On Saturday, I read from John chapter six. Jesus was teaching that He was the Bread of life and that "...unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" At this, some of his disciples said "This is a hard saying, who can listen to it?" and some of them fell away. But Jesus said to the twelve "Do you want to go away as well?" The response from Simon Peter reminds me of what my response should be in the face of this world, in hard situations, in matters of truth and bearing my cross daily, when I want to cower and go with the flow, when I want to quit, give up and not fight the good fight and when I feel like truth gets hammered at every corner in the media. May I like Peter always say..... "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." Remembering this truth spurs me on to continue to speak the truth in love, in love for friends, for a city, for a nation who so desperately need the words of eternal life. Today, Monday as I re-read this passage, I was able to simply sit in my back room and sing it to the Lord. Declare it for my soul, strengthen my heart and renew my mind. Join me in my backroom. #BackroomPrayers Going to worship this past Sunday and sharing communion with my church family was powerful. My pastor preached the word of God, reminded us all that the Word, His Bible is the source for all truth. My favorite moment was when our church handed out a new Bible to everyone in the congregation and our Pastor had everyone read silently to themselves John 17. The beauty of the silence in the presence of the spirit at that moment as the Words of eternal life went through all of our hearts, renewing our minds was, in a word, AMAZING. That was the the true Fellowship of believers.
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As I kept hearing and seeing news of the Abducted Nigerian school girls and the call to action, I caught myself thinking "But, what can I do?" It was easy to go through my day, listen to the news, watch the different social media stories and simply scroll on past it without feeling a sense of responsibility at all. I believe my lack of sense came from an overwhelming sense of helplessness and the reality that I can't really do anything to help them anyway. Then , like He always does, the Lord reminded me that He has equipped me with the most powerful weapon in the world. PRAYER. I can pray. And I call other to pray as well. There is power in the name of Jesus. I believe this. I know this. I believe that there is no other than by which we are saved, eternally and temporarily. I believe that that God hears the cries of His people and can save. I believe that as we cry out in the name of Jesus, he hears and responds. Pray.....Pray....Pray!! "So Lord in Your mercy, Hear our prayer. Lord, Save those girls and all those who are in danger there in Nigeria. May their eyes be turned to you, Jesus the one and only. Comfort the mothers, comfort the fathers, comfort the families of all who are suffering. Bring healing to Nigeria. Heal their land in the name of Jesus. Amen and Amen!!" "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." Philippians 3:7-12 NIV It is sometimes easy and always a joy for me to write blog entries of what God is doing in my life, the joys I see in others and the encouraging truths He reveals. Today is not one of those days. Today is the day that I typically don't write about because it doesn't make me look very good, but today I think I need to. I always tell people how imperfect I am. We all are right? But sometimes we (and by we, I mean, I) don't showcase our real imperfections, our secret struggles because people might really know who we are and who wants to do that...to really do that. But I have learned repeatedly that it takes to much energy to pretend to be something that I am not, so here goes! There is a sweet lady that I knew growing up, her name is Mary. She really is "perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). OK, obviously she is not and she would probably give you a list of her sinful flaws, none of which I would believe except for the fact that no one is perfect on this side of heaven. Enough of me avoiding the point of my sin. As I was reading in Matthew 5 today, the heading for verses 43-48 said "Love Your Enemies." I read it as I have read it before saying of course I will pray for my enemies, for those who are against me (Yes, I have a few.) Yes, Lord I will pray for those that don't like me, I will pray for them, my enemies, that's easy! Maybe I'll just pray that they like me and we'll all be good, right? God did not let me slide through these verses today. He stopped me and said, "No, YOUR enemies, the ones that YOU are against, the ones that you dislike, the ones that make your stomach turn, the ones that slander rolls so easily off your tongue about....THOSE enemies!" To which I quickly replied "I don't want to pray for THEM!" (There are so many times that my birth order reveals itself in my conversations with the Lord. Yes, I am the baby of seven.) As I sat there with my Bible and my pouty lip, knowing what the Word said, knowing what God revealed to me, I had a choice. I could refuse to pray for them, I could pretend pray, or I could ask the Spirit of God to guide my words. Today, this was a tough one to swallow. I have learned my lessons the hard way about disobeying the Lord, especially when He speaks to me and makes it crystal clear. So, I asked the Spirit to guide my words and I began to pray blessings on my enemies, those two people that I just don't like. God gave the words as my stomach literally turned to the point that I wanted to throw up. I guess I felt a little like Noah, not even wanting these people to be blessed. At the end of it, God showed me that it's gonna be difficult, it's not always fun, but as I release these people from the wrong I "feel" that have done to me, He will bless them and He will bless my heart with a peace that I will not even be able to understand. So, now, I sit hear...heavy hearted and a little bit teary, because I know the battle that rages in my heart as I learn to forgive people who probably have very little clue the bitterness I have towards them. While I may not be outright mean to these people, I may not even cross paths that often with them, for me, the danger is deeper, because it's a bitter-root in my heart and it pops up at the most unpredictable times. Yesterday, God laid two beautiful women on my heart to pray for...that was easy, THAT was a joy. Today, God called me to pray again, but for my enemies, That's NOT easy, But God's strength is perfect and I know that as I pray His will, He WILL change my heart. That's a JOY. I am humbled. I surrender. LOVE WINS! Love Your Enemies
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. "What's the point?" This seems to be the questions running through the Koehne household. I was approached by one of my children recently in a very tender moment where I was asked "Mom, what is the point of doing papers, going to school and getting an education? How does all of this glorify God and further His Kingdom? I just want to glorify God in all I do." I was also asked "What about a teenager or college student who does all this stuff and then dies, did they waste their time when they could have been doing Kingdom work?" Those are heavy questions from a young adult and one that ironically, I have been struggling with as well in a different context. The answer for me and the answer I gave lies in the Word of God. It is the only authority in answering this question "What's the Point?"
Crazy as it is, being asked this question was a healing moment for me as well. As I tell my children that it's not about the degrees, it's not about what college you go to, the papers, the games or in my case getting on the radio, getting music gigs or getting signed to a recording label. It's so much more than that. And since it's not really about the degree or the homework, it IS about the discipline that those things teach you in life which in turn teaches you discipline in your spiritual life and your walk with Christ. Sometimes we are asked to do things that we just don't feel like, but because we are people that have learned to honor and respect, when Christ asks us to step out in faith, we learn more quickly to trust, to walk, to hear and to listen. I believe that it's about the journey along the way. I believe it's about seeing your classmates and learning to love them, to be light, to show forgiveness when no one else does, to live one's walk daily in the classroom and to do it all for the glory of God... to look in our hearts, to examine our hearts in line with the Truth of Christ and that during the journey we see each day as a time to love others in the places that we have had the opportunity to be...in the classroom, on the job, at home and in our neighborhood. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble,whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved." I Corinthians 10:31-33 My prayer today was simple. "Lord, I want to follow you." I want to follow Christ and love Him and love others. The rest....the music...the singing, recording, writing, working is simply a means of doing that and what I learn and share along the way is a blessing. For my children...going to school, doing homework so that, Lord willing, they can have more doors opened so they are able to impact more people for Christ is a part of their journey. It's all part of the journey in lifting Christ high..learning to decrease myself as He increases. "He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30 So, what's the point? To Love God and Love others, to make disciples, to be a disciple, to be a faithful follower of Christ, What's the point?..to expand the Kingdom of God so that all might know His love and be saved...and sometimes you have to sit in a classroom, write papers and take tests to have the wonderful opportunity to do that. Praise be to God! And Now for your enjoyment....Homework helps us articulate clearly so that we can clearly speak the Truth of Christ Jesus so that others understand what we are saying. |
The BlogA collection of writings from a life based on the truth that about midnight anything can happen. AuthorAs an imperfect servant of the Lord, I often feel I am fumbling my way through life, looking upward for guidance and outward to love. So, I write about it, to break up the noise in my head. Categories
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