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| July 2008 | Vol. 1 | Issue 3Greetings!
True story. During my most recent visit to the hair salon, my stylist washed my hair with a new shampoo. Delighted by the smell of the new product, I enthusiastically asked her what it was...my mistake. I don't recall the proper name of the product because all that stuck out was the phrase "anti-aging." Apparently, I am now old enough to need anti-aging shampoo. I suppose so given that I have at least four gray hairs on my head! I found the whole thing amusing and I'm pretty sure that the next go around at the salon will include some discussion of covering up my gray!
I hope that your summer days are full of sunshine and loads of fun. Here's some reading to encourage you along the way.
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 Prized Possessions.
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by Susan
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...a more pressing claim.
These days stories abound about how people are adjusting their lifestyles to
accommodate rising fuel and food costs. As I was listening to a news
report the other day about how families are making sacrifices that they've
never been faced with before, it got me thinking about what it means to
sacrifice. Since I'm a lover of words, I
looked up the definition and found that each of the definitions listed spoke of
offering something, usually something valuable, to a deity. The third entry, in particular, caught my
attention. It defined a sacrifice as
"the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of
something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim." God's work on behalf of humanity is wrapped
up in this very idea of surrender.
Indeed, the Bible is a collection of stories, images, admonishments, and
so forth about the call to live a life of sacrifice.
Let's consider one such story.
Genesis 4 recounts
the birth of Cain and Abel as well as the murder of Abel and the curse of
Cain. Verse 2 tells us that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain was a
tiller of the ground. One day Cain brought an offering of his
farming to God. As it turns out, Abel also brought an offering--the
firstlings of his flock and, as verse 4 notes, "of the fat thereof."
While God was pleased with Abel's offering, he did not find Cain's offering
acceptable. As you might imagine, this did not sit well with Cain; yet,
he didn't ask God the reason for the response. The Amplified Bible
describes Cain as being exceedingly angry and indignant. It seems that
Cain saw his sacrifice as a pretty good one--one good enough that it shouldn't
have been rejected. God even engages Cain in conversation:
"And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and
depressed and dejected? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if
you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you
must master it" (Genesis 4:6-7).
There is no recorded response by Cain to these questions. What Cain does
next definitely represents the heart and mind of an exceedingly angry and
indignant person. He invites Abel out into the field and murders
him. The situation really isn't looking good for Cain at this point.
God calls out to him with one very important question in Genesis 4:9:
Where is your brother? It is here that we find Cain engage God in
conversation with more than just a hint of indignation in his response. He offers, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God's
response was to the point: Cain's
efforts to farm would fail, he would be a fugitive and vagabond, and he would
live in perpetual exile. Pretty tough stuff and Cain is quick
to point this out to God. Verse 13
reads, "Then Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I can
bear." At this point, I wonder if Cain was thinking about how
much easier it would have been to heed God's urging to do well and to not let
sin crouch at his door? What would have happened if Cain would have
engaged God in conversation the first time around? Here are some points of interest to consider.
1. It was not about the sacrifice itself. It was about the
sincerity and faith with which the sacrifice was made. It was about the condition of the heart.
While Cain "brought an offering of the fruit of the ground," Abel
brought "the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions" (Genesis 4:4). Cain surrendered something that he didn't necessarily view as prized nor desirable. It wasn't the best part of his crop. In contrast, Abel didn't surrender any old sheep he could do without. He brought the
firstlings, the best of his firstborn sheep and not only that, he offered the
fat portions. Again, the best of what he had to offer. 1 Samuel 15:22, Proverbs 21:3, and
Mark 12:33 all
remind us that God is far more concerned about our sincerity and faith than the
offering he asks of us. After all, it takes sincerity and faith to surrender something prized and/or desirable.
2. Cain missed a critical opportunity to stop sin in its tracks.
It's not that it was a sin to feel angry or to be depressed. The
problem was that Cain chose not to talk with God--to have it out with God. I firmly believe that God is big enough to handle
any angry outburst I have with him. He is quite able to walk me through
it in a way that the anger doesn't lead to wide spread destruction. What
nudges me to remember this is that God is the one who spoke first to Cain, asking
why he was angry, sad, and depressed. One biblical scholar reflects on the passage,
"How faithfully God warns, and how kindly He points Cain to the way of
escape from the power of sin." God took an interest in what was
happening in Cain's life. Cain, however, looked the other way.
3. We are not called to sacrifice with the guarantee of a specific
return. In a consumer-oriented society where we are driven to ask for
more while insisting we pay less, it is so easy also to ask that our sacrifice
be honored by something we deem even greater in worth. God asks us to sacrifice
as an act of obedience. God is clear that he will take care of our every
need and that he came to give us abundant life. Yet, we must be careful not to
interpret his promises solely within the context of what we perceive to be our
needs.
4. Letting anger stew within us is usually not a choice made in a single
moment. Character develops through the myriad of moments we encounter in
our lives. It's not likely that Cain woke up on the morning of the day of
his sacrificial giving and decided right then and there that he was going to be
angry and indignant if his sacrifice was not accepted by God. Chances are
that Cain had been living an angry life long before that day arrived. For
a great read about how the choices we make in those seemingly average moments
in life affect our character development, take a look at Alicia Britt Chole's Anonymous: Jesus' Hidden Years and Yours.
The difference between Cain and Abel's sincerity and faith calls me to ask
myself an important question: What is
God asking me to sacrifice? God gives us some
ideas about how our daily life can be an offering to him...
Through prayer...Psalm
141:2
Through thanksgiving...Psalm 27:6, Psalm 107:22, Psalm 116:7
Through your body...Romans 12:1
Through giving to others...Philippians 4:18,
Hebrews 13:16
Through a broken spirit...Psalm 51:17
May we exercise the kind of sincerity and faith it takes to surrender our most prized and desirable possessions to God.
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Joy in the Word |
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"Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD."
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See the Joy
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Looking for Opportunities
The mass mailing I told you about in the last newsletter is still in process. I'm praying about several different ideas for places to share the joy. If you know of anyone with a need for a speaker, please feel free to send them my way via the website or susan@defiantjoyministries.com. You can also check out topic descriptions by clicking on the speaker information sheet link on the Topics page.
Keep up with events by checking out the See the Joy calendar.
You can also keep up with Defiant Joy news and other fun tidbits by checking the Journal the Joy blog regularly.
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Joy Moments
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The Power of Pets
I blogged recently about the power of pets to bring joy to our lives. While pretty much most of the world already knows this, I was a little slow on the uptake.
I didn't grow up with pets...well, there was a small stint with a cocker spaniel. The only other pets I've had are the kind you cannot pet or at least not easily pet (e.g., fish and green tree frogs).
This past January I decided that maybe it was time to get a pet--the kind you can pet. By default, my choice was a cat because I'm not allowed to have a dog where I live. By the end of January, Dr. Sassy had become quite comfortable in her new home. Yes, her name is Dr. Sassy for real. She actually came to me with the name Sassy, but since she looked decidely deep in thought about something rhetorical in nature when I first met her, she was instantly upgraded to PhD status!
On a recent trip to Florida, I had the chance to get acquainted with my friends' two dogs, Buster and Honey. They are quite the pair and a lot of fun. This just happens to be the friend who is a former roommate of mine and who I told that I couldn't live with her dog. So, she found a new home for the dog. Let me publicly apologize to her for what was clearly the wrong choice on my part! I hope you enjoy the pictures.
Look around you--joyful moments abound! Click here to share yours!
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Joyful Resources
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Study the Bible.
I was introduced to Bible Explorer a few years back and it is by far my favorite software to use when studying the Bible. The software itself is free and comes with a long list of free books including different versions of the Bible, a myriad of commentaries, lots of devotionals, and much more. If your needs go beyond the free books, there are more than 2,800 options for purchase to round out your collection.
Nope, I'm not getting paid for the endorsement. Just one happy Bible Explorer user!
Want to share a joyful resource? Send us a message.
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Joy in Art
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Play: It's Not Just for Children!
Last year, JJ and Abi, the exceptionally brilliant children of one of my dear college friends, sent me these wonderfully multi-colored birds that they had made from dough. As you can tell, these are some pretty fancy birds! They sit on my desk and remind me how much fun play is...and more importantly, how I need to make room for it in my life more often.
So, grab a tub of dough or even better, make your own, and remember all over again how much fun it is to play!
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Prayer and Thanks
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I'm Giving Thanks...- For your continued encouragement
- For a good meeting about the women's retreat in April 2009
- For some great time spent with friends this summer
- For lots of time to read
Please Pray...- For
planning and taking a prayer retreat within the next few months--this
is high on the list for me and I'm struggling a bit with making it
happen
- For preparations for starting my tenure-track teaching position this fall
- For an open heart to sacrifice what it is that I am called to give up
- For guidance as I work with a ministry coach on identifying not only the needs of the ministry, but my own spiritual development needs
- For a proofreader for the newsletter and possibly other projects
It would be a privilege to pray for you. E-mail Susan.
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With Defiant Joy,
Susan
Susan M. Ward, Ph.D.
Founder | Defiant Joy Ministries
susan@defiantjoyministries.com
If you would like to receive occasional mailings delivered the old-fashioned way to your door step from Defiant Joy,
please take a moment to add your address information to our database.
You can do so by clicking on the Confirm link located at the very top
of the eNewsletter and then entering the e-mail address you use to
receive the eNewsletter. Just follow the directions on the screen.
Thanks!
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