Delight—what a delicious word; it twirls on my tongue! It lights my imagination. It radiates warmth in my soul. The Lord flecked His canvas of creation with a brush full of delights. The earth sings witness to how delightful her Creator is; if we fail to join in her chorus, we miss the point of all these pleasantries. Do we let the wonder of creation usher us into the presence of Him, Who is most delightful?
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 ESV
Recently, I visited a younger friend struggling in her marriage. As she lamented her present relationship, the Holy Spirit impressed this verse in my mind and made it clear I should speak this truth. It seemed so trite to me, like rattling off Romans 8:28. Yet, that was God’s counsel. The following morning, my insight still felt dismissive; I needed to reflect on the verse I shared with her. As I reread Psalm 37, I marveled at God’s wisdom. Most of my friend’s desires have been God-honoring. She desires to be a faithful, loving wife and mother—a delightful spouse and parent. But I fear she covets a better marriage more than she is presently delighting in her First Love.
Covetousness is a sneaky sin that perverts blessings into idols. And when we focus and bow down to what we don’t have, we fail to delight in what we do have: an eternal relationship with the Perfect Lover of our soul. When we delight in Jesus, He releases us from the fretting fearfulness our idols inflict on us. Does it really matter if our husbands fail to love us well when we’re consumed with the perfect love of God? No.
All people love imperfectly, including you and me. All people sin. We’re all selfish failures sometimes, and yet God delights in each of us, including others who let us down.
“But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.” Deuteronomy 32:9-10 ESV.
The phrase “apple of my eye” comes from these verses, and it’s long been the expression of a deep, delightful love. Today I redeemed an old Stevie Wonder song for my worship to the Lord, singing to Him, “You are the sunshine of my life,” He replied, “You are the apple of my eye. That’s why I always stay around.” And He’s singing that to you today.
Maybe like my dear friend, you’re experiencing a difficult passage in your walk with God. Know He still delights in you. Reflect on this reality, “He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delightedin me” (Psalm 18:19 ESV, italics added). If you trusted Him for salvation from sin, how can you not trust Him again to deliver you out of this present trial? Keep trusting. Keep doing the right thing. Keep your integrity. He promises good results. This excerpt from The NET Bible refreshed my perspective on delight.
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right. Settle in the land and maintain your integrity.[e] 4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,[f] and he will answer your prayers.[g] 5 Commit your future to the Lord.[h] Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.” The NET Bible
Keep praying! He will answer. Our delight begins with obedience and ends with praise. Delighting in the Lord changes us. It transforms our prayers and desires.
Delighting in God opens our eyes to what He finds delightful in others. As we delight in Him, He transforms us into more delightful women.
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV).
I love invitations. Last year, I issued many invitations to several events: a girlfriend getaway with my three oldest friends, my book launch party, and Bill’s and my 40th wedding anniversary party. The people who showed up to celebrate with me made these events spectacular. Receiving invitations is equally delightful. I received invitations to several weddings and baby and bridal showers. I bet you enjoy invitations too. We feel included—wanted—when someone invites us to be at an event or even to just go for coffee.
The Lord issues many invitations in Scripture, but one of the most popular we find in the book of Matthew. “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). Who hasn’t felt worn out, burdened, or overworked?! If you’ve never felt that way, please, write a book. I want to read your secret. But until that book gets published, let’s learn how to receive this sweet invitation from the Lord.
First, how do we come to Him? By faith (Hebrews 11:6). And not a simple belief in God in general, the demons believe in God and tremble (James 2:19). No rest for them! Look at the last part of Hebrews 11:6, “for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Do you believe Jesus is God, and He rewards those who seek Him? If not, you need to seek Jesus for salvation. Believe He is the one and only way to God the Father. He says to us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). This includes you. If you’ve never trusted Jesus to forgive your sin and give you new life, you can never come to Him for rest or anything else. I pray you will stop right now and ask Jesus to save you.
For those of us who have a relationship with Jesus, how do we enjoy His presence?
As followers of Jesus, we’re encouraged to read our Bibles, pray, attend church, and do Bible study. And while all of that is good advice, it’s easy to reduce our role as a disciple to a to-do list. We check the boxes but often don’t feel connected. Boredom sets in for some. Others become rigid in their practice and legalistic about what a Christian must do. It can also induce guilt if we don’t get our devotions done. Jesus doesn’t want to be put on our to-do list or reduced to disciplines. He calls us into a relationship as His disciple, His friend, and, best of all, His sisters. Devotion to Christ isn’t a 30-minute quiet Bible reading and prayer time. Devotion to God is a new, restful, abundant way of living.
Think about relating to your siblings. Do you share memories with them? Do you have fun and enjoy meals together? Do you disagree with them at times? Did you ever fight? Jesus wants these same interactions with us. He invites us to come to Him as a person. It’s okay to wrestle with God. Jacob did! If religious exercises have burnt you out, His invitation is for you. We cannot reduce friendship to a chore and expect it to be satisfying. That’s what the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ time had done and what they expected others to do, earn their way to be with God. But Jesus is inviting us to come to be with Him.
The Lord creates us all differently, with unique spiritual love languages. In his book Sacred Pathways: Developing your Soul’s Path to God, Gary Thomas identifies nine different ways people love God and draw near to him (these are all ways Jesus related to His Father). Here’s a summary:
1. Naturalist: John 6:3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, Mat. 6 Look at the birds of the air, and the flowers of the field. He wants us to pay attention to how He uses nature to illustrate His truth. Do you like going outside to be with God? Do you see your Creator most clearly in creation?
2. Sensate: Consider how God lead Solomon to build the temple. Think about the beautiful sights, sounds, and incense fragrance. We heard Jesus remind us to look. The Bible tells us to taste and see the Lord’s goodness. Jesus at the last supper said this wine is the new covenant; this bread is my body. When you taste good food, do you taste the goodness of God? Do you draw near God when you see beautiful things or hear beautiful music?
3. Traditionalist: Luke 2:41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. Do stained glass, the ritual of communion, and witnessing a baptism transport you into God’s presence?
4.Ascetic: Mark 1:35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed. Do solitude and simplicity provide the best space for you to relate to God?
5. Activist: Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, “It is written my house shall be a house of prayer, and you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Do you sense God’s delight as you stand in a protest for the right to life or against racism? Do God’s justice, and a desire for justice energize you?
6.Caregiver: John the Baptist sent his followers to ask if Jesus was the Messiah. Listen to Jesus’ answer in Mat. 11: 4 – 5, “Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” And don’t forget the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. Do you love cooking and cleaning, and serving people in need? Jesus did too!
7.Enthusiast: Luke 19:37-40 reveals Jesus defending the celebration of His deity. In the law God gave to Moses, the Lord created feasts that included loud music, great food, and celebratory worship. Do you love to party with God at Christian concerts and worship services? Do you enjoy celebrating Him by dancing or singing?
8. Contemplatives: Listen to Christ’s prayer in John 17“As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” Can you hear His contemplation of the mystery of the trinity? Do you love just pondering the character of God? His love? His majesty? His power?
9. Intellectual: In Luke 2:46, we find Jesus sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Jesus, the Living Word of God, studied with the rabbis. Do inductive Bible Study and a good exposition of the Bile simulate you to worship?
This list is not exhaustive. God is infinite, and as a result, we experience His presence in many ways. Rest in how He created you to enjoy being with Him. Maybe you prefer singing Scripture to reading it or meditating deeply on a tiny phrase rather than reading large portions. Variety is vital in every good relationship, and our relationship with God is no different. Meet with Him in various ways at different times. But do come to Him!
What does He invite us to? Rest! Yes, but what kind of rest? For years I’d come to this promise and stop at the end of Matthew 11:28 and beg the Lord to let me sleep or nap or stop spinning plates. Then I wondered why He didn’t seem to be listening to me. I’d ask, not receive, and wonder if God was a promise keeper. But I discovered the problem wasn’t God. He didn’t give a faulty invitation. The problem was me. As James puts it (James 4:3), I was asking amiss. I coveted my concept of rest, but that’s not what Jesus offers.
Jesus offers us a paradox, a holy mystery of abundant living. Listen, “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 11:29 – 30). He wants us to rest while we work. To learn to be gentle as we work, not stressed out and impatient (which I so often was and at times still am). Harshness results from hurry. I once heard a Bible scholar say the one word he believes best describes Jesus is unhurried. Are you unhurried?
Unhurried is unworried. When we’re anxious, we’re not resting. Jesus never worried about time. Jairus’s daughter was dying or dead, but instead of rushing off to Jiarus’ house, Jesus stopped to assure a critically ill woman that her faith made her well, not the hem of His robe. She came to Him weary, spent, and completely depleted, but she reached out to touch Him and found rest and restoration. She met the person who took the time to know her personally. Wow! And then Jesus strolled to Jiarus’ to raise his daughter from the dead. No matter how long God seems to take, He is never too late. Can you settle your heart on that reality and learn to work at His pace, not yours? That’s what He’s inviting us to, His “unforced rhythm of grace” (as it’s paraphrased in the Message Bible).
I’m learning to come to Jesus in more ways and more often than just once a day. I’m learning to listen for His still, small voice and feel the rhythm of Him walking beside me as His easy yoke embraces me to work with Him. I’m being His child and walking with Him. As I do, I’m finding the rest I craved for so long. I’m being His child and walking with Him.
I know this blog is long, but I trust that if you read it unhurried, you will discover and receive the fantastic offer Jesus sets before us every moment of every day!
My son-in-loves good friend said concerning women, “Any creature that can bleed for a week and not die should be feared.” Yes, sisters, God, Who should be feared and is wonderful, made us to be fearfully and wonderfully strong. Let me introduce you to two of the scary, strong women I know as I share an excerpt from my newly released book,.
Legendary Lola (born on Friday the 13th, October 1911!
“She always brought home the most ribbons from the fair.”
“She worked as hard as any man!”
“She always caught the biggest fish!”
“She could drop an elk bull with one rifle shot from horseback.”
Who was she, this legendary woman? Lola Michaeline Burton Salveson, my Great Aunt. Lola loomed larger than life when she came up in a family conversation. She was my father’s favorite aunt and her husband, Orville, a.k.a. Bud, my dad’s favorite uncle. Together Lola and Bud ran a cattle ranch south of Pocatello just outside the smaller than small town of Downey, Idaho. Much like the legendary Idaho potato picture in postcards—the giant potato that fills a semi-truck bed—Lola’s reputation outsized her demure stature by several feet and pounds.
She stood five feet tall on the outside but dwarfed Goliath on the inside. Her petite frame, complimented by fair features and curly, burnt umber locks, made her quite a good-looking woman in her youth. Her dark eyes gleamed with steely resolve. Now, I’m not saying that Lola was stubborn, but I will say her tenacity made a mule look compliant. Her feet were small but wide. Poor Lola, finding sandals to fit was impossible for her. She liked painting her toenails red. Determined to show them off, she hired a doctor to amputate her little toes. “You can’t see pinky toes in sandals anyway. Now I can find sandals that fit,” Lola boasted.
The Heroin Jael
To the Israelites, Jael became a legend when she killed their enemy with kindness. After feeding Sisera and lulling him to sleep, she took her hammer and tent pegs. The tools she had long used to dominate the hard, dry ground became weapons in her hands as she pierced the skull of Israel’s persecutor. Her story appears in the book of Judges, chapters four and five. This gruesome tale reminds me again of Lola cutting off her pinky toes. In her domain, she would show off those pretty red toes no matter what it took!
From creation, God gave us dominion. He made us in His image, and part of bearing that image requires us to rule over our domain. Yes, Sisters, you and I were created to master. For those of us who are married, we partner as one with our husbands. Our place of submission is not a lesser position. We must secure the order of our homes. In so doing, we extend our husband’s ability to have dominion outside the home. I don’t believe a woman should only work at home. I do know if a woman’s home is not well-ordered, she has no business exporting her skills to other domains. We need to get our priorities in line with our purpose. Once those are in order, it’s all about domination!
In this trick-or-treat season, let’s choose to treat others with the strength and courage God intends us to have. Let’s choose to live larger than life!
Every follower of Jesus ought to spend at least one night in a tent because tent camping illustrates lessons we too easily forget, like how to be content in all our circumstances.
When Bill and I moved to Iowa after he graduated from seminary, we settled into a daylight basement apartment. I use the term daylight loosely as the only full windows happened to be in the bedrooms, where it’s nice to have darkness. Two narrow window wells allowed little light into our living room. This dwelling challenged my sanctification because I’m a woman who loves living in the light. I’m not too fond of dimly lit rooms. That apartment provoked a complaining spirit in my soul. I was not content until the Lord reminded me of tents.
I enjoyed camping trips as a child, many under a tent. I remember playing card games through rain storms in a tent. The dim flame of a lantern provided just enough light to see the cards and enjoy the smiling faces of my family. The raindrops tapped on the canvas like unseen fingers striking piano keys to serenade us. And when the rain relented, we’d exit our weekend dwelling and return to enjoy God’s great outdoors, refreshed and glistening with His goodness.
That day in my Iowa dungeon (as I often called it), as I was reading my Bible and praying, the Lord reminded me that tents have no windows, and as a follower of Jesus, this world is not my home.
Dear Sisters, every roof we live under while we are on terra firma is a temporary dwelling, a tent. Understanding the apartment in Iowa was just a temporary dwelling helped me choose contentment. Remembering my happy childhood days surrounded by a canvas draped over poles helped improve my attitude as I traded my dungeon perspective for a tent mentality. But oh, how quickly I would forget.
Two years later, after living in a bright, second-story apartment in Madison, Wisconsin, my husband and I bought our first house. I forgot it was only a tent. I painted and wallpapered and spent countless hours perusing catalogs (much like browsing online)—in reality, covetlogs—dreaming of the day I could afford new furniture and the perfect home décor accessories. Soon a burglar broke in and stole my contentment. His name is Covetousness. Have you met him?
I had acted like a dim wit trying to turn a tent into a place. I had to confess my sin and be reminded again that I am a pilgrim just passing through. My dream home is Heaven; no store sells furnishings as fine as those in my Father’s house.
I remember Dr. Dobson saying on one of his radio shows that women married for a few years often become discontent with their homes. It’s true. We get bored of the décor, feel finical limits that keep us from the house we really want, and often the messes left by the messy people living in our tent messes with our attitudes. Yet, God expects us to learn contentment no matter what our tent looks like (Philippians 4:11).
After twelve years in Madison, we moved to Oregon and bought our second house. We traded up from three bedrooms to five. The difficult trade-off was losing my huge kitchen in Wisconsin and settling into a tiny galley kitchen in the new house. Apparently, I didn’t settle well. My eighteen-year-old daughter took a summer mission trip to Uganda six years after our move. When she returned, she showed me a picture of a lovely woman named Grace.
“Mom, look at Grace’s kitchen,” it was a simple wood-burning stove in a tiny cement block house. “She cooks for almost a hundred orphans in that kitchen every day. Look at her smile. Mom, please, don’t ever complain about our kitchen again.”
Ouch! Faithful are the wounds of a daughter growing into a loving friend. I needed that tent lesson. I began thanking the Lord for my kitchen, Grace’s example, and a daughter who loved me enough to admonish me when I needed it.
Bill and I now reside in our third tent together. My oldest granddaughter describes it as a palace, but I remind her it’s only a tent. I remind myself and others often it’s all junk until Jesus comes. At sixty-one, I’m still learning new tent lessons. And I promise to share a few more with you as we steep in God’s truth and camp out together (ahh, another joy of camping hot wets in the morning from water boiled over a campfire). Let’s help our hearts learn to be content by humming an old familiar tune (or looking it up on YouTube if it’s new to you),
“This world is not my home. I’m just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me to Heaven’s open door, and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore!”
Strolling through warm sand, I hear the lull of waves splashing against the shore and the trilling of gulls as they scavenge for food. But I fix my eyes on the sand as I scan the beach for treasure—clamshells, limpets, sand dollars, any lovely shell I might collect. The best souvenirs from the beach are free, as our salvation in Christ.
Then I see it, a crown of whelk spikes partially exposed. I prize such a find. The intricate spiral twists up its slender stem. Beautiful. Perfect. Yet, more extraordinary are the truths this sea creature displays.
Whelks hatch from their eggs already wrapped in a shell. Their shells start as a thin, flimsy covering. The babies must eat to grow and build sturdier covers. As Christ-followers, we are born again by the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). We continue to grow strong on the calcium of Scripture. “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,” 1 Peter 2:2. Wrapped in the continuing calcification of God’s Word, He protects and shelters us. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock,” Matthew 7:24.
The more we study the Bible, we appreciate the intricate story of redemption. Truth upon truth twists into a wonderous spiral.
As our understanding of how each story echoes the same truth, we hear the voice of God Himself, like hearing the ocean as we hold a shell to our ear. At each twist and turn in life’s trials, we grow. We gain a more significant appreciation for His faithfulness. Our shelter through the storms grows. And a crown forms.
A crown of life (James 1:12 )—all for the King of Kings—crowns to cast at His feet (Revelation 4:10), as whelk shells scattered on the shore. He finds His treasure in us.
God creates many beautiful trinkets for beach-combers to gather. Blessed is the beach bum who grasps the great truths demonstrated by these tiny delights.
“I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” Psalm 119:162
Father, as we wander in Your world this summer, please, open our eyes to the beautiful lessons all around us. Amen
Blood splattered across the screen; I cringed at the gratuitous violence. Then I clicked the remote and turned the television off. Unfortunately, many react similarly to Christianity, calling it “a bloody religion.” And it is.
Recently, I finished reading the bloodiest book of the Bible, Leviticus. The sixty-six books of the Bible contain 357 verses that speak of blood. Sixty-six of those (almost one-fifth) are in Leviticus. What about blood makes it a central theme of both the Old and New Testaments?
We find the answer smack dab in the middle of the Pentateuch, the first five books known as the Law of Moses.
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls,” Leviticus 17:11a
Did the ancient patriarchs understand the biological functions of blood? It’s hard to know. Blood sacrifices began at the first incident of disobedience when God Himself slaughtered an animal to cover the shame of Adam and Eve. We see these animal sacrifices continue through Abel and Noah. Even Job, who was not a son of Abraham, offered atoning sacrifices for his children.
My friend, John Olson (PhD in biochemistry), reminds me, “Science is just discovering how God does stuff.” Scientific research provides us with an understanding of blood’s functions in the body. Within this life-giving elixir, God painted pictures of atonement’s mysteries.
Four significant blood functions and what each reveals about atonement
Supplying oxygen to cells and tissues
“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7
God breathed into man the first breath; Adam’s blood carried that sacred air to every cell in his body. The name of God, translated in the Old Testament as Lord (Adonai), is how the Jewish scribes honored His most holy name YHWH (the breath). He created blood to carry His life into ours; He is indeed the Lord of Life. And the life is in the blood.
Providing essential nutrients to cells, such as amino acids, fatty acids, and glucose
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6
Adam and Eve bit off more than their blood could chew. They ate the one fruit in the garden that could not nourish them. They ingested the poison of disobedience. The forbidden fruit introduced the fatal awareness of evil to their minds and the toxin of death into their circulatory system.
Removing waste materials, such as carbon dioxide, urea, and lactic acid
“And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22
Tainted blood travels through veins to organs that filter out the waste. Inside our lungs, an exchange occurs; unclean carbon dioxide is replaced with clean oxygen. But these purifying organs cannot extract sin. The removal of sin’s penalty requires another exchange; the life of a clean animal poured out to amend for the debt incurred by the guilty. Atonement became a necessary reparation for wrongdoing.
Protecting the body from diseases, infections, and foreign bodies through the action of white blood cells
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
The white blood cells that fight disease illustrate the Lamb of God. White blood cells attack disease, so Messiah slew sin and the death it brings. He is Adonai Rapha—the Lord Who Heals.
Our blood testifies God is life, forbidden fruit poisoned us, an exchange is necessary, and healing is made possible. As Michael Card puts it, “By His blood, He bought a violent grace.”
In ten days, we will commemorate the blood sacrifice of Jesus. We call it Good Friday. I’m mindful of the words Jesus spoke to a rich, young ruler, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good.” Yes, God is good. He was good to provide a ram for Abraham to sacrifice in his son Isaac’s place. What God asked Abraham to do, God, in His goodness, has done. He offered His only Son. Let’s reflect on the miracle of blood—His blood—for His life is in His blood!
