What I Wearned Wednesday, The Right To Blessing

Every once in a while I post something that is not a recipe.  I’ve decided that when I post these things that it will be on Wednesdays mostly because I like alliteration and wanted to call it What I Wearned (learned) Wednesday!  Somebody is shaking their head at me right now, but that’s okay, I’m silly and I know it!

So without further ado, here is the first installment of What I Wearned Wednesday!

 

Are you hoping, waiting, and longing for God to bless an area of your life?  Crying out to God to bless you?  Wondering why he hasn’t, wondering why it is the exact opposite in fact? 

You’ve seen glimpses of what life could be; what it seems life should be, but it seems so far off.

Could it be that there is something in your life that God can’t bless?  Have you given up your right to that blessing?

What’s that?

Take Esau for example; Genesis 25:29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!”

31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.  So Esau despised his birthright. 

Esau knew the promise that God had made to make nations and kings of the lineage of Isaac, and to bless those who bless him, and curse those who curse him; Esau should have been a great man and a greatly blessed man, yet Esau forgot all about God’s promises because he could only think of what would satisfy him at that moment…He literally gave it all away for a bowl of lentils!

Esau became known as defiled, profane and Godless.

Hebrews 12:17   For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

It came time for Isaac to bestow his blessing before he died, and I had thought that Esau gave up his right to the blessing when he sold his birthright because they were supposed to go hand in hand; but it says that even “though he sought it diligently with tears” (isn’t that just a nice way of saying that he was throwing himself a pity party?), that it was because of his hardened heart, which caused him to never repent, that he gave up the right to that blessing.  That tells me that God would have given Esau another chance if he would have taken it!

We can’t change the things that have happened in the past or that we did in our past, but we can change the outcome when we end the pity party, and take responsibility for our part.  It’s when we repent, turn from our sins and change our ways that we once again have the right to that blessing and to those promises that God has for our lives and, and God will do so much more than we can even imagine!

Ephesians 3:20  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

…and Amen!

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IS IT YOUR BATTLE?

We most often think of warriors as being men, but I believe that women are born warriors.  We are born with that maternal instinct to protect, even from a young age.  I am the oldest of three and both of my parents had to work just to put food on the table, so I became the protector of my siblings.  Nobody was gonna beat up my little sister or brother, except for me!

When we get older we get involved with causes that may protect animals, children, and even health.  We will defend our husbands, and our marriages.  A woman will fight for and do anything that she can to protect her children.  I don’t have kids, but I do have four cats, and you might think that I’m off my rocker, but a lot of that maternal love that has been stored up in my heart for babies goes to my fur babies!  

There are all kinds of things that we will fight for, and many times God tells us that we should fight and that He will be there with us in the battle, but every once in a while God will tell us that the battle isn’t ours to fight.

2 Chronicles 20:15; “Do not be afraid nor dismayed…for the battle is not yours but God’s.”

The Lord gave this to Judah when it seemed that everyone wanted to kill them and that they were greatly outnumbered.  But Judah didn’t do nothing; God told them to show up and watch.

2 Chronicles 20:17; “You will not need to fight in this battle.  Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you…!”

When they got there they worshipped, prayed and sang praises and watched the Lord win the battle.  When the war was over, Judah collected the spoils, more than they could carry.

I know for me especially when it comes to my family, I feel like I’ve got to do something to defend or protect them against all evils.  And the Lord has reminded me that the battle isn't always mine to fight, sometimes my job is just to worship, pray, and sing praises to the Lord and to watch Him win the war!

LOOKING FORWARD

I’ve attempted to write a recipe post all week long, and quite frankly my heart hasn't been in it. 

Billy came home from golf on Saturday and told me that there was to be a big announcement at church on Sunday and that he didn’t think that it was anything good…so of course he Googled it…if you happen to be hanging with Billy, and a topic comes up that needs clarification, you can always count on him to get out his phone and Google it!  As he showed me what he found my heart sank and I felt a little sick.  Our pastor was resigning due to “moral failings”.  I so didn’t want this to be true, but somehow I knew that it was.  I don’t say that I knew because I had any clue beforehand, but because I know that my pastor is but a man.

Sunday morning as one of the associate pastors, Pastor Chet gave a message on faith, preparing the church for what was to come that afternoon, I felt as though I were in mourning; and I was.  I was mourning the loss of innocence for our church.  I mourned for those who would be devastated because they had mistakenly put the pastor on a pedestal.  I mourned for his wife and the kids whose lives had been turned upside down and inside out.  It was announced that there would be a Family Meeting later that afternoon; while the announcement had been quite vague, it was obvious that everyone at the meeting already suspected what was about to go down.  The announcement was made and a letter from the pastor was read.  There were hugs and tears, even some anger, as we all left the church grounds knowing that this church would not be the same.

I’m just gonna be blunt, what our pastor did is inexcusable; as a Christian and as a pastor he is held to a higher standard as he should be cuz he knows better, and also because it’s also biblical (1 Timothy 3).  While my pastor’s sin is inexcusable (and in no way has he been excused), it is not unforgivable!

God used our pastor as a tool to build this good church.  Our pastor insisted that we not idolize any pastor; he encouraged us to learn our bible, so that we could be sure that what the pastor was teaching is biblical; more importantly he emphasized that a relationship with Jesus was what mattered above all else!  My pastor and his family gave and sacrificed so much for their church, which became a strong church; that is rooted in Jesus!  I love my pastor, and I also want to punch him really hard in the arm.  I love his wife for sharing so much of herself and her life with us.  I love their kids for sharing their parents with us and for all the great stories that they may or may not know that we know!

Every difficult thing or experience that I’ve ever been through has helped to shape me and to get me where I am now, and while many of them I don’t want to experience again, I’m grateful for those experiences.  I know that the same is for the church.  God was not caught unawares and He will use this for His glory, which I believe will result in an even stronger church. 

This is what I read yesterday morning:  Luke 9:62 “No one having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I am no longer mourning the past, but looking forward so that I will see the amazing things that God has in store for this church, His church!  Thank you Jesus that You are our Shepherd!