I realize that I'm supposed to be writing about what I learned from the Word today...but truthfully, we've been battling so much sickness this week that I haven't spent as much time as I'd like to have in my Bible.
However, I am reading a book that I can't put down. It's by K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia, www.gfa.org , and it's called, "The Road to Reality...Coming Home to Jesus in an Unreal World".
I gotta tell you, Dr. Yohannan's first book, "Revolution in World Missions", changed me at a very deep heart level. This book is doing no less.
I love writers who are willing to be transparent and honest.
They challenge me to live by a higher standard...by God's standard.
I can't put into words how awesome this book is, but I can tell you that I believe he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write it.
Dr. Yohannan's books now holds two of the spots on my "Top 5 Books of All Time" list.
What books have changed your life? Do tell....
Have a great night,
Jes
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Names of God
Tonight is a hard night for me. I just found out that a friend of mine was killed this weekend in a tragic accident.
As I write this, I feel as though my heart is going to break. She left behind a husband and two young children.
I ache for them. I ache knowing that I'll never see her again...never get to talk with her about the Lord again. Never listen as she shares her ponderings on God with me, and asks me questions about Him...I feel as though the conversation was in mid-sentence....there was so much more to listen to her about...so much more to share.
The tears keep coming, and I am reminded again of how precious the Lord is to me...as I think of His names, the one that keeps sounding in my head is Jehovah-Rapha, the LORD who heals me.
Even the name LORD (Jehovah) is amazing to me...it means all sufficient One...the LORD..He needs no ones help.
So, as deep as my hurt is right now, as deep as the pain is that this family is going through, Jehovah-Rapha is all sufficient to heal the hurts of all of us...single handedly.
A few months ago I might have written this post from a more "scholarly" approach...you know, all book learning with little practical life experience.
Amazing what a dose of humility and tearing down by God will do to a person.
You see...this summer was truly the summer of my discontent. It was the summer that I spent wondering if all this "God-stuff" was really true. Was He really Who he claimed to be? If so, where was He in the middle of my heartache?
Why didn't He stop the trainwreck that I had to go through this summer, before it happened?
Why does God allow satan to "sift believers like wheat" (that's what Jesus told Peter satan had asked permission of God to do to him)?
Yes, this summer was my crisis of faith. I never expected that I'd have one...I have been so deeply in love with God and His Son since giving my life to Him in 1999, that I never once thought I'd doubt Him.
WOW! Was I wrong.
But you know what I learned? I learned that God is bigger than my doubts. He is bigger than my questions about Him. He can take them...and He longs to answer them with the lovingkindness of who He is.
I realized that He wants so much more for me than I could ever want for myself, that He is willing to refine me in His fire until He has formed me as the person that He created me to be...in the image of His Son.
I realize that I'm rambling here, but I do hope you'll cut me some slack tonight. :)
Yes. Jehovah-Rapha wants to bring good from this tragedy that happened to my friend and to her family. Just like He brought good, and continues to, from the pain of my summer.
He wants to shine through this painful time and show Himself loving and gracious to my friend's family...and I hope that He will choose to use those of us in this community who know Him and love Him, to be instruments of His love.
Won't you please pray for this family with me?
And, will you please join me in praying for the pastor that will lead the funeral service? Pray that he will ask God to get him out of the way, and that he'll just let the Holy Spirit speak through him.
Pray, please, that the pastor who leads the service will be BOLD in sharing the Gospel..there are many in our community who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ..the propitiation for their sin debt...Him crucified and resurrected so that they might receive the FREE gift of eternal life, if only they will repent and follow Him.
Pray that the chosen pastor won't back down from sharing the Truth, the Life, and the Way....Jesus Christ.
Now is not a time for a soft-shoe dance. I am praying, and will be fasting, asking God to use this tragedy to bring salvation to many..and that the pastor who will lead the service will be only a vessel that God can pour out His Spirit through.
Won't you please join me? There are so many hurting people here who need the LORD. Will you join with me in prayer and fasting this week?
For Him and Because of Him,
Jesica
As I write this, I feel as though my heart is going to break. She left behind a husband and two young children.
I ache for them. I ache knowing that I'll never see her again...never get to talk with her about the Lord again. Never listen as she shares her ponderings on God with me, and asks me questions about Him...I feel as though the conversation was in mid-sentence....there was so much more to listen to her about...so much more to share.
The tears keep coming, and I am reminded again of how precious the Lord is to me...as I think of His names, the one that keeps sounding in my head is Jehovah-Rapha, the LORD who heals me.
Even the name LORD (Jehovah) is amazing to me...it means all sufficient One...the LORD..He needs no ones help.
So, as deep as my hurt is right now, as deep as the pain is that this family is going through, Jehovah-Rapha is all sufficient to heal the hurts of all of us...single handedly.
A few months ago I might have written this post from a more "scholarly" approach...you know, all book learning with little practical life experience.
Amazing what a dose of humility and tearing down by God will do to a person.
You see...this summer was truly the summer of my discontent. It was the summer that I spent wondering if all this "God-stuff" was really true. Was He really Who he claimed to be? If so, where was He in the middle of my heartache?
Why didn't He stop the trainwreck that I had to go through this summer, before it happened?
Why does God allow satan to "sift believers like wheat" (that's what Jesus told Peter satan had asked permission of God to do to him)?
Yes, this summer was my crisis of faith. I never expected that I'd have one...I have been so deeply in love with God and His Son since giving my life to Him in 1999, that I never once thought I'd doubt Him.
WOW! Was I wrong.
But you know what I learned? I learned that God is bigger than my doubts. He is bigger than my questions about Him. He can take them...and He longs to answer them with the lovingkindness of who He is.
I realized that He wants so much more for me than I could ever want for myself, that He is willing to refine me in His fire until He has formed me as the person that He created me to be...in the image of His Son.
I realize that I'm rambling here, but I do hope you'll cut me some slack tonight. :)
Yes. Jehovah-Rapha wants to bring good from this tragedy that happened to my friend and to her family. Just like He brought good, and continues to, from the pain of my summer.
He wants to shine through this painful time and show Himself loving and gracious to my friend's family...and I hope that He will choose to use those of us in this community who know Him and love Him, to be instruments of His love.
Won't you please pray for this family with me?
And, will you please join me in praying for the pastor that will lead the funeral service? Pray that he will ask God to get him out of the way, and that he'll just let the Holy Spirit speak through him.
Pray, please, that the pastor who leads the service will be BOLD in sharing the Gospel..there are many in our community who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ..the propitiation for their sin debt...Him crucified and resurrected so that they might receive the FREE gift of eternal life, if only they will repent and follow Him.
Pray that the chosen pastor won't back down from sharing the Truth, the Life, and the Way....Jesus Christ.
Now is not a time for a soft-shoe dance. I am praying, and will be fasting, asking God to use this tragedy to bring salvation to many..and that the pastor who will lead the service will be only a vessel that God can pour out His Spirit through.
Won't you please join me? There are so many hurting people here who need the LORD. Will you join with me in prayer and fasting this week?
For Him and Because of Him,
Jesica
Sunday, October 14, 2007
He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire...
I love it when I spend time in the Word and have an "Ah-Ha" moment, as I like to call them. In truth, I believe that these are really times when the Holy Spirit gives us understanding, and they are rich times.
I had one of these the other day as I was studying Matthew chapter 3.
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
"THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
There's so much here...and I don't have much time right now, so I'll just share with you my big realization that the Lord showed me.
I've always struggled with what it meant in verse 11 that "He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire". WHAT that meant, I couldn't ever get. I know that some would teach that it means that when one receives the Holy Spirit, they also receieve the gift of tongues as happened in Acts on the day of Pentecost.
However, I don't see that as a through-line through Scripture. I don't believe that in order to have the Holy Spirit, one must have the manifestation of speaking in tongues. I, as well as other belivers that I know, have prayed earnestly to receive that gift if it's God's will, and never have. Paul even wrote that he would prefer that people have the gift of prophesy over tongues..so it's clear to me that not all believers will receive it, anymore than that all believers will receive all the other gifts.
But, when I "SAW" it the other day in my study time, I was blown away!
As you study through Chapter 3, you see over and over again what the Messiah is going to do..how He is going to separate those who are truly His from those who are not.
These verses are replete with contrasts:
The people of Jerusalem, Judea, and the districts around the Jordan would going out and confessing their sins and being baptized for repentance..they were, in essence, getting ready for the arrival of Messiah...
BUT
The Pharisees and Sadducees were coming out to be baptized with no fruit of repentance or confession
The Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to rest in having Abraham as their father
BUT
John made it clear that wouldn't cut it (Abraham's FAITH is what God reckoned to him as righteousness..clearly the Pharisees and Sadducees weren't operating in FAITH)
Israel is represented in Scripture as the Olive Tree..yet John makes it clear that the fruit in keeping with repentance must be there in them, in order not to be "thrown into the fire"
Then in verse 12 we see the example of the winnowing fork...the wheat Messiah will gather into His barn
BUT
the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire
So, my big "moment" was in verse 11....based in the fact that these verses are all about contrasts, I realized that when we are told "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire", that is also a contrast.
The Holy Spirit is the baptism that will be given to those who are His...those who bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Those who receive Him as Lord and Savior, and follow Him.
The baptism of fire is what is referenced in the very next verse...the unquenchable fire.
This may not be a big deal for you, but it was huge for me..I've always wondered, "Lord, I was baptised in Your name, I repented...but what's this baptism of fire? Is that something else?"
Now I know. It is something else indeed, and I won't ever have to go through it.
Have you repented? Have you received the gift that Jesus gave you when He died on the cross to pay your sin debt? It's free. It's yours to receive. All He asks is that you repent of your sin, turn from it and follow Him....in doing so, that you'll receive Him as your Lord and Master and die to self so that He may live through you.
It's the most important decision you'll ever make..for it impacts your eternity.
In Him,
Jes
I had one of these the other day as I was studying Matthew chapter 3.
1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
2 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
3 For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
"THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS,
'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!'"
4 Now John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.
5 Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan;
6 and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 "Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
10 "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 "His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
There's so much here...and I don't have much time right now, so I'll just share with you my big realization that the Lord showed me.
I've always struggled with what it meant in verse 11 that "He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire". WHAT that meant, I couldn't ever get. I know that some would teach that it means that when one receives the Holy Spirit, they also receieve the gift of tongues as happened in Acts on the day of Pentecost.
However, I don't see that as a through-line through Scripture. I don't believe that in order to have the Holy Spirit, one must have the manifestation of speaking in tongues. I, as well as other belivers that I know, have prayed earnestly to receive that gift if it's God's will, and never have. Paul even wrote that he would prefer that people have the gift of prophesy over tongues..so it's clear to me that not all believers will receive it, anymore than that all believers will receive all the other gifts.
But, when I "SAW" it the other day in my study time, I was blown away!
As you study through Chapter 3, you see over and over again what the Messiah is going to do..how He is going to separate those who are truly His from those who are not.
These verses are replete with contrasts:
The people of Jerusalem, Judea, and the districts around the Jordan would going out and confessing their sins and being baptized for repentance..they were, in essence, getting ready for the arrival of Messiah...
BUT
The Pharisees and Sadducees were coming out to be baptized with no fruit of repentance or confession
The Pharisees and Sadducees wanted to rest in having Abraham as their father
BUT
John made it clear that wouldn't cut it (Abraham's FAITH is what God reckoned to him as righteousness..clearly the Pharisees and Sadducees weren't operating in FAITH)
Israel is represented in Scripture as the Olive Tree..yet John makes it clear that the fruit in keeping with repentance must be there in them, in order not to be "thrown into the fire"
Then in verse 12 we see the example of the winnowing fork...the wheat Messiah will gather into His barn
BUT
the chaff He will burn up with unquenchable fire
So, my big "moment" was in verse 11....based in the fact that these verses are all about contrasts, I realized that when we are told "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire", that is also a contrast.
The Holy Spirit is the baptism that will be given to those who are His...those who bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Those who receive Him as Lord and Savior, and follow Him.
The baptism of fire is what is referenced in the very next verse...the unquenchable fire.
This may not be a big deal for you, but it was huge for me..I've always wondered, "Lord, I was baptised in Your name, I repented...but what's this baptism of fire? Is that something else?"
Now I know. It is something else indeed, and I won't ever have to go through it.
Have you repented? Have you received the gift that Jesus gave you when He died on the cross to pay your sin debt? It's free. It's yours to receive. All He asks is that you repent of your sin, turn from it and follow Him....in doing so, that you'll receive Him as your Lord and Master and die to self so that He may live through you.
It's the most important decision you'll ever make..for it impacts your eternity.
In Him,
Jes
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Please - Sign Petition to Keep Jerusalem Undivided!
I PLEAD WITH you to go to the below blog and read the post for October 9th.
Please click the link found within and sign the petition to keep Jerusalem undivided. Please!
Jerusalem, along with all of Israel, is land that was promised to the Israelites from God Himself, way back in Genesis...in God's covenant with Abram.
As you study through prophecy of the Old Testament, you will see over and over again that God reconfims His covenant with His chosen people, the Jews. The land is a HUGE part of God's covenant with her.
After WWII, God led His people back to the land that He had given them. It's inconceivable that they would surrender control, even partial control, of Jerusalem to their enemies. They've already done that with the Gaza strip, and what has it benefitted them?
There are times in Scripture when God's people made covenants based in fear, with enemy nations, and they were dismal failures.
Yet, the covenants that God made with His beloved people will never fail.
Covenants based in fear are worthless. A covenant of faith in God...perfect.
Please, I beg you, please go and sign this petition. Show our President and the UN that we will stand with Israel, and for her.
Remember the tragedies of WWII? Remember the horrors that happened because those who could didn't stand up and protect Israel soon enough? Think of the lives that could have been saved had we, and the other allied forces had acted on her behalf more quickly.
While you're there, please sign the one about the Temple Mount too.
In Yeshua,
Jes
HERE'S THE LINK:
http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/
Please click the link found within and sign the petition to keep Jerusalem undivided. Please!
Jerusalem, along with all of Israel, is land that was promised to the Israelites from God Himself, way back in Genesis...in God's covenant with Abram.
As you study through prophecy of the Old Testament, you will see over and over again that God reconfims His covenant with His chosen people, the Jews. The land is a HUGE part of God's covenant with her.
After WWII, God led His people back to the land that He had given them. It's inconceivable that they would surrender control, even partial control, of Jerusalem to their enemies. They've already done that with the Gaza strip, and what has it benefitted them?
There are times in Scripture when God's people made covenants based in fear, with enemy nations, and they were dismal failures.
Yet, the covenants that God made with His beloved people will never fail.
Covenants based in fear are worthless. A covenant of faith in God...perfect.
Please, I beg you, please go and sign this petition. Show our President and the UN that we will stand with Israel, and for her.
Remember the tragedies of WWII? Remember the horrors that happened because those who could didn't stand up and protect Israel soon enough? Think of the lives that could have been saved had we, and the other allied forces had acted on her behalf more quickly.
While you're there, please sign the one about the Temple Mount too.
In Yeshua,
Jes
HERE'S THE LINK:
http://joelrosenberg.blogspot.com/
Thursday, October 04, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A friend loveth...
There are so many verses in the Bible about friends.
Today I was reminded of one of the sweetest..."A friend loveth at all times".
Tonight was really special for me. I had the privilege of going to dinner with several of my most favorite people in the world!
As I sat looking at each of their sweet faces, I was humbled as the Lord reminded me of the gift that these precious women are in my life. Such true, cherished, awesome friends! Each a precious token of love from God, and people that I hold so dear to my heart.
And, as I looked at a new face at the table, and heard her words of hunger for God's Word...and her excitement over having been given the gift of inductive Bible study, I was just sure that at any minute, I would burst into tears of joy.
For even in these past dark months that I've been going through, God honored the cry of my heart, through another of His servants, and the ladies Bible study kept on without me. Another took the torch and carried it faithfully, and I was free to snuggle deep into my Father's arms of love, in order that He might renew me, restore me, love on me, heal my heart....
But what a rich and amazing gift it was tonight, to hear the joy of this new friend as she expressed the thrill of all she'd been learning...to see the JOY of her salvation...and to know that God will always accomplish His plans...and that we can rest in knowing that we are but His servants...that He is, and always will be, the One in supreme control....
Tonight was like healing balm for me...oh, how I love these ladies...each so hungry for God's Word...each so hungry for God.
Sweeter friendships, I've never known.
How can I ever express how much you mean to me? Tonight was like a homecoming for me. I've missed you all so much! Thank you for your faithful prayers. Thank you for your love.
I am blessed, and I love you each so much!
Jes
Today I was reminded of one of the sweetest..."A friend loveth at all times".
Tonight was really special for me. I had the privilege of going to dinner with several of my most favorite people in the world!
As I sat looking at each of their sweet faces, I was humbled as the Lord reminded me of the gift that these precious women are in my life. Such true, cherished, awesome friends! Each a precious token of love from God, and people that I hold so dear to my heart.
And, as I looked at a new face at the table, and heard her words of hunger for God's Word...and her excitement over having been given the gift of inductive Bible study, I was just sure that at any minute, I would burst into tears of joy.
For even in these past dark months that I've been going through, God honored the cry of my heart, through another of His servants, and the ladies Bible study kept on without me. Another took the torch and carried it faithfully, and I was free to snuggle deep into my Father's arms of love, in order that He might renew me, restore me, love on me, heal my heart....
But what a rich and amazing gift it was tonight, to hear the joy of this new friend as she expressed the thrill of all she'd been learning...to see the JOY of her salvation...and to know that God will always accomplish His plans...and that we can rest in knowing that we are but His servants...that He is, and always will be, the One in supreme control....
Tonight was like healing balm for me...oh, how I love these ladies...each so hungry for God's Word...each so hungry for God.
Sweeter friendships, I've never known.
How can I ever express how much you mean to me? Tonight was like a homecoming for me. I've missed you all so much! Thank you for your faithful prayers. Thank you for your love.
I am blessed, and I love you each so much!
Jes
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Homeschooling is in Full Swing!
We're having such a great time homeschooling..I truly love it, and am thankful that I have this opportunity and time with my precious kiddos.
What I've found is that life as I knew it before has pretty much come to a screeching halt...there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all that I'd like to be able to do, and still teach our kiddos.
The 3 of us are working through a Precept study on Matthew, and I've been so proud of the kids. It's a study that is geared for adults, yet they are just working right along with me on it.
The deepest desire of my heart, for my children, is that they learn to study the Bible, and that they love God's Word...and trust Scripture to interpret itself.
Yesterday, we were studying through Matthew 2:1-12, and were learning about the two kings mentioned therein...Herod and Jesus.
The kids did such a great job of telling me all that they learned about Herod from the verses that we read.
Then Caedmon had a pretty serious question..."Mom, weren't all of Israel's kings chosen by God? And, Mom..if that's so, why would God have chosen a bad king like Herod?"
Mind you, he just turned 7. (sorry...a little pride just slipped in!)
So, I said, "Well, Caedmon, that's a great observation. I know that Saul and David were anointed by God to be kings over Israel, but I don't know if every king was chosen by God. So, what we do in a case like this is we write our question down, and keep studying. In time, Scripture will give us the answer."
I then wrote the ? on the board.
We kept on digging in, just to the 1st 12 verses of Matt. 2, and then read (around verse 11 or 12) that an Angel of the Lord appeared to the magi, and told them not to go back and report to Herod where they had found the Baby Jesus, the promised Messiah and King of Israel.
Caedmon yelled out, with such joy and excitement..."MOM! That's the ANSWER! Don't you see?! If Herod had been appointed by God, God wouldn't have sent an angel to tell the magi not to let Herod know where Baby Jesus was!"
It was so awesome! I thought that any minute I'd actually be able to see a lightbulb going off over his little head. :)
I then explained to him, "Caedmon..what you have now is a theory. It's a good theory, and you used great tools of deductive reasoning..but we don't know 100% that it's true yet. We have to keep digging, and as we do, we'll either find more verses that support your theory, or we'll find verses that will explain why it's not correct. But, either way, you're going to know the truth. "
This little snippet was the perfect example of why we have chosen for me to homeschool them. I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world...even clean baseboards. :)
( mine are dirty right now, and it's really getting under my skin!)
Until next time...
Jes
What I've found is that life as I knew it before has pretty much come to a screeching halt...there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all that I'd like to be able to do, and still teach our kiddos.
The 3 of us are working through a Precept study on Matthew, and I've been so proud of the kids. It's a study that is geared for adults, yet they are just working right along with me on it.
The deepest desire of my heart, for my children, is that they learn to study the Bible, and that they love God's Word...and trust Scripture to interpret itself.
Yesterday, we were studying through Matthew 2:1-12, and were learning about the two kings mentioned therein...Herod and Jesus.
The kids did such a great job of telling me all that they learned about Herod from the verses that we read.
Then Caedmon had a pretty serious question..."Mom, weren't all of Israel's kings chosen by God? And, Mom..if that's so, why would God have chosen a bad king like Herod?"
Mind you, he just turned 7. (sorry...a little pride just slipped in!)
So, I said, "Well, Caedmon, that's a great observation. I know that Saul and David were anointed by God to be kings over Israel, but I don't know if every king was chosen by God. So, what we do in a case like this is we write our question down, and keep studying. In time, Scripture will give us the answer."
I then wrote the ? on the board.
We kept on digging in, just to the 1st 12 verses of Matt. 2, and then read (around verse 11 or 12) that an Angel of the Lord appeared to the magi, and told them not to go back and report to Herod where they had found the Baby Jesus, the promised Messiah and King of Israel.
Caedmon yelled out, with such joy and excitement..."MOM! That's the ANSWER! Don't you see?! If Herod had been appointed by God, God wouldn't have sent an angel to tell the magi not to let Herod know where Baby Jesus was!"
It was so awesome! I thought that any minute I'd actually be able to see a lightbulb going off over his little head. :)
I then explained to him, "Caedmon..what you have now is a theory. It's a good theory, and you used great tools of deductive reasoning..but we don't know 100% that it's true yet. We have to keep digging, and as we do, we'll either find more verses that support your theory, or we'll find verses that will explain why it's not correct. But, either way, you're going to know the truth. "
This little snippet was the perfect example of why we have chosen for me to homeschool them. I wouldn't trade this time for anything in the world...even clean baseboards. :)
( mine are dirty right now, and it's really getting under my skin!)
Until next time...
Jes
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Increasingly, Abundantly More Than You Could Ever Ask or Imagine
I am in amazement today. Totally and completely humbled by God.
Truly in awe!
Today was the 1st day the Kids Precept Bible Study was opened to
non-homeschooled children. I expected to have a FEW more children join our study..but was BLOWN AWAY that we had 41 children come!
Only God could do that!
Last night, in our ladies study, we were looking into the life of Abram, at the time that God told him that He would establish His covenant between the two of them.
Abram had hoped for a child. Sarai had hoped for a child. They had prayed. They had waited. They had taken things into their own hands and failed to trust God at His word. They had produced a child through Sarai's handmaid that God said He would not establish His covenant with.
Still, the LORD was faithful, and chose to bless them.
Here are God's words to Abram:
Genesis 17:2-9
"I am God Almighty;
Walk before me and be blameless.
And I will establish My covenenat between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly."
And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.
And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations
of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your
descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
OH MY GOODNESS! Look at all of the promises that God made to Abram!
Abram wanted a child. An heir. A son.
God told him he'd be the father of nations..of kings...that he'd be exceedingly fruitful!
It's just like we're told in the New Testament. And no doubt why..if God holds all in His hands, then why are we surprised when His plans end up more fruitful than we could have ever thought to ask of Him?
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
untoHim [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
Makes me ask...what do we need in our lives? What's lacking in our walk with God?
Who do we so deeply wish would come to know the LORD?
Let's pray according to Who God is, instead of according to what we can imagine or think...clearly our dreams can't catch up with the greatness of our God! :)
Ask. Trust. Obey. Seek. Pray. Repeat.
What an awesome day this is!
I love those kiddos!
Have a super day,
Jesica
Truly in awe!
Today was the 1st day the Kids Precept Bible Study was opened to
non-homeschooled children. I expected to have a FEW more children join our study..but was BLOWN AWAY that we had 41 children come!
Only God could do that!
Last night, in our ladies study, we were looking into the life of Abram, at the time that God told him that He would establish His covenant between the two of them.
Abram had hoped for a child. Sarai had hoped for a child. They had prayed. They had waited. They had taken things into their own hands and failed to trust God at His word. They had produced a child through Sarai's handmaid that God said He would not establish His covenant with.
Still, the LORD was faithful, and chose to bless them.
Here are God's words to Abram:
Genesis 17:2-9
"I am God Almighty;
Walk before me and be blameless.
And I will establish My covenenat between Me and you,
And I will multiply you exceedingly."
And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,
"As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you,
And you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.
And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations
of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your
descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
OH MY GOODNESS! Look at all of the promises that God made to Abram!
Abram wanted a child. An heir. A son.
God told him he'd be the father of nations..of kings...that he'd be exceedingly fruitful!
It's just like we're told in the New Testament. And no doubt why..if God holds all in His hands, then why are we surprised when His plans end up more fruitful than we could have ever thought to ask of Him?
Ephesians 3:20-21
Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
untoHim [be] the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen.
Makes me ask...what do we need in our lives? What's lacking in our walk with God?
Who do we so deeply wish would come to know the LORD?
Let's pray according to Who God is, instead of according to what we can imagine or think...clearly our dreams can't catch up with the greatness of our God! :)
Ask. Trust. Obey. Seek. Pray. Repeat.
What an awesome day this is!
I love those kiddos!
Have a super day,
Jesica
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Dichotomies of Life
I hope you'll all appease me tonight, as I am choosing to process through some things on my heart as I write. This post won't be from Scripture.
The older that I get, the way that I view life changes. In the past few years, as people that I've cared about have passed away, I've become more and more aware of just how true it is that our lives are mere vapors.
There are many dichotomies in my life right now.
One of my dearest friends gave birth to her first daughter on
Mother's Day...being that her own mother died when she was 13, having her first daughter on Mother's Day redeemed the day for her.
By contrast, another friend whom I love dearly was in the hospital on Mother's Day with her 12 year old daughter, fighting like mad to help make sure she'll be strong enough for her upcoming bone marrow transplant.
One friend ushered in new life, one friend is asking God to preserve life.
More dichotomies...several friends of mine are "moving on up"...they're building bigger homes, getting newer cars, etc.
Other friends are losing their homes, wondering where they'll be living in the coming months.
Such dichotomies.
Many of my friends spent Mother's Day with their moms...at the least, they got to speak to their mothers, and grandmothers.
By contrast, my precious grandmother is with the LORD, and I don't have the freedom to call and speak with my mother today.
So, instead, I am keeping a collection of letters that I write to her from time to time. I have no idea if she'll ever read them, for I don't know if she'll ever be a part of my life here on earth again.
I can't speak to her, yet there are countless days that I fall asleep praying for her...asking God to let her know how much I love her and miss her.
I often wonder when I'll be able to do that without the tears pouring from my eyes, and soaking my pillow through.
Dichotomy.
I have a precious friend who would give anything in the world to be married to a Godly man.
I have another who is, yet she treats him like he's of no worth to her.
A terribly heartbreaking dichotomy.
Oh, and then of course..there's the dichotomy of fat. Do you know what that is? ;)
That's when you look at the pictures from 15 years ago, and see how great you looked when you thought you were a cow.
And now, you look in the mirror, many pounds heavier, and think,
"Hey, I don't look so bad!"
That's my dichotomy, and it's sticking to me! :)
Thanks for bearing with me tonight.
Jes
The older that I get, the way that I view life changes. In the past few years, as people that I've cared about have passed away, I've become more and more aware of just how true it is that our lives are mere vapors.
There are many dichotomies in my life right now.
One of my dearest friends gave birth to her first daughter on
Mother's Day...being that her own mother died when she was 13, having her first daughter on Mother's Day redeemed the day for her.
By contrast, another friend whom I love dearly was in the hospital on Mother's Day with her 12 year old daughter, fighting like mad to help make sure she'll be strong enough for her upcoming bone marrow transplant.
One friend ushered in new life, one friend is asking God to preserve life.
More dichotomies...several friends of mine are "moving on up"...they're building bigger homes, getting newer cars, etc.
Other friends are losing their homes, wondering where they'll be living in the coming months.
Such dichotomies.
Many of my friends spent Mother's Day with their moms...at the least, they got to speak to their mothers, and grandmothers.
By contrast, my precious grandmother is with the LORD, and I don't have the freedom to call and speak with my mother today.
So, instead, I am keeping a collection of letters that I write to her from time to time. I have no idea if she'll ever read them, for I don't know if she'll ever be a part of my life here on earth again.
I can't speak to her, yet there are countless days that I fall asleep praying for her...asking God to let her know how much I love her and miss her.
I often wonder when I'll be able to do that without the tears pouring from my eyes, and soaking my pillow through.
Dichotomy.
I have a precious friend who would give anything in the world to be married to a Godly man.
I have another who is, yet she treats him like he's of no worth to her.
A terribly heartbreaking dichotomy.
Oh, and then of course..there's the dichotomy of fat. Do you know what that is? ;)
That's when you look at the pictures from 15 years ago, and see how great you looked when you thought you were a cow.
And now, you look in the mirror, many pounds heavier, and think,
"Hey, I don't look so bad!"
That's my dichotomy, and it's sticking to me! :)
Thanks for bearing with me tonight.
Jes
Monday, May 14, 2007
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
"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
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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...
"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...
Friday, May 04, 2007
Prayer Request Update for Kayleigh
This is Kayleigh. Isn't she beautiful!Thank you So much to all of you who have been praying for Kayleigh.
Here are the specific ways that you can pray right now:
1. That one of her brothers is a bone marrow match...BOTH would be great too!
2. That she and her family will all stay well until the transplant.
3. That the insurance company will work WITH them.
4. That for the 20 days AFTER the transplant, everyone will stay well, and that Kayleigh's body will accept the new bone marrow.
5. For the PEACE that passes all comprehension, for everyone in the family, as they go through this.
It's interesting that her mom and all of the women of the Precept class have been studying covenant, because there are some pretty cool parallels here.
Check this out: In the Covenant study, we've been learning that when we enter into covenant with God, through Christ, that we are laying down our lives, and instead are putting on Christ's.
It a picture of dying to self, to live for Christ.
This reminds us of the words of Paul, "He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30
Well, when someone goes through a bone marrow transplant, the first thing that happens is that they undergo radiation or chemotherapy in order that all of their "bad" bone marrow is destroyed.
"I must decrease."
Then, when the other person's bone marrow is put into the recipient's body, the receipient's blood type actually CHANGES to that of the donor's blood type!
WOW! Talk about an amazing parallel to what is supposed to happen in our lives as we recognize that the OLD man has been crucified with Christ, and that the NEW MAN is ours only THROUGH and BECAUSE of Christ!
"He must increase".
Isn't that cool? From now on, when I think of how I am to "put on" Christ, I will remember this example. What a great way to live, thinking of "me" totally being destroyed, so that Christ can be poured into me, and I take on Him.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to help them out. We gave them 2 Visa gift cards today, from all of your generous donations.
If you'd like to give Kayleigh some words of encouragement, please send me a comment and request her Caring Bridge i.d., and I'll send it to you.
She'd LOVE to hear from you!
Have a great day! I'm off to my favorite Precept class...the one with the kiddos! :)
Jesica
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Our Christian Brothers from Turkey - Murdered for Believing in Jesus Christ
Ugur Yuksel
Tilmann Geske
Necati AydinI ask you to read the story included in the link below. It will be hard to read, but it just may help you refocus on why you are here, and what your purpose in this life is...that is, if you belong to Jesus Christ.
Our lives here are so short..the Bible says they are but a vapor.
These men used their vapors to share the love of Christ with the lost in Turkey.
It cost them their lives.
Christ gave His life that we might have life eternal.
He also rose that we might walk in newness of life.
That newness of life is to be lived for the glory of the Father, through Jesus.
What are you doing with what you've been given?
Are you living to glorify yourself, or are you living that He may be glorified through you?
Let the story of these men sharpen you...for truly, they were iron.
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
In Jesus,
Jesica
A letter to the Global Church from the Protestant Church of Smyrna
Dear friends,
This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).
On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and father of three Tilmann Geske prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless memory, “Goodbye, son. I love you.”
Tilmann rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the location of the Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.
None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord’s presence.
On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam.
On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as “seekers.” No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.
These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of “faithful believers” in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it’s like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.
The young men got guns, breadknives, ropes and towels ready for their final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o’clock.
They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilmann’s hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost three hours*
They were brutally tortured for 3 hours.
Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they did not respond.
Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning. He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. “We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there,” he said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone’s background weeping and a strange snarling sound.
He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five minutes. He pounded on the door, “Police, open up!” Initially the officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene.
Tilmann and Necati had been slaughtered. Ugur’s throat was slit and he was barely alive.
Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.
Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers. Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.
To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change their religion.
After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targetted. Most significant is the use of media propaganda.
From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began a campaign to bring the public’s attention to the looming threat of Christians who sought to “buy their children’s souls”. Hidden cameras in churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity.
In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public outrage and protests against the event and in favor of freedom of religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with the same message, “We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want Christians here.”
It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime. Even the parents of these children are in favor of the acts. The mother of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, “he will serve time for Allah.”
The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.
The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honored God as hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.
When Susanne Geske expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya, the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop it, a rumor was spread that “it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian.” In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.
Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so long professed and died for.
Necati’s funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim coffins.
Necati’s funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven, about 800 Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Necati’s wife Shemsa told the world, “His death was full of meaning, because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ… Necati was a gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor.”
Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati’s funeral, facing the risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected, the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the outskirts of Izmir.
Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Pray for them.
In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey, Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She did not want revenge, she told reporters. “Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do,” she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).
In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this comment of Susanne Geske has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her comment, “She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years could never do.”
The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. What will happen to this church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11)
When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The darkness does not understand the light. “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” (Acts 17:6)
Please pray for the Church in Turkey. “Don’t pray against persecution, pray for perseverence,” urges Pastor Fikret Bocek.
The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives, the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench more darkness in Malatya …all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true debilitating weakness.
This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.
Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know, in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with Christ.
We don’t know the details. We don’t know the kind of justice that will or will not be served on this earth.
But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilmann Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church.
Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007)
May 1st: As a wonderful follow-up, we know for a fact that three people in the last week have committed their hearts to Christ in response to the sufferings our friends went through: John 12: 24-25 "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds. The man who loves His life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." - Darlene N. Bocek
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Please please please pass this on to as many praying Christians as you can, in as many countries as you can. Please always keep the heading as “From the Protestant Church of Smyrna” with this contact information:
Monday, April 30, 2007
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. :)
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. :)
Saturday, April 28, 2007
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
Friday, April 27, 2007
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
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
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