Can God Use Me if I’m Broken?

John Mark and Becca Gary

          Oftentimes, God has used children to teach and inspire me. This time He used Becca Gary. Becca, now 11 years old, was adopted as an infant a few months after her brother, John Mark, was adopted. She and John Mark were constantly together. Becca had never been separated from John Mark until his death last year. To help her through the grieving process, Becca was able to attend a weekend camp designed for grieving children. While she was there, she participated in activities designed to provide coping skills for dealing with the loss of her brother.

         

          Becca’s mother, Rita, shared with me that Becca did many things while at camp: smashed pumpkins to relieve her anger; wrote John Mark a love letter and released it toward heaven; planted forget-me-not flowers in a clay pot. Rita said that the pot was broken and pieced back together. Puzzled, she asked Becca what had happened. Becca replied, “Mama, this pot is me. I’ve been broken since John Mark left me, but God is busy putting me back together.”

         

          Since hearing this I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tossed Becca’s words over in my mind. Oddly, it made me think of the reoccurring theme we’ve seen through our study of Isaiah. God has been and continues to be “busy putting all of humanity, all ages, from age to age, back together”. The focus is not the brokenness, but rather the fact that God’s love for all of us can be seen through the brokenness. God’s main concern is to love and restore all that is broken. He does this through His Son, Jesus, the Promised Messiah, Immanuel, Our Lord and Savior.

         

Clay Pot

We all begin like this. Everyone is born into a world flawed by sin. We look whole but we actually have a few fragile hairline cracks with the potential of larger breaks.

         

Eventually our lives are affected by circumstances that

The pieces of a

broken life.

are directly a result of sin, some from our own sinfulness, and some from the extended effects of others who have sinned. The result is the same, brokenness brought on by living in a broken world.

         

All the while God is busy putting us back together. He is the glue. You can be sure that with every crisis, there is The Cross.  Jesus is making Himself available. He beckons for those who are broken and hurting to receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior. Some hear and respond. Some hear and refuse. Some don’t hear Him at all and remain like this pot: broken, cracked, and dark.

         

The glue of God's love

holds us together and His love

shines through the cracks.

Those who do chose to respond to his invitation look like this pot. The cracks remain but the Light of Jesus shines inside and out through the cracks. There is beauty found in the brokenness. The beauty is the love of God found in the restoration of a cracked, but not destroyed life. The focus moves from the cracks to His Light and Love.

          This was His plan from the beginning. He desires that His Light be in us and that His light in us will show a broken world that He is seriously in love with us. So in love, in fact, that just as Becca has learned, “He is quite busy putting them back together.” Mostly, He wants to have the Light of His Son shine through our cracks so that others may know His love, too. 

         

Sharon Lorber

Originally presented to the Leadership Counsel

CBS-Rutherfordton Day Class

12/02/2015

Here I am Again

Here I am again, facing the unknown, another health issue that is such a nag.  As I cry out to the Father I pray that:

I will yield to His way.

I will remember that His ways are perfect and so is His timing.

I will not take my eyes off of Jesus but stand firm in the truth of His great love for me. 

I will listen, hear and obey. 

I will not allow the goodness of God to go unnoticed.

"The Lord of hosts has spoken, As I have planned so shall it be, as I have purposed so shall it stand." Isaiah 14:24 ESV

I have been blessed with a husband who loves the Lord, six children, who have each made a profession of faith and eleven grandchildren.  These are the facts, but when I look at their lives through my vision I get discouraged.  I don’t think that Isaiah did that.  Isaiah loved God, listened for His voice and said “yes” without being entangled with the results.  Isaiah spoke to God but left the results with God even when the people he tried to help would not listen to him.  He simply did what God said and kept doing it as long as God said to.  Isaiah’s obedience astounds me.  I, on the other hand, often get all entangled with what I see, with what I understand.  I see it my way and want God to make things fit into my plan and lose my way in self.

I have just finished reading Beth Moore’s book, “Audacious.”  It was so good I am going to read it again.  She wrote many things that challenged me about God’s love for us and our love for Him.  One of the questions she asks is, “What is your dream/your vision for the future?”  At my age I don’t think very much about the future, but what she wrote made me think: What do I want my future to be?  What dreams can come true? 

With God each day is a new beginning.  I do not have to stay the way I have been.  I can dream big dreams and change my ways and put them in line with God’s ways.   I can obey Him. 

Another question Beth asks is, “What do you really, really, really want?”  Can I, or can you, answer that with “You, Jesus, all of You?” knowing that this life will be a struggle, that counting your blessings will be hard some times and that change is an act of love and obedience, not a feeling.

Here’s an excerpt from Beth’s book:

Faith is not the clinging to a shrine

But an endless pilgrimage of the heart.

Audacious longing,

Burning songs,

Daring thoughts,

An impulse overwhelming the heart,

Usurping the mind----

These are all a drive towards serving Him

Who rings our hearts like a bell.

Abraham Joshua Heschel & Samuel H. Dresner in "I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology".

Sharon Herzog

Treasurer – CBS Rutherfordton Day Class

Originally presented to the Leadership Team

Come Let us Adore Him

        

  The hymn, "O Come All Ye Faithful" is sung at most Christmas celebrations.  It is so popular that we often sing it by rote without even thinking about what we are singing.  Do we really take the time to think about adoring our Savior,  Jesus Christ?  That's what I want to talk about: Adoring Jesus.

          According to the Oxford dictionary, to adore means to love and respect someone deeply;  to be devoted to or hold dear.  Psalm 95:6 says, "Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our maker."

           If we adore someone, we want to spend time with them as much as possible.  We want to know everything about them.  We treat them and everything related to them with respect.  We want to tell everyone we meet about them.  They permeate every aspect of our thinking, speaking and acting and even our dreams at times.   How can we truly adore Jesus?

    First, we have to get our priorities straight.  We have to recognize Jesus for who He really is and for what he has done for us.   Kyle Idleman, in his book: gods at war, says "I know that there is the Lord God, the master of all creation.  I also know there's the god of me, the pretender to the throne."  We, still, like our ancestors before us,  choose to pay homage to idols instead of God and often that idol is our self.  How crazy is that?  Jesus is so much more than anything we can create or be.  We have to get off the throne of our lives and make sure we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord.  It is only when we truly see Jesus for who He is,  that we can get serious about our adoration. 

          Colossians 1:16 says "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.  All things have been created through Him and for Him.  We wouldn't even exist without Him.   Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that "it is at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father.  The day will come when all will recognize Him.  We who know Him should live now like we do.  Because of his great love for us, Jesus, the living son of God died to pay the price for our sins, to bring us into a relationship with Him and to ultimately give us eternal life with Him.  No idol of our own making can now or ever do that. 

          Secondly, we have to put Christ first.  Start the day with Him, in His word and in prayer. Seek His will for our lives and make decisions according to His will.  Seek His counsel.  He promises if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.  God wants our hearts aligned with His.  He wants our whole hearted devotion not our leftovers. 

          What do we get from Jesus?  He gives us peace.  In Isaiah 26:3, we are promised that God keeps him in perfect peace,  whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts in Him.

          Jesus gives us joy and hope now and in the future. Romans 15:13 states, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Isaiah 35:10 tells us, "and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. "

          There's more, He gives power and strength.  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."( Philippians 4:13)

          He is our comfort and refuge.   "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of all compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3

          Jesus is the source of everything.  He made us, chose us, called us, adopted us, redeemed and saved us. He is transforming us, advocating and providing for us and He is coming back for us. 

          It is true, He is the reason we celebrate this season, but on this day and every other, we need to fix our eyes upon Him, bow down and adore Him.  Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

Karen Long-Moore

Originally Presented to the Leadership Team

CBS- Rutherfordton Day Class

December, 2015

Are You Empty?

Do you feel like January is a “blah” month?  Christmas and New Years celebrations have passed and the hype of the holidays has died down.  School starts again and we go back to work and mundane routines. We no longer smile while walking into the grocery store, but, instead, dread the long list of “to-dos”.  Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes January is really long. January can feel like an empty month and I find myself feeling “empty”.  

Why do I feel empty?  Am I missing something?  Is there more?  

There is a woman in 2 Kings 4 whose story I can identify with time and time again.  This woman was a widow trying to take care of her two children, but found herself in poverty.  An angry landlord was threatening to take her children because she couldn’t pay him.  Just when she was at the end of her rope, God provided a prophet.  She cried out to the prophet, Elisha, and asked for help.  He did something crazy.  He didn’t give her enough for rent or didn’t take up an offering, but asked her what she had in the house?  

Ummm, Elisha. She was POOR and didn’t have anything in the house.  

She did have a tiny bit of oil, but this was of no value, or so she thought.  He told her to go to her neighbors and ask for all their empty jars.  He said, “don’t ask for just one jar but ask for many jars.”  Can you imagine the look on the faces of your neighbors when you knock on their door and ask for an empty jar?  She came back to the house and Elisha told her to fill up the jars.  

Ummm, once again, Elisha, she didn’t have anything but a tiny bit of oil.  

This woman of faith started pouring the oil into the empty jars.  She kept pouring, and pouring, and pouring, and pouring until EVERY jar was completely full.  ALL OF THEM.  She asked her son for another jar, and he told her there was not another jar.  Then the oil stopped flowing.

Here was a woman faced with so much fear.  Fear of her children being taken away from her.  Fear of being alone and fear of being rejected by her neighbors.  Yet, she cried out for help and was told to do something absurd and crazy.  She was empty, poor and afraid.  This night changed her life as God showed Himself faithful.  

Did you notice that she was instructed to ask for many jars?  How are we doing?  Are we asking for an abundance or just enough to get by?  Are we believing that God can give us an abundance of “oil” to satisfy our deepest need?  If you are feeling “empty,” ask Him to fill ever empty place within you.  

Remember the oil?  When the jars stopped coming, the oil stopped.  You see, it wasn’t an oil problem, but a vessel problem.  The oil kept flowing as long as there was an open vessel to fill it up.  The oil of God will continue to flow in us if we keep ourselves open to hear His voice and obey.  God is in the “overwhelming” business and is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21).  

The last question is: what are you filling your life up with?  What are you oily with?  Exodus 30 talks about the oil being used to anoint everything in the temple to make it holy.  Everything it touched was holy because it was the anointed oil of God.  The oil of Jesus will spread over your life and make the dirty areas clean.  It can cleanse your heart of greed, jealousy, depression, loneliness and so much more.  Oil also causes you to fulfill your calling in life.  I Samuel 10 describes Saul being anointed with oil to become king.  Oil is used to bring much joy.  Psalm 45:7 - “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore, God, your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness.” 

  

Instead of mourning, you will be given the oil of gladness (Isa 63:1).

So do you find yourself in a dry spot?  Do you feel empty?  Ask God for big things and He may tell you to go get some empty jars. Grab as many as you can.

Are you an open vessel for the Lord?  What is He filling your life up with?  Are you filling it up with the oil of healing, the oil of gladness and the oil of cleansing?

Friends, let’s not let January be just another month.  I’m going to ask for more and more and more - with abundance!

Allison Shamblin

Assistant Teaching Director

Rutherfordton Day Class

A Word for 2016

Brenda Winker

My new year’s day began with a cup of coffee and some alone time with God.  There isn’t a better way to start a day.  Sometimes due to circumstances beyond my control it doesn’t happen that way but today it did. I felt blessed and grateful. But when my husband Joel awakened I was again grateful because he greeted me with a big smile, sweet kisses, and sweet words. Due to his Alzheimer's disease, he didn’t know it was a brand new year, but he knew it was a brand new day and I was part of it. So, I paused temporarily and received the blessing God was giving me right then. We sat awhile, chatted just a little, and finished our coffee, and he went to get the newspapers.

I got busy making the Communion bread for the Sunday worship service. Naturally Joel offered to help (more than once), but I like being in the kitchen alone if I’m baking or cooking. I get distracted easily so it is better that way.  I kept my mind centered on the recipe itself in the beginning but as I stirred and kneaded the dough I began to think about how very special my day was! I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that I began to silently once again commune with God. I thanked Him for my husband, our family, friends, and all the people He continues to bring into our lives. I thanked Him for more blessings than I could count and for a new year with new opportunities to serve Him. Psalm 100:4-5 says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

As I kneaded the communion bread God reminded me how He kneads us to make us His. With the Communion bread, I melt a stick of real butter and a teaspoon of Crisco. I add salt, sugar, and milk and stir. Then I add the mixture to the flour. It should have been gradually added but I admit I took a shortcut and just dumped it all in at once.

God takes us just as we are, adds all the ingredients necessary to make us more like Jesus. He doesn’t take short cuts with us and dump everything into us at the same time like I did for the bread. He is gradually at work in us with His never ending love and grace. Hebrews 10:23 reads, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” Our God is faithful!

Then I put the dough in the refrigerator for a while because that’s what the recipe says. I took it out a little later so the dough would soften up so I could knead it some more. The dough isn’t easy to knead and work with at this point but neither are we. All too often we have to be softened up and made pliable just like the bread dough.

I rolled the dough out as thin as possible on waxed paper, sliced it, and crisscrossed it into little squares. Hopefully the pieces will be somewhat uniform for serving to my church family. I trimmed off the rough jagged edges, placed the baking sheet on top of the rolled and sliced dough and flipped it all over onto the baking sheet. I removed the waxed paper and placed the pan in the oven to bake.

Notice I said somewhat uniform pieces because getting them just right is virtually impossible for me. But nothing is impossible for God and thankfully He doesn’t give up on making us just right. Not only does He knead and make us into the right size pieces but He trims off the ragged edges and makes us into His servants.

Jeremiah 29:13 tells us, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” We must regularly seek God through prayer and His Word and allow Him to work in and through us to do His will. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 is my prayer for today and all year long, “May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip us with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.”

God alone has the recipe and all we have to do is be the “dough in His hands.”

Brenda Winker,

former ATD, Rutherfordton Day Class

Are you "ALL IN?"

     

Kim Tevis

         What does it mean to be mindful? Webster’s dictionary defines mindful as being aware of something that may be important. Four years ago this was a daily word in my life as I began my certification to teach yoga. Yoga is for the mind, body and spirit. When one has a regular yoga practice these three areas begin to open and develop. It is with the help of CBS and leadership that my yoga mindfulness allowed me to seek a deeper connection with Christ.

            In February everyone on the leadership team was asked to seek God’s wisdom in deciding what our leadership role would be for the upcoming year. Judy asked us to fast so we could hear His message to us. She even sent out an email to remind us. I am embarrassed to tell you that up until February I had not fasted. I didn’t have an excuse or valid reason as to why; I simply had not done so. Determined to hear God speak to me I decided to try. I even sent Judy a text thanking her for the reminder. She replied, “I don’t think anyone has ever thanked me for that before.”

            It was a glorious day for me. That day, God called me to be “ALL IN.” He took me to I Timothy 1:12, “I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me strength that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service.”

            What has trying to be “ALL IN” done for me? I have lived  in Rutherford County for fourteen years and yet I have enjoyed more sunrises and sunsets than ever before. I have observed buildings and different views from the same roads I have driven on daily, seeing God’s glory in all things. Everyday giving thanks to God the Almighty; everyday seeking Him for strength, wisdom and courage to be all He asked me to be; everyday trying to give Him my worries and my fears. All of this leads me to many more glorious days.

            In Luke, we read about the widow’s offering and how the poor widow put in more than all the others. She gave all she had to live on. She was “ALL IN.” Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

            Today is a new day and in its newness, I am thankful to be with all of you and Christ. I am thankful for your prayers, your smiles, and your dedication to let God’s light shine through you. I ask you today to be mindful of God’s glory in everything and to ask yourself if you are “ALL IN.”

Kim Tevis

Originally presented to the Leadership Team

Rutherfordton CBS  2014-15

Spending Time with God this Summer

Judy Bond

As I have traveled this summer, spent time with children at home and away, spent many hours in the car, in doctor’s offices, vets, and dentists, spent time doing the mundane of cleaning out those places that I avoid all year, and spent time relaxing and reading, my schedule certainly has been different than during the CBS/school year.  It has been both a blessing and a challenge.  Where does God fit in all of it? 

 

There have been times that I have longed for alone time with God, and there have been those times that my cup runneth over (5 days at the Cove).  But, to be totally honest with you, it has been a challenge.  As I go from one suitcase to another, I am slowly learning ways of grabbing time with my Lord. If you are traveling on a plane, it is difficult to pack everything in a carry-on, let alone a devotional book.  Or, if you are going to the beach, the chaos of getting everyone in the car with all their favorite things, may have distracted you and kept you from bringing those books you wanted to take.

 

Here are some helpful tips that I have embraced this summer:  

       If you have a smart phone, an iPad or computer you can download your favorite devotional book onto it.  For instance, I like CBD Reader.  I go onto Christian Book Distributors and purchase e-books, such as "My Utmost for His Highest"by Oswald Chambers and "Enter His Gates" by Charles Stanley.  Then you get the CBD reader app, and it is always there waiting for you to tap into a devotional.  I even have a smaller phone, and read from there.  I have read devotionals and commentaries in all kinds of places this summer; a hospital bed while waiting for tests and a park bench in Ohio among others.  Having it at my fingertips made it easily accessible. You can also use I books, Kindle, and other readers.

        

       While traveling, I love to use the 106.9 radio app on my phone. As I celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary in Spain, I was able to listen to 106.9 while getting ready in the morning. Once you download the app, you can listen to the radio just like at home.

         

       A dear friend has changed my scripture memory.  She told me about the  scripturetyper app.  So far this week I have memorized two scripture verses thanks to this app.  It is fantastic.  It will even remind you to type it in as frequently as you wish.

         

       I also put the ESV Bible app on my phone.  It is from Crossway and downloads right to your phone.

        

       For prayer requests, I have used "Notes".  I prefer a pen and paper, but this summer that wasn’t working.  One morning I awoke at 5:30 and took a 6:00 am walk and my prayer journal was in my hands. That was probably the only morning I was up that early! There are many prayer apps that you can download. Search your app store to see what’s available and what will work best for you.

       I enjoy John McArthur's "Grace to You" app for getting some solid scriptural meat.         

       Enough technology for now!  What else can we do?  One of my most effective ways for prayer when I am around a bunch of people is sneaking off for a private walk whether that be at the beach, a local park, or just down the street.  It is a chance to disconnect from the world, and spend time with God.

         

       And if you are stuck in a bed or a chair, there is never a problem asking others to let you alone for 30 minutes. They may look at you funny, but we must please God first, then man.

        

       One of my favorite summer activities is to sneak away for a retreat.  If you are able, it is a great way to get refueled.  There are weekend retreats and there are longer ones at places like the Cove.  Many of you have programs in your churches; take advantage of them!

        

       Last, God knows your kids and grandkids are there.  He knows your schedule is upside down.  Embrace those moments!  Love on those that God puts into your life.  Shine Jesus!  If you wake in the middle of the night, God may just be giving you an opportunity to have time with Him alone.  Instead of complaining, embrace those quiet times and he will get you through your sleepy day!

        I hope and pray that you are all loving on the Lord by taking time to appreciate His wonders!  Embrace them...

Judy Bond
Teaching Director
Rutherfordton CBS-Day Class