On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, five months into my cancer treatment and three-quarters of the way through my chemotherapy, my website, http://www.afittingreply.com went live. I chose the longest possible commitment period- ten years- and paid in advance to secure my website. I committed to posting twice weekly. There have been days like today when I wondered if I should repost older content or simply take a break from posting, but I made my promise to God a little over three years ago, a promise that stems from Jesus’s high priestly prayer in John 17. I first recognized that this part of His prayer could be taken personally when I held a leadership role in a ministry to children.
““O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me.
I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.
Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.””
John 17:25-26 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.17.25-26.NLT
I am a student of the Word and I am fascinated by the way words work together to form ideas, paint elaborate mental pictures, and bring deeper meaning to a text. As I spend time reading my Bible, ideas for a blog post invariably come. Sometimes they are fully developed and I struggle to scribble fast enough to capture them before they’re gone. On occasion, I have lost my way mid-thought and prayed, “Lord, if you mean for me to have this, please bring it back to mind.” Almost always, the Holy Spirit jogs my memory and I continue on. Other times, a verse piques my interest and I jot it down to ponder. Weeks or months may pass before the Spirit brings me back to it. Most often, I have collected a series of verses over several days or even weeks and God’s Spirit weaves them together with the events of my everyday life as I write.
This week, I offer you a peek into the process in hopes that you will choose to dig a little deeper next time you read your Bible. You don’t have to study Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic or know how to use Strong’s numbering system to click a few simple links and read various translations and their imbedded notes. I enjoy the YouVersion Bible app but there are many free resources online. Consider one verse from the last chapter of Joshua. In his last official act as Israel’s leader before his death, and before dismissing the tribes to their respective inheritance within the land of promise, Joshua recited a history lesson to the gathered chosen nation. He reminded the people of all God had done to set them apart from the time He called Abram from his father’s land and his father’s gods.
“Joshua said, “Now get rid of all the foreign gods you have with you.
Say an unqualified Yes to God, the God of Israel.””
Joshua 24:23 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jos.24.23.MSG
You will find my title in the Message translation. I gave God my unqualified yes when He gave me this blog. Everything about it from the name of the website and its availability to the timing (especially the timing) is His. I cannot claim credit for a single thing. The desire to write, the scripture, Proverb 15:23, to name the website, the twice weekly entries are all God-given. Every good and perfect gift is from above. (James 1:17)
I felt a little like Isaiah when the Lord called for a messenger.
“Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me.””
Isaiah 6:8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.6.8.NLT
I cannot not write.
“But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire.
It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!”
Jeremiah 20:9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.20.9.NLT
What is your unqualified yes to God? Where are you trusting Him to do something in and through your life, something that will outlive you, something of eternal significance? Look again at Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel just before his death. I’ve included several of the translations I regularly use to glean a better understanding of what the writers in the original languages intended.
““All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.””
Joshua 24:23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.24.23.NLT
““Now then, remove the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your hearts toward the Lord, the God of Israel.””
Joshua 24:23 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/jos.24.23.AMP
““Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the statues of the gods that are among you.
People from other lands serve those gods.
Give yourselves completely to the Lord. He is the God of Israel.””
Joshua 24:23 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/jos.24.23.NIRV
““Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.””
Joshua 24:23 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jos.24.23.NIV
““Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away these foreign gods that are among you, and yield your hearts fully to Yahweh the God of Israel!””
Joshua 24:23 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jos.24.23.TPT
Giving God an unqualified yes involves turning your heart to the Lord, inclining your heart toward Him. A simple dictionary search of inclining paints a rich picture of a heart completely surrendered to God. Synonyms include bowing, bowed down, and weeping, with one definition meaning to lean or rest against as a ladder against a house, the latter propping up or supporting the former. Inclining also means tending or gravitating toward in affinity. Its antonyms, including avoiding, shunning, or shying away from, unbending inflexible, and rigid speak of a hardened heart, one that prefers anything to bending Godward.
Yet another translation renders the same phrase “give yourselves completely to the Lord,” while two more prefer “yield your hearts fully to God.” Giving and yielding are actions we take every day. We give thanks, give a hug, give a ride or a meal. We understand that we cannot keep what we give away, Jesus said in God’s kingdom, things work a little differently. What we try desperately to hold onto is lost forever, but true life is found in complete surrender to Him.
“Then Jesus spoke to his disciples.
He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves.
They must pick up their cross and follow me.
Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will find it.
What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul?
Or what can anyone trade for their soul?”
Matthew 16:24-26 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/mat.16.24-26.NIRV
Yield is not a widely used word outside of traffic circles and investments, but consider one last time the implications of yielding our hearts to God. Glance over the definitions and let the Spirit shed light on God’s Word. (My comments will follow but take a moment and see for yourself how God speaks clearly and directly to those who seek Him with their whole hearts.)
A heart fully yielded to God will bear fruit. The fruit of God’s Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over will be poured into your lap, (Luke 6:38) and it will be as natural as breathing. When we give up possession of our own lives as Jesus commands, relinquishing to God what is already His, (You are not your own. You are bought at a high price. I Corinthians 6:19-20) we gain the capacity to produce a harvest thirty, sixty, even a hundred times more than what was planted. (Mark 4:8) When we give God His rightful place in our hearts, people will see Jesus.
“Listen carefully and open your heart.
Drink in the wise revelation that I impart.
You’ll become winsome and wise when you treasure the beauty of my words.
And always be prepared to share them at the appropriate time.
For I’m releasing these words to you this day, yes, even to you, so that your living hope will be found in God alone, for he is the only one who is always true.”
Proverbs 22:17-19 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/pro.22.17-19.TPT
When I write, I only want to point you to Jesus. His Word alone is eternal. If reading my words draws you into His Word or sheds a little light on God’s Truth, then I will praise God!
“O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do…
I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so.”
A Fitting Reply 