Sawn in Two

An interesting point from yesterday's sermon:

Some of the heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 met with VERY BAD ENDS:

"...others were tortured,...others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword..."

SAWN IN TWO?! 

That got me thinking.   Abraham is listed in the Faith Hall of Fame, and not to discount his faith, he looked forward to a son, a land, a nation and a savior.     

What did the men and women who were sawn in two have to look forward to?

"...not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection."

Yes, the same thing we have to look forward to.   A better resurrection.

My real question is this:  Can we trust God enough while we are being sawn in two to see past the blade and fix our eyes on what lies ahead?

Leaping Sparrow

          The spiritual implications of this were too hard to resist!

"Winter . . .

. . . a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour."    
                                                                   ~JOHN BOSWELL

Doesn't that sound yummy?  I read this quote in Victoria magazine. Below it was a full page photo of a  Coconut Meringue Pie. The page before it had a Three-layer Vanilla Bean Cake and the following page had Hazelnut Macaroons and Baked Alaska.  Now I know you have magazines of your own with equally yummy words and photos, but I share these to say this:

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I MADE A THREE-LAYER CAKE?

Trust=Surrender

Have you ever seen or participated in exercises where two people are to do something to produce trust between one another? The simplest one is to fall backwards into the other person's arms, trusting that they will not let you fall. It's HARD!
In our lesson on TRUST this evening, Olin pointed to Abraham's TRUST exercise--
Offering as a sacrifice his SON, believing that God would work it out.  

  A bit harder, yes?

Olin made the point that faith thrives when we  surrender to God.

Abraham's did.

SURRENDER

I've been thinking a lot about surrender over the past few months since I read this quote from The Purpose Driven Life:    You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don't always have to be in charge.

Psalm 37:7 says Surrender yourself to the Lord and wait patiently. (Ever notice how God's word can say so much in so few words?)

Every time I read the above quotes they take my breath away. Do these people know me?! Oh yah, the second author does know me. He knows surrender is very hard for me. He knows that I like to be in charge.

But He is working on me. He is teaching me to surrender- to let go. And, to my great surprise, it feels really good!



to the praise of His glory . . .

In this morning's sermon, the point was made that we have joy in knowing our purpose in life, which is

 To live the will of God and to glorify Him.

Eph. 1:12 was sited:
 that we who first TRUSTED in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Because of what Christ has done, we have become gifts to God that He delights in and His purpose in this is that we should praise Him and give Him glory. What's NOT to trust in such a GOD?! What's not to praise?!

I agree. It is a JOY and a COMFORT to know my purpose, which was already decided by my loving Father long before I was born.

Ready or not . . .

Last night, as I finished setting up this blog, contemplating what to write in my first post, I received word that the father of my grown son's friend had just died, leaving a wife, a son in college and two daughters still in high school. The topic of my post was decided.
While I struggle to trust God more each day, and HOPE that when the next catastrophy hits I'll be "fully entrusted," this new widow is thrust into a huge, dark, unknown-- ready or not.
Lord, please strengthen her and her children, comfort them, protect and provide for them. And help the thought remain in the forefront of my mind this year and beyond:
                                  TRUST is not a luxury. It is a necessity.