Lack of Focus and Faith

14 At the bottom of the mountain, they were met by a crowd of waiting
people. As they approached, a man came out of the crowd and fell to his knees
begging, 15 "Master, have mercy on my son. He goes out of his mind and
suffers terribly, falling into seizures. Frequently he is pitched into the fire,
other times into the river. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they
could do nothing for him." 17 Jesus said, "What
a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives! How many
times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up
with this? Bring the boy here." 18 He ordered the afflicting demon out -
and it was out, gone. From that moment on the boy was well. 19 When the
disciples had Jesus off to themselves, they asked, "Why couldn't we throw it
out?" 20 "Because you're not yet taking God
seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of
faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, 'Move!' and it would
move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to
tackle." Matthew 17: 14-20 (emphasis mine)

Each day as I do my morning bible reading, I look for a verse that stands out and speaks to me. This morning I was reading Matthew 17. I found it interesting how The Message translated verse 17. Jesus seems a bit frustrated and disgusted when a boy with a demon is brought to him after his disciples failed to cast it out. He says, "What a generation! No sense of God! No focus to your lives!" Did earlier generations have a true sense of God? I'm sure Adam and Eve did and probably several generations after them. Perhaps, by the time of Noah, that sense of God was nearly gone (except for perhaps Noah and his family) and that is why He was so discouraged with man.

So what is Jesus saying here? We should have a sense of God and a focus in our lives. It seems pretty clear that God should be that focus. Perhaps, because He goes on to discuss faith, faith could be described as focus on God.

So, then I need to ask myself, "What am I focusing on each day?" Even if my intent may be to focus on God, I think I get too distracted with the acts of living and doing the work each day of being a wife and mother. The crazy thing is that this work is from God. So how do I have a sense of God in my day to day, moment by moment actions? So what is the trick to keeping Him in forefront of our thoughts as we cook a meal, wash a dish or hang some clothes? Perhaps I need regular reminders of Him. Those could be items in my view to reminds me to focus on God such as bible verses tacked up or a symbol placed where my eye falls during my work. Another thought is to create benchmarks in my day where I stop my activity to pray. We do this at mealtimes already, but I could also listen for the clock to chime and stop to say a short prayer and make sure my focus is on God in the midst of my activity. I am going to try these things. I believe that if I had that sense of God throughout my day, I would make better choices, have more patience and be at peace no matter what the circumstances. And that is my desire.

Jubilee

"Count off seven Sabbaths of years - seven times seven years: Seven
Sabbaths of years adds up to forty-nine years. 9 Then
sound loud blasts on the ram's horn on the tenth day of the seventh month, the
Day of Atonement. Sound the ram's horn all over the land. 10 Sanctify
the fiftieth year; make it a holy year. Proclaim freedom all over the land to
everyone who lives in it - a Jubilee for you: Each person will go back to his
family's property and reunite with his extended family. 11 The
fiftieth year is your Jubilee year: Don't sow; don't reap what volunteers itself
in the fields; don't harvest the untended vines 12 because
it's the Jubilee and a holy year for you. You're permitted to eat from whatever
volunteers itself in the fields. 13 "In
this year of Jubilee everyone returns home to his family property. 14 "If
you sell or buy property from one of your countrymen, don't cheat him. 15 Calculate
the purchase price on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. He is
obliged to set the sale price on the basis of the number of harvests remaining
until the next Jubilee. 16 The
more years left, the more money; you can raise the price. But the fewer years
left, the less money; decrease the price. What you are buying and selling in
fact is the number of crops you're going to harvest. 17 Don't
cheat each other. Fear your God. I am God, your God. 18 "Keep
my decrees and observe my laws and you will live secure in the land. 19 The
land will yield its fruit; you will have all you can eat and will live safe and
secure. 20 Do
I hear you ask, 'What are we going to eat in the seventh year if we don't plant
or harvest?' 21 I
assure you, I will send such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will
yield enough for three years. 22 While
you plant in the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and continue until
the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

So, is the practice of keeping the Sabbath year and the Jubilee still go on anywhere? I am curious so I checked it out. According to this site, the Jubilee is no longer counted or celebrated. That seems kind of sad. Although the Jews do no cling to Christ for redemption, they also do not cling to the Law as set forth in the Torah.

Wife of Good Character

For the past few days, I have been reading my bible during my morning quiet time from The Message. It is a modern day paraphrase. Although I wouldn't want to do all my studying out of the version, it can add an interesting perspective to verses, especially ones you have already read and studied before.



Today I got to Proverbs 31 which includes the section about a "wife of noble character."
Because I feel that being a wife/mother/homemaker is one of the highest callings that God has set before me and that these verses are probably the only detailed description of one in the bible, I have studied them fairly often. It is interesting to read them in The Message:

A good woman is hard to find,
and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
all her life long.

She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places

and brings back exotic surprises.
She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day.

She looks over a field and buys it,
then, with money she's put aside,
plants a garden.

First thing in the morning,
she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves,
eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.

She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.

She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
She makes her own clothing,
and dresses in colorful linens and silks.

Her husband is greatly respected
when he deliberates with the city fathers.

She designs gowns and sells them,
brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.
Her clothes are well-made and elegant,
and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.

When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,

and she always says it kindly.

She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"

Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
The woman to be admired and praised
is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.
Give her everything she deserves!
Festoon her life with praises!

Originally, I studied these verses in the NIV (New International Version). I like how The Message has made this text more relevant to today. Talk of "servant girls" and "placing my hand to the distaff" do not really apply to my life. However "organizing my day" and "likes to knit and sew" make more sense to me.

There are many nuggets of wisdom within these verses, but the one that gave my pause today was this:

"She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps
them all busy and productive."

As a mom, especially a homeschooling mom, this has special significance for me. My days are busy and with mothering and teaching many, I often struggle to keep tabs on everyone at all times making sure they are "busy and productive." Often I am content with "quiet and not causing trouble" even if that means watching a video or playing a computer game. Not to say that these activities are terrible and should never happen, but there are days I use them as a sort of babysitter so that I can get some things done without children underfoot.

I am going to consciously aware of what my children are doing throughout the day and make an effort to keep them busy and productive. We'll see how it goes with my sanity.

I am in charge of paying our household bills even though it is not a job I particularly enjoy. I also find myself very busy every day. Due to these two facts, I am bad about paying bills promptly. It is not a matter of not intending to pay the bills. They just get set on my desk and neglected. A while back, I was convicted that I needed to be better in this area and be an on-time and even and early bill payer. As a Christian witness, this is more honoring to God. I was very diligent in this area for quite some time, but life got over the top busy again, and I have a pile of bills sitting on my desk again. Everyday I tell myself that I have got to get to those, yet they still sit there. Then I read this verse this morning:

"'Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. " Lev. 19:13

Hmmm...isn't that exactly what I have been doing? So, in front of God and anyone else reading this, I am committing once again to being a prompt bill payer. With God's help I can be the person He desires me to be.

Live with Intention

3-8"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the
seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it
sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered
just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the
weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest
dreams.

18-19"Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news
of the kingdom and doesn't take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so
the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person's heart. This is
the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
20-21"The seed cast in the
gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But
there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some
difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.
22"The seed cast
in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and
illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what
was heard, and nothing comes of it.
23"The seed cast on good earth is
the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond
his wildest dreams." Matthew 13 (The Message)

During my morning quiet time today, I read the parable of the Sower. (See above in the Message version) I find that even though I am a Christian and believe in Christ with all of my heart, I am not always "good earth." I think that often my life is filled with "weeds." The weeds are the busy-ness of life. There are so many things to do to manage a household of eight. Add to that the homeschooling, managing the apartments, church commitments, etc. and my life is full of so many things to do. The difficult thing is to figure out what things on my daily to-do list are weeds and which are the plants that will produce a harvest "beyond my wildest dreams."

Last night, as I was going to sleep and thinking about all that I need to get done, a thought came strongly into my head and it feels like it is from God. I need to Live with Intention. What does that mean? There are more things to fill my day than I can possibly ever get done. Living with intention, is intentionally choosing those activities instead of just merely dealing with things as they come at me. It is planning ahead instead of dealing with emergencies as they happen. Now, there are day that are just filled with emergencies and catastrophes that need to be dealt with, but I believe that by planning ahead, we can get less sucked into those things that SEEM like emergencies at the time, but are really not in the eternal picture.

So, my plan of action:

• Make sure that I have daily quiet time with God to be able to discern what needs to be weeded out each day.
• Make short manageable to-do lists and follow them.