What God Requires, He Provides

I'm reading the book of John right now. I was reading Luke since we were studying Luke as a church, and then I thought I'd just ease on into Acts after that, since they are kind of like Part I and Part II from the same guy. But then I read in a commentary that the reason John is between Part I (Luke) and Part II (Acts) is because Luke ends with Jesus promising the disciples that the Holy Spirit will come on them, and Acts begins with that promise, and then its fulfillment. John, in the middle, goes through Jesus' ministry, with a huge emphasis on the Holy Spirit. I need to know about the Holy Spirit, so here we are. In John.

Today I am reading John 15, which if you are familiar with John, you know is about the vine and the branches. Jesus is the true vine, the Father is the gardener, and we are the branches. Now, here comes my confession. This passage always depresses me. Jesus keeps talking about remaining in Him and how we will produce fruit if we do. Almost without fail, around verse 6 I start to feel really guilty and start to wonder if I'm actually a branch after all, since I don't seem to be producing a ton of fruit. Then it goes on---Jesus is explaining what it looks like to remain in Him (fail)---to follow His commands (fail), namely to love people (fail). That's how I tend to feel at the end: FAIL.

But then, today, a kind of "random" (though, I don't believe in random coincidences) trail of thought led me to Ezekiel 36:26. I wanted to find the verse where God says He will give us a new heart. So, that verse is: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Then I read the commentary in my Bible on the verse and it pointed out that earlier in Ezekiel, in chapter 11, God had also made this promise of giving us a new heart and spirit. And then, in chapter 18, He had simply said: ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!" If you just read chapter 18, you would despair. "How can I get a new heart and spirit?????????" But when you read it with the bookend promises of chapter 11 and chapter 36, there is JOY! My Bible's commentary on this was simple, but it hit me in the face (in a great way): "What God requires He provides."

So, back to John 15. It's actually kind of ridiculous that I could even make John 15 about me and my effort. Hello irony! So, this morning, just a little bit---I am starting to understand it. Jesus is the vine. I am a branch. Unless I remain in Him, I can do nothing. I cannot even remain in Him without His help! At this point, my brain starts to melt a little bit---kind of like "which came first? the chicken or the egg?", but really, who cares? All I know, and I suppose all I need to know, is that I HAVE to depend on Jesus for EVERYTHING. Even my dependence on Him. Are you confused? Maybe...well, the Holy Spirit can help you too. This is good news. It is finished. He has done it. And for the rest of this life, I will work out my salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in me to will and to act according to His good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13).

Our Sweet Mamas

We just want to say that we love these ladies! They have loved us more than we can ever say, and more than we will ever know, and we are grateful to God for letting us be their kids. We love you Mama Adams and Mama Wase! Happy Mothers' Day 2011!

Several Thousand Word-Pictures

These are from Grandma & Grandpa Cheek's (mom's parents) house. We gladly took ownership of them when they were looking for a new home. Aren't they just the cheeriest pots ever? They make me smile because they remind me of sitting in G & G Cheek's kitchen on a Sunday while lunch is cooking and the house is full of aunts and uncles and grandkids and puppies.

Across the street from our friends, the Groff's, house. So thankful that they weren't home when the tornado came through their neighborhood about a month ago, and so thankful that their house was mostly spared damage.

I got to babysit Silas a month or so ago. I love this bib. We love Silas! So glad we get to be around for his baby-ness!

Casey has been telling me "We need to get me an exercise ball" for approximately nine months of marriage, and I have been telling him "Well, I'm totally fine if you wanna go to Walmart and buy it" because I hate going to Walmart. We finally broke down and went to Walmart at like ten o'clock and while there met a guy who introduced himself by saying to Casey "Hey man, wow, you're really tall! I bet you play a lot of ball. Did you play college ball? High School?" Yeah...

Casey spilled an entire cup of ice water on a bag that was holding all of our wedding cards, which I'm holding onto for sentimental reasons. If you're not sentimental, stop ridiculing me in your mind right now. I will scrapbook these. But, they needed drying, so we set them over our entire living room, and then had a pick-up competition last night. Casey won, 57-54.

Cinco de Mayo! (which I found out yesterday, is not as big in Mexico as in the US. Ironic? I think so.)

My two cents

Well, I will say that I'm at least relieved to see that I am now not the only person questioning yesterday's (literal) jubilation in the streets. Though, what I find most frightening is that the first place I even saw a question about whether the rejoicing was appropriate was the ever-liberal CNN. I spent most of yesterday heavy-hearted and dumbfounded, honestly, by America's response to Osama Bin Laden's death. Around 11 am or so I headed over to WRAL's website, which I usually check in the morning to catch up on current happenings. Obviously, pretty much the entire page was devoted to Osama's death. And I just could not make sense of all of the headlines. There was rejoicing. There were parades in the streets, flags flying, chants of "U-S-A!", and star-spangled-banner's being sung. I was horrified. How can we be so overjoyed with DEATH. Four people died. And we are throwing a party. Yes, OF COURSE, I know who this man was. I know what he did. And there are countless sins he committed that only the Lord knows. And, yes, I love justice. I love it, and you love it, because we are made in God's image and God loves justice. I have great HOPE because God is a God of justice, and I know that all things, including the thousands killed on 9/11, will be avenged. But I also know how guilty I am. Or was, before I exchanged my guilt with Jesus' righteousness. I know that God's wrath was poured out on Jesus, so that I did NOT have to spend eternity without Him. And God's wrath was poured out on Jesus, so that Osama Bin Laden did not have to spend eternity without Him either, if he would have only believed. But he didn't. Unless by some miracle, his heart was changed, he is in hell now. Forever. Along with the other three who were killed alongside him. How can we rejoice in that? How can we be so callous as to rejoice in another human being "rotting in hell" (as some of the headlines cheered) forever? Who are we? We are no one. We deserve hell just as much as Osama Bin Laden. I, for one, refuse to be glad. I will be relieved---that the search for him is over, that some sense of justice has been served here. But I will not throw a party. I will mourn for the souls who died apart from God forever.