Day Forty-Three: Just the Two of Us



Jazz's Heart

    God loves the world. How do I know this? Well, besides the fact that God's word boldy states:  "God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in HIm will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16),"  God  also lets me know on a personal level. Not only through the amazing relationship I developed with my best friend, Miss Jazz Tangent, but in little things that sustain me and give me Hope everyday.   

     Last spring when Jazz got hurt, the professionals had thrown in the towel. Her hoof was gone and her injury so severe it had compromised the coronary band; the place where the hoof grows from. As we proceeded through the most difficult days of preventing infection and wrapping and wrapping and rewrapping her injury, a team of veternarians and farriers had tried to prepare me for the inevitable. "No hoof, no horse." There was no hoof growing back. Jazz had gotten worse and quit walking on her foot, a sign the vet had told me that it might be time to make decisions about Jazz's future.

    Sometimes it is a good thing I live out in the country, because the conversation I had with God that day in the barn could be heard over long distances I am sure. I cried out to him, "Why had you given me this precious gift only to take it away?" I had been praying and had solicted every praying warrior I knew to pray with me that Jazz would be alright. "At least let her be able to walk and graze and live out her senior years pain free," I begged. But it had been four months and still no hoof growth was evident and her leg continued to swell. She had also been chewing off the bandages and reopening the wounds. It was very discouraging. 

     "God," I cried out, "I know that you love Jazz as much, even more than I do.  I am believing that you will heal her but I have to admit I am having a hard time holding on to that hope. Please let me know you are still here." 

      I walked over to Jazz's stall where she was laying down resting, no longer willing to get up and walk on her sore leg.  The longer she laid down without walking the more risk she was at of other complications. "I need a sign that she is going to be alright," I prayed. I laid my head on the rails and started to cry. Jazz stood up and hobbled to the gate to greet me. She pressed her head into my shoulder and I leaned my forehead up against hers. We stood there silently for several minutes. I knew in that moment that she was going to be alright. There were a lot of ups and downs in her recovery after that. But I never lost the Hope that God had given me in that embrace. I told the farrier there will be hoof. He again tried to tell me that he had conferred with two other farriers and they were not so optimistic. When things looked bad, I remembered that moment when Jazz got up and came to me. The vet seemed to concur with the farrier but I continued to assure both of them that she was going to suprise them, "Afterall I said, Jazz has a whole team of prayer warriers covering her with prayer and God loves Jazz more than I do."


Riding Jazz

        God has blessed me so much with Jazz's beauty, her power, and her friendship. God has blessed me with His willingness to walk with me through times of great diress. To show me that He is with me and to not let me walk through this world alone. It took almost nine months to see any signs of it but today, Jazz does have hoof growth. She is going to live, she is going to have a solid hoof, and I am still believing I will be riding her again someday.

       Some folks don't believe you should ask for signs from God but I know that God is not afriad to show me he is there when I ask Him to. We sometimes have this special exchange, when my spirit cries out and His Spirit embraces mine. God didn't just throw us out into the world and leave us shouting back "Best of Luck, kiddos" as he left. God loves the world. God loves us. God loves his creation. God loves Jazz.       

STUDY GUIDE
Follow along in JOHN: 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore pages 203-208
Read John 3:16-21
 Answer the questions in your study guide.
 Share a brief highlight or two from your thoughts and answers in a comment posted to the group. (Read guidelines and cautions posted August 1, 2010 before you post).
 Read the comments of others and share your thoughts and encouragement with them by replying to their comments. Identify which post you are responding to by addressing them and their subject or pasting a brief portion of their reply at the start of your post.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, thank you for this beautiful planet; for the great beauty that surrounds us. For senses to embrace the beauty in a field of flowers, the flight of a butterfly, the majesty of the hills and trees and mountains, and for the creatures that share the planet with us. Thank you for the animals that enjoy being with humans; our pets are precious to us and give us such joy and companionship. Thank  you for teaching us about your unconditional love for us through our bonds with them. In Jesus name, Amen.


Day Forty-Two: New Wine

The NEW WINE flows with unending Love!

    I have had the most difficult time trying to write about the subject of NEW WINE. NEW WINE: The precious gift that Christ left us in his HOLY SPIRIT. A Holy Spirit that would fill us with more love and joy and peace than we can contain. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,   gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Gal 5:22-23)." With this fruit there is nothing lacking! Drink your fill and be satisfied.
     I could tell a hundred stories of the Holy Spirit intervening in my life so why is it so difficult to write a post about NEW WINE. Because to write about NEW WINE brings up thoughts and feelings about OLD WINE. Writing about OLD WINE is where I get really stuck. Not only is it painful to think about, to recall the memories but also to admit to them. Not only admitting that I had pain in my life that I tried to hide from in the old wine but the consequences of those choices each time were awful. 

     Old Wine-- the days when I thought alcohol was enhancing my life. It didn't take me three decades to realize that getting drunk was not enhancing my life. I thankfully learned early in life that drinking alcohol in excess lead to unhappy consequences. I got drunk to feel better about myself, my life, to hide from the pain and feel braver than I actually felt. Instead of enhancing my life, I lost my self-control; made stupid decisions; and got taken advantage of. Sometimes I look back and think of how lucky I was to have gotten out of some of those situations alive.

     Even when I wasn't getting drunk. Just "drinking responsibly," I can now look back and see how alcohol had negative effects. When I thought drinking wine was a great way of connecting socially, I can see how my few glasses of wine encouraged others to use alcohol in a negative way. Either by contributing to a person's alcoholism or fueling their own drunkenness to a point that was wrecking their relationships with others. What I don't understand is why it took me this long in my life to see how the casual drink affected those around me.     

     I don't drink alcohol because my 13 year old took a challenge to not let alcohol ever touch his lips. He asked me to join him and I could not refuse. It would be easy I thought because I barely drink a few glasses of wine a year. However, when you quit something that something is often illuminated in your life. I am now very in tune to discussions of alcohol in work and social settings. There is a lot of social bonding around alcohol-- like going out for a drink with co-workers or a family having a toast to an acheivement or milestone. "You can not toast with an empty glass," my grandfather always told us. But boldly stating, "I don't drink alcohol," has let me clearly examine the alcohol use in my life and what it really did without defending the part I played in it.

     "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,  making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery."
      Is abstaining from alcohol for everyone? I do not think that everyone is being called to give up drinking alcohol. But I do believe it is for the poor in spirit as God's word says, "Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish;  let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more." Eventually, every growing Christian will confront the question. It conflicted my heart for several years as God tugged on my heart to step out boldly from the traditions of this world. I took the opportunity of my son's challenge to finally settle the debate and my eyes have been opened through the experience. For when we are coming alive in Christ, we no longer want to dull our senses with anything that might hinder our search for the Truth.

     The things we are searching for when we drink alcohol are not found at the bottom of  the bottle. The love, the peace, the joy we are searching for is only found in the NEW WINE that Christ left us when he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. "The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:25-27)"
                                                              ~~~

     "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,  speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,  always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)"

STUDY GUIDE

Follow along in JOHN: 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore pages 199-202
Read John 2:6-11
 Answer the questions in your study guide.
 Share a brief highlight or two from your thoughts and answers in a comment posted to the group. (Read guidelines and cautions posted August 1, 2010 before you post).
 Read the comments of others and share your thoughts and encouragement with them by replying to their comments. Identify which post you are responding to by addressing them and their subject or pasting a brief portion of their reply at the start of your post.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, fill us with your new wine that overflows with love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Help us to remember to come to you for a drink when we are thirsty and to not follow the patterns of the world that only lead us to more anquish and pain. Instead fill us with your Holy Spirit and let us share with each other Songs from the Spirit and make music from our heart unto the Lord! In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Day Forty-One: Partying

Into Marvelous Light I'm Running

    We were made for social interaction on both a physical and spiritual level. Imagine being at a wedding celebration where Christ is mingling among the guests in the flesh. To be that close, to have a chance to go up and interact socially with your Lord and Saviour, even greet him with a hug, now that would be the ultimate social interaction. As many of my peers, I spent too much of my partying days covering up my emotions with alcohol that only numbed my sense of connectedness with others. What were we searching for? And what did we find? Our deepest longing for connectedness only resulted in numbing our ability to feel truly connected.
     I beleive God has put our desire to feel socially connected, loved and accepted, in our hearts to continue to draw us closer to him. When we come to realize that no one can completely know us or feel our inner emotions with us, it can make us feel let down and so alone in the world. If we choose to turn to back Him, we find the ultimate source of true love. One of the lonliest times in my life was after brother died. I tried to explain how I felt to my friends but all they could do was give me a hug and move on. My family all greived in their own private ways. As most people come to realize when they lose a loved one, no one, even those grieving, too, can understand your grief with you. It is the lonliest place on earth. But it is also a time when God draws closest to us and He himself has known grief and has walk in the flesh and knows our weaknesses.
     "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
     Sometimes it is hard to feel connected with God when our flesh is crying out for physical contact. I have found a special connection, a Christ centered party if you will, with God on my daily run. I find that near the end of my run when my physical body is at the point of exhaustion my spirit is alert and responding to the Holy Spirit of God in a most powerful way. I am not intoxicated in a way that numbs my senses but rather with the body's desires out of the way my spirit is heightened. I seldom do not experience some kind of spiritual interaction with the Lord in this sense. Sometimes it is so overwhelming I can't hold back the tears and God comforts my soul. Though I know my body will be pushed to its limits; I look forward to this social time with my Lord every day.
     Jesus was not antisocial, "Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding as well. (John 2:2)" I believe that social character is still a part of our relationship with Christ today through our spiritual connection with the Holy Spirit. Don't forget to invite him to the party!

STUDY GUIDE

Follow along in JOHN: 90 Days with the Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore pages 195-198
Read John 2:1-5
 Answer the questions in your study guide.
 Share a brief highlight or two from your thoughts and answers in a comment posted to the group. (Read guidelines and cautions posted August 1, 2010 before you post).
 Read the comments of others and share your thoughts and encouragement with them by replying to their comments. Identify which post you are responding to by addressing them and their subject or pasting a brief portion of their reply at the start of your post.

PRAY WITH ME:
Lord, give us the joy of fellowship in your name, of genunine caring and unconditional loving relationships. Bring into our lives relationships that are meaningful, substantial, and blessed by your love and favor. Keep our spirits close to you and accept our invitation to socialize with us in your intimate and refreshing presence. In Jesus name, Amen.