Spiritfire- Proverbs 20:25, It’s A Trap!

“It is a trap to dedicate something rashly
and only later to consider one’s vows.”
 
Admiral Ackbar’s cry of warning to the Rebel Alliance in the movie ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’, when they realized the shield around the “fully armed and operational battle station” was still up, was the first thing my kids and I heard.  After we took some time giving our best Ackbar impersonations, we began to explore this proverb from a long time ago, in a culture far, far away.  Because of its intro, we began to know this as the Star Wars’ proverb.
 
When we considered it, the story of Jephthah came to mind as one who made an oath rashly, in Judges 11.  Jephthah wanted to win a battle against neighboring Ammon over a dispute of land ownership, Judges 11:12-29.  So he made his oath to the LORD, in Judges 11:30-31, and said,  “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”  The LORD did as Jephthah asked, but the first thing that came out was not a thing, it was his daughter!  The trap of an oath rashly given was complete!  After he saw this, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break,” Judges 11:35.  She was his only child.
 
Did Jephthah sacrifice his daughter?  I’d consult the ‘book of armaments’ in: https://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/did-jephthah-sacrifice-daughter-to-god.html, to answer that.  Jephthah got to experience the truth of this proverb and in bitterness fulfilled his vow.
 
I then asked my kids, “Where’s Jesus in this proverb?”  As I asked this, it’s not to say that Jesus looked at each proverb and took the task to fulfill each one, but in His completeness as the Son of God, it was written in Colossians 2:3 “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” Jesus fulfilled everything.  Although again, as in most other proverbs, we feel the inescapable jaws of judgment and condemnation and are taught the discernment to ‘avoid the noid’, I mean the trap of impetuous oath making, Jesus is the One who sets the captives free as it is written of Him in Luke 4:16-21 quoting and fulfilling Isaiah 61:1.
 
Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who sets us free!  We are made new and complete in Him, Colossians 2:10!  Although this Star Wars’ proverb warns us and Jephthah’s example witnesses to us and we learn to be wise in what we say, Jesus gives us our freedom no matter how many Death Stars are built by the Empire.

The Vindicator

Isaiah 54:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17    “‘ no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
    and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
    and their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.”

“God is my vindicator!” This was echoing in my head this morning.
I know for myself, this often gets forgotten as I try to prove what I’m saying is the truth. I can’t find the verse that says we are to vindicate ourselves. God does this.

God’s arms are strong. He will carry you to safer shores. His Truth protects as it advances. His light makes plain the path you tread. Keep following after His call and He will lead you through.

How many are God’s wonders? None of us would believe; how amazing are His works? How are we to describe them? What words capture the wonder of His reality? This we have been promised, mind-blowing though it may be, more is yet to come!

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Taken

No matter the joy
No matter the peace
All can be taken away here
All except Him

Make the Lord your joy
Make the Almighty your peace
If you do, there is shelter
If you do, there is hope

One Day we will be taken to Him.

The Holy Spirit Loves Me

The Holy Spirit really loves me.  Of course, you say.  But I mean it.  He REALLY loves me!

This afternoon, I was putting together our new weed whacker.  I was trying to be careful and follow the assembly instructions but I managed to push the main handle sections together backward.  Ugh.  So I tried to pull it apart.  It wouldn’t budge.  I sat down and pulled the handle with my feet.  Nothing.  I called my son to come out and play tug-of-war.  No go.  I tried to wedge a flat-head screwdriver between the sections.  Nope.
I evaluated the situation and realized that it was unusable.  Weed whackers do not work upside-down.  It’s not just unsafe, it doesn’t work.  I couldn’t take it back to Walmart for an exchange without telling a lie. So I started my favorite prayer:

“Holy Spirit, please help me.  I can’t do this without you.  Please help me get this thing apart.”

And I continued wedging and pulling and praying.  Ugh.  Still no success… or so I thought!
I swallowed my pride and decided to show Brian.  I picked up the weed whacker and to my surprise, it was straight!  What?  I checked again.  And again.  Perhaps once again.  Hmm… I know that it was backward and that it didn’t twist or change in my hands.  There was only one explanation.  The Holy Spirit fixed it for me.
Yup, that’s right.  He fixed it for me.  The first thought in my mind was, “the Holy Spirit really loves me!”  It wasn’t a scream or shout or burst of praise.  Just the simple thought that has been a reality in SO many times of my life.  Everything from finding lost items to figuring out tricky computer programs to giving my family a free van.  He really loves me and cares about what concerns me (1 Peter 5:7).
Thank You, Holy Spirit.  I love you, too.
-Betsy

Intro the Spection

After all the deep introspection, yeah, I see my scars. I know enough to say, “Don’t follow me”, but not enough to say, “Go this way”. Just know who you’re following.

Keep Jesus as your compass and you will be surprised at the stormy seas you will walk upon. The ‘fiery furnace’ may not be who you’d expect, nor the ‘lions’ den’.

Jesus will see you through.

Morning Prayer Time

“Dear Heavenly Father,

We receive from You (Hands are cupped together and are pulled up to our hearts to represent receiving from God,)
all that You have to bless us with.”  My daughter then adds: “And in store for us.”
I repeat her: “And in store for us.”
“We need more!  (I reach my hand up to Heaven every time I say ‘more’,)  We need more!
We need more more more more more more more more (Arms go crazy raising and falling,)
MORE of You!
Fill us all the way up (We wiggle our fingers from our feet to up to our heads,)
to OVERFLOW! (We wave our arms out like the ocean.)
You are the only One
who knows the end (We point to our left,)
before the beginning! (We point to our right,)
And we know that You are… (My kids fill in the blank with up to 10 things matching my fingers.  Some examples include:  Good, Loving, Kind, Amazing, Patient, Perfect, Generous, Awesome, Gracious, Faithful.  One hand represents for my daughter and the other is for my sons and they race to fill their quota.  Racing is fun,).
We know these things about You, so we trust in You.”
(Then I challenge my kids to pray “HUGE!!” and I give them a chance to pray their own individual prayers.)
Then I close us out in prayer.
May this help give you ideas of how to have fun while praying with your family.
God has no limits, so why should our prayers?

Isn’t Today Beautiful?

Why don’t I write about what “they” want me to write?

“In your writings, there is pain and abandonment,” yes, there is.  I get such accusations like- “he’s not writing from His relationship with the Spirit”, but I am.  It becomes the same as Peter when he sinks.  Why does he sink?  Why did Adam and Eve eat the fruit?  Why did Jesus sweat tears in the garden?  “But you talk about things ‘they’ don’t, like ‘unanswered prayer’.  The ‘faithful’ say it doesn’t exist, but you say it does.”  Either I am not ‘faithful’ and you have made another ‘pile of sticks’ you need to jump to remain so, or there is more to this than either of us know.  It would be easy to say faith = answered prayer, one proves the other.  It verifies the Truth that we can’t see and becomes little more than ammunition for Job’s friends.
 
I say Jesus shows us another form of prayer, for the ‘faithful’- Luke 11:1-12, and for the rest of us- Luke 22:39-46.  Yes, there is answered prayer.  Hallelujah!  People get healed, are resurrected.  Yes, there is unanswered prayer.  Babies die, people live in anguish and pain.  Is ‘faith’ to still say “Hallelujah!”?  Does ‘faith’ become- how much can you take and still praise Him?
 
I say: Don’t make ‘faith’ a pile of sticks that needs to be jumped.  Resist such temptation that makes it ‘us’ who made it, and ‘them’ who didn’t.  The ‘made it’ become the ones who prayed for their sick child who is healed, and the parents get to raise him/her and see the blessings of generations, while the ‘didn’t make it’ become the parents who hold their dead baby and mourn everyday carrying sorrow in their heart.  Many shake their head at such a dichotomy and abandon the ‘faith’ because of its impotence in the face of an unjust life.
 
Where is worship?  Shouldn’t it be for the victorious, the ‘us’ who made it?  No, worship was never about ‘us’, whoever we are.  It is always about Him.
 
I have witnessed the joy of leading thousands in worship, and the pain of disease that took it all away.  “In truth, I never cared for it,” is what people say to avoid the pain of devastating loss.  I want to point people to Jesus during joy and sorrow.  He is the breeze, the shade that blocks the unbearable heat of our life-giving sun.  Why must there be both?  I don’t know, but isn’t today beautiful?

A Farmer’s Field

There is an ‘Empty’ place.

A place that seems void of Life, yet that is the place most ripe for growth.

We sense it in the wind, in the sunrise, and in the rain.

We were meant to grow, not where we are, but where God sends us.

Now is the Time, Now is the place.

We move according to His direction.

We shine wherever we go, it’s what we do.

He is the Light and we are His children.

Spiritfire; Proverbs 20:20, Light Of The World

“If someone curses their father or mother,
their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.”

There are all kinds of parents in this world. Some care too much for their children, some care too little, and still, others are variations of the two. For the ‘too much’, this Proverb stands and condemns the ungrateful. For the ’too little’, it warns the unwary. For the vain, this proverb is the ‘get away free’ card. For the abusive, it is a gateway of doom. If this is what awaits the victim before a righteous God, then what is in store for the abuser?

Ephesians 6:4 helps us to gain a fuller view of the parent/child picture:

“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

When we looked at Jesus, we saw Him in the garden praying a prayer that wasn’t going to get answered. His reply, as told in Luke 22:42, was not to curse God, but was in submission to Him:

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

We kept our eyes on Jesus and saw Him on the cross. Again, He didn’t curse God. He didn’t follow the advice from Job’s wife in Job 2:9, to “curse God and die.” He didn’t sing “Good Good Father”, by Chris Tomlin, either. He said, in Matthew 27:46,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Whatever peace filled David when he wrote Psalm 27:10,

“Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord will hold me close,”

was turned on its head as in Psalm 22. Even so, Jesus did not curse His heavenly Father. Because of that, not only did Jesus not get snuffed out, He is the Light of the world, John 8:12.

More than the coming New Year, and clearer than your glasses, Jesus fulfilled Proverbs 20:20 for the salvation of us all.