Today is January 16th… might I recommend you begin your day with a reading of Psalm 116.
Read it with this outline in mind: Psalm 116:1-4 (God hears), Psalm 116:5-11 (God helps), Psalm 116:12-19 (God is holy).
Psalm 116:1-4 (God hears)
I love the Lord, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me And the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
Psalm 116:5-11 (God helps)
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the Lord In the land of the living. I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.”
Psalm 116:12-19 (God is holy)
What shall I render to the Lord For all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to the Lord, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people. Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones. O Lord, surely I am Your servant, I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid, You have loosed my bonds. To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to the Lord, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people, In the courts of the Lord’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Now look back at Psalm 116 and notice that there is two verses/statements that are repeated:
1) “call upon the name of the LORD” (Psalm 116:4,13,17)
2) “I shall pay my vows to the Lord, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people.” (Psalm 116:14,18)
Now know that the word “pay” in Psalm 116:14,18 in the Hebrew is “shalam” and it means:
to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace to be at peace peaceful one one in covenant of peace to make peace with to cause to be at peace to live in peace to be complete, be sound to be complete, be finished, be ended to be sound, be uninjured to complete, finish to make safe to make whole or good, restore, make compensation to make good, pay, to requite, recompense, reward to be performed, to be repaid, be requited to complete, perform, to make an end of
Now precious one, let’s look at some cross-references:
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful
Finally my friend, notice that the psalmist wanted, desired, hoped to “pay” his vow to the LORD “in the presence of all His people“
Precious one, when we are at peace with God through Christ, when we have called on the name of the Lord, our Jesus, our Savior, and we enter into this covenant of peace we want nothing more than to be in the presence of His people.
Our peace with God is not a private matter… it’s something we should desire to share!
Today is January 16, 2013… 1/16/13… so might Psalm 116:13 be in your heart and on your mind today 🙂
I shall lift up the cup of salvation And call upon the name of the Lord.
I guess you could say the difference in the male vs female classes is the difference between men and women. Duh! Women are way more talkative and men use fewer words to say the same thing. Really prefer the straight-forwardness of the men and there is less drama. Women get into everybody’s business, the men don’t. That’s my 1st impression…
~ MaryAlice
The above quote is from a bond-servant of Christ who was reporting her prayer request and observations after her first time teaching a precept Bible study class to male inmates in a high security prison… her ministry has always been in the female prisons, but God has led her kicking and screaming and now trusting here to these men who need freedom within these prison walls. The above quote was her final observation on her first experience.
I have a preteen daughter (Lol, how did I go from prison to preteen girls? Just go with me ;-)) so at the moment we are in the midst of her experience with her introduction into the drama of the female.
Sadly one of the first goals of every woman should be to search out female relationships that will have your back without throwing a knife into… Let me first off assure you that those women are out there.
You just have to be one to find one.
I met my first drama free friend in 7th grade, but it wasn’t until around 10th grade that we realized what we had in each other… and once it clicked we clung to each other. I knew she would always speak truth to me and I knew she always had my back… and I never worried about drama with her. Not that she and I were perfect in our friendship, but we respected each other, and stood by each other regardless. The funny thing is we were completely opposites… and still are. I was country and cowboy boots, she was city and high heels. I was conservative republican she was liberal democrat. I live in the southeast she headed west to California. I started a family early she focused on career and just started her family a few months ago. I could go on… with what made us different, but the point is differences don’t matter when respect is present.
After she left for California over 13 years ago it took me a while to find that type of friendship with another female… but God led me and one trust step at a time I don’t just have one of those female friends, God has blessed me with several. So ladies, they are indeed out there!
I had the great joy of hanging with my BFF from high school yesterday as she was visiting with her newborn son and showing him off to all her family here in the South… as she shared with me her birth experience she told me how she fell in love with her husband all over again as she watched him with their newborn son… she shared how that surprised her… she hadn’t expected that at all. I just smiled because I know exactly what she means. I wanted to tell her then how many times that will happen in the days and years to come… but I don’t want to ruin the joy of her discovery!
There are many times that I fall in love with my husband all over again… and as we walk through yet another preteen parenthood experience I had another one of those moments as I listened to him share with me the breakdown of his most recent one-on-one convo with our preteen.
The moment I melted was when he shared with me these words:
I told her that I know she is going through an identity crisis at this point in her life, trying to decide where she fits and who she is, and I told her how I know that she is going to “pick up” actions and words and habits from the friends she hangs around and will imitate them in things, that’s just human nature, but let’s say that you like a boy when you are ready for that, and for all these years you have been “acting” like this friend, so you and this boy start dating… who is he really liking? You or the friend you have been acting like? Our preteen said, my friend. So what is going to happen when he finds out who you really are and that you don’t always act like that friend? Our preteen said, he’s going to leave. Right! Because it wasn’t you he liked to begin with… Honey, just be your freakin’ self! Be yourself all the time!
When I heard “Honey, just be your freakin’ self! Be yourself all the time!“ I fell in love with my husband all over again.
I am thankful to be facing these preteen parenthood days with this man by my side. We make a pretty good team… and our girls know that we are indeed on the same team… and they also know that this team is on their side and is here to help them reach victory in this life.
These days of preteen parenthood is rough… I have not looked forward to them. It is here that my paranoia begins… Fear can grip me quickly over their choices.
Are they making the right friends?
Are they thinking the right thoughts?
Are they still seeking God?
Are they going through the motions or are they sincere?
Do they respect themselves?
Are they buying the lie that tells them that I only care about what others think of me when I lay restrictions and deliver discipline?
(I think this is the biggest lie that effects our “church kids” I hear it often, and although I know it can be true in some situations, I assure you the majority of the time that is not the case, as shocking as it may be, some parents truly do care about their child’s holiness and sanctification and their own personal relationship with Christ, and are not out to impress “Deacon Dan” or “Sister Susan” we just want you to live an abundant life in and with and through Christ)
My prayer is so often “Oh God please don’t let me lose them to this world! Please don’t let them get sucked into the false pleasures of this world. God hold them close to you, keep a tight grip on their hearts!”
Part of me just wants to lock them down and “protect” them from this world, so that they never get hurt, never suffer the consequences of wrong choices. But I know that simply is not a possibility… besides I want my daughters to be life changers not life hiders. And how easy it is to forget that my girls are not mine to lose… they belong to God.
So today with our preteen, we are at this point of catch and release in a small pond.
We have given our preteen small pond privileges. The pond is big enough for her to swim out in, but small enough for us to quickly catch her and reel her back in when it’s needed.
At this point in her life she is getting her first real experiences with female drama… As much as I would like to just completely control the relationships… my husband and I are trying to instead use this as an opportunity to instill life lessons. The truth of the matter is, that for the rest of her life as a female she will face these situations, these relationships. Prayerfully she will learn in these preteen years how to discern the drama starter… and most importantly how not to be the drama starter.
What life as believer in a Sovereign God has taught me is that life is meant to be lived intentional.
Every situation matters.
Every opportunity is a life lesson.
Nothing is random.
Preteen drama is not petty. It is practice for becoming a true woman of God whose value is in her character and integrity not her outer appearance or social status.
So as my husband and I step out once again in raising a preteen girl… I pray we remember the lessons we learned the last time around with our now 21 year old. I pray that we walk with wisdom. I pray that we don’t let fear lead us to react instead of respond. I pray that we learn to guide instead of dictate. I pray that we stand united and let not the child divide. I pray that we never forget that God loves our girls even more than we do.
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Sleep is never just sleep with me. I always experience an entire other day… or many days while I sleep. It’s crazy sometimes how dreams work. They are a jumbled mess… well mine are anyway.
Somehow last night in my dreams… at one point it was my birthday (I think) and a young lady from church brought me a gift that was tied to balloons… and she offered an apology because they were actually yellow baby shower balloons, but she said that was all they had. This is funny in its self because several nights ago I dreamed I was pregnant and delivered and my husband and I didn’t know what we were going to have until the baby was born, and the baby was a boy. I was so excited! I was trying to send out “It’s A Boy!” text messages and FB updates but none of our gadgets would work. That stupid little spinning circle just kept spinning… and I was one fired up female because I couldn’t get our great announcement out to the world. Then yesterday my husband fell asleep on the couch and woke up with a shock… he had dreamed I was pregnant… and he had not responded well to the news. Somehow babies keep invading our sleep… but that has been the case for over ten years now in some form or fashion!
Okay back to last night.
So after the balloons I find myself with my sisters and my nieces and nephews and I am handing out invitations and gifts to something… I can’t remember what it was, but I know it was important that they each got one.
Then the next thing I know I am waking up after being asleep in my dream. (Yes, dreaming I am asleep while I am asleep.) When I wake up my husband and I are now living in the house I grew up in from toddler to teen. I have walked out of the master bedroom of that house and into the living room and I can still see it clear as when I was living there. It’s even the same couch, the same front door, the same front porch, the same view into the front yard.
I am in my pj’s and housecoat and it’s early and the rest of the house is still asleep and then the doorbell rings. I go to the door and its a woman I never met asking me about homeschool information… and then I see a man carrying a child, and both the man and the woman are quite distraught but this morning I can’t remember why.
I recall closing the door behind me after telling them goodbye and hoping that I was able to help them and then I remember stretching out on the couch… because just as in reality I was still sleepy when I awoke…
I stretch out and pick up my ipad, open it up and then the next thing I know my sins of the past are on video before me. There I was in drunken stuppors… there I was in all my shame… recorded and on Facebook! I was trying with all my might to press delete… I couldn’t even get the stupid thing to turn off… my heart was pounding… my stomach was churning… my hands were sweating… I was terrified.
Then I woke up.
I woke up and my first thoughts were “oh God thank you! thanks you that this was only a dream! thank you that my days of stupid were not in this day! thank you God the only time my past will be seen again is through your eyes of grace! thank you God for loving me and calling me and forgiving me and making me new. thank you that I am not who I was!”
I woke up praising God that the only technology that was out and about in my high school/college days was a camera with film that had to be developed and a video camera that was the size of a small car so no one could have it on you without your knowledge.
It’s amazing how your past follows you even haunts you at times… but the beauty of the rebirth, is that you don’t have to follow your past. Your before doesn’t have to be your after…
If I try now in my waking moments to analyze this dream… and please know that I am no Daniel or Joseph…
I would say that the birth of a baby boy is exciting news and being able to share that news as someone who has experienced that birth is very important! That baby boy is Jesus and I have experienced His birth and in Him I have been born again and I want to send out His birth announcement to the world. When I experienced His birth in me I first sent out invitations and gifts to my family and then I taught in my church and now share even with those I may never meet this side of eternity.
As for the next part, why was I in my childhood home? Who was the woman at the door and the man and the child?
Possibly the interpretation here is the ministry that God has called me into now. I minister to children who are toddler to teens. We are living in a day where you can see the faces of distraught parents everywhere… I think we have to remember how important these years are in our children’s lives and memory. I remember everything about the house I grew up in. I remember the furniture, the carpet, the doors, the kitchen rail, the laundry room, the fireplace, but most importantly I remember I was loved. I remember it was home. I remember I always felt safe. My foundation for the rest of my life was laid in the years I lived in that house.
Why was it now mine and my husbands home?
Possibly because it was there that I learned what a marriage was supposed to look like. It was there that I learned this is the kind of marriage I want to have one day… and well God has granted my heart’s desire. I have that marriage. I have that marriage because my husband and I held on to truth, and to love, and to hope. We choose to live in forgiveness and grace. So now today, my husband and I are trying to lay a similar foundation in our own daughters lives…
A home is a school whether you homeschool or not.
The past sins video? Well that was self interpreted and obvious. Get the behind me Satan. You have no power over me and my past failures will never keep me from my present joy and future victories because my Redeemer lives!
It’s Homeschool Co-op time again and with it Chapel! We picked up our Names of God study today. The last name we studied was Iesous, the Greek word for the given name of our Savior, Jesus. As I shared with our last lesson, Jesus, is our Savior’s name, all the other names we have been studying are really titles. These titles are given to us by our God so that we might get to know Him and all His glory. We continue today learning a new name, a new title, of our Lord. Today we are introduced to our Christ with Thura.
The title thura (thoo-rah) in the greek means a DOOR, the vestibule, it’s used of any opening like a door, an entrance, way or passage into…
In the little movie clip above these “monsters” had their access into the lives of these children through a door. If you enter your own home you enter through a door. The only reason you would enter any other way is if you are locked out…
If you notice in this clip, these monsters entered through the closet door. They did not come in through the front door. They were not welcome guests. They were invaders. They were in fact already in the house and they were their to scare, to torment, to frighten… I could so take this even further relating these monsters to the already present sin in our house and why we need to leave our old house behind and move into our Father’s house… but I am sure my word count will have already exceeded most blog readers attention spans 😉 So we will move along and keep our focus on Thura.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
John 10:1-10
Jesus is the door. He is the door of the sheep. Here is the thing about a door… a door has two sides. You are either inside the door or you are outside the door.
We see one of our first pictures of the importance of a door in Genesis.
When God created Adam and Eve, He created them inside the garden. When Adam and Eve sinned they were put outside (Genesis 3:22-24). While outside sin continued to grow and develop and the iniquity of man became so great that God had to deal with sin.
However, our God left open a door…
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it…
Genesis 6:11-16
God left open a door for the years that Noah built this ark and in truth we know from the book of Jude that Noah’s great grandfather, Enoch, preached of the coming judgment of God upon the earth. God used Enoch to sound the warning, and used Noah to provide the door to salvation from the coming judgment… the door was wide open for anyone who would believe to enter.
On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark, they and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of birds. So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life. Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the Lord closed it behind him.
Genesis 7:13-16
We know that those inside the door survived the judgment. There was life for those who walked through the door. Those that chose not to walk through the door, when the door closed, they were now on the outside of the door. If you notice in the Scripture reference above, it was God that closed the door.
Yes, the thing about doors… there are two sides… you are either inside or you are outside. If you try and stand in the doorway you will get hurt because eventually the door that is opened will indeed be closed.
How many times growing up did you hear your parents say, “Inside or outside!”
You just can’t hang out in the doorway and you just can’t leave the door wide open forever running in and out… if you do all kinds of bugs and critters will get in the house. I can recall even getting disciplined for not picking a side of the door. As a mother now myself, I have uttered these words to my own children. As a matter of fact in my children’s church time, all my kids know that once I close the door the bathroom breaks and the “oh I forgot’s” are done. They now are mine and class begins. The door can stay open for a while… but eventually it must be closed.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Revelation 3:19-22
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
Revelation 22:14-15
Jesus is the door and He stands at the door knocking… right now the door is open and you can come in, but eventually the door will close. Inside the door are those who walked through the door and were washed and ready to dine with the One who was knocking. While its day outside we run in and out, but when night falls and it comes time for the dinner meal, those who belong in the house come home and are washed up and the door is shut and we sit down to dine as a family.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way,
and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6
Those who walk through the door of Christ will get to meet the Father… because He is the door, the way, the passage into, He is the vestibule to the Father’s house. We become part of the family of God and receive access to His house only through Christ (Romans 8:14-16). He is the only door. There is no other.
Now for those who walk through the Thura… what does that mean? Once you have responded to the knock and opened the door, what exactly does that mean? We must remember that Thura is a door, but it is also a way, an entrance, a passage into something or someone.
This is where it gets really good!
So pay attention 🙂
Therefore, having been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have obtained our introduction
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ,
excluded from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers to the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off
have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
And He came and preached peace to you who were far away,
and peace to those who were near;
for through Him we both have our access
in one Spirit to the Father.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and are of God’s household,
Ephesians 2:12-13, 17-19
Oh precious one, did you catch it?
We once were separate, excluded, strangers, far away, but in Christ, in the Thura, we are brought near, no longer strangers, fellow citizens, in one Spirit. Once you walk through the Thura, you are of God’s household.
In my parents house growing up… and even today… once you had entered the home and had your introduction to the house from then on when you came to visit you did not knock, especially if you were family. You just walked in. As a matter of fact it is that way at my aunt and uncles and my grandparents. I can’t tell you the times that we have had a knock at the door and we all would look at each other, and ask “Who in the world is that knocking?“
Only strangers knocked.
If someone stood at the door knocking they were a stranger to us and everyone in the house knew it.
Jesus stands at the door knocking because He is a stranger to those outside the Father’s house. So he stands knocking at our door and once we open the door and meet Him and have our introduction to Him, then He walks us right into His Fathers house and gives us our introduction to His Father’s house.
When we girls would leave our house and meet/make a friend, that friend would return with us to our parents house and we would introduce them to our parents. Once our friend received that introduction they had full access to our parents house. While they were there they came in and out of the house just as we did. They didn’t have to knock.
It is the same for my girls and our house.
I always tell everyone, your first visit you will receive the tour, you find out randomly where everything is, and we will ask can I get you, would you like, etc… the next time you come over you are on your own. If your hungry, you know where the fridge is. If you gotta go to the bathroom, well you know where to find it. If you need a nap you know where the bed or couch can be found.
Once you have been introduced and received… our home is your home. Once our home is your home, you can walk in and out with confidence and assurance in the knowledge that you are welcome.
It is the same in our Heavenly Father’s house.
so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.
Ephesians 3:10-12
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Hebrews 10:19-23
Right now my friend the door is open.
Right now we run in and out of the Father’s house.
Right now we can go boldly and confidently to the Father and we have access to all that is in the house (Ephesians 1).
Right now we are to bring our family and the friends we meet to Jesus. We are to tell them about our friend Jesus, who has become more than our friend, but our brother, Savior, and Redeemer. We introduce them to Him, so that when He shows up and knocks on their door… He is not a stranger to them. They can then open the door and meet Him themselves and walk with Him, and through Him, and obtain their introduction, their access to His Father house. Jesus stands at the door and He is the door. He is the door to the house and He is the door of the house.
Right now the door is open.
However, precious one, don’t forget that eventually the door will close.
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut. Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
they will mount up with wings like eagles,
they will run and not get tired,
they will walk and not become weary.”
(Isaiah 40:30-31)
If you are tired and if you weary and if you are worn then it is time to stop and to exert your remaining strength in sharpening the edge of your axe. It’s time to put your nose, precious one, to the grindstone…
“Putting your nose to the grindstone” implies tedious, repetitious, and unending work. You will find that sharpening a dull or abused ax is indeed tedious and repetitious, but to do it right you have to do it slowly.Along the way, you’ll learn the value of patience, and appreciate the differences in steel tempering and ax quality as you sharpen different axes. Best of all, you will appreciate the usefulness of a razor-sharp ax, and the importance of doing everything you can to keep it sharp.
(US Dept of Transportation Forest Service)
To sharpen a blade you need a stone…
For this is contained in Scripture:
“ BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE,
A PRECIOUS CORNER stone,
AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
1 Peter 2:6
and you need a lubricate…
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know…
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you,
and you have no need for anyone to teach you;
but as His anointing teaches you about all things,
and is true and is not a lie,
and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Now, little children, abide in Him,
so that when He appears, we may have confidence
and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming.
1 John 2:20, 27-28
If your axe is dull and worn then most likely it is damaged and rusted from your own personal exertion and overuse and misuse. It takes more work to cut down a tree with a dull axe than one that is sharp. You will exert much strength and you will blister your hands and throw out your shoulders and wear out your arms and your back will be in pain and your knees will become weak and even your every breathe will become a labor too hard to bare…
The Word of God tells us that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength (Philippians 4:13)… precious one sometimes it takes the most strength to stop swinging the dull axe and just lay the burden of it down.
Stop swinging the axe… let go of the axe… be still.
Precious one that axe is too heavy, it is too worn, it needs to be restored. And yes, the restoration process takes time and it must be done with care. Have you been facing the same trial over and over again? Have you been swinging that axe relentlessly trying to bring down that same old tree? Have you been facing it alone? God never intended you to face it alone…
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe;
and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;
and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all,
as anyone might have need.
Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house,
they were taking theirmeals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
Did you notice the word that was repeated?
It’s the word “together.”
Iron sharpens iron… we need each other. We get tired, weary, and worn when we refuse to allow others to help us. We lose the strength to even fight the sins and the flesh and we give in to things we would never have given into if we had not chosen to go it alone. Do not forsake the assembly and for heavens sake don’t fake the assembly… Be real. Get real. For real.
You can’t cut down that tree alone… and you definitely can’t cut it down with a dull axe. Stop swinging it and take it now and lay it down at the base of the tree on Calvary. Lay your axe down and take hold of the axe in the hands of Christ… for His is sharp and His is easy to swing and His will bring down that tree. His axe never becomes dull. It’s edge is always sharp. His Rock and Oil is always at work and His Living Water keeps the axe from never becoming corroded.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:29-30
Precious one, do you have an axe to grind?
Maybe it’s time to put your nose to the grindstone…
Maybe it’s time to open up the Word of God and put your face down in that Living Water and let the Rock of your salvation rub all the rust of life off your weary heart… maybe it’s time to let the Holy Spirit soak you in the Oil of His gladness and let it run over over your head seeping into your thoughts, renewing your mind, restoring your soul.
Maybe it’s time to get that axe sharp and remember how much easier it is to keep it sharp, rather than to ignore the sharpening until it gets too hard to swing.
One thing about blogging and tweeting and fb posting is that when I share things all the world can look back and see if I am speaking accurately… and well I can look back as well.
This time last year I wrote:
I am tired of worrying. I instead choose to cast burdens.
I am tired of stressing. I instead choose rest.
I am tired of doubting. I instead choose hope.
I am tired of fear. I instead choose love.
I am tired of jealousy. I instead choose to rejoice.
I am tired of selfish anger. I instead choose humility.
I am tired of bitterness. I instead choose forgiveness.
I am tired of ugly words. I instead choose to speak with grace.
I am tired of wringing my hands over things that are out of my hands. I instead choose to trust.
I am tired of holding on to accounts that are old and stinky and dingy and just need to hed to the shredder of forgiveness. I instead choose to remember only Him.
I am just plain old fed up with concentrating on me. I instead choose to fix my eyes on Christ.
I think I will just let everything stay in His hands in 2012 and I will stay buried and wrapped in His arms and walk when He says walk, stop when He says stop, turn when He says turn, look when He says look, speak when He says speak.
Will I walk through more darkness?
Oh no doubt!
But I will keep holding on to Him… because I never walk through darkness alone.
As I look back on 2012 I realize how faithful my God has been. No I have not always been victorious in choosing rest over stress, hope over doubt, love over fear, etc… but compared to 2011 and the years before… all I can say is, wow.
This past year when fears, and doubts, and frustrations, and hurts would arise and the circumstances would begin to dictate my attitude and thoughts and I would find myself reacting rather than responding, the Spirit would whisper to my heart… Remember. As I look back I can see my God’s faithfulness to not let me stay in my flesh too long… He would jerk my head quickly and remind me to look up and to see things as they really were… to see things through His eyes and not my own.
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
Psalm 78:35
I purposed this past year to not take one Communion lightly… but to truly remember.
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.”
Luke 22:19
I think God has given me my word 2013…
Aphtharsia… pronounced af-thar-see-ah. In English this word is Incorruptible.
Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
Ephesians 6:24
I want to love my Jesus with an incorruptible love. I want to love Him with a pure and sincere love. A love that is not tainted with selfishness. A love that doesn’t pout when I don’t get my way or don’t like my circumstances. A love that doesn’t doubt the love of my Jesus because I simply just don’t feel Him at the moment. A love that doesn’t waver in any way. An incorruptible love.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. “They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation. “Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent,
children of God above reproach
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom youappear as lights in the world,
holding fast the word of life,
so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory
because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Philippians 2:14-16
We live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
We live among those who are corrupt because they have acted corruptly toward their Creator God.
I am His child… therefore I should love my Jesus, my God, with an incorruptible love.
I should not look, act, or react the way this generation does. How can I be the light if my light is corroded?
So 2013, I believe my word will be Aphtharsia… Incorruptible.
I don’t want to stand before my Jesus ashamed… I want to have reason to glory… I don’t want to toil in vain… I don’t want to repay the grace of my God with grumbling and disdain.
I want to love my Lord Jesus with an incorruptible love.
I think it would be neat if the women of our generation took a little while to work on taking the planks out of our own eyes. It would be neat if that freed us up to help the guys around us with the specks in their eyes; not out of selfish interest or self-preservation but out of a genuine desire for everyone in our lives to see our sweet savior a little more clearly. ~ thoughts from fab
I read this most post several months ago and began this post, but got distracted. However after a little study today in 1 Kings I am drawn back to complete my thoughts.
When I read the post from “thoughts from fabs” the first time, it brought to my remembrance a little something that concerns me more and more as I see it…
The baby’s daddy bashing.
It is actually doing more than concerning me, I actually am growing to despise it.
There was a day when a girl’s own father and mother chose her future spouse for her. However, we women decided that we wanted the freedom, “the right” to chose our own husbands.
This clip is entitled “Jasmin’s Cage”
Jasmin was under the protection of a loving father who was seeking to provide a man for her that would love her as much as he did. A man that would protect her and provide for her… but Jasmin was not happy with that… no she identified that with being locked in a cage like the birds in her courtyard. Jasmin wanted to marry for love…
Then you see the starry eyed, dreamy snuggle of the bird in her hand.
The law just was not good enough for Jasmin… she wanted to be her own guide… She did not want to be guided by the law or her father.
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate…
Genesis 3:6
Ladies, we wanted the “right” to choose our man. This father of your child was your choice. He was who he was when you began the relationship with him.
How many advised you to not walk this path with this one?
If you chose to give your body to a boy before he ever promised to make a commitment to you… then why are you so shocked over his lack of commitment now?
It is time to accept responsibility in this area. It’s time to stop bashing your baby’s daddy and admit that you are the one that was deceived… or covered your eyes to the truth and shut your ears to the words of those who truly loved you and you chose to follow your own emotions.
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:13
You can lie to yourselves and you can surround yourself with other women who will help you bash your “baby’s daddy” and they will help you put all the blame on this man… and that will make you feel better for a moment and it will help you push your own responsibility in the relationship to the side in your own mind… but how does that affect the heart of the child that was created?
In the baby’s daddy bashing have you even stopped thinking about yourself long enough to consider the damage your words have on this child who is from him? The one you bash… the one you chose to lie down with… is indeed the father of this child and this child will seek their identity, who they are, from him.
Maybe you did it in the right in order. Maybe you married him and then the children came… and now the marriage is crumbling… maybe he has already left and the divorce is in process or final…
Maybe you are convincing yourself that he “changed” and that’s why the divorce came… did he really?
Once again, you chose him.
Who advised you not to walk down the aisle with him? What trials did you go through with him before you said “I do” and yet convinced yourself that things would be different once you were married…
Ladies, we wanted the freedom to choose. With freedom comes responsibility. So take it. Own it. And guard your mouth as you speak over your child concerning their father.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
1 Timothy 2:13-15
The writing and teachings of Nicole Love Halbrooks Vaughn
Proven Path Ministries