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!
Showing posts with label Revive Our Hearts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revive Our Hearts. Show all posts
17 January, 2012
15 March, 2011
Seeking Him, Lesson 8: Clear Conscience ~ Dealing with our Offenses toward Others
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
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
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
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
10 February, 2011
GCC - Seeking Him, Lesson 3: Honesty ~ Silence is Not Always Golden
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
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
17 January, 2011
"Seeking Him" - Lesson One: Revival (What is it and Who needs it?)
"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
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
12 January, 2011
New Study for GCC Women - "Seeking Him" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss
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
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
24 August, 2010
Choose Gratitude - 2 of 4 from July, 2010
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.
....
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.
....
13 May, 2010
notes from ~Beauty for Ashes~ at GCC
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)
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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)
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