It's Not Fair! Bible Club March 2016

"But God commendeth His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Good morning, dear friends,

It's been a while since we've had a Bible club update, and with Easter Sunday coming up soon, this past Saturday we had our Easter club!  As always, so thankful for the children who show up, and another occasion to share God's good news with the children in our neighborhoods here in France.

Since we have our children (who know a lot about the Easter story) and French children (who know very little about the Easter story), it is always a challenge to find a common thread that will help them both.

This year, I had some help, from an issue that pops up periodically in discussions with my family, and maybe in yours.  With more than one child, comes the inevitable thought:  "It's not fair!" Since we have been battling this issue as of late with our own children, it got me thinking about the Easter story.  I am so glad that Jesus was willing to be treated unfairly, to take my place on the cross, and die for my sins, aren't you?

I had some help with the lesson ideas, especially the object lesson about being treated fairly.  (To see the original source for this idea, click here.)  The children had to imagine a hurt somewhere on their body, and since our daughter said that her hurt was on her hand, she got a Band-aid on her hand.  Then, everyone who said they were hurt, no matter where on their body it was, got a Band-aid on their hand.  It was a good visual to tell the children that although they were all treated the same, it wasn't "fair."

This led us to our lesson, about the two thieves and Jesus dying on the cross, and about grace and mercy. The thieves were being punished justly for their crimes, and deserved to be there.   Jesus was not treated fairly, but because of His unfair treatment, we are able to go to heaven, just like one of the thieves on the cross, who obtained grace (receiving what he did not deserve)  and mercy (not receiving what he did deserve) from God.

The children listened very well, and I hope it will be a lesson they will not soon forget.

Damaris helped the children to make "Ressurrection cookies," made from crescent roll dough with a marshmallow inside.  When baked, the marshmallow melts, leaving a hollow space inside the cookie, to represent the empty tomb.  As always, our kids enjoy anything that they can eat!

A special thanks to all of you who pray for our clubs!  We are so thankful for each opportunity the Lord gives us to share the good news with these children!

See you in a few weeks for our next club update!

What Jezebel and the widow had in common

“Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” Romans 12:13

Good morning, dear friends,

As a young Christian, I had some very good role models in the faith.  I have already mentioned them here several times in my blog posts.  They by their very example shaped many aspects of living out God's faith in my daily walk with the Lord.

These same friends had a very insistent open door policy.  Literally. Their door was always open, to anyone in need, whether or not it was convenient.  Throughout the years I and countless others have been blessed by the open acceptance at their doorstep.

Their hospitality is rare in our day and time.  There are few families who give a standing invitation to anyone, everyone, regardless of the day, hour, or need.  How much I need to grow in this area of my life.

In my reading in First Kings this morning, I read the portraits of two very different women:  the widow of Zarephath, and Queen Jezebel.  Both of these women lived at the same time period, and even knew some of the same people.  But their way of life was completely different.

But the title of this blog is "what these two women had in common!"  They did have something in common.

• They both had houses.
• They both showed hospitality in their homes.

The results of their hospitality could not be any more different.

Sometimes we place so many restrictions on our hospitality towards others.  Our home is not good enough, or clean enough. Our sheets are old, our towels are frayed.   We don't know how to cook, or entertain.  We don't have Pinterest worthy attempts at anything.  

Hospîtality does not come from what we HAVE, but what we allow GOD to DO with what we have.

The widow of Zarephath had next to nothing. She was literally preparing the last food that she had, for her and her son, and then planned to die.

Jezebel had everything.  She owned the best that the nation of Israel could offer: a sumptuous palace, and enough food to eat and even waste.  

Having too little does not have to be an excuse, and having too much does not mean that it will be well spent. 

What they did with what they had was their responsability before God.

When Elijah asked the widow for water, she gave him what she had.  She must have had more water than food, because it was offered without hesitation.  When Elijah asked her for food, it was a different story.  She laid out her story to him:

And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.  I Kings 17:12

This made me wonder:  do I only exercise hospitality towards others, when I am in abundance, or am I quick to give to others in whatever state I am in?  Do I only open my house to others who can receive me in turn, or am I willing to open my doors to anyone who has a need?

On the other hand, Jezebel lived in extravagance, but instead of putting what God had given her into His service, she took God's blessings to encourage sin and rebellion.  When Elijah confronted Ahab, he told him:

Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. I Kings 18:19

Those who live selfishly with the blessings of God, will never be satisfied.  When Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard, Jezebel encouraged him to get it by force, killing Naboth in the process without hesitation.  (I Kings 21:7)  When we take God's blessings on our lives lightly, as something that is due to us, it becomes increasingly easier to close the doors to our hearts--and our homes--to the needs of others, to satisfy our own selfish desires.

May that never be said of me.

The results of these two women's lives could not have been more different.  By inviting the man of God into her home, the widow of Zarephath also was inviting God's blessing on her home. God provided her physical needs--flour and oil in abundance--but also provided for her in ways she could not have imagined at the time:  God restoring to life her son.

We have no idea what blessings lie in store, when we open our homes.

Jezebel's life ended just as it was lived:  tragically.  I would not say that her hospitality killed her, but her flagrant abuse of God's blessings certainly did.  She was killed by the very people that ate at her table (2 Kings 9:32-33).  All the riches and food that she had laid in store for herself went to feed the man responsible for her death.

What a waste.

I am so thankful for all the years that I enjoyed sharing God's blessings with my friends who opened their homes to me, time and time again.  I am thankful to say, that their children are following in their footsteps. Their love has been such a stunning example, of how I want my home to be:  not my home, but a home to anyone who walks through my doors.

May my door be always open to those outside, so that I may always be ready, at any moment, to open my heart's doors, as well.

My way

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.  Proverbs 21:2

Good morning, dear friends,

Like the new spring theme?  I guess it's wishful thinking.

I went on a bike ride and played tennis with Timothy yesterday.

It was snowing this morning when I woke up.

Welcome to March in northern France.

SIGH

Funny experiences abound when you are a foreigner adapting to a different cultural surrounding.  People are still people, and yet, they're different.  Or maybe I should say, different from me.

Living in France, I have gotten used to being told I am wrong.

About everything.

On a daily basis.

My language is wrong.  My way of disciplining children is wrong.  My way of dressing is wrong.

I joined a crafting circle here in Boves, where once a week I would sit with grandmas living here and do my cross stitch.  Not only was I doing it wrong, but they couldn't agree on the right way to do it.  There were eight ladies, with 16 different ways of doing cross stitch.

I haven't been back for a while.

(Not just because I was told I was doing it wrong, but because I couldn't sit still in a hard backed chair for three hours doing cross stitch.  Or anything else, for that matter.)

Yesterday, I was even told that I was pedaling a bicycle wrong.  Really?  How many different ways are there to pedal a bike?

More than one, apparently.

It's hard to be told that you are wrong about something, isn't it?  I was always amazed by my mother-in-love. No matter how many times she was told by a French person that she was doing something wrong, she would just shrug and laugh it off.  It may have stung privately, but she never let it show publically.

Our sinful nature WANTS to be right. It DEMANDS that we be right. After all, if I were doing something wrong, don't you think that I would do it differently? Do you think that I go around doing things wrong ON PURPOSE?

Of course not.  No one does.

Our selfish nature seeks to be justified, to show that it knows better than everyone else around us, and it will not be appeased.  Only constant submission to the Holy Spirit (and painfully gnashing down on my tongue sometimes) keep me from lashing out with the words that I long to say:

"Don't you think that I know what I'm doing?  Do I look stupid to you?"

(My children have learned not to answer that question when I ask it.)

This week I was reading in Proverbs, and since I was paying attention to the verses that talk about my walk, and the ways of man/ways of God, I was amazed at the number of times God reminds us in His Word, that we are WRONG, and that He alone is RIGHT.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.  Proverbs 14:12

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts.  Proverbs 21:2

 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.  Proverbs 16:2

What is the common thread for me in these verses?  I may think I know what's going on in this world, and I may think that I understand what God is doing or how He wants me to act, but I can't KNOW for sure.  I could be assuming that I am right, when in reality, if I am not checking my thoughts and ways against the Word of God, I may be (and often am) dreadfully wrong.

May God help me today, in humility, to examine my ways.  Am I walking in God's Word, or in my own ways?  Am I seeking to know His mind on the matter, or stubbornly holding to my own prideful thoughts?

And when others say that I am wrong, does it really matter?  Or can I lovingly, patiently accept what others tell me (even if they are wrong :) and let God use me to be an instrument of His grace today?

Time to get out of the way...