Seeing Jesus in Melted Candles

People who love candles,

burn candles in every room.

People who burn candles in every room,

spill wax in every room.

I've removed wax from carpeting,

clothing,

table runners,

table cloths

and even hair.

The hair was challenging.

Just in case you haven't become an expert in wax removal,

and not from the ears,

I thought I'd share my technique.

First, look at mess.

Cry softly.

Vow to never buy candles again.

Scrape the wax off with a paring knife.

Make sure you dispose of wax properly, or you'll be repeating these steps.

When there is nothing left to scrape, turn on iron to medium, dry heat.

Place paper towel UNDER the wax spot and OVER the wax spot.

Hold iron over spot for about 20 seconds.

The towel will absorb the wax. 

Keep repeating, but rotate paper towel so you always are using a clean piece.

Be careful to not let it seep through to your ironing board cover.

When you don't think you are removing any more wax,

wash in hot water.  I used oxy on the spots, too.

Good thing I have this technique perfected,

I need this technique often.

Just the other day a brand new pink table runner

gracing a brand new white lace tablecloth

was initiated into our family with blue wax.

I'm still on the scraping stage with those.

An older, godly man has always told us that

Jesus is in every verse of the Bible.

I believe that.

I also believe we can see Jesus in everything around us.

How do I see Jesus in melted candles?

It illustrates agony and suffering.

 Psalm 22:14

I am poured out like water,

And all My bones are out of joint;

My heart is like wax;

It has melted within Me.

Doesn't this accurately describe how we feel

when our hearts are overcome with sorrows and trials?

Psalm 22 is a Messianic Psalm

written about our Savior before He suffered.

Of this Psalm William MacDonald says,

"Approach this Psalm with the utmost solemnity and reverence,

because you have probably never stood on holier ground before."

Like wax on linens,

our heart spills out sorrow and pain.

Whenever our sufferings overtake us,

we must remember His sufferings.

That's where it all started.

The melting flames of tribulation

 cause physical and spiritual anguish

and seem too great to endure.

We may cry out,

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

He hasn't forsaken us.

He forsook His only beloved Son for us.

His Son promised to never leave us or forsake us.

The purpose of His heartache on the cross was soul-winning.

So is ours.

Pour out that melted, suffering heart,
as an offering back to the Lord.

Let it spill all over the world for eternal glory.

It's Friday...but Sunday's coming...

Like many who've been

barely surviving a spiritual winter season,

I felt a deep need for

hope.

With a compelling desire to create a Resurrection garden in my front yard

I  watched anxiously for a sunbreak.

Two times the sun broke through the clouds

and I was able to work in the garden without interruption.

That actually was two separate and distinct miracles.

Sun in spring.

No interruptions.

Hallelujah!

As I dug around in the dirt, planting, planning and praying

I began thinking about the disciples.

 It must have been hard for them to view the

 Crucifixion and see their Savior buried in a tomb.

Of course, we know the end of the story,

so it's easy to be frustrated with their lack of belief.

The LORD told them He was going to be crucified.

He told them He would He would be in the grave for three days.

He even told them  He would be resurrected.

He told them everything they needed to know

to endure the coming tribulation.

As they watched the story unfold,

they should have remembered.

But, they didn't.

They scuffled their feet on the dusty roads,

their faces downcast, their hope shattered.

They went back to their lives, broken and forlorn,

doubting everything they'd seen for three years.

We shouldn't mock their disbelief,

as if we have superior faith,

because we have

far more

physical evidence of the Lord's promises than they ever had.

We have 27 books in the New Testament.

We have the indwelling Holy Spirit.

We have hundreds of years of Christian examples.

We have thousands and thousands of Christian books.

We have Christian movies.

We have sermons available with modern media devices.

We have ways of communicating with believers all across the world.

We have no reason to doubt the Lord.

We, of all people, should believe the promises of God

and walk in the power of the Resurrection.

But, we're just like the disciples,

walking through  our trials downcast and forlorn.

We focus on the darkness inside the tomb,

and not the glorious light outside.

~~~from tree to tomb~~~

The inside of the tomb represents the place my sins

and my trials went with Jesus.

He took them upon Him, and took them to the grave.

For awhile, I forgot about the resurrection power.

I was hovering near the tomb, weeping.

I could only focus on the

pain,

and not the coming

power.

 

~~~from nails to newness~~~

 

He overcame it all when He rose from the grave

through the power of the Holy Spirit,

and he wants us to walk in that same power.

He doesn't ask something of us without enabling us,

so He filled us with the same Holy Spirit at salvation.

As I filled my fingernails with dirt

and cleansed my heart from dirt,

I thought of a sermon I heard as a young believer

by Tony Campolo called,

 "It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming."

If we  have placed our

heartaches,

 pains,

sufferings

and trials

at the Cross,

then we should look up

with expectation

not look down

in rejection.

 

Because, dear believers,

It's Friday,

and Sunday's Coming!

Romans 6:4

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:

that like as Christ was raised up from the dead

by the glory of the Father,

even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Why Do We Suffer?

(This was originally written November 11, 2011)

A friend was telling me about her life in a

matter-of-fact way, knowing I would pray.

Suffering from a very bad back, she was standing the whole time we talked,

while I slouched in a chair, scootching my feet under me to get really comfie.

She has three friends going through cancer.

One was at the end of her life, dying a slow painful death.

"Why?" she asked. 

She wasn't doubting the Lord, she wasn't angry,

she was just wondering if I knew any more about the mysteries of suffering.

After all, I have been through a little in my life.

I told her we weren't going through anything the Lord hadn't already gone through,

He has walked before us. 

 He prepared the path.

I told her Isaiah 55 says his ways and thoughts are higher than our thoughts
 and we don't see His big picture,
the hundreds of souls He is speaking through the suffering of one of His beloved children.

I told her that if His life was one of suffering, why shouldn't ours be?

I told her the world was Satan's domain, and we were subject to his sufferings

as the Lord allowed, but the evil one was literally trying to make life on earth Hell,

like his habitat-to-be.

I even told her that Christians get the American dream mixed up with the truth of the Christian life.

We expect to grow up, get married, have kids and live happily ever after.

We don't ever plan suffering.

Instead, we're surprised when it becomes a part of our adult lives,
insteading of expecting it because the Bible speaks of suffering.

I gave her all the ammo I had.
It was good ammo.  It was truthful ammo. It was encouraging ammo.

 But, still I wept.
I know the answers, but I also have to daily live them.
Suffering may be a necessary part of Christianity,

but it is still so hard.

Even the next morning I wept as I thought about the reality of our faith.

I have to be OK with the fact that my God and Father took a friend home,
after years of suffering cancer,
leaving behind two beautiful little girls
who won't have very many memories of their mommy.

Actually, I have to be more than just OK.

I have to praise, worship, adore and believe suffering is right,  because He is right.

I have to believe suffering is perfect, because His ways are perfect.

I have to believe suffering is the truth, because He is the Truth.

I have to believe, or it won't be well with my soul.

Life is hard.

Suffering is so hard.

As I thought more about this, I realized how unprepared we believers are for suffering.

It's like we put our fingers in our ears when we read all those verses about suffering.
All the help and understanding we need is in His Word.

Why do we suffer?

Suffering proves Jesus is the only way.

People of other faiths don't sing hymns while dying on a burning stake.

They don't die forgiving and loving their persecutors.

They don't lose their bodies to the ravages of cancer,

 knowing they're leaving behind small children and beloved spouses,
 and die praising God.

Only Christians can do this.

When Christians are pressed, pulled, beset from all sides and the aroma of Jesus Christ is spread abroad to the nations in a way followers of false gods can never imagine, dream or experience.

Suffering is an important aspect of the Christian life,

because it is the greatest thing our Savior did for us.

He suffered for our sins.

 He suffered rejection.

He suffered loss of earthly gain.

He was rejected by his family, the government, and the religion of His Father.

Suffering is our way to proclaim that Jesus is real.

He is alive.

He is the Savior.

We suffer for Him,
because He suffered for us.