Mining the Treasure Within

By Jill Palmer

 
This month our little town made national news because of the toxic waste that the EPA accidentally dumped into our river - the Animas river. Three million gallons of the nasty yellowish stuff came slowly down the mountain from Silverton and right through the middle of our town. Within just a day or so it had moved on and continued its journey south leaving our river a little yellower on the side but other than that it looks much the same as before this happened. 

Naturally this upset a lot of people, myself included. So heartbreaking to see this in your own town and wonder just what was in the water and what the effects of this toxic nastiness would be on the environment. TV crews have been here, the governor has been here (and even drank the water! Ew!) and hundreds of people looked over bridges to see the sludge go by (myself included). 

The quick history of it is this: We're a mining town and have been for over a hundred years. There are hundreds of mines north of us. When you mine there is always waste material and the waste material gets moved by water. And much of  that water goes into the Animas. The Animas has never been a clean river since mining started in this part of the country. It's never been safe to drink. It wasn't before the accident happened and it certainly isn't now. The EPA was trying to clean it up and the accident occurred. Who knows if it was on purpose or not. What matters is that it happened. Coincidentally, the night it came through our town there was a huge rainstorm!

So what are we to do?

We pray. 

And that's what we did. I meet with a group of ladies a couple times a month and we pray for our church, our community, our town, our nation and our world. At one of our recent meetings the Lord put it on my heart to pray for our river. As I did He showed me how this toxic waste mess can relate to my own toxic waste mess in the supernatural (the supernatural is represented in the natural and it's one of the coolest things!).

I saw my life as the mineshaft and God was mining for treasure - pure treasure. As He mines, there is waste in the run off. Basically it's always there. It's my old life leaving and the new treasure being discovered. 

My own toxic waste leaks out over time. Often it doesn't hurt lots of people but sometimes it can. Truly it's part of the process of getting it out and the treasure coming to the surface. 

Occasionally a circumstance can seriously poke my "mine" and when that happens lots of toxic waste can come out in gallons! Lots and lots. And it can affect lots and lots of people. Ugh. The ugliness of my own yuck blown wide open for others to see. How fabulous.

But God reminded me of the rainstorm He brought to heal the Animas. He does that in my life too. His Spirit floods my soul, cleanses me of the toxic nastiness and brings healing to myself and others.

I have continued to meditate on this word picture over the last several weeks and it has deepened as He reveals more and more layers to this analogy. Truly His Living Water heals my soul. 

What treasure is God mining in you right now? How can we allow the waste to run-off instead of explode in a huge mess? 

Why Are Birthdays So Important?

© Tawna Wilkinson

Why are birthdays so important? What’s the big deal? It’s just another day you might say.

 If it’s just another day, why do we get excited when a baby is born? If it’s not a big deal, why do we feel pain when someone close to us doesn’t acknowledge it or simply forgets it? If birthdays are not important, why did the angels shout and sing so loudly the night Jesus was born? And why does all of heaven rejoice when one has been born, again?

The truth is, birthdays are important. The Lord God created us in His own image, loved us with an everlasting love, and uniquely positioned us in order that His kingdom is brought to earth through us. He bled, died and rose again so we could accomplish our exclusive rendezvous.

If birthdays do not mark a significant wonder in time and space, why did God make such a fuss over us? Because He knew when a human being is born, every relationship connected to that person brings a special effect influencing all of creation.

That’s why birthdays are so important.

How do you view your own birthday? Do you celebrate or hide?

You Are the One Jesus Loves

By Tiffany Bleger

I used to really dislike the Apostle John. 

There. I said it. 

I feel like lightning may come down at any moment. 

But I truly didn't. I struggled with his personality and character in the bible. I couldn't even stand to read the book of John more than the once a year prescribed by my reading plan. And, according to some Christians I know, that admission alone is cause to question my salvation. But I honestly didn't. 

However, like most lessons I've learned along this Christ-following journey, the reasons had far more to do with me than they did with poor John. 

When I became a Christian and began studying the Scriptures, I viewed the world through the lens of self-hatred. I saw absolutely nothing worthy of love in myself. And so, this "beloved disciple" and the "one Jesus loved" seemed arrogant and pretentious when viewed through my tainted lenses. What made him so special? Why did he get to be the one Jesus loved? Did that mean Jesus loved the other disciples less?

John's claims of love confirmed my performance-driven, self-loathing, flawed view of God. In my mind, there was a sliding scale of His love. People like John and King David (check out his deathbed confession in 2 Samuel 23:1) were at the top. Those were the people God truly loved. Those were the people God enjoyed. 

In the middle were most everybody else - the people who seemed to have it all together at church. The people who smiled and prayed and hugged and didn't seem to be faking it. 

Further down were the people who struggled with addictions and sins, but were truly repentant and trying to make an honest go of it. 

Even further were those who didn't love God, who hadn't accepted Him or who had flat-out rejected Him. 

Finally, at the very bottom, was me. I was loved only because the verse says, "For God so loved the world..." If He didn't love me, He would have been a liar. But, beyond that, I could see no reason why He would choose to love me.

But, ever so slowly, God began to change my lenses. He began to show me how He loves me, not because He had to, but because He wants to. He began to remove the self-loathing, the performance-driven fear. For the first time, I began to understand that love. And I began to see John through a new light. 

"The disciple Jesus loved" wasn't arrogant or pretentious, he was filled with a holy confidence. He had looked into the eyes of Jesus and received the love that was never forced. He intimately knew the sacrifice and love that had been poured out for him on Calvary. 

He knew what his identity, his "title" had cost him. 

John chose to describe himself as beloved because that title was precious. It was costly. It was worth honor. 

Do you see where I'm going with this, dear sister? Do you see that this is you? Perhaps you are like I was, drowning in the sea of self-hatred. Are you jealous of those who seem safe on the boat? Do you see the lifeline, the love, being offered to you? And are you willing to let go of those stones, those lies, so that you can hold on to love with everything you have?

You are the one Jesus loves. You are the beloved disciple. You can walk in the same holy confidence as John and David, secure in the knowledge that you are intimately loved and treasured by the Creator of the Universe. But that is not a title anyone else can give you. That is the title you choose for yourself.  

Can you believe this for yourself? What has kept you from knowing how much you are loved?

Getting Burned

By Tiffany Bleger

Recently I spent the better part of the day burning a slash pile on our property. For those who are unfamiliar with country life, a slash pile is a big pile of dead branches, sticks, leaves, grass clippings, etc.  It looks something like this:

For my naturally introverted self, it was a great day. Almost 7 hours of virtually uninterrupted alone time. It gave me lots of time to sit and think. To ask Father questions and be able to wait for the answer. 

It is fascinating for me to sit in front of a fire. I love watching what starts as a tiny flame...

... quickly turning into a raging inferno. 

I can stare at a fire for hours. The beauty and simplicity of the flames. The ease with which fire consumes everything in its path. The tenacity and determination to push through obstacles. Eventually, everything a fire touches will be reduced to ash. 

Many times throughout that day, the fire was simply too hot for me to approach. The sheer heat of the inferno would cause my skin to redden and burn if I got too close. It gave me a new appreciation for the story of Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the blazing furnace from Daniel 3, that's for sure!

So what, you may ask, did Father have to say to me that day? Well, as it turns out, He taught me about gold. Did you know that the average temperature of a wood bonfire, like mine, is about 1,100 degrees Celsius? And that the melting point of gold is 1,064 degrees Celsius? This means that the fire I could not approach without getting burned would have melted gold had I thrown any in. 

Do you know why gold is melted?  When gold ore comes out of the mine, the gold is embedded in other rocks and minerals. It looks much like this:

(This picture is actually iron pyrite, also knows fool's gold. But it looks incredibly similar, almost indiscernible, to gold when it comes out of the earth in its ore form.) 

The only way to get the gold by itself is to melt it down. Melting the gold down into its liquid form allows all impurities and other minerals to separate from the gold. Once the gold has gone through the intense heat of the flame, it is left in its purest form. 

Do you see where I'm going with this yet?

You are that gold, dear sister. You are a treasure, a precious metal in the eyes of your Father. But you have come out of this world (the mine) with covered in junk. Covered in the impurities and scars that a broken and fallen world will leave. And you can choose to remain that way, if you want, but your Father wants so much more for you. He wants you to shine like gold was always created to shine. 

I did not leave that slash pile the entire day. I watched it, carefully. By my side were the tools I needed to keep the fire in check. I wanted it to burn, and burn hot, but I never let the flames get too high, nor did I let the fire escape the boundary I designed. There is a purpose to fire and it is healthy when kept in its place. 

Father will do that for you. You may be in the fire right now, you may have just come out of the fire, or you may not be anywhere close to the flame. But, I can guarantee that we will all be in it at some point. Are you willing to let Him turn up the heat?  Are you willing to trust that He is constantly watching the fire, tending the border and keeping the flames in their rightful place?  Are you willing to let Him burn away the impurities? 

Know, dear sister, that He will not leave you in that liquid state. He will not burn off the impurities and then forget about you. Once the gold has been melted and the impurities removed, the goldsmith pours the liquid gold into a mold of his own design. You see, gold cannot be molded unless it has been melted. If you allow Father to melt you, He will mold you, and you will come out of it looking more and more like Him.