White Out

If you live in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, or pretty much anywhere except for California, Texas, and Arizona, you may have experienced a winter white-out. You know how it goes: there is so much snow falling from the sky and so much snow blowing parallel to the ground that you can't see a thing. Like the road in front of you or the house across the street. This can be rather frightening at times.

I was thinking about this concept yesterday as Jordan and I were cross-country skiing. The freshly falling snow beckoned me outdoors, and I drug my wonderful husband along with. It was pretty windy out yesterday, and at times, I had a hard time distinguishing the snow on the ground from the snow in the sky; I had a hard time keeping my skis in the previous skiers tracks because I couldn't see them.

As I thought, "Whoa! White out!", I was reminded of the wonderful invention that white out it is. Think about it: you make a mistake while hand-writing something in pen. Don't start over! Just use that handy-dandy white out stick to make the mistake disappear. Covered up. Magic.

In life, we make a lot of mistakes. We're born sinners and we sin on a daily basis. No amount of white out could erase them or make them disappear - only Jesus can do that. And aren't you grateful that Jesus doesn't just "white out" our sins, but that He completely wipes them out? Though our sins grieve the LORD, He doesn't hold on to them forever or hold them against us when we repent and turn to Him. In Jeremiah, the LORD called out to Israel, who had abandoned Him for dead, worthless idols to come back to Him:

"'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the LORD; 'I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,' declares the LORD; 'I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the LORD your God . . . '" - Jeremiah 3:12-13

Yes, we sin. We sin so much and feel so unworthy. But when we repent and return to the LORD, we are the only ones who remember our sins.

"As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:12

"He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." - Micah 7:19

Praise Jesus!

Be A Window

"Help me spread Your fragrance where ever I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may be only a radiance of Yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I know would feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only You."

These are the lyrics to a song that the Concert Choir at AFLBS is singing this year and I haven't been able to get the words out of my head. It is based on a prayer from Mother Theresa, a missionary to India in the mid-1900s. The text that I italicized has especially stood out to me lately, as our director Mr. Hanson once heard-- we are to be windows for the Lord, not mirrors.

That really made me think as to what the purpose of a window as opposed to that of a mirror. Webster's defines them as following:

• Mirror: something that gives a true representation

• Window: opening ... for admission of light and air

To think of it in those terms gave me a different perspective. I do want to represent Christ on this earth, but how much more should our lives display Christ? Think of a clean window with light shining through it--do you notice the window or the light? Your answer, of course, is the light. If we are acting as a window for the Lord, people will notice God instead of us. What an amazing witness that would be!

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." --Matthew 5:14-16

Where does our light come from? In ourselves we cannot produce light-- we have nothing good in ourselves. The light that shines through us is Christ--let HIM shine through you today. So that people will look up and see no longer you, but Christ. This is my prayer today, I pray that it would be your's as well.

Faith like Job

Hey guys

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about today, but I think my reading lately is going to take me sort of where I was hoping to go. I've been in the book of Job for the last few days. It's kind of a depressing book, especially the first few chapters. We learn that Job has been incredibly blessed - he has all kinds of land and livestock - and that life is just really good in general for him. Satan wants God to see that if he takes those things away from Job, that Job will turn away from God. So God allows Satan to take everything away from him - family included. However, Job does not respond as Satan expected. Job does get upset but he keeps his faith in God and refuses to blame Him for it.

We need to be more like Job. God blesses each and every one of us; however, sometimes bad things happen. What we can't do is blame God; He has our best interests at heart. Sometimes He works in funny ways, but we need to remember, as in Romans 8:28, that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him," and that even if we can't see the direction He's going to take things, it doesn't mean He's not going to take it in a direction that will ultimately benefit us. Next time things seem hard for you, or like you got the short straw, remember Romans 8:28 and just keep trusting in God.

P.S. I have a prayer request for everyone. Zach Gabbard, a basketball player from Perham (MN), collapsed at a basketball game a little over a week ago. He went unconscious and his heart stopped for a while as well. After some treatment at Sanford in Fargo, he stabilized enough to be transferred to the U of MN Medical Center in Minneapolis. He's still in a coma and doctors are unsure what the problem is. Please keep him, his family, and his doctors in your prayers.