Salty Zebra

 A week ago, our pastor's father, who himself is a retired pastor of over 35 years, spoke at our church on what he called, "The prayer of importunity."  Now that's a word I'd never heard before and I was fascinated by it. Over the last week this message has been brought to my mind more times than I can count and when it returned to my mind this morning, after reading today's LGG blog post , I decided it was time I shared my musings with you.   The biblical prayer that this message, and my subsequent musings, were based on can be found in Luke 18:1-8 . In this passage, Jesus tells a story, a parable, about a widow who had a great need. She sought out the local judge who, unfortunately, was a person who feared neither God nor man, to get the justice she so desperately required. Being this type of person, he had no intention of granting the widow's request, but she didn't give up, and so eventually he gave in, not because he had had a change of heart or ...

  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20  People’s last words are given great weight and value. When you know you’re dying, what is that most important last thing you want to convey to the world? Jesus’ last words to us on earth, the Great Commission, are so important. They sum up our call to action, His will for us in our lives for the rest of earth’s timeline. So what is it that Jesus wants us to do?   Make disciples. What is a disciple and how does one go about making one? Here’s what Webster had to say: DISCIPLE, noun [Latin , to learn.] 1. A learner; a scholar; one who receives or professes to receive instruction from another; as the disciples of Plato. 2. A follower; an adherent to the doctrines of another. Hence the constant attend...

  And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”   Mark 15:39  What was it the centurion saw that convinced him that Jesus was God’s Son? This scripture tells us that the centurion confessed this after he saw how Jesus died. I don’t think it was the moment of Jesus’ passing* that impressed this truth on the bystanders, but all that they had witnessed leading up to it. So, what was different about how Jesus died?   Perhaps the centurion first saw Jesus as He was led to Pilate, bloodied and bruised from the beating He had received from the high priest’s guards and compatriots. Perhaps he was in the room when Pilate questioned Jesus and Jesus remained silent before him, as a sheep before the slaughter ( Isaiah 53:7 ) except when He was asked outright if He was the king of the Jews and Jesus confessed only that Pilot had said it was true. Scripture tells us that Pilate was amazed that Jesus re...

  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26  Who am I? I am a wife, a mom, a follower of and believer in Christ. I am a traveler, a writer, a lover of coffee. None of these are necessarily physical attributes, and yet, when I think of death, the first thing that comes to mind is a natural, physical death. That is what has made these verses so difficult for me to grasp.   From the moment I wake up in the morning, I feel the reality of my physical body. I spend the better part of most days taking care of that body – feeding it, cleansing it, trying to decrease it’s pain. I use my physical body for so much, even writing this post. And yet, my physical body does not represent all, or even most of me. Who I am, like I mentioned before, is made up of relationships, interests, thoughts and dreams. None of these are...

  Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.”   Luke 9:23-24  Jesus ushered in His upside-down kingdom. In it, whoever would like to be first must be last. Whoever loses their life for Jesus’ sake will save it. It went contrary to everything the religious institutions stood for. It defined true success and happiness and divested the clergy of all of their perceived power and uniqueness. Turns out that God loves everyone and wants us all to come to Him and live in relationship with Him. Instead of it being a select few that acted just right in public and gave lots of money to the temple, God actually saw value in prostitutes and tax collectors as well, if not even more so because they were capable of seeing their need for God and appreciate His grace and provision for them.   Pe...

  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14  As I was vacuuming the living room this morning, I was thinking about Christmas coming up. I was considering where I should place my Christmas tree this year. I was wondering if my daughter would be able to come home for a day or two to help me decorate. I was up late last night working on Christmas gifts for my family. It’s still October, and yet I’ve got Christmas in my heart! I can’t help but wonder if the last four weeks of studying God’s faithful love for us throughout the Old Testament have been preparing my heart for this. But, just as the world was both perfectly ready and completely clueless when Jesus arrived, I feel the same way about our celebration of this wonder that is fast approaching.  God taught us to mark special occasions and important memories with celebration. No, there ar...

   On our way home from the beach Sunday evening, I told my husband that I would like to stop by our favorite little hole-in-the-wall restaurant and get some celebratory milkshakes, a way to mark our thanks to God for giving my husband a job. He thought this was a little strange since he has not yet gotten a job, but I insisted that I wanted to thank God and celebrate in advance because I knew  without a doubt that God has things lined up perfectly and has just the right job in store for him at just the right time.   To be honest, I'm kind of hoping that God put this on my heart because it's coming soon, my husband's new job. It's been a rough road of late and we'd both really like him to be employed. God has provided wonderfully and abundantly for us, we're not short on money or stressed about how we will pay our bills. It's just that my husband really  feels like he wants to have a job. The idea of his job being finding a job has worn off and to say he is...