Tag: healing

Punishment

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized1 Comment

(My friends from New Life will recognize the input from Dr. Michelle Anthony and her book, “Spiritual Parenting”)

Why do we punish our children?  Why does God punish us?  Why do we punish ourselves?

Many of us have lived in a culture of shame and condemnation, for years, for generations.  We see God on His Great White Throne of judgement, glaring down on His rebellious children, waiting for the moment they fail, so that He can strike us down.  When He doesn’t kill us, we think He doesn’t see us.  So there is no comfort in His lack of action either.  We crave boundaries, rules that we can follow and earn favor with.  To be left in an apparent vacuum creates confusion and stress.

Can I start this saying, “be still and know that He is God.”

Our goal in punishment is to make the act of our disobedience so painful that the sinner never wants to sin again.

And this never works.

Did you hear me?  IT NEVER WORKS!

People get good at covering their shame and guilt, gold-plating their failures and molding the rules to their advantage.  But guilt and shame, hatred, fear are all tools that satan uses, not God.

Always with God, the goal of punishment is healing and restoration.  He seeks to expose the hidden brokenness so that the root of our torture can be removed, so that His love, His Spirit can fill the emptiness.

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12:7-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

To order Dr. Anthony’s book, click on the link below.

http://www.davidccook.com/catalog/Detail.cfm?sn=106559&source=search

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Cold Water

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, Worship2 Comments

A simple request.  “Could you get me some cold water?”

And I heard the voice of God!

I practice and sing.  I want to be “good”, whatever that means.  Excellence is a core value for our church, and for me personally.  I know that I’m not that good.  I have seen to many excellent musicians, doing amazing things, to ever think that I am even in their league.  But I still push myself.  At fifty-one years, having played for almost thirty-seven of those years, I still want to get better, faster, more confidant, more artistic.

But one thing is blatantly revealed in my playing, I am inadequate.

This may sound like self-pity or a need for encouragement.  It may sound like self-deprecation or humility.  It is not.

I have so much fun playing.  There are few things that sadden me more than not playing music.  There are only a couple that I ask God not to take from me.  One of those things is music, as realistically limited as my skills are, it is something so deep within me that to remove it would kill me.

So what does God want with me, my skills, my passions, my heart and soul?  What does the Creator of the universe, the one who put me together, planned me from the beginning of time, fashioned me through physical attributes and the molding of time and experience, what does He want from me?

“Could I have some cold water please?”

Cold water in a glass on a hot summer evening.  Cold water splashed in my face in the early morning.  Cold water lapping at my toes as I walk the beaches of Lake Michigan.  Cold water pouring over my body in the middle of winter.  A cold shower, an ice pack, snow falling softly in the middle of the woods or coming in blizzards that blanket our roads, our houses.

Cold water can come in many different forms.  Is that what You call me to?  To be refreshing, awakening, calming, shocking, healing, quieting, covering….

Yes, Lord.

Where do we go from here?

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, WorshipLeave a comment

He walked alone from the shop in that part of town that no “good” people talk about.  He watched the movie, looked at the magazines, stared at the pictures on the walls.  And now, he walked alone.  He walked in shame.

Where would you go if you were him?  What would you do now?

I talk to so many people, so many well meaning people, that have a thousand answers for what he should do.  He should give up, it’s just what guys do.  He should find a new relationship that “satisfies” him more.  He should go to church, join a group, pray a prayer, listen to music, think about what he’s doing.  And that’s just a short list.

There are good and helpful things on this list.  There are things that need to be done.  And this doesn’t just apply to guys addicted to porn.

In Exodus, the people of Israel were told to go into the promised land.  But then they heard the spies report.  “There are giants.  We’ll all be killed.”  And the people rebelled and refused to go in.  Then God rebukes them and says they will all, all that rebelled, die in the desert.  Then they’re sorry.  Please forgive us, they say.  We’ll obey you now, they say.  But God told them no.  They went anyway and many died in the battle that occurred.

The long and the short of this problem is that they, and we, are trying to fix ourselves.  Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the power of sin and death.  He came to give us life, “and life more abundant.”  We go our own way and the only solution to the problem is to stop going your own way.

Couples divorce because they fight and there seems no way out.  Teens run away because they hate their parents control and there seems no way out.  And people remain bound to sin because they can not fix themselves.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

Stop making your own decisions.  Stop finding your own way.  Stop listening to every voice that shouts in your ear.  Seek His face.  Seek His will.  Find Him again and let Him choose your paths.  He can heal.  He can restore.  He will help you.

And you’ll know where to go.

Does the Hurt Ever Heal?

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Worship2 Comments

 

One of those scary places to go.  Death, sadness, irrevocable loss, days, weeks, months gone forever.

 

In 1978 my brother committed suicide.  His body was found almost six months later where it had washed up on a river bank.  As we waited through the months when we knew nothing and then endured the questions and analysis of dental records and other comparative data, we were torn between wanting to know and not wanting to know.

 

It has been thirty-five years and it still hurts so much.  I can’t write now without crying.

 

I miss him.

I would’ve loved to see him meet my wife, my kids.  They would’ve laughed at his idiosyncracies, some very similar to mine, some that put mine to shame.  They would’ve been amazed by his talent and insight.  And, if they were lucky enough to hold his hand, they would’ve have known the strength and gentleness that, to this day, is my picture of the hands of Jesus.

For those of you who have suffered great loss (some are so much worse than mine, so much deeper) you know that the hurt never heals, never goes away.  We compartmentalize, we bury, we cope with what has happened but we don’t “get over it.”

And that’s OK.

My Jesus will not remove all pain until I stand before Him in heaven.  When He claimed that He had “overcome the world”, it didn’t mean that the world was gone.  It meant that He was greater, stronger, deeper than what would happen to us here.  His triumph is not over the cross, it is through the cross.

And in that, I find His peace.

 

 

 

 

Fields of Gold

On By hawkinsm6In Christian Living, Discipleship, Encouragement, Spiritual, Uncategorized, Worship1 Comment

What happens in a marriage of two people who can’t live apart but then find they can’t live together?

When I met my wife, she took my breath away.  I couldn’t believe she answered the first letter I wrote to her, picked up the phone the first time I called.  I was shocked when she said she loved me.  When we kiss, my heart still skips a beat.

I’m writing this now but still neglect to let her know.

We almost didn’t make.  We almost ended it.  I walked away to live alone, to have my own way.  I spoke so many words of hate and anger.  I broke her trust and blamed her for every failure.

Do you know why I love my Jesus?

HE WRITES MY STORY!  HE COMPLETES EACH CHAPTER!

Satan would tell you that you write your own life.  We would close the book with pages still blank, with pictures unpainted, with songs unsung because it all gets so hard.

But not God, not my King.

He writes the harmonies.  He composes the lyrics and melody, with minor chords, sevenths that don’t make sense, dissonance and resolution.  He colors the canvas with grays of shadow and yellows of sunshine, blending colors, striking lines where definition and boundary are needed.

He writes my story.  And He will bring me, has brought me to healing and hope.

He brought me home.  He heals the wounds.

He gives me fields of gold.

Thank you, my love, for walking them with me.