He delights in me.

I have previously mentioned that I have a past. It's just a fact. We all do.

But I read something tonight that really struck a chord with me, so I decided to post on it.

Psalm 18:19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

(emphasis mine)

Now, I've always known that God loved me, even in the midst of my junk. I've always believed that it was God who found me, not the other way around. But the phrase above really resonated with me tonight. It remonded me of what I've always known, but had forgotten... He didn't just have pity on me, although that would have been marvelous. He didn't just show kindness to me, although that was part of it. He delighted in me. He found delight in spending time with me, and making me his own.

I am more than just loved. I am wanted, cared for, adored and cherished. God doesn't just delignt in my words, as if I were a good speaker. God doesn't just delight in my actions, as if I were a good person. God delights in me... the very core of me that I have thought was grotesque, marred and unbeautiful. God loves that part of me.

I just thought someone else might need to read that about THEMSELVES, too.

Considering Saltiness

I was reading this morning and I read something that has bothered me for years. In Matthew 5 Christ is speaking about salt that looses its saltiness. Following what I've learned in bible study -- if you don't understand, look closer -- I decided to really dig and find out what Christ was saying.

The confusing part is something that I learned in basic chemistry: table salt (sodium chloride) is a stable compound. It does not degrade over time. One ounce of salt today will be one ounce of salt in 100 years, if exposed only to normal air and humidity.

So... HOW does salt lose its saltiness? It doesn't change!!

Our salt -- table salt -- isn't the same salt that Christ was speaking of. The salt they used was a compound harvested from the dead sea. It contained a good portion of sodium chloride (table salt), but also had a mix of other salts and minerals. That compound was not stable. Over time, when exposed to air and humidity, the other salts and minerals would react to the oxegyn and water in the air and actually become other chemicals. Those other chemicals would actually erode the sodium chloride (the salty flavor) and make it bland, flavorless and useless to cook with.

So, how do you prevent that? There were two common ways to prevent degridation of this form of salt: 1) Use it. If you used it up quickly, it didn't have time to go bad. 2) The second way to preserve it was to bottle it up in air-tight containers. This was a very expensive method, since we didn't invent the TupperWare "burp test" for 1900 more years. Air-tight containers in those days (given their humid environment) was a very expensive luxury item.

But this also explained why Christ went on to expound in Matthew 5:14 about not hiding the light.

13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Don't put the salt in a bottle, but use it. Don't hide the light in a basket, but let it shine. Don't put God away in a corner, but let Him show in every aspect of your life.

God, forgive me for hiding you. For wanting to just put my salt in a box and hold on to my little piece of assurance. What good am I to you, if I do nothing? Forgive me for being useless, and make me useful.

Wandering Idiots

I started reading a bit in Exodus tonight, and a couple of items jumped off the page at me. If you look in Exoodus 14, you'll notice that God directed the children of Israel to camp in a very specific location.

"Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea."

In short, God told the children to camp between a rock and an impossible situation. Why? On one side was a big wall. And on the other, a sea. The "smart" thing for them to do would to have kept going. The path was clear. Sure, they would have Pharoh at their heels while they ran, but they could outrun him or overpower him, right?

But God specifically directed them back into a corner. From a logistics standpoint, this is definately not a shining moment from an earhtly perspective. But God has the tree-line view. He sees so-much more than the here-and-now. He knew the plan pharoh would take, and he orchestrated the best possible outcome. He didn't care that some would think them to be wandering idiots. His plan was bigger than what a few earthly people would think.

He even let Moses in on the plan.

Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." So the Israelites did this.

They obeyed, even in the face of a rock and a hard place, and God did something amazing. 1) He performed a miracle. 2) He destroyed (obliterated, actually) their enemy and 3) Removed the constant threat of attack from their lives. All of this came about because, as it says, "The Israelites did this."

So... what does this have to do with you and I? Obedience.

You have to be in God's word to hear his voice (Romans 10:17) -- " ... and hearing [comes] by the word of God." Taking time out of your schedule just to hear God is an act of obedience. In fact, it is the first step in a walk in the wilderness. Note that the Israelites would have had Pharoh nipping at thier heels had they not heard the voice and direction of God.

Once you are listening to God, now you have come to the hard part -- Obeying. You see, while we don't listen, we are blissfully unaware of the traps and pitfalls. We really are wandering idiots. But when we know, then we have to choose. Do we obey God -- and at times appear to be foolish when in reality we are doing what is right -- or do we go on in ignorance, hoping that our own "Pharoh" doesn't catch up with us?

And Note that you won't see the miracle and freedom from that bondage until you obey. It may mean swallowing your pride. It may mean placing yourself under someone else's authority. It may even mean that you stop and change the way you do everything -- from your clothes to your food to your spending habits. And those ways may seem to be foolish to others. Buf if you are listening to God, and you obey God, then you unlock something incredible. Your obedience to God's plan sets that very plan into motion. And like a bowling ball down a slide, it will speed into existence.

I'm not saying that plan isn't scary. Moses definately had his nay-sayers. Not two verses later, some begin to fear their situation.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?"

But if you hold on, continue in the simple 1-2-3 steps of listening, obeying, and watching, then you will see the supernatural become natural. Then you will be free from your slave-masters and from the armies of things that haunt you.

So now you have a choice. Now you know. Will you repeat three simple steps over and over into the unkown wilderness that God has planned for you? Sure it will be scary (the unknown is what humans fear most of all) Sure, it will be tough. Christ said himself that we will have troubles. But that's waht Faith is all about: Trusting that God has all the unknowns that we DON'T see, covered. That's what the writer of Hebrews meant in chapter 11:

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. ... without faith it is impossible to please God ...

Will you start that journey? Or will you continue to roam in tiny little circles in your comfort zone, truly being wandering idiots?