Boundaries: Listen: Prayers and Poetry

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                       Boundaries

                        Like squalling over tired

                        infants we resist authority

                        provision, instead lash out at

                        loving arms’ firm boundaries.

                        Condemnation on sin

                        non-negotiable, battle won

                        still searches for those missing.

                        Cared for by intercession.

                        We see only through penalty.

                        He sees only through love.

                       

Daughters: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Daughters

Daughters came

forth to claim

inheritance

promise given

decision upheld

no partiality

by His grace

Reflection Possess: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What do you see as limitations in your life right now?

2.     How would your perspective change if you knew God had appointed this situation?

3.     What do you need to possess the circumstances thorough His promises?

4.     Where can you see promise where the world might see failure?

Share: What boundaries have you found to become a blessing in your life?

Possess: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Joshua 17

“But the hill country shall be yours for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites…”.

 Joshua 17: 18

Often we see boundaries as limitations—not always as blessings. Or we see only the complications before us with no vision for possibility.

As Joshua continued the allotments more questions and, perhaps, attitudes of entitlement arose. The house of Joseph only received one lot of the inhabited land and the inheritance of both sons continued to have Canaanites in their midst.

Why? They asked. We are a numerous people. And Joseph pointed out that the forest of the hill country was theirs as well. It would be more than enough but they would need to clear it to possess it. And as a numerous people they had the means if they stepped out in faith. 

One line of Manasseh had no sons, but only daughters, and they came to Joshua and reminded him, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers” And Joshua honored that commitment reminding Israel of the foundation that in God both male and female receive an inheritance. Unheard of in the surrounding tribes—but from the very beginning in the Lord’s creation. If they had not had the courage and faith to speak, would they have received?

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3: 28-29

Lord, help us to accept the boundaries You choose for us and look only to You for the work that You ask of us. Not in comparison to other fields, or other positions, but the ones that You provide. Let us not place automatic limitations on ourselves, or others, but look to Your counsel and stand on Your promises. Help us to truly live and possess the terrain You have given each of us in You.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 137: 4

“How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?”

Surrounded: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

                                    Surrounded

Boundaries marked

cities, villages

rivers to seas

springs of water

hill country, lowlands

dry deserts, pasture

numbered and named

God’s provision

promised.

But still within

center remain

inhabitants with

deep roots

refuse to leave

dwell side by side

wheat and weeds

living together

until final battle.

Reflection Boundaries: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Do you find boundaries difficult to accept or as a comfort? Why

2.     Choose a specific area in your life now—either spiritually or relationally or vocationally. Make a list of all the pros and con’s of boundaries there.

3.     How would a negative boundary cause change your heart if you knew that God had set that boundary?

Share: What boundary in your life has been a blessing you did not expect?

Boundaries: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Joshua 15

“But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.”  Joshua 15: 63

Every detail of this land is marked out by boundaries surrounding the people of Judah according to their families. They numbered their cities and the villages attached to them. They supplied springs where needed. Their borders were clearly marked out north—south—east—west, by rivers and hills and wadis.

And yet still in the very center remained a tribe of Jerusalem that they could not expel and so they stayed. As a reminder of their limitations? Like Paul, was this to be a thorn in their side? Or because God had His own plans of redemption for that tribe and only by living alongside the people of Judah would they ever hear His truth?

Do these landmarks listed in such detail apply to us spiritually as well? What boundaries surround us physically, spiritually or vocationally? Perhaps we do not have literal landmark markings but we have a concrete territory we abide in. Who or what is at the center? Which springs of water are we drinking from?

Caleb’s daughter trusted him to provide for her and her family, just as God had provided their homes and lands and rivers and pastures.  Do we trust or do we question?

Lord, the questions explode almost to the point of collapse. Please keep us in Your peace in the midst of friend and foe knowing that You set our boundaries and are present in the midst of us. Give us Your wisdom that we might live in the heritage You give us daily with confidence and compassion.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 135: 12 & 14

“And gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.”

“For the Lord will vindicate his people, and have compassion on his servants.”

Reflection Territory: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     What boundary are you hesitating to cross literally or metaphorically? Or do you know that someone is preparing to come into your territory?

2.     Is there a conversation that needs to be brought into the open but you are afraid of the confrontation?

3.     How has the Lord prepared you already?

4.     Upon whose words are you ready to engage: your own or the Lord’s?

Share: What surprises have you discovered in a challenging territory before?

Tabernacle

Blue Hem

Boundaries marked

in every corner

blue cord reminder

of God’s words

spoken in His name

Spirit advocate continues

blessings fringe

our every day life

boundaries marking

His authority.

Numbers 15:38, “..and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue cord on the fringe at each corner.”

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 32:16, And the tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing engraved on the tablets.

Written creation. Majestic life. Teeming oceans, teeming insects, teeming cities, teeming stars. Flowers and grasses and shrubs and trees. Cactus to redwoods. Kittens to giraffes, worms to elephants. Parrots, crocodiles, penguins. Sand dunes, rain forests, ice caps. Mountains of lava, mountains of rock, mountains of snow. Streams tricking, rivers raging; wave tossed lakes, mud soaked ponds. Life in nature and universe declaring the work of God’s hands.

Written commandments. Moral law. Simple statements. Staggering commitment. Boundaries for community. Boundaries for conscience. Boundaries of wisdom and righteousness. Boundaries of judgement. “For there is no partiality with God. Who will render to every man according to his deeds.”

Written Christ. Manifest love. Ensconced in mortal flesh. Word of truth, word of grace, word of salvation. God Himself given as a gift to mankind.

Written covenant. Ministry letters. Ambassadors of love’s new commandment. “Being manifest that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.”

Written by God’s own hand.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 102:18

This will be written for the generation to come;

That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Leaving Egypt Behind

Scripture: Exodus 9:5, And the Lord set a definite time, saying, “Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.”

Toddlers and teenagers are notorious for pushing limits. Newly discovered mental and physical capabilities shout for exercise, exploration, experimentation. Life is exciting, challenging, timeless. Boundaries are barriers, limits are made to be broken.

To parents the limits spell security, a safe environment in which their offspring can experience the highs and lows of growing, can understand accomplishments and accept accountability.

The Lord set a specific time frame for Pharaoh, warning a pestilence on Egyptian cattle but safety for Israel. Israel’s boundaries separated and protected them, both by duration and space.

Time is in God’s hands. He holds our situations within His boundaries. He sets a definite time for us; to stretch, to nurture, to mature.

Turn my eyes, Lord, to the possibilities surrounding me. Extend my reach to new capabilities, knowing I am safe in Your secured limits.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 90:12

So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom.