Monthly Archives: July 2019

Take The Bet!

IMG_3249By Judy Villanueva

“Now, this I know:  The Lord gives victory to his anointed.  He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand.  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.  They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.  Lord give victory to the king! Answer us when we call!” (Psalm 20:6-9)

 I was on a road trip recently and as I stared out the window I could feel the strain of worry pressing in on me.  Abraham seemed to join me in the car and suddenly, I felt his faith reach over and slap me!  It was a good, wake-up kind of slap that pushed me out of an anxious  stupor.  The verse

“Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited it to him as righteousness”

reverberated in my mind and with it, the desire to please and honor God by believing that He is who He says He is.   It reminded me of Pascal’s Wager, wherein he,  a 17th century French philosopher, threw out the challenge to bet on God.  Paraphrased, he proposed that if you bet on God and He does NOT exist, you lose nothing BUT stand to gain everything if He DOES exist.   Conversely, if you wager that there is no God and in fact there IS, you have bet with your life!  As I pondered what this had to do with me I felt God say,

“Judy, you can keep living as though life is random (and be afraid) OR, you can bet on ME.   I have heard your prayers.  I AM Faithful. Trust Me — take the bet!”

Are you weary of worrying and fatigued by fear?  While subtle, the things that make up our daily lives, good and bad, speak to us about God and little by little shape our image of Him. If we are not careful to renew our minds with the truth of who God is,  our view of  Him will warp.  The temporal and transitory will define what we think of Him rather than His eternal and unchanging Word.

AW Tozer says that “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

If we think He is inattentive or uncaring,  how will we trust that He is intimately aware of all our ways?   If we forget that He is Mighty,  how will we ever rest in His arms, especially in times of great trial?  Peace resides in knowing that God always acts with perfect knowledge, victorious power, and faithful love.  Betting on God is all about believing that He is who He says He is!  Another mile passed and I realized that my heart had calmed.  I looked over at Abe with a smile, grateful for his nudge and decided to follow his example.  I took the bet and am trusting that God is and always will be –  faithful.  I pray you will, too!

“Father, I thank you that you are who you say you are, always. I want to honor you by believing that you are faithful, even when I cannot figure out my life. Strengthen and build a believing heart in me. Amen.”

What about you?

What do you need help believing God for today?

What is the basis for your image of God?  Your own understanding?  Circumstances?  The Word of God?

Where have you placed your trust?  By who or what is your heart governed?

Do you, like me, need God to strengthen and build a believing heart in you?

“May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;  May the name of the God of Jacob protect you.  May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.  May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings.  May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.  May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God.”(Psalm 20:1-5)

Worship

God, Unchanging…

FullSizeRenderBy Judy Villanueva

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  (Hebrews 13:8)

The grass withers, the flower fades,
  But the word of our God stands forever. (Isaiah 40:8)

With my arms full of laundry, I walked past the three senior portraits that hung on our family room wall.  They seemed to mark an ending to what was our family life in that home…playing in the rain,  family dinners, long walks, growing-up talks, and stacks upon stacks of love!  I sat down to pause and enjoy the faces of these precious ones and, as I did, was overtaken by a wave of emotion.  So, I sat there and cried and remembered and smiled and cried a little more.  It had been a wonderful life and I would miss it.  But, life was changing and much as I wanted to hang on to what had been, I could feel God beckoning me forward.  It was as though He said, “Wasn’t it so good?  But, daughter, what your heart most needs is not your little ones back in your arms.  Life is changing and you can let it —because I am with you.”

Change.  It is a constant…steady and unpredictable.  Some of it is welcomed and some of it, not.  It is God’s design.  With open arms we welcome positive changes and, not surprising, brace against life’s strenuous shifts. We may run to the altar to be wed but will certainly drag our feet into the storm.  Promising or threatening, blessed or cursed, we tend to evaluate life’s movements as qualitatively good or bad.

What is sure is that change is the nature of our existence and the real question is, are we learning to trust God in and through the seasons and shifts that move us from birth to death?

Are our roots of faith sinking more deeply into the love of God?  Are we learning that what our hearts need most is God?  Hopefully, we are seeking to know Him better because knowing God, more than anything, strengthens and sustains us through all of  life’s changes!

God does not change.   The fact that He is the same yesterday, today and forever offers us peace and power!  God is always and completely Himself without shadow or variation. That God does not change means that His love for us will forever remain true!  It means that He is not fickle or moody and will never change His mind about anything.  His faithfulness will not and cannot waiver…EVER!  When God said that He would never leave or forsake us, He meant it as a permanent, fixed and “without end” reality.

We can count on Him forever!

And, all of this means that as  life continues to change, we can let it  because God is here with us and, always will be!  

“Father,  to think of Your unchanging nature fills my mind and heart.  I feel so grateful that I can count on Your love forever!  In the midst of a life that changes constantly, I feel the deep comfort that comes from knowing that You are unchanging.  Amen.”

What about you?

How are you handling the changes in your life?  Are you holding tightly or lightly?

Are you learning to trust and lean on God through the changes?

Have you thought much about what it means that God is unchanging?

Have you felt the comfort of knowing that God is the same yesterday, today and always?

(This reflection was  influenced by AW Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy)

Worship

Singing!

DSC_1168By Judy Villanueva

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
 Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
 Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming.  (Psalm 96:11-13)

But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, for You have been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress.  (Psalm 59:16)

If ever there were a tree that could sing, it would definitely be the aspen tree!  When spring arrives it unfurls its leaves and, almost as if in worship, its heart-like leaves dance in the wind and quake in harmony with its piney neighbors. The sight and sound of it draw me into immediate and joyful praise!  What makes your soul sing with joy?  Think about it.  What fills your heart and spills over into spontaneous and grateful praise? Singing God’s praises rises up from the good within us.  According to CS Lewis, praise is “inner health made audible.”  He also said:  “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”

As I read these Psalms I notice that the “singer” not only determines that his soul shall sing, but also works to inspire his soul by cultivating gratitude and joy over God’s victories, strength, and bountiful provision!  Once again, we bump into the spiritual practice of  living awake and aware.  If we do not notice God’s activity in our days or His lovingkindness throughout our lives, if we do not work to inspire our souls with the wonders of God around us, how we will ever be moved to sing?

If hurry and worry usurp all of our attention, we may find our hands full, our minds troubled, and our souls void of joyful melodies.

How does your life sing to God? Does it?  Aspens need simply be the trees that God designed them to be in order to catch the wind and quake a happy tune. Our challenge, as Christians, is to be willing to be the individuals God created us to be and avail ourselves to being filled with the breath of His Spirit.  We don’t need to be a spruce or maple or  — just ourselves given to God.  

It is not our perfections that inspire us to sing but rather, awakening to the Holy that gives birth to song.

We were made for singing!   Start with a prayer and ask God to help you wake up and notice His goodness around you.  Then, take a deep breath…and tell your soul to sing!

“Lord, help me to sing!  I want to notice your love in this day and tomorrow, too!  Let joy and gratitude rise up and jump into a song that praises your name.   Amen.”

What about you?

What inspires your soul to sing?

Are you learning to notice and enjoy God ?

How does your life sing to God?   In other words, how do you express joy and appreciation for the gifts of life around you?

“Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming.”

Worship