What I Learned About Jesus Today

The other night, I was watching a new DVD set that I ordered from Day of Discovery recently. It's called, "Jesus - Man, Messiah, or More?" . 


In it, a group of theologians come together to discuss the life of Christ, but are approaching his life and teachings from the basis of history. That said, they are using the historical record to prove/disprove who Jesus was just as a historian would prove or disprove the claims about any person of history. (One would hope, anyway.)


One of the researchers made this comment, and it truly took my breath away. 


"Just like the first disciples, I am being discipled by Jesus every day." 


Wow! Let that soak in for a minute.


I had to rewind it and listen again a few times.


Then the questions began in my heart....


"Do I realize this?"


"Do I see my relationship with Jesus as being that of a student being taught at His feet every day?"


"If I want to learn from my Master, as the first disciples did (enough so that they gave up everything in their lives to follow Him, literally) am I spending the kind of time with Him that they did?"


"How can I hope that my life will impact my generation, and generations to come if I'm not daily reading the words, studying the words, reasoning through the words and applying the words of my Master?"


So my question for you, my friend, is .... do you see Jesus as being your discipler?


If so, are you cheating yourself of His one on one time?


Last night, I took my cell phone and set an alarm for myself and titled it, "Jesus time."


Mmmmm. Realizing that my time with Jesus is one of His greatest gifts to me, keeps me from viewing it from a basis of guilt if I don't get it. Instead, I will be rooted in a longing 
for more and more of it.


So much so, that I got lost in my time in the Word today. I studied and read and prayed and asked questions of the Lord and made notes in my Bible, and just loved every single minute of it.


We had to leave our home today at 9:10 to be on time for horseback riding lessons, and I was SHOCKED when I walked into the kitchen after my Jesus time, to find that it was 9:03 and the kids were not even up yet!


See...it works!  :)


This is one of the passages that I studied. I'll log in soon and tell you what I learned from it, but in the meantime why don't you read it and comment on what jumps out to you?


(You can check out the Day of Discover ministry or the dvd by clicking on their related links above.)


Oh, yes. Janan is the winner of the 40 Minute study from last post. And Laura, I was fair on the drawing, I promise.


Thanks for stopping by! 


Love to you today,
Jes






Mark Chapter 1

Mar 1:1	The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mar 1:2	As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: "BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER[fn1] AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY;
Mar 1:3	THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 'MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'"
Mar 1:4	John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness [fn2] preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mar 1:5	And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.
Mar 1:6	John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and [fn3] his diet was locusts and wild honey.
Mar 1:7	And he was [fn4] preaching, and saying, "After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals.
Mar 1:8	"I baptized you [fn5] with water; but He will baptize you [fn6] with the Holy Spirit."
Mar 1:9	In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Mar 1:10	Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens [fn7]opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;
Mar 1:11	and a voice came out of the heavens: "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."
Mar 1:12	Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness.
Mar 1:13	And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.
Mar 1:14	Now after John had been [fn8] taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, [fn9] preaching the gospel of God,
Mar 1:15	and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [fn10] is at hand; repent and [fn11] believe in the gospel."
Mar 1:16	As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.
Mar 1:17	And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Mar 1:18	Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
Mar 1:19	Going on a little farther, He saw [fn12] James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.
Mar 1:20	Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away [fn13] to follow Him.
Mar 1:21	They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.
Mar 1:22	They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them asone having authority, and not as the scribes.
Mar 1:23	Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
Mar 1:24	saying, "What [fn14] business do we have with each other, Jesus [fn15]of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!"
Mar 1:25	And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
Mar 1:26	Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.
Mar 1:27	They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
Mar 1:28	Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
Mar 1:29	And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with [fn16] James and John.
Mar 1:30	Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke to [fn17] Jesus about her.
Mar 1:31	And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she [fn18] waited on them.
Mar 1:32	When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed.
Mar 1:33	And the whole city had gathered at the door.
Mar 1:34	And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.
Mar 1:35	In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.
Mar 1:36	Simon and his companions searched for Him;
Mar 1:37	they found Him, and said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You."
Mar 1:38	He said to them, "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may [fn19] preach there also; for that is what I came for."
Mar 1:39	And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, [fn20]preaching and casting out the demons.
Mar 1:40	And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."
Mar 1:41	Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."
Mar 1:42	Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
Mar 1:43	And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,
Mar 1:44	and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
Mar 1:45	But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that [fn21] Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but [fn22] stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.

Blue Letter Bible. "Gospel of Mark 1 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2010. 2 Sep 2010. < http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Mar&c=1&t=NASB >

Can I Bribe You?

Can you be bought?


Bribed?


OK, so probably not, but can you be enticed by something of a gift? 


For anyone who chooses to take the challenge from my last post, and digs into those few scriptures and posts a comment answering some or all of the questions I posted, I'll put your name into a random drawing for a free book off of my bookshelf.


I'll choose one of the 40-minute studies that I love so much.


That B.J. Lawson can write! Lemme tell you! 
David Lawson's name is on them too, but he gives her all of the credit. 


Come on! I'm so eager to hear what you've gotten out of the passage.


I'm going to write my next post about my sweet Grandmother...look for that tomorrow.


Until then, I hope you'll enjoy the pictures of my sweet family that I just posted. 


Love ya'll tonight!
Jes


OKAY the rest of you...there's still plenty of time! We've got a GREAT "discussion" going here so far. I encourage you to take a minute and read the comments from the 2 ladies who have posted so far.


Now YOU tell us, what has the Lord shown you from this passage?
It's no fair feeling stupid...if that's all that's holding you back from posting, please.....let that go!
I wouldn't have a blog if I let that thought rule...because I have it often.


In a few more days I plan to share my heart about this passage...but I gotta have more than 2 comments before I do that.  :)


Who will be next?

Fun Family Times

 

    

What Will Your Chapter Title Be?

Good Morning Sweet Friends,

I hope this finds you having a great start to your day!

It's 56% humidity here in Tennessee, and I have to admit...my hair looks GOOD! :)

The injection I take each day has brought the ringlet curls of my baby years back to me, and I am diggin' them!

God is so gracious...took the curls away when I was 2 and my hair all fell out, brought it back straight for me to have during my preteen, teen and easily bothered 20s and 30s....then brought them back to me to savor during my 40s...a time when I really don't want to be mussing with me hair, love.

Okay, so I'm asking you to rise to a challenge with me this morning...will you go for it?

I want you to click here and read 1 Samuel 13:19 - 14:23.

Remember, pray first!

If you belong to Jesus Christ, then you have the Holy Spirit residing in you.

He is your teacher.

Ask Him for wisdom and understanding.

You can even ask Him to take away your fears about studying the Bible for yourself.

Tell Him that just for today, you really, really, really want to hear directly from Him...that you don't want someone else to tell you what to believe about God's Word, you want Him to teach you as any loving parent teaches their child.

Now, trust Him and dig in!

Read this passage as many times as you have to in order to get a grasp on what's happening.

Ask yourself...who are the main characters in this chapter?

What is the objective?

What's at stake?

Make a list on paper of any other questions that the Lord lays on your heart about this chapter as you read through it.

Please hear me here...hear my heart...the Lord has shown me something HUGE from this passage of Scripture and it would be so easy just to write it all out for you here, but I am desperate for you to know that you CAN learn to study for yourself.

So please, will you read it so we can have a good discussion?

After you've had your time before the Lord, will you come back here and post a comment telling us:

1. What questions arose for you as you read the passage?
2. What part was hard for you?
3. What did you learn?

and finally...but only for those who want extra credit points....

4. What would your chapter title for this passage be?
Let's just pretend that the verses I've given you to read are all in the same chapter.

Okay my friends, I must run....I've got some hungry little birdies waiting on me!

Much love to you today!
Jes
p.s. I know I should, but I'm not proof-reading today. :)

Amazed

I'm amazed today by the number of people who have either written or called to ask me if the false teacher that I was made to study under for all of those years is the same false teacher that they studied under.


Praise You, Sweet Lord, for delivering them from the same bondage of lies!


Each has an interesting story as to how they were roped into the legalism, and of how hard it was to break away from it.


Of how cunning the evil one can be when he works through someone who supposedly knows the Word of God.


One told me of how she was introduced to it through her youth group years ago, and about how the guest speaker who arrived at their church to introduce this teaching to the teens used such foul language that she couldn't repeat it to me.


Years later, when invited to a reunion with her former youth group friends and leader, she couldn't will herself to go...the pain was still too deep.


I remember, many years ago on a forum about cults, a man from Australia found my post and asked if he could contact me about it. When we spoke, his broken heart was so apparent. He shared that his family had gotten mixed up with this man's lies, and that he was just broken over it.


He wondered if I had any suggestions on what to say to them to help them break free. My counsel was to ask them what they were learning about the LOVE of God, and then to pray like he'd never prayed before, because he was in a fight of great magnitude...a spiritual battle for them to know the truth, and to live in freedom in Christ Jesus.


I remember another time, meeting someone who was also a follower. Once involved in cult teaching, you can smell it from a mile away when someone else is involved.


One of the biggest signs with this group, is that they isolate....and so had this man.


When I asked him the same question, "Do you ever get the LOVE of God when you listen to his teaching," the man went blank. His best answer was, "Well, sometimes I'm in fellowship and sometimes I'm out of fellowship."


OH...ok...so whether or not you are loved by God is now dependent upon you?


I fully understood what he meant, though. I wasn't assured of God's love for me until I became His at the age of 29. I too, felt as the man above had felt...like I'd never, ever know if He truly loved me, and I'd certainly never be assured of His pleasure in me.


So heartbreaking!


The saddest one of all though, was when I asked a young man of about 35, who had grown up under this false teacher, the same question. "In all those years of listening to him, did you ever "get" the LOVE of God?"


He turned his head away for a moment, and then turned it back to me. 


Tears were 


S
T
R
E
A
M
I
N
G


down his cheeks, and it took him at least three attempts before he could finally mutter out the word.....


"never."


I've thought of him often, and my prayer for him is always this....


"God, my precious God. Wonderful. Mighty. Awesome. Compassionate. 
God of lovingkindness and mercy. God of grace..... Lord, he hasn't turned his back on you, because if this was all he was ever taught, he never knew YOU! 


Lord, he has turned his back on a false system of religion. He's turned his back on a pharisitical spirit, and Lord, GOOD FOR HIM!


Now Father, my prayer is that you will surround him with people who REALLY know and LOVE you, and who are certain of Your LOVE."


It's interesting to me that I haven't even had to write the name of this false teacher, yet those who were under his bondage for so long know without question of whom I am writing.


I'm praying for you...you who are still involved, and you who may fall upon this post and need prayer for healing.


I'm so very sorry that any of us had to be mixed up with it, but I rest in God's sovereignty. He will not waste any of this. 


If you've turned away from God altogether, like the man I mentioned above, will you trust me when I tell you that He loves you dearly and that he longs to have a relationship with you based upon the truth of His Word?


I suppose that one of the reasons I am so very thankful for Precept Ministries, is that they have taught me how to study the Word of God for myself. After growing up in a cult that teaches that EVERYONE else is WRONG except for the man behind the podium, it was very hard for me to trust anyone's teaching for a long time.


Yet Precept helped me by giving me the tools to be able to find out for myself.


I'm praying for you tonight, that you might invest the time it will take, and yes...it will require time from you...to become a student of God's Word.


Discover Truth for Yourself!
Go Deeper With Others.
Disciple.


Now, I have a little pumpkin to tuck into bed, so I'm not going to proof read this post.


But I do hope that someone is encouraged to open up their Bible and learn direct from the Author.


Love to you tonight,
Jes

On Providential Blog Posts and How I'm Mirroring Beth's

My Momma-Nan, as I think I'll begin to refer to her, is a devoted follower of Beth Moore's blog.

I like to read it too, but I'm fairly hit or miss on it.

I found it interesting that neither my husband nor Janan commented on my blog entry regarding me sharing my testimony, which you'll find here.

When I asked Shane about it, he said, "Is God leading you to share it?"

Never fails. That guy can nail just about any situation that stumps me with one sentence.

I love him dearly, and I dearly love seeing his gift of leadership at work. For me, as well as for his company.

Both of us are darn blessed to have him!

When I asked Momma-Nan if she was going to comment on it, she promptly said,
"No, I'm not going to comment on it!"

Huh?

I mean, she is my top comment gal. Why in the world would she not comment on that post?

So I asked her why...

"Because. When you're supposed to share it, you'll know it. You won't have to ask me or anyone else if you're to supposed to."

I do love having accountability in my life!

Though the next time I look for another partner, I'm considering searching for one with the soft approach.
 I like to be balanced, that's all.  ;)

Nah...God knows me too well. He knew my needs before I ever asked for them. (Matthew 6:8)


So then Momma-Nan tells me I need to read this blog post of Beth's.

Wow! Could Beth have any better said all that's been rolling around in this head of mine the past few days?

I seriously doubt it.

I'm going to break it down for you a bit. Part two will be in a few days. That will be the fun one...the one about my own grandmother.

But for now, I'll address the idea of being the Momma of this blog...

1. This is my blog. I've often considered securing a name for another one called,
 "Any Idiot Can Have A Blog," simply because I think it's a hilarious name as well as a serious truth.
But alas, I didn't want to take the title from someone who might really need it. :)

Since this is my blog, I get publishing rights. And since I get publishing rights, I don't have to allow every comment that comes through to hit my blog. I get to reject the ones I choose to.

I use this right very judiciously. I've only had to use it a few times, but use it I will as I deem necessary.

Sadly, you wouldn't believe some of the ugly stuff that gets sent to me in the form of a comment, that is clearly spam. If you have a blog of your own, and you get comments like "lovely blog you have here...please visit mine at "anyidiotcanhaveablog" and become a follower"...know almost for certain that it's either an invite for a virus, or it will be a blog you don't want to open up to your sweet eyes.

If you're unsure, just Google the comment, or the name of the "blog"...if you quickly see that the same comment is posted on other blogs, just quickly reject that comment from your own, and don't visit the site.

Also, since I get publishing rights, and since the purpose of my blog is very clearly defined in my opening intro, I don't have to publish those comments from people who have what I believe to be a false understanding of Scripture, and want to use my blog to teach their own doctrines.

You see, I grew up under a false teacher. A person who skewed God's Word so bad, that it led to the heartache of many, many people.

He taught that abortion was a woman's right to choose, and he falsely used Scripture to support this lie from satan himself.

He pounded the fact that we were under grace and that if we sinned we just needed to "confess it and move on," yet he never once talked about what it means to grieve over sin, that we might not want to return to it. Heck, he didn't even teach that there was benefit in pausing to consider the sin...which led to a sin cycle of sin, confess, same sin, confess, same sin, tired of confessing...God must be tired of hearing from me...will I ever be free of this?...doubtful...God's out to get me anyway...He's a tyrant like this "pastor" is...I can't ever walk in victory...I might as well just forget God and submit to the sin once and for all...

This is what happens when we don't stop to consider the cost of our sin...when we don't ask God to make us grieve over it, to BEG Him to help us hate it the way that He hates sin, so we won't want to return to it.

He belittled and berated people who would dare to show up to his "Bible classes" even minutes late, waiting until they were seated and then stopping his "teaching" to call them to their feet and humiliate them in front of everyone present by telling them that they were distracting others from their study of the Word by being so inconsiderate. "What time does this class start?!," he'd yell from his bully pulpit.


To this day I can't believe that someone didn't stand up and give it right back to him! That no one took him to the book of James and showed him what true wisdom looks like:  
James 3:13-18 
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,  there is disorder and every evil thing.  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the  seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Or to Paul's admonition to Timothy to make sure that he taught others this way:
2 Timothy 4:1-2 
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judgethe living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in this man's words to his congregation, and Dear Lord, to their guests?!


Can you even IMAGINE Jesus doing that? Or the Apostle Paul? Peter? James? Timothy? John?

He built his army of followers by holding nightly classes....yes, nightly! There was only one day a week off from "Bible class." All true followers were to be there the other 6.

Hmmm...just wondering what kind of impact those dedicated followers made with their lost neighbors who needed Christ?

Pretty hard to impact the lost when you don't spend any time with them.

I know how we did...we isolated from just about everyone. Especially the Baptists in our town. I remember going to church with one of my little friends from school one night, and when the invitation was given, I was pierced to the heart...I went down front and told them that I wanted to have Jesus in my heart.

Then, I bawled uncontrollably all the way home, just terrified of what my parents were going to say because I went and let myself get "emotional" about Jesus. I'd been taught and taught that conversion wasn't an emotional thing, and here I'd gone and fallen for the "deceived" Baptists' bait!

As a child, I was made to listen to his lies by tape every night, and take notes on them. If I hadn't done a good enough job on my notes, they would be returned to me and I'd have to listen to his garbage all over again.

He taught me all about the impending war with Red China. He taught me that if I were to be captured by one of these communists in the war that we'd soon be in, I needed to be prepared to give only my name, my rank, and my serial number.

Uuuuh...I was 7. I didn't even have a social security number yet!

I suppose I should be happy that the Holy Spirit has erased all the "teaching" that this false teacher poured in, other than those lies that I can easily discern as such today.

Oh, my all time favorite....and I say this in jest.

He taught me that God is done with the Jews, until the 1,000 year reign.

Can you imagine God being "done" with His chosen people? Our covenant keeping God, done?

Our God who never lies...never breaks a promise...and Who, when He says, "everlasting,"...really means it?

He taught me that there is only 1 right man for every woman, and that if I should fall into sin outside of marriage, that the person I fell into that sin with would then become my right man, and I'd miss out on the real one God had for me.

Nice.

Now that, "we're under grace" teaching just fell apart at the seams. No grace for the person who commits sexual sin.

All other sins we just "confess and move on" from....but sexual sin...we'd be bound to that one for a lifetime..in the form of a spouse that might have been a horrid pick for us.

Oh, I forgot my other favorite...

Everyone who didn't believe his interpretation of the Bible was WRONG!

He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary, but I'm told by some other DTS grads who have been my friends or pastors, that he is the black mark on the seminary.

When I tell them whose teaching I grew up under, they all get this very sad and heavy look on their face, and then they tell me oh...you were raised a "------ite. I'm so sorry! How are you doing now?"

Yes, they even have a name for his followers that some DTS people have coined. It's not Davidianites, but it's close, and the gist is certainly the same.

Seems they must discuss this man's false teaching ways at some time during the training at DTS, possibly to prepare them for how to minister to the desperately broken and hurting among the brethren who they may one day have in their own churches?

All that to say, if someone sends me a comment full of false teaching, I'm not required to post it.

I won't be posting it.

Because this is my blog for Jehovah God, and Jesus Messiah....and it will stand for truth!

I love how my friend little momma said, in her comment about whether or not to share my testimony,
"I think we must always use discretion and tell our stories in a way that is relatable and yet does not steal the innocence of our listeners..."


That's such great wisdom, and I find tonight that it also applies to how my blog is to be used. 


God forbid that I should post someone's comments that I believe to be a false interpretation of the Word of God, and find that it has stolen the innocence of my reader...or been used of the evil one to bring confusion!


Nope. It won't be happening here.


Mini rant coming...rather a FIRM REBUKE, fully rooted in God's call on a given situation in my life...most readers may want to just skip the red lettering here...


And, when someone sets up a false blogger profile, under the name of one of their friends, in the hope that they'll fly under the radar and I won't be smart enough to figure out what's going on, you can be absolutely assured that I won't be posting those comments!


And, to the aforementioned person, in the heart of Christian charity, I rebuke you...who clearly cannot honor a single boundary Shane and I have laid down for you with regard to our family...to once and for all STOP IT!


Let it go.


Put it in God's hands. 


Trust Him and His timing. 


He is sovereign. 


If you care for me or my family in even the least bit, STOP IT! The emotional energy that you steal from our lives is indescribable, inconsiderate, inexcusable!


YOU NEED TO QUIT!




Nope, I won't post false doctrine, and I won't post comments from fake blogger profiles.


Because this is my blog for Jehovah God, and Jesus Messiah...and it will stand for truth!


Can I get an "Amen?"


Seriously..."Amen" is a postable comment!


Now, I was going to move on to a lighter post about how being at the farm always brings back such sweet memories of my Grandmother...Nina Aline.


My daughter is named after her...she has her middle name. 


Brennan Aline.


I love what Aline means...beautiful.


Brennan - brave. 


Brave Beautiful Brennan.


Should've seen her out on the wave riding tube today, taking the wake of the boat in stride! She's as much of a lake girl as her Momma is! We've both agreed that we could LIVE on a boat for the REST of our LIVES!


How cool would it be to be on a houseboat in the middle of the lake, fishing off the side or skiing from behind, when the rapture happens?


Very cool!


Brave Beautiful Brennan...


In her black and white polka-dotted, pink trimmed bathing suit.


With her legs that go on for days, and days, and days....


And that curly hair with auburn highlights, just glistening in the sun..


You'd have found her to be Brave Beautiful Brennan, too!


Yes, my next post will be about my Grandmother, whose name Brennan bears....Nina Aline.


Nina has it's roots in the Hebrew language, and it means Grace.


Gracious and Beautiful.


That was definitely my grandmother!


I'll write about my gracious, beautiful grandmother soon.


Much love to you tonight in Messiah Yeshua...my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,


Jes

In Reponse to banddear

Hi bandddear,

I tried to post this as a comment in response to yours regarding my question about sharing my testimony. However, blogger told me that I had too many characters, and so I'm just posting my comments as a post.

Thank you for your opinions, and for pointing me to the Word. I love it when people exhort me through His Word. :)

I disagree with you completely when you say that for someone to share their testimony, it is a sign of a self-image problem.

I am deeply thankful that Paul shared his own with us on repeated occasions throughout Scripture.

Where might I be today without Rahab's testimony, or the woman in Luke chapter 7's testimony, or even Ruth's for that matter?

There have been countless times that I have shared what the good hand of my God has done for me, at speaking engagements or in Bible studies, only to have women come forth with tears pouring down their precious cheeks to tell me that hearing my testimony gave them HOPE...and that they wanted to be forgiven of the Lord too.

Which, of course led us straight back into the Word...and even times when I had the great gift of seeing some of them drawn to God by His Spirit at those very moments.

I don't live in my past. I don't let my past beat me up. I am fully aware that it has been forgiven, and that I am to press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Praise God!

Yet, we do need to hear the testimonies of others. There is overcoming power in the testimony of those snatched from the pit of sin, to serve the Risen Savior!

I remember the first time that I heard Kay's testimony. I was absolutely amazed! I'd never heard a Christian share so openly and truthfully about who they had been, or how they had lived.

Yet, here was this woman of God...a woman passionately in love with studying His Word. A woman who was not even a shadow of the one whom she described in her testimony...and she was telling us the truth about what she'd once been like!

I realized in that moment that Christians don't talk about "those things," all to often.

I believe it's why we have people sitting in our churches, hearts broken, thinking they have nowhere to turn...no one they can talk to.

We're all so busy looking good for Sunday that we can't be transparent with one another.

Our divorce rate in church is now higher than in the secular world, I'm told.

Our kids don't look any different than the kids of the world.

Our men are in bondage to lust, playing itself out in any number of ways.

Our women cluck their Christians tongues in prayer meetings asking for prayer for so-n-so, when really it's just a safe place to gossip.

Yet when we can be honest with one another, as Paul was with his audience and with us, we can begin to see people grasp Jesus as the true life changer that He is!

I think of the number of people that I meet who won't even walk into a church because of all the "good church hypocrites" they've met.

I have dear friends and family members who fall into that very category, by their own admission.

Thank you also for the reminder exhortation too see myself as God does, through the imputed righteousness of His Son. Amen and amen!

I am sorry that your experience with the one class of Kay's that you took led you to believe that she thinks we are under law.

I would be interested to know what study you took?

What I love about Precept is that it teaches me a method, which teaches me to study God's Word through the tools of that method...inductively.

Kay would be the first to say that people either love her or hate her...but she'd also want you to know that it's not HER that she wants peoples' eyes on.

She wants their eyes on the Word of God.

Period.

I grew up being taught my whole life that we are under grace. Yet that grace was used as a license for sin in my home, many times.

And right in the midst of it, out would be thrown the very words of God, used so out of context..."we're not under law, we're under grace."

Yes, we are under grace.. were we not none of us would be able to have a relationship with God the Father.

Yet that grace...that COSTLY grace, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer so beautifully shows us in "The Cost of Discipleship" is to be used to point others to Christ, and never as an excuse for our sinful behavior.

"Shall we sin all the more that grace may increase?," the apostle asked...and then answered, "May it never be!"

The baton is now being passed from Jack and Kay to their son David, who will be the spiritual leader of the ministry within the next few years.

I especially love David's heart, (not to say that I don't love Kay's).

David is so dedicated to further commissioning an army of men and women who will go forth and teach others how to discover God's Word; go deeper in their studies with those students; and then see them raised up to disciple still others  in the Truth of God's Word.

It's an exciting time in the ministry...I pray that you will consider trying inductive study again.

After all, any of us would tell you, it's the method that matters... not the messenger.

In the love of Messiah,
Jes

My Testimony

It's ugly.


The part before Jesus entered my life, that is.


It's worse than ugly.


It's hideous.


It grieves my heart when I think about my past.


But I find it often gives hope to other women.


Women who have believed the lies of the evil one. 


He's brutal. 


Hateful.


Cruel.


I've often wondered if I should share it here.


Should I have a little tab somewhere on my blog that would allow you to see who I was before Jesus...


Would you even care to read it?


Would it become fodder for gossip, or a huge opportunity for God to be glorified?


Would it make you focus on the slime pit of my sin, or stand in awe of the Savior of my soul?


Would you want more of Him, as a result of reading what He did for me?


Would He use it to draw someone else to salvation?


So many questions in my mind.


I would cherish your prayers as I consider sharing it, seeking Him and His wisdom on what to write, and what not to.


I'd also love to know  your thoughts...your exhortations...


Much love to you tonight,
Jes

The Holy Spirit

Don't know why I've never put 2 and 2 together before, but this was SO cool to learn from the Word today...

Acts 1:1-5

	The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
	until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
	To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
	Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised,"Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;
	for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." The emphasis and color coding are, of course mine. Yet, for the purpose of explaining what I think the Lord showed me today, I needed to use those tools. When I did the Precept Upon Precept study of Kings & Prophets part 1, I learned how very important Jerusalem was (and I believe from Scripture, still is) to God. It was the place where He chose for His Name to dwell. It was the place where He chose for His Spirit to dwell. He told His people, Israel, to build a temple for Him, that His Spirit could dwell with them in the Holy of Holies...where the ark of the covenant was. (Forgive me if I'm paraphrasing this any, I'm going by memory here..just laying a bit of ground work that my "ah-ha" moment from this morning might make more sense.) My hope is that you're getting how precious Jerusalem was, and is, to God. I mean, think about it this way. Jesus' disciples were men from Galilee. Could He not have chosen to pour out His Spirit upon them in their own home towns? You see, Jerusalem. The place where God had first poured His Spirit out to His people Israel. The Spirit had FILLED the temple. He had been ushered in by God's people with great joy, much praising, trumpets blowing in great numbers. Yet, due to their disobedience, the temple was destroyed, and the Holy Spirit would not dwell with them permanently again, until Jesus made a way for it. Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, ..through Jesus Christ's completed work on the cross, we are all, Jew and Gentile, able to be reconciled to God through Him...and now the Holy Spirit dwells within the believer. We are now the temples of the Holy Spirit. But, back to my "ah-ha"....it all started in Jerusalem! (Both times!) Jesus obeyed the Father in all that He did here on earth, and it was the Father's will that His Spirit be poured out upon the apostles, thus the first filling of the Holy Spirit in a bodily temple...in Jerusalem! I just think that's HUGE! Amazing! Beautiful! So like God, too, to make it a precept upon a precept. A truth upon a truth. Jerusalem. How I hope I get to go one day. My sweet husband has been, but oh...how I long to go! When Precept Ministries posts the pictures from their visits, I always sit in front of my computer and pour through each one of them, tears streaming down my face. Jerusalem. It just became even more precious to me. Love ya'll today, Jes