A View From The Sycamore Tree: What Are You Working For?

Saturday, January 30, 2010

What Are You Working For? - John 6:27

"Do not work for the food which perishes,

but for the food that endures to eternal life,

which the Son of Man shall give to you,

for on Him the Father, even God,

has set His seal."

(John 6:27)

In looking over the next section of John 6 I had to pause for a moment on verse 27 and ask myself - "What am I working for?"

If I take an honest evaluation of my days and the way I spend them how must I honestly answer this question? How must you? Is the bulk of our time spent working for "things" that will rust and fade or on things that will last forever? Are we living and striving and giving ourselves to a house, a yard, a hobby, the computer, a career, a sport - the list could go on and on? Is the greatest investment of our time spent in passing things or on eternal things?

[As an aside, please note that we ARE to be diligent in all of our duties. Scripture speaks much about labor and the importance of it. I do need to be a good housekeeper (sorry, you'll find no excuse here for ignoring the laundry or the dishes). I do need to be concerned about putting daily bread on the table for my husband and my children because "things" do matter. God has placed us in a physical place within a physical time. BUT am I so concerned with the things of the moment that I am forsaking the things of forever? Am I doing the things of "time" while ignoring the things of "eternity'? Am I so caught up in my physical duties that I am ignoring my spiritual duties? Are the scales of my life balanced or does one far outweigh the other - for both are important?]

J.C. Ryle is very thought provoking when he writes concering the importance of our spiritual labors. He says:

"Christ would have us take pains to find food and satisfaction for our souls. We must labor in the use of all appointed means. We must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasure. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a will. We must fight daily against sin, the world and the devil like those who fight for liberty, and must conquer or be slaves. This is laboring! In this, we shall have little encouragement and much opposition. We must strive, we must run, we must fight, we must throw our whole heart into our soul's affairs."

Wow! When you put it like that I have to hang my head in shame. How often do I dig for treasure, wrestle for my life, worship like an heir, and fight against my flesh like one whose whole freedom depends upon it? I am lazy. I am glad He is patient. Well, I need to go and do my dishes but I think there is some pretty important pre-washing that needs to go on in my spiritual closet first. Going to get to work!

In His glorious grace,

Lori

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Here We Go!

This is a blog about the goodness and grace of God, even amidst the angst of autism.

So ... how did this whole thing start?

Well, I said I'd never do this but obviously here I am. After being challenged, encouraged, goaded and double dog dared, several years ago I began to blog.

Near the end of 2008, I found myself with renewed passion for God's Word, Kingdom, and people and I was stirred, through nothing other than the simple means of grace, to a hunger and thirsting for righteousness unlike any other time in my 20+ years as a Christian.

During that period, I began typing out the things that were striking me the most in my quiet time each morning. Honestly, I started because I wanted to have a written record that I could pass along to my children one day - lettered Ebenezers reminding them of how much their Mom loves God and His Word.

While doing that I found myself so excited on certain days that I began to email my musings to some of my girl friends, hoping to encourage them even as Christ was encouraging me. Many of those gals challenged me to put these things online in a blog form so others could have access to them. That's how this site started.

Now, to shoot really straight with you, that personal "revival" of mine has pendumatically ebbed and flowed over the course of the days, months and years since 2008. For a prolonged period after that initial renewing surge I actually found myself in an utterly antithetical place. God, in His wisdom, was pleased to grant me a substantial season in the dark dungeon of "doubting castle" - those days were some of the hardest of my life post-Jesus but were providentially ordained days ultimately used for my good and for my God's glory.

"Through many dangers, toils, and snares I have already come" by nothing but the amazing grace of an amazing God.

I've learned that even in the midst of the darkest of days there's just something about the light of God's Word that is powerful. The Scripture has been an anchor for me in the storm surge of life. Even when my eyes have seemed to be rather veiled and my vision somewhat dimmed, there has still been a re-focusing force that has risen when I have gazed long and hard upon the Word of God. Thus, even as a saint who struggles, I continue to write of my God, my Redeemer, His promises, and His truth.

I'm not always very regular at posting here because there are many more important duties in my life right now than blog uploads - ie. being wife, mom, housekeeper, cook, taxi service, chief bottle washer, and laundry lady - along with that music thing I do as a side gig! But, as time allows I'll be cutting and pasting from Joshua and Elizabeth's future journal gift and sharing some of it with you as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Who's Doing This?

Lori Sealy is daily amazed at the grace of God in her life. Adopted as an infant and raised in an evangelical church, she rebelled against the things of Christ during high school and considered herself an atheist. Upon entering college, the God who ordains our steps ordained that her path would cross with several students who loved Christ and loved His Word. During that first year of college, she set out to destroy the faith of these young Christians. They set out to pray for her salvation.

Knowing that "faith comes through hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ," six college students daily confronted her sin and challenged her with the truths of God's glorious Word. Their obedience in proclaiming the good news of the gospel of Christ bore fruit in August of 1988 when by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, she was adopted for the second time in her life - this time into the family of God.

Lori is now the wife of Phillip Sealy. They live in Sylva, North Carolina where Phillip has been called to plant a new church for the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) - Redeemer Church Sylva. The Sealys have two children Joshua (14) and Elizabeth (12). Lori and Joshua both live with autism.

In her spare time (what little there is) Lori masquerades as a part-time songwriter/singer and performs on a limited monthly basis. Lori's newest CD, "The Strife is Over," has recently released. Hard copies of it, along with her last release "Begone Unbelief", are available through CD Baby and Lori's own website. Digital downloads are available through iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon mp3!

Be sure to visit http://www.lorisealy.com/ to learn more!

Why the Sycamore Tree?

Zaccheus, the wee little man, wanted to see Jesus and so he climbed into the sycamore tree in order to get a good look. Lori, the wee little wife and mom, longs to see Jesus as well. I realize that the place where I will catch a true glimpse of Him is in the pages of His Word.

The Bible is my sycamore tree and I find myself longing more and more to climb up into its branches that I might see Christ more clearly. This blog is simply a record of what God is teaching me as I spend time in "the tree" of His glorious Word. If anyone reads it I'll be amazed; if anyone profits from it I'll be humbled; and if anything good is found in it Soli Deo Gloria!