Author: Heather Davis

Migraine

~ Heather Davis ~ 12 Comments

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” — Dread Pirate Roberts aka Westly;  The Princess Bride

For some people, this is not just a clever line from a movie; it is quite literally true.

There are many “invisible” illnesses (ie- Lyme disease, MS, lupus, et al), and while I’ve known several people who struggle with them, there is one that I am very – one might say intimately – familiar with: Chronic migraine.

For the last 12 years, I have been dealing with a poorly-understood headache condition that is most commonly diagnosed as chronic migraine, although I have also received diagnoses of cluster headaches and occipital neuralgia (which really just means pain at the base of the skull and is more a description than a diagnosis) and even trigeminal neuralgia (which, again, just means pain in areas supplied by the trigemnial nerve).

But the one diagnosis that has dogged me persistently is chronic migraine, meaning 15 or more headache days per month. I cannot describe it better than the headache specialists at Johns Hopkins already have, so I will quote from their website:

Most migraines typically last a few hours to a couple of days and respond well to specific treatments. However, in some patients, The migraine is particularly severe and long-lasting—and may even become chronic, occurring continuously for weeks, months, or even years on end. If improperly managed or left untreated, intermittent migraines may essentially transform into a chronic daily headache, with continuous and smoldering symptoms that periodically erupt into a “full-blown” migraine.

That’s pretty much my life in a nutshell. And I have learned to cope.

Although I have mentioned migraine in the past (here and here and here for those who are interested), it has been rare for me to dedicate an entire post to nothing more than migraine (except, perhaps, for a serial post about being thankful for the lessons of migraine beginning here although I didn’t re-read the entire thing because, well… I’m currently fighting a migraine).

In the main, I’ve avoided it because I do not want to fall into the habit of complaining. Recently, however, I’ve found that discussion of the problem with others who suffer or who care for a migraine sufferer can be useful, even helpful, so long as I am careful not to merely moan and groan but point to tips and tricks I’ve learned or how God has used an unpleasant circumstance for His good and glory (which He has many times).

So after a couple of suggestions from friends new and old, I think I’m going to try something new on here. On the off chance it gives hope to one person or makes a single soul feel less alone, I am going to dedicate Mondays on this blog to a discussion on migraine. May the Lord set a guard over my… ah, over my fingers, I suppose… and use this space and discussion for His purposes and glory, and may I resist any temptation to whine!

As always, I welcome any comments, feedback, sharing of your own migraine stories, or whatever else you may wish to say so long as foul language, insults or derision aimed at anyone else, and so forth are avoided.

So starting Monday, look for a post about what migraine is… and what it is not. Perhaps, even, we can pray for one another that God may be glorified either because of or despite migraine. Certainly, we can pray that God may bring comfort to those who suffer without His peace.

Blessings to you!

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
(Galatians 6:2)

**Update July 2017: Although I had fully intended to write about my migraine journey and the spiritual lessons therein each Monday, in my real life of teenagers, work, church, and everything else, it is not happening.

It would seem that actually coping with migraines and the associated fatigue, brain fog , etc., etc. does not necessarily lend itself to such ambitious aims. So instead of every single Monday, I will just put every migraine-related post in a category (cleverly called “migraine”) where interested parties can find these posts and read them at their leisure… 

Thanks!

 

 

 

A Word of Thanks

~ Heather Davis ~ 12 Comments

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
(Hebrews 10:24-25)

I have always been something of a loner. Although I enjoy people and have an especial fondness for hearing about the lives of others, I can also become “peopled-out” and I will rarely turn away an opportunity to spend some time alone (which in my world, really means “alone with the Lord”).

However…

In my, eh… let’s just say greater than three and fewer than eight… decades, I have learned that there are two areas in which I do not perform my best when alone: working out and my Christian walk.

In some ways, they are remarkably similar. Just as I have a tendency to push a little harder if I have a workout partner, so I also have a tendency to actually “run with endurance” if I have someone (or several someones) keeping me accountable to both the Word of God and the ways of God.

And honestly, not all forms of exercise are either wise to perform alone (like hiking as a woman, or rock-climbing as almost anyone) or even possible to engage in alone (judo, for example). Although if you are a well-armed woman with a exemplary skills in judo, it could be argued that a solitary hike isn’t such a bad idea…

At any rate, there are also several of my Lord’s commands that are fairly tricky to accomplish when flying solo. Loving others as you love yourself, or meeting together, or encouraging each other, or treating others with greater honor… actually, there are a considerable number of them that just don’t work for a body in isolation. Although it might be argued that it’s easier to love theoretical people than it is to love actual people… but then it would only be theoretical love, and of course it must be admitted that virtual seeds do not grow actual fruit…

Either way, the older I get and the longer I run this race, I am finding that it is much, much easier to stay the course if I depend less on my own motivation and more on my God and those He has put around me.

I need others. I need people like some of you who write about keeping our eyes on Jesus or how good our God is; who will take long walks with me and listen as I think out loud and be unafraid to speak the truth in love or to remind me to step outside my own, small perspective. I need people to pray for and people willing to pray for me.

I need people like some of you who stir my heart with something God has shown you or who let me know that He stirred your heart by something I wrote or shared verbally. Though I may like time alone, it’s still very nice to know I am not truly alone.

So for all who read these words, thank you. Thank you for being you, for being raw and real, for speaking truth, and sometimes just for being there on the narrow path, anonymous but still a fellow sojourner.

Even if you disagree with me at times (or always), thank you. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m often wrong and may need to re-examine in the Light something I have written in the dark.

And constructive criticism, of course, is also devilishly difficult to manage alone.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)

 

An Unconventional Love Story

~ Heather Davis ~ 10 Comments

This piece was originally written for a friend who posted it in installments on her facebook page as a part of a month-long challenge to “Step It Up” in relationships. Today, in part because I am swamped by life after a week-long migraine experience (more on that later) and in part because I just wanted to share, here’s the story of how my husband and I met: 

My husband and I did not fall in love and get married; we married and then began to love.

It’s true.  There’s a long, ugly story about why we met, but suffice to say that when we met, I was nothing more than emotional wreckage floating about in trackless seas of sleep deprivation.  I was also not yet a follower of Jesus Christ and was a young woman with no solid ground beneath her feet, friendless and new to the city I was in.

When did I know that he was the one? On the day the pregnancy test showed unmistakably positive and the consequence of my careless and causal attitude about sex came crashing in on me – that’s when I knew.

Among the scariest moments of my life were the five or so minutes between seeing the positive test result and informing C. that he had fathered a child. Having only known him for four short weeks, I did not know how he would respond and I fully expected the words, “I’m pregnant,” to be among the last I spoke to him.

By the grace of a God I did not yet acknowledge, this man also felt an incredible weight of responsibility to the life we had begun, and so our beginning was not remarkable for romance. Even the reasons behind the act that lead to pregnancy were not romantic but merely thoughtless and rash.  Yet there we were, two people inextricably bound by our duty to a human being we had yet to meet.

Neither of us felt able to walk away and charge the bill of our choices to the account of this tiny, yet-to-be-named person. Although we did not legally marry until our son was a toddler, from that time on, we were married in all other senses. We made a commitment and it was sealed in the flesh of an embryo carrying a portion of each of our DNA in his swiftly growing body.

As for love, at first love was very much an action verb – something we did, not something we felt. I’m not only talking about the physical expression of love (which the fact of pregnancy made obvious), but about our daily behaviors. During this time, love was merely a choice; something we acted on not because of but rather despite our feelings.

Through a process of dying to our dreams and taking up the mantle of responsibility and necessity, God got both of our attention. One by one, we both repented of our sin and trusted in Christ for salvation, and salvation gave meaning and reason to our action-verb love.

Through tiring years of learning to be a family and of three almost back-to-back babies, we learned some important lessons about choosing to love. We learned to love intentionally no matter how we felt and to make time for each other no matter what. We learned to listen when the other talked, to bring our worries or our hurt to the table in a way that was respectful and did not set off an argument. We learned how to speak gently and in a way that was not inflammatory or accusing. We built a life on the practical elements of love.

Over fifteen years have passed since the night I held that pregnancy test and watched as the consequences of my irresponsible lifestyle were summed up in two distinct blue lines. We have three wonderful kids ages 12 to 15. Blessedly, both of our emotions have healed and caught up with our actions and I can say that I am now truly in love with my husband.

Would I trade all the practicality and drudgery of the last 15 years for a wild, romantic adventure? Not a chance.

You see, we are in this thing for the long haul, and those early lessons in actively loving despite a lack of the emotional equivalent laid a foundation for true love that is as beautiful as it is practical.

There is no magic formula for genuine love, just as there is no magic pill for physical fitness. Both love and fitness involve hard work and sacrifice. True and lasting love also requires a healthy portion of putting the other person’s needs above your own, just as Philippians 2:3 commands.

Just like perseverance in working out, perseverance in love can be challenging. You will not always feel like hitting the gym, just as you will not always feel “in love” with your spouse. However, the rewards of sticking it out and seeing it through in both cases are well worth every ounce of hardship and sacrifice.  For my part, by the grace of God, I look forward to growing old with the man who is my husband and my very best friend.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
(Psalms 86:5)

An Unlikely Time for Praise

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
(Psalms 100:1-2)

As much as I wish this Psalm described every day of my Christian walk, it does not. Actually, I must confess that it describes a state of mind entirely unlike the one I found myself in yesterday.

In fact, had I been in a more cheerful mood, I may have snickered at the irony of this Psalm coming up, not once or twice, but in three different places throughout my day beginning with my Bible study over — of all seemingly unrelated things — the book of Nehemiah.

But I was not in a cheerful mood. Not at all. And I did not even so much as grin.

Unfortunately for me and everyone else in my home, yesterday found me fully immersed in the first stage of a migraine; a fun little experience known as the prodrome. 

While I do not always experience prodrome with my migraines, I typically (although not always) go through it before a particularly persistent one. And if I can be baldly honest with you, I’d rather have the migraine pain any day than the wretched, beastly prodrome.

For me, the prodrome occurs as little as 12 hours before or as long as 72 hours before a migraine attack. Yesterday was Day 2. Ugh.

Indulge me for a moment and allow me an attempt at describing this phenomenon. Sometimes it is sudden, striking while I am sailing along blithely teaching my one remaining homeschool student or cheerily washing the 11,016 cups that my family of five manages to use in a single day. At such times, I become very abruptly and irrationally furious.

Other times I wake up in a funk that I cannot shake no matter what, or I may feel as if every single body part is made of lead and I am trying to maneuver through a space filled with molasses. Or all of the above.

Without fail, the prodrome involves some level of extreme anger and/or depression along with a stimulating variety of physical symptoms such as an absolutely outrageous thirst, difficulty saying words, mixing up my words, crushing fatigue, clumsiness, and inability to concentrate. But the worst part of the prodrome is a terrifying sense of impenetrable spiritual darkness.

Give me pain any day. Seriously.

You see, pain is something I can handle. I’m actually rather well practiced at the management and endurance of physical pain, admittedly sometimes to a fault.

But that darkness, though… It makes me shudder. There’s a particularly horrendous quality to it that I cannot even put into words. At one point or another, every single migraine prodrome I can remember has seen me tearfully crying out to my God, begging Him not to turn His back on me.

At such times, I truly feel as if He is utterly absent from my life and I am entirely alone. Almost equally disturbing is bizarre mental sensation of being gradually crushed by a hideous, palpable blackness.

There are not even words…  I think it is something like a private glimpse into hell.

Whether this event is merely a quirk caused by a disturbance in the chemical balance of my brain or whether it is because my enemy takes advantage of the pre-migraine chemical chaos to hurl every accusation he can muster against my God and myself, I do not know. All I know is that I loathe it completely.

And yet…

My amazing God, my marvelous and awe-inspiring King is using even this unlikely tool to teach me more about Him.  Each time it happens, even as I choke out the words, “Where ARE You?!?” some part of me knows that He is still there.

Sometimes, as the accusations fly or despair throttles my ability to reason, I hear a tiny, almost imperceptible whisper, “You know what this is, Heather. Hang in there; you know it will pass.”

And yesterday in the middle of an emotional desolation so powerful it is physically palpable, I came across Psalm 100.

No, the Almighty was not having a go at me in some sadistic sort of fun. He was reminding me of something:

Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
(Psalms 100:3)

He is God. He made me, and flaws and all, I am His. 

Because I am His sheep, He will never leave me wandering, lost and lonely, without finding me and bringing me back into the fold. He will not leave me desolate. He is the Good Shepherd, and He has already given His life for me. That glimpse of hell is just that: a glimpse, perhaps peeped from a distance on a grueling section of the narrow path.

And because of all that, even in the blackest depths I can give Him thanks. Even in the midst of pain, I can praise Him

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
(Psalms 100:4-5)

Here Comes the Judge

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

“Judge not, that you be not judged…”
(Matthew 7:1)

In today’s world, I would venture a guess that Matthew 7:1 is probably as well-known among unbelievers as John 3:16 was in previous decades. Almost everyone, it seems, knows that Jesus tells us not to judge.

So pervasive is this awareness that cries of, “Don’t judge me!” are often used to deflect even the hint of disagreement or disapproval. In part because of this trend, many Christians are labeled as “judgmental” by unbelievers. And so the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, is clumsily wielded by untrained hands, severing bonds that might otherwise hold neighbors accountable to a higher standard.

But are these judges misjudged?

About 7 years ago now, a much younger family member announced to me that she was pregnant. At the time, she was unmarried and the man she was with did not treat her with love and respect and also lived a dangerous lifestyle — a volatile concoction of entitlement-fueled anger and illicit drugs. I was heartbroken for her and told her so, to which she replied, “Don’t judge me.”

But as I explained, I was not judging her. Rather, I was commiserating. From my own personal experience and that of another family member closer in age, I knew many of the battles and much of the pain that lay ahead for both her and her child.

I, too, became pregnant with my first child before I was married, and although I did end up married to the child’s father, the beginning of our relationship was marked with needless complication, not the least of which was that we barely knew one another at the time.

But we put our heads down and did the work that needed to be done — laboring through communication issues, in-law issues, and the like while simultaneously struggling to understand each other in the midst of pregnancy hormones and poverty.

None of it was fun. There was no romance; there was only a determined decision to learn to love and to sacrifice in order to do what was right by the child.

The other family member I had mentioned had it much worse. She had been only 19 when her first baby came along and had a second baby 14 months later. Although she, too, married the father, he did not put his shoulder to the plow as my man did. He indulged in illicit drug use and eventually abandoned his young family.

And these hardships were merely the barest glimpse of the difficulties we and our children faced. So naturally, when I heard the news from the younger generation, I was reminded of these things and I sorrowed, but not because I had judged the pregnant woman and deemed her sinful. It was because I was also sinful and had already reaped the noxious fruit of the very same sin.

Thanks be to God, all three of our stories are now stories of redemption; of God’s saving grace, forgiveness, and mercy. Due to our experience, all three of us are also passionate about telling the truth to those who still believe the myth of so-called “casual sex.”

Truth be told, we also agree that God’s condemnation of fornication is just and right, but this is not because we are judgmental. It is because we have sown our little gardens with the world’s way and tasted the bitterness of its fruit. We have seen the anguish in the eyes of children whose fathers abandoned them or did not care for them as they ought. And we have experienced that the forgiveness of our mighty God does not erase these consequences.

Oh, people! Oftentimes, when the true followers of God seem to condemn an action or a lifestyle, it is neither from hatefulness nor hypocrisy! To say a thing is wrong is not necessarily judging but may well be a statement of fact.

I cannot speak for all, but I know that my decision to agree with God on His views of right and wrong are twofold.

First, I love and trust my wise and ancient Creator, and I know that His way is best because He does know right from wrong, and He alone understands the fullness of the consequences of both. He is the Judge, and I defer to His sound judgment.

But secondly, and most important to my point here, I agree with Him out of love for others. My heart breaks for sin — my own included — not because I am judging the transgressor but because I know from experience that walking in sin brings unnecessary grief to both the perpetrator and to others.

My dear people, please do not judge the Christian too harshly.  It may well be that what is often called “judgment” is merely a loving wish to warn a person away from an already-trodden path of pain. Who better to know the perils of a path than one who has been lost on it and rescued?

Sometimes, too, that feeling of being judged is more accurately called “conviction,” and has nothing to do with the Christian at all.

Personally, I still chuckle that I also once attempted to assuage my guilty conscience by believing Christians to be judgmental.  There is no little irony that in accusing another of judging me, I had made a knowledge claim on their motives and thus assumed the role of judge.

…For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
(Matthew 7:2-3)

 

 

 

Christmas

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14)

To me, this verse encapsulates both the wonder and the irony of Christmas. It is a beautiful mystery that God should choose to present His glory in a tangible form to mankind through the rather commonplace miracle (if there are such things) of the birth of a Baby.

In that manger so many years ago lay the Divine irony: that the glorious Creator of all things would stoop to take part in His creation, but not as one would expect a God to arrive; clothed in splendor and honor and wielding great power. Instead, He chose to come as a Man and with all man’s limitations, including beginning life as a an utterly dependent, helpless infant. The Almighty in diapers. Just imagine!

Furthering the paradox, the King of kings was not even born into human royalty. Instead, He came humbly, born into a family most likely socially tainted by the scandal of His mother’s implausible claim concerning her pregnancy, born not into silken sheets and sturdy housing, but in a pen for animals.

His earthly parents were even too poor even to afford a lamb to sacrifice for Mary’s purification  as the Law demanded (Leviticus 12:6-8, Luke 2:22-24).  Nor did He choose a life of popularity, wealth, and ease, but one of poverty, hard work, and difficulty.

This is perhaps the most perplexing facet of the Christmas story; that the Most High God decided not only to become a man,  but also to participate fully in the human experience, including both physical and emotional pain. And though He came to His own creatures, they knew Him not and many even scorned and mocked this, the most gracious act of love in history.

He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(Isaiah 53:3)

It is for this reason that He is a God like no other, for He understands humanity not just theoretically or as its Creator, but by becoming one of us; by living as a man.

But He is also a Man like no other, for Jesus understood what it meant to be human and to feel the weight of grief.  Yet He also understood something we cannot: He understood, too, what it meant to be Divine.

Do you see the absurdity of this gift? Crazily and against all logic, the Creator subjected Himself to human limitations in order to provide for rebellious humanity the briefest glimpse of Divine life here in the dust of the earth. By living as a man as man should have been — without sin –and then willingly giving Himself up for our ransom, He extends an invitation to all mankind to a future hope beyond grief.

Even crazier, this invitation remains open to those who despise Him still, for it is not His will that any of His beloved should die apart from Him.

Besides understanding a depth and breadth of grief that we never could, He also understood the full power of temptation in a way that none of us can for the simple fact that none of us have withstood temptation to the utmost and prevailed.

Without exception, we have all fallen; we have all given in to the allure of some personal weakness and sinned. However, our Lord never did. Alone among man, He has endured the full force of temptation and remained standing at the end. He, alone, knows the precise limits of temptation and the entire weight of resistance.

He became Man as man was meant to be — pure, sinless, in perfect fellowship with the Father. Perhaps, even, He became more human than any of us simply because the image of God given to humanity was marred and distorted at the Fall, but it was restored in the Person of Christ.

“He is the radiance of the Glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature…” (Hebrews 1:3a).

Oh, my thoughts are tangled and almost too complex for words. Still, I do hope you will hear my heart and the great awe I have for my Lord. May He be as real and as amazing to You!

There is more, so much more, but for now let it suffice to say that for me, Christmas is always a time of joyful solemnity, because when I look at the Babe in the manger, I always see the shadow of the cross falling over His infinitely precious features.

But I also to see beyond that ancient instrument of torture and death to the victory — the Light of the world walking out of the darkness of the grave, bringing hope to all who love Him and who struggle yet under the living death of this world.

May the hope of Christ restore your heart this Christmas. Merry Christmas, my friends!

Guest Post by Leonard Gluck

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

I’m a little excited because I have something different for you today: A guest post and a video by Mr. Leonard Gluck, a retired teacher and member of our church small group.

Last week, Mr. Gluck demonstrated for us how he combines the Japanese art of origami with some truths from Scripture to make a Christmas ornament with a message behind it. It’s a handy little tool for sharing the Gospel, and he has given me permission to publish his work here!

Beneath the video is the full text of the lesson he often shares as he folds the ornament. Typically, if he is teaching a class, he will send each kid home with a packet containing the two pre-folded halves of the snowflake, the dark dot for the center, and red yarn for a hanger along with instructions for assembling them.

And so, without further ado:

Have You Entered Into the Treasures of the Snow?

By Leonard Gluck

How many of you have a favorite Christmas ornament? Think of how it looks and what it represents. I have several ornaments that mean a lot to me. Some of them are special because of who gave them to me. Others are favorites becuase of what they represent or how unique they are in design. Some are neat because of the materials used in the construction of the ornament.

Today, I am going to make an origami Christmas ornament. It is actually modeled after an ornament the Lord Jesus designed when He created the world and everything in it. This model is one I designed after the better design of Jesus. It not only is fun because it is made out of ordinary white paper, but also because of what it represents.  It’s pattern is neat, also.

Watch as I fold this project. I’m going to read several Scripture passages, which talk about this ornament as I work. Listen carefully so that you can share the message of God’s Word with others this Christmas time.

Way back in the Old Testament, a man named Job was talking with God, when God asked him a question. It is a very interesting question. Before I read you the question God asked him, we need to know a little bit about the circumstances Job was in when God talked with him. Job, as you probably know, had more problems than anyone else in the Bible. He lost all his wealth, his children, and his health all in the matter of a few days. He actually was under the direct attack of Satan when this happened. On top of these problems, Job’s friends tried to tell him that all his problems were because he was not right with God. What a terrible place to be in!

Well, after all this hard stuff happened, God came to Job and wanted him to know He was still in charge, that He loved Job, and knew his problems and could fix them. He then asked Job this question: “Job… Have you ever entered into the treasures (storehouses) of the snow..?” (Job 38:22). That seems like a funny question to ask him at that time, doesn’t it? But God knew what He was talking about. The storehouse of the snow is composed of what? Yes, snowflakes. I’m making a snowflake ornament.

What are some of the things we can learn about God from the snowflakes He created? First, we notice that almost every single snowflake is different yet it follows a similar pattern. God takes great care in the forming of every snowflake. Each one shows His power and majesty. It also shows us that God cares about little details and little things as well as the big things.

 We can also look at what the Bible says about snow. Did you know It uses snow as a picture of God’s cleansing from sin? Listen to this neat verse from Isaiah 1:18: “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'”

Wow, just think of the color red! It stands out like a sore thumb and screams, “Look at me!” Our sins do the same thing. They show us and everybody else that we are not good enough to meet God’s standard of perfection, holiness, and purity. We can’t make it on our own. We need our sin to be removed in order for us to be able to come into the presence of a holy God. Jesus’ blood, RED, was shed to cover our sins, to pay the price, to remove our sins. We are pure (WHITE) because of His sacrifice.

If you look carefully at a snowflake, under a microscope, you would find a piece of dirt or dust in the center of every snowflake. It is called a “condensation nuclei.” While the dust or smoke particle is floating around in the air, the water vapor up there collects on it and than the cold air freezes around the dust particle and completely hides it. The result is a beautiful snowflake design. The snowflake falls and the dirt particle is removed from the air. The snow falls on the ground and covers everything to make it look so beautiful and pure.

Remember King David in the Old Testament? He also wrote about snow. He said this to God in one of his prayers, “…Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow…” (Psalm 51:7b).

He wasn’t asking God to throw him into the bathtub. He was confessing his sin and he know that only God could cleanse his heart. We also can have our hearts clean when we do the same thing. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

If you are feeling dirty because of the wrong things you have done, ask God to forgive you. Tell Him what you did wrong and agree with Him that it is wrong. Turn from it and He will forgive you and cleanse you. Wow, that’s neat. It’s just like waking up in the morning and finding the ground covered with pure, white snow. We are all clean and fresh.

Snow is neat in many other ways. As you know, it’s fun to play in, ski on, ride sleds over, and it provides us with a way to store the water until we need it in the spring and summer. We should thank God every time we see the snow for His grace and mercy and the blessings we have because of His creation.

The next time you see a snow scene, and I’m sure you will see many over the Christmas holidays, think about your life and how God has cleaned you up and made you pure so that you can fellowship with Him and go to Heaven in the future. If you take the time to think about it and study about the snow, I bet you can find out many other amazing things about these little jewels of ice.

 

Behold, the Man

~ Heather Davis ~ 5 Comments

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe…

…So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
(John 19:1-2, 5)

This is an invitation open to all: “Behold, the Man!”

What a shocking sight, really. To think that the Most High God, Creator of all things, would actually appear this way to us; bloodied and battered rather than honored and exalted. For just a moment today, let’s imagine the scene.

Behold the Man. What is it we see?

To some, He appears to be nothing more than an utterly defeated man. To the chief priests on that day, he appeared to be a blasphemer worthy of a more brutal death than stoning. Pilate saw a man without guilt. Others in the crowd may have seen nothing more than a spectacle, or a criminal, or may have given Him no notice at all.

Take a moment and behold the Man…

In truth, He is an anomaly; a living paradox — the Son of God and the Son of Man. The Creator clothed as one of His own creatures; the Eternal One submitting to torture and death.

Behold the Man.

There He stands — Redeemer, Savior, Sacrifice. From His unlikely birth to His willing death and beyond even that to His incredible resurrection, let us behold the Man.

Here is our true King, the King of kings, dressed though He may be in our sin instead of the glory that is His right and due. From the purple robe now adhering to the lacerations on His back to the entwined branches of thorns on His head, He is covered in rivulets of drying blood.

Though He had done no more than expose the corruption of the human heart, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and forgive sin, He stands before Pilate and the mob wearing shame, dishonor, reproach — none of which rightfully belongs to Him.

There He stands, clothed in gore-streaked garments of mockery and shame so that we may be clothed in His righteousness.

Behold the Man.

If any in the crowd knew Who He was and what it was He came to do — to give Himself as a ransom, even to offer pardon for the very ones who bloodied Him if they would take it — if any knew, how could they not love Him?

If only we could understand the extravagant nature of a love that would drive the Most High God to confine Himself to the limitations and weaknesses of a Man, even to offer up Himself to pay the penalty of sin.This is a ridiculous love; a love we would not even offer to a friendly acquaintance, much less a sworn and spiteful enemy. But He did.

Behold, the Man – the Holy One who willingly accepted the burden of guilt for a creation that despised and rejected Him many times over; who willingly accepted the cost of my sin and charged it to His own account even though I rejected Him at the time. Behold the Man who willingly did the same for you, if only you will accept the forgiveness He offers.

Behold the Man.

Is He not glorious? Is He not worthy of all our devotion? When I look upon the truth of what He did and the stark contrast to what I deserve, all that I am overflows in gratitude and worship. Oh, what He has done for us; what a price He has paid so that we may not die in our sins but rather die to sin and live for Him, both in this life and in Eternity!

It is no wonder that Paul could write to the Philippian church, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Behold the Man!

Under the Gun

~ Heather Davis ~ 8 Comments

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
(Ephesians 6:10-12)

In the midst of a season where good cheer is often celebrated, it may seem odd to bring up warfare. Yet, truly, I cannot think of a better time. I have said it before and will likely say it again, but I cannot look at the Babe in the manger without recalling the Man on the cross.

Make no mistake: Jesus came to earth as a sacrifice, and as Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed in his excellent book, The Cost of Discipleship:

The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ. . .  When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.

My brothers and sisters, therein lies the irony of Christianity — joy is found not in birth but in death, or more specifically, in rebirth; in resurrection. However let it not be overlooked that one cannot have resurrection without first experiencing death. It is not possible to resurrect that which is already alive.

Though I do not pick up my Bible each day under threat of discovery and imprisonment or death, still yet our enemy constantly seeks to draw our attention away from my God. He strives to distract, stirring up animosity or apathy or whatever he can to keep us from taking every thought captive to obey Christ.

The narrow path is not an easy one, my friends. We will be ridiculed and mocked. Broad and untrue generalizations and misconceptions will be circulated and enjoyed by unbelievers. However, over the course of this year’s election and its aftermath and now on into the battleground of the Christmas season, I have been reminded several times that I need not feel a personal slight or become indignant about such things. Jesus kept silent when mocked. Should I not do the same?

Not only that, but the unbelievers who ridicule or condemn are not my enemies.

Just a couple of days ago, I had this reminder driven home when an old childhood friend, an atheist such as I used to be, posted a meme on social media stating, “Don’t forget to hate refugees as you set up a Nativity scene celebrating a Middle Eastern couple desperately looking for shelter.”

Forget for the moment that the comparison is really apples to oranges — people fleeing their country because of persecution rather than people compelled to travel within their country to their ancestral home by decree of the governing power. Forget, too, that not all who set up a Nativity Scene hate refugees, or even dislike or are indifferent to refugees. Forget the sheer absurdity of the meme and look behind it for just a moment.

Though such nonsense may be inflammatory in nature, it is not my job to become enraged over it. Often comments like these are mere distractions; a way for the unbeliever to feel smarter, more modern, or perhaps as one having the moral high ground against what, to him, is a rather ambiguously defined and hateful group known as “Christians.”

Do the actual Christians in the unbeliever’s life reflect the hypocrisy he rails against? We cannot know. Often, he does not know himself, for the purpose of such posts and statements, if one is brutally honest, is to deflect attention from one’s own sinful state by pointing out the perceived faults of others.

I know this, because I once indulged in it.

I know this because I happen to be fond of the guy who posted it, and my heart sincerely breaks for him because I know that bears a weight of pain and suffering.

Naturally, suffering is a part of life, but we who are in Christ hurt and suffer with  hope. My old friend suffers in the agony of an unending nightmare, currently unwilling to accept that there is a narrow path of escape open to him. May my glorious King have mercy on him and soften his heart as He once softened mine…

As we engage in spiritual warfare, let us not forget that it is not the unbelievers who are our enemies. They are not the enemy, but captives of the enemy just as we once were.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
(Ephesians 2:1-5)

Although our faith may be under the gun, it is important to remember who we are battling, and the Christmas season seems to be a time of increasing volleys on both sides. This year, let’s not get caught up in the wrong battles but as good soldiers, fight the spiritual ones. We are at war, and our enemy does not call a ceasefire for Christmas.

But even in the midst of conflict, we can rejoice because our King has already overcome the world!

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33)

 

 

The Advent of Truth

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

For the season of Advent this year, I toyed with the idea of revisiting some meditations I penned in the past; dusting off some ideas from an old blog and revisiting them with what I have learned about the Lord in the intervening years. And if you are interested, feel free to let me know and perhaps I will dredge them up after all.

But… as I prayed about what to write, all I could really think about was Jesus. After all, He is the sometimes overlooked celebrity of this story, buried as He may be beneath piles of wrapping paper, parties, and endless strings of lights. For today, let’s put aside all the chaos that we have added to this season and simply take a look at the King of kings as He first came to us, not with great pomp and privilege as royalty rightly should, but as a tiny sojourner wrapped in scraps of cloth whose first bed on earth was a temporarily requisitioned feeding trough. . .

It is no small thing that the Truth Incarnate came into the world in such a humble and unexpected circumstance. On that first Christmas, Truth came as a gift heralded by angels; knowable and yet known by few. Ironically, about thirty-three years later, this same Jesus would stand before a Roman governor who would look Truth in the face and respond in doubt; “What is truth?”

Perhaps Pilate believed, as many still believe, that truth is subjective and not something concrete or unchanging. But that is a lie. Despite what the ancient deceiver would have us believe Truth is knowable. Jesus is knowable. Yet we will not come to  know Him by accident,  nor will we do so without an expense of time and effort on our parts.

So how do we come to know this Man, Immanuel? How do we know Truth?

I think, to illustrate, I would like to give an example of how not to know Him; or rather, how to know a portion of the truth without knowing the whole.

Perhaps you have seen something along the lines of this floating around on social media:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist. He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C.
He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first… no peeking, then scroll down
for the response.

————————————————————-

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

That sounds compelling, doesn’t it? However, while there may or may not be some fact to these descriptions, not a single one of them contains the whole truth.

To be perfectly honest, I am woefully ignorant of the lives of FDR or Churchill. I know nothing about the former president. And despite my good intentions, I only made it through a couple of chapters of Churchill’s famous biography, The Last Lion, but in that portion I did read that he was a sickly child and as an adult would often nurse a single drink for the better part of a day in order to appear to be a “manly” drinker.

But after reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, I can tell you that the facts about Hitler are only a tiny slice of the picture; a piece of the puzzle lifted out of context of the complete life of the man to prove a silly and useless point. To  know the whole truth requires a little more effort, but it gives you a more complete portrait of the man.

For one thing, Hitler was only a vegetarian later in life due to severe stomach trouble. Although he may never have cheated on his wife, he scarcely had the opportunity. Hitler and Eva Braun, his long-time mistress, were married for less than 48 hours before committing a double suicide in an underground bunker near the end of World War II.

As far as morality goes, besides having mistresses it is also true that a younger Adolf had an extremely jealous and possessive relationship with his niece, Geli Raubal, who later was found dead by gunshot in her room and ruled a suicide. Besides these things, he was also responsible for the breaking of many treaties, millions of deaths, and horrendous persecution of the Jewish people.

In that solitary  and far-from-complete example, it is easy to see how misleading a picture one can acquire from a partial truth.

In the same way, we cannot rely on social media memes, snippets of Scripture, or the opinions of others if we want to acquire an accurate portrait of Jesus Christ.  By His own statements, to know Him is to know the Father, and in order to know  them well, there are absolutely no shortcuts to reading and understanding the full counsel of the Word of God.

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
(Psalm 119:160)

That, my friends, requires time, dedication, prayer, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you truly want to know the Truth, you must read the Word of Truth and be guided by the Spirit of Truth.

Today I find myself fascinated that my incomprehensibly great God is all these things: the God of truth, the Word who was in the beginning, the Truth, and the Spirit of Truth.  Check out Isaiah 65:16, John 1:1-14, John 8:28-32, and pretty much all of John 14-17 for more insight on His truth. I would love to hear how you are experiencing the Word of Truth this Advent season!

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
(John 17:17)