Burlap Chandelier Makeover

So, I have this unlovely, mission style chandelier in my not so mission style dining room. I also have this lovely, but extremely frugal (ok, VERY tight and cheap) husband who is not happy when I buy new things to replace things we already have. What to do? What to do?

Let the repurposing begin! I keep burlap on hand like most people keep sugar or milk. So, no cost there. I sewed a little burlap ruffle to "skirt my chandelier." The ruffle is about 10 inches wide and I sewed it to a scrap piece of twill, to make it easier to attach to the chandelier when I was done.

Then, whola! Took my glue gun and glued that sucker right on to the ugly chandelier. I finished it off with a little jute string around the candles. It'll do...until I can convince the man to get me the one I really want!

Hey there, if you've reached my blog through Pinterest, take a look at my other articles and check out my book. I'd love to send you a copy!

On Things Above - Lesson 3 LYLS

It's here! Lesson 3! It has taken me at least three sittings to get this down. For any of you who are following, I am sorry for taking so long between posts. It is my goal to do better. At any rate, this corresponds with Chapter 2 in the book. Have a look and think Heavenward!

Months ago, as I began to prepare this lesson, the song, "I See the Lord," began to flood my head. You've probably heard it:
         
          I see the Lord seated on the throne, exalted.
          And the train of His robe fills the temple with glory.
          And the whole earth is filled. And the whole earth is filled.
          And the whole earth is filled, with His glory.

Beautiful! It's words are taken directly from Isaiah 6:1-3. When this Scripture is sung, I can just see the train of His robe radiating; I think I can see Heaven and I am in awe.

I believe the Lord has called us in His Word to take a meditative view of eternity. And, simply put, I believe we don't. We meditate and dwell on a lot of things, but the Lord seated on the throne is most often just not one of them.

If you've read Chapter 2, On Things Above, in Let Your Light Shine, we studied 2 Corinthians 4:18, which tells us to fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is eternal. We also focused our attention on Colossians 3:1-2, commissioning us to set out hearts and minds on things above. Setting and fixing are terms that indicate a steadfastness, not a casual reflection upon.

We've been called to take on a new perspective: that we are aliens in this land, as 1 Peter 2:11 says. However, we like this land too much to stop dwelling on it, don't we? Or, perhaps we're too consumed with its hold on us to stop dwelling on it. This world can overtake us either in a negative or a positive way, and we think we're home...here. Does that make sense?

What I'm saying is, we dwell on "earthly things," as Paul calls them, that are good (desirable) in our own minds, like our possessions, some relationships, or even our ministries. Or, we dwell on "earthly things" that are bad  (undesirable) in our minds, like the physical or emotional sickness of a child, financial disaster, or marital discord. Either way, they are pulling us from dwelling on things eternal.

What we want to explore in this lesson is what it means to dwell on things eternal--how do we take on this new perspective that we are aliens in this land? What is Paul referring to when he says things like, "what is unseen is eternal" and "on things above" and "an eternal glory that far outweighs?" And finally, what does all this have to do with us letting our lights shine?

Let's begin with what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:18,"...what is unseen is eternal." Being in the military, we have lived various places for various lengths of time. Some places just months and some years. But how long we are expected to reside somewhere usually taints how I take up living there. We started our military journey in Sierra Vista, Arizona (I have to say, a place I hope to never return). The desert is just not my thing. I am captivated by the beauty of green grass, trees, colorful flowers. Brown sand just doesn't float my boat. But, I didn't really have to settle in Arizona too deeply because when we moved there, I knew it was only temporary. We would only be there for the six months of training my husband had there.

Now, in great contrast, our next duty station was Oahu, Hawaii. There was my green for sure! Paradise! We anticipated being there longer, so we settled in. We developed great friendships. I hung all the pictures, unpacked all the boxes and bought curtains to fit the new windows (fellow military wives are chuckling in understanding with me about now). We even bought a dog and changed our address on our driver's licenses. Do you see what I mean? We considered it home, so our perspective was different from that in Arizona.

God has called us to treat this world as temporary. The earth as we know it today is not our eternal home. We need to live like we will be moving and like we want all those around us to move with us--from the desert to paradise!

Between these for verses we are using today, we are instructed to fix our eyes, set our hearts, and set our minds. When I began to study for this lesson, I expected to find that "fix" and both "sets" had the same Greek meaning. What I discovered, however, is that they are all different. Let me try to break it down with some order:

          In 2 Corinthians 4:18, where we see, "fix our eyes," the Greek
          word for fix is skopeo, meaning to watch out for, fix our eyes
          on, see to it.

          In Colossians 3:1 "set your hearts," set is the Greek word
          zeteo,meaning to look for, seek out, desire to possess,
          searching for, determined, demanding.

          In verse 2, "set your minds," this set is the Greek word
          phroneo, meaning to think, hold an opinion, set mind
          on, take such a view.

So, we are applying all three different verbs to what is eternal--skopeo, watch for it. Then the next step is a little deeper, zeteo--seek it and desire determinedly to possess it. Then finally phroneo--take hold of the view of things eternal.

With our eyes, we see what God's design for perfection was in Eden. That was His plan. It is a tangible thing we can watch and fix our eyes on. He created a perfect place to dwell with His creation, mankind. He walked and talked with them in fellowship. With our hearts, we seek that perfection and desire to possess what He has planned for us in the new heaven and new earth to come. With our minds, we take hold of His promises. We take hold of something He says in Daniel 2:44 and 6:26 will never be destroyed. We take hold of a view that our inheritance kept in Heaven for us can never perish, spoil or fade, as 1 Peter 1:3-5 says. What's unseen and eternal is something different than what is seen and temporal. It's a perfection placed in our souls to desire.

God's desire for the earth and for man was eternal in nature. After the fall, redemption for man was necessary and He provided that in His eternal Son. Redemption, now, for the old Heaven and the old Earth is necessary as well. God will do that when He brings forth the New Heaven and New Earth, "the home of righteousness" (1 Peter 3:13). That will be our eternal Heaven.

I mention this now, because there is a distinction between what some refer to as "the intermediate Heaven" and the eternal Heaven or the New Heaven and New Earth. To have an accurate understanding, we must distinguish between the two. What God has planned for us that is eternal is following the rapture, when He then creates a New Heaven and New Earth for us to dwell with him forever. This will be the Heaven I am referring to from here on out.

We now want to move to the question: what is above anyway? Now let me clearly state that I have neither the knowledge nor the time to completely cover the answer to this question. What I hope to do is point us in the direction to look and give a simplified overview of things above, since, again this is where God wants our hearts and minds set. We enjoy tremendous blessings on this earth that God has bestowed as somewhat of a foretaste of what is to come, then accelerated to the level of perfection in Heaven. Because He's directed us to turn our gaze Heavenward, He's given us tangible elements today, in our mortal lives, to picture the greatness of eternity.

The first and most glorious things our eyes will behold is "Christ seated at the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1-2). In just that portion of the verses, we observe three of the most important aspects of what is above: Christ is there, God is there, and they are on their thrones. Let's look at a few Scriptures references, beginning with Revelation 3:21. It says, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne." Now, the issue of us having the right to sit with Him on His throne we will come back to, but for new we see that John has established for us that the Father and Son are sitting on their thrones. He does this again a couple of verses later. In John's vision of heaven, he says in 4:2, "...and there before me what a throne in Heaven with someone sitting on it." In verses 8 through 11 we see that it was the Lord sitting there, as John makes reference to the angels saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty," and "Him who sits on the throne lives forever and ever," and the elders throwing their crowns before the throne and calling the Lord worthy. In chapter 22, John says, "the angel showed me the river of life...flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city."

As this lesson commenced, I shared a portion of a worship song coming from Isaiah 6: "I see the Lord seated on the throne, exalted. And the train of His robe filled the temple with glory. And the whole earth is full of His glory." Ladies, I'm not telling you anything you don't know--you know that God is on His throne and His Son is at His right hand. What I am trying to do is to get our focus to shift HERE--the throne--thing eternal. And the reason I start with the Godhead on the throne is because that is the essential factor. Randy Alcorn, in his book, Heaven, says, "However great the wonders of Heaven, God himself is Heaven's greatest prize." He also says, "To be with God--to know Him, to see Him--is the central, irreducible draw of Heaven." A verse I mentioned in LYLS is Psalm 73:25, which always take me to the mindset Randy speaks of, "Whom have I in Heaven but you?..."

Beyond the radiance of God, the only way I could think to organize our exploration of things above was to categorize according to our senses. We will briefly cover what it will look like, sound like, feel like and "creatively" what it will taste and smell like. I want us to get our earthly thoughts headed in the direction of eternity as a reality. If we continue to think of it as intangible, we are less likely to take on a true eternal perspective. As we progress through these points, allow yourself to imagine the gloriousness of Heaven, realizing that my humble attempt to direct you there pales greatly in comparison to its true form.

So what will Heaven LOOK like? It will be radiantly bright! Revelation 21:23 says, "The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its lamp." Revelation 22:5 says, "There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." Isaiah 60:19 tells us, "The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory." That is a solid message. I am expecting it to be radiantly bright!

Heaven will also be exquisitely beautiful. Revelation 21:10-21 focuses on the details of the beauty of New Jerusalem. I will pull out a few: "brilliance like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal;" "it had a great high wall with twelve gates and with twelve angels at the gates;" "the wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone" (then it details each of the precious stones); "twelve gates were each made of a single pearl;" "the great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass." Amazing! Maybe kings of old, with their grande, elaborate palaces could imagine a place like John describes, but this country girl is having trouble wrapping her mind around it!

This brings us to the sounds of Heaven. Based on the average person's knowledge of the angels and saints around the throne, an obvious conclusion is that Heaven will sound worshipful. But, I want us to see that Heaven's worship is a mighty kind of worship. Whenever we see worship described in Heaven,
         
          we see exclamation points!!!!!!!
                            
                                     things shaking and trembling 

                                                             and angels calling out.

If you'll return with me to Isaiah 6:1-4, you will see that here on earth, we put it mildly! "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on the throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke." (Emphasis mine.) Tell me, when was the last time you left a shaken, smoke-filled worship service here on this planet?

Now flip to Revelation 5:11-14. I'll allow you to read it in its entirety while I emphasize certain segments here: (v. 12)"In a loud voice they sang." (v. 12 & 13) Note the worshipful words and exclamation points.(v.14) Note that their worship brought them to their knees. Again in 7: 11-12 we find a similar description, complete with exclamation and prostrate positions.  In chapter 19 we see a great multitude shouting Hallelujah, "like the roar of rushing waters" and "loud peals of thunder!" Awesome!

We will certainly hear and feel true, pure, untainted worship in Heaven. I don't think on this earth we even have anything to compare to the multitudes in worshipful agreement. Julie Andrews sang, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...", but I don't believe she had any idea!

Moving through our five senses, we will answer the question: What will Heaven feel like? Heaven will feel peaceful. Isaiah 65:25 says the wolf and the lamb will feed together. John sends a greeting of peace from God to the seven churches in the opening of the book of Revelation. "...Grace and peace to you from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come..." Isaiah 11:6-9 describes the state of peace in the kingdom to come: animals that once preyed upon one another will lie down together; the lions diet will change to straw; infants will play near the homes of snakes without harm or destruction. Micah 4:3 says, "...Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore." This is a message of peace.

Heaven will also feel joyful. We can assume from all the praise and worship we have already explored, that joy will be in the air. Isaiah 60:20,  65:19, and Revelation 21:4 say there will be no more weeping or crying or sorrow. I'm going to type this one out because it creates such a beautiful picture: Isaiah 35:30, "and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." Think about that last line for a moment. Do you, like me, have days where a sigh just says it all? The sigh says, "I'm not overtaken with gladness and joy, just overtaken. Worn out. Disappointed. Sigh..." It will flee away and in its place will be joy everlasting! Can I get an, "Amen sister?!"

Okay, on the last two of our five senses, I had to get a little creative. We're on to taste and smell, and if you ask me, I believe it will definitely taste like chocolate cheesecake, but I just couldn't find any Scriptural basis for this. However, I did find several references to banquets in the New Heaven and New Earth. Take a look at Luke 14:15, 22:29-30; Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 8:11; and Revelation 19:9. So, it looks like Heaven will taste delicious. Imagine stepping into your favorite restaurant. The best food isn't prepared without the best smells filling the air. If is tastes delicious, it's going to smell good too!

Thus far, we have explored eternity in reference to our key verses of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 and Colossians 3:1-2. We've looked at Paul's phrases, "what is unseen is eternal," and "on things above." That brings us to the last of Paul's words we want to understand: "an eternal glory that far outweighs." Let's read that whole verse once more. Second Corinthians 4:17 says, "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." Romans 8:18 says, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." We look at our troubles as heavy and enduring, not light and momentary--the opposite of how Paul directs us to view them. And this has to do with why we stay in our non eternal perspective.

The way to redirect these thoughts is to believe that they indeed are achieving for us an eternal glory. How? you might ask. Well, let me tell you what I think. This earth and its troubles are a training ground for our future place in eternal heaven. Let me say that again. Our perseverance, understanding and wisdom gained through our earthly trials are training for our place in Heaven. The Bible clearly states that we will reign with Christ in Heaven. In 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, Paul says, "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world...do you not know that we will judge angels?" Here are some other references to our specifically reigning with Him in eternity: Luke 22:29-30; Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 20:6, and 22:5. God owns the land and we are His heirs.

Consider the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. Verse 21 says, "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things..." Hebrews 10 tells us that our perseverance will be rewarded with what He has promises in eternity. Randy Alcorn states in his book, Heaven, "God is grooming us for leadership. He's watching to see how we demonstrate faithfulness. He does that through His apprenticeship program, one that prepares us for Heaven. Christ is not simply preparing a place for us; He is preparing us for that place. We all have dreams but don't often see them realized. We become discouraged and lose hope. But as Christ's apprentices, we must learn disciplines. Apprentices in training must work hard and study hard to prepare for the next test or challenge. Apprentices may wish for three weeks of vacation or more pay to pursue outside interests. But the Master may see that these would not lead to success. He may override His apprentices' desires in order that they may learn perspective and patience, which will serve them well in the future. While the young apprentices experience the death of their dreams, the Master is shaping them to dream greater dreams that they will one day live out on the New Earth with enhanced wisdom, skill, appreciation, and joy."

So this "real life" that we encounter every day IS achieving for us a true eternal glory. One that I think we don't often ponder. There is not just earthly purpose to our trials; there is ETERNAL purpose and that is why we fix our eyes on what is unseen...what is eternal.

Remember that all these lessons are centralized by the concept of letting our lights shine for Christ. What does an eternal perspective do for those lights? To answer this I want to compare two Scripture passages. The first is foundational to this study, Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven." A city on a hill...keep that in mind.

Now flip to Micah 4:1. "In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream  to it." The "capital," so to speak, of the New Heaven and New Earth will be the New Jerusalem, which Micah says will be chief among the mountains--the greatest of "hills." A city on a hill cannot be hidden. We are to be that city on a hill, radiating His glory. This is a picture of the glory to come in the New Jerusalem. Grasp this: as we dwell on eternity, eternity radiates from us.

I'll conclude with a quote from C.S. Lewis that Randy Alcorn includes in his book, Heaven. "If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought the most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither."

Blessings to you as you Let Your Light Shine Heavenward!