"For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." Proverbs 8:11
Last night in our home Bible study we sang a song I dearly love called More Precious than Silver. It’s one of those songs that brings tears to my eyes almost every time I sing it. It goes like this; I’m sure you’ve heard it.
Lord, You are more precious than silver.
Lord, You are more costly than gold.
Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,
And nothing I desire compares with You.
And then the chorus --
Worthy, Oh worthy are you Lord.
You are worthy to be thanked and praised
And worshipped and adored.
And then the verse is repeated.
In looking for these words in scripture, which I usually do, not because I think we can only sing a song that’s taken directly from scripture, but because I think the meaning of the song is enhanced if a scripture goes along with it, I found Proverbs 3:13-15.
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom,
The man who gains understanding,
For she is more profitable than silver
And yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
Nothing you desire can compare with her.
I think you will probably agree with me, if it’s not the scripture the songwriter was thinking about when he wrote the song, it’s close.
Solomon, in the very beginning of Proverbs, tells us why we should know proverbs. And I love how this passage reads in the Complete Jewish Bible.
The proverbs of Shlomo the son of David, king of Isra’el,
Are for learning about wisdom and discipline;
For understanding words expressing deep insight;
For gaining an intelligently disciplined life,
Doing what is right, just and fair;
For endowing with caution those who don’t think
And the young person with knowledge and discretion.
Someone who is already wise
Will hear and learn still more;
Someone who already understands
Will gain the ability to counsel well;
He will understand proverbs, obscure expressions,
The sayings of the riddles of the wise.
And if you go on to chapter two, verse six,
Solomon tells us where we get wisdom.
For the Lord gives wisdom,
And from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
And then, if you read further, right after the passage ending with the words “nothing you desire can compare with her” you will find the most amazing words I’ve heard only one preacher mention: “By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations…” And then at length in chapter eight Solomon explains:
The Lord brought me [wisdom] forth as the first of his works,
Before his deeds of old;
I [wisdom] was appointed from eternity,
From the beginning, before the world began.
When there were no oceans, I [wisdom] was given birth,
When there were no springs abounding with water;
Before the mountains were settled in place,
Before the hills, I [wisdom]was given birth,Before he made the earth or its fields
Or any of the dust of the world.
I [wisdom] was there when he set the heavens in place,
When he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
When he established the clouds above
And fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
When he gave the sea its boundary
So the waters would not overstep his command,
And when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I [wisdom] was the craftsman at his side.
I [wisdom] was filled with delight day after day,
Rejoicing always in his presence,
Rejoicing in his whole world
And delighting in mankind.
Did you get that? Before God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, He created wisdom. Wisdom was the first thing God ever created. “For whoever finds me [wisdom] finds life and receives favor from the Lord, verse thirty-five tells us. “Whoever finds me……….finds life.” Does God need wisdom to bring forth life, so he creates it? Isn’t that what Solomon may be implying?
My sisters, if God needs wisdom, don’t I? And if God gives wisdom, shouldn’t I go to him to get it? Solomon says, “…if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight, and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5
turn your ear to it……call out.….….cry aloud……....look for it……..….search for it......
Do you see the progression here?
I repeat, if God gives wisdom, shouldn’t I go to him to get it?
My sisters, I hope you know that I know this is a rather lengthy introduction to a post that, as of now, I’ve not even talked about the topic. But I want you to know first of all, why I believe what I believe and why I can believe it with conviction. Please hear my heart. I am so saddened when Christians go to secular books to get their “wisdom” and don’t believe the Bible is “relevant” enough to give answers to questions they’re asking today. Is this where I need to be worshipping? Is the building a hindrance to evangelism? What is the role of the Holy Spirit? Does God cause suffering? Are my kids rebelling or is this typical behavior? Is it okay for a Christian to suffer from depression? Are home Bible studies scriptural? Can we have a praise team? And on and on we search for answers and on and on the questions are asked. You know them. You probably have asked some yourself.
When The Shack, written by Wm. Paul Young came out, everyone asked me to read it and I tried. I read approximately half of it, which is where everyone tells me it just gets started. But this is why I had trouble reading The Shack or have trouble reading any SECULAR piece of literature that’s written by a man/woman. The power I need to make wise decisions can only come from the power of the Holy Spirit who inspired Moses and the prophets and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and the other authors to write the Bible. I have a plethora of books on a room full of book shelves, but none of them gives me the power I receive from the Holy Spirit that comes directly from God. All scripture is given by the inspiration of God and nothing else. Yes, when I write I’m inspired, but not like the writers of the Bible. I hope you agree with me on that.
The same Spirit that reveals scripture to the authors also interprets them to me. Spiritual truths are spiritually discerned and unless I have the Spirit to interpret them for me, I cannot fully understand scripture. Will I ever “fully” understand scripture? No. But the Holy Spirit will guide me into all truth (John 16:12).
I need the power in my life that only the Spirit can give. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is living in me and I need that resurrection power to give “life” to me. When my son David was nine and wanted to be baptized, I asked him this question, wondering what he knew about the Holy Spirit: “David, do you know what the Holy Spirit does?” And he answered: “He helps me make better decisions.” So with all my doubt pushed aside David was baptized that Sunday morning. Do I think it’s necessary for everyone wanting to become a Christian to know what the Holy Spirit does? No, I don’t. I believe they need to know that Jesus is the son of God. But, David’s answer definitely convinced me that he knew what he was doing.
When I read a secular book, I am reading a book written by another human being. When I read the Bible, I am reading the inspired word of God. The Holy Spirit interprets what I’m reading and when I listen and do what He says, I am being led by the Holy Spirit. Isn’t that what a person, who turns his ear to, calls out, cries out, cries aloud, looks for it and searches for wisdom wants? How CAN that come from secular literature?
From my own personal experiences, to be Spirit-led is the number one desire of the Christian who’s searching for God, seeking his answers. I’ve seen countless Christians take their questions to God, yet believe He’s going to answer in a secular book. And they come away even more confused than when they first sought the answers. Does this sound like I’m being a hypocrite because I started the Let’s Read book club? Yes, in one way, but not if I trust you spend an equal amount of time searching, studying, and reading your Bible.
My sisters, the following is my very first entry in the Titus 2 Group, that I wrote on February 4, 2009. I'm posting it again, in conclusion, because it so aptly goes with this lesson.
"When Amy Hughes asked if I would consider writing weekly devotionals I was both thrilled and humbled at the same time—thrilled in that someone wanted to read what I wrote—humbled because somebody would. Actually, Amy gave me one of the highest compliments I have ever been paid when she said to me, “you can impart your words of wisdom, especially to those of us who’ve moved away.” I was moved and thus sent out a letter inquiring if anyone else would read them. And this is how the journey begins.
"God is all knowledge. Paul wanted the Colossians to “know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And Peter wanted God’s elect, strangers in the world, to know that “[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Pet. 1:3
"In Christ alone is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge—not me. Devotionals tell us about God. They do not come from God. When I hear about how God touched someone else’s life, my telling their story is not as effective as their telling their story because they’ve lived it. I must tell my own. “That which was from the beginning,” John says, “which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” 1 John 1:1 We are touched most when we hear, see and touch God ourselves. Peter tells us, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” “We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.” 2 Pet. 1:16, 18 God wants us to be eyewitnesses of his majesty. He wants us to experience Him ourselves. When John tells us that the apostles heard, saw, looked at and touched Jesus, he mentions they heard once--they touched once. But when he says they saw, he not only says they saw, he adds “they looked at Jesus.” They were interested enough to see him twice—once in passing and once on purpose. The scripture implies they took him in.
"Sunday morning I heard my granddaughter Bella, calling for me through the singing. I knew she was calling for me because I recognized her voice. I had heard it many times before. When I turned to see her, to confirm what I already knew, she was raising her arms as if to say, “I want to come to you.” It broke my heart that she could not. But what would have broken my heart even more would have been for her to see me reaching out to her and she not want me. God has written the greatest love letter ever written and wants us to read it. How He must feel when we don’t! One of my favorite quotes is from the book Victory Over the Darkness by Neil Anderson, “Satan knows that he may not be able to stop you from serving God by making you immoral, but he can probably slow you down by making you busy!” And that’s what busy-ness does. It keeps us from taking the time to get to know God through scripture, prayer, meditation and service, just to mention a few. If your time is precious and you have to choose between reading the Bible or reading a devotional, let me make that decision for you. Choose God’s voice over mine. Sit at His feet and listen. If you can, do both. But if you can’t, choose what Mary chose, and that will be better."
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
2 Cor. 9:8 Friday
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
I have all that I need and more. God has been so good to me--all my life. There's never been a year, a month, or a day that I've not had more than enough and some left over. I realized that even more so today as I was looking through my closets trying to figure out what to wear to a wedding this week-end. I thought I was going to have to buy something new but realized I didn't when I just took inventory of what I already had.
I don't know about you but when I've thought about abundance prior to this week, I've usually thought about blessings, good fortune or just lots of "stuff" and I've never felt guilty, as I've called it for being blessed. To be honest, I've never thought about abundance in terms of good works at all. I've just considered every-THING I've had as a gift from God and thanked Him for letting me have it.
Today, however, as I was sorting through my clothes, determining what to keep and what to give away and what to wear to the wedding, I had a revelation -- I mean a moment when the Spirit spoke to me as loudly as He has ever spoken to me before. He said, "Maybe, you've not been so blessed as you've been so greedy." And I wept. Why am I so blessed, as I've always thought, while so many have had so little? It may just be because I've been so greedy. God is able to make all grace abound so that in all things at all times, having all that we need we will abound in every good work. He doesn't just give us things because we need them, he may be giving us those things because someone else needs them.
I really hope this Holiday season you look at what you have and remember you may have it because God expects you to give it away. If we think we have to "work" more to have more, we're deceiving outselves. I believe if we have more, we need to "'work" more to give it away. We truly have been blessed abundantly.
I have all that I need and more. God has been so good to me--all my life. There's never been a year, a month, or a day that I've not had more than enough and some left over. I realized that even more so today as I was looking through my closets trying to figure out what to wear to a wedding this week-end. I thought I was going to have to buy something new but realized I didn't when I just took inventory of what I already had.
I don't know about you but when I've thought about abundance prior to this week, I've usually thought about blessings, good fortune or just lots of "stuff" and I've never felt guilty, as I've called it for being blessed. To be honest, I've never thought about abundance in terms of good works at all. I've just considered every-THING I've had as a gift from God and thanked Him for letting me have it.
Today, however, as I was sorting through my clothes, determining what to keep and what to give away and what to wear to the wedding, I had a revelation -- I mean a moment when the Spirit spoke to me as loudly as He has ever spoken to me before. He said, "Maybe, you've not been so blessed as you've been so greedy." And I wept. Why am I so blessed, as I've always thought, while so many have had so little? It may just be because I've been so greedy. God is able to make all grace abound so that in all things at all times, having all that we need we will abound in every good work. He doesn't just give us things because we need them, he may be giving us those things because someone else needs them.
I really hope this Holiday season you look at what you have and remember you may have it because God expects you to give it away. If we think we have to "work" more to have more, we're deceiving outselves. I believe if we have more, we need to "'work" more to give it away. We truly have been blessed abundantly.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
2 Cor. 9:8 Thursday
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8
I absolutely love Bibles -- always have -- probably always will. Thanks to you, Lynn Mosher, I recently purchased The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Version featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. Lynn's blog is fabulous (if you haven't read it, it's called Heading Home and has a sub-tab under Blogs in the main menu bar) and she refers to the Amplified Bible often. After you see how 2 Corinthians 9:8 reads, I think you'll understand why she uses it and why I bought one.
"And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances, and whatever the need, be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]
......so that in all things......at all times.......
I absolutely love Bibles -- always have -- probably always will. Thanks to you, Lynn Mosher, I recently purchased The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Version featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. Lynn's blog is fabulous (if you haven't read it, it's called Heading Home and has a sub-tab under Blogs in the main menu bar) and she refers to the Amplified Bible often. After you see how 2 Corinthians 9:8 reads, I think you'll understand why she uses it and why I bought one.
"And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances, and whatever the need, be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]
......so that in all things......at all times.......
2 Cor. 9:8 Wednesday
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8
I absolutely love Bibles -- always have -- probably always will. Thanks to you, Lynn Mosher, I recently purchased The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Version featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. Lynn's blog is fabulous (if you haven't read it, it's called Heading Home and has a sub-tab under Blogs in the main menu bar) and she refers to the Amplified Bible often. After you see how 2 Corinthians 9:8 reads, I think you'll understand why she uses it and why I bought one.
"And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances, and whatever the need, be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]
......so that in all things......at all times.......
I absolutely love Bibles -- always have -- probably always will. Thanks to you, Lynn Mosher, I recently purchased The Everyday Life Bible, Amplified Version featuring notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. Lynn's blog is fabulous (if you haven't read it, it's called Heading Home and has a sub-tab under Blogs in the main menu bar) and she refers to the Amplified Bible often. After you see how 2 Corinthians 9:8 reads, I think you'll understand why she uses it and why I bought one.
"And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances, and whatever the need, be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]
......so that in all things......at all times.......
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
2 Cor. 9:8 Monday
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8
Last Sunday morning at 7:30 (believe it or not I made it) those of us who work with the Burmese refugees at our church in some capacity met at Panera Bread to discuss where we go in 2010. There were about twenty-five of us who put our heads together and asked the question, “What next?” At least three of us who work very closely with them on a regular basis have the same sentiments. Here is the jist of what we believe and said.
This is not our work, IT’S GOD’S WORK.
God would not have brought the Burmese to us if he hadn’t had a plan. He has a plan -- IT’S HIS PLAN.
We will only be required to serve them to the point He has equipped us -- HE HAS EQUIPPED US.
Ours is the easy part -- to sow and water the seed. His is the hard part – to make it grow. I CAN’T MAKE IT GROW.
God isn’t in a hurry, BUT USUALLY I AM!
We cannot meet all their needs, BUT WE CAN HELP THE ONES WHO CROSS OUR PATHS.
I can do this, because God is able to make all grace abound to me, so that in all things at all times, having all that I need, I will abound in every good work.
I can give a glass of water. I can feed. I can clothe. I can visit. I can be there. I can help. It’s really not that hard; it’s really pretty simple. We don’t need to fix; we need to befriend.
Listen to what actually happened this morning that illustrates the point I'm trying to make.
This morning there was a teenager in the youth group who was sitting right next to our family where we sit every Sunday morning, who had a nosebleed. I was unaware of what was going on, but two rows back Christina wasn’t. So since she was seeing what was going on, Christina poked Josh who in turn poked me which in turn, made me turn around to see Christina who asked me if I had any Kleenexes, as she was pointing to the teenager having the nosebleed. I jumped up with my Puffs travel tissues that Bella had been playing with and went across the aisle to help the boy. Quickly he stuffed one tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding and he used the others to wipe off his arms, hands and clothes that had been spattered with blood. Heather, who carries baby wipes with her for Brayden, threw the baby wipes over to me knowing they would be wetter. So, between Christina, Josh, Heather and me we all got the bleeding stopped and the boy taken care of. I guess you could say even Bella, my granddaughter helped because she had been playing with the tissues that I grabbed that were laying on the seat in the first place.
My sisters, isn’t it our "work" to help "the bleeding stop" in a world who needs a savior whose bleeding never stops -- who binds up the wounds of the broken hearted and sets the captives free?
God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will abound in EVERY good work. None of us knew when we left for church what was going to happen once we got there. None of us knew that this nameless teenager was going to have a nosebleed. And none of us knew how we were going to respond or that God had already equipped us before we even knew we were going to respond. None of us had planned it, orchestrated it, or even knew what was going to happen. But because God is able, He knew it, he equipped us, and he took care of the boy -- through us. God is able to do this – to do all of this. That's just the way he operates.
I will be highlighting different words everyday throughout this week, just like I always do. But, know from the start you don’t have to meditate on any other words besides “God is able” –and to know that, to really know that, to absolutely unquestionably, without a shadow of a doubt, to know that God is able....... is enough.
Last Sunday morning at 7:30 (believe it or not I made it) those of us who work with the Burmese refugees at our church in some capacity met at Panera Bread to discuss where we go in 2010. There were about twenty-five of us who put our heads together and asked the question, “What next?” At least three of us who work very closely with them on a regular basis have the same sentiments. Here is the jist of what we believe and said.
This is not our work, IT’S GOD’S WORK.
God would not have brought the Burmese to us if he hadn’t had a plan. He has a plan -- IT’S HIS PLAN.
We will only be required to serve them to the point He has equipped us -- HE HAS EQUIPPED US.
Ours is the easy part -- to sow and water the seed. His is the hard part – to make it grow. I CAN’T MAKE IT GROW.
God isn’t in a hurry, BUT USUALLY I AM!
We cannot meet all their needs, BUT WE CAN HELP THE ONES WHO CROSS OUR PATHS.
I can do this, because God is able to make all grace abound to me, so that in all things at all times, having all that I need, I will abound in every good work.
I can give a glass of water. I can feed. I can clothe. I can visit. I can be there. I can help. It’s really not that hard; it’s really pretty simple. We don’t need to fix; we need to befriend.
Listen to what actually happened this morning that illustrates the point I'm trying to make.
This morning there was a teenager in the youth group who was sitting right next to our family where we sit every Sunday morning, who had a nosebleed. I was unaware of what was going on, but two rows back Christina wasn’t. So since she was seeing what was going on, Christina poked Josh who in turn poked me which in turn, made me turn around to see Christina who asked me if I had any Kleenexes, as she was pointing to the teenager having the nosebleed. I jumped up with my Puffs travel tissues that Bella had been playing with and went across the aisle to help the boy. Quickly he stuffed one tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding and he used the others to wipe off his arms, hands and clothes that had been spattered with blood. Heather, who carries baby wipes with her for Brayden, threw the baby wipes over to me knowing they would be wetter. So, between Christina, Josh, Heather and me we all got the bleeding stopped and the boy taken care of. I guess you could say even Bella, my granddaughter helped because she had been playing with the tissues that I grabbed that were laying on the seat in the first place.
My sisters, isn’t it our "work" to help "the bleeding stop" in a world who needs a savior whose bleeding never stops -- who binds up the wounds of the broken hearted and sets the captives free?
God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL that you need, you will abound in EVERY good work. None of us knew when we left for church what was going to happen once we got there. None of us knew that this nameless teenager was going to have a nosebleed. And none of us knew how we were going to respond or that God had already equipped us before we even knew we were going to respond. None of us had planned it, orchestrated it, or even knew what was going to happen. But because God is able, He knew it, he equipped us, and he took care of the boy -- through us. God is able to do this – to do all of this. That's just the way he operates.
I will be highlighting different words everyday throughout this week, just like I always do. But, know from the start you don’t have to meditate on any other words besides “God is able” –and to know that, to really know that, to absolutely unquestionably, without a shadow of a doubt, to know that God is able....... is enough.
Psalm 119:18 Tuesday
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." Psalm 119:18
They are just three simple prayers that have shaped my life. The first one I started praying as a teenager – an empty slate
“Lord, give me wisdom.” – a prayer James tells us to pray.
The second I started praying right after Laura was born, twenty-five years ago – a seeker:
“Give me a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I might know you better.” –Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, we looked at yesterday.
And the third one I started praying when you, Dana Abee, were a student in my class – a teacher:
“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” –the Psalmist’s prayer we prayed this week.
God revealed the prayer I needed to pray, when he knew I needed the answer, at exactly the right time.
I beg you to start praying just one of these prayers, preferably all of them, to see if it doesn't make a difference. Even if your life doesn’t change, your attitude about your life will. How God does it, I just don't know. My part is just to pray.
They are just three simple prayers that have shaped my life. The first one I started praying as a teenager – an empty slate
“Lord, give me wisdom.” – a prayer James tells us to pray.
The second I started praying right after Laura was born, twenty-five years ago – a seeker:
“Give me a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that I might know you better.” –Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, we looked at yesterday.
And the third one I started praying when you, Dana Abee, were a student in my class – a teacher:
“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” –the Psalmist’s prayer we prayed this week.
God revealed the prayer I needed to pray, when he knew I needed the answer, at exactly the right time.
I beg you to start praying just one of these prayers, preferably all of them, to see if it doesn't make a difference. Even if your life doesn’t change, your attitude about your life will. How God does it, I just don't know. My part is just to pray.
Psalm 119:18 Monday
“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.” Psalm 119:18
This is the verse I started using years ago that I used to tell the ladies in my Bible classes to pray when they went to their Bibles but didn’t know what to study. Many people want to study; they just don’t know how. This is where I think it starts. It’s such a simple prayer--not very long-- but very, very powerful and affective. It goes right along with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:15-22, when he prays for the eyes of their heart to be enlightened.
This is what he prayed:
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know this hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
(JUST AS AN ASIDE) -- Did you read that? Did you really read every word of every sentence in that entire paragraph? If you didn’t, would you please go back and read it now? Would you not let Satan keep you from reading every word of every sentence in this paragraph? Please let me tell you something that someone told me years ago, that I, myself, have found to be true. If you are reading a passage of scripture and there’s a part of the verse you skim over or can’t remember if you’ve read it or not, that’s the very part of the verse you need to read, that Satan KNOWS you need to read, so he has you skim over it. That is the part of the verse you need to go back and read again and again and again. Please take reading every word of God’s word seriously.
Now, to explain Ephesians 1:15-22. I have read Paul’s prayer for the last forty-five minutes in The Complete Jewish Bible, The Message, The New Living Translation, The English Standard Version, The Amplified Version, The New Century Version, The New International Version plus Matthew Henry’s Commentary and I simply can’t wrap my mind around all the wonderful things Paul is saying here. I can’t write about what I was going to write about now. So, I’m leaving it up to you to extract the meat from this passage. It’s incredible, but beyond my ability to write about it in such a way as to do the passage justice. I can, however, say like Paul, that ever since I heard about YOUR faith in the Lord Jesus and YOUR love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for YOU, remembering YOU in my prayers -- those of YOU in Titus 2. This is what Paul said before he prayed, that I CAN articulate. Whenever I pray a prayer for YOU, I pray Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving – the time of year we pay attention to what we’re thankful for. Or rather, I hope we pay attention to WHO we’re thankful for. When I started to write this last night, I wrote until 1:00 a.m. trying to use this verse to point out that whenever we pray, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” there’s no-thing in THE LAW that doesn’t point back to Jesus. Every scripture in the Torah (as this would have been), every word written in the entire Bible goes back to the cross and what Jesus did for us – who we are in Christ Jesus; that’s why Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is so important to me and why I was going to use it in conjunction with Psalm 119:18. I did not see last night that the connection between the two passages was thanksgiving; this morning I do. (It’s just like God to know the connection I needed to make, and reveal it to me the week of Thanksgiving.)
Right before Paul prayed for the Ephesians he told them who they were:
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”
When you break this verse down to its simplest thought it reads, “In him we were also chosen …..in order that we …..might be for the praise of his glory.”
This is the true spirit of Thanksgiving. We praise God for who we are and whose we are. We were created to praise his glory. This is what we’re here to do.
I hope this Thanksgiving, that every time you remember what you’re thankful for, you remember WHO you’re thankful for and why -- the most important part. “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” and when you do, you will see Jesus.
This is the verse I started using years ago that I used to tell the ladies in my Bible classes to pray when they went to their Bibles but didn’t know what to study. Many people want to study; they just don’t know how. This is where I think it starts. It’s such a simple prayer--not very long-- but very, very powerful and affective. It goes right along with Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:15-22, when he prays for the eyes of their heart to be enlightened.
This is what he prayed:
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know this hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
(JUST AS AN ASIDE) -- Did you read that? Did you really read every word of every sentence in that entire paragraph? If you didn’t, would you please go back and read it now? Would you not let Satan keep you from reading every word of every sentence in this paragraph? Please let me tell you something that someone told me years ago, that I, myself, have found to be true. If you are reading a passage of scripture and there’s a part of the verse you skim over or can’t remember if you’ve read it or not, that’s the very part of the verse you need to read, that Satan KNOWS you need to read, so he has you skim over it. That is the part of the verse you need to go back and read again and again and again. Please take reading every word of God’s word seriously.
Now, to explain Ephesians 1:15-22. I have read Paul’s prayer for the last forty-five minutes in The Complete Jewish Bible, The Message, The New Living Translation, The English Standard Version, The Amplified Version, The New Century Version, The New International Version plus Matthew Henry’s Commentary and I simply can’t wrap my mind around all the wonderful things Paul is saying here. I can’t write about what I was going to write about now. So, I’m leaving it up to you to extract the meat from this passage. It’s incredible, but beyond my ability to write about it in such a way as to do the passage justice. I can, however, say like Paul, that ever since I heard about YOUR faith in the Lord Jesus and YOUR love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for YOU, remembering YOU in my prayers -- those of YOU in Titus 2. This is what Paul said before he prayed, that I CAN articulate. Whenever I pray a prayer for YOU, I pray Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving – the time of year we pay attention to what we’re thankful for. Or rather, I hope we pay attention to WHO we’re thankful for. When I started to write this last night, I wrote until 1:00 a.m. trying to use this verse to point out that whenever we pray, “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” there’s no-thing in THE LAW that doesn’t point back to Jesus. Every scripture in the Torah (as this would have been), every word written in the entire Bible goes back to the cross and what Jesus did for us – who we are in Christ Jesus; that’s why Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is so important to me and why I was going to use it in conjunction with Psalm 119:18. I did not see last night that the connection between the two passages was thanksgiving; this morning I do. (It’s just like God to know the connection I needed to make, and reveal it to me the week of Thanksgiving.)
Right before Paul prayed for the Ephesians he told them who they were:
“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”
When you break this verse down to its simplest thought it reads, “In him we were also chosen …..in order that we …..might be for the praise of his glory.”
This is the true spirit of Thanksgiving. We praise God for who we are and whose we are. We were created to praise his glory. This is what we’re here to do.
I hope this Thanksgiving, that every time you remember what you’re thankful for, you remember WHO you’re thankful for and why -- the most important part. “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law” and when you do, you will see Jesus.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 119:96
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless." Psalm 119:96
Occasionally I like to read Matthew Henry's commentary to see his take on something, as I did this week regarding Psalm 119:96. Since he is much more philosophical than I and believes David wrote it, I'm concluding my thoughts this week with his interpretation. I must admit, I had to read this several times before I understood it. But once I did, I liked it. He's probably right about David being the author; I don't know.
Psa 119:96
Here we have David’s testimony from his own experience, 1. Of the vanity of the world and its insufficiency to make us happy: I have seen an end of all perfection. Poor perfection which one sees an end of! Yet such are all those things in this world which pass for perfections. David, in his time, had seen Goliath, the strongest, overcome, Asahel, the swiftest, overtaken, Ahithophel, the wisest, befooled, Absalom, the fairest, deformed; and, in short, he had seen an end of perfection, of all perfection. He saw it by faith; he saw it by observation; he saw an end of the perfection of the creature both in respect of sufficiency (it was scanty and defective; there is that to be done for us which the creature cannot do) and in respect of continuance; it will not last our time, for it will not last to eternity as we must. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. 2. Of the fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency for our satisfaction: But thy commandment is broad, exceedingly broad. The word of God reaches to all cases, to all times. The divine law lays a restraint upon the whole man, is designed to sanctify us wholly. There is a great deal required and forbidden in every commandment. The divine promise (for that also is commanded) extends itself to all our burdens, wants, and grievances, and has that in it which will make a portion and happiness for us when we have seen an end of all perfection.
Occasionally I like to read Matthew Henry's commentary to see his take on something, as I did this week regarding Psalm 119:96. Since he is much more philosophical than I and believes David wrote it, I'm concluding my thoughts this week with his interpretation. I must admit, I had to read this several times before I understood it. But once I did, I liked it. He's probably right about David being the author; I don't know.
Psa 119:96
Here we have David’s testimony from his own experience, 1. Of the vanity of the world and its insufficiency to make us happy: I have seen an end of all perfection. Poor perfection which one sees an end of! Yet such are all those things in this world which pass for perfections. David, in his time, had seen Goliath, the strongest, overcome, Asahel, the swiftest, overtaken, Ahithophel, the wisest, befooled, Absalom, the fairest, deformed; and, in short, he had seen an end of perfection, of all perfection. He saw it by faith; he saw it by observation; he saw an end of the perfection of the creature both in respect of sufficiency (it was scanty and defective; there is that to be done for us which the creature cannot do) and in respect of continuance; it will not last our time, for it will not last to eternity as we must. The glory of man is but as the flower of the grass. 2. Of the fulness of the word of God, and its sufficiency for our satisfaction: But thy commandment is broad, exceedingly broad. The word of God reaches to all cases, to all times. The divine law lays a restraint upon the whole man, is designed to sanctify us wholly. There is a great deal required and forbidden in every commandment. The divine promise (for that also is commanded) extends itself to all our burdens, wants, and grievances, and has that in it which will make a portion and happiness for us when we have seen an end of all perfection.
Psalm 119:96 Thursday
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless." Psalm 119:96
Fixing your eyes on Jesus begins by being in THE WORD. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” If I want to know Jesus, then I must be in THE WORD that became that flesh. No, I don’t want to just become a student -- "knowledge puffs up but love builds up." 1 Cor. 8:1 I want to become like Jesus who was the epitome of love, who came to earth to show us what love is. “For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only son....” John 3:16.
My Bibles tell a journey; all of them are written in and underlined. The words I’ve underlined, as well as the notes written about those underlined words, show a natural progression any student takes when she’s in THE WORD daily. At first I learned facts for fact's sake. But, ultimately those facts led to greater understanding. That progression is described in Psalm 119:98-100 – verses I’ve considered using for one of the weekly meditations.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders [the aged], for I obey your precepts.
Notice the natural progression: if God’s commands are ever with me, e.g., I know them, then I will be wise; if I meditate on his statutes, I will have insight; if I obey his precepts, I will have understanding. To put it simply -- I know; I have wisdom. I meditate; I have insight. I obey; I have understanding. Proverbs 4:5, a verse I memorized in Leona Emberton’s class when I was in grade school, says: “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.” This passage is about the supremacy of wisdom.
Fixing your eyes on Jesus means not watching the winds and the waves. When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water, it was when he took his eyes off Jesus that he started to sink. I sink when I start watching people; they are the winds and the waves to me. Caring too much what people think, trying to please everybody all the time takes my eyes off Jesus. Martha did this when she told Jesus to tell Mary to come help her in the kitchen. He, himself, said to Mary, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41 That one thing that is needed is being with Jesus, e.g., looking to Jesus, listening to Jesus, sitting at His feet, which I’m calling “fixing your eyes on.” What will fixing your eyes on Jesus do? Jesus tells us it will keep us from becoming “worried and upset about many things.”
When the disciples thought they were going to drown in the storm in Mark 4, and woke Jesus up, asking him if he cared, Jesus asked them “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Obviously, Jesus’ question points out that fear is the opposite of faith, which is exactly what Satan wants—for Christians to live in fear. Fear stagnates; it freezes; it keeps the church from being the church. There is only one fear that is a healthy fear—to fear God and keep his commandments.
Listen to Hebrews 12:1-3—the one passage I’ve quoted more than any other in my entire lifetime. These are the verses I live by and call my mantra.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
This is the modern-day translation of this verse that I, myself, have written.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great temptation to be like the world, let us stop doing everything that benefits us -- everything that anchors us to the rock -- and let us run ourselves to death at the pace the world dictates. Let us fix our eyes on each other, the distracters of our faith, who for the joy we try to have with each other, entices us, not considering who we are in Christ, to stand in the way of sinners. Consider the world that enjoys the approval of men, so that you will be heavy-laden and your heart will grow hard.”
The sin that so easily entangles is lack of faith. If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then I must be in the Word to have faith. I am amazed when people want stronger faith, but they don’t know where it comes from or how to get it. Romans 10:17 tells us how. God requires of us to be faithful, not successful or perfect.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus teaches us to persevere. He never wavered. He never sinned. He kept going even when he died for the people who crucified him.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus teaches us to endure opposition from sinful men; it does not say change yourself to please them. It says endure the opposition. (And by-the-way, I think sinful men would be everybody.)
Fixing our eyes on Jesus will keep us from growing weary and losing heart. Fix your eyes on yourself and you will.
When I look at myself, which is where part one started, i.e., at my imperfection, I am never going to be satisfied. But when I fix my eyes on Jesus, I will see perfection. He already is what I can never be, and I am thankful. I will not grow weary and I will not lose heart. No wonder Satan wants me to be a perfectionist. Why would I ever need Jesus?
end
Fixing your eyes on Jesus begins by being in THE WORD. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us.” If I want to know Jesus, then I must be in THE WORD that became that flesh. No, I don’t want to just become a student -- "knowledge puffs up but love builds up." 1 Cor. 8:1 I want to become like Jesus who was the epitome of love, who came to earth to show us what love is. “For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only son....” John 3:16.
My Bibles tell a journey; all of them are written in and underlined. The words I’ve underlined, as well as the notes written about those underlined words, show a natural progression any student takes when she’s in THE WORD daily. At first I learned facts for fact's sake. But, ultimately those facts led to greater understanding. That progression is described in Psalm 119:98-100 – verses I’ve considered using for one of the weekly meditations.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes.
100 I have more understanding than the elders [the aged], for I obey your precepts.
Notice the natural progression: if God’s commands are ever with me, e.g., I know them, then I will be wise; if I meditate on his statutes, I will have insight; if I obey his precepts, I will have understanding. To put it simply -- I know; I have wisdom. I meditate; I have insight. I obey; I have understanding. Proverbs 4:5, a verse I memorized in Leona Emberton’s class when I was in grade school, says: “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.” This passage is about the supremacy of wisdom.
Fixing your eyes on Jesus means not watching the winds and the waves. When Peter got out of the boat to walk on the water, it was when he took his eyes off Jesus that he started to sink. I sink when I start watching people; they are the winds and the waves to me. Caring too much what people think, trying to please everybody all the time takes my eyes off Jesus. Martha did this when she told Jesus to tell Mary to come help her in the kitchen. He, himself, said to Mary, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41 That one thing that is needed is being with Jesus, e.g., looking to Jesus, listening to Jesus, sitting at His feet, which I’m calling “fixing your eyes on.” What will fixing your eyes on Jesus do? Jesus tells us it will keep us from becoming “worried and upset about many things.”
When the disciples thought they were going to drown in the storm in Mark 4, and woke Jesus up, asking him if he cared, Jesus asked them “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Obviously, Jesus’ question points out that fear is the opposite of faith, which is exactly what Satan wants—for Christians to live in fear. Fear stagnates; it freezes; it keeps the church from being the church. There is only one fear that is a healthy fear—to fear God and keep his commandments.
Listen to Hebrews 12:1-3—the one passage I’ve quoted more than any other in my entire lifetime. These are the verses I live by and call my mantra.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
This is the modern-day translation of this verse that I, myself, have written.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great temptation to be like the world, let us stop doing everything that benefits us -- everything that anchors us to the rock -- and let us run ourselves to death at the pace the world dictates. Let us fix our eyes on each other, the distracters of our faith, who for the joy we try to have with each other, entices us, not considering who we are in Christ, to stand in the way of sinners. Consider the world that enjoys the approval of men, so that you will be heavy-laden and your heart will grow hard.”
The sin that so easily entangles is lack of faith. If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, then I must be in the Word to have faith. I am amazed when people want stronger faith, but they don’t know where it comes from or how to get it. Romans 10:17 tells us how. God requires of us to be faithful, not successful or perfect.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus teaches us to persevere. He never wavered. He never sinned. He kept going even when he died for the people who crucified him.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus teaches us to endure opposition from sinful men; it does not say change yourself to please them. It says endure the opposition. (And by-the-way, I think sinful men would be everybody.)
Fixing our eyes on Jesus will keep us from growing weary and losing heart. Fix your eyes on yourself and you will.
When I look at myself, which is where part one started, i.e., at my imperfection, I am never going to be satisfied. But when I fix my eyes on Jesus, I will see perfection. He already is what I can never be, and I am thankful. I will not grow weary and I will not lose heart. No wonder Satan wants me to be a perfectionist. Why would I ever need Jesus?
end
Psalm 119:96 Wednesday
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless." Psalm 119:96
I found this verse a long time before I realized what it meant. I would say it was on the back-burner stewing for a period of years before that ah-ha moment came when the Spirit said “Now listen!” I knew that for us, as sinners, perfection was impossible, even though my mind wasn’t convinced I couldn’t be. I just couldn’t see the connection between the two clauses until finally one day the Spirit spoke. This is what He said:
Teresa, you are limited in how perfect you can be, but you're not limited in what you can do for ME. His will is boundless (some versions say “broad”) in that you will never run out of things to do for God plus his will covers everything you cannot be.
"To all perfection I see a limit," is totally looking inward with both eyes on me; "but your commands are boundless" is looking outward with both eyes on God.
I have suffered from depression most of my life. I really can’t look back far enough to see a time when I didn’t, even down to today. It’s my “thorn” that God uses to keep me close to Him and, like Paul, to keep me from becoming conceited. Depression, as I have learned, "often symbolizes that you’re holding on to an unattainable goal." And my unattainable goal was perfection. It just wasn’t going to happen. And what I thought was going to happen if I, through my own efforts, became perfect, was exactly the opposite of what God wanted to happen. The only way God’s strength could be made PERFECT in me, was for me to admit my weakness. I had not realized that to think I could be perfect was the epitome of arrogance. I still cringe when I remember how I felt when I realized how arrogant I had been.
God stripped me of all my “perfection” and arrogance by throwing me into the pit of depression. Yes, I still suffer from depression, but nothing like then. He stripped me of me, so he could mold me and make me from the ground up. This is what “Up from the Pit” the video series I taped is all about. All eight videos are based on Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the storm. There is an often overlooked phrase I want to mention here, that’s found in verse thirty-six. “Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.” The phrase is “just as he was.” When Jesus goes with us, so does perfection – His perfection, not mine. And it’s so obvious, yet something I want to point out, if I take Jesus along just as He is, then He also takes me along just as I am. If Jesus is with me always, even to the very end of the age, then I am always in the face of perfection. He is being perfect for me; so I don’t have to be. That is what grace is.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. He gives me everything because I have nothing. I am nothing without Him. Even my RIGHTEOUS acts are but filthy rags.
When I realized what Dr. Pfohl had told me, that “perfection is not a goal it is a disorder” I realized that by trying to live perfectly on my own, I had actually kept Jesus out. I was so full of myself there was no room left for him. I had to empty myself of myself so Christ could live in me.
GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense—such a simple acronym but so true. “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom. 8:3-6
Jesus condemned sin, not me. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” and when I realized, really realized what that meant, I felt the chains fall off and gave myself permission to be me, less than perfect. I took my eyes off myself and started fixing my eyes on Jesus.
(part three)
I found this verse a long time before I realized what it meant. I would say it was on the back-burner stewing for a period of years before that ah-ha moment came when the Spirit said “Now listen!” I knew that for us, as sinners, perfection was impossible, even though my mind wasn’t convinced I couldn’t be. I just couldn’t see the connection between the two clauses until finally one day the Spirit spoke. This is what He said:
Teresa, you are limited in how perfect you can be, but you're not limited in what you can do for ME. His will is boundless (some versions say “broad”) in that you will never run out of things to do for God plus his will covers everything you cannot be.
"To all perfection I see a limit," is totally looking inward with both eyes on me; "but your commands are boundless" is looking outward with both eyes on God.
I have suffered from depression most of my life. I really can’t look back far enough to see a time when I didn’t, even down to today. It’s my “thorn” that God uses to keep me close to Him and, like Paul, to keep me from becoming conceited. Depression, as I have learned, "often symbolizes that you’re holding on to an unattainable goal." And my unattainable goal was perfection. It just wasn’t going to happen. And what I thought was going to happen if I, through my own efforts, became perfect, was exactly the opposite of what God wanted to happen. The only way God’s strength could be made PERFECT in me, was for me to admit my weakness. I had not realized that to think I could be perfect was the epitome of arrogance. I still cringe when I remember how I felt when I realized how arrogant I had been.
God stripped me of all my “perfection” and arrogance by throwing me into the pit of depression. Yes, I still suffer from depression, but nothing like then. He stripped me of me, so he could mold me and make me from the ground up. This is what “Up from the Pit” the video series I taped is all about. All eight videos are based on Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the storm. There is an often overlooked phrase I want to mention here, that’s found in verse thirty-six. “Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.” The phrase is “just as he was.” When Jesus goes with us, so does perfection – His perfection, not mine. And it’s so obvious, yet something I want to point out, if I take Jesus along just as He is, then He also takes me along just as I am. If Jesus is with me always, even to the very end of the age, then I am always in the face of perfection. He is being perfect for me; so I don’t have to be. That is what grace is.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. He gives me everything because I have nothing. I am nothing without Him. Even my RIGHTEOUS acts are but filthy rags.
When I realized what Dr. Pfohl had told me, that “perfection is not a goal it is a disorder” I realized that by trying to live perfectly on my own, I had actually kept Jesus out. I was so full of myself there was no room left for him. I had to empty myself of myself so Christ could live in me.
GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense—such a simple acronym but so true. “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” Rom. 8:3-6
Jesus condemned sin, not me. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” and when I realized, really realized what that meant, I felt the chains fall off and gave myself permission to be me, less than perfect. I took my eyes off myself and started fixing my eyes on Jesus.
(part three)
Psalm 119:96 Tuesday
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless." Psalm 119:96
My daddy didn’t believe in compliments—said giving them might go to your head. He was wrong; not giving them goes to your heart. I remember the day he told me he loved me unsolicited – it was June 14, 2005. I was fifty years old. It was such a red letter day I put it on my calendar and one year later actually wrote it in red so I could remind myself again. I made it a permanent red letter day. Reba McIntyre wrote a song several years ago called The Man I Never Knew about her dad—the man she never knew who lived down the hall; I could relate. My dad and I have gotten closer as I've gotten older, but it’s taken a long time getting here. I’ve heard statistics say that girls get their self-esteem from their fathers. So it stands to reason, little girls whose fathers don’t compliment them, see nothing but imperfections when there’s so much more. I was an over-achiever in grade school, high school and college. I pushed myself to do more and more and chastised myself when I made less than an A. I was trying to be that ethereal pefectionist, because I couldn't see anyone accepting me as anything less. I threw up before almost every test I took and every speech I gave. I spent my honeymoon night throwing up on the bathroom floor while Phil lay snoring in bed. Yes, I had nervous jitters but I was laden with fear of imperfection and fear of the unknown. I missed the first day of my first job with an upset stomach because of anxiety.
I grew up in a very conservative church – legalistic, saved by works and not by grace. I had to abide by a set of rules I could not keep. Every time I mastered one, my line always moved to another level I could not reach again. I felt so imperfect, less than God expected regardless of how hard I tried.
As a young adult, still saved by works and not by grace, I felt the harder I worked for God the more He loved me. So I worked and worked, never doing enough, seeing all the things I SHOULD be doing, but wondering how I could possibly do everything anyone asked me to do, without making them mad if I said no. I SHOULD myself to death. Then is when the panic attacks started and the doctor told me to learn how to say no – to go home, take five milligrams of valium and relax. He didn’t know I didn’t know how.
All of this from childhood to adulthood had an effect on my body. By the time I had my first colonoscopy in 1990 (I was 35) the doctor said I had the colon of a 55 year old woman -- that what was going on in my gut had been going on a long time; and it had. (I have been taught that whatever your thought process is, there is a parallel connection with some part of your body that’s affected. When I went to see Dr. Tapp for my colon, he noted that I kept saying, “I split a gut for my parents. I split a gut for my parents.” And he reminded me, my gut problems were the reason I came to see him in the first place.)
Satan’s three weapons are temptation, accusation and deception. Anyone who has found herself in bondage to Satan, constantly feeling inadequate to be his child, yet knowing they’re a child of the King, needs to read The Bondage Breaker, along with any other books written by Neil Anderson. The Bondage Breaker is a bit much for the younger audience to read, but the material can be adapted to their maturity level. When I first read the book I thought it was “way out there.” But now realize in my fifties it’s right on the money. Here is an excerpt from chapter nine.
“One of the most common attitudes I have discovered in Christians—even among pastors, Christian leaders, and their wives and children—is a deep-seated sense of self-depreciation. I’ve heard them say, “I’m not important, I’m not qualified, I’m no good.” I’m amazed at how many Christians are paralyzed in their witness and productivity by thoughts and feelings of inferiority and worthlessness.
“Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from Satan to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ we are important, we are qualified, we are good. Satan can do absolutely nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies accusing us of being of little value to God or other people.
“Satan often uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He comes along and says, “Why don’t you try it? Everybody does it. Besides, you can get away with it. Who’s going to know?” Then as soon as we fall for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: “What kind of a Christian are you to do such a thing? You’re a pitiful excuse for a child of God. You’ll never get away with it. You might as well give up because God has already given up on you.” page 141
When Dr. Pfohl said the words “Perfection is not a goal, it is a disorder,” I couldn’t believe my ears. They were words I couldn’t let myself believe. Never in my life had anyone given me permission to be less than perfect. I really thought I could be, that it was expected of me, and I was going to be one day if I just tried hard enough.
(part two)
My daddy didn’t believe in compliments—said giving them might go to your head. He was wrong; not giving them goes to your heart. I remember the day he told me he loved me unsolicited – it was June 14, 2005. I was fifty years old. It was such a red letter day I put it on my calendar and one year later actually wrote it in red so I could remind myself again. I made it a permanent red letter day. Reba McIntyre wrote a song several years ago called The Man I Never Knew about her dad—the man she never knew who lived down the hall; I could relate. My dad and I have gotten closer as I've gotten older, but it’s taken a long time getting here. I’ve heard statistics say that girls get their self-esteem from their fathers. So it stands to reason, little girls whose fathers don’t compliment them, see nothing but imperfections when there’s so much more. I was an over-achiever in grade school, high school and college. I pushed myself to do more and more and chastised myself when I made less than an A. I was trying to be that ethereal pefectionist, because I couldn't see anyone accepting me as anything less. I threw up before almost every test I took and every speech I gave. I spent my honeymoon night throwing up on the bathroom floor while Phil lay snoring in bed. Yes, I had nervous jitters but I was laden with fear of imperfection and fear of the unknown. I missed the first day of my first job with an upset stomach because of anxiety.
I grew up in a very conservative church – legalistic, saved by works and not by grace. I had to abide by a set of rules I could not keep. Every time I mastered one, my line always moved to another level I could not reach again. I felt so imperfect, less than God expected regardless of how hard I tried.
As a young adult, still saved by works and not by grace, I felt the harder I worked for God the more He loved me. So I worked and worked, never doing enough, seeing all the things I SHOULD be doing, but wondering how I could possibly do everything anyone asked me to do, without making them mad if I said no. I SHOULD myself to death. Then is when the panic attacks started and the doctor told me to learn how to say no – to go home, take five milligrams of valium and relax. He didn’t know I didn’t know how.
All of this from childhood to adulthood had an effect on my body. By the time I had my first colonoscopy in 1990 (I was 35) the doctor said I had the colon of a 55 year old woman -- that what was going on in my gut had been going on a long time; and it had. (I have been taught that whatever your thought process is, there is a parallel connection with some part of your body that’s affected. When I went to see Dr. Tapp for my colon, he noted that I kept saying, “I split a gut for my parents. I split a gut for my parents.” And he reminded me, my gut problems were the reason I came to see him in the first place.)
Satan’s three weapons are temptation, accusation and deception. Anyone who has found herself in bondage to Satan, constantly feeling inadequate to be his child, yet knowing they’re a child of the King, needs to read The Bondage Breaker, along with any other books written by Neil Anderson. The Bondage Breaker is a bit much for the younger audience to read, but the material can be adapted to their maturity level. When I first read the book I thought it was “way out there.” But now realize in my fifties it’s right on the money. Here is an excerpt from chapter nine.
“One of the most common attitudes I have discovered in Christians—even among pastors, Christian leaders, and their wives and children—is a deep-seated sense of self-depreciation. I’ve heard them say, “I’m not important, I’m not qualified, I’m no good.” I’m amazed at how many Christians are paralyzed in their witness and productivity by thoughts and feelings of inferiority and worthlessness.
“Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from Satan to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ we are important, we are qualified, we are good. Satan can do absolutely nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies accusing us of being of little value to God or other people.
“Satan often uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He comes along and says, “Why don’t you try it? Everybody does it. Besides, you can get away with it. Who’s going to know?” Then as soon as we fall for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: “What kind of a Christian are you to do such a thing? You’re a pitiful excuse for a child of God. You’ll never get away with it. You might as well give up because God has already given up on you.” page 141
When Dr. Pfohl said the words “Perfection is not a goal, it is a disorder,” I couldn’t believe my ears. They were words I couldn’t let myself believe. Never in my life had anyone given me permission to be less than perfect. I really thought I could be, that it was expected of me, and I was going to be one day if I just tried hard enough.
(part two)
Psalm 119:96 Monday
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless." Psalm 119:96
My first panic attack came on February 12, 1987. I told a friend I was talking to on the telephone that my left arm was going numb, I just didn't feel quite right and my heart was pounding. She told me I needed to call the doctor, who told me to come in immediately. So, I got Laura, who was three at the time, drove to my husband's law office, whisked her out onto the sidewalk to Phil, told him I was going to see Dr. Burt and drove myself. Dr. Burt did an EKG and found my heart was beating 186 beats a minute. So he admitted me into the step-down unit of coronary care. He told me I was not having a heart attack; he just wanted to keep an eye on me. For the next few hours, nothing out of the ordinary happened, my heart rate went down and everything seemed okay. I don't think this is actually what caused the incident, but after one of our elders came to see me, my heart rate went back up again and I was taken into the coronary care unit to be watched more closely. I remember asking the nurse if I was having a heart attack and he said he didn't know for sure, but that something was wrong and he would take good care of me; and he did. I asked him if he would just call my husband so I wouldn't be alone. I was there two days and sent home with the instructions to take five miligrams of valium, as needed, and learn to say no. (More on that later). I had my second panic attack August 13, 1991, was seen in the emergency room, told it was just another panic attack and to just go home.
I had my first colonoscopy in February of 1990, my second in 1991, my third in 1992 and my fourth in 1996. After the third colonoscopy in 1992 I started counseling with Dr. Pfohl here in Bowling Green, who said one sentence to me that changed my life. It was a sentence so foreign to me, I asked him to repeat it, I'm sure more than once. This is what he said:
"Teresa, perfection is not a goal, it is a disorder."
(Part one)
My first panic attack came on February 12, 1987. I told a friend I was talking to on the telephone that my left arm was going numb, I just didn't feel quite right and my heart was pounding. She told me I needed to call the doctor, who told me to come in immediately. So, I got Laura, who was three at the time, drove to my husband's law office, whisked her out onto the sidewalk to Phil, told him I was going to see Dr. Burt and drove myself. Dr. Burt did an EKG and found my heart was beating 186 beats a minute. So he admitted me into the step-down unit of coronary care. He told me I was not having a heart attack; he just wanted to keep an eye on me. For the next few hours, nothing out of the ordinary happened, my heart rate went down and everything seemed okay. I don't think this is actually what caused the incident, but after one of our elders came to see me, my heart rate went back up again and I was taken into the coronary care unit to be watched more closely. I remember asking the nurse if I was having a heart attack and he said he didn't know for sure, but that something was wrong and he would take good care of me; and he did. I asked him if he would just call my husband so I wouldn't be alone. I was there two days and sent home with the instructions to take five miligrams of valium, as needed, and learn to say no. (More on that later). I had my second panic attack August 13, 1991, was seen in the emergency room, told it was just another panic attack and to just go home.
I had my first colonoscopy in February of 1990, my second in 1991, my third in 1992 and my fourth in 1996. After the third colonoscopy in 1992 I started counseling with Dr. Pfohl here in Bowling Green, who said one sentence to me that changed my life. It was a sentence so foreign to me, I asked him to repeat it, I'm sure more than once. This is what he said:
"Teresa, perfection is not a goal, it is a disorder."
(Part one)
Psalm 119:126 Thursday
"It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken." Psalm 119:126
There is a parallel verse that goes along with this verse we're meditating on this week, that looks at God's law being broken, more from God's perspective than from man's. Whereas the Psalmist in verse 126 demands God's response, in verse 136 he, himself, responds. "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." He is so sorry for man's disobedience, He cries. (My mother-in-law has always said you can tell someone anything and they'll usually listen, as long as you have tears in your eyes. And I bet this psalmist may have talked to someone about his sinfulness since sinfulness was what moved him to tears.)
I know most of us know the Bible; we can and do quote it. But does that knowledge go beyond our head to penetrate our hearts to reach out to others who don't know God? How much effort am I putting into making the world a better place? Have I myself been crucified with Christ to the point the world sees that I no longer live but Christ lives in me? Do I shed tears of sorrow for the sinfulness of the world? Do streams of tears flow from my eyes because God's law is not obeyed? Do I, myself, obey it?
God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If MY PEOPLE, who are called by MY NAME, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." As Mollie Geralds pointed out to me a few weeks ago, "God said 'If MY PEOPLE, would humble themselves and turn.' He didn't say 'if the world would humble itself and turn.' The church is the one not doing its job. It's not the world's fault it's in the shape it's in." (I remember when I heard Chuck Miller say, "The world acts exactly the way the world should act; it serves Satan." That was a lightbulb moment for me.)
Can any of us disagree with Molly? I believe it's easier for us to tell God what HE needs to be doing, than to tell ourselves what WE need to be doing.
Which is more important to me--for me to tell God that his law is being broken, or to tell myself it's His law I need to obey?
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
There is a parallel verse that goes along with this verse we're meditating on this week, that looks at God's law being broken, more from God's perspective than from man's. Whereas the Psalmist in verse 126 demands God's response, in verse 136 he, himself, responds. "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." He is so sorry for man's disobedience, He cries. (My mother-in-law has always said you can tell someone anything and they'll usually listen, as long as you have tears in your eyes. And I bet this psalmist may have talked to someone about his sinfulness since sinfulness was what moved him to tears.)
I know most of us know the Bible; we can and do quote it. But does that knowledge go beyond our head to penetrate our hearts to reach out to others who don't know God? How much effort am I putting into making the world a better place? Have I myself been crucified with Christ to the point the world sees that I no longer live but Christ lives in me? Do I shed tears of sorrow for the sinfulness of the world? Do streams of tears flow from my eyes because God's law is not obeyed? Do I, myself, obey it?
God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If MY PEOPLE, who are called by MY NAME, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." As Mollie Geralds pointed out to me a few weeks ago, "God said 'If MY PEOPLE, would humble themselves and turn.' He didn't say 'if the world would humble itself and turn.' The church is the one not doing its job. It's not the world's fault it's in the shape it's in." (I remember when I heard Chuck Miller say, "The world acts exactly the way the world should act; it serves Satan." That was a lightbulb moment for me.)
Can any of us disagree with Molly? I believe it's easier for us to tell God what HE needs to be doing, than to tell ourselves what WE need to be doing.
Which is more important to me--for me to tell God that his law is being broken, or to tell myself it's His law I need to obey?
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
Psalm 119:126 Wednesday
It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken.” Psalm 119:126
I ask God, "God, what are you doing?" And he tells me to look at Job.
Job in all his misery, like the Psalmist in Psalm 119, cries out to God saying, “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.” Job 30:20
When I remind God it’s time for him to act, his law is being broken, it's much like Job telling God he needs an explanation for his misery. We know, because we know the rest of the story, what God was doing. Before God appears on the scene Elihu, in my opinion, speaks to Job some of the most beautiful words in the entire Bible.
“God thunders wonderfully with his voice, he does great things beyond our understanding.He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth!’ – likewise to the light rain, also to the downpour.He brings all human activity to a stop, so that everyone he has made can know it.Then the animals go into their lairs and hibernate in their dens.
“Out of its chamber comes the storm, with cold out of the north.By the breath of God, ice is given, and the wide waters freeze over.He weighs the clouds down with moisture, and they flash forth his lightning.He, by his plans, turns them around, so they do what he commands them anywhere on earth;He brings them forth on the earth sometime to punish, sometimes to express his grace.
“Listen to this, Lyov [Job]! Stop and consider God’s wonders.Do you know how God puts them in place, how he causes lightning to flash from his cloud?Do you know how he balances the clouds?These are marvels of him who knows everything!
“Out of the north comes a golden glow, fearsome majesty surrounding God.Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense, in his great righteousness does not pervert justice. excerpts from Job 37 Complete Jewish Bible
Since 09/11/01, I have used this passage, especially verse 7 -- “He brings all human activity to a stop, so that everyone he has made can know it,” -- to point out what happened when the twin towers came down. He brought all human activity to a stop, got everyone’s attention and made man look at HIM; the same usually happens in times of natural disasters; he did this to Job.
I find it very interesting that Job questioned God about Him doing nothing, while God stopped Job from doing anything, so Job could see that God was doing it all.
“In his book Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner sums up God’s speech. “God doesn’t explain. He explodes. He asks Job who he thinks he is anyway. He says that to try to explain the kind of things Job wants explained would be like trying to explain Einstein to a little-neck clam . . . . God doesn’t reveal his grand design. He reveals himself. The message behind the splendid poetry boils down to this: Until you know a little more about running the physical universe, Job, don’t tell me how to run the moral universe.
“Why are you treating me so unfairly, God?” Job has whined through the book. “Put yourself in my place.”
“No!!!” God thunders in reply. “You put yourself in my place! Until you can offer lessons on how to make the sun come up each day, or where to scatter lightning bolts, or how to design a hippopotamus, don’t judge how I run the world. Just shut up and listen.”
“If one world exists inside another world, it will only make sense from the higher world’s point of view.” Disappointment with God, page 217
I cannot, nor will I ever, understand God, his will and his ways.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8 says.
I know, like Job, when I see God's hand-I-work, that His hand-WILL-work, in His time.
I ask God, "God, what are you doing?" And he tells me to look at Job.
Job in all his misery, like the Psalmist in Psalm 119, cries out to God saying, “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.” Job 30:20
When I remind God it’s time for him to act, his law is being broken, it's much like Job telling God he needs an explanation for his misery. We know, because we know the rest of the story, what God was doing. Before God appears on the scene Elihu, in my opinion, speaks to Job some of the most beautiful words in the entire Bible.
“God thunders wonderfully with his voice, he does great things beyond our understanding.He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth!’ – likewise to the light rain, also to the downpour.He brings all human activity to a stop, so that everyone he has made can know it.Then the animals go into their lairs and hibernate in their dens.
“Out of its chamber comes the storm, with cold out of the north.By the breath of God, ice is given, and the wide waters freeze over.He weighs the clouds down with moisture, and they flash forth his lightning.He, by his plans, turns them around, so they do what he commands them anywhere on earth;He brings them forth on the earth sometime to punish, sometimes to express his grace.
“Listen to this, Lyov [Job]! Stop and consider God’s wonders.Do you know how God puts them in place, how he causes lightning to flash from his cloud?Do you know how he balances the clouds?These are marvels of him who knows everything!
“Out of the north comes a golden glow, fearsome majesty surrounding God.Shaddai, whom we cannot find, whose power is immense, in his great righteousness does not pervert justice. excerpts from Job 37 Complete Jewish Bible
Since 09/11/01, I have used this passage, especially verse 7 -- “He brings all human activity to a stop, so that everyone he has made can know it,” -- to point out what happened when the twin towers came down. He brought all human activity to a stop, got everyone’s attention and made man look at HIM; the same usually happens in times of natural disasters; he did this to Job.
I find it very interesting that Job questioned God about Him doing nothing, while God stopped Job from doing anything, so Job could see that God was doing it all.
“In his book Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner sums up God’s speech. “God doesn’t explain. He explodes. He asks Job who he thinks he is anyway. He says that to try to explain the kind of things Job wants explained would be like trying to explain Einstein to a little-neck clam . . . . God doesn’t reveal his grand design. He reveals himself. The message behind the splendid poetry boils down to this: Until you know a little more about running the physical universe, Job, don’t tell me how to run the moral universe.
“Why are you treating me so unfairly, God?” Job has whined through the book. “Put yourself in my place.”
“No!!!” God thunders in reply. “You put yourself in my place! Until you can offer lessons on how to make the sun come up each day, or where to scatter lightning bolts, or how to design a hippopotamus, don’t judge how I run the world. Just shut up and listen.”
“If one world exists inside another world, it will only make sense from the higher world’s point of view.” Disappointment with God, page 217
I cannot, nor will I ever, understand God, his will and his ways.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. Isaiah 55:8 says.
I know, like Job, when I see God's hand-I-work, that His hand-WILL-work, in His time.
Psalm 119:126 Tuesday
"It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken." Psalm 119:126
Today as I was updating the Meditations Archive, I realized I had failed to post last Friday’s meditation, which was based on Psalm 119:105, due to the technical difficulties we were experiencing at the time. Oddly enough though, what I had written then about “a lamp for my foot” answers the question I was going to ask God today – “Are you really in control?" Here is what I wrote last week:“Your word is a lamp for my foot and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
When I saw the word “foot” in the Complete Jewish Bible, I checked to see what Young’s Literal Translation said and sure enough the verse reads, “A lamp to my foot [is] Thy word, And a light to my path.” I love that, because what I believe about God’s plan and mine, is substantiated in this translation.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord purpose that prevails.” Pro. 19:21
Do I think we ought to throw caution to the wind and not make any plans? No, I don’t. But what I’ve learned over the last 54 years is that when I think I have a plan, God always shows me who’s in charge.
His word is a lamp for my foot—not feet—my foot. When I have considered this verse in the past, I have visualized myself walking down this path with both feet on the path. But when I visualized this verse today, after reading it in the original language, I saw one foot at a time, not two, going down the path. I saw one foot in the air freeze-framed at all times, with the other one on the ground. I am not determining my “walk” I am raising my foot for God to determine my walk. Where I want to go and where He wants me to go may be two entirely different places.
I can look back over my life and see where God’s plan and mine did not coincide.
I was going to be physically fit all my life; I was not by the age of 30.
I was never going to marry; I married.
I was going to be a high school English teacher for life; I taught for two years.
I was going to have three children; I had two children and a hysterectomy.
I was going to climb the corporate ladder; I became a stay-at-home mom.
I was going to speak publically for God because I hated writing; now I’m writing publically for God and not speaking.
God has proved over and over again that I do not know what will happen tomorrow. That my life is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. That I must say, “If it is the Lord’s will, I will do this or that.”
“By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Heb. 11:8
“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” Jer. 10:23
May we have the willingness it takes to lift our foot, praising God wherever it lands.
Today as I was updating the Meditations Archive, I realized I had failed to post last Friday’s meditation, which was based on Psalm 119:105, due to the technical difficulties we were experiencing at the time. Oddly enough though, what I had written then about “a lamp for my foot” answers the question I was going to ask God today – “Are you really in control?" Here is what I wrote last week:“Your word is a lamp for my foot and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
When I saw the word “foot” in the Complete Jewish Bible, I checked to see what Young’s Literal Translation said and sure enough the verse reads, “A lamp to my foot [is] Thy word, And a light to my path.” I love that, because what I believe about God’s plan and mine, is substantiated in this translation.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord purpose that prevails.” Pro. 19:21
Do I think we ought to throw caution to the wind and not make any plans? No, I don’t. But what I’ve learned over the last 54 years is that when I think I have a plan, God always shows me who’s in charge.
His word is a lamp for my foot—not feet—my foot. When I have considered this verse in the past, I have visualized myself walking down this path with both feet on the path. But when I visualized this verse today, after reading it in the original language, I saw one foot at a time, not two, going down the path. I saw one foot in the air freeze-framed at all times, with the other one on the ground. I am not determining my “walk” I am raising my foot for God to determine my walk. Where I want to go and where He wants me to go may be two entirely different places.
I can look back over my life and see where God’s plan and mine did not coincide.
I was going to be physically fit all my life; I was not by the age of 30.
I was never going to marry; I married.
I was going to be a high school English teacher for life; I taught for two years.
I was going to have three children; I had two children and a hysterectomy.
I was going to climb the corporate ladder; I became a stay-at-home mom.
I was going to speak publically for God because I hated writing; now I’m writing publically for God and not speaking.
God has proved over and over again that I do not know what will happen tomorrow. That my life is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. That I must say, “If it is the Lord’s will, I will do this or that.”
“By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Heb. 11:8
“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” Jer. 10:23
May we have the willingness it takes to lift our foot, praising God wherever it lands.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Psalm 119:126 Monday
It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken. Psalm 119:126
Last week when I decided Psalm 119 was going to be the basis for all the meditations this month, centering on GOD’S WORD, I very quickly wrote down the seven verses I thought I would choose from. One of my favorite quotes that comes from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nowen, says: “You will learn the most by listening carefully to the Word that seeks admission to your heart.” These were the seven verses that sought admission to my heart at a particular time when I needed to hear each one. (The Word of God is, indeed, alive and powerful!) But none of them spoke to me today, even though I thought one of them would; it was verse 126 that sought admission to my heart: “It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken.”
I know with soldiers being killed in a war that seems like it will never end and soldiers preparing to go into battle, being killed by one of their very own (a Major) and moms, driving drunk while high on marijuana, killing innocent children (and the list could go on and on) I, myself, have wanted to bring to God’s attention the very same thing the Psalmist did here.
Today, I want to ask God the first of several questions I'm going to ask this week, already knowing the answer. I want to remind myself, and probably you, that He does know, He does see, He does care and He is keenly aware that his law is being broken.
This is my first question:
“Can You not possibly see what’s going on right now?”
And He answers me in Isaiah 46 verses 9 through 11.
“I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
From ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
And I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
From a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
What I have planned, that will I do.”
Last week when I decided Psalm 119 was going to be the basis for all the meditations this month, centering on GOD’S WORD, I very quickly wrote down the seven verses I thought I would choose from. One of my favorite quotes that comes from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nowen, says: “You will learn the most by listening carefully to the Word that seeks admission to your heart.” These were the seven verses that sought admission to my heart at a particular time when I needed to hear each one. (The Word of God is, indeed, alive and powerful!) But none of them spoke to me today, even though I thought one of them would; it was verse 126 that sought admission to my heart: “It is time for you to act, O Lord; your law is being broken.”
I know with soldiers being killed in a war that seems like it will never end and soldiers preparing to go into battle, being killed by one of their very own (a Major) and moms, driving drunk while high on marijuana, killing innocent children (and the list could go on and on) I, myself, have wanted to bring to God’s attention the very same thing the Psalmist did here.
Today, I want to ask God the first of several questions I'm going to ask this week, already knowing the answer. I want to remind myself, and probably you, that He does know, He does see, He does care and He is keenly aware that his law is being broken.
This is my first question:
“Can You not possibly see what’s going on right now?”
And He answers me in Isaiah 46 verses 9 through 11.
“I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
From ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
And I will do all that I please.
From the east I summon a bird of prey;
From a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
What I have planned, that will I do.”
Psalm 119:105 Thursday
“Your word is a lamp for my foot and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
When I saw the word “foot” in the Complete Jewish Bible, I checked to see what Young’s Literal Translation said and sure enough the verse reads, “A lamp to my foot [is] Thy word, And a light to my path.” I love that, because what I believe about God’s plan and mine, is substantiated in this translation.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord purpose that prevails.” Pro. 19:21
Do I think we ought to throw caution to the wind and not make any plans? No, I don’t. But what I’ve learned over the last 54 years is that when I think I have the plan, God always shows me who’s in charge.
His word is a lamp for my foot—not feet—my foot. When I have considered this verse in the past, I have visualized myself walking down this path with both feet on the path. But when I visualized this verse today, after reading it in the original language, I saw one foot at a time, not two, going down the path. I saw one foot in the air freeze-framed at all times, with the other on the ground. I am not determining my “walk” I am raising my foot for God to determine my walk. Where I want to go and where He wants me to go may be two entirely different places.
I can look back over my life and see where God’s plan and mine did not coincide.
I was going to be physically fit all my life. I was not by the age of 30.
I was never going to marry. I married.
I was going to be a high school English teacher for life. I taught for two years.
I was going to have three children. I had two children and a hysterectomy.
I was going to climb the corporate ladder. I became a stay-at-home mom.
I was going to speak publically for God because I hated writing. Now I’m writing publically for God and not speaking.
God has proved over and over again that I do not know what will happen tomorrow. That my life is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. That I must say, “If it is the Lord’s will, I will do this or that.”
“By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Heb. 11:8
“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” Jer. 10:23
My we have the willingness to raise our foot, honoring God wherever it lands.
When I saw the word “foot” in the Complete Jewish Bible, I checked to see what Young’s Literal Translation said and sure enough the verse reads, “A lamp to my foot [is] Thy word, And a light to my path.” I love that, because what I believe about God’s plan and mine, is substantiated in this translation.
“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord purpose that prevails.” Pro. 19:21
Do I think we ought to throw caution to the wind and not make any plans? No, I don’t. But what I’ve learned over the last 54 years is that when I think I have the plan, God always shows me who’s in charge.
His word is a lamp for my foot—not feet—my foot. When I have considered this verse in the past, I have visualized myself walking down this path with both feet on the path. But when I visualized this verse today, after reading it in the original language, I saw one foot at a time, not two, going down the path. I saw one foot in the air freeze-framed at all times, with the other on the ground. I am not determining my “walk” I am raising my foot for God to determine my walk. Where I want to go and where He wants me to go may be two entirely different places.
I can look back over my life and see where God’s plan and mine did not coincide.
I was going to be physically fit all my life. I was not by the age of 30.
I was never going to marry. I married.
I was going to be a high school English teacher for life. I taught for two years.
I was going to have three children. I had two children and a hysterectomy.
I was going to climb the corporate ladder. I became a stay-at-home mom.
I was going to speak publically for God because I hated writing. Now I’m writing publically for God and not speaking.
God has proved over and over again that I do not know what will happen tomorrow. That my life is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. That I must say, “If it is the Lord’s will, I will do this or that.”
“By faith, Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Heb. 11:8
“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” Jer. 10:23
My we have the willingness to raise our foot, honoring God wherever it lands.
Psalm 119:105 Wednesday
“Your word is a lamp for my foot and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
In the Hebrew, the word for lamp is NIYR meaning candle, lamp, light, from the word that means to glisten.
In the Hebrew, the word for light is OWR meaning illumination or luminary. It is a diffused light such as light of day, light of the sun or sun itself.
The lamp (NIYR) is a smaller light, like a candle, that glistens. Light that is diffused (OWR) is large like the sun.
Little by little we see the step. With more and more light, we see the path.
In the Hebrew, the word for lamp is NIYR meaning candle, lamp, light, from the word that means to glisten.
In the Hebrew, the word for light is OWR meaning illumination or luminary. It is a diffused light such as light of day, light of the sun or sun itself.
The lamp (NIYR) is a smaller light, like a candle, that glistens. Light that is diffused (OWR) is large like the sun.
Little by little we see the step. With more and more light, we see the path.
Psalm 119:105 Tuesday
"Your word IS a lamp for my foot and light on my path." Psalm 119:105 CJB
When I was meditating on what I was going to say today – thoughts centering around the words Your word IS -- I remembered two pieces of paper that are priceless to me. (Laura, if you’re reading this, none of them are from you, honey. But I want you to know you hold the most priceless. Don’t ever doubt that; I have an entire folder full of things you’ve written me.) Two paper napkins with words written on them from three very special people. Tonya wrote “I was thinking of you today as I picked these, and wanted you to have some.” -- a friend picking strawberries who brought them, because she thought of me that day. And on the other napkin is mine, Bo Reh’s and Ku Reh’s names, that I asked them to write in Burmese, Karenni and English, Sunday night when we took them out to eat at Mancino’s, after Home Bible Study. [Two boys come from Burmese refugee camps to America and we take them out to eat pizza and teach them how to eat with their hands again. Somehow, something just seems wrong with this picture. Doesn’t it?] I asked them to write their name in Karenni, which is their native language, and in Burmese, which is different from Karenni. (Even though I call all my students Burmese, they come from different ethnic groups within the same country. Bo Reh and Ku Reh speak both languages. I asked them to write their names because I wanted them to see how hard their language is for me to read; they already know I can’t speak it. The meaning of a word depends on whether the ending sound goes up or down, the nouns and verbs are in different places compared to ours and every letter is written in circles, because the leaf they wrote on originally, would tear if they wrote in straight lines.) Then in the middle of our names written in Karenni and Burmese, are our names written in English; they write very readable English.
Just two napkins containing 28 words, total. And I would take nothing for either one. I’ve had Tonya’s on the refrigerator since May. Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin I’ll put on the refrigerator today and in a file folder later on so I won’t lose it.The thing that makes these two napkins so significant to me is the relationship I have with the people who wrote the words. On Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin, even though it’s only names, it’s their names. And even though it’s their names, those names belong to my students. And those students are very special people who had a very miserable life in a place they came from, but who have a significantly better life now. I’ve taken pictures of them so I’ll remember their faces. I’ve given them things like food and the basic necessities of life. We’ve gone places together. Even though we don’t speak each other’s language, we try. Tonya -- just a friend who once sat in my Bible classes who teaches classes of her own now -- Was there in the crowd when I taped my videos -- Told me she would use them for her clients suffering from depression -- Always giving me good advice from a counselor’s perspective, even though she’s a stay-at-home mom now -- Bringing me strawberries on a very bad day—leaving me a message on a napkin because she had nothing else to write on.
THE BIBLE: Book of the ages. Food for the soul. Divinely inspired. Furnishes light. A devouring flame. A crushing hammer. A life-giving force. A saving power. A penetrating sword. Written with a purpose. The standard of faith. Contains seed for the sower. Absolutely trustworthy. Profitable for instruction. Inspired by the Spirit. Worn on the hand and forehead. Written on the doorframes. Studied by rulers. Taught in the Psalms. Delight of the righteous. Effective. Enduring. Perfect. And Pure. Reverenced by people who stood when read. Left on the shelf. Never opened. Ignored.
It’s a book, not a napkin, not insignificant, not something to be thrown away. It’s meant to be read, not dusted once a week. It’s made people become martyrs because they proclaimed it. Yet it stays on the shelf waiting to be read by weak Christians.
Like Tonya and Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin, The Bible is not just words written on a page, it’s about relationships, i.e. the author’s relationship with me, and my relationship with Him. It’s about names. Knowing His name and Him knowing mine.
It’s about being a student reading his book—his love letter to me. Reading. Studying. Memorizing.
It’s about a journey that takes me from where I once lived in a miserable condition, to being saved, with a Heavenly home.
It’s about someone who knows the very hairs on my head.
It’s about someone who supplies my every need and more.
It’s about being with someone who never leaves or forsakes me.
It’s about learning to speak His language (knowing I never will but trying).
God’s will for me is to be in his Word – to sit at His feet and listen. The natural progression of learning is to read, study, and memorize and to read, study and memorize some more.
Memorization starts with reading, which means if I want to memorize it, I must start reading it. Memorization makes me familiar with His words. With memorization His words are hidden within me. I take them wherever I go. If I really do know His words and do what He says, it’s hard for me to separate myself from Him. I do what He says. I recognize His voice. His words are life-changing for me. I start hearing them all the time. I can’t hear anything else. I have to speak them to others because they’re in my mind and on my tongue. Some people love talking to me; some people don’t. I eventually have no words but His – no life but His; I have died to myself and He now lives in me. I have tried, tested and approved His will. I have come to know it as His good, pleasing and perfect will.
I have made memories with God; I have been with Him so much. My relationship with Him is so much more than reading words on a page. What starts out as just sitting at his feet changes me into His image.
Maybe........that's why Satan........tries..........to keep me........from it.
Ancient Words
Ever New
Changing Me
And changing you
We have come with open hearts
O Let the ancient words impart.
When I was meditating on what I was going to say today – thoughts centering around the words Your word IS -- I remembered two pieces of paper that are priceless to me. (Laura, if you’re reading this, none of them are from you, honey. But I want you to know you hold the most priceless. Don’t ever doubt that; I have an entire folder full of things you’ve written me.) Two paper napkins with words written on them from three very special people. Tonya wrote “I was thinking of you today as I picked these, and wanted you to have some.” -- a friend picking strawberries who brought them, because she thought of me that day. And on the other napkin is mine, Bo Reh’s and Ku Reh’s names, that I asked them to write in Burmese, Karenni and English, Sunday night when we took them out to eat at Mancino’s, after Home Bible Study. [Two boys come from Burmese refugee camps to America and we take them out to eat pizza and teach them how to eat with their hands again. Somehow, something just seems wrong with this picture. Doesn’t it?] I asked them to write their name in Karenni, which is their native language, and in Burmese, which is different from Karenni. (Even though I call all my students Burmese, they come from different ethnic groups within the same country. Bo Reh and Ku Reh speak both languages. I asked them to write their names because I wanted them to see how hard their language is for me to read; they already know I can’t speak it. The meaning of a word depends on whether the ending sound goes up or down, the nouns and verbs are in different places compared to ours and every letter is written in circles, because the leaf they wrote on originally, would tear if they wrote in straight lines.) Then in the middle of our names written in Karenni and Burmese, are our names written in English; they write very readable English.
Just two napkins containing 28 words, total. And I would take nothing for either one. I’ve had Tonya’s on the refrigerator since May. Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin I’ll put on the refrigerator today and in a file folder later on so I won’t lose it.The thing that makes these two napkins so significant to me is the relationship I have with the people who wrote the words. On Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin, even though it’s only names, it’s their names. And even though it’s their names, those names belong to my students. And those students are very special people who had a very miserable life in a place they came from, but who have a significantly better life now. I’ve taken pictures of them so I’ll remember their faces. I’ve given them things like food and the basic necessities of life. We’ve gone places together. Even though we don’t speak each other’s language, we try. Tonya -- just a friend who once sat in my Bible classes who teaches classes of her own now -- Was there in the crowd when I taped my videos -- Told me she would use them for her clients suffering from depression -- Always giving me good advice from a counselor’s perspective, even though she’s a stay-at-home mom now -- Bringing me strawberries on a very bad day—leaving me a message on a napkin because she had nothing else to write on.
THE BIBLE: Book of the ages. Food for the soul. Divinely inspired. Furnishes light. A devouring flame. A crushing hammer. A life-giving force. A saving power. A penetrating sword. Written with a purpose. The standard of faith. Contains seed for the sower. Absolutely trustworthy. Profitable for instruction. Inspired by the Spirit. Worn on the hand and forehead. Written on the doorframes. Studied by rulers. Taught in the Psalms. Delight of the righteous. Effective. Enduring. Perfect. And Pure. Reverenced by people who stood when read. Left on the shelf. Never opened. Ignored.
It’s a book, not a napkin, not insignificant, not something to be thrown away. It’s meant to be read, not dusted once a week. It’s made people become martyrs because they proclaimed it. Yet it stays on the shelf waiting to be read by weak Christians.
Like Tonya and Bo Reh and Ku Reh’s napkin, The Bible is not just words written on a page, it’s about relationships, i.e. the author’s relationship with me, and my relationship with Him. It’s about names. Knowing His name and Him knowing mine.
It’s about being a student reading his book—his love letter to me. Reading. Studying. Memorizing.
It’s about a journey that takes me from where I once lived in a miserable condition, to being saved, with a Heavenly home.
It’s about someone who knows the very hairs on my head.
It’s about someone who supplies my every need and more.
It’s about being with someone who never leaves or forsakes me.
It’s about learning to speak His language (knowing I never will but trying).
God’s will for me is to be in his Word – to sit at His feet and listen. The natural progression of learning is to read, study, and memorize and to read, study and memorize some more.
Memorization starts with reading, which means if I want to memorize it, I must start reading it. Memorization makes me familiar with His words. With memorization His words are hidden within me. I take them wherever I go. If I really do know His words and do what He says, it’s hard for me to separate myself from Him. I do what He says. I recognize His voice. His words are life-changing for me. I start hearing them all the time. I can’t hear anything else. I have to speak them to others because they’re in my mind and on my tongue. Some people love talking to me; some people don’t. I eventually have no words but His – no life but His; I have died to myself and He now lives in me. I have tried, tested and approved His will. I have come to know it as His good, pleasing and perfect will.
I have made memories with God; I have been with Him so much. My relationship with Him is so much more than reading words on a page. What starts out as just sitting at his feet changes me into His image.
Maybe........that's why Satan........tries..........to keep me........from it.
Ancient Words
Ever New
Changing Me
And changing you
We have come with open hearts
O Let the ancient words impart.
Psalm 119:105 Monday
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path,” is the familiar way we normally say Psalm 119:105, which is taken from the NIV. But for this week, I want us to meditate on the Complete Jewish Bible's translation.“Your word is a lamp for my foot and light on my path.”
Psalm 119:105 According to the Hebrew, this is the more accurate translation. By the end of the week, I hope you understand why and that it’s the version you’ll always remember, whether you quote it that way or not.
In September we meditated on God and who He is. In October we meditated on who we are as a result of who God is and how we should respond. This month I want us to meditate on the Word of God, specifically as depicted in Psalm 119. I wish I knew who wrote this beautiful, incredible chapter, so I could give him credit for writing it. Even though Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, I want us to read it in its entirety at least once a week for the next four weeks – more often if possible.
Today's words are Your word. A quote I read years ago, but have never forgotten--simple yet profound--states the message I want to convey.
"THE WORD became flesh to become words again." Think about it.
Psalm 119:105 According to the Hebrew, this is the more accurate translation. By the end of the week, I hope you understand why and that it’s the version you’ll always remember, whether you quote it that way or not.
In September we meditated on God and who He is. In October we meditated on who we are as a result of who God is and how we should respond. This month I want us to meditate on the Word of God, specifically as depicted in Psalm 119. I wish I knew who wrote this beautiful, incredible chapter, so I could give him credit for writing it. Even though Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, I want us to read it in its entirety at least once a week for the next four weeks – more often if possible.
Today's words are Your word. A quote I read years ago, but have never forgotten--simple yet profound--states the message I want to convey.
"THE WORD became flesh to become words again." Think about it.
With Gratitude in Your Hearts to God
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16
I’ve kept a gratitude journal off-and-on since 1997. When I saw Sarah Ban Breathnach on the Oprah Show I was amazed that something like a gratitude journal could become a best seller on the New York Times bestselling list. But it did. There must be something to this gratitude thing, I thought.
On March 14, and 15, 1997 the church in Jackson, Tennessee asked me to speak at a ladies’ retreat. The theme for the week-end was gratitude. The ladies had planned that each woman would receive a gratitude journal with a message inside written by her husband. Somehow, without me even knowing it, Phil dedicated one to me and they surprised me with it on Friday night. I was floored, not expecting one at all. Even though I was not faithful keeping it at first, I have been faithful to write in one for the last six years. I write down five things I’m thankful for, for that day, every night.
It’s very revealing to look back over these journals and see exactly what happened each year – every year telling a different story—what we went through—my attitude toward it. I thought, for this meditation, I needed to go back, the last four years in a row, to see what I was grateful for July 28 through August 2. Notice the dates; they will tell the story.
2006
July 28– Going to the lake with Ruth and Larson, Rest, Relaxing, Time with Ruth to talk, Friends, Honesty
July 30 – I was born 51 years ago, Prayers, Burdens lifted
2007
July 28, – Dot (my mother-in-law) is 82 today, Playing pool with Clinton and Laura, doing something you’re bad at but having a good time, A new swim suit for Destin, Amazon approved me today
July 30 – Phil went to Dr. Phillips, Phil went to Dr. Gaba, Phil went to the hospital, I am 52 today, I have a husband today who thinks the world of me. And then I add in the margin: hope of better days to come, Friends singing “Happy Birthday” to me in Phil’s hospital room.
At the end of each month there is a blank page where you can write to summarize the month. This is what I wrote for July of 2007.
The world has stopped right now and is only centering around what really matters. Phil is having open heart surgery tomorrow and I know it’s a win/win situation for him and changes are in store for all of us. There will be much suffering and hard, hard days but God will get us through. I have prayed for him to slow down and not be so busy and now God has “made him lie down” to look more closely at the green pastures. I prayed for this and God answered…not the heart attack but the result. He has been my rock for 32+ years and now I can be his. Thank-you God I have a son who would die for him and who will help me get through this with Phil. They both broke down today and I did not. Clinton came, went back and will come again tonight. Phil and I are blessed with closeness of family and friends. This too will pass and we’ll be better.
August 1– Peace in the storm, saying what matters, time alone on a little bed, knowing God is in control, knowing God.
August 2 – Dr. Carter and Dr. Moore, A very skilled surgeon, Waking up, Great nurses, Modern medicine, Hearing the words “It was a success.”
2008
July 28 – 1st anniversary of Phil’s heart attack, Curd Thomas went home, Laura called, Went to movie with Deborah & Leah, Have been to see Mama Mia 3 times, Just a normal day, Phil said “Life is short. God got it right when he said ‘life is a vapor.’”
July 30 – My 53rd birthday. Nashville with David, Kelly and Bella, John Deeb bought our supper, Free facial and hand cream; Made it to Dr. Crevar’s after quick shower and make-up. (And that’s something to be grateful for, for me.)
On the blank page after the month of July, 2008 I wrote, “This has been one of the most stressful months in our married life.” (In a period of 18 months we had had five hospitalizations, two house payments, a heart attack, a triple by-pass, and a wedding.)
August 2 – Bella said Nanna 3 times this a.m. at Bob Evans—first time; supper at O’Charley’s with Ruth and Larson; Ruth gave me a linen outfit; Watching the Bucket List with Ruth and Larson; Bistro chicken at O’Charley’s; Phil’s heart surgery was 1 year ago today—(a day so different from last year’s.) Thank-you God he’s here.
2009
July 27 – Planned Angie’s funeral. (Angie was a thirty year old girl who attended our church who came to my Bible classes and had many health problems, to say the least. She had had 4 back surgeries in 4 years, had sugar diabetes, HBP, asthma, an enlarged heart, balance problems because she was deaf in one ear, Crohn’s disease, and had just found out she had glaucoma. Angie lived alone, so when we found her, the coroner said she had been dead at least 10 days, before my husband, a friend of mine and I found her.) I asked if I could speak at her funeral. Her mother said yes.
July 28 – Angie’s funeral; Great funeral – 1 hour long; I spoke; Did well; So did Karen and Russ; 100 or so at funeral (realistically, maybe 50); Laura (my daughter) was there.
July 30 – My birthday; Owensboro with Ruth and Larson; Saw Marilyn; Courage to walk out of a movie; Ate at Olive Garden; Ruth bought me a purse.
What do I see when I look back over the last four years? What do I see written within the pages of my gratitude journals?
I see good times and bad—sometimes in the same day. This is what I wrote on the day I found Angie. Walked at Parks & Rec. with Ruth at 10:00; had lunch at Ichabon with Phil, Ruth and Larson at 12:00; we all went to see the movie (The Proposal) at 2:40; grilled steaks at the lake at 6:00; took boat ride at sunset; found Angie dead at midnight. One of the best days of my life ended in sorrow.
I see relationships with family (Phil, David, Kelly, Bella, Laura and Clinton).
I see good times with friends, especially Ruth and Larson.
I see heartache and pain, with sickness, heart attacks and hospitalizations.
I see celebrations of joy in birthdays -- my birthdays – knowing they come, but never knowing what to expect.
I see supper at Cracker Barrel with friends and breakfast at Bob Evans with family.
I see times of strength and times of weakness.
There were times I thought it couldn’t get any worse and it did. There were times I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel but it came.
My sisters, gratitude is an attitude. It is not something that comes out of good fortune or fame, feeling good or “having the world by the tail.” In 1997 when Phil wrote in my first journal I had no idea what the future held. But, I did know who held the future, even though I had no idea the heartache it would bring. I have chosen to be grateful.
In 2006 on the inside cover of my new gratitude journal I wrote, “Last year was one of the worst---May this year be one of the best.” And it wasn’t. 2007 was the year of Phil’s heart attack. On the blank page after July of 2008 I wrote, “This has been one of the most stressful months in our married life. ….. We could not have written a script that would have been any worse.” But God could and He did. From May 19 to June 9, 2009 our daughter Laura was hospitalized. Those of you who were in the Titus 2 Group then, know what we went through. It was the darkest days of our family’s life.
Why do I present such a bleak picture? To let you know I kept, and keep, a gratitude journal in the midst of turmoil and pain. As a matter of fact, the gratitude journal gets me through the pain. When Phil had his heart attack and our house wouldn’t sell and Laura was hospitalized for 21 days, knowing every day I had to come up with 5 things to be grateful for, caused me to be grateful. I looked for those five things.
James tells us to "consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds, because the testing of our faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. But if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” I believe the wisdom James is talking about here, comes from us asking God how to deal with the trials were having, that tests our faith. I believe if we ask him for wisdom (wisdom: the right use of knowledge) he will give it. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16 to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, which is what God gives us, if we ask, when we have trials. Then he says “as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” which we cannot do WITHOUT GRATITUDE IN OUR HEARTS TO GOD.
On August 1, 2007, gratitude is what enabled me to write, “The world has stopped right now and is only centering around what really matters. Phil is having open heart surgery tomorrow and I know it’s a win/win situation for him and changes are in store for all of us. There will be much suffering and hard, hard, days but God will get us through.”
This is what Phil wrote in my journal back in 1997.
Dear Teresa,
I knew that the other wives were getting a message from their husbands and I didn’t want you to feel left out. I know that you will do a good job on the lessons that you have prepared. I hope that it will be a spiritual experience for the women that you teach. I believe that God will speak through you to touch many lives this weekend.
Love,Phil
Ladies, I have sat for years at Jesus’ feet, listening to his words, pondering, growing, meditating. I am amazed at how comforting his words can be. Only by listening to his voice have I been able to sing when sadness prevailed. Only then could I have gratitude in my heart.
I’ve kept a gratitude journal off-and-on since 1997. When I saw Sarah Ban Breathnach on the Oprah Show I was amazed that something like a gratitude journal could become a best seller on the New York Times bestselling list. But it did. There must be something to this gratitude thing, I thought.
On March 14, and 15, 1997 the church in Jackson, Tennessee asked me to speak at a ladies’ retreat. The theme for the week-end was gratitude. The ladies had planned that each woman would receive a gratitude journal with a message inside written by her husband. Somehow, without me even knowing it, Phil dedicated one to me and they surprised me with it on Friday night. I was floored, not expecting one at all. Even though I was not faithful keeping it at first, I have been faithful to write in one for the last six years. I write down five things I’m thankful for, for that day, every night.
It’s very revealing to look back over these journals and see exactly what happened each year – every year telling a different story—what we went through—my attitude toward it. I thought, for this meditation, I needed to go back, the last four years in a row, to see what I was grateful for July 28 through August 2. Notice the dates; they will tell the story.
2006
July 28– Going to the lake with Ruth and Larson, Rest, Relaxing, Time with Ruth to talk, Friends, Honesty
July 30 – I was born 51 years ago, Prayers, Burdens lifted
2007
July 28, – Dot (my mother-in-law) is 82 today, Playing pool with Clinton and Laura, doing something you’re bad at but having a good time, A new swim suit for Destin, Amazon approved me today
July 30 – Phil went to Dr. Phillips, Phil went to Dr. Gaba, Phil went to the hospital, I am 52 today, I have a husband today who thinks the world of me. And then I add in the margin: hope of better days to come, Friends singing “Happy Birthday” to me in Phil’s hospital room.
At the end of each month there is a blank page where you can write to summarize the month. This is what I wrote for July of 2007.
The world has stopped right now and is only centering around what really matters. Phil is having open heart surgery tomorrow and I know it’s a win/win situation for him and changes are in store for all of us. There will be much suffering and hard, hard days but God will get us through. I have prayed for him to slow down and not be so busy and now God has “made him lie down” to look more closely at the green pastures. I prayed for this and God answered…not the heart attack but the result. He has been my rock for 32+ years and now I can be his. Thank-you God I have a son who would die for him and who will help me get through this with Phil. They both broke down today and I did not. Clinton came, went back and will come again tonight. Phil and I are blessed with closeness of family and friends. This too will pass and we’ll be better.
August 1– Peace in the storm, saying what matters, time alone on a little bed, knowing God is in control, knowing God.
August 2 – Dr. Carter and Dr. Moore, A very skilled surgeon, Waking up, Great nurses, Modern medicine, Hearing the words “It was a success.”
2008
July 28 – 1st anniversary of Phil’s heart attack, Curd Thomas went home, Laura called, Went to movie with Deborah & Leah, Have been to see Mama Mia 3 times, Just a normal day, Phil said “Life is short. God got it right when he said ‘life is a vapor.’”
July 30 – My 53rd birthday. Nashville with David, Kelly and Bella, John Deeb bought our supper, Free facial and hand cream; Made it to Dr. Crevar’s after quick shower and make-up. (And that’s something to be grateful for, for me.)
On the blank page after the month of July, 2008 I wrote, “This has been one of the most stressful months in our married life.” (In a period of 18 months we had had five hospitalizations, two house payments, a heart attack, a triple by-pass, and a wedding.)
August 2 – Bella said Nanna 3 times this a.m. at Bob Evans—first time; supper at O’Charley’s with Ruth and Larson; Ruth gave me a linen outfit; Watching the Bucket List with Ruth and Larson; Bistro chicken at O’Charley’s; Phil’s heart surgery was 1 year ago today—(a day so different from last year’s.) Thank-you God he’s here.
2009
July 27 – Planned Angie’s funeral. (Angie was a thirty year old girl who attended our church who came to my Bible classes and had many health problems, to say the least. She had had 4 back surgeries in 4 years, had sugar diabetes, HBP, asthma, an enlarged heart, balance problems because she was deaf in one ear, Crohn’s disease, and had just found out she had glaucoma. Angie lived alone, so when we found her, the coroner said she had been dead at least 10 days, before my husband, a friend of mine and I found her.) I asked if I could speak at her funeral. Her mother said yes.
July 28 – Angie’s funeral; Great funeral – 1 hour long; I spoke; Did well; So did Karen and Russ; 100 or so at funeral (realistically, maybe 50); Laura (my daughter) was there.
July 30 – My birthday; Owensboro with Ruth and Larson; Saw Marilyn; Courage to walk out of a movie; Ate at Olive Garden; Ruth bought me a purse.
What do I see when I look back over the last four years? What do I see written within the pages of my gratitude journals?
I see good times and bad—sometimes in the same day. This is what I wrote on the day I found Angie. Walked at Parks & Rec. with Ruth at 10:00; had lunch at Ichabon with Phil, Ruth and Larson at 12:00; we all went to see the movie (The Proposal) at 2:40; grilled steaks at the lake at 6:00; took boat ride at sunset; found Angie dead at midnight. One of the best days of my life ended in sorrow.
I see relationships with family (Phil, David, Kelly, Bella, Laura and Clinton).
I see good times with friends, especially Ruth and Larson.
I see heartache and pain, with sickness, heart attacks and hospitalizations.
I see celebrations of joy in birthdays -- my birthdays – knowing they come, but never knowing what to expect.
I see supper at Cracker Barrel with friends and breakfast at Bob Evans with family.
I see times of strength and times of weakness.
There were times I thought it couldn’t get any worse and it did. There were times I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel but it came.
My sisters, gratitude is an attitude. It is not something that comes out of good fortune or fame, feeling good or “having the world by the tail.” In 1997 when Phil wrote in my first journal I had no idea what the future held. But, I did know who held the future, even though I had no idea the heartache it would bring. I have chosen to be grateful.
In 2006 on the inside cover of my new gratitude journal I wrote, “Last year was one of the worst---May this year be one of the best.” And it wasn’t. 2007 was the year of Phil’s heart attack. On the blank page after July of 2008 I wrote, “This has been one of the most stressful months in our married life. ….. We could not have written a script that would have been any worse.” But God could and He did. From May 19 to June 9, 2009 our daughter Laura was hospitalized. Those of you who were in the Titus 2 Group then, know what we went through. It was the darkest days of our family’s life.
Why do I present such a bleak picture? To let you know I kept, and keep, a gratitude journal in the midst of turmoil and pain. As a matter of fact, the gratitude journal gets me through the pain. When Phil had his heart attack and our house wouldn’t sell and Laura was hospitalized for 21 days, knowing every day I had to come up with 5 things to be grateful for, caused me to be grateful. I looked for those five things.
James tells us to "consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds, because the testing of our faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. But if any of us lacks wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” I believe the wisdom James is talking about here, comes from us asking God how to deal with the trials were having, that tests our faith. I believe if we ask him for wisdom (wisdom: the right use of knowledge) he will give it. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16 to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly, as we teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, which is what God gives us, if we ask, when we have trials. Then he says “as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” which we cannot do WITHOUT GRATITUDE IN OUR HEARTS TO GOD.
On August 1, 2007, gratitude is what enabled me to write, “The world has stopped right now and is only centering around what really matters. Phil is having open heart surgery tomorrow and I know it’s a win/win situation for him and changes are in store for all of us. There will be much suffering and hard, hard, days but God will get us through.”
This is what Phil wrote in my journal back in 1997.
Dear Teresa,
I knew that the other wives were getting a message from their husbands and I didn’t want you to feel left out. I know that you will do a good job on the lessons that you have prepared. I hope that it will be a spiritual experience for the women that you teach. I believe that God will speak through you to touch many lives this weekend.
Love,Phil
Ladies, I have sat for years at Jesus’ feet, listening to his words, pondering, growing, meditating. I am amazed at how comforting his words can be. Only by listening to his voice have I been able to sing when sadness prevailed. Only then could I have gratitude in my heart.
Colossians 3:16 Wednesday
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16
On Monday, Kristen Bridgman wrote a blog, before she even knew what the question of the week was going to be, called The Old Hymns. I asked her if I could use it for today's (Thurs.'s) meditation since the words for today are, "as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." I think you'll understand after reading it, why I asked her if I could. In the same message where I asked her permission, I also asked her forgiveness because if she hadn't gotten back with me, I was going to use it anyway. :)
During a difficult period in my life, my aunt, gifted in music, encouraged me to read the words of the old hymns and take comfort in them. This turned out to be wonderful advice.
I love the praise and worship music sung in the churches today but they are not quite like the old hymns. The words are deep and meaningful and you can witness this by scanning the church during a hymn and more than likely you will spot an older woman with tears streaming down her face because the words speak to her, she is identifying with the truth behind those words. I have come to be one of those women now. Here are just a few of the sacred ones:
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow, like sea billow roll; whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word; just to rest upon His promise; just to know thus saith the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!”
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living, JUST because He lives.”
I am so thankful for God inspiring the hearts of these hymn writers hundreds of years ago and that they stood the test of time just like His Word. They have given me strength, have lifted my spirits, and helped me to go at those times when I just wanted to crawl under the covers and not get up.There is such power in singing the hymns and we see this with Paul. He was nearly stoned to death, three times beaten with rods, received 195 lashes from the Jews, and bloodily beaten in the Philippian jail. After all this he endured, he sits in jail and we read this about him:
“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
We know what transpired next because of this hymn singing. Not only were they ministering to the neighboring prisoners, but a great earthquake shook so that their chains were broken and the prison doors flew open. The jailer and his family were all saved and baptized that night and they were all filled with joy! Wow!!!
Amazing grace, we believers have it. We may not always feel it but we can reach down inside of ourselves for it by belting out one of these beloved hymns. You don’t have to feel it to praise, just do it! There is power in praise and in these old words.
From Stream in the Desert,
Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore, when darts of the Tempter are flying, for Satan still dreads, as he oft did before, Our singing much more than our crying.”
I believe in a good, cleansing cry every now and then. But let’s also remember to raise our voices with the wonderful words of the old hymns. Really pay attention to what is being said. It not only will lift your spirits, give you courage, and please the Lord but will send the ol’ devil fleeing. It’s worth it just for that!
Remember, Jesus Paid it All, At the Cross, The Old Rugged Cross. We have been Washed in the Blood and can now say I am Thine, O Lord, I am Thine O Lord. We are leaning on the Everlasting Arms and Bringing in the Sheaves. We believers can gather together and sing, When We All Get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
“God be with you till we meet again! By His counsels guide, uphold you, with His sheep securely fold you; God be with you till we meet again!
Are you humming yet?
On Monday, Kristen Bridgman wrote a blog, before she even knew what the question of the week was going to be, called The Old Hymns. I asked her if I could use it for today's (Thurs.'s) meditation since the words for today are, "as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." I think you'll understand after reading it, why I asked her if I could. In the same message where I asked her permission, I also asked her forgiveness because if she hadn't gotten back with me, I was going to use it anyway. :)
During a difficult period in my life, my aunt, gifted in music, encouraged me to read the words of the old hymns and take comfort in them. This turned out to be wonderful advice.
I love the praise and worship music sung in the churches today but they are not quite like the old hymns. The words are deep and meaningful and you can witness this by scanning the church during a hymn and more than likely you will spot an older woman with tears streaming down her face because the words speak to her, she is identifying with the truth behind those words. I have come to be one of those women now. Here are just a few of the sacred ones:
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrow, like sea billow roll; whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word; just to rest upon His promise; just to know thus saith the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!”
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone, because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living, JUST because He lives.”
I am so thankful for God inspiring the hearts of these hymn writers hundreds of years ago and that they stood the test of time just like His Word. They have given me strength, have lifted my spirits, and helped me to go at those times when I just wanted to crawl under the covers and not get up.There is such power in singing the hymns and we see this with Paul. He was nearly stoned to death, three times beaten with rods, received 195 lashes from the Jews, and bloodily beaten in the Philippian jail. After all this he endured, he sits in jail and we read this about him:
“About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Acts 16:25
We know what transpired next because of this hymn singing. Not only were they ministering to the neighboring prisoners, but a great earthquake shook so that their chains were broken and the prison doors flew open. The jailer and his family were all saved and baptized that night and they were all filled with joy! Wow!!!
Amazing grace, we believers have it. We may not always feel it but we can reach down inside of ourselves for it by belting out one of these beloved hymns. You don’t have to feel it to praise, just do it! There is power in praise and in these old words.
From Stream in the Desert,
Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore, when darts of the Tempter are flying, for Satan still dreads, as he oft did before, Our singing much more than our crying.”
I believe in a good, cleansing cry every now and then. But let’s also remember to raise our voices with the wonderful words of the old hymns. Really pay attention to what is being said. It not only will lift your spirits, give you courage, and please the Lord but will send the ol’ devil fleeing. It’s worth it just for that!
Remember, Jesus Paid it All, At the Cross, The Old Rugged Cross. We have been Washed in the Blood and can now say I am Thine, O Lord, I am Thine O Lord. We are leaning on the Everlasting Arms and Bringing in the Sheaves. We believers can gather together and sing, When We All Get to Heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.
“God be with you till we meet again! By His counsels guide, uphold you, with His sheep securely fold you; God be with you till we meet again!
Are you humming yet?
Colossians 3:16 Tuesday
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16
A few years ago I was attempting to get the last piece of a frozen fruit salad out of a 13 x 9 x 2 pan as my husband was wrapping up watching the Jay Leno Show, taking off his shoes, and heading to bed. Little did he know at 2:00 a.m. we’d be heading to Kutz and Klinart to repair a severed artery. (It’s a really gross story that involves a five inch blade going through the palm of my left hand, coming out on the other side. Just ask my daughter what the kitchen looked like when she had to clean it up. The triage nurse had to change his scrubs when he examined me.) You should have been there. Anyway, I severed an artery because I mishandled a knife and used it in a way it was never intended.
Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” The word for “correctly handles” here is the word orthotomeo which means “to cut straight.” The reason I went to Kutz and Klinart in Louisville to have my hand surgery is because it is a world-renowned hand clinic, known for its doctors who do impeccable work involving instruments that require exact precision, i.e. scalpels—scalpels that have to “cut straight” to keep from doing more damage; I did not cut straight. Likewise, when we use the word of God as a weapon, we do damage God never intended. We cut like a chainsaw that has a jagged path, that does not lead in any direction.
My sisters, how many arteries have we severed, how many people have we injured, how much damage have we done because someone's mishandled the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God? How many battles are going on right now within the “brotherhood” over who’s right and who’s wrong, what should we do and what we shouldn't? How can we possibly think we can sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God when we can't get along with each other?
I trust that you know the word of God. I trust that it dwells in you richly. I trust that you know for yourself what you believe and why you believe it. Or better yet, I trust you know the One in Whom you believe.
My sisters, if I were to ask you the question, “Do you know that you know that you know that you know?” I trust you could answer with conviction, you do. Could you?
I want us to note once again Matthew Henry's words I quoted yesterday, especially because of the word doctor which, ironically, goes along with today's illustration. "The proper office of wisdom is to apply what we know to ourselves, for our own direction. The word of Christ must dwell in us, not in all notion and speculation, to make us doctors, but in all wisdom, to make us good Christians, and enable us to conduct ourselves in every thing as becomes Wisdom’s children."
A few years ago I was attempting to get the last piece of a frozen fruit salad out of a 13 x 9 x 2 pan as my husband was wrapping up watching the Jay Leno Show, taking off his shoes, and heading to bed. Little did he know at 2:00 a.m. we’d be heading to Kutz and Klinart to repair a severed artery. (It’s a really gross story that involves a five inch blade going through the palm of my left hand, coming out on the other side. Just ask my daughter what the kitchen looked like when she had to clean it up. The triage nurse had to change his scrubs when he examined me.) You should have been there. Anyway, I severed an artery because I mishandled a knife and used it in a way it was never intended.
Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” The word for “correctly handles” here is the word orthotomeo which means “to cut straight.” The reason I went to Kutz and Klinart in Louisville to have my hand surgery is because it is a world-renowned hand clinic, known for its doctors who do impeccable work involving instruments that require exact precision, i.e. scalpels—scalpels that have to “cut straight” to keep from doing more damage; I did not cut straight. Likewise, when we use the word of God as a weapon, we do damage God never intended. We cut like a chainsaw that has a jagged path, that does not lead in any direction.
My sisters, how many arteries have we severed, how many people have we injured, how much damage have we done because someone's mishandled the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God? How many battles are going on right now within the “brotherhood” over who’s right and who’s wrong, what should we do and what we shouldn't? How can we possibly think we can sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God when we can't get along with each other?
I trust that you know the word of God. I trust that it dwells in you richly. I trust that you know for yourself what you believe and why you believe it. Or better yet, I trust you know the One in Whom you believe.
My sisters, if I were to ask you the question, “Do you know that you know that you know that you know?” I trust you could answer with conviction, you do. Could you?
I want us to note once again Matthew Henry's words I quoted yesterday, especially because of the word doctor which, ironically, goes along with today's illustration. "The proper office of wisdom is to apply what we know to ourselves, for our own direction. The word of Christ must dwell in us, not in all notion and speculation, to make us doctors, but in all wisdom, to make us good Christians, and enable us to conduct ourselves in every thing as becomes Wisdom’s children."
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Colossians 3:16 Monday
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, and hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16
WOW! What a verse! I love this verse!
I want to introduce a Bible study "tool" I use, usually to get the Greek meaning of a word or to get someone else's interpretation of a word or verse. I have to go somehere else when my thoughts are scattered, usually because I'm so attached to the verse, and I need more focus. Where I go is called the Blue Letter Bible. It can be found online at http://www.blueletterbible.org.
Matthew Henry, minister of the gospel in Chester, England who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries wrote the following words about, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." (He is one of the commentary authors I usually go to.) I'm sure what I would have written today, had I been writing my own thoughts, would not have compared to what he wrote back in the 1600's. I hope it impresses you as much as it did me.
I'm so sorry this is late, but I wanted you to get the letter I sent you today, that you should have gotten via email.
"The gospel is the word of Christ, which has come to us; but that is not enough, it must dwell in us, or keep house—enoikeitoµ, not as a servant in a family, who is under another’s control, but as a master, who has a right to prescribe to and direct all under his roof. We must take our instructions and directions from it, and our portion of meat and strength, of grace and comfort, in due season, as from the master of the household. It must dwell in us; that is, be always ready and at hand to us in every thing, and have its due influence and use. We must be familiarly acquainted with it, and know it for our good, Job 5:27. It must dwell in us richly: not only keep house in our hearts, but keep a good house. Many have the word of Christ dwelling in them, but it dwells in them but poorly; it has no mighty force and influence upon them. Then the soul prospers when the word of God dwells in us richly, when we have abundance of it in us, and are full of the scriptures and of the grace of Christ. And this in all wisdom. The proper office of wisdom is to apply what we know to ourselves, for our own direction. The word of Christ must dwell in us, not in all notion and speculation, to make us doctors, but in all wisdom, to make us good Christians, and enable us to conduct ourselves in every thing as becomes Wisdom’s children."
Don't you love that? I couldn't have said it better.
WOW! What a verse! I love this verse!
I want to introduce a Bible study "tool" I use, usually to get the Greek meaning of a word or to get someone else's interpretation of a word or verse. I have to go somehere else when my thoughts are scattered, usually because I'm so attached to the verse, and I need more focus. Where I go is called the Blue Letter Bible. It can be found online at http://www.blueletterbible.org.
Matthew Henry, minister of the gospel in Chester, England who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries wrote the following words about, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." (He is one of the commentary authors I usually go to.) I'm sure what I would have written today, had I been writing my own thoughts, would not have compared to what he wrote back in the 1600's. I hope it impresses you as much as it did me.
I'm so sorry this is late, but I wanted you to get the letter I sent you today, that you should have gotten via email.
"The gospel is the word of Christ, which has come to us; but that is not enough, it must dwell in us, or keep house—enoikeitoµ, not as a servant in a family, who is under another’s control, but as a master, who has a right to prescribe to and direct all under his roof. We must take our instructions and directions from it, and our portion of meat and strength, of grace and comfort, in due season, as from the master of the household. It must dwell in us; that is, be always ready and at hand to us in every thing, and have its due influence and use. We must be familiarly acquainted with it, and know it for our good, Job 5:27. It must dwell in us richly: not only keep house in our hearts, but keep a good house. Many have the word of Christ dwelling in them, but it dwells in them but poorly; it has no mighty force and influence upon them. Then the soul prospers when the word of God dwells in us richly, when we have abundance of it in us, and are full of the scriptures and of the grace of Christ. And this in all wisdom. The proper office of wisdom is to apply what we know to ourselves, for our own direction. The word of Christ must dwell in us, not in all notion and speculation, to make us doctors, but in all wisdom, to make us good Christians, and enable us to conduct ourselves in every thing as becomes Wisdom’s children."
Don't you love that? I couldn't have said it better.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Heb. 12, 2, 3 Thursday
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2, 3
I am the one who opposed him. I am the sinful man. I am the one who caused him to endure the cross. Yet, it is through fixing my eyes on whom I killed, that I am kept from growing weary and losing heart. Amazing, amazing grace--how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I am the one who opposed him. I am the sinful man. I am the one who caused him to endure the cross. Yet, it is through fixing my eyes on whom I killed, that I am kept from growing weary and losing heart. Amazing, amazing grace--how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
Heb. 12, 2, 3 Wednesday
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12:2,3
Jesus never did anything out of selfish ambition. The joy set before him was not Heaven; it was the salvation of my soul. I know how my granddaughter's face looked when she asked, "Mammie, will you come home wiff me?" last night and I said, "No." I can't imagine how Jesus' face must look when I say "No" to him.
Jesus never did anything out of selfish ambition. The joy set before him was not Heaven; it was the salvation of my soul. I know how my granddaughter's face looked when she asked, "Mammie, will you come home wiff me?" last night and I said, "No." I can't imagine how Jesus' face must look when I say "No" to him.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Heb. 12:2, 3 Tuesday
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross,
Today, I want us to look at two translations: Young’s literal translation and Alfred Marshall’s Interlinear translation of Hebrews 12:2.
“looking to the author and pefecter of faith – Jesus, who, over-against the joy set before him – did endure a cross, shame having despised, on the right hand also of the throne of God did sit down;” Young’s
“looking away to the of the faith author and finisher Jesus, who against the set before him joy endured a cross shame despising at [the]right [hand] and of the throne of God has taken [his] seat.” Marshall’s
I love looking at literal translations because I can more clearly see the meaning of the words in the Greek.
Here are the definitions of the words fix, author and perfecter from the Greek.
FIX -- apharoa -- To turn the eyes away from and fix them on something. BlueLetterBible.org. In the original Greek, it is not the word fix it is the word fixing, which makes it ongoing. Fix means “to turn the eyes away from something in order to fix them onto something else.” In order to fix our eyes on Jesus, we must turn them away from the world. We don’t just fix our eyes on Jesus for awhile and then go back to looking at the world; we are crucified with Jesus—dead to the world. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20
AUTHOR – archegos -- “beginning or rule; to lead. Originator, founder, leader, chief, first, prince as distinguished from simply being the cause. One may be the cause of something but not the beginning.” Arche like archegos denotes the founder as the first cause, ruler, dispenser; e.g., Jesus Christ is called the archegos of life (Acts 3:15) because He is the arche, the beginning or the originator of God’s creation (Rev. 3:14). This excludes him from himself being a product of that beginning. Jesus Christ is called archegos, the originator of faith in Heb. 12:2. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary) There is a sentence, here, that’s extremely important; Jesus is “the originator of faith.” The original Greek leaves out the word our in “the author and pefecter of our faith” which is in the NIV and other translations – some have “the faith.” What a difference leaving out one word makes and how adding it takes away from its meaning. Jesus is the originator of faith. Not, “Jesus is the author of our faith,” but “Jesus is the author of faith.” Doesn’t that deepen the meaning of this verse to you?
PERFECTER: teleiotes one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith. The word occurs nowhere else. WOW! Before someone can be a perfect-er He must be per-fect. That is why Jesus is the pefecter of faith. Another word that is a root of the word teleiotes is the word teleioo meaning to complete (perfect) to add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full. Ladies, you and I are incomplete without Christ. We are not even a fraction; we are NOTHING, zero, nada, not anything. No, we are not a zero when we are IN HIM, but we are a zero without him. We want to think that grace covers that which we cannot do. But, my sisters, grace covers all of me. It’s not the part of the yardstick I can’t measure up to; it’s the entire yardstick. Do you get that? Do you really get that?
To know that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith, is such an encouragement to me, because I realize that he whom I fixing my eyes upon, has gone down the path of faith before me, knowing where I’ve been, where I am, AND knowing where I’m going to go. Thanks be to God that leads me to Jesus in every way.
Today, I want us to look at two translations: Young’s literal translation and Alfred Marshall’s Interlinear translation of Hebrews 12:2.
“looking to the author and pefecter of faith – Jesus, who, over-against the joy set before him – did endure a cross, shame having despised, on the right hand also of the throne of God did sit down;” Young’s
“looking away to the of the faith author and finisher Jesus, who against the set before him joy endured a cross shame despising at [the]right [hand] and of the throne of God has taken [his] seat.” Marshall’s
I love looking at literal translations because I can more clearly see the meaning of the words in the Greek.
Here are the definitions of the words fix, author and perfecter from the Greek.
FIX -- apharoa -- To turn the eyes away from and fix them on something. BlueLetterBible.org. In the original Greek, it is not the word fix it is the word fixing, which makes it ongoing. Fix means “to turn the eyes away from something in order to fix them onto something else.” In order to fix our eyes on Jesus, we must turn them away from the world. We don’t just fix our eyes on Jesus for awhile and then go back to looking at the world; we are crucified with Jesus—dead to the world. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20
AUTHOR – archegos -- “beginning or rule; to lead. Originator, founder, leader, chief, first, prince as distinguished from simply being the cause. One may be the cause of something but not the beginning.” Arche like archegos denotes the founder as the first cause, ruler, dispenser; e.g., Jesus Christ is called the archegos of life (Acts 3:15) because He is the arche, the beginning or the originator of God’s creation (Rev. 3:14). This excludes him from himself being a product of that beginning. Jesus Christ is called archegos, the originator of faith in Heb. 12:2. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary) There is a sentence, here, that’s extremely important; Jesus is “the originator of faith.” The original Greek leaves out the word our in “the author and pefecter of our faith” which is in the NIV and other translations – some have “the faith.” What a difference leaving out one word makes and how adding it takes away from its meaning. Jesus is the originator of faith. Not, “Jesus is the author of our faith,” but “Jesus is the author of faith.” Doesn’t that deepen the meaning of this verse to you?
PERFECTER: teleiotes one who has in his own person raised faith to its perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith. The word occurs nowhere else. WOW! Before someone can be a perfect-er He must be per-fect. That is why Jesus is the pefecter of faith. Another word that is a root of the word teleiotes is the word teleioo meaning to complete (perfect) to add what is yet wanting in order to render a thing full. Ladies, you and I are incomplete without Christ. We are not even a fraction; we are NOTHING, zero, nada, not anything. No, we are not a zero when we are IN HIM, but we are a zero without him. We want to think that grace covers that which we cannot do. But, my sisters, grace covers all of me. It’s not the part of the yardstick I can’t measure up to; it’s the entire yardstick. Do you get that? Do you really get that?
To know that Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith, is such an encouragement to me, because I realize that he whom I fixing my eyes upon, has gone down the path of faith before me, knowing where I’ve been, where I am, AND knowing where I’m going to go. Thanks be to God that leads me to Jesus in every way.
Heb. 12:2, 3 Monday
The first week in October, after looking at who God is in September, we started looking at ourselves, i.e. who we are and what we should do as a response to who God is. The first week in October, we meditated on being still; the second week we meditated on not being condemned. This week I want us to meditate on the verse that has gotten me through life (not just part of it, but all of it), but especially during the hardest times. If you’ve read Thursday’s meditation last week, (the incident with the foot-washing) fixing my eyes on Jesus was how I got through it. There was simply no way I could have not grown weary and lost heart, as whoever this author is, tells us to do, had it not been for this verse. Even though it looks like this is a lot to memorize, I’m only concentrating on a few key words.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2, 3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…
Back when I was going to Lamaze classes getting ready for David to be born (I didn’t have to go when I had Laura. Breathing correctly would not have done any good with her delivery, but that is another story in and of itself) I was told to bring a picture or something else I could look at, to “fix my eyes” on to distract myself from the pain. (Those of you who’ve had natural childbirth, know it may be free from medication but it’s definitely not free from pain and no amount of fixing your eyes on anything is going to make the pain go away.) (Melanie you may be different because you had Jarrod. Oh well…). But the concept of fixing our eyes on Jesus is much the same concept.
What does fixing your eyes on Jesus do? It does lessen the pain of what we’re going through. Ladies, my mantra that I don’t frequently share with everyone since it sounds so negative, is “Life is hard and then you die.” I hate to say it, but that is so true and just the way it is with most Christians. I once heard of a Christian woman who was a fine woman who knew the Bible backwards and forwards but had no influence because she had never suffered. God knows that the only way we’re going to walk closely to Him, is to be tested in the furnace of affliction, i.e. suffer.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus also makes us stop watching the winds and the waves. You all know the story so I’m not going to repeat it. But when Peter took his eyes off Jesus, when he was walking on the water, he began to sink when he saw the winds and the waves. My sisters, from my own personal experience (yours may be different from mine; I hope it is) MY OWN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE LORD HAVE BEEN THE WINDS AND THE WAVES. Satan knows if we keep our eyes on each other, we’ll never be able to fix our eyes on HIM, who is able to keep us from growing weary and losing heart. And that is exactly what Satan wants. Satan is a murderer and a liar and his only intention is to kill. He wants our spiritual death. He does not want us to have the life that is truly life—the life of life and peace.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus puts our suffering into perspective. Can I really compare my suffering with Jesus’ suffering? All I have to do is to read Philippians 2:5-8 and Isaiah 53 to get just an inkling of how much Jesus suffered. And all I have to do to get a visual image of how much Jesus suffered is to watch the move The Passion. I had no idea how bad it was going to be. I cannot imagine how I would have felt had been there in person. Would I have been hurling insults to? And can I really realize that it was because of ME that he suffered?
I could go on and on about what I’ve learned about “fix your eyes on Jesus,” but this is enough for now. Ladies, if we put this verse into practice, I mean really put this verse into practice, our lives are going to get much better. We’re going to get our eyes off ourselves—from “woe is me” to “who is he”? People’s opinions are going to be just that—opinions. And our suffering is going to be nothing compared to Jesus’.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2, 3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…
Back when I was going to Lamaze classes getting ready for David to be born (I didn’t have to go when I had Laura. Breathing correctly would not have done any good with her delivery, but that is another story in and of itself) I was told to bring a picture or something else I could look at, to “fix my eyes” on to distract myself from the pain. (Those of you who’ve had natural childbirth, know it may be free from medication but it’s definitely not free from pain and no amount of fixing your eyes on anything is going to make the pain go away.) (Melanie you may be different because you had Jarrod. Oh well…). But the concept of fixing our eyes on Jesus is much the same concept.
What does fixing your eyes on Jesus do? It does lessen the pain of what we’re going through. Ladies, my mantra that I don’t frequently share with everyone since it sounds so negative, is “Life is hard and then you die.” I hate to say it, but that is so true and just the way it is with most Christians. I once heard of a Christian woman who was a fine woman who knew the Bible backwards and forwards but had no influence because she had never suffered. God knows that the only way we’re going to walk closely to Him, is to be tested in the furnace of affliction, i.e. suffer.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus also makes us stop watching the winds and the waves. You all know the story so I’m not going to repeat it. But when Peter took his eyes off Jesus, when he was walking on the water, he began to sink when he saw the winds and the waves. My sisters, from my own personal experience (yours may be different from mine; I hope it is) MY OWN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE LORD HAVE BEEN THE WINDS AND THE WAVES. Satan knows if we keep our eyes on each other, we’ll never be able to fix our eyes on HIM, who is able to keep us from growing weary and losing heart. And that is exactly what Satan wants. Satan is a murderer and a liar and his only intention is to kill. He wants our spiritual death. He does not want us to have the life that is truly life—the life of life and peace.
Fixing our eyes on Jesus puts our suffering into perspective. Can I really compare my suffering with Jesus’ suffering? All I have to do is to read Philippians 2:5-8 and Isaiah 53 to get just an inkling of how much Jesus suffered. And all I have to do to get a visual image of how much Jesus suffered is to watch the move The Passion. I had no idea how bad it was going to be. I cannot imagine how I would have felt had been there in person. Would I have been hurling insults to? And can I really realize that it was because of ME that he suffered?
I could go on and on about what I’ve learned about “fix your eyes on Jesus,” but this is enough for now. Ladies, if we put this verse into practice, I mean really put this verse into practice, our lives are going to get much better. We’re going to get our eyes off ourselves—from “woe is me” to “who is he”? People’s opinions are going to be just that—opinions. And our suffering is going to be nothing compared to Jesus’.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Molly's thoughts on judging, based on Romans 8:1
The following is a letter written by Molly Geralds, who happens to be Amy Hughes' sister, that I asked her to write when she and I were talking about judging this week. Her comments and her heart made such an impression on me that I asked her to put her thoughts into words and I would share them with the rest of the group. Molly, you did a great job! Your letter came at the perfect time.
A few weeks ago, the Lord showed me that I had some wrong attitudes and characteristics that I needed to overcome. Judging and condemning were among those.
As I started working on these, I knew that my mind had to stay very aware of my attitudes for any change to take place. I must say, to go about my everyday life and try NOT to have an opinion about people or situations was not an easy task. I prayed a lot for God’s help, because this was not something I could do on my own.
When I started looking at people as just people, instead of my opinion about them, (or situations) I noticed this ‘tension’ inside me start to relax. I was immediately a lot less bothered by what they thought about me, because I was not thinking anything negative or critical about them. It was kind of free-ing. My everyday life was starting to become more joyful and happy. I was finding myself smiling a lot and being extra-nice to people I once had some sort of grudge against. None of this has been easy, though. It takes a lot of effort and hard work on my part to wake up and face my day in this whole new way.
When I do fall short (and I do a lot) I am so aware of it now and can get ‘back on track’ easier than I thought possible. Recently when someone criticized me and said something about me that I didn’t like (or agree with) I felt a lot of tension within me and felt like crying. Within minutes, I was made aware that I did not have to ‘dwell on this feeling’. I had the power within me to rise above this ‘judgment’ and not let it get to me that way. I fought back the tears and reminded myself that this person was not my judge. I did not HAVE to let them get to me. I immediately ‘cast out’ any judgment or criticism about this person and why they said it, or even what they meant by it. All of a sudden, I was in a better mood and even smiled, because I had overcome this particular incident.
Like I said, none of this is easy and I realize now that this is a process and it takes time. Little by little I am making improvement every day.
It really is a great way to live. I am enjoying my life a whole bunch more. I find myself praying for the very individuals that used to be ‘problems’ for me. Let me tell you, it’s kind of hard to be critical of someone you’ve just asked God to bless. I do a lot of praying. (emphasis mine)
My life is so much better now that I really know there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Please pray for me and my efforts as I continue to be challenged every day.
Your sister,
Molly Geralds
A few weeks ago, the Lord showed me that I had some wrong attitudes and characteristics that I needed to overcome. Judging and condemning were among those.
As I started working on these, I knew that my mind had to stay very aware of my attitudes for any change to take place. I must say, to go about my everyday life and try NOT to have an opinion about people or situations was not an easy task. I prayed a lot for God’s help, because this was not something I could do on my own.
When I started looking at people as just people, instead of my opinion about them, (or situations) I noticed this ‘tension’ inside me start to relax. I was immediately a lot less bothered by what they thought about me, because I was not thinking anything negative or critical about them. It was kind of free-ing. My everyday life was starting to become more joyful and happy. I was finding myself smiling a lot and being extra-nice to people I once had some sort of grudge against. None of this has been easy, though. It takes a lot of effort and hard work on my part to wake up and face my day in this whole new way.
When I do fall short (and I do a lot) I am so aware of it now and can get ‘back on track’ easier than I thought possible. Recently when someone criticized me and said something about me that I didn’t like (or agree with) I felt a lot of tension within me and felt like crying. Within minutes, I was made aware that I did not have to ‘dwell on this feeling’. I had the power within me to rise above this ‘judgment’ and not let it get to me that way. I fought back the tears and reminded myself that this person was not my judge. I did not HAVE to let them get to me. I immediately ‘cast out’ any judgment or criticism about this person and why they said it, or even what they meant by it. All of a sudden, I was in a better mood and even smiled, because I had overcome this particular incident.
Like I said, none of this is easy and I realize now that this is a process and it takes time. Little by little I am making improvement every day.
It really is a great way to live. I am enjoying my life a whole bunch more. I find myself praying for the very individuals that used to be ‘problems’ for me. Let me tell you, it’s kind of hard to be critical of someone you’ve just asked God to bless. I do a lot of praying. (emphasis mine)
My life is so much better now that I really know there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Please pray for me and my efforts as I continue to be challenged every day.
Your sister,
Molly Geralds
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