Rambling Rose

Truly, Madly, Deeply

2009-09-23T10:06:00.001-04:00

God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You.
    I thirst for You;
    my body faints for You
    in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water...
    My lips will glorify You
    because Your faithful love is better than life.
    So I will praise You as long as I live;
    at Your name, I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:1-4

Do you feel this way about the Lord? Do you truly long for Him, feel faint without Him near? Do you really feel that His love is better than life? Do you desire Him as much as you'd desire a big drink of cool water after nearly thirsting to death trekking across the desert? Sometimes I do. But not enough. Not nearly enough. I do love Him, and I do follow Him, but He loves me in such a deeply passionate way. I don't want to give Him crumbs of my leftover love and time and energy. I want to fall truly, madly, deeply in passionate love with Christ. As with anything, I'm just not capable of this on my own, but with Him, I can love Him that way.

Cast Away

2009-09-21T08:45:00.000-04:00

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is His faithful love
    toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
    so far has He removed
    our transgressions from us.
Psalm 103:11-12

Lately I've been dealing yet again with consequences of past sin. Even worse, someone I love dearly has been experiencing consequences of my sin. In the midst of that, it's easy to forget that God has forgiven me. This verse above is a favorite of mine, for just that reason. His love for me is greater than I can begin to fathom, and He has taken my sins and cast them far, far away -- from me and from Himself.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: With such great love as He has shown me, how can I not love & serve Him with all my heart!?!

Psalm 100

2009-09-16T08:30:00.000-04:00

Shout triumphantly to the LORD,
all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God.
He made us, and we are His —
His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good, and His love is eternal;
His faithfulness endures through all generations.

Shout, serve, come acknowledge, enter, give, praise. All to Him. And do it triumphantly, with gladness, thanksgiving, praise. He is God, He made us, He is good, He is love, He is eternal, He is faithful.

The Courtyard of God

2009-09-10T08:34:00.000-04:00

"Planted in the house of the LORD, they [the righteous] thrive in the courtyard of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green." Psalm 94:13-14

When we were in Africa recently, we had the pleasure of having lunch with a local family. The home was enclosed by a concrete fence, with a gate at the entrance to the driveway. This created a wonderful courtyard, and the husband had meticulously planted beautiful flowers and trees to create a true oasis in the midst of the dry and mostly barren areas we'd driven through all around the city. This would be a lovely place to be planted, if you were a plant. Everything there was thriving. Gardens like that don't happen by accident in the midst of the Kalahari desert.

Yesterday I read the above verse, and immediately thought of that courtyard in Africa. If I'm planted firmly in the presence of the Lord, I will thrive. This doesn't mean I'm promised riches or an easy life, but it means I will produce fruit. Not just for a season, but for as long as I live on this earth.

Living in a Chaotic World

2009-08-03T10:52:00.004-04:00

Yesterday contained two sermons in one. A bit of a tongue-in-cheek one first, titled "Finding Personal Comfort in a Chaotic World." The main bullet points of this one:

Limit your exposure to the needs of the world. Keep those blinders on, folks!
Wait for lost, needy people to come to you. We have a big, pretty church. They know where to find us.
Stay in your comfort zone. It's safe and comfy here.
Make sure the pursuit of Christ doesn't interfere with your pursuit of the American Dream. Yes, God wants you to have that big house, the boat, the fancy car, even if it gets a little in the way of following Christ.
Wait for God to give you a specific calling for ministry before you do anything to serve Him.
Minister in ways that aren't messy. Stay a safe distance & don't ever get mired up in the muck of other people's messes.
Face facts that one person just cannot make a difference.

So that's the have-it-your-way sermon. This leaves us with a very comfortable life, but such an empty, unfulfilling one!

The REAL message is that we're called to take up our cross and deny ourselves daily! Coming to Christ and trusting Him for our salvation does get us to heaven but we can miss out on so much of the purpose He has for us on earth. If He had no purpose for us, then we'd be transported straight to heaven at the moment of our salvation.

So here's what we really ought to do (as opposed to those bullet points above):

Confront the reality of our fallen world.
GO into the world! Take the church beyond the boundaries of our walls!
Live like comfort is not an issue. Get way out of our comfort zones!
Don't let the American standard of living interfere with the pursuit of Christ!
God calls us ALL to be involved in ministry. We're all given certain gifts and talents, but there are some general commands in scripture we should all obey, like sharing the gospel and caring for those less financially blessed than we are, etc...
Join God in the messiness. He reached down into the mess of our lives to save us from ourselves, so we should do that for others as well!
You CAN make a difference!

We can ask the Lord to show us the needs around us, and find out what He would have us do.

One Anothering

2009-07-30T08:24:00.003-04:00

Our most recent lesson in Sunday school has got me thinking: how am I doing in regards to treating others the way scripture tells me to do? How well am I "one-anothering"? Here's what the Word tells us we should be doing...

Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
Bear one another's burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Bear with one another (Ephesians 4:2)
Build up one another (Romans 14:19)
Care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25)
Comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18)
Confess faults to one another (James 5:16)
Be devoted to one another (Romans 12:10a)
Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Greet one another (Romans 16:16)
Be honest with one another (Colossians 3:9)
Honor one another (Romans 12:10b)
Be hospitable to one another (1 Peter 4:9)
Be kind to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
Love one another (Romans 13:8)
Members one of another (Romans 12:5)
Pray for one another (James 5:16)
Be of the same mind with one another (Romans 15:5)
Serve one another (Galatians 5:13)
Spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24)
Submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21)

Wow. I could do a whole post on every one of those! (Hmm... not a bad idea; I'll have to ponder that possibility further.)

So, how are you doing on the "one anothers"?

Navigating Life

2009-07-17T11:39:00.003-04:00

"You reveal the path of life to me;
in Your presence is abundant joy;
in Your right hand are eternal pleasures."
Psalm 16:11

God shows me what to do, which way to turn, how to prioritize my days; He teaches me everything I need to know to navigate this life. Real joy, the kind that is not dependent upon circumstances, comes from spending time alone with God, knowing Him, and having a relationship with Him. He is the source of all true treasures. We tend to worry so much about temporary pleasures that we forget that eternity begins now, not when we arrive in heaven.

I'm asking the Lord to reveal the path of life for me in all things, specifically right now as I'm planning our upcoming homeschool year. I want Him to guide me as I choose exactly which books to purchase, what outside activities to participate in, what our budget should be, how to best organize our school room, as well as showing me the particular bent of each child, and how best to parent and teach them. We've made the decision that our house serves the Lord, and that includes our homeschool. I never want us to get so caught up in busyness, buying into the illusion that more (activities, etc,) is always better. Keeping our priorities in order, most especially putting a relationship with the with Lord above all, is key to maintaining joy in our home.

Essential

2009-07-01T17:22:00.003-04:00

Recently, having been completely blown out of my comfort zone with a brand new 14-year-old daughter in the home (through adoption), I have been having some fears and insecurities to deal with. This passage spoke to me today:

"Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go... recite it day and night, so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do... Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:7-9

Staying in God's word is absolutely essential for me to be able to do what He's called me to do. Not just in adopting a teenager, but in all things. Spending time with Him daily and knowing the truth of what the Bible says is the only way to succeed in doing hard things.

What's Missing?

2009-06-04T13:16:00.006-04:00

I'm loving a new Bible study book I'm doing with a few friends. It's called Tune In: Hearing God's Voice Through the Static. The author, Jen Hatmaker, is funny but just in our first week of this study, I've already had a few "aha!" moments.

For instance, she asks us to consider this question: When you hear "in God's will," what do you think of? For me, the answer most often relates to decisions. Jen talks about life as a mom, saying, "Yes, I am sometimes there to tell them [the kids] what to do. But I also teach them kindness and a strong work ethic. I offer protection even when they think they are safe. Every disappointment they face is a teaching moment for me. Sometimes I communicate with no other objective than to lavish them with my love. Although they would surely disagree, telling them what to do is only a tiny fraction of my daily communication."

She goes on to ask, "If this is how God parents us, what are we missing when we seek His voice only to help us make a certain choice?"

Wow! That hit me right between the eyes. What we're missing when we seek God's will only in decision-making is the RELATIONSHIP with Him!!! We're viewing Him as a cruise director, rather than as a loving, teaching parent.

Trust Me

2009-06-02T17:01:00.003-04:00

For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.' ~Isaiah 41:13

Not long ago, I asked my daughter to stand on an overturned barrel, so she could get closer to a baby goat she wanted to pet. Though I was holding her hand, and assured her that the barrel was perfectly sturdy, she didn't want to do it because she didn't think it was safe. I'm her mother, and I have never, ever, asked her to do anything that would endanger her life or harm her! So I wondered, why won't my child trust me completely?

This was one of the many times when God takes my thoughts/words towards my child and points them to me. It's as if He said, "Have you noticed that you do the very same thing to me? You claim to know that I love you and that I always have your best interest at heart, so why don't you trust me completely? Sometimes I may ask you to do something that seems scary, but I am right there with you, holding your hand, and I won't let you fall."

Crown or Disease?

2009-05-26T12:22:00.003-04:00

A good wife is like a crown for her husband,
but a disgraceful wife is like a disease in his bones.
Proverbs 12:4

A few definitions of a crown are: 1) any of various types of headgear worn by a monarch as a symbol of sovereignty, often made of precious metal and ornamented with valuable gems; 2) an ornamental wreath or circlet for the head, conferred by the ancients as a mark of victory, athletic or military distinction, etc; 3) the distinction that comes from a great achievement.

Based on that first definition, if I am a crown to my husband, I would be precious and valuable. I know I am that in the eyes of the Lord, and my husband shows me that he thinks of me this way as well. I don't think it has much to do with what I do; I feel that this is unearned merit on both counts. Based on the second and third definitions, though, I can be a crown by lifting my husband up, encouraging him. I can be the "good woman" behind him, helping him to do all he is called to do. By making a point to show my respect for him, both at home and publicly, I can increase the level of respect others have for him as well.

But if I treat him disrespectfully, if I don't honor and encourage him, I become like a disease in his bones that will affect every part of his life. I found this definition of disease: "a disordered or incorrectly functioning part or system of the body." In any marriage where the wife does not respect her husband and allow him to be the head of their household, that is a disordered or incorrectly functioning marriage. A disease.

I'm sad to say that I was a disease in my failed first marriage. It's one of the primary reasons that marriage failed: I was toxic. Though I am far from perfect, I now seek to be a crown that bestows honor upon my husband.

I'll Trust in You

2009-04-25T13:40:00.002-04:00

I will live to love you,
I will live to bring You praise,
I will live a child in awe of You...

You alone are God of all.
You alone are worthy, Lord.
And will all I have my soul will bless your name.

(Another great performance by my church's worship band.)

Leave the Results to Him

2009-04-23T12:48:00.003-04:00

I enjoyed this One-Minute Daily Devotion, so I'm sharing it with you. It is so true that we must seek to raise our children according to their individual "bent" because each and every one of us is unique!

Again, this is copied from a devotional, not my own words:
------------------------------------

'That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.' - Hebrews 12:16-17

"Esau and Jacob. Same mother, same father, twins. Raised the same way with the same belief system. But you would never meet two more diverse persons on the face of the earth.

When you have children of the same sex that are close in age, there are going to be some very fascinating dynamics. They have come from the same parents. They’ve been raised in the same household. How can they be so incredibly different? But every child is unique and has to be parented differently. A parent will often lament to me about problems they're having with one child while another child is doing splendidly. The parent will say, "You know, pastor, I've raised 'em the same way." And I think to myself, "That's the problem." You cannot raise any child the same way and expect it to be a fruitful venture. Children are not robots. They each have their own unique talents, individual interests and varying temperaments.

Remember, parents, only God knows the ultimate plan He has for our children. Only He knows how it's going to ultimately play out. The role of the parent is to seek to shape our children and to understand how to parent them uniquely. We raise them with love, fairness, discipline, and teaching in hopes that our children will one day be able to grasp the grace of God. We pray that one day they'll come to the realization that they are sinners and do not deserve God’s favor or blessing. We pray that they claim the grace of God, and allow Him to transform their life through Jesus Christ. And in the process, some of our children are going to choose to claim that grace and repent, and some are not. Do your best, pray for God's guidance, and leave the results in the hands of God."

I Know Him

2009-04-21T07:58:00.005-04:00

"But in the past, when you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. But now... how can you turn back again to the weak and bankrupt elemental forces?" Galatians 4:8-9

Because I spent so many years not living for Christ, I have sometimes wondered when I truly became a Christian. After much thought and prayer, I would now say that I did indeed become a Christian when I professed faith in Christ and was baptized at about age ten. But I did not really know God.

For many years, my relationship with God was like my relationship with the senior pastor of my church. I go to a wonderful but very large church, so I don't really know our senior pastor personally. I've had a few very brief conversations with him; I've shaken his hand a few times; some of my good friends know him well and speak very highly of him; I've learned a good bit about his heart through hearing him preach. But I don't KNOW him. We aren't, as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) would say, "bosom friends." That's how it was with me and God for many years. I had friends who knew Him and spoke highly of Him; I'd had a few brief conversations with Him, and I'd learned some things about Him and about His heart. But God was not my "bosom friend." It has only been in very recent years that I feel like I can honestly say I know God.

I was once enslaved to many "weak and bankrupt" things that are not gods. I never want to return to those things. I have now come to know God, and my life will never be the same because of it. Because of Him.

[Please don't think our church is impersonal just because it's large. I have a wonderful pastor whom I do know personally (one of the associate pastors), a fabulous Sunday school class, and I've made the best friends I've ever had in my life. But with more than 5,000 members our senior pastor just can't possibly have a personal relationship with every one of us. He is a great man, but has his limitations, unlike God who can know us all personally!]

Revelation

2009-03-26T10:27:00.002-04:00

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel preached by me is not based on a human point of view. For I did not receive it from a human source and I was not taught it, but it came by a revelation from Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:11-12

Paul knew the scriptures backwards, forwards, and sideways, and he knew the message of Christ; he spent much time persecuting the Christians and in the process learned about the Christians and what they believed. But even with all that knowledge, he didn't believe that Jesus was the son of God. He didn't think those scriptures pointed to Jesus. It took Christ speaking to him straight out of heaven for Paul to finally trust in Christ. Most of us don't have such a dramatic conversion experience.

In thinking about this further, though, I realized that we sort of do all have a similar experience. No matter how many times we've heard the gospel, no matter how much head knowledge we may have about God or the Bible, we cannot truly trust in Christ until the Holy Spirit begins to work in us.

The Group That's Left Out of Heaven

2009-03-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

Based on my notes from a sermon on 11/23/08.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Ephesians 5:1-5

These people --all those who have even a hint of sexual immorality, greed, or idolatry-- won't be allowed in heaven. Yikes! I think that includes a whole lot of folks I know, including myself.

The good news, however, is that if we are truly Christians, then we are fully forgiven and this debt has been paid. Good works do not save us, but if we are have truly trusted Christ, then we should have the "want" to give up those things that may have a stronghold on us. God WILL set us free from those things if we let him.

Chapters 1-4 of Ephesians tell us what God did for us when we were saved: He chose us (Eph. 1:4); adopted us (Eph. 1:5); gave us forgiveness (Eph. 1:7); gave us an inheritance (Eph. 1:11); sealed the Holy Spirit within us (Eph. 1:13); made us alive in Christ (Eph. 2:1-5); seated us with Christ (Eph. 2:6); gave us access to the Father (Eph. 2:18); gives us grace (Eph. 3:7); works through us (Eph. 3:20-21); and He enabled us to lay aside our old life (Eph. 4:22). That's a mighty big list from a mighty big God!

Because He has done all these things, we should be living a life of thankfulness! We must be imitators of God. The closer we are to the Father, the more we'll become like Him. When we become followers of Christ, He gives us His diving nature (2 Peter 1:4). He changes us from the inside out.

We are NOT just sinners saved by grace. We are now saints; we have God's nature deposited in us! The question to ask ourselves is, "Do I look a little more like my Father every day?"

Coming Soon...

2009-03-23T13:21:00.003-04:00

I feel like I'm neglecting this little ol' blog, but when I started it, it was with the intent of making myself accountable to blogland somehow so that I'd actually spend more time in the Word. Now that I've developed a good habit (in week 12 now!) of starting the day by "keeping company with the Lord" and his Word. So I don't post here as often. There are, however, many things I do want to add here, like more notes from sermons & certain verses that really jump out at me, so I won't be abandoning this blog, just probably not posting quite as frequently.

Keeping Company with God

2009-03-07T10:02:00.006-05:00

"Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that." Ephesians 5:1-2 (MSG)

I love when God reminds me that I am His child. When I lack wisdom in parenting (which is more often than I'd like), I have only to look to Him to see what I should be doing. But this is also a great reminder that children watch their parents to learn how to act, how to live. That's a big wake-up call; that old "do as I say, not as I do" bit doesn't hold water.

I like the idea of keeping company with God. That sounds much less sterile than having quiet time or Bible study. It reflects the relationship factor, which is the most essential part of being a Christian.

God keeps on teaching me more and more about love. I'm called to love as He loves: extravagantly. Such a wonderful word! My favorite definition of extravagantly is this: "going beyond what is deserved or justifiable." God loves me beyond what is deserved or justifiable. Do I love others the same way? Only the Lord knows the number of our days, or the plans He has for however many days we have here on earth. We ought to love as hard as we can -- extravagantly -- for as many days as He give us.

Worthy

2009-02-28T08:23:00.004-05:00

"I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, accepting one another in love, diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit with the peace that binds [us]." Ephesians 4:1-3

I've written about a sermon on this verse before, but I read it again in my quiet time this morning and it spoke to me a little differently, or maybe I should say more personally, today. Taking this verse seriously should have me re-evaluating everything I do. Am I loving and respecting my husband in a way worthy of the calling I've received? Am I loving and training our children in a way worthy of Christ? Am I the kind of friend/daughter/neighbor that's worthy of Christ?

Even more than that, am I doing all these things (and more) with humility and gentleness? With patience? Do I truly accept others in love, even the ones that don't think exactly how I think? I need to be helping the keep peace and unity within the body of Christ, remembering that we all serve the same Lord and Father.

It's a big calling, but He's a big God.

Undivided

2009-02-22T09:46:00.000-05:00

"Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."
-Psalm 86:11

This verse doesn't give me any wiggle room. I must have an undivided heart. Undivided. That's not easy. Keeping God first in my life sounds like a challenge, but still possible. But this is even bigger. There should be NO part of my heart, no part of my life that doesn't belong to the Lord.

The good news is that this verse also tells me how I can do this. The Lord will teach me how, and then I just walk with Him, follow Him. If I let Him teach me and lead me, He will give me an undivided heart.

Roots

2009-02-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6-7

It's raining today, and I'm glad for it because we've been in a drought for so long. Many of my plants died last summer because we didn't have enough rain, and we weren't allowed to water. All of those that died were fairly young; they were not yet established and hadn't grown strong roots. The older plants, unless already sick, survived because their roots were deep enough to find what little water there was.

A friend told me recently about a large tree in his yard that fell in a windstorm and barely missed his neighbor's house. He said the 90-foot tall tree looked healthy, but it's roots had rotted, and when a big wind came, it pushed that tree right over and exposed the rotten ball of roots.

Even after we've accepted Christ as Lord, continuing to follow Him--truly submitting ourselves to Him--is something we must choose to do anew each day, and sometimes moment by moment. When the hard times come, or when we're faced with temptation, that's the time we find out what kind of roots we have. Are they strong enough and deep enough to withstand both droughts and storms? Are we rooted where we need to be -- in Christ? Those deep roots will only come by spending time with the Lord in prayer and by learning His word and planting it deep within our hearts. By doing that, not only will be grow those deep, strong roots of faith, we'll also be overflowing with thankfulness for all that He's done for us, but most of all for who He is.

Love His Children

2009-02-06T10:29:00.003-05:00

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves his child." 1 John 5:1

Before Ken and I were married, we knew that our kids came with us as a "package deal." Initially I loved Brandon because he was Ken's son; at first Ken loved Kathryn because she was my daughter. After a while, I came to love Brandon and Ken came to love Kathryn because of who they are as individuals, but it started out simply because they were the child of the one we loved.

Since I love God, part of how I show my love for Him is by loving His children. All of His children. And if I keep my heart open and pray for eyes to see those "children" as their Father sees them, then what starts as simple obedience will grow to a feeling of brotherly (or sisterly!) love as I see past their quirks and such.

The Good Things We Do

2009-02-05T11:20:00.007-05:00

"And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it." Philemon 1:6

If you want to feel accomplished about reading a whole book of the Bible, try Philemon on for size. Just one chapter. I usually have my HCSB and my Message Bible both in my lap as I spend my quiet time (or whatever I'm going to end up calling it) with God. In this case, this verse in the Message really jumped off the page at me.

In my last post, Kathy (katdish) said that I'm an incredible person and she wants to be like me when she grows up. Now, I admit I like those kinds of comments, but what I really hope (and I do, for the record, believe she sees this) is that anybody who thinks those kinds of things about me will see that it's not ME! I want people--as the verse above says--to recognize Christ in all of it. Being like me would mean being obsessed with organization & getting grumpy when the house is cluttered; it would mean being lazy about getting up in the morning; it would mean worrying too much about things that I know the Lord has under control. It's ONLY when I manage to get out of the way and let Christ work that *I* do any good thing.

All of us believers have this faith in common, and I pray that in any good thing that any of us do, that people are able to recognize Christ in all of it.

Ooo, bonus verse! Today's "verse of the day" on my sidebar goes right along with this:

"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." James 4:10

Distress

2009-02-03T21:40:00.006-05:00

"Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27

I've read this verse many times, and it is one of the ways the Lord has spoken to me about our plans to adopt a child (or maybe a few). Last week, I was really asking myself and God some tough questions about a whether or not I could become the mama to a child with some potential health issues caused by a terrible case of abuse. I couldn't remember where this verse was located. (I am good at remembering the overall idea of a bit of scripture, but often have difficulty reciting the exact location of the verse.) I had finished my scheduled bit of Bible reading for the day, and then offered a very brief thought-prayer to find this verse to re-read, and I flipped right to it. This time, however, one particular --a part I'd never paid much attention to in previous readings -- caught my attention:

"...in their distress..."

Distress is "great pain, anxiety, or sorrow; acute physical or mental suffering; affliction; trouble; a state of extreme need." A few synonyms: agony; misery; torment; anguish; grief; calamity; adversity.

I'm not called simply to look after orphans and widows when they are doing well and have things pretty much under control; I'm not called simply to care for them in ideal circumstances. I am called to care for them in their affliction, pain, sorrow, trouble, and extreme need.

I don't think the Lord could have answered my questions more clearly.

In the Morning

2009-01-31T09:00:00.000-05:00

Let me hear Your loving kindness in the morning; for I trust in You; teach me the way in which I should walk; for to You I lift up my soul."
Psalm 143:8

It's been about two months now since I started making a point to start my day with "quiet time." I still don't like calling it that because it sounds boring, and it's been anything but boring! But I haven't come up with a better name yet, and at least you know what I mean.

For years I wanted to do this, but it was out of a sense of obligation, rather than a true yearning to hear from the Lord. Gradually that shifted, but I still hadn't made it a priority. God told me in about 83 different ways (ok, slight exaggeration!) that He wanted to show me His loving kindness in the mornings and teach me how to walk. I finally obeyed, and it has already made such a difference in my day-to-day relationship with Him.

I love this verse, too:

"He wakes me up in the morning,
Wakes me up, opens my ears to listen
as one ready to take orders."
Isaiah 50:4b (MSG)

Isn't that great? He wants to talk to me in the morning, and help me get my day off to the right start. I used to wake up and go through my mental to-do list for the day; now I let Him tell me what He has on my agenda for the day. He'll even wake me up, and open my ears to hear Him. All I have to do is be ready to take orders.

Lavishly

2009-01-30T14:44:00.005-05:00

"I will heal their waywardness.
I will love them lavishly..."
Hosea 14:4a (MSG)

As I've said before, I became a Christian at a young age, but spent years wandering wayward from the Lord. I did my own thing. I know I grieved Him. It's easy to kick myself and dredge back up all the yuck from my past. Once I've confessed and repented, however, it's not God that keeps reminding me of all I did wrong.

I love the way this verse puts it! God won't just overlook my waywardness; He will heal it! And He won't just love me a little; He'll love me lavishly!

Dictionary.com defines "lavish" this way (emphasis mine):
•To expend or give in great amounts or without limit
•Characterized by or produced with extravagance and profusion

Did you get that? His love is without limits, and characterized by extravagance. There just aren't words for how grateful I am for His love. Even with all I've done, despite my waywardness, my Lord loves me extravagantly and without limit. And He feels the same way about you.

Heroes Aren't Perfect

2009-01-19T12:39:00.007-05:00

I have a lot of verses and notes and great things I want to blog about here, but I've been busy, busy, busy! I WILL do it soon... but for today, I'm copying & pasting another great One-Minute Daily Devotion from Bryant Wright at Right From the Heart:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

"Historians, gossip magazines, and the media are now beginning to highlight Martin Luther King's many flaws, weaknesses, and sins. And you know what? I'm glad.

Children read history that describes many of our heroes as perfect idols. Washington and the cherry tree. Lincoln freeing the slaves. Roosevelt ending the Depression. No flaws. And then our young people contemplate their role in our society and think, 'I have so many weaknesses, so many flaws. I could never have a life of impact for good.'

Wrong message. All the great figures in our history had flaws, weaknesses, and handicaps. And yes, even Martin Luther King had some deep flaws and committed many sins. And for these, we hope he dealt with God. But despite those sins, despite his weaknesses, King led a peaceful social revolution that brought dramatic, desperately needed change to our world.

One of the great things about the Bible is, it is so honest about the heroes of the faith - Noah getting drunk, Abraham and Sarah not waiting on God to have His promised child, Jacob's lies, David's adultery - yet all these men were used by God in an incredible way.

All of us have weaknesses. All of us are guilty of sin we regret, yet God's grace is available to all, when we seek His forgiveness in Christ. God can use any life for good, no matter how flawed, if we trust in the only One who had no flaws - His Son, Jesus Christ."

Entrusted

2009-01-12T20:15:00.001-05:00

“But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts." Thessalonians 2:4

Dictionary.com defines "entrust" this way:

1. to charge or invest with a trust or responsibility; charge with a specified office or duty involving trust: We entrusted him with our lives.
2. to commit (something) in trust to; confide, as for care, use, or performance: to entrust a secret, money, powers, or work to another.

Being entrusted with something shows that the something is considered important by the one giving it to us. We wouldn't use the word "entrust" for something unimportant or worthless. This verse shows that God has charged us with the responsibility and honor of carrying the gospel to others. It is a gift.

Our thoughts and our words need to please the Lord, no matter what anyone else thinks. When we speak of the gospel, do we treat it lightly, or do we revere it as the precious gift that it really is?

Clean Heart

2009-01-11T17:38:00.004-05:00

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

I've started a great weekly devotional for the year, and each week we have a verse to ponder. (Check out the link on my sidebar to "Create in Me a Clean Heart." You can join in, too, and it's free!) This is one I'm familiar with, but I don't think it's possible to revisit this often enough, because this is a hard one for me. I know from my own experience that depending upon the Lord is the wisest thing to do, but I still tend to take things back over. I have a little "Jamie's In-Box" and a "God's In-Box" on the imaginary desk in my brain, but I tend to only give Him those things that I know to be too big for me; everything else goes in my own in-box. That's a big mistake, though. It's a bad habit that I am fighting from back when I felt that God didn't want to hear about or deal with the minute things of my life. I figured life-or-death issues were His responsibility, but He was too busy to deal with the little things. I have learned that nothing is too big or too small for God. This verse tells me to acknowledge Him in ALL my ways. Not some of my ways, or the big ways, but ALL my ways. If I do this, He'll guide me in everything; if I don't do this, I'll get myself into big trouble, just as I've done before.

Every morning I must choose to submit myself to Christ anew. I'm asking Him to search my heart and show me what areas of my life I'm still keeping to myself. I'm asking Him to show me what kind of changes I need to make in my life, and asking for His help to make those changes.

Making Wealth (and Apple Pie)

2009-01-08T14:00:00.003-05:00

You may say in your heart, "My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth." But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth. ~Deuteronomy 8:17-18

One day, not long ago, I received a completely unexpected but very appreciated monetary gift. I was rather overwhelmed with all the ways that God provides, and then I came to my computer and this was the verse-of-the-day on my sidebar! God certainly wanted me to really "get" this point: there is nothing I can give Him that isn't already His. No matter what I do, no matter what kind of wealth I acquire, it all comes from the hand of God. He made the earth I live on, He made the sun that warms it, He made the universe in which it sits, and He made little ol' me. Anything I acquire is because He allowed it, He gave me the skills, abilities, power, health, and so on that I use to do anything and everything.

I love this quote (by Carl Sagan):

"In order to make apple pie from scratch,
you must first create the universe."

Doesn't that put it all in perspective? Even the smallest of things I do--like baking a pie--are only possible because God created everything I needed, and then allowed me the honor of doing it.

I think I need to go bake something now, and ponder the scope and size of the universe and the Creator of it all...

Resolutions

2009-01-04T08:03:00.004-05:00

Have you made your new year's resolutions? Jonathan Edwards made some back when he was a teen. This is a mighty impressive list. I love how he starts out, before his actual list:

"Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake."

It's a long list (70 resolutions), but here are a few of my favorites:

1. Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God...

4. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God...

6. Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.

16. Resolved, Never to speak evil of any one...

17. Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

28. Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive, myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

42. Resolved, Frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God...

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, That I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age.

58. Resolved, Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity.

70. Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak.

If you have time, read all of The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards. I think you'll find a little inspiration for yourself there, too.

Lying, Stealing, Anger, & Slander

2009-01-02T10:21:00.000-05:00

Notes from a sermon on Ephesians 4:25-32

Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

This excerpt comes after we've been told how to live the new life in Christ (Eph 4:17-24), so this is what we ought to be doing:

Vs. 25: We should speak the truth.
Vs. 26-27: Anger is an emotion we will always have, but Satan is ready & waiting to tempt you to sin in your anger. Losing our temper is sin; bitterness and hatred is sin. The only righteous anger is being angry when people are disrespecting God; it's NOT righteous anger when we get angry about something done to us.
Vs. 28: No stealing. The most common way Christians steal is by not tithing. All that we have belongs to God; the tithe is acknowledgement of God's ownership of all we have. Not reporting taxes, etc., is a way that many steal from our fellow man. We work so that we may share.
Vs. 29: No rotten talk. This includes having a critical spirit, slander; we should edify and encourage one another. No gossiping! No profanity; rotten talk comes from a rotten heart (see Matthew 12:34-35). We must account for every word we speak (Matt 12:36-37).
Vs. 30: Doing any of these things grieves the Holy Spirit. It disappoints the spirit of God living inside us, much like when we as parents are brokenhearted over poor decisions of our children. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, so our salvation can't be undone, but we break God's heart when we do these things.
Vs 31: We must put away these thing (the rotten talk, stealing, anger, & so on).
Vs 32: We must consider the needs & feelings of others. Be compassionate & empathetic. And we must forgive; this is not an option. God has forgiven us for murdering the son of God with our sins, so we must forgive others.

Even when we fall short, He is still going to be our Dad, and He will never send us away.

An Example

2009-01-01T08:38:00.005-05:00

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life."
1 Timothy 1:15-16

This is one of my favorite verses, but one I had never seen (or else had skimmed over & missed) until just a couple of years ago. If I had seen it before, I would not have truly understood it with my heart. I'd always known--in my head--that Christ came to save sinners, and I knew I was a sinner, but I didn't have full comprehension of that until I had become broken. I realized that without Christ, all my good intentions were worthless; I did things I swore I'd never do, even though I'd always thought poorly of people who had done those things. When I finally faced my own sins, God's mercy seemed SO much greater than it ever had before. Realizing Christ died for me became almost incomprehensible because I now knew what I was capable of, and it wasn't pretty.

I very seldom delve into my specific sins when talking with people; confession is good for the soul, but if there are "juicy" details involved, people tend to get distracted from the main point. All of my past sins can be summed up in saying I was stubborn and did things my own way. I did what God commanded only when it was convenient for me. I asked Him to get me out of messes I'd created, and tried to rationalize to Him about all the wrong things I was doing. There was never a time I didn't believe in Him, but I didn't trust Him to know what was best for me. A person can convince themselves that just about anything is ok if they *think* they are in control of things. God showed GREAT patience with me, just as in the verse above. (Note: In situations where I feel that sharing specifics will help the person I'm talking to, then I'll do so.)

I've learned that I must make a choice anew every morning about whether I'm going to follow Christ that day. I must depend on Him daily, because depending on myself (or anyone else, for that matter) will get me into trouble.

I--the foremost of sinners--received mercy so that Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

Gifts of the Magi

2008-12-24T11:36:00.003-05:00

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." ~ Matthew 2:10

In reading the account of Christ's birth, I had never noticed (until our teacher pointed this out in Sunday's lesson) that it never says there are three wise men. All the nativity sets and movies portray it that way, perhaps because they presented three gifts, but there could have been two wise men or there could have been dozens! This is not my main point, but it opened my eyes to the fact that sometimes we (I) just read over familiar scripture without really allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us. We just assume we know what it means and what it has to say.

Anyway, in this Sunday school lesson, we talked about the gifts from Magi (however many there might have been). They gave Jesus gold, which is a gift for royalty, because he is the King of kings. They gave him frankincense, which is a gift for a deity. This was a very valuable gift, and was one of the four ingredients in the incense for the temple (see Exodus). And they gave Jesus myrrh, which was used in mummification and embalming. This represented his sacrifice. [Another new thing I learned: both frankincense and myrrh are harvested from the sap of trees.]

These were wonderful gifts, and had great meaning, but these wise men gave Jesus one other gift: worship. Jesus is God, so he doesn't need us to give him anything; He made it all in the first place! Worship was the most important of all the gifts, because it is what we were created to do.

This leads me to think, what is worship, really? It's not just the time we spend at church. In order to truly worship God, I must truly let him have control of every nook and cranny of my life. I must trust him utterly and completely. I must keep him first in my life. I must let him use me to do his will. And I must appreciate him, not just for what he does for me, but simply for who he is.

Approval

2008-12-22T10:08:00.004-05:00

For am I now seeking the approval of man,
or of God? Or am I trying to please man?
If I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ."
-Galatians 1:10

Too often, I seek the approval of man. It took me a long time to realize this. My great dislike of conflict? The fear I had (ok, still have) of "speaking the truth in love"? Unease about saying no to a request? Unfortunately, it's all related to caring what others think of me.

Even if these things don't bother you, perhaps you care how good your car looks, or maybe you'd be embarrassed if a neighbor dropped by unannounced and saw how messy your house is. A lady in the vet's office the other day was embarrassed that her dog wasn't behaving. And most of us parents have probably had at least one moment when we'd like to crawl in a tiny hole because of how our kids were acting in public.

Sometimes this desire for approval comes in the form of changing how you act depending upon who you're with and what they are doing. In other words, just trying to fit in. We speak about this in relation to peer pressure among teens, but it often applies to adults as well.

My point is, I think all of us have some ways, big or small, that we care too much about the approval of man. Even doing good works can fall into this category. We want that pat on the back. There is nothing wrong with getting a nice pat on the back; in fact, we're called to encourage one another, so we do need to be generous with those pats on the back and words of affirmation. But the danger lies in caring more about pleasing our fellow man than we care about pleasing God. He wants our whole heart, He desires to be Lord of every part of our lives.

A Song in My Heart

2008-12-20T19:43:00.003-05:00

God says, "Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations;
I will be praised throughout the earth."
~ Psalm 46:10

My recent readings (Max Lucado) pointed out that this is one of those verses that contains a command with a promise. The command is simply to be quiet, stop doing all the talking, and sit there with your mouth shut. The promise is that if we do this, he'll show us more about himself. We are giving him an open invitation. I think he loves this because it allows us to get to know him better, and anything that improves our relationship with God blesses us and pleases him. I like pleasing my Father, though I don't do it nearly enough! I need to be intentional about taking the time to just be still and let him show me who he is.

Once I let him show me he is God, praise will flow out of my heart and soul. My friend Mari posted this video today, and I loved it so much I had to post it, too. As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, I pray that we'll consider what our hearts contain: "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:45)

Good News!

2008-12-15T11:16:00.008-05:00

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2:8-10

Why did God choose to bring Christ's birth announce to the shepherds first? They were generally looked down upon because they didn't observe all the "rules" about obeying the sabbath (sheep don't take a day off from being sheep), or keep all the mosiac cleanliness laws (hard to do when you live among sheep). But they most likely knew the psalms, and knew that God calls himself our shepherd (Psalm 23:1). We, like sheep, tend to panic (today's economy, anyone?) and are prone to wander. The good shepherd disciplines his sheep to try to keep them on the right path, but is ready to rescue them when they get lost.

The shepherds were terrified when an angel appeared before them, just as we all tend to do whenever we're faced with something unexplainable. But the angel was bringing good news! The long-awaited Messiah had been born, right in their town, and he had come to save ALL the people! Not just some people, but all people!

Christmas is the time we remember Christ's birth. But this same sweet little baby lying in a manger is also the same Jesus who hung on the cross for my sins and yours. What better time than Christmas to get fired up about sharing this good news?

We’re called to share Christ with everyone. This means missions in far-away lands, but it also means sharing Christ with friends, family, neighbors...

This song is stuck in my head, which often means God wants it stuck in my heart. I hope it sticks in your heart, too.

(This is my church’s worship band, by the way, and I’m so thankful they use their talents to bless me & so many others every week!)

Find more inspiration at Spiritual Sundays (yes, I'm a day late!).

Evidence

2008-12-10T11:20:00.004-05:00

I am copying this entirely from a daily devotional my pastor writes as part of a ministry (separate from our church) called Right From the Heart, because I couldn't say this any better. You can have these 1-minute devotions sent to you by email or subscribe via a feed reader.

The Evidence of Things Not Seen
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

We pride ourselves in being logical creatures who demand proof before believing most things. Yet, a professor can tell us that there 100 trillion stars in the sky, and we accept it without question. We accept as absolute fact that an atom has neutrons and electrons spinning around a nucleus, even though we have never seen any of them. We know that light travels 186,000 miles a second even though we've personally never measured it. And we agree that Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address, and that E does, in fact, equal mc2. We accept all these things as facts without ever demanding the proof of their authenticity.

Yet so many of us will reject Jesus - risking our eternal souls even when presented with solid proof. What proof? The witness of thousands of people who saw the miracles of Jesus. Testimonies from dozens who witnessed His death, then saw Him alive after His resurrection. And what about the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Jesus? Yet even after being shown so much solid evidence, many enlightened, logical people reject Jesus as "just some myth for the gullible." In fact, the divinity of Jesus is just about the only thing people refuse to accept, even when evidence is overwhelming. Tell me, where's the logic in that?

What about you? Are you willing to accept the truth of Jesus on faith? In fact, it's the ONLY way you can accept Him. So, go ahead, take that leap of faith. Once you do, your life will be changed forever.

Awesome Wonder

2008-12-09T08:05:00.003-05:00

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Sometimes God's creation takes my breath away and I marvel at the fact that the same God who is capable of creating a whole UNIVERSE also made little ol' me! Not only did he make me, but he also cares about the most intimate and seemingly trivial details of my life. Every day should leave me speechless at his wonders. Even the ordinary, mundance days. He is no less God on those days than He is on the glorious days; I just happen to be paying less attention. I love that line in the movie "The Color Purple" about God being ticked off when we just walk past the color purple and don't even notice. He didn't just make this world functional; He made it beautiful, complete with birds that sing and sunsets that glow, rivers that glisten and make lovely soothing sounds, spiders capable of weaving intricately beautiful webs...

I should pay attention to all the wonders, big and small, each and every day, and praise the God who made it all. This is the day the Lord has made. Let's all rejoice and be glad in it!

How Deep?

2008-12-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

"I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love—how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is." Ephesians 3:17-18

I've just started reading Max Lucado's The Great House of God and the Holy Spirit is already using him to and this book to speak to me about some truths that I need to sink in deep. This book focuses on the Lord's Prayer, but emphases how much God loves us; how he loves it when we call him Father; that he adopted us not because of what we had to offer, but because of our own need; that we are his children. One of the things I love about Max Lucado's writing is that he makes God seem so accessible. Which, of course, he is, but I tend to forget that.

The day before I started reading this book, I was reading in Ephesians, and came across the verse above. It jumped out at me, and I love it when that happens. I want what the apostle Paul is talking about here: I want my life to be built on Christ's strong love, and I pray that I—and every believer—will be able to comprehend the magnitude of God's love. Without Christ in us, I don't think that's even possible. We can't begin to understand that kind of love unless Love (with a capital L because I'm referring to God here) lives in us. Christ does live in me, but I still have a hard time seeing God as a loving father; I think I have more than a holy reverence sort of fear of God. I still have a little of the mentality that he's sitting on his big throne in heaven waiting for an excuse to zap me. I have been talking to him about this, and I know it isn't true, but sometimes knowing something and getting my heart to believe it is a different matter entirely. May you and I know how wide and how high and how long and how deep God's love for us is.

Salty Enough?

2008-12-03T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here it is! My summary of the LAST chapter of my group's study, Lord, Only You Can Change Me by Kay Arthur.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
"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." Matthew 5: 13-16

In one of those neat God-timing things, we studied salt and it's uses (in our homeschool lesson) the very same week I did this chapter of our study. I love it when He does that. {grin} For instance, Roman soldiers were paid in salt! And of course salt is used to preserve things, and to flavor things.

I love this point Kay makes here: the amount of salt in a recipe matters. That means that each and every one of us matters; our "saltiness changes the flavor of the world." But if salt loses it's flavor, it's not good for anything but to be trampled underfoot.

Another things salt does: makes you thirsty. If we are being salty enough, then our saltiness should be causing others to thirst--for God!

I learned a few things I'd never realized about Lot in this study. When the angels came to rescue him from Sodom before the town was destroyed, he had no influence with those around him. His sons-in-law laughed at him, the men of the town threatened to do vile things to him, and his wife only reluctantly followed him. His salt had lost it's flavor. But in 2 Peter 4-9, the Bible tells us that the Lord considered Lot a righteous man whose soul was tormented daily by all that went on in that town around him. And it tells us "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation..." So Kay asks us to consider: Are we being salty enough, or are we being corrupted? There is no middle ground.

Light. It has one purpose: to light the darkness. God is Light, and we must help others find their way through the dark to find Him. If a candle or lamp doesn't give light, what use is it? We need to be doing good works, but we must be careful to reflect all glory or honor back to God. It's like that saying I love, "Be the moon; reflect the Son."

Peace & Persecution

2008-12-02T11:55:00.003-05:00

Let's see if I can sum this up more succinctly than usual. We finished our study group the week before Thanksgiving, but I am just now summarizing chapter 8 of Lord, Only You Can Change Me.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:9-10

Peace is not just the lack of war, it is living in true harmony. But we can't achieve true harmony with our fellow man until we have true harmony with God. God IS peace. I never put that together with this verse until this study: "And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'" Did you get that? I've always thought it meant that God made it so we could have a peaceful world, but it's saying that He sent Peace, as in the Prince of Peace! How awesome is that!?!

As for being a peacemaker, I knew that meant we ought to live in peace with one another, but I never realized the other part of this: we're required to bring the gospel of Christ to others so that they, too, may have peace with God. He died for us ALL, not just a few of us.

Then there is the sticky, icky subject of being persecuted. Of course, that's obvious in many parts of the world, where Christians risk their lives in professing belief in Christ. But we must remember that the Bible says we will ALL face persecution. Most of us will probably never face a life-or-death situation, but perhaps we'll lose friends, or be snubbed by co-workers. And the Bible tells us that ALL of us Christians will suffer, but of course, that will differ for each of us. No matter what we go through, we must remember that we are co-heirs with Christ in the wonderful things, but also in His suffering. And if handled in a Christ-like manner, our suffering may--like Christ's suffering--bring others to God through our suffering.

Giving Thanks

2008-11-25T16:00:00.000-05:00

“And whatever you do, in word or deed,
do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17

Some things feel, to my humanly-thinking ways, more important than others. Some activities seem “holy” and others just don’t. And there are times when I have some pretty profound conversation, but there are plenty of seemingly unimportant chats. But this verse tells me that whatever I do or say should be done in the name of the Lord. Whatever. That means even when I’m taking out the garbage, or paying bills, or cleaning the shower; whether I’m fixing dinner or talking about our day– these things are ALL to be done in the name of the Lord, and I should be giving thanks the whole time!

How can I put this into practice in real life? I can find something to be thankful for even in the humblest of tasks. Taking out the garbage? That means we must have more than we need. Paying bills? Having a mortgage means having a house, and that’s sure a blessing! Plus the blessings of having electricity and telephones, and so forth. Cleaning the shower? I can be thankful for the luxury of hot running water because there’s a large portion of the world without it. Fixing dinner? We have food to eat– even multiple choices of what food to eat! Talking about our day? That means I have a family to talk to.

I could go on and on…

This should also make me more carefully consider what I’m doing and saying. If I am to do it in the name of the Lord, I ought to think twice about where I’m dragging Jesus and his name. If whatever I speak should be done in the name of the Lord, then I really better bite my tongue before saying those bitter or careless words. This all sounds like a pretty tall order, but with God’s grace, it is possible.

No Other Way

2008-11-24T14:10:00.000-05:00

“Jesus told him,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:6

Jesus cuts to the chase here. No hidden meanings; he lays it all on the table. HE is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way. There is no path to spiritual enlightenment, no kharma, no deeds good enough to get to God EXCEPT through Christ. This is very politically incorrect, very un-Oprah, but it’s exactly what Jesus is saying. You don’t get to choose the best path; Jesus is it. Period. There is no room for discussion.

I could elaborate in my own words, but this great quote from C.S. Lewis sums up everything this verse is telling me:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

God Sings

2008-11-22T09:55:00.001-05:00

“The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17

There is so much to rejoice about in this verse!

The Lord is with us, here in our midst. He walks with us every moment. We are never alone, and he will never abandon us. He is a mighty warrior, fighting on our behalf. We have nothing to fear because God is on our side! And he quiets us with his love. Just as a mother soothes a fussy baby, or hugs her child to make a booboo feel better, God holds us and loves us to soothe and quiet us.

And the Lord delights in us! He is so happy to be with us that he sings. Think about that--God sings about you! Or as another translation says, he shouts for joy. Could this be why there are sunsets? Purple flowers? Bluebirds? Is this how God sings? I think so.

Which Way?

2008-11-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

“I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
Psalm 32:8

Sometimes I wonder how to figure out what I’m suppose to do. Whether an important matter, or just something trivial, I have been known for most of my life as being rather indecisive. I don’t want to make a bad decision, so my tendency is to just not make a decision at all. But that is a lazy, non-committal way to be, and it isn’t at all what God wants me to do. He does want me to make decisions, but I’m not the one who has to figure it all out; He will show me what to do. And for me, that is a big weight off my shoulders.

With God in control, bad decisions are no longer an issue. If I’m following the path God directs me to follow, then my choices might not be popular, but they will be good. It’s when I don’t listen to his instruction that I get myself in trouble. I must care more about what God says than what friends or family or the world in general says. I’ve tried doing it myself, and I can tell you from personal been-there/done-that experience that “figuring it out” on my own is never, never, never the best way to go. I spent years thinking that I’d just take care of things myself; if there was anything big enough that I couldn’t handle myself, then would I let God handle it. For years, about 99% of my prayer life was spent rationalizing and explaining things to God, telling him why this must look like a bad decision to him, but that he didn’t need to worry because I had it under control. HA!

One of the many wonderful qualities of God is his patience. I remember reading about the Israelites in the desert, and all the ways they’d mess up and complain and forget all God had done for them; I’d think they were idiots, and that I wouldn’t blame God one bit if he’d just zapped them all with a big lightning bolt or let the earth swallow up every last one of them. But then I realized that I was just like them. I was stubborn and “stiff-necked”, but eventually I realized that there really is nothing small enough for me to handle well without God guiding me.

Nothing at all.

God will teach me, guide me, in everything. There is nothing too big or too small for God to handle. And he will do it while keeping his eye on me. He won’t just give me a list of instructions and then leave me to decipher it on my own. He will lead me, my hand in his, down the best paths. All I have to do is be childlike in my faith, trusting him as a small child trusts that they are safe and knows they won’t get lost, just as long as he is holding my hand.

Merciful and Pure

2008-11-20T09:31:00.005-05:00

My summary & thoughts on chapter 7 of our study by Kay Arthur: Lord, Only You Can Change Me.

Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:7-8

We've discussed previously what it means to be poor in spirit. So how do we relate to others if we are truly poor in spirit? "...with mercy, because God has been merciful to [us]." The word used in the Bible for merciful can also be translated as kindness, love, lovingkindness, unfailing love, or loyalty. Kay tells us that the New Testament word for merciful does not simply mean having pity, but being "actively compassionate." She goes onto explain the meaning of the mercy seat in the Tabernacle, but you'd do better to read that yourself. (I was very blessed by Beth Moore's study of the Tabernacle: A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place. I highly recommend it!) But the main point is realizing that the very essence of God's being is mercy, which is why He sent Christ to die on the cross. Jesus was the ultimate atonement sacrifice, and He paid the price of our sins. Since God showed us such GREAT mercy, we are called to be merciful, even to those who sin against us.

Jesus' life was a continuous example of mercy. Like with the woman caught in adultery. And even as he hung on the cross, and asked God to forgive those who had put Him there. Mercy and forgiveness are intertwined and inseparable. And in order to receive mercy, we must be merciful. (See Matthew 18:21-35) That seems hard, that showing mercy to those who have done us wrong. But God has shown us mercy, like the king who forgave a huge debt (in that previous verse I mentioned). Anything ever done to us is tiny and insignificant compared to what we did to Christ. Kay says, "What is your pain alongside His? Have you never seen what your sin did to the heart of perfect Holiness?"

"Grace is that unearned favor which saves us. Mercy is that undeserved favor which forgives us. And peace is that unsought favor which reconciles us... Mercy, remember, is not for the worthy but for the needy."

Now, what about purity? How can we be pure, when we know we're always going to be sinners? Thankfully, being pure means being cleansed. So we don't have to have a pure and unsullied past because God has cleansed us. When we are saved, God gives us a new heart and we become a new creation (Ezekiel 36:26-27 and 2 Corinthians 5:17). But we must keep our hearts cleansed. How? We keep our hearts pure by staying in the Word of God, which is like a mirror, showing us our wrong thoughts or actions, and washing us clean. That's how we renew our minds.

The Word of God is "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 2:15) Kay asks us to consider if we are really spending enough time in the Word. There are so many people who have a genuine desire to follow Christ, but they just don't know what the Word really says. I know that was true for me, and I also realize there's still a lot I don't know about what God teaches us in The Bible, but I have learned so much in the last few years! All that new knowledge sure has made it easier to follow Christ, but it also makes me realize that I must keep on learning every day because there is no way I will ever know it all. Even if I had the entire Bible memorized, there would still be so much to learn. There are verses I have read many times and thought I understood, but then I'll re-read them and the Holy Spirit will teach me something brand new about that old, familiar verse. His Word really is alive!

The other way we keep our hearts pure is through confession. Confessing our sins " is to agree with God that what we have done is sin." But what about sins our human minds have forgotten? If we have confessed all our known sins, then God sees the intentions of our heart, so he cleanses us even from the ones we've forgotten. How wonderful! Even once we have confessed, however, sometimes it's necessary to make restitution to someone we've sinned against. Follow God's leading on that.

One more thing to keep our hearts pure:
Take your thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5) and

"Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth."
(Colossians 3:2)

Nuts and Bolts

2008-11-19T08:36:00.005-05:00

Thanks to my fabulous blog friend Kathy at Hey, Look A Chicken, I've found a new quote I love. This comes from The World as I Remember It: Through the Eyes of a Ragamuffin by Rich Mullins. It is now on my must-read list.

...I am a Christian because I have seen the love of God lived out in the people who know Him. The Word has become flesh and I have encountered God in the people who have manifested (in many "unreasonable" ways) His Presence; a presence that is more than convincing, it is a Presence that is compelling. I am a Christian not because someone explained the nuts and bolts of Christianity to me, but because there were people who were willing to be the nuts and bolts, who through their explanation of it, held it together so that I could experience it and be compelled by it to obey. "If I be lifted up," Jesus said, "I will draw all men unto me."

St Francis of Assisi said something similar: "Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words." How many times do we try to shove the message of Christ down the throats of unbelievers, insisting He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, yet we don't live any differently than they do? Recognition of what Christ has done for us--and that God allowed His child to die for us--should make our every waking moment different than it was before we knew and loved Christ. I think when the Bible tells us to be "come out from them and be separate" (2 Cor. 6:17), it really means that we should be so different--in the way we live, in our marriages, in our level of compassion, and so forth--that unbelievers notice and yearn to know what, or Who, makes us the way we are. And then, after they are yearning to know, we must "...always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15

Hungry and Thirsty

2008-11-18T14:11:00.007-05:00

A deliquent post, but we'll catch up. This is my summary of chapter 6 of Lord, Only You Can Change Me.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
~ Matthew 5:6

The Sermon on the Mount probably caused quite a stir back when Jesus preached those words. This was most certainly not politically correct! It was revolutionary. He was saying that the people would be blessed--satisfied--not because of circumstances, but because of who they are down deep in their hearts.

To have this satisfaction, they needed to make righteousness a continual habit of life, rather than a one-time thing. Eating a big meal may be satisfying temporarily, but we'll get hungry again. Drinking water fills us, but not for days on end. It's the same with seeking righteousness. We must do it every day! "To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to have a deep, inner longing to please God. It is a longing that God Himself plants within our hearts to cause us to seek after Him. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to desire with all our being to live and walk the way God says to live and walk." (emphasis mine)

Kay goes on to tell a story about a terrible famine in China, and a man who truly knew hunger and later came to know and love Christ. I keep thinking about how spoiled most of us are. We say, "I'm starving!" but have any of us ever known real hunger? I'd venture to say that most people who have access to a computer and the internet, and the time to read blogs, are not in any danger of starving to death. There have been many times I've stood staring into the pantry, and complained that there is nothing that sounds good to eat. What a spoiled brat I am!

The Pharisees were righteous on the outside, but Jesus was telling us we must be righteous on the inside. Sometimes we may have a zeal for God, but in our zealousness, we sometimes make up our own little codes of righteousness, or a "righteousness scorecard" (as Kay calls it). Things like how short a lady may wear her skirt, or what movies we do or don't watch... but these things are part of an "artificial, man-centered standard of righteousness." The biggest danger in that is in becoming self-righteous. "Self-righteousness is living by your version of you think is required by God and then imposing that standard on others, judging their righteousness by whether or not they march to the same drumbeat as you." And that is a slippery slope!

Kay quotes John 7:37-39, which reminded me of this sermon (I learned a lot from it; I hope you'll get a chance to read it, too). She points out that the verbs in this quote mean, "Let him keep coming to Me and let him keep drinking." But it's not enough to poor on the water; we must hear the word and accept it! She encourages us to "receive what God has for you" and to meditate on this verse:

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
~ Psalm 63:1-5

More verses to study: Psalm 42:1-2; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 119:1-8; Psalm 101

If we are truly seeking righteousness, we will not only call Jesus "Lord", but we will honor Him as Lord and do His will.

Kay gives us a list of seven things we can do to increase our hunger and for righteousness.

Beware of idols. Remember, idolatry can come in the form of a person, a thing, a hope, a dream, or an ambition. Set your mind on the things above, not the things on earth (Col. 3:1-2).
Turn your eyes from the world. 1 John 2:15-16.
Count all but Jesus as loss. Righteousness isn't just a matter of forsaking certain things, but of embracing the most important one: Christ. (Philippians 3:7-10)
Pursue one goal. "You can become so busy, so involved in the work of the Lord, that you actually diminish your hunger and thirst for righteousness. Remember, doing is secondary in the Christian life. The primary thing is being." (Remember Martha & Mary!)
Watch the company you keep. I'd like to add that this doesn't mean we can't go out into the world to minister and such, but as far as those we keep close to us, they should encourage and edify us, rather than pulling us away from the Lord.
Keep coming to Him. I love this bit of a verse she quotes: "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?" (See the whole verse in Isaiah 55:1-3)
Receive what He gives you. Open your heart to Christ!

Gray Hairs

2008-11-17T16:19:00.000-05:00

Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
Isaiah 46:4

What a glorious, lovely truth.
I’m not old yet (what age, exactly, does one become "old" anyway?), but I have more than a few gray hairs. It’s wonderful to think that the same One who knit me together in my mother’s womb, the same One who knows exactly how many hairs are on my head (including how many gray ones!), will take care of me all my days upon this earth.

Doesn’t it bring a warm, comforting feeling to know that the God who made you will continue to sustain you? When you are too tired to go on, He’ll carry you. He’ll provide absolutely everything you need. He won’t give us everything we want, but that’s only because we are like children who want nothing but candy for every meal; as parents we know that it would only make them sick and weak–and God is a much better parent than any of us!

Prayer of Sir Frances Drake

2008-11-15T12:46:00.000-05:00

Thank you to my cousin Jonnia for sending me this:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to
dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Prayers for our Children

2008-11-13T15:06:00.000-05:00

Angie at Bring the Rain came up with these, and I’m copying them to put here so they are that much easier for me to find. I’m also printing them out to keep handy (maybe on the fridge!). Her original post with these is here.

When they wake up: “Let the morning bring (child’s name) word of your unfailing love, for she has put her trust in You. Show (her/him) the way (she/he) should go, for to you (he/she) lifts up her soul.” (Adapted from Psalm 143:8)
When they are getting dressed: “Therefore, as God’s chosen child, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Lord, help (him/her) bear with others and forgive whatever grievances (he/she) has against others. Help (him/her) forgive as the Lord forgave (him/her). And over all these virtues, help (him/her) put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” (Adapted from Colossians 3:12-14)
While they are eating: “Teach (child’s name) the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Teach (him/her) that (he/she) can do everything through him who gives (him/her) strength.” (Adapted from Philippians 4:12-13)
When they go out of the house: “(Name of child), do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Adapted from Romans 12:2)
While they are taking a bath: Lord, give (name of child) clean hands and a pure heart, and let (him/her) not lift (his/her) soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Let (him/her) receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God (his/her) Savior. Let (him/her) be part of the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. (Adapted from Psalm 24:4-6)
When they are going to bed: “The Lord Your God is with you; he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, be will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
While they are sleeping: “I pray that (name of child) will do everything without complaining or arguing, so that he/she may become blameless and pure, a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which he/she shines like a star in the universe as he/she holds out the word of life-in order that he/she may boast on the day of Christ that he/she did not run or labor for nothing.” (Adapted from Philippians 2:14-16)

Humble Submission

2008-11-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

Now onto chapter 5 of “Lord, Only You Can Change Me”…

Meekness, which is sometimes translated as “gentle”, comes from the Greek word praotes, meaning an “inward grace of the soul. ” We learn to accept God’s dealing with us as good ”…because we know we can trust God and rest in His sovereignty even though the situation itself does not seem good.” This is a decision to submit fully to God; it is not submitting just because we can’t do anything about it, but actively choosing to accept God’s ways.

Psalm 37: 1-11 reminds us not to worry or fret. And Kay points out four specific responses of “grace under fire” (meekness) in this passage:
~meekness trusts (vs 3-4)
~meekness commits to the Lord (vs. 5)
~meekness rests and waits (vs 6-8)
~meekness is confident (vs 9,11) that even bad situations be used for good in the long run.

In other words, she says, “meekness is humble submission to the will of the Father.” And she reminds us that “meekness is NOT weakness but incredible power under the control and guidance of God Himself.”

Jesus is the best example of true meekness: he did nothing outside of God’s will; he did all that pleased God; he was willing to do anything–even die–it it was God’s will.

Meekness is part of the fruit of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness), self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)Note that the fruit is just one multi-faceted fruit, not nine individual fruits.

In order to be meek, we must be willing to be teachable. This is something I pray for myself every day because I know I need it! We must be humble and willing to be led, and we must submit to God’s authority in our lives. Kay urges us to ask God to reveal to us any ways we have failed to be meek.

We must also demonstrate meekness in our dealing with others. In other words, we must be humble, realizing that we can easily fall into sin ourselves. If we need to deal with someone needing guidance or correction, we must humbly teach, but let God be the one to change their minds. Kay says, “…no matter how grievous the sin, no matter how strong the snare of Satan, we are not to correct anyone in any other way except in meekness.” If we speak through our own righteous indignation, we may actually turn that person away from God. Moses set a great example when Miriam and Aaron spoke against him; he allowed God to handle the problem instead of taking matters into his own hands.

One more big point: “Meekness is a sure cure for bitterness.” When we don’t submit fully to God and remember that He is fully in control, there is a risk of becoming bitter towards God. But if we run to Him instead of away from Him, then we have all the grace of God ready and waiting for us–and His grace is sufficient! A lesson it took me a long time to learn is that forgiving others is a choice, and if I choose to hang onto unforgiveness, it turns into a poisonous root of bitterness. “To the very depths of your heart, you must fully forgive whoever has wounded you, deceived you, or transgressed against you… Or if your complaint is against God, if you are bitter toward Him, then you need to ask Him to forgive you for your lack of meekness.” She urges us to ask God to show us any root of bitterness in our hearts that needs to be removed, and then give Him permission to remove it. It might be painful, but you will be SO blessed because of it.

Sovereignty

2008-10-31T15:12:00.000-04:00

Let’s see if we can catch up with our study using Kay Arthur’s “Lord, Only You Can Change Me.” This is my summary/thoughts/highlights of chapter 4. I’ll try to get chapter 5 done in the next day or two, and see if I can catch us up on chapter 7 before next Thursday (when my group will cover chapter 8).

Meekness. None of the character traits in the beatitudes come naturally, and that includes this one. Part of being meek is in knowing what it really means (it doesn’t mean being a doormat!), and especially in understanding God’s sovereignty. Kay says that meekness “accepts all of God’s ways with us as good… Meekness looks beyond circumstances–no matter how upsetting and hurtful–and bows the knee to the sovereign God.” That’s a tough one. We humans tend to like things to be going well for us; we don’t like painful or upsetting circumstances. But when Jesus instructs us to be meek, he is saying we must trust completely in God, to know that he knows best. The old TV show said, “Father Knows Best” (I love old TV shows!), and our Heavenly Father really does.

Sovereignty means God rules over all. Period. (See Danial 4:34-35) If God is completely in control, however, then what does that mean to free will? Kay address that, too: “To our finite human minds, these twin truths do seem contradictory. If we tried in our wisdom to put them together, we might blow our circuit breakers! That’s why we must always remember one overarching fact: God is incomprehensible. Because God is God, His ways, His character, and His acts are infinitely beyond our own.” I like to know the facts; I do a great amount of research before making any type of big purchase (and even the not-so-big ones like my daughter’s new bicycle). But I’ll never understand all facets of God. If I–and my tiny little brain–could fully understand everything about him, he wouldn’t be God.

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are you ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

And can I just say, in regards to the above verse, WHEW! I thank God that His ways are not my ways! If He gave me the reigns over creation for just five minutes, I am quite sure I’d screw just about everything up quite thoroughly, even though I’d have good intentions.

Satan will try his best to make you question God’s goodness, or make you think that He’s too busy doing BIG importantly Godly things to be concerned about the small details of your life. But that’s just not true! God is in the big things and the small things, and he DOES CARE about every detail of your life!

Even when bad things happen–and they will–God is still in control. He sees the big picture that we cannot see or comprehend, and all things will–someday–work for good, but we may not see that happen in our lifetimes here on Earth. God is patient, compassionate, and he is patient even with the most unrepentant sinners he doesn’t want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9).

Unity in the Church

2008-10-27T15:15:00.000-04:00

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6

Grumbling within the church can spread like a cancer throughout the body. But not only that, when we grumble within the hearing of non-believers, we can give them a bad taste of life in the church.

In this passage, we’re called to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” In other words, we must strive to be like Christ. How?

Humility: a healthy self-image of our own abilities and inabilities so that we know we will always fall short of perfection, and that is why we need Christ!
Gentleness: also translated as meekness (which we’ve been studying in our little Bible study group!). This is not weakness; it is strength under control of the Master.
Patience: willingness to persevere no matter what. But we must also be patient with other people.
Accepting one another in love: this means not feeling or acting self-righteous!
Diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit: unity is something that will never be attained simply by striving for unity itself. Unity is a by-product of growth in Christ, and following God’s will.

Of course, God can accomplish absolutely anything He desires; after all, he is GOD! Ephesians 3:20 tells us that he is able to do far more than we can even imagine, but he chooses to act through us. Isn’t that wonderfully amazing?!

Joy in the midst of trials

2008-10-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

In these times of economic difficulties, political issues, and so on, it’s easy to become pessimistic, but if we know Christ, we can keep our focus on the things that really matter.

When Paul wrote Philippians, he was in prison, yet the recurring theme of this little book of the Bible was JOY! How did Paul have such joy while doing through such a difficult time? (You can references to all of these–and more–within the 4 chapters of Philippians.)

Paul prayed for others
encouraged others
focused on God’s point of view
saw God at work in his circumstances
had confidence in the ultimate outcome
remembered that heaven is his real home
did not complain or argue
knew that everything is rubbish compared to Christ
rejoiced
didn’t worry, but prayed
had peace
learned to be content
had confidence in the strength God provides

In 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul says “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me.” When times of trouble come, will we–like Paul–choose to follow Christ even though it meant all sorts of trials and difficulties? Or will we–like Demas–reject Christ and choose the things of this world?

The Debt

2008-10-22T15:42:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading The Debt by Angela Hunt; this is now one of my new favorite contemporary fiction novels. I want to share a few brief exerpts:

“Unfortunately, even in the church love is often in short supply. Christians who forget that Jesus calls us to give up our rights to ourselves are prone to wanting their own way. And where selfishness abounds, love withers.”

“I’m learning to be extraordinary in ordinary things, to be holy in unpleasant circumstances, surrounded by confirmed sinners.This is where faith sustains me.”

"Another paragraph from Chris’s journal replays in my mind: 'The things that tempt me from following God daily aren’t sinful things,' he wrote. 'They’re good things–duty to my family, to my father’s company, to the people at my church. But if I am going to devote myself to following God, I must be willing to leave the good things behind as I seek the best thing–total submission and obedience.'”

Granted, these are probably not as profound taken out of context, but this book touched my heart. I love a good read, and I love it even more when the Holy Spirit uses a good book to speak to me.

Ebenezer

2008-10-18T15:45:00.001-04:00

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I come
And I hope by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God,
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be,
And let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

The reference to an Ebenezer stone comes from 1 Samuel 7:12-14, when Samuel set up a stone as a reminder that it was God who had helped them defeat the Philistines. The word Ebenezer–or Even Haazer, in Hebrew–comes from the words for “help” and “stone”, so it’s literally a “stone of help.” An Ebenezer is anything that reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

Even though I know that I have come this far only by God’s help, my heart is still prone to wander. I pray that God would bind me to himself, fetter me so I cannot stray. He sought me and saved me, and I never want to forget that.

Studying the Beatitudes - Week 3

2008-10-16T15:47:00.000-04:00

“Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.”
~ Matthew 5:4 ~

My summary and thoughts on week three of my group Bible study using Kay Arthur’s “Lord, Only You Can Change Me”…

Seeing our own sins as God sees them will most certainly bring mourning. There is a big difference being remorseful and being repentant. Remorse is being sorry we got caught; repentance brings with it a change of heart so that we turn away from that sin. Kay calls this “worldly sorrow” vs. “godly sorrow.” A few years ago, I learned to pray that God would give me godly sorrow about my sins, so that I could see them the saw he saw them. It was a scary thing to do, and I began reluctantly. Since that time, God has opened my eyes to show me sins that I didn’t even know were sins, and so show me deeper depths of some of my past sins. (Just be careful not to let this become Satan reminding us of sins God has already forgiven us for!) Realizing the depth of our sins is a great thing to happen to us. In 2 Corinthians 7:6-13, Paul speaks of these two kind of sorrow. Kay says, “Godly sorrow causes us to run to the arms of God, weeping, confessing our sin. And He meets us in that moment, just as He has promised.” Our hearts ought to hurt in realizing how we’ve hurt God. As King David said, all our sins are really against God. Taking that to heart will really change a person’s perspective. No more rationalizing about the reasons why it wasn’t our fault, or the other person did such-and-such first… God has never sinned against us, and it is God we hurt when we sin. We hurt ourselves, too, for sin is what puts distance between ourselves and God.

What about sin within the church? Yes, we are called to love and to forgive, but we often cross the line into enabling sinners to keep on sinning when we look the other way. Kay points out that “…God cannot forgive what we will not confess. And we cannot experience His comfort as long as we walk in rebellion.” Sometimes God calls us to speak the hard truth in love in order to help another believer stay on the narrow path God has before him. Verses Kay quotes on this topic: 1 Corinthians 5 and Matthew 18:15-20.

This week’s study taught me to pray that God would break my heart with the things that break His heart, as I mentioned a few posts ago. Do we weep about the sins of the world, or do we joke and laugh them? This makes me think of television shows, movies, etc–the things that mainstream media seem to think worthy topics for entertainment purposes. Do we laugh along with the world and think lightly of lust, adultery, and the like? Think about how heartbroken Jesus must’ve been as he walked the streets during his time in an earthly body, seeing such pain and heartache and sin all around. “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried…” (Isaiah 53)

Day of Remembrance

2008-10-15T15:50:00.000-04:00

Today is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death. Please take a moment to pray for all those who have experienced through this tragedy. If you’d like to have some names to pray for specifically, Angie at Bring the Rain has literally hundreds of women who have already shared their stories over on her blog today. Or you can visit Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep for more stories from familes who have experience this kind of loss.

If you are one of those families, I hope you will find comfort in knowing that many, many people are praying for you today. And please remember that God cares so deeply that he even knows how many tears you’ve cried:

“You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.”
~ Psalm 56:8 ~

Studying the Beatitudes - Week 2

2008-10-13T15:51:00.000-04:00

This is a summary of our second week of the study our group is doing: “Lord, Only You Can Change Me” by Kay Arthur. (I’m a little behind on updating!) Much of this is just my own thoughts on the book we’re studying, and some things are paraphrased, but I’ll use quotations when specifically quoting the author.

What does it take to make us happy? I’m pretty sure you’ve either known or been the person who always has a “I’ll be happy if/when…” Fill in the blank with just about anything: …my husband/wife would change; …I get these bills paid off, …I had a better job; …I had that new house; …I lived in the country/city. The list could go on and on.

But these things are all so temporary, so prone to change! If we’re basing happiness on circumstances, it will NEVER last. The world says that happiness is a feeling, or emotion. But what the world calls happiness is really a craving for ”a sense of God’s approval”, which comes from being right with God. My thoughts go back to my sweet friend Nita, who has peace and real joy despite the most tragic of circumstances. Though she doesn’t always feel the emotion of happiness in dealing with the grief of losing a child, she does have the true inner joy in her relationship with her heavenly Father. (She has recently started her own blog, and I know her words will bless many.)

“Blessedness is found in who we are… it comes from being poor in spirit, mourning, being meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart, being peacemakers, and even from being persecuted.” These things aren’t qualities that we have naturally, of our own human power. Far from it! We must be poor in spirit and realize our great need for God, and realize just how flawed we truly are. Apart from God, we will never be happy. “To be poor in spirit is to abandon all pretense and to acknowledge your TOTAL dependence upon God…”

Kay’s testimony has many similarities to my own. She grew up as a Christian, but didn’t come to a real relationship with Christ until adulthood, after she realized the depth of her own sinfulness and finally surrendered to Christ and began to truly follow him. She–and I–had to become broken before we let Christ take control of our lives. I love this verse she quotes, because it echoes my own sentiments:

“…I found distress and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
“O LORD, I beseech Thee, save my life!”
Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is compassionate.
The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For Thou hast rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.”
Psalm 116:3-8

Something that really spoke to me in this week’s study was what Kay Arthur said about the way we tend to evangelise. Our society tends to think more about whether or not God pleases us, rather than whether or not we please Him. I think of people in my own life who have rejected God because they do not see their own great need. Their hearts are stone. But it’s easy even for believers to fall into the trap of thinking that God’s pretty lucky to have us working for Him. ”Poverty of spirit is… a whole way of life… continually realizing that in and of yourself, you could never please God [or] meet His standards of righteousness. Only by God’s gift of His Spirit and by walking in the Spirit can you please Him.” A few great verses to contemplate in this chapter: Romans 10:1-3; 1 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 10:17-25; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Isaiah 6:1-8.

Every one of our thoughts, words, and actions should be directed by the Holy Spirit, who is our comforter, helper, teacher, and guide. (Eph 1:13-14; John 14:16.26; John 16:13) The only real wisdom is the kind that comes from God. We’ve got to let God be in control of every part of our lives.

Break My Heart

2008-10-09T15:55:00.000-04:00

Sometimes a song sticks in my head just because it’s a catchy tune, but sometimes I think God puts in there, over and over, to remind me of something He’s been teaching me. The last few weeks, this song keeps popping back in my head, particularly these lines:

All those people going somewhere,
Why have I never cared?
Give me your eyes for just one second,
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.

(I hope you’ll take a minute to watch the video & listen to the words.)

How many times do we just keep our heads in the sand, oblivious to the need all around us? Every day I pray that God will use me to touch someone in some way, that He’ll use me to show His love to someone. But only recently have I begun to pray that my heart would break for all the things that break God’s heart. It feels safer to live in my own little insulated cocoon, but it’s only when I allow myself to feel other’s pain that I’ll be motivated to do anything about it. It’s only then that I’ll let truly God use me any way He sees fit.

There’s a t-shirt I saw once that said, “Be the moon; reflect the Son.” In the same way that the moon, which is incapable of producing any light of it’s own, reflects the great power and light of the sun, I am incapable of anything good of my own power. I want to be the moon; I want to reflect Christ.

Studying the Beatitudes - Week 1

2008-09-30T16:00:00.000-04:00

I don’t want to merely talk the talk, or only give lip service to what I believe. I want those around me to see me living and loving differently because of what and Who I believe. I want to be a “doer” of the Word…

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.” James 1:22-24

In our study of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, I hope we will listen to what the Holy Spirit is showing us and make the necessary adjustments in our lives and in our hearts. I’ll be hitting the highlights of this study we’re doing (Lord, Only You Can Change Me), some of the author’s main points, and anything that jumps out at me personally.

There is a lot to cover in our first week’s study (chapter one)! It begins by directing us to read the entire Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) and to let that soak in, let the Holy Spirit–our Interpreter–speak to us through God’s word. Then to re-read and note all the times “righteous” or “righteousness” is used; by doing so, we learn that the main theme of the Sermon on the Mount is the righteous lifestyle of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven. The key verse (according to our study) is Matthew 5:20: “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What does that mean? My interpretation of this is that even if we follow all the rules, cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s, our hearts may still be hard and our souls may still be polluted. Jesus said the Pharisees were like whitewashed tombs–beautiful on the outside but full of rotten things on the inside (Matthew 23:27). It’s what’s in our hearts that truly matters.

Many of us want to have our cake and eat it, too. We want to be saved from eternal damnation, but we want the “best” of what the world has to offer, too. In my own experience, I’ve lived this. I professed my belief in Christ and was baptised as a believer, but then spent more years than I care to mention doing what Jamie wanted to do. I believed in God, but the “fruit” I produced did not match up to what I claimed to believe. But true Christianity will give us the “want to”, as my pastor puts it. If our hearts have been changed by Christ, we will be willing to leave those things behind and make a total commitment to Christ: to doing whatever He says. There will be some who claim to know Jesus as Savior, but they will be like wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). Their “fruit” will not match up with what they claim to be.

Hypocrisy: it’s one of those buzzwords that many non-churchgoers use as the excuse to not attend church. But it’s not just those in the church who are hypocrites! A hypocrite is anyone who “wears a mask.” The word originally was used for Greek and Roman stage actors who wore exaggerated masks to show emotion. Based on that definition, are you a hypocrite? Is there ever a time you pretend to be someone you’re not? Is there ever a time you paste on a happy face so no one sees the turmoil or difficulty in your life? Do you act differently with church friends than you do with coworkers?

Though the Sermon on the Mount seems like an impossible standard, it’s not if we allow Christ to rule our lives. "I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

His Son

2008-09-20T16:04:00.000-04:00

Today this verse took on new meaning for me:

“For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

A gentleman I met in a ministry training class this morning profoundly changed the way I think of this verse. He said we often talk about the fact that God loved us enough to die for us. That is an amazingly powerful truth if we allow it to truly soak in, and don’t skim over it simply because those words are familiar to us.

But this gentlemen went on to share that just a few years ago, he lost his own son to suicide. Since then, he says he has realized that not only did God love us enough to die for us, he loved us enough to allow his Son to die for us. As a parent, I’m guessing most of us would probably say we love our children enough to die for them. But can you fathom the love it would take to allow your child to die to save someone else? That’s how much God loves us.

Sermon on the Mount

2008-09-18T16:07:00.000-04:00

This evening begins our new Bible study group. We’ll be using Kay Arthur’s study on character: Lord, Only You Can Change Me. Since this study is based on Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount”, I wanted to revisit my notes from a sermon our pastor preached via video from the Sea of Galilee earlier this summer.

The Sermon on the Mount is found in the book of Matthew, chapters 5 - 7. It’s full of great teaching, but here are a few key points:

Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt 5:3) ~ Being poor in spirit means recognizing our great need for God, being truly humble.
Blessed are those who mourn (Matt 5:4) ~ We must mourn our own sinfulness. We must comprehend the depth of our own sin so that we recognize what a gift salvation truly is.
Blessed are the pure in heart (Matt 5:8) ~ Our heart must be totally devoted to God, with no divisions of loyalty.
salt and light (Matt 5:13-16) ~ Salt adds flavor when it it sprinkled around; if we clump together with only Christians, we are of no use. We must be a witness for Christ by letting his light shine through us.
extra mile living (Matt 5:41) ~ Help others, do more than is expected, even for the most difficult people.
love our enemies (Matt 5:43-48) ~ This is something that should make Christians stand apart from the rest of the world.
do not worry (Matt 6:25-34) ~ The birds are expected to work hard, but they never worry if their needs will be met. God knows what we need; when we seek him, we will have all we need.
a plank in your eye (Matt 7:1-5) ~ Before we judge others, we must examine our own heart.
a tree and its fruit (Matt 7:16-20) ~ We are known by the fruit we produce; you can not fake the fruit.

Christ is dealing with our hearts in all of this:
what we do doesn’t matter as much as why we do it.

If you want to follow along with our study, I’ll be posting about it each week.

Manna

2008-09-15T16:12:00.000-04:00

“I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
John 6:57-58

Each morning the manna came down from heaven with the dew. The Israelites were to collect only what they needed for the day. God made the manna so that the people could not store up extra for future days; He wanted them to depend on him anew each day for their needs. It is the same for us: we can’t cram in extra time with God one day so that we can ignore Him for days or weeks afterwards.

Here’s incentive to get my lazy rear out of bed in the morning to have some time with God: Christ is our Manna. He is “the bread of life” (John 6:48). Just as the Israelites in the desert had to trust God for what they needed each day, so should we!

Chosen

2008-09-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10

It is a privilege that we are a chosen people; we are all undeserving. We, as believers, are a royal priesthood: mediators between a holy God and unbelieving people, just as Aaron was for the Israelites. Jesus is our ultimate high priest. Our calling is to reconcile the people with God; we are called to proclaim the gospel of Christ!

We are to be holy–to have the character of God
Remember we are God’s possessions–we belong to Christ. (Titus 2:14)
We are to trust God to meet our daily needs.
The Israelites looked at the desert and wondered what they’d eat, how they would survive. And they grumbled. (Exodus 16:2-3)
Never forget our salvation! (Exodus 19:4)
In both the old and the new testament, God is always the same and his vision for his people never changes.
Our mission is to end up in the promised land with as many people as possible!
Declare his praises! Worship is practice for heaven.

Anger

2008-09-10T15:10:00.000-04:00

In Sunday school, we’ve been covering some of things we as parents do to provoke our kids to anger. (Ephesians 6:1-4) If our children’s hearts become hardened towards us, we will never be able to reach and disciple them as God wants us to do. The way kids develop their perception of what God is like is based on their relationship with their parents; I don’t know about you, but that’s a very humbling and sort of scary thought that makes me much more aware of how I’m parenting!

Here are some things we must AVOID:

lack of marital harmony (Gen. 2:24) ~ Husband and wife are intended to be one flesh; kids need to see this lived out in front of them.
maintaining a child-centered home; the marriage relationship must come before the child relationship. (Prov 29:15b)
disciplining when angry (Eph 4:26-27) ~ Anger itself is not wrong, but often the way we deliver the message does cross over into sinful behavior.
scolding (Eph 4:29). Say what is necessary to “build up” our children and offer them grace, not to tear them down with our words.
being inconsistent with discipline (Ecc 8:11)
not admitting when you are wrong, and not asking for forgiveness from your children (James 5:16) ~ Set a great example of what you want them to do; this is not a sign of weakness, but a show of humility.
constantly finding fault (Prov 19:11) ~ Look for the good, and praise it! Overlook faults whenever possible, if it’s not an issue of respect or obedience.
not listening to your child, or not taking his or her side of the story seriously (Prov 18:13). The Bible says it’s foolishness to give an answer before we listen. Show your child you value him or her by hearing what they have to say, as long as they say it with respect.
not taking time to “just talk” (James 1:19). If we aren’t the primary relationship in our child’s lives, someone else will be.
failing to keep your promises (Matt 5:37). ~ Show them you are trustworthy.
chastening in front of others (Matt 18:15). We must remember that, as believers, our relationship with our kids is eternal; we will only be their parents here on this earth, but will rejoice with them for eternity in heaven.
not allowing enough freedom (Luke 12:48b). As they are given greater responsibilities, they must be given more freedom. A great analogy someone in class shared is that kids are like a metal spring: if you suddenly release the spring, it will go flying off, and there’s no telling where it will land. However, if you let off of it very gradually, by small increments, it will be right there in that same spot when you take your hand off of it.
unrealistic expectations (1 Cor 13:11a). They are not yet adults, so we must not expect them to think like adults. We should also take care never to compare one child to another, whether their sibling or another child we know. God created every one of us uniquely.
practicing favoritism (Luke 15:25-30). In the case of the prodigal son, the father showed favoritism, but he also explained to the older son why he did so. We aren’t shown the reaction of that son, but I hope he understood after his father took time to explain.
child training with methodologies inconsistent with God’s Word (Ephesians 6:4). Any training not consistent with the Bible will exasperate our children.
reacting without understanding the heart (James 1:5). We must be careful not to wound our child’s spirit; we must pray for wisdom in parenting.

There is no list of one-size-fits-all parenting rules…
We must have a close, intimate relationship with the Lord; only then will we know how to handle each unique situation with our children.

Fear and Faith

2008-09-09T15:17:00.002-04:00

God leads, obstacles stop, prayer strengthens, and faith moves.
Christ tells us,

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Exodus, chapter 14…
When the Egyptians pursued the Israelites, the people panicked, and fear replaced faith. Fear and faith cannot co-exist. The people forgot all about the miracles God had recently done for them. They cried to God to save them, then looked for someone to blame for the situation they were facing. They wanted to go back to the “safety” of bondage as slaves to the Egyptians, just as we sometimes return to the bondage of our past lives/sins. Moses told the people not to fear. God knows we will have times of fear, but He wants us to choose to focus on God instead of focusing on our fear. God often leads us to obstacles or trials too big for us so that we will learn to trust Him and stand firm in our faith.

We must pray as if everything depends on God–because it does. Prayer strengthens us for what is ahead. Then in God’s timing, we must step out in faith, knowing God will take care of the enemy. Moses prayed, but then it was time to move in faith as they crossed the Red Sea.

Unrepentant faith leads to the judgement of God. The Egyptians knew God had power, but they wanted to use God’s power for their own benefit. The fear of God is the respect and awe and thankfulness for saving us, since we know the punishment sin deserves.

The Israelites went into the place of death and chaos (the sea), and came out to a new life. This is a foreshadowing of Christ’s death and resurrection, and symbolizes baptism.

Getting Better

2008-09-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

“When a man is getting better
he understands more and more
clearly the evil that is still left
in him. When a man is getting
worse he understands his
own badness less and less.”
~ C.S. Lewis

I’ve found this to be true in my own life. When I was sliding farther and farther away from God, it didn’t really seem to be a big deal. I rationalized everything I was doing, and it all sounded perfectly reasonable in my own mind. But once I finally came back to God, that all changed. During my time of brokenness, I knew that I’d been deluding myself, and I knew God had seen through every bit of my “logic.” Although I know I have been forgiven, I find that as I continue to mature in my walk with Christ, I come to new and greater understanding of just how bad I had been. The benefit of experiencing this Godly sorrow over my sins is that as I face the depths of the evil I have done, my gratitude to my Savior grows. I realize it was my sins that nailed Him to the cross; I understand more deeply His love for me and I have a deeper appreciation for the grace He has given me. But as I allow myself these realizations, I must be careful not to allow Satan to throw those sins back in my face, so I remind him (and myself) that those sins are in the past and God has forgiven me.
I am eternally grateful for Christ’s redeeming love.

Success God's Way

2008-09-07T15:22:00.000-04:00

Mostly on this blog, I’ve been just looking at and writing about particular verses, and that’s great, but I’m also going to start writing about what I’ve learned in sermons and Bible studies as well. It helps me cement it all in my brain and my heart. (And it’s neater than my scribbled sermon notes, so it’ll be easier to re-read later!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Success God’s way = faithfully fulfilling God’s will for your life.

How can we achieve this kind of success?
How can we faithfully fulfill God’s will for our lives?

Success begins by being a servant of the Lord. (Joshua 1:1) In this passage, Joshua has been named as the new leader of the Israelites, after Moses died. God reminds Joshua that Moses was great because he was a servant of God. Although Joshua has big shoes to fill, he would be great if he was willing first and foremost to serve the Lord. Leaders will come and go, but God is eternally in control.
Be clear in your mission. (Joshua 1:2-4) God clearly defined Joshua’s mission: to lead the people into the promised land. What is your life’s mission? We are all called to glorify God, to love Him, and to reach out to others in His name. Our mission must be in context of our role as part of the church, aka the body of Christ; we mustn’t get caught up in the individualistic “all about me” mentality so prevalent in our society.
Be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:5-6) God reassures Joshua numerous times, and urges him to be strong and courageous. He knows we will face difficulties, but He will not fail us. Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is doing what is right and having faith in spite of the fear we feel.
Obey the Word of God. (Joshua 1:7-8) We must know the Word of God before we can obey it. We must meditate on it, soak it in. When a sudden heavy rain comes upon land that has been drought-stricken, the land cannot absorb much of that rain, but a slow and steady rain soaks in to the parched ground. It is the same way with our hearts: we must soak in the word a little at a time on a regular (daily) basis.
Know that God will be with us every step of the way. (Joshua 1:9) He is bigger than any challenge we will ever face, and we CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

If we obey God, he promises prosperity. But the definition for the Hebrew word used for prosperity means "succeeding in life’s proper endeavors through obedience to God."

More Than Words

2008-09-01T15:25:00.000-04:00

I’m not sure who to give credit to on this song, but it’s one we sing at church.

Holy God, You alone are worthy of my praise
Every breath I take for all my days
Is Yours, my King

Holy God, I will sing another song to You
But there’s even more I want to do
For You, my King

I want to give You more than words

I want to love You with my life
I want to be a sacrifice
You gave it all when You paid my price
So I want to love You, love You, loveYou

Holy God, I will not forget the love You gave
For my sin the sacrifice was made
By You, my King

Holy God, with Your Spirit here inside of me
Let Your glory shine that all may see
You are King
And I want to give You more than words…

It’s easy to have good intentions, and to give lip-service to God. But do we love Him with our whole lives? Do we give him every moment of our lives? Do we get in the way so that His glory can’t be seen through us? He paid the price for my sin, and yours, and I want to give Him more than words. I want to love Him with my life.

Overlooking Offense

2008-08-31T15:28:00.001-04:00

“A man’s wisdom gives him patience;
it is to his glory to overlook an offense.”
~ Proverbs 19:11

As I grow in my relationship with Christ, I gain wisdom. As I gain wisdom, God enables me to have patience; it’s part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). And whenever I am able to overlook an offense, it brings me glory. I would venture to say it blesses the one whose offense I am overlooking as well.

One of the many ways we exasperate our children (Ephesians 6:4) is by nitpicking every little thing they do. Our children aren’t perfect and neither are we. If we spend more time criticizing them than praising and encouraging them, it does NOT benefit them and does not teach them anything; in fact, it often creates a root of bitterness in the heart of the child. I don’t want that for my relationship with my kids. Usually the relationship kids have with their parents determines the way they think of God. I don’t want my kids thinking that God is an impatient, perfection-expecting, impossible-to-please kind of Father. I want them to know how loving, how patient, how compassionate He is! So I am going to think on this verse often, and remind myself that there are many things that just aren’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things; I need to learn to “overlook” those little offenses! Children need to know they are precious in God’s sight, and in the sight of their parents.

This applies just as well to our relationship with our spouse. We must overlook the minor things, and focus on the good. Stop focusing on the “bad” things, and seek to find and praise the good in our spouse. It blesses our spouse, AND it blesses our marriage as well.

Be Holy

2008-08-30T15:06:00.002-04:00

“As the One who called you is holy,
you also are to be holy in all your conduct”
1 Peter 1:15

God tells us to be holy, like he is holy. How do I do that!?! He knows I’m going to sin, but he wants me to keep my focus, my “eyes” on him. Being holy means being set apart, so my conduct should set me apart from those who don’t know Christ. But I am not holy due to my own goodness; I am holy because I was called by God and I answered yes.

When I typed in “holy” in my online dictionary, here are a few of the definitions that came back:

specially recognized as or declared sacred; consecrated
dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion
saintly; godly; pious; devout
having a spiritually pure quality
a place of worship; sacred place; sanctuary

All of the above definitions can be applied to us as believers: we have been consecrated by God; we should be devoted to the service of God; we should seek to be like Christ (Godly); we have been cleansed by the blood of Christ so we should seek to remain spiritually pure; God lives in us, so we are his sanctuary. Salvation is not brought about by good works, it is only by trusting in Christ that we are saved. And being holy is not because of how spectacularly wonderful we are; being holy is completely dependent upon our relationship with Christ.

Lord, help me be holy as you have called me to be. Let my thoughts, words, and actions reflect YOU.

Support

2008-08-23T15:10:00.000-04:00

“If I say, “My foot is slipping,”
Your faithful love will support me, LORD.
When I am filled with cares
your comfort brings me joy.”
Psalm 94:18-19

Who can we really rely upon? If we have at least one true friend, and/or a spouse who encourages and supports us, then we are truly blessed. But even the most loyal friend or spouse can’t be there for us every moment of every day. But the Lord can, and will. He is with us always; He never sleeps or grows tired; He will always have time for us. No one on earth can offer us the same kind of comfort we find in the Lord. He is faithful, and He cares about every aspect of our lives. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

Escape Route

2008-08-22T15:12:00.001-04:00

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.” ~ 1 Corinthians 10:13

We all sin. Even when we’re having a really close walk with God, we’re still tempted, and sometimes it just seems like too much. But Got promises always to provide a way out of temptation. Did you catch that? God always gives us an escape route straight out of sin. Always. No exceptions.

I think we make it harder than it has to be. We get so caught up and distracted by temptation that we miss the big red EXIT sign over the door. But it’s always there. In that bar? It’s there. In the anger that threatens to burst? It’s there. Wrapped in a set of arms you shouldn’t be? It’s there. Caught up in envy over what you don’t have? It’s still there. No matter what sin tempts you, God gives you an exit. When Jesus died on the cross, he took our sins upon himself. That freed us from the penalty of our sin, because he bore the punishment we deserved. But his death did even more than that! Christ’s death freed us from sin’s power over us. What a reason to rejoice! If you’re entangled in sin or gripped by temptation that is just too much, turn to Christ and he’ll free you. Sin did not defeat Jesus. If you’ll let him, he’ll make sure it doesn’t defeat you either.

Inside Out

2008-08-18T15:14:00.002-04:00

I love this song. Whenever I hear it, it sticks in my head for a long time, but that’s a good thing. It’s a prayer of my heart. I want the Lord to be in control of my heart and soul. I want to bring Him praise, glorify him with all my thoughts, words, and actions. I want Christ to consume me from the inside out.

“In my heart, in my soul,
I give you control,
consume me from the
inside out, Lord.
Let justice and praise
become my embrace
to love you from the inside out.

Everlasting,
your light will shine when all else fades.
Never ending, your glory goes beyond all fame.
And the cry of my heart is to bring you praise
from the inside out, Lord, my soul cries out.”

Boasting

2008-08-17T15:20:00.000-04:00

But the one who boasts should boast in this,
that he understands and knows Me–
that I am the LORD,
showing faithful love,
justice, and righteousness on the earth,
for I delight in these things.
This is the LORD’s declaration.
~Jeremiah 9:24

What is worth bragging about? Wonderful skills? High intelligence? Great strength? How about an extensive education? A well-paying, prestigious job? Or maybe a beautiful family? No, the Lord says none of these are worth boasting about, and in fact, he tells us we don’t have bragging rights about any of these things.

The only thing worth boasting about is how well we know God, how well we understand the Lord. This doesn’t mean being able to quote scripture, but truly having wisdom that only comes from an intimate relationship with him. We must know about his faithful love, his justice, and his righteousness. We must know that he delights in these things, and in our quest to know him better…

Everything else is meaningless if Christ is not Lord of our lives.

Logical Defense

2008-08-14T15:24:00.000-04:00

“But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.” 1 Peter 3:15

There are so many important parts to just this one verse. I think the main point here is that I must be ready to give a defense, or explanation, for the hope that is in me. Until a few years ago, I didn’t even know this was in the Bible. I knew it was important to know Christ, but I didn’t know I was suppose to be ready to explain why I chose to trust in him. It seems that recently I’ve had several opportunities to do this, and it has helped my faith grow. God knew that, of course; giving an account of the hope we have blesses the person we are speaking to, but it blesses us as well.

Unfortunately, many Christian seem to miss the next bit about doing this courteously and respectfully. I have seen and heard way too many who have good intentions, and really want to share the good news of Christ, but they don’t share in a humble manner, or as another version says, “with gentleness and respect.” Gentleness. We can interfere with the best of messages if we don’t deliver them with gentleness. Especially if someone is asking us, that means maybe they are ready to hear — but jumping up on our high horse won’t help them accept the message.

Looking at this verse today, I realize there is another HUGE part here. We can’t give a proper defense or account of the hope that’s in us unless we truly do have that hope that comes only from knowing Christ. We must set Christ apart as Lord in our hearts. In other words, we have to truly make him the most important part of our lives — mind, body, and soul. He must be King of our hearts. We must make a choice to surrender our lives to him, not just once at the time of our salvation, but each and every day of our lives. Is Christ the Lord of your day today?

The Temple

2008-08-12T15:27:00.000-04:00

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

This verse really ought to revolutionize our concept of body image. Does it really matter if we look like those gorgeous people on the big screen or in magazines? No! However, our bodies are not our own to do with as we please. We don’t have be concerned about what size we fit into, or what our body fat ratio is, but we DO have an obligation to take the best possible care of our bodies. God knit us together in our mother’s womb, and he knows how many hairs are on our heads, so he must care how we take care of our bodies. Have you ever given someone a gift that you either made by hand or saved up to buy for a really long time? After you gave that precious gift to them, would it have upset you if they abused it and neglected it, and it fell apart too quickly? That would indicate that they didn’t care about your gift and it would be very disrespectful to you as the gift-giver. When we abuse our own bodies — whether through lack of exercise, poor diet, over- or under-eating, smoking, using drugs, engaging in sexual immorality — we are disrespecting God.

This earthly body is a gift, individually hand-crafted by the Creator of the universe. It is also the temple of the Holy Spirit; God lives within us! Back in old testament days, God’s spirit lived in the temple (also called the tabernacle: basically a really big tent) and the Israelite people had to go there to worship him. He appeared to them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When it was time to relocate, the pillar moved, so the people packed up the tabernacle and moved wherever God’s spirit led them. An important note: there were very specific rules about how everything in the tabernacle must be handled, and those who did not obey these rules were immediately struck dead. That shows just how important and holy the tabernacle was because it housed God’s spirit. When Christ died, there was no need for that tent or tabernacle anymore, and after he ascended to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to live in his believers. Those who believed in Christ became the tabernacle. If you have accepted Christ, then the Holy Spirit lives in you; this means that your earthly body houses the Spirit of God! Think back to those rules about caring for the tabernacle — don’t you think God wants us to care just as well for our bodies since he lives within us?

I don’t always eat perfectly heathy food, but I’m working on taking better care of my physical body. Not long ago, I began taking exercise more seriously because I realized that if I’m not at my best physically, then I am limiting what I can do to serve Christ. True, he can use anyone, even very sick or frail bodies, but I have an obligation to be at my best — whatever that may be. Our “best” will vary for each of us, but God knew that when he made us. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect. We’ll get our perfect bodies someday, but for now, I do believe that we should show respect and honor to God by taking the best care of these earthly bodies that we possibly can. Remember, God paid a very high price when he sent the Holy Spirit to live within us: the death of his son Jesus.

Abundance

2008-08-10T15:30:00.000-04:00

"From his abundance we have all received
one gracious blessing after another.”
John 1:16

This verse is short, but such a sweet reminder. I have received so many blessings, and when I’m feeling grumpy, I make myself list a few of those blessings to get my focus in the right direction — and oh, how very many blessings there are to count!

To name just a few:

a Godly, loving husband
a beautiful, intelligent daughter
a wonderful stepson
my good health, and the good health of my family
a BIG, close, extended family — many of whom live within a few miles of me
the opportunity to homeschool
the freedom to worship as I want to
talents that I enjoy and can be used to God’s glory
a wonderful Bible-teaching church
flowers, butterflies, and birds in my garden
a silly mutt that makes me laugh
indoor plumbing
a home to live in, clothes to wear, food to eat, & many other material blessings (including my much-adored electric tea kettle!)

I could go on and on… but the point is, I have more blessings than I can count. I really did try to list them all one day, and my hand gave out before I could list them all. Try it sometime, and remember they don’t all have to be HUGE; the simplest of blessings are sometimes really big. Reminding ourselves (and others) to be thankful for all we have been given is a fabulous thing to do, but even bigger than that is to remember the origin of these many blessings: Christ! And the best of all these blessings is this: “… to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 )

I’m so thankful to God for my own salvation: for saving me from myself and from the power sin had over me. I’m so thankful that I will someday be with Jesus in heaven, and that he walks with me each and every day here on earth.

Learning, Living, Teaching

2008-08-06T15:34:00.001-04:00

“Ezra had committed himself to studying the Revelation of God, to living it, and to teaching Israel to live its truths and ways.” Ezra 7:10

Can I honestly say that I’ve committed myself to studying, living, and teaching God’s Word? That’s what Ezra did. Another translation puts it this way. “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” He set his heart to study the law of the Lord. I’m a Christ-follower, and I do seek to know his word and his will, but am I committed enough? Do I make this my first priority?

I was very blessed last night at our homeschool support group meeting, when one of the mom’s shared a bit about her “broken road” she’s been on this year. I know and love this mom; she just radiates Christ. Her family is so loving and so in love with Jesus, that I would love to just sit in a little corner of her living room and soak up how they do life. But about six months ago, their youngest son died unexpectedly, not long before his third birthday. They have no explanation for his death. She shared last night about how this has changed her perspective. Before this tragedy, she loved and trusted God, and tried to regularly have quiet time with Him; since this great loss, she wakes up each morning running to Jesus, soaking in His word, letting Him show her His plans for her day and her life. She realizes that before this, she only let Jesus have those parts of her life that felt out of control, and she held onto the other parts. Now, she gives it all over to Him, every single day. She feels His love in even the tiniest details. She says, “My God is soooo big, but he is so intimate, too.”

About a week ago, I was talking with a friend and we ended up on the topic of children who are battling serious illnesses. My friend wondered aloud, why God allows pain and suffering, especially for little children like that. So I told her of that mom who lost her sweet boy. I said that, this side of heaven, we will never know why God numbered his days so few, BUT I have seen how God has already used even this for his glory. In the past few months, that family has already been to comfort and grieve with several other families who have experienced the loss of a child. Every single time I’m around that mom, she blesses me in some way with her love and wisdom, which she will humbly tell you all comes straight from Christ. Even when I took a meal to her house just a few weeks after her little boy’s death, talking with her blessed me so deeply. She has lived through unspeakable pain, and yet, instead of running from God, she and her family ran right into His arms. It’s easy to “have faith” when things are going well, but when it’s put to the test, what then? This family blesses me by showing me the most clear example of TRUE faith I have ever seen. After sharing that with my friend, she said, with tears in her own eyes, that now even she had been blessed by this mom. Every mother in that homeschool meeting last night was blessed, and will likely share this story with at least one more person. And if reading this has blessed you, then that ripple effect of this mom’s faith has gone even farther.

Coming back around to my original point. If time with God, taking in all He has to teach me in His word, isn’t my number one priority, why not??? I know God is big, and I’ve seen Him at work in tiny details, too. Isn’t that enough to wake up each morning eager to hear what He longs to tell me that day? How many times has He spoken and I’ve turned a deaf ear to him? And am I, like Ezra, really LIVING what I’m learning? I’m trying. And am I teaching it to others? To my daughter, yes. But am I missing opportunities to share with others around me? I am sorry to say that I think I am, and that is something I must change.

Lord, help me be more like Ezra, and to earnestly set my heart to learning, living, and teaching your Word. Amen!

UPDATE: that amazing mom has a blog of her own now ~ Live Hard, Love Hard.

Eyes of Mercy

2008-08-05T15:40:00.000-04:00

“I do not know that the prodigal saw his father, but his father saw him. The eyes of mercy are quicker than the eyes of repentance. Even the eyes of our faith is dim compared with the eye of God’s love. He sees a sinner long before a sinner sees Him.”
C.H. Spurgeon (from sermon based upon the Prodigal Son)

This is such a clear picture of how much God loves us. He is watching, waiting, with tears in his eyes, until we finally look up and see him. We may be afraid to look him in they eye, expecting to see anger burning in his eyes, or at least hurt and disappointment. For a long time, I knew he was there but I did everything I could think of to keep from making eye contact. I knew what a sinner I was, but I kept justifying all the reasons why I did what I did. I prayed, but my prayers were more about telling God that I knew what I was doing (ha!) and that he didn’t need to be looking over my shoulder or worrying about me. I spent years trying to stay just out of God’s reach (which of course, is actually impossible) so that I wouldn’t have to see the pain I had caused him. I didn’t realize the love I would see when I finally did look into his eyes, and that the heartache I would see there was because he felt my pain as his own.

Just as the father of the prodigal son watched and waited for his wayward son to return, my God watched and waited for me to return. He knew I would, eventually, but if he had forced me to return to him, he knew I wouldn’t have appreciated him as much as I do now. He gave me freedom, which I abused, and it was my own stubborn pride that kept me from running back to him. I returned only when I had tried to stand on my own and had failed miserably. I was broken. Just as the prodigal son, I expected harsh treatment, but my Father just wrapped his arms and told me how much he loves me. He continues to walk right along side me every day, and for that I will be eternally thankful.

“When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’ “But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. ” Luke 15:20-24 (the message)

(”In Other Words” is hosted today by Heather at Mumblings of a Mommy Monk.)

God's Big Plans

2008-08-03T15:44:00.000-04:00

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

Do you feel capable of doing great things? You are, with Christ’s help. Though we may never reach our financial goals, though most of us won’t ever be famous, God does have GREAT BIG plans for us–bigger than we can imagine. What those plans are will differ for each of us, of course, and some will be more “high-profile” than others, but if we follow Christ’s plan for our lives, we will accomplish great things. A better way to put that, I suppose, is that Christ will accomplish great things through us, if only we’ll let him.

Some people think the Christian life is suppose to be easy, but it’s not. We are guaranteed happiness, but not necessarily in this life here on earth. Being Christian will be hard. God doesn’t promise a life without pain, and probably a lot of very uncomfortable, inconvenient things! There is a saying that God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. But I think a better way to put that is that God won’t ask us do to anything that he isn’t willing to walk through with us.

A beautiful song called “Ruin Me” was performed today at church, and part of the lyrics said this:

“Ruin my life, the plans I have made
Ruin desires for my own selfish gain,
Destroy the idols that have taken Your place,
‘Til its You alone I live for.”

We like to make our own plans, and we tend to resist when God’s plans don’t look like our own. Sometimes his plans are a whole lot harder. But he’s known the plans he has for us from the beginning of time, and they are a whole lot bigger than our own plans. May God ruin the plans I have made, and may his plans be accomplished through me.

He Hears My Heart

2008-07-30T15:47:00.001-04:00

“…God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves…” Romans 8:26 (MSG)

I love this verse. Although I tend to have plenty of words–often, too many–they don’t always come out the way I intended. I’m like that in prayer, too; what I mean to say isn’t necessarily what I actually end up saying. One of the reasons I enjoy writing is because it helps me organized my jumbled, rambling thoughts. I like to talk things out, and my dear husband has learned that he doesn’t have to “fix” anything or offer solutions (unless I ask), but just listen as I ramble on. But this verse reassures me that the Holy Spirit is taking all my ramblings to God, and translating them to what my heart actually means. Isn’t that a lovely thought?

This verse also speaks right to those who are in such pain that they can’t even think of words to pray. In deep grief and heartache, the Holy Spirit speaks for us.

I like to think this verse applies to singing worship songs, too. I love singing, but it’s certainly not one of my gifts! I used to be a little self-conscious about people hearing me, but if I apply this verse to my singing, then I figure the Holy Spirit sings for me, and when my songs reach God’s ears, my voice is as glorious as an angel’s. (I do, however, feel a little bad for the person sitting in front of me at church because he or she just gets my plain ol’ earthly voice.)

Last Sunday, instead of a sermon, several people gave their testimonies, and we had a little extra worship music in-between. It was an awesome service. Every song and every testimony touched me heart. But one testimony touched me in particular. They played a videotaped testimony of a few of the children who recently made a decision to trust Christ. Each child said how and when they became a Christian, recited a favorite Bible verse, and told why they wanted to be baptised. It was very sweet. The third child who gave his testimony was an 8-year-old boy named Bennett, who has serious disabilities but has defied doctor’s expectations by attending school and church and doing many of the things they said he’d never be able to do. Bennett is rather difficult to understand, so his video had subtitles. He ended his testimony by saying, “I want to be baptised because I asked Jesus into my heart, and God understands me.” God knows exactly what Bennett is saying, because God sees right into Bennett’s heart. And He does the same for you and me.

I'll Stand

2008-07-27T15:51:00.002-04:00

“So what can I say,
And what can I do,
But offer this heart, O God,
Completely to You…

So I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all.
I’ll stand,
My soul Lord to You surrendered,
All I am is Yours.”

Every time I hear this song it moves me deeply. Christ was perfect, free of sin, but he gave himself up for me–imperfect, sinful me. In thinking about all that he did for me, enduring a painful and shame-filled death to pay the price for MY sins, then what else can I possibly do but give my whole self back to him? Ephesians 5:2 says we should “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” There is no other choice but to offer my heart completely to God, and I stand in awe of the one who gave it all for me. All I am is his. I pray that I might glorify him in all I think and say and do.

Supply and Demand

2008-07-26T15:53:00.003-04:00

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
(John 6: 9-11 )

Last Sunday’s sermon was on the story of the feeding of the five-thousand. Actually it was likely closer to fifteen or twenty thousand, because there were 5,000 adult males there. Anyway, the guest pastor gave a great message, but a couple of points in particular struck me…

At first I didn’t know where the pastor was going with the economics law of supply and demand, especially in relation to this loaves and fishes story. But the “aha” point in this part of his message is this: without Christ, demand will always exceed supply. No matter how much we get– whether it be money, or a bigger house, or sex, or alcohol, or power and fame, or even the “perfect” spouse– it will never be enough. We’ll always want “just a little bit more.” Just think about that a minute; it’s scary how true that is.

On the other hand, with Christ, we will always have plenty. Those people on the hillside had enough; in fact, they took “as much as they wanted.” And there was even some left over! Nothing–no person, no thing, no power or fame or wealth– can fill the void we have when we don’t know Christ. As Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

I know this from my own experience; I’ve tried to fill that void other ways.

The other really big “aha” moment in Sunday’s sermon was this: when that little boy packed his small lunch and left his home that morning, he had no idea that he had the potential to feed multitudes. We do that all the time. We think we don’t have much to give, so why bother. I’m sure that boy had at least a minute or two of thinking, “I’d like to help, but all I’ve got is these five little loaves and two small fish. This won’t make a difference to all this crowd.” But because that boy decided to give it to God, a miracle happened. Another thing to note: the boy gave everything he had; he didn’t just give most of it but keep a loaf and a piece of fish for himself to make sure he’d have a good lunch. He just trusted Christ and gave it all, knowing that Christ would take care of him, too.

For more on this subject, please read “my loaves and fishes” on my Rose Cottage blog.

Joy of Wisdom

2008-07-24T15:56:00.001-04:00

“Wisdom is a tree of life
to those who embrace her;
happy are those who hold her tightly.”
Proverbs 3:18

Wisdom is the ability to discern or what is true, what is right. We might have an entire encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge, but still not have wisdom; the only way to gain true wisdom is by learning what God teaches in his Word. (Proverbs 2:6) And to be in this world but not of it, it’s absolutely essential to learn true discernment.

Proverbs 3: 13-15
“Joyful is the person who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding.
For wisdom is more profitable than silver,
and her wages are better than gold.
Wisdom is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.”

I think one of the reasons wisdom brings happiness is because we aren’t so overwhelmed and confused about what to do in every circumstance we’re faced with. And I believe the biggest reason wisdom bring joy is because it’s impossible to have true wisdom without knowing God–nothing brings more true and lasting joy than a close relationship with Christ.

Graven on His Hands

2008-07-20T10:15:00.001-04:00

“Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God”

Two of our worship leaders did an awesome performance of this song today. I don’t think I’d ever heard it before, although it sounds like an old hymn. All the words are awesome (seems like there were more, but this is all I found online), but that part about my name being “graven in His hand” and my name being “written on His heart” really touched me today. I know that, I’ve read it in the Bible (Isaiah 49:16), but sometimes something I “know” just doesn’t sink in until I’ve heard it quite a few times. Just imagine that…

God had my name (and yours!) engraved right on the palm of his hand, and he has my name (and yours!) written on his heart! He loved us enough to pay the price of our sins with his own blood.

And then that part about Satan reminding us of our guilt. He loves to do that, to make us think so little of ourselves that we doubt ourselves, even doubt what Christ did for us. But we are special, despite our flaws, despite our sins, because Christ loved us enough to die for us, enough to engrave our names on the palm of his holy hand.

Words

2008-07-15T10:27:00.002-04:00

“May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to You LORD,
my rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14

I spent a long time learning to tame my tongue and had a bunch of verses copied down to help me when my tongue was running away from me again. Back then, it was mostly an effort to not say unkind or slanderous things to or about the people I was having difficulty with at the time.

This verse goes further than that, though. Here God is showing me that I should do more than just avoid saying bad things. Everything I say, every single word that comes out of my mouth should be pleasing to God. Not only my words, but even my thoughts! This is definitely one of those times I am extra glad for the Holy Spirit as my helper because this would be humanly impossible for me. I know I’m still not there yet, but with God’s help, I’ll keep getting more like he wants me to be.

Living Water

2008-07-06T14:57:00.002-04:00

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in me.’”
John 7:37-38

Today’s sermon did a wonderful job of explaining the background of this passage. To fully understand it, we have to understand what festival this verse refers to, so I’ll sum up what I know (some I knew before today, but I learned more during the sermon).

This was during the Feast of the Tabernacles (Tents), or the Festival of Booths, which was to celebrate and remember how the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt and through the desert. (Leviticus 23:33-44) Everyone came to Jerusalem for this week-long celebration, and “camped out” in tents the whole time. There was singing, dancing, many sacrifices, and many hours of worship in the tabernacle each day. Every evening the people lit torches to remember how the Lord appeared as a pillar of fire at night to the Israelites during their time in the desert. But the last day of the festival was the most sacred. One of the “big finale” ceremonies was the water-drawing ceremony to recognize that all “living” or fresh water comes from God: the priest would make the trek down to the river, where he filled a golden pitcher with fresh water (as compared to the stale, often diseased water in the man-made cisterns) and carried it back to the temple. While he was on his journey to and fro, the people (probably at least a half-million of them!) enthusiastically recited the hallel, which is Psalms 113 - 118. When they got to Psalm 118:25, they repeated it over and over. . .

“Lord save us! Lord, grant us success!”

Finally the priest would return, the shofar would blow, and the throng of people would become silent. The priest would hold the pitcher high, and speak about how the Lord had saved them, and ask the Lord to grant them success by sending his living water to them for their crops. He then poured the water out on the altar, and the people all began shouting and reciting the hallel again. (By the way, “hallel” + “Yahweh” = hallelujah! How cool is that!? But it’s more than our sometimes lame hallelujahs; theirs was truly worshipping with ALL you’ve got, both body and soul!)

Now let’s jump back to the verse at the beginning of this post. Although we don’t know this for a fact, our pastor thinks that when Jesus stands up and shouts these words, this must be at the only time the crowd of people would have been silent; it must have been when the priest stood with the pitcher of water held high. Everyone would have been shocked that Jesus “broke tradition” by speaking at this time. He spoke boldly, as only he could have done, about being this living water.

I think that we all choose the stale cistern water sometimes. Rather than choose the living water of Christ that truly quenches our “thirst”, we seek the things that we think will satisfy us. But nothing will fill the God-shaped hole in our hearts except God himself.

Who is your Timothy?

2008-07-02T10:48:00.002-04:00

"The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."
2 Timothy 2:2

Timothy was a younger man than his mentor Paul, and had been an eager and willing student of all Paul had to teach him. He was fertile ground, because his faith had been taught to him from a very young age by his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 1:5). Just as we all need a “Paul” (mentor) and a “Barnabas” (encourager), we also all need to have a Timothy: someone to pour ourselves into- someone to share whatever wisdom God has given us.

Once Timothy had learned from Paul, he was instructed to go teach others; he was to become a “Paul” himself, with other “Timothys” to instruct. I once heard someone compare us to sponges: a sponge can only soak up so much water. It must be wrung out and give that water to others before it can go back to soak up more water. We’re like that, too. We can soak up learning but at some point our capacity maxes out and we must go share that knowledge before we can come back to learn more. So we start out learning all we can, and then we go teach and mentor others.

For those of us who are parents, our children are Timothys for us. It is our responsibility as parents to instruct and mentor our children. In fact, I believe parenting is discipling. Just as Timothy was instructed my his mother and grandmother, we must instruct our children. “Teach [God's words] to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.” (Deuteronomy 11:19)

Even for those who are not parents, there are plenty of Timothys available. Whether you are very mature spiritually, or just a brand-spanking-new believer, you can find someone to mentor: anyone who is not as far along as you are in your walk with Christ, or perhaps someone who isn’t yet a believer at all.

Who is your Timothy? Your Paul? Your Barnabas?

Be Barnabas

2008-07-01T10:45:00.002-04:00

“But Barnabas accepted Saul and took him to the apostles. Barnabas explained to them that Saul had seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to Saul. Then he told them how boldly Saul had preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus.” Acts 9:27

When a man named Joseph joined the disciples, he was called Barnabas, which means “son of exhortation and or encouragement.” To understand this verse above and to understand exactly what Barnabas did here, we have to remember the background of this story. Saul had been one of the absolute worse anti-Christian terrorists the world has ever known. He hunted them and had then killed. He had a part in stoning Stephen, the first of Jesus’ disciples to be martyred for his faith. Saul’s reputation was known far and wide. So when he showed up wanting to join the disciples, their wariness was very understandable! Sure, he had a story about a bright light and a voice from the heavens, but they figured this could just be an elaborate plot to infiltrate their group and have them all arrested and executed!

I’m not sure exactly how Saul and Barnabas met, but Barnabas believed his story. He believed in Saul, and spoke on his behalf, convincing the other disciples to welcome him. Barnabas stood up for Saul when no one else would. Most likely, this was a very encouraging and very humbling experience for Saul, after all he had done to persecute the Christians. Later, Saul became known as Paul, and was one of the mostly Godly men and powerful preachers who ever lived. And that was largely due to the encouragement he received from Barnabas.

We all need a Barnabas or two: someone to encourage us and stand by us; someone committed to Christ and to us. We all need to be Barnabas to others, too! For those of us who are married, our spouse should be one of the Barnabas relationships in our lives, but I think it’s essential to have some encouraging Christian frienships (with the same gender) as well. Recently a friend told me she considers me a “life-giver” - that is one of the very best compliments I have ever received, but it’s also a lovely way to say that I encourage her. I pray that I continue to be a Barnabas for her and others, and I am thankful I have great girlfriends and a wonderful husband to be encouragers to me as well!

Be Imitators

2008-06-30T10:42:00.001-04:00

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 11:1

Our Bible study class has been focusing on growing in our relationship with Christ. Last week, we talked about relational discipleship: investing in the spiritual growth of others. There are three main relationships every believer needs: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy (or a few of each). The above verse is about the Paul in our lives.

Paul was an imitator of Christ. He strived to be like Jesus, and although he was still a flawed and sinful human, I think he came closer to that goal than most of us do! In this verse, he is boldly telling his fellow Christians– including us –to follow his example, because he was following Christ’s example. I think he understood the difficulty we sometimes have with trying to be like Christ, since Christ is not a tangible, touchable man standing before us. Yes, we can learn about him through prayer and through studying the Bible, and he is indeed always with us, but it is harder to imitate someone we cannot literally see and touch. So Paul sets an example for us.

Our teacher likened our spiritual maturity to climbing a cliff (not something I plan to do in real life!). We are all tethered together, and we all depend upon each other to reach the top. You need that person who has already climbed higher to help you continue your climb as well. We all need a Paul in our lives: a mentor. We all need someone who is farther along in their walk with Christ to help us grow in our own. I am blessed with a few Pauls in my own life. Do you have someone like that in your life? If not, I encourage you to seek someone who can be a Paul to you.

(Tomorrow’s post will be about the Barnabas we all need.)

Go Make Disciples

2008-06-28T21:17:00.001-04:00

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

I admit that I have trouble with this. When I think of evangelizing, I have visions of televangelists with big hair and fake tears. “Churchy” lingo makes me cringe. And if it makes me, a church-going Christian cringe, then how must it make the un-churched person feel? I have some un-churched friends, even a very atheist friend (but I’m still praying for her!) and I know as soon as Christianese enters conversation, they send up a big concrete wall and none of it gets through to them.

But for a long time, all I knew were the churchy words. I think it takes a lot more understanding to “get” the big concepts that the Bible teaches, and then to put them in our own words. We have to make it a natural part of conversation. The way we talk when God is the topic of conversation shouldn’t sound significantly different from the way we talk about any topic. I don’t mean to be irrevrent about it, but we shouldn’t suddenly switch gears to “sound holy” when we speak of the Bible, or our relationship with Christ. I have finally realized that it takes doing it– actually talking about Christ, and about my relationship with him– to become comfortable with it. If I feel uncomfortable talking about it, that will show in conversation, and I’ll most likely end up making the other person uncomfortable, too. And that sure won’t make them want to know Christ.

What I am trying to do is to become so comfortable talking about Christ that my enthusiasm about life with him will come shining through. I want to live my life in a way that glorifies him. I want to live joyfully, so that those who know me (but don’t yet know Christ) will want to know what my “secret” is. And when they ask, or when the opportunity comes for me to bring it up, I want to talk about Jesus in a way that makes them want to get to know him, too. Without “preaching” at them or thumping a Bible. (That part can come later.)

The other day, I finally watched the “Cardboard Testimony” video I’ve heard about from friends. If you haven’t seen this, you can find it on YouTube. Watching the people walking by with their cardboard testimonies was pretty powerful, but the part that spoke to me the most was at the end of the video. A man (the pastor, maybe??) asked, what if this was the greeting committee for you when you reached heaven? Because of what you had done and the lives you had touched here on earth, all these souls waited to greet you and thank you for the part you had in getting them to heaven. Wow. That is definitely something to strive towards. Will I have a welcoming committee like that? Will you?

Waiting

2008-06-24T21:22:00.000-04:00

“The LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Happy are all who wait patiently for Him.” Isaiah 30:18

I remember a time when my daughter did something she knew she wasn’t suppose to do, and she got hurt. She was mad; I knew it was mostly mad at herself, but she was mad at me, too, simply because she realized I was right. If she had followed the rules I had given her, it would have prevented her from getting hurt. As soon as she stopped being mad and asked for my help, I rushed over to console her, and she apologized for breaking the rules. I took care of the boo-boo, she learned a valuable lesson, and we snuggled.

This is what God wants to do. There are times (too many!) when I have broken the rules, went against what I know God wanted me to do. And I got mad at myself for screwing up, but I think at first I was even a little mad at God for being right! As soon as I acknowledged that I had sinned, and asked for his help, he rushed right in to comfort and love on me. He was right there the whole time, just waiting for me to look up and ask for help. The Lord knows this life is hard, and he knows I’m going to mess up sometimes, especially when I step out ahead of him, and don’t wait for his instructions. When I do what I think best, without waiting to hear what God has to say on the matter, I’m most likely going to get hurt. But when I listen, and I wait, things go so much better.

(Please also read my post about perseverance on my other blog here.)

Made Complete

2008-06-17T21:26:00.000-04:00

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:18-19

It took me long time to learn this: God can’t love me any more than he already does. Think about that. He loves me (and you!) so much that it isn’t even possible to love me (and you!) more than he does right now. When I sin, I think that makes him sad, and probably angry, but it doesn’t make him love me less. This means it is not possible for me to mess up so bad that God finally says, “Enough! I loved her right up until then, but not any more.” Nope; that just won’t ever happen. He loved me even before he knit me together in my mother’s womb, and he’ll keep on loving me every day of my life and beyond.

This also means that I can’t be good enough to earn his love. If I can’t do anything to lose God’s love, then I also can’t do anything to win it. How freeing that is! God’s love is not conditional! I love this verse above. Try for a minute to fathom just how wide, long, high, deep God’s love is. As far as east is from west? His love is even wider. As long as the beginning of time until the end? His love is even longer. As high as the tallest mountains, or even up into space? His love is even higher. As deep as the depths of the ocean, or the very center of the earth? His love is even deeper. Big enough to love us when we turn away from him? Yes, that big, and bigger.

I know I’ll never fully be able to comprehend God’s vast love. Sometimes I read amazing, touching love stories, and I think, “Now THAT is a true example of great love.” But as great and inspirational as those stories are, they are a mere drop in the ocean compared to God’s love.

God loves you, and he’ll never stop loving you. When we understand and accept this joyous truth, then we “will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Now that’s truly something to celebrate.

Treasure

2008-06-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

I’ve read this verse for years, but I guess it was one of those that kind of made me uncomfortable. I felt like I “got it”, but I don’t think I really did. I think the big clincher for me was Randy Alcorn’s book, Money, Possessions, and Eternity. That is definitely not a comfortable book to read for anyone living the life of luxury. And as he points out, if you have a computer or cell phone or television, as well as a roof over your head and enough food to eat, then you are in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people. Wrap your brain around that for a second.

That means, if I can’t afford a new car, or that trip to the salon, what - in the BIG picture - am I really missing out on? It’s ok to have and do things that we enjoy; it doesn’t make us sinners. BUT if we start thinking of every thing we own, or every dollar we spend in relation to eternity, how will that affect our day-to-day decisions? For us, it involved making the commitment to officially tithe, on every bit of money we make, every week, rather than when it wouldn’t “stretch” us a little thin. It also meant deciding to sell my fancier car for something more practical, and to sell our 2nd vehicle (still for sale ~ anybody want to buy a Jeep?). That will mean some inconvenience, but we don’t want to be slaves to our money, slaves to a paycheck. There are many ways our thinking about what we own and what we spend has changed in the past year or so, and I have a feeling God isn’t done with us on that topic.

Even if we can afford all the niceties, how does having a Ferrari in the garage glorify God or help bring others to him? That car, and all the other things we own will someday be nothing but a heap of rust. My home will be nothing but dust. That is hard for me to handle. So since collecting things here is pointless, how do we store up those treasures in heaven? By doing things that matter for eternity. By allowing Christ to work through us to bless those around us, and to have some part in helping others to know Christ or to grow in their relationship with him. That is true treasure.

And that bit about your heart being where your treasure is? I have been learning more and more how true that really is. If you tithe, especially when things are tight, you are making a choice to trust God to meet your needs by showing him you’re going to choose to give back to him even before that stack of bills is paid. If you sponsor a child in Haiti, you will begin to care more deeply about the plight of children there and around the world. If your money is in going to your house and your car, then you are going to care quite a lot about those things. What do I want to care about? Then that’s where my money needs to go.

Think on These

2008-06-10T21:31:00.001-04:00

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just,
whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise,
think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8

I am a worrier, a worst-case scenario kind of girl. I guess I have always thought if I prepare for the worst, then anything else will seem manageable. When I start thinking that way, my husband jokingly reminds me how ridiculous I’m being my saying something like, “and the HOUSE is going to FLIP OVER on us!” Yes, I’m that crazy sometimes. The problem with that is that these scenarios are all hypothetical, which means I absolutely can’t truly prepare, AND these kinds of thoughts just make me worry more. I used to have the craziest, most vivid nightmares, so even my subconscious was thinking this way.

For years I thought this way (I still do sometimes, but I’m doing much better!), and didn’t realize that it was largely due to what I was allowing myself to put in my head (tv, books, news), AND what I was allowing myself to think about. Sometimes real life is indeed sad and scary; there’s nothing I can do about that, and I don’t want to shield myself from the pain of others if there is any way I can help them. What I can do, though, is “capture” my bad thoughts and make a deliberate choice not to think those things. In even the saddest of situations, I believe there is something good that can be found if one looks hard enough. So I must choose to think on those good things, and not dwell on the bad.

On a day to day basis, I try to live this verse simply, too. I literally take time to stop and smell the roses on my way to the mailbox, and I was thrilled to see two of my daylillies finally open today. I cherish those moments in the evening when I lie down with my daughter in her bedroom and we talk about our day before she drifts off to sleep. I delight in all the fun moments I spend with my husband. I enjoy decorating with “pretty” things, and I make a point to savor each cup of steaming hot tea. I periodically make a mental list of some of my many blessings, and take a few moments to think on those things and thank the wonderful and compassionate God who created them all. And you know what? I almost never have bad dreams nowadays, and I very seldom think “the house is going to flip over” anymore. {smile}

Strong Roots

2008-06-08T21:36:00.001-04:00

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence indeed is the LORD.

He will be like a tree planted by water:
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

Here in Georgia, we’ve had a terrible drought for a few years now, and last year began serious watering bans. It’s been interesting, but sad, to see which plants have survived and which ones have succumbed to the drought. Almost everything I planted last spring, before the watering ban, died over the summer because we couldn’t water it. But the plants that already had good established roots survived. Some of them looked a little worse for the wear, but they survived, and they have perked up beautifully this spring. That’s what this verse brings to mind. Often it seems that we trust in the Lord when things are going well, but when things get tough, do we cling steadfastly to him, or do we blame him for our troubles? If we have truly put our trust in him, then the answer is that we continue to cling to him. We’ll be like those plants that survived the drought, and like the tree in this verse, and we’ll be able to withstand the drought because our roots run deep down to the living water that never runs out. The thing is, we have to make sure we have those deep roots, and that comes from a true relationship with Jesus, which, in turn, comes from spending time with him in prayer and in his Word. That’s where we get the never-ending living water, and THAT is what allows us to keep producing fruit.