  He is making a way in the desert and bringing up springs in the wasteland that was my soul.  Now I wear the preparation of the gospel of peace on my feet!  I like how the Weymouth New Testament states Ephesians 6:15 "as well as the shoes of the Good News of peace-- a firm foundation for your feet."

I have a brand new pair of boots and my feet are set on a firm foundation. But these boots are not made for walking, these boots are made for running headlong into the new life that God has laid out before me.  These boots are made for jumping up and down and dancing in the joy of the Lord.  These boots are made to serve my Father.

Baggage

The other day I was reading personal ads with a family member for the entertainment value.  Funny how some of these people lament their being single and seem to be completely clueless as to why when complete strangers can read a few sentences that they wrote and almost instantly determine why they have yet to find their "soul mate."  At times, we humans seem to be oblivious to our own faults.  Reminds me of the Bible verse in Luke 6:42 which says, "How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

There is the ad that makes Star Trek references throughout, the man who calls himself "the wolfman" and references wherewolves and the lady who wants a partner willing to marry her.......the only catch is..... she is already married.  We read through the ads at times laughing so hard it hurt but at the same time noticing some trends.  One of the recurring themes that popped up in ad after ad was people stating that they did not want somebody "with baggage".  Ouch!  Is baggage all that bad?  I mean really, how do you get through this life without picking up some baggage along the way.  I dare say that if you show me a person without baggage, you are showing me a. a liar or b. someone who will fall apart in the slightest storm.

The way I see it, I have a full set of luggage.....the soft-sided carry on, the cosmetic bag, the large roll along, the medium sized roll along, the garment bag, etc.  Yep, a full set of luggage all collected amidst the trials of life.  Believe it or not, there is good news though.  See, God knew we would pick up baggage along the way and would grow weary under the burden, there is no way to avoid it for, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) and sin produces baggage.  Sometimes it is our own sin and sometimes it is the sin of others that produces baggage in our lives but it is always there.  But, He also promised to be our porter!!!    Matthew 11:28 & 29 says, "Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

So, why are we all carrying around this baggage that weighs us down and apparently scares off the high quality folk posting personal ads?  Because we don't know.... we don't know that all we have to do is ask and God is there waiting to take our load.  You see, the promises in the Bible do us no good if we don't know they are there.  The enemy loves to keep us ignorant and struggling when we have a God that is able to feed a crowd of 5,000 with 5 small loaves of bread and 2 little fish and still have leftover, we have a God who gave us the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which we put up on the shelf in our teepee for safe keeping?  Everyone knows that is a ridiculous analogy yet, it's true.  

What baggage are you carrying?  What burdens are you buckling under today?  What hope inside of you, have you let die because of hurt and disappointment?  

He's a perfect gentleman, standing there offering to take your bags but you have to give them over.  Let God be your porter.  Give it all over to Him and don't hold back.  He loves you and He will give you rest.

An Unlikely Instrument

I am a little tired this evening but I had some thoughts I wanted to get written down.  I pray I am able to make sense of them.

The other day my kids and I were traveling down to California from Oregon and as we were driving, we came into a lightening storm.  As we drove into the storm, my son told me about a little girl in his Sunday school class who told the class, "when you hear thunder, the angels are bowling and they are getting a strike."  I rolled my eyes at this story but then proceeded to tell them when I was a little girl, I used to tell people that thunder was the angels clapping their hands.  I know there is a scientific explanation for thunder but I like my story.  

But, telling that story to my children brought the Bible verse in Luke 19:40 to mind, "and he answering said to them, 'I say to you, that, if these shall be silent, the stones will cry out!'  

I used to sing a song in church that incorporated this verse and it went;

"Before the rocks cry out I just want to praise Him, just want to praise Him for all He's done.  Before all nature rises up to shout I just want to praise Him for all He's done for me."

Thinking about these words, I told my children that perhaps the thunder really is the angels clapping and maybe they are clapping and praising God because we aren't doing our job.  So, we decided that we should say, "praise God" everytime we see the lightening.  We continued to drive into a very large lightening storm and for an hour the kids tried to beat each other shouting out, "praise God" first at every flash.  It was a great time together.... one that I know I will always remember.  

But, of course, I am not stopping there....

I love what the Wesley Notes have to say about Luke 19:40 "If these (disciples praising Jesus) should hold their peace, the stones, which lie before you, would cry out - That is, God would raise up some still more unlikely instruments to declare his praise. For the power of God will not return empty." 

An unlikely instrument?  Perhaps  an unlikely instrument crying out from the earth such as thunder, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake..... aren't the rocks crying out more and more?  I think they are as our voices have grown silent.  We have become pressured beneath the load of the world instead of giving Him our burdens (Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.")  We have become embarrassed to speak out His name and we are treading on dangerous ground (Mark 8:38 "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.")

In this world with the trials we all face from day to day we have become those unlikely instruments.  People in the world cannot fathom the peace that passeth all understanding.  People in the world live within the dimensions that can be seen and felt and cannot understand how we can see the same picture yet envision a different outcome.  But, I live according to the promises in His word.  And that picture paints me praising God every second of everyday.  

Thank you Jesus for making me an unlikely instrument and for putting your praise in my mouth, your life on my lips and your power in my tongue.  When we see the awesome power of nature rising up..... let us be reminded that WE are to be that instrument of praise and we should have praised Him BEFORE the rocks cried out.