seek and find

this morning I read in 2 Chronicles 15 about King Asa.  I love the story of King Asa leading the people of Judah and Benjamin – it’s one that I don’t recall reading before, although I’m sure I’ve heard it some time over the years.  but when I read it this morning, it was like I was reading it for the first time.

see, there’s this guy named Azariah and the Spirit of God comes upon him and he said this to King Asa:

“Listen to me, Asa!  Listen all you people of Judah and Benjamin!  The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with Him!  Whenever you seek Him, you will find Him  But if you abandon Him, He will abandon you.”  (2 Chron. 15:2)

a little further down in the chapter, the people decide to be serious about following this advice from Azariah.  it says this:

“Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their ancestors, with all their heart and soul.  They agreed that anyone who refused to seek the Lord, the God of Israel, would be put to death – whether young or old, man or woman.  They shouted out their oath of loyalty to the Lord…”  (2 Chron. 15:12-14ish)

I can just imagine them saying, “ok – this just got real.  no more lukewarm-ness.  it’s all or nothing.”  they actually agreed to put to death anyone who refused to seek the Lord!  that’s like…I don’t know, I’d say they took their seeking the Lord pretty seriously.  actually in verse 15 it says they had entered into this covenant “with all their heart”.

and then comes the 2nd part of verse 15:

“They earnestly sought after God, and they found Him.  And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.”

ahh.  the fulfillment of the promise the Spirit of God made through Azariah!  they earnestly sought after God – with all their heart – and they found Him.  they found Him.  He did not stay in stealth mode.  He did not withhold Himself from them.  He allowed them to find Him.  and He gave them rest from their enemies on every side.

I love this story!  I could expound a lot more, but I kind of feel like I should sit back and let the Word of God speak for itself.

I just want to point out this one thing and then leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit.  when we earnestly seek after God, we will find Him.  and He gives rest, or victory, over the struggles with sin, lies, deep wounds – aka our “enemies” -  in each of our lives as we earnestly seek Him.

I want to end this with the prayer that King Asa cried out to God in 2 Chronicles 14:

“O Lord, no one but you can help the powerless against the mighty!  Help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in You alone.  It is in Your name that we have come against this vast horde.  O Lord, You are our God; do not let mere men prevail against You!”

com·pas·sion

I recently read this book called A Glimpse of Jesus – The Stranger to Self-Hatred by Brennan Manning.  random side note: I actually finished it the same day Manning passed away.  random.

at one point, Manning says, “Biblically, compassion means action.”

I guess I hadn’t really thought about what the word “compassion” means before.  if you would’ve asked me to define it, I probably would’ve said it meant having a strong love/mercy for other people/things.  I know, super profound definition.  that’s how I roll.

But “compassion means action”?  I sat and thought about it.  and then I pulled out my big honkin’ concordance (yes, it’s the one with a crashing ocean wave on the front – would you expect any different?).  suddenly I had an urge to study this statement.

so I looked up the word “compassion” and specifically looked at all the times it was associated with Jesus:

-Matt. 14:14 –> Jesus had compassion and healed the sick.
-Matt. 15:32 –> Jesus had compassion and fed the hungry crowd of 4,000 with 7 loaves and a few small fish.
-Matt. 20:34 –> Jesus had compassion and healed the 2 blind men.
-Mark 1:41 –> Jesus was filled with compassion and healed the man w/leprosy.
-Mark 6:34 –> Jesus had compassion on the large crowd of 5,000 because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So He began teaching them and then fed them with 5 loaves and 2 small fish.
-Luke 15:20 –> The father was filled with compassion and welcomed his prodigal son home with great celebration.

every instance of Jesus and this word “compassion” was connected with action.  no, like really – every instance.  it wasn’t that He saw these people in need and thought, “oh, I feel bad for that person” – no.  He acted upon that deep compulsion to show mercy.

ok let’s take it 1 step deeper.  that’s right, I’m goin’ Greek on ya.  gettin’ my Greek on.

the Greek word for “compassion” used in all the above Scripture is “splanchnizomai” – which looks like a totally fun word to try and say.  it means “to have compassion on, to have pity on” – ok, not really profound.  BUT – directly under that word is the word “splanchnon”, which Manning said is the root of splanchnizomai or related to it or…oh, something like that. 

“splanchnon” means: inward parts of body; intestines; of emotion

it implies that this compassion Jesus was filled with was a deep emotion coming from the innermost parts of His body, deep within His gut.  He was so wrecked with this compulsion to relieve suffering that He had to do something.

and look what true compassion drove Him to do!  He performed miracles!  He did amazing things, to the glory of His Father!  and just as the father was moved with compassion to throw his prodigal son an extravagant celebration, so the Father rejoices when one lost child returns to Him!

it was true, authentic compassion that drove Jesus to the greatest act of compassion ever known to man – He was crucified, died, and rose again to conquer death, sin, hell…all for us to have this incredible gift of being adopted as the very sons and daughters of the Living God should we choose to believe in Him and accept this free, amazing, incomparable gift.

as we are to follow in the footsteps of the Messiah, so should we show compassion to others.  may we be seeking to be ever-growing in our sensitivity to the needs of those around us.  may our hearts match the heart of our Savior.  may we be moved in the very depths of our being to acts of mercy and grace – and may we act.

compassion means action.

kickin’ excuses

this week I have done things I’ve never done before…
I made my first meal ever in a crockpot.  and then I shared it with people.  and it was edible.  like, they ate it.  and I ate it.  and no one got sick.  and we didn’t have to order pizza.  I even messed up and it still turned out (I started it cooking in high instead of low – and remembered about 4 hours later that it was supposed to be on low for 6-8 hours…oops).

I made homemade bread for the first time in my life.  spelt bread.  using a dutch oven.  and it totally turned out.  like, it really looks like a real loaf of bread (except…round…).  actually I messed this up too – I put in 2 1/2 tablespoons of salt instead of 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt…apparently, there’s quite a difference.  ;)  so, my bread’s a little salty – I like to think it’d be perfect for the sodium-deficient people in this world.  it’s still edible, just…you know, if you like salty bread…


and tonight I maybe homemade popcorn for the first time all by myself.  I don’t know if it’s considered homemade.  it’s not like I went and grew the corn, shucked it, and dried the kernels out myself.  but I put oil in a pot and heated it and then threw the kernels in and shook it around for awhile.  it was so fun, especially when I tried what my cousin had warned me beforehand not to do – I lifted the lid a teeny bit to see what was going on inside (ok so I’m a curious individual) and I was nearly attacked by flying popcorn.  quite the adrenaline rush.  I may have let a little squeal of excitement from narrowly missing being accosted by flying kernels. but it totally turned out and is edible and I’m snacking on it right now as I write this.  it’s a little crunchy…I’m not sure why that is, but still – it’d edible!

why all this sudden burst of trying out domesticated things?

it has been brought to my attention recently, multiple times, that I have a lot of excuses.  I give a lot of excuses for not doing things or not trying things.  and I don’t even realize I do it!!  how maddening.  when I start seeing all the areas I make excuses in, I really don’t like who I’ve allowed myself to become (or NOT become, for that matter).

so I’m kickin’ excuses.  and it starts with the small things – like learning to cook/bake/make food other than black beans & rice.

and it moves to the bigger things.  I read this in a Brennan Manning book today, called A Glimpse of Jesus – The Stranger to Self-Hatred:  “Procrastination means that we stop growing for an undetermined length of time; we get stuck… The conscious awareness of our resistance to grace and the refusal to become who we really are brings a sense of oppression.”  the book?  rocking my world.  Oh the compassion and grace of our GREAT and MAGNIFICENT GOD!  maybe I’ll sit down and write a post about all the gracious repair God is doing on my heart thru His Truth in this book.

Soaking

Snow storm goin' down outside (this time it appears we might actually get snow). Super thankful for moisture in any form - we are in desperate need of it.

It's nights like these I find myself able to take a break from the busyness of life. We cancelled Girls' Bible study because of the weather. I shut my laptop off. Curled up under a blanket with a great book (Who Do You Think You Are by Mark Driscoll) and a cup of decaf coffee, Josh Garrels on "play all" and "shuffle". I keep finding myself closing my eyes and escaping back to my home in the Keys. Josh Garrels, you take me back every time - super stealth. Good times all around.