Exemplify Online's Blog

Pentateuch Series: Lot's Choice

2009-04-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Choices are a part of life. Some of the choices we make are pretty minor. My clothing choices this morning likely will not have a huge impact on the rest of my life, for example.

Other decisions, however, can be much more life-changing. Sometimes--perhaps even often--we have no idea how much of an impact a decision may have on our perspective, our future, our lives.

One of these life-changing choices was made by the Old Testament character Lot, nephew to Abraham. Abraham had decided that the two of them, who had been living together, needed to part company and settle in different parts of the land. Abraham had given his nephew first choice. I'd wager Lot had no idea of the repercussions this one decision would bring.

Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Genesis 13:10-12

It probably didn't look like that important of a decision at the time. In hindsight, however, we know the results were disastrous.

Lot was looking for "the good life" - he saw the well-watered plain, and knew his existence would be much easier if he set down his roots there. His sheep would be more satisfied, his men would be more satisfied, and life would generally be less painless. Or so he thought.

He forgot to consider his neighbors. Did you notice the very end of the 13th verse? "He pitched his tents near Sodom." Now, you might think that this is a case of hindsight being 20/20. (I know I don't have to tell you the problems with Sodom) But, that is not indicated in the text. The very next verse informs us that the men of Sodom "were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord."

So, perhaps we give Lot a cheer for not settling in the city. But that doesn't last long. By the time God's judgment is about to be meted on it, Lot is a resident of the city--and possibly even an official. And the damage has been done. Though Lot continues to follow God (he is, after all, called a righteous man in the New Testament), he and his family meet much disaster.

He stooped low enough to offer his daughters as sexual playthings
His wife turned to a pillar of salt
He had to leave a home, no matter how debased, that he wanted to stay in
His daughters had incestuous relationships with him, birthing two nations that would eventually be Israel's enemies.

What a bunch of tragedy from one choice. Have you made a choice like this? Did you consider your potential "neighbors?"

Seek the Lord: not the easy life. With Him behind each choice, you can't help but be in His will.

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the freedom to make our own choices. Help us, though, Lord, to make the decisions that You know are best for us. Help us to make Your priorities ours, so we will receive Your blessings and not the curses of the world around us. Help us to seek You in every choice we make. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

****

Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on editing and polishing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

The Chaff

2009-04-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Today I was outside cleaning up piles of dead needles, branches and leaves that had fallen from the trees on our lot. The one pile I was shoveling into bags I had to be very careful with cause the leaves were so dead... they were like dust. The slightest breeze of movement and they'd blow away and get all over the place again. As I was gingerly scooping up these featherweight yard clippings I thought of this verse:

"The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away."
-Psalm 1:4 NKJV

Truthfully, most of the time, when I read Psalm 1 or other passages in scripture about how God's gonna wipe the memory of the ungodly off the planet, I tremble. I know I fall into that category. I am one of the ungodly. But then I'm comforted because the Spirit reminds me I am in Christ, therefore, although I may still see my self as a wretch, I am a wretch saved by grace. I am a wretch God sees as godly because He sees me through His Son. Once that truth drives away my fear of condemnation, I'm left pondering those passages.

For those of us ungodly folks who've put our hope in Christ's salvation and run from our sinful ways (as soon as we are made aware of them) straight to the arms of Grace, we can take comfort in "heavy" scriptures like Psalm 1:4. There's still "chaff" in our lives. We know it. God knows it. But all that ungodliness about us God is going to blow away with the the breath (wind) of His Spirit.

I'm so glad my God works in my life to get rid of the chaff. He doesn't just leave it there, nor does He condemn me for it being there. He just blows it away. A windy trial here. A fresh breath of revelation when I read His word there. A breeze of clean air from the life of another believer passing through mine... He's at work in the garden of my life, cleaning up and blowing away all the dead works that produce nothing but ground clutter.

Now for the soul who has not trusted in Christ, who holds to their own dead works like a person hoarding and clinging to the piles of dead leaves, tree needles, and yard clippings, there is reason to fear when hearing verses like Psalm 1:4. If God does not see His Son living amid all that chaff then all He sees is chaff. All will be blown away. All will be lost.

Father, I thank you for loving me enough to blow away all my dead works while preserving my soul. And I pray for my fellow man/woman who is clinging to his/her chaff. Please give that one eyes to see the deadness of their ways. Give that one ears to hear the blowing of the wind. Breathe new life into them!

***********

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Woman Found (formerly Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker).

The Answer to Daffodils

2009-03-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

As we drove into town, my very observant youngest child asked a profound question.
“Mom, why does everyone else have pretty daffodils in their yards but we don't?”

It was like being smacked with a rolled up newspaper.

Being the full-of-wisdom mother that I am (not), I gave him a deep answer. “Because you have to plant them and we haven't planted any.”

The silence in my soul echoed with that truth.

So many times I've asked the same thing. “Lord, why don't I have ____ in my life?”

And God's response is like mine to my son. “Because you have to plant it and nurture it to have it.”

Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” How many things are missing from my life because I haven't asked God for them? I'm not talking about a whole-foods chef to cater for my husband, or a personal assistant to keep track of the million details of being a mom, among the other things I do. I'm talking about 'spiritual' things. Things that I see in the lives of my sisters and think, 'Wow, I wish I were like she is.'

So instead of whining about what seems to be missing from my life, Matthew says I'm to ask for it. Boy, that's a tough one. I've had a little girl in one of my classes that whined her questions. “So-n-so got a piece of candy. Can I have one?” She's cute as a button, but when she whined like that...um...it just doesn't work for me. You know what I mean? How do you think it sounds to God when we whine our requests?

It's so much better when we just ask.

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

Do you want to want to be an encourager? How about more hospitable? Or do you want to do better with the class you help with?

Ask God.

Just like if we want flowers in our yards, we need to plant them and nurture them.

“If your seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD, and discover the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:4-5

So we ask.

And we seek.

It's so simple. But sometimes the simplest things are the ones overlooked, forgotten or ignored because of their simplicity.

Matthew 7 goes on to say “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” God wants good for our lives. Like a parent gives good gifts to their child, God, who is infinitely good and knows what is best for us. “...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:8,11)

So what are we waiting for?

Let's ask God for those things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and excellent.

And let's seek and nurture those things in our lives.

***********

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

Kettle Club :: March Wrap Up

2009-03-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our March Kettle Club discussion!

Today we welcome you to link up using our Mr. Linky, inviting others to read what you are learning in your time spent in the Word and with the Lord!

Below are our March Discussion Questions. You do not have to answer every question. Feel free to choose one to elaborate on or read the questions below to get an idea of the type of discussion we are hoping to start. You are also welcome to share your own thoughts, without answering any of the questions! To read up on The Kettle Club, click HERE.

March Questions for Discussion

What are some practical ways you maintain a consistent “in the Word” time?
Do you have a certain morning system that accompanies your quiet time? If so, share it with us! A special place in your home you go to read? A special devotional or Bible you use? Do you journal, drink tea, pray out loud or have a picture board of those you are praying for?
In what ways have you been applying what you are learning in your devotional time into your day?
If you are working on memorizing Scripture, can you offer a few tips that help you for our other Kettle Members?
Share a standout lesson you’ve learned this month and why it has made such an impact on you.

Feel free to link up using the Mr. Linky below so other participants may hop over to your blog and read what you have been learning!

Weekend Word :: March 28

2009-03-28T02:37:00.001-07:00

I remember when I found this verse last year...I was doing a word study on the word Redeem. Redeemed. Redemption.

According to the dictionary the word redeem means: to buy back, to free from what distresses or harms, to free from captivity by payment of ransom, to release from blame or debt, and to free from the consequences of sin.

I don't think I have a more favorite word than this. My Jesus. My Redeemer. He did all of that. He bought us back from our captivity with His blood. My Savior.

As we enter this season of remembering and rejoicing I cannot help but think without His death, the shedding of his blood, there would be no life. Without His death there is no Resurrection.

Love so amazing.

A Redeemed Journeyer,

*****
Christy is a 30 year old single girl on the journey of her life discovering the true joy of an intimate journey with her Savior. Her passions include books, chocolate, photography, laughing and planting seeds of the eternal kind. She works for a ministry and thinks pouring the love of Christ out and into teenagers is the best job in the world. She blogs about the sweetness of her journey at CrittyJoy

What Are You Saying?

2009-03-27T03:00:00.000-07:00

But no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.
~James 3:8-10 NRSV

In this passage, the Greek word that translates to “curse” means to wish or pray against any one. We can do this without the colorful curse words or voodoo that instantly comes to mind when we think of cursing someone. Can you picture the iniquity in blessing—praising the Lord—while praying for the demise of another person created in His image? Sisters, we’ve got to break free from this sin-born addiction of ours to tear one another down and instead grab a hold of the God-given desire to build each other up!

But no one can tame the tongue. Not one. The One, however, that guy can tame even the deadliest of them all. In fact, He puts the devil in his place time and again, and we can call on the name of Christ to send Satan packing!

Praising our God through our words, thoughts, and actions is just a moment away. A blessing can be a soft touch on the shoulder of a weary husband, a sweetly spoken word of encouragement to a heavy hearted friend, pointing out character strengths instead of flaws in a child, sharing imaginings of wonderful times to come with someone you hold dear, and being spiritually committed to offering Christ with skin on to anyone we meet.

Oh Father,
We ask that you will humble us as we tread near cursing’s edge. Lord, help us to see the people around us as struggling souls seeking to fill a God-shaped hole in whatever broken way they can. Father, we pray that we will seize the opportunity to be billboards for Christ through blessing your creation. In your all-powerful name we pray.
Amen.

***
Victoria loves capturing pieces of the world around through photography and finds purpose, value, and peace in knowing that our faithful Savior uses even the most broken vessels to deliver His message.
Encouraging other women who seek to follow Christ brings with it a blessed sense of accountability that helps to keep her in the Word-- especially on those days when the laundry might just sprout legs and “dinner” starts to feel like a four-letter word.
You can find Victoria writing devotionals and sharing this and that at her website,
Let the Son Shine.

Quick Kettle Change

2009-03-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

We've had a few women mention they need a little more time to get their Kettle Club posts together, so we are postponing our meeting until Monday!

Everything below this post still stands -- we will just be getting together a few days later.

See you back here on Monday, March 30th for our Kettle Club chat.

--Kristen

Pentateuch Series: Just Like Balak

2009-03-26T03:00:00.000-07:00

Every time I read the 23rd and 24th chapters of Numbers, I laugh.

King Balak has summoned Balaam to curse Israel. Every time Balaam speaks over God's people, however, he can't help but bless them. But the King doesn't give up in trying to get that nation cursed.

Then Balak said to Balaam, 'Come, let me take you to another place. Perhaps, it will please God to let you curse them from there.' Numbers 23:27

And this doesn't happen just once. The king keeps hoping against hope that having Balaam look at the Israelites from a different angle will change God's view of them. Balaam actually gives five different oracles, all blessing God's chosen people, much to Balak's chagrin.

Silly and stupid, I'd think each time I read it. Until the other day, when I realized I act just like Balak myself.

How often have I asked for God's will, received a "no" from Him, but either tried to justify it or sought another way to make the request?

God puts stumbling blocks in our way, at least sometimes, to keep us in His will. We discern those difficulties as signs from Him to turn the other way. But we don't always use those signs to stop, do we?

You don't really want me to quit teaching, do you Lord? Just because I am completely unable to keep the class engaged doesn't mean I should quit, right? Maybe if I try another school, it will work.

I'm struggling just as much at this new school, Lord, but I'm sure it's just because I don't know anyone here. And maybe it's just the high school level. Lord, I'm sure teaching elementary school would be better.

Thank You so much, Lord, for getting me a job in an elementary school. It's still so difficult for me, though. I'm sure I'm struggling, though, because I'm at such a tiny private school, with such a wide range of grade levels in one class. You really don't want me to quit, do you? I'm sure if I get a regular elementary classroom, I'd do just fine.

No job yet, Lord, but I am substitute teaching. Still struggling, but every substitute has discipline problems, right?

And finally, the revelation: Well, here I am, Lord, in a long term sub position in my preferred grade: first grade. I still can't handle the discipline. Lord, are You trying to tell me something? (yes, this WAS me - though I wasn't a believer at the time and I didn't talk to God about it. Beside the point, though, isn't it?)

It's not always that blatant, of course, but I pull a "Balak" much more often than I'd like to admit.

It's human nature to put yourself first, to satisfy your own wants, to try to manipulate the world around you. But if your desires are contrary to His will, He will let you know--over and over, if necessary--to stay away.

So accept His guidance the first time. Just think of all the time and resources Balak and I could have saved if we hadn't tried to find a way to get our will done.

Heavenly Father, I am such a selfish, strong-willed person at times, greedily trying to circumvent Your plan for me to satisfy the desires of my own flesh. Help me, Lord, to listen to and heed Your voice so I can stay within Your will, not to mention avoiding the struggles on my own path. Help me not to follow Balak's example, Lord, and instead follow that of Jesus, who wanted and did only Your will. In His name I pray, Lord. Amen.

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

****

Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on editing and polishing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

Let Your Light Shine

2009-03-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

This week on my blog, Heart Reflections, we've been discussing the devotional life of Moses.

Take a quiet moment to read Exodus 33-34. Here's a highlight From Exodus 34 told via The Message.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two Tablets of The Testimony, he didn't know that the skin of his face glowed because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, saw his radiant face, and held back, afraid to get close to him.

Moses called out to them. Aaron and the leaders in the community came back and Moses talked with them. Later all the Israelites came up to him and he passed on the commands, everything that God had told him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face, but when he went into the presence of God to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. When he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they would see Moses' face, its skin glowing, and then he would again put the veil on his face until he went back in to speak with God.

I don't know about you, but I tend to put pressure on myself to create the perfect devotional life. And if it isn't quite right I'll abandon the plan.

For instance, this week is spring break for my girls. They are home when they are normally not and need more attention. Devotional life? Non-existent!

Or last week I had some morning appointments which took place during my normal quiet time. I had plenty of time in the afternoon to "be still" before Christ. But, that didn't quite fit into my routine. So I choose to muster through life on my own strength. Result = disaster!

I have awesome bloggy friends who have really inspired me this week from their perspective on Moses' devotional life. Allow me to share their God-inspired thoughts with you.

In Jerri's post, she examines the life of Moses and writes, "The first thing I noticed was that Moses made spending time with the Lord intentional." Jerri also reflects on Moses' radiant face, "I also want to point out that Moses paid a price for his radiance. The Bible says he didn't eat or drink during that time. He was supernaturally sustained."

In a personal email, Karen wrote, "It is a constant conversation: me asking God for direction - then listening and thanking Him for the thoughts He gives me...I love times like these because I feel like God and I are on mission together, like He is putting His arm around me and saying, 'Let’s go!' I want to be an instrument He uses for His glory!"

Ultimately everyone who has looked into Exodus 33-34 has experienced the awesome power of Christ. It's NOT ABOUT ME! God is the One who deserves all thanks and praise. God is the One who directs our devotional life. Our part? Turn to Him. Be intentional, but not legalistic. Then allow His glory to shine.

Spending time with Christ changes our world. Our face may glow like Moses. Or maybe your reaction time slows a little - thinking before speaking. Someone may notice something different about you and ask what brings you such confidence and peace.

Today, how will you let your light, your Jesus, shine?

*****

Shane Schwichtenberg shares her life’s journey with pure honesty and humility. Her sincere love for Christ and women of all ages shines with every connection she makes, whether speaking, writing, or leading worship. Visit Shane’s personal blog or her ministry web site. She can’t wait to hear from you!

Burning for Green

2009-03-24T03:00:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of living in the country is being able to burn brush piles. It's often a family event for us, and it's also when many families pull out the dawgs and roasting forks for an impromptu weenie roast. Sometimes, though, the brush piles aren't burned out as much as they're thought to be. That's when surprises happen.

This happened at a house we pass several times a week on our way to church. One evening we went past and the burn pile they'd been gathering was burning. The next morning we passed again. Three quarters of their yard was black. The remaining quarter was still winter-brown. Once I saw the fire hadn't gotten too close to their house and out-buildings, I chuckled at the surprise they must have woken up to. (We've had a yard fire and field fire, so it was a sympathetic laugh. Honest.) I felt bad for them—they'd have to look at a black yard for weeks to come.

Within a couple of weeks I was reminded of one of the benefits of fire. Their yard was still duo-toned, but the black had turned into a lush, beautiful new grass green. The unburned quarter was still stuck in winter-brown. Their fire had burned out the old dead growth and made room for the fresh new growth, which came quickly.

Many times in my life I've gone around gathering brush that needed to be gotten rid of. Things that had overgrown and I had trimmed back. Things that had died and were no longer part of my life. I'd gather those things, throw them on the brush pile and then burn the brush, leaving my life neater with less 'stuff' laying around.

Building and burning brush piles is something we all need to do from time-to-time. Many of us even look forward to burning those brush piles.

But what about when the fire spreads? What about when the fire burns the yard we've spent hours manicuring? The yard we want to look nice because it's what everyone sees when they drive past our lives. Do we weep and wail? Do we rant at God for putting us through the fire and leaving us black?

John 15:1-11 is all about this pruning. God has a purpose for that fire in our lives.

...and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it my bear more fruit. ~John 15:2

Just like the yard that quickly turned from black to green, our lives will burst into fresh color and productivity once the old dead growth is burned away from our lives.

Fires don't get away from God. He controls the fire. He uses the fire in our lives to make way for new growth.

Growth.
Growth that can bear fruit for Him.

My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. ~John 15:8

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

What's Your Story?

2009-03-23T03:00:00.000-07:00

A few Sundays ago I witnessed something so ordinary it was extraordinary.

Our pastor had approximately 30 people come up on stage and offer their "cardboard testimony". I have to tell you, at first when I heard that 30 people were going to share their testimony during the service, I cringed. I don't know what it's like at your church, but at mine the typical tradition is you get 5 to 10 minutes to share your story.

And generally most people take at least twenty!

But this was a different. Instead of these people actually speaking, they wrote on one side of a piece of cardboard a statement that described their chains, strongholds, addictions, and on the other side how Christ freed them.

I'm telling you, it was powerful.

Some of these people were regular Christians who had things in their lives that stole their focus from God.

Things like perfectionism. Lust. Trying to find their identity in things or relationships. Pain.

Others were non-believers lost in the throes of alcoholism, drugs, promiscuity, and wanting to commit suicide.

All of these people found freedom in Jesus.

You know, you could probably hear one or two of these quick testimonies and not truly be affected. But try experiencing 30 or so.

Let me repeat myself - it was powerful.

And that got me to thinking about my own "cardboard testimony". How easy would it be for me to simply state where I was and where I am now? It may just be the thing to open doors for others who are experiencing the same struggles to approach the throne of freedom. To offer them hope.

And what about you? Wouldn't it be awesome if each reader here today shared their own personal story in a statement or two in the comments? And then someone came along and read all of them?

What an incredible impact that could have on someone.

On all of us.

And to show you the impact a few simple statements can have, watch this video:

I actually wrote this post for my own blog a couple of weeks ago. I'd like to share my cardboard testimony and the ones left at my blog. Please feel free to add your own in the comments below - we will make sure to keep this link accessible to new visitors to Exemplify. You never know when your personal experience may be just what spurs another on to find hope and healing in Jesus. I hope you join us!

Chained by obsessive dieting and the pursuit of perfectionism.
Freed by Jesus to find my true beauty in Him ~ Andrea

Paralyzed by Tragic Loss & Sickness
Now Running in Christ's Restorative Power ~ Kristen

Radical feminist, champion of Choice.
Healed by Jesus, joyfully giving Him ownership of every part of me. ~ Leigh Ann

Bound by chains of the past and future.
Restored Journeyer with Christ as my leader. ~ Christy

Insecure, unaccepted, desperate for approval.
Loved and cherished by my true love, Jesus ~ Rachel

Bound by a pornographic life, rebellion and fear.
Found by Jesus, made pure, glad to obey, and valiant. ~ Sheila

Perfectionist + Failures = Depression
Being of Value to a Holy God Has Set Me Free. ~ Christy K

Childhood sexual abuse, drugs, suicide attempts--broken
Forgiveness, healing, restoration and a vessel for Jesus Christ's incredible love ~ Lainie

Now, it's your turn - what's your story?

*****
Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Weekend Word :: March 21

2009-03-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

(I did have a moment of fear last night and today...it seems blogger is not loving me but finally here is the Weekend Word:)

I found this verse at the beginning of the year...and memorized it quickly because it spoke so deeply to my heart.

I have nothing, absolutely nothing to fear. Because He has redeemed me!! And even better He knows me by name...my heart quickens at the thought of such LOVE. I am HIS.

I hope you fear not this weekend sweet ladies.

LOGOS Series: Finish the race

2009-03-20T03:00:00.000-07:00

This is my last LOGOS post, at least for the time being. I thought it'd be fitting to wrap up this short series of posts with the phrase the Spirit keeps speaking to me: Finish the race.

Here's a little Greek for ya:

A word for finish in the Greek is Teleioo. It's a verb meaning: to make perfect, complete, to carry through completely, to accomplish, finish, bring to an end, add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full.

Teleioo comes from Teleios which means: brought to its end, finished wanting nothing necessary to completeness, perfect, that which is perfect, consummate human integrity and virtue of men, full grown, adult, of full age, mature.

It's the word Paul used in Acts 20 when he said:

And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
-Acts 20:22-24 NKJV

It's also the word Jesus used when He was reporting to the Father in His powerful prayer in John 17. He declared:

I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given
Me to do. -John 17:4 NKJV

God wants us to finish the work He's given us to do. He wants us to keep adding to it in order to render it full and to be full grown and mature at the finish line.

I don't know about you, but I tend to start things and not finish them. Currently I have a closet full of pretty papers, cards (finished and unfinished), and various card making tools, all of which I purchased with my big plan to encourage women via my little homemade cards. I also have two untouched scrapbooks I purchased to put together a portfolio of my sons' year in homeschool/public school. On top of that I have a folder that's about to explode with various papers my boys have drawn on over the years that I want to get into a pretty scrapbook. And there are a lot of unwritten blog posts and journal entries of gold nuggets I've discovered in God's word that I want to share or at least record for future reference.

It's easy to start things. It's exciting to start things. Ideas flow. Dreams proliferate. Plans are pursued. But only what is given us from the Lord are we to really give ourselves to finishing.

Each of us have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus that we are to finish. Do you know what yours is? I know for a long time I struggled because I wanted my ministry to be something it is not.

I am constantly reminded by Hebrews 12:1 of the weights I need to drop like hotcakes to fully give myself to the ministry I've received from the Lord. Some of those weights are good things. Things I could do. Things I want to do. Things that would be considered ministerial. But they are weights to me because they hinder me in doing what I'VE specifically been given to do.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..." - Hebrews 12:1 NKJV

There is a specific race set before each of us; a specific ministry from Jesus for me and for you as part of His body. He wants us to give our lives to that ministry as a living sacrifice. He wants us to finish it. Mature in it. He doesn't want us to do a little good thing here and a little good thing there and go to church on Sunday and carry on in immaturity. He not only wants us to finish the work He's given us, He enables us to complete the work He's given us to do. Do you know what you've been given specifically to do?

These passage in 1 Corinthians 7 helped me understand the ministry God has given me to finish in the power of His Spirit.

In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul is talking by the Spirit to the Corinthian believers. He's teaching them about marriage, about whether it's right or wrong to be married. He talks about the responsibility of the wife and husband to each other and He speaks to the people with unbelieving spouses. Then he says this:

"But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called." - 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 NKJV (emphasis added by me)

At first it seems a bit out of context, seeing that he was talking about marriage. But as I read the whole chapter I see that the Lord is saying through Paul, "Part of understanding the ministry I've given you is remembering where you were when I called you." Not geographically where you were, but in what relationships, what position in the community, etc. The ministry He's given us is to obey His commands (Jesus said His command is to love one another as He has loved us) RIGHT WHERE WE ARE!

A little over four years ago, when God shook my world and broke me free from all the bonds and yokes I was under due to my own sin, I was filled with passion! I wanted to go out there and tell the world what God had done for me. I wanted to encourage other women to seek the Lord for their worth. But God was saying something else. He was saying, "Humble yourself Sheila. Though you could go 'out there' and tell 'the world', I want you to willingly stay right where you are."

He turned my eyes to Paul and Silas, sitting there in a miserable prison in Acts 16 with all their chains and iron doors broken, open, begging them to flee. There they were, not running for their lives, or fleeing to more "productive" and enjoyable ministry oppurtunities but staying, waiting, singing and praying. He spoke to me through their love for their Phillipian jailer. He told me to stay and not leave although I was "free" too. But to remain in my marriage, focused on the ministry of training my sons and loving my husband while remaining worshipful and prayerful. He called me to stay in the state which I was called. Because right here where I am there's a "Phillipian jailer" that Jesus wants to rescue from death.

Since that time I have strayed many times. Unlike Paul and Silas, I have heard the calls outside and longed to go work in that ministry, or go serve over in that arena, or go write that book, or go speak at that conference, etc. None of those things are wrong. I am free to do them all. But then there's my "Philipian jailer." Though I've strayed, the Spirit of my humble Lord Jesus moves me to humble myself time and time again. I've had to back out of things I've started. I've had to say, "I was wrong to come here." I had to close down certain web ventures and put away said cardmaking. Even now He calls me to lay aside commitments to any regular writing. Not because I "have to" but because the love of Christ compels me.

See there is a race set before me and although there are many other "races" out there I could be running, this is the one Christ has called me to. Unlike those others, I must finish this one! His grace covers my straying and His mercy leads me back, but He does not hold me accountable for the outcome of those other "callings." He charges me to finish what He has given me to do.

None of us are called to do everything. None of us are called to do a little here and a little there either. But each of us are called to pour out our lives as a living sacrifice unto the Lord RIGHT WHERE WE ARE!

Are you a mom? Pour out your life as a living sacrifice unto the Lord, in training and nurturing your children in the Lord's admonition. Finish, complete, mature, the work God has given you.

"Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control." 1 Timothy 2:15 NKJV

Are you a wife? Surrender to the Lord your plans and dreams and give yourself completely to lifting up, standing by and following the lead of your man, trusting in the soveriegnty of God.

"Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear." 1 Peter 3:1-2 NKJV

Are you a single woman? By ALL MEANS give yourself over to the awesome freedom of ministering to the body of Christ as a single woman. For, "The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit." (1 Cor. 7:34b)

And say to {Sheila and the ladies at Exemplify Online}: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord." Colossians 4:17 NIV (application added by me)

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Woman Found (Formerly Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker).

Pentateuch Series: What Is That In Your Hand?

2009-03-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Do you sometimes have doubts about your spiritual gifts or calling? That is pretty normal, primarily, it seems, because of the vessel for that gift or calling: the human being we know better than any one on earth. Namely, ourselves. We know our own faults. We're fully aware of how capable we are of screwing up. We are intimately acquainted with our own past failures.

If we only remember Who the gift or calling is from, there is no reason to doubt. He is infinitely more than capable of accomplishing what He desires through us.

Of course, just because there is no reason to doubt doesn't mean we don't do it. And we certainly aren't alone.

Moses is likely one of the more revered, and most mightily used by God, figures in the Pentateuch, if not the entire Old Testament. Yet, he was also plagued (no pun intended) by insecurities and doubt.

Picture this: the Lord has just appeared to Moses in the burning bush and told him that he, Moses, will lead His people out of bondage and into the Promised Land. With God's presence and power, Moses--a shepherd for his father-in-law's sheep--will be the deliverer and shepherd of God's people.

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied. The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.

"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has appeared to you." Exodus 4:1-5

God will not call us unless He plans to equip us for the task. Doubts are unnecessary. Also, we must do His will on His terms: not our own. We must be willing to let God work through us--not just use what He has given us.

So, God asks Moses what he has in his hand.

It's a rod: likely a rod he had used countless times for dealing with the wayward sheep of his father-in-law's flock. And, perhaps, the rod he would use in the future to part the Red Sea, and deal with shepherding the wayward children of Israel during their forty years in the desert.

The rod, you see, is the tool by which Moses uses his gift from God.

So what does God ask him to do with it? He tells him to throw it down. And, through God's amazing power, that rod becomes alive--it is transformed into a living, breathing, functioning serpent.

Moses' tool has become empowered by God.

And then the Lord instructs Moses to pick it up by the tail. And God changes it back into a rod: again, a tool for Moses to use, but in God's power, and for God's service.

So, I ask you again: Do you have doubts about your calling or spiritual gift?

What is that in your hand? (Perhaps a pen to write with. A lesson to teach. A tract. A microphone. A plane ticket. You fill in the blank.)
Throw it down (don't hold on to it too tightly) and let God empower it.
Pick it back up by the tail (allowing the Lord to lead, as the power is in the head) and use it for His glory, with His power.
Allow others to see God in you through your God-empowered talent, so "they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob-has appeared to you."

Heavenly Father, You are such an amazing giver of gifts to us. Help us, Lord, to allow You to empower us and our works so that You, and only You, will be seen through them. Encourage us to trust that You will provide what we need to accomplish Your purposes, if we will only let You empower us. Help others to see You in us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

NOTE: The idea for this post was adapted from "Inspiration for Christian Writing" by Bonnie Perry, found in Writers on Writing: Top Christian Authors Share Their Secrets for Getting Published, James N. Watkins, Editor.

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

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Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

Self-Preoccupation

2009-03-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Beth Moore and I got together for coffee this morning. Okay, so maybe Beth and I aren’t really first name basis coffee buds, but meeting her in the pages of Esther has been a great blessing these past five weeks. Today was no exception.

Studying Esther means learning all about Haman and his hateful spirit and deeds. Unfortunately, that also means looking at that same sinfulness within ourselves.

As I poured some fresh coffee and began to drink in the pages of my homework, I started to feel that this week’s message was just not for me. I get it, that Haman is filled with self-entitlement and self-righteousness. I am not. The end. No comparison here.

As Beth related a funny little anecdote of how she gushed over a compliment that was intended for the lady behind her, I chuckled right along with her and felt her embarrassment just as if I’d made the mistake myself. Only I hadn’t.

Beth begged me to relate, saying, “Oh, please tell me you have an example of a time when you mistook somebody else’s praise for your own!” She even asked me to share one such time with her. And. I. Had. None.

See, I’m a praise deflector by nature—being too self-conscious to accept a compliment means never having to mistake someone else’s praise as being directed at you. I knew this lesson on self-promotion and pride just wasn’t mine to learn. Oh, I’ve got issue subscriptions, but just not of that sort.

Just as I felt the day held no Esther-laden lesson for me, Beth blew my cover and I never even knew I was hiding.

“We don’t have to think highly of ourselves to think obsessively of ourselves. Perhaps you can’t imagine a self-view lofty enough to assume you’re being praised, but if it were criticism, would you jump to the conclusion in a second flat?”

Would I? Ladies, I think Beth Moore has been reading my diary.

She went on to say, “Continually thinking others are talking about us—whether positively or negatively—is an unhealthy self-preoccupation.”

Is this self-preoccupation preventing you from doing the job Christ Jesus calls you to?

It is certainly a stumbling block in my walk, but it doesn’t have to be.

I’m reminded of the opening scene of the Dick Van Dyke show. Poor Rob was always tripping over his ottoman, ever quick to bounce up to his feet again. Actually, every now and then it was the carpet that made him lose his footing. Rob wasn’t doomed to such mishaps though, sometimes he saw his own potential to stumble and he sidestepped that pesky ottoman and the carpet, too. Rejoice, ladies! With God as our Rock we can sidestep any pebble that lands in our path—even the boulders are no match for our King!

God’s Word tells us that, “If the Lord delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.” ~Psalm 37:23-24 NIV

In 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NIV we read, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

Time and time again, Scripture reminds us that we are not alone in our struggles, that God will hold our hands, and He will set us free from those bits of sin that lie in our path to righteousness. Hold your Father to His Word, ladies, and He will never let you down!

Father God, It is in You alone that my soul waits in silence. My hope and my value is from only You. You are my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On You rests my deliverance and my honor. You are my mighty rock, my refuge is in You. Lord, I trust in You at all times and am here to pour my heart out to You. Ever-faithful King of Kings, I ask that You meet me today, on this narrow, rocky path I tread. Deliver me from temptation to bring honor to myself or to take it from another. May the glory belong to You alone forever and ever. Amen.

(prayer from Psalm 62:5-8)

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Victoria loves capturing pieces of the world around through photography and finds purpose, value, and peace in knowing that our faithful Savior uses even the most broken vessels to deliver His message.
Encouraging other women who seek to follow Christ brings with it a blessed sense of accountability that helps to keep her in the Word-- especially on those days when the laundry might just sprout legs and “dinner” starts to feel like a four-letter word.
You can find Victoria writing devotionals and sharing this and that at her website,
Let the Son Shine.

About, Face!

2009-03-17T03:00:00.000-07:00

The other morning got off to a bad start. Really bad.

My little boys decided to get up shortly after 5, which was bad enough, but they forgot to turn off the alarm that was set for 6 --the alarm that wasn't supposed to be set because they were sick and needed all the sleep they could get.

So there I was, warm and snuggled in my comfy bed when somebody's alarm went off. I thought it strange that I could hear it, but I simply rolled over. But when the alarm hit its fire alarm imitation, I flew out of bed and hit the hall running, bouncing off walls. Not a pretty picture! I checked the girls' room. Not them. When I left their room I was a little more awake and noticed it was from the other end of the hall—the little boys' room. Just as I reached their open door, a speeding boy zipped past me and sheepishly turned off his alarm.

By then I was ready to paw to the ground. I slipped back into bed and just about gave myself stress fractures. For almost an hour I lay there and gnashed my teeth and fumed before getting up. (Did I mention I could sleep in a little that morning?)

The time I spend driving is time I allot for either brainstorming or praying, or both mixed together. Since we live 25 minutes from town, it's time well spent. But that morning it was wasted.

That morning I was anchored in anger and stuck on a mental rant. No brainstorming. Certainly no praying. I spent FOUR HOURS fuming over that alarm clock. At some point habit kicked in and I caught myself praying. Lord, what were those boys thinking? That's when I caught myself. I was speeding straight for destruction.

A well known speaker tells a story of how he took race driving lessons. He was in the driver's seat, speeding toward a turn and found himself facing a wall. The race track went around the curve, but the speaker's eyes were fixed on the wall in front of him that was zooming ever closer. The driving instructor gave him verbal instructions, but they had no effect on him. He was fully focused on the wall. The instructor was prepared. He reached over and physically turned the student's head, moving his eyes from the wall to the quickly approaching curve. If he hadn't, they would've hit the wall. Which wouldn't have been pretty.

Originally uploaded by EricReedPhoto

That's happened to me. Oh, not in a racing car, thank goodness, but in life. There have been times I've let myself crash into the wall because I wouldn't take my eyes from the problem. Hitting that wall is not a pretty sight. There's always wreckage, and the consequences always far out-weigh whatever annoyance brought me to that wall.

So, what do we do to keep from wrecking? How can we stay on the road, round the curve and safely speed past the wall wanting to destroy us?

We need to do the same thing that racing instructor did. Physically and mentally turn away from the problem. The irritant. The annoyance. Sometimes it's the smallest, most insignificant things send me racing toward the wall—racing toward destruction. All I have to do is physically turn away and face my Savior. Kinda like doing an “About, face!” in a marching drill. Only when we do it, we turn and look into God's Face.

The best way to do that, for me, is to deliberately praise God. Sometimes I've had to start praising through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw, but it works. Soon I forget about what's behind me and all I see is the One who is before me. The old hymn that we've sung so often that we don't really listen to the words is packed full of truth. Modern day truth.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth
will grow strangely dim,
in the Light of His glory and grace.

That's truth that will keep us from crashing into that wall. It's that turning from our aggravations, and things that just plain anger us (or any other emotion), and looking at Jesus that will make all the other fade away in the Light of God's glory.

Instead of ranting, try praising—whether you feel like it or not. Your emotions will follow where your will leads you, and soon your soul will be soaring in praise, instead of anchored in anger.

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Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

Down to the last detail

2009-03-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

This past month I have been working the through the book HEAL: Healthy Eating & Abundant Living by Allie Marie Smith and Judy Halliday. I shared a few weeks ago about the struggles I have had with eating and body image issues, and then about the True Campaign. While exploring the True website, I discovered the HEAL Journey site, and quickly ordered the book.

The book focuses on Psalm 139, and God’s desire for us to develop an emotionally healthy approach to food, our bodies, and our lives. While reading the other day, I was struck with awe over how God made me.

You have to understand that part of my struggle has been accepting my body as it is as God’s wonderful gift to me. I have been so hard on myself, trying to achieve that ever-elusive perfection that all I could do was look on myself with disgust each and every time I stepped in front of the mirror.

Psalm 139 is one of my favorite psalms, and yet I have missed the core message of it. I wrote for March’s issue of the Exemplify e-zine about how amazing it is that God knows every single thing we are doing and thinking simply because He wants to know us.

Then the other day, it hit me. God made me the way He did because He wanted to. I’m not just the way I am because of my parent’s DNA and how I take care of myself (or rather, how I don’t take care of myself!). God put me together cell by cell, designing me exactly how He wanted me to look, sound, feel, and move. He had an image in His mind of what Andrea would be like, and He set about making her simply for the sake of knowing and loving her.

Just because He wanted to.

Isn’t that amazing?

When I sit down to make a craft, whether it be to knit a scarf (since that’s pretty much the extent of my talent!), or scrapbook a set of pictures, or just to make a piece of art to display in my home, I do so for the enjoyment of it. I don’t sit down to make these things because I have to or it is expected of me. I do it because it brings me joy to create something from my hands.

God designed every single last detail of YOU – the way you smile, that crooked pinky toe, those dimples and freckles, even the way your eyes develop those pesky laugh lines – simply because it gave Him great joy to do so!

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16 MSG

I think it is high time we stop beating ourselves up for not looking like the world’s idea of beauty, or even our own, and start praising God for the wonderful way He has made each and every one of us. To start taking joy in the way we were fashioned by the Master Designer, just as He does when He looks on each one of us.Let’s give praise to our Father for His marvelous workmanship!

Father, we thank you that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! We praise You, Lord, for your marvelous workmanship. And we thank you Father, for the love You have for each and every one of us – love that drove You to create us in Your breathtaking image just for the joy of it! May we never forget Your amazing love for us. Amen.

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Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Weekend Word :: March 14

2009-03-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

For many of us this week has been about adjusting to the time change. Personally I love it...the daylight late into the evening and being able to be outside enjoying the sun after work...it makes me happy.

How much more is it to enjoy being in the light of Christ and being a light for Christ.

This is one of my most favorite photos I have ever taken. It is the moon on the beach but what has always made it my favorite is how dark it is surrounding the moon, but when you look at the moon and then you look at how the light shines out of it. The photo reminds me of how Christ shines in us and through us... piercing even the greatest darkness. Just as the moon in the picture He shines forth illuminating us and our lives.

The Light of our World...so beautiful, pure and BRIGHT!

May you shine brightly this weekend with His Light :)

LOGOS series:: Redeemed

2009-03-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

Redeemed is one of my favorite words of the Christian language. When I sing songs with the word redeemed in it, I feel like I'm gonna jump out of my skin and shout "That's me! That's me!!!" Might be a bit distracting to the other worshippers, so instead I just smile, close my eyes, raise my hand in the air like a child raising her hand for the teacher to pick her. I'm saying, "That's me Lord! That's me anyone who might see me standing here! I'm one of the redeemed!"

One of the Hebrew words for redeem is Ga'al. It's a verb that means to to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman. To redeem from slavery, to redeem land, to exact vengeance.

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; - Psalm 107:2 KJV

In Greek the word redeem is Lutroo. It's a verb too, and it means to release upon receipt of ransom, liberate by payment of ransom, to be delivered from evils of every kind- internal and external.

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot...
-1 Peter 1:18-19 KJV

If you want a word picture for how we are the Ga'al of Christ Jesus, read Ruth.

Ruth is a foreigner to the people of God, but she marries one of the Hebrew sons of Naomi (a Jewish woman). When her husband, Naomi's husband, and Naomi's other son are all dead, Naomi heads back to her native land of Israel. Naomi tries to encourage her daughters-in-law to stay behind in their country and not follow her. But Ruth won't have any part of it! She insists on following Naomi and Naomi's God. She learns through Naomi about the Israeli way of caring for widows, the way of the kinsman redeemer. She finds out that Boaz is Naomi's family's kinsman and so she humbles herself at Boaz's feet and calls on him to be her kinsman redeemer. He does so and they are married. And through Ruth, God continues the line through which He will one day send the Israel and the world their kinsman redeemer- Jesus.

I heard the old story that came through Israel (our Naomi) about Jesus. I found all the other people in my life to be dead in a sense- unable to rescue me. And so I ran to this Jesus. I cried out to Him and He has shown me kindness and lavished favor on me I do not deserve. He's called me His own. He's paid the price, not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood to buy me back from the grip of my sin, others' sin, Satan, and this world's system.

He's a beautiful Redeemer. He doesn't lord it over me, though He has every right to. Instead, He washes my filthy feet. He speaks words of kindness and instruction that transform my soul. He leads me through this dark world, lighting my path one step at a time. He comes looking for me when I stray. His redemption continues to save me daily!

How about you? Do you know your Redeemer? Do you know you are one of His Redeemed?

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." - Mark 10:42-45 NKJV

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Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the loneliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Woman Found (Formerly Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker).

Quick & Fun Announcement!

2009-03-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Quick post to let you know Andrea and Kristen are starting a virtual book club.

The details are up today on their blogs and the club kicks off next week!

You can read up about it here and here!

Pentateuch Series: Two Goats

2009-03-12T03:00:00.000-07:00

During the times of the temple, animal sacrifices were commonplace. I can't imagine there was a time when the altar was empty for very long. There was always some sin to atone for, some praise to proclaim, some thanksgiving to express.

It makes me wonder how hard it might have been for an Israelite to convince a ram, bull, or goat to approach the high priest. I'm sure they'd seen others of their kind led in that direction, never to return. Did those animals fight their owners, hoping to escape the death that seemed inevitable?

For if you were an animal without defect and were brought to the temple, the result would most certainly be slaughter.

With one exception.

On one day of each year, two animals would be presented at the altar, but only one would die.

Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats-one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. Leviticus 16:7-10

On the Day of Atonement, known to modern Jews as Yom Kippur, (the holiest day on the Jewish calendar) the high priest actually refrained from killing one of the animals. One of the goats was set aside as the scapegoat-- the bearer of all the nation's sins--and sent away into the wilderness.

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

The Lord's goat is killed and used to make atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the Altar. All of these have been contaminated by the sins of God's people. But this does not complete the amends that must be made. The sins, it seems, are not yet atoned for.

When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites-all their sins-and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. Leviticus 16:20-22

The high priest was to transfer, if you will, all of the sins of the entire nation of Israel over the past year onto this goat by laying both of his hands on its head. And then he was to send it away.

I'm not sure how anything could be any more symbolic of Christ than this ritual in the middle of Leviticus. What a foreshadowing of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah is full of "one-liners" that hearken back to Leviticus 16. The Messiah was "led like a lamb to the slaughter," and "by his wounds we are healed." Jesus is the Lord's goat: a God-man physical sacrifice for sin.

Yet, Christ is also the scapegoat.
"He took up our infirmities, and carried our sorrows."
"The punishment that brought us peace was upon him."
"The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
"He bore the sin of many."

Before their Messiah came, it was only through this annual ceremonial cleansing that atonement was provided for the sins of the nation of Israel. Yet, even it needed to be repeated every single year.

Two thousand years ago, however, God incarnate performed the needs of Yom Kippur atonement when our sins were "scapegoated" upon him and he was sacrificed to pay that price. And, miracle of miracles, He rose again. And so the Yom Kippur sacrifice was fulfilled for all time.

And we are forever atoned for. Neither goats nor people need fear.

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us through the Old Testament sacrifices, and especially those of the Day of Atonement, of our need for, and gratitude of, Christ's death, burial and resurrection. We are ever grateful, Lord, for being able to look back on these passages from the very beginning of the Bible and see that You and Your plan for mankind is never-changing. Help us to hold onto this steadfastness in all Your other promises to us as well. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

****

Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

What's your price?

2009-03-11T03:00:00.000-07:00

Betrayal is a nasty word.

Dictionary.com states to betray means "to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty."

Betrayal is especially hurtful since it can only be done by a close friend.

Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. (Matthew 26:14-16, NIV)

Can you even imagine? One of Jesus' inner circle members "sold Him out" for 30 pieces of silver. The disciple, Judas, was there for it all: the feeding of the thousands, healing of the blind, and listened to all the teachings of Jesus. But yet something churned within Judas' soul that allowed him to turn on the Savior of the world.

For Judas, it took 30 pieces of silver. What's your price?

If you are like me, you've sold the Savior for less than silver. Maybe you've turned on Christ for fear of what your peers might think. Or maybe it was your selfish ambition that caught you abandoning Jesus' love. Whatever your price, we need to acknowledge our betrayal of the Savior.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

This passage holds both the good news and bad news! We ALL fall short. Yet, it's not about us. It's all about HIM. It's HIS righteousness that brings us freedom. It's Christ's faithfulness to the cross that delivers forgiveness. Jesus, Son of God, redeems us with His own flesh and blood.

Today, spend some time meditating upon His Word, His faithfulness, His redeeming love.

What's Christ's price? His own life.

For more on this subject listen to (my pastor) Pastor Kris' sermon from this weekend.

*****

A Lasting Beauty

2009-03-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

I love spring. One of the things I love is seeing all the daffodils blooming in the middle of nowhere. They were planted generations ago by ladies who loved beauty, and those flowers are still there--still blooming each and every spring.

Those ladies still have an impact on the world. They're still making this a beautiful place to live, even though they're no longer here to enjoy it or even nurture it. That's what I want for my life. I want to leave lasting beauty for those coming after me. How do I do that? By planting flower bulbs? I could. But it only takes one pass of a tractor or bulldozer to bring their beauty to an end.

Those daffodils remind me that I need to be planting seeds for eternity. Seeds that can grow, bloom and multiply long after I'm gone. Those are blooms that will last forever, not just for a season.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. ~Matthew 6:19-21 (NASB)

God has given each one of us work to do in our life, with our life. We need to fulfill that calling to the best of our ability. Whether we're in the task-force, ministry, or at home full-time, we're to be a light shining brightly to those around us. A flower that blooms in unlikely places, pointing others to Christ. Always pointing to Jesus.

If we're obeying God, we're planting for eternity. Well, let me rephrase that. There are many times my husband asks me to do something, and I'll do it...eventually. I'll do it...grudgingly. I'll do it...muttering the whole time. I'll do it...with a rotten attitude. Sure, it's obedience, but... It's like if my husband were to pick a bouquet of flowers, and before giving it to me, squishing each bloom in his fist.

It takes more than obedience to plant for eternity. Jesus said that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it won't bear fruit. In order for us to bear fruit for eternity, we need to deny ourselves and follow Jesus. Denying ourselves is when the seed dies. That's when planting for eternity starts.
When we die to ourselves we follow Christ...
Immediately, not eventually.
Gladly, not grudgingly.
Praising, not muttering.
With a sweet aroma, not the smell of rottenness.
That's planting for eternity--seeds that will produce lasting beauty. Beauty that blooms in our lives and also that will reach beyond us to the generations coming after us. We are to live beautiful lives so that our sons and grandsons might fear the Lord.

That kind of life will produce results that bear fruit and bloom even after we're gone--just as those daffodils bloom long after their planters have died. We don't know the planters' names, but what's important is that they planted the flowers and we're still reaping the benefits and beauty of them. That's what we're looking for in our lives, too. The beauty of a life lived for Christ. That's truly lasting beauty.

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

Global Food Crisis Day:: March 11

2009-03-09T03:00:00.000-07:00

One of the things the Lord has been impressing on my heart lately is the need for us with plenty to reach out and help those who go without.

Many of you are aware of the current economic situation the U.S. and Canada are facing, not to mention the rest of the world. But are you also aware of the global food crisis, caused not only by this world-wide turbulent economy, but by fluctuating fuel costs, rising demands for food, and natural disasters? And while most of us feel this only slightly when we go grocery shopping each week, many are starving as they watch the cost of their food staples double in price.

We at Exemplify would like to encourage our readers to partner with Compassion International, a non-profit Christian organization that "exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults".

Compassion International is working tirelessly "as an advocate for children in poverty and works in some of the areas hardest hit by this crisis. (They) are providing solutions through local churches with nutritional provision and long-term strategies, such as agricultural education, training and tools, so that those consumed by this crisis have the opportunity to grow and prepare their own food."

You can help in a number of ways:

Sponsor a child
Blog about the global food crisis
Share the hunger fact sheet
Get your church involved
Make a donation towards the food crisis relief effort
And most importantly, PRAY!

Never underestimate what you can do through our God to release a child from poverty - the only action too small is no action at all.

For more information on the Global Food Crisis or Compassion International, visit Compassion's website.

Weekend Word :: March 7

2009-03-06T21:25:00.000-08:00

I am so thankful to know that He directs my paths. I know when I try my way things end up being harder...and yet I will not give Him that control at times. I am slowly learning to acknowledge that my God not only has better plans than the ones I have for me, but that He loves me so much that He only wants what is best for me.

I forget that sometimes...but thankfully His Word is always a sweet reminder of how much He loves us and how much He wants what is best for us...even if we think something else might be best...He always knows better :)

Have a blessed weekend ladies.

Logos Series:: Sin and Faith

2009-03-06T03:00:00.000-08:00

"But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin." Romans 14:23 NKJV (emphasis added by me)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." -Hebrews 11:1 NKJV (emphasis added by me)

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
-Hebrews 11:6 NKJV (emphasis added by me)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ladies. I've been very prayerful about this post. In fact I didn't finish it until yesterday because I so don't want to mess this up. There aren't enough, or right, words in the English language to reveal the beauty of what God has been teaching me about sin and faith. And I'm far from a good writer. So I sought to really limit my words in this post. I pray that the Spirit would fill in and exhort you in the way only He can. I pray you'll be as blessed as I was while He taught me this week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sin is missing the mark. The mark is the glory of God which is only found fully in Jesus Christ. We were created to display that glory. And by faith in Him, we are once again able to do just that!

The glory of God tells us the mark we miss.

Faith tells us how we can once again hit the mark.

In Romans 14:23, Paul, by the Spirit, reveals that sin is not just a bunch of broken, random rules imposed on humanity by a heartless God. Sin is the result of not living by faith.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of unseen things. Faith is the only way God is pleased with us.

Substance. That reminds me of the old high school chemistry lab, with the precipitate forming at the bottom of the beaker.

The substance is the physical manifestation, the fleshing out, of things we hope for. And that hope is not just wishing on a wing and prayer. That word hope means joyful confidence in our salvation. The substance of things hoped for is living out in flesh and blood the things we have sure confidence in concerning Christ. It's living out the eternal things here. It's God's will done here on earth, in our bodies, as it is in heaven. It's God's story written with our lives. It's Jesus living in, and through, you and me. It's living like we are joyfully confident that we're totally forgiven because of Christ's sacrifice, and empowered by His resurrected life to do His will.

The reason anything that is not of faith is sin is because anything that is not of faith is not really true. It's not eternal. It's not God's story. It's not in heaven. It's not Jesus.

Homosexuality is not sin just because. It's sin because it doesn't reveal God.

Lying is not sin just because. It's sin because God doesn't lie.

Murder is not sin just because. It's sin because God is not a murderer.

Loving the people who are kind to you yet hating the people who are enemies of you is not sin just because. It's sin because its not part of God's story.

Angrily barking at your children is not sin just because. It's sin because Jesus doesn't bark at His children.

Enter any other thing you deem sin.

The only thing that determines whether something is sin or not is the unseen, eternal truth about God as revealed fully in Jesus Christ. And when the unseen, eternal truth about God as manifest in Christ is fleshed out in me by the grace of God, I am living faith. When I'm walking in my fallen, natural flesh its sin because it doesn't allow Christ to be seen in my life.

This definition of sin as anything that is not of faith rids me of all religious notions, sin scales (you know, on a scale of 0 to 10, "white" lies are a 2 and murder is a 10), pride, and condemnation of others. It puts all humanity in the same boat. It puts all creation under the curse of sin.

Because faith is letting the glory of God be seen in our lives, ALL have sinned and fallen short! None of us walk by faith all the time!

No matter how gruesome one sin is over another to me, the truth is, any sin, any slight deviation from living out God's truth in our flesh, is enough to destroy all creation. It's what happened.

It wasn't homosexuality, or murder, or adultery that sent the world and all humanity into a tail spin. It was eating fruit that God said was off limits. Eating fruit. Now, I don't know about you, but eating forbidden fruit doesn't even really make it onto my foolish, prideful, sin-scale. That's because in my haughty nature I see sin as what offends me. But Jesus says:

"No Sheila. You are not the ultimate reality. All creation is not in existence for the purpose of pleasing and revealing truth about you. All creation exists by ME, for ME, and through ME. Sin is sin because it does not reveal ME. Eating forbidden fruit has as much of a destructive effect upon MY creation as sexual perversion because I only do what my Father says and does. I don't eat what He says is forbidden,
therefore when Adam and Eve ate what was forbidden they sinned. Sexual perversion is not only evidence of the accumulating, deadly effects of sin upon
the beauty of sexuality, which I created, but is also sin itself because I engage only in pure intimacy with my Bride."

Ooohhh this makes my heart overflow with compassion, freedom and a pure fear of God! Not a fear of punishment, but awe of the Creator I was created to glorify in my body. His creation is full of sin and its deadly effects. My life is marred and twisted by sin's missed mark. But He loves me. He took the death my sin produced so that I could live a life that brings Him glory and enjoy the oneness with Him, and likeness of Him, I was created to delight in.

It also makes me have a heart of intercession. I see others clinging to their sin as though it was their right. I see them blind to God. Never knowing His goodness. If only they didn't love their chains. If only they didn't defend their marred life. If only they saw that they were clinging to pig slop when they were created for a feast! If only they knew the glory they were created for. If only they knew my Jesus! If only they could see that He made them for so much more and that the damage of their ways is far beyond fixing with any good thing they think they might do. If only they could see the cost of the rescue God gave us in Christ; the rescue from the terrible, eternal crash our lives are headed for while we sing, wine, and dine, protesting and demanding our rights to the plummeting craft of sin we're in!

Oh Father, give us, give someone, eyes to see today! Give them eyes to see the thing they are clinging to is poison! Let them then see Jesus!

~~~~~~~~~~

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the loneliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Woman Found (formerly Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker).

Pentateuch Series: Unauthorized Fire

2009-03-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

God doesn't always give us all the particulars we might desire to know in the Bible. I hope I'm not the only one who finds herself wondering about the missing (in my view, anyway) details from various Bible narratives.

Where did Cain's wife come from?
Why didn't Jacob notice he was marrying the wrong woman?
What was so special about Enoch?
Why didn't Balaam act surprised when a donkey talked to him?

Lately, the question that has gotten me thinking is found in Leviticus.

What, exactly was wrong with Nadab and Abihu's sacrifice? What did they do that warranted God's punishment of them?
Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Leviticus 10:1-2

They had just been given a fairly long list of rules and regulations, if you will, for presenting an offering to God. They had even done it. They knew what to do. But, apparently, they didn't do it.

Did they neglect to purify themselves? Did they eat some of God's portion of the offering? Did they use the wrong incense? What aspect of the sacrifice was violated so severely that it warranted both of them being burned to death by their Heavenly Father?

We don't know, And lately I've been contemplating if the reason we don't know is because it doesn't matter.

God requires sinlessness--perfection--for us to be acceptable in His sight. In Biblical times, this need was even more pronounced for the priests, who were the intermediaries between a holy God and sinful people.

I sometimes find myself dismissing some of my faults as minor, figuring that others (ones I don't commit, of course!) are the truly bad ones.

Yet, James said in the second chapter of his letter that even if you sin in just one area, you are guilty of disobeying the entirety of the Law.

I imagine if I had been of the Aaronic priesthood and had learned of the fate of Nahab and Abihu. I would have sought to find out what they had done. And, if I had been successful, I would have moved that offense to the top of my priestly "no-no" list. And if I did that, the other commands would have, by necessity, been moved down the list, making them "not as bad."

That's not the way it works in God's economy. We must "be careful to do everything" He has said to us(Exodus 23:13 - emphasis mine), not just the things we see as particularly bad. God does not desire that we pick and choose which sins are "the worst," and focus only on those.

You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. Leviticus 20:26

And, to be holy is to be blameless and perfect. Aren't you thankful, though, that we are on this side of the Cross? We no longer need to make sacrifices to atone for our sins. We do not need to fear making "unauthorized fire" before the Lord. We only must accept the free gift, from our Heavenly Father, of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

And we are forgiven.

Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us that every sin against You is rightly punishable by eternal separation from You, and that we all deserve just that. But even more, Lord, thank You for your incredible grace and mercy on us, that You would allow Your precious Son's death on the cross to be seen as payment for that sin. Help us, Lord, to understand the seriousness of that sin, no matter what it might be. Help us to truly mourn it, and to repent. Thank You, Lord for allowing us to come to You as holy through Christ. In His name I pray. Amen.

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

****

Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

Let The Meeting Begin! :: Kettle Club February Wrap Up

2009-03-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first Kettle Club discussion!

To catch up on the details behind our meeting you can read this.

Today we welcome you to link up using our Mr. Linky, inviting others to come read what you are learning in your time spent in the Word and with the Lord!

This month we are discussing the following
(remember you do not have to answer every question!):

• Did you focus on a specific portion of Scripture this month (for example, the Psalms)? If so, share why you chose to focus on that specific portion.

• If not, share a few key verses or areas you felt lead to read this month.

• Are you following along with a specific devotional? If so, tell us a little about the devotional. Do you recommend it for your fellow Kettle Club ladies?

• What is a stand out lesson you learned this month? What has the Lord been steadily teaching you?

• Did you find certain distractions kept popping up as you would sit down to meditate on God’s Word? How did you overcome them?

• Do you find that when you place your time spent with the Lord before blogging life somehow seems…simpler? Or feels more balanced?

• What are some prayer time/Word focused goals you had for the month of February? What are your goals for the month of March? (For example, are you memorizing Scripture or committing to pray about a specific thing?)

• How can you fellow Kettle Club members pray for you this month? Anything else you would like to share?

Because we are a blog team with a group of writers, each of our weekly writers will be blogging at their own blogs today discussing the above! So, be sure to check out the links below if you are interested in learning what our writers are focusing on and learning in their time with the Lord.

I cannot wait to hop over to your blog and read how your month was spent!

--Kristen

P.S. Have you downloaded the Exemplify Magazine's March Issue yet?

Beyond Survival

2009-03-03T03:00:00.000-08:00

My wonderful husband has been out of town for a few days and I slipped into survival mode. I don't sleep well without him and I don't do well without sleep. (LoL--Imagine that!) As a result, I just keep going slower and slower and focusing on surviving the time until he's home again, by which time I'm exhausted. When he's home with us, we do more than survive, we thrive and love life.

I was thinking about that as I taxied kids and it reminded me of some verses I read the other day.

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. ~Psalm 92:12

Flourishing like a palm tree. That sounds fabulous to me--at least until I remember where palm trees grow. It's not always the lush Garden of Eden where you see them. Often it is in desert-like places that they flourish. As much as I love palm trees, I'm not so sure I love those desert-like places. Yet God says the righteous will flourish in there. Not just survive, but thrive. What a difference! Many times I've simply survived, but God draws me out of survival mode and causes me to thrive, to flourish.

So how do we go about thriving and not just surviving? The next verse tells us the secret:

Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

The secret is being planted in the house of the Lord. That's where we sprout and thrive. It's also where we flourish during a drought.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. ~Jeremiah 17:7-8

These verses always make me think of the book Green Leaf in Drought by Isobel Kuhn. It's the story of Arthur and Wilda Matthews, missionaries with the China Inland Mission, and their escape from Communist China in the early 1950's. It's a small, life changing book that I can't recommend highly enough. The communist government created a drought in their lives that makes the Gobi seem fertile, but the Matthews learned to thrive and flourish. The life they lived while being poorer than the poorest of the Chinese around them, being cut off from others, even those living within the same compound, and how they flourished in those drought times, spoke more to the Chinese believers than their words could have. Here's how the conclusion put it: “He [God] sent them to serve by life and so sealed their lips. It was a much more potent message.”

There are times when our drought is so that people can see our light shining through the dark (Matthew 5:16), and glorify God. Are we making the most of periods of drought in our lives?

That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth. ~Psalm 83:18

*All Scripture from the New American Standard Bible
****
Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

The Kettle Club :: February Discussion

2009-03-02T00:44:00.000-08:00

Well, ladies, an entire month has passed since we decided to start The Kettle Club! I love hopping over to new blogs and finding the button for our Club displayed.

God will honor our obedience by putting Him first!

A quick recap (if you are familiar with the Club, skip this to get to the good stuff!):

The idea for The Kettle Club came to me a few months ago, as I was finishing up my devotional time. As I was closing my Bible I thought of all the women, myself included, who often voice the worry of blogging having the potential to upstage other activities in life.

I’ve read time and time again how so many women feel obligated to blog and start to lose the joy of sharing their hearts when the pressure mounts.

Most of all, I've read and have personally felt, the longing for our time with the Lord to remain intact and take priority over our time spent in the blog world.

Thus The Kettle Club was born. (To read about The Kettle Club in full, you can check this out.)

Here is how it works:

Women who want to make the commitment to spend 5-10 minutes (or more!) of time in the

Word before blogging each day, will join up.

Each month, we will post little devotional questions and encouragement to help hold one another accountable.

The last week of the month we will link up and share what we are learning in our private, devotion time.

You are welcome to share anything & everything! This is NOT a meme where we are all going to be doing the same thing. I may be spending my time reading the Psalms for the month; you may be reading about the miracles of Christ.

Below are our February Discussion Questions. You do not have to answer every question. Feel free to choose one to elaborate on or read the questions below to get an idea of the type of discussion we are hoping to start. You are also welcome to share your own thoughts, without answering any of the questions!

February Wrap Up
Questions For Discussion:

• Did you focus on a specific portion of Scripture this month (for example, the Psalms)? If so, share why you chose to focus on that specific portion.

• If not, share a few key verses or areas you felt lead to read this month.

• Are you following along with a specific devotional? If so, tell us a little about the devotional. Do you recommend it for your fellow Kettle Club ladies?

• What is a stand out lesson you learned this month? What has the Lord been steadily teaching you?

• Did you find certain distractions kept popping up as you would sit down to meditate on God’s Word? How did you overcome them?

• Do you find that when you place your time spent with the Lord before blogging life somehow seems…simpler? Or feels more balanced?

• What are some prayer time/Word focused goals you had for the month of February? What are your goals for the month of March? (For example, are you memorizing Scripture or committing to pray about a specific thing?)

• How can you fellow Kettle Club members pray for you this month?

• Anything else you would like to share?

See you back here Wednesday for our Kettle Club discussion. At that time you will be able to link up using Mr. Linky so other participants may hop over to your blog and read what you have been learning!

Happy Monday!

The Kettle Club -- Coming To A Blog Near You!

2009-02-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies,

I wanted to remind everyone that The Kettle Club's monthly meeting is this week. On Monday we will be posting our questions for discussion and on Wednesday we will invite everyone to link up. You will then be able to share what you are learning, what struggles you may have faced and even ask your fellow Kettle's for prayer.

Be on the lookout for your questions for answer on Monday!

(If you need to get caught up on the purpose behind The Kettle Club or how to join you can read all about it here. EVERYONE is welcome!)

Weekend Word :: February 28

2009-02-28T01:13:00.000-08:00

There is something about the beach...I love it...I love looking out on the vastness of the water...it looks like it goes on forever.

It never fails that I feel closer to God there sitting on the sand, listening to the waves, and looking into what seems to be infinity.

And I love this verse...The beginning is such a beautiful description of our God. And then it goes on to say that He rules over the sea. And He can calm it...

I like to take that a step further and think of how when we surge up, whether it be anger, or sadness, or bitterness that He can calm us too....Because sometimes our emotions are to much for us but HE can always handle it and give us a calm heart and mind....

So may HE give you a calm heart and mind this weekend.

LOGOS Series: Understanding sin through the glory of God

2009-02-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
-Romans 3:23 NKJV

In summation of the terms I dug up on sin last week, to sin means: to be guilty of missing the mark, or making crooked the way either rebelliously or ignorantly.

And to know what "the mark" is to understand what it means to miss it. Romans 3:23 is part of the definition of that "mark". Sin is falling short of the glory of God.

Now, if you're like me, for a long time, when I heard Romans 3:23 I thought, "Duh! Why does God require something we can't be?" I thought of "the glory of God" as God's perfect standard, and I pictured a royal, untouchable, flawless leader who imposed impossible standards on his people and then condemned them for it. I didn't understand God's heart because I didn't know that JESUS is the glory of God!

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
-John 1:14 NKJV

Jesus is "the glory of God." Sin is falling short of being like Jesus. All have sinned because all fall short of Jesus!

Glory in the Hebrew comes from the word kabad or kabed. It means: to be heavy... to make weighty (See Strong's Exhaustive Concordance).

In other words, the glory of a thing is its substance, its weight. God helps me understand it by taking me back to high school chemistry.

You know when you did those labs with 2 clear substances. You added one to the other and stirred. Then something heavy formed and sunk to the bottom of the beaker. A substance appeared. Its weight and properties were more evident than the 2 catalysts used to produce it. The precipitate was the "glory" of that unseen chemical reaction.

God's glory is the substance, the precipitate if you will; the weighty and heavy, tangible evidence of the God (who is spirit) which we cannot see. And Jesus is that heaviness. He is the weight of God. He is the physical precipitate so to speak of God in the flesh.

{Jesus} is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
- Colossians 1:15-17 NKJV

Okay, Sheila, what does all that have to do with sin again?

Hang with me.

Sin is everything we are and do which does not precipitate Christ.

Okay, but if Jesus is the glory of God, why am I counted a sinner for falling short of being like Jesus?

Stay with me now.

Because, you and I were created to be like Jesus!

Sin is everything we are and do which does not reveal Christ in our flesh because we were made to walk this earth in HIS likeness!

Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
- Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV

We were created in His image, His likeness. And like a fine tuned chemical reaction when any foreign element is thrown in, when Adam and Eve strayed from the purpose we were created for, a marred, twisted, fallen creation was the result. And we can't just blame Adam and Eve either. We choose many times a day to add our own substance to God's purpose of revealing His glory in us and further twist, marr and miss the mark we were created for.

Jesus is the glory of God and we were created to be like Him. We fall short of that by the nature of the fallen creation we were born into and by our own actions.

So are we hopeless? NO!

To me, knowing what the glory of God means makes my heart leap with joy for the God I was created to know, glorify in my body, and enjoy forever. I have hope because Jesus is the glory of God, and Jesus became sin who knew no sin that I might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.5:21). Jesus became the marred weight and heaviness of God in the flesh that I might be a creature who brings a tangible weight and heaviness to the God I was created in the image of on this earth!

That original beauty of God I was created to display is restored to me because in Jesus I am a new creation. It's the garden of Eden all over again spiritually for me. I can once again bring God glory doing the works I was created to do because of Jesus. But that's another LOGOS post on the word redeemed!

I understand sin, more of the nature of God, and that I am a sinner, when I understand the mark I was created for.

What about you?

Next week: Understanding sin through faith.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that here at her blog: Meditations and Confessions of A Woman Found (formerly Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker).

The Pentateuch Series :: Consecrated Body Parts

2009-02-26T03:00:00.000-08:00

Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. Slaughter it,take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle blood against the altar on all sides. Exodus 29:19-20

When Aaron and his sons were originally consecrated as priests, part of the process included placing blood of a ram on three specific parts of their bodies: the right thumb, earlobe,and big toe. This was not a random choice on God's part.

In those times, the High Priest was the only person who could come into the presence of the Lord, and so needed to be purified. Their primary focus needed to be on their job as intercessors and "go-betweens" between the children of Israel and their God.

But this was not just a physical purification. It was much more than that. The priest must not just be cleansed with the ram's blood; he must live a life of purification. And thus the three body parts: reminders of what exactly it requires to be holy in His sight.

The blood was placed on the right ear lobe. What we hear has a huge impact on our thoughts,and ultimately our actions. While we cannot always filter out all "negative" sounds, we can certainly limit some of the ungodly, sinful influences on our minds. And when we do hear something displeasing to our Father, we can keep it from influencing us by focusing on pleasant and godly thoughts instead. (See Philippians 4:8-9) Of course, we must also keep our ears open so we can listen to, and heed, His voice.

It was also necessary for the right thumb to be bloodied. It is with our thumbs, and their hands, that we accomplish works that please our Father, or that disappoint Him. Our actions - what we do with our hands - must be done as to the Lord if we are to be pleasing in his sight. Actions against our Lord are steps that naturally follow thoughts against Him. As an ungodly idea takes shape, we begin to act on it, drawing us further and further from the will of our Lord.

And then there's the right toe. Our feet are our natural mode of transportation. Where we go is as important to the Lord as what we hear and what we do. If we are to be consecrated to Him, we must be willing to walk with Him, no matter where He may be leading us. And we will get the blessing.

If we refuse to listen to our Heavenly Father, we will not do what He wants us to do, and our walk with Him will most certainly suffer. Then what good are we as a priest of the Most High?

For, yes, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are His priests. Once that curtain was torn in two from top to bottom, we have the same access to our Lord that Aaron and his descendents had once a year. However, our Heavenly Father has given us that incredible access to Him continuously.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Have you been consecrated to Him? Is it time for you to make an ear, thumb, and toe check?

Heavenly Father, what an amazing honor and blessing that You have chosen me to be a part of Your royal priesthood. Help me, Lord, to daily consecrate my hearing, doing and walking to Your purposes. Help me to listen closely for Your voice, to act in response to it, and to walk circumspectly in the midst of Your will, no matter what the world or my own fleshly desires may be saying to the contrary. I pray, Lord, that everything about me will declare Your praises, and the praises of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray. Amen

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

**
Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago this month and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

Love Laws

2009-02-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

Do you follow the laws of love in your relationships?

Every connection demands a balance of give and take. Family members give and take. Friends give and take. Marriages give and take.

What happens when the law is broken?

We might call one person a "leech" or "mooch" when they try to take too much.

Or what about the person who tries to give and give to demand your attention?

Healthy?

Not at all.

So, how are you doing in your own relationships?

Recently, I have found myself shutting down. Pulling away from friends and family, not answering phone calls, staying quiet in conversations.

As I laid in bed last night reflecting, I heard God's gentle whisper. Reminding me of my relationship with Him.

It seems I've been taking too much from Him as well.

Do you know what He desires from me?

An obedient, humble heart. A woman who sits quietly at His feet, free from distractions. No TV, phone, e-mail, blogging, Facebook, children, husband, dog, work, nothing. Just solitude between my heart and His.

How did I think I could make it as a Christian running a daily life full of activities, without filling myself with the Source of my survival?

This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. 1 John 4:13-16 (The Message)

Did you catch that? We "participate continuously in an intimate relationship with God." How are you participating in this law of love with Your Savior?

Dear Jesus, Thank you for Your never-ending pursuit of my heart. Lord, I pray that You would instill in my soul the desire to spend faithful time with You in Your Word, in Your presence and in prayer with You. I treasure our relationship. Thank you for Your love. Amen.

*****

Coming Soon!

2009-02-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

For weeks I've been keeping a keen eye out my window, watching and waiting, hoping and praying, knowing that this day would arrive, and finally, finally it's here. They're here! I'm soooo excited. The robins are in my yard again! You know what that means, don't you?

Spring is coming!!

So many of us here in the States are peeking and peering out our windows for any sign of spring that we can possibly find. Winter has gone on long enough and we are worn thin from the dark, dreary days and cold temperatures. We've been assuring ourselves, and everyone we talk to, that spring truly is coming.

The other night I sat talking with a group of church ladies at the roller skating rink. Over the loud music, one of my friends leaned toward the center of the table and with sparkling eyes assured us, “It's gonna be soon! You can see it all around us!” But she wasn't talking about spring. We were talking about the political landscape in our country, and I could feel her excitement. It was such a contrast to our conversation—such a beacon of light and hope.

Jesus is coming!! It's gonna be soon!

Since then, every time I've looked out my window hoping to see robins, I've thought about that. Jesus is coming! Am I watching for Him? I certainly should be.

You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect. ~Luke 12:40

I realized that I put more effort into looking for robins than I do looking for second coming of Jesus. Realizing that has helped me keep my eyes off the here-and-now. I've found that I'm thinking more about eternal things than I did before. I want to be ready for when Jesus returns. Ready and waiting. If I am, I'll act accordingly, just like when I'm ready and waiting for long awaited family to arrive—with great anticipation and with everything in readiness.

Just as we remind each other that spring truly is coming, we need to remind each other that Jesus is coming, too. And coming soon!

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. ~I Thessalonians 4:16-18

There is tremendous comfort in remembering that Jesus is coming. All we have to do is look around us at the turmoil in our world, our countries, cities, towns and families—there's turmoil all around us. But Jesus, (Oh, how I love that phrase!) Jesus is coming! And He's coming soon! Are you ready?

*All Scripture from the New American Standard Bible
****
Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

Arms Wide-Open

2009-02-23T03:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I resemble the Prodigal Son a lot more than I would like to admit.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not that I am turning my back completely on God and walking away from Him. But in certain areas of my life, and in certain seasons, I am guilty of going my own way.

There are times when I say to God “I love and you all, but I don’t like the way You are asking me to go about doing this. I’d rather do it my way, thank you.”

So I set out on my own. Generally my way, like the prodigal’s, involves self-indulgence and a lack of discipline. It almost always gets me into some form of trouble. And, like the prodigal, when things get really bad, it hurts. A lot. And I begin to see that maybe my Father’s way isn’t so bad after all.

I love how the prodigal responds when he realizes his behavior has been abhorrent. He immediately repents and turns back to his Father.

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.” So he returned home to his father.
(Luke 15:17-20a, NLT)

Unfortunately, I’m not always so quick.

In fact, sometimes I keep going my own way just a little longer, thinking if I hang in there long enough, things are bound to turn around. After all, the rest of my life is going just fine, right?

I’m just glad that no matter how long it takes me to come to my senses, my Father is anxiously awaiting my return. And when He sees me making my way back home, His heart is filled with compassion and love for me. He is waiting for me with His arms wide-open to welcome me back into His fold.

And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. (v. 20)

Father, thank you that You are so willing to forgive me time after time after time. Thank you for waiting for me to return to You with Your arms wide-open. Help me to go my way less and less, and Your way more and more. I love you. Amen.

***
Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Weekend Word :: February 21

2009-02-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

It has been one of those weeks. So many around me are hurting and burdened, or they are weary from things of this world.

And I am there with them.

But we have one place we can always go to, no, run to. The arms of our Savior.

I am ever so thankful to find that in those arms I find the rest and restoration I need.

You need.

We all need.

May you find yourself in His Arms today.

The LOGOS Series :: Sin

2009-02-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

When I first had the desire to do this series it was because of my own personal study of words like sin, glory, redeemed, hallelujah, etc. God has been so good to continue to give me understanding in light of Christ about many of these words I've ignorantly spoke and sang as a Christian. I really want to share some of the gold nuggets God has been faithful to reveal to me as I've sought His face and studied His word.

The past few LOGOS studies have been a little deviation from that original intent. They were more in response to the current study on love I'm going through in my life. But this week I'm excited to get back to my original list of words.

So today's word is sin.

Sin. I think that might be one of the top 3 words which come to mind when I think of Christianity.

This post is by no means an exhaustive study on the word sin, but here are a couple revelations:

The definition of sin is intertwined with the understanding of God's glory and faith

God does not just randomly call certain things sin- He is not a cold rule-maker

First: To know what sin means we need to understand what the phrase, "the glory of God" means, along with understanding what faith is.

So in the next 2 LOGOS posts I'll unpack (read scratch the surface of) the phrase "the glory of God" and the word faith.

But for today, just pulling out my handy Strong's, I found these 6 different words all translated "sin" in scripture.

Hang with me. This really is fun. Like I said these are gold nuggets... you have to do a little digging to get to the gold though :)

chata- a primary root for the Hebrew word translated sin in the KJV. It means: to miss.

asham- another primary root for the Hebrew word sin. It means: to be guilty.

shagah- another primary root in Hebrew for sin. It means: to stray, implication: through ignorance or deception.

avon- (wow, Avon really goes back... I know I'm a dork!) comes from another primary Hebrew root word for sin, avah, which means: to crook, make crooked.

peswha- from the Hebrew root word, paha, meaning: to break away (from just authority).

hamartano- this is a Greek word for sin used in the New Testament. It means: to miss the mark, and so not share in the prize.

So, after taking those in here's what I get:

Whatever the right-straight-guiltless-wise-under just authority, mark is, sin is missing it, breaking away from it, making it crooked, straying from it, and evidence of being guilty of all of the above.

That's why I need to know what God's glory is, and what faith means. Scripture describes both faith and the glory of God as the "mark" which sin misses .

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." -Romans 3:23 NKJV

"But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin." - Romans 14:23

There is a sure mark for which anything that misses it is designated as sin. But sin, as my old pastor in Oregon used to say, "Sin is not bad because it's forbidden. Sin is forbidden because it's bad!" God isn't arbitrarily saying, "THAT'S forbidden!" He tells us what's forbidden because He knows it's bad. He loves us, and doesn't want us to suffer the consequences of sin. And also, as we'll see a little glimpse of next week when we look at "the glory of God", God calls all this forbidden sin bad for us because its not what we were created for!

Sin is anything a person does that does not accurately reflect who God is! We were made in His image, to display His glory, and faith is the substance of things hoped for, therefore anything not from faith is sin. Faith brings life and reveals God (Christ is the image of God). Sin brings death. Sin is not just the random selection of "wrong" things. Sin is whatever we do that is not Christ lived out in us.

That's a little preview for next week :)

Anything change for you in looking at those scriptures, and Hebrew and Greek root words?

Seeing that sin is not just doing what's written in stone, but rather, is everything that does not reveal truth about God in my life as I was created to, has really caused me to depend utterly on the work of Christ at the cross for my acceptance. It also has caused me to love God's rules!

I don't see God's ways any longer as random rules written by a cold, distant, restricting God. I see God's law as it is fulfilled in Christ and I realize THAT'S how I was always intended to live.

It makes me weep when I stray or choose what is not of faith and what is short of God's glory not because I'm rejected... Christ took that for me. I weep because I now see a glimpse of the beauty I was created for and realize how I fall for sinful things as though they were the prize when they fall oh so short of what God desires for me!

God isn't keeping any good thing from me with His rules. Everything outside of His boundaries keeps me from what I was always meant to be! And keeps Him from the glory He deserves from my life!

***
Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker.

The Pentateuch Series :: Three Kings: One Purpose

2009-02-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

Pharaoh, King of Egypt.

For the most part, this job title likely conjures up images of the hard-hearted man who embittered the lives of the Israelites, and brought the ten plagues on his own people. He is certainly the most infamous person with that title in the Bible.

Yet, do you realize there were actually three prominent pharaohs in the Pentateuch?

The first one mentioned was actually a friend to God's people. He was the pharaoh of Genesis 40-50. Jacob's beloved son Joseph was his second in command, and he allowed the children of Israel to settle in the fertile land of Goshen in the midst of a famine. He, the supreme ruler of Egypt, was also blessed by Jacob (this blows me away. Have you ever, really, thought about that?), one of the great patriarchs. Though he may not have been a follower of God, this particular pharaoh wasn't disparaging of Him.

After him were other pharaohs: how many, we can't know. The children of Israel prospered and grew under these kings, and apparently lived peaceably with those around them.

Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.

"Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." Exodus 1:8-10

And this, of course, is where the trouble began. God had prospered His people, and increased their number, and this pharaoh didn't like it.

So, he made the Israelites slaves, and attempted to destroy all the Israelite newborn males. This, of course, set the stage for Moses to be "adopted" by an Egyptian princess, the pharaoh's daughter.

For this Israelite-hater, I can't even imagine the relationship between the two. An Israelite living in his palace. What a contrast with the first pharaoh and Joseph. I'm sure Moses, without even trying, was quite the thorn in pharaoh's side. Eventually, it caused Moses to flee to Midian under a death threat from the pharaoh.

In time, this pharaoh died, and another--most likely his son--took over. He continued the slavery and ill treatment of the Israelites. This was the hard-hearted one who embittered the lives of the Israelites, who saw the awesome power of God in so many destructive and awe-inspiring ways.

Again, the relationship between these two men was likely much more complicated than many have considered. If this new pharaoh was the son of the former one (which is at least likely), Moses could have grown up thinking of him as an uncle. No wonder Moses was afraid to approach this man, even after all those years. Yet, with God's power, he did, and we all know the result.

These three kings were all very different, yet all were part of God's plan for His people. The "good" pharaoh of Joseph's time was as integral to the story of the Israelites as were either of the "bad" pharaohs.

It is common to wonder if the Lord has forsaken us, or to question His motives, when things seem to be going against us. Whether it's a bad marriage, a corrupt government, persecution and oppression, or some other struggle, we question what exactly God is doing. We like to think that, because we are His, things will go our way, or should.

But that is not necessarily the case. Yet, it does not mean that God isn't at work. None of these pharaohs were believers, but they were clearly part of God's plan.

It is not our place to "fix" God's plan. Our place, instead, is to trust Him. He knows the story, as well as the purpose He has for every life, whether it is Moses', pharaoh's, or mine.

Every action in our lives is known by our God, and every person, believer or heathen, is a part of God's purpose. While we may not be able to understand it, we can trust. And we can be certain that it will work out to God's purposes, which are always better than our own.

Heavenly Father, thank You for not allowing the wicked to run rampant in our world, no matter how we sometimes think You do just that. Help us to remember that You are in control, and that You can and do use everything for Your own purposes. Help us remember that ALL kings, whether we perceive them as "good" or "bad," are placed where they are by You. Help us to trust you in every circumstance. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

**
Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago this week and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

The Touch of Jesus

2009-02-18T03:00:00.000-08:00

A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Mark 1: 40-42 NIV

Can you image going through life without touch? No hugs, not a hand shake, or even a high-5.

Think of the birth of a baby. Often, the newborn is placed on the mother's body. Surrounded in touch and love.

When my soul is down the one thing I crave is my mother's touch. Even at an age when I have my own children, I still long for my mother's embrace.

In our passage today we meet someone longing for touch. Being a leper meant you were totally isolated from the world around you. For fear of spreading your disease, the lepers shouted "Unclean! Unclean!" to anyone who would dare come near.

Yet read again what Jesus did. Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.

Jesus could have spoken the healing. He could have prayed for the man to be free of disease. But, Jesus, wanting to give more than just health, touches the leper.

Where do you need the touch of Jesus today?

A song that is close to my heart right now speaks of Jesus' touch. The second verse reads:

Broken I run to you for your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know your touch restores my life

With every touch, Jesus restores life.

So how do we receive this touch of Jesus? First, and foremost, confess your sins and your need for a Savior. You may want to use Psalm 139 to meditate upon. Then, just like the leper, ask Jesus for healing. Take out a piece of paper and pour out your soul in writing. Or go to a quiet place and speak out loud your heart break and desire for healing.

Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing"

Know that Christ is listening, filled with compassion. He holds out His hand willing to touch.

*****
Shane Schwichtenberg shares her life’s journey with pure honesty and humility. Her sincere love for Christ and women of all ages shines with every connection she makes, whether speaking, writing, or leading worship. Visit Shane’s personal blog or her ministry web site. She can’t wait to hear from you!

White Knuckled Praying

2009-02-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

Snow and ice are not on my list of favorite things in life. In fact, they're on the other list—yanno, the list of things I'd rather skip for the rest of my life. Since my family is rather fond of eating, I had to brave the roads to get some groceries. Living out in the middle of nowhere means that we're on our own getting to a main road, which may, or may not, be cleared. I was fortunate. The road was partly cleared. Unfortunately, the part that was cleared was the other lane. I was on packed snow and ice, which meant I went slowly and did a lot of white-knuckled praying.

Sin is a lot like snow and ice. It may look pretty and even dazzle your eyes when the sun hits it, but it obscures the road and makes for dangerous travel.

Road crews, bless them, often work through a storm so they can keep the roads clear and safe. How many times I have failed to have the road crew of my life working steadily, and how often has ick (sin!) built up as a result? Far too too many times! You would think that after as much time as I've spent in white-knuckled prayer while navigating through the muck that I would learn.

Without having the wheels of my life on God's solid surface, I'm liable to slide and go off the road. So what am I to do? I need to pull out the shovel and get to work.

Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
that you may be saved.
How long will your wicked thoughts
lodge within you?
~Jeremiah 4:14

I need to spread the salt of God's Word and allow it to melt through the snow and ice, the sin in my life, so I can clear it off and get rid of it. Only by removing it will I get down to the solid traction of a life built on the Rock, on Christ.

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ~Hebrews 4:12

As God's Word works in my life, I need to be diligent about removing the sin that the Spirit loosens. If I don't remove it, it acts like slush does on a road. It grabs my tires and pushes me every which way, including off the road.

I acknowledged my sin to You,
and my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord;”
and You forgave the guilt of my sin.
~Psalm 32:5

The best part is that God says that He's removed my sin—as far as the East is from the West. (Psalm 103:12) But He doesn't just remove my sin.

I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. ~Jeremiah 33:8

So if you, like me, find yourself doing some white-knuckled praying from slipping and sliding due to unconfessed sin, you might want to take a moment to stop and spend some time clearing the road so your tires run on the Rock-hard, full of traction, path of God. Don't forget to liberally sprinkle the salt of God's Word and let it do its work in your life.

**All Scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

True Campaign

2009-02-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty excited about this site.

I'm sure all of you are familiar or at least have heard of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Well, the True Campaign takes things a step further.

Rather than just focusing on improving women's self-esteem and promoting acceptance of the body we have been given, the True Campaign exists to challenge the cultural ideals about identity and beauty so that we can be free to impact our world as God intended.

Did you catch that?

The True Campaign wants to help women overcome their eating and body image issues in order to be who we were created by God to be, and to do the things He wants us to do.

At the peak of my struggle with my own body image, I was paralyzed spiritually. Because I was so focused on myself and my body, I could not see myself for who God intended me to be. I could not be an effective witness of His love, because I didn't embrace it myself. It wasn't until I was freed from the bondage I was under that I was able to begin really to do things God called me to do.

I think Satan loves that women are stuck in this trap. He loves to make us feel bad about ourselves - just look at the images and messages we are constantly bombarded with. Every day women are being made to believe that if they were just 5 lbs thinner, if they just said no to that piece of cake, if they were a size 4 instead of an 8, they would be more beautiful, more powerful, more desirable.

It is all one big lie made to keep our focus on ourselves instead of God.

Let's challenge the lie. Let's find our true beauty in Jesus and impact the world as God intended.

I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Psalm 139:14-15, MSG

***
Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Weekend Word :: February 14

2009-02-13T23:36:00.001-08:00

Last Valentine's Day I discovered a different love. The love of a child that I did not know and possibly will never meet. She is my Compassion child and she is beautiful. Catherine changed some of my views on love.

And when I saw this photo I was immediately reminded of the verse from 1 John.

This photo was taken by my friend, Sarah, who is currently in Burkina Faso, Africa as a missionary. She took this picture and I think it is beautiful.

This photo and verse constantly remind me no matter where, and no matter the circumstance that God is there. And He loves us, His Children, lavishly!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The LOGOS Series: Believes all things

2009-02-13T00:56:00.000-08:00

I'm continuing my study of some of the love descriptives in 1 Corinthians 13.

This week it's:

{Love} believes all things. -1 Corinthians 13:7 NKJV

I was listening to a favorite Bible teacher the other day, his message happened to be on the "new" commandment to love which Christ modeled and taught hours before His crucifixtion in John 13.

He pointed out that the reason this command by Jesus to love was new, although scripture clearly has commanded us throughout to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves, is because Jesus said, "...as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

"As I have loved you" is the key! It's what makes this commandment new. "As I have loved you" is really the definition of agape (the Greek word for love only used by Jesus and His followers).

This Bible teacher went on to say that apart from Christ any of us can experience the other love-words used in the Greek (for which we in English only have the word love to describe them all, hence, love means very little to us).

Apart from Christ anyone can experience, phileo- love between friend. Anyone can experience the sexual love described in the Greek, which God designed to be enjoyed between a husband and wife. Anyone can experience loving a pet (which is a distinct word in the Greek). But only those who have Christ, can love with agape. (I wonder if there's a Greek word for loving chocolate?... oh, back to the subject :)

It's the actions of "as I have loved you" agape which 1 Corinthians 13 describes.

It's the as-I-have-loved-you love which believes all things.

Christ is the model we follow to understand how love believes all things. And He's the author of this love in and through us.

So how did Christ believe all things and how does He write it in us so that we might live it out too?

I mean, does believing all things mean I'm to check my brain at the door and be completely gullible and ignorant about anything anyone says or does?

Not at all!

Jesus told his boys (the 12):

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be
wise as serpents and harmless as doves." -Matthew 10:16 NKJV

Our Master and Teacher obviously doesn't want us to be unware or ignorant. He wants us to be harmless.

And THAT is what I believe the Spirit is speaking in "{Love} believes all things." It's a harmlessness in us. It's the willingness which comes from Jesus moving in us to be painfully aware of the sins, offenses and wrongs of others, yet speak the truth in love, cover a multitude of sins, and trust in God's ability to make a person new!

Love, believing all things through us is this:

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." 2 Corinthians 5:14-16 NKJV

Believing all things means we never look at another living soul the same again because of Christ.

We believe that He died for ALL therefore, no one should live for themselves any longer (including ourselves), and no one is to be regarded from a worldly point of view any longer.

It means we look at people and say, "That person, no matter how vile, how sinful, how offensive; no matter how much they've hurt me, is WORTH THE LIFE OF CHRIST! And if Christ loved that person enough to shed His blood for him/her, who am I to not love them?"

The "all things" love believes is that Christ died for all. Christ became the "all things." "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." -2 Corinthians 5:21

Now, because of the love of Christ, we are compelled to see people as either dead in their sins (because Christ died for ALL), or alive in the Spirit (because Christ is risen). Either way, truth and grace are in order!

I'm doing the Love Dare and Day 7 has a great description about how believing all things can be applied to our marriages. I think it's fitting for any relationship.

The authors write:

"Love knows about the Depreciation Room (the room in our hearts where we write all the wrongs and offenses we witness in our spouses/others) and does not live in denial that it exsists. But love chooses not to live there... Love chooses to believe the best about people... It refuses to fill in the unknowns with negative assumptions and when our worst hopes are proven true, love makes every effort to deal with them and move forward." (from The Love Dare pg.33. parentheses added by me)

Wow! I'm floored!!! In my flesh I vasolate between poopooing sin, buddying up to it thinking I'm being merciful, and angrily holding the sins of others against them because they hurt me. But when I surrender to Christ, and remember His love, I'm compelled to speak the truth, do what's right, and cover the sins of others in my life with the mercy I've been covered with; letting my life be an ambassador through which love believes all things and cries out for the reconciliation of another to Christ, even if I myself am rejected.

Father of my new life in Christ! Your love is amazing! Love through me! Help me when I start looking at the sin of another as though they should or could clean up their act apart from Christ and as though I were the one the owed something! Help me to look to Jesus there, arms stretched out wide, abused beyond recognition, and hear, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Love through me like that! Help me to be wise and harmless at the same time!

~~~~~~~~~~

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and Sheila found her worth in Christ. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Because she's been there, Sheila has a heart for all women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker.

The Pentateuch Series :: Accepting Forgiveness

2009-02-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

"When their message came to him, Joseph wept. " Genesis 50:17b

God has forgiven me. In His eyes, it is as if I had never sinned against Him.

An amazing statement, isn't it? And 100% true. Most of the time, however, I don't believe it. At least I don't act as if I do.

I am not alone (at least I hope I am not!). It is so easy to take on a guilt complex and sit waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. It makes me wonder what our great Forgiver thinks when we doubt His complete forgiveness.

Or perhaps I don't need to wonder.

Joseph certainly wasn't deity, but he gave that unconditional forgiveness to his siblings, despite the wrongs they had done against him.

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:5-7

And Joseph didn't just say he forgave his brothers-he showed it. While he easily could have invited them to the wealth of Egypt and gone about his business, as David did to his son Absalom, he did not.

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed. Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food, according to the number of their children. Genesis 47:11-12

So, the eleven other children of Jacob had nothing to fear. They had been forgiven. Their brother Joseph, second only to the pharaoh in power in Egypt, would exact no revenge. The sons of Jacob could rest easy.

But they didn't. They couldn't conceive that their brother held no hard feelings, that he wasn't waiting for the perfect time to exact his revenge. They spent years watching their backs, waiting for Joseph to get them back.

And when their father Jacob died, seventeen years after they had arrived in Egypt, they panicked.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?" So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father left these instructions before he died: 'This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.' Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father." When their message came to him, Joseph wept. His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. "We are your slaves," they said. But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? Genesis 50:15-19

How often do we act this way about the Lord's forgiveness of us? Sure, we say we know that we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness, but do we really believe it? Do we go back and nurse those sins that the Lord has thoroughly forgiven us of, but, perhaps, we have not forgiven ourselves for?

Have we trapped ourselves in a bondage of our own making, always fearing God will "get back at us" for what we have done?

God does not mean for us to live in guilt and fear. He wants us to sorrow over our sin. He wants us to learn from them. But he does NOT want us to be paralyzed and fearful. Once we confess, we are free. We are white as snow.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

And perhaps, like Joseph, when we don't acknowledge that forgiveness, our Father weeps, distressed over the blessing of peace He has given us, but we have shoved back in His face.

Lord, may it never be.

Heavenly Father, help each of us to accept Your forgiveness so we can live in the freedom and peace of the knowledge that we are forgiven. Help us learn from Joseph how all-encompassing and complete your forgiveness is, and from his brothers how miserable not accepting it can be. Help us not look back in regret, remembering how we were, but look ahead with hope, knowing what we are becoming, and realizing that we are in fact cleansed. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

All scripture is from the Holy Bible, New International Version.

**
Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago this month and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

It Feels Good To Feel

2009-02-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

At the end of this commercial you may notice the Kleenex slogan, "It feels good to feel."

How many days in your spiritual journey have passed in "touch" mode? I know for me I often get lost in the rituals. As a worship leader, I recently was challenged to memorize my music. Not exactly the hardest challenge in the world, but it has made me stop and "feel."

This weekend our services included the song, Your Grace is Enough. The writer shares in this clip that he was going through a tough time in his life when he needed God's Grace. Similar to last week's conversation on weakness, Matt says he struggled with believing that God's Grace would be enough to get him through. God, in His infinite wisdom, used Matt's weakness to write this song, which now blesses hearts around the world.

I am so thankful that God paused for a moment to help me "feel" this weekend in worship.

What has He taught you to "feel" today?

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God i see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

*****

Super Bowl Perspective

2009-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

So, the Super Bowl is over for another year. In this family, it simply means an end to the special chips they put on sale for the Super Bowl parties, and if the chips aren't on sale, I don't buy them. Since there are certain ones we love, it's sad for us to see the sales ending. Even though our family doesn't keep track of football, we still go to at least part of the Super Bowl party at church. (Don't worry, the party pauses for evening service.) It's a great time for fun and fellowship.

I watched as one of the Cardinals caught a pass in the end zone and fumbled the ball before wrapping his fingers around it and making the touchdown. As soon as it was done he celebrated, and so did his teammates. There was much back slapping, and helmet pounding going on even as they moved into position for their next play.

Not only did the players celebrate, but all the Cardinal fans did too. Have you watched as those people celebrate? They don't just sit there and sedately clap their hands and offer a calm 'bravo!'. Oh no! They're jumping, hootin' an hollerin', pounding each other on the back and hugging everyone around them.

Now tell me something.

Why don't we celebrate, with even one-tenth the enthusiasm, when we see God do something that is 100 times greater than just a lousy touchdown in a football game?

Do we ever get so excited about something God has done that we celebrate by jumping up and down and hugging everyone we can get our arms on?

Ouch. I don't.

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
~Philippians 4:4-5 (The Message)

Sure there are times when I stop and say 'Wow, God, that was so awesome!' but do I revel in how awesome He is? Do I even dwell on His awesome deeds for more than a few minutes? This is something I need to work on.

The Lord your God is in your midst,
a victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
~Zephaniah 3:17 (NAS)

Did you catch that? God exults over us with joy! He rejoices over us with shouts of joy! We're followers of Christ and we're to be imitators of Him (Ephesians 5:1) and since He rejoices in us, how more then should we celebrate who He is and all He's done for us? Jesus told us in Luke 19:40 that if we become silent the stones will cry out. I don't know about you, but I'd rather stand up and cheer for God than give that privilege and joy to the stones.

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
sing the glory of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Thy works!”
~Psalm 66:1 (NAS)

If we can get so excited over a football game that has no eternal value, just think of how excited we should be over the things God does. Things that only He can do! Let's raise the rafters with our praise and let all those around us know just how great our God is!

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
~Zephaniah 3:14 (NAS)

Letting Go Of Worry

2009-02-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

I am normally not a worrier.

While I do tend to over analyze and over-think things, for the most part, if something is bugging me or concerning me, I am able to turn it over to God and let it go.

But not so much when it comes to my kids.

Lately I’ve been struggling with great fear and worry over my youngest little guy, Ethan. He’s beginning school this fall, and while I have the regular little anxieties I think most of us moms get over any of our babies leaving our nests, I have to admit that my fears are beginning to get the better of me.

Ethan is a quiet, sensitive, shy boy. His shyness inhibits him from being bold in making friends. He is more comfortable in smaller, quiet settings than he is in larger groups. Ethan also still suffers a bit of anxiety over being left by me, even though we have literally done all the right things. What makes this even more difficult to deal with or understand is both of his sisters are little social butterflies.

Since being in preschool this year, he has gotten a bit better. His teacher assures me he will be okay in Kindergarten. He plays with two other boys who are as quiet and gentle-natured as he is (I laugh as I write that he is gentle, because you would totally not guess that if you saw him tormenting his sisters!!).

But I still worry. I worry that he won’t have the confidence to make friends in school. I worry that the other boys will notice that lack of confidence and pick on him; he is a perfect target for bullying, because he is so sensitive and is more likely to cry than defend himself. I worry that these things will keep him from truly enjoying school. I worry that he will be damaged if these things happen.

There are days where all I can do is cry when I think of it. As his first day of Kindergarten looms ever nearer, not only am I sad that my baby is growing up, but my worry begins to paralyze me. If it were up to me, I’d keep him home with me to protect him from all these uncertainties. And to protect myself.

I have prayed that God would take away my worry. That I would be able to leave Ethan in His hands. That I would be able to trust that He knows, and He will take care of my boy. And it’s not that I don’t believe He can or will do these things. In fact, God often reminds me of how worried I was when Hannah started school two years ago. Of how shy she was. Of how I worried that she would be hurt by others because she is so sensitive and trusting. And instead she has become my example of what loving and accepting others unconditionally truly looks like.

I know that it is normal to be afraid of the unknown, to want to control the things I have no control over. But I also know that it is how I choose to respond to these reactions that will ultimately make a difference. I can choose to allow this worry and fear to consume me. Or I can choose to keep praying, to keep trusting, to keep believing that He has the best plans in mind for my little man.

I like how The Message paraphrases the familiar verses about worry found in Matthew 6:33-34. Even though these verses address worry over our basic needs, I find comfort in them as I deal with my own worry about what the future holds:

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Thank you, God that you promise to help me deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. Help me to give my entire attention to what you are doing right now. Help me to leave tomorrow in your hands where it belongs. I trust you, Father. Completely. Amen.

***

Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. You can find her at her blog, Under Grace & Over Coffee, where she shares the love she has found in Jesus, along with the caffeine-laden randomness that makes up the majority of her day. Grab your cup and come on over!

Weekend Word :: February 7

2009-02-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

I love that something so ummm strange looking can produce sustenance. The coconut. I think it shows how creative our God can be in supplying our needs.

I know there is much fear and worry about the economy right now. My heart breaks at the thought of people loosing their jobs, homes, cars...but at the same time I can only think of the God we have and how He supplies our needs. Always. It may not be how we think or how we want it but He provides. Sometimes he even does it creatively...I mean who else could have thought of a coconut! :)

Blessings!

The Logos Series :: Longsuffering

2009-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

I decided to go through some of the words in the famous love chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 for my LOGOS posts this month. Seems fitting it being the month of St. Valentine's day and all. But that's not really the main reason. I seem to be surrounded with lessons on love these days... so I decided to dive in and, as Paul said at the end of the Spirit's great discourse on love in 1 Corinthians 13, "pursue love."

So here's to the pursuit of love. Longsuffering.

Uh, yeah. Longsuffering.

Doesn't seem like the most likely word to start chasing love does it?

But, as the Lord would have it, longsuffering is the first descriptive He gives for love in it's famous chapter.

The NKJV says:

Love suffers long and is kind... -1 Corinthians 13:4

When I pulled out my beloved Strong's, I found that the words "suffers long" come from the Greek word Makrothumeo which means:

to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart
to persevere patiently and bravely
in enduring misfortunes and troubles
to be patient in bearing the offenses
and injuries of others
to be mild and slow in avenging
to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish

There's a lot there. I could really sit here all day and chew on that!

Love is soooo not what I think it is.

Some key points I'm digesting in studying longsuffering:

It's not something I can muster up on my own. It's not "grinning and bearing it." It's being kind while I endure troubles, misfortunes and offenses for a lOOOOONG time!

It's a characteristic of a gift of the Spirit, and it's the gift to be desired above all other gifts (love).

I've just begun to experience the unexplainable joy found in living out love through being kind while longsuffering. Hmmm. And I thought I'd finished the race!

I wonder how long is too long?

There's sweet fellowship with Christ in longsuffering.

It's not something I can muster up on my own.

No wonder this chapter on love comes in the context of desiring the gifts of the Spirit; suffering long and being kind through it is not something we can pull ourselves up by the boot-straps and muscle out. We might be able to suffer long, we might "grin and bear it", but love's longsuffering is kind while it endures the pain.

It's a characteristic of the gift of the Spirit.

So how do I attain this characteristic if love is a gift of the Spirit? Paul said, "Pursue love."

I do truly believe, as with any quality of a child of God, love's kind longsuffering comes by just enjoying the relationship you have with Christ because He longsuffered with you and was kind, and by desiring to long-suffer kindly with others like Him.

The scripture says,

"Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

I'm not positive that the Lord will give me a brand-new, white, tan leather interior Nissan Murano (I can ask though :), but I know without a doubt that if I desire to love like He does, He will give me that desire!

"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." -John 14:14

I've just begun.

I remember four years ago when Christ began to produce this characteristic of being kind while enduring suffering in me.

I remember I was on the phone with a family member. I was so excited about what God was doing. I was like a child with a new gift, running around bragging about it, although I understood very little about it. My gift was Christ's love being produced in me, but I understood very little about the longsuffering part. My immaturity was manifest when I blurted out with great confidence, "Sis! I know now what Paul was saying when He said, 'I've finished the race. I've fought the good fight'...'" Ha! Finished sminished! I had only just begun!

The length of our suffering is not up to us. It wasn't even up to Christ. The Father knows when the race is over, and though our flesh and our hearts may fail, He is the strength of our lives and He will help us finish the race of love!

So how long is too long?

I readily confess that my "suffering" is nothing compared to what others endure and what Christ endured, and pales in comparison to the unearned honor I will receive when I meet my Redeemer face to face. But, four years into my journey of daring love, I've asked the Lord, "How long?" And, "Can this cup pass from me?" And just as quickly as Jesus turned from asking for a way out to saying, "Nevertheless not my will but thine be done," the Spirit searched me with:

"How long have I been suffering with you in kindness Sheila?"

"30 something years Lord."

"Well then that's how long you can endure too. And when 30 years have past, if I've still suffered long and been kind to you, then you will be able to keep going too!"

There's sweet fellowship in longsuffering.

When Christ began walking kindly down the trail of longsuffering with me I was clinging to Him like a scared child. I was truly delighting in Him in a time when I my life was full of reason to loose heart and offenses that were hard to forgive.

His presence was real, sweet, overwhelming and indescribable. It was in the time of suffering that I began to taste for the first time just a bit of what Christ tasted for me. I began to fellowship in His suffering. And although I grew up going to church, and the fear of God drove me to baptism at the age of 8, and even though at the age of 16 I openly chose to follow Christ, when people ask me what my testimony is, or when I came to know the Lord, I say it has to have been there in that little apartment in the midst of a divorce with two little babes at my side four years ago.

It was through the trial of being rejected that I first had revelation of God's love for me. I knew that in a microscopic way, what I was experiencing in my marriage was only a taste of the rejection of the love of God Christ experienced from me at the cross.

I watched the movie Fireproof the other day. It was a real turning point for me. I'll tell ya that movie could have been acted out by stick figures, and every line spoken in monotone, and I'd still have been totally broken and renewed in my desire to love with the love of Christ.

There's a scene where Kirk Cameron is being witnessed to by his screen dad.

Cameron is skeptical and rejecting. The man who plays his dad then lets Cameron carry on about how his wife just doesn't respect him, and how he's done everything to show her he loves her and still she rejects him. He then says in frustration:

"I'm not even welcome in my own home dad! That is what really ticks me off!!... For the last 3 weeks I have bent over backwards for her. I have tried to demonstrate that I still care about this relationship!... I have taken her insults and sarcasm but last night was it! I made dinner for her, I did everything I could to demonstrate that I care about her, to show value for her and she spat in my face! She does not deserve it dad! I am not doing it anymore! How am I supposed to show love to somebody over and over and over who constantly rejects me?!!"

While he was expressing all this to his dad, his dad was making his way over to a wooden cross in in the park where they were. He just stops there silently, letting it sink in that all of what Cameron had just said was true of him and his rejection of Christ's love.

Suddenly Cameron gets it. He realizes that he was experiencing in his marriage the very thing HE had done to Christ! It was in that moment that he was drawn to Christ and began having a real relationship with Him in the movie. And it was at that point that he began to have an enduring love for his wife. The understanding, the fellowship with Christ, came by way of Cameron enduring some suffering.

I don't know where you are in your walk with Christ, but if there's any lack of fellowship with Him for you, I'll tell you a sure way to enter into it again: Go seek out a person who you have been hurt by and begin loving them in undeserved ways.

It doesn't have to be your spouse, it can be anyone.

Maybe you're estranged from a child or a parent, an uncle or an old friend who hurt you. I promise you this, if you place yourself in the vulnerable position of showing kindness to that person even while they reject you, and continue in it, you'll begin to understand the love of Christ for you more. And not just understand, you'll begin to have sweet fellowship with Him and revelation of Him personally.

~~~~~~~~~

Last week I dug into lawlessness and the warning Christ left us about our tendency to grow cold in love because of lawlessness abounding. He ended that warning with a promise. He said, "He who endures to the end will be saved."

Precious sisters, we need to endure! And we can know that this lengthy path of patiently suffering the trials of life and offenses of others with kindness is not a new path. It's a trodden path. Christ has gone before us, and His very life will carry us through to the end if we will just desire Him and pursue His love.
~~~~~~~~~~

Be sure to email me at awomanfound (at) gmail (dot) com if you have a word you'd like me to study out and post in this series!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and is transforming her little by little into the woman He always intended for her to be.

She has a heart for women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory.

Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all.

Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker.

Redeeming the time

Ponderings from the Pentateuch Series :: Unneeded Baggage

2009-02-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

When I have to get away from somewhere in a hurry, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what to take along with me. Generally I’ll just grab what is most important and high-tail out of there.

My “gotta take it list” would likely include my purse, my car keys, my phone, and, depending on how long I expected to be gone, my laptop. (FYI, my husband and kids go without saying, if it’s that kind of getting away!) What you leave with in a hurry tells a lot about what you value. So, that’s why what I read last week in the thirty-first chapter of Genesis got me thinking.

Picture the scene: Jacob has, with God’s leading, decided to finally leave his father-in-law Laban’s home and head back to his father Isaac in Caanan. Laban has not been the most gracious of hosts, and Jacob, Rachel, Leah, and the kids feel safest leaving on the sly.

Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father's household gods. Genesis 31:17-19 NIV (emphasis mine)

It appears that Jacob had taken with them everything they could possibly need to start their lives again, away from Laban’s father’s home. But, somehow, Rachel didn’t think so. She needed to sneak back into her childhood home and take a little “souvenir” from her old life, the life she was leaving behind. And, to make matters worse, she took idols: items to worship that were expressly against the beliefs of her husband and her new people. And it certainly did not serve her well (just read ahead in Chapter 31 for the proof!).

We can look at Rachel with pity or disgust, wondering why she would want to have reminders of her unkind father with her as she left him and went away with the man who seemed to love her above all else.

Yet, haven’t we done the same thing? How often have we tried to follow the Lord, but taken along some “comfort object” that will only distract us from the life He has for us? If you’re anything like me, more often than you would like to admit.

How often have you been walking down God’s highway of obedience and found yourself carrying along an unnecessary dose of, say, reluctance? Or regret? Or perhaps bitterness?

Any time you don’t give your all to the Lord in what you do for Him, you are holding back part of yourself. And that part is bowing not to your Lord, but to your own selfish desires—or worse, to the enemy of your soul.

So, what are the “household gods” you are taking along with you on your journey with Him? Whatever they are, leave them behind. They will only weigh you down and cause you trouble.
As you leave the old man behind, walking with Jesus, are you keeping some of your old baggage with you as you travel with Him as the new man? You’ll never get where God is leading you if you keep “your father’s idols” along.

Heavenly Father, I want to follow You wholeheartedly, with all of myself. Sometimes, however, I am afraid to leave what is familiar, even if is it not in Your will. Help me to leave all of my idols behind, and carry only what You would give me to take along. I know, Lord, that You will provide everything I need for my journey. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

***
Joanne Sher is a wife, mother of two, and devoted lover of Jesus. She was saved out of Judaism ten years ago this month and has a passion for writing, encouraging others in the Lord, and caring for her family. A writer by calling, she enjoys writing devotionals, both here and at her blog An Open Book. She is currently working on writing Ailing Body, Nourished Soul, a non-fiction book on God’s workings through her husband’s serious health issues. She also loves to write short fiction that glorifies God, and has several novel ideas on the back burner.

Are You Weak or Strong?

2009-02-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV)

I don't know about you, but I am not of fan of weakness. If someone would call me weak, I would consider that an insult. I've been raised to be a strong, independent woman. A woman who can tackle any problem that comes her way. Someone you can be proud to call your friend.

So when depression made an appearance in my life in 2001, I was devastated.

It was suppose to be the best time of my life. When a strong, independent woman gives birth to the glorious mother within.

It didn't happen that way for me. Instead, after giving birth to my first daughter I found myself completely weak. Unable to care for my child, myself or my husband. I sat most days on the couch waiting for the baby to awake. And when she did I wished that she would fall back asleep.

I cried. I mourned the loss of the strong independent woman. I grieved over missing out on the joyful experience of nurturing my first born.

Why would the greatest gift God could ever give me bring me so much pain?

I became angry at God. I screamed "Why Lord?" throughout the day and night as I cried myself and my baby to sleep.

8 years later, I still struggle. But my outlook has completely changed. I can boast with Paul when he says "When I am weak, then I am strong." I have heard the gentle reply of Christ saying, "My grace is enough."

What changed?

It was in my weakness that I learned the power of Christ. As a strong, independent woman I was a Christian, but I didn't "need" God. I followed the rules, lived the life, but never truly relied on Christ. Through my depression, God taught me His strength is only complete when I am in total submission, or when I am weak.

Just like Paul, I do plead with God to deliver me from this "thorn." Yet, God's deliverance often comes in different ways than removing the obstacle. And for His unsurpassing love, I am thankful.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV)

*************
Shane Schwichtenberg shares her life’s journey with pure honesty and humility. Her sincere love for Christ and women of all ages shines with every connection she makes, whether speaking, writing, or leading worship. Visit Shane’s personal blog or her ministry web site. She can’t wait to hear from you!

Pass the Tape

2009-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have a couple children (okay, five) that have the nasty habit of walking into a room with their mouths flapping. My one son is especially good at it, and I'd had enough of his interruptions.

“Son, you cannot enter a room with your mouth going. Not only is it rude, but it's thoughtless and selfish of you. It's like you expect us all to drop what we're doing and stop our conversations when you enter a room. Did someone die and crown you king without me knowing?”

I wasn't even done talking when God's neon 'Duh' sign was flashing. How often do I barge into God's presence with my jaws flapping? Not only that, but how often do I barge in and throw a bunch of demands at His feet and then flounce away without a backward glance?

This last trip through Scripture, I was impressed over and over with the accounts of how people entered, and then acted in God's presence. Let me tell you, it wasn't anything like I was accustomed to doing.

The apostle John, a man who learned as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Jesus said “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17)
Moses, a man who was in God's presence so much his face glowed, made haste to bow low and worship. (Exodus 34:8)

Time after time we see people bowing before our God. They fell on their faces in awe and worship. They didn't run around flapping their jaws and wringing their hands, they worshiped.

But God wants us to talk with Him, too. We're not to be a silent people.

Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.
~Psalm 62:4

So how should we enter God's presence?

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
~Psalm 100:4

One of the things I've determined to do, is to enter God's presence reverently. Sure, frantic and over wrought happen. God understands just how frail we are--He made us. But there are times when we need to enter and bow low in worship. We need to feel and acknowledge just how great and holy He is. We need to take time to join the angels and cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” (Revelation 4:8)

As we take time praising and reveling in His Holiness, we'll be able to join David in dancing before the Lord. (2 Samuel 6:14) Just think how glorious that will be!

Since Patty quit running from God's call on her life, she's been happy. Life is never dull for her as she juggles being a wife, a homeschooling mom of five, bookkeeper of their family business and her writing. As long as she's obeying God's leading, she figures that sanity is a novelty and not a necessity. Patty clings to the promise that God will enable her to do what He asks of her, otherwise you would find her living at the Funny Farm and not just occasionally visiting, like she does. In addition to drinking black cherry kool-aid from china tea cups, she loves weaving lessons that she's learned into short stories and devotionals, most of which can be found on her blog Patterings. She'd love for you to stop by and share a cup of kool-aid with her.

*All Scripture quoted in this post is from the New American Standard Bible.

February Issue Up & Running

2009-02-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

Exemplify Magazine's February Issue
is available now for download here.
Go on and get a copy!

Beautiful

2009-02-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, I took a giant step of faith in admitting that I had a problem with body image. I say that because it was something I tried to hide from everyone around me, including my husband. I was ashamed. Ashamed of my habits, and ashamed of what they had turned me into.

It all began seven years ago when I decided to lose weight after my daughter was born. In the beginning, I was losing weight at a healthy pace, exercising and watching my portions without being obsessive. I easily dismissed fad diets and all the "latest" information for just eating sensibly and focusing on God.

I was following a Bible-based program that while good in its purpose, soon had me confused in my focus. Instead of focusing on caring for my body as a way to honour God, I misunderstood the intent of the studies and began to believe that I was sinning if I ate the wrong thing, or heaven forbid, ate even 100 calories too much. I put much stress on myself to be perfect and beat myself up for slipping.

Thankfully, I was able to put it all behind me when I reached my goal weight. But then I became pregnant with our son. And I suddenly was obsessed with not gaining too much weight. I remember that Christmas I gained the typical 5 lbs, and then spent the next week drinking diet cokes instead of eating snacks so I wouldn't gain any more weight before my check-up. And I didn't think anything was wrong with it.

After my son was born, I jumped right back on the dieting wagon. I bounced from diet to diet, always getting discouraged and quitting before too long because I wasn't seeing the results I wanted to fast enough. At one point, I remember feeling starved for days (I was nursing!), and finally ended up one night eating uncontrollably.

I did that off and on for months. Somehow I actually managed to lose the weight I wanted. But I started gaining it back again. And started berating myself for being such a fat failure with no self-control.

When I go back to my journals from then, they are filled with pages and pages of pleas to God to help me lose weight, to forgive me for eating two pieces of cake, to free me from the suffocating bondage I felt myself under.

Last January, God impressed on me that this was going to be a year of change. Of course, I thought it meant I would lose my 18 lbs for good! But instead, God has changed my heart. He has heard my cries. And He has answered.

First of all, He opened my eyes to the lies I believed. Lies that told me I had to weigh 120 lbs and be a size 4 to be beautiful. Lies that told me I was a failure if I didn't get there.

And then He did the unimaginable. He helped me get over my need to lose weight. He showed me that diets are no good. He had me toss all my dieting books and magazines, along with my various online weight loss memberships so I could focus on Him. He had me stop counting calories, points and any other methods of tracking my food, and He helped me to learn to listen to my body to tell me when, what and how much to eat (that's a tough one!).

I'd like to say I've been 100% obedient. In fact, I still have moments where I go through the whole compulsive eating/restricting cycle. But I am able to recognize it sooner, and know I have the power in Him to overcome it.

I'm sharing this with you because I know that some of you either know what I am going through because you share a similar struggle, or you know someone who is. And I want to tell you that there is hope. By fixing my eyes on Jesus, and by fully trusting in Him, I have been able to get out of the miry clay that I was almost buried in. Don't get me wrong. I still have a long way to go. But I believe my Jesus will get me there, because absolutely nothing is impossible for Him.

One of my dearest friends sent me a link to Finding Balance, a faith-based web site devoted to the topic of body image and eating issues. I encourage you to check it out, even if just to arm yourself with knowledge. I can honestly tell you that this web site was the catalyst that led me to finally finding peace.

One more thing. Women who suffer from eating issues need to know they are not alone. And that they are loved unconditionally. Many of us believe the lie that we are unlovable unless we are perfect, a lot of the time a product of a painful past. If you know someone who is suffering, please don't be critical of her. Love her, encourage her, and let her know you are there for her.

And if it's you that's suffering, know you are loved. You are loved by the One who can heal your hurt. Who sees you as absolutely beautiful because He created you.

And that's all the reason He needs.

******
Andrea is a coffee drinking, Jesus-loving wife and stay-at-home mom of three in constant search of just the right mug for her brew. She pretends to scrapbook, loves to knit, and avoids housework whenever possible. She blogs at Under Grace & Over Coffee about the hope and love found in Jesus, and the occasional thought on her favourite Office episodes. Of which there are many.

Weekend Word :: January 31

2009-01-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

I thought with this being the first Saturday Scripture post that it would be best to start at the beginning...Genesis. I so love to see this verse in my mind. To imagine God forming Adam and then breathing life into Him. I often think of Rob Bell's thoughts on this...when we breath in and out we breath Yah-Weh... Yah on the inhale and Weh on the exhale...what a thought! To think that the Creator of the earth breathes life into us and we spend the rest of our lives breathing HIS name.

I can think of nothing better than to constantly have His name on my lips...Praising Him with every breath.

****

Christy (aka Critty Joy) is a 30 year old single girl on the journey of her life discovering the true joy of an intimate journey with her Savior. Her passions include books, chocolate, photography, laughing and planting seeds of the eternal kind. She works for a ministry and thinks pouring the love of Christ out and into teenagers is the best job in the world.

The LOGOS Series :: Lawlessness

2009-01-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

Lawlessness. Now there's a word I actually don't say very often. But something recorded in Matthew 24:12-13, that Jesus said, has been weighing on me lately. He said,

"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

At first reading, I basically thought Jesus was predicting that because there will be more criminals on the earth in the last days, people will get calloused and not be warm and loving. But, as always, when I prayerfully studied out the word lawlessness I caught a fresh revelation of what the Spirit was warning me about personally in these last days I live. I think it's applicable to all of us.

Hang on. I'm no Greek scholar... I've never even taken Greek, but I do LOOOOVE my Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and can share with you what I'm learning.

The Greek word translated lawlessness in this version (NKJV) is anomia; "a" being a negative participle (a part of the word which indicates that whatever the rest of the word means, the "a" takes it away), and "nomia" at its root means: to parcel out, especially food or grazing to animals. Law through the idea of prescriptive usage. (see Strong's for the word origin here).

So a-nomia is NOT feeding on the law (God's word), or NOT taking the prescription of God's word!

It's as though God is saying, "My word is food and medicine, and you're not eating it and taking it!" through the word anomia, or lawlessness.

Obeying God's word is nomia. It's feeding on and taking as the cure, the prescription, for our fallen states, God's ways as manifest in Christ. Knowing God's word, reading it, seeing it, having it handy, is not enough. We have to take it, let it become part of our being (just like food becomes part of your cells) so that it can be lived out.

Think about when you eat something or take an antibiotic when you're sick. You may have a fridge and pantry overflowing with food, but if you don't eat it, you starve. You may have your antibiotics there in the medicine cabinet, but if you don't take it your infection is going to spread. You may have 10 different versions of the Bible, go to church every Sunday and Wednesday, etc., but if God's word is not taken in and assimilated to become part of your very being through obedience, then you're anomia. You're going to get sick and starve spiritually. Lawlessness will abound.

I thought Jesus was talking about criminals here, but now I realize, He was talking about me. And I see 3 places where I could fall in this warning He gave:

Not feeding on and obeying God's word so as to grow spiritually ill and starving

Growing cold in love because those around me are 'anomia'.

Not enduring in agape love to the end of my days or until the Ancient of Days comes.

It's not the abounding of criminals (though they too are 'anomia') which poses the danger of influencing me to the point of growing cold in agape towards my fellow man, but the absence of feeding on and obeying God's word as is manifest in Christ.

I see it already and can sense in my own self why this might cause my love to grow cold. It's hard to give of yourself charitably, in agape, like Jesus did, when people around you have no hunger for God's word and despise it as necessary medicine.

Makes me think of Psalm 107:17-22:

Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing.

"They abhorred all manner of food..." They abhorred all manner of God's word.

"He sent His word and healed them..." God sent His prescription, His word, and healed them.

May the LORD help me, us, who feed on His word, who do obey it (though even we ourselves are lawless without His grace) to not grow cold in love, in selfless giving as Christ has given Himself for us, toward those around us though they may abhor God's word and even abound in abhorring it.

Christ is the author of the way of not growing cold in love, enduring to the end. He was surrounded by lawlessness- this absence of feeding on and obeying God's word.

Some were those who called themselves "God's people." Some were those who pledged allegiance to their country and government. Some were those who called Him Lord... His own disciples. Yet none of them understood and fled from Him (His disciples). They betrayed Him (Judas). They mocked Him, beat Him... crucified Him. Yet He continued to love them. He loved them to the end. He washed their feet. He cried, "Father forgive!" He spoke no mean words back to those who spewed vile at Him. He cared for the provision of His mother, even from the cross. He promised a contrite thief hanging next to Him paradise, moments before He died.

Oh Father, this power to love to the end has to come from You or I will fail! For, "My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Give us a hunger for Your word Lord and may we feed on it and obey You so that lawlessness doesn't abound in us!

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Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, wife and mom who calls herself, "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila plagued by sin and broken, and is transforming her little by little into the woman He always intended for her to be. She has a heart for women to know that their worth is found in Christ. She also has a passion for God to be honored in marriage, and for wives to find great satisfaction in their part in displaying God's glory. Sheila's experienced the pain of divorce, the fragileness of reconciliation, and the lonliness of being unequally yoked in her own marriage. She knows first hand that though giants loom in the land of marriage, our God is bigger, able, and willing to walk us through in victory over them all. Sheila clings to God's Word like a drowning woman and has a desire to draw others to God's word. She does not consider herself a writer, but has a need to write, feeling "woe is me" if she doesn't share her life and what she's learning from God's word through writing. You can find her doing just that at her blog Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker.

The Kettle Club

2009-01-29T01:46:00.000-08:00

Exemplify is proud to present our new monthly meme The Kettle Club!

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The purpose of this meme is one oh-so close to my heart.

The idea for The Kettle Club came to me a few months ago, as I was finishing up my devotional time. As I was closing my Bible I thought of all the women, myself included, who often voice the worry of blogging having the potential to upstage other activities in life.

I’ve read time and time again how so many women feel obligated to blog and start to lose the joy of sharing their hearts when the pressure mounts.

Most of all, I've read and have personally felt, the longing for our time with the Lord to remain intact and take priority over our time spent in the blog world.

Thus The Kettle Club was born.

Here is how it works:
• Women who want to make the commitment to spend 5-10 minutes (or more!) of time in the Word before blogging each day, will join up.
• Each month, we will post little devotional questions and encouragement to help hold one another accountable.
• The last week of the month we will link up and share what we are learning in our private, devotion time.

You are welcome to share anything & everything! This is NOT a meme where we are all going to be doing the same thing. I may be spending my time reading the Psalms for the month; you may be reading about the miracles of Christ.

Whatever we are studying each day doesn’t matter, what matters is that we will be encouraging one another to get into the Word and get active with it!

Everyone is welcome. If you miss a month, don’t worry about it. If you miss a day of your 5-10 minutes, feel no pressure!

We’re all about grace, baby.

I would love to see a collected group of women from this awesome blog community stand together and say that we are going to make the study of God’s Word priority.
We want to read each other’s blogs and comment. We want to write how our day went and read the comments left on our own blogs. We want to send link love to our friends and Twitter about the importance of a Mocha Latte.

But what we want most is “to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.”

We are calling this “The Kettle Club” with the hope we will get into the Word in the morning before our day kicks into full gear. However, that is NOT a mandatory thing! Some women study better after they’ve been functioning for a few hours, others work night shifts and are sleeping in the morning. Still others have little children who are running to the bus early in the a.m.

Whatever time you decide to spend in the Word works for us.

I am praying it will be before blogging though!

If you are interested in the meme, leave a comment and let us know. Details will be going out about it in February’s magazine release as well as on our Facebook group.

Which, coincidentally, is going to be the best source of Exemplify Online information out there. Christy, our Facebook group administrator, has some amazing things planned to keep you in the loop.

To further keep you updated you can follow us on Twitter.

See you back here in a month. Bring your bible and a cup of coffee (boring, blah, decaf tea for me!) as we read what our fellow blog friends are learning.

Oh, yes, and feel free to grab The Kettle Club button & let your blog friends know what we are planning.

I cannot wait!
Happy Thursday,
Kristen

Emotions Make A Good Caboose & A Terrible Engine

2009-01-27T00:20:00.000-08:00

I don't know where I heard it, but somewhere I heard someone say, "Emotions make a good caboose and a terrible engine." True. And apparently the caboose came rolling into the station last night here on Merrell street.

It was a really busy day. But up until I crawled into bed I felt at total peace with the organized chaos.

I had a pretty normal morning, but had my eyes and ears on my 4 year old who was walking around sounding like he was breathing through a clogged straw. With him under close ops, I proceeded through the day just keeping him in prayer and figuring he had a bad version of the cold we all had and that he'd get over it.

In the afternoon I got a call from a temp agency I had interviewed with for a school nurse position and got the bomb dropped on me that they wanted me to start on Monday (this happened on a Friday). I took it in, listening to my wheezing son in the background, thanked her for the offer, and told her I'd discuss it with my husband and call her back.

I hung up the phone and began the "discussion."

We batted around the pros and cons and shared our thoughts with each other, and then my husband said he really felt I should go ahead take the position but not for another week to give me time to get our kids' childcare/school arrangements made.

Although this is a completely OPPOSITE direction of movement for our family from the road we've been taking for the past 3 years, I truly had peace about it. I sensed God's sovereignty in it all, and so I set my mind to turning in this new direction from the crossroads we were in.

About that time my son woke up from his nap sounding like he was in utter distress, squeaking his inhalations and exhalations out through a reed it seemed. So in the middle of going down the path of getting all the paperwork and phone calls for a job taken care of, I dropped it, picked up my little guy, and hauled him to the urgent care.

After a quick breathing treatment and a chest x-ray, the doctor sent me home with 3 prescriptions and a croup/mild-pneumonia plagued child.

At home, after getting the meds for my baby and getting him settled, I called the temp agency and was informed that this school didn't want to wait for me for another week... it was either Monday or nothin'. I chose nothin'.

Again. Total peace. I felt like God had just taken me through a fast train ride of decision making and all the while had kept my focus on caring for my family and trusting Him.

The evening progressed and the train of the day
had almost completely moved through our station, but the caboose had yet to come in.
The caboose pulled up the rear with the bedtime talk between my husband and I.

I laid there, exhausted and my precious man laid there telling me his concerns for me. Listening to his sincere care, and thoughts, brought up all the emotions of the day... of my life since he and I reunited, and since the birth of our children. The caboose was in. The floodgates were open. The tears flowed. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Why would I? There has to be a caboose. There needs to be a releasing of cares to the Lord.

Getting through my day would have been a train wreck had my emotions been my engine. But there would never have been an end, a resting of my day, had my emotions never come as a caboose to end my day.

Sometimes I fight there being a caboose. Even last night I had to get up and leave the bedroom cause I had a hard time being so vulnerable in front of my husband. But I truly believe that God made both the engine and the caboose of our lives to serve their times and purposes.

The engine is faith... pressing forward in obedience, trusting in His sovereignty. The caboose is emotion... to be released, to bring up the rear, to pour out at the end of the day.

"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven... A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance."
Ecclesiastes 3:1,4 NLT

"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you."
1 Peter 5:7 NLT

Sheila is a redeemed, 30 something, 17 year old wife and mom to two boys ages 4 and 5, living in the Arizona desert. She likes to call herself "A Woman Found." Christ found Sheila sinful, rejected, alone, and broken and just by His gracious words has begun transforming her into the woman He always intended for her to be. Sheila's totally in awe of Christ and sees His fingerprints all over His creation. She has no idea how to sum up who she is in a few catchy phrases! She guesses that's part of the reason she has 20 something journals (which she's kept since she was 8) and feels the "woe is me" coming on if she doesn't have a chance to sit down and write out the little glimpses of God-thoughts He blesses her with daily either in her journal or at her blog- Meditations and Confessions of a Homemaker. To Sheila, sharing her life, what she's learning from God's word, and her own failings by blogging is just one way to redeem the time for God's glory. Her prayer is that her readers thirst for Jesus and feel refreshed by His grace when they read her meditations and confessions.

Want Ad!

2009-01-26T00:31:00.000-08:00

Exemplify Online is currently looking for the following:

• Weekly blog contributors
• Facebook Group Administrators
• Magazine features
• Ministries to spotlight
• Fashion columnist
• Health columnist
• Blogger Columnist
• Twitter-ers!
• Prayer Team

If you or someone you know is interested in contributing in any of the aforementioned ways, please contact Kristen for more information
at editor@exemplifyonline.com!

Quick Note

2009-01-22T13:08:00.001-08:00

I wanted to let you lovely ladies know the new Exemplify Facebook group is up and running! This is a great way to keep in touch with our members and get updates fast!

Check it out here.