There’s such an infinitesimal space between (1) continually and prayerfully holding someone in God’s presence, and (2) beating them over the head with my attitude, Bible, and words.

 

I grimaced when I reread what I wrote—but only because it’s so true.

 

(1) is an amazing gift of grace; both for me and the one I hold to the Lord.

 

And (2) is an amazing aggravation; both for me and to the unfortunate one I’ve targeted.

 

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—

     sick people do.”

Then he added,

“Now go and learn the meaning

     of this Scripture:

‘I want you to show mercy,

     not offer sacrifices.’

For I have come to call

not those who think they are righteous,

but those who know they are sinners.”

Matthew 9:12-13

 

I’d have to work hard to misinterpret Jesus’ words; so here’s my personal take-away:

 

Be merciful.

Attitude trumps action.

Don’t be self-righteous.

Acknowledge I’m a sinner in need of a Savior.

 

Amen.

 

I think this scripture passage is beautiful; not with poetic grace, but with the bold, wildly undeserved, and redeeming grace of God.

 

Only Aaron and his descendants

     served as priests.

They presented the offerings

     on the altar of burnt offering

     and the altar of incense,

     and they performed all the other duties

     related to the Most Holy Place.

They made atonement for Israel

     by doing everything that Moses,

     the servant of God,

     had commanded them.

1 Chronicles 6:49

 

Aaron didn’t earn the honor of performing the duties of the Most Holy Place; nor did he deserve to make atonement for Israel.

 

While his brother, Moses, was consumed within the holy presence of I AM WHO I AM on top of Mt. Sinai; Aaron was busy too, leading the LORD’s people astray at the bottom of the very same mountain.

 

And when Moses’ hands reached out to receive the two stone tablets, still warm from the hand of God; Aaron’s hands were reaching out to cast melted gold earrings into a golden calf.

 

God definitely noticed; and even interrupted Moses’ time with him on the mountaintop to say:

 

…Hurry back down!

Those people you led out of Egypt

     are acting like fools.

Exodus 32:7

 

When he reached the bottom, Moses found Aaron leading a wild drunken revelry of worship around the lifeless idol.

 

When confronted, Aaron denied responsibility; and then claimed that he’d only thrown the earrings into the fire and the calf jumped out fully formed.

 

Judgmental words leap to the front of my mind at this point in the story and I want to blast Aaron. But if that’s where I stop, I’ll miss the best part of the story; because God, boldly and inexplicably, stepped in and cleaned up the mess.

 

He took Aaron’s dirty hands, guilty heart and lying tongue and redeemed him; and Aaron could then perform the most sacred duties of the Most Holy Place.

 

God uses unlikely people. And he knew, even before he laid the foundation of the earth, that someday I’d need his transformational gift too—because at the heart of it all…

 

I’m just like Aaron.

 

Abruptly transitioning from 33 years of happy marriage to widowhood was indescribably hard and bleak; I felt so very vulnerable in the months after Dan was killed.

 

I submerged myself in Bible study and scripture reading. Learning about real people who had faced real problems and found real answers from God soothed my soul and stiffened my spine.

 

One of my favorites, and someone I definitely plan to meet some day, is King Hezekiah of Judah. He was a good ruler sandwiched in between two evil horrors: his own father and son murdered some of their own sons by burning them to death as idol sacrifices.

 

Hezekiah’s turning out to be decent is in direct proportion to his trust in the LORD, the living God of Israel.

 

When I was hurting so badly, I loved to read how he, and others, desperately called on God for help; and how God miraculously answered their cries.

 

Assyria (modern day Iraq) had Jerusalem under siege and the situation was extremely dire for Hezekiah’s kingdom of Judah. But the Assyrian’s attitude, exhibited in their letter of threat, was one of the final straws because…

 

After Hezekiah received the letter

     from the messengers and read it,

     he went up to the Lord’s Temple

     and spread it out before the Lord.

 

And Hezekiah prayed this prayer

     before the Lord:

 

“O Lord, God of Israel,

     you are enthroned

     between the mighty cherubim!

 

You alone are God

     of all the kingdoms of the earth.

You alone created the heavens

     and the earth.  

 

Bend down, O Lord, and listen!

Open your eyes, O Lord, and see!

Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance

     against the living God.

 

“It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria

     have destroyed all these nations.

And they have thrown the gods

     of these nations into the fire

     and burned them.

 

But of course the Assyrians could destroy them!

 

They were not gods at all—

     only idols of wood and stone

     shaped by human hands.

 

Now, O Lord our God,

     rescue us from his power;

     then all the kingdoms of the earth will know

     that you alone, O Lord, are God.”  

 

2 Kings 19:14-19

 

 

I love Hezekiah’s prayer and I especially love God’s response…

 

“For my own honor

     and for the sake of my servant David,

     I will defend this city and protect it.”

 

That night the angel of the LORD

     went out to the Assyrian camp

     and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

 

2 Kings 19:34-35

 

Prayer releases God’s power.

 

My sister-in-law was packing to move from her new house back to her old house; and had just finished moving from her old job to her new job. Smack in the middle of all that packing and moving, eight of us descended upon her for a mini-family reunion. She’s a great sport and we all enjoyed some wonderfully silly, laughter-filled days together.

 

I love traveling, but don’t like packing and preparing. I usually take too much stuff because I’m convinced I might need it and not be able to find it wherever I am. That’s actually never happened, but it could. Possibly.

 

 

One time I drove five hours to Mississippi for board meetings and realized, right before arriving, that I’d left all my dress clothes in Texas. I took a lot of ribbing for the new stuff I bought, but it was either that or dress in jeans and pajamas for my board meetings.

 

I also don’t like dealing with dirty laundry when I return home. Dan made a great suggestion years ago before I went to Germany. He said he knew I’d want to bring home souvenirs, so just leave all my underwear in Germany; and it’s still a great practice for freeing up my suitcase.

 

I believe it’s awfully good of God to not require me to pack a suitcase for my very last trip. And I have it on good authority that I won’t need to purchase anything when I get there because I won’t be missing a thing.

 

…only God knows

     whether I was in my body

     or outside my body.

But I do know 

     that I was caught up to paradise

     and heard things so astounding

     that they cannot be expressed in words,

     things no human is allowed to tell.

2 Corinthians 12: 3 – 4

 

…a city designed and built by God.

Hebrews 11:10

 

…”No eye has seen,

     no ear has heard,

     and no mind has imagined

     what God has prepared

     for those who love him.”

1 Corinthians 2:9

 

When I was about 8 yrs old, I decided I wanted to make a quilt. My mother didn’t sew and I’d never seen anyone piece a quilt, but I loved all the different colors in my grandmother’s Around the World quilt.

 

I started with a little cardboard pattern and cut out my first cloth square. Then I used that cloth square as a pattern for my second square. Then used the second cloth square as a pattern for my third. And then used the third cloth square…and so on.

 

I vaguely remember Ma Mooney suggesting I should use the original cardboard square as my standard pattern; but it was hard to hold in place and I didn’t want to struggle with it.

 

When my hands grew tired of cutting, I tried to line out all  my cloth squares into the beautiful quilt design I’d envisioned; and was heartbroken to discover they didn’t fit. All the squares were different sizes because I’d unintentionally used a faulty pattern for every single cut.

 

And I know it’s the same in this life I’m living.

 

If I don’t measure my thoughts and decisions against an absolute unchanging standard; I’m eventually going to discover I’ve used faulty patterns.

 

Fortunately, there’s a absolute pattern available that comes without fault or blemish…

 

Your word, LORD, is eternal;

it stands firm in the heavens.

Psalm 119:89