I thought I would pause our look at the book of Judges and give you an update about the writing progress – the countdown is on: I leave for the She Speaks conference in less than two weeks!

After my grandfather’s funeral last weekend, the kids and I spent the week at my parents’ house.  It was nice to have time with them as well as to have some built-in childcare so I could escape and write during the day! :)  I’m feeling much more prepared for the conference as I hammered out my book proposal, two chapters, and am part of the way through a third.  It’s coming together!

But to be honest, throughout these past few weeks as I have prepared I have wrestled with doubt and insecurity. While I feel passionate about this book topic, feel that God has clearly laid it on my heart to write it, and know that it is a book that could be used greatly by Him… I sometimes have struggled, wondering if anything will ever come of it.  As I have read up more on the publishing process the difficulty of it all has weighed on me.  What if we spend the money for me to go to She Speaks, I work and work and work to get this together… and nothing ever happens with it?

As I read through Exodus with the Bible in 90 Days challenge, I was struck by a familiar conversation between Moses and God.  I have read this passage many times.  I have taught on it.  I have written about it.  But this time, I found myself identifying more with  Moses than I ever have before.

Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

Exodus 4:10-13

There are a lot of reasons I can list why I don’t feel like the optimal person to write this book.  But the fact of the matter is, God knows all those things.  And it seems that He has clearly given me this task and said, “Now go – I will help you and will teach you what to say!”  And meanwhile deep down I have been thinking… “O Lord, please send someone else to do it!”

Has God given you a task that feels too big for your abilities?  He probably has.  Times like these force us to rely on His abilities, not ours.  Blogging and teaching are somewhat in my comfort zone – it is much easier for me to rely on my own abilities because I feel capable of these things.  I do not feel capable of writing a book and getting it published.  And the truth is – however God chooses to use this project He will receive all the glory because I know full well how incapable I am to do this on my own!

One wobbly step at a time, wondering what will happen, wondering if God’s timeline for this project greatly differs from my own, wondering… but seeking to remember that His power is made perfect in my weakness.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Thank you to those of you who have prayed for  me.  Please continue to pray that I will continue to hear His leading for this project and take it in the direction He wants me to go.  May God’s name be praised, may all the honor be His alone.

Over at Scripture Dig we are taking turns sharing a peek into what our quiet time routines look like.  And friends, I’m going to be very honest with you here… my time is not as routine as I would love it to be!

The question of how to fit in time with the Word is a discussion I often find myself having with other young moms.  So, if you’d like a peek into my reality of how I do it (and what I’m learning to do!), click over to Scripture Dig… and let’s get real. :)

…please forgive me!

Back in March I had mentioned that I was hoping/planning to go to the She Speaks conference this year.  Unfortunately I didn’t receive a scholarship and I kept putting off registering because of cost, and when I finally took the plunge to register the conference was already full!  I asked to be put on the waiting list, but figured that I most likely would not be going.

Read: I put off working on the book. ;)

Well, last night I received an email that a spot has opened up for me to attend!!  I am thrilled and also a bit overwhelmed at the amount of writing I have to do before July 30th rolls around.  [The 30th is also my 30th birthday - happy She Speaks birthday to me!] NP pointed out that even if I had known all along I was going I probably wouldn’t have much more done than I do now – I am a terrible procrastinator, sad but true! Deadlines are my friends.

So, for the next month or so I will probably be  posting less on the blog so I can focus on my book proposal.  I am guessing I will probably only post twice a week, and will also be posting some “oldies but goodies” from the archive that most of you haven’t seen – and my fellow Scripture Dig writers [who are also all attending She Speaks!!] may be contributing some guest posts for me from their archives here and there, as well.

So, thank you for your patience.  And if you feel led to pray for me as I prepare and write, I would deeply appreciate it.

Ready or not, here we go…

On Wednesday, we contemplated The Laodicean Syndrome.  We noted that ”the Laodicean syndrome of self-righteousness convinces you that you are clothed in grandeur, but in reality you are shamefully naked.  It convinces you that you are wise and significant when in reality you are pitiful and blind.”   After His straightfoward rebuke of this church, Jesus’ words are direct but merciful.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich;

and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness;

and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:18-20

Jesus’ diagnosis of this church had been grim – “you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”  They had thought themselves rich of their own accord – Jesus says that in reality, they are poor.  The remedy?  Buy from Him true gold which has been refined in the fire.  They needed to trade in their fools’ gold for the real thing – true salvation through Christ.

“They needed gold that was free of impurities, representing the priceless riches of true salvation.  Peter wrote of a ‘faith…more precious than gold’ (1 Peter 1:7), while Paul defined saving faith as ‘rich in good works, having the treasure of a good foundation for the future’ (1 Timothy 6:18-19).  Christ offered the Laodiceans a pure, true salvation that would bring them into a real relationship with Him.”

MacArthur, 138

They thought they were clothed in the splendor of their own self-righteousness, but they were actually shamefully naked.  Jesus offers them white clothes to cover themselves.  Throughout Revelation we find God’s people clothed in pure white garments – once they came to Him in true saving faith, casting themselves on His grace and not clinging to their own rags of self-righteousness, He promised to clothe them and make them truly holy in His sight.

They thought they had great wisdom and insight, but they were actually blind.  They needed the kind of salve that only Jesus could provide, restoring their spiritual sight.  In Acts 26:18, Paul records His commission from Jesus – He was to go  “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” The Laodicean church, although they thought that they were spiritually healthy with 20/20 vision, was full of individuals blinded by self and desperate for a supernatural healing through saving faith in Jesus.

It is compelling to me that Revelation 3:20 (“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice…”), a verse that is so very familiar to us within the context of evangelism, is addressed to a church.  Friends, as I have shared before I am absolutely convinced that there are droves of pastors, church leaders, members, and attenders who seem to look the part and are dreadfully lost.  These people are confident in their spirituality – they see themselves as richly robed in their good works and endowed with great spiritual insight.  In reality, they are wretched and spiritually lost, blind to their need for Christ and unable to fully see the truth, naked before the holiness of God when their self-righteous rags fall away.

Verse 19 gives clear instruction – So be earnest, and repent. Working harder is not the trick.  Being more committed is not the cure.  The only thing that can remedy the spiritual sickness in our souls is to recognize our wretchedness and repent – to ask for the Lord Jesus to cover our shame with His righteousness, to take the scales off our eyes and allow us to see, to humbly receive the riches of true salvation that we will never be able to earn.

As this last letter to the churches comes to a close, the emphasis of Revelation will switch from earth to heaven,  from present to future, from the church to Israel.  The church is not directly referenced from chapters 4-18 of Revelation – and I believe the reason for that is the rapture: the church has already been taken from the earth when this timeline begins.  This letter to the Laodicean church is the final statement to “lost Christians” – the last warning in the sequence before the rapture takes place.

Be sober, be diligent.  Examine your hearts, share truth with those around you – and never assume that the person next to you in the pew is already a true follower of Jesus.  I think we need some evangelists in our churches, sent to church people who are blind to their spiritual poverty.

Behold, He stands at the door and knocks… time is ticking.

If you have missed posts from the Revelation series, you can find them all listed here.  To make sure you don’t miss any more, I hope you will consider subscribing in a reader or by email!

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