Ah, the difference a definition makes...

Today in homeschooling, Caedmon wrote this verse in his wisdom book, and then we talked about it. Mom was winging it a bit in trying to explain some of the words, and then decided just to pick up the dictionary for a thorough definition.

Amazing what I found! My heart was ministered to as much as Caedmon's was!

Here's the verse:

Psalm 40:4
How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

And here's what we learned as we studied it inductively, armed with our definition...

This is a picture of 3 groups, if you will.
1. The blessed man
2. The proud
3. Those who lapse into falsehood

The word I was trying to explain to him was the word lapse. But, I was flailing, so that's when I pulled out my trusty copy of Webster's.

Here's what lapsed means: 1. to commit apostasy 2. to sink or slip gradually 3. cease

So, then I had to know exactly what apostasy meant: a renunciation or abandonment of a former loyalty

We talked about how the man who chose to make the LORD his trust had actually had to choose at some point. He could have followed the proud..those impressed with themselves and their own strength, or possibly even their rote religion.

Or, he could have follwed those who had lapsed into falsehood.

We talked about how the ones who lapsed were people who had at one time obviously wanted to follow God, but who had somewhere along the line decided to turn their backs on Him, and were now following lies.

It just opened up such a great opportunity to share with Caedmon about how easily that can happen, and about why knowing God's Word is essential.

For, when we spend time in His Word, and learn more of His character, the likelihood that we would surrender all of that to serve a lie, becomes less.

It's just so easy to fall into the lies of the enemy. They are everywhere in our culture!

Books like "The Secret" and celebrity talk show hosts who choose to follow the New Age movement and try to convince us that it's "modern" Christianity and the countless false teachers out there today, are snares that many unsuspecting people fall prey to every day.

I want my children to learn that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Pride is as sneaky as falsehood, in my honest opinion. Any of us could find ourselves prisoners to it.

Which is why, "How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust...".

The LORD is his trust.

The LORD is my trust...

Not me. Not my culture. Not the person whom so many others in my generation revere. Not the pop-psychology book of the day. Not the feel good karma book of the day.

Only the LORD.

I will make the LORD my trust. That's what I want to hear my children say.

That's what I want to live by.

In Him,
Jesica

Did you know that this is what "The Secret" says?!

Did you know that "The Secret" says this:

"You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life."

Incredible! Wow! PUUUULEASE!

Totally and completely opposed to Scripture.

I was the master of my universe (or so I thought...really, sin was ) when I had a one way ticket to Hell. ( See Romans 5 and 6)

Thankfully, I've now exchanged that with my Covenant partner, Jesus Christ, who paid the price of my sins for me..and in exchange, He is now Master of my universe! ( Romans 5 and 6)

I am an heir to the Kingdom of God, no doubt about that, but it's ALL and ONLY because of Christ, and who He has made me to be in Him.

I assure you, as will my husband and children, and anyone who has known me for more than 5 minutes, that I am NOT the perfection of life! In fact, that's just downright laughable!

Perfection rests only in God...in His Son, and in His Holy Spirit.

Wow! Just amazing the way that New Age junk can be repackaged over and over again and people still flock to buy it.

In the 90s, it was Anthony Robbins' stuff. And Landmark Education..and a whole supply of others.

I know, I had them all...I was deeply steeped in the lies of the enemy that come through the New Age movement. All junk!

If only we would realize, as a country, as a people, that "self-help" will let us down every time.

It's the help of Almighty God that we need....His is the only help that will make any lasting difference in our lives.

Psa 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble."

See Jonah chapter 1. Seems the sailors were calling out to the gods of their understanding too...which gained them only higher waves and more calamity.


Jonah 1:5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten {it} for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
Jonah 1:6
So the captain approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps {your} god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish."
Jonah 1:7
Each man said to his mate, "Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity {has struck} us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Jonah 1:8
Then they said to him, "Tell us, now! On whose account {has} this calamity {struck} us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"
Jonah 1:9
He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land."
Jonah 1:10
Then the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, "How could you do this?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Jonah 1:11
So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?"--for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
Jonah 1:12
He said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm {has come} upon you."
Jonah 1:13
However, the men rowed {desperately} to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming {even} stormier against them.
Jonah 1:14
Then they called on the LORD and said, "We earnestly pray, O LORD, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O LORD, have done as You have pleased."
Jonah 1:15
So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped its raging.
Jonah 1:16
Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.
Jonah 1:17
And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.

See the progression?

The sailors start out calling on their false gods.

Then they realize that Jonah is a Hebrew, and knows Jehovah Elohim. ( LORD God )

Then they STILL try to solve the problem on their own.

Then the storms grow stronger.

THEN what happens? Finally, they call on the LORD, the one TRUE God, and they pray to Him for help. ( GONE are their calls to their false gods...no more "self-help". They're toally begging God Almighty for help..as they recognize, FINALLY Who is really in control.)

Then God delivers them from the storm.

And...they serve God. They praise Him. They worship Him. They make vows to Him and sacrifice to Him.

See..that's what happens when people are set free from the lies of false gods, even if that false god was themself. What happens when we realize the Truth and Power of Almighty God is that we can't HELP but worship Him. We can't HELP but want to give Him our lives.

Having been saved from the depth of the pit of sin and self, and having been given the GIFT of my Savior, my Master, my Messiah...I am overwhelmed with a love and depth of appreciation for all that He is to me.

The Secret would have me believe that it's all in my hands.

What better way to teach people how to attempt to steal the glory of God then by telling them that it's all of their own doing.

Ugh! I can't wait to get to Heaven...