The Crystal Lewis Blog

hi…

if you are a relatively regular visitor here, you may have noticed i haven’t written anything in a while. well that’s not entirely true. i haven’t written anything here in a while. i’ve been writing, but in a new location. here: crystallewis.blogspot.com

at some point… in the not-too-distant-future i hope… the website and blog will again be as one.  but for the time being, i’ll be doing all of my writing/blogging at the above link.

thanks for stickin’ around!

crystal

my flowers are thirsty. wilting. dying. they need water to survive, i know this. i DONT know why i don’t water them regularly. i don’t want them to die. i walk past them daily, look at them wilting and thirsty,  and literally say out loud…” i’ve got to water my flowers today”.  sometimes i do. sometimes i don’t. life takes over and busyness reigns. i get distracted by the 47 other things that need to be done and the flowers take a back seat.

my heart is like those flowers.  not that it’s wilting and dying. but it is thirsty.  and when i don’t ‘water it’, as in let the water of the WORD wash over it, teach it, guide it, encourage it, strengthen it…well, it does tend to wilt.  the longer we go between intimate times of worship and prayer in daily, quiet, alone settings, the more our hearts have a tendency to become dry and immune to the quickening of the Holy Spirit.  oh that we would water our hearts!! they need the thirst-quenching truth of the WORD to survive!

The Law of the Lord is:

perfect………it revives the soul

trustworthy………it makes the simple wise

right…….it gives joy to the heart

radiant…….it gives light to the eyes

pure……..it endures forever

sure……..it is more precious than any worldly thing

in keeping it there is a GREAT REWARD

yard work is not my favorite.  but it must be done.  have you seen what happens when it doesn’t get done? ugly. we have a certain large, circular planter on our property that is just far enough from the house to remain largely hidden from view.  i recently lost a game of darts, the result of which led me to that planter with shovel in gloved hand.  the task seemed insurmountable. seriously, a huge amount of weeds.  i truly do not mind getting my hands dirty, but this job required more than the typical dirt-under-the-fingernails effort. we’re talking kneeling in it, grime and crud on your face type of job.  as i began to pull up the weeds, i realized all too clearly the parallel between my life and heart, and the unwelcome invaders i was yanking out.

for starters, some weeds have flowers. i actually thought that some of the weeds might have been left over from a previous planting we’d done the year before. in some cases, it was hard for me to tell which were weeds and which were not. in the end, in this planter, they were all ugly weeds that needed to be destroyed. parallel: in our lives, sometimes we can justify certain feelings or issues as character traits or personality flaws. ‘oh, that’s just the way i am’, or ‘thats just part of my personality’. no. bitterness, jealousy, anger, hurt, hatred….God did not make you to harbor those feelings in your heart.  Galatians 5:19-21 says that those qualities are clearly the desires of our sinful nature.  and they need to be removed. at the root.

next, weeds have roots. just like a regular, lovely plant you actually want in your garden, weeds have roots.  when these roots are allowed to grow deep….and they do with surprising speed…they are all the more difficult to remove.  and what happens if you don’t pull out the entire root? well, it may look as though the weed was destroyed, when in fact, it wasn’t and it will come right back. with its roots still firmly intact.  parallel: there are issues in our lives that, when left unchecked, will grow deep roots in our hearts that become increasingly difficult to dig out.

finally, weeds spread. they can take over and choke out the good stuff, if allowed to.  parallel: when left unchecked, our sinful nature will eventually rule.  those negative thoughts about {so and so} will become disgust and hatred if we do not give them to Jesus and allow God to rip them out at the root and replace them with HIS thoughts about {so and so}.  jealousy of {such and such} will become hostility toward {so and so} if God is not allowed to replace it with His peace and contentment.  Galatians 5:22-23

so, keep after the weeds.  don’t let them pile up and accumulate.  some will prove to be more difficult to dig out than others, but don’t be content to simply make the planter pretty on top.  you’ve got to get underneath and pull them out by the roots.  and i mean this both literally and figuratively…your hands {and your heart} will thank you.

recently our church held what i’d call a modern day prayer meeting.  it was epic.  it was not a gathering of great size, in terms of the amount of people there, but it felt HUGE in terms of truth in worship.  we host an evangelistic outreach event once a month, SkullChurch, and in order to gear up for it, we pray.  we meet the week before the main event and worship and pray together.  we call it ‘bow before the battle’.  as we truly believe that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”, we use that time together to bow before the KING and surrender ourselves to his authority…knowing that he has the authority over sin and death and anything we do is in vain if HE is not in it. we see amazing things happen as we present ourselves as willing, clean and empty vessels for him to fill.

Anyway…. as i sat in the service at ‘bow before the battle’ with arms high and heart abandoned something weird happened.  my eyes were closed, my daughter was leading worship.  and i saw a flash of light. since my eyes were closed, i didn’t know what caused the flash, but my first thought was…and this is embarrassing…”someone just took a picture of me”. now, let me explain that my husband has done this in the past.  when i’m in the throws of emotional response, totally unaware of the world around me, he will snap a shot.  i will then delete it later, because its almost never flattering. but i digress…

so, as i had this thought, “someone just took my picture”, it triggered a series of thoughts that led me directly away from worship.  instead of thinking about Jesus, my Redeemer, i began thinking about my hair. my facial expression (remembering how i’d deleted some of those photos my husband took because i knew they were, well, not pretty) my posture, my outfit…    i finally opened my eyes, and realized that the flash had come from the reflection of light off of the guitar on stage.  ha! i had a little laugh at my own expense.  but then i thought… God is actually watching.  i imagined that the flash could’ve been Jesus taking a picture.  He is always here, you know?  fully aware of my facial expression and more…the intent and content of my heart, the thoughts in my head.  i have grown very aware of peoples eyes, being a ‘public figure’ will make you that way.  but have i grown very aware of God’s gaze upon me?  that should be the thought at the forefront of our minds…when Jesus takes a photo, captures a moment of our time, what will He see?

I have loved Charles Spurgeons ‘Morning and Evening’ devotional for many years. It consistently speaks truth into my life. I thought I’d share today’s entry with you as it moved me deeply this morning…
“Ephraim is a cake not turned.”
Hosea 7:8
A CAKE not turned is uncooked on one side;; and so Ephraim was, in many respects, untouched by divine grace; though there was some partial obedience, there was very much rebellion left. My soul, I charge thee, see whether this be thy case. Art thou thorough in the things of God? Has grace gone through the very centre of thy being, so as to be felt in its divine operations in all thy powers, thy actions, thy words, and thy thoughts? To be sanctified, spirit, soul, and body, should be thine aim and prayer; and although sanctification may not be perfect in thee anywhere in degree, yet it must be universal in its action; there must not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reigning sin in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned.

A cake not turned is soon burned on the side nearest the fire; and although no man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burned black with bigoted zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder with a vain-glorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which suit their humor. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The cake which is burned on one side, is dough on the other.

If it be so with me, O Lord, turn me! Turn my unsanctified nature to the fire of Thy love, and let it feel the sacred glow; and let my burned side cool a little, while I learn my own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from Thy heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded man, but one entirely under the powerful influence of reigning grace; for well I know if I am left like a cake unturned, and am not on both sides the subject of Thy grace, I must be consumed forever amid everlasting burnings.

i admit, sometimes when i sit down to have a quiet time alone with the Lord, i find myself at a loss.  a loss for words, at times a loss for where to read in scripture, or what devotional book to read.  sometimes i have a plan and all goes according to it. but other times, i feel stuck.  there are even days when that feeling of ’stuck’ keeps me from getting away with Him.  as i thought about this today, i was reminded of friendships that have felt this way. there have been times when i have put off getting together with girlfriends because it just didn’t seem like there was anything specific to talk about. no plan.  but i realize that in simply making…and keeping…a commitment to get together and hang out, amazing conversation transpires!  beautiful, relationship-deepening dialogue takes place.

and so it is with my Jesus!  truly my best friend.  the one and only person i can share EVERYTHING with.  my doubts and fears, my joys, my tears.  and there is no judgement.  there is no condemnation. only truth in correction, love in direction.  enjoyment, me of Him and…revelation of revelations…HE of ME!!!  i am SO grateful for a perfect friend that understands and DELIGHTS IN ME!!  do you know that?? HE DELIGHTS IN YOU!!

Zephanahiah 3:17 “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

and so i take great delight in HIM!! and i am thankful for this ‘friend that sticks closer than a brother’ {proverbs 18:24} as, among other things,  he is the perfect example of the kind of friend i want to be.

‘what a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.  what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.  oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear.  all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.’

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Proverbs 13:4 says: “A sluggard’s appetite is never filled,

but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”

the ladies at 31Bits are being diligent to DO something! i think it’s cool:)

in the middle of winter, snow and ice covering the ground, my daughter and i walked back from the barn having fed and settled the horses for the night.  arm in arm we very carefully made our way across the slippery driveway.  gripping me ever tighter, izzi said…”whoa! i almost fell! i slipped yesterday and i DO NOT want to fall again!”.  at which point i began singing, rather loudly, ‘i don’t wanna fall again…”. i just sort of made it up on the spot.  after dinner, i sat down to refine my idea.  i came across 2 Peter 1:3-11.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self?control; and to self?control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall,

and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Izzi didn’t want to fall on the ice again because she did that before and IT HURT!! now, i’m not necessarily saying that she could have prevented the fall, i don’t think she was being foolish or careless when she fell. although, she was probably distracted by the dogs or maybe she was texting while walking…it happens. but more likely, it was dark and icy, she slipped and fell, simple as that.  but you can bet that from that point on, she was going to be extremely intentional about NOT falling.

in our relationship with Jesus, i think we can easily get distracted or careless when it comes to ‘falling’.  the ‘evil desires’ that rule our world come in all shapes and sizes, from the subtle to the shameless.  if we aren’t being intentional about NOT falling…chances are we will trip, and ultimately fall.

there is so much rich treasure to be found in the passage from 1 Peter above, but i want to touch on just one simple point that is currently at the forefront of my mind and heart.  it says that through God’s great and precious promises we can escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  in the Amplified Bible ‘evil desires’ is translated as ‘covetousness, lust and greed’.  i translate that to mean selfishness or self.  for some reason, the visual that comes to mind as i think about fighting against this tendency toward selfish desires is the water displacement method.  yeah, thats right, jr. high science class.  i remember my teacher showing us  how to measure the volume of an object by calculating how much water it displaces, or pushes aside when it’s placed into a sample of water. you determine the volume by subtracting the volume of the water without the object from the new measurement with the object - it will be the difference between the two.  you’ve undoubtedly done this or seen this done before, right? i mean, believe me when i say, i do not regularly measure the volume of anything.  but i do think its fun to see the water displacement method in action in, say, a bathtub, or a sink. ie; you’ve got a bathtub full of water…you put a kid in…see how high the bubbles rise before overflowing onto the floor! ok, i digress. anyway, what i’m trying to say is i want my ’self’ to be displaced by the Spirit. therefore i need more of the Holy Spirit! more of the qualities mentioned in the passage…goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, love.  how many of those are listed as the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22??!!! it is only a fresh filling…daily…of the Holy Spirit that will keep us from falling again.

So stand on those promises!  Ask him, and he’ll fill you up to overflowing!  Matthew 7:7-11

yes, it’s May, and i’m still talking about ‘new years’ resolutions.  that is because i believe that if i don’t talk about them throughout the year, i’ll either forget about them, or lose steam and quit.  the idea is to resolve to make changes, do more, do less, etc etc….whatever your list is comprised of…. and embark on a year-long journey of action that will hopefully result in new attitudes, fresh perspectives and modified behaviors.  those changes don’t come without effort and consistency.

one of the 11 resolutions on my list is to read a book a month.  so far so good… i LOVE reading, but can’t ever seem to find time to just sit around and read!  i guess that’s what plane rides are for…and late nights:)  Proverbs 23:12 says…”Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.”  i’m sure it goes without saying that instruction and knowledge should first and foremost be from the Word of God.  but i also believe that gaining information and knowledge from other peoples experiences can be helpful too, as long as it’s all filtered through the truth.  God gives the gift of writing and story telling just as he gives the gift of preaching and teaching…and all of it can be used to glorify Him.

January:  as a church we read through the New Testament

February:  ’Unbroken’, by Laura Hillenbrand. amazing true story about Louis Zamperini, the Olympic Runner/WW2 Vet. who survived unspeakable atrocities as a POW, came home alive and gave his life to Jesus at a Billy Graham Crusade in L.A.

March: ‘Black Heels to Tractor Wheels’ by Ree Drumond (AKA The Pioneer Woman) this is a true (fun) story about how Ree met, and eventually married, her husband.  she traded in a promising career in the city of Chicago (the black heels part) for life on a ranch in Oklahoma (the tractor wheels part). she has a website/blog that i absolutely LOVE!! http://thepioneerwoman.com/

April:  ’Safely Home’ by Randy Alcorn.  this is a story about the persecuted church in China. eye-opening and inspiring.

May: ‘Horse Soldiers’, by Doug Stanton.   an epic , moving, true story about the group of Army Special Forces that went in to Afghanistan after 9/11. They were first on the scene, and once in country, found themselves fighting alongside the Afghan soldiers on horseback. It is a gripping tale of courage and victory!

June: i’m starting Charles Spurgeons ‘Prayer in the Life of a Believer’ and i can’t wait to dig in!

after that, i have ‘Run with the Horses’ by Eugene Peterson, ‘So Long Insecurity’ by Beth Moore, ‘Don’t Waste Your Life’ by John Piper and ‘In Light of Eternity’ by Randy Alcorn all lined up for the coming months

…care to join me???

*this list is a compilation of the books i’ve read in their entirety each month. it doesn’t include the books i’m in and out of for devotional/quiet/prayer times.