Cleaning House

My husband and I own a house in the U.S., but we are seldom there.  When we do return home, it is obvious we have been gone.  Not so much from the outside (we have wonderful neighbors and church friends who look after the yard), but when I walk in the door, it isn't long before I head for the vacuum cleaner. There is a layer of dust all through the house, covering the furniture and floors.

Beautifully crafted pieces of furniture do not look attractive with a layer of dust.  In order to see details of a piece, dirt must be removed.  Sometimes a good polish is also in order.  After that is done, I remember why we bought that piece of furniture.  Clean, it is very appealing.  Dirty, it is not.

The house is a 1905 Queen Anne Victorian. Although there has been much restoration done (and more in the process), there are some things lacking that most modern houses have. There is no insulation in the walls or under the floors. Daylight can be seen underneath entry doors. Where pocket doors inset the wall, the ground is sometimes visible from the floor.

As a result, insects can easily find their way into our home. In our absence, spiders take up residence.  There are cobwebs everywhere - especially in the corners of the twelve foot ceilings. Getting rid of the cobwebs is quite an effort. I am short. I need to stand on a ladder just to reach them with the extension on the vacuum cleaner or a long handled broom.

I really notice those cobwebs when I first return home, but a strange thing happens if I don't tackle them right away with the dirt that is so easily seen.  I forget about them.  I no longer look up in the corners of the doorways or the ceilings. I get busy with other things - office work, yard work, shopping and visiting friends and neighbors. I feel a bit like Morticia from the Addams Family.  The cobwebs can stay. They are part of the decor.

It occurs to me that sin in my life is a lot like the dust on the furniture and those spider webs in the corner. If I don't insulate myself (by staying in the Word or talking to God about everything) against things displeasing to Him, I tend to get used to them.  I don't notice the irritable thoughts, the lazy attitude toward the commitments I have made to Him, the selfishness that rears its ugly head.  I get busy with other things and neglect to clean in the corners of my life.

The best remedy for cleanliness at home and in my spiritual life is to tackle the dirt immediately. A close examination of my house always requires more cleaning. A close examination of my life does the same. Maybe I get accustomed to those unattractive, sinful attitudes, but I'm sure God does not. His desire is for my life to be pure and clean. He wants to see the reflection of His Son in me.

Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. . . (Psalm 24:3-4a NKJV). Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10 NLT).  

National Checkpoints and Boundaries

Yesterday evening, I returned from yet another trip to see part of my very large family -  the family of God. As God has called my husband and me to work with His family internationally, we travel a great deal. So far this year, our ministry has taken us to France, Poland, Cuba and South Africa.

Most of the time we fly to our destinations. In the process, we encounter many checkpoints - passport checks, immigration checks, custom checks, etc. These checkpoints mark a boundary between two countries: either the country of our residence or the country where we are traveling from to the country we are traveling to. Each country has a specific form that must be filled out on entry with information on the person who is traveling - the foreigner.  Even though people at the checkpoints speak English, it is still obvious we are entering another country.

Although we mostly travel by air, we sometimes use a train or drive to another country.  When we lived in El Paso, TX and traveled to Mexico, the long lines at the border were stark reminders that this was a checkpoint - a boundary.

There was a time when car travel in European countries meant going through tedious checkpoints at national boundaries.  Now many who are part of the European Union can travel freely from one country to the next without being stopped, but the physical checkpoints are still there as a reminder of the boundary.

When traveling by train from one country to another, even if the train does not stop at the border, there are officials who enter the train and check your documents.  Boundaries exist for security reasons.  We have observed people without proper documentation being removed from the train we were on.

I learn a lot by watching people in airports and train stations.  I hear many languages being spoken around me. As I pass through the check out lines, I observe the variety of colors in the passports people are holding in their hands.  Even languages and passports are a type of boundary.

God's Family Has No Boundaries

Once we are through the checkpoints, have collected our luggage and are joined with our partners in ministry, there is a great sense of relief.  Boundaries no longer apply. We are all part of the family of God, no matter what country issued our passports.  Even if we don't speak the same language, there is still a bond. I am not a foreigner in their homes or in their churches. I am part of their family. What a blessing it is to be part of a world wide family of God where boundaries do not exist.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). There is one body and one Spirit. . . one God and Father of all (Ephesians 4:4, 6).

The Anticipation and Excitement of Being Face to Face with Loved Ones

When it comes to a reunion with a loved one, I'm like a child. Not only do I prepare for the visit - cleaning house, making beds, preparing meals -  but there's something about the moment of greeting that brings joy to my heart. I get excited.

When my family drives in for a visit, I  go to the window or the door constantly looking for them. I am seldom in the house when they arrive.  I am usually waiting for them on the back porch.  By the time they turn off the ignition in the car, I am by their side.

My husband and I work together, travel together and play together. When he does go out by himself, I find myself listening for the car to come down the driveway or for the door of our house to open.  I am often upstairs, but head downstairs to greet him at the door. I want him to know I missed him.

We travel frequently and for the last few months have been living in a third story apartment in France. The kitchen window overlooks the entry way. Recently, anticipating the visit of a dear friend, I was able to greet her as she arrived - from the window!

If I am meeting family or friends at the airport, I look through the crowd until I see their faces. It is not hard for me to recognize them.  I know them. They know me. They are like me. They are part of my family, either my immediate family or my spiritual family.

The same is true when a loved one leaves.  I watch them until I can't see them any longer. I often feel like a part of me is leaving with them because we are family.

I can identify with the apostles who stood gazing into heaven as Jesus was taken up. They couldn't take their eyes off of the clouds just in case they could catch one more glimpse of Him.

The sense of joyful anticipation I feel when greeting loved ones, I believe, is a small preview to what it will be like for me to see Jesus face to face.  I want to be ready to greet Him.  I cannot wait to see Him. I know I will recognize Him because I know Him and He knows me.

As eager as I am to see Him, I believe He is also looking for me much like I watch for the arrival of my loved ones. I get excited just thinking about it.

But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2b).

America Bless God

Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! 

Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits (Psalm 103:1-2).

This year, as we celebrate Independence Day

There are some things we need to recall

How God has blessed us each step of the way

Without Him, we would have no blessings at all

What our ancestors acknowledged as true

We must remember this day and every day

It should be the same, even more now, for me and you

As there are those who would argue, the meaning is falling away

“All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator

 with inalienable rights,” states the Declaration of Independence.

Those men who unanimously penned this document, included later

Their “firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”

“The Star-Spangled Banner,” the anthem of our land

Praises the God who has blessed us

With His power and His hand

As the One in whom we should trust.

Read these words written by Francis Scott Key

In 1814, nearly two hundred years ago

As I read them today, I could plainly see

How he recognized that God had blessed us so

“Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust;”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.”

In 1918 Irving Berlin wrote another patriotic verse

“God bless America, the land that we love"

In the form of a prayer, he acknowledged God first

And asked for this nation His blessings from above

“In God We Trust” was placed on the two-cent coin in 1864

Followed by the nickel, quarter, half dollar and the one

Finally all coins contained this motto, and more

For currency was also included, now it is on every single one

Over the years, God’s activity has been acknowledged

As our leaders continued to recognize His hand.

For Eisenhower, in 1954, included in the national pledge

“One nation under God” as Communism threatened our land.

It is not Communism today, but America is definitely under attack

Not from terrorists alone but also from some of our very own

There are those who want to rewrite history, turn the clock back

And say that what our ancestors said, they did not mean

The only hope that the blessings America has experienced will last

Is, like our ancestors, we recognize His hand on this land we trod

He does not need us - we need Him and His blessings of the past

God has blessed America.  America should acknowledge and bless God.

If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Freedom and the French-American Friendship

The Statue of Liberty

A joint project between France and America, the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty was built by the Americans and the statue itself, designed and built by French artist Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, was completed in France, disassembled and shipped to the United States. An icon of freedom, the official name of the Statue is the “Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World.” The statue was a gift from the people of France and symbolizes the friendship between the two countries. 

Normandy

The Allied assault on D-Day (June 6,1944) aimed to liberate France and drive into Nazi Germany. Over 9,387 Americans are buried in the American cemetery in Normandy with an additional 1557 names inscribed on the Walls of the Missing. France has granted a special perpetual concession to the land, free of any charge or tax. The cemetery is maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission.  Two Italian granite figures at the western end of the central mall represent the United States and France.

From August 19 until the surrounding of the occupying German garrison on August 25, the last battle in the Campaign for Normandy was the Liberation of Paris.  It started with an uprising by the French Resistance against the German Paris garrison. On August 24, French Forces of the Interior received backup from the Free French Army of Liberation and the United States 4th Infantry Division. On August 29, 1944, a joint Franco-American victory military parade traveled through the streets of Paris.

Casablanca

The cooperation of French and Americans during the war inspired one of the best known movies of all time. 

Casablanca was set in unoccupied French Morocco during WW II. The movie bore the name of the stopping off point on the way to Lisbon and then to America as people attempted to escape Nazi occupied Europe. 

The main characters in the story are Rick Blaine, lIsa Lund and Victor Laszlo.  Prior to the German occupation of Paris, Rick and lIsa fell in love.  On the day the Germans marched into Paris, lIsa was to meet Rick at the train station but failed to show up. She had received word that her husband Victor Laszlo, a Czech resistance leader, had not died in the Nazi concentration camp but was alive and needed her.  

Rick goes to Casablanca and sets up Rick’s Café Américain. Rick and lIsa meet again as lIsa and Victor arrive in Casablanca, attempting to find passage to America. German Major Strasser comes to Casablanca to prevent Laszlo from leaving. While in Rick’s cafe, he leads his soldiers to sing the German national anthem. Victor Laszlo then orders Rick’s band to play La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France. When the band leader looks to Rick, he nods his head in approval.  

Rick helps Victor and lIsa escape to America by providing them with letters of transit to Lisbon. When Major Strasser tries to stop them, Rick shoots him. The movie ends with Rick and Captain Renault (the local police chief) making plans to join the Free French at Brazzaville, ending with the memorable line by Rick, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” 

Friends and Brothers, Free Indeed

I have been an American living in Paris for the last ten months. My husband and I have been conducting our international ministry from here.  Not only has my life been enriched by being involved with a wonderful international church, but I now know some of my brothers and sisters in Christ who are French.  

Our national mottos are Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, and In God We Trust. The origins of the French motto are not Christian, but the principles are. Through Jesus, we have liberty that enlightens the world. The God in whom we trust has provided a way for us to have liberty, equality and brotherhood. Through Christ, true freedom is possible.  Through Christ, we know that we are equally loved by God. Through Christ, we can experience a brotherhood that lasts forever. 

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. . .Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:32, 36).

The Joy of Food, Fellowship and Family

There's something about sitting together around a table full of food that invites conversation - especially with family. When our sons got married, I made a family recipe book for my new daughters.  It occurred to me that many of our best memories were around meals celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays or traditions we had created for meals on Friday nights, Saturday mornings or Sunday after church. Those memories were of great joy when we were all gathered around the table.

Now the joy is magnified because the family has grown.  On rare occasions when we have mealtimes together again, it is with grandchildren and all the delightful contributions they make to the conversations.

This last week was another reminder of this truth.  I attended two fellowship meals with our church family here in France.  There was a covered dish luncheon on Sunday after church.  So much good food and time to visit with friends around the table is a great treat.  On normal Sundays, people have to be out and about and visiting time is limited.  On covered dish Sundays, people make an effort to stick around, visit and enjoy a meal together.

On Tuesday, our ladies Bible study group got together at a member's lovely home for lunch.  Again, there was time to discover more information about my sisters in Christ.  People I had grown to love I love even more because I know them better now -  they shared their testimonies and experiences with the Lord. It was truly a joyful time.

Jesus had similar experiences.  He never was in a hurry, but it was at mealtimes we see him having the luxury of sharing life with those He loved.  He spent time in fellowship and meals with His friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  Those were times of rest and restoration for Him, just as times of food and fellowship with family are for us.

There was one very special meal where Jesus was able to have a time of very needed fellowship.  It was just before His betrayal and crucifixion.  In the upper room, after Judas left, Jesus had an opportunity to share some special revelations of Himself to eleven of His closest friends. He had come so they might be adopted into His family. As He left His brothers with incredible words of encouragement and promise, He told them that His intended purpose for doing so was that they might share in His joy.

Food, fellowship and family are perfect settings for experiences of joy.

These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11). But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves (John 17:13).

To "Our Father in Heaven" on Father's Day

“Our Father in Heaven” we say

When we start to talk to God.

“Please give us our bread this day,”

As your Son taught while on earth He trod.

How can You be both His Father and ours

When You are God and we are only men?

How can we partake of Your power

When our lives are so full of sin?

Incredible though it may be, but true

You had this plan before time began,

That our sins would be hid in You

When Your Son became a Man.

The love You give freely to us

Is more than we can understand;

All You require is absolute trust

In the One You sent, the Son of Man.

“Father in Heaven, how can we say

Thank You for adoption into Your family?”

On this, what we celebrate as Father’s Day

We remember Your love crucified on a tree.

With a heart full of gratitude, we say,

“We want You to be pleased with us,”

As we remember on this and every day,

You are the Heavenly Father we can trust.