Laced With Grace

Some time ago, a group from our church went to visit a Jewish Synagogue. One of the things I remember learning on our history tour was about the young jewish boy. It was told that when a young jewish boy began his education in the Torah, that he was given a taste of honey. This was to help to associate the study of scriptures with sweetness.

This is such a simple but yet effective custom that I think reflects the figurative use of “honey” in the Bible:

PSALM 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

I don’t know about you, but whenever I taste something really sweet like a caffeinated drink or a slice of double chocolate cake … it makes me desire more! God wants us to desire Him and His Word, and the sweetness of His Spirit will have you coming back for more and more!

Have you had your taste of Honey today?

“And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan come immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their heart. Mark 4:15 NKJV

One of the many loving terms of endearment my husband has given me is, “Bright-shiny-thing.” As a child, I grew up infamous for being distracted by any bright and shiny thing that came along. I still struggle with this affliction. I have the attention span of a gnat. Do you remember that mosquito from the movie, “A Bugs Life”? You know the scene, when he’s drawn to the bug zapper? While his friends frantically yell out their warnings to him, “No, Harry, No, don’t look at the light!” Hypnotized, he’s unable to pull away. “I can’t help it… it’s so beautiful…” His weakness to distraction becomes his fatal mistake.
Just like the mosquito, I suffer from this chronic disease I like to call, the attraction of distraction. Sadly, this weakness of the flesh, affects my spiritual life in big ways too. No matter how heartfelt my desire to be in the Word, before my feet even hit the ground, I can be distracted almost immediately. I would love to say that these distractions are of dire importance, that my attention to these matters hold life and death in the balance. Ahem, well, not exactly.
A phone call, a song on the radio, an email from a friend, thoughts about what to make for dinner, “Should I keep my hair short or long this summer?”, are sometimes all it takes to pull me away from my time with the Lord. These distractions work their way in, taking from me the chance to know Him a little bit better and to be prepared for whatever He has for my day.
The scripture above, “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. They that hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.” Mark 4:15 NKJV, is from the parable of the sower. This verse almost screamed out to me from the pages of my Bible today. “ Satan comes immediately and takes away…” were the words that my eyes kept going back to. I dug a little bit deeper and found out that the words “takes away” come from the Greek word ???? (air?) which means to take away what is attached, or my favorite, to take away from another what is his, or what is committed to him.
Satan doesn’t waste one second. Distraction is not an affliction he will ever suffer from. It is his goal to distract us. He has his missiles locked and loaded. The moment He knows that our ears are ready to hear God’s Word, the very second the Lord’s promises for us begin to take root, the enemy uses his nuclear warfare we call distractions to take away what is attached to our heart. Satan does his best to tear away the promises that are ours and distract us from the promises that the Lord has committed to each one of us. What we think are just the mundane day to day things that come up, Satan uses to advance his position. His joyous mission – to keep us from growing and maturing into the godly people we are called to be.
I now keep a Bible right beside my bed. The Lord sits beside me as I spend time with Him, while the enemy hides in the shadows waiting to pounce like a roaring lion for the kill, and take away His Word from my heart. The enemy may threaten me by attempting to take away, but I belong to the One who gives and gives abundantly. All I need to do is ask.
For now, I will be asking for my walk to be steadfast and unwavering. His Word will strengthen my perseverance to overcome any bright lights sent to distract, and will be my holy bug spray, aimed and ready to zap any mosquitoes I see along the way.

It is that special time of year when we focus our attention on love.  In one source I found this definition of love:  “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person”.  I think that describes very well the feeling we have for the beloved one who holds our heart, and on Valentine’s Day we want to express that love in a tangible way.

In church this past weekend we sang “At The Cross”  (Darlene  Zschech/Reuben Morgan) – a beautiful song that speaks of the love that compelled Jesus to go to the cross.  One line that touched my heart deeply said, “I know you love me.”

Do we, in our heart of hearts, know just how much He loves us?  He has told us in His love letter to us:

- “…you are precious to Me.  You are honored and I love you.”  Isaiah 43:6

- “See, I have written your name on the palms of My hands…”  Isaiah 49:16

- “How precious are Your thoughts about me , O God.  They cannot be numbered!  I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”  Psalm 139:17

- “You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in Your book.”  Psalm 139:16

- “I have loved you…with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself.”  Jeremiah 31:3

-”You are altogether beautiful, my darling, beautiful in every way.”  Song of Songs 4:7

- “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”  I John 4: 9,10

-”And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.”  Matthew 10:30

-”And I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Romans 8: 38,39

-”See how very much the Father loves us, for He call us His children, and that is what we are!…”  I John 3:1

- For the Lord your God is living among you.  He is a mighty Savior.  He will take delight in you with gladness.  With His love, He will calm all your fears.  He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”  Zephaniah 3:17

We have a Father who loves us with a perfect love.  He loved us while we were still sinners in need of a Savior.  His great heart of love beats out a love song to His children – a song that will be sung for all eternity.

Blessings,

Linda