A Tale of Two Lampshades

      Ever seeking the rainbow behind the clouds, I must share one more Christmas Day Flood story with you (without promising it will be the last!). 

      In all the moving about of furniture during the restoration, I dropped the hobnail glass shade of a precious antique lamp that was my mother's onto the tile bathroom floor. You can imagine the sound of shattering glass that echoed in my heart. I was devastated, of course, but immediately turned to EBay to search for a replacement. After perusing many options, I decided on the perfect match, ordered it, and eagerly anticipated its arrival. How heartbroken I was upon picking up the box to hear the unmistakable clinking of broken glass. My excited heart fell. When I opened it, though, I exclaimed, "Well no wonder!" as I found that the packaging and padding was minimal, certainly not sufficient for so fragile an object to travel hundreds of miles through the mail system. (See photo on the right, above.)

      It took a few days for my spirits to recover well enough to begin my search anew. I found another, though, and prayerfully, hopefully ordered it. As quickly as promised, the package arrived, and I was encouraged that the box felt strong and I heard no telltale tinkling. As I carefully opened it (with not a little trepidation, I admit), I was amazed to find a second tightly packed box inside the first. Again I painstakingly unsealed the second one, only to find a THIRD box I needed to unwrap! And inside that one, padded lovingly with more cardboard, newspaper, and other ordinary materials, was an unbroken Fenton hobnail lampshade. (See photo above left.) What joy! It was perfect, and whole, and my lamp now glows beautifully on my dresser.

      When I contemplate that experience and those two packages, I can't help seeing a striking illustration of a lesson it's taken me a lifetime of mistakes to learn: a fragile heart that is placed in thin, unreliable packaging will undoubtedly be shattered by the rough handling of this world, while a heart wrapped in "full armor" will arrive at its destination able to fulfill its purpose and shine its light wherever it is placed. What is this "full armor"? I believe it's no accident that the second lamp shade was sealed in three boxes. I can't help relating it to the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we trust the Father, our Creator Who loves us (Genesis 1:1, 27), accept His Son Jesus as the Redeemer He gave for our sins (John 3:16); then inside us will live the Holy Spirit, His Advocate, to guide us and comfort us on our daily walk (John 14:26). Our hearts will then be safe until we go to live with Him forever and our enemies have been destroyed. NO MORE BROKEN HEARTS!!!

      But until that time, we'll be tossed about, and perhaps even broken, by a sin-filled world. And without this armor we ourselves succumb to our own sinful nature, born in all of us since the Garden of Eden. How can we be sure we are protected from Satan's attacks? God has given us the answer in His Word, in the passage so familiar to many of us:

 "For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation [Yeshua]  and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God."

(Ephesians 6:13-17 CSB)

             With this promised protection we are by no means guaranteed freedom from worldly attacks to our body, mind, and spirit, just like both lampshades were undoubtedly tossed about in the mail before arriving at my home. We ARE guaranteed, however, to come through such attacks, so that like my lamp, we can shine God's light wherever we are placed. 

   "He must increase and I must decrease."

John 3:30

 ✝️

The Greatest Love

     

His Love Hung on a Tree

      It's Good Friday, and many wonder why "Good" when the most heinous crime of all time was committed on this day against the only perfect God/Man Who ever lived. As I contemplate the Passion and pain of this day, rain is pouring down outdoors. It could certainly be a very "heavy" day if our thoughts stop at the cross. But, praise God, they don't need to; in fact, they mustn't. When Jesus uttered "It is finished," I can't help thinking at least part of His meaning was that His pain was finished, His sacrifice had been made, and all that awaited Him was His glorious, rightful position at the right hand of His Father God in his heavenly home. And in that moment the same future was guaranteed for us who follow Him-- a future without pain, struggle, and tribulation. As the wonderful old hymn goes, "What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see...!"

      To me, this day is all about love, the greatest love ever known to mankind, and it challenges me both to give and to receive the purest form of love, the love that motivates us to sacrifice for others, not out of obligation or necessity, but out of compassion, of wanting only the best for someone else, of simply delighting in the presence of the other. Yes, THIS, not Valentine's Day, is the day that we should celebrate love all around the world, right down to our own household! And it all started with the crimson blood that flowed down from the heart of Jesus on that horrible wooden cross-- a thing of utmost beauty from the most horrible ugliness ever conceived by man.

      Yes, it breaks my heart to think of this ugliness, of His perfection enduring such pain for the likes of me and my sin! At the same time, my spirits soar to bathe in this unimaginable outpouring of perfect love. And He would have done it for me, if I were the only person on earth! Or for you, my friend.

      And what does He ask in return? Nothing. It's that simple. Accept the gift. Believe, and see the difference it makes in your heart. You will WANT to love others, to live differently. You'll be sorry for your sins, because you will want to please the Lover of your soul. You will love others more, because you have His love in your heart, and you can't help wanting to share it. Oh, but don't think the Enemy will stop harassing you to do evil. If he tempted the Christ, the Son of God (which he did), he will surely tempt you as soon as you give your heart to Jesus. You will fall-- we all do-- but we repent and start over with the Holy Spirit as our Armor. And we keep trusting in His love, because it is the most trustworthy of all, because this is the day He gave it all for you, and for me, and for every single person you lay eyes on, or talk to, or text, or Tweet, or think of today, every day.

      Don't you want to shout it from the rooftops? I challenge you to share it today, the perfect Love-- grab someone you pass on the street, call someone you haven't contacted in a while, share this blog with someone. There are endless ways, and I'm challenging myself, too. It may not be natural, until you think about the unimaginably great news of it, and then, how can we keep from sharing it? It IS Good Friday-- go tell someone!

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." 

(John 15:13 KJV)

 "Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

(Matthew 22:37-39 NIV)

   "He must increase and I must decrease."

John 3:30

 ✝️