"There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devised wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers." Proverbs 6: 16-19
Often the words have come my mouth in bible study..."If I would just apply this one truth to my life, it would change forever!" The same can be said for these truths from God's word. In verses 16-19, if the Light of the Holy Spirit was free to search me and know me then my heart would remain clean of these abominations to God. Yet, my flesh harbors them close masking them in justifications of my making and not the blood of Christ.
Keep the teachings..."Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. for the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life..." 6:20-23
My prayer is that in the moments of life when God allows me to pause and call on Him as the All-Sufficient One, drawing from His word that should be bound in my heart, around my neck...that my heart would stop and ask Him to fill me... when He offers to take me for a walk and prove Himself the God who Provides...my heart would walk, without complaining that I am not getting something else done, but just walk...When opportunity knocks and His desire is to be My Banner, going before me to lead me in a kingdom endeavor...my heart/flesh would take the rightful backseat and move the safety of His protection...When my body rest and His watchful eye is watching over all... my heart would trust that all things are firmly and securely in His hands...Then when my eyes open to the dawn that my thoughts would be drawn to Him, and His mercies that are new... that my heart would listen to His truth as The Word speaks...May I see the commands of the Lord in the light of His love for me and see that through them there is life.
"Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?" 6:27-28
May this verse wash over me as sin crouches at my hearts door... may it be close to my lips as those whom I love, yet Jesus loves more, pursues to justify their actions that will lead them to death. May the power of The Word move us to holiness.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Lord Let Me Love
"So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Lately my mind has been swirling with these three concepts... faith, hope and love. I think there is a simple answer to why love is the greatest, however, it has taken me, and is still taking me a while to put words around the thoughts in my head. Faith, is a result of the fall. Before our sin, God was with us, walking, talking, communing... we did not need faith, we had Elohim. And now in our twisted thinking we have taken faith and made it a god. Thinking that we can conjure up enough that we in our power can move mountains, heal the sick, and cast out demons. But faith is essential, without a belief in our God that we can not see then we can not have eternal life. Our faith is rooted and established in Christ and His shed blood... He increases our faith because He is alive and moving even though we can not see Him. When our faith becomes sight, what a moment... what a magnificence moment when there is no more faith!
Hope... a wishing for something with the expectation of it being fulfilled. Our only hope is in Christ. Again, hope is a result of the fall. We had all the fulfillment of the Godhead and His plans for us through creation, then we sinned. And now we must hope in the promise that through Christ there is more to come and He has already made the way possible through the shedding of His blood and His willingness to bear the wrath of God on our behalf. When we meet our Savior face to face, there will be no more hope... it will be fulfilled!
But Love... Only love will remain, because Love is the product of our God. It is that emotion that gets us in our guts. We know that it is bigger than us but yet it consumes us. We twist and turn it to fit what we need. We excuse our behavior and better judgment in the name of it. We sell our purity, our respect, our lives just for a moment of it. We move from one person to the next like a drug addict looking for her next fix. When in reality the one thing we love most is ourselves. It is the one thing we have directly from the person of God and use it against Him because our selfishness. Because when we see His love for us, we can not believe it. "For God so loved the world (i.e you) that He gave is only Son (He left praise, majesty, power, honor, glory, respect), that whoever (even if it was just one person) would believe in Him should not perish (His love is so extravagant that He wants none of us to die because of sin), but have eternal life (forever forgiven and in His presence). John 3:16... but keep reading... When faced with a love so extravagant that we find ourselves lost in its power... what do we love... darkness.
That is why the as Christians we will be known by our love. When we come to Christ's cross and allow Him to teach us this selfless extravagant love, we will want to pour it out on others, our husbands, wives, children, THE LOST! We don't have to wait to meet our Savior face to face... His love awaits us NOW! It is the GREATEST and most ENDURING.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Lately my mind has been swirling with these three concepts... faith, hope and love. I think there is a simple answer to why love is the greatest, however, it has taken me, and is still taking me a while to put words around the thoughts in my head. Faith, is a result of the fall. Before our sin, God was with us, walking, talking, communing... we did not need faith, we had Elohim. And now in our twisted thinking we have taken faith and made it a god. Thinking that we can conjure up enough that we in our power can move mountains, heal the sick, and cast out demons. But faith is essential, without a belief in our God that we can not see then we can not have eternal life. Our faith is rooted and established in Christ and His shed blood... He increases our faith because He is alive and moving even though we can not see Him. When our faith becomes sight, what a moment... what a magnificence moment when there is no more faith!
Hope... a wishing for something with the expectation of it being fulfilled. Our only hope is in Christ. Again, hope is a result of the fall. We had all the fulfillment of the Godhead and His plans for us through creation, then we sinned. And now we must hope in the promise that through Christ there is more to come and He has already made the way possible through the shedding of His blood and His willingness to bear the wrath of God on our behalf. When we meet our Savior face to face, there will be no more hope... it will be fulfilled!
But Love... Only love will remain, because Love is the product of our God. It is that emotion that gets us in our guts. We know that it is bigger than us but yet it consumes us. We twist and turn it to fit what we need. We excuse our behavior and better judgment in the name of it. We sell our purity, our respect, our lives just for a moment of it. We move from one person to the next like a drug addict looking for her next fix. When in reality the one thing we love most is ourselves. It is the one thing we have directly from the person of God and use it against Him because our selfishness. Because when we see His love for us, we can not believe it. "For God so loved the world (i.e you) that He gave is only Son (He left praise, majesty, power, honor, glory, respect), that whoever (even if it was just one person) would believe in Him should not perish (His love is so extravagant that He wants none of us to die because of sin), but have eternal life (forever forgiven and in His presence). John 3:16... but keep reading... When faced with a love so extravagant that we find ourselves lost in its power... what do we love... darkness.
That is why the as Christians we will be known by our love. When we come to Christ's cross and allow Him to teach us this selfless extravagant love, we will want to pour it out on others, our husbands, wives, children, THE LOST! We don't have to wait to meet our Savior face to face... His love awaits us NOW! It is the GREATEST and most ENDURING.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Lord Let Me Teach!
"The Lord our God, the Lord is One...You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house..." Deuteronomy 6:4,7
Homeschooling has been a welcomed adventure for me. I have known before I had kids that God had called me to homeschool. I am not one of those everyone should home school soap box preachers. I don't think that we have the "best" curriculum and EVERYONE should use it. When people ask me why I home school, the honest answer is because God told me too. In trials that I have faced recently my assurance of making it through has been that still small voice reminding me that I have been called to teach my children.
Recently, in many venues, I have been challenged to let the gospel come to life. The challenge has stuck to me like glue. And honestly, I have been very discourage at what a poor job I do at communicating the gospel. Sure God provides the opportunity to communicate but I stumble bumble or just stay quiet. So, what does all this have to do with home schooling... good question?
Struggle would be the word that would describe the past month with Caedmon. He has confessed His sins to God and called on Christ and His Blood to save Him. So that puts everyday living in a different light for him even though he doesn't realize it.
Also with the conviction of not commicating the gospel well God has reavealed to me that the way I speak to my children is not appropriate. If I wonder why I get so much attitude and grumbling I only need to look at my words to them. Need less to say the Holy Spirit has been working over time in my heart the past week. Praise The Lord!!
So, this morning during school, Caedmon and I were flying through the activities and assignments, it was going to be a record day! Then we came to the final assignment. Writing numbers. Now, normally, I would ask him to complete the assignment and then busy my self with prep for the next day. But today was different. I wanted to see just how he was doing his work. And what I found was interesting. Halfway... tracing... halfway... writing... so I asked him to erase and write it again... then something amazing happened. He got offended. "This is the best I can do! I can't make it any better!" Now, honestly, left to my flesh I would have steamed off and called it a day sending him to his room. However, my spirit was longing to see the gospel come alive. So, I prayed to myself, asking the Holy Spirit to fill me with patience and wisdom. Taking in a deep breath, Caedmon wrote and rewrote number 80-89 at least two times each! He was so angry at me.
My heart was breaking as I saw the sin that was in his heart toward me and God. So, we stopped for a moment. I reminded Caedmon that school is an act of worship, because we are learning for the glory of God. We don't know the plans that God has for him and so we need to be diligent to learn everything to His glory. I pointed out his sin of anger and frustration. I told him that he could do better and I was not going to limit the power of God to help him. Then I gave him the choice, he could repent and continue to finish writing his numbers, or he could go to his room and in his bed cool off and repent. In deep anger and frustration he almost screamed... "I WANT TO ASK JESUS TO FORGIVE ME!" So, we put the pencil down, he came and sat in my lap and he prayed. "Jesus thank you that you will get rid of my anger toward my mommy and give me a new heart. Holy Spirit help me to do my numbers with a happy heart. In Jesus Name Amen." The Holy Spirit was in my bedroom this morning as Caedmon and I were worshiping Elohim writing the numbers 80-100!
The gospel came alive...
Homeschooling has been a welcomed adventure for me. I have known before I had kids that God had called me to homeschool. I am not one of those everyone should home school soap box preachers. I don't think that we have the "best" curriculum and EVERYONE should use it. When people ask me why I home school, the honest answer is because God told me too. In trials that I have faced recently my assurance of making it through has been that still small voice reminding me that I have been called to teach my children.
Recently, in many venues, I have been challenged to let the gospel come to life. The challenge has stuck to me like glue. And honestly, I have been very discourage at what a poor job I do at communicating the gospel. Sure God provides the opportunity to communicate but I stumble bumble or just stay quiet. So, what does all this have to do with home schooling... good question?
Struggle would be the word that would describe the past month with Caedmon. He has confessed His sins to God and called on Christ and His Blood to save Him. So that puts everyday living in a different light for him even though he doesn't realize it.
Also with the conviction of not commicating the gospel well God has reavealed to me that the way I speak to my children is not appropriate. If I wonder why I get so much attitude and grumbling I only need to look at my words to them. Need less to say the Holy Spirit has been working over time in my heart the past week. Praise The Lord!!
So, this morning during school, Caedmon and I were flying through the activities and assignments, it was going to be a record day! Then we came to the final assignment. Writing numbers. Now, normally, I would ask him to complete the assignment and then busy my self with prep for the next day. But today was different. I wanted to see just how he was doing his work. And what I found was interesting. Halfway... tracing... halfway... writing... so I asked him to erase and write it again... then something amazing happened. He got offended. "This is the best I can do! I can't make it any better!" Now, honestly, left to my flesh I would have steamed off and called it a day sending him to his room. However, my spirit was longing to see the gospel come alive. So, I prayed to myself, asking the Holy Spirit to fill me with patience and wisdom. Taking in a deep breath, Caedmon wrote and rewrote number 80-89 at least two times each! He was so angry at me.
My heart was breaking as I saw the sin that was in his heart toward me and God. So, we stopped for a moment. I reminded Caedmon that school is an act of worship, because we are learning for the glory of God. We don't know the plans that God has for him and so we need to be diligent to learn everything to His glory. I pointed out his sin of anger and frustration. I told him that he could do better and I was not going to limit the power of God to help him. Then I gave him the choice, he could repent and continue to finish writing his numbers, or he could go to his room and in his bed cool off and repent. In deep anger and frustration he almost screamed... "I WANT TO ASK JESUS TO FORGIVE ME!" So, we put the pencil down, he came and sat in my lap and he prayed. "Jesus thank you that you will get rid of my anger toward my mommy and give me a new heart. Holy Spirit help me to do my numbers with a happy heart. In Jesus Name Amen." The Holy Spirit was in my bedroom this morning as Caedmon and I were worshiping Elohim writing the numbers 80-100!
The gospel came alive...
Monday, February 2, 2009
The moments that should...
Ryan has in the recent pasted called me "The Angry Woman"... for good reason. It takes so little to set me off that it is beginning to amaze me. In those moments that should propel me into a person that is more like Christ, I cower in the corner and do my normal thing. Instead of trusting and leaning I scream and throw. The race is hard... God is sovereign... my race in comparison to the thousands who are truly suffering around the world is laughable at best. So, in the moments that should take me to the redemptive power of Your blood, may my heart be willing to follow you there and respond appropriately.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Lord Let me See!
Driving home this morning I realized that God has given His children eyes to see what is unseen. The thought overwhelmed me as I looked back over the past year. I am moved at images of Anneke sitting in her kitchen, bald, dressed in a bath robe unable to discern whether her spoon was a cigarette or not. As she would place the spoon in her mouth and reach for her lighter then it would hit her that she can't smoke her spoon. These, at the time, where heartbreaking images. This women of elegance and beauty was "reduced" to a bath robe and no hair. However, now I look back and through the wisdom of God am able to understand that without that robe and without that bald head Anneke would be living on this planet dead in her sins. With the eyes of God lifes most tragic moments takes on a whole new meaning.
Honestly, I like being sad about things that are sad. But then God says to me like a Father showing a child something magical through a telescope "Come hear and look at this..." Then I see the same characters, the same surroundings but everything is drastically different. The Hand of God is over, in and around the people, situation, and surroundings and my perspective MUST change. Because with God all things are possible and therefore there is always hope and joy.
So again this morning as I was reflecting and allowing God's perspective to grab my heart... my thoughts wander to the future... there are so many hard things that I know await many people that I love, there are wonderful things too. Lord, Let me See (with Your eyes)!
Honestly, I like being sad about things that are sad. But then God says to me like a Father showing a child something magical through a telescope "Come hear and look at this..." Then I see the same characters, the same surroundings but everything is drastically different. The Hand of God is over, in and around the people, situation, and surroundings and my perspective MUST change. Because with God all things are possible and therefore there is always hope and joy.
So again this morning as I was reflecting and allowing God's perspective to grab my heart... my thoughts wander to the future... there are so many hard things that I know await many people that I love, there are wonderful things too. Lord, Let me See (with Your eyes)!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Lord Let Me Know You
Lord you are knowable. You have revealed yourself, your love, your character in your word. Open our ears that you created, our hearts that you formed and our minds that you fashioned so we can know you, love you and understand your salvation through Christ's blood.
Lord Let Me Pray
Prayer is a precious way to communicate with God. We don't try to change God's mind, but we seek to commune with Him so that He can change our hearts. Through prayer we understand who God is and He opens our eyes to see how He is working, where He wants us to be, and we find peace when we don't understand because of All that He has revealed about Himself.
Please post prayer request here. He cares about everything so lets talk to Him about it!
Please post prayer request here. He cares about everything so lets talk to Him about it!
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