It was dead.

There really was no reason to evict it from the corner of the staircase niche where it chose to make it’s final resting place. No one goes up the stairs in our house. And even if by some small chance someone did, would they notice a dead orange feathery spider?

But it bothered me.

I go up and down the stairs at least once or twice a day. Tabby’s litter box is in my unused second floor office and surely she appreciates that I clean it. I know if I happen to need the printer or a book or a catalog (ha! like I need a catalog!) from the room that was supposed to inspire marvelously creative spaces I appreciate the litter box clean.

Ew.

So I stared at it. I knew if I didn’t handle this little situation right away I would forget and when the time came for actual human life to ascend or descend our staircase they might see the fruit of my laziness gathered in the corner of a niche.

I contemplated it’s demise.

I considered the spider, my fear of heights, of stairs and of falling hard on solid oak treads. The mere contemplation sent a shiver down my well-acquainted-with-pain spine.

Staircases and I have never had a good relationship. Well, at least my side of the relationship experiences pain, I’m not sure how the stairs feel. I’ve fallen more times than I care to remember; although each week at the chiropractor I am fortunate enough to be reminded.

The first out of seven broken bones in my foot happened on a staircase; so did my bruised tailbone.

Lost count of how many times that happened.

I work hard to avoid staircases. If given the choice of stairs or elevator, third century technology wins. When I don’t have the pleasure of a choice, I approach the first step with fear and trepidation. I pause, assess potential body damage (ie are the stairs carpeted or not), and set foot downward only after securely fastening my hand to the rail.

While considering a home for purchase a Master Bedroom on the first floor was a must. I’m getting older. And if I am going to traverse the house in the middle of the night on cold dark floors looking for a glass of water or a Tylenol or a heating pad I don’t want to take the chance of another painful encounter with stairs.

What if there were a burglar?

We know Bob isn’t going to wake up at the sound of pipes tapping or the guard cat meowing. Y’all know I would be nominated as lead investigator for the job. And it’s impossible to pursue a serial killer in the dark while cautiously descending a staircase.

I carefully weighed my options.

Should I continue (46 years later) to hold on to my hyper, type A, queen-of-cleanliness (second only to the lil General) personality or blow contamination to the wind and leave all God’s creatures alone in their pathetic subjection to futility.

Naw.

It was then I realized I’d have to set something down, get a ladder, and …..swipe the bugger with my hand.

Ew.

I was carrying several small items; a phone, a knit-wit, and the afore mentioned result of cleaning the litter box. Not one to waste a trip upstairs, not me, nope nope nope. But in that brief moment I thought, “Hey! It’s just a feathery spider! I surely don’t need to go to such trouble.” I personally have been granted ALL things which pertain to life and spiderlessness.

So I blew.

If there is anything more certain (as evidenced by the mere fact that I am blogging about this) it is that I am full of hot air.

Why not use it?

In my, hands-are-too-full and I-don’t-want-to-waste-another-trip-up-and-down-the-steps mind, I figured I could simply exhale enough air to dislodge the feathery spider from it’s nest and be done with it. “Carry on!” I say.

The orange feathery spider floated up; the orange feathery spider cascaded down. The orange feathery spider lodged back into its original position.

“Well this creature ain’t payin rent,” I’m thinkin, so now it HAS to go. However I still refuse to set any of my trinkets down or make an ‘unnecessary’ trip.

I blow harder

In one surreal moment, the orange feathery spider floated over the stairs, above the banister and downward toward the first floor. I found myself thinking, “this would make a great short film.” I could even hear music in the background as the spider floated and swayed-floated and swayed on the big screen behind me as I accepted my Oscar. Perhaps I would display it in the niche.

That’s when it happened.

My eyes followed the orange feathery spider as it descended
My hand reached for the bannister
My foot felt for the step

And missed.

My elbow hit first.

It’s amazing the things one thinks of in a moment of extraordinary trauma. In that transition of time people refer to as ‘everything moved in slow motion’ I thought “OW!” How did my elbow hit where my foot was supposed to step?

My tailbone took the next hit.

In my mind I screamed again, “OW!” And in a weird progression of contemplation for what was happening I thought back to my elbow and realized, “it isn’t broken, thank you Jesus for protecting my elbow.”

That actually happens.

You hear about people in dire situations offering up hail Mary’s and begging God, “If you spare me this time, Lord, I swear I’ll become a missionary to China.”

Note: I did not say that.

But AS I WAS FALLING I found myself praying. “Thank you Jesus, my head wasn’t the first body part to meet this particular staircase.”

My ribs joined the action.

I have dreams, or shall we say nightmares, when this very thing happens. Bob at work, no one in my neighborhood home (hello?) and me lying unconscious on the floor for hours until someone comes home or rings the doorbell or peeps through my windows.

Let go.

I guess at some point during my expedition of barreling down the first five steps my hand found the handrail and, far from acting as a flotation device designed to save me from bodily harm, it instead threatened additional and more substantial damage.

I felt myself swing.

Either my arm would proceed on a path that evicted itself from my shoulder or I would have to tough it up and take the last five stairs like a trooper, come what may.

I let go, closed my eyes, and slid downward toward the floor.

“Thank you Jesus,” I heard myself utter, not so much with conviction but rather resigned recognition that ALL things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.

I was just so grateful to be conscious.

I ran for the freezer, again with gratitude that I could run! As I ransacked through chicken and fish and corn and ice cream, “where’s the ice pack!!??” my pain turned to panic, my thankfulness to fear for what MIGHT have happened.

I hyperventilated.

Not so much from physical pain, although I knew that was yet to come; no, my quick, short, inadequate breath came because of emotional trauma. Yes, if you have heard my teaching on emotions, my MIND was telling my BODY to FLEE! from my body. But since we know that can’t happen if you are still drawing breath, somewhere deep inside I must have decided to quit breathing.

“Breathe!” I called Bob. If you’re going to careen down a flight of wood stairs you might as well let someone know there is a distinct possibility you may pass out. “Breathe,” he said.

I cried.

I am such a baby. Ask Bob (he agrees); off to the Emergency Room we went.

It’s weird when you actually wish you have a broken bone. But when you are sitting in a Trauma Center, eliciting the undivided attention of men and women who spent MANY years in school and residencies and rotations and sleepless nights and heart wrenching injuries and severed limbs and DEATH, the last thing you want to hear from the nurse is “oh, your fingers got skinned….”

Idiot.

So all (ALL) of this is to say, God is good. God is good all the time or God is not good. And even though I had to turn around and spend the following three days SITTING at a conference on a goose egg bum, and even though I still can’t park myself and even though it will be forever before I go up those stairs again, I still believe ALL things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose.

I’m just sayin.

Self condemnation, on the other hand, draws me down into myself and away from God.  It makes me afraid and distrustful of him.  It entraps me in unrelenting self -loathing and unbelief.  It makes my heart cold toward the Lord; he’s seen as a harsh taskmaster, a cruel tormenter.  It makes me think of my Savior the way I should think of my enemy, and this reversal brings a vicious glee to the Accuser.  Jesus slips from preeminence and is replaced by my shattered image of myself.  Self condemnation doesn’t make me love Jesus more, because it’s not essentially about him.  It’s about me.”

Comforts from the Cross

Elyse Fitzpatrick

People who are intent on obeying the law as a way to earn favor with God will always end up judging, envying, and hating God and others (Galatians 5.14, 25-26)

It is only responsive love for God in light of what he’s done that will engender joyful obedience.  The only one who ever obeyed the law perfectly did so because he loved to do the things that were pleasing to his Father.  He wasn’t trying to make his Father love him; he knew that his Father already did.  So we too must be assured that he already loves and welcomes us, and the we’ll grow in our obedience.

It is grace, not law, that enables me to put to death my sinful nature.”

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Comfort from the Cross

Do you believe that there is no wrath left for you?  That once you are God’s it is impossible for you to receive his judgement?  Do you believe that the darkness of your sin will never be powerful enough to snuff out the light of his grace?  Do you understand that all he requires of you is to believe this truth?  You must believe that the gospel story is true not just for others but personally for you.  Do you believe that God is good enough and powerful enough to conquer all your sin and irreversibly love you?

Faith is all that is necessary.  However, not only is faith necessary for your salvation, but it’s also necessary for your ongoing obedience. Responding to his love and grace is the only way to true or what I call ‘gospelized’ obedience, because all other obedience always degenerates into penance or trying to avoid punishment.  Other forms of obedience simply don’t measure up, because love for God isn’t the motive.  And if love isn’t the motive, your obedience will always be motivated by love for yourself.  It seems upside down to say that God motivates our obedience by freeing us from the law and declaring that he has no wrath left for us, but it’s true, and true faith embraces it.”

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Comforts from the Cross

We all know what it’s like to live with– and break–laws and rules.  My mom told me when to be home and how to make my bed.  The government tells me how fast to drive.  Books tell me how to communicate with my husband and how to raise my children.  And of course, the Bible tells all of us what God commands.  We live in a world governed by laws.  The Bible tells us that God’s law is good, but we have a problem with it.  Even as Christians we don’t obey it perfectly, and so day after day we live with guilt and fear of punishment.

Here’s a gospel truth that is just astounding and meant to comfort your guilty burdened soul: because Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed every facet of the law in your place and then died bearing all the guilt and wrath that was rightfully yours, you are no longer obligated to obey the law as a way to avoid his wrath.  God has already poured out every drop of his wrath on his Son in your place.”

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Comforts for the Cross

When I state that the scriptures are sufficient for the counsel of man, most people think I am quoting 2 Timothy 3.16-17;

‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

or 2 Peter 1.3-4

‘His divine power has granted to us all things for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.’

However, as applicable as those verses are, sufficiency is based on a conclusion regarding the whole of the scriptures.  It is based on the following absolute truth found throughout the entire book.

Scripture is inerrant, meaning it is infallible.  The psalmist in Ps 19.7-11 says that the law (or the words) of the Lord are perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true.  The word enlightens, revives souls, makes wise the simple, endures and is righteous all together.

Scripture tells us who is its author, In 2 Peter 1:21 the Lord says that His words were written by  “men [who] spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Scripture tells us it is credible, “God is not man, that he should lie” (Numbers 23:19)

Scripture tells us who God is.  Unlike the heavens which declare his majesty, Christ, through Scripture and God’s testimony, through the Scripture is the only way we can know who God is as He reveals Himself to us. He is living and true, (1 Thess 1:9) immutable, “The Father of lights…with whom there is no variableness,” (James 1:17) the only wise God. (1 Timothy 1:17)

Scripture tells us who man is; that is, man in relation to God –Image Bearers, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1.27)  And man is imputed throughout his entire being with sin apart from the redemption and salvation provided for us in His Son. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3.23)

Scripture is how we know salvation, and that we are in need of it “Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3.3)

Scripture is how we know sanctification, our blueprint for growing in godliness. ‘I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.’ (Rom 6.19)

Scripture is how we know we need to LOVE God and our neighbor, “And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10.27) “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly.” (1 Peter 4.8)

Scripture is how we know our goal, to glorify God, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6. 19, 20)

Scripture reveals man’s heart, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4.12)

And as stated in that Hebrews verse, the Scriptures are alive.

So the question we need to ask then is;

What other counsel do either we or our counselee’s need?

Of course there are other Christians who are overly attentive to the law.  These would-be serious Christians believe that their justification is only by grace but forget that sanctification (our slow change into Christlikeness) is a ‘work of God’s free grace,’ even as justification is a legal ‘act of God’s free grace.’

For the gospel-centerd Christian, the function of the law is to drive us to Christ and to make us continually more and more thankful for his perfect keeping of it in our place.  It is to make us more and more dependent upon HIS righteousness, NOT OUR OWN.” (emphasis mine)

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Counsel from the Cross

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Counsel from the Cross

‘The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.’ (Zeph 3.17)

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Counsel From the Cross

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” 1 John 3.1-3

Elyse Fitzpatrick

Counsel from the Cross