A Drop In A Bucket

If you are reading this, you know the tragedy of lives lost in Paris yesterday. You heard of the Russian airliner leaving Egypt that was brought down by an explosion. Other headlines prevail. You know the brokeness of human flesh as our friends prove their weakness and sinfulness every day. You have woken up to the shock and horror of your own sinful thoughts and actions, and your mind races.  You have seen the headlines. On tragic days, we are shocked and angry. We see how little we are and how BIG God is. There is hope for a renewal of our faith in God and a revival of our hearts during these times, but so often people completely miss looking to the Everlasting God who will judge the nations.  Will we acknowledge our sinful bodies, minds, souls, and receive the forgiveness that only Jesus Christ can give? He is the Everlasting God and no man can diminish His power and love. He reached out to you and to me and extended His arms. He opened WIDE His arms and died on a cross for our FREEDOM.

Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, 

And are counted as the small dust on the scales…

To whom can you compare God?
    What image can you find to resemble him?
 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold,
    overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains?
 Or if people are too poor for that,
    they might at least choose wood that won’t decay
and a skilled craftsman
    to carve an image that won’t fall down!

Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand?
    Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began?
    Are you so ignorant?
 God sits above the circle of the earth.
    The people below seem like grasshoppers to him!
He spreads out the heavens like a curtain
    and makes his tent from them.
He judges the great people of the world
    and brings them all to nothing.
They hardly get started, barely taking root,
    when he blows on them and they wither.
    The wind carries them off like chaff.

“To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One.

Look up into the heavens.
    Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
    calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
    not a single one is missing.
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
    O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
    Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
    No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
    and strength to the powerless.
 Even youths will become weak and tired,
    and young men will fall in exhaustion.
 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

The Holy Bible: Isaiah 40:15, 21-31 

Call out to the Everlasting God. Look to Jesus the Messiah in faith, receive His forgiveness for your sins. He alone will make this messy world right again. He alone can make our messy, dead hearts alive again. 

Feminine Identity Rooted in Creation and Submission to the Creator

"God created"

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."

"Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."

"And the LORD God formed man"

"She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man."

-Excerpts from Genesis 1 and 2

"Let Israel rejoice in their Maker"

-Psalm 149:2

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse"

-Romans 1:20

Mother and son, November 2002

Who am I?  Am I am man? Am I a woman?  May I choose who I am and what I will become?  Aside from the simple fact that my body parts are different from a man's; my voice is different, my hair line is different (my dad and husband's hairlines had already receded by my age), I became pregnant six times with four pregnancies resulting in a live child born from my womb, and my thinking is different; I am a woman because I was created separately and distinctly.  

I am a creature, not the Creator, because I was created.  I am made not the Maker.  I can understand and know God, even His eternal power and Godhead (he is three persons in one true, living God) because He has clearly shown us His attributes.  God is true.  Everything He says He does.  God is powerful. By the word of the LORD the heavens and earth were created.  God is good.  Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father. God is just.  Every evil thing will not go unpunished.  

God is mercy.  God loved this created world so much that He sent His only begotten Son of God, that whoever believes in the Son will have eternal life and will not face the wrath of a just God.  His Son took the wrath reserved for me and you when He died on the cross.  By God's grace, we can know Him through faith in the Son.  The just shall live by faith. We must submit to the Creator and His creation order to be truly free.  We are not free by pretending and living in denial of His creation, but by resting in His authority and sovereign rule in our lives as the Maker.

When I was a young teenager, I was tall and lanky with a long neck.  I wanted to shrink so that I did not stand out.  When I grew up, I became ashamed of my person.  Why did I have this personality that is serious, thoughtful, artistic, and unpopular?  I questioned my creature.  I doubted the Creator.  It was only in looking to the Son, did I realize the freedom in submission to His creation.  God gave me the grace and power to rejoice in my Maker.

Young man….

Young woman…

You are fearfully and wonderfully made….

Do not hide from your manhood or womanhood….

Rejoice in who you are and whose you are…

You are created…

God is the Creator…

Submit to Him…

Rest in Him.

Prayers for the New Year

Epitaph symbol on Ethan's grandmother Overgaard's grave

From my January 1 Bible Reading Plan:

To know wisdom and instruction,

To perceive the words of understanding,

To receive the instruction of wisdom,

Justice, judgment, and equity; 

Proverbs 1:2-3

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

    And in His law he meditates day and night. 

Psalm 1:2

May my family KNOW, PERCEIVE, AND RECEIVE wisdom from God by delighting in and studying God's word day and night. Amen.

An Uncommon Sheep

An Uncommon Sheep

A Glimpse into the Future, A Poem Written by Elysia Larson, November 2014

When the Son of Man comes in His glory,

Separate He the goats to His fury,

The believing sheep set on His right hand,

Blessed of His father, Inherit the land.

To the uncommon sheep whose name means Grace,

Who suffered childlessness, looked on His face,

He lifted her head and told this story,

Of the uncommon ways displayed His glory.

A neighbor boy, rejected, suffered F.A.S.,

Visted, befriended, not judged but blessed.

Tyler defended from bullies within,

Christ said, "I was the One. You took Me in."

Dying man lay, St. Al's Hospital in,

Sick in body, his soul dead in his sin,

You gave him the Savior, the Gospel proclaimed,

Washed him, baptized him, a son he is named.

Lonely wife, pregnant body wracked in pain,

Though depressed drew joy, Sister knew her name,

Eyes brightened, Auntie brought giggles of glee,

Hear! "I was sick and you visited Me."

Do not weep, my child. Deeds done for the least

Were done to Me, come and join in the feast.

Beloved wife, sister, daughter, and friend,

Mothered the motherless, loved to the end.

A Beautiful Snow

The beautiful snow-covered trees in our town.

This winter has been lovely in Minnesota.  We have had light snow and pretty cold temps.  A couple of nights ago we had heavy snow that amounted to about eight inches on the ground and the canceling of school yesterday. Because I love the Psalms so much and think about the Bible often, these verses come to mind whenever it snows:

 He sends out His command to the earth;His word runs very swiftly.¹⁶ He gives snow like wool;He scatters the frost like ashes;¹⁷ He casts out His hail like morsels;Who can stand before His cold?¹⁸ He sends out His word and melts them;He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. Psalm 147:15-18

I am picturing the Almighty God commanding the weather.  Whatever He says it happens.  His word is powerful and very effective.

I think also about the word of God that is going out throughout the world even today. I think about all my friends who are sharing the Good News about Jesus: Tracy and Zhenya in Kyrgyzstan, Pastor Vlad and his family in Priluki, the faithful missionaries I visited in Chad last year, the McNamees in Chernihiv, and my faithful friends at ICS Bangkok where I taught art classes for two years in the 1990s. I think about the Bible that is being translated into other languages.  My brother-in-law, Marcos, is still working on the Gospel of Luke to be used in the Bilala language version of the Jesus Film and in other materials.  I am thinking about the faithful servants who are using their intellect and physical strength to pour over words and meanings in order to communicate the Bible in the heart language of native peoples.  I love these missionaries, and I praise God for the word that is going forth.

I am also thinking about those who are suffering because of their faith in Jesus and for believing the precious promises of God's word.  Our friend, Saeed in prison in Iran, who loves his family, the people of Iran, and most of all, Jesus.  He is paying a severe price for his love.  In another place, my dearest friend, Tracy, is laying in a hospital tonight in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for appendicitis.  They performed surgery to remove the appendix, and she is doing okay right now.  But we pray that no infection will come because the hospitals are not known to be very reliable and sanitary. I thank God for her and for all the workers there, who faithfully proclaim God's word, despite persecution and physical problems.

I believe that God's word will accomplish all that He desires for it.  He says it, and it happens.  God is faithful and true, and faith is being formed in hearts through the proclamation of this word and the power of the Father who draws people unto Jesus, by His grace and for His glory.

May the Word of God dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His power.

Spread The Joy

Hearing children's author Sally Lloyd-Jones this past Friday in Minneapolis gave me an appreciation once again for the power of a good story.  Ms. Lloyd-Jones wove the events of her childhood growing up in Uganda, then at a boarding school in England, into a tale of wonder and interest.  Stories from the Bible became imaginative, heart affecting masterpieces that drew tears to my eyes as she read excerpts from her award-winning book The Jesus Storybook Bible.  Ms. Lloyd-Jones is not only an amazing author, but a vivid storyteller.  This line from her book captured my attention and my emotions:  The One who made us has come to live with us.

These are some of her convictions as she taught us how to tell good stories to children:

Always start with a story.
Life is a great adventure.
Give the gift of faith.
Nothing but excellence will do with children.
Quality must be high.
Write up to children, not down.
The power of the story is the story, not the lesson.
A story invites imagination.
Listen to what is left out.
Be concise.
A story uses rich language; language is the power of the story.
A story tells the truth.
A story reaches the heart.
Leave room for mystery.
A story wakes you up.
The moral code always leaves us in despair. We do not need a moral code, we need a Rescuer.
Hope isn't glossing over things; it is telling the truth.
Hope is a direction. Children don't need an escape, they need a direction.
A story is a performance.

After hearing about it for two years now, I finally bought a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible for my children.  I had it autographed by the author last Friday.  I now can share in the joys of these stories along with some orphans in Ukraine who also own a copy of their own, thanks to In Lumine and the donations of many who believe in this project.  A few years ago some missionary friends of ours in Ukraine began the long, expensive process of translating, publishing, and printing The Jesus Storybook Bible into both Russian and Ukrainian.  They now have a ministry where they are giving away copies to orphans throughout the country of Ukraine.  This project is called Bibles for Orphans, and you can be a part of giving to these needy orphans by donating at their website: biblesfororphans.com.  A gift of only $3 will provide one of these storybook Bibles to an orphan child in Ukraine.

The Incarnation

“ But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,

Yet out of you shall come forth to Me

The One to be Ruler in Israel,

Whose goings forth are from of old,

From everlasting.” Micah 5:2

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Luke 2:15-16