“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1

But the grandeur of God goes beyond even amazing. His awesomeness cannot even be fully declared by the heavens themselves. He is beyond compare.

As I was reflecting, I realized how grateful I am for my upbringing in a more traditional, liturgy-based church. Our Christmas and Easter seasons were full of rich meaning as we reflected on God through so many means.  God’s amazingness was evident in the music, the liturgy and even the purposeful formality.  Church held a sense of awe and God was great.

Easter season was especially meaningful. We would focus on the realness of death. It was a very somber time on Good Friday. But then, on Easter morning, we would come into church at sunrise, listening to the trumpets proclaim “He is alive!” Every year, it acted as a renewal of faith that God conquered even death. It was amazing! God is amazing.

I’m grateful, too, that our home was balanced with the awe of God alongside the personal relationship with Him. He could be amazingly grand and closely compassionate at the same time. The God who created the heavens took the time and personalization to create me, too.  That’s pretty amazing.

So as I process the amazingness of God alongside His compassionate and personal care, I’m grateful and overwhelmed all at once. Ii think it’s a little more challenging for my kids to get this concept these days. Our world is so much more in awe of itself it seems.  So, I guess the question for all of us is, “How do you gain greater connectedness to God’s amazingness? How do you help your family members see the greatness of God?”

Keep Life Uncluttered (Be intentional about keeping life simple.]

And give my son Solomon an uncluttered and focused heart so that he can obey what you command, live by your directions and counsel, and carry through with building The Temple for which I have provided.” I Chronicles 29:14-15

Keep Finances under Control [Debt robs you of your dreams and others of your life impact.]

Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after. 1 Timothy 6:10  [Lust for money might not mean buying lots of things…it might mean just not getting God’s OK on what little you do buy.]

Keep Praying about Everything. [From what to eat to what to do…every moment.]

Jesus was matter-of-fact: “Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, ‘Go jump in the lake’—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it’s as good as done. That’s why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything…” Mark 11:22

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;  don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Proverbs 3:5

Keep God’s Word Fresh in your mind. [Study the Bible daily and it will become real.]

How can a young person live a clean life?  By carefully reading the map of your Word.  I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted. Psalm 119:11

Keep a Clean Slate. [Ask for forgiveness immediately. Give forgiveness immediately.]

Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. Colossians 3:12

Keep Relying on God [You don’t live the Christian life. God’s Spirit within you does…let the Spirit do the work!]

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,  for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13

Keep the Sabbath. [Once you lose your day of rest, other things in your life are already “off.”]

I gave them laws for living, showed them how to live well and obediently before me. I also gave them my weekly holy rest days, my “Sabbaths,” a kind of signpost erected between me and them to show them that I, God, am in the business of making them holy. Ezekial 20:11-12

Happy Graduation, son. I am proud of you. I have faith in God’s work in your life. I love you.

-Mom

Our family quickly discovered Justin Bieber – at least our two daughters did. Today we headed off to the theatre to watch his Never Say Never movie.  I’ve been intrigued by his family and faith for over a year. Today I was challenged as well as moved to prayer for this teen, his mom, and the people she’s allowed to impact his world.

As one of the many people who surround him daily, manager Scooter Braun says, “Ninety percent of my job is helping him become a good man.”  What? Rewind. “Ninety percent of my job is helping him become a good man.”

And that’s where the movie continued, but my lesson began.

From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. Luke 12:48

Bieber’s mother, Pattie, grandparents, manager and others have been entrusted with much. They understand Bieber will only experience the fullest expression of his gifts through a life that is grounded in eternal purpose. Part of their calling in life – their own expression of giftedness – is in providing an environment that will keep Bieber grounded in the things that last for eternity-God, His Word, and people.

As I processed this lesson throughout the movie, I can’t miss the application for me. While I have a Justin Ebert – and not a Justin Bieber, my son is just as gifted by God for his own purposes as are my other children…and my husband…and friends…and students I teach and befriend…

I have been given much. I need to be diligent to guard the lives God has allowed me to share.  Not only do I need to protect, but I also need to encourage and challenge. Much has been entrusted to each of us. The question is: are we trustworthy? What are we doing with the gift-the people-God gives us?

Upon the opening of the movie nationwide, Justin Bieber’s mom asked for prayer for her son. I will be praying for him and hope you will too.  I will also pray for his band of supporters whose goal is to see him grow to become a good man.  Much is required of him. Much is required of them. Much is also required of me.

God understood our inability to remember even the important things in life.   After God helped the Israelites under Joshua and Moses’ leadership, defeat the Amalekites, God made a statement that I really hadn’t paid much attention to earlier:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.” Exodus 17:14

Write this on a scroll. God knew that even the great Moses and Joshua of old had forgetfulness. If we didn’t make an intentional act of writing down what God did – even as great as defeating a powerful army! – we would forget when we needed that remembrance the most.

I have a friend starting a battle with breast cancer. She loves to journal. I have a feeling that all the things God had her process through her journaling will come back to remind and strengthen both her and her family during these next few months.  God is like that. He gives us information that He knows we’ll need to be faithful or “incorruptible” as he notes later in Exodus (Ex. 18:21)  We just need to write it down to remember it when we need it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Joshua pulled out that scroll and reread it before he and the 12 spies were sent to scout out the promised land on behalf of Israel a number of years later. Reviewing God’s great power in the defeat of the Amalekites was probably just the reminder Joshua needed to give the “God Report” of what he saw. Only Joshua and Caleb came back saying that the Promised Land would be theirs. The other 10 spies panicked…I bet they forgot to read the scroll.

As I try to apply this principle in my own life, I realize the first step I need to take is to write down what God teaches me and when God shows up in my life, or my family’s lives. We’ve had many God moments that overwhelm me when I see His personal hand in our world….loving, caring, moving on our behalf. Do you have a journal or place on your computer where you record God’s work? Are you teaching your kids to do the same?

Secondly, when a new situation presents itself, do I first go back to what is written – or do I rely on a faulty memory and make choices that reflect the 10 spies that focused on defeat rather than Joshua who only saw God’s past and future victories?

Stop now and write down the last time you saw God show up in your world. He’s there and He’s working. He will also never leave you alone. But I promise you’ll forget if you don’t write it down.

If I were writing the job description, it would probably look something like this:

Wanted: Strong man in both body and spirit. Well-groomed. In good standing with government leaders. Excels in matters of speech. Deep booming voice. Fearless.

But God sees things differently than us. The perfect candidate for the job ended up looking quite different. Moses could be summarized by the description below:

Moses: Run out of palace by Pharoah for killing a government worker and embarrassing the government. Smelly sheep-herder. Scardy Cat. Stutterer.

But God saw something different, deeper and deliberate about Moses. He saw deep into Moses soul and knew that Moses accepted the God of  Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob as his own. He knew that Moses would understand that no longer would this God be the God of three patriarchs, but that this God would become the God of the nation Israel.  Israel – the nation – would be God’s first-born, receiving the full inheritance of God’s blessing played out into eternity through Christ.

I love that story! But in the midst of God filling the most important job posting of the century with a totally surprising candidate, I almost overlooked Exodus 4: 24-26.

At a lodging place on the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.  But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.  So the LORD let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Our perfect candidate had one little flaw and it wasn’t stuttering. Moses, for whatever reason, had never circumcised his very own son. That is a big deal! God’s people were called to circumcision as a sign of their identity with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And now Moses, the newly-appointed leader, hadn’t obeyed in this incredibly important part.

His wife, a foreigner, understood and took care of it, ensuring that Moses life would not be taken.

As I look over the story of Exodus 4, I realize that so many times I focus on things that really don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if I don’t “measure up” according to a set of human standards or a job description written by men. The real question is “do I measure up to God’s standard?” The standard of complete obedience – down to my very thoughts and inner motivations. I daresay that I would be found like Moses in need of some purifying of my heart.

What about you? Are you focusing on a ‘stutter’ in your life or are you looking below the surface as God does and submitting to His hand of purification? For Moses, the decision was life or death on the way back to Egypt. For us, the matter of obedience is the same.

A recent video on the web also cracks me up: a woman leaves a mall department store while texting. She’s so oblivious to where she is and is going that she misses this huge fountain straight in front of her.  Still texting, she trips over the fountain edge, falling into the water. The store video cameras get it all on tape and it went viral on the internet with over 1.5 million views in the first week. Thankfully, she was only bruised in the incident and I’m sure many of us are thinking “that easily could have been me!”  I’m also sure she didn’t want people to “see her” at that moment.

While we don’t want others to see us when we are doing things wrong – or maybe at a moment when we just aren’t on our game – all of us have this innate desire, even need, for God to see us. We are created that way. As I read through the Old Testament books in the Bible, a God who sees both the great and small emerges.

God not only sees, but talks with Abram. In Genesis 17:1-2 (MSG), the Bible says this:

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, “I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I’ll make a covenant between us and I’ll give you a huge family.”

God not only sees Abram but talks to him personally! Amazing!! But what I find even more amazing is the story of Abram’s wife Sarai and her maidservant, Hagar. Sarai gave Hagar to Abram in hopes that she would get pregnant and give Abram a son since Sarai didn’t think she ever would. Hagar became pregnant and that started a tremendous rift between her and Sarai (as you can imagine!). Hagar ends up running into the desert to flee Sarai. In the midst of her predicament, this female servant meets God. Or rather, God comes down to meet with the servant girl.

God sees the wealthy patriarch, Abram, and he also sees the female servant, Hagar.  “So from then on she called him, “The God Who Sees Me.” Genesis 16:13.

The incredible gift of this story is that God sees us all. From the powerful and rich, to the destitute and imprisoned, not one person has ever passed through this world without the eyes of a loving, caring God seeing them. He is the God who sees me…and you! And like Hagar, He not only sees but lovingly responds and cares for each one of us.

Are you taking time to see Him today? Or are you walking through life like the woman distracted by texting? Instead of missing the fountain wall are you missing something much greater – like God’s purposeful interaction with you today? God sees you. Are you looking for Him?

I found some other interesting facts related to the number 170,000:

• 100-year-old celebrates her birthday by smoking 170,000th cigarette

• Apple leads the App Store race with 170000 apps

• U.S. recalls another 170000 baby cribs

The list could go on but the one that stopped me in my tracks was 170,000 Christians each year suffer for their faith…many of them to the point of death.

“At least 75% of religious persecution is directed against people of Christian faith. – says Konrad Szymański – “Each year 170,000 Christians suffer because of their beliefs. The total number of faithful who are discriminated amounts already to 100 million. Europe cannot remain passive. The European Union must take the co-responsibility for the protection of religious freedom in the world.” [http://www.ecrgroup.eu/brusels--international-seminar-on-persecution-against-christians-news-176.html. 1-6-2011]

170,000 Christians around the globe are in process of suffering for the cause of Christ…For Christ. They are in dungeons, they are being denied food or jobs or safety. They are having their churches bombed in countries like Iraq, Iran and Egypt. It’s not because they look different or are trouble-makers.  It is because of a name – the name of Jesus.

As I move into the new year, my mind won’t let go of that number. As I ponder it, I wonder if one day I will be one of those counted, or my husband, or my children, or my friends.  I wonder too, if I will be able to stand strong, honoring the One I serve without hesitation.

If that is my goal, my hope…it needs to be one of conviction and not just wishful thinking. How am I preparing ‘to stand.” Am I spending time with God moment-by-moment? Am I memorizing His Word? Am I taking captive every thought? Am I sharing the Hope I have in Him with others? Am I defeating the tyranny of the urgent and focusing on what is of the utmost importance? Am I being intentional or will I look back and find I only had good intentions? What about you?

But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:20-22

The other day, I had a glimpse into the heart of my daughter. I’d given her a book Being a Girl Who Leads: Becoming a Leader by Following Christ and didn’t know if she’d even begun reading it. On the way home from soccer she began talking about some of the things the author said.  My daughter mentioned that she highlighted some of it because she didn’t want to forget it.

I flipped through the book and the highlighted sections jumped out at me as if God was saying, ‘Here is the heart of your daughter.” She highlighted statements that focused on the inner self being consistent with the outward persona. She took to heart sections that talked about people who lead must first learn how to serve. She also highlighted sections that reflected God and His love for her and His plan for her life.

She’s getting it!

While I hope my children will one day read the books that were important to me and take time to ponder the highlighted sections. I also hope that my life highlights what is real to me. I hope that Jesus’ love shines through all my humanness so they understand how amazing His love is for us and that this life is meant to be an incredible adventure alongside God.

So Jesus spoke to them: “You are masters at making yourselves look good in front of others, but God knows what’s behind the appearance.” Luke 16:15 [Jesus to the Pharisees]

That verse, though, is a great reminder to me. All of us highlight things that are important to us. When someone opens the pages of your life-my life-what will the highlighted sections say about what we value most?

That prose was written over 30 years ago by my brother and included a birthday wish at the end. He is always there for a good laugh. I think that when God made families He did it in a way that a certain group of people are “stuck” with each other for good. Physically, legally, socially and event mentally – there is a group of people that are bound to you for life.

You may find that you are extremely different from them or you may find the opposite is true. As you walk through life, your background and expectations solidify a friendship stemming a familial bond. You’re not just siblings – but friends.

Our family has lived in the same community for over a decade now. I’m finding that some friendships seem more like family. They are people who go through life with you and stick it out in the good and the bad moments. They are people that see you for who you are and for some reason continue on doing life with you.

As I read through the New Testament in the Bible, I’m amazed at the number of people that did life with Jesus. Day in and Day out, they walked with Him, broke bread with Him and fished with Him. They learned about their Heavenly Father from Him and also about their need for a Messiah. He enjoyed their friendship, but He also challenged them to become more than they thought they could be. Day in and day out.

It’s a reminder for me to value the relationships God puts in my path and to encourage those relationships during the day-in and day-out moments of life. Whether with friends or family, relationships are the most important part of life.

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

Do you love your friends all the time? Do you stick with them even when life gets hard? Maybe it’s time to reconnect with a friend or family member – even today.

Even as I write this – and you read this – you probably know where it’s going. If it’s so easy for me to see the benefits of my communication with clients, why don’t I implement that same principle in my relationship with God. He knows the best route for life and the best way to get me where He wants me to go.  I can avoid pitfalls, added expenses both financially and emotionally, and even major catastrophes by just tuning in to His communication into my world.

Instead, I tend to Unsubscribe to God’s communication into my world. Sometimes I do it unconsciously. Time and a too-busy schedule eliminate my ability to be still and hear Him. Other times, I purposely hit that Unsubscribe button because I just don’t want to do it His way. Either way, I choose to believe that God doesn’t know best or His “advice” isn’t worth as much as my own.  Ouch! There it is…the ugly truth. Do you ever find it popping up in your life?

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:3

Have you unsubscribed to God’s voice? If so, it might be time to humble yourself and re-subscribe.