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Daughter's Heart

~ If I wait until my story is finished to write it, it will never get written.

Daughter's Heart

Tag Archives: Jesus

What if… #1

14 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Amy Ickes in Encouragement, Life

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Tags

Jesus, Naomi, Ruth, Suffering

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, a woman, her husband and her two sons left their home and traveled to another land far, far away.  A famine was sweeping through their hometown and they needed to find food.  The new land was good, and soon, she was happy and at peace.  Shortly after arriving in their new home though, the woman’s husband died.  The woman was grief-stricken, but not afraid – she still had her two sons to care for her.  Her sons married local girls and at first, the woman was appalled.  Her sons had married foreigners!  But soon she found that she loved her daughters-in-law and was able to accept them fully into her family.  She was again happy and at peace.  But some time later, both of her sons also died.  The woman was now alone, poor and had no one to take care of her. 

Through the grapevine, she learned that the famine that had led her to this far away land was over, so she gathered her few remaining possessions and started on her way back home.  Her daughters-in-law insisted on going with her, but after some urging, only one made the trip.  Upon arriving in the woman’s native land, her daughter-in-law immediately went looking for a job.  A kind man hired her and made sure that all of her needs – and those of her mother-in-law – were met.  Like any good fairy tale, the daughter-in-law and the kind man were married.  And they all lived happily ever after…

But this story isn’t a fairy tale.  It’s all true.  The woman in the story is named Naomi.  She was an Israelite who moved to Moab – the home of a people group Israelites were not supposed to be friends with – let alone marry.  Her husband died.  Her sons married women they weren’t supposed to marry.  Her sons died.

After returning home, the Bible tells us what Naomi thought about all of this: She was bitter, angry, sad, disappointed and all the other things we feel when life isn’t fair (Ruth 1:20-21).

But what if Naomi had never experienced any of this?  Let’s take a look:

  • If there had been no famine, Naomi wouldn’t have moved to Moab.
  • If her husband hadn’t died, her sons may not have married Moabite women.
  • If her sons hadn’t died, Ruth wouldn’t have gone back to Israel with Naomi.
  • If Ruth hadn’t gone to Israel, she wouldn’t have met her husband.
  • If she hadn’t met her husband, she wouldn’t have had her son.
  • If she hadn’t had her son, there would be no Jesse, no David, no Joseph, no… Jesus.

Ruth was Jesus great-great-great-great (you get the idea) grandmother.  If Naomi had lived happily ever after in Bethlehem in the first place, history – and our lives – would be very different.  Naomi saw all of her suffering as affliction from God, but if it hadn’t been for the suffering of just one woman centuries ago, where would we be, centuries later?

It’s so easy to focus on ourselves when we’re hurting and disappointed by life.  But what if it isn’t about us at all?  What if there’s a bigger picture and we’re just one small, bent piece of the puzzle?

Are you ready for this?  Chances are pretty good that’s exactly what’s going on.  Chances are pretty good that the things affecting your life today have very little to do with you.  That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to learn and grow from them, but perhaps, if we change the way we think about them, we’ll gain a whole new perspective.  And a whole new way to look for God at work in our lives.  After all, He’s always at work.  And maybe, just maybe, what you’re going through right now, may someday change the world.

How have you seen God bless others through something you’ve experienced?  How can you begin to look at your life differently today?

And now you know…the REST of the story

10 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by Amy Ickes in Bible Study, God's Love, The Gospel

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Jesus, Redemption, Salvation, Water into Wine

One of my most vivid memories from childhood is riding in my mom’s gold-colored Chevelle, on the way to see my dad at his store, listening to – what I believed was the only station the radio could play – WOR and hearing Paul Harvey tell “The Rest of the Story”.  Specifically, I remember that every time we went under a bridge, the signal would cut out and we’d miss a few words.  I don’t remember that ever really being a problem as far as getting the gist of what was being said.  Rather, I think it formed my ability to fill in blanks in conversations and strengthened my critical thinking skills more than anything I encountered in school.

Today, I want to look at a story that, until quite recently, always baffled me.  I suspect I’m not alone in my bafflement… I mentioned the other day the story of Jesus’ first miracle – turning water into wine.  I grew up hearing this story and for a while I thought “hey, that’s cool – Jesus could make this water I’m drinking into Kool-Aid if He wanted to!”  As I got older, my wonderment turned to wondering: “Water into wine?  Ok, but…why?”

Like so many stories in the Bible, the “because” comes only when we understand what was going on in the background (aka, the REST of the story).  In ancient times, it was the groom’s responsibility to provide the food and drink for a wedding reception.  To run out of either was considered a humiliating social faux pax – something that would be gossiped about for years.  Jesus, knowing this, steps in and saves the groom from ending up on the cover of People in an embarrassing situation.

While some may look at this miracle and think it was kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things, I now, after some research and a little inspiration have come to a different conclusion:  Jesus’ act of turning water into wine to save a man from an uncomfortable position is a foreshadowing of the purpose behind His death:

  • He saves the man from the shame of having run short just like He saves us from the shame of falling short.
  • He saves the man from the disgrace of letting his guests down just like He saves us from the disgrace of letting God down.
  • He shows compassion to the man who made a mistake just like He shows compassion to us in extending forgiveness for our sins.
  • He brings new life to the party with the best wine anyone had ever tasted just like He brings new life to us with a hope and a future we can’t even imagine.

Jesus’ first miracle so closely parallels His second.  In Cana, his actions became that man’s supply.  He saved him from embarrassment.  He redeemed a potentially humiliating situation.  He showed Himself to be the friend that man needed.  In His resurrection He became our Supply, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Friend.

What story in the Bible has always baffled you?  What has it taught you about Jesus?

24, LOST & New Kids on the Block

24 Monday May 2010

Posted by Amy Ickes in The Gospel

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

24, Jesus, LOST, New Kids on the Block

NOTE: This post was spawned by a comment I left on this Stuff Christians Like post.

When I was in middle school, I spent most of my summer at camp. All these girls were showing up with t-shirts and posters and notebooks and pillowcases festooned with pictures of this new boy band. New Kids on the Block? Who the heck is that? By the time I got home from camp, I was so tired of hearing about them that I’d decided I didn’t like them – without ever listening to a single song.

In a similar turn of events, I have never watched a single episode of either LOST or 24.  Every where I turn, I see people talking about LOST and 24 – who died this week? where did that thing come from? how the heck did Jack get out of that room? what’s going to happen this week?  GAH!!  I’m on LOST & 24 overload!!  (It might have something to do with the fact that a few of the people I follow on Twitter (and who’s blogs I read) seem to be at some stage of obsession with these two shows…)

I was thinking about all of this when I suddenly felt convicted.  (No, not about my judgementalism, but thanks for asking.)  The question that convicted me was this: Could I ever be accused of making someone tired of hearing about Jesus?  Do I talk about Him endlessly?  Do I try to get people to “watch” Him?  Is there anyone in my life who expects every conversation with me to end up being about Jesus?  And the simple, raw, truthful answer to that question is: Not a chance!

I say that Jesus is important to me and I’m grateful for my salvation.  But I really don’t talk about Him much, if at all.  The people in my life know a lot about me – what I like to do for fun, what I like to watch, what my cat’s name is.  But do they know that I know Jesus?  I may hint at it from time to time, but He doesn’t tend to be a hot topic of conversation for me.  I need to work on that.

What about you?  How do you bring Jesus to the forefront of  your conversations?

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