Free Will and a Leashless Pup

If God wants us to follow Him all the time, why does He give us free will?  Why doesn’t he just make us robots that are 100% obedient and are in a constant state of worship?  Wouldn’t that bring him more glory?

Last night I had a revelation as I was taking Pup Pup out for a run, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I continued to think about it!  I’ve been following these track workouts pretty close, because I’m going to run in a meet next weekend.  So yesterday, I just didn’t feel like running.  I kept putting it off the whole day, making up things I had to do to justify not doing my workout yet.  But about 7:30 pm, I figured I had put it off long enough, and needed to do at least a few miles.  I decided to run outside because I knew that Pup Pup wanted to come so bad.  It was cold, and there was a treadmill upstairs, but knowing how much he LOVES running with me, I decided to run a few miles around the neighborhood.  I put his leash on, and was talking to Michael for a few minutes, when all of a sudden I noticed he’d been chewing on the leash out of excitement, and he broke it.  Initially, I was angry, “Bad dog!” But he was so naïve, and still so excited to run, he didn’t even realize the leash was broken.  So rather than just going without him as a “punishment,” I decided to try to fix it.  I took a piece of rope and tried to tie the two parts together.  The knots were pretty tight, and I thought it might work.  So I took him outside, and within about 10 seconds he starts to pull and the leash is broken again.  Not much of a surprise.  Pup Pup tends to run away, and is very hard to catch because he is so fast.  But for some reason, even though the leash is broken, he stays right next to me.  I make him sit, and stay for a few minutes. Then we start to walk slowly, and he stays right next to me, looking up at me every few steps. Then I start to jog, nice and slow.  I hold my hand out and he stays right next to my hand. I can’t believe it!  He’s running right next to me, and not running away!  I’m still very hesitant, thinking that at any moment he will see a squirrel or a bunny and he’ll be a gonner.  But mile after mile, he stays right at my side.  He looks at me with these puppy eyes as I commend him, “Good boy Pups!” At one point, he sees another dog, and I see him look at the dog and look at me, not knowing what to do. Everything inside him wants to leave me and sprint over to the dog and say hello.  He starts to run, but I call him back to me, and he stops.  We pass the dog, and he comes with me.  The smile on my face is SO BIG as he stays by my side after passing another dog!

As we’re running, I start to think about free will.  The concept just pops into my head.  If God wants us to follow Him all the time, why does He give us free will?  Why doesn’t he just make us robots that are 100% obedient and are in a constant state of worship?  When I take Pup Pup running with me, and I put him on a leash, it doesn’t make me happy that he is staying next to me.  He has to.  I am in complete control of where he goes when I am holding his leash.  When he is no longer wearing a leash, however, he has the freedom to run wherever he wants to.  He could run so far away that I would never see him again. He could also stay right by my side. It’s risky because I don’t know what he will choose to do.  Here come the analogies:

1.  God Delights In Giving Grace

From the beginning of the story… I love Pup Pup and want to see him happy.  I am not looking for an excuse to tell him no and go run without him. Even when he breaks the leash, I still desire to give him grace and take him outside, because I want to see him happy. It brings me joy to know that he is having so much fun.  A lot of people have this skewed view of God, making Him seem like the Terminator.  He delights in giving us grace, in providing us with second chances. He wants to do good things for us!

2. Glory From Free Will

Next one… when Pups has the freedom to run away, but chooses to stay by my side, it makes me so much happier than if he were to stay by my side when he had a leash on. God giving us free will is risky, yes, because so many people decide to run far, far away from the one who allowed them to go outside in the first place.  This surely hurts God.  But for the ones who have the freedom to run away, and choose to stay right by His side, there must be the biggest smile on His face!  It brings God more glory to give us free will, because wechoose Him.

3. Temptations

Next part… when Pups would see a squirrel or see another dog.  These are like temptations in our lives to stray from God.  Why would God allow us to have such desirable temptations?  At the time, they seem so appealing!  What could possibly be better than going to play with the other dog?!  But the master tells him to stay.  Decision time.  When Pups stayed by my side even though it was so hard to withstand the temptation to run after the other dog, it made the smile on my face even bigger.  He loves me so much that he is willing to stay by me even when he probably doesn’t understand why I am commanding him to stay, and he has the free will to sprint away.  When we worship God’s Creation rather than the Creator Himself, it is like we are running after squirrels or other dogs on our walk.  God gets more glory when we are tempted, but stay faithful to Him anyway.  Our whole lives should be devoted to bringing Him glory. In this, temptations are great, because they provide us with opportunities to bring God more glory!  We get to make Him smile even bigger when we stay by His side when squirrel after squirrel goes by.  James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

4. Abusing God’s Grace

Pups knows that I love him very much, and that even if he ran away, I would still take him back.  Even if he ran away time and time again, I would still be delighted when he finally came back to me.  I would still hold out my arms and let him run into them, and hug him when he finally returned. I would still take him home, and give him his dinner, and love him.  God is the same way. We can run away, and know that He will still take us back. He created us!  He loves us with a perfect love.  But when we decide to run away over and over again because we know that He will take us back, and still provide dinner for us when we get home, it still hurts Him.  Abusing His grace is not ok!  The mindset, “He will forgive me anyway,” does not give us the green light to live however we want to!  Rom 6:1-2 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”  Free will is great because we have the chance to bring God glory, but it also means that we have the ability to grieve Him.  We want to live to bring God glory, and that means following right next to Him. 

5. Claiming the One we Love

I am thankful that this situation did not happen during our run last night, but I was thinking about it nevertheless.  Let’s pretend that Pups and I are running along, big smile on my face as he stays right next to me, when suddenly a man comes up from behind me and starts to beat me up.  What would Pups do?  He loves me dearly, and I know that he would attack that man- 100%.  He would do whatever he could to protect me, because he loves me!  But let’s pretend that I am getting beat up, and Pups is just watching it happen.  He decides it’s a good time to lay down in the grass and lick his paws. I would be thinking, “Pups! Don’t you love me?! Come fight for me!”  I think this is similar to the way it makes God feel when we disown Him.  Someone asks, “So you’re one of those Jesus freaks now?” and we say, “No, dude. I mean I go to church, but I’m not like super religious, ya know?”  Think of how offensive that is to God, that He claims US (wretched sinners, whose most righteous acts are like filthy rags before Him, see Isaiah 64:6) as His children, and yet so many times we are ashamed of HIM and do not claim Him as our Father. 

6. Every Tribe and Nation and Tongue

So I know this might seem like kind of a weird analogy, because I am so unworthy of being followed, but a vivid image came into my head while we were running last night, and I feel like I have to include it. Getting so much satisfaction from one dog following me, I started to think of what it would be like with multiple dogs following me.  Then I thought of all dogs, all breeds, all shapes and sizes and colors, following me and staying right by my side. When I turned, the millions of dogs following all turned that same direction.  This is what God says will eventually happen with people.  One day, every tribe, language, people, nation, will bow down before Jesus and declare Him as Lord (Rev 5:9).  One day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10-11).  There will be no more running away, or disowning Him. EVERYONE will declare Him as Lord!  Amazing.  God gives us free will, but ultimately He is in absolute, complete control.  Yep, He is SOVEREIGN.  

Her First Snow

Between Christmas and New Year's, I got to be a part of an amazing experience with a good friend of mine, Monique.  She came to visit St. Louis to stay with me for a couple days, along with another coworker from our summer together in Tampa, named Katie.  Monique has lived in Florida her entire life, and had never seen snow.  I remember skyping with her in November, and her asking me the question of whether or not snow would be a possibility.  December's usually pretty cold, and I told her there would be a pretty good chance! I started praying that God would bless her time in St. Louis and provide snow, so that she could experience it.  As the days got closer, it was 60 degrees in St. Louis two days before Christmas.  I started to get worried that she wouldn't get to see any snowfall, but ultimately knew that our time together would be great no matter the weather!  We weren't expecting any snow in the forecast, and it was rainy the day I picked the girls up from the airport.  We went to dinner, and spent some time with my mom.  The next morning, I was asleep in the basement, and saw that Monique was calling my phone.  I answered the call in my raspy still half asleep voice.  "Lyndsey... it snowed," I heard her say.  A huge smile came onto my face, and I went upstairs to find her standing outside on the deck barefoot in the inch or so of snow.  She was making snow balls, and feeling it in her hands, and taking picture after picture.  She was absolutely delighted, and that delight was so contagious.  We went outside and made her first snowman.  We threw snowballs.  And crazy Monique made a snow angel, not caring one bit about getting her jeans wet.  The snow didn't last long; it was mostly melted by that afternoon.  But it was such a clearly answered prayer, it was like it was just for her.  Just a little gift from God that He knew would bring her such joy.  He loves to give us good gifts!  So many times, we think of God as this Being who is always condemning us and saying no to our prayers and putting difficult circumstances in our lives and saying, "Take that!"  We think of Him as a God of No, rather than a God of Yes.  Seeing the pure, innocent joy that Monique had from God's creation blew me away.  We can't get that kind of delight from the latest version of an iPad or television.  Nothing manmade can bring us the kind of joy that God does.  His very presence in our lives is what our joy is founded on.  All of His creation is just a tiny sliver of the goodness of Him, and the magnitude of how big He is.  What a sweetly answered prayer, a wonderful gift for my cherished friend!

You'll Come

You’ll Come

Hillsong

"I have decided, I have resolved, to wait upon You Lord

My Rock and Redeemer, Shield and Reward, I wait upon You Lord

As surely as the sun will rise, You’ll come to us,

As certain as the dawn appears, You’ll come

Let Your glory fall as You respond to us

Spirit, reign!  Flood into our thirsty hearts again!  You’ll come!

We are not shaken, we are not moved,

We wait upon You Lord

Our Mighty Deliverer, triumphed and true,

We wait upon You Lord

As certain as the sun will rise, You’ll come to us,

As certain as Your Word endures, You’ll come. 

Chains be broken!  Lives be healed!  Eyes be opened, Christ is revealed!"

God, I wait for You, and I know that You are coming back for Your people.  You have promised it, and we wait eagerly to be united with You!  You are my Rock.  I stand upon You, my firm foundation.  You are my redeemer.  You have saved me!  You are my Shield.  You protect me.  You guard me.  You shield me from my adversaries.  You are my Reward.  Everything that this world has to offer is nothing in comparison with You.  You are the only reward worth sacrificing for. 

With as much confidence that I have that the sun will rise tomorrow morning, I know for certain that You will come to this earth for Your people. 

Be glorified as You hear me and respond to me.  Spirit inside me, REIGN!  Guide my life!  My heart is thirsty for You.  Flood into me.  Spirit, overflow out of me! 

Though times may be hard, I will not be shaken.  I will not be moved.  I will stand my ground in the good fight for my King!  With Your help, Father, I will stand firm in my faith!  I wait upon You, my Mighty Deliverer.  You deliver me from my enemies.  You are the only One who can! 

Let the chains in my life be broken!  Any bondage that I hold myself in, provide me with freedom, God!  I love You, Amen.

The Stand

"You stood before creation

Eternity in Your hands

You spoke the earth into motion

My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure

Carried the cross for my shame

My sin weighed upon Your shoulders

My soul now to stand

So what can I say?

What can I do?

But offer this heart, O God, completely to You?!

So I’ll walk upon salvation!

Your Spirit alive in me!

This life to declare Your promise,

My soul now to stand

So I’ll stand, with arms high and heart abandoned,

In awe of the One who gave it all,

I’l stand, my soul, Lord, to You surrendered,

All I am is Yours!"

Dear God,

You are all that matters.  Nothing in this temporary world matters, at all!  You alone, Father, are all that I need.  You are more than enough for me!  You are so powerful, You SPOKE the earth into motion!  You spoke the words, and it was so!  Lord, don’t let me doubt You power, You can do all things!  Nothing can hold You back! 

You carried the cross for ME.  My sin weighed upon Your perfect shoulders, Jesus.  My choices, thoughts, actions, they hurt You.  They caused You pain.  You knew every detail of my life, what I would do, how I would betray You.  Yet You loved me, You died on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin.  You bore the wrath of God!  My soul now stands in awe of You, Jesus! 

There is nothing I could ever do to repay You.  Here I am, a gracious acceptor of the gift You offer.  All I can do in return is give this life I have completely to You!  I am Yours. Use me as You see fit.  Use me for Your kingdom, for Your glory, to spread the good news of Jesus Christ!    Here I am, God, with arms high and heart abandoned!  I am in awe of You, Father.  I am in awe of Your love, Your holiness, Your willingness to have Your Son slaughtered in order to save me.  I have nothing to offer in relation to who You are.  But what I have, what You have given me, here it is, God.  Take all of me.  Every last part.  I am fully surrendered!    I am here, God, a warrior princess that is madly in love with You! 

(lyrics by Hillsong United- The Stand)

Saul and Jonathan: A Father Unlike His Son

Ok, I got this from a study about David, by Beth Moore, and it’s so amazing I just have to share! The study is in 1 Samuel, so here’s the really brief background:  Saul is the reigning king of Israel, who the people chose.  His name literally means “asked for.”  (God’s pretty funny… the people ask for a king, and God’s like, ok you ask for one, I’ll give you ‘Asked For’ …yeah He’s hilarious…)  Saul’s position as king exceeds his passion for God (bad news bears).  He has a son, Jonathan, who is a man of God. 

1 Samuel 14:1-23… the relationship between Jonathan and his armor bearer:

Jonathan’s armor bearer trusts in him completely.  He follows him and is with him “heart and soul” (verse 7).  He follows his instructions obediently.

In 1 Sam 14:6, we learn that NOTHING can hinder the Lord!  He can win a battle whether He has many warriors, or only a few.  There is NO limit to His power!

Ok, let’s look at Jonathan a little bit.  He makes two profound statements in verse 6:

1.     PERHAPS the Lord will act on our behalf.

2.     NOTHING can hinder the Lord from saving

Jonathan knew the Lord could save, no matter who or how many were fighting in the battle.  He knew that if God chose to save, nothing could hinder Him.  His faith in God’s strength and determination was solid: God could do anything.  His only question was whether or not God would choose to do it through them that day.  He knew God could do it, he didn’t know if God would do it.  Whether or not He did, Jonathan understood God’s response to be based on sovereignty, not weakness.  This was attitude even when he faced the possibility of death (fighting the Philistines).

(Oh helloooooo secret crush on Jonathan- don’t tell)

Ok, here’s another piece of scripture that has people with the same attitude.  Read Daniel 3:1-18, and think about how the attitude of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was similar to Jonathan’s attitude.

Pretty cool stuff, huh?!

Ok, I promise this part is really cool.  Let’s look at Jonathan’s armor bearer.  Hopefully, you noticed the armor bearer’s commitment to Jonathan’s authority, and constant obedience to Jonathan’s commands.  Now let’s compare the armor bearer to a Christian (howl yes!)

Look at Eph 6:10-13.  God commands us to put on the FULL ARMOR OF God, so that we can take our stand against the Devil’s schemes.  We are God’s present armor bearers!  We’re not just to carry armor, we’re to put it on. 

In Eph 6:12, the word “struggle” is used.  It comes from the Greek word ‘pale,’ which means “a wrestling, struggle, or hand-to-hand combat.”  It described the wrestling of athletes and the hand-to-hand combat of soldiers.  Our “struggle” against our enemy is a very personal battle.  ‘Pale’ does not describe a corporate battle.  It describes a struggle that involves only ourselves, the One whose armor we bear, and our enemy. 

Here are some applications that help us in our battle:

                  -the armor bearer listened carefully to Jonathan’s instructions. To be victorious, we must also listen carefully to the instructions of the One whose armor we bear

                  -Jonathan’s armor bearer is described as being with his master “heart and soul” (v. 7)

                                    àHow often would you describe yourself as being with God “heart and soul?”

Sooooo……. The armor bearer followed behind Jonathan.  His master led him into battle.  He did not choose the battle.  Jonathan made sure he went ahead of the armor bearer so that he could take away the blows of the enemy.  When we received Christ as Savior, we enlisted in an army we weren’t acutely aware existed.  We would avoid our spiritual battles if we could, but our Master is always careful to lead the way (just like Jonathan led the armor bearer).  We must always “climb up” after Him.  1 Sam 14:13 says, “The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer followed and killed behind him.”  Our enemy will fall before our God.  We are only deadly to the enemy when we go behind Him.

Well, I hope that you got something out of that.. If not, ohh shooottt!

Trust in Him, and put on the full armor of God today!  

Psalm 19

Psalm 19 

-Psalm 19 is a song hailing the revelation of God:

            1.through nature

            2. through His Word

            3. to man’s innermost self

-1. Through Nature: 

-“heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands”

                        -His creation DECLARES His glory!

            -Rom 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”

            -Heb 1:3  “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

2. Through His Word

            -v. 7-9 “His law, statutes, precepts, commands”

            -what the Sun is to the earth, is what the word of God is to us…. It brings us warmth and light in the morning, and rest and peace at night… it sustains us, it gives us life…

3.  To man’s innermost self

            -v. 14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my HEART be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer”

à We should absolutely LOVE God’s Word

           

Ps 19:13 “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.”

            -willful sins are either on purpose or driven by pride

            -“blamelessness” is walking in freedom from willful sin

            -addictions are “dominion sin,” they have power to rule over us

                        -Ps 119:133 “let no sin rule over me…”

            -“they may not rule over me”

-rule comes from the Hebrew term masal, which means “to rule, reign, govern, have dominion, manage”

            -Ps 139:1-3 “You have searched me and You know me…”

-God knows our innermost secrets, the depths of our hearts, we can’t hide anything from Him, we must repent

-2 Thess 2:7  our deep secrets, the Enemy loves that, he is working all over that darkness, our little secrets that we’re not willing to confess provide the Enemy with so much to work with!

-James 5:16 “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other…” 

            -this shows the importance of accountability in our lives… we’re supposed to confess sin to fellow believers, so that they can be praying for us, and so that they can see when we might be falling into sin by knowing what we tend to struggle with… God made us to be reliant on other people, we’re supposed to help each other…

-“Consider meditation as the musical soliloquy sung in our hearts”

            -OK, this part is really cool!  Music is so powerful.  We get songs stuck in our heads.  We memorize lyrics really easily.  You probably know thousands of song lyrics without every trying to memorize them.  Music empowers us to feel different emotions.  I have different playlists that I choose, and they make me feel different ways.  Certain songs make me happy, sad, pumped up, excited, etc…

            -Our thoughts, the “meditation of our hearts,” are like God’s playlists.  It’s what He listens to!  When we are living lives of worship to Him, it’s like we’re singing hymns to Him.  He hears them!  This isn’t just in musical worship.  Our LIVES are worship.  If I’m playing in a soccer game, and see the beauty of God in the families around me, or the way my teammates encourage one another, the meditation of my heart can by a beautiful hymn that God is listening to!  But when we are scorning Him through our thoughts and motives, He has to listen to that too.  When I curse at the referee in my head when I think he makes an unfair call, yep- God has to listen to that too. 

            à  Let our lives play beautiful music for the ears of our loving God!

(Notes taken from a study on David, by Beth Moore)

Living in Freedom

Living in Freedom

Rom 6:6-7

Gal 4:9

Col 2:20

Col 1:13

Gal 5:1

I am a prisoner, sitting in a dungeon with shackles on my wrists and ankles.  I am striving to follow the world, to look just right, act just right; I am striving for perfection.  I wallow in my cell.  I hear of the name of some “Jesus,” but I am so consumed by my constant striving for happiness that I pay no attention to anything that doesn’t bring me instant gratification.  One day, I look out the window from the dungeon, and see a man. Instantly, I know that He is the one I have heard about. He is this so called “Jesus.”  He is walking my direction, bruised and beaten, His body covered in striped scars.  I hear the heavy door being pulled open as He enters the dungeon.  I hear His footsteps on the creaking stairs, and then suddenly I see Him.  He looks worse in person than from the window.  One of His eyes is swollen shut; bruises and wounds cover His flesh completely.  Then, the softest of sounds comes from His mouth, as He says to me, “Lyndsey, I am setting you free from your sin, my beautiful child.  I have paid the price, I have paid it in full!  You can live in freedom now! Come! Come with me!”  He smiles, revealing a broken tooth from behind His lip.  His face radiates with delight as He sets me free, and He breaks the chains that hold me down with ease.  The burden is lifted, and the shackles fall to the ground, defeated!  He picks me up, sets me gently on my feet, grabs me by the hand, and leads me out of the gloomy dungeon and into the beautiful outdoors.  He kisses me on the forehead, and I am overwhelmed with thankfulness!  I walk outside and dance about in freedom. 

I am in love with this Man who has set me free, and I ordain Him my Lord and Savior without hesitation!  The thought of ever turning my back on Him is absolute nonsense.  To this One who has freed me, I owe everything! 

But, after some time, I start thinking about my little dungeon again, and wonder how it’s doing.  I start to just wonder how the chains are doing, if they’ve moved or are laying just how I left them?  I decide to go back for a little visit.  I check to make sure Jesus isn’t near me; I don’t want Him to know I’m going for this little visit.  I glance back over my shoulder, and open the heavy door.  I creep down the stairs, and the familiar smell brings back memories of my time there.  I find the broken shackles, still lying there just as I left them.  One thought leads to the next, and after some time, I start to miss the shackles.  I roll around in them, and tangle myself up in the broken chains.  Something inside me knows that I shouldn’t, but I continue anyway, writhing about in my rebellion with a small smirk on my face.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I see a figure outside the window.  It is Jesus, who has watched the whole scenario.  He looks at me- one eye swollen shut- with a sad look on His face.  “Lyndsey, I have freed you, my child! Come out and live in freedom!” He begs. 

I notice tears building in His eyes.  I can’t stand to look at His grieving face, so I look down at the broken chains on top of me, and sulk in self-pity.  I taste the saltiness of a single tear that streams down my cheek and hits my mouth.  I can hear the voice of Satan, a voice filled with delight over my self-entanglement.  “You really are pretty tangled,” he tells me, and I can picture his smile at the thought of my misery.  “If Jesus really loved you, He’d come rescue you now, wouldn’t he?” he whispers with a mocking voice.  For a few moments, I sit in silence.  Then, the memory of my Savior hits me, the way He called me by name, picked me up to my feet and guided me outdoors to freedom. 

“He already has rescued me!” I shout with confidence.  I stand up, realizing that I can do so with ease, and the chains fall to the ground, for they have already been broken.  I run up the stairs, and Jesus is waiting for me, holding the heavy door wide open.  His smile returns as I step back into His freedom.  He wipes the tear from my face, and grabs my hand.  We dance in freedom once again, and I experience pure, indescribable joy. 

I reflect on the fact that He shouldn’t welcome me back with open arms after I have turned my back on Him and mocked the freedom He provides.  But His love for me is a Love unlike anything I have ever experienced.  It is unconditional.  For the remainder of my days, I wake up with the rising sun in sheer amazement of this Unconditional Love.