Christian Sisters

Frantic worship

2009-06-20T06:56:00.000-07:00

1Kings 18:37 "...so these people will know that you , O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

1Kings 18:29 " Midday passed , and they (the prophets of Baal) continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention."

How often I try to get God to do something. If I read my bible and pray, surely He will answer my cry for whatever I ask. Surely if I serve at church, He will hear and respond. If only we all gather and pray and ask God for revival, for health, for favor, we will be answered. God will respond because we have asked it and at times asked frantically. But here, we see that frantic prayer and sacrifice are not the way to get God to hear. The prophets of Baal believed they would be heard because they worked so hard to get the attention of their god. We believe, at times, that our God will hear us because we pray in a large group, do many good works, read our bibles. I wonder if we have not thought about the fact that God, in His sovereignty, can and will bring new life, a revival, because of His plans, and through His mercy. To want revival is godly, to think we can bring it about is presumptuous. To pray for God to visit us is right, to demand He show up when we call is outright rude. To sacrifice for His kingdom, to serve Him is good and even commanded, to believe that obligates God to us is to become an idolater. God does not owe us anything, yet He has willingly given us mercy, grace and love. He has sought us out and we have ignored Him; He has rescued us and we have rejected Him; He has blessed us richly and we have blasphemed Him.
Pray for revival, pray for health and favor, but hold them all with an open hand before the God of the universe Who, in mercy and love, will do as He chooses for His purposes. We were, after all, created for His good pleasure.

Guard your Heart

2009-06-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart fo it is the wellspring of life."
1Kings 11:4 "As Soloman grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods."

What incredible power the heart wields! The power to turn a man who had been visited by God; not once, but twice. To turn him away from this God to other gods. Away from the living God, to the various gods of his many, many wives. As he held fast to his wives, he lost hold his firm grip on the hand of God.
How powerful the human heart; it turns the trajectory of a human life no matter what the stage. Age does not preclude foolishness nor does wisdom. Guard your heart.
The widowed man, walking with God, in loneliness takes in a younger woman and rejects his God, his family and his church, for her. The wronged wife rejects her husband's repentance and moves in with another man against the wisdom of God and the counsel of friends; losing friends, church, stability.
How powerful the human heart to lead to its own destruction. Like an addict that must have a fix-the unguarded heart leads to the slavery of feelings and finally captivity. The heart, unguarded, must have its way and that is the way to destruction.
Guard your heart!

Death 2

2009-03-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Next time you are listening to the news or reading the paper, notice the reports about people who have died. "3 Die in Detroit Fire" or "Plane Crash Kills 2" or "Actor Found Dead of Overdose." Tragic ways to die, but since when is death news?
We are told in Scripture that we will all die: "It is appointed unto men to die once..." Heb. 9:27. A popular saying, attributed, I think, to Mark Twain states that the only two certainties of life are death and taxes. Why then, is death news? There is nothing extraordinary about it. The way of death may be tragic or untimely, but certainly not unique or unheard of.
My thinking is that we treat death as surprising because we were not made to die. God's plan for humans did not originally include death. And, I believe we all still carry that knowledge in our souls and so react to death as an intrusion. It is not 'natural' for us, it is deeply and decidedly unnatural. As beings not made for death we know at a deep level that we were meant for life and so cling to life and hope for life even in the face of terrible crises and diseases. God made us to live and to live with Him forever. It is our natural state. Our sin has ruined this life and now death must come, and it is an intrusion and an insult. But, as the miracle of Easter shows us, death is now only a door to the life that we were meant to live.

Death

2009-01-04T13:29:00.000-08:00

Death surrounds us, it lurks in places which we think safe. Death stalks us and finds us. We all die. But for me and for all under the care of Jesus, death does not conquer us; not any more. Like many other hurdles, trials and tragedies, death for the follower of Jesus, becomes one more experience which we go through. Death for us has an exit, it becomes a conduit, not a dead end. In conquering death for us, Jesus leads the way through it as we follow Him through it. This is the victory, this is the hope. And this is the truth.

The Effect of Holiness

2008-02-13T15:18:00.000-08:00

“When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” Exodus 34:29

The flesh of Moses’ face took on the reflected glory of the Almighty, because Moses had been in God’s presence. He had spent forty days and nights on the mountain with God; and now returning to the people he was unaware that his face shone. It glowed like a fire, a lamp. This effect of being with God, this physical manifestation so frightened the people that they backed away from Moses and would not come near him. Why would light cause such a fearful reaction? We all think of light as an attractive force. Light is good. But here, this light; is unheard of, unnatural, radiating from a human face, it becomes a thing to fear. Not until Moses beckons the people, do they approach. Perhaps now aware that it really is Moses, the crowd knows he will not harm them, nor will harm come to them from the power that radiates from his face. But the people know that Moses’ appearance has radically changed since his venture up the mountain to meet with God. The anger is gone, there is no belittling of the people; only a glowing face and the commands of God as sealed in the covenant.
And now, Moses learns the cost of coming near to holiness; of becoming holy. That long journey we take to become what God calls us to become. Moses learns it can affect even close relationships, causing people to fall back and to be afraid. Being near God and his holiness has set Moses apart. His face is radiant and it unnerves the people so much that he has to wear a veil when among them; a veil, which creates a barrier and keeps him at a distance from them.
So also, holiness becomes a barrier often. As we become more like Jesus Christ, those around us may back away. Fearful, for themselves and for us they create distance and create reasons for the changes in our life. Think of all the excuses for not becoming Christlike, for not following too closely, Think of how people who pursue holiness are deemed to have missed out on the “good things of life.” Think of how people who pursue holiness are thought to have squandered their talents and abilities in this life.
Think how people who pursue holiness in this life meet with the Giver of life and find life; eternal and abundant. Think how people who pursue holiness find all that humanity hopes for and lose nothing except that which diminishes real life. Think of spending time with God and the effect being actually visible in your face.

Meditations on Jonah

2007-09-10T07:29:00.001-07:00

Can you see him? Sitting on the rise above the city; a yellowed plant trailing over his head. Why is he sitting out in this searing heat? Why doesn’t he come down into the city an find some shade and water. Maybe his is waiting for someone to come out to him, but it really looks like his is simply waiting.

My vine; it died suddenly this morning and now I have nothing to relieve the heat. I won’t be stopped though. I am going to sit here and wait for God to destroy this evil place. He knows they deserve it. These people have violated every law He ever gave and them some. There can be no other solution but for Him to destroy this place. I wonder if He will use fire, or a flood; perhaps He will use plagues, like He did in Egypt. I would just as soon have the ground open up and swallow the whole place up - no traces of them or their evil. They surely deserve whatever God dishes out tho them. And, I can wait, heat or not. I just want them gone. And they should be gone, destroyed, decimated, done away with; forever.
God is righteous, good, perfect and these people have only, ever crossed Him, flaunting their evil ways. I can’t imagine why He is taking so long. I did my part, telling them to repent. Fat chance of that, they were only acting. Now it is time for God to rain down fire on their heads, judge them, find them guilty. Lets wrap this thing up. That sun is hot; why did my vine have to die? It gave such great shade; cooled and comforted me yesterday. Really some things are so good to have; but they die so quickly; why is that?
What is the hold up, God? Where is the destruction you promised to those who do evil? What are you waiting for? Really my vine and its shade were wonderful. I could sure use something to shade my head.
God, where are you? Why haven’t you released your power and destroyed this city? You know how much suffering we have endured at their hands. You of all people know how they have treated us, your chosen people. I know you love us and care for us; we are your special possession. These people hardly even know you. What are you waiting for? You don’t really mean You love these people too. How could you? I really miss my vine....

How to Lose a Promise

2007-09-10T07:01:00.001-07:00

In 1 Kings 11 God promised Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the kingship over Israel; the 10 tribes that He would take from the house of David. God also promised to be ‘with’ Jeroboam and further more to build for him “an enduring house” in the way He did for David. God said to Jeroboam, “ I will give Israel to you.” Additionally, He told him that his family would become a dynasty of rulers if they continued in the ways of the Lord.
But the promises of God did not ultimately convince Jeroboam. In 1 Kings 12:26-29 Jeroboam evidenced his doubt of God. He decided to “make an enduring house” on his own and to rule Israel in another way, outside of the commands and promises of God. He did this by crafting two golden calves as objects of worship placing one in the area of Dan, at one end of Israel, and the other in the city of Bethel, at the other end of the country. This was in order to keep the 10 tribes, those under his rule, from traveling to Jerusalem in order to worship God at the temple. Jeroboam feared the people would desert him for the king of Judah if they continued to worship in the capitol city of Jerusalem.
The Kingdom was promised to Jeroboam; 10 tribes, an enduring house like that of David, and yet he doubted the power of God and the words of God to keep this specific promise to him. He feared the people would be drawn back to the house of David if they continued to worship in Jerusalem So in order to keep what God had surely promised to him, he rejected God, and God’s ways, setting up, instead, his own way to keep the kingdom, to preserve the promise by his own power.
Doubt that God could keep His Word and fear of losing the promise led to loss of all Jeroboam tried himself to keep. What Jeroboam tried to keep, he lost. What he tried to create, he destroyed. Doubt of God led to total loss of all Jeroboam had hoped to accomplish.
God is able to keep His promises and to provide that which He has committed to do. To doubt this is to lose all, as Jeroboam learned.

You Can Get There

2007-03-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

Number 9:15-23
“At the LORD’S command they encamped, and at the LORD’S command they set out.”

The people of Israel knew Egypt; where it was, when the Nile flooded, that Pharaoh was a god, how life as a slave passed there. The culture, language, the customs and food of Egypt were all familiar to Israel. These were, in fact, all the people knew.
Israel knew nothing of the promised land. Having never set foot outside the boundaries of Egypt. The promised land was only a dream, a hope, and more often, an impossibility. The old stories, of ages past, about the forefathers living in The Land; the tales of tents in green pastures, of herd and flocks and wealth were like myths. So far in the past, so impossible in the present. How could a slave ever know the freedom to travel to another place, even if it was promised; how could a slave ever hope to acquire a piece of the land. Surely, this Promised Land, somewhere beyond all that the people knew, was beyond reach, and beyond hope, beyond promise.
And yet there was Israel, tent upon tent, clan by clan, tribe after tribe, camping in the wasteland beyond the borders of Egypt. The journey out of Egypt was, with doubt, orchestrated by the One Moses called God Almighty. That it would take a miracle for Egypt to let Israel go was true, that a miracle actually got them kicked out of Egypt was apparent. Now, evidence of this God Almighty, His presence, was just as evident, in a cloud, a pillar like cloud during daylight and a fiery pillar at night. Always there, just above them, always, always.
The problem was that not one of the people, except Moses, had walked this desert and he even asked his father-in-law to be a guide. A wasteland is barren, inhospitable; the sands shift, landmarks are few and changing, the climate is unforgiving. Amazing to think of leaving the green lands of Egypt, on the Nile River, to walk into a brown, barren desert, carrying all you own, with children and animals in tow. People get lost in deserts, they die from lack of food and water, from heat, from snake bites; a great number of ways to die in a desert. But walk Israel did, right into the wasteland, following the cloud pillar. Through the sand and scrub, over the rocks and around the crags, to the land promised ages ago. This land somewhere to then north and east, but really, no one knew where the Promised Land was exactly. No one, except this God Almighty, this One who promised it, this every present God in the pillar of cloud and fire.
So, He must lead Israel. He alone knew the way, so He must direct their steps. He would have to lead them to water and lead them to grass for their animals. He would have to give them food and protect them from danger. And He would have to show them how to live with Him, right there, in the midst of the tents. So, God lives with these people and shows them the way to the Land of Promise. He leads the way, His Presence guides along the way and in the end, He is the Way.

A New Name

2006-10-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

John 21:20 “The disciple whom Jesus loved....”

Six times in the Gospel According to John, the author refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Near as I can tell, John never once identifies himself by name in the gospel. In a very real way John had given up his own life, as John, a fisherman, a son of Zebedee; to live as the beloved disciple. His earthly identity, the person he was before he met Jesus, no longer described and defined him. John chose to be known not for who he was nor what he did, but for Who loved Him. The fact that Jesus loved him came to be the totality of his identification. It was his new identity in Christ. This may be what Jesus had in mind when He spoke about losing one’s life - ....(Matthew 10:39) He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.
John was a fisherman, in business with his brother and father. When he became a disciple of Jesus, he went on to record the gospel account with his name and author four other books in the New Testament. The last of these books was the result of the vision, given John, of the time of Jesus’ return to earth as conquering king. He went from one of a thousand working men, living in a corner of the globe, to a man who served and taught millions of the love which he experienced himself.
His life, which he lost for the sake of Jesus, was like a million other lives lived out every year on this earth. The life he gained as the disciple whom Jesus loved, was one only the Lord of all life could envision and provide.
John did not hold onto the designation and role given him by the world. His time with Jesus so changed him that the only appropriate name he could use was a description of the relationship God had with him.
He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. That was enough for John.

A Lesson in Love

2006-10-29T13:58:00.000-08:00

John 14:13 ‘For the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”

In the midst of His discourse at the Last Supper, Jesus says the world must learn is that He loves the Father. The lesson to be learned from what went before and what is soon to come on Calvary, is all about love. But this lesson in love does not involve humans at all; it involves the Triune God. The whole world has to, must, needs to - see and understand that Jesus’ life and death, lived out before their eyes is a demonstration of love within the Godhead. This love, that is in the trinity, must have and outlet, as all love must. Because of that, Jesus brings action to demonstrate His love. Marvelous in is power and creativity is this love that, through Jesus’s redeeming death, it brings children to life.
We are born into God’s family because of the redeeming love of God the Son for God the Father. As with natural birth, the new child has no part in the giving of life. Life is given to the child; so with the new life, we are all born of love without any action or instigation from us. Because Jesus loved the Father, He went through with the planned sacrifice that would give new life to all who were dead in sin. We were born anew, because of love. Jesus wants us to learn how great the love is in the Godhead, how He loves the Father. It is a creative, redeeming love and we are the recipients of the overflow of this love, but the primary object of the love is the Father.
We are a gift of love from the Son to the Father.

Those in the know

2006-10-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

John 2:1,7-10 "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galille...Jesus said to them 'Fill the waterpots with water.' So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, 'Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the head waiter called the bridergroom and said to him, 'Every man serves the good wine first...but you have kept the good wine until now.' "

The servants were the first to know of the mysterious happenings. There were even used in the working of this, the first of Jesus' miracles. Obedience, availability and willingness all came together - not money, status, opinion for these who were eyewitnesses to a great event. Servants of God are there for His bidding and these ones got a close view of the Lord at work. What great leader of our time would chose household slaves to be co-workers with him? Generally, we all look for ambitious, motivated, well-dressed, self assured people to carry out plans. Someone who looks like us, who thinks like us, who reflects our views and status. But those who stand afar, looking to have the world notice them are not the type chosen by Jesus. He simply asked the servants, those quiet people waiting to do the service required of them, for help. They were not looking to be in on something big. They were simply doing the job they had been given. They were not the beautiful people of the day. They would never be the beautiful people. However, they were known to the Creator of the Universe and Saviour of Humanity. Fame or service; If the world acclaims you as important, but you miss the miracle of God, what have you really gained? Fifteen minutes of fame in exchange for the price of working with God?

It's Who knows you

2006-08-03T09:01:00.000-07:00

Romans 8:35-37

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or peril or sword? Just as it is written; ‘For your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

Think of being persecuted-ridiculed for your beliefs. The taunting, the snickers, the false politeness extended to you in order to gain your trust only to humiliate you. Your sadness at being ridiculed, misunderstood; your sorrow for those who don’t yet see the beauty of the Savior; your own doubt, all which floods over you in heart and mind.
Think of being humiliated: a debate in which you fail miserably in defending the faith, a false accusation which is believed as truth, a private truth revealed for all to see and mock.
Think of being so hungry that you can barely sleep, yet upon waking having nothing to put in your mouth. Of dreaming of food and waking to bare shelves.
Think of running to avoid the bombs, the gunshots, the bayonet. Finding a safe place to hide, only to realize you’ve been discovered. Wondering why you are pursued, what you have done to deserve such hatred.

In all these circumstances you fear: for your life, your safety, for your faith, your sanity. In all these circumstances you sorrow and weep, for your own pain and that of your pursuer. You worry, perhaps, or are “concerned”. You think and think how this could be happening, about why it is happening. You wonder if you could have done anything differently in order to avoid all this. You long to hear from loved ones. You worry about them. Try as you might you can’t figure out what to do. You wonder when it will end. When life will return to normal, when rescue will arrive.
The circumstances of life as you once knew them are utterly gone; there is no longer any certainty, no longer any rest, no longer any joy.

But in the midst of all this chaos and disruption you overwhelmingly conquer! How you may wonder, do I conquer, overwhelmingly, in death, in sorrow, in fear, in horror? The simple answer is you overwhelmingly conquer because you are loved by God. It is God’s way. He has always cared for those whom He loves. It really is Who you know, or more precisely, Who knows you!
Because He loves you and because you are His, you will come through death to New Life. You will come through persecutions, vindicated and righteous. You will come through famine and sit down at a Marriage Feast. You will come through humiliation and nakedness to be seated in God’s Kingdom, dressed in the robes of Jesus Christ.
All the horrors of chaos, sin and death are only passageways to home for the one loved of God. This is the genuine view of life as seen from the ultimate vantage point of Heaven.

Battles

2006-06-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 20: 15b +17: ...”for the battle is not yours but God’s...you need not fight in this battle, station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed, tomorrow go out to face them, for the LORD is with you.”

When faced with a huge army of several enemies, the people of Judah and King Jehoshaphat gather before God to fast and pray. The Judahites having come from all over the land pray to God, reminding Him of and recalling themselves, His promises. Acknowledging their powerlessness and fear, all people; men, women and children come to God to ask for help. After their prayer, God to His people though a priest. What God tells them is both exhilarating and frightening. The people are told they must face their enemies and as they do, they will see God fight for them. Their involvement is called for but in a way that is perhaps very unlike what they expected. God will do the fighting for them.
This is similar to the account in Exodus 14:12-13. At the time of this event, Pharaoh had decided to chase the escaping Hebrews. When they reached the shore of the Sea of Reeds, the Hebrews realized they are caught between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian Army. In fear and doubt they cry out to Moses who tells them, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again, forever. The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent.”
Again, an impossible military situation looms and the people are fearful. Moses, their leader, knows God will rescue them and so, tells the Hebrews not to fear, and to watch the salvation God will bring. Their only duty, was to be silent and watch it happen.
In these two impossible battle situations, God is the deliverer of His people. Their part is to be still and watch - to see God work on their behalf. The only rescue from impossible situations comes from the One not troubled by the impossible. God, alone, is able, when nothing else and no one else can; to help, to save, to rescue. Crying out to God in the face of hopeless circumstances is the move of wisdom and faith. Then, when He answers we can face the situation and watch His deliverance. Watching and not running away; facing it straight on and not giving up; trusting, not giving into fear: that will lead us to see the deliverance of God.

A Promise Kept

2006-06-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

“As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit is abiding in your midst, do not fear!” Haggai 2:5

God’s promise, found in Exodus 29:46 is: “They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God..”
Reading in Hagagi of this promise God made at the time of the Exodus, I was struck with the utter faithfulness of God to His word. He upholds a promise made nearly 950 years in the past to a people who have only continually been unfaithful to Him. God remembers His promises - no matter how long in the past He made them. He keeps His promises, no matter how hateful, arrogant or foolish His people.
This faithfulness of God is a great relief, a comfort, a true refuge. He cannot be shaken. He will not go back on His word. He is sure and certain, the Rock, our one true Hope; most worthy of trust.

Judges

2006-06-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Our pastor talked about how we are living in a time now similar to the time of Judges of the bible. I have been rereading Judges and finding this an interesting and helpful insight to reading the book and our culture. I was especially struck by Ch2 vs 1-3

Judges 2:1-3
Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, ‘I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, “I will never break my covenant with you. For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.” But you have not obeyed my command. See what you have done! So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’

How true these words ring for us today in our postmodern culture. As we make deals with our culture to live comfortably with them are we not making covenants with those we should? Do we stand guilty of not tearing down the altars as we are called to do? Do we find ourselves in a covenant with a culture that stands in direct contradiction to God's command for our lives? Do we not find now that we have adversaries all around us and are easily ensnared in the gods of this world? If they can not reach us how easily they try to reach our children and those less mature in the faith?

Our modern day Christian can heed the lessons of Judges and learn from the struggles they faced for an unwillingness to obey and to destroy the false altars and stand firm in the convenant with God.

Jesus, was loving and the example of who we are to be. He went to the tax collectors and the prostitutes but he never made claims it was okay that they stay that way. That they were that way He found them, to be sure, but the understanding was something would change. Jesus never condoned the sin, he always loved the sinner.

In our culture we too easily buy into the lie that we can not do both, we either have to accept and condone through our loving tolerance or we are intolerant. That could not be further from a biblical basis. We are called to love all, even the sinners, but we are never called to condone or uphold the sin.

What do you think? Anyone want to read Judges and discuss?

What is up?

2006-05-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today, while outdoors, my neighbor walked by with her dog. Once the dog finished what dogs do and my neighbor cleaned up, I offered my garbage can, right there awaiting pickup, as a depository. She politely declined, saying she didn't mind. She didn't mind carrying a bag of dog droppings. This made me wonder why people refuse offers of help. Is it independance? Or is it independance? Once I took a meal to a family whose father was laid up. The wife turned me away at the door, saying she didn't need the meal and cooking was relaxing for her. I, too, have refused kind offers, though not in the same arena as the above. What is up with us. Do we not want to be indebted to others, do we feel to need is to be weak? Well, how about the truth? We are all in need, all sinners-see the bible for that one. We are all in need of help; to merely breathe each day a helpful gift from God.
From now on, I am going to try to think before I refuse an offer of help.

Observation Regarding Sacrifice

2006-04-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

It is often interesting to examine the ideas culture promotes, and compare them with the same ideas in Scripture. Often the cultural take on these ideas is 180 degrees from the biblical. This is evident in the idea of a what constitutes a sacrifice, and what makes it acceptable.
George Barna, a pollster of Christian thought, reported recently that 51% of American Christians believed Jesus sinned during his life on earth. While this reveals a misreading of scripture, it also shows a lack of understanding about the nature of sacrifice as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. To even begin to get an understanding of the nature of a sacrifice, as delineated by God, we must look into the book of Leviticus which is the ‘handbook’ for the sacrificial system in Scripture. Leviticus lists the various sacrifices the Israelites were to present to God beginning with the Burnt Offering. This particular sacrifice required an animal from the herd or flock; “a male without defect.” In similar vein, the fellowship offering required an animal; “...male or female...without defect.” The Sin Offering and the Guilt Offering, offered to make atonement for one’s sin and guilt for breaking the laws of God, also was to be an animal, “without defect.” All the sacrifices were to be perfect, complete and without any defect.. Later on in scripture, in the book of Malachi, God condemned the Israelites for offering crippled, diseased and blind animals for sacrifices. The clear message is that a sacrifice was to be without defect, perfect.
It is in this context that the poll results of Barna give cause for concern. If as many people believe, Jesus, the sacrifice for our sins, was not without defect, then as Malalchi quotes God “With such offering from our hands, will he accept you?” becomes our concern. A sinful Jesus as our sacrifice, would be, by definition, defective. In essence many are saying that our sin offering, our guilt offering, Jesus, was defective and imperfect. A sacrifice that, by its very nature would be, unacceptable.
However, there is a further problem with the idea of a sinful Jesus. All sin has been given a verdict of guilty and a sentence of death since the first sin in the Garden of Eden. The book of Romans records the reading of the sentence: “The wages of sin is death.” The just sentence for a sinner is death, which in the Scriptures means physical and spiritual death; death of the soul and the body. Therefore, if Jesus was a sinner, He was deserving of death for his own sins. If he sinned during his life on earth, then he was sentenced to death, died, and did not rise, because all sinners die and stay dead, banished from the presence of God, never to be in His presence. That is the fate of Jesus if He indeed sinned. It may be somehow comforting, in a fellowship of thieves kind of way, to think of Jesus as just like us, but if He is, then we are never going to be anything like God. IF Jesus sinned, our sins are still on our souls, not having been paid for, because our sin offering was not perfect, without defect and therefore was not sufficient and not acceptable.
It is time for Christians to think through the ideas currently in vogue and to do so with a background of biblical knowledge.

Second Guesses

2006-04-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

What happens when God says one thing and then we think He says another thing, different from the first?
It has happened to me; perhaps also to you. I am inclined to think it a small thing. On the order of misunderstanding a good friend then having to talk it out. Misunderstanding, though, seems a less accurate a term for it than ignoring or dismissing someone altogether. Scripture has an interesting narrative about just this type of situation.
In 1Kings 13 there is an account of a man Of God being commanded to go to Bethel, deliver a message to the king and return to Judah. His itinerary included the interesting instruction to refuse food and water in Bethel. Furthermore, he was told to return home by an alternate route. It almost sounds like an undercover assignment. However his task is anything but private and covert. The man of God is sent to pronounce judgement on the King of Israel for apostasy. That task, though seeming to be daunting, was carried out by the man of God with courage and even grace as he prayed for the healing of the king who had ordered his capture. The exciting and frightening encounter over, the king invited the man of God to his own home for some refreshment and a reward. It is at this point that we hear the man of God state the God given restrictions on his journey; namely the command to refuse refreshment and to return home by a different way. Having refused the king’s offer the man of God left Bethel by another route and started home.
On the way home, the man of God rested under an oak tree and was found by an ‘old prophet’. This man had set out to find the man of God after hearing what he had told the king. The old prophet invited the man of God to return to his home and have some bread and drink. The second offer(temptation) the man of God had in that day. He again refused, repeating the instructions received from God for this journey. Perhaps the old prophet was lonely, or just a jerk, but he lied to the man of God and said;”“I am also a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’”
So the man of God went home with the old prophet. Why did he change his mind and dismiss the clear instruction of God? What led the man of God to believe the lie of the old prophet? Was he lonely, hungry, tired, or just weary? The scriptures do not tell why the man of God disobeyed, just that he did and suffered for it. God gave the old prophet one last word - that of the future of the man of God. And it happened as spoken, the man of God died on his way home after eating with the old prophet.
There is no doubt the man of God knew God’s command to him; he stated it twice. But when the prophet told him an angel of God had given an updated command, he believed it.
To obey a only a little is to disobey fully. Perhaps the man of God figured God changed His mind, or that God meant less than originally spoken. That change, in the man of God’s thinking, lead to his death far from home. The command of God was clear. The command was never changed. The man of God ignored it, believed a lie, supposedly spoken by an angel and ended up dead. Ironically, the man of God was sent to pronounce judgement on the king for changing the clear instruction of God concerning worship. The king had instituted another type of worship of God, one that served his own purposes and aims. He was judged for the sin and his worship changes were cursed by God speaking through the man of God. The man of God stopped obeying the clear word of God even as he was on the journey to curse another for the same thing.
The lesson is to beware of changes in the words of God dressed up in religious words and activities. If God has spoken clearly, listen and believe. He is not going to change His mind and send an angel out with the revised command. He is not going to confuse the matter. No matter how compelling the messenger, know that when God speaks clearly He means exactly what He says.

The Danger of Doubt

2006-04-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

In 1 Kings 11 God promised Jeroboam, son of Nebat, the kingship over Israel; the 10 tribes that He would take from the house of David. God also promised to be ‘with’ Jeroboam and further more to build for him “an enduring house” in the way He did for David. God said to Jeroboam, “ I will give Israel to you.” Additionally, He told him that his family would become a dynasty of rulers if they continued in the ways of the Lord.
But the promises of God did not ultimately convince Jeroboam. In 1 Kings 12:26-29 Jeroboam evidenced his doubt of God. He decided to “make an enduring house” on his own and to rule Israel in another way, outside of the commands and promises of God. He did this by crafting two golden calves as objects of worship placing one in the area of Dan, at one end of Israel, and the other in the city of Bethel, at the other end of the country. This was in order to keep the 10 tribes, those under his rule, from traveling to Jerusalem in order to worship God at the temple. Jeroboam feared the people would desert him for the king of Judah if they continued to worship in the capitol city of Jerusalem.
The Kingdom was promised to Jeroboam; 10 tribes, an enduring house like that of David, and yet he doubted. the power of God and the words of God to keep this specific promise to him. He feared the people would be drawn back to the house of David if they continued to worship in Jerusalem So in order to keep what God had surely promised to him, he rejected God, and God’s ways, setting up, instead, his own way to keep the kingdom, to preserve the promise by his own power.
Doubt that God could keep His Word and fear of losing the promise led to loss of all Jeroboam tried himself to keep. What Jeroboam tried to keep, he lost. What he tried to create, he destroyed. Doubt of God led to total loss of all Jeroboam had hoped to accomplish.
God is able to keep His promises and to provide that which He has committed to do. To doubt this is to lose all, as Jeroboam learned.

The Gap

2006-04-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

Psalm 107:23: “Moses stood in the gap and turned away the wrath of God.” The psalmist recalls the many times that Moses prayed for the people in order to rescue them from the wrath of God. The Israelites were a headstrong, stubborn, sinful people as even a casual reading of Exodus reveals.
Moses, as their spokesman and leader before God, asked God to defer His judgement, giving mercy instead of allowing His wrath to proceed. And, wonderfully, God did.
But to simply have the wrath of God turned away, is not to have it gone. God’s righteous anger at the rebellion of His people still burned. A deadly situation at best for the rebels, all the rebels, including us. Wrath deferred is still wrath existing. A deferment is only temporary; a judgement waiting to be applied, a sentence waiting to be served.
Moses as the lawgiver can only defer the coming, rightful judgement. Is there a way past the wrath of God? Yes, it is the One who took that wrath and did not just stand in the gap and turn it away, He stood in the gap and took, absorbed, endured, the wrath of God. In Romans 3:25-26 we are told: “ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

It is the concept embodied in the word ‘propitiation’ that relieves all rebels, all sinners for all time. Jesus became the propitiation for our sins through his blood which he freely shed when he died on the cross. That blood, of His sacrifice, satisfied the wrath of God. The wrath has been dealt with and is no more for those who put their faith in the blood of Jesus.
Imagine how that must affect you. You were at the edge of the chasm ready, at any time, to be pushed over to certain death; on death row, the footsteps of your guard sounding in the distance, as he came to take you to the electric chair. You knew it was coming, that you deserved it, and there was nothing you could do to help yourself. All you could do was wait. All appeals have been denied. No one believes you are not guilty. No amount of begging, pleading, ignoring, blame-shifting, self-defense helps. While you played your appeals, the wrath was deferred, but now it is time, it has come due.
Then in steps your victim, the One whose law you broke, Whose character you sullied, and He goes in and takes the wrath you deserve, the anger you should receive. He does it because even though you tried to ruin Him, He loves you.
The wrath is gone, the anger dissipated, your future changed, if you want it. Wrath temporarily turned away or gone forever - which is do you want?

What the Dirt Knows

2006-04-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

In Psalms 96-100 the psalmist tell us to sing to the Lord. And, so it seems, the planet has a voice as the psalmist notes that the earth rejoices- that is the physical planet. In Psalm 97 there is an almost palpable expectation the rises from the soil, the mountains, the coastline. The earth rejoices because its king is coming; to reign and to rescue.
The earth awaits the coming of the rightful ruler, even as it its stated in Romans 8:19ff: “The Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not of its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

In this day we have many environmental concerns and nearly as many groups acting in an effort to fix the environment. But this earth, our environment, is now held in bondage to decay. That bondage is the direct result of the sin of Adam. The rebellion of the first people brought with it death and death spread to all people and all things. Therefore, even though I may not pour poison into rivers, the sorry state of the planet is my fault and the fault of all mankind. It is not that we do not belong here, are somehow the wrong species to be on the upper end of creation as some contend. For God put humans here. We are the God created species, placed here for God’s purposes, but in Adam we all sinned, and now we all reap the consequences. So it has ever been, when given a role or purpose, mankind has, since Eden, sought his own purpose, rejecting God’s.
The decay and frustration of the earth can be laid at my feet; an effect of my sin. How powerfully evil is the rebellion. How great that rebels can be redeemed. How glorious that the true Kind is coming. And even the dirt knows it

Two Crowds

2006-04-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

Luke 19:36-37 A crowd of disciples welcomes Jesus into Jerusalem as He rides a borrowed colt. They praise God for “all the miracles they had seen.” This is the crowd at Palm Sunday who are also recorded in Luke 19:48 as having hung on His words. Another, smaller group was not there to welcome Jesus, did not recognize the source of the miracles and certainly did not hang on His words. These people who were in effect His enemies. They sought to trouble Him and used several tactics: These were:
1. To question His authority
2. To attempt to trap Him in His speech
3. To confound Him with confusing religious issues
Jesus did not fall for their tactics and in fact continued to turn the traps back on the people who set them. His enemies only captured Him through Judas as he obeyed Satan and betrayed Jesus to His enemies.
Once arrested and convicted under cover of darkness, the attitude of the crowd began to turn against Jesus. And, as the tide itself turns, the progression is deliberate and sure. The soldiers who arrest Him, the crowd at the home of the High Priest, Peter, the soldier guarding Jesus, the Chief Priest, the teachers of the law, Pilate, Herod, Herod’s soldiers, the crowd all begin to believe the lies of the enemies.
Only when Jesus has submitted to His captors does the turning tide become swift. What appears to be weakness to all around, gives basis to the enemies claims about Jesus. He is called blasphemer, not God, imposter, evil.
What appears to be powerlessness to all around, gives courage to the soldiers to ruthlessly abuse Jesus.
What appears to be capitulation, to all around, give justification to the crowds’ choice to crucify Jesus and free a murderer.
The crowd has believed the reasoning of the enemies of Jesus. They have found a powerless, dejected and weak Jesus is no the kind of miracle man they can defend. The crowd; from recipients of miracles and teaching; to the mob of curses and death, has become the embodiment of all Jesus came to rescue.
He rescued the people of the crowd and took them out of the crowd and made them followers, a great throng, a peculiar people.

The nearness of God

2006-04-01T17:20:00.000-08:00

Interesting comment in Psalm 73:28; “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;” These words struck me with force as I just read them. The nearness of God is my good: good meaning; beauty, good thing, bountiful, best. The Psalmist, Asaph in this case, looks at all the rich and powerful people in his society, leans toward envy, catches himself and turns, instead, to God. Seeing the end of the rich man, he remains as God’s man rejecting wealth and power as the way to fullfilment..
But it is this phrase that challenged me. “The nearness of God is my good.” How can one say this from afar, or from a place of vacillating, now near, now away from God. To be near God is truly a good and awesome thing. To have God near me is at first frightening, then scary, then that which causes me to fall on my face and repent. But as He remains near, I know I am lifted up, being in His presence, loved beyond my understanding and brought to fullness. When God comes near it is my good, but more than I can ever understand and grasp. How wonderful it is to have a problem like this-grasping how good my life and experience is in the presence of God..

A New Title

2006-03-20T10:44:00.000-08:00

We all have heard the phrase that our God is a God of love. Usually it is heard in the same sentence explaining some life choice that is not clearly sanctified or accepted in general practice. This phrasing leads many to think of God as a type of mythological Greek God on the order of Eros. A God of love who ordains and controls the actions and pursuits of love. North American Christians especially, have allowed this particular character trait of God to become the defining trait, to the exclusion of the rest. Scripture clearly allows the description of God’s character to include holiness, justice, faithfulness, mercy, integrity, honesty, righteousness and love. When camping on the trait of love to the exclusion of the rest of God’s traits, He becomes less. And in that way we all have made Him in our image and to our liking. A God of love serves the purposes of our desires for our selves in a way that, for example, a God of honesty, could never do. Part of the reason for this is that we have a firmer and tighter understanding of what constitutes these other characteristics. Justice is understood to be fairness in matters legal. Each of us wants to be treated with the utmost fairness. We want to be able to tell our entire account and to be understood and judged in light of all the circumstances. Justice is a tightly defined term and we are generally all in favor of that understanding.
When looking at the term love, however, the field of play widens, turns and vacillates. Love is understood to be many things; a feeling, a right, a commitment, a reason to act. It can have one or many objects; last forever or for mere hours; be outside of the rules or uphold them. It is the formlessness of the definition of love that gives rise to the difficulty in understanding it as God has revealed it.
If we are to understand love as the Creator of love has defined it we must look to Him for that definition. The parameters of love are found throughout scripture. They are formed from the other attributes of God. His justice, faithfulness, righteousness and holiness are sources in the search to determine the boundaries of love Many passages in Scripture deal with love. From the classic: “God is love” in I John 4:16 to the well-known passage in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son...” there are scads of verses that are useful in determining what God means when He speaks of love.
From these and other verses we can begin to find the outlines of this love. From1 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loves us, sent his Son..” we can see that Love originates and proceeds from God. He is, therefore, the only one who can determine its correct context and application. Love is also seen to be active here in this verse and in others, specifically showing the action of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. That sacrifice was borne out of love for the lost people of God’s creation.
Another passage teaches us that we cannot love God without Him initiating love to us. 1Jo 4:19 “ We love because God loved us first.” The idea that our love is dependant is included in this verse, which shows our loving to be derived from our creator and not independent of His influence and action From loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, to loving our neighbor as our self we learn love is an outward action that encompasses the whole of who we are. Another guideline, found in 1John 2:5 lets us know that loving God will be evident in our care to listen to Him.
Some of the guidelines are prohibitive, or lead us away from loving some things. 1John 2:15 lets us know one thing we are not to love the world. Not all things are to be loved. That which intrinsically opposes the character of God is not to be loved. Therefore, various types of evil are not objects or partners in love. Additionally, those objects of love that are not intrinsically evil, but which lead one from God are considered forbidden in the arena of love. Think of the statement: “For the love o f money is the root of all evil...” 1Tim 6:10. Loving a thing or person above loving God is also seen as evil and idolatrous. The Great Commandment, as Jesus calls it, is to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. Anything less is sin. So we learn that loving any one or any thing above God leads you away from God and is therefore sin and wrong. Love can be wrongly used. We are to love our spouses. That action of love is further defined in scripture and leads us to see that we are to love one spouse and remain faithful to that one person, treating them as the Creator has instructed.
If we are to love as love is meant to be, it will mean doing so as outlined by the Creator. I t is these parameters that we must learn from God in order to love as love was meant to be.
Although this is brief, the idea of a God who loves replacing the God of love appears to me to convey the ideas of Scripture clearly and in a way which is less confusing than currently practiced. What do you think?

Now What?

2006-03-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

I would like some feedback on this. A good friend of mine is currently in Ethiopia with a short term medical mission group. Upon reading some of what she is experiencing, I was caught up short. The misery that exists in this world, of which I am unaware, is staggering. I know that God is ruler over all, that He loves His creation and His creatures. The struggle for me is knowing how to respond to the misery. Several scriptures provide a starting point. In Acts 17:27 it states:
17:26 From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be. So the location of my nation was a decision made by God.
Add to that the many scriptures that enjoin us to care for those less fortunate and in troubling circumstances. Then recall the scripture; Mat 26:11 " You will always have the poor with you, but you won't always have me. " From the mouth of Jesus we have that statement of fact. Poverty, it seems, will never be eradicated. The crux of the matter for me is to what, as followers of Jesus, are we called. How much should we attempt to know? I am nearly undone this morning after having simply read an email about some of the experiences my friend has had.
Any input????

Lessons from Philipians

2005-12-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about a passage in Philippians lately. When I read Phil. 2:5-8 I was struck by verse 7. The passage is about the attitude of Jesus Christ. Here is the passage
" Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness."

Reading these verses, I was struck with the phrase ; "taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." To be human is to be a servant, by nature. I am a servant, created for God's purposes. This runs counter to much of what is talked about and praised in our culture. Certainly the only servant one aspires to be is the Cinderella Servant: serving only through injustice and soon to be rescued and elevated.
However, Philippians teaches that being a servant is our nature and God in the flesh took on that servant nature. God in the flesh served the whole of humankind; He served me. Being a servant was not His nature, but He took it on. He achieved all He set out to accomplish, as a servant. So, if being a servant is my nature, it will be much easier for me to realize my true nature. With the power of God, I will strive to become a servant. Great expectations.

Enemies and Ourselves

2005-09-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have been chewing on this one for awhile. I have been reading Psalms in the morning for quiet time and this one jumped out at me as relevant for my life recently. I have been struggling over the way to share what I have been experiencing and learning from it and my time between posting has gone on too long, so I am giving up on perfection or even something good and just planning on sharing it as it comes out of my little head right now.

A few months ago I could not even talk about this - but time gives some perspective and healing. The past year I have surronded myself with several rather unhealthy relationships. On the surface they appeared healthy and I think I wanted them to be so much that I just kept ignoring reality and kept pretending they were.

The reality is they were unhealthy people who were encouraging the unhealthy side of me. I let myself stay in a cycle of unhealthiness and walk further and further from Christ during it. Not that I ever doubted my faith, I just let my actions slip, I was not in the word, I was not as active in service, I was more selfish, I was more wordly focused, I was simply off kilter. My faith never wavered but my choices sure did and I was beginning to pay the price. Thankfully one of the natural consequences led me to realize these people were not my friends but Satan was using them to draw me further away from where I should have been.

Thus the passage takes on so much meaning for me. Especially the end of the Psalm, I have been reading NIV so this is the version I am quoting:

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

9 from the wicked who assail me,
from my mortal enemies who surround me.

10 They close up their callous hearts,
and their mouths speak with arrogance.

11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

12 They are like a lion hungry for prey,
like a great lion crouching in cover.

13 Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down;
rescue me from the wicked by your sword.

14 O LORD, by your hand save me from such men,
from men of this world whose reward is in this life.
You still the hunger of those you cherish;
their sons have plenty,
and they store up wealth for their children.

15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

The words may seem harsh to describe simple people who are not criminals and are basically good non-believing individuals. Yet I have since come to realize that while it was not their intention to be harmful to me that was often the outcome of their actions and choices. Moreover, the fact that I allowed the relationships to continue and become such a central part of my life that I was facilliting the harm that was coming to me. I was choosing to continually pursue relationship and find support in a community of people who believe their rewards are in this life. I was losing sight of where my true rewards were and was getting dragged down into places I did not want to be.

Don't get me wrong, life wasn't terrible. I never made really bad choices. Okay not being in God's word each day was a bad choice. They never did anything truly horrible, though they were often hurtful to me. In the end it was small but the result was good and powerful. It helped me understand the significance of verse 15:

15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

and vs 8:

8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings

God protects me and comforts me and I need to remember that I am his and I am bought at a price. I am made in his likeness and called to be in his likeness. I am protected from my enemies but sometimes we don't quite know what it is we need protecting from. I need to stand in the shelter of God's wings and be satisfied in Him. I know he will look out for me, but I also know I need to be more careful too.

This is not to say I don't think I should have non-Christian friends or anything like that. There is an important place to that and we are called to be salt and light and the truth is if Billy took that stance I would not be part of this wonderful family today and I would have lost so much.

I do think though that sometimes things are more subtle then we realize and when we read a passage like this we often think about a voilent surronding of obvious enemies and that is what our protection needs to be from. Often Satan uses subtly and we miss out on it until things have carried on too long or gone too far. I think my personal situation of the past year helped me see that sometimes the bible is not talking about extremes though on first blush it may seem like that. So often it can apply to the here and now, the mundane and the everyday, even when it sounds like it is talking about something else.

To me phrases such as "mortal enemies", "wicked who assail me" and this passage:

11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me,
with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

12 They are like a lion hungry for prey,

These things make me think of criminals, or violent attacks or definately not something subtle and unexpected like a friendship. Of course the passage is probably written in the context of great enemies as David is writing it - yet I see its application in my life in real and smaller ways.

Just my thoughts, hope you could make sense of them.

Thoughts...

2005-09-05T11:48:00.000-07:00

This psalm is not one that stands out, yet when I read it I find it has several of my favorite images, of God and people. The first that stands out is the image in v. 8 " Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." The 'apple of your eye' phrase is also found in Deut32:10 and refers to God's care of the new nation of Israel which He guarded as the apple of His eye which is the "daughter" or pupil...that special part of the eye which we all guard carefully in order to maintain our sight. Think how you blink when something comes at your eye...it is a reflex, done to protect. The prayer of the psalmist is that God would treat us as precious, as a daughter, as the pupil of His eye; not even needing to think but merely to react in order to protect us.
The second image, of being under the shadow of His wings refers to the way a chicken protects her chicks...sometimes with her life. This image was used by Jesus in Mat. 23:37 to indicate His desire to protect Jerusalem...In the shadow of His wings one is near to Him, protected and cared for. What a lovely thought. The obvious lesson is that we must be near enough to actually be in the shadow. How close do we wish to stay?

There are at least four instances in this psalm in which the psalmist asks God to hear his prayer. The first three are in the first two verses. The psalmist gives his reasons for God to answer him; he is not deceitful in his prayer and in vs 3-4 he states basically that he is righteous, not having followed sin, violence, wayward paths. I have always cringed a bit when the psalmists claim righteousness, as only God is righteous. I am not certain of how to understand this, but do think David, as psalmist is making a case for his effort to obey and follow God. This would include sacrifices for sin and the attendent cost. He is a man of integrity and desires to follow God. He has aligned himself with God as his King and protector and in that vein claims he is loyal, true and trustworthy, seeking God's glory and fame and not his own. This is the basis for his request.
What then is his request? He is trapped as seen in vs9b-12. His mortal enemies have surrounded him...The only way out is through the intervention of God. A reminder to us that when evil comes into our lives, and it does, God is the first one we need to turn to and the only way out...
David's comment in v14 concerning the fate of the men of this world is sobering. He states "whose reward is in this life." That is indeed a pitible state. If the great goodies of this world are all the reward on has to gain how much have they really lost...eternity, joy, love, peace, comfort and on and on. Perhaps this is one great reason to pray for my enemies.
Finally, I really like the last verse of the psalm. "And I-in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness." The idea that David will see the righteous face of God when he awakes...and that will satisfy.
Have you ever known what will bring you joy and contentment and looked forward to it anxiously? Here David knows that God alone will satisfy, will fill him to the place of satisfaction. That is a desire I wish to cultivate.

Psalm 17

2005-08-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Now we move onto the next Psalm. I have used the versions from The Message by Eugene Petersen and the ASV. Lets read and pray about this chapter and write what God reveals.

Psalm 17 from the Message

A David prayer. Listen while I build my case, GOD, the most honest prayer you'll ever hear.
Show the world I'm innocent-- in your heart you know I am.

Go ahead, examine me from inside out, surprise me in the middle of the night-- You'll find I'm just what I say I am. My words don't run loose.

I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way. I'm trying to get your way, your Word's way.
I'm staying on your trail; I'm putting one foot In front of the other. I'm not giving up.

I call to you, God, because I'm sure of an answer. So--answer! bend your ear! listen sharp!
Paint grace-graffiti on the fences; take in your frightened children who Are running from the neighborhood bullies straight to you.

Keep your eye on me; hide me under your cool wing feathers
From the wicked who are out to get me, from mortal enemies closing in.
Their hearts are hard as nails, their mouths blast hot air.
They are after me, nipping my heels, determined to bring me down,
Lions ready to rip me apart, young lions poised to pounce.

Up, GOD: beard them! break them! By your sword, free me from their clutches;
Barehanded, GOD, break these mortals, these flat-earth people who can't think beyond today.

I'd like to see their bellies swollen with famine food, The weeds they've sown harvested and baked into famine bread, With second helpings for their children and crusts for their babies to chew on.
And me? I plan on looking you full in the face. When I get up, I'll see your full stature and live heaven on earth.

Psalm 17 from ASV

Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.

Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; Let thine eyes look upon equity.

Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; Thou hast tried me, and findest nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.

My steps have held fast to thy paths, My feet have not slipped.

I have called upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God: Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that take refuge in thee From those that rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

From the wicked that oppress me, My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

They are inclosed in their own fat: With their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps; They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

He is like a lion that is greedy of his prey, And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

Arise, O Jehovah, Confront him, cast him down: Deliver my soul from the wicked by thy sword;

From men by thy hand, O Jehovah, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly thou fillest with thy treasure: They are satisfied with children, And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with beholding thy form.

What do you think of this passage?

2005-08-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (KJV)
1Jo 5:3 The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome. (Message)

I am studying the book of 1 John this month and came upon this verse which has been on my mind for several reasons. For now, let me talk of the foremost thought.
This is the idea that the commandments of God are not burdensome, troublesome or grievous. That is not and idea I have ever heard espoused, nor have I really ever taught that. But since it is in the Word, then I must deal with it. The word 'grevious' means weighty, heavy, burdensome. Notice, though, that the verse states that the commands are not burdensome themselves. Keeping them may be grevious though. I think we all view rules as bad, as something to be opposed to and to try to get around. Here we are told that the commands are actually the way of demonstrating love of God, and if we can show we love God by obeying His commands then the commands would be a relief, a joy, a final answer to the "How" of loving God. What do you all think?

Back to Ps 16

2005-08-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

Welcome Kato,
I read and reread your post, trying to get a feel for what you were saying. Glad you liked the psalm. Sorry to hear of your distant feeling from God. That coupled with your discontent reminds me of a time in my life when God seemed so far away and all I had to hold onto was the truth that He loved me and had rescued me. That particular time was several years long and in the end I was more certain of Him and His work in my life, but in a way that was different than before. So don't give up, hang in there and keep on listening to Him, reading His revelation of Himself and praying to Him (but not at the Church of the really shy person).

The discontent may also be from God leading you to a deeper place with Him. If we are satisfied, how will we desire more of Him? I, too, am feeling the dissatisfaction with my life, my church and the people around me. I know that "this" is not all there is, but am unsure at this point of how to find the rest...but I am doing what I know is good-studying and reading God's Word, talking to Him, obeying what I know to be His commands....and trusting Him. He loves me and I know He will direct me.
From Ps 16: have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. If I keep God firmly in the forefront of my vision, I will not move off the path, nor will I become so unglued as to bail on the faith. This is a comfort to me, knowing I can question, argue and fuss about what is happening but God will remain faithful so long as I do not move from Him...Keeping Him at my right hand denotes being close, at a place I can hear Him clearly, see His face and be in His presence.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; He has made known-HE has given us the knowledge-not wishes, feelings, hopes, but knowledge, which is certain. To the path of life...that is what we know now....in the future is the joy in His presence as indicated in the rest of the sentence. you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Our life is here and in the future, the now and the not yet....perfection comes after death, after time here (unless we remain till He comes again). The most difficult aspect of the walk of faith is the faith part....waiting, holding firm, hoping, gritting my teeth while evil is celebrated and goodness is bashed. We will always see glimpses of the future reality, but now we hold it by faith. There remains the TRUTH that is more reliable than the earth on which we stand, the sun we see in the sky and the sensations we feel, with our fingers. Truth remains and will never fail us, that is my relief, rest and secure place.

Introductions lacking biblical insight

2005-08-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Oh well.......here goes nothing. I suppose i should just publish this...................................

Before the vast readership disavows my existence, or my mom and sisters get annoyed, [which in reality they wouldn't] I think it's time to jump in and at least introduce myself as another contributer to this blog.

It's midevening monday. I figured I could stop looking for cheap land on realtor.com where I'd like to build eco housing for the masses. "Masses" is an overstatement as there is currently about 1/2 an acre of land for sale in los angeles. Maybe just an eco friendly garage for a hybrid hummer....but this is besides the point for this blog.

I am the youngest of the contributers. Living in on the west coast, I am currently in school studying Traditional Chinese Medicine. I don't really work right now. I have been spending the summer hanging with my 6 year old step-son who currently has a mohawk and wants to be a singer or dirtbiker when he grows up. I've been married for just over two years to a man who, to steal a phrase from my friend, is a passionate "save the world junkie." He's really cool and does things like play the guitar and sing Oasis and Pink Floyd songs to our 6 year old while he takes a bath. He does it really loudly so the neighbors can hear. He also does laundry which i hate.

I am interested in things like permaculture, sustainability and learning about ways to conserve energy and resources. (Hence the above reference to eco housing building). Also, by nature of what i'm studying I'm very interested in alternative cures instead of things like drugs and surgery, except when absolutely necessary. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading about childbirth and alternatives to using hospitals. I think I might want to be a Doula (birth coach, labor and delivery assistant etc...) when I grow up.

So this a bible study type blog.

I like Jesus.

I recently told one of my sisters that I haven't written anything yet because I tend to write a lot of "I feel" stuff and this isn't necessarily the place to do it. I continued to tell her that I came to a place a while back where i wasn't going to feign spirituality anymore just to fill space or make an awkward moment less awkward. (you know the feeling, you're in church or some place and some person with the microphone says, "Break into groups and pray." So you're there with two or three people. Maybe you ended up with the three shyest people in the entire place. Nobody is talking. All eyes are closed. You're wondering how much longer you have to sit there until microphone person says something to end the corporate prayer. You think "If i was in Africa I wouldn't be feeling this way because everyone prays in Africa...and loudly...and all together." But not here at church of the shy person. SO you break down. YOu say something. Maybe it was fitting. Maybe it was God led...but maybe you just felt so ....reeh...that you had to pray.)

...yeah. so I don't do that anymore. That was my long way of saying that.

I read Psalm 16. I read it in the NASV and The Message. I read it over and over and over. I like the message. But then, I"ve been told i'm just a victim of postmodernism.

Keep me safe oh God, I've run for dear life to you. I say to God, "Be my Lord!" Without you nothing makes sense. And these God Chosen lives all around--what splendid friends they make! Don't just go shopping for a God. Gods are not for sale. I swear I'll never treat god-names like brand-names. My choice is you, God, first and only. ANd now i find I'm your choice. You set me up with a house and a yard. And then you made me your heir! The wise counsel God gives when I'm awake is confirmed by my sleeping heart. Day and night I'll stick with God; I've got a good thing going and I'm not letting go. I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell--that's not my destination! Now you've got my fee on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way.

.....it is now 11:14 pm. not that i've been sitting in front of the computer for hours. I just came back. Don't have much to say. I could highlight vs. 5 where David realizes that he's also God's choice and mention how I questioned a while back if I just wasn't God's choice. I got over that sentiment rather quickly but it occassionaly lingers back into my mind. I've been on earth for the last few years and God has felt rather removed. And no matter how many times i think of the Footprints in the sand poem do I feel comfort. Sometimes I feel like I'm looking and looking and looking and then I seek him in the silence of my heart. ThenI look in the wanderings of my footsteps. And then I look for Him in these great stories of the bible where people like David could watch Bathsheba bathe, knock her up, kill off her husband, and forgive himself and ask forgiveness of God in the end...yet it all seems so removed from me. I've spent years asking the question, Where am I going wrong? Is it just that I'm not chosen? I know this walk with Jesus is hard and challenging, but for the love, throw me a bone here.

Vs. 2 BE MY LORD, w/o you nothing makes sense! This is the true sentiment of my heart. If there is one thing I hold cemented into the psyche of my being it is that this life and all its entrails make no sense without God. I truly "have no good without thee." (NASV) I could expound on these innerworkings of my mind but this isn't really the place. Perhaps it should just be known, this being my introduction and all, that I've finally come to a place of peace where if "this" is all there is then I will still continue to bless the Lord and follow. He has died for me. And while I'm not worthy, like Spin said, we would be wise to ponder the more lasting gifts God has given, and learn to just shut-up and say thank you--no strings of "you really shouldn't have" attached.

While I'm at peace. I'm not content. Because I want more. It's like a scene from the wedding singer where Adam Sandler goes in for a bank loan and says to the loan officer,

"I like money. I keep it in a jar on my fridge. I'd like to put more in there. That's where you come..."

I find myself saying to God sometimes:

I like Jesus. I keep looking around for him to infilatrate my life. I'd like to learn more about him. That's where you can help me....

I have no interest in other gods. I live in a city that is innundated with people latching on to whatever new form of faith is popularized by Hollywood. I am learning a profession which attracts a lot of spiritual people and their personalized hooey. I am not interest in the crap. Just give me Jesus.

Context

2005-08-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful chapter to discuss! The book of Deuteronomy is a great book to instuct and encourage. When looking at a book or chapter in a book it is important to see the context of the book in the whole of scripture and in the history of God's people. This is to ask of the text, "What are you saying to the original hearers" Deuteronomy is the last of Moses' five books. He recorded it shortly before his death and spoke these words to the Israelites "forty years after the Israelites left Mount Sinai, on a day in midwinter." (1:3) These words were spoken to the people, in a real time and place. (I really love how the time of year is even mentioned...) The people were east of the Jordan, camped in the wilderness. This is the speech (really a series of speeches) that would instruct them how to live in the LAND, to no longer wander in the wilderness. Think, if you will, about living as a nomad, carrying all you own, having only the necessities of life. Your life is slim...perhaps monotonous, routine in that you get up, eat, find more food to eat, pack, walk, set up the tent, cook the food, feed and care for the animals, talk to the family and go to sleep, ready to do the same the next day. But now, the LORD is taking you to a place to settle down, to be in one place to have, perhaps, more than the bare necessities. The entire journey of 40 years has been both a consequence of sin and a lesson in Theology. Moses wants the people to remember all the journey, all the events, all the good and the bad. Only in that way will they not repeat the same sins as their fathers and mothers.
As Kellie noted, remembering is very important to learning the lessons available in each event in our lives. If we look at our times and events in our life with the 'mind of Christ' we become in tune with God's plan and do not hold onto our plan. It was God's plan that got the Israelites to the Promised Land. Their plan got them killed and made them wanderers. (1:26-end of chpt)
Chapter 8 begins with the command to obey and ends with the warning to always remember God. If I am striving to obey God, I must know what He has said, hence the need to listen to Him in His word, in prayer and through the ministry of His Spirit. This requires discipline! Oh boy, the favorite pastime of this day and age is spontaneous life without any pattern or plan, so we fight our own flesh and fight the spirit of the age. I sometimes feel free if I don't pick up my bible for a day...but from what am I free? Free from God, the one who loves me, who owns me, who died in my place? And I am free to whom? Myself, the flesh of my self which wants its own way...the world's free wheeling spirit which does tend to waste rather than improve time spent, and the devil who hates me, who wants to enslave me, who wants to kill me....Not much of a choice when looked at that way.
Kellie has spoken well of remembering God and all He has done. It is far to easy to skip God in our memories and recollections. I have recently begun to keep a journal...Not an easy thing for me to do, but I want to remember and recall and make sense of the life God has given me. To do less it to treat this gift with disdain as though not a gift and of my own doing....something Chapter 8 warns us about in no uncertain terms.
Proverbs 1:7 "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise wisdom and discipine. " We are on a journey that is counter the culture and counter the flesh. Expect it to be work, expect it to be arduous at times, but "For wisdom will enter you heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy." Proverbs 2:10

Deuteronomy 8 - Life Verses

2005-08-05T04:03:00.000-07:00

Billy and I adopted Deut. 8 as one of our family verses very early on. Jennifer and Rob S. had made help make this verse significant to Billy and he later brought it to me. Our time living in Oregon brought some of this home to us about trusting in the Lord. No time was it ever more present to me than the time between our paychecks from graduate school ending (May 1999) and Billy getting his first paycheck from Habitat (late September 1999).

During this time the Lord really showed us how he sustains us even when their is no logical explanation for that sustaining. Our clothes did not wear out, we had a home, health care and food. We were well cared for and we felt very close to the Lord. Even during those 4 months when we were unsure how we were going to make ends meet or if Billy would ever find a job. During the time our first child was born and we were so uncertain of our future we found ourselves leaning so heavily on the Lord and seeing his provision in very real ways.

Then we move to Georgia and it was like the Israelites after a long time walking somehow we can lose sight of God and the way he is working in our lives. We can become so disgruntled and grumbling about our circumstances that it is hard to acknowledge God's hand in all we do.

Retrospect of course is easier. Now I see how God protected K and me when we got held up at the store and gas station so we were not home when our neighbor was murdered by our other neighbor. How God put the right women in my life to teach me about being a truly submissive and God fearing wife and a godly mother. How God taught us to rely on him for our comfort and our safety and not the terrible health care there. How God used us in small ways to make differences in the perpetual racism and sexism of the area. How God taught us that these things still exist. It is easy now to see it but it wasn't then. I was grumbling, I was unhappy and I wanted it to change. Now I know that was an important growing season for us.

Of course we saw God immediately the day he signed our release papers (that's really what it felt like to me) from Southwest Georgia and we headed up to Minnesota! It was easy to acknowledge that the good came from Him when that good was so obvious.

The other part of this chapter that always strikes me is the importance of verses 10-12, emphasis mine:

"10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

It can be all too easy to overlook the Lord when our lives are going well. We make a conscious effort each day to remember that it is God who gives us all we have. It is the Lord who has led us through all the difficult seasons and into the plentiful season we are in now. Billy and I are truly in a plentiful season and we acknowledge and thank God for that every day. I make it a habit so much that it has become second nature to me to always acknowledge His role in all the good.

When Billy gets a raise or a promotion at work. My first reaction is "Praise God for his faithfulness, provision and answered prayers" My immediate follow-up is "Thank you Billy for all the hard work and commitment you put forth to make it possible. First we acknowledge God and then the work he has made possible but we choose to follow through with. The constant act of thankfulness and acknowledgement of God has become a second nature to us.

We start each nights prayers with "Thank you Lord for...." and C's prayer is almost always "Thank you God for all things good" - at first I thought this was a bit route and simplified but then I tried to look at it from C's perspective and even from what little I can deduce about God's perspective. Then I realized C has it right - how good it is to acknowledge and thank God for ALL things good. C does this every day and he means it. He loves all that is around him and acknowledges that it comes from God. He has a spirit of thankfulness and a spirit of continual acknowledgment of the Lord. This is what I want to cultivate in myself and in my kids which is why Duet 8 is such a good reminder to us daily.

Our oldest K has this in her personality. She praises God for parking spaces, meals, friends and nearly anything good in her life. This is something they see modeled in their home and was modeled in their grandparents home before ours. This is a true legacy to pass on through the generations. Thanks Mom for starting it!

It is good to be proud of the work that we are our spouses accomplish. It is important to acknowledge that to them, ourselves and others. Yet more important than even that is taking the time to always remind ourselves each day (emphasis mine again):

..17 "You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God."

We have a truly amazing God and he is with us always through the good and the bad. It is important to always acknowledge Him and His role in our lives. That provision may not always be obvious to the world around us that it is the hand of God at work in our lives but to those of us who truly know Him with practice we too can make it our nature to always see His role and always remember that it was Him who brought us through the dessert and it is Him (not us) that makes our successes possible. Sure we have to work hard and make good choices - yet in the end it is God who provides the opportunities, skills and tools for us to succeed.

The combination of Deuteronomy 8 and our family verse Joshua 24: 15 has been the stronghold and foundation for our family and they are verses we come back to time and time again. I leave you with our family verse:

"15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Love,
Kellie-Ann

Deuteronomy 8

2005-08-05T03:59:00.000-07:00

Do Not Forget the LORD
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers. 2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

Feeling Worthy

2005-08-01T21:36:00.000-07:00

I reread Psalm 16 in The New Living Translation to get another take on it and the portion that stood out to me is where David says "No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praise." (v.9a) Prior to saying this David has recounted the good things God has given him and done for him--naturally in light of such blessing it is easy to praise God. But David had his share of hardship throughout his life, so his praising God here though it appears to be in the midst of a time of blessing should not be easily dismissed. It is easy to be thankful when things are good, it is not when things aren't. Here, it seems David is choosing to focus on and recount the positive things is his life rather than dwelling on the negative things--that in and of itself is something worth learning.

But beyond this first observation, I realized that David does not come to God with feelings of unworthiness and false humility. I think we tend to forget how truly humble his origins were, and thus what it must have been like for him to sit as King over Israel and ponder all he had been given and how far he had come in worldy terms. He is clearly grateful and thankful for the blessings God bestowed on him, but he is most moved by the things God promises everyone who trusts in Him: life, confidence in his presence and care, an eternal inheritance. Again we can learn from him in this as well.

What really struck me tonight though was the fact that rather than wasting time lamenting how unworthy he is of such blessing, David just skips right to thanking and praising God. I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing, but I have found myself so much lately feeling that I don't deserve the goodness in my life, the blessings God has continued to pour down on me, that I can't help but wonder after reading this Psalm if perhaps that isn't taking the focus off of God and placing it on me. Without intending to, I am reversing my role with that of God. We know from other writings of David that he was well aware of his unworthiness and the utter unfairness of God's love for people as pitiful as us--and yet he does not dwell on this--he just uses the knowledge as a springboard for praise--which is truly what God desires of us.

The beauty of God's love for us is precisely that we don't deserve it--even on our best days. We don't deserve his blessing, we don't deserve anything, and yet like a father, he delights is giving us good gifts--the least of which are the material things that we tend to notice the most. Like David, we would be wise to ponder the more lasting gifts God has given, and learn to just shut-up and say thank you--no strings of "you really shouldn't have" attached.

Ramblings on Psalm 16

2005-08-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

This psalm is such an encouraging one for me. It always reminds me of where I was and how far I have come in the Lord. Having made life choices that kept me apart from God for so long I truly experienced many of the sorrows of running after other gods. During that time in my life especially high school and college I experienced many things but looking back on them few were what I would consider good things. I certainly did not feel secure or safe and I was always looking to fill some hole that I felt acutely. I was worried and lived much of my life in fear. Fear of harm, fear of rejection, fear of people finding out who I really was inside and knowing how weak and scared I was.

After finding the Lord I have a very clear before and after moment in my life and I can say with honesty that my feelings of security and safety began in the after mark. In God I can find refuge and safety even when the world and circumstances around me are crazy. I recall the way that I reacted to the crisis of September 11th. Two small children at home, a husband traveling in the East Coast and so much of my family in New York City. I think I would have crumbled without the strength the Lord gave me. Without his refuge and the confidence of his peace I can not imagine how I might have handled or rather not handled things.

All of this is easy for me to see and acknowledge what is hard is living out the verses:

"LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

During times of trial or even day to day drudgery it can be hard for me to be thankful for my portion and my cup. It is hard when the world seems to crumble around us through the choices our culture and others make. It is hard to remember that we are secure, even if not from bodily harm surely we are secure in what truly matters. Our inheritance is secure and our eternal life with God is what I should care about. I do care about it - yet at times it is easy to get caught up in all the details of life and lose sight of the bigger picture. In realizing how blessed my life is and how truly pleasant God has made this life for me, nevermind how much more wonderful eternity will be.

I know I need to remember to always set the Lord before me and then take confidence in that. I know when I live my life with "God-confidence" the confidence that I am putting him first and trying my best to follow his will than I can take confidence in my decisions even when the world around me doesn't understand or agree with it.

Having kids and wanting to pass this on to them makes me want to live my life this way all the more. I truly want my kids to know that they need always to put God first and then have confidence in His promises and his word. Using that confidence we can face anything without being shaken for we know that God is at our side.

Knowing that and living it are two different things though. It begins with a knowledge of this but it must be implemented with daily small and big choices. So I carry on and try to do my best each day.

For me the heart of this psalm lays in the understanding and accepting and living out that I need to take refuge in the Lord, accept the path and portion he has set before me and live that out with the confidence that my eternal inheritance is secure and I will rejoice and be filled with joy in Him.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Kellie-Ann

Thoughts...

2005-07-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

So, look at the attitude of the psalmist, David. He is secure in having God rule over him. Though David was a king, he was not frustrated by God's sovereign rule...(though I don't know if David was a king when he wrote this psalm). The oversight of God seems to be a comfort and a joy to David. That attitude is reminiscent of a child, in the care of a loving parent; a child as we are called to be.

He has no worry about the future...He is confident that God will keep him from destruction.
He has the assurance of God's constant presence, as he notes that God is at his right hand, and God counsels him in the nighttime.
If as he states, God is his refuge, then God is a surrounding, safe, presence and David is aware of this presence in all situations.
To be aware of God in all things means viewing life, in each situation, with the knowledge that He is there with us, is present in us, using us for His purposes. This is a challenge for each of us. The prayer would seem to be to ask God to keep us sensitve to Him, with ears to hear Him when He speaks.

Psalm 16

2005-07-25T12:25:00.000-07:00

As I read through this psalm, the first thing that strikes me is that David, the psalmist, asks God to keep hims safe and states God is his refuge. As you read further on in the psalm though, there is not much written about fearful thing. He states in v. 5 that his "lot is secure". So I am pondering what he means by refuge. The word in greek can also have the meaning 'to confide in' and perhaps that is more what his happening in this psalm.
From v 5-11 I see five examples of God's character and actions toward His own: v5-6 is God's sovereignty and protection; v7 is God's wisdom; v8 is God's security; v9 is God's promise and v11 is God's revelation.
What do you all think?

Psalm 16

2005-07-22T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the first psalm we will discuss...

Psalm 16
a miktam of David

Keep me safe, O God,
for in you I take refuge.

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing."
As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Ground Rules

2005-07-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

The only rules for the bible study are that all assertions must be supported biblically...if you want to express an opinion, fine, but truth is truth, the rest is not...necessarily

It's me

2005-07-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

I am the empress...actually the mom and mother in law of the others on this blog. We are women who attempt to walk with the Lord. I live in the east, am married to a pastor, who has also been an army man, student, med-tech, hospital administrator, worker in a plastic factory and bus driver. I have been a mom (which I loved more than any other work in the world), a student who finally graduated with an English degree from college, an office worker, a gardener and reader of mysteries of all kinds. We have been married 32 years, are still in love and enjoy life together. Our children are grown and gone....as you can see no one lives nearer than 2 hours away. Since I miss my girls, I wanted to have a conversation with them about that which is most important to us all-God and all He is and has done and will do....I am excited about our conversation..
Lets see what happens!

Who we are

2005-07-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

We are Christian women of the same family. A mother, two of her daughters and her daughter in law. We are Christian sisters and we are scattered throughout the country - the East Coast, the West Coast and the Midwest. We are of varying ages and life stages. We are friends, we are family and we are believers in Christ. Here we will keep our Chrisitan thoughts and share with each other.

Kellie-Ann