Last Sunday I had the opportunity to talk to a sweet new friend. The conversation was born out of shared priorities. The priority of being the ones to parent our children and the priority of following Christ in obedience. This lovely new friend  had children who were just now starting school and younger and I am here on the other end. I have crossed over to the other side where I have a child already married and two more that are heading into the preparations for graduating credits and entering college.

This new friend and I discussed how it really didn’t matter whether you homeschooled or public schooled or private schooled or how bad the school system was or how great it was… if you were willing to work hard you would and could succeed.

What it always boils down to is what is being invested into the heart of your child at home. You may not be able to change the school system, but you can change you.

Recently this video began circulating through social media. It says a lot…

I have just completed a study in the book of Titus. The second chapter of Titus is full of instructions to those who profess to be believers. Paul is very clear that if you do indeed belong to Christ, then these following characteristics should belong to you or at the very least be in the process of being developed in you.

Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 

Titus 2:2

temperate néphalios: clear-minded, free from life-dominating influences.

dignified semnos: weighty, deeply respected because viewed as majestic

sensible sóphrón: sound, safe “inner outlook” which regulates outward behavior, a man who does not command himself, but rather is commanded by God‘

sound hugiainó: in good health; right, reasonable, sound, pure, uncorrupted

in faith pistis: belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness

in love agapé: divine love, embracing God’s will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power,”loving” is always, defined by God – a “discriminating affection which involves choice and selection“

perseverance hupomoné: properly, remaining under, endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to “remain (endure) under” the challenges He allots in life, a remaining behind, a patient enduring

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2:3-5

Likewise urge the young men to be sensible

Titus 2:6

Did you notice the more detail given to the women? Older women are to likewise have the same character as the older men, but there is more.

Older women are not to be malicious gossips. The Greek word used here is diabolos and it means slanderous, a false accuser; unjustly criticizing to hurt (malign) and condemn to sever a relationship, backbiter. It’s the same word that we use for the Devil. Just let that sink in for a moment…

Have you ever met a devil in the church?

Older women are not to be a devil in the church. They are meant to be there to teach what is good. They are meant to be there to be someone that a younger woman can safely confide in and receive good sound biblical counsel from.

Sadly I think we have lost this in many of our churches. We have so segregated our churches for what we think are relationship building purposes that what we have instituted is the blind leading the blind and we have watched our families fall into the pits.

Younger men need older men to watch and learn from and younger women need older women to teach them and to listen to their frustrations with understanding and calmness. The older women are to teach the younger women what is good. They are to encourage the younger women.

The word encourage here in the Greek is sóphronizó and it means being radically-moderate, i.e. living as God defines true balance,(literally “living in divine moderation“) is moving in the “bigger picture” transforming someone to be “radically-balanced” according to the Lord’s will. This radical-moderation requires a complete perspective that is eclectic, combining the legitimate extremities of truth from both sides of a matter.

Now younger women, I ask you, how important is it that you have someone there to help you see BOTH sides of an issue when it comes to your husband? How easy is that in the first years of marriage? Shoot, the first decade of marriage! How much of a difference would it have made in your marriage had you had someone who was willing to teach you how to be balanced and how to see both sides, instead of just agreeing with you and even fueling you on? I was blessed to have parents and other godly women in my life that were willing to sit me down and help me see both sides. This made all the difference in our marriage.

The older women are to be there to encourage us how to love our husbands. The word love here in the Greek is philandros and it means loving friend, the special affection of a woman for her life-time mate (husband), embracing him as her “calling” (stewardship) from God.

Oh precious woman of God, has it ever occurred to you that your husband is your calling from God? First and foremost he is your calling. To show the love of Christ to him, to build him up and edify him, to be his friend as Christ is yours. This my dear is a very great challenge in our day. The enemy has set us up to fail this one and to even do so as we use the excuse of serving others in the ministries of our church. I know this one well.

The older women are to encourage us to love our children. The word love here is philoteknos and it means to be fond of… Yes young mother holding that sweet precious bundle of joy, there will come a day when you will need someone to help you be fond of that not so sweet anymore child! The possibility of our lack of natural affection to our very own flesh and blood has become painfully evident in this day of ours as mother after mother chooses boyfriends and drugs and careers over their children.

The older women are to teach the younger women to be sensible, pure, and workers at home. That phrase “workers at home” means more than you think, so please do not skim over it with an antagonistic feminist dismissal. The Greek word for this phrase is oikourgos and it means guard of the home.

Women of God we are to be the guard over our house. We have been designated by God to stand with our sword wielded and with our trumpet of alarm ready to sound. We are to be the ones who know not just the doctor appointments and school schedule but the one who knows what is going on in the spirit realm of our home. We are to be teaching our children the Word of God and teaching them how to live out the Word in prayer and in choices.

God has gifted women with an intuition into the hearts of their children and their husbands and He has called us to intercede on their behalf before His throne. He has called us to do so not just in prayer, but in practical action. This is not saying we cannot work outside the home, but if working outside the home causes us to neglect this calling then beloved I don’t care what we do and how much money we make and how many charities we give to, we are not in the will of God.

When we look at the book of Titus it’s pretty clear that the first fruits we are to bear as believers is in our own homes. If we are not bearing fruit in our homes, then any we portray to bear outside its walls, even within our community or church, is just for show. It’s the fruit of the Pharisee.

Beloved of God… what matters first is what you are investing in the lives of those in your home. This is your Jerusalem.

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After watching Kelly Clarkson’s performance on American Idol last night, I had to add this video clip to this post…

Home first. Always.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Titus 2:11-14

Last night I completed a study in the book of Titus. As Wayne Barber shared in the video Titus is easily broken down by its three chapters. This is a short and to the point letter of instruction and encouragement to Titus from Paul. The church in Crete was in a mess… and it didn’t take long for it to get in a mess.

This letter was written around 62 AD. Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead around 30 AD. So either the church in Crete was never right side up or we better be warned because it only took thirty years for it to get flipped upside down. This is why we must constantly examine ourselves (Psalm 26:2), our church (2 Corinthians 13:5), and the doctrine being preached (1 Thessalonians 5:21) to see if we have strayed from God’s Word and His purpose.

Right doctrine leads to good deeds and good deeds meet pressing needs and that bears fruit, beloved. Are we bearing fruit? Good fruit that is, we all bear fruit, the question always should be, what kind are we bearing?

Last week I had the opportunity to go over the points of doctrine in the book of Titus. Titus is a mainly practical book, but the doctrine that is laid out in its three chapters is pertinent to the health of every church. It would be on this doctrine that Titus would stand as he worked to flip an upside down church back right side up.

The points of doctrine are found in Titus 1:1-3, 2:11-14, and 3:3-8. I encourage you to take the time to read it and not just know it, but internalize it and live it… because if you are not and can not, beloved you know not the grace of God. We will live out the doctrine we truly believe and Paul makes it clear to Titus that those who truly are of sound doctrine will have evidence of sound deeds. Those deeds are described throughout the rest of the book of Titus and Titus 2:11-14 teaches us why and how this is true.

“For the grace of God has appeared…“

In our modern day American society we throw our heads back and sing loudly the beautiful words, “amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…” and boldly proclaim that we are under grace and not the law, I fear that many have made grace a “feel good” and in doing so we have done the worst and turned it into licentiousness (Jude 1:4). Grace is not a feeling.

In John 1:14 we learn that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory, full of grace and truth. The grace of God appeared when Jesus Christ entered this world as the one and only God-Man. Then after His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension  for those who have believed, the grace of God which appeared to us was received by us (Romans 5:17). This grace empowers us and enables us to walk and live as children of God.

For the grace of God has appeared…

• instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age.

What age is that? This one. This. One. The age you are in. The age between the cross and His coming again. What is godly and ungodly is not determined for us by man, it is instructed to us by the grace of God. There is nothing that our society can try to convince us is right or wrong that can sway those who are children of God. It doesn’t matter what is determined okay by the standards of man, we are held by the standard of God. Those who belong to Christ have received the grace of God and this grace comes along side of us instructing us how to live.

That word instructing in the Greek is paideuó and it means discipline, educate, train, to more severely chastise, to cause one to learn, under development with strict training, so they mature and realize their full potential (development). This requires necessary discipline (training), which includes administering chastisement (punishment). In other words the grace of God has not appeared to make suggestions and recommendations to us that we can choose to obey, ignore, or twist to meet our own desires. The grace of God means business. If we are indeed God’s child, then He expects us to act like it.

My husband and I have three girls and these three girls are instructed and taught by us. They were and are expected to obey our instructions and teachings regardless of where they are and who they are with and if at anytime we come to learn that they are not doing so, well its time for a reminder with necessary discipline and punishment. The Scriptures make it very clear that God disciplines His kids (Hebrews 12:4-11). 

•  looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ

When I wandered away from the Lord and was lost for years in the world of the prodigals there would be a many nights and a many times when out of no where this thought would come to, “What if He came tonight?” What if He came tonight and this was how and where He found me? The thought of it terrified me! Now I ask you, where did that come from? It came from the grace of God.

Think about it. When you were a kid, was your behavior and choices affected by the realization that your parents could walk in at any minute? At work, does your attitude and efficiency adjust when the boss is on site? At home does the house look different when company is being expected? Yes! Of course it does! Our Lord tarries and the grace of God is there with us instructing us to stay awake and focused and looking, because if He came today and found you where you are and how you are, would you be ashamed? Oh precious one, don’t get caught ashamed (1 John 2:28).

• who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 

If you belong to Christ, truly belong to Him, then you should be zealous for good deeds because that is what He redeemed you to do. The word zealous is zélótén and it means one who is eagerly devoted to a person or a thing, with the genitive of the object: with the genitive of the thing, most eagerly desirous of, zealous for, a thing,  to acquire a thing. Jesus came to bring good news, to set the captive free, to make the blind see. He met pressing needs… even from the cross (John 19:26-27). Therefore if we are His costly, treasured, specially chosen then we too should do likewise… even from our own crosses if need be.

Good deeds are not something we are “called to do” they are what we cannot help but do! The grace of God and the love of Christ compels us…

For the grace of God has appeared… 

Therefore…

be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable,gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:1-7

Our deeds do not save us, but by our deeds we testify that we are saved. Our deeds represent what doctrine we actually believe. If you want to know what someone really believes, look at their deeds.

Look at your own beloved… are you an example of good deeds? Your life is supposed to attract people to a very precious message that you carry.

Does it?

From Your precepts I get understanding;

therefore I hate every false way

Psalm 119:104

This summer I will be teaching Jr High kids a lesson series on God’s precepts. I had not quite decided on how I would put these lessons together or what direction I would go in concerning the subject. I was not sure what Scriptures I would use to teach them. I pondered pulling from Deuteronomy or from John using Jesus teaching about loving Him equating with obeying His commands. I simply tucked the title of the lesson back in my thoughts and waited for the Lord to lead me.

Then about a week ago I was scrolling through my Timehop app and came across a little Facebook note that I had written many years ago before I ever began to officially blog. The note was just a personal lesson that the Lord revealed to me as I was reading through Psalm 119, specifically verse 104.

What the Holy Spirit had revealed to me that day was found by opening my eyes in a new way to the word false. In Psalm 119:104 the psalmist did not write that he hated every “wrong” way, but every false way. As I read that, the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask, maybe it’s not so much about what is right or wrong, but more so about what is true or false.

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,”

Romans 1:25

Perhaps as we look at the things in this world and the choices we need to make we should spend a little less time trying to argue and decide who and what is right and who and what is wrong and focus more on who and what is true. Our enemy, Satan, the deceiver, attempts to hand us a false substitute. Think about it… He himself is who he is in his attempt to be someone he can never be… Creator God.

Satan wants us to settle for his cheap offer and how often we have and how often we do still. He offers cheap thrills and momentary pleasures that leave us empty and starving. He hands us McDonalds and convinces us that it’s fillet mignon. We settle for temporary surface circumstantial happiness, when we could be partaking of everlasting deep resounding joy.

“therefore I hate every false way”

Psalm 119:104

Jesus clearly proclaimed, “I am the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus also told those that followed Him that God had promised that He would send us the Spirit of Truth, and He, the Spirit of Truth, would guide us into all truth (John 16:13). Jesus tells us that God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and we know that God is true (John 3:33).

If God is truth and His Word is truth and the Holy Spirit is truth and Jesus is truth then anything or anyone that opposes that truth is false. In order for us to be able to determine and discern what is true and what is false, God has given us His precepts. By these and these alone can we gain understanding and insight so that we might not be deceived.

The word precepts in Psalm 119:104 in the Hebrew is piqqud and it comes from the Hebrew verb paqad which means, to attend to, visit, muster, appoint. It can mean, calls me to account, properly, appointed, i.e. a mandate (of God…).

We live in a fallen world. A fallen deceived world often led by a deceived people with a false and even warped sense of reality. All of us enter this world in darkness. We are blind. We are lost. We are deceived. We are held by chains of death that are fastened with bonds of sin that are yoked to an enemy named Satan that desires nothing more than to drag us all into an eternal hell with him.

Our only hope is truth.

Truth that has been visited to us through the Word of God. The Word of God, these precepts, do not change. They are the mandate of God and they hold true for both angel and demon and all of mankind. By them and them alone can we gain understanding.

We gain understanding because they bring to light what is hidden. They do not shift or fade. They are solid and because they are solid they call us to account. How often do we not realize that something is crooked until something straight is laid up against it? How often do we not realize that something is a going downhill until we step far enough back from it to see more of the picture?

God’s precepts are our straight edge. They are our level. They can and will reveal what is true so that we might discover what is false.

God has visited us with His mercy by gifting us with His Word. He even fleshed out His Word in the person of Jesus Christ so that we might gain even more understanding and be able to distinguish between what is true and what is false.

His precepts attend to the thoughts of our hearts and cause us to wrestle with the things of this world. His precepts break our hearts and sting our pride. His precepts call us to a higher ground that by traveling up sometimes feels like we are storming the beaches of Normandy… but turning away from them leads us in a false way… a false way that leads to certain eternal death.

God’s precepts get us to the point of the matter of all things. God’s precepts cut through all the verbal gymnastics, wordy innuendoes, and flowery grins. God’s precepts reveal the truth in such a way that we not only can see the false way, but we grow to hate it.

Before Jesus went to the cross He stood before Pilate and Pilate asked Him what is truth…

Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

And when he had said this, he went out again…

John 18:37-38

Pilate asked what is truth as He stood face to face with the testimony of truth and then he walked away. He didn’t wait for an answer. He didn’t wait for an answer because he didn’t really want to hear the answer. He wanted his truth to remain relative… and truth is not relative. Truth is absolute.

God’s Word is truth. Beloved of God, do not walk away from it. God’s precepts are for seeking. Opening up His Word is scheduling your appointment with Him. Digging into God’s precepts is opening up your heart and mind for a visiting from the Spirit of God Himself so that He might attend to the deepest regions of your soul.

This is why the psalmist continued to write…

Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything,
I hate every false way. Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul observes them.
The unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
I opened my mouth wide and panted,
For I longed for Your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
After Your manner with those who love Your name.
Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Psalm 119:128-133

So after all this getting to the point, I believe I will be using Psalm 119 to put together a four lesson series on God’s precepts to teach a group of Jr High kids this summer 😉

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