Sheep Without A Shepherd

PPM-3.jpg

This December I took my preschoolers at PromiseLand through an advent study. In doing so, we searched into the words of the prophets. Through our search, the little ones learned that when God says something He means it and if He makes a promise He keeps it, and though powerful and mighty, God is also compassionate and generous.

God used the prophets to tell of the comings of His Son, and He used them to get the focus of His distracted people back on what He created them to do, which was to bring glory to His name. The words of these prophets in the Word of God serve to remind us that God still expects His own to bring glory to His name.

In His Word we see that we do not glorify His name through exalting ourselves in power and might over others. No, God expects His children to represent His image and reflect His character to others through compassion and generosity (Micah 6:8, Zechariah 7:9, James 1:27). He made this truth even more clear when He sent His Only Begotten Son, the Word made flesh.

Throughout the Old Testament and still today, we find the people of God distracted. We find them no longer focused on how they can be a blessing to others, but instead they are inwardly focused. Some, so much so, that when the Son of God was right in front of them, they could not look past themselves enough to see that in their presence stood the greatest blessing of God ever to be bestowed upon mankind.

As we close out each year, our culture usually turns inward. We search out and pinpoint the things that we simply do not like about our selves or our circumstances. We make this condemnation checklist and resound that by the power of our will we will change these outward things. How about this year we change our condemnation checklist into a blessing budget.

This year let us take inventory of our blessings and let us ask God to open our eyes to the needs of others and how we can use whatever is in our blessing budget to meet that need.

In Mark 6:34-43 we see how Jesus taught the disciples to use their blessing budget. Here we find the Son of Man teaching one of the many crowds that followed Him. He taught until it was late and the people were hungry. The disciples wanted to send the people away to fend for themselves, but that was not the plan of Christ. Jesus said, no you feed them.

It was then that the inventory of the blessing budget was being put together. In their blessing budget all they had were five loaves and two fish. How on earth could a budget of five loaves and two fish feed thousands? With man this would be impossible, but with God all things are possible. When we choose to blow our blessing budget, God chooses to blow our mind!

When we choose to see through eyes of compassion with a heart full of generosity, God has a way of supplying us with whatever we need to meet the need of another. We just have to step out in faith and trust Him.

Here in Morgan County, Alabama we have seen a need, and we are stepping out in faith to trust God to supply us with what we need to meet it.

FP KIds 1

In Matthew 9:35-36 we see the compassion of Christ as He looks upon the people. What He sees are people who are distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd. When we look into the faces of so many of our children in the public school system, so many who are in fatherless homes, so many who are stuck in the foster care program, so many who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we see the suicide of young teens scroll through our newsfeed, we also see people, children, who are distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

When we see the distressed and dispirited we no longer want to be guilty of being the distracted. We don’t want to be the ones that are so inwardly focused that we grieve the heart of God because we missed His Son (Matthew 25:31-46). We want to bring glory to His name by reflecting His character through compassion and generosity. Oh beloved, the words of Christ should still ring loud in our souls,

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Matthew 9:37-38

You can join us today.

Would you partner with us at First Priority Greater Decatur as we seek to bring these lost sheep home to their Shepherd?

Today put away that condemnation checklist and start taking inventory for that blessing budget, I guarantee you will discover that your cup runneth over.

Are you ready to give today? If so click here: Give Today

Our responsibility in the moment is to love, and the most tangible way to love is to give. ~ David Jeremiah

Peace On Earth

PPM-3.jpg

And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.

Revelation 6:4

It’s Christmas Eve.

The night when we celebrate the coming of the Son. The Son who would be called the Prince of Peace… yet in our nation and around the world there is evidence of a great lack of peace.

In the Middle East the terror of ISIS is still raging strong, in North Korea threats are being made toward civilian businesses in our nation, a war against Ebola is still being waged in places in Africa, and the Ukraine crisis continues. Our own headlines are flooded with the murder of our men and women in blue who have taken oaths to serve and protect us.

Scabs are being picked off and old wounds that were being healed are being ripped open again. It’s like the childhood saying of what hurts worse… going down a slide of razor blades into a pool of alcohol or admitting the root cause of it all is that we are a wicked hearted deceived people.

It all should be a wake up slap in the face reminder that this world is not our home. This world is corroded in sin and its effects. Sin is the cause… immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these (Galatians 5:19-21) are its effect.

The headlines testify to the truth of the words of Scripture.

The wars and rumors of rumors. The repeated horrid acts of violence. The continuos and growing popularity of these disgusting television commercials, shows, and movies. These do not make me doubt the existence of God or the validity of His Word… they confirm Him.

Those who see Noah and Moses through the interpretation of Hollywood and Oprah, those who see the flood, the death angel of the Passover, as an act of a cruel heartless God… no… beloved that is an act of a merciful God.

That is the work of a God of great love.

Hollywood’s interpretation comes from a pampered people who have never experienced the full throttle level of the evil of men. This comes from men and women who disregard the fact that their mere ability to dream up the evils that they write into scripts is evidence of the depravity of their minds. It’s not just entertainment… wait let’s add this to the evidence… that the simple fact these evils are called “entertainment” is evidence… let’s also be reminded that before men could “safely” and “non-judgmentally” act out these evils in the fantasy of the big screen or the video game… they simply fleshed them out on real people… (thus Genesis 6:5) and if man remains in this place of fantasy it will eventually not satisfy and man will once again act them out on real people.

For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

Proverbs 23:7

Our God of great love showed how very great His love was in that He, knowing the evil of our heart, knowing the depravity of our mind, knowing the sinfulness of our soul, sent His Only Begotten Son to us…

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16

God did not just “so love” a certain people group… He “so loved” the world. He could have stayed up high in the heavenlies with a big ole bucket of popcorn and a large sized pop with a bag of juju beans and watched the show, but He didn’t.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Hebrews 2:14-15

***

although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:6-8

God knew what we still can’t seem to come to grip with…

You can’t legislate peace.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 8:3

You can’t teach peace.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Colossians 2:8, 20-23

Peace is a promise (Psalm 29:11, Isaiah 26:3)

Peace is a person (Isaiah 9:6, John 16:33)

Peace is a gift (John 14:27)

Peace is for people with whom the Lord is pleased…

“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” 

Luke 2:14

How do we please God?

It is really quite simple.

We believe Him.

We have faith in Him and His Word and we believe HIM.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Peace cannot be achieved by any dreamt up method of man. It is a work of God and it must come from God, through God, to God, for God. Peace is a choice based on the conviction that God was, that God is, and that God is to come.

Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
“But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Psalm 2

The way of peace has been given (Luke 1:79).

All we have to do is come…

I Hate Christmas

confessions

 

Last week the words, “I hate Christmas“, were mumbled underneath my breathe as the weight of the season fell on my shoulders. The past two weeks I have lost count how many times my family has almost been killed in a car wreck. Just last night I almost had a head on collision with someone pulling out of the mall parking lot and choosing to skip their own two lanes and cruise straight on in to mine. Near misses. We live in a day of near misses…

After ten nights in a row of parties, programs, concerts, and church this girl was just flat out tired. I also was beginning to believe that the possibility of picking up any gifts for our family was not going to happen. I hit the internet and did as much as I could online before the sun rose and simply had to trust that when the boxes arrived that the correct gifts would be in them.

The rush of it all.

The distraction of it all.

So very distracted.

Distracted from what the whole purpose of the day is about… O Holy Night… Peace On Earth… Goodwill Toward Men…

This year I have so many loved ones who will be celebrating Christmas without a piece of their heart. In our own family we will be celebrating Christmas Eve in a rehab center with my Father-in-Law, who is now down to a frail 113 pounds. Then we will have to say good-bye to him and go on and continue without him… I simply am not so sure how this night will go for us all.

This season is so strange… we sing of the joy while inside we are cringing. We dread being in the presence of family that has not even bothered to call and check on us in tragedy, who has treated those we love unkindly, yet at the same time we know the importance of the bond so we suck it up and stick it out.

We wish that we could we just crawl under the covers and hide from the pain of facing another holiday without that laugh, without the smell of that meal that only they could cook just right…

This season, this thing we call Christmas… this thing that makes so many of us crazy, frustrated, rushed, and distracted… Yet at the same time this season brings us the hope of redemption. In the midst of its chaos it manages to still our hearts and bring us to our knees in worship.

Somehow God manages to bring us into the stillness.

That moment of the deep breathe as I sit in the presence of the twinkling lights of our tree that is covered with memories… when the house is quiet and I remember Him. It’s all about Him. Let us not nearly miss Him.

There has been so many things, so many times, this year that the Lord has simply whispered in my heart… I AM here.

I am beyond thankful for another Christmas with my family this side of eternity. By the grace of God and His mercy, we have been granted another season of greeting and gift giving.

I mumble “I hate Christmas” and He responds with, but “I love you.” Yes, Lord. I hear You. I do. And I love you too. You are here. In my crazy. In my chaos. In my hurt. In my heart. In the stillness.

You. Are Here.

In A Manger?

PPM-3.jpg

Yesterday morning as I worked on my next book, Devotions From Exodus Part Two, I was pondering the measurements of the Table of Showbread. I had to dig through my Mamaw Lola’s sewing kit to find a measuring tape, because I was not going out to the cold garage to find my husband’s. I crawled around the house yesterday morning measuring the tables in our house looking for a visual of the actual size of the table.

When I first read the measurements I thought, good grief that’s small. But after crawling around a bit, I realized hmmmm maybe it was not as small as I thought. Then another thought hit me, I wonder what the average size of a manger in the time of Christ would have been? As I pondered this thought, my gut got its usual anticipation butterflies. The connection that the Table of Showbread in the Tabernacle held the bread of the Presence and that the manger in a stable held the Bread of Life just would not stop bouncing around in there! So me and the Holy Spirit went on an internet search 🙂

And here is some of of what I found…

“The idea that a woman about to give birth cannot find shelter and assistance from the village women in a Middle Eastern village, even if she is a total stranger, staggers the imagination. We are pressed to affirm on the basis of everything we know of Middle Eastern village life that Joseph most likely sought out and found adequate shelter in Bethlehem. This shelter, we assume, was an occupied private home, for it had a guest room that was full (as we will discover).

What then of the manger? The text tells us, “She gave birth to her first son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger.” The traditional understanding of this verse in the Western world moves along the following path. Jesus was laid in a manger. Mangers are naturally found in animal stables. Ergo, Jesus was born in a stable. However, in the one-room peasant homes of Palestine and Lebanon, the manger is built into the floor of the house. The standard one-room village home consists of a living area for the family (Arabicmastaba), mangers built into the floor for feeding the animals (mostly at night), and a small area approximately four feet lower than the living area into which the family cow or donkey is brought at night (Arabic ka’al-bayt).


The family animals were kept in the one-room house at night, but taken out early each morning.

The text of the New Testament itself alludes to the one-room peasant home in Matthew 5:15 where it states that a lamp is put on a lampstand so that it “gives light to all who are in the house.” Obviously, the house must have one room if a single lamp shines on everyone in it. Furthermore, the one-room house with a lower end for the animals is presupposed in Luke 13:10–17. The family ox and/or donkey was brought into the house at night and taken out early each morning. Thus, everyone knew that every family with any animals carried out this simple domestic chore at the start of each new day. To leave the animals in the house during the day was socially and culturally unthinkable. All of this is presupposed by the text. Jesus knew the head of the synagogue had untied his animals that very morning and led them out of the house. With calm assurance Jesus could announce to his face that he did, in fact, lead his animals out that very morning, confident there would be no reply. Were animals kept in a separate stable, the head of the synagogue could have saved face by asserting firmly, “I never touch the animals on the Sabbath.” But if he tried to claim that he leaves the animals in the house all day, the people in the synagogue would ridicule him with laughter! In short, no one would believe him. Thus the debate ends simply, “As he said this, all his adversaries were put to shame” (v.17). Thus, in the case of Luke 2:7, any Palestinian reading the phrase, “She laid him in a manger,” would immediately assume that the birth took place in a private home, because he knows that mangers are built into the floor of the raised terrace of the peasant home.

This assumption is an important part of the story. The shepherds were told that the presence of the baby in a manger was a sign for them. Shepherds were near the bottom of the social ladder and indeed, their profession was declared unclean by some of their rabbis.10 Many places would not welcome them. In many homes they would feel their poverty and be ashamed of their low estate. But no—they faced no humiliation as they visited that child, for he was laid in a manger. That is, he was born in a simple peasant home with the mangers in the family room. He was one of them. With that assurance they left with haste.”

Associates for Biblical Research

 

Is this not some really good info!

Here is a little more…

The gospel of Luke contains specific details regarding Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem of Judea.  One of the things mentioned in this narrative is that he was placed in a “manger” (Luke 2:7, 12, and 16).

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, … and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  And there were shepherds … find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger … found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

The Greek word φαντη that is used here typically refers to a stone type trough that was used for feeding of animals—sometimes in the stalls within a dwelling.

manger

This word is used once more in the Gospels (Luke 13:15) where it refers to a “stall” (NIV), actually a feeding trough, for a donkey—and it is clear from the context that this was within a house (Luke 13:10–17).

Megiddo Trough at Rockefeller Musem

The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall (φαντη; “manger“) and lead it out to give it water?

It appears that after the birth of Jesus, that he was actually placed in a feeding trough somewhat similar to the ones presented here if not ones that were carved into the stone floor of the “stable”—a far cry from the rickety wooden “mangers” of Christmas pageants

Holy Land Photos and Blog

 

I found this extremely interesting!

I love biblical research. The words of our Lord make so much more sense to me and resonate so much deeper when I take the time to dig into the details. This is why the Lord laid the Devotions Through the Torah on my heart. I write the devotionals to hopefully help anyone reading see the beauty and relevance of the Scriptures to there everyday life… because God ALWAYS intended for His Word to be flesh… to be lived out.

 

Parenting Unchained Review

PPM-3.jpg

The most important lesson that I have learned as a parent is to be transparent and to be real. I learned that it was not my job to just be a dominant figure in my children’s life but to be a picture of a sinner saved by grace, standing on faith, secure in the gospel. I was to be a servant leader in their life allowing God to use me to lead them to Him… which meant teaching them what it means to be forgiven and to forgive.

In his book, Parenting Unchained: Overcoming the Ten Deceptions That Shackle Christian ParentsDr Dempsey writes: “our walk must match our talk. Parenting is a no-hypocrisy zone!”

Here’s another gem from the book: “The foundation for all things in life, including parenting, is your character, and that’s determined by your relationship with God. As you parent, God wants to mold your character right along with your child’s. Don’t ignore God’s work in your own heart as He directs your work on the hearts of your children. By doing so, you can follow Jesus’s advice to “first take the log out of your own eye, then you can see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5).”

I can confirm Dr Dempsey’s words with my own experiences… you can read a little of my own parenting testimony here, Really, It’s Not You. It’s Me., and throughout other various posts in my blog.

In Parenting Unchained, Dr. James D. Dempsey reveals the ten most destructive lies about parenting. He writes from the heart about the way these lies infected his own parenting, and illuminates the Bible’s powerful truths that counter each lie. Both Biblical and practical, each section ends with home activities to help parents take immediate steps to develop their kids’ character–character that lasts when they leave home. 

The last chapters focus on the most important adjustments parents must make with teenagers to prepare them for independence. Weaving humor into strong warnings, Parenting Unchained points out the hazards that derail the parenting journey.

Satan has been pretty busy in this age. He has done a wonderful job of stringing parents out and convincing them they don’t have what it takes to adequately raise their own children. We have been told it takes a village and we can’t do it apart from Dr Phil.  The world has worked hard at trying to tell us that the best thing for our kids is to get them away from us and our influence as soon as possible. It has even come to the point that the world wants us to not even define our children’s gender, but to leave that for them to choose.

Dr Dempsey hits on this lie as well:

Parents outsource much of their responsibility to schools, coaching clinics, and even churches. One reason is that parents often believe they lack the specialized information needed to train their children, so they defer to others. This plays right into the hands of Satan, who wants us to believe that information is all that’s needed to make a good decision. We’re told that if we give our kids all the info they need, they’ll make good decisions and develop right thinking. But as information has increased and our kids have accelerated their intellectual growth, character training has withered. And our society is paying a price. The Information Age has produced smarter sinners!

Dr Dempsey goes on to share that, Satan wants to shut you up. One way he accomplishes this is by making you feel awkward about verbally sharing your faith with others, even your own children.

Satan wants you, as a parent, to be as uninvolved as possible with the foundational development of your children… make no mistake they are after the minds of your children and they are not ashamed to admit it.

Please don’t think that it was an accident that this interview played the morning of a holiday that our children were out of school… Satan is after our kids. Let us not get caught up in the rat race of life and forget that our #1 calling from God is to parent the children He entrusted to us.

You can get the kindle version of Parenting Unchained today (Dec 11th) and tomorrow (Dec 12th) for $0.99. If you are a parent, I would say this would be a $1.00 well spent 😉

 

 

Just a few more of my favor quotes… this book is filled with some great stuff!

God disciplines His children, and His punishment stings, yet He always forgives His repentant children. Herein lies the most important instructional guide for us as parents: we must have rules (otherwise forgiveness has no relevance), but we must always convey the truth that rules are the result of the relationship, not the cause. Your message must be “I love you, therefore, these are the rules,” not “These are the rules. If you obey them, I will love you.”

…our choice of disciplinary acts should be made with discretion and to achieve a purpose, not out of reactions like anger or revenge. Waiting until we know what to do serves us, and our children, better than jumping in to correct before we have a clear idea of what we want to achieve. Take time to pray that the discipline tool you choose will teach the precise lesson the child needs to learn.

~ Dr James D Dempsey

 

Parenting Unchained disclaimer

Do You Love Yourself

PPM-3.jpg

In our Sunday school class at Central Baptist Church we are working through a book by Robertson McQuilkin called The Great Omission: A Biblical Basis for World Evangelism. In this book Robertson McQuilkin talks about the three main motives behind what most of us do… Those motives being the love of self, the love of others, and the love of God.

As I sat and listened in our class, our teacher asked if having love for self was wrong, I had to answer, no. As he asked this question two things popped into my mind, one being a Scripture verse (and I had to include a few cross-references of this verse) and the other being a conversation I had just had with my husband the day before.

The Scripture verse…

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18

***

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:36-40

***

For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:14

 

Think about it, if we do not love ourself, then how does that translate into our ability to love others? If we do not love ourself then how does that affect our ability to come to the mercy of God?

This leads me back to the conversation that I had with my husband. I rarely watch the news… especially sports news. As I was passing through the living room I overheard a sports caster say something about the Ohio State football team having gone through some major struggles. I asked my husband what struggles, and he shared with me that one of the Ohio State players committed suicide. What upset my husband so much was that this young man climbed into a dumpster and shot himself.

To my husband it appeared that this young man was convinced that he was nothing more than trash. Would it have made the least bit of difference had this young man felt some, even just a smidge, of love for himself?

Is it not the fact that we have at least a bit of self love that leads us to want to be saved from the wrath of God and the fires of hell? If we don’t see the least bit of value in our lives, then why would even consider that God would find us valuable? If we do not have even the smallest amount of love for ourselves then what value are we going to put on the lives of others?

One of my most favorite things about sharing the gospel with people who have never really “done church”, who have never really heard the gospel, who are currently weighed down with the consequences of either their own wrong choices or the wrong choices of others is to share with them Psalm 139…

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

There is something amazing and transforming that comes with the realization that the Creator of the universe places value on your life… so much value that He left the glory of heaven to take on flesh, live among us, and die for us. He came to bring hope to the hopeless, help to the helpless, and love to the loveless. We are no more like Him than when we choose to love the deemed unlovable.

However, loving ourselves is not enough. If we only love our selves we will not bow our knee to the authority of Christ or choose to sacrifice ourselves for the cause of another. We will even use this self love to justify the destruction of others in order to advance our own lives.

Yet, once again, if the command of God is to love our neighbor as ourself. How can we be obedient to that if we do not love ourself? We also cannot love if we do not have the love of God within us, because God is love … we might call what we are doing or feeling “love”, but it’s most likely really just another way to meet our own selfish needs and desires.

In his book, The Great Omission, McQuilkin writes, 

The Father’s controlling motive in sending His Son to provide for humankind’s salvation was His love for the helpless and hopeless. John tells us that if we have been truly born of God and know God, we will love in the same way (1 John 4:7). In fact, “whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (v.8).

God’s kind of love is proved by the sacrifice it makes. Our love is proved the same way (v. 11).

In the conflict of loves, we choose to save our lives, not lose them. But in saving, we lose.

He (God) loved us, of all people, when we were not only unworthy, but in fact, were fully worthy of the very opposite, His wrath. God’s kind of love depends not on the lovability of the object, but on the loving character of the one who loves.

It is in the reflection of the love of God that we are able to learn what it really means to love ourselves and to love others. Apart from His love our love is merely an idea made up of our own definitions and imaginations and expectations. This love will fail us and it will fail others. But God’s love, it never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).

I love the next two verses to follow our quoted passage in Psalm 139…

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

Psalm 139:17-18

When God’s thoughts become precious to us, then we begin to see ourselves the way He sees us… it’s just like that child that sits quietly at a closed door while they hear their parents, who do not know they are listening, talk about how precious they are too them… even if they say it to them face to face… it means so much more to know they say these things even when they are not around, and especially after a time of failure that leads to needed discipline.

Beloved do you know that you are not trash? Do you know that you are loved by the One that names every star in the sky and numbers every hair on your head? Are you able to receive this truth? Are you able to lift up your head just enough to love yourself enough to come to the mercy of God… believing that He wants to call you His own?

Get to Know the Author of Parenting Unchained

PPM-3.jpg

I am working with the National Center of Biblical Parenting to help promote a new book by Dr James D. Dempsey titled Parenting Unchained: Overcoming the Ten Deceptions That Shackle Christian Parents

PU book cover

Here is a little bit of how this book came to be from Dr. Dempsey himself…

“I want to give you just a little background about the book so you can appreciate how God leads us even when we don’t know we need leading.  For nine years the book sat 90% finished under the working title of “The Ultimate Father Figure.” Over those nine years, I had to undergo a radical change to my approach to parenting because of my arrogance. God has ways to humble us, and mine was through my children as they grew up and left for college.

My wife, Gail, and I first heard Scott and Joanne in January of 2008, and we recognized immediately that we’d pursued a behavior modification approach to parenting and were seeing the predictable results. In September of 2013, I took the time to re-write the book using much of what we learned through our exposure to the National Center for Biblical Parenting.  I sent it to Scott and asked him to read it and give advice. He had kind words for it, and mentioned his three-fold test for books. Mine passed the first two, but he said it fell short in the third test: It was ‘not compelling.’ In his words, what would compel someone to pick up my book rather than the scores of parenting books out there? I was so glad to get his feedback because that set me on a course to make the book compelling (or at least more so.)

Almost overnight, and simply by asking God, the Lord gave me a new approach to the book, changing it from giving ten Biblical principles for parenting to sharing the ways Satan deceives Christian parents by trying to hide these ten principles.  I thought the re-write would take months, but in one weekend, it came together miraculously as Gail looked on in amazement.  She says she had never seen me write so fast and with such purpose.”

And here is a little bit more…

You’re an author. Can you tell us about your book?

The book’s title, Parenting Unchained, reflects the freedom that parents can experience IF they understand the way Satan tries to deceive them. You can’t avoid the pitfalls you don’t see!

What was the motivation for writing the book?

I felt that the Bible has much more to say about parenting than the few verses that speak specifically to parents. I saw in God’s interaction with the nation of Israel, and in Jesus’s interaction with the disciples, many great lessons on how to parent, so those lessons are explained. But most of all, I want Christian parents to avoid the parenting mistakes I made so that Christ becomes real to the next generation.You are self published.

What has that been like?

I was blessed to be able to publish under the banner of the National Center for Biblical Parenting, so in some ways the process was similar to traditional publishing. Working with them gave me the ability to put their logo on the spine, which brings credibility. They provided the cover artist and interior designer, plus advice on formatting. Dr. Scott Turansky of the NCBP provided the ‘tough love’ editing I needed to improve the book. I’m very grateful to him and proud to be associated with the NCBP. 

What will we learn in your webinar?

Because churches need to involve and train parents, I try to promote close interaction between parents and children’s ministry workers. Participants will learn essential attitudes and actions kidmin workers must cultivate in order to involve parents. You have to make these connections and build relationship before you can train them.

Who should register for your webinar and why?

Anyone involved in children’s ministry, including senior pastors, children’s ministers and teachers will benefit. Parents are the key to developing the next generation of spiritual champions, so we need to connect with parents and form partnerships with them. A great way to start is to get them involved in the ministry to children at church.

If you have any more question to ask Dr James D Dempsey feel free to ask them in the comment below or email me at nicolelhvaugh@yahoo.com if you want to keep your identity between me and you 😉

You can also join Dr. Dempsey on Thursday December 11th at 9pm for a Parenting Unchained Facebook Party

FB party Parenting Unchained

And beginning Monday Dec 8th through Dec 12th you will be able to purchase the ebook/kindle version of Parenting Unchained for a whopping $o.99 on Amazon!

99 Parenting Unchained

 

I have read this book and look forward to sharing my review of it  🙂

Parenting Unchained disclaimer

The Mercy Seat for The Mercy Tree

PPM-3.jpg

I awoke this morning singing this song, Mercy Tree by Lacey Sturm. I am currently writing on the Ark of the Covenant as I prepare Devotions From Exodus Part Two for publication.

There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel

Exodus 25:22

Our God has always desired to meet us at His mercy. The Law of God has always rested underneath His mercy. From the very beginning with the fall of man, with the deception of Eve, and the disobedience of Adam, God’s mercy is what came to confront them in the garden, not His wrath. His mercy has always triumphed over judgment, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).

I believe the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament held the heart of God on stone. In Genesis 6 we read how the heart of God was grieved that man was so wicked and the intent of his heart was evil all the time… when we take the time to really look at the law of God we can clearly see it is God teaching us His heart and teaching us how to love Him and others. The law of God would bring the judgment of God, and yes, the Ark of the Covenant would contain the commands of God, and it is by these commands that all the world is judged (Romans 11:32), but there was something beautiful and awe inspiring that was to be constructed to sit upon the Ark… it would be called the mercy seat.

Once again mercy would come before judgement.

The mercy seat would be where the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice. It would be by the blood of this sacrifice that God would forgive the sin of the individual person and the entire nation of Israel. If you look back through the prophets and the history of Israel recorded in Kings and Chronicles, you will see that when Israel would fall away from God and into the worship of false idols this would always be her darkest times and this would also be when the feasts, including that of the Passover would be set aside and the law of God would be ignored and even lost.

It’s funny how accustomed we become to mercy… we come to expect it… to feel entitled to receive it.

If we want to receive of that mercy, we have to come in the realization that we deserve His judgment (Romans 3:19-20), because only the guilty seek mercy (Luke 18:9-14). To deny that we need the mercy of God is to deny that we are sinners and to deny that we are sinners is to deny the free gift of life that is offered to us. It is to be so blinded by pride that we cannot see the glory of the God that loves us beyond the truth of who we are… and it is to continue to live in the lie.

The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament held the heart of God on stone. The Advent was the coming of the heart of God on flesh. At the appointed time, God exchanged the heart of stone contained in the Ark of the Covenant for a heart of flesh in the body of His Son (Ezekiel 36:26). Our God exchanged the Mercy Seat for the Mercy Tree.

 

 

And at that Mercy Tree once again mercy came before judgment…

And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
“For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is upon generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.

Luke 1:46-50

***

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:9-11

***

And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.

Luke 22:19-20

***

But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

Luke 23:34

***

Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Luke 24:44-49

God always desires to meet us at His mercy…

Beloved, have you met Him there… there at the foot of that Mercy Tree?