He Set His Face To Jerusalem

In the Gospel of Luke chapter nine, Jesus is traveling south with the disciples after finishing his Galilean ministry. He had preached in many synagogues, taught in many towns, and performed many miracles. He had spent every day of the last year and half to two years with his twelve disciples. His words and teachings would become the doctrinal foundation of Christianity. He is now in the last six months of his life. The time has come for him to journey back to Jerusalem to be crucified, and so "he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." The Latin Vulgate says he "strengthened his face." This denotes courage, boldness, and firmness of mind.

We often minimize the fact that Jesus was wholly human as well as wholly God. We think that He was probably not as troubled by sin, temptation, and selfishness as we are, and living in this world was easier for him. But Jesus was as human as we are and he had to choose to obey his Father just as we do. He made the choice to go to Jerusalem with full knowledge of what awaited him there. It was not an easy choice. It was hard. He knew what going to Jerusalem meant. He predicts in Luke 18:32,

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; they will scourge him and kill him…"

When Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem, he set his face to die. He willingly chose to go to the cross for us---to take upon himself our sins, our shame. He states in John 10:18, "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." He knew God's purpose for his life and he was committed to carrying it out at all costs. His disciples were still ignorant and unaware of Jesus' true purpose. While traveling to Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples took the shortest route, through Samaria, even though the Samaritans and the Jews despised one another.

They had journeyed through Samaria before. John chapter4 tells of Jesus' meeting with the Samaritan woman. The woman became a believer as a result of her encounter with Jesus Christ and John 4:39-40 says, "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified…So when the Samaritans had come to him they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed two more days. And many more believed because of His own word."

However this time, Jesus and the disciples did not get a warm reception. "But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for Jerusalem." (Luke 9:53)

Public opinion of Christ was already changing. His rejection by the people had begun. His disciples, James and John, wanted to destroy Samaria because of their rejection. The "sons of thunder" lived up to their reputation.

"And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.' For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.. And they went to another village." Luke 9:53-56

Jesus' message to his disciples and to us in this passage is clear. You too will be rejected by men. To be a true disciple of Jesus is to be an imitator of Him. He calls us to follow him down Calvary Road to Golgotha. We must crucify ourselves, our selfish nature, and our wishes for a comfortable life. We must allow the light of God's Word to penetrate the darkest parts of our sinful hearts. We must be ready to give up our desires and wishes to serve God and one another. This is true discipleship ——to be ready and willing to "set our face to Jerusalem."

Tell Me A Story

When my mother passed away five years ago, I had the task of going through her photos and mementos. As I delicately and lovingly looked at all her things, I discovered a woman I did not know. This young woman was adventurous, a risk taker, and loved to have fun. Her best friend, Lottie Mae said, "Bettie Jane and I made our own fun wherever we went." Bettie loved to travel and saved many of the mementos from those travels. She saved a paper placement from a restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska, which was a long way from Lawrence, Mississippi. She saved her citations and her letter of commendations from her commanding officer when she was discharged from the Army at Fort Lawson, Washington, 1947. I read a love letter addressed "My Dearest Darling" and signed "all my love to the sweetest girl in the world" from my father. I never heard my father call my mother "darling. When my mother died, the untold stories of her life also died. My father, now in his eighties and in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease remembers them no more. I am sad for myself and for my children that I did not take the time to ask my mother or my father to tell me their stories, especially their stories of faith. I hope to not repeat this mistake with my story.

Stories are the fabric of our lives. It is through story that we learn about good and evil, love and hate, gains and losses. Stories feed our soul. We learn about life through story. We learn from William Wallace in Braveheart that freedom is costly but worth fighting for. We learn from Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings Triology that true friendship is a treasure, and everyone has a journey to complete.

The Bible also teaches us through story. Seventy percent of the Bible is written as a narrative; as a story. We learn about forgiveness through Joseph's story. We learn about waiting through Abraham and Sarah's story. Through the story of the woman at the well, we learn that everyone has a past.

God is telling the world a story through you. We are invited to be a part of the story. If you want to get to know someone you need to know their story. If you want to know yourself and your place in this world you need to examine your own story.

Proverbs 16:19 says "The mind of Man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." How has God directed your steps along your journey? Who has he used to draw you to himself? What other characters are instrumental in shaping your story. In the Lord of the Ring series one of the main characters, Sam, talks about the power of story. He then turns to the hero of the tale, Frodo and asks "I wonder what sort of tale we have fallen into?" Sometimes our lives feel like something we have just "fallen into". But the Master Storyteller is weaving his tale of grace, love, redemption, and rescue throughout our lives. We need to take the time to look for that golden thread weaved into our story.

Your story has the power to glorify God, and heal others and yourself. Tell it, share it, write it, examine it, and look for the amazing fingerprints of God on your life, for God is telling His Story through you, and it is the Greatest Story Ever Told.

2008 In The Rear View Mirror

As I write this Christmas is over and 2009 is less than 48 hours away. I am not sure I am ready for 2009.

2008 was a great year for me. I spent more time with my husband and my family. My husband and I celebrated 30 years of marriage and our relationship is better than ever. I saw my son graduate from college with honors. I watched my daughters navigate some difficult things in their lives with courage, grace, and tenacity. I delight to see all my children walk with the Lord. They are by far more spiritually mature than I was at their age.

I have enjoyed teaching and ministering to people this year. I have had delightful times with the Lord this year in which He has taught me some lifelong lessons.

My husband and I reconnected with some dear friends, Gus and Karen Bess, which has led to us being involved in a new ministry; which is always energizing and exciting.

It has been one of those years that I am reluctant to see end because it has been so good. The five years previous to 2008 were hard years for me. The 2003 Paso Robles earthquake set off a 4-5 year period that was fraught with difficulties and trials in both my personal life and ministry; personal physical problems, family illnesses, and the loss of some family members. Sometimes just getting through the day, week, or month was the best I could do.

But about the spring of 2008, the clouds began to lift and life became enjoyable again. The journey became a little easier, the burdens a little lighter. I was able to concentrate on coming alongside others who were struggling and help carry their burdens. What made the difference? I got drenched in God's grace.

Though I knew that through all the hardships and struggles God was working on me, still I fought Him on many things. I wanted life to be fair. I wanted people who had hurt me to repent; I wanted the people I loved to not hurt; I wanted God's people to thirst and hunger after God; I wanted to be in control. I realized that I wanted God to run my life according to my plan not His. But fighting God's sovereign control of my life left me exhausted and exasperated.

Finally, in the fall of 2007, God used the life of David and an odd character in the Bible named Mephibosheth (read about him in 2 Samuel 9) to show me the wide-screen, high-definition version of His amazing, limitless, compassionate, all encompassing grace. The result was that my view changed. Instead of focusing in on what God has not done for me or what I thought I deserved; I focused in on what God had done for me, which was far more than I deserved.

God cannot love us any more than he does now, and He will not love us any less no matter what we do. Nothing we do can increase or decrease God's love for us. This is grace.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! 1 John 3:1

2 Samuel 22 says that God "…reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He led me to a place of safety; because he delights in me."

God delights in me: ME. That is astounding to me. Sometimes I don't even like myself. This helps me to have a more accurate view of who I am in Jesus Christ which helps me to continually conquer my worst sin, pride. It also makes me more compassionate and patient with others. God in His mercy has shown his abundant grace towards me. How dare I not extend a small measure of that grace to others who are image-bearers of God?

I will be honest. This has not been easy to do. I did not by any means turn into Mother Theresa (which my family will attest to) overnight. But I have seen progress in my life. I hang on less to past and present hurts. I forgive quicker, both others and myself. I am more compassionate toward others. I focus more on who I am in Jesus Christ instead of what I do for Jesus. I serve him out of love and not out of obligation because I am following a list of do's and don'ts. This is freedom. This is love. This is grace.

I hope 2009 is a year where I continue to be overwhelmed by His grace on a daily basis. May it be that for you as well.

God’s Amazing Gift

The incarnation—a miracle of God planned from the beginning of time. God knew His creation, man, whom He had lovingly sculptured in His own image, would fall. But God loves man and so He made a way to redeem him. Man's spiritual death would be redeemed by a birth- the birth of God Himself to a lowly, young woman. The incorruptible God entered the world through a corruptible woman.

He could have come as a man, fully grown, ready to start His ministry. But God chose instead to leave His heavenly world, spend 9 months in the body of a woman, make the arduous, messy journey out of the woman's womb, through the birth canal and into a sinful world. He took the form of a newborn baby, the most helpless of all humans, and at that moment in time, hope entered the world and His name was Jesus.

He chose as His vehicle a young Jewish girl, Mary, called "highly favored one" by an angel who visits her. She was, as T.S. Eliot says, "the place of impossible union where past and future are conquered and reconciled in incarnation." Mary is the one constant is Jesus' life. She brought Him into the world and watched as death took Him from this world. This "most favored woman" does not question God but presented herself as God's servant and said "let it be to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38) Her faith was simple yet deep. Perhaps she remembered the many Old Testament scriptures that prophesied the Messiah's birth. God had been in fact preparing the world for His arrival since before the world was created. The entire Old Testament is the story of a special preparation.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:9 2

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." Micah 5:2

"The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land." Jeremiah 23:5

The miracle of the incarnation made possible the miracle of salvation. We marvel at how God, the creator of the universe, could become man. Yet we should also marvel at how God could love us so much that He would leave His heavenly throne to become like us. The miracle of Christmas is not just that "the word became flesh and dwelt among us" but that God chose to love us at all. The ancient scholar Irenaeus wrote, "The word of God, Jesus Christ, on account of his great love for mankind, became what we are in order to make us what he is himself."

Take time this Christmas season to ponder, wonder, contemplate and reflect on this great love!

"See what an incredible quality of love the Father has given, shown, bestowed on, us, that we should be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are!" I John 3:1 (Amplified Bible).

The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon the likes of which we have never seen before…What is possible is to not see it, to miss it, to turn just as it brushes past you. And you begin to grasp what it was you missed, like Moses in the cleft of the rock, watching God's back fade in the distance. So stay. Sit linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For worrying. For pushing. For now stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon. Jan Richardson, Night Visions

Window Shopping

I love living on the Westside of Paso Robles. With the renovation of the downtown area, Paso has been able to keep the small town atmosphere alive and well on the Westside. This is a great time of the year to stroll along the streets of downtown. The shopkeepers are all busy decorating their store fronts for the holidays. I love window shopping at the furniture and decorator stores. The displays of their living areas are warm and inviting. The rooms are always accessorized perfectly. There is never anything out of place. As I gaze longing into the windows, I imagine myself sitting on one of the cozy sofas with a cup of coffee and having a long chat with a dear friend. It is entertaining to imagine living in that perfect room in the window, but reality soon creeps in. I live on the other side of the window in a world where life is not perfect, where my living room is not accessorized perfectly. Dirty cups reside on the table and stray socks hide under the sofa. So it is with our spiritual lives. My heart longs to live in a perfect world with a perfect family, perfect friends, and a perfect church. I desire to be a perfect wife, mother and friend. But I am a sinner living in a world marred by sin where perfection is an illusion. I am thankful that my family and friends love me enough to forgive me of my sin and imperfections. I am thankful that my Heavenly Father uses this imperfect world to refine me and smooth out my rough edges. I am thankful that Jesus challenges me to live out the Sermon on the Mount, causing me to struggle with the same questions; "who is my neighbor; how many times must I forgive; what does it mean to be light to the world?" My heart also longs for God. David cried out in Psalm 63, "My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." David could not quench his thirst for God. Often I try to fill my hunger for God with other things, other enticements, but they never satisfy. They are only temporary distractions. Perhaps our longing for God is not meant to be satisfied until we reach heaven. The prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 26:8, "Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you." C.S. Lewis said in his book, The Weight of Glory

"At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in."

We are on the outside of the world, strangers in a strange land. But it will not also be so. Jesus promised the disciples and us in John 14 that someday we would dwell with Him in our Father's house. I long for the day when I shall get IN, when I can mingle with the splendor. When that day arrives, I will no longer be on the outside of the window looking in. I will be sitting on a cozy sofa having a long chat with a Dear Friend.

The Power of Words

Words. Words can bring great joy.

"Will you marry me?" "It's a boy!"

Or great sorrow. "It's cancer." "I'm sorry. He didn't make it."

Words have begun wars and ended them. Words can hurt or words can heal. Words make the world go round. Consider these facts. There are over 55 million newspapers delivered in the United States on a daily basis. Over 300 talk radio shows air on a daily basis. No one has accurate number of websites currently on the World Wide Web but it is estimated at 100 million. Facebook and MySpace, social utility sites for connecting individuals, both have over 110 million users. Words are vital to our daily lives and yet we often toss them around carelessly. The Bible has a great deal to say about our words and the use of our tongue. James says in James 1:26, If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.

Jesus himself says that we will give account for every careless word we say. "Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation." Matthew 12:35-36 (The Message)

The Lord has been working on me lately about my words, how I use them, how I say them, and what I say. One of my greatest desires is to be a mature believer, one who glorifies the Lord. James says in his epistle that a mature believer is one who can control his tongue. James goes on in chapter 3 of his epistle to tell us how difficult that it is to control the tongue and the words that proceed from it.

James 3:7-8. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer.

I grew up in a family where sarcasm was our family sport. We teased and poked fun at one another often, but it was always in love. However, when I became an adult and used this tactic with others it sometimes went very wrong. I have had to learn to control my sarcasm and my tongue and it has not been easy. Proverbs 12:18 says, Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing. I regret to say that I have used my words like a sword to cut and wound others.

Reading the book of James, I wonder if the writer also had this problem. James was the half brother of Jesus. Did he ever use his tongue sarcastically to belittle his older brother? Can you imagine growing up in the shadow of a "perfect" brother? Talk about a family being ripe for sibling rivalry! Yet James writes this about the power of words:

James 3: 3-5. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

Did James write these words from experience, I wonder? Did he know what it was like to throw out a careless or wrongly placed word? Proverbs says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue. All of us at one time have been the recipients of words which have felt like death to us.

Before we came to FBC, Mike pastored a church in another city. We left that pastorate in 1994 and six months later we received a very hurtful, ugly,anonymous letter in the mail accusing us of ruining the church. We were already grieving the loss of our church and church family The letter came at a very low time in our lives and for years was a painful heartache for us.

James 3: 9, Sometimes our mouths praise our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

With the invention of the personal computer, the internet, and email have come another way we abuse one another with our words. How easy it is to fire off an angry email at someone saying things and using words we might never say face to face. We think that email is impersonal and less confrontive when actually it is more harmful. There is no way of knowing the "tone" of an email and so we tend to read our own bias into it. We curse those "made in the image of God" through our words in an email.

What are we to do, then, to control this tongue? Shall we remain mute to keep from sinning? Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If we wish to change our speech, we must first change our hearts. This is something we cannot do but through the power of the Word of God. We must pour the Word of God into our hearts and let it change us from inside out.

My husband used to love to visit a restaurant called Cahoots on Park Street. He would go every Thursday and order the Thai Chicken Salad for lunch. When I came home on Thursdays, I knew what he had for lunch because of the "fragrance" of garlic around him.

Our lives are to give off the fragrance of Christ. What we put into our lives is what will come out. James tells us that our outward lives should reflect our inward beliefs.

James 3:13, "If you are wise and understand God's ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom."

How are we to obtain this wisdom? James says if you lack wisdom, ask God for it.

We are to pour scripture into our life. We are to prayerfully ask God to convict us of our sins, change our hearts, and give us wisdom on how to live holy lives that reflect his glory.

I can't help but think that it was through prayer that James was able to control his tongue. James' nickname was "camel knees;" a name he given to him because he spent so much time on his knees in prayer.

Oh how I desire words of blessing to come from my mouth; words that might bring life to another. The prayer of my heart is found in Psalm 19:14. I hope it is your prayer too.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.

Proverbs 17: 27

A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered

Proverbs 25: 11

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances.

Proverbs 21:23

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue, keeps himself out of trouble.

Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.

"Let my words be sweet for tomorrow I may have to eat them."

The Lord of the Harvest

October is harvest time on the central coast of California. From Santa Margarita to San Miguel, vintners are harvesting their grape crop. They are reaping the rewards of their hard labor. They have spent many hours planting the vines, pruning the vines, watering the crop, weeding, and controlling the pests which could threaten the crop and destroy it. The grower worries about how the weather will affect his crop. Rain is good but not too much rain. Hot dry weather is good but not too hot and not too soon in the growing season. Cool nights are good for the grapevines but if it is too cold frost will destroy the fruit. Then the fruit must be harvested. This too takes a certain amount of calculation. The grape must be harvested when the fruits' sugar is at a certain level to produce the necessary results. Harvesting too soon or too late can be disastrous.

My husband fancies himself a farmer. He spent many boyhood years on the family farm. He feels a deep connection with earth. Because of this he thoroughly enjoys mowing the lawn. I think it helps him to rekindle his connection with dirt. Shortly after we moved to our home on Vine Street, the farmer in him came out and he planted some grapevines in our backyard. Our grapevines however do not look like the ones I see spreading over the hills of Paso Robles. The vines which dot the hills around the North County are healthy, green and lush. They are pruned and tied to grow in a certain direction. They produce lush, lovely, and abundant fruit.

Sadly, our grapevines have not been taken care of. Though my husband desired to grow lush lovely grapes, he lacked the time to take care of them. I have endeavored to care for the vines, but I hate yard work. Our grapevines do not produce lovely fruit. They hardly produce any fruit at all. We rarely prune them so the branches are spreading in every direction. The leaves have spots on them which is probably a fungus of some sort. They do get water, sometimes, and they are so sad looking that even the pests leave them alone. We have yet to harvest a crop for our grapevines.

In John 15, Jesus compares our relationship with Him to a grapevine. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (v. 5) The branches cannot bear fruit on their own. They must be connected to the vine. In the same way, we cannot bear fruit on our own. We must be connected to Jesus Christ; we must abide in Him, get our nourishment from Him.

Jesus also tells us in verse 1 that God is the vinedresser."I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit." The vinedresser is in charge of caring for the vines. It is his job to cut away the dead branches and prune the good ones. By cutting away the unnecessary branches, more nourishment can be directed to the healthy part of the vine thereby producing sweeter and more abundant fruit. It is quite a skill to prune grapevines. One must know just the right branches to cut away and which to leave. Because God knows us intimately, he knows which branches in our lives to cut away. He prunes our lives with skill and love so not to leave us downtrodden. He uses His Word, His church, and His people to convict us of our sin and shed those things in our lives which keep us from bearing sweet, lovely, lush fruit.

The branches do not bear fruit to please themselves. The vinedresser harvests the fruit to give away to others. Such it is with the fruit that Christians produce. We serve others by bearing fruit. We also glorify God. John 15:8 says, "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." The loveliness of the branches and the quality of the fruit is a testament to the hard work and care of the vinedresser. By bearing quality fruit in our lives, we testify to God's love and care for us. As Christians, it is our job to stay attached to the vine, Jesus Christ. We do this not only by cultivating our personal walk with Christ, but also by being a vital part of a local church body. Both elements add to our nourishment which allows us to bear fruit. The producing of fruit comes naturally to a healthy branch.

The grapevines in my yard are not productive because I did not want to do the work necessary to produce good grapes. When I look at my spiritual life, I do not want to be a shriveled, barren branch. I desire to be a healthy branch that produces much fruit. So I will abide in Christ, and I will submit to the Father's pruning, knowing that His loving hands will prune only what is necessary; not too much and not too little. And I will spread my branches out in the direction the Father desires and watch as He harvests the sweet and lush fruit for His glory.