A Poem...until my next post is ready. :)

My sweet friend and "Naomi-Janan" talked with me this week about my last post. She honed in on the part where I talked about not posting more often.

Her words were, "I can't help but wonder if you're discouraged, and feeling isolated."

How precious you are to me, Janan! Thank you for loving me like the daughter you never had. Thank you for praying and speaking the Word over my life. A reference to a song by Watermark..."You've Been More Than A Friend To Me"...such a beautiful song!

Sweet friends, she encouraged me to press on, and to write more often...that it encourages others.

I do admit, I am often amazed at the number of people who have contacted me since I started this blog...people from India, Germany, South Africa, and some of my very favorites from right here in the USA. :)

Truly, this blog has been a source of fellowship for me so many times, and I hope and pray that the Lord uses it to encourage and strengthen you.

Until I finish the post I'm writing about "Sweeter Than Chocolate"...the new study by Pam Gillaspie, published by Precept, I'll leave you with a poem I wrote years ago.

I wrote it right before I became a Christian, but clearly the Lord was calling me. I've since had to change a few words, as the doctrine wasn't correct. ;)

Enjoy!
(I do love reading your comments, so consider this an official "fishing" for some.)

Love you!
Jes


Grace
by Jesica P.

Don’t you ever find yourself,
In quiet times alone
Trying to absorb the awesomeness
Of all that God has done?

And don’t you ever ask yourself,
When you truly look within…
How it is that He so graciously
Once again, forgives THAT sin?

Don’t you ever wish in your heart,
When you’re wanting to give back
That you always stayed the course with Him,
And never got off track?

Don’t you know in your soul,
In the place where He resides
That He wants to bless you…
And to be your joy and pride?

I think of all the mistakes I’ve made,
Of the tears He must have shed…
Of the times I know He wanted to scream,
“Does it mean NOTHING that I was TORTURED, and I BLED?!”

“That sin has been forgiven,
From it’s bondage, you’re set free…
Don’t you know that every time you run back to it,
You’re once again torturing me?”

“Don’t you realize the blessings I have for you,
Are more splendid than any for which you’ve prayed?
I’m so ready to pour them out to you,
Yet I can’t, when you continue to stray.”

“Don’t you want to come home my child,
And feel my love and grace?
I have so much joy and happiness waiting for you,
Those tears We will erase.”

“For there’s no more despair, with your Lord,
And no trial We can’t survive.
You’re not alone in this world, My babe,
Because inside of you, the Holy Spirit is alive!”

“So please, forget the things of this world,
That tempt you to believe
That you could EVER experience the kind of excitement
That only a life with Me, lets one receive.”

“Come home, My precious baby,
My sweet little lamb, Your Daddy longs to hold you…
Your Father, The Great I AM.”

The Attack of the Evil One....

I was with a precious friend of mine tonight, and listening to her pour her heart out, as she's going through a really tough time.

At one point she said, "Jes, I just don't know when the thoughts that I battle are from the enemy and when they aren't!"

So I thought about it for a minute...I really pondered it with her.

I know what she means. I totally understand her question.

It is hard to know sometimes if what we're battling in our head is from the evil one or just from our own selfish flesh.

I suppose I'm still thinking about it...but one thing I believe is this....God doesn't work through condemnation.

Satan does.

He is called the accuser of the brethren, and it's a tactic he has polished well over the centuries.

Once you belong to the Lord, having repented of your sin, turned from it, and put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and followed Him, you are given the gift of His indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Bible says that the Holy Spirit came to CONVICT the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgement.

The Holy Spirit CONVICTS.

The enemy CONDEMNS.

That's the difference. Look at it through the lens of God's Word for a minute....

Regarding the Holy Spirit, this is Jesus speaking:

John 16:7
"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
John 16:8
"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; John 16:9
concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;
John 16:10
and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
John 16:11
and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Regarding the enemy, satan:

Zec 3:1
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
Zec 3:2
The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?"
Zec 3:3
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel.
Zec 3:4
He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes."
Zec 3:5
Then I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.

Do you see that? The enemy stood before the angel of the LORD to accuse one who God had plucked from the fire!

So, that's the litmus test for me....are the thoughts I'm battling ones of condemnation or of conviction?

Ones that accuse me and try to convince me of my worthlessness, or ones that make me bow before my Father, and submit to Him...

If the former, I'd be wise to say as Jesus did,

Zec 3:2 ...."The LORD rebuke you, satan!" and
Matt 4:10
..."Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.' "

If the latter, I'd be wise to listen, submit to God, and obey Him.

Merry Christmas!
Jes

The Sermon On The Mount

I'm so excited! I've been seeking the LORD, and really trying to listen to His leading on what our next Ladies Precept Bible Study will be.

I love how God moves in these times, these quite times before studies start up. He's always so faithful to lead me on what we are to study. I remember when we were about to start the Covenant study, and the evil one was on the prowl. He was so relentless that at times I really thought about just throwing in the towel.

Then, I went to my mailbox one evening, and there was a personal note from Kay. It was in reference to something all together different, but in her note, she included a Scripture reference, and when I went and read it, I just wept. The Scripture was about how God keeps His covenants to those who fear Him.

Oh, I love the Lord so much!

And I love Kay, and her heart for God and for people.

And I love the many precious people who work with Precept Ministries across the world, so that others may be given the rich and awesome gift of studying the Word that I have been given.

And I love the sweet, amazing women in our study! Thank you, each of you, for your grace toward me as a leader, as I grow and fall on my face, and get back up, and endeavor to lead the best way that I know how to. I know that I am so human, and thus so imperfect, but I thank you that you love God and His Word enough that you can look past me. :)

I love you all so much!

I wonder how anyone who has been saved from the life of sin that I was, could help but love the LORD. Even writing this, my eyes are full of tears...I wonder if I'll ever get past crying when I think about my Lord, my Jesus, and His Holy Spirit who seals us until the day of redemption?

Doubtful. :)

I think that when I get to heaven, after I worship before the Father and the Son; say hello to my child who is there; meet my sister; and kiss my precious Grandma; that I'll spend a LOT of time with Jeremiah...he was the weeping prophet, you know. :)

Oh, I forgot about Peter...I can't wait to meet him too! Talk about a person who got total clarity from God on how his humanity would fail him, but that God's Holy Spirit never would! I can SO relate!

Well, I digress...I guess you've figured out that our next study will be The Sermon On The Mount. I wasn't sure, but kept asking God, and then this week it seems that almost EVERY conversation I've had has centered in some way around Matthew 5-7.

I just know that God is tugging at my heart, telling me it's time to really examine what Jesus had to say about my heart before Him. And, the funny thing is, that when He leads me in the direction of which study to do, it seems it's always a study that other women in the class needed too.

It's such a rich few chapters of Scripture..and I can already tell that it's going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it, and can't wait to get started. How about you?

Consequently, I'm seeking the LORD on whether this is also the study to use for the Precept Kids Class. So, the kids and I will either study The Sermon On The Mount, too, or we'll do a kid-friendly version of "Being a Disciple, Counting The Real Cost".

Just for a fun question, to lighten it up a bit, who do you look forward to seeing when you get to heaven?

Merry Christmas Sweet Friends...I hope you have a wonderful time with your families!

In Jesus,
Jesica

Scripture Acting - Team #2

My little brown eyed girl and her best friend! :)

The verses they are doing are Proverbs 15:1-3...

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly.

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, watching the evil and the good."

There are so many good questions that you can ask your child regarding these verses...one of my favorites at this time of year deals with the Sovereignty of God and Santa Claus.

We don't do "Santa" in our home, but I do realize that we're in the minority...and attach no judgement to the decision of others..we were just led by God not to do "Santa", and followed His leading on it.

However, my kids still hear the song about Santa, when we're out that says that "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!"

The above verse, #3, is a perfect one to use to explain to children that Santa is not Sovereign..only God is, and that only God sees everything.

In addition, apart from the power of the Risen Lord, through the Holy Spirit, we can't "be good" no matter how hard we try..for true goodness is holiness, and we are only made Holy in the site of God through His Son, who imparted righteousness to us when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior.

OK...video #3 to hopefully come soon. :)

Have a great night!

Jesica

My Heart is so full on halloween night!

What a great night!

First a little history...after I gave my life to Christ 8+ years ago, one of the issues He dealt with me on was how I would spend halloween.

I thought we'd just turn the lights off and leave for the night..but God had other plans. He led us to purchase Bibles for the kids, and to give them out on halloween night.

And, it was clear that we were to get neat Bibles that the kids would be excited to receive. ( or so we hoped! )

We were amazed that year by the responses of all but one of the children. The kids were thrilled! One little boy who lived in a million dollar home, left our front yard saying,
"Dad! Look! They gave me my very own Bible!"

The next few years were no exception. We had children coming to the door, while their parents waited patiently at the street, asking, "Is THIS where I can get a Bible?!".

One mom even came to the door, and led me outside to show me a group of teenagers all huddled in the street reading their Bibles at that very minute!

One young man, about 17, came to get one for his 7 year old brother and when he did I asked him if he had a Bible of his own, he answered, "No, Ma'am".

"Would you like one?"

"Yes. Ma'am."

"Well, we just gave out our last Teen Bible, but if you'll give us your name and address, we'll get you one and send it to you."

So...we ended up getting one for him and had his name put on it, and delivered it to his home instead. When I handed it to him, there were tears in his eyes. He said, "I can't believe you did this for me!"

Which, was a perfect opportunity to share with him what God had done for all of us through His Son, the Messiah.

I was blown away that this big teenage boy was so happy to have a Bible, that his eyes were filled with tears!

I mean, we live in America! One would think that if a kid wanted a Bible, they'd have one....but we've been proven wrong on that 4 times now.

Tonight, there was a huge group of kids who came to the door just as the night was winding down. We had a stack of about 8 Teen Study Bibles left, which we were holding for our neighbor kids. However, when we saw that group of kids, we knew that God had sent them to our door, and that the numbers had worked out exactly for those remaining Bibles to be theirs instead!

I couldn't believe it as the kids all were pushing to be first, and were saying, "I want one!". "I want one too!".

Then, one young man stepped out from the group and came toward me and said, in the kindest voice..."Do you know how amazing this is, what you're doing for kids?!". "This is just awesome."

I so wanted to say something intelligent, but knew that I'd burst out crying if I said much more than, "Praise God!".

Every year that we've done this, I expect to be met with hatred and guile. Yet, that has not happened once.

Kids aren't disappointed that they didn't get a candy bar. They RUN down the sidewalk, anxious to tell their parents that someone gave them a Bible.

I guess that even at a young age, children know when someone has done something caring for them.

What a blessing to have been able to do this. We couldn't have given out anywhere NEAR as many Bibles tonight if it weren't for the owner of Pathways Christian Bookstore here in Anthem. The owner really went to bat for us with the publisher, and saved us a TON of money.

Go see her, won't you..and support her business. It's really a wonderful ministry for our community.

Bibles for halloween ?

Sure has ended up being a rich blessing to our family..and hopefully, to all of those who have received one over the years.

Maybe the Lord will lead your family to do the same next year. If He does, please let us know. We'd love to be in prayer with you about it.

Remember, the Lord promises that His Word will not return to Him empty, but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it! :)

Isaiah 55:10-11
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

In Him,
Jes

The Sovereignty of God

Today I got up early, and was looking forward to rekindling my love of studying God's Word over a great cup of iced coffee...ALONE.

Yet, my little guy is an early bird. I promise, I worked like mad to train him to be a late riser, but the older he has gotten, the more he has chosen to defy me. :)

God just wired him that way, I think. He loves to get up early.

So, before my coffee was even brewed, he walked in, chattering like a mockingbird.

It turned out wonderful, though. We had about an hour and a half together, and we studied Matthew chapter 2 on an in-depth level.

One of the cross references was Psalm 103:19 "The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all."

Wow! What a powerful verse.

These past months, I've really struggled with the sovereignty of God. I was taught, as a child, that satan controls this world, and God will control everything after Jesus comes back.

Yet, that isn't what Scripture says. Over and over again, it speaks of the sovereignty of God...TODAY. Even Peter was told by Jesus that satan had gained permission, by asking (of God), to sift him like wheat. The operative words here, though, are that satan had to ask permission of the Father first.

I believe, from my study of the Word, that nothing happens in the life of the believer without God's permission.

Romans tells us that we are a slave to that which we obey..either to sin or to righteousness. So, I believe that it's different for someone who doesn't belong to Jesus. I don't think that satan has to ask permission in their lives, although I'm still studying that hypothesis out.

I do believe that satan can't even breath a nasty breath on one who has been sealed by the Holy Spirit, in Christ, without God's permission.

So, to see that verse today was really amazing for me.

I asked Caedmon all about it...

WHO established God's throne? He did, Mommy.

WHERE is it established? In the heavens.

WHAT does it mean that God is sovereign? He rules, Mommy. He's in control.

WHAT does that mean to us, Caedmon? We can trust Him, Mommy.

WHO does God's sovereignty rule over? ALL, Mommy...everything.

Then there was a cross reference that took us to Revelation, where we learned about the new heaven and the new earth. (Did you KNOW that the new earth will have no seas?! I didn't!)

It talked about the new Jerusalem being the bride for Jesus. ( I'm paraphrasing a bit..but that's the gist.) I was SO excited when Caedmon said, "But Mommy, I thought the church was the bride of Christ."

Yippie! He's listening!

And, I was reminded of something quite dear to my heart, in this interchange with my little guy...this conversation we had today about God's Word, and his questions that stemmed from our study, are the EXACT reason why I hope to find a church where our children are welcomed in the service with us.

There is nothing that takes the place of these kinds of discussions with my children. Nothing. That's my job as a Mother, to ground them in the Word...and I hope to find a church home where the Word is taught, and not through a paraphrase, but through the Word itself. ( Oops! I think I just picked up the soapbox!)

I want to be able to talk with my children about the hard questions that they have of Scripture. Goodness knows that I have my fair share of tough questions for Scripture!

I was also reminded today that time in the Word, 1st thing in the morning, with Caedmon, just makes him a different little boy. It truly is like the Shepherd's staff for him...he was wonderful today, and yesterday I was ready to bar-b-que him for dinner!

I guess he's just like his Mommy in that...I'm not much fun to be around when I haven't had my time with the Lord, either.

Today was a wonderful day. I needed it. :)

He did too!

Jes

Dust in the Hands of Faithful God

A few days ago, I was running an errand with the children and a message by Chuck Swindoll came on. The message was all about Joseph, and I was captivated by it.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what the Word says about Joseph. Over and over again, as pain and turmoil entered Joseph's life, Genesis tells us, "But the LORD was with Joseph", when his brothers threw him into the pit..."But the LORD was with Joseph" when he was in jail..."But the LORD was with Joseph"....when Potiphar's wife falsely accused him.

So...as part of his message, Swindoll quoted Tozer as saying, "It is doubtful that God can use any man greatly until He has hurt him deeply."

My first thought at having heard that was..."Well, THAT STINKS ROYALLY!" and then, "YEAH! There's still hope for me!" ;)

Seriously, though....I've thought about that quote all week long, and I think what I got from it is this....

God's Word says that He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Jesus came here to earth, and was found spending time with the lost, the corrupt, the unlearned, the sinful.

God allowed Saul to go down a long path of destruction before He chose to blind him and humble him.

He allowed David to be savagely pursued by King Saul before David was to rise as King of Israel.

In His Word, God talks of the refiner's fire...of how we are but clay, and He the Potter.

I think what He is showing me is that He has the right, as my Creator, to turn me back to dust in order that He might build me up as He desires me to be.

Ooooooh......not what I would have chosen, I gotta tell you. It's been a bitterly painful last few months in my household..and the pain is still quite raw.

But...what is His greater desire for me? For you, if you are in a similar situation?

His greatest desire for all of His children is that WE not be what others see, but that He be all that is visible from our lives.

It's a painful process. One I would never sign up for as an elective class....not in a million years!

But, I realized tonight, as I was spending some precious time with one of my cherished sisters...I realized that being pummled to dust in the hands of the Almighty is still better than being elevated to celebrity in the hands of the evil one.

Dust in the hands of faithful God.

Thank you, precious Daddy, for reminding me once again that you are, indeed, faithful...even when I am faithless.

I love you, LORD.

I trust You.

Messianic Judaism, a Brief Look at Jews Who Profess Yeshua as Messiah

I just finished reading a book that I just know will be on my
"Lifetime Top 5" list forever.

It's called, "Your People Shall Be My People" by Don Finto, former pastor of Belmont Church of Christ in Nashville, TN.

As I was reading his book, there were several times that I just put it down and hit my knees and confessed before God the sins of the generations before me, against the Jewish people.

You see, my family origin is primarily German. Anti-semitic jokes were the norm in my home growing up. It was nothing to say we had
"Jewed someone down" when we got a good deal on something.

I remember too, this attitude that the Jews were just hard-hearted and a lost cause because they had rejected Jesus.

How sad to see that today, with new eyes and a new heart. How sad that those who were teaching me didn't know their history very well.

The first century church was made up of Jewish people! The Jews came to Christ first..then the Gentiles later. Acts 10 shows us that the Jews were actually surprised to find that the Gospel, the Messiah was also for the Gentiles!

It wasn't until some Gentiles were baptized in the Holy Spirit, that the Jews realized it was ok for them to receive water baptism too!

When I was growing up, there was almost an attitude of pity toward the Jews for how blind they were.

Just writing this breaks my heart today!

If the Gospel was first for the Jew and then for the Gentile, why in the world aren't we reaching out to Jewish people in love and introducing them IN LOVE to THEIR Messiah?!

I'm not talking about beating them over the head...the LORD knows that they've had GENERATIONS of persecution in the name of Jesus. ( Tragic, as this was never God's intention..just an example of what happens when man doesn't observe the FULL counsel of God's Word enough to know what GOD'S plans are..and instead man depends upon his own fautly plans.)

I'm talking about in love, showing a Jewish person from Scripture how Yeshua fulfilled all of the prophesies made about the Messiah. To do this, we must know and realize the importance of the Old Testament, and not be blinded into thinking that we are just "New Testament" believers.

Jesus didn't first show up in the New Testament..He first showed up in the Old Testament!

Well, to summarize...reading Don Finto's book truly pierced my heart. I told Shane last weekend that I would move to Israel in a minute and live to love on God's chosen people...and to break bread daily with fellow believers in Yeshua.

This was HUGE for me, because I've never even wanted to go on a tour of Israel!

Then, someone sent me this news footage from an Israeli station today. It's really amazing.

We need to remember to be praying for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, in Israel...and for those whom they will share the good news of Messiah with, to have hearts open to hear and consider what the truth of Scripture really is.

Enjoy the footage. Link is below.

In Him,
Jesica

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6244392868781886952

Our Son Was Baptized Today!

Today was a GREAT day!

As our family was sitting down enjoying lunch together today, Caedmon said, "Mom and Dad, I need to tell you something".

"What is it, Caedmon?"

"God is calling me to be baptized."

WOW! Not what we expected him to say, but he was as serious as a judge. We could tell that he had been thinking about this, and had decided that the time to tell us had arrived.

"Wow, Caedmon. That's great!", I said.

Then Shane asked him to tell us when he thought that God had called him to do this.

Clear as day, Caedmon said, "Friday morning, when we were on the way to the Dollar Store to get things for Precept class."

Amazing! So Caedmon had been thinking about this since Friday!

So, we talked to him at length about what baptism is...about what it means to be in covenant with Christ, and how baptism is the first act of obedience that God asks of us after we repent of our sins, and confess our need for Christ.

It's amazing to me how much this little guy understands.

I asked him, "Caedmon, why did Jesus raise from the dead to the glory of the Father?"

He said, "So we could walk in newness of life."

"YES!", said Mom.

Then I asked him, "Why did Christ die on the cross?".

"To pay for my sins, and so I wouldn't have to pay for them myself."

"Yes!"

If Christ hadn't of died on the cross for your sins, how would you have paid for them?

"By dying".

"Yes!"

Then we talked with him about how being baptized is his way of saying to the LORD and to those in his life, "I am laying my life down, and taking up Christ's life. I will no longer be living for myself, but for Christ. My life is not about me."

I really wanted him to understand that, especially in light of all that I've been learning in the Precept Covenant class.

Praise God, he understands. As much as any of us can, I believe that he does.

On and on the conversation went. It was so important to both Shane and I to KNOW that Caedmon understood what he was wanting to do.

It was clear that he did. No question about it.

So, we asked him who he would like to invite over to witness with us, and without hesitation, he said he wanted his friend Jonathan to be here.

Then we talked about the different people who he could choose from to actually baptize him, and he wanted his Daddy to do it.

We called Jonathan's family, and asked if they would come and be with us.

Then we went to 3 stores to choose a cake to celebrate this great day...he found just the right one at store #3. :)

And, then Shane and I got into the pool with Caedmon, and stood by his side as he confessed Christ to his family and friends.

He explained when it was that he had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. We are amazed that he still remembers the day...it was in 2004, yet he still remembers it clearly.

Then he explained to everyone what he was doing in being baptized..and why he wanted to be.

It was so beautiful!

When he came up out of the water, he was so full of JOY that I thought he was going to explode!

What an awesome day it turned out to be!

What joy to share this with our son!

What a special little guy we have!

Tonight, before he went to bed, he said, "Mommy, what does it feel like to know that your little boy just got baptized today?".

I told him that there weren't words to express how happy I am...and that I know his Daddy is too!

Thank You, LORD!

Thank You for loving my little boy more than even I do, and thank You for sealing him with your Holy Spirit until the day of Your Son's return!

Hallelujah! To God be the Glory!

Pictures to come soon. :)

What Brings Me Joy...

The Joy of The Lord is my Strength!

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

I love the above picture. It was taken about 3 years ago, when the children had their first trip to the beach.

I found it today, and when I looked at it I realized that everything I see in that picture is something that I love passionately, and something that God created to bring me joy.

The beach.
The ocean.
The BIG blue exspanse of sky.
The white clouds in the air.
One lone bird flying with his wings outstretched...oh, to be able to fly!

And, my precious little children...what a gift they are!

Seeing this picture, with Brennan tagging along behind Caedmon tells such a story for me. He really is her hero. The two of them love each other so much..they play for HOURS together every day.

Caedmon considers himself to be her soldier. He protects her, he treats her like a lady.

Brennan loves learning from Caedmon. Right now he is teaching her how to read, as he learns..he shares with her.

Sometimes life gets hard. This week has been especially tough. Learning that our friends' daughter is so sick...it has just about broken our hearts.

But then, I find a picture like this, that reminds me of all that is precious in my life...and once again, I am reminded that the JOY of the LORD is my strength.

Hope you will be encouraged today rejoice in the Lord, and that you will joy in the God of your Salvation.

In Him,
Jesica

The Difference Between Obedience and Legalism

The difference between obedience and legalism is massive.

Legalism is defined as "excessive conformity to a religious code".

Obedience is defined as "submissive to the restraint or command of authority".

When we look at these 2 definitions in light of our Heavenly Father, the gulf between the 2 is wide.

Legalism is following a code, a creed, a tradition of man that God never called us to follow. Legalism is "doing church" ( i.e. making it all look good on Sunday all the while living to serve self Monday - Saturday)instead of hanging on every word that God has given us as a guide for our lives.

Has God truly given us a guide? Yes! Without a doubt. It's called the Bible..His Holy and inspired Word.

Are we to learn and live by all of it, or only by part of it?

Romans 15:4 says, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

2 Timothy 3:14-17 says, "You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Think about this for a minute...when the letter to Timothy was written by Paul, it was written one Jewish man to another. These were men who KNEW the Old Testament. These were men who had referred to the Old Testament as Scripture for most of their lives.

What were the "sacred writings" Paul references?

What gave Timothy the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus?

According the the above verse from Romans, why were the Scriptures of the Old Testament written?

Think about it logically for a minute...if you ever have an opportunity to share the truth that Yeshua is the promised Messiah of Israel with a Jewish person who knows the Old Testament, don't you think the above verse would be an encouragement to them?

How in the WORLD could you hope to share Christ with a Jew who knows the Old Testament and for ONE MINUTE toss it aside?!

Throughout the Old Testament, the picture of Christ is painted. Over and over again the stories of the Old Testament are replete with signs pointing to the Redeemer of Israel.

Even aside from all of that, though...there are truths throughout the Old Testament that the Gentile believer must hold to.

Am I saying that we are bound to the law? Not for a minute.

Do I believe that as a Christian, there are truths and precepts from the Old Testament that God wants me to know and live by? ABSOLUTELY!

Does it make one legalistic to want to walk in obedience to God?

Not at all! Not for a minute!

Wanna be a Jonah? Not me!

Does it make one more "grace oriented" if they just live their life however they please, unwilling to submit to the command of the authority of God?

No! It makes one disobedient! Period!

Paul addresses that in Romans 6:1-2 when he says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"

Grace is not a license to FREE LOAD!

I remember when I was a new believer, and had just bowed my knee totally to God. I had truly decided to walk in obedience to Him...having come to the end of my free-loading, grace-loading, lip-smacking life.

God's call of obedience on my life was big. It looked something like this:

Give up your 6 figure income.
Say goodbye to your fancy new dream car.
Stay home and learn to be a wife and get into My Word.
Deal with family members who will malign you and won't understand your decisions.
Lose some friends who will think you've lost it because you won't cuss and party anymore.
Stop shopping in boutiques and learn to love WalMart clothes, because that's all you'll be able to afford.
Go from being the giver to learning to receive.
Get off your high-horse and learn to walk in humility.
Commit to love your husband, even though this will be the hardest part of your walk of obedience, until I ( the LORD ) deal with him.
Oh...and, submit to your husband, even though you don't want to, don't think you should have to, and don't think he's worthy of it.

Really..the list goes on and on.

Well, right about the time that God was teaching me to live a life of obedience to Him, Shane and I went and visited at a church of one of my relatives. FROM THE PULPIT, the pastor said, "Obedience does not bring God's blessing."

WAIT A MINUTE! STOP THE PRESSES! THIS IS NEWS TO ME!!!!

What HOCUS POCUS!!

Show me ONE PLACE..just ONE, that the Bible says that.

YOU CANNOT FIND IT! It is not there!

Now, do we obey in order to be blessed? I don't think that's God model or desire for us. I believe that the heart desire needs to be a reverence for God, and a love for Him.

However, the character of God is that He does bless obedience.

Some in my life do not understand the choices that I make in order to obey God's call on my life. That's ok. It's really not about anyone but me and my Lord, and my husband.

I can assure you that when I stand before the throne, and God holds me accountable for the choices I made here on earth, those people won't be saying, "Hey God! That time that she buckled and did it MY way instead of Yours...why don't You talk to me about it instead of her, because it's really my fault."

Recently, I was at a ministry event, and I was to be the one picking up people from the airport. At one point, I realized that I was scheduled to pick up a man, and that it would just be the 2 of us.

Well, Shane and I have an agreement that we don't spend time alone with people of the opposite sex. It's a boundary that God has made CLEAR in our lives, and it's not one that we cross for anybody, because to do so would be to disobey our Lord.

So, I had to ask the person in charge if someone else could go with me, or if someone else could pick this man up. It wasn't an easy thing to ask..because I didn't know if they'd "get it" or not. I still don't know if they "got it", but what I do know is that they were gracious to respect my request, and it all worked out fine.

And..interestingly enough, that man has become quite special to Shane and I..and now his wife too, and when the opportunity arose to discuss a similar situation with him, I was so HAPPY to know that this is a boundary that they have in their marriage too!

So...some will "get it", some will not, some will think you're crazy when you choose to obey God in light of looking foolish or legalistic.

Will that determine how you respond, or will your love for the LORD, and your desire to obey Him determine your decisions?

Look at an example of someone who did it his way...maybe what God was asking of him just didn't make sense to him...or maybe his friends all thought he was being legalistic...

Then Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
"Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. 'Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"
Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.
Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Samuel Rebukes Saul Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
"I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands " And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night.
Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal."
Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD."
But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed."
Then Samuel said to Saul, "Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak!"
Samuel said, "Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the LORD anointed you king over Israel,
and the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.'
"Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the LORD?"
Then Saul said to Samuel, "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
"But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king."

Hmmm...interesting, isn't it?

Partial obedience turned out to be total disobedience for King Saul, didn't it?

Learning to walk in obedience to God has been the most freeing thing He has taught me. I mean, how arrogant of me to think for a minute that I know better than God does, anyway!

If He holds all in His hands, and if He loves me beyond my imagination, why WOULDN'T I want to obey Him?

I remember when I learned that the word "submit" in the Greek means to place one's self under one's rightful authority"...it changed my understanding of what it meant to submit to my husband.

God has order. And in His kingdom, my husband is my rightful authority, as Christ is his.

It just works. Christ over Shane, Shane over me.

The key though, is that I am the one doing the submitting..I'm not being beaten over the head to submit. Big difference. I'm being loved, and cherished, and sacrificed for....all by my husband as Christ for His church.

Why would I NOT want to place myself under a man who treats me like that?

Yes, there were YEARS when our marriage didn't look like that...but STILL God called me to submit to Shane..and you know what happened as a result? God was glorified and God used my choices to walk in obedience by submitting to Shane, to draw Shane to Himself.

It was tough...but OH MY GOODNESS it was SOOO worth it!

Today I am married to the man of my dreams, who is as in love with the LORD as I am. My cherished friend, my gift from God, my covering, my head, my HUBBA-HUBBA! :)

Obeying my husband and obeying my LORD are not legalism. They are acts that give me freedom and joy and blessing.

Obeying the LORD will give you freedom too. God doesn't want you to live in bondage to yourself, or to your flesh.

Surrender it to Him, and trust Him as He leads you in a walk of obedience to Him.

If you belong to Him, your life is not your own...so get out of the way and let God reign supreme through you!

Legalism=Bad
Obedience has been very good to me. :)

In love,
Jes

The Next Time Someone Tells Me They Have a "WORD" for Me From God...

Recently, I had the second person in a short period of time come up and tell me that they had a "word" for me from the Lord.

I remind you that in my last post about this, I shared that in the Old Testament, God was so serious about false prophets, that He required them to be killed.

It's not acceptable in His eyes for one to say that they are speaking on His behalf, when in fact, they are just speaking out of their own feelings.

He does not tolerate that!

In fact, now that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which people did not have during the times of the Old Testament, I believe that that God loves me enough that He'll speak right to my heart.

He doesn't need to tell someone else to come and tell me what He Himself is fully capable, and desirous of telling me.

In addition, I've been learning through the example of Josiah's life, that even when God spoke to Josiah through a prophet, what was spoken related right back to the book of the law. To be more specific, it was directly out of Deuteronomy.

And today, we have the full cannon of Scripture. It's complete. Lacking nothing.

So, even more so today...if God wants to speak, He will do it by pointing people back to His Holy Word.

I do believe that the gift of prophesy is still an active gift...but I believe that a true prophet only points people back to God's Word.

I don't believe that there is new revelation. Yes, it might be new to us, in that we might never have seen a truth in Scripture before..but it isn't "new" in that God just came up with it!

So, the next time someone tells me, "I have a word for you from the Lord", I'm going to say, "Super! I love hearing from God. Please tell me what book and verse it is, and I'll go home and get on my face before Him, and I'll read it"!

Chapter and verse, please...that's all I need.

Chapter and verse, please...no more, no less.

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Caedmon leads a Precept Discussion

This may blow your mind:

Tonight, Caedmon, who is 6, woke up from leg pains, and was laying on the couch as I was doing some computer work.

He asked me what a blog was, and I told him about mine, and he wanted me to read something that I had written to him, so I read him the post about Noah ( see links to the left to go to the original post ).

When I got to the part where I was asking the questions about Lamech, he stopped me and said, "Mom, if Noah was righteous, then his dad had to have been."

I asked him why he assumed that.

He said, "Because Noah would have heard about God from his dad. His dad would have been the one to teach him about God and His ways."

So then I asked him, "Well, then why were none of Noah's brothers and sisters called righteous in God's eyes?"

He said, "Mom..they would have had to have died already. I think they were killed by animals or in war. If Noah's dad taught him about God, he would have taught the brothers and sisters, too...so they couldn't have gone through the flood..they died before it."

WOW! Now, I know that he skipped right to interpretation, but after I re-read that post, I see that I did too. I assumed that the brothers and sisters weren't spared, but maybe Caedmon's theory is correct.

Maybe they died before the flood.

Man...talk about having a cool inductive study discussion with your 6 year old!

I love how studying through the Precept method is teaching my 6 year old inductive reasoning skills!

People ask me a lot what curriculum I use for homeschooling, and I tell them, right now...we use the Bible. Yes, we use some other things for math and science, etc. But primarily, we use the Word.

It covers so many things...but what I love the most is that they are learning to think, to investigate, to write, to memorize, to read, and all of that in the framework of learning to "Trust in the Lord" with all of their hearts, and to "lean not on their own understanding"..in all their ways they are learning to "acknowledge Him" knowing that He will direct their paths.

Wow! God is so amazing!






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What happens when there is no knowledge of God in the land...

Tonight Shane and I had the pure joy of being with a precious group of fellow believers, as we all begin to work through "LORD, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days".

We were studing in Hosea 4:1-6 tonight, and therein we saw what happened to God's people, the sons of Israel, when they rejected God's knowledge, and forgot His law.

The Word says in v.1 that "the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land...(the sons of Israel)...BECAUSE there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land".

Then in v.2 it goes on to say what IS present in the land instead..."swearing, deception, murder, stealing, adultery, violence, bloodshed follows bloodshed".

Wow! Does that mirror anything we see in our own country? A country that is "hell-bent" upon removing God from our government, our schools, our homes...what is next? Will they make the attempt to remove Him from our hearts?

Sadly, that's already happened with many in our country.

And this passage in Scripture shows us that even in the days of the
Old Testament, when the parents failed to teach their children about God...about His knowledge (His Word)...that eventually they were left with a generation that didn't know God.

Didn't know His Word.
Didn't know His Law.
Didn't know His Precepts.

v. 3 Tells us the result..."Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky; and also the fish of the sea disappear."

MAN, OH MAN!

Because man chose to walk in unfaithfulness before God...to reject His knowledge, and to forget His law...utter destruction.

The interesting aside to all of this was that as we were driving home from Bible study tonight, having just studied these very verses, we drove past a drugstore and were in shock to see it surrounded by fire trucks and police cars, and the doorway taped off with police tape.

From the outside looking in, it appeared that something bad had gone down.

Then, we turned the corner only to see many more police and fire trucks in the parking lot of the local grocery store.

It looked like something bad had gone down.

Unofficial reports are that either a smoke bomb or pepper spray, or some other airborne irritant was purposely set off in these stores.

Hmmmm....has someone, somewhere forsaken God's Word?

Are there parents that have failed to teach God's Precepts to their children?

Who is responsible?

How did we get here?

How will we ever know how to order our lives in accordance with His will, if we never spend time in His Word?

Or, is it that even people who profess to be Christians, don't really care about ordering their lives according to His Word?

What are we teaching our children about the Lord?
ARE WE teaching our children about the Lord AND His WORD?

Or, do we depend upon the Sunday school teacher to do that?

If so, how do you know that what he or she is teaching them is correct?

How can we spend more time talking with our children about American Idol than we do about their loving, Almighty Creator?

Is there faithfulness and kindness and knowledge of God in your home?

We have friends who will not allow a Bible to be put on the floor in their home..that is how highly they revere the Lord and His Word.

Still others who won't let their Bibles out of their sight...they are from Romania, a land where Bibles were smuggled in for years.
They VALUE His Word...they live by it.

Where is your Bible? Why not go get it and read through Hosea 4:1-6, and ask God to speak to your heart about how you're doing with regard to seeking His knowledge...He promises that when you seek Him, you will find Him, when you seek Him with all of your heart.

May He speak to your heart today...as you diligently seek Him.

So in Love with Jesus,
Jesica

Precept for Kids

Have I mentioned lately how much fun it is teaching children how to study the Bible inductively?!

I am again amazed by how they "get it"!

Today in class, we talked about what it means to be a detective..and that when we study Scripture, we want to think like a detective does.

So, we staged a crime scene in class, and 2 of the children played the "good guy" and the "bad guy". Then, I came onto the scene as the detective, and asked the "good guy" questions about the crime.

The kids helped me think of questions to ask the victim, in order to figure out who had perpetrated the crime.

They loved it!

And, after my investigation took place, I explained to them that this was the exact way that we wanted to question Scripture..by asking the
"5 Ws and an H" questions.

I then asked them what the 5Ws and an H were..and they knew them! They just rattled them right off! Now remember, these kids are 4-6 years old, for the most part!

So, then we went through the last part of Genesis chapter 2, and we asked those questions of the Bible.

I just can't get over the fact that at 4 and 5 and 6 years old, these kids are understanding the basic principles of inductive study!

Then, we have an older child, who is so smart, and is such a whiz at studying this way! This child is also an amazing help to me...and such a joy to have in our class!

But, for the most part, this class is made up of 4-6 year olds...and they are EXCITED about studying God's Word!!!

I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT!

I think about what a gift it would have been in my life if I had been taught how to truly study the Word for myself..instead of just being taught what my "right pastor" ( ugh! I digress...that's a Thieme term...if you don't know what that means, read a past post ) thought the Scripture meant.

To have known from a young age how to study the Word, and how to allow the Holy Spirit to teach me Himself...and to allow Him to point out in my life what the application of the Scripture was...WOW! What an amazing gift that would have been.

But, God is good...so good, and He redeems the time!

So, now my heart's mission is to share this amazing gift with as many people as I can. Yet, I would have never imagined that it would be with kids as young as 4!

God's plans are so much richer than my own! :)

We're starting a couples study in our home....if you're interested in joining us for that, please let us know. We'll be studying "LORD, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days" ....and we'd love to have you and your spouse join us!

Have a great weekend!