Blood is proof

If you’ve been around kids much, you know how it works. They fall off their bike and for a split second, they’re fine. Until, that is, they see the blood. Once they see those red droplets spring to the surface of their skin it takes their little fall to a whole new level.

The same is true for busted lips. Our kids seem to be in a phase of frequent injuries. Maybe it’s because it’s summer, or maybe it’s because they’re all so young, but injuries are a daily occurrence. Someone will trip over something and smack their mouth on a toy, or the floor or their own knee. A little whimpering begins as they walk to me holding their mouth. It’s not tragic until I pull back their lip for a closer inspection and the pool of red liquid spills out, and they see it. Suddenly, they’re rocketed to a whole new level of pain and suffering.

I understand it. As a mother, when my kids fall down or slip I don’t typically rush, gasping for air, to their side. I found out many years ago that my level of reaction directly impacts their dramatic response to boo-boos, especially if it’s a minor scrape or bump. Most times when one of our kids takes a spill, I casually walk over to them and I try to remain calm while inspecting them, asking them quietly, “Tell me where it hurts.”

But even on my most amazingly calm mothering days, once I see blood in a large quantity my heart flips, my stomach turns and suddenly my outlook on their injury changes. My heart thumps a little harder.

Seeing blood sort of does that to you, doesn’t it? I know movies that are rated R because of graphic and violent content often have copious amounts of blood and gore involved.

After all, people can die and there can be hardly any visible blood at all. I’d wager a guess that most deaths occur without the horrific shedding of blood.

So what makes Hebrews 9:22 so relevant then?

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

The writer of Hebrews has just finished a lengthy section on the old covenant and the law. In verse 18 he says, “not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.”

It seems that blood is required by God, no matter which covenant His people fall under, to forgive and atone for sins.

Why is that? Why blood? Why not the hides or skins of animals? Why not a lock of hair? Why not bars of gold or precious jewels?

The truth is, blood is life.

Blood is proof.

Living things need a certain volume of blood to sustain life. Without blood, our life slips quickly from us. Blood provides a certain proof that damage has been done to the body, that injury has occurred, that pain and suffering have most likely been involved.

Jesus could have died in many other forms. God could have ordained for him to die in numerous other ways: leprosy, cancer, malaria, dehydration or a simple infection.

But instead, God chose to hang Jesus on the cross. He chose for Christ’s sacrifice to be made public. He knew that blood needed to be in the equation so that all could partake in the transforming power of forgiveness with the shedding of blood.

Christ’s blood was proof. Proof that the sins were atoned for once and for all.

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Christ’s blood is a purifier. It is an atoner. It is the final proof that life was lost, sacrifice was made and new life has been given.

No lock of hair, skin or hide, sacrifice of goat or bull could ever prove what the blood of the Living King has sealed for eternity.

Blood is final. Blood is redeeming. Blood is proof.

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This entry was cross posted over on our church's summer session blog. Are you reading along? If so, how's it going? Only 2 more weeks!

Sometimes, actions speak louder than words

Philippians is rich with practical, life-applicable truths. Four short chapters with numerous famed scriptures, so common that often casual church goers or even non-believers can loosely quote them.

To read the rest of this post that I wrote for our church's Summer Session, click here.

Fresh Eyes

I don’t typically love it when people use well read scriptures to make a point. Often, I just want to ask them if they know of any other scriptures to prove their point.

And, let me tell you this little secret, okay? Lean in real close.....

Sometimes, when I’m reading my Bible and I come to those familiar passages of scripture..............I skip over them.

*Gasp*

I know. Total sinner.

It’s true though. I have a tendency to want something new. Something shiny. Something profound. But, one of the things the Lord has revealed to me over the course of this summer reading session is that He alone can make familiar scripture new, fresh, shiny and profound.

If I give it a chance.

So when I got to 1 Corinthians 13 I was tempted to just skip ahead.

It’s read at nearly every wedding (or at least it was at mine) and I can loosely quote it without much effort.

But today, reading it was different. I realized, too often, I entertain my family, I tolerate my family, I even accommodate my family. But do I really treat my family with love? The love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13?

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” - 1 Corinthians 13:1

Today, I didn’t speak in tongues (well, not the appropriate kind anyway) yet I told my children at least 5,783 times to (please for the love of God) speak nicely to one another, while I was doing the exact opposite.

Clang. Gong. Call me a cymbal.

“And if I give away all that I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing” - 1 Corinthians 13:3

Yesterday I thought, “All I do is work, work, work, work, work for these kids. Fix their food, get a snack, pour a drink, change a diaper, wipe a nose. And they don’t appreciate me one bit! Maybe I should just sit on my duff all day and then they’ll see how much I do for them!”

Here I am. Nothing gained. And I can guarantee you my children picked up on my lack of love.

“Love is patient, love is kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

This week, I’ve certainly been impatient. “I’ve told you too many times. STOP YELLING!”

More than a few times I’ve been less than kind. “Why can’t you just focus on what I’m telling you?”

I’ve been envious of the seemingly easy life someone else has.

I’ve been rude. “Why are there perfectly clean clothes in the dirty clothes bin? Do you enjoy making me do more laundry?”

I’ve insisted on my own way. “Please just stop doing that and get over here and put on your pajamas. I can see your Thomas train. I’ve seen it before. Please, hurry up!”

Irritable? Me? “Your behavior is totally getting on my nerves, kid. Totally.” Maybe just a touch.

How could a mother possibly rejoice in wrongdoing? “I’ve told you not to stand in that chair. When you fall off, it’s going to hurt and I’m not going to feel sorry for you because I’ve told you to get down several times already.”

The rest of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 promises us that prophecies, knowledge, tongues and the partial will all pass away one day.

But love? It NEVER ends.

God’s love never ends. It never ceases to be poured upon me. Even when I’m rude, impatient, hurtful, insistent, envious and boastful.

Never ending love poured upon me while I’ve shown very limited love to the people I love the most. Oh Jesus, how unworthy I am of You! How your word refines me when I allow myself to delight in it!

And to think, I would have totally missed this had I just skipped over those familiar verses.

I pray the Lord gives each of us fresh eyes as we encounter Him on the pages of Truth.

Suffering. Endurance. Character. HOPE.

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
(Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

I want hope and power via the Holy Spirit. I want to know God’s love intimately. I’d even like a healthy heaping of hope.

But you know what I don’t want?

I don’t want to grow my character. I certainly don’t enjoy practicing endurance. And, without a doubt I do not want to suffer.

Who signs up for that?

Lately, I feel like the Lord is hard at work procuring in me hope. But, I think I’m missing it. You see, I feel a lot lately like I’m suffering. I even feel like He’s hard at work sculpting and shaping my character. He sees a blemish in me and makes it glaringly obvious that it’s an area of my character that needs refining. Bring in the suffering. I meander along, enduring it, but not necessarily growing my endurance. And you can be sure that I’m not rejoicing in it one bit.

I think that the Lord is holding up to His end of this refining process. He’s ordained the suffering and refining my character. But I am not willing to do more than endure it. Which should not be confused with building my endurance. Truly, I’m not holding up to my end of this process.

About a year ago, a friend of mine talked me into running my first ever 5K race. By nature I am NOT a runner. In fact, even when I was a college athlete in prime physical condition I loathed running. Still, this sweet friend of mine encouraged me and helped me train for this race.

With every training session, I endured the pain. I pushed through the shin-splints. I logged the miles and miles of pre-5K runs. But it wasn’t with joy. In fact, I thought about faking an injury just so I could stop. (I didn’t.)

After all, I’ve always said that my favorite part of running is the stopping at the end.

Race day came and my sweet, marathon-running friend trotted happily beside me while I endured 5 kilometers of a race I wasn’t even sure I wanted to run. She chatted and I fought vomiting. The finish line came in sight and suddenly, I was joyful.

Not because I had spent hours training. Not because I had grown a friendship to a new level. Not because I had strengthened my body and challenged myself to grow. All of those things would have been awesome things to be joyful about.

I was joyful because it was almost over and I could go back to my normal life of hating running and never doing it again.

Unfortunately, I look at Romans 5:3-5 in much of the same way. During the suffering, I don’t stop and take joy in what the Lord is doing in my life. I don’t joyfully look upon the fruits of my character building. And I often miss the hope poured into me by the Holy Spirit.

Sadly, I spend all of my time looking for the finish line. Praying for the suffering to end. Hoping not more in the Lord but in my own capabilities for a finished result.

I pray that I can begin to look at life’s trials and sufferings as character growing, endurance building and hope breathing seasons in the Lord. Romans 5 clearly states that the end cannot come without the means.

What are you simply enduring right now? How can you turn it into a season of endurance building instead? Allow God to refine you and in turn, pour His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

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I wrote this post for the Summer Session Bible Reading plan my church is doing. If you're reading along, what do you think? If you're not, it's not too late to start!

Anything but common

I love the ESV version of Acts 10:15. “And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common."

Specifically the fact that the Lord references the unclean, or unholy foods, as “common.”

Is it just me or does it cross anyone else’s mind that they are just....common?

I’m a common Mom, living a common life. (Yes, I know we have 6 kids. For us, that’s common.)

Or maybe for you, you’re just a common person, working a common job. Your job isn’t fancy and you’re a creature of habit. You have worn the same shirt to bed since 1983 and you like it that way. By all standards set by the world, you’re common.

Or maybe you’re a rockstar during the day, but when you come home, your house is normal, your food tastes the same as everyone else’s and really, your life is just.....common.

Heck, even Clark Kent was common when he wasn’t leaping tall buildings with a single bound. Right?

But you know what? I think the enemy whispers the same lie to all of us, no matter what day job we hold, no matter how many kids we come home to, no matter what our salary is or how flashy the car is that we drive. No matter if you flip burgers for a living or flip out $100 bills to pay for your breakfast.

It starts as we begin to feel the Lord drawing us to a closer relationship with Him. We see clearly that God is calling us to be set apart, to walk differently, to speak on a more candid level about our faith, to love the people around us that are really hard to love.

For each of us, this calling is different yet deeply personal. Maybe God’s calling you to start a lunch time Bible Study at work. Maybe He’s asking you to walk across the street to that cranky old lady and be her friend. Maybe He’s nudging you to tell that family member, who rejects everything about the gospel, the truth of your relationship with Him. Maybe He’s moving you to increase the size of your family. Maybe He’s beckoning you to the mission field.

For whatever God is desiring for each of us, He equips us to accomplish His work with scripture, confidence and authority by the Holy Spirit. Secure in our new task, we cinch up our pants, take a step out onto this new ground and the lies begin.

“What are you doing? You can’t do this. Why do you think you can? Don’t you realize that you are nothing special? This is huge and you’re just so.....common.”

And it occurs to us that maybe we are just a common person. Fear grips us, the idea of radical change baffles our minds and we become sold on the lie that we are common.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

When God meets us where we are and invites us to know Him in a deep and intimate way, we shed all things common about us. We shed the sin of our commonality and our past self. We shed the inability to be used for the glory of the Lord.

In essence we become quite uncommon. In Acts 10:15 the word common is used interchangeably for the word unclean. And I’d like to assert that when we buy into the lies the enemy so fervently yells in our direction, we are also buying into the lie that we too are unclean.

My friends, if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, nothing could be further from the truth. And do you see the amazing parallel between being unclean and being common? Whether you consider yourself unclean or merely common, you are placing yourself in a position to accomplish nothing for the glory of God.

The truth is, whatever God is beckoning you to at this moment it is worth pursuing. Don’t let the enemy’s lies of your worthlessness, your uncleanliness and your commonality rob you of the joy found in obedience to God’s purpose for your life.

Flee from a common life. And when the enemy begins to whisper to you the lies and pains of your past and tries to convince you that you cannot possibly accomplish all that the Lord has laid out before you, remind yourself that you are anything but common.

Because, “For what God has made clean, do not call common.”

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Chime in and see what else is being blogged about over at the Summer Session blog. And if you're reading along, how's your Summer Session Reading going?

I wonder about Lazarus

Below is a post I wrote for today's readings for the Summer Session. Are you still reading along? If so, how's it going? If you've not yet started, it's not too late. Join us! This week's post is taken from my readings in John Chapters 11-12.

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I wonder how Lazarus felt when we walked out of the tomb. I wonder if when his body jolted back to life, if he was disoriented and confused. I’ve done that when we’ve been on vacation and I wake up abruptly in the night and can’t figure out where I’m at. But I’m guessing four days in a tomb wasn’t quite the same as a vacation for Lazarus.

As he stumbled past the stone that was holding his body (and his odor - thanks for pointing that out, Martha) in, I wonder if he was smiling beneath the wrappings. Were his eyes fixed on his beloved sisters or on his beloved Savior?

As Lazarus reclined at the table with Jesus and the disciples as he watched his sister anoint their Lord, I wonder if he told of what he’d experienced in his four days of death. I wonder if he recounted for his friends the moment he realized he was indeed dying and then, the moment he realized he’d been risen from the dead.

But mostly, I wonder how Lazarus felt when he found out that the chief priests were plotting to kill him because his story was leading others to Christ.

Was he afraid of dying once more? Did he run and hide? Did he remember his final moments of his first death? Was he like me and forgot all the things the Lord had previously done for him and instead panicked and allowed fear to wash over him?

Or, did he continue to recline at the table? Did he smile at his persecutors and remember with fondness The Lifeblood that previously redeemed his once-dead body? Did he walk boldly through the markets, knowing that death had lost it’s sting?

Often, when I face a time in my life that, from all appearances, seems to be a crisis I forget rather than remember.

I forget the triumphs of the one who has rescued me time and time again. I forget the one that took this once-dead body of mine and rose it to new life. I forget all of the things the Lord has already proven to me, even though no proof was ever required of Him.

I forget that He has already conquered the world. And even if it seems as contradictory as a second death for an already resurrected Lazarus, it’s for His glory alone and my job is simply to trust and endure.

I wonder which side of the emotional pendulum Lazarus’ emotions went as he discovered the chief priests’ hatred for him. Did he swing to the side of fear or to the side of faith? Did he shut down and abandon all that he’d known to be true, or did he embrace his past, the statement his life made for the Lord and endure every persecution with joy?

Put me in Lazarus’ sandals and I’m not sure which way I’d lean. I pray for the Lord to increase my faith but often, increased faith only comes through increased testing.

How about you? Which way do you lean when the pressure comes to call?

Jesus makes me glad I'm a sinner

Click here to read why Jesus makes me glad I'm a sinner.

Speaking of Summer Session Reading, how's yours going?

What has the Lord revealed to you specifically since you started reading? He's given me so much to dwell on and pray over.

Have a great Thursday!

Arm Yourself

**I wrote this post for the Summer Session blog our church is hosting this summer. Are you reading along with us? If so, how's it going? I pray you're getting depth and richness from God's word as you read through the New Testament with us over the summer! I'd love to hear from you!**

Satan is the author of lies. John chapter 8 tells us that he is the father of lies. So why should we expect any less from him than distortion, abuse and misuse of the truth?

Isn’t that how the enemy works, his very nature? He takes what we know to be true, noble and good and twists it just enough so that it distorts what God intended. He did that with Eve in the garden when he asked her, “Did God actually say, ‘You must not eat of any tree of the garden”?’ (Genesis 3:1) Of course that’s not what God said, but the enemy twisted the truth just enough so that Eve began slipping down the slippery slope of half truths.

So when I read Luke Chapter 4 and of Jesus’ temptation, God opened my eyes to see that often when the enemy attacks, he uses half and partial truths to twist the the beauty of God’s protective and loving nature.

In verses 1 - 12 of Chapter 4 we see the enemy take the Scriptures and use them clearly out of context to tempt Christ and submit to Him that the character of God isn’t quite what the Scriptures portray. In verse 9, Satan takes Jesus up to Jerusalem and sets him on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan taunts Jesus, scoffing that if He really is the Son of God, flinging himself off of the ledge is acceptable because God will command the angels to guard Him.

He takes the intention of the Scriptures (Psalm 91:11-12) and distorts it just enough that it seems plausible. Surely God wouldn’t allow His only Son, the Savior of the world, to die just from jumping off a ledge? Right?

Jesus retorts with an accurate use of Scripture and it silences the enemy, at least for that moment.

But do you want to know what the scariest part of this passage of scripture is for me? The fact that Satan knows more scripture than I do.

I learned so much from the 10 days I spent in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa in April of this year. But the overarching theme that I believe the Lord wanted to show me is that the enemy is powerful. As Americans, we are so quick to claim the power of God. We are quick to claim that God is still the God of the Bible, He can still perform miracles, He can still heal the sick and wounded. He’s still all powerful. Those statements are undoubtably true.

But you know what else? Satan is still the enemy of the Bible. He’s still sneaky and deceptive. He still whispers lies to God’s people. He has power over the demons and all things evil.

The thing I was convicted of most in this passage of Scripture is this: What am I actively doing to contrast the power of the enemy in my life?

Quiet time, reading and studying the Scriptures is crucial. Prayer is essential. But an important aspect that many Christians, myself included, tend to gloss over is Scripture memorization.

If our very enemy knows the Scriptures and is prepared to twist them like jagged arrows then launch them at us in his attacks, how can we defend ourselves unless we know the REAL truth of the Scriptures?

As I laid in a dark hut in Guinea-Bissau, feeling the presence of the enemy like never before in my life, feeling overwhelmed with the power of darkness, the Lord quickly brought previously memorized Scripture to my mind.

As the enemy whispered to me, “I’ve got you. There’s nothing your God can do now. You’re here all alone. Be afraid. I will win.” the Lord instantly reminded me that Satan was whispering to me half truths. And God brought His word from the recesses of my heart to confirm Himself. Resist him, Jessica. Stand firm in your faith. I will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. I have the glory and the dominion forever. (1 Peter 5:6-11)

Are you actively storing up God’s word in your heart? If not, how else can you or I expect to fight the enemy when he begins his language of lies? The Word is our only offensive tool.

Arm yourself.

Take Heart, Daughter

Everyone knew her. After all, she’s been unclean for 12 years. Her secret was no secret. When she needed necessities from the market, it was likely that she hardly had to speak above a whisper anymore, as she announced herself to the masses, which was custom for the unclean. Likely, few would go near her. She probably couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard a kind word, someone had hugged her and that her body hadn’t writhed from her illness.

If physical touch was her love language, I’m quite sure her body ached to feel love. Disgust, loathe and filth were synonymous with her name. I’m sure the young women of the town scoffed at her, giggled with each other, at her expense, as she shuffled through the streets.

Click here to continue reading.

(That'll take you to the Summer Session Blog, where my post is featured today).

I know, trickery is only fun if you're the trickster.

So? How IS your summer reading coming along? It's not to late to jump in! Click here for the Summer Session Reading Plan. Click here to see how I feel about Bible reading plans.

A Bout of Boat Fever

It's getting warm and we are all looking forward to summer! On Saturday afternoon, we took the boat down to the lake and went for a spin. (Click on pics to enlarge.)

There's no place like Nana's,
except her lake house!

Feeding the ducks


My favorite Men


Elizabeth helps PawPaw drive


Ashlee's turn


Lucas' turn...all boy!


Ashlee loved driving fast.
She's such a dare-devil!

We can't wait for summer!