So, I am a special education teacher. My students have severe disabilities and medical needs. One of my students relies on a ventilator to breathe. Without the ventilator he cannot breathe on his own thus he cannot live. The ventilator connects to his trach by a tube. Sometimes this tube accidentally disconnects from his trach which causes an alarm to go off. Myself or another staff member must then go and reattach the tube so that he can have oxygen and be able to breathe. Other times this student will for one reason or another remove the tube on his own. Sometimes he wants attention and knows he will get it when the alarm goes off. Other times he is just being a little jerk. But what he does not fully understand is that without that tube, he will die. He will at times attempt to put the tube back on himself, but he is unable to do so, when the tube is off, he must rely on someone to reconnect him to save his life. This happens daily in our classroom.
I share this because this reminds me of what we as followers of Christ so often do. I view the ventilator and tube as Christ. Because we have Christ we have life. But without Christ we have death. We know that the ventilator is very important, that without it we are in some deep water. It is our lifeline and we know it. But yet we do not and cannot fully understand the consequences of not having the ventilator attached.
Sometimes our tube falls off on accident. Maybe we have been doing very well in life and because of that we have forgotten the importance of our relationship with Christ, and because of that it begins to fade without us knowing it. The tube falls off on accident. Or maybe life has been very chaotic and stressful, we do truly love The Lord but in the craziness of life we wander away. The tube falls off. But at some point an alarm sounds, we hear it, whether we pay attention to it or not is another story.
Sometimes we intentionally remove the tube for one reason or another. Maybe we are presented with a relationship that we want but is not in Christ, we chose that relationship even though we know it is not Christ centered. Or maybe we have addictions or struggles that we fail to conquer and we simply give into them whether drugs, alcohol, sex, what ever it is. Or maybe we just lose faith in Christ and decide we no longer want Him. The tube falls off. Alarms begin to sound.
When the tube falls off and the alarm sounds, just like I do for my student, God picks up the tube and offers it back to us. It probably does frustrate him just as my student frustrates me, but ultimately The Lord knows that we have to have that tube, Christ. And he will continually offer it to us, for without Christ we have nothing. That is Grace defined.
What are we doing to ensure our tube does not fall off, that we are connected to the ventilator that gives us life? When our tube falls off and we become disconnected, are we willing to ask God for that tube back?
Just a though I had.
With love,
Your boy Opher.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Refuge
I am enjoying my President's day off by sitting in a coffee shop. I had planned to get a ton of school work done, but that has yet to happen. Jesus is just too Good, and I find myself just wanting to spend the whole time with Him and in His word. And He has put the idea of "refuge" on my heart. Actually, it's been on my heart since reading through the book of Psalms in January, I am just now putting my thoughts and heart to words. So here it goes.
Refuge: A. Shelter or protection from trouble. B. A place that provides shelter or protection.
That is the definition for refuge. I believe that is a good defintion. But as I spent quite a bit of time in Psalms, and since reading them, in prayer, I am realizing that the word refuge is so much more. Those two definitions are simple, but God's definition I believe leads to life.
Proof in Psalms:
Psalm 2:12 "...Blessed are all who take refuge in him."
Psalm 16:1 "Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge."
Psalm 18:1-2 "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Psalm 62:6-8 "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. Oh God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."
Those are just a few examples found in the book of Psalms about seeking God as our refuge. There are a ton more. I attempted to highlight the word Refuge every time I read it in Psalms, and it appears a ton. Why is that? What does it mean?
Think in terms of what you think of when you hear the word refuge, or refugee? I know I immediately think of a 3rd world country, with thousands of tired, hungry, and broken people pouring into a compund seeking safety. I see them coming from all over to avoid war, famine, disease. They have nothing left, the refugee camp is their last hope, and they have placed all their hope in it. That is what I see when I hear that word.
When it comes to our lives, to our faith in Christ, is it much different? We are refugees. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are our refuge, our rock, our fortress. Without them, without the help we have in them, we have nothing. God has really been telling me that I must live as a refugee and seek refuge in Him. I have nothing without Him. I am worn, I am broken, and I am dead without him. Just as I described my vision of a refugee camp, so to must I do the same. I must go to God, I must know that I have no other hope, that it is Him or nothing. I must put all my hope in His refuge. I must trust that He will provide. That inside the gates of His refuge, I am safe, my needs will be met. That inside those gates lies our salvation, our stronghold.
This is not something that we should do only in tough times, in times that we know we are broken and beaten up, but instead at all times! Everyday we must go to the Good Lord for refuge. We must admit that we are refugees and need a safe place to live. And God offers that safe place, in His refuge! There we can get rest. There we can find hope. There we can get strong again. There we can find life as it is meant to be lived.
God is not someone who just chills up in the heavens and watches us from a far. He is with us, He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to come to him and say "Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge!"
Friends, where do you seek refuge? When do you seek refuge?
I hope this finds you well. God has really been putting this on my heart this past month and really these past two weeks. Without His refuge, we have nothing. Embrace the idea of being a refugee, and enter God's refuge. Let us find rest, hope, and life together.
In Christ,
Opher
Refuge: A. Shelter or protection from trouble. B. A place that provides shelter or protection.
That is the definition for refuge. I believe that is a good defintion. But as I spent quite a bit of time in Psalms, and since reading them, in prayer, I am realizing that the word refuge is so much more. Those two definitions are simple, but God's definition I believe leads to life.
Proof in Psalms:
Psalm 2:12 "...Blessed are all who take refuge in him."
Psalm 16:1 "Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge."
Psalm 18:1-2 "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."
Psalm 62:6-8 "He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. Oh God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us."
Those are just a few examples found in the book of Psalms about seeking God as our refuge. There are a ton more. I attempted to highlight the word Refuge every time I read it in Psalms, and it appears a ton. Why is that? What does it mean?
Think in terms of what you think of when you hear the word refuge, or refugee? I know I immediately think of a 3rd world country, with thousands of tired, hungry, and broken people pouring into a compund seeking safety. I see them coming from all over to avoid war, famine, disease. They have nothing left, the refugee camp is their last hope, and they have placed all their hope in it. That is what I see when I hear that word.
When it comes to our lives, to our faith in Christ, is it much different? We are refugees. God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit are our refuge, our rock, our fortress. Without them, without the help we have in them, we have nothing. God has really been telling me that I must live as a refugee and seek refuge in Him. I have nothing without Him. I am worn, I am broken, and I am dead without him. Just as I described my vision of a refugee camp, so to must I do the same. I must go to God, I must know that I have no other hope, that it is Him or nothing. I must put all my hope in His refuge. I must trust that He will provide. That inside the gates of His refuge, I am safe, my needs will be met. That inside those gates lies our salvation, our stronghold.
This is not something that we should do only in tough times, in times that we know we are broken and beaten up, but instead at all times! Everyday we must go to the Good Lord for refuge. We must admit that we are refugees and need a safe place to live. And God offers that safe place, in His refuge! There we can get rest. There we can find hope. There we can get strong again. There we can find life as it is meant to be lived.
God is not someone who just chills up in the heavens and watches us from a far. He is with us, He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to come to him and say "Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge!"
Friends, where do you seek refuge? When do you seek refuge?
I hope this finds you well. God has really been putting this on my heart this past month and really these past two weeks. Without His refuge, we have nothing. Embrace the idea of being a refugee, and enter God's refuge. Let us find rest, hope, and life together.
In Christ,
Opher
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
An Old, New Years Resolution
A blog post to start the New Year is cliche, I do undersand that. But you know what, who cares. 2013 is now over and 2014 is upon us. And as I sit here on my couch reading through Facebook and Twitter posts about New Year resolutions and all that fun stuff, something seems off. Each year at this time we as humans think back and reflect upon the previous year. For some of us it was a great year, for others it was not so great. And then we begin to think about the 365 days ahead of us and our expectations for them. We make our new year resolutions and hope to follow them.
But what are our new years resolutions? To eat healthier? Read more books? Become a better person? Those are all great things and I have no doubt that many of you do follow them pretty well. Now I have never been one for resolutions. That is not meant to make me sound above those who make them or anything. In reality, I don't make them because I know I will not follow them. I do not have the discipline to do so. And I also think it's silly to wait until the first of the year to try and make a good change. If you know you need to chagne something in your life, why wait? But put that point aside.
What I want to get at here is this; as we are making all these new resolutions and such, we are failing to see the one change that we do need to make, the one resolution that is not just for the new year but for new life. The one that has been around for over 2,000 years that we often forget about. The one that goes like this, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35. I believe in those two versus Jesus has given us the only new years resolution we need. He has given us the one change we need to make in our lives. He is telling us that we need to simply love people.
If we just stop and think about that. Just imagine how much better the world would be if we just loved one another. If you are reading this and do not believe in or follow Christ, I still believe that this applies to you as well as Christ followers. When we Love people well, their lifes are changed, affected. All those Facebook statuses we read this morning about how bad 2013 sucked, I fully believe that those would decrease. With more Love in our lives, things would be much more easy. Even when dealing with tough losses and bad situations, if our friends, family, and strangers showed us some love, we could get through those tough times. And I believe that is what Jesus is saying here. The most important thing is to Love as He has Loved us. Now, we cannot love in that way, His Love is perfect, but we can stride to love that way.
So all that to say this friends, for your new years resolution, just Love people better. And if we all do this, not only will we see a great new year, but I believe we will see a lot of new life!
-Opher-
But what are our new years resolutions? To eat healthier? Read more books? Become a better person? Those are all great things and I have no doubt that many of you do follow them pretty well. Now I have never been one for resolutions. That is not meant to make me sound above those who make them or anything. In reality, I don't make them because I know I will not follow them. I do not have the discipline to do so. And I also think it's silly to wait until the first of the year to try and make a good change. If you know you need to chagne something in your life, why wait? But put that point aside.
What I want to get at here is this; as we are making all these new resolutions and such, we are failing to see the one change that we do need to make, the one resolution that is not just for the new year but for new life. The one that has been around for over 2,000 years that we often forget about. The one that goes like this, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35. I believe in those two versus Jesus has given us the only new years resolution we need. He has given us the one change we need to make in our lives. He is telling us that we need to simply love people.
If we just stop and think about that. Just imagine how much better the world would be if we just loved one another. If you are reading this and do not believe in or follow Christ, I still believe that this applies to you as well as Christ followers. When we Love people well, their lifes are changed, affected. All those Facebook statuses we read this morning about how bad 2013 sucked, I fully believe that those would decrease. With more Love in our lives, things would be much more easy. Even when dealing with tough losses and bad situations, if our friends, family, and strangers showed us some love, we could get through those tough times. And I believe that is what Jesus is saying here. The most important thing is to Love as He has Loved us. Now, we cannot love in that way, His Love is perfect, but we can stride to love that way.
So all that to say this friends, for your new years resolution, just Love people better. And if we all do this, not only will we see a great new year, but I believe we will see a lot of new life!
-Opher-
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