WORSHIP

Tonight in our ladies study, we are looking at God as Creator and Sustainer.  We are almost done with "The One True God," a study of God's attributes by Paul Washer.  Having a good understanding of who God reveals to us that He is, should have a huge impact on our lives.  It will bring us into deeper reverence for God, give us purpose for why we are here, humble us, and bring us into deeper worship of Him.  These two attributes, God as Creator and Sustainer,  are no different.


Preparing for tonight, I did a lot of studying on worship.  Tozer says, "I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven."  He also says, "Without worship, we go about miserable."

Psalm 150:6 "Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!"

I was thinking of some things that keep us from worshiping God the way He deserves, and what steps we can take to become better worshipers.  After all, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!"  

Many people go to church thinking that is worship.  Church alone is not worship.  Worship is an attitude of the heart.  As my friend Karen put it, "Worship is a lifestyle." 

"When I worship, I would rather my heart be without words than my words be without heart"(Lamar Boschman).  Some may use the excuse that "well, I just don't like their style of worship..."  Again, worship is a matter of the heart.  It's not FOR us or ABOUT us!


Boschman says, "Worship is first and foremost for HIS benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving Him pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our riches and most wholesome experience in life."


No matter the style of worship, as long as it is not unbiblical and the words don't contradict Scripture, one can close their eyes and focus on the Lord.  This gives Him glory -- even if you don't know the song!  I have learned to worship with modern songs and old hymns alike.  Worship is in my heart between me and the Lord.  Sometimes, it's just a choice to tune out your surroundings, close your eyes and focus on Him.  This can be done corporately in church, or privately, anytime of the day in my home -- to music, or not!


"There is a necessity for true worship among us.  If God is who He says He is and if we are the believing  people of God we claim to be, we must worship Him" (Tozer).


So, what steps can we take to be more faithful in worship to the Lord, who is worthy of all that I am, just because of who He is???


1.  Surrender.  Lay yourself down.  Humble yourself and kill your pride.  In private, be willing to get away with the Lord and tell Him how wonderful He is!  Any time, raise your hands to Him, as a sign of complete surrender!  Who cares what people think? Get lost in the Lord and worship Him without reserve!


2.  Obey.  We need to recognize that worship is a command.  Praising God is something we must do, if we are believers.  It doesn't have to look the same for any two people.  But we are called to worship, and Scripture DOES give Biblical methods in which to function.


3.  Pray.  Ask God to teach you how to worship Him, and to give you a greater desire to do so!  Then, open your Bible, and study worship!  God will be faithful to teach you!


Some practical things?


1.  Read Psalms to the Lord, especially those that exalt Him and speak of His wonders.
2.  Worship all the time.  At home in your closet.  At church with the body.  With music.  Without.  Ask yourself, is my heart giving God the glory He deserves?  Have I told Him lately how wonderful He is?
3.  When worshiping corporately, as you sing, stop and pray.  Verbally speak blessings to the Lord.


Remember, we serve the same Lord and are called to express delight to the same God which brought David to dance!  Creation is calling out in praise to God!  Is your voice joining in?  Do you regularly make a joyful noise to bring him Him delight?


Just think of all that God has done for you.  He CREATED you.  He sustains you and gives you EVERY SINGLE breath!  That alone, makes Him worthy of praise!

John 4:23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."

"As John 4:23 says, it's time, as worshipers of God, to give Him all we have.  For when he is exalted, everything about me is decreased.  So many times we stand in the way of really stepping into the secret place of worship with God.  Just abandon tradition and the "expected" ways of praise and worship and get lost in the holy of holies with the sole intention of blessing the Father's heart"  (Jessica Leah Springer).

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the heavens;

Praise Him in the heights!

Praise Him, all His angels; 

Praise Him, all His hosts!

Praise Him, sun and moon;

Praise Him, all you stars of light!

Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,

and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for He commanded and they were created.

He also established them forever and ever;

He made a decree which shall not pass away.

Praise the Lord from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all the depths;

Fire and hail, snow and clouds;

Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;

Mountains and all hils;

Fruitful trees and all cedars;

Beasts and all cattle;

Creeping things and flying fowl;

Kings of the earth and all peoples;

Princes and all judges of the earth;

Both young men and maidens;

Old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the Lord,

for His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above the earth and heaven.

And He has exalted the horn of His people,

The praise of all His saints --

of the children of Israel,

A people near to Him.

PRAISE THE LORD!

FEEDING ON JESUS


I have been meditating on some Scriptures for several weeks now.  This all started when my Bible reading plan took me through the book of John.  Several Scriptures popped off the page at me the day we read chapters 5-6, but this verse in particular has stuck with me:  


"He who feeds on Me will live because of Me."  John 6:57


Prior to this particular day of reading, I had been pondering the words "believe" and "abide" and how so connected they are.  Eternal life is found only in Christ.  Along with repentance, we must "believe on Him" and we are saved, but what does that mean? Coming to Him and feeding demonstrates that we truly do believe in Him.  Many people say they believe in Jesus, but have very little to do with "feeding on Him". I fear for them.


Think of it this way.  To physically keep my strength up, I must eat food several times a day.  The food is my nourishment and gives me physical strength to function.  Our spiritual life is the same.  We need to "feed on" Jesus.  He is our source of strength!  Feeding on Him is even more important than eating physical food!  If I neglect this, I am spiritually weak.  Think of John 15, abiding in the vine. If we are connected to the vine, we are getting our nourishment.  If we are not, we will be cut off.  


Are you spiritually feeding your soul?   As John 6:68 says, "You (referring to Jesus) have the words of eternal life."  If we are not filling ourselves with His words, we will not understand the truth about eternal life. 


I think it was Spurgeon who once said, "We are never more alive than when we are dead at His feet."


Feeding on Him, is the only way to truly be full.

ETERNALLY INFLUENCING YOUR CHILDREN -- PART 1

Our ladies Bible study recently had a brunch where this was the topic discussed.  Also, our mom's group at church recently came to our place for their weekly gathering, and we held the same topic of discussion.  God has been impressing on my heart lately to really help other moms be purposeful about how to do this.  This will be the first of 4 posts on this subject, as we will discuss these 4 things:

1) Be Accurate
2) Be Purposeful
3) Be Prayerful
4) Be Obedient

Today I will share about being acurate in what we teach our children.  The goal here is to avoid false conversions in the lives of our children.  Many of these thoughts came from Ray Comfort's book "How To Bring Your Children To Christ & Keep Them There" -- a book I cannot recommend enough!!

1. Do not grasp at false ideas to make yourself feel better about your child’s salvation.
2. Make sure your children understand sin and repentance.
     • Teach them the 10 commandments.
     • Teach them the necessity of repentance – turning FROM sin TO the Savior.
     • Matt. 3:2, 4:17 “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” -- Both John the Baptist & Jesus' first words in their preaching was "repent".
     • Repentance is not an optional part of salvation.
           Luke 13:3 “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
           Acts 17:30 God himself “commands all men everywhere to repent.”


3. Eternal life does not come from saying a prayer, or making a decision, but from “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).


     • From pg 129 of Comfort's book, "As long as there are no complications when a child is born, all the doctor needs to do is guide the head.  The same applies spiritually.  When someone is "born of God," all we need to do is guide the head -- make sure that the person understands what he is doing."

4. Genuine salvation is a work of God.
     • “We can have as much a part in the spiritual birth of our children as we have in the planting of a tree. We can prepare the soil & water the seed, but it will grow only if God sees fit to cause it to do so. All we can do is make ready the soil of the child’s heart, plant the pure seed of the Word of God, keep away harmful influences, and faithfully water it with believing prayer” (Ray Comfort).
     • Just like David took personal responsibility for his sin, our children must do the same. Rather than lead them in a prayer, have them pray themselves. Words aren’t as important as godly sorrow.
           a. 2 Cor. 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
          b. I have had my children go to their room & spend some time b/t them and God after a needed discussion on repentance. Let it be between them and God.
     • When your children make a profession where it appears that they have come to repentance & faith, then talk to them about the tests of assurance of salvation given in 1 John. Talk about the fact that there will be a new relationship with sin & fruit will be evident in their lives.
          a. We are called to “Work out our salvation with fear & trembling.” We are also called to “make our calling and election sure.” It is not something we take lightly, or can proclaim for someone else. Working it out is their job for them, and your job for you. Don’t base your assurance on an experience you had… make sure your life lines up with Scripture, and encourage your children to do the same.

ON PERSEVERANCE

ROMANS 5:3-4
... we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance, character, and character, hope.

Observations:
I know tribulations are good for us, especially when I see that they bring us to that place of hope.  In tribulations, we must press on-- we must press on through them physically & mentally, but we also must press on spiritually.  Sometimes when things get chaotic, I tend to focus on the situation, and not on Jesus, who is the One who will bring me through the situation. Perseverance produces character in us, which is something God does not just give us, but we obtain over time and through trials.  When we push through in difficult times, character is built & our focus is put where it needs to be -- having hope in an eternal future with Jesus Christ.  Not only do we have the hope of getting out of our present difficult circumstances, but it also enables us to look ahead to the amazing future that awaits.  Trials keep our focus heavenward!

So, instead of seeing trials as something to dread, I desire to view them in a positive light.  My reaction and my attitude will greatly determine my ability to get through them, regardless of the actual circumstances that surround me.  In the midst of the trial, if my focus can be perseverance -- keeping my eyes on Jesus -- I am walking in the right direction, knowing that the end result will be character and a deeper hope!

NEW CREATION

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  Now all these things are from God..."

2 Corinthians 5:17-18

If I am not a new person, I am not in Christ.  I will not be sin-less, but I will continue to sin less!  If I have a new relationship with Christ, then I will also have a new relationship with sin.  When my heart is regenerated, my affections will change.  "If a man is not a new creature, He is not 'in Christ'! Everything is new for a Christian; he sees the world in a whole new light" (Leiter 51). It is all about JESUS!

PRAYER PART 2 -- Thoughts from 1 Samuel

When reading the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1, something again stood out to me on this matter of prayer.  In verse 10, "She was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the LORD and wept in anguish."

Hannah was begging God regarding a desire of her heart.  She desired a child.  It was a personal thing, and she cried out to God!  When she finished praying, and she had finished responding to Eli's questioning, in verse 18 it says, "So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad."

She was broken, but after crying out to God, even before she received a visible answer, "her face was no longer sad!"

We can bring anything to God.  We can lay it at His feet and trust His sovereignty with the answer.  We can walk away from prayer with peace in our hearts and on our faces knowing that our Father will do what's best.

So, if you're burdened with something today.  A relationship issue, a crisis, a fear, failing health, financial issues, anything related to children, lay it at His feet and walk away with a face that is "no longer sad."  It's now in our Father's hands.

THE CALL TO WEAR HOLES IN OUR KNEES

God is teaching me the importance of prayer.  I know it's important.  But He's really teaching me just HOW important it is.  Recently He has taken one avenue of my life away, and He has said, "Instead, I want you to use that time to pray." 

I can do nothing without prayer.  Lives will not change without prayer.  No matter how much time I give a person, only the Spirit of God can actually do the work in their heart.  It has everything to do with Him. 

Every issue, every conflict, every pain in your life or your physical body has one purpose.  To bring you to your knees.  The question is, how do we respond to it?

More than anything else in the world, the most difficult thing to do is pray.  Even Bible study can be used to puff me up because of increased knowledge, but a person will gain nothing from man from being in their closet alone with God.  That person will, however, gain so tremendously from God.

Lord, teach me to pray! 

JUSTIFICATION & REGENERATION

This is what we are using in the ladies' Bible study to lead us through the Scriptures to get a thorough look at the doctrines of Justification & Regeneration.  Chapter 1, which we covered last week, was all about sin.  A few quotes that stood out to me from that chapter...

"... lost men imagine themselves to be "basically good," unless God in mercy reveals to them the true condition of their blackened hearts.  Sin is the ultimate and only problem of humanity.  It is my ultimate and only problem and your ultimate and only problem" (17). 

"None can free himself or escape from sin's bondage.  Sin "reigns" over the sinner and rides on his back like a tyrant until it eventually brings him down to the pit of destruction and death" (19).  -- Rom. 5:21

"We must face the fact that the world is not the way it is because it has a few bad people like Hitler; the world is the way it is because it is made up of multitudes of people just like us!  There is deep wickedness in each of us" (20).

It's not very uplifting to look at the truth of sin.  Some things Leiter teaches through the Scriptures are that sin is:

1) Absolutely universal

2) All-pervasive

3) Irrational

4) Deceitful

5) Hardening

6) Enslaving

7) Debasing

8) Defiling

The application of this chapter in my life, is that in seeing sin for what ugly, darkness it is, it will make me tolerate it even less in my own life.  I desire, through the power of Jesus, to kill it at the first sign of it and not allow it to be present, no matter how big or small.  My desire is to grow in holiness, and I recognize this growth will contine for the rest of the days I have breath!   Also, I am even more grateful for the gift of grace given to me and the righteousness of Christ that covers me.  It also makes me see the lost with more compassion and a desire to show them there is freedom from the tyrant riding on their backs!

Chapter 2 gives us the hope of how Christ is the only One who can free us from this tyrant because of that word... propitiation!!!

THOUGHTS FOR TODAY FROM SCRIPTURE

& my personal application....

Psalm 37:3-4  "Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

My Commands:
1)  Trust in the Lord
     * a deep, abiding reliance on God and His Word
2)  Do good
     * cling to and obey God's Word
3)  Dwell in the land
     * I see this not only as a future dwelling in heaven someday, but also as dwelling in Jesus and the victorious life He gives here & now, no matter what our circumstances may be!  Abide in Him!  Spend time dwelling with Him!  It's all about Jesus!
4)  Feed on His faithfulness
     * Remember God's faithfulness in all things and let that feed and encourage my soul to give me strength to keep pressing on.
5)  Delight myself in Him
     * It's Jesus I love.  It's Jesus I must delight in.  Not religion.  Not people.  Not ministry.  Not going to church... but Jesus.  He is my most faithful friend, and I beg God to teach me more how to delight in Him!

His Response:
Blessing me with the desires of my heart.

What are my heart's desires?
1)  Children walking in truth
2)  God-centered marriage and family
3)  Fruit in my life -- greater holiness
4)  Quicker repentance and less acceptance of sin in my life
5)  Hearts of people changed that we minister to
6)  Increased knowledge, wisdom and understanding
7)  Above all, glory to God in all things!

KILLING MY GIANT

Exodus 32:27 "And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor."

Numbers 33:55 "... those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell."

***********************************************

A couple of days ago, Evan was on the phone walking in the girls' bedroom.  He stepped on a thumbtack, which went deep into his foot.  He attempted to continue his conversation without letting the person know what happened, but it had totally made him lose his focus.  He  was concerned more about the "thorn" in his foot that was "irritating" him to the point of taking his focus completely off the task at hand and bringing it to the tack in his foot.

It's the same thing with sin in our lives.  Just as God commanded the Israelites to go through the camp and slay all the wicked, swiftly and harshly, that is what we are called to do with sin.  (Read the whole story in Exodus for entire context... it's amazing!)  We are to put it to death at the first appearance of it.  If we don't, it becomes like that thumbtack, irritating and distracting us from God's will and the task at hand.

This has been very, very real to me.  The enemy knows a weakness I have -- a fear of mine.  He has been having a lot of fun harassing me with this not just the past few weeks, though they have been intense, but especially this past year.  Sometimes, in my own strength I could suppress it for a time and grow numb to it.  But it was still there.  Lately when it comes up, God has been showing me that I can't nurture it with a bandaide any longer, but I must swiftly and harshly pull it out.  I must kill it.

Last night, the attacks came on strong in dream form.  I woke up in a panic, letting my mind process this dream which completely encompassed this fear.  I started to process every detail of the LIE that it was.  That's where I give into this attack and it becomes sin.  I process the lies.  I give them time in my brain, and it has been robbing me for a long time now.  It was like God woke me up and said, you are letting this LIE irritate you and hold you down.  It is hindering you from the task at hand.  Kill it!  So, with HIS strength (Romans 6!), I did.  In my head I started quoting Psalm 23. 

The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
     (This is where I was, right in battle killing this thing!)
I WILL FEAR NO EVIL!
For you are with me.
Your rod and staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I didn't even allow myself to remember one thing from my dream.  After saying this passage a couple times, I had this sense of peace come over me.  I envisioned myself with a sword, attacking this lie head on.  One swift move ("The Lord is my Shepherd.")  A glimpse of the lie would pop back, a second swift move ("He makes me to lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters.")  Then.... peace.  I killed it.  My mind and body literally felt relaxed and peaceful.  I went back to sleep. ("He restores my soul.")

Immediately following this, I had dream #2 -- even worse than the first one!  By God's grace and His power, it took less time to get from the place of recognizing the battle to killing the lie.  ("Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.")  This dream even had a table in it, where many "enemies" sat around and they were all rubbing salt into this fear.  ("You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies...")  God was with me at that table with those giants -- the lies!  Again, a sword fight, and a death of the lie.  Peace.  Restoration of my soul.

I feel like this is a pre-battle, with the main battle yet lying ahead.  After sharing all this with Evan, he encouraged me to anticipate the big battle, and not dread it, but be excited about it.  Be prepared for it.  Be on the offense to continue to kill and win!

So, sword of the Spirit in my hand, I feel like little tiny David against a huge giant, but with one tiny stone, and God on my side, I can kill this giant.  My question has finally been answered.  I now know HOW to kill it, and it has nothing to do with me.

JUST SHARING....

Though there is nothing "special" about this book, it leads you to a book that will change your life.  Our church has embraced the reading program in this book this year and it has literally turned our congregation upside down (in an amazing way!)

There are many "read through the Bible in a year" programs out there.  This one is similar.  BUT, the difference is, when I do my reading, I am not doing it to check a box.  I am searching, praying, and desiring God to show me something from today's reading that will impact me and change my life.  He is always faithful. 

Journaling is a big part of my day now.  I read through the Scripture for the day, which is taken from both OT and NT.  As I am reading, I ask God to show me what He wants to teach ME today from His Word -- PRAY!  Usually something pops off the page at me.  He has even used what He taught me in the morning so that I can appropriately handle something that has come at me later in the day.  He prepared me in advance.  When I draw near to Him, to listen to His voice, He will not fail to draw near to me.  He desires to TEACH me!  He desires to teach me even more than I hunger to learn!  I pray my hunger grows!

Back to the journaling....  I write out the SCRIPTURE that stands out to me.  Then I write OBSERVATIONS.  How did Saul, Moses, Abraham, Sarah, Joshua, etc. learn from their experiences?  What did they do right and what did they do wrong?  These can all be amazing mentors in my life that I can learn from both their mistakes and the good things in their life!  They have wisdom that I can learn from so that I don't have to learn from consequences in my life.  It requires time, but I constantly remind myself that we should be giving Christ the BEST of our day.  I write what I observe from the verses that I feel God is using to speak to me.

Then I write an APPLICATION.  How does what I observe in their lives relate to where I am at TODAY?  How can I apply this?  Acts 9:22 -- "Saul increased all the more in strength."  God desires to do that in me, too!  To increase my strength so that I can continue on in the work of the Lord!  Just a small example from my reading this morning.  (Keeping in mind the imporance of NOT pulling Scripture out of context!!!!)

I end with PRAYER.  Lord, forgive me.... Lord, change this about  me...  Lord, do this in me....  This can lead into a time on my knees where I spend serious time prayer, or that can come at another time in my day.  Sometimes, we should just "sneak away" to pray, like Jesus often did.  Those times are more valuable than any other part of your day...

The final requirement... TELL.  Talk to your spouse.  Talk to anyone else who is doing the reading.  This is where our church has been shaken up.  What a blessing it has been in our marriage!  I know marriages that have been SAVED from destruction because they have spent time in the Word and it brought them together!  Almost every conversation with someone from our church leads (and frequently starts) with a conversation about what we got from the Word today.  Not only is God teaching and moving through our obedience of being in the Word and drawing us closer to Him, He is deepening our conversations with fellow believers.  We now don't have to spend time on surface stuff, but get right down to the important things.... WHAT'S GOD BEEN TEACHING YOU TODAY? 

PROAPT -- Pray, Read, Observe, Apply, Pray, Tell 

OR, more simple,

SOAP -- Scripture, Observations, Applicaion, Prayer

The other neat thing is, there is a children's version.  They read from the same scripture as mom and dad (only fewer verses) and do their own journaling from it.  So, at the dinner table, we have an easy conversation centered on GOD!  Life-chaging...  The Word of God!

LADIES BIBLE STUDY DINNER PART 2!

Strawberry pretzel salad is in the fridge.  Soup is the crockpot, and bread bowls are bought!  We are ready to EAT!  (Not to mention all the other goodies coming!) I am so excited for tonight!!

My prayer is that we are not only ready to eat PHYSICALLY, but more importantly, SPIRITUALLY tonight, and as we begin a new year!

The second part of what we will discuss tonight is from:

2 Timothy 3:14-17

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We need to be equipped!  Here are just a few thoughts:

• The average “Christian” spends less than 3 minutes per day in the Word of God. Think of how much time you spend filling your mind with other outside influences: TV, books, radio, even advertising!  Now compare that to the average time in the Word -- our One source of truth!



• Statistics show you will walk away from a Sunday morning sermon with maximum 10% of what he said. Imagine what you would look like if you were fed one meal on Sunday, and you only ate 10% of what was there and had nothing else, or very little to eat the rest of the week. You’d be a walking skeleton – very weak, and you would die within a few months.


• Put this into spiritual perspective. How are we surviving on what food we are feeding ourselves?


We see in Genesis 2:7 where God breathed into our physical bodies to give us life. We see here in 2 Timothy where God has breathed into the Scriptures through inspiration, literally, He breathed OUT! It is the source of our SPIRITUAL life! Without God’s physical breath, we would die. Without His spiritual breath, we will die spiritually. We daily need spiritual breath from Him, or we will suffocate!

So, GO EAT, and have a blessed day!  :)

LADIES BIBLE STUDY DINNER TEACHING-- Part 1

There are two passages on my heart to share at the ladies dinner coming up next week.  I'm going to focus on one of them tonight.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (Amplified Bible)

Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord]. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then] You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.


The emphasis again, is on the Word of God.  Here, He is commanding us to be teaching His Word!  We are to teach it with PURPOSE!  This takes mental effort.  Teaching (I'm especially referring to our children, here...)  does not just happen.  We must make it happen.  It needs to be of utmost importance in our day!

We need to teach it so that it PENETRATES their hearts!  I want my children to grow up loving God because of how much they know about Him and His Word. I want them to see how amazing He is, and love Him for it!  I don’t want to have to send them away to camp or a youth function to get them excited about God. I want them to be excited about God every day because they have learned that He is worth knowing and being excited about!

We need to be DILIGENT to do this.  We need to figure out methods to teach our children:  prepare lessons; take advantage of teachable moments at home, in the car, at the store, etc.; study the Word as a family; listen to teachings yourself when they are around listening.  Whether you think they are or not, they are listening!  Pray for wisdom and that God will give you ideas and opportunities.  He never ceases to amaze me with how He does this!

We are to teach them REGULARLY.  The Word of God is not to be talked about casually and infrequently, but rather with REPEATED DISCUSSION!  Every moment of every day is a teaching opportunity!  It should be one of our main topics.

I also see in this passage that we are to use WHATEVER METHOD it takes to get the point across!  The call to bind the hand, forehead, and doorpost makes this clear!  This also includes ourselves!  Use whatever method it takes to saturate our minds with truth from His Word!  For Christmas, we just got the NKJV on MP3.  The kids are enjoying this!  (and so am I!)

A final thought...  Before we can teach it, we must first have this ourselves!  A passion for God and His Word must first be in our own hearts and minds before we can penetrate the hearts of those we are entrusted to teach it to.  Love God with everything you have and sharpen your own minds, and use WHATEVER method it takes to do this!  There is so much wisdom to be found there -- more than we can ever gain in a lifetime of studying it!

The best way to teach children is by example.  They will catch your passion!  It must all start in my own heart. 

Please don't misunderstand me....  I have SO far to go with all this!  I beg God daily for wisdom to teach my children, for this truly is my heart's desire!  I desire a passion for Him that is contaigous to those around me, especially my children!  The great thing is, I know I can trust Him to hear my cry and answer.  What a faithful God He is.

THE TRUE GOSPEL -- Please don't water it down!
Even if you think you know what the Gospel is, may I encourage you to read all the way through this post.  Lay aside the marbles you have been taught (see post below about marbles), and look with an open mind and an open heart to what the Scripture says the Gospel is.

Point #1 -- God is good. We are not. We need a Savior. If we have broken one of the commandments, according to Scripture, we have broken them all. We are dead, just like the dry bones talked about in Ezekiel 37. We have no life in us. We cannot bring life to ourselves no matter how hard we try. Religion won’t even do it. You can go to church every Sunday of your life and still go to hell if your heart is never regenerated. (Deut. 32:3-4, Ps. 18:30-31, Rom. 3:23, James 2:10)
 Point #2 -- God is just. He cannot overlook sin. Someone has to pay the price for your sin. We deserve the same death Christ received and separation from Him for all eternity. Out of the abundance of His love, He sent JESUS, but that doesn’t automatically mean because Jesus died everyone gets into heaven. It doesn’t even mean “good” people get into heaven. Because, remember the bones??? Because of our sin, we are dead. That’s the bad news. (Zec. 9:9, Rev. 15:3)


The good news is this! Jesus died in our place and offers us salvation. We don’t receive it, however, by going to church. We don’t receive it by praying a prayer, necessarily. Many lost people have prayed a prayer at one time in their lives, and yet show no evidence of salvation in their lives. We don’t receive it by being a good person, because on the scale of comparison, I cannot compare myself to people (like I so often do), I am compared to Jesus Christ. Unless we can live a life as perfect and sinless as He did, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (John 3:16, 1 Cor. 6:9)

The good news is... because of what Jesus did for us, we can receive HIS righteousness.  So that, when God looks at us, He sees His Son.  What a beautiful, perfect, amazing gift.


Most pastors and teachers at this point, when someone says they want to receive this gift of salvation, will lead people through a few simple steps, have them say a "prayer of repentance", and pronounce them saved. This is NOT what Scripture teaches. We need to hold all things up to Scripture, and I have looked. Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about this prayer. What I say to you tonight, I encourage you to search it out for yourselves in Scripture. Ultimately it is not what I say, what your pastor or church says, or what your parents have taught you that matters. It is what Scripture says – the very words of God – that matters. Have you ever searched that out for yourself and not just relied on what someone else has told you?

We cannot look to a time in our lives when we have prayed a prayer and let that prayer give us assurance of salvation. Scripture says we are to “Examine ourselves. Test ourselves to see that we are in the faith!” (2 Cor. 13:5) It doesn’t say, “Did you pray the prayer?” If we have been saved, our lives will look different than they did prior to our salvation. I have told you many times, it is not our works that save us, but it is our works that demonstrate that we are saved. You can find the tests of assurance of salvation in the book of 1 John. “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” (1 John 5:13). This is the reason he wrote the book! He wouldn’t have needed an entire book on it if the only test for ourselves was, “did you pray the prayer… and were you sincere?”  People who have prayed a "sinners prayer" and look nothing like 1 John says a believer will look are lost.

Ezekiel 36 talks about God taking our heart of stone out and giving us a heart of flesh. This is what He does when He gives us salvation and regenerates our hearts. The only thing required of us is complete surrender. Not good works… just laying everything down. When we do this, we are giving ourselves completely over to Him. We become a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Our lives are no longer our own. As a preacher once said, “The Gospel is free, but it will cost you everything.” The result? We will not be able to restrain ourselves from doing those good works, and someday, we will inherit the kingdom of heaven!


Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” Let’s take a brief look at repentance and believing -- the two things that demonstrate our surrender.


1. REPENT:


• Repent means to turn. To CHANGE. If I’m walking in one direction, it means I completely turn and walk differently. I do a new thing. Whatever sin I am living in, I walk away from and as God reveals other things, I continue to turn from them towards Him.

     o This is true in our lives as a whole. Before my heart was regenerated, I lived one way. After that day, I turned and started in a whole different direction as a NEW CREATION. (2 Cor. 5:17)

           The result? I now am disturbed by sin. It bothers me. That’s the Holy Spirit doing His job!

           I see the righteousness of Christ and desire that.

     o This is true in individual areas of our life that God reveals to us that need change. This changing process will never end! It’s called sanctification.

     o Repentance should be a daily occurrence in our lives. It is not a one-time thing.


• Is repentance a reality in your life? Do you continue to repent… to change… to become more like Christ every day? Do you hate the sin you once loved? Not just that you know that it’s wrong and shouldn’t do it, but do you HATE it? If this is true, this is great evidence of your conversion.


2. BELIEVE:


• Are you believing in Christ? This means that you SEE the promises of God in Scripture and believe that they are true.

• Faith is believing the promises of God.

• What are some of the promises we are called to believe? Scripture is FULL of them. If we truly BELIEVE in them, we will walk IN OBEDIENCE to them! Thus demonstrating the “new creation”.  Our obedience is what demonstrates our belief!
 *** If these things ARE true in a person’s life, there is great evidence of conversion. Our lives must LOOK different. “Old things will pass away. Behold all things become new!” Sin will bother you! You will desire righteousness. 


*** If a person says these things with their lips, but nothing has changed in their lives, and they go on living life like they always have -- that person needs to do a serious heart check and cry out to God. Eternity is at stake, and there is nothing more serious to be concerned about. Throw yourself on Him. Ask Him to change you, to regenerate your heart.


*** I remind you of this verse in Proverbs 14. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” If your idea of the Gospel is different than that found in Scripture, it’s time to re-evaluate your view of the Gospel according to the Scripture. See what is the TRUE Gospel, not your marble of what the Gospel is.

LET'S GET THE MARBLES OUT!

I had a dream.  It was a crazy dream, but one that I couldn't just roll over and go back to sleep with. 

I had to get up.  I had to write it down. 

This is taken from my dream.

Picture a beautiful clear vase.  A big one!  It could hold a huge bunch of flower.  But instead of flowers, picture marbles inside.  Marbles of every size, every pattern, and every color.

We all have marbles that we add to the glass jar.  Mine might be red -- yours blue.  Our marbles define our experiences in life.  They may even APPEAR to be pretty when they are all put together.

Let's say that each marble represents a belief that we have-- things we were taught growing up, our background, our traditions, ideas we gained from reading or listening to someone speak or share THEIR ideas with you that you thought sounded good. Wherever we may have received that marble, each one represents beliefs that we have conjured up in our own minds and accepted. 

I am reminded of the Proverb... "There is a way that seems right to man, but it's end is destruction."

Many people think their marbles will get them into heaven, but will someday be shocked when they learn they are wrong.

What would happen if we dumped out all those marbles? 

They would be everywhere and we would have a huge mess!

My friends, this is what we have today in our world.

A mess.

This is what we get when we venture away from the ONE source of TRUTH.

A disaster.

The Word of God is not a marble.

The Word of God has stood the test of time. 

That word, "inspired" literally means "breathed out". 

It is an amazing gift given to us by the Creator of the Universe so that we may KNOW Him.  Not just guess who He is and make another marble. 

Most Americans believe in "god".  But it is a "god" they have created with their own marbles.

Some say, "My 'god' is too loving to send THAT many people to hell."

or

"I am better than THAT person.  I must be fine!"

Many just don't think the Bible is important enough to pour the kind of time and energy it takes to read and understand it.  "I'm too busy!  I'll read this other book instead.  It's written by a 'Christian'."

Marbles. 

People's own ideas.

Disaster.

Some day we will stand before a righteous and holy God, and He will say, "What have you done with my Son?"

"Oh, I love Jesus."  We might say back.  "I went to church.  I lived a good life.  I wore Christian T-shirts.  I was always kind.  Never hurt anyone."

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."  (Matthew 7:21-23).

This is serious stuff.

The only way to know the will of the Father is to study the Scriptures. 

That's why He gave it to us!

We can't guess what His will is

because then we are just creating another marble.

The only way to know Jesus, the REAL Jesus, not the marble we make in our heads, is through God's Word.  It takes time, energy, and effort.  You must have a desire, and if you don't, beg God to make you hungry to study it. 

It's the only way to know Him!

In my life, for a time, it meant I didn't read anything else.  I didn't have time!  I still don't!  I have oodles of books that I have never finished because I have to choose the BEST from the pile in my limited time.  Rarely do I get to read other things, and when I do, I must line it up with the Scripture to be sure that it is truth!  If it doesn't line up, throw it out!  The Word of God is our ONE source of TRUTH.  Get rid of your marbles.  Repent of your own ideas!  Let God fill you with truth.  Because it is the TRUTH that will SET YOU FREE!

And God's Word is the only place to find that truth.

Many people say they have a "relationship" with Jesus.  But if we hardly know Him -- the REAL Jesus, how can that be so?

I cannot get to know a person by what someone else says about that person.  I can get a few facts, but to know who that person really is, I must spend time with that person talking and listening. Both QUALITY time and QUANTITY.  Asking questions and listening carefully to the answers. 

Time spent in the Word of God is never wasted.

It needs to be the HIGHEST priority of our day.

Blessings, my friends.

(BTW, if you live in our area and would like to be a part of a Bible study, please let me know.  There are 3 different ones to choose from: ladies on Wed., one at the shelter on Thurs., and one in our home on Sun.  We would love to have you join us!)

SOME SPURGEON FOR YOUR THINKING...

Taken from "Morning and Evening" -- August 31 Morning.

In seasons of severe trial, the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust to, and is therefore compelled to cast himself on his God alone.  When his vessel is on its beamends, and no human deliverance can avail, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God.  Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this!  O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone....

... when he is burdened with troubles so pressing and so peculiar, that he cannot tell them to any but his God, he may be thankful for them; for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time....

... Now that thou hast only thy God to trust to, see that thou puttest thy full confidence in Him.  Dishonour not thy Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; but be strong in faith, giving glory to God....

...your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the carnal eye.

PRAY.

Realizing the battle is stronger than we will ever comprehend.  Realizing that we have no strength on our own to make a difference in people's lives.  Realizing that nothing can change without the strength and power of our God, who greater, who is stronger, and who is higher than any other.  If Our God is for us, than nothing can stop us.  He turned water into wine.  He opened eyes of the blind.  He is the only light that can shine in the darkness, and the only One who can bring us out of the ashes.  There is none like Him, and we can do nothing without Him.  So, we must pray.

We finished James up in our women's study last night with a challenge to deeper prayer for others.  Nothing will change in this broken world -- nothing can change in these broken lives without the power of our great God.  The enemy is strong, but our God is greater.  He wants to heal.  We are called to pray. 

Just as in the end of James, where we see the elders of the church restoring a sinner through prayer, and Elijah is restoring the backslidden nation of Israel through prayer, so are we called in verses 19-20 to do the same for those who have "wandered from the truth".... through prayer.  It takes prayer.

These Scriptures show us the picture of confession, prayer and healing taking place.  What helps a person?  God.  What does James say in 4:2?  We have not because we ask not.  We need to interceed for people to be restored in their walk with Him and for sinners to come to Him.  We need to ask.  If we don't, who will?

As a wise man once said, "Busyness is not OF the devil, it IS the devil."  We make time for so many things in this life that are fleeting, and yet we make so very little time for prayer.  As I'm writing, I'm speaking to myself just as much as anyone else.  It's going to take discipline, and most likely a rearranging of our current daily schedules to fit in more time for prayer.  My heart's cry has been, "Lord break my heart for others that I may be so drawn to prayer for them, and not just out of a "duty" or "guilt" to do it."  We will not succeed in this task if it is only done for those reasons, and I believe only God can instill a passion in our hearts to do it.... so ask Him.  What greater pleasure can we have than to see hurting sinners come to the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.  It can only be done through prayer.  Please, pray, keeping in mind, that it's only because our God greater... our God is stronger... our God is higher than any other.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DOCTRINE AND OUR CALL TO KNOW IT AND OBEY IT

A few weeks back, I had a conversation with a friend regarding this topic of doctrine.  We discussed whether or not doctrine was important because so often it divides believers.  I decided to look and see what Scripture had to say about doctrine, and was blown away.

My study started as I was reading through some Proverbs.  This verse stood out to me:

Proverbs 4:2  "For I give you good doctrine; do not forsake my law."

If God gives us GOOD doctrine, and we are not to forsake it, He must then enable us to understand what that good doctrine is.  God never asks us to do anything He will not enable us to do.  Therefore, my conclusion from this verse alone is that God has given us sound doctrine, and we are to know what that doctrine is because He has called us not to forsake it.  I might even be so bold as to add that true, God-fearing, Scripture-studying believers, will not vary much on their doctrine.  A big part of that, however, is to remain teachable to true doctrine.  God is growing each of us, and I want truth, even if that means I must trade in something I always believed if it does not line up with Scripture.

Maybe it would be wise to define the term "Doctrine" before I go any further.  According to Strong's it is defined as "the function or the information; instruction, learning, teaching."

So if we are to KNOW this sound doctrine, where do we get it? 

I'm going to break this verse up just a bit.

2 Tim. 3:16
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine...."

So often we focus on the rest of that verse "for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..." which is also amazing.  But let's not leave out that little word "doctrine".

But, Scripture is given to us for doctrine.  We are not to listen to the latest teacher to get our doctrine.  We are not to follow the newest fad or read the latest books.  We are to study the Scriptures.  When we do this, as verse 17 says, "We will be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Having sound doctrine from the Scripture is part of what completes us as believers and equips us.  Without it, we are unequipped.

Why are we not to listen to man to receive doctrine without holding their teaching up to Scripture? 

2 Timothy 4:3-5a  "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.  But you, be watchful in all things....."

It breaks my heart when people don't want to hear truth from the Word of God.  We need to be watchful, and more than that, when we see people following false doctrine, or slipping in that direction, according to Scripture, we are to "exhort" them and "convict" them.  This is not always the best way to make friends, but that is not what we are called to do.  We are called to speak truth, in love.

Titus 1:9  "...holding fast to the faithful Word as he has been taught, that he may be able, BY SOUND DOCTRINE, both to exhort and convict those who contradict."

We are called to give attention to sound doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:13 "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, TO DOCTRINE."

We give attention to so many things.  How much attention are we giving to knowing and understanding sound doctrine?  It is not something we are to just brush under the rug and say we'll never agree, so let's forget about it.  We are called to it.  They key then is SOUND doctrine... only found from laboring and studying the Scriptures.  This takes effort!!  It does not come easily, but it is something we are called to do.

I leave you with a strict warning from 2 John regarding false doctrine.

2 John 9-10  "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God.  He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds."

WASHING OF THE FEET

I just loved the study from John 13 that we had at the shelter last night.  So much from that chapter came alive to me that I had never seen there before. 

When Peter said to the Lord, "You shall never wash my feet!" and Jesus responds rather harshly with "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me."  It is exactly the same way with us.  If we are not washed -- regenerated, we have no part with Him.  What did Jesus wash?  The dirt and dust from living in the world that had collected on their feet.  What does He wash in us?  The "junk" from living in the world.  Sin. 

Then Peter, still not understanding the spiritual application says, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"  And Jesus replies, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you."  Once we are bathed, we are "completely clean", but we still need to have our feet washed on a regular basis.  What a beautiful pictures of our standing with Jesus Christ, and also of sanctification.

There is so much more here that I'd love to write about, but I have a crying child who needs to get up from his nap!

LADIES BIBLE STUDY

For 3 weeks now, we have been studying the book of 1 John. I wish I would have been posting all along and writing about what we've been learning. Some days I just have so many things running through my head, that I'm not even sure how to process it all, let alone put it into words on here. I feel that way now, but I'm still going to try. :)

Last week, we talked in depth about assurance of salvation, which is one of the main purposes John wrote 1 John. (1 John 5:13: These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life...) Assurance of salvation comes from looking at our lives right now and examining ourselves and testing ourselves to see that we are actually in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). Make your calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).

This week, we are going to cover 2:12-29.

There is so much I could write about, but to narrow it down, I'm going to talk about 2 warnings given to believers in this section of Scripture. 1) The World 2) False Doctrines. We will see that our attacks against both these things is THE WORD OF GOD!! Not books written about the Word of God, or someone's opinion of what the Word of God says, or different gospels that people claim still coincide with the Word of God (but don't), but the Word of God. Period.

The "world" refers to any sphere which Jesus is not loved and welcomed. We are not to love these things. I love in verse 13, where it talks about the young men being strong, and they have the Word of God abiding in them, which is enabling them to overcome the wicked one -- who we know often pulls us towards himself through the love of the world. Verse 14 emphasizes the importance of constantly feeding on the Bible and having it ready to repel the attacks of Satan. "Abide" means to stay, dwell, tarry, remain, endure, stand in... We are to do these things in the Word of God.

How do we ABIDE in the Word of God? Spend time in it personally -- lots of time. Lisen to godly teachers on it (using the anointing talked about later in this chapter from the Holy Spirit to guide us). Fellowshipping with other believers about it. Chewing on it. Meditating on it. (Ps1:2, 119:15) The word meditate in these verses in the Hebrew gives us a picture of "verbalizing" it. Conversing about it -- pray it, speak it, talk it, etc. I think often of a cow chewing it's cud. It goes down, and comes back up. He spends time chewing it. It goes down, it comes back up... chewing some more... that's what we need to do with the Word of God -- chew on it all day long.

The Word of God is also what will protect us against John's second warning here -- False teachings. They are EVERYWHERE. All around us. And it shouldn't surpise us, because we are told they will only increase the closer we get to the coming of Christ. These false teachers in this passage were professing Christians who once associated with the apostles, however, they were not truly one with believers. Proof of this is that they went out of fellowship with true believers (vs19). The sad thing is, this is exactly what is happening today.

"If a man has truly been born again, he will go on for the Lord. We are not saved by enduring to the end, but rather those that endure to the end are really saved" (BBC).

So, how can believers discern truth from error? According to vs.20, we have an anointing from the Holy One. The Holy Spirit enables a believer to discern truth from lies. An example. I have a friend who was in a circle where things were being taught that didn't line up with Scripture. Being new to the faith, she didn't dare question them, but she had a check in her spirit. She went home, and was a Berean, and searched and searched the Scriptures and couldn't find what they were teaching her. The Holy Spirit gave her a check, she went home and searched. God gave her discernment. She later came to me and said, "Where is this in Scripture? I can't find it anywhere!!"

"With the Word of God in our hands, and the Spirit of God in our hearts, we have all that we need for instruction in the truth of God" (BBC).

The ONLY book we need is the Word of God. Not that all books are bad, but there is just so much out there that is wrong, I would much rather stick with the one book that I know to be true. We can spend a lifetime studying it, and never understand all that God has to speak to us through it. I'm so frustrated with how the "Christian" "help books" or "different gospels" are pulling people away from the one source where people will find truth and help -- the Word of God.

I exhort you... pray for discernment. Study the Word of God. There are people out there waiting to tickle your ears, and we are commanded to "be watchful in all things" and yes, we will have to "endure afflictions." If we aren't watchful for it, it will be much easier for us to fall prey to it.

This barely scratches the surface of what is tucked away in this wonderful Scripture God has given us, but I do hope it makes us think! I know it does me!

I end with this quote by Dr. Ironside. "If it's new, it's not true, and if it's true, it's not new."