Author Archives: Nicole Vaughn

>Face-down Devotion

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Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him
and said to him,
“I am God Almighty,
walk before Me and be blameless.”
Genesis 17:1
“El Shaddai” is one of my favorite names for God. So much about God is revealed to us in the first seventeen chapters of His Word. We discover that He is our Creator, our giver of life. We learn that our sin grieves His heart. We are shown that He keeps His promises. We are taught that He is the Most High God. We have seen that He is El Roi, a God who sees. We have also learned that He is our shield and our reward. Now we learn that He is God Almighty and that we can walk before Him and be blameless. Walking before God blameless seems like an impossible feat, but Jesus assures us in Luke 18:27 that “the things that are impossible with people are possible with God.”
In Genesis 17:3 we read that “Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him.” I believe this is a key verse as to how we are able to walk before God blameless. God came to Abram and announced Himself. Abram responded by falling on his face before Him, and then God talked with him. I wonder if it is even possible to really talk with God if we do not spend time on our face before Him—humbled in his presence.
We need to be bowed before our El Elyon, ready to submit in complete obedience to whatever He tells us to do. The great men and women of faith in Scripture and in history spent time on their faces.
I know that I do not spend enough time on my face before him. I think our position in prayer may matter more than we want to realize and admit. We want to say we are on our face in our hearts; we are bowed before Him spiritually, but are we really?
When we look at all that we know about our Creator, when we let these truths sink in, how can we not fall on our faces and worship Him? When we look at who He is, compared to who we know ourselves to be, why would we even consider that we could look Him in the face? Even the seraphim who stand before the throne of our Lord cover their faces with their wings (Isaiah 6:2).
I want God to talk with me. I want to be in His presence. I want to walk before my El Shaddai and be blameless. Acts 10:34 declares that “God is not one to show partiality,” so if Abram could walk before Him and be blameless, then so can we. The question we must ask ourselves is do we truly desire to walk blameless before our God? Do we truly desire for God to talk with us? If we do, then we must first humble ourselves before Him.
Abram demonstrated the humility of his heart by falling on his face when he was in God’s presence. This simple act shows so much. It shows that we are acknowledging the holiness of our God. It shows that we are submitting to His authority in our life. It shows that our hearts’ desire is to be obedient to the One we call “Master” and “Lord.”
Oh, precious one, our God knows our hearts. We can’t pretend humility before our Creator. In Philippians 2:8 we read that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Abram demonstrated the humility of his heart before God. Jesus demonstrated the humility of His heart before the world. So maybe we too need to demonstrate the humility of our hearts by humbling ourselves physically. We need to fall on our faces before Him. He is, after all, deserving of our wholehearted, face-down devotion.
Oh Father,
This is my desire: to honor You, my God and my King. Oh Father, forgive me for the many excuses I have made for not being on my face before You. I long to know You as Abram knew You. I desire for You to talk with me. I do not want to come to You and just lay out my list of requests and complaints and say amen. I wish to hear Your voice. I desire to know Your ways and to be in Your presence and rest in Your Word. I need You not as just my God, not as just my Savior, not as just my Lord, but as my Friend.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

I read this today (today being November 17th 2011) and wanted to add it this post…

Humble Submission
 by Charles R. Swindoll

Perhaps Job lay under the stars until he was wet from the dew. Finally, he spoke. And when he did, what a remarkable response! Verse 20 comprises nine words in the Hebrew text. These words describe what Job did before the text goes on to tell us what Job said. Five of the nine words are verbs. When you read your Bible, always pay close attention to the verbs, because they move you through the action of a narrative, helping you vicariously to enter the event.

First, Job peeled himself off the ground. He “arose.” The next verb tells us something strange. He “tore his robe.” The word translated “robe” is a term describing a garment that fits over the body loosely, like an outer gown that reaches below the knees. This is not the undertunic; it’s the outer robe that kept him warm at night. Job reached to his neck and, not finding a seam, he seized a worn part of the fabric and ripped it. In the ripping of the robe he is announcing his horrible grief. It was the action of a man in anguish. It’s used several times in the Old Testament to portray utter grief.

And then we read the third verb. He “shaved his head.” The hair is always pictured in the Scriptures as the glory of an individual, an expression of his worth. The shaving of the head, therefore, is symbolic of the loss of personal glory. And to carry his grief to its lowest depth, his fourth action is to fall to the ground. But, let’s understand, this was not a collapse of grief, but for another purpose entirely. It’s this that portrays the heroism of Job’s endurance. He doesn’t wallow and wail, he worships. The Hebrew verb means “to fall prostrate in utter submission and worship.” I dare say most of us have never worshiped like that! I mean with your face on the ground, lying down, full-length. This was considered in ancient days the sincerest expression of obedience and submission to the Creator-God.

Before moving on, I’d like to suggest you try this sometime. Palms down, facedown, knees and toes touching the ground, body fully extended, as you pour out your heart in worship. It’s the position Job deliberately took. Complete and humble submission.

>Beach Bliss

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>I have not blogged in a few days because we have been at the beach.
I love the beach.
I sit out there and watch the waves and listen to them break up on the shore and feel the beach breeze on my face and I just melt into it with a deep breath in and slow exhale out. The beauty of His creation and the splendor of His majesty. I sat out with my girls on the swing one morning and we read from the book of Job…

 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors
When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb;
When I made a cloud its garment
And thick darkness its swaddling band,
And I placed boundaries on it
And set a bolt and doors,
And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop’?
Job 38:8-11 

Sitting out there this week I selfishly told God that I would be completely okay if He chose to call our family to ministry at the beach. However, deep down I know that the beach would not have the same effect if it was the norm of my life instead of the time of momentary escape.

Not that I don’t love my life, but sometimes it’s just nice to downsize and simplify and lay all the “stuff” of life aside and just focus on worshipping my God and enjoying the family that He has given me. It’s so easy to let the things of ministry and family become a burden of responsibility instead of an outworking of inward love and devotion.

It’s so very easy to allow the distractions of life make me feel as if they are sucking the opportunity of worshipping my God right out of me. I can feel the “Ugh!” rising up in my throat now as my mind already jumps to the list of commitments that come with tomorrow… and even some that I really probably should go ahead and take care of tonight… but I must get all this out of my mind and heart into a page or the stirring will not stop and I will never get to sleep. (This blog has become my journal instead of my journal becoming the blog… not sure yet if that’s a God thing, a good thing, or a good-grief thing.)

There really is nothing I had rather do than write and teach about my God. The “Ugh!” rises up for all things that interrupt that. I know it should not be that way, because I am to do all things as unto the Lord… all things includes cooking supper for my family (no matter the battle scars I add to my body from it), it includes washing the dishes, the laundry, the floors, the bathrooms, it includes being a taxi, a doctor, a counselor, a friend, a vet, and the bestes dog hair sweeper upper in the county.

Sometimes we just have to step back and remember the why and trust in the Who and know that our God is with us and that He understands our life distractions and we all just simply were not called into a full-time paid ministry position.

Although in all honesty I have at times asked God why He didn’t make me a man so that I could have held that position (and it’s not the “position” but just the “permission” to go into a room and shut the door and say I am studying, I’ll come out when I am done, I get up at 5:30-6am and hope to get a couple of undistracted hours in before the house wakes up)…. or even let us switch denominations so that I could justify me holding such a position, then I could afford a maid to do all this other stuff that I see as distractions… then I would be jealous of the maid, because my family would see her as the one who is meeting their needs and not me… oh well.

Yes the craziness of my thought flow…

I love what I read this week in The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer:

Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each excursion away from Him, the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window.
I would emphasize this one committal, this one great volitional act which establishes the heart’s intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. He knows that we have set the direction of our hearts toward Jesus…

And Jesus knowing their thoughts… Matthew 9:4
But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart,… Luke 9:47
I would have to say that one of the most freeing realizations ever is the fact that now that I am in Christ and I desire to honor Him and live a life worthy of His calling I find peace instead of fear when I think of Him knowing my thoughts and my heart. There was a day when I sought to hide what was in my heart, when I wanted it covered up and hidden from God. I wanted God to look at all the good things I had done and judge me by them… but now I cry out to Him to judge me by my heart because I know my works will never cut it.
There are too many distractions for whole works devotions… but never to many distractions for whole hearted devotion…
So even though I very much enjoyed my momentary escape of beach bliss. The chair sits empty once again at the shore while I get back to the things of my life. There are bills to pay, lessons to plan, weddings to attend, birthday presents to purchase, laundry to wash, rooms to clean, budgets to balance, classes to teach, meals to cook, kids to cuddle, husband to love, dog to yell at, and above all a mighty and awesome and understanding God to worship and serve with all my heart who sees me for me and loves me unconditionally.

>Tattle Telling

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Then she called the name of the Lord
who spoke to her,
“You are a God who sees.”
Genesis 16:13
When we read Genesis 16 we see that Hagar, now pregnant with Abram’s child, appears to have decided that she no longer has to take orders from Sarai. Sarai goes to Abram and blames him for the actions of Hagar. I can see Abram throwing his hands up in the air and telling Sarai to do whatever she feels she needs to do.
Sarai attempts to discipline Hagar, and Hagar rebels from Sarai’s authority and flees from Sarai’s presence. Hagar ends up by a spring in the wilderness, and then the angel of the Lord appears to her.
I love how God approaches her. He addresses her as “Hagar, Sarai’s maid,” (Genesis 16:8) reminding her that she was under the authority of Sarai.
Then He asks, “Where have you come from, and where are you going?” (Genesis 16:8).
God knew where she had come from and where she was going, but He gave her the opportunity to talk to Him about it. God is the one who opened the door of communication. This has been His way from the beginning. In the garden, it was God who came to Adam and Eve and initiated the reconciliation.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” We go to see psychiatrists and counselors because we need someone to tell our hurts, to share our disappoints, someone to listen as we pour out our heart. Let us not forget that God is our “Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6).
I went through a Beth Moore study, A Heart Like His (a wonderful study, by the way), and she spoke of us being able to go to God to “tell on” others. Do you remember when you were a child and you felt you had been treated unfairly by a sibling, a cousin, a friend? Where did you go, and what did you do? You most likely did as I did and went and found your momma and daddy and “told on” somebody.
It is okay for us to tattle to God. He doesn’t mind. As you can see with His approach to Hagar, He welcomes it; He seeks it. We come to Him like children. Yet after the telling, we, like mature adults, are to obey our Father.
Sometimes we realize we had a huge part in the situation, and we have to do our part to make it right, just as Hagar did. Hagar answered the angel of the Lord, and then he told her to go back and submit to Sarai’s authority. He then gave her prophecy concerning the child in her womb.
Hagar also introduces us to another name for our Creator, El Roi, which means God sees. Our God is a God who sees all. We cannot run from Him. We cannot hide. We can, however, trust that He sees all. He sees when we have been treated unjustly. He sees when we treat others unjust. He sees when we have been disobedient, and He sees when we have been hurt; nothing is hidden from His eyes.
Oh Father,
Even if no one else sees, You see. You see when we have been hurt or wronged. Nothing happens on the earth that Your eyes do not behold. How comforting that is to me! My God, I love You, and I am so thankful for Your omnipresence in my life. You are always with me.
You also know when I have overreacted and when I must apologize. Your Holy Spirit moves within me and leads me where I need to go and instructs me in what I need to do. You give me the strength to be strong, and you give me the strength to be humble.
Help me, Father, to be a woman of high esteem and integrity, a woman who does right even though no one sees, and a woman who is quick to right her wrongs.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

>Helping God?

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So Sarai said to Abram,
“Now behold, the Lord has prevented me
from bearing children.
Please go in to my maid;
perhaps I will obtain children through her.”
And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
Genesis 16:2
God had promised Abram descendants. Abram and Sarai had lived in the land of Canaan for ten years. They were both growing older and now were eighty-five and seventy-five years of age. I can understand their uncertainty, especially at this time in history.
I can see how Sarai might have felt as a failure to her husband, probably feeling that she was the problem, unable to conceive this promised descendant, but here is where she went wrong. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of us go wrong.
We let our feelings and our emotions override the promise that was given us by God. Sarai became impatient and decided that God needed a little help, and Abram, instead of reminding Sarai and himself of the reliability of God’s word, went along with Sarai’s suggestion of Abram conceiving with Hagar.
Hagar did conceive a son, but he was not, nor ever would be the son promised by God. When we step ahead of God and try to move forward in the power of our own flesh, we usually make matters worse. The consequences that come from our impatience rarely just affect us. They have the power to go on for generations to come.
From this point of Genesis 16:2 until today, consequences are still seen and experienced from this one choice. The impact of this is sobering. Our choices matter, not only to us, but to others, and possibly for years down the road. Our impatience—our allowing feelings and emotion to control us—can lead us down a path we may wish we didn’t have to travel.
Oh Father,
How often I have been impatient and tried to “help” You out. Each time I have reaped the consequences. How I pray that I would be stronger in my faith and that I would simply trust in You and in the power and certainty of Your Word. You have never let me down.
How easy it is to get caught up in the fear of uncertainty and to feel ignored when things are not moving at the speed at which I think they should be. Oh Father, forgive me for my lack of faith. Forgive me for not fully trusting in You. Forgive me for not being willing and able to trust in Your faithfulness. You are good, and everything You do is good. You are faithful, and I have no reason to ever doubt You. Strengthen me, my God, according to Your glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience (Colossians 1:11). You are my God and my king, and I trust in You.
My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,
Amen.

>Take Me As You Find Me

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>I have been married for over 12 years and have been with my husband for over a total of 13 years. There is absolutely nothing about our marriage that statistically should foresee it as any possibility of being successful. According to the statistics that might pop up on your msn or yahoo news home page or even some of your christian media we should be destined for divorce.

However, these statistics do not factor in the grace of God.

There have been ups and downs in our marriage. There have been good times and bad. Life happens in our marriage. Issues, circumstances, junk… it happens.

In all this 13 years of life that has happened I can honestly and with all my heart say that I love my husband now more than I even imagined I could, even when I first spotted him and felt that flutter in my stomach as I watched him walk by and the “crush” began.

Our church put on a block party this past weekend. We had live bands that came and played. While I was sitting in the tent listening to one of the bands play, they began to play one of my favorite songs, Mighty to Save by Hillsong. I sat there and worshiped my God and then I heard the lyrics “take me as you find me, all my fears and failures…” My heart caught in my throat.

God whispered in my throat caught heart, “Nicole this is what marriage is about“

I took my husband as I found him. All his fears and failures came with the package.
My husband took me as he found me. And all my fears and failures came with the package… I came with alot of failures and alot of fears that mainly were formed from these failures.

My initial desire was to hide these fears and failures in a neatly tied up package in the back of my mind tucked away in a file labeled “Do Not Open EVER!”

For thirteen years God has been pulling at the string of this neatly tied up box and I have screamed, “No God, please, no… God, don’t make me open that box”
However, God has a way of doing what is best for us… even when we can’t see how in the world it could even be in the vicinity of good much less best.
That’s why He is God and we are not.

God knew that if that box would open and the rotting contents could be opened up I would experience a breathe of fresh air in a place of my soul that had been tightly shut for years from fear and shame and not only that I would see the love my husband had for me in a whole new and secure way. I would see that he really did take me as he found me, with all my fears and failures, and he would love me with grace and mercy and compassion.

This is what marriage is about.

Everyone needs compassion, everyone needs a love that is never failing, everyone needs the kindness of a Savior, what an absolute divine thing marriage is as two people take each other and all their fears and failures and fill each others lives allowing God to use them to love this person to Him.

More on Friendship

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I still have notebooks and computer files full of the info I gathered as I pondered and researched the idea and art of friendship. It’s not doing anyone any good in these files and notebooks so I am copy and pasting and typing handwritten pages like crazy so I can share this stuff with who ever is interested because I do know from personal experience how very important true and lasting friendship is in our lives 🙂  

[According to a study documented in the June 2006 issue of the journal American Sociological Review, Americans are thought to be suffering a loss in the quality and quantity of close friendships since at least 1985. The study states 25% of Americans have no close confidants, and the average total number of confidants per citizen has dropped from four to two

The conventional wisdom is that good friendships enhance an individual’s sense of happiness and overall well-being. But a number of solid studies support the notion that strong social supports improve a woman’s prospects for good health and longevity. Conversely, it has been shown that loneliness and lack of social supports are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, viral infections, and cancer as well as higher mortality rates. Two female researchers have even termed friendship networks a “behavioral vaccine” that protects both physical and mental health]

~ web article 

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Chuck Swindoll writes,

“The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once described friendship as “a sheltering tree.” What a beautiful description of that special relationship. As I read those words, I think of my friends as great, leafy trees, who spread themselves over me, providing shade from the sun, whose presence is a stand against the blast of winter’s lonely winds. A great, sheltering tree; that’s a friend.

David was leaving the great city of Zion—the city named after him, the City of David. As he came to the edge, at the last house, he stopped and looked back over that golden metropolis he had watched God build over the past years. His heart must have been broken as he stood there looking back, his mind flooded with memories. All around him the people of his household scurried past, leading beasts of burden piled high with belongings, running for their lives.

He was at the last house, and he needed a tree to lean on. Somebody who would say, “David, I’m here with you. I don’t have all the answers, but, man, I can assure you of this, my heart goes out to you.” When the chips are down and there’s nobody to affirm you and you run out of armor and you have no reputation to cling to, and all the lights are going out, and the crowd is following another voice, it’s amazing how God sends a sheltering tree.

All of us need at least one person with whom we can be open and honest; all of us need at least one person who offers us the shelter of support and encouragement and, yes, even hard truths and confrontation. Sheltering trees, all!

Thankfully, David had a grove of such trees. As a result he made it through the toughest and loneliest hours of his life.
Do you?

If so, it is a good time to call them up and thank them for their shelter. If not, it’s a good time to get a shovel and plant a few. You’ll need every one. Just ask David.”

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The seven points below came from the same web article that I shared at the very beginning of this post. I went through and researched the Word and added the Scriptural references to each of these points. I love how mankind sometimes thinks they have come up with some grand idea and gained some awesome strategic plan and in-depth insight for a good and happy and fulfilling life all on their own, when God has had all the instructions for this life already laid out for us, in writing nonetheless, for over 4000 years.

To Have A Friend – Be A Friend
1) Desire best for other

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others (Phil 2:1-4)

2) Sympathy and Empathy
Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15)
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corin 12:26)
3) Honesty
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good (Romans 12:9)
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy (Prov 27:6)
Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices (Col 3:9)
4) Understanding and Compassion
Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. (Rom 15:7)
5) Trust and Emotional Support
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal 6:1-2)
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves (Rom 15:1)
6) Give and Take
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality (Rom 12:10-13)
7) Don’t judge one another
Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.”  So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.  Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. (Rom 14:1-13)

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“wounds from a sincere friend are better than kisses from an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6). If God has placed someone in your life who is willing to challenge you about your spiritual shortcomings, take a lesson from David. Listen carefully—without getting mad—to God’s messenger, and admit your mistake. Then, like David, you can ask God to remove the stain of your guilt, and joyfully sing of His forgiveness (Psalm 51:9,14).

When was the last time someone pointed out some painful truth to you? How did you respond? Why is it sometimes most difficult to confront people close to us about their spiritual shortcomings?
~Jennifer Benson Schuldt

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I wanted to leave you with this last quote because I love the questions that she asked at the end. Why is it that we seem to find it harder to address the spiritual shortcomings in someone we are close to? Usually, if we are in the least bit evangelical we are willing to point these out to a stranger, but a close friend or family member we will not. We will walk around the issue, it will be the white elephant in the room, we will leave them drowning in their sin and groping in their darkness and pretend like we don’t see it. 
It reminds me of when you are talking with someone and there’s a “visitor” in their nose or a hunk of food stuck in between their front teeth and you just act like you don’t see it while you talk to them and then you let them walk away and continue to keep these things in their nose and teeth because you are afraid of embarrassing them by pointing it out. Then do you not usually turn to someone else and say, “did you see that bugger in their nose, I could hardly keep a straight face, it was flappin’ every time they breathed!” (Hmmmm sounds a little like the way most of us deal with sin in a “friends” life as well doesn’t it) 
Hello!
Which is more embarrassing?
To be told by a friend, “hey there’s a bugger hanging out of your nose. You might want to take care of that before you talk to anyone else” or to have someone let you go on and talk to fifty more people and then you finally step in front of the mirror and are completely mortified because you have just talked to over fifty people with a bugger hanging out your nose?
Just some things to think about… a bugger is not going to lead to death or consequences that are devastating to bear, but well sin and spiritual darkness… now that’s a different story. Isn’t it?  

>Saved By Faith

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“‘Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
your reward shall be great.”
Abram said,
“O Lord God.”
Genesis 15:1–2
God is so good to us. Here He is revealing even more of Himself to Abram. God lets Abram know that He will be a shield to him, and Abram replies with “O Lord God.” Abram had come to recognize God as a God, and then he learned that He was the God, El Elyon, God Most High.
Now Abram calls Him Adonai Jehovah, his Master and God. Abram is finally before the Lord in total belief and submission that He is his God and Master, and Abram’s belief is reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). In the Hebrew the word believed is “aman,” and it means to render firm or faithful, to be true or certain.
Abram is saved by his faith in God, by his belief in His word. Abram has now put all his trust in the One he knows is faithful. Abram is justified by faith, and this salvation experience is recorded by God. It is recorded in His Word so that we may know that our relationship with our God comes through our faith in Him. In Romans 4:23–24 we read, “Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”
In Genesis 12, God gave Abram a promise. When Abram had fully taken hold of that promise, God cut a covenant with him. This covenant is known as the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant still stands today. It still holds true.
God made Himself the guarantee of this covenant. He passed through the pieces of flesh; Abram did not. This covenant was the gift of God and was God’s to keep. Before God passed through the pieces of flesh, He told Abram about the four hundred years his descendants would spend enslaved in a strange land, and He also told him that He, God, would bring them out. Isaiah 48:3 reads, “I declared the former things long ago and they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.” We know now on this side of history that God did exactly what He said He would, so we can trust that when God says something, He means it.
Oh Father,
You are an awesome God, totally trustworthy and in control. You are our faithful God. You know the beginning and the end. You determine our times and places. You raise up, and it is You who brings down. You alone are God, and You alone are worthy of all glory and honor and praise. Oh Father, what peace we have when we finally surrender to You in abandoned obedience and in complete confidence in Your sovereignty.
Oh Father, thank you for making the way of salvation by faith in You. If it were according to my deeds or according to my ability to keep Your command without fail, I know I would be forever lost from You. You have made it according to faith, according to my personal surrender to You. How I thank You. May I be able to say with truthfulness that You are my Master and my God.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

>Homeschool Mom Encouragement

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This was in our cover school’s newsletter. It’s an article from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine,  thought I would share 🙂
I think I’ve come to realize after all these years that first and foremost, I want to be a “heart and soul homeschool mama.” That’s all that really matters. My house is a mess (stop by unannounced and I probably won’t answer the door – my living room is a disaster). Take a look at my kitchen; normally you will be hard pressed to find the counters. My couch (what couch? Where’d it go??) is overrun by clean laundry waiting (patiently and forever) to be folded and put away. Hey, at least it’s clean! My bedroom door stays closed, because, well, never mind. I won’t even go there because to describe the clothes behind closet doors, make-up spilled on the counters and a toilet that looks a little…well….not as white as it used to, would just be embarrassing. Seriously – my house is pretty messy. For the most part it’s really sanitary – I have an obsession with “cleaner wipes” as we call them. My kids are constantly wiping down furniture and doorknobs, tables and chairs and the counters when we can find them. I love to cook and wash my hands too many times. We’re clean. We’re just . . . slobs.
Epic success!
So I am not a “house cleaning super mama.” I gave up that dream long ago, like four minutes after I said, “I do.” Nor am I a “brainiac homeschool mama”. My kids have gaps, holes and stops in their education. They did alright; the two that have graduated went on to do a few semesters at college and got straight A’s in everything they took, even all the math (yuck). Well, Lukey got ONE B (history). Other than that, they are 4.0 college boys. So something went OK in the homeschooling I guess. But yeah, there are holes. We didn’t dissect a frog – ever. That is just sick and I am not going there. My house is gross enough as it is and knowing us, someone would lose a liver in the clean laundry and we’d never find that frog. One of my friends ordered a cow’s eyeball and it was delivered via MAIL (oh my gross). She rolled that puppy right onto her kitchen table and sliced and diced away with her kids. Then they stored the thing in her fridge.
OK. Well, then.
I’M NOT THAT SMART
I am not a “braniac homeschool mama” – sorry, just can’t do it. First of all, I’m not a brain like my cow-eyeball wielding friend. I have another friend who is a homeschool mom who also happens to be our lawyer. Her  child probably could have graduated when he was 13. She’s a constant stream of brain-power and she imparts it all to her lucky boy who is almost as smart as she is by now. Crazy. I can’t do it. I am simply not equipped. But we did the basics and had loads of conversations and put the time into a bazillion documentaries and traveling around on business, plus read books aloud when we could. We also did loads of reading comprehension.
Epic success!
MY HAIR IS WHACKED AND I CAN’T MATCH MY CLOTHES TO SAVE MY LIFE
I am not a “fashion-ado homeschool mama.” I’m chubby! My hair gets brushed (and I am serious) two to three times a week at best. It’s frizzy – why would I want to comb it out? Then it would be an afro that would touch the ceiling and put people in danger of being static-shocked. My babies would get lost in it. So keep it tight, leave it alone, slather it with gel if someone is coming over – good enough. I’m like a female version of
Ronald McDonald and I am NOT the only person who’s told myself that. So fashion is not really me. I’m not beautiful like some of my homeschool friends who look so well-put together. They have gorgeous manes that they probably comb out every day. Their shoes match. And their teeth are straight and white. Makeup? Can you believe some people wear it daily (more maniacal laughter – sorry). Fashion Gena is just not in existence. Never has been. This homeschool mama cannot even match her necklace to her shoes (although I did try once). My hair is kinda clean and I wear deodorant.
Epic success!
FIELD TRIP? YOU WANNA GO WHERE?
I am not a “field trip homeschool mama.” OK these mamas are great but I cannot keep up with them! They have a field trip experience for every other day of the week. Their kids have been to the Grand Canyon (mine have not). Their kids have visited flight museums and experienced Jamestown and all the reenactment festivals for both sides of the Civil War (mine haven’t). They can recite the Gettysburg Address and know all the historical/educational landmarks of Philadelphia (mine don’t). Busy, busy learning by experiencing. They’d fly to every planet for a field trip if they could. And my hat is off to them!
Look at the investment they are pouring into their children! Hands on learning – can’t beat it. Just wish I had time for such a thing (I think). Sounds exhausting and I’m tired even thinking about it. I am not a “field trip homeschool mama” like several of my better friends. But we have traveled when we can, visited faraway places in books and get out here and there.
Epic success!
What kind of mama am I? I don’t have the corner on a clean and lovely home. I am not a brain who can pontificate over my children pouring set-to memory knowledge in their craniums (I don’t have that much stuff memorized!). I am not that well put together – Mrs. Ronald, remember? (I stopped dying my hair red because the resemblance is then even more uncanny and it’s disturbing). And I am not constantly whisking my kids away to the Alps for PE or to the Golden Gate Bridge or Crater Lake for geography. I am a “heart and soul mama.” I’m here for them when they need me, relationships are first and foremost and I want them to know the Lord their God with all their heart and soul. I want to get to their hearts and have an impact on what happens with their souls. I want to bare my own heart, and I want us to build on that as our family continuously draws closer to each other and to the Lord.
It’s the Lord who reaches the heart and soul, and He uses us Moms in many ways to do it. By REGULARLY speaking to their hearts and guarding their souls we are creating an atmosphere for flourishing growth. Is that a perfect picture? If comparing it to fine art, it may look very abstract or even Impressionistic in style (crazy swirls and wide brush strokes) and sometimes quiet messy, but keep walking (even if you’re not as organized as you’d like to be) because it IS a form of fine art, divinely inspired and very much a part of His sovereign plan for our lives. He directs our steps if we follow Him. And He values your children even more than you do. He loves them. He loves you.
Keep walking.
(Reprinted from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine)

>El Elyon

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And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine;
now he was a priest of God Most High.
Genesis 14:18
Here we learn a new name for God, El Elyon, or God Most High. Abram, maybe for the first time, meets someone who knows God. Have you ever been somewhere where you were the only believer in Jesus Christ? At work? At school? At home even?
Have you ever experienced the lies of Satan, those fiery darts, whispering in your ear, saying that you are a fool for following Christ? Whispering that what you experienced isn’t even real. This Jesus isn’t real. This salvation isn’t real. This promise isn’t real. Have you heard them?
After these moments of persecution and attack, how does it feel to step into the presence of other believers in Christ? Do they confirm to you that what you feel in your heart, in your mind, is indeed the truth? Can you imagine the joy and breath of fresh air that filled Abram as he stepped into the presence of Melchizedek?
Through Melchizedek, Abram learns that the one he calls Lord is the possessor of heaven and earth. Abram learns that it was God who delivered him from all his enemies. Abram meets Melchizedek, a theophany of Jesus Christ, his name meaning “king of righteousness.” This king of righteousness was king of a city named Salem. In Hebrew, the word salem means “peace.” Melchizedek was the king of righteousness who was the king of peace. Melchizedek was not only king; he was also the priest of Salem.
This Melchizedek brings Abram bread and wine. Jesus tells us in John 6:48 that He is the bread of life. At the Last Supper, Jesus lifted up bread and said that it represented His body (Matthew 26:26), His body that was given for our redemption. Melchizedek also brought out the wine, representing the blood of Jesus, the blood of the covenant (Matthew 26:28), which was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins.
Melchizedek then blessed Abram. As great as Abram was and is, there remained one greater, for the greater always blesses the lesser (Hebrews 7:7). Abram then paid tithes to this Melchizedek. Hebrews 7:3 speaks of Melchizedek and says he was “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.”
Jesus Christ is King of kings and He is our Eternal High Priest. He is “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 7:17). Jesus Christ is not like the Son of God; He is the Son of God. Jesus does not just tell us about God Most High; “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” (Hebrews 1:3). What a beautiful picture of our coming Christ can be seen through this king and priest of Salem.
Oh Father,
You have never left us without a witness. You have been unfolding Your glorious plan throughout history. Unfolding Your mystery to mankind, never leaving us without a reminder of who You are, our great and awesome Creator, possessor of heaven and earth, our El Elyon. Oh Father, the longer that Abram walked with You, the more of Yourself You revealed to him. My Jesus, reveal Yourself to me. As Abram bowed before Melchizedek, this king and priest, I bow before You. You are the King of kings, and You are my High Priest. Blessed be You, my God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.

>Forever

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The Lord said to Abram,
after Lot had separated from him,
“Now lift up your eyes
and look from the place where you are, northward and southward
and eastward and westward;
for all the land which you see,
I will give it to you
and to your descendants forever.”
Genesis 13:14–15
Abram was seventy-five years old when he and Sarai and Lot set out from Haran and went toward the land of Canaan. There was a famine in the land of Canaan, and so Abram set out for Egypt. On the way, Abram looked at Sarai, his at-least-sixty-five-year-old wife, and instructed her to tell everyone that she was his sister and not his wife; of course, we discover in Genesis 20:12 that she actually was his half sister.
Today this conversation would go more like, “Sarai, it’s really not a lie; technically you are my sister.” Even a “half-lie” is a lie and brings consequences in its telling. Abram feared that his wife’s beauty would lead to his death, so that Pharoah would be able to claim Sarai as his own.
Sarai obeyed, and Pharoah took her in as his bride.
Let’s just stop and pause here for a moment in our day of plastic surgery and Botox and rest in the fact that this sixty-five-year-old woman, plastic-surgery free, was desired by the greatest ruler of that day. Ladies, let us wake up and remember that true beauty comes from the inside out: “Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).
God, of course, was not going to allow this lie to go far because it was through Sarai that Abram was to have Isaac, the one through whom the promised seed of redemption would carry. God sent plagues, and Pharoah released Sarai, and Abram knew that he had disobeyed God and acted out of fear. But Abram didn’t run from God; he ran to Him.
In Genesis 13:4 we read that Abram went to “the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.” Abram went back to the altar he had built when he last called on the name of the Lord. There he sought forgiveness and direction.
Throughout their journeys, both Abram and Lot had increased in livestock and servants, and the time came for them to separate. Abram gave Lot the first choice and decided that he would take whatever was left. Abram had just experienced the sovereignty and provision of his God, so his faith had grown to know that God would give him all he needed, whatever the place might be.
Lot chose and headed off toward Sodom, and then God finally showed Abram the land that was to be his and his descendants’ forever. God waited until Lot was out of the picture before He revealed more of His promise to Abram.
In this revealing, He once again reminded Abram that he would have descendants; he would have a child. God also added the promise of forever. This land that God was giving to Abram would be his and his descendants’ forever.
Oh Father,
How many times have I made bad choices out of fear? Rash decisions usually come with serious consequences. How thankful I am that You love me unconditionally. How thankful I am that You are able to take my mistakes and turn them into something useful for Your glory. Oh Father, when I fail, when I am afraid, when I feel abandoned and alone, may I always run to You and not away from You. Father, when times come that lead to a separation from family and friends, may I be able to trust in Your sovereignty and know that You are in control. I see in Your Word that sometimes we have to be separated in order for You to bless us and bring us into spiritual maturity. However, we are never separated alone; we are separated unto You, and You are all we will ever need.
My Jesus, I love You, and it is in Your name that I pray,
Amen.