Recently, I spent some time with a group of people I have known most of my life who are not Christians. I felt like a removed observer during my visit as joining in was out of the question. Fish don't fly and neither could I do as they did.
I tried for some time to make sense of my time and experience with them. What did the Lord want me to take away from all I heard and saw?
I wasn't really that far removed. I used to be just like them. Why was it all so shocking now? Familiar feelings came back, feeling frightened and threatened. I was alone as you might feel alone if you were in a foreign country surrounded by strangers. I prayed almost constantly as the only one I had to comfort me, my only companion was the Lord.
No matter how I tried to rationalize that they would not hurt me, my fear was not relieved. The Lord must have a reason for letting me walk there for that time. Looking in the scripture for understnading, it may be that my visit was not for me but for them.
1st Peter 2:11-12 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Be good now!
People tend to measure themselves by other people. I'm not as bad as... I'm better than... we always have Hitler and if God grades on a curve most people can find an easy justification for themselves.
So we put the best on one end... say Mother Teresa and Hitler on the other end. Where do you see yourself on this line? The better question is: "Where does God see you?"
If you are 'in Christ/ saved/ having repented of your sins' then God sees you as in Christ's righteousness. What that means is that you stand guilty before God, as breaking His law, sinning against Him. Repent (turn from) those sins and receive Christ's payment for those sins. Then you are acquitted and Christ has paid your penalty (the wages of sin being death. Rom 3:23). The requirement of the law has been met! This is justification, the transaction of the cross. Nothing more is required for salvation. Nothing! God does not forget, He is not bribed by good works, time does not forgive sin... only Christ’s blood. God is a holy and righteous Judge, His law is fulfilled.
So then, now are you good? No. But for the first time you have the power to do good:
Romans 6:16 "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
Before you are His, you are a slave to sin. (sinful from birth Psalm 51:5) You had very little power to do right and your thoughts were evil from conception. If you did good deeds it was with selfish motives (make yourself appear good, feel good, appease guilt, get something from someone else).
Afterward you are a slave to Christ. With His Holy Spirit you now have the power to do right, to please God. Not to earn or keep salvation but to participate in sanctification which is the work of God in you to make you more Christ like. 1 Thess 5:23 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So we put the best on one end... say Mother Teresa and Hitler on the other end. Where do you see yourself on this line? The better question is: "Where does God see you?"
If you are 'in Christ/ saved/ having repented of your sins' then God sees you as in Christ's righteousness. What that means is that you stand guilty before God, as breaking His law, sinning against Him. Repent (turn from) those sins and receive Christ's payment for those sins. Then you are acquitted and Christ has paid your penalty (the wages of sin being death. Rom 3:23). The requirement of the law has been met! This is justification, the transaction of the cross. Nothing more is required for salvation. Nothing! God does not forget, He is not bribed by good works, time does not forgive sin... only Christ’s blood. God is a holy and righteous Judge, His law is fulfilled.
So then, now are you good? No. But for the first time you have the power to do good:
Romans 6:16 "Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?"
Before you are His, you are a slave to sin. (sinful from birth Psalm 51:5) You had very little power to do right and your thoughts were evil from conception. If you did good deeds it was with selfish motives (make yourself appear good, feel good, appease guilt, get something from someone else).
Afterward you are a slave to Christ. With His Holy Spirit you now have the power to do right, to please God. Not to earn or keep salvation but to participate in sanctification which is the work of God in you to make you more Christ like. 1 Thess 5:23 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Summer's end
Here we go again. My love hate relationship with the end of summer. I do love fall but... Maybe it is my public school upbringing but to me a new years starts in the fall. I try to keep the best prespective on change. I know it is God's way. It is silly to cling to and mourn the passing of time. Considering all potential blessings and adventure that each new day holds.
Unfortuantely a reoccuring theme of parenthood is mourning in joy. My children are growing up. As impossible as it would be for them to live with me forever, it is hard to let them go. I'm sure this is as old as time. God blesses us with these wonderful peole to love and raise with the destination of joyful heartbreak when we see them become individuals before God to live out the purpose they were created for.
My homeschool is decreasing. My children are becoming adults. I am becoming more a counselor and less a guide. I see there heart and affection shift to others and I know it is right. Like the last roses of summer I treasure these days so much more than the abundant bouquets of spring because they are rare and fleeting.
Unfortuantely a reoccuring theme of parenthood is mourning in joy. My children are growing up. As impossible as it would be for them to live with me forever, it is hard to let them go. I'm sure this is as old as time. God blesses us with these wonderful peole to love and raise with the destination of joyful heartbreak when we see them become individuals before God to live out the purpose they were created for.
My homeschool is decreasing. My children are becoming adults. I am becoming more a counselor and less a guide. I see there heart and affection shift to others and I know it is right. Like the last roses of summer I treasure these days so much more than the abundant bouquets of spring because they are rare and fleeting.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Annie's Song...
Tomorrow tomorrow, there's always tomorrow...
First it is presumptuous and second it is dangerous.
James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; (AG)all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
In church today I heard a great message today. (Thanks for sharing Daron.) If you want to hear it in full, check out the messages at MVBIBLE.org. But here is a quote that drew such a clear and simple picture that I knew I wanted to share it here.
I remember before I became a Christian and in sharing with unbelievers (those who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord) The unbelievers had this idea of putting off the questions of salvation and eternity. They weren't done having 'fun' (AKA willful sin) yet. Or they didn't see a need for God. But when a crisis or death came along then their minds would turn to Him and they might for a brief time consider the questions but not seek the answers.
Like a man with a leaking roof, they would cover the hole with a tarp while it is raining and plan on dealing with it another day. But when it is sunny the hole is forgotten. Gambling with eternity is simply foolish. Instead of thinking of what may be lost they should consider the gain. An unbeliever holds straw as a treasure while is burns. The real treasure is right before him but his hands are full of straw so he can not or will not let go for fear of what he might lose for the treasure he could gain.
Here is the quote:
First it is presumptuous and second it is dangerous.
James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; (AG)all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
In church today I heard a great message today. (Thanks for sharing Daron.) If you want to hear it in full, check out the messages at MVBIBLE.org. But here is a quote that drew such a clear and simple picture that I knew I wanted to share it here.
I remember before I became a Christian and in sharing with unbelievers (those who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord) The unbelievers had this idea of putting off the questions of salvation and eternity. They weren't done having 'fun' (AKA willful sin) yet. Or they didn't see a need for God. But when a crisis or death came along then their minds would turn to Him and they might for a brief time consider the questions but not seek the answers.
Like a man with a leaking roof, they would cover the hole with a tarp while it is raining and plan on dealing with it another day. But when it is sunny the hole is forgotten. Gambling with eternity is simply foolish. Instead of thinking of what may be lost they should consider the gain. An unbeliever holds straw as a treasure while is burns. The real treasure is right before him but his hands are full of straw so he can not or will not let go for fear of what he might lose for the treasure he could gain.
Here is the quote:
This life is your only opportunity to come to Christ, and that is not a decision you will want to put off. In his commentary on the book of Matthew; William Barclay relates the following story to illustrate the danger of spiritual procrastination;
There is a fable which tells of three apprentice devils who were coming to this earth to finish their apprenticeship. They were talking to Satan, the chief of the devils, about their plans to tempt and to ruin men. The first said, “I will tell them that there is no God.” Satan said, “That will not delude many, for they know that there is a God.” The second said, “I will tell men that there is no hell.” Satan answered, “You will deceive no one that way, men know even now that there is a hell for sin.” The third said, “I will tell men that there is no hurry.” “Go”, said Satan, “and you will ruin men by the thousand.” The most dangerous of all delusions is that there is plenty of time.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Promises
Promises... The seeds of disappointment for a pessimist and the seeds of hope for an optimist.
Which one are you? Do you have hope or disappointment? What is it based on?
Psalm 31:24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.
My husband rarely makes promises. Why? Because he is an honest man who will always keep his word to the best of his ability. Making promises is just a contractual agreement to battle circumstance. He has lost too many times. Especially in the realm of deadlines. So for him to make a promise is rare. He doesn't want to break it and that can't happen if he doesn't make it. Prevention is his cure to being a promise breaker.
For him to make a promise it has to be very important to merit the battle he will have to endure to keep it. His marriage vows: That is a promise kept. Not just to me but to God. In this world of opportunity and ever present temptation, this truely is a battle, even for a man of integrity.
Do you make promises? Do you trust others to keep theirs? Are you growing seeds of hope or disappointment?
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
The promises made to me are not based on my husband's ability to battle and win but on the One he battles for. No, it isn't me, it is his Lord. The integrity that keeps him is the vows between him and Christ. I just reap the benefits of having a Godly husband because of his loves for the Lord.
The promises he has made are rare and special. Considering the world we live in, I know they are very rare and very special and only possible because we are rooted in Christ.
Ephesians 3:16-21 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Which one are you? Do you have hope or disappointment? What is it based on?
Psalm 31:24 Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in the LORD.
My husband rarely makes promises. Why? Because he is an honest man who will always keep his word to the best of his ability. Making promises is just a contractual agreement to battle circumstance. He has lost too many times. Especially in the realm of deadlines. So for him to make a promise is rare. He doesn't want to break it and that can't happen if he doesn't make it. Prevention is his cure to being a promise breaker.
For him to make a promise it has to be very important to merit the battle he will have to endure to keep it. His marriage vows: That is a promise kept. Not just to me but to God. In this world of opportunity and ever present temptation, this truely is a battle, even for a man of integrity.
Do you make promises? Do you trust others to keep theirs? Are you growing seeds of hope or disappointment?
Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
The promises made to me are not based on my husband's ability to battle and win but on the One he battles for. No, it isn't me, it is his Lord. The integrity that keeps him is the vows between him and Christ. I just reap the benefits of having a Godly husband because of his loves for the Lord.
The promises he has made are rare and special. Considering the world we live in, I know they are very rare and very special and only possible because we are rooted in Christ.
Ephesians 3:16-21 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Overcome with guilt!
Delinquent blogger guilt.
I've been busy, truely I have.
The Lord is working on some long term on-going personal issues and the lesson has been painful. Faith is not faith if it is left on the shelf until it is 'needed.'
I think I've been coasting a bit and the Lord decided a pothole was necessary for a little wake-up call.
So, let's focus on the eternal. The lost and their very determined nature to remain so, staggering to hell with their fingers in their ears and their eyes shut tight! How frustrating!
But it is the eternal focus that brings meaning to life. His purposes above our own will. My recent trial is really limited. There is only so much time I can give to my thoughts. I need to get beyond this and the only way to do that is to find something else to focus on. The ever present urgent reality of the lost.
Lord, give us wisdom and opportunity!
One of my daughters asked me recently what she should have said in a situation concerning sharing her faith. I gave her what seemed to her to be a pretty good answer. She asked me why the answers never come to her when she needs them.
I told her that it has to be in her for the Lord to bring in out when needed. Just because she is saved doesn't mean she is done. She has got to study. Study like a lawyer trying to pass the bar. Like her sister, the college student, studying for an examine. Like a life (soul) depends upon it. I told her that Bible study and Sunday school are not enough. She needs to pursue and consume.
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I've been busy, truely I have.
The Lord is working on some long term on-going personal issues and the lesson has been painful. Faith is not faith if it is left on the shelf until it is 'needed.'
I think I've been coasting a bit and the Lord decided a pothole was necessary for a little wake-up call.
So, let's focus on the eternal. The lost and their very determined nature to remain so, staggering to hell with their fingers in their ears and their eyes shut tight! How frustrating!
But it is the eternal focus that brings meaning to life. His purposes above our own will. My recent trial is really limited. There is only so much time I can give to my thoughts. I need to get beyond this and the only way to do that is to find something else to focus on. The ever present urgent reality of the lost.
Lord, give us wisdom and opportunity!
One of my daughters asked me recently what she should have said in a situation concerning sharing her faith. I gave her what seemed to her to be a pretty good answer. She asked me why the answers never come to her when she needs them.
I told her that it has to be in her for the Lord to bring in out when needed. Just because she is saved doesn't mean she is done. She has got to study. Study like a lawyer trying to pass the bar. Like her sister, the college student, studying for an examine. Like a life (soul) depends upon it. I told her that Bible study and Sunday school are not enough. She needs to pursue and consume.
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a worker who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
What will it take for you to believe?
Ecclesiastes 1:8-10
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
What can I say that has not been said?
The witness that testifies is eternity and creation.
You have been told: By the ten commandments which is God's standard, if you will see the truth of conviction by your conscience that you are guilty of breaking His moral law. He is the judge and will not acquit the guilty. A price is to be paid. Jesus has offered himself as the payment for your sins. Accept his payment and you are forgiven. The sin is not undone, it is dealt with!
Luke 16:31 "He (Jesus) said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
1st Corinthinas 15 1-3 ...I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
John 20:29-31 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
"Look! This is something new"?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
What can I say that has not been said?
The witness that testifies is eternity and creation.
You have been told: By the ten commandments which is God's standard, if you will see the truth of conviction by your conscience that you are guilty of breaking His moral law. He is the judge and will not acquit the guilty. A price is to be paid. Jesus has offered himself as the payment for your sins. Accept his payment and you are forgiven. The sin is not undone, it is dealt with!
Luke 16:31 "He (Jesus) said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "
1st Corinthinas 15 1-3 ...I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
John 20:29-31 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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