Posts

Showing posts from 2016

Isaiah 66 - What Does God Look For?

Image
The Last Chapter of Isaiah, the 66th, begins this way: Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” says the LORD. But on this on will I look:  “On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." This quote that I typed here ends with only the 2nd verse. There are 24 verses in Chapter 66. However, I pause here because I am struck with many thoughts, and need to ponder upon these verses. Movements will always be underway within the church on earth. God originates some, others begin by man. Being a student of the Bible since I was in my twenties (some three decades now), I have learned to try, or shall I say test, words and claims out by the entire Word of God, not by an isolated verse. The “Words in Red” movement (there is even a hashtag used by believers in it #wordsin

The War of 1812 and the 4th of July Common Theme

Image
What does the War of 1812 have to do with the 4th of July? How do they have a common theme? And why is the American Flag important to the history of America? Why should we celebrate independence in America? This past week I have listened to several sermons that would be appropriately called a "Look at America from a Biblical Worldview” and they were polar opposite. One was a glowing praise our America - the Great USA - that has tragically lost is way but that as Christians we were exhorted to stand firm to Biblical truth of one woman/one man marriages and to end the blight of abortion and other such points. The other was a respectful “I am glad that I was born in America” but let us look at our own personal sin and corporate sin. We are a consumer nation that has the ability to eradicate poverty, illiteracy, starvation and other social ills if we would only sacrificially give and serve as compelled by our love for God. While neither was untruth, neither was fully balanc

Devoted to God and Hearing God

Image
We all go through times in life that we are aligned with God and then life’s circumstances push us around and fill our minds so that we are muddled. And in a very true sense we grow apart from God. photo credit: blanklives/deviantart We may still do the same actions of a follower of God out of routine or we may even not, but in our core we know without a doubt that we are disconnected, and pretending the part of being a follower of Jesus. But by God’s grace and mercy, if we keep pressing in to Him, and ridding ourselves of the distractions of this world we joyously become meshed with Him. Our inner fibers, the roots of our heart grow into Him, and as we allow, He grows larger in us, filling our mind, soul and being. I am united with Him. I find myself in a wonderfully, peculiar place of being devoted to God. Today I read: “A lily, or a tree, or a servant of God, may convey God’s message to me” (Oswald Chambers, 2/13). God knows everything about me. All of my thoughts,

You Are Already

Image
I awoke this morning, as many mornings, with thoughts of the day and week before funneling through my conscious mind. After several of them cleared, I turned my inner heart to God and said to Him, “I want to be acceptable in your sight." photo credit: fuzzbucket/deviantart And He quickly replied, inaudibly, but I ever so clearly heard, “You are already." You are acceptable and approved. Jesus is all of this for you. Jesus did all of it for you. In Jesus, and you are in Jesus, you already are. Oh, how we wander away from the simple facts of faith. We get concerned that we are not included by humans. We are not asked. We are not invited. We are not offered ______________. You and I can both fill in that blank of everything we ponder that we think we want or need, but that has not yet been. And then we forget the fact that it is: God, not people, determines our acceptance and approval. God meets all of our needs. God opens doors and closes them. God or

Never Stop Growing

Image
Life rattles me from time to time. This is common to people who are trying to grow. Doesn’t life rattle you? "Less of me and more of God" is the mantra I want to embody, but oh, how self-centered and self-seeking I can be. photo credit: sublimeone/deviantart Just yesterday I saw someone that I had not seen in years. I greeted her cheerfully and was encouragingly responding to what she was sharing about her life. Then bam! out of nowhere I got clubbed over the head by her comments toward me. She shared her observations and reflections of one of my children as she knew him/her when he/she was younger and was telling me what problems she clearly observed in this child in particular but how she didn’t share it because she figured I was in denial and would not listen anyway. It was a learning disability. She said from her experience parents didn’t want to know. I was dumbfounded. What? How? Why? Then she added, "Well, you are a teacher, aren’t you? I figured y

Lose Your Ego and Your Christian Ego

Image
“ For me to live is Christ and to die is gain .” has been my life verse for many years. It meant more --it was more real-- during the years that I was going through trauma counseling and had to cling to God moment by moment in order to survive and at least have some semblance of sanity to function in the world. But it is so easier to “fake” it -- that is, to pretend a walk with Christ -- when you are not needing to desperately cling to Him in order to wake, walk, sleep and talk. To live is Christ... is that so? If someone followed me around all day long and recorded not only my outward actions and words but my inward thoughts would this recording say “to live is Christ" about me? No, because not even I would admit it at my present state. But then, I am pretty hard on myself, especially lately. Oh, how do I get back to the rawness of “to live is Christ and to die is gain” kind of life? It takes truly practicing the presence of God. Photo Credit: seorangpremp

Lose Your Former Days and Need for Other’s Praise

Image
photo credit: perhydrol/Deviantart Ok, these two “lose” topics do not fit together, but “days” and “praise” rhyme so I thought what the “hey” maybe God will bring unity to them in the end. I confess. I have been doing that a lot lately: confessing, that is. But, I confess that the devotional topics over these 40 days are quite heavy and really hard to deal with in a single day, so combining them does not help, but I don’t want to skip one. (Who am I a slave to? Who set that goal?) Today I will start with the Bible verses, since yesterday I ended with them and concluded that it might have helped me to focus more on God if I started with them. “ Don’t say, “Why were the former day better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this ” (Ecclesiastes 7:10). I will need to examine this above verse in context. I am left with so many questions, aren’t you? And the next Bible verse is: “ The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trust in the Lord is protected ” (Proverb

Lose Your Hurts and Your Offenses

Image
I feel stuck. If you look at the past week of my blog writings you will see that I seem to be going in a downward spiral. I guess that is not really that I am stuck but moving downward. On the positive side I am moving. I am making my point clear? I am running in circles. And heading down. I am Stuck - My Junk And the whole point could be that I am focuses on me. I thought this 40 days was supposed to have me focus on God. I keep wanting to say, “Ugh!” but that does not sound like something an educated writer would say. But “UGH” expresses what I can currently verbalize. Another positive note is the more I move down, I can only improve as the days eventually go on. So I dread looking at the next two topics in our church’s 40 day devotional: hurt and offenses. Some things have happen in the past few days that is causing me to be “off.”  The top shelf in our bedroom closest came crashing down. The Closetmaid braces pulled out of the walls and most of them simply snapped.

Lose Your Guilt

Image
There are several keys to understanding guilt. The first one is that guilt is a normal human reaction when we do something wrong, especially when we get caught. Another is that it is common among men, we all have felt it.  For Christians, guilt is not to be a lifestyle but an emotional we feel and then process through when we admit we have done wrong to God and man, and repent. Jesus is the standard of right and wrong. Also Jesus is the reason we as Christians do not have to live in a lifestyle of guilt. For Christians we do not have to suffer through a waiting period, in a sense a purgatory of shame, before we accept God’s forgiveness and let him take our guilt away.  Once I learned this Bible verse I cherished it and quickly memorized it: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). If you haven’t learned it yet. Memorize it. You will need it many times in life to keep from suffering false guilt and believe me the worl

Lose Your Complacency

Image
Six days in a row. I am not sure I will make it 40 but I have not given up yet. Maybe I will soon combine two days to give myself a day of rest. Who am I doing this for anyway? Life check? Is God requiring it of me? no Is it something I want to do? partially Is it something I am afraid to stop? partially What gives? I have not written on my blog basically since my mother died in Oct of 2015. So I started writing on it again five days ago to expand on the devotional verse given by my church to help us focus on God during a 40 day prayer time. And now I feel compelled --like if I miss one day I will have an incompletion in a college course. But since this is not so, what compels me? I am writing again and making it public. I have been writing but I have kept it private. I almost came to the point that it does not matter if I write...because frankly, no one really cares. It does not effect anyone or anything expect for my mind and time and family. I have come to bel

Lose Your Self-Reliance

Image
My husband’s life verses are: “ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ” (Proverbs 3:3-5) These verses were in his grandmother’s home so upon visits to her house-- and there were many in the summer when he was young and she lived in town-- that he pondered these words. In later years they became dear to him not only because of their familiarity and the blessed association he had of wonderful times visiting his grandmother and likewise spending a great deal of time with his cousin, but because his relationship with God deepened, and the fullness of the words spoken in the Bible became something he could hold onto in all seasons to bring him to the right direction of how he should respond and walk in a manner pleasing of God . Oh, how we need a fresh wind of faith and action in the church of Christians--in general--of deep reliance upon God alone! It is quite an e

Lose Your Idols

Image
My church’s devotional text today is Isaiah 44:9- All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.  This is the same verse in the New King James - Those who make a graven image, all of them are useless, and their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know that they may be ashamed. In C ontext Chapter 44 in Isaiah begins with God speaking to His servant Israel, His chosen people in a very loving, reassuring tone. Listen to some of His words: "Fear not, ... I will pour water on him who is thirsty...I will pour My Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring” (from Is 44: 2-5).  Then God “LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts” reminds them who he is: “I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God” (Is 44:7). and He continues: “You are My witness. Is there a God

Lose Your Insecurity

Image
We all struggle with insecurity. We never feel like we measure up, that we are good enough. But what are we trying to measure up to and who are we trying to be good enough for? We live in a world where we are continually judged and criticized, not always in a negative way but simply as part of life. People all around us are looking at the way we look, act, and speak and making decisions about us. They are thinking about if they like us, if they would like to know us, if they would want to work with us or include us. We want to be accepted, invited, wanted and ultimately loved. But whose opinion matters? People are so fickle and frankly it is so hard to please people. You can be “in” with them one day and “out” the next. So many people treat others as trash that can be discarded whenever they feel like it. Instead of cherishing the velveteen rabbit that has been with them throughout the ups and downs in life, they one day look at the raggedy stuffed thing and want to toss it away for