Category Archives: Proven Path Ministries

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

One More Trip

 

There’s the lists. And the laundry, the books and the homework and the learning.

And these kids we’re raising, they keep falling, a lot like their mother. Parenting’s this way of bending over in humility to help the scraped child up because we know it takes a lifetime to learn how to walk with Him.

And then there’s this fear beast that I thought I’d already wrestled down, skinned, hung and mounted — and it’s the thing that breathes again ugly and too close.

It’s strange how knots in the pit of the stomach can try to undo everything.

For the life of me?

I can’t get it all right.

Heaven and earth both know I am a miserable mess away from perfect. This is exactly why the bruised knees just have to bend at the table of communion, and say, yes, please.

I need Jesus.

I need His life.

I need the perfect, sinless sacrifice of Jesus Christ who can take all the broken messes and make them into mosaics of Grace.

~ Ann Voskamp

 

Yes, I am having one of those nights… on the verge of tears for the past three days and now tonight they fall because the wound is too deep and the heart is too weary and the mind is just not willing to fight it anymore. I was holding it together and holding it tight until I read this post above and my protective wall of resolute determination to control all emotion has collapsed in my lap.

I am never more certain of my need for grace than when I find myself on my face in the dog hair covered floor… when I find myself in the filth of my pit of flesh. As I am on the inside wanting to scream and yell out my feelings of mistreatment and disrespect and yet struggling all the more with the sheer certainty that I am being sifted and I do not want the pain to be in vain.

It’s crazy how the simplest things can crush you when you are seeking to be holy as He is holy, when you are desiring to pursue righteousness as He commanded… when you want to be one who is pure at heart so that you might see Him… and the simple fact is that nothing matters but seeing Him.

So in this realization… in this cry out for His grace to be lavished upon me and for His mercy and the cleansing of His Word to wash over me and remove this filth of fleshly ick from my inner being I must decide what’s more important… winning my right, my way, my desires, or submitting to this test and saying Yes, Lord… what are you trying to teach me.

Oh how much easier it is to ball my fist up tight than to let my arms fall limp at my side and bow humbly before Him.

And then there’s this fear beast that I thought I’d already wrestled down, skinned, hung and mounted — and it’s the thing that breathes again ugly and too close.

It’s strange how knots in the pit of the stomach can try to undo everything.

For the life of me?

I can’t get it all right.

For the life of me I can’t get it all right. I always fail. I always fall short.

I always end up right here again doubting even my own existence, and at the point when it seems like all the levelness of life has just been shook into a disheveled heep… I am there in Philadelphia clinging to the One who has said He is holy, He is true, He has the key and what He opens no one can shut… not even me.

And I cry out… Oh God let them know that You have loved me. Let them see that Your Word is true and right and let them see in spite of me because I am so messed up.

I am flesh and I am tired and I am full of feelings I wish I didn’t have… anxieties, anger, frustrations, disappointments, and I cry out… Oh God let them know that You have loved me… for when I confess my sin You are faithful to forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness…

Oh God teach me to respond better.

And there it is.

The lesson.

This is what He is trying to teach me.

How to respond… not react.

One more trip around the mountain…

Oh how I need Him… I need Him every hour

 

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Names of God Series, Proven Path Ministries

Names of God: Jehovah-gmolah

 

This is a name of God that I believe many of us might realize we find hard to trust in when we really think about it. The name of God is Jehovah-gmolah and it means the Lord our Recompense.

We see this name of God in the book of Jeremiah

 

For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon, 
And her mighty men will be captured, 
Their bows are shattered; 
For the LORD is a God of recompense, 
He will fully repay.

Jeremiah 51:56

When we look at the context of this passage we know that it was at this time that God was using the nation of Babylon to judge the children of Israel for their disobedience to Him. He was using this Babylon’s rebellion to Him to discipline Israel’s rebellion. Then what we see here in Jeremiah 51:56 is God assuring His children that after He had disciplined them He would then indeed deal with Babylon.

Is it not laid up in store with Me, 
Sealed up in My treasuries? 
‘Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, 
In due time their foot will slip; 
For the day of their calamity is near, 
And the impending things are hastening upon them.’ 
“For the LORD will vindicate His people, 
And will have compassion on His servants, 
When He sees that their strength is gone, 
And there is none remaining, bond or free. 
“And He will say, ‘Where are their gods, 
The rock in which they sought refuge? 
‘Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, 
And drank the wine of their drink offering? 
Let them rise up and help you, 
Let them be your hiding place! 
‘See now that I, I am He, 
And there is no god besides Me; 
It is I who put to death and give life. 
I have wounded and it is I who heal, 
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand. 
‘Indeed, I lift up My hand to heaven, 
And say, as I live forever, 
If I sharpen My flashing sword, 
And My hand takes hold on justice, 
I will render vengeance on My adversaries, 
And I will repay those who hate Me. 

Deuteronomy 32:34-41

God was giving Israel an opportunity to call on these god’s they chose to worship instead of Him… and when they realized that these gods could not save them, God knew they would call on Him.

How awesome it is that God is willing to take us back.

Sometimes we let other gods come before our God and we disciplined, sometimes we just need sifted like wheat, sometimes we are being used by God to teach another how to trust Him in a hard time, sometimes we are being prepared for something that is coming later…  sometimes bad things happen, sometimes people are not so nice, but in all the sometimes God tells us to trust Him at all times.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 

Be of the same mind toward one another; 

do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. 

Do not be wise in your own estimation. 

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. 

Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 

Never take your own revenge, beloved,

but leave room for the wrath of God,

for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. 

“BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM,

AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK;

FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.” 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:14-21

Here’s a little example of being overcome with evil:

 

As you watched that video I am sure you laughed… it’s pretty funny.

But the reality is that in the real world what you see is absolutely no redemption. There is no peace. There is no forgiveness. There is no end to the “get backs”. It just keeps going one. One hurting the other right after the other.

Have you been there?

Have you been overcome by evil?

Have you been hurt by the evil of another and instead of returning good to them you were overcome by their evil and returned evil for evil.

At some point someone has to choose to stop the endless cycle of evil… and it can only be stopped by choosing not to return evil for evil.

But Jesus was saying, “ Father, forgive them;

for they do not know what they are doing.”

And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

Luke 23:34

How grateful I am that Jesus chose to return good for my evil…

And now as His redeemed I am told to go and do likewise. He is my example. And here is the thing… if I am the Spirit filled child of God and am being hurt by someone who knows God not then whose responsibility is it to be the one that says enough is enough? Yes, that’s right. It’s mine. Those who know God not fall in the “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” category.

However if you know God… you know exactly what you do

                      and you know exactly what you are to do.

You just have to choose to do it.

You have to choose to trust in Jehovah-gmolah.

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; 

Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.

Proverbs 20:22  

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries

Oh Me, The Stuff

 

Now that I have had my children’s ministry orientation meeting with my church family I have freedom to blog about this new journey that the Lord has set me out on… so be afraid… be very afraid. Muwahahaha!

Just kidding… kind of 🙂

I am currently in a time of disorientation as I find my way through the stuff that comes with serving in this ministry. Children’s ministry requires lots of stuff. It just does. You go to the youth ministry end of the church and their are a few big toys, maybe a pool table an xbox or wii set up somewhere, and then you go to the adult area and their are tables chairs and a coffee pot.

However you enter the wonderful world of children’s ministry and there are scooters, balls, jump ropes, hulu hoops, paints, markers, sand, posters, baby beds, strollers, bouncy things, bulletin board, huge styrofoam trees and rainbows, paper and paper and more paper, board games, puzzles, sippy cups, snacks, juice boxes… and the list goes on and on.

I have to find all this stuff and get it and keep it organized in a way that others can find the stuff…

And in the midst of all this there is scheduling nursery rotation, extended care rotation, Sunday night rotation,  Wednesday night rotation,  and keeping parents and servants in this ministry up to date with all of it.

And then there is scheduling the awesome fun stuff that is outside the Sunday and Wednesday routine.

And now here’s the big thing that is completely different about children’s ministry and the way it works… for them to hear the Word of God and let it take root all this stuff above must be taken care of first. These needs must be met. This is what I call preparing the soil for the seed.

All this stuff is what shows these kids that you care about them. This is how we meet them where they are…

For though I am free from all men,

I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews…

I have become all things to all men,

so that I may by all means save some.

1 Corinthians 9:19-20,22 

Likewise, to the child I must become a child, so that I can win children. I have to meet them where they are in order to bring them to Jesus. I can’t stand up on my high horse and yell down at them.

I must come down to them just as Christ came down to me…

                 and truthfully He had to come a whole lot farther down to reach me… He had to lift me up not just out of the pit of inherit sin, but I was in a pit of committed sins…  a very deep, dark, stanky pit. I know that what Christ washed off of me was a whole lot more repulsive than wiping a snotty nose or changing a dirty diaper or applying a band-aid to bleeding knee… or even digging through the disorganization of years of VBS storage.

So I embrace all the stuff and I embrace it with joy and with hope for the future… not just the immediate future but the eternal future of these kids, these hearts, these souls, these spirits that God allows to come through our church building’s doors. What a privilege it is to be trusted with them.

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

I Will Not Go Free

 

But if the slave plainly says,

‘I love my master, my wife and my children;

I will not go out as a free man,’ 

then his master shall bring him to God,

then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost.

And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl;

and he shall serve him permanently.

Exodus 21:5-6

 

In Exodus 20 God delivered the Ten Commandments to the nation of Israel. Now for the next several chapters God is going to break it down for them. He is going to deal with that “gray area” our flesh likes to find anytime we have a set of rules before us… you know… the “well, what if’s”.

The next few chapters give us some of the ordinances of God. Ordinance in Hebrew is mishpat and it means the act of deciding a case, judgment, process, procedure, litigation, sentence. These are the “if this happens then do this” things that God is laying out for the nation of Israel. They are quite simple and clear… that’s the way our God works. We are generally the one’s that complicate things.

Today we are going to look at the ordinance concerning the Hebrew slaves. You see the Hebrews were never to stay slaves again. Yes, if they fell on hard times, then there might come a time that they needed to sell themselves into slavery, but only for six years. On the seventh year they were to be set free.

There was one exception.

Many times while in his slavery a man would decide he loved his master and the life that he had as his slave. In this case the man would come to his master and choose to serve him out of his freedom instead of being forced to out of his debt. When this would happen, the master would take the man and pierce his ear with an awl. This act would put a hole in the man’s ear that would never close showing that this man had chosen to serve his master of his own free will.

This is a beautiful picture of our Savior.  Our Savior was free in every sense of the word. He had all freedom, all power, all authority yet He chose to come and to serve us out of His freedom.

 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve,

and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

Our Savior was pierced by the Master as He willingly laid aside all His rights and glory in order to serve mankind. He offered His life as a ransom to be used by us to meet our deepest needs… redemption, reconciliation, forgiveness, salvation… He was not forced. He did what He did out of His great love for us. He did what He did to set us free… even when we didn’t realize we were enslaved.

Likewise, now in our freedom it is time for us to turn and choose to serve Him in our freedom.

  Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law 

through the body of Christ,

so that you might be joined to another,

to Him who was raised from the dead,

in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Romans 7:4

Yes you were set free from the Law, from sin, from death, from the power of the flesh. It is for freedom that you have been set free in Christ…

But the question is, now in your freedom do you choose to be enslaved again?

But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God,

you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification,

and the outcome, eternal life

Romans 6:22

In your freedom is when the choice is yours… it is here where it begins to count. It really has nothing to do with the being set free… but everything to do with how you choose to walk in that freedom.

While He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee.

 As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; 

and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”  

When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” 

And as they were going, they were cleansed. 

Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back,

glorifying God with a loud voice, 

and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.

And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, 

“Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 

Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 

 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”

Luke 17:11-19

Oh Father,

I thank You for my freedom. In Christ I am free, free indeed. I pray that in my freedom I will always be obedient to Peter’s charge in 1 Peter 2:16, “Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.” The only way I know to thank You for my freedom is turn around and give my life back to you… willingly… because I love You. My life is Yours. You are my Adonai.

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

 

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

New Journey

1 Comment

 

I have begun a new season in life.

It’s amazing how God just can slam the breaks on your life and flip things up side down and around and send you out in a whole new direction.

I am thankful that He is in control.

Less than a month ago my husband and I were considering a transfer to another state. He was in the running for a position advancement at work and while in this running, another job offer several states away was sent to him through the grapevine.

Then out of the blue our former realtor calls and wants to show a lady our house. The house that we had on the market for a year over six months ago, with no one showing any interest in purchasing.

You see we had decided that God must not have wanted us to move. We began making plans and adjustments to stay where we were… then God says… Surprise!

While in the planning-on-staying-put-in-the-house stage of our life… I had finally quit arguing with God about my inability to answer the call to children’s ministry. I began keeping a check on the church employment offers in children’s ministry in our area… knowing that God was leading me here eventually in His time.

When our house sold, less than a week following the grapevine job offer from another state… I thought, “Well this is it. God is moving us here, and here is where our ministry in the Lord is heading”

I believe I have shared before that whenever I decide that I know exactly what God is up to He never fails to remind me that I am completely clueless. And the truth is I am perfectly okay with that, I used to not be, but now I have learned that what He has planned far exceeds my limited ability to rationalize my own life course.

Well the house is under contract, my husband and I are not moving to Indiana. If the Lord wills, we are moving closer to His current job. His commute will go from on hour to ten minutes. And not only is His commute closer (which will help with my concerns of him driving for an hour home after working a twelve hour night shift) but God has also provided us with a beautiful new home that we love.

The finding of this home is a God thing as well… it is in a location we would have never considered on our own. But like I said God has a way of putting us where He wants us.

So, while in the midst of our current house selling and our making the offer on the house we have now signed a contract on… we continued to house hunt and we continued to pray about the three states away thing… because we had not heard a word on our offer.

Then through another God thing, I learned about the resignation of our children’s ministry assistant… my heart stopped.

Could it be?

Could this be where God wants me now?

I immediately began conversing with Him and praying and seeking His guidance… because I was beginning to become so sure that we were to be headed in the three states away direction… it had been over a week and we had heard nothing on our offer concerning the house that we loved… so no news of course had to mean we were supposed to be moving three states away… right?

And now this… what’s a girl to do?

What in the world was God up to?

My husband was on nights again… and when we got home from church he called and I sat and listened with forced patience as he shared how he didn’t think the Lord was calling us three states away… he realized that if we went we would be going for the sole reason of the job advancement. He knew that if he was going simply to chase a check… we were going for the wrong reason.

My heart stops again.

I now share with him my news and discuss with him about what I should do… We laugh together as we consider the absolute roller-coaster ride the past few weeks have been.

My husband confirms my heart and chides me in love as I try to unqualify myself again… He knows my heart well… better than I like to admit.

I make my heart’s desire known to my church the very next morning bright and early… and then I wait.

And now I need to make a new picture with a new title…

My blog post title is no longer accurate as “Confessions of a Christian Housewife”

It now needs to read “Confessions of a Christian Children’s Ministry Director”

The new journey has begun…

 

 

 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

An Altar of Earth

You shall make an altar of earth for Me,

and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings

and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen;

in every place where I cause My name to be remembered,

I will come to you and bless you.

Exodus 20:24

 

There is something about this verse of Scripture that makes me read it over and over and over again. In my very much inadequate ability I am going to attempt to share why this verse captivates me so.

The children of Israel had just spent the last 400 years among altars of gold, among temples, among man made images to false deities. Here, after God has given them His commands of what not to do, He gives them a command of what they are to do.

They were to build an altar to Him from the earth.

When I read this my mind goes back to the garden. It’s amazing how often God brings me back to the garden… back to Genesis… back to the beginning.

 

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place,

and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 

God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas;

and God saw that it was good.

 Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, 

and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”;

and it was so. 

The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind,

and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind;

and God saw that it was good. 

There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Genesis 1:9-13

The waters were to be gathered to one place and then the earth appeared and out of the earth would come life. Out of the earth would come fruit trees that were meant to bear fruit… after their kind. They were to yield seed and the seed were to grow and bear fruit of their own… after their kind.

The children of Israel had been gathered out of the nations… they passed through the water and they now appeared and God said this is good… now go and be a witness to the rest of the nations and bear fruit after your kind… after Me, your God. Do not bear fruit from the gods of these other nations bear fruit after after Me… I am going to use you to bring forth life as you witness as my priests, as my preachers.

God told the children of Israel that they were to make an altar of earth for Him and there make their sacrifices. Did God mean He just wanted them to pile up a big mound of dirt and sacrifice on it?

I live in Alabama. We have a city near me called Moundsvillle. It is full of ancient mounds built by the early Native Americans as tombs and altars of worship to false gods. I don’t believe this would be what God was calling Israel to do… it would contradict the previous “not to do” commands. God simply was not like these other gods and He would not be treated as though He were.

So there must be more to this altar of earth…

 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;

and man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

Man was formed from the earth… from the dust of the ground.

Oh precious one, did you see it?

The altar of earth?

The body?

Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

   “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, 
BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; 
IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. 
“THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME 
(IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) 
TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”

 After saying above,

“SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS

AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them”

(which are offered according to the Law), 

then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.”

He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:5-10

Everything has always pointed to Him, to Christ, to this God-Man with a body of flesh that would be the ultimate sacrifice and the only place where His name would be remembered and when we come to Him, to this One who says “Remember Me“… and we lay our sacrifice on this altar… here we are blessed. Here our God comes to us, to meet with us, when we call on Him the One who would cause the name of God to be remembered forever.

I have to look up the names of the false gods worshiped through out history… I forget them.

However, whether they love Him or hate Him… no one who has ever heard the name of Jesus can forget Him.

His name is always on the tip of their tongue, on the back of their mind, naggingly whispering… who do you say that I am?

He is indeed unforgettable… even if all you have ever heard about Him is just the name. He will cause His name to be remembered.

Now my friend, let me ask you, have you prepared your altar of earth on which to worship your Creator God?

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God,

to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, 

acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 

And do notbe conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may prove what the will of God is,

that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

God doesn’t want a big fancy temple. He doesn’t want an altar of gold or silver or an image of brass or bronze. He wants the dust of the earth that He formed to be a man and breathed life into. He wants this broken, dirty, fallen flesh of earth that He created to bear His image.

He wants this altar of earth to go and be used by Him to cause His name to remembered. If you will give Him this altar and lay out this body as a living sacrifice to Him and here worship Him… He will come to you and He will bless you.

The children of Israel were being told here that no matter where they were, no matter where they got scattered… if there was earth, they had a place of worship. They had a place, and all the material they would need, to build an altar to call upon the name of their God.

Oh Father,

I am overcome and overwhelmed with You. This earth belongs to You and this body of earth belongs to You. I offer upon this altar of earth my everything. You offer us the opportunity to worship You wherever we go. No matter our material possession, no matter our geographical location, earth is everywhere… and our body is with us wherever we go. You came to this earth in a body… and then You come and dwell within this body of mine to dwell with Me and make you this body, this flesh formed from the earth, Your temple. Yes, I am overcome and overwhelmed with You. My Jesus, take this altar of earth and use me to cause Your name to be remembered.   

It’s in Your name I pray,

Amen

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Today Is Monday

 

On Good Friday we remembered that He died on the cross for our sin. He died not just for the sins we committed or the sins we will commit, but He died for the sin.

The original sin that day in the garden… when the world was flipped upside down and the curse of death was unleashed to wreak its havoc.

This inherit sin that is the root of all sins… it was for this sin that He went to the cross and when this sin’s debt was paid its cost was so great that its payment more than enough covered all the sins that came as a result of that one original sin.

Friday He died.

Friday He was mocked, beaten, betrayed, hated, denied, whispered about.

Saturday He was whispered about…

He was fought about…

He was cried over…

He was mourned…

He was doubted.

Sunday He was doubted, but He rose!

Sunday He rose from the grave because death could not hold Him.

Sunday He was shouted over,

He was worshiped,

He was praised,

He was doubted, but those who doubted now believed!

 

Friday He was denied and He died,

Saturday He was dead and doubted,

Sunday He was doubted but His deity was clearly declared as He stood before His disciples!

 

But today is Monday.

Today He is alive. He is the risen Christ. He is Jesus, the Son of God. He has died, never to die again. Now He extends His nail-scarred hand out to us all and says “Now it’s your turn. Will you die too? Will you die to your will and be raised in Mine?”

Today.

Will you die today?

Will you die trusting in His divine authority to see you raised from that death in eternal victory?

Will you die to your will and live today in total surrender to the One who calls out to you and says, “Come and follow Me“?

Today it’s your turn to die. Will you go to your knees in your garden of Gethsemane and lay your heart out before the Father and surrender your will no matter how hard that surrender will be? Today will you cry our, not my will but Your will be done?  

Just for today.

God doesn’t ask for your tomorrow.

God asks for your today.


Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. 

You are just a vapor that appears for a little while

and then vanishes away.

James 4:14

So what will you do with your today?

Will you choose to live today saying- Yes, Lord. Here I am…

 

Devotional Studies Through the Bible, Proven Path Ministries

That I Might Not Sin

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid;
for God has come in order to test you,
and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you,
so that you may not sin.”
Exodus 20:20

 

God has just delivered the last of His Ten Commandments before the children of Israel. We read in Exodus 20:18 that all people saw and perceived the thunder and lightning and the sound of the trumpet through which God spoke. They saw and were afraid and stood at a distance.

I love thunderstorms. I love them because of verses like these in the Scriptures. So many times we read of God being in the midst of the storm. We read how thunder and lightning surround His throne.

Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. 

And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,

which are the seven Spirits of God;

Revelation 4:5

 

So when thunder and lightning are surrounding me I worship my God and I give Him praise because in the midst of the storm I know He is near.

Sin entered the entire world, the whole earth is in rebellion to Him… why wouldn’t the earth quake in fear and the atmosphere rage in rebellion when it’s Holy Creator has entered its presence.

It’s opposites in the mix, sin and holiness, like cold and hot air create a tornado or hurricane, when sin and holiness combine an unforgettable event is about to happen.

This powerful presence of God before the children of Israel was to be a reminder to them of God’s authority. It was to be a reminder of the day they heard these commands. The reminder was for those days when life seemed ordinary. Those days when God’s blessings upon His people turn into a curse because life gets so easy that they actually begin to think they have what they have because of themselves, not because of their God.

This thunderous trumpet sounding of God was to help remind the children of Israel that their God was a holy God. That their God was a God of His word. That their God was not wood or stone, but alive and active. This display was to command their attention and was to stamp their memory so that they would share it with their children, with their grandchildren, and their great grandchildren, for generations still to come.

This was to test them, so that the fear of God would remain with them, so that they may not sin.

We live in a day where many have forgotten the fear of God. Many in the church, have chosen to ignore to teach about the God of wrath and have chosen to only pull the attributes of God out of Scripture that make people feel good. You know the ones that don’t scare them or make them nervous or make them question His goodness.

God is not afraid of our questions… when Christ came He tried to get people to ask them.

It was the fear of the wrath of my earthly father that kept me in check just as much as it was the love I had for him, and the love that I knew he had for me, that kept me from wanting to disappoint him. I knew both sides of my father. My father used to say that God gave him two hands for a reason, he loved me with one and disciplined me with the other. However the truth is that he loved me with both at the same time.

MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, 
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 
 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, 
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.

Hebrews 12:5-6

 

Our Heavenly Father loves us with an everlasting love and because He does He wants us to live. Therefore, since the wages of sin is death… He reminds of His wrath and of His power and of His disciplining hand so that the fear of Him would remain with us so that we may not sin… because sin leads to death.

Remembering the sound of His voice as a thunderous trumpet would hopefully make the children of Israel think twice before they indulged in some fleshly foolishness. Likewise, remembering the wrath of God that was poured out on Christ on behalf of our sin should make us think twice before we indulge in fleshly foolishness of our own.

Oh Father,

Let me never forget that You are Jehovah-makkeh, the LORD that Smiteth. You love me, I in no way can deny that. You demonstrated how very much You loved me when Christ died on the cross for my sins (Romans 5:8). May I never be guilty of mistaking Your kindness for weakness or Your grace for ignorance. May I live each day working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) so that I might not sin against You.

My Jesus, it’s in Your name I pray,
Amen

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Gabby Mom Posts, Proven Path Ministries

Worth the Money and Time

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I was truly excited to hear that my next product for review as a Gabby Mom was the Eternal Encouragement magazine. Don’t get me wrong, I love the email subscriptions, but there just is something about being able to have a great read in my hand that allows me to actually turn the page.

 

 

I opened the magazine and began reading at the first page and I didn’t make it through the first article before I began taking notes and heading to my computer to share quotes as facebook status updates and twitter tweets.

Every article was filled with God’s Word and it magnified His grace and love and pointed us to a true and real relationship with our God through His Son Jesus Christ.

There were very few advertisements in the magazine. Those that were in it were truly helpful products focused on growing in Christ. As a fairly new homeschool mom I found the advertisements for curriculum and website referrals very helpful. I think I have just about looked into every one of them and marked them in my favorites on my computer.

As I read through this magazine I was encouraged as a believer, as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, as a teacher. It is a magazine that I will not through in the trash when I am done, but it will be added to my bookshelf as a reference from which to pull information.

In the very last article in the magazine Lorrie Flem the editor of Eternal Encouragement Magazine and More had this to say, My quick description to describe our ministry to others is this, “We encourage women to trust and obey God, stay home, embrace obeying their husbands, consistently and lovingly train their children, and put their first fruits into their own homes.”

If this ministry description is a standard for your own life, then Eternal Encouragement magazine will help you reach and maintain that standard. It’s well worth the money for the subscription and the time to read.

 

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

Eternal Encouragement Magazine & more is an excellent example of this Scripture verse being fleshed out.  Women teaching women to love God, to love their husbands, and to love their children so that the Word of God will not be dishonored or the testimony of Christ maligned. May we all as women work on building each other up and encouraging one another with the Truth of the Word not our own opinions… may we be women, wives, and mothers who walk in a manner worthy of our calling always growing in the grace and knowledge of our God.

(Subscriptions are available printed and digital andany subscription receives the NEW EE Etc. Web Magazine that is published 8 times a year. This has full magazine articles that are only available to Eternal Encouragement Subscribers via a new online magazine website.)

EE Disclaimer: I received this product free from EE magazine for an honest review.

 

 

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Overwhelmed With His Grace

 

A year ago I sat at this very same computer and wrote how I was overwhelmed… but I was overwhelmed with me, with issues, with frustrations, with junk… today I sit here as a woman overwhelmed again.

However this time, I am overwhelmed with Him. Today I am overwhelmed with His grace and His goodness.

I wish I could take you into my head and heart even deeper. I wish I could show you the battles that I have fought. I wish that you could see how faithful He has been… some of you reading this know.

You have prayed with me, stood by me, and fought with me through your prayers and words of encouragement and through constantly taking me back to the Word of my God.

You have interceded on my behalf, you have been faithful to send that text, write that card, make that call, say those words, pray that prayer, do that thing, when the Holy Spirit prompted you… and because you did… you were used by Him to help keep hope, faith, and love alive in me.

Never, ever, ever, underestimate the power of a kind word, a small gesture, a simple sincere how are you doing? They are more powerful than you can even imagine.

After finishing my study of the book of Job this morning, I sat on the couch overwhelmed with sobs as I was washed over with a wave of His grace. His abundant, sufficient, amply supplied grace. I am so undeserving of it, but He gives it any way.

Oh how I pray that when others see me, when others hear me speak His name, when they hear me share His truth, they can grasp that I mean what I say because I know that from the depth of my being that HE means what HE says.

He is good, so very good.

He has never failed me.

His Word has won every battle I have ever fought.

I don’t know where you are at. I don’t know what you are going through. I do know that if you will fall into Him He will rescue you and He will redeem you, and He will restore you. I can’t promise you it will be immediate. You may even think He has forgotten you. You may doubt He is even there, but hold on to the memory, the mere thought, the smallest hope in Him… and trust His Word. Be obedient to His Word no matter how much your mind and others around you call it foolishness. Trust and obey Him and leave the consequences of your trust and obedience in His hands as you rest in the absolute assurance of His eternal goodness and lovingkindness.

He is there.

He has a plan.

He has a purpose.

I know that You can do all things,

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted

Job 42:2