SIGNPOSTS | Martha VanCise

Stepping Stones

by martha vancise | JanThu2015 | SIGNPOSTS

Those who knew my father knew that “fishing” ran a close second to “loving God.” Yes, he loved his family, but we soon learned that spending time with Dad meant “going fishing.” The only time I ever played hooky from school was the spring day that Dad told our family, “It’s too nice a day to go to school. We’re goin’ fishin’.” Anyone that ever went fishing with my dad also knew that he never stayed in one spot long. If he didn’t get a nibble on his line in ten minutes, he started walking along the creek bank looking for another fishing hole. If he had no luck on one side of the stream, he would cross to the other side.

When the creek was high from rains, he would cross by walking on a fallen log that spanned the water. When the water was low, he would find a shallow place and cross on rocks that protruded from either still or swift-flowing water. I balked at crossing on the logs but often followed him across the stream on the stepping stones. He would say, “Mart, step where I step.” He selected stones that my short legs could reach, and I would finally make the last jump to the bank, proud that my feet were still dry.” Sometimes, though, as we neared the other bank, I would see a couple of other rocks that looked bigger and easier to leap to and I would choose those rocks rather than the ones he had chosen. You can guess the rest of the story. I would either be stuck on a rock and wailing or end up with wet feet.

We often do that with God. He orders the steps of our lives in ways suited to our particular stride and ways that will enable us to safely reach a distant goal. Whether it be the completion of a work he has given us to do or the completion of our life, he wants to show us the best way to go. Instead of patiently following his steps, though, we rush to complete the work in our own way, or we take a path that seems a little easier and we find ourselves in a mess or stranded and wailing, “Help!”

God’s Word emphasizes the importance of following his steps.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21
LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. Jeremiah 10:23
A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand their own way? Proverbs 20:24
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9
The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.
Psalms 37:23

Martha Hawn VanCise©
Photo: Martha VanCise

Outer Fringes

by martha vancise | JanTue2015 | SIGNPOSTS

Job spoke of the suspension of earth over nothing, the spread of the northern skies, waters bundled in clouds, and the powerful churning of the sea. He ended his observations by saying about God, “And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”

Millennia later, we see farther into God’s creation and his works than Job could see. The Hubble and ever-larger telescopes reveal planets and galaxies considered to be billions of light-years away. A recent headline “Secret worlds ‘lurking’ in the outer fringes of the solar system,” reveals how little we still know. No matter what we discover with our telescopes, our electron microscopes that can make images to a resolution half the width of a hydrogen atom, we will still see only the outer fringe of God’s works. God’s paths are beyond tracing out.

How faint the whisper we hear of him!
Who then can understand the thunder of his power?
WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!

Job 26:7-8, 12a, 14; Romans 11:33

Martha Hawn VanCise©
Photo: Hubble

A Fresh Battery

by martha vancise | JanMon2015 | SIGNPOSTS

The rechargeable batteries for my Nikon camera carried a strong charge for several years, but after a while the batteries would only recharge enough for a couple shots. I finally had to admit, it was time to buy a new expensive battery.

In my young adult years, I heard older people longingly speak about the six-week revivals that changed communities. To me, what I was experiencing and witnessing in my generation was powerful and satisfying. I thrived on ten-day revivals and camp meetings. Now that I’m older I find myself wishing my grandchildren could experience the awe I felt when walking into a camp meeting where we worshiped God with exuberant singing and left spiritually satiated.

Here and there, people still find refreshment in scattered revivals and camp meetings, but these events are increasingly rare. While stadium crusades currently draw crowds in the southern hemisphere, they now have little appeal to North Americans or Europeans. Some methods of communicating Christ no longer carry the power that they did in the past. It’s time to ask ourselves, “Should we keep trying to go back and revive what served one generation well but carries a weak signal to a rising generation?”

Charles Cowman, co-founder of OMS* said, “Find God’s plan for your generation and get in line with it.” Where and how is God changing lives in the rising generation? We must ask that God reload our lives with a new vision – the vision he has for the rising generation. We must ask how to encourage and support those who are battling evil that never entered our mind or imagination when we were young. God’s plan continues through all generations but each generation must embrace a fresh vision of God and his plan for their generation.

Fresh visions are costly. They come through prayer, the study of God’s Word, fasting, cultural awareness, a concern for those who have never known God’s forgiveness, and encouragement for those who struggle in their walk with God. Fresh visions come through a willingness to set aside our familiar, comfortable way of thinking and allow God to show us his ever-unfolding plan.

Martha Hawn VanCise©

* (Formerly Oriental Missionary Society, now One Mission Society)

Christ in YOU?

by martha vancise | DecMon2014 | SIGNPOSTS

When the virgin Mary said, “May it be to me as you have said,” she submitted to the Spirit’s formation of the Christ child within her body. She knew that allowing Christ to be formed in her could result in divorce or possibly stoning. Nevertheless, she trusted the Lord to handle the uncertainties of what lay ahead.

Several years later, the Apostle Paul pleaded with the Galatians to allow Christ to be formed in their hearts. His concern for them was so intense that he said, “I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” He did not downplay the price of Christ being formed in his life but said, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”

The cost of bearing the Christ-life has never been higher in many countries. During the last century, more Christians have died for their faith than all the past Christian martyrs together.

For most of us, though, allowing the Christ-life to govern our steps may never bring physical death, but each day more stones are lobbed our way with the intention of destroying our faith in Jesus Christ. Court rulings, the news media, cultural correctness advocates, the entertainment industry, and the educational system from Pre-K through post-graduate programs pelt believers in Christ with sneers and contempt.

As we consider Mary’s “May it be …”
Let us examine our own faith
Let us each renew our “May it be – May Christ be formed in ME!

To them, God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Martha Hawn VanCise©

Abandoned Projects

by martha vancise | NovTue2014 | SIGNPOSTS

Abandoned NGO (non-government organizations) projects dot Haiti. In the past, individuals and churches started emotion-based projects to help the needy. When funding and zeal shrunk, though, they walked away leaving only a skeleton of their dreams.

***

In recent years Jeremiah’s words, “For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” have become a motto for many Christians. Emblazoned on wall hangings, cards, and memories, the words remind us that “God has an exciting, wonderful plan for us!”

As we continue on our Christian journey, though, the blessings we expected from God may not materialize. No matter our age or length of walk with God, we may at times wonder if God has abandoned plans to give us a productive future.

When David hid in wilderness caves he must have occasionally wondered if God had abandoned the plans to make him king. Later in life, King David reigned over Israel, but he continued to face adversaries who challenged the God-given purpose of his life. While David trusted God to fulfill his purpose he still cried out, “Do not abandon the works of your hands.” (Psalm 138:8)

No matter our age or where we are on our spiritual walk, there will be pauses in our lives—times when useless weeds seem to be the only thing that appears on the project site of our life. We may long to see more progress in God’s plan. As we age, we may look at the edifice of our lives and wonder if God has rolled up the blueprints for our lives and left us alone with our memories.

GOD IS NEVER FINISHED WITH US

God will not abandon the project he has started in our lives. He will finish what he has started.

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
(The Message – Philippians 1:6)
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever —do not abandon the works of your hands. (Psalm 138:8)

All Parts Included

by martha vancise | OctThu2014 | SIGNPOSTS

By the seventh day,
God had finished the work
he had been doing (Genesis 2:2).

God never came back to tweak or add to His creation. All that we would ever discover or need was present on that day.

No chromosome was added to produce the billions of people that would inhabit the earth. With the exception of the incarnate Christ, no atom, no DNA, no genome, no microwave, no sound wave, no light, no seed, came from another source. Everything that we know and use came from God’s original creation.

Whatever we may build, create, or discover in the future will come from what has been here from the beginning.

The heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. Genesis 2:1) …his works have been finished since the creation of the world (Hebrews 4:3)