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Still today we must be on the look-out for those like them.
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>Science teaches us many things through experiments, and through these experiments we come to logical conclusions, and most of the time we call these logical conclusions proven facts. When we conduct an experiment we form a test group and from this test group we pronounce a verdict on the whole.
Hmmmm I wonder where man developed this concept?
In the beginning God created man in the image of Himself, male and female He created them in the image of God. Man and woman were in intimate fellowship with their Creator, yet they were deceived by the great deceiver and they believed the lie and denied the truth and sin entered the world and their hearts.
Since this moment the world that was once good has become not so good, and man in the garden tried to blame God for his choice then and still today man tries to blame God for his choices and for the choices of others and for the receiving of the consequences of these choices.
We see all through the Scriptures how man has tried to prove his own goodness by comparing himself to others he deemed not as good as himself. All through the Scriptures we see man blaming God for his choices and blaming God for the consequences of a fallen world. All through the Scriptures we see man trying to make his own way to a god he created because he could make the rules. All through the Scriptures we see man arguing with God out of foolish ignorance of the magnitude of His holiness. All through the world, in the media, on t.v., on the Internet, we see man is still doing the same thing today.
So how does God respond?
I believe God responded with the “Human Heart Experiment.”
God repeatedly has reached out to man and He has not stopped and He won’t until the day of the white throne judgment (Daniel 7:9-10, Rev 20:11-15). Man for some reason just does not want to admit that they need God. Man wants to think that he is not so bad and is doing just fine. He just needs a break, needs society to adapt to him, needs better circumstances; he’s merely a product of his environment and his upbringing. No not at all, he is merely a product of his heart, and he needs God, not a god, but the GOD, and God conducts His experiment to prove it, not to Himself, He knows our hearts, but to prove it to us.
Many years ago a man named Abram was born in the Middle East in a city called Ur. This ordinary man God called out, and said go with Me, listen to Me, I will make you a great nation, give you a land, and in you all the nations will be blessed. This man listened.
God kept His word as He always does, and Abram became Abraham, and he had a son Isaac, who had a son Jacob, who had twelve sons who became the nation of Israel (the accounts of their lives are recorded in the book of Genesis). Israel would be God’s test group in the “Human Heart Experiment.”
We know that Jacob and his twelve sons moved to Egypt during a famine, and there they eventually ended up an enslaved people, yet even in their slavery God blessed them and they grew in number and became a nation. (This was all foretold to Abraham and passed down from father to son as we can tell from the words of Joseph at his death recorded in Genesis 50.)
God brings this nation out of slavery led by a man named Moses. In Exodus 12 God institutes His test group, as He says this month shall be the beginning of months for you, God delivers the nation of Israel out of slavery redeeming them with a great and mighty outstretched arm. He does all the work for them, cares for them , feeds them, and the whole time they are complaining, God has delivered them out of slavery, given them food money and clothing and shelter and yet they still aren’t happy, He still isn’t doing enough to satisfy them (does this sound familiar?).
It took the nation three months to get to Sinai, once there God made the people, the nation of Israel, a proposition. He told them that if they would obey His voice and keep His commandments He would bless them like crazy but if they turned away from Him and broke their promise He would curse them.
God delivered to them His standard of righteousness, the Law, the nation heard the commandments and agreed with God that they were good (because they merely were the written moral law that already was within them) and God gave them the ceremonial Law, which showed them how to approach Him, their holy God. The nation entered into covenant with God, they shook hands and sprinkled blood and said “it’s a deal”.
The test group formed, the standard presented, the variable in place, now what would be the result? We see the result from Exodus 32 through the Prophets, the variable could never meet the standard. No matter how hard they tried, no matter how many chances they had, no matter how many times they went over the rules, they couldn’t do it. Here’s the thing, God knew they couldn’t do it, but they, we, have to realize it ourselves.
Throughout the Scriptures God describes the nations as waters, so we shall do here. Let’s picture the world as a well of water, and we want to check the purity of that water, how do we do it? We take a sample of that water and we test it, and if in that one sample we discover pollutants and disease we declare the entire well polluted and unfit.
Now we know that whatever the Law says,
it speaks to those who are under the Law,
so that every mouth may be closed
and all the world may become accountable to God;
because by the works of the Law
no flesh will be justified in His sight;
for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:19-20
One of the reasons God gave us the Law was to erase any questions and all excuses. Those who do not have the written Law, yet try to walk by the moral law within them, show the others around them their own sin thus the reason we constantly try and find someone who is worse than us or either we gather all those around us who are most like us with our same sin to somehow make our sin not so bad in our own eyes.
People respond to the knowledge of their sin in several ways, they try to hide it, deny it, justify it, fix it, or seek to destroy the who or what that brought attention to it.
Makes sense now why the nations have always hated the Jew, why the people fight to have the Ten Commandments yanked down from public display, if we destroy the test sample, if we ignore the standard, then we can pretend as though we are just fine. Sorry it doesn’t work that way, whether a sample of the well water was taken or not doesn’t change the pollutants and disease that is there, it just keeps killing the people who in ignorance drink the water.
>Yesterday morning our little one awoke to a headache and a small temp. Which immediately still sends a rush of panic through my system.
For six straight years she was sick.
Doctor visit after doctor visit ended in treating symptoms because the blood work tests that had been done thus far couldn’t pin-point the root issue. She began to become resistant to antibiotics and would end up going on 2 or 3 rounds of different kinds in order to get her better… to just start over again in less than three months.
It was one of those things that you think you are handling well until you wake up one morning doing this:
This was just my arm… it was worse than this on the rest of my body… from head to toe I was covered with a rash that was induced by stress. Stress from “not worrying” about my baby girl…
So this morning when we awoke to her still running a fever, now burning up with a 103 temp, my husband and I catch ourselves convincing each other that it is nothing and she is going to be fine. While all along panic threatens to overtake us both from the memory of those days when one little sniffle would end us up at the hospital. When we couldn’t understand what in the world was going on and why no one could figure it out.
How thankful we are for doctors who don’t stop until they know that they know. An immune deficiency had beaten our little one down. Once discovered the doctors treated her with a vaccine and we quarantined her to give her body time to heal.
Today what hurts most is when I still see the fear in my baby’s eyes that it is beginning again…
It is here that I have learned to return her look of fear with strong confidence that God has her in His very capable hands. When before I had to leave the room and crumble in a heap of tears on the floor from the fear of the unknown and wondering if I was as crazy as I felt everyone else thought I was.
Around 4pm today we decided to go ahead and make a trip to Urgent Care, which revealed that strep has attacked our little one yet again… but we are confident that she will be well again soon. This is the first antibiotic she has had to take since April 2010. She is so much stronger now.
As is her mother…
No stress rash… I learned my lesson on holding on to worry. I had much rather lay it at the altar of mercy and throne of grace than wear it on my flesh.
The past few years I have been through God’s-Got-It boot camp. I have learned lessons in God’s grace and mercy and sovereignty that I will never forget. They were not fun… but they were most definitely worth it.
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If I can not stand at attention in obedience to my call
When there is no war raging have I ever stood at all.
If I can not live the truth in the protection of this peace
Then how shall I fare when a weapon of hate is pulled on me
If I stumble in this day of privileged liberty
Will I stand when shackles for the gospel are placed on me
If I shrink back at the fear of the loss of approval of man
If my life is threatened how shall I believe I could stand
If I fall in a land of peace
How will I do in the thicket of the war
If I can not stand strong against an enemy already defeated
How shall I win against an enemy that is still yet to come
If I truly am a soldier enlisted and secured
If I lay down and sleep in the hour of still
If I put up my armor and remove my shoes
If I take off my helmet and lay down my shield
If my breastplate is placed on a shelf
My sword sheaved and discarded
I am already defeated though the battle be not started
The day of peace is not for leisure
The time of freedom is not for play
The hour is for training so that I will not be ashamed
So whether in the thicket of the Jordan or safe in Jerusalem’s walls
I shall stand, stand firm, by Your grace never shall I fall.
“If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?”
Jeremiah 12:5
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Amen
>This is a post a wrote in 2010… but it remains a prayer and point of focus as I walk in 2012…
I began 2010 reading through the Proverbs. My prayer for 2010 was “Lord increase me in wisdom, Your wisdom.” Little did I know how much I would need these proverbs as 2010 came rolling in. I thank my God for His Word.
“Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
Our homes, our church, our ministries all relate to this verse.
Will we sacrifice a clean manger for the revenue of life…eternal life?
One thing I learned was that I could dust everyday and still when I got up the next morning the dust was back again. I could wash clothes all day and still the hamper would fill up again. I could mop and make my floors shine everyday, but still someone would walk on them and leave their prints behind.
In our churches…if we want a church that is full of life…guess what…kool-aid gets spilled on the carpet…the gym floor gets dirty…the paint on the wall gets nicked…but each spill, each nick, each mark was made from a life that was there and heard the message of Jesus Christ?
In our ministries…ministry is messy! We make our plans, but they don’t always go according to schedule. People don’t always respond the way we think they should. If we didn’t minister to people then we could have a clean, well-organized manger…but what revenue would we have to show for our ministry?
So Mom’s don’t stress over the house. I mean keep the roaches away and make sure there’s nothing growing on the dishes stuck under the bed and try to keep clean underwear for everyone…but I promise you the dust will be back in the morning!
Church instead of frowning at the nicks, stains, and dirt…pray salvation and the grace of God over the one who made the mark and pray that God will fill your walls with more souls to make more stains!
The ministry…it’s messy.
As Walter Brueggemann put it, “This family (and with it the whole family of Genesis 1–11) has played out its future and has nowhere else to go. Barrenness is the way of human history. It is an effective metaphor for hopelessness. There is no foreseeable future. There is no human power to invent a future.”
Then, the story turns with these simple words: “The Lord . . . said . . .” (Gen 12:1). God spoke into the barrenness and chaos. It was as if He said, You’ve done your best, and this is where it has gotten you—now step aside.
Still early in the Genesis story, these words remind us of another time God spoke into darkness and chaos. Before God began to create, the “earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.” Into nothing, “God said . . . ” God spoke and light erupted, vegetation blossomed, humans appeared. This is still what happens whenever God speaks.
—Winn Collier
You know… I don’t know where you are today. I don’t know the barrenness of your heart or the possible chaos of your soul. I don’t know if you are in a place where it seems that life is crumbling down all around you and you feel as though you are standing alone in the midst of all the broken pieces… but I do know that our Creator God can speak life and order and healing into whatever you are going through. I do know that He has not forsaken you, I do know that you are not alone… no matter how alone you feel.
Open up His Word and hear Him speak.
Stop trying to do it all on your own… you were never meant to.
God is there and I guarantee you that there is someone whose name is on your mind right now that you know would be there for you if they just knew what was going on. You may not have ever really spent a lot of time together. You may not have ever even talked to them. You may not know them at all, but have just seen them interact with others… but their name, their face, is before you now for a reason as you stand among the broken pieces.
Don’t let pride or fear of rejection or condemnation keep you from seeking help. Don’t keep hiding in the dark because our Creator said, let there be light!
A Night of Hope
So far away, so full of doubt
So lost inside, there’s no way out
Within this prison I scream, I shout
But no one hears, no eyes look about
Can no one see me
Is everyone blind
My fear overwhelms me
I’m falling this time
I smile I do, I play the game
I try to be different, but nothing does change
I hate this I do, don’t like how I feel
I want to be happy, I want to be sure
I want to be confident and secure
They tell me this, they tell me that
Follow ABC and all will be well with me
I’ve walked the line
I’ve jumped the hoops
But this time the tight rope is just to loose
My feet are slipping my knees to weak
My mind is reeling, into the darkness I sink
The darkness is safe, in it I hide
No one can see the thoughts of my mind
I hear the whispers, this voice so sleek
It tells me go on, in the darkness there’s peace
But another voice I hear, it’s distant and sweet
It whispers I love you, listen to me
It says in the darkness there is only dark
It says come to the Light, give me your heart
It says I see you, and hear you too
I know your thoughts and hear your screams
Come be still and know that it’s Me
Know that I came to give you a hope
Know that I’m here, My love have I shown
Come this night and know that I’m here
Come this night know to Me you are dear
While in your tears lift up your eyes
Take them off the dark and put them on the Light
Keep them focused looking right at Me
Know that I AM is right here, you’ll see
Trust in Me and in My love
Feel My arms around you embraced in a hug
Take a deep breath, breathe in My scent
Know for you My flesh was rent
I died for you that you might live
So lift up your head, for this hope to you I give
I wrote this May 7, 2009… in Him, in His Light, there is hope no matter how great the darkness, no matter how loud the chaos, no matter how barren the heart… in Him there is always Life no matter how deadened you may feel.
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Amen.
It’s time for another post in the Names of God series. We have done a little study on the names Elohim, El Elyon, El Roi, El Shaddai, El Olam, Adonia, Jehovah, Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha, and Jehovah-nissi.
Today we will discover what we can learn about the character of our God as we look at His name, Jehovah-mekoddishkem.
We are introduced to this beautiful name of God in the book of Exodus.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”
When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
~ Exodus 31:12-18
Jehovah-mekoddishkem is God’s name for Himself that means the LORD who sanctifies you. So what exactly does that mean to us. When we look at the context of this passage of Scripture in which God reveals this name we discover that this is the time when Moses is on the mountain top alone with God. This is when God is giving the children of Israel the Law, the Ten Commandments.
The children of Israel have spent the last four hundred years as slaves in Egypt living under the bondage of slavery and under the rules of a godless Pharaoh. Now they have been redeemed by their God. Now they are free, but they are not free to live to themselves. They have been set free to serve the I AM.
The children of Israel were no longer to look, talk, or act like slaves of Egypt. They were redeemed to be set apart. That is what sanctified means. They were being set apart and prepared and dedicated to represent and serve the One True Living God. They were going to be consecrated and taught by God how to be holy, and majestic, and to be a people of honor. They were no longer to be slaves, they were now sons. They were to be sons whose greatest desire was to honor their Father.
Does this sound familiar child of God through Christ Jesus His Son?
The children of Israel did not do a thing to earn their sanctification. They were slaves who had nothing. They did not buy their freedom. They could not purchase their own redemption. If you read the preceding chapters of the book of Exodus you also see that the children of Israel grumbled and complained the whole way into their freedom and even still as they were walking in it. So they did not even become good out of the appreciation of their new freedom. They did nothing to sanctify themselves. They had no ability within themselves to make themselves holy. God had to do it all. Thus He is Jehovah-mekkodishkem, the LORD who sanctifies you.
I didn’t earn my sanctification either. I didn’t earn my salvation. I was a slave to sin in bondage to my flesh and Satan held the cords of control. I was bankrupt and broken. I could not set myself free. I could not pay my way out. I had to be redeemed. It would be my Jehovah-mekkodishkem that came to my rescue.
I was not sanctified by my ability to keep the Law. I was not sanctified by my ability to be good enough. The children of Israel were not sanctified by their ability to keep God’s Law either. Go back and look at the context.
The LORD who sanctifies you reveals this name of Himself as He teaches us of the sabbath.
Now why did God say that observing the sabbath would be the sign?
Why not, you shall not commit adultery and this is the sign that you are sanctified? Why not, you shall obey your parents and this will be the sign that you are sanctified? Why not, you shall never take my name in vain and this will be sign? Why not you shall not make an idol and this will be sign?
Why on earth would the sign be the sabbath?
Oh precious one, God is trying to get a very huge point across to us today just as He was to the children of Israel then. That point being that He alone can sanctify.
The sign that we belong to Him is our ability to rest in Him.
To trust in Him.
To depend on Him.
To believe in Him.
Our sanctification does not come as a result of our work… it is a gift received only by the grace and mercy of God.
Oh how thankful I am that God did not make the sign of my sanctification my ability to keep to perfection the rest of the Law. I fail often. I fall often. I miss the mark. But when I do I know that I am His because His Spirit calls me to repentance and to rest in His forgiveness and calls me to remember to trust and to love and not to fear and to start over because I have received mercy.
This is what makes my God, Jehovah-mekkodishkem, different from all other gods, His mercy for no reason other than that He loves me. Then out of my overwhelmed relief of His poured-out-without-measure grace, I willingly desire and choose to honor my Father by obeying the rest of His commands. So that through my obedience, my set apart life might display His majesty and be used by Him as a testimony to His glorious gospel to bring the rest of our Kingdom family home.
My freedom did not come through my ability to work, it did not come from ability to get it all right. My freedom game from resting in Him.
Precious one are you tired?
Are you tired from working to get it right?
Are you ready to rest in Him?
In Him alone will you find freedom.