Blog – Page 39 – Karla Jo Wasion

made for love

You were made for love. It is a need that is deeply planted into every human being by God. From that need we search, we crave, we manipulate, we push and we pull. We will often suffer shame and indignity in our desperate pursuit of love, and in the end, the need remains unsatisfied. Finally, we settle for what passes for love, or we settle for no love at all, having finally tired of the chase.

But oh, there is a love. The very love we were made for. The only love that will finally cause our heart to rest from it’s pursuit. It is God’s desire that you know this love.

The Apostle Paul understood that there is a vast love, a deep love, a love that comes from the very heart of the One who made you for love. One of the richest prayers I find in scripture is his prayer for the saints at Ephesus (Ephesians 3:16-21). Before we read his prayer, we need to settle something.

“All scripture is God-breathed…” (2 Timothy 3:16). The prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians was from the breath of God.

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

A God breathed prayer for us, to put an end to our searching for the Love we were created for.

“…being rooted and established in love…”. Think redwood, think 100 year old oak. Imagine their roots, and the earth moving equipment it would take to uproot them. You have been rooted in the love of God, and there is nothing that can pull you up out of it.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ” Romans 8:38-39

You have been established in love. This means that the love of God is your foundation. Everything in your life now rests on, and is built on His love. From it comes the mercies you receive, the grace, the comfort, the strength and yes, even the trials. In all of it, love came first. Your life rests upon the love of God.

“…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…”. This love that you were made for has no dimensions and is without an end. It is not a small love, a limited love or a fleeting love. It is a wide open, down deep love that goes on and on and on.

“…I have loved you with an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3

“and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God“. It is a love that goes far beyond what we know to be love, and He wants you to know it…feel it, understand it, experience it and be filled with it, filled with Him.

A prayer breathed by God and full of His desire that you stop searching for a love that will satisfy your heart. He is the only One who has that kind of love for you. He has loved you first, loved you always and loved you completely. It is the same love that took Him to the cross, compelling Him to give His life for yours.

That’s the love you were made for.

here I stand

So Ahaz, King of Judah, was under the threat of invasion. Other kings had allied together to overtake Judah and “the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.” (Isaiah 7:2) God instructed the prophet Isaiah to speak to Ahaz, giving him comfort and encouragement. But it is what He said in verse 9 that has captured my attention today.

“If you do not stand firm in your faith,
you will not stand at all.”

Invasion comes, and we scramble for a place to stand through it. Where do we often find our feet? Two places in particular come to mind right away.

Blame ~ it’s easier to stand firm if you have someone else to blame for what is happening. Some of us find our place of “this is not my fault” and that’s where our righteously indignant feet get planted.

Shame ~ we resign ourselves to whatever is coming, because we assume we deserve it. So many of God’s children stand in shame, unable to get their feet to move onto the solid ground of His forgiveness.

We all have our spot, our place that we plant our feet. We stand on our moral character, our common sense and on traditions. Some are standing in fear, in anger, and in resignation. Some are not standing at all. They are running. Running away from their situation, running to try to stay ahead of the invasion, running to stay in control, running in circles.

And God has said that we will all fall down. All but the one who has chosen to stand on one thing. Faith. It is the only piece of solid ground in existence…depending, of course, on where our faith rests.

So we dig a little deeper. What do we have faith in? What is it that gives us peaceful assurance and determination when our life is under the threat of invasion? We all know the “right” answer to that question, but for our hearts to be changed, we have to uncover the “real” answer. For many, our faith moves around a lot. It can look somewhat butterfly-ish at times, even though our faith in God is strong. In times of trial or under the threat of invasion, faith looks for a place to land. The overall character of God, the fact that He is good, or even the fact that He works everything out for our good can still leave our faith flitting around looking for something solid.

So we turn to people, reaching for someone who will tell us something we can rest our faith on. Someone who can tell us why this is happening and what we should do about it. Our faith wants to rest on something tangible, and unfortunately, it usually lands on people. Good people, wise people, but still just people.

Which leads me to the scripture that links up with Isaiah 7:9.

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1Corinthians 2:4-5

I have gone through an invasion of the enemy. It brought destruction to my marriage and to my family. The invasion took place over many years, and during those years, I stood in all of the places I mentioned earlier. And I fell from every one of them. Then God broke in, took me by the hand and led me out of destruction and into His fire. While there, He fed me Isaiah 7:9 and 1Corinthians 2:4-5. He taught me that I could stand against the enemy’s destruction only by standing in faith, a faith at rest solely on His power. And then He proved that it is indeed the most solid place on this earth.

It was His power that overcame the destruction the enemy brought to my family. It was His power that turned our hearts and changed our minds, repaired our broken walls and brought restoration from ruin. Only the power of God could have healed the many wounds inflicted during the invasion of the enemy in our lives. And it is His power that is still at work, repairing, restoring and healing.

No matter what comes, or threatens to come, I will stand in faith. A faith at rest on the power of God to contend for me and my family, to overcome the enemy’s plans of invasion and to restore what has been destroyed.

It is in the incomparably great power of the One who is for me and not against me that my faith has found it’s resting place.

He’s looking for a weakness

Sometimes, it’s all just a matter of perspective. Sometimes. But not always.

In Exodus 4:10, Moses was trying to convince God that He had the wrong man for the job of convincing Pharoah to let the Israelites go.

“Moses said to the LORD, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.’”

Moses knew his weakness. He knew he was quite ill-equipped to be God’s spokesperson to the ruler of Egypt. He may have been good at many other things, but wouldn’t you know it…the one thing he can’t do is the very thing God assigns to him. And bless his heart, he really tried to get out of it. “But Moses said, ‘O Lord, please send someone else to do it.'” (v. 13)

I can hear the fear in Moses’ voice, and to my ears it’s bordering on panic. He just knows that he cannot do what God has called him to do. He knows his weakness and his limitations, and they do not fit the job description. What Moses apparently did not know, was the power of God, and what would be said of Moses many generations later.

“The LORD said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’” (v. 11-12)

Here is what I hear God say to me in this ~ “I know you are weak. I am the One who created you, and your weakness. Obey My call anyway, and I will enable you to do what your weakness prevents.”

When we try to help people learn what their calling from God may be, what their place in the Body is, we often ask them “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Then we focus on their strengths, because for some reason we think that’s God’s focus. It isn’t. It never has been.

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1Corinthians 1:26-27

God uses our weakness far more than He uses our strength. Our weakness keeps us close to Him, causes us to depend on Him. But mostly, our weakness causes God and His strength to be evident. It is His glory revealed when we do what we are called to do in our weakness. Our strength does the opposite.

Moses knew his weakness. God said “I will help you”. Generations later, listen to how Stephen describes Moses.

“Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Acts 7:22

Perspective? Or is it what a weakness becomes in the hand of God?

through the holy place

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Matthew 27:51

The veil that was rent separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, the place of God’s presence. The tearing of the curtain signifies that with His atoning death we now have access to the presence of God. It is not a small detail, this torn curtain that now allows us to approach God ourselves. In the past, only the high priest could enter beyond the veil, one time a year, with fear and trembling. One wrong move would mean his death.

I have recently found myself longing for the presence of God. I’ve also found myself blaming the lack of His “presence” on other people. The teachings at church, the worship service, the apathy of those in the congregation. The things and people that constantly interrupt my life. I am not alone. There has been a grasping for something to explain the absence of the presence of God among many of His people. This morning, as I read about the death of Jesus, my eyes fixed themselves on the torn curtain, and a thought began to form.

“A way was made for you to enter the Most Holy Place. But you must still pass through the Holy Place.” That was the thought, and I can’t seem to let it go. So I feel the need to look at the Holy Place.

There were three items of significance in the Holy Place. The lampstand, the table of showbread, and the altar of incense.

Lampstand: Made up of seven lamps. They were to be kept burning day and night. According to the notes and commentaries I read, the light from the lamps represented the glory of the Lord reflected in the consecrated lives of the Israelites. The oil for the lamps was to be supplied to the high priest by the people.

Table of Showbread: The table contained twelve loaves of bread at all times, one for each tribe of Israel. It represented Israel’s declaration that the fruits of its labors were consecrated to God, and had been provided by God’s blessing.

Altar of Incense: The incense represented prayer, and was to burn regularly before God.

This is the Holy Place. The place we must pass through to approach the Most Holy Place. I have to look at all of this from the perspective of what it means for me, a woman craving the presence of God.

My life must be fully consecrated to God, completely given over for Him, allowing it to reflect His glory. I cannot maintain that level of consecration without the Holy Spirit (the oil). While I received the Holy Spirit at salvation, there is a continual filling available to me. Have I sought after that? Not for a long time.

The fruit of my labors must also be given over to God, and with it the acknowledgment that were it not for His blessing, there would be no fruit. All that I do that is good is for Him, and because of Him. Humility and gratitude are in the Holy Place.

A life of prayer. Not rote lip service, but faith filled prayer must mark my life. It is the relationship with my Father, the communion of meeting with Him in the secret place. The fragrent offering that should burn in my life.

A life layed down and filled with His Spirit, marked by humility and gratitude, with a fragrent offering arising from a believing heart.

From the Holy Place into the Most Holy Place.

the end

“The end is near!” We usually see that statement written on a sandwich board being worn by a crazy looking guy who looks like he hasn’t showered in a month. You know…in the movies. As Hollywood’s obligatory smirk at the Christian idea that there really is going to be an “end”. I doubt there’s going to be enough time for an “I told you so” when the end that was near becomes the end that is here, but something in me thinks it would feel really good.

The 24th chapter of Matthew has Jesus Himself wearing the sandwich board. As I read it I imagine the looks on the faces of His disciples as He told them the story of “the end”, a story they, and all those that come after them would take part in. You and I are those that come after them. We are living in the story of “the end”, and it is nearer now than it was then. So I’m listening.

~ “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming ‘I am the Christ’, and will deceive many.” (24:4-5)

Deception is rampant, and will only increase. I don’t want to be one of ‘many’. I want to be numbered with those who have followed Him closely enough to know His truth and His presence. I want to be with those who know that when He returns, He will not need to “claim” to be the Christ. It will be unmistakable.

~ “You will hear of wars and rumors of war, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” (24:6)

Are we not just easily alarmed? That’s more of a statement than a question, actually, so don’t try to answer it. Every new twist in the story alarms us. Every election, every law that’s passed, every talk of war, every sign that things are getting darker, causes us, the Church, to cry out with alarm. We become more and more indignant that things are getting so much worse, so out of control, so unchristianly. We start passing around petitions and staging protests, as though man has any power to stop the page from turning. We live as though we are “in the beginning”. But we aren’t. We are living in “the end”. It is no place for alarm.

~ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me.” (24:9)

Yes, we will be persecuted and hated. Many will die for their faith. There will be great deception and wickedness will increase. The love of many will grow cold. The end holds great, unequaled distress. The sun will darken and there will be no light from the moon. Stars will fall from the sky. It is the story of “the end”. But then…

~ “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (24:30-31)

And the end will be over. And we, His Church, will enter into the beginning of something beautiful, something beyond our comprehension. A beginning with no end.

May every new twist and turn, every event, every evidence of the increase of darkness, cause us to look heavenward, unalarmed and undeceived. And may we determine to draw our hearts ever closer to Him until at last we see Him face to face.

The end is near. Don’t be alarmed. It’s a good thing.

the forgiveness question

The question today is “do we need to forgive someone who has not asked to be forgiven?”. The question is valid, and arises from my recent post, “how many times”.

I find only one place in scripture that seems to indicate that my forgiveness of someone’s sin against me is contingent upon their repentence. Luke 17:3-4 – “So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

On the other hand…

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Mark 11:25

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:12-13

I find it curious that Luke 17:3 begins with “So watch yourselves.” This tells me that what follows is about me, not about someone else. In other words, the scripture is about my willingness to forgive, not their repentance. If the emphasis were on their repentance, I wouldn’t need to watch myself, I’d need to watch them. Which is what I’m usually doing. And that’s why Jesus has to keep turning it back to me, to my heart, not theirs.

I am commanded in scripture to forgive. I have yet to find a scripture that commands me not to forgive, for any reason. Yet the common sense in me says that there must be something in exchange for forgiveness. If we are to forgive “as the Lord forgave”, then we should require repentance first. This is how our mind works, and it becomes the way our heart works. Before you know it, we hold onto our forgiveness, doling it out only when someone has met the demand for proof that they deserve it. Forgiveness not given away becomes unforgiveness, which turns to bitterness. Bitterness makes unity very unlikely, and love even more unlikely. This is why forgiveness is more about us than about the one who sinned against us.

And, there is one major difference between God’s forgiveness and my forgiveness.

I didn’t have to die so that you could be forgiven. I just have to give you what has already been given to me. I’d much rather have a heart that gives it freely, than to have one that demands you ask for it.

how many times?

Matthew 18:21-35 stands in stark contrast to a particular theory prevalent in the counsel many receive, both secular and christian. The question of “how many times” is answered by many with “not enough to enable them”.

Peter asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive his brother when he sinned against him. Seven times? That probably sounded like a fairly generous number. But Jesus is far more generous than we are. “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (v.22) By the way, the definition of that number is “countless times”.

Jesus then went into the parable of the unmerciful servant, explaining that God has forgiven us of all of our debt, and so we should do likewise to our fellow man. And just so we don’t think we jumped into the shallow end of the pool, He adds “from your heart”. That means we forgive, countless times, from the very center of our being. We forgive with our will, our emotions and our thoughts. Countless times. The same brother, the same sin.

The definition of “forgive” in this passage is to release a debt, to “let go”. How many times have we said we have “forgiven” someone, but never let go of what they did to us? We forgave with our words, but we remain angry, we continue to think about what they did, how many times they did it and why they did it. Our response to the countless times they’ve sinned against us is often to cut them out of our life, or at least out of our hearts. We punish with silence, with anger and with detachment, all while saying they are forgiven.

We are called to more than lip service. We are called to release people from the debt of their sin against us, from our hearts. And it’s hard. Being a follower of Christ is not sissy work. This passage in Matthew is not about “enabling” or “disabling”. It’s not about trying to figure out how many times is too many. It’s about forgiving, and as with everything else Jesus taught, it becomes about our own heart.

On the surface, the enablement theory sounds good, like we have the “sinner’s” best interests at heart. It alludes to the idea that if we don’t “enable”, we will somehow “disable” their sin. The problem is that we have no power to “disable” anyone from sinning. Sin has it’s beginning in the heart, and power over the human heart belongs to God alone.

I really think the enablement theory is about us, the person being sinned against. Its our “out” from the “countless times” of having to forgive someone. It’s our way of making forgiveness make sense. It’s what we’re prone to, this constant attempt to make God’s ways seem logical, to fit our “common sense” way of thinking. But He is not a common God, and if His ways made sense to us, they wouldn’t be His ways. They would be our ways.

Countless times. Over and over. Forgive. Why would Jesus command such a thing of us? Perhaps part of the answer lies in listening to the answer to a different question.

“Father, how many times are You going to forgive me for sinning against You?”

“Countless times”.

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