Laced With Grace

A couple of months ago I heard a song called, ”The Maker of Miracles” and my mind started running through all the miracles connected with Jesus birth. Miracle after miracle. I started wondering if as we celebrate the Christmas season if it puts God in a miracle mood.

As the days of November came and went, I started noticing every time I opened my Bible, I saw a miracle. I realized it’s not Christmas that puts God in a miracle mooed, Christmas puts me in a place where I see them more.

What exactly is a miracle to you?

To me it’s a special display of God’s power, one that is either seen or felt. Sometimes we see a special display of God’s power in our lives and we recognize it as a miracle. Then sometimes the miracle is when we are able to stand to our feet and keep going by the power of God. I think especially of people who lose a child or a spouse, and they know that it’s only by the power of God that they can keep going, a miracle. We like the ones that are seen better than the ones that are felt, but both are miracles.

Are you hoping for a miracle in some area of your lift this Christmas season? Maybe, you have given up hope of a miracle. Do you know the first time hope appears in the Bible is connected with a woman who desperately needed a miracle?

In Joshua 2, we find the story of Rahab , a woman whose who live was about to be literally destroyed, and she needed a miracle. She asked that God would spare her and her family from all the destruction that was coming. If your familiar with the story, you may remember Rahab helped the spies escape by letting them down a rope.

Then she let them down by a rope through the window… Joshua 2:15 ESV

When you see that word “rope” in the original language it means exactly what you think the word rope means. But as she talks to the spies the word changes to cord, a very different word from rope.

Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down… Joshua 2:18 ESV

They are talking about the same physical object, but the word changed from “rope” to “cord”. The word cord is ‘tiqva’ in the Hebrew, meaning hope. Every other place we see ‘tiqva’ it reads as hope.

Rahab had a choice to make, she had to decide what to do with the hope that she held in her hands. As she tied her hope in her window for all to see in reality she was tying her hope to God. Biblical hope is always tied to God.

Our hopes when we tie them to God will see a display of His power ~ a miracle that is either seen or felt. Rahab tied her hope and then had to wait. I wonder if as she waited if she was like us, a full range of emotions during the waiting time. Do you think she felt like giving up as she waited? Do you think she thought about taking that cord out of her window and doing something on her own? Really do you think the idea of hanging a cord out the window for all to see is how she wanted her miracle to come? Personally, I would have preferred if the spies had said something like, ‘we’ll wait while you get your family and then we’ll hide you in a safe house.’ Not, have a scarlet cord hanging out the window hoping when they came to destroy her people they would spare her.

Can you imagine her voice wavering as she explained to her family that she had placed her hopes for the future in a cord in the window?

This Christmas, maybe like me you have something you need a miracle in, would willing to tie that hope to God, realizing we always get the miracle. Sometimes it’s one we see and sometimes it’s one we feel, but never will we be abandoned when our hope is in God!

I taught on this the other night and went into much more detail of some principles we can pull out from this section. If you would like to hear it you can click here for the audio or here to listen via itunes, both are free also.

Merry Christmas!

My husband and I  just returned from a trip to San Diego.  We had a wonderful time, just the two of us.  I had been looking forward to spending some time alone while he attended work meetings.  So…..on the first morning of our trip, I went out for a run and to explore the downtown a bit.  What I saw surprised and appalled me.

People waking up and beginning their day…..

from a park bench…..

from a makeshift cardboard “tent”….

Now, I am not a stranger to homeless people.  We frequently visit Chicago and are familiar with “street people.”  But, somehow, seeing them during this trip affected me like never before.  Maybe it was the sheer quantity I saw.  There were both men and women.  I saw every race- white, black, and Asian among the hurting.  I saw both young and old.  The image of a tall, beautiful woman looking at her reflection in a glass building as she cleaned her face with her hands and saliva will be etched in my mind forever.  What struck me, and broke my heart was that all of the people carried something.  Some, like the man above, carried grocery bags full of their belongings.  Others had black garbage bags stuffed with their life’s possessions.  And, some pushed around carts or luggage full of their “stuff.”

I couldn’t even fathom being able to fit all of my belongings- my life- into a cart that I pushed around all day. What unnerved me was witnessing people, human beings rummage through garbage cans looking for food…..

My heart broke for the people I saw that morning.  But, the tipping point came when I stopped at Starbuck’s for a tea before heading back to the hotel.  As I waited in line, holding back tears and silently praying, a very thin man, about my age, ran in the store, pulled out a discarded half eaten muffin out of the garbage, ran out of the store and ate it.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  The first thing I did was buy the man a breakfast sandwich and gave it to him.

When I got back to my room, I wept and prayed.  I knew I had to do more than just buy someone a sandwich.

I have been reading a life-changing book, Not a Fan.  It is about being a FOLLOWER of Jesus, not just a “FAN”- living out a life of faith instead of just talking about it.  The book challenges us, as Believers to die to self and live for Christ, following Him wherever He would take us.  As I cried out to God that morning, I told Him I wanted to LIVE what I was reading- I wanted it to make a difference in my life!  I couldn’t go have a manicure or lie by the pool- I had to live out my faith and DO SOMETHING!

As I prayed in the shower, a thought came to me to spend my day with the homeless.

So, I went to Subway and bought a small stack of gift cards.  After praying about what to write in each one, I filled them with messages of hope and love, telling the person reading how much God loves them and how precious they are.  On some, I felt led to tell them that God knows their name.

I went back to Starbuck’s, found a table outside and prayed that God would bring people to me and that He would give me strength to do this thing that was REALLY out of my comfort zone.  Fear gripped me.  What if someone would get violent or yell at me?  What if someone started calling me a hypocrite or self-righteous or something?  What if I was embarrassed?  I couldn’t believe my fears!  Here were people rooting through garbage and I WAS WORRIED ABOUT BEING EMBARRASSED????????

I was surprised at how nervous I was.  My heart raced.  My hands were shaking.  I knew I needed to just DO IT.  So, when a man approached a garbage can to go through it, I approached him and gave him the card, telling him what it was.  He looked shocked, but took it.  The next man who approached the garbage had a different reaction, though.  He refused to take it.  His sad eyes broke my heart as he said, “I can’t go in to Subway like this.  Look at me.”  And he walked away.

Many discouraging thoughts ran through my mind and most encouraged me to quit.

“What are you doing?”

“You are insulting them.”

“You can’t make a difference.”

But, I continued and my stack got smaller.  I finished with the last group of four people all sitting against a building together.  When I gave them the last of my cards, they were joyful and kept saying “God bless you.” Here is one of the men.

I am ashamed to say I have forgotten this man’s name.  I asked him his name and it was like I gave him a million dollars just asking that.   He got tears in his eyes when he told me it.

I may have forgotten, but God knows his name.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows…” James 1:27

“Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the cords of unjustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?” Isaiah 58:6-7

Lord, may I die daily to myself and follow You wherever You would lead.  May I see people the way You see people.  Break my heart with what breaks Your heart.  Give me strength and courage to do the things that are uncomfortable.  I love You, Lord.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

“Fasting” with you,

Tracy

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and , I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

 – 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)

My recipe box contains a yellowed recipe card with faded ink. Every time I come across it, memories rush back at the sight of my grandmother’s familiar handwriting. She had lovingly prepared this very dish for many family feasts. As she got older, there were lots of grandchildren and even great-children to help with the cooking, but she always insisted on contributing. Today, years after her death, my grandmother’s recipes are still found at family gatherings.

Her love of cooking was not the only thing my grandmother shared with her family. She was quick to tell us what God was teaching her and she strongly encouraged each of us in our own faith. She often wrote us notes or sent us timely devotionals. And she always prayed. My grandmother actively passed her faith to the next generation. Her faith is a part of mine.

I reflected on this legacy of faith this weekend. My parents, our three grown children, and two son-in-laws all visited to celebrate my birthday. Although the way has not always been smooth, our three children love the Lord and our two daughters have married godly young men. Now our oldest daughter and her husband our expecting our first grandbaby! I can hardly wait to continue to pass along the legacy of faith that began with my grandmother.

Like Timothy’s mother and grandmother, I must pass along the precious gift of faith entrusted to me by my parents and grandmother. I must guard it, nurture it, and share it with my children and grandchildren. I cannot be too diligent. I cannot spend too much time in prayer. I cannot talk too much about what a great and awesome God we serve.

Who in your life passed along a legacy of faith? Who in your life needs to receive a faith legacy? What can you do to pass it along?