Grace 2 Grow

Who's Quenching Whom?

2012-01-17T08:57:00.001-05:00

I heard a sermon last night that claimed "charismatics" are the ones who are actually guilty of "quenching" the Spirit of God because they don't give priority to the primary work of the Spirit, namely ~ sanctification.

This is such a WILD generilization, for one; but for two, the evidences we see in Scripture of the Lord pouring out his Spirit (consider the book of Acts) actually trend more to a reality where those who are "filled" with the Spirit are far more OTHERS focused; they're going out and boldly proclaiming the Word, they're going out and ministering in miraculous ways to people in need....

This preacher's emphasis on sanctification is not altogether inappropriate, but it seems to me that the church as a whole trends towards legalism (*and I've been chief among them!*) and AWAY from the fullness of the Spirit when all we're concerned about is how good we look in the "spiritual mirror" (self-focused) rather than being FIRST concerned with a passionate pursuit of God and the revelation of his love which then COMPELS us outward from ourselves....

Surely there are those of us, as genuine believers, who are guilty of "quenching" the Spirit on all sides of the cube ~ but why would you preach in such a way as to deliberately lead your people into drawing a comparison with other believers only to conclude "Oh, see? we aren't experiencing the dramatic love of God or miraculous signs and wonders, but that means we're BETTER and more RIGHTEOUS in our walk with God, and not that perhaps we have missed the mark in pursuing the ABUNDANT LIFE he promised and pours out for and in us, and not that perhaps we haven't tasted of the RIVER of life that is to flow out of us."

I'm particularly bent out of shape over this as I have a great deal of respect for this particular preacher, but I think he is DANGEROUSLY wrong on this, and leading his body (and the potential millions he influences through other media) into further feeling comfortable for altogether AVOIDING the very Spirit of God with whom we've been UNITED for Jesus' sake!

Don't Confuse Hero-Worship with the Real Thing

2012-01-16T11:03:00.000-05:00

We love to "admire" people - to identify "heroes" in our lives - be they parents or teachers or spouses, etc. It is always jarring when one of our "heroes" shows his weakness and frailty, or worse, something altogether undesirable or faithless.

Let's not let the human failings of our "idols" spill over into creating woeful expectations on God - erring either too much in the direction of treating him like he is our cosmic Santa Claus, or on the other hand as if he doesn't really love us - the quality of love from God is always, UNFAILINGLY, for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose, namely, to conform us to the likeness of his BELOVED Son in whom he is WELL-PLEASED.

From before the foundation of the world, he prepared salvation for whosoever would believe in and receive Jesus; he pursues, he woos, he convicts of sin and CANCELS it for those who are baptized into the blood and spirit of Jesus, he heals, he restores, he welcomes, he guards, he comforts, he holds, he sustains, he corrects, he establishes, he raises up, he LOVES us with an everlasting love....

Seasonal Fruit

2012-01-05T10:41:00.001-05:00

If every year I produce only a new harvest of the same compassion and kindness and a longing for others to see and receive the mercy of God (with fresh worship springing out of that, both in them and in me), I am very content to be that kind of tree!

Cold to the LOVE of God?

2012-01-05T10:29:00.002-05:00

If we are merely being convinced as to the TRUTH of God in Jesus, but we are utterly cold to the LOVE of God poured out on us because of Jesus, I dare say we have not been savingly convinced....

The "ought" of Apologetics? HOPE!!

2012-01-05T10:25:00.002-05:00

I used to think "evangelism" was so much more about apologetics. It never concerned me (!) that this hinged so definingly on the "mind" (ie: not the “heart”) and one's ability to philosophize.

I didn’t think I lacked compassion – after all, I longed to see people saved! But I have realized this was (until recently) fueled more by a desire to be “Right” than out of a heart of God-infused love and compassion.

Let us balance these 2 things: Yes, “arguing with” (or more graciously put, “persuading”) people can eventually yield good fruit; God does use every kind of means, and we MUST be able to give an answer for the hope within us.

BUT….BUT…BUT! that HOPE is the ultimate message, and this HOPE is born out of, and made more evident by, the KINDNESS of God which leads us to repentance.

God's LOVE is Not Tolerance!

2011-12-27T10:37:00.001-05:00

A personal revelation.

Too often, we (Christians) live as though God's love for us is merely some kind of tolerance. As if he's sitting up in heaven, some very great distance away from us, murmuring to himself, "Oh, bother, they've slipped up again. Good thing I'll work that out for good, eventually!...." or "WHEN will they ever LEARN! Good thing they'll die and get to Glory, eventually! I can't wait to finally make them holy; THEN they'll be acceptable...."

This is INSIDIOUS!

As if our God is somehow surprised by our weakness and failure? As if the price of Jesus' blood was somehow insufficient to accomplish the work of securing us in the affection of God for all eternity? Has he not known ALL from the beginning? To the extent that when we see Jesus revealed in his glory, he is described as appearing "as a lamb SLAIN FROM THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE WORLD!" (see Rev. 5:6, 13:8) In God's economy, the cross was already a FINISHED work. We just didn't see that manifest until Jesus made the declaration, hanging there ~ ("It is FINISHED!" see Jn 19:30) ~ the ultimate agony for ecstasy! (see Heb. 12:1-3)

(Or do you think perhaps that "insidious" is too strong a word? Ah, but how much of a prison it has been to me, thinking that I only ever continue to FAIL to please my Father? What is my snare? if not the fact I have failed to realize and receive his LOVE? GOD DOES NOT "TOLERATE" HIS CHILDREN! If God "tolerates" anything, it could be said he TOLERATES evil, he TOLERATES the evil-doer. But God LOVES his children, and in them he is WELL-pleased, because of Jesus! This is absolutely STAGGERING! If we would but grasp it, even if unsee-ingly! nevertheless by Faith! Thank you, Lord!)

No WONDER we continue to give ourselves over to sin as though it still has a death-grip on us! We haven't really reckoned ourselves as dead to sin (see Romans 6), and why? Could it be that we haven't been captivated by the UNFAILING, SUPERCEDING, CROSSING-ALL-SPACE-AND-TIME TO PURSUE AND WOO US LOVE of our Father, God.

Our awareness of our weakness is only intended to fan the flame of our JOYFUL dependence! Our Father does not condemn us; he HIMSELF took on our condemnation, so we are not just free FROM sin, but free TO love HIM!

It's not just "the greatest story ever told." It's the greatest LOVE story ever told!

Oh, Lord God, my good Father, help me ALWAYS remember, I am not merely tolerated, I am dearly BELOVED! because of Jesus ~ for HIS sake, for YOUR glory, and for MY joy!

Yes, only Jesus!

2011-12-27T10:18:00.001-05:00

Simple and well-put by Bonnke on his FB account, earlier today. Please read slowly and deliberately:

"The Gospel is like breathing - there's no future in the alternative. Everybody has a right to choose, but the options are pretty limited - live or die. People think they have found alternatives; mind-power, meditation, Buddhism, New Age, healing cults, but they are no more alternatives than a game of chess. They are no answer to the crippling power of sin and do not deliver us from guilt. People need saving and ONLY JESUS SAVES. You may look where you like – there is no other Savior. Yes, only Jesus. God bless you." ~REINHARD BONNKE

"...Correct but COLD."

2011-12-19T12:41:00.003-05:00

I may have posted on this before, but today's quote by Bonnke on Facebook is worth requoting, with this side-note:

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones once made a similar remark, to the effect that "right doctrine" IS essential; it's equivalent to us building the altar. But we must ALSO call on God to send the FIRE from heaven! Thank you, Lord! ~L

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke:

"Unless we are burning we can never set anybody else on fire. We can be so orderly, doing everything with dignity and decorum but … without fire! Correct but cold. On Mount Carmel the pagans laid everything correctly on the altar ready for the sacrifice but the devil could not bring a spark from hell to light it. Elijah then rebuilt the altar, stones, wood, sacrifice, everything according to the book, and called down fire from heaven. And it came! And it comes!"

"The Spirit of God is Arousing Us Within"

2011-12-19T12:23:00.004-05:00

....

24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?

25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.

The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.

5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.

9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!

12-14 So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

15-17 This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him!

18-21 That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

22-25 All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

31-39 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

Romans 7:24-8:39 from THE MESSAGE

Worship is Enjoying the Presence of God

2011-11-30T14:29:00.004-05:00

some bits from a really great, thought-provoking article I read today:

"WORSHIP IS [that is, this is the very ESSENCE, the defining nature of worship] ENJOYING THE PRESENCE OF GOD."

"Many Christians, today, do not have the conscious presence of God in their lives."

"The Holy Spirit is to us what the pillar of cloud and of fire were to the children of Israel. The Holy Spirit is God's manifested presence in our lives."

"Many people confess faith in the Lord Jesus, but do not have his presence in their lives; and [consequently,] they do not have the assurance of their salvation."

"Some of the most frightening words in the Bible are found in Exodus 33:1-3 where God gave the children of Israel his Protection, his Provision, and his Promise, but not his PRESENCE...."

"Do not settle for God's protection, his provision, or even the promised land [!] without his presence. When you have the presence of God, you need nothing more; and you should settle for nothing less!"

[note, I do not yet know who the author of this article is ~ but if/when I find, I will add as a comment to this post for future reference.]

Being Built into a Spiritual House

2011-11-30T10:56:00.001-05:00

I am still meditating on Monday night's powerful, loaded teaching by the pastor at my church.

We looked at, primarily, 1 Peter 2 ("spiritual house") and 1 Corinthians 2 ("spiritually discerned"), so the following is a kind of a swirl of the overall teaching from the other night, and it's swimming around in my heart and mind as if to suggest this is a SIGNIFICANT truth ~ that is, I can "feel" the Lord really impressing this to my heart:

What does it mean that the [authentic] church is being built into a SPIRITUAL house? We, governed by SPIRITUAL realities; We, having the MIND OF CHRIST; both individually (as living stones) & collectively (as a corporate Body, being "edified" - as in "edifice" - as in BUILT UP INTO) the TEMPLE of the Holy Spirit....

We, the very DWELLING place of God, his PRESENCE manifest AMONG, & IN, & TO & THRU us, making us a CITY ON A HILL, & thus a DECLARATION of GOD'S GLORIOUS GRACE!

We, an authentic church which has not merely the FORM of godliness, but which is unswervingly characterized by God's POWER, operating in dependence on his Holy Spirit, having been dramatically transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of HIS marvelous light!

WE, now, the "place" where God's PRESENCE abides, are both made FOR & (through Jesus Christ alone!) redeemed TO ~ WORSHIPPING GOD FOREVER, in SPIRIT & in TRUTH!

(1 Pet. 2, Eph. 1, 1 Cor. 2:1-5, 10-16, Ex. 33, 2 Tim. 3:1-5, a whirlwind survey thru the book of ACTS, Jn 4:23-24, et al.)

Oh, how we have TASTED, how we SEE that the Lord is GOOD!

Perfect Grace!

2011-11-17T10:27:00.000-05:00

God's perfect holiness requires our perfect holiness, OR his perfect (eternal!) judgment on us for LACK of it.

But thanks be to God that his perfect LOVE provided a perfect substitute - Jesus! - so that he would pour out his perfect judgment & wrath on the only one who really WAS (& is & is to come) perfectly holy, so that he could pour out his grace & mercy on all of US who would find our lives hidden IN that perfect substitute - Jesus! - & WHY would God do this? Not just so we'd be LIKE him! But so that we could be WITH him! FOREVER!

This isn't fundamentally a "perfecting" story - though we are, in Christ, perfected.

This isn't ultimately a "we WIN!" story - though, in Christ, we do!

It's not a "look at us, we're so great!" story - though Christ is the lifter of our heads, and he will exalt us at the proper time! - or, as some of us tend to think, a "woe is me, if only I could be perfect without Jesus' sacrifice!" story - though our hearts ought to break with what breaks the heart of God.

This is not a "religious" story, or even primarily a "rescue" story - though we are, in Christ, really rescued!

No! This is, first of all!, a LOVE story!

****
Our holiness is not the END - it's the MEANS! That we might receive and ENJOY, NOT our own perfection!, but GOD HIMSELF!
****

If we do not have Jesus' perfection - which he FREELY gives to all who would believe on his name! - If Jesus is not our ark of safety, and we do not stand before God clothed in HIS righteousness, we cannot survive the eternal INFERNO of God's GLORY. But he does not give us Jesus' righteousness so we will merely survive; he gives us the nature and heart of Jesus so we could be one with HIM!

HE is our heaven! Glory to God for his perfect grace!

Let the Truth Speak for Itself

2011-11-03T10:18:00.001-04:00

I needed to receive this word, today...AMEN!

"People filled with the Holy Spirit should be marked with the true features of witnesses. They neither dither nor dogmatize. They are sure of their aim but are not arrogant. They have the cool assurance of knowing that two plus two equals four with no need to prove it - no polemics. They are passionate but not pushy (with a few exceptions). They let the truth speak for itself, no browbeating people into submission. They do not wear boxing gloves. The preaching formula is always 'thus says the Lord,' not 'I’m telling you!' Witnesses just pass on what they had heard and saw. It is not their business to defend it or even to invite questions. It is the Lord’s responsibility to confirm the righteousness of His own Word."

~ (Evangelist) REINHARD BONNKE

Does Our "Eschatology" Rescue the Perishing?!

2011-11-02T17:49:00.001-04:00

Just thinking out loud. Particularly as the matter of "End Times" theology has paradoxically both excited/intrigued me AND irritated/deflated me....

I LOVE considering Jesus' return! I LOVE the urgency of seeing how current events line up with biblical prophecy.

But I DESPISE how matters of interpretation about prophecies that are still largely mysterious nevertheless manage to cause HUGE divisions in the Body of Christ, and to what end? (no pun intended....) If we are divided, on matters that are NOT intrinsic to the Gospel (see prev post - I am not advocating we abandon clear truths of Scripture - but where we have perhaps loved our TEACHINGS more than the WORD? let us lay those differences aside!), are we not in our division giving up the very ground to the enemy that WE should be conquering? Land that was promised to US?

So, lately, I find myself reading much about and also now in a church that holds to a kind of "end times" perspective that is a) quite different from my previously (albeit loosely) held assumptions, and that b) has VAST implications for how I might live, today, if this is an accurate interpretation of Scripture. So much so, in fact, that I am tempted to say every other "end times" view fits pretty squarely into the "not yet" category whereas this approach with which I now find myself presented is filled to overflowing with a sense of the "already." So, in my zeal, I whipped out the following as a status update on my facebook profile several minutes ago:

What if our "eschatology" - FAR from being a peripheral concern - were to not merely "inform" but absolutely TRANSFORM the way we live our life, NOW? That is, what if our "end times theology" is the wrongly held conviction that God's Kingdom is for THEN, but not NOW? What if the so-called tension between the "already" and "not yet" is so far much more defined by the "not yet" that we LOSE the ALREADY? What if "fixing our eyes on Jesus," and "setting our mind on things above," and praying "THY KINGDOM COME, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" is - not some social justice march, per se, but rather the RALLYING cry for an army of Christ-followers who are storming the gates of Hell to take back all those lost and captive to sin, declaring Christ as King and Victor....NOW. ALREADY. AND FOREVER!

I wonder if anyone will have anything to say about this??

O, Church, where is our URGENCY? (And how and where along the line had I lost mine?!) Where is our dependence on God's GRACE and the leading of HIS SPIRIT so that we are STILL able to GO into the ends of the earth? Did he not say we are to make disciples of EVERY nation until the END OF THE AGE? Oh, it's there, right in the text! (cf Matt28) Because his promise is to be WITH us....until when? Do you see? This means AT LEAST until every last perishing one is rescued from the clutches of sin and death! (And of course, the "rest" into which we eventually enter is nothing less than the heaven of HIS PRESENCE, so he will NEVER leave us!)

O, Church, where is our HOLINESS? Where is our relentless mortifying of the sin in our own mortal bodies, so we may WALK in the freedom Christ purchased for us, not allowing the enemy to get strongholds in our thoughts and lives, setting up fortresses in our lives and minds AGAINST the knowledge of God! Where is our pursuit of the prize? Where is the JOYFUL EXPECTATION that our faith, ONCE FOR ALL delivered to us, is that SURE thing, kept and preserved by Christ himself - Do we not know whom we have believed? Are we not persuaded that HE is able to keep that which we've committed unto him against that day? And if we ARE, then why are we weak and whimpering and fattening ourselves in the day of slaughter when we were made MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Christ?!

O, ME of little faith! How I have sat, wearied by my own sin and frailty, longing and frantically searching for Home when I had the ruby slippers all along....GET UP, WOMAN!

You were made for more than this!

His grace IS sufficient for you!

His power IS perfected in your weakness!

Now is not the time for grieving! Now is the time for LAYING HOLD of the promises of God, not in weakness but in the strength of HIS might!

Sit no longer under the weight of merely enduring this life until you can be holy in the next!

O, Church! The Gates of Hell cannot prevail against us - Since when do gates launch an attack? Are they not stationary, trying merely to prevent OUR advance?

So what ought we to be doing? Standing STILL??

People of the WORD!

2011-10-24T18:11:00.001-04:00

I love the internet - there is SO much at my fingertips, as far as good biblical teaching, sermons online, etc. SO many tables at which we can sit, & eat till we are stuffed & overfull, & equally as many outlets for evangelism & ministry.

But, there are also SO many dangers, so much opportunity to proliferate BAD teachings, & all in all, how much of this really aids the Body at large IF WE AREN'T ABIDING IN THE WORD!? There is a very real danger of harm, & the very real presence of spiritual enemies who wish to snatch the truth before we are able to receive it in the good soil of our hearts (cf Luke 8).

And having Twitter & FaceBook saturated attention spans really only continues to ERRODE our patience for careful examination, critical thought, & taking the time to prayerfully seek God's face that he might make HIMSELF known to us, so we aren't so easily tossed about (& often we do not know this is happening!) by every wind of doctrine.

A HELPFUL QUESTION: What is the "trend" of your sermon-listening/book-reading? How much of what you hear is SCRIPTURE saturated, and how much is the mere pontificating of this or that teacher/preacher?

In God's wisdom - as an anchor to our souls! - we are to measure & test all things by his WORD, to BE a people of BOOK! This does not mean powerless, spirit-less, merely academic analysis -

This "Book" was Spirit-authored, & our ability to receive it is Spirit-empowered, & our love & application OF it is Spirit-quickened!

If we are HIS, we LOVE his Word! What this does mean? We have, in this span of time from Christ's first coming until he comes again (& forever after!), the GLORIOUS privilege of fellowshipping WITH God & worshipping him in Spirit AND in Truth, such that God himself is our Teacher.

If you have a dark spot in your understanding, ask the Lord for revelation & diligently search the WORD of God, because in his Word you will find the Light which reveals Christ.

(cf 1st John, esp. 2:18-27, & 4:1-6) ....

Blessings,
~Leah

I'm Desperate For You!

2011-10-19T09:57:00.001-04:00

Some reflections on last night and this morning, as I am conscious of the fact the Lord has been more about "wrecking" me than (at least as it seems) "refreshing" me in this corporate "revival."

******

We sing that we are "desperate" for the presence of God, but do we really know what we're singing? I am experientially realizing that genuine revival has to start where the Lord INCREASES OUR DESPERATION. A repeated word being spoken over me these days is in essence that "demolition precedes the rebuilding"....

An analogy from losing weight - because toxins are stored in our fat cells, when we begin to lose weight, especially any significant amount, those toxins get released into our bloodstream, and we begin to experientially FEEL worse, even though we are actually being CLEANSED! These toxins MUST be unlocked from the cells where they've been stored in order to get into the body's transport system so they can be expelled, and the body can....HEAL.

So, I thank you, Lord, for the KINDNESS of your demolishing work in the idol-factory of my heart. However much it increases my DESPERATION, I receive this as your PROMISE that you WILL come and fill the empty places and bring RESTORATION!

~L

Old-Fashioned Camp Meeting ~ Revive us, O Lord!

2011-10-19T09:47:00.003-04:00

A Personal Recounting (written Tuesday, 10/18/11):

Unplanned, we have had three meetings so far this week, all pushing 4 hours each, and we're pressing in for another, tonight.

I am afraid I would qualify as genuinely "stiff-necked" about the whole matter. Before last night, I wrote the following note to myself - exposing an attitude of some, *ahem*, suspicion:

Heading to (church) for another night with "Revivalists" (who shall remain nameless for now). We are (I am HOPING FOR THIS) a people desiring to see God move in our midst! So far, having them here has been very reminiscent of an old-fashioned "camp meeting" ~ I find I'm holding myself in reserve; not out of deference to "tradition" but to "test" the spirits and the word being preached so as to discern if this is the word of GOD....but I am so-far feeling that my having this disposition of "wait and see what the Lord will do" has already been an object of some scorn and mockery by this bringer-of-the-word. As if being "conservative" is already a problem? (Are we spiritualizing personalities, now?) Is this akin to Jesus' WOE TO YOU, you Pharisees? And I ought to feel rebuked? Or is this akin to the "demanding spirit" I have sensed from more extreme arms of those with a more "charismatic" bent, as if to say the outward signs I might exhibit of the work the Lord is doing IN me must look THIS or that way, or they can't possibly be real....I LONG for more of God, but I will not abide being manipulated, especially if that looks only like some whipping into an emotional frenzy that is based on half-quoted Scriptures and an adrenalin-rush based zeal that has more to do with chemistry than charisma!....

You might imagine from the above, I have had to engage in not an insignificant amount of battle in my mind to let my heart "get it" - but last night, I believe the Lord stirred me. My resistance was broken (though I did not, for better or for worse, let my "guard" down) when during worship, one of our worship leaders broke out with a prophetic word, picking up from one of the themes recurring through Sunday's meetings in speaking about Jacob who wrestled with God, who was willing to be even a bit belligerent with God if it meant he receive the Lord's blessing - She began to sing, "We won't let go until you bless us!"

As the music continued, another worship leader on the opposite side of the platform began to sing as if the prophetic voice of God in response - and this picked up another thread from Sunday's meetings, the cry of the blind man who had called out to Jesus, and to whom Jesus' response was "What do you seek?" (as if it wasn't obvious? But he would make the man confess it with his own mouth!)....She began to sing, "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me?" and proceeded to list off one earthly desire after another, as if God through this woman's song was forcing us to consciously knock down every idol of our hearts.

"Do you want silver? Do you want gold? Do you want riches untold?...Do you want friends? Do you want fame?" and on and on it went. "What do you want from me? Tell me what you want from me!" And we lingered over the same four chords, over and over, crescendoing until as a BODY the most natural response was for our collective, worshipful cry burst out of our hearts, "WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT YOU, GOD! WE WANT MORE, WE WANT MORE OF YOU!"

After what seemed an immeasurable amount of time, and untold repetitions which in a previous life would have irritated me but for some reason tonight was enlarging my heart!, the music finally decrescendoed, and we quieted....Until several individuals peppered throughout the room started laughing, a break-out kind of laughing, some of which could only be described as uncontrollable. This was and would have continued to be, for me, a distraction - even as I with much effort tried to refrain from making any wild assumptions about what was happening (is this legitimate, or is this self-indulgent? artificial to get attention?), I felt the mind-battle creeping in again - one I might not have been able to set aside if Mrs. "Revivalist" (who happened to speak before her husband got up, this time) had not taken the laughter so in stride, as though it was the most natural, Holy Ghost inspired thing, distracting as it was.

Whether her intention or not, she gave sufficient space before really saying anything of import with respect to her own heart, experience with revival, and perhaps most importantly the battles she had to fight in her own life to lay aside her expectations of HOW God would minister to the hearts of his people, so that the laughter, after several minutes, did eventually die down, with only a snickering few still shaking in their seats.

So, I intentionally chose to lay aside my own expectations of HOW God ministers to the hearts of his people, mine included, and tried to listen, with a biblically sensitive ear, keying in as first she, then her husband spoke, to various specific Bible passages with which I was familiar, (and I was chasing down the chapters and verses as they spoke to check what they were saying, did this or that really happen as they are saying?)....And I discovered that despite my familiarity, my "head" knowledge, there is MUCH I have not seen or understood in some of these well-worn paths in the pages of my Bible.

The preaching that followed began breaking up hard soil; we were freed to examine our own hearts, to recognize that we are commanded to HOLD FAST our confession, because we (like John the Baptist who sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he REALLY was the promised Messiah of God, Luke 7:18-35) are prone to LOSE our confession in a sea of doubt which is a thief (like also our own pride, or like our preconceived expectations of what it should look like for God to "show up" to his people) that seeks to steal genuine revival.

Still, we cling to the mercy of God, even as we know he pursues us, and speaks his word for our CONFIDENT EXPECTATION (just as Jesus sent a reassuring word back to John the Baptist) that he IS who he has said he is, and he will DO exactly as he has said he would do! And even now, Jesus intercedes on our behalf before the Father that we would persevere! Lord, we want YOU! and we want to see your glory, your name magnified to the ends of the earth! We want to see people RADICALLY transformed by your Gospel! Healed, delivered, set free, and turned into WORSHIPPERS for your name's sake! Halleluiah!

My mind still fights for dominance as my fledgling spirit and child-like heart are being quickened to a deeper hunger and thirst for the presence of God. This is not, despite (what I would anticipate would be) criticisms from a more doctrine-centric church-world, a battle which requires the surrender of the Word! Quite the contrary. Did I "agree" with every word the man spoke? Or that his wife spoke? Well, I'll answer that THIS way: My normal history has been to take my "discerning" (suspicious?!) ear and pick apart every wrong statement. But even as the preacher said of himself - eat the meat and, if there be any, pull out the bones. So last night, I listened instead for the "spirit" of what was being said moreso than perhaps the "letter" - because the SPIRIT was in the Gospel, and a heart cry for the salvation of lost souls and the glory of Jesus' name to the ends of the earth!

Perhaps there were a few small bones, but there was a lot of meat which nourished my spirit, increasing my expectations for this evening....

Made for a Greater Song

2011-10-18T17:36:00.000-04:00

"WHAT IF" the text FOLLOWING "ever be filled with the Holy Spirit" in Eph. 5:18 is really Paul's explanation of HOW to be filled? Namely: "Speak out to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering praise with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your ♥ to the Lord...."

"WHAT IF" this kind of music-making and singing with thankFULLness from the ♥ is NOT the mere "emotional self-indulgence" some of us have been told it is -

"WHAT IF" this is at least one of the very ways God designed us to COMMUNE with him in our spirit?

"WHAT IF" I had not "received" the seed of this rebuke when I was young - that I ought not be so emotional in singing my ♥ out in praise and worship, with full abandon!

"WHAT IF" that, then, wasn't as self-focused, as all about "me" and "my" feelings; but instead was, perhaps, a child-like expression of genuine hunger and a chasing after God? Is it any wonder, then, that now being given "permission" to SING FROM MY TOES! would begin to have a total transforming effect on my ♥ AFFECTION for God?!

"WHAT IF" the "proper" and "respectful" and "reserved" and "orderly" singing that I grew to treasure as oh-so-reverent (not that there isn't a place for it, but it is only ONE FACET of making music in our ♥'s to God!) was in fact one of the means by which the enemy was stealing the revival of MY ♥, and I didn't even know it?

"WHAT IF" I was made for a GREATER song....

Each Church has its own Family Culture

2011-09-22T17:30:00.000-04:00

Idealistically, every church wd be "like-minded" w/respect to the Gospel. I realize that they aren't, but for our purposes, let's assume that the Gospel is the undisputed common denominator. (!)

Even if all churches were like-minded with respect to the salvation of Christ and Christ alone, they would, nevertheless, still each have their own "Family Culture."

Recently, it has been impressed upon me that there are at least three other things which I must consider when trying to decide to what church body I am being called to join myself. (And I'll admit, perhaps this is only a luxury such as here in west Michigan where there is a church on every street corner....)

1) Personality,
2) Mission,
3) Community.

A short word about each:

Personality - this is almost equivalent to a "style" question, but that's not all I mean by this. But at least this "corporate personality" has to do with formal versus casual, loud versus quiet. How do we worship? How do we outwardly express our love for God? How do we interact with non-believers both outside and in our midst?

By way of example, in my previous church, the "personality" is more formal, more with a view to the "reverent awe" of God and a more classical approach to the music style (I do not even mean by "classical" merely all hymns, but more like trained musicianship and a love for the polished, more cultivated endeavors whether choir or concert pianists, etc.) which has as its emphasis the offering of excellence to God. In my current church, the "personality" is much more FREE with respect to style - people stand, sit, dance, jump, have arms raised and faces lifted upwards, or sit with their head in their hands; the view is more to "expressive love" for God (which is widely acknowledged as a more subjective thing), and an eager hope to receive FROM him as we worship, which has as its emphasis the enjoyment of God's presence WITH his body.

Mission - this has more to do with the main forward thrust of the church. It COULD be related to Personality, if the primary "mission" of the body is "worship," for example. But I mean by this more - what is the main thing our body has a heart and gifting for? In my previous church, the main "mission" of the church was doctrinal excellence wrapped up with family ministry, so training up children in the solid, doctrinal truths of Scripture is a huge value, and thus the primary "evangelistic" thrust of the church takes the form of, for example, adoption ministries and short-term missions trips for teens with accompanying parents when possible. In the church body I've been attending of late, the main "mission" of the church seems to spring from a very vibrant "First Love" for Christ, so there is a hunger for street evangelism in our own community, and reaching out to the poor - and, in a way that touches me very deeply, this church is (as Paul said of the Macedonians) "giving out of their own poverty."

Community - This could also be perceived as a kind of style or personality thing, but by this I mean at least a couple different things, which again I feel constrained to explain (ooh, nice inner rhyme!) by example. In my previous church, the "community" is so family-centric, that there is a sense in which creating an interdependent community with one another in the body is a very small "felt-need" (unless, as I am, you happen to be single). How you meet one anothers' needs is first from WITHIN your own, immediate family. Only if you fail (mm, yes, I want to use this word) to meet your own needs, do you then reach outside where you will find ready, willing, and able other families who will help you. In my current church, the "community" seems to be far more about individuals coming together in a way that the BODY is the primary family unit, so there is a great emphasis on being intentional about cultivating the church family in thriving, small group get-togethers ("Life Groups"), where as perhaps an extension of the personality and mission of this particular body, these people are very proactive in engaging and ministering to one another. They don't wait for you to come to them with a need - they collectively listen for the Lord's leading and seek each other out to FIND ways to minister to one another. (I am not sure if I am drawing this distinction very well, but I can "intuit" the difference, and it is rather profound!)

So where do you (I) fit - how do you (we) line up?

I have a theory (and you knew I would, didn't you?) -

Were we in a geographical region where we didn't have the luxury of all the other "trappings" of what it means to be a church family, GOSPEL would be THE binding unity, and we would probably be far less likely to SEE other difference cuz we'd be fighting for the basis of our faith life. But as we DO, by God's grace, have the luxury of much more "peace" in our current setting, we have opportunities to grow and expand and explore and think and ponder (let's stay in the positive, for now ;)), and by virtue of not being on the front lines, we get to enjoy certain differences and distinctions - which, I hope to God, do not also divide us unnecessarily.....

In short, my theory is that these 3 things I've just mentioned would "fall away" in importance during times of persecution, and by God's grace it is precisely in seasons of such refining that the Gospel shines the more brilliantly and with a clarity that all true believers will unwaveringly cling to. But while we have the luxury of "exploring" our differences, I hope that they nevertheless do not detract us from fixing our eyes on Jesus, or loving each other well and in a way that honors God, but rather that such explorations would aid us IN these endeavors, as it is, after all, JESUS ALONE whom we are persuing!

I hope, to put it another way, that we are not erring on the side of merely loving God with all of our MIND and SOUL over this way, and all of our HEART over that way, and all of our STRENGTH over there....but that we would endeavor to love God with ALL of our mind, soul, heart and strength - in all ways, in all times, with all people, to the glory of God and the edification and beautification of his Body whom he has purchased by his own blood.

Thank you, Lord!

~L

Like Insurgents

2011-09-22T16:21:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Lord, for your mercy! for your patience & the gentleness w/which you discipline (train up!) your children! Empower me to "put on" your love towards others, today.

You are an ENLARGER of territories!

Father, I pray you would continue to gain victory over the territories of my ♥heart♥ ~ You have conquered sin & death, but like Insurgents, they keep rising up as if to overthrow your good work.

Let me not again be subject to a yoke of slavery!

~L

Faith is No Objective!

2011-09-22T16:18:00.001-04:00

Without faith it is impossible to please God, but "faith" is no OBJECTIVE!

Faith is the MEANS! and Christ is the END!

a) You say you desire faith? You must know what God SAYS; faith comes by hearing the WORD of God.

b) But what then? Faith is merely your taking God at his word! If you are not doing what he SAYS, how can you think you have faith? If you have not by means of it laid hold of HIM who works IN you to will & to do HIS good pleasure?

~L

Squeezed Out

2011-09-09T16:39:00.001-04:00

I've long desired to return to school for my Master's degree - especially if said school could be a seminary or ministry school. Though I've recently had occasion to (again) reflect on the events in my life over the past couple years, and I see how the cumulative circumstances of my experiences have been a far more thorough "schooling"....

Experiences which have been exceedingly stressful, emotionally draining if not damaging, and have surfaced in every facet of life from work to church to friendships to family to trying to maximize my singleness for God's glory....

To borrow from some unknown someone, more clever than myself, I've been squeezed like a tube of toothpaste, and much of what has oozed out has not been a sweet aroma before the Lord. Nevertheless, I shall choose to be grateful that he continues to conform me to the likeness of Christ even if I go kicking and screaming in the process. :)

After all, if he squeezes it OUT, it is no longer IN me, right?? Let's hope to God. :)

Lord, let me be faithful, and never cease! to mortify my flesh, to always "be killing sin" so it is not killing me. By the grace of God. Thank you for your unceasing mercy and that you are slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love!

Deceived and Delighting in it

2011-09-01T17:19:00.008-04:00

Recently, I had occasion to speak with a friend's dad - this man who has had a tumultous, even abusive relationship with his son from the beginning. I knew, going in, that this was possibly a demonized man, and so had prayed for discernment.

As he spoke, it was as if he had behind him a wardrober FULL of different spirits - all evil - so that he was actually switching from one to the next to the next, changing spirits like cloaks, savoring each one as he would take on a different form, even if only momentarily. The activity seriously resembled insanity as he worked himself into a lather by the end of the conversation, putting on verbally violent theatrics, yelling and screaming like it brought him some deep, perverse pleasure. Which, knowing my own indulgences and susceptibility to temptation, it probably did just that.

I could "see" the spirits, but perhaps more powerfully, I was able, in brief glimpses, to see through to the man who desperately needs Jesus' deliverance. Between "costume changes," I saw a shriveled, weak, frail, broken man, like a survivor of the Holocaust - HIDING behind these spirits because he thought they EMPOWERED him, though they really ensnared him. But he LIKED being their slave. (I suppose as we all once did, before we were given the Spirit of Christ....!)

I saw his deception, and I saw his delight in it.

I wouldn't, yet, have the first idea about how to reach him - but I have recently had occasion to re-read the story in Mark 9 where Jesus tells his disciples that "This kind cannot come out except by praying and fasting." I would need to wait wholly on the Lord to empower me if I am to speak to the man, again.

For now, I was grateful for the "discernment" - I had prayed to the Lord specifically FOR it, but then also needed a couple days AFTER the conversation to "see" clearly what had transpired.

It is a helpful reminder (one I'll try to note for future interactions in a similar vein) that I NOT be overconfident in my own powers of observation, but rather 1) ask the Lord to reveal, and then 2) ask the Lord to SORT the revelation and impress the TRUTH to my understanding.

I do not know if the Lord will yet use me in this man's life, but as for the man's son, my friend, the Lord enabled me (at least!) to comprehend, better, some of the complexity of the influence this abuser has been. My friend has been engaged in full on warfare for his OWN sanity as a result; and he has been trying to "lay hold" of Christ, though he always feels salvation is beyond his grasp. I know I cannot be his assurance, but I long for it for him, nonetheless.

Trusting in God's goodness, that He has promised He will NOT lose any of His own....

recent status updates

2011-08-18T08:41:00.003-04:00

*Heard elsewhere: "God doesn't call the qualified; God qualifies the called."

*(convicting!) repost from Desiring God: “No worship...that leaves us harsh with our workers on Monday, or contentious with our spouses at home, or self-indulgent in other areas of our lives, is true, God-pleasing worship.” ~John Piper

*‎5 I's of Dishonor (from sermon by Keith Moore): Ignoring, Interrupting, Intruding, Interfering, Insulting.

*Receiving the discipline of God as a GOOD and beautiful thing is not easy, but produces SWEET fruit....Thank you, Lord! (cf Hebrews 12)

*Pride isn't sinful first because it EXALTS self; it only need be PREOCCUPIED with and interpret the world by self.

ANY Sip from the Cup of Bitterness

2011-08-12T18:22:00.004-04:00

Every conversation replaying an offense, even if to be "prayerful" or "seeking counsel" from a godly listener, will unavoidably step into the territory of gossip and slander. Our simple "talking" stirs up the cup of bitterness so that every sip, however carefully obtained!, is nevertheless tainted.

Rather, empty the cup, be cleansed!, and fill the purified vessel with fresh water ~ so we can pour out refreshing to others.

~L

(This is not to say we can never speak of offenses, but oh how quick I am to speak! ~ what first of getting the LOG out of my own eye! what first of rather being wronged? what first of ensuring that I have already "forgiven" from my heart as Christ has forgiven me, so that if and when I speak, it can be from a merciful disposition? If I must speak at all, why not first let that speaking be of my OWN offense, so that my prayers may not be hindered?)

Led by the Spirit ~ as a true son

2011-08-12T18:18:00.003-04:00

The primary way we hear from God is by his WORD, his self-revelation. The Holy Spirit opens our understanding, but the Word gives us the VOICE of our Shepherd so we can know him, and follow where he leads, and enjoy his presence.

This is FIRST what is meant by "being led by the Spirit" or "walking in step with the Spirit" of God ~ Namely, that we come to see JESUS for who he is and worship him AS GOD, because the WORD that testifies to him is TRUE.

~L

(cf Romans 8, John 10)

~ BORN AGAIN AGAIN: A Confession ~

2011-08-09T15:43:00.013-04:00

Perhaps the most resonant theme of the past year in my life has been my prayer that the Lord would "increase my capacity" to receive more of him, to ENJOY more of him. The Lord has answered, but in such a way (as it seems to happen often) that it exposed my very small expectations, and my very over-blown sense of not only what I meant by such a request, but my own assessment of what my receiving his answer would look like. In short, what follows is my (weak) attempt at a fitting summary.

I. SOMETHING OLD

*Being Exposed ~ God uses both the sharp and powerful sword of his word and the pressure of our external circumstances to pierce even to our marrow, and his word causes us to be "laid bare before him with whom we have to do." (Hebrews 4:12-13) I heard, not long ago, that Christians are like a tube of toothpaste ~ when you squeeze them, you find out what's really inside. I've been squeezed in myriad ways, and I do not like the often rotten content that is being exposed. It is like (look back to first couple lessons from Seeking Him study) the analogy of "breaking up your fallow ground" ~ allowing the plow of God's word and Spirit to get down DEEP to the soft soil under all the hard, sunbaked exterior, and the churning and cutting and grinding and tearing that has to take place to expose the soft underside of the soil so that the word can be planted in it and GROW. If you'll forgive the mixed metaphors, nevertheless, my heart contains many uglinesses of which I have been (and still remain) largely ignorant. But thanks be to God that he is in the business of making his people holy!

*Being Emptied ~ It's not enough to realize the uglinesses in our hearts. God fully expects us to be RID of them. To put sin to death! To not yield ourselves any longer to the lusts of our flesh, but rather to be led by the Spirit. So once pierced, once churned, once exposed, we must now be emptied. But not only of sin, but also of SELF. Oh, self! You have deceived, you have usurped! But you were never meant to be God, you were meant to be in COMMUNION with and submission TO God! In him is your greatest, FULL satisfaction! Why do you buck so, o rebellious soul! But thanks be to God that he is not only able to empty us of self and sin, he does so for our good, so that we may have life to the FULL; and who else is life? "Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!" (Jn. 6:68-69)

*Being Expectant ~ So in keeping with Jesus' promise that if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, ALL other needful things will be added (Matt. 6:31-33), in keeping with Jesus' promise that ANYone who comes to him, he will in NO way cast out (Jn. 6:37), I have a godly HOPE ~ that is, I KNOW ~ God will answer me. (Matt. 7:7-12) My "expectation" (even at that!) is far too small! But thanks be to God that he is able to do ABUNDANTLY above and beyond what I can even ask or think! (Eph. 3:14-21) He who has promised will do it!

II. SOMETHING NEW

*Being Encountered ~ I have spent the last several years of my life (most of which unknowingly) in a Romans 7 kind of existence. So much "striving" and "working" to be obedient, righteous, etc. And failing. And let's be honest, MOST of my "striving" and "working" was wimpy at best, and yet I would always manage to convince myself (at times) that I was really making a difference, or really succeeding, only to be confronted with new ways in which I had failed (most of which had to do with failing to convince OTHERS that I was doing right or doing good, so how much was genuinely out of my conscience, and how much was just a failing to win the approval of men?!)...But how kind of God? that he would overlook my offenses and my selfish strivings again and again, that he would even lovingly confront my pride, where in my zeal I felt "At last! I've grasped success in my walk with Christ!" only to fail so miserably, and the Lord would meet me in those moments and whisper forgiveness, lovingly redirect me, sometimes force me to repent, often TO those very "men" from whom I was seeking praise!. How kind of God that he answers our longings to know him by showing up and ministering to us with the presence of his own Spirit? Abiding with us, even comforting us as he makes us over. He may administer a sharp, piercing scalpel as he cuts out our flesh, but he does not do so without anesthetic, he does not do so without himself being the one to nurse the woundings, guard from infection, and set us right again, in SPIRIT, so that even if there must be a scar, we can point to it and confess HIS goodness in having HEALED us so completely!

*Being Enraptured ~ When he meets me in the intimacy of his Word, in the making me aware of his presence by his Spirit, and often in the context of corporate worship with other believers in Christ, I am discovering a whole new kind of euphoric sensation, replacing my former "religious" engagements which would often bear the fruit of self-loathing and condemnation, I have been given new SIGHT! and I find, as I fix my eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2), look full in his wonderful face, truly the things of this earth grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace! He is glorious, he is beautiful, he is extravagant in his love, he is perfect, unyielding, and yet gentle as fierce power which is capable of crushing me is nevertheless reined in so that I can touch his heart in worship. I am ashamed to confess these moments have been few and far between! Much as my spirit LONGS for these moments, I find I have only begun to realize the intimacy possible with God!...But how kind of God? that he would pursue us, that he would promise to see us in secret, to meet us in the privacy of moments of prayer, and to DELIGHT our souls with his presence? HE is the one for whom we have been made! How could we wonder that we would be enraptured by anything less? We were MADE to be WORSHIPPERS! God's glory is our great JOY!

*Being Equipped ~ So now, God willing, I am moving from Romans 7 to Romans 8 and will pursue all the FULLNESS that means for me. I am no longer a slave, but a son! (Gal. 4:1-7) Is it possible? For one born again to be born again again? If so, that is the point to which I have come. I am again an infant ~ what of knowledge? I have been a student of the word, I have loved to dig deep, but that knowledge (though it OUGHT to have produced joy!) only puffed me up! (1 Cor. 8:1-3) I heard this past week, from another preacher of God's word, that we are not called primarily to be students of God's word - though we are to be that - but we are to be WITNESSES, to testify to that which we have seen, namely JESUS! seated on the throne, high and lifted up! I have spent most of my adult life unknowingly aspiring to merely acquiring more knowledge about God. And to be sure, we ARE to love the Lord our God with all our MIND. (Matt. 22:36-40) But that is not all, and it is not even first...But how kind of God? that he does not leave us in our ignorance! My "knowledge" has increasingly obscured my own ignorance, and I am being made a child again, learning to love BEING-WITH Jesus by the power of his Spirit. This life I now live must be ever adding to our faith. Where I have possessed knowledge, I have lacked character. So now, I am requiring a new equipping. (Gal. 5:19-26, 2 Pet. 1:3-11) In some ways, learning to "do over" things I have taken for granted that I already knew. Lord, make me LISTEN! He speaks through the word of God, and I know his voice! (Jn. 10) I LOVE his voice! Not nearly so much as I ought! But thanks be to God! not nearly so much as I WILL!

God HAS answered me ~ He IS "increasing my capacity" for which I am thankful. Even though I see only the acorn, I am confident of the oak tree hiding under its tiny cap! He breaks my heart, but what he gives me in return is so absolutely incomparable. I would desire more of this "breaking" ~ it is the KINDNESS of God that leads us to repentance! ~ if it will yield more of this ENJOYING of God. Something I thought I knew, but had only barely tasted. If God can do this while we are yet in this earthly tent, HOW MUCH MORE will he give us when we come face to face with him in GLORY?

GLORY TO GOD!

~ P.S. We did complete the below "Seeking Him" series in class, but I wasn't able to keep up with the notes online. So for those who were eagerly waiting for lessons 9-12, my apologies, and perhaps I will yet be able to capture some of what was reviewed ~ it was indeed a GREAT study!

Seeking Him, Lesson 8: Clear Conscience ~ Dealing with our Offenses toward Others

2011-03-15T20:09:00.002-04:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 03/15/2011 - 7:58pm humilityPoor in SpiritRepentanceSH011

SEE PREVIOUS ENTRY for the "INTRO" example used - an outward "STINK" as evidence of an inward "ROT".....

The first seven lessons focused primarily on experiencing revival in our hearts and lives as it pertains to our relationship to God. As Nancy put it in our study, the "vertical" aspect. With chapter 8, we turned more to the practical outworking of these truths, of God's reviving our hearts, as it pertains to our relationships with other people.

"When our conscience is clear, we have nothing to be ashamed of."

We have talked about how one of our first reactions when we sin is to hide, or to point fingers to deflect the blame from ourselves. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, demonstrated this in the Garden - they were ASHAMED because of their nakedness, a consequence of their sin. They were vulnerable before God, and with each other.

Sin breaks relationship. It breaks our relationship with God, and it has the same effect in our relationships with each other.

"Having a clear conscience means there is no obstruction in our fellowship with God or anyone else. It means we are careful to avoid sinning against God or others with our words, actions, or attitudes. It also means that when we do sin, we quickly repent, admit our failure to all offended parties, ask their forgiveness, and make whatever restitution is necessary." ~NLDeMoss (p. 149)

Above the Level of Reproach
We looked at the example of Samuel from 1 Samuel 12:1-4 - he stood before the people and welcomed their feedback - he did not, himself, know of any offenses of which he had not been repentant, but he opened the floor for the people of the nation to expose any of his offenses, and their response was that they found him to have lived, in effect, "above the level of reproach"! (see 1 Timothy 3:2)

How would we need to live - to what degree must we always be repenting, always open to correction - if we were to make every effort to live in relationship with other people without any unconfessed sin between us?

W.I.Y.W.J.
We also looked at Matthew 25:37-40, 45 and Acts 9:1-5 together. (see day 3 in your books)

Not only does Jesus identify himself with the church body - to the degree that in Acts he confronts Saul with persecuting HIM because of his breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus. But we see that Jesus measures our actions against "the least of these" - receiving our treatment of others as if we were doing unto HIM.

So - instead of asking, perhaps, WWJD, as if I were standing in Jesus' shoes trying to decide how to behave in this or that situation. What if, instead, I were to see YOU as "in Jesus' shoes" - What If You Were Jesus - how would I treat you? Would I respond to you any differently? How would I seek to serve you? How would I desire your good, and not my own?

How would I worship Jesus in the way that I am treating others?

Don't give the Devil a Foothold
We also looked at Matthew 5:23-24 - how the Lord instructs us to even STOP, to interrupt our service or worship to the Lord if necessary, if we remember that someone has something against us - so seriously does he take our reconcilliation with one another!

See also Ephesians 4:25-28 - Why are we not to let the sun go down on our anger? It is like we saw above - that sin puts a wedge in relationship - it is just enough space for the Devil to get a foothold! And he loves to divide us! To break our trust in one another! To add to our shame, and to break and tear asunder what God has put together! So - we must MAKE HASTE! BE QUICK! Go, as soon as the Lord convicts you, GO, and make things right with your sister or your brother or your husband or your children or your pastor or your friend or your boss or your coworker.

Confession requires humility, and it requires a measure of discernment - reconciliation does not require the exposing of every gawdy detail of your offense. But it does require honesty and a spirit of repentance - in your heart, both desiring and committing to never do thus and such again.

But think of the freedom!! If you have already acknowledged your need for forgiveness - and you have made your confession, you have willingly and even with great zeal embraced the humility that the Lord has granted, what more can the enemy do to you at this point!? You have been on the brink, perhaps, of a word of condemnation, but you have confessed, you have exposed your own shame and relenquished it! The enemy no longer has a hold on you - he can no longer wield this condemnation over your head! MAKE HASTE TO MAKE RIGHT!!

Progression: Private --> Personal --> Public
And lastly, we looked at how to practically apply the steps of seeking forgiveness. The goal of confession is not only our own holiness and freedom, but ultimately the reconciliation of the relationship, if possible and appropriate.

But we must be wise and discerning - reconciliation is not always possible or appropriate.

First, review the matter with the Lord - PRIVATELY - one on one, confess your sin to God. ASK him to show you what you must do. If your sin is against God and against God only, you may not need to go and seek forgiveness from another. If your sin is against another individual, after you have addressed the matter prayerfully and allowed the Lord to search your heart, go - PERSONALLY - to the one you have offended, and do not merely say you are sorry, do not merely apologize, ASK for forgiveness. This requires more from the other person than merely hearing you out - and is necessary for reconciliation. It also requires more from YOU than just an acknowledgement that the other person has been offended. To ask for forgiveness requires you to submit to the other person's response, to humble yourself before the Lord and before the other person. Finally, if your sin is an offense against a greater number, again using wisdom and discretion, the situation may require you to make a - PUBLIC - confession, and seek forgiveness from the whole body (by which I mean any plurality of persons, not necessarily the whole church, unless it is a sin which has affected the whole church).

Pages 157 thru 164 gave some VERY good and helpful, practical steps and advice as to how to proceed, what to be mindful of in the going, etc. If you are in doubt, it may be wise to seek biblical counsel.

Quickly Repent
To All Offended Parties
Ask for Forgiveness
Make Restitution

Keeping in mind ~ we, none of us!, "deserve" forgiveness. We are confessing that we have wrong another, and asking of that person, "Would you have mercy on me as GOD has had mercy on me?"

Next Lesson: FORGIVENESS ~ Dealing with Others' Offenses against Us

SH011, Lesson 8: Clear Conscience - INTRO

2011-03-15T20:03:00.003-04:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 3:50pm Lysa TerKeurstSH011

INTRO taken from Lysa TerKeurst's (author of "Made to Crave") blog entry for 3/2/11:

THE ROOT OF MY ROT

Last week I got all twisted up and bent out of shape. And honey, everyone in my house knew mama wasn’t happy. I tried everything to usher gentleness back into my tone and my temper.

I quoted verses.
I rebuked Satan.
I bossed my feelings around with truth.
I even tried to take a nap.
But none of these activities soothed me.
Another of my people had done something crazy that ushered a smell into my home that not even 3 Yankee candles would mask.
And I am super sensitive to smells. Like hyper crazy sensitive.

I had already dealt with the melted microwave smell and the little prizes from an untrained puppy smell. Now, there was this third mysterious, awful smell wafting through my home assaulting my nasal passages. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what it was or where it was coming from.

I lit candles, I sprayed stuff, I even covered my nose with the edge of my shirt… but I still smelled it.

Finally, I realized my daughter had pulled out a bathroom trashcan with a flip up lid into the middle of my bedroom floor. She propped the lid open so she could throw away scraps of paper as she worked on a school project. Something had obviously been thrown away in that forgotten trashcan that was way past gross and into the final stages of rot.

Or, something had crawled up into that can and died.
I didn’t have the heart to find out what it was; I just knew the can had to go. Immediately.
The smell was an outside indication of an internal situation.
And the trashcan wasn’t the only thing that stunk that night. So did my attitude.
My reaction was an outside indication of an internal situation.

The reason I couldn’t be soothed with Scripture verses, bossing my feelings, rebuking Satan or even a nap is because God wanted me to be aware of my stink… something inside of me that was gross… a place starting to rot.

He didn’t want me to temporarily mask the situation by feeling better in the moment.
He wanted me to address the root of my rot.

God wanted me to see it- admit it- expose it- bring it out- let Him clean it up and shut it down. Immediately.

A little rot can spread fast and furious if not dealt with swiftly and seriously.

That’s why it’s so crucial to pay attention to our reactions today. How we react is such a crucial gauge on what’s really going on inside us. When people or issues or situations bump into our happy it’s not wrong to feel annoyed. But if that annoyance leads to a reaction out of proportion to the issue at hand… we can bank on the fact this eruption has a root of rot.

Here are some tell tale signs of roots of rot:

* I throw out statements like, “You always… You never… Why can’t we ever…”
* I start gathering ammunition from past situations to build my case.
* I use words and a tone outside my normal character.
* I justify my reaction by illuminating how hard my life is right now.
* I demand an apology all the while knowing I should be giving one.

These are not fun to admit, but here’s the beauty of the situation. The quicker we see a root of rot, the quicker we can get rid of the stink and move forward.

I’m challenging myself to keep a pulse on my level of spiritual maturity right now, not on how many Bible verses I’ve memorized or how many times I’ve done my quiet time this week. Rather, how I’m reacting… how quickly I’m apologizing… and how readily I admit and take ownership of my own stink.

Lysa

GCC Women's study ~ Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7 ~ Holiness and Obedience

2011-02-28T21:37:00.004-05:00

Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7 ~ Holiness (A heart like His) and Obedience (The acid test of love)

Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 9:34pm SH011

Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7

HOLINESS: A Heart Like His
"...Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14

We have 2 kinds of holiness: Positional and Personal (or "practical")
Positional ~ purchased by God through Christ, imparted to the believer so that his/her faith is "reckoned" as God's righteousness ~ SECURED and so "already" ours
Personal ~ the outworking of the holiness God has reckoned to us as believers ~ evidenced in the way we think and live ~ progressive and increasing as we are made more and more like Christ (conformed to his likeness) ~ effected because God has given us his holy Spirit who empowers us to choose righteousness ~ will be fully realized when we are Glorified (we will be like him for we will see him as he is!)

Imagery: Getting ready for the wedding!
How ridiculous, a bride who would forget her wedding day, showing up disheveled and astonished!
In Ephesians 5:25-27, we see that what Jesus was purchasing FOR the church, his Bride (namely, her holiness), he also accomplishes IN her, "that he might sanctify her [make her holy], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

So we, the bride, by means of God's grace, and by the power of God's spirit in us, also make ourselves ready. "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:13-16

This is a transformation that takes place from the INSIDE OUT ~ unlike Jesus' cursing of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 who were clean in their outward appearance like whitewashed tombs, but inside were "full of dead men's bones"! "...God doesn't look on the face of things; he looks at our hearts. He doesn't just glance at our hearts; he searches them." ~NLD

*Suggested assignment: Take some blank paper - in a journal or notebook, or just plain paper, and write out the verses for the "top ten" items in the day 5 inventory list, just 10 or so of the 65 items listed that the Lord brought to your particular attention as areas of your own "personal holiness" for which he is bringing conviction. And ask the Lord to impress these areas in your heart and life so that you might walk faithfully in them.

(ended classtime reading from the end of Revelation, how the Bride appears before God without any blemish, having made herself ready ~ and how our heavenly Groom is revealed in his Glory ~ even so come quickly, Lord!)

OBEDIENCE: The Acid Test of Love
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

Obedience is the pathway to personal holiness ~ it is the means by which God guards us, effect his BEST for us. (It is not as though God is desiring mere "do's and don'ts," but rather because of his love FOR us, he desires obedience FROM us because his commands are not wearisome or hardships, but rather are his means for blessing us, enabling us to walk his BEST path for our lives.

His love is the basis of his self-revelation - his commands are for our Good! And when we obey out of love for HIM, we walk in greater intimacy WITH him. (Put another way, our obedience doesn't EARN God's favor, it springs forth FROM it!)

portion from a letter penned by John Newton (author of hymn, "Amazing Grace") in which he compares the Believer in his "Scripture-character" state versus his state "from experience," [clarifying comments in brackets].

"To hear a believer speak his apprehensions of the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the love of Christ, the beauty of holiness, or the importance of eternity, who would not suppose him proof against temptation? [how could such a person, with such a right view of things, fail to walk in obedience?] To hear with what strong arguments he can recommend his watchfulness, prayer, forbearance, and submission when he is teaching or advising others, who would not suppose but he could also teach himself, and influence his own conduct? [clearly, such a one must "have it all together!" when it comes to their own walk with God?] Yet, alas!...The person who rose from his knees, before he left his chamber, a poor indigent, fallible, dependent creature, who saw and acknowledged that he was unworthy to breather the air or to see the light, may meet with many occasions, before the day is closed, to discover the corruptions of his heart, and to show how weak and faint his best principles and clearest convictions are in their actual exercise. And in this view, how vain is man! what a contradiction is a believer to himself! He is a believer emphatically, because he cordially assents to the word of God; but, alas! how often unworthy of the name!

"If I was to describe him from the Scripture-character, I should say, he is one whose heart is athirst for God, for His glory, His image, His presence; his affections are fixed upon an unseen Savior: his treasures, and consequently his thoughts, are on high, beyond the bounds of sense. Having experienced much forgiveness, he is full of bowels of mercy to all around; and having been often deceived by his own heart, he dares trust it no more, but alive by faith in the Son of God, for wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and derives from Him grace for grace; sensible [aware of the fact] that without Him he has not sufficiency even to think a good thought. In short, he is dead to the world, to sin, to self, but alive to God, and lively in His service. Prayer is his breath, the word of God his food, and the ordinances [God's righteous commandments!] more precious to him than the light of the sun. Such is a believer -- in his judgment and prevailing desires.

"But was I to describe him from experience, especially at some times, how different would the picture be! Though he knows that communion with God is his highest privilege, he too seldom finds it so; on the contrary, if duty, conscience, and necessity did not compel, he would leave the throne of grace unvisited from day to day. He takes up the Bible, conscious that it is the fountain of life and true comfort; yet, perhaps, while he is making the reflection, he feels a secret distaste which prompts him to lay it down, and give his preference to a newspaper. He needs not to be told of the vanity and uncertainty of all beneath the sun [surely he knows very well that the things of this earthly life are fleeting and temporary!]; and yet [he] is almost as much elated or cast down by a trifle, as those who have their portion in this world. He believes that all things shall work together for his good, and that the most high God appoints, adjusts, and over-rules all his concerns; yet he feels the risings of fear, anxiety, and displeasure, as though the contrary [opposite] was true. [!!] He owns [admits] himself ignorant, and liable to be deceived by a thousand fallacies [false arguments]; yet is easily betrayed into positiveness [assurance!] and self-conceit. He feels himself an unprofitable, unfaithful, unthankful servant, and therefore blushes to harbor a thought of desiring the esteem [praise] and commendations of men, yet he cannot suppress it. Finally, for I must observe some bounds, on account of these and many other inconsistencies, he is struck dumb before the Lord, stripped of every hope and plea, but [except] what is provided in the free grace of God, and yet his heart is continually leaning and returning to a covenant of works....

[How then will we be victorious? How can we walk in obedience rather than being forever undercut by our own failings?]

"...I think it safe to use Scriptural language -- The apostles exhort us to give all diligence to resist the devil, to purge ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, to give ourselves to reading, meditation, and prayer, to watch, to put on the whole armour of God, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. Faithfulness to light received, and a sincere endeavor to conform to the means prescribed in the word of God, with a humble application to the blood of sprinkling, and the promised Spirit, will undoubtedly be answered by increasing measure of light, faith, strength, and comfort; and we shall know [for in the end we will certainly see him as he is], if we follow on to know the Lord [don't give up! it is he who endures to the end who shall be saved!] ...."

God concerns himself with every detail (consider our study of Exodus 25 and 39-40) ~ And just as when Israel under Moses' leadership built the tabernacle of God according to ALL that the Lord had commanded Moses, and God's glory filled the tabernacle, so our obedience is inextricably linked to walking in intimacy with him.

Video summary: God is God - he has the right to tell us what to do. All nature obeys his commands, evil spirits even must obey his commands. But God gives us the opportunity to obey from "freedom," because God wants lovers. God's commands are always for our good, that it may go well with you - as he says repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. Obedience is a means of our protection, our joy, God's working his best in and for our lives. Disobedience is the pathway of conflict; we want the blessing, but we don't want to obey. Like with illustration from life of Helen Keller, God teaches us to obey him as the means of impressing our hearts with the reality of his goodness and love.

GCC Women's study, Seeking Him: Lessons 4 & 5 ~ Repentance and Grace

2011-02-28T20:16:00.003-05:00

Seeking Him: Lessons 4 & 5 ~ Repentance (The Big Turnaround) and Grace (God's provision for every need)

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 02/15/2011 - 9:03pm RevivalSH011

From Class Discussion:

"...Humility and honesty provide the fertile ground in which seeds of grace and revival can grow and bear fruit. The next step, then, is responding to God's conviction in genuine repentance." ~NLDeMoss

Repentance:
•Mourning over our sin
•A sense of desperation with regard to "getting the sin out" (as a vile infection must be removed!)
•Turning from sin ~ and Turning (and running full tilt) toward God
•Turning not ONLY from sin, but turning from SELF-EFFORT, to call on God to do what only he can in, for, and through us
•Posture of "face down" worship
•"Poverty of (poor in) spirit"
•Seeing our sin as God sees it ~ Asking God/Allowing God to expose our sin to ourselves in all its ugliness [because we are trusting HIS goodness!]
•Speaking in "agreement" with God about our sin ("confession")
•Turning from "passing the blame" ~ and Turning toward accepting responsibility for our own actions
•Crying out for the Lord's mercy
•Mind/heart = Roots; Doing/behavior = Fruits
•GODLY sorrow ~ vs. WORLDLY sorrow

characteristics of GODLY sorrow include (from 2 Corinthians 7:8-12): leads to repentance, according to the will of God SO THAT suffering of loss is decreased or removed, without regret (though may regret "for a little while"), leads to salvation/life, earnestness [desire to be holy], eagerness [to make things right], indignation [sin is detestable!], fear [a holy "dread", reverence for our God who is offended by sin], longing [intense desire], zeal for holiness [hatred for anything that robs God of his glory!], punishment [making right/restitution], results in INNOCENCE ~ gives evidence that repentance has had its full effect.

Some of the "personal inventory" questions from day 5 of study on Repentance:
~Does sin in my life bother me?
~Do I have an attitude that says, "Lord, everything I know to be sin, and everything You show me in the future to be sin, I am willing to forsake!"?
~Am I willing to call my wrong actions "sin," rather than viewing them as weakness, "struggles," or personality traits?
~Am I willing to accept personal responsibility for my actions, without pointing the finger of blame at anyone else?
~Am I willing to take whatever steps may be necessary to make complete restitution for my sin?
~Am I more concerned about grieving God than about the consequences of my sin?

"Is God calling you to turn away from any particular sin in your life? Responding to God is more important than whatever you were planning on doing next. If God is speaking, the time to respond is NOW. Will you humble yourself and allow Him to being restoring you?....He loves you, offers grace to cover any sin, and longs for you to walk in freedom and joy." ~NLDeMoss

"At this stage in the process, it could be easy to feel overwhelmed with a sense of conviction, failure, and guilt; some may even be tempted to give up on seeking God for revival. The good news is that God does not ask us to meet His requirements on our own -- in fact, He knows we CAN'T live humble, holy, obedient lives without Him." ~NLDeMoss

Grace:
•God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble
•We weren't SICK, we were DEAD in our sin
•We were children of God's WRATH by nature (born "in Adam")
•Grace is the means by which God SAVES - secures our redemption
•Grace is also the means by which God SANCTIFIES - keeps us and delivers us TO our ultimate redemption
•God, BY GRACE, provides the way of escape in temptation
•God, BY GRACE, provides means of endurance
•God, BY GRACE, readily gives help in time of need
•God, BY GRACE, removes the PENALTY (guilt) of sin, and the POWER (authority/rule) of sin, and progressively even the PRESENCE of sin, realized finally and perfectly once "we shall see him as he is" in Glory!
•God, BY GRACE, trains us to renouce ungodliness and worldly passions
•God, BY GRACE, trains us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in the present age
•God's grace is SUFFICIENT for us, even in suffering - God's power is perfected in our weakness

GCC - Seeking Him, Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden

2011-02-10T12:13:00.002-05:00

Seeking Him, Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 5:38pm Revival SH011

Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden

Guardrails for discussion:
It seems very "trendy" - especially in "mainline" Christianity - to talk about being "honest" these days. It takes different forms, such as being "authentic" or "transparent," etc. But right up front, I'd like to set some "guardrails" for our discussion, with the disclaimer that as always there should be "wisdom" in our disclosures.

Being "authentic" in our post-post-modern culture often resembles far more a kind of "uncertainty" about the truth. As if to be "honest" means you must admit "I don't really know what I think I know about thus and such." But this is not the kind of "honesty" we are talking about today. By way of recommending a good resource for further discussion on this kind of faux "honesty," our book plug for this week's lesson is "Why We Are Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be" - coauthored by Pastor Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. You can actually obtain a copy of the first chapter online for free which in and of itself would be very helpful in considering this topic. CLICK HERE.

As to WHY this appeal to "authenticity" is so attractive, it has largely to do with conveying a humble, teachable spirit. And THIS truly IS desirable - not merely appearing to have such a spirit, but actually BEING humble before God (roofs off!), and with others (walls down!). Humility, however, is not the same thing as "uncertainty." What do we mean?

Guardrail #1: Our Hearts are Deceptive
We know our hearts are deceptive in part because we know ourselves. But we also know this because God has given us the light of his word to shine into our hearts and expose the sin rooted there. So our HUMILITY is a necessary component (as we studied in lesson 2), because we do not in fact always "know" what we think we know. Or act for the reasons we think we are acting. We must always be cultivating a humble dependence on God to search us, to know our hearts, to see if there be any wicked way in us, and to LEAD US in the way everlasting.

Thus,
Guardrail #2: God's word is SURE
Our reasons for confidence in God's word are many, and it is not the intent of this study to establish those evidences, necessarily. But for our discussion on HONESTY, especially as we are seeking God and asking him to REVIVE us from the inside out, we must be always evaluating our own hearts and intentions, (and the instructions we receive), etc. against the standard of God's self-revelation, God's righteous requirements for our lives, God's work IN us that we might will and do his good pleasure.

Honesty for the sake of mere self-disclosure is not in itself revitalizing! Honestly only exposes the gunk we carry around, it doesn't help REMOVE it! So for that, we need the sure, gentle, unrelenting surgeon's scalpel of God's word (wielded by our good and loving heavenly Father!) to do a deep and penetrating work.

Psalm 15:1-2
Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.

Psalm 24:3-5
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

What does it mean to "speak truth in your heart"?

"Ever since Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, the tendency to cover our sin has been a part of our sinful human nature....We don't have to be trained how to hide or pretend -- it comes naturally. Even after we are redeemed in Christ and the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, we often battle the urge to deceive. But God cannot bless or revive a heart that refuses to acknowledge the truth." ~NLDeMoss

Psalm 32:1-5
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered [by GOD, not by a covering of our own making!]. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

We are not only inclined to hide our sin from each other, and to hide our sin from God, but we hide it even from ourselves. We don't want to believe that we are really "that bad." But God desires truth in our inner man - and as we talked about in our first lesson, he wants to send those plowing blades DEEP to turn up the soil, so our hearts will be soft and receptive and able to bear much fruit, fruit that will last.

One of the main ways the Lord does this work is to bring us to a point of confession, as David committed himself to in the above Psalm. To "confess" is to "speak in agreement with" God over our sin. That is more than just saying/speaking our sin - it is to agree from our heart that this sin is as offensive to us as it is to God. Let's call it what it is! Putrid, rotten, defiling, grotesque, damning, and it MUST MUST MUST be exposed to its root so it can be fully put to death!

How do we know if we are being sanctified? How do we know if we are being revived? We are growing to LOVE what God loves and HATE what God hates, and instead of justifying ourselves, we call sin SIN. We allow the Lord to shine his light into the dark and ugly places of our hearts - not for the sake of condemnation, because if we are in Jesus we are no longer condemned! But because God must cut out ALL the cancer or it grows back and worse than before.

Hebrews 4:13
...And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

"...It is for our good and by God's mercy that He reveals the truth about us, no matter how shameful that truth may be. We learn that the reason God discloses our thoughts, actions, and motives is to bring to us peace (rest; Hebrews 4:11-12). God is not a bully; He is a Savior. He cannot be soft on sin. His justice requires holiness that we, in our humanity, do not have the capacity for. The demands of God's justice have been satisfied through the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. However, we must come clean; we must confess. Silence only condemns us by keeping us guilty.
"Think about this...confessing our sin -- breaking the silence -- ushers in the forgiveness and cleansing of God. So, why hide? Why remain silent?" ~NLDeMoss

One last word ~ One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of our spiritual enemy is that of ACCUSATION. Satan literally means "The accuser" of the brethren. If, then, we have willingly followed the Lord's Spirit into the deep dark places of our hearts, and we are willingly letting our loving FATHER do the work of digging about, unearthing our hidden sins and shining the light on them so that they begin to shrivel up and one by one be cast aside, what power or authority or right does our Accuser have in heaping guilt upon us?! By walking with God, in humility and honesty and ready confession, we DISARM our enemy!

Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower ~ The righteous run into it! and are SAFE.

NEXT LESSON: REPENTANCE

GCC Women's study; Seeking Him, Lesson 2: Humility ~ Coming to God on His Terms

2011-02-08T12:24:00.004-05:00

Lesson 2: Humility ~ Coming to God on His Terms

"Humility is a virtue more often praised than sought. Who wants to think little of himself? The world admires the self-confident, the ambitious, yes, even the proud! Yet biblical humility - recognizing oneself as a sinner before the holy God - is a prerequisite for starting down the path to revival."

As we looked at in week one, the work of the Lord in bringing revival begins with breaking up of the fallow groud of our hearts, using the deeply penetrating work of the spears of a powerful plow (the double edged sword of God's word!) which dig down into the tender places of our soul, to turn over the hard soil and bring the nutrient rich soil of a broken and contrite heart to the surface.

One example from our study included looking at Isaiah ch. 6 in which Isaiah recounts his face-to-face encounter with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, seated on the throne of heaven and appearing in his GLORY. When confronted with the glory and perfection and holiness of our Good God, humility is immediately conscious of its falling short, its imperfections, its "undone-ness" as Isaiah observed, "Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips, and I come from a people of unclean lips!"

Which is the exactly necessary disposition to then receive FROM God the very cleansing, merciful work. We see the dispatching of a burning coal to remove Isaiah's obstacle for standing in God's presence, namely, his unholiness, his "woeful" (cursed!) state.

We examined snapshots from the lives of both Rehoboam and Asa in 2 Chronicles. Even acknowledging that these snapshots don't give us all the complexities of the lives of these two Kings of Judah, we nevertheless trace the reverse patterns in each of their lives: Rehoboam ruled from a place of pride, was confronted with the word of the Lord by means of one of God's prophets, and he and the people's response was to humble themselves before God, and so they received deliverance. Asa started well, ruled from a place of humility and even observed first-hand how the Lord gave grace, but when given the opportunity to seek his own solutions rather than being led by the Lord, he exercised his pride, and when he was confronted with the word of the Lord by means of one of God's prophets, he responded with even more pride, angered by the rebuke, and suffered in his own body the consequences of his refusal to seek and depend on the Lord.

Certainly, these summaries aren't the whole of their stories, but they give us, nevertheless, living pictures of God's GRACE even to confront our pride by means of his word!, and yet, how we respond to that "cutting" of God's discerning even between the thoughts and intents of our hearts will determine the path that then we walk.

"For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.'" ~Isaiah 57:15

"For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do." ~Hebrews 4:12-13 (Amplified)

God opposes, and brings low those who are proud and self-sufficient. But not only does he give grace to the humble, he does so by drawing NEAR to those who have acknowledge that in themselves they are spiritually bankrupt, or as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, they are "poor in spirit." Our God "makes his dwelling place" with us (!) when we surrender our firm grip on our own self-importance and self-exaltation. Loosing our fingers in this way frees us to lay hold of HIM who has laid hold of us.

Next Lesson: HONESTY

"Seeking Him" - Lesson One: Revival (What is it and Who needs it?)

2011-01-17T21:29:00.003-05:00

"Seeking Him" - Lesson One: Revival (What is it and Who needs it?)
Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 01/17/2011 - 9:24pm RevivalSH011Sovereignty

LESSON ONE

Key Verse(s): Hosea 10:12-13
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men."

The bulk of our discussion, last week, as we reviewed our study time in lesson one, focused on the questions laid out on pages 16-17 in our book. Based on that discussion, these were some of the main themes we discovered and/or traced throughout:

•Revival is for the BELIEVER ~ We must first have life from God to be able to experience life afresh. This isn't to say that the Lord doesn't newly save individuals in the context of, for example, a "revival meeting," but rather it is to emphasize that "Revival" is not some external activity or event (or something we ourselves can "drum up"). Rather, it is description of a work that takes place from within, and can only be brought about by God, who in Christ Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.
•Revival is God's gift for his children, to give grace so that we have both the desire and the power to return to him. It's ultimately about our intimacy with our heavenly Father, and how that intimacy changes us from the inside out.
•As Nancy pointed out in the video segment of our study, the first step in the process is to "break up the fallow ground" ~ For us to have hearts that are soft and made ready to receive the good seed so that we may yield a harvest of righteouness, we must first have hearts that have been broken, tilled, plowed. And the plow needs to dig DEEP so that the soft soil underneath can be turned up, and the hard soil on the top can be broken up and made soft. It was by means of this analogy that Nancy warned us that these first few weeks of this study will be the most difficult, perhaps the most painful part. The Lord will begin exposing the soft undersides of our heart, and we will no doubt be disgusted by what he finds there. It makes us unconfortable, but we must be willing to submit to the process if we want to experience revival ~ Lord, we want you to search us and know us and see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting. (see prayer at end of Ps. 139)
•One of the tools in our lesson, this first week, was a kind of heart "inventory" we took on day 5 ~ examining our own hearts, looking at our lives in light of Scripture, being honest about whatever sin we might be seeing there. Several of us found this very helpful!
•Questions 4 and 5 on pages 16-17 were especially revealing. Both touched on the issue of what other things - often even GOOD things! - in our lives to we hold on to for security, or do we turn to in place of God? And as we discussed, we are quick to depend on our money, our health, our intelligence, our family relationships or friendships, or any number of other GOOD things that can very easily become idols of our hearts. We cling tightly to our expectations (demands?)!, rather than "holding all things," as Pastor Krogh has said, "with an open hand." We become distracted from loving the Lord, deceived even by our own hearts, so we go about "trusting in our own way" rather than fully following after the Lord.
•It was a point of conviction - in keeping with the hard and painful work of "plowing" our hearts - but there is a sweetness to it! We must remember that it is the KINDNESS of the Lord that leads us to repentance! It is for our GOOD that the Lord exposes the uglinesses of our hearts to ourselves, so that these sinful motives, these sinful desires, these self-preserving actions can be seen for how ugly they really are - and WHY are they ugly? Because they keep up from the love of our Father, they keep us from living righteous lives as God desires - and God's desire FOR us in this regard is not only for his glory, but for our JOY.
•Let us keep that JOY before our eyes, even as we humble ourselves to the Spirit's examination of our hearts! Let us, like King Josiah (see "going deeper" corner on p. 1, and text in 2 Kings 22:8-13, 18-20), weep over our sin, to the degree that we would "rend our garments" in mourning over how we have failed to obey the word of the Lord. And let us truly invite the Lord's life-giving work, trusting that he is GOOD, and that he changes us from the inside out because of his great LOVE for us.

Book Recommendation: "The Valley of Vision" compiled/edited by Arthur Bennett

This is a collection of prayers from several writings from many "Puritan" Christians from the past several hundred years. This collection has been SUCH a blessing in my own life, and as I said in class, if I could own only one other book besides the Bible, it would probably be this book.

Like nothing else I've read, I feel this book has taught and is still teaching me how to pray, and the poetic phrases - aside from just being beautiful and worshipful in their expression - contain some of the richest theological truths that in themselves are teachers. These heart-felt prayers encourage us to give our all, and to willingly invite the Lord to do the work that only he can....

This next Wednesday, we will start class with a time of prayer, using p. 18-19 in our book as a guideline.

~Leah

New Study for GCC Women - "Seeking Him" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

2011-01-12T15:54:00.003-05:00

New Study - "Seeking Him: Experiencing the JOY of Personal Revivial" (Nancy Leigh DeMoss)
Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 01/12/2011 - 3:28pm

INTRODUCTION

Greetings, Ladies! Last week, we met together by way of introduction to our new topical study, "Seeking Him," which is focused on the who/what/when/where/why/how's of experiencing "REVIVAL" in our hearts and lives.

This past week, we started our journey together, working through the first lesson, and tonight we will begin discussion in earnest. It is my prayer that the Lord is already working in our hearts and minds, to search us, to know our hearts, to see if there be any wicked way in us, and to lead us in the way everlasting. And I hope, particularly, that this small group of women will become for you a "safe place" to share and fellowship and encourage one another as we grow in our intimacy with our Savior!

Over the past couple years, I have led what we have affectionately termed as one of the "non-precepts" studies offered for women at GCC. But even though we haven't worked through the sometimes more labor-intensive process of inductive study as laid out in the Precepts studies, we have nevertheless taken a more "inductive" approach. Working through "Before His Throne" (Malachi), "Lord, only you can change me" (Sermon on the Mount), and an 8-week Lifeway study on "Covenant" (various texts tracing the doctrine of Covenant from Genesis through Revelation), we have investigated texts for meaning, and I think it would be fair to say we have been learning much ABOUT God and his word, and thus also about ourselves.

"Seeking Him" is a different kind of study ~ more "topical" and introspective. And I think the Lord's timing is perfect! I am persuaded that he has already been "making ready a people prepared for the Lord," so that seeds of "revival" may already have been planted in your soul. I hope that this study will give us the opportunity to APPLY much of our knowledge (both new and old) about God to our own, everyday lives - Even as we are seeking to gaze more deeply into the face of our Savior, the fruit of that is the sharpening of our focus as we do serious heart-examination on ourselves, and labor to bring every area of our external and internal worlds under the headship of Christ. And I pray that the fellowship and exhortation we share, over these next 12 weeks, will be as water and nourishment for these seeds of the work God is doing!

God willing, it is my intention to update this blog, weekly, with a summary of our classtime together so that this might be a useful tool in review, and also for those who might have to miss class for any reason.

And there is more information to come, especially concerning reviewing videos for nights missed.

Thank you for giving yourself to the Lord's leading, these weeks! I pray we are able to regard our time in preparation each week, NOT as part of our "busyness" but rather, as part of our REST and restoration as the Lord meets us in these carved out quiet times!

Blessings,

~Leah

Choose Gratitude - Parts 3 and 4 from July, 2010

2010-10-27T17:26:00.001-04:00

PENDING

Choose Gratitude - 2 of 4 from July, 2010

2010-08-24T15:06:00.004-04:00

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON FB JULY 14, 2010
PART 2 of 4 from CHOOSE GRATITUDE

*Chapters 3-4 from Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss*

.....

Sorry for the lateness of the update. Truth be told, I forgot about the post until just this morning - has been a full week! I'll give a synopsis, here, in advance of our continuing discussion tonite, and maybe it will help "prime the pump" so to speak.

Ch. 3 gave us the story of a sinking ship, a rescuer nearly paralyzed for the rest of his life for his heroics on the night of the accident and not one of the 17 people he saved saying thanks; and we looked at the story of the 10 lepers healed, and the ONE who came back to Jesus to say thanks - not caring who heard him, not caring that he was the only one of the ten, he just found that out of the overflow of his having RECEIVED grace he now wanted only to be near to Jesus and express his thanks to him, a model of what we will be doing in eternity. And we were directed to Romans ch. 1 wherein one of the greatest rebukes against mankind, showing the horribleness of our turning away from God and the judgment that rightly brings - and at its root is, of all things, not honoring God as God or giving thanks to him. (v. 21)

We looked at 5 telltale signs of Ingratitude in our hearts:

*Unrealistic Expectations,
*Forgetting God and the blessings he's given,
*Feeling of Self-Entitlement ("I deserve...."),
*Comparison as if we're sacrificing more than others around us (and are therefore more "righteous"?!),
and
*Blindness to God's grace.

Ch. 4 gave us the example of Matthew Henry, praying after after he was robbed, expressing thanks that he had enjoyed NOT having been robbed at any time previous; and Nancy gave us 8 reasons WHY we ought to choose Gratitude.

Gratitude....
*Is a matter of obedience,
*Draws us close to the Lord (he inhabits the praises of his people!),
*Is a sure path to peace (what's stealing your peace right now? Consider Phil. 4 and the connection between rejoicing and giving thanks, and the MEANS by which God guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus),
*Is a gauge of the heart (gratitude comes from same root as gift - namely "grace" - is the heart full of grace? it will spill over in gratitude - that is, it is "grace-full" or "grateful"!),
*Is the will of God (for our hearts and lifestyle, not mere duty),
*Is the evidence of being filled with the Spirit,
*Reflects Jesus' heart,
and
*Gets us ready for heaven.

We revisited the "equation" from last week - that "Unavoidable Guilt" plus "Undeserved Grace" = "Unbridled Gratitude" (p. 35). If we are not "feeling" grateful, does this give us the right to stop giving thanks to the Lord? And if we are not "feeling" grateful, is this an indication something is genuinely wrong? Or is it ok not to "feel" like giving thanks, all the time?

We talked about this pretty heavily towards the end of our time together, concluding in short that if at the Lord's right hand there are pleasures evermore (as described in Ps. 16), and if Jesus rebuked the church at Ephesus (Revelation ch 2) for having forsaken their first love, the fact we don't FEEL "grateful" (or joyful or "in love" with the Lord, or feel "hungry" for him as our only good) indeed ought to be an indicator that something is wrong.

Perhaps we don't have a right perspective about our Guilt or we have neglected to see or receive God's Grace, or perhaps we have misunderstood what biblically "feeling" grateful should look like - whatever the case we ought to a) never cease giving thanks as it is a matter of obedience to a biblical command REGARDLESS of how we "feel," but also b) never be satisfied to NOT feel grateful - or full-of-grace - and we should ask God, as at end of Ps. 139, to search our hearts and know our thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in us - ANYTHING that might set itself up as a stronghold against the knowledge of God - and beg him to lead us to where, ultimately, HE really wants us - GRATEFUL - FULL of GRACE - dependent on him, and spilling over with grace to others so that his grace and glory AND our joy is multiplied.

The plan: to continue reading through ch. 5-7 and complete up through day 18 in the dailies in the back of the book.

....

Choose Gratitude - 1 of 4 from July, 2010

2010-07-28T23:13:00.002-04:00

First of Four sessions:

A few of us got together for the first of our chats over the book, "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, this past Wed. [1st Wed. in July] It was a fun, refreshing time to get to know each other, to pray together, and to compare highlighted passages from our readings in the Intro thru ch.2.

Here is a summary of some of the high points as we look forward to our next get-together:

Importance of Gratitude

*opening quote to intro by William Law gives having a thankful spirit credit for (at least) 3 things:
1) working miracles,
2) healing with a word, and
3) turning all that it touches into happiness.

(could it be true that gratitude is that tranforming?)

*we need to be "ceaselessly vigilant" or we get swept up in our own emotional frenzy, a world of self-focus, characterized by worry, complaining, resenting, discontentment - our "natural bent" is "toward doubt, negativity, discouragement, and anxiety," and a tendency to become "bitter, prickly and sour." (What a list of symptoms!)

*All of these things are able to be kept in check when we practice the discipline of giving thanks to God. Gratitude = "life preserver even in the most turbulent waters" but "doesn't come without effort and intentionality."

*Nancy says, Gratitude is "a choice that requires constantly renewing my mind with the truth of God's Word, setting my heart to savor God and His gifts, and disciplining my tongue to speak words that reflect His goodness and grace - until a grateful spirit becomes my reflexive response response to all of life." (First reaction) "A grateful child of God can't help but be a joyful, peaceful, radiant person." (p.17)

From Discussion questions: "We rarely think the source of our problems is tied to our lack of gratitude." Q: Is gratitude essential or non-essential for every Christian? (p. 22-23)

*what is the difference between a kind of universal, Hallmark card kind of "grateful feeling" and Christian gratitude? True Gratitude MUST have a Person as its object. (p. 36) "...True thankfulness requires a 'you' to say 'Thank you' to." (!)

*"Gratitude is a lifestyle. A hard-fought, grace-infused, biblical lifestyle. And though there's a sense in which anyone can be thankful - for God has extended His common grace to all - the true glory and the transforming power of gratitude are reserved for those who know and acknowledge the Giver of every good gift and who are recipients of His redeeming grace." (p. 29)

In ch. 2 we see that "charis" is the root Greek word for "gratitude" and itself means "grace" - similarly, "charis" is the root also for "gift" - and the word "eucharist" which is a word to describe the sacrament of the Lord's supper, taking of the bread and wine together in remembrance of him, literally means "a giving of thanks."

*Guilt + Grace = Gratitude

*So GRACE GIVES and so produces a GRACE-FULL response = GRATITUDE. We cannot worship without being grateful, or "grace-filled."

*Similarly, "Grace begets giving." (p. 40) Nancy takes us through 2 Cor. 8-9 as one example, where we see that the "grace-full" response is to give generously/sacrificially, which produces more gratitude which in turn produces even more "grace-full" giving, and so forth. So Nancy likens God-given grace to the rain cycle - bottom of page 41. "Much the same way as water comes down from the sky, replenishing the earth, then returning to the air in evaporated moisture, Christian [uniquely Christian!] gratitude keeps God's grace churning in full circle...and leaving who knows how many fruits and flowers and refreshed lives in its trail of glory."

*So God's grace poured out on us produces a grace-full - or grateful (or worshipful and praising!) - response which causes us to pour out graciously to others which in turn produces a grace-full response in them, and turns back to praise to the Lord....beautiful.

*"Imagine the impact in a world characterized by isolation, selfishness, and fractured relationships, if we were to adorn the gospel we profess to believe, with a culture of mutual care, concern, generosity, and sacrifice. The truth we proclaim would become believable. And God would be glorified." (p. 43)

From discussion:

*The equation is pretty "simple" - guilt + grace = gratitude. So if we are NOT grateful, we either haven't really appreciated how guilty we are (how in NEED of grace we are), or we haven't received grace (or haven't realized the kind of grace we've received!).

*Application - examine ourselves! where are we characterized by ingratitude, or by the symptoms listed off at the beginning of the book? have we not realized our sinfulness? our dependence on God? or have we perhaps not repented and received his grace? or having received his grace have we perhaps allowed the enemy to steal our joy?

~Meditating on Proverbs for Wisdom with [difficult] Co-Laborers~

2010-05-26T10:18:00.007-04:00

~Meditating on Proverbs for Wisdom with [difficult] Co-Laborers~
(with acknowledgement that I *AM* the difficult co-laborer in some instances....)

copied and pasted from www.BibleGateway.com

Prov. 6:12 A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
13 winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
14with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
15therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

Proverbs 10:8 The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.
10Whoever winks the eye causes trouble,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers all offenses.

10:17Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever utters slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking,
but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver;
the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
21The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.

Proverbs 11:12Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense,
but a man of understanding remains silent.
13Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
18The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
19Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
20Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
21 Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

11:29Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

Prov. 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.
2A good man obtains favor from the LORD,
but a man of evil devices he condemns.
3No one is established by wickedness,
but the root of the righteous will never be moved.

12:5 The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
6The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous will stand.
8A man is commended according to his good sense,
but one of twisted mind is despised.

12:11 Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.

Prov. 12:12Whoever is wicked covets the spoil of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous bears fruit.
13An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips,
but the righteous escapes from trouble.
14From the fruit of his mouth a man is satisfied with good,
and the work of a man’s hand comes back to him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 The vexation of a fool is known at once,
but the prudent ignores an insult.
17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
18 There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
20Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
but those who plan peace have joy.
21 No ill befalls the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with trouble.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaims folly.

12:26One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Prov. 13:10 By insolence comes nothing but strife,
but with those who take advice is wisdom.

13:20Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Prov. 14:7Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.

14:17A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.

14:23In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.

14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.

14:28In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.

14:33Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
34Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

Prov. 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge,
but the mouths of fools pour out folly.
3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good.
4 A gentle[a] tongue is a tree of life,
but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

15:18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

15:23To make an apt answer is a joy to a man,
and a word in season, how good it is!

15:28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer,
but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.

15:32Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.
33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.

Prov. 16:1The plans of the heart belong to man,
but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,
but the LORD weighs the spirit.
3Commit your work to the LORD,
and your plans will be established.
4The LORD has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
be assured, he will not go unpunished.

16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

16:9 The heart of man plans his way,
but the LORD establishes his steps.

16:21The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

16:27 A worthless man plots evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A dishonest man spreads strife,
and a whisperer separates close friends.
29A man of violence entices his neighbor
and leads him in a way that is not good.
30Whoever winks his eyes plans dishonest things;
he who purses his lips brings evil to pass.

16:32 Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

Prov. 17:1 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.

17:4An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

17:10A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
13If anyone returns evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

17:27Whoever restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.

Prov. 18:1Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
2A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing his opinion.
3When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
and with dishonor comes disgrace.

18:6A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9Whoever is slack in his work
is a brother to him who destroys.
10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Prov. 19:1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool.

19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12A king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.

Proverbs 20:3It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
but every fool will be quarreling.

Prov. 21:3 To do righteousness and justice
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

21:19It is better to live in a desert land
than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.

Proverbs 22:10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

22:24Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.

Prov. 23:9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.

23:17Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
18Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.

24:1Be not envious of evil men,
nor desire to be with them,
2for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk of trouble.
3By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
6for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

24:17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from him.

25:4Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel;
5take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great,
7for it is better to be told, "Come up here,"
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

25:27It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
28A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and left without walls.

26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

26:17Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
19is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I am only joking!"
20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel
are fervent lips with an evil heart.
24Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips
and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not,
for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26though his hatred be covered with deception,
his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.

27:2Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips.

27:19As in water face reflects face,
so the heart of man reflects the man.

28:26Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,
but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck,
will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

29:9If a wise man has an argument with a fool,
the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet. [peace]
10Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless
and seek the life of the upright.
11A fool gives full vent to his spirit,
but a wise man quietly holds it back.

29:26Many seek the face of a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

31:8 Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
9Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.

31:26She [a godly woman] opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

notes from ~Beauty for Ashes~ at GCC

2010-05-13T17:16:00.004-04:00

notes from 5/12/10, final "Girl Talk" session for GCC Women age 12 and all the way up: [NOTICE ALL THE SCRIPTURE REFERENCES! What a great way to spend an evening - look up every reference and meditate on them, collectively.]

Beauty for Ashes; speaker Andrea Griffith [from “Revive our Hearts” ministries with Nancy Leigh DeMoss]

(with apologies that the outline formatting doesn't translate well to this blog)

Salvation

• Psalm 103:1-5 ~ [“I will tell you of how the Lord has done all these things for me.”]
o Forgives all your sins
o Heals all your diseases
o Redeems your life from the pit
o Crowns you with love and compassion
o Satisfies your desires with good things
o Renews / reinvigorates your youth like the eagle’s
• James 1:22 ~ Be doers of the word and not hearers only DECEIVING YOURSELVES.
o The most self-deceived people sit in church from Sunday to Sunday, hearers of the word.
• 2 Tim. 3:5-7 ~ Have appearance of godliness, but deny its power; always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
• Acts 20:21 ~ Repentance toward God AND faith in the Lord Jesus
o I had faith that Jesus was the son of God for as long as I could remember, but what was missing? Repentance!
• Matt. 7:21 ~ Saying “Lord, Lord!” [mere “lip-service”] vs. doing the will of the Father [living a life of obedience as unto the Lord!]
o ["The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." –Martin Luther]

Brokenness

• df Brokenness = my response of humility and obedience to the prompting of God’s word or the revelation of God’s Spirit
• Isaiah 54:4-5 ~ forget the shame of your youth; ask the Lord to be your husband
• Luke 20:18 ~ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.
o [“I started to get really sick....” – illustration of a “Sucker Shoot” on a plant; growing up out of the plant but robbing the true plant of its nutrients. She was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia….see notes re “bitterness”]

Confession

• df Confession = to say the same as God about our sin
• Is there anything in your life you have covered/hidden? That the Lord is telling you to confess? Do you need to seek forgiveness from God? From anyone else?
o [“God wanted me to have a clean conscience….” – she talked about her “Clean Conscience List” which was folks she had to go back to to ask for forgiveness, person after person.]
• Prov. 7 ~ list of the characteristics of the immoral (or “strange”) woman; she made a list of the OPPOSITE characteristics and this was her guide to show her what kind of woman she ought to be.
• [confessing to her husband before they were engaged, she told him about her past immorality and her abortion and says, “I watched as he wept over MY sin, and it was such a picture to me of how our sin breaks the heart of our heavenly Father...”]
o her word of caution: When confessing past sin, we don’t share with everyone; find a godly older woman whom you can trust with whom you can clean up all of that junk. Or we confess to someone when he is to become our husband; but we don’t just tell everyone. Share the DEPTH of the sin, but not necessarily all the DETAILS of the sin, or that could come back to have some serious consequences later.
• 2 Peter 1:3 ~ we’ve already been given everything we need for life and godliness
• 1 John 1:7 ~ the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin
• Proverbs 28:13 ~ Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
o When we confess and forsake, the Lord’s promise is that we will find MERCY
 [“God wasn’t honoring my (past) life; he was honoring his WORD.”]
 Prov. 31:10 ~ he gave her a ruby wedding band when he proposed

Bitterness

• df Bitterness = Harbored hurt; When we are bitter, we assume the negative (worst), and have a critical, fault-finding spirit.
• Ps. 32 ~ One who is bitter feels the consequences physically; they have no rest, no strength.
• Hebrews 12:15 ~ see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.
• John 11:44 ~ when Jesus brings Lazarus back to life, he says “Unbind him, and let him go.”
o we too are called from death to life; we lie to ourselves and continue to say “but I deserve these grave clothes; I have the stink of death on me,” etc. In truth: We ALL “deserve” the grave clothes, but Jesus made ATONEMENT to set us FREE. (do you see the truth?)
o God’s specialty: He loves to take broken things and bring them to full restoration, to make them beautiful.
o Like Joseph with his brothers: “What you meant for evil, God intended for good.”
o Don’t minimize the sin – no! – you stare it STRAIGHT in the face and see it for the evil that it is. And THEN you THANK God for his sovereignty, that he makes even the darkness to be as light; he redeems, he restores, he recreates.
 1 Thess. 5:18 ~ give thanks in all circumstances

Forgiveness and Healing

• [“God has given us only ONE way to find healing, and that is through forgiveness.”]
• Isaiah 61:1-3 ~ Parallel passage in Luke 4
• God longs to:
o Heal the broken hearted
o Set the captives free
o Tell that NOW is the day for salvation
o Comfort all who mourn
o Give beauty for ashes
o Give joy for pain
o Give a garment of praise for our spirit of heaviness
• Q: Does this list sound to you like God is waiting for you to “crawl over broken glass” to get to him? To find forgiveness and healing? [This sounds like a God who LOVES to be gracious and merciful and set us free....!]
• Isaiah 43:18-19 ~ Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past; the Lord is doing something NEW – making a way in the desert, and streams in the wasteland.
• Deut. 4:29 ~ Seek the Lord; you will find him if you look for him with all your heart
• Hebrews 12:1-2 ~ Renew your mind by fixing your eyes on Jesus (laying aside all sin and ANY thing that encumbers us as we run towards him)
• 2 Cor. 10:5 ~ Renew your mind by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and by demolishing the strongholds of the enemy (ANY thing that sets itself up against the knowledge of God)

----

The Gifting IS the Calling!

2010-05-12T11:08:00.006-04:00

recommended reading - "Just Do Something" by Pastor Kevin DeYoung

God's "calling" on our lives is no mystery. He EQUIPS us, he POSITIONS us, he COMMANDS us, he GIFTS us, and he thus makes use of us by his own design and for his purposes, but we need not necessarily "discern his calling" to WALK in it.

We also make a great mystery out of discerning our Giftings, in the Body. (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12-14, etc.) Even a most rudimentary reading of these passages should - in context - give us an idea that we are making mysterious mountains out of plain molehills. (so to speak)

God gives us his SPIRIT, and his WORD, and I suspect the rest is not nearly so complicated as we - well-meaning as we are - make it.

So what is the "natural result" of having his Spirit and his Word and of our submitting to him in each respect but that we will be exercising certain gifts [which we may or may not discover about ourselves along the way], and we will be - if we are faithful to walk as sons of God, LED by his Spirit - therefore obedient to his "calling" [even if we do not necessarily have a conscious awareness of it as such].

I think the Lord has given me gifts of discernment and possibly prophecy (in NT sense), and teaching (though this is more a "byproduct" of the first two, and not my primary gift). Similarly, as regards the heart, I think the Lord has molded/equipped me, uniquely, to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and "mourn with those who mourn."

So ... if I'm right, what is the Lord's "Call" on my life? ....

What kind of KIND?

2010-05-12T11:04:00.011-04:00

~What kind of KIND?~
("making nice" vs. "kind-but-firm" when dealing with a Bully)

When faced with difficult situations, particularly as regards the bullying behaviors of others from whom I must nevertheless solicit cooperation (such as a teacher or a co-worker or the like), I have tended [unwittingly] towards this motto - "Kill them with kindness." And I even thought this was godliness - consider that "The man whose ways please the Lord makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." [Proverbs 16:7]

I have, thus, gone out of my way to be friendly, to respond to the bullying with a smile and even a clever remark back intended to convey that I'm laughing WITH the bully rather than being brought down BY the bully, and I have used what I now realize to be excessive sweetnees, and niceness - showing concern over their struggles and difficulties, giving them gifts that show I'm being thoughtful of them, etc. - as a way of trying to "get them" to do what I want or need them to do. Which might be anything from giving me a good (fair?) grade to ensuring that a shipment confirmation gets sent to a customer as required.

No doubt, I could explode this topic with a series of examples that would probably cause you to go into shock as all the appearances of boldness on my part wither under the fiery stares of brutish people, and I immediately flop about trying to make them happy so that what I need to have done will get done.....

This is NOT "making peace" with my enemies.

This is manipulating with niceness.

And this is NOT biblical "kindness" which has wrapped up in it a component of resolute truth-telling which leads to repentance!

[Romans 2:4, Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 11:22, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13]

Truth is? I "make nice" to try to CHANGE people - not for THEIR good, but to a) make them see me in a favorable light so that b) I can be more productive.

We use the expression - "kill them with kindness." And by this we have some concept of "pouring out nice" to "get back nice" as if such qualities really are all about karma. And/or as Christians, we might even spiritualize it as some kind of divine right to revenge that we are staving off now with the expectation God will zap them later. [Romans 12:20] (which is at best a warped understanding of what it means to "heap burning coals on their head" which has more to do with making of others a sacrificial OFFERING than it does any reference to eternal damnation....)

But what if we were REALLY "kind" to them?

Is it not a kindness for a surgeon to cut off the gangrene-infected limb? Is it not just that kind of kindness by means of which God himself leads US to repentance and thus salvation (and peace with God)? [Sometimes what is most needed is accurate diagnosis and even creating hurt (scalpel to tender flesh) to bring about healing.]

What if "being nice" or "sweet" is just another way of serving my OWN ends? (ie - feeding my own heart idols, such as fear of man? or being perfectionistic in whatever else I do?)

What if "being KIND" includes being WISE - and both standing up to bullies as well as drawing a line in the sand and KINDLY but firmly saying that THIS behavior is UNACCEPTABLE and unless you repent, there can be no true PEACE between us. A "cease-fire" perhaps, but no peace. [or put another way, "I will not allow you to bully me in this way anymore - it is not good for me, and it is not good for you - and if that means I can't 'save the day' this time, then so be it..."]

********

Lord, make me a woman characterised by the COMPATIBLE [intermingled] fruits of KINDNESS, GENTLENESS, rejoicing together with the TRUTH, and WISDOM....and let me not BE a bully, myself, in my zeal....

The Law of my Flesh - I have a RIGHT to be angry!!

2010-04-29T19:47:00.006-04:00

The Law of my Flesh - I have a RIGHT to be angry!!

How quickly we can jump to conclusions about other people and their motives for doing what they do. How quickly we "assume the worst" rather than the best. How unprepared we are to examine ourselves when we feel that flash of anger - we'd rather burst into flames than acknowledge that perhaps one of the idols of our heart was just toppled - and why? Because we think we're entitled....

Just one such day for me, today. So a random personal blog entry, here we come.

Not so important the who and the what as the after.

Reality? I am slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to become angry. I am easily provoked, insist on my own way, and have no patience - especially when I feel my "rights" are being trampled. And I don't mean actual "rights" in a political sense - perhaps then I might be justified in whipping out the trump card of my "roman citizenship," to borrow from the story of the apostle Paul. But I mean "rights" in a I'm-not-meek! and You-better-not-make-me-mad! kinda way.

Such as - the right to do things when I want, the way I want; the right to not be interrupted but to nevertheless interrupt at my liesure; the right to peace and quiet when I want it and yet nevertheless be loud and inconsiderate when I feel like it, and so the list goes on.

In short, I'm reminded, today, of something that my Mom used to say to me when I was a child - by way of trying to train me up in the way I should go. She would tell me I operated by my own kind of universal law which was:

"What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine, TOO!"

Oh sad day - apparently I have continued to nurse and pet and coddle this awful beast, because it has grown up and seems quite healthy even still these 30-some years later!

So. I am reminded again, through circumstances in my daily life, that I have many rough and pointy edges - most of which I am quite content to ignore or hide away - and most of which I use to point at and damage others to prove my RIGHT to all my various uglinesses - oh, who are we kidding, my UNGODLINESSES! - and so assert my own will and ultimately to accuse God for not catering to MY desires for comfort and ease, et al.

"LOVE is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

...

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

...

"Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

...

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt[a] water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."

God, make me a sower of peace.
Yours,
Leah

A Holy Ambition! ~ Being MOST Blameless and Upright

2010-04-23T10:28:00.003-04:00

Today's "Grace Gem"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is no one on earth like him!

(Joseph Caryl, "Practical Observations on the Book of Job")

"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him! He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Job 1:8

We ought not to be satisfied with low degrees of grace; or content ourselves to be like others in grace. We should labor (if it is possible) to go beyond all others in grace. It did not satisfy Job that he had gotten to such a degree, to such a frame and temper of heart, to such a course of holiness--as his neighbors or brethren had attained unto; but he labored to go beyond them all, "There is no one on earth like him!"

It is a holy ambition--to labor to exceed all others in grace and godliness.

We have a great many in the world who desire to be so rich--as none should be like them; to be so luxurious in their apparel--as none should be like them; or to be so beautiful--as none should be like them. But where are those who desire and endeavor to have such a portion or stock of grace--that none should be like them; to be above others in holiness--as Job was?

True grace never rests in any degrees or measures of grace--but labors to increase. He who has any grace--always desires to have more grace. Do not think it enough when you are like others in holiness--you ought to labor to be beyond others!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For more like the above - visit www.gracegems.org!

LCM - CH. 9 (final in this series): Being Salt and Light in this world....

2010-04-13T09:47:00.004-04:00

*NOTE: Click on GCC - LCM tag at end of this post to see others in this series.

Blog entry LCM - CH. 9 (final in this series): Being Salt and Light in this world....
Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 9:42am LCM010 Sermon on the Mount

LCM - CH 9: Being Salt and Light in this world…
~GCC WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY (final in this series)

Sorry for the overdue posting! I hope you will find this a helpful reminder of our last week together, as well as thought-provoking with respect to an increasing appreciation for the various nuances of what Jesus meant in his Sermon on the Mount concerning the fact that his followers are the “salt” and the “light” of the world.

Matthew 5:13-16 (Amplified Bible)
13You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.
14You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
15Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
16Let your light so shine before men that they may see your [a]moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and [b]recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

YOU ARE SALT
Characteristics/uses of salt – preserves against decay, acts as an antibiotic, adds flavor, creates thirst, was used as a means to destroy the ground to prevent an enemy’s land from producing crops (from where we get the word “assaulted”)....

We talked about how “saltness” can be lost – for example, if something isn’t salt to begin with but only has a bit of salt “mixed in” it could be sold by a merchant as salt, but in fact was mixed with another “filler” compound that only mimicked the appearance of salt, and in fact would not hold its value or be effective as salt.

YOU ARE LIGHT
Characteristics/uses of light – dispels darkness, exposes what is hidden, gives direction – showing where the next footfall should be, provides warning of coming danger – like a lighthouse to unwitting ships as they approach the crushing rocks, causes critters who hate the light to scurry – like cockroaches scampering to shadowy cracks and crevices....

Among other things, we talked about how “Lightness” is a means by which others see what IS, that light exposes our self-deceptions.

BE WHAT YOU ALREADY ARE
I shared a story of my experience at work – When I first started working for the company by which I am now employed, the environment was very NOT “Christian friendly.” It was commonplace for the profanity to reach and sustain a “rated R” level for the entirety of any given work day, and it was also commonplace for my coworkers to YELL and SCREAM out their differences all about the halls of the offices and the plant. Not only was the newness of the job wearisome, but I also was ushered into a difficult situation concerning how the Customer Service office was being run, and I felt VERY keenly my inability to do anything apart from the empowering of the Lord’s spirit.

It was commonplace for me to spend several minutes every morning sitting in my car before I would go in to the building just BEGGING God to make me to be salt and light in this environment. I don’t now recall how many times I had prayed this way before I felt the Lord answered me in my spirit. It was as if he was saying, “I don’t need to make you salt and light, here. I already made you salt and light – now you just need to BE what you already ARE.”

It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I could “rest” in my dependence on his spirit. I didn’t have to “try” so hard to say the right things, to confront “evil” at just the right time, or to perform in that perfectly admirable way, etc. This is not to say I ceased to be strategic in my approach, or that I somehow STOPPED doing and saying the right thing. But my focus shifted – and I was able to just ... Be what I already was. A child of my heavenly Father, being conformed to the likeness of Christ, dependent on his Holy Spirit to walk faithfully, day in and day out.

I do not know – perhaps I’ll never know – to what extent my being here has made any difference. Only the Lord knows! But today’s environment at work is no longer characterized by the crazy extremes that were normative when I started. People still have their outbursts to be sure. But the profanity has significantly diminished so that the occasional “F-bomb” is the RARITY, and the yelling – if it occurs, and that is also now more rare – is typically behind closed doors, and only between the two or three persons arguing.

The point is this – yes, salt needs to “get out of the salt-shaker” to be effective. But you’re STILL just salt in the LORD’S hand – be obedient, be faithful, but let HIM place you where you’re needed, trust HIM to empower you, to MAKE you salt (to make you REAL) and thus genuinely effective, and just be what you already ARE because you are in CHRIST. Follow hard after HIM, and the “natural result” will be that you will have that “salt and light effect” in the world. You won’t be able to help it any more than the full moon can help reflecting the sun when it has “fixed its gaze” upon it!

***
Our study through the Beatitudes and our study guide, “Lord, Only You Can Change Me,” has come to an end. BUT! We will be back – first this week starts the next Wednesday night adventure with “GIRL TALK” – a study in biblical womanhood for girls 6th grade on up through ladies of all ages! – and next fall we will pick up with more studies of varying kinds, including a study on the biblical theme of “Covenant,” Lord willing.

Ladies, I thank the Lord for your desire to know him more intimately through his Word! I hope and pray this study has been a helpful tool in your quiet times, as you learn more about him and abide IN his word and in prayer and fellowship with him.

One last word: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in HIS wonderful face! And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of HIS glory and grace.”

Blessings,
Leah

*a partial interview with Kay Arthur, below*

...

Do you feel like the Christian community
has lost their fear of the Lord?

KAY ARTHUR: Yes. I feel that the Christian community has lost the fear of the Lord, and because we have lost it, the world has lost it. We are salt and light. When I have a fear and a reverence for the Lord, then it spills over on people. I think that we have greatly lost it, and I think we have lost it because I don't think we are people of the Book. We don't have a biblical concept of God.

Why aren't people reading their Bibles?

KAY ARTHUR: I think because we are so busy, and I think it is because we have so many Christian books and so many Christian novels and that the enemy is going to do everything He can to keep us away from the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, which is the One and Only offensive weapon of the Christian. Everything about the armor in Ephesians 6 is connected with the Word, so he wants us to be standing there, spiritually buck-naked, so to speak, with no armor, not dressed for war, no Sword in our hands. He succeeded by deceiving us. Everything has been substituted for the Word, yet prayer is based on the Word: 'If you abide in Me and My Word abides in you'; revival -- 'Revive me according to Your Word'; evangelism -- 'Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God'; reconciliation -- 'Be reconciled to God.' It is all based on the Word. It is the foundation.

(taken in part from interview located at: http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/biblestudyandtheology/perspectives/bagby-kay_arthur_0404.aspx)

LCM - CH8: "Peacemakers...But Persecuted" ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-03-09T22:14:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 10:13pm Blessed AreLCM010Sermon on the Mount

"Peace" is a very significant theme throughout Scripture - namely, the purchasing of our peace with God is THE theme of God's Scriptures! So there is this running picture of how God pursued us and gave his Son to die for us and purchase our reconciliation when we were yet ENEMIES of God (see Colossians 1:19-22 and Romans 5:10-11).

But this is not to say that God merely obliterated the punishment for our sins, as if to merely call a "cease fire" - rather God has, for as many as have received Christ, given us the right to be called CHILDREN of God!!

"The Greek word for peace signifies a harmonious relationship. This is important because it shows that peace is not merely the absence of war; peace is harmony. It's not a 'cold war.' It's not 'an uneasy truce.' It's not two frowning parties sitting back to back with their arms folded in stony silence. No, peace signifies a willingness to turn toward each other and embrace one another -- in spite of differences of opinion." (LCM p. 192)

So fundamentally, "peace" is reconciliation for relationship/intimacy/communion - and peace-MAKING, then, is a MINISTRY of reconciliation. (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

For the sake of brevity - I broke down the application of this in the following way:

1) PEACE WITH GOD = RECONCILIATION; so our ROLE as concerns "making peace" with those outside of fellowship with Christ is to proclaim to them the Gospel - to seek their reconciliation with God.
2) PEACE WITH OTHERS = FELLOWSHIP/FORGIVENESS; so our ROLE as concerns "making peace" with those in the BODY - those who have already been reconciled to God through Christ - is to be merciful, quick to forgive, patient and longsuffering with each other, etc.
3) PEACE WITHIN OUR OWN SOUL = 1st OUR reconciliation to God and an ONGOING SPEAKING-THE-TRUTH-TO-OURSELVES from God's word so that our hearts are CALM (we likened this to the glassy surface of a calm lake) in our dependence on the Lord's spirit; so our ROLE as concerns "making peace" within ourselves has to do with abiding in the Word, examining ourselves according to God's word and walking by faith not by sight.

[And I daresay (at least this is true for me!), this also involves a continual reminder of the KINDNESS of God, of his AFFECTION and great LOVE for us as his CHILDREN! so that we are able to discern the difference between an assault of the enemy which is for our condemnation versus the loving voice of our Shepherd who, while he may gently convict, NEVER condemns us.....]

The Peace Christ gives us - as both reconciliation with the Father AND as the "calm" over the lake of our soul - is not as the world gives. We need not be afraid. (see John 14:27)

In this way, we can endure much persecution because we have so cultivated our trust in our Father, and our dependence on HIS sovereign hand, we can receive ALL things as GOOD - for our good, and for his glory....

LCM - CH7: "How Can I be Merciful?...Pure?" ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-03-09T21:02:00.002-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 03/09/2010 - 8:59pm Blessed AreLCM010Sermon on the Mount

Blessed are the Merciful...
One of the definitions of "merciful" in ch. 7 was "actively compassionate" - we talked about how this captures both the notion of the "doing" of mercy - such as offering a cup of water in Jesus' name - and also the more stringent requirement which is the heart "affection" of having compassion as Christ did - which is something we cannot in and of ourselves engender - but we must have a NEW heart from which to have God's affection for those in need of mercy.

We looked at various passages in the book of Hebrews which again reminded us of how God showed us in the Old Testament (the old "covenant") that mercy could not be obtained apart from a blood sacrifice - that the holiest place in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies, was the Mercy Seat above the ark of the covenant which is where the blood was to be placed. And likewise, then, Jesus is the fulfilment of this OT picture - and Jesus himself has purchased for us the great mercy of God -

We see, in the parable in Matthew 18:21-35, that it is in fact unnatural (!) to the one to whom so great a mercy (forgiveness) has been given to refuse to show mercy (forgiveness) in return. In the parable, the slave refused to show compassion, and in return was denied the very mercy he would otherwise have received. To be so merciless is oh so ugly....

The requirement for us to "forgive from the heart" is a much greater duty than merely cancelling debt, or demonstrating kindness. This aspect of "from the heart" is only possible if GOD gives us HIS heart.

Blessed are the Pure in heart....
We looked at how the meaning of the "purity" mentioned in this beatitude isn't so much indicative of a once-for-all kind of made pure, but rather has wrapped up in it this idea of "being continually purified" - so it is not just a matter of having once been saved/forgiven/mercied, but rather it is an "abiding in a state of continually being cleansed."

In this chapter, we looked at several ways that we can be intentional about this kind of actively "purifying" our hearts before God - There are, here, at least 7 practical ways to pursue this end according to Kay (Arthur):

1) First and foremost, we can only be pure in heart if we have been given a NEW heart - see Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Hebrews 10:19-22. We enter the holy of holies, purified, because of the blood of Jesus. [FOUNDATIONAL]
2) We must be washed by the water of the Word - see Ephesians 5:25-26, John 17:17.
3) We must continually be cleansed by confession - see 1 John 1:9.
4) We must make restitution - Does your heart condemn you? Perhaps you have confessed before the Lord, but you have not made restitution to the person(s) against whom you sinned. (If and when you do, you can be assured that this accusing voice is not your Father, once you have "done all," you can now stand firm.) - see Ezekiel 33:14-16, or consider the story of Zaccheus (Luke 19:8).
5) Carefully watch what you think about - see Philippians 4:8, 2 Corinthians 10:5.
6) Guard the company you keep - sed 1 Corinthians 15:33.
and finally,
7) Set your mind on things above - see Colossians 3:2.

To summarize - We have received a new heart from our Father, a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone. In giving us this new heart, he is also teaching us to continually grow to love what he loves and hate what he hates. He is teaching us to do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with our God. We ourselves are needy! We could not stand if it were not for his great mercy toward us! How quickly we reveal ourselves NOT to have the heart of our Father when we refuse to also give mercy to others, or when we do not regularly bathe in the water of the word, and instead allow ourselves to again become soiled with the stench of our dead, sinful flesh.

Our Father, who is in heaven, HOLY is your name. We pray you would teach us to be women of mercy who long for the purity of heart that YOU have purchased for us with the blood of Jesus. We pray that you would continue - even as we know you are faithful and you WILL finish the good work you have begun! - to mold us more into the likeness of Christ - your beloved Son in whom you are well pleased! We pray, Father, that you would be pleased with us, that we would be "favored of God" - that we would be an "aroma of life" to those who are being saved, and a "pleasing scent" in your nostrils. Remind us, by whatever means, of how very great a mercy it is that we have received. Multiply our understanding of how very MUCH we have been forgiven! so that it might magnify how very GOOD the good news of your Gospel is, and that we may in turn LOVE much! In JESUS' name, amen!

~ a prayer for today ~

2010-03-04T16:03:00.003-05:00

Lord - HERE [work] is where I most often and MOST readily need to be prayerful and dependent on the Lord to fill me with his Spirit. HERE is where I have the MOST time and opportunity to grow in faithfulness cuz HERE is my everyday, my most wakeful hours. So today, Lord, let me practice meekness - let me be patient and gentle! Let me show respect where due, and God help me! let me not think more highly of myself than I "ought."

Insofar as "being filled with the Spirit" is a command to be obeyed, I can "feel" that my ... drinking deeply of your presence DOES cause me to walk differently! With the gentleness and patience and self-control, and kindness and peace that YOU possess, and make manifest in and through me....

My God, APART from my Faith. Full. dependence on you, I am a natural Ogre.

God, be merciful! CAPTIVATE me, that I may give you my full attention, and joyfully so!

[fix my passions and my gaze; sweet submission, all glorious!]

LCM - CH5 and CH6: Re Meekness, and Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-03-04T11:35:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 03/03/2010 - 5:53pm LCM010 Sermon on the Mount

CH. 5 ~ Meekness: Is it Weakness or Strength

See Ps. 37:1-11
"...Trust is a facet of meekness because meekness trusts in the Lord, delighting in Him....Because of its steady trust, meekness can commit its way to the Lord....Meekness rests in Him, waiting patiently for whatever is God's pleasure. It does not fret and stew over the apparent prosperity of the wicked but focuses all its energies into waiting upon the Lord....Meekness knows that no matter how desperate the situation may appear, in the long run it will gain a glorious inheritance in the Lord. To put it in a single phrase, meekness is humble submission to the will of the Father." (LCM p. 109-110)

Jesus modeled meekness (see Matthew 11:28-30): While meekness is complete dependence on the Father, it is NOT weak - in fact often the opposite, because it takes great strength to hold oneself in submission. Strenght which in ourselves we do not naturally possess! We see Jesus' STRENGTH in submission modeled in the Garden as he faced not only his death, but taking on the very wrath of God for all our sin in the moment of his crucifixion. Yet he prayed 3x, "Not as I will, but as YOU will, Father." (see Matthew 26:37-44)

We talked about the practical outworking of this, particularly as it refers to confronting sin in others - which must first mean we have confronted it in ourselves. (see Galatians 6:1, and 2 Timothy 2:24-26) ~ [This would come up again later when we discussed MERCY, also.] Meekness is, therefore, a preservation for us - it protects us by keeping us aware of our OWN vulnerability to temptation, and helps keep us from presumption. It is teachable, gentle, kind. (see also the singular, "nine-fold fruit" of Galatians 5:22-23)

Meekness is forgiving - it cries out for mercy on behalf of another; it gives up it's own "right" (or perceived right) to retribution.

CH. 6 ~ Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness

Longing - Appetite - Craving - Satisfaction

"...Righteousness is an attribute of God. It is the very essence of God's being. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to have a deep, inner longing to please God. It is a longing that God Himself plants within our hearts to cause us to seek after Him. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to desire with all our being to live and walk the way God says to live and walk. It is to crave God. It is to crave holiness...." (LCM p. 138-139)

We discussed how many commentators, Kay Arthur (LCM author) included, suggested that if someone does NOT possess this hungering, this thirsting, this LONGING for God and rightouesness, that it very well may mean that someone is not truly regenerated, and they need to do some serious business with the Lord.

"...This is not a hunger that stands at the open door of a full refrigerator, trying to decide if anything looks appealing. This is not a hunger that debates whether it can handle a third helping. This is a hunger that has to have food or it dies!" (LCM p. 141)

This is a call to examine ourselves - see if we indeed hunger and thirst with this kind of longing! If not - we must beg God....

"It is a craving that must be satisfied if life is to be sustained....What do you absolutely HAVE to have?" (LCM p. 144) ... "Ours is to be an ever-increasing hunger and thirst. The more we get, the more we want; the more we want, the more we get." (LCM p. 148) ...

And even the WANTING is its own kind of satisfying, because JESUS is so deeply satisfying!!

God, increase our thirst!

LCM - CH4: “Meekness in the Presence of Sovereignty” ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-02-23T19:37:00.003-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 02/23/2010 - 7:36pm Blessed Are LCM010 Sovereignty

My apologies, ladies! It has been a frenzied few weeks, and I have neglected updating our blog as a result. I will try to catch up Ch. 4-6 in short order.

(Mediating) Lesson concerning God’s Sovereignty – LCM, Ch. 4

“Meekness speaks of a submissive and trusting attitude toward God. It is an attitude which accepts all of God’s ways with us as good. It does not murmur or dispute. It neither rebels nor retaliates. It realizes that what comes to us from the hand of man has been permitted by God’s sovereignty, has been filtered by His fingers of love, and will be used by God for His glory and our ultimate good. Meekness looks beyond circumstances – no matter how upsetting and hurtful – and bows the knee to the sovereign God....If we are to walk in meekness, we must know our God. We must accept His sovereign rule. We must grapple with the character of this One who rules over the affairs of men and the hosts of heaven. Of all the truths I have learned, none has brought me more assurance, boldness, calmness, devotion, equilibrium, gratitude, and humility than this study of the sovereignty of God.” ~Kay Arthur, p. 78

df. Sovereignty:

“God rules over all. He is totally, supremely, and preeminently over all His creation. Nothing escapes His sovereign control. No one eludes His sovereign plan.” (p. 79)

*We looked through many Scriptures in this lesson, “beholding God” in the pages of his word, his “self-disclosure”....

That he who is so far beyond our comprehension would “declare” and so make himself known is in itself miraculous!

For the “summary” of this lesson, let it suffice to “worship” God according to the way(s) he revealed himself to us – we recorded our observations on pages 100-103 in our books:

He is the most high
He lives forever
He deserves blessing and honor and praise
His dominion (df) is everlasting - his rulership, the borders of his territory!
His kingdom endures from generation to generation
He does according to his will in the host (armies) of heaven
He does according to his will among the inhabitants of the earth
No one can ward off his hand
No one can (has the right to) question him
His thoughts are not our thoughts
His ways are not our ways
He “declares” – self-disclosure / revelation
His ways are higher than our ways (as far as the heavens are above the earth / incomprehensible / eternally expansive / beyond our ability to search it out!)
His thoughts are higher than our thoughts
He possesses DEEP riches of wisdom and knowledge
His judgments are unsearchable
His ways are unfathomable (df) - we cannot explore their depths!
No one has known the mind of the Lord
No one can counsel him or advise him
God OWES no one
No one gives TO God [as if he possessed any lack]
All things are FROM him
All things are [subsist] THROUGH him
All things are FOR him
He alone deserves glory and FOREVER
He intends
All that he intends occurs JUST as he intends it
He plans
All that he plans occurs JUST as he has planned it
No one can frustrate his plans
No one can turn back his outstretched hand
God justly repays affliction with affliction
God gives relief to those who are afflicted
Jesus will be revealed from heaven
Jesus’ angels deal out retribution to those who do not know God
His penalty is eternal destruction
His penalty is to [cast] “away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power”
He is [the one true God]
He alone is God
He puts to death
He gives life
He wounds
He heals
No one can deliver [make a way of escape] from his hand
He [Jesus] is the first and the last
He [Jesus] is the Living One
He [Jesus] was dead
He [Jesus] is alive forevermore
He [Jesus] has the keys of death and Hades
He is the Lord
He is the only true God
There is none beside him
He is the Lord
He forms light
He creates darkness
He causes well-being
He creates calamity [in some translations “evil” / “disaster”]
He is the Lord
He is the one who does all these [claims responsibility]
What God has bent no one can make straight
God has made adversity as well as prosperity
He is indeed GREAT
He is the ROCK
His work is perfect
All his ways are just
He is faithful
He is without injustice
He is righteous
He is upright
He is worthy of our praise

He is MOST WORTHY of our praise!!

Daniel 4:34-35; Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36; Isaiah 14:24, 27; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9; Deuteronomy 32:39; Revelation 1:17-18 (Jesus); Isaiah 45:5-7; Ecclesiastes 7:13-14; Deuteronomy 32:3-4

LCM - CH3: "Do You Weep Over Sin?" ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-01-29T14:21:00.003-05:00

LCM - CH3: "Do You Weep Over Sin?"
Submitted by Leah Page on Fri, 01/29/2010 - 2:04pm Blessed Are hypocrisy LCM010 Luke 7 Sermon on the Mount

“Lord, only You can change me!” - Ch. 3 “Do You Weep Over Sin?”
~Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.~

I. TAKING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF “HYPOCRISY” A STEP FURTHER

Q: Is the remedy for “hypocrisy” – which we have said is this kind of putting on a front, showing ourselves to be something we’re not – Is the remedy for this merely a matter of “being real” or “being honest” or, if you prefer, “taking off the mask”?

Does that solve the real problem? Cuz there are some who would suggest that the MAIN issue with the traditional church is its legalistic and hypocritical past, and the way to overcome this is to strive for authenticity.

Removing the mask is certainly a STARTING point – but it is not an end in itself. We talked about a variety of reasons for this – but in main, this is due to the fact that our hearts are deceitful and we, even in our best efforts to “be real”, might not be so, and the fact of merely SEEING that we are dead / unclean / filthy inside does not in fact cleanse us or make us alive!

“beatitudes” are NOT “natural” to us
apart from the LORD doing a work in us, these characteristics are not at all “desirable” to us
God changes our “want to” so that we LONG to love what he loves, and hate what he hates

II. GOD IS IN THE BUSINESS OF 1) DISCLOSING HIMSELF AND 2) CULTIVATING “COMMUNION” WITH HIS BELOVED

John Stottt (and no doubt others have too) said that “God reserves his secrets for his lovers,” meaning the community of the redeemed! He chooses to reveal himself – and he does so uniquely to those on whom he has set his affection and preserved in Christ (our “ark” of safety!).

God is in the business of removing our blindness so we can see HIM more clearly, because he is OUR Beloved, and so we can see ourselves more clearly – that we are very far indeed from what He has made us to be as Image.

(Not that we love Christ just because he makes US look good! No – we want to be LIKE him because HE is so good!)

III. GODLY SORROW PRODUCES REPENTANCE (AND JOY!)

We saw in our lesson through a few small glimpses (Genesis 6, Ezekiel 6, Luke 19 and Matthew 23) how sin breaks the heart of God – it “hurts” Him! (And of course it would, for sin is anything that is contrary to the will and nature and heart of God, it is at its heart our making ourselves to be god and king and ruler of our own hearts – which steals our affection from the One who is God and King and Ruler of all!)

Whether we have lived a history where we have seen the story of forgiveness the Lord wrote in our lives, or whether we are NOW living our lives where the Lord is graciously peeling back layer by layer the brokenness of our hearts, He is showing us how – in Christ – we are ALL forgiven MUCH! ...and why? Not for our condemnation! (Romans 8:1) But because he wants us to LOVE him much!

Our sin is SO vile, and the Lord’s grace is SO brilliant and beautiful – the Lord must bring our eyes into greater focus so that as the “law” of God brings conviction and repentance! (2 Corinthians 7:10), it is like the black velvet on which the diamond of the “grace” of God is displayed.

IV. WHAT BREAKS GOD’S HEART SHOULD BREAK OURS, TOO!!

We also looked briefly at 1 Corinthians 5 and Ezekiel 9 – sin in the Church, in the hearts and corporate, “together” lives of God’s people.

Are we alert to and grieved by sin in the BODY?
How do we lovingly confront sin in the BODY? Or do we? Are we more interested in demonstrating our “tolerance and diversity”?

Part of the “application” of this included talking through the necessity of what Jesus describes in Matthew 7 as getting the log (or beam) out of our own eye so that we may see clearly to help our brother with the splinter (or speck) in his own eye. We are called to “judge” those within the fellowship of believers (and leave to God to judge those “outside”), but we are to do so with humility, an eye (if you’ll forgive the pun!) to our own confession and repentance!, a dependence on God’s grace and forgiveness, and the priority of God’s heart in the matter – which is for the other person to repent and receive forgiveness and restoration!

Looking forward to next week – we are going to look through a lot of different Scriptural passages, this week, to help us ... get our spiritual eyes more into focus, to see God as he really is! As he has “disclosed” himself to be! (It is, after all, the light of God’s presence, as we saw in Isaiah 6, that exposes the desperation of OUR need FOR him, but it also is the means by which we see how much we’ve been forgiven so that we may LOVE MUCH!)

Let us be women who LOVE MUCH our great God!

Blessings!
~Leah

PS - prev. post answered some additional questions that were raised during our discussion.

LCM ~ A couple questions answered - followup to last night's class (re ch. 3)

2010-01-28T09:37:00.001-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 9:35am humility LCM010 Luke 7 Poor in Spirit

Good morning, ladies!

Last night, I double checked on a couple of the questions that were asked, and thought I'd share with you what I found (I'll post on the blog, too):

Q: Was the woman in Luke 7 Mary Magdalene?

A: The text doesn't say so, and I have heard from several sources that it is widely believed to be Mary Magdalene. But we don't know for sure. There are other Gospel accounts of a similar event, (such as Mark 14), but the details are different, and we know that the woman there mentioned was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Luke 7 seems to be a different event altogether - though possibly the fact that the other accounts mention a "Mary" and there is even another "Simon" present (Simon the Leper), perhaps these similarities help inform the speculation about the women in the text with which we have concerned ourselves, here?

(We DO know this was a woman who washed Jesus' feet out of love for him and a "weeping joy" for his grace! Would that we were all such women!)

Q: Was "Simon" in the Luke 7 account the name of the Pharisee hosting the gathering? Or referring to Simon/Peter, Jesus' disciple, who may also have been present at this event?

A: In v. 44, Jesus addresses Simon directly and accuses him of not having welcomed him even half as well as this so-called "sinner" woman. So Simon is contextually understood, here, to be the name of the Pharisee hosting the gathering.

Q: In Ezekiel 9:8, we speculated that perhaps this phrase (as worded in the NASB), "I alone was left," meant that Ezekiel was in fact the only one to survive the divine execution of the idol-worshippers in Jerusalem, the only one who was "marked" to be saved?

A: However, the opening phrase of the verse helps to clarify - and looking further at the context, ch. 10 is where "God's glory departs from the temple" and ch. 11 is where Ezekiel is called upon to give greater rebuke to the people (I don't know if such "order of writing" is meant to be explicitely chronological, but that seems to be the "plain meaning" of the text).

The ESV helpfully translates this verse this way: "And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, 'Ah, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?'" <-- a great case of finding help in other reliable translations of the text, and interpreting on the basis of context! ;) It seems Ezekiel is saying simply that while this horror (!) was being carried out, he remained in the presence of the Lord and - like Moses and others before him had done - was pleading with God on behalf of this rebelious people.

This is an event that is intended to "mirror" the Passover events in Exodus - though it is interesting, as we noted, that where in the Exodus account the faithful put the blood over their own doorposts, in this event, the Lord chose angelic messengers to somehow "mark" the foreheads of those who had "sighed and moaned" over the abominations committed in God's city. (Reminded me of how Peter in the NT [2 Peter ch. 2] describes Lot, Abraham's nephew who willingly lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and even rose to some prominence in the city!, and nevertheless was "vexed in his righteous soul" over their collective wickedness....)

Q: And finally, regarding good ol' Uriah Heep?

I had brought up one of the incidents that D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones mentions in his book "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and it was a point of interest because he actually names the person with whom he interacted, and it was one "Uriah Heep" and Betty had pointed out that this was the name of a character in a Charles Dickens' novel, so I thought perhaps I had misread the story!

A: I double checked and in fact, the man's name was Uriah Heep, so perhaps he was named after the Dickens character? Or perhaps it was just strange coincidence? Either way, it appears to be a "true story" and not just an illustration to make a point. Here is the quote if you're interested:

"...To be 'poor in spirit,' therefore, does not mean you are born like that. Let us get rid of that idea once and for ever.
Neither does it mean that we are to become what I can best describe as imitators of Uriah Heep. Many, again, have mistaken 'poor in spirit' for that. I remember once having to go to preach at a certain town. When I arrived on the Saturday evening, a man met me at the station and immediately asked for my bag, indeed he almost took it from my hand by force. Then he talked to me like this: 'I am a deacon in the church where you are preaching tomorrow,' he said, and then added, 'You know, I am a mere nobody, a very unimportant man, really. I do not count; I am not a great man in the Church; I am just one of those men who carry the bag for the minister.' He was anxious that I should know what a humble man he was, how 'poor in spirit.' Yet by his anxiety to make it known, he was denying the very thing he was trying to establish. Uriah Heep -- the man who thus, as it were, glories in his poverty of spirit and thereby proves he is not humble. It is an affectation of something which he obviously does not feel...."
(DLJ, SITSOTM, p. 38)

Blessings!
Leah

--
~Growing in grace, and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ~
http://grace2grow.blogspot.com

~How to become Poor In Spirit~ D.M.Lloyd-Jones

2010-01-27T16:12:00.004-05:00

"...The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God. Read this Book about Him, read His law, look at what He expects from us, contemplate standing before Him. It is also to look at the Lord Jesus Christ and to view Him as we see Him in the Gospels. The more we do that the more we shall understand the reaction of the apostles when, looking at Him and something He had just done, they said, 'Lord, increase our faith!' Their faith, they felt, was nothing. They felt it was so weak and so poor. 'Lord, increase our faith. We thought we had something because we had cast out devils and preached Thy word, but now we feel we have nothing; increase our faith.'

"Look at Him; and the more we look at Him, the more hopeless shall we feel by ourselves, and in and of ourselves, and the more shall we become 'poor in spirit.' Look at Him, keep looking at Him. Look at the saints, look at the men who have been most filled with the Spirit and used. But above all, look again at Him, and then you will have nothing to do to yourself. It will be done. You cannot truly look at Him without feeling your absolute poverty, and emptiness. Then you say to Him,

'Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.'

Empty, hopeless, naked, vile. But HE is the all-sufficient One --

'Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come.'"

~David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, from "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount," p. 42

LCM - CH2: "Where True Happiness Begins" ~ GCC Women's Bible Study

2010-01-26T19:15:00.003-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 01/26/2010 - 7:14pm Blessed Are LCM010 Poor in Spirit
"Lord, Only You can Change Me" (by Kay Arthur)
Ch. 2: "Where True Happiness Begins"

Review week 1: John the Baptist was chosen by God to "make ready a people prepared for the Lord" and in large part, this very "preparation" was the call to REPENT! The "red carpet" of John's ministry was to declare the "BAD NEWS" of our sin, our deserving God's judgment, and the proclamation that the kingdom of God was at hand. Bookmark chapter for week 1 (intro) was Luke 1 (and connecting back to Malachi ch. 3-4)

Review week 2: The "theme" of the infamous "Sermon on the Mount" - which we discerned from Jesus' own words - is "the righteous lifestyle of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven." (LCM p.6) One of the key verses of this sermon is Matthew 5:20 which says "For I [Jesus] say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees [the religious leaders of that time, the most "holy" people who were supposed to know all about God], you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." But as we saw, Jesus' rebuke against the so-called religious was very severe. Bookmark chapter for week 2 (ch. 1) was Matthew 23, where Jesus soundly rebukes these religious folks for their hypocrisy! They exert all this effort to clean the outside of the cup, but inside they are as filthy and dirty as ever. They are like whitewashed tombs - concerned about their outward appearances, but inside are DEAD and unclean.

So we come to chapter 2, and there were 2 main topics for us to discuss:

1) "BLESSED ARE" / "TRULY HAPPY ARE..."
Jesus opens this sermon with a series of statements concerning those who are considered "blessed" or "happy/ecstatic" - and gives us a glimpse into their condition. Before we got into the first "beatitude" (which comes from the latin word to describe this series of "blessed are's"), we needed to understand better what this actually means.

For one, "blessed are" refers to a "STATE OF BEING," not a set of doings. The sermon to follow is going to be filled to overflowing with all kinds of "do's" and "don'ts" - but Jesus is FIRST, LAST and ALWAYS concerned with the condition of the HEARTS of his people. As we have said before, "Being precedes [comes before] Doing" - what we DO is the overflow of who we ARE. What we DO, is the "natural result" of who we ARE.

Additionally, in the Scriptures, "blessedness means 'a sense of God's approval.'" (LCM p. 21) BLESSED first refers to God's approval, God's favor, God's...pleasure. These statements of character, of the heart, of "being" in the inner person, all fall under the category of "blessed" because they describe the heart and character that is PLEASING to God, and therefore as an overflow of his pleasure, God blesses us and we are filled with joy. We used the picture of a tree to get this idea. It would be as if we could say the ROOT is God's being pleased, and the FRUIT is our joy.

However, if we have not been given a new nature? If we are still in our sin - God's pleasure would be worse than meaningless to us. It would certainly not be our aim, our desire or at all OUR pleasure! (Recall, we talked about God changing our "want to's"?! so that we long to love what he loves and hate what he hates!) But if we desire to please God, and Jesus has told us that these characteristics are at the HEART of what brings pleasure to God, wouldn't it be to our benefit to understand what these things mean? To, in effect, if it were possible, "strive after" this kind of character and heart and inner person?

"Is it any wonder that Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount so amazed His listeners?....Here was a man who spoke with ringing authority, a man who was God in the flesh. Here was the mighty Creator of all speaking to His created ones, telling them that the wellspring of what they craved was found in a sense of His approval. Yes, friends and loved ones may belittle and ridicule our words and our choices, but what does it matter as long as God continually whispers, 'I know who you are, My child, and it brings Me pleasure.' Man, after all, was made for God's glory, God's pleasure. How then can man be complete or satisfied until he achieves that for which he was created?" (LCM, p. 24)

2) WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT?
We looked through several Scriptures during our study, including Luke 18:9-14 where we saw the Tax Gatherer crying out for mercy, Isaiah 6:1-8 where we saw how Isaiah - when he was confronted face to face with God - cried out "WOE IS ME!" as he recognized how sinful he was, and 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 where we saw that God chose for himself people who were (in their natural selves) foolish, weak, base, despised, who were not wise, were not mighty, were not noble. And yet God place them in CHRIST (his beloved Son in whom he was WELL PLEASED!), so that he would become to them (and us) all that they were NOT - Jesus is our wisdom, Jesus is our righteousness, Jesus is our sanctification, Jesus is our redemption - so Jesus is our all in all.

We used the image of a "cup" again to talk about how we come to God - and that if we try to bring him anything, as if we could bring anything acceptable to God?, we are in effect trying to stand on our own righteousness or value or worthiness. But God is most glorified when we come to him with EMPTY cups, seeking to be FILLED by HIM! After all, how could we hope to bring anything MORE pleasing to the Father than Jesus?? So "poverty of spirit" isn't an expression of "how much spirit" do we possess, but in effect "how much righteousness" does our spirit possess - It is not as though we suddenly possess less righteousness when we see ourselves compared to a holy God! It's just that the light of God's presence EXPOSES our poverty - that we have nothing to offer to commend ourselves to him.

The proper response to "seeing God" is to fall on our faces, exclaim "WOE IS ME" and cry out for mercy. That is what Jesus means by poverty of spirit. How do we "strive after" this poverty of spirit? We fill our gaze with God - see as MUCH of him as we can, as Isaiah did, fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Jesus says this is the condition in which we are BLESSED! To these individuals who have despaired of their own self-effort and fall on God for grace and mercy - To these belong the kingdom of heaven.

Take heart! The Lord has promised - the good work he BEGINS in us he WILL be faithful to bring to completion! He does not leave us fallen on our faces, but intervenes on our behalf....

Bookmark chapters for this week are Isaiah 6 and Luke 18.

~
"What is poverty of spirit? It is an absence of self-assurance, self-reliance, and pride. It is the deepest form of repentance. It is turning from your independence to total dependence on God. It is brokenness. Listen, my friend, as difficult as it might be to receive right now, you ought to open your arms and welcome anything that will break you, that will bend your knees, that will bring you to utter destitution before your God....To walk in poverty of spirit means to abide in the Vine [Jesus!] and to allow the life of the Vine, by God's Spirit, to flow through us so that we might bear fruit. For apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15:5)...." (LCM, p. 30, p. 42)

GCC Women's Bible Study ~ LCM - CH1: "Getting Beyond Our Masks"

2010-01-22T07:23:00.004-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 01/20/2010 - 12:22am hypocrisyLCM010

LCM – CH1: Getting Beyond Our Masks

Started off in overview of Matthew 5-7, seeing the pattern of both "heaven" and "righteousness" in the Sermon on the Mount – the theme of which is in short "the righteous lifestyle of those who belong to the kingdom of heaven." (LCM p.6)

"Bookmark" chapter for this week was Matthew 23.

Highlights of discussion centered around the following:

I. BEING PRECEDES DOING

Jesus starts the sermon concentrating on what makes up the "character" of those who are the "favored ones of God" – and what follows is the righteousness that is the "natural result" of having been changed by God, given a new heart. We re-stated this as "Being precedes Doing" – what we do stems from who we are. We sin because we are sinners; if we are "saints" / "sanctified" / the "holy ones of God" / set apart, we increasingly do as God’s Holy One does, because we are made into His likeness.

We ARE changed [given a new heart / the righteousness of Jesus] and so we LIVE that way.

Where we typically mess up is in flip flopping the process, as if "doing" righteousness is what earns God’s pleasure. This will become a theme in our study as "blessed" means "favored" of God which is intimately tied to what it means to say "God is pleased by..."

II. GOD’S PLEASURE / OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

There is an inescapable connection between our "doing the will of [Jesus’] Father who is in heaven," and pleasing God. Jesus is explicit that those who do not do the will of the Father are among those of whom "on that day" Jesus will say "Depart from me, I never knew you..."

But does this invite, then, some kind of doctrine of "salvation by righteous works"?
Well...I suppose that depends on whose works are righteous!! In whom is the Father well-pleased? Who lived a perfectly flawless life, fully righteous life? By whose righteousness are WE able to become the righteousness of God? Our own?

How do we obtain the righteousness that pleases God? The righteousness that God rewards?

III. TRUE CHRISTIANITY VS. HYPOCRISY

"Real Christian life – the genuine article – is never hypocritical. Authentic Christian life is something higher, brighter, and infinitely more powerful that pale, phony substitutes. It will take you from the valley of sin to the mount of blessedness. It will take you from the depths of destitution to the heights of God’s approval...." (LCM p. 3)

"True Christianity is discipleship. It’s the willingness to turn around to leave everything, and to let Jesus Christ be all in all. It’s the willingness to follow Him wherever He leads, and to do whatever He says. True Christianity is a total commitment of oneself to the lordship of Jesus Christ." (LCM p. 10)

Matthew 23 – "woe to you, hypocrites" – the "religious ones…the ones who claimed to know God...." (p. 14)

v. 3 they say and do not do
v. 4 they bind heavy burdens (works to earn God’s favor!) and lay them on the shoulders of others, but they themselves won’t lift a finger
v. 5 they do all their works to be seen by men, to DRAW attention to themselves
v. 6 they love the BEST places at the feasts, the BEST seats in the synagogues
v. 7 they love to be recognized and greeted in public places and called "Rabbi, Rabbi" (teacher, teacher!)
v. 13 they shut up the kingdom of heaven to prevent others from going in
v. 14 they give long prayers for pretense
v. 15 they move heaven and earth to make one convert, but make him twice as much a son of hell than themselves (increasing his dependence on his own "works" of righteousness)
v. 23 they are caught up in the tiniest of details! Regarding what to offer of the least of the herbs, and LOSE the weightier matters (which the lesser were meant to serve and reveal!) – law, justice, mercy, faith
v. 25 they clean the outside, but inside are full of extortion and self-indulgence
v. 27-28 outwardly appear clean, but inside are DEAD, UNCLEAN, full of hypocrisy and lawlessness....

IV. WHAT HE DEMANDS, HE SUPPLIES

We do not approach God with our "cup" full of our "offering" as if to bring some good thing to God, or to add to God’s pleasure. His GREATEST pleasure is derived from our coming to him with our "cup" EMPTY, so as to RECEIVE from him of HIS fullness....

We will look at this more in the next week as we study "poverty of spirit."

LORD, ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE ME – INTRO (week 1 of 10)

2010-01-09T01:05:00.001-05:00

LORD, ONLY YOU CAN CHANGE ME – INTRO (week 1 of 10)
Submitted by Leah Page on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 12:18am LCM010

The first night of our new study launched this past Wednesday!

We got off to a good start, with an ice breaker forcing us to introduce each other – I think this gave us a lot of good opportunity to laugh together and learn some unique things about each of us. I hope this serves us well as we go through these next couple of months together and commit to pray for one another.

We began by reviewing some of the high points of our study in Malachi from last semester; primarily the pattern of the Lord’s [kind!] Rebuke which leads us to Repentance which is the posture that receives the Restoration of our fellowship with the Lord. ("The Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace (!) to the humble.")

Though the last word before the Lord goes silent for 400 years (between the old and new testaments of the Bible when there was no prophet in Israel) is "curse," nevertheless the last words are ultimately, collectively, the Lord’s PROMISE – that he would send a forerunner, "Elijah," who would prepare the way for the Lord’s coming and our salvation! One who would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children....

And we picked this up in Luke 1, then, where the priest Zechariah receives a visit from the angel, Gabriel, to tell him the good news that he and his wife Elizabeth are to have a son in their old age, an answer to their prayers, who would come "in the spirit and power of Elijah." And this son – John the baptizer – would be set apart, filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb (!), and his ministry would be to "turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous," and to "make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

And what was this ministry? What was this "red carpet" rolled out to lead up to the arrival of the Lord Jesus? Notice, John’s message was NOT – "I have come to bring you good news which shall be for all the people!" Rather, John’s message was "REPENT! The Kingdom of God is at hand! The Lord is coming, judgment is imminent! And you are sinners deserving of the wrath of God! Cry out for mercy!"

In effect, the red carpet that prepares the way for the GOOD news – of the salvation purchased by Jesus’ blood – is the message of the very BAD news about our sin and the fact we will never be able to achieve the righteousness that will earn God’s favor. (It must be a gift!) The fact that the BAD news is so very BAD is what then makes the GOOD news of God’s grace in Jesus so very very GOOD.

This set the stage to launch into our review of Jesus’ famous "sermon on the mount" toward the beginning of his earthly ministry. And in Matthew chapters 5-7, we see Jesus take the Old Testament "LAW" and raise the bar even higher. "You have heard it said…..but *I* tell you……" Always taking the requirement for righteousness deeper – through to the heart.

We read through all of Matthew 5-7 to end class by way of giving us a bit of a "jump start" into the first lesson – highlighting as we went any mention of the word "heaven" (which appears at least 21 times in these 3 chapters, depending on how you count to repetitions/synonyms, etc.).

It is clear, just in these verses, that Jesus starts with the heart (the character of those who are "blessed" – highly favored of God!), and then brings every thing that we "do" thereafter and lines it up alongside the heart, examining each area of life and whether it measures up to God’s standard of perfection. ("...the holiness without which no one will see God.")

To put it another way – there are the beginning hints, here, of the fact that what we DO springs from who (whose) we ARE. And we will get into this a bit more fully in the weeks to come, Lord willing!

For next week, we dive right in to chapter one – completing the overview of the whole "sermon on the mount," and particularly focusing on the nature of the "masks" we wear – The ways we hide and cover ourselves so we might appear to be more righteous (more praiseworthy) than we really are.

Jesus exposes our hypocrisy – and our study starts here, because only when we remove our self-made garments of fig leaves (and the trees behind which we like to hide) can we humbly admit we are weak and vulnerable and shameful, and we need Jesus’ righteousness, because our own best is "as filthy rags."

How fitting, then, the title of our little book: "LORD, only YOU can change me…."

Again, I challenge you - let us not be "battle weary" before we even begin. Let's "change our minds" and think of this study not as another activity which adds to our busyness, but rather think of this study and time in the Word of God as part of our REST before him.

We are looking forward to a truly blessed time in the next few weeks.

~Leah (Page)

~Week 10 of 10: "Before His Throne" study - and One Last Assignment~

2009-12-02T13:28:00.004-05:00

NOTE: Click on GCC ~ Before His Throne tag at end of this post to see others in this series.

Week 10 of 10: "Before His Throne" study - and One Last Assignment

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 5:15pm

My original intent was to compose, here, a "summary" of what would have been our 10th week together, but I didn't realize I would find it so difficult, having not been in class with you our last evening! Apparently I rely more heavily on your feedback in class for my own "note taking" than I realized. Nevertheless, I thought I would at least attempt the "next best thing" with the hopes that you might be encouraged to do ONE LAST ASSIGNMENT in preparation for tomorrow night's final "After Party."

No worries, it won't take long. In fact, time-wise, it will take very LITTLE time in comparison to all the work you have already done.

We started this journey together in Ephesians 1, reading through the various characteristics that were readily apparent as "identifiers" of those who are "in Christ." The repetition of variations on this phrase alone in this chapter are telling, but I think our study through Malachi (with points all throughout Genesis to Revelation as we visited hither and yon!) has (I hope!) made some of the real, transforming truths of what we do in fact possess and who in fact we really ARE if we are IN CHRIST even that much more precious to you.

Thus, I thought it would be appropriate to "book end" our time in Malachi with another high-point chapter, (and perhaps you can already guess of what book I am thinking even before I tell you!). Before I give you the assignment, however, I would like to travel Malachi with you by just highlighting some of these themes:

*What are God's first words? "I have loved you" ~ God's "peculiar" covenantal affection for his people

*Were is the honor due God as a Father? Where is the fear and reverence due God as a Master?

*What kind of sacrifice is PLEASING to God? ~ unblemished, firstfruits, the sacrifice offered from faith, the sacrifice of a broken and contrite spirit, a living sacrifice!, a sacrifice of praise

*What does it mean to "fear the Lord" aright? ~ "...Perfect love casts out fear...."

*How can we approach the Throne of Grace with confidence? OUR "righteousness" is as filthy rags! ~ JESUS, the beloved son in whom the Father is well pleased; HE has made the once for all unblemished (!), holy sacrifice. HE is our "ark of safety" ~ preserving us "to the end" that we might be saved.

*Are we "performing" our righteousness only with an expectation of the Lord's benefits and rewards? Have we neglected to "incline our hearts" to the Lord, recognizing that HE is our reward? Are we loving his GIFTS more than we love HIM?

*Are we resenting his apparent lack of justice in judging wickedness, having forgotten we ourselves stand in desperate, dependent need of his mercy and grace?

*Are we thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought? ~ Are we ... esteeming ourselves (whether "highly" or "lowly"?) rather than fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith?

And finally, I am reminded especially of our comments at the beginning of class, echoed and repeated as we've progressed. Why did we sign up for this study? I hope it has proven to be a means of getting to know God more, as he really is, as he has revealed himself to be, with the preciousness of even our "fear" of God becoming more apparent. But in the end, our "knowledge" is not merely as the acquiring of more and more information - It is, rather, "knowledge" quite literally "in the biblical sense!"

It is for intimacy with our God, for we are his people, redeemed by his hand, and as we know him more we LOVE him more! And whether now as through a glass dimly, or then when finally face to face, we "know" in such a way that it spills over into worship. In a class I am currently auditing concerning "the knowability and incomprehensibilty of God," the expression continually repeated has been that "Doctrine is for Doxology!" Meaning, that we study and examine and learn the WORD of God because it is BY MEANS of the Word of God that we know HIM in person; and for the one who is being saved, this becomes the spring from which our worship overflows!

So. If you're still with me after all of the above,

Here is your assignment. :)

Set aside approximately 40 minutes during which you are confident you will not be interrupted. Read through Malachi, all four chapters. Slowly. Perhaps out loud so you can really remember all we've looked at. Then, with Malachi fresh in your minds, turn to Hebrews chapter 12. And again, read through this whole chapter, slowly, perhaps out loud. But don't just read for information. Pause to think about God, what he has shown you these past few weeks.

Some describe tasting wine as this kind of experience - Look at its color, swirl it around in the glass, take a deep breath in through your nose and see what kinds of aromas you can discern - a hint of apple or peach, close your eyes and think of the grapes on the vine, and then finally, having done all this, take a sip, let it sit on your tongue, roll it around in your mouth exploring the various different kinds of flavors it can change into in just that moment, and only after you've paused sufficiently, swallow. Read Hebrews 12 like you're "tasting" it in just this way, let your mind remember all the various Scriptures we've looked at over the past few weeks, pray your way through the verses, thanking God for how he's taught you, convicted you, comforted you, and sit at his feet and worship him. If he brings a song to mind, sing it! If he brings a sin to mind, confess it! If he brings a loved one to mind, intercede for them in prayer. BE with him through his word. [ABIDE!]

Thank you for finishing well, ladies. It has been an honor to "lead" you and to be a student WITH you of God's word. I am looking forward to our next adventure beginning in January - "Lord, Only You Can Change Me"! (a study in the beattitudes).

~Leah

WE are God's JEWELS!

2009-12-02T13:27:00.003-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 11:16am

THE JEWELS OF GOD
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels!" Malachi 3:17

"MY JEWELS!" (margin, My special treasure!)

Of what favored creatures does Jehovah thus speak?
Is it of seraphs?
Is it of angels?
Methinks, at such a title, even they would take
the dust of abasement, and veiling their faces,
cry, "Unclean! unclean!"

But, marvel of marvels! It is redeemed sinners
of the earth; the fallen children of men; once rude,
unshapely stones, lying in "the horrible pit and the
miry clay," amid the rubbish of corruption, who are
thus sought out by grace, purchased by love, and
destined through eternity to be set as jewels
in the crown of the eternal Savior!

A jewel in Immanuel's crown!

Not only raised from the ash heap to be set among
princes; but to gem through eternity the Forehead
that for me was once wreathed with thorns!

"And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels!" Malachi 3:17

~snapshot of wk 9 of 10, lesson 8; BHT study: "What is our Gain? our Reward? our Prize? ~ CHRIST!"

2009-11-17T12:51:00.002-05:00

Snapshot of wk 9 of 10, lesson 8; BHT study: "What is our Gain? our Reward? our Prize? ~ CHRIST!"

Submitted by Leah Page on Tue, 11/17/2009 - 12:39pm

"No Half-Godfearers"

Malachi 3:13-18
"Your words have been hard against me, says the LORD. But you say, 'How have we spoken against you?' You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.'" Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. "They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

Intro: Let's start at the very .... end of this week's lesson. P. 147 in your books. We listed on the board all the "promises" and benefits that attach to those who fear the Lord according to: Psalm 25:14, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 33:18-19, Psalm 103:13, Psalm 115:11, and Psalm 145:19

1. What's in it for me? Exposing a heart set on itself
We talked through our "consumer" mentality here in America, today. We have the luxury of a multitude of vendors trying to woo us by our own self-importance with ad campaigns like "Because you're worth it," and "Have it your way, right away...."

The mentality exposed in v. 13-15 in the hearts of these unfaithful people of God is this exact idea - "What's the point? Clearly God is letting the arrogant and evil-doers get away with murder! Why should we even bother being righteous when God is so indifferent as to just ignore this unrighteousness all around us?!" Not only are they implying accusation against God's character, but they expose their own self-righteousness. What self-serving superiority! They might as well be saying "God, I thank you that I am not like other men who do evil against you. But SEE what righteousness I do! Where is my reward?!" (see Luke 18:9-14)

Read Psalm 73 - Notice the turning point in Psalm 73:16-17. What is the Psalmist doing to remedy his misconception about God's seeming lack of justice against the wicked? He is recalling to himself God's character, seeking company with the Lord in prayer, and reminding himself that his only hope is that God save him, even if he does not see the playing out of this in his earthly life. He can nevertheless trust God's goodness to execute justice - justice which he himself also rightly deserves (notice v. 21-22) BUT for God's mercy.

2. What's in a word? (self-esteem; isn't it just semantics?) Self-worth? or Self-evaluation?
The problem in wailing to God about "all those unrighteous out there" is that we are ignoring the wickednesses of our own heart, first of which is pride! And in our culture, we are not only taught to be self-confident and self-actualizing, we are taught that we "ought" to esteem ourselves. So, let's examine that. We talked through a host of synonyms for "esteem" and considered them in relationship to "self" -

to prize self, to revere self, to bow down to self, to honor self, to favor self, to marvel at self, to pay homage to self, to respect self, to laud self, to value self, to hold self in high regard, to admire self, to delight in self, to glorify self, to cherish self, to idolize self, to adore self, to treasure self, to extol self, to think the world of self, to venerate self, to applaud self, to apotheosize (to "deify") self, to worship....self.

"well, when you put it like that...." does ANY of that sound remotely biblical?

So called "High" self-esteem and "Low" self-esteem are at their root the same error because at the root of each is "self" and "self-focus."

If by "esteem" we mean to "estimate" as in to "compare to a standard so as to assess the true value of," then we MIGHT be able to redeem the term, but only in this respect - if we are "esteeming" ourselves rightly - that is, according to God's unchanging standard of righteousness, then the only "estimation" we can rightly appraise is something that looks like "Woe is me, I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips and I come from a people of unclean lips! God have mercy on me a sinner!" (see Isaiah 6, and again Luke 18:9-14)

This is the point. Our "value" - whether high OR low! - is not something WE have the luxury of assessing. GOD makes the assessment by having created us in his image and by whether or not he chooses to declare us righteous. So our "self-evaluation" then ought to be only for ONE purpose - to examine ourselves to see if we are in Christ. Because it is CHRIST who is worthy of our laud and honor. See what happens when we DIE to self, DENY self, and "fix our eyes on Jesus,"

we prize Christ, revere Christ, bow down to Christ, honor Christ, we favor Christ, marvel at Christ, pay homage to Christ, respect Christ, laud Christ, value Christ, hold CHRIST in high regard, admire Christ, delight in CHRIST, glorify CHRIST, cherish CHRIST, adore CHRIST, treasure CHRIST, extol CHRIST, think the world of CHRIST, venerate CHRIST, applaud CHRIST, worship....CHRIST!

I am not saying we ought not think of ourselves at all - See Romans 12:3-8 - but we ought to examine ourselves, think of ourselves with sober judgment and NOT think more highly of ourselves than we ought....

3. What's the Big Idea? "Choose you this day whom you will serve"
Read Joshua 24:1-28 In this chapter, God first lays out "It was I who...." and all the things he had done for the people of Israel having led them into the promised land. Only after this recounting does Joshua finally say in effect, "All right, people, you've heard what the Lord your God has done, NOW choose whom you will serve, whether the one true God! or the false gods of your past!" which is to say "There really is no choice, here!"

And how do the people respond? "We will serve the Lord!" To which Joshua then says, "Well, you can't. He is HOLY! And if you prove to be unfaithful, he will turn and consume you!" (see Joshua 24:19-21) That is to say, "Understand what you are committing yourselves to!"

(consider what it means to "fear the Lord" rightly!)

4. What's in your .... book? Rebuke - Repent - Restore - Remember - (Reward?)
Now, in Malachi 3:16, we get our first glimpse of how the people respond to this so far 2 1/2 chapter rebuke from God.

Those who feared the Lord - those who were his true followers, the remnant - and we do not know how many this entailed - got together and started to talk with one another. About what? About the word of the Lord! They started discussing the rebuke of God and whether it has any merit, and are they guilty of these very things, and what will they do now....And where are they meeting? "in the presence of the Lord" or "before Him." Where are they? Scripture says that where two or more are gathered, there he is in the midst of them? They're at "church," in essence. Or their Wednesday night Bible study! And what are they doing? They are remembering the Lord.

We didn't get into this in detail as it would involve a whole 'nother study, but "Remember" is a covenantal term. This is why we "remember" Jesus in his blood and body given when we participate in the Lord's supper - which we also call "communion" - why? Because it is a term of intimacy. It is akin to "knowing God" - quite literally "in the biblical sense." As we've said before, knowing/communing/remembering - all are terms of covenant. (Remember God's first words to open the book of Malachi, before he speaks his rebuke to his people?)

So they create a book of remembrance in the presence of the Lord, and he takes pleasure in them - who are "them"? Those who FEAR HIM and who meditate on his name. And because they fear him, they in turn commit themselves to him. And again we see God's stamp of ownership on them, as we see similarly in 1 Peter 2:9-10. See Malachi 3:17-18. He will make those who fear him to be his jewels, his "spared ones" who are able to discern - to REALLY see the truth - about those who are righteous in God's sight, and those who are wicked, who are able to discern what it means to REALLY "serve the Lord."

Conclusion -
God's rebuke is to turn us to repentance! To get our eyes off our Self and to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith! And God's promise, then, to all who repent and who rightly "fear Him" is to restore them. To what? To intimacy with Himself!

HE is our reward! HE is the one we adore! HE is the one on whom we have fixed our eyes....and our affection! HE is the object of our desire, and HE is the object of our remembrance. HE is the one to whom we are running. HE is our reward.

~May we truly decrease and He increase....~
Groups: Women of Grace

~snapshot of wk 8, lesson 7; BHT study: "Robbers of God ~ What are we depending on?"

2009-11-17T12:47:00.002-05:00

Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 11/11/2009 - 7:35am

"Before His Throne" week 8, lesson 7 ~ Robbers of God: What are we depending on?

Intro: Mortifying Darling Sins (see prev post for text)

Unchanging God ~ Restating Malachi 3:6-7 in our own words: "I haven’t changed. I am still the God of your father Jacob, still the one who has promised my love to you. As has always been true, return to me; see that I am still your God, see that I will return to you."

Throughout the book of Malachi, we have seen God’s rebuke of his people for their unfaithfulness. Again, now, in Mal. 3:6-7 we catch a glimpse of God’s promise. And his promise is both a call to repent (return), and a confident declaration of his faithfulness.

On p. 116-117 in our books, we had filled in charts listing the many things in our lives upon which we "depend" – relationships, jobs, finances, health, intelligence, our reputations, church – things which in and of themselves are good gifts from our Father, but which we often come to clutch and keep nearer our hearts than God our Father himself. The perhaps obvious implication being that all of these things are changeable, and therefore not dependable!

We were challenged with regards to how we have placed our faith in our idols rather than our God?

A Concrete Example ~ The primary rebuke in Malachi 3:6-12 is that God’s people are "robbing" him of his due. We studied through the week the various elements of what it meant that they were to "tithe" and make offerings. And we learned that God’s kind intention was to teach his people to fear him rightly.
So we talked about how faithfulness in tithing is one of the ways we learn to fear God (see Deuteronomy 14:22-23 as well as Numbers 18:21-29 and Leviticus 27:30-34). And how the nature of the "tithe" (similar to our earlier discussions about the nature of the sacrifices of the OT) reveals to us God’s character, especially his holiness – they were to offer firstfruits of what? Fruit of the ground, fruit of their livestock, everything. The first and the best, consecrated to God because he is worthy.

Perfect love casts out fear ~ We got back to this question from the beginning of class, from 1 John 4:13-21. How is it right and good that we are to fear God, that the fearing of God is full of so many wonderful promises, it pleases God, it receives blessing, etc., AND that perfect love casts out fear?

We talked about the tendencies of our hearts to works-based theologies, and how when the Lord reveals his grace, it's like our "Yes, but!" flip flops. I shared from my own life story, that I would repeat to myself passionately that "Yes, God is gracious, but I have to STRIVE for holiness!" and "Yes, God is the one who works in us to will and to do his good pleasure, BUT we must DO his good pleasure! we must RUN the race as to PURSUE the prize!" and "Yes, God loves us, but we must MAKE EVERY EFFORT to make our calling and election sure!" And I would punctuate each exclamation point with a clenched fist and a clenched jaw!!

But when the Lord finally "removed the scales from my eyes" as regards HIS sovereign love (my df. for grace), my sister and I would marvel that it was like our "Yes, but!"'s had completely swapped places. So now, "Yes, we must strive, and make every effort, and run this race as to pursue the prize, BUT, God is GRACIOUS, and it is GOD who will accomplish his work, because he is FAITHFUL to complete what he has begun, it is GOD who empowers us by his spirit and sustains us by his grace...." etc.

We suggested - and we may have opportunity to flesh this out more before our time together in this study comes to a close - that in effect, "the fear of the Lord" AND "perfect love" are equivalent to one another....So you COULD say, "the fear of the Lord casts out fear....."

The hinge point, here, is God's GRACE. Which is anchored in the fact that God Does Not Change.

So - Repent! Turn FROM your sin and idolatry; and Turn TO your heavenly Father who loves you and having saved you in Christ Jesus is now faithfully working to discipline you as sons, refine you and purify you as silver and to conform you to the likeness of his Beloved son in whom he is well pleased.....

Groups: Women of Grace

Mortifying Darling Sins (Thomas Brooks)

2009-11-17T12:42:00.005-05:00

~Mortifying Darling Sins~ (grace gem shared last night)
Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 3:32pm

The best means to mortify sin

(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)

"Therefore, put to death whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:5

While a darling sin lives and keeps the throne in the heart, grace and holiness will be kept exceeding weak and low. But when your darling sin is dethroned and slain by the power and the sword of the Spirit—grace and holiness will quickly grow stronger and stronger, and rise higher and higher.

When a man has eaten poison, nothing will make him thrive, until he has vomited up the poison. Beloved sins—they are the poison of the soul, and until these are vomited up, and cast out by sound repentance, and the exercise of faith in the
blood of Christ, the soul will never thrive in grace and holiness!

If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then fall with all your might, upon subduing and crucifying your most raging corruptions, and your most daring lusts!

Oh do not think that your golden and your silver idols will lay down their weapons, and yield the battle, and lie at your feet, and let you trample them to death—without striking a blow! Oh remember that besetting-sins will do all they can to keep their ground, and therefore you must arise with all your strength against them, and crush them to powder, and burn them to ashes!

Oh deal with your most enraged lusts, as the Philistines dealt with Samson—pluck out their eyes, and force them to grind in the mill of mortification, until their strength is utterly consumed and wasted.

I have read of five men, who being asked what was the best means to mortify sin, gave these answers. Said the first, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on death."

Said the second, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the judgment-day."

Said the third, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the joys of heaven."

Said the fourth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the torments of hell."

Said the fifth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the death and sufferings of Christ."

Doubtless the last man hit the nail on the head!

The daily sight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Savior—is the only thing which will subdue and mortify darling sins!

O friends! Never leave looking up to a crucified Christ, until virtue flows from Him to the crucifying of those special besetting sins which do most obstruct and hinder the growth and increase of holiness.

~

~snapshot of week 7 of 10, BHT study~

2009-10-30T16:41:00.001-04:00

Snapshot of week 7 of 10, Lesson 6: "Before His Throne" GCC Womens' Bible Study
Submitted by Leah Page on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 4:40pm

Welcoming the Lord's Discipline as his Kindness which leads to Repentance

Intro: "The Two Birds" ~ see previous post for text.

Part 1: We read through the first two chapters of Malachi and the first 5 verses of chapter 3, bringing us up to the verses comprising our study for this past week. Then started in with highlight of Malachi 2:17 ~

17You have wearied the LORD with your words Yet you say, "How have we wearied Him?"
In that you say, "Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delights in them,"
or, "Where is the God of justice?"

Or to put it another way ~
What's the point, God? You let the unrighteous get away with murder!
Why should we even bother with being righteous - what's it gonna get us?
If you were so concerned about justice and righteousness....
[dot dot dot]

(How often do we say, in effect, this same thing?!) These unfaithful ones receiving the Lord's rebuke in the book of Malachi (cf also end of book of Nehemiah for context) dare put the blame back on God! But it exposes their own hearts - in their accusation, they completely ignore the fact of their own unrighteousness, and expose their own sinful hearts - desiring the gifts rather than the Giver. (idolatry)

What is the root cause of their idolatry? (cf Malachi 3:5 ...they do not fear the Lord.)

In chapter three, the Lord begins to move from his REBUKE to his PROMISE, and we see mention of this one who will come to prepare the way of the Lord (Malachi 3:1) - So we visited the New Testament, and took a look at Matthew 3:1-3 regarding who was this messenger to clear the way for the Lord? John the Baptizer - and what was his Gospel message and why: "Repent! for the kingdom of God is at hand!" It is the cry for repentance that is the means by which the people are made ready for the Lord (see also Luke 1:13-17). Said again, Repentance! prepares the way of the Lord. (I think it has been credited to Martin Luther, as no doubt many other faithful followers of Christ, for saying that a believer ought to be "always repenting.")

Part 2: Getting into Malachi 3:2-3, we started to break this down - what is the means by which God (in his kindness!) leads people to repentance?

Threefold:

Disciplines us as sons (Hebrews 12:4-11)
Refines / Purifies us as Silver (James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:6-9)
Enables us to endure Sufferings as Christ (John 15:8-10, John 16:32-33)

df. "refine"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/refine

1.
to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities: to refine metal, sugar, or petroleum.

2.
to purify from what is coarse, vulgar, or debasing; make elegant or cultured.

3.
to bring to a finer state or form by purifying.

4.
to make more fine, subtle, or precise: to refine one's writing style.

–verb (used without object)

5.
to become pure.

6.
to become more fine, elegant, or polished.

7.
to make fine distinctions in thought or language.

—Verb phrase

8.
refine on or upon, to improve by inserting finer distinctions, superior elements, etc.: to refine on one's previous work.

df. "purify"
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/purify
–verb

1.
to make pure; free from anything that debases, pollutes, adulterates, or contaminates: to purify metals.

2.
to free from foreign, extraneous, or objectionable elements: to purify a language.

3.
to free from guilt or evil.

4.
to clear or purge (usually fol. by of or from).

5.
to make clean for ceremonial or ritual use.

(used with object)
–verb (used without object)

6.
to become pure.

Lastly - we didn't have a chance to get into this very much Wednesday night, but our week of study lands on Malachi 3:3-5 and I wish we would have had the time to break this down.

Please take a moment to again read these verses, and then ask, "What does the Lord promise to do for his people in these verses?"

Then ask, "What are the after-effects of what the Lord does?"

Here's a hint ~
Once again, we are talking about: what pleases the Lord? what kind of sacrifice pleases the Lord?

And just for good measure, because we cannot repeat this too much, how are we made to be a sacrifice which is pleasing to the Lord? (Ephesians 1:3-8; Hebrews 9:13-14)

Blessings as you continue in your studies this week, ladies!
~Leah

Groups: Women of Grace

It's Your Kindness that Leads Us to Repentance O Lord

2009-10-30T09:18:00.008-04:00

~Grace Gem shared last night: "The Two Birds"~
Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 9:38am

The two birds

(J. R. Miller, "Finding God's Comfort" 1896)

....To correct, is to set right--that which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and sets him in the right way--a blessing has come to the man!

Afflictions are 'God's corrections'. They come always with a purpose of love in them. God never afflicts one of His children, without meaning His child's good in some way. So blessing is always intended by God. It is usually afterward that people begin to see and to understand the good that God sent them in their trial. "You do not understand what I am now doing" said Jesus, "but you shall understand hereafter." "No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." So when we have troubles and afflictions, we may know that God wants to do us good in some way through them.

...
He is not a true parent, who sees his children doing wrong, and yet fails to correct them for fear he may hurt their feelings. He ought to think of their higher good, and chasten them now--to profit them afterward.

This is the way our heavenly Father works. He never loves us better--than when He is correcting us. Therefore we ought not to despise this chastening. We ought not to murmur or complain when God does not give us our own way--but checks us, lays His afflictive hand upon us, and sends trouble upon us! We ought to have such faith in God--that we shall submit quietly, confidently, and sweetly to his will--even when it brings a heavy cross into our life.

A great many people need to pause at this line--and learn it. They do not treat God's chastening with reverence. Sometimes they are crushed by it, and refuse to look up into God's face with submission and love. Sometimes they grow bitter against God and say hard things of Him! We ought to reverence God's chastening; we ought to listen to the voice that speaks to us in our grief or pain.

The way in which God brings blessing through chastening, is emphasized: "For He wounds--but He also binds up; He strikes--but His hands also heal." Job 5:18. God never smites with both hands at once! When one hand is laid upon us in affliction--the other hand is reached out to help, to uphold, to heal.

Sometimes there is a trouble in a man's body which requires the surgeon's knife. There must be amputation, or cutting away, or cutting into. In such a case the skillful surgeon does not hesitate. He thinks far more of his patient's health for the future--than of his comfort at present. So he uses his knife--that he may cure disease, or save life. He wounds--to heal. He makes sore--that he may bind up. It is just so in all afflictions which God sends. He chastens--that He may deliver from the power of temptation. He hurts the body--that he may save the soul. He takes away earthly property--that He may give true, heavenly riches.

One writer tells of two birds and how they acted when caught and put into a cage. One, a 'starling', flew violently against the wire walls of its prison, in unavailing efforts to escape--only battering and bruising its own wings. The other bird, a 'canary', perched itself on the bar and began to pour forth bursts of sweet song, from its little throat. We know which bird was the wiser and happier.

Some people are like the starling--when they are in any trouble, they chafe and fret and complain and give way to wretchedness! The result is, they only hurt themselves, make themselves more miserable, and do not in any sense lessen their trouble. It is wiser always, as well as more pleasing to God, for us to bear our trials patiently, singing songs of faith and love--rather than crying out in rebellion and discontent.

Job wanted to get near to God in his great trouble; he cried, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" He felt sure that that would be the best and safest place for him to be. We ought not to lose this lesson. When trouble is upon us--the true thing for us to do, is to flee to God! Some people, in their affliction and sorrow--flee away from God. Thus they lose their joy and peace, missing the comfort which they would get if only they kept near to Him. The right way to respond, is to try to find the way to God's very presence. He is the only safe refuge, when the storms of trouble break upon us. The first thing always, in any time of trouble--is to find God and hide away in His bosom, as a child runs to the mother in alarm, or as the little bird flies to its nest. To find God--is to be safe!

God is our truest and best friend! He is our Father--we need never fear to go to Him. He gives heed unto our cries. He loves us. All His omnipotence is on our side. No mother's heart was ever so full of love for her child--as is the heart of God for us, His children!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I received this as yesterday's "Grace Gem" from the website www.gracegems.org, and it was so timely to our study! I pray the Lord would make me (and us) able to "turn back to praise" whatever we receive from his hand, recognizing even afflictions as his GOOD GIFTS, as the fire that ignites a fragrant offering to our God.
~L

Groups: Women of Grace

~B4Throne wk 6 of 10: Holding All Things With an Open Hand~

2009-10-26T16:13:00.006-04:00

~B4Throne wk 6: BIG IDEAS Outline, and Holding All Things With an Open Hand~
Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 10:52am

The below "Big Ideas/Personal Application Worksheet" was printed out on paper for our ladies this past Wednesday - just an "at a glance" view of the major passages we've studied and discussed the past several weeks, with room to journal or take notes during our discussion time. The intent was to provide an open discussion in class, to offer room for the ladies to share their personal insights, experiences, convictions, as the Lord has been applying these truths to their hearts and lives as we've worked through the book. (to "pull back on the throtle" a little bit and catch our breaths to make sure we are seeking practically apply what we've been learning)

The "Big Idea" that was our take-away thought for this past week (brought in at the end of the below form) ties in with the theme of the lesson - which had primarily to do with the "unfaithfulness" of God's people, both in terms of marrying "the daughters of foreign gods" and also the practical outworking of that which meant divorcing their spouses and literally intermarrying with these other nations, breaking covenant with God AND with each other.

So our discussion of application of these themes led nicely into talking about what Pastor Krogh (and others) has (have) described as "holding all things with an open hand." What "daughters of foreign gods" have WE "married" (so to speak) in our own lives -

What entices us?
What are we unwilling to give up?
What do we feel the Lord is "withholding" from us?
What steals away our love and devotion to the Lord?
What things might be holding with a tight fist, refusing to give God rulership and sovereignty?

In effect, these things are idols of our hearts, and rob us of our faithfulness to God.

Our discussion recalled a GCC womens' retreat a few years ago where Bette Jo Nienhuis had taught on the very topic of "idols of the heart," and very practically speaking she had shown us how there is a visible progression that occurs:

Hopes --> Expectations --> Demands ("I have a right to...." and "you OWE me this ....")

We were challenged again this past Wed. night to examine ourselves, to see if there are any "good things" that have become "god things" in our own hearts -

What are we NOT holding with an open hand?
What "hopes" as regards the sometimes very good things God gives and/or promises have we allowed to morph into expectations and demands, so that they RULE our hearts, and steal away our first love for God?

******

“Before His Throne” – 10 week study
Week 6, Lesson 5: Spiritual Faith-less-ness

BIG IDEAS Outline ~ Personal Application Worksheet

I. Our Identity if we are “In Christ”
Eph. 1
1 Pet. 2

II. “the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom....”
Ex. 19
Is. 40
Ps 33
Ps 34

III. God’s first words: “I have loved you”
Malachi 1:1-5 ~ Jacob I have loved, Esau (Edom) I have hated....
Rom. 9 ~ What is “covenantal” love?
(Eph. 1, Rom. 8:29)
end of Rom. 8, end of Eph. 3
Heb. 12 ~ The Lord’s “severe mercies”

IV. Honoring God as Father, Revering God as Master
Malachi 1:6+
Rom. 6
Rom. 8
“Identity in Christ” ~ “X marks the spot” ~ [2 Cor. 10:3-5]

V. What Pleases the Lord (“Right Sacrifice”):
Malachi 1:7-10
Lev. 22
Ps. 51
Rom. 12:1-2
Col. 3 ~ “put off, put on”
Eph. 4 ~ “put off, put on”

1) __Perfection / Unblemished / Firstfruits / BEST _______
2) __Blood offering / Jesus’ blood / Substitutiary Atonement _______
3) __Broken and contrite Spirit / Broken heart / Repentance _______
4) __Living sacrifice / offer your bodies (whole self) / holy _______
5) __Sacrifice of praise / worship _______
6) __Spiritual sacrifices / put off the old / put on the new _______

VI. God’s Great Name:
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain....”
Malachi 1:11-14
1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:22-25, 1 Tim. 6:1
1 Pet. 2:4-5, 9-10 ~ living stones, built up together, made to be a declaration (!) of the excellence of HIS worth

VII. Starting Strong, Finishing Well
Malachi 2:1-9
Gen. 6 ~ Noah’s “ark” / a type of “Christ”
Heb. 11 ~ looking forward to a heavenly city whose designer and builder is God
[Heb. 8-10 ~ Jesus ushers in a better covenant (“identity” / “right sacrifices”)]
Heb. 12 ~ run the race, endure to the end, fix your eyes on Jesus ~ Matt 10:22

VIII. You have forgotten your First Love ~ Adultery / Idolatry
Malachi 2:10-16
Deut 7:1-6, 1 Kings 11:1-8 ~ the sin of Solomon; sin’s consequences
Ezra 9-10
Rev. 2:1-7
[Ezekiel 16, book of Hosea]
Isaiah 44
1 John 5:21
Proverbs 4:20-27

Groups: Women of Grace

~B4Throne: "Practically Speaking...."~

2009-10-26T16:11:00.000-04:00

~B4Throne: "Practically Speaking...."~
Submitted by Leah Page on dateTue, Oct 20, 2009 at 8:05 PM
subject"Before His Throne" - Practically speaking....
mailed-bygmail.com

Good Tuesday evening, Ladies!

I have been very aware of just how much "deep" material we have covered of late, and since this week's lesson has as its very practical theme that of "no compromise" and "faithfulness," I wonder if it would be helpful to us to approach at least the first part of class tomorrow night sharing with one another how the Lord has opened our eyes and hearts in practical ways these past few weeks. Where has the rubber been meeting the road these past few weeks?

For example, How has he revealed his love and affection for you? How has he perhaps shown you a "severe mercy" and discipline, or shown you the "peaceable fruit of righteousness" of such a time? How has he helped you to see the practical outworking of what it means to "fear the Lord aright" in the daily roles and responsibilities he's given you? etc.

I for one tend to grasp deeper "concepts" much more readily than I learn to practice them in my daily life, and would really value your input. Would you be willing to come prepared to share tomorrow night, and encourage your sisters with how the Lord has challenged, encouraged, and even changed you in some way through the Scriptures we've studied?

Looking forward to our time together,
Leah

Groups: Women of Grace

~Starting Strong, Finishing Well; BHT Study from week 5~

2009-10-16T18:44:00.002-04:00

~in class outline from week 5/Lesson 4; originally planned small groups~

Submitted by Leah Page on Fri, 10/16/2009 - 6:39pm

STARTING STRONG
(p1. allow approx 20-25 min.)

Take a moment to greet one another, introduce yourselves. [allow maybe 2-3 minutes at most to ensure we don’t run out of time for the lesson.]

Refer to p. 64 in your books, and read Genesis 6:5-10 and Hebrews 11:7 together.

What are some of the words/phrases you listed to describe Noah, according to these passages? [answers may include: found favor with God, was righteous, was blameless in his generation, walked with God, believed God (by faith), feared God (in reverent fear), obeyed God (constructed the ark), “condemned the world,” became an heir of righteousness]

Have you ever noticed that the most common way we present this story to our kids in children’s books is by teaching them (wrongly!) that Noah was a righteous man, in fact the ONLY righteous man on the earth, and that’s why God chose to preserve him through the flood. But according to the Scripture, what comes first in Genesis ch. 6, God’s favor (same as the NT word we translate as “grace”) or Noah’s “blamelessness”? [see v.8-9]

You could also ask it this way: What came first, Noah’s faith? Or Noah’s obedience?

Read Hebrews 11:1-7 together.

Noah “found favor” with God – Noah was “graced” by God – “chosen” by God. God set his “peculiar affection” on Noah and his family – and he acted on this love by preserving Noah both in his faith and his obedience. Noah and his family were safely delivered from the flood which destroyed the world because God faithfully kept them. Did you know that the “ark” which Noah built is a “type of Christ”? We have talked about what it means to be “in Christ” – as Noah was “in” the ark! Do you remember who shut the door to guarantee Noah’s “preservation”? [see 7:16]

Turn to p. 66 in your books

Studying Malachi 2:1-9, you observed how the first Levitical priests “started well” by walking faithfully in “covenant” with God. You entered information in the chart on this page concerning their attitudes and actions and the results thereof. Take a few moments to share what you observed from Malachi ch. 2.

Did you notice there is kind of an “if/then” pattern as you progress through the chart? Do you see any correlation between these patterns and the promises in Psalm 34:4-10 (see p. 73 in your books)? Do you see any application of this in your own life?

Keeping these things in mind, turn to 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10 and p. 70 in your books.

What words and phrases are listed in these verses to describe our position if we are “in Christ” (remember Ephesians ch. 1 from our first week)?

As we wrap up the 1st half and take a short break, let’s think about this: What is our identity? On what do we base our confidence that we are “In Christ”? (As with Noah, what came first? God’s grace? Or our “righteousness”?)

Now...how do we KEEP our “identity”?

**5 MIN. BREAK**

------------------------------------------------------
FINISHING WELL
(p. 2 allow approx 30 min.)

In the first section, you wrapped up by looking at what we are if we are “in Christ.” And we confess, our faith is, in effect, a “strong start”! Considering that CHRIST is our firm foundation, our “Ark of Preservation,” let’s look, now, at what it means to finish well.

Read Philippians 1:6, and turn to p. 74-75 in your books.

Take a minute to skim Matthew 10:17-33, with special attention on verse 22 and refresh your memories as to the context.

Keep a finger in Matthew ch. 10 and read Hebrews 11:13-16, and 11:32 - 12:2 together.

How do you think this might tie in with what you observed in Matthew 10? (feel free to “brainstorm”, using Scripture as your evidence)

Now, take several minutes to carefully read through the following verses (we will stay in Hebrews for now for the sake of continuity):

Hebrews 3:12-19
and Hebrews 4:11-16
and Hebrews 8:8-12
and Hebrews 10:19-25
and Hebrews 10:35-11:2
and Hebrews 12:18-29.

Based on what you have read in the above Scriptures, what does it mean to “endure to the end”? Can we have “confidence” and “assurance” as to our salvation? Why? (or why not?) (Support your answers with Scripture.)

And based on what you have read in the above Scriptures, do you have a stronger picture of what it means to “fear the Lord aright”? (You might want to look back at your notes on p. 74 and 75.)

Finally, sisters! Let us “finish” back where we “started.”

Turn to p. 65 in your books.

Take a few minutes, as time allows, to share some of the “roles and responsibilities” the Lord has given you in your life. Did he show you any specific areas in your life, this past week, he wants you to surrender to him? (Share only as you are comfortable. It can be a significant encouragement to “struggle” through some of these things together!)

Prayer Focus:

· For the Lord’s preservation (keeping) and your perseverance (endurance).
· For any specific things that you would ask of God for the “roles and responsibilities” he has given YOU, that you might be able to “walk in dependence on God’s grace.”

Groups: Women of Grace

~review wk 3&4, and preview wk 5: BHT study~

2009-10-14T12:26:00.001-04:00

review wk 3&4, and preview wk 5: "Before His Throne" GCC Women's Bible study
http://www.solagrace.org/growing2gether
Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 10/12/2009 - 3:05pm
In weeks 3 and 4, we spent a good deal of time in the historical context of the book of Malachi, setting the timeline as to where this “rebuke,” from God the Father towards his people, falls in terms of redemptive history.

(If you haven’t already, take a look at Nehemiah ch. 12 and 13 in light of our discussion about the state of the people's hearts as the OT comes to a close.)

What kind of sacrifice is pleasing and acceptable to God?

1) The Beloved Son whose body was broken on our behalf and
2) a broken and a contrite spirit and
3) a living and holy sacrifice.

We have also settled (somewhat “accidentally”) full-on to this theme of what it means to “abide” in Christ and for God to “abide” with his people (both in an OT sense and in a NT sense). This will take on greater significance as we procede through this study.

Approaching the halfway point of our study, it seems appropriate that this week we begin to look at “beginning strong, but failing to finish well,” and we will look into what it means to “find favor” with the Lord.

(Take a look, in light of all we've learned so far these past few weeks, at Hebrews ch. 8-10 ~ You might particularly appreciate just reading these chapters straight through.)

Blessings!
~Leah

Groups: Women of Grace

~snapshot of week 4, BHT study~

2009-10-14T12:23:00.004-04:00

Snapshot of week 4 of 10: Lesson 3 ~ "Before His Throne" GCC Women's Bible Study
http://www.solagrace.org/growing2gether
Submitted by Leah Page on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 7:36pm
WEEK FOUR OF TEN
Before His Throne: Lesson 3 ~ Beholding & Honoring God as Father and Master

1st half – The first indictment God raises against his people in Malachi is that they have not honored him as Father or feared/respected him as Master. We talked through the line-graph in the book, seemingly pitting our relationship with God as “child” (Romans 8) against that of “slave” (Romans 6) when in fact BOTH are true of us. How quickly we swing from one extreme to the other. [We visited 2 Cor. 10:3-5 by way of talking about how when we are merely looking at ourselves, as if to assess how we “feel” about God at any given moment, we are at best limited in our scope, and at worst, subject to lies and our own self-deceit. Rather, we need to “turn our eyes upon Jesus,” and take every thought/feeling captive and make it obedient to Christ.] We need to trust God’s self-revelation which is, in short, that God’s “mastery” demands our holiness, AND God’s “fatherliness” gives us that holiness by giving us his own Son, Jesus, who became our substitute – both as the “perfection” God required and as, then, that perfect “blood sacrifice.”

So we continued the discussion by talking through some of the Levitical requirements for the quality of the sacrifice. We listed the various qualities we found in Scripture: the sacrifice was to be pure, unblemished, not blind, not lame, not diseased, not mutilated, and even the specifics of the sacrifices’ anatomies were attended to (ie: not “unfruitful!”) in God’s requirements. He had given his people everything they needed to know, and repeated himself again and again as if to say, “Ok, let’s be clear! THIS is what I mean by this, and THAT is what I mean by that....” But the people repeat their pattern of rebellion and refuse to worship as God has instructed them. By this time, the people have endured multiple exiles, have returned to the city of God – Jerusalem – and have rebuilt the walls of the city (cf Ezra and Nehemiah), but we find the people still fail to honor God as Father and Master. [note: In Ps. 51 we saw that ultimately, God desires the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart and spirit. Notice, even David, at the end of this Psalm expresses longing for a “rebuilt Jerusalem” because then (finally?!) right sacrifices will be offered.] It was as if the external conditions were about as perfect as they could get, and they still could not “be holy” as God required. And this is how the OT ends, as if the people of God are crying out “Who will save us from this body of sin and death?”

2nd half – We talked about how JESUS is the unblemished sacrifice, the only one that can satisfy God on our behalf. [Sidenote: The Gospel call is NOT “you need to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior;” the Gospel call is to REPENT! God needs to accept Jesus on our behalf!] We talked through what it means, then, if JESUS is the means by which we can know God in that perfect balance as both “child” and “slave” ~ (our “standing” is SURE if we are “in Christ”!) ~ what does God require of us NOW? [“Being precedes function.”] We reviewed Romans 12:1-2, and talked about what it means to be a living sacrifice. This included reviewing our exercise in Colossians ch. 3 ~ putting off the old and putting on the new. We revisited talking about what it means to “take the name of the Lord in vain.” More than mere “apathy” – “taking” is intentional. We are quick to say “Oh, I didn’t mean that,” or “That doesn’t mean anything,” as though these are sufficient excuses for our cavalier attitudes; but in fact, we have just confessed we’ve broken God’s commandment! What, after all, does “vain” mean, but that the thing is meaningless, empty, etc. Instead, what would it look like if we were intentional about living in such a way that ALL we do is “in Jesus’ name.”

In summary:
If we are in Christ, our standing with God is sure – he is both our Master AND our Father – and he lovingly disciplines us and molds us into the likeness of his Son for our good and for our joy. Jesus is the perfect, all-satisfying sacrifice, and in him we have the fullness of life. So now we are to let the peace of Christ rule our hearts, and the word of Christ dwell (abide!) in us richly. Because we ARE (being) children of God in Christ, we DO (function) live wholly surrendered to him out of love. And so, if we do everything we do “in Jesus’ name,” even the most mundane task can be transformed into an act of worship.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face!
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace!”
~

Groups: Women of Grace

~More Solid Happiness in a Passing Thought of God~

2009-10-14T12:21:00.002-04:00

~More Solid Happiness in a Passing Thought of God~
http://www.solagrace.org/growing2gether
Submitted by Leah Page on Wed, 10/07/2009 - 9:19pm
Octavius Winslow, (neo)puritan writer, in chapter "The God of Comfort" from his book, "Our God" -

***quote***
The religion of Jesus possesses in the experience of its disciples this remarkable characteristic; there is more true holiness in the heart's thirst for sanctification, and more solid happiness in a passing thought of God, and more real life in one believing look at the Savior, and more perfect repose in one single promise of God's Word, and more of the reality of heaven in a glance within the veil, than this world could ever give, or its religion inspire. Empty, were it possible, the whole world into the soul, and still the worldling's inquiry would be, "Who will show me any good?" .... But let one devout, holy, loving thought of God in Christ enter that soul, and its satisfaction is full, its happiness complete.

Incidentally, I misspoke in class, Octavius Winslow is actually a neo-puritan in that he was writing in the 1800's, rather than the 1600's as I'd originally stated. I still love and recommend him to you. :)
Here is an online link to the whole above-referenced book:
http://gracegems.org/WINSLOW/Our%20God.htm

Groups: Women of Grace

~snapshot of week 3, BHT study~

2009-10-05T22:53:00.006-04:00

WEEK THREE OF TEN
Before His Throne: Lesson 2 ~ God's "Peculiar" Affection for His People

1st third - reviewed first two weeks' materials, themes of 1) the blessings we have because we are IN CHRIST (Eph. 1:1-14), and 2) what it means to fear the Lord aright (Isaiah 40, Ps. 33, Romans 1). Intro: Read an article from a medical website I had received that same day concerning "phobias" and "anxiety" - and posed the question how that differs (or does not differ) from what we mean by "the fear of the Lord." When people are "afraid" they tend to run FROM what they fear. But running FROM God in fact exposes our pride - as if we could outrun or escape from God?

We laid out the "big events" timeline from Creation up to Malachi (and Nehemiah ch 13) where the OT ends. Emphasis on repeat pattern all throughout - especially from Judges through the time of the Kings and the Prophets, when the people were brought INTO the land of promise, the land where they were to "devote to destruction" all that was unholy, so that this place, this Jerusalem, this city on a hill, would be a place where God could dwell ("abide") with his people - where they would worship him as he deserves to be worshipped and his glory would be their joy! But instead they time after time after time turned away, doing what was right in their own eyes. We saw that despite the continuous unfaithfulness and profanity of God's people, he continued to promise them restoration and a NEW covenant wherein he would give them new hearts! so they could know him more intimately, and be righteous. We had read through Malachi ch. 1-4 during our lesson time in the week, so we could see that the book takes on the pattern of a rebuke, but even in this is God's PROMISE of rebuilding and restoring and renewing. We noted that God's very first words in this rebuke are, nevertheless, "I have loved you."

2nd third - broke into small groups, examining especially Hebrews 12:7-11 concerning how God's LOVE for his people translates into his discipline of them - for he is treating them as true sons (and not illegitimate sons) and the FRUIT of this discipline, for those who have been trained by it, is the peaceable fruit of righteousness. This small group time allowed for women to have more face-to-face time. Our class is approaching 30 women, so breaking down into groups of 4 or 5 women seemed to be positively received by the ladies as it enabled names to be put with faces, and a more intimate setting for sharing. We talked about God's "severe mercies" in our lives and how what may seem unpleasant at the time is in fact the Lord's kindness. Due to time limitations, we didn't get to explore the 2nd part very deeply - I suggested the ladies may like to take the assignment home and add that to their quiet time. Namely: to review p. 35 and 37 in their books which contained a couple of assignments through other lists of verses earlier in the week, and to read Romans 8:28-39, (and Ephesians 3:14-21) and then come up with a single sentence that summarizes God's love, based on what they learn from these verses.

3rd third - we again came back together as a larger group, revisited the timeline, and talked about the "R's of Redemption" - pointing out the various places on the timeline where the terms seemed best to fit, including: Revelation - Rebellion - Regeneration - Repentance - Redemption - Restoration - Rebuilding - Renewing - Rest - even Remnant, and so forth.

Closed with quote from John Piper's recent blog entry, which was in part our "review" at the beginning of class:

***quote***
Consider two important truths in Psalm 31:19. "Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!"

1. The goodness of the Lord. There is a peculiar goodness of God. That is, there is not only God’s general goodness that he shows to all people, making his sun rise on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45), but also a peculiar goodness for “those who fear him.” This goodness is abundant beyond measure. It is boundless. It lasts for ever. It is all-encompassing. There is only goodness for those who fear him. Everything works together for their good. Even their pains are filled with profit (Romans 5:3-5). But those who do not fear him receive a temporary goodness—a goodness that does not lead to repentance, but leads to worse destruction (Romans 2:4).

2. The fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the fear of straying from him. Therefore it expresses itself in taking refuge in God. That’s why two conditions are mentioned in Psalm 31:19—fearing the Lord and taking refuge in him. They seem to be opposites. Fear seems to drive away and taking refuge seems to draw in. But when we see that this fear is a fear of not being drawn in, then they work together. There is a real trembling for the saints. “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). But it is the trembling one feels in the arms of a Father who has just plucked his child from the undertow of the ocean.

Your Steadfast Love is Better than Life

2009-09-30T00:01:00.008-04:00

God, your steadfast love is unfailing! reaching to the heavens! Your steadfast love holds us up, is worthy of praise, and - the Psalmist says - is better than life. But, God, I have not believed this....I have not cast myself on this truth, though I am increasing in my understanding of it.

The awful truth is that I still prefer my own life over your love!

Your love is the means by which, in Christ, I can truly be called a "son" of God! Your love is the means by which my foot does not slip, I am saved from my adversary, and I receive your patient forgiveness! Your love IS better than life! - your love IS true life!, but I do not believe it. But oh, God, I want to! It is your mercy and kindness, God, that your love is not dependent on the voracity of my love for you in return. Rather, we love you because you have first loved us! But my God, my love is at best lukewarm (do not spew me out of your mouth!)....

How can I be made to care about this enough so that I will fall on my face and confess that I have lost my first love? YOU must do it! - YOU must break my heart concerning my sin, so that I will not neglect my confession!.....

~snapshot of week 2, BHT study~

2009-09-25T21:33:00.002-04:00

WEEK TWO OF TEN
Before His Throne: Lesson 1 ~ The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom

1st half – focus on descriptives from Psalms and Proverbs regarding the one who “fears the Lord” – that this is a desirable disposition! God “discloses his covenant,” he reveals himself – both in power, as a mighty ruler, and as a gentle comforter! to those who fear him. We reviewed how the Israelites were to prepare themselves to hear from the Lord; and we saw how the power that descended on the mountain in flames so great as to obscure the sky with the smoke was mingled with God’s GRACE in protecting the people from “catching even a glimpse” of him so they would not be destroyed.

2nd half – focus on Isaiah ch. 40 and Psalm 33 from our lesson; and summarizing from Romans 1 concerning our alertness to ~not exchange the truth of God for a lie or a half truth~ but rather to trust God’s self-revelation.

Concerning the “fear of the Lord” we talked about our “perspective” or how we “perceive” God – SEEING Him as he is, and how like in Isaiah ch. 6 and Revelation ch. 1, the first response of our hearts should similarly be a “posture” of falling face-down in worship. But we can also trust God to remove the obstacle to our fellowship and intimacy with him (as with the “burning coal” to Isaiah’s lips). This prompts us to ask the question: When we examine our “posture,” what does this reveal about what we perceive or believe about God? (Have we believed a lie? Are we coming too casually into his presence? Have we taken him for granted? Are we “exchanging the truth of God for a lie” even in how we worship him?)

Lastly, borrowed illustration from John Piper concerning his recent analogy in a conference sermon to the effect of “There are no mirrors in heaven; we will BE the mirrors in heaven, reflecting back to God his own glory.” Do we desire to be holy and righteous, do we long for heaven just because we want to look at ourselves and finally like what we see? Or do we desire holiness and righteousness because we LOVE God?

~snapshot of week 1, BHT study~

2009-09-25T21:31:00.001-04:00

WEEK ONE OF TEN
Before His Throne: Introduction ~ What blessings are ours in Christ? (Eph. 1)

1st half – talked about who we are, and why we each signed up for this study. Some said they joined because of the title of the book – reminiscent of a much beloved song “Before the Throne of God Above.” Some said they joined because they didn’t have the time to commit to all the behind-the-scenes research of “Precepts” but still wanted to participate in a study of God’s word. One woman said that as she is getting older and considering the blessing of perhaps soon seeing her Lord face to face, she wanted to explore more this notion of how to be prepared to come before him in Glory. Still others said they came because of the fellowship they anticipated with others they knew would be in the class.

2nd half – looked through Ephesians chapter 1, first 14 verses, and pulled out the repetition of the phrase “in Him” or “in Christ” or “in the Beloved (Son)” and made a list of all the blessings that are ours, and all the “things” we possess as saints who are IN HIM. (My goal in this was to give a firm foundation – to remind us of the assurance of grace, of God’s forgiveness, to remind us of our identity in Christ – before we get into this study which is focused on the theme of “the fear of the Lord” as it is presented in the book of Malachi.)

Finally – we looked at verses 15 and following and identified (6) things we want to take as our prayer focus as we pray for each other over the coming weeks:

15 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 [I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would [1] give you a spirit of wisdom and [2] revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 [I pray] [3] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened [4] so you may know what is the hope of His calling, [5] what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and [6] what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.

(How is it true that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” AND “perfect love casts out fear”?)

Let the POOR Say "I am RICH!"

2009-09-13T12:44:00.009-04:00

listening to "The Riches of Poverty" by P. Kevin W. at http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=211082159198

[taken from sermon series in which these address the "Blessed Are" statements of Christ at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew ch. 5]

....Because "blessed" is a positional distinction - it also MUST be true that "the blessed ones" - those who are approved by God - are those who exhibit ALL the characteristics listed here - these things that we have NO ability to do apart from Grace. If we do not have one, we do not have any insofar as our own righteousness is as filthy rags to a holy God; but if we have one we have all, by Grace. ONLY "the Blessed ones" will enter the kingdom of God.

Poverty of Spirit is "prominant" in that it is the first of the "beattitudes" - the supreme lesson of this declaration - the kingdom of heaven will only be ours if we are poor in spirit.

"...It declares for all time that no one is saved who believes that there is something within them that would make God prefer them, ever, or accept them, ever! It is wholly of the grace of God!...Can we with the hymnwriter say...'Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress, helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me Savior or I die!'...or are we Christ-less Christians?....This morning we need to confess our sin of spiritual self-sufficiency & look to Christ who is the author & finisher of our faith. We need to declare spiritual bankruptcy, and then as Christ fills us we need to recognize the spiritual riches that are for us in the kingdom of God...." ~PK

Teach me to Fear the Lord Aright

2009-09-08T22:05:00.009-04:00

Heavenly Father, i do tend to come to you as if all too familiar; and the reality is i am presuming on your grace, not fully appreciating your WORTH. It is the one who fears you to whom you disclose yourself. And if i am quick to speak bitterness, perversion, or just arrogance, you have revealed that these come out of the mouths of the scoffer and the fool! So am i not merely showing myself to be a woman who does not fear the Lord?

i don't exhibit a life characterized by PEACE, or of strong confidence - such that i don't fear the snares of death. Though it exposes the reality of a "yawning maw" of DISTRUST, the fact of my anxieties and my discouragements and my various fears and dreads exposes the deeper truth of my idolatry and how little well i really know YOU.

You have said elsewhere that those who seek you find you; and yet here you say that THOUGH the scoffer or the fool seek you, you will NOT be found, because he has "refused to choose the fear of the Lord." Lord, i do not refuse! Though my "seeking" is nevertheless weak, it is not a kind of asking so i may merely spend what i get on my own pleasures! It is a seeking that WANTS to please YOU and not merely hear itself talk....

The only reason i do not fear you enough is that i am still too filled up with me. i have loved my own arrogances more than i have loved your self-disclosure. i have loved the deceit of my own tongue more than i have loved to be still, and to LISTEN to your word, to your instruction, even your reproof. It is the one who fears you who is able to praise you, to "ascribe worth" to you. So teach me to FEAR you! Teach me to BE STILL and to KNOW that you are God. Humble me; enable me to hear and not only so but to DO, that i may gain a heart of wisdom - faithful obedience.

In JESUS' name,
amen.

cf Ps 25:12-14; Ps 111:10; Prov 1:28-31; Prov 8:13-14; Prov 14:26-27; Rom 3:10-18; 1 Pet 1:17-19

Today's Grace Gem - Zeal Blended w/Humility

2009-07-14T08:34:00.005-04:00

*OH how I need to take note of this one:

Those mistakes, blemishes and faults in others
(Letters of John Newton)

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7

The Christian, especially he who is advanced and established in the life of faith, has a fervent zeal for God--for the honor of His Name, His Word and His Gospel. The honest warmth of zeal which he feels, when God's Word is broken, His Gospel is despised, and when the great and glorious Name of the Lord his God is profaned, would, by the occasion of his infirmities, often degenerate into anger or contempt towards those who error--

--if he was under the influence of zeal alone.

But his zeal is blended with benevolence and humility; it is softened by a consciousness of his own frailty and fallibility.

He is aware, that his knowledge is very limited in itself, and very faint in its transforming power in his own life; that his attainments are weak and few, compared with his deficiencies; that his gratitude is very disproportionate to his obligations; and that his obedience is unspeakably short of conformity to his prescribed rule; that he has nothing but what he has received, and has received nothing but what, in a greater or less degree, he has either misapplied or misimproved. He is, therefore, a debtor to the mercy of God--and lives upon His multiplied forgiveness.

The Christian also makes the gracious conduct of the Lord towards himself--a pattern for his own conduct towards his fellow-worms. He cannot boast of himself--nor is he anxious to censure others. He considers himself, lest he also fall. And thus he learns tenderness and compassion to others, and to bear patiently with those mistakes, blemishes and faults in others--which once belonged to his own character; and from which, as yet, he is but imperfectly freed.

...Knowing that the Gospel is the wisdom and power of God, and the only possible means by which fallen man can obtain peace with God--he most cordially embraces and avows it. Far from being ashamed of it--he esteems it his glory. He preaches Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. He disdains the thought of distorting, disguising, or softening the great doctrines of the grace of God, to render them more palatable to the depraved taste of the times (2 Corinthians 4:2). And he will no more encounter the errors and corrupt maxims and practices of the world, with any weapon but the truth as it is in Jesus--than he would venture to fight an enraged tiger with a paper sword!

~ ~ ~ ~

Well CURED in the blood of Christ....

2009-06-25T12:12:00.011-04:00

"A Great Sin will certainly give a great turn to the life of a [professing believer].

If it be well cured* in the blood of Christ,
with that humiliation which the gospel requires,
it often proves a means of more watchfulness,
fruitfulness,
humility,
and contentation [satisfaction, reassurance],
than ever before the soul obtained.

If it be neglected, it certainly hardens the heart,
weakens spiritual strength,
enfeebles the soul,
discouraging it unto all communion with God,
and is a notable principle of a general decay."

~John Owen, from "The Effect and Strength of Indwelling Sin"
(as printed in "Overcoming Sin and Temptation," p. 387)

*Cured: to prepare (meat, fish, etc.) for preservation by salting, drying, etc.
to restore to health. to relieve or rid of something detrimental, as an illness or a bad habit.
to promote hardening of (fresh concrete or mortar), as by keeping it damp.
to process (rubber, tobacco, etc.) as by fermentation or aging.

Pitting me against myself

2009-06-23T11:57:00.005-04:00

My mind is toying with two sides of one coin.
I desire one and cannot have it;
I do not desire the other, but could have it rather than having nothing.
I find I want to "manipulate" the one I don't want so that I don't have to wait for what I do desire....

This is an idolatry! I can "feel" it is such, because the arguments with which I am trying to persuade myself sound like "You shouldn't have to wait any longer," and "You know it would be better to have SOMEthing rather than NOthing," and "It wouldn't really be disobeying God....he could stop you if it wasn't meant to be, and maybe you'll find you're happier in the long run!"

Sick, sinister, manipulative, Indwelling Sin, my ENEMY!
I will not.

I will wait.

The Fruit of Which is Joy!

2009-06-19T13:31:00.003-04:00

...the conviction of sin should NOT be an "unfamiliar discomfort" - it is the kindness of the Father to reveal sin, to make us holy, to conform us to the likeness of Christ - & so this godly sorrow & grief over having our hearts exposed to ourselves should bring about repentance...& fruit in keeping with that repentance - JOY! & growing intimacy with our God....

Reflections on a Loss ~ (3rd of 3 Meditations)

2009-04-29T22:38:00.007-04:00

There are some things that we lose for which we have opportunity to share the experience with others. Most recently, my family - as I have mentioned in previous posts - has been going through the time of life when the last remaining patriarch passes from this life to the next, and his children who have become parents in their own right now take up the role as the grandparents, and the whole lot of us shift ahead 1 full generation in the span of a week.

In that, we lose respectively our Dad, Granddad, Great-Granddad, and we each of us also lose something of our own previous innocence as we are called upon to step up into the next phase of life.

But there are other losses for which, sometimes, we cannot be prepared. Perhaps they are, nevertheless, universal experiences, but somehow the weight of them is something we must carry Alone. Like harboring some very deep and abiding Torment within our breast, and even "torment" is not strong enough a word....Some very agonizing pain as our heart has wrapped itself in love around some thing or some one, and then without warning - as if to defy that happiness or Forever that we innately expect - that some thing or some one is wrenched from our grasp, torn from our affection, and we are left standing there trying to make sense of these dripping, coagulating pieces of what once was a pulsing, life-giving organ.

In Galatians, chapter 6, the Apostle Paul states very early on in the chapter that we are to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. This is a verse with which I have been familiar since childhood. But I find it somewhat funny, then, that I didn't notice that very few verses later he states that each one must bear his own load (v. 5). My pastor had pointed this out to me in a conversation a couple of years ago, and the thought has been rolling around in my head ever since - not as though there is some contradiction, here, but how could he be stating both things, how could both be true, and NOT be opposites as they might appear to the naked eye. My pastor had also suggested the solution to the problem in that same conversation - namely; when you come alongside someone and thrust your shoulder, for example, up under a corner of his heavy load (thinking metaphysically) to help him carry it, it is NOT as though you are taking it FROM him, but simply carrying it WITH him, as was your intent all along. Thus, some of that weight is still his, and his Alone, to shoulder....

So too, I am coming to appreciate that there are some pains in life which, in the attempts to explain them to others and in this way so rid myself of them, I simply must bear Alone. Only I can feel and endure the hurt of what I have lost. And in my reflections on this - as I am currently enduring one such loss and praying to God for some relief lest I be done in - I am reminded also of the counsel I received from my much younger brother - who is, every now and again, very wise beyond his years - just this time last year.

He had been meditating on what it means to possess and cultivate that "quiet and gentle spirit" which is precious in the sight of God (cf. 1 Peter, chapter 3). And the Lord revealed to him again the passage in the account of the birth of Christ which described how his mother, Mary, had "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." And so, the Spirit convicted my brother, and through his testimony convicted me, that one - perhaps even the Main - way in which I could [intentionally] cultivate that very same "quiet and gentle spirit" which I have so longed for and which has always seemed (to my view) to ellude me, was to recognize those moments when some thing or some one was only mine to treasure in my heart, and ponder it there, untouched, as it were, by any other onlooker.

A way of cultivating a greater intimacy with and indeed dependence on that same Christ who is by this means the only One left with whom I can share the inner workings of my heart - for joy or for sorrow - when I discipline myself to withhold that which I would otherwise (by my particular and perhaps peculiar nature) feel "compelled" to spill to any listening ear!

So the pain isn't necessarily even lessened, but it is somehow mysteriously sweetened as it becomes a means of communion with the God who made me and who is conforming me each day more and more to the likeness of his Beloved Son in whom he is well pleased.

Still, I must bear my own load. This is only mine, and by it the Lord teaches me to wait on him, to treasure up all these things - my joys and my sorrows - and ponder them in my heart, as if a sacrifice or an offering just for Him....

God, Lord over Life AND Death ~ (2nd of 3 meditations)

2009-04-10T14:58:00.004-04:00

Recently, in the space of one week, our family experienced both extremes of life....One Sunday night, the passing of my Granddad, a man satisfied with years and the grace of God in Christ, into the presence of the Lord from this life, and the following Sunday night, the public dedication of my infant niece, as my sister and her husband stood before the church Body and committed themselves to raise their daughter "in the nurture and admonition of the Word."

That second Sunday evening, as my parents were able to be present to stand up, and commit themselves also to displaying Christ before their little granddaughter, there was a very sensible passing of the mantle - Granddad had gone on to Glory to be with the bride of his youth who had preceded him, and Dad and Mom were now the grandparents, and my sister and her husband are now the parents, I and my brother now the aunt and the uncle respectively, and my niece - along with her older brother - the new generation.

These are moments that occur in every family - and no doubt it was the space of the experiences - both Sunday evenings but a week apart - that highlighted for me this graduation of the generations, and this connectedness with the "human" experience of this life. But more than this, I was overwhelmed with a desire to worship God - the Lord of both life AND death. He has been working in me (at least for this moment) the ability to see that "our times are in his hands" and that he knows the numbers of our days before we have as yet lived even one of them.

I rejoice that my Granddad is now with Christ, because he was revealed to be one of the sons of God in Christ...and I pray with great depth of soul and longing that my nephew and my niece, now but in their first years of life, will eventually also come to be revealed as having been chosen in Christ before the foundations of the world.

And I rejoice - in our smallness, in our powerlessness, in having the "illusion" of control stripped from us for at least a moment, and I worship God, the author of salvation who has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and compassion on whom he will have compassion. Who am I that I should say back to him "why have you made me thus!" And again, who am I that he would be mindful of me? have mercy on me? redeem my life from the pit - and give me a new heart, soft and teachable rather than a heart of stone? Surely it is not because of anything that I have done, but because of his OWN purpose and grace.....

How merciful is our God.

Worship ~ In Spite of my "Self" ~ (1st of 3 meditations)

2009-04-07T10:13:00.009-04:00

**My Father, God - this is a morning in which I am having to FIGHT for joy. A spirit of depression is tempting me from the corners of my meditations, and I am having to keep your word ever before me lest I fail, and turn my eyes to myself. It is a weakness, to be sure, that I cannot (as if from within myself, or my own strength) keep my mind stayed on you, my eyes fixed on you, my heart treasuring that which is above - so I am laboring for discipline - setting about me quite literally various statements and promises and commands and declarations from your word, so that my eye is "caught" by YOU rather than the trappings of this world or my own emotions. My Father, God, please KEEP me, today, as I would be lost without your keeping.**

~

PSALM 118:13-23

13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"

17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected [Christ! HE is the gate of righteousness!] has become the capstone;

23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

Meditations from a House of Mourning (In Memory of T.A. Zachry)

2009-03-26T14:01:00.005-04:00

Meditations from a House of Mourning
~L. Page

It does not escape my notice that as a general rule, our culture seems to look upon the aging with at best a kind of disdain. Commonly, the aging are featured in their weakest moments in our films and conversations, and scorned and mocked for their lapses in memory or their impatience toward the impertinence of the younger generation.

Not surprisingly, in a society that seems to worship youth, we explore without the slightest pangs of conscience, even the possibility that killing off such weak and failing human beings is perhaps the most merciful - and so we deceive ourselves that we the young are not only worthy of preeminence in this world, but are noble for finding additional ways to exalt ourselves (like the playground bully exalts his own sense of self-importance by picking on the little guy) and remove any frail (condemning? convicting? costly?) presence. And, it seems, the elderly begin to think that perhaps we are correct – they are, after all, a burden on our economy with their end of life care, and a burden on their families, with their increasing dependence, and a burden to themselves with the mounting physical sufferings they must endure as they approach the end of life.

Sacrificing Wisdom on the Altar of Self Worship
What if, for one moment, we could collectively consider the wealth of experience and life-taught discernment and wisdom that we are so quick to abort and discard?

What if, instead of our love for the sound of our own voices, we would pause from our frenzied pace, and ask the tough questions for which it may even seem there are no answers, and listen to what those with years and “hoary hair” might be able to bequeath us?

What if, taking time to “be still” rather than so consumed with our own here and now, we would consider – I mean really consider, such as the kind of which it has been described as “treasuring up all these things and pondering them in your heart” – the years that have preceded us?

*The wars that have been fought on foreign soils and the blood of our fathers and great uncles and so on and the mothers left at home to work their fingers to the bone and the children who had to grow up so fast.
*The technologies that have incrementally improved lives and the cost of obtaining them.

*The effects over time – such that they aren’t always visible to the naked eye – of the loss of a sense of our dependence on a Higher Power, the gradual sacrificing of our sense to the sensual, the cost in years of prolonged adolescence and self-indulgence on not only the family, but on the maturing of our young men and women into responsible, honorable people....

What if we confessed that – contrary to what we would rather believe – we really do not know everything...or always know better?

“Even what he thinks he has will be taken away....”
Holy Writ exclaims that it is better to be in a house of mourning: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to heart.” (Ecclesiastes 7:2) It is GOOD for the living, we who remain, to consider the brevity of life, to weigh the matters of eternity and – if it were possible – to make an accounting for our souls’ sake.

I spent a small (relatively speaking) amount of time in a “house of mourning” recently as I watched my Granddad pass from this life into the next. (He didn’t pass away – he passed through, and is now near to his Lord, Jesus Christ who paid the redemption for his soul.)

The phrase “he went peacefully” would be the most likely applicable phrase in the case of my Granddad’s passing. He was 86 years old – by any present standards a “good old age,” a man “satisfied with life.” And his passing, though exacerbated by an advanced and too-late discovered cancer, was accepted by most everyone as the “normal” course of things. And I am grateful – there are plenty of more violent ways that a soul is torn from its body and hurled into the eternal presence of the Creator God. That my Granddad went “peacefully” is, by all accounts, a mercy.

But I take issue with the notion of dying, even peacefully, as the “normal course of things.” As if that means it is an acceptable reality. At least here and now, I am again angered over the course of sin in this life. By this I do not even mean a man’s OWN sin, but rather the effects of sin – the consequences of sin in humanity and in this fallen world – such that all creation veritably “groans” because of it “until the sons of God be revealed!”

It seems to me a great tragedy that we – when we are MOST weak, MOST frail, MOST vulnerable – are MOST subject to the vilest, brutal and gruesome consequences of sin.

*Cutting off the flow of blood to the ends of our limbs.

*Clotting where it ought not be clotting.
*Arteries blocked off where there ought to be free passage for life giving blood.
*Nerve endings and synapses no longer firing as they ought and so ushering in confusion and the body unable to repair itself as it was designed (!) to do.
*Unable to take in the nutrition it needs just to function!
*Muscle control succumbing to the seizing up and violent shakes and shudders of arthritis and loss of neurological command even over the most rudimentary of motor function.

*Lungs no longer taking in air except in labored, clutching, heaving breaths, until finally even that is stolen away.

And what to do when the body in decline becomes your own prison and the instrument of your torment and torture!

You strain against your own flesh just to try to make eye contact with your loved one by your bed. You muster all the powers of your mind to try to control your lips and your dehydrated and now crusting tongue just to say, one last time to your daughter holding your unresponsive hand that you love her, and she’ll always be your little girl. And at last, the only thing that you can manage is a single tear which escapes your unblinking eyes and rolls down your cheek as your grandchildren sing to you of the sweetness of the Lord whose eye is on the sparrow, and you know he watches you, even now, as you are longing for heaven. And home.

The effects and consequences of sin on the body, bringing about death, rob him of his words of wisdom, his experiences, his expressions of love for his family which has – over the years and by the grace of God – only multiplied! When, in the life of a man, he has the MOST to offer, and he is least able to give it. And “even what he thinks he has will be taken away.”

Should this not cause us to shudder? Should this not cause us to fear – for even in the BEST of circumstances, even if we would go peacefully (!), we have but the mere delusion of control over our lives, over even our breaths.

How dare we suspect we could over-state this!
I fear how often we willfully neglect the truth of such things! I fear how often we avoid the bedside of the dying, and comfort ourselves with platitudes and common phrases of acceptance – our way, it would seem, of trying to maintain SOME illusion of control even of our dying.

Our scoffing at the aging – using an iconic toothless, wrinkled and sun dried character as the “fool” of story – is only a symptom of our greater efforts, deceiving even ourselves (!), to keep from thinking about the fact that some day we will no longer be able to hide from the strain and pull and snatching and snagging death grip of sin! After all, it comes only to take its due! Its wages, its just recompense!

There is no “peaceful” dying!
There is no “peaceful” way that the soul is stolen from its flesh, and the man – any man! – is immediately face to face with God, more brilliant than any sun or star, and infinitely more consuming!

It truly IS better to go to a house of mourning than the house of feasting – because in death we lose our self-deceptions. And though the kindness of the Lord, indeed even the mercy visited upon us in our dying, may well be visible, it is nevertheless the mercy of the Lord as concerns our living toward which we should be sober-minded and alert.

Who will pay our Redemption? How will we find hope in the face of death? How can we have any hope to withstand the all-consuming blaze of the Holy Father God – be it not even his wrath (!) but just his glory! Only ONE has ever truly paid the penalty, himself a sacrificial, “pleasing aroma” to God. If we will not have Jesus, to whom will we go; who is left? If we will not yield our lives to the Lord’s Christ, what other hope have we?

We cannot even keep breathing by our own strength and will!

...How frail we are.

Edwards: The emerald rainbow around the throne of God....

2009-03-16T11:17:00.007-04:00

**I have reflected on this very thing - the emerald rainbow around the throne of God - I have seen, similarly, a statistic to the effect that the color "Green" is the most soothing to the human eye. It would stand to reason, then, that God himself would surround himself in a light upon which it is most SOOTHING to gaze for eternity! How right, then, that we could consider such a mediating glow that of God's covenantal LOVE for his children in Christ!**

"...Love is the principal thing which the gospel reveals in God and Christ. The gospel brings to light the love between the Father and the Son, and declares how that love has been manifested in mercy; how that Christ is God's beloved Son in whom he is well pleased. And there we have the effects of God's love to his Son set before us in appointing him to the honor of a mediatorial kingdom, in appointing him to be the Lord and Judge of the world, in appointing that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.

There is revealed the love which Christ has to the Father, and the wonderful fruits of that love, as particularly his doing such great things, and suffering such great things in obedience to the Father, and for the honor of the Father's justice, authority and law. There it is revealed how the Father and the Son are one in love, that we might be induced in like manner to be one with them, and with one another, agreeable to Christ's prayer, John 17:21-23, "That they all may be one; as thou Father art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."

The gospel teaches us the doctrine of the eternal electing love of God, and reveals how God loved those that are redeemed by Christ before the foundation of the world; and how he then gave them to the Son, and the Son loved them as his own. The gospel reveals the wonderful love of God the Father to poor sinful, miserable men, in giving Christ not only to love them while in the world, but to love them to the end. And all this love is spoken of as bestowed on us while we were wanderers, outcasts, worthless, guilty, and even enemies.

The gospel reveals such love as nothing else reveals. John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this." Rom. 5:7-8, "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

God and Christ in the gospel revelation appear as clothed with love, as being as it were on a throne of mercy and grace, a seat of love encompassed about with pleasant beams of love.

Love is the light and glory which are about the throne on which God sits.

This seems to be intended in that vision which the apostle John, that loving and beloved disciple, had of God in Rev. 4:3. He tells us that when he had a vision of God on his throne there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

That is, God as he sat on his throne was encompassed round with a circle of exceeding sweet and pleasant light,' pleasant like the beautiful colors of the rainbow, like an emerald. An emerald is a precious stone of exceeding pleasant and beautiful color. This represents that the light and glory with which God appears surrounded in the gospel is especially the glory of his love and covenant grace. For the rainbow, you know, was given as a token of God's love and covenant grace to Noah. Therefore this spirit, even a spirit of love, is the spirit to which the gospel revelation does especially hold forth motives and incitements. And this is especially and eminently the Christian spirit, the right spirit of the gospel...."

(Jonathan Edwards, from Charity and its Fruits)

http://truthinheart.com/EarlyOberlinCD/CD/Edwards/Sermons/Cor13book/1.htm

Don't Lose Sight of Those who Need Jesus!

2009-03-10T15:39:00.003-04:00

"...There's not just critics, there's also converts. There's not just ignorance of foolish people, there are people who need Jesus. And what can happen is when the ignorance of foolish people is so loud, you can lose sight of, ear for, heart toward those who do not yet know Jesus. You can waste all your time engaging those who want to criticize you rather than devoting your time to serving those who need Jesus. And what Peter is saying is don't waste all your energy defending yourself, use your energy to serve. To do good. To be a servant. He says to live as people who are free. Free from sin, free to worship. Free from Satan to Jesus. Free from self to love neighbor. Free not to do as we want, but free to do as we ought....What he says is DON'T use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Because we are a minority group, because the world is watching, because how we conduct ourselves speaks of Jesus and his people, we need to be exceedingly careful...."

-Mark Driscoll

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/submission-to-authority

First, REPENT!

2009-03-10T15:36:00.003-04:00

"All you need to do to be a heretic is accommodate sin, tolerate sin, bless sin, sanction sin, excuse sin, not oppose sin. [Packer] said 'The 1st word of the Gospel is REPENT! That's what Jesus preached....Anyone that does not call their people to repentance does not love them, does not love the Lord, does not love the Word.' I agree with him. I think that's a brilliant insight. We live in a day when it's all about encouragement & pithy truisms & nice insightful statements & motivational speeches. And there is not the declaration, proclamation that God's word is true & that everyone needs to repent! And that's the word that Jesus preached! Ultimately there will be opposition. Some repent & others do not. The Puritans were fond of saying 'The same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay.' Meaning when you preach, those with soft hearts will melt & repent. Those with hard hearts get angry & upset, they argue, they gossip, they fight...."

-Mark Driscoll

http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/trial/temptation-from-hypocrisy