From Strength to Strength...Thinking Proleptically...What's that all About?

 Greetings!

Speed and the expectation of instant results have become so normal in our culture, we think nothing of it any more.  In fact, we can often be found rushing ahead of even our own selves.  Let me ask you a question.  How many times today…just today…have you rushed to complete a task or a project only to have to wait, because the process couldn’t keep up with you?  I thought about that as I stood impatiently next to my little home printer… WAITING for it to process the “print” command I had just given.  Yes, I did burst out laughing. 

Seriously though, there’s another whole dimension to this.  When I hit the print key on my laptop while sitting in the living-room, there was no doubt in my mind that the document would print in the office.  I only had to walk the few steps necessary in order to retrieve it.  I was acting on a reality that was not yet actual.  There’s a word for that and an illustration of it in Luke 17:11-16.  The word is prolepses, and in that passage Jesus commanded ten men to act proleptically.

“On the way to Jerusalem, He was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.  And as He entered a village, He was met by ten lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’  When He saw them, He said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’  And as they went, they were cleansed.” 

In response to their cries for mercy, Jesus told them to do something outlandish.  He told them to go and present themselves to the priests in order to be declared clean (Leviticus 14:2-4)…even though they must certainly have still born witness to the raw soars on their bodies.

What would I have done in that circumstance, in that time, in that culture?  What would you have done?

The ten lepers were healed as they went.  What was that like?  Did they notice any change before they got to the priests?  Then, how did they react?  What would I have done?  What would you have done?

“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks.  Now he was a Samaritan.” 

Dear readers, is anything happening in your spiritual life right now in which the Lord is asking you to act proleptically?  Are you being asked to act on a reality that is not yet actual?  Or…have you ever been the recipient of such a gift from God?  If so were you the one who turned back, praising Him, and falling at His feet? 

Lots to think about the next time you hit the “print” button on your computer. 
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God bless you,

From Strength to Strength...Seize the Time

Hi Friends,

 

It’s hard to believe that the first week of August is over and we have rounded the bend heading into the Fall season.  Even as I write this I am sensing the change in the atmosphere as advertisers and merchants ramp up for the school days ahead.  I’m actually feeling pressured in an abstract sort of way.  Are you? 

Awhile back we offered a wonderful incentive for new website viewers entitled "Seize the Time."  Because this resource may be a help in staying peaceful and unhurried in the days ahead, we are now making it available to anyone who would like to check it out.  Just hit the tab below and remember the beautiful words of encouragement in Psalm 31: 14-15:

But I trust in You, O Lord;  I say, You are my God.  My times are in Your hand …”   

Also, the book “Traveling Through Menopause:  What’s God Got To Do With It” is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.   If you, or someone you know is starting on this journey it may be a great way to fill some of that time you’ll be seizing.  Oh, and if you found it helpful, please write a comment for others to be encouraged.

Do enjoy the rest of your summer and God bless you!

From Strength to Strength...Fresh Iced Tea in the Welcome

Hi dear friends!

It has been awhile since we’ve talked and I’ve missed you all.  I just made a fresh jug of iced tea and placed it in the refrigerator.  Would you like some?

Keeping iced tea on hand has long been a labor of love for me and has always served well in making friends and guests feel welcomed in our home.  I’m smiling as I remember times when those dropping by would not even wait for the offer, but would simply ask, “Any iced tea made?”  This was especially true during the warm spring and summer months.  So fun!

Our version of that hospitality has always been unsweetened decaff tea and fresh lemon.  Very simple!  However, the vital secret of that flavor being released is in the boiling water.  It must be poured directly over the black leaves and sliced lemon…and left to steep.
  
Our lives are “kinda” like that, you know.  So much of what we’re struggling with seems complex and difficult, but the answers are often simple.  They’re found in the release of God’s work in our hearts.  Yet, often this can only take place when some of His “heat” is poured over our lives and our response is simply to wait. 
 
I’ve told a story of a personal life-season like that in my new book: Traveling Through Menopause:  What’s God Got To Do With It?   If you’re a woman in your mid-thirties or older and noticing some changes in your thinking or body that you don’t understand, you may find answers in this read.  Did you know that peri-menopause actually begins in a woman’s life around age thirty-five?
 
The book is very conversational and for sure, informational and encouraging.  Do check it out on the above tab…or go directly to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
 
Meanwhile, is there a pitcher of iced tea in your refrigerator? 

“Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation;
I wait for You all the day long.”  Psalm 25:5