Peter, Paul and Mathetria the Prequel

Its not a secret that I am a bit on the nosy side. Not in a harmful way, at least I hope. I just crave knowledge and information, I think in a very 4-D, hi-def, pixalated kind of way. Some of my favorite memories of my childhood are of the "a-ha!!" moments I had while studying all manners of flora and fauna. I was a bit of wildlife geek as a child and spent hours reading encyclopedias and any Zoobook, National Geographic or Ranger Rick that I could get my hands on. I was an avid dinosaur fossil hunter and still get excited about digging stuff up, even if I've never found the first trilobite. Those predated megabites and are not even remotely related for those of you who have an extra appendage called a smart phone. Anyhow, I can remember the first time I ever raised the eyebrow of a clergy member (it has happened more than once) at the ripe age of 5 years old. My then step-father was Catholic and did his level-headed best of putting up with my unending questions, but there was one burning in me that I just couldn't find an acceptable answer for. I remember weaving my way through adults after Mass one morning until I finally found Father McCall and mustered the courage to yank on his robe. I was met with a puzzled look and was questioned about being lost (so much irony here). The next thing I know, I'm blurting out, "How come the Bible doesn't say anything about dinosaurs, but we have proof that they were here?". Somewhere in the distance I heard my step-dad groan and while I stood there and waited for a response from ol' sourpuss, it never occurred to me that it was "frowned upon" for a young lady to ask such things. Needless to say, my question wasn't answered then or for another 20 years. If you want the answer, I like chewy, oatmeal raisin cookies. Quid Pro Quo, darlins.

Today, I was spending a little time in Bible study (which is met with even more fervor than I ever showed a National Geographic) and was on a quest to understand Paul a little more which lead me back to one of my favorite dudes in the Bible, Peter. The Holy Spirit was leading the way and its no coincidence there, I often find my way back to Peter, he was the first apostle that I had the warm fuzzies for, in all of his earnest impulsiveness, you truly can't help but be proud to have him as a brother in Christ. Haven't ever thought about it that way? If you're a believer, you better! On the off chance that you aren't and you haven't met Peter yet, please do yourself a favor; get a Bible and start at Luke 5 and enjoy where the Gospel takes you, the Holy Spirit will lead you on the adventure of your life! So....where was I? Peter and Paul, formerly Saul. Yeah. I was reading and came across this account in the book of Acts that I remember reading once before, but this time The Holy Spirit drew some parallels that wouldn't have made sense the first time I read it. 

So, Acts 9:36 tells of a woman named Tabitha, in a place called Joppa (a port town in Israel) who was a disciple of Christ, meaning that she was a student of the teachings of Christ (Christianity wasn't established as a word yet and disciple means "student") who spent most of her time tending to the needs of widows and it was known that she "was full of good works and acts of charity". Tabitha died and was laid to rest in an "upper room" as was the custom of the time, it was believed that the body would be closer to God if it was lifted into a room that wasn't on the "Earthly" ground floor. Makes some sense, right? Anyhow, someone in her inner circle decided to send for Peter who was visiting in nearby Lydda. Nearby back them meant a 12 mile walk, just so you know. Upon hearing the news, of course Peter made the trek and found the widows, who Tabitha had so lovingly sewn tunics for, standing around weeping and mourning. Mourning back then included a lot of wailing, sobbing, tearing of clothing and a bunch of carrying on in general. Typically the louder folks wailed for you, the more loved you were. Tabitha was known as a woman of good repute, in fact in the original Greek, she is described as "mathetria" which is translated into "female disciple" and it is the only use of this word in the New Testament. I get the feeling that Tabitha was loved a great deal and the display of mourning was probably quite a racket! So, in an effort to focus on The Holy Spirit, Peter put the widows and other mourners outside and knelt down and prayed (with his back toward the body, it is believed this helped him stay focused on the Holy Trinity) and then turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, arise.". You know what?! She opened her eyes. She took a breath. Tabitha returned from the dead. WHAT?  Peter offers Tabitha a hand and helps her stand and he calls to everyone and shows them that this woman is indeed, alive. Now, what's cool about this, is that in the book of Acts it doesn't get all crazy with needless foreshadowing or dramatic climaxes; quite simply put, the people see she is alive and they believe in Christ. Tabitha was reborn and returned to her community, which is no coincidence either. Because that's how Peter and company rolled. They performed the miracles of Christ, through Christ and in His Holy Name and people accepted our Savior. Why can't people be like that anymore??! Someone can die on an operating table and then come back and everyone celebrates the physicians and it gets turned into a book, followed by a movie and there are still people who can't see that it was God, y'all!! 

Miracles are being performed every day, but in our fleshy little worlds, we just shrug our shoulders and say, "Eh, that was a cool trick.", much to the dismay of our Creator. God isn't some wizard in the sky, God is not an entity that is waiting on our approval of His "tricks" to accept Him! There is no slight of hand with our Sovereign, there is no smoke and mirrors. He is the Great I am and because He loves us, he will perform MIRACLES in our lives that do not require a behind-the-scenes documentary to be recognized. What they require is your acknowledgement. They require that you see with a fresh set of eyes. Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" John 3:3. Have you considered that maybe it's time to be born again to the Kingdom of God? If you've reached a point in your life where all you believe in is what you can see with your Earthly eyes, you're the perfect candidate and I nominate you to be the first one out of the boat. No lights, no cameras, no $500,000 prize, no fame. You get eternal life. You get Joy, Peace, Love, Hope, Freedom. You get a brand new life, led by the greatest gift you can receive in the world, The Holy Spirit. Just like Tabitha, I found a new life. Much like Tabitha, I found my new life in an "upper room". There wasn't a big showy exit from my old life. One night a very broken woman climbed the stairs to her bedroom and collapsed on the floor and begged God to take her life. Saying, "Please take it from me, I don't know how to do this anymore". Just me and Him. In my "upper room". No audience, it wasn't needed. He met me right where I was, at His feet. I died to the ways of this world and was born a Gospel Girl, with a fresh set of eyes set on The Kingdom of God. What a loving God He is! There wasn't a question I had to answer, He simply picked me up and said "Do you not know how much I love you, Talitha?" and has spent every day since showing me in miraculous ways. In hindsight, I see a million ways He was showing me even before that, that He was always with me. But, did you happen to notice the name He spoke to me at the end of the sentence? Epic "A-HA!!" moment. It isn't my given name. I didn't know what it meant until I looked it up, it is Aramaic for "little girl". If you replace the "l" with a "b" it become Tabitha. Which means "Gazelle" in Greek. You ever seen a gazelle run? It's as fast as the wind blows. This little girl is running at Her Father, swiftly and gracefully into His loving arms.  He was waiting a long time for me to come Home. He's waiting on you too, pinkie promise. 

"Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again". The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:5-8

Historical sidenote: After Peter raised Tabitha, he decided to stay in Joppa for a few days and then realized that "God shows no partiality" and began his mission of not only converting Jews to Christianity, but Gentiles as well. Was he successful? Duh. Get out your Bible and read the story!!!

Love Rejoices With The Truth

Wide Left Turns of Joy

I don't know if anyone noticed, but Gospel Girl started strong and has kind of slipped off the radar here lately. There is one thing I know, the enemy smiles when we are up to our ears in work, but he trembles when we pray; when we take a stand and claim our identities as children of the Almighty God, satan has to leave at the sound of His Great Name. Jesus Christ gave His life so that we may have life abundantly and I start with all of this to say; I'm here to stay. I may only have a few precious moments right now, but I won't allow anything to get in the way of the work God has started in me! So, all together now, even if under your breath just say it, "Jesus". Now we can move on to a brief summary of how come this blog took so long to post!

There has been a lot of activity in the life of Gospel Girl. This has been a season of change and growth for me and just when I think I get a handle on one thing, God leads me to something else. I praise Him and the wisdom He so lovingly shares with his precious children! See, I had two other posts that are still sitting in my "drafts" pile which would've made for good posts, but I think I clued everyone in at the start that I can't phone it in. My heart was in what I was writing, I thought it was pretty funny and somewhat thought provoking stuff, don't get me wrong. The Holy Spirit wasn't jiving with it though and so I decided to pray about it until I got the green light. Which came this morning. This is a pretty huge accomplishment for your impatient, high-metabolism having sister! One of my greatest struggles is letting go and letting God. How many times have I entered into prayer with an earnest desire for God's will to manifest in my life, but on my timeframe? Oh, the times I have asked for answers and when I didn't get them as quickly as Google could deliver, I just threw my hands up and continued to do whatever it is I hadn't heard back on yet! Have you done this?

How merciful God must be to put up with our demands. Any of you have children? Know children? Seen children on tv? Surely you've heard of them. They are smallish people with big demands and typically do not possess a whole bunch of patience or practical been-around-awhile knowledge to keep them from falling off of roofs or setting the house on fire. I know a few who would like to think they know more than I do, in fact I know a certain four year old who is the greatest back seat driver that ever was. One morning after delivering his brother to the bus stop, I asked little bossy bones if he wanted to sit in my lap and steer us back to the house since apparently he wasn't quite impressed with my 6:30 a.m. driving ability that got us there. With a huge grin that read let-me-show-you-how-it-is-done, bossy bones got in my lap and gripped the steering will and said, "Mom, push the gas!". I assured him that I was letting him steer without any help, which worked out momentarily as the street we were on was a straight shot. When we stopped at the stop sign and then started to turn the corner, I noticed that bossy bones wasn't turning left hard enough and calmly said, "Sweet stuff, you have to turn harder!", to which he replied, "you have to go faster!". I explained that if we went faster, we would end up in the yard of some poor soul who wasn't counting on their lawn being used as a learning tool that quiet morning. I was met with a fierce stubbornness that possibly could be a genetic trait and as we made a very wide left turn and ran aground on said neighbor's lawn, bossy bones started shouting "Stop Mama!!!". A few moments of frustration followed and a humble little boy looked at me with big crocodile tears and said, "I don't want to drive anymore." What we agreed on from that point is that he would drive, but only under my guidance. After we made it home safely and without disturbing the lawns of any of our other unsuspecting neighbors, it occured to me that the lesson learned was more for me and not little bossy bones. How many times has God lovingly tried to steer me and how many times have I gripped the wheel and argued that I know what I'm doing?

 I've ran aground on circumstances a lot less innocent than perfectly manicured grass and there Jesus was, patiently and so lovingly waiting for me to admit that I didn't know at all how to drive. Not God's way anyhow. Submission to the will of our Father is difficult and all we have to do is remember Jesus praying in Gethsemane to remind of  just how difficult it is. Our savior, Jesus Christ, knew that he was staring down death at the hands of sinners and said "Abba Father all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will".  Mark 14:32. The struggle of the flesh is a very real thing, it is weak! In the flesh, Jesus asked if there was any way around what was about to happen, but knew that it was God's will and accepted death FOR US and I know I have mentioned it before, but even as he hung there dying asked God to forgive us sinners because we did not know any better!! What love is this?! Christ showed us that no matter what we face, if we accept God's will "For those who love God all things work together for good." Romans 8:28. Good. Don't you want good?? I do! What's so amazing about this is that anyone who has accepted His will find that it goes beyond good. Joy is what you will find. Pure Joy, thick and sweet enough to ice a cake with, will surface in your life and you won't have a vocabulary elaborate enough to explain it. It eclipses all affliction with His Glory.

I want to challenge you to look at a situation in your life where you are gripping the steering will so tight that your hands hurt from the effort of it. Now, try this; slide over to the passenger seat and say "Look God, no hands. Take me where You need me to go!". Let Him drive for you and just enjoy the ride.


Thank you for continuing to allow me to share my heart with all of you. Joy be with you.

Love Does Not Demand Its Own Way.