16/11/3 Click!

Stubborn! The only description for the piece of hardware in my hand is stubborn.

The combination lock on my locker at the fitness center controls my life and emotions. Turn to the right - pause; back to the left - pause; then again to the right. Click should be felt and heard, but the Click is missing.

Again. Try again. Cold silent steel rests in the palm of my left hand. (Who has the patent on this combination lock, anyway?) Even though I try again and enter the correct combination, there is still no response.

Questions form in my mind as I start to develop a contingency plan. A mental inventory reminds me that my keys and driver's license (not to mention my regular clothes and coat) are behind a metal door that might as well be Fort Knox. All because of a combination consternation.

My trembling hands belie the outward façade of calm; at this late hour the center will soon be closing. Larry is out of town. So is David my son. Who am I going to call for help? Why did I come so late in the evening? Did I hear it raining outside?

Prayer…deep breath…command to trembling fingers…Turn to the right - pause; back to the left  - pause; then again to the right. Click. Yes! This time the blessed Click is heard and actually felt. Hallelujah! The combination finally worked. 

There exists, on a broader, more significant scale, another combination - 16/11/3  - which is always dependable and responsive, never stubborn or difficult. This combination consistently unlocks the door to supernatural, abundant living. In fact, this combination actually opens the Door to Life itself.

Read with me from Psalm 16/verse 11/and discover anew 3 promises: You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Three of life’s most penetrating questions find answers in this short combination:

Where do I find wisdom? You (Click!)

Where do I find joy? You (Click!)

Where do I find pleasure? You (Click!)

As humans, you and I are forever prone to attempt other combinations. We turn to the right - pause; back to the left  - pause; then again to the right as we search on our own for the secret combination to life and happiness. We yearn for the CLICK.

Yet, all the while the Click awaits us right here in 16/11/3 in the God of David. When we use the Right Combination, we unlock a life saturated with a supernatural sense of satisfaction.  

"Lord, it is true; my deepest desires are daily met in the combination of 16/11/3. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand."

Click!

Living With Eternal Intentionality: What part of this combination is needed in your soul today? (wisdom or joy or pleasure?)

Ahhh... for Your Holiday

A big birthday waits just around the corner. July 4th is the mid-summer U.S. holiday, marked with picnics, parades, patriotism…fireworks, family, and food. Perhaps you plan to join a gathering, and already you wonder, "What am I going to take to the feast on the 4th?" Consider baking this Fudge Pie for the dessert table. Ahhh... simple and simply delicious.                                                

                            Fudge Pie for the 4th of July

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups sugar

2 ½ T. cocoa

½ stick butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

2 t. vanilla

¼ t. salt

1 small 5 oz. can of evaporated milk

1 unbaked pie shell

Instructions:

Melt the butter and set aside

Beat the eggs and set aside

In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, cocoa, salt; remove lumps

Stir vanilla into the can of evaporated milk; add eggs, then add butter

Slowly pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir vigorously (If you prefer, mix 30 seconds with electric mixer.)

Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Place on a cookie sheet and bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.

Then say, Ahhhh…

Note: This recipe is not original with me, but incorporates my adaptations.

Living With Eternal Intentionality: Would you please pray for me when you make this recipe?  

Light for the Soul of a Needy Mom

I sat ensconced in a cocoon of solitude. Though the concrete walls on two sides nearly touched my shoulders, the nook was mine - a haven.

Seclusion came at a high price with three small children in our home in Warsaw, Poland. Larry graciously fed them breakfast in this season of our lives so that I could be alone with Jesus. Morning after morning I would come to my sanctuary to meet with the Lord. The effort was worth it; He always met me.

On this dismal fall day, I gazed out the window. A thick morning fog hung heavily in the air; the trees had no leaves. Coal pollution poured from smoking chimneys. Across the street, the neighbor’s house stood under construction. Indeed, a lifeless gray colored everything. 

I needed these moments, and I needed the steaming, rich brown coffee served in my favorite mug.

Life felt like a runaway express train, with my husband as the conductor. At this warped speed, I felt vulnerable as waves of reality rolled over me. 

Shoving aside challenges of a clandestine pioneering ministry, shutting out Communist propaganda, and slamming the door on the voice of the enemy of my soul, I came to my Only Source of Strength.

Lord, I need something to lift me out of the miry clay. (I pictured a childhood situation when I walked too near a river with quicksand, and became frightfully stuck. Fortunately, strong arms came to my rescue, and lifted me up and of danger.) I needed Strong Arms this morning to lift me out of life’s miry clay.

Opening my Bible to the next portion of Scripture in my ongoing plan, I read Daniel 4:34:

 I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my sanity was restored. What? I read and reread the verse: I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my sanity was restored. 

As spiritual reality slowly sank in, I nearly shouted. "That's it!" Incredulous, I devoured the words crafting this statement of high impact.

God's Message was clear. Look at Me - not at the nasty street, not at the crummy weather, not at your lack of sleep, not at the Communists, not at the distance from family, not at the needs of the little ones you so love, not at your husband’s daunting schedule. No, Look at Me.  

Sitting in my sanctuary - in a brown wooden chair, at a brown wooden desk - a radical transformation occurred. "God, I choose to believe! If this worked for Nebuchadnezzar, this will work for me.” Choosing to look up, my faith focus shifted from my temporal circumstances to my eternal resources.

In that moment...I changed.

The change proved genuine. My circumstances remained challenging. The needs of my family only escalated. And life's speed still raced at full throttle. Yet, I experienced ongoing victory from being controlled by my circumstances and pushed around by my problems.

Yes, on a cold Communist morning, God highlighted one verse with His Holy Illumination: I lifted my eyes to heaven and my sanity was restored. In my concrete cubicle, I learned a lesson for life:

To look down is to be discouraged.

To look around is to be disappointed.

To look within is to be disillusioned.

To look up is to see Him! 

Living with Eternal Intentionality: What do you learn from the lesson of Nebuchadnezzar?