I’m certainly not a Star Trek geek, but I will admit that I have watched my fair share of Star Trek shows. And you don’t have to watch too many episodes before it becomes apparent that there are certain recurring phrases that have become part of the Star Trek jargon. For instance, Captain Kirk’s, “Beam me up, Scottie” or Captain Picard’s, “Make it so.” But there is one phrase both captains used whenever they were under attack. Both captains would shout this order, “Shields up!” The shields were force fields that would protect their ship, the Enterprise. They would deflect the fiery blasts of an enemy attack; however, they were not impenetrable. If the attacks continued, their deflecting power would weaken and threaten to collapse. Fortunately there always was a last minute rescue that spared the impending destruction of their starship.

Well, this past week, I was struck by a verse in the Bible from the book of Psalms that also referred to a shield―but this shield is not the product of man’s imagination. No, this shield comes from the heart of our Lord!

For you bless the godly, O Lord, you surround them with your shield of love. (Psalm 5:12 (NLT)

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12 NIV)

Because Jesus Christ is my Savior, I have received His righteousness! Therefore I can embrace this promise that God will bless me by surrounding me with His shield of love and favor―an encompassing shield that protects me from the strategies and attacks of the enemy of my soul. But unlike the shield of the Enterprise, the power of the Lord’s shield―the power of His love and favor on my life will never collapse; it will never be weakened! Just like King David, we can declare this truth:

“He (the Lord) is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. (Ps. 18:30 NLT)

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. (Prov. 30:5 NLT)

What comfort, what peace of mind, what strength of heart becomes ours, when we embrace His promise that He will protect us with His shield of love and favor! A great promise to take hold of as we enter the new year of this new decade!

He had a beautiful home, a loving family, a prosperous business and good health. He loved God and sought to be obedient in all that he did. His name was Job.

Then in one day calamity struck. His children were killed in a whirlwind. The bottom dropped out of his business. His health failed as he was plagued with painful boils. When his good friends heard of the tragedy that had befallen Job, they came to help him. But not with word of comfort! Instead, their help took the form of blame-ridden accusations. Surely Job had done something terribly wrong―committed a grievous sin―and God must be punishing him. Bewildered and in despair, Job protested that he had searched his heart and knew of nothing that would incur God’s wrath.

Just when Job thought he couldn’t go on, God shows up. He steps into Job’s situation, and Job has a meeting with God. God talked to Job. And what was Job’s response? Awed by God’s presence, he didn’t persist with the “why” questions. He didn’t accuse God of being unfair or calloused, instead he acknowledged God’s sovereignty. God’s presence took precedence over his questions. In awe he said to God, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” (Job. 42:5 NIV) The pain and suffering Job endured was what brought Job to the point where he didn’t just know truths about God, but now he knew God for himself. And for Job, this was the valuable blessing that came from what he endured.

When we go through difficult times―times of suffering, loss, pain―we may never have our “why” questions answered on this side of heaven. These challenging times are not what we want or even expect to experience. But when they happen, be assured that when we cry out to God, even with our questions, He will show up. He will meet us in the pain, so like Job we can say, “I knew about God, but now I know Him in a new way.” His presence will mitigate the pain. And that is a blessing.

Recently my husband and I were blessed to spend a few days in Boston visiting with my daughter, her husband and our two grandchildren―Clio who is three and Max who is one.  Because they don’t live near us, Joe and I are intentional about carving out time to spend with our Boston family.  What a delight it was to spend time with them, especially with the grandkids! We spent time at the park, the aquarium, and even an animal farm. (Yes, that’s Joe and my grandson, Max, having fun at the sheep barn.)

The best times, though, were the morning hours when Clio and Max crawled onto our laps and just cuddled; the quiet times we spent reading a book or building a block tower. We “facetime” regularly, but it is this face-to-face time that truly deepens our relationship with them―a relationship where they are delighted to be with us as we delight in them!

It is interesting that in Psalm 37:4 David was inspired to write about “taking delight.” He wrote:

“Take delight in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

As I read and reread that verse, I pondered over that phrase “take delight in the Lord.” It’s a beautiful phrase, but how do we live it? How do we take delight in the Lord? Here are my thoughts:

Like the delightful time Joe and I spent with our grandchildren, taking delight in the Lord means spending time with Him―time in “conversational” prayer! Not just praying at God with our list of needs, but spending time in prayer where we just enjoy His presence. Certainly I’m not saying that we shouldn’t come to the Lord with our needs when we pray, in fact the Lord invites us to. But we mustn’t neglect spending time when we pray to enjoy His presence, to listen to what He desires to speak to us. Sarah Young in her devotional “Jesus Calling” conveys the heart of God with these words, written as if God were speaking directly to us:

“Sit quietly in my presence while I bless you. Make your mind like a still pool of water, ready to receive the thoughts I drop into it.”

This is harder to do than we think. It’s hard to quiet ourselves, to make our minds “like a still pool of water,” purging our mind of the problems and concerns of the day, and just “be” in His presence. But that is how you build a relationship―not just talking at God with your requests but allowing Him to speak to you, to drop His thoughts into your quieted mind.  It’s taking delight in the Lord by delighting in His presence as He “speaks” to you with inspired thoughts that encourage, lead, and comfort. And when you take delight in the Lord, there’s a promise―He will give you the desires of your heart.

An awesome promise, but here’s the thing! When you develop that conversational relationship with the Lord, delighting in His presence, your desires change from being self-focused to God-focused. He transforms your desires to line up with His perfect will for your life. Your desires change from being the things you want, to being who God wants you to be, to what He wants you to do―desires that reap eternal blessings. 

So carve out some time to delight in the Lord as you pray. Play a worship song or read a few verses of scripture to get your mind focused on Him. Then let your mind become like a pool of still water and allow God to fill your mind with His thoughts. Take delight in the Lord as He delights in you!

I first met Patricia Beall Gruits when I attended her catechism class at the age of 17. Little did I know as I sat in that class that at the age of 21 she would become my mother-in-law, and then so much more. She would become my mentor, my prayer warrior, and yes, my cheerleader!

What is amazing about mother was that she was so secure in knowing the will of God for her life and the gifts that He had placed in her, she never felt threatened by the gifts God had placed in others.  In fact, she delighted in helping you discover your gift. She even provided opportunities of ministry so she could nurture those gifts. And, that is what she did for me.

In my late 20’s, she involved me in the Rhema seminars―seminars that shared with pastors and church leaders the Understanding God curriculum, a curriculum that establishes a spiritual foundation for believers. Yes, I had a graduate degree in education and was teaching high school, but she entrusted me with the task of planning the seminar agendas and then to speak at these seminars. Initially I was responsible for sharing teaching strategies to be used with the Understanding God curriculum. Then as the years progressed, my role expanded as one of the main seminar speakers sharing the doctrines of Christ! Sometimes as I reflect on those early days I am amazed at the trust she placed in me.

It was also during those early seminar years that she opened up yet another door of ministry for me. She asked if I would teach the Understanding God class at our home church, Bethesda. This assignment required  that I  would not only  teach  the foundational lessons from  God’s Word,  but also to pray and  spiritually minister  to the students attending these classes. I could teach, but could I minister? I was excited about the opportunity, yet apprehensive. Such a spiritual responsibility! Overwhelming to say the least!

My response? I told mother I would accept on one condition: “I will do it, but only if you will lay your hands on my in prayer and impart that spiritual gift to teach that you have.”  I knew I had the gift to teach in the natural, but I desired that anointed gift of teaching that she had. And so she did.  Mother gladly gave what she herself had received. On that day, I believe I received a deposit of spiritual DNA that had been imparted to her.

But my story is not unique. She did this for many in the church. She was an “includer,” not an “excluder.” She wanted you to use the gifts God had placed in you, so she would make room for you in what she was doing for the Lord. And as you blossomed, she became your biggest fan. Your cheerleader!

I will miss our talks about the truths in the Bible. I will miss writing with her, teaching with her, ministering with her. And yes, I’ll miss those powerful times of  prayer ―praying in the spirit!  But most of all, I’ll miss just being with her.

To read the eulogy article about Patricia Gruits in Charisma Magazine, go to:  https://www.charismanews.com/us/76918-latter-rain-leader-rhema-international-founder-patricia-beall-gruits-dies-at-96

In just a few days we celebrate “Good Friday”―a good day, no, a great day for us, for mankind―but not so good for Jesus.

On the night before his crucifixion, Jesus spent his last few hours with his disciples preparing them for what would take place on that Friday. After he established what we know as the Lord’s Supper, he washed his disciples’ feet, and then Jesus took them to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.

It is in the Garden where Jesus revealed the depth of his distress as the reality of Friday drew near. Filled with anguish and despair, he turned to Peter, James, and John and said, “My soul is crushed with horror and sadness to the point of death, stay here, stay awake with me.”         (Matt. 26:37 TLB) In the Message translation, it states that Jesus “plunged into an agonizing sorrow.” And then he prayed this intense prayer―not once but three times:

“Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.” (Mark 14:36 NIV)

Jesus was asking the Father if there could be another way to make a “way” of salvation for mankind―a way he could forego the cross. Jesus was facing the most difficult decision of his human life: would he choose the Father’s will or his will? His agony over the choice was so great that Jesus “sweat drops of blood.” Why the agony? Why the horror? Why the deep distress?

There is no dispute that crucifixion is a horrific and tortuous way to die, but it was not a unique execution in the first century. I propose that the agony, horror, and distress Jesus experience stemmed not from the dread of the physical pain he would experience, but from the truth that on that cross Jesus would become sin for us. The apostle Paul explains what took place on the cross:

“For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us.”                                (2 Corinthians 5:21 TLB)

Imagine what it must have been like for Jesus who had never experienced sin―never experienced the guilt, the shame, the condemnation of sin―to experience it in full. But most of all, Jesus knew in the moment he became our sin, for the first time in his existence, he would experience the agony, the horror, the deep distress of being separated from God the Father.

This is why as the three o’clock hour drew near, the crucified Christ cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt. 15:34)

This is why Jesus sweat drops of blood. This is why for Jesus that Friday was not a good day, but a necessary day.  For Jesus knew that by embracing this horrific Friday, a glorious Sunday would be possible, and that Sunday would be his “good’ day, and yet another great day for us!