Saying Good-bye to Turn Home

This will be my last post for a while. A season has come to take time from blogging to turn my heart home, in more than one way.

I'll turn my heart home as our family finishes planning and hosting a graduation open house for my oldest daughter. She is a pride and joy and deserves my best attention.

My husband John is my home. Our marriage has survived a turbulent couple of years. A new door has opened for our relationship. I'll turn my heart home as John and I reconnect in vital ways.

My heart will turn for home when I visit family this summer. The day has not yet arrived when I've resided more years in Michigan than the 27 I had in Colorado. I understand that whether my address is Michigan or Colorado, my citizenship is of Heaven, and that's my real home. But my people and our mountains? They'll never stop being home.

The blogsphere is one of my homes, where I connect with like minds. I've hesitated to pause blogging, because this haven builds up my own spirit at least as much as I intend for it to build yours. But I'm pained by the inability to read your blogs more often. I will genuinely have my heart turned toward home if less writing means more time to actually visit you at your places.

I make no promises or plans right now for a return date on posts. I'd expect to be gone for at least a month, but not past summer's end. I may be inclined to share a worship song on weekends here and there. Comments on existing posts will receive replies.

You can plan on this: sooner or later, I'll have my heart turned toward home here at Building His Body, with plenty to share about the Lord—for Whom we provide a home.

Thus says the LORD:
"Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,"
Says the LORD.
"But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word."
~ Isaiah 66:1-2 (NKJV)

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This post is part of a blog carnival hosted by Peter Pollock. You're invited to visit his site and see what others are saying about today's theme: HOME.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Favor

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
~ Psalms 136:1 (NKJV)

In the above passage, the Hebrew word translated "mercy" is chêsêd. Scholars readily agree that its literal meaning is difficult to capture in a single word. Various translations render it with words such as love, steadfast love, faithful love, lovingkindness, kindness, mercy. Though I have represented chêsêd with the word "favor" in the above image, it rarely receives that translation. Chêsêd is "favor" magnified and intensified beyond any word's meaning.

We have those family members or friends whom we honestly love because of our relationship with them—but we don't really like them. We also associate with plenty of nice people whom we genuinely "like," and whom we could say we "love" in the generic way we love all of humanity.

Then there are those favorite people we love from the heart, to whom we give another level of "like" which exceeds love. These are those closest to us—family members or friends to whom we'd deny nothing we own, for whom we'd do anything of which we're capable. They have a level of favor in our souls which propels us to find a way to do what is good for them and will bring pleasure to them.

Biblical Hebrew has no word for "like" in the sense that we look upon someone as pleasant and think, "I like you." The Bible offers only the intensified version of "I don't just love you—I like you" captured by chêsêd.

If you are one of God's people, remember this always:

As intense and sacrificial and overarching as God's love for you is, He doesn't simply love you. He really, genuinely likes you. You are one of His favor-ites.

I promise.

Lord, we have no way to fully grasp the depth of Your chêsêd for us in this world. But today, would You please give to us a deeper comprehension and appreciation for it? Would You allow us to understand it as fully as we can right now? Please? Thank You, Lord.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Everlasting

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
~ Psalms 136:1 (NKJV)

In the above passage, the original Hebrew of the last line is reverse order of the English—"everlasting [forever] is His chêsêd." The words are repeated 26 times in this psalm and at least 30 other times in the Old Testament.

The Hebrew word translated "forever" is ‛ôlâm, often rendered "everlasting." Its literal meaning is "out of sight." Infinity is not a Hebrew concept. Time and distance simply go on until they pass from sight, like the horizon on our planet's sphere.

My personal suspicion is that eternity is somewhat like a sphere, an eternal circle without end in all directions—4-D rather than 3-D. I can't prove that from Scripture or science or even the Holy Spirit. It's just the feeling I get when I read the Bible and think about God. I see eternity as the perfect union of end and beginning, rather than passage of time. I see Heaven as a place where we can go as far as we want and never put distance between ourselves and God.

(And then again, I could be totally nuts.)

What's important isn't how time and distance work in the realm of everlasting, but that El Olam—Everlasting God—is a name of God more than it is about either time or distance. Olam is His character, and it is the unchanging nature of His every attribute.

Everlasting God, You are unchanging and worthy of our full confidence. We are unstable children of clay. Without You, our Rock, we cannot stand for even a fleeting moment.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Good

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
~ Psalms 136:1 (NKJV)

The Hebrew word ṭôb (or tov) from the above passage means "good" in the very broadest sense of the word. Tôb is beautiful, righteous, kind, loving, wise, valuable, glad, strong, gracious, joyful, well-pleasing, profitable, precious.

We hear that God is good. We sing it. We accept it.

And then we suspect otherwise.

Like the child who is must learn the disciplines of life with correction and sometimes thinks the whole affair unpleasant, we catch ourselves thinking that maybe God isn't really good.

He seems mad at us when we don't deserve it. We see His discipline as too harsh. We judge that He isn't fair with us, and it isn't right for Him to not explain things we think we have a right to know. We'd bet that He's not as forgiving as He says and is just waiting for us to mess up so He can get back at us for all the other stuff. We may think He's simply toying with us, that He's mean and ugly. (Maybe He's not good?)

The Bible is filled with countless testimonies from real people who endured all that we endure—and worse. They saw God's goodness at work and tell us to remember ~

God is good.

If we are smarting from our Father's discipline or having a tantrum because we didn't get our way, perhaps we simply need to read some of those testimonies and then go talk to our Father. If we are willing to get as close to Him as we know how and listen to Him, He has loving words of comfort for us—good words.

Our Father in Heaven, You are good above all goodness we know. You are all good, only good, all the time. Please increase our faith to believe that even when we're too small to comprehend Your goodness.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Hold Out the Hand

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
~ Psalms 136:1 (NKJV)

In the above passage, the Hebrew word translated "give thanks" is yâdâh. Its literal meaning is "hold out the hand."

We might think of the way a person holds out the hand to beg, or make a request, but something entirely different is indicated here.

This is the response when one has been the recipient of a blessing or gift of too great a value to be able to reciprocate with similar blessing. Under such circumstances, we offer a blessing which money cannot buy—we humbly hold out the hand in gratitude, praise, worship.

Lord, we have no adequate response for the blessing you have poured out upon us. Please accept from us the gratitude, praise and worship offered from hearts overwhelmed by Your love.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com

Feckless

My youngest is now six. This rerun from two years ago is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy.

~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~

feck·less \ˈfek-ləs\ adj 1: WEAK, INEFFECTIVE


My four-year old drools in his sleep.

Some mornings, there's no damp pillow or cheek. Yet moms know. I'll cuddle him to wake up and catch a whiff of the telltale smell on his sweet face—and I hardly intend to quit cuddling to wash him. Later, an older sister may hold him and say, "Daniel smells funny." At some point, he'll get a bath to take care of all the funny smells which cling to four-year olds.

He's learned self-control where nighttime bladder issues are concerned. Yet when it comes to keeping his mouth closed during sleep, I can't help but like the word feckless.

"There is nothing covered that will not be revealed,
nor hidden that will not be known."
(Luke 12:2 NKJV)

I recently read a compelling line from The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge: "Unsettled, we turn and walk quickly away, like a woman who feels more than she wants to when her eyes meet those of a man not her husband."

Yikes.

I'd only noticed men who give women a slightly too appreciative glance before looking away. Are the secrets hidden in a woman's heart just as easily laid bare?

Men have the reputation for lust. I don't see their lust for sex much different from women's lust for romance, whether in frequency of thought or in the danger for compromise.

I've heard, "Feelings aren't right or wrong—they're just feelings." This lie from the pit of hell is the devil's tool to convince us that lust, wrath, pride, and an entire host of other emotions are justified. We think them our own secrets, which hurt no one. We see our hearts somewhat like our cars. We pass through the midst of hundreds of other cars but think of our space as private—while it's surrounded by glass.

Like the invisible dried spittle on my son's cheek, we unwittingly reveal our hearts and the evil emotions in them. We may dwell on such emotions and feed them, and eventually act upon them. If forced to confront those emotions, we justify them as no more than human.

The Creator indeed allows us anger, which can motivate us to defeat unrighteousness as it did David against Goliath. The Lord allows us enough pride to care about how we're perceived, so we'll work toward displaying the love, joy and peace He puts inside of us. God gives us sexual desire to unite ourselves with our spouses—body and soul—and to reveal more clearly divine union with us which is His desire.

Satan and flesh would use these good emotions for evil.

For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do,
that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who
do it, but sin that dwells in me... O wretched man that I am!
Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—
through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:19-20,24-25 NKJV)

It's said sinful emotions are like birds: you can't prevent them from flying overhead, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.

We must indeed battle sinful emotions every day that we live on this side of heaven. We must remain aware of the dire consequences which follow if we fail to fight.

And we must remember to draw near to our loving Father, whose will is to continually wash us of sin's odor—even as He looks affectionately upon our humanity, which renders us feckless.


Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Question of the Week: How do I Recognize the Kingdom of God?

Image source: Salvation Army

What is the Kingdom of God, how do I get there, and how do I know it when I see it?
Russell Holloway, blog host

The last two weeks described what God's kingdom is and how to enter it now. This week's conclusion examines how we recognize the presence of God's kingdom.

Now when [Jesus] was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
~ Luke 17:20-21 (NKJV)

Here are two excerpts from this week's answer ...


There are modern day Pharisees who attempt to create a kingdom defined by culture—certain ways of speaking, dressing, behaving. There are modern day Sadducees who would make a kingdom of this world by using God's name as excuse to pursue connections, pleasure, and control...


We recognize the presence of the kingdom wherever –
• sacrificial love overcomes apathy and hatred
• joy brings strength amid affliction
• perfect peace prevails amid turmoil
• patient longsuffering meets irritation and trial
• active kindness is antidote to condemnation and bitterness
• obedient goodness challenges evil
• trusting faithfulness confronts doubt
• meek gentleness faces pride
• temperate self-control overcomes lust for immediate gratification

The remainder of the answer appears at Bullets & Butterflies.

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Question of the Week and Anne will take a break for several weeks. In the meantime, you can find answers to plenty of Bible questions at the site Bible.com. You're also welcome to email Anne anytime and say hello at buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com


© 2011 Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Prophecy Blueprint and Blueberry Pickin'

Image source: drmarierodriguez.com

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy... he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
~ 1 Corinthians 14:1-3 (NKJV)

These verses follow the 1 Corinthians 13 chapter about love. Our family studied it during Bible lesson on Wednesday.

I've previously explained to the kids that prophecy is often thought of as foretelling the future. But it is more accurately when God's Spirit reveals something to one of His people, who knows when to pass it on to someone else. Prophecy is also understanding someone else through the revelation of God's Spirit, so that one is able to talk to God about them.

In other words, prophecy is talking to people on behalf of God and talking to God on behalf of people.

Here's how I explained prophecy's purpose of edification, exhortation, and comfort to the six- thru seventeen-year-old crowd:
♥ edification is to build up and encourage someone in a way that they feel stronger;
♥ exhortation is when you see that someone's strong enough to do something, and you give them a gentle push to help them get started in a way that helps them feel confident;
♥ comfort is when someone hurts, and you know what to say and what to not say so they don't hurt so much.

I am an indoor kinda' gal... There is one way to get me outside in the sun on a summer day and that's to promise me that we're going to pick blueberries.
~ Alise Wright

So begins a most delightful blog post—"Blueberry Pickin'." If you've not yet had the pleasure to stop by the blog Alise... Write, you've missed a gem.

Paul was used to record a word from God about love and prophecy. I made an effort to teach the prophecy blueprint to kids. And Alise illustrated the Scripture's spirit in a brief and beautiful way you really owe it to yourself to read. (You can get there from here.)

Lord Jesus, give us more love, and give us more desire to pass it along.

Your comments, questions, and respectful disagreement are most appreciated. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments, or e-mail buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com