Vengance is Mine, says the Lord

Have you ever felt wronged by someone or something? Maybe it was a policy that you felt was unfair? I know I have. Here is a good quote from Jill Briscoe:

"Lord, let me learn to let it bother You, and refuse to let it bother me."

I used to get so upset and mad when these things happened in my life and instead of giving the situation to the Lord, I tried to take care of it myself.

Proverbs 24:12 says "Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? And in Proverbs 20:22 God says "Do not say, 'I will repay evil'; wait for the Lord, and He will save you".

God is aware of everything that goes on in our lives and He tells us in these verses as well as many others that vengeance is His. He will repay.

So, now instead of getting all riled up when I feel that I have been wronged, I remember that God saw what happened and that I need to leave it in His hands. I need to let it bother Him and not let it bother me.

A New Year!

As many students might agree, the "new year" doesn't start on January 1, but rather on September 8 (or whatever date your particular school starts on). I've decided to take the fresh start of the year as an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, so to speak, for my personal life. I'm hoping to make some dramatic changes, so perhaps posting it on this blog will help me be held accountable by my church family! :)

Our pastor has just recently finished a sermon series on self-control, which dealt quite a bit with laziness versus diligence and procrastination versus responsibility. I have felt incredibly convicted the past month or so about my own laziness, and I need to stop procrastinating (oh, the irony!) on getting my life together. A lot of people tell me the same thing when I confess my laziness: that I am so incredibly busy I could not possibly be a lazy person. Let me take a second to clarify: not true!! I am so lazy! I am learning to look at my life a bit more acutely and see that business does not equal diligence. During the school year, I typically leave the house at 7:30 or 8:30 in the morning, barely waking up on time. Then my day is typically filled with catching up on the prior day's assignments, which will be turned in within the next half hour or so, going to classes, sometimes without my materials (so I take notes in the wrong notebooks), and rehearsals and lessons, which I have not practiced for. Then I come home at perhaps 9 or 10 in the evening, sit around for a few hours because my brain is "fried" from the day, and go to bed without doing that day's homework or spending adequate time in the Word. What a horrible way to live!

I confess all this to you bloggers so you are not fooled by the responsible appearance I'm told that I have. I am a sinner, and it is most obvious in the ungrateful way I manage my time day after day, year after year. After much thought, I had decided a few weeks ago to make some changes that will, Lord willing, reflect the gospel in my life. My life is a testament to God's faithfulness, so my self-control in day-to-day living should reflect the perseverance of the saints that the New Testament continually refers to. I need to be a good steward so that I can more accurately reflect Christ! I'm reading through the gospels right now, and I am amazed at Jesus's unceasing work. Even when he was tired and withdrew from the crowd, there was always work for him to do, whether it be explaining the parables to His followers or praying to His Father. I want my life to be like His.

I've made a daily schedule in which I budgeted time to do all my homework, attend class, eat, sleep, practice, blog and journal, pray, and study Scripture. The last few weeks of summer were a joy to me because I saw fruit in my life with this self-control that God is graciously giving me. I had time to do everything that needed to get done (including the hard things! I scheduled those first!) as well as the things I wanted to do. I'm more willing to make cuts where necessary (something I struggle with) because I see what I physically cannot do due to over scheduling versus what I won't do because I'm lazy. God has been gracious to me!

Now with school beginning I hope to do the hard things first, be diligent, spread the gospel as much as possible, and, most importantly, LOVE CHRIST MORE. I pray that I will be able to do so, as He sustains me and gives me grace! God is good.

Work

I found an interesting verse today as I was reading the Psalms.

It was Psalm 104:14 " He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth"

Its interesting that God says that He causes vegetation to grow for the labor of man. He could have just fed us Himself but, He wants us to work for it.

I have seen a change in the "world's" attitude about work over the past few years. My parent's generation believed that it was good to work to provide for their needs and the needs of their families. Today, I see people looking to the government to provide for their needs. I'm all for helping people truly in need and I think it is a good way for believers to show and talk to people about Jesus but, it seems that an increasing number of people have voluntarily decided to not work to provide for themselves and instead happily rely on the ever increasing social entitlements.

I think that God blesses us through work. Reading and understanding the Bible is one good example.

I also think that this concept dovetails with Pastor Matt's sermon series on self-control. We are not to let our desire for leisure and comfort dictate our lives. Instead we need to be out doing what God wants us to do no matter what it is. I also think that as the 2nd coming of Christ gets nearer every day that passes, it is urgent that we tell others about salvation by faith through Christ and live our lives as a witness to those around us.

Quote of the day

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never

did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not

punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something

better. 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.


Author unknown

Looking back on the past

I enjoy listening to music. I play my Christian CDs and my Irish CDs and other times I listen to KLOVE, a radio station that plays Christian contemporary songs. I don't feel as lonely during the day when I have music on.

A few months ago I was switching through stations because KLOVE was not coming in clear. I heard a song I had not heard in a long time so I listened for a while. As it turned out, it was an oldie's station and I was shocked that I remembered every song...I guess music from the 70's and 80's is now considered oldie's!

After I got over the shocking realization that I must be an "oldie" myself, I continued to listen and enjoyed hearing the songs again. For me, most times these songs bring back memories of what was going on in my life back when it was popular. I found myself thinking about the plans I had for my life and then thinking about how it actually worked out. My life turned out so different than the way I wanted it to. I started feeling sad and restless.

I was very bummed out for a few weeks. I felt like nothing was "worth it" anymore. I wanted to go back in time to a place where I was happy and had a lot to look forward to. As it turned out, an old friend called and we got together for lunch. We talked about the "olden days" and how our lives had worked out. She has 2 school age kids and I am already a grandma! We really didn't have much in common anymore and that made me feel even worse.

I decided after a few weeks that I needed to stop thinking about the past. I turned the radio back to KLOVE and I heard a new song named Blink by a group named Revive. It talks about enjoying the time you have now instead of just thinking about the past and how "it could have been". The refrain spoke to my heart;

"slow down, slow down
before today becomes our yesterday
slow down, slow down
before you turn around and its too late"

I realized that I didn't enjoy the "now" when I was young. I just wanted to grow-up and be on my own as fast as I could. My friend had done that and consequently, when we talked at lunch she had lots of good memories and even though I was with her during these good times, I really didn't remember them. I realized that I had wished my life away.

I have been praying that God would help me to just slow down and "smell the roses". I have a tendency to go through my life one crisis at a time and always be on the lookout for the next crisis so that maybe I can nip it in the bud. I am not happy and I honestly do not enjoy anything because I don't allow myself to. I need to make this change in my life not only for myself and my health, but also so that I can show non-believers that I am trusting in the Lord and that I have joy. I think that people today are looking for peace, joy and contentment but, they don't know where to find it. I want to be a witness for Christ and if people see these qualities in my life, maybe I will have an opportunity to share my faith with them.

God is good

The King of Love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever.

Sir Henry Williams Baker

God will not be mocked!

In 2 Chronicles 32:1-22 there is an interesting story. Hezekiah became king of Judah after the death of king Ahaz. He was a godly king and commanded that the people go back to the worshiping the One true God. He destroyed all of the idols and re-opened the Temple in Jerusalem and had it repaired. He reinstated the celebration of Passover and that year the feast lasted for 2 whole weeks.

One day the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, decided to lay siege to Jerusalem. The people were very afraid because the Assyrian army was strong and had taken over many cities. But, king Hezekiah told them to trust God to fight for them.

King Sennecherib sent one of his servants over to the wall of Jerusalem and told him to brag about how powerful he was. He also told them that since the gods of the other nations couldn't save them, why should they think that their God could do a better job?

Instead of just giving up, king Hezekiah and Isaiah both cried out to the Lord about this. The next morning, the entire Assyrian army was found dead in their camp because the Lord had sent an angel to destroy them! Sennecherib ended up going home in shame.

This is an example of what happens when people mock God. They may get away with it for a while since He is slow to anger, but as the saying goes; "you can run but you can not hide". God will not allow His name to be "dragged through the mud" so to speak. He is all powerful and He always wins.

In today's culture, mocking God is nothing strange. Everyday, I see on TV or in the newspaper, people voluntarily going against God's laws. People take His name in vain and think nothing of it. Laws are passed that give people free reign to go against God's instructions. I even saw a promo for a new fall TV show that is about a demon from Hell and his wife and how they interact with their neighbors! It is even animated and sold as a comedy!

There will be a day of reckoning. No one is going to be mocking God when they stand trembling before Him to give an account of their actions. He will one day make all things right.

Most Bible scholars are of the opinion that we are living in the last days. If we truly are, then believers need to be busy about speaking the gospel to everyone they come in contact with. It should be our top priority to be "missional" like Pastor Matt tells us, while there is still time.

Behold the Lamb

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away
Slain for us - and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgiveness at the cross
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King

The body of our Savior Jesus Christ
Torn for you - eat and remember
The woulds that heal, the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of love
Around the table of the King

The blood that cleanses ev'ry stain of sin
Shed for you - drink and remember
He drained death's cub that all may enter in
To receive the life of God
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of grace
Around the table of the King

And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond, and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As His body here on earth
As we share in His suffering
We proclaim Christ will come again!
And we'll join in the feast of heaven
Around the table of the King

Words and Music by Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townsend

We will be taking communion this week at Missio Dei. Let us begin even now to prepare our hearts.

Take time for prayer

I don't know about you but, sometimes I have a hard time praying. I desire to talk with God about everything but sometimes my mind drifts away. I'm already on to the next thing in my mind instead of taking the time to be quiet before the Lord.

I think Americans are so busy that we can't stand to just take time out to rest our minds. Our culture says "don't just sit there, get going!" Sure, we plan vacations to "get away from it all", but when we get there, we want to see the sights or do fun things and we come back more exhausted than before we left.

As a housewife I think about all of the modern conveniences that we have today to help us do our jobs. Women of even 100 years ago would drool at the thought of how easy their life would be if they had washing machines, dishwashers, and microwaves, not to mention fast food places on almost every corner! So then why are we so busy and stressed out? Those women had the same 24 hours in a day and they did things by hand yet they didn't end up in stress reduction therapy.

Americans are also self-sufficient. Like they used to say in movies, "I don't want no charity". We think we can do anything if we put our minds to it. I think that is also a hinderance to our prayer lives. We ask God for things but then we go out and take matters into our own hands because we figure either God didn't hear us or that He is taking too long to answer us. We want it NOW.

In order to have a good prayer life, I think we need to slow down. We need to be willing to take some time and just spend it with the Lord. We need to have a less busy heart. In my case, I need to allow myself to take some quiet time each day. My world isn't going to crumble. When my boys were little, it seemed like I didn't have a sane moment ever. If I had a chance to do it over again (not that I want to though :) ) I may have tried to involve them in my quiet time somehow. It may have been a chance to show them that time with God is important and to make time for it each day no matter what type of chaos was taking place.

So, as the weather is getting nicer, I challenge you to take a break sometime each day and spend it with God. It will do your heart good and your relationship with your Heavenly Father will become even more precious

Yesterday I read a saying: "The really happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour."

I thought about that statement and realized that it is actually very true. I used to allow myself to get frustrated and angry whenever things didn't work out the way I thought they should. I used to say that if anything can go wrong in any situation, it would certainly happen to me. And often times it did.

One day a long time ago, I heard the song by Amy Grant: Angels Watching Over Me. The song says that we are protected by angels at times in our lives such as when a reckless car runs out of gas before it could cause an accident. I have heard stories about how people had to stop for a red light when they were late and being all upset about it until they see that some kind of accident has happened ahead and realized that if they had made the light, it would have been their car that would have been involved in an accident.

I have personally had times where the phone rang just as I was heading out the door and if I had not taken the time to answer it, I would have been hurt or killed. My husband had a situation where a slow car was ahead of him on his way to work and had he passed the car, he would have been involved in a deer vs. car incident.

So, my point is; don't be so uptight when your life is put on a "detour". It could be God intervening to save you from something. Nothing happens by chance. God is in charge and on His throne. If nothing else, it will lessen the stress in our already overstressed lives.

Looking Forward to Heaven Part 2

Yesterday we talked about the anticipation that we should have for heaven - for spending an eternity with God. Today we will go a little deeper into our discussion.

Philippians 1 gives us an excellent example of the fine line we walk here. Verses 21-24 read, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake." If you notice, every time Paul mentions his own personal preferences, what would be better for him, he speaks of going home to Christ. Notice the phrase "very much better." Not just kind of better, or theoretically better, but "very much better." He equates death with gain, not with loss.

And what does he mention as his purpose in continuing to live? Is it that he wants to have children first? Is it that he wants to retire first? No! Rather, the only purpose he can come up with is fruitful labor, for ministering to others and spreading the gospel. Consider the final phrase "to remain on is more necessary for your sake." What? This statement is huge!

Paul's life is so devoted to servitude that he equates his very reason for living as serving others. There is no reason for himself to stay alive and he has no problem in saying that he would much rather just go and be with Christ, but he recognizes that the work the Lord has him doing is important for others. This statement by Paul should cause us to think on two different levels.

First, how many of us think this way? If we are honest, probably very few of us. Paul obviously has a very big view of who God is. We should be continually praying that God would reveal more of Himself to us (and more of ourselves to us!) until we, like Paul, can cry out that going to be with Christ this exact second is so much better than anything we would be 'missing' here on Earth!

Second, how many of us could honestly say that our single greatest reason for living is to serve others? How many of us can pray, "Father, I want to come home! But perhaps allow me to linger on to continue to do this work in your name!" What impact would your death have on the world? God has not called us all to be Paul, but He has called us all to live our lives in complete abandon for Him and His Word.

The Lord blesses us in many ways while we are on this Earth. Every child is a gift from God. Beautiful weather is a gift from God. Delicious food is a gift from God. Good sleep is a gift from God. But all of these gifts are completely blown away by the ultimate gift of salvation in Jesus Christ and eternity with God.

Just like the children in our example, we should be preparing. We are only on this Earth for a short time and we need to be making the most of it - especially if we are praying that Christ would come back soon! Just as they took joy in picking their favorite outfits to wear for their friends, so should we be clothing ourselves with holiness and the fruits of the spirit.

Now, this is all very interesting to talk about and read about. But how many of us are really sitting on the edge of our seats every minute of every day wondering, "Will this be the day I get to go home??" As I mentioned earlier, this is due to our lack of knowledge of God. If we truly knew God for who He was, this world would sicken us. If we truly understood our salvation this would not be a struggle. But we are sinners and our minds are still clouded by sin. Let us join together today in prayer that God would make Himself known to us more every day. That He would so grow in majesty in our minds that we are willing and eager to count it all as loss for the sake of Christ and His gospel!

Looking Forward to Heaven Part 1

Oh no. You did it again. You volunteered to watch some kids from the church for the weekend and you told your own children about it. And now they won't stop talking about it! They are bouncing off the walls, running up and down the stairs and, worst of all, asking repeatedly if it is the weekend yet. "How much longer to Friday, mom?" "Hey mom, is it almost the weekend?" "Ma! How much longer 'till Sammy comes over?" Every five minutes the subject comes up until you wish you hadn't told them until after the visitors arrived!

They begin to rearrange their rooms, planning where each person will sleep. Favorite toys are brought out to display proudly. Outfits are planned and activities are organized. Everything they come in contact with suddenly relates, in some way, to the upcoming weekend.

You try to distract them with other things but each idea fails. You put in a movie but all they do is talk about how much fun it will be to watch movies with their friends on the weekend. You take them to the park but all they do is ask if they can go again on Saturday. You tell them one morning that they can have ice cream for dessert after dinner (because by this point you'd rather hear about ANYTHING but the upcoming weekend!) but all they do is ask if they can have ice cream with their friends on Friday.

No matter what you do or how hard you try to distract them, your kids' minds are focused on that weekend.

This is how we should feel about Heaven. We should be so excited over the prospect of spending eternity in Heaven with God that our excitement is barely containable. We should be so utterly focused on it that our joy and anticipation is readily apparent to anyone we see. Everything in our life should point to it.

Do you love singing hymns and praises? Anticipate the day when you will be singing praises continually! Do you love studying and learning more of the Lord? Imagine the day when you will see Him face to face! Do you loathe the sin that constantly encroaches upon your life? Bounce with excitement that one day this will no longer be an issue!

Just as the children set up their rooms and picked the toys and games they would want to use with their friends, so should we be preparing ourselves for Heaven. The time of our sanctification is now and we should take full advantage of it.

The excitements and events of this world should not cause us to lose our focus for one minute. Graduation, boyfriends/girlfriends, marriage, jobs, kids, cars, vacations, houses, grandkids, retirement - nothing should be held in higher anticipation than Heaven. You find out in a doctors visit a week before you were to be married that you have cancer and three days to live? It's been nice knowing you, honey, but I'm going home!

I know this sounds awful, and I almost didn't type it but I chose to anyway. If we had a right view of God and of Heaven and of our sinful state here on Earth then we would have no problem with that example, we would wholeheartedly agree! We should hold nothing in comparison to spending eternity with Christ in His glory! Our death should be a much anticipated event and our joy should rise exponentially with each year we live for we know that we are that much closer to Heaven.

Come back tomorrow to read more about this.

Waiting for God

A few weeks ago Mrs. Mary Mohler spoke about "waiting" at the Pendergraph's Women Fellowship in September. It was a wonderful and thought provoking speech which I really enjoyed. Since that time God has shown me two examples of the benefits of waiting: a negative example and a positive example.

For the first example, I will give a bit of background. I LOVE it when my husband opens my car door for me. However in the past, my husband generally did not open my car door except on special occasions. The "rule" is: when we go out on a date then my husband opens the car door for me. So needless to say, whenever my husband opens my car door it is something I treasure! Lately, Ryan has been trying to open my car door for me more often. We might be running errands or traveling, etc. and he will jump out of the car and say "I'll get your door", then proceed to run around the car and open the door for me. This is a fairly new occurrence and so we're still working out the kinks.

On one such day, we arrived at our destination and Ry jumped out and said "I'll get your door". But because I wasn't listening carefully to what he had said; I didn't hear him and so opened my own door and got out. I realized my mistake as soon as Ry came around the back of the car and told me that he had intended to get my door (but now I had already gotten out so his efforts were wasted). I was so disappointed! If I had listened carefully to what he had said and just waited for him I would have been so blessed by his gift of opening my door! As soon as it happened I told him what a poignant example that was to me of how often I don't listen carefully for God's leading or wait for Him to work out a situation and as such I plow through my days making a mess of things and missing the blessings that come from waiting for God to act!

The other example is a little sweeter... Yesterday was our 15th anniversary. Ryan had classes all day and I was out running errands. I was right next to a Starbucks and was tempted to stop and get a Double Chocolate Chip Frappaccino (my very favorite drink), but didn't because I had to get to work unpacking boxes at our apartment. I knew what I had to get done and so I figured that I could wait until a more opportune time to get myself a treat. When I got home, I started working on the boxes and stayed busy until Ryan got home from school. When he walked in he had in his hand a Starbucks Grande Double Chocolate Chip Frappaccino which he had picked up for me for our anniversary! The best thing about this is that Ryan strongly dislikes stopping at stores or shopping, so it was a really unexpected and a real sacrifice on his part. For my part, if I had not waited earlier and had gotten myself a DCC Frap, then it would have diminished the blessing of the gift that my husband got me later that evening, not just for me but also for my husband. He would have been disappointed and felt like his gift was not as special.

Both of these instances caused my mind to go back to waiting on God. God never lets you down in the end. He always calls us to wait because He is working out whatever is the best thing for us in our lives and often the lessons which will so bless us and cause us to be like Christ, are the ones that take the most time to develop in our hearts. Praise God for Mrs. Mohler's speech as well as the examples that God showed me in my life.

Why We Were Created

Genesis 1:26a, 27 "Then God said, "Let us make an in our image, in our likeness...So God created man in His own imagine, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them."

As you read through Genesis one, you see the creation of the world, of day and night, light and darkness, land and water, birds and animals. Finally, on the sixth day you see something new. You see man created. This in of itself is not so radical; God has been creating for the past five days. But with man it is different. Man is created in the image of God.

What does this mean? It does not mean, as I remember thinking as a young child, that we look like God. Instead, it means that we have special 'abilities' that other living things, such as plants or animals, do not. These abilities include having thoughts and emotions and the ability to communicate and make decisions.

So why were we created differently than the animals. Why were we created in the image of God? For one reason: we are called to glorify God. This is not to say that plants and animals do not glorify God - they do. We, however, are created to glorify God in a unique way - by enjoying Him.

Think about this for a minute: we were created with the ability to know God, be entirely satisfied in our knowledge of Him, and spend eternity basking in the joy of our creator's presence. This is how we glorify God!

So today, when you are experiencing trials big or small and you find yourself getting frustrated or discontent, take a minute to pull back and remember your purpose. If you are having trouble finding this joy, stop and reflect on your salvation. Remind yourself of the gospel and thank God for choosing you to be a vessel of mercy rather than wrath.

Things in this world can seem so big, so important, so consuming. Do not let yourselves get caught up in the here and now. Concentrate on your Savior; remind yourself that your time here on earth is to be spent in preparing for an eternity of glorifying God through your enjoyment of Him. And then enjoy Him, for He truly is an awesome Savior, merciful God, and loving Father.

Importance of Living in the Gospel

Have you ever sat down and tried to find sin and the effects of sin in your life? I have, and it can be a very sobering exercise. Sin is everywhere, standing boldly in the middle of the street, blocking every doorway, lurking around every corner.
It can be easy (sometimes) for us to recognize and avoid the sin that is waving a red flag in our face (No, I won’t take that opportunity to steal money from my boss. No thanks, I’m not going to sleep with that cute guy from work. Nah, I won’t run over that obnoxiously slow pedestrian jay walking in front of my car). But so often we are too busy rejoicing in our ‘victory’ over the obvious sins that we are unwittingly falling prey to the less obvious.
God is so faithful to never give us more than we can handle, and this includes allowing our sinful hearts to be revealed to us slowly rather than all at once. Sometimes one particular sin we have allowed to take up residence in our hearts is revealed to us (Wow, I am a hugely impatient person! I need to work to conquer this sin in my life). Other times, many of our sins are revealed to us at once.
Regardless of how our sin is revealed, there is only one way to vanquish it in our lives and that is through the gospel. Remember: sin only at the very end reveals itself as an outward, visible action. It always begins in the heart. The sin of sleeping with the cute guy from work began with the sins of pride, discontentment, lust, and covetousness, not to mention the sins of not glorifying God, not seeing God as supreme in your life, not relying on God as the only source of lasting joy, not being a good witness to the guy, not loving your neighbor as yourself, etc. The list goes on and on.
When looking at sin at its core, not in the outward result of the sin but at its root, we can become very discouraged. You thought you were dealing with one sin (fornication for the single or adultery for the married) but instead you find dozens of sins all leading up to the one. This finding can sink even the stoutest of heart into a depression. Sin is everywhere, in places we never expected to find it, in places we had never before noticed it. Before you know it, you can find yourself huddled in a corner with no idea of how to even begin to fight the sin you now see before you. You may be tempted to just give up.
Sisters, take comfort in the gospel. No matter what sin you see in your life, no matter how much sin you see in your life, know that Jesus has already paid for it! Jesus knew the wrath of God on the cross so that we could know the grace of God in our lives. We have been justified through the blood of Christ and no matter what sin we see in our lives, God sees the righteousness of Christ when He looks at us.
Take comfort in the Holy Spirit, in the Scriptures, in prayer. God has not left us to conquer sin on our own. He has given us three ‘tools’ to help us through our sanctification. Know that the Spirit daily gives us the strength and ability to fight our sin and become more holy. Know that Scriptures has given us everything we need to know pertaining to life and godliness. Know that we may come boldly before the throne of God in prayer in the name of Jesus.
Take comfort in the promises of God. Everyone that Christ has died for will be saved and nothing (not even you!) can change that. We have been given the ability to fight the sin in our lives knowing that it has already been conquered and paid for through Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Fighting for Forgiveness

Last week I wrote about the need to pursue forgiveness and to repent of bitterness. In my post I mentioned some scripture that I have been meditating on and it's application in actually forgiving others. This week I am going to share my little "epiphany" that I had and how it is helping me to fight for an attitude of forgiveness and as such against bitterness. This is by no means an extensive or exhaustive list of ways, but rather one little thing that I found is helping me in this area.

I was reading through the Psalms while meditating on forgiveness and the Lord brought me at the right moment to Psalm 32.

Psalm 32:1-11

A Psalm of David. A Maskil.

1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.

7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you.

10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.

11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

As I read I was convicted of people whom I was bitter toward. People whom had "hurt" me and I couldn't seem to let it go, though I had said that I forgave them. Like I said in the previous post, these people were believers. So I started to pray through scripture. Here's how my prayers went... "How blessed is ...(John Doe) whose transgression is forgiven. (John Doe's) sin is covered! How blessed is (John Doe) because the Lord does not impute his iniquity upon him." I then thought about the cross. I thought about how Jesus chose to die for their sins; if He can forgive them and has forgiven them, then so must I.

I continued by thinking on verses 3, 4, 5, and 6. I thought about how miserable it has been when I have been in sin and not repentant. I thought about how there are consequences for sin and they really are awful! This turned my mind to empathize with the person. This allowed me to pray for them to repent of their sin (if they haven't already) so that they can turn back to God to experience the blessings of forgiveness and fellowship with the Father or if the person had already repented, these verses reminded me of the danger of holding on to the other person's sin and living in bitterness. Bitterness is like cancer: it eats away at you. These verses are just as much a warning to me and cause me to pray for myself to be on guard against sin and be quick to turn to God.

Next I continue on with verses 7 through10. I am reminded that God is my deliverer. He has saved me from my sin. He has forgiven me of much. He is leading me lovingly and calling me to submissively follow Him and to live out that love to others. He is good and has good in store for me. He is trustworthy so no matter what has transpired to irk me or hurt me or affect me; God was there, is there and is still working it all together for good. So now I can have the reassurance that as I go out in forgiveness God is my strength and also my defender. Thus I can end my time thinking on verse 11. I am praising God that I am forgiven. I am in God's care. He is doing good in the other person's life and He is the God from whom and to whom all praise flows!

And so as I read I saw the need to memorize this Psalm so that I can more easily pray through the process of forgiveness and so that when Satan tempts me to be bitter, I can fight him with the word of God just like Jesus did and I can do it by the strength of the Holy Spirit! I can be ready at any moment so that I can take captive that unforgiving thought or seed of bitterness and kill it quickly with the gospel's message and the word of God.

Thoughts on Forgiveness

Matt preached on forgiveness vs. bitterness about a month ago. I have been reflecting on that subject and this was really stuck in my "craw" a few weeks ago and so I journaled about it then I found some scripture to memorize (which I will share next week). I personally don't have (I think) a hard time forgiving unbelievers. Frankly, I don't expect much from them. However when fellow believers sin against me, I can really have a hard time forgiving them. These reflections are mainly focused on forgiveness of believers.

Forgiveness is remembering that Jesus lovingly and freely chose to die for and forgive us of our sin and by remembering we are motivated to choose to not remember the sin of others against us, but instead choose to extend the same forgiveness to our "offenders". As such it requires us to seek to have and live out the same humility that Christ had in Philippians 2 "Who though He existed in the form of God did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped but He emptied Himself taking on the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Forgiveness is a matter of obedience. It is a choice that we make to humble ourselves and follow Christ. Jesus did it first. He humbled Himself. He forgave us of all of our sins. But He also did even more than we will ever have to do - He actually took our sins and their sins upon Himself! We will never have to do that (nor could we). God is not asking us to bear their sin, He is telling us to forgive that which He has already forgiven.

In choosing not to forgive, I make myself equal with God and I exalt myself over Christ which is the ultimate act of pride. (For He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.) In choosing not to forgive we make ourselves out to be better than God; more deserving of righteous treatment.

How scandalous of me! How scandalous of us! I can so easily do this that I go so far as to "dig a trench" of unforgiveness - (called bitterness) and hole up there as if I'm in a war: me against that nasty person who would dare sin against me! What a disgusting act of self-worship! Truly I need to remember at all times that if Christ (who is God) was willing to humble Himself then I (entirely sinful person that I am) can and must humble myself and forgive others.

Oh Father, please grant true and lasting repentance from this pride-filled rebellious sin of unforgiveness and bitterness. Help me to humble myself that I may exalt Christ and live out God honoring forgiveness for Your Name's sake. Thank you for reconciling me to You and bless me to be living out this ministry of reconciliation among the body of Christ as well as to the whole world.

Amen.

Food for thought...

This got me thinking alot yesterday and really turned my bible study into a time of prayer and repentence. May it bless you too!

Psalm 15

Description of a Citizen of Zion

A Psalm of David.

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?

2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart.

3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear the LORD; He swears to his own hurt and does not change;

5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Do I love God more for God or for His gifts?

I heard a sermon recently where the pastor was going to speak about prayer. However before he started the main point of his sermon he quoted John Piper from his book "God is the Gospel". In his book John Piper asks the question that if we could have all of Heaven with all of it's benefits, blessings and good things...but without God, would we be happy? Would we agree to that? Then the pastor went on to give an example. He spoke of a scenario where he comes home to find that the house is all immaculately clean. It smells wonderful. There is a plate of freshly baked cookies on the kitchen table with a fresh pot of coffee. Everything is just perfect in the house. He walks through and admires the completion of all things that were out of place or unfinished in the past. He enters his bedroom and his bed is made and smells of fresh linens and all of his dress shirts are pressed and hung neatly in the closet. There are lovely flowers on the dresser with a loving note from his wife. However his wife isn't there. She's not home and she's never going to be there again. She's disappeared. He asked how we thought he would feel. Would he shrug and carry on enjoying the cookies and the coffee? No - of course not. He would be filled with sorrow and would not be able to enjoy any of the blessings that his wife left behind because he could not enjoy her with them.

This morning while I was driving I got to thinking about this again. Would I be content to enjoy the gifts of God if I could no longer have God? Would I give a shrug to my loss of relationship with God so long as I could continue on living a happy healthy care-free life? Honestly, what if I could live with the assurance that everything would be pleasant and wonderful for the rest of my life here on earth and I would still get to go to heaven and enjoy all of the peace and joy that it holds, but without God...would I be okay with that? Is God my lover or just my provider and problem solver? Why do I love God? Is it because He is so amazing and wonderful or it is because He meets my needs (both spiritually and physically). The things that God does are not merely what makes God wonderful but rather God is wonderful and so he does those things: whether it is sending Jesus to die on the cross or healing our child or providing for us when money is tight. Those acts of love and faithfulness are the overflow of who God is and they are meant to draw us in a circle right back to God to see and know Him; they are not meant to sweep us away from Him in the tidal wave of His generous gifts.

I can say that after thinking about all of this for awhile that I have a lot more thinking to do. But this I know: I want to love God for who He is, not just for what He does for me. I am praying that He will help me to love Him more because He is worthy and I am confident that He will help me, because He has drawn me faithfully to Himself thus far. To that end I think I am going to go back and read John Piper's book "God is the Gospel" again.

To God be the glory!

Respectable Sins - Part 5

Today I am going to briefly discuss doctrinal judgmentalism. It is very easy for us to get so caught up in having correct doctrine that we can find ourselves becoming judgmental towards others who either disagree with us or who are maybe not as well taught as we are. I do not at all want you to take away from this that having and defending good doctrine is anything less than very important. However, we must be able to do this with humility knowing that however much we 'know' there will always be people out there who know more. We must have humility knowing that apart from God's grace we would know much less than we do. We must have humility knowing that it is possible for us to be wrong. We must show love to our brothers and sisters and not risk sinning by becoming prideful of our better doctrine.

I believe that this is particularly relevent to members at our church. We have been so very blessed by a pastor and elders and Sunday School teachers who take their jobs very seriously. We have been well taught. We know the Scriptures. We know our doctrine. We have taken theology classes and biblical decision making classes and parenting classes and prayer classes. It is easy for us to believe that we have arrived. It is easy for us to look down on others who are not as knowledgeable as we are.

Sisters, we do not know the Bible as well as we think we do. We do not know our doctrines as well as we should. We have taken all the right classes, but may I suggest that perhaps we have not perfectly retained every lesson taught?

Having correct doctrine matters little if we are unable to live out that doctrine. When asked, Jesus said that the most important commandments in all the Bible were to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot believe that we love othes as ourselves if we are lookind down on them in pride over our superior knowledge.

I would like to end with a quote from John Piper in his book God is the Gospel: "Gospel doctrine matters because the good news is so full and rich and wonderful that it must be opened like a treasure chest, and all the treasures brought out for the enjoyment of the world. Doctrine is the description of these treasures. Doctrine describes their true value and why they are so valuable...And all the while, doctrine does this with its head bowed in wonder that it should be allowed to touch the things of God. It whisperes praise and thanks as it deals with the diamonds of the King. Its fingers tremble at the cost of what it handles. Prayers ascend for help, lest any stone be minimized or misplaced. And on its knees gospel doctrine knows it serves the herald."