I'm reading a book right now called The Untold Story of the New Testament Church by Frank Viola. The point of the book is to help Christians better understand the New Testament. You see, the letter written by Paul have been arranged in the NT in order of their length.
This book puts them in the order in which they were written and gives you some background into what was going on with the church at that time and the reasoning for each of the letters Paul wrote. It really is eye opening to understand the "back story" if you will of each of Paul's letters. There was a purpose for each of these letters being written, a particular issue that Paul is addressing that was occuring in that particular church at that particular time. (The book does deal with the entire NT, not just the letters written by Paul, but these are the ones which for the most part have been arranged by length).
Right now I'm going through a chapter called The Jerusalem Chronicles which is dealing with the book of Acts. There is one quote regarding the beginning of the church that really caught my eye.
It is 30 AD and the Jerusalem church has just been born. Pentecost has come and the Believers have been baptised with the Holy Spirit in the upper room where they were meeting. This "church" following Jesus has now gone from 12 disciples to 120 in the upper room to 3,000 believers.
"The first instinct of these new Christians is to meet and to meet constantly. The Galilean experience of informal gatherings with Christ as the center is now brought to Jerusalem by the Twelve."
That made me think. When Jesus walked the earth he would sit with his disciples and teach them while they shared a meal. He was the center of it all. Now that he had ascended to Heaven and the Holy Spirit had been sent to the Believers, they followed this same pattern. They met often to teach one another, to fellowship and to eat (often was more than just once a week!). In all of this Jesus was the center of these meetings, not programs or anything else. As they did this they came to love one another and naturally the began to care of one another's needs and the needs of the community.
I think today we loose sight of this so often. I'm doing a study right now on Ephesians at work about Walking the Talk you Talk. One of the recent questions was "If a person is going to walk in a manner worthy of his calling as a Christian - or to put it another way, if a person claims to be a Christian and wants to walk his talk - what would he need to do, according to what you've seen in today's study?" (study that day was on Ephesians 4:14-16)
My answer was the first priority we have is to nuture our walk with the Lord as this is the only way we will truly know the Truth and be able to walk with one another in unity. If we continue to nuture our relationship with the Lord (prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting, etc) then the rest, the fruit of love will come naturally. We try too often to produce the "fruit" on our own. It should be there, definitely, but only God can produce it in us, we can not do it ourselves.
I think sometimes this overflows not only into our personal lives but also into church. As a church sometimes we start to focus on doing for others, the fruit. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does lead to burnout if our focus is on this and we are trying to do it of our own power. As a church (a body of believers) we need to first focus on Jesus, the head of our church. The rest will come.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Attack on Marriage
Many of you have probably heard about how California (where I currently live) as of June 17th has made it legal for homosexual couples to marry. A few years ago the voters had voted down this same thing and it is going to be on the ballot again this fall. However, we have a couple of judges who have decided they know best and they have basically said "Who cares what the voters say, we are going to overrule it all!"
Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage did a post on this a few days ago that is really good. I recommend you take a few moments to read it - What is in Your Camp? - It IS indecent
After reading her post, the comments others posted regarding her post and reflecting on things I've been seeing and experiencing in my own life and the lives of those dear to me I realized something.
The Enemy is determined to destroy marriage. God gave us marriage as a gift, a beautiful thing to be shared between a man and a woman in which they can begin to experience the relationship the Lord wants with each of us. The Enemy hates that, so he is going to twist this gift as much as possible so we miss the true meaning behind it.
This legalization of gay marriage is not the only way he is attacking marriage. This is just the most recent way he has been doing it. Unfortunately, many of us are so focused on just this one thing that we don't realize as Christians we have in many ways accepted other ways he has set out to destroy marriage. Having and raising a family outside of wedlock, living together when not married, have sexual relations outside of marriage and having affairs has become common in our society. In some cases these things are even considered normal and perfectly acceptable.
Then even if we do recongize these things are distortions of God's true gift, we become judges with no compassion. We start to attack the people who are being deceived by the Enemy instead of loving them and just hating the sin. To be honest this is a hard concept to get and even harder to live out. But with God's help we can do it.
I'm asking that you join me. Not only in becoming politically active to try to turn around our country, but more importantly to join me on my knees. Cry out to the Lord to show us how to take back our country, our world while still showing compassion for those who are being deceived. Those who the Lord loves deeply, who the Enemy is currently deceiving. Help us to see what marriage is really about, a true picture of marriage through God's eyes.
Unfortunately right now, the church's view of marriage is not all that different from the world's view. Our track record is just as bad as those who do not attend church. If we cannot "get it" how can we expect the world to understand what we are trying to tell them? Do we each love our spouses the way the Lord wants us to love them? Do we really understand this gift the Lord has given to us. Are we living it out the way He wants us to? I know if I am honest, I have a lot to learn still and I am far from being an example to the world of what the Lord's gift should look like.
Lynn at Spiritually Unequal Marriage did a post on this a few days ago that is really good. I recommend you take a few moments to read it - What is in Your Camp? - It IS indecent
After reading her post, the comments others posted regarding her post and reflecting on things I've been seeing and experiencing in my own life and the lives of those dear to me I realized something.
The Enemy is determined to destroy marriage. God gave us marriage as a gift, a beautiful thing to be shared between a man and a woman in which they can begin to experience the relationship the Lord wants with each of us. The Enemy hates that, so he is going to twist this gift as much as possible so we miss the true meaning behind it.
This legalization of gay marriage is not the only way he is attacking marriage. This is just the most recent way he has been doing it. Unfortunately, many of us are so focused on just this one thing that we don't realize as Christians we have in many ways accepted other ways he has set out to destroy marriage. Having and raising a family outside of wedlock, living together when not married, have sexual relations outside of marriage and having affairs has become common in our society. In some cases these things are even considered normal and perfectly acceptable.
Then even if we do recongize these things are distortions of God's true gift, we become judges with no compassion. We start to attack the people who are being deceived by the Enemy instead of loving them and just hating the sin. To be honest this is a hard concept to get and even harder to live out. But with God's help we can do it.
I'm asking that you join me. Not only in becoming politically active to try to turn around our country, but more importantly to join me on my knees. Cry out to the Lord to show us how to take back our country, our world while still showing compassion for those who are being deceived. Those who the Lord loves deeply, who the Enemy is currently deceiving. Help us to see what marriage is really about, a true picture of marriage through God's eyes.
Unfortunately right now, the church's view of marriage is not all that different from the world's view. Our track record is just as bad as those who do not attend church. If we cannot "get it" how can we expect the world to understand what we are trying to tell them? Do we each love our spouses the way the Lord wants us to love them? Do we really understand this gift the Lord has given to us. Are we living it out the way He wants us to? I know if I am honest, I have a lot to learn still and I am far from being an example to the world of what the Lord's gift should look like.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Thankful Thursday - Wisdom & Discernment
I'm not sure if we are supposed to go with a particular theme each week on this or not, so please forgive me if I am not playing by the rules.
Today I am thankful for God’s wisdom and discernment. I am thankful that we can ask for God to reveal His Truth to us and we can trust Him to do so. He will not only do it, He does it with joy and is abundantly generous to give us His Truth when we sincerely seek it.
I ask for your wisdom and discernment for all of us. I ask that you reveal your Truth to us, that we may rely on Your Wisdom instead of our own/the worlds. Where we may be reluctant to accept it, I ask that you transform us. Open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, our minds and hearts to understand.
James 1:5
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
Proverbs 2:1-5
My son, if you will receive my words and store my commands inside you, paying attention to wisdom, inclining your mind towards understanding – yes, if you will call for insight and raise your voice for discernment, if you seek it as you would silver and search for it as for hidden treasure – then you will understand the fear of Adonai and find knowledge of God.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
James 3:17
But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, opent to reason, full of mercy, and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Thankful Thursday - Security
It is late tonight and year end is coming up at work (meaning lots of hours and stress), so I'm going to keep this short today (at least my part). This week I am thankful for the security I have in my Lord. The Lord has been highlighting the below verses for me this week and they pretty much say it all. Nothing further is needed from me to explain them.
I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have (perfect) peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustraion; but be of good cheer (take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted)! For I have overcome the world. (I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.)
~ John 16:33
You dear children, are from God and have overcome them (spirit of the antichrist), because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
~1 John 4:4
But now, this is what the Lord says - He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead."
~Isaiah 43:1-3
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Our True Home
I spent two nights this past week in a hotel room on a business trip. At first it was kind of nice. Very quiet (as opposed to three young children at my house!) and I could get some reading done in peace, no interruptions. It was a decent room, not fancy, but not bad either.
But after awhile it began to seem a bit dingy and lonely. It was just not home.
I used to travel quite a bit for work before we had children. Back then I did not appreciate the quiet as I do now. I remember though the perks of eating out and having someone clean the room every day. However, I also remember that the novelty wore off fast. I would come home after being on the road and all I would want is a nice home cooked meal and my own bed to sleep in. I missed my own bed, snoring hubby and all!
I recently read something that compared our life on this earth to a hotel room. Jesus told us that we are not of this world (we are just visitors). Our true home is in Heaven with Him. The more I think about it, the more fitting this analogy seems to be.
Living on earth, this life, is nice at times. We experience our share of happiness and good times. However, it is like living in a hotel room. Nothing is actually ours, when we leave we will leave all the stuff behind in the room. Though it is quiet and restful at times, overall it is dingy and lonely. We long for our true home.
Some of us may live in a really nice hotel room right now, but even that gets old after awhile. It is never the same as being at home. Our heart, our soul inevitably becomes homesick. We long for the trip to end so we can sleep in our own bed. We long to go to our true home, Heaven, where we will find our true treasures waiting for us. Our true home where we are greeted by our loving family with open arms.
While we can make phone calls home during our trip it is just not the same as talking to our loved ones face to face and feeling their warm embrace. Although we can lift our prayers to Heaven and commune with Jesus, it is just not the same as meeting him one day face to face, feeling His embrace and having Him lead us to that true home which He has built for us.
Is this how you see your life on earth, as a temporary stop that is just a foretaste of what is yet to come? Is this how you see Heaven? As the one true place where you belong?
I know too often I forget about this. I forget that instead of focusing on this life, I should focus on Jesus and look forward to the wonderful life that is ahead of me. I need to remember that my true home, my true treasures, my true love is not found here on this earth, in this life. We need to live for this day and give our best to the Lord, however we should also be looking forward to our true home in anticipation.
But after awhile it began to seem a bit dingy and lonely. It was just not home.
I used to travel quite a bit for work before we had children. Back then I did not appreciate the quiet as I do now. I remember though the perks of eating out and having someone clean the room every day. However, I also remember that the novelty wore off fast. I would come home after being on the road and all I would want is a nice home cooked meal and my own bed to sleep in. I missed my own bed, snoring hubby and all!
I recently read something that compared our life on this earth to a hotel room. Jesus told us that we are not of this world (we are just visitors). Our true home is in Heaven with Him. The more I think about it, the more fitting this analogy seems to be.
Living on earth, this life, is nice at times. We experience our share of happiness and good times. However, it is like living in a hotel room. Nothing is actually ours, when we leave we will leave all the stuff behind in the room. Though it is quiet and restful at times, overall it is dingy and lonely. We long for our true home.
Some of us may live in a really nice hotel room right now, but even that gets old after awhile. It is never the same as being at home. Our heart, our soul inevitably becomes homesick. We long for the trip to end so we can sleep in our own bed. We long to go to our true home, Heaven, where we will find our true treasures waiting for us. Our true home where we are greeted by our loving family with open arms.
While we can make phone calls home during our trip it is just not the same as talking to our loved ones face to face and feeling their warm embrace. Although we can lift our prayers to Heaven and commune with Jesus, it is just not the same as meeting him one day face to face, feeling His embrace and having Him lead us to that true home which He has built for us.
Is this how you see your life on earth, as a temporary stop that is just a foretaste of what is yet to come? Is this how you see Heaven? As the one true place where you belong?
I know too often I forget about this. I forget that instead of focusing on this life, I should focus on Jesus and look forward to the wonderful life that is ahead of me. I need to remember that my true home, my true treasures, my true love is not found here on this earth, in this life. We need to live for this day and give our best to the Lord, however we should also be looking forward to our true home in anticipation.
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
~John 15:19
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.
~John 14:2
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Seek the Lord Sunday - Psalm 27
I have made a new online friend at Call Her Blessed. She had mentioned a weekly meme that she does called Seek the Lord Sunday. This week's subject is Which Bible verse 'speaks' to you lately?
For me right now I would say it is Psalm 27, specifically verses 4-5
I've recently started listening to a session from RHOP by Diane Parnell called The Gift of God. ("started" because I've only listened to the first half so far. There are to be two more sessions in the coming week that go along with this one). She speaks in it about how God wants to enounter us and has made us to be His dwelling place. She speaks of us seeking after the Lord's heart and character.
The verses above show us three keys for encountering God's heart.
A - Abiding: dwelling with the Father's Glory to discover who he is
that I may dwell in the House of the Lord
B - Behold: gazing on God's beauty, who He is, His character
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
C - Commune: commune with the Holy Spirit, to encounter Him in an active way
to seek Him in His temple
I have been meditating on these verses the past few days. As part of that I've been reading the entire chapter. As I've done so I noticed how many worship songs we sing are written based on verses from this chapter. This is an amazing chapter.
I'm realizing that as I seek after the Lord and His wisdom, it is not head knowledge I'm seeking. It is an intimate knowledge of the Lord that I am pursuing. And I want to do it to know Him better, not for something for myself. Where my heart is not right in this pursuit I ask that He will transform it and mold it.
For me right now I would say it is Psalm 27, specifically verses 4-5
One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek Him in His temple,
For in the day of trouble
He will keep me safe in His dwelling;
He will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.
I've recently started listening to a session from RHOP by Diane Parnell called The Gift of God. ("started" because I've only listened to the first half so far. There are to be two more sessions in the coming week that go along with this one). She speaks in it about how God wants to enounter us and has made us to be His dwelling place. She speaks of us seeking after the Lord's heart and character.
The verses above show us three keys for encountering God's heart.
A - Abiding: dwelling with the Father's Glory to discover who he is
that I may dwell in the House of the Lord
B - Behold: gazing on God's beauty, who He is, His character
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
C - Commune: commune with the Holy Spirit, to encounter Him in an active way
to seek Him in His temple
I have been meditating on these verses the past few days. As part of that I've been reading the entire chapter. As I've done so I noticed how many worship songs we sing are written based on verses from this chapter. This is an amazing chapter.
I'm realizing that as I seek after the Lord and His wisdom, it is not head knowledge I'm seeking. It is an intimate knowledge of the Lord that I am pursuing. And I want to do it to know Him better, not for something for myself. Where my heart is not right in this pursuit I ask that He will transform it and mold it.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Unrealistic Expectations
I recently read something that referred to romance novels and soap operas as being the female version of porn. That got me to thinking. I've never been much into soap operas (they move too slowly for me) but I must admit I've been drawn into the "evening" version of soap operas. I've not read what would be considered traditional romance novels for quite some time now, but I do read the "softer" (if you will) romance novels.
Many times in the last few weeks the discussion of the differences between men and women has come up in various ways. The main theme has been that a man's way of showing love is through sex. He needs sex to express his love, if you will. On the other hand, women tend to need the love and romance in order to express their sexual desires. We are both looking for the same thing in the end, we just come at it from opposite sides. Which is what leads to so many misunderstandings in marriages regarding sex.
To make matters worse, the world seems to not only condone, but actually encourages things to make our expectations unrealistic in regards to love and marriage. Our already difficult relationships become impossible when we have expectations of our spouse that are not possible.
For men, this tends to be pornography. Some people may say it does not harm anyone. However the Lord has been very clear that sex is a gift for marriage that is to be shared between a husband and wife. Pornography is bringing someone else into that act. Sure it is not a real person of flesh and blood, however that is often worse. Viewing pornography and the resulting fantasies create the idea of the "perfect" woman in a man's mind. Not only physically, but also emotionally and relationally. No human woman can ever live up to these expectations. Not only is bringing pornography into your marriage disrespectful to your wife, it is unfair to her and yourself.
Now for the flip side of things. While I mentioned that men's focus is on sex, a woman tends to focus on romance. While pornography sets unrealistic expectations in a husband's mind regarding his wife, romance novels and soap operas create unrealistic expectations in a wife's mind about how her husband should be treating her. These things make us think that our man should always be romantic, always be ready to sweep us off our feet and cause those butterflies in our stomachs. They should always be able to take our breath away with a look.
In both cases, these expectations are created because we are focusing on what our spouse should be doing for us to make us happy. It is making the assumption that love is a feeling you have for that other person. The butterflies for us women, the lustful feelings in our husbands. Love is NOT a feeling. Love is a choice we make everyday. It is easy to love someone in the good times, when they look their best and are focused on doing things for us. But real love is making a choice every morning to love that person laying in bed beside you whose hair is all messed up, has bad breath and has not even acknowledged you as they grumpily get up to get ready for the day ahead.
This is especially important if you are in an unequally yoked marriage. You need to lean into the Lord even more to daily make the choice to love your spouse at all times, even when there is no outward reasons to do so. Your spouse does not know the unconditional love of the Lord as you do. They have no example by which to base their love. By getting your strength from the Lord to make the choice to love your spouse you are showing them the Lord's love. Believe me, no matter how much you may think your spouse needs to make some changes and is difficult to love, you are even more so to the Lord. But that does not faze Him at all. He loves you no matter what, with no unrealistic expectations as to who you are.
So this is making me rethink what I expose myself to. It has been obvious to me that pornography is not right in the Lord's eyes and not healthy for my marriage. But now, I'm beginning to see that there are other things that can be just as detrimental to my marriage that I may have been willingly allowing into our home.
We've all heard the saying "You are what you eat". In reality, we are what we allow into our bodies in any way. We are what we eat, what we watch, what we hear, etc. Everything we allow into ourselves leaves a mark on our hearts and minds. What is in our hearts and minds is what is revealed through our fruit, our actions and words. God wants us to be mindful of what we expose ourselves to, not because he is a controlling God who wants to make our lives miserable. It is just the opposite. He wants to protect us from ourselves and the evil that is part of human nature. He wants marriage on this earth to be a reflection of Jesus' future marriage to his Bride, us!
Many times in the last few weeks the discussion of the differences between men and women has come up in various ways. The main theme has been that a man's way of showing love is through sex. He needs sex to express his love, if you will. On the other hand, women tend to need the love and romance in order to express their sexual desires. We are both looking for the same thing in the end, we just come at it from opposite sides. Which is what leads to so many misunderstandings in marriages regarding sex.
To make matters worse, the world seems to not only condone, but actually encourages things to make our expectations unrealistic in regards to love and marriage. Our already difficult relationships become impossible when we have expectations of our spouse that are not possible.
For men, this tends to be pornography. Some people may say it does not harm anyone. However the Lord has been very clear that sex is a gift for marriage that is to be shared between a husband and wife. Pornography is bringing someone else into that act. Sure it is not a real person of flesh and blood, however that is often worse. Viewing pornography and the resulting fantasies create the idea of the "perfect" woman in a man's mind. Not only physically, but also emotionally and relationally. No human woman can ever live up to these expectations. Not only is bringing pornography into your marriage disrespectful to your wife, it is unfair to her and yourself.
Now for the flip side of things. While I mentioned that men's focus is on sex, a woman tends to focus on romance. While pornography sets unrealistic expectations in a husband's mind regarding his wife, romance novels and soap operas create unrealistic expectations in a wife's mind about how her husband should be treating her. These things make us think that our man should always be romantic, always be ready to sweep us off our feet and cause those butterflies in our stomachs. They should always be able to take our breath away with a look.
In both cases, these expectations are created because we are focusing on what our spouse should be doing for us to make us happy. It is making the assumption that love is a feeling you have for that other person. The butterflies for us women, the lustful feelings in our husbands. Love is NOT a feeling. Love is a choice we make everyday. It is easy to love someone in the good times, when they look their best and are focused on doing things for us. But real love is making a choice every morning to love that person laying in bed beside you whose hair is all messed up, has bad breath and has not even acknowledged you as they grumpily get up to get ready for the day ahead.
This is especially important if you are in an unequally yoked marriage. You need to lean into the Lord even more to daily make the choice to love your spouse at all times, even when there is no outward reasons to do so. Your spouse does not know the unconditional love of the Lord as you do. They have no example by which to base their love. By getting your strength from the Lord to make the choice to love your spouse you are showing them the Lord's love. Believe me, no matter how much you may think your spouse needs to make some changes and is difficult to love, you are even more so to the Lord. But that does not faze Him at all. He loves you no matter what, with no unrealistic expectations as to who you are.
So this is making me rethink what I expose myself to. It has been obvious to me that pornography is not right in the Lord's eyes and not healthy for my marriage. But now, I'm beginning to see that there are other things that can be just as detrimental to my marriage that I may have been willingly allowing into our home.
We've all heard the saying "You are what you eat". In reality, we are what we allow into our bodies in any way. We are what we eat, what we watch, what we hear, etc. Everything we allow into ourselves leaves a mark on our hearts and minds. What is in our hearts and minds is what is revealed through our fruit, our actions and words. God wants us to be mindful of what we expose ourselves to, not because he is a controlling God who wants to make our lives miserable. It is just the opposite. He wants to protect us from ourselves and the evil that is part of human nature. He wants marriage on this earth to be a reflection of Jesus' future marriage to his Bride, us!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Eternity
Just a little something from my journal:
God put eternity in our hearts. Our souls thirst for Him. We were created for Him and therefore our lives are empty without Him. WE are empty without Him!
God put eternity in our hearts. Our souls thirst for Him. We were created for Him and therefore our lives are empty without Him. WE are empty without Him!
Monday, May 19, 2008
ABCs of Adoration - Psalm 1 - 4
I mentioned once before about the ABCs of adoration. Last night at house church we did this again at the beginning of the night and included the kids. Afterwards we asked the kids "Why do we adore and praise God?" The answers they gave us were:
* It makes Him happy
* To remind us of who He is
* We were created to do this. This is what we'll be doing in eternity so we are tapping into eternity a little bit by doing this.
* God inhabits the praises of His people, so we are inviting Him to be with us, to come into our midst.
I decided I want to search the scriptures for my own list of adorations. I figured the Psalms were the best place to start. I also want to start doing this with my own children, helping them to learn to search the scriptures for these things.
Watcher
"watches over the way of the righteous"
~Psalm 1:6
Shield
"you are a shield around me, O Lord."
~Psalm 3:3
Sustainer
"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."
~Psalm 3:5
Deliverer
"From the Lord comes deliverance"
~Psalm 3:8
Light
"Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord"
~Psalm 4:6
Peace/Safety
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
~Psalm 4:8
* It makes Him happy
* To remind us of who He is
* We were created to do this. This is what we'll be doing in eternity so we are tapping into eternity a little bit by doing this.
* God inhabits the praises of His people, so we are inviting Him to be with us, to come into our midst.
I decided I want to search the scriptures for my own list of adorations. I figured the Psalms were the best place to start. I also want to start doing this with my own children, helping them to learn to search the scriptures for these things.
Watcher
"watches over the way of the righteous"
~Psalm 1:6
Shield
"you are a shield around me, O Lord."
~Psalm 3:3
Sustainer
"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."
~Psalm 3:5
Deliverer
"From the Lord comes deliverance"
~Psalm 3:8
Light
"Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord"
~Psalm 4:6
Peace/Safety
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."
~Psalm 4:8
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Chosen
I am a huge Ted Dekker fan. I've read the Circle Triology (Black, Red & White) and find him to be a very talented writer. But more importantly he is able to weave in some very important and profound truths about our Lord into his stories. He focuses quite a bit on the battle that rages in us between sin and our new lives in Christ. He focuses on what the books call the Great Romance between humans and Elyon (follows along with what the Lord has been revealing to me about the Song of Solomon).
He has also written a young adult fiction series called The Lost Books that ties into the Circle Triology. I just finished the last book Chaos. At the end there is a part in the book that really hit home with me that I wanted to share.
Silvie suddenly felt the weight of the idea and began to cry with them. Because she too, was the Dark One, wasn't she? They all were, as much as they were all Forest Dwellers, without Elyon's cleansing water.
Yet they were chosen. It was up to them to follow either the one who had made them dark, or the one who had chosen each of them.
(Ted Dekker, Chaos)
We all have sin, darkness, within us. However the Lord has chosen us, chosen us before the beginning of the world to be His. He has chosen us to be loved by Him. We know have the choice of which to follow. The darkness that is inherent in each of us, or to follow the One who chose us before the beginning of time?
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.
~ Ephesians 1:4-6
He has also written a young adult fiction series called The Lost Books that ties into the Circle Triology. I just finished the last book Chaos. At the end there is a part in the book that really hit home with me that I wanted to share.
Silvie suddenly felt the weight of the idea and began to cry with them. Because she too, was the Dark One, wasn't she? They all were, as much as they were all Forest Dwellers, without Elyon's cleansing water.
Yet they were chosen. It was up to them to follow either the one who had made them dark, or the one who had chosen each of them.
(Ted Dekker, Chaos)
We all have sin, darkness, within us. However the Lord has chosen us, chosen us before the beginning of the world to be His. He has chosen us to be loved by Him. We know have the choice of which to follow. The darkness that is inherent in each of us, or to follow the One who chose us before the beginning of time?
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One He loves.
~ Ephesians 1:4-6
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