Betrayal and the Heart

Have you ever been betrayed by someone very close (and perhaps even very dear) to you? It is one of the most horrendous experiences of life! It is such a violation of trust, love, integrity, commitment and a host of other things!
What to do in such a circumstance?!
I ponder as I wander though details of a betrayal from a friend that seems to have as many layers as an onion. Every layer reveals more and hurts more deeply. I cannot change what is done.
Remember the scene in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when Edwin the betrayer returns to Aslan's camp from the witch's castle? Aslan appears and asks Edmund to take a walk with him. Lewis never tells us the words that passed between Edwin the betrayer and Aslan the "son of the Emperor-over-the-sea, the King above all High Kings." All we know is that Aslan forgives Edmund for his treachery and tells Peter, Susan and Lucy to forget because "there is no need to talk about what is past."
Edmund has a pretty dark past. His betrayal and treachery have grave consequences. Aslan dies on the Stone Table because of Edmund's betrayal. NO ONE denies what Edmund has done. No one taunts him with the past. It is in the silence of forgiveness that Edmund finds spiritual and emotional healing.
Betrayal is the greatest wrong that can be committed in the world that is Narnia. Betrayal is a HUGE wrong in the real world, too. The consequences for treachery are miraid. But in Narnia and the real world, traitors can only be redeemed by the sacrifices of others!
Betrayal is costly! Betrayal is often MOST costly to those who are betrayed.
In the story C.S. Lewis told Lucy asks Aslan, "Please – Aslan,can anything be done to save Edmund?"
"All shall be done," said Aslan. "But it may be harder than you think."
Then Lewis concludes that Lucy thinks Aslan looks "royal and strong and peaceful ... and sad as well."
Aslan is willing to make any sacrifice necessary to show mercy to Edmund, but that doesn't stop him from feeling sorry that such a sacrifice is necessary in the first place. Aslan himself sums it all up with his words: "... for when a willing victim who has committed no treachery, dies in a traitor's stead, the stone table will crack and even death itself will turn backwards."
What God calls my heart to is forgiveness for the betrayer! Such forgiveness is costly but it is the only way of the heart who has found its own forgiveness!

Restoration Spectrum and Casey Anthony

Yesterday Casey Anthony skated free of a murder charge. It is a shocking conclusion to a shocking trial! All the sensationalism of the trial ended with a bang yesterday in the stunning verdict, "Not Guilty!"
Personally I have no knowledge to either declare her guilty or innocent. Well, that's a little inaccurate. She's not innocent in any sense - so guilty or not guilty. At best she is guilty of some very bad judgment and some very unethical behavior including a lot of lying.
Was she a good mother? I doubt it from what I've heard. BUT being a bad mother doesn't necessarily convict her of murder and didn't. Being a liar doesn't convict her of murder and didn't. AND obviously her other "sins" don't accumulate into a big enough pile to convict her of murder and didn't!
I have no clue what the future holds for Casey Anthony. She may face some jail time for her lying but maybe not. She certainly faces a future facing the scars and sins hidden deep in her heart!
I look at Casey Anthony and see a troubled, tortured young woman who is desperately in need of a heart make-over that only God can provide. She is desperately in need of God's amazing grace! In that sense, she is no different than I am or than you are. We are ALL just as broken and needy as Casey is.
However the public nature of the life and crimes of Casey Anthony calls us all to seriously evaluate where you and I are on the "restoration spectrum"!
This story will play out on TV, talk shows, tabloid magazines and news outlets for days and weeks to come. It will play out in whatever book and movie deals Casey snags! Some things will be true. Some things will probably be false. Some things will be sensational. All of it will be beyond sad and there's no resolution for that.
Sin is ugly! It effects us all! We can learn from Casey Anthony that none of us is ever more than a step away from the same kind of ugliness. The verdict for sin is not in question! It is "GUILTY" every single time! There is only one human being who ever lived who wasn't tainted with the stain of sin. His name is Jesus!
He ALONE can and did remove the stain and taint of sin. He ALONE still does - one heart, one life at a time!
The jurors who judged Casey Anthony "not guilty" may or may not have given a right verdict. God may be the only way who knows the whole truth in the matter though the principals certainly know more than I do about where the truth lies.
The truth about sin is that we are all GUILTY as charged. ONLY Jesus can remove that guilty charge and give us His "not guilty" grace in exchange! The only safe place on the "restoration spectrum" to be is on God's side of Jesus' restoring love and grace!

Not out of the mind ... Out of the Heart!

Jesus said it, "A good person produces good from the good treasure of his heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure, because the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart." (Luke 6:45, NIV)
I'm afraid this is where I'm living at the moment. A person in my life is a HUGE disappointment because this person is exactly what this verse describes!
An evil heart cannot produce good treasure. An evil heart only produces evil treasure. That's the only possible overflow of an evil heart!
What is to be done with an evil heart? Is it a terminal condition? It doesn't have to be. The Gospel is all about turning evil hearts to good hearts. Only Jesus can change an evil heart!
The watching world watches the transformation and wonders. The watching world is captivated by the change. That's seeing the Gospel on "steroids" - changing hearts!
What is the measure of the heart condition? It's what comes from the mouth. It's what a person says backed up by their actions.
Jesus said we don't speak from a process created in our mind. We speak from our hearts and reveal thereby the condition of our hearts!
Just remember it's not a terminal condition when Jesus Christ is the One to whom we bow! That's the amazing wonder of His Gospel of grace!

Pain and Grace

We have psychiatric words for people who enjoy pain.
Pain is (as Dr. Paul Brandt observies in his wonderful book "Pain the Gift Nobody Wants") really a gift and not a curse! Many people mistakenly (in my opinion) interpret Genesis 3:16-19 to say that pain is a result of the fall. That's not what my Bible says. I think my Bible says that pain will INCREASE in childbirth rather than become existent. My Bible says that work will be harder not suddenly become hard because of the fall.
I've been thinking about grace and how it practically applies to my heart and life recently. It's sort of like the horse and carriage (in the song) - I don't think you can have one without the other! Getting to grace only comes through pain. It is intrinsic in the process!
I conclude that we are so caught up in what we want to be true that we eventually convince ourselves that what we want is the reality. That just ain't so! We want life to be painless! And it ain't!
That's what a Pittsburgh dentist knows and advertises when he hangs his shingle on "painfree dentistry"! Is there such a thing or is it just that the pain is blocked by some substance or technique? The reality is that the pain is still there -just not perceived.
GRACE - unlike the pursuit of a life without pain - requires pain in order to get to grace! That makes grace unappealing at first glance. We can only understand the wonder of forgiveness and true love when we have at least touched some of the darkenss that resides from conception in every heart. THAT's the part where the fall fits in!
One of my favorite hymns is "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." The 3rd verse challenges my heart with grace:
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
In my musings about grace I have found a great gratitude for living in the 20th and 21st centuries. I believe the family of God is blessed as perhaps never before with a Biblical understanding of grace in very practical ways that is unprecedented!
"A life lived under the rule of grace is a life of need which allows us to receive and appreciate the gift of the Giver of Grace. That is why we will always have the poor with us; this is why God will not allow us to ignore injustice; this is why we are called to a life we cannot handle alone, which can and will break us in the effort to live it -- because grace must wound before it heals."
To turn the phrase "No pain no gain" - the Biblical model is "No pain no grace"! That's true for our awesome Savior and His Father both and it's true for every believer in search of grace for the deepest crevices of our hearts of darkness!
(credit given to Justin McRoberts for some of my thoughts)

Balance for Your Heart Today!!

It has been close to 30 years since I first heard these words on either a cassette tape or (Horror of horrors!) a vinyl record (which is the most likely but I have honestly forgotten). What I do know and remember is that I heard these words sung and played by the author James Ward at a time in my life when most of what I could see was pretty dark. It was a desperate time and I was very shaken and scared! I honestly didn't know if I would live to see another day or year or see my two precious little sons grow to manhood! I prayed this as a prayer from my heart and listened to the music with my heart and found balance for my heart in these words from Scripture - Philippians 1:19-20:

“For it is my deep desire/And my hope is eagerly/ That I not be put away to shame at all/But that with perfect boldness/ Just as I’ve been tryin’ to do/ So his honor may be seen in my body/ So his honor may remain in my body/ So his honor may be seen/ If I live or if I die/ I may even have to die/ So his honor may be seen in me For to me to live is Jesus Christ/ And to die would be so much better.”

I recommend letting these words sink deeply into your heart today whatever your particular circumstances! I am here to tell you that not only did I live to see my sons grown into men but I am about to meet my 7th grandchild in a few weeks!

God is so good whether I live or if I die! It is STILL my deep desire that His honor may be seen in me!!! That is the cry of my heart today!

God Lives Under the Bed

GOD LIVES UNDER THE BED
I envy Kevin. My brother, Kevin, thinks God lives under his bed. At least that’s what I heard him say one night.
He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped to listen, “Are you there, God?” he said. “Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed … “
I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin’s unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.
He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (He’s 6-foot-2.), there are few ways in which he is an adult.
He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them.
I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life?
Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner and later to bed.
The only variation in the entire scheme is the laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child.
He does not seem dissatisfied.
He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work.
He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day’s laundry chores.
And Saturdays – Oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That’s the day my dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. “That one’s goin’ to Chi-car-go!” Kevin shouts as he claps his hands.
His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.
And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips.
He doesn’t know what it means to be discontent.
His life is simple.
He will never know the entanglements of wealth or power. He does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be.
His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it.
He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.
He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure.
He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue.
Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.
Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God – to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an “educated” person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion.
In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith.
It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions.
It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap. I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances – they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God’s care.
Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn? After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God.
And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I’ll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.
Kevin won’t be surprised at all! --written by Kelly Adkins

And here I thought as a child that scary things lived under my bed. That's why I always tried to keep my feet from falling off the side of the bed and to stay covered up.
I guess this is some of what Isaiah 11:6 means when it says, "... a little child will lead them." In his child simplicity, Kevin challenges my heart!

Does Your Heart Need a Shower?

I don't like to be dirty. One rainy Saturday about 1 1/2 years ago I fell while helping a friend move into his apartment. I tumbled down some concrete steps and into the very muddy, wet street. AND in the end I ended up in the emergency room with grit and grime all over me along with the scrapes and bruises. In short, I was a mess! I needed a shower and more!
HOWEVER that is only the start when it comes to a messy heart! Jesus said, It is what comes out of a that makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean. (Mark 7:15b-23, NIV)
Why do you think Jesus took the time to make this list? Perhaps there were folks in the crowd around Jesus whose hearts needed a good shower.
I have a good friend who lives in a power wheelchair. She broke her ankle not long ago. She needs practical help all the time but even more since she broke her ankle. One assistance she is receiving is an aide who comes to help her bathe.
A dirty heart requires the aid of the Holy Spirit to get to a clean heart! There is no other way!
It is easy to understand why Jesus listed the "big" sins but it is interesting that He lumped them in with what we think of as "small" sins. Just take "arrogance" as an example. Arrogance is defined as "an offensive display of superiority or self-importance, or overbearing pride."
The other "small" sins are equally "not pretty" - in fact, it is arguable that they are just as bad as the "big" sins!
How do we clean up: Arrogance? Envy? Greed? What does that look like?

• Cleaning up arrogance gives me a servant heart that displays selflessness.


• Cleaning up envy makes me content with the blessings of God in my life.


• Cleaning up greed plants a passionate quest for God and His righteousness in my heart where greed once reigned.

That sounds like the start of a "heart shower" to me! I want to live with a clean heart! That's a labor intensive process which ONLY God can accomplish. ONLY He can shine His light into the crevices of my heart to illuminate the darkness and clean me up from the inside out!