Learn from Me

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  (Matthew 11:28-30)

To carry our burdens
with gentleness
humbleness in heart

To learn from Jesus
who carries the burden
of all our sins
upon Himself.

He is gentle
He is humble
He is kind

We will find rest
comfort
peace

When upon Him
we cast our fears
concerns
doubts
anxieties

For all He is
we are to be likewise

Cathy Orrick Luders
11.29.2010

Outside looking in

Outside
looking in
What do you see?
Who are you who sees whatever it is?

Do I speak in riddles?
Does God
Is the Bible
a jumbled conglomeration
of words
mismatched
discolored
out of sync?

I read
I study
I listen
I read again
I remember
I write
I ponder
I read again

Enough you say, you think
But no, it's not enough
Never enough
The Bible
God's Holy Word
offers insights
anew
every time

Don't stop now
The best
is yet to come
The best
began with creation
The best
continued with Abraham and Moses and David
and Solomon and Ruth and Paul and Peter

The very best
is Jesus
God's son
Born of a virgin
Living among us
Died for our sins

The very best is Jesus
who rose from the grave
and sits at the right hand of God
who sent the Holy Spirit
to live within each of us
personally
upon our acceptance
of Him,
our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord, Jesus.

Outside
looking in

Who is outside
What is outside
Who is looking in
and who sees?

Cathy Orrick Luders

11.26.2010

"The change is in the heart"

Knowing You
No greater thing
You are my all
You are the best
You are my joy
You are my righteousness
And now,
my heart's desire ...
to know You more,
much more.

A hymn,
"Knowing You" by Graham Kendrick
words and music
written in 1993

was sung
this night
Nov. 19

The place --
the campus
of HLG U
in Hannibal, MO

The event --
a booster banquet
to raise funds
for a library,
years out-of-date

The speaker --
Kirk Cameron,
a child actor.
Perhaps
you remember him
from "Growing Pains."

Once of the world,
he saw no need
and had no desire
for a spiritual relationship
with The One
above all.

He came
and we came
A thousand, more or less,
were present

To hear
what this man,
no longer a child,
but 40,
had to say

He came
He shared
with boldness
the transformation
of what his life
without
became
within.

The change is in the heart.
The "change is from the bottom up,"
Cameron said.

"You must become a lover of Christ."
Without Christ,
you are a lover of self
and that accomplishes nothing.

So much is hidden ...
hidden in plain view
and we don't see it.

"We've been taught not to see it,"
said Cameron.

God called us,
calls us still,
"We need to continue
to be
a 'deacon of light,'
a 'disciple for Christ.' "

"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." 
(Matthew 5:14, 16)

Cathy Orrick Luders
11.22.2010

Kirk Cameron signs my husband's Bible

Read Bev Darr's story in the Hannibal Courier-Post: Cameron leaves 'Growing Pains' behind

Walking and Living

"if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ... if we live by the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit." (Galatians, 5:18, 25)

Walking
and living
being
and doing
What we do
What we say
Is that who we are

Our actions
a result of our beliefs

Do our beliefs
always reveal
goodness
and love within
without
Are we always true

Do sometimes
we allow grumpiness
to get in the way
to supercede
better intentions?
Is it sometimes better to
say nothing

Everyone different
None the same
Even within the same body of believers
or smaller family unit
Some alert and cordial
every waking moment
Some not so alert
nor so cordial
Some soak in their surroundings
before pursuing the day
and greater moments
of relating to another.

Should we apologize
for our differences?
Does another frown
on us
because we are different
Not like them
Not like they perceive
we should be.
Is it a sin
because I am not
like you.
Are you the right one
Are you so perfect
that you have no room
for the differences
reflected in another?

Did Jesus forgive you
and judge you so righteous
that you needn't forgive
another?

Did Jesus forgive you
and say,
'go, condemn another'?

Did Jesus say,
'your way is best'?

Who are you?

What did Jesus say?
What does He say
Is He constant
Does He change

"I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." (John 12:46-47)

"The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." (John 14:26)

"When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He wll glorify Me, for He will take care of what is Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-14)

God's design for life (Part I: To plant, To pluck)

As a result of one of my readings by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I have begun a study on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. To get there, I had to pass through Ecclesiastes 1, which is where Bonhoeffer’s reading led me.
His reading:
“God’s way are ways that He himself traveled and that we are now supposed to travel with him. God does not let us go anyway that he himself has not gone and on which he does not go before us. The way to which God calls us is the way cleared by God and protected by God. Thus it is really his way …One does not meet God on the spot. Rather, one follows a way. And the way moves forward, or one is not with God.”

On to Ecclesiastes 1 ….
4 “One generation passes away, and another generation comes;”
9 “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which it may be said, ‘See, this is new’? It has already been in ancient times before us. 11There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.”

Seasons come and seasons go, year after year. What we face today someone else faced years before and another will face in the future.
God’s design for life - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
A time – a season;
a span of time, a moment
Expansive or minute.
Remember – a thousand years to us is like a day to Him and vice versa.

Bonhoeffer says, “The source of action is not the idea, but readiness for responsibility.”

Individually, personally, globally. The time comes and what we choose to do with it – that is what is important, whenever it comes. Not that it has come, but that we are ready to take action, and responsibility.

There are many times, many seasons in the course of one’s life.
Moments come
moments go
in between
we stay a while
reap rewards
or face untold anguish
Today
Tomorrow
Yesterday
All in a single moment
of Time
A season
Always wondering,
Is there nothing new?
Is it always the same
day in,
day out
1 “To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven.”
In all of Life
However short or long
there is a season
2 “A time

to be born
to die

to plant
to pluck what is planted

3 to kill
to heal

to break down
to build up

4 to weep
to laugh

to mourn
to dance

5 to cast away stones
to gather stones

to embrace
to refrain from embracing

6 to gain
to lose

to keep
to throw away

7 to tear
to sew

to keep silence
to speak

8 to love
to hate

of war
of peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

You read those words and you think on them and you have ideas to what they mean. But what you think and what they really mean don’t always come together. This is God’s design for life and His design is already one that is and we are to follow. But what has been will be again and what is now was once. You’d think you were going in circles, but you’re not.

My study began, not with being born and dying, because to me, that seemed self-explanatory, but with planting and plucking -
“A time to plant; A time to pluck what is planted”

The direction I went took me along this route:
• Matthew 15:13, where Jesus is speaking to his disciples. “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.”
• Isaiah 53:2, the prophet Isaiah speaks of Jesus, the Messiah, to come. “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground…”
• Isaiah 11:1-2a, “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,”
• Psalm 1:3, “He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water That brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”
• Psalm 92:12-15, “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a Cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; They shall be fresh and flourishing; To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no uprighteousness in Him.”
• Jeremiah 17:8, “For He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; But her leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

We are to be a blessing to others at all times.

• Ezekiel 19:10-14, “Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters. Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters. She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage. But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruits. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them. And how she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. Fire has come out from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong branch- a scepter for ruling.”
• Jeremiah 31:28, “And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord.”
• Jeremiah 1:10, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
• Jeremiah 18:7-10, “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it. If that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”
• Psalm 128:1-4, “Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands (fruit of the labor), you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.”
• Jeremiah 11:16, “The Lord called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit.”

Jesus is the root/the vine. Israel/the Jewish nation is the natural branches. When rejection of the Lord became their preferred choice of living, God’s gift of salvation through Christ was offered to the rest of the world – the Gentiles.
I am a Gentile. The Bible calls us wild, being we are not natural. We are grafted in to become part of the Tree of Life. If/when we reject the Lord we can be removed from the Tree just like the Jews. Only those who believe and trust and obey are/is a branch of this tree.
And we are blessed. Must not brag about what we have, what the Lord has given us. The natural branches were broken off because of unbelief and unfruitfulness, making room for us, the Gentile people, to be grafted in, to become part of God’s goodness. We must never think we/I am better than another.

• John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
• John 15:4-8, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
• John 15:16, “You didn’t choose me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last…”

The fruit He speaks of – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

“We can only live life, not define it,” says Bonhoeffer.

Jesus says, of himself, in John 14:6a, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

God’s design for all of life is found in and through Jesus Christ, who shows us the way.

Pain

"I will greatly multiply your sorrow (and your conception)," God says to Eve in Genesis 3:16, but is it just in childbirth that there will be pain? I think not. Our sorrow will increase AND....

"Pangs (sharp pains) and sorrows will take hold ... they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;" (Isaiah 13:8a)

The first mention of pain comes from God as a form of punishment, condemnation to Adam and Eve for their disobedience. This is what will happen. This is how it will be. In childbirth you will suffer. In anything and everything from here to our final going home, our pains will be great, our sorrows multiplied.

Pain comes in many forms. Not just childbirth. Not just surgery. Not just physical.

Each person is under their own personal load of pain and agony. What one suffers is not of less or more importance than another. We may say to ourself that another's pain is minuscule, but who are we to judge? God is well aware of all we undergo. We brought it on ourselves. Mankind's race screwed up at the running gate.

Does God determine pain can be inflicted to prove a point? Is that what happened with Job, who was "blameless and upright, who feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1)?

Job suffered physical torment (he had boils), loss of possessions (animals and land), loss of friendship and fellowship, loss of family. Yet he says "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10a)

God's will overrides everything. It is His will to permit, to allow, to prove, to stop, to heal, to release.

"Why is my pain perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed?" (Jeremiah 15:18)
"Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is severe. But I say, 'Truly this is an infirmity, And I must bear it.' " (Jeremiah 10:19)
In these verses the prophet Jeremiah cries out to the Lord. But, I can hear the Apostle Paul say similar things. He too had pain, pain that wouldn't leave him, pain that no amount of requesting from God was going to heal. It was an infirmity and he had to bear it.

"Why do you cry about your affliction? Your sorrow  is incurable. Because of the multitudes of your iniquities, Because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you." (Jeremiah 30:15)

We are destined to suffer pain - at all levels, all across the board. It is a fact of life. And although we cannot ever rid ourselves of it, we have a Savior and a lifelong friend who does not depart from us, in Jesus, who also suffered pain and agony, who obeyed the Father's call, until death.

He prayed.
"Pray that you may not enter into temptation." (Luke 22:40)
"And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." (Luke 22:44)

Our pain
my pain.
Should we stay silent? Should we not allow the tears to fall, to fill our hearts and souls?
How do we prevent that which seems to come naturally?

The pain of lost relationships
The immense sadness that overwhelms us
Was it wrong for Hannah (1 Samuel 1:1), who spoke fervently to the Lord from her heart? Her pain too was great - she wanted a child, a son. One she didn't have because the Lord had closed her womb. It was her pain and it made her life miserable. Her husband didn't understand and her peers mocked her.
Yet she remained steadfast in her prayers to the Lord - a plea that if only He would answer her specific request she would give her child back to Him.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 tells us we are to preach the word. At all times we are to be ready to share God's message, to convince, rebuke, exhort others with patience, and in the midst, to endure afflictions.

Perhaps we do endure.
We are not to allow our weariness to cause us to become discouraged. Don't become so weary that we lose sight of Jesus and stop praying, studying, being obedient, rejoicing, living.

"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1a-2)

So, dear Lord, I pray you will help me to put aside, to become less aware of the physical pain, to not allow it  to get the best of me and thus trap me and get me off course, to continue running, with you at the helm and beside me, surrounding me, teaching me about patience toward others who may not understand. You endured it all for us. Oh Lord, help me be more like you. Amen.

Be alive! Come to Jesus

"You are dead -- and yet you have risen! You are in the dark -- and yet you are in the light. You are afraid -- and yet you can rejoice." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Dead in our sins
Christ came
to die for us
for our sins
everyone and all
not one to leave behind
unless ...
by our choice
we refuse
we say no to Him
over and over and over
countless times
Always no.

Christ came
for you
He sees
He hears
Our tears, our sighs
Our pain
reaches out
to pull us in
because of God's love
God's mercy.

Why oh why do you say no
Why is all He has done
still not enough
What more do you need
What do you seek if it is not
 Jesus the Son
God the Father
and the inner voice of the Holy Spirit?

What else is there
Jesus is The One
The Only One
The Only Way

One alone
Him alone

He will guide you
everyone and all

But you must give yourself,
every bit of you,
to Him
Let Him guide you.

The lonely path you travel,
the one that leads far into
the world of fear and dread,
can be overcome

Give your heart and soul to Jesus
Step out into the light and rejoice
Be alive!



"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the wold to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17)                            

God's Truth or your own?

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ... who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."                (Romans 1:18, 25)

I write from the Truth, God's Truth, not my own, but is actually, totally, because I have accepted, because I believe it was He who sent Jesus, His Son, to death for our sins, my sins. But it is still God's Truth and it can only be mine if I am obedient to Him. His Truth is not made for me to fine tune and make agreeable to me.

I cannot write legitimately with the thinking it can be arranged more to my (generic) liking.

Governments change rules to appease the mass majority. Judges are retained or not, as are governors, other political leaders, any leader.

God's Truth, God's Law does not appeal to the masses.

God has revealed Himself to everyone, yet we ignore, preferring instead to live wise unto ourselves.

Ultimate judgment will come. God's judgment, God's truth. When (not if) the end comes, we will see God's wrath poured out. If we do not see the error of our ways now, and repent, we will see in the final days how all our unrighteousness has come back to haunt us.

Yet at times His word is heard over any other word. His people have stood and are counted. WE have let it known where our allegiance lies and whose law we will follow.

More of God's Love

God's Love took me through the week and into another, through worship services, exploring the Scriptures, stopping to reflect on all He is and all He did and does and all He continues to do and be. My verse may seem simple, but its more than simple. Yet not complicated. We are living in God's Love. Even you who do not know or do not care. We are living proof of God's Love. (This is an updated post of God's Love that was published Oct. 30, which has been deleted.)

God's Love
is patient, kind

Not envious
Not jealous
Not proud
Not selfish
Not in a hurry
Not bearing grudges
Not rude

is passionate

Rejoices In the Truth
Not wrongdoing
Not a falsehood
Not a lie
(not even a little white one)

Sees clearly

Not with malice

is faithful

Not dependent on our courage or lack thereof
Not giving in when we fail

is miraculous
is mighty and strong, powerful
Not weary
Not weak

is perfect
Not to be feared

is complete
Not separated from the frenzied hurriedness,
busyness of our lives

Shares with others
Moves you to live righteously,
not as sinners

is gentle and compassionate

Not angry
Not quarrelsome
Not forceful

is supportive
Always concerned about the well-being of His children

Never fails

is like a lamb
Not a roaring lion.

is for us
undeserving,
without any thought of return

is calming

Pursues us
Not to punish,
but to have a relationship
because of love …
God’s Love.

God’s Love
is a reminder -
He is Pure and Holy,
without blemish
Not flawed

Not the deceiver
Not the enemy

God’s Love
is invisible, yet not
Surrounds you
Embraces you
Reveals His Son to you and reveals Himself as your Holy Father

is the Holy Spirit,
living within your heart
when you have accepted His Son
as your Savior.

God’s Love
Builds you up

Not a disappointment
Not conditional

Sets you free
Not enslaved

God’s Love
grows
Not stagnant

Fills you to overflowing
Instructs, guides you
on your life’s journey of twists and turns

Created you
Gives meaning and purpose

Understands your pain and anxiety
and gives comfort

Shows you the foolishness

you give in to

God’s Love
searches high and low
for you, His lost child,
and when He finds you,
there is much rejoicing
and gladness of heart

God’s Love
gives you reason to thank Him
always, continually

Shows us how expressing
our love for His Son, Jesus,
frees us
from the burden of our guilt

Knows you,
your innermost being
your troubled heart

Helps us
to forgive others
to let go of the past

is genuine
Not a list of errors
does He keep

is always with you
Always has your best interest

God's Love
expresses joy
in the face of a believer
when we give
sacrificially
to Him alone
a single solitary act
of returning His love
for us
to Him.
to Him alone.

God's Love
a longing for more and more
of Him.

God's Love
brought us
a mediator,
a savior
Jesus!

God's Love
is sufficient

deserves our praise, our honor
Not our mocking

Invades us
our very being
enfolds us with Him
bring us to Him
one with Him .... alone without Him

is never ending.
Eternal.

Cathy Orrick Luders
Oct. 30 / Nov. 2, 2010

“... God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”  (1 John 4:16-18)

 “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” ( 1 Corinthians 13:6-8)

“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”        (Philippians 4:19)

“For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 4:15)

“And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” (1 Corinthians 6:14)

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

“Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:35, 37)

Listen to the video below and pay attention to the words in "All I Have is Christ." Embrace God's Love.